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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of Domestic Manners of the Americans, by Fanny Trollope
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: Domestic Manners of the Americans
+
+Author: Fanny Trollope
+
+Release Date: November 30, 2003 [eBook #10345]
+[Most recently updated: August 17, 2021]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+Produced by: David G Johnson
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOMESTIC MANNERS OF THE AMERICANS ***
+
+
+
+
+Domestic Manners of the Americans
+
+by Fanny Trollope
+
+First published in 1832
+
+
+Contents
+
+ CHAPTER I. 
+ CHAPTER II. 
+ CHAPTER III. 
+ CHAPTER IV. 
+ CHAPTER V. 
+ CHAPTER VI. 
+ CHAPTER VII. 
+ CHAPTER VIII. 
+ CHAPTER IX. 
+ CHAPTER X. 
+ CHAPTER XI. 
+ CHAPTER XII. 
+ CHAPTER XIII. 
+ CHAPTER XIV. 
+ CHAPTER XV. 
+ CHAPTER XVI. 
+ CHAPTER XVII. 
+ CHAPTER XVIII. 
+ CHAPTER XIX. 
+ CHAPTER XX. 
+ CHAPTER XXI. 
+ CHAPTER XXII. 
+ CHAPTER XXIII. 
+ CHAPTER XXIV. 
+ CHAPTER XXV. 
+ CHAPTER XXVI. 
+ CHAPTER XXVII. 
+ CHAPTER XXVIII. 
+ CHAPTER XXIX. 
+ CHAPTER XXX. 
+ CHAPTER XXXI. 
+ CHAPTER XXXII. 
+ CHAPTER XXXIII. 
+ CHAPTER XXXIV. 
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+
+Entrance of the Mississippi—Balize
+
+
+On the 4th of November, 1827, I sailed from London, accompanied by my
+son and two daughters; and after a favourable, though somewhat tedious
+voyage, arrived on Christmas-day at the mouth of the Mississippi.
+
+The first indication of our approach to land was the appearance of this
+mighty river pouring forth its muddy mass of waters, and mingling with
+the deep blue of the Mexican Gulf. The shores of this river are so
+utterly flat, that no object upon them is perceptible at sea, and we
+gazed with pleasure on the muddy ocean that met us, for it told us we
+were arrived, and seven weeks of sailing had wearied us; yet it was not
+without a feeling like regret that we passed from the bright blue
+waves, whose varying aspect had so long furnished our chief amusement,
+into the murky stream which now received us.
+
+Large flights of pelicans were seen standing upon the long masses of
+mud which rose above the surface of the waters, and a pilot came to
+guide us over the bar, long before any other indication of land was
+visible.
+
+I never beheld a scene so utterly desolate as this entrance of the
+Mississippi. Had Dante seen it, he might have drawn images of another
+Bolgia from its horrors. One only object rears itself above the eddying
+waters; this is the mast of a vessel long since wrecked in attempting
+to cross the bar, and it still stands, a dismal witness of the
+destruction that has been, and a boding prophet of that which is to
+come.
+
+By degrees bulrushes of enormous growth become visible, and a few more
+miles of mud brought us within sight of a cluster of huts called the
+Balize, by far the most miserable station that I ever saw made the
+dwelling of man, but I was told that many families of pilots and
+fishermen lived there.
+
+For several miles above its mouth, the Mississippi presents no objects
+more interesting than mud banks, monstrous bulrushes, and now and then
+a huge crocodile luxuriating in the slime. Another circumstance that
+gives to this dreary scene an aspect of desolation, is the incessant
+appearance of vast quantities of drift wood, which is ever finding its
+way to the different mouths of the Mississippi. Trees of enormous
+length, sometimes still bearing their branches, and still oftener their
+uptorn roots entire, the victims of the frequent hurricane, come
+floating down the stream. Sometimes several of these, entangled
+together, collect among their boughs a quantity of floating rubbish,
+that gives the mass the appearance of a moving island, bearing a
+forest, with its roots mocking the heavens; while the dishonoured
+branches lash the tide in idle vengeance: this, as it approaches the
+vessel, and glides swiftly past, looks like the fragment of a world in
+ruins.
+
+As we advanced, however, we were cheered, notwithstanding the season,
+by the bright tints of southern vegetation. The banks continue
+invariably flat, but a succession of planless villas, sometimes merely
+a residence, and sometimes surrounded by their sugar grounds and negro
+huts, varied the scene. At no one point was there an inch of what
+painters call a second distance; and for the length of one hundred and
+twenty miles, from the Balize to New Orleans, and one hundred miles
+above the town, the land is defended from the encroachments of the
+river by a high embankment which is called the Levee; without which the
+dwellings would speedily disappear, as the river is evidently higher
+than the banks would be without it. When we arrived, there had been
+constant rains, and of long continuance, and this appearance was,
+therefore, unusually striking, giving to “this great natural feature”
+the most unnatural appearance imaginable; and making evident, not only
+that man had been busy there, but that even the mightiest works of
+nature might be made to bear his impress; it recalled, literally,
+Swift’s mock heroic,
+
+“Nature must give way to art;”
+
+
+yet, she was looking so mighty, and so unsubdued all the time, that I
+could not help fancying she would some day take the matter into her own
+hands again, and if so, farewell to New Orleans.
+
+It is easy to imagine the total want of beauty in such a landscape; but
+yet the form and hue of the trees and plants, so new to us, added to
+the long privation we had endured of all sights and sounds of land,
+made even these swampy shores seem beautiful. We were, however,
+impatient to touch as well as see the land; but the navigation from the
+Balize to New Orleans is difficult and tedious, and the two days that
+it occupied appeared longer than any we had passed on board.
+
+In truth, to those who have pleasure in contemplating the phenomena of
+nature, a sea voyage may endure many weeks without wearying. Perhaps
+some may think that the first glance of ocean and of sky shew all they
+have to offer; nay, even that that first glance may suggest more of
+dreariness than sublimity; but to me, their variety appeared endless,
+and their beauty unfailing. The attempt to describe scenery, even where
+the objects are prominent and tangible, is very rarely successful; but
+where the effect is so subtile and so varying, it must be vain. The
+impression, nevertheless, is perhaps deeper than any other; I think it
+possible I may forget the sensations with which I watched the long
+course of the gigantic Mississippi; the Ohio and the Potomac may mingle
+and be confounded with other streams in my memory, I may even recall
+with difficulty the blue outline of the Alleghany mountains, but never,
+while I remember any thing, can I forget the first and last hour of
+light on the Atlantic.
+
+The ocean, however, and all its indescribable charm, no longer
+surrounded us; we began to feel that our walk on the quarter-deck was
+very like the exercise of an ass in a mill; that our books had lost
+half their pages, and that the other half were known by rote; that our
+beef was very salt, and our biscuits very hard; in short, that having
+studied the good ship, Edward, from stem to stern till we knew the name
+of every sail, and the use of every pulley, we had had enough of her,
+and as we laid down, head to head, in our tiny beds for the last time,
+I exclaimed with no small pleasure,
+
+“Tomorrow to fresh fields and pastures new.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+
+New Orleans—Society—Creoles and Quadroons Voyage up the Mississippi
+
+
+On first touching the soil of a new land, of a new continent, of a new
+world, it is impossible not to feel considerable excitement and deep
+interest in almost every object that meets us. New Orleans presents
+very little that can gratify the eye of taste, but nevertheless there
+is much of novelty and interest for a newly arrived European. The large
+proportion of blacks seen in the streets, all labour being performed by
+them; the grace and beauty of the elegant Quadroons, the occasional
+groups of wild and savage looking Indians, the unwonted aspect of the
+vegetation, the huge and turbid river, with its low and slimy shore,
+all help to afford that species of amusement which proceeds from
+looking at what we never saw before.
+
+The town has much the appearance of a French Ville de Province, and is,
+in fact, an old French colony taken from Spain by France. The names of
+the streets are French, and the language about equally French and
+English. The market is handsome and well supplied, all produce being
+conveyed by the river. We were much pleased by the chant with which the
+Negro boatmen regulate and beguile their labour on the river; it
+consists but of very few notes, but they are sweetly harmonious, and
+the Negro voice is almost always rich and powerful.
+
+By far the most agreeable hours I passed at New Orleans were those in
+which I explored with my children the forest near the town. It was our
+first walk in “the eternal forests of the western world,” and we felt
+rather sublime and poetical. The trees, generally speaking, are much
+too close to be either large or well grown; and, moreover, their growth
+is often stunted by a parasitical plant, for which I could learn no
+other name than “Spanish moss;” it hangs gracefully from the boughs,
+converting the outline of all the trees it hangs upon into that of
+weeping willows. The chief beauty of the forest in this region is from
+the luxuriant undergrowth of palmetos, which is decidedly the loveliest
+coloured and most graceful plant I know. The pawpaw, too, is a splendid
+shrub, and in great abundance. We here, for the first time, saw the
+wild vine, which we afterwards found growing so profusely in every part
+of America, as naturally to suggest the idea that the natives ought to
+add wine to the numerous production of their plenty-teeming soil. The
+strong pendant festoons made safe and commodious swings, which some of
+our party enjoyed, despite the sublime temperament above-mentioned.
+
+Notwithstanding it was mid-winter when we were at New Orleans, the heat
+was much more than agreeable, and the attacks of the mosquitos
+incessant, and most tormenting; yet I suspect that, for a short time,
+we would rather have endured it, than not have seen oranges, green
+peas, and red pepper, growing in the open air at Christmas. In one of
+our rambles we ventured to enter a garden, whose bright orange hedge
+attracted our attention; here we saw green peas fit for the table, and
+a fine crop of red pepper ripening in the sun. A young Negress was
+employed on the steps of the house; that she was a slave made her an
+object of interest to us. She was the first slave we had ever spoken
+to, and I believe we all felt that we could hardly address her with
+sufficient gentleness. She little dreamed, poor girl, what deep
+sympathy she excited; she answered us civilly and gaily, and seemed
+amused at our fancying there was something unusual in red pepper pods;
+she gave us several of them, and I felt fearful lest a hard mistress
+might blame her for it. How very childish does ignorance make us! and
+how very ignorant we are upon almost every subject, where hearsay
+evidence is all we can get!
+
+I left England with feelings so strongly opposed to slavery, that it
+was not without pain I witnessed its effects around me. At the sight of
+every Negro man, woman, and child that passed, my fancy wove some
+little romance of misery, as belonging to each of them; since I have
+known more on the subject, and become better acquainted with their real
+situation in America, I have often smiled at recalling what I then
+felt.
+
+The first symptom of American equality that I perceived, was my being
+introduced in form to a milliner; it was not at a boarding-house, under
+the indistinct outline of “Miss C—,” nor in the street through the veil
+of a fashionable toilette, but in the very penetralia of her temple,
+standing behind her counter, giving laws to ribbon and to wire, and
+ushering caps and bonnets into existence. She was an English woman, and
+I was told that she possessed great intellectual endowments, and much
+information; I really believe this was true. Her manner was easy and
+graceful, with a good deal of French tournure; and the gentleness with
+which her fine eyes and sweet voice directed the movements of a young
+female slave, was really touching: the way, too, in which she blended
+her French talk of modes with her customers, and her English talk of
+metaphysics with her friends, had a pretty air of indifference in it,
+that gave her a superiority with both.
+
+I found with her the daughter of a judge, eminent, it was said, both
+for legal and literary ability, and I heard from many quarters, after I
+had left New Orleans, that the society of this lady was highly valued
+by all persons of talent. Yet were I, traveller-like, to stop here, and
+set it down as a national peculiarity, or republican custom, that
+milliners took the lead in the best society, I should greatly falsify
+facts. I do not remember the same thing happening to me again, and this
+is one instance among a thousand, of the impression every circumstance
+makes on entering a new country, and of the propensity, so
+irresistible, to class all things, however accidental, as national and
+peculiar. On the other hand, however, it is certain that if similar
+anomalies are unfrequent in America, they are nearly impossible
+elsewhere.
+
+In the shop of Miss C— I was introduced to Mr. M’Clure, a venerable
+personage, of gentlemanlike appearance, who in the course of five
+minutes propounded as many axioms, as “Ignorance is the only devil;”
+“Man makes his own existence;” and the like. He was of the New Harmony
+school, or rather the New Harmony school was of him. He was a man of
+good fortune, (a Scotchman, I believe), who after living a tolerably
+gay life, had “conceived high thoughts, such as Lycurgus loved, who
+bade flog the little Spartans,” and determined to benefit the species,
+and immortalize himself, by founding a philosophical school at New
+Harmony. There was something in the hollow square legislations of Mr.
+Owen, that struck him as admirable, and he seems, as far as I can
+understand, to have intended aiding his views, by a sort of incipient
+hollow square drilling; teaching the young ideas of all he could catch,
+to shoot into parallelogramic form and order. This venerable
+philosopher, like all of his school that I ever heard of, loved better
+to originate lofty imaginings of faultless systems, than to watch their
+application to practice. With much liberality he purchased and conveyed
+to the wilderness a very noble collection of books and scientific
+instruments; but not finding among men one whose views were liberal and
+enlarged as his own, he selected a woman to put into action the machine
+he had organized. As his acquaintance with this lady had been of long
+standing, and, as it was said, very intimate, he felt sure that no
+violation of his rules would have place under her sway; they would act
+together as one being: he was to perform the functions of the soul, and
+will everything; she, those of the body, and perform everything.
+
+The principal feature of the scheme was, that (the first liberal outfit
+of the institution having been furnished by Mr. M’Clure,) the expense
+of keeping it up should be defrayed by the profits arising from the
+labours of the pupils, male and female, which was to be performed at
+stated intervals of each day, in regular rotation with learned study
+and scientific research. But unfortunately the soul of the system found
+the climate of Indiana uncongenial to its peculiar formation, and,
+therefore, took its flight to Mexico, leaving the body to perform the
+operations of both, in whatever manner it liked best; and the body,
+being a French body, found no difficulty in setting actively to work
+without troubling the soul about it; and soon becoming conscious that
+the more simple was a machine, the more perfect were its operations,
+she threw out all that related to the intellectual part of the
+business, (which to do poor soul justice, it had laid great stress
+upon), and stirred herself as effectually as ever body did, to draw
+wealth from the thews and sinews of the youths they had collected. When
+last I heard of this philosophical establishment, she, and a nephew-son
+were said to be reaping a golden harvest, as many of the lads had been
+sent from a distance by indigent parents, for gratuitous education, and
+possessed no means of leaving it.
+
+Our stay in New Orleans was not long enough to permit our entering into
+society, but I was told that it contained two distinct sets of people,
+both celebrated, in their way, for their social meetings and elegant
+entertainments. The first of these is composed of Creole families, who
+are chiefly planters and merchants, with their wives and daughters;
+these meet together, eat together, and are very grand and aristocratic;
+each of their balls is a little Almack’s, and every portly dame of the
+set is as exclusive in her principles as the excluded but amiable
+Quandroons, and such of the gentlemen of the former class as can by any
+means escape from the high places, where pure Creole blood swells the
+veins at the bare mention of any being tainted in the remotest degree
+with the Negro stain.
+
+Of all the prejudices I have ever witnessed, this appears to me the
+most violent, and the most inveterate. Quadroon girls, the acknowledged
+daughters of wealthy American or Creole fathers, educated with all of
+style and accomplishments which money can procure at New Orleans, and
+with all the decorum that care and affection can give; exquisitely
+beautiful, graceful, gentle, and amiable, these are not admitted, nay,
+are not on any terms admissable, into the society of the Creole
+families of Louisiana. They cannot marry; that is to say, no ceremony
+can render an union with them legal or binding; yet such is the
+powerful effect of their very peculiar grace, beauty, and sweetness of
+manner, that unfortunately they perpetually become the objects of
+choice and affection. If the Creole ladies have privilege to exercise
+the awful power of repulsion, the gentle Quadroon has the sweet but
+dangerous vengeance of possessing that of attraction. The unions formed
+with this unfortunate race are said to be often lasting and happy, as
+far as any unions can be so, to which a certain degree of disgrace is
+attached.
+
+There is a French and an English theatre in the town; but we were too
+fresh from Europe to care much for either; or, indeed, for any other of
+the town delights of this city, and we soon became eager to commence
+our voyage up the Mississippi.
+
+Miss Wright, then less known (though the author of more than one clever
+volume) than she has since become, was the companion of our voyage from
+Europe; and it was my purpose to have passed some months with her and
+her sister at the estate she had purchased in Tennessee. This lady,
+since become so celebrated as the advocate of opinions that make
+millions shudder, and some half-score admire, was, at the time of my
+leaving England with her, dedicated to a pursuit widely different from
+her subsequent occupations. Instead of becoming a public orator in
+every town throughout America, she was about, as she said, to seclude
+herself for life in the deepest forests of the western world, that her
+fortune, her time, and her talents might be exclusively devoted to aid
+the cause of the suffering Africans. Her first object was to shew that
+nature had made no difference between blacks and whites, excepting in
+complexion; and this she expected to prove by giving an education
+perfectly equal to a class of black and white children. Could this fact
+be once fully established, she conceived that the Negro cause would
+stand on firmer ground than it had yet done, and the degraded rank
+which they have ever held amongst civilized nations would be proved to
+be a gross injustice.
+
+This question of the mental equality, or inequality between us, and the
+Negro race, is one of great interest, and has certainly never yet been
+fairly tried; and I expected for my children and myself both pleasure
+and information from visiting her establishment, and watching the
+success of her experiment.
+
+The innumerable steam boats, which are the stage coaches and fly
+waggons of this land of lakes and rivers, are totally unlike any I had
+seen in Europe, and greatly superior to them. The fabrics which I think
+they most resemble in appearance, are the floating baths (les bains
+Vigier) at Paris. The annexed drawing will give a correct idea of their
+form. The room to which the double line of windows belongs, is a very
+handsome apartment; before each window a neat little cot is arranged in
+such a manner as to give its drapery the air of a window curtain. This
+room is called the gentlemen’s cabin, and their exclusive right to it
+is somewhat uncourteously insisted upon. The breakfast, dinner, and
+supper are laid in this apartment, and the lady passengers are
+permitted to take their meals there.
+
+On the first of January, 1828, we embarked on board the Belvidere, a
+large and handsome boat; though not the largest or handsomest of the
+many which displayed themselves along the wharfs; but she was going to
+stop at Memphis, the point of the river nearest to Miss Wright’s
+residence, and she was the first that departed after we had got through
+the customhouse, and finished our sight-seeing. We found the room
+destined for the use of the ladies dismal enough, as its only windows
+were below the stem gallery; but both this and the gentlemen’s cabin
+were handsomely fitted up, and the former well carpeted; but oh! that
+carpet! I will not, I may not describe its condition; indeed it
+requires the pen of a Swift to do it justice. Let no one who wishes to
+receive agreeable impressions of American manners, commence their
+travels in a Mississippi steam boat; for myself, it is with all
+sincerity I declare, that I would infinitely prefer sharing the
+apartment of a party of well conditioned pigs to the being confined to
+its cabin.
+
+I hardly know any annoyance so deeply repugnant to English feelings, as
+the incessant, remorseless spitting of Americans. I feel that I owe my
+readers an apology for the repeated use of this, and several other
+odious words; but I cannot avoid them, without suffering the fidelity
+of description to escape me. It is possible that in this phrase,
+“Americans,” I may be too general. The United States form a continent
+of almost distinct nations, and I must now, and always, be understood
+to speak only of that portion of them which I have seen. In conversing
+with Americans I have constantly found that if I alluded to anything
+which they thought I considered as uncouth, they would assure me it was
+local, and not national; the accidental peculiarity of a very small
+part, and by no means a specimen of the whole. “That is because you
+know so little of America,” is a phrase I have listened to a thousand
+times, and in nearly as many different places. _It may be so_—and
+having made this concession, I protest against the charge of injustice
+in relating what I have seen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+
+Company on board the Steam Boat—Scenery of the
+Mississippi—Crocodiles—Arrival at Memphis—Nashoba
+
+
+The weather was warm and bright, and we found the guard of the boat, as
+they call the gallery that runs round the cabins, a very agreeable
+station; here we all sat as long as light lasted, and sometimes wrapped
+in our shawls, we enjoyed the clear bright beauty of American moonlight
+long after every passenger but ourselves had retired. We had a full
+complement of passengers on board. The deck, as is usual, was occupied
+by the Kentucky flat-boat men, returning from New Orleans, after having
+disposed of the boat and cargo which they had conveyed thither, with no
+other labour than that of steering her, the current bringing her down
+at the rate of four miles an hour. We had about two hundred of these
+men on board, but the part of the vessel occupied by them is so
+distinct from the cabins, that we never saw them, except when we
+stopped to take in wood; and then they ran, or rather sprung and
+vaulted over each other’s heads to the shore, whence they all assisted
+in carrying wood to supply the steam engine; the performance of this
+duty being a stipulated part of the payment of their passage.
+
+From the account given by a man servant we had on board, who shared
+their quarters, they are a most disorderly set of persons, constantly
+gambling and wrangling, very seldom sober, and never suffering a night
+to pass without giving practical proof of the respect in which they
+hold the doctrines of equality, and community of property. The clerk of
+the vessel was kind enough to take our man under his protection, and
+assigned him a berth in his own little nook; but as this was not
+inaccessible, he told him by no means to detach his watch or money from
+his person during the night. Whatever their moral characteristics may
+be, these Kentuckians are a very noble-looking race of men; their
+average height considerably exceeds that of Europeans, and their
+countenances, excepting when disfigured by red hair, which is not
+unfrequent, extremely handsome.
+
+The gentlemen in the cabin (we had no ladies) would certainly neither,
+from their language, manners, nor appearance, have received that
+designation in Europe; but we soon found their claim to it rested on
+more substantial ground, for we heard them nearly all addressed by the
+titles of general, colonel, and major. On mentioning these military
+dignities to an English friend some time afterwards, he told me that he
+too had made the voyage with the same description of company, but
+remarking that there was not a single captain among them; he made the
+observation to a fellow-passenger, and asked how he accounted for it.
+“Oh, sir, the captains are all on deck,” was the reply.
+
+Our honours, however, were not all military, for we had a judge among
+us. I know it is equally easy and invidious to ridicule the
+peculiarities of appearance and manner in people of a different nation
+from ourselves; we may, too, at the same moment, be undergoing the same
+ordeal in their estimation; and, moreover, I am by no means disposed to
+consider whatever is new to me as therefore objectionable; but,
+nevertheless, it was impossible not to feel repugnance to many of the
+novelties that now surrounded me.
+
+The total want of all the usual courtesies of the table, the voracious
+rapidity with which the viands were seized and devoured, the strange
+uncouth phrases and pronunciation; the loathsome spitting, from the
+contamination of which it was absolutely impossible to protect our
+dresses; the frightful manner of feeding with their knives, till the
+whole blade seemed to enter into the mouth; and the still more
+frightful manner of cleaning the teeth afterwards with a pocket knife,
+soon forced us to feel that we were not surrounded by the generals,
+colonels, and majors of the old world; and that the dinner hour was to
+be any thing rather than an hour of enjoyment.
+
+The little conversation that went forward while we remained in the
+room, was entirely political, and the respective claims of Adams and
+Jackson to the presidency were argued with more oaths and more
+vehemence than it had ever been my lot to hear. Once a colonel appeared
+on the verge of assaulting a major, when a huge seven-foot Kentuckian
+gentleman horse-dealer, asked of the heavens to confound them both, and
+bade them sit still and be d—d. We too thought we should share this
+sentence; at least sitting still in the cabin seemed very nearly to
+include the rest of it, and we never tarried there a moment longer than
+was absolutely necessary to eat.
+
+The unbroken flatness of the banks of the Mississippi continued
+unvaried for many miles above New Orleans; but the graceful and
+luxuriant palmetto, the dark and noble ilex, and the bright orange,
+were every where to be seen, and it was many days before we were weary
+of looking at them. We occasionally used the opportunity of the boat’s
+stopping to take in wood for a ten minutes’ visit to the shore; we in
+this manner explored a field of sugar canes, and loaded ourselves with
+as much of the sweet spoil as we could carry. Many of the passengers
+seemed fond of the luscious juice that is easily expressed from the
+canes, but it was too sweet for my palate. We also visited, in the same
+rapid manner, a cotton plantation. A handsome spacious building was
+pointed out to us as a convent, where a considerable number of young
+ladies were educated by the nuns.
+
+At one or two points the wearisome level line of forest is relieved by
+_bluffs_, as they call the short intervals of high ground. The town of
+Natches is beautifully situated on one of these high spots; the climate
+here, in the warm season, is as fatal as that of New Orleans; were it
+not for this, Natches would have great attractions to new settlers. The
+beautiful contrast that its bright green hill forms with the dismal
+line of black forest that stretches on every side, the abundant growth
+of pawpaw, palmetto and orange, the copious variety of sweet-scented
+flowers that flourish there, all make it appear like an oasis in the
+desert. Natches is the furthest point to the north at which oranges
+ripen in the open air, or endure the winter without shelter. With the
+exception of this sweet spot, I thought all the little towns and
+villages we passed, wretched looking, in the extreme. As the distance
+from New Orleans increased, the air of wealth and comfort exhibited in
+its immediate neighbourhood disappeared, and but for one or two
+clusters of wooden houses, calling themselves towns, and borrowing some
+pompous name, generally from Greece or Rome, we might have thought
+ourselves the first of the human race who had ever penetrated into this
+territory of bears and alligators. But still from time to time appeared
+the hut of the wood-cutter, who supplies the steam-boats with fuel, at
+the risk, or rather with the assurance of early death, in exchange for
+dollars and whiskey. These sad dwellings are nearly all of them
+inundated during the winter, and the best of them are constructed on
+piles, which permit the water to reach its highest level without
+drowning the wretched inhabitants. These unhappy beings are invariably
+the victims of ague, which they meet recklessly, sustained by the
+incessant use of ardent spirits. The squalid look of the miserable
+wives and children of these men was dreadful, and often as the
+spectacle was renewed I could never look at it with indifference. Their
+complexion is of a blueish white, that suggests the idea of dropsy;
+this is invariable, and the poor little ones wear exactly the same
+ghastly hue. A miserable cow and a few pigs standing knee-deep in
+water, distinguish the more prosperous of these dwellings, and on the
+whole I should say that I never witnessed human nature reduced so low,
+as it appeared in the wood-cutters’ huts on the unwholesome banks of
+the Mississippi.
+
+It is said that at some points of this dismal river, crocodiles are so
+abundant as to add the terror of their attacks to the other sufferings
+of a dwelling there. We were told a story of a squatter, who having
+“located” himself close to the river’s edge, proceeded to build his
+cabin. This operation is soon performed, for social feeling and the
+love of whiskey bring all the scanty neighbourhood round a new corner,
+to aid him in cutting down trees, and in rolling up the logs, till the
+mansion is complete. This was done; the wife and five young children
+were put in possession of their new home, and slept soundly after a
+long march. Towards daybreak the husband and father was awakened by a
+faint cry, and looking up, beheld relics of three of his children
+scattered over the floor, and an enormous crocodile, with several young
+ones around her, occupied in devouring the remnants of their horrid
+meal. He looked round for a weapon, but finding none, and aware that
+unarmed he could do nothing, he raised himself gently on his bed, and
+contrived to crawl from thence through a window, hoping that his wife,
+whom he left sleeping, might with the remaining children rest
+undiscovered till his return. He flew to his nearest neighbour and
+besought his aid; in less than half an hour two men returned with him,
+all three well armed; but alas! they were too late! the wife and her
+two babes lay mangled on their bloody bed. The gorged reptiles fell an
+easy prey to their assailants, who, upon examining the place, found the
+hut had been constructed close to the mouth of a large hole, almost a
+cavern, where the monster had hatched her hateful brood.
+
+Among other sights of desolation which mark this region, condemned of
+nature, the lurid glare of a burning forest was almost constantly
+visible after sunset, and when the wind so willed, the smoke arising
+from it floated in heavy vapour over our heads. Not all the novelty of
+the scene, not all its vastness, could prevent its heavy horror
+wearying the spirits. Perhaps the dinners and suppers I have described
+may help to account for this; but certain it is, that when we had
+wondered for a week at the ceaseless continuity of forest; had first
+admired, and then wearied of the festooned drapery of Spanish moss;
+when we had learned to distinguish the different masses of timber that
+passed us, or that we passed, as a “snag,” a “log” or a “sawyer;” when
+we had finally made up our minds that the gentlemen of the Kentucky and
+Ohio military establishments, were not of the same genus as those of
+the Tuilleries and St. James’s, we began to wish that we could sleep
+more hours away. As we advanced to the northward we were no longer
+cheered by the beautiful border of palmettos; and even the amusement of
+occasionally spying out a sleeping crocodile was over.
+
+Just in this state, when we would have fain believed that every mile we
+went, carried us two towards Memphis, a sudden and violent shock
+startled us frightfully.
+
+“It is a sawyer!” said one.
+
+“It is a snag!” cried another.
+
+“We are aground!” exclaimed the captain.
+
+“Aground? Good heavens! and how long shall we stay here?”
+
+“The Lord in his providence can only tell, but long enough to tire my
+patience, I expect.”
+
+And the poor English ladies, how fared they the while?
+
+Two breakfasts, two dinners, and a supper did they eat, with the Ohio
+and Kentucky gentlemen, before they moved an inch. Several steam-boats
+passed while we were thus enthralled; but some were not strong enough
+to attempt drawing us off, and some attempted it, but were not strong
+enough to succeed; at length a vast and mighty “thing of life”
+approached, threw out grappling irons; and in three minutes the
+business was done; again we saw the trees and mud slide swiftly past
+us; and a hearty shout from every passenger on deck declared their joy.
+
+At length we had the pleasure of being told that we had arrived at
+Memphis; but this pleasure was considerably abated by the hour of our
+arrival, which was midnight, and by the rain, which was falling in
+torrents.
+
+Memphis stands on a high bluff, and at the time of our arrival was
+nearly inaccessible. The heavy rain which had been falling for many
+hours would have made any steep ascent difficult, but unfortunately a
+new road had been recently marked out, which beguiled us into its
+almost bottomless mud, from the firmer footing of the unbroken cliff.
+Shoes and gloves were lost in the mire, for we were glad to avail
+ourselves of all our limbs, and we reached the grand hotel in a most
+deplorable state.
+
+Miss Wright was well known there, and as soon as her arrival was
+announced, every one seemed on the alert to receive her, and we soon
+found ourselves in possession of the best rooms in the hotel. The house
+was new, and in what appeared to me a very comfortless condition, but I
+was then new to Western America, and unaccustomed to their mode of
+“getting along,” as they term it. This phrase is eternally in use among
+them, and seems to mean existing with as few of the comforts of life as
+possible.
+
+We slept soundly however, and rose in the hope of soon changing our
+mortar-smelling-quarters for Miss Wright’s Nashoba.
+
+But we presently found that the rain which had fallen during the night
+would make it hazardous to venture through the forests of Tennessee in
+any sort of carriage; we therefore had to pass the day at our queer
+comfortless hotel. The steam-boat had wearied me of social meals, and I
+should have been thankful to have eaten our dinner of hard venison and
+peach-sauce in a private room; but this, Miss Wright said was
+impossible; the lady of the house would consider the proposal as a
+personal affront, and, moreover, it would be assuredly refused. This
+latter argument carried weight with it, and when the great bell was
+sounded from an upper window of the house, we proceeded to the
+dining-room. The table was laid for fifty persons, and was already
+nearly full. Our party had the honour of sitting near “the lady,” but
+to check the proud feelings to which such distinction might give birth,
+my servant, William, sat very nearly opposite to me. The company
+consisted of all the shop-keepers (store-keepers as they are called
+throughout the United States) of the little town. The mayor also, who
+was a friend of Miss Wright’s, was of the party; he is a pleasing
+gentlemanlike man, and seems strangely misplaced in a little town on
+the Mississippi. We were told that since the erection of this hotel, it
+has been the custom for all the male inhabitants of the town to dine
+and breakfast there. They ate in perfect silence, and with such
+astonishing rapidity that their dinner was over literally before our’s
+was began; the instant they ceased to eat, they darted from the table
+in the same moody silence which they had preserved since they entered
+the room, and a second set took their places, who performed their
+silent parts in the same manner. The only sounds heard were those
+produced by the knives and forks, with the unceasing chorus of
+coughing, &c. No women were present except ourselves and the hostess;
+the good women of Memphis being well content to let their lords partake
+of Mrs. Anderson’s turkeys and venison, (without their having the
+trouble of cooking for them), whilst they regale themselves on mash and
+milk at home.
+
+The remainder of the day passed pleasantly enough in rambling round the
+little town, which is situated at the most beautiful point of the
+Mississippi; the river is here so wide as to give it the appearance of
+a noble lake; an island, covered with lofty forest trees divides it,
+and relieves by its broad mass of shadow the uniformity of its waters.
+The town stretches in a rambling irregular manner along the cliff, from
+the Wolf River, one of the innumerable tributaries to the Mississippi,
+to about a mile below it. Half a mile more of the cliff beyond the town
+is cleared of trees, and produces good pasture for horses, cows, and
+pigs; sheep they had none. At either end of this space the forest again
+rears its dark wall, and seems to say to man, “so far shalt thou come,
+and no farther!” Courage and industry, however, have braved the
+warning. Behind this long street the town straggles back into the
+forest, and the rude path that leads to the more distant log dwellings
+becomes wilder at every step. The ground is broken by frequent
+water-courses, and the bridges that lead across them are formed by
+trunks of trees thrown over the stream, which support others of smaller
+growth, that are laid across them. These bridges are not very pleasant
+to pass, for they totter under the tread of a man, and tremble most
+frightfully beneath a horse or a waggon; they are, however, very
+picturesque. The great height of the trees, the quantity of pendant
+vine branches that hang amongst them; and the variety of gay plumaged
+birds, particularly the small green parrot, made us feel we were in a
+new world; and a repetition of our walk the next morning would have
+pleased us well, but Miss Wright was anxious to get home, and we were
+scarcely less so to see her Nashoba. A clumsy sort of caravan drawn by
+two horses was prepared for us; and we set off in high spirits for an
+expedition of fifteen miles through the forest. To avoid passing one of
+the bridges above described, which was thought insecure, our negro
+driver took us through a piece of water, which he assured us was not
+deep “to matter” however we soon lost sight of our pole, and as we were
+evidently descending, we gently remonstrated with him on the danger of
+proceeding, but he only grinned, and flogged in reply; we soon saw the
+front wheels disappear, and horses began to plunge and kick most
+alarmingly, but still without his looking at all disturbed. At length
+the splinter-bar gave way, upon which the black philosopher said very
+composedly, “I expect you’ll best be riding out upon the horses, as
+we’ve got into an unhandsome fix here.” Miss Wright, who sat composedly
+smiling at the scene, said, “Yes, Jacob, that is what we must do;” and
+with some difficulty we, in this manner, reached the shore, and soon
+found ourselves again assembled round Mrs. Anderson’s fire.
+
+It was soon settled that we must delay our departure till the waters
+had subsided, but Miss Wright was too anxious to reach home to endure
+this delay and she set off again on horseback, accompanied by our man
+servant, who told me afterwards that they rode through places that
+might have daunted the boldest hunter, but that “Miss Wright took it
+quite easy.”
+
+The next day we started again, and the clear air, the bright sun, the
+novel wildness of the dark forest, and our keenly awakened curiosity,
+made the excursion delightful, and enabled us to bear without shrinking
+the bumps and bruises we encountered. We soon lost all trace of a road,
+at least so it appeared to us, for the stumps of the trees, which had
+been cut away to open a passage, were left standing three feet high.
+Over these, the high-hung Deerborn, as our carriage was called, passed
+safely; but it required some miles of experience to convince us that
+every stump would not be our last; it was amusing to watch the cool and
+easy skill with which the driver wound his horses and wheels among
+these stumps. I thought he might have been imported to Bond street with
+great advantage. The forest became thicker and more dreary-looking
+every mile we advanced, but our ever-grinning negro declared it was a
+right good road, and that we should be sure to get to Nashoba.
+
+And so we did….and one glance sufficed to convince me that every idea I
+had formed of the place was as far as possible from the truth.
+Desolation was the only feeling—the only word that presented itself;
+but it was not spoken. I think, however, that Miss Wright was aware of
+the painful impression the sight of her forest home produced on me, and
+I doubt not that the conviction reached us both at the same moment,
+that we had erred in thinking that a few months passed together at this
+spot could be productive of pleasure to either. But to do her justice,
+I believe her mind was so exclusively occupied by the object she had
+then in view, that all things else were worthless, or indifferent to
+her. I never heard or read of any enthusiasm approaching her’s, except
+in some few instances, in ages past, of religious fanaticism.
+
+It must have been some feeling equally powerful which enabled Miss
+Wright, accustomed to all the comfort and refinement of Europe, to
+imagine not only that she herself could exist in this wilderness, but
+that her European friends could enter there, and not feel dismayed at
+the savage aspect of the scene. The annexed plate gives a faithful view
+of the cleared space and buildings which form the settlement. Each
+building consisted of two large rooms furnished in the most simple
+manner; nor had they as yet collected round them any of those minor
+comforts which ordinary minds class among the necessaries of life. But
+in this our philosophical friend seemed to see no evil; nor was there
+any mixture of affectation in this indifference; it was a circumstance
+really and truly beneath her notice. Her whole heart and soul were
+occupied by the hope of raising the African to the level of European
+intellect; and even now, that I have seen this favourite fabric of her
+imagination fall to pieces beneath her feet, I cannot recall the
+self-devotion with which she gave herself to it, without admiration.
+
+The only white persons we found at Nashoba were my amiable friend, Mrs.
+W—, the sister of Miss Wright, and her husband. I think they had
+between thirty and forty slaves, including children, but when I was
+there no school had been established. Books and other materials for the
+great experiment had been collected, and one or two professors engaged,
+but nothing was yet organized. I found my friend Mrs. W— in very bad
+health, which she confessed she attributed to the climate. This
+naturally so much alarmed me for my children, that I decided upon
+leaving the place with as little delay as possible, and did so at the
+end of ten days.
+
+I do not exactly know what was the immediate cause which induced Miss
+Wright to abandon a scheme which had taken such possession of her
+imagination, and on which she had expended so much money; but many
+months had not elapsed before I learnt, with much pleasure, that she
+and her sister had also left it. I think it probable that she became
+aware upon returning to Nashoba, that the climate was too hostile to
+their health. All I know farther of Nashoba is, that Miss Wright having
+found (from some cause or other) that it was impossible to pursue her
+object, herself accompanied her slaves to Hayti, and left them there,
+free, and under the protection of the President.
+
+I found no beauty in the scenery round Nashoba, nor can I conceive that
+it would possess any even in summer. The trees were so close to each
+other as not to permit the growth of underwood, the great ornament of
+the forest at New Orleans, and still less of our seeing any openings,
+where the varying effects of light and shade might atone for the
+absence of other objects. The clearing round the settlement appeared to
+me inconsiderable and imperfect; but I was told that they had grown
+good crops of cotton and Indian corn. The weather was dry and
+agreeable, and the aspects of the heavens by night surprisingly
+beautiful. I never saw moonlight so clear, so pure, so powerful.
+
+We returned to Memphis on the 26th January, 1828, and found ourselves
+obliged to pass five days there, awaiting a steam-boat for Cincinnati,
+to which metropolis of the west, I was now determined to proceed with
+my family to await the arrival of Mr. Trollope. We were told by
+everyone we spoke to at Memphis, that it was in all respects the finest
+situation west of the Alleghanies. We found many lovely walks among the
+broken forest glades around Memphis, which, together with a morning and
+evening enjoyment of the effects of a glowing horizon on the river,
+enabled us to wait patiently for the boat that was to bear us away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+Departure from Memphis—Ohio River Louisville—Cincinnati
+
+
+On the 1st of February, 1828, we embarked on board the Criterion, and
+once more began to float on the “father of waters,” as the poor
+banished Indians were wont to call the Mississippi. The company on
+board was wonderfully like what we had met in coming from New Orleans;
+I think they must have all been first cousins; and what was singular,
+they too had all arrived at high rank in the army. For many a wearisome
+mile above the Wolf River the only scenery was still
+forest—forest—forest; the only variety was produced by the receding of
+the river at some points, and its encroaching on the opposite shore.
+These changes are continually going on, but from what cause none could
+satisfactorily explain to me. Where the river is encroaching, the trees
+are seen growing in the water many feet deep; after some time, the
+water undermines their roots, and they become the easy victims of the
+first hurricane that blows. This is one source of the immense
+quantities of drift wood that float into the gulf of Mexico. Where the
+river has receded, a young growth of cane-brake is soon seen starting
+up with the rapid vegetation of the climate; these two circumstances in
+some degree relieve the sameness of the thousand miles of vegetable
+wall. But we were now approaching the river which is emphatically
+called “the beautiful,” La Belle Riveriere of the New Orleans French;
+and a few days took us, I trust for ever, out of that murky stream
+which is as emphatically called “the deadly;” and well does it seem to
+merit the title; the air of its shores is mephitic, and it is said that
+nothing that ever sunk beneath its muddy surface was known to rise
+again. As truly does “La Belle Rivière” deserve its name; the Ohio is
+bright and clear; its banks are continually varied, as it flows through
+what is called a rolling country, which seems to mean a district that
+cannot .shew a dozen paces of level ground at a time. The primaeval
+forest still occupies a considerable portion of the ground, and hangs
+in solemn grandeur from the cliffs; but it is broken by frequent
+settlements, where we were cheered by the sight of herds and flocks. I
+imagine that this river presents almost every variety of river scenery;
+sometimes its clear wave waters a meadow of level turf; sometimes it is
+bounded by perpendicular rocks; pretty dwellings, with their gay
+porticos are seen, alternately with wild intervals of forest, where the
+tangled bear-brake plainly enough indicates what inhabitants are native
+there. Often a mountain torrent comes pouring its silver tribute to the
+stream, and were there occasionally a ruined abbey, or feudal castle,
+to mix the romance of real life with that of nature, the Ohio would be
+perfect.
+
+So powerful was the effect of this sweet scenery, that we ceased to
+grumble at our dinners and suppers; nay, we almost learnt to rival our
+neighbours at table in their voracious rapidity of swallowing, so eager
+were we to place ourselves again on the guard, lest we might lose sight
+of the beauty that was passing away from us.
+
+Yet these fair shores are still unhealthy. More than once we landed,
+and conversed with the families of the wood-cutters, and scarcely was
+there one in which we did not hear of some member who had “lately died
+of the fever.”—They are all subject to ague, and though their dwellings
+are infinitely better than those on the Mississippi, the inhabitants
+still look like a race that are selling their lives for gold.
+
+Louisville is a considerable town, prettily situated on the Kentucky,
+or south side of the Ohio; we spent some hours in seeing all it had to
+shew; and had I not been told that a bad fever often rages there during
+the warm season, I should have liked to pass some months there for the
+purpose of exploring the beautiful country in its vicinity. Frankfort
+and Lexington are both towns worth visiting, though from their being
+out of the way places, I never got to either. The first is the seat of
+the state government of Kentucky, and the last is, I was told, the
+residence of several independent families, who, with more leisure than
+is usually enjoyed in America, have its natural accompaniment, more
+refinement.
+
+The falls of the Ohio are about a mile below Louisville, and produce a
+rapid, too sudden for the boats to pass, except in the rainy season.
+The passengers are obliged to get out below them, and travel by land to
+Louisville, where they find other vessels ready to receive them for the
+remainder of the voyage. We were spared this inconvenience by the water
+being too high for the rapid to be much felt, and it will soon be
+altogether removed by the Louisville canal coming into operation, which
+will permit the steam-boats to continue their progress from below the
+falls to the town.
+
+The scenery on the Kentucky side is much finer than on that of Indiana,
+or Ohio. The State of Kentucky was the darling spot of many tribes of
+Indians, and was reserved among them as a common hunting ground; it is
+said that they cannot yet name it without emotion, and that they have a
+sad and wild lament that they still chaunt to its memory. But their
+exclusion thence is of no recent date; Kentucky has been longer settled
+than the Illinois, Indiana, or Ohio, and it appears not only more
+highly cultivated, but more fertile and more picturesque than either. I
+have rarely seen richer pastures than those of Kentucky. The forest
+trees, where not too crowded, are of magnificent growth, and the crops
+are gloriously abundant where the thriftless husbandry has not worn out
+the soil by an unvarying succession of exhausting crops. We were shewn
+ground which had borne abundant crops of wheat for twenty successive
+years; but a much shorter period suffices to exhaust the ground, if it
+were made to produce tobacco without the intermission of some other
+crop.
+
+We reached Cincinnati on the 10th of February. It is finely situated on
+the south side of a hill that rises gently from the water’s edge; yet
+it is by no means a city of striking appearance; it wants domes,
+towers, and steeples; but its landing-place is noble, extending for
+more than a quarter of a mile; it is well paved, and surrounded by
+neat, though not handsome buildings. I have seen fifteen steam-boats
+lying there at once, and still half the wharf was unoccupied.
+
+On arriving we repaired to the Washington Hotel, and thought ourselves
+fortunate when we were told that we were just in time for dinner at the
+table d’hôte; but when the dining-room door was opened, we retreated
+with a feeling of dismay at seeing between sixty and seventy men
+already at table. We took our dinner with the females of the family,
+and then went forth to seek a house for our permanent accommodation.
+
+We went to the office of an advertising agent, who professed to keep a
+register of all such information, and described the dwelling we wanted.
+He made no difficulty, but told us his boy should be our guide through
+the city, and shew us what we sought; we accordingly set out with him,
+and he led us up one street, and down another, but evidently without
+any determinate object; I therefore stopped, and asked him whereabout
+the houses were which we were going to see. “I am looking for bills,”
+was his reply.
+
+I thought we could have looked for bills as well without him, and I
+told him so; upon which he assumed an air of great activity, and began
+knocking regularly at every door we passed, enquiring if the house was
+to be let. It was impossible to endure this long, and our guide was
+dismissed, though I was afterwards obliged to pay him a dollar for his
+services.
+
+We had the good fortune, however, to find a dwelling before long, and
+we returned to our hotel, having determined upon taking possession of
+it as soon at it could be got ready. Not wishing to take our evening
+meal either with the three score and ten gentlemen of the dining-room,
+nor yet with the half dozen ladies of the bar-room, I ordered tea in my
+own chamber. A good-humoured Irish woman came forward with a sort of
+patronising manner, took my hand, and said, “Och, my honey, ye’ll be
+from the old country. I’ll see you will have your tay all to
+yourselves, honey.” With this assurance we retired to my room, which
+was a handsome one as to its size and bed furniture, but it had no
+carpet, and was darkened by blinds of paper, such as rooms are hung
+with, which required to be rolled up, and then fastened with strings
+very awkwardly attached to the window-frames, whenever light or air
+were wished for. I afterwards met with these same uncomfortable blinds
+in every part of America.
+
+Our Irish friend soon reappeared, and brought us tea, together with the
+never failing accompaniments of American tea drinking, hung beef,
+“chipped up” raw, and sundry sweetmeats of brown sugar hue and flavour.
+We took our tea, and were enjoying our family talk, relative to our
+future arrangements, when a loud sharp knocking was heard at our door.
+My “come in,” was answered by the appearance of a portly personage, who
+proclaimed himself our landlord.
+
+“Are any of you ill?” he began.
+
+“No thank you, sir; we are all quite well,” was my reply.
+
+“Then, madam, I must tell you, that I cannot accommodate you on these
+terms; we have no family tea-drinkings here, and you must live either
+with me or my wife, or not at all in my house.”
+
+This was said with an air of authority that almost precluded reply, but
+I ventured a sort of apologistic hint, that we were strangers and
+unaccustomed to the manners of the country.
+
+“Our manners are very good manners, and we don’t wish any changes from
+England.”
+
+I thought of mine host of the Washington afterwards, when reading
+Scott’s “Anne of Geierstein;” he, in truth, strongly resembled the inn
+keeper therein immortalized, who made his guests eat, drink, and sleep,
+just where, when, and how he pleased. I made no farther remonstrance,
+but determined to hasten my removal. This we achieved the next day to
+our great satisfaction.
+
+We were soon settled in our new dwelling, which looked neat and
+comfortable enough, but we speedily found that it was devoid of nearly
+all the accommodation that Europeans conceive necessary to decency and
+comfort. No pump, no cistern, no drain of any kind, no dustman’s cart,
+or any other visible means of getting rid of the rubbish, which
+vanishes with such celerity in London, that one has no time to think of
+its existence; but which accumulated so rapidly at Cincinnati, that I
+sent for my landlord to know in what manner refuse of all kinds was to
+be disposed of.
+
+“Your Help will just have to fix them all into the middle of the
+street, but you must mind, old woman, that it is the middle. I expect
+you don’t know as we have got a law what forbids throwing such things
+at the sides of the streets; they must just all be cast right into the
+middle, and the pigs soon takes them off.”
+
+In truth the pigs are constantly seen doing Herculean service in this
+way through every quarter of the city; and though it is not very
+agreeable to live surrounded by herds of these unsavoury animals, it is
+well they are so numerous, and so active in their capacity of
+scavengers, for without them the streets would soon be choked up with
+all sorts of substances in every stage of decomposition.
+
+We had heard so much of Cincinnati, its beauty, wealth, and unequalled
+prosperity, that when we left Memphis to go thither, we almost felt the
+delight of Rousseau’s novice, “un voyage à faire, et Paris au bout!”
+—As soon, therefore, as our little domestic arrangements were
+completed, we set forth to view this “wonder of the west” this
+“prophet’s gourd of magic growth,”—this “infant Hercules;” and surely
+no travellers ever paraded a city under circumstances more favourable
+to their finding it fair to the sight. Three dreary months had elapsed
+since we had left the glories of London behind us; for nearly the whole
+of that time we beheld no other architecture than what our ship and
+steam-boats had furnished, and excepting at New Orleans, had seen
+hardly a trace of human habitations. The sight of bricks and mortar was
+really refreshing, and a house of three stories looked splendid. Of
+this splendour we saw repeated specimens, and moreover a brick church,
+which, from its two little peaked spires, is called the two-horned
+church. But, alas! the flatness of reality after the imagination has
+been busy! I hardly know what I expected to find in this city, fresh
+risen from the bosom of the wilderness, but certainly it was not a
+little town, about the size of Salisbury, without even an attempt at
+beauty in any of its edifices, and with only just enough of the air of
+a city to make it noisy and bustling. The population is greater than
+the appearance of the town would lead one to expect. This is partly
+owing to the number of free Negroes who herd together in an obscure
+part of the city, called little Africa; and partly to the density of
+the population round the paper-mills and other manufactories. I believe
+the number of inhabitants exceeds twenty thousand.
+
+We arrived in Cincinnati in February, 1828, and I speak of the town as
+it was then; several small churches have been built since, whose towers
+agreeably relieve its uninteresting mass of buildings. At that time I
+think Main street, which is the principal avenue, (and runs through the
+whole town, answering to the High street of our old cities), was the
+only one entirely paved. The _troittoir_ is of brick, tolerably well
+laid, but it is inundated by every shower, as Cincinnati has no drains
+whatever. What makes this omission the more remarkable is, that the
+situation of the place is calculated both to facilitate their
+construction and render them necessary. Cincinnati is built on the side
+of a hill that begins to rise at the river’s edge, and were it
+furnished with drains of the simplest arrangement, the heavy showers of
+the climate would keep them constantly clean; as it is, these showers
+wash the higher streets, only to deposit their filth in the first level
+spot; and this happens to be in the street second in importance to Main
+street, running at right angles to it, and containing most of the large
+warehouses of the town. This deposit is a dreadful nuisance, and must
+be productive of miasma during the hot weather.
+
+The town is built, as I believe most American towns are, in squares, as
+they call them; but these squares are the reverse of our’s, being solid
+instead of hollow. Each consists, or is intended to consist, when the
+plan of the city is completed, of a block of buildings fronting north,
+east, west, and south; each house communicating with an alley,
+furnishing a back entrance. This plan would not be a bad one were the
+town properly drained, but as it is, these alleys are horrible
+abominations, and must, I conceive, become worse with every passing
+year.
+
+To the north, Cincinnati is bounded by a range of forest-covered hills,
+sufficiently steep and rugged to prevent their being built upon, or
+easily cultivated, but not sufficiently high to command from their
+summits a view of any considerable extent. Deep and narrow
+water-courses, dry in summer, but bringing down heavy streams in
+winter, divide these hills into many separate heights, and this
+furnishes the only variety the landscape offers for many miles round
+the town. The lovely Ohio is a beautiful feature wherever it is
+visible, but the only part of the city that has the advantage of its
+beauty is the street nearest to its bank. The hills of Kentucky, which
+rise at about the same distance from the river, on the opposite side,
+form the southern boundary to the basin in which Cincinnati is built.
+
+On first arriving, I thought the many tree covered hills around, very
+beautiful, but long before my departure, I felt so weary of the
+confined view, that Salisbury Plain would have been an agreeable
+variety. I doubt if any inhabitant of Cincinnati ever mounted these
+hills so often as myself and my children; but it was rather for the
+enjoyment of a freer air than for any beauty of prospect, that we took
+our daily climb. These hills afford neither shrubs nor flowers, but
+furnish the finest specimens of millepore in the world; and the water
+courses are full of fossil productions.
+
+The forest trees are neither large nor well grown, and so close as to
+be nearly knotted together at top; even the wild vine here loses its
+beauty, for its graceful festoons bear leaves only when they reach the
+higher branches of the tree that supports them, both air and light
+being too scantily found below to admit of their doing more than
+climbing with a bare stem till they reach a better atmosphere. The herb
+we call pennyroyal was the only one I found in abundance, and that only
+on the brows, where the ground had been partially cleared; vegetation
+is impossible elsewhere, and it is this circumstance which makes the
+“eternal forests” of America so detestable. Near New Orleans the
+undergrowth of Palmetto and pawpaw is highly beautiful, but in
+Tennessee, Indiana, and Ohio, I never found the slightest beauty in the
+forest scenery. Fallen trees in every possible stage of decay, and
+congeries of leaves that have been rotting since the flood, cover the
+ground and infect the air. The beautiful variety of foliage afforded by
+evergreens never occurs, and in Tennessee, and that part of Ohio that
+surrounds Cincinnati, even the sterile beauty of rocks is wanting. On
+crossing the water to Kentucky the scene is greatly improved; beech and
+chestnut, of magnificent growth, border the beautiful river; the ground
+has been well cleared, and the herbage is excellent; the pawpaw grows
+abundantly, and is a splendid shrub, though it bears neither fruit nor
+flowers so far north. The noble tulip tree flourishes here, and blooms
+profusely.
+
+The river Licking flows into the Ohio nearly opposite Cincinnati; it is
+a pretty winding stream, and two or three miles from its mouth has a
+brisk rapid, dancing among white stones, which, in the absence of
+better rocks, we found very picturesque.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+
+Cincinnati—Forest Farm—Mr. Bullock
+
+
+Though I do not quite sympathise with those who consider Cincinnati as
+one of the wonders of the earth, I certainly think it a city of
+extraordinary size and importance, when it is remembered that thirty
+years ago the aboriginal forest occupied the ground where it stands;
+and every month appears to extend its limits and its wealth.
+
+Some of the native political economists assert that this rapid
+conversion of a bear-brake into a prosperous city, is the result of
+free political institutions; not being very deep in such matters, a
+more obvious cause suggested itself to me, in the unceasing goad which
+necessity applies to industry in this country, and in the absence of
+all resource for the idle. During nearly two years that I resided in
+Cincinnati, or its neighbourhood, I neither saw a beggar, nor a man of
+sufficient fortune to permit his ceasing his efforts to increase it;
+thus every bee in the hive is actively employed in search of that honey
+of Hybla, vulgarly called money; neither art, science, learning, nor
+pleasure can seduce them from its pursuit. This unity of purpose,
+backed by the spirit of enterprise, and joined with an acuteness and
+total absence of probity, where interest is concerned, which might set
+canny Yorkshire at defiance, may well go far towards obtaining its
+purpose.
+
+The low rate of taxation, too, unquestionably permits a more rapid
+accumulation of individual wealth than with us; but till I had
+travelled through America, I had no idea how much of the money
+collected in taxes returns among the people, not only in the purchase
+of what their industry furnishes, but in the actual enjoyment of what
+is furnished. Were I an English legislator, instead of sending sedition
+to the Tower, I would send her to make a tour of the United States. I
+had a little leaning towards sedition myself when I set out, but before
+I had half completed my tour I was quite cured.
+
+I have read much of the “few and simple wants of rational man,” and I
+used to give a sort of dreamy acquiescence to the reasoning that went
+to prove each added want an added woe. Those who reason in a
+comfortable London drawing-room know little about the matter. Were the
+aliments which sustain life all that we wanted, the faculties of the
+hog might suffice us; but if we analyze an hour of enjoyment, we shall
+find that it is made up of agreeable sensations occasioned by a
+thousand delicate impressions on almost as many nerves; where these
+nerves are sluggish from never having been awakened, external objects
+are less important, for they are less perceived; but where the whole
+machine of the human frame is in full activity, where every sense
+brings home to consciousness its touch of pleasure or of pain, then
+every object that meets the senses is important as a vehicle of
+happiness or misery. But let no frames so tempered visit the United
+States, or if they do, let it be with no longer pausing than will store
+the memory with images, which, by the force of contrast, shall sweeten
+the future.
+
+“Guarda e passa (e poi) ragioniam di lor.”
+
+
+The “simple” manner of living in Western America was more distasteful
+to me from its levelling effects on the manners of the people, than
+from the personal privations that it rendered necessary; and yet, till
+I was without them, I was in no degree aware of the many pleasurable
+sensations derived from the little elegancies and refinements enjoyed
+by the middle classes in Europe. There were many circumstances, too
+trifling even for my gossiping pages, which pressed themselves daily
+and hourly upon us, and which forced us to remember painfully that we
+were not at home. It requires an abler pen than mine to trace the
+connection which I am persuaded exists between these deficiencies and
+the minds and manners of the people. All animal wants are supplied
+profusely at Cincinnati, and at a very easy rate; but, alas! these go
+but a little way in the history of a day’s enjoyment. The total and
+universal want of manners, both in males and females, is so remarkable,
+that I was constantly endeavouring to account for it. It certainly does
+not proceed from want of intellect. I have listened to much dull and
+heavy conversation in America, but rarely to any that I could strictly
+call silly, (if I except the every where privileged class of very young
+ladies). They appear to me to have clear heads and active intellects;
+are more ignorant on subjects that are only of conventional value, than
+on such as are of intrinsic importance; but there is no charm, no grace
+in their conversation. I very seldom during my whole stay in the
+country heard a sentence elegantly turned, and correctly pronounced
+from the lips of an American. There is always something either in the
+expression or the accent that jars the feelings and shocks the taste.
+
+I will not pretend to decide whether man is better or worse off for
+requiring refinement in the manners and customs of the society that
+surrounds him, and for being incapable of enjoyment without them; but
+in America that polish which removes the coarser and rougher parts of
+our nature is unknown and undreamed of. There is much substantial
+comfort, and some display in the larger cities; in many of the more
+obvious features they are as Paris or as London, being all large
+assemblies of active and intelligent human beings—but yet they are
+wonderfully unlike in nearly all their moral features. Now God forbid
+that any reasonable American, (of whom there are so many millions),
+should ever come to ask me what I mean; I should find it very
+difficult, nay, perhaps, utterly impossible, to explain myself; but, on
+the other hand, no European who has visited the Union, will find the
+least difficulty in understanding me. I am in no way competent to judge
+of the political institutions of America; and if I should occasionally
+make an observation on their effects, as they meet my superficial
+glance, they will be made in the spirit, and with the feeling of a
+woman, who is apt to tell what her first impressions may be, but unapt
+to reason back from effects to their causes. Such observations, if they
+be unworthy of much attention, are also obnoxious to little reproof:
+but there are points of national peculiarity of which women may judge
+as ably as men,—all that constitutes the external of society may be
+fairly trusted to us.
+
+Captain Hall, when asked what appeared to him to constitute the
+greatest difference between England and America, replied, like a
+gallant sailor, “the want of loyalty.” Were the same question put to
+me, I should answer, “the want of refinement.”
+
+Were Americans, indeed, disposed to assume the plain unpretending
+deportment of the Switzer in the days of his picturesque simplicity,
+(when, however, he never chewed tobacco), it would be in bad taste to
+censure him; but this is not the case. Jonathan will be a fine
+gentleman, but it must be in his own way. Is he not a free-born
+American? Jonathan, however, must remember, that if he will challenge
+competition with the old world, the old world will now and then look
+out to see how he supports his pretensions.
+
+With their hours of business, whether judicial or mercantile, civil or
+military, I have nothing to do; I doubt not they are all spent wisely
+and profitably; but what are their hours of recreation? Those hours
+that with us are passed in the enjoyment of all that art can win from
+nature; when, if the elaborate repast be more deeply relished than
+sages might approve, it is redeemed from sensuality by the presence of
+elegance and beauty. What is the American pendant to this? I will not
+draw any comparisons between a good dinner party in the two countries;
+I have heard American gentlemen say, that they could perceive no
+difference between them; but in speaking of general manners, I may
+observe, that it is rarely they dine in society, except in taverns and
+boarding houses. Then they eat with the greatest possible rapidity, and
+in total silence; I have heard it said by American ladies, that the
+hours of greatest enjoyment to the gentlemen were those in which a
+glass of gin cocktail, or egging, receives its highest relish from the
+absence of all restraint whatever; and when there were no ladies to
+trouble them.
+
+Notwithstanding all this, the country is a very fine country, well
+worth visiting for a thousand reasons; nine hundred and ninety-nine of
+these are reasons founded on admiration and respect; the thousandth is,
+that we shall feel the more contented with our own. The more unlike a
+country through which we travel is to all we have left, the more we are
+likely to be amused; every thing in Cincinnati had this newness, and I
+should have thought it a place delightful to visit, but to tarry there
+was not to feel at home.
+
+My home, however, for a time it was to be. We heard on every side, that
+of all the known places on “the globe called earth,” Cincinnati was the
+most favourable for a young man to settle in; and I only awaited the
+arrival of Mr. T. to fix our son there, intending to continue with him
+till he should feel himself sufficiently established. We accordingly
+determined upon making ourselves as comfortable as possible. I took a
+larger house, which, however, I did not obtain without considerable
+difficulty, as, notwithstanding fourteen hundred new dwellings had been
+erected the preceding year, the demand for houses greatly exceeded the
+supply. We became acquainted with several amiable people, and we
+beguiled the anxious interval that preceded Mr. T.’s joining us by
+frequent excursions in the neighbourhood, which not only afforded us
+amusement, but gave us an opportunity of observing the mode of life of
+the country people.
+
+We visited one farm, which interested us particularly from its wild and
+lonely situation, and from the entire dependence of the inhabitants
+upon their own resources. It was a partial clearing in the very heart
+of the forest. The house was built on the side of a hill, so steep that
+a high ladder was necessary to enter the front door, while the back one
+opened against the hill side; at the foot of this sudden eminence ran a
+clear stream, whose bed had been deepened into a little reservoir, just
+opposite the house. A noble field of Indian-corn stretched away into
+the forest on one side, and a few half-cleared acres, with a shed or
+two upon them, occupied the other, giving accommodation to cows,
+horses, pigs, and chickens innumerable. Immediately before the house
+was a small potatoe garden, with a few peach and apple trees. The house
+was built of logs, and consisted of two rooms, besides a little shanty
+or lean-to, that was used as a kitchen. Both rooms were comfortably
+furnished with good beds, drawers, &c. The farmer’s wife, and a young
+woman who looked like her sister, were spinning, and three little
+children were playing about. The woman told me that they spun and wove
+all the cotton and woolen garments of the family, and knit all the
+stockings; her husband, though not a shoe-maker by trade, made all the
+shoes. She manufactured all the soap and candles they used, and
+prepared her sugar from the sugar-trees on their farm. All she wanted
+with money, she said, was to buy coffee, tea, and whiskey, and she
+could “get enough any day by sending a batch of butter and chicken to
+market.” They used no wheat, nor sold any of their corn, which, though
+it appeared a very large quantity, was not more than they required to
+make their bread and cakes of various kinds, and to feed all their live
+stock during the winter. She did not look in health, and said they had
+all had ague in “the fall;” but she seemed contented, and proud of her
+independence; though it was in somewhat a mournful accent that she
+said, “Tis strange to us to see company: I expect the sun may rise and
+set a hundred times before I shall see another _human_ that does not
+belong to the family.”
+
+I have been minute in the description of this forest farm, as I think
+it the best specimen I saw of the back-wood’s independence, of which so
+much is said in America. These people were indeed independent, Robinson
+Crusoe was hardly more so, and they eat and drink abundantly; but yet
+it seemed to me that there was something awful and almost unnatural in
+their loneliness. No village bell ever summoned them to prayer, where
+they might meet the friendly greeting of their fellow-men. When they
+die, no spot sacred by ancient reverence will receive their
+bones—Religion will not breathe her sweet and solemn farewell upon
+their grave; the husband or the father will dig the pit that is to hold
+them, beneath the nearest tree; he will himself deposit them within it,
+and the wind that whispers through the boughs will be their only
+requiem. But then they pay neither taxes nor tythes, are never expected
+to pull off a hat or to make a curtsy, and will live and die without
+hearing or uttering the dreadful words, “God save the king.”
+
+About two miles below Cincinnati, on the Kentucky side of the river,
+Mr. Bullock, the well known proprietor of the Egyptian Hall, has bought
+a large estate, with a noble house upon it. He and his amiable wife
+were devoting themselves to the embellishment of the house and grounds;
+and certainly there is more taste and art lavished on one of their
+beautiful saloons, than all Western America can show elsewhere. It is
+impossible to help feeling that Mr. Bullock is rather out of his
+element in this remote spot, and the gems of art he has brought with
+him, shew as strangely there, as would a bower of roses in Siberia, or
+a Cincinnati fashionable at Almack’s. The exquisite beauty of the spot,
+commanding one of the finest reaches of the Ohio, the extensive
+gardens, and the large and handsome mansion, have tempted Mr. Bullock
+to spend a large sum in the purchase of this place, and if any one who
+has passed his life in London could endure such a change, the active
+mind and sanguine spirit of Mr. Bullock might enable him to do it; but
+his frank, and truly English hospitality, and his enlightened and
+enquiring mind, seemed sadly wasted there. I have since heard with
+pleasure that Mr. Bullock has parted with this beautiful, but secluded
+mansion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+
+Servants—Society—Evening Parties
+
+
+The greatest difficulty in organising a family establishment in Ohio,
+is getting servants, or, as it is there called, “getting help,” for it
+is more than petty treason to the Republic, to call a free citizen a
+_servant_. The whole class of young women, whose bread depends upon
+their labour, are taught to believe that the most abject poverty is
+preferable to domestic service. Hundreds of half-naked girls work in
+the paper-mills, or in any other manufactory, for less than half the
+wages they would receive in service; but they think their equality is
+compromised by the latter, and nothing but the wish to obtain some
+particular article of finery will ever induce them to submit to it. A
+kind friend, however, exerted herself so effectually for me, that a
+tall stately lass soon presented herself, saying, “I be come to help
+you.” The intelligence was very agreeable, and I welcomed her in the
+most gracious manner possible, and asked what I should give her by the
+year.
+
+“Oh Gimini!” exclaimed the damsel, with a loud laugh, “you be a
+downright Englisher, sure enough. I should like to see a young lady
+engage by the year in America! I hope I shall get a husband before many
+months, or I expect I shall be an outright old maid, for I be most
+seventeen already; besides, mayhap I may want to go to school. You must
+just give me a dollar and half a week, and mother’s slave, Phillis,
+must come over once a week, I expect, from t’other side the water, to
+help me clean.” I agreed to the bargain, of course, with all dutiful
+submission; and seeing she was preparing to set to work in a yellow
+dress parseme with red roses, I gently hinted, that I thought it was a
+pity to spoil so fine a gown, and that she had better change it.
+
+“’Tis just my best and my worst,” she answered, “for I’ve got no
+other.”
+
+And in truth I found that this young lady had left the paternal mansion
+with no more clothes of any kind than what she had on. I immediately
+gave her money to purchase what was necessary for cleanliness and
+decency, and set to work with my daughters to make her a gown. She
+grinned applause when our labour was completed, but never uttered the
+slightest expression of gratitude for that, or for any thing else we
+could do for her. She was constantly asking us to lend her different
+articles of dress, and when we declined it, she said, “Well, I never
+seed such grumpy folks as you be; there is several young ladies of my
+acquaintance what goes to live out now and then with the old women
+about the town, and they and their gurls always lends them what they
+asks for; I guess you Inglish thinks we should poison your things, just
+as bad as if we was Negurs.” And here I beg to assure the reader, that
+whenever I give conversations they were not made À LOISIR, but were
+written down immediately after they occurred, with all the verbal
+fidelity my memory permitted.
+
+This young lady left me at the end of two months, because I refused to
+lend her money enough to buy a silk dress to go to a ball, saying,
+“Then ’tis not worth my while to stay any longer.”
+
+I cannot imagine it possible that such a state of things can be
+desirable, or beneficial to any of the parties concerned. I might
+occupy a hundred pages on the subject, and yet fail to give an adequate
+idea of the sore, angry, ever wakeful pride that seemed to torment
+these poor wretches. In many of them it was so excessive, that all
+feeling of displeasure, or even of ridicule, was lost in pity. One of
+these was a pretty girl, whose natural disposition must have been
+gentle and kind; but her good feelings were soured, and her gentleness
+turned to morbid sensitiveness, by having heard a thousand and a
+thousand times that she was as good as any other lady, that all men
+were equal, and women too, and that it was a sin and a shame for a
+free-born American to be treated like a servant.
+
+When she found she was to dine in the kitchen, she turned up her pretty
+lip, and said, “I guess that’s ’cause you don’t think I’m good enough
+to eat with you. You’ll find that won’t do here.” I found afterwards
+that she rarely ate any dinner at all, and generally passed the time in
+tears. I did every thing in my power to conciliate and make her happy,
+but I am sure she hated me. I gave her very high wages, and she staid
+till she had obtained several expensive articles of dress, and then, UN
+BEAU MATIN, she came to me full dressed, and said, “I must go.” “When
+shall you return, Charlotte?” “I expect you’ll see no more of me.” And
+so we parted. Her sister was also living with me, but her wardrobe was
+not yet completed, and she remained some weeks longer, till it was.
+
+I fear it may be called bad taste to say so much concerning my
+domestics, but, nevertheless, the circumstances are so characteristic
+of America that I must recount another history relating to them. A few
+days after the departure of my ambitious belle, my cries for “Help” had
+been so effectual that another young lady presented herself, with the
+usual preface “I’m come to help you.” I had been cautioned never to ask
+for a reference for character, as it would not only rob me of that
+help, but entirely prevent my ever getting another; so, five minutes
+after she entered she was installed, bundle and all, as a member of the
+family. She was by no means handsome, but there was an air of simple
+frankness in her manner that won us all. For my own part, I thought I
+had got a second Jeanie Deans; for she recounted to me histories of her
+early youth, wherein her plain good sense and strong mind had enabled
+her to win her way through a host of cruel step-mothers, faithless
+lovers, and cheating brothers. Among other things, she told me, with
+the appearance of much emotion, that she had found, since she came to
+town, a cure for all her sorrows, “Thanks and praise for it, I have got
+religion!” and then she asked if I would spare her to go to Meeting
+every Tuesday and Thursday evening; “You shall not have to want me,
+Mrs. Trollope, for our minister knows that we have all our duties to
+perform to man, as well as to God, and he makes the Meeting late in the
+evening that they may not cross one another.” Who could refuse? Not I,
+and Nancy had leave to go to Meeting two evenings in the week, besides
+Sundays.
+
+One night, that the mosquitoes had found their way under my net, and
+prevented my sleeping, I heard some one enter the house very late; I
+got up, went to the top of the stairs, and, by the help of a bright
+moon, recognised Nancy’s best bonnet. I called to her: “You are very
+late.” said I. “what is the reason of it?” “Oh, Mrs. Trollope,” she
+replied, “I am late, indeed! We have this night had seventeen souls
+added to our flock. May they live to bless this night! But it has been
+a long sitting, and very warm; I’ll just take a drink of water, and get
+to bed; you shan’t find me later in the morning for it.” Nor did I. She
+was an excellent servant, and performed more than was expected from
+her; moreover, she always found time to read the Bible several times in
+the day, and I seldom saw her occupied about any thing without
+observing that she had placed it near her.
+
+At last she fell sick with the cholera, and her life was despaired of.
+I nursed her with great care, and sat up the greatest part of two
+nights with her. She was often delirious, and all her wandering
+thoughts seemed to ramble to heaven. “I have been a sinner,” she said,
+“but I am safe in the Lord Jesus.” When she recovered, she asked me to
+let her go into the country for a few days, to change the air, and
+begged me to lend her three dollars.
+
+While she was absent a lady called on me, and enquired, with some
+agitation, if my servant, Nancy Fletcher, were at home. I replied that
+she was gone into the country. “Thank God,” she exclaimed, “never let
+her enter your doors again, she is the most abandoned woman in the
+town: a gentleman who knows you, has been told that she lives with you,
+and that she boasts of having the power of entering your house at any
+hour of night.” She told me many other circumstances, unnecessary to
+repeat, but all tending to prove that she was a very dangerous inmate.
+
+I expected her home the next evening, and I believe I passed the
+interval in meditating how to get rid of her without an
+_eclaircissement_. At length she arrived, and all my study having
+failed to supply me with any other reason than the real one for
+dismissing her, I stated it at once. Not the slightest change passed
+over her countenance, but she looked steadily at me, and said, in a
+very civil tone, “I should like to know who told you.” I replied that
+it could be of no advantage to her to know, and that I wished her to go
+immediately. “I am ready to go,” she said, in the same quiet tone, “but
+what will you do for your three dollars?” “I must do without them,
+Nancy; good morning to you.” “I must just put up my things,” she said,
+and left the room. About half an hour afterwards, when we were all
+assembled at dinner, she entered with her usual civil composed air,
+“Well, I am come to wish you all goodbye,” and with a friendly
+good-humoured smile she left us.
+
+This adventure frightened me so heartily, that, notwithstanding I had
+the dread of cooking my own dinner before my eyes, I would not take any
+more young ladies into my family without receiving some slight sketch
+of their former history. At length I met with a very worthy French
+woman, and soon after with a tidy English girl to assist her; and I had
+the good fortune to keep them till a short time before my departure:
+so, happily, I have no more misfortunes of this nature to relate.
+
+Such being the difficulties respecting domestic arrangements, it is
+obvious, that the ladies who are brought up amongst them cannot have
+leisure for any great development of the mind: it is, in fact, out of
+the question; and, remembering this, it is more surprising that some
+among them should be very pleasing, than that none should be highly
+instructed.
+
+Had I passed as many evenings in company in any other town that I ever
+visited as I did in Cincinnati, I should have been able to give some
+little account of the conversations I had listened to; but, upon
+reading over my notes, and then taxing my memory to the utmost to
+supply the deficiency, I can scarcely find a trace of any thing that
+deserves the name. Such as I have, shall be given in their place. But,
+whatever may be the talents of the persons who meet together in
+society, the very shape, form, and arrangement of the meeting is
+sufficient to paralyze conversation. The women invariably herd together
+at one part of the room, and the men at the other; but, in justice to
+Cincinnati, I must acknowledge that this arrangement is by no means
+peculiar to that city, or to the western side of the Alleghanies.
+Sometimes a small attempt at music produces a partial reunion; a few of
+the most daring youths, animated by the consciousness of curled hair
+and smart waistcoats, approach the piano forte, and begin to mutter a
+little to the half-grown pretty things, who are comparing with one
+another “how many quarters’ music they have had.” Where the mansion is
+of sufficient dignity to have two drawing-rooms, the piano, the little
+ladies, and the slender gentlemen are left to themselves, and on such
+occasions the sound of laughter is often heard to issue from among
+them. But the fate of the more dignified personages, who are left in
+the other room, is extremely dismal. The gentlemen spit, talk of
+elections and the price of produce, and spit again. The ladies look at
+each other’s dresses till they know every pin by heart; talk of Parson
+Somebody’s last sermon on the day of judgment, on Dr. T’otherbody’s new
+pills for dyspepsia, till the “tea” is announced, when they all console
+themselves together for whatever they may have suffered in keeping
+awake, by taking more tea, coffee, hot cake and custard, hoe cake,
+johny cake, waffle cake, and dodger cake, pickled peaches, and
+preserved cucumbers, ham, turkey, hung beef, apple sauce, and pickled
+oysters than ever were prepared in any other country of the known
+world. After this massive meal is over, they return to the
+drawing-room, and it always appeared to me that they remained together
+as long as they could bear it, and then they rise EN MASSE, cloak,
+bonnet, shawl, and exit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+
+Market—Museum—Picture Gallery—Academy of Fine Arts Drawing
+School—Phrenological Society—Miss Wright’s Lecture.
+
+
+Perhaps the most advantageous feature in Cincinnati is its market,
+which, for excellence, abundance, and cheapness, can hardly, I should
+think, be surpassed in any part of the world, if I except the luxury of
+fruits, which are very inferior to any I have seen in Europe. There are
+no butchers, fishmongers, or indeed any shops for eatables, except
+bakeries, as they are called, in the town; every thing must be
+purchased at market; and to accomplish this, the busy housewife must be
+stirring betimes, or, ’spite of the abundant supply, she will find her
+hopes of breakfast, dinner, and supper for the day defeated, the market
+being pretty well over by eight o’clock.
+
+The beef is excellent, and the highest price when we were there, four
+cents (about two-pence) the pound. The mutton was inferior, and so was
+veal to the eye, but it ate well, though not very fat; the price was
+about the same. The poultry was excellent; fowls or full-sized
+chickens, ready for table, twelve cents, but much less if bought alive,
+and not quite fat; turkeys about fifty cents, and geese the same. The
+Ohio furnishes several sorts of fish, some of them very good, and
+always to be found cheap and abundant in the market. Eggs, butter,
+nearly all kinds of vegetables, excellent, and at moderate prices. From
+June till December tomatoes (the great luxury of the American table in
+the opinion of most Europeans) may be found in the highest perfection
+in the market for about sixpence the peck. They have a great variety of
+beans unknown in England, particularly the lima-bean, the seed of which
+is dressed like the French harico; it furnishes a very abundant crop,
+and is a most delicious vegetable: could it be naturalised with us it
+would be a valuable acquisition. The Windsor, or broad-bean, will not
+do well there; Mr. Bullock had them in his garden, where they were
+cultivated with much care; they grew about a foot high and blossomed,
+but the pod never ripened. All the fruit I saw exposed for sale in
+Cincinnati was most miserable. I passed two summers there, but never
+tasted a peach worth eating. Of apricots and nectarines I saw none;
+strawberries very small, raspberries much worse; gooseberries very few,
+and quite uneatable; currants about half the size of ours, and about
+double the price; grapes too sour for tarts; apples abundant, but very
+indifferent, none that would be thought good enough for an English
+table; pears, cherries, and plums most miserably bad. The flowers of
+these regions were at least equally inferior: whether this proceeds
+from want of cultivation or from peculiarity of soil I know not, but
+after leaving Cincinnati, I was told by a gentleman who appeared to
+understand the subject, that the state of Ohio had no indigenous
+flowers or fruits. The water-melons, which in that warm climate furnish
+a delightful refreshment, were abundant and cheap; but all other melons
+very inferior to those of France, or even of England, when ripened in a
+common hot-bed.
+
+From the almost total want of pasturage near the city, it is difficult
+for a stranger to divine how milk is furnished for its supply, but we
+soon learnt that there are more ways than one of keeping a cow. A large
+proportion of the families in the town, particularly of the poorer
+class, have one, though apparently without any accommodation whatever
+for it. These animals are fed morning and evening at the door of the
+house, with a good mess of Indian corn, boiled with water; while they
+eat, they are milked, and when the operation is completed the milk-pail
+and the meal-tub retreat into the dwelling, leaving the republican cow
+to walk away, to take her pleasure on the hills, or in the gutters, as
+may suit her fancy best. They generally return very regularly to give
+and take the morning and evening meal; though it more than once
+happened to us, before we were supplied by a regular milk cart, to have
+our jug sent home empty, with the sad news that “the cow was not come
+home, and it was too late to look for her to breakfast now.” Once, I
+remember, the good woman told us that she had overslept herself, and
+that the cow had come and gone again, “not liking, I expect, to hanker
+about by herself for nothing, poor thing.”
+
+Cincinnati has not many lions to boast, but among them are two museums
+of natural history; both of these contain many respectable specimens,
+particularly that of Mr. Dorfeuille, who has moreover, some highly
+interesting Indian antiquities. He is a man of taste and science, but a
+collection formed strictly according to their dictates, would by no
+means satisfy the western metropolis. The people have a most
+extravagant passion for wax figures, and the two museums vie with each
+other in displaying specimens of this barbarous branch of art. As Mr.
+Dorfeuille cannot trust to his science for attracting the citizens, he
+has put his ingenuity into requisition, and this has proved to him the
+surer aid of the two. He has constructed a pandaemonium in an upper
+story of his museum, in which he has congregated all the images of
+horror that his fertile fancy could devise; dwarfs that by machinery
+grow into giants before the eyes of the spectator; imps of ebony with
+eyes of flame; monstrous reptiles devouring youth and beauty; lakes of
+fire, and mountains of ice; in short, wax, paint and springs have done
+wonders. “To give the scheme some more effect,” he makes it visible
+only through a grate of massive iron bars, among which are arranged
+wires connected with an electrical machine in a neighbouring chamber;
+should any daring hand or foot obtrude itself with the bars, it
+receives a smart shock, that often passes through many of the crowd,
+and the cause being unknown, the effect is exceedingly comic; terror,
+astonishment, curiosity, are all set in action, and all contribute to
+make “Dorfeuille’s Hell” one of the most amusing exhibitions
+imaginable.
+
+There is also a picture gallery at Cincinnati, and this was a
+circumstance of much interest to us, as our friend Mr. H., who had
+accompanied Miss Wright to America, in the expectation of finding a
+good opening in the line of historical painting, intended commencing
+his experiment at Cincinnati. It would be invidious to describe the
+picture gallery; I have no doubt, that some years hence it will present
+a very different appearance. Mr. H. was very kindly received by many of
+the gentlemen of the city, and though the state of the fine arts there
+gave him but little hope that he should meet with much success, he
+immediately occupied himself in painting a noble historical picture of
+the landing of General Lafayette at Cincinnati.
+
+Perhaps the clearest proof of the little feeling for art that existed
+at that time in Cincinnati, may be drawn from the result of an
+experiment originated by a German, who taught drawing there. He
+conceived the project of forming a chartered academy of fine arts; and
+he succeeded in the beginning to his utmost wish, or rather, “they
+fooled him to the top of his bent.” Three thousand dollars were
+subscribed, that is to say, names were written against different sums
+to that amount, a house was chosen, and finally, application was made
+to the government, and the charter obtained, rehearsing formally the
+names of the subscribing members, the professors, and the officers. So
+far did the steam of their zeal impel them, but at this point it was
+let off; the affair stood still, and I never heard the academy of fine
+arts mentioned afterwards.
+
+This same German gentleman, on seeing Mr. H.’s sketches, was so well
+pleased with them, that he immediately proposed his joining him in his
+drawing school, with an agreement, I believe that his payment from it
+should be five hundred dollars a year. Mr. H. accepted the proposal,
+but the union did not last long, and the cause of its dissolution was
+too American to be omitted. Mr. H. prepared his models, and attended
+the class, which was numerous, consisting both of boys and girls. He
+soon found that the “sage called Decipline” was not one of the
+assistants, and he remonstrated against the constant talking, and
+running from one part of the room to another, but in vain; finding,
+however, that he could do nothing till this was discontinued, he wrote
+some rules, enforcing order, for the purpose of placing them at the
+door of the academy. When he shewed them to his colleague, he shook his
+head, and said, “Very goot, very goot in Europe, but America boys and
+gals vill not bear it, dey will do just vat dey please; Suur, dey vould
+all go avay next day.” “And you will not enforce these regulations _si
+necessaires_, Monsieur?” “Olar! not for de vorld.” “_Eh bien_,
+Monsieur, I must leave the young republicans to your management.”
+
+I heard another anecdote that will help to show the state of art at
+this time in the west. Mr. Bullock was shewing to some gentlemen of the
+first standing, the very _elite_ of Cincinnati, his beautiful
+collection of engravings, when one among them exclaimed, “Have you
+really done all these since you came here? How hard you must have
+worked!”
+
+I was also told of a gentleman of High Cincinnati, TON and critical of
+his taste for the fine arts, who, having a drawing put into his hands,
+representing Hebe and the bird, umquhile sacred to Jupiter, demanded in
+a satirical tone, “What is this?” “Hebe,” replied the alarmed
+collector. “Hebe,” sneered the man of taste, “What the devil has Hebe
+to do with the American eagle?”
+
+We had not been long at Cincinnati when Dr. Caldwell, the Spurzheim of
+America, arrived there for the purpose of delivering lectures on
+phrenology. I attended his lectures, and was introduced to him. He has
+studied Spurzheim and Combe diligently, and seems to understand the
+science to which he has devoted himself; but neither his lectures nor
+his conversation had that delightful truth of genuine enthusiasm, which
+makes listening to Dr. Spurzheim so great a treat. His lectures,
+however, produced considerable effect. Between twenty and thirty of the
+most erudite citizens decided upon forming a phrenological society. A
+meeting was called, and fully attended; a respectable number of
+subscribers’ names was registered, the payment of subscriptions being
+arranged for a future day. President, vice- president, treasurer, and
+secretary, were chosen; and the first meeting dissolved with every
+appearance of energetic perseverance in scientific research.
+
+The second meeting brought together one-half of this learned body, and
+they enacted rules and laws, and passed resolutions, sufficient, it was
+said, to have filled three folios.
+
+A third day of meeting arrived, which was an important one, as on this
+occasion the subscriptions were to be paid. The treasurer came
+punctually, but found himself alone. With patient hope, he waited two
+hours for the wise men of the west, but he waited in vain: and so
+expired the Phrenological Society of Cincinnati.
+
+I had often occasion to remark that the spirit of enterprise or
+improvement seldom glowed with sufficient ardour to resist the
+smothering effect of a demand for dollars. The Americans love talking.
+All great works, however, that promise a profitable result, are sure to
+meet support from men who have enterprise and capital sufficient to
+await the return; but where there is nothing but glory, or the
+gratification of taste to be expected, it is, I believe, very rarely
+that they give any thing beyond “their most sweet voices.”
+
+Perhaps they are right. In Europe we see fortunes crippled by a passion
+for statues, or for pictures, or for books, or for gems; for all and
+every of the artificial wants that give grace to life, and tend to make
+man forget that he is a thing of clay. They are wiser in their
+generation on the other side the Atlantic; I rarely saw any thing that
+led to such oblivion there.
+
+Soon after Dr. Caldwell’s departure, another lecturer appeared upon the
+scene, whose purpose of publicly addressing the people was no sooner
+made known, than the most violent sensation was excited.
+
+That a lady of fortune, family, and education, whose youth had been
+passed in the most refined circles of private life, should present
+herself to the people as a public lecturer, would naturally excite
+surprise any where, and the nil admirari of the old world itself, would
+hardly be sustained before such a spectacle; but in America, where
+women are guarded by a seven- fold shield of habitual insignificance,
+it caused an effect that can hardly be described. “Miss Wright, of
+Nashoba, is going to lecture at the court-house,” sounded from street
+to street, and from house to house. I shared the surprise, but not the
+wonder; I knew her extraordinary gift of eloquence, her almost
+unequalled command of words, and the wonderful power of her rich and
+thrilling voice; and I doubted not that if it was her will to do it,
+she had the power of commanding the attention, and enchanting the ear
+of any audience before whom it was her pleasure to appear. I was most
+anxious to hear her, but was almost deterred from attempting it, by the
+reports that reached me of the immense crowd that was expected. After
+many consultations, and hearing that many other ladies intended going,
+my friend Mrs. P—, and myself, decided upon making the attempt,
+accompanied by a party of gentlemen, and found the difficulty less than
+we anticipated, though the building was crowded in every part. We
+congratulated ourselves that we had had the courage to be among the
+number, for all my expectations fell far short of the splendour, the
+brilliance, the overwhelming eloquence of this extraordinary orator.
+
+Her lecture was upon the nature of true knowledge, and it contained
+little that could be objected to, by any sect or party; it was intended
+as an introduction to the strange and startling theories contained in
+her subsequent lectures, and could alarm only by the hints it contained
+that the fabric of human wisdom could rest securely on no other base
+than that of human knowledge.
+
+There was, however, one passage from which common-sense revolted; it
+was one wherein she quoted that phrase of mischievous sophistry, “all
+men are born free and equal.” This false and futile axiom, which has
+done, is doing, and will do so much harm to this fine country, came
+from Jefferson; and truly his life was a glorious commentary upon it. I
+pretend not to criticise his written works, but commonsense enables me
+to pronounce this, his favourite maxim, false.
+
+Few names are held in higher estimation in America, than that of
+Jefferson; it is the touchstone of the democratic party, and all seem
+to agree that he was one of the greatest of men; yet I have heard his
+name coupled with deeds which would make the sons of Europe shudder.
+The facts I allude to are spoken openly by all, not whispered privately
+by a few; and in a country where religion is the tea-table talk, and
+its strict observance a fashionable distinction, these facts are
+recorded, and listened to, without horror, nay, without emotion.
+
+Mr. Jefferson is said to have been the father of children by almost all
+his numerous gang of female slaves. These wretched offspring were also
+the lawful slaves of their father, and worked in his house and
+plantations as such; in particular, it is recorded that it was his
+especial pleasure to be waited upon by them at table, and the
+hospitable orgies for which his Montecielo was so celebrated, were
+incomplete, unless the goblet he quaffed were tendered by the trembling
+hand of his own slavish offspring.
+
+I once heard it stated by a democratical adorer of this great man, that
+when, as it sometimes happened, his children by Quadroon slaves were
+white enough to escape suspicion of their origin, he did not pursue
+them if they attempted to escape, saying laughingly, “Let the rogues
+get off, if they can; I will not hinder them.” This was stated in a
+large party, as a proof of his kind and noble nature, and was received
+by all with approving smiles.
+
+If I know anything of right or wrong, if virtue and vice be indeed
+something more than words, then was this great American an unprincipled
+tyrant, and most heartless libertine.
+
+But to return to Miss Wright,—it is impossible to imaging any thing
+more striking than her appearance. Her tall and majestic figure, the
+deep and almost solemn expression of her eyes, the simple contour of
+her finely formed head, unadorned excepting by its own natural
+ringlets; her garment of plain white muslin, which hung around her in
+folds that recalled the drapery of a Grecian statue, all contributed to
+produce an effect, unlike anything I had ever seen before, or ever
+expect to see again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+
+Absence of public and private Amusement—Churches and Chapels—Influence
+of the Clergy—A Revival
+
+
+I never saw any people who appeared to live so much without amusement
+as the Cincinnatians. Billiards are forbidden by law, so are cards. To
+sell a pack of cards in Ohio subjects the seller to a penalty of fifty
+dollars. They have no public balls, excepting, I think, six, during the
+Christmas holidays. They have no concerts. They have no dinner parties.
+
+They have a theatre, which is, in fact, the only public amusement of
+this triste little town; but they seem to care little about it, and
+either from economy or distaste, it is very poorly attended. Ladies are
+rarely seen there, and by far the larger proportion of females deem it
+an offence against religion to witness the representation of a play. It
+is in the churches and chapels of the town that the ladies are to be
+seen in full costume; and I am tempted to believe that a stranger from
+the continent of Europe would be inclined, on first reconnoitering the
+city, to suppose that the places of worship were the theatres and cafes
+of the place. No evening in the week but brings throngs of the young
+and beautiful to the chapels and meeting- houses, all dressed with
+care, and sometimes with great pretension; it is there that all display
+is made, and all fashionable distinction sought. The proportion of
+gentlemen attending these evening meetings is very small, but often, as
+might be expected, a sprinkling of smart young clerks make this
+sedulous display of ribbons and ringlets intelligible and natural. Were
+it not for the churches, indeed, I think there might be a general
+bonfire of best bonnets, for I never could discover any other use for
+them.
+
+The ladies are too actively employed in the interior of their houses to
+permit much parading in full dress for morning visits. There are no
+public gardens or lounging shops of fashionable resort, and were it not
+for public worship, and private tea- drinkings, all the ladies in
+Cincinnati would be in danger of becoming perfect recluses.
+
+The influence which the ministers of all the innumerable religious
+sects throughout America, have on the females of their respective
+congregations, approaches very nearly to what we read of in Spain, or
+in other strictly Roman Catholic countries. There are many causes for
+this peculiar influence. Where equality of rank is affectedly
+acknowledged by the rich, and clamourously claimed by the poor,
+distinction and preeminence are allowed to the clergy only. This gives
+them high importance in the eyes of the ladies. I think, also, that it
+is from the clergy only that the women of America receive that sort of
+attention which is so dearly valued by every female heart throughout
+the world. With the priests of America, the women hold that degree of
+influential importance which, in the countries of Europe, is allowed
+them throughout all orders and ranks of society, except, perhaps, the
+very lowest; and in return for this they seem to give their hearts and
+souls into their keeping. I never saw, or read, of any country where
+religion had so strong a hold upon the women, or a slighter hold upon
+the men.
+
+I mean not to assert that I met with no men of sincerely religious
+feelings, or with no women of no religious feeling at all; but I feel
+perfectly secure of being correct as to the great majority in the
+statement I have made.
+
+We had not been many months in Cincinnati when our curiosity was
+excited by hearing the “revival” talked of by every one we met
+throughout the town. “The revival will be very full”—“We shall be
+constantly engaged during the revival”—were the phrases we constantly
+heard repeated, and for a long time, without in the least comprehending
+what was meant; but at length I learnt that the un-national church of
+America required to be roused, at regular intervals, to greater energy
+and exertion. At these seasons the most enthusiastic of the clergy
+travel the country, and enter the cities and towns by scores, or by
+hundreds, as the accommodation of the place may admit, and for a week
+or fortnight, or, if the population be large, for a month; they preach
+and pray all day, and often for a considerable portion of the night, in
+the various churches and chapels of the place. This is called a
+Revival.
+
+I took considerable pains to obtain information on this subject; but in
+detailing what I learnt I fear that it is probable I shall be accused
+of exaggeration; all I can do is cautiously to avoid deserving it. The
+subject is highly interesting, and it would be a fault of no trifling
+nature to treat it with levity.
+
+These itinerant clergymen are of all persuasions, I believe, except the
+Episcopalian, Catholic, Unitarian, and Quaker. I heard of Presbyterians
+of all varieties; of Baptists of I know not how many divisions; and of
+Methodists of more denominations than I can remember; whose innumerable
+shades of varying belief, it would require much time to explain, and
+more to comprehend. They enter all the cities, towns, and villages of
+the Union, in succession; I could not learn with sufficient certainty
+to repeat, what the interval generally is between their visits. These
+itinerants are, for the most part, lodged in the houses of their
+respective followers, and every evening that is not spent in the
+churches and meeting-houses, is devoted to what would be called parties
+by others, but which they designate as prayer meetings. Here they eat,
+drink, pray, sing, hear confessions, and make converts. To these
+meetings I never got invited, and therefore I have nothing but hearsay
+evidence to offer, but my information comes from an eye-witness, and
+one on whom I believe I may depend. If one half of what I heard may be
+believed, these social prayer meetings are by no means the most
+curious, or the least important part of the business.
+
+It is impossible not to smile at the close resemblance to be traced
+between the feelings of a first-rate Presbyterian or Methodist lady,
+fortunate enough to have secured a favourite Itinerant for her meeting,
+and those of a first-rate London Blue, equally blest in the presence of
+a fashionable poet. There is a strong family likeness among us all the
+world over.
+
+The best rooms, the best dresses, the choicest refreshments solemnize
+the meeting. While the party is assembling, the load-star of the hour
+is occupied in whispering conversations with the guests as they arrive.
+They are called brothers and sisters, and the greetings are very
+affectionate. When the room is full, the company, of whom a vast
+majority are always women, are invited, intreated, and coaxed to
+confess before their brothers and sisters, all their thoughts, faults,
+and follies.
+
+These confessions are strange scenes; the more they confess, the more
+invariably are they encouraged and caressed. When this is over, they
+all kneel, and the Itinerant prays extempore. They then eat and drink;
+and then they sing hymns, pray, exhort, sing, and pray again, till the
+excitement reaches a very high pitch indeed. These scenes are going on
+at some house or other every evening during the revival, nay, at many
+at the same time, for the churches and meeting-houses cannot give
+occupation to half the Itinerants, though they are all open throughout
+the day, and till a late hour in the night, and the officiating
+ministers succeed each other in the occupation of them.
+
+It was at the principal of the Presbyterian churches that I was twice
+witness to scenes that made me shudder; in describing one, I describe
+both and every one; the same thing is constantly repeated.
+
+It was in the middle of summer, but the service we were recommended to
+attend did not begin till it was dark. The church was well lighted, and
+crowded almost to suffocation. On entering, we found three priests
+standing side by side, in a sort of tribune, placed where the altar
+usually is, handsomely fitted up with crimson curtains, and elevated
+about as high as our pulpits. We took our places in a pew close to the
+rail which surrounded it.
+
+The priest who stood in the middle was praying; the prayer was
+extravagantly vehement, and offensively familiar in expression; when
+this ended, a hymn was sung, and then another priest took the centre
+place, and preached. The sermon had considerable eloquence, but of a
+frightful kind. The preacher described, with ghastly minuteness, the
+last feeble fainting moments of human life, and then the gradual
+progress of decay after death, which he followed through every process
+up to the last loathsome stage of decomposition. Suddenly changing his
+tone, which had been that of sober accurate description, into the
+shrill voice of horror, he bent forward his head, as if to gaze on some
+object beneath the pulpit. And as Rebecca made known to Ivanhoe what
+she saw through the window, so the preacher made known to us what he
+saw in the pit that seemed to open before him. The device was certainly
+a happy one for giving effect to his description of hell. No image that
+fire, flame, brimestone, molten lead, or red-hot pincers could supply;
+with flesh, nerves, and sinews quivering under them, was omitted. The
+perspiration ran in streams from the face of the preacher; his eyes
+rolled, his lips were covered with foam, and every feature had the deep
+expression of horror it would have borne, had he, in truth, been gazing
+at the scene he described. The acting was excellent. At length he gave
+a languishing look to his supporters on each side, as if to express his
+feeble state, and then sat down, and wiped the drops of agony from his
+brow.
+
+The other two priests arose, and began to sing a hymn. It was some
+seconds before the congregation could join as usual; every upturned
+face looked pale and horror struck. When the singing ended, another
+took the centre place, and began in a sort of coaxing affectionate
+tone, to ask the congregation if what their dear brother had spoken had
+reached their hearts? Whether they would avoid the hell he had made
+them see? “Come, then!” he continued, stretching out his arms towards
+them, “come to us, and tell us so, and we will make you see Jesus, the
+dear gentle Jesus, who shall save you from it. But you must come to
+him! You must not be ashamed to come to him! This night you shall tell
+him that you are not ashamed of him; we will make way for you; we will
+clear the bench for anxious sinners to sit upon. Come, then! come to
+the anxious bench, and we will shew you Jesus! Come! Come! Come!” Again
+a hymn was sung, and while it continued, one of the three was employed
+in clearing one or two long benches that went across the rail, sending
+the people back to the lower part of the church. The singing ceased,
+and again the people were invited, and exhorted not to be ashamed of
+Jesus, but to put themselves upon “the anxious benches,” and lay their
+heads on his bosom. “Once more we will sing,” he concluded, “that we
+may give you time.” And again they sung a hymn.
+
+And now in every part of the church a movement was perceptible, slight
+at first, but by degrees becoming more decided. Young girls arose, and
+sat down, and rose again; and then the pews opened, and several came
+tottering out, their hands clasped, their heads hanging on their
+bosoms, and every limb trembling, and still the hymn went on; but as
+the poor creatures approached the rail their sobs and groans became
+audible. They seated themselves on the “anxious benches;” the hymn
+ceased, and two of the three priests walked down from the tribune, and
+going, one to the right, and the other to the left, began whispering to
+the poor tremblers seated there. These whispers were inaudible to us,
+but the sobs and groans increased to a frightful excess. Young
+creatures, with features pale and distorted, fell on their knees on the
+pavement, and soon sunk forward on their faces; the most violent cries
+and shrieks followed, while from time to time a voice was heard in
+convulsive accents, exclaiming, “Oh Lord!” “Oh Lord Jesus!” “Help me,
+Jesus!” and the like.
+
+Meanwhile the two priests continued to walk among them; they repeatedly
+mounted on the benches, and trumpet-mouthed proclaimed to the whole
+congregation, “the tidings of salvation,” and then from every corner of
+the building arose in reply, short sharp cries of “Amen!” “Glory!”
+“Amen!” while the prostrate penitents continued to receive whispered
+comfortings, and from time to time a mystic caress. More than once I
+saw a young neck encircled by a reverend arm. Violent hysterics and
+convulsions seized many of them, and when the tumult was at the
+highest, the priest who remained above, again gave out a hymn as if to
+drown it.
+
+It was a frightful sight to behold innocent young creatures, in the gay
+morning of existence, thus seized upon, horror struck, and rendered
+feeble and enervated for ever. One young girl, apparently not more than
+fourteen, was supported in the arms of another, some years older; her
+face was pale as death; her eyes wide open, and perfectly devoid of
+meaning; her chin and bosom wet with slaver; she had every appearance
+of idiotism. I saw a priest approach her, he took her delicate hand,
+“Jesus is with her! Bless the Lord!” he said, and passed on.
+
+Did the men of America value their women as men ought to value their
+wives and daughters, would such scenes be permitted among them?
+
+It is hardly necessary to say that all who obeyed the call to place
+themselves on the “anxious benches” were women, and by far the greater
+number very young women. The congregation was, in general, extremely
+well dressed, and the smartest and most fashionable ladies of the town
+were there; during the whole revival the churches and meeting-houses
+were every day crowded with well dressed people.
+
+It is thus the ladies of Cincinnati amuse themselves; to attend the
+theatre is forbidden; to play cards is unlawful; but they work hard in
+their families, and must have some relaxation. For myself, I confess
+that I think the coarsest comedy ever written would be a less
+detestable exhibition for the eyes of youth and innocence than such a
+scene.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+
+Schools—Climate—Water Melons—Fourth of July—Storms—Pigs—Moving
+Houses—Mr. Flint—Literature
+
+
+Cincinnati contains many schools, but of their rank or merit I had very
+little opportunity of judging; the only one which I visited was kept by
+Dr. Lock, a gentleman who appears to have liberal and enlarged opinions
+on the subject of female education. Should his system produce practical
+results proportionably excellent, the ladies of Cincinnati will
+probably some years hence be much improved in their powers of
+companionship. I attended the annual public exhibition at this school,
+and perceived, with some surprise, that the higher branches of science
+were among the studies of the pretty creatures I saw assembled there.
+One lovely girl of sixteen took her degree in mathematics, and another
+was examined in moral philosophy. They blushed so sweetly, and looked
+so beautifully puzzled and confounded, that it might have been
+difficult for an abler judge than I was to decide how far they merited
+the diploma they received.
+
+This method of letting young ladies graduate, and granting them
+diplomas on quitting the establishment, was quite new to me; at least,
+I do not remember to have heard of any thing similar elsewhere. I
+should fear that the time allowed to the fair graduates of Cincinnati
+for the acquirement of these various branches of education would seldom
+be sufficient to permit their reaching the eminence in each which their
+enlightened instructor anticipates. “A quarter’s” mathematics, or “two
+quarters” political economy, moral philosophy, algebra, and quadratic
+equations, would seldom, I should think, enable the teacher and the
+scholar, by their joint efforts, to lay in such a stock of these
+sciences as would stand the wear and tear of half a score of children,
+and one help.
+
+Towards the end of May we began to feel that we were in a climate
+warmer than any we had been accustomed to, and my son suffered severely
+from the effects of it. A bilious complaint, attended by a frightful
+degree of fever, seized him, and for some days we feared for his life.
+The treatment he received was, I have no doubt, judicious, but the
+quantity of calomel prescribed was enormous. I asked one day how many
+grains I should prepare, and was told to give half a teaspoonful. The
+difference of climate must, I imagine, make a difference in the effect
+of this drug, or the practice of the old and new world could hardly
+differ so widely as it does in the use of it. Anstey, speaking of the
+Bath physicians, says,
+
+    “No one e’er viewed
+Any one of the medical gentlemen stewed.”
+
+
+But I can vouch, upon my own experience, that no similar imputation
+lies against the gentlemen who prescribe large quantities of calomel in
+America. To give one instance in proof of this, when I was afterwards
+in Montgomery county, near Washington, a physician attended one of our
+neighbours, and complained that he was himself unwell. “You must take
+care of yourself, Doctor,” said the patient; “I do so,” he replied, “I
+took forty grains of calomel yesterday, and I feel better than I did.”
+Repeated and violent bleeding was also had recourse to in the case of
+my son, and in a few days he was able to leave his room, but he was
+dreadfully emaciated, and it was many weeks before he recovered his
+strength.
+
+As the heat of the weather increased we heard of much sickness around
+us. The city is full of physicians, and they were all to be seen
+driving about in their cabs at a very alarming rate. One of these
+gentlemen told us, that when a medical man intended settling in a new
+situation, he always, if he knew his business, walked through the
+streets at nights, before he decided. If he saw the dismal twinkle of
+the watch-light from many windows he might be sure that disease was
+busy, and the the “location” might suit him well. Judging, by this
+criterion, Cincinnati was far from healthy, I began to fear for our
+health, and determined to leave the city; but, for a considerable time
+I found it impossible to procure a dwelling out of it. There were many
+boarding-houses in the vicinity, but they were all overflowing with
+guests. We were advised to avoid, as much as possible, walking out in
+the heat of the day; but the mornings and evenings were delightful,
+particularly the former, if taken sufficiently early. For several weeks
+I was never in bed after four o’clock, and at this hour I almost daily
+accompanied my “help” to market, where the busy novelty of the scene
+afforded me much amusement.
+
+Many waggon-loads of enormous water-melons were brought to market every
+day, and I was sure to see groups of men, women, and children seated on
+the pavement round the spot where they were sold, sucking in prodigious
+quantities of this water-fruit. Their manner of devouring them is
+extremely unpleasant; the huge fruit is cut into half a dozen sections,
+of about a foot long, and then, dripping as it is with water, applied
+to the mouth, from either side of which pour copious streams of the
+fluid, while, ever and anon, a mouthful of the hard black seeds are
+shot out in all directions, to the great annoyance of all within reach.
+When I first tasted this fruit I thought it very vile stuff indeed, but
+before the end of the season we all learned to like it. When taken with
+claret and sugar it makes delicious wine and water.
+
+It is the custom for the gentlemen to go to market at Cincinnati; the
+smartest men in the place, and those of the “highest standing” do not
+scruple to leave their beds with the sun, six days in the week, and,
+prepared with a mighty basket, to sally forth in search of meat,
+butter, eggs and vegetables. I have continually seen them returning,
+with their weighty basket on one arm and an enormous ham depending from
+the other.
+
+And now arrived the 4th of July, that greatest of all American
+festivals. On the 4th of July, 1776, the declaration of their
+independence was signed, at the State-house in Philadelphia.
+
+To me, the dreary coldness and want of enthusiasm in American manners
+is one of their greatest defects, and I therefore hailed the
+demonstrations of general feeling which this day elicits with real
+pleasure. On the 4th of July the hearts of the people seem to awaken
+from a three hundred and sixty-four days’ sleep; they appear
+high-spirited, gay, animated, social, generous, or at least liberal in
+expense; and would they but refrain from spitting on that hallowed day,
+I should say, that on the 4th of July, at least, they appeared to be an
+amiable people. It is true that the women have but little to do with
+the pageantry, the splendour, or the gaiety of the day; but, setting
+this defect aside, it was indeed a glorious sight to behold a jubilee
+so heartfelt as this; and had they not the bad taste and bad feeling to
+utter an annual oration, with unvarying abuse of the mother country, to
+say nothing of the warlike manifesto called Declaration of
+Independence, our gracious king himself might look upon the scene and
+say that it was good; nay, even rejoice, that twelve millions of
+bustling bodies, at four thousand miles distance from his throne and
+his altars, should make their own laws, and drink their own tea, after
+the fashion that pleased them best.
+
+One source of deep interest to us, in this new clime, was the frequent
+recurrence of thunderstorms. Those who have only listened to thunder in
+England have but a faint idea of the language which the gods speak when
+they are angry. Thomson’s description, however, will do: it is hardly
+possible that words can better paint the spectacle, or more truly echo
+to the sound, than his do. The only point he does not reach is the vast
+blaze of rose-coloured light that ever and anon sets the landscape on
+fire.
+
+In reading this celebrated description in America, and observing how
+admirably true it was to nature there, I seemed to get a glimpse at a
+poet’s machinery, and to perceive, that in order to produce effect he
+must give his images more vast than he finds them in nature; but the
+proportions must be just, and the colouring true. Every thing seems
+colossal on this great continent; if it rains, if it blows, if it
+thunders, it is all done _fortissimo_; but I often felt terror yield to
+wonder and delight, so grand, so glorious were the scenes a storm
+exhibited. Accidents are certainly more frequent than with us, but not
+so much so as reasonably to bring terror home to one’s bosom every time
+a mass of lurid clouds is seen rolling up against the wind.
+
+It seems hardly fair to quarrel with a place because its staple
+commodity is not pretty, but I am sure I should have liked Cincinnati
+much better if the people had not dealt so very largely in hogs. The
+immense quantity of business done in this line would hardly be believed
+by those who had not witnessed it. I never saw a newspaper without
+remarking such advertisements as the following:
+
+“Wanted, immediately, 4,000 fat hogs.”
+“For sale, 2,000 barrels of prime pork.”
+
+
+But the annoyance came nearer than this; if I determined upon a walk up
+Main-street, the chances were five hundred to one against my reaching
+the shady side without brushing by a snout fresh dripping from the
+kennel; when we had screwed our courage to the enterprise of mounting a
+certain noble looking sugar-loaf hill, that promised pure air and a
+fine view, we found the brook we had to cross, at its foot, red with
+the stream from a pig slaughter house; while our noses, instead of
+meeting “the thyme that loves the green hill’s breast,” were greeted by
+odours that I will not describe, and which I heartily hope my readers
+cannot imagine; our feet, that on leaving the city had expected to
+press the flowery sod, literally got entangled in pigs’ tails and
+jaw-bones: and thus the prettiest walk in the neighbourhood was
+interdicted for ever.
+
+One of the sights to stare at in America is that of houses moving from
+place to place. We were often amused by watching this exhibition of
+mechanical skill in the streets. They make no difficulty of moving
+dwellings from one part of the town to another. Those I saw travelling
+were all of them frame-houses, that is, built wholly of wood, except
+the chimneys; but it is said that brick buildings are sometimes treated
+in the same manner. The largest dwelling that I saw in motion was one
+containing two stories of four rooms each; forty oxen were yoked to it.
+The first few yards brought down the two stacks of chimneys, but it
+afterwards went on well. The great difficulties were the first getting
+it in motion and the stopping exactly in the right place. This
+locomotive power was extremely convenient at Cincinnati, as the
+constant improvements going on there made it often desirable to change
+a wooden dwelling for one of brick; and whenever this happened, we were
+sure to see the ex No.100 of Main-street or the ex No.55 of Second
+street creeping quietly out of town, to take possession of a humble
+suburban station on the common above it.
+
+The most agreeable acquaintance I made in Cincinnati, and indeed one of
+the most talented men I ever met, was Mr. Flint, the author of several
+extremely clever volumes, and the editor of the Western Monthly Review.
+His conversational powers are of the highest order: he is the only
+person I remember to have known with first rate powers of satire, and
+even of sarcasm, whose kindness of nature and of manner remained
+perfectly uninjured. In some of his critical notices there is a
+strength and keenness second to nothing of the kind I have ever read.
+He is a warm patriot, and so true-hearted an American, that we could
+not always be of the same opinion on all the subjects we discussed; but
+whether it were the force and brilliancy of his language, his genuine
+and manly sincerity of feeling, or his bland and gentleman-like manner
+that beguiled me, I know not, but certainly he is the only American I
+ever listened to whose unqualified praise of his country did not appear
+to me somewhat overstrained and ridiculous.
+
+On one occasion, but not at the house of Mr. Flint, I passed an evening
+in company with a gentleman said to be a scholar and a man of reading;
+he was also what is called a _serious_ gentleman, and he appeared to
+have pleasure in feeling that his claim to distinction was acknowledged
+in both capacities. There was a very amiable _serious_ lady in the
+company, to whom he seemed to trust for the development of his
+celestial pretensions, and to me he did the honour of addressing most
+of his terrestrial superiority. The difference between us was, that
+when he spoke to her, he spoke as to a being who, if not his equal, was
+at least deserving high distinction; and he gave her smiles, such as
+Michael might have vouchsafed to Eve. To me he spoke as Paul to the
+offending Jews; he did not, indeed, shake his raiment at me, but he
+used his pocket-handkerchief so as to answer the purpose; and if every
+sentence did not end with “I am clean,” pronounced by his lips, his
+tone, his look, his action, fully supplied the deficiency.
+
+Our poor Lord Byron, as may be supposed, was the bull’s-eye against
+which every dart in his black little quiver was aimed. I had never
+heard any serious gentleman talk of Lord Byron at full length before,
+and I listened attentively. It was evident that the noble passages
+which are graven on the hearts of the genuine lovers of poetry had
+altogether escaped the serious gentleman’s attention; and it was
+equally evident that he knew by rote all those that they wish the
+mighty master had never written. I told him so, and I shall not soon
+forget the look he gave me.
+
+Of other authors his knowledge was very imperfect, but his criticisms
+very amusing. Of Pope, he said, “He is so entirely gone by, that in
+_our_ country it is considered quite fustian to speak of him”
+
+But I persevered, and named “the Rape of the Lock” as evincing some
+little talent, and being in a tone that might still hope for admittance
+in the drawing-room; but, on the mention of this poem, the serious
+gentleman became almost as strongly agitated as when he talked of Don
+Juan; and I was unfeignedly at a loss to comprehend the nature of his
+feelings, till he muttered, with an indignant shake of the
+handkerchief, “The very title!”
+
+At the name of Dryden he smiled, and the smile spoke as plainly as a
+smile could speak, “How the old woman twaddles!”
+
+“We only know Dryden by quotations. Madam, and these, indeed, are found
+only in books that have long since had their day.”
+
+“And Shakspeare, sir?”
+
+“Shakspeare, Madam, is obscene, and, thank God, WE are sufficiently
+advanced to have found it out! If we must have the abomination of stage
+plays, let them at least be marked by the refinement of the age in
+which we live.”
+
+This was certainly being _au courant du jour_.
+
+Of Massenger he knew nothing. Of Ford he had never heard. Gray had had
+his day. Prior he had never read, but understood he was a very childish
+writer. Chaucer and Spenser he tied in a couple, and dismissed by
+saying, that he thought it was neither more nor less than affectation
+to talk of authors who wrote in a tongue no longer intelligible.
+
+This was the most literary conversation I was ever present at in
+Cincinnati.[1]
+
+ [1] The pleasant, easy, unpretending talk on all subjects, which I
+ enjoyed in Mr. Flint’s family, was an exception to every thing else I
+ met at Cincinnati.
+
+
+In truth, there are many reasons which render a very general diffusion
+of literature impossible in America. I can scarcely class the universal
+reading of newspapers as an exception to this remark; if I could, my
+statement would be exactly the reverse, and I should say that America
+beat the world in letters. The fact is, that throughout all ranks of
+society, from the successful merchant, which is the highest, to the
+domestic serving man, which is the lowest, they are all too actively
+employed to read, except at such broken moments as may suffice for a
+peep at a newspaper. It is for this reason, I presume, that every
+_American newspaper_ is more or less a magazine, wherein the merchant
+may scan while he holds out his hand for an invoice, “Stanzas by Mrs.
+Hemans,” or a garbled extract from Moore’s Life of Byron; the lawyer
+may study his brief faithfully, and yet contrive to pick up the
+valuable dictum of some American critic, that “Bulwer’s novels are
+decidedly superior to Sir Walter Scott’s;” nay, even the auctioneer may
+find time, as he bustles to his tub, or his tribune, to support his
+pretensions to polite learning, by glancing his quick eye over the
+columns, and reading that “Miss Mitford’s descriptions are
+indescribable.” If you buy a yard of ribbon, the shopkeeper lays down
+his newspaper, perhaps two or three, to measure it. I have seen a
+brewer’s drayman perched on the shaft of his dray and reading one
+newspaper, while another was tucked under his arm; and I once went into
+the cottage of a country shoemaker, of the name of Harris, where I saw
+a newspaper half full of “original” poetry, directed to Madison F.
+Harris. To be sure of the fact, I asked the man if his name were
+Madison. “Yes, Madam, Madison Franklin Harris is my name.” The last and
+the lyre divided his time, I fear too equally, for he looked pale and
+poor.
+
+This, I presume, is what is meant by the general diffusion of
+knowledge, so boasted of in the United States; such as it is, the
+diffusion of it is general enough, certainly; but I greatly doubt its
+being advantageous to the population.
+
+The only reading men I met with were those who made letters their
+profession; and of these, there were some who would hold a higher rank
+in the great Republic (not of America, but of letters), did they write
+for persons less given to the study of magazines and newspapers; and
+they might hold a higher rank still, did they write for the few and not
+for the many. I was always drawing a parallel, perhaps a childish one,
+between the external and internal deficiency of polish and of elegance
+in the native volumes of the country. Their compositions have not that
+condensation of thought, or that elaborate finish, which the
+consciousness of writing for the scholar and the man of taste is
+calculated to give; nor have their dirty blue paper and slovenly
+types[2] the polished elegance that fits a volume for the hand or the
+eye of the fastidious epicure in literary enjoyment. The first book I
+bought in America was the “Chronicles of the Cannongate.” In asking the
+price, I was agreeably surprised to hear a dollar and a half named,
+being about one sixth of what I used to pay for its fellows in England;
+but on opening the grim pages, it was long before I could again call
+them cheap. To be sure the pleasure of a bright well-printed page ought
+to be quite lost sight of in the glowing, galloping, bewitching course
+that the imagination sets out upon with a new Waverley novel; and so it
+was with me till I felt the want of it; and then I am almost ashamed to
+confess how often, in turning the thin dusky pages, my poor earth-born
+spirit paused in its pleasure, to sigh for hot-pressed wire-wove.
+
+ [2] I must make an exception in favour of the American Quarterly
+ Review. To the eye of the body it is in  all respects exactly the same
+ thing as the English Quarterly Review.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+
+Removal to the country—Walk in the forest—Equality
+
+
+At length my wish of obtaining a house in the country was gratified. A
+very pretty cottage, the residence of a gentleman who was removing into
+town, for the convenience of his business as a lawyer, was to let, and
+I immediately secured it. It was situated in a little village about a
+mile and a half from the town, close to the foot of the hills formerly
+mentioned as the northern boundary of it. We found ourselves much more
+comfortable here than in the city. The house was pretty and commodious,
+our sitting-rooms were cool and airy; we had got rid of the detestable
+mosquitoes, and we had an ice-house that never failed. Beside all this,
+we had the pleasure of gathering our tomatoes from our own garden, and
+receiving our milk from our own cow. Our manner of life was infinitely
+more to my taste than before; it gave us all the privileges of
+rusticity, which are fully as incompatible with a residence in a little
+town of Western America as with a residence in London. We lived on
+terms of primaeval intimacy with our cow, for if we lay down on our
+lawn she did not scruple to take a sniff at the book we were reading,
+but then she gave us her own sweet breath in return. The verge of the
+cool-looking forest that rose opposite our windows was so near, that we
+often used it as an extra drawing- room, and there was no one to wonder
+if we went out with no other preparation than our parasols, carrying
+books and work enough to while away a long summer day in the shade; the
+meadow that divided us from it was covered with a fine short grass,
+that continued for a little way under the trees, making a beautiful
+carpet, while sundry logs and stumps furnished our sofas and tables.
+But even this was not enough to satisfy us when we first escaped from
+the city, and we determined upon having a day’s enjoyment of the
+wildest forest scenery we could find. So we packed up books, albums,
+pencils, and sandwiches, and, despite a burning sun, dragged up a hill
+so steep that we sometimes fancied we could rest ourselves against it
+by only leaning forward a little. In panting and in groaning we reached
+the top, hoping to be refreshed by the purest breath of heaven; but to
+have tasted the breath of heaven we must have climbed yet farther, even
+to the tops of the trees themselves, for we soon found that the air
+beneath them stirred not, nor ever had stirred, as it seemed to us,
+since first it settled there, so heavily did it weigh upon our lungs.
+
+Still we were determined to enjoy ourselves, and forward we went,
+crunching knee deep through aboriginal leaves, hoping to reach some
+spot less perfectly airtight than our landing-place. Wearied with the
+fruitless search, we decided on reposing awhile on the trunk of a
+fallen tree; being all considerably exhausted, the idea of sitting down
+on this tempting log was conceived and executed simultaneously by the
+whole party, and the whole party sunk together through its treacherous
+surface into a mass of rotten rubbish that had formed part of the pith
+and marrow of the eternal forest a hundred years before.
+
+We were by no means the only sufferers by the accident; frogs, lizards,
+locusts, katiedids, beetles, and hornets, had the whole of their
+various tenements disturbed, and testified their displeasure very
+naturally by annoying us as much as possible in return; we were bit, we
+were stung, we were scratched; and when, at last, we succeeded in
+raising ourselves from the venerable ruin, we presented as woeful a
+spectacle as can well be imagined. We shook our (not ambrosial)
+garments, and panting with heat, stings, and vexation, moved a few
+paces from the scene of our misfortune, and again sat down; but this
+time it was upon the solid earth.
+
+We had no sooner began to “chew the cud” of the bitter fancy that had
+beguiled us to these mountain solitudes than a new annoyance assailed
+us. A cloud of mosquitoes gathered round, and while each sharp
+proboscis sucked our blood, they teased us with their humming chorus,
+till we lost all patience, and started again on our feet, pretty firmly
+resolved never to try the _al fresco_ joys of an American forest again.
+The sun was now in its meridian splendour, but our homeward path was
+short and down hill, so again packing up our preparations for felicity,
+we started homeward, or, more properly speaking, we started, for in
+looking for an agreeable spot in this dungeon forest we had advanced so
+far from the verge of the hill that we had lost all trace of the
+precise spot where we had entered it. Nothing was to be seen but
+multitudes of tall, slender, melancholy stems, as like as peas, and
+standing within a foot of each other. The ground, as far as the eye
+could reach (which certainly was not far), was covered with an unvaried
+bed of dried leaves; no trace, no track, no trail, as Mr. Cooper would
+call it, gave us a hint which way to turn; and having paused for a
+moment to meditate, we remembered that chance must decide for us at
+last, so we set forward, in no very good mood, to encounter new
+misfortunes. We walked about a quarter of a mile, and coming to a steep
+descent, we thought ourselves extremely fortunate, and began to
+scramble down, nothing doubting that it was the same we had scrambled
+up. In truth, nothing could be more like, but, alas! things that are
+like are not the same; when we had slipped and stumbled down to the
+edge of the wood, and were able to look beyond it, we saw no pretty
+cottage with the shadow of its beautiful acacias coming forward to meet
+us: all was different; and, what was worse, all was distant from the
+spot where we had hoped to be. We had come down the opposite side of
+the ridge, and had now to win our weary way a distance of three miles
+round its base, I believe we shall none of us ever forget that walk.
+The bright, glowing, furnace- like heat of the atmosphere seems to
+scorch as I recall it. It was painful to tread, it was painful to
+breathe, it was painful to look round; every object glowed with the
+reflection of the fierce tyrant that glared upon us from above.
+
+We got home alive, which agreeably surprised us; and when our parched
+tongues again found power of utterance, we promised each other
+faithfully never to propose any more parties of pleasure in the grim
+store-like forests of Ohio.
+
+We were now in daily expectation of the arrival of Mr. T.; but day
+after day, and week after week passed by till we began to fear some
+untoward circumstance might delay his coming till the Spring; at last,
+when we had almost ceased to look out for him. on the road which led
+from the town, he arrived, late at night, by that which leads across
+the country from Pitzburgh. The pleasure we felt at seeing him was
+greatly increased by his bringing with him our eldest son, which was a
+happiness we had not hoped for. Our walks and our drives now became
+doubly interesting. The young men, fresh from a public school, found
+America so totally unlike all the nations with which their reading had
+made them acquainted, that it was indeed a new world to them. Had they
+visited Greece or Rome they would have encountered objects with whose
+images their minds had been long acquainted; or had they travelled to
+France or Italy they would have seen only what daily conversation had
+already rendered familiar; but at our public schools America (except
+perhaps as to her geographical position) is hardly better known than
+Fairy Land; and the American character has not been much more deeply
+studied than that of the Anthropophagi: all, therefore, was new, and
+every thing amusing.
+
+The extraordinary familiarity of our poor neighbours startled us at
+first, and we hardly knew how to receive their uncouth advances, or
+what was expected of us in return; however, it sometimes produced very
+laughable scenes. Upon one occasion two of my children set off upon an
+exploring walk up the hills; they were absent rather longer than we
+expected, and the rest of our party determined upon going out to meet
+them; we knew the direction they had taken, but thought it would be as
+well to enquire at a little public-house at the bottom of the hill, if
+such a pair had been seen to pass. A woman, whose appearance more
+resembled a Covent Garden market-woman than any thing else I can
+remember, came out and answered my question with the most jovial good
+humour in the affirmative, and prepared to join us in our search. Her
+look, her voice, her manner, were so exceedingly coarse and vehement,
+that she almost frightened me; she passed her arm within mine, and to
+the inexpressible amusement of my young people, she dragged me on,
+talking and questioning me without ceasing. She lived but a short
+distance from us, and I am sure intended to be a very good neighbour;
+but her violent intimacy made me dread to pass her door; my children,
+including my sons, she always addressed by their Christian names,
+excepting when she substituted the word “honey;” this familiarity of
+address, however, I afterwards found was universal throughout all ranks
+in the United States.
+
+My general appellation amongst my neighbours was “the English old
+woman,” but in mentioning each other they constantly employed the term
+“lady;” and they evidently had a pleasure in using it, for I repeatedly
+observed, that in speaking of a neighbour, instead of saying Mrs.
+Such-a-one, they described her as “the lady over the way what takes in
+washing,” or as “that there lady, out by the Gulley, what is making
+dip-candles.” Mr. Trollope was as constantly called “the old man,”
+while draymen, butchers’ boys, and the labourers on the canal were
+invariably denominated “them gentlemen;” nay, we once saw one of the
+most gentlemanlike men in Cincinnati introduce a fellow in dirty shirt
+sleeves, and all sorts of detestable et cetera, to one of his friends,
+with this formula, “D— let me introduce this gentleman to you.” Our
+respective titles certainly were not very important; but the eternal
+shaking hands with these ladies and gentlemen was really an annoyance,
+and the more so, as the near approach of the gentlemen was always
+redolent of whiskey and tobacco.
+
+But the point where this republican equality was the most distressing
+was in the long and frequent visitations that it produced. No one
+dreams of fastening a door in Western America; I was told that it would
+be considered as an affront by the whole neighbourhood. I was thus
+exposed to perpetual, and most vexatious interruptions from people whom
+I had often never seen, and whose names still oftener were unknown to
+me.
+
+Those who are native there, and to the manner born, seem to pass over
+these annoyances with more skill than I could ever acquire. More than
+once I have seen some of my acquaintance beset in the same way, without
+appearing at all distressed by it; they continued their employment or
+conversation with me, much as if no such interruption had taken place;
+when the visitor entered, they would say, “How do you do?” and shake
+hands.
+
+“Tolerable, I thank ye, how be you?” was the reply.
+
+If it was a female, she took off her hat; if a male, he kept it on, and
+then taking possession of the first chair in their way, they would
+retain it for an hour together, without uttering another word; at
+length, rising abruptly, they would again shake hands, with, “Well, now
+I must be going, I guess,” and so take themselves off, apparently well
+contented with their reception.
+
+I could never attain this philosophical composure; I could neither
+write nor read, and I always fancied I must talk to them. I will give
+the minutes of a conversation which I once set down after one of their
+visits, as a specimen of their tone and manner of speaking and
+thinking. My visitor was a milkman.
+
+“Well now, so you be from the old country? Ay—you’ll see sights here, I
+guess.”
+
+“I hope I shall see many.”
+
+“That’s a fact. I expect your little place of an island don’t grow such
+dreadful fine corn as you sees here?” [Corn always means Indian corn,
+or maize.]
+
+“It grows no corn at all, sir.’”
+
+“Possible! no wonder, then, that we reads such awful stories in the
+papers of your poor people being starved to death.”
+
+“We have wheat, however.”
+
+“Ay, for your rich folks, but I calculate the poor seldom gets a belly
+full.”
+
+“You have certainly much greater abundance here.”
+
+“I expect so. Why they do say, that if a poor body contrives to be
+smart enough to scrape together a few dollars, that your King George
+always comes down upon ’em, and takes it all away. Don’t he?”
+
+“I do not remember hearing of such a transaction.”
+
+“I guess they be pretty close about it. Your papers ben’t like ourn, I
+reckon? Now we says and prints just what we likes.”
+
+“You spend a good deal of time in reading the newspapers.”
+
+“And I’d like you to tell me how we can spend it better. How should
+freemen spend their time, but looking after their government, and
+watching that them fellers as we gives offices to, doos their duty, and
+gives themselves no airs?”
+
+“But I sometimes think, sir, that your fences might be in more thorough
+repair, and your roads in better order, if less time was spent in
+politics.”
+
+“The Lord! to see how little you knows of a free country? Why, what’s
+the smoothness of a road, put against the freedom of a free-born
+American? And what does a broken zig-zag signify, comparable to knowing
+that the men what we have been pleased to send up to Congress, speaks
+handsome and straight, as we chooses they should?”
+
+“It is from a sense of duty, then, that you all go to the liquor store
+to read the papers?”
+
+“To be sure it is, and he’d be no true born American as didn’t. I don’t
+say that the father of a family should always be after liquor, but I do
+say that I’d rather have my son drunk three times in a week, than not
+look after the affairs of his country.”
+
+Our autumn walks were delightful; the sun ceased to scorch; the want of
+flowers was no longer peculiar to Ohio; and the trees took a colouring,
+which in richness, brilliance, and variety, exceeded all description. I
+think it is the maple, or sugar- tree, that first sprinkles the forest
+with rich crimson; the beech follows, with all its harmony of golden
+tints, from pale yellow up to brightest orange. The dog-wood gives
+almost the purple colour of the mulberry; the chesnut softens all with
+its frequent mass of delicate brown, and the sturdy oak carries its
+deep green into the very lap of winter. These tints are too bright for
+the landscape painter; the attempt to follow nature in an American
+autumn scene must be abortive. The colours are in reality extremely
+brilliant, but the medium through which they are seen increases the
+effect surprisingly. Of all the points in which America has the
+advantage of England, the one I felt most sensibly was the clearness
+and brightness of the atmosphere. By day and by night this exquisite
+purity of air gives tenfold beauty to every object. I could hardly
+believe the stars were the same; the Great Bear looked like a
+constellation of suns; and Jupiter justified all the fine things said
+of him in those beautiful lines from I know not what spirited pen,
+beginning,
+
+“I looked on thee, Jove! till my gaze
+Shrunk, smote by the pow’r of thy blaze.”
+
+
+I always remarked that the first silver line of the moon’s crescent
+attracted the eye on the first day, in America, as strongly as it does
+here on the third. I observed another phenomenon in the crescent moon
+of that region, the cause of which I less understood. That appearance
+which Shakespear describes as “the new moon, with the old moon in her
+lap,” and which I have heard ingeniously explained as the effect of
+_earth light_, was less visible there than here.
+
+Cuyp’s clearest landscapes have an atmosphere that approaches nearer to
+that of America than any I remember on canvas; but even Cuyp’s _air_
+cannot reach the lungs, and, therefore, can only give an idea of half
+the enjoyment; for it makes itself felt as well as seen, and is indeed
+a constant source of pleasure.
+
+Our walks were, however, curtailed in several directions by my old
+Cincinnati enemies, the pigs; immense droves of them were continually
+arriving from the country by the road that led to most of our favourite
+walks; they were often fed and lodged in the prettiest valleys,and
+worse still, were slaughtered beside the prettiest streams. Another
+evil threatened us from the same quarter, that was yet heavier. Our
+cottage had an ample piazza, (a luxury almost universal in the country
+houses of America), which, shaded by a group of acacias, made a
+delightful sitting- room; from this favourite spot we one day perceived
+symptoms of building in a field close to it; with much anxiety we
+hastened to the spot, and asked what building was to be erected there.
+
+“’Tis to be a slaughter house for hogs,” was the dreadful reply. As
+there were several gentlemen’s houses in the neighbourhood, I asked if
+such an erection might not be indicted as a nuisance.
+
+“A what?”
+
+“A nuisance,” I repeated, and explained what I meant.
+
+“No, no,” was the reply, “that may do very well for your tyrannical
+country, where a rich man’s nose is more thought of than a poor man’s
+mouth; but hogs be profitable produce here, and we be too free for such
+a law as that, I guess.”
+
+During my residence in America, little circumstances like the foregoing
+often recalled to my mind a conversation I once held in France with an
+old gentleman on the subject of their active police, and its
+omnipresent gens d’armerie; “Croyez moi, Madame, il n’y a que ceux, à
+qui ils ont à faire, qui les trouvent de trop.” And the old gentleman
+was right, not only in speaking of France, but of the whole human
+family, as philosophers call us. The well disposed, those whose own
+feeling of justice would prevent their annoying others, will never
+complain of the restraints of the law. All the freedom enjoyed in
+America, beyond what is enjoyed in England, is enjoyed solely by the
+disorderly at the expense of the orderly; and were I a stout knight,
+either of the sword or of the pen, I would fearlessly throw down my
+gauntlet, and challenge the whole Republic to prove the contrary; but
+being, as I am, a feeble looker on, with a needle for my spear, and “I
+talk” for my device, I must be contented with the power of stating the
+fact, perfectly certain that I shall be contradicted by one loud shout
+from Maine to Georgia.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+
+Religion
+
+
+I had often heard it observed before I visited America, that one of the
+great blessings of its constitution was the absence of a national
+religion, the country being thus exonerated from all obligation of
+supporting the clergy; those only contributing to do so whose
+principles led them to it. My residence in the country has shewn me
+that a religious tyranny may be exerted very effectually without the
+aid of the government, in a way much more oppressive than the paying of
+tithe, and without obtaining any of the salutary decorum, which I
+presume no one will deny is the result of an established mode of
+worship.
+
+As it was impossible to remain many weeks in the country without being
+struck with the strange anomalies produced by its religious system, my
+early notes contain many observations on the subject; but as nearly the
+same scenes recurred in every part of the country, I state them here,
+not as belonging to the west alone, but to the whole Union, the same
+cause producing the same effect every where.
+
+The whole people appear to be divided into an almost endless variety of
+religious factions, and I was told, that to be well received in
+society, it was necessary to declare yourself as belonging to some one
+of these. Let your acknowledged belief be what it may, you are said to
+be _not a Christian_, unless you attach yourself to a particular
+congregation. Besides the broad and well-known distinctions of
+Episcopalian, Catholic, Presbyterian, Calvinist, Baptist, Quaker,
+Sweden-borgian, Universalist, Dunker, &c. &c. &c.; there are
+innumerable others springing out of these, each of which assumes a
+church government of its own; of this, the most intriguing and factious
+individual is invariably the head; and in order, as it should seem, to
+shew a reason for this separation, each congregation invests itself
+with some queer variety of external observance that has the melancholy
+effect of exposing _all_ religious ceremonies to contempt.
+
+It is impossible, in witnessing all these unseemly vagaries, not to
+recognise the advantages of an established church as a sort of
+headquarters for quiet unpresuming Christians, who are contented to
+serve faithfully, without insisting upon having each a little separate
+banner, embroidered with a device of their own imagining.
+
+The Catholics alone appear exempt from the fury of division and
+sub-division that has seized every other persuasion. Having the Pope
+for their common head, regulates, I presume, their movements, and
+prevents the outrageous display of individual whim which every other
+sect is permitted.
+
+I had the pleasure of being introduced to the Catholic bishop of
+Cincinnati, and have never known in any country a priest of a character
+and bearing more truly apostolic. He was an American, but I should
+never have discovered it from his pronunciation or manner. He received
+his education partly in England, and partly in France. His manners were
+highly polished; his piety active and sincere, and infinitely more mild
+and tolerant than that of the factious Sectarians who form the great
+majority of the American priesthood.
+
+I believe I am sufficiently tolerant; but this does not prevent my
+seeing that the object of all religious observances is better obtained,
+when the government of the church is confided to the wisdom and
+experience of the most venerated among the people, than when it is
+placed in the hands of every tinker and tailor who chooses to claim a
+share in it. Nor is this the only evil attending the want of a national
+religion, supported by the State. As there is no legal and fixed
+provision for the clergy, it is hardly surprising that their services
+are confined to those who can pay them. The vehement expressions of
+insane or hypocritical zeal, such as were exhibited during “the
+Revival,” can but ill atone for the want of village worship, any more
+than the eternal talk of the admirable and unequalled government, can
+atone for the continual contempt of social order. Church and State
+hobble along, side by side, notwithstanding their boasted independence.
+Almost every man you meet will tell you, that he is occupied in labours
+most abundant for the good of his country; and almost every woman will
+tell you, that besides those things that are within (her house) she has
+coming upon her daily the care of all the churches. Yet spite of this
+universal attention to the government, its laws are half asleep; and
+spite of the old women and their Dorcas societies, atheism is awake and
+thriving.
+
+In the smaller cities and towns prayer-meetings take the place of
+almost all other amusements; but as the thinly scattered population of
+most villages can give no parties, and pay no priests, they contrive to
+marry, christen, and bury without them. A stranger taking up his
+residence in any city in America must think the natives the most
+religious people upon earth; but if chance lead him among her western
+villages, he will rarely find either churches or chapels, prayer or
+preacher; except, indeed, at that most terrific saturnalia, “a
+camp-meeting.” I was much struck with the answer of a poor woman, whom
+I saw ironing on a Sunday. “Do you make no difference in your
+occupations on a Sunday?” I said. “I beant a Christian, Ma’am; we have
+got no opportunity,” was the reply. It occurred to me, that in a
+country where “all men are equal,” the government would be guilty of no
+great crime, did it so far interfere as to give them all _an
+opportunity_ of becoming Christians if they wished it. But should the
+federal government dare to propose building a church, and endowing it,
+in some village that has never heard “the bringing home of bell and
+burial,” it is perfectly certain that not only the sovereign state
+where such an abomination was proposed, would rush into the Congress to
+resent the odious interference, but that all the other states would
+join the clamour, and such an intermeddling administration would run
+great risk of impeachment and degradation.
+
+Where there is a church-government so constituted as to deserve human
+respect, I believe it will always be found to receive it, even from
+those who may not assent to the dogma of its creed; and where such
+respect exists, it produces a decorum in manners and language often
+found wanting where it does not. Sectarians will not venture to
+rhapsodise, nor infidels to scoff, in the common intercourse of
+society. Both are injurious to the cause of rational religion, and to
+check both must be advantageous.
+
+It is certainly possible that some of the fanciful variations upon the
+ancient creeds of the Christian Church, with which transatlantic
+religionists amuse themselves, might inspire morbid imaginations in
+Europe as well as in America; but before they can disturb the solemn
+harmony HERE they must prelude by a defiance, not only to common sense,
+but what is infinitely more appalling, to common usage. They must at
+once rank themselves with the low and the illiterate, for only such
+prefer the eloquence of the tub to that of the pulpit. The aristocracy
+must ever, as a body, belong to the established Church, and it is but a
+small proportion of the influential classes who would be willing to
+allow that they do not belong to the aristocracy. That such feelings
+influence the professions of men it were ignorance or hypocrisy to
+deny; and that nation is wise who knows how to turn even such feelings
+into a wholesome stream of popular influence.
+
+As a specimen of the tone in which religion is mixed in the ordinary
+intercourse of society, I will transcribe the notes I took of a
+conversation, at which I was present, at Cincinnati; I wrote them
+immediately after the conversation took place.
+
+Dr. A.
+
+
+“I wish, Mrs. M., that you would explain to me what a revival is. I
+hear it talked of all over the city, and I know it means something
+about Jesus Christ and religion; but that is all I know, will you
+instruct me farther?”
+
+Mrs. M.
+
+
+“I expect, Dr. A., that you want to laugh at me. But that makes no
+difference. I am firm in my principles, and I fear no one’s laughter.”
+
+Dr. A.
+
+
+“Well, but what is a revival?”
+
+Mrs. M.
+
+
+“It is difficult, very difficult, to make those see who have no light;
+to make those understand whose souls are darkened. A revival means just
+an elegant kindling of the spirit; it is brought about to the Lord’s
+people by the hands of his saints, and it means salvation in the
+highest.”
+
+Dr. A.
+
+
+“But what is it the people mean by talking of feeling the revival? and
+waiting in spirit for the revival? and the extacy of the revival?”
+
+Mrs. M.
+
+
+“Oh Doctor! I am afraid that you are too far gone astray to understand
+all that. It is a glorious assurance, a whispering of the everlasting
+covenant, it is the bleating of the lamb, it is the welcome of the
+shepherd, it is the essence of love, it is the fullness of glory, it is
+being in Jesus, it is Jesus being in us, it is taking the Holy Ghost
+into our bosoms, it is sitting ourselves down by God, it is being
+called to the high places, it is eating, and drinking, and sleeping in
+the Lord, it is becoming a lion in the faith, it is being lowly and
+meek, and kissing the hand that smites, it is being mighty and
+powerful, and scorning reproof, it is—”
+
+Dr. A.
+
+
+“Thank you, Mrs. M., I feel quite satisfied; and I think I understand a
+revival now almost as well as you do yourself.”
+
+Mrs. A.
+
+
+“My! Where can you have learnt all that stuff, Mrs. M.?”
+
+Mrs. M.
+
+
+“How benighted you are! From the holy book, from the Word of the Lord,
+from the Holy Ghost, and Jesus Christ themselves.”
+
+Mrs. A.
+
+
+“It does seem so droll to me, to hear you talk of “the Word of the
+Lord.” Why, I have been brought up to look upon the Bible as nothing
+better than an old newspaper.”
+
+Mrs. O.
+
+
+“Surely you only say this for the sake of hearing what Mrs. M. will say
+in return—you do not mean it?”
+
+Mrs. A.
+
+
+“La, yes! to be sure I do.”
+
+Dr. A.
+
+
+“I profess that I by no means wish my wife to read all she might find
+there.—What says the Colonel, Mrs. M.?”
+
+Mrs. M.
+
+
+“As to that, I never stop to ask him. I tell him every day that I
+believe in Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and that it is his duty to
+believe in them too, and then my conscience is clear, and I don’t care
+what he believes. Really, I have no notion of one’s husband interfering
+in such matters.”
+
+Dr. A.
+
+
+“You are quite right. I am sure I give my wife leave to believe just
+what she likes; but she is a good woman, and does not abuse the
+liberty; for she believes nothing.”
+
+It was not once, nor twice, nor thrice, but many many times, during my
+residence in America, that I was present when subjects which custom as
+well as principle had taught me to consider as fitter for the closet
+than the tea-table, were thus lightly discussed. I hardly know whether
+I was more startled at first hearing, in little dainty namby pamby
+tones, a profession of Atheism over a teacup, or at having my attention
+called from a Johnny cake, to a rhapsody on election and the second
+birth.
+
+But, notwithstanding this revolting license, persecution exists to a
+degree unknown, I believe, in our well-ordered land since the days of
+Cromwell. I had the following anecdote from a gentleman perfectly well
+acquainted with the circumstances. A tailor sold a suit of clothes to a
+sailor a few moments before he sailed, which was on a Sunday morning.
+The corporation of New York prosecuted the tailor, and he was
+convicted, and sentenced to a fine greatly beyond his means to pay. Mr.
+F., a lawyer of New York, defended him with much eloquence, but in
+vain. His powerful speech, however, was not without effect, for it
+raised him such a host of Presbyterian enemies as sufficed to destroy
+his practice. Nor was this all: his nephew was at the time preparing
+for the bar, and soon after the above circumstance occurred his
+certificates were presented, and refused, with this declaration, “that
+no man of the name and family of F. should be admitted.” I have met
+this young man in society; he is a person of very considerable talent,
+and being thus cruelly robbed of his profession, has become the editor
+of a newspaper.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+
+Peasantry, compared to that of England—Early
+marriages—Charity—Independence and equality—Cottage prayer-meeting
+
+
+Mohawk, as our little village was called, gave us an excellent
+opportunity of comparing the peasants of the United States with those
+of England, and of judging the average degree of comfort enjoyed by
+each. I believe Ohio gives as fair a specimen as any part of the union;
+if they have the roughness and inconveniences of a new state to contend
+with, they have higher wages and cheaper provisions; if I err in
+supposing it a mean state in point of comfort, it certainly is not in
+taking too low a standard.
+
+Mechanics, if good workmen, are certain of employment, and good wages,
+rather higher than with us; the average wages of a labourer throughout
+the Union is ten dollars a month, with lodging, boarding, washing, and
+mending; if he lives at his own expense he has a dollar a day. It
+appears to me that the necessaries of life, that is to say, meat,
+bread, butter, tea, and coffee, (not to mention whiskey), are within
+the reach of every sober, industrious, and healthy man who chooses to
+have them; and yet I think that an English peasant, with the same
+qualifications, would, in coming to the United States, change for the
+worse. He would find wages somewhat higher, and provisions in Western
+America considerably lower: but this statement, true as it is, can lead
+to nothing but delusion if taken apart from other facts, fully as
+certain, and not less important, but which require more detail in
+describing, and which perhaps cannot be fully comprehended, except by
+an eye-witness. The American poor are accustomed to eat meat three
+times a day; I never enquired into the habits of any cottagers in
+Western America, where this was not the case. I found afterwards in
+Maryland, Pennsylvania, and other parts of the country, where the price
+of meat was higher, that it was used with more economy; yet still a
+much larger portion of the weekly income is thus expended than with us.
+Ardent spirits, though lamentably cheap,[3] still cost something, and
+the use of them among the men, with more or less of discretion,
+according to the character, is universal. Tobacco also grows at their
+doors, and is not taxed; yet this too costs something, and the air of
+heaven is not in more general use among the men of America, than
+chewing tobacco. I am not now pointing out the evils of dram-drinking,
+but it is evident, that where this practice prevails universally, and
+often to the most frightful excess, the consequence must be, that the
+money spent to obtain the dram is less than the money lost by the time
+consumed in drinking it. Long, disabling, and expensive fits of
+sickness are incontestably more frequent in every part of America, than
+in England, and the sufferers have no aid to look to, but what they
+have saved, or what they may be enabled to sell. I have never seen
+misery exceed what I have witnessed in an American cottage where
+disease has entered.
+
+ [3] About a shilling a gallon is the retail price of good whiskey. If
+ bought wholesale, or of inferior quality, it is much cheaper.
+
+
+But if the condition of the labourer be not superior to that of the
+English peasant, that of his wife and daughters is incomparably worse.
+It is they who are indeed the slaves of the soil. One has but to look
+at the wife of an American cottager, and ask her age, to be convinced
+that the life she leads is one of hardship, privation, and labour. It
+is rare to see a woman in this station who has reached the age of
+thirty, without losing every trace of youth and beauty. You continually
+see women with infants on their knee, that you feel sure are their
+grand- children, till some convincing proof of the contrary is
+displayed. Even the young girls, though often with lovely features,
+look pale, thin, and haggard. I do not remember to have seen in any
+single instance among the poor, a specimen of the plump, rosy, laughing
+physiognomy so common among our cottage girls. The horror of domestic
+service, which the reality of slavery, and the fable of equality, have
+generated, excludes the young women from that sure and most comfortable
+resource of decent English girls; and the consequence is, that with a
+most irreverend freedom of manner to the parents, the daughters are, to
+the full extent of the word, domestic slaves. This condition, which no
+periodical merry-making, no village FÊTE, ever occurs to cheer, is only
+changed for the still sadder burdens of a teeming wife. They marry very
+young; in fact, in no rank of life do you meet with young women in that
+delightful period of existence between childhood and marriage, wherein,
+if only tolerably well spent, so much useful information is gained, and
+the character takes a sufficient degree of firmness to support with
+dignity the more important parts of wife and mother. The slender,
+childish thing, without vigour of mind or body, is made to stem a sea
+of troubles that dims her young eye and makes her cheek grow pale, even
+before nature has given it the last beautiful finish of the full-grown
+woman.
+
+“We shall get along,” is the answer in full, for all that can be said
+in way of advice to a boy and girl who take it into their heads to go
+before a magistrate and “get married.” And they do get along, till
+sickness overtakes them, by means perhaps of borrowing a kettle from
+one and a tea-pot from another; but intemperance, idleness, or sickness
+will, in one week, plunge those who are even getting along well, into
+utter destitution; and where this happens, they are completely without
+resource.
+
+The absence of poor-laws is, without doubt, a blessing to the country,
+but they have not that natural and reasonable dependence on the richer
+classes which, in countries differently constituted, may so well supply
+their place. I suppose there is less alms-giving in America than in any
+other Christian country on the face of the globe. It is not in the
+temper of the people either to give or to receive.
+
+I extract the following pompous passage from a Washington paper of Feb.
+1829, (a season of uncommon severity and distress,) which, I think,
+justifies my observation.
+
+“Among the liberal evidences of sympathy for the suffering poor of this
+city, two have come to our knowledge which deserve to be especially
+noticed: the one a donation by the President of the United States to
+the committee of the ward in which he resides of fifty dollars; the
+other the donation by a few of the officers of the war department to
+the Howard and Dorcas Societies, of seventy-two dollars.” When such
+mention is made of a gift of about nine pounds sterling from the
+sovereign magistrate of the United States, and of thirteen pounds
+sterling as a contribution from one of the state departments, the
+inference is pretty obvious, that the sufferings of the destitute in
+America are not liberally relieved by individual charity.
+
+I had not been three days at Mohawk-cottage before a pair of ragged
+children came to ask for medicine for a sick mother; and when it was
+given to them, the eldest produced a handful of cents, and desired to
+know what he was to pay. The superfluous milk of our cow was sought
+after eagerly, but every new comer always proposed to pay for it. When
+they found out that “the English old woman” did not sell anything, I am
+persuaded they by no means liked her the better for it; but they seemed
+to think, that if she were a fool it was no reason they should be so
+too, and accordingly the borrowing, as they called it, became very
+constant, but always in a form that shewed their dignity and freedom.
+One woman sent to borrow a pound of cheese; another half a pound of
+coffee; and more than once an intimation accompanied the milk-jug, that
+the milk must be fresh, and unskimmed: on one occasion the messenger
+refused milk, and said, “Mother only wanted a little cream for her
+coffee.”
+
+I could never teach them to believe, during above a year that I lived
+at this house, that I would not sell the old clothes of the family; and
+so pertinacious were they in bargain-making, that often, when I had
+given them the articles which they wanted to purchase, they would say,
+“Well, I expect I shall have to do a turn of work for this; you may
+send for me when you want me.” But as I never did ask for the turn of
+work, and as this formula was constantly repeated, I began to suspect
+that it was spoken solely to avoid uttering the most un-American phrase
+“I thank you.”
+
+There was one man whose progress in wealth I watched with much interest
+and pleasure. When I first became his neighbour, himself, his wife, and
+four children, were living in one room, with plenty of beef-steaks and
+onions for breakfast, dinner and supper, but with very few other
+comforts. He was one of the finest men I ever saw, full of natural
+intelligence and activity of mind and body, but he could neither read
+nor write. He drank but little whiskey, and but rarely chewed tobacco,
+and was therefore more free from that plague spot of spitting which
+rendered male colloquy so difficult to endure. He worked for us
+frequently, and often used to walk into the drawing-room and seat
+himself on the sofa, and tell me all his plans. He made an engagement
+with the proprietor of the wooded hill before mentioned, by which half
+the wood he could fell was to be his own. His unwearied industry made
+this a profitable bargain, and from the proceeds he purchased the
+materials for building a comfortable frame (or wooden) house; he did
+the work almost entirely himself. He then got a job for cutting rails,
+and, as he could cut twice as many in a day as any other man in the
+neighbourhood, he made a good thing of it. He then let half his pretty
+house, which was admirably constructed, with an ample portico, that
+kept it always cool. His next step was contracting for the building a
+wooden bridge, and when I left Mohawk he had fitted up his half of the
+building as an hotel and grocery store; and I have no doubt that every
+sun that sets sees him a richer man than when it rose. He hopes to make
+his son a lawyer, and I have little doubt that he will live to see him
+sit in congress; when this time arrives, the wood-cutter’s son will
+rank with any other member of congress, not of courtesy, but of right,
+and the idea that his origin is a disadvantage, will never occur to the
+imagination of the most exalted of his fellow-citizens.
+
+This is the only feature in American society that I recognise as
+indicative of the equality they profess. Any man’s son may become the
+equal of any other man’s son, and the consciousness of this is
+certainly a spur to exertion; on the other hand, it is also a spur to
+that coarse familiarity, untempered by any shadow of respect, which is
+assumed by the grossest and the lowest in their intercourse with the
+highest and most refined. This is a positive evil, and, I think, more
+than balances its advantages.
+
+And here again it may be observed, that the theory of equality may be
+very daintily discussed by English gentlemen in a London dining-room,
+when the servant, having placed a fresh bottle of cool wine on the
+table, respectfully shuts the door, and leaves them to their walnuts
+and their wisdom; but it will be found less palatable when it presents
+itself in the shape of a hard, greasy paw, and is claimed in accents
+that breathe less of freedom than of onions and whiskey. Strong,
+indeed, must be the love of equality in an English breast if it can
+survive a tour through the Union.
+
+There was one house in the village which was remarkable from its
+wretchedness. It had an air of indecent poverty about it, which long
+prevented my attempting an entrance; but at length, upon being told
+that I could get chicken and eggs there whenever I wanted them, I
+determined upon venturing. The door being opened to my knock, I very
+nearly abandoned my almost blunted purpose; I never beheld such a den
+of filth and misery: a woman, the very image of dirt and disease, held
+a squalid imp of a baby on her hip bone while she kneaded her dough
+with her right fist only A great lanky girl, of twelve years old, was
+sitting on a barrel, gnawing a corn cob; when I made known my business,
+the woman answered, “No not I; I got no chickens to sell, nor eggs
+neither; but my son will, plenty I expect. Here Nick,” (bawling at the
+bottom of a ladder), “here’s an old woman what wants chickens.” Half a
+moment brought Nick to the bottom of the ladder, and I found my
+merchant was one of a ragged crew, whom I had been used to observe in
+my daily walk, playing marbles in the dust, and swearing lustily; he
+looked about ten years old.
+
+“Have you chicken to sell, my boy?”
+
+“Yes, and eggs too, more nor what you’ll buy.”
+
+Having enquired price, condition, and so on, I recollected that I had
+been used to give the same price at market, the feathers plucked, and
+the chicken prepared for the table, and I told him that he ought not to
+charge the same.
+
+“Oh for that, I expect I can fix ’em as well as ever them was, what you
+got in market.”
+
+“You fix them?”
+
+“Yes to be sure, why not?”
+
+“I thought you were too fond of marbles.”
+
+He gave me a keen glance, and said, “You don’t know I.—When will you be
+wanting the chickens?”
+
+He brought them at the time directed, extremely well “fixed,” and I
+often dealt with him afterwards. When I paid him, he always thrust his
+hand into his breaches pocket, which I presume, as being _the keep_,
+was fortified more strongly than the dilapidated outworks, and drew
+from thence rather more dollars, half-dollars, levies, and fips, than
+his dirty little hand could well hold. My curiosity was excited, and
+though I felt an involuntary disgust towards the young Jew, I
+repeatedly conversed with him.
+
+“You are very rich, Nick,” I said to him one day, on his making an
+ostentatious display of change, as he called it; he sneered with a most
+unchildish expression of countenance, and replied, “I guess ’twould be
+a bad job for I, if that was all I’d got to shew.”
+
+I asked him how he managed his business. He told me that he bought eggs
+by the hundred, and lean chicken by the score, from the waggons that
+passed their door on the way to market; that he fatted the latter in
+coops he had made himself, and could easily double their price, and
+that his eggs answered well too, when he sold them out by the dozen.
+
+“And do you give the money to your mother?”
+
+“I expect not,” was the answer, with another sharp glance of his ugly
+blue eyes.
+
+“What do you do with it. Nick?”
+
+His look said plainly, what is that to you? but he only answered,
+quaintly enough, “I takes care of it.”
+
+How Nick got his first dollar is very doubtful; I was told that when he
+entered the village store, the person serving always called in another
+pair of eyes; but having obtained it, the spirit, activity, and
+industry, with which he caused it to increase and multiply, would have
+been delightful in one of Miss Edgeworth’s dear little clean
+bright-looking boys, who would have carried all he got to his mother;
+but in Nick it was detestable. No human feeling seemed to warm his
+young heart, not even the love of self-indulgence, for he was not only
+ragged and dirty, but looked considerably more than half starved, and I
+doubt not his dinners and suppers half fed his fat chickens.
+
+I by no means give this history of Nick, the chicken merchant, as an
+anecdote characteristic in all respects of America; the only part of
+the story which is so, is the independence of the little man, and is
+one instance out of a thousand, of the hard, dry, calculating character
+that is the result of it. Probably Nick will be very rich; perhaps he
+will be President. I once got so heartily scolded for saying, that I
+did not think all American citizens were equally eligible to that
+office, that I shall never again venture to doubt it.
+
+Another of our cottage acquaintance was a market-gardener, from whom we
+frequently bought vegetables; from the wife of this man we one day
+received a very civil invitation to “please to come and pass the
+evening with them in prayer.” The novelty of the circumstance, and its
+great dissimilarity to the ways and manners of our own country, induced
+me to accept the invitation, and also to record the visit here.
+
+We were received with great attention, and a place was assigned us on
+one of the benches that surrounded the little parlour. Several persons,
+looking like mechanics and their wives, were present; every one sat in
+profound silence, and with that quiet subdued air, that serious people
+assume on entering a church. At length, a long, black, grim-looking man
+entered; his dress, the cut of his hair, and his whole appearance,
+strongly recalled the idea of one of Cromwell’s fanatics. He stepped
+solemnly into the middle of the room, and took a chair that stood
+there, but not to sit upon it; he turned the back towards him, on which
+he placed his hands, and stoutly uttering a sound between a hem and a
+cough, he deposited freely on either side of him a considerable portion
+of masticated tobacco. He then began to preach. His text was “Live in
+hope,” and he continued to expound it for two hours in a drawling,
+nasal tone, with no other respite than what he allowed himself for
+expectoration. If I say that he repeated the words of this text a
+hundred times, I think I shall not exceed the truth, for that allows
+more than a minute for each repetition, and in fact the whole discourse
+was made up of it. The various tones in which he uttered it might have
+served as a lesson on emphasis; as a question—in accents of triumph—in
+accents of despair—of pity—of threatening—of authority—of doubt—of
+hope—of faith. Having exhausted every imaginable variety of tone, he
+abruptly said, “Let us pray,” and twisting his chair round, knelt
+before it. Every one knelt before the seat they had occupied, and
+listened for another half hour to a rant of miserable, low, familiar
+jargon, that he presumed to improvise to his Maker as a prayer. In
+this, however, the cottage apostle only followed the example set by
+every preacher throughout the Union, excepting those of the
+Episcopalian and Catholic congregations; THEY only do not deem
+themselves privileged to address the Deity in strains of crude and
+unweighed importunity. These ranters may sometimes be very much in
+earnest, but surely the least we can say of it is, that they
+
+“Praise their God amiss.”
+
+
+I enquired afterwards of a friend, well acquainted with such matters,
+how the grim preacher of “Hope” got paid for his labours, and he told
+me that the trade was an excellent one, for that many a gude wife
+bestowed more than a tithe of what her gude man trusted to her keeping,
+in rewarding the zeal of these self- chosen apostles. These sable
+ministers walk from house to house, or if the distance be considerable,
+ride on a comfortable ambling nag. They are not only as empty as wind,
+but resemble it in other particulars; for they blow where they list,
+and no man knoweth whence they come, nor whither they go. When they see
+a house that promises comfortable lodging and entertainment, they enter
+there, and say to the good woman of the house, “Sister, shall I pray
+with you?” If the answer be favourable, and it is seldom otherwise, he
+instals himself and his horse till after breakfast the next morning.
+The best meat, drink, and lodging are his, while he stays, and he
+seldom departs without some little contribution in money for the
+support of the crucified and suffering church. Is it not strange that
+“the most intelligent people in the world” should prefer such a
+religion as this, to a form established by the wisdom and piety of the
+ablest and best among the erring sons of men, solemnly sanctioned by
+the nation’s law, and rendered sacred by the use of their fathers?
+
+It would be well for all reasoners on the social system to observe
+steadily, and with an eye obscured by no beam of prejudice, the result
+of the experiment that is making on the other side of the Atlantic. If
+I mistake not, they might learn there, better than by any abstract
+speculation, what are the points on which the magistrates of a great
+people should dictate to them and on what points they should be left
+freely to their own guidance, I sincerely believe, that if a
+fire-worshipper, or an Indian Brahmin, were to come to the United
+States, prepared to preach and pray in English, he would not be long
+without a “very respectable congregation.”
+
+The influence of a religion, sanctioned by the government, could in no
+country, in the nineteenth century, interfere with the speculations of
+a philosopher in his closet, but it might, and must, steady the weak
+and wavering opinions of the multitude. There is something really
+pitiable in the effect produced by the want of this rudder oar. I knew
+a family where one was a Methodist, one a Presbyterian, and a third a
+Baptist; and another, where one was a Quaker, one a declared Atheist,
+and another an Universalist. These are all females, and all moving in
+the best society that America affords; but one and all of them as
+incapable of reasoning on things past, present, and to come, as the
+infants they nourish, yet one and all of them perfectly fit to move
+steadily and usefully in a path marked out for them. But I shall be
+called an itinerant preacher myself if I pursue this theme.
+
+As I have not the magic power of my admirable friend, Miss Mitford, to
+give grace and interest to the humblest rustic details, I must not
+venture to linger among the cottages that surrounded us; but before I
+quit them I must record the pleasing recollection of one or two
+neighbours of more companionable rank, from whom I received so much
+friendly attention, and such unfailing kindness, in all my little
+domestic embarrassments, that I shall never recall the memory of
+Mohawk, without paying an affectionate tribute to these far distant
+friends. I wish it were within the range of hope, that I might see them
+again, in my own country, and repay, in part, the obligations I owe
+them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+
+Theatre—Fine Arts—Delicacy—Shaking Quakers—Big-Bone Lick—Visit of the
+President
+
+
+The theatre at Cincinnati is small, and not very brilliant in
+decoration, but in the absence of every other amusement our young men
+frequently attended it, and in the bright clear nights of autumn and
+winter, the mile and a half of distance was not enough to prevent the
+less enterprising members of the family from sometimes accompanying
+them. The great inducement to this was the excellent acting of Mr. and
+Mrs. Alexander Drake, the managers.[4] Nothing could be more distinct
+than their line of acting, but the great versatility of their powers
+enabled them often to appear together. Her cast was the highest walk of
+tragedy, and his the broadest comedy; but yet, as Goldsmith says of his
+sister heroines, I have known them change characters for a whole
+evening together, and have wept with him and laughed with her, as it
+was their will and pleasure to ordain. I think in his comedy he was
+superior to any actor I ever saw in the same parts, except Emery.
+Alexander Drake’s comedy was like that of the French, who never appear
+to be acting at all; he was himself the comic being the author aimed at
+depicting. Let him speak whose words he would, from Shakspeare to
+Colman, it was impossible not to feel that half the fun was his own; he
+had, too, in a very high degree, the power that Fawcett possessed, of
+drawing tears by a sudden touch of natural feeling. His comic songs
+might have set the gravity of the judges and bishops together at
+defiance. Liston is great, but Alexander Drake was greater.
+
+ [4] Mr. Drake was an Englishman.
+
+
+Mrs. Drake, formerly Miss Denny, greatly resembles Miss O’Neil; a proof
+of this is, that Mr. Kean, who had heard of the resemblance, arrived at
+New York late in the evening, and having repaired to the theatre, saw
+her for the first time across the stage, and immediately exclaimed,
+“that’s Miss Denny.” Her voice, too, has the same rich and touching
+tones, and is superior in power. Her talent is decidedly first-rate.
+Deep and genuine feeling, correct judgment, and the most perfect good
+taste, distinguish her play in every character. Her last act of
+Belvidera is superior in tragic effect to any thing I ever saw on the
+stage, the one great exception to all comparison, Mrs. Siddons, being
+set aside.
+
+It was painful to see these excellent performers playing to a miserable
+house, not a third full, and the audience probably not including half a
+dozen persons who would prefer their playing to that of the vilest
+strollers. In proof of this, I saw them, as managers, give place to
+paltry third-rate actors from London, who would immediately draw
+crowded houses, and be overwhelmed with applause.
+
+Poor Drake died just before we left Ohio, and his wife, who, besides
+her merit as an actress, is a most estimable and amiable woman, is left
+with a large family. I have little, or rather no doubt, of her being
+able to obtain an excellent engagement in London, but her having
+property in several of the Western theatres will, I fear, detain her in
+a neighbourhood, where she is neither understood nor appreciated. She
+told me many very excellent professional anecdotes collected during her
+residence in the West; one of these particularly amused me as a
+specimen of Western idiom. A lady who professed a great admiration for
+Mrs. Drake had obtained her permission to be present upon one occasion
+at her theatrical toilet. She was dressing for some character in which
+she was to stab herself, and her dagger was lying on the table. The
+visitor took it up, and examining it with much emotion, exclaimed,
+“what! do you really jab this into yourself sevagarous?”
+
+We also saw the great American star, Mr. Forrest. What he may become I
+will not pretend to prophesy; but when I saw him play Hamlet at
+Cincinnati, not even Mrs. Drake’s sweet Ophelia could keep me beyond
+the third act. It is true that I have seen Kemble, Macready, Kean,
+Young, C. Kemble, Cook, and Talma play Hamlet, and I might not,
+perhaps, be a very fair judge of this young actor’s merits; but I was
+greatly amused when a gentleman, who asked my opinion of him, told me
+upon hearing it, that he would not advise me to state it freely in
+America, “for they would not bear it.” The theatre was really not a bad
+one, though the very poor receipts rendered it impossible to keep it in
+high order; but an annoyance infinitely greater than decorations
+indifferently clean, was the style and manner of the audience. Men came
+into the lower tier of boxes without their coats; and I have seen shirt
+sleeves tucked up to the shoulder; the spitting was incessant, and the
+mixed smell of onions and whiskey was enough to make one feel even the
+Drakes’ acting dearly bought by the obligation of enduring its
+accompaniments. The bearing and attitudes of the men are perfectly
+indescribable; the heels thrown higher than the head, the entire rear
+of the person presented to the audience, the whole length supported on
+the benches, are among the varieties that these exquisite
+posture-masters exhibit. The noises, too, were perpetual, and of the
+most unpleasant kind; the applause is expressed by cries and thumping
+with the feet, instead of clapping; and when a patriotic fit seized
+them, and “Yankee Doodle” was called for, every man seemed to think his
+reputation as a citizen depended on the noise he made.
+
+Two very indifferent figurantes, probably from the Ambigu Comique, or
+la Gaiete, made their appearance at Cincinnati while we were there; and
+had Mercury stepped down, and danced a _pas seul_ upon earth, his
+godship could not have produced a more violent sensation. But wonder
+and admiration were by no means the only feelings excited; horror and
+dismay were produced in at least an equal degree. No one, I believe,
+doubted their being admirable dancers, but every one agreed that the
+morals of the Western world would never recover the shock. When I was
+asked if I had ever seen any thing so dreadful before, I was
+embarrassed how to answer; for the young women had been exceedingly
+careful, both in their dress and in their dancing, to meet the taste of
+the people; but had it been Virginie in her most transparent attire, or
+Taglioni in her most remarkable pirouette, they could not have been
+more reprobated. The ladies altogether forsook the theatre; the
+gentlemen muttered under their breath, and turned their heads aside
+when the subject was mentioned; the clergy denounced them from the
+pulpit; and if they were named at the meetings of the saints, it was to
+show how deep the horror such a theme could produce. I could not but
+ask myself if virtue were a plant, thriving under one form in one
+country, and flourishing under a different one in another? If these
+Western Americans are right, then how dreadfully wrong are we! It is
+really a very puzzling subject.
+
+But this was not the only point on which I found my notions of right
+and wrong utterly confounded; hardly a day passed in which I did not
+discover that something or other that I had been taught to consider
+lawful as eating, was held in abhorrence by those around me; many words
+to which I had never heard an objectionable meaning attached, were
+totally interdicted, and the strangest paraphrastic sentences
+substituted. I confess it struck me, that notwithstanding a general
+stiffness of manner, which I think must exceed that of the Scribes and
+Pharisees, the Americans have imaginations that kindle with alarming
+facility. I could give many anecdotes to prove this, but will content
+myself with a few.
+
+A young German gentleman of perfectly good manners, once came to me
+greatly chagrined at having offended one of the principal families in
+the neighbourhood, by having pronounced the word _corset_ before the
+ladies of it. An old female friend had kindly overcome her own feelings
+so far as to mention to him the cause of the coolness he had remarked,
+and strongly advised his making an apology. He told me that he was
+perfectly well disposed to do so, but felt himself greatly at a loss
+how to word it.
+
+An English lady who had long kept a fashionable boarding-school in one
+of the Atlantic cities, told me that one of her earliest cares with
+every new comer, was the endeavour to substitute real delicacy for this
+affected precision of manner; among many anecdotes, she told me one of
+a young lady about fourteen, who on entering the receiving room, where
+she only expected to see a lady who had enquired for her, and finding a
+young man with her, put her hands before her eyes, and ran out of the
+room again, screaming “A man! a man! a man!”
+
+On another occasion, one of the young ladies in going up stairs to the
+drawing-room, unfortunately met a boy of fourteen coming down, and her
+feelings were so violently agitated, that she stopped panting and
+sobbing, nor would pass on till the boy had swung himself up on the
+upper banisters, to leave the passage free.
+
+At Cincinnati there is a garden where the people go to eat ices, and to
+look at roses. For the preservation of the flowers, there is placed at
+the end of one of the walks a sign-post sort of daub, representing a
+Swiss peasant girl, holding in her hand a scroll, requesting that the
+roses might not be gathered. Unhappily for the artist, or for the
+proprietor, or for both, the petticoat of this figure was so short as
+to shew her ancles. The ladies saw, and shuddered; and it was formally
+intimated to the proprietor, that if he wished for the patronage of the
+ladies of Cincinnati, he must have the petticoat of this figure
+lengthened. The affrighted purveyor of ices sent off an express for the
+artist and his paint pot. He came, but unluckily not provided with any
+colour that would match the petticoat; the necessity, however, was too
+urgent for delay, and a flounce of blue was added to the petticoat of
+red, giving bright and shining evidence before all men of the
+immaculate delicacy of the Cincinnati ladies.
+
+I confess I was sometimes tempted to suspect that this ultra refinement
+was not very deep seated. It often appeared to me like the
+consciousness of grossness, that wanted a veil; but the veil was never
+gracefully adjusted. Occasionally, indeed, the very same persons who
+appeared ready to faint at the idea of a statue, would utter some
+unaccountable sally that was quite startling, and which made me feel
+that the indelicacy of which we were accused had its limits. The
+following anecdote is hardly fit to tell, but it explains what I mean
+too well to be omitted.
+
+A young married lady, of _high standing_ and most fastidious delicacy,
+who had been brought up at one of the Atlantic seminaries of highest
+reputation, told me that her house, at the distance of half a mile from
+a populous city, was unfortunately opposite a mansion of worse than
+doubtful reputation. “It is abominable,” she said, “to see the people
+that go there; they ought to be exposed. I and another lady, an
+intimate friend of mine, did make one of them look foolish enough last
+summer: she was passing the day with me, and, while we were sitting at
+the window, we saw a young man we both knew ride up there, we went into
+the garden and watched at the gate for him to come back, and when he
+did, we both stepped out, and I said to him, “are you not ashamed, Mr.
+William D., to ride by my house and back again in that manner?” I never
+saw a man look so foolish!”
+
+In conversing with ladies on the customs and manners of Europe, I
+remarked a strong propensity to consider every thing as wrong to which
+they were not accustomed. I once mentioned to a young lady that I
+thought a picnic party would be very agreeable, and that I would
+propose it to some of our friends. She agreed that it would be
+delightful, but she added, “I fear you will not succeed; we are not
+used to such sort of things here, and I know it is considered very
+indelicate for ladies and gentlemen to sit down together on the grass.”
+
+I could multiply anecdotes of this nature; but I think these sufficient
+to give an accurate idea of the tone of manners in this particular, and
+I trust to justify the observations I have made.
+
+One of the spectacles which produced the greatest astonishment on us
+all was the Republican simplicity of the courts of justice. We had
+heard that the judges indulged themselves on the bench in those
+extraordinary attitudes which, doubtless, some peculiarity of the
+American formation leads them to find the most comfortable. Of this we
+were determined to judge for ourselves, and accordingly entered the
+court when it was in full business, with three judges on the bench. The
+annexed sketch will better describe what we saw than any thing I can
+write.
+
+Our winter passed rapidly away, and pleasantly enough, by the help of
+frosty walks, a little skaiting, a visit to Big-Bone Lick, and a visit
+to the shaking Quakers, a good deal of chess, and a good deal of
+reading, notwithstanding we were almost in the back woods of Western
+America.
+
+The excursion to Big-Bone Lick, in Kentucky, and that to the Quaker
+village, were too fatiguing for females at such a season, but our
+gentlemen brought us home mammoth bones and shaking Quaker stories in
+abundance.
+
+These singular people, the shaking Quakers of America, give undeniable
+proof that communities may exist and prosper, for they have continued
+for many years to adhere strictly to this manner of life, and have been
+constantly increasing in wealth. They have formed two or three
+different societies in distant parts of the Union, all governed by the
+same general laws, and all uniformly prosperous and flourishing.
+
+There must be some sound and wholesome principle at work in these
+establishments to cause their success in every undertaking, and this
+principle must be a powerful one, for it has to combat much that is
+absurd and much that is mischievous.
+
+The societies are generally composed of about an equal proportion of
+males and females, many of them being men and their wives; but they are
+all bound by their laws not to cohabit together. Their religious
+observances are wholly confined to singing and dancing of the most
+grotesque kind, and this repeated so constantly as to occupy much time;
+yet these people become rich and powerful wherever they settle
+themselves. Whatever they manufacture, whatever their farms produce, is
+always in the highest repute, and brings the highest price in the
+market. They receive all strangers with great courtesy, and if they
+bring an introduction they are lodged and fed for any length of time
+they choose to stay; they are not asked to join in their labours, but
+are permitted to do so if they wish it.
+
+The Big-Bone Lick was not visited, and even partially examined, without
+considerable fatigue.
+
+It appeared from the account of our travellers, that the spot which
+gives the region its elegant name is a deep bed of blue clay, tenacious
+and unsound, so much so as to render it both difficult and dangerous to
+traverse. The digging it has been found so laborious that no one has
+yet hazarded the expense of a complete search into its depths for the
+gigantic relics so certainly hidden there. The clay has never been
+moved without finding some of them; and I think it can hardly be
+doubted that money and perseverance would procure a more perfect
+specimen of an entire mammoth than we have yet seen.[5]
+
+ [5] Since the above was written an immense skeleton, nearly perfect,
+ has been extracted.
+
+
+And now the time arrived that our domestic circle was again to be
+broken up. Our eldest son was to be entered at Oxford, and it was
+necessary that his father should accompany him; and, after considerable
+indecision, it was at length determined that I and my daughters should
+remain another year, with our second son. It was early in February, and
+our travellers prepared themselves to encounter some sharp gales upon
+the mountains, though the great severity of the cold appeared to be
+past. We got buffalo robes and double shoes prepared for them, and they
+were on the eve of departure when we heard that General Jackson, the
+newly-elected President, was expected to arrive immediately at
+Cincinnati, from his residence in the West, and to proceed by steamboat
+to Pittsburgh, on his way to Washington. This determined them not to
+fix the day of their departure till they heard of his arrival, and
+then, if possible, to start in the same boat with him; the decent
+dignity of a private conveyance not being deemed necessary for the
+President of the United States.
+
+The day of his arrival was however quite uncertain, and we could only
+determine to have every thing very perfectly in readiness, let it come
+when it would. This resolution was hardly acted upon when the news
+reached us that the General had arrived at Louisville, and was expected
+at Cincinnati in a few hours. All was bustle and hurry at
+Mohawk-cottage; we quickly dispatched our packing business, and this
+being the first opportunity we had had of witnessing such a
+demonstration of popular feeling, we all determined to be present at
+the debarkation of the great man. We accordingly walked to Cincinnati,
+and secured a favourable station at the landing-place, both for the
+purpose of seeing the first magistrate and of observing his reception
+by the people. We had waited but a few moments when the heavy panting
+of the steam engines and then a discharge of cannon told that we were
+just in time; another moment brought his vessel in sight.
+
+Nothing could be better of its kind than his approach to the shore: the
+noble steam-boat which conveyed him was flanked on each side by one of
+nearly equal size and splendour; the roofs of all three were covered by
+a crowd of men; cannon saluted them from the shore as they passed by,
+to the distance of a quarter of a mile above the town; there they
+turned about, and came down the river with a rapid but stately motion,
+the three vessels so close together as to appear one mighty mass upon
+the water.
+
+When they arrived opposite the principal landing they swept gracefully
+round, and the side vessels, separating themselves from the centre,
+fell a few feet back, permitting her to approach before them with her
+honoured freight. All this manoeuvring was extremely well executed, and
+really beautiful.
+
+The crowd on the shore awaited her arrival in perfect stillness. When
+she touched the bank the people on board gave a faint huzza, but it was
+answered by no note of welcome from the land: this cold silence was
+certainly not produced by any want of friendly feeling towards the new
+President; during the whole of the canvassing he had been decidedly the
+popular candidate at Cincinnati, and, for months past, we had been
+accustomed to the cry of “Jackson for ever” from an overwhelming
+majority; but enthusiasm is not either the virtue or the vice of
+America.
+
+More than one private carriage was stationed at the water’s edge to
+await the General’s orders, but they were dismissed with the
+information that he would walk to the hotel. Upon receiving this
+intimation the silent crowd divided itself in a very orderly manner,
+leaving a space for him to walk through them. He did so, uncovered,
+though the distance was considerable, and the weather very cold; but he
+alone (with the exception of a few European gentlemen who were present)
+was without a hat. He wore his grey hair, carelessly, but not
+ungracefully arranged, and, spite of his harsh gaunt features, he looks
+like a gentleman and a soldier. He was in deep mourning, having very
+recently lost his wife; they were said to have been very happy
+together, and I was pained by hearing a voice near me exclaim, as he
+approached the spot where I stood, “There goes Jackson, where is his
+wife?” Another sharp voice, at a little distance, cried, “Adams for
+ever!” And these sounds were all I heard to break the silence.
+
+“They manage these matters better” in the East, I have no doubt, but as
+yet I was still in the West, and still inclined to think, that however
+meritorious the American character may be, it is not amiable.
+
+Mr. T. and his sons joined the group of citizens who waited upon him to
+the hotel, and were presented to the President in form; that is, they
+shook hands with him. Learning that he intended to remain a few hours
+there, or more properly, that it would be a few hours before the
+steam-boat would be ready to proceed, Mr. T. secured berths on board,
+and returned, to take a hasty dinner with us. At the hour appointed by
+the captain, Mr. T. and his son accompanied the General on board; and
+by subsequent letters I learnt that they had conversed a good deal with
+him, and were pleased by his conversation and manners, but deeply
+disgusted by the brutal familiarity to which they saw him exposed at
+every place on their progress at which they stopped; I am tempted to
+quote one passage, as sufficiently descriptive of the manner, which so
+painfully grated against their European feelings.
+
+‘There was not a hulking boy from a keel-boat who was not introduced to
+the President, unless, indeed, as was the case with some, they
+introduced themselves: for instance, I was at his elbow when a greasy
+fellow accosted him thus:-
+
+“General Jackson, I guess?”
+
+‘The General bowed assent.
+
+“Why they told me you was dead.”
+
+“No! Providence has hitherto preserved my life.”
+
+“And is your wife alive too?”
+
+‘The General, apparently much hurt, signified the contrary, upon which
+the courtier concluded his harangue, by saying, “Aye, I thought it was
+the one or the t’other of ye.”’
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+
+American Spring—Controversy between Messrs. Owen and Cambell—Public
+ball—Separation of the sexes—American freedom—Execution
+
+
+The American spring is by no means so agreeable as the American autumn;
+both move with faultering step, and slow; but this lingering pace,
+which is delicious in autumn, is most tormenting in the spring. In the
+one case you are about to part with a friend, who is becoming more
+gentle and agreeable at every step, and such steps can hardly be made
+too slowly; but in the other you are making your escape from a dreary
+cavern, where you have been shut up with black frost and biting blasts,
+and where your best consolation was being smoke-dried.
+
+But, upon second thoughts, I believe it would be more correct, instead
+of complaining of the slow pace of the American spring, to declare that
+they have no spring at all. The beautiful autumn often lingers on till
+Christmas, after which winter can be trifled with no longer, and
+generally keeps a stubborn hold through the months which we call
+spring, when he suddenly turns his back, and summer takes his place.
+
+The inconceivable uncertainty of the climate is, however, such, that I
+will not venture to state about what time this change takes place, for
+it is certain, that let me name what time I would, it would be easy for
+any weather journaliser to prove me wrong, by quoting that the
+thermometer was at 100 at a period which my statement included in the
+winter; or 50 long after I made the summer commence.
+
+The climate of England is called uncertain, but it can never, I think,
+be so described by any who have experienced that of the United States.
+A gentleman, on whose accuracy I could depend, told me he had
+repeatedly known the thermometer vary above 40 degrees in the space of
+twelve hours. This most unpleasant caprice of the temperature is, I
+conceive, one cause of the unhealthiness of the climate.
+
+At length, however, after shivering and shaking till we were tired of
+it, and having been half ruined in fire-wood (which, by the way, is
+nearly as dear as at Paris, and dearer in many parts of the Union), the
+summer burst upon us full blown, and the ice-house, the piazza, and the
+jalousies were again in full requisition.
+
+It was in the early summer of this year (1829) that Cincinnati offered
+a spectacle unprecedented, I believe, in any age or country. Mr. Owen,
+of Lanark, of New Harmony, of Texas, well known to the world by all or
+either of these additions, had challenged the whole religious public of
+the United States to discuss with him publicly the truth or falsehood
+of all the religions that had ever been propagated on the face of the
+earth; stating, further, that he undertook to prove that they were all
+equally false, and nearly equally mischievous. This most appalling
+challenge was conveyed to the world through the medium of New Orleans
+newspapers, and for some time it remained unanswered; at length the
+Reverend Alexander Campbell, from Bethany, (not of Judaea, but of
+Kentucky,) proclaimed, through the same medium, that he was ready to
+take up the gauntlet. The place fixed for this extraordinary discussion
+was Cincinnati; the time, the second Monday in May, 1829, being about a
+year from the time the challenge was accepted; thus giving the
+disputants time to prepare themselves.
+
+Mr. Owen’s preparation, however, could only have been such as those who
+run may read, for, during the interval, he traversed great part of
+North America, crossed the Atlantic twice, visited England, Scotland,
+Mexico, Texas, and I know not how many places besides.
+
+Mr. Campbell, I was told, passed this period very differently, being
+engaged in reading with great research and perseverance all the
+theological works within his reach. But whatever confidence the
+learning and piety of Mr. Campbell might have inspired in his friends,
+or in the Cincinnati Christians in general, it was not, as it appeared,
+sufficient to induce Mr. Wilson, the Presbyterian minister of the
+largest church in the town, to permit the display of them within its
+walls. This refusal was greatly reprobated, and much regretted, as the
+curiosity to hear the discussion was very general, and no other edifice
+offered so much accommodation.
+
+A Methodist meeting-house, large enough to contain a thousand persons,
+was at last chosen; a small stage was arranged round the pulpit, large
+enough to accommodate the disputants and their stenographers; the
+pulpit itself was throughout the whole time occupied by the aged father
+of Mr. Campbell, whose flowing white hair, and venerable countenance,
+constantly expressive of the deepest attention, and the most profound
+interest, made him a very striking figure in the group. Another
+platform was raised in a conspicuous part of the building, on which
+were seated seven gentlemen of the city, selected as moderators.
+
+The chapel was equally divided, one half being appropriated to ladies,
+the other to gentlemen; and the door of entrance reserved for the
+ladies was carefully guarded by persons appointed to prevent any
+crowding or difficulty from impeding their approach. I suspect that the
+ladies were indebted to Mr. Owen for this attention; the arrangements
+respecting them on this occasion were by no means American.
+
+When Mr. Owen rose, the building was thronged in every part; the
+audience, or congregation, (I hardly know which to call them) were of
+the highest rank of citizens, and as large a proportion of best bonnets
+fluttered there, as the “two horned church” itself could boast.
+
+It was in the profoundest silence, and apparently with the deepest
+attention, that Mr. Owen’s opening address was received; and surely it
+was the most singular one that ever Christian men and women sat to
+listen to.
+
+When I recollect its object, and the uncompromising manner in which the
+orator stated his mature conviction that the whole history of the
+Christian mission was a fraud, and its sacred origin a fable, I cannot
+but wonder that it was so listened to; yet at the time I felt no such
+wonder. Never did any one practise the _suaviter in modo_ with more
+powerful effect than Mr. Owen. The gentle tone of his voice; his mild,
+sometimes playful, but never ironical manner; the absence of every
+vehement or harsh expression; the affectionate interest expressed for
+“the whole human family,” the air of candour with which he expressed
+his wish to be convinced he was wrong, if he indeed were so—his kind
+smile—the mild expression of his eyes—in short, his whole manner,
+disarmed zeal, and produced a degree of tolerance that those who did
+not hear him would hardly believe possible.
+
+Half an hour was the time allotted for each haranguer; when this was
+expired, the moderators were seen to look at their watches. Mr. Owen,
+too, looked at his (without pausing) smiled, shook his head, and said
+in a parenthesis “a moment’s patience,” and continued for nearly
+another half hour.
+
+Mr. Campbell then arose; his person, voice, and manner all greatly in
+his favour. In his first attack he used the arms, which in general have
+been considered as belonging to the other side of the question. He
+quizzed Mr. Owen most unmercifully; pinched him here for his
+parallelograms; hit him there for his human perfectibility, and kept
+the whole audience in a roar of laughter. Mr. Owen joined in it most
+heartily himself, and listened to him throughout with the air of a man
+who is delighted at the good things he is hearing, and exactly in the
+cue to enjoy all the other good things that he is sure will follow. Mr.
+Campbell’s watch was the only one which reminded us that we had
+listened to him for half an hour; and having continued speaking for a
+few minutes after he had looked at it, he sat down with, I should
+think, the universal admiration of his auditory.
+
+Mr. Owen again addressed us; and his first five minutes were occupied
+in complimenting Mr. Campbell with all the strength his exceeding
+hearty laughter had left him. But then he changed his tone, and said
+the business was too serious to permit the next half hour to pass so
+lightly and so pleasantly as the last; and then he read us what he
+called his twelve fundamental laws of human nature. These twelve laws
+he has taken so much trouble to circulate to all the nations of the
+earth, that it must be quite unnecessary to repeat them here. To me
+they appear twelve truisms, that no man in his senses would ever think
+of contradicting; but how any one can have conceived that the
+explanation and defence of these laws could furnish forth occupation
+for his pen and his voice, through whole years of unwearying
+declamation, or how he can have dreamed that they could be twisted into
+a refutation of the Christian religion, is a mystery which I never
+expect to understand.
+
+From this time Mr. Owen entrenched himself behind his twelve laws, and
+Mr. Campbell, with equal gravity, confined himself to bringing forward
+the most elaborate theological authorities in evidence of the truth of
+revealed religion.
+
+Neither appeared to me to answer the other; but to confine themselves
+to the utterance of what they had uppermost in their own minds when the
+discussion began. I lamented this on the side of Mr. Campbell, as I am
+persuaded he would have been much more powerful had he trusted more to
+himself and less to his books. Mr. Owen is an extraordinary man, and
+certainly possessed of talent, but he appears to me so utterly
+benighted in the mists of his own theories, that he has quite lost the
+power of looking through them, so as to get a peep at the world as it
+really exists around him.
+
+At the conclusion of the debate (which lasted for fifteen sittings) Mr.
+Campbell desired the whole assembly to sit down. They obeyed. He then
+requested all who wished well to Christianity to rise, and a very large
+majority were in an instant on their legs. He again requested them to
+be seated, and then desired those who believed not in its doctrines to
+rise, and a few gentlemen and one lady obeyed. Mr. Owen protested
+against this manoeuvre, as he called it, and refused to believe that it
+afforded any proof of the state of men’s minds, or of women’s either;
+declaring, that not only was such a result to be expected, in the
+present state of things, but that it was the duty of every man who had
+children to feed, not to hazard the sale of his hogs, or his iron, by a
+declaration of opinions which might offend the majority of his
+customers. It was said, that at the end of the fifteen meetings the
+numerical amount of the Christians and the Infidels of Cincinnati
+remained exactly what it was when they began.
+
+This was a result that might have been perhaps anticipated; but what
+was much less to have been expected, neither of the disputants ever
+appeared to lose their temper. I was told they were much in each
+other’s company, constantly dining together, and on all occasions
+expressed most cordially their mutual esteem.
+
+All this I think could only have happened in America. I am not quite
+sure that it was very desirable it should have happened any where.
+
+In noting the various brilliant events which diversified our residence
+in the western metropolis, I have omitted to mention the Birthday Ball,
+as it is called, a festivity which, I believe, has place on the 22nd of
+February, in every town and city throughout the Union. It is the
+anniversary of the birth of General Washington, and well deserves to be
+marked by the Americans as a day of jubilee.
+
+I was really astonished at the _coup d’oeil_ on entering, for I saw a
+large room filled with extremely well-dressed company, among whom were
+many very beautiful girls. The gentlemen also were exceedingly smart,
+but I had not yet been long enough in Western America not to feel
+startled at recognising in almost every full-dressed _beau_ that passed
+me, the master or shopman that I had been used to see behind the
+counter, or lolling at the door of every shop in the city. The fairest
+and finest belles smiled and smirked on them with as much zeal and
+satisfaction as I ever saw bestowed on an eldest son, and I therefore
+could feel no doubt of their being considered as of the highest rank.
+Yet it must not be supposed that there is no distinction of classes: at
+this same ball I was looking among the many very beautiful girls I saw
+there for one more beautiful still, with whose lovely face I had been
+particularly struck at the school examination I have mentioned. I could
+not find her, and asked a gentleman why the beautiful Miss C. was not
+there.
+
+“You do not yet understand our aristocracy,” he replied, “the family of
+Miss C. are mechanics.”
+
+“But the young lady has been educated at the same school as these, whom
+I see here, and I know her brother has a shop in the town, quite as
+large, and apparently as prosperous, as those belonging to any of these
+young men. What is the difference?”
+
+“He is a mechanic; he assists in making the articles he sells; the
+others call themselves merchants.”
+
+The dancing was not quite like, yet not very unlike, what we see at an
+assize or race-ball in a country town. They call their dances
+cotillions instead of quadrilles, and the figures are called from the
+orchestra in English, which has very ludicrous effect on European ears.
+
+The arrangements for the supper were very singular, but eminently
+characteristic of the country. The gentlemen had a splendid
+entertainment spread for them in another large room of the hotel, while
+the poor ladies had each a plate put into their hands, as they
+pensively promenaded the ballroom during their absence; and shortly
+afterwards servants appeared, bearing trays of sweetmeats, cakes, and
+creams. The fair creatures then sat down on a row of chairs placed
+round the walls, and each making a table of her knees, began eating her
+sweet, but sad and sulky repast. The effect was extremely comic; their
+gala dresses and the decorated room forming a contrast the most
+unaccountable with their uncomfortable and forlorn condition.
+
+This arrangement was owing neither to economy nor want of a room large
+enough to accommodate the whole party, but purely because the gentlemen
+liked it better. This was the answer given me, when my curiosity
+tempted me to ask why the ladies and gentlemen did not sup together;
+and this was the answer repeated to me afterwards by a variety of
+people to whom I put the same question.
+
+I am led to mention this feature of American manners very frequently,
+not only because it constantly recurs, but because I consider it as
+being in a great degree the cause of that universal deficiency in good
+manners and graceful demeanour, both in men and women, which is so
+remarkable.
+
+Where there is no court, which every where else is the glass wherein
+the higher orders dress themselves, and which again reflected from them
+to the classes below, goes far towards polishing, in some degree, a
+great majority of the population, it is not to be expected that manner
+should be made so much a study, or should attain an equal degree of
+elegance; but the deficiency, and the total difference, is greater than
+this cause alone could account for. The hours of enjoyment are
+important to human beings every where, and we every where find them
+preparing to make the most of them. Those who enjoy themselves only in
+society, whether intellectual or convivial, prepare themselves for it,
+and such make but a poor figure when forced to be content with the
+sweets of solitude: while, on the other hand, those to whom retirement
+affords the greatest pleasure, seldom give or receive much in society.
+Wherever the highest enjoyment is found by both sexes in scenes where
+they meet each other, both will prepare themselves to appear with
+advantage there. The men will not indulge in the luxury of chewing
+tobacco, or even of spitting, and the women will contrive to be capable
+of holding a higher post than that of unwearied tea-makers.
+
+In America, with the exception of dancing, which is almost wholly
+confined to the unmarried of both sexes, all the enjoyments of the men
+are found in the absence of the women. They dine, they play cards, they
+have musical meetings, they have suppers, all in large parties but all
+without women. Were it not that such is the custom, it is impossible
+but that they would have ingenuity enough to find some expedient for
+sparing the wives and daughters of the opulent the sordid offices of
+household drudgery which they almost all perform in their families.
+Even in the slave states, though they may not clear-starch and iron,
+mix puddings and cakes one half of the day, and watch them baking the
+other half, still the very highest occupy themselves in their household
+concerns, in a manner that precludes the possibility of their becoming
+elegant and enlightened companions. In Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New
+York, I met with some exceptions to this; but speaking of the country
+generally, it is unquestionably true.
+
+Had I not become heartily tired of my prolonged residence in a place I
+cordially disliked, and which moreover I began to fear would not be
+attended with the favourable results we had anticipated, I should have
+found an almost inexhaustible source of amusement in the notions and
+opinions of the people I conversed with; and as it was, I often did
+enjoy this in a considerable degree.
+
+We received, as I have mentioned, much personal kindness; but this by
+no means interfered with the national feeling of, I believe,
+unconquerable dislike, which evidently lives at the bottom of every
+truly American heart against the English. This shows itself in a
+thousand little ways, even in the midst of the most kind and friendly
+intercourse, but often in a manner more comic than offensive.
+
+Sometimes it was thus.—“Well, now, I think your government must just be
+fit to hang themselves for that last war they cooked up; it has been
+the ruin of you I expect, for it has just been the making of us.”
+
+Then.—“Well, I do begin to understand your broken English better than I
+did; but no wonder I could not make it out very well at first, as you
+come from London; for every body knows that London slang is the most
+dreadful in the world. How queer it is now, that all the people that
+live in London should put the _h_ where it is not, and never will put
+it where it is.”
+
+I was egotistical enough to ask the lady who said this, if she found
+that I did so.
+
+“No; you do not,” was the reply; but she added, with a complacent
+smile, “it is easy enough to see the pains you take about it: I expect
+you have heard how we Americans laugh at you all for it, and so you are
+trying to learn our way of pronouncing.”
+
+One lady asked me very gravely, if we had left home in order to get rid
+of the vermin with which the English of all ranks were afflicted? “I
+have heard from unquestionable authority,” she added, “that it is quite
+impossible to walk through the streets of London without having the
+head filled.”
+
+I laughed a little, but spoke not a word. She coloured highly, and
+said, “There is nothing so easy as to laugh, but truth is truth,
+laughed at or not.”
+
+I must preface the following anecdote by observing that in America
+nearly the whole of the insect tribe are classed under the general name
+of bug; the unfortunate cosmopolite known by that name amongst us is
+almost the only one not included in this term. A lady abruptly
+addressed me with, “Don’t you hate chintzes, Mrs. Trollope?”
+
+“No indeed,” I replied, “I think them very pretty.”
+
+“There now! if that is not being English! I reckon you call that loving
+your country; well, thank God! we Americans have something better to
+love our country for than that comes to; we are not obliged to say that
+we like nasty filthy chintzes to shew that we are good patriots.”
+
+“Chintzes? what are chintzes?”
+
+“Possible! do you pretend you don’t know what chintzes are? Why the
+nasty little stinking blood-suckers that all the beds in London are
+full of.”
+
+I have since been informed that _chinche_ is Spanish for bug; but at
+the time the word suggested only the material of a curtain.
+
+Among other instances of that species of modesty so often seen in
+America, and so unknown to us, I frequently witnessed one, which, while
+it evinced the delicacy of the ladies, gave opportunity for many lively
+sallies from the gentlemen. I saw the same sort of thing repeated on
+different occasions at least a dozen times; e.g. a young lady is
+employed in making a shirt, (which it would be a symptom of absolute
+depravity to name), a gentleman enters, and presently begins the
+sprightly dialogue with “What are you making Miss Clarissa?”
+
+“Only a frock for my sister’s doll, sir.”
+
+“A frock? not possible. Don’t I see that it is not a frock? Come, Miss
+Clarissa, what is it?”
+
+“Tis just an apron for one of our Negroes, Mr. Smith.”
+
+“How can you. Miss Clarissa! why is not the two side joined together? I
+expect you were better tell me what it is.”
+
+“My! why then Mr. Smith, it is just a pillow-case.”
+
+“Now that passes. Miss Clarissa! ’Tis a pillow-case for a giant then.
+Shall I guess, Miss?”
+
+“Quit, Mr. Smith; behave yourself, or I’ll certainly be affronted.”
+
+Before the conversation arrives at this point, both gentleman and lady
+are in convulsions of laughter. I once saw a young lady so hard driven
+by a wit, that to prove she was making a bag, and nothing but a bag,
+she sewed up the ends before his eyes, shewing it triumphantly, and
+exclaiming, “there now! what can you say to that?”
+
+One of my friends startled me one day by saying in an affectionate, but
+rather compassionate tone, “How will you bear to go back to England to
+live, and to bring up your children in a country where you know you are
+considered as no better than the dirt in the streets?”
+
+I begged she would explain.
+
+“Why, you know I would not affront you for any thing; but the fact is,
+we Americans know rather more than you think for, and certainly if I
+was in England I should not think of associating with anything but
+lords. I have always been among the first here, and if I travelled I
+should like to do the same. I don’t mean, I’m sure, that I would not
+come to see you, but you know you are not lords, and therefore I know
+very well how you are treated in your own country.”
+
+I very rarely contradicted statements of this kind, as I found it less
+trouble, and infinitely more amusing, to let them pass; indeed, had I
+done otherwise, it would have been of little avail, as among the many
+conversations I held in America respecting my own country, I do not
+recollect a single instance in which it was not clear that I knew much
+less about it than those I conversed with.
+
+On the subject of national glory, I presume I got more than my share of
+buffeting; for being a woman, there was no objection to their speaking
+out. One lady, indeed, who was a great patriot, evinced much delicacy
+towards me, for upon some one speaking of New Orleans, she interrupted
+them, saying, “I wish you would not talk of New Orleans;” and, turning
+to me, added with great gentleness, “It must be so painful to your
+feelings to hear that place mentioned!”
+
+The immense superiority of the American to the British navy was a
+constant theme, and to this I always listened, as nearly as possible,
+in silence. I repeatedly heard it stated, (so often, indeed, and from
+such various quarters, that I think there must be some truth in it),
+that the American sailors fire with a certainty of slaughter, whereas
+our shots are sent very nearly at random. “This, “ said a naval officer
+of high reputation, “is the blessed effect of your game laws; your
+sailors never fire at a mark; whilst our free tars, from their practice
+in pursuit of game, can any of them split a hair.” But the favourite,
+the constant, the universal sneer that met me every where, was on our
+old-fashioned attachments to things obsolete. Had they a little wit
+among them, I am certain they would have given us the cognomen of “My
+Grandmother, the British,” for that is the tone they take, and it is
+thus they reconcile themselves to the crude newness of every thing
+around them.
+
+“I wonder you are not sick of kings, chancellors, and archbishops, and
+all your fustian of wigs and gowns,” said a very clever gentleman to me
+once, with an affected yawn, “I protest the very sound almost sets me
+to sleep.”
+
+It is amusing to observe how soothing the idea seems, that they are
+more modern, more advanced than England. Our classic literature, our
+princely dignities, our noble institutions, are all gone-by relics of
+the dark ages.
+
+This, and the vastness of their naked territory, make up the flattering
+unction which is laid upon the soul, as an antidote to the little
+misgiving which from time to time arises, lest their large country be
+not of quite so much importance among the nations, as a certain paltry
+old-fashioned little place that they wot of.
+
+I was once sitting with a party of ladies, among whom were one or two
+young girls, whose curiosity was greater than their patriotism, and
+they asked me many questions respecting the splendour and extent of
+London. I was endeavouring to satisfy them by the best description I
+could give, when we were interrupted by another lady, who exclaimed,
+“Do hold your tongues, girls, about London; if you want to know what a
+beautiful city is, look at Philadelphia; when Mrs. Trollope has been
+there, I think she will allow that it is better worth talking about
+than that great overgrown collection of nasty, filthy, dirty streets,
+that they call London.”
+
+Once in Ohio, and once in the district of Columbia, I had an atlas
+displayed before me, that I might be convinced by the evidence of my
+own eyes what a very contemptible little country I came from. I shall
+never forget the gravity with which, on the latter occasion, a
+gentleman drew out his graduated pencil-case, and shewed me past
+contradiction, that the whole of the British dominions did not equal in
+size one of their least important states; nor the air with which, after
+the demonstration, he placed his feet upon the chimney-piece,
+considerably higher than his head, and whistled Yankee Doodle.
+
+Their glorious institutions, their unequalled freedom, were, of course,
+not left unsung.
+
+I took some pains to ascertain what they meant by their glorious
+institutions, and it is with no affectation of ignorance that I profess
+I never could comprehend the meaning of the phrase, which is, however,
+on the lip of every American, when he talks of his country. I asked if
+by their institutions they meant their hospitals and penitentiaries.
+“Oh no! we mean the glorious institutions which are coeval with the
+revolution.” “Is it,” I asked, “your institution of marriage, which you
+have made purely a civil and not a religious rite, to be performed by a
+justice of peace, instead of a clergyman?”
+
+“Oh no! we speak of our divine political institutions.” Yet still I was
+in the dark, nor can I guess what they mean, unless they call incessant
+electioneering, without pause or interval for a single day, for a
+single hour, of their whole existence, “a glorious institution.”
+
+Their unequalled freedom, I think, I understand better. Their code of
+common law is built upon ours; and the difference between us is this,
+in England the laws are acted upon, in America they are not.
+
+I do not speak of the police of the Atlantic cities; I believe it is
+well arranged: in New York it is celebrated for being so; but out of
+the range of their influence, the contempt of law is greater than I can
+venture to state, with any hope of being believed. Trespass, assault,
+robbery, nay, even murder, are often committed without the slightest
+attempt at legal interference.
+
+During the summer that we passed most delightfully in Maryland, our
+rambles were often restrained in various directions by the advice of
+our kind friends, who knew the manners and morals of the country. When
+we asked the cause, we were told, “There is a public-house on that
+road, and it will not be safe to pass it,”
+
+The line of the Chesapeak and Ohio canal passed within a few miles of
+Mrs. S—’s residence. It twice happened during our stay with her, that
+dead bodies were found partially concealed near it. The circumstance
+was related as a sort of half hour’s wonder; and when I asked
+particulars of those who, on one occasion, brought the tale, the reply
+was, “Oh, he was murdered I expect; or maybe he died of the canal
+fever; but they say he had marks of being throttled.” No inquest was
+summoned; and certainly no more sensation was produced by the
+occurrence than if a sheep had been found in the same predicament.
+
+The abundance of food and the scarcity of hanging were also favourite
+topics, as proving their superiority to England. They are both
+excellent things, but I do not admit the inference. A wide and most
+fertile territory, as yet but thinly inhabited, may easily be made to
+yield abundant food for its population: and where a desperate villain
+knows, that when he has made his town or his village “too hot to hold
+him,” he has nothing to do but to travel a few miles west, and be sure
+of finding plenty of beef and whiskey, with no danger that the law
+shall follow him, it is not extraordinary that executions should be
+rare.
+
+Once during our residence at Cincinnati, a murderer of uncommon
+atrocity was taken, tried, convicted, and condemned to death. It had
+been shewn on his trial, that some years before he had murdered a wife
+and child at New Orleans, but little notice had been taken of it at the
+time. The crime which had now thrown him into the hands of justice was
+the recent murder of a second wife, and the chief evidence against him
+was his own son.
+
+The day of his execution was fixed, and the sensation produced was so
+great from the strangeness of the occurrence, (no white man having ever
+been executed at Cincinnati,) that persons from sixty miles’ distance
+came to be present at it.
+
+Meanwhile some unco’ good people began to start doubts as to the
+righteousness of hanging a man, and made application to the Governor of
+the State[6] of Ohio, to commute the sentence into imprisonment. The
+Governor for some time refused to interfere with the sentence of the
+tribunal before which he had been tried; but at length, frightened at
+the unusual situation in which he found himself, he yielded to the
+importunity of the Presbyterian party who had assailed him, and sent
+off an order to the sheriff accordingly. But this order was not to
+reprieve him, but to ask him if he pleased to be reprieved, and sent to
+the penitentiary instead of being hanged.
+
+ [6] The Governors of states have the same power over life and death as
+ is vested, with us, in the Crown.
+
+
+The sheriff waited upon the criminal, and made his proposal, and was
+answered. “If any thing could make me agree to it, it would be the hope
+of living long enough to kill you and my dog of a son: however, I won’t
+agree; you shall have the hanging of me.”
+
+The worthy sheriff, to whom the ghastly office of executioner is
+assigned, said all in his power to persuade him to sign the offered
+document, but in vain; he obtained nothing but abuse for his efforts.
+
+The day of execution arrived; the place appointed was the side of a
+hill, the only one cleared of trees near the town; and many hours
+before the time fixed, we saw it entirely covered by an immense
+multitude of men, women, and children. At length the hour arrived, the
+dismal cart was seen slowly mounting the hill, the noisy throng was
+hushed into solemn silence; the wretched criminal mounted the scaffold,
+when again the sheriff asked him to sign his acceptance of the
+commutation proposed; but he spurned the paper from him, and cried
+aloud, “Hang me!”
+
+Midday was the moment appointed for cutting the rope; the sheriff
+stood, his watch in one hand, and a knife in the other; the hand was
+lifted to strike, when the criminal stoutly exclaimed, “I sign;” and he
+was conveyed back to prison, amidst the shouts, laughter, and ribaldry
+of the mob.
+
+I am not fond of hanging, but there was something in all this that did
+not look like the decent dignity of wholesome justice.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+
+Camp-Meeting
+
+
+It was in the course of this summer that I found the opportunity I had
+long wished for, of attending a camp-meeting, and I gladly accepted the
+invitation of an English lady and gentleman to accompany them in their
+carriage to the spot where it is held; this was in a wild district on
+the confines of Indiana.
+
+The prospect of passing a night in the back woods of Indiana was by no
+means agreeable, but I screwed my courage to the proper pitch, and set
+forth determined to see with my own eyes, and hear with my own ears,
+what a camp-meeting really was. I had heard it said that being at a
+camp-meeting was like standing at the gate of heaven, and seeing it
+opening before you; I had heard it said, that being at a camp-meeting
+was like finding yourself within the gates of hell; in either case
+there must be something to gratify curiosity, and compensate one for
+the fatigue of a long rumbling ride and a sleepless night.
+
+We reached the ground about an hour before midnight, and the approach
+to it was highly picturesque. The spot chosen was the verge of an
+unbroken forest, where a space of about twenty acres appeared to have
+been partially cleared for the purpose. Tents of different sizes were
+pitched very near together in a circle round the cleared space; behind
+them were ranged an exterior circle of carriages of every description,
+and at the back of each were fastened the horses which had drawn them
+thither. Through this triple circle of defence we distinguished
+numerous fires burning brightly within it; and still more numerous
+lights flickering from the trees that were left in the enclosure. The
+moon was in meridian splendour above our heads.
+
+We left the carriage to the care of a servant, who was to prepare a bed
+in it for Mrs. B. and me, and entered the inner circle. The first
+glance reminded me of Vauxhall, from the effect of the lights among the
+trees, and the moving crowd below them; but the second shewed a scene
+totally unlike any thing I had ever witnessed. Four high frames,
+constructed in the form of altars, were placed at the four corners of
+the enclosure; on these were supported layers of earth and sod, on
+which burned immense fires of blazing pinewood. On one side a rude
+platform was erected to accommodate the preachers, fifteen of whom
+attended this meeting, and with very short intervals for necessary
+refreshment and private devotion, preached in rotation, day and night,
+from Tuesday to Saturday.
+
+When we arrived, the preachers were silent; but we heard issuing from
+nearly every tent mingled sounds of praying, preaching, singing, and
+lamentation. The curtains in front of each tent were dropped, and the
+faint light that gleamed through the white drapery, backed as it was by
+the dark forest, had a beautiful and mysterious effect, that set the
+imagination at work; and had the sounds which vibrated around us been
+less discordant, harsh, and unnatural, I should have enjoyed it; but
+listening at the corner of a tent, which poured forth more than its
+proportion of clamour, in a few moments chased every feeling derived
+from imagination, and furnished realities that could neither be
+mistaken or forgotten.
+
+Great numbers of persons were walking about the ground, who appeared
+like ourselves to be present only as spectators; some of these very
+unceremoniously contrived to raise the drapery of this tent, at one
+comer, so as to afford us a perfect view of the interior.
+
+The floor was covered with straw, which round the sides was heaped in
+masses, that might serve as seats, but which at that moment were used
+to support the heads and the arms of the close-packed circle of men and
+women who kneeled on the floor.
+
+Out of about thirty persons thus placed, perhaps half a dozen were men.
+One of these, a handsome looking youth of eighteen or twenty, kneeled
+just below the opening through which I looked. His arm was encircling
+the neck of a young girl who knelt beside him, with her hair hanging
+dishevelled upon her shoulders, and her features working with the most
+violent agitation; soon after they both fell forward on the straw, as
+if unable to endure in any other attitude the burning eloquence of a
+tall grim figure in black, who, standing erect in the centre, was
+uttering with incredible vehemence an oration that seemed to hover
+between praying and preaching; his arms hung stiff and immoveable by
+his side, and he looked like an ill-constructed machine, set in action
+by a movement so violent, as to threaten its own destruction, so
+jerkingly, painfully, yet rapidly, did his words tumble out; the
+kneeling circle ceasing not to call in every variety of tone on the
+name of Jesus; accompanied with sobs, groans, and a sort of low howling
+inexpressibly painful to listen to. But my attention was speedily
+withdrawn from the preacher, and the circle round him, by a figure
+which knelt alone at some distance; it was a living image of Scott’s
+Macbriar, as young, as wild, and as terrible. His thin arms tossed
+above his head, had forced themselves so far out of the sleeves, that
+they were bare to the elbow; his large eyes glared frightfully, and he
+continued to scream without an instant’s intermission the word “Glory!”
+with a violence that seemed to swell every vein to bursting. It was too
+dreadful to look upon long, and we turned away shuddering.
+
+We made the circuit of the tents, pausing where attention was
+particularly excited by sounds more vehement than ordinary. We
+contrived to look into many; all were strewed with straw, and the
+distorted figures that we saw kneeling, sitting, and lying amongst it,
+joined to the woeful and convulsive cries, gave to each, the air of a
+cell in Bedlam.
+
+One tent was occupied exclusively by Negroes. They were all
+full-dressed, and looked exactly as if they were performing a scene on
+the stage. One woman wore a dress of pink gauze trimmed with silver
+lace; another was dressed in pale yellow silk; one or two had splendid
+turbans; and all wore a profusion of ornaments. The men were in snow
+white pantaloons, with gay coloured linen jackets. One of these, a
+youth of coal-black comeliness, was preaching with the most violent
+gesticulations, frequently springing high from the ground, and clapping
+his hands over his head. Could our missionary societies have heard the
+trash he uttered, by way of an address to the Deity, they might perhaps
+have doubted whether his conversion had much enlightened his mind.
+
+At midnight a horn sounded through the camp, which, we were told, was
+to call the people from private to public worship; and we presently saw
+them flocking from all sides to the front of the preachers’ stand. Mrs.
+B. and I contrived to place ourselves with our backs supported against
+the lower part of this structure, and we were thus enabled to witness
+the scene which followed without personal danger. There were about two
+thousand persons assembled.
+
+One of the preachers began in a low nasal tone, and, like all other
+Methodist preachers, assured us of the enormous depravity of man as he
+comes from the hands of his Maker, and of his perfect sanctification
+after he had wrestled sufficiently with the Lord to get hold of him,
+_et cetera_. The admiration of the crowd was evinced by almost constant
+cries of “Amen! Amen!” “Jesus! Jesus!” “Glory! Glory!” and the like.
+But this comparative tranquility did not last long: the preacher told
+them that “this night was the time fixed upon for anxious sinners to
+wrestle with the Lord;” that he and his brethren “were at hand to help
+them,” and that such as needed their help were to come forward into
+“the pen.” The phrase forcibly recalled Milton’s lines—
+
+“Blind mouths! that scarce themselves know how to hold
+A sheep-hook, or have learned aught else, the least
+That to the faithful herdsman’s art belongs!
+—But when they list their lean and flashy songs,
+Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw;—
+    The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed!
+But swoln with wind, and the rank mist they draw,
+    Rot inwardly—and foul contagion spread.”
+
+
+“The pen” was the space immediately below the preachers’ stand; we were
+therefore placed on the edge of it, and were enabled to see and hear
+all that took place in the very centre of this extraordinary
+exhibition.
+
+The crowd fell back at the mention of the _pen_, and for some minutes
+there was a vacant space before us. The preachers came down from their
+stand and placed themselves in the midst of it, beginning to sing a
+hymn, calling upon the penitents to come forth. As they sung they kept
+turning themselves round to every part of the crowd and, by degrees,
+the voices of the whole multitude joined in chorus. This was the only
+moment at which I perceived any thing like the solemn and beautiful
+effect, which I had heard ascribed to this woodland worship. It is
+certain that the combined voices of such a multitude, heard at dead of
+night, from the depths of their eternal forests, the many fair young
+faces turned upward, and looking paler and lovelier as they met the
+moon-beams, the dark figures of the officials in the middle of the
+circle, the lurid glare thrown by the altar-fires on the woods beyond,
+did altogether produce a fine and solemn effect, that I shall not
+easily forget; but ere I had well enjoyed it, the scene changed, and
+sublimity gave place to horror and disgust.
+
+The exhortation nearly resembled that which I had heard at “the
+Revival,” but the result was very different; for, instead of the few
+hysterical women who had distinguished themselves on that occasion,
+above a hundred persons,, nearly all females, came forward, uttering
+howlings and groans, so terrible that I shall never cease to shudder
+when I recall them. They appeared to drag each other forward, and on
+the word being given, “let us pray,” they all fell on their knees; but
+this posture was soon changed for others that permitted greater scope
+for the convulsive movements of their limbs; and they were soon all
+lying on the ground in an indescribable confusion of heads and legs.
+They threw about their limbs with such incessant and violent motions,
+that I was every instant expecting some serious accident to occur.
+
+But how am I to describe the sounds that proceeded from this strange
+mass of human beings? I know no words which can convey an idea of it.
+Hysterical sobbings, convulsive groans, shrieks and screams the most
+appalling, burst forth on all sides. I felt sick with horror. As if
+their hoarse and over strained voices failed to make noise enough, they
+soon began to clap their hands violently. The scene described by Dante
+was before me:-
+
+“Quivi sospiri, pianti, ed alti guai
+Risonavan per l’aere—
+—Orribili favelle
+Parole di dolore, accenti d’ira
+Voci alti e fioche, _e suon di man con elle_.”
+
+
+Many of these wretched creatures were beautiful young females. The
+preachers moved about among them, at once exciting and soothing their
+agonies. I heard the muttered “Sister! dear sister!” I saw the
+insidious lips approach the cheeks of the unhappy girls; I heard the
+murmured confessions of the poor victims, and I watched their
+tormentors, breathing into their ears consolations that tinged the pale
+cheek with red. Had I been a man, I am sure I should have been guilty
+of some rash act of interference; nor do I believe that such a scene
+could have been acted in the presence of Englishmen without instant
+punishment being inflicted; not to mention the salutary discipline of
+the treadmill, which, beyond all question, would, in England, have been
+applied to check so turbulent and so vicious a scene.
+
+After the first wild burst that followed their prostration, the
+meanings, in many instances, became loudly articulate; and I then
+experienced a strange vibration between tragic and comic feeling.
+
+A very pretty girl, who was kneeling in the attitude of Canova’s
+Magdalene immediately before us, amongst an immense quantity of jargon,
+broke out thus: “Woe! woe to the backsliders! hear it, hear it Jesus!
+when I was fifteen my mother died, and I backslided, oh Jesus, I
+backslided! take me home to my mother, Jesus! take me home to her, for
+I am weary! Oh John Mitchel! John Mitchel!” and after sobbing piteously
+behind her raised hands, she lifted her sweet face again, which was as
+pale as death, and said, “Shall I sit on the sunny bank of salvation
+with my mother? my own dear mother? oh Jesus, take me home, take me
+home!” Who could refuse a tear to this earnest wish for death in one so
+young and so lovely? But I saw her, ere I left the ground, with her
+hand fast locked, and her head supported by a man who looked very much
+as Don Juan might, when sent back to earth as too bad for the regions
+below.
+
+One woman near us continued to “call on the Lord,” as it is termed, in
+the loudest possible tone, and without a moment’s interval, for the two
+hours that we kept our dreadful station. She became frightfully hoarse,
+and her face so red as to make me expect she would burst a
+blood-vessel. Among the rest of her rant, she said, “I will hold fast
+to Jesus, I never will let him go; if they take me to hell, I will
+still hold him fast, fast, fast!”
+
+The stunning noise was sometimes varied by the preachers beginning to
+sing; but the convulsive movements of the poor maniacs only became more
+violent. At length the atrocious wickedness of this horrible scene
+increased to a degree of grossness, that drove us from our station; we
+returned to the carriage at about three o’clock in the morning, and
+passed the remainder of the night in listening to the ever increasing
+tumult at the pen. To sleep was impossible. At daybreak the horn again
+sounded, to send them to private devotion; and in about an hour
+afterwards I saw the whole camp as joyously and eagerly employed in
+preparing and devouring their most substantial breakfasts as if the
+night had been passed in dancing; and I marked many a fair but pale
+face, that I recognised as a demoniac of the night, simpering beside a
+swain, to whom she carefully administered hot coffee and eggs. The
+preaching saint and the howling sinner seemed alike to relish this mode
+of recruiting their strength.
+
+After enjoying abundance of strong tea, which proved a delightful
+restorative after a night so strangely spent, I wandered alone into the
+forest, and I never remember to have found perfect quiet more
+delightful.
+
+We soon after left the ground; but before our departure we learnt that
+a very _satisfactory_ collection had been made by the preachers, for
+Bibles, Tracts, and _all other religious purposes_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+
+Danger of rural excursions—Sickness
+
+
+It is by no means easy to enjoy the beauties of American scenery in the
+west, even when you are in a neighbourhood that affords much to admire;
+at least, in doing so, you run considerable risk of injuring your
+health. Nothing is considered more dangerous than exposure to midday
+heat, except exposure to evening damp; and the twilight is so short,
+that if you set out on an expedition when the fervid heat subsides, you
+can hardly get half a mile before “sun down,” as they call it, warns
+you that you must run or drive home again, as fast as possible, for
+fear you should get “a chill.”
+
+I believe we braved all this more than any one else in the whole
+country, and if we had not, we should have left Cincinnati without
+seeing any thing of the country around it.
+
+Though we kept steadily to our resolution of passing no more sylvan
+hours in the forests of Ohio, we often spent entire days in Kentucky,
+tracing the course of a “creek,” or climbing the highest points within
+our reach, in the hope of catching a glimpse of some distant object. A
+beautiful reach of the Ohio, or the dark windings of the pretty
+Licking, were indeed always the most remarkable features in the
+landscape.
+
+There was one spot, however, so beautiful that we visited it again and
+again; it was by no means free from mosquitoes; and being on the bank
+of a stream, with many enormous trees lying on the half-cleared ground
+around, it was just such a place as we had been told a hundred times
+was particularly “dangerous;” nevertheless, we dared every thing for
+the sake of dining beside our beautiful rippling stream, and watching
+the bright sunbeams dancing on the grassy bank, at such a distance from
+our retreat that they could not heat us. A little below the basin that
+cooled our wine was a cascade of sufficient dimensions to give us all
+the music of a waterfall, and all the sparkling brightness of clear
+water when it is broken again and again by jutting crags.
+
+To sit beside this miniature cascade, and read, or dream away a day,
+was one of our greatest pleasures.
+
+It was indeed a mortifying fact, that whenever we found out a
+picturesque nook, where turf, and moss, and deep shade, and a crystal
+stream, and fallen trees, majestic in their ruin, tempted us to sit
+down, and be very cool and very happy, we invariably found that that
+spot lay under the imputation of malaria.
+
+A row upon the Ohio was another of our favourite amusements; but in
+this, I believe, we were also very singular, for often, when enjoying
+it, we were shouted at, by the young free-borns on the banks, as if we
+had been so many monsters.
+
+The only rural amusement in which we ever saw any of the natives
+engaged was eating strawberries and cream in a pretty garden about
+three miles from the town; here we actually met three or four
+carriages; a degree of dissipation that I never witnessed on any other
+occasion. The strawberries were tolerable strawberries, but the cream
+was the vilest sky-blue, and the charge half a dollar to each person;
+which being about the price of half a fat sheep, I thought “pretty
+considerable much,” if I may be permitted to use an expressive phrase
+of the country.
+
+We had repeatedly been told, by those who knew the land, that the
+_second summer_ was the great trial to the health of Europeans settled
+in America; but we had now reached the middle of our second August, and
+with the exception of the fever one of my sons had suffered from, the
+summer after our arrival, we had all enjoyed perfect health; but I was
+now doomed to feel the truth of the above prediction, for before the
+end of August I fell low before the monster that is for ever stalking
+through that land of lakes and rivers, breathing fever and death
+around. It was nine weeks before I left my room, and when I did, I
+looked more fit to walk into the Potter’s Field, (as they call the
+English burying ground) than any where else.
+
+Long after my general health was pretty well restored, I suffered from
+the effect of the fever in my limbs, and lay in bed reading several
+weeks after I had been pronounced convalescent. Several American novels
+were brought me. Mr. Flint’s Francis Berrian is excellent; a little
+wild and romantic, but containing scenes of first-rate interest and
+pathos. Hope Leslie, and Redwood, by Miss Sedgewick, an American lady,
+have both great merit; and I now first read the whole of Mr. Cooper’s
+novels. By the time these American studies were completed, I never
+closed my eyes without seeing myriads of bloody scalps floating round
+me; long slender figures of Red Indians crept through my dreams with
+noiseless tread; panthers flared; forests blazed; and which ever way I
+fled, a light foot, a keen eye, and a long rifle were sure to be on my
+trail. An additional ounce of calomel hardly sufficed to neutralize the
+effect of these raw-head and bloody-bones adventures. I was advised to
+plunge immediately into a course of fashionable novels. It was a great
+relief to me; but as my head was by no means very clear, I sometimes
+jumbled strangely together the civilized rogues and assassins of Mr.
+Bulwer, and the wild men, women, and children slayers of Mr. Cooper;
+and, truly, between them, I passed my dreams in very bad company.
+
+Still I could not stand, nor even sit upright. What was I to read next?
+A happy thought struck me. I determined upon beginning with Waverley,
+and reading through (not for the first time certainly) the whole
+series. And what a world did I enter upon! The wholesome vigour of
+every page seemed to communicate itself to my nerves; I ceased to be
+languid and fretful, and though still a cripple, I certainly enjoyed
+myself most completely, as long as my treat lasted; but this was a
+shorter time than any one would believe, who has not found how such
+volumes melt, before the constant reading of a long idle day. When it
+was over, however, I had the pleasure of finding that I could walk half
+a dozen yards at a time, and take short airings in an open carriage;
+and better still, could sleep quietly.
+
+It was no very agreeable conviction which greeted my recovery, that our
+Cincinnati speculation for my son would in no way answer our
+expectation; and very soon after, he was again seized with the bilious
+fever of the country, which terminated in that most distressing of all
+maladies, an ague. I never witnessed is effects before, and therefore
+made my self extremely miserable at what those around me considered of
+no consequence.
+
+I believe this frightful complaint is not immediately dangerous; but I
+never can believe that the violent and sudden prostration of strength,
+the dreadfully convulsive movements which distort the limbs, the livid
+hue that spreads itself over the complexion, can take place without
+shaking the seat of health and life. Repeatedly we thought the malady
+cured, and for a few days the poor sufferer believed himself restored
+to health and strength; but again and again it returned upon him, and
+he began to give himself up as the victim of ill health. My own health
+was still very infirm, and it took but little time to decide that we
+must leave Cincinnati. The only impediment to this was, the fear that
+Mr. Trollope, who was to join us in the Spring, might have set out, and
+thus arrive at Cincinnati after we had left it. However, as the time he
+had talked of leaving England was later in the season, I decided upon
+running the risk; but the winter had set in with great severity, and
+the river being frozen, the steam-boats could not run; the frost
+continued unbroken through the whole of February, and we were almost
+weary of waiting for its departure, which was to be the signal of ours.
+
+The breaking up of the ice, on the Licking and Ohio, formed a most
+striking spectacle. At night the river presented a solid surface of
+ice, but in the morning it shewed a collection of floating icebergs, of
+every imaginable size and form, whirling against each other with
+frightful violence, and with a noise unlike any sound I remember.
+
+This sight was a very welcome one, as it gave us hopes of immediate
+departure, but my courage failed, when I heard that one or two
+steam-boats, weary of waiting, meant to start on the morrow. The idea
+of running against these floating islands was really alarming, and I
+was told by many, that my fears were not without foundation, for that
+repeated accidents had happened from this cause; and then they talked
+of the little Miami river, whose mouth we were to pass, sending down
+masses of ice that might stop our progress; in short, we waited
+patiently and prudently, till the learned in such matters told us that
+we might start with safety.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+
+Departure from Cincinnati—Society on board the Steam-boat—Arrival at
+Wheeling—Bel Esprit
+
+
+We quitted Cincinnati the beginning of March, 1830, and I believe there
+was not one of our party who did not experience a sensation of pleasure
+in leaving it. We had seen again and again all the queer varieties of
+it’s little world; had amused ourselves with it’s consequence, it’s
+taste, and it’s ton, till they had ceased to be amusing. Not a hill was
+left unclimbed, nor a forest path unexplored; and, with the exception
+of two or three individuals, who bore heads and hearts peculiar to no
+clime, but which are found scattered through the world, as if to keep
+us every where in good humour with it, we left nought to regret at
+Cincinnati. The only regret was, that we had ever entered it; for we
+had wasted health, time, and money there.
+
+We got on board the steam-boat which was to convey us to Wheeling at
+three o’clock. She was a noble boat, by far the finest we had seen. The
+cabins were above, and the deck passengers, as they are called, were
+accommodated below. In front of the ladies’ cabin was an ample balcony,
+sheltered by an awning; chairs and sofas were placed there, and even at
+that early season, nearly all the female passengers passed the whole
+day there. The name of this splendid vessel was the Lady Franklin. By
+the way, I was often amused by the evident fondness which the Americans
+shew for titles. The wives of their eminent men constantly receive that
+of “Lady.” We heard of Lady Washington, Lady Jackson, and many other
+“ladies.” The eternal recurrence of their militia titles is
+particularly ludicrous, met with, as they are, among the
+tavern-keepers, market-gardeners, &c. But I think the most remarkable
+instance which we noticed of this sort of aristocratical longing
+occurred at Cincinnati. Mr. T— in speaking of a gentleman of the
+neighbourhood, called him Mr. M—. “General M—, sir,” observed his
+companion. “I beg his pardon,” rejoined Mr. T—, “but I was not aware of
+his being in the army.” “No, sir, not in the army,” was the reply, “but
+he was surveyor- general of the district.”
+
+The weather was delightful; all trace of winter had disappeared, and we
+again found ourselves moving rapidly up the stream, and enjoying all
+the beauty of the Ohio.
+
+Of the male part of the passengers we saw nothing, excepting at the
+short silent periods allotted for breakfast, dinner, and supper, at
+which we were permitted to enter their cabin, and place ourselves at
+their table.
+
+In the Lady Franklin we had decidedly the best of it, for we had our
+beautiful balcony to sit in. In all respects, indeed, our
+accommodations were very superior to what we had found in the boat
+which brought us from New Orleans to Memphis, where we were stowed away
+in a miserable little chamber close aft, under the cabin, and given to
+understand by the steward, that it was our duty there to remain “till
+such time as the bell should ring for meals.”
+
+The separation of the sexes, so often mentioned, is no where more
+remarkable than on board the steam-boats. Among the passengers on this
+occasion we had a gentleman and his wife, who really appeared to suffer
+from the arrangement. She was an invalid, and he was extremely
+attentive to her, as far, at least, as the regulations permitted. When
+the steward opened the door of communication between the cabins, to
+permit our approaching the table, her husband was always stationed
+close to it to hand her to her place; and when he accompanied her again
+to the door, he always lingered for a moment or two on the forbidden
+threshold, nor left his station, till the last female had passed
+through. Once or twice he ventured, when all but his wife were on the
+balcony, to sit down beside her for a moment in our cabin, but the
+instant either of us entered, he started like a guilty thing and
+vanished.
+
+While mentioning the peculiar arrangements which are thought necessary
+to the delicacy of the American ladies, or the comfort of the American
+gentlemen, I am tempted to allude to a story which I saw in the papers
+respecting the visits which it was stated Captain Basil Hall persisted
+in making to his wife and child on board a Mississippi steam-boat,
+after bring informed that doing so was contrary to law. Now I happen to
+know that neither himself or Mrs. Hall ever entered the ladies’ cabin
+during the whole voyage, as they occupied a state-room which Captain
+Hall had secured for his party. The veracity of newspaper statements
+is, perhaps, nowhere quite unimpeachable, but if I am not greatly
+mistaken, there are more direct falsehoods circulated by the American
+newspapers than by all the others in the world, and the one great and
+never-failing source of these voluminous works of imagination is
+England and the English. How differently would such a voyage be managed
+on the other side of the Atlantic, were such a mode of travelling
+possible there. Such long calm river excursions would be perfectly
+delightful, and parties would be perpetually formed to enjoy them. Even
+were all the parties strangers to each other, the knowledge that they
+were to eat, drink, and steam away together for a week or fortnight,
+would induce something like a social feeling in any other country.
+
+It is true that the men became sufficiently acquainted to game
+together, and we were told that the opportunity was considered as so
+favourable, that no boat left New Orleans without having as cabin
+passengers one or two gentlemen from that city whose profession it was
+to drill the fifty-two elements of a pack of cards to profitable duty.
+This doubtless is an additional reason for the strict exclusion of the
+ladies from their society. The constant drinking of spirits is another,
+for though they do not scruple to chew tobacco and to spit incessantly
+in the presence of women, they generally prefer drinking and gaming in
+their absence.
+
+I often used to amuse myself with fancying the different scene which
+such a vessel would display in Europe. The noble length of the
+gentlemen’s cabin would be put into requisition for a dance, while that
+of the ladies, with their delicious balcony, would be employed for
+refreshments, instead of sitting down in two long silent melancholy
+rows, to swallow as much coffee and beef-steak as could be achieved in
+ten minutes. Then song and music would be heard borne along by the
+midnight breeze; but on the Ohio, when light failed to shew us the
+bluffs, and the trees, with their images inverted in the stream, we
+crept into our little cots, listening to the ceaseless churning of the
+engine, in hope it would prove a lullaby till morning.
+
+We were three days in reaching Wheeling, where we arrived at last, at
+two o’clock in the morning, an uncomfortable hour to disembark with a
+good deal of luggage, as the steam-boat was obliged to go on
+immediately; but we were instantly supplied with a dray, and in a few
+moments found ourselves comfortably seated before a good fire, at an
+hotel near the landing-place; our rooms, with fires in them, were
+immediately ready for us, and refreshments brought, with all that
+sedulous attention which in this country distinguishes a slave state.
+In making this observation I am very far from intending to advocate the
+system of slavery; I conceive it to be essentially wrong; but so far as
+my observation has extended, I think its influence is far less
+injurious to the manners and morals of the people than the fallacious
+ideas of equality, which are so fondly cherished by the working classes
+of the white population in America. That these ideas are fallacious, is
+obvious, for in point of fact the man possessed of dollars does command
+the services of the man possessed of no dollars; but these services are
+given grudgingly, and of necessity, with no appearance of cheerful
+goodwill on the one side, or of kindly interest on the other. I never
+failed to mark the difference on entering a slave state. I was
+immediately comfortable, and at my ease, and felt that the intercourse
+between me and those who served me, was profitable to both parties and
+painful to neither.
+
+It was not till I had leisure for more minute observation that I felt
+aware of the influence of slavery upon the owners of slaves; when I
+did, I confess I could not but think that the citizens of the United
+States had contrived, by their political alchymy, to extract all that
+was most noxious both in democracy and in slavery, and had poured the
+strange mixture through every vein of the moral organization of their
+country.
+
+Wheeling is the state of Virginia, and appears to be a flourishing
+town. It is the point at which most travellers from the West leave the
+Ohio, to take the stages which travel the mountain road to the Atlantic
+cities.
+
+It has many manufactories, among others, one for blowing and cutting
+glass, which we visited. We were told by the workmen that the articles
+finished there were equal to any in the world; but my eyes refused
+their assent. The cutting was very good, though by no means equal to
+what we see in daily use in London; but the chief inferiority is in the
+material, which is never altogether free from colour. I had observed
+this also in the glass of the Pittsburgh manufactory, the labour
+bestowed on it always appearing greater than the glass deserved. They
+told us also, that they were rapidly improving in the art, and I have
+no doubt that this was true.
+
+Wheeling has little of beauty to distinguish it, except the ever lovely
+Ohio, to which we here bid adieu, and a fine bold hill, which rises
+immediately behind the town. This hill, as well as every other in the
+neighbourhood, is bored for coal. Their mines are all horizontal. The
+coal burns well, but with a very black and dirty cinder.
+
+We found the coach, by which we meant to proceed to Little Washington,
+full, and learnt that we must wait two days before it would again leave
+the town. Posting was never heard of in the country, and the mail
+travelled all night, which I did not approve of; we therefore found
+ourselves compelled to pass two days at the Wheeling hotel.
+
+I know not how this weary interval would have worn away, had it not
+been for the fortunate circumstance of our meeting with a _bel esprit_
+among the boarders there. We descended to the common sitting room (for
+private parlours there are none) before breakfast the morning after our
+arrival; several ordinary individuals entered, till the party amounted
+to eight or nine. Again the door opened, and in swam a female, who had
+once certainly been handsome, and who, it was equally evident, still
+thought herself so. She was tall, and well formed, dressed in black,
+with many gaudy trinkets about her: a scarlet _fichu_ relieved the
+sombre colour of her dress, and a very smart little cap at the back of
+her head set off an immense quantity of sable hair, which naturally, or
+artificially, adorned her forehead. A becoming quantity of rouge gave
+the finishing touch to her figure, which had a degree of pretension
+about it that immediately attracted our notice. She talked fluently,
+and without any American restraint, and I began to be greatly puzzled
+as to who or what she could be; a lady, in the English sense of the
+word, I was sure she was not, and she was a little like an American
+female of what they call good standing. A beautiful girl of seventeen
+entered soon after, and called her “Ma,” and both mother and daughter
+chattered away, about themselves and their concerns, in a manner that
+greatly increased my puzzle.
+
+After breakfast, being much in want of amusement, I seated myself by
+her, and entered into conversation. I found her nothing loth, and in
+about a minute and a half she put a card into my hand, setting forth,
+that she taught the art of painting upon velvet in all its branches.
+
+She stated to me, with great volubility, that no one but herself and
+her daughter knew any thing of this invaluable branch of art; but that
+for twenty-five dollars they were willing to communicate all they knew.
+
+In five minutes more she informed me that she was the author of some of
+the most cutting satires in the language; and then she presented me a
+paper, containing a prospectus, as she called it, of a novel, upon an
+entirely new construction. I was strangely tempted to ask her if it
+went by steam, but she left me no time to ask any thing, for,
+continuing the autobiography she had so obligingly begun, she said, “I
+used to write against all the Adams faction. I will go up stairs in a
+moment and fetch you down my sat-heres against that side. But oh! my
+dear madam! it is really frightful to think how talent is neglected in
+this country. Ah! I know what you are going to say, my dear madam, you
+will tell me that it is not so in yours. I know it! but alas! the
+Atlantic! However, I really must tell you how I have been treated: not
+only did I publish the most biting sat-heres against the Adams faction,
+but I wrote songs and odes in honour of Jackson; and my daughter,
+Cordelia, sang a splendid song of my writing, before eight hundred
+people, entirely and altogether written in his praise; and would you
+believe it, my dear madam, he has never taken the slightest notice of
+me, or made me the least remuneration. But you can’t suppose I mean to
+bear it quietly? No! I promise him that is not my way. The novel I have
+just mentioned to you was began as a sentimental romance (that,
+perhaps, after all, is my real forte), but after the provocation I
+received at Washington, I turned it into a sat-herical novel, and I now
+call it _Yankee Doodle Court_. By the way my dear madam, I think if I
+could make up my mind to cross that terrible Atlantic, I should be
+pretty well received, after writing Yankee Doodle Court!”
+
+I took the opportunity of a slight pause to ask her to what party she
+now belonged, since she had forsworn both Adams and Jackson.
+
+“Oh Clay! Clay for ever! he is a real true-hearted republican; the
+others are neither more nor less than tyrants.”
+
+When next I entered the sitting-room she again addressed me, to deplore
+the degenerate taste of the age.
+
+“Would you believe it? I have at this moment a comedy ready for
+representation; I call it ‘The Mad Philosopher.’ It is really
+admirable, and its success certain, if I could get it played. I assure
+you the neglect I meet with amounts perfectly to persecution. But I
+have found out how to pay them, and to make my own fortune. Sat-here,
+(as she constantly pronounced satire) sat-here is the only weapon that
+can revenge neglect, and I flatter myself I know how to use it. Do me
+the favour to look at this,”
+
+She then presented me with a tiny pamphlet, whose price, she informed
+me, was twenty-five cents, which I readily paid to become the possessor
+of this _chef d’oeuvre_. The composition was pretty nearly such as I
+anticipated, excepting that the English language was done to death by
+her pen still more than by her tongue. The epigraph, which was
+subscribed “original,” was as follows:
+
+“Your popularity’s on the decline:
+You had your triumph! now I’ll have mine.”
+
+
+These are rather a favourable specimen of the verses that follow.
+
+In a subsequent conversation she made me acquainted with another
+talent, informing me that she had played the part of Charlotte, in
+_Love à la mode_, when General Lafayette honoured the theatre at
+Cincinnati with his presence.
+
+She now appeared to have run out the catalogue of her accomplishments;
+and I came to the conclusion that my new acquaintance was a strolling
+player: but she seemed to guess my thoughts, for she presently added.
+“It was a Thespian corps that played before the General.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+
+Departure for the mountains in the Stage—Scenery of the
+Alleghany—Haggerstown
+
+
+The weather was bleak and disagreeable during the two days we were
+obliged to remain at Wheeling. I had got heartily tired of my gifted
+friend; we had walked up every side of the rugged hill, and I set off
+on my journey towards the mountains with more pleasure than is
+generally felt in quitting a pillow before daylight, for a cold corner
+in a rumbling stage-coach.
+
+This was the first time we had got into an American stage, though we
+had traversed above two thousand miles of the country, and we had all
+the satisfaction in it, which could be derived from the conviction that
+we were travelling in a foreign land. This vehicle had no step, and we
+climbed into it by a ladder; when that was removed I remembered, with
+some dismay, that the females at least were much in the predicament of
+sailors, who, “in danger have no door to creep out,” but when a
+misfortune is absolutely inevitable, we are apt to bear it remarkably
+well; who would utter that constant petition of ladies on rough roads,
+“let me get out,” when compliance would oblige the pleader to make a
+step of five feet before she could touch the ground?
+
+The coach had three rows of seats, each calculated to hold three
+persons, and as we were only six, we had, in the phrase of Milton, to
+“inhabit lax” this exalted abode, and, accordingly, we were for some
+miles tossed about like a few potatoes in a wheelbarrow. Our knees,
+elbows, and heads required too much care for their protection to allow
+us leisure to look out of the windows; but at length the road became
+smoother, and we became more skilful in the art of balancing ourselves,
+so as to meet the concussion with less danger of dislocation.
+
+We then found that we were travelling through a very beautiful country,
+essentially different in its features from what we had been accustomed
+to round Cincinnati: it is true we had left “_la belle rivière_” behind
+us, but the many limpid and rapid little streams that danced through
+the landscape to join it, more than atoned for its loss.
+
+The country already wore an air of more careful husbandry, and the very
+circumstance of a wide and costly road (though not a very smooth one),
+which in theory might be supposed to injure picturesque effect, was
+beautiful to us, who, since we had entered the muddy mouth of the
+Mississippi, had never seen any thing except a steam-boat and the
+_levee_ professing to have so noble an object as public accommodation.
+Through the whole of the vast region we had passed, excepting at New
+Orleans itself, every trace of the art of man appeared to be confined
+to the individual effort of “getting along,” which, in western phrase,
+means contriving to live with as small a portion of the incumbrances of
+civilized society as possible.
+
+This road was made at the expense of the government as far as
+Cumberland, a town situated among the Alleghany mountains, and, from
+the nature of the ground, must have been a work of great cost. I
+regretted not having counted the number of bridges between Wheeling and
+Little Washington, a distance of thirty-four miles; over one stream
+only there are twenty-five, all passed by the road. They frequently
+occurred within a hundred yards of each other, so serpentine is its
+course; they are built of stone, and sometimes very neatly finished.
+
+Little Washington is in Pennsylvania, across a corner of which the road
+runs. This is a free state, but we were still waited upon by Negroes,
+hired from the neighbouring state of Virginia. We arrived at night, and
+set off again at four in the morning; all, therefore, that we saw of
+Little Washington was its hotel, which was clean and comfortable. The
+first part of the next day’s journey was through a country much less
+interesting: its character was unvaried for nearly thirty miles,
+consisting of an uninterrupted succession of forest-covered hills. As
+soon as we had wearily dragged to the top of one of these, we began to
+rumble down the other side as rapidly as our four horses could trot;
+and no sooner arrived at the bottom than we began to crawl up again;
+the trees constantly so thick and so high as to preclude the
+possibility of seeing fifty yards in any direction.
+
+The latter part of the day, however, amply repaid us. At four o’clock
+we began to ascend the Alleghany mountains: the first ridge on the
+western side is called Laurel Hill, and takes its name from the profuse
+quantity of evergreens with which it is covered; not any among them,
+however, being the shrub to which we give the name of laurel.
+
+The whole of this mountain region, through ninety miles of which the
+road passes, is a garden. The almost incredible variety of plants, and
+the lavish profusion of their growth, produce an effect perfectly
+enchanting. I really can hardly conceive a higher enjoyment than a
+botanical tour among the Alleghany mountains, to any one who had
+science enough to profit by it.
+
+The magnificent rhododendron first caught our eyes; it fringes every
+cliff, nestles beneath every rock, and blooms around every tree. The
+azalia, the shumac, and every variety of that beautiful mischief, the
+kalmia, are in equal profusion. Cedars of every size and form were
+above, around, and underneath us; firs more beautiful and more various
+than I had ever seen, were in equal abundance, but I know not whether
+they were really such as I had never seen in Europe, or only in
+infinitely greater splendour and perfection of growth; the species
+called the hemlock is, I think, second to the cedar only, in
+magnificence. Oak and beech, with innumerable roses and wild vines,
+hanging in beautiful confusion among their branches, were in many
+places scattered among the evergreens. The earth was carpeted with
+various mosses and creeping plants, and though still in the month of
+March, not a trace of the nakedness of winter could be seen. Such was
+the scenery that shewed us we were indeed among the far-famed Alleghany
+mountains.
+
+As our noble terrace-road, the Semplon of America, rose higher and
+higher, all that is noblest in nature was joined to all that is
+sweetest. The blue tops of the higher ridges formed the outline; huge
+masses of rock rose above us on the left, half hid at intervals by the
+bright green shrubs, while to the right we looked down upon the tops of
+the pines and cedars which clothed the bottom.
+
+I had no idea of the endless variety of mountain scenery. My notions
+had been of rocks and precipices, of torrents and of forest trees, but
+I little expected that the first spot which should recall the garden
+scenery of our beautiful England would be found among the moutains: yet
+so it was. From the time I entered America I had never seen the
+slightest approach to what we call pleasure-grounds; a few very
+worthless and scentless flowers were all the specimens of gardening I
+had seen in Ohio; no attempt at garden scenery was ever dreamed of, and
+it was with the sort of delight with which one meets an old friend,
+that we looked on the lovely mixture of trees, shrubs, and flowers,
+that now continually met our eyes. Often, on descending into the narrow
+vallies, we found a little spot of cultivation, a garden or a field,
+hedged round with shumacs, rhododendrons, and azalias, and a cottage
+covered with roses. These vallies are spots of great beauty; a clear
+stream is always found running through them, which is generally
+converted to the use of the miller, at some point not far from the
+road; and here, as on the heights, great beauty of colouring is given
+to the landscape, by the bright hue of the vegetation, and the sober
+grey of the rocks.
+
+The first night we passed among the mountains recalled us painfully
+from the enjoyment of nature to all the petty miseries of personal
+discomfort. Arrived at our inn, a forlorn parlour, filled with the
+blended fumes of tobacco and whiskey, received us; and chilled, as we
+began to feel ourselves with the mountain air, we preferred going to
+our cold bedrooms rather than sup in such an atmosphere. We found linen
+on the beds which they assured us had only been used _a few nights_;
+every kind of refreshment we asked for we were answered, “We do not
+happen to have that article.” We were still in Pennsylvania, and no
+longer waited upon by slaves; it was, therefore, with great difficulty
+that we procured a fire in our bedrooms from the surly-looking _young
+lady_ who condescended to officiate as chambermaid, and with much more,
+that we extorted clean linen for our beds; that done, we patiently
+crept into them supperless, while she made her exit muttering about the
+difficulty of “fixing English folks.”
+
+The next morning cheered our spirits again; we now enjoyed a new kind
+of alpine witchery; the clouds were floating around, and below us, and
+the distant peaks were indistinctly visible as through a white gauze
+veil, which was gradually lifted up, till the sun arose, and again let
+in upon us the full glory of these interminable heights.
+
+We were told before we began the ascent, that we should find snow four
+inches deep on the road; but as yet we had seen none, and indeed it was
+with difficulty we persuaded ourselves that we were not travelling in
+the midst of summer. As we proceeded, however, we found the northern
+declivities still covered with it, and at length, towards the summit,
+the road itself had the promised four inches. The extreme mildness of
+the air, and the brilliant hue of the evergreens, contrasted strangely
+with this appearance of winter; it was difficult to understand how the
+snow could help melting in such an atmosphere.
+
+Again and again we enjoyed all the exhilarating sensations that such
+scenes must necessarily inspire, but in attempting a continued
+description of our progress over these beautiful mountains, I could
+only tell again of rocks, cedars, laurels, and running streams, of blue
+heights, and green vallies, yet the continually varying combinations of
+these objects afforded us unceasing pleasure. From one point,
+pre-eminently above any neighbouring ridge, we looked back upon the
+enormous valley of the West. It is a stupendous view; but having gazed
+upon it for some moments, we turned to pursue our course, and the
+certainty that we should see it no more, raised no sigh of regret.
+
+We dined, on the second day, at a beautiful spot, which we were told
+was the highest point on the road, being 2,846 feet above the level of
+the sea. We were regaled luxuriously on wild turkey and mountain
+venison; which latter is infinitely superior to any furnished by the
+forests of the Mississippi, or the Ohio. The vegetables also were
+extremely fine, and we were told by a pretty girl, who superintended
+the slaves that waited on us, (for we were again in Virginia), that the
+vegetables of the Alleghany were reckoned the finest in America. She
+told us also, that wild strawberries were profusely abundant, and very
+fine; that their cows found for themselves, during the summer, plenty
+of flowery food, which produced a copious supply of milk; that their
+spring gave them the purest water, of icy coldness in the warmest
+seasons; and that the climate was the most delicious in the world, for
+though the thermometer sometimes stood at ninety, their cool breeze
+never failed them. What a spot to turn hermit in for a summer! My
+eloquent mountaineer gave me some specimens of ground plants, far
+unlike any thing I had ever seen. One particularly, which she called
+the ground pine, is peculiar as she told me, to the Alleghany, and in
+some places runs over whole acres of ground; it is extremely beautiful.
+The rooms were very prettily decorated with this elegant plant, hung
+round it in festoons.
+
+In many places the clearing has been considerable; the road passes
+through several fine farms, situated in the sheltered hollows; we were
+told that the wolves continue to annoy them severely, but that
+panthers, the terror of the West, are never seen, and bears very
+rarely. Of snakes, they confessed they had abundance, but very few that
+were considered dangerous.
+
+In the afternoon we came in sight of the Monongehala river; and its
+banks gave us for several miles a beautiful succession of wild and
+domestic scenery. In some points, the black rock rises perpendicularly
+from its margin, like those at Chepstow; at others, a mill, with its
+owner’s cottage, its corn-plat, and its poultry, present a delightful
+image of industry and comfort.
+
+Brownsville is a busy looking little town built upon the banks of this
+river; it would be pretty, were it not stained by the hue of coal. I do
+not remember in England to have seen any spot, however near a coal
+mine, so dyed in black as Wheeling and Brownsville. At this place we
+crossed the Monongehala, in a flat ferry-boat, which very commodiously
+received our huge coach and four horses.
+
+On leaving the black little town, we were again cheered by abundance of
+evergreens, reflected in the stream, with fantastic piles of rock, half
+visible through the pines and cedars above, giving often the idea of a
+vast gothic castle. It was a folly, I confess, but I often lamented
+they were not such; the travelling for thousands of miles, without
+meeting any nobler trace of the ages that are passed, than a mass of
+rotten leaves, or a fragment of fallen rock, produces a heavy, earthly
+matter-of-fact effect upon the imagination, which can hardly be
+described, and for which the greatest beauty of scenery can furnish
+only an occasional and transitory remedy.
+
+Our second night in the mountains was past at a solitary house of
+rather forlorn appearance; but we fared much better than the night
+before, for they gave us clean sheets, a good fire, and no scolding. We
+again started at four o’clock in the morning, and eagerly watched for
+the first gleam of light that should show the same lovely spectacle we
+had seen the day before; nor were we disappointed, though the show was
+somewhat different. The vapours caught the morning ray, as it first
+darted over the mountain top, and passing it to the scene below, we
+seemed enveloped in a rainbow.
+
+We had now but one ridge left to pass over, and as we reached the top,
+and looked down on the new world before us, I hardly knew whether most
+to rejoice that
+
+“All the toil of the long-pass’d way”
+
+
+was over, or to regret that our mountain journey was drawing to a
+close.
+
+The novelty of my enjoyment had doubtless added much to its keenness. I
+have never been familiar with mountain scenery. Wales has shewn me all
+I ever saw, and the region of the Alleghany Alps in no way resembles
+it. It is a world of mountains rising around you in every direction,
+and in every form; savage, vast, and wild; yet almost at every step,
+some lovely spot meets your eye, green, bright and blooming, as the
+most cherished nook belonging to some noble Flora in our own beautiful
+land. It is a ride of ninety miles through kalmies, rhododendrons,
+azalias, vines and roses; sheltered from every blast that blows by vast
+masses of various coloured rocks, on which
+
+“Tall pines and cedars wave their dark green crests.”
+
+
+while in every direction you have a background of blue mountain tops,
+that play at bo-peep with you in the clouds.
+
+After descending the last ridge we reached Haggerstown, a small neat
+place, between a town and a village; and here by the piety of the
+Presbyterian coach-masters, we were doomed to pass an entire day, and
+two nights, “as the accommodation line must not run on the sabbath.”
+
+I must, however, mention, that this day of enforced rest was _not_
+Sunday. Saturday evening we had taken in at Cumberland a portly
+passenger, whom we soon discovered to be one of the proprietors of the
+coach. He asked us, with great politeness, if we should wish to travel
+on the sabbath, or to delay our journey. We answered that we would
+rather proceed; “The coach, then, shall go on tomorrow,” replied the
+liberal coach-master, with the greatest courtesy; and accordingly we
+travelled all Sunday, and arrived at Haggerstown on Sunday night. At
+the door of the inn our civil proprietor left us; but when we enquired
+of the waiter at what hour we were to start on the morrow, he told us
+that we should be obliged to pass the whole of Monday there, as the
+coach which was to convey us forward would not arrive from the east,
+till Tuesday morning.
+
+Thus we discovered that the waiving the sabbath-keeping by the
+proprietor, was for his own convenience, and not for ours, and that we
+were to be tied by the leg for four-and-twenty hours notwithstanding.
+This was quite a Yankee trick.
+
+Luckily for us, the inn at Haggerstown was one of the most comfortable
+I ever entered. It was there that we became fully aware that we had
+left Western America behind us. Instead of being scolded, as we
+literally were at Cincinnati, for asking for a private sitting-room, we
+here had two, without asking at all. A waiter, quite _comme il faut_,
+summoned us to breakfast, dinner, and tea, which we found prepared with
+abundance, and even elegance. The master of the house met us at the
+door of the eating-room, and, after asking if we wished for any thing
+not on the table, retired. The charges were in no respect higher than
+at Cincinnati.
+
+A considerable creek, called Conococheque Creek, runs near the town,
+and the valley through which it passes is said to be the most fertile
+in America.
+
+On leaving Haggerstown we found, to our mortification, that we were not
+to be the sole occupants of the bulky accommodation, two ladies and two
+gentlemen appearing at the door ready to share it with us. We again
+started, at four o’clock, by the light of a bright moon, and rumbled
+and nodded through the roads considerably worse than those over the
+mountains.
+
+As the light began to dawn we discovered our ladies to be an old woman
+and her pretty daughter.
+
+Soon after daylight we found that our pace became much slower than
+usual, and that from time to time our driver addressed to his companion
+on the box many and vehement exclamations. The gentlemen put their
+heads out, to ask what was the matter, but could get no intelligence,
+till the mail overtook us, when both vehicles stopped, and an animated
+colloquy of imprecations took place between the coachmen. At length we
+learnt that one of our wheels was broken in such a manner as to render
+it impossible for us to proceed. Upon this the old lady immediately
+became a principal actor in the scene. She sprung to the window, and
+addressing the set of gentlemen who completely filled the mail,
+exclaimed “Gentlemen! can’t you make room for two? only me and my
+daughter?” The naive simplicity of this request set both the coaches
+into an uproar of laughter. It was impossible to doubt that she acted
+upon the same principle as the pious Catholic, who addressing heaven
+with a prayer for himself alone, added “_pour ne pas fatiguer ta
+miséricorde._” Our laugh, however, never daunted the old woman, or
+caused her for a moment to cease the reiteration of her request, “only
+for two of us, gentlemen! can’t you find room for two?”
+
+Our situation was really very embarrassing, but not to laugh was
+impossible. After it was ascertained that our own vehicle could not
+convey us, and that the mail had not even room for two, we decided upon
+walking to the next village, a distance, fortunately, of only two
+miles, and awaiting there the repair of the wheel. We immediately set
+off, at the brisk pace that six o’clock and a frosty morning in March
+were likely to inspire, leaving our old lady and her pretty daughter
+considerably in the rear; our hearts having been rather hardened by the
+exclusive nature of her prayer for aid.
+
+When we had again started upon our new wheel, the driver, to recover
+the time he had lost, drove rapidly over a very rough road, in
+consequence of which, our self-seeking old lady fell into a perfect
+agony of terror, and her cries of “we shall be over! oh, Lord! we shall
+be over! we must over! we shall be over!” lasted to the end of the
+stage which with laughing, walking, and shaking, was a most fatiguing
+one.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+
+Baltimore—Catholic Cathedral—St. Mary’s—College Sermons—Infant School
+
+
+As we advanced towards Baltimore the look of cultivation increased, the
+fences wore an air of greater neatness, the houses began to look like
+the abodes of competence and comfort, and we were consoled for the loss
+of the beautiful mountains by knowing that we were approaching the
+Atlantic.
+
+From the time of quitting the Ohio river, though, unquestionably, it
+merits its title of “the beautiful,” especially when compared with the
+dreary Mississippi, I strongly felt the truth of an observation I
+remembered to have heard in England, that little rivers were more
+beautiful than great ones. As features in a landscape, this is
+assuredly the case. Where the stream is so wide that the objects on the
+opposite shore are indistinct, all the beauty must be derived from the
+water itself; whereas, when the stream is narrow, it becomes only a
+part of the composition. The Monongahela, which is in size between the
+Wye and the Thames, is infinitely more picturesque than the Ohio.
+
+To enjoy the beauty of the vast rivers of this vast country you must be
+upon the water; and then the power of changing the scenery by now
+approaching one shore, and now the other, is very pleasing; but
+travelling as we now did, by land, the wild, rocky, narrow, rapid
+little rivers we encountered, were a thousand times more beautiful. The
+Potapsco, near which the road runs, as you approach Baltimore, is at
+many points very picturesque. The large blocks of grey rock, now close
+upon its edge, and now retiring to give room for a few acres of bright
+green herbage, give great interest and variety to its course.
+
+Baltimore is, I think, one of the handsomest cities to approach in the
+Union. The noble column erected to the memory of Washington, and the
+Catholic Cathedral, with its beautiful dome, being built on a
+commanding eminence, are seen at a great distance. As you draw nearer,
+many other domes and towers become visible, and as you enter
+Baltimore-street, you feel that you are arrived in a handsome and
+populous city.
+
+We took up our quarters at an excellent hotel, where the coach stopped,
+and the next day were fortunate enough to find accommodation in the
+house of a lady, well known to many of my European friends. With her
+and her amiable daughter, we spent a fortnight very agreeably, and felt
+quite aware that if we had not arrived in London or Paris, we had, at
+least, left far behind the “half-horse, half-alligator” tribes of the
+West, as the Kentuckians call themselves.
+
+Baltimore is in many respects a beautiful city; it has several handsome
+buildings, and even the private dwelling-houses have a look of
+magnificence, from the abundance of white marble with which many of
+them are adorned. The ample flights of steps, and the lofty door
+frames, are in most of the best houses formed of this beautiful
+material.
+
+This has been called the city of monuments, from its having the stately
+column erected to the memory of General Washington, and which bears a
+colossal statue of him at the top; and another pillar of less
+dimensions, recording some victory; I forget which. Both these are of
+brilliant white marble. There are also several pretty marble fountains
+in different parts of the city, which greatly add to its beauty. These
+are not, it is true, quite so splendid as that of the Innocents, or
+many others at Paris, but they are fountains of clear water, and they
+are built of white marble. There is one which is sheltered from the sun
+by a roof supported by light columns; it looks like a temple dedicated
+to the genius of the spring. The water flows into a marble cistern, to
+which you descend by a flight of steps of delicate whiteness, and
+return by another. These steps are never without groups of negro girls,
+some carrying the water on their heads, with that graceful steadiness
+of step, which requires no aid from the hand; some tripping gaily with
+their yet unfilled pitchers; many of them singing in the soft rich
+voice, peculiar to their race; and all dressed with that strict
+attention to taste and smartness, which seems the distinguishing
+characteristic of the Baltimore females of all ranks.
+
+The Catholic Cathedral is considered by all Americans as a magnificent
+church, but it can hardly be so classed by any one who has seen the
+churches of Europe; its interior, however, has an air of neatness that
+amounts to elegance. The form is a Greek cross, having a dome in the
+centre; but the proportions are ill- preserved; the dome is too low,
+and the arches which support it are flattened, and too wide for their
+height. On each side of the high altar are chapels to the Saviour and
+the Virgin. The altars in these, as well as the high altar, are of
+native marble of different colours, and some of the specimens are very
+beautiful. The decorations of the altar are elegant and costly. The
+prelate is a cardinal, and bears, moreover, the title of “Archbishop of
+Baltimore.”
+
+There are several paintings in different parts of the church, which we
+heard were considered as very fine. There are two presented by Louis
+XVIII; one of these is the Descent from the Cross, by Paulin Guirin;
+the other a copy from Rubens, (as they told us) of a legend of St.
+Louis in the Holy Land; but the composition of the picture is so
+abominably bad, that I conceive the legend of its being after Rubens,
+must be as fabulous as its subject. The admiration in which these
+pictures are held, is an incontestable indication of the state of art
+in the country.
+
+We attended mass in this church the Sunday after our arrival, and I was
+perfectly astonished at the beauty and splendid appearance of the
+ladies who filled it. Excepting on a very brilliant Sunday at the
+Tuilleries, I never saw so shewy a display of morning costume, and I
+think I never saw any where so many beautiful women at one glance. They
+all appeared to be in full dress, and were really all beautiful.
+
+The sermon (I am very attentive to sermons) was a most extraordinary
+one. The priest began by telling us, that he was about to preach upon a
+vice that he would not “mention or name” from the beginning of his
+sermon to the end.
+
+Having thus excited the curiosity of his hearers, by proposing a riddle
+to them, he began.
+
+Adam, he said, was most assuredly the first who had committed this sin,
+and Cain the next; then, following the advice given by the listener, in
+the Plaideurs, “Passons au deluge, je vous prie;” he went on to mention
+the particular propriety of Noah’s family on this point; and then
+continued, “Now observe, what did God shew the greatest dislike to?
+What was it that Jesus was never even accused of? What was it Joseph
+hated the most? Who was the disciple that Jesus chose for his friend?”
+and thus he went on for nearly an hour, in a strain that was often
+perfectly unintelligible to me, but which, as far as I could comprehend
+it, appeared to be a sort of expose and commentary upon private
+anecdotes which he had found, or fancied he had found in the Bible. I
+never saw the attention of a congregation more strongly excited, and I
+really wished, in Christian charity, that something better had rewarded
+it.
+
+There are a vast number of churches and chapels in the city, in
+proportion to its extent, and several that are large and well- built;
+the Unitarian church is the handsomest I have ever seen dedicated to
+that mode of worship. But the prettiest among them is a little _bijou_
+of a thing belonging to the Catholic college. The institution is
+dedicated to St. Mary, but this little chapel looks, though in the
+midst of a city, as if it should have been sacred to St. John of the
+wilderness. There is a sequestered little garden behind it, hardly
+large enough to plant cabbages in, which yet contains a Mount Calvary,
+bearing a lofty cross. The tiny path which leads up to this sacred
+spot, is not much wider than a sheep-track, and its cedars are but
+shrubs, but all is in proportion; and notwithstanding its fairy
+dimensions, there is something of holiness, and quiet beauty about it,
+that excites the imagination strangely. The little chapel itself has
+the same touching and impressive character. A solitary lamp, whose
+glare is tempered by delicately painted glass, hangs before the altar.
+The light of day enters dimly, yet richly, through crimson curtains,
+and the silence with which the well-lined doors opened from time to
+time, admitting a youth of the establishment, who, with noiseless
+tread, approached the altar, and kneeling, offered a whispered prayer,
+and retired, had something in it more calculated, perhaps, to generate
+holy thoughts, than even the swelling anthem heard beneath the
+resounding dome of St. Peter’s.
+
+Baltimore has a handsome museum, superintended by one of the Peale
+family, well known for their devotion to natural science, and to works
+of art. It is not their fault if the specimens which they are enabled
+to display in the latter department are very inferior to their splendid
+exhibitions in the former.
+
+The theatre was closed when we were in Baltimore, but we were told that
+it was very far from being a popular or fashionable amusement. We were,
+indeed, told this every where throughout the country, and the
+information was generally accompanied by the observation, that the
+opposition of the clergy was the cause of it. But I suspect that this
+is not the principal cause, especially among the men, who, if they were
+so implicit in their obedience to the clergy, would certainly be more
+constant in their attendance at the churches; nor would they, moreover,
+deem the theatre more righteous because an English actor, or a French
+dancer, performed there; yet on such occasions the theatres overflow.
+The cause, I think, is in the character of the people. I never saw a
+population so totally divested of gaiety; there is no trace of this
+feeling from one end of the Union to the other. They have no fêtes, no
+fairs, no merry makings, no music in the streets, no Punch, no
+puppet-shows. If they see a comedy or a farce, they may laugh at it;
+but they can do very well without it; and the consciousness of the
+number of cents that must be paid to enter a theatre, I am very sure
+turns more steps from its door than any religious feeling. A
+distinguished publisher of Philadelphia told me that no comic
+publication had ever yet been found to answer in America.
+
+We arrived at Baltimore at the season of the “Conference.” I must be
+excused from giving any very distinct explanation of this term, as I
+did not receive any. From what I could learn, it much resembles a
+Revival. We entered many churches, and heard much preaching, and not
+one of the reverend orators could utter the reproach,
+
+“Peut-on si bien precher qu’elle ne dorme au sermon?”
+
+
+for I never even dosed at any. There was one preacher whose manner and
+matter were so peculiar, that I took the liberty of immediately writing
+down a part of his discourse as a specimen. I confess I began writing
+in the middle of a sentence, for I waited in vain for a beginning. It
+was as follows:-
+
+“Nevertheless, we must not lose sight of the one important, great, and
+only object; for the Lord is mighty, his works are great, likewise
+wonderful, likewise wise, likewise merciful; and, moreover, we must
+ever keep in mind, and close to our hearts, all his precious blessings,
+and unspeakable mercies, and overflowings; and moreover we must never
+lose sight of, no, never lose sight of, nor ever cease to remember, nor
+ever let our souls forget, nor ever cease to dwell upon, and to
+reverence, and to welcome, and to bless, and to give thanks, and to
+sing hosanna, and give praise,”—and here my fragment of paper failed,
+but this strain continued, without a shadow of meaning that I could
+trace, and in a voice inconceivably loud, for more than an hour. After
+he had finished his sermon, a scene exactly resembling that at the
+Cincinnati Revival, took place. Two other priests assisted in calling
+forward the people, and in whispering comfort to them. One of these men
+roared out in the coarsest accents, “Do you want to go to hell
+tonight?” The church was almost entirely filled with women, who vied
+with each other in howlings and contortions of the body; many of them
+tore their clothes nearly off. I was much amused, spite of the
+indignation and disgust the scene inspired, by the vehemence of the
+negro part of the congregation; they seemed determined to bellow louder
+than all the rest, to shew at once their piety and their equality.
+
+At this same chapel, a few nights before, a woman had fallen in a fit
+of ecstasy from the gallery, into the arms of the people below, a
+height of twelve feet. A young slave who waited upon us at table, when
+this was mentioned, said, that similar accidents had frequently
+happened, and that once she had seen it herself. Another slave in the
+house told us, that she “liked religion right well, but that she never
+took fits in it, ’cause she was always fixed in her best, when she went
+to chapel, and she did not like to have all her best clothes broke up.”
+
+We visited the infant school, instituted in this city by Mr. Ibbertson,
+an amiable and intelligent Englishman. It was the first infant school,
+properly so called, which I had ever seen, and I was greatly pleased
+with all the arrangements, and the apparent success of them. The
+children, of whom we saw about a hundred, boys and girls, were between
+eighteen months and six years. The apartment was filled with all sorts
+of instructive and amusing objects; a set of Dutch toys, arranged as a
+cabinet of natural history, was excellent; a numerous collection of
+large wooden bricks filled one corner of the room; the walls were hung
+with gay papers of different patterns, each representing some pretty
+group of figures; large and excellent coloured engravings of birds and
+beasts were exhibited in succession as the theme of a little lesson;
+and the sweet flute of Mr. Ibbertson gave tune and time to the
+prettiest little concert of chirping birds that I ever listened to.
+
+A geographical model, large enough to give clear ideas of continent,
+island, cape, isthmus, et cetera, all set in water, is placed before
+the children, and the pretty creatures point their little rosy fingers
+with a look of intense interest, as they are called upon to shew where
+each of them is to be found. The dress, both of boys and girls, was
+elegantly neat, and their manner, when called upon to speak
+individually, was well-bred, intelligent, and totally free from the
+rude indifference, which is so remarkably prevalent in the manners of
+American children. Mr. Ibbertson will be benefactor to the Union, if he
+become the means of spreading the admirable method by which he had
+polished the manner, and awakened the intellect of these beautiful
+little Republicans. I have conversed with many American ladies on the
+total want of discipline and subjection which I observed universally
+among children of all ages, and I never found any who did not both
+acknowledge and deplore the truth of the remark. In the state of Ohio
+they have a law (I know not if it exist elsewhere), that if a father
+strike his son, he shall pay a fine of ten dollars for every such
+offence. I was told by a gentleman of Cincinnati, that he had seen this
+fine inflicted there, at the requisition of a boy of twelve years of
+age, whose father, he proved, had struck him for lying. Such a law,
+they say, generates a spirit of freedom. What else may it generate?
+
+Mr. Ibbertson, who seems perfectly devoted, heart and head to the
+subject, told me that he was employed in organizing successive schools
+that should receive the pupils as they advanced in age. If he prove
+himself as capable of completing education, as he appears to be of
+beginning it, his institution will be a very valuable one. It would,
+indeed, be valuable any where; but in America, where discipline is not,
+where, from the shell, they are beings “that cannot rule, nor ever will
+be ruled,” it is invaluable.
+
+About two miles from Baltimore is a fort, nobly situated on the
+Patapsco, and commanding the approach from the Chesapeak bay. As our
+visit was on a Sunday we were not permitted to enter it. The walk to
+this fort is along a fine terrace of beautiful verdure, which commands
+a magnificent view of the city, with its columns, towers, domes, and
+shipping; and also of the Patapsco river, which is here so wide as to
+present almost a sea view. This terrace is ornamented with abundance of
+evergreens, and wild roses innumerable, but, the whole region has the
+reputation of being unhealthy, and the fort itself most lamentably so.
+Before leaving the city of monuments, I must not omit naming one reared
+to the growing wealth of the country; Mr. Barham’s hotel is said to be
+the most splendid in the Union, and it is certainly splendid enough for
+a people more luxurious than the citizens of the republic appear yet to
+be. I heard different, and, indeed, perfectly contradictory accounts of
+the success of the experiment; but at least every one seemed to agree
+that the liberal projector was fully entitled to exclaim,
+
+“’Tis not in mortals to command success;
+I have done more, Jonathan, I’ve deserved it.”
+
+
+After enjoying a very pleasant fortnight, the greater part of which was
+passed in rambling about this pretty city and its environs, we left it,
+not without regret, and all indulging the hope that we should be able
+to pay it another visit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+
+Voyage to Washington—Capitol—City of
+Washington—Congress—Indians—Funeral of a Member of Congress
+
+
+By far the shortest route to Washington, both as to distance and time,
+is by land; but I much wished to see the celebrated Chesapeak bay, and
+it was therefore decided that we should take our passage in the
+steam-boat. It is indeed a beautiful little voyage, and well worth the
+time it costs; but as to the beauty of the bay, it must, I think, be
+felt only by sailors. It is, I doubt not, a fine shelter for ships,
+from the storms of the Atlantic, but its very vastness prevents its
+striking the eye as beautiful: it is, in fact, only a fine sea view.
+But the entrance from it into the Potomac river is very noble, and is
+one of the points at which one feels conscious of the gigantic
+proportions of the country, without having recourse to a graduated
+pencil-case.
+
+The passage up this river to Washington is interesting, from many
+objects that it passes, but beyond all else, by the view it affords of
+Mount Vernon, the seat of General Washington. It is there that this
+truly great man passed the last years of his virtuous life, and it is
+there that he lies buried: it was easy to distinguish, as we passed,
+the cypress that waves over his grave.
+
+The latter part of the voyage shews some fine river scenery; but I did
+not discover this till some months afterwards, for we now arrived late
+at night.
+
+Our first object the next morning was to get a sight of the capitol,
+and our impatience sent us forth before breakfast. The mists of morning
+still hung around this magnificent building when first it broke upon
+our view, and I am not sure that the effect produced was not the
+greater for this circumstance. At all events, we were struck with
+admiration and surprise. None of us, I believe, expected to see so
+imposing a structure on that side of the Atlantic. I am ill at
+describing buildings, but the beauty and majesty of the American
+capitol might defy an abler pen than mine to do it justice. It stands
+so finely too, high, and alone.
+
+The magnificent western facade is approached from the city by terraces
+and steps of bolder proportions than I ever before saw. The elegant
+eastern front, to which many persons give the preference, is on a level
+with a newly-planted but exceedingly handsome inclosure, which, in a
+few years, will offer the shade of all the most splendid trees which
+flourish in the Union, to cool the brows and refresh the spirits of the
+members. The view from the capitol commands the city and many miles
+around, and it is itself an object of imposing beauty to the whole
+country adjoining.
+
+We were again fortunate enough to find a very agreeable family to board
+with; and soon after breakfast left our comfortless hotel near the
+water, for very pleasant apartments in F. street.[7]
+
+ [7] The streets that intersect the great avenues in Washington are
+ distinguished by the letters of the alphabet.
+
+
+I was delighted with the whole aspect of Washington; light, cheerful,
+and airy, it reminded me of our fashionable watering places. It has
+been laughed at by foreigners, and even by natives, because the
+original plan of the city was upon an enormous scale, and but a very
+small part of it has been as yet executed. But I confess I see nothing
+in the least degree ridiculous about it; the original design, which was
+as beautiful as it was extensive, has been in no way departed from, and
+all that has been done has been done well. From the base of the hill on
+which the capitol stands extends a street of most magnificent width,
+planted on each side with trees, and ornamented by many splendid shops.
+This street, which is called Pennsylvania Avenue, is above a mile in
+length, and at the end of it is the handsome mansion of the President;
+conveniently near to his residence are the various public offices, all
+handsome, simple, and commodious; ample areas are left round each,
+where grass and shrubs refresh the eye. In another of the principal
+streets is the general post-office, and not far from it a very noble
+town- hall. Towards the quarter of the President’s house are several
+handsome dwellings, which are chiefly occupied by the foreign
+ministers. The houses in the other parts of the city are scattered, but
+without ever losing sight of the regularity of the original plan; and
+to a person who has been travelling much through the country, and
+marked the immense quantity of new manufactories, new canals, new
+railroads, new towns, and new cities, which are springing, as it were,
+from the earth in every part of it, the appearance of the metropolis
+rising gradually into life and splendour, is a spectacle of high
+historic interest.
+
+Commerce had already produced large and handsome cities in America
+before she had attained to an individual political existence, and
+Washington may be scorned as a metropolis, where such cities as
+Philadelphia and New York exist; but I considered it as the growing
+metropolis of the growing population of the Union, and it already
+possesses features noble enough to sustain its dignity as such.
+
+The residence of the foreign legations and their families gives a tone
+to the society of this city which distinguishes it greatly from all
+others. It is also, for a great part of the year, the residence of the
+senators and representatives, who must be presumed to be the _elite_ of
+the entire body of citizens, both in respect to talent and education.
+This cannot fail to make Washington a more agreeable abode than any
+other city in the Union.
+
+The total absence of all sights, sounds, or smells of commerce, adds
+greatly to the charm. Instead of drays you see handsome carriages; and
+instead of the busy bustling hustle of men, shuffling on to a sale of
+“dry goods” or “prime broad stuffs,” you see very well-dressed
+personages lounging leisurely up and down Pennsylvania Avenue.
+
+Mr. Pishey Thompson, the English bookseller, with his pretty collection
+of all sorts of pretty literature, fresh from London, and Mr. Somebody,
+the jeweller, with his brilliant shop full of trinkets, are the
+principal points of attraction and business. What a contrast to all
+other American cities! The members, who pass several months every year
+in this lounging easy way, with no labour but a little talking, and
+with the _douceur_ of eight dollars a day to pay them for it, must feel
+the change sadly when their term of public service is over.
+
+There is another circumstance which renders the evening parties at
+Washington extremely unlike those of other places in the Union; this is
+the great majority of gentlemen. The expense, the trouble, or the
+necessity of a ruling eye at home, one or all of these reasons,
+prevents the members’ ladies from accompanying them to Washington; at
+least, I heard of very few who had their wives with them. The female
+society is chiefly to be found among the families of the foreign
+ministers, those of the officers of state, and of the few members, the
+wealthiest and most aristocratic of the land, who bring their families
+with them. Some few independent persons reside in or near the city, but
+this is a class so thinly scattered that they can hardly be accounted a
+part of the population.
+
+But, strange to say, even here a theatre cannot be supported for more
+than a few weeks at a time. I was told that gambling is the favourite
+recreation of the gentlemen, and that it is carried to a very
+considerable extent; but here, as elsewhere within the country, it is
+kept extremely well out of sight. I do not think I was present with a
+pack of cards a dozen times during more than three years that I
+remained in the country. Billiards are much played, though in most
+places the amusement is illegal. It often appeared to me that the old
+women of a state made the laws, and the young men broke them.
+
+Notwithstanding the diminutive size of the city, we found much to see,
+and to amuse us.
+
+The patent office is a curious record of the fertility of the mind of
+man when left to its own resources; but it gives ample proof also that
+it is not under such circumstances it is most usefully employed. This
+patent office contains models of all the mechanical inventions that
+have been produced in the Union, and the number is enormous. I asked
+the man who shewed these, what proportion of them had been brought into
+use, he said about one in a thousand; he told me also, that they
+chiefly proceeded from mechanics and agriculturists settled in remote
+parts of the country, who had began by endeavouring to hit upon some
+contrivance to enable them to _get along_ without sending some thousand
+and odd miles for the thing they wanted. If the contrivance succeeded,
+they generally became so fond of this offspring of their ingenuity,
+that they brought it to Washington for a patent.
+
+At the secretary of state’s office we were shewn autographs of all the
+potentates with whom the Union were in alliance; which, I believe,
+pretty well includes all. To the parchments bearing these royal signs
+manual were appended, of course, the official seals of each, enclosed
+in gold or silver boxes of handsome workmanship: I was amused by the
+manner in which one of their own, just prepared for the court of
+Russia, was displayed to us, and the superiority of their decorations
+pointed out. They were superior, and in much better taste than the
+rest; and I only wish that the feeling that induced this display would
+spread to every corner of the Union, and mix itself with every act and
+with every sentiment. Let America give a fair portion other attention
+to the arts and the graces that embellish life, and I will make her
+another visit, and write another book as unlike this as possible.
+
+Among the royal signatures, the only ones which much interested me were
+two from the hand of Napoleon. The earliest of these, when he was first
+consul, was a most illegible scrawl, and, as the tradition went, was
+written on horseback; but his writing improved greatly after he became
+an emperor, the subsequent signature being firmly and clearly
+written.—I longed to steal both.
+
+The purity of the American character, formed and founded on the purity
+of the American government, was made evident to our senses by the
+display of all the offerings of esteem and regard which had been
+presented by various sovereigns to the different American ministers who
+had been sent to their courts. The object of the law which exacted this
+deposit from every individual so honoured, was, they told us, to
+prevent the possibility of bribery being used to corrupt any envoy of
+the Republic. I should think it would be a better way to select for the
+office such men as they felt could not be seduced by a sword or a
+snuff-box. But they, doubtless, know their own business best.
+
+The bureau for Indian affairs contains a room of great interest: the
+walls are entirely covered with original portraits of all the chiefs
+who, from time to time, have come to negotiate with their great father,
+as they call the President.
+
+These portraits are by Mr. King, and, it cannot be doubted, are
+excellent likenesses, as are all the portraits I have ever seen from
+the hands of that gentleman. The countenances are full of expression,
+but the expression in most of them is extremely similar; or rather, I
+should say that they have but two sorts of expression; the one is that
+of very noble and warlike daring, the other of a gentle and naive
+simplicity, that has no mixture of folly in it, but which is
+inexpressibly engaging, and the more touching, perhaps, because at the
+moment we were looking at them, those very hearts which lent the eyes
+such meek and friendly softness, were wrung by a base, cruel, and most
+oppressive act of their _great father_.
+
+We were at Washington at the time that the measure for chasing the last
+of several tribes of Indians from their forest homes, was canvassed in
+congress, and finally decided upon by the FIAT of the President. If the
+American character may be judged by their conduct in this matter, they
+are most lamentably deficient in every feeling of honour and integrity.
+It is among themselves, and from themselves, that I have heard the
+statements which represent them as treacherous and false almost beyond
+belief in their intercourse with the unhappy Indians. Had I, during my
+residence in the United States, observed any single feature in their
+national character that could justify their eternal boast of liberality
+and the love of freedom, I might have respected them, however much my
+taste might have been offended by what was peculiar in their manners
+and customs. But it is impossible for any mind of common honesty not to
+be revolted by the contradictions in their principles and practice.
+They inveigh against the governments of Europe, because, as they say,
+they favour the powerful and oppress the weak. You may hear this
+declaimed upon in Congress, roared out in taverns, discussed in every
+drawing-room, satirized upon the stage, nay, even anathematized from
+the pulpit: listen to it, and then look at them at home; you will see
+them with one hand hoisting the cap of liberty, and with the other
+flogging their slaves. You will see them one hour lecturing their mob
+on the indefeasible rights of man, and the next driving from their
+homes the children of the soil, whom they have bound themselves to
+protect by the most solemn treaties.
+
+In justice to those who approve not this treacherous policy, I will
+quote a paragraph from a New York paper, which shews that there are
+some among them who look with detestation on the bold bad measure
+decided upon at Washington in the year 1830.
+
+“We know of no subject, at the present moment, of more importance to
+the character of our country for justice and integrity than that which
+relates to the Indian tribes in Georgia and Alabama, and particularly
+the Cherokees in the former state. The Act passed by Congress, just at
+the end of the session, co-operating with the tyrannical and iniquitous
+statute of Georgia, strikes a formidable blow at the reputation of the
+United States, in respect to their faith, pledged in almost innumerable
+instances, in the most solemn treaties and compacts.”
+
+There were many objects of much interest shewn us at this Indian
+bureau; but, from the peculiar circumstances of this most unhappy and
+ill-used people, it was a very painful interest.
+
+The dresses worn by the chiefs when their portraits were taken, are
+many of them splendid, from the embroidery of beads and other
+ornaments: and the room contains many specimens of their ingenuity, and
+even of their taste. There is a glass case in the room, wherein are
+arranged specimens of worked muslin, and other needlework, some very
+excellent handwriting, and many other little productions of male and
+female Indians, all proving clearly that they are perfectly capable of
+civilization. Indeed, the circumstance which renders their expulsion
+from their own, their native lands, so peculiarly lamentable, is, that
+they were yielding rapidly to the force of example; their lives were no
+longer those of wandering hunters, but they were becoming
+agriculturists, and the tyrannical arm of brutal power has not now
+driven them, as formerly, only from their hunting grounds, their
+favourite springs, and the sacred bones of their fathers, but it has
+chased them from the dwellings their advancing knowledge had taught
+them to make comfortable; from the newly-ploughed fields of their
+pride; and from the crops their sweat had watered. And for what? to add
+some thousand acres of territory to the half-peopled wilderness which
+borders them.
+
+The Potomac, on arriving at Washington, makes a beautiful sweep, which
+forms a sort of bay, round which the city is built. Just where it makes
+the turn, a wooden bridge is thrown across, connecting the shores of
+Maryland and Virginia. This bridge is a mile and a quarter in length,
+and is ugly enough.[8] The navy-yard, and arsenal, are just above it,
+on the Maryland side, and make a handsome appearance on the edge of the
+river, following the sweep above mentioned. Near the arsenal (much too
+near) is the penitentiary, which, as it was just finished, and not
+inhabited, we examined in every part. It is built for the purpose of
+solitary confinement for life. A gallows is a much less nerve-shaking
+spectacle than one of these awful cells, and assuredly, when
+imprisonment therein for life is substituted for death, it is no mercy
+to the criminal; but if it be a greater terror to the citizen, it may
+answer the purpose better. I do not conceive, that out of a hundred
+human beings who had been thus confined for a year, one would be found
+at the end of it who would continue to linger on there, _certain it was
+for ever_, if the alternative of being hanged were offered to them. I
+had written a description of these horrible cells, but Captain Hall’s
+picture of a similar building is so accurate, and so clear, that it is
+needless to insert it.
+
+ [8] It has since been washed away by the breaking up of the frost of
+ February, 1831.
+
+
+Still following the sweep of the river, at the distance of two miles
+from Washington, is George Town, formerly a place of considerable
+commercial importance, and likely, I think, to become so again, when
+the Ohio and Chesapeake canals, which there mouths into the Potomac,
+shall be in full action. It is a very pretty town, commanding a lovely
+view, of which the noble Potomac and the almost nobler capitol, are the
+great features. The country rises into a beautiful line of hills behind
+Washington, which form a sort of undulating terrace on to George Town;
+this terrace is almost entirely occupied by a succession of gentlemen’s
+seats. At George Town the Potomac suddenly contracts itself, and begins
+to assume that rapid, rocky and irregular character which marks it
+afterwards, and renders its course, till it meets the Shenandoah at
+Harper’s Ferry, a series of the most wild and romantic views that are
+to be found in America.
+
+Attending the debates in Congress was, of course, one of our great
+objects; and, as an English woman, I was perhaps the more eager to
+avail myself of the privilege allowed. It was repeatedly observed to me
+that, at least in this instance, I must acknowledge the superior
+gallantry of the Americans, and that they herein give a decided proof
+of surpassing the English in a wish to honour the ladies, as they have
+a gallery in the House of Representatives erected expressly for them,
+while in England they are rigorously excluded from every part of the
+House of Commons.
+
+But the inference I draw from this is precisely the reverse of the
+suggested. It is well known that the reason why the House of Commons
+was closed against ladies was, that their presence was found too
+attractive, and that so many members were tempted to neglect the
+business before the House, that they might enjoy the pleasure of
+conversing with the fair critics in the galleries, that it became a
+matter of national importance to banish them—and they were banished. It
+will be long ere the American legislature will find it necessary to
+pass the same law for the same reason. A lady of Washington, however,
+told me an anecdote which went far to shew that a more intellectual
+turn in the women, would produce a change in the manners of the men.
+She told me, that when the Miss Wrights were in Washington, with
+General Lafayette, they very frequently attended the debates, and that
+the most distinguished members were always crowding round them. For
+this unwonted gallantry they apologized to their beautiful countrywomen
+by saying, that if they took equal interest in the debates, the
+galleries would be always thronged by the members.
+
+The privilege of attending these debates would be more valuable could
+the speakers be better heard from the gallery; but, with the most
+earnest attention, I could only follow one or two of the orators, whose
+voices were peculiarly loud and clear. This made it really a labour to
+listen; but the extreme beauty of the chamber was of itself a reason
+for going again and again. It was, however, really mortifying to see
+this splendid hall, fitted up in so stately and sumptuous a manner,
+filled with men, sitting in the most unseemly attitudes, a large
+majority with their hats on, and nearly all, spitting to an excess that
+decency forbids me to describe.
+
+Among the crowd, who must be included in this description, a few were
+distinguished by not wearing their hats, and by sitting on their chairs
+like other human beings, without throwing their legs above their heads.
+Whenever I enquired the name of one of these exceptions, I was told
+that it was Mr. This, or Mr. That, _of Virginia_.
+
+One day we were fortunate enough to get placed on the sofas between the
+pillars, on the floor of the House; the galleries being shut up, for
+the purpose of making some alterations, which it was hoped might
+improve the hearing in that part of the House occupied by the members,
+and which is universally complained of, as being very defective.[9] But
+in our places on the sofas we found we heard very much better than up
+stairs, and well enough to be extremely amused by the rude eloquence of
+a thorough horse and alligator orator from Kentucky, who entreated the
+house repeatedly to “go the whole hog.”
+
+ [9] As a proof of this defective hearing in the Hall of Congress, I
+ may quote a passage from a newspaper report of a debate on
+ improvements. It was proposed to suspend a ceiling of glass fifteen
+ feet above the heads of the members. A member, speaking in favour of
+ this proposal, said, “Members would then, at least, be able to
+ understand what was the question before the House, an advantage which
+ most of them did not now possess, respecting more than half the
+ propositions upon which they voted.”
+
+
+If I mistake not, every debate I listened to in the American Congress
+was upon one and the same subject, namely, the entire independence of
+each individual state, with regard to the federal government. The
+jealousy on this point appeared to me to be the very strangest
+political feeling that ever got possession of the mind of man. I do not
+pretend to judge the merits of this question. I speak solely of the
+very singular effect of seeing man after man start eagerly to his feet,
+to declare that the greatest injury, the basest injustice, the most
+obnoxious tyranny that could be practised against the state of which he
+was a member, would be a vote of a few million dollars for the purpose
+of making their roads or canals; or for drainage; or, in short, for any
+purpose of improvement whatsoever.
+
+During the month we were at Washington, I heard a great deal of
+conversation respecting a recent exclusion from Congress of a
+gentleman, who, by every account, was one of the most esteemed men in
+the house, and, I think, the father of it. The crime for which this
+gentleman was out-voted by his own particular friends and admirers was,
+that he had given his vote for a grant of public money for the purpose
+of draining a most lamentable and unhealthy district, called “_the
+dismal swamp!_”
+
+One great boast of the country is, that they have no national debt, or
+that they shall have none in two years. This seems not very wonderful,
+considering their productive tariff, and that the income paid to their
+president is 6,000_L. per annum_; other government salaries being in
+proportion, and all internal improvements, at the expense of the
+government treasury, being voted unconstitutional.
+
+The Senate-chamber is, like the Hall of Congress, a semicircle, but of
+very much smaller dimensions. It is most elegantly fitted up, and what
+is better still, the senators, generally speaking, look like gentlemen.
+They do not wear their hats, and the activity of youth being happily
+past, they do not toss their heels above their heads. I would I could
+add they do not spit; but, alas! “I have an oath in heaven,” and may
+not write an untruth.
+
+A very handsome room, opening on a noble stone balcony is fitted up as
+a library for the members. The collection, as far as a very cursory
+view could enable me to judge, was very like that of a private English
+gentleman, but with less Latin, Greek, and Italian. This room also is
+elegantly furnished; rich Brussels carpet; library tables, with
+portfolios of engravings; abundance of sofas, and so on. The view from
+it is glorious, and it looks like the abode of luxury and taste.
+
+I can by no means attempt to describe all the apartments of this
+immense building, but the magnificent rotunda in the centre must not be
+left unnoticed. It is, indeed, a noble hall, a hundred feet in
+diameter, and of an imposing loftiness, lighted by an ample dome.
+
+Almost any pictures (excepting the cartoons) would look paltry in this
+room, from the immense height of the walls; but the subjects of the
+four pictures which are placed there, are of such high historic
+interest that they should certainly have a place somewhere, as national
+records. One represents the signing of the declaration of independence;
+another the resignation of the presidency by the great Washington;
+another the celebrated victory of General Gates at Saratoga; and the
+fourth….I do not well remember, but I think it is some other martial
+scene, commemorating a victory; I rather think that of York Town.
+
+One other object in the capitol must be mentioned, though it occurs in
+so obscure a part of the building, that one or two members to whom I
+mentioned it, were not aware of its existence. The lower part of the
+edifice, a story below the rotunda, &c., has a variety of committee
+rooms, courts, and other places of business. In a hall leading to some
+of these rooms, the ceiling is supported by pillars, the capitals of
+which struck me as peculiarly beautiful. They are composed of the ears
+and leaves of the Indian corn, beautifully arranged, and forming as
+graceful an outline as the acanthus itself. This was the only instance
+I saw, in which America has ventured to attempt national originality;
+the success is perfect. A sense of fitness always enhances the effect
+of beauty. I will not attempt a long essay on the subject, but if
+America, in her vastness, her immense natural resources, and her remote
+grandeur, would be less imitative, she would be infinitely more
+picturesque and interesting.
+
+The President has regular evening parties, every other Wednesday, which
+are called his _levées_; the last syllable is pronounced by every one
+as long as possible, being exactly the reverse of the French and
+English manner of pronouncing the same word. The effect of this, from
+the very frequent repetition of the word in all companies is very
+droll, and for a long time I thought people were quizzing these public
+days. The reception rooms are handsome, particularly the grand saloon,
+which is elegantly, nay, splendidly furnished; this has been done since
+the visit of Captain Hall, whose remarks upon the former state of this
+room may have hastened its decoration; but there are a few anomalies in
+some parts of the entertainment, which are not very courtly. The
+company are about as select as that of an Easter-day ball at the
+Mansion-house.
+
+The churches at Washington are not superb; but the Episcopalian and
+Catholic were filled with elegantly dressed women. I observed a greater
+proportion of gentlemen at church at Washington than any where else.
+
+The Presbyterian ladies go to church three times in the day, but the
+general appearance of Washington on a Sunday is much less puritanical
+than that of most other American towns; the people walk about, and
+there are no chains in the streets, as at Philadelphia, to prevent
+their riding or driving, if they like it.
+
+The ladies dress well, but not so splendidly as at Baltimore. I
+remarked that it was not very unusual at Washington for a lady to take
+the arm of a gentleman, who was neither her husband, her father, nor
+her brother. This remarkable relaxation of American decorum has been
+probably introduced by the foreign legations.
+
+At about a mile from the town, on the high terrace ground above
+described, is a very pretty place, to which the proprietor has given
+the name Kaleirama. It is not large, or in any way magnificent, but the
+view from it is charming; and it has a little wood behind, covering
+about two hundred acres of broken ground, that slopes down to a dark
+cold little river, so closely shut in by rocks and evergreens, that it
+might serve as a noon-day bath for Diana and her nymphs. The whole of
+this wood is filled with wild flowers, but such as we cherish fondly in
+our gardens.
+
+A ferry at George Town crosses the Potomac, and about two miles from
+it, on the Virginian side, is Arlington, the seat of Mr. Custis, who is
+the grandson of General Washington’s wife. It is a noble looking place,
+having a portico of stately white columns, which, as the mansion stands
+high, with a background of dark woods, forms a beautiful object in the
+landscape. At George Town is a nunnery, where many young ladies are
+educated, and at a little distance from it, a college of Jesuits for
+the education of young men, where, as their advertisements state, “the
+humanities are taught.” We attended mass at the chapel of the nunnery,
+where the female voices that performed the chant were very pleasing.
+The shadowy form of the veiled abbess in her little sacred parlour,
+seen through a grating and a black curtain, but rendered clearly
+visible by the light of a Gothic window behind her, drew a good deal of
+our attention; every act of genuflection, even the telling her beads,
+was discernible, but so mistily that it gave her, indeed, the
+appearance of a being who had already quitted this life, and was
+hovering on the confines of the world of shadows.
+
+The convent has a considerable inclosure attached to it, where I
+frequently saw from the heights above it, dark figures in awfully thick
+black veils, walking solemnly up and down.
+
+The American lady, who was the subject of one of Prince Hohenlohe’s
+celebrated miracles, was pointed out to us at Washington. All the world
+declare that her recovery was marvellous.
+
+There appeared to be a great many foreigners at Washington,
+particularly French. In Paris I have often observed that it was a sort
+of fashion to speak of America as a new Utopia, especially among the
+young liberals, who, before the happy accession of Philip, fancied that
+a country without a king, was the land of promise; but I sometimes
+thought that, like many other fine things, it lost part of its
+brilliance when examined too nearly; I overheard the following question
+and answer pass between two young Frenchmen, who appeared to have met
+for the first time.
+
+“Eh bien. Monsieur, comment trouvez-vous la liberté et l’égalité mises
+en action?”
+
+“Mais, Monsieur, je vous avoue que le beau idéal que nous autres, nous
+avons conçu de tout cela à Paris, avait quelque chose de plus poétique
+que ce que nous trouvons ici!”
+
+On another occasion I was excessively amused by the tone in which one
+of these young men replied to a question put to him by another
+Frenchman. A pretty looking woman, but exceedingly deficient in
+_tournure_, was standing alone at a little distance from them and close
+at their elbows stood a very awkward looking gentleman. “Qui est cette
+dame?” said the enquirer. “Monsieur,” said my young _fat_, with an
+indescribable grimace, “c’est la femelle de ce male, “ indicating his
+neighbour by an expressive curl of his upper lip.
+
+The theatre was not open while we were in Washington, but we afterwards
+took advantage of our vicinity to the city, to visit it. The house is
+very small, and most astonishingly dirty and void of decoration,
+considering that it is the only place of public amusement that the city
+affords. I have before mentioned the want of decorum at the Cincinnati
+theatre, but certainly that of the capital at least rivalled it in the
+freedom of action and attitude; a freedom which seems to disdain the
+restraints of civilized manners. One man in the pit was seized with a
+violent fit of vomiting, which appeared not in the least to annoy or
+surprise his neighbours; and the happy coincidence of a physician being
+at that moment personated on the stage, was hailed by many of the
+audience as an excellent joke, of which the actor took advantage, and
+elicited shouts of applause by saying, “I expect my services are wanted
+elsewhere.”
+
+The spitting was incessant; and not one in ten of the male part of the
+illustrious legislative audiences sat according to the usual custom of
+human beings; the legs were thrown sometimes over the front of the box,
+sometimes over the side of it; here and there a senator stretched his
+entire length along a bench, and in many instances the front rail was
+preferred as a seat.
+
+I remarked one young man, whose handsome person, and most elaborate
+toilet, led me to conclude he was a first-rate personage, and so I
+doubt not he was; nevertheless, I saw him take from the pocket of his
+silk waistcoat a lump of tobacco, and daintily deposit it within his
+cheek.
+
+I am inclined to think this most vile and universal habit of chewing
+tobacco is the cause of a remarkable peculiarity in the male
+physiognomy of Americans; their lips are almost uniformly thin and
+compressed. At first I accounted for this upon Lavater’s theory, and
+attributed it to the arid temperament of the people; but it is too
+universal to be explained; whereas the habit above mentioned, which
+pervades all classes (excepting the literary) well accounts for it, as
+the act of expressing the juices of this loathsome herb, enforces
+exactly that position of the lips, which gives this remarkable
+peculiarity to the American countenance.
+
+A member of Congress died while we were at Washington, and I was
+surprised by the ceremony and dignity of his funeral. It seems that
+whenever a senator or member of Congress dies during the session, he is
+buried at the expense of the government, (the ceremony not coming under
+the head of internal improvement), and the arrangements for the funeral
+are not interfered with by his friends, but become matters of State. I
+transcribed the order of the procession as being rather grand and
+stately.
+
+Chaplains of both Houses.
+Physicians who attend the deceased.
+Committee of arrangement.
+THE BODY,
+(Pall borne by six members.)
+The Relations of the deceased, with the
+Senators and Representatives of the State
+to which he belonged, as Mourners.
+Sergeant at arms of the House of Representatives.
+The House of Representatives,
+Their Speaker and Clerk preceding.
+The Senate of the United States.
+The Vice-president and Secretary preceding,
+THE PRESIDENT
+
+
+The procession was of considerable extent, but not on foot, and the
+majority of the carriages were hired for the occasion. The body was
+interred in an open “grave yard” near the city. I did not see the
+monument erected on this occasion, but I presume it was in the same
+style as several others I had remarked in the same burying-ground,
+inscribed to the memory of members who had died at Washington. These
+were square blocks of masonry without any pretension to splendour.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+
+Stonington—Great Falls of the Potomac
+
+
+The greatest pleasure I had promised myself in visiting Washington was
+the seeing a very old friend, who had left England many years ago, and
+married in America; she was now a widow, and, as I believed, settled in
+Washington. I soon had the mortification of finding that she was not in
+the city; but ere long I learnt that her residence was not more than
+ten miles from it. We speedily met, and it was settled that we should
+pass the summer with her in Maryland, and after a month devoted to
+Washington, we left it for Stonington.
+
+We arrived there the beginning of May, and the kindness of our
+reception, the interest we felt in becoming acquainted with the family
+of my friend, the extreme beauty of the surrounding country, and the
+lovely season, altogether, made our stay there a period of great
+enjoyment.
+
+I wonder not that the first settlers in Virginia, with the bold Captain
+Smith of chivalrous memory at their head, should have fought so stoutly
+to dispossess the valiant father of Pocohantas of his fair domain, for
+I certainly never saw a more tempting territory. Stonington is about
+two miles from the most romantic point of the Potomac River, and
+Virginia spreads her wild, but beautiful, and most fertile Paradise, on
+the opposite shore. The Maryland side partakes of the same character,
+and perfectly astonished us by the profusion of her wild fruits and
+flowers.
+
+We had not been long within reach of the great falls of the Potomac
+before a party was made for us to visit them; the walk from Stonington
+to these falls is through scenery that can hardly be called forest,
+park, or garden; but which partakes of all three. A little English girl
+accompanied us, who had but lately left her home; she exclaimed, “Oh!
+how many English ladies would glory in such a garden as this!” and in
+truth they might; cedars, tulip-trees, planes, shumacs, junipers, and
+oaks of various kinds, most of them new to us, shaded our path. Wild
+vines, with their rich expansive leaves, and their sweet blossom,
+rivalling the mignionette in fragrance, clustered round their branches.
+Strawberries in full bloom, violets, anemonies, heart’s-ease, and wild
+pinks, with many other, and still lovelier flowers, which my ignorance
+forbids me to name, literally covered the ground. The arbor judae, the
+dog-wood, in its fullest glory of star-like flowers, azalias, and wild
+roses, dazzled our eyes whichever way we turned them. It was the most
+flowery two miles I ever walked.
+
+The sound of the falls is heard at Stonington, and the gradual increase
+of this sound is one of the agreeable features of this delicious walk.
+I know not why the rush of waters is so delightful to the ear; all
+other monotonous sounds are wearying, and harass the spirits, but I
+never met any one who did not love to listen to a waterfall. A rapid
+stream, called the “Branch Creek,” was to be crossed ere we reached the
+spot where the falls are first visible. This rumbling, turbid, angry
+little rivulet, flows through evergreens and flowering underwood, and
+is crossed _a plusieures reprises_, by logs thrown from rock to rock.
+The thundering noise of the still unseen falls suggests an idea of
+danger while crossing these rude bridges, which hardly belongs to them;
+having reached the other side of the creek, we continued under the
+shelter of the evergreens for another quarter of a mile, and then
+emerged upon a sight that drew a shout of wonder and delight from us
+all. The rocky depths of an enormous river were opened before our eyes
+and so huge are the black crags that inclose it, that the thundering
+torrents of water rushing through, over, and among the rocks of this
+awful chasm, appear lost and swallowed up in it.
+
+The river, or rather the bed of it, is here of great width, and most
+frightful depth, lined on all sides with huge masses of black rock of
+every imaginable form. The flood that roars through them is seen only
+at intervals; here in a full heavy sheet of green transparent water,
+falling straight and unbroken; there dashing along a narrow channel,
+with a violence that makes one dizzy to see and hear. In one place an
+unfathomed pool shows a mirror of inky blackness, and as still as
+night; in another the tortured twisted cataract tumbles headlong in a
+dozen different torrents, half hid by the cloud of spray they send high
+into the air. Despite this uproar, the slenderest, loveliest shrubs,
+peep forth from among these hideous rocks, like children smiling in the
+midst of danger. As we stood looking at this tremendous scene, one of
+our friends made us remark, that the poison alder, and the poison vine,
+threw their graceful, but perfidious branches, over every rock, and
+assured us also that innumerable tribes of snakes found their dark
+dwellings among them.
+
+To call this scene beautiful would be a strange abuse of terms, for it
+is altogether composed of sights and sounds of terror. The falls of the
+Potomac are awfully sublime: the dark deep gulf which yawns before you,
+the foaming, roaring cataract, the eddying whirlpool, and the giddy
+precipice, all seem to threaten life, and to appal the senses. Yet it
+was a great delight to sit upon a high and jutting crag, and look and
+listen.
+
+I heard with pleasure that it was to the Virginian side of the Potomac
+that the “felicity hunters” of Washington resorted to see this fearful
+wonder, for I never saw a spot where I should less have liked the
+annoying “how d’ye,” of a casual rencontre. One could not even give or
+receive the exciting “is it not charming,” which Rousseau talks of, for
+if it were uttered, it could not be heard, or, if heard, would fall
+most earthly dull on the spirit, when rapt by the magic of such a
+scene. A look, or the silent pressure of the arm, is all the
+interchange of feeling that such a scene allows, and in the midst of my
+terror and my pleasure, I wished for the arm and the eye of some few
+from the other side of the Atlantic.
+
+The return from such a scene is more soberly silent than the approach
+to it; but the cool and quiet hour, the mellowed tints of some gay
+blossoms, and the closed bells of others, the drowsy hum of the insects
+that survive the day, and the moist freshness that forbids the foot to
+weary in its homeward path, have all enjoyment in them, and seem to
+harmonize with the half wearied, half excited state of spirits, that
+such an excursion is sure to produce: and then the entering the cool
+and moonlit portico, the well-iced sangaree, or still more refreshing
+coffee, that waits you, is all delightful; and if to this be added the
+happiness of an easy sofa, and a friend like my charming Mrs. S—, to
+soothe you with an hour of Mozart the most fastidious European might
+allow that such a day was worth waking for.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+
+Small Landed Proprietors—Slavery
+
+
+I now, for the first time since I crossed the mountains, found myself
+sufficiently at leisure to look deliberately round, and mark the
+different aspects of men and things in a region which, though bearing
+the same name, and calling itself the same land, was, in many respects,
+as different from the one I had left, as Amsterdam from St. Petersburg.
+There every man was straining, and struggling, and striving for himself
+(heaven knows!) Here every white man was waited upon, more or less, by
+a slave. There, the newly-cleared lands, rich with the vegetable manure
+accumulated for ages, demanded the slightest labour to return the
+richest produce; where the plough entered, crops the most abundant
+followed; but where it came not, no spot of native verdure, no native
+fruits, no native flowers cheered the eye; all was close, dark,
+stifling forest. Here the soil had long ago yielded its first fruits;
+much that had been cleared and cultivated for tobacco (the most
+exhausting of crops) by the English, required careful and laborious
+husbandry to produce any return; and much was left as sheep-walks. It
+was in these spots that the natural bounty of the soil and climate was
+displayed by the innumerable wild fruits and flowers which made every
+dingle and bushy dell seem a garden.
+
+On entering the cottages I found also a great difference in the manner
+of living. Here, indeed, there were few cottages without a slave, but
+there were fewer still that had their beefsteak and onions for
+breakfast, dinner, and supper. The herrings of the bountiful Potomac
+supply their place. These are excellent “relish,” as they call it, when
+salted, and, if I mistake not, are sold at a dollar and a half per
+thousand. Whiskey, however, flows every where at the same fatally cheap
+rate of twenty cents (about one shilling) the gallon, and its hideous
+effects are visible on the countenance of every man you meet.
+
+The class of people the most completely unlike any existing in England,
+are those who, farming their own freehold estates, and often possessing
+several slaves, yet live with as few of the refinements, and I think I
+may say, with as few of the comforts of life, as the very poorest
+English peasant. When in Maryland, I went into the houses of several of
+these small proprietors, and remained long enough, and looked and
+listened sufficiently, to obtain a tolerably correct idea of their
+manner of living.
+
+One of these families consisted of a young man, his wife, two children,
+a female slave, and two young lads, slaves also. The farm belonged to
+the wife, and, I was told, consisted of about three hundred acres of
+indifferent land, but all cleared. The house was built of wood, and
+looked as if the three slaves might have overturned it, had they pushed
+hard against the gable end. It contained one room, of about twelve feet
+square, and another adjoining it, hardly larger than a closet; this
+second chamber was the lodging-room of the white part of the family.
+Above these rooms was a loft, without windows, where I was told the
+“staying company” who visited them, were lodged. Near this mansion was
+a “shanty,” a black hole, without any window, which served as kitchen
+and all other offices, and also as the lodging of the blacks.
+
+We were invited to take tea with this family, and readily consented to
+do so. The furniture of the room was one heavy huge table, and about
+six wooden chairs. When we arrived the lady was in rather a dusky
+dishabille, but she vehemently urged us to be seated, and then retired
+into the closet-chamber above mentioned, whence she continued to
+address to us from behind the door, all kinds of “genteel country
+visiting talk,” and at length emerged upon us in a smart new dress.
+
+Her female slave set out the great table, and placed upon it cups of
+the very coarsest blue ware, a little brown sugar in one, and a tiny
+drop of milk in another, no butter, though the lady assured us she had
+a “_deary_” and two cows. Instead of butter, she “hoped we would fix a
+little relish with our crackers,” in ancient English, eat salt meat and
+dry biscuits. Such was the fare, and for guests that certainly were
+intended to be honoured. I could not help recalling the delicious
+repasts which I remembered to have enjoyed at little dairy farms in
+England, not _possessed_, but rented, and at high rents too; where the
+clean, fresh-coloured, bustling mistress herself skimmed the delicious
+cream, herself spread the yellow butter on the delightful brown loaf,
+and placed her curds, and her junket, and all the delicate treasures of
+her dairy before us, and then, with hospitable pride, placed herself at
+her board, and added the more delicate “relish” of good tea and good
+cream. I remembered all this, and did not think the difference atoned
+for, by the dignity of having my cup handed to me by a slave. The lady
+I now visited, however, greatly surpassed my quondam friends in the
+refinement of her conversation. She ambled through the whole time the
+visit lasted, in a sort of elegantly mincing familiar style of gossip,
+which, I think, she was imitating from some novel, for I was told she
+was a great novel reader, and left all household occupations to be
+performed by her slaves. To say she addressed us in a tone of equality,
+will give no adequate idea of her manner; I am persuaded that no
+misgiving on the subject ever entered her head. She told us that their
+estate was her divi-_dend_ of her father’s property. She had married a
+first cousin, who was as fine a gentleman as she was a lady, and as
+idle, preferring hunting (as they called shooting) to any other
+occupation. The consequence was, that but a very small portion of the
+dividend was cultivated, and their poverty was extreme. The slaves,
+particularly the lads, were considerably more than half naked, but the
+air of dignity with which, in the midst of all this misery, the lanky
+lady said to one of the young negroes, “Attend to your young master,
+Lycurgus,” must have been heard to be conceived in the full extent of
+its mock heroic.
+
+Another dwelling of one of these landed proprietors was a hovel as
+wretched as the one above described, but there was more industry within
+it. The gentleman, indeed, was himself one of the numerous tribe of
+regular whiskey drinkers, and was rarely capable of any work; but he
+had a family of twelve children, who, with their skeleton mother,
+worked much harder than I ever saw negroes do. They were, accordingly,
+much less elegant and much less poor than the heiress; yet they lived
+with no appearance of comfort, and with, I believe, nothing beyond the
+necessaries of life. One proof of this was, that the worthless father
+would not suffer them to raise, even by their own labour, any garden
+vegetables, and they lived upon their fat pork, salt fish, and corn
+bread, summer and winter, without variation. This, I found, was
+frequently the case among the farmers. The luxury of whiskey is more
+appreciated by the men than all the green delicacies from the garden,
+and if all the ready money goes for that and their darling chewing
+tobacco, none can be spent by the wife for garden seeds; and as far as
+my observation extended, I never saw any American _menage_ where the
+toast and no toast question, would have been decided in favour of the
+lady.
+
+There are some small farmers who hold their lands as tenants, but these
+are by no means numerous: they do not pay their rent in money, but by
+making over a third of the produce to the owner; a mode of paying rent,
+considerably more advantageous to the tenant than the landlord; but the
+difficulty of obtaining _money_ in payment, excepting for mere retail
+articles, is very great in all American transactions. “I can pay in
+pro-_duce_,” is the offer which I was assured is constantly made on all
+occasions, and if rejected, “Then I guess we can’t deal,” is the usual
+rejoinder. This statement does not, of course, include the great
+merchants of great cities, but refers to the mass of the people
+scattered over the country; it has, indeed, been my object, in speaking
+of the customs of the people, to give an idea of what they are
+_generally_.
+
+The effect produced upon English people by the sight of slavery in
+every direction is very new, and not very agreeable, and it is not the
+less painfully felt from hearing upon every breeze the mocking words,
+“All men are born free and equal.” One must be in the heart of American
+slavery, fully to appreciate that wonderfully fine passage in Moore’s
+Epistle to Lord Viscount Forbes, which describes perhaps more
+faithfully, as well as more powerfully, the political state of America,
+than any thing that has ever been written upon it.
+
+Oh! Freedom, Freedom, how I hate thy cant!
+Not eastern bombast, nor the savage rant
+Of purpled madmen, were they numbered all
+From Roman Nero, down to Russian Paul,
+Could grate upon my ear so mean, so base,
+As the rank jargon of that factious race,
+Who, poor of heart, and prodigal of words,
+Born to be slaves, and struggling to be lords,
+But pant for licence, while they spurn controul,
+And shout for rights, with rapine in their soul!
+Who can, with patience, for a moment see
+The medley mass of pride and misery,
+Of whips and charters, manacles and rights,
+Of slaving blacks, and democratic whites,
+Of all the pyebald polity that reigns
+In free confusion o’er Columbia’s plains?
+To think that man, thou just and gentle God!
+Should stand before thee with a tyrant’s rod,
+O’er creatures like himself, with soul from thee,
+Yet dare to boast of perfect liberty:
+Away, away, I’d rather hold my neck
+By doubtful tenure from a Sultan’s beck,
+In climes where liberty has scarce been named,
+Nor any right, but that of ruling, claimed,
+Than thus to live, where bastard freedom waves
+Her fustian flag in mockery o’er slaves;
+Where (motley laws admitting no degree
+Betwixt the vilely slaved, and madly free)
+Alike the bondage and the licence suit,
+The brute made ruler, and the man made brute!
+
+
+The condition of domestic slaves, however, does not generally appear to
+be bad; but the ugly feature is, that should it be so, they have no
+power to change it. I have seen much kind attention bestowed upon the
+health of slaves; but it is on these occasions impossible to forget,
+that did this attention fail, a valuable piece of property would be
+endangered. Unhappily the slaves, too, know this, and the consequence
+is, that real kindly feeling very rarely can exist between the parties.
+It is said that slaves born in a family are attached to the children of
+it, who have grown up with them. This may be the case where the petty
+acts of infant tyranny have not been sufficient to conquer the kindly
+feeling naturally produced by long and early association; and this sort
+of attachment may last as long as the slave can be kept in that state
+of profound ignorance which precludes reflection. The law of Virginia
+has taken care of this. The State legislators may truly be said to be
+“wiser in their generation than the children of light,” and they ensure
+their safety by forbidding light to enter among them. By the law of
+Virginia it is penal to teach any slave to read, and it is penal to be
+aiding and abetting in the act of instructing them. This law speaks
+volumes. Domestic slaves are, generally speaking, tolerably well fed,
+and decently clothed; and the mode in which they are lodged seems a
+matter of great indifference to them. They are rarely exposed to the
+lash, and they are carefully nursed in sickness. These are the
+favourable features of their situation. The sad one is, that they may
+be sent to the south and sold. This is the dread of all the slaves
+north of Louisiana. The sugar plantations, and more than all, the rice
+grounds of Georgia and the Carolinas, are the terror of American
+negroes; and well they may be, for they open an early grave to
+thousands; and to _avoid loss_ it is needful to make their previous
+labour pay their value.
+
+There is something in the system of breeding and rearing negroes in the
+Northern States, for the express purpose of sending them to be sold in
+the South, that strikes painfully against every feeling of justice,
+mercy, or common humanity. During my residence in America I became
+perfectly persuaded that the state of a domestic slave in a gentleman’s
+family was preferable to that of a hired American “help,” both because
+they are more cared for and valued, and because their condition being
+born with them, their spirits do not struggle against it with that
+pining discontent which seems the lot of all free servants in America.
+But the case is widely different with such as, in their own persons, or
+those of their children, “loved in vain,” are exposed to the dreadful
+traffic above mentioned. In what is their condition better than that of
+the kidnapped negroes on the coast of Africa? Of the horror in which
+this enforced migration is held I had a strong proof during our stay in
+Virginia. The father of a young slave, who belonged to the lady with
+whom we boarded, was destined to this fate, and within an hour after it
+was made known to him, he sharpened the hatchet with which he had been
+felling timber, and with his right hand severed his left from the
+wrist.
+
+But this is a subject on which I do not mean to dilate; it has been
+lately treated most judiciously by a far abler hand.[10] Its effects on
+the moral feelings and external manners of the people are all I wish to
+observe upon, and these are unquestionably most injurious. The same man
+who beards his wealthier and more educated neighbour with the bullying
+boast, “I’m as good as you,” turns to his slave, and knocks him down,
+if the furrow he has ploughed, or the log he has felled, please not
+this stickler for equality. There is a glaring falsehood on the very
+surface of such a man’s principles that is revolting. It is not among
+the higher classes that the possession of slaves produces the worst
+effects. Among the poorer class of landholders, who are often as
+profoundly ignorant as the negroes they own, the effect of this plenary
+power over males and females is most demoralising; and the kind of
+coarse, not to say brutal, authority which is exercised, furnishes the
+most disgusting moral spectacle I ever witnessed. In all ranks,
+however, it appeared to me that the greatest and best feelings of the
+human heart were paralyzed by the relative positions of slave and
+owner. The characters, the hearts of children, are irretrievably
+injured by it. In Virginia we boarded for some time in a family
+consisting of a widow and her four daughters, and I there witnessed a
+scene strongly indicative of the effect I have mentioned. A young
+female slave, about eight years of age, had found on the shelf of a
+cupboard a biscuit, temptingly buttered, of which she had eaten a
+considerable portion before she was observed. The butter had been
+copiously sprinkled with arsenic for the destruction of rats, and had
+been thus most incautiously placed by one of the young ladies of the
+family. As soon as the circumstance was known, the lady of the house
+came to consult me as to what had best be done for the poor child; I
+immediately mixed a large cup of mustard and water (the most rapid of
+all emetics) and got the little girl to swallow it. The desired effect
+was instantly produced, but the poor child, partly from nausea, and
+partly from the terror of hearing her death proclaimed by half a dozen
+voices round her, trembled so violently that I thought she would fall.
+I sat down in the court where we were standing, and, as a matter of
+course, took the little sufferer in my lap. I observed a general titter
+among the white members of the family, while the black stood aloof, and
+looked stupified. The youngest of the family, a little girl about the
+age of the young slave, after gazing at me for a few moments in utter
+astonishment, exclaimed “My! If Mrs. Trollope has not taken her in her
+lap, and wiped her nasty mouth! Why I would not have touched her mouth
+for two hundred dollars!”
+
+ [10] See Captain Hall’s Travels in America.
+
+
+The little slave was laid on a bed, and I returned to my own
+apartments; some time afterwards I sent to enquire for her, and learnt
+that she was in great pain. I immediately went myself to enquire
+farther, when another young lady of the family, the one by whose
+imprudence the accident had occurred, met my anxious enquiries with
+ill-suppressed mirth—told me they had sent for the doctor—and then
+burst into uncontrollable laughter. The idea of really sympathising in
+the sufferings of a slave appeared to them as absurd as weeping over a
+calf that had been slaughtered by the butcher. The daughters of my
+hostess were as lovely as features and complexion could make them; but
+the neutralizing effect of this total want of feeling upon youth and
+beauty, must be witnessed, to be conceived.
+
+There seems in general a strong feeling throughout America, that none
+of the negro race can be trusted, and as fear, according to their
+notions, is the only principle by which a slave can be actuated, it is
+not wonderful if the imputation be just. But I am persuaded that were a
+different mode of moral treatment pursued, most important and
+beneficial consequences would result from it. Negroes are very sensible
+to kindness, and might, I think, be rendered more profitably obedient
+by the practice of it towards them, than by any other mode of
+discipline whatever. To emancipate them entirely throughout the Union
+cannot, I conceive, be thought of, consistently with the safety of the
+country; but were the possibility of amelioration taken into the
+consideration of the legislature, with all the wisdom, justice, and
+mercy, that could be brought to bear upon it, the negro population of
+the Union might cease to be a terror, and their situation no longer be
+a subject either of indignation or of pity.
+
+I observed every where throughout the slave States that all articles
+which can be taken and consumed are constantly locked up, and in large
+families, where the extent of the establishment multiplies the number
+of keys, these are deposited in a basket, and consigned to the care of
+a little negress, who is constantly seen following her mistress’s steps
+with this basket on her arm, and this, not only that the keys may be
+always at hand, but because, should they be out of sight one moment,
+that moment would infallibly be employed for purposes of plunder. It
+seemed to me in this instance, as in many others, that the close
+personal attendance of these sable shadows, must be very annoying; but
+whenever I mentioned it, I was assured that no such feeling existed,
+and that use rendered them almost unconscious of their presence.
+
+I had, indeed, frequent opportunities of observing this habitual
+indifference to the presence of their slaves. They talk of them, of
+their condition, of their faculties, of their conduct, exactly as if
+they were incapable of hearing. I once saw a young lady, who, when
+seated at table between a male and a female, was induced by her modesty
+to intrude on the chair of her female neighbour to avoid the indelicacy
+of touching the elbow of a man. I once saw this very young lady lacing
+her stays with the most perfect composure before a negro footman. A
+Virginian gentleman told me that ever since he had married, he had been
+accustomed to have a negro girl sleep in the same chamber with himself
+and his wife. I asked for what purpose this nocturnal attendance was
+necessary? “Good heaven!” was the reply, “if I wanted a glass of water
+during the night, what would become of me?”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+
+Fruits and Flowers of Maryland and Virginia—Copper-head
+Snake—Insects—Elections
+
+
+Our summer in Maryland, (1830), was delightful. The thermometer stood
+at 94, but the heat was by no means so oppressive as what we had felt
+in the West. In no part of North America are the natural productions of
+the soil more various, or more beautiful. Strawberries of the richest
+flavour sprung beneath our feet; and when these past away, every grove,
+every lane, every field looked like a cherry orchard, offering an
+inexhaustible profusion of fruit to all who would take the trouble to
+gather it. Then followed the peaches; every hedgerow was planted with
+them, and though the fruit did not equal in size or flavour those
+ripened on our garden walls, we often found them good enough to afford
+a delicious refreshment on our long rambles. But it was the flowers,
+and the flowering shrubs that, beyond all else, rendered this region
+the most beautiful I had ever seen, (the Alleghany always excepted.) No
+description can give an idea of the variety, the profusion, the
+luxuriance of them. If I talk of wild roses, the English reader will
+fancy I mean the pale ephemeral blossoms of our bramble hedges; but the
+wild roses of Maryland and Virginia might be the choicest favourites of
+the flower garden. They are rarely very double, but the brilliant eye
+atones for this. They are of all shades, from the deepest crimson to
+the tenderest pink. The scent is rich and delicate; in size they exceed
+any single roses I ever saw, often measuring above four inches in
+diameter. The leaf greatly resembles that of the china rose; it is
+large, dark, firm, and brilliant. The sweetbrier grows wild, and
+blossoms abundantly; both leaves and flowers are considerably larger
+than with us. The acacia, or as it is there called, the locust, blooms
+with great richness and profusion; I have gathered a branch less than a
+foot long, and counted twelve full bunches of flowers on it. The scent
+is equal to the orange flower. The dogwood is another of the splendid
+white blossoms that adorn the woods. Its lateral branches are flat,
+like a fan, and dotted all over, with star-like blossoms, as large as
+those of the gum-cistus. Another pretty shrub, of smaller size, is the
+poison alder. It is well that its noxious qualities are very generally
+known, for it is most tempting to the eye by its delicate fringe-like
+bunches of white flowers. Even the touch of this shrub is poisonous,
+and produces violent swelling. The arbor judae is abundant in every
+wood, and its bright and delicate pink is the earliest harbinger of the
+American spring. Azalias, white, yellow, and pink; kalmias of every
+variety, the too sweet magnolia, and the stately rhododendron, all grow
+in wild abundance there. The plant known in England as the Virginian
+creeper, is often seen climbing to the top of the highest forest trees,
+and bearing a large trumpet- shaped blossom of a rich scarlet. The
+sassafras is a beautiful shrub, and I cannot imagine why it has not
+been naturalized in England, for it has every appearance of being
+extremely hardy. The leaves grow in tufts, and every tuft contains
+leaves of five or six different forms. The fruit is singularly
+beautiful; it resembles in form a small acorn, and is jet black; the
+cup and stem looking as if they were made of red coral. The graceful
+and fantastic grapevine is a feature of great beauty, and its wandering
+festoons bear no more resemblance to our well-trained vines, than our
+stunted azalias, and tiny magnolias, to their thriving American
+kindred.
+
+There is another charm that haunts the summer wanderer in America, and
+it is perhaps the only one found in greatest perfection in the West:
+but it is beautiful every where. In a bright day, during any of the
+summer months, your walk is through an atmosphere of butterflies, so
+gaudy in hue, and so varied in form, that I often thought they looked
+like flowers on the wing. Some of them are very large, measuring three
+or four inches across the wings; but many, and I think the most
+beautiful, are smaller than ours. Some have wings of the most dainty
+lavender colour; and bodies of black; others are fawn and rose colour;
+and others again are orange and bright blue. But pretty as they are, it
+is their number, even more than their beauty, that delights the eye.
+Their gay and noiseless movement as they glance through the air,
+crossing each other in chequered maze, is very beautiful. The
+humming-bird is another pretty summer toy; but they are not
+sufficiently numerous, nor do they live enough on the wing to render
+them so important a feature in the transatlantic show, as the
+rainbow-tinted butterflies. The fire-fly was a far more brilliant
+novelty. In moist situations, or before a storm, they are very
+numerous, and in the dark sultry evening of a burning day, when all
+employment was impossible, I have often found it a pastime to watch
+their glancing light, now here, now there; now seen, now gone; shooting
+past with the rapidity of lightning, and looking like a shower of
+falling stars, blown about in the breeze of evening.
+
+In one of our excursions we encountered and slew a copperhead snake. I
+escaped treading on it by about three inches. While we were
+contemplating our conquered foe, and doubting in our ignorance if he
+were indeed the deadly copper-head we had so often heard described, a
+farmer joined us, who, as soon as he cast his eyes on our victim,
+exclaimed, “My! if you have not got a copper. That’s right down well
+done, they be darnation beasts.” He told us that he had once seen a
+copper-head bite himself to death, from being teazed by a stick, while
+confined in a cage where he could find no other victim. We often heard
+terrible accounts of the number of these desperate reptiles to be found
+on the rocks near the great falls of the Potomac; but not even the
+terror these stories inspired could prevent our repeated visits to that
+sublime scene; Luckily our temerity was never punished by seeing any
+there. Lizards, long, large, and most hideously like a miniature
+crocodile, I frequently saw, gliding from the fissures of the rocks,
+and darting again under shelter, perhaps beneath the very stone I was
+seated upon; but every one assured us they were harmless. Animal life
+is so infinitely abundant, and in forms so various, and so novel to
+European eyes, that it is absolutely necessary to divest oneself of all
+the petty terrors which the crawling, creeping, hopping, and buzzing
+tribes can inspire, before taking an American summer ramble. It is, I
+conceive, quite impossible for any description to convey an idea of the
+sounds which assail the ears from the time the short twilight begins,
+until the rising sun scatters the rear of darkness, and sends the
+winking choristers to rest.
+
+Be where you will (excepting in the large cities) the appalling note of
+the bull-frog will reach you, loud, deep, and hoarse, issuing from a
+thousand throats in ceaseless continuity of croak. The tree-frog adds
+her chirping and almost human voice; the kattiedid repeats her own name
+through the livelong night; the whole tribe of locusts chirp, chirrup,
+squeak, whiz, and whistle, without allowing one instant of interval to
+the weary ear; and when to this the mosquito adds her threatening hum,
+it is wonderful that any degree of fatigue can obtain for the listener
+the relief of sleep. In fact, it is only in ceasing to listen that this
+blessing can be found. I passed many feverish nights during my first
+summer, literally in listening to this most astounding mixture of
+noises, and it was only when they became too familiar to excite
+attention, that I recovered my rest.
+
+I know not by what whimsical link of association the recapitulation of
+this insect din suggests the recollection of other discords, at least
+as harsh and much more troublesome.
+
+Even in the retirement in which we passed this summer, we were not
+beyond reach of the election fever which is constantly raging through
+the land. Had America every attraction under heaven that nature and
+social enjoyment can offer, this electioneering madness would make me
+fly it in disgust. It engrosses every conversation, it irritates every
+temper, it substitutes party spirit for personal esteem; and, in fact,
+vitiates the whole system of society.
+
+When a candidate for any office starts, his party endow him with every
+virtue, and with all the talents. They are all ready to peck out the
+eyes of those who oppose him, and in the warm and mettlesome
+south-western states, do literally often perform this operation: but as
+soon as he succeeds, his virtues and his talents vanish, and, excepting
+those holding office under his appointment, every man Jonathan of them
+set off again full gallop to elect his successor. When I first arrived
+in America Mr. John Quincy Adams was President, and it was impossible
+to doubt, even from the statement of his enemies, that he was every way
+calculated to do honour to the office. All I ever heard against him
+was, that “he was too much of a gentleman;” but a new candidate must be
+set up, and Mr. Adams was out-voted for no other reason, that I could
+learn, but because it was “best to change.” “Jackson for ever!” was,
+therefore, screamed from the majority of mouths, both drunk and sober,
+till he was elected; but no sooner in his place, than the same
+ceaseless operation went on again, with “Clay for ever” for its
+war-whoop.
+
+I was one morning paying a visit, when a party of gentlemen arrived at
+the same house on horseback. The one whose air proclaimed him the chief
+of his party, left us not long in doubt as to his business, for he
+said, almost in entering,
+
+“Mr. P—, I come to ask for your vote.”
+
+“Who are you for, sir?” was the reply.
+
+“Clay for ever!” the rejoinder; and the vote was promised.
+
+This gentleman was candidate for a place in the state representation,
+whose members have a vote in the presidential election.
+
+I was introduced to him as an English woman: he addressed me with,
+“Well madam, you see we do these things openly and above-board here;
+you mince such matters more, I expect.”
+
+After his departure, his history and standing were discussed. “Mr. M.
+is highly respectable, and of very good standing; there can be no doubt
+of his election if he is a thorough-going Clay-man,” said my host.
+
+I asked what his station was.
+
+The lady of the house told me that his father had been a merchant, and
+when this future legislator was a young man, he had been sent by him to
+some port in the Mediterranean as his super-cargo. The youth, being a
+free-born high-spirited youth, appropriated the proceeds to his own
+uses, traded with great success upon the fund thus obtained, and
+returned, after an absence of twelve years, a gentleman of fortune and
+excellent standing. I expressed some little disapprobation of this
+proceeding, but was assured that Mr. M. was considered by every one as
+a very “honourable man.”
+
+Were I to relate one-tenth part of the dishonest transactions recounted
+to me by Americans, of their fellow-citizens and friends, I am
+confident that no English reader would give me credit for veracity it
+would, therefore, be very unwise to repeat them, but I cannot refrain
+from expressing the opinion that nearly four years of attentive
+observation impressed on me, namely, that the moral sense is on every
+point blunter than with us. Make an American believe that his next-door
+neighbour is a very worthless fellow, and I dare say (if he were quite
+sure he could make nothing by him) he would drop the acquaintance; but
+as to what constitutes a worthless fellow, people differ on the
+opposite sides of the Atlantic, almost by the whole decalogue. There
+is, as it appeared to me, an obtusity on all points of honourable
+feeling.
+
+“Cervantes laughed Spain’s chivalry away,” but he did not laugh away
+that better part of chivalry, so beautifully described by Burke as “the
+unbought grace of life, the cheap defence of nations, that chastity of
+honour, which feels a stain as a wound, which ennobles whatever it
+touches, and by which vice itself loses half its evil, by losing all
+its grossness.” The better part of chivalry still mixes with gentle
+blood in every part of Europe, nor is it less fondly guarded than when
+sword and buckler aided its defence. Perhaps this unbought grace of
+life is not to be looked for where chivalry has never been. I certainly
+do not lament the decadence of knight errantry, nor wish to exchange
+the protection of the laws for that of the doughtiest champion who ever
+set lance in rest; but I do, in truth, believe that this knightly
+sensitiveness of honourable feeling is the best antidote to the petty
+soul-degrading transactions of every day life, and that the total want
+of it, is one reason why this free-born race care so very little for
+the vulgar virtue called probity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+
+Journey to Philadelphia—Chesapeak and Delaware Canal—City of
+Philadelphia—Miss Wright’s Lecture
+
+
+In the latter part of August, 1830, we paid a visit to Philadelphia,
+and, notwithstanding the season, we were so fortunate as to have both
+bright and temperate weather for the expedition. The road from
+Washington to Baltimore, which was our first day’s journey, is
+interesting in summer from the variety of luxuriance of the foliage
+which borders great parts of it.
+
+We passed the night at Baltimore, and embarked next morning on board a
+steam-boat for Philadelphia. The scenery of the Elk river, upon which
+you enter soon after leaving the port of Baltimore, is not beautiful.
+We embarked at six in the morning, and at twelve reached the Chesapeak
+and Delaware canal; we then quitted the steam-boat, and walked two or
+three hundred yards to the canal, where we got on board a pretty little
+decked boat, sheltered by a neat awning, and drawn by four horses. This
+canal cuts across the state of Delaware, and connects the Chesapeak and
+Delaware rivers: it has been a work of great expense, though the
+distance is not more than thirteen miles; for a considerable part of
+this distance the cutting has been very deep, and the banks are in many
+parts thatched, to prevent their crumbling. At the point where the
+cutting is deepest, a light bridge is thrown across, which, from its
+great height, forms a striking object to the travellers passing below
+it. Every boat that passes this canal pays a toll of twenty dollars.
+
+Nothing can be less interesting than that part of the state of Delaware
+through which this cut passes, the Mississippi hardly excepted. At one,
+we reached the Delaware river, at a point nearly opposite Delaware
+Fort, which looks recently built, and is very handsome. [This fort was
+destroyed by fire a few months afterwards.] Here we again changed our
+vessel, and got on board another of their noble steam-boats; both these
+changes were made with the greatest regularity and dispatch.
+
+There is nothing remarkable in the scenery of the Delaware. The stream
+is wide and the banks are flat; a short distance before you reach
+Philadelphia two large buildings of singular appearance strike the eye.
+On enquiry I learnt that they were erected for the purpose of
+sheltering two ships of war. They are handsomely finished, with very
+neat roofs, and are ventilated by many windows. The expense of these
+buildings must have been considerable, but, as the construction of the
+vast machines they shelter was more so, it may be good economy.
+
+We reached Philadelphia at four o’clock in the afternoon. The approach
+to this city is not so striking as that to Baltimore; though much
+larger, it does not now show itself so well; it wants domes and
+columns: it is, nevertheless, a beautiful city. Nothing can exceed its
+neatness; the streets are well paved, the foot-way, as in all the old
+American cities, is of brick, like the old pantile walk at Tunbridge
+Wells. This is almost entirely sheltered from the sun by the awnings,
+which, in all the principal streets, are spread from the shop windows
+to the edge of the pavement.
+
+The city is built with extreme and almost wearisome regularity; the
+streets, which run north and south, are distinguished by numbers, from
+one to—I know not how many, but I paid a visit in Twelth Street; these
+are intersected at right angles by others, which are known by the names
+of various trees; Mulberry (more commonly called Arch-street), Chesnut,
+and Walnut, appear the most fashionable: in each of these there is a
+theatre. This mode of distinguishing the streets is commodious to
+strangers, from the facility it gives of finding out whereabouts you
+are; if you ask for the United States Bank, you are told it is in
+Chesnut, between Third and Fourth, and as the streets are all divided
+from each other by equal distances, of about three hundred feet, you
+are sure of not missing your mark. There are many handsome houses, but
+none that are very splendid; they are generally of brick, and those of
+the better order have white marble steps, and some few, door frames of
+the same beautiful material; but, on the whole, there is less display
+of it in the private dwellings than at Baltimore.
+
+The Americans all seem greatly to admire this city, and to give it the
+preference in point of beauty to all others in the Union, but I do not
+agree with them. There are some very handsome buildings, but none of
+them so placed as to produce a striking effect, as is the case both
+with the Capitol and the President’s house, at Washington.
+Notwithstanding these fine buildings, one or more of which are to be
+found in all the principal streets, the _coup d’oeil_ is every where
+the same. There is no Place de Louis Quinze or Carrousel, no Regent
+Street, or Green Park, to make one exclaim “how beautiful!” all is
+even, straight, uniform, and uninteresting.
+
+There is one spot, however, about a mile from the town, which presents
+a lovely scene. The water-works of Philadelphia have not yet perhaps as
+wide extended fame as those of Marley, but they are not less deserving
+it. At a most beautiful point of the Schuylkill River the water has
+been forced up into a magnificent reservoir, ample and elevated enough
+to send it through the whole city. The vast yet simple machinery by
+which this is achieved is open to the public, who resort in such
+numbers to see it, that several evening stages run from Philadelphia to
+Fair Mount for their accommodation. But interesting and curious as this
+machinery is, Fair Mount would not be so attractive had it not
+something else to offer. It is, in truth, one of the very prettiest
+spots the eye can look upon. A broad weir is thrown across the
+Schuylkill, which produces the sound and look of a cascade. On the
+farther side of the river is a gentleman’s seat, the beautiful lawns of
+which slope to the water’s edge, and groups of weeping-willows and
+other trees throw their shadows on the stream. The works themselves are
+enclosed in a simple but very handsome building of freestone, which has
+an extended front opening upon a terrace, which overhangs the river:
+behind the building, and divided from it only by a lawn, rises a lofty
+wall of solid limestone rock, which has, at one or two points, been cut
+into, for the passage of the water into the noble reservoir above. From
+the crevices of this rock the catalpa was every where pushing forth,
+covered with its beautiful blossom. Beneath one of these trees an
+artificial opening in the rock gives passage to a stream of water,
+clear and bright as crystal, which is received in a stone basin of
+simple workmanship, having a cup for the service of the thirsty
+traveller. At another point, a portion of the water in its upward way
+to the reservoir, is permitted to spring forth in a perpetual _jet
+d’eau_, that returns in a silver shower upon the head of a marble
+_naiad_ of snowy whiteness. The statue is not the work of Phidias, but
+its dark, rocky background, the flowery catalpas which shadow it, and
+the bright shower through which it shows itself, altogether make the
+scene one of singular beauty; add to which, the evening on which I saw
+it was very sultry, and the contrast of this cool spot to all besides
+certainly enhanced its attraction; it was impossible not to envy the
+nymph her eternal shower-bath.
+
+On returning from this excursion we saw handbills in all parts of the
+city announcing that Miss Wright was on that evening to deliver her
+parting address to the citizens of Philadelphia, at the Arch Street
+theatre, previous to her departure for Europe. I immediately determined
+to hear her, and did so, though not without some difficulty, from the
+crowds who went thither with the same intention. The house, which is a
+very pretty one, was filled in every part, including the stage, with a
+well dressed and most attentive audience. There was a larger proportion
+of ladies present than I ever saw on any other occasion in an American
+theatre. One reason for this might be, perhaps, that they were admitted
+gratis.
+
+Miss Wright came on the stage surrounded by a body guard of Quaker
+ladies, in the full costume of their sect. She was, as she always is,
+startling in her theories, but powerfully eloquent, and, on the whole,
+was much applauded, though one passage produced great emotion, and some
+hissing. She stated broadly, on the authority of Jefferson, furnished
+by his posthumous works, that “Washington was not a Christian.” One
+voice from the crowded pit exclaimed, in an accent of indignation,
+“Washington was a Christian.” but it was evident that the majority of
+the audience considered Mr. Jefferson’s assertion as a compliment to
+the country’s idol, for the hissing was soon triumphantly clapped down.
+General Washington himself, however, gives a somewhat different account
+of his own principles, for in his admirable farewell address on
+declining a re-election to the Presidency, I find the following
+passage.
+
+“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity,
+religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that
+man claim the tribute of patriotism who would labour to subvert these
+great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the destinies
+of men and citizens. A volume could not trace all their connections
+with private and public felicity. And let us with caution indulge the
+supposition that morality can be maintained without religion, reason
+and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can
+prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”
+
+Whether Mr. Jefferson or himself knew best what his principles were, I
+will not decide, but, at least, it appears fair, when repeating one
+statement, to add the other also.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+
+Washington Square—American Beauty—Gallery of Fine
+Arts—Antiques—Theatres—Museum
+
+
+Our mornings were spent, as all travellers’ mornings must be, in asking
+questions, and in seeing all that the answers told us it was necessary
+to see. Perhaps this can be done in no city with more facility than in
+Philadelphia; you have nothing to do but to walk up one straight
+street, and down another, till all the parallelograms have been
+threaded. In doing this you will see many things worth looking at. The
+United States, and Pennsylvania banks, are the most striking buildings,
+and are both extremely handsome, being of white marble, and built after
+Grecian models. The State House has nothing externally to recommend it,
+but the room shown as that in which the declaration of independence was
+signed, and in which the estimable Lafayette was received half a
+century after he had shed his noble blood in aiding to obtain it, is an
+interesting spot. At one end of this room is a statue in wood of
+General Washington; on its base is the following inscription:-
+
+First in Peace,
+First in War,
+and
+First in the hearts of his Countrymen.
+
+
+There is a very pretty enclosure before the Walnut Street entrance to
+the State House, with good well-kept gravel walks, and many of their
+beautiful flowering trees. It is laid down in grass, not in turf; that,
+indeed, is a luxury I never saw in America. Near this enclosure is
+another of much the same description, called Washington Square. Here
+there was an excellent crop of clover; but as the trees are numerous,
+and highly beautiful, and several commodious seats are placed beneath
+their shade, it is, in spite of the long grass, a very agreeable
+retreat from heat and dust. It was rarely, however, that I saw any of
+these seats occupied; the Americans have either no leisure, or no
+inclination for those moments of _delassement_ that all other people, I
+believe, indulge in. Even their drams, so universally taken by rich and
+poor, are swallowed standing, and, excepting at church, they never have
+the air of leisure or repose. This pretty Washington Square is
+surrounded by houses on three sides, but (lasso!) has a prison on the
+fourth; it is nevertheless the nearest approach to a London square that
+is to be found in Philadelphia.
+
+One evening, while the rest of my party went to visit some objects
+which I had before seen, I agreed to await their return in this square,
+and sat down under a magnificent catalpa, which threw its fragrant
+blossoms in all directions; the other end of the bench was occupied by
+a young lady, who was employed in watching the gambols of a little boy.
+There was something in her manner of looking at me, and exchanging a
+smile when her young charge performed some extraordinary feat of
+activity on the grass, that persuaded me she was not an American. I do
+not remember who spoke first, but we were presently in a full flow of
+conversation. She spoke English with elegant correctness, but she was a
+German, and with an ardour of feeling which gave her a decidedly
+foreign air in Philadelphia, she talked to me of her country, of all
+she had left, and of all she had found, or rather of all she had not
+found, for thus ran her lament:-
+
+“They do not love music. Oh no! and they never amuse themselves—no; and
+their hearts are not warm, at least they seem not so to strangers; and
+they have no ease, no forgetfulness of business and of care—no, not for
+a moment. But I will not stay long, I think, for I should not live.”
+She told me that she had a brother settled there as a merchant, and
+that she had passed a year with him; but she was hoping soon to return
+to her father land.
+
+I never so strongly felt the truth of the remark, that expression is
+the soul of beauty, as in looking at, and listening to this young
+German. She was any thing but handsome; it is true she had large eyes,
+full of gentle expression, but every feature was irregular; but, oh!
+the charm of that smile, of that look of deep feeling which animated
+every feature when she spoke of her own Germany! The tone of her voice,
+the slight and graceful action which accompanied her words, all struck
+me as so attractive, that the half hour I passed with her was
+continually recurring to my memory. I had often taxed myself with
+feeling something like prejudice against the beautiful American women;
+but this half hour set my conscience at rest; it is not prejudice which
+causes one to feel that regularity of features is insufficient to
+interest, or even to please, beyond the first glance. I certainly
+believe the women of America to be the handsomest in the world, but as
+surely do I believe that they are the least attractive.
+
+We visited the nineteenth annual exhibition of the Pennsylvanian
+academy of the fine arts; 431 was the number of objects exhibited,
+which were so arranged as to fill three tolerably large rooms, and one
+smaller called the director’s room. There were among the number about
+thirty engravings, and a much larger proportion of water-colour
+drawings; about seventy had the P.A. (Pensylvanian Academician) annexed
+to the name of the artist.
+
+The principal historical composition was a large scripture piece by Mr.
+Washington Alston. This gentleman is spoken of as an artist of great
+merit, and I was told that his manner was much improved since this
+picture was painted, (it bears date, 1813). I believe it was for this
+picture Mr. Alston received a prize at the British Gallery.
+
+There was a portrait of a lady, which, in the catalogue, is designated
+as “the White Plume,” which had the reputation of being the most
+admired in the collection, and the artist, Mr. Ingham, is said to rank
+highest among the portrait-painters of America. This picture is of very
+high finish, particularly the drapery, which is most elaborately
+worked, even to the pile of the velvet; the management of the light is
+much in the manner of Good; but the drawing is very defective, and the
+contour, though the face is a lovely one, hard and unfleshy. From all
+the conversations on painting, which I listened to in America, I found
+that the finish of drapery was considered as the highest excellence,
+and next to this, the resemblance in a portrait; I do not remember ever
+to have heard the words _drawing_ or _composition_ used in any
+conversation on the subject.
+
+One of the rooms of this academy has inscribed over its door,
+
+ANTIQUE STATUE GALLERY
+
+
+The door was open, but just within it was a screen, which prevented any
+objects in the room being seen from without. Upon my pausing to read
+this inscription, an old woman who appeared to officiate as guardian of
+the gallery, hustled up, and addressing me with an air of much mystery,
+said, “Now, ma’am, now; this is just the time for you—nobody can see
+you—make haste.”
+
+I stared at her with unfeigned surprise, and disengaging my arm, which
+she had taken apparently to hasten my movements, I very gravely asked
+her meaning.
+
+“Only, ma’am, that ladies like to go into that room by themselves, when
+there be no gentlemen watching them.”
+
+On entering this mysterious apartment, the first thing I remarked, was
+written paper, deprecating the disgusting depravity which had led some
+of the visitors to mark and deface the casts in a most indecent and
+shameless manner. This abomination has unquestionably been occasioned
+by the coarse-minded custom which sends alternate groups of males and
+females into the room. Were the antique gallery thrown open to mixed
+parties of ladies and gentlemen, it would soon cease. Till America has
+reached the degree of refinement which permits of this, the antique
+casts should not be exhibited to ladies at all. I never felt my
+delicacy shocked at the Louvre, but I was strangely tempted to resent
+as an affront the hint I received, that I might steal a glance at what
+was deemed indecent. Perhaps the arrangements for the exhibition of
+this room, the feelings which have led to them, and the result they
+have produced, furnish as good a specimen of the kind of delicacy on
+which the Americans pride themselves, and of the peculiarities arising
+from it, as can be found. The room contains about fifty casts, chiefly
+from the antique.
+
+In the director’s room I was amused at the means which a poet had hit
+upon for advertising his works, or rather HIS WORK, and not less at the
+elaborate notice of it. His portrait was suspended there, and attached
+to the frame was a paper inscribed thus:-
+
+“PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR
+of
+The Fredoniad, or Independence Preserved, a political,
+naval, and military poem, on the late war of 1812,
+in forty cantos; the whole compressed in
+four volumes; each volume averaging
+more than 305 pages,
+By RICHARD EMMONS,
+M.D.”
+
+
+I went to the Chesnut Street Theatre to see Mr. Booth, formerly of
+Drury Lane, in the character of Lear, and a Mrs. Duff in Cordelia; but
+I have seen too many Lears and Cordelias to be easily pleased; I
+thought the whole performance very bad. The theatre is of excellently
+moderate dimensions, and prettily decorated. It was not the fashionable
+season for the theatres, which I presume must account for the
+appearance of the company in the boxes, which was any thing but
+elegant; nor was there more decorum of demeanour than I had observed
+elsewhere; I saw one man in the lower tier of boxes deliberately take
+off his coat that he might enjoy the refreshing coolness of shirt
+sleeves; all the gentlemen wore their hats, and the spitting was
+unceasing.
+
+On another evening we went to the Walnut Street Theatre; the chief
+attraction of the night was furnished by the performance of a young man
+who had been previously exhibited as “a living skeleton.” He played the
+part of Jeremiah Thin, and certainly looked the part well; and here I
+think must end my praise of the evening’s performances.
+
+The great and most striking contrast between this city and those of
+Europe, is perceived after sunset; scarcely a sound is heard; hardly a
+voice or a wheel breaks the stillness. The Streets are entirely dark,
+except where a stray lamp marks an hotel or the like; no shops are
+open, but those of the apothecary, and here and there a cook’s shop;
+scarcely a step is heard, and for a note of music, or the sound of
+mirth, I listened in vain. In leaving the theatre, which I always did
+before the afterpiece, I saw not a single carriage; the night of Miss
+Wright’s lecture, when I stayed to the end, I saw one. This darkness,
+this stillness, is so great, that I almost felt it awful. As we walked
+home one fine moonlight evening from the Chestnut Street house, we
+stopped a moment before the United States Bank, to look at its white
+marble columns by the subdued lights said to be so advantageous to
+them; the building did, indeed, look beautiful; the incongruous objects
+around were hardly visible, while the brilliant white of the building,
+which by daylight is dazzling, was mellowed into fainter light and
+softer shadow.
+
+While pausing before this modern temple of Theseus, we remarked that we
+alone seemed alive in this great city; it was ten o’clock, and a most
+lovely cool evening, after a burning day, yet all was silence. Regent
+Street, Bond Street, with their blaze of gas-light _bijouterie_, and
+still more the Italian Boulevard of Paris, rose in strong contrast on
+the memory; the light, which outshines that of day—the gay, graceful,
+laughing throng—the elegant saloons of Tortoni, with all their
+varieties of cooling nectar—were all remembered. Is it an European
+prejudice to deem that the solitary dram swallowed by the gentlemen on
+quitting an American theatre indicates a lower and more vicious state
+of manners, than do the ices so sedulously offered to the ladies on
+leaving a French one?
+
+The museum contains a good collection of objects illustrative of
+natural history, and some very interesting specimens of Indian
+antiquities; both here and at Cincinnati I saw so many things
+resembling Egyptian relics, that I should like to see the origin of the
+Indian nations enquired into, more accurately than has yet been done.
+
+The shops, of which there appeared to me to be an unusually large
+proportion, are very handsome; many of them in a style of European
+elegance. Lottery offices abound, and that species of gambling is
+carried to a great extent. I saw fewer carriages in Philadelphia than
+either at Baltimore or Washington, but in the winter I was told they
+were more numerous.
+
+Many of the best families had left the city for different
+watering-places, and others were daily following. Long Branch is a
+fashionable bathing place on the Jersey shore, to which many resort,
+both from this place and from New York; the description given of the
+manner of bathing appeared to me rather extraordinary, but the account
+was confirmed by so many different people, that I could not doubt its
+correctness. The shore, it seems, is too bold to admit of bathing
+machines, and the ladies have, therefore, recourse to another mode of
+ensuring the enjoyment of a sea-bath with safety. The accommodation at
+Long Branch is almost entirely at large boarding-houses, where all the
+company live at a _table d’hôte_. It is customary for ladies on
+arriving to look round among the married gentlemen, the first time they
+meet at table, and to select the one her fancy leads her to prefer as a
+protector in her purposed visits to the realms of Neptune; she makes
+her request, which is always graciously received, that he would lead
+her to taste the briny wave; but another fair one must select the same
+protector, else the arrangement cannot be complete, as custom does not
+authorise _tete a tete_ immersion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+
+Quakers—Presbyterians—Itinerant Methodist Preacher—Market—Influence of
+females in society
+
+
+I had never chanced, among all my wanderings, to enter a Quaker
+Meeting-house; and as I thought I could no where make my first visit
+better than at Philadelphia, I went under the protection of a Quaker
+lady to the principal _orthodox_ meeting of the city. The building is
+large, but perfectly without ornament; the men and women are separated
+by a rail which divides it into two equal parts; the meeting was very
+full on both sides, and the atmosphere almost intolerably hot. As they
+glided in at their different doors, I spied many pretty faces peeping
+from the prim head gear of the females, and as the broad-brimmed males
+sat down, the welcome Parney supposes prepared for them in heaven,
+recurred to me,
+
+“Entre done, et garde ton chapeau.”
+
+
+The little bonnets and the large hats were ranged in long rows, and
+their stillness was for a long time so unbroken, that I could hardly
+persuade myself the figures they surmounted were alive. At length a
+grave square man arose, laid aside his ample beaver, and after another
+solemn interval of silence, he gave a deep groan, and as it were by the
+same effort uttered, “Keep thy foot.” Again he was silent for many
+minutes, and then he continued for more that an hour to put forth one
+word at a time, but at such an interval from each other that I found it
+quite impossible to follow his meaning, if, indeed, he had any. My
+Quaker friend told me she knew not who he was, and that she much
+regretted I had heard so poor a preacher. After he had concluded, a
+gentleman-like old man (a physician by profession) arose, and delivered
+a few moral sentences in an agreeable manner; soon after he had sat
+down, the whole congregation rose, I know not at what signal, and made
+their exit. It is a singular kind of worship, if worship it may be
+called, where all prayer is forbidden; yet it appeared to me, in its
+decent quietness, infinitely preferable to what I had witnessed at the
+Presbyterian and Methodist Meeting-houses. A great schism had lately
+taken place among the Quakers of Philadelphia; many objecting to the
+over-strict discipline of the orthodox. Among the seceders there are
+again various shades of difference; I met many who called themselves
+Unitarian Quakers, others were Hicksites, and others again, though
+still wearing the Quaker habit, were said to be Deists.
+
+We visited many churches and chapels in the city, but none that would
+elsewhere be called handsome, either internally or externally.
+
+I went one evening, not a Sunday, with a party of ladies to see a
+Presbyterian minister inducted. The ceremony was woefully long, and the
+charge to the young man awfully impossible to obey, at least if he were
+a man, like unto other men. It was matter of astonishment to me to
+observe the deep attention, and the unwearied patience with which some
+hundreds of beautiful young girls who were assembled there, (not to
+mention the old ladies,) listened to the whole of this tedious
+ceremony; surely there is no country in the world where religion makes
+so large a part of the amusement and occupation of the ladies. Spain,
+in its most catholic days, could not exceed it: besides, in spite of
+the gloomy horrors of the Inquisition, gaiety and amusement were not
+there offered as a sacrifice by the young and lovely.
+
+The religious severity of Philadelphian manners is in nothing more
+conspicuous than in the number of chains thrown across the streets on a
+Sunday to prevent horses and carriages from passing. Surely the Jews
+could not exceed this country in their external observances. What the
+gentlemen of Philadelphia do with themselves on a Sunday, I will not
+pretend to guess, but the prodigious majority of females in the
+churches is very remarkable. Although a large proportion of the
+population of this city are Quakers, the same extraordinary variety of
+faith exists here, as every where else in the Union, and the priests
+have, in some circles, the same unbounded influence which has been
+mentioned elsewhere.
+
+One history reached me, which gave a terrible picture of the effect
+this power may produce; it was related to me by my mantua-maker; a
+young woman highly estimable as a wife and mother, and on whose
+veracity I perfectly rely. She told me that her father was a widower,
+and lived with his family of three daughters, at Philadelphia. A short
+time before she married, an itinerant preacher came to the city, who
+contrived to obtain an intimate footing in many respectable families.
+Her father’s was one of these, and his influence and authority were
+great with all the sisters, but particularly with the youngest. The
+young girl’s feelings for him seem to have been a curious mixture of
+spiritual awe and earthly affection. When she received a hint from her
+sisters that she ought not to give him too much encouragement till he
+spoke out, she showed as much holy resentment as if they had told her
+not to say her prayers too devoutly. At length the father remarked the
+sort of covert passion that gleamed through the eyes of his godly
+visitor, and he saw too, the pallid anxious look which had settled on
+the young brow of his daughter; either this, or some rumours he had
+heard abroad, or both together, led him to forbid this man his house.
+The three girls were present when he did so, and all uttered a
+deprecating “Oh father!” but the old man added stoutly. If you show
+yourself here again, reverend sir, I will not only teach you the way
+out of my house, but out of the city also. The preacher withdrew, and
+was never heard of in Philadelphia afterwards; but when a few months
+had passed, strange whispers began to creep through the circle which
+had received and honoured him, and, in due course of time, no less than
+seven unfortunate girls produced living proofs of the wisdom of my
+informant’s worthy father. In defence of this dreadful story I can only
+make the often repeated quotation, “I tell the tale as ’twas told to
+me;” but, in all sincerity I must add, that I have no doubt of its
+truth.
+
+I was particularly requested to visit the market of Philadelphia, at
+the hour when it presented the busiest scene; I did so, and thought few
+cities had any thing to show better worth looking at; it is, indeed,
+the very perfection of a market, the _beau ideal_ of a notable
+housewife, who would confide to no deputy the important office of
+caterer. The neatness, freshness, and entire absence of every thing
+disagreeable to sight or smell, must be witnessed to be believed. The
+stalls were spread with snow-white napkins; flowers and fruit, if not
+quite of Paris or London perfection, yet bright, fresh, and fragrant;
+with excellent vegetables in the greatest variety and abundance, were
+all so delightfully exhibited, that objects less pleasing were
+overlooked and forgotten. The dairy, the poultry-yard, the forest, the
+river, and the ocean, all contributed their spoil; in short, for the
+first time in my life, I thought a market a beautiful object. The
+prices of most articles were, as nearly as I could calculate between
+dollars and francs, about the same as at Paris; certainly much cheaper
+than in London, but much dearer than at Exeter.
+
+My letters of introduction brought me acquainted with several amiable
+and interesting people. There is something in the tone of manners at
+Philadelphia that I liked; it appeared to me that there was less
+affectation of ton there than elsewhere. There is a quietness, a
+composure in a Philadelphia drawing-room, that is quite characteristic
+of a city founded by William Penn. The dress of the ladies, even those
+who are not Quakers, partakes of this; they are most elegantly neat,
+and there was a delicacy and good taste in the dress of the young
+ladies that might serve as a model to the whole Union. There can hardly
+be a stronger contrast in the style of dress between any two cities
+than may be remarked between Baltimore and Philadelphia; both are
+costly, but the former is distinguished by gaudy splendour, the latter
+by elegant simplicity.
+
+It is said that this city has many gentlemen distinguished by their
+scientific pursuits; I conversed with several well informed and
+intelligent men, but there is a cold dryness of manner and an apparent
+want of interest in the subjects they discuss, that, to my mind, robs
+conversation of all its charm. On one occasion I heard the character
+and situation of an illustrious officer discussed, who had served with
+renown under Napoleon, and whose high character might have obtained him
+favour under the Bourbons, could he have abandoned the principles which
+led him to dislike their government. This distinguished man had
+retreated to America after the death of his master, and was
+endeavouring to establish a sort of Polytechnic academy at New York: in
+speaking of him, I observed, that his devotion to the cause of freedom
+must prove a strong recommendation in the United States. “Not the least
+in the world, madam,” answered a gentleman who ranked deservedly high
+among the _literati_ of the city, “it might avail him much in England,
+perhaps, but here we are perfectly indifferent as to what people’s
+principles may be.”
+
+This I believe to be exactly true, though I never before heard it
+avowed as a national feature.
+
+The want of warmth, of interest, of feeling, upon all subjects which do
+not immediately touch their own concerns, is universal, and has a most
+paralysing effect upon conversation. All the enthusiasm of America is
+concentrated to the one point of her own emancipation and independence;
+on this point nothing can exceed the warmth of her feelings. She may, I
+think, be compared to a young bride, a sort of Mrs. Major Waddle; her
+independence is to her as a newly-won bridegroom; for him alone she has
+eyes, ears, or heart;—the honeymoon is not over yet;—when it is,
+America will, perhaps, learn more coquetry, and know better how to
+_faire l’aimable_ to other nations.
+
+I conceive that no place in the known world can furnish so striking a
+proof of the immense value of literary habits as the United States, not
+only in enlarging the mind, but what is of infinitely more importance,
+in purifying the manners. During my abode in the country I not only
+never met a literary man who was a tobacco chewer or a whiskey drinker,
+but I never met any who were not, that had escaped these degrading
+habits. On the women, the influence is, if possible, still more
+important; unfortunately, the instances are rare, but they are to be
+found. One admirable example occurs in the person of a young lady of
+Cincinnati: surrounded by a society totally incapable of appreciating,
+or even of comprehending her, she holds a place among it, as simply and
+unaffectedly as if of the same species; young, beautiful, and gifted by
+nature with a mind singularly acute and discriminating, she has happily
+found such opportunities of cultivation as might distinguish her in any
+country; it is, indeed, that best of all cultivation which is only to
+be found in domestic habits of literature, and in that hourly education
+which the daughter of a man of letters receives when she is made the
+companion and friend of her father. This young lady is the more
+admirable as she contrives to unite all the multifarious duties which
+usually devolve upon American ladies, with her intellectual pursuits.
+The companion and efficient assistant of her father’s literary labours,
+the active aid in all the household cares of her mother, the tender
+nurse of a delicate infant sister, the skilful artificer of her own
+always elegant wardrobe, ever at leisure, and ever prepared to receive
+with the sweetest cheerfulness her numerous acquaintance, the most
+animated in conversation, the most indefatigable in occupation, it was
+impossible to know her, and study her character without feeling that
+such women were “the glory of all lands,” and, could the race be
+multiplied, would speedily become the reformers of all the grossness
+and ignorance that now degrade her own. Is it to be imagined, that if
+fifty modifications of this charming young woman were to be met at a
+party, the men would dare to enter it reeking with whiskey, their lips
+blackened with tobacco, and convinced, to the very centre of their
+hearts and souls, that women were made for no other purpose than to
+fabricate sweetmeats and gingerbread, construct shirts, darn stockings,
+and become mothers of possible presidents? Assuredly not. Should the
+women of America ever discover what their power might be, and compare
+it with what it is, much improvement might be hoped for. While, at
+Philadelphia, among the handsomest, the wealthiest, and the most
+distinguished of the land, their comparative influence in society, with
+that possessed in Europe by females holding the same station, occurred
+forcibly to my mind.
+
+Let me be permitted to describe the day of a Philadelphian lady of the
+first class, and the inference I would draw from it will be better
+understood.
+
+It may be said that the most important feature in a woman’s history is
+her maternity. It is so; but the object of the present observation is
+the social, and not the domestic influence of woman.
+
+This lady shall be the wife of a senator and a lawyer in the highest
+repute and practice. She has a very handsome house, with white marble
+steps and door-posts, and a delicate silver knocker and door-handle;
+she has very handsome drawing-rooms, very handsomely furnished, (there
+is a sideboard in one of them, but it is very handsome, and has very
+handsome decanters and cut glass water-jugs upon it); she has a very
+handsome carriage, and a very handsome free black coachman; she is
+always very handsomely dressed; and, moreover, she is very handsome
+herself.
+
+She rises, and her first hour is spent in the scrupulously nice
+arrangement of her dress; she descends to her parlour neat, stiff, and
+silent; her breakfast is brought in by her free black footman; she eats
+her fried ham and her salt fish, and drinks her coffee in silence,
+while her husband reads one newspaper, and puts another under his
+elbow; and then, perhaps, she washes the cups and saucers. Her carriage
+is ordered at eleven; till that hour she is employed in the
+pastry-room, her snow-white apron protecting her mouse-coloured silk.
+Twenty minutes before her carriage should appear, she retires to her
+chamber, as she calls it, shakes, and folds up her still snow-white
+apron, smooths her rich dress, and with nice care, sets on her elegant
+bonnet, and all the handsome _et cetera_; then walks down stairs, just
+at the moment that her free black coachman announces to her free black
+footman that the carriage waits. She steps into it, and gives the word,
+“Drive to the Dorcas society.” her footman stays at home to clean the
+knives, but her coachman can trust his horses while he opens the
+carriage door, and his lady not being accustomed to a hand or an arm,
+gets out very safely without, though one of her own is occupied by a
+work-basket, and the other by a large roll of all those indescribable
+matters which ladies take as offerings to Dorcas societies. She enters
+the parlour appropriated for the meeting, and finds seven other ladies,
+very like herself, and takes her place among them; she presents her
+contribution, which is accepted with a gentle circular smile, and her
+parings of broad cloth, her ends of ribbon, her gilt paper, and her
+minikin pins, are added to the parings of broad cloth, the ends of
+ribbon, the gilt papers, and the minikin pins with which the table is
+already covered; she also produces from her basket three ready-made
+pincushions, four ink-wipers, seven paper matches, and a paste-board
+watch-case; these are welcomed with acclamations, and the youngest lady
+present deposits them carefully on shelves, amid a prodigious quantity
+of similar articles. She then produces her thimble, and asks for work;
+it is presented to her, and the eight ladies all stitch together for
+some hours. Their talk is of priests and of missions; of the profits of
+their last sale, of their hopes from the next; of the doubt whether
+your Mr. This, or young Mr. That should receive the fruits of it to fit
+him out for Liberia; of the very ugly bonnet seen at church on Sabbath
+morning, of the very handsome preacher who performed on Sabbath
+afternoon, and of the very large collection made on Sabbath evening.
+This lasts till three, when the carriage again appears, and the lady
+and her basket return home; she mounts to her chamber, carefully sets
+aside her bonnet and its appurtenances, puts on her scolloped black
+silk apron, walks into the kitchen to see that all is right, then into
+the parlour, where, having cast a careful glance over the table
+prepared for dinner, she sits down, work in hand, to await her spouse.
+He comes, shakes hands with her, spits, and dines. The conversation is
+not much, and ten minutes suffices for the dinner; fruit and toddy, the
+newspaper and the work-bag succeed. In the evening the gentleman, being
+a savant, goes to the Wister society, and afterwards plays a snug
+rubber at a neighbour’s. The lady receives at tea a young missionary
+and three members of the Dorcas society.—And so ends her day.
+
+For some reason or other, which English people are not very likely to
+understand, a great number of young married persons board by the year,
+instead of “going to housekeeping,” as they call having an
+establishment of their own. Of course this statement does not include
+persons of large fortune, but it does include very many whose rank in
+society would make such a mode of life quite impossible with us. I can
+hardly imagine a contrivance more effectual for ensuring the
+insignificance of a woman, than marrying her at seventeen, and placing
+her in a boarding-house. Nor can I easily imagine a life of more
+uniform dulness for the lady herself; but this certainly is a matter of
+taste. I have heard many ladies declare that it is “just quite the
+perfection of comfort to have nothing to fix for oneself.” Yet despite
+these assurances I always experienced a feeling which hovered between
+pity and contempt, when I contemplated their mode of existence.
+
+How would a newly-married Englishwoman endure it, her head and her
+heart full of the one dear scheme—
+
+“Well-ordered home, _his_ dear delight to make?”
+
+
+She must rise exactly in time to reach the boarding table at the hour
+appointed for breakfast, or she will get a stiff bow from the lady
+president, cold coffee, and no egg. I have been sometimes greatly
+amused upon these occasions by watching a little scene in which the
+bye-play had much more meaning than the words uttered. The fasting, but
+tardy lady, looks round the table, and having ascertained that there
+was no egg left, says distinctly, “I will take an egg if you please.”
+But as this is addressed to no one in particular, no one in particular
+answers it, unless it happen that her husband is at table before her,
+and then he says, “There are no eggs, my dear.” Whereupon the lady
+president evidently cannot hear, and the greedy culprit who has
+swallowed two eggs (for there are always as many eggs as noses) looks
+pretty considerably afraid of being found out. The breakfast proceeds
+in sombre silence, save that sometimes a parrot, and sometimes a canary
+bird, ventures to utter a timid note. When it is finished, the
+gentlemen hurry to their occupation, and the quiet ladies mount the
+stairs, some to the first, some to the second, and some to the third
+stories, in an inverse proportion to the number of dollars paid, and
+ensconce themselves in their respective chambers. As to what they do
+there it is not very easy to say, but I believe they clear-starch a
+little, and iron a little, and sit in a rocking-chair, and sew a great
+deal. I always observed that the ladies who boarded, wore more
+elaborately worked collars and petticoats than any one else. The plough
+is hardly a more blessed instrument in America than the needle. How
+could they live without it? But time and the needle wear through the
+longest morning, and happily the American morning is not very long,
+even though they breakfast at eight.
+
+It is generally about two o’clock that the boarding gentlemen meet the
+boarding ladies at dinner. Little is spoken, except a whisper between
+the married pairs. Sometimes a sulky bottle of wine flanks the plate of
+one or two individuals, but it adds nothing to the mirth of the
+meeting, and seldom more than one glass to the good cheer of the
+owners, it is not then, and it is not there, that the gentlemen of the
+Union drink. Soon, very soon, the silent meal is done, and then, if you
+mount the stairs after them, you will find from the doors of the more
+affectionate and indulgent wives, a smell of cigars steam forth, which
+plainly indicates the felicity of the couple within. If the gentleman
+be a very polite husband, he will, as soon as he has done smoking and
+drinking his toddy, offer his arm to his wife, as far as the corner of
+the street, where his store, or his office is situated, and there he
+will leave her to turn which way she likes. As this is the hour for
+being full dressed, of course she turns the way she can be most seen.
+Perhaps she pays a few visits; perhaps she goes to chapel; or, perhaps,
+she enters some store where her husband deals, and ventures to order a
+few notions; and then she goes home again—no, not home—I will not give
+that name to a boarding-house—but she re-enters the cold heartless
+atmosphere in which she dwells, where hospitality can never enter, and
+where interest takes the management instead of affection. At tea they
+all meet again, and a little trickery is perceptible to a nice observer
+in the manner of partaking the pound-cake, &c. After this, those who
+are happy enough to have engagements hasten to keep them; those who
+have not, either mount again to the solitude of their chamber, or, what
+appeared to me much worse, remain in the common sitting-room, in a
+society cemented by no tie, endeared by no connexion, which choice did
+not bring together, and which the slightest motive would break asunder.
+I remarked that the gentlemen were generally obliged to go out every
+evening on business, and, I confess, the arrangement did not surprise
+me.
+
+It is not thus that the women can obtain that influence in society
+which is allowed to them in Europe, and to which, both sages and men of
+the world have agreed in ascribing such salutary effects. It is in vain
+that “collegiate institutes” are formed for young ladies, or that
+“academic degrees” are conferred upon them. It is after marriage, and
+when these young attempts upon all the sciences are forgotten, that the
+lamentable insignificance of the American woman appears, and till this
+be remedied, I venture to prophesy that the tone of their drawing-rooms
+will not improve.
+
+Whilst I was at Philadelphia a great deal of attention was excited by
+the situation of two criminals, who had been convicted of robbing the
+Baltimore mail, and were lying under sentence of death. The rare
+occurrence of capital punishment in America makes it always an event of
+great interest; and the approaching execution was repeatedly the
+subject of conversation at the boarding table. One day a gentleman told
+us he had that morning been assured that one of the criminals had
+declared to the visiting clergyman that he was certain of being
+reprieved, and that nothing the clergyman could say to the contrary
+made any impression upon him. Day after day this same story was
+repeated, and commented upon at table, and it appeared that the report
+had been heard in so many quarters, that not only was the statement
+received as true, but it began to be conjectured that the criminal had
+some ground for his hope. I learnt from these daily conversations that
+one of the prisoners was an American, and the other an Irishman, and it
+was the former who was so strongly persuaded he should not be hanged.
+Several of the gentlemen at table, in canvassing the subject, declared,
+that if the one were hanged and the other spared, this hanging would be
+a murder, and not a legal execution. In discussing this point, it was
+stated that very nearly all the white men who had suffered death since
+the declaration of Independence had been Irishmen. What truth there may
+be in this general statement, I have no means of ascertaining; all I
+know is, that I heard it made. On this occasion, however, the Irishman
+was hanged, and the American was not.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+
+Return to Stonington—Thunderstorm—Emigrants—Illness—Alexandria
+
+
+A fortnight passed rapidly away in this great city, and, doubtless,
+there was still much left unseen when we quitted it, according to
+previous arrangement, to return to our friends in Maryland. We came
+back by a different route, going by land from Newcastle to French Town,
+instead of passing by the canal. We reached Baltimore in the middle of
+the night, but finished our repose on board the steam-boat, and started
+for Washington at five o’clock the next morning.
+
+Our short abode amid the heat and closeness of a city made us enjoy
+more than ever the beautiful scenery around Stonington. The autumn,
+which soon advanced upon us, again clothed the woods in colours too
+varied and gaudy to be conceived by those who have never quitted
+Europe; and the stately maize, waving its flowing tassels, as the long
+drooping blossoms are called, made every field look like a little
+forest. A rainy spring had been followed by a summer of unusual heat;
+and towards the autumn frequent thunderstorms of terrific violence
+cleared the air, but at the same time frightened us almost out of our
+wits. On one occasion I was exposed, with my children, to the full fury
+of one of these awful visitations. We suffered considerable terror
+during this storm, but when we were all again safe, and comfortably
+sheltered, we rejoiced that the accident had occurred, as it gave us
+the best possible opportunity of witnessing, in all its glory, a
+transatlantic thunderstorm. It was, however, great imprudence that
+exposed us to it, for we quitted the house, and mounted a hill at a
+considerable distance from it, for the express purpose of watching to
+advantage the extraordinary aspect of the clouds. When we reached the
+top of the hill half the heavens appeared hung with a heavy curtain; a
+sort of deep blue black seemed to colour the very air; the blizzards
+screamed, as with heavy wing they sought the earth. We ought, in common
+prudence, to have immediately retreated to the house, but the scene was
+too beautiful to be left. For several minutes after we reached our
+station, the air appeared perfectly without movement, no flash broke
+through the seven-fold cloud, but a flickering light was visible,
+darting to and fro behind it. By degrees the thunder rolled onward,
+nearer and nearer, till the inky cloud burst asunder, and cataracts of
+light came pouring from behind it. From that moment there was no
+interval, no pause, the lightning did not flash, there were no claps of
+thunder, but the heavens blazed and bellowed above and around us, till
+stupor took the place of terror, and we stood utterly confounded. But
+we were speedily aroused, for suddenly, as if from beneath our feet, a
+gust arose which threatened to mix all the elements in one. Torrents of
+water seemed to bruise the earth by their violence; eddies of thick
+dust rose up to meet them; the fierce fires of heaven only blazed the
+brighter for the falling flood; while the blast almost out-roared the
+thunder. But the wind was left at last the lord of all, for after
+striking with wild force, now here, now there, and bringing worlds of
+clouds together in most hostile contact, it finished by clearing the
+wide heavens of all but a few soft straggling masses, whence sprung a
+glorious rainbow, and then retired, leaving the earth to raise her half
+crushed forests; and we, poor pigmies, to call back our frighted
+senses, and recover breath as we might.
+
+During this gust, it would have been impossible for us to have kept our
+feet; we crouched down under the shelter of a heap of stones, and, as
+we informed each other, looked most dismally pale.
+
+Many trees were brought to the earth before our eyes; some torn up by
+the roots, and some mighty stems snapt off several feet from the
+ground. If the West Indian hurricanes exceed this, they must be
+terrible indeed.
+
+The situation of Mrs. S—’s house was considered as remarkably healthy,
+and I believe justly so, for on more than one occasion, persons who
+were suffering from fever and ague at the distance of a mile or two,
+were perfectly restored by passing a week or fortnight at Stonington;
+but the neighbourhood of it, particularly on the side bordering the
+Potomac, was much otherwise, and the mortality among the labourers on
+the canal was frightful.
+
+I have elsewhere stated my doubts if the labouring poor of our country
+mend their condition by emigrating to the United States, but it was not
+till the opportunity which a vicinity to the Chesapeake and Ohio canal
+gave me, of knowing what their situation was after making the change,
+that I became fully aware how little it was to be desired for them.
+
+Of the white labourers on this canal, the great majority are Irishmen;
+their wages are from ten to fifteen dollars a month, with a miserable
+lodging, and a large allowance of whiskey. It is by means of this
+hateful poison that they are tempted, and indeed enabled for a time, to
+stand the broiling heat of the sun in a most noxious climate: for
+through such, close to the romantic but unwholesome Potomac, the line
+of the canal has hitherto run. The situation of these poor strangers,
+when they sink at last in “_the fever,_” which sooner or later is sure
+to overtake them, is dreadful. There is a strong feeling against the
+Irish in every part of the Union, but they will do twice as much work
+as a negro, and therefore they are employed. When they fall sick, they
+may, and must, look with envy on the slaves around them; for they are
+cared for; they are watched and physicked, as a valuable horse is
+watched and physicked: not so the Irishman, he is literally thrown on
+one side, and a new comer takes his place. Details of their sufferings,
+and unheeded death, too painful to dwell upon, often reached us; on one
+occasion a farmer calling at the house, told the family that a poor
+man, apparently in a dying condition, was lying beside a little brook
+at the distance of a quarter of a mile. The spot was immediately
+visited by some of the family, and there in truth lay a poor creature,
+who was already past the power of speaking; he was conveyed to the
+house and expired during the night. By enquiring at the canal, it was
+found that he was an Irish labourer, who having fallen sick, and spent
+his last cent, had left the stifling shanty where he lay, in the
+desperate attempt of finding his way to Washington, with what hope I
+know not. He did not appear above twenty, and as I looked on his pale
+young face, which even in death expressed suffering, I thought that
+perhaps he had left a mother and a home to seek wealth in America. I
+saw him buried under a group of locust trees, his very name unknown to
+those who laid him there, but the attendance of the whole family at the
+grave, gave a sort of decency to his funeral which rarely, in that
+country, honors the poor relics of British dust: but no clergyman
+attended, no prayer was said, no bell was tolled; these, indeed, are
+ceremonies unthought of, and in fact unattainable without much expense,
+at such a distance from a town; had the poor youth been an American, he
+would have been laid in the earth in the same unceremonious manner. But
+had this poor Irish lad fallen sick in equal poverty and destitution
+among his own people, he would have found a blanket to wrap his
+shivering limbs, and a kindred hand to close his eyes.
+
+The poor of great Britain, whom distress, or a spirit of enterprise
+tempt to try another land, ought, for many reasons, to repair to
+Canada; there they would meet co-operation and sympathy, instead of
+malice, hatred, and all uncharitableness.
+
+I frequently heard vehement complaints, and constantly met the same in
+the newspapers, of a practice stated to be very generally adopted in
+Britain of sending out cargoes of parish paupers to the United States.
+A Baltimore paper heads some such remarks with the words
+
+“INFAMOUS CONDUCT!”
+
+
+and then tells us of a cargo of aged paupers just arrived from England,
+adding, “John Bull has squeezed the orange, and now insolently casts
+the skin in our faces.” Such being the feeling, it will be readily
+believed that these unfortunates are not likely to meet much kindness
+or sympathy in sickness, or in suffering of any kind. If these American
+statements be correct, and that different parishes are induced, from an
+excessive population, to pay the voyage and outfit of some of their
+paupers across the Atlantic, why not send them to Canada?
+
+It is certain, however, that all the enquiries I could make failed to
+substantiate these American statements. All I could ascertain was, that
+many English and Irish poor arrived yearly in the United States, with
+no other resources than what their labour furnished. This, though very
+different from the newspaper stories, is quite enough to direct
+attention to the subject. It is generally acknowledged that the
+suffering among our labouring classes arises from the excess of our
+population; and it is impossible to see such a country as Canada, its
+extent, its fertility, its fine climate, and know that it is British
+ground, without feeling equal sorrow and astonishment that it is not
+made the means of relief. How earnestly it is to be wished that some
+part of that excellent feeling which is for ever at work in England to
+help the distressed, could be directed systematically to the object of
+emigration to the Canadas. Large sums are annually raised for
+charitable purposes, by weekly subscriptions of one penny; were only a
+part of the money so obtained to be devoted to this object, hundreds of
+families might yearly be sent to people our own land. The religious
+feeling, which so naturally mixes with every charitable purpose, would
+there find the best field for its exertions. Where could a missionary,
+whether Protestant or Catholic, find a holier mission than that which
+sent him to comfort and instruct his countrymen in the wilderness? or
+where could he reap a higher reward in this world, than seeing that
+wilderness growing into fertile fields under the hands of his flock?
+
+I never saw so many autumn flowers as grow in the woods and sheep-walks
+of Maryland; a second spring seemed to clothe the fields, but with
+grief and shame I confess, that of these precious blossoms I scarcely
+knew a single name. I think the Michaelmas daisy, in wonderful variety
+of form and colour, and the prickly pear, were almost my only
+acquaintance: let no one visit America without having first studied
+botany; it is an amusement, as a clever friend of mine once told me,
+that helps one wonderfully up and down hill, and must be superlatively
+valuable in America, both from the plentiful lack of other amusements,
+and the plentiful material for enjoyment in this; besides, if one is
+dying to know the name of any of these lovely strangers, it is a
+thousand to one against his finding any one who can tell it.
+
+The prettiest eclipse of the moon I ever saw was that of September, of
+this year, (1830). We had been passing some hours amid the solemn
+scenery of the Potomac falls, and just as we were preparing to quit it,
+the full moon arose above the black pines, with half our shadow thrown
+across her. The effect of her rising thus eclipsed was more strange,
+more striking by far, than watching the gradual obscuration; and as I
+turned to look at the black chasm behind me, and saw the deadly alder,
+and the poison-vine waving darkly on the rocks around, I thought the
+scene wanted nothing but the figure of a palsied crone, plucking the
+fatal branches to concoct some charm of mischief.
+
+Whether some such maga dogged my steps, I know not, but many hours had
+not elapsed ere I again felt the noxious influence of an American
+autumn. This fever, “built in th’ eclipse,” speedily brought me very
+low, and though it lasted not so long as that of the preceding year, I
+felt persuaded I should never recover from it. Though my forebodings
+were not verified by the event, it was declared that change of air was
+necessary, and it was arranged for me, (for I was perfectly incapable
+of settling any thing for myself,) that I should go to Alexandria, a
+pretty town at the distance of about fifteen miles, which had the
+reputation of possessing a skilful physician.
+
+It was not without regret that we quitted our friends at Stonington;
+but the prescription proved in a great degree efficacious; a few weeks’
+residence in Alexandria restored my strength sufficiently to enable me
+to walk to a beautiful little grassy terrace, perfectly out of the
+town, but very near it, from whence we could watch the various craft
+that peopled the Potomac between Alexandria and Washington. But though
+gradually regaining strength, I was still far from well; all plans for
+winter gaiety were abandoned, and finding ourselves very well
+accommodated, we decided upon passing the winter where we were. It
+proved unusually severe; the Potomac was so completely frozen as to
+permit considerable traffic to be carried on by carts, crossing on the
+ice, from Maryland. This had not occurred before for thirty years. The
+distance was a mile and a quarter, and we ventured to brave the cold,
+and walk across this bright and slippery mirror, to make a visit on the
+opposite shore; the fatigue of keeping our feet was by no means
+inconsiderable, but we were rewarded by seeing as noble a winter
+landscape around us as the eye could look upon.
+
+When at length the frost gave way, the melting snow produced freshes so
+violent as to carry away the long bridge at Washington; large fragments
+of it, with the railing still erect, came floating down amidst vast
+blocks of ice, during many successive days, and it was curious to see
+the intrepidity with which the young sailors of Alexandria periled
+their lives to make spoil of the timber.
+
+The solar eclipse of the 12th of February, 1831, was nearer total than
+any I ever saw, or ever shall see. It was completely annular at
+Alexandria, and the bright ring which surrounded the moon’s shadow,
+though only 81° in breadth, gave light sufficient to read the smallest
+print; the darkness was considerably lessened by the snow, which, as
+the day was perfectly unclouded, reflected brightly all the light that
+was left us.
+
+Notwithstanding the extreme cold, we passed the whole time in the open
+air, on a rising ground near the river; in this position many beautiful
+effects were perceptible; the rapid approach and change of shadows, the
+dusky hue of the broad Potomac, that seemed to drink in the feeble
+light, which its snow-covered banks gave back to the air, the gradual
+change of every object from the colouring of bright sunshine to one sad
+universal tint of dingy purple, the melancholy lowing of the cattle,
+and the short, but remarkable suspension of all labour, gave something
+of mystery and awe to the scene that we shall long remember.
+
+During the following months I occupied myself partly in revising my
+notes, and arranging these pages; and partly in making myself
+acquainted, as much as possible, with the literature of the country.
+
+While reading and transcribing my notes, I underwent a strict
+self-examination. I passed in review all I had seen, all I had felt,
+and scrupulously challenged every expression of disapprobation; the
+result was, that I omitted in transcription much that I had written, as
+containing unnecessary details of things which had displeased me; yet,
+as I did so, I felt strongly that there was no exaggeration in them;
+but such details, though true, might be ill-natured, and I retained no
+more than were necessary to convey the general impressions received.
+While thus reviewing my notes, I discovered that many points, which all
+scribbling travellers are expected to notice, had been omitted; but a
+few pages of miscellaneous observations will, I think, supply all that
+can be expected from so idle a pen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+
+American Cooking—Evening Parties—Dress—Sleighing—Money-getting
+Habits—Tax-Gatherer’s Notice—Indian Summer—Anecdote of the Duke of
+Saxe-Weimar
+
+
+In relating all I know of America, I surely must not omit so important
+a feature as the cooking. There are sundry anomalies in the mode of
+serving even a first-rate table; but as these are altogether matters of
+custom, they by no means indicate either indifference or neglect in
+this important business; and whether castors are placed on the table or
+on the sideboard; whether soup, fish, patties, and salad be eaten in
+orthodox order or not, signifies but little. I am hardly capable, I
+fear, of giving a very erudite critique on the subject; general
+observations therefore must suffice. The ordinary mode of living is
+abundant, but not delicate. They consume an extraordinary quantity of
+bacon. Ham and beaf-steaks appear morning, noon, and night. In eating,
+they mix things together with the strangest incongruity imaginable. I
+have seen eggs and oysters eaten together: the sempiternal ham with
+apple-sauce; beefsteak with stewed peaches; and salt fish with onions.
+The bread is everywhere excellent, but they rarely enjoy it themselves,
+as they insist upon eating horrible half-baked hot rolls both morning
+and evening. The butter is tolerable; but they have seldom such cream
+as every little dairy produces in England; in fact, the cows are very
+roughly kept, compared with our’s. Common vegetables are abundant and
+very fine. I never saw sea-cale or cauliflowers, and either from the
+want of summer rain, or the want of care, the harvest of green
+vegetables is much sooner over than with us. They eat the Indian corn
+in a great variety of forms; sometimes it is dressed green, and eaten
+like peas; sometimes it is broken to pieces when dry, boiled plain, and
+brought to table like rice; this dish is called hominy. The flour of it
+is made into at least a dozen different sorts of cakes; but in my
+opinion all bad. This flour, mixed in the proportion of one-third with
+fine wheat, makes by far the best bread I ever tasted.
+
+I never saw turbot, salmon, or fresh cod; but the rock and shad are
+excellent. There is a great want of skill in the composition of sauces;
+not only with fish, but with every thing. They use very few made
+dishes, and I never saw any that would be approved by our savants. They
+have an excellent wild duck, called the Canvass Back, which, if
+delicately served, would surpass the black cock; but the game is very
+inferior to our’s; they have no hares, and I never saw a pheasant. They
+seldom indulge in second courses, with all their ingenious temptations
+to the eating a second dinner; but almost every table has its dessert,
+(invariably pronounced desart) which is placed on the table before the
+cloth is removed, and consists of pastry, preserved fruits, and creams.
+They are “extravagantly fond,” to use their own phrase, of puddings,
+pies, and all kinds of “sweets,” particularly the ladies; but are by no
+means such connoisseurs in soups and ragouts as the gastronomes of
+Europe. Almost every one drinks water at table, and by a strange
+contradiction, in the country where hard drinking is more prevalent
+than in any other, there is less wine taken at dinner; ladies rarely
+exceed one glass, and the great majority of females never take any. In
+fact, the hard drinking, so universally acknowledged, does not take
+place at jovial dinners, but, to speak plain English, in solitary
+dram-drinking. Coffee is not served immediately after dinner, but makes
+part of the serious matter of tea-drinking, which comes some hours
+later. Mixed dinner parties of ladies and gentlemen are very rare, and
+unless several foreigners are present, but little conversation passes
+at table. It certainly does not, in my opinion, add to the well
+ordering a dinner table, to set the gentlemen at one end of it, and the
+ladies at the other; but it is very rarely that you find it otherwise.
+
+Their large evening parties are supremely dull; the men sometimes play
+cards by themselves, but if a lady plays, it must not be for money; no
+ecarte, no chess; very little music, and that little lamentably bad.
+Among the blacks, I heard some good voices, singing in tune; but I
+scarcely ever heard a white American, male or female, go through an air
+without being out of tune before the end of it; nor did I ever meet any
+trace of science in the singing I heard in society. To eat
+inconceivable quantities of cake, ice, and pickled oysters—and to show
+half their revenue in silks and satins, seem to be the chief object
+they have in these parties.
+
+The most agreeable meetings, I was assured by all the young people,
+were those to which no married women are admitted; of the truth of this
+statement I have not the least doubt. These exclusive meetings occur
+frequently, and often last to a late hour; on these occasions, I
+believe, they generally dance. At regular balls, married ladies are
+admitted, but seldom take much part in the amusement. The refreshments
+are always profuse and costly, but taken in a most uncomfortable
+manner. I have known many private balls, where every thing was on the
+most liberal scale of expense, where the gentlemen sat down to supper
+in one room, while the ladies took theirs, standing, in another.
+
+What we call picnics are very rare, and when attempted, do not often
+succeed well. The two sexes can hardly mix for the greater part of a
+day without great restraint and ennui; it is quite contrary to their
+general habits; the favourite indulgences of the gentlemen (smoking
+cigars and drinking spirits), can neither be indulged in with decency,
+nor resigned with complacency.
+
+The ladies have strange ways of adding to their charms. They powder
+themselves immoderately, face, neck, and arms, with pulverised starch;
+the effect is indescribably disagreeable by daylight, and not very
+favourable at any time. They are also most unhappily partial to false
+hair, which they wear in surprising quantities; this is the more to be
+lamented, as they generally have very fine hair of their own. I suspect
+this fashion to arise from an indolent mode of making their toilet, and
+from accomplished ladies’ maids not being very abundant; it is less
+trouble to append a bunch of waving curls here, there, and every where,
+than to keep their native tresses in perfect order.
+
+Though the expense of the ladies’ dress greatly exceeds, in proportion
+to their general style of living, that of the ladies of Europe, it is
+very far (excepting in Philadelphia) from being in good taste. They do
+not consult the seasons in the colours or in the style of their
+costume; I have often shivered at seeing a young beauty picking her way
+through the snow with a pale rose-coloured bonnet, set on the very top
+of her head: I knew one young lady whose pretty little ear was actually
+frostbitten from being thus exposed. They never wear muffs or boots,
+and appear extremely shocked at the sight of comfortable walking shoes
+and cotton stockings, even when they have to step to their sleighs over
+ice and snow. They walk in the middle of winter with their poor little
+toes pinched into a miniature slipper, incapable of excluding as much
+moisture as might bedew a primrose. I must say in their excuse,
+however, that they have, almost universally, extremely pretty feet.
+They do not walk well, nor, in fact, do they ever appear to advantage
+when in movement. I know not why this should be, for they have
+abundance of French dancing-masters among them, but somehow or other it
+is the fact. I fancied I could often trace a mixture of affectation and
+of shyness in their little mincing unsteady step, and the ever changing
+position of the hands. They do not dance well; perhaps I should rather
+say they do not look well when dancing; lovely as their faces are, they
+cannot, in a position that exhibits the whole person, atone for the
+want of _tournure_, and for the universal defect in the formation of
+the bust, which is rarely full, or gracefully formed.
+
+I never saw an American man walk or stand well; notwithstanding their
+frequent militia drillings, they are nearly all hollow chested and
+round shouldered: perhaps this is occasioned by no officer daring to
+say to a brother free-born “hold up your head;” whatever the cause, the
+effect is very remarkable to a stranger. In stature, and in
+physiognomy, a great majority of the population, both male and female,
+are strikingly handsome, but they know not how to do their own honours;
+half as much comeliness elsewhere would produce ten times as much
+effect.
+
+Nothing can exceed their activity and perseverance in all kinds of
+speculation, handicraft, and enterprise, which promises a profitable
+pecuniary result. I heard an Englishman, who had been long resident in
+America, declare that in following, in meeting, or in overtaking, in
+the street, on the road, or in the field, at the theatre, the
+coffee-house, or at home, he had never overheard Americans conversing
+without the word DOLLAR being pronounced between them. Such unity of
+purpose, such sympathy of feeling, can, I believe, be found nowhere
+else, except, perhaps, in an ants’ nest. The result is exactly what
+might be anticipated. This sordid object, for ever before their eyes,
+must inevitably produce a sordid tone of mind, and, worse still, it
+produces a seared and blunted conscience on all questions of probity. I
+know not a more striking evidence of the low tone of morality which is
+generated by this universal pursuit of money, than the manner in which
+the New England States are described by Americans. All agree in saying
+that they present a spectacle of industry and prosperity delightful to
+behold, and this is the district and the population most constantly
+quoted as the finest specimen of their admirable country; yet I never
+met a single individual in any part of the Union who did not paint
+these New Englanders as sly, grinding, selfish, and tricking. The
+yankees (as the New Englanders are called) will avow these qualities
+themselves with a complacent smile, and boast that no people on the
+earth can match them at over reaching in a bargain. I have heard them
+unblushingly relate stories of their cronies and friends, which, if
+believed among us, would banish the heroes from the fellowship of
+honest men for ever; and all this is uttered with a simplicity which
+sometimes led me to doubt if the speakers knew what honour and honesty
+meant. Yet the Americans declare that “they are the most moral people
+upon earth.” Again and again I have heard this asserted, not only in
+conversation, and by their writings, but even from the pulpit. Such
+broad assumption of superior virtue demands examination, and after four
+years of attentive and earnest observation and enquiry, my honest
+conviction is, that the standard of moral character in the United
+States is very greatly lower than in Europe. Of their religion, as it
+appears outwardly, I have had occasion to speak frequently; I pretend
+not to judge the heart, but, without any uncharitable presumption, I
+must take permission to say, that both Protestant England and Catholic
+France show an infinitely superior religious and moral aspect to mortal
+observation, both as to reverend decency of external observance, and as
+to the inward fruit of honest dealing between man and man.
+
+In other respects I think no one will be disappointed who visits the
+country, expecting to find no more than common sense might teach him to
+look for, namely, a vast continent, by far the greater part of which is
+still in the state in which nature left it, and a busy, bustling,
+industrious population, hacking and hewing their way through it. What
+greatly increases the interest of this spectacle, is the wonderful
+facility for internal commerce, furnished by the rivers, lakes, and
+canals, which thread the country in every direction, producing a
+rapidity of progress in all commercial and agricultural speculation
+altogether unequalled. This remarkable feature is perceptible in every
+part of the union into which the fast spreading population has hitherto
+found its way, and forms, I think, the most remarkable and interesting
+peculiarity of the country. I hardly remember a single town where
+vessels of some description or other may not constantly be seen in full
+activity.
+
+Their carriages of every kind are very unlike ours; those belonging to
+private individuals seem all constructed with a view to summer use, for
+which they are extremely well calculated, but they are by no means
+comfortable in winter. The waggons and cars are built with great
+strength, which is indeed necessary, from the roads they often have to
+encounter. The stagecoaches are heavier and much less comfortable than
+those of France; to those of England they can bear no comparison. I
+never saw any harness that I could call handsome, nor any equipage
+which, as to horses, carriage, harness, and servants, could be
+considered as complete. The sleighs are delightful, and constructed at
+so little expense that I wonder we have not all got them in England,
+lying by, in waiting for the snow, which often remains with us long
+enough to permit their use. Sleighing is much more generally enjoyed by
+night than by day, for what reason I could never discover, unless it
+be, that no gentlemen are to be found disengaged from business in the
+mornings. Nothing, certainly, can be more agreeable than the gliding
+smoothly and rapidly along, deep sunk in soft furs, the moon shining
+with almost midday splendour, the air of crystal brightness, and the
+snow sparkling on every side, as if it were sprinkled with diamonds.
+And then the noiseless movement of the horses, so mysterious and
+unwonted, and the gentle tinkling of the bells you meet and carry, all
+help at once to soothe and excite the spirits: in short, I had not the
+least objection to sleighing by night, I only wished to sleigh by day
+also.
+
+Almost every resident in the country has a carriage they call a
+carryall, which name I suspect to be a corruption of the cariole so
+often mentioned in the pretty Canadian story of Emily Montagu. It is
+clumsy enough, certainly, but extremely convenient, and admirably
+calculated, with its thick roof and moveable draperies, for every kind
+of summer excursion.
+
+Their steam-boats, were the social arrangements somewhat improved,
+would be delightful, as a mode of travelling; but they are very seldom
+employed for excursions of mere amusement: nor do I remember seeing
+pleasure-boats, properly so called, at any of the numerous places where
+they might be used with so much safety and enjoyment.
+
+How often did our homely adage recur to me, “All work and no play would
+make Jack a dull boy;” Jonathan is a very dull boy. We are by no means
+so gay as our lively neighbours on the other side the Channel, but,
+compared with Americans, we are whirligigs and tetotums; every day is a
+holyday, and every night a festival.
+
+Perhaps if the ladies had quite their own way, a little more relaxation
+would be permitted; but there is one remarkable peculiarity in their
+manners which precludes the possibility of any dangerous outbreaking of
+the kind: few ladies have any command of ready money entrusted to them.
+I have been a hundred times present when bills for a few dollars,
+perhaps for one, have been brought for payment to ladies living in
+perfectly easy circumstances, who have declared themselves without
+money, and referred the claimant to their husbands for payment. On
+every occasion where immediate disbursement is required it is the same;
+even in shopping for ready cash they say, “send a bill home with the
+things, and my husband will give you a draft.”
+
+I think that it was during my stay at Washington, that I was informed
+of a government regulation, which appeared to me curious; I therefore
+record it here.
+
+Every Deputy Post-Master is required to insert in his return the title
+of every newspaper received at his office for distribution. This return
+is laid before the Secretary of State, who, perfectly knowing the
+political character of each newspaper, is thus enabled to feel the
+pulse of every limb of the monster mob. This is a well imagined device
+for getting a peep at the politics of a country where newspapers make
+part of the daily food, but is it quite consistent with their entire
+freedom? I do not believe we have any such tricks to regulate the
+disposal of offices and appointments.
+
+I believe it was in Indiana that Mr. T. met with a printed notice
+relative to the payment of taxes, which I preserved as a curious sample
+of the manner in which the free citizens are coaxed and reasoned into
+obeying the laws.
+
+“LOOK OUT DELINQUENTS”
+
+
+“Those indebted to me for taxes, fees, notes, and accounts, are
+specially requested to call and pay the same on or before the 1st day
+of December, 1828, as no longer indulgence will be given. I have called
+time and again, by advertisement and otherwise, to little effect; but
+now the time has come when my situation requires immediate payment from
+all indebted to me. It is impossible for me to pay off the amount of
+the duplicates of taxes and my other debts without recovering the same
+of those from whom it is due. I am at a loss to know the reason why
+those charged with taxes neglect to pay; from the negligence of many it
+would seem that they think the money is mine, or I have funds to
+discharge the taxes due to the State, and that I can wait with them
+until it suits their convenience to pay. The money is not mine; neither
+have I the funds to settle amount of the duplicate. My only resort is
+to collect; in doing so I should be sorry to have to resort to the
+authority given me by law for the recovery of the same. It should be
+the first object of every good citizen to pay his taxes, for it is in
+that way government is supported. Why are taxes assessed unless they
+are collected? Depend upon it, I shall proceed to collect agreeably to
+law, so govern yourselves accordingly.
+
+JOHN SPENCER,
+Sh’ff and Collector, D.C.
+
+
+_Nov._ 20, 1828.”
+    “N.B. On Thursday, the 27th inst. A. St. Clair and Geo. H. Dunn,
+    Esqrs. depart for Indianopolis; I wish as many as can pay to do so,
+    to enable me to forward as much as possible, to save the twenty-one
+    per cent, that will be charged against me after the 8th of December
+    next.
+
+
+JS.”
+
+
+The first autumn I passed in America, I was surprised to find a great
+and very oppressive return of heat, accompanied with a heavy mistiness
+in the air, long after the summer heats were over; when this state of
+the atmosphere comes on, they say, “we have got to the Indian summer.”
+On desiring to have this phrase explained, I was told that the
+phenomenon described as the _Indian Summer_ was occasioned by the
+Indians setting fire to the woods, which spread heat and smoke to a
+great distance; but I afterwards met with the following explanation,
+which appears to me much more reasonable. “The Indian summer is so
+called because, at the particular period of the year in which it
+obtains, the Indians break up their village communities, and go to the
+interior to prepare for their winter hunting. This season seems to mark
+a dividing line, between the heat of summer, and the cold of winter,
+and is, from its mildness, suited to these migrations. The cause of
+this heat is the slow combustion of the leaves and other vegetable
+matter of the boundless and interminable forests. Those who at this
+season of the year have penetrated these forests, know all about it. To
+the feet the heat is quite sensible, whilst the ascending vapour warms
+every thing it embraces, and spreading out into the wide atmosphere,
+fills the circuit of the heavens with its peculiar heat and smokiness.”
+
+This unnatural heat sufficiently accounts for the sickliness of the
+American autumn. The effect of it is extremely distressing to the
+nerves, even when the general health continues good; to me, it was
+infinitely more disagreeable than the glowing heat of the dog-days.
+
+A short time before we arrived in America, the Duke of Saxe-Weimar made
+a tour of the United States. I heard many persons speak of his
+unaffected and amiable manners, yet he could not escape the dislike
+which every trace of gentlemanly feeling is sure to create among the
+ordinary class of Americans. As an amusing instance of this, I made the
+following extract from a newspaper.
+
+“A correspondent of the Charlestown Gazette tells an anecdote connected
+with the Duke of Saxe-Weimar’s recent journey through our country,
+which we do not recollect to have heard before, although some such
+story is told of the veritable Capt. Basil Hall. The scene occurred on
+the route between Augusta and Milledgeville; it seems that the
+sagacious Duke engaged three or four, or more seats, in the regular
+stage, for the accommodation of himself and suite, and thought by this
+that he had secured the monopoly of the vehicle. Not so, however; a
+traveller came along, and entered his name upon the book, and secured
+his seat by payment of the customary charges. To the Duke’s great
+surprise on entering the stage, he found our traveller comfortably
+housed in one of the most eligible seats, wrapt up in his fear-nought,
+and snoring like a buffalo. The Duke, greatly irritated, called for the
+question of consideration. He demanded, in broken English, the cause of
+the gross intrusion, and insisted in a very princely manner, though
+not, it seems in very princely language, upon the incumbent vacating
+the seat in which he had made himself so impudently at home. But the
+Duke had yet to learn his first lesson of republicanism. The driver was
+one of those sturdy southrons, who can always, and at a moment’s
+warning, whip his weight in wild cats: and he as resolutely told the
+Duke, that the traveller was as good, if not a better man, than
+himself; and that no alteration of the existing arrangement could be
+permitted. Saxe-Weimar became violent at this opposition, so unlike any
+to which his education hitherto had ever subjected him, and threatened
+John with the application of the bamboo. This was one of those threats
+which in Georgia dialect would subject a man to “a rowing up salt
+river;” and, accordingly, down leaped our driver from his box, and
+peeling himself for the combat, he leaped about the vehicle in the most
+wild-boar style, calling upon the prince of a five acre patch to put
+his threat in execution. But he of the star refused to make up issue in
+the way suggested, contenting himself with assuring the enraged
+southron of a complaint to his excellency the Governor, on arriving at
+the seat of government. This threat was almost as unlucky as the
+former, for it wrought the individual for whom it was intended into
+that species of fury, which, through discriminating in its madness, is
+nevertheless without much limit in its violence, and he swore that the
+Governor might go to —, and for his part he would just as leave lick
+the Governor as the Duke; he’d like no better fun than to give both
+Duke and Governor a dressing in the same breath; could do it, he had
+little doubt, &c. &c.; and instigating one fist to diverge into the
+face of the marvelling and panic-stricken nobleman, with the other he
+thrust him down into a seat alongside the traveller, whose presence had
+been originally of such sore discomfort to his excellency, and bidding
+the attendants jump in with their discomfited master, he mounted his
+box in triumph, and went on his journey.” I fully believe that this
+brutal history would be as distasteful to the travelled and polished
+few who are to be found scattered through the Union, as it is to me:
+but if they do not deem the _possibility_ of such a scene to be a
+national degradation, I differ from them. The American people (speaking
+of the great mass) have no more idea of what constitutes the difference
+between this “Prince of a five acre patch,” and themselves, than a
+dray-horse has of estimating the points of the elegant victor of the
+race-course. Could the dray-horse speak, when expected to yield the
+daintiest stall to his graceful rival, he would say, “a horse is a
+horse;” and is it not with the same logic that the transatlantic
+Houynnhnm puts down all superiority with “a man is a man?”
+
+This story justifies the reply of Talleyrand, when asked by Napoleon
+what he thought of the Americans, “Sire, ce sont des fiers cochons, et
+des cochons fiers.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+
+Literature—Extracts—Fine Arts—Education
+
+
+The character of the American literature is, generally speaking, pretty
+justly appreciated in Europe. The immense exhalation of periodical
+trash, which penetrates into every cot and corner of the country, and
+which is greedily sucked in by all ranks, is unquestionably one great
+cause of its inferiority. Where newspapers are the principal vehicles
+of the wit and wisdom of a people, the higher graces of composition can
+hardly be looked for.
+
+That there are many among them who can write well, is most certain; but
+it is at least equally so, that they have little encouragement to
+exercise the power in any manner more dignified than becoming the
+editor of a newspaper or a magazine. As far as I could judge, their
+best writers are far from being the most popular. The general taste is
+decidedly bad; this is obvious, not only from the mass of slip-slop
+poured forth by the daily and weekly press, but from the inflated tone
+of eulogy in which their insect authors are lauded.
+
+To an American writer, I should think it must be a flattering
+distinction to escape the admiration of the newspapers. Few persons of
+taste, I imagine, would like such notice as the following, which I
+copied from a New York paper, where it followed the advertisement of a
+partnership volume of poems by a Mr, and Mrs. Brooks; but of such, are
+their literary notices chiefly composed.
+
+“The lovers of impassioned and classical numbers may promise themselves
+much gratification from the muse of Brooks, while the many-stringed
+harp of his lady, the Norna of the Courier Harp, which none but she can
+touch, has a chord for every heart.”
+
+Another obvious cause of inferiority in the national literature, is the
+very slight acquaintance with the best models of composition, which is
+thought necessary for persons called well educated. There may be reason
+for deprecating the lavish expense of time bestowed in England on the
+acquirement of Latin and Greek, and it may be doubtful whether the
+power of composing in these languages with correctness and facility, be
+worth all the labour it costs; but as long as letters shall be left on
+the earth, the utility of a perfect familiarity with the exquisite
+models of antiquity, cannot be doubted. I think I run no risk of
+contradiction, when I say that an extremely small proportion of the
+higher classes in America possess this familiar acquaintance with the
+classics. It is vain to suppose that translations may suffice. Noble as
+are the thoughts the ancients have left us, their power of expression
+is infinitely more important as a study to modern writers; and this no
+translation can furnish. Nor did it appear to me that their intimacy
+with modern literature was such as to assist them much in the formation
+of style. What they class as modern literature seems to include little
+beyond the English publications of the day.
+
+To speak of Chaucer, or even Spenser, as a modern, appears to them
+inexpressibly ridiculous; and all the rich and varied eloquence of
+Italy, from Dante to Monti, is about as much known to them, as the
+Welsh effusions of Urien and Modred, to us.
+
+Rousseau, Voltaire, Diderot, &c., were read by the old federalists, but
+now they seem known more as naughty words, than as great names. I am
+much mistaken if a hundred untravelled Americans could be found, who
+have read Boileau or Le Fontaine. Still fewer are acquainted with that
+delightful host of French female writers, whose memoirs and letters
+sparkle in every page with unequalled felicity of style. The literature
+of Spain and Portugal is no better known, and as for “the wits of Queen
+Anne’s day,” they are laid _en masse_ upon a shelf, in some score of
+very old-fashioned houses, together with Sherlock and Taylor, as much
+too antiquated to suit the immensely rapid progress of mind which
+distinguishes America.
+
+The most perfect examples of English writing, either of our own, or of
+any former day, have assuredly not been produced by the imitation of
+any particular style; but the Fairy Queen would hardly have been
+written, if the Orlando had not; nor would Milton have been the perfect
+poet he was, had Virgil and Tasso been unknown to him. It is not that
+the scholar mimics in writing the phrases he has read, but that he can
+neither think, feel, nor express himself as he might have done, had his
+mental companionship been of a lower order.
+
+They are great novel readers, but the market is chiefly furnished by
+England. They have, however, a few very good native novels. Mr. Flint’s
+Francis Berrian is delightful. There is a vigor and freshness in his
+writing that is exactly in accordance with what one looks for, in the
+literature of a new country; and yet, strange to say, it is exactly
+what is most wanting in that of America. It appeared to me that the
+style of their imaginative compositions was almost always affected, and
+inflated. Even in treating their great national subject of romance, the
+Indians, they are seldom either powerful or original. A few well known
+general features, moral and physical, are presented over and over again
+in all their Indian stories, till in reading them you lose all sense of
+individual character. Mr. Flint’s History of the Mississippi Valley is
+a work of great interest, and information, and will, I hope, in time
+find its way to England, where I think it is much more likely to be
+appreciated than in America.
+
+Dr. Channing is a writer too well known in England to require my
+testimony to his great ability. As a preacher he has, perhaps, hardly a
+rival any where. This gentleman is an Unitarian, and I was informed by
+several persons well acquainted with the literary character of the
+country, that nearly all their distinguished men were of this
+persuasion.
+
+Mr. Pierpoint is a very eloquent preacher, and a sweet poet. His works
+are not so well known among us as .they ought to be. Mr. Everett has
+written some beautiful lines, and if I may judge from the specimens of
+his speeches, as preserved in the volumes intitled “Eloquence of the
+United States,” I should say that he shone more as a poet than an
+orator. But American fame has decided otherwise.
+
+Mr. M. Flint, of Louisiana, has published a volume of poems which ought
+to be naturalised here. Mr. Hallock, of New York, has much facility of
+versification, and is greatly in fashion as a drawing-room poet, but I
+think he has somewhat too much respect for himself, and too little for
+his readers.
+
+It is, I think, Mr. Bryant who ranks highest as the poet of the Union.
+This is too lofty an eminence for me to attack; besides, “I am of
+another parish,” and therefore, perhaps, no very fair judge.
+
+From miscellaneous poetry I made a great many extracts, but upon
+returning to them for transcription I thought that ill-nature and
+dulness, (‘oh ill-matched pair!’) would be more served by their
+insertion, than wholesome criticism.
+
+The massive Fredoniad of Dr. Emmons, in forty cantos, I never read; but
+as I did not meet a single native who had, I hope this want of poetical
+enterprise will be excused.
+
+They have very few native tragedies; not more than half a dozen I
+believe, and those of very recent date. It would be ungenerous to fall
+heavily upon these; the attempt alone, nearly the most arduous a poet
+can make, is of itself honourable: and the success at least equal to
+that in any other department of literature.
+
+Mr. Paulding is a popular writer of novels; some of his productions
+have been recently republished in England. Miss Sedgwick is also well
+known among us; her “Hope Leslie” is a beautiful story. Mr. Washington
+Irving and Mr. Cooper have so decidedly chosen another field, whereon
+to reap their laurels, that it is hardly necessary to name them here.
+
+I am not, of course, competent to form any opinion of their scientific
+works; but some papers which I read almost accidentally, appeared to me
+to be written with great clearness, and neatness of definition.
+
+It appears extraordinary that a people who loudly declare their respect
+for science, should be entirely without observatories. Neither at their
+seats of learning, nor in their cities, does any thing of the kind
+exist; nor did I in any direction hear of individuals, given to the
+study of astronomy.
+
+I had not the pleasure of making any acquaintance with Mr. Bowditch, of
+Boston, but I know that this gentleman ranks very high as a
+mathematician in the estimation of the scientific world of Europe.
+
+Jefferson’s posthumous works were very generally circulated whilst I
+was in America. They are a mighty mass of mischief. He wrote with more
+perspicuity than he thought, and his hot-headed democracy has done a
+fearful injury to his country. Hollow and unsound as his doctrines are,
+they are but too palatable to a people, each individual of whom would
+rather derive his importance from believing that none are above him,
+than from the consciousness that in his station he makes part of a
+noble whole. The social system of Mr. Jefferson, if carried into
+effect, would make of mankind an unamalgamated mass of grating atoms,
+where the darling “I’m as good as you,” would soon take place of the
+law and the Gospel. As it is, his principles, though happily not fully
+put in action, have yet produced most lamentable results. The
+assumption of equality, however empty, is sufficient to tincture the
+manners of the poor with brutal insolence, and subjects the rich to the
+paltry expediency of sanctioning the falsehood, however deep their
+conviction that it is such. It cannot, I think, be denied that the
+great men of America attain to power and to fame, by eternally uttering
+what they know to be untrue. American citizens are not equal. Did
+Washington feel them to be so, when his word outweighed (so happily for
+them) the votes of thousands? Did Franklin think that all were equal
+when he shouldered his way from the printing press to the cabinet?
+True, he looked back in high good humour, and with his kindest smile
+told the poor devils whom he left behind, that they were all his
+equals; but Franklin did not speak the truth, and he knew it. The
+great, the immortal Jefferson himself, he who when past the three score
+years and ten, still taught young females to obey his nod, and so
+became the father of unnumbered generations of groaning slaves, what
+was his matin and his vesper hymn? “All men are born free and equal.”
+Did the venerable father of the gang believe it? Or did he too purchase
+his immortality by a lie?
+
+From the five heavy volumes of the “Eloquence of the United States,” I
+made a few extracts, which I give more for the sake of their political
+interest, than for any purpose of literary criticism.
+
+Mr. Hancock (one of those venerated men who signed the act of
+independence), in speaking of England, thus expresses himself: “But if
+I was possessed of the gift of prophecy, I dare not (except by Divine
+command) unfold the leaves on which the destiny of that once powerful
+kingdom is inscribed.” It is impossible not to regret that Mr. Hancock
+should thus have let “I dare not, wait upon I would.” It would have
+been exceedingly edifying to have known beforehand all the terrible
+things the republic was about to do for us.
+
+This prophetic orator spoke the modest, yet awful words, above quoted,
+nearly sixty years ago; in these latter days men are become bolder, for
+in a modern 4th of July oration, Mr. Rush, without waiting, I think,
+for Divine command, gives the following amiable portrait of the British
+character.
+
+“In looking at Britain, we see a harshness of individual character in
+the general view of it, which is perceived and acknowledged by all
+Europe; a spirit of unbecoming censure as regards all customs and
+institutions not their own; a ferocity in some of their characteristics
+of national manners, pervading their very pastimes, which no other
+modern people are endued with the blunted sensibility to bear; an
+universal self-assumed superiority, not innocently manifesting itself
+in speculative sentiments among themselves, but unamiably indulged when
+with foreigners, of whatever description, in their own country, or when
+they themselves are the temporary sojourners in a foreign country; a
+code of criminal law that forgets to feel for human frailty, that
+sports with human misfortune, that has shed more blood in deliberate
+judicial severity for two centuries past, constantly increasing, too,
+in its sanguinary hue, than has ever been sanctioned by the
+jurisprudence of any ancient or modern nation, civilized and refined
+like herself; the merciless whippings in her army, peculiar to herself
+alone, the conspicuous commission and freest acknowledgment of vice in
+the upper classes; the overweening distinctions shown to opulence and
+birth, so destructive of a sound moral sentiment in the nation, so
+baffling to virtue. These are some of the traits that rise up to a
+contemplation of the inhabitants of this isle.”
+
+Where is the alchymy that can extract from Captain Hall’s work one
+thousandth part of the ill-will contained in this one passage? Yet
+America has resounded from shore to shore with execrations against his
+barbarous calumnies.
+
+But now we will listen to another tone. Let us see how Americans can
+praise. Mr. Everett, in a recent 4th of July oration, speaks thus:—
+
+“We are authorised to assert, that the era of our independence dates
+the establishment of the only perfect organization of government.”
+Again, “Our government is in its theory perfect, and in its operation
+it is perfect also. Thus we have solved the great problem in human
+affairs.” And again, “A frame of government perfect in its principles
+has been brought down from the airy regions of Utopia, and has found a
+local habitation and a name in our country.”
+
+Among my miscellaneous reading, I got hold of an American publication
+giving a detailed, and, indeed, an official account of the capture of
+Washington by the British, in 1814. An event so long past, and of so
+little ultimate importance, is, perhaps, hardly worth alluding to; but
+there are some passages in the official documents which I thought very
+amusing.
+
+At the very moment of receiving the attack of the British on the
+heights of Bladensburgh, there seems to have been a most curious puzzle
+among the American generals, as to where they were to be stationed, and
+what they were to do. It is stated that the British threw themselves
+forward in open order, advancing singly. The American general (Winden)
+goes on in his narrative to describe what followed, thus:
+
+“Our advanced riflemen now began to fire, and continued it for half a
+dozen rounds, when I observed them to run back to an orchard. They
+halted there, and seemed for a moment about returning to their original
+position, but in a few moments entirely broke and retired to the left
+of Stansburg’s line. The advanced artillery immediately followed the
+riflemen.
+
+“The first three or four rockets fired by the enemy were much above the
+heads of Stansburg’s line; but the rockets having taken a more
+horizontal direction, an universal flight of the centre and left of
+this brigade was the consequence. The 5th regiment and the artillery
+still remained, and I hoped would prevent the enemy’s approach, but
+they advancing singly, their fire annoyed the 5th considerably, when I
+ordered it to retire, to put it out of the reach of the enemy. This
+order was, however, immediately countermanded, from an aversion to
+retire before the necessity became stronger, and from a hope that the
+enemy would issue in a body, and enable us to act upon him on terms of
+equality. But the enemy’s fire beginning to annoy the 5th still more,
+by wounding several of them, and a strong column passing up the road,
+and deploying on its left, I ordered them to retire; their retreat
+became a flight of absolute and total disorder.”
+
+Of Beall’s regiment, the general gives the following succinct
+account—“It gave one or two ineffectual fires and fled.”
+
+In another place he says, piteously,—“The cavalry would do any thing
+but charge.”
+
+General Armstrong’s gentle and metaphysical account of the business
+was, that—“Without all doubt the determining cause of our disasters is
+to be found in the love of life.”
+
+This affair at Washington, which in its result was certainly
+advantageous to America, inasmuch as it caused the present beautiful
+capitol to be built in the place of the one we burnt, was,
+nevertheless, considered as a national calamity at the time. In a
+volume of miscellaneous poems I met with one, written with the
+patriotic purpose of cheering the country under it; one triplet struck
+me as rather alarming for us, however soothing to America.
+
+“Supposing George’s house at Kew
+Were burnt, as we intend to do,
+Would that be burning England too?”
+
+
+I think I have before mentioned that no work of mere pleasantry has
+hitherto been found to answer; but a recent attempt of the kind as been
+made, with what success cannot as yet be decided. The editors are
+comedians belonging to the Boston company, and it is entitled “The
+American Comic Annual.” It is accompanied by etchings, somewhat in the
+manner, but by no means with the spirit of Cruikshank’s. Among the
+pleasantries of this lively volume are some biting attacks upon us,
+particularly upon our utter incapacity of speaking English. We really
+must engage a few American professors, or we shall lose all trace of
+classic purity in our language. As a specimen, and rather a favourable
+one, of the work, I transcribed an extract from a little piece,
+entitled, “Sayings and Doings, a Fragment of a Farce.” One of the
+personages of this farce is an English gentleman, a Captain Mandaville,
+and among many speeches of the same kind, I selected the following.
+Collins’s Ode is the subject of conversation.
+
+“A—r, A—a—a it stroiks me that that you manetion his the hode about
+hangger and ope and orror and revenge you know. I’ve eard Mrs. Sitdowns
+hencored in it at Common Garden and Doory Lane in the ight of her
+poplarity you know. By the boye, hall the hactin in Amareka is werry
+orrid. You’re honely in the hinfancy of the istoryonic hart you know;
+your performers never haspirate the haitch in sich vords for instance
+as hink and hoats, and leave out the _w_ in wice wanity you know; and
+make nothink of homittin the _k_ in somethink.”
+
+There is much more in the same style, but, perhaps, this may suffice. I
+have given this passage chiefly because it affords an example of the
+manner in which the generality of Americans are accustomed to speak of
+English pronunciation and phraseology.
+
+It must be remembered, however, here and every where, that this phrase,
+“the Americans,” does not include the instructed and travelled portion
+of the community.
+
+It would be absurd to swell my little volumes with extracts in proof of
+the veracity of their contents, but having spoken of the taste of their
+lighter works, and also of the general tone of manners, I cannot
+forbear inserting a page from an American annual (The Token), which
+purports to give a scene from fashionable life. It is part of a
+dialogue between a young lady of the “highest standing” and her
+“tutor,” who is moreover her lover, though not yet acknowledged.
+
+“And so you wo’nt tell me,” said she, “what has come over you, and why
+you look as grave and sensible as a Dictionary, when, by general
+consent, even mine, ‘motley’s the only wear?’”
+
+‘“Am I so grave, Miss Blair?”
+
+‘“Are you so grave, Miss Blair? One would think I had not got my lesson
+today. Pray, sir, has the black ox trod upon your toe since we parted?”
+
+‘Philip tried to laugh, but he did not succeed; he bit his lip and was
+silent.
+
+‘“I am under orders to entertain you, Mr. Blondel, and if my poor brain
+can be made to gird this fairy isle, I shall certainly be obedient. So
+I begin with playing the leech. What ails you, sir?”
+
+‘“Miss Blair!” he was going to remonstrate.
+
+‘“Miss Blair! Now, pity. I’m a quack! for whip me, if I know whether
+Miss Blair is a fever or an ague. How did you catch it, sir?”
+
+‘“Really, Miss Blair—”
+
+‘“Nay, I see you don’t like doctoring; I give over, and now I’ll be
+sensible. It’s a fine day, Mr. Blondel.”
+
+‘“Very.”
+
+‘“A pleasant lane, this, to walk in, if one’s company were agreeable.”
+
+‘“Does Mr. Skefton stay long?” asked Philip, abruptly.
+
+‘“No one knows,”
+
+‘“Indeed! are you so ignorant?”
+
+‘“And why does your wisdom ask that question?”’
+
+In no society in the world can the advantage of travel be so
+conspicuous as in America, in other countries a tone of unpretending
+simplicity can more than compensate for the absence of enlarged views
+or accurate observation; but this tone is not to be found in America,
+or if it be, it is only among those who, having looked at that
+insignificant portion of the world not included in the Union, have
+learnt to know how much is still unknown within the mighty part which
+is. For the rest, they all declare, and do in truth believe, that they
+only, among the sons of men, have wit and wisdom, and that one of their
+exclusive privileges is that of speaking English _elegantly_. There are
+two reasons for this latter persuasion; the one is, that the great
+majority have never heard any English but their own, except from the
+very lowest of the Irish; and the other, that those who have chanced to
+find themselves in the society of the few educated English who have
+visited America, have discovered that there is a marked difference
+between their phrases and accents and those to which they have been
+accustomed, whereupon they have, of course, decided that no Englishman
+can speak English.
+
+The reviews of America contain some good clear-headed articles; but I
+sought in vain for the playful vivacity and the keenly-cutting satire,
+whose sharp edge, however painful to the patient, is of such high
+utility in lopping off the excrescences of bad taste, and levelling to
+its native clay the heavy growth of dulness. Still less could I find
+any trace of that graceful familiarity of learned allusion and general
+knowledge which mark the best European reviews, and which make one feel
+in such perfectly good company while perusing them. But this is a tone
+not to be found either in the writings or conversation of Americans; as
+distant from pedantry as from ignorance, it is not learning itself, but
+the effect of it; and so pervading and subtle is its influence that it
+may be traced in the festive halls and gay drawing-rooms of Europe as
+certainly as in the cloistered library or student’s closet; it is,
+perhaps, the last finish of highly-finished society.
+
+A late American Quarterly has an article on a work of Dr. Von Schmidt
+Phiseldek, from which I made an extract, as a curious sample of the
+dreams they love to batten on.
+
+Dr. Von Phiseldek (not Fiddlestick), who is not only a doctor of
+philosophy, but a knight of Dannebrog to boot, has never been in
+America, but he has written a prophecy, showing that the United States
+must and will govern the whole world, because they are so very big, and
+have so much uncultivated territory; he prophesies that an union will
+take place between North and South America, which will give a
+death-blow to Europe, at no distant period; though he modestly adds
+that he does not pretend to designate the precise period at which this
+will take place. This Danish prophecy, as may be imagined, enchants the
+reviewer. He exhorts all people to read Dr. Phiseldek’s book, because
+“nothing but good can come of such contemplations of the future, and
+because it is eminently calculated to awaken the most lofty
+anticipations of the destiny which awaits them, and will serve to
+impress upon the nation the necessity of being prepared for such high
+destiny.” In another place the reviewer bursts out, “America, young as
+she is, has become already the beacon, the patriarch of the struggling
+nations of the world;” and afterwards adds, It would be departing from
+the natural order of things, and the ordinary operations of the great
+scheme of Providence, it would be shutting our ears to the voice of
+experience, and our eyes to the inevitable connexion of causes and
+their effects, were we to reject the extreme probability, not to say
+_moral certainty_, that the old world is destined to receive its
+influences in future from the new.” There are twenty pages of this
+article, but I will only give one passage more; it is an instance of
+the sort of reasoning by which American citizens persuade themselves
+that the glory of Europe is, in reality, her reproach. “Wrapped up in a
+sense of his superiority, the European reclines at home, shining in his
+borrowed plumes, derived from the product of every corner of the earth,
+and the industry of every portion of its inhabitants, with which his
+own natural resources would never have invested him, he continues
+revelling in enjoyments which nature has denied him.”
+
+The American Quarterly deservedly holds the highest place in their
+periodical literature, and, therefore, may be fairly quoted as striking
+the keynote for the chorus of public opinion. Surely it is nationality
+rather than patriotism which leads it thus to speak in scorn of the
+successful efforts of enlightened nations to win from every corner of
+the earth the riches which nature has scattered over it.
+
+The incorrectness of the press is very great; they make strange work in
+the reprints of French and Italian; and the Latin, I suspect, does not
+fare much better: I believe they do not often meddle with Greek.
+
+With regard to the fine arts, their paintings, I think, are quite as
+good, or rather better, than might be expected from the patronage they
+receive; the wonder is that any man can be found with courage enough to
+devote himself to a profession in which he has so little chance of
+finding a maintenance. The trade of a carpenter opens an infinitely
+better prospect; and this is so well known, that nothing but a genuine
+passion for the art could beguile any one to pursue it. The entire
+absence of every means of improvement, and effectual study, is
+unquestionably the cause why those who manifest this devotion cannot
+advance farther. I heard of one young artist, whose circumstances did
+not permit his going to Europe, but who being nevertheless determined
+that his studies should, as nearly as possible, resemble those of the
+European academies, was about to commence drawing the human figure, for
+which purpose he had provided himself with a thin silk dress, in which
+to clothe his models, as no one of any station, he said, could be found
+who would submit to sit as a model without clothing.
+
+It was at Alexandria that I saw what I consider as the best picture by
+an American artist that I met with. The subject was Hagar and Ishmael.
+It had recently arrived from Rome, where the painter, a young man of
+the name of Chapman, had been studying for three years. His mother told
+me that he was twenty-two years of age, and passionately devoted to the
+art; should he, on returning to his country, receive sufficient
+encouragement to keep his ardour and his industry alive, I think I
+shall hear of him again.
+
+Much is said about the universal diffusion of education in America, and
+a vast deal of genuine admiration is felt and expressed at the progress
+of mind throughout the Union. They believe themselves in all sincerity
+to have surpassed, to be surpassing, and to be about to surpass, the
+whole earth in the intellectual race. I am aware that not a single word
+can be said, hinting a different opinion, which will not bring down a
+transatlantic anathema on my head; yet the subject is too interesting
+to be omitted. Before I left England I remember listening, with much
+admiration, to an eloquent friend, who deprecated our system of public
+education, as confining the various and excursive faculties of our
+children to one beaten path, paying little or no attention to the
+peculiar powers of the individual.
+
+This objection is extremely plausible, but doubts of its intrinsic
+value must, I think, occur to every one who has marked the result of a
+different system throughout the United States.
+
+From every enquiry I could make, and I took much pains to obtain
+accurate information, it appeared that much is attempted, but very
+little beyond reading, writing, and bookkeeping, is thoroughly
+acquired. Were we to read a prospectus of the system pursued in any of
+our public schools and that of a first-rate seminary in America, we
+should be struck by the confined scholastic routine of the former, when
+compared to the varied and expansive scope of the latter; but let the
+examination go a little farther, and I believe it will be found that
+the old fashioned school discipline of England has produced something
+higher, and deeper too, than that which roars so loud, and thunders in
+the index.
+
+They will not afford to let their young men study till two or three and
+twenty, and it is therefore declared, _ex cathedra Americana_, to be
+unnecessary. At sixteen, often much earlier, education ends, and
+money-making begins; the idea that more learning is necessary than can
+be acquired by that time, is generally ridiculed as obsolete monkish
+bigotry; added to which, if the seniors willed a more prolonged
+discipline, the juniors would refuse submission. When the money-getting
+begins, leisure ceases, and all of lore which can be acquired
+afterwards, is picked up from novels, magazines, and newspapers.
+
+At what time can the taste be formed? How can a correct and polished
+style, even of speaking, be acquired? or when can the fruit of the two
+thousand years of past thinking be added to the native growth of
+American intellect? These are the tools, if I may so express myself,
+which our elaborate system of school discipline puts into the hands of
+our scholars; possessed of these, they may use them in whatever
+direction they please afterwards, they can never be an incumbrance.
+
+No people appear more anxious to excite admiration and receive applause
+than the Americans, yet none take so little trouble, or make so few
+sacrifices to obtain it. This may answer among themselves, but it will
+not with the rest of the world; individual sacrifices must be made, and
+national economy enlarged, before America can compete with the old
+world in taste, learning, and liberality.
+
+The reception of General Lafayette is the one single instance in which
+the national pride has overcome the national thrift; and this was
+clearly referrible to the one single feeling of enthusiasm of which
+they appear capable, namely, the triumph of their successful struggle
+for national independence. But though this feeling will be universally
+acknowledged as a worthy and lawful source of triumph and of pride, it
+will not serve to trade upon for ever, as a fund of glory and high
+station among the nations. Their fathers were colonists; they fought
+stoutly, and became an independent people. Success and admiration, even
+the admiration of those whose yoke they had broken, cheered them while
+living, still sheds a glory round their remote and untitled sepulchres,
+and will illumine the page of their history for ever.
+
+Their children inherit the independence; they inherit too the honour of
+being the sons of brave fathers; but this will not give them the
+reputation at which they aim, of being scholars and gentlemen, nor will
+it enable them to sit down for evermore to talk of their glory, while
+they drink mint julap and chew tobacco, swearing by the beard of
+Jupiter (or some other oath) that they are very graceful, and
+agreeable, and, moreover abusing every body who does not cry out Amen!
+
+To doubt that talent and mental power of every kind exist in America
+would be absurd; why should it not? But in taste and learning they are
+woefully deficient; and it is this which renders them incapable of
+graduating a scale by which to measure themselves. Hence arises that
+over weening complacency and self-esteem, both national and individual,
+which at once renders them so extremely obnoxious to ridicule, and so
+peculiarly restive under it.
+
+If they will scorn the process by which other nations have become what
+they avowedly intend to be, they must rest satisfied with the praise
+and admiration they receive from each other; and turning a deaf ear to
+the criticism of the old world, consent to be their own prodigious
+great reward.”
+
+Alexandria has its churches, chapels, and conventicles as abundantly,
+in proportion to its size, as any city in the Union. I visited most of
+them, and in the Episcopal and Catholic heard the services performed
+quietly and reverently.
+
+The best sermon, however, that I listened to, was in a Methodist
+church, from the mouth of a Piquot Indian. It was impossible not be
+touched by the simple sincerity of this poor man. He gave a picture
+frightfully eloquent of the decay of his people under the united
+influence of the avarice and intemperance of the white men. He
+described the effect of the religious feeling which had recently found
+its way among them as most salutary. The purity of his moral feeling,
+and the sincerity of his sympathy with his forest brethren, made it
+unquestionable that he must be the most valuable priest who could
+officiate for them. His English was very correct, and his pronunciation
+but slightly tinctured by native accent.
+
+While we were still in the neighbourhood of Washington, a most violent
+and unprecedented schism occurred in the cabinet. The four secretaries
+of State all resigned, leaving General Jackson to manage the queer
+little state barge alone.
+
+Innumerable contradictory statements appeared upon this occasion in the
+papers, and many a cigar was thrown aside, ere half consumed, that the
+disinterested politician might give breath to his cogitations on this
+extraordinary event; but not all the eloquence of all the smokers, nor
+even the ultradiplomatic expositions which appeared from the seceding
+secretaries themselves, could throw any light on the mysterious
+business. It produced, however, the only tolerable caricature I ever
+saw in the country. It represents the President seated alone in his
+cabinet, wearing a look of much discomfiture, and making great
+exertions to detain one of four rats, who are running off, by placing
+his foot on the tail. The rats’ heads bear a very sufficient
+resemblance to the four ex-ministers. General Jackson, it seems, had
+requested Mr. Van Buren, the Secretary of State, to remain in office
+till his place was supplied; this gave occasion to a _bon mot_ from his
+son, who, being asked when his father would be in New York, replied,
+“When the President takes off his foot.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+
+Journey to New York—Delaware River—Stagecoach—City of New
+York—Collegiate Institute for Young Ladies—Theatres—Public
+Garden—Churches—Morris Canal—Fashions—Carriages
+
+
+At length, in spite of the lingering pace necessarily attending
+consultations, and arrangements across the Atlantic, our plans were
+finally settled; the coming spring was to show us New York, and
+Niagara, and the early summer was to convey us home.
+
+No sooner did the letter arrive which decided this, than we began our
+preparations for departure. We took our last voyage on the Potomac, we
+bade a last farewell to Virginia, and gave a last day to some of our
+kind friends near Washington.
+
+The spring, though slow and backward, was sufficiently advanced to
+render the journey pleasant; and though the road from Washington to
+Baltimore was less brilliant in foliage than when I had seen it before,
+it still had much of beauty. The azalias were in full bloom, and the
+delicate yellow blossom of the sassafras almost rivalled its fruit in
+beauty.
+
+At Baltimore we again embarked on a gigantic steam-boat, and reached
+Philadelphia in the middle of the night. Here we changed our boat and
+found time, before starting in the morning, to take a last look at the
+Doric and Corinthian porticos of the two celebrated temples dedicated
+to Mammon.
+
+The Delaware river, above Philadelphia, still flows through a landscape
+too level for beauty, but it is rendered interesting by a succession of
+gentlemen’s seats, which, if less elaborately finished in architecture,
+and garden grounds, than the lovely villas on the Thames, are still
+beautiful objects to gaze upon as you float rapidly past on the broad
+silvery stream that washes their lawns They present a picture of wealth
+and enjoyment that accords well with the noble city to which they are
+an appendage. One mansion arrested our attention, not only from its
+being more than usually large and splendid, but from its having the
+monument which marked the family resting-place, rearing itself in all
+the gloomy grandeur of black and white marble, exactly opposite the
+door of entrance.
+
+In Virginia and Maryland we had remarked that almost every family
+mansion had its little grave yard, sheltered by locust and cypress
+trees; but this decorated dwelling of the dead seemed rather a
+melancholy ornament in the grounds.
+
+We had, for a considerable distance, a view of the dwelling of Joseph
+Bonaparte, which is situated on the New Jersey shore, in the midst of
+an extensive tract of land, of which he is the proprietor.
+
+Here the ex-monarch has built several houses, which are occupied by
+French tenants. The country is very flat, but a terrace of two sides
+has been raised, commanding a fine reach of the Delaware River; at the
+point where this terrace forms a right angle, a lofty chapel has been
+erected, which looks very much like an observatory; I admired the
+ingenuity with which the Catholic prince has united his religion and
+his love of a fine terrestrial prospect. The highest part of the
+building presents, in every direction, the appearance of an immense
+cross; the transept, if I may so express it, being formed by the
+projection of an ample balcony, which surrounds a tower. A Quaker
+gentleman, from Philadelphia, exclaimed, as he gazed on the mansion,
+“There we see a monument of fallen royalty! Strange! that dethroned
+kings should seek and find their best strong-hold in a Republic.”
+
+There was more of philosophy than of scorn in his accent, and his
+countenance was the symbol of gentleness and benevolence; but I
+overheard many unquakerlike jokes from others, as to the comfortable
+assurance a would-be king must feel of a faithful alliance between his
+head and shoulders.
+
+At Trenton, the capital of New Jersey, we left our smoothly-gliding
+comfortable boat for the most detestable stage-coach that ever
+Christian built to dislocate the joints of his fellow men. Ten of these
+torturing machines were crammed full of the passengers who left the
+boat with us. The change in our movement was not more remarkable than
+that which took place in the tempers and countenances of our
+fellow-travellers. Gentlemen who had lounged on sofas, and balanced
+themselves in chairs, all the way from Philadelphia, with all the
+conscious fascinations of stiff stays and neck-cloths, which, while
+doing to death the rash beauties who ventured to gaze, seemed but a
+whalebone panoply to guard the wearer, these pretty youths so guarded
+from without, so sweetly at peace within, now crushed beneath their
+armour, looked more like victims on the wheel, than dandies armed for
+conquest; their whalebones seemed to enter into their souls, and every
+face grew grim and scowling. The pretty ladies too, with their
+expansive bonnets, any one of which might handsomely have filled the
+space allotted to three,—how sad the change! I almost fancied they must
+have been of the race of Undine, and that it was only when they heard
+the splashing of water that they could smile. As I looked into the
+altered eyes of my companions, I was tempted to ask, “Look I as cross
+as you?” Indeed, I believe that, if possible, I looked crosser still,
+for the roads and the vehicle together were quite too much for my
+philosophy.
+
+At length, however, we found ourselves alive on board the boat which
+was to convey us down the Raraton River to New York.
+
+We fully intended to have gone to bed, to heal our bones, on entering
+the steam-boat, but the sight of a table neatly spread determined us to
+go to dinner instead. Sin and shame would it have been, indeed, to have
+closed our eyes upon the scene which soon opened before us. I have
+never seen the bay of Naples, I can therefore make no comparison, but
+my imagination is incapable of conceiving any thing of the kind more
+beautiful than the harbour of New York. Various and lovely are the
+objects which meet the eye on every side, but the naming them would
+only be to give a list of words, without conveying the faintest idea of
+the scene. I doubt if ever the pencil of Turner could do it justice,
+bright and glorious as it rose upon us. We seemed to enter the harbour
+of New York upon waves of liquid gold, and as we darted past the green
+isles which rise from its bosom, like guardian centinels of the fair
+city, the setting sun stretched his horizontal beams farther and
+farther at each moment, as if to point out to us some new glory in the
+landscape.
+
+New York, indeed, appeared to us, even when we saw it by a soberer
+light, a lovely and a noble city. To us who had been so long travelling
+through half-cleared forests, and sojourning among an
+“I’m-as-good-as-you” population, it seemed, perhaps, more beautiful,
+more splendid, and more refined than it might have done, had we arrived
+there directly from London; but making every allowance for this, I must
+still declare that I think New York one of the finest cities I ever
+saw, and as much superior to every other in the Union (Philadelphia not
+excepted), as London to Liverpool, or Paris to Rouen. Its advantages of
+position are, perhaps, unequalled any where. Situated on an island,
+which I think it will one day cover, it rises, like Venice, from the
+sea, and like that fairest of cities in the days of her glory, receives
+into its lap tribute of all the riches of the earth.
+
+The southern point of Manhatten Island divides the waters of the
+harbour into the north and east rivers; on this point stands the city
+of New York, extending from river to river, and running northward to
+the extent of three or four miles. I think it covers nearly as much
+ground as Paris, but is much less thickly peopled. The extreme point is
+fortified towards the sea by a battery, and forms an admirable point of
+defence; I should suppose, no city could boast. From hence commences
+the splendid Broadway, as the fine avenue is called, which runs through
+the whole city. This noble street may vie with any I ever saw, for its
+length and breadth, its handsome shops, neat awnings, excellent
+_trottoir_, and well-dressed pedestrians. It has not the crowded
+glitter of Bond Street equipages, nor the gorgeous fronted palaces of
+Regent Street; but it is magnificent in its extent, and ornamented by
+several handsome buildings, some of them surrounded by grass and trees.
+The Park, in which stands the noble city-hall, is a very fine area, I
+never found that the most graphic description of a city could give me
+any feeling of being there; and even if others have the power, I am
+very sure I have not, of setting churches and squares, and long drawn
+streets, before the mind’s eye. I will not, therefore, attempt a
+detailed description of this great metropolis of the new world, but
+will only say that during the seven weeks we stayed there, we always
+found something new to see and to admire; and were it not so very far
+from all the old-world things which cling about the heart of an
+European, I should say that I never saw a city more desirable as a
+residence.
+
+The dwelling houses of the higher classes are extremely handsome, and
+very richly furnished. Silk or satin furniture is as often, or oftener,
+seen than chintz; the mirrors are as handsome as in London; the
+cheffoniers, slabs, and marble tables as elegant; and in addition, they
+have all the pretty tasteful decoration of French porcelaine, and
+or-molu in much greater abundance, because at a much cheaper rate.
+Every part of their houses is well carpeted, and the exterior
+finishing, such as steps, railings, and door-frames, are very superior.
+Almost every house has handsome green blinds on the outside; balconies
+are not very general, nor do the houses display, externally, so many
+flowers as those of Paris and London; but I saw many rooms decorated
+within, exactly like those of an European _petite maitresse_. Little
+tables, looking and smelling like flower beds, portfolios, nick-nacks,
+bronzes, busts, cameos, and alabaster vases, illustrated copies of
+ladylike rhymes bound in silk, and, in short, all the pretty
+coxcomalities of the drawing-room scattered about with the same profuse
+and studied negligence as with us.
+
+Hudson Square and its neighbourhood is, I believe, the most fashionable
+part of the town; the square is beautiful, excellently well planted
+with a great variety of trees, and only wanting our frequent and
+careful mowing to make it equal to any square in London. The iron
+railing which surrounds this enclosure is as high and as handsome as
+that of the Tuilleries, and it will give some idea of the care bestowed
+on its decoration, to know that the gravel for the walks was conveyed
+by barges from Boston, not as ballast, but as freight.
+
+The great defect in the houses is their extreme uniformity when you
+have seen one, you have seen all. Neither do I quite like the
+arrangement of the rooms. In nearly all the houses the dining and
+drawing rooms are on the same floor, with ample folding doors between
+them; when thrown together they certainly make a very noble apartment;
+but no doors can be barrier sufficient between dining and
+drawing-rooms. Mixed dinner parties of ladies and gentlemen, however,
+are very rare, which is a great defect in the society; not only as
+depriving them of the most social and hospitable manner of meeting, but
+as leading to frequent dinner parties of gentlemen without ladies,
+which certainly does not conduce to refinement.
+
+The evening parties, excepting such as are expressly for young people,
+are chiefly conversational; we were too late in the season for large
+parties, but we saw enough to convince us that there is society to be
+met with in New York, which would be deemed delightful any where. Cards
+are very seldom used; and music, from their having very little
+professional aid at their parties is seldom, I believe, as good as what
+is heard at private concerts in London.
+
+The Americans have certainly not the same _besoin_ of being amused, as
+other people; they may be the wiser for this, perhaps, but it makes
+them less agreeable to a looker-on.
+
+There are three theatres at New York, all of which we visited. The Park
+Theatre is the only one licensed by fashion, but the Bowery is
+infinitely superior in beauty; it is indeed as pretty a theatre as I
+ever entered, perfect as to size and proportion, elegantly decorated,
+and the scenery and machinery equal to any in London, but it is not the
+fashion. The Chatham is so utterly condemned by _bon ton_, that it
+requires some courage to decide upon going there; nor do I think my
+curiosity would have penetrated so far, had I not seen Miss Mitford’s
+Rienzi advertised there. It was the first opportunity I had had of
+seeing it played, and spite of very indifferent acting, I was
+delighted. The interest must have been great, for till the curtain
+fell, I saw not one quarter of the queer things around me: then I
+observed in the front row of a dress-box a lady performing the most
+maternal office possible; several gentlemen without their coats, and a
+general air of contempt for the decencies of life, certainly more than
+usually revolting.
+
+At the Park Theatre I again saw the American Roscius, Mr. Forrest. He
+played the part of Damon, and roared, I thought, very unlike a
+nightingale. I cannot admire this celebrated performer.
+
+Another night we saw Cinderella there; Mrs. Austin was the prima donna,
+and much admired. The piece was extremely well got up, and on this
+occasion we saw the Park Theatre to advantage, for it was filled with
+well-dressed company; but still we saw many “yet unrazored lips”
+polluted with the grim tinge of the hateful tobacco, and heard, without
+ceasing, the spitting, which of course is its consequence. If their
+theatres had the orchestra of the Feydeau, and a choir of angels to
+boot, I could find but little pleasure, so long as they were followed
+by this running accompaniment of _thorough base_.
+
+Whilst at New York, the prospectus of a fashionable boarding-school was
+presented to me. I made some extracts from it, as a specimen of the
+enlarged scale of instruction proposed for young females.
+
+Brooklyn Collegiate Institute
+for Young Ladies,
+Brooklyn Heights, opposite the City of
+New York.
+
+
+JUNIOR DEPARTMENT
+
+
+Sixth Class
+
+
+Latin Grammar, Liber Primus; Jacob’s Latin Reader, (first part); Modern
+Geography; Intellectual and Practical Arithmetic finished; Dr. Barber’s
+Grammar of Elocution; Writing, Spelling, Composition, and Vocal Music.
+
+Fifth Class
+
+
+Jacob’s Latin Reader, (second part); Roman Antiquities, Sallust;
+Clark’s Introduction to the Making of Latin; Ancient and Sacred
+Geography; Studies of Poetry; Short Treatise on Rhetoric; Map Drawing,
+Composition, Spelling, and Vocal Music.
+
+Fourth Class
+
+
+Caesar’s Commentaries; first five books of Virgil’s Aeneid; Mythology;
+Watts on the Mind; Political Geography, (Woodbridge’s large work);
+Natural History; Treatise on the Globes; Ancient History; Studies of
+Poetry concluded; English Grammar, Composition, Spelling, and Vocal
+Music.
+
+SENIOR DEPARTMENT
+
+
+Third Class
+
+
+Virgil, (finished); Cicero’s Select Orations; Modern History; Plane
+Geometry; Moral Philosophy; Critical Reading of Young’s Poems;
+Perspective Drawing; Rhetoric; Logic, Composition, and Vocal Music.
+
+Second Class
+
+
+Livy; Horace, (Odes); Natural Theology; small Compend of Ecclesiastical
+History; Female Biography; Algebra; Natural Philosophy, (Mechanics,
+Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, and Acoustics); Intellectual Philosophy;
+Evidences of Christianity; Composition, and Vocal Music.
+
+First Class
+
+
+Horace, (finished); Tacitus; Natural Philosophy, (Electricity, Optics,
+Magnetism, Galvanism); Astronomy, Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Geology;
+Compend of Political Economy; Composition, and Vocal Music.
+
+The French, Spanish, Italian, or Greek languages may be attended to, if
+required, at any time.
+
+The Exchange is very handsome, and ranks about midway between the heavy
+gloom that hangs over our London merchants, and the light and lofty
+elegance which decorates the Bourse at Paris. The churches are plain,
+but very neat, and kept in perfect repair within and without; but I saw
+none which had the least pretension to splendour; the Catholic
+Cathedral at Baltimore is the only church in America which has.
+
+At New York, as every where else, they show within, during the time of
+service, like beds of tulips, so gay, so bright, so beautiful, are the
+long rows of French bonnets and pretty faces; rows but rarely broken by
+the unribboned heads of the male population; the proportion is about
+the same as I have remarked elsewhere. Excepting at New York, I never
+saw the other side of the picture, but there I did. On the opposite
+side of the North River, about three miles higher up, is a place called
+Hoboken. A gentleman who possessed a handsome mansion and grounds
+there, also possessed the right of ferry, and to render this
+productive, he has restricted his pleasure grounds to a few beautiful
+acres, laying out the remainder simply and tastefully as a public walk.
+It is hardly possible to imagine one of greater attraction; a broad
+belt of light underwood and flowering shrubs, studded at intervals with
+lofty forest trees, runs for two miles along a cliff which overhangs
+the matchless Hudson; sometimes it feathers the rocks down to its very
+margin, and at others leaves a pebbly shore, just rude enough to break
+the gentle waves, and make a music which mimics softly the loud chorus
+of the ocean. Through this beautiful little wood, a broad well
+gravelled terrace is led by every point which can exhibit the scenery
+to advantage; narrower and wilder paths diverge at intervals, some into
+the deeper shadow of the wood, and some shelving gradually to the
+pretty coves below.
+
+The price of entrance to this little Eden, is the six cents you pay at
+the ferry. We went there on a bright Sunday afternoon, expressly to see
+the humours of the place. Many thousand persons were scattered through
+the grounds; of these we ascertained, by repeatedly counting, that
+nineteen-twentieths were men. The ladies were at church. Often as the
+subject has pressed upon my mind, I think I never so strongly felt the
+conviction that the Sabbath-day, the holy day, the day on which alone
+the great majority of the Christian world can spend their hours as they
+please, is ill passed (if passed entirely) within brick walls,
+listening to an earth-born preacher, charm he never so wisely.
+
+“Oh! how can they renounce the boundless store
+Of charms, which Nature to her vot’ries yields!
+The warbling woodland, the resounding shore,
+The pomp of groves, and garniture of fields,
+All that the genial ray of morning gilds,
+And all that echoes to the song of even,
+All that the mountain’s sheltering bosom yields,
+And all the dread magnificence of heaven;
+Oh! how can they renounce, and hope to be forgiven!”
+
+
+How is it that the men of America, who are reckoned good husbands and
+good fathers, while they themselves enjoy sufficient freedom of spirit
+to permit their walking forth into the temple of the living God, can
+leave those they love best on earth, bound in the iron chains of a most
+tyrannical fanaticism? How can they breathe the balmy air, and not
+think of the tainted atmosphere so heavily weighing upon breasts still
+dearer than their own? How can they gaze upon the blossoms of the
+spring, and not remember the fairer cheeks of their young daughters,
+waxing pale, as they sit for long sultry hours, immured with hundreds
+of fellow victims, listening to the roaring vanities of a preacher
+canonized by a college of old women? They cannot think it needful to
+salvation,or they would not withdraw themselves. Wherefore is it? Do
+they fear these self-elected, self-ordained priests, and offer up their
+wives and daughters to propitiate them? Or do they deem their
+hebdomadal freedom more complete, because their wives and daughters are
+shut up four or five times in the day at church or chapel? It is true,
+that at Hoboken, as every where else, there are _reposoires_, which, as
+you pass them, blast the sense for a moment, by reeking forth the fumes
+of whiskey and tobacco, and it may be that these cannot be entered with
+a wife or daughter. The proprietor of the grounds, however, has
+contrived with great taste to render these abominations not unpleasing
+to the eye; there is one in particular, which has quite the air of a
+Grecian temple, and did they drink wine instead of whiskey, it might be
+inscribed to Bacchus; but in this particular, as in many others, the
+ancient and modern Republics differ.
+
+It is impossible not to feel, after passing one Sunday in the churches
+and chapels of New York, and the next in the gardens of Hoboken, that
+the thousands of well-dressed men you see enjoying themselves at the
+latter, have made over the thousands of well-dressed women you saw
+exhibited at the former, into the hands of the priests, at least, for
+the day. The American people arrogate to themselves a character of
+superior morality and religion, but this division of their hours of
+leisure does not give me a favourable idea of either.
+
+I visited all the exhibitions in New York. The Medici of the Republic
+must exert themselves a little more before these can become even
+respectable. The worst of the business is, that with the exception of
+about half a dozen individuals, the good citizens are more than
+contented, they are delighted.
+
+The newspaper lungs of the Republic breathe forth praise and triumph,
+may, almost pant with extacy in speaking of their native _chef
+d’oeuvres_. I should be hardly believed were I to relate the instances
+which fell in my way, of the utter ignorance respecting pictures to be
+found among persons of the _first standing_ in society. Often where a
+liberal spirit exists, and a wish to patronise the fine arts is
+expressed, it is joined to a profundity of ignorance on the subject
+almost inconceivable. A doubt as to the excellence of their artists is
+very nervously received, and one gentleman, with much civility, told
+me, that at the present era, all the world were aware that competition
+was pretty well at an end between our two nations, and that a little
+envy might naturally be expected to mix with the surprise with which
+the mother country beheld the distance at which her colonies were
+leaving her behind them.
+
+I must, however, do the few artists with whom I became acquainted, the
+justice to say, that their own pretensions are much more modest than
+those of their patrons for them. I have heard several confess and
+deplore their ignorance of drawing, and have repeatedly remarked a
+sensibility to the merit of European artists, though perhaps only known
+by engravings, and a deference to their authority, which showed a
+genuine feeling for the art. In fact, I think that there is a very
+considerable degree of natural talent for painting in America, but it
+has to make its way through darkness and thick night. When an academy
+is founded, their first care is to hang the walls of its exhibition
+room with all the unutterable trash that is offered to them. No living
+models are sought for; no discipline as to the manner of study is
+enforced. Boys who know no more of human form, than they do of the
+eyes, nose, and mouth in the moon, begin painting portraits. If some of
+them would only throw away their palettes for a year, and learn to
+draw; if they would attend anatomical lectures, and take notes, not in
+words, but in forms, of joints and muscles, their exhibitions would
+soon cease to be so utterly below criticism.
+
+The most interesting exhibition open when I was there was, decidedly,
+Colonel Trumbold’s; and how the patriots of America can permit this
+truly national collection to remain a profitless burden on the hands of
+the artist, it is difficult to understand. Many of the sketches are
+masterly; but like his illustrious countryman, West, his sketches are
+his _chef d’oeuvres_.
+
+I can imagine nothing more perfect than the interior of the public
+institutions of New York. There is a practical good sense in all their
+arrangements that must strike foreigners very forcibly. The Asylum for
+the Destitute offers a hint worth taking. It is dedicated to the
+reformation of youthful offenders of both sexes, and it is as admirable
+in the details of its management, as in its object. Every part of the
+institution is deeply interesting; but there is a difference very
+remarkable between the boys and the girls. The boys are, I think, the
+finest set of lads I ever saw brought together; bright looking, gay,
+active, and full of intelligence. The girls are exactly in reverse;
+heavy, listless, indifferent, and melancholy. In conversing with the
+gentleman who is the general superintendant of the establishment, I
+made the remark to him, and he told me, that the reality corresponded
+with the appearance. All of them had been detected in some act of
+dishonesty; but the boys, when removed from the evil influence which
+had led them so to use their ingenuity, rose like a spring when a
+pressure is withdrawn; and feeling themselves once more safe from
+danger and from shame, hope and cheerfulness animated every
+countenance. But the pour girls, on the contrary, can hardly look up
+again. They are as different as an oak and a lily after a storm. The
+one, when the fresh breeze blows over it, shakes the raindrops from its
+crest, and only looks the brighter; the other, its silken leaves once
+soiled, shrinks from the eye, and is levelled to the earth for ever.
+
+We spent a delightful day in New Jersey, in visiting, with a most
+agreeable party, the inclined planes, which are used instead of locks
+on the Morris canal.
+
+This is a very interesting work; it is one among a thousand which prove
+the people of America to be the most enterprising in the world. I was
+informed that this important canal, which connects the waters of the
+Hudson and the Delaware, is a hundred miles long, and in this distance
+overcomes a variation of level amounting to sixteen hundred feet. Of
+this, fourteen hundred are achieved by inclined planes. The planes
+average about sixty feet of perpendicular lift each, and are to support
+about forty tons. The time consumed in passing them is twelve minutes
+for one hundred feet of perpendicular rise. The expense is less than a
+third of what locks would be for surmounting the same rise. If we set
+about any more canals, this may be worth attending to.
+
+This Morris canal is certainly an extraordinary work; it not only
+varies its level sixteen hundred feet, but at one point runs along the
+side of a mountain at thirty feet above the tops of the highest
+buildings in the town of Paterson, below; at another it crosses the
+falls of the Passaic in a stone aqueduct sixty feet above the water in
+the river. This noble work, in a great degree, owes its existence to
+the patriotic and scientific energy of Mr. Cadwallader Colden.
+
+There is no point in the national character of the Americans which
+commands so much respect as the boldness and energy with which public
+works are undertaken and carried through. Nothing stops them if a
+profitable result can be fairly hoped for. It is this which has made
+cities spring up amidst the forests with such inconceivable rapidity;
+and could they once be thoroughly persuaded that any point of the ocean
+had a hoard of dollars beneath it, I have not the slightest doubt that
+in about eighteen months we should see a snug covered rail-road leading
+direct to the spot.
+
+I was told at New York, that in many parts of the state it was usual to
+pay the service of the Presbyterian ministers in the following manner.
+Once a year a day is fixed, on which some member of every family in a
+congregation meet at their minister’s house in the afternoon. They each
+bring an offering (according to their means) of articles necessary for
+housekeeping. The poorer members leave their contributions in a large
+basket, placed for the purpose, close to the door of entrance. Those of
+more importance, and more calculated to do honour to the piety of the
+donors, are carried into the room where the company is assembled.
+Sugar, coffee, tea, cheese, barrels of flour, pieces of Irish linen,
+sets of china and of glass, were among the articles mentioned to me as
+usually making parts of these offerings. After the party is assembled,
+and the business of giving and receiving is dispatched, tea, coffee,
+and cakes are handed round; but these are not furnished at any expense
+either of trouble or money to the minster, for selected ladies of the
+congregation take the whole arrangement upon themselves. These meetings
+are called spinning visits.
+
+Another New York custom, which does not seem to have so reasonable a
+cause, is the changing house once a year. On the 1st of May the city of
+New York has the appearance of sending off a population flying from the
+plague, or of a town which had surrendered on condition of carrying
+away all their goods and chattels. Rich furniture and ragged furniture,
+carts, waggons, and drays, ropes, canvas, and straw, packers, porters,
+and draymen, white, yellow, and black, occupy the streets from east to
+west, from north to south, on this day. Every one I spoke to on the
+subject complained of this custom as most annoying, but all assured me
+it was unavoidable, if you inhabit a rented house. More than one of my
+New York friends have built or bought houses solely to avoid this
+annual inconvenience.
+
+There are a great number of negroes in New York, all free; their
+emancipation having been completed in 1827. Not even in Philadelphia,
+where the anti-slavery opinions have been the most active and violent,
+do the blacks appear to wear an air of so much consequence as they do
+at New York. They have several chapels, in which negro ministers
+officiate; and a theatre in which none but negroes perform. At this
+theatre a gallery is appropriated to such whites as choose to visit it;
+and here only are they permitted to sit; following in this, with nice
+etiquette, and equal justice, the arrangement of the white theatres, in
+all of which is a gallery appropriated solely to the use of the blacks.
+I have often, particularly on a Sunday, met groups of negroes,
+elegantly dressed; and have been sometimes amused by observing the very
+superior air of gallantry assumed by the men, when in attendance on
+their _belles_, to that of the whites in similar circumstances. On one
+occasion we met in Broadway a young negress in the extreme of the
+fashion, and accompanied by a black beau, whose toilet was equally
+studied; eye-glass, guard-chain, nothing was omitted; he walked beside
+his sable goddess uncovered, and with an air of the most tender
+devotion. At the window of a handsome house which they were passing,
+stood a very pretty white girl, with two gentlemen beside her; but
+alas! both of them had their hats on, and one was smoking!
+
+If it were not for the peculiar manner of walking, which distinguishes
+all American women, Broadway might be taken for a French street, where
+it was the fashion for very smart ladies to promenade. The dress is
+entirely French; not an article (except perhaps the cotton stockings)
+must be English, on pain of being stigmatized as out of the fashion.
+Every thing English is decidedly _mauvais ton_; English materials,
+English fashions, English accent, English manner, are all terms of
+reproach; and to say that an unfortunate looks like an English woman,
+is the cruellest satire which can be uttered.
+
+I remember visiting France almost immediately after we had made the
+most offensive invasion of her territory that can well be imagined,
+yet, despite the feelings which lengthened years of war must have
+engendered, it was the fashion to admire every thing English. I suppose
+family quarrels are most difficult to adjust; for fifteen years of
+peace have not been enough to calm the angry feelings of brother
+Jonathan towards the land of his fathers,
+
+“The which he hateth passing well.”
+
+
+It is hardly needful to say the most courteous amenity of manner
+distinguishes the reception given to foreigners by the patrician class
+of Americans.
+
+_Gentlemen_, in the old world sense of the term, are the same every
+where; and an American gentleman and his family know how to do the
+honours of their country to strangers of every nation, as well as any
+people on earth. But this class, though it decidedly exists, is a very
+small one, and cannot, in justice, be represented as affording a
+specimen of the whole.
+
+Most of the houses in New York are painted on the outside, but in a
+manner carefully to avoid disfiguring the material which it preserves:
+on the contrary, nothing can be neater. They are now using a great deal
+of a beautiful stone called Jersey freestone; it is of a warm rich
+brown, and extremely ornamental to the city wherever it has been
+employed. They have also a grey granite of great beauty. The trottoir
+paving, in most of the streets, is extremely good, being of large flag
+stones, very superior to the bricks of Philadelphia.
+
+At night the shops, which are open till very late, are brilliantly
+illuminated with gas, and all the population seem as much alive as in
+London or Paris. This makes the solemn stillness of the evening hours
+in Philadelphia still more remarkable.
+
+There are a few trees in different parts of the city, and I observed
+young ones planted, and guarded with much care; were they more abundant
+it would be extremely agreeable, for the reflected light of their
+fierce summer sheds intolerable day.
+
+Ice is in profuse abundance; I do not imagine that there is a house in
+the city without the luxury of a piece of ice to cool the water, and
+harden the butter.
+
+The hackney coaches are the best in the world, but abominably dear, and
+it is necessary to be on the _qui vive_ in making your bargain with the
+driver; if you do not, he has the power of charging immoderately. On my
+first experiment I neglected this, and was asked two dollars and a half
+for an excursion of twenty minutes. When I referred to the waiter of
+the hotel, he asked if I had made a bargain. “No.” “Then I expect”
+(with the usual look of triumph) “that the Yankee has been too smart
+for you.”
+
+The private carriages of New York are infinitely handsomer and better
+appointed than any I saw elsewhere; the want of smart liveries destroys
+much of the gay effect, but, on the whole, a New York summer equipage,
+with the pretty women and beautiful children it contains, look
+extremely well in Broadway, and would not be much amiss anywhere.
+
+The luxury of the New York aristocracy is not confined to the city;
+hardly an acre of Manhatten Island but shows some pretty villa or
+stately mansion. The most chosen of these are on the north and east
+rivers, to whose margins their lawns descend. Among these, perhaps, the
+loveliest is one situated in the beautiful village of Bloomingdale;
+here, within the space of sixteen acres, almost every variety of garden
+scenery may be found. To describe all its diversity of hill and dale,
+of wood and lawn, of rock and river, would be in vain; nor can I convey
+an idea of it by comparison, for I never saw anything like it. How far
+the elegant hospitality which reigns there may influence my impression,
+I know not; but, assuredly, no spot I have ever seen dwells more
+freshly on my memory, nor did I ever find myself in a circle more
+calculated to give delight in meeting, and regret at parting, than that
+of Woodlawn.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+
+Reception of Captain Basil Hall’s Book in the United States
+
+
+Having now arrived nearly at the end of our travels, I am induced, ere
+I conclude, again to mention what I consider as one of the most
+remarkable traits in the national character of the Americans; namely,
+their exquisite sensitiveness and soreness respecting everything said
+or written concerning them. Of this, perhaps, the most remarkable
+example I can give, is the effect produced on nearly every class of
+readers by the appearance of Captain Basil Hall’s “Travels in North
+America.” In fact, it was a sort of moral earthquake, and the vibration
+it occasioned through the nerves of the Republic, from one corner of
+the Union to the other, was by no means over when I left the country in
+July, 1831, a couple of years after the shock.
+
+I was in Cincinnati when these volumes came out, but it was not till
+July, 1830, that I procured a copy of them. One bookseller to whom I
+applied, told me that he had had a few copies before he understood the
+nature of the work, but that after becoming acquainted with it, nothing
+should induce him to sell another. Other persons of his profession
+must, however, have been less scrupulous, for the book was read in
+city, town, village, and hamlet, steam-boat, and stage-coach, and a
+sort of war-whoop was sent forth perfectly unprecedented in my
+recollection upon any occasion whatever.
+
+It was fortunate for me that I did not procure these volumes till I had
+heard them very generally spoken of, for the curiosity I felt to know
+the contents of a work so violently anathematised, led me to make
+enquiries which elicited a great deal of curious feeling.
+
+An ardent desire for approbation, and delicate sensitiveness under
+censure, have always, I believe, been considered as amiable traits of
+character; but the condition into which the appearance of Capt. Hall’s
+work threw the Republic, shows plainly that these feelings, if carried
+to excess, produce a weakness which amounts to imbecility.
+
+It was perfectly astonishing to hear men, who, on other subjects, were
+sane of judgment, utter their opinions upon this. I never heard of any
+instance in which the common sense generally found in national
+criticism was so overthrown by passion. I do not speak of the want of
+justice, and of fair and liberal interpretation: these, perhaps, were
+hardly to be expected. Other nations have been called thin-skinned, but
+the citizens of the Union have, apparently, no skins at all; they wince
+if a breeze blows over them, unless it be tempered with adulation. It
+was not, therefore, very surprising that the acute and forcible
+observations of a traveller they knew would be listened to, should be
+received testily. The extraordinary features of the business were,
+first, the excess of the rage into which they lashed themselves; and
+secondly, the puerility of the inventions by which they attempted to
+account for the severity with which they fancied they had been treated.
+
+Not content with declaring that the volumes contained no word of truth
+from beginning to end (which is an assertion I heard made very nearly
+as often as they were mentioned), the whole country set to work to
+discover the causes why Capt. Hall had visited the United States, and
+why he had published his book.
+
+I have heard it said with as much precision and gravity as if the
+statement had been conveyed by an official report, that Capt. Hall had
+been sent out by the British government expressly for the purpose of
+checking the growing admiration of England for the government of the
+United States, that it was by a commission from the Treasury he had
+come, and that it was only in obedience to orders that he had found
+anything to object to.
+
+I do not give this as the gossip of a coterie; I am persuaded that it
+is the belief of a very considerable portion of the country. So deep is
+the conviction of this singular people that they cannot be seen without
+being admired, that they will not admit the possibility that anyone
+should honestly and sincerely find aught to disapprove in them, or
+their country.
+
+At Philadelphia I met with a little anonymous book, written to show
+that Capt. Basil Hall was in no way to be depended on, for that he not
+only slandered the Americans, but was himself, in other respects, a
+person of very equivocal morals. One proof of this is given by a
+quotation of the following playful account of the distress occasioned
+by the want of a bell. The commentator calls it an instance of
+“shocking coarseness.”
+
+“One day I was rather late for breakfast, and as there was no water in
+my jug, I set off, post haste, half shaved, half dressed, and more than
+half vexed, in quest of water, like a seaman on short allowance,
+hunting for rivulets on some unknown coast. I went up stairs, and down
+stairs, and in the course of my researches into half a dozen different
+apartments, might have stumbled on some lady’s chamber, as the song
+says, which considering the plight I was in, would have been awkward
+enough.”
+
+Another indication of this moral coarseness is pointed out in the
+passage where Capt. Hall says, he never saw a flirtation all the time
+he was in the Union.
+
+The charge of ingratitude also was echoed from mouth to mouth. That he
+should himself bear testimony to the unvarying kindness of the
+reception he met with, and yet find fault with the country, was
+declared on all hands to be a proof of the most abominable ingratitude
+that it ever entered into the heart of man to conceive. I once ventured
+before about a dozen people to ask whether more blame would not attach
+to an author, if he suffered himself to be bribed by individual
+kindness to falsify facts, than if, despite all personal
+considerations, he stated them truly?
+
+“Facts!” cried the whole circle at once, “facts! I tell you there is
+not a word of fact in it from beginning to end.”
+
+The American Reviews are, many of them, I believe, well known in
+England; I need not, therefore, quote them here, but I sometimes
+wondered that they, none of them, ever thought of translating Obadiah’s
+curse into classic American; if they had done so, only placing (he,
+Basil Hall,) between brackets instead of (he, Obadiah,) it would have
+saved them a world of trouble.
+
+I can hardly describe the curiosity with which I sat down at length to
+pursue these tremendous volumes; still less can I do justice to my
+surprise at their contents. To say that I found not one exaggerated
+statement throughout the work, is by no means saying enough. It is
+impossible for any one who knows the country not to see that Captain
+Hall earnestly sought out things to admire and commend. When he
+praises, it is with evident pleasure, and when he finds fault, it is
+with evident reluctance and restraint, excepting where motives purely
+patriotic urge him to state roundly what it is for the benefit of his
+country should be known.
+
+In fact, Captain Hall saw the country to the greatest possible
+advantage. Furnished, of course, with letters of introduction to the
+most distinguished individuals, and with the still more influential
+recommendation of his own reputation, he was received in full
+drawing-room style and state from one end of the Union to the other. He
+saw the country in full dress, and had little or no opportunity of
+judging of it unhouselled, disappointed, unannealed, with all its
+imperfections on its head, as I and my family too often had.
+
+Captain Hall had certainly excellent opportunities of making himself
+acquainted with the form of the government and the laws; and of
+receiving, moreover, the best oral commentary upon them, in
+conversation with the most distinguished citizens. Of these
+opportunities he made excellent use; nothing important met his eye
+which did not receive that sort of analytical attention which an
+experienced and philosophical traveller alone can give. This has made
+his volumes highly interesting and valuable; but I am deeply persuaded,
+that were a man of equal penetration to visit the United States with no
+other means of becoming acquainted with the national character than the
+ordinary working-day intercourse of life, he would conceive an
+infinitely lower idea of the moral atmosphere of the country than
+Captain Hall appears to have done; and the internal conviction on my
+mind is strong, that if Captain Hall had not placed a firm restraint on
+himself, he must have given expression to far deeper indignation than
+any he has uttered against many points in the American character, with
+which he shows, from other circumstances, that he was well acquainted.
+His rule appears to have been to state just so much of the truth as
+would leave on the minds of his readers a correct impression, at the
+least cost of pain to the sensitive folks he was writing about. He
+states his own opinions and feelings, and leaves it to be inferred that
+he has good grounds for adopting them; but he spares the Americans the
+bitterness which a detail of the circumstances would have produced.
+
+If any one chooses to say that some wicked antipathy to twelve millions
+of strangers is the origin of my opinion, I must bear it; and were the
+question one of mere idle speculation, I certainly would not court the
+abuse I must meet for stating it. But it is not so. I know that among
+the best, the most pious, the most benevolent of my countrymen, there
+are hundreds, nay, I fear thousands, who conscientiously believe that a
+greater degree of political and religious liberty (such as is possessed
+in America) would be beneficial for us. How often have I wished, during
+my abode in the United States, that one of these conscientious, but
+mistaken reasoners, fully possessed of his country’s confidence, could
+pass a few years in the United States, sufficiently among the mass of
+the citizens to know them, and sufficiently at leisure to trace effects
+to their causes. Then might we look for a statement which would teach
+these mistaken philanthropists to tremble at every symptom of
+democratic power among us; a statement which would make even our
+sectarians shudder at the thought of hewing down the Established
+Church, for they would be taught, by fearful example, to know that it
+was the bulwark which protects us from the gloomy horrors of fanatic
+superstition on one side, and the still more dreadful inroads of
+infidelity on the other. And more than all, such a man would see as
+clear as light, that where every class is occupied in getting money,
+and no class in spending it, there will neither be leisure for
+worshipping the theory of honesty, nor motive strong enough to put its
+restrictive doctrine in practice. Where every man is engaged in driving
+hard bargains with his fellows, where is the honoured class to be found
+into which gentleman-like feelings, principles, and practice, are
+necessary as an introduction?
+
+That there are men of powerful intellect, benevolent hearts, and high
+moral feeling in America, I know: and I could, if challenged to do so,
+name individuals surpassed by none of any country in these qualities;
+but they are excellent, despite their institutions, not in consequence
+of them. It is not by such that Captain Hall’s statements are called
+slanders, nor is it from such that I shall meet the abuse which I well
+know these pages will inevitably draw upon me; and I only trust I may
+be able to muster as much self-denial as my predecessor, who asserts in
+his recently published “Fragments,” that he has read none of the
+American criticisms on his book. He did wisely, if he wished to retain
+an atom of his kindly feeling toward America, and he has, assuredly,
+lost but little on the score of information, for these criticisms,
+generally speaking, consist of mere downright personal abuse, or
+querulous complaints of his ingratitude and ill usage of them;
+complaints which it is quite astonishing that any persons of spirit
+could indulge in.
+
+The following good-humoured paragraphs from the Fragments, must, I
+think, rather puzzle the Americans. Possibly they may think that
+Captain Hall is quizzing them, when he says he has read none of their
+criticisms; but I think there is in these passages internal evidence
+that he has not seen them. For if he had read one-fiftieth part of the
+vituperation of his Travels, which it has been my misfortune to peruse,
+he could hardly have brought himself to write what follows.
+
+If the Americans still refuse to shake the hand proffered to them in
+the true old John Bull spirit, they are worse folks than even I take
+them for.
+
+Captain Hall, after describing the hospitable reception he formerly met
+with, at a boarding-house in New York, goes on thus:—“If our hostess be
+still alive, I hope she will not repent of having bestowed her obliging
+attentions on one, who so many years afterwards made himself, he fears,
+less popular in her land, than he could wish to be amongst a people to
+whom he owes so much, and for whom he really feels so much kindness. He
+still anxiously hopes, however, they will believe him, when he
+declares, that, having said in his recent publication no more than what
+he conceived was due to strict truth, and to the integrity of history,
+as far as his observations and opinions went, he still feels, as he
+always has, and ever must continue to feel towards America, the
+heartiest good-will.
+
+“The Americans are perpetually repeating that the foundation-stone of
+their liberty is fixed on the doctrine, that every man is free to form
+his own opinions, and to promulgate them in candour and in moderation.
+Is it meant that a foreigner is excluded from these privileges? If not,
+may I ask, in what respect have I passed these limitations? The
+Americans have surely no fair right to be offended because my views
+differ from their’s; and yet I am told I have been rudely handled by
+the press of that country. If my motives are distrusted, I can only
+say, I am sorely belied. If I am mistaken, regret at my political
+blindness were surely more dignified than anger on the part of those
+with whom I differ; and if it shall chance that I am in the right, the
+best confirmation of the correctness of my views, in the opinion of
+indifferent persons, will perhaps be found in the soreness of those,
+who wince when the truth is spoken.
+
+“Yet, after all, few things would give me more real pleasure, than to
+know that my friends across the water would consent to take me at my
+word; and, considering what I have said about them as so much public
+matter, which it truly is, agree to reckon me, in my absence, and they
+always did, when I was amongst them, and, I am sure, they would count
+me, if I went back again, as a private friend. I differed with them in
+politics, and I differ with them now as much as ever; but I sincerely
+wish them happiness individually; and, as a nation, I shall rejoice if
+they prosper. As the Persians write, “What can I say more?” And I only
+hope these few words may help to make my peace with people who justly
+pride themselves on bearing no malice. As for myself, I have no peace
+to make; for I have studiously avoided reading any of the American
+criticisms on my book, in order that the kindly feelings I have ever
+entertained towards that country should not be ruffled. By this
+abstinence I may have lost some information, and perhaps missed many
+opportunities of correcting erroneous impressions. But I set so much
+store by the pleasing recollection of the journey itself, and of the
+hospitality with which my family were every where received, that
+whether it be right, or whether it be wrong, I cannot bring myself to
+read anything which might disturb these agreeable associations. So let
+us part in peace; or, rather, let us meet again in cordial
+communication; and if this little work shall find its way across the
+Atlantic, I hope it will be read there without reference to anything
+that has passed between us; or, at all events, with reference only to
+those parts of our former intercourse, which are satisfactory to all
+parties.”—_Hall’s Fragments_, Vol.1.p.200.
+
+I really think it is impossible to read, not only this passage, but
+many others in these delightful little volumes, without feeling that
+their author is as little likely to deserve the imputation of harshness
+and ill-will, as any man that ever lived.
+
+In reading Capt. Hall’s volumes on America, the observation which, I
+think, struck me the most forcibly, and which certainly came the most
+completely home to my own feelings, was the following.
+
+“In all my travels both amongst Heathens, and amongst Christians, I
+have never encountered any people by whom I found it nearly so
+difficult to make myself understood as by the Americans.”
+
+I have conversed in London and in Paris with foreigners of many
+nations, and often through the misty medium of an idiom imperfectly
+understood, but I remember no instance in which I found the same
+difficulty in conveying my sentiments, my impressions, and my opinions
+to those around me, as I did in America. Whatever faith may be given to
+my assertion, no one who has not visited the country can possibly
+conceive to what extent it is true. It is less necessary, I imagine,
+for the mutual understanding of persons conversing together, that the
+language should be the same, than that their ordinary mode of thinking,
+and habits of life should, in some degree, assimilate; whereas, in
+point of fact, there is hardly a single point of sympathy between the
+Americans and us; but whatever the cause, the fact is certainly as I
+have stated it, and herein, I think, rests the only apology for the
+preposterous and undignified anger felt and expressed against Capt.
+Hall’s work. They really cannot, even if they wished it, enter into any
+of his views, or comprehend his most ordinary feelings; and, therefore,
+they cannot believe in the sincerity of the impressions he describes.
+The candour which he expresses, and evidently feels, they mistake for
+irony, or totally distrust; his unwillingness to give pain to persons
+from whom he has received kindness, they scornfully reject as
+affectation; and, although they must know right well, in their own
+secret hearts, how infinitely more they lay at his mercy than he has
+chosen to betray, they pretend, even to themselves, that he has
+exaggerated the bad points of their character and institutions;
+whereas, the truth is, that he has let them off with a degree of
+tenderness which may be quite suitable for him to exercise, however
+little merited; while, at the same time, he has most industriously
+magnified their merits, whenever he could possibly find anything
+favourable. One can perfectly well understand why Capt. Hall’s avowed
+Tory principles should be disapproved of in the United States,
+especially as (with a questionable policy in a bookselling point of
+view, in these reforming times,) he volunteers a profession of
+political faith, in which, to use the Kentucky phrase, “he goes the
+whole hog,” and bluntly avows, in his concluding chapter, that he not
+only holds stoutly to Church and State, but that he conceives the
+English House of Commons to be, if not quite perfect, at least as much
+so for all the required purposes of representation as it can by
+possibility be made in practice. Such a downright thorough-going Tory
+and Anti-reformer, pretending to judge of the workings of the American
+democratical system, was naturally held to be a monstrous abomination,
+and it has been visited accordingly, both in America, and as I
+understand, with us also. The experience which Capt. Hall has acquired
+in visits to every part of the world, during twenty or thirty years,
+goes for nothing with the Radicals on either side the Atlantic: on the
+contrary, precisely in proportion to the value of that authority which
+is the result of actual observation, are they irritated to find its
+weight cast into the opposite scale. Had not Capt. Hall been converted
+by what he saw in North America, from the Whig faith he exhibited in
+his description of South America, his book would have been far more
+popular in England during the last two years of public excitement; it
+may, perhaps, be long before any justice is done to Capt. Hall’s book
+in the United States, but a less time will probably suffice to
+establish its claim to attention at home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+
+Journey to Niagara—Hudson—West Point—Hyde Park—Albany—Yankees—Trenton
+Falls—Rochester—Genesee Falls—Lockport
+
+
+How quickly weeks glide away in such a city as New York, especially
+when you reckon among your friends some of the most agreeable people in
+either hemisphere. But we had still a long journey before us, and one
+of the wonders of the world was to be seen.
+
+On the 30th of May we set off for Niagara. I had heard so much of the
+surpassing beauty of the North River, that I expected to be
+disappointed, and to find reality flat after description. But it is not
+in the power of man to paint with a strength exceeding that of nature,
+in such scenes as the Hudson presents. Every mile shows some new and
+startling effect of the combination of rocks, trees, and water; there
+is no interval of flat or insipid scenery, from the moment you enter
+upon the river at New York, to that of quitting it at Albany, a
+distance of 180 miles.
+
+For the first twenty miles the shore of New Jersey, on the left, offers
+almost a continued wall of trap rock, which from its perpendicular
+form, and lineal fissures, is called the Palisados. This wall sometimes
+rises to the height of a hundred and fifty feet, and sometimes sinks
+down to twenty. Here and there, a watercourse breaks its uniformity;
+and every where the brightest foliage, in all the splendour of the
+climate and the season, fringed and chequered the dark barrier. On the
+opposite shore, Manhatten Island, with its leafy coronet gemmed with
+villas, forms a lovely contrast to these rocky heights.
+
+After passing Manhatten Island, the eastern shore gradually assumes a
+wild and rocky character, but ever varying; woods, lawns, pastures, and
+towering cliffs all meet the eye in quick succession, as the giant
+steam-boat cleaves its swift passage up the stream.
+
+For several miles the voyage is one of great interest independent of
+its beauty, for it passes many points where important events of the
+revolutionary war took place.
+
+It was not without a pang that I looked on the spot where poor Andre
+was taken, and another where he was executed.
+
+Several forts, generally placed in most commanding situations, still
+show by their battered ruins, where the struggle was strongest, and I
+felt no lack of that moral interest so entirely wanting in the new
+States, and without which no journey can, I think, continue long
+without wearying the spirits.
+
+About forty miles from New York you enter upon the Highlands, as a
+series of mountains which then flank the river on both sides, are
+called. The beauty of this scenery can only be conceived when it is
+seen. One might fancy that these capricious masses, with all their
+countless varieties of light and shade, were thrown together to show
+how passing lovely rocks and woods, and water could be. Sometimes a
+lofty peak shoots suddenly up into the heavens, showing in bold relief
+against the sky; and then a deep ravine sinks in solemn shadow, and
+draws the imagination into its leafy recesses. For several miles the
+river appears to form a succession of lakes; you are often enclosed on
+all sides by rocks rising directly from the very edge of the stream,
+and then you turn a point, the river widens, and again woods, lawns,
+and villages are reflected on its bosom.
+
+The state prison of Sing Sing is upon the edge of the water, and has no
+picturesque effect to atone for the painful images it suggests; the
+“Sleepy Hollow” of Washington Irving, just above it, restores the
+imagination to a better tone.
+
+West Point, the military academy of the United States, is fifty miles
+from New York. The scenery around it is magnificent, and though the
+buildings of the establishment are constructed with the handsome and
+unpicturesque regularity which marks the work of governments, they are
+so nobly placed, and so embosomed in woods, that they look beautiful.
+The lengthened notes of a French horn, which I presume was attending
+some of their military manoeuvres, sounded with deep and solemn
+sweetness as we passed.
+
+About thirty miles further is Hyde Park, the magnificent seat of Dr.
+Hosack; here the misty summit of the distant Kaatskill begins to form
+the outline of the landscape; it is hardly possible to imagine anything
+more beautiful than this place. We passed a day there with great
+enjoyment; and the following morning set forward again in one of those
+grand floating hotels called steamboats. Either on this day, or the one
+before, we had two hundred cabin passengers on board, and they all sat
+down together to a table spread abundantly, and with considerable
+elegance. A continual succession of gentlemen’s seats, many of them
+extremely handsome, borders the river to Albany. We arrived there late
+in the evening, but had no difficulty in finding excellent
+accommodation.
+
+Albany is the state capital of New York, and has some very handsome
+public buildings; there are also some curious relics of the old Dutch
+inhabitants.
+
+The first sixteen miles from Albany we travelled in a stage, to avoid a
+multitude of locks at the entrance of the Erie canal; but at Scenectedy
+we got on board one of the canal packet-boats for Utica.
+
+With a very delightful party, of one’s own choosing, fine temperate
+weather, and a strong breeze to chase the mosquitos, this mode of
+travelling might be very agreeable, but I can hardly imagine any motive
+of convenience powerful enough to induce me again to imprison myself in
+a canal boat under ordinary circumstances. The accommodations being
+greatly restricted, every body, from the moment of entering the boat,
+acts upon a system of unshrinking egotism. The library of a dozen
+books, the backgammon board, the tiny berths, the shady side of the
+cabin, are all jostled for in a manner to make one greatly envy the
+power of the snail; at the moment I would willingly have given up some
+of my human dignity for the privilege of creeping into a shell of my
+own. To any one who has been accustomed in travelling, to be addressed
+with, “Do sit here, you will find it more comfortable,” the “You must
+go there, I made for this place first,” sounds very unmusical.
+
+There is a great quietness about the women of America (I speak of the
+exterior manner of persons casually met), but somehow or other, I
+should never call it gentleness. In such trying moments as that of
+_fixing_ themselves on board a packet-boat, the men are prompt,
+determined, and will compromise any body’s convenience, except their
+own. The women are doggedly stedfast in their will, and till matters
+are settled, look like hedgehogs, with every quill raised, and firmly
+set, as if to forbid the approach of any one who might wish to rub them
+down. In circumstances where an English woman would look proud, and a
+French woman _nonchalante_, an American lady looks grim; even the
+youngest and the prettiest can set their lips, and knit their brows,
+and look as hard and unsocial as their grandmothers.
+
+Though not in the Yankee or New England country, we were bordering upon
+it sufficiently to meet in the stages and boats many delightful
+specimens of this most peculiar race. I like them extremely well, but I
+would not wish to have any business transactions with them, if I could
+avoid it, lest, to use their own phrase, “they should be too smart for
+me.”
+
+It is by no means rare to meet elsewhere, in this working-day world of
+our’s, people who push acuteness to the verge of honesty, and
+sometimes, perhaps, a little bit beyond; but, I believe, the Yankee is
+the only one who will be found to boast of doing so. It is by no means
+easy to give a clear and just idea of a Yankee; if you hear his
+character from a Virginian, you will believe him a devil: if you listen
+to it from himself, you might fancy him a god—though a tricky one;
+Mercury turned righteous and notable. Matthews did very well, as far as
+“I expect,” “I calculate,” and “I guess;” but this is only the shell;
+there is an immense deal within, both of sweet and bitter. In
+acuteness, cautiousness, industry, and perseverance, he resembles the
+Scotch; in habits of frugal neatness, he resembles the Dutch; in love
+of lucre he doth greatly resemble the sons of Abraham; but in frank
+admission, and superlative admiration of all his own peculiarities, he
+is like nothing on earth but himself.
+
+The Quakers have been celebrated for the pertinacity with which they
+avoid giving a direct answer, but what Quaker could ever vie with a
+Yankee in this sort of fencing? Nothing, in fact, can equal their skill
+in evading a question, excepting that with which they set about asking
+one. I am afraid that in repeating a conversation which I overheard on
+board the Erie canal boat, I shall spoil it, by forgetting some of the
+little delicate doublings which delighted me—yet I wrote it down
+immediately. Both parties were Yankees, but strangers to each other;
+one of them having, by gentle degrees, made himself pretty well
+acquaninted with the point from which every one on board had started,
+and that for which he was bound, at last attacked his brother Reynard
+thus:-
+
+“Well, now, which way may you be travelling?”
+
+“I expect this canal runs pretty nearly west.”
+
+“Are you going far with it?”
+
+“Well, now, I don’t rightly know how many miles it may be.”
+
+“I expect you’ll be from New York?”
+
+“Sure enough I have been at New York, often and often.”
+
+“I calculate, then, ’tis not there as you stop?”
+
+“Business must be minded, in stopping and in stirring.”
+
+“You may say that. Well, I look then you’ll be making for the Springs?”
+
+“Folks say as all the world is making for the Springs, and I except a
+good sight of them is.”
+
+“Do you calculate upon stopping long when you get to your journey’s
+end?”
+
+“’Tis my business must settle that, I expect?”
+
+“I guess that’s true, too; but you’ll be for making pleasure a business
+for once, I calculate?”
+
+“My business don’t often lie in that line.”
+
+“Then, may be, it is not the Springs as takes you this line?”
+
+“The Springs is a right elegant place, I reckon.”
+
+“It is your health, I calculate, as makes you break your good rules?”
+
+“My health don’t trouble me much, I guess.”
+
+“No? Why that’s well. How is the markets, sir? Are bread stuffs up?”
+
+“I a’nt just capable to say.”
+
+“A deal of money’s made by just looking after the article at the
+fountain’s head.”
+
+“You may say that.”
+
+“Do you look to be making great dealings in produce up the country?”
+
+“Why that, I expect, is difficult to know.”
+
+“I calculate you’ll find the markets changeable these times?”
+
+“No markets ben’t very often without changing.”
+
+“Why, that’s right down true. What may be your biggest article of
+produce?”
+
+“I calculate, generally, that’s the biggest, as I makes most by.”
+
+“You may say that. But what do you chiefly call your most particular
+branch?”
+
+“Why, that’s what I can’t justly say.”
+
+And so they went on, without advancing or giving an inch, ’till I was
+weary of listening; but I left them still at it, when I stepped out to
+resume my station on a trunk at the bow of the boat, where I scribbled
+in my note-book this specimen of Yankee conversation.
+
+The Erie canal has cut through much solid rock, and we often passed
+between magnificent cliffs. The little falls of the Mohawk form a
+lovely scene; the rocks over which the river runs are most fantastic in
+form. The fall continues nearly a mile, and a beautiful village, called
+the Little Falls, overhangs it. As many locks occur at this point, we
+quitted the boat, that we might the better enjoy the scenery, which is
+of the widest description. Several other passengers did so likewise,
+and I was much amused by one of our Yankees, who very civilly
+accompanied our party, pointing out to me the wild state of the
+country, and apologizing for it, by saying, that the property all round
+thereabouts had been owned by an Englishman; “and you’ll excuse me,
+ma’am, but when the English gets a spot of wild ground like this here,
+they have no notions about it like us; but the Englishman have sold it,
+and if you was to see it five years hence, you would not know it again;
+I’ll engage there will be by that, half a score elegant factories—’tis
+a true shame to let such a privilege of water lie idle.”
+
+We reached Utica at twelve o’clock the following day, pretty well
+fagged by the sun by day, and a crowded cabin by night; lemon-juice and
+iced-water (without sugar) kept us alive. But for this delightful
+recipe, feather fans, and eau de Cologne, I think we should have failed
+altogether; the thermometer stood at 90 degrees.
+
+At two, we set off in a very pleasant airy carriage for Trenton Falls,
+a delightful drive of fourteen miles. These falls have become within
+the last few years only second in fame to Niagara. The West Canada
+Creek, which in the map shows but as a paltry stream, has found its way
+through three miles of rock, which, at many points, is 150 feet high. A
+forest of enormous cedars is on their summit; and many of that
+beautiful species of white cedar which droops its branches like the
+weeping-willow grow in the clefts of the rock, and in some places
+almost dip their dark foliage in the torrent. The rock is of a dark
+grey limestone, and often presents a wall of unbroken surface. Near the
+hotel a flight of very alarming steps leads down to the bed of the
+stream, and on reaching it you find yourself enclosed in a deep abyss
+of solid rock, with no visible opening but that above your head. The
+torrent dashes by with inconceivable rapidity; its colour is black as
+night, and the dark ledge of rock on which you stand, is so
+treacherously level with it, that nothing warns you of danger. Within
+the last three years two young people, though surrounded by their
+friends, have stepped an inch too far, and disappeared from among them,
+as if by magic, never to revisit earth again. This broad flat ledge
+reached but a short distance, and then the perpendicular wall appears
+to stop your farther progress; but there is a spirit of defiance in the
+mind of man; he will not be stayed either by rocks or waves. By the aid
+of gunpowder a sufficient quantity of the rock has been removed to
+afford a fearful footing round a point, which, when doubled, discloses
+a world of cataracts, all leaping forward together in most magnificent
+confusion. I suffered considerably before I reached the spot where this
+grand scene is visible; a chain firmly fastened to the rock serves to
+hang by, as you creep along the giddy verge, and this enabled me to
+proceed so far; but here the chain failed, and my courage with it,
+though the rest of the party continued for some way farther, and
+reported largely of still increasing sublimity. But my knees tottered,
+and my head swam, so while the rest crept onward, I sat down to wait
+their return on the floor of rock which had received us on quitting the
+steps.
+
+A hundred and fifty feet of bare black rock on one side, an equal
+height covered with solemn cedars on the other, an unfathomed torrent
+roaring between them, the fresh remembrance of the ghastly legend
+belonging to the spot, and the idea of my children clinging to the
+dizzy path I had left, was altogether sombre enough; but I had not sat
+long before a tremendous burst of thunder shook the air; the deep chasm
+answered from either side, again, again, and again; I thought the rock
+I sat upon trembled: but the whole effect was so exceedingly grand,
+that I had no longer leisure to think of fear; my children immediately
+returned, and we enjoyed together the darkening shadows cast over the
+abyss, the rival clamour of the torrent and the storm, and that
+delightful exaltation of the spirits which sets danger at defiance. A
+few heavy rain drops alarmed us more than all the terrors of the spot,
+or rather, they recalled our senses, and we retreated by the fearful
+steps, reaching our hotel unwetted and unharmed. The next morning we
+were again early a foot; the last night’s storm had refreshed the air,
+and renewed our strength. We now took a different route, and instead of
+descending, as before, walked through the dark forest along the cliff,
+sufficiently near its edge to catch fearful glimpses of the scene
+below. After some time the patch began to descend, and at length
+brought us to the Shantee, commemorated in Miss Sedgwick’s Clarence.
+This is by far the finest point of the falls. There is a little balcony
+in front of the Shantee, literally hanging over the tremendous
+whirlpool; though frail, it makes one fancy oneself in safety, and
+reminded me of the feeling with which I have stood on one side a high
+gate, watching a roaring bull on the other. The walls of this Shantee
+are literally covered with autographs, and I was inclined to join the
+laugh against the egotistical trifling, when one of the party
+discovered “Trollope, England,” amidst the innumerable scrawls. The
+well known characters were hailed with such delight, that I think I
+shall never again laugh at any one for leaving their name where it is
+possible a friend may find it.
+
+We returned to Utica to dinner, and found that we must either wait till
+the next day for the Rochester coach, or again submit to the
+packet-boat. Our impatience induced us to prefer the latter, not very
+wisely, I think, for every annoyance seemed to increase upon us. The
+Oneida and the Genesee country are both extremely beautiful, but had we
+not returned by another route we should have known little about it.
+From the canal nothing is seen to advantage, and very little is seen at
+all. My chief amusement, I think, was derived from names. One town,
+consisting of a whiskey store and a warehouse, is called Port Byron. At
+Rome, the first name I saw over a store was Remus, doing infinite
+honour, I thought, to the classic lore of his godfathers and
+godmothers; but it would be endless to record all the drolleries of
+this kind which we met with. We arrived at Rochester, a distance of a
+hundred and forty miles, on the second morning after leaving Utica,
+fully determined never to enter a canal boat again, at least, not in
+America.
+
+Rochester is one of the most famous of the cities built on the Jack and
+Bean-stalk principle. There are many splendid edifices in wood; and
+certainly more houses, warehouses, factories, and steam-engines than
+ever were collected together in the same space of time; but I was told
+by a fellow-traveller that the stumps of the forest are still to be
+found firmly rooted in the cellars.
+
+The fall of the Genesee is close to the town, and in the course of a
+few months will, perhaps, be in the middle of it. It is a noble sheet
+of water, of a hundred and sixty feet perpendicular fall; but I looked
+at it through the window of a factory, and as I did not like that, I
+was obligingly handed to the door-way of a sawing-mill; in short, “the
+great water privilege” has been so ingeniously taken advantage of, that
+no point can be found where its voice and its movement are not mixed
+and confounded with those of the “admirable machinery of this
+flourishing city.”
+
+The Genesee fall is renowned as being the last and fatal leap of the
+adventurous madman, Sam Patch; he had leaped it once before, and rose
+to the surface of the river in perfect safety, but the last time he was
+seen to falter as he took the leap, and was never heard of more. It
+seems that he had some misgivings of his fate, for a pet bear, which he
+had always taken with him on his former break-neck adventures, and
+which had constantly leaped after him without injury, he on this
+occasion left behind, in the care of a friend, to whom he bequeathed
+him “in case of his not returning.” We saw the bear, which is kept at
+the principal hotel; he is a noble creature, and more completely tame
+than I ever saw any animal of the species.
+
+Our journey now became wilder every step, the unbroken forest often
+skirted the road for miles, and the sight of a log-hut was an event.
+Yet the road was, for the greater part of the day, good, running along
+a natural ridge, just wide enough for it. This ridge is a very singular
+elevation, and, by all the enquiry I could make, the favourite theory
+concerning it is, that it was formerly the boundary of Lake Ontario,
+near which it passes. When this ridge ceased, the road ceased too, and
+for the rest of the way to Lockport, we were most painfully jumbled and
+jolted over logs and through bogs, till every joint was nearly
+dislocated.
+
+Lockport is beyond all comparison, the strangest looking place I ever
+beheld. As fast as half a dozen trees were cut down, a _factory_ was
+raised up; stumps still contest the ground with pillars, and porticos
+are seen to struggle with rocks. It looks as if the demon of machinery,
+having invaded the peaceful realms of nature, had fixed on Lockport as
+the battle-ground on which they should strive for mastery. The fiend
+insists that the streams should go one way, though the gentle mother
+had ever led their dancing steps another; nay, the very rocks must fall
+before him, and take what form he wills. The battle is lost and won.
+Nature is fairly routed and driven from the field, and the rattling,
+crackling, hissing, spitting demon has taken possession of Lockport for
+ever.
+
+We slept there, dismally enough. I never felt more out of humour at
+what the Americans call improvement; it is, in truth, as it now stands,
+a most hideous place, and gladly did I leave it behind me.
+
+Our next stage was to Lewiston; for some miles before we reached it we
+were within sight of the British frontier; and we made our salaams.
+
+The monument of the brave General Brock stands on an elevated point
+near Queenstown, and is visible at a great distance.
+
+We breakfasted at Lewiston, but felt every cup of coffee as a sin, so
+impatient were we, as we approached the end of our long pilgrimage, to
+reach the shrine, which nature seems to have placed at such a distance
+from her worshippers on purpose to try the strength of their devotion.
+
+A few miles more would bring us to the high altar, but first we had to
+cross the ferry, for we were determined upon taking our first view from
+British ground. The Niagara river is very lovely here; the banks are
+bold, rugged, and richly coloured, both by rocks and woods; and the
+stream itself is bright, clear, and unspeakably green.
+
+In crossing the ferry a fellow-passenger made many enquiries of the
+young boatman respecting the battle of Queenstown; he was but a lad,
+and could remember little about it, but he was a British lad, and his
+answers smacked strongly of his loyal British feeling. Among other
+things, the questioner asked if many American citizens had not been
+thrown from the heights into the river.
+
+“Why, yes, there was a good many of them; but it was right to show them
+there was water between us, and you know it might help to keep the rest
+of them from coming to trouble us on our own ground.”
+
+This phrase, “our own ground,” gave interest to every mile, or I
+believe I should have shut my eyes, and tried to sleep, that I might
+annihilate what remained of time and space between me and Niagara.
+
+But I was delighted to see British oaks, and British roofs, and British
+boys and girls. These latter, as if to impress upon us that they were
+not citizens, made bows and courtseys as we passed, and this little
+touch of long unknown civility produced great effect. “See these dear
+children, mamma! do they not look English? how I love them!” was the
+exclamation it produced.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+
+Niagara—Arrival at Forsythes—First sight of the Falls—Goat Island—The
+Rapids—Buffalo—Lake Erie—Canandaigna—Stage-coach adventures
+
+
+At length we reached Niagara. It was the brightest day that June could
+give; and almost any day would have seemed bright that brought me to
+the object, which for years, I had languished to look upon.
+
+We did not hear the sound of the Falls till very near the hotel, which
+overhangs them; as you enter the door you see behind the hall an open
+space surrounded by galleries, one above another, and in an instant you
+feel that from thence the wonder is visible.
+
+I trembled like a fool, and my girls clung to me, trembling too, I
+believe, but with faces beaming with delight. We encountered a waiter
+who had a sympathy of some sort with us, for he would not let us run
+through the hall to the first gallery, but ushered us up stairs, and
+another instant placed us where, at one glance, I saw all I had wished
+for, hoped for, dreamed of.
+
+It is not for me to attempt a description of Niagara; I feel I have no
+powers for it.
+
+After one long, stedfast gaze, we quitted the gallery that we might
+approach still nearer, and in leaving the house had the good fortune to
+meet an English gentleman,[11] who had been introduced to us at New
+York; he had preceded us by a few days, and knew exactly how and where
+to lead us. If any man living can describe the scene we looked upon it
+is himself, and I trust he will do it. As for myself, I can only say,
+that wonder, terror, and delight completely overwhelmed me. I wept with
+a strange mixture of pleasure and of pain, and certainly was, for some
+time, too violently affected in the _physique_ to be capable of much
+pleasure; but when this emotion of the senses subsided, and I had
+recovered some degree of composure, my enjoyment was very great indeed.
+
+ [11] The accomplished author of “Cyril Thornton.”
+
+
+To say that I was not disappointed is but a weak expression to convey
+the surprise and astonishment which this long dreamed of scene
+produced. It has to me something beyond its vastness; there is a
+shadowy mystery hangs about it which neither the eye nor even the
+imagination can penetrate; but I dare not dwell on this, it is a
+dangerous subject, and any attempt to describe the sensations produced
+must lead direct to nonsense.
+
+Exactly at the Fall, it is the Fall and nothing else you have to look
+upon; there are not, as at Trenton, mighty rocks and towering forests,
+there is only the waterfall; but it is the fall of an ocean, and were
+Pelion piled on Ossa on either side of it, we could not look at them.
+
+The noise is greatly less than I expected; one can hear with perfect
+distinctness everything said in an ordinary tone, when quite close to
+the cataract. The cause of this, I imagine to be, that it does not fall
+immediately among rocks, like the far noisier Potomac, but direct and
+unbroken, save by its own rebound. The colour of the water, before this
+rebound hides it in foam and mist, is of the brightest and most
+delicate green; the violence of the impulse sends it far over the
+precipice before it falls, and the effect of the ever varying light
+through its transparency is, I think, the loveliest thing I ever looked
+upon.
+
+We descended to the edge of the gulf which received the torrent, and
+thence looked at the horse-shoe fall in profile; it seems like awful
+daring to stand close beside it, and raise one’s eyes to its immensity.
+I think the point the most utterly inconceivable to those who have not
+seen it, is the centre of the horse-shoe. The force of the torrent
+converges there, and as the heavy mass pours in, twisted, wreathed, and
+curled together, it gives an idea of irresistible power, such as no
+other object ever conveyed to me.
+
+The following anecdote, which I had from good authority, may give some
+notion of this mighty power.
+
+After the last American war, three of our ships stationed on Lake Erie
+were declared unfit for service, and condemned. Some of their officers
+obtained permission to send them over Niagara Falls. The first was torn
+to shivers by the rapids, and went over in fragments; the second filled
+with water before she reached the fall; but the third, which was in
+better condition, took the leap gallantly, and retained her form till
+it was hid in the cloud of mist below. A reward of ten dollars was
+offered for the largest fragment of wood that should be found from
+either wreck, five for the second, and so on. One morsel only was ever
+seen, and that about a foot in length, was mashed as by a vice, and its
+edges notched like the teeth of a saw. What had become of the immense
+quantity of wood which had been precipitated? What unknown whirlpool
+had engulphed it, so that, contrary to the very laws of nature, no
+vestige of the floating material could find its way to the surface?
+
+Beyond the horse-shoe is Goat Island, and beyond Goat Island the
+American fall, bold, straight, and chafed to snowy whiteness by the
+rocks which meet it; but it does not approach, in sublimity or awful
+beauty, to the wondrous crescent on the other shore. There, the form of
+the mighty cauldron, into which the deluge poors, the hundred silvery
+torrents congregating round its verge, the smooth and solemn movement
+with which it rolls its massive volume over the rock, the liquid
+emerald of its long unbroken waters, the fantastic wreaths which spring
+to meet it, and then, the shadowy mist that veils the horrors of its
+crash below, constitute a scene almost too enormous in its features for
+man to look upon. “Angels might tremble as they gazed;” and I should
+deem the nerves obtuse, rather than strong, which did not quail at the
+first sight of this stupendous cataract.
+
+Minute local particulars can be of no interest to those who have not
+felt their influence for pleasure or for pain. I will not tell of giddy
+stairs which scale the very edge of the torrent, nor of beetling slabs
+of table rock, broken and breaking, on which, shudder as you may, you
+must take your stand or lose your reputation as a tourist. All these
+feats were performed again and again even on the first day of our
+arrival, and most earthly weary was I when the day was done, though I
+would not lose the remembrance of it to purchase the addition of many
+soft and silken ones to my existence.
+
+By four o’clock the next morning I was again at the little shantee,
+close to the horse-shoe fall, which seems reared in water rather than
+in air, and took an early shower-bath of spray. Much is concealed at
+this early hour by the heavy vapour, but there was a charm in the very
+obscurity; and every moment, as the light increased, cloud after cloud
+rolled off, till the vast wonder was again before me.
+
+It is in the afternoon that the rainbow is visible from the British
+side; and it is a lovely feature in the mighty landscape. The gay arch
+springs from fall to fall, a fairy bridge.
+
+After breakfast we crossed to the American side, and explored Goat
+Island. The passage across the Niagara, directly in face of the falls,
+is one of the most delightful little voyages imaginable; the boat
+crosses marvellously near them, and within reach of a light shower of
+spray. Real safety and apparent danger have each their share in the
+pleasure felt. The river is here two hundred feet deep. The passage up
+the rock brings you close upon the American cataract; it is a vast
+sheet, and has all the sublimity that height and width, and uproar can
+give; but it has none of the magic of its rival about it. Goat Island
+has, at all points, a fine view of the rapids; the furious velocity
+with which they rush onward to the abyss is terrific; and the throwing
+a bridge across them was a work of noble daring.
+
+Below the falls, the river runs between lofty rocks, crowned with
+unbroken forests; this scene forms a striking contrast to the level
+shores above the cataract. It appears as if the level of the river had
+been broken up by some volcanic force. The Niagara flows out of Lake
+Erie, a broad, deep river; but for several miles its course is
+tranquil, and its shores perfectly level. By degrees its bed begins to
+sink, and the glassy smoothness is disturbed by a slight ripple. The
+inverted trees, that before lay so softly still upon its bosom, become
+twisted and tortured till they lose their form, and seem madly to mix
+in the tumult that destroys them. The current becomes more rapid at
+every step, till rock after rock has chafed the stream to fury, making
+the green one white. This lasts for a mile, and then down sink the
+rocks at once, one hundred and fifty feet, and the enormous flood falls
+after them. God said, let there be a cataract, and it was so. When the
+river has reached its new level, the precipice on either side shows a
+terrific chasm of solid rock; some beautiful plants are clinging to its
+sides, and oak, ash, and cedar, in many places, clothe their terrors
+with rich foliage.
+
+This violent transition from level shores to a deep ravine, seems to
+indicate some great convulsion as its cause, and when I heard of a
+burning spring close by, I fancied the volcanic power still at work,
+and that the wonders of the region might yet increase.
+
+We passed four delightful days of excitement and fatigue; we drenched
+ourselves in spray; we cut our feet on the rocks; we blistered our
+faces in the sun; we looked up the cataract, and down the cataract; we
+perched ourselves on every pinnacle we could find; we dipped our
+fingers in the flood at a few yards’ distance from its thundering fall;
+in short, we strove to fill as many niches of memory with Niagara as
+possible; and I think the images will be within the power of recall for
+ever.
+
+We met many groups of tourists in our walks, chiefly American, but they
+were, or we fancied they were, but little observant of the wonders
+around them.
+
+One day we were seated on a point of the cliff, near the ferry, which
+commands a view of both the Falls. This, by the way, is considered as
+the finest general view of the scene. One of our party was employed in
+attempting to sketch, what, however, I believe it is impossible for any
+pencil to convey an idea of to those who have not seen it. We had
+borrowed two or three chairs from a neighbouring cottage, and amongst
+us had gathered a quantity of boughs which, with the aid of shawls and
+parasols, we had contrived to weave into a shelter from the midday sun,
+so that altogether I have no doubt we looked very cool and comfortable.
+
+A large party who had crossed from the American side, wound up the
+steep ascent from the place where the boat had left them; in doing so
+their backs were turned to the cataracts, and as they approached the
+summit, our party was the principal object before them. They all stood
+perfectly still to look at us. This first examination was performed at
+the distance of about a dozen yard from the spot we occupied, and
+lasted about five minutes, by which time they had recovered breath, and
+acquired courage. They then advanced in a body, and one or two of them
+began to examine (wrong side upwards) the work of the sketcher, in
+doing which they stood precisely between him and his object; but of
+this I think it is very probable they were not aware. Some among them
+next began to question us as to how long we had been at the Falls;
+whether there were much company; if we were not from the old country,
+and the like. In return we learnt that they were just arrived; yet not
+one of them (there were eight) ever turned the head, even for a moment,
+to look at the most stupendous spectacle that nature has to show.
+
+The company at the hotel changed almost every day. Many parties arrived
+in the morning, walked to the falls; returned to the hotel to dinner,
+and departed by the coach immediately after it. Many groups were
+indescribably whimsical, both in appearance and manner. Now and then a
+first-rate dandy shot in among us, like a falling star.
+
+On one occasion, when we were in the beautiful gallery, at the back of
+the hotel, which overlooks the horse-shoe fall, we saw the booted leg
+of one of this graceful race protruded from the window which commands
+the view, while his person was thrown back in his chair, and his head
+enveloped in a cloud of tobacco smoke.
+
+I have repeatedly remarked, when it has happened to me to meet any
+ultra fine men among the wilder and more imposing scenes of our own
+land, that they throw off, in a great degree, their airs, and their
+“townliness,” as some one cleverly calls these _simagrées_, as if
+ashamed to “play their fantastic tricks” before the god of nature, when
+so forcibly reminded of his presence; and more than once on these
+occasions I have been surprised to find how much intellect lurked
+behind the inane mask of fashion. But in America the effect of fine
+scenery upon this class of persons is different, for it is exactly when
+amongst it, that the most strenuous efforts at elegant _nonchalance_
+are perceptible among the young exquisites of the western world. It is
+true that they have little leisure for the display of grace in the
+daily routine of commercial activity in which their lives are passed,
+and this certainly offers a satisfactory explanation of the fact above
+stated.
+
+Fortunately for our enjoyment, the solemn character of the scene was
+but little broken in upon by these gentry. Every one who comes to
+Forsythe’s Hotel (except Mrs. Bogle Corbet), walks to the shantee,
+writes their name in a book which is kept there, and, for the most
+part, descends by the spiral staircase which leads from the little
+platform before it, to the rocks below. Here they find another shantee,
+but a few yards from the entrance of that wondrous cavern which is
+formed by the falling flood on one side, and by the mighty rock over
+which it pours, on the other. To this frail shelter from the wild
+uproar, and the blinding spray, nearly all the touring gentlemen, and
+even many of the pretty ladies, find their way. But here I often saw
+their noble daring fail, and have watched them dripping and draggled
+turn again to the sheltering stairs, leaving us in full possession of
+the awful scene we so dearly loved to gaze upon. How utterly futile
+must every attempt be to describe the spot! How vain every effort to
+convey an idea of the sensations it produces! Why is it so exquisite a
+pleasure to stand for hours drenched in spray, stunned by the ceaseless
+roar, trembling from the concussion that shakes the very rock you cling
+to, and breathing painfully in the moist atmosphere that seems to have
+less of air than water in it? Yet pleasure it is, and I almost think
+the greatest I ever enjoyed. We more than once approached the entrance
+to this appalling cavern, but I never fairly entered it, though two or
+three of my party did. I lost my breath entirely; and the pain at my
+chest was so severe, that not all my curiosity could enable me to
+endure it.
+
+What was that cavern of the winds, of which we heard of old, compared
+to this? A mightier spirit than Aeolus reigns here.
+
+Nor was this spot of dread and danger the only one in which we found
+ourselves alone. The path taken by “the company” to the shantee, which
+contained the “book of names” was always the same; this wound down the
+steep bank from the gate of the hotel garden, and was rendered
+tolerably easy by its repeated doublings; but it was by no means the
+best calculated to manage to advantage the pleasure of the stranger in
+his approach to the spot. All others, however, seemed left for us
+alone.
+
+During our stay we saw the commencement of another staircase, intended
+to rival in attraction that at present in use; it is but a few yards
+from it, and can in no way, I think, contribute to the convenience of
+the descent. The erection of the central shaft of this spiral stair was
+a most tremendous operation, and made me sick and giddy as I watched
+it. After it had been made fast at the bottom, the carpenters swung
+themselves off the rocks, by the means of ropes, to the beams which
+traversed it; and as they sat across them, in the midst of the spray
+and the uproar, I thought I had never seen life periled so wantonly.
+But the work proceeded without accident, and was nearly finished before
+we left the hotel.
+
+It was a sort of pang to take what we knew must be our last look at
+Niagara; but “we had to do it,” as the Americans say, and left it on
+the 10th June, for Buffalo.
+
+The drive along the river, above the Falls, is as beautiful as a clear
+stream of a mile in width can make it; and the road continues close to
+it till you reach the ferry at Black Rock.
+
+We welcomed, almost with a shout, the British colours which we saw, for
+the first time, on Commodore Barrie’s pretty sloop, the _Bull Dog_,
+which we passed as it was towing up the river to Lake Erie, the
+commodore being about to make a tour of the lakes.
+
+At Black Rock we crossed again into the United States, and a few miles
+of horrible jolting brought us to Buffalo.
+
+Of all the thousand and one towns I saw in America, I think Buffalo is
+the queerest looking; it is not quite so wild as Lockport, but all the
+buildings have the appearance of having been run up in a hurry, though
+every thing has an air of great pretension; there are porticos,
+columns, domes, and colonnades, but all in wood. Every body tells you
+there, as in all their other new-born towns, and every body believes,
+that their improvement, and their progression, are more rapid, more
+wonderful, than the earth ever before witnessed; while to me, the only
+wonder is, how so many thousands, nay millions of persons, can be
+found, in the nineteenth century, who can be content so to live. Surely
+this country may be said to spread rather than to rise.
+
+The Eagle Hotel, an immense wooden fabric, has all the pretension of a
+splendid establishment, but its monstrous corridors, low ceilings, and
+intricate chambers, gave me the feeling of a catacomb rather than a
+house. We arrived after the _table d’hôte_ tea-drinking was over, and
+supped comfortably enough with a gentleman, who accompanied us from the
+Falls: but the next morning we breakfasted in a long, low, narrow room,
+with a hundred persons, and any thing less like comfort can hardly be
+imagined.
+
+What can induce so many intellectual citizens to prefer these long,
+silent tables, scantily covered with morsels of fried ham, salt fish
+and liver, to a comfortable loaf of bread with their wives and children
+at home? How greatly should I prefer eating my daily meals with my
+family, in an Indian wig-wam, to boarding at a _table d’hôte_ in these
+capacious hotels; the custom, however, seems universal through the
+country, at least we have met it, without a shadow of variation as to
+its general features, from New Orleans to Buffalo.
+
+Lake Erie has no beauty to my eyes; it is not the sea, and it is not
+the river, nor has it the beautiful scenery generally found round
+smaller lakes. The only interest its unmeaning expanse gave me, arose
+from remembering that its waters, there so tame and tranquil, were
+destined to leap the gulf of Niagara. A dreadful road, through forests
+only beginning to be felled, brought us to Avon; it is a straggling,
+ugly little place, and not any of their “Romes, Carthages, Ithacas, or
+Athens,” ever provoked me by their name so much. This Avon flows
+sweetly with nothing but whiskey and tobacco juice.
+
+The next day’s journey was much more interesting, for it showed us the
+lake of Canandaigua. It is about eighteen miles long, but narrow enough
+to bring the opposite shore, clothed with rich foliage, near to the
+eye; the back-ground is a ridge of mountains. Perhaps the state of the
+atmosphere lent an unusual charm to the scene; one of those sudden
+thunderstorms, so rapid in approach, and so sombre in colouring, that
+they change the whole aspect of things in a moment, rose over the
+mountains and passed across the lake while we looked upon it. Another
+feature in the scene gave a living, but most sad interest to it. A
+glaring wooden hotel, as fine as paint and porticos can make it,
+overhangs the lake; beside it stands a shed for cattle. To this shed,
+and close by the white man’s mushroom palace, two Indians had crept to
+seek a shelter from the storm. The one was an aged man, whose venerable
+head in attitude and expression indicated the profoundest melancholy:
+the other was a youth, and in his deep-set eye there was a quiet
+sadness more touching still. There they stood, the native rightful
+lords of the fair land, looking out upon the lovely lake which yet bore
+the name their fathers had given it, watching the threatening storm
+that brooded there; a more fearful one had already burst over them.
+
+Though I have mentioned the lake first, the little town of Canandaigua
+precedes it, in returning from the West. It is as pretty a village as
+ever man contrived to build. Every house is surrounded by an ample
+garden, and at that flowery season they were half buried in roses.
+
+It is true these houses are of wood, but they are so neatly painted, in
+such perfect repair, and show so well within their leafy setting, that
+it is impossible not to admire them.
+
+Forty-six miles farther is Geneva, beautifully situated on Seneca Lake.
+This, too, is a lovely sheet of water, and I think the town may rival
+its European namesake in beauty.
+
+We slept at Auburn, celebrated for its prison, where the
+highly-approved system of American discipline originated. In this part
+of the country there is no want of churches; every little village has
+its wooden temple, and many of them too; that the Methodists and
+Presbyterians may not clash.
+
+We passed through an Indian reserve, and the untouched forests again
+hung close upon the road. Repeated groups of Indians passed us, and we
+remarked that they were much cleaner and better dressed than those we
+had met wandering far from their homes. The blankets which they use so
+gracefully as mantles were as white as snow.
+
+We took advantage of the loss of a horse’s shoe, to leave the coach,
+and approach a large party of them, consisting of men, women, and
+children, who were regaling themselves with I know not what, but milk
+made a part of the repast. They could not talk to us, but they received
+us with smiles, and seemed to understand when we asked if they had
+mocassins to sell, for they shook their sable locks, and answered “no.”
+A beautiful grove of butternut trees was pointed out to us, as the spot
+where the chiefs of the six nations used to hold their senate; our
+informer told me that he had been present at several of their meetings,
+and though he knew but little of their language, the power of their
+eloquence was evident from the great effect it produced among
+themselves.
+
+Towards the end of this day, we encountered an adventure which revived
+our doubts whether the invading white men, in chasing the poor Indians
+from their forests, have done much towards civilizing the land. For
+myself, I almost prefer the indigenous manner to the exotic.
+
+The coach stopped to take in “a lady” at Vernon; she entered, and
+completely filled the last vacant inch of our vehicle; for “we were
+eight” before.
+
+But no sooner was she seated, than her _beau_ came forward with a most
+enormous wooden best-bonnet box. He paused for a while to meditate the
+possibilities—raised it, as if to place it on our laps—sunk it, as if
+to put it beneath our feet. Both alike appeared impossible; when, in
+true Yankee style he addressed one of our party with. If you’ll just
+step out a minute, I guess I’ll find room for it.”
+
+“Perhaps so. But how shall I find room for myself afterwards?”
+
+This was uttered in European accents, and in an instant half a dozen
+whiskey drinkers stepped from before the whiskey store, and took the
+part of the _beau_.
+
+“That’s because you’ll be English travellers I expect, but we have
+travelled in better countries than Europe—we have travelled in
+America—and the box will go, I calculate.”
+
+We remonstrated on the evident injustice of the proceeding, and I
+ventured to say, that as we had none of us any luggage in the carriage,
+because the space was so very small, I thought a chance passenger could
+have no right so greatly to incommode us.
+
+“Right!—there they go—that’s just their way—that will do in Europe, may
+be; it sounds just like English tyranny, now don’t it? but it won’t do
+here.” And thereupon he began thrusting in the wooden box against our
+legs, with all his strength.
+
+“No law, sir, can permit such conduct as this.”
+
+“Law!” exclaimed a gentleman very particularly drunk, “we makes our own
+laws, and governs our own selves.”
+
+“Law!” echoed another gentleman of Vernon, “this is a free country, _we
+have no laws here_, and we don’t want no foreign power to tyrannize
+over us.”
+
+295
+
+I give the words exactly. It is, however, but fair to state, that the
+party had evidently been drinking more than an usual portion of
+whiskey, but, perhaps, in whiskey, as in wine, truth may come to light.
+At any rate the people of the Western Paradise follow the Gentiles in
+this, that they are a law unto themselves.
+
+During the contest, the coachman sat upon the box without saying a
+word, but seemed greatly to enjoy the joke; the question of the box,
+however, was finally decided in our favour by the nature of the human
+material, which cannot be compressed beyond a certain degree.
+
+For the great part of this day we had the good fortune to have a
+gentleman and his daughter for our fellow-travellers, who were
+extremely intelligent and agreeable; but I nearly got myself into a
+scrape by venturing to remark upon a phrase used by the gentleman, and
+which had met me at every corner from the time I first entered the
+country. We had been talking of pictures, and I had endeavoured to
+adhere to the rule I had laid down for myself, of saying very little,
+where I could say nothing agreeable. At length he named an American
+artist, with whose works I was very familiar, and after having declared
+him equal to Lawrence (judging by his portrait of West, now at New
+York), he added, “and what is more, madam, he is perfectly
+_self-taught_.”
+
+I prudently took a few moments before I answered; for the equalling our
+immortal Lawrence to a most vile dauber stuck in my throat; I could not
+say Amen; so for some time I said nothing; but, at last, I remarked on
+the frequency with which I had heard this phrase of _self-taught_ used,
+not as an apology, but as positive praise.
+
+“Well, madam, can there be a higher praise?”
+
+“Certainly not, if spoken of the individual merits of a person, without
+the means of instruction, but I do not understand it when applied as
+praise to his works.”
+
+“Not understand it, madam? Is it not attributing genius to the author,
+and what is teaching compared to that?”
+
+296
+
+I do not wish to repeat all my own _bons mots_ in praise of study, and
+on the disadvantages of profound ignorance, but I would, willingly, if
+I could, give an idea of the mixed indignation and contempt expressed
+by our companion at the idea that study was necessary to the formation
+of taste, and to the development of genius. At last, however, he closed
+the discussion thus,—“There is no use in disputing a point that is
+already settled, madam; the best judges declare that Mr. H—g’s
+portraits are equal to that of Lawrence.”
+
+“Who is it who has passed this judgement, sir?”
+
+“The men of taste of America, madam.”
+
+I then asked him, if he thought it was going to rain?
+
+The stages do not appear to have any regular stations at which to stop
+for breakfast, dinner, and supper. These necessary interludes,
+therefore, being generally _impromptu_, were abominably bad. We were
+amused by the patient manner in which our American fellow-travellers
+ate whatever was set before them, without uttering a word of complaint,
+or making any effort to improve it, but no sooner reseated in the
+stage, than they began their complaints—“twas a shame”—“twas a
+robbery”—“twas poisoning folks”—and the like. I, at last, asked the
+reason of this, and why they did not remonstrate? “Because, madam, no
+American gentleman or lady that keeps an inn won’t bear to be found
+fault with.”
+
+We reached Utica very late and very weary; but the delights of a good
+hotel and perfect civility sent us in good humour to bed, and we arose
+sufficiently refreshed to enjoy a day’s journey through some of the
+loveliest scenery in the world.
+
+Who is it that says America is not picturesque? I forget; but surely he
+never travelled from Utica to Albany. I really cannot conceive that any
+country can furnish a drive of ninety-six miles more beautiful, or more
+varied in its beauty. The road follows the Mohawk River, which flows
+through scenes changing from fields, waving with plenty, to rocks and
+woods; gentle slopes, covered with cattle, are divided from each other
+by precipices 500 feet high. Around the little falls there is a
+character of beauty as singular as it is striking. Here, as I observed
+of many other American rivers, the stream appears to run in a much
+narrower channel than it once occupied, and the space which it seems
+formerly to have filled, is now covered with bright green herbage, save
+that, at intervals, large masses of rock rise abruptly from the level
+turf; these are crowned with all such trees as love the scanty diet
+which a rock affords. Dwarf oak, cedars, and the mountain ash, are
+grouped in a hundred different ways among them; each clump you look
+upon is lovelier than its neighbour; I never saw so sweetly wild a
+spot.
+
+I was surprised to hear a fellow-traveller say, as we passed a point of
+peculiar beauty, “all this neighbourhood belongs, or did belong, to Mr.
+Edward Ellice, an English Member of Parliament, but he has sold a deal
+of it, and now, madam, you may see as it begins to improve;” and he
+pointed to a great wooden edifice, where, on the white paint, “Cash for
+Rags,” in letters three feet high, might be seen.
+
+I then remembered that it was near this spot that my Yankee friend had
+made his complaint against English indifference to “water privilege.”
+He did not name Mr. Edward Ellice, but doubtless he was the “English,
+as never thought of improvement.”
+
+I have often confessed my conscious incapacity for description, but I
+must repeat it here to apologize for my passing so dully through this
+matchless valley of the Mohawk. I would that some British artist,
+strong in youthful daring, would take my word for it, and pass over,
+for a summer pilgrimage through the State of New York. In very earnest,
+he would wisely, for I question if the world could furnish within the
+same space, and with equal facility of access, so many subjects for his
+pencil. Mountains, forests, rocks, lakes, rivers, cataracts, all in
+perfection. But he must be bold as a lion in colouring, or he will make
+nothing of it. There is a clearness of atmosphere, a strength of
+_chiaro oscuro_, a massiveness in the foliage, and a brilliance of
+contrast, that must make a colourist of any one who has an eye. He must
+have courage to dip his pencil in shadows black as night, and light
+that might blind an eagle. As I presume my young artist to be an
+enthusiast, he must first go direct to Niagara, or even in the Mohawk
+valley his pinioned wing may droop. If his fever run very high, he may
+slake his thirst at Trenton, and while there, he will not dream of any
+thing beyond it. Should my advice be taken, I will ask the young
+adventurer on his return (when he shall have made a prodigious quantity
+of money by my hint), to reward me by two sketches. One shall be the
+lake of Canandaigua; the other the Indians’ Senate Grove of Butternuts.
+
+During our journey, I forget on which day of it, a particular spot in
+the forest, at some distance from the road, was pointed out to us as
+the scene of a true, but very romantic story. During the great and the
+terrible French revolution (1792), a young nobleman escaped from the
+scene of horror, having with difficulty saved his head, and without the
+possibility of saving any thing else. He arrived at New York nearly
+destitute; and after passing his life, not only in splendour, but in
+the splendour of the court of France, he found himself jostled by the
+busy population of the New World, without a dollar between him and
+starvation. In such a situation one might almost sigh for the
+guillotine. The young noble strove to labour; but who would purchase
+the trembling efforts of his white hands, while the sturdy strength of
+many a black Hercules was in the market? He abandoned the vain attempt
+to sustain himself by the aid of his fellow-men, and determined to seek
+a refuge in the forest. A few shillings only remained to him; he
+purchased an axe, and reached the Oneida territory. He felled a few of
+the slenderest trees, and made himself a shelter that Robinson Crusoe
+would have laughed at, for it did not keep out the rain. Want of food,
+exposure to the weather, and unwonted toil, produced the natural
+result; the unfortunate young man fell sick, and stretched upon the
+reeking earth, stifled, rather than sheltered, by the withering boughs
+which hung over him; he lay parched with thirst, and shivering in ague,
+with the one last earthly hope, that each heavy moment would prove the
+last.
+
+Near to the spot which he had chosen for his miserable rest, but
+totally concealed from it by the thick forest, was the last straggling
+wigwam of an Indian village. It is not known how many days the unhappy
+man had lain without food, but he was quite insensible when a young
+squaw, whom chance had brought from this wigwam to his hut, entered,
+and found him alive, but totally insensible. The heart of woman is, I
+believe, pretty much the same every where; the young girl paused not to
+think whether he were white or red, but her fleet feet rested not till
+she had brought milk, rum, and blankets, and when the sufferer
+recovered his senses, his head was supported on her lap, while, with
+the gentle tenderness of a mother, she found means to make him swallow
+the restoratives she had brought.
+
+No black eyes in the world, be they of France, Italy, or even of Spain,
+can speak more plainly of kindness, than the large deep-set orbs of a
+squaw; this is a language that all nations can understand, and the poor
+Frenchman read most clearly, in the anxious glance of his gentle nurse,
+that he should not die forsaken.
+
+So far the story is romantic enough, and what follows is hardly less
+so. The squaw found means to introduce her white friend to her tribe;
+he was adopted as their brother, speedily acquired their language, and
+assumed their dress and manner of life. His gratitude to his preserver
+soon ripened into love, and if the chronicle spoke true, the French
+noble and the American savage were more than passing happy as man and
+wife, and it was not till he saw himself the father of many thriving
+children that the exile began to feel a wish of rising again from
+savage to civilized existence.
+
+My historian did not explain what his project was in visiting New York,
+but he did so in the habit of an Indian, and learnt enough of the
+restored tranquillity of his country to give him hope that some of the
+broad lands he had left there might be restored to him.
+
+I have made my story already too long, and must not linger upon it
+farther than to say that his hopes were fulfilled, and that, of a large
+and flourishing family, some are settled in France, and some remain in
+America, (one of these, I understood, was a lawyer at New York), while
+the hero and the heroine of the tale continue to inhabit the Oneida
+country, not in a wigwam, however, but in a good house, in a beautiful
+situation, with all the comforts of civilized life around them.
+
+Such was the narrative we listened to, from a stage coach companion;
+and it appears to me sufficiently interesting to repeat, though I have
+no better authority to quote for its truth, than the assertion of this
+unknown traveller.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+
+Return to New York—Conclusion
+
+
+The comfortable Adelphi Hotel again received us at Albany, on the 14th
+of June, and we decided upon passing the following day there, both to
+see the place, and to recruit our strength, which we began to feel we
+had taxed severely by a very fatiguing journey, in most oppressively
+hot weather. It would have been difficult to find a better station for
+repose; the rooms were large and airy, and ice was furnished in most
+profuse abundance.
+
+But notwithstanding the manifold advantages of this excellent hotel, I
+was surprised at the un-English arrangement communicated to me by two
+ladies with whom we made a speaking acquaintance, by which it appeared
+that they made it their permanent home. These ladies were a mother and
+daughter; the daughter was an extremely pretty young married woman,
+with two little children. Where the husbands were, or whether they were
+dead or alive, I know not; but they told me they had been _boarding_
+there above a year. They breakfasted, dined, and supped at the _table
+d’hôte_, with from twenty to a hundred people, as accident might
+decide; dressed very smart, played on the piano, in the public
+sitting-room, and assured me they were particularly comfortable and
+well accommodated. What a life!
+
+Some parts of the town are very handsome; the Town Hall, the Chamber of
+Representatives, and some other public buildings, stand well on a hill
+that overlooks the Hudson, with ample enclosures of grass and trees
+around them.
+
+Many of the shops are large, and showily set out. I was amused by a
+national trait which met me at one of them. I entered it to purchase
+some _eau de Cologne_, but finding what was offered to me extremely
+bad, and very cheap, I asked if they had none at a higher price, and
+better.
+
+“You are a stranger, I guess,” was the answer. “The Yankees want low
+price, that’s all; they don’t stand so much for goodness as the
+English.”
+
+Nothing could be more beautiful than our passage down the Hudson on the
+following day, as I thought of some of my friends in England, dear
+lovers of the picturesque, I could not but exclaim,
+
+“Que je vous plains! que je vous plains!
+Vous ne la verrez pas.”
+
+
+Not even a moving panoramic view, gliding before their eyes for an hour
+together, in all the scenic splendour of Drury Lane, or Covent Garden,
+could give them an idea of it. They could only see one side at a time.
+The change, the contrast, the ceaseless variety of beauty, as you skim
+from side to side, the liquid smoothness of the broad mirror that
+reflects the scene, and most of all, the clear bright air through which
+you look at it; all this can only be seen and believed by crossing the
+Atlantic.
+
+As we approached New York the burning heat of the day relaxed, and the
+long shadows of evening fell coolly on the beautiful villas we passed.
+I really can conceive nothing more exquisitely lovely than this
+approach to the city. The magnificent boldness of the Jersey shore on
+the one side, and the luxurious softness of the shady lawns on the
+other, with the vast silvery stream that flows between them, altogether
+form a picture which may well excuse a traveller for saying, once and
+again, that the Hudson river can be surpassed in beauty by none on the
+outside of Paradise.
+
+It was nearly dark when we reached the city, and it was with great
+satisfaction that we found our comfortable apartments in Hudson Street
+unoccupied; and our pretty, kind (Irish) hostess willing to receive us
+again. We passed another fortnight there; and again we enjoyed the
+elegant hospitality of New York, though now it was offered from beneath
+the shade of their beautiful villas. In truth, were all America like
+this fair city, and all, no, only a small proportion of its population
+like the friends we left there, I should say, that the land was the
+fairest in the world.
+
+But the time was come to bid it adieu! The important business of
+securing our homeward passage was to be performed. One must know what
+it is to cross the ocean before the immense importance of all the
+little details of accommodation can be understood. The anxious first
+look: into the face of the captain, to ascertain if he be gentle or
+rough; another, scarcely less important, in that of the steward,
+generally a sable one, but not the less expressive; the accurate, but
+rapid glance of measurement thrown round the little state-rooms;
+another at the good or bad arrangement of the stair-case, by which you
+are to stumble up and stumble down, from cabin to deck, and from deck
+to cabin; all this, they only can understand who have felt it. At
+length, however, this interesting affair was settled, and most happily.
+The appearance promised well, and the performance bettered it. We
+hastened to pack up our “trumpery,” as Captain Mirven unkindly calls
+the paraphernalia of the ladies, and among the rest, my six hundred
+pages of griffonage. There is enough of it, yet I must add a few more
+lines.
+
+I suspect that what I have written will make it evident that I do not
+like America. Now, as it happens that I met with individuals there whom
+I love and admire, far beyond the love and admiration of ordinary
+acquaintance, and as I declare the country to be fair to the eye, and
+most richly teeming with the gifts of plenty, I am led to ask myself
+why it is that I do not like it. I would willingly know myself, and
+confess to others, why it is that neither its beauty nor its abundance
+can suffice to neutralize, or greatly soften, the distaste which the
+aggregate of my recollections has left upon my mind.
+
+I remember hearing it said, many years ago, when the advantages and
+disadvantages of a particular residence were being discussed, that it
+was the “who?” and not the “where?” that made the difference between
+the pleasant or unpleasant residence. The truth of the observation
+struck me forcibly when I heard it; and it has been recalled to my mind
+since, by the constantly recurring evidence of its justness. In
+applying this to America, I speak not of my friends, nor of my friends’
+friends. The small patrician band is a race apart; they live with each
+other, and for each other; mix wondrously little with the high matters
+of state, which they seem to leave rather supinely to their tailors and
+tinkers, and are no more to be taken as a sample of the American
+people, than the head of Lord Byron as a sample of the heads of the
+British peerage. I speak not of these, but of the population generally,
+as seen in town and country, among the rich and the poor, in the slave
+states, and the free states. I do not like them. I do not like their
+principles, I do not like their manners, I do not like their opinions.
+
+Both as a woman, and as a stranger, it might be unseemly for me to say
+that I do not like their government, and therefore I will not say so.
+That it is one which pleases themselves is most certain, and this is
+considerably more important than pleasing all the travelling old ladies
+in the world. I entered the country at New Orleans, remained for more
+than two years west of the Alleghanies, and passed another year among
+the Atlantic cities, and the country around them. I conversed during
+this time with citizens of all orders and degrees, and I never heard
+from any one a single disparaging word against their government. It is
+not, therefore, surprising, that when the people of that country hear
+strangers questioning the wisdom of their institutions, and expressing
+disapprobation at some of their effects, they should set it down either
+to an incapacity of judging, or a malicious feeling of envy and
+ill-will.
+
+“How can any one in their senses doubt the excellence of a government
+which we have tried for half a century, and loved the better the longer
+we have known it.” Such is the natural enquiry of every American when
+the excellence of their government is doubted; and I am inclined to
+answer, that no one in their senses, who has visited the country, and
+known the people, can doubt its fitness for them, such as they now are,
+or its utter unfitness for any other people..
+
+Whether the government has made the people what they are, or whether
+the people have made the government what it is, to suit themselves, I
+know not; but if the latter, they have shown a consummation of wisdom
+which the assembled world may look upon and admire.
+
+It is a matter of historical notoriety that the original stock of the
+white population now inhabiting the United States, were persons who had
+banished themselves, or were banished from the mother country. The land
+they found was favourable to their increase and prosperity; the colony
+grew and flourished. Years rolled on, and the children, the
+grand-children, and the great grand-children of the first settlers,
+replenished the land, and found it flowing with milk and honey. That
+they should wish to keep this milk and honey to themselves, is not very
+surprising. What did the mother country do for them? She sent them out
+gay and gallant officers to guard their frontier; the which they
+thought they could guard as well themselves; and then she taxed their
+tea. Now, this was disagreeable; and to atone for it, the distant
+colony had no great share in her mother’s grace and glory. It was not
+from among them that her high and mighty were chosen; the rays which
+emanated from that bright sun of honour, the British throne, reached
+them but feebly. They knew not, they cared not, for her kings nor her
+heroes; their thriftiest trader was their noblest man; the holy seats
+of learning were but the cradles of superstition; the splendour of the
+aristocracy, but a leech that drew their “golden blood.” The wealth,
+the learning, the glory of Britain, was to them nothing; the having
+their own way every thing.
+
+Can any blame their wish to obtain it? Can any lament that they
+succeeded?
+
+And now the day was their own, what should they do next? Their elders
+drew together, and said, “Let us make a government that shall suit us
+all; let it be rude, and rough, and noisy; let it not affect either
+dignity, glory, or splendour; let it interfere with no man’s will, nor
+meddle with any man’s business; let us have neither tithes nor taxes,
+game laws, nor poor laws; let every man have a hand in making the laws,
+and no man be troubled about keeping them; let not our magistrates wear
+purple, nor our judges ermine; if a man grow rich, let us take care
+that his grandson be poor, and then we shall all keep equal; let every
+man take care of himself, and if England should come to bother us
+again, why then we will fight altogether.”
+
+Could any thing be better imagined than such a government for a people
+so circumstanced? Or is it strange that they are contented with it?
+Still less is it strange that those who have lived in the repose of
+order, and felt secure that their country could go on very well, and
+its business proceed without their bawling and squalling, scratching
+and scrambling to help it, should bless the gods that they are not
+republicans.
+
+So far all is well. That they should prefer a constitution which suits
+them so admirably, to one which would not suit them at all, is surely
+no cause of quarrel on our part; nor should it be such on theirs, if we
+feel no inclination to exchange the institutions which have made us
+what we are, for any other on the face of the earth.
+
+But when a native of Europe visits America, a most extraordinary
+species of tyranny is set in action against him; and as far as my
+reading and experience have enabled me to judge, it is such as no other
+country has ever exercised against strangers.
+
+The Frenchman visits England; he is _abimé d’ennui_ at our stately
+dinners; shrugs his shoulders at our _corps de ballet_, and laughs _à
+gorge déployée_ at our passion for driving, and our partial affection
+for roast beef and plum pudding. The Englishman returns the visit, and
+the first thing he does on arriving at Paris, is to hasten to _le
+Théatre des Variétés_, that he may see “_Les Anglaises pour rire_,” and
+if among the crowd of laughters, you hear a note of more cordial mirth
+than the rest, seek out the person from whom it proceeds, and you will
+find the Englishman.
+
+The Italian comes to our green island, and groans at our climate; he
+vows that the air which destroys a statue cannot be wholesome for man;
+he sighs for orange trees, and maccaroni, and smiles at the pretensions
+of a nation to poetry, while no epics are chaunted through her streets.
+Yet we welcome the sensitive southern with all kindness, listen to his
+complaints with interest, cultivate our little orange trees, and teach
+our children to lisp Tasso, in the hope of becoming more agreeable.
+
+Yet we are not at all superior to the rest of Europe in our endurance
+of censure, nor is this wish to profit by it all peculiar to the
+English; we laugh at, and find fault with, our neighbours quite as
+freely as they do with us, and they join the laugh, and adopt our
+fashions and our customs. These mutual pleasantries produce no shadow
+of unkindly feeling; and as long as the governments are at peace with
+each other, the individuals of every nation in Europe make it a matter
+of pride, as well as of pleasure, to meet each other frequently, to
+discuss, compare, and reason upon their national varieties, and to vote
+it a mark of fashion and good taste to imitate each other in all the
+external embellishments of life.
+
+The consequence of this is most pleasantly perceptible at the present
+time, in every capital of Europe. The long peace has given time for
+each to catch from each what was best in customs and manners, and the
+rapid advance of refinement and general information has been the
+result.
+
+To those who have been accustomed to this state of things, the contrast
+upon crossing to the new world is inconceivably annoying; and it cannot
+be doubted that this is one great cause of the general feeling of
+irksomeness, and fatigue of spirits, which hangs upon the memory while
+recalling the hours passed in American society.
+
+A single word indicative of doubt, that any thing, or every thing, in
+that country is not the very best in the world, produces an effect
+which must be seen and felt to be understood. If the citizens of the
+United States were indeed the devoted patriots they call themselves,
+they would surely not thus encrust themselves in the hard, dry,
+stubborn persuasion, that they are the first and best of the human
+race, that nothing is to be learnt, but what they are able to teach,
+and that nothing is worth having, which they do not possess.
+
+The art of man could hardly discover a more effectual antidote to
+improvement, than this persuasion; and yet I never listened to any
+public oration, or read any work, professedly addressed to the country,
+in which they did not labour to impress it on the minds of the people.
+
+To hint to the generality of Americans that the silent current of
+events may change their beloved government, is not the way to please
+them; but in truth they need be tormented with no such fear. As long as
+by common consent they can keep down the pre-eminence which nature has
+assigned to great powers, as long as they can prevent human respect and
+human honour from resting upon high talent, gracious manners, and
+exalted station, so long may they be sure of going on as they are.
+
+I have been told, however, that there are some among them who would
+gladly see a change; some, who with the wisdom of philosophers, and the
+fair candour of gentlemen, shrink from a profession of equality which
+they feel to be untrue, and believe to be impossible.
+
+I can well believe that such there are, though to me no such opinions
+were communicated, and most truly should I rejoice to see power pass
+into such hands.
+
+If this ever happens, if refinement once creeps in among them, if they
+once learn to cling to the graces, the honours, the chivalry of life,
+then we shall say farewell to American equality, and welcome to
+European fellowship one of the finest countries on the earth.
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOMESTIC MANNERS OF THE AMERICANS ***
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+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
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+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Domestic Manners of the Americans, by Fanny Trollope</title>
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+<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Domestic Manners of the Americans, by Fanny Trollope</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
+at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
+are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the
+country where you are located before using this eBook.
+</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Domestic Manners of the Americans</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Fanny Trollope</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: November 30, 2003 [eBook #10345]<br />
+[Most recently updated: August 17, 2021]</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div>
+<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: David G Johnson</div>
+<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOMESTIC MANNERS OF THE AMERICANS ***</div>
+
+<h1>Domestic Manners of the Americans</h1>
+
+<h2 class="no-break">by Fanny Trollope</h2>
+
+<p class="center">
+First published in 1832
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h2>Contents</h2>
+
+<table summary="" style="">
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap13">CHAPTER XIII. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap14">CHAPTER XIV. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap15">CHAPTER XV. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap16">CHAPTER XVI. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap17">CHAPTER XVII. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap18">CHAPTER XVIII. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap19">CHAPTER XIX. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap20">CHAPTER XX. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap21">CHAPTER XXI. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap22">CHAPTER XXII. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap23">CHAPTER XXIII. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap24">CHAPTER XXIV. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap25">CHAPTER XXV. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap26">CHAPTER XXVI. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap27">CHAPTER XXVII. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap28">CHAPTER XXVIII. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap29">CHAPTER XXIX. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap30">CHAPTER XXX. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap31">CHAPTER XXXI. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap32">CHAPTER XXXII. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap33">CHAPTER XXXIII. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td> <a href="#chap34">CHAPTER XXXIV. </a></td>
+</tr>
+
+</table>
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Entrance of the Mississippi&mdash;Balize
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the 4th of November, 1827, I sailed from London, accompanied by my son and
+two daughters; and after a favourable, though somewhat tedious voyage, arrived
+on Christmas-day at the mouth of the Mississippi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The first indication of our approach to land was the appearance of this mighty
+river pouring forth its muddy mass of waters, and mingling with the deep blue
+of the Mexican Gulf. The shores of this river are so utterly flat, that no
+object upon them is perceptible at sea, and we gazed with pleasure on the muddy
+ocean that met us, for it told us we were arrived, and seven weeks of sailing
+had wearied us; yet it was not without a feeling like regret that we passed
+from the bright blue waves, whose varying aspect had so long furnished our
+chief amusement, into the murky stream which now received us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Large flights of pelicans were seen standing upon the long masses of mud which
+rose above the surface of the waters, and a pilot came to guide us over the
+bar, long before any other indication of land was visible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I never beheld a scene so utterly desolate as this entrance of the Mississippi.
+Had Dante seen it, he might have drawn images of another Bolgia from its
+horrors. One only object rears itself above the eddying waters; this is the
+mast of a vessel long since wrecked in attempting to cross the bar, and it
+still stands, a dismal witness of the destruction that has been, and a boding
+prophet of that which is to come.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By degrees bulrushes of enormous growth become visible, and a few more miles of
+mud brought us within sight of a cluster of huts called the Balize, by far the
+most miserable station that I ever saw made the dwelling of man, but I was told
+that many families of pilots and fishermen lived there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For several miles above its mouth, the Mississippi presents no objects more
+interesting than mud banks, monstrous bulrushes, and now and then a huge
+crocodile luxuriating in the slime. Another circumstance that gives to this
+dreary scene an aspect of desolation, is the incessant appearance of vast
+quantities of drift wood, which is ever finding its way to the different mouths
+of the Mississippi. Trees of enormous length, sometimes still bearing their
+branches, and still oftener their uptorn roots entire, the victims of the
+frequent hurricane, come floating down the stream. Sometimes several of these,
+entangled together, collect among their boughs a quantity of floating rubbish,
+that gives the mass the appearance of a moving island, bearing a forest, with
+its roots mocking the heavens; while the dishonoured branches lash the tide in
+idle vengeance: this, as it approaches the vessel, and glides swiftly past,
+looks like the fragment of a world in ruins.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we advanced, however, we were cheered, notwithstanding the season, by the
+bright tints of southern vegetation. The banks continue invariably flat, but a
+succession of planless villas, sometimes merely a residence, and sometimes
+surrounded by their sugar grounds and negro huts, varied the scene. At no one
+point was there an inch of what painters call a second distance; and for the
+length of one hundred and twenty miles, from the Balize to New Orleans, and one
+hundred miles above the town, the land is defended from the encroachments of
+the river by a high embankment which is called the Levee; without which the
+dwellings would speedily disappear, as the river is evidently higher than the
+banks would be without it. When we arrived, there had been constant rains, and
+of long continuance, and this appearance was, therefore, unusually striking,
+giving to &ldquo;this great natural feature&rdquo; the most unnatural
+appearance imaginable; and making evident, not only that man had been busy
+there, but that even the mightiest works of nature might be made to bear his
+impress; it recalled, literally, Swift&rsquo;s mock heroic,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Nature must give way to art;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+yet, she was looking so mighty, and so unsubdued all the time, that I could not
+help fancying she would some day take the matter into her own hands again, and
+if so, farewell to New Orleans.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is easy to imagine the total want of beauty in such a landscape; but yet the
+form and hue of the trees and plants, so new to us, added to the long privation
+we had endured of all sights and sounds of land, made even these swampy shores
+seem beautiful. We were, however, impatient to touch as well as see the land;
+but the navigation from the Balize to New Orleans is difficult and tedious, and
+the two days that it occupied appeared longer than any we had passed on board.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In truth, to those who have pleasure in contemplating the phenomena of nature,
+a sea voyage may endure many weeks without wearying. Perhaps some may think
+that the first glance of ocean and of sky shew all they have to offer; nay,
+even that that first glance may suggest more of dreariness than sublimity; but
+to me, their variety appeared endless, and their beauty unfailing. The attempt
+to describe scenery, even where the objects are prominent and tangible, is very
+rarely successful; but where the effect is so subtile and so varying, it must
+be vain. The impression, nevertheless, is perhaps deeper than any other; I
+think it possible I may forget the sensations with which I watched the long
+course of the gigantic Mississippi; the Ohio and the Potomac may mingle and be
+confounded with other streams in my memory, I may even recall with difficulty
+the blue outline of the Alleghany mountains, but never, while I remember any
+thing, can I forget the first and last hour of light on the Atlantic.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The ocean, however, and all its indescribable charm, no longer surrounded us;
+we began to feel that our walk on the quarter-deck was very like the exercise
+of an ass in a mill; that our books had lost half their pages, and that the
+other half were known by rote; that our beef was very salt, and our biscuits
+very hard; in short, that having studied the good ship, Edward, from stem to
+stern till we knew the name of every sail, and the use of every pulley, we had
+had enough of her, and as we laid down, head to head, in our tiny beds for the
+last time, I exclaimed with no small pleasure,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Tomorrow to fresh fields and pastures new.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+New Orleans&mdash;Society&mdash;Creoles and Quadroons Voyage up the Mississippi
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On first touching the soil of a new land, of a new continent, of a new world,
+it is impossible not to feel considerable excitement and deep interest in
+almost every object that meets us. New Orleans presents very little that can
+gratify the eye of taste, but nevertheless there is much of novelty and
+interest for a newly arrived European. The large proportion of blacks seen in
+the streets, all labour being performed by them; the grace and beauty of the
+elegant Quadroons, the occasional groups of wild and savage looking Indians,
+the unwonted aspect of the vegetation, the huge and turbid river, with its low
+and slimy shore, all help to afford that species of amusement which proceeds
+from looking at what we never saw before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The town has much the appearance of a French Ville de Province, and is, in
+fact, an old French colony taken from Spain by France. The names of the streets
+are French, and the language about equally French and English. The market is
+handsome and well supplied, all produce being conveyed by the river. We were
+much pleased by the chant with which the Negro boatmen regulate and beguile
+their labour on the river; it consists but of very few notes, but they are
+sweetly harmonious, and the Negro voice is almost always rich and powerful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By far the most agreeable hours I passed at New Orleans were those in which I
+explored with my children the forest near the town. It was our first walk in
+&ldquo;the eternal forests of the western world,&rdquo; and we felt rather
+sublime and poetical. The trees, generally speaking, are much too close to be
+either large or well grown; and, moreover, their growth is often stunted by a
+parasitical plant, for which I could learn no other name than &ldquo;Spanish
+moss;&rdquo; it hangs gracefully from the boughs, converting the outline of all
+the trees it hangs upon into that of weeping willows. The chief beauty of the
+forest in this region is from the luxuriant undergrowth of palmetos, which is
+decidedly the loveliest coloured and most graceful plant I know. The pawpaw,
+too, is a splendid shrub, and in great abundance. We here, for the first time,
+saw the wild vine, which we afterwards found growing so profusely in every part
+of America, as naturally to suggest the idea that the natives ought to add wine
+to the numerous production of their plenty-teeming soil. The strong pendant
+festoons made safe and commodious swings, which some of our party enjoyed,
+despite the sublime temperament above-mentioned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Notwithstanding it was mid-winter when we were at New Orleans, the heat was
+much more than agreeable, and the attacks of the mosquitos incessant, and most
+tormenting; yet I suspect that, for a short time, we would rather have endured
+it, than not have seen oranges, green peas, and red pepper, growing in the open
+air at Christmas. In one of our rambles we ventured to enter a garden, whose
+bright orange hedge attracted our attention; here we saw green peas fit for the
+table, and a fine crop of red pepper ripening in the sun. A young Negress was
+employed on the steps of the house; that she was a slave made her an object of
+interest to us. She was the first slave we had ever spoken to, and I believe we
+all felt that we could hardly address her with sufficient gentleness. She
+little dreamed, poor girl, what deep sympathy she excited; she answered us
+civilly and gaily, and seemed amused at our fancying there was something
+unusual in red pepper pods; she gave us several of them, and I felt fearful
+lest a hard mistress might blame her for it. How very childish does ignorance
+make us! and how very ignorant we are upon almost every subject, where hearsay
+evidence is all we can get!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I left England with feelings so strongly opposed to slavery, that it was not
+without pain I witnessed its effects around me. At the sight of every Negro
+man, woman, and child that passed, my fancy wove some little romance of misery,
+as belonging to each of them; since I have known more on the subject, and
+become better acquainted with their real situation in America, I have often
+smiled at recalling what I then felt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The first symptom of American equality that I perceived, was my being
+introduced in form to a milliner; it was not at a boarding-house, under the
+indistinct outline of &ldquo;Miss C&mdash;,&rdquo; nor in the street through
+the veil of a fashionable toilette, but in the very penetralia of her temple,
+standing behind her counter, giving laws to ribbon and to wire, and ushering
+caps and bonnets into existence. She was an English woman, and I was told that
+she possessed great intellectual endowments, and much information; I really
+believe this was true. Her manner was easy and graceful, with a good deal of
+French tournure; and the gentleness with which her fine eyes and sweet voice
+directed the movements of a young female slave, was really touching: the way,
+too, in which she blended her French talk of modes with her customers, and her
+English talk of metaphysics with her friends, had a pretty air of indifference
+in it, that gave her a superiority with both.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I found with her the daughter of a judge, eminent, it was said, both for legal
+and literary ability, and I heard from many quarters, after I had left New
+Orleans, that the society of this lady was highly valued by all persons of
+talent. Yet were I, traveller-like, to stop here, and set it down as a national
+peculiarity, or republican custom, that milliners took the lead in the best
+society, I should greatly falsify facts. I do not remember the same thing
+happening to me again, and this is one instance among a thousand, of the
+impression every circumstance makes on entering a new country, and of the
+propensity, so irresistible, to class all things, however accidental, as
+national and peculiar. On the other hand, however, it is certain that if
+similar anomalies are unfrequent in America, they are nearly impossible
+elsewhere.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the shop of Miss C&mdash; I was introduced to Mr. M&rsquo;Clure, a venerable
+personage, of gentlemanlike appearance, who in the course of five minutes
+propounded as many axioms, as &ldquo;Ignorance is the only devil;&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Man makes his own existence;&rdquo; and the like. He was of the New
+Harmony school, or rather the New Harmony school was of him. He was a man of
+good fortune, (a Scotchman, I believe), who after living a tolerably gay life,
+had &ldquo;conceived high thoughts, such as Lycurgus loved, who bade flog the
+little Spartans,&rdquo; and determined to benefit the species, and immortalize
+himself, by founding a philosophical school at New Harmony. There was something
+in the hollow square legislations of Mr. Owen, that struck him as admirable,
+and he seems, as far as I can understand, to have intended aiding his views, by
+a sort of incipient hollow square drilling; teaching the young ideas of all he
+could catch, to shoot into parallelogramic form and order. This venerable
+philosopher, like all of his school that I ever heard of, loved better to
+originate lofty imaginings of faultless systems, than to watch their
+application to practice. With much liberality he purchased and conveyed to the
+wilderness a very noble collection of books and scientific instruments; but not
+finding among men one whose views were liberal and enlarged as his own, he
+selected a woman to put into action the machine he had organized. As his
+acquaintance with this lady had been of long standing, and, as it was said,
+very intimate, he felt sure that no violation of his rules would have place
+under her sway; they would act together as one being: he was to perform the
+functions of the soul, and will everything; she, those of the body, and perform
+everything.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The principal feature of the scheme was, that (the first liberal outfit of the
+institution having been furnished by Mr. M&rsquo;Clure,) the expense of keeping
+it up should be defrayed by the profits arising from the labours of the pupils,
+male and female, which was to be performed at stated intervals of each day, in
+regular rotation with learned study and scientific research. But unfortunately
+the soul of the system found the climate of Indiana uncongenial to its peculiar
+formation, and, therefore, took its flight to Mexico, leaving the body to
+perform the operations of both, in whatever manner it liked best; and the body,
+being a French body, found no difficulty in setting actively to work without
+troubling the soul about it; and soon becoming conscious that the more simple
+was a machine, the more perfect were its operations, she threw out all that
+related to the intellectual part of the business, (which to do poor soul
+justice, it had laid great stress upon), and stirred herself as effectually as
+ever body did, to draw wealth from the thews and sinews of the youths they had
+collected. When last I heard of this philosophical establishment, she, and a
+nephew-son were said to be reaping a golden harvest, as many of the lads had
+been sent from a distance by indigent parents, for gratuitous education, and
+possessed no means of leaving it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our stay in New Orleans was not long enough to permit our entering into
+society, but I was told that it contained two distinct sets of people, both
+celebrated, in their way, for their social meetings and elegant entertainments.
+The first of these is composed of Creole families, who are chiefly planters and
+merchants, with their wives and daughters; these meet together, eat together,
+and are very grand and aristocratic; each of their balls is a little
+Almack&rsquo;s, and every portly dame of the set is as exclusive in her
+principles as the excluded but amiable Quandroons, and such of the gentlemen of
+the former class as can by any means escape from the high places, where pure
+Creole blood swells the veins at the bare mention of any being tainted in the
+remotest degree with the Negro stain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of all the prejudices I have ever witnessed, this appears to me the most
+violent, and the most inveterate. Quadroon girls, the acknowledged daughters of
+wealthy American or Creole fathers, educated with all of style and
+accomplishments which money can procure at New Orleans, and with all the
+decorum that care and affection can give; exquisitely beautiful, graceful,
+gentle, and amiable, these are not admitted, nay, are not on any terms
+admissable, into the society of the Creole families of Louisiana. They cannot
+marry; that is to say, no ceremony can render an union with them legal or
+binding; yet such is the powerful effect of their very peculiar grace, beauty,
+and sweetness of manner, that unfortunately they perpetually become the objects
+of choice and affection. If the Creole ladies have privilege to exercise the
+awful power of repulsion, the gentle Quadroon has the sweet but dangerous
+vengeance of possessing that of attraction. The unions formed with this
+unfortunate race are said to be often lasting and happy, as far as any unions
+can be so, to which a certain degree of disgrace is attached.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is a French and an English theatre in the town; but we were too fresh
+from Europe to care much for either; or, indeed, for any other of the town
+delights of this city, and we soon became eager to commence our voyage up the
+Mississippi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Wright, then less known (though the author of more than one clever volume)
+than she has since become, was the companion of our voyage from Europe; and it
+was my purpose to have passed some months with her and her sister at the estate
+she had purchased in Tennessee. This lady, since become so celebrated as the
+advocate of opinions that make millions shudder, and some half-score admire,
+was, at the time of my leaving England with her, dedicated to a pursuit widely
+different from her subsequent occupations. Instead of becoming a public orator
+in every town throughout America, she was about, as she said, to seclude
+herself for life in the deepest forests of the western world, that her fortune,
+her time, and her talents might be exclusively devoted to aid the cause of the
+suffering Africans. Her first object was to shew that nature had made no
+difference between blacks and whites, excepting in complexion; and this she
+expected to prove by giving an education perfectly equal to a class of black
+and white children. Could this fact be once fully established, she conceived
+that the Negro cause would stand on firmer ground than it had yet done, and the
+degraded rank which they have ever held amongst civilized nations would be
+proved to be a gross injustice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This question of the mental equality, or inequality between us, and the Negro
+race, is one of great interest, and has certainly never yet been fairly tried;
+and I expected for my children and myself both pleasure and information from
+visiting her establishment, and watching the success of her experiment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The innumerable steam boats, which are the stage coaches and fly waggons of
+this land of lakes and rivers, are totally unlike any I had seen in Europe, and
+greatly superior to them. The fabrics which I think they most resemble in
+appearance, are the floating baths (les bains Vigier) at Paris. The annexed
+drawing will give a correct idea of their form. The room to which the double
+line of windows belongs, is a very handsome apartment; before each window a
+neat little cot is arranged in such a manner as to give its drapery the air of
+a window curtain. This room is called the gentlemen&rsquo;s cabin, and their
+exclusive right to it is somewhat uncourteously insisted upon. The breakfast,
+dinner, and supper are laid in this apartment, and the lady passengers are
+permitted to take their meals there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the first of January, 1828, we embarked on board the Belvidere, a large and
+handsome boat; though not the largest or handsomest of the many which displayed
+themselves along the wharfs; but she was going to stop at Memphis, the point of
+the river nearest to Miss Wright&rsquo;s residence, and she was the first that
+departed after we had got through the customhouse, and finished our
+sight-seeing. We found the room destined for the use of the ladies dismal
+enough, as its only windows were below the stem gallery; but both this and the
+gentlemen&rsquo;s cabin were handsomely fitted up, and the former well
+carpeted; but oh! that carpet! I will not, I may not describe its condition;
+indeed it requires the pen of a Swift to do it justice. Let no one who wishes
+to receive agreeable impressions of American manners, commence their travels in
+a Mississippi steam boat; for myself, it is with all sincerity I declare, that
+I would infinitely prefer sharing the apartment of a party of well conditioned
+pigs to the being confined to its cabin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I hardly know any annoyance so deeply repugnant to English feelings, as the
+incessant, remorseless spitting of Americans. I feel that I owe my readers an
+apology for the repeated use of this, and several other odious words; but I
+cannot avoid them, without suffering the fidelity of description to escape me.
+It is possible that in this phrase, &ldquo;Americans,&rdquo; I may be too
+general. The United States form a continent of almost distinct nations, and I
+must now, and always, be understood to speak only of that portion of them which
+I have seen. In conversing with Americans I have constantly found that if I
+alluded to anything which they thought I considered as uncouth, they would
+assure me it was local, and not national; the accidental peculiarity of a very
+small part, and by no means a specimen of the whole. &ldquo;That is because you
+know so little of America,&rdquo; is a phrase I have listened to a thousand
+times, and in nearly as many different places. <i>It may be so</i>&mdash;and
+having made this concession, I protest against the charge of injustice in
+relating what I have seen.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Company on board the Steam Boat&mdash;Scenery of the
+Mississippi&mdash;Crocodiles&mdash;Arrival at Memphis&mdash;Nashoba
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The weather was warm and bright, and we found the guard of the boat, as they
+call the gallery that runs round the cabins, a very agreeable station; here we
+all sat as long as light lasted, and sometimes wrapped in our shawls, we
+enjoyed the clear bright beauty of American moonlight long after every
+passenger but ourselves had retired. We had a full complement of passengers on
+board. The deck, as is usual, was occupied by the Kentucky flat-boat men,
+returning from New Orleans, after having disposed of the boat and cargo which
+they had conveyed thither, with no other labour than that of steering her, the
+current bringing her down at the rate of four miles an hour. We had about two
+hundred of these men on board, but the part of the vessel occupied by them is
+so distinct from the cabins, that we never saw them, except when we stopped to
+take in wood; and then they ran, or rather sprung and vaulted over each
+other&rsquo;s heads to the shore, whence they all assisted in carrying wood to
+supply the steam engine; the performance of this duty being a stipulated part
+of the payment of their passage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From the account given by a man servant we had on board, who shared their
+quarters, they are a most disorderly set of persons, constantly gambling and
+wrangling, very seldom sober, and never suffering a night to pass without
+giving practical proof of the respect in which they hold the doctrines of
+equality, and community of property. The clerk of the vessel was kind enough to
+take our man under his protection, and assigned him a berth in his own little
+nook; but as this was not inaccessible, he told him by no means to detach his
+watch or money from his person during the night. Whatever their moral
+characteristics may be, these Kentuckians are a very noble-looking race of men;
+their average height considerably exceeds that of Europeans, and their
+countenances, excepting when disfigured by red hair, which is not unfrequent,
+extremely handsome.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The gentlemen in the cabin (we had no ladies) would certainly neither, from
+their language, manners, nor appearance, have received that designation in
+Europe; but we soon found their claim to it rested on more substantial ground,
+for we heard them nearly all addressed by the titles of general, colonel, and
+major. On mentioning these military dignities to an English friend some time
+afterwards, he told me that he too had made the voyage with the same
+description of company, but remarking that there was not a single captain among
+them; he made the observation to a fellow-passenger, and asked how he accounted
+for it. &ldquo;Oh, sir, the captains are all on deck,&rdquo; was the reply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our honours, however, were not all military, for we had a judge among us. I
+know it is equally easy and invidious to ridicule the peculiarities of
+appearance and manner in people of a different nation from ourselves; we may,
+too, at the same moment, be undergoing the same ordeal in their estimation;
+and, moreover, I am by no means disposed to consider whatever is new to me as
+therefore objectionable; but, nevertheless, it was impossible not to feel
+repugnance to many of the novelties that now surrounded me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The total want of all the usual courtesies of the table, the voracious rapidity
+with which the viands were seized and devoured, the strange uncouth phrases and
+pronunciation; the loathsome spitting, from the contamination of which it was
+absolutely impossible to protect our dresses; the frightful manner of feeding
+with their knives, till the whole blade seemed to enter into the mouth; and the
+still more frightful manner of cleaning the teeth afterwards with a pocket
+knife, soon forced us to feel that we were not surrounded by the generals,
+colonels, and majors of the old world; and that the dinner hour was to be any
+thing rather than an hour of enjoyment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The little conversation that went forward while we remained in the room, was
+entirely political, and the respective claims of Adams and Jackson to the
+presidency were argued with more oaths and more vehemence than it had ever been
+my lot to hear. Once a colonel appeared on the verge of assaulting a major,
+when a huge seven-foot Kentuckian gentleman horse-dealer, asked of the heavens
+to confound them both, and bade them sit still and be d&mdash;d. We too thought
+we should share this sentence; at least sitting still in the cabin seemed very
+nearly to include the rest of it, and we never tarried there a moment longer
+than was absolutely necessary to eat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The unbroken flatness of the banks of the Mississippi continued unvaried for
+many miles above New Orleans; but the graceful and luxuriant palmetto, the dark
+and noble ilex, and the bright orange, were every where to be seen, and it was
+many days before we were weary of looking at them. We occasionally used the
+opportunity of the boat&rsquo;s stopping to take in wood for a ten
+minutes&rsquo; visit to the shore; we in this manner explored a field of sugar
+canes, and loaded ourselves with as much of the sweet spoil as we could carry.
+Many of the passengers seemed fond of the luscious juice that is easily
+expressed from the canes, but it was too sweet for my palate. We also visited,
+in the same rapid manner, a cotton plantation. A handsome spacious building was
+pointed out to us as a convent, where a considerable number of young ladies
+were educated by the nuns.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At one or two points the wearisome level line of forest is relieved by
+<i>bluffs</i>, as they call the short intervals of high ground. The town of
+Natches is beautifully situated on one of these high spots; the climate here,
+in the warm season, is as fatal as that of New Orleans; were it not for this,
+Natches would have great attractions to new settlers. The beautiful contrast
+that its bright green hill forms with the dismal line of black forest that
+stretches on every side, the abundant growth of pawpaw, palmetto and orange,
+the copious variety of sweet-scented flowers that flourish there, all make it
+appear like an oasis in the desert. Natches is the furthest point to the north
+at which oranges ripen in the open air, or endure the winter without shelter.
+With the exception of this sweet spot, I thought all the little towns and
+villages we passed, wretched looking, in the extreme. As the distance from New
+Orleans increased, the air of wealth and comfort exhibited in its immediate
+neighbourhood disappeared, and but for one or two clusters of wooden houses,
+calling themselves towns, and borrowing some pompous name, generally from
+Greece or Rome, we might have thought ourselves the first of the human race who
+had ever penetrated into this territory of bears and alligators. But still from
+time to time appeared the hut of the wood-cutter, who supplies the steam-boats
+with fuel, at the risk, or rather with the assurance of early death, in
+exchange for dollars and whiskey. These sad dwellings are nearly all of them
+inundated during the winter, and the best of them are constructed on piles,
+which permit the water to reach its highest level without drowning the wretched
+inhabitants. These unhappy beings are invariably the victims of ague, which
+they meet recklessly, sustained by the incessant use of ardent spirits. The
+squalid look of the miserable wives and children of these men was dreadful, and
+often as the spectacle was renewed I could never look at it with indifference.
+Their complexion is of a blueish white, that suggests the idea of dropsy; this
+is invariable, and the poor little ones wear exactly the same ghastly hue. A
+miserable cow and a few pigs standing knee-deep in water, distinguish the more
+prosperous of these dwellings, and on the whole I should say that I never
+witnessed human nature reduced so low, as it appeared in the
+wood-cutters&rsquo; huts on the unwholesome banks of the Mississippi.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is said that at some points of this dismal river, crocodiles are so abundant
+as to add the terror of their attacks to the other sufferings of a dwelling
+there. We were told a story of a squatter, who having &ldquo;located&rdquo;
+himself close to the river&rsquo;s edge, proceeded to build his cabin. This
+operation is soon performed, for social feeling and the love of whiskey bring
+all the scanty neighbourhood round a new corner, to aid him in cutting down
+trees, and in rolling up the logs, till the mansion is complete. This was done;
+the wife and five young children were put in possession of their new home, and
+slept soundly after a long march. Towards daybreak the husband and father was
+awakened by a faint cry, and looking up, beheld relics of three of his children
+scattered over the floor, and an enormous crocodile, with several young ones
+around her, occupied in devouring the remnants of their horrid meal. He looked
+round for a weapon, but finding none, and aware that unarmed he could do
+nothing, he raised himself gently on his bed, and contrived to crawl from
+thence through a window, hoping that his wife, whom he left sleeping, might
+with the remaining children rest undiscovered till his return. He flew to his
+nearest neighbour and besought his aid; in less than half an hour two men
+returned with him, all three well armed; but alas! they were too late! the wife
+and her two babes lay mangled on their bloody bed. The gorged reptiles fell an
+easy prey to their assailants, who, upon examining the place, found the hut had
+been constructed close to the mouth of a large hole, almost a cavern, where the
+monster had hatched her hateful brood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Among other sights of desolation which mark this region, condemned of nature,
+the lurid glare of a burning forest was almost constantly visible after sunset,
+and when the wind so willed, the smoke arising from it floated in heavy vapour
+over our heads. Not all the novelty of the scene, not all its vastness, could
+prevent its heavy horror wearying the spirits. Perhaps the dinners and suppers
+I have described may help to account for this; but certain it is, that when we
+had wondered for a week at the ceaseless continuity of forest; had first
+admired, and then wearied of the festooned drapery of Spanish moss; when we had
+learned to distinguish the different masses of timber that passed us, or that
+we passed, as a &ldquo;snag,&rdquo; a &ldquo;log&rdquo; or a
+&ldquo;sawyer;&rdquo; when we had finally made up our minds that the gentlemen
+of the Kentucky and Ohio military establishments, were not of the same genus as
+those of the Tuilleries and St. James&rsquo;s, we began to wish that we could
+sleep more hours away. As we advanced to the northward we were no longer
+cheered by the beautiful border of palmettos; and even the amusement of
+occasionally spying out a sleeping crocodile was over.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just in this state, when we would have fain believed that every mile we went,
+carried us two towards Memphis, a sudden and violent shock startled us
+frightfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is a sawyer!&rdquo; said one.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is a snag!&rdquo; cried another.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We are aground!&rdquo; exclaimed the captain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Aground? Good heavens! and how long shall we stay here?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Lord in his providence can only tell, but long enough to tire my
+patience, I expect.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And the poor English ladies, how fared they the while?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Two breakfasts, two dinners, and a supper did they eat, with the Ohio and
+Kentucky gentlemen, before they moved an inch. Several steam-boats passed while
+we were thus enthralled; but some were not strong enough to attempt drawing us
+off, and some attempted it, but were not strong enough to succeed; at length a
+vast and mighty &ldquo;thing of life&rdquo; approached, threw out grappling
+irons; and in three minutes the business was done; again we saw the trees and
+mud slide swiftly past us; and a hearty shout from every passenger on deck
+declared their joy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length we had the pleasure of being told that we had arrived at Memphis; but
+this pleasure was considerably abated by the hour of our arrival, which was
+midnight, and by the rain, which was falling in torrents.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Memphis stands on a high bluff, and at the time of our arrival was nearly
+inaccessible. The heavy rain which had been falling for many hours would have
+made any steep ascent difficult, but unfortunately a new road had been recently
+marked out, which beguiled us into its almost bottomless mud, from the firmer
+footing of the unbroken cliff. Shoes and gloves were lost in the mire, for we
+were glad to avail ourselves of all our limbs, and we reached the grand hotel
+in a most deplorable state.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Wright was well known there, and as soon as her arrival was announced,
+every one seemed on the alert to receive her, and we soon found ourselves in
+possession of the best rooms in the hotel. The house was new, and in what
+appeared to me a very comfortless condition, but I was then new to Western
+America, and unaccustomed to their mode of &ldquo;getting along,&rdquo; as they
+term it. This phrase is eternally in use among them, and seems to mean existing
+with as few of the comforts of life as possible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We slept soundly however, and rose in the hope of soon changing our
+mortar-smelling-quarters for Miss Wright&rsquo;s Nashoba.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But we presently found that the rain which had fallen during the night would
+make it hazardous to venture through the forests of Tennessee in any sort of
+carriage; we therefore had to pass the day at our queer comfortless hotel. The
+steam-boat had wearied me of social meals, and I should have been thankful to
+have eaten our dinner of hard venison and peach-sauce in a private room; but
+this, Miss Wright said was impossible; the lady of the house would consider the
+proposal as a personal affront, and, moreover, it would be assuredly refused.
+This latter argument carried weight with it, and when the great bell was
+sounded from an upper window of the house, we proceeded to the dining-room. The
+table was laid for fifty persons, and was already nearly full. Our party had
+the honour of sitting near &ldquo;the lady,&rdquo; but to check the proud
+feelings to which such distinction might give birth, my servant, William, sat
+very nearly opposite to me. The company consisted of all the shop-keepers
+(store-keepers as they are called throughout the United States) of the little
+town. The mayor also, who was a friend of Miss Wright&rsquo;s, was of the
+party; he is a pleasing gentlemanlike man, and seems strangely misplaced in a
+little town on the Mississippi. We were told that since the erection of this
+hotel, it has been the custom for all the male inhabitants of the town to dine
+and breakfast there. They ate in perfect silence, and with such astonishing
+rapidity that their dinner was over literally before our&rsquo;s was began; the
+instant they ceased to eat, they darted from the table in the same moody
+silence which they had preserved since they entered the room, and a second set
+took their places, who performed their silent parts in the same manner. The
+only sounds heard were those produced by the knives and forks, with the
+unceasing chorus of coughing, &amp;c. No women were present except ourselves
+and the hostess; the good women of Memphis being well content to let their
+lords partake of Mrs. Anderson&rsquo;s turkeys and venison, (without their
+having the trouble of cooking for them), whilst they regale themselves on mash
+and milk at home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The remainder of the day passed pleasantly enough in rambling round the little
+town, which is situated at the most beautiful point of the Mississippi; the
+river is here so wide as to give it the appearance of a noble lake; an island,
+covered with lofty forest trees divides it, and relieves by its broad mass of
+shadow the uniformity of its waters. The town stretches in a rambling irregular
+manner along the cliff, from the Wolf River, one of the innumerable tributaries
+to the Mississippi, to about a mile below it. Half a mile more of the cliff
+beyond the town is cleared of trees, and produces good pasture for horses,
+cows, and pigs; sheep they had none. At either end of this space the forest
+again rears its dark wall, and seems to say to man, &ldquo;so far shalt thou
+come, and no farther!&rdquo; Courage and industry, however, have braved the
+warning. Behind this long street the town straggles back into the forest, and
+the rude path that leads to the more distant log dwellings becomes wilder at
+every step. The ground is broken by frequent water-courses, and the bridges
+that lead across them are formed by trunks of trees thrown over the stream,
+which support others of smaller growth, that are laid across them. These
+bridges are not very pleasant to pass, for they totter under the tread of a
+man, and tremble most frightfully beneath a horse or a waggon; they are,
+however, very picturesque. The great height of the trees, the quantity of
+pendant vine branches that hang amongst them; and the variety of gay plumaged
+birds, particularly the small green parrot, made us feel we were in a new
+world; and a repetition of our walk the next morning would have pleased us
+well, but Miss Wright was anxious to get home, and we were scarcely less so to
+see her Nashoba. A clumsy sort of caravan drawn by two horses was prepared for
+us; and we set off in high spirits for an expedition of fifteen miles through
+the forest. To avoid passing one of the bridges above described, which was
+thought insecure, our negro driver took us through a piece of water, which he
+assured us was not deep &ldquo;to matter&rdquo; however we soon lost sight of
+our pole, and as we were evidently descending, we gently remonstrated with him
+on the danger of proceeding, but he only grinned, and flogged in reply; we soon
+saw the front wheels disappear, and horses began to plunge and kick most
+alarmingly, but still without his looking at all disturbed. At length the
+splinter-bar gave way, upon which the black philosopher said very composedly,
+&ldquo;I expect you&rsquo;ll best be riding out upon the horses, as we&rsquo;ve
+got into an unhandsome fix here.&rdquo; Miss Wright, who sat composedly smiling
+at the scene, said, &ldquo;Yes, Jacob, that is what we must do;&rdquo; and with
+some difficulty we, in this manner, reached the shore, and soon found ourselves
+again assembled round Mrs. Anderson&rsquo;s fire.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was soon settled that we must delay our departure till the waters had
+subsided, but Miss Wright was too anxious to reach home to endure this delay
+and she set off again on horseback, accompanied by our man servant, who told me
+afterwards that they rode through places that might have daunted the boldest
+hunter, but that &ldquo;Miss Wright took it quite easy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The next day we started again, and the clear air, the bright sun, the novel
+wildness of the dark forest, and our keenly awakened curiosity, made the
+excursion delightful, and enabled us to bear without shrinking the bumps and
+bruises we encountered. We soon lost all trace of a road, at least so it
+appeared to us, for the stumps of the trees, which had been cut away to open a
+passage, were left standing three feet high. Over these, the high-hung
+Deerborn, as our carriage was called, passed safely; but it required some miles
+of experience to convince us that every stump would not be our last; it was
+amusing to watch the cool and easy skill with which the driver wound his horses
+and wheels among these stumps. I thought he might have been imported to Bond
+street with great advantage. The forest became thicker and more dreary-looking
+every mile we advanced, but our ever-grinning negro declared it was a right
+good road, and that we should be sure to get to Nashoba.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so we did….and one glance sufficed to convince me that every idea I had
+formed of the place was as far as possible from the truth. Desolation was the
+only feeling&mdash;the only word that presented itself; but it was not spoken.
+I think, however, that Miss Wright was aware of the painful impression the
+sight of her forest home produced on me, and I doubt not that the conviction
+reached us both at the same moment, that we had erred in thinking that a few
+months passed together at this spot could be productive of pleasure to either.
+But to do her justice, I believe her mind was so exclusively occupied by the
+object she had then in view, that all things else were worthless, or
+indifferent to her. I never heard or read of any enthusiasm approaching
+her&rsquo;s, except in some few instances, in ages past, of religious
+fanaticism.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It must have been some feeling equally powerful which enabled Miss Wright,
+accustomed to all the comfort and refinement of Europe, to imagine not only
+that she herself could exist in this wilderness, but that her European friends
+could enter there, and not feel dismayed at the savage aspect of the scene. The
+annexed plate gives a faithful view of the cleared space and buildings which
+form the settlement. Each building consisted of two large rooms furnished in
+the most simple manner; nor had they as yet collected round them any of those
+minor comforts which ordinary minds class among the necessaries of life. But in
+this our philosophical friend seemed to see no evil; nor was there any mixture
+of affectation in this indifference; it was a circumstance really and truly
+beneath her notice. Her whole heart and soul were occupied by the hope of
+raising the African to the level of European intellect; and even now, that I
+have seen this favourite fabric of her imagination fall to pieces beneath her
+feet, I cannot recall the self-devotion with which she gave herself to it,
+without admiration.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The only white persons we found at Nashoba were my amiable friend, Mrs.
+W&mdash;, the sister of Miss Wright, and her husband. I think they had between
+thirty and forty slaves, including children, but when I was there no school had
+been established. Books and other materials for the great experiment had been
+collected, and one or two professors engaged, but nothing was yet organized. I
+found my friend Mrs. W&mdash; in very bad health, which she confessed she
+attributed to the climate. This naturally so much alarmed me for my children,
+that I decided upon leaving the place with as little delay as possible, and did
+so at the end of ten days.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I do not exactly know what was the immediate cause which induced Miss Wright to
+abandon a scheme which had taken such possession of her imagination, and on
+which she had expended so much money; but many months had not elapsed before I
+learnt, with much pleasure, that she and her sister had also left it. I think
+it probable that she became aware upon returning to Nashoba, that the climate
+was too hostile to their health. All I know farther of Nashoba is, that Miss
+Wright having found (from some cause or other) that it was impossible to pursue
+her object, herself accompanied her slaves to Hayti, and left them there, free,
+and under the protection of the President.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I found no beauty in the scenery round Nashoba, nor can I conceive that it
+would possess any even in summer. The trees were so close to each other as not
+to permit the growth of underwood, the great ornament of the forest at New
+Orleans, and still less of our seeing any openings, where the varying effects
+of light and shade might atone for the absence of other objects. The clearing
+round the settlement appeared to me inconsiderable and imperfect; but I was
+told that they had grown good crops of cotton and Indian corn. The weather was
+dry and agreeable, and the aspects of the heavens by night surprisingly
+beautiful. I never saw moonlight so clear, so pure, so powerful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We returned to Memphis on the 26th January, 1828, and found ourselves obliged
+to pass five days there, awaiting a steam-boat for Cincinnati, to which
+metropolis of the west, I was now determined to proceed with my family to await
+the arrival of Mr. Trollope. We were told by everyone we spoke to at Memphis,
+that it was in all respects the finest situation west of the Alleghanies. We
+found many lovely walks among the broken forest glades around Memphis, which,
+together with a morning and evening enjoyment of the effects of a glowing
+horizon on the river, enabled us to wait patiently for the boat that was to
+bear us away.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Departure from Memphis&mdash;Ohio River Louisville&mdash;Cincinnati
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the 1st of February, 1828, we embarked on board the Criterion, and once more
+began to float on the &ldquo;father of waters,&rdquo; as the poor banished
+Indians were wont to call the Mississippi. The company on board was wonderfully
+like what we had met in coming from New Orleans; I think they must have all
+been first cousins; and what was singular, they too had all arrived at high
+rank in the army. For many a wearisome mile above the Wolf River the only
+scenery was still forest&mdash;forest&mdash;forest; the only variety was
+produced by the receding of the river at some points, and its encroaching on
+the opposite shore. These changes are continually going on, but from what cause
+none could satisfactorily explain to me. Where the river is encroaching, the
+trees are seen growing in the water many feet deep; after some time, the water
+undermines their roots, and they become the easy victims of the first hurricane
+that blows. This is one source of the immense quantities of drift wood that
+float into the gulf of Mexico. Where the river has receded, a young growth of
+cane-brake is soon seen starting up with the rapid vegetation of the climate;
+these two circumstances in some degree relieve the sameness of the thousand
+miles of vegetable wall. But we were now approaching the river which is
+emphatically called &ldquo;the beautiful,&rdquo; La Belle Riveriere of the New
+Orleans French; and a few days took us, I trust for ever, out of that murky
+stream which is as emphatically called &ldquo;the deadly;&rdquo; and well does
+it seem to merit the title; the air of its shores is mephitic, and it is said
+that nothing that ever sunk beneath its muddy surface was known to rise again.
+As truly does &ldquo;La Belle Rivière&rdquo; deserve its name; the Ohio is
+bright and clear; its banks are continually varied, as it flows through what is
+called a rolling country, which seems to mean a district that cannot .shew a
+dozen paces of level ground at a time. The primaeval forest still occupies a
+considerable portion of the ground, and hangs in solemn grandeur from the
+cliffs; but it is broken by frequent settlements, where we were cheered by the
+sight of herds and flocks. I imagine that this river presents almost every
+variety of river scenery; sometimes its clear wave waters a meadow of level
+turf; sometimes it is bounded by perpendicular rocks; pretty dwellings, with
+their gay porticos are seen, alternately with wild intervals of forest, where
+the tangled bear-brake plainly enough indicates what inhabitants are native
+there. Often a mountain torrent comes pouring its silver tribute to the stream,
+and were there occasionally a ruined abbey, or feudal castle, to mix the
+romance of real life with that of nature, the Ohio would be perfect.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So powerful was the effect of this sweet scenery, that we ceased to grumble at
+our dinners and suppers; nay, we almost learnt to rival our neighbours at table
+in their voracious rapidity of swallowing, so eager were we to place ourselves
+again on the guard, lest we might lose sight of the beauty that was passing
+away from us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yet these fair shores are still unhealthy. More than once we landed, and
+conversed with the families of the wood-cutters, and scarcely was there one in
+which we did not hear of some member who had &ldquo;lately died of the
+fever.&rdquo;&mdash;They are all subject to ague, and though their dwellings
+are infinitely better than those on the Mississippi, the inhabitants still look
+like a race that are selling their lives for gold.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Louisville is a considerable town, prettily situated on the Kentucky, or south
+side of the Ohio; we spent some hours in seeing all it had to shew; and had I
+not been told that a bad fever often rages there during the warm season, I
+should have liked to pass some months there for the purpose of exploring the
+beautiful country in its vicinity. Frankfort and Lexington are both towns worth
+visiting, though from their being out of the way places, I never got to either.
+The first is the seat of the state government of Kentucky, and the last is, I
+was told, the residence of several independent families, who, with more leisure
+than is usually enjoyed in America, have its natural accompaniment, more
+refinement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The falls of the Ohio are about a mile below Louisville, and produce a rapid,
+too sudden for the boats to pass, except in the rainy season. The passengers
+are obliged to get out below them, and travel by land to Louisville, where they
+find other vessels ready to receive them for the remainder of the voyage. We
+were spared this inconvenience by the water being too high for the rapid to be
+much felt, and it will soon be altogether removed by the Louisville canal
+coming into operation, which will permit the steam-boats to continue their
+progress from below the falls to the town.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The scenery on the Kentucky side is much finer than on that of Indiana, or
+Ohio. The State of Kentucky was the darling spot of many tribes of Indians, and
+was reserved among them as a common hunting ground; it is said that they cannot
+yet name it without emotion, and that they have a sad and wild lament that they
+still chaunt to its memory. But their exclusion thence is of no recent date;
+Kentucky has been longer settled than the Illinois, Indiana, or Ohio, and it
+appears not only more highly cultivated, but more fertile and more picturesque
+than either. I have rarely seen richer pastures than those of Kentucky. The
+forest trees, where not too crowded, are of magnificent growth, and the crops
+are gloriously abundant where the thriftless husbandry has not worn out the
+soil by an unvarying succession of exhausting crops. We were shewn ground which
+had borne abundant crops of wheat for twenty successive years; but a much
+shorter period suffices to exhaust the ground, if it were made to produce
+tobacco without the intermission of some other crop.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We reached Cincinnati on the 10th of February. It is finely situated on the
+south side of a hill that rises gently from the water&rsquo;s edge; yet it is
+by no means a city of striking appearance; it wants domes, towers, and
+steeples; but its landing-place is noble, extending for more than a quarter of
+a mile; it is well paved, and surrounded by neat, though not handsome
+buildings. I have seen fifteen steam-boats lying there at once, and still half
+the wharf was unoccupied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On arriving we repaired to the Washington Hotel, and thought ourselves
+fortunate when we were told that we were just in time for dinner at the table
+d&rsquo;hôte; but when the dining-room door was opened, we retreated with a
+feeling of dismay at seeing between sixty and seventy men already at table. We
+took our dinner with the females of the family, and then went forth to seek a
+house for our permanent accommodation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We went to the office of an advertising agent, who professed to keep a register
+of all such information, and described the dwelling we wanted. He made no
+difficulty, but told us his boy should be our guide through the city, and shew
+us what we sought; we accordingly set out with him, and he led us up one
+street, and down another, but evidently without any determinate object; I
+therefore stopped, and asked him whereabout the houses were which we were going
+to see. &ldquo;I am looking for bills,&rdquo; was his reply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I thought we could have looked for bills as well without him, and I told him
+so; upon which he assumed an air of great activity, and began knocking
+regularly at every door we passed, enquiring if the house was to be let. It was
+impossible to endure this long, and our guide was dismissed, though I was
+afterwards obliged to pay him a dollar for his services.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had the good fortune, however, to find a dwelling before long, and we
+returned to our hotel, having determined upon taking possession of it as soon
+at it could be got ready. Not wishing to take our evening meal either with the
+three score and ten gentlemen of the dining-room, nor yet with the half dozen
+ladies of the bar-room, I ordered tea in my own chamber. A good-humoured Irish
+woman came forward with a sort of patronising manner, took my hand, and said,
+&ldquo;Och, my honey, ye&rsquo;ll be from the old country. I&rsquo;ll see you
+will have your tay all to yourselves, honey.&rdquo; With this assurance we
+retired to my room, which was a handsome one as to its size and bed furniture,
+but it had no carpet, and was darkened by blinds of paper, such as rooms are
+hung with, which required to be rolled up, and then fastened with strings very
+awkwardly attached to the window-frames, whenever light or air were wished for.
+I afterwards met with these same uncomfortable blinds in every part of America.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our Irish friend soon reappeared, and brought us tea, together with the never
+failing accompaniments of American tea drinking, hung beef, &ldquo;chipped
+up&rdquo; raw, and sundry sweetmeats of brown sugar hue and flavour. We took
+our tea, and were enjoying our family talk, relative to our future
+arrangements, when a loud sharp knocking was heard at our door. My &ldquo;come
+in,&rdquo; was answered by the appearance of a portly personage, who proclaimed
+himself our landlord.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Are any of you ill?&rdquo; he began.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No thank you, sir; we are all quite well,&rdquo; was my reply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then, madam, I must tell you, that I cannot accommodate you on these
+terms; we have no family tea-drinkings here, and you must live either with me
+or my wife, or not at all in my house.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was said with an air of authority that almost precluded reply, but I
+ventured a sort of apologistic hint, that we were strangers and unaccustomed to
+the manners of the country.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Our manners are very good manners, and we don&rsquo;t wish any changes
+from England.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I thought of mine host of the Washington afterwards, when reading Scott&rsquo;s
+&ldquo;Anne of Geierstein;&rdquo; he, in truth, strongly resembled the inn
+keeper therein immortalized, who made his guests eat, drink, and sleep, just
+where, when, and how he pleased. I made no farther remonstrance, but determined
+to hasten my removal. This we achieved the next day to our great satisfaction.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were soon settled in our new dwelling, which looked neat and comfortable
+enough, but we speedily found that it was devoid of nearly all the
+accommodation that Europeans conceive necessary to decency and comfort. No
+pump, no cistern, no drain of any kind, no dustman&rsquo;s cart, or any other
+visible means of getting rid of the rubbish, which vanishes with such celerity
+in London, that one has no time to think of its existence; but which
+accumulated so rapidly at Cincinnati, that I sent for my landlord to know in
+what manner refuse of all kinds was to be disposed of.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Your Help will just have to fix them all into the middle of the street,
+but you must mind, old woman, that it is the middle. I expect you don&rsquo;t
+know as we have got a law what forbids throwing such things at the sides of the
+streets; they must just all be cast right into the middle, and the pigs soon
+takes them off.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In truth the pigs are constantly seen doing Herculean service in this way
+through every quarter of the city; and though it is not very agreeable to live
+surrounded by herds of these unsavoury animals, it is well they are so
+numerous, and so active in their capacity of scavengers, for without them the
+streets would soon be choked up with all sorts of substances in every stage of
+decomposition.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had heard so much of Cincinnati, its beauty, wealth, and unequalled
+prosperity, that when we left Memphis to go thither, we almost felt the delight
+of Rousseau&rsquo;s novice, &ldquo;un voyage à faire, et Paris au bout!&rdquo;
+&mdash;As soon, therefore, as our little domestic arrangements were completed,
+we set forth to view this &ldquo;wonder of the west&rdquo; this
+&ldquo;prophet&rsquo;s gourd of magic growth,&rdquo;&mdash;this &ldquo;infant
+Hercules;&rdquo; and surely no travellers ever paraded a city under
+circumstances more favourable to their finding it fair to the sight. Three
+dreary months had elapsed since we had left the glories of London behind us;
+for nearly the whole of that time we beheld no other architecture than what our
+ship and steam-boats had furnished, and excepting at New Orleans, had seen
+hardly a trace of human habitations. The sight of bricks and mortar was really
+refreshing, and a house of three stories looked splendid. Of this splendour we
+saw repeated specimens, and moreover a brick church, which, from its two little
+peaked spires, is called the two-horned church. But, alas! the flatness of
+reality after the imagination has been busy! I hardly know what I expected to
+find in this city, fresh risen from the bosom of the wilderness, but certainly
+it was not a little town, about the size of Salisbury, without even an attempt
+at beauty in any of its edifices, and with only just enough of the air of a
+city to make it noisy and bustling. The population is greater than the
+appearance of the town would lead one to expect. This is partly owing to the
+number of free Negroes who herd together in an obscure part of the city, called
+little Africa; and partly to the density of the population round the
+paper-mills and other manufactories. I believe the number of inhabitants
+exceeds twenty thousand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We arrived in Cincinnati in February, 1828, and I speak of the town as it was
+then; several small churches have been built since, whose towers agreeably
+relieve its uninteresting mass of buildings. At that time I think Main street,
+which is the principal avenue, (and runs through the whole town, answering to
+the High street of our old cities), was the only one entirely paved. The
+<i>troittoir</i> is of brick, tolerably well laid, but it is inundated by every
+shower, as Cincinnati has no drains whatever. What makes this omission the more
+remarkable is, that the situation of the place is calculated both to facilitate
+their construction and render them necessary. Cincinnati is built on the side
+of a hill that begins to rise at the river&rsquo;s edge, and were it furnished
+with drains of the simplest arrangement, the heavy showers of the climate would
+keep them constantly clean; as it is, these showers wash the higher streets,
+only to deposit their filth in the first level spot; and this happens to be in
+the street second in importance to Main street, running at right angles to it,
+and containing most of the large warehouses of the town. This deposit is a
+dreadful nuisance, and must be productive of miasma during the hot weather.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The town is built, as I believe most American towns are, in squares, as they
+call them; but these squares are the reverse of our&rsquo;s, being solid
+instead of hollow. Each consists, or is intended to consist, when the plan of
+the city is completed, of a block of buildings fronting north, east, west, and
+south; each house communicating with an alley, furnishing a back entrance. This
+plan would not be a bad one were the town properly drained, but as it is, these
+alleys are horrible abominations, and must, I conceive, become worse with every
+passing year.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To the north, Cincinnati is bounded by a range of forest-covered hills,
+sufficiently steep and rugged to prevent their being built upon, or easily
+cultivated, but not sufficiently high to command from their summits a view of
+any considerable extent. Deep and narrow water-courses, dry in summer, but
+bringing down heavy streams in winter, divide these hills into many separate
+heights, and this furnishes the only variety the landscape offers for many
+miles round the town. The lovely Ohio is a beautiful feature wherever it is
+visible, but the only part of the city that has the advantage of its beauty is
+the street nearest to its bank. The hills of Kentucky, which rise at about the
+same distance from the river, on the opposite side, form the southern boundary
+to the basin in which Cincinnati is built.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On first arriving, I thought the many tree covered hills around, very
+beautiful, but long before my departure, I felt so weary of the confined view,
+that Salisbury Plain would have been an agreeable variety. I doubt if any
+inhabitant of Cincinnati ever mounted these hills so often as myself and my
+children; but it was rather for the enjoyment of a freer air than for any
+beauty of prospect, that we took our daily climb. These hills afford neither
+shrubs nor flowers, but furnish the finest specimens of millepore in the world;
+and the water courses are full of fossil productions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The forest trees are neither large nor well grown, and so close as to be nearly
+knotted together at top; even the wild vine here loses its beauty, for its
+graceful festoons bear leaves only when they reach the higher branches of the
+tree that supports them, both air and light being too scantily found below to
+admit of their doing more than climbing with a bare stem till they reach a
+better atmosphere. The herb we call pennyroyal was the only one I found in
+abundance, and that only on the brows, where the ground had been partially
+cleared; vegetation is impossible elsewhere, and it is this circumstance which
+makes the &ldquo;eternal forests&rdquo; of America so detestable. Near New
+Orleans the undergrowth of Palmetto and pawpaw is highly beautiful, but in
+Tennessee, Indiana, and Ohio, I never found the slightest beauty in the forest
+scenery. Fallen trees in every possible stage of decay, and congeries of leaves
+that have been rotting since the flood, cover the ground and infect the air.
+The beautiful variety of foliage afforded by evergreens never occurs, and in
+Tennessee, and that part of Ohio that surrounds Cincinnati, even the sterile
+beauty of rocks is wanting. On crossing the water to Kentucky the scene is
+greatly improved; beech and chestnut, of magnificent growth, border the
+beautiful river; the ground has been well cleared, and the herbage is
+excellent; the pawpaw grows abundantly, and is a splendid shrub, though it
+bears neither fruit nor flowers so far north. The noble tulip tree flourishes
+here, and blooms profusely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The river Licking flows into the Ohio nearly opposite Cincinnati; it is a
+pretty winding stream, and two or three miles from its mouth has a brisk rapid,
+dancing among white stones, which, in the absence of better rocks, we found
+very picturesque.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Cincinnati&mdash;Forest Farm&mdash;Mr. Bullock
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Though I do not quite sympathise with those who consider Cincinnati as one of
+the wonders of the earth, I certainly think it a city of extraordinary size and
+importance, when it is remembered that thirty years ago the aboriginal forest
+occupied the ground where it stands; and every month appears to extend its
+limits and its wealth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Some of the native political economists assert that this rapid conversion of a
+bear-brake into a prosperous city, is the result of free political
+institutions; not being very deep in such matters, a more obvious cause
+suggested itself to me, in the unceasing goad which necessity applies to
+industry in this country, and in the absence of all resource for the idle.
+During nearly two years that I resided in Cincinnati, or its neighbourhood, I
+neither saw a beggar, nor a man of sufficient fortune to permit his ceasing his
+efforts to increase it; thus every bee in the hive is actively employed in
+search of that honey of Hybla, vulgarly called money; neither art, science,
+learning, nor pleasure can seduce them from its pursuit. This unity of purpose,
+backed by the spirit of enterprise, and joined with an acuteness and total
+absence of probity, where interest is concerned, which might set canny
+Yorkshire at defiance, may well go far towards obtaining its purpose.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The low rate of taxation, too, unquestionably permits a more rapid accumulation
+of individual wealth than with us; but till I had travelled through America, I
+had no idea how much of the money collected in taxes returns among the people,
+not only in the purchase of what their industry furnishes, but in the actual
+enjoyment of what is furnished. Were I an English legislator, instead of
+sending sedition to the Tower, I would send her to make a tour of the United
+States. I had a little leaning towards sedition myself when I set out, but
+before I had half completed my tour I was quite cured.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have read much of the &ldquo;few and simple wants of rational man,&rdquo; and
+I used to give a sort of dreamy acquiescence to the reasoning that went to
+prove each added want an added woe. Those who reason in a comfortable London
+drawing-room know little about the matter. Were the aliments which sustain life
+all that we wanted, the faculties of the hog might suffice us; but if we
+analyze an hour of enjoyment, we shall find that it is made up of agreeable
+sensations occasioned by a thousand delicate impressions on almost as many
+nerves; where these nerves are sluggish from never having been awakened,
+external objects are less important, for they are less perceived; but where the
+whole machine of the human frame is in full activity, where every sense brings
+home to consciousness its touch of pleasure or of pain, then every object that
+meets the senses is important as a vehicle of happiness or misery. But let no
+frames so tempered visit the United States, or if they do, let it be with no
+longer pausing than will store the memory with images, which, by the force of
+contrast, shall sweeten the future.
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Guarda e passa (e poi) ragioniam di lor.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The &ldquo;simple&rdquo; manner of living in Western America was more
+distasteful to me from its levelling effects on the manners of the people, than
+from the personal privations that it rendered necessary; and yet, till I was
+without them, I was in no degree aware of the many pleasurable sensations
+derived from the little elegancies and refinements enjoyed by the middle
+classes in Europe. There were many circumstances, too trifling even for my
+gossiping pages, which pressed themselves daily and hourly upon us, and which
+forced us to remember painfully that we were not at home. It requires an abler
+pen than mine to trace the connection which I am persuaded exists between these
+deficiencies and the minds and manners of the people. All animal wants are
+supplied profusely at Cincinnati, and at a very easy rate; but, alas! these go
+but a little way in the history of a day&rsquo;s enjoyment. The total and
+universal want of manners, both in males and females, is so remarkable, that I
+was constantly endeavouring to account for it. It certainly does not proceed
+from want of intellect. I have listened to much dull and heavy conversation in
+America, but rarely to any that I could strictly call silly, (if I except the
+every where privileged class of very young ladies). They appear to me to have
+clear heads and active intellects; are more ignorant on subjects that are only
+of conventional value, than on such as are of intrinsic importance; but there
+is no charm, no grace in their conversation. I very seldom during my whole stay
+in the country heard a sentence elegantly turned, and correctly pronounced from
+the lips of an American. There is always something either in the expression or
+the accent that jars the feelings and shocks the taste.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I will not pretend to decide whether man is better or worse off for requiring
+refinement in the manners and customs of the society that surrounds him, and
+for being incapable of enjoyment without them; but in America that polish which
+removes the coarser and rougher parts of our nature is unknown and undreamed
+of. There is much substantial comfort, and some display in the larger cities;
+in many of the more obvious features they are as Paris or as London, being all
+large assemblies of active and intelligent human beings&mdash;but yet they are
+wonderfully unlike in nearly all their moral features. Now God forbid that any
+reasonable American, (of whom there are so many millions), should ever come to
+ask me what I mean; I should find it very difficult, nay, perhaps, utterly
+impossible, to explain myself; but, on the other hand, no European who has
+visited the Union, will find the least difficulty in understanding me. I am in
+no way competent to judge of the political institutions of America; and if I
+should occasionally make an observation on their effects, as they meet my
+superficial glance, they will be made in the spirit, and with the feeling of a
+woman, who is apt to tell what her first impressions may be, but unapt to
+reason back from effects to their causes. Such observations, if they be
+unworthy of much attention, are also obnoxious to little reproof: but there are
+points of national peculiarity of which women may judge as ably as
+men,&mdash;all that constitutes the external of society may be fairly trusted
+to us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Captain Hall, when asked what appeared to him to constitute the greatest
+difference between England and America, replied, like a gallant sailor,
+&ldquo;the want of loyalty.&rdquo; Were the same question put to me, I should
+answer, &ldquo;the want of refinement.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Were Americans, indeed, disposed to assume the plain unpretending deportment of
+the Switzer in the days of his picturesque simplicity, (when, however, he never
+chewed tobacco), it would be in bad taste to censure him; but this is not the
+case. Jonathan will be a fine gentleman, but it must be in his own way. Is he
+not a free-born American? Jonathan, however, must remember, that if he will
+challenge competition with the old world, the old world will now and then look
+out to see how he supports his pretensions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With their hours of business, whether judicial or mercantile, civil or
+military, I have nothing to do; I doubt not they are all spent wisely and
+profitably; but what are their hours of recreation? Those hours that with us
+are passed in the enjoyment of all that art can win from nature; when, if the
+elaborate repast be more deeply relished than sages might approve, it is
+redeemed from sensuality by the presence of elegance and beauty. What is the
+American pendant to this? I will not draw any comparisons between a good dinner
+party in the two countries; I have heard American gentlemen say, that they
+could perceive no difference between them; but in speaking of general manners,
+I may observe, that it is rarely they dine in society, except in taverns and
+boarding houses. Then they eat with the greatest possible rapidity, and in
+total silence; I have heard it said by American ladies, that the hours of
+greatest enjoyment to the gentlemen were those in which a glass of gin
+cocktail, or egging, receives its highest relish from the absence of all
+restraint whatever; and when there were no ladies to trouble them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Notwithstanding all this, the country is a very fine country, well worth
+visiting for a thousand reasons; nine hundred and ninety-nine of these are
+reasons founded on admiration and respect; the thousandth is, that we shall
+feel the more contented with our own. The more unlike a country through which
+we travel is to all we have left, the more we are likely to be amused; every
+thing in Cincinnati had this newness, and I should have thought it a place
+delightful to visit, but to tarry there was not to feel at home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My home, however, for a time it was to be. We heard on every side, that of all
+the known places on &ldquo;the globe called earth,&rdquo; Cincinnati was the
+most favourable for a young man to settle in; and I only awaited the arrival of
+Mr. T. to fix our son there, intending to continue with him till he should feel
+himself sufficiently established. We accordingly determined upon making
+ourselves as comfortable as possible. I took a larger house, which, however, I
+did not obtain without considerable difficulty, as, notwithstanding fourteen
+hundred new dwellings had been erected the preceding year, the demand for
+houses greatly exceeded the supply. We became acquainted with several amiable
+people, and we beguiled the anxious interval that preceded Mr. T.&rsquo;s
+joining us by frequent excursions in the neighbourhood, which not only afforded
+us amusement, but gave us an opportunity of observing the mode of life of the
+country people.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We visited one farm, which interested us particularly from its wild and lonely
+situation, and from the entire dependence of the inhabitants upon their own
+resources. It was a partial clearing in the very heart of the forest. The house
+was built on the side of a hill, so steep that a high ladder was necessary to
+enter the front door, while the back one opened against the hill side; at the
+foot of this sudden eminence ran a clear stream, whose bed had been deepened
+into a little reservoir, just opposite the house. A noble field of Indian-corn
+stretched away into the forest on one side, and a few half-cleared acres, with
+a shed or two upon them, occupied the other, giving accommodation to cows,
+horses, pigs, and chickens innumerable. Immediately before the house was a
+small potatoe garden, with a few peach and apple trees. The house was built of
+logs, and consisted of two rooms, besides a little shanty or lean-to, that was
+used as a kitchen. Both rooms were comfortably furnished with good beds,
+drawers, &amp;c. The farmer&rsquo;s wife, and a young woman who looked like her
+sister, were spinning, and three little children were playing about. The woman
+told me that they spun and wove all the cotton and woolen garments of the
+family, and knit all the stockings; her husband, though not a shoe-maker by
+trade, made all the shoes. She manufactured all the soap and candles they used,
+and prepared her sugar from the sugar-trees on their farm. All she wanted with
+money, she said, was to buy coffee, tea, and whiskey, and she could &ldquo;get
+enough any day by sending a batch of butter and chicken to market.&rdquo; They
+used no wheat, nor sold any of their corn, which, though it appeared a very
+large quantity, was not more than they required to make their bread and cakes
+of various kinds, and to feed all their live stock during the winter. She did
+not look in health, and said they had all had ague in &ldquo;the fall;&rdquo;
+but she seemed contented, and proud of her independence; though it was in
+somewhat a mournful accent that she said, &ldquo;Tis strange to us to see
+company: I expect the sun may rise and set a hundred times before I shall see
+another <i>human</i> that does not belong to the family.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have been minute in the description of this forest farm, as I think it the
+best specimen I saw of the back-wood&rsquo;s independence, of which so much is
+said in America. These people were indeed independent, Robinson Crusoe was
+hardly more so, and they eat and drink abundantly; but yet it seemed to me that
+there was something awful and almost unnatural in their loneliness. No village
+bell ever summoned them to prayer, where they might meet the friendly greeting
+of their fellow-men. When they die, no spot sacred by ancient reverence will
+receive their bones&mdash;Religion will not breathe her sweet and solemn
+farewell upon their grave; the husband or the father will dig the pit that is
+to hold them, beneath the nearest tree; he will himself deposit them within it,
+and the wind that whispers through the boughs will be their only requiem. But
+then they pay neither taxes nor tythes, are never expected to pull off a hat or
+to make a curtsy, and will live and die without hearing or uttering the
+dreadful words, &ldquo;God save the king.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+About two miles below Cincinnati, on the Kentucky side of the river, Mr.
+Bullock, the well known proprietor of the Egyptian Hall, has bought a large
+estate, with a noble house upon it. He and his amiable wife were devoting
+themselves to the embellishment of the house and grounds; and certainly there
+is more taste and art lavished on one of their beautiful saloons, than all
+Western America can show elsewhere. It is impossible to help feeling that Mr.
+Bullock is rather out of his element in this remote spot, and the gems of art
+he has brought with him, shew as strangely there, as would a bower of roses in
+Siberia, or a Cincinnati fashionable at Almack&rsquo;s. The exquisite beauty of
+the spot, commanding one of the finest reaches of the Ohio, the extensive
+gardens, and the large and handsome mansion, have tempted Mr. Bullock to spend
+a large sum in the purchase of this place, and if any one who has passed his
+life in London could endure such a change, the active mind and sanguine spirit
+of Mr. Bullock might enable him to do it; but his frank, and truly English
+hospitality, and his enlightened and enquiring mind, seemed sadly wasted there.
+I have since heard with pleasure that Mr. Bullock has parted with this
+beautiful, but secluded mansion.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Servants&mdash;Society&mdash;Evening Parties
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The greatest difficulty in organising a family establishment in Ohio, is
+getting servants, or, as it is there called, &ldquo;getting help,&rdquo; for it
+is more than petty treason to the Republic, to call a free citizen a
+<i>servant</i>. The whole class of young women, whose bread depends upon their
+labour, are taught to believe that the most abject poverty is preferable to
+domestic service. Hundreds of half-naked girls work in the paper-mills, or in
+any other manufactory, for less than half the wages they would receive in
+service; but they think their equality is compromised by the latter, and
+nothing but the wish to obtain some particular article of finery will ever
+induce them to submit to it. A kind friend, however, exerted herself so
+effectually for me, that a tall stately lass soon presented herself, saying,
+&ldquo;I be come to help you.&rdquo; The intelligence was very agreeable, and I
+welcomed her in the most gracious manner possible, and asked what I should give
+her by the year.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh Gimini!&rdquo; exclaimed the damsel, with a loud laugh, &ldquo;you be
+a downright Englisher, sure enough. I should like to see a young lady engage by
+the year in America! I hope I shall get a husband before many months, or I
+expect I shall be an outright old maid, for I be most seventeen already;
+besides, mayhap I may want to go to school. You must just give me a dollar and
+half a week, and mother&rsquo;s slave, Phillis, must come over once a week, I
+expect, from t&rsquo;other side the water, to help me clean.&rdquo; I agreed to
+the bargain, of course, with all dutiful submission; and seeing she was
+preparing to set to work in a yellow dress parseme with red roses, I gently
+hinted, that I thought it was a pity to spoil so fine a gown, and that she had
+better change it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&rsquo;Tis just my best and my worst,&rdquo; she answered, &ldquo;for
+I&rsquo;ve got no other.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And in truth I found that this young lady had left the paternal mansion with no
+more clothes of any kind than what she had on. I immediately gave her money to
+purchase what was necessary for cleanliness and decency, and set to work with
+my daughters to make her a gown. She grinned applause when our labour was
+completed, but never uttered the slightest expression of gratitude for that, or
+for any thing else we could do for her. She was constantly asking us to lend
+her different articles of dress, and when we declined it, she said,
+&ldquo;Well, I never seed such grumpy folks as you be; there is several young
+ladies of my acquaintance what goes to live out now and then with the old women
+about the town, and they and their gurls always lends them what they asks for;
+I guess you Inglish thinks we should poison your things, just as bad as if we
+was Negurs.&rdquo; And here I beg to assure the reader, that whenever I give
+conversations they were not made À LOISIR, but were written down immediately
+after they occurred, with all the verbal fidelity my memory permitted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This young lady left me at the end of two months, because I refused to lend her
+money enough to buy a silk dress to go to a ball, saying, &ldquo;Then
+&rsquo;tis not worth my while to stay any longer.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I cannot imagine it possible that such a state of things can be desirable, or
+beneficial to any of the parties concerned. I might occupy a hundred pages on
+the subject, and yet fail to give an adequate idea of the sore, angry, ever
+wakeful pride that seemed to torment these poor wretches. In many of them it
+was so excessive, that all feeling of displeasure, or even of ridicule, was
+lost in pity. One of these was a pretty girl, whose natural disposition must
+have been gentle and kind; but her good feelings were soured, and her
+gentleness turned to morbid sensitiveness, by having heard a thousand and a
+thousand times that she was as good as any other lady, that all men were equal,
+and women too, and that it was a sin and a shame for a free-born American to be
+treated like a servant.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When she found she was to dine in the kitchen, she turned up her pretty lip,
+and said, &ldquo;I guess that&rsquo;s &rsquo;cause you don&rsquo;t think
+I&rsquo;m good enough to eat with you. You&rsquo;ll find that won&rsquo;t do
+here.&rdquo; I found afterwards that she rarely ate any dinner at all, and
+generally passed the time in tears. I did every thing in my power to conciliate
+and make her happy, but I am sure she hated me. I gave her very high wages, and
+she staid till she had obtained several expensive articles of dress, and then,
+UN BEAU MATIN, she came to me full dressed, and said, &ldquo;I must go.&rdquo;
+&ldquo;When shall you return, Charlotte?&rdquo; &ldquo;I expect you&rsquo;ll
+see no more of me.&rdquo; And so we parted. Her sister was also living with me,
+but her wardrobe was not yet completed, and she remained some weeks longer,
+till it was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I fear it may be called bad taste to say so much concerning my domestics, but,
+nevertheless, the circumstances are so characteristic of America that I must
+recount another history relating to them. A few days after the departure of my
+ambitious belle, my cries for &ldquo;Help&rdquo; had been so effectual that
+another young lady presented herself, with the usual preface &ldquo;I&rsquo;m
+come to help you.&rdquo; I had been cautioned never to ask for a reference for
+character, as it would not only rob me of that help, but entirely prevent my
+ever getting another; so, five minutes after she entered she was installed,
+bundle and all, as a member of the family. She was by no means handsome, but
+there was an air of simple frankness in her manner that won us all. For my own
+part, I thought I had got a second Jeanie Deans; for she recounted to me
+histories of her early youth, wherein her plain good sense and strong mind had
+enabled her to win her way through a host of cruel step-mothers, faithless
+lovers, and cheating brothers. Among other things, she told me, with the
+appearance of much emotion, that she had found, since she came to town, a cure
+for all her sorrows, &ldquo;Thanks and praise for it, I have got
+religion!&rdquo; and then she asked if I would spare her to go to Meeting every
+Tuesday and Thursday evening; &ldquo;You shall not have to want me, Mrs.
+Trollope, for our minister knows that we have all our duties to perform to man,
+as well as to God, and he makes the Meeting late in the evening that they may
+not cross one another.&rdquo; Who could refuse? Not I, and Nancy had leave to
+go to Meeting two evenings in the week, besides Sundays.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One night, that the mosquitoes had found their way under my net, and prevented
+my sleeping, I heard some one enter the house very late; I got up, went to the
+top of the stairs, and, by the help of a bright moon, recognised Nancy&rsquo;s
+best bonnet. I called to her: &ldquo;You are very late.&rdquo; said I.
+&ldquo;what is the reason of it?&rdquo; &ldquo;Oh, Mrs. Trollope,&rdquo; she
+replied, &ldquo;I am late, indeed! We have this night had seventeen souls added
+to our flock. May they live to bless this night! But it has been a long
+sitting, and very warm; I&rsquo;ll just take a drink of water, and get to bed;
+you shan&rsquo;t find me later in the morning for it.&rdquo; Nor did I. She was
+an excellent servant, and performed more than was expected from her; moreover,
+she always found time to read the Bible several times in the day, and I seldom
+saw her occupied about any thing without observing that she had placed it near
+her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At last she fell sick with the cholera, and her life was despaired of. I nursed
+her with great care, and sat up the greatest part of two nights with her. She
+was often delirious, and all her wandering thoughts seemed to ramble to heaven.
+&ldquo;I have been a sinner,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;but I am safe in the Lord
+Jesus.&rdquo; When she recovered, she asked me to let her go into the country
+for a few days, to change the air, and begged me to lend her three dollars.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+While she was absent a lady called on me, and enquired, with some agitation, if
+my servant, Nancy Fletcher, were at home. I replied that she was gone into the
+country. &ldquo;Thank God,&rdquo; she exclaimed, &ldquo;never let her enter
+your doors again, she is the most abandoned woman in the town: a gentleman who
+knows you, has been told that she lives with you, and that she boasts of having
+the power of entering your house at any hour of night.&rdquo; She told me many
+other circumstances, unnecessary to repeat, but all tending to prove that she
+was a very dangerous inmate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I expected her home the next evening, and I believe I passed the interval in
+meditating how to get rid of her without an <i>eclaircissement</i>. At length
+she arrived, and all my study having failed to supply me with any other reason
+than the real one for dismissing her, I stated it at once. Not the slightest
+change passed over her countenance, but she looked steadily at me, and said, in
+a very civil tone, &ldquo;I should like to know who told you.&rdquo; I replied
+that it could be of no advantage to her to know, and that I wished her to go
+immediately. &ldquo;I am ready to go,&rdquo; she said, in the same quiet tone,
+&ldquo;but what will you do for your three dollars?&rdquo; &ldquo;I must do
+without them, Nancy; good morning to you.&rdquo; &ldquo;I must just put up my
+things,&rdquo; she said, and left the room. About half an hour afterwards, when
+we were all assembled at dinner, she entered with her usual civil composed air,
+&ldquo;Well, I am come to wish you all goodbye,&rdquo; and with a friendly
+good-humoured smile she left us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This adventure frightened me so heartily, that, notwithstanding I had the dread
+of cooking my own dinner before my eyes, I would not take any more young ladies
+into my family without receiving some slight sketch of their former history. At
+length I met with a very worthy French woman, and soon after with a tidy
+English girl to assist her; and I had the good fortune to keep them till a
+short time before my departure: so, happily, I have no more misfortunes of this
+nature to relate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Such being the difficulties respecting domestic arrangements, it is obvious,
+that the ladies who are brought up amongst them cannot have leisure for any
+great development of the mind: it is, in fact, out of the question; and,
+remembering this, it is more surprising that some among them should be very
+pleasing, than that none should be highly instructed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Had I passed as many evenings in company in any other town that I ever visited
+as I did in Cincinnati, I should have been able to give some little account of
+the conversations I had listened to; but, upon reading over my notes, and then
+taxing my memory to the utmost to supply the deficiency, I can scarcely find a
+trace of any thing that deserves the name. Such as I have, shall be given in
+their place. But, whatever may be the talents of the persons who meet together
+in society, the very shape, form, and arrangement of the meeting is sufficient
+to paralyze conversation. The women invariably herd together at one part of the
+room, and the men at the other; but, in justice to Cincinnati, I must
+acknowledge that this arrangement is by no means peculiar to that city, or to
+the western side of the Alleghanies. Sometimes a small attempt at music
+produces a partial reunion; a few of the most daring youths, animated by the
+consciousness of curled hair and smart waistcoats, approach the piano forte,
+and begin to mutter a little to the half-grown pretty things, who are comparing
+with one another &ldquo;how many quarters&rsquo; music they have had.&rdquo;
+Where the mansion is of sufficient dignity to have two drawing-rooms, the
+piano, the little ladies, and the slender gentlemen are left to themselves, and
+on such occasions the sound of laughter is often heard to issue from among
+them. But the fate of the more dignified personages, who are left in the other
+room, is extremely dismal. The gentlemen spit, talk of elections and the price
+of produce, and spit again. The ladies look at each other&rsquo;s dresses till
+they know every pin by heart; talk of Parson Somebody&rsquo;s last sermon on
+the day of judgment, on Dr. T&rsquo;otherbody&rsquo;s new pills for dyspepsia,
+till the &ldquo;tea&rdquo; is announced, when they all console themselves
+together for whatever they may have suffered in keeping awake, by taking more
+tea, coffee, hot cake and custard, hoe cake, johny cake, waffle cake, and
+dodger cake, pickled peaches, and preserved cucumbers, ham, turkey, hung beef,
+apple sauce, and pickled oysters than ever were prepared in any other country
+of the known world. After this massive meal is over, they return to the
+drawing-room, and it always appeared to me that they remained together as long
+as they could bear it, and then they rise EN MASSE, cloak, bonnet, shawl, and
+exit.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Market&mdash;Museum&mdash;Picture Gallery&mdash;Academy of Fine Arts Drawing
+School&mdash;Phrenological Society&mdash;Miss Wright&rsquo;s Lecture.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Perhaps the most advantageous feature in Cincinnati is its market, which, for
+excellence, abundance, and cheapness, can hardly, I should think, be surpassed
+in any part of the world, if I except the luxury of fruits, which are very
+inferior to any I have seen in Europe. There are no butchers, fishmongers, or
+indeed any shops for eatables, except bakeries, as they are called, in the
+town; every thing must be purchased at market; and to accomplish this, the busy
+housewife must be stirring betimes, or, &rsquo;spite of the abundant supply,
+she will find her hopes of breakfast, dinner, and supper for the day defeated,
+the market being pretty well over by eight o&rsquo;clock.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The beef is excellent, and the highest price when we were there, four cents
+(about two-pence) the pound. The mutton was inferior, and so was veal to the
+eye, but it ate well, though not very fat; the price was about the same. The
+poultry was excellent; fowls or full-sized chickens, ready for table, twelve
+cents, but much less if bought alive, and not quite fat; turkeys about fifty
+cents, and geese the same. The Ohio furnishes several sorts of fish, some of
+them very good, and always to be found cheap and abundant in the market. Eggs,
+butter, nearly all kinds of vegetables, excellent, and at moderate prices. From
+June till December tomatoes (the great luxury of the American table in the
+opinion of most Europeans) may be found in the highest perfection in the market
+for about sixpence the peck. They have a great variety of beans unknown in
+England, particularly the lima-bean, the seed of which is dressed like the
+French harico; it furnishes a very abundant crop, and is a most delicious
+vegetable: could it be naturalised with us it would be a valuable acquisition.
+The Windsor, or broad-bean, will not do well there; Mr. Bullock had them in his
+garden, where they were cultivated with much care; they grew about a foot high
+and blossomed, but the pod never ripened. All the fruit I saw exposed for sale
+in Cincinnati was most miserable. I passed two summers there, but never tasted
+a peach worth eating. Of apricots and nectarines I saw none; strawberries very
+small, raspberries much worse; gooseberries very few, and quite uneatable;
+currants about half the size of ours, and about double the price; grapes too
+sour for tarts; apples abundant, but very indifferent, none that would be
+thought good enough for an English table; pears, cherries, and plums most
+miserably bad. The flowers of these regions were at least equally inferior:
+whether this proceeds from want of cultivation or from peculiarity of soil I
+know not, but after leaving Cincinnati, I was told by a gentleman who appeared
+to understand the subject, that the state of Ohio had no indigenous flowers or
+fruits. The water-melons, which in that warm climate furnish a delightful
+refreshment, were abundant and cheap; but all other melons very inferior to
+those of France, or even of England, when ripened in a common hot-bed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From the almost total want of pasturage near the city, it is difficult for a
+stranger to divine how milk is furnished for its supply, but we soon learnt
+that there are more ways than one of keeping a cow. A large proportion of the
+families in the town, particularly of the poorer class, have one, though
+apparently without any accommodation whatever for it. These animals are fed
+morning and evening at the door of the house, with a good mess of Indian corn,
+boiled with water; while they eat, they are milked, and when the operation is
+completed the milk-pail and the meal-tub retreat into the dwelling, leaving the
+republican cow to walk away, to take her pleasure on the hills, or in the
+gutters, as may suit her fancy best. They generally return very regularly to
+give and take the morning and evening meal; though it more than once happened
+to us, before we were supplied by a regular milk cart, to have our jug sent
+home empty, with the sad news that &ldquo;the cow was not come home, and it was
+too late to look for her to breakfast now.&rdquo; Once, I remember, the good
+woman told us that she had overslept herself, and that the cow had come and
+gone again, &ldquo;not liking, I expect, to hanker about by herself for
+nothing, poor thing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cincinnati has not many lions to boast, but among them are two museums of
+natural history; both of these contain many respectable specimens, particularly
+that of Mr. Dorfeuille, who has moreover, some highly interesting Indian
+antiquities. He is a man of taste and science, but a collection formed strictly
+according to their dictates, would by no means satisfy the western metropolis.
+The people have a most extravagant passion for wax figures, and the two museums
+vie with each other in displaying specimens of this barbarous branch of art. As
+Mr. Dorfeuille cannot trust to his science for attracting the citizens, he has
+put his ingenuity into requisition, and this has proved to him the surer aid of
+the two. He has constructed a pandaemonium in an upper story of his museum, in
+which he has congregated all the images of horror that his fertile fancy could
+devise; dwarfs that by machinery grow into giants before the eyes of the
+spectator; imps of ebony with eyes of flame; monstrous reptiles devouring youth
+and beauty; lakes of fire, and mountains of ice; in short, wax, paint and
+springs have done wonders. &ldquo;To give the scheme some more effect,&rdquo;
+he makes it visible only through a grate of massive iron bars, among which are
+arranged wires connected with an electrical machine in a neighbouring chamber;
+should any daring hand or foot obtrude itself with the bars, it receives a
+smart shock, that often passes through many of the crowd, and the cause being
+unknown, the effect is exceedingly comic; terror, astonishment, curiosity, are
+all set in action, and all contribute to make &ldquo;Dorfeuille&rsquo;s
+Hell&rdquo; one of the most amusing exhibitions imaginable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is also a picture gallery at Cincinnati, and this was a circumstance of
+much interest to us, as our friend Mr. H., who had accompanied Miss Wright to
+America, in the expectation of finding a good opening in the line of historical
+painting, intended commencing his experiment at Cincinnati. It would be
+invidious to describe the picture gallery; I have no doubt, that some years
+hence it will present a very different appearance. Mr. H. was very kindly
+received by many of the gentlemen of the city, and though the state of the fine
+arts there gave him but little hope that he should meet with much success, he
+immediately occupied himself in painting a noble historical picture of the
+landing of General Lafayette at Cincinnati.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Perhaps the clearest proof of the little feeling for art that existed at that
+time in Cincinnati, may be drawn from the result of an experiment originated by
+a German, who taught drawing there. He conceived the project of forming a
+chartered academy of fine arts; and he succeeded in the beginning to his utmost
+wish, or rather, &ldquo;they fooled him to the top of his bent.&rdquo; Three
+thousand dollars were subscribed, that is to say, names were written against
+different sums to that amount, a house was chosen, and finally, application was
+made to the government, and the charter obtained, rehearsing formally the names
+of the subscribing members, the professors, and the officers. So far did the
+steam of their zeal impel them, but at this point it was let off; the affair
+stood still, and I never heard the academy of fine arts mentioned afterwards.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This same German gentleman, on seeing Mr. H.&rsquo;s sketches, was so well
+pleased with them, that he immediately proposed his joining him in his drawing
+school, with an agreement, I believe that his payment from it should be five
+hundred dollars a year. Mr. H. accepted the proposal, but the union did not
+last long, and the cause of its dissolution was too American to be omitted. Mr.
+H. prepared his models, and attended the class, which was numerous, consisting
+both of boys and girls. He soon found that the &ldquo;sage called
+Decipline&rdquo; was not one of the assistants, and he remonstrated against the
+constant talking, and running from one part of the room to another, but in
+vain; finding, however, that he could do nothing till this was discontinued, he
+wrote some rules, enforcing order, for the purpose of placing them at the door
+of the academy. When he shewed them to his colleague, he shook his head, and
+said, &ldquo;Very goot, very goot in Europe, but America boys and gals vill not
+bear it, dey will do just vat dey please; Suur, dey vould all go avay next
+day.&rdquo; &ldquo;And you will not enforce these regulations <i>si
+necessaires</i>, Monsieur?&rdquo; &ldquo;Olar! not for de vorld.&rdquo;
+&ldquo;<i>Eh bien</i>, Monsieur, I must leave the young republicans to your
+management.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I heard another anecdote that will help to show the state of art at this time
+in the west. Mr. Bullock was shewing to some gentlemen of the first standing,
+the very <i>elite</i> of Cincinnati, his beautiful collection of engravings,
+when one among them exclaimed, &ldquo;Have you really done all these since you
+came here? How hard you must have worked!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was also told of a gentleman of High Cincinnati, TON and critical of his
+taste for the fine arts, who, having a drawing put into his hands, representing
+Hebe and the bird, umquhile sacred to Jupiter, demanded in a satirical tone,
+&ldquo;What is this?&rdquo; &ldquo;Hebe,&rdquo; replied the alarmed collector.
+&ldquo;Hebe,&rdquo; sneered the man of taste, &ldquo;What the devil has Hebe to
+do with the American eagle?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had not been long at Cincinnati when Dr. Caldwell, the Spurzheim of America,
+arrived there for the purpose of delivering lectures on phrenology. I attended
+his lectures, and was introduced to him. He has studied Spurzheim and Combe
+diligently, and seems to understand the science to which he has devoted
+himself; but neither his lectures nor his conversation had that delightful
+truth of genuine enthusiasm, which makes listening to Dr. Spurzheim so great a
+treat. His lectures, however, produced considerable effect. Between twenty and
+thirty of the most erudite citizens decided upon forming a phrenological
+society. A meeting was called, and fully attended; a respectable number of
+subscribers&rsquo; names was registered, the payment of subscriptions being
+arranged for a future day. President, vice- president, treasurer, and
+secretary, were chosen; and the first meeting dissolved with every appearance
+of energetic perseverance in scientific research.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The second meeting brought together one-half of this learned body, and they
+enacted rules and laws, and passed resolutions, sufficient, it was said, to
+have filled three folios.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A third day of meeting arrived, which was an important one, as on this occasion
+the subscriptions were to be paid. The treasurer came punctually, but found
+himself alone. With patient hope, he waited two hours for the wise men of the
+west, but he waited in vain: and so expired the Phrenological Society of
+Cincinnati.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had often occasion to remark that the spirit of enterprise or improvement
+seldom glowed with sufficient ardour to resist the smothering effect of a
+demand for dollars. The Americans love talking. All great works, however, that
+promise a profitable result, are sure to meet support from men who have
+enterprise and capital sufficient to await the return; but where there is
+nothing but glory, or the gratification of taste to be expected, it is, I
+believe, very rarely that they give any thing beyond &ldquo;their most sweet
+voices.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Perhaps they are right. In Europe we see fortunes crippled by a passion for
+statues, or for pictures, or for books, or for gems; for all and every of the
+artificial wants that give grace to life, and tend to make man forget that he
+is a thing of clay. They are wiser in their generation on the other side the
+Atlantic; I rarely saw any thing that led to such oblivion there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Soon after Dr. Caldwell&rsquo;s departure, another lecturer appeared upon the
+scene, whose purpose of publicly addressing the people was no sooner made
+known, than the most violent sensation was excited.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That a lady of fortune, family, and education, whose youth had been passed in
+the most refined circles of private life, should present herself to the people
+as a public lecturer, would naturally excite surprise any where, and the nil
+admirari of the old world itself, would hardly be sustained before such a
+spectacle; but in America, where women are guarded by a seven- fold shield of
+habitual insignificance, it caused an effect that can hardly be described.
+&ldquo;Miss Wright, of Nashoba, is going to lecture at the court-house,&rdquo;
+sounded from street to street, and from house to house. I shared the surprise,
+but not the wonder; I knew her extraordinary gift of eloquence, her almost
+unequalled command of words, and the wonderful power of her rich and thrilling
+voice; and I doubted not that if it was her will to do it, she had the power of
+commanding the attention, and enchanting the ear of any audience before whom it
+was her pleasure to appear. I was most anxious to hear her, but was almost
+deterred from attempting it, by the reports that reached me of the immense
+crowd that was expected. After many consultations, and hearing that many other
+ladies intended going, my friend Mrs. P&mdash;, and myself, decided upon making
+the attempt, accompanied by a party of gentlemen, and found the difficulty less
+than we anticipated, though the building was crowded in every part. We
+congratulated ourselves that we had had the courage to be among the number, for
+all my expectations fell far short of the splendour, the brilliance, the
+overwhelming eloquence of this extraordinary orator.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her lecture was upon the nature of true knowledge, and it contained little that
+could be objected to, by any sect or party; it was intended as an introduction
+to the strange and startling theories contained in her subsequent lectures, and
+could alarm only by the hints it contained that the fabric of human wisdom
+could rest securely on no other base than that of human knowledge.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was, however, one passage from which common-sense revolted; it was one
+wherein she quoted that phrase of mischievous sophistry, &ldquo;all men are
+born free and equal.&rdquo; This false and futile axiom, which has done, is
+doing, and will do so much harm to this fine country, came from Jefferson; and
+truly his life was a glorious commentary upon it. I pretend not to criticise
+his written works, but commonsense enables me to pronounce this, his favourite
+maxim, false.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Few names are held in higher estimation in America, than that of Jefferson; it
+is the touchstone of the democratic party, and all seem to agree that he was
+one of the greatest of men; yet I have heard his name coupled with deeds which
+would make the sons of Europe shudder. The facts I allude to are spoken openly
+by all, not whispered privately by a few; and in a country where religion is
+the tea-table talk, and its strict observance a fashionable distinction, these
+facts are recorded, and listened to, without horror, nay, without emotion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Jefferson is said to have been the father of children by almost all his
+numerous gang of female slaves. These wretched offspring were also the lawful
+slaves of their father, and worked in his house and plantations as such; in
+particular, it is recorded that it was his especial pleasure to be waited upon
+by them at table, and the hospitable orgies for which his Montecielo was so
+celebrated, were incomplete, unless the goblet he quaffed were tendered by the
+trembling hand of his own slavish offspring.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I once heard it stated by a democratical adorer of this great man, that when,
+as it sometimes happened, his children by Quadroon slaves were white enough to
+escape suspicion of their origin, he did not pursue them if they attempted to
+escape, saying laughingly, &ldquo;Let the rogues get off, if they can; I will
+not hinder them.&rdquo; This was stated in a large party, as a proof of his
+kind and noble nature, and was received by all with approving smiles.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If I know anything of right or wrong, if virtue and vice be indeed something
+more than words, then was this great American an unprincipled tyrant, and most
+heartless libertine.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But to return to Miss Wright,&mdash;it is impossible to imaging any thing more
+striking than her appearance. Her tall and majestic figure, the deep and almost
+solemn expression of her eyes, the simple contour of her finely formed head,
+unadorned excepting by its own natural ringlets; her garment of plain white
+muslin, which hung around her in folds that recalled the drapery of a Grecian
+statue, all contributed to produce an effect, unlike anything I had ever seen
+before, or ever expect to see again.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Absence of public and private Amusement&mdash;Churches and
+Chapels&mdash;Influence of the Clergy&mdash;A Revival
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I never saw any people who appeared to live so much without amusement as the
+Cincinnatians. Billiards are forbidden by law, so are cards. To sell a pack of
+cards in Ohio subjects the seller to a penalty of fifty dollars. They have no
+public balls, excepting, I think, six, during the Christmas holidays. They have
+no concerts. They have no dinner parties.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They have a theatre, which is, in fact, the only public amusement of this
+triste little town; but they seem to care little about it, and either from
+economy or distaste, it is very poorly attended. Ladies are rarely seen there,
+and by far the larger proportion of females deem it an offence against religion
+to witness the representation of a play. It is in the churches and chapels of
+the town that the ladies are to be seen in full costume; and I am tempted to
+believe that a stranger from the continent of Europe would be inclined, on
+first reconnoitering the city, to suppose that the places of worship were the
+theatres and cafes of the place. No evening in the week but brings throngs of
+the young and beautiful to the chapels and meeting- houses, all dressed with
+care, and sometimes with great pretension; it is there that all display is
+made, and all fashionable distinction sought. The proportion of gentlemen
+attending these evening meetings is very small, but often, as might be
+expected, a sprinkling of smart young clerks make this sedulous display of
+ribbons and ringlets intelligible and natural. Were it not for the churches,
+indeed, I think there might be a general bonfire of best bonnets, for I never
+could discover any other use for them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The ladies are too actively employed in the interior of their houses to permit
+much parading in full dress for morning visits. There are no public gardens or
+lounging shops of fashionable resort, and were it not for public worship, and
+private tea- drinkings, all the ladies in Cincinnati would be in danger of
+becoming perfect recluses.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The influence which the ministers of all the innumerable religious sects
+throughout America, have on the females of their respective congregations,
+approaches very nearly to what we read of in Spain, or in other strictly Roman
+Catholic countries. There are many causes for this peculiar influence. Where
+equality of rank is affectedly acknowledged by the rich, and clamourously
+claimed by the poor, distinction and preeminence are allowed to the clergy
+only. This gives them high importance in the eyes of the ladies. I think, also,
+that it is from the clergy only that the women of America receive that sort of
+attention which is so dearly valued by every female heart throughout the world.
+With the priests of America, the women hold that degree of influential
+importance which, in the countries of Europe, is allowed them throughout all
+orders and ranks of society, except, perhaps, the very lowest; and in return
+for this they seem to give their hearts and souls into their keeping. I never
+saw, or read, of any country where religion had so strong a hold upon the
+women, or a slighter hold upon the men.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I mean not to assert that I met with no men of sincerely religious feelings, or
+with no women of no religious feeling at all; but I feel perfectly secure of
+being correct as to the great majority in the statement I have made.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had not been many months in Cincinnati when our curiosity was excited by
+hearing the &ldquo;revival&rdquo; talked of by every one we met throughout the
+town. &ldquo;The revival will be very full&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;We shall be
+constantly engaged during the revival&rdquo;&mdash;were the phrases we
+constantly heard repeated, and for a long time, without in the least
+comprehending what was meant; but at length I learnt that the un-national
+church of America required to be roused, at regular intervals, to greater
+energy and exertion. At these seasons the most enthusiastic of the clergy
+travel the country, and enter the cities and towns by scores, or by hundreds,
+as the accommodation of the place may admit, and for a week or fortnight, or,
+if the population be large, for a month; they preach and pray all day, and
+often for a considerable portion of the night, in the various churches and
+chapels of the place. This is called a Revival.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I took considerable pains to obtain information on this subject; but in
+detailing what I learnt I fear that it is probable I shall be accused of
+exaggeration; all I can do is cautiously to avoid deserving it. The subject is
+highly interesting, and it would be a fault of no trifling nature to treat it
+with levity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These itinerant clergymen are of all persuasions, I believe, except the
+Episcopalian, Catholic, Unitarian, and Quaker. I heard of Presbyterians of all
+varieties; of Baptists of I know not how many divisions; and of Methodists of
+more denominations than I can remember; whose innumerable shades of varying
+belief, it would require much time to explain, and more to comprehend. They
+enter all the cities, towns, and villages of the Union, in succession; I could
+not learn with sufficient certainty to repeat, what the interval generally is
+between their visits. These itinerants are, for the most part, lodged in the
+houses of their respective followers, and every evening that is not spent in
+the churches and meeting-houses, is devoted to what would be called parties by
+others, but which they designate as prayer meetings. Here they eat, drink,
+pray, sing, hear confessions, and make converts. To these meetings I never got
+invited, and therefore I have nothing but hearsay evidence to offer, but my
+information comes from an eye-witness, and one on whom I believe I may depend.
+If one half of what I heard may be believed, these social prayer meetings are
+by no means the most curious, or the least important part of the business.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is impossible not to smile at the close resemblance to be traced between the
+feelings of a first-rate Presbyterian or Methodist lady, fortunate enough to
+have secured a favourite Itinerant for her meeting, and those of a first-rate
+London Blue, equally blest in the presence of a fashionable poet. There is a
+strong family likeness among us all the world over.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The best rooms, the best dresses, the choicest refreshments solemnize the
+meeting. While the party is assembling, the load-star of the hour is occupied
+in whispering conversations with the guests as they arrive. They are called
+brothers and sisters, and the greetings are very affectionate. When the room is
+full, the company, of whom a vast majority are always women, are invited,
+intreated, and coaxed to confess before their brothers and sisters, all their
+thoughts, faults, and follies.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These confessions are strange scenes; the more they confess, the more
+invariably are they encouraged and caressed. When this is over, they all kneel,
+and the Itinerant prays extempore. They then eat and drink; and then they sing
+hymns, pray, exhort, sing, and pray again, till the excitement reaches a very
+high pitch indeed. These scenes are going on at some house or other every
+evening during the revival, nay, at many at the same time, for the churches and
+meeting-houses cannot give occupation to half the Itinerants, though they are
+all open throughout the day, and till a late hour in the night, and the
+officiating ministers succeed each other in the occupation of them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was at the principal of the Presbyterian churches that I was twice witness
+to scenes that made me shudder; in describing one, I describe both and every
+one; the same thing is constantly repeated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was in the middle of summer, but the service we were recommended to attend
+did not begin till it was dark. The church was well lighted, and crowded almost
+to suffocation. On entering, we found three priests standing side by side, in a
+sort of tribune, placed where the altar usually is, handsomely fitted up with
+crimson curtains, and elevated about as high as our pulpits. We took our places
+in a pew close to the rail which surrounded it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The priest who stood in the middle was praying; the prayer was extravagantly
+vehement, and offensively familiar in expression; when this ended, a hymn was
+sung, and then another priest took the centre place, and preached. The sermon
+had considerable eloquence, but of a frightful kind. The preacher described,
+with ghastly minuteness, the last feeble fainting moments of human life, and
+then the gradual progress of decay after death, which he followed through every
+process up to the last loathsome stage of decomposition. Suddenly changing his
+tone, which had been that of sober accurate description, into the shrill voice
+of horror, he bent forward his head, as if to gaze on some object beneath the
+pulpit. And as Rebecca made known to Ivanhoe what she saw through the window,
+so the preacher made known to us what he saw in the pit that seemed to open
+before him. The device was certainly a happy one for giving effect to his
+description of hell. No image that fire, flame, brimestone, molten lead, or
+red-hot pincers could supply; with flesh, nerves, and sinews quivering under
+them, was omitted. The perspiration ran in streams from the face of the
+preacher; his eyes rolled, his lips were covered with foam, and every feature
+had the deep expression of horror it would have borne, had he, in truth, been
+gazing at the scene he described. The acting was excellent. At length he gave a
+languishing look to his supporters on each side, as if to express his feeble
+state, and then sat down, and wiped the drops of agony from his brow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The other two priests arose, and began to sing a hymn. It was some seconds
+before the congregation could join as usual; every upturned face looked pale
+and horror struck. When the singing ended, another took the centre place, and
+began in a sort of coaxing affectionate tone, to ask the congregation if what
+their dear brother had spoken had reached their hearts? Whether they would
+avoid the hell he had made them see? &ldquo;Come, then!&rdquo; he continued,
+stretching out his arms towards them, &ldquo;come to us, and tell us so, and we
+will make you see Jesus, the dear gentle Jesus, who shall save you from it. But
+you must come to him! You must not be ashamed to come to him! This night you
+shall tell him that you are not ashamed of him; we will make way for you; we
+will clear the bench for anxious sinners to sit upon. Come, then! come to the
+anxious bench, and we will shew you Jesus! Come! Come! Come!&rdquo; Again a
+hymn was sung, and while it continued, one of the three was employed in
+clearing one or two long benches that went across the rail, sending the people
+back to the lower part of the church. The singing ceased, and again the people
+were invited, and exhorted not to be ashamed of Jesus, but to put themselves
+upon &ldquo;the anxious benches,&rdquo; and lay their heads on his bosom.
+&ldquo;Once more we will sing,&rdquo; he concluded, &ldquo;that we may give you
+time.&rdquo; And again they sung a hymn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And now in every part of the church a movement was perceptible, slight at
+first, but by degrees becoming more decided. Young girls arose, and sat down,
+and rose again; and then the pews opened, and several came tottering out, their
+hands clasped, their heads hanging on their bosoms, and every limb trembling,
+and still the hymn went on; but as the poor creatures approached the rail their
+sobs and groans became audible. They seated themselves on the &ldquo;anxious
+benches;&rdquo; the hymn ceased, and two of the three priests walked down from
+the tribune, and going, one to the right, and the other to the left, began
+whispering to the poor tremblers seated there. These whispers were inaudible to
+us, but the sobs and groans increased to a frightful excess. Young creatures,
+with features pale and distorted, fell on their knees on the pavement, and soon
+sunk forward on their faces; the most violent cries and shrieks followed, while
+from time to time a voice was heard in convulsive accents, exclaiming,
+&ldquo;Oh Lord!&rdquo; &ldquo;Oh Lord Jesus!&rdquo; &ldquo;Help me,
+Jesus!&rdquo; and the like.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Meanwhile the two priests continued to walk among them; they repeatedly mounted
+on the benches, and trumpet-mouthed proclaimed to the whole congregation,
+&ldquo;the tidings of salvation,&rdquo; and then from every corner of the
+building arose in reply, short sharp cries of &ldquo;Amen!&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Glory!&rdquo; &ldquo;Amen!&rdquo; while the prostrate penitents
+continued to receive whispered comfortings, and from time to time a mystic
+caress. More than once I saw a young neck encircled by a reverend arm. Violent
+hysterics and convulsions seized many of them, and when the tumult was at the
+highest, the priest who remained above, again gave out a hymn as if to drown
+it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a frightful sight to behold innocent young creatures, in the gay morning
+of existence, thus seized upon, horror struck, and rendered feeble and
+enervated for ever. One young girl, apparently not more than fourteen, was
+supported in the arms of another, some years older; her face was pale as death;
+her eyes wide open, and perfectly devoid of meaning; her chin and bosom wet
+with slaver; she had every appearance of idiotism. I saw a priest approach her,
+he took her delicate hand, &ldquo;Jesus is with her! Bless the Lord!&rdquo; he
+said, and passed on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Did the men of America value their women as men ought to value their wives and
+daughters, would such scenes be permitted among them?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is hardly necessary to say that all who obeyed the call to place themselves
+on the &ldquo;anxious benches&rdquo; were women, and by far the greater number
+very young women. The congregation was, in general, extremely well dressed, and
+the smartest and most fashionable ladies of the town were there; during the
+whole revival the churches and meeting-houses were every day crowded with well
+dressed people.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is thus the ladies of Cincinnati amuse themselves; to attend the theatre is
+forbidden; to play cards is unlawful; but they work hard in their families, and
+must have some relaxation. For myself, I confess that I think the coarsest
+comedy ever written would be a less detestable exhibition for the eyes of youth
+and innocence than such a scene.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Schools&mdash;Climate&mdash;Water Melons&mdash;Fourth of
+July&mdash;Storms&mdash;Pigs&mdash;Moving Houses&mdash;Mr.
+Flint&mdash;Literature
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cincinnati contains many schools, but of their rank or merit I had very little
+opportunity of judging; the only one which I visited was kept by Dr. Lock, a
+gentleman who appears to have liberal and enlarged opinions on the subject of
+female education. Should his system produce practical results proportionably
+excellent, the ladies of Cincinnati will probably some years hence be much
+improved in their powers of companionship. I attended the annual public
+exhibition at this school, and perceived, with some surprise, that the higher
+branches of science were among the studies of the pretty creatures I saw
+assembled there. One lovely girl of sixteen took her degree in mathematics, and
+another was examined in moral philosophy. They blushed so sweetly, and looked
+so beautifully puzzled and confounded, that it might have been difficult for an
+abler judge than I was to decide how far they merited the diploma they
+received.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This method of letting young ladies graduate, and granting them diplomas on
+quitting the establishment, was quite new to me; at least, I do not remember to
+have heard of any thing similar elsewhere. I should fear that the time allowed
+to the fair graduates of Cincinnati for the acquirement of these various
+branches of education would seldom be sufficient to permit their reaching the
+eminence in each which their enlightened instructor anticipates. &ldquo;A
+quarter&rsquo;s&rdquo; mathematics, or &ldquo;two quarters&rdquo; political
+economy, moral philosophy, algebra, and quadratic equations, would seldom, I
+should think, enable the teacher and the scholar, by their joint efforts, to
+lay in such a stock of these sciences as would stand the wear and tear of half
+a score of children, and one help.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Towards the end of May we began to feel that we were in a climate warmer than
+any we had been accustomed to, and my son suffered severely from the effects of
+it. A bilious complaint, attended by a frightful degree of fever, seized him,
+and for some days we feared for his life. The treatment he received was, I have
+no doubt, judicious, but the quantity of calomel prescribed was enormous. I
+asked one day how many grains I should prepare, and was told to give half a
+teaspoonful. The difference of climate must, I imagine, make a difference in
+the effect of this drug, or the practice of the old and new world could hardly
+differ so widely as it does in the use of it. Anstey, speaking of the Bath
+physicians, says,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+    &ldquo;No one e&rsquo;er viewed<br/>
+Any one of the medical gentlemen stewed.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+But I can vouch, upon my own experience, that no similar imputation lies
+against the gentlemen who prescribe large quantities of calomel in America. To
+give one instance in proof of this, when I was afterwards in Montgomery county,
+near Washington, a physician attended one of our neighbours, and complained
+that he was himself unwell. &ldquo;You must take care of yourself,
+Doctor,&rdquo; said the patient; &ldquo;I do so,&rdquo; he replied, &ldquo;I
+took forty grains of calomel yesterday, and I feel better than I did.&rdquo;
+Repeated and violent bleeding was also had recourse to in the case of my son,
+and in a few days he was able to leave his room, but he was dreadfully
+emaciated, and it was many weeks before he recovered his strength.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As the heat of the weather increased we heard of much sickness around us. The
+city is full of physicians, and they were all to be seen driving about in their
+cabs at a very alarming rate. One of these gentlemen told us, that when a
+medical man intended settling in a new situation, he always, if he knew his
+business, walked through the streets at nights, before he decided. If he saw
+the dismal twinkle of the watch-light from many windows he might be sure that
+disease was busy, and the the &ldquo;location&rdquo; might suit him well.
+Judging, by this criterion, Cincinnati was far from healthy, I began to fear
+for our health, and determined to leave the city; but, for a considerable time
+I found it impossible to procure a dwelling out of it. There were many
+boarding-houses in the vicinity, but they were all overflowing with guests. We
+were advised to avoid, as much as possible, walking out in the heat of the day;
+but the mornings and evenings were delightful, particularly the former, if
+taken sufficiently early. For several weeks I was never in bed after four
+o&rsquo;clock, and at this hour I almost daily accompanied my
+&ldquo;help&rdquo; to market, where the busy novelty of the scene afforded me
+much amusement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Many waggon-loads of enormous water-melons were brought to market every day,
+and I was sure to see groups of men, women, and children seated on the pavement
+round the spot where they were sold, sucking in prodigious quantities of this
+water-fruit. Their manner of devouring them is extremely unpleasant; the huge
+fruit is cut into half a dozen sections, of about a foot long, and then,
+dripping as it is with water, applied to the mouth, from either side of which
+pour copious streams of the fluid, while, ever and anon, a mouthful of the hard
+black seeds are shot out in all directions, to the great annoyance of all
+within reach. When I first tasted this fruit I thought it very vile stuff
+indeed, but before the end of the season we all learned to like it. When taken
+with claret and sugar it makes delicious wine and water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is the custom for the gentlemen to go to market at Cincinnati; the smartest
+men in the place, and those of the &ldquo;highest standing&rdquo; do not
+scruple to leave their beds with the sun, six days in the week, and, prepared
+with a mighty basket, to sally forth in search of meat, butter, eggs and
+vegetables. I have continually seen them returning, with their weighty basket
+on one arm and an enormous ham depending from the other.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And now arrived the 4th of July, that greatest of all American festivals. On
+the 4th of July, 1776, the declaration of their independence was signed, at the
+State-house in Philadelphia.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To me, the dreary coldness and want of enthusiasm in American manners is one of
+their greatest defects, and I therefore hailed the demonstrations of general
+feeling which this day elicits with real pleasure. On the 4th of July the
+hearts of the people seem to awaken from a three hundred and sixty-four
+days&rsquo; sleep; they appear high-spirited, gay, animated, social, generous,
+or at least liberal in expense; and would they but refrain from spitting on
+that hallowed day, I should say, that on the 4th of July, at least, they
+appeared to be an amiable people. It is true that the women have but little to
+do with the pageantry, the splendour, or the gaiety of the day; but, setting
+this defect aside, it was indeed a glorious sight to behold a jubilee so
+heartfelt as this; and had they not the bad taste and bad feeling to utter an
+annual oration, with unvarying abuse of the mother country, to say nothing of
+the warlike manifesto called Declaration of Independence, our gracious king
+himself might look upon the scene and say that it was good; nay, even rejoice,
+that twelve millions of bustling bodies, at four thousand miles distance from
+his throne and his altars, should make their own laws, and drink their own tea,
+after the fashion that pleased them best.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+One source of deep interest to us, in this new clime, was the frequent
+recurrence of thunderstorms. Those who have only listened to thunder in England
+have but a faint idea of the language which the gods speak when they are angry.
+Thomson&rsquo;s description, however, will do: it is hardly possible that words
+can better paint the spectacle, or more truly echo to the sound, than his do.
+The only point he does not reach is the vast blaze of rose-coloured light that
+ever and anon sets the landscape on fire.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In reading this celebrated description in America, and observing how admirably
+true it was to nature there, I seemed to get a glimpse at a poet&rsquo;s
+machinery, and to perceive, that in order to produce effect he must give his
+images more vast than he finds them in nature; but the proportions must be
+just, and the colouring true. Every thing seems colossal on this great
+continent; if it rains, if it blows, if it thunders, it is all done
+<i>fortissimo</i>; but I often felt terror yield to wonder and delight, so
+grand, so glorious were the scenes a storm exhibited. Accidents are certainly
+more frequent than with us, but not so much so as reasonably to bring terror
+home to one&rsquo;s bosom every time a mass of lurid clouds is seen rolling up
+against the wind.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+It seems hardly fair to quarrel with a place because its staple commodity is
+not pretty, but I am sure I should have liked Cincinnati much better if the
+people had not dealt so very largely in hogs. The immense quantity of business
+done in this line would hardly be believed by those who had not witnessed it. I
+never saw a newspaper without remarking such advertisements as the following:
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+&ldquo;Wanted, immediately, 4,000 fat hogs.&rdquo;<br/>
+&ldquo;For sale, 2,000 barrels of prime pork.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But the annoyance came nearer than this; if I determined upon a walk up
+Main-street, the chances were five hundred to one against my reaching the shady
+side without brushing by a snout fresh dripping from the kennel; when we had
+screwed our courage to the enterprise of mounting a certain noble looking
+sugar-loaf hill, that promised pure air and a fine view, we found the brook we
+had to cross, at its foot, red with the stream from a pig slaughter house;
+while our noses, instead of meeting &ldquo;the thyme that loves the green
+hill&rsquo;s breast,&rdquo; were greeted by odours that I will not describe,
+and which I heartily hope my readers cannot imagine; our feet, that on leaving
+the city had expected to press the flowery sod, literally got entangled in
+pigs&rsquo; tails and jaw-bones: and thus the prettiest walk in the
+neighbourhood was interdicted for ever.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+One of the sights to stare at in America is that of houses moving from place to
+place. We were often amused by watching this exhibition of mechanical skill in
+the streets. They make no difficulty of moving dwellings from one part of the
+town to another. Those I saw travelling were all of them frame-houses, that is,
+built wholly of wood, except the chimneys; but it is said that brick buildings
+are sometimes treated in the same manner. The largest dwelling that I saw in
+motion was one containing two stories of four rooms each; forty oxen were yoked
+to it. The first few yards brought down the two stacks of chimneys, but it
+afterwards went on well. The great difficulties were the first getting it in
+motion and the stopping exactly in the right place. This locomotive power was
+extremely convenient at Cincinnati, as the constant improvements going on there
+made it often desirable to change a wooden dwelling for one of brick; and
+whenever this happened, we were sure to see the ex No.100 of Main-street or the
+ex No.55 of Second street creeping quietly out of town, to take possession of a
+humble suburban station on the common above it.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+The most agreeable acquaintance I made in Cincinnati, and indeed one of the
+most talented men I ever met, was Mr. Flint, the author of several extremely
+clever volumes, and the editor of the Western Monthly Review. His
+conversational powers are of the highest order: he is the only person I
+remember to have known with first rate powers of satire, and even of sarcasm,
+whose kindness of nature and of manner remained perfectly uninjured. In some of
+his critical notices there is a strength and keenness second to nothing of the
+kind I have ever read. He is a warm patriot, and so true-hearted an American,
+that we could not always be of the same opinion on all the subjects we
+discussed; but whether it were the force and brilliancy of his language, his
+genuine and manly sincerity of feeling, or his bland and gentleman-like manner
+that beguiled me, I know not, but certainly he is the only American I ever
+listened to whose unqualified praise of his country did not appear to me
+somewhat overstrained and ridiculous.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On one occasion, but not at the house of Mr. Flint, I passed an evening in
+company with a gentleman said to be a scholar and a man of reading; he was also
+what is called a <i>serious</i> gentleman, and he appeared to have pleasure in
+feeling that his claim to distinction was acknowledged in both capacities.
+There was a very amiable <i>serious</i> lady in the company, to whom he seemed
+to trust for the development of his celestial pretensions, and to me he did the
+honour of addressing most of his terrestrial superiority. The difference
+between us was, that when he spoke to her, he spoke as to a being who, if not
+his equal, was at least deserving high distinction; and he gave her smiles,
+such as Michael might have vouchsafed to Eve. To me he spoke as Paul to the
+offending Jews; he did not, indeed, shake his raiment at me, but he used his
+pocket-handkerchief so as to answer the purpose; and if every sentence did not
+end with &ldquo;I am clean,&rdquo; pronounced by his lips, his tone, his look,
+his action, fully supplied the deficiency.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our poor Lord Byron, as may be supposed, was the bull&rsquo;s-eye against which
+every dart in his black little quiver was aimed. I had never heard any serious
+gentleman talk of Lord Byron at full length before, and I listened attentively.
+It was evident that the noble passages which are graven on the hearts of the
+genuine lovers of poetry had altogether escaped the serious gentleman&rsquo;s
+attention; and it was equally evident that he knew by rote all those that they
+wish the mighty master had never written. I told him so, and I shall not soon
+forget the look he gave me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of other authors his knowledge was very imperfect, but his criticisms very
+amusing. Of Pope, he said, &ldquo;He is so entirely gone by, that in <i>our</i>
+country it is considered quite fustian to speak of him&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But I persevered, and named &ldquo;the Rape of the Lock&rdquo; as evincing some
+little talent, and being in a tone that might still hope for admittance in the
+drawing-room; but, on the mention of this poem, the serious gentleman became
+almost as strongly agitated as when he talked of Don Juan; and I was
+unfeignedly at a loss to comprehend the nature of his feelings, till he
+muttered, with an indignant shake of the handkerchief, &ldquo;The very
+title!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the name of Dryden he smiled, and the smile spoke as plainly as a smile
+could speak, &ldquo;How the old woman twaddles!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We only know Dryden by quotations. Madam, and these, indeed, are found
+only in books that have long since had their day.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And Shakspeare, sir?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Shakspeare, Madam, is obscene, and, thank God, WE are sufficiently
+advanced to have found it out! If we must have the abomination of stage plays,
+let them at least be marked by the refinement of the age in which we
+live.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was certainly being <i>au courant du jour</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of Massenger he knew nothing. Of Ford he had never heard. Gray had had his day.
+Prior he had never read, but understood he was a very childish writer. Chaucer
+and Spenser he tied in a couple, and dismissed by saying, that he thought it
+was neither more nor less than affectation to talk of authors who wrote in a
+tongue no longer intelligible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was the most literary conversation I was ever present at in Cincinnati.<a href="#fn1" name="fnref1" id="fnref1"><sup>[1]</sup></a>
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+<a name="fn1" id="fn1"></a> <a href="#fnref1">[1]</a>
+The pleasant, easy, unpretending talk on all subjects, which I enjoyed in Mr.
+Flint&rsquo;s family, was an exception to every thing else I met at Cincinnati.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In truth, there are many reasons which render a very general diffusion of
+literature impossible in America. I can scarcely class the universal reading of
+newspapers as an exception to this remark; if I could, my statement would be
+exactly the reverse, and I should say that America beat the world in letters.
+The fact is, that throughout all ranks of society, from the successful
+merchant, which is the highest, to the domestic serving man, which is the
+lowest, they are all too actively employed to read, except at such broken
+moments as may suffice for a peep at a newspaper. It is for this reason, I
+presume, that every <i>American newspaper</i> is more or less a magazine,
+wherein the merchant may scan while he holds out his hand for an invoice,
+&ldquo;Stanzas by Mrs. Hemans,&rdquo; or a garbled extract from Moore&rsquo;s
+Life of Byron; the lawyer may study his brief faithfully, and yet contrive to
+pick up the valuable dictum of some American critic, that &ldquo;Bulwer&rsquo;s
+novels are decidedly superior to Sir Walter Scott&rsquo;s;&rdquo; nay, even the
+auctioneer may find time, as he bustles to his tub, or his tribune, to support
+his pretensions to polite learning, by glancing his quick eye over the columns,
+and reading that &ldquo;Miss Mitford&rsquo;s descriptions are
+indescribable.&rdquo; If you buy a yard of ribbon, the shopkeeper lays down his
+newspaper, perhaps two or three, to measure it. I have seen a brewer&rsquo;s
+drayman perched on the shaft of his dray and reading one newspaper, while
+another was tucked under his arm; and I once went into the cottage of a country
+shoemaker, of the name of Harris, where I saw a newspaper half full of
+&ldquo;original&rdquo; poetry, directed to Madison F. Harris. To be sure of the
+fact, I asked the man if his name were Madison. &ldquo;Yes, Madam, Madison
+Franklin Harris is my name.&rdquo; The last and the lyre divided his time, I
+fear too equally, for he looked pale and poor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This, I presume, is what is meant by the general diffusion of knowledge, so
+boasted of in the United States; such as it is, the diffusion of it is general
+enough, certainly; but I greatly doubt its being advantageous to the
+population.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The only reading men I met with were those who made letters their profession;
+and of these, there were some who would hold a higher rank in the great
+Republic (not of America, but of letters), did they write for persons less
+given to the study of magazines and newspapers; and they might hold a higher
+rank still, did they write for the few and not for the many. I was always
+drawing a parallel, perhaps a childish one, between the external and internal
+deficiency of polish and of elegance in the native volumes of the country.
+Their compositions have not that condensation of thought, or that elaborate
+finish, which the consciousness of writing for the scholar and the man of taste
+is calculated to give; nor have their dirty blue paper and slovenly types<a href="#fn2" name="fnref2" id="fnref2"><sup>[2]</sup></a>
+the polished elegance that fits a volume for the hand or the eye of the
+fastidious epicure in literary enjoyment. The first book I bought in America
+was the &ldquo;Chronicles of the Cannongate.&rdquo; In asking the price, I was
+agreeably surprised to hear a dollar and a half named, being about one sixth of
+what I used to pay for its fellows in England; but on opening the grim pages,
+it was long before I could again call them cheap. To be sure the pleasure of a
+bright well-printed page ought to be quite lost sight of in the glowing,
+galloping, bewitching course that the imagination sets out upon with a new
+Waverley novel; and so it was with me till I felt the want of it; and then I am
+almost ashamed to confess how often, in turning the thin dusky pages, my poor
+earth-born spirit paused in its pleasure, to sigh for hot-pressed wire-wove.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+<a name="fn2" id="fn2"></a> <a href="#fnref2">[2]</a>
+I must make an exception in favour of the American Quarterly Review. To the eye
+of the body it is in  all respects exactly the same thing as the English
+Quarterly Review.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Removal to the country&mdash;Walk in the forest&mdash;Equality
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length my wish of obtaining a house in the country was gratified. A very
+pretty cottage, the residence of a gentleman who was removing into town, for
+the convenience of his business as a lawyer, was to let, and I immediately
+secured it. It was situated in a little village about a mile and a half from
+the town, close to the foot of the hills formerly mentioned as the northern
+boundary of it. We found ourselves much more comfortable here than in the city.
+The house was pretty and commodious, our sitting-rooms were cool and airy; we
+had got rid of the detestable mosquitoes, and we had an ice-house that never
+failed. Beside all this, we had the pleasure of gathering our tomatoes from our
+own garden, and receiving our milk from our own cow. Our manner of life was
+infinitely more to my taste than before; it gave us all the privileges of
+rusticity, which are fully as incompatible with a residence in a little town of
+Western America as with a residence in London. We lived on terms of primaeval
+intimacy with our cow, for if we lay down on our lawn she did not scruple to
+take a sniff at the book we were reading, but then she gave us her own sweet
+breath in return. The verge of the cool-looking forest that rose opposite our
+windows was so near, that we often used it as an extra drawing- room, and there
+was no one to wonder if we went out with no other preparation than our
+parasols, carrying books and work enough to while away a long summer day in the
+shade; the meadow that divided us from it was covered with a fine short grass,
+that continued for a little way under the trees, making a beautiful carpet,
+while sundry logs and stumps furnished our sofas and tables. But even this was
+not enough to satisfy us when we first escaped from the city, and we determined
+upon having a day&rsquo;s enjoyment of the wildest forest scenery we could
+find. So we packed up books, albums, pencils, and sandwiches, and, despite a
+burning sun, dragged up a hill so steep that we sometimes fancied we could rest
+ourselves against it by only leaning forward a little. In panting and in
+groaning we reached the top, hoping to be refreshed by the purest breath of
+heaven; but to have tasted the breath of heaven we must have climbed yet
+farther, even to the tops of the trees themselves, for we soon found that the
+air beneath them stirred not, nor ever had stirred, as it seemed to us, since
+first it settled there, so heavily did it weigh upon our lungs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Still we were determined to enjoy ourselves, and forward we went, crunching
+knee deep through aboriginal leaves, hoping to reach some spot less perfectly
+airtight than our landing-place. Wearied with the fruitless search, we decided
+on reposing awhile on the trunk of a fallen tree; being all considerably
+exhausted, the idea of sitting down on this tempting log was conceived and
+executed simultaneously by the whole party, and the whole party sunk together
+through its treacherous surface into a mass of rotten rubbish that had formed
+part of the pith and marrow of the eternal forest a hundred years before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were by no means the only sufferers by the accident; frogs, lizards,
+locusts, katiedids, beetles, and hornets, had the whole of their various
+tenements disturbed, and testified their displeasure very naturally by annoying
+us as much as possible in return; we were bit, we were stung, we were
+scratched; and when, at last, we succeeded in raising ourselves from the
+venerable ruin, we presented as woeful a spectacle as can well be imagined. We
+shook our (not ambrosial) garments, and panting with heat, stings, and
+vexation, moved a few paces from the scene of our misfortune, and again sat
+down; but this time it was upon the solid earth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had no sooner began to &ldquo;chew the cud&rdquo; of the bitter fancy that
+had beguiled us to these mountain solitudes than a new annoyance assailed us. A
+cloud of mosquitoes gathered round, and while each sharp proboscis sucked our
+blood, they teased us with their humming chorus, till we lost all patience, and
+started again on our feet, pretty firmly resolved never to try the <i>al
+fresco</i> joys of an American forest again. The sun was now in its meridian
+splendour, but our homeward path was short and down hill, so again packing up
+our preparations for felicity, we started homeward, or, more properly speaking,
+we started, for in looking for an agreeable spot in this dungeon forest we had
+advanced so far from the verge of the hill that we had lost all trace of the
+precise spot where we had entered it. Nothing was to be seen but multitudes of
+tall, slender, melancholy stems, as like as peas, and standing within a foot of
+each other. The ground, as far as the eye could reach (which certainly was not
+far), was covered with an unvaried bed of dried leaves; no trace, no track, no
+trail, as Mr. Cooper would call it, gave us a hint which way to turn; and
+having paused for a moment to meditate, we remembered that chance must decide
+for us at last, so we set forward, in no very good mood, to encounter new
+misfortunes. We walked about a quarter of a mile, and coming to a steep
+descent, we thought ourselves extremely fortunate, and began to scramble down,
+nothing doubting that it was the same we had scrambled up. In truth, nothing
+could be more like, but, alas! things that are like are not the same; when we
+had slipped and stumbled down to the edge of the wood, and were able to look
+beyond it, we saw no pretty cottage with the shadow of its beautiful acacias
+coming forward to meet us: all was different; and, what was worse, all was
+distant from the spot where we had hoped to be. We had come down the opposite
+side of the ridge, and had now to win our weary way a distance of three miles
+round its base, I believe we shall none of us ever forget that walk. The
+bright, glowing, furnace- like heat of the atmosphere seems to scorch as I
+recall it. It was painful to tread, it was painful to breathe, it was painful
+to look round; every object glowed with the reflection of the fierce tyrant
+that glared upon us from above.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We got home alive, which agreeably surprised us; and when our parched tongues
+again found power of utterance, we promised each other faithfully never to
+propose any more parties of pleasure in the grim store-like forests of Ohio.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were now in daily expectation of the arrival of Mr. T.; but day after day,
+and week after week passed by till we began to fear some untoward circumstance
+might delay his coming till the Spring; at last, when we had almost ceased to
+look out for him. on the road which led from the town, he arrived, late at
+night, by that which leads across the country from Pitzburgh. The pleasure we
+felt at seeing him was greatly increased by his bringing with him our eldest
+son, which was a happiness we had not hoped for. Our walks and our drives now
+became doubly interesting. The young men, fresh from a public school, found
+America so totally unlike all the nations with which their reading had made
+them acquainted, that it was indeed a new world to them. Had they visited
+Greece or Rome they would have encountered objects with whose images their
+minds had been long acquainted; or had they travelled to France or Italy they
+would have seen only what daily conversation had already rendered familiar; but
+at our public schools America (except perhaps as to her geographical position)
+is hardly better known than Fairy Land; and the American character has not been
+much more deeply studied than that of the Anthropophagi: all, therefore, was
+new, and every thing amusing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The extraordinary familiarity of our poor neighbours startled us at first, and
+we hardly knew how to receive their uncouth advances, or what was expected of
+us in return; however, it sometimes produced very laughable scenes. Upon one
+occasion two of my children set off upon an exploring walk up the hills; they
+were absent rather longer than we expected, and the rest of our party
+determined upon going out to meet them; we knew the direction they had taken,
+but thought it would be as well to enquire at a little public-house at the
+bottom of the hill, if such a pair had been seen to pass. A woman, whose
+appearance more resembled a Covent Garden market-woman than any thing else I
+can remember, came out and answered my question with the most jovial good
+humour in the affirmative, and prepared to join us in our search. Her look, her
+voice, her manner, were so exceedingly coarse and vehement, that she almost
+frightened me; she passed her arm within mine, and to the inexpressible
+amusement of my young people, she dragged me on, talking and questioning me
+without ceasing. She lived but a short distance from us, and I am sure intended
+to be a very good neighbour; but her violent intimacy made me dread to pass her
+door; my children, including my sons, she always addressed by their Christian
+names, excepting when she substituted the word &ldquo;honey;&rdquo; this
+familiarity of address, however, I afterwards found was universal throughout
+all ranks in the United States.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My general appellation amongst my neighbours was &ldquo;the English old
+woman,&rdquo; but in mentioning each other they constantly employed the term
+&ldquo;lady;&rdquo; and they evidently had a pleasure in using it, for I
+repeatedly observed, that in speaking of a neighbour, instead of saying Mrs.
+Such-a-one, they described her as &ldquo;the lady over the way what takes in
+washing,&rdquo; or as &ldquo;that there lady, out by the Gulley, what is making
+dip-candles.&rdquo; Mr. Trollope was as constantly called &ldquo;the old
+man,&rdquo; while draymen, butchers&rsquo; boys, and the labourers on the canal
+were invariably denominated &ldquo;them gentlemen;&rdquo; nay, we once saw one
+of the most gentlemanlike men in Cincinnati introduce a fellow in dirty shirt
+sleeves, and all sorts of detestable et cetera, to one of his friends, with
+this formula, &ldquo;D&mdash; let me introduce this gentleman to you.&rdquo;
+Our respective titles certainly were not very important; but the eternal
+shaking hands with these ladies and gentlemen was really an annoyance, and the
+more so, as the near approach of the gentlemen was always redolent of whiskey
+and tobacco.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But the point where this republican equality was the most distressing was in
+the long and frequent visitations that it produced. No one dreams of fastening
+a door in Western America; I was told that it would be considered as an affront
+by the whole neighbourhood. I was thus exposed to perpetual, and most vexatious
+interruptions from people whom I had often never seen, and whose names still
+oftener were unknown to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Those who are native there, and to the manner born, seem to pass over these
+annoyances with more skill than I could ever acquire. More than once I have
+seen some of my acquaintance beset in the same way, without appearing at all
+distressed by it; they continued their employment or conversation with me, much
+as if no such interruption had taken place; when the visitor entered, they
+would say, &ldquo;How do you do?&rdquo; and shake hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tolerable, I thank ye, how be you?&rdquo; was the reply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If it was a female, she took off her hat; if a male, he kept it on, and then
+taking possession of the first chair in their way, they would retain it for an
+hour together, without uttering another word; at length, rising abruptly, they
+would again shake hands, with, &ldquo;Well, now I must be going, I
+guess,&rdquo; and so take themselves off, apparently well contented with their
+reception.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I could never attain this philosophical composure; I could neither write nor
+read, and I always fancied I must talk to them. I will give the minutes of a
+conversation which I once set down after one of their visits, as a specimen of
+their tone and manner of speaking and thinking. My visitor was a milkman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well now, so you be from the old country? Ay&mdash;you&rsquo;ll see
+sights here, I guess.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I hope I shall see many.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s a fact. I expect your little place of an island don&rsquo;t
+grow such dreadful fine corn as you sees here?&rdquo; [Corn always means Indian
+corn, or maize.]
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It grows no corn at all, sir.&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Possible! no wonder, then, that we reads such awful stories in the
+papers of your poor people being starved to death.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We have wheat, however.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Ay, for your rich folks, but I calculate the poor seldom gets a belly
+full.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You have certainly much greater abundance here.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I expect so. Why they do say, that if a poor body contrives to be smart
+enough to scrape together a few dollars, that your King George always comes
+down upon &rsquo;em, and takes it all away. Don&rsquo;t he?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I do not remember hearing of such a transaction.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I guess they be pretty close about it. Your papers ben&rsquo;t like
+ourn, I reckon? Now we says and prints just what we likes.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You spend a good deal of time in reading the newspapers.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And I&rsquo;d like you to tell me how we can spend it better. How should
+freemen spend their time, but looking after their government, and watching that
+them fellers as we gives offices to, doos their duty, and gives themselves no
+airs?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But I sometimes think, sir, that your fences might be in more thorough
+repair, and your roads in better order, if less time was spent in
+politics.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Lord! to see how little you knows of a free country? Why,
+what&rsquo;s the smoothness of a road, put against the freedom of a free-born
+American? And what does a broken zig-zag signify, comparable to knowing that
+the men what we have been pleased to send up to Congress, speaks handsome and
+straight, as we chooses they should?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is from a sense of duty, then, that you all go to the liquor store to
+read the papers?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;To be sure it is, and he&rsquo;d be no true born American as
+didn&rsquo;t. I don&rsquo;t say that the father of a family should always be
+after liquor, but I do say that I&rsquo;d rather have my son drunk three times
+in a week, than not look after the affairs of his country.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Our autumn walks were delightful; the sun ceased to scorch; the want of flowers
+was no longer peculiar to Ohio; and the trees took a colouring, which in
+richness, brilliance, and variety, exceeded all description. I think it is the
+maple, or sugar- tree, that first sprinkles the forest with rich crimson; the
+beech follows, with all its harmony of golden tints, from pale yellow up to
+brightest orange. The dog-wood gives almost the purple colour of the mulberry;
+the chesnut softens all with its frequent mass of delicate brown, and the
+sturdy oak carries its deep green into the very lap of winter. These tints are
+too bright for the landscape painter; the attempt to follow nature in an
+American autumn scene must be abortive. The colours are in reality extremely
+brilliant, but the medium through which they are seen increases the effect
+surprisingly. Of all the points in which America has the advantage of England,
+the one I felt most sensibly was the clearness and brightness of the
+atmosphere. By day and by night this exquisite purity of air gives tenfold
+beauty to every object. I could hardly believe the stars were the same; the
+Great Bear looked like a constellation of suns; and Jupiter justified all the
+fine things said of him in those beautiful lines from I know not what spirited
+pen, beginning,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;I looked on thee, Jove! till my gaze<br/>
+Shrunk, smote by the pow&rsquo;r of thy blaze.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I always remarked that the first silver line of the moon&rsquo;s crescent
+attracted the eye on the first day, in America, as strongly as it does here on
+the third. I observed another phenomenon in the crescent moon of that region,
+the cause of which I less understood. That appearance which Shakespear
+describes as &ldquo;the new moon, with the old moon in her lap,&rdquo; and
+which I have heard ingeniously explained as the effect of <i>earth light</i>,
+was less visible there than here.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cuyp&rsquo;s clearest landscapes have an atmosphere that approaches nearer to
+that of America than any I remember on canvas; but even Cuyp&rsquo;s <i>air</i>
+cannot reach the lungs, and, therefore, can only give an idea of half the
+enjoyment; for it makes itself felt as well as seen, and is indeed a constant
+source of pleasure.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our walks were, however, curtailed in several directions by my old Cincinnati
+enemies, the pigs; immense droves of them were continually arriving from the
+country by the road that led to most of our favourite walks; they were often
+fed and lodged in the prettiest valleys,and worse still, were slaughtered
+beside the prettiest streams. Another evil threatened us from the same quarter,
+that was yet heavier. Our cottage had an ample piazza, (a luxury almost
+universal in the country houses of America), which, shaded by a group of
+acacias, made a delightful sitting- room; from this favourite spot we one day
+perceived symptoms of building in a field close to it; with much anxiety we
+hastened to the spot, and asked what building was to be erected there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&rsquo;Tis to be a slaughter house for hogs,&rdquo; was the dreadful
+reply. As there were several gentlemen&rsquo;s houses in the neighbourhood, I
+asked if such an erection might not be indicted as a nuisance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A what?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A nuisance,&rdquo; I repeated, and explained what I meant.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No, no,&rdquo; was the reply, &ldquo;that may do very well for your
+tyrannical country, where a rich man&rsquo;s nose is more thought of than a
+poor man&rsquo;s mouth; but hogs be profitable produce here, and we be too free
+for such a law as that, I guess.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During my residence in America, little circumstances like the foregoing often
+recalled to my mind a conversation I once held in France with an old gentleman
+on the subject of their active police, and its omnipresent gens
+d&rsquo;armerie; &ldquo;Croyez moi, Madame, il n&rsquo;y a que ceux, à qui ils
+ont à faire, qui les trouvent de trop.&rdquo; And the old gentleman was right,
+not only in speaking of France, but of the whole human family, as philosophers
+call us. The well disposed, those whose own feeling of justice would prevent
+their annoying others, will never complain of the restraints of the law. All
+the freedom enjoyed in America, beyond what is enjoyed in England, is enjoyed
+solely by the disorderly at the expense of the orderly; and were I a stout
+knight, either of the sword or of the pen, I would fearlessly throw down my
+gauntlet, and challenge the whole Republic to prove the contrary; but being, as
+I am, a feeble looker on, with a needle for my spear, and &ldquo;I talk&rdquo;
+for my device, I must be contented with the power of stating the fact,
+perfectly certain that I shall be contradicted by one loud shout from Maine to
+Georgia.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Religion
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had often heard it observed before I visited America, that one of the great
+blessings of its constitution was the absence of a national religion, the
+country being thus exonerated from all obligation of supporting the clergy;
+those only contributing to do so whose principles led them to it. My residence
+in the country has shewn me that a religious tyranny may be exerted very
+effectually without the aid of the government, in a way much more oppressive
+than the paying of tithe, and without obtaining any of the salutary decorum,
+which I presume no one will deny is the result of an established mode of
+worship.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As it was impossible to remain many weeks in the country without being struck
+with the strange anomalies produced by its religious system, my early notes
+contain many observations on the subject; but as nearly the same scenes
+recurred in every part of the country, I state them here, not as belonging to
+the west alone, but to the whole Union, the same cause producing the same
+effect every where.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The whole people appear to be divided into an almost endless variety of
+religious factions, and I was told, that to be well received in society, it was
+necessary to declare yourself as belonging to some one of these. Let your
+acknowledged belief be what it may, you are said to be <i>not a Christian</i>,
+unless you attach yourself to a particular congregation. Besides the broad and
+well-known distinctions of Episcopalian, Catholic, Presbyterian, Calvinist,
+Baptist, Quaker, Sweden-borgian, Universalist, Dunker, &amp;c. &amp;c. &amp;c.;
+there are innumerable others springing out of these, each of which assumes a
+church government of its own; of this, the most intriguing and factious
+individual is invariably the head; and in order, as it should seem, to shew a
+reason for this separation, each congregation invests itself with some queer
+variety of external observance that has the melancholy effect of exposing
+<i>all</i> religious ceremonies to contempt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is impossible, in witnessing all these unseemly vagaries, not to recognise
+the advantages of an established church as a sort of headquarters for quiet
+unpresuming Christians, who are contented to serve faithfully, without
+insisting upon having each a little separate banner, embroidered with a device
+of their own imagining.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Catholics alone appear exempt from the fury of division and sub-division
+that has seized every other persuasion. Having the Pope for their common head,
+regulates, I presume, their movements, and prevents the outrageous display of
+individual whim which every other sect is permitted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had the pleasure of being introduced to the Catholic bishop of Cincinnati,
+and have never known in any country a priest of a character and bearing more
+truly apostolic. He was an American, but I should never have discovered it from
+his pronunciation or manner. He received his education partly in England, and
+partly in France. His manners were highly polished; his piety active and
+sincere, and infinitely more mild and tolerant than that of the factious
+Sectarians who form the great majority of the American priesthood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I believe I am sufficiently tolerant; but this does not prevent my seeing that
+the object of all religious observances is better obtained, when the government
+of the church is confided to the wisdom and experience of the most venerated
+among the people, than when it is placed in the hands of every tinker and
+tailor who chooses to claim a share in it. Nor is this the only evil attending
+the want of a national religion, supported by the State. As there is no legal
+and fixed provision for the clergy, it is hardly surprising that their services
+are confined to those who can pay them. The vehement expressions of insane or
+hypocritical zeal, such as were exhibited during &ldquo;the Revival,&rdquo; can
+but ill atone for the want of village worship, any more than the eternal talk
+of the admirable and unequalled government, can atone for the continual
+contempt of social order. Church and State hobble along, side by side,
+notwithstanding their boasted independence. Almost every man you meet will tell
+you, that he is occupied in labours most abundant for the good of his country;
+and almost every woman will tell you, that besides those things that are within
+(her house) she has coming upon her daily the care of all the churches. Yet
+spite of this universal attention to the government, its laws are half asleep;
+and spite of the old women and their Dorcas societies, atheism is awake and
+thriving.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the smaller cities and towns prayer-meetings take the place of almost all
+other amusements; but as the thinly scattered population of most villages can
+give no parties, and pay no priests, they contrive to marry, christen, and bury
+without them. A stranger taking up his residence in any city in America must
+think the natives the most religious people upon earth; but if chance lead him
+among her western villages, he will rarely find either churches or chapels,
+prayer or preacher; except, indeed, at that most terrific saturnalia, &ldquo;a
+camp-meeting.&rdquo; I was much struck with the answer of a poor woman, whom I
+saw ironing on a Sunday. &ldquo;Do you make no difference in your occupations
+on a Sunday?&rdquo; I said. &ldquo;I beant a Christian, Ma&rsquo;am; we have
+got no opportunity,&rdquo; was the reply. It occurred to me, that in a country
+where &ldquo;all men are equal,&rdquo; the government would be guilty of no
+great crime, did it so far interfere as to give them all <i>an opportunity</i>
+of becoming Christians if they wished it. But should the federal government
+dare to propose building a church, and endowing it, in some village that has
+never heard &ldquo;the bringing home of bell and burial,&rdquo; it is perfectly
+certain that not only the sovereign state where such an abomination was
+proposed, would rush into the Congress to resent the odious interference, but
+that all the other states would join the clamour, and such an intermeddling
+administration would run great risk of impeachment and degradation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Where there is a church-government so constituted as to deserve human respect,
+I believe it will always be found to receive it, even from those who may not
+assent to the dogma of its creed; and where such respect exists, it produces a
+decorum in manners and language often found wanting where it does not.
+Sectarians will not venture to rhapsodise, nor infidels to scoff, in the common
+intercourse of society. Both are injurious to the cause of rational religion,
+and to check both must be advantageous.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is certainly possible that some of the fanciful variations upon the ancient
+creeds of the Christian Church, with which transatlantic religionists amuse
+themselves, might inspire morbid imaginations in Europe as well as in America;
+but before they can disturb the solemn harmony HERE they must prelude by a
+defiance, not only to common sense, but what is infinitely more appalling, to
+common usage. They must at once rank themselves with the low and the
+illiterate, for only such prefer the eloquence of the tub to that of the
+pulpit. The aristocracy must ever, as a body, belong to the established Church,
+and it is but a small proportion of the influential classes who would be
+willing to allow that they do not belong to the aristocracy. That such feelings
+influence the professions of men it were ignorance or hypocrisy to deny; and
+that nation is wise who knows how to turn even such feelings into a wholesome
+stream of popular influence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As a specimen of the tone in which religion is mixed in the ordinary
+intercourse of society, I will transcribe the notes I took of a conversation,
+at which I was present, at Cincinnati; I wrote them immediately after the
+conversation took place.
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Dr. A.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wish, Mrs. M., that you would explain to me what a revival is. I hear
+it talked of all over the city, and I know it means something about Jesus
+Christ and religion; but that is all I know, will you instruct me
+farther?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Mrs. M.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I expect, Dr. A., that you want to laugh at me. But that makes no
+difference. I am firm in my principles, and I fear no one&rsquo;s
+laughter.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Dr. A.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, but what is a revival?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Mrs. M.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is difficult, very difficult, to make those see who have no light; to
+make those understand whose souls are darkened. A revival means just an elegant
+kindling of the spirit; it is brought about to the Lord&rsquo;s people by the
+hands of his saints, and it means salvation in the highest.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Dr. A.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But what is it the people mean by talking of feeling the revival? and
+waiting in spirit for the revival? and the extacy of the revival?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Mrs. M.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh Doctor! I am afraid that you are too far gone astray to understand
+all that. It is a glorious assurance, a whispering of the everlasting covenant,
+it is the bleating of the lamb, it is the welcome of the shepherd, it is the
+essence of love, it is the fullness of glory, it is being in Jesus, it is Jesus
+being in us, it is taking the Holy Ghost into our bosoms, it is sitting
+ourselves down by God, it is being called to the high places, it is eating, and
+drinking, and sleeping in the Lord, it is becoming a lion in the faith, it is
+being lowly and meek, and kissing the hand that smites, it is being mighty and
+powerful, and scorning reproof, it is&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Dr. A.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Thank you, Mrs. M., I feel quite satisfied; and I think I understand a
+revival now almost as well as you do yourself.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Mrs. A.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My! Where can you have learnt all that stuff, Mrs. M.?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Mrs. M.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How benighted you are! From the holy book, from the Word of the Lord,
+from the Holy Ghost, and Jesus Christ themselves.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Mrs. A.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It does seem so droll to me, to hear you talk of &ldquo;the Word of the
+Lord.&rdquo; Why, I have been brought up to look upon the Bible as nothing
+better than an old newspaper.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Mrs. O.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Surely you only say this for the sake of hearing what Mrs. M. will say
+in return&mdash;you do not mean it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Mrs. A.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;La, yes! to be sure I do.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Dr. A.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I profess that I by no means wish my wife to read all she might find
+there.&mdash;What says the Colonel, Mrs. M.?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Mrs. M.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;As to that, I never stop to ask him. I tell him every day that I believe
+in Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and that it is his duty to believe in them too,
+and then my conscience is clear, and I don&rsquo;t care what he believes.
+Really, I have no notion of one&rsquo;s husband interfering in such
+matters.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Dr. A.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are quite right. I am sure I give my wife leave to believe just what
+she likes; but she is a good woman, and does not abuse the liberty; for she
+believes nothing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was not once, nor twice, nor thrice, but many many times, during my
+residence in America, that I was present when subjects which custom as well as
+principle had taught me to consider as fitter for the closet than the
+tea-table, were thus lightly discussed. I hardly know whether I was more
+startled at first hearing, in little dainty namby pamby tones, a profession of
+Atheism over a teacup, or at having my attention called from a Johnny cake, to
+a rhapsody on election and the second birth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But, notwithstanding this revolting license, persecution exists to a degree
+unknown, I believe, in our well-ordered land since the days of Cromwell. I had
+the following anecdote from a gentleman perfectly well acquainted with the
+circumstances. A tailor sold a suit of clothes to a sailor a few moments before
+he sailed, which was on a Sunday morning. The corporation of New York
+prosecuted the tailor, and he was convicted, and sentenced to a fine greatly
+beyond his means to pay. Mr. F., a lawyer of New York, defended him with much
+eloquence, but in vain. His powerful speech, however, was not without effect,
+for it raised him such a host of Presbyterian enemies as sufficed to destroy
+his practice. Nor was this all: his nephew was at the time preparing for the
+bar, and soon after the above circumstance occurred his certificates were
+presented, and refused, with this declaration, &ldquo;that no man of the name
+and family of F. should be admitted.&rdquo; I have met this young man in
+society; he is a person of very considerable talent, and being thus cruelly
+robbed of his profession, has become the editor of a newspaper.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Peasantry, compared to that of England&mdash;Early
+marriages&mdash;Charity&mdash;Independence and equality&mdash;Cottage
+prayer-meeting
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mohawk, as our little village was called, gave us an excellent opportunity of
+comparing the peasants of the United States with those of England, and of
+judging the average degree of comfort enjoyed by each. I believe Ohio gives as
+fair a specimen as any part of the union; if they have the roughness and
+inconveniences of a new state to contend with, they have higher wages and
+cheaper provisions; if I err in supposing it a mean state in point of comfort,
+it certainly is not in taking too low a standard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mechanics, if good workmen, are certain of employment, and good wages, rather
+higher than with us; the average wages of a labourer throughout the Union is
+ten dollars a month, with lodging, boarding, washing, and mending; if he lives
+at his own expense he has a dollar a day. It appears to me that the necessaries
+of life, that is to say, meat, bread, butter, tea, and coffee, (not to mention
+whiskey), are within the reach of every sober, industrious, and healthy man who
+chooses to have them; and yet I think that an English peasant, with the same
+qualifications, would, in coming to the United States, change for the worse. He
+would find wages somewhat higher, and provisions in Western America
+considerably lower: but this statement, true as it is, can lead to nothing but
+delusion if taken apart from other facts, fully as certain, and not less
+important, but which require more detail in describing, and which perhaps
+cannot be fully comprehended, except by an eye-witness. The American poor are
+accustomed to eat meat three times a day; I never enquired into the habits of
+any cottagers in Western America, where this was not the case. I found
+afterwards in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and other parts of the country, where the
+price of meat was higher, that it was used with more economy; yet still a much
+larger portion of the weekly income is thus expended than with us. Ardent
+spirits, though lamentably cheap,<a href="#fn3" name="fnref3" id="fnref3"><sup>[3]</sup></a>
+still cost something, and the use of them among the men, with more or less of
+discretion, according to the character, is universal. Tobacco also grows at
+their doors, and is not taxed; yet this too costs something, and the air of
+heaven is not in more general use among the men of America, than chewing
+tobacco. I am not now pointing out the evils of dram-drinking, but it is
+evident, that where this practice prevails universally, and often to the most
+frightful excess, the consequence must be, that the money spent to obtain the
+dram is less than the money lost by the time consumed in drinking it. Long,
+disabling, and expensive fits of sickness are incontestably more frequent in
+every part of America, than in England, and the sufferers have no aid to look
+to, but what they have saved, or what they may be enabled to sell. I have never
+seen misery exceed what I have witnessed in an American cottage where disease
+has entered.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+<a name="fn3" id="fn3"></a> <a href="#fnref3">[3]</a>
+About a shilling a gallon is the retail price of good whiskey. If bought
+wholesale, or of inferior quality, it is much cheaper.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But if the condition of the labourer be not superior to that of the English
+peasant, that of his wife and daughters is incomparably worse. It is they who
+are indeed the slaves of the soil. One has but to look at the wife of an
+American cottager, and ask her age, to be convinced that the life she leads is
+one of hardship, privation, and labour. It is rare to see a woman in this
+station who has reached the age of thirty, without losing every trace of youth
+and beauty. You continually see women with infants on their knee, that you feel
+sure are their grand- children, till some convincing proof of the contrary is
+displayed. Even the young girls, though often with lovely features, look pale,
+thin, and haggard. I do not remember to have seen in any single instance among
+the poor, a specimen of the plump, rosy, laughing physiognomy so common among
+our cottage girls. The horror of domestic service, which the reality of
+slavery, and the fable of equality, have generated, excludes the young women
+from that sure and most comfortable resource of decent English girls; and the
+consequence is, that with a most irreverend freedom of manner to the parents,
+the daughters are, to the full extent of the word, domestic slaves. This
+condition, which no periodical merry-making, no village FÊTE, ever occurs to
+cheer, is only changed for the still sadder burdens of a teeming wife. They
+marry very young; in fact, in no rank of life do you meet with young women in
+that delightful period of existence between childhood and marriage, wherein, if
+only tolerably well spent, so much useful information is gained, and the
+character takes a sufficient degree of firmness to support with dignity the
+more important parts of wife and mother. The slender, childish thing, without
+vigour of mind or body, is made to stem a sea of troubles that dims her young
+eye and makes her cheek grow pale, even before nature has given it the last
+beautiful finish of the full-grown woman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We shall get along,&rdquo; is the answer in full, for all that can be
+said in way of advice to a boy and girl who take it into their heads to go
+before a magistrate and &ldquo;get married.&rdquo; And they do get along, till
+sickness overtakes them, by means perhaps of borrowing a kettle from one and a
+tea-pot from another; but intemperance, idleness, or sickness will, in one
+week, plunge those who are even getting along well, into utter destitution; and
+where this happens, they are completely without resource.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The absence of poor-laws is, without doubt, a blessing to the country, but they
+have not that natural and reasonable dependence on the richer classes which, in
+countries differently constituted, may so well supply their place. I suppose
+there is less alms-giving in America than in any other Christian country on the
+face of the globe. It is not in the temper of the people either to give or to
+receive.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I extract the following pompous passage from a Washington paper of Feb. 1829,
+(a season of uncommon severity and distress,) which, I think, justifies my
+observation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Among the liberal evidences of sympathy for the suffering poor of this
+city, two have come to our knowledge which deserve to be especially noticed:
+the one a donation by the President of the United States to the committee of
+the ward in which he resides of fifty dollars; the other the donation by a few
+of the officers of the war department to the Howard and Dorcas Societies, of
+seventy-two dollars.&rdquo; When such mention is made of a gift of about nine
+pounds sterling from the sovereign magistrate of the United States, and of
+thirteen pounds sterling as a contribution from one of the state departments,
+the inference is pretty obvious, that the sufferings of the destitute in
+America are not liberally relieved by individual charity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had not been three days at Mohawk-cottage before a pair of ragged children
+came to ask for medicine for a sick mother; and when it was given to them, the
+eldest produced a handful of cents, and desired to know what he was to pay. The
+superfluous milk of our cow was sought after eagerly, but every new comer
+always proposed to pay for it. When they found out that &ldquo;the English old
+woman&rdquo; did not sell anything, I am persuaded they by no means liked her
+the better for it; but they seemed to think, that if she were a fool it was no
+reason they should be so too, and accordingly the borrowing, as they called it,
+became very constant, but always in a form that shewed their dignity and
+freedom. One woman sent to borrow a pound of cheese; another half a pound of
+coffee; and more than once an intimation accompanied the milk-jug, that the
+milk must be fresh, and unskimmed: on one occasion the messenger refused milk,
+and said, &ldquo;Mother only wanted a little cream for her coffee.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I could never teach them to believe, during above a year that I lived at this
+house, that I would not sell the old clothes of the family; and so pertinacious
+were they in bargain-making, that often, when I had given them the articles
+which they wanted to purchase, they would say, &ldquo;Well, I expect I shall
+have to do a turn of work for this; you may send for me when you want
+me.&rdquo; But as I never did ask for the turn of work, and as this formula was
+constantly repeated, I began to suspect that it was spoken solely to avoid
+uttering the most un-American phrase &ldquo;I thank you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was one man whose progress in wealth I watched with much interest and
+pleasure. When I first became his neighbour, himself, his wife, and four
+children, were living in one room, with plenty of beef-steaks and onions for
+breakfast, dinner and supper, but with very few other comforts. He was one of
+the finest men I ever saw, full of natural intelligence and activity of mind
+and body, but he could neither read nor write. He drank but little whiskey, and
+but rarely chewed tobacco, and was therefore more free from that plague spot of
+spitting which rendered male colloquy so difficult to endure. He worked for us
+frequently, and often used to walk into the drawing-room and seat himself on
+the sofa, and tell me all his plans. He made an engagement with the proprietor
+of the wooded hill before mentioned, by which half the wood he could fell was
+to be his own. His unwearied industry made this a profitable bargain, and from
+the proceeds he purchased the materials for building a comfortable frame (or
+wooden) house; he did the work almost entirely himself. He then got a job for
+cutting rails, and, as he could cut twice as many in a day as any other man in
+the neighbourhood, he made a good thing of it. He then let half his pretty
+house, which was admirably constructed, with an ample portico, that kept it
+always cool. His next step was contracting for the building a wooden bridge,
+and when I left Mohawk he had fitted up his half of the building as an hotel
+and grocery store; and I have no doubt that every sun that sets sees him a
+richer man than when it rose. He hopes to make his son a lawyer, and I have
+little doubt that he will live to see him sit in congress; when this time
+arrives, the wood-cutter&rsquo;s son will rank with any other member of
+congress, not of courtesy, but of right, and the idea that his origin is a
+disadvantage, will never occur to the imagination of the most exalted of his
+fellow-citizens.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This is the only feature in American society that I recognise as indicative of
+the equality they profess. Any man&rsquo;s son may become the equal of any
+other man&rsquo;s son, and the consciousness of this is certainly a spur to
+exertion; on the other hand, it is also a spur to that coarse familiarity,
+untempered by any shadow of respect, which is assumed by the grossest and the
+lowest in their intercourse with the highest and most refined. This is a
+positive evil, and, I think, more than balances its advantages.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And here again it may be observed, that the theory of equality may be very
+daintily discussed by English gentlemen in a London dining-room, when the
+servant, having placed a fresh bottle of cool wine on the table, respectfully
+shuts the door, and leaves them to their walnuts and their wisdom; but it will
+be found less palatable when it presents itself in the shape of a hard, greasy
+paw, and is claimed in accents that breathe less of freedom than of onions and
+whiskey. Strong, indeed, must be the love of equality in an English breast if
+it can survive a tour through the Union.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was one house in the village which was remarkable from its wretchedness.
+It had an air of indecent poverty about it, which long prevented my attempting
+an entrance; but at length, upon being told that I could get chicken and eggs
+there whenever I wanted them, I determined upon venturing. The door being
+opened to my knock, I very nearly abandoned my almost blunted purpose; I never
+beheld such a den of filth and misery: a woman, the very image of dirt and
+disease, held a squalid imp of a baby on her hip bone while she kneaded her
+dough with her right fist only A great lanky girl, of twelve years old, was
+sitting on a barrel, gnawing a corn cob; when I made known my business, the
+woman answered, &ldquo;No not I; I got no chickens to sell, nor eggs neither;
+but my son will, plenty I expect. Here Nick,&rdquo; (bawling at the bottom of a
+ladder), &ldquo;here&rsquo;s an old woman what wants chickens.&rdquo; Half a
+moment brought Nick to the bottom of the ladder, and I found my merchant was
+one of a ragged crew, whom I had been used to observe in my daily walk, playing
+marbles in the dust, and swearing lustily; he looked about ten years old.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Have you chicken to sell, my boy?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes, and eggs too, more nor what you&rsquo;ll buy.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having enquired price, condition, and so on, I recollected that I had been used
+to give the same price at market, the feathers plucked, and the chicken
+prepared for the table, and I told him that he ought not to charge the same.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh for that, I expect I can fix &rsquo;em as well as ever them was, what
+you got in market.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You fix them?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yes to be sure, why not?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I thought you were too fond of marbles.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He gave me a keen glance, and said, &ldquo;You don&rsquo;t know I.&mdash;When
+will you be wanting the chickens?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He brought them at the time directed, extremely well &ldquo;fixed,&rdquo; and I
+often dealt with him afterwards. When I paid him, he always thrust his hand
+into his breaches pocket, which I presume, as being <i>the keep</i>, was
+fortified more strongly than the dilapidated outworks, and drew from thence
+rather more dollars, half-dollars, levies, and fips, than his dirty little hand
+could well hold. My curiosity was excited, and though I felt an involuntary
+disgust towards the young Jew, I repeatedly conversed with him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are very rich, Nick,&rdquo; I said to him one day, on his making an
+ostentatious display of change, as he called it; he sneered with a most
+unchildish expression of countenance, and replied, &ldquo;I guess &rsquo;twould
+be a bad job for I, if that was all I&rsquo;d got to shew.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I asked him how he managed his business. He told me that he bought eggs by the
+hundred, and lean chicken by the score, from the waggons that passed their door
+on the way to market; that he fatted the latter in coops he had made himself,
+and could easily double their price, and that his eggs answered well too, when
+he sold them out by the dozen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And do you give the money to your mother?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I expect not,&rdquo; was the answer, with another sharp glance of his
+ugly blue eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;What do you do with it. Nick?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His look said plainly, what is that to you? but he only answered, quaintly
+enough, &ldquo;I takes care of it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How Nick got his first dollar is very doubtful; I was told that when he entered
+the village store, the person serving always called in another pair of eyes;
+but having obtained it, the spirit, activity, and industry, with which he
+caused it to increase and multiply, would have been delightful in one of Miss
+Edgeworth&rsquo;s dear little clean bright-looking boys, who would have carried
+all he got to his mother; but in Nick it was detestable. No human feeling
+seemed to warm his young heart, not even the love of self-indulgence, for he
+was not only ragged and dirty, but looked considerably more than half starved,
+and I doubt not his dinners and suppers half fed his fat chickens.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I by no means give this history of Nick, the chicken merchant, as an anecdote
+characteristic in all respects of America; the only part of the story which is
+so, is the independence of the little man, and is one instance out of a
+thousand, of the hard, dry, calculating character that is the result of it.
+Probably Nick will be very rich; perhaps he will be President. I once got so
+heartily scolded for saying, that I did not think all American citizens were
+equally eligible to that office, that I shall never again venture to doubt it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Another of our cottage acquaintance was a market-gardener, from whom we
+frequently bought vegetables; from the wife of this man we one day received a
+very civil invitation to &ldquo;please to come and pass the evening with them
+in prayer.&rdquo; The novelty of the circumstance, and its great dissimilarity
+to the ways and manners of our own country, induced me to accept the
+invitation, and also to record the visit here.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were received with great attention, and a place was assigned us on one of
+the benches that surrounded the little parlour. Several persons, looking like
+mechanics and their wives, were present; every one sat in profound silence, and
+with that quiet subdued air, that serious people assume on entering a church.
+At length, a long, black, grim-looking man entered; his dress, the cut of his
+hair, and his whole appearance, strongly recalled the idea of one of
+Cromwell&rsquo;s fanatics. He stepped solemnly into the middle of the room, and
+took a chair that stood there, but not to sit upon it; he turned the back
+towards him, on which he placed his hands, and stoutly uttering a sound between
+a hem and a cough, he deposited freely on either side of him a considerable
+portion of masticated tobacco. He then began to preach. His text was
+&ldquo;Live in hope,&rdquo; and he continued to expound it for two hours in a
+drawling, nasal tone, with no other respite than what he allowed himself for
+expectoration. If I say that he repeated the words of this text a hundred
+times, I think I shall not exceed the truth, for that allows more than a minute
+for each repetition, and in fact the whole discourse was made up of it. The
+various tones in which he uttered it might have served as a lesson on emphasis;
+as a question&mdash;in accents of triumph&mdash;in accents of despair&mdash;of
+pity&mdash;of threatening&mdash;of authority&mdash;of doubt&mdash;of
+hope&mdash;of faith. Having exhausted every imaginable variety of tone, he
+abruptly said, &ldquo;Let us pray,&rdquo; and twisting his chair round, knelt
+before it. Every one knelt before the seat they had occupied, and listened for
+another half hour to a rant of miserable, low, familiar jargon, that he
+presumed to improvise to his Maker as a prayer. In this, however, the cottage
+apostle only followed the example set by every preacher throughout the Union,
+excepting those of the Episcopalian and Catholic congregations; THEY only do
+not deem themselves privileged to address the Deity in strains of crude and
+unweighed importunity. These ranters may sometimes be very much in earnest, but
+surely the least we can say of it is, that they
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Praise their God amiss.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+I enquired afterwards of a friend, well acquainted with such matters, how the
+grim preacher of &ldquo;Hope&rdquo; got paid for his labours, and he told me
+that the trade was an excellent one, for that many a gude wife bestowed more
+than a tithe of what her gude man trusted to her keeping, in rewarding the zeal
+of these self- chosen apostles. These sable ministers walk from house to house,
+or if the distance be considerable, ride on a comfortable ambling nag. They are
+not only as empty as wind, but resemble it in other particulars; for they blow
+where they list, and no man knoweth whence they come, nor whither they go. When
+they see a house that promises comfortable lodging and entertainment, they
+enter there, and say to the good woman of the house, &ldquo;Sister, shall I
+pray with you?&rdquo; If the answer be favourable, and it is seldom otherwise,
+he instals himself and his horse till after breakfast the next morning. The
+best meat, drink, and lodging are his, while he stays, and he seldom departs
+without some little contribution in money for the support of the crucified and
+suffering church. Is it not strange that &ldquo;the most intelligent people in
+the world&rdquo; should prefer such a religion as this, to a form established
+by the wisdom and piety of the ablest and best among the erring sons of men,
+solemnly sanctioned by the nation&rsquo;s law, and rendered sacred by the use
+of their fathers?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It would be well for all reasoners on the social system to observe steadily,
+and with an eye obscured by no beam of prejudice, the result of the experiment
+that is making on the other side of the Atlantic. If I mistake not, they might
+learn there, better than by any abstract speculation, what are the points on
+which the magistrates of a great people should dictate to them and on what
+points they should be left freely to their own guidance, I sincerely believe,
+that if a fire-worshipper, or an Indian Brahmin, were to come to the United
+States, prepared to preach and pray in English, he would not be long without a
+&ldquo;very respectable congregation.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The influence of a religion, sanctioned by the government, could in no country,
+in the nineteenth century, interfere with the speculations of a philosopher in
+his closet, but it might, and must, steady the weak and wavering opinions of
+the multitude. There is something really pitiable in the effect produced by the
+want of this rudder oar. I knew a family where one was a Methodist, one a
+Presbyterian, and a third a Baptist; and another, where one was a Quaker, one a
+declared Atheist, and another an Universalist. These are all females, and all
+moving in the best society that America affords; but one and all of them as
+incapable of reasoning on things past, present, and to come, as the infants
+they nourish, yet one and all of them perfectly fit to move steadily and
+usefully in a path marked out for them. But I shall be called an itinerant
+preacher myself if I pursue this theme.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As I have not the magic power of my admirable friend, Miss Mitford, to give
+grace and interest to the humblest rustic details, I must not venture to linger
+among the cottages that surrounded us; but before I quit them I must record the
+pleasing recollection of one or two neighbours of more companionable rank, from
+whom I received so much friendly attention, and such unfailing kindness, in all
+my little domestic embarrassments, that I shall never recall the memory of
+Mohawk, without paying an affectionate tribute to these far distant friends. I
+wish it were within the range of hope, that I might see them again, in my own
+country, and repay, in part, the obligations I owe them.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap13"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Theatre&mdash;Fine Arts&mdash;Delicacy&mdash;Shaking Quakers&mdash;Big-Bone
+Lick&mdash;Visit of the President
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The theatre at Cincinnati is small, and not very brilliant in decoration, but
+in the absence of every other amusement our young men frequently attended it,
+and in the bright clear nights of autumn and winter, the mile and a half of
+distance was not enough to prevent the less enterprising members of the family
+from sometimes accompanying them. The great inducement to this was the
+excellent acting of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Drake, the managers.<a href="#fn4" name="fnref4" id="fnref4"><sup>[4]</sup></a>
+Nothing could be more distinct than their line of acting, but the great
+versatility of their powers enabled them often to appear together. Her cast was
+the highest walk of tragedy, and his the broadest comedy; but yet, as Goldsmith
+says of his sister heroines, I have known them change characters for a whole
+evening together, and have wept with him and laughed with her, as it was their
+will and pleasure to ordain. I think in his comedy he was superior to any actor
+I ever saw in the same parts, except Emery. Alexander Drake&rsquo;s comedy was
+like that of the French, who never appear to be acting at all; he was himself
+the comic being the author aimed at depicting. Let him speak whose words he
+would, from Shakspeare to Colman, it was impossible not to feel that half the
+fun was his own; he had, too, in a very high degree, the power that Fawcett
+possessed, of drawing tears by a sudden touch of natural feeling. His comic
+songs might have set the gravity of the judges and bishops together at
+defiance. Liston is great, but Alexander Drake was greater.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+<a name="fn4" id="fn4"></a> <a href="#fnref4">[4]</a>
+Mr. Drake was an Englishman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Drake, formerly Miss Denny, greatly resembles Miss O&rsquo;Neil; a proof
+of this is, that Mr. Kean, who had heard of the resemblance, arrived at New
+York late in the evening, and having repaired to the theatre, saw her for the
+first time across the stage, and immediately exclaimed, &ldquo;that&rsquo;s
+Miss Denny.&rdquo; Her voice, too, has the same rich and touching tones, and is
+superior in power. Her talent is decidedly first-rate. Deep and genuine
+feeling, correct judgment, and the most perfect good taste, distinguish her
+play in every character. Her last act of Belvidera is superior in tragic effect
+to any thing I ever saw on the stage, the one great exception to all
+comparison, Mrs. Siddons, being set aside.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was painful to see these excellent performers playing to a miserable house,
+not a third full, and the audience probably not including half a dozen persons
+who would prefer their playing to that of the vilest strollers. In proof of
+this, I saw them, as managers, give place to paltry third-rate actors from
+London, who would immediately draw crowded houses, and be overwhelmed with
+applause.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Poor Drake died just before we left Ohio, and his wife, who, besides her merit
+as an actress, is a most estimable and amiable woman, is left with a large
+family. I have little, or rather no doubt, of her being able to obtain an
+excellent engagement in London, but her having property in several of the
+Western theatres will, I fear, detain her in a neighbourhood, where she is
+neither understood nor appreciated. She told me many very excellent
+professional anecdotes collected during her residence in the West; one of these
+particularly amused me as a specimen of Western idiom. A lady who professed a
+great admiration for Mrs. Drake had obtained her permission to be present upon
+one occasion at her theatrical toilet. She was dressing for some character in
+which she was to stab herself, and her dagger was lying on the table. The
+visitor took it up, and examining it with much emotion, exclaimed, &ldquo;what!
+do you really jab this into yourself sevagarous?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We also saw the great American star, Mr. Forrest. What he may become I will not
+pretend to prophesy; but when I saw him play Hamlet at Cincinnati, not even
+Mrs. Drake&rsquo;s sweet Ophelia could keep me beyond the third act. It is true
+that I have seen Kemble, Macready, Kean, Young, C. Kemble, Cook, and Talma play
+Hamlet, and I might not, perhaps, be a very fair judge of this young
+actor&rsquo;s merits; but I was greatly amused when a gentleman, who asked my
+opinion of him, told me upon hearing it, that he would not advise me to state
+it freely in America, &ldquo;for they would not bear it.&rdquo; The theatre was
+really not a bad one, though the very poor receipts rendered it impossible to
+keep it in high order; but an annoyance infinitely greater than decorations
+indifferently clean, was the style and manner of the audience. Men came into
+the lower tier of boxes without their coats; and I have seen shirt sleeves
+tucked up to the shoulder; the spitting was incessant, and the mixed smell of
+onions and whiskey was enough to make one feel even the Drakes&rsquo; acting
+dearly bought by the obligation of enduring its accompaniments. The bearing and
+attitudes of the men are perfectly indescribable; the heels thrown higher than
+the head, the entire rear of the person presented to the audience, the whole
+length supported on the benches, are among the varieties that these exquisite
+posture-masters exhibit. The noises, too, were perpetual, and of the most
+unpleasant kind; the applause is expressed by cries and thumping with the feet,
+instead of clapping; and when a patriotic fit seized them, and &ldquo;Yankee
+Doodle&rdquo; was called for, every man seemed to think his reputation as a
+citizen depended on the noise he made.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Two very indifferent figurantes, probably from the Ambigu Comique, or la
+Gaiete, made their appearance at Cincinnati while we were there; and had
+Mercury stepped down, and danced a <i>pas seul</i> upon earth, his godship
+could not have produced a more violent sensation. But wonder and admiration
+were by no means the only feelings excited; horror and dismay were produced in
+at least an equal degree. No one, I believe, doubted their being admirable
+dancers, but every one agreed that the morals of the Western world would never
+recover the shock. When I was asked if I had ever seen any thing so dreadful
+before, I was embarrassed how to answer; for the young women had been
+exceedingly careful, both in their dress and in their dancing, to meet the
+taste of the people; but had it been Virginie in her most transparent attire,
+or Taglioni in her most remarkable pirouette, they could not have been more
+reprobated. The ladies altogether forsook the theatre; the gentlemen muttered
+under their breath, and turned their heads aside when the subject was
+mentioned; the clergy denounced them from the pulpit; and if they were named at
+the meetings of the saints, it was to show how deep the horror such a theme
+could produce. I could not but ask myself if virtue were a plant, thriving
+under one form in one country, and flourishing under a different one in
+another? If these Western Americans are right, then how dreadfully wrong are
+we! It is really a very puzzling subject.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But this was not the only point on which I found my notions of right and wrong
+utterly confounded; hardly a day passed in which I did not discover that
+something or other that I had been taught to consider lawful as eating, was
+held in abhorrence by those around me; many words to which I had never heard an
+objectionable meaning attached, were totally interdicted, and the strangest
+paraphrastic sentences substituted. I confess it struck me, that
+notwithstanding a general stiffness of manner, which I think must exceed that
+of the Scribes and Pharisees, the Americans have imaginations that kindle with
+alarming facility. I could give many anecdotes to prove this, but will content
+myself with a few.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A young German gentleman of perfectly good manners, once came to me greatly
+chagrined at having offended one of the principal families in the
+neighbourhood, by having pronounced the word <i>corset</i> before the ladies of
+it. An old female friend had kindly overcome her own feelings so far as to
+mention to him the cause of the coolness he had remarked, and strongly advised
+his making an apology. He told me that he was perfectly well disposed to do so,
+but felt himself greatly at a loss how to word it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+An English lady who had long kept a fashionable boarding-school in one of the
+Atlantic cities, told me that one of her earliest cares with every new comer,
+was the endeavour to substitute real delicacy for this affected precision of
+manner; among many anecdotes, she told me one of a young lady about fourteen,
+who on entering the receiving room, where she only expected to see a lady who
+had enquired for her, and finding a young man with her, put her hands before
+her eyes, and ran out of the room again, screaming &ldquo;A man! a man! a
+man!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On another occasion, one of the young ladies in going up stairs to the
+drawing-room, unfortunately met a boy of fourteen coming down, and her feelings
+were so violently agitated, that she stopped panting and sobbing, nor would
+pass on till the boy had swung himself up on the upper banisters, to leave the
+passage free.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At Cincinnati there is a garden where the people go to eat ices, and to look at
+roses. For the preservation of the flowers, there is placed at the end of one
+of the walks a sign-post sort of daub, representing a Swiss peasant girl,
+holding in her hand a scroll, requesting that the roses might not be gathered.
+Unhappily for the artist, or for the proprietor, or for both, the petticoat of
+this figure was so short as to shew her ancles. The ladies saw, and shuddered;
+and it was formally intimated to the proprietor, that if he wished for the
+patronage of the ladies of Cincinnati, he must have the petticoat of this
+figure lengthened. The affrighted purveyor of ices sent off an express for the
+artist and his paint pot. He came, but unluckily not provided with any colour
+that would match the petticoat; the necessity, however, was too urgent for
+delay, and a flounce of blue was added to the petticoat of red, giving bright
+and shining evidence before all men of the immaculate delicacy of the
+Cincinnati ladies.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I confess I was sometimes tempted to suspect that this ultra refinement was not
+very deep seated. It often appeared to me like the consciousness of grossness,
+that wanted a veil; but the veil was never gracefully adjusted. Occasionally,
+indeed, the very same persons who appeared ready to faint at the idea of a
+statue, would utter some unaccountable sally that was quite startling, and
+which made me feel that the indelicacy of which we were accused had its limits.
+The following anecdote is hardly fit to tell, but it explains what I mean too
+well to be omitted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A young married lady, of <i>high standing</i> and most fastidious delicacy, who
+had been brought up at one of the Atlantic seminaries of highest reputation,
+told me that her house, at the distance of half a mile from a populous city,
+was unfortunately opposite a mansion of worse than doubtful reputation.
+&ldquo;It is abominable,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;to see the people that go
+there; they ought to be exposed. I and another lady, an intimate friend of
+mine, did make one of them look foolish enough last summer: she was passing the
+day with me, and, while we were sitting at the window, we saw a young man we
+both knew ride up there, we went into the garden and watched at the gate for
+him to come back, and when he did, we both stepped out, and I said to him,
+&ldquo;are you not ashamed, Mr. William D., to ride by my house and back again
+in that manner?&rdquo; I never saw a man look so foolish!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In conversing with ladies on the customs and manners of Europe, I remarked a
+strong propensity to consider every thing as wrong to which they were not
+accustomed. I once mentioned to a young lady that I thought a picnic party
+would be very agreeable, and that I would propose it to some of our friends.
+She agreed that it would be delightful, but she added, &ldquo;I fear you will
+not succeed; we are not used to such sort of things here, and I know it is
+considered very indelicate for ladies and gentlemen to sit down together on the
+grass.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I could multiply anecdotes of this nature; but I think these sufficient to give
+an accurate idea of the tone of manners in this particular, and I trust to
+justify the observations I have made.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One of the spectacles which produced the greatest astonishment on us all was
+the Republican simplicity of the courts of justice. We had heard that the
+judges indulged themselves on the bench in those extraordinary attitudes which,
+doubtless, some peculiarity of the American formation leads them to find the
+most comfortable. Of this we were determined to judge for ourselves, and
+accordingly entered the court when it was in full business, with three judges
+on the bench. The annexed sketch will better describe what we saw than any
+thing I can write.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our winter passed rapidly away, and pleasantly enough, by the help of frosty
+walks, a little skaiting, a visit to Big-Bone Lick, and a visit to the shaking
+Quakers, a good deal of chess, and a good deal of reading, notwithstanding we
+were almost in the back woods of Western America.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The excursion to Big-Bone Lick, in Kentucky, and that to the Quaker village,
+were too fatiguing for females at such a season, but our gentlemen brought us
+home mammoth bones and shaking Quaker stories in abundance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These singular people, the shaking Quakers of America, give undeniable proof
+that communities may exist and prosper, for they have continued for many years
+to adhere strictly to this manner of life, and have been constantly increasing
+in wealth. They have formed two or three different societies in distant parts
+of the Union, all governed by the same general laws, and all uniformly
+prosperous and flourishing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There must be some sound and wholesome principle at work in these
+establishments to cause their success in every undertaking, and this principle
+must be a powerful one, for it has to combat much that is absurd and much that
+is mischievous.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The societies are generally composed of about an equal proportion of males and
+females, many of them being men and their wives; but they are all bound by
+their laws not to cohabit together. Their religious observances are wholly
+confined to singing and dancing of the most grotesque kind, and this repeated
+so constantly as to occupy much time; yet these people become rich and powerful
+wherever they settle themselves. Whatever they manufacture, whatever their
+farms produce, is always in the highest repute, and brings the highest price in
+the market. They receive all strangers with great courtesy, and if they bring
+an introduction they are lodged and fed for any length of time they choose to
+stay; they are not asked to join in their labours, but are permitted to do so
+if they wish it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Big-Bone Lick was not visited, and even partially examined, without
+considerable fatigue.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It appeared from the account of our travellers, that the spot which gives the
+region its elegant name is a deep bed of blue clay, tenacious and unsound, so
+much so as to render it both difficult and dangerous to traverse. The digging
+it has been found so laborious that no one has yet hazarded the expense of a
+complete search into its depths for the gigantic relics so certainly hidden
+there. The clay has never been moved without finding some of them; and I think
+it can hardly be doubted that money and perseverance would procure a more
+perfect specimen of an entire mammoth than we have yet seen.<a href="#fn5" name="fnref5" id="fnref5"><sup>[5]</sup></a>
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+<a name="fn5" id="fn5"></a> <a href="#fnref5">[5]</a>
+Since the above was written an immense skeleton, nearly perfect, has been
+extracted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And now the time arrived that our domestic circle was again to be broken up.
+Our eldest son was to be entered at Oxford, and it was necessary that his
+father should accompany him; and, after considerable indecision, it was at
+length determined that I and my daughters should remain another year, with our
+second son. It was early in February, and our travellers prepared themselves to
+encounter some sharp gales upon the mountains, though the great severity of the
+cold appeared to be past. We got buffalo robes and double shoes prepared for
+them, and they were on the eve of departure when we heard that General Jackson,
+the newly-elected President, was expected to arrive immediately at Cincinnati,
+from his residence in the West, and to proceed by steamboat to Pittsburgh, on
+his way to Washington. This determined them not to fix the day of their
+departure till they heard of his arrival, and then, if possible, to start in
+the same boat with him; the decent dignity of a private conveyance not being
+deemed necessary for the President of the United States.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The day of his arrival was however quite uncertain, and we could only determine
+to have every thing very perfectly in readiness, let it come when it would.
+This resolution was hardly acted upon when the news reached us that the General
+had arrived at Louisville, and was expected at Cincinnati in a few hours. All
+was bustle and hurry at Mohawk-cottage; we quickly dispatched our packing
+business, and this being the first opportunity we had had of witnessing such a
+demonstration of popular feeling, we all determined to be present at the
+debarkation of the great man. We accordingly walked to Cincinnati, and secured
+a favourable station at the landing-place, both for the purpose of seeing the
+first magistrate and of observing his reception by the people. We had waited
+but a few moments when the heavy panting of the steam engines and then a
+discharge of cannon told that we were just in time; another moment brought his
+vessel in sight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nothing could be better of its kind than his approach to the shore: the noble
+steam-boat which conveyed him was flanked on each side by one of nearly equal
+size and splendour; the roofs of all three were covered by a crowd of men;
+cannon saluted them from the shore as they passed by, to the distance of a
+quarter of a mile above the town; there they turned about, and came down the
+river with a rapid but stately motion, the three vessels so close together as
+to appear one mighty mass upon the water.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When they arrived opposite the principal landing they swept gracefully round,
+and the side vessels, separating themselves from the centre, fell a few feet
+back, permitting her to approach before them with her honoured freight. All
+this manoeuvring was extremely well executed, and really beautiful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The crowd on the shore awaited her arrival in perfect stillness. When she
+touched the bank the people on board gave a faint huzza, but it was answered by
+no note of welcome from the land: this cold silence was certainly not produced
+by any want of friendly feeling towards the new President; during the whole of
+the canvassing he had been decidedly the popular candidate at Cincinnati, and,
+for months past, we had been accustomed to the cry of &ldquo;Jackson for
+ever&rdquo; from an overwhelming majority; but enthusiasm is not either the
+virtue or the vice of America.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+More than one private carriage was stationed at the water&rsquo;s edge to await
+the General&rsquo;s orders, but they were dismissed with the information that
+he would walk to the hotel. Upon receiving this intimation the silent crowd
+divided itself in a very orderly manner, leaving a space for him to walk
+through them. He did so, uncovered, though the distance was considerable, and
+the weather very cold; but he alone (with the exception of a few European
+gentlemen who were present) was without a hat. He wore his grey hair,
+carelessly, but not ungracefully arranged, and, spite of his harsh gaunt
+features, he looks like a gentleman and a soldier. He was in deep mourning,
+having very recently lost his wife; they were said to have been very happy
+together, and I was pained by hearing a voice near me exclaim, as he approached
+the spot where I stood, &ldquo;There goes Jackson, where is his wife?&rdquo;
+Another sharp voice, at a little distance, cried, &ldquo;Adams for ever!&rdquo;
+And these sounds were all I heard to break the silence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They manage these matters better&rdquo; in the East, I have no doubt,
+but as yet I was still in the West, and still inclined to think, that however
+meritorious the American character may be, it is not amiable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. T. and his sons joined the group of citizens who waited upon him to the
+hotel, and were presented to the President in form; that is, they shook hands
+with him. Learning that he intended to remain a few hours there, or more
+properly, that it would be a few hours before the steam-boat would be ready to
+proceed, Mr. T. secured berths on board, and returned, to take a hasty dinner
+with us. At the hour appointed by the captain, Mr. T. and his son accompanied
+the General on board; and by subsequent letters I learnt that they had
+conversed a good deal with him, and were pleased by his conversation and
+manners, but deeply disgusted by the brutal familiarity to which they saw him
+exposed at every place on their progress at which they stopped; I am tempted to
+quote one passage, as sufficiently descriptive of the manner, which so
+painfully grated against their European feelings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&lsquo;There was not a hulking boy from a keel-boat who was not introduced to
+the President, unless, indeed, as was the case with some, they introduced
+themselves: for instance, I was at his elbow when a greasy fellow accosted him
+thus:-
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;General Jackson, I guess?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&lsquo;The General bowed assent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why they told me you was dead.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No! Providence has hitherto preserved my life.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And is your wife alive too?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&lsquo;The General, apparently much hurt, signified the contrary, upon which
+the courtier concluded his harangue, by saying, &ldquo;Aye, I thought it was
+the one or the t&rsquo;other of ye.&rdquo;&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap14"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+American Spring&mdash;Controversy between Messrs. Owen and Cambell&mdash;Public
+ball&mdash;Separation of the sexes&mdash;American freedom&mdash;Execution
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The American spring is by no means so agreeable as the American autumn; both
+move with faultering step, and slow; but this lingering pace, which is
+delicious in autumn, is most tormenting in the spring. In the one case you are
+about to part with a friend, who is becoming more gentle and agreeable at every
+step, and such steps can hardly be made too slowly; but in the other you are
+making your escape from a dreary cavern, where you have been shut up with black
+frost and biting blasts, and where your best consolation was being smoke-dried.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But, upon second thoughts, I believe it would be more correct, instead of
+complaining of the slow pace of the American spring, to declare that they have
+no spring at all. The beautiful autumn often lingers on till Christmas, after
+which winter can be trifled with no longer, and generally keeps a stubborn hold
+through the months which we call spring, when he suddenly turns his back, and
+summer takes his place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The inconceivable uncertainty of the climate is, however, such, that I will not
+venture to state about what time this change takes place, for it is certain,
+that let me name what time I would, it would be easy for any weather
+journaliser to prove me wrong, by quoting that the thermometer was at 100 at a
+period which my statement included in the winter; or 50 long after I made the
+summer commence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The climate of England is called uncertain, but it can never, I think, be so
+described by any who have experienced that of the United States. A gentleman,
+on whose accuracy I could depend, told me he had repeatedly known the
+thermometer vary above 40 degrees in the space of twelve hours. This most
+unpleasant caprice of the temperature is, I conceive, one cause of the
+unhealthiness of the climate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length, however, after shivering and shaking till we were tired of it, and
+having been half ruined in fire-wood (which, by the way, is nearly as dear as
+at Paris, and dearer in many parts of the Union), the summer burst upon us full
+blown, and the ice-house, the piazza, and the jalousies were again in full
+requisition.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was in the early summer of this year (1829) that Cincinnati offered a
+spectacle unprecedented, I believe, in any age or country. Mr. Owen, of Lanark,
+of New Harmony, of Texas, well known to the world by all or either of these
+additions, had challenged the whole religious public of the United States to
+discuss with him publicly the truth or falsehood of all the religions that had
+ever been propagated on the face of the earth; stating, further, that he
+undertook to prove that they were all equally false, and nearly equally
+mischievous. This most appalling challenge was conveyed to the world through
+the medium of New Orleans newspapers, and for some time it remained unanswered;
+at length the Reverend Alexander Campbell, from Bethany, (not of Judaea, but of
+Kentucky,) proclaimed, through the same medium, that he was ready to take up
+the gauntlet. The place fixed for this extraordinary discussion was Cincinnati;
+the time, the second Monday in May, 1829, being about a year from the time the
+challenge was accepted; thus giving the disputants time to prepare themselves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Owen&rsquo;s preparation, however, could only have been such as those who
+run may read, for, during the interval, he traversed great part of North
+America, crossed the Atlantic twice, visited England, Scotland, Mexico, Texas,
+and I know not how many places besides.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Campbell, I was told, passed this period very differently, being engaged in
+reading with great research and perseverance all the theological works within
+his reach. But whatever confidence the learning and piety of Mr. Campbell might
+have inspired in his friends, or in the Cincinnati Christians in general, it
+was not, as it appeared, sufficient to induce Mr. Wilson, the Presbyterian
+minister of the largest church in the town, to permit the display of them
+within its walls. This refusal was greatly reprobated, and much regretted, as
+the curiosity to hear the discussion was very general, and no other edifice
+offered so much accommodation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A Methodist meeting-house, large enough to contain a thousand persons, was at
+last chosen; a small stage was arranged round the pulpit, large enough to
+accommodate the disputants and their stenographers; the pulpit itself was
+throughout the whole time occupied by the aged father of Mr. Campbell, whose
+flowing white hair, and venerable countenance, constantly expressive of the
+deepest attention, and the most profound interest, made him a very striking
+figure in the group. Another platform was raised in a conspicuous part of the
+building, on which were seated seven gentlemen of the city, selected as
+moderators.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The chapel was equally divided, one half being appropriated to ladies, the
+other to gentlemen; and the door of entrance reserved for the ladies was
+carefully guarded by persons appointed to prevent any crowding or difficulty
+from impeding their approach. I suspect that the ladies were indebted to Mr.
+Owen for this attention; the arrangements respecting them on this occasion were
+by no means American.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Mr. Owen rose, the building was thronged in every part; the audience, or
+congregation, (I hardly know which to call them) were of the highest rank of
+citizens, and as large a proportion of best bonnets fluttered there, as the
+&ldquo;two horned church&rdquo; itself could boast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was in the profoundest silence, and apparently with the deepest attention,
+that Mr. Owen&rsquo;s opening address was received; and surely it was the most
+singular one that ever Christian men and women sat to listen to.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When I recollect its object, and the uncompromising manner in which the orator
+stated his mature conviction that the whole history of the Christian mission
+was a fraud, and its sacred origin a fable, I cannot but wonder that it was so
+listened to; yet at the time I felt no such wonder. Never did any one practise
+the <i>suaviter in modo</i> with more powerful effect than Mr. Owen. The gentle
+tone of his voice; his mild, sometimes playful, but never ironical manner; the
+absence of every vehement or harsh expression; the affectionate interest
+expressed for &ldquo;the whole human family,&rdquo; the air of candour with
+which he expressed his wish to be convinced he was wrong, if he indeed were
+so&mdash;his kind smile&mdash;the mild expression of his eyes&mdash;in short,
+his whole manner, disarmed zeal, and produced a degree of tolerance that those
+who did not hear him would hardly believe possible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Half an hour was the time allotted for each haranguer; when this was expired,
+the moderators were seen to look at their watches. Mr. Owen, too, looked at his
+(without pausing) smiled, shook his head, and said in a parenthesis &ldquo;a
+moment&rsquo;s patience,&rdquo; and continued for nearly another half hour.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Campbell then arose; his person, voice, and manner all greatly in his
+favour. In his first attack he used the arms, which in general have been
+considered as belonging to the other side of the question. He quizzed Mr. Owen
+most unmercifully; pinched him here for his parallelograms; hit him there for
+his human perfectibility, and kept the whole audience in a roar of laughter.
+Mr. Owen joined in it most heartily himself, and listened to him throughout
+with the air of a man who is delighted at the good things he is hearing, and
+exactly in the cue to enjoy all the other good things that he is sure will
+follow. Mr. Campbell&rsquo;s watch was the only one which reminded us that we
+had listened to him for half an hour; and having continued speaking for a few
+minutes after he had looked at it, he sat down with, I should think, the
+universal admiration of his auditory.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Owen again addressed us; and his first five minutes were occupied in
+complimenting Mr. Campbell with all the strength his exceeding hearty laughter
+had left him. But then he changed his tone, and said the business was too
+serious to permit the next half hour to pass so lightly and so pleasantly as
+the last; and then he read us what he called his twelve fundamental laws of
+human nature. These twelve laws he has taken so much trouble to circulate to
+all the nations of the earth, that it must be quite unnecessary to repeat them
+here. To me they appear twelve truisms, that no man in his senses would ever
+think of contradicting; but how any one can have conceived that the explanation
+and defence of these laws could furnish forth occupation for his pen and his
+voice, through whole years of unwearying declamation, or how he can have
+dreamed that they could be twisted into a refutation of the Christian religion,
+is a mystery which I never expect to understand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From this time Mr. Owen entrenched himself behind his twelve laws, and Mr.
+Campbell, with equal gravity, confined himself to bringing forward the most
+elaborate theological authorities in evidence of the truth of revealed
+religion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Neither appeared to me to answer the other; but to confine themselves to the
+utterance of what they had uppermost in their own minds when the discussion
+began. I lamented this on the side of Mr. Campbell, as I am persuaded he would
+have been much more powerful had he trusted more to himself and less to his
+books. Mr. Owen is an extraordinary man, and certainly possessed of talent, but
+he appears to me so utterly benighted in the mists of his own theories, that he
+has quite lost the power of looking through them, so as to get a peep at the
+world as it really exists around him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the conclusion of the debate (which lasted for fifteen sittings) Mr.
+Campbell desired the whole assembly to sit down. They obeyed. He then requested
+all who wished well to Christianity to rise, and a very large majority were in
+an instant on their legs. He again requested them to be seated, and then
+desired those who believed not in its doctrines to rise, and a few gentlemen
+and one lady obeyed. Mr. Owen protested against this manoeuvre, as he called
+it, and refused to believe that it afforded any proof of the state of
+men&rsquo;s minds, or of women&rsquo;s either; declaring, that not only was
+such a result to be expected, in the present state of things, but that it was
+the duty of every man who had children to feed, not to hazard the sale of his
+hogs, or his iron, by a declaration of opinions which might offend the majority
+of his customers. It was said, that at the end of the fifteen meetings the
+numerical amount of the Christians and the Infidels of Cincinnati remained
+exactly what it was when they began.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was a result that might have been perhaps anticipated; but what was much
+less to have been expected, neither of the disputants ever appeared to lose
+their temper. I was told they were much in each other&rsquo;s company,
+constantly dining together, and on all occasions expressed most cordially their
+mutual esteem.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All this I think could only have happened in America. I am not quite sure that
+it was very desirable it should have happened any where.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In noting the various brilliant events which diversified our residence in the
+western metropolis, I have omitted to mention the Birthday Ball, as it is
+called, a festivity which, I believe, has place on the 22nd of February, in
+every town and city throughout the Union. It is the anniversary of the birth of
+General Washington, and well deserves to be marked by the Americans as a day of
+jubilee.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was really astonished at the <i>coup d&rsquo;oeil</i> on entering, for I saw
+a large room filled with extremely well-dressed company, among whom were many
+very beautiful girls. The gentlemen also were exceedingly smart, but I had not
+yet been long enough in Western America not to feel startled at recognising in
+almost every full-dressed <i>beau</i> that passed me, the master or shopman
+that I had been used to see behind the counter, or lolling at the door of every
+shop in the city. The fairest and finest belles smiled and smirked on them with
+as much zeal and satisfaction as I ever saw bestowed on an eldest son, and I
+therefore could feel no doubt of their being considered as of the highest rank.
+Yet it must not be supposed that there is no distinction of classes: at this
+same ball I was looking among the many very beautiful girls I saw there for one
+more beautiful still, with whose lovely face I had been particularly struck at
+the school examination I have mentioned. I could not find her, and asked a
+gentleman why the beautiful Miss C. was not there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You do not yet understand our aristocracy,&rdquo; he replied, &ldquo;the
+family of Miss C. are mechanics.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;But the young lady has been educated at the same school as these, whom I
+see here, and I know her brother has a shop in the town, quite as large, and
+apparently as prosperous, as those belonging to any of these young men. What is
+the difference?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;He is a mechanic; he assists in making the articles he sells; the others
+call themselves merchants.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dancing was not quite like, yet not very unlike, what we see at an assize
+or race-ball in a country town. They call their dances cotillions instead of
+quadrilles, and the figures are called from the orchestra in English, which has
+very ludicrous effect on European ears.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The arrangements for the supper were very singular, but eminently
+characteristic of the country. The gentlemen had a splendid entertainment
+spread for them in another large room of the hotel, while the poor ladies had
+each a plate put into their hands, as they pensively promenaded the ballroom
+during their absence; and shortly afterwards servants appeared, bearing trays
+of sweetmeats, cakes, and creams. The fair creatures then sat down on a row of
+chairs placed round the walls, and each making a table of her knees, began
+eating her sweet, but sad and sulky repast. The effect was extremely comic;
+their gala dresses and the decorated room forming a contrast the most
+unaccountable with their uncomfortable and forlorn condition.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This arrangement was owing neither to economy nor want of a room large enough
+to accommodate the whole party, but purely because the gentlemen liked it
+better. This was the answer given me, when my curiosity tempted me to ask why
+the ladies and gentlemen did not sup together; and this was the answer repeated
+to me afterwards by a variety of people to whom I put the same question.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I am led to mention this feature of American manners very frequently, not only
+because it constantly recurs, but because I consider it as being in a great
+degree the cause of that universal deficiency in good manners and graceful
+demeanour, both in men and women, which is so remarkable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Where there is no court, which every where else is the glass wherein the higher
+orders dress themselves, and which again reflected from them to the classes
+below, goes far towards polishing, in some degree, a great majority of the
+population, it is not to be expected that manner should be made so much a
+study, or should attain an equal degree of elegance; but the deficiency, and
+the total difference, is greater than this cause alone could account for. The
+hours of enjoyment are important to human beings every where, and we every
+where find them preparing to make the most of them. Those who enjoy themselves
+only in society, whether intellectual or convivial, prepare themselves for it,
+and such make but a poor figure when forced to be content with the sweets of
+solitude: while, on the other hand, those to whom retirement affords the
+greatest pleasure, seldom give or receive much in society. Wherever the highest
+enjoyment is found by both sexes in scenes where they meet each other, both
+will prepare themselves to appear with advantage there. The men will not
+indulge in the luxury of chewing tobacco, or even of spitting, and the women
+will contrive to be capable of holding a higher post than that of unwearied
+tea-makers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In America, with the exception of dancing, which is almost wholly confined to
+the unmarried of both sexes, all the enjoyments of the men are found in the
+absence of the women. They dine, they play cards, they have musical meetings,
+they have suppers, all in large parties but all without women. Were it not that
+such is the custom, it is impossible but that they would have ingenuity enough
+to find some expedient for sparing the wives and daughters of the opulent the
+sordid offices of household drudgery which they almost all perform in their
+families. Even in the slave states, though they may not clear-starch and iron,
+mix puddings and cakes one half of the day, and watch them baking the other
+half, still the very highest occupy themselves in their household concerns, in
+a manner that precludes the possibility of their becoming elegant and
+enlightened companions. In Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, I met with
+some exceptions to this; but speaking of the country generally, it is
+unquestionably true.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Had I not become heartily tired of my prolonged residence in a place I
+cordially disliked, and which moreover I began to fear would not be attended
+with the favourable results we had anticipated, I should have found an almost
+inexhaustible source of amusement in the notions and opinions of the people I
+conversed with; and as it was, I often did enjoy this in a considerable degree.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We received, as I have mentioned, much personal kindness; but this by no means
+interfered with the national feeling of, I believe, unconquerable dislike,
+which evidently lives at the bottom of every truly American heart against the
+English. This shows itself in a thousand little ways, even in the midst of the
+most kind and friendly intercourse, but often in a manner more comic than
+offensive.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sometimes it was thus.&mdash;&ldquo;Well, now, I think your government must
+just be fit to hang themselves for that last war they cooked up; it has been
+the ruin of you I expect, for it has just been the making of us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then.&mdash;&ldquo;Well, I do begin to understand your broken English better
+than I did; but no wonder I could not make it out very well at first, as you
+come from London; for every body knows that London slang is the most dreadful
+in the world. How queer it is now, that all the people that live in London
+should put the <i>h</i> where it is not, and never will put it where it
+is.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was egotistical enough to ask the lady who said this, if she found that I did
+so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No; you do not,&rdquo; was the reply; but she added, with a complacent
+smile, &ldquo;it is easy enough to see the pains you take about it: I expect
+you have heard how we Americans laugh at you all for it, and so you are trying
+to learn our way of pronouncing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One lady asked me very gravely, if we had left home in order to get rid of the
+vermin with which the English of all ranks were afflicted? &ldquo;I have heard
+from unquestionable authority,&rdquo; she added, &ldquo;that it is quite
+impossible to walk through the streets of London without having the head
+filled.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I laughed a little, but spoke not a word. She coloured highly, and said,
+&ldquo;There is nothing so easy as to laugh, but truth is truth, laughed at or
+not.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I must preface the following anecdote by observing that in America nearly the
+whole of the insect tribe are classed under the general name of bug; the
+unfortunate cosmopolite known by that name amongst us is almost the only one
+not included in this term. A lady abruptly addressed me with,
+&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t you hate chintzes, Mrs. Trollope?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No indeed,&rdquo; I replied, &ldquo;I think them very pretty.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;There now! if that is not being English! I reckon you call that loving
+your country; well, thank God! we Americans have something better to love our
+country for than that comes to; we are not obliged to say that we like nasty
+filthy chintzes to shew that we are good patriots.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Chintzes? what are chintzes?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Possible! do you pretend you don&rsquo;t know what chintzes are? Why the
+nasty little stinking blood-suckers that all the beds in London are full
+of.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have since been informed that <i>chinche</i> is Spanish for bug; but at the
+time the word suggested only the material of a curtain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Among other instances of that species of modesty so often seen in America, and
+so unknown to us, I frequently witnessed one, which, while it evinced the
+delicacy of the ladies, gave opportunity for many lively sallies from the
+gentlemen. I saw the same sort of thing repeated on different occasions at
+least a dozen times; e.g. a young lady is employed in making a shirt, (which it
+would be a symptom of absolute depravity to name), a gentleman enters, and
+presently begins the sprightly dialogue with &ldquo;What are you making Miss
+Clarissa?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Only a frock for my sister&rsquo;s doll, sir.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A frock? not possible. Don&rsquo;t I see that it is not a frock? Come,
+Miss Clarissa, what is it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Tis just an apron for one of our Negroes, Mr. Smith.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How can you. Miss Clarissa! why is not the two side joined together? I
+expect you were better tell me what it is.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My! why then Mr. Smith, it is just a pillow-case.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Now that passes. Miss Clarissa! &rsquo;Tis a pillow-case for a giant
+then. Shall I guess, Miss?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Quit, Mr. Smith; behave yourself, or I&rsquo;ll certainly be
+affronted.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before the conversation arrives at this point, both gentleman and lady are in
+convulsions of laughter. I once saw a young lady so hard driven by a wit, that
+to prove she was making a bag, and nothing but a bag, she sewed up the ends
+before his eyes, shewing it triumphantly, and exclaiming, &ldquo;there now!
+what can you say to that?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One of my friends startled me one day by saying in an affectionate, but rather
+compassionate tone, &ldquo;How will you bear to go back to England to live, and
+to bring up your children in a country where you know you are considered as no
+better than the dirt in the streets?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I begged she would explain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, you know I would not affront you for any thing; but the fact is, we
+Americans know rather more than you think for, and certainly if I was in
+England I should not think of associating with anything but lords. I have
+always been among the first here, and if I travelled I should like to do the
+same. I don&rsquo;t mean, I&rsquo;m sure, that I would not come to see you, but
+you know you are not lords, and therefore I know very well how you are treated
+in your own country.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I very rarely contradicted statements of this kind, as I found it less trouble,
+and infinitely more amusing, to let them pass; indeed, had I done otherwise, it
+would have been of little avail, as among the many conversations I held in
+America respecting my own country, I do not recollect a single instance in
+which it was not clear that I knew much less about it than those I conversed
+with.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the subject of national glory, I presume I got more than my share of
+buffeting; for being a woman, there was no objection to their speaking out. One
+lady, indeed, who was a great patriot, evinced much delicacy towards me, for
+upon some one speaking of New Orleans, she interrupted them, saying, &ldquo;I
+wish you would not talk of New Orleans;&rdquo; and, turning to me, added with
+great gentleness, &ldquo;It must be so painful to your feelings to hear that
+place mentioned!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The immense superiority of the American to the British navy was a constant
+theme, and to this I always listened, as nearly as possible, in silence. I
+repeatedly heard it stated, (so often, indeed, and from such various quarters,
+that I think there must be some truth in it), that the American sailors fire
+with a certainty of slaughter, whereas our shots are sent very nearly at
+random. &ldquo;This, &ldquo; said a naval officer of high reputation, &ldquo;is
+the blessed effect of your game laws; your sailors never fire at a mark; whilst
+our free tars, from their practice in pursuit of game, can any of them split a
+hair.&rdquo; But the favourite, the constant, the universal sneer that met me
+every where, was on our old-fashioned attachments to things obsolete. Had they
+a little wit among them, I am certain they would have given us the cognomen of
+&ldquo;My Grandmother, the British,&rdquo; for that is the tone they take, and
+it is thus they reconcile themselves to the crude newness of every thing around
+them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I wonder you are not sick of kings, chancellors, and archbishops, and
+all your fustian of wigs and gowns,&rdquo; said a very clever gentleman to me
+once, with an affected yawn, &ldquo;I protest the very sound almost sets me to
+sleep.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is amusing to observe how soothing the idea seems, that they are more
+modern, more advanced than England. Our classic literature, our princely
+dignities, our noble institutions, are all gone-by relics of the dark ages.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This, and the vastness of their naked territory, make up the flattering unction
+which is laid upon the soul, as an antidote to the little misgiving which from
+time to time arises, lest their large country be not of quite so much
+importance among the nations, as a certain paltry old-fashioned little place
+that they wot of.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was once sitting with a party of ladies, among whom were one or two young
+girls, whose curiosity was greater than their patriotism, and they asked me
+many questions respecting the splendour and extent of London. I was
+endeavouring to satisfy them by the best description I could give, when we were
+interrupted by another lady, who exclaimed, &ldquo;Do hold your tongues, girls,
+about London; if you want to know what a beautiful city is, look at
+Philadelphia; when Mrs. Trollope has been there, I think she will allow that it
+is better worth talking about than that great overgrown collection of nasty,
+filthy, dirty streets, that they call London.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once in Ohio, and once in the district of Columbia, I had an atlas displayed
+before me, that I might be convinced by the evidence of my own eyes what a very
+contemptible little country I came from. I shall never forget the gravity with
+which, on the latter occasion, a gentleman drew out his graduated pencil-case,
+and shewed me past contradiction, that the whole of the British dominions did
+not equal in size one of their least important states; nor the air with which,
+after the demonstration, he placed his feet upon the chimney-piece,
+considerably higher than his head, and whistled Yankee Doodle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Their glorious institutions, their unequalled freedom, were, of course, not
+left unsung.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I took some pains to ascertain what they meant by their glorious institutions,
+and it is with no affectation of ignorance that I profess I never could
+comprehend the meaning of the phrase, which is, however, on the lip of every
+American, when he talks of his country. I asked if by their institutions they
+meant their hospitals and penitentiaries. &ldquo;Oh no! we mean the glorious
+institutions which are coeval with the revolution.&rdquo; &ldquo;Is it,&rdquo;
+I asked, &ldquo;your institution of marriage, which you have made purely a
+civil and not a religious rite, to be performed by a justice of peace, instead
+of a clergyman?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh no! we speak of our divine political institutions.&rdquo; Yet still I
+was in the dark, nor can I guess what they mean, unless they call incessant
+electioneering, without pause or interval for a single day, for a single hour,
+of their whole existence, &ldquo;a glorious institution.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Their unequalled freedom, I think, I understand better. Their code of common
+law is built upon ours; and the difference between us is this, in England the
+laws are acted upon, in America they are not.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I do not speak of the police of the Atlantic cities; I believe it is well
+arranged: in New York it is celebrated for being so; but out of the range of
+their influence, the contempt of law is greater than I can venture to state,
+with any hope of being believed. Trespass, assault, robbery, nay, even murder,
+are often committed without the slightest attempt at legal interference.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During the summer that we passed most delightfully in Maryland, our rambles
+were often restrained in various directions by the advice of our kind friends,
+who knew the manners and morals of the country. When we asked the cause, we
+were told, &ldquo;There is a public-house on that road, and it will not be safe
+to pass it,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The line of the Chesapeak and Ohio canal passed within a few miles of Mrs.
+S&mdash;&rsquo;s residence. It twice happened during our stay with her, that
+dead bodies were found partially concealed near it. The circumstance was
+related as a sort of half hour&rsquo;s wonder; and when I asked particulars of
+those who, on one occasion, brought the tale, the reply was, &ldquo;Oh, he was
+murdered I expect; or maybe he died of the canal fever; but they say he had
+marks of being throttled.&rdquo; No inquest was summoned; and certainly no more
+sensation was produced by the occurrence than if a sheep had been found in the
+same predicament.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The abundance of food and the scarcity of hanging were also favourite topics,
+as proving their superiority to England. They are both excellent things, but I
+do not admit the inference. A wide and most fertile territory, as yet but
+thinly inhabited, may easily be made to yield abundant food for its population:
+and where a desperate villain knows, that when he has made his town or his
+village &ldquo;too hot to hold him,&rdquo; he has nothing to do but to travel a
+few miles west, and be sure of finding plenty of beef and whiskey, with no
+danger that the law shall follow him, it is not extraordinary that executions
+should be rare.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once during our residence at Cincinnati, a murderer of uncommon atrocity was
+taken, tried, convicted, and condemned to death. It had been shewn on his
+trial, that some years before he had murdered a wife and child at New Orleans,
+but little notice had been taken of it at the time. The crime which had now
+thrown him into the hands of justice was the recent murder of a second wife,
+and the chief evidence against him was his own son.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The day of his execution was fixed, and the sensation produced was so great
+from the strangeness of the occurrence, (no white man having ever been executed
+at Cincinnati,) that persons from sixty miles&rsquo; distance came to be
+present at it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Meanwhile some unco&rsquo; good people began to start doubts as to the
+righteousness of hanging a man, and made application to the Governor of the
+State<a href="#fn6" name="fnref6" id="fnref6"><sup>[6]</sup></a> of Ohio, to
+commute the sentence into imprisonment. The Governor for some time refused to
+interfere with the sentence of the tribunal before which he had been tried; but
+at length, frightened at the unusual situation in which he found himself, he
+yielded to the importunity of the Presbyterian party who had assailed him, and
+sent off an order to the sheriff accordingly. But this order was not to
+reprieve him, but to ask him if he pleased to be reprieved, and sent to the
+penitentiary instead of being hanged.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+<a name="fn6" id="fn6"></a> <a href="#fnref6">[6]</a>
+The Governors of states have the same power over life and death as is
+vested, with us, in the Crown.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sheriff waited upon the criminal, and made his proposal, and was answered.
+&ldquo;If any thing could make me agree to it, it would be the hope of living
+long enough to kill you and my dog of a son: however, I won&rsquo;t agree; you
+shall have the hanging of me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The worthy sheriff, to whom the ghastly office of executioner is assigned, said
+all in his power to persuade him to sign the offered document, but in vain; he
+obtained nothing but abuse for his efforts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The day of execution arrived; the place appointed was the side of a hill, the
+only one cleared of trees near the town; and many hours before the time fixed,
+we saw it entirely covered by an immense multitude of men, women, and children.
+At length the hour arrived, the dismal cart was seen slowly mounting the hill,
+the noisy throng was hushed into solemn silence; the wretched criminal mounted
+the scaffold, when again the sheriff asked him to sign his acceptance of the
+commutation proposed; but he spurned the paper from him, and cried aloud,
+&ldquo;Hang me!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Midday was the moment appointed for cutting the rope; the sheriff stood, his
+watch in one hand, and a knife in the other; the hand was lifted to strike,
+when the criminal stoutly exclaimed, &ldquo;I sign;&rdquo; and he was conveyed
+back to prison, amidst the shouts, laughter, and ribaldry of the mob.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I am not fond of hanging, but there was something in all this that did not look
+like the decent dignity of wholesome justice.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap15"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Camp-Meeting
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was in the course of this summer that I found the opportunity I had long
+wished for, of attending a camp-meeting, and I gladly accepted the invitation
+of an English lady and gentleman to accompany them in their carriage to the
+spot where it is held; this was in a wild district on the confines of Indiana.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The prospect of passing a night in the back woods of Indiana was by no means
+agreeable, but I screwed my courage to the proper pitch, and set forth
+determined to see with my own eyes, and hear with my own ears, what a
+camp-meeting really was. I had heard it said that being at a camp-meeting was
+like standing at the gate of heaven, and seeing it opening before you; I had
+heard it said, that being at a camp-meeting was like finding yourself within
+the gates of hell; in either case there must be something to gratify curiosity,
+and compensate one for the fatigue of a long rumbling ride and a sleepless
+night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We reached the ground about an hour before midnight, and the approach to it was
+highly picturesque. The spot chosen was the verge of an unbroken forest, where
+a space of about twenty acres appeared to have been partially cleared for the
+purpose. Tents of different sizes were pitched very near together in a circle
+round the cleared space; behind them were ranged an exterior circle of
+carriages of every description, and at the back of each were fastened the
+horses which had drawn them thither. Through this triple circle of defence we
+distinguished numerous fires burning brightly within it; and still more
+numerous lights flickering from the trees that were left in the enclosure. The
+moon was in meridian splendour above our heads.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We left the carriage to the care of a servant, who was to prepare a bed in it
+for Mrs. B. and me, and entered the inner circle. The first glance reminded me
+of Vauxhall, from the effect of the lights among the trees, and the moving
+crowd below them; but the second shewed a scene totally unlike any thing I had
+ever witnessed. Four high frames, constructed in the form of altars, were
+placed at the four corners of the enclosure; on these were supported layers of
+earth and sod, on which burned immense fires of blazing pinewood. On one side a
+rude platform was erected to accommodate the preachers, fifteen of whom
+attended this meeting, and with very short intervals for necessary refreshment
+and private devotion, preached in rotation, day and night, from Tuesday to
+Saturday.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When we arrived, the preachers were silent; but we heard issuing from nearly
+every tent mingled sounds of praying, preaching, singing, and lamentation. The
+curtains in front of each tent were dropped, and the faint light that gleamed
+through the white drapery, backed as it was by the dark forest, had a beautiful
+and mysterious effect, that set the imagination at work; and had the sounds
+which vibrated around us been less discordant, harsh, and unnatural, I should
+have enjoyed it; but listening at the corner of a tent, which poured forth more
+than its proportion of clamour, in a few moments chased every feeling derived
+from imagination, and furnished realities that could neither be mistaken or
+forgotten.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Great numbers of persons were walking about the ground, who appeared like
+ourselves to be present only as spectators; some of these very unceremoniously
+contrived to raise the drapery of this tent, at one comer, so as to afford us a
+perfect view of the interior.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The floor was covered with straw, which round the sides was heaped in masses,
+that might serve as seats, but which at that moment were used to support the
+heads and the arms of the close-packed circle of men and women who kneeled on
+the floor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Out of about thirty persons thus placed, perhaps half a dozen were men. One of
+these, a handsome looking youth of eighteen or twenty, kneeled just below the
+opening through which I looked. His arm was encircling the neck of a young girl
+who knelt beside him, with her hair hanging dishevelled upon her shoulders, and
+her features working with the most violent agitation; soon after they both fell
+forward on the straw, as if unable to endure in any other attitude the burning
+eloquence of a tall grim figure in black, who, standing erect in the centre,
+was uttering with incredible vehemence an oration that seemed to hover between
+praying and preaching; his arms hung stiff and immoveable by his side, and he
+looked like an ill-constructed machine, set in action by a movement so violent,
+as to threaten its own destruction, so jerkingly, painfully, yet rapidly, did
+his words tumble out; the kneeling circle ceasing not to call in every variety
+of tone on the name of Jesus; accompanied with sobs, groans, and a sort of low
+howling inexpressibly painful to listen to. But my attention was speedily
+withdrawn from the preacher, and the circle round him, by a figure which knelt
+alone at some distance; it was a living image of Scott&rsquo;s Macbriar, as
+young, as wild, and as terrible. His thin arms tossed above his head, had
+forced themselves so far out of the sleeves, that they were bare to the elbow;
+his large eyes glared frightfully, and he continued to scream without an
+instant&rsquo;s intermission the word &ldquo;Glory!&rdquo; with a violence that
+seemed to swell every vein to bursting. It was too dreadful to look upon long,
+and we turned away shuddering.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We made the circuit of the tents, pausing where attention was particularly
+excited by sounds more vehement than ordinary. We contrived to look into many;
+all were strewed with straw, and the distorted figures that we saw kneeling,
+sitting, and lying amongst it, joined to the woeful and convulsive cries, gave
+to each, the air of a cell in Bedlam.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One tent was occupied exclusively by Negroes. They were all full-dressed, and
+looked exactly as if they were performing a scene on the stage. One woman wore
+a dress of pink gauze trimmed with silver lace; another was dressed in pale
+yellow silk; one or two had splendid turbans; and all wore a profusion of
+ornaments. The men were in snow white pantaloons, with gay coloured linen
+jackets. One of these, a youth of coal-black comeliness, was preaching with the
+most violent gesticulations, frequently springing high from the ground, and
+clapping his hands over his head. Could our missionary societies have heard the
+trash he uttered, by way of an address to the Deity, they might perhaps have
+doubted whether his conversion had much enlightened his mind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At midnight a horn sounded through the camp, which, we were told, was to call
+the people from private to public worship; and we presently saw them flocking
+from all sides to the front of the preachers&rsquo; stand. Mrs. B. and I
+contrived to place ourselves with our backs supported against the lower part of
+this structure, and we were thus enabled to witness the scene which followed
+without personal danger. There were about two thousand persons assembled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One of the preachers began in a low nasal tone, and, like all other Methodist
+preachers, assured us of the enormous depravity of man as he comes from the
+hands of his Maker, and of his perfect sanctification after he had wrestled
+sufficiently with the Lord to get hold of him, <i>et cetera</i>. The admiration
+of the crowd was evinced by almost constant cries of &ldquo;Amen! Amen!&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Jesus! Jesus!&rdquo; &ldquo;Glory! Glory!&rdquo; and the like. But this
+comparative tranquility did not last long: the preacher told them that
+&ldquo;this night was the time fixed upon for anxious sinners to wrestle with
+the Lord;&rdquo; that he and his brethren &ldquo;were at hand to help
+them,&rdquo; and that such as needed their help were to come forward into
+&ldquo;the pen.&rdquo; The phrase forcibly recalled Milton&rsquo;s lines&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Blind mouths! that scarce themselves know how to hold<br/>
+A sheep-hook, or have learned aught else, the least<br/>
+That to the faithful herdsman&rsquo;s art belongs!<br/>
+&mdash;But when they list their lean and flashy songs,<br/>
+Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw;&mdash;<br/>
+    The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed!<br/>
+But swoln with wind, and the rank mist they draw,<br/>
+    Rot inwardly&mdash;and foul contagion spread.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+&ldquo;The pen&rdquo; was the space immediately below the preachers&rsquo;
+stand; we were therefore placed on the edge of it, and were enabled to see and
+hear all that took place in the very centre of this extraordinary exhibition.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The crowd fell back at the mention of the <i>pen</i>, and for some minutes
+there was a vacant space before us. The preachers came down from their stand
+and placed themselves in the midst of it, beginning to sing a hymn, calling
+upon the penitents to come forth. As they sung they kept turning themselves
+round to every part of the crowd and, by degrees, the voices of the whole
+multitude joined in chorus. This was the only moment at which I perceived any
+thing like the solemn and beautiful effect, which I had heard ascribed to this
+woodland worship. It is certain that the combined voices of such a multitude,
+heard at dead of night, from the depths of their eternal forests, the many fair
+young faces turned upward, and looking paler and lovelier as they met the
+moon-beams, the dark figures of the officials in the middle of the circle, the
+lurid glare thrown by the altar-fires on the woods beyond, did altogether
+produce a fine and solemn effect, that I shall not easily forget; but ere I had
+well enjoyed it, the scene changed, and sublimity gave place to horror and
+disgust.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The exhortation nearly resembled that which I had heard at &ldquo;the
+Revival,&rdquo; but the result was very different; for, instead of the few
+hysterical women who had distinguished themselves on that occasion, above a
+hundred persons,, nearly all females, came forward, uttering howlings and
+groans, so terrible that I shall never cease to shudder when I recall them.
+They appeared to drag each other forward, and on the word being given,
+&ldquo;let us pray,&rdquo; they all fell on their knees; but this posture was
+soon changed for others that permitted greater scope for the convulsive
+movements of their limbs; and they were soon all lying on the ground in an
+indescribable confusion of heads and legs. They threw about their limbs with
+such incessant and violent motions, that I was every instant expecting some
+serious accident to occur.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But how am I to describe the sounds that proceeded from this strange mass of
+human beings? I know no words which can convey an idea of it. Hysterical
+sobbings, convulsive groans, shrieks and screams the most appalling, burst
+forth on all sides. I felt sick with horror. As if their hoarse and over
+strained voices failed to make noise enough, they soon began to clap their
+hands violently. The scene described by Dante was before me:-
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Quivi sospiri, pianti, ed alti guai<br/>
+Risonavan per l&rsquo;aere&mdash;<br/>
+&mdash;Orribili favelle<br/>
+Parole di dolore, accenti d&rsquo;ira<br/>
+Voci alti e fioche, <i>e suon di man con elle</i>.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Many of these wretched creatures were beautiful young females. The preachers
+moved about among them, at once exciting and soothing their agonies. I heard
+the muttered &ldquo;Sister! dear sister!&rdquo; I saw the insidious lips
+approach the cheeks of the unhappy girls; I heard the murmured confessions of
+the poor victims, and I watched their tormentors, breathing into their ears
+consolations that tinged the pale cheek with red. Had I been a man, I am sure I
+should have been guilty of some rash act of interference; nor do I believe that
+such a scene could have been acted in the presence of Englishmen without
+instant punishment being inflicted; not to mention the salutary discipline of
+the treadmill, which, beyond all question, would, in England, have been applied
+to check so turbulent and so vicious a scene.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After the first wild burst that followed their prostration, the meanings, in
+many instances, became loudly articulate; and I then experienced a strange
+vibration between tragic and comic feeling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A very pretty girl, who was kneeling in the attitude of Canova&rsquo;s
+Magdalene immediately before us, amongst an immense quantity of jargon, broke
+out thus: &ldquo;Woe! woe to the backsliders! hear it, hear it Jesus! when I
+was fifteen my mother died, and I backslided, oh Jesus, I backslided! take me
+home to my mother, Jesus! take me home to her, for I am weary! Oh John Mitchel!
+John Mitchel!&rdquo; and after sobbing piteously behind her raised hands, she
+lifted her sweet face again, which was as pale as death, and said, &ldquo;Shall
+I sit on the sunny bank of salvation with my mother? my own dear mother? oh
+Jesus, take me home, take me home!&rdquo; Who could refuse a tear to this
+earnest wish for death in one so young and so lovely? But I saw her, ere I left
+the ground, with her hand fast locked, and her head supported by a man who
+looked very much as Don Juan might, when sent back to earth as too bad for the
+regions below.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One woman near us continued to &ldquo;call on the Lord,&rdquo; as it is termed,
+in the loudest possible tone, and without a moment&rsquo;s interval, for the
+two hours that we kept our dreadful station. She became frightfully hoarse, and
+her face so red as to make me expect she would burst a blood-vessel. Among the
+rest of her rant, she said, &ldquo;I will hold fast to Jesus, I never will let
+him go; if they take me to hell, I will still hold him fast, fast, fast!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The stunning noise was sometimes varied by the preachers beginning to sing; but
+the convulsive movements of the poor maniacs only became more violent. At
+length the atrocious wickedness of this horrible scene increased to a degree of
+grossness, that drove us from our station; we returned to the carriage at about
+three o&rsquo;clock in the morning, and passed the remainder of the night in
+listening to the ever increasing tumult at the pen. To sleep was impossible. At
+daybreak the horn again sounded, to send them to private devotion; and in about
+an hour afterwards I saw the whole camp as joyously and eagerly employed in
+preparing and devouring their most substantial breakfasts as if the night had
+been passed in dancing; and I marked many a fair but pale face, that I
+recognised as a demoniac of the night, simpering beside a swain, to whom she
+carefully administered hot coffee and eggs. The preaching saint and the howling
+sinner seemed alike to relish this mode of recruiting their strength.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After enjoying abundance of strong tea, which proved a delightful restorative
+after a night so strangely spent, I wandered alone into the forest, and I never
+remember to have found perfect quiet more delightful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We soon after left the ground; but before our departure we learnt that a very
+<i>satisfactory</i> collection had been made by the preachers, for Bibles,
+Tracts, and <i>all other religious purposes</i>.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap16"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Danger of rural excursions&mdash;Sickness
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is by no means easy to enjoy the beauties of American scenery in the west,
+even when you are in a neighbourhood that affords much to admire; at least, in
+doing so, you run considerable risk of injuring your health. Nothing is
+considered more dangerous than exposure to midday heat, except exposure to
+evening damp; and the twilight is so short, that if you set out on an
+expedition when the fervid heat subsides, you can hardly get half a mile before
+&ldquo;sun down,&rdquo; as they call it, warns you that you must run or drive
+home again, as fast as possible, for fear you should get &ldquo;a chill.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I believe we braved all this more than any one else in the whole country, and
+if we had not, we should have left Cincinnati without seeing any thing of the
+country around it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Though we kept steadily to our resolution of passing no more sylvan hours in
+the forests of Ohio, we often spent entire days in Kentucky, tracing the course
+of a &ldquo;creek,&rdquo; or climbing the highest points within our reach, in
+the hope of catching a glimpse of some distant object. A beautiful reach of the
+Ohio, or the dark windings of the pretty Licking, were indeed always the most
+remarkable features in the landscape.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was one spot, however, so beautiful that we visited it again and again;
+it was by no means free from mosquitoes; and being on the bank of a stream,
+with many enormous trees lying on the half-cleared ground around, it was just
+such a place as we had been told a hundred times was particularly
+&ldquo;dangerous;&rdquo; nevertheless, we dared every thing for the sake of
+dining beside our beautiful rippling stream, and watching the bright sunbeams
+dancing on the grassy bank, at such a distance from our retreat that they could
+not heat us. A little below the basin that cooled our wine was a cascade of
+sufficient dimensions to give us all the music of a waterfall, and all the
+sparkling brightness of clear water when it is broken again and again by
+jutting crags.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To sit beside this miniature cascade, and read, or dream away a day, was one of
+our greatest pleasures.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was indeed a mortifying fact, that whenever we found out a picturesque nook,
+where turf, and moss, and deep shade, and a crystal stream, and fallen trees,
+majestic in their ruin, tempted us to sit down, and be very cool and very
+happy, we invariably found that that spot lay under the imputation of malaria.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A row upon the Ohio was another of our favourite amusements; but in this, I
+believe, we were also very singular, for often, when enjoying it, we were
+shouted at, by the young free-borns on the banks, as if we had been so many
+monsters.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The only rural amusement in which we ever saw any of the natives engaged was
+eating strawberries and cream in a pretty garden about three miles from the
+town; here we actually met three or four carriages; a degree of dissipation
+that I never witnessed on any other occasion. The strawberries were tolerable
+strawberries, but the cream was the vilest sky-blue, and the charge half a
+dollar to each person; which being about the price of half a fat sheep, I
+thought &ldquo;pretty considerable much,&rdquo; if I may be permitted to use an
+expressive phrase of the country.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had repeatedly been told, by those who knew the land, that the <i>second
+summer</i> was the great trial to the health of Europeans settled in America;
+but we had now reached the middle of our second August, and with the exception
+of the fever one of my sons had suffered from, the summer after our arrival, we
+had all enjoyed perfect health; but I was now doomed to feel the truth of the
+above prediction, for before the end of August I fell low before the monster
+that is for ever stalking through that land of lakes and rivers, breathing
+fever and death around. It was nine weeks before I left my room, and when I
+did, I looked more fit to walk into the Potter&rsquo;s Field, (as they call the
+English burying ground) than any where else.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Long after my general health was pretty well restored, I suffered from the
+effect of the fever in my limbs, and lay in bed reading several weeks after I
+had been pronounced convalescent. Several American novels were brought me. Mr.
+Flint&rsquo;s Francis Berrian is excellent; a little wild and romantic, but
+containing scenes of first-rate interest and pathos. Hope Leslie, and Redwood,
+by Miss Sedgewick, an American lady, have both great merit; and I now first
+read the whole of Mr. Cooper&rsquo;s novels. By the time these American studies
+were completed, I never closed my eyes without seeing myriads of bloody scalps
+floating round me; long slender figures of Red Indians crept through my dreams
+with noiseless tread; panthers flared; forests blazed; and which ever way I
+fled, a light foot, a keen eye, and a long rifle were sure to be on my trail.
+An additional ounce of calomel hardly sufficed to neutralize the effect of
+these raw-head and bloody-bones adventures. I was advised to plunge immediately
+into a course of fashionable novels. It was a great relief to me; but as my
+head was by no means very clear, I sometimes jumbled strangely together the
+civilized rogues and assassins of Mr. Bulwer, and the wild men, women, and
+children slayers of Mr. Cooper; and, truly, between them, I passed my dreams in
+very bad company.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Still I could not stand, nor even sit upright. What was I to read next? A happy
+thought struck me. I determined upon beginning with Waverley, and reading
+through (not for the first time certainly) the whole series. And what a world
+did I enter upon! The wholesome vigour of every page seemed to communicate
+itself to my nerves; I ceased to be languid and fretful, and though still a
+cripple, I certainly enjoyed myself most completely, as long as my treat
+lasted; but this was a shorter time than any one would believe, who has not
+found how such volumes melt, before the constant reading of a long idle day.
+When it was over, however, I had the pleasure of finding that I could walk half
+a dozen yards at a time, and take short airings in an open carriage; and better
+still, could sleep quietly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was no very agreeable conviction which greeted my recovery, that our
+Cincinnati speculation for my son would in no way answer our expectation; and
+very soon after, he was again seized with the bilious fever of the country,
+which terminated in that most distressing of all maladies, an ague. I never
+witnessed is effects before, and therefore made my self extremely miserable at
+what those around me considered of no consequence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I believe this frightful complaint is not immediately dangerous; but I never
+can believe that the violent and sudden prostration of strength, the dreadfully
+convulsive movements which distort the limbs, the livid hue that spreads itself
+over the complexion, can take place without shaking the seat of health and
+life. Repeatedly we thought the malady cured, and for a few days the poor
+sufferer believed himself restored to health and strength; but again and again
+it returned upon him, and he began to give himself up as the victim of ill
+health. My own health was still very infirm, and it took but little time to
+decide that we must leave Cincinnati. The only impediment to this was, the fear
+that Mr. Trollope, who was to join us in the Spring, might have set out, and
+thus arrive at Cincinnati after we had left it. However, as the time he had
+talked of leaving England was later in the season, I decided upon running the
+risk; but the winter had set in with great severity, and the river being
+frozen, the steam-boats could not run; the frost continued unbroken through the
+whole of February, and we were almost weary of waiting for its departure, which
+was to be the signal of ours.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The breaking up of the ice, on the Licking and Ohio, formed a most striking
+spectacle. At night the river presented a solid surface of ice, but in the
+morning it shewed a collection of floating icebergs, of every imaginable size
+and form, whirling against each other with frightful violence, and with a noise
+unlike any sound I remember.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This sight was a very welcome one, as it gave us hopes of immediate departure,
+but my courage failed, when I heard that one or two steam-boats, weary of
+waiting, meant to start on the morrow. The idea of running against these
+floating islands was really alarming, and I was told by many, that my fears
+were not without foundation, for that repeated accidents had happened from this
+cause; and then they talked of the little Miami river, whose mouth we were to
+pass, sending down masses of ice that might stop our progress; in short, we
+waited patiently and prudently, till the learned in such matters told us that
+we might start with safety.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap17"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Departure from Cincinnati&mdash;Society on board the Steam-boat&mdash;Arrival
+at Wheeling&mdash;Bel Esprit
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We quitted Cincinnati the beginning of March, 1830, and I believe there was not
+one of our party who did not experience a sensation of pleasure in leaving it.
+We had seen again and again all the queer varieties of it&rsquo;s little world;
+had amused ourselves with it&rsquo;s consequence, it&rsquo;s taste, and
+it&rsquo;s ton, till they had ceased to be amusing. Not a hill was left
+unclimbed, nor a forest path unexplored; and, with the exception of two or
+three individuals, who bore heads and hearts peculiar to no clime, but which
+are found scattered through the world, as if to keep us every where in good
+humour with it, we left nought to regret at Cincinnati. The only regret was,
+that we had ever entered it; for we had wasted health, time, and money there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We got on board the steam-boat which was to convey us to Wheeling at three
+o&rsquo;clock. She was a noble boat, by far the finest we had seen. The cabins
+were above, and the deck passengers, as they are called, were accommodated
+below. In front of the ladies&rsquo; cabin was an ample balcony, sheltered by
+an awning; chairs and sofas were placed there, and even at that early season,
+nearly all the female passengers passed the whole day there. The name of this
+splendid vessel was the Lady Franklin. By the way, I was often amused by the
+evident fondness which the Americans shew for titles. The wives of their
+eminent men constantly receive that of &ldquo;Lady.&rdquo; We heard of Lady
+Washington, Lady Jackson, and many other &ldquo;ladies.&rdquo; The eternal
+recurrence of their militia titles is particularly ludicrous, met with, as they
+are, among the tavern-keepers, market-gardeners, &amp;c. But I think the most
+remarkable instance which we noticed of this sort of aristocratical longing
+occurred at Cincinnati. Mr. T&mdash; in speaking of a gentleman of the
+neighbourhood, called him Mr. M&mdash;. &ldquo;General M&mdash;, sir,&rdquo;
+observed his companion. &ldquo;I beg his pardon,&rdquo; rejoined Mr. T&mdash;,
+&ldquo;but I was not aware of his being in the army.&rdquo; &ldquo;No, sir, not
+in the army,&rdquo; was the reply, &ldquo;but he was surveyor- general of the
+district.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The weather was delightful; all trace of winter had disappeared, and we again
+found ourselves moving rapidly up the stream, and enjoying all the beauty of
+the Ohio.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of the male part of the passengers we saw nothing, excepting at the short
+silent periods allotted for breakfast, dinner, and supper, at which we were
+permitted to enter their cabin, and place ourselves at their table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the Lady Franklin we had decidedly the best of it, for we had our beautiful
+balcony to sit in. In all respects, indeed, our accommodations were very
+superior to what we had found in the boat which brought us from New Orleans to
+Memphis, where we were stowed away in a miserable little chamber close aft,
+under the cabin, and given to understand by the steward, that it was our duty
+there to remain &ldquo;till such time as the bell should ring for meals.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The separation of the sexes, so often mentioned, is no where more remarkable
+than on board the steam-boats. Among the passengers on this occasion we had a
+gentleman and his wife, who really appeared to suffer from the arrangement. She
+was an invalid, and he was extremely attentive to her, as far, at least, as the
+regulations permitted. When the steward opened the door of communication
+between the cabins, to permit our approaching the table, her husband was always
+stationed close to it to hand her to her place; and when he accompanied her
+again to the door, he always lingered for a moment or two on the forbidden
+threshold, nor left his station, till the last female had passed through. Once
+or twice he ventured, when all but his wife were on the balcony, to sit down
+beside her for a moment in our cabin, but the instant either of us entered, he
+started like a guilty thing and vanished.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+While mentioning the peculiar arrangements which are thought necessary to the
+delicacy of the American ladies, or the comfort of the American gentlemen, I am
+tempted to allude to a story which I saw in the papers respecting the visits
+which it was stated Captain Basil Hall persisted in making to his wife and
+child on board a Mississippi steam-boat, after bring informed that doing so was
+contrary to law. Now I happen to know that neither himself or Mrs. Hall ever
+entered the ladies&rsquo; cabin during the whole voyage, as they occupied a
+state-room which Captain Hall had secured for his party. The veracity of
+newspaper statements is, perhaps, nowhere quite unimpeachable, but if I am not
+greatly mistaken, there are more direct falsehoods circulated by the American
+newspapers than by all the others in the world, and the one great and
+never-failing source of these voluminous works of imagination is England and
+the English. How differently would such a voyage be managed on the other side
+of the Atlantic, were such a mode of travelling possible there. Such long calm
+river excursions would be perfectly delightful, and parties would be
+perpetually formed to enjoy them. Even were all the parties strangers to each
+other, the knowledge that they were to eat, drink, and steam away together for
+a week or fortnight, would induce something like a social feeling in any other
+country.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is true that the men became sufficiently acquainted to game together, and we
+were told that the opportunity was considered as so favourable, that no boat
+left New Orleans without having as cabin passengers one or two gentlemen from
+that city whose profession it was to drill the fifty-two elements of a pack of
+cards to profitable duty. This doubtless is an additional reason for the strict
+exclusion of the ladies from their society. The constant drinking of spirits is
+another, for though they do not scruple to chew tobacco and to spit incessantly
+in the presence of women, they generally prefer drinking and gaming in their
+absence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I often used to amuse myself with fancying the different scene which such a
+vessel would display in Europe. The noble length of the gentlemen&rsquo;s cabin
+would be put into requisition for a dance, while that of the ladies, with their
+delicious balcony, would be employed for refreshments, instead of sitting down
+in two long silent melancholy rows, to swallow as much coffee and beef-steak as
+could be achieved in ten minutes. Then song and music would be heard borne
+along by the midnight breeze; but on the Ohio, when light failed to shew us the
+bluffs, and the trees, with their images inverted in the stream, we crept into
+our little cots, listening to the ceaseless churning of the engine, in hope it
+would prove a lullaby till morning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were three days in reaching Wheeling, where we arrived at last, at two
+o&rsquo;clock in the morning, an uncomfortable hour to disembark with a good
+deal of luggage, as the steam-boat was obliged to go on immediately; but we
+were instantly supplied with a dray, and in a few moments found ourselves
+comfortably seated before a good fire, at an hotel near the landing-place; our
+rooms, with fires in them, were immediately ready for us, and refreshments
+brought, with all that sedulous attention which in this country distinguishes a
+slave state. In making this observation I am very far from intending to
+advocate the system of slavery; I conceive it to be essentially wrong; but so
+far as my observation has extended, I think its influence is far less injurious
+to the manners and morals of the people than the fallacious ideas of equality,
+which are so fondly cherished by the working classes of the white population in
+America. That these ideas are fallacious, is obvious, for in point of fact the
+man possessed of dollars does command the services of the man possessed of no
+dollars; but these services are given grudgingly, and of necessity, with no
+appearance of cheerful goodwill on the one side, or of kindly interest on the
+other. I never failed to mark the difference on entering a slave state. I was
+immediately comfortable, and at my ease, and felt that the intercourse between
+me and those who served me, was profitable to both parties and painful to
+neither.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was not till I had leisure for more minute observation that I felt aware of
+the influence of slavery upon the owners of slaves; when I did, I confess I
+could not but think that the citizens of the United States had contrived, by
+their political alchymy, to extract all that was most noxious both in democracy
+and in slavery, and had poured the strange mixture through every vein of the
+moral organization of their country.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wheeling is the state of Virginia, and appears to be a flourishing town. It is
+the point at which most travellers from the West leave the Ohio, to take the
+stages which travel the mountain road to the Atlantic cities.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It has many manufactories, among others, one for blowing and cutting glass,
+which we visited. We were told by the workmen that the articles finished there
+were equal to any in the world; but my eyes refused their assent. The cutting
+was very good, though by no means equal to what we see in daily use in London;
+but the chief inferiority is in the material, which is never altogether free
+from colour. I had observed this also in the glass of the Pittsburgh
+manufactory, the labour bestowed on it always appearing greater than the glass
+deserved. They told us also, that they were rapidly improving in the art, and I
+have no doubt that this was true.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wheeling has little of beauty to distinguish it, except the ever lovely Ohio,
+to which we here bid adieu, and a fine bold hill, which rises immediately
+behind the town. This hill, as well as every other in the neighbourhood, is
+bored for coal. Their mines are all horizontal. The coal burns well, but with a
+very black and dirty cinder.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We found the coach, by which we meant to proceed to Little Washington, full,
+and learnt that we must wait two days before it would again leave the town.
+Posting was never heard of in the country, and the mail travelled all night,
+which I did not approve of; we therefore found ourselves compelled to pass two
+days at the Wheeling hotel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I know not how this weary interval would have worn away, had it not been for
+the fortunate circumstance of our meeting with a <i>bel esprit</i> among the
+boarders there. We descended to the common sitting room (for private parlours
+there are none) before breakfast the morning after our arrival; several
+ordinary individuals entered, till the party amounted to eight or nine. Again
+the door opened, and in swam a female, who had once certainly been handsome,
+and who, it was equally evident, still thought herself so. She was tall, and
+well formed, dressed in black, with many gaudy trinkets about her: a scarlet
+<i>fichu</i> relieved the sombre colour of her dress, and a very smart little
+cap at the back of her head set off an immense quantity of sable hair, which
+naturally, or artificially, adorned her forehead. A becoming quantity of rouge
+gave the finishing touch to her figure, which had a degree of pretension about
+it that immediately attracted our notice. She talked fluently, and without any
+American restraint, and I began to be greatly puzzled as to who or what she
+could be; a lady, in the English sense of the word, I was sure she was not, and
+she was a little like an American female of what they call good standing. A
+beautiful girl of seventeen entered soon after, and called her
+&ldquo;Ma,&rdquo; and both mother and daughter chattered away, about themselves
+and their concerns, in a manner that greatly increased my puzzle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After breakfast, being much in want of amusement, I seated myself by her, and
+entered into conversation. I found her nothing loth, and in about a minute and
+a half she put a card into my hand, setting forth, that she taught the art of
+painting upon velvet in all its branches.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She stated to me, with great volubility, that no one but herself and her
+daughter knew any thing of this invaluable branch of art; but that for
+twenty-five dollars they were willing to communicate all they knew.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In five minutes more she informed me that she was the author of some of the
+most cutting satires in the language; and then she presented me a paper,
+containing a prospectus, as she called it, of a novel, upon an entirely new
+construction. I was strangely tempted to ask her if it went by steam, but she
+left me no time to ask any thing, for, continuing the autobiography she had so
+obligingly begun, she said, &ldquo;I used to write against all the Adams
+faction. I will go up stairs in a moment and fetch you down my sat-heres
+against that side. But oh! my dear madam! it is really frightful to think how
+talent is neglected in this country. Ah! I know what you are going to say, my
+dear madam, you will tell me that it is not so in yours. I know it! but alas!
+the Atlantic! However, I really must tell you how I have been treated: not only
+did I publish the most biting sat-heres against the Adams faction, but I wrote
+songs and odes in honour of Jackson; and my daughter, Cordelia, sang a splendid
+song of my writing, before eight hundred people, entirely and altogether
+written in his praise; and would you believe it, my dear madam, he has never
+taken the slightest notice of me, or made me the least remuneration. But you
+can&rsquo;t suppose I mean to bear it quietly? No! I promise him that is not my
+way. The novel I have just mentioned to you was began as a sentimental romance
+(that, perhaps, after all, is my real forte), but after the provocation I
+received at Washington, I turned it into a sat-herical novel, and I now call it
+<i>Yankee Doodle Court</i>. By the way my dear madam, I think if I could make
+up my mind to cross that terrible Atlantic, I should be pretty well received,
+after writing Yankee Doodle Court!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I took the opportunity of a slight pause to ask her to what party she now
+belonged, since she had forsworn both Adams and Jackson.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Oh Clay! Clay for ever! he is a real true-hearted republican; the others
+are neither more nor less than tyrants.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When next I entered the sitting-room she again addressed me, to deplore the
+degenerate taste of the age.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Would you believe it? I have at this moment a comedy ready for
+representation; I call it &lsquo;The Mad Philosopher.&rsquo; It is really
+admirable, and its success certain, if I could get it played. I assure you the
+neglect I meet with amounts perfectly to persecution. But I have found out how
+to pay them, and to make my own fortune. Sat-here, (as she constantly
+pronounced satire) sat-here is the only weapon that can revenge neglect, and I
+flatter myself I know how to use it. Do me the favour to look at this,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She then presented me with a tiny pamphlet, whose price, she informed me, was
+twenty-five cents, which I readily paid to become the possessor of this <i>chef
+d&rsquo;oeuvre</i>. The composition was pretty nearly such as I anticipated,
+excepting that the English language was done to death by her pen still more
+than by her tongue. The epigraph, which was subscribed &ldquo;original,&rdquo;
+was as follows:
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+&ldquo;Your popularity&rsquo;s on the decline:<br/>
+You had your triumph! now I&rsquo;ll have mine.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These are rather a favourable specimen of the verses that follow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In a subsequent conversation she made me acquainted with another talent,
+informing me that she had played the part of Charlotte, in <i>Love à la
+mode</i>, when General Lafayette honoured the theatre at Cincinnati with his
+presence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She now appeared to have run out the catalogue of her accomplishments; and I
+came to the conclusion that my new acquaintance was a strolling player: but she
+seemed to guess my thoughts, for she presently added. &ldquo;It was a Thespian
+corps that played before the General.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap18"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Departure for the mountains in the Stage&mdash;Scenery of the
+Alleghany&mdash;Haggerstown
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The weather was bleak and disagreeable during the two days we were obliged to
+remain at Wheeling. I had got heartily tired of my gifted friend; we had walked
+up every side of the rugged hill, and I set off on my journey towards the
+mountains with more pleasure than is generally felt in quitting a pillow before
+daylight, for a cold corner in a rumbling stage-coach.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was the first time we had got into an American stage, though we had
+traversed above two thousand miles of the country, and we had all the
+satisfaction in it, which could be derived from the conviction that we were
+travelling in a foreign land. This vehicle had no step, and we climbed into it
+by a ladder; when that was removed I remembered, with some dismay, that the
+females at least were much in the predicament of sailors, who, &ldquo;in danger
+have no door to creep out,&rdquo; but when a misfortune is absolutely
+inevitable, we are apt to bear it remarkably well; who would utter that
+constant petition of ladies on rough roads, &ldquo;let me get out,&rdquo; when
+compliance would oblige the pleader to make a step of five feet before she
+could touch the ground?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The coach had three rows of seats, each calculated to hold three persons, and
+as we were only six, we had, in the phrase of Milton, to &ldquo;inhabit
+lax&rdquo; this exalted abode, and, accordingly, we were for some miles tossed
+about like a few potatoes in a wheelbarrow. Our knees, elbows, and heads
+required too much care for their protection to allow us leisure to look out of
+the windows; but at length the road became smoother, and we became more skilful
+in the art of balancing ourselves, so as to meet the concussion with less
+danger of dislocation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We then found that we were travelling through a very beautiful country,
+essentially different in its features from what we had been accustomed to round
+Cincinnati: it is true we had left &ldquo;<i>la belle rivière</i>&rdquo; behind
+us, but the many limpid and rapid little streams that danced through the
+landscape to join it, more than atoned for its loss.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The country already wore an air of more careful husbandry, and the very
+circumstance of a wide and costly road (though not a very smooth one), which in
+theory might be supposed to injure picturesque effect, was beautiful to us,
+who, since we had entered the muddy mouth of the Mississippi, had never seen
+any thing except a steam-boat and the <i>levee</i> professing to have so noble
+an object as public accommodation. Through the whole of the vast region we had
+passed, excepting at New Orleans itself, every trace of the art of man appeared
+to be confined to the individual effort of &ldquo;getting along,&rdquo; which,
+in western phrase, means contriving to live with as small a portion of the
+incumbrances of civilized society as possible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This road was made at the expense of the government as far as Cumberland, a
+town situated among the Alleghany mountains, and, from the nature of the
+ground, must have been a work of great cost. I regretted not having counted the
+number of bridges between Wheeling and Little Washington, a distance of
+thirty-four miles; over one stream only there are twenty-five, all passed by
+the road. They frequently occurred within a hundred yards of each other, so
+serpentine is its course; they are built of stone, and sometimes very neatly
+finished.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Little Washington is in Pennsylvania, across a corner of which the road runs.
+This is a free state, but we were still waited upon by Negroes, hired from the
+neighbouring state of Virginia. We arrived at night, and set off again at four
+in the morning; all, therefore, that we saw of Little Washington was its hotel,
+which was clean and comfortable. The first part of the next day&rsquo;s journey
+was through a country much less interesting: its character was unvaried for
+nearly thirty miles, consisting of an uninterrupted succession of
+forest-covered hills. As soon as we had wearily dragged to the top of one of
+these, we began to rumble down the other side as rapidly as our four horses
+could trot; and no sooner arrived at the bottom than we began to crawl up
+again; the trees constantly so thick and so high as to preclude the possibility
+of seeing fifty yards in any direction.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The latter part of the day, however, amply repaid us. At four o&rsquo;clock we
+began to ascend the Alleghany mountains: the first ridge on the western side is
+called Laurel Hill, and takes its name from the profuse quantity of evergreens
+with which it is covered; not any among them, however, being the shrub to which
+we give the name of laurel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The whole of this mountain region, through ninety miles of which the road
+passes, is a garden. The almost incredible variety of plants, and the lavish
+profusion of their growth, produce an effect perfectly enchanting. I really can
+hardly conceive a higher enjoyment than a botanical tour among the Alleghany
+mountains, to any one who had science enough to profit by it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The magnificent rhododendron first caught our eyes; it fringes every cliff,
+nestles beneath every rock, and blooms around every tree. The azalia, the
+shumac, and every variety of that beautiful mischief, the kalmia, are in equal
+profusion. Cedars of every size and form were above, around, and underneath us;
+firs more beautiful and more various than I had ever seen, were in equal
+abundance, but I know not whether they were really such as I had never seen in
+Europe, or only in infinitely greater splendour and perfection of growth; the
+species called the hemlock is, I think, second to the cedar only, in
+magnificence. Oak and beech, with innumerable roses and wild vines, hanging in
+beautiful confusion among their branches, were in many places scattered among
+the evergreens. The earth was carpeted with various mosses and creeping plants,
+and though still in the month of March, not a trace of the nakedness of winter
+could be seen. Such was the scenery that shewed us we were indeed among the
+far-famed Alleghany mountains.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As our noble terrace-road, the Semplon of America, rose higher and higher, all
+that is noblest in nature was joined to all that is sweetest. The blue tops of
+the higher ridges formed the outline; huge masses of rock rose above us on the
+left, half hid at intervals by the bright green shrubs, while to the right we
+looked down upon the tops of the pines and cedars which clothed the bottom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had no idea of the endless variety of mountain scenery. My notions had been
+of rocks and precipices, of torrents and of forest trees, but I little expected
+that the first spot which should recall the garden scenery of our beautiful
+England would be found among the moutains: yet so it was. From the time I
+entered America I had never seen the slightest approach to what we call
+pleasure-grounds; a few very worthless and scentless flowers were all the
+specimens of gardening I had seen in Ohio; no attempt at garden scenery was
+ever dreamed of, and it was with the sort of delight with which one meets an
+old friend, that we looked on the lovely mixture of trees, shrubs, and flowers,
+that now continually met our eyes. Often, on descending into the narrow
+vallies, we found a little spot of cultivation, a garden or a field, hedged
+round with shumacs, rhododendrons, and azalias, and a cottage covered with
+roses. These vallies are spots of great beauty; a clear stream is always found
+running through them, which is generally converted to the use of the miller, at
+some point not far from the road; and here, as on the heights, great beauty of
+colouring is given to the landscape, by the bright hue of the vegetation, and
+the sober grey of the rocks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The first night we passed among the mountains recalled us painfully from the
+enjoyment of nature to all the petty miseries of personal discomfort. Arrived
+at our inn, a forlorn parlour, filled with the blended fumes of tobacco and
+whiskey, received us; and chilled, as we began to feel ourselves with the
+mountain air, we preferred going to our cold bedrooms rather than sup in such
+an atmosphere. We found linen on the beds which they assured us had only been
+used <i>a few nights</i>; every kind of refreshment we asked for we were
+answered, &ldquo;We do not happen to have that article.&rdquo; We were still in
+Pennsylvania, and no longer waited upon by slaves; it was, therefore, with
+great difficulty that we procured a fire in our bedrooms from the surly-looking
+<i>young lady</i> who condescended to officiate as chambermaid, and with much
+more, that we extorted clean linen for our beds; that done, we patiently crept
+into them supperless, while she made her exit muttering about the difficulty of
+&ldquo;fixing English folks.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The next morning cheered our spirits again; we now enjoyed a new kind of alpine
+witchery; the clouds were floating around, and below us, and the distant peaks
+were indistinctly visible as through a white gauze veil, which was gradually
+lifted up, till the sun arose, and again let in upon us the full glory of these
+interminable heights.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were told before we began the ascent, that we should find snow four inches
+deep on the road; but as yet we had seen none, and indeed it was with
+difficulty we persuaded ourselves that we were not travelling in the midst of
+summer. As we proceeded, however, we found the northern declivities still
+covered with it, and at length, towards the summit, the road itself had the
+promised four inches. The extreme mildness of the air, and the brilliant hue of
+the evergreens, contrasted strangely with this appearance of winter; it was
+difficult to understand how the snow could help melting in such an atmosphere.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again and again we enjoyed all the exhilarating sensations that such scenes
+must necessarily inspire, but in attempting a continued description of our
+progress over these beautiful mountains, I could only tell again of rocks,
+cedars, laurels, and running streams, of blue heights, and green vallies, yet
+the continually varying combinations of these objects afforded us unceasing
+pleasure. From one point, pre-eminently above any neighbouring ridge, we looked
+back upon the enormous valley of the West. It is a stupendous view; but having
+gazed upon it for some moments, we turned to pursue our course, and the
+certainty that we should see it no more, raised no sigh of regret.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We dined, on the second day, at a beautiful spot, which we were told was the
+highest point on the road, being 2,846 feet above the level of the sea. We were
+regaled luxuriously on wild turkey and mountain venison; which latter is
+infinitely superior to any furnished by the forests of the Mississippi, or the
+Ohio. The vegetables also were extremely fine, and we were told by a pretty
+girl, who superintended the slaves that waited on us, (for we were again in
+Virginia), that the vegetables of the Alleghany were reckoned the finest in
+America. She told us also, that wild strawberries were profusely abundant, and
+very fine; that their cows found for themselves, during the summer, plenty of
+flowery food, which produced a copious supply of milk; that their spring gave
+them the purest water, of icy coldness in the warmest seasons; and that the
+climate was the most delicious in the world, for though the thermometer
+sometimes stood at ninety, their cool breeze never failed them. What a spot to
+turn hermit in for a summer! My eloquent mountaineer gave me some specimens of
+ground plants, far unlike any thing I had ever seen. One particularly, which
+she called the ground pine, is peculiar as she told me, to the Alleghany, and
+in some places runs over whole acres of ground; it is extremely beautiful. The
+rooms were very prettily decorated with this elegant plant, hung round it in
+festoons.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In many places the clearing has been considerable; the road passes through
+several fine farms, situated in the sheltered hollows; we were told that the
+wolves continue to annoy them severely, but that panthers, the terror of the
+West, are never seen, and bears very rarely. Of snakes, they confessed they had
+abundance, but very few that were considered dangerous.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the afternoon we came in sight of the Monongehala river; and its banks gave
+us for several miles a beautiful succession of wild and domestic scenery. In
+some points, the black rock rises perpendicularly from its margin, like those
+at Chepstow; at others, a mill, with its owner&rsquo;s cottage, its corn-plat,
+and its poultry, present a delightful image of industry and comfort.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Brownsville is a busy looking little town built upon the banks of this river;
+it would be pretty, were it not stained by the hue of coal. I do not remember
+in England to have seen any spot, however near a coal mine, so dyed in black as
+Wheeling and Brownsville. At this place we crossed the Monongehala, in a flat
+ferry-boat, which very commodiously received our huge coach and four horses.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On leaving the black little town, we were again cheered by abundance of
+evergreens, reflected in the stream, with fantastic piles of rock, half visible
+through the pines and cedars above, giving often the idea of a vast gothic
+castle. It was a folly, I confess, but I often lamented they were not such; the
+travelling for thousands of miles, without meeting any nobler trace of the ages
+that are passed, than a mass of rotten leaves, or a fragment of fallen rock,
+produces a heavy, earthly matter-of-fact effect upon the imagination, which can
+hardly be described, and for which the greatest beauty of scenery can furnish
+only an occasional and transitory remedy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our second night in the mountains was past at a solitary house of rather
+forlorn appearance; but we fared much better than the night before, for they
+gave us clean sheets, a good fire, and no scolding. We again started at four
+o&rsquo;clock in the morning, and eagerly watched for the first gleam of light
+that should show the same lovely spectacle we had seen the day before; nor were
+we disappointed, though the show was somewhat different. The vapours caught the
+morning ray, as it first darted over the mountain top, and passing it to the
+scene below, we seemed enveloped in a rainbow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had now but one ridge left to pass over, and as we reached the top, and
+looked down on the new world before us, I hardly knew whether most to rejoice
+that
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;All the toil of the long-pass&rsquo;d way&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+was over, or to regret that our mountain journey was drawing to a close.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The novelty of my enjoyment had doubtless added much to its keenness. I have
+never been familiar with mountain scenery. Wales has shewn me all I ever saw,
+and the region of the Alleghany Alps in no way resembles it. It is a world of
+mountains rising around you in every direction, and in every form; savage,
+vast, and wild; yet almost at every step, some lovely spot meets your eye,
+green, bright and blooming, as the most cherished nook belonging to some noble
+Flora in our own beautiful land. It is a ride of ninety miles through kalmies,
+rhododendrons, azalias, vines and roses; sheltered from every blast that blows
+by vast masses of various coloured rocks, on which
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Tall pines and cedars wave their dark green crests.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+while in every direction you have a background of blue mountain tops, that play
+at bo-peep with you in the clouds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After descending the last ridge we reached Haggerstown, a small neat place,
+between a town and a village; and here by the piety of the Presbyterian
+coach-masters, we were doomed to pass an entire day, and two nights, &ldquo;as
+the accommodation line must not run on the sabbath.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I must, however, mention, that this day of enforced rest was <i>not</i> Sunday.
+Saturday evening we had taken in at Cumberland a portly passenger, whom we soon
+discovered to be one of the proprietors of the coach. He asked us, with great
+politeness, if we should wish to travel on the sabbath, or to delay our
+journey. We answered that we would rather proceed; &ldquo;The coach, then,
+shall go on tomorrow,&rdquo; replied the liberal coach-master, with the
+greatest courtesy; and accordingly we travelled all Sunday, and arrived at
+Haggerstown on Sunday night. At the door of the inn our civil proprietor left
+us; but when we enquired of the waiter at what hour we were to start on the
+morrow, he told us that we should be obliged to pass the whole of Monday there,
+as the coach which was to convey us forward would not arrive from the east,
+till Tuesday morning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus we discovered that the waiving the sabbath-keeping by the proprietor, was
+for his own convenience, and not for ours, and that we were to be tied by the
+leg for four-and-twenty hours notwithstanding. This was quite a Yankee trick.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Luckily for us, the inn at Haggerstown was one of the most comfortable I ever
+entered. It was there that we became fully aware that we had left Western
+America behind us. Instead of being scolded, as we literally were at
+Cincinnati, for asking for a private sitting-room, we here had two, without
+asking at all. A waiter, quite <i>comme il faut</i>, summoned us to breakfast,
+dinner, and tea, which we found prepared with abundance, and even elegance. The
+master of the house met us at the door of the eating-room, and, after asking if
+we wished for any thing not on the table, retired. The charges were in no
+respect higher than at Cincinnati.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A considerable creek, called Conococheque Creek, runs near the town, and the
+valley through which it passes is said to be the most fertile in America.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On leaving Haggerstown we found, to our mortification, that we were not to be
+the sole occupants of the bulky accommodation, two ladies and two gentlemen
+appearing at the door ready to share it with us. We again started, at four
+o&rsquo;clock, by the light of a bright moon, and rumbled and nodded through
+the roads considerably worse than those over the mountains.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As the light began to dawn we discovered our ladies to be an old woman and her
+pretty daughter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Soon after daylight we found that our pace became much slower than usual, and
+that from time to time our driver addressed to his companion on the box many
+and vehement exclamations. The gentlemen put their heads out, to ask what was
+the matter, but could get no intelligence, till the mail overtook us, when both
+vehicles stopped, and an animated colloquy of imprecations took place between
+the coachmen. At length we learnt that one of our wheels was broken in such a
+manner as to render it impossible for us to proceed. Upon this the old lady
+immediately became a principal actor in the scene. She sprung to the window,
+and addressing the set of gentlemen who completely filled the mail, exclaimed
+&ldquo;Gentlemen! can&rsquo;t you make room for two? only me and my
+daughter?&rdquo; The naive simplicity of this request set both the coaches into
+an uproar of laughter. It was impossible to doubt that she acted upon the same
+principle as the pious Catholic, who addressing heaven with a prayer for
+himself alone, added &ldquo;<i>pour ne pas fatiguer ta miséricorde.</i>&rdquo;
+Our laugh, however, never daunted the old woman, or caused her for a moment to
+cease the reiteration of her request, &ldquo;only for two of us, gentlemen!
+can&rsquo;t you find room for two?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our situation was really very embarrassing, but not to laugh was impossible.
+After it was ascertained that our own vehicle could not convey us, and that the
+mail had not even room for two, we decided upon walking to the next village, a
+distance, fortunately, of only two miles, and awaiting there the repair of the
+wheel. We immediately set off, at the brisk pace that six o&rsquo;clock and a
+frosty morning in March were likely to inspire, leaving our old lady and her
+pretty daughter considerably in the rear; our hearts having been rather
+hardened by the exclusive nature of her prayer for aid.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When we had again started upon our new wheel, the driver, to recover the time
+he had lost, drove rapidly over a very rough road, in consequence of which, our
+self-seeking old lady fell into a perfect agony of terror, and her cries of
+&ldquo;we shall be over! oh, Lord! we shall be over! we must over! we shall be
+over!&rdquo; lasted to the end of the stage which with laughing, walking, and
+shaking, was a most fatiguing one.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap19"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Baltimore&mdash;Catholic Cathedral&mdash;St. Mary&rsquo;s&mdash;College
+Sermons&mdash;Infant School
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we advanced towards Baltimore the look of cultivation increased, the fences
+wore an air of greater neatness, the houses began to look like the abodes of
+competence and comfort, and we were consoled for the loss of the beautiful
+mountains by knowing that we were approaching the Atlantic.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From the time of quitting the Ohio river, though, unquestionably, it merits its
+title of &ldquo;the beautiful,&rdquo; especially when compared with the dreary
+Mississippi, I strongly felt the truth of an observation I remembered to have
+heard in England, that little rivers were more beautiful than great ones. As
+features in a landscape, this is assuredly the case. Where the stream is so
+wide that the objects on the opposite shore are indistinct, all the beauty must
+be derived from the water itself; whereas, when the stream is narrow, it
+becomes only a part of the composition. The Monongahela, which is in size
+between the Wye and the Thames, is infinitely more picturesque than the Ohio.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To enjoy the beauty of the vast rivers of this vast country you must be upon
+the water; and then the power of changing the scenery by now approaching one
+shore, and now the other, is very pleasing; but travelling as we now did, by
+land, the wild, rocky, narrow, rapid little rivers we encountered, were a
+thousand times more beautiful. The Potapsco, near which the road runs, as you
+approach Baltimore, is at many points very picturesque. The large blocks of
+grey rock, now close upon its edge, and now retiring to give room for a few
+acres of bright green herbage, give great interest and variety to its course.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Baltimore is, I think, one of the handsomest cities to approach in the Union.
+The noble column erected to the memory of Washington, and the Catholic
+Cathedral, with its beautiful dome, being built on a commanding eminence, are
+seen at a great distance. As you draw nearer, many other domes and towers
+become visible, and as you enter Baltimore-street, you feel that you are
+arrived in a handsome and populous city.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We took up our quarters at an excellent hotel, where the coach stopped, and the
+next day were fortunate enough to find accommodation in the house of a lady,
+well known to many of my European friends. With her and her amiable daughter,
+we spent a fortnight very agreeably, and felt quite aware that if we had not
+arrived in London or Paris, we had, at least, left far behind the
+&ldquo;half-horse, half-alligator&rdquo; tribes of the West, as the Kentuckians
+call themselves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Baltimore is in many respects a beautiful city; it has several handsome
+buildings, and even the private dwelling-houses have a look of magnificence,
+from the abundance of white marble with which many of them are adorned. The
+ample flights of steps, and the lofty door frames, are in most of the best
+houses formed of this beautiful material.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This has been called the city of monuments, from its having the stately column
+erected to the memory of General Washington, and which bears a colossal statue
+of him at the top; and another pillar of less dimensions, recording some
+victory; I forget which. Both these are of brilliant white marble. There are
+also several pretty marble fountains in different parts of the city, which
+greatly add to its beauty. These are not, it is true, quite so splendid as that
+of the Innocents, or many others at Paris, but they are fountains of clear
+water, and they are built of white marble. There is one which is sheltered from
+the sun by a roof supported by light columns; it looks like a temple dedicated
+to the genius of the spring. The water flows into a marble cistern, to which
+you descend by a flight of steps of delicate whiteness, and return by another.
+These steps are never without groups of negro girls, some carrying the water on
+their heads, with that graceful steadiness of step, which requires no aid from
+the hand; some tripping gaily with their yet unfilled pitchers; many of them
+singing in the soft rich voice, peculiar to their race; and all dressed with
+that strict attention to taste and smartness, which seems the distinguishing
+characteristic of the Baltimore females of all ranks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Catholic Cathedral is considered by all Americans as a magnificent church,
+but it can hardly be so classed by any one who has seen the churches of Europe;
+its interior, however, has an air of neatness that amounts to elegance. The
+form is a Greek cross, having a dome in the centre; but the proportions are
+ill- preserved; the dome is too low, and the arches which support it are
+flattened, and too wide for their height. On each side of the high altar are
+chapels to the Saviour and the Virgin. The altars in these, as well as the high
+altar, are of native marble of different colours, and some of the specimens are
+very beautiful. The decorations of the altar are elegant and costly. The
+prelate is a cardinal, and bears, moreover, the title of &ldquo;Archbishop of
+Baltimore.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There are several paintings in different parts of the church, which we heard
+were considered as very fine. There are two presented by Louis XVIII; one of
+these is the Descent from the Cross, by Paulin Guirin; the other a copy from
+Rubens, (as they told us) of a legend of St. Louis in the Holy Land; but the
+composition of the picture is so abominably bad, that I conceive the legend of
+its being after Rubens, must be as fabulous as its subject. The admiration in
+which these pictures are held, is an incontestable indication of the state of
+art in the country.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We attended mass in this church the Sunday after our arrival, and I was
+perfectly astonished at the beauty and splendid appearance of the ladies who
+filled it. Excepting on a very brilliant Sunday at the Tuilleries, I never saw
+so shewy a display of morning costume, and I think I never saw any where so
+many beautiful women at one glance. They all appeared to be in full dress, and
+were really all beautiful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sermon (I am very attentive to sermons) was a most extraordinary one. The
+priest began by telling us, that he was about to preach upon a vice that he
+would not &ldquo;mention or name&rdquo; from the beginning of his sermon to the
+end.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having thus excited the curiosity of his hearers, by proposing a riddle to
+them, he began.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Adam, he said, was most assuredly the first who had committed this sin, and
+Cain the next; then, following the advice given by the listener, in the
+Plaideurs, &ldquo;Passons au deluge, je vous prie;&rdquo; he went on to mention
+the particular propriety of Noah&rsquo;s family on this point; and then
+continued, &ldquo;Now observe, what did God shew the greatest dislike to? What
+was it that Jesus was never even accused of? What was it Joseph hated the most?
+Who was the disciple that Jesus chose for his friend?&rdquo; and thus he went
+on for nearly an hour, in a strain that was often perfectly unintelligible to
+me, but which, as far as I could comprehend it, appeared to be a sort of expose
+and commentary upon private anecdotes which he had found, or fancied he had
+found in the Bible. I never saw the attention of a congregation more strongly
+excited, and I really wished, in Christian charity, that something better had
+rewarded it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There are a vast number of churches and chapels in the city, in proportion to
+its extent, and several that are large and well- built; the Unitarian church is
+the handsomest I have ever seen dedicated to that mode of worship. But the
+prettiest among them is a little <i>bijou</i> of a thing belonging to the
+Catholic college. The institution is dedicated to St. Mary, but this little
+chapel looks, though in the midst of a city, as if it should have been sacred
+to St. John of the wilderness. There is a sequestered little garden behind it,
+hardly large enough to plant cabbages in, which yet contains a Mount Calvary,
+bearing a lofty cross. The tiny path which leads up to this sacred spot, is not
+much wider than a sheep-track, and its cedars are but shrubs, but all is in
+proportion; and notwithstanding its fairy dimensions, there is something of
+holiness, and quiet beauty about it, that excites the imagination strangely.
+The little chapel itself has the same touching and impressive character. A
+solitary lamp, whose glare is tempered by delicately painted glass, hangs
+before the altar. The light of day enters dimly, yet richly, through crimson
+curtains, and the silence with which the well-lined doors opened from time to
+time, admitting a youth of the establishment, who, with noiseless tread,
+approached the altar, and kneeling, offered a whispered prayer, and retired,
+had something in it more calculated, perhaps, to generate holy thoughts, than
+even the swelling anthem heard beneath the resounding dome of St.
+Peter&rsquo;s.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Baltimore has a handsome museum, superintended by one of the Peale family, well
+known for their devotion to natural science, and to works of art. It is not
+their fault if the specimens which they are enabled to display in the latter
+department are very inferior to their splendid exhibitions in the former.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The theatre was closed when we were in Baltimore, but we were told that it was
+very far from being a popular or fashionable amusement. We were, indeed, told
+this every where throughout the country, and the information was generally
+accompanied by the observation, that the opposition of the clergy was the cause
+of it. But I suspect that this is not the principal cause, especially among the
+men, who, if they were so implicit in their obedience to the clergy, would
+certainly be more constant in their attendance at the churches; nor would they,
+moreover, deem the theatre more righteous because an English actor, or a French
+dancer, performed there; yet on such occasions the theatres overflow. The
+cause, I think, is in the character of the people. I never saw a population so
+totally divested of gaiety; there is no trace of this feeling from one end of
+the Union to the other. They have no fêtes, no fairs, no merry makings, no
+music in the streets, no Punch, no puppet-shows. If they see a comedy or a
+farce, they may laugh at it; but they can do very well without it; and the
+consciousness of the number of cents that must be paid to enter a theatre, I am
+very sure turns more steps from its door than any religious feeling. A
+distinguished publisher of Philadelphia told me that no comic publication had
+ever yet been found to answer in America.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We arrived at Baltimore at the season of the &ldquo;Conference.&rdquo; I must
+be excused from giving any very distinct explanation of this term, as I did not
+receive any. From what I could learn, it much resembles a Revival. We entered
+many churches, and heard much preaching, and not one of the reverend orators
+could utter the reproach,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Peut-on si bien precher qu&rsquo;elle ne dorme au sermon?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+for I never even dosed at any. There was one preacher whose manner and matter
+were so peculiar, that I took the liberty of immediately writing down a part of
+his discourse as a specimen. I confess I began writing in the middle of a
+sentence, for I waited in vain for a beginning. It was as follows:-
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Nevertheless, we must not lose sight of the one important, great, and
+only object; for the Lord is mighty, his works are great, likewise wonderful,
+likewise wise, likewise merciful; and, moreover, we must ever keep in mind, and
+close to our hearts, all his precious blessings, and unspeakable mercies, and
+overflowings; and moreover we must never lose sight of, no, never lose sight
+of, nor ever cease to remember, nor ever let our souls forget, nor ever cease
+to dwell upon, and to reverence, and to welcome, and to bless, and to give
+thanks, and to sing hosanna, and give praise,&rdquo;&mdash;and here my fragment
+of paper failed, but this strain continued, without a shadow of meaning that I
+could trace, and in a voice inconceivably loud, for more than an hour. After he
+had finished his sermon, a scene exactly resembling that at the Cincinnati
+Revival, took place. Two other priests assisted in calling forward the people,
+and in whispering comfort to them. One of these men roared out in the coarsest
+accents, &ldquo;Do you want to go to hell tonight?&rdquo; The church was almost
+entirely filled with women, who vied with each other in howlings and
+contortions of the body; many of them tore their clothes nearly off. I was much
+amused, spite of the indignation and disgust the scene inspired, by the
+vehemence of the negro part of the congregation; they seemed determined to
+bellow louder than all the rest, to shew at once their piety and their
+equality.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this same chapel, a few nights before, a woman had fallen in a fit of
+ecstasy from the gallery, into the arms of the people below, a height of twelve
+feet. A young slave who waited upon us at table, when this was mentioned, said,
+that similar accidents had frequently happened, and that once she had seen it
+herself. Another slave in the house told us, that she &ldquo;liked religion
+right well, but that she never took fits in it, &rsquo;cause she was always
+fixed in her best, when she went to chapel, and she did not like to have all
+her best clothes broke up.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We visited the infant school, instituted in this city by Mr. Ibbertson, an
+amiable and intelligent Englishman. It was the first infant school, properly so
+called, which I had ever seen, and I was greatly pleased with all the
+arrangements, and the apparent success of them. The children, of whom we saw
+about a hundred, boys and girls, were between eighteen months and six years.
+The apartment was filled with all sorts of instructive and amusing objects; a
+set of Dutch toys, arranged as a cabinet of natural history, was excellent; a
+numerous collection of large wooden bricks filled one corner of the room; the
+walls were hung with gay papers of different patterns, each representing some
+pretty group of figures; large and excellent coloured engravings of birds and
+beasts were exhibited in succession as the theme of a little lesson; and the
+sweet flute of Mr. Ibbertson gave tune and time to the prettiest little concert
+of chirping birds that I ever listened to.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A geographical model, large enough to give clear ideas of continent, island,
+cape, isthmus, et cetera, all set in water, is placed before the children, and
+the pretty creatures point their little rosy fingers with a look of intense
+interest, as they are called upon to shew where each of them is to be found.
+The dress, both of boys and girls, was elegantly neat, and their manner, when
+called upon to speak individually, was well-bred, intelligent, and totally free
+from the rude indifference, which is so remarkably prevalent in the manners of
+American children. Mr. Ibbertson will be benefactor to the Union, if he become
+the means of spreading the admirable method by which he had polished the
+manner, and awakened the intellect of these beautiful little Republicans. I
+have conversed with many American ladies on the total want of discipline and
+subjection which I observed universally among children of all ages, and I never
+found any who did not both acknowledge and deplore the truth of the remark. In
+the state of Ohio they have a law (I know not if it exist elsewhere), that if a
+father strike his son, he shall pay a fine of ten dollars for every such
+offence. I was told by a gentleman of Cincinnati, that he had seen this fine
+inflicted there, at the requisition of a boy of twelve years of age, whose
+father, he proved, had struck him for lying. Such a law, they say, generates a
+spirit of freedom. What else may it generate?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Ibbertson, who seems perfectly devoted, heart and head to the subject, told
+me that he was employed in organizing successive schools that should receive
+the pupils as they advanced in age. If he prove himself as capable of
+completing education, as he appears to be of beginning it, his institution will
+be a very valuable one. It would, indeed, be valuable any where; but in
+America, where discipline is not, where, from the shell, they are beings
+&ldquo;that cannot rule, nor ever will be ruled,&rdquo; it is invaluable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+About two miles from Baltimore is a fort, nobly situated on the Patapsco, and
+commanding the approach from the Chesapeak bay. As our visit was on a Sunday we
+were not permitted to enter it. The walk to this fort is along a fine terrace
+of beautiful verdure, which commands a magnificent view of the city, with its
+columns, towers, domes, and shipping; and also of the Patapsco river, which is
+here so wide as to present almost a sea view. This terrace is ornamented with
+abundance of evergreens, and wild roses innumerable, but, the whole region has
+the reputation of being unhealthy, and the fort itself most lamentably so.
+Before leaving the city of monuments, I must not omit naming one reared to the
+growing wealth of the country; Mr. Barham&rsquo;s hotel is said to be the most
+splendid in the Union, and it is certainly splendid enough for a people more
+luxurious than the citizens of the republic appear yet to be. I heard
+different, and, indeed, perfectly contradictory accounts of the success of the
+experiment; but at least every one seemed to agree that the liberal projector
+was fully entitled to exclaim,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;&rsquo;Tis not in mortals to command success;<br/>
+I have done more, Jonathan, I&rsquo;ve deserved it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After enjoying a very pleasant fortnight, the greater part of which was passed
+in rambling about this pretty city and its environs, we left it, not without
+regret, and all indulging the hope that we should be able to pay it another
+visit.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap20"></a>CHAPTER XX</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Voyage to Washington&mdash;Capitol&mdash;City of
+Washington&mdash;Congress&mdash;Indians&mdash;Funeral of a Member of Congress
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By far the shortest route to Washington, both as to distance and time, is by
+land; but I much wished to see the celebrated Chesapeak bay, and it was
+therefore decided that we should take our passage in the steam-boat. It is
+indeed a beautiful little voyage, and well worth the time it costs; but as to
+the beauty of the bay, it must, I think, be felt only by sailors. It is, I
+doubt not, a fine shelter for ships, from the storms of the Atlantic, but its
+very vastness prevents its striking the eye as beautiful: it is, in fact, only
+a fine sea view. But the entrance from it into the Potomac river is very noble,
+and is one of the points at which one feels conscious of the gigantic
+proportions of the country, without having recourse to a graduated pencil-case.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The passage up this river to Washington is interesting, from many objects that
+it passes, but beyond all else, by the view it affords of Mount Vernon, the
+seat of General Washington. It is there that this truly great man passed the
+last years of his virtuous life, and it is there that he lies buried: it was
+easy to distinguish, as we passed, the cypress that waves over his grave.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The latter part of the voyage shews some fine river scenery; but I did not
+discover this till some months afterwards, for we now arrived late at night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our first object the next morning was to get a sight of the capitol, and our
+impatience sent us forth before breakfast. The mists of morning still hung
+around this magnificent building when first it broke upon our view, and I am
+not sure that the effect produced was not the greater for this circumstance. At
+all events, we were struck with admiration and surprise. None of us, I believe,
+expected to see so imposing a structure on that side of the Atlantic. I am ill
+at describing buildings, but the beauty and majesty of the American capitol
+might defy an abler pen than mine to do it justice. It stands so finely too,
+high, and alone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The magnificent western facade is approached from the city by terraces and
+steps of bolder proportions than I ever before saw. The elegant eastern front,
+to which many persons give the preference, is on a level with a newly-planted
+but exceedingly handsome inclosure, which, in a few years, will offer the shade
+of all the most splendid trees which flourish in the Union, to cool the brows
+and refresh the spirits of the members. The view from the capitol commands the
+city and many miles around, and it is itself an object of imposing beauty to
+the whole country adjoining.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were again fortunate enough to find a very agreeable family to board with;
+and soon after breakfast left our comfortless hotel near the water, for very
+pleasant apartments in F. street.<a href="#fn7" name="fnref7" id="fnref7"><sup>[7]</sup></a>
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+<a name="fn7" id="fn7"></a> <a href="#fnref7">[7]</a>
+The streets that intersect the great avenues in Washington are distinguished by
+the letters of the alphabet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was delighted with the whole aspect of Washington; light, cheerful, and airy,
+it reminded me of our fashionable watering places. It has been laughed at by
+foreigners, and even by natives, because the original plan of the city was upon
+an enormous scale, and but a very small part of it has been as yet executed.
+But I confess I see nothing in the least degree ridiculous about it; the
+original design, which was as beautiful as it was extensive, has been in no way
+departed from, and all that has been done has been done well. From the base of
+the hill on which the capitol stands extends a street of most magnificent
+width, planted on each side with trees, and ornamented by many splendid shops.
+This street, which is called Pennsylvania Avenue, is above a mile in length,
+and at the end of it is the handsome mansion of the President; conveniently
+near to his residence are the various public offices, all handsome, simple, and
+commodious; ample areas are left round each, where grass and shrubs refresh the
+eye. In another of the principal streets is the general post-office, and not
+far from it a very noble town- hall. Towards the quarter of the
+President&rsquo;s house are several handsome dwellings, which are chiefly
+occupied by the foreign ministers. The houses in the other parts of the city
+are scattered, but without ever losing sight of the regularity of the original
+plan; and to a person who has been travelling much through the country, and
+marked the immense quantity of new manufactories, new canals, new railroads,
+new towns, and new cities, which are springing, as it were, from the earth in
+every part of it, the appearance of the metropolis rising gradually into life
+and splendour, is a spectacle of high historic interest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Commerce had already produced large and handsome cities in America before she
+had attained to an individual political existence, and Washington may be
+scorned as a metropolis, where such cities as Philadelphia and New York exist;
+but I considered it as the growing metropolis of the growing population of the
+Union, and it already possesses features noble enough to sustain its dignity as
+such.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The residence of the foreign legations and their families gives a tone to the
+society of this city which distinguishes it greatly from all others. It is
+also, for a great part of the year, the residence of the senators and
+representatives, who must be presumed to be the <i>elite</i> of the entire body
+of citizens, both in respect to talent and education. This cannot fail to make
+Washington a more agreeable abode than any other city in the Union.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The total absence of all sights, sounds, or smells of commerce, adds greatly to
+the charm. Instead of drays you see handsome carriages; and instead of the busy
+bustling hustle of men, shuffling on to a sale of &ldquo;dry goods&rdquo; or
+&ldquo;prime broad stuffs,&rdquo; you see very well-dressed personages lounging
+leisurely up and down Pennsylvania Avenue.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Pishey Thompson, the English bookseller, with his pretty collection of all
+sorts of pretty literature, fresh from London, and Mr. Somebody, the jeweller,
+with his brilliant shop full of trinkets, are the principal points of
+attraction and business. What a contrast to all other American cities! The
+members, who pass several months every year in this lounging easy way, with no
+labour but a little talking, and with the <i>douceur</i> of eight dollars a day
+to pay them for it, must feel the change sadly when their term of public
+service is over.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is another circumstance which renders the evening parties at Washington
+extremely unlike those of other places in the Union; this is the great majority
+of gentlemen. The expense, the trouble, or the necessity of a ruling eye at
+home, one or all of these reasons, prevents the members&rsquo; ladies from
+accompanying them to Washington; at least, I heard of very few who had their
+wives with them. The female society is chiefly to be found among the families
+of the foreign ministers, those of the officers of state, and of the few
+members, the wealthiest and most aristocratic of the land, who bring their
+families with them. Some few independent persons reside in or near the city,
+but this is a class so thinly scattered that they can hardly be accounted a
+part of the population.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But, strange to say, even here a theatre cannot be supported for more than a
+few weeks at a time. I was told that gambling is the favourite recreation of
+the gentlemen, and that it is carried to a very considerable extent; but here,
+as elsewhere within the country, it is kept extremely well out of sight. I do
+not think I was present with a pack of cards a dozen times during more than
+three years that I remained in the country. Billiards are much played, though
+in most places the amusement is illegal. It often appeared to me that the old
+women of a state made the laws, and the young men broke them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Notwithstanding the diminutive size of the city, we found much to see, and to
+amuse us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The patent office is a curious record of the fertility of the mind of man when
+left to its own resources; but it gives ample proof also that it is not under
+such circumstances it is most usefully employed. This patent office contains
+models of all the mechanical inventions that have been produced in the Union,
+and the number is enormous. I asked the man who shewed these, what proportion
+of them had been brought into use, he said about one in a thousand; he told me
+also, that they chiefly proceeded from mechanics and agriculturists settled in
+remote parts of the country, who had began by endeavouring to hit upon some
+contrivance to enable them to <i>get along</i> without sending some thousand
+and odd miles for the thing they wanted. If the contrivance succeeded, they
+generally became so fond of this offspring of their ingenuity, that they
+brought it to Washington for a patent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the secretary of state&rsquo;s office we were shewn autographs of all the
+potentates with whom the Union were in alliance; which, I believe, pretty well
+includes all. To the parchments bearing these royal signs manual were appended,
+of course, the official seals of each, enclosed in gold or silver boxes of
+handsome workmanship: I was amused by the manner in which one of their own,
+just prepared for the court of Russia, was displayed to us, and the superiority
+of their decorations pointed out. They were superior, and in much better taste
+than the rest; and I only wish that the feeling that induced this display would
+spread to every corner of the Union, and mix itself with every act and with
+every sentiment. Let America give a fair portion other attention to the arts
+and the graces that embellish life, and I will make her another visit, and
+write another book as unlike this as possible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Among the royal signatures, the only ones which much interested me were two
+from the hand of Napoleon. The earliest of these, when he was first consul, was
+a most illegible scrawl, and, as the tradition went, was written on horseback;
+but his writing improved greatly after he became an emperor, the subsequent
+signature being firmly and clearly written.&mdash;I longed to steal both.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The purity of the American character, formed and founded on the purity of the
+American government, was made evident to our senses by the display of all the
+offerings of esteem and regard which had been presented by various sovereigns
+to the different American ministers who had been sent to their courts. The
+object of the law which exacted this deposit from every individual so honoured,
+was, they told us, to prevent the possibility of bribery being used to corrupt
+any envoy of the Republic. I should think it would be a better way to select
+for the office such men as they felt could not be seduced by a sword or a
+snuff-box. But they, doubtless, know their own business best.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The bureau for Indian affairs contains a room of great interest: the walls are
+entirely covered with original portraits of all the chiefs who, from time to
+time, have come to negotiate with their great father, as they call the
+President.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These portraits are by Mr. King, and, it cannot be doubted, are excellent
+likenesses, as are all the portraits I have ever seen from the hands of that
+gentleman. The countenances are full of expression, but the expression in most
+of them is extremely similar; or rather, I should say that they have but two
+sorts of expression; the one is that of very noble and warlike daring, the
+other of a gentle and naive simplicity, that has no mixture of folly in it, but
+which is inexpressibly engaging, and the more touching, perhaps, because at the
+moment we were looking at them, those very hearts which lent the eyes such meek
+and friendly softness, were wrung by a base, cruel, and most oppressive act of
+their <i>great father</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were at Washington at the time that the measure for chasing the last of
+several tribes of Indians from their forest homes, was canvassed in congress,
+and finally decided upon by the FIAT of the President. If the American
+character may be judged by their conduct in this matter, they are most
+lamentably deficient in every feeling of honour and integrity. It is among
+themselves, and from themselves, that I have heard the statements which
+represent them as treacherous and false almost beyond belief in their
+intercourse with the unhappy Indians. Had I, during my residence in the United
+States, observed any single feature in their national character that could
+justify their eternal boast of liberality and the love of freedom, I might have
+respected them, however much my taste might have been offended by what was
+peculiar in their manners and customs. But it is impossible for any mind of
+common honesty not to be revolted by the contradictions in their principles and
+practice. They inveigh against the governments of Europe, because, as they say,
+they favour the powerful and oppress the weak. You may hear this declaimed upon
+in Congress, roared out in taverns, discussed in every drawing-room, satirized
+upon the stage, nay, even anathematized from the pulpit: listen to it, and then
+look at them at home; you will see them with one hand hoisting the cap of
+liberty, and with the other flogging their slaves. You will see them one hour
+lecturing their mob on the indefeasible rights of man, and the next driving
+from their homes the children of the soil, whom they have bound themselves to
+protect by the most solemn treaties.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In justice to those who approve not this treacherous policy, I will quote a
+paragraph from a New York paper, which shews that there are some among them who
+look with detestation on the bold bad measure decided upon at Washington in the
+year 1830.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We know of no subject, at the present moment, of more importance to the
+character of our country for justice and integrity than that which relates to
+the Indian tribes in Georgia and Alabama, and particularly the Cherokees in the
+former state. The Act passed by Congress, just at the end of the session,
+co-operating with the tyrannical and iniquitous statute of Georgia, strikes a
+formidable blow at the reputation of the United States, in respect to their
+faith, pledged in almost innumerable instances, in the most solemn treaties and
+compacts.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There were many objects of much interest shewn us at this Indian bureau; but,
+from the peculiar circumstances of this most unhappy and ill-used people, it
+was a very painful interest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dresses worn by the chiefs when their portraits were taken, are many of
+them splendid, from the embroidery of beads and other ornaments: and the room
+contains many specimens of their ingenuity, and even of their taste. There is a
+glass case in the room, wherein are arranged specimens of worked muslin, and
+other needlework, some very excellent handwriting, and many other little
+productions of male and female Indians, all proving clearly that they are
+perfectly capable of civilization. Indeed, the circumstance which renders their
+expulsion from their own, their native lands, so peculiarly lamentable, is,
+that they were yielding rapidly to the force of example; their lives were no
+longer those of wandering hunters, but they were becoming agriculturists, and
+the tyrannical arm of brutal power has not now driven them, as formerly, only
+from their hunting grounds, their favourite springs, and the sacred bones of
+their fathers, but it has chased them from the dwellings their advancing
+knowledge had taught them to make comfortable; from the newly-ploughed fields
+of their pride; and from the crops their sweat had watered. And for what? to
+add some thousand acres of territory to the half-peopled wilderness which
+borders them.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+The Potomac, on arriving at Washington, makes a beautiful sweep, which forms a
+sort of bay, round which the city is built. Just where it makes the turn, a
+wooden bridge is thrown across, connecting the shores of Maryland and Virginia.
+This bridge is a mile and a quarter in length, and is ugly enough.<a href="#fn8" name="fnref8" id="fnref8"><sup>[8]</sup></a>
+The navy-yard, and arsenal, are just above it, on the Maryland side, and make a
+handsome appearance on the edge of the river, following the sweep above
+mentioned. Near the arsenal (much too near) is the penitentiary, which, as it
+was just finished, and not inhabited, we examined in every part. It is built
+for the purpose of solitary confinement for life. A gallows is a much less
+nerve-shaking spectacle than one of these awful cells, and assuredly, when
+imprisonment therein for life is substituted for death, it is no mercy to the
+criminal; but if it be a greater terror to the citizen, it may answer the
+purpose better. I do not conceive, that out of a hundred human beings who had
+been thus confined for a year, one would be found at the end of it who would
+continue to linger on there, <i>certain it was for ever</i>, if the alternative
+of being hanged were offered to them. I had written a description of these
+horrible cells, but Captain Hall&rsquo;s picture of a similar building is so
+accurate, and so clear, that it is needless to insert it.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+<a name="fn8" id="fn8"></a> <a href="#fnref8">[8]</a>
+It has since been washed away by the breaking up of the frost of February,
+1831.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Still following the sweep of the river, at the distance of two miles from
+Washington, is George Town, formerly a place of considerable commercial
+importance, and likely, I think, to become so again, when the Ohio and
+Chesapeake canals, which there mouths into the Potomac, shall be in full
+action. It is a very pretty town, commanding a lovely view, of which the noble
+Potomac and the almost nobler capitol, are the great features. The country
+rises into a beautiful line of hills behind Washington, which form a sort of
+undulating terrace on to George Town; this terrace is almost entirely occupied
+by a succession of gentlemen&rsquo;s seats. At George Town the Potomac suddenly
+contracts itself, and begins to assume that rapid, rocky and irregular
+character which marks it afterwards, and renders its course, till it meets the
+Shenandoah at Harper&rsquo;s Ferry, a series of the most wild and romantic
+views that are to be found in America.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Attending the debates in Congress was, of course, one of our great objects;
+and, as an English woman, I was perhaps the more eager to avail myself of the
+privilege allowed. It was repeatedly observed to me that, at least in this
+instance, I must acknowledge the superior gallantry of the Americans, and that
+they herein give a decided proof of surpassing the English in a wish to honour
+the ladies, as they have a gallery in the House of Representatives erected
+expressly for them, while in England they are rigorously excluded from every
+part of the House of Commons.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But the inference I draw from this is precisely the reverse of the suggested.
+It is well known that the reason why the House of Commons was closed against
+ladies was, that their presence was found too attractive, and that so many
+members were tempted to neglect the business before the House, that they might
+enjoy the pleasure of conversing with the fair critics in the galleries, that
+it became a matter of national importance to banish them&mdash;and they were
+banished. It will be long ere the American legislature will find it necessary
+to pass the same law for the same reason. A lady of Washington, however, told
+me an anecdote which went far to shew that a more intellectual turn in the
+women, would produce a change in the manners of the men. She told me, that when
+the Miss Wrights were in Washington, with General Lafayette, they very
+frequently attended the debates, and that the most distinguished members were
+always crowding round them. For this unwonted gallantry they apologized to
+their beautiful countrywomen by saying, that if they took equal interest in the
+debates, the galleries would be always thronged by the members.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The privilege of attending these debates would be more valuable could the
+speakers be better heard from the gallery; but, with the most earnest
+attention, I could only follow one or two of the orators, whose voices were
+peculiarly loud and clear. This made it really a labour to listen; but the
+extreme beauty of the chamber was of itself a reason for going again and again.
+It was, however, really mortifying to see this splendid hall, fitted up in so
+stately and sumptuous a manner, filled with men, sitting in the most unseemly
+attitudes, a large majority with their hats on, and nearly all, spitting to an
+excess that decency forbids me to describe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Among the crowd, who must be included in this description, a few were
+distinguished by not wearing their hats, and by sitting on their chairs like
+other human beings, without throwing their legs above their heads. Whenever I
+enquired the name of one of these exceptions, I was told that it was Mr. This,
+or Mr. That, <i>of Virginia</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One day we were fortunate enough to get placed on the sofas between the
+pillars, on the floor of the House; the galleries being shut up, for the
+purpose of making some alterations, which it was hoped might improve the
+hearing in that part of the House occupied by the members, and which is
+universally complained of, as being very defective.<a href="#fn9" name="fnref9" id="fnref9"><sup>[9]</sup></a>
+But in our places on the sofas we found we heard very much better than up
+stairs, and well enough to be extremely amused by the rude eloquence of a
+thorough horse and alligator orator from Kentucky, who entreated the house
+repeatedly to &ldquo;go the whole hog.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+<a name="fn9" id="fn9"></a> <a href="#fnref9">[9]</a>
+As a proof of this defective hearing in the Hall of Congress, I may quote a
+passage from a newspaper report of a debate on improvements. It was proposed to
+suspend a ceiling of glass fifteen feet above the heads of the members. A
+member, speaking in favour of this proposal, said, &ldquo;Members would then,
+at least, be able to understand what was the question before the House, an
+advantage which most of them did not now possess, respecting more than half the
+propositions upon which they voted.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If I mistake not, every debate I listened to in the American Congress was upon
+one and the same subject, namely, the entire independence of each individual
+state, with regard to the federal government. The jealousy on this point
+appeared to me to be the very strangest political feeling that ever got
+possession of the mind of man. I do not pretend to judge the merits of this
+question. I speak solely of the very singular effect of seeing man after man
+start eagerly to his feet, to declare that the greatest injury, the basest
+injustice, the most obnoxious tyranny that could be practised against the state
+of which he was a member, would be a vote of a few million dollars for the
+purpose of making their roads or canals; or for drainage; or, in short, for any
+purpose of improvement whatsoever.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During the month we were at Washington, I heard a great deal of conversation
+respecting a recent exclusion from Congress of a gentleman, who, by every
+account, was one of the most esteemed men in the house, and, I think, the
+father of it. The crime for which this gentleman was out-voted by his own
+particular friends and admirers was, that he had given his vote for a grant of
+public money for the purpose of draining a most lamentable and unhealthy
+district, called &ldquo;<i>the dismal swamp!</i>&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One great boast of the country is, that they have no national debt, or that
+they shall have none in two years. This seems not very wonderful, considering
+their productive tariff, and that the income paid to their president is
+6,000_L. per annum_; other government salaries being in proportion, and all
+internal improvements, at the expense of the government treasury, being voted
+unconstitutional.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Senate-chamber is, like the Hall of Congress, a semicircle, but of very
+much smaller dimensions. It is most elegantly fitted up, and what is better
+still, the senators, generally speaking, look like gentlemen. They do not wear
+their hats, and the activity of youth being happily past, they do not toss
+their heels above their heads. I would I could add they do not spit; but, alas!
+&ldquo;I have an oath in heaven,&rdquo; and may not write an untruth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A very handsome room, opening on a noble stone balcony is fitted up as a
+library for the members. The collection, as far as a very cursory view could
+enable me to judge, was very like that of a private English gentleman, but with
+less Latin, Greek, and Italian. This room also is elegantly furnished; rich
+Brussels carpet; library tables, with portfolios of engravings; abundance of
+sofas, and so on. The view from it is glorious, and it looks like the abode of
+luxury and taste.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I can by no means attempt to describe all the apartments of this immense
+building, but the magnificent rotunda in the centre must not be left unnoticed.
+It is, indeed, a noble hall, a hundred feet in diameter, and of an imposing
+loftiness, lighted by an ample dome.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Almost any pictures (excepting the cartoons) would look paltry in this room,
+from the immense height of the walls; but the subjects of the four pictures
+which are placed there, are of such high historic interest that they should
+certainly have a place somewhere, as national records. One represents the
+signing of the declaration of independence; another the resignation of the
+presidency by the great Washington; another the celebrated victory of General
+Gates at Saratoga; and the fourth….I do not well remember, but I think it is
+some other martial scene, commemorating a victory; I rather think that of York
+Town.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One other object in the capitol must be mentioned, though it occurs in so
+obscure a part of the building, that one or two members to whom I mentioned it,
+were not aware of its existence. The lower part of the edifice, a story below
+the rotunda, &amp;c., has a variety of committee rooms, courts, and other
+places of business. In a hall leading to some of these rooms, the ceiling is
+supported by pillars, the capitals of which struck me as peculiarly beautiful.
+They are composed of the ears and leaves of the Indian corn, beautifully
+arranged, and forming as graceful an outline as the acanthus itself. This was
+the only instance I saw, in which America has ventured to attempt national
+originality; the success is perfect. A sense of fitness always enhances the
+effect of beauty. I will not attempt a long essay on the subject, but if
+America, in her vastness, her immense natural resources, and her remote
+grandeur, would be less imitative, she would be infinitely more picturesque and
+interesting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The President has regular evening parties, every other Wednesday, which are
+called his <i>levées</i>; the last syllable is pronounced by every one as long
+as possible, being exactly the reverse of the French and English manner of
+pronouncing the same word. The effect of this, from the very frequent
+repetition of the word in all companies is very droll, and for a long time I
+thought people were quizzing these public days. The reception rooms are
+handsome, particularly the grand saloon, which is elegantly, nay, splendidly
+furnished; this has been done since the visit of Captain Hall, whose remarks
+upon the former state of this room may have hastened its decoration; but there
+are a few anomalies in some parts of the entertainment, which are not very
+courtly. The company are about as select as that of an Easter-day ball at the
+Mansion-house.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The churches at Washington are not superb; but the Episcopalian and Catholic
+were filled with elegantly dressed women. I observed a greater proportion of
+gentlemen at church at Washington than any where else.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Presbyterian ladies go to church three times in the day, but the general
+appearance of Washington on a Sunday is much less puritanical than that of most
+other American towns; the people walk about, and there are no chains in the
+streets, as at Philadelphia, to prevent their riding or driving, if they like
+it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The ladies dress well, but not so splendidly as at Baltimore. I remarked that
+it was not very unusual at Washington for a lady to take the arm of a
+gentleman, who was neither her husband, her father, nor her brother. This
+remarkable relaxation of American decorum has been probably introduced by the
+foreign legations.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At about a mile from the town, on the high terrace ground above described, is a
+very pretty place, to which the proprietor has given the name Kaleirama. It is
+not large, or in any way magnificent, but the view from it is charming; and it
+has a little wood behind, covering about two hundred acres of broken ground,
+that slopes down to a dark cold little river, so closely shut in by rocks and
+evergreens, that it might serve as a noon-day bath for Diana and her nymphs.
+The whole of this wood is filled with wild flowers, but such as we cherish
+fondly in our gardens.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A ferry at George Town crosses the Potomac, and about two miles from it, on the
+Virginian side, is Arlington, the seat of Mr. Custis, who is the grandson of
+General Washington&rsquo;s wife. It is a noble looking place, having a portico
+of stately white columns, which, as the mansion stands high, with a background
+of dark woods, forms a beautiful object in the landscape. At George Town is a
+nunnery, where many young ladies are educated, and at a little distance from
+it, a college of Jesuits for the education of young men, where, as their
+advertisements state, &ldquo;the humanities are taught.&rdquo; We attended mass
+at the chapel of the nunnery, where the female voices that performed the chant
+were very pleasing. The shadowy form of the veiled abbess in her little sacred
+parlour, seen through a grating and a black curtain, but rendered clearly
+visible by the light of a Gothic window behind her, drew a good deal of our
+attention; every act of genuflection, even the telling her beads, was
+discernible, but so mistily that it gave her, indeed, the appearance of a being
+who had already quitted this life, and was hovering on the confines of the
+world of shadows.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The convent has a considerable inclosure attached to it, where I frequently saw
+from the heights above it, dark figures in awfully thick black veils, walking
+solemnly up and down.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The American lady, who was the subject of one of Prince Hohenlohe&rsquo;s
+celebrated miracles, was pointed out to us at Washington. All the world declare
+that her recovery was marvellous.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+There appeared to be a great many foreigners at Washington, particularly
+French. In Paris I have often observed that it was a sort of fashion to speak
+of America as a new Utopia, especially among the young liberals, who, before
+the happy accession of Philip, fancied that a country without a king, was the
+land of promise; but I sometimes thought that, like many other fine things, it
+lost part of its brilliance when examined too nearly; I overheard the following
+question and answer pass between two young Frenchmen, who appeared to have met
+for the first time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Eh bien. Monsieur, comment trouvez-vous la liberté et l&rsquo;égalité
+mises en action?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mais, Monsieur, je vous avoue que le beau idéal que nous autres, nous
+avons conçu de tout cela à Paris, avait quelque chose de plus poétique que ce
+que nous trouvons ici!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On another occasion I was excessively amused by the tone in which one of these
+young men replied to a question put to him by another Frenchman. A pretty
+looking woman, but exceedingly deficient in <i>tournure</i>, was standing alone
+at a little distance from them and close at their elbows stood a very awkward
+looking gentleman. &ldquo;Qui est cette dame?&rdquo; said the enquirer.
+&ldquo;Monsieur,&rdquo; said my young <i>fat</i>, with an indescribable
+grimace, &ldquo;c&rsquo;est la femelle de ce male, &ldquo; indicating his
+neighbour by an expressive curl of his upper lip.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The theatre was not open while we were in Washington, but we afterwards took
+advantage of our vicinity to the city, to visit it. The house is very small,
+and most astonishingly dirty and void of decoration, considering that it is the
+only place of public amusement that the city affords. I have before mentioned
+the want of decorum at the Cincinnati theatre, but certainly that of the
+capital at least rivalled it in the freedom of action and attitude; a freedom
+which seems to disdain the restraints of civilized manners. One man in the pit
+was seized with a violent fit of vomiting, which appeared not in the least to
+annoy or surprise his neighbours; and the happy coincidence of a physician
+being at that moment personated on the stage, was hailed by many of the
+audience as an excellent joke, of which the actor took advantage, and elicited
+shouts of applause by saying, &ldquo;I expect my services are wanted
+elsewhere.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The spitting was incessant; and not one in ten of the male part of the
+illustrious legislative audiences sat according to the usual custom of human
+beings; the legs were thrown sometimes over the front of the box, sometimes
+over the side of it; here and there a senator stretched his entire length along
+a bench, and in many instances the front rail was preferred as a seat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I remarked one young man, whose handsome person, and most elaborate toilet, led
+me to conclude he was a first-rate personage, and so I doubt not he was;
+nevertheless, I saw him take from the pocket of his silk waistcoat a lump of
+tobacco, and daintily deposit it within his cheek.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I am inclined to think this most vile and universal habit of chewing tobacco is
+the cause of a remarkable peculiarity in the male physiognomy of Americans;
+their lips are almost uniformly thin and compressed. At first I accounted for
+this upon Lavater&rsquo;s theory, and attributed it to the arid temperament of
+the people; but it is too universal to be explained; whereas the habit above
+mentioned, which pervades all classes (excepting the literary) well accounts
+for it, as the act of expressing the juices of this loathsome herb, enforces
+exactly that position of the lips, which gives this remarkable peculiarity to
+the American countenance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A member of Congress died while we were at Washington, and I was surprised by
+the ceremony and dignity of his funeral. It seems that whenever a senator or
+member of Congress dies during the session, he is buried at the expense of the
+government, (the ceremony not coming under the head of internal improvement),
+and the arrangements for the funeral are not interfered with by his friends,
+but become matters of State. I transcribed the order of the procession as being
+rather grand and stately.
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Chaplains of both Houses.<br/>
+Physicians who attend the deceased.<br/>
+Committee of arrangement.<br/>
+THE BODY,<br/>
+(Pall borne by six members.)<br/>
+The Relations of the deceased, with the<br/>
+Senators and Representatives of the State<br/>
+to which he belonged, as Mourners.<br/>
+Sergeant at arms of the House of Representatives.<br/>
+The House of Representatives,<br/>
+Their Speaker and Clerk preceding.<br/>
+The Senate of the United States.<br/>
+The Vice-president and Secretary preceding,<br/>
+THE PRESIDENT
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The procession was of considerable extent, but not on foot, and the majority of
+the carriages were hired for the occasion. The body was interred in an open
+&ldquo;grave yard&rdquo; near the city. I did not see the monument erected on
+this occasion, but I presume it was in the same style as several others I had
+remarked in the same burying-ground, inscribed to the memory of members who had
+died at Washington. These were square blocks of masonry without any pretension
+to splendour.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap21"></a>CHAPTER XXI</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Stonington&mdash;Great Falls of the Potomac
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The greatest pleasure I had promised myself in visiting Washington was the
+seeing a very old friend, who had left England many years ago, and married in
+America; she was now a widow, and, as I believed, settled in Washington. I soon
+had the mortification of finding that she was not in the city; but ere long I
+learnt that her residence was not more than ten miles from it. We speedily met,
+and it was settled that we should pass the summer with her in Maryland, and
+after a month devoted to Washington, we left it for Stonington.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We arrived there the beginning of May, and the kindness of our reception, the
+interest we felt in becoming acquainted with the family of my friend, the
+extreme beauty of the surrounding country, and the lovely season, altogether,
+made our stay there a period of great enjoyment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I wonder not that the first settlers in Virginia, with the bold Captain Smith
+of chivalrous memory at their head, should have fought so stoutly to dispossess
+the valiant father of Pocohantas of his fair domain, for I certainly never saw
+a more tempting territory. Stonington is about two miles from the most romantic
+point of the Potomac River, and Virginia spreads her wild, but beautiful, and
+most fertile Paradise, on the opposite shore. The Maryland side partakes of the
+same character, and perfectly astonished us by the profusion of her wild fruits
+and flowers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had not been long within reach of the great falls of the Potomac before a
+party was made for us to visit them; the walk from Stonington to these falls is
+through scenery that can hardly be called forest, park, or garden; but which
+partakes of all three. A little English girl accompanied us, who had but lately
+left her home; she exclaimed, &ldquo;Oh! how many English ladies would glory in
+such a garden as this!&rdquo; and in truth they might; cedars, tulip-trees,
+planes, shumacs, junipers, and oaks of various kinds, most of them new to us,
+shaded our path. Wild vines, with their rich expansive leaves, and their sweet
+blossom, rivalling the mignionette in fragrance, clustered round their
+branches. Strawberries in full bloom, violets, anemonies, heart&rsquo;s-ease,
+and wild pinks, with many other, and still lovelier flowers, which my ignorance
+forbids me to name, literally covered the ground. The arbor judae, the
+dog-wood, in its fullest glory of star-like flowers, azalias, and wild roses,
+dazzled our eyes whichever way we turned them. It was the most flowery two
+miles I ever walked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sound of the falls is heard at Stonington, and the gradual increase of this
+sound is one of the agreeable features of this delicious walk. I know not why
+the rush of waters is so delightful to the ear; all other monotonous sounds are
+wearying, and harass the spirits, but I never met any one who did not love to
+listen to a waterfall. A rapid stream, called the &ldquo;Branch Creek,&rdquo;
+was to be crossed ere we reached the spot where the falls are first visible.
+This rumbling, turbid, angry little rivulet, flows through evergreens and
+flowering underwood, and is crossed <i>a plusieures reprises</i>, by logs
+thrown from rock to rock. The thundering noise of the still unseen falls
+suggests an idea of danger while crossing these rude bridges, which hardly
+belongs to them; having reached the other side of the creek, we continued under
+the shelter of the evergreens for another quarter of a mile, and then emerged
+upon a sight that drew a shout of wonder and delight from us all. The rocky
+depths of an enormous river were opened before our eyes and so huge are the
+black crags that inclose it, that the thundering torrents of water rushing
+through, over, and among the rocks of this awful chasm, appear lost and
+swallowed up in it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The river, or rather the bed of it, is here of great width, and most frightful
+depth, lined on all sides with huge masses of black rock of every imaginable
+form. The flood that roars through them is seen only at intervals; here in a
+full heavy sheet of green transparent water, falling straight and unbroken;
+there dashing along a narrow channel, with a violence that makes one dizzy to
+see and hear. In one place an unfathomed pool shows a mirror of inky blackness,
+and as still as night; in another the tortured twisted cataract tumbles
+headlong in a dozen different torrents, half hid by the cloud of spray they
+send high into the air. Despite this uproar, the slenderest, loveliest shrubs,
+peep forth from among these hideous rocks, like children smiling in the midst
+of danger. As we stood looking at this tremendous scene, one of our friends
+made us remark, that the poison alder, and the poison vine, threw their
+graceful, but perfidious branches, over every rock, and assured us also that
+innumerable tribes of snakes found their dark dwellings among them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To call this scene beautiful would be a strange abuse of terms, for it is
+altogether composed of sights and sounds of terror. The falls of the Potomac
+are awfully sublime: the dark deep gulf which yawns before you, the foaming,
+roaring cataract, the eddying whirlpool, and the giddy precipice, all seem to
+threaten life, and to appal the senses. Yet it was a great delight to sit upon
+a high and jutting crag, and look and listen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I heard with pleasure that it was to the Virginian side of the Potomac that the
+&ldquo;felicity hunters&rdquo; of Washington resorted to see this fearful
+wonder, for I never saw a spot where I should less have liked the annoying
+&ldquo;how d&rsquo;ye,&rdquo; of a casual rencontre. One could not even give or
+receive the exciting &ldquo;is it not charming,&rdquo; which Rousseau talks of,
+for if it were uttered, it could not be heard, or, if heard, would fall most
+earthly dull on the spirit, when rapt by the magic of such a scene. A look, or
+the silent pressure of the arm, is all the interchange of feeling that such a
+scene allows, and in the midst of my terror and my pleasure, I wished for the
+arm and the eye of some few from the other side of the Atlantic.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The return from such a scene is more soberly silent than the approach to it;
+but the cool and quiet hour, the mellowed tints of some gay blossoms, and the
+closed bells of others, the drowsy hum of the insects that survive the day, and
+the moist freshness that forbids the foot to weary in its homeward path, have
+all enjoyment in them, and seem to harmonize with the half wearied, half
+excited state of spirits, that such an excursion is sure to produce: and then
+the entering the cool and moonlit portico, the well-iced sangaree, or still
+more refreshing coffee, that waits you, is all delightful; and if to this be
+added the happiness of an easy sofa, and a friend like my charming Mrs.
+S&mdash;, to soothe you with an hour of Mozart the most fastidious European
+might allow that such a day was worth waking for.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap22"></a>CHAPTER XXII</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Small Landed Proprietors&mdash;Slavery
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I now, for the first time since I crossed the mountains, found myself
+sufficiently at leisure to look deliberately round, and mark the different
+aspects of men and things in a region which, though bearing the same name, and
+calling itself the same land, was, in many respects, as different from the one
+I had left, as Amsterdam from St. Petersburg. There every man was straining,
+and struggling, and striving for himself (heaven knows!) Here every white man
+was waited upon, more or less, by a slave. There, the newly-cleared lands, rich
+with the vegetable manure accumulated for ages, demanded the slightest labour
+to return the richest produce; where the plough entered, crops the most
+abundant followed; but where it came not, no spot of native verdure, no native
+fruits, no native flowers cheered the eye; all was close, dark, stifling
+forest. Here the soil had long ago yielded its first fruits; much that had been
+cleared and cultivated for tobacco (the most exhausting of crops) by the
+English, required careful and laborious husbandry to produce any return; and
+much was left as sheep-walks. It was in these spots that the natural bounty of
+the soil and climate was displayed by the innumerable wild fruits and flowers
+which made every dingle and bushy dell seem a garden.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On entering the cottages I found also a great difference in the manner of
+living. Here, indeed, there were few cottages without a slave, but there were
+fewer still that had their beefsteak and onions for breakfast, dinner, and
+supper. The herrings of the bountiful Potomac supply their place. These are
+excellent &ldquo;relish,&rdquo; as they call it, when salted, and, if I mistake
+not, are sold at a dollar and a half per thousand. Whiskey, however, flows
+every where at the same fatally cheap rate of twenty cents (about one shilling)
+the gallon, and its hideous effects are visible on the countenance of every man
+you meet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The class of people the most completely unlike any existing in England, are
+those who, farming their own freehold estates, and often possessing several
+slaves, yet live with as few of the refinements, and I think I may say, with as
+few of the comforts of life, as the very poorest English peasant. When in
+Maryland, I went into the houses of several of these small proprietors, and
+remained long enough, and looked and listened sufficiently, to obtain a
+tolerably correct idea of their manner of living.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One of these families consisted of a young man, his wife, two children, a
+female slave, and two young lads, slaves also. The farm belonged to the wife,
+and, I was told, consisted of about three hundred acres of indifferent land,
+but all cleared. The house was built of wood, and looked as if the three slaves
+might have overturned it, had they pushed hard against the gable end. It
+contained one room, of about twelve feet square, and another adjoining it,
+hardly larger than a closet; this second chamber was the lodging-room of the
+white part of the family. Above these rooms was a loft, without windows, where
+I was told the &ldquo;staying company&rdquo; who visited them, were lodged.
+Near this mansion was a &ldquo;shanty,&rdquo; a black hole, without any window,
+which served as kitchen and all other offices, and also as the lodging of the
+blacks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were invited to take tea with this family, and readily consented to do so.
+The furniture of the room was one heavy huge table, and about six wooden
+chairs. When we arrived the lady was in rather a dusky dishabille, but she
+vehemently urged us to be seated, and then retired into the closet-chamber
+above mentioned, whence she continued to address to us from behind the door,
+all kinds of &ldquo;genteel country visiting talk,&rdquo; and at length emerged
+upon us in a smart new dress.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her female slave set out the great table, and placed upon it cups of the very
+coarsest blue ware, a little brown sugar in one, and a tiny drop of milk in
+another, no butter, though the lady assured us she had a
+&ldquo;<i>deary</i>&rdquo; and two cows. Instead of butter, she &ldquo;hoped we
+would fix a little relish with our crackers,&rdquo; in ancient English, eat
+salt meat and dry biscuits. Such was the fare, and for guests that certainly
+were intended to be honoured. I could not help recalling the delicious repasts
+which I remembered to have enjoyed at little dairy farms in England, not
+<i>possessed</i>, but rented, and at high rents too; where the clean,
+fresh-coloured, bustling mistress herself skimmed the delicious cream, herself
+spread the yellow butter on the delightful brown loaf, and placed her curds,
+and her junket, and all the delicate treasures of her dairy before us, and
+then, with hospitable pride, placed herself at her board, and added the more
+delicate &ldquo;relish&rdquo; of good tea and good cream. I remembered all
+this, and did not think the difference atoned for, by the dignity of having my
+cup handed to me by a slave. The lady I now visited, however, greatly surpassed
+my quondam friends in the refinement of her conversation. She ambled through
+the whole time the visit lasted, in a sort of elegantly mincing familiar style
+of gossip, which, I think, she was imitating from some novel, for I was told
+she was a great novel reader, and left all household occupations to be
+performed by her slaves. To say she addressed us in a tone of equality, will
+give no adequate idea of her manner; I am persuaded that no misgiving on the
+subject ever entered her head. She told us that their estate was her
+divi-<i>dend</i> of her father&rsquo;s property. She had married a first
+cousin, who was as fine a gentleman as she was a lady, and as idle, preferring
+hunting (as they called shooting) to any other occupation. The consequence was,
+that but a very small portion of the dividend was cultivated, and their poverty
+was extreme. The slaves, particularly the lads, were considerably more than
+half naked, but the air of dignity with which, in the midst of all this misery,
+the lanky lady said to one of the young negroes, &ldquo;Attend to your young
+master, Lycurgus,&rdquo; must have been heard to be conceived in the full
+extent of its mock heroic.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Another dwelling of one of these landed proprietors was a hovel as wretched as
+the one above described, but there was more industry within it. The gentleman,
+indeed, was himself one of the numerous tribe of regular whiskey drinkers, and
+was rarely capable of any work; but he had a family of twelve children, who,
+with their skeleton mother, worked much harder than I ever saw negroes do. They
+were, accordingly, much less elegant and much less poor than the heiress; yet
+they lived with no appearance of comfort, and with, I believe, nothing beyond
+the necessaries of life. One proof of this was, that the worthless father would
+not suffer them to raise, even by their own labour, any garden vegetables, and
+they lived upon their fat pork, salt fish, and corn bread, summer and winter,
+without variation. This, I found, was frequently the case among the farmers.
+The luxury of whiskey is more appreciated by the men than all the green
+delicacies from the garden, and if all the ready money goes for that and their
+darling chewing tobacco, none can be spent by the wife for garden seeds; and as
+far as my observation extended, I never saw any American <i>menage</i> where
+the toast and no toast question, would have been decided in favour of the lady.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There are some small farmers who hold their lands as tenants, but these are by
+no means numerous: they do not pay their rent in money, but by making over a
+third of the produce to the owner; a mode of paying rent, considerably more
+advantageous to the tenant than the landlord; but the difficulty of obtaining
+<i>money</i> in payment, excepting for mere retail articles, is very great in
+all American transactions. &ldquo;I can pay in pro-<i>duce</i>,&rdquo; is the
+offer which I was assured is constantly made on all occasions, and if rejected,
+&ldquo;Then I guess we can&rsquo;t deal,&rdquo; is the usual rejoinder. This
+statement does not, of course, include the great merchants of great cities, but
+refers to the mass of the people scattered over the country; it has, indeed,
+been my object, in speaking of the customs of the people, to give an idea of
+what they are <i>generally</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The effect produced upon English people by the sight of slavery in every
+direction is very new, and not very agreeable, and it is not the less painfully
+felt from hearing upon every breeze the mocking words, &ldquo;All men are born
+free and equal.&rdquo; One must be in the heart of American slavery, fully to
+appreciate that wonderfully fine passage in Moore&rsquo;s Epistle to Lord
+Viscount Forbes, which describes perhaps more faithfully, as well as more
+powerfully, the political state of America, than any thing that has ever been
+written upon it.
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+Oh! Freedom, Freedom, how I hate thy cant!<br/>
+Not eastern bombast, nor the savage rant<br/>
+Of purpled madmen, were they numbered all<br/>
+From Roman Nero, down to Russian Paul,<br/>
+Could grate upon my ear so mean, so base,<br/>
+As the rank jargon of that factious race,<br/>
+Who, poor of heart, and prodigal of words,<br/>
+Born to be slaves, and struggling to be lords,<br/>
+But pant for licence, while they spurn controul,<br/>
+And shout for rights, with rapine in their soul!<br/>
+Who can, with patience, for a moment see<br/>
+The medley mass of pride and misery,<br/>
+Of whips and charters, manacles and rights,<br/>
+Of slaving blacks, and democratic whites,<br/>
+Of all the pyebald polity that reigns<br/>
+In free confusion o&rsquo;er Columbia&rsquo;s plains?<br/>
+To think that man, thou just and gentle God!<br/>
+Should stand before thee with a tyrant&rsquo;s rod,<br/>
+O&rsquo;er creatures like himself, with soul from thee,<br/>
+Yet dare to boast of perfect liberty:<br/>
+Away, away, I&rsquo;d rather hold my neck<br/>
+By doubtful tenure from a Sultan&rsquo;s beck,<br/>
+In climes where liberty has scarce been named,<br/>
+Nor any right, but that of ruling, claimed,<br/>
+Than thus to live, where bastard freedom waves<br/>
+Her fustian flag in mockery o&rsquo;er slaves;<br/>
+Where (motley laws admitting no degree<br/>
+Betwixt the vilely slaved, and madly free)<br/>
+Alike the bondage and the licence suit,<br/>
+The brute made ruler, and the man made brute!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The condition of domestic slaves, however, does not generally appear to be bad;
+but the ugly feature is, that should it be so, they have no power to change it.
+I have seen much kind attention bestowed upon the health of slaves; but it is
+on these occasions impossible to forget, that did this attention fail, a
+valuable piece of property would be endangered. Unhappily the slaves, too, know
+this, and the consequence is, that real kindly feeling very rarely can exist
+between the parties. It is said that slaves born in a family are attached to
+the children of it, who have grown up with them. This may be the case where the
+petty acts of infant tyranny have not been sufficient to conquer the kindly
+feeling naturally produced by long and early association; and this sort of
+attachment may last as long as the slave can be kept in that state of profound
+ignorance which precludes reflection. The law of Virginia has taken care of
+this. The State legislators may truly be said to be &ldquo;wiser in their
+generation than the children of light,&rdquo; and they ensure their safety by
+forbidding light to enter among them. By the law of Virginia it is penal to
+teach any slave to read, and it is penal to be aiding and abetting in the act
+of instructing them. This law speaks volumes. Domestic slaves are, generally
+speaking, tolerably well fed, and decently clothed; and the mode in which they
+are lodged seems a matter of great indifference to them. They are rarely
+exposed to the lash, and they are carefully nursed in sickness. These are the
+favourable features of their situation. The sad one is, that they may be sent
+to the south and sold. This is the dread of all the slaves north of Louisiana.
+The sugar plantations, and more than all, the rice grounds of Georgia and the
+Carolinas, are the terror of American negroes; and well they may be, for they
+open an early grave to thousands; and to <i>avoid loss</i> it is needful to
+make their previous labour pay their value.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is something in the system of breeding and rearing negroes in the
+Northern States, for the express purpose of sending them to be sold in the
+South, that strikes painfully against every feeling of justice, mercy, or
+common humanity. During my residence in America I became perfectly persuaded
+that the state of a domestic slave in a gentleman&rsquo;s family was preferable
+to that of a hired American &ldquo;help,&rdquo; both because they are more
+cared for and valued, and because their condition being born with them, their
+spirits do not struggle against it with that pining discontent which seems the
+lot of all free servants in America. But the case is widely different with such
+as, in their own persons, or those of their children, &ldquo;loved in
+vain,&rdquo; are exposed to the dreadful traffic above mentioned. In what is
+their condition better than that of the kidnapped negroes on the coast of
+Africa? Of the horror in which this enforced migration is held I had a strong
+proof during our stay in Virginia. The father of a young slave, who belonged to
+the lady with whom we boarded, was destined to this fate, and within an hour
+after it was made known to him, he sharpened the hatchet with which he had been
+felling timber, and with his right hand severed his left from the wrist.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But this is a subject on which I do not mean to dilate; it has been lately
+treated most judiciously by a far abler hand.<a href="#fn10" name="fnref10" id="fnref10"><sup>[10]</sup></a>
+Its effects on the moral feelings and external manners of the people are all I
+wish to observe upon, and these are unquestionably most injurious. The same man
+who beards his wealthier and more educated neighbour with the bullying boast,
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m as good as you,&rdquo; turns to his slave, and knocks him
+down, if the furrow he has ploughed, or the log he has felled, please not this
+stickler for equality. There is a glaring falsehood on the very surface of such
+a man&rsquo;s principles that is revolting. It is not among the higher classes
+that the possession of slaves produces the worst effects. Among the poorer
+class of landholders, who are often as profoundly ignorant as the negroes they
+own, the effect of this plenary power over males and females is most
+demoralising; and the kind of coarse, not to say brutal, authority which is
+exercised, furnishes the most disgusting moral spectacle I ever witnessed. In
+all ranks, however, it appeared to me that the greatest and best feelings of
+the human heart were paralyzed by the relative positions of slave and owner.
+The characters, the hearts of children, are irretrievably injured by it. In
+Virginia we boarded for some time in a family consisting of a widow and her
+four daughters, and I there witnessed a scene strongly indicative of the effect
+I have mentioned. A young female slave, about eight years of age, had found on
+the shelf of a cupboard a biscuit, temptingly buttered, of which she had eaten
+a considerable portion before she was observed. The butter had been copiously
+sprinkled with arsenic for the destruction of rats, and had been thus most
+incautiously placed by one of the young ladies of the family. As soon as the
+circumstance was known, the lady of the house came to consult me as to what had
+best be done for the poor child; I immediately mixed a large cup of mustard and
+water (the most rapid of all emetics) and got the little girl to swallow it.
+The desired effect was instantly produced, but the poor child, partly from
+nausea, and partly from the terror of hearing her death proclaimed by half a
+dozen voices round her, trembled so violently that I thought she would fall. I
+sat down in the court where we were standing, and, as a matter of course, took
+the little sufferer in my lap. I observed a general titter among the white
+members of the family, while the black stood aloof, and looked stupified. The
+youngest of the family, a little girl about the age of the young slave, after
+gazing at me for a few moments in utter astonishment, exclaimed &ldquo;My! If
+Mrs. Trollope has not taken her in her lap, and wiped her nasty mouth! Why I
+would not have touched her mouth for two hundred dollars!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+<a name="fn10" id="fn10"></a> <a href="#fnref10">[10]</a>
+See Captain Hall&rsquo;s Travels in America.
+</p> 
+
+<p>
+The little slave was laid on a bed, and I returned to my own apartments; some
+time afterwards I sent to enquire for her, and learnt that she was in great
+pain. I immediately went myself to enquire farther, when another young lady of
+the family, the one by whose imprudence the accident had occurred, met my
+anxious enquiries with ill-suppressed mirth&mdash;told me they had sent for the
+doctor&mdash;and then burst into uncontrollable laughter. The idea of really
+sympathising in the sufferings of a slave appeared to them as absurd as weeping
+over a calf that had been slaughtered by the butcher. The daughters of my
+hostess were as lovely as features and complexion could make them; but the
+neutralizing effect of this total want of feeling upon youth and beauty, must
+be witnessed, to be conceived.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There seems in general a strong feeling throughout America, that none of the
+negro race can be trusted, and as fear, according to their notions, is the only
+principle by which a slave can be actuated, it is not wonderful if the
+imputation be just. But I am persuaded that were a different mode of moral
+treatment pursued, most important and beneficial consequences would result from
+it. Negroes are very sensible to kindness, and might, I think, be rendered more
+profitably obedient by the practice of it towards them, than by any other mode
+of discipline whatever. To emancipate them entirely throughout the Union
+cannot, I conceive, be thought of, consistently with the safety of the country;
+but were the possibility of amelioration taken into the consideration of the
+legislature, with all the wisdom, justice, and mercy, that could be brought to
+bear upon it, the negro population of the Union might cease to be a terror, and
+their situation no longer be a subject either of indignation or of pity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I observed every where throughout the slave States that all articles which can
+be taken and consumed are constantly locked up, and in large families, where
+the extent of the establishment multiplies the number of keys, these are
+deposited in a basket, and consigned to the care of a little negress, who is
+constantly seen following her mistress&rsquo;s steps with this basket on her
+arm, and this, not only that the keys may be always at hand, but because,
+should they be out of sight one moment, that moment would infallibly be
+employed for purposes of plunder. It seemed to me in this instance, as in many
+others, that the close personal attendance of these sable shadows, must be very
+annoying; but whenever I mentioned it, I was assured that no such feeling
+existed, and that use rendered them almost unconscious of their presence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had, indeed, frequent opportunities of observing this habitual indifference
+to the presence of their slaves. They talk of them, of their condition, of
+their faculties, of their conduct, exactly as if they were incapable of
+hearing. I once saw a young lady, who, when seated at table between a male and
+a female, was induced by her modesty to intrude on the chair of her female
+neighbour to avoid the indelicacy of touching the elbow of a man. I once saw
+this very young lady lacing her stays with the most perfect composure before a
+negro footman. A Virginian gentleman told me that ever since he had married, he
+had been accustomed to have a negro girl sleep in the same chamber with himself
+and his wife. I asked for what purpose this nocturnal attendance was necessary?
+&ldquo;Good heaven!&rdquo; was the reply, &ldquo;if I wanted a glass of water
+during the night, what would become of me?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap23"></a>CHAPTER XXIII</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Fruits and Flowers of Maryland and Virginia&mdash;Copper-head
+Snake&mdash;Insects&mdash;Elections
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our summer in Maryland, (1830), was delightful. The thermometer stood at 94,
+but the heat was by no means so oppressive as what we had felt in the West. In
+no part of North America are the natural productions of the soil more various,
+or more beautiful. Strawberries of the richest flavour sprung beneath our feet;
+and when these past away, every grove, every lane, every field looked like a
+cherry orchard, offering an inexhaustible profusion of fruit to all who would
+take the trouble to gather it. Then followed the peaches; every hedgerow was
+planted with them, and though the fruit did not equal in size or flavour those
+ripened on our garden walls, we often found them good enough to afford a
+delicious refreshment on our long rambles. But it was the flowers, and the
+flowering shrubs that, beyond all else, rendered this region the most beautiful
+I had ever seen, (the Alleghany always excepted.) No description can give an
+idea of the variety, the profusion, the luxuriance of them. If I talk of wild
+roses, the English reader will fancy I mean the pale ephemeral blossoms of our
+bramble hedges; but the wild roses of Maryland and Virginia might be the
+choicest favourites of the flower garden. They are rarely very double, but the
+brilliant eye atones for this. They are of all shades, from the deepest crimson
+to the tenderest pink. The scent is rich and delicate; in size they exceed any
+single roses I ever saw, often measuring above four inches in diameter. The
+leaf greatly resembles that of the china rose; it is large, dark, firm, and
+brilliant. The sweetbrier grows wild, and blossoms abundantly; both leaves and
+flowers are considerably larger than with us. The acacia, or as it is there
+called, the locust, blooms with great richness and profusion; I have gathered a
+branch less than a foot long, and counted twelve full bunches of flowers on it.
+The scent is equal to the orange flower. The dogwood is another of the splendid
+white blossoms that adorn the woods. Its lateral branches are flat, like a fan,
+and dotted all over, with star-like blossoms, as large as those of the
+gum-cistus. Another pretty shrub, of smaller size, is the poison alder. It is
+well that its noxious qualities are very generally known, for it is most
+tempting to the eye by its delicate fringe-like bunches of white flowers. Even
+the touch of this shrub is poisonous, and produces violent swelling. The arbor
+judae is abundant in every wood, and its bright and delicate pink is the
+earliest harbinger of the American spring. Azalias, white, yellow, and pink;
+kalmias of every variety, the too sweet magnolia, and the stately rhododendron,
+all grow in wild abundance there. The plant known in England as the Virginian
+creeper, is often seen climbing to the top of the highest forest trees, and
+bearing a large trumpet- shaped blossom of a rich scarlet. The sassafras is a
+beautiful shrub, and I cannot imagine why it has not been naturalized in
+England, for it has every appearance of being extremely hardy. The leaves grow
+in tufts, and every tuft contains leaves of five or six different forms. The
+fruit is singularly beautiful; it resembles in form a small acorn, and is jet
+black; the cup and stem looking as if they were made of red coral. The graceful
+and fantastic grapevine is a feature of great beauty, and its wandering
+festoons bear no more resemblance to our well-trained vines, than our stunted
+azalias, and tiny magnolias, to their thriving American kindred.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is another charm that haunts the summer wanderer in America, and it is
+perhaps the only one found in greatest perfection in the West: but it is
+beautiful every where. In a bright day, during any of the summer months, your
+walk is through an atmosphere of butterflies, so gaudy in hue, and so varied in
+form, that I often thought they looked like flowers on the wing. Some of them
+are very large, measuring three or four inches across the wings; but many, and
+I think the most beautiful, are smaller than ours. Some have wings of the most
+dainty lavender colour; and bodies of black; others are fawn and rose colour;
+and others again are orange and bright blue. But pretty as they are, it is
+their number, even more than their beauty, that delights the eye. Their gay and
+noiseless movement as they glance through the air, crossing each other in
+chequered maze, is very beautiful. The humming-bird is another pretty summer
+toy; but they are not sufficiently numerous, nor do they live enough on the
+wing to render them so important a feature in the transatlantic show, as the
+rainbow-tinted butterflies. The fire-fly was a far more brilliant novelty. In
+moist situations, or before a storm, they are very numerous, and in the dark
+sultry evening of a burning day, when all employment was impossible, I have
+often found it a pastime to watch their glancing light, now here, now there;
+now seen, now gone; shooting past with the rapidity of lightning, and looking
+like a shower of falling stars, blown about in the breeze of evening.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+In one of our excursions we encountered and slew a copperhead snake. I escaped
+treading on it by about three inches. While we were contemplating our conquered
+foe, and doubting in our ignorance if he were indeed the deadly copper-head we
+had so often heard described, a farmer joined us, who, as soon as he cast his
+eyes on our victim, exclaimed, &ldquo;My! if you have not got a copper.
+That&rsquo;s right down well done, they be darnation beasts.&rdquo; He told us
+that he had once seen a copper-head bite himself to death, from being teazed by
+a stick, while confined in a cage where he could find no other victim. We often
+heard terrible accounts of the number of these desperate reptiles to be found
+on the rocks near the great falls of the Potomac; but not even the terror these
+stories inspired could prevent our repeated visits to that sublime scene;
+Luckily our temerity was never punished by seeing any there. Lizards, long,
+large, and most hideously like a miniature crocodile, I frequently saw, gliding
+from the fissures of the rocks, and darting again under shelter, perhaps
+beneath the very stone I was seated upon; but every one assured us they were
+harmless. Animal life is so infinitely abundant, and in forms so various, and
+so novel to European eyes, that it is absolutely necessary to divest oneself of
+all the petty terrors which the crawling, creeping, hopping, and buzzing tribes
+can inspire, before taking an American summer ramble. It is, I conceive, quite
+impossible for any description to convey an idea of the sounds which assail the
+ears from the time the short twilight begins, until the rising sun scatters the
+rear of darkness, and sends the winking choristers to rest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Be where you will (excepting in the large cities) the appalling note of the
+bull-frog will reach you, loud, deep, and hoarse, issuing from a thousand
+throats in ceaseless continuity of croak. The tree-frog adds her chirping and
+almost human voice; the kattiedid repeats her own name through the livelong
+night; the whole tribe of locusts chirp, chirrup, squeak, whiz, and whistle,
+without allowing one instant of interval to the weary ear; and when to this the
+mosquito adds her threatening hum, it is wonderful that any degree of fatigue
+can obtain for the listener the relief of sleep. In fact, it is only in ceasing
+to listen that this blessing can be found. I passed many feverish nights during
+my first summer, literally in listening to this most astounding mixture of
+noises, and it was only when they became too familiar to excite attention, that
+I recovered my rest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I know not by what whimsical link of association the recapitulation of this
+insect din suggests the recollection of other discords, at least as harsh and
+much more troublesome.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Even in the retirement in which we passed this summer, we were not beyond reach
+of the election fever which is constantly raging through the land. Had America
+every attraction under heaven that nature and social enjoyment can offer, this
+electioneering madness would make me fly it in disgust. It engrosses every
+conversation, it irritates every temper, it substitutes party spirit for
+personal esteem; and, in fact, vitiates the whole system of society.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When a candidate for any office starts, his party endow him with every virtue,
+and with all the talents. They are all ready to peck out the eyes of those who
+oppose him, and in the warm and mettlesome south-western states, do literally
+often perform this operation: but as soon as he succeeds, his virtues and his
+talents vanish, and, excepting those holding office under his appointment,
+every man Jonathan of them set off again full gallop to elect his successor.
+When I first arrived in America Mr. John Quincy Adams was President, and it was
+impossible to doubt, even from the statement of his enemies, that he was every
+way calculated to do honour to the office. All I ever heard against him was,
+that &ldquo;he was too much of a gentleman;&rdquo; but a new candidate must be
+set up, and Mr. Adams was out-voted for no other reason, that I could learn,
+but because it was &ldquo;best to change.&rdquo; &ldquo;Jackson for
+ever!&rdquo; was, therefore, screamed from the majority of mouths, both drunk
+and sober, till he was elected; but no sooner in his place, than the same
+ceaseless operation went on again, with &ldquo;Clay for ever&rdquo; for its
+war-whoop.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was one morning paying a visit, when a party of gentlemen arrived at the same
+house on horseback. The one whose air proclaimed him the chief of his party,
+left us not long in doubt as to his business, for he said, almost in entering,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Mr. P&mdash;, I come to ask for your vote.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who are you for, sir?&rdquo; was the reply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Clay for ever!&rdquo; the rejoinder; and the vote was promised.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This gentleman was candidate for a place in the state representation, whose
+members have a vote in the presidential election.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was introduced to him as an English woman: he addressed me with, &ldquo;Well
+madam, you see we do these things openly and above-board here; you mince such
+matters more, I expect.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After his departure, his history and standing were discussed. &ldquo;Mr. M. is
+highly respectable, and of very good standing; there can be no doubt of his
+election if he is a thorough-going Clay-man,&rdquo; said my host.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I asked what his station was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The lady of the house told me that his father had been a merchant, and when
+this future legislator was a young man, he had been sent by him to some port in
+the Mediterranean as his super-cargo. The youth, being a free-born
+high-spirited youth, appropriated the proceeds to his own uses, traded with
+great success upon the fund thus obtained, and returned, after an absence of
+twelve years, a gentleman of fortune and excellent standing. I expressed some
+little disapprobation of this proceeding, but was assured that Mr. M. was
+considered by every one as a very &ldquo;honourable man.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Were I to relate one-tenth part of the dishonest transactions recounted to me
+by Americans, of their fellow-citizens and friends, I am confident that no
+English reader would give me credit for veracity it would, therefore, be very
+unwise to repeat them, but I cannot refrain from expressing the opinion that
+nearly four years of attentive observation impressed on me, namely, that the
+moral sense is on every point blunter than with us. Make an American believe
+that his next-door neighbour is a very worthless fellow, and I dare say (if he
+were quite sure he could make nothing by him) he would drop the acquaintance;
+but as to what constitutes a worthless fellow, people differ on the opposite
+sides of the Atlantic, almost by the whole decalogue. There is, as it appeared
+to me, an obtusity on all points of honourable feeling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Cervantes laughed Spain&rsquo;s chivalry away,&rdquo; but he did not
+laugh away that better part of chivalry, so beautifully described by Burke as
+&ldquo;the unbought grace of life, the cheap defence of nations, that chastity
+of honour, which feels a stain as a wound, which ennobles whatever it touches,
+and by which vice itself loses half its evil, by losing all its
+grossness.&rdquo; The better part of chivalry still mixes with gentle blood in
+every part of Europe, nor is it less fondly guarded than when sword and buckler
+aided its defence. Perhaps this unbought grace of life is not to be looked for
+where chivalry has never been. I certainly do not lament the decadence of
+knight errantry, nor wish to exchange the protection of the laws for that of
+the doughtiest champion who ever set lance in rest; but I do, in truth, believe
+that this knightly sensitiveness of honourable feeling is the best antidote to
+the petty soul-degrading transactions of every day life, and that the total
+want of it, is one reason why this free-born race care so very little for the
+vulgar virtue called probity.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap24"></a>CHAPTER XXIV</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Journey to Philadelphia&mdash;Chesapeak and Delaware Canal&mdash;City of
+Philadelphia&mdash;Miss Wright&rsquo;s Lecture
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the latter part of August, 1830, we paid a visit to Philadelphia, and,
+notwithstanding the season, we were so fortunate as to have both bright and
+temperate weather for the expedition. The road from Washington to Baltimore,
+which was our first day&rsquo;s journey, is interesting in summer from the
+variety of luxuriance of the foliage which borders great parts of it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We passed the night at Baltimore, and embarked next morning on board a
+steam-boat for Philadelphia. The scenery of the Elk river, upon which you enter
+soon after leaving the port of Baltimore, is not beautiful. We embarked at six
+in the morning, and at twelve reached the Chesapeak and Delaware canal; we then
+quitted the steam-boat, and walked two or three hundred yards to the canal,
+where we got on board a pretty little decked boat, sheltered by a neat awning,
+and drawn by four horses. This canal cuts across the state of Delaware, and
+connects the Chesapeak and Delaware rivers: it has been a work of great
+expense, though the distance is not more than thirteen miles; for a
+considerable part of this distance the cutting has been very deep, and the
+banks are in many parts thatched, to prevent their crumbling. At the point
+where the cutting is deepest, a light bridge is thrown across, which, from its
+great height, forms a striking object to the travellers passing below it. Every
+boat that passes this canal pays a toll of twenty dollars.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nothing can be less interesting than that part of the state of Delaware through
+which this cut passes, the Mississippi hardly excepted. At one, we reached the
+Delaware river, at a point nearly opposite Delaware Fort, which looks recently
+built, and is very handsome. [This fort was destroyed by fire a few months
+afterwards.] Here we again changed our vessel, and got on board another of
+their noble steam-boats; both these changes were made with the greatest
+regularity and dispatch.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is nothing remarkable in the scenery of the Delaware. The stream is wide
+and the banks are flat; a short distance before you reach Philadelphia two
+large buildings of singular appearance strike the eye. On enquiry I learnt that
+they were erected for the purpose of sheltering two ships of war. They are
+handsomely finished, with very neat roofs, and are ventilated by many windows.
+The expense of these buildings must have been considerable, but, as the
+construction of the vast machines they shelter was more so, it may be good
+economy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We reached Philadelphia at four o&rsquo;clock in the afternoon. The approach to
+this city is not so striking as that to Baltimore; though much larger, it does
+not now show itself so well; it wants domes and columns: it is, nevertheless, a
+beautiful city. Nothing can exceed its neatness; the streets are well paved,
+the foot-way, as in all the old American cities, is of brick, like the old
+pantile walk at Tunbridge Wells. This is almost entirely sheltered from the sun
+by the awnings, which, in all the principal streets, are spread from the shop
+windows to the edge of the pavement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The city is built with extreme and almost wearisome regularity; the streets,
+which run north and south, are distinguished by numbers, from one to&mdash;I
+know not how many, but I paid a visit in Twelth Street; these are intersected
+at right angles by others, which are known by the names of various trees;
+Mulberry (more commonly called Arch-street), Chesnut, and Walnut, appear the
+most fashionable: in each of these there is a theatre. This mode of
+distinguishing the streets is commodious to strangers, from the facility it
+gives of finding out whereabouts you are; if you ask for the United States
+Bank, you are told it is in Chesnut, between Third and Fourth, and as the
+streets are all divided from each other by equal distances, of about three
+hundred feet, you are sure of not missing your mark. There are many handsome
+houses, but none that are very splendid; they are generally of brick, and those
+of the better order have white marble steps, and some few, door frames of the
+same beautiful material; but, on the whole, there is less display of it in the
+private dwellings than at Baltimore.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Americans all seem greatly to admire this city, and to give it the
+preference in point of beauty to all others in the Union, but I do not agree
+with them. There are some very handsome buildings, but none of them so placed
+as to produce a striking effect, as is the case both with the Capitol and the
+President&rsquo;s house, at Washington. Notwithstanding these fine buildings,
+one or more of which are to be found in all the principal streets, the <i>coup
+d&rsquo;oeil</i> is every where the same. There is no Place de Louis Quinze or
+Carrousel, no Regent Street, or Green Park, to make one exclaim &ldquo;how
+beautiful!&rdquo; all is even, straight, uniform, and uninteresting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is one spot, however, about a mile from the town, which presents a lovely
+scene. The water-works of Philadelphia have not yet perhaps as wide extended
+fame as those of Marley, but they are not less deserving it. At a most
+beautiful point of the Schuylkill River the water has been forced up into a
+magnificent reservoir, ample and elevated enough to send it through the whole
+city. The vast yet simple machinery by which this is achieved is open to the
+public, who resort in such numbers to see it, that several evening stages run
+from Philadelphia to Fair Mount for their accommodation. But interesting and
+curious as this machinery is, Fair Mount would not be so attractive had it not
+something else to offer. It is, in truth, one of the very prettiest spots the
+eye can look upon. A broad weir is thrown across the Schuylkill, which produces
+the sound and look of a cascade. On the farther side of the river is a
+gentleman&rsquo;s seat, the beautiful lawns of which slope to the water&rsquo;s
+edge, and groups of weeping-willows and other trees throw their shadows on the
+stream. The works themselves are enclosed in a simple but very handsome
+building of freestone, which has an extended front opening upon a terrace,
+which overhangs the river: behind the building, and divided from it only by a
+lawn, rises a lofty wall of solid limestone rock, which has, at one or two
+points, been cut into, for the passage of the water into the noble reservoir
+above. From the crevices of this rock the catalpa was every where pushing
+forth, covered with its beautiful blossom. Beneath one of these trees an
+artificial opening in the rock gives passage to a stream of water, clear and
+bright as crystal, which is received in a stone basin of simple workmanship,
+having a cup for the service of the thirsty traveller. At another point, a
+portion of the water in its upward way to the reservoir, is permitted to spring
+forth in a perpetual <i>jet d&rsquo;eau</i>, that returns in a silver shower
+upon the head of a marble <i>naiad</i> of snowy whiteness. The statue is not
+the work of Phidias, but its dark, rocky background, the flowery catalpas which
+shadow it, and the bright shower through which it shows itself, altogether make
+the scene one of singular beauty; add to which, the evening on which I saw it
+was very sultry, and the contrast of this cool spot to all besides certainly
+enhanced its attraction; it was impossible not to envy the nymph her eternal
+shower-bath.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On returning from this excursion we saw handbills in all parts of the city
+announcing that Miss Wright was on that evening to deliver her parting address
+to the citizens of Philadelphia, at the Arch Street theatre, previous to her
+departure for Europe. I immediately determined to hear her, and did so, though
+not without some difficulty, from the crowds who went thither with the same
+intention. The house, which is a very pretty one, was filled in every part,
+including the stage, with a well dressed and most attentive audience. There was
+a larger proportion of ladies present than I ever saw on any other occasion in
+an American theatre. One reason for this might be, perhaps, that they were
+admitted gratis.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Wright came on the stage surrounded by a body guard of Quaker ladies, in
+the full costume of their sect. She was, as she always is, startling in her
+theories, but powerfully eloquent, and, on the whole, was much applauded,
+though one passage produced great emotion, and some hissing. She stated
+broadly, on the authority of Jefferson, furnished by his posthumous works, that
+&ldquo;Washington was not a Christian.&rdquo; One voice from the crowded pit
+exclaimed, in an accent of indignation, &ldquo;Washington was a
+Christian.&rdquo; but it was evident that the majority of the audience
+considered Mr. Jefferson&rsquo;s assertion as a compliment to the
+country&rsquo;s idol, for the hissing was soon triumphantly clapped down.
+General Washington himself, however, gives a somewhat different account of his
+own principles, for in his admirable farewell address on declining a
+re-election to the Presidency, I find the following passage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity,
+religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim
+the tribute of patriotism who would labour to subvert these great pillars of
+human happiness, these firmest props of the destinies of men and citizens. A
+volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity.
+And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained
+without religion, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national
+morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Whether Mr. Jefferson or himself knew best what his principles were, I will not
+decide, but, at least, it appears fair, when repeating one statement, to add
+the other also.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap25"></a>CHAPTER XXV</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Washington Square&mdash;American Beauty&mdash;Gallery of Fine
+Arts&mdash;Antiques&mdash;Theatres&mdash;Museum
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our mornings were spent, as all travellers&rsquo; mornings must be, in asking
+questions, and in seeing all that the answers told us it was necessary to see.
+Perhaps this can be done in no city with more facility than in Philadelphia;
+you have nothing to do but to walk up one straight street, and down another,
+till all the parallelograms have been threaded. In doing this you will see many
+things worth looking at. The United States, and Pennsylvania banks, are the
+most striking buildings, and are both extremely handsome, being of white
+marble, and built after Grecian models. The State House has nothing externally
+to recommend it, but the room shown as that in which the declaration of
+independence was signed, and in which the estimable Lafayette was received half
+a century after he had shed his noble blood in aiding to obtain it, is an
+interesting spot. At one end of this room is a statue in wood of General
+Washington; on its base is the following inscription:-
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+First in Peace,<br/>
+First in War,<br/>
+and<br/>
+First in the hearts of his Countrymen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is a very pretty enclosure before the Walnut Street entrance to the State
+House, with good well-kept gravel walks, and many of their beautiful flowering
+trees. It is laid down in grass, not in turf; that, indeed, is a luxury I never
+saw in America. Near this enclosure is another of much the same description,
+called Washington Square. Here there was an excellent crop of clover; but as
+the trees are numerous, and highly beautiful, and several commodious seats are
+placed beneath their shade, it is, in spite of the long grass, a very agreeable
+retreat from heat and dust. It was rarely, however, that I saw any of these
+seats occupied; the Americans have either no leisure, or no inclination for
+those moments of <i>delassement</i> that all other people, I believe, indulge
+in. Even their drams, so universally taken by rich and poor, are swallowed
+standing, and, excepting at church, they never have the air of leisure or
+repose. This pretty Washington Square is surrounded by houses on three sides,
+but (lasso!) has a prison on the fourth; it is nevertheless the nearest
+approach to a London square that is to be found in Philadelphia.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One evening, while the rest of my party went to visit some objects which I had
+before seen, I agreed to await their return in this square, and sat down under
+a magnificent catalpa, which threw its fragrant blossoms in all directions; the
+other end of the bench was occupied by a young lady, who was employed in
+watching the gambols of a little boy. There was something in her manner of
+looking at me, and exchanging a smile when her young charge performed some
+extraordinary feat of activity on the grass, that persuaded me she was not an
+American. I do not remember who spoke first, but we were presently in a full
+flow of conversation. She spoke English with elegant correctness, but she was a
+German, and with an ardour of feeling which gave her a decidedly foreign air in
+Philadelphia, she talked to me of her country, of all she had left, and of all
+she had found, or rather of all she had not found, for thus ran her lament:-
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;They do not love music. Oh no! and they never amuse themselves&mdash;no;
+and their hearts are not warm, at least they seem not so to strangers; and they
+have no ease, no forgetfulness of business and of care&mdash;no, not for a
+moment. But I will not stay long, I think, for I should not live.&rdquo; She
+told me that she had a brother settled there as a merchant, and that she had
+passed a year with him; but she was hoping soon to return to her father land.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I never so strongly felt the truth of the remark, that expression is the soul
+of beauty, as in looking at, and listening to this young German. She was any
+thing but handsome; it is true she had large eyes, full of gentle expression,
+but every feature was irregular; but, oh! the charm of that smile, of that look
+of deep feeling which animated every feature when she spoke of her own Germany!
+The tone of her voice, the slight and graceful action which accompanied her
+words, all struck me as so attractive, that the half hour I passed with her was
+continually recurring to my memory. I had often taxed myself with feeling
+something like prejudice against the beautiful American women; but this half
+hour set my conscience at rest; it is not prejudice which causes one to feel
+that regularity of features is insufficient to interest, or even to please,
+beyond the first glance. I certainly believe the women of America to be the
+handsomest in the world, but as surely do I believe that they are the least
+attractive.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+We visited the nineteenth annual exhibition of the Pennsylvanian academy of the
+fine arts; 431 was the number of objects exhibited, which were so arranged as
+to fill three tolerably large rooms, and one smaller called the
+director&rsquo;s room. There were among the number about thirty engravings, and
+a much larger proportion of water-colour drawings; about seventy had the P.A.
+(Pensylvanian Academician) annexed to the name of the artist.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The principal historical composition was a large scripture piece by Mr.
+Washington Alston. This gentleman is spoken of as an artist of great merit, and
+I was told that his manner was much improved since this picture was painted,
+(it bears date, 1813). I believe it was for this picture Mr. Alston received a
+prize at the British Gallery.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was a portrait of a lady, which, in the catalogue, is designated as
+&ldquo;the White Plume,&rdquo; which had the reputation of being the most
+admired in the collection, and the artist, Mr. Ingham, is said to rank highest
+among the portrait-painters of America. This picture is of very high finish,
+particularly the drapery, which is most elaborately worked, even to the pile of
+the velvet; the management of the light is much in the manner of Good; but the
+drawing is very defective, and the contour, though the face is a lovely one,
+hard and unfleshy. From all the conversations on painting, which I listened to
+in America, I found that the finish of drapery was considered as the highest
+excellence, and next to this, the resemblance in a portrait; I do not remember
+ever to have heard the words <i>drawing</i> or <i>composition</i> used in any
+conversation on the subject.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One of the rooms of this academy has inscribed over its door,
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+ANTIQUE STATUE GALLERY
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+The door was open, but just within it was a screen, which prevented any objects
+in the room being seen from without. Upon my pausing to read this inscription,
+an old woman who appeared to officiate as guardian of the gallery, hustled up,
+and addressing me with an air of much mystery, said, &ldquo;Now, ma&rsquo;am,
+now; this is just the time for you&mdash;nobody can see you&mdash;make
+haste.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I stared at her with unfeigned surprise, and disengaging my arm, which she had
+taken apparently to hasten my movements, I very gravely asked her meaning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Only, ma&rsquo;am, that ladies like to go into that room by themselves,
+when there be no gentlemen watching them.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On entering this mysterious apartment, the first thing I remarked, was written
+paper, deprecating the disgusting depravity which had led some of the visitors
+to mark and deface the casts in a most indecent and shameless manner. This
+abomination has unquestionably been occasioned by the coarse-minded custom
+which sends alternate groups of males and females into the room. Were the
+antique gallery thrown open to mixed parties of ladies and gentlemen, it would
+soon cease. Till America has reached the degree of refinement which permits of
+this, the antique casts should not be exhibited to ladies at all. I never felt
+my delicacy shocked at the Louvre, but I was strangely tempted to resent as an
+affront the hint I received, that I might steal a glance at what was deemed
+indecent. Perhaps the arrangements for the exhibition of this room, the
+feelings which have led to them, and the result they have produced, furnish as
+good a specimen of the kind of delicacy on which the Americans pride
+themselves, and of the peculiarities arising from it, as can be found. The room
+contains about fifty casts, chiefly from the antique.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the director&rsquo;s room I was amused at the means which a poet had hit
+upon for advertising his works, or rather HIS WORK, and not less at the
+elaborate notice of it. His portrait was suspended there, and attached to the
+frame was a paper inscribed thus:-
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+&ldquo;PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR<br/>
+of<br/>
+The Fredoniad, or Independence Preserved, a political,<br/>
+naval, and military poem, on the late war of 1812,<br/>
+in forty cantos; the whole compressed in<br/>
+four volumes; each volume averaging<br/>
+more than 305 pages,<br/>
+By RICHARD EMMONS,<br/>
+M.D.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I went to the Chesnut Street Theatre to see Mr. Booth, formerly of Drury Lane,
+in the character of Lear, and a Mrs. Duff in Cordelia; but I have seen too many
+Lears and Cordelias to be easily pleased; I thought the whole performance very
+bad. The theatre is of excellently moderate dimensions, and prettily decorated.
+It was not the fashionable season for the theatres, which I presume must
+account for the appearance of the company in the boxes, which was any thing but
+elegant; nor was there more decorum of demeanour than I had observed elsewhere;
+I saw one man in the lower tier of boxes deliberately take off his coat that he
+might enjoy the refreshing coolness of shirt sleeves; all the gentlemen wore
+their hats, and the spitting was unceasing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On another evening we went to the Walnut Street Theatre; the chief attraction
+of the night was furnished by the performance of a young man who had been
+previously exhibited as &ldquo;a living skeleton.&rdquo; He played the part of
+Jeremiah Thin, and certainly looked the part well; and here I think must end my
+praise of the evening&rsquo;s performances.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The great and most striking contrast between this city and those of Europe, is
+perceived after sunset; scarcely a sound is heard; hardly a voice or a wheel
+breaks the stillness. The Streets are entirely dark, except where a stray lamp
+marks an hotel or the like; no shops are open, but those of the apothecary, and
+here and there a cook&rsquo;s shop; scarcely a step is heard, and for a note of
+music, or the sound of mirth, I listened in vain. In leaving the theatre, which
+I always did before the afterpiece, I saw not a single carriage; the night of
+Miss Wright&rsquo;s lecture, when I stayed to the end, I saw one. This
+darkness, this stillness, is so great, that I almost felt it awful. As we
+walked home one fine moonlight evening from the Chestnut Street house, we
+stopped a moment before the United States Bank, to look at its white marble
+columns by the subdued lights said to be so advantageous to them; the building
+did, indeed, look beautiful; the incongruous objects around were hardly
+visible, while the brilliant white of the building, which by daylight is
+dazzling, was mellowed into fainter light and softer shadow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+While pausing before this modern temple of Theseus, we remarked that we alone
+seemed alive in this great city; it was ten o&rsquo;clock, and a most lovely
+cool evening, after a burning day, yet all was silence. Regent Street, Bond
+Street, with their blaze of gas-light <i>bijouterie</i>, and still more the
+Italian Boulevard of Paris, rose in strong contrast on the memory; the light,
+which outshines that of day&mdash;the gay, graceful, laughing throng&mdash;the
+elegant saloons of Tortoni, with all their varieties of cooling
+nectar&mdash;were all remembered. Is it an European prejudice to deem that the
+solitary dram swallowed by the gentlemen on quitting an American theatre
+indicates a lower and more vicious state of manners, than do the ices so
+sedulously offered to the ladies on leaving a French one?
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+The museum contains a good collection of objects illustrative of natural
+history, and some very interesting specimens of Indian antiquities; both here
+and at Cincinnati I saw so many things resembling Egyptian relics, that I
+should like to see the origin of the Indian nations enquired into, more
+accurately than has yet been done.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The shops, of which there appeared to me to be an unusually large proportion,
+are very handsome; many of them in a style of European elegance. Lottery
+offices abound, and that species of gambling is carried to a great extent. I
+saw fewer carriages in Philadelphia than either at Baltimore or Washington, but
+in the winter I was told they were more numerous.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Many of the best families had left the city for different watering-places, and
+others were daily following. Long Branch is a fashionable bathing place on the
+Jersey shore, to which many resort, both from this place and from New York; the
+description given of the manner of bathing appeared to me rather extraordinary,
+but the account was confirmed by so many different people, that I could not
+doubt its correctness. The shore, it seems, is too bold to admit of bathing
+machines, and the ladies have, therefore, recourse to another mode of ensuring
+the enjoyment of a sea-bath with safety. The accommodation at Long Branch is
+almost entirely at large boarding-houses, where all the company live at a
+<i>table d&rsquo;hôte</i>. It is customary for ladies on arriving to look round
+among the married gentlemen, the first time they meet at table, and to select
+the one her fancy leads her to prefer as a protector in her purposed visits to
+the realms of Neptune; she makes her request, which is always graciously
+received, that he would lead her to taste the briny wave; but another fair one
+must select the same protector, else the arrangement cannot be complete, as
+custom does not authorise <i>tete a tete</i> immersion.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap26"></a>CHAPTER XXVI</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Quakers&mdash;Presbyterians&mdash;Itinerant Methodist
+Preacher&mdash;Market&mdash;Influence of females in society
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had never chanced, among all my wanderings, to enter a Quaker Meeting-house;
+and as I thought I could no where make my first visit better than at
+Philadelphia, I went under the protection of a Quaker lady to the principal
+<i>orthodox</i> meeting of the city. The building is large, but perfectly
+without ornament; the men and women are separated by a rail which divides it
+into two equal parts; the meeting was very full on both sides, and the
+atmosphere almost intolerably hot. As they glided in at their different doors,
+I spied many pretty faces peeping from the prim head gear of the females, and
+as the broad-brimmed males sat down, the welcome Parney supposes prepared for
+them in heaven, recurred to me,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Entre done, et garde ton chapeau.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+The little bonnets and the large hats were ranged in long rows, and their
+stillness was for a long time so unbroken, that I could hardly persuade myself
+the figures they surmounted were alive. At length a grave square man arose,
+laid aside his ample beaver, and after another solemn interval of silence, he
+gave a deep groan, and as it were by the same effort uttered, &ldquo;Keep thy
+foot.&rdquo; Again he was silent for many minutes, and then he continued for
+more that an hour to put forth one word at a time, but at such an interval from
+each other that I found it quite impossible to follow his meaning, if, indeed,
+he had any. My Quaker friend told me she knew not who he was, and that she much
+regretted I had heard so poor a preacher. After he had concluded, a
+gentleman-like old man (a physician by profession) arose, and delivered a few
+moral sentences in an agreeable manner; soon after he had sat down, the whole
+congregation rose, I know not at what signal, and made their exit. It is a
+singular kind of worship, if worship it may be called, where all prayer is
+forbidden; yet it appeared to me, in its decent quietness, infinitely
+preferable to what I had witnessed at the Presbyterian and Methodist
+Meeting-houses. A great schism had lately taken place among the Quakers of
+Philadelphia; many objecting to the over-strict discipline of the orthodox.
+Among the seceders there are again various shades of difference; I met many who
+called themselves Unitarian Quakers, others were Hicksites, and others again,
+though still wearing the Quaker habit, were said to be Deists.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We visited many churches and chapels in the city, but none that would elsewhere
+be called handsome, either internally or externally.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I went one evening, not a Sunday, with a party of ladies to see a Presbyterian
+minister inducted. The ceremony was woefully long, and the charge to the young
+man awfully impossible to obey, at least if he were a man, like unto other men.
+It was matter of astonishment to me to observe the deep attention, and the
+unwearied patience with which some hundreds of beautiful young girls who were
+assembled there, (not to mention the old ladies,) listened to the whole of this
+tedious ceremony; surely there is no country in the world where religion makes
+so large a part of the amusement and occupation of the ladies. Spain, in its
+most catholic days, could not exceed it: besides, in spite of the gloomy
+horrors of the Inquisition, gaiety and amusement were not there offered as a
+sacrifice by the young and lovely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The religious severity of Philadelphian manners is in nothing more conspicuous
+than in the number of chains thrown across the streets on a Sunday to prevent
+horses and carriages from passing. Surely the Jews could not exceed this
+country in their external observances. What the gentlemen of Philadelphia do
+with themselves on a Sunday, I will not pretend to guess, but the prodigious
+majority of females in the churches is very remarkable. Although a large
+proportion of the population of this city are Quakers, the same extraordinary
+variety of faith exists here, as every where else in the Union, and the priests
+have, in some circles, the same unbounded influence which has been mentioned
+elsewhere.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One history reached me, which gave a terrible picture of the effect this power
+may produce; it was related to me by my mantua-maker; a young woman highly
+estimable as a wife and mother, and on whose veracity I perfectly rely. She
+told me that her father was a widower, and lived with his family of three
+daughters, at Philadelphia. A short time before she married, an itinerant
+preacher came to the city, who contrived to obtain an intimate footing in many
+respectable families. Her father&rsquo;s was one of these, and his influence
+and authority were great with all the sisters, but particularly with the
+youngest. The young girl&rsquo;s feelings for him seem to have been a curious
+mixture of spiritual awe and earthly affection. When she received a hint from
+her sisters that she ought not to give him too much encouragement till he spoke
+out, she showed as much holy resentment as if they had told her not to say her
+prayers too devoutly. At length the father remarked the sort of covert passion
+that gleamed through the eyes of his godly visitor, and he saw too, the pallid
+anxious look which had settled on the young brow of his daughter; either this,
+or some rumours he had heard abroad, or both together, led him to forbid this
+man his house. The three girls were present when he did so, and all uttered a
+deprecating &ldquo;Oh father!&rdquo; but the old man added stoutly. If you show
+yourself here again, reverend sir, I will not only teach you the way out of my
+house, but out of the city also. The preacher withdrew, and was never heard of
+in Philadelphia afterwards; but when a few months had passed, strange whispers
+began to creep through the circle which had received and honoured him, and, in
+due course of time, no less than seven unfortunate girls produced living proofs
+of the wisdom of my informant&rsquo;s worthy father. In defence of this
+dreadful story I can only make the often repeated quotation, &ldquo;I tell the
+tale as &rsquo;twas told to me;&rdquo; but, in all sincerity I must add, that I
+have no doubt of its truth.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+I was particularly requested to visit the market of Philadelphia, at the hour
+when it presented the busiest scene; I did so, and thought few cities had any
+thing to show better worth looking at; it is, indeed, the very perfection of a
+market, the <i>beau ideal</i> of a notable housewife, who would confide to no
+deputy the important office of caterer. The neatness, freshness, and entire
+absence of every thing disagreeable to sight or smell, must be witnessed to be
+believed. The stalls were spread with snow-white napkins; flowers and fruit, if
+not quite of Paris or London perfection, yet bright, fresh, and fragrant; with
+excellent vegetables in the greatest variety and abundance, were all so
+delightfully exhibited, that objects less pleasing were overlooked and
+forgotten. The dairy, the poultry-yard, the forest, the river, and the ocean,
+all contributed their spoil; in short, for the first time in my life, I thought
+a market a beautiful object. The prices of most articles were, as nearly as I
+could calculate between dollars and francs, about the same as at Paris;
+certainly much cheaper than in London, but much dearer than at Exeter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My letters of introduction brought me acquainted with several amiable and
+interesting people. There is something in the tone of manners at Philadelphia
+that I liked; it appeared to me that there was less affectation of ton there
+than elsewhere. There is a quietness, a composure in a Philadelphia
+drawing-room, that is quite characteristic of a city founded by William Penn.
+The dress of the ladies, even those who are not Quakers, partakes of this; they
+are most elegantly neat, and there was a delicacy and good taste in the dress
+of the young ladies that might serve as a model to the whole Union. There can
+hardly be a stronger contrast in the style of dress between any two cities than
+may be remarked between Baltimore and Philadelphia; both are costly, but the
+former is distinguished by gaudy splendour, the latter by elegant simplicity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is said that this city has many gentlemen distinguished by their scientific
+pursuits; I conversed with several well informed and intelligent men, but there
+is a cold dryness of manner and an apparent want of interest in the subjects
+they discuss, that, to my mind, robs conversation of all its charm. On one
+occasion I heard the character and situation of an illustrious officer
+discussed, who had served with renown under Napoleon, and whose high character
+might have obtained him favour under the Bourbons, could he have abandoned the
+principles which led him to dislike their government. This distinguished man
+had retreated to America after the death of his master, and was endeavouring to
+establish a sort of Polytechnic academy at New York: in speaking of him, I
+observed, that his devotion to the cause of freedom must prove a strong
+recommendation in the United States. &ldquo;Not the least in the world,
+madam,&rdquo; answered a gentleman who ranked deservedly high among the
+<i>literati</i> of the city, &ldquo;it might avail him much in England,
+perhaps, but here we are perfectly indifferent as to what people&rsquo;s
+principles may be.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This I believe to be exactly true, though I never before heard it avowed as a
+national feature.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The want of warmth, of interest, of feeling, upon all subjects which do not
+immediately touch their own concerns, is universal, and has a most paralysing
+effect upon conversation. All the enthusiasm of America is concentrated to the
+one point of her own emancipation and independence; on this point nothing can
+exceed the warmth of her feelings. She may, I think, be compared to a young
+bride, a sort of Mrs. Major Waddle; her independence is to her as a newly-won
+bridegroom; for him alone she has eyes, ears, or heart;&mdash;the honeymoon is
+not over yet;&mdash;when it is, America will, perhaps, learn more coquetry, and
+know better how to <i>faire l&rsquo;aimable</i> to other nations.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I conceive that no place in the known world can furnish so striking a proof of
+the immense value of literary habits as the United States, not only in
+enlarging the mind, but what is of infinitely more importance, in purifying the
+manners. During my abode in the country I not only never met a literary man who
+was a tobacco chewer or a whiskey drinker, but I never met any who were not,
+that had escaped these degrading habits. On the women, the influence is, if
+possible, still more important; unfortunately, the instances are rare, but they
+are to be found. One admirable example occurs in the person of a young lady of
+Cincinnati: surrounded by a society totally incapable of appreciating, or even
+of comprehending her, she holds a place among it, as simply and unaffectedly as
+if of the same species; young, beautiful, and gifted by nature with a mind
+singularly acute and discriminating, she has happily found such opportunities
+of cultivation as might distinguish her in any country; it is, indeed, that
+best of all cultivation which is only to be found in domestic habits of
+literature, and in that hourly education which the daughter of a man of letters
+receives when she is made the companion and friend of her father. This young
+lady is the more admirable as she contrives to unite all the multifarious
+duties which usually devolve upon American ladies, with her intellectual
+pursuits. The companion and efficient assistant of her father&rsquo;s literary
+labours, the active aid in all the household cares of her mother, the tender
+nurse of a delicate infant sister, the skilful artificer of her own always
+elegant wardrobe, ever at leisure, and ever prepared to receive with the
+sweetest cheerfulness her numerous acquaintance, the most animated in
+conversation, the most indefatigable in occupation, it was impossible to know
+her, and study her character without feeling that such women were &ldquo;the
+glory of all lands,&rdquo; and, could the race be multiplied, would speedily
+become the reformers of all the grossness and ignorance that now degrade her
+own. Is it to be imagined, that if fifty modifications of this charming young
+woman were to be met at a party, the men would dare to enter it reeking with
+whiskey, their lips blackened with tobacco, and convinced, to the very centre
+of their hearts and souls, that women were made for no other purpose than to
+fabricate sweetmeats and gingerbread, construct shirts, darn stockings, and
+become mothers of possible presidents? Assuredly not. Should the women of
+America ever discover what their power might be, and compare it with what it
+is, much improvement might be hoped for. While, at Philadelphia, among the
+handsomest, the wealthiest, and the most distinguished of the land, their
+comparative influence in society, with that possessed in Europe by females
+holding the same station, occurred forcibly to my mind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Let me be permitted to describe the day of a Philadelphian lady of the first
+class, and the inference I would draw from it will be better understood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It may be said that the most important feature in a woman&rsquo;s history is
+her maternity. It is so; but the object of the present observation is the
+social, and not the domestic influence of woman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This lady shall be the wife of a senator and a lawyer in the highest repute and
+practice. She has a very handsome house, with white marble steps and
+door-posts, and a delicate silver knocker and door-handle; she has very
+handsome drawing-rooms, very handsomely furnished, (there is a sideboard in one
+of them, but it is very handsome, and has very handsome decanters and cut glass
+water-jugs upon it); she has a very handsome carriage, and a very handsome free
+black coachman; she is always very handsomely dressed; and, moreover, she is
+very handsome herself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She rises, and her first hour is spent in the scrupulously nice arrangement of
+her dress; she descends to her parlour neat, stiff, and silent; her breakfast
+is brought in by her free black footman; she eats her fried ham and her salt
+fish, and drinks her coffee in silence, while her husband reads one newspaper,
+and puts another under his elbow; and then, perhaps, she washes the cups and
+saucers. Her carriage is ordered at eleven; till that hour she is employed in
+the pastry-room, her snow-white apron protecting her mouse-coloured silk.
+Twenty minutes before her carriage should appear, she retires to her chamber,
+as she calls it, shakes, and folds up her still snow-white apron, smooths her
+rich dress, and with nice care, sets on her elegant bonnet, and all the
+handsome <i>et cetera</i>; then walks down stairs, just at the moment that her
+free black coachman announces to her free black footman that the carriage
+waits. She steps into it, and gives the word, &ldquo;Drive to the Dorcas
+society.&rdquo; her footman stays at home to clean the knives, but her coachman
+can trust his horses while he opens the carriage door, and his lady not being
+accustomed to a hand or an arm, gets out very safely without, though one of her
+own is occupied by a work-basket, and the other by a large roll of all those
+indescribable matters which ladies take as offerings to Dorcas societies. She
+enters the parlour appropriated for the meeting, and finds seven other ladies,
+very like herself, and takes her place among them; she presents her
+contribution, which is accepted with a gentle circular smile, and her parings
+of broad cloth, her ends of ribbon, her gilt paper, and her minikin pins, are
+added to the parings of broad cloth, the ends of ribbon, the gilt papers, and
+the minikin pins with which the table is already covered; she also produces
+from her basket three ready-made pincushions, four ink-wipers, seven paper
+matches, and a paste-board watch-case; these are welcomed with acclamations,
+and the youngest lady present deposits them carefully on shelves, amid a
+prodigious quantity of similar articles. She then produces her thimble, and
+asks for work; it is presented to her, and the eight ladies all stitch together
+for some hours. Their talk is of priests and of missions; of the profits of
+their last sale, of their hopes from the next; of the doubt whether your Mr.
+This, or young Mr. That should receive the fruits of it to fit him out for
+Liberia; of the very ugly bonnet seen at church on Sabbath morning, of the very
+handsome preacher who performed on Sabbath afternoon, and of the very large
+collection made on Sabbath evening. This lasts till three, when the carriage
+again appears, and the lady and her basket return home; she mounts to her
+chamber, carefully sets aside her bonnet and its appurtenances, puts on her
+scolloped black silk apron, walks into the kitchen to see that all is right,
+then into the parlour, where, having cast a careful glance over the table
+prepared for dinner, she sits down, work in hand, to await her spouse. He
+comes, shakes hands with her, spits, and dines. The conversation is not much,
+and ten minutes suffices for the dinner; fruit and toddy, the newspaper and the
+work-bag succeed. In the evening the gentleman, being a savant, goes to the
+Wister society, and afterwards plays a snug rubber at a neighbour&rsquo;s. The
+lady receives at tea a young missionary and three members of the Dorcas
+society.&mdash;And so ends her day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For some reason or other, which English people are not very likely to
+understand, a great number of young married persons board by the year, instead
+of &ldquo;going to housekeeping,&rdquo; as they call having an establishment of
+their own. Of course this statement does not include persons of large fortune,
+but it does include very many whose rank in society would make such a mode of
+life quite impossible with us. I can hardly imagine a contrivance more
+effectual for ensuring the insignificance of a woman, than marrying her at
+seventeen, and placing her in a boarding-house. Nor can I easily imagine a life
+of more uniform dulness for the lady herself; but this certainly is a matter of
+taste. I have heard many ladies declare that it is &ldquo;just quite the
+perfection of comfort to have nothing to fix for oneself.&rdquo; Yet despite
+these assurances I always experienced a feeling which hovered between pity and
+contempt, when I contemplated their mode of existence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How would a newly-married Englishwoman endure it, her head and her heart full
+of the one dear scheme&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Well-ordered home, <i>his</i> dear delight to make?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+She must rise exactly in time to reach the boarding table at the hour appointed
+for breakfast, or she will get a stiff bow from the lady president, cold
+coffee, and no egg. I have been sometimes greatly amused upon these occasions
+by watching a little scene in which the bye-play had much more meaning than the
+words uttered. The fasting, but tardy lady, looks round the table, and having
+ascertained that there was no egg left, says distinctly, &ldquo;I will take an
+egg if you please.&rdquo; But as this is addressed to no one in particular, no
+one in particular answers it, unless it happen that her husband is at table
+before her, and then he says, &ldquo;There are no eggs, my dear.&rdquo;
+Whereupon the lady president evidently cannot hear, and the greedy culprit who
+has swallowed two eggs (for there are always as many eggs as noses) looks
+pretty considerably afraid of being found out. The breakfast proceeds in sombre
+silence, save that sometimes a parrot, and sometimes a canary bird, ventures to
+utter a timid note. When it is finished, the gentlemen hurry to their
+occupation, and the quiet ladies mount the stairs, some to the first, some to
+the second, and some to the third stories, in an inverse proportion to the
+number of dollars paid, and ensconce themselves in their respective chambers.
+As to what they do there it is not very easy to say, but I believe they
+clear-starch a little, and iron a little, and sit in a rocking-chair, and sew a
+great deal. I always observed that the ladies who boarded, wore more
+elaborately worked collars and petticoats than any one else. The plough is
+hardly a more blessed instrument in America than the needle. How could they
+live without it? But time and the needle wear through the longest morning, and
+happily the American morning is not very long, even though they breakfast at
+eight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is generally about two o&rsquo;clock that the boarding gentlemen meet the
+boarding ladies at dinner. Little is spoken, except a whisper between the
+married pairs. Sometimes a sulky bottle of wine flanks the plate of one or two
+individuals, but it adds nothing to the mirth of the meeting, and seldom more
+than one glass to the good cheer of the owners, it is not then, and it is not
+there, that the gentlemen of the Union drink. Soon, very soon, the silent meal
+is done, and then, if you mount the stairs after them, you will find from the
+doors of the more affectionate and indulgent wives, a smell of cigars steam
+forth, which plainly indicates the felicity of the couple within. If the
+gentleman be a very polite husband, he will, as soon as he has done smoking and
+drinking his toddy, offer his arm to his wife, as far as the corner of the
+street, where his store, or his office is situated, and there he will leave her
+to turn which way she likes. As this is the hour for being full dressed, of
+course she turns the way she can be most seen. Perhaps she pays a few visits;
+perhaps she goes to chapel; or, perhaps, she enters some store where her
+husband deals, and ventures to order a few notions; and then she goes home
+again&mdash;no, not home&mdash;I will not give that name to a
+boarding-house&mdash;but she re-enters the cold heartless atmosphere in which
+she dwells, where hospitality can never enter, and where interest takes the
+management instead of affection. At tea they all meet again, and a little
+trickery is perceptible to a nice observer in the manner of partaking the
+pound-cake, &amp;c. After this, those who are happy enough to have engagements
+hasten to keep them; those who have not, either mount again to the solitude of
+their chamber, or, what appeared to me much worse, remain in the common
+sitting-room, in a society cemented by no tie, endeared by no connexion, which
+choice did not bring together, and which the slightest motive would break
+asunder. I remarked that the gentlemen were generally obliged to go out every
+evening on business, and, I confess, the arrangement did not surprise me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is not thus that the women can obtain that influence in society which is
+allowed to them in Europe, and to which, both sages and men of the world have
+agreed in ascribing such salutary effects. It is in vain that &ldquo;collegiate
+institutes&rdquo; are formed for young ladies, or that &ldquo;academic
+degrees&rdquo; are conferred upon them. It is after marriage, and when these
+young attempts upon all the sciences are forgotten, that the lamentable
+insignificance of the American woman appears, and till this be remedied, I
+venture to prophesy that the tone of their drawing-rooms will not improve.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Whilst I was at Philadelphia a great deal of attention was excited by the
+situation of two criminals, who had been convicted of robbing the Baltimore
+mail, and were lying under sentence of death. The rare occurrence of capital
+punishment in America makes it always an event of great interest; and the
+approaching execution was repeatedly the subject of conversation at the
+boarding table. One day a gentleman told us he had that morning been assured
+that one of the criminals had declared to the visiting clergyman that he was
+certain of being reprieved, and that nothing the clergyman could say to the
+contrary made any impression upon him. Day after day this same story was
+repeated, and commented upon at table, and it appeared that the report had been
+heard in so many quarters, that not only was the statement received as true,
+but it began to be conjectured that the criminal had some ground for his hope.
+I learnt from these daily conversations that one of the prisoners was an
+American, and the other an Irishman, and it was the former who was so strongly
+persuaded he should not be hanged. Several of the gentlemen at table, in
+canvassing the subject, declared, that if the one were hanged and the other
+spared, this hanging would be a murder, and not a legal execution. In
+discussing this point, it was stated that very nearly all the white men who had
+suffered death since the declaration of Independence had been Irishmen. What
+truth there may be in this general statement, I have no means of ascertaining;
+all I know is, that I heard it made. On this occasion, however, the Irishman
+was hanged, and the American was not.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap27"></a>CHAPTER XXVII</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Return to
+Stonington&mdash;Thunderstorm&mdash;Emigrants&mdash;Illness&mdash;Alexandria
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A fortnight passed rapidly away in this great city, and, doubtless, there was
+still much left unseen when we quitted it, according to previous arrangement,
+to return to our friends in Maryland. We came back by a different route, going
+by land from Newcastle to French Town, instead of passing by the canal. We
+reached Baltimore in the middle of the night, but finished our repose on board
+the steam-boat, and started for Washington at five o&rsquo;clock the next
+morning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our short abode amid the heat and closeness of a city made us enjoy more than
+ever the beautiful scenery around Stonington. The autumn, which soon advanced
+upon us, again clothed the woods in colours too varied and gaudy to be
+conceived by those who have never quitted Europe; and the stately maize, waving
+its flowing tassels, as the long drooping blossoms are called, made every field
+look like a little forest. A rainy spring had been followed by a summer of
+unusual heat; and towards the autumn frequent thunderstorms of terrific
+violence cleared the air, but at the same time frightened us almost out of our
+wits. On one occasion I was exposed, with my children, to the full fury of one
+of these awful visitations. We suffered considerable terror during this storm,
+but when we were all again safe, and comfortably sheltered, we rejoiced that
+the accident had occurred, as it gave us the best possible opportunity of
+witnessing, in all its glory, a transatlantic thunderstorm. It was, however,
+great imprudence that exposed us to it, for we quitted the house, and mounted a
+hill at a considerable distance from it, for the express purpose of watching to
+advantage the extraordinary aspect of the clouds. When we reached the top of
+the hill half the heavens appeared hung with a heavy curtain; a sort of deep
+blue black seemed to colour the very air; the blizzards screamed, as with heavy
+wing they sought the earth. We ought, in common prudence, to have immediately
+retreated to the house, but the scene was too beautiful to be left. For several
+minutes after we reached our station, the air appeared perfectly without
+movement, no flash broke through the seven-fold cloud, but a flickering light
+was visible, darting to and fro behind it. By degrees the thunder rolled
+onward, nearer and nearer, till the inky cloud burst asunder, and cataracts of
+light came pouring from behind it. From that moment there was no interval, no
+pause, the lightning did not flash, there were no claps of thunder, but the
+heavens blazed and bellowed above and around us, till stupor took the place of
+terror, and we stood utterly confounded. But we were speedily aroused, for
+suddenly, as if from beneath our feet, a gust arose which threatened to mix all
+the elements in one. Torrents of water seemed to bruise the earth by their
+violence; eddies of thick dust rose up to meet them; the fierce fires of heaven
+only blazed the brighter for the falling flood; while the blast almost
+out-roared the thunder. But the wind was left at last the lord of all, for
+after striking with wild force, now here, now there, and bringing worlds of
+clouds together in most hostile contact, it finished by clearing the wide
+heavens of all but a few soft straggling masses, whence sprung a glorious
+rainbow, and then retired, leaving the earth to raise her half crushed forests;
+and we, poor pigmies, to call back our frighted senses, and recover breath as
+we might.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During this gust, it would have been impossible for us to have kept our feet;
+we crouched down under the shelter of a heap of stones, and, as we informed
+each other, looked most dismally pale.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Many trees were brought to the earth before our eyes; some torn up by the
+roots, and some mighty stems snapt off several feet from the ground. If the
+West Indian hurricanes exceed this, they must be terrible indeed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The situation of Mrs. S&mdash;&rsquo;s house was considered as remarkably
+healthy, and I believe justly so, for on more than one occasion, persons who
+were suffering from fever and ague at the distance of a mile or two, were
+perfectly restored by passing a week or fortnight at Stonington; but the
+neighbourhood of it, particularly on the side bordering the Potomac, was much
+otherwise, and the mortality among the labourers on the canal was frightful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have elsewhere stated my doubts if the labouring poor of our country mend
+their condition by emigrating to the United States, but it was not till the
+opportunity which a vicinity to the Chesapeake and Ohio canal gave me, of
+knowing what their situation was after making the change, that I became fully
+aware how little it was to be desired for them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of the white labourers on this canal, the great majority are Irishmen; their
+wages are from ten to fifteen dollars a month, with a miserable lodging, and a
+large allowance of whiskey. It is by means of this hateful poison that they are
+tempted, and indeed enabled for a time, to stand the broiling heat of the sun
+in a most noxious climate: for through such, close to the romantic but
+unwholesome Potomac, the line of the canal has hitherto run. The situation of
+these poor strangers, when they sink at last in &ldquo;<i>the fever,</i>&rdquo;
+which sooner or later is sure to overtake them, is dreadful. There is a strong
+feeling against the Irish in every part of the Union, but they will do twice as
+much work as a negro, and therefore they are employed. When they fall sick,
+they may, and must, look with envy on the slaves around them; for they are
+cared for; they are watched and physicked, as a valuable horse is watched and
+physicked: not so the Irishman, he is literally thrown on one side, and a new
+comer takes his place. Details of their sufferings, and unheeded death, too
+painful to dwell upon, often reached us; on one occasion a farmer calling at
+the house, told the family that a poor man, apparently in a dying condition,
+was lying beside a little brook at the distance of a quarter of a mile. The
+spot was immediately visited by some of the family, and there in truth lay a
+poor creature, who was already past the power of speaking; he was conveyed to
+the house and expired during the night. By enquiring at the canal, it was found
+that he was an Irish labourer, who having fallen sick, and spent his last cent,
+had left the stifling shanty where he lay, in the desperate attempt of finding
+his way to Washington, with what hope I know not. He did not appear above
+twenty, and as I looked on his pale young face, which even in death expressed
+suffering, I thought that perhaps he had left a mother and a home to seek
+wealth in America. I saw him buried under a group of locust trees, his very
+name unknown to those who laid him there, but the attendance of the whole
+family at the grave, gave a sort of decency to his funeral which rarely, in
+that country, honors the poor relics of British dust: but no clergyman
+attended, no prayer was said, no bell was tolled; these, indeed, are ceremonies
+unthought of, and in fact unattainable without much expense, at such a distance
+from a town; had the poor youth been an American, he would have been laid in
+the earth in the same unceremonious manner. But had this poor Irish lad fallen
+sick in equal poverty and destitution among his own people, he would have found
+a blanket to wrap his shivering limbs, and a kindred hand to close his eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The poor of great Britain, whom distress, or a spirit of enterprise tempt to
+try another land, ought, for many reasons, to repair to Canada; there they
+would meet co-operation and sympathy, instead of malice, hatred, and all
+uncharitableness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I frequently heard vehement complaints, and constantly met the same in the
+newspapers, of a practice stated to be very generally adopted in Britain of
+sending out cargoes of parish paupers to the United States. A Baltimore paper
+heads some such remarks with the words
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+&ldquo;INFAMOUS CONDUCT!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+and then tells us of a cargo of aged paupers just arrived from England, adding,
+&ldquo;John Bull has squeezed the orange, and now insolently casts the skin in
+our faces.&rdquo; Such being the feeling, it will be readily believed that
+these unfortunates are not likely to meet much kindness or sympathy in
+sickness, or in suffering of any kind. If these American statements be correct,
+and that different parishes are induced, from an excessive population, to pay
+the voyage and outfit of some of their paupers across the Atlantic, why not
+send them to Canada?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is certain, however, that all the enquiries I could make failed to
+substantiate these American statements. All I could ascertain was, that many
+English and Irish poor arrived yearly in the United States, with no other
+resources than what their labour furnished. This, though very different from
+the newspaper stories, is quite enough to direct attention to the subject. It
+is generally acknowledged that the suffering among our labouring classes arises
+from the excess of our population; and it is impossible to see such a country
+as Canada, its extent, its fertility, its fine climate, and know that it is
+British ground, without feeling equal sorrow and astonishment that it is not
+made the means of relief. How earnestly it is to be wished that some part of
+that excellent feeling which is for ever at work in England to help the
+distressed, could be directed systematically to the object of emigration to the
+Canadas. Large sums are annually raised for charitable purposes, by weekly
+subscriptions of one penny; were only a part of the money so obtained to be
+devoted to this object, hundreds of families might yearly be sent to people our
+own land. The religious feeling, which so naturally mixes with every charitable
+purpose, would there find the best field for its exertions. Where could a
+missionary, whether Protestant or Catholic, find a holier mission than that
+which sent him to comfort and instruct his countrymen in the wilderness? or
+where could he reap a higher reward in this world, than seeing that wilderness
+growing into fertile fields under the hands of his flock?
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+I never saw so many autumn flowers as grow in the woods and sheep-walks of
+Maryland; a second spring seemed to clothe the fields, but with grief and shame
+I confess, that of these precious blossoms I scarcely knew a single name. I
+think the Michaelmas daisy, in wonderful variety of form and colour, and the
+prickly pear, were almost my only acquaintance: let no one visit America
+without having first studied botany; it is an amusement, as a clever friend of
+mine once told me, that helps one wonderfully up and down hill, and must be
+superlatively valuable in America, both from the plentiful lack of other
+amusements, and the plentiful material for enjoyment in this; besides, if one
+is dying to know the name of any of these lovely strangers, it is a thousand to
+one against his finding any one who can tell it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The prettiest eclipse of the moon I ever saw was that of September, of this
+year, (1830). We had been passing some hours amid the solemn scenery of the
+Potomac falls, and just as we were preparing to quit it, the full moon arose
+above the black pines, with half our shadow thrown across her. The effect of
+her rising thus eclipsed was more strange, more striking by far, than watching
+the gradual obscuration; and as I turned to look at the black chasm behind me,
+and saw the deadly alder, and the poison-vine waving darkly on the rocks
+around, I thought the scene wanted nothing but the figure of a palsied crone,
+plucking the fatal branches to concoct some charm of mischief.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Whether some such maga dogged my steps, I know not, but many hours had not
+elapsed ere I again felt the noxious influence of an American autumn. This
+fever, &ldquo;built in th&rsquo; eclipse,&rdquo; speedily brought me very low,
+and though it lasted not so long as that of the preceding year, I felt
+persuaded I should never recover from it. Though my forebodings were not
+verified by the event, it was declared that change of air was necessary, and it
+was arranged for me, (for I was perfectly incapable of settling any thing for
+myself,) that I should go to Alexandria, a pretty town at the distance of about
+fifteen miles, which had the reputation of possessing a skilful physician.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was not without regret that we quitted our friends at Stonington; but the
+prescription proved in a great degree efficacious; a few weeks&rsquo; residence
+in Alexandria restored my strength sufficiently to enable me to walk to a
+beautiful little grassy terrace, perfectly out of the town, but very near it,
+from whence we could watch the various craft that peopled the Potomac between
+Alexandria and Washington. But though gradually regaining strength, I was still
+far from well; all plans for winter gaiety were abandoned, and finding
+ourselves very well accommodated, we decided upon passing the winter where we
+were. It proved unusually severe; the Potomac was so completely frozen as to
+permit considerable traffic to be carried on by carts, crossing on the ice,
+from Maryland. This had not occurred before for thirty years. The distance was
+a mile and a quarter, and we ventured to brave the cold, and walk across this
+bright and slippery mirror, to make a visit on the opposite shore; the fatigue
+of keeping our feet was by no means inconsiderable, but we were rewarded by
+seeing as noble a winter landscape around us as the eye could look upon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When at length the frost gave way, the melting snow produced freshes so violent
+as to carry away the long bridge at Washington; large fragments of it, with the
+railing still erect, came floating down amidst vast blocks of ice, during many
+successive days, and it was curious to see the intrepidity with which the young
+sailors of Alexandria periled their lives to make spoil of the timber.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The solar eclipse of the 12th of February, 1831, was nearer total than any I
+ever saw, or ever shall see. It was completely annular at Alexandria, and the
+bright ring which surrounded the moon&rsquo;s shadow, though only 81° in
+breadth, gave light sufficient to read the smallest print; the darkness was
+considerably lessened by the snow, which, as the day was perfectly unclouded,
+reflected brightly all the light that was left us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Notwithstanding the extreme cold, we passed the whole time in the open air, on
+a rising ground near the river; in this position many beautiful effects were
+perceptible; the rapid approach and change of shadows, the dusky hue of the
+broad Potomac, that seemed to drink in the feeble light, which its snow-covered
+banks gave back to the air, the gradual change of every object from the
+colouring of bright sunshine to one sad universal tint of dingy purple, the
+melancholy lowing of the cattle, and the short, but remarkable suspension of
+all labour, gave something of mystery and awe to the scene that we shall long
+remember.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During the following months I occupied myself partly in revising my notes, and
+arranging these pages; and partly in making myself acquainted, as much as
+possible, with the literature of the country.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+While reading and transcribing my notes, I underwent a strict self-examination.
+I passed in review all I had seen, all I had felt, and scrupulously challenged
+every expression of disapprobation; the result was, that I omitted in
+transcription much that I had written, as containing unnecessary details of
+things which had displeased me; yet, as I did so, I felt strongly that there
+was no exaggeration in them; but such details, though true, might be
+ill-natured, and I retained no more than were necessary to convey the general
+impressions received. While thus reviewing my notes, I discovered that many
+points, which all scribbling travellers are expected to notice, had been
+omitted; but a few pages of miscellaneous observations will, I think, supply
+all that can be expected from so idle a pen.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap28"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+American Cooking&mdash;Evening
+Parties&mdash;Dress&mdash;Sleighing&mdash;Money-getting
+Habits&mdash;Tax-Gatherer&rsquo;s Notice&mdash;Indian Summer&mdash;Anecdote of
+the Duke of Saxe-Weimar
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In relating all I know of America, I surely must not omit so important a
+feature as the cooking. There are sundry anomalies in the mode of serving even
+a first-rate table; but as these are altogether matters of custom, they by no
+means indicate either indifference or neglect in this important business; and
+whether castors are placed on the table or on the sideboard; whether soup,
+fish, patties, and salad be eaten in orthodox order or not, signifies but
+little. I am hardly capable, I fear, of giving a very erudite critique on the
+subject; general observations therefore must suffice. The ordinary mode of
+living is abundant, but not delicate. They consume an extraordinary quantity of
+bacon. Ham and beaf-steaks appear morning, noon, and night. In eating, they mix
+things together with the strangest incongruity imaginable. I have seen eggs and
+oysters eaten together: the sempiternal ham with apple-sauce; beefsteak with
+stewed peaches; and salt fish with onions. The bread is everywhere excellent,
+but they rarely enjoy it themselves, as they insist upon eating horrible
+half-baked hot rolls both morning and evening. The butter is tolerable; but
+they have seldom such cream as every little dairy produces in England; in fact,
+the cows are very roughly kept, compared with our&rsquo;s. Common vegetables
+are abundant and very fine. I never saw sea-cale or cauliflowers, and either
+from the want of summer rain, or the want of care, the harvest of green
+vegetables is much sooner over than with us. They eat the Indian corn in a
+great variety of forms; sometimes it is dressed green, and eaten like peas;
+sometimes it is broken to pieces when dry, boiled plain, and brought to table
+like rice; this dish is called hominy. The flour of it is made into at least a
+dozen different sorts of cakes; but in my opinion all bad. This flour, mixed in
+the proportion of one-third with fine wheat, makes by far the best bread I ever
+tasted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I never saw turbot, salmon, or fresh cod; but the rock and shad are excellent.
+There is a great want of skill in the composition of sauces; not only with
+fish, but with every thing. They use very few made dishes, and I never saw any
+that would be approved by our savants. They have an excellent wild duck, called
+the Canvass Back, which, if delicately served, would surpass the black cock;
+but the game is very inferior to our&rsquo;s; they have no hares, and I never
+saw a pheasant. They seldom indulge in second courses, with all their ingenious
+temptations to the eating a second dinner; but almost every table has its
+dessert, (invariably pronounced desart) which is placed on the table before the
+cloth is removed, and consists of pastry, preserved fruits, and creams. They
+are &ldquo;extravagantly fond,&rdquo; to use their own phrase, of puddings,
+pies, and all kinds of &ldquo;sweets,&rdquo; particularly the ladies; but are
+by no means such connoisseurs in soups and ragouts as the gastronomes of
+Europe. Almost every one drinks water at table, and by a strange contradiction,
+in the country where hard drinking is more prevalent than in any other, there
+is less wine taken at dinner; ladies rarely exceed one glass, and the great
+majority of females never take any. In fact, the hard drinking, so universally
+acknowledged, does not take place at jovial dinners, but, to speak plain
+English, in solitary dram-drinking. Coffee is not served immediately after
+dinner, but makes part of the serious matter of tea-drinking, which comes some
+hours later. Mixed dinner parties of ladies and gentlemen are very rare, and
+unless several foreigners are present, but little conversation passes at table.
+It certainly does not, in my opinion, add to the well ordering a dinner table,
+to set the gentlemen at one end of it, and the ladies at the other; but it is
+very rarely that you find it otherwise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Their large evening parties are supremely dull; the men sometimes play cards by
+themselves, but if a lady plays, it must not be for money; no ecarte, no chess;
+very little music, and that little lamentably bad. Among the blacks, I heard
+some good voices, singing in tune; but I scarcely ever heard a white American,
+male or female, go through an air without being out of tune before the end of
+it; nor did I ever meet any trace of science in the singing I heard in society.
+To eat inconceivable quantities of cake, ice, and pickled oysters&mdash;and to
+show half their revenue in silks and satins, seem to be the chief object they
+have in these parties.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The most agreeable meetings, I was assured by all the young people, were those
+to which no married women are admitted; of the truth of this statement I have
+not the least doubt. These exclusive meetings occur frequently, and often last
+to a late hour; on these occasions, I believe, they generally dance. At regular
+balls, married ladies are admitted, but seldom take much part in the amusement.
+The refreshments are always profuse and costly, but taken in a most
+uncomfortable manner. I have known many private balls, where every thing was on
+the most liberal scale of expense, where the gentlemen sat down to supper in
+one room, while the ladies took theirs, standing, in another.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What we call picnics are very rare, and when attempted, do not often succeed
+well. The two sexes can hardly mix for the greater part of a day without great
+restraint and ennui; it is quite contrary to their general habits; the
+favourite indulgences of the gentlemen (smoking cigars and drinking spirits),
+can neither be indulged in with decency, nor resigned with complacency.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The ladies have strange ways of adding to their charms. They powder themselves
+immoderately, face, neck, and arms, with pulverised starch; the effect is
+indescribably disagreeable by daylight, and not very favourable at any time.
+They are also most unhappily partial to false hair, which they wear in
+surprising quantities; this is the more to be lamented, as they generally have
+very fine hair of their own. I suspect this fashion to arise from an indolent
+mode of making their toilet, and from accomplished ladies&rsquo; maids not
+being very abundant; it is less trouble to append a bunch of waving curls here,
+there, and every where, than to keep their native tresses in perfect order.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Though the expense of the ladies&rsquo; dress greatly exceeds, in proportion to
+their general style of living, that of the ladies of Europe, it is very far
+(excepting in Philadelphia) from being in good taste. They do not consult the
+seasons in the colours or in the style of their costume; I have often shivered
+at seeing a young beauty picking her way through the snow with a pale
+rose-coloured bonnet, set on the very top of her head: I knew one young lady
+whose pretty little ear was actually frostbitten from being thus exposed. They
+never wear muffs or boots, and appear extremely shocked at the sight of
+comfortable walking shoes and cotton stockings, even when they have to step to
+their sleighs over ice and snow. They walk in the middle of winter with their
+poor little toes pinched into a miniature slipper, incapable of excluding as
+much moisture as might bedew a primrose. I must say in their excuse, however,
+that they have, almost universally, extremely pretty feet. They do not walk
+well, nor, in fact, do they ever appear to advantage when in movement. I know
+not why this should be, for they have abundance of French dancing-masters among
+them, but somehow or other it is the fact. I fancied I could often trace a
+mixture of affectation and of shyness in their little mincing unsteady step,
+and the ever changing position of the hands. They do not dance well; perhaps I
+should rather say they do not look well when dancing; lovely as their faces
+are, they cannot, in a position that exhibits the whole person, atone for the
+want of <i>tournure</i>, and for the universal defect in the formation of the
+bust, which is rarely full, or gracefully formed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I never saw an American man walk or stand well; notwithstanding their frequent
+militia drillings, they are nearly all hollow chested and round shouldered:
+perhaps this is occasioned by no officer daring to say to a brother free-born
+&ldquo;hold up your head;&rdquo; whatever the cause, the effect is very
+remarkable to a stranger. In stature, and in physiognomy, a great majority of
+the population, both male and female, are strikingly handsome, but they know
+not how to do their own honours; half as much comeliness elsewhere would
+produce ten times as much effect.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nothing can exceed their activity and perseverance in all kinds of speculation,
+handicraft, and enterprise, which promises a profitable pecuniary result. I
+heard an Englishman, who had been long resident in America, declare that in
+following, in meeting, or in overtaking, in the street, on the road, or in the
+field, at the theatre, the coffee-house, or at home, he had never overheard
+Americans conversing without the word DOLLAR being pronounced between them.
+Such unity of purpose, such sympathy of feeling, can, I believe, be found
+nowhere else, except, perhaps, in an ants&rsquo; nest. The result is exactly
+what might be anticipated. This sordid object, for ever before their eyes, must
+inevitably produce a sordid tone of mind, and, worse still, it produces a
+seared and blunted conscience on all questions of probity. I know not a more
+striking evidence of the low tone of morality which is generated by this
+universal pursuit of money, than the manner in which the New England States are
+described by Americans. All agree in saying that they present a spectacle of
+industry and prosperity delightful to behold, and this is the district and the
+population most constantly quoted as the finest specimen of their admirable
+country; yet I never met a single individual in any part of the Union who did
+not paint these New Englanders as sly, grinding, selfish, and tricking. The
+yankees (as the New Englanders are called) will avow these qualities themselves
+with a complacent smile, and boast that no people on the earth can match them
+at over reaching in a bargain. I have heard them unblushingly relate stories of
+their cronies and friends, which, if believed among us, would banish the heroes
+from the fellowship of honest men for ever; and all this is uttered with a
+simplicity which sometimes led me to doubt if the speakers knew what honour and
+honesty meant. Yet the Americans declare that &ldquo;they are the most moral
+people upon earth.&rdquo; Again and again I have heard this asserted, not only
+in conversation, and by their writings, but even from the pulpit. Such broad
+assumption of superior virtue demands examination, and after four years of
+attentive and earnest observation and enquiry, my honest conviction is, that
+the standard of moral character in the United States is very greatly lower than
+in Europe. Of their religion, as it appears outwardly, I have had occasion to
+speak frequently; I pretend not to judge the heart, but, without any
+uncharitable presumption, I must take permission to say, that both Protestant
+England and Catholic France show an infinitely superior religious and moral
+aspect to mortal observation, both as to reverend decency of external
+observance, and as to the inward fruit of honest dealing between man and man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In other respects I think no one will be disappointed who visits the country,
+expecting to find no more than common sense might teach him to look for,
+namely, a vast continent, by far the greater part of which is still in the
+state in which nature left it, and a busy, bustling, industrious population,
+hacking and hewing their way through it. What greatly increases the interest of
+this spectacle, is the wonderful facility for internal commerce, furnished by
+the rivers, lakes, and canals, which thread the country in every direction,
+producing a rapidity of progress in all commercial and agricultural speculation
+altogether unequalled. This remarkable feature is perceptible in every part of
+the union into which the fast spreading population has hitherto found its way,
+and forms, I think, the most remarkable and interesting peculiarity of the
+country. I hardly remember a single town where vessels of some description or
+other may not constantly be seen in full activity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Their carriages of every kind are very unlike ours; those belonging to private
+individuals seem all constructed with a view to summer use, for which they are
+extremely well calculated, but they are by no means comfortable in winter. The
+waggons and cars are built with great strength, which is indeed necessary, from
+the roads they often have to encounter. The stagecoaches are heavier and much
+less comfortable than those of France; to those of England they can bear no
+comparison. I never saw any harness that I could call handsome, nor any
+equipage which, as to horses, carriage, harness, and servants, could be
+considered as complete. The sleighs are delightful, and constructed at so
+little expense that I wonder we have not all got them in England, lying by, in
+waiting for the snow, which often remains with us long enough to permit their
+use. Sleighing is much more generally enjoyed by night than by day, for what
+reason I could never discover, unless it be, that no gentlemen are to be found
+disengaged from business in the mornings. Nothing, certainly, can be more
+agreeable than the gliding smoothly and rapidly along, deep sunk in soft furs,
+the moon shining with almost midday splendour, the air of crystal brightness,
+and the snow sparkling on every side, as if it were sprinkled with diamonds.
+And then the noiseless movement of the horses, so mysterious and unwonted, and
+the gentle tinkling of the bells you meet and carry, all help at once to soothe
+and excite the spirits: in short, I had not the least objection to sleighing by
+night, I only wished to sleigh by day also.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Almost every resident in the country has a carriage they call a carryall, which
+name I suspect to be a corruption of the cariole so often mentioned in the
+pretty Canadian story of Emily Montagu. It is clumsy enough, certainly, but
+extremely convenient, and admirably calculated, with its thick roof and
+moveable draperies, for every kind of summer excursion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Their steam-boats, were the social arrangements somewhat improved, would be
+delightful, as a mode of travelling; but they are very seldom employed for
+excursions of mere amusement: nor do I remember seeing pleasure-boats, properly
+so called, at any of the numerous places where they might be used with so much
+safety and enjoyment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How often did our homely adage recur to me, &ldquo;All work and no play would
+make Jack a dull boy;&rdquo; Jonathan is a very dull boy. We are by no means so
+gay as our lively neighbours on the other side the Channel, but, compared with
+Americans, we are whirligigs and tetotums; every day is a holyday, and every
+night a festival.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Perhaps if the ladies had quite their own way, a little more relaxation would
+be permitted; but there is one remarkable peculiarity in their manners which
+precludes the possibility of any dangerous outbreaking of the kind: few ladies
+have any command of ready money entrusted to them. I have been a hundred times
+present when bills for a few dollars, perhaps for one, have been brought for
+payment to ladies living in perfectly easy circumstances, who have declared
+themselves without money, and referred the claimant to their husbands for
+payment. On every occasion where immediate disbursement is required it is the
+same; even in shopping for ready cash they say, &ldquo;send a bill home with
+the things, and my husband will give you a draft.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I think that it was during my stay at Washington, that I was informed of a
+government regulation, which appeared to me curious; I therefore record it
+here.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Every Deputy Post-Master is required to insert in his return the title of every
+newspaper received at his office for distribution. This return is laid before
+the Secretary of State, who, perfectly knowing the political character of each
+newspaper, is thus enabled to feel the pulse of every limb of the monster mob.
+This is a well imagined device for getting a peep at the politics of a country
+where newspapers make part of the daily food, but is it quite consistent with
+their entire freedom? I do not believe we have any such tricks to regulate the
+disposal of offices and appointments.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I believe it was in Indiana that Mr. T. met with a printed notice relative to
+the payment of taxes, which I preserved as a curious sample of the manner in
+which the free citizens are coaxed and reasoned into obeying the laws.
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+&ldquo;LOOK OUT DELINQUENTS&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+&ldquo;Those indebted to me for taxes, fees, notes, and accounts, are specially
+requested to call and pay the same on or before the 1st day of December, 1828,
+as no longer indulgence will be given. I have called time and again, by
+advertisement and otherwise, to little effect; but now the time has come when
+my situation requires immediate payment from all indebted to me. It is
+impossible for me to pay off the amount of the duplicates of taxes and my other
+debts without recovering the same of those from whom it is due. I am at a loss
+to know the reason why those charged with taxes neglect to pay; from the
+negligence of many it would seem that they think the money is mine, or I have
+funds to discharge the taxes due to the State, and that I can wait with them
+until it suits their convenience to pay. The money is not mine; neither have I
+the funds to settle amount of the duplicate. My only resort is to collect; in
+doing so I should be sorry to have to resort to the authority given me by law
+for the recovery of the same. It should be the first object of every good
+citizen to pay his taxes, for it is in that way government is supported. Why
+are taxes assessed unless they are collected? Depend upon it, I shall proceed
+to collect agreeably to law, so govern yourselves accordingly.
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+JOHN SPENCER,<br/>
+Sh&rsquo;ff and Collector, D.C.
+</p>
+
+<p class="letter">
+<i>Nov.</i> 20, 1828.&rdquo;<br/>
+    &ldquo;N.B. On Thursday, the 27th inst. A. St. Clair and Geo. H. Dunn,
+Esqrs. depart for Indianopolis; I wish as many as can pay to do so, to enable
+me to forward as much as possible, to save the twenty-one per cent, that will
+be charged against me after the 8th of December next.
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+JS.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The first autumn I passed in America, I was surprised to find a great and very
+oppressive return of heat, accompanied with a heavy mistiness in the air, long
+after the summer heats were over; when this state of the atmosphere comes on,
+they say, &ldquo;we have got to the Indian summer.&rdquo; On desiring to have
+this phrase explained, I was told that the phenomenon described as the
+<i>Indian Summer</i> was occasioned by the Indians setting fire to the woods,
+which spread heat and smoke to a great distance; but I afterwards met with the
+following explanation, which appears to me much more reasonable. &ldquo;The
+Indian summer is so called because, at the particular period of the year in
+which it obtains, the Indians break up their village communities, and go to the
+interior to prepare for their winter hunting. This season seems to mark a
+dividing line, between the heat of summer, and the cold of winter, and is, from
+its mildness, suited to these migrations. The cause of this heat is the slow
+combustion of the leaves and other vegetable matter of the boundless and
+interminable forests. Those who at this season of the year have penetrated
+these forests, know all about it. To the feet the heat is quite sensible,
+whilst the ascending vapour warms every thing it embraces, and spreading out
+into the wide atmosphere, fills the circuit of the heavens with its peculiar
+heat and smokiness.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This unnatural heat sufficiently accounts for the sickliness of the American
+autumn. The effect of it is extremely distressing to the nerves, even when the
+general health continues good; to me, it was infinitely more disagreeable than
+the glowing heat of the dog-days.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A short time before we arrived in America, the Duke of Saxe-Weimar made a tour
+of the United States. I heard many persons speak of his unaffected and amiable
+manners, yet he could not escape the dislike which every trace of gentlemanly
+feeling is sure to create among the ordinary class of Americans. As an amusing
+instance of this, I made the following extract from a newspaper.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A correspondent of the Charlestown Gazette tells an anecdote connected
+with the Duke of Saxe-Weimar&rsquo;s recent journey through our country, which
+we do not recollect to have heard before, although some such story is told of
+the veritable Capt. Basil Hall. The scene occurred on the route between Augusta
+and Milledgeville; it seems that the sagacious Duke engaged three or four, or
+more seats, in the regular stage, for the accommodation of himself and suite,
+and thought by this that he had secured the monopoly of the vehicle. Not so,
+however; a traveller came along, and entered his name upon the book, and
+secured his seat by payment of the customary charges. To the Duke&rsquo;s great
+surprise on entering the stage, he found our traveller comfortably housed in
+one of the most eligible seats, wrapt up in his fear-nought, and snoring like a
+buffalo. The Duke, greatly irritated, called for the question of consideration.
+He demanded, in broken English, the cause of the gross intrusion, and insisted
+in a very princely manner, though not, it seems in very princely language, upon
+the incumbent vacating the seat in which he had made himself so impudently at
+home. But the Duke had yet to learn his first lesson of republicanism. The
+driver was one of those sturdy southrons, who can always, and at a
+moment&rsquo;s warning, whip his weight in wild cats: and he as resolutely told
+the Duke, that the traveller was as good, if not a better man, than himself;
+and that no alteration of the existing arrangement could be permitted.
+Saxe-Weimar became violent at this opposition, so unlike any to which his
+education hitherto had ever subjected him, and threatened John with the
+application of the bamboo. This was one of those threats which in Georgia
+dialect would subject a man to &ldquo;a rowing up salt river;&rdquo; and,
+accordingly, down leaped our driver from his box, and peeling himself for the
+combat, he leaped about the vehicle in the most wild-boar style, calling upon
+the prince of a five acre patch to put his threat in execution. But he of the
+star refused to make up issue in the way suggested, contenting himself with
+assuring the enraged southron of a complaint to his excellency the Governor, on
+arriving at the seat of government. This threat was almost as unlucky as the
+former, for it wrought the individual for whom it was intended into that
+species of fury, which, through discriminating in its madness, is nevertheless
+without much limit in its violence, and he swore that the Governor might go to
+&mdash;, and for his part he would just as leave lick the Governor as the Duke;
+he&rsquo;d like no better fun than to give both Duke and Governor a dressing in
+the same breath; could do it, he had little doubt, &amp;c. &amp;c.; and
+instigating one fist to diverge into the face of the marvelling and
+panic-stricken nobleman, with the other he thrust him down into a seat
+alongside the traveller, whose presence had been originally of such sore
+discomfort to his excellency, and bidding the attendants jump in with their
+discomfited master, he mounted his box in triumph, and went on his
+journey.&rdquo; I fully believe that this brutal history would be as
+distasteful to the travelled and polished few who are to be found scattered
+through the Union, as it is to me: but if they do not deem the
+<i>possibility</i> of such a scene to be a national degradation, I differ from
+them. The American people (speaking of the great mass) have no more idea of
+what constitutes the difference between this &ldquo;Prince of a five acre
+patch,&rdquo; and themselves, than a dray-horse has of estimating the points of
+the elegant victor of the race-course. Could the dray-horse speak, when
+expected to yield the daintiest stall to his graceful rival, he would say,
+&ldquo;a horse is a horse;&rdquo; and is it not with the same logic that the
+transatlantic Houynnhnm puts down all superiority with &ldquo;a man is a
+man?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This story justifies the reply of Talleyrand, when asked by Napoleon what he
+thought of the Americans, &ldquo;Sire, ce sont des fiers cochons, et des
+cochons fiers.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap29"></a>CHAPTER XXIX</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Literature&mdash;Extracts&mdash;Fine Arts&mdash;Education
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The character of the American literature is, generally speaking, pretty justly
+appreciated in Europe. The immense exhalation of periodical trash, which
+penetrates into every cot and corner of the country, and which is greedily
+sucked in by all ranks, is unquestionably one great cause of its inferiority.
+Where newspapers are the principal vehicles of the wit and wisdom of a people,
+the higher graces of composition can hardly be looked for.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That there are many among them who can write well, is most certain; but it is
+at least equally so, that they have little encouragement to exercise the power
+in any manner more dignified than becoming the editor of a newspaper or a
+magazine. As far as I could judge, their best writers are far from being the
+most popular. The general taste is decidedly bad; this is obvious, not only
+from the mass of slip-slop poured forth by the daily and weekly press, but from
+the inflated tone of eulogy in which their insect authors are lauded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To an American writer, I should think it must be a flattering distinction to
+escape the admiration of the newspapers. Few persons of taste, I imagine, would
+like such notice as the following, which I copied from a New York paper, where
+it followed the advertisement of a partnership volume of poems by a Mr, and
+Mrs. Brooks; but of such, are their literary notices chiefly composed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The lovers of impassioned and classical numbers may promise themselves
+much gratification from the muse of Brooks, while the many-stringed harp of his
+lady, the Norna of the Courier Harp, which none but she can touch, has a chord
+for every heart.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Another obvious cause of inferiority in the national literature, is the very
+slight acquaintance with the best models of composition, which is thought
+necessary for persons called well educated. There may be reason for deprecating
+the lavish expense of time bestowed in England on the acquirement of Latin and
+Greek, and it may be doubtful whether the power of composing in these languages
+with correctness and facility, be worth all the labour it costs; but as long as
+letters shall be left on the earth, the utility of a perfect familiarity with
+the exquisite models of antiquity, cannot be doubted. I think I run no risk of
+contradiction, when I say that an extremely small proportion of the higher
+classes in America possess this familiar acquaintance with the classics. It is
+vain to suppose that translations may suffice. Noble as are the thoughts the
+ancients have left us, their power of expression is infinitely more important
+as a study to modern writers; and this no translation can furnish. Nor did it
+appear to me that their intimacy with modern literature was such as to assist
+them much in the formation of style. What they class as modern literature seems
+to include little beyond the English publications of the day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To speak of Chaucer, or even Spenser, as a modern, appears to them
+inexpressibly ridiculous; and all the rich and varied eloquence of Italy, from
+Dante to Monti, is about as much known to them, as the Welsh effusions of Urien
+and Modred, to us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rousseau, Voltaire, Diderot, &amp;c., were read by the old federalists, but now
+they seem known more as naughty words, than as great names. I am much mistaken
+if a hundred untravelled Americans could be found, who have read Boileau or Le
+Fontaine. Still fewer are acquainted with that delightful host of French female
+writers, whose memoirs and letters sparkle in every page with unequalled
+felicity of style. The literature of Spain and Portugal is no better known, and
+as for &ldquo;the wits of Queen Anne&rsquo;s day,&rdquo; they are laid <i>en
+masse</i> upon a shelf, in some score of very old-fashioned houses, together
+with Sherlock and Taylor, as much too antiquated to suit the immensely rapid
+progress of mind which distinguishes America.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The most perfect examples of English writing, either of our own, or of any
+former day, have assuredly not been produced by the imitation of any particular
+style; but the Fairy Queen would hardly have been written, if the Orlando had
+not; nor would Milton have been the perfect poet he was, had Virgil and Tasso
+been unknown to him. It is not that the scholar mimics in writing the phrases
+he has read, but that he can neither think, feel, nor express himself as he
+might have done, had his mental companionship been of a lower order.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They are great novel readers, but the market is chiefly furnished by England.
+They have, however, a few very good native novels. Mr. Flint&rsquo;s Francis
+Berrian is delightful. There is a vigor and freshness in his writing that is
+exactly in accordance with what one looks for, in the literature of a new
+country; and yet, strange to say, it is exactly what is most wanting in that of
+America. It appeared to me that the style of their imaginative compositions was
+almost always affected, and inflated. Even in treating their great national
+subject of romance, the Indians, they are seldom either powerful or original. A
+few well known general features, moral and physical, are presented over and
+over again in all their Indian stories, till in reading them you lose all sense
+of individual character. Mr. Flint&rsquo;s History of the Mississippi Valley is
+a work of great interest, and information, and will, I hope, in time find its
+way to England, where I think it is much more likely to be appreciated than in
+America.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dr. Channing is a writer too well known in England to require my testimony to
+his great ability. As a preacher he has, perhaps, hardly a rival any where.
+This gentleman is an Unitarian, and I was informed by several persons well
+acquainted with the literary character of the country, that nearly all their
+distinguished men were of this persuasion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Pierpoint is a very eloquent preacher, and a sweet poet. His works are not
+so well known among us as .they ought to be. Mr. Everett has written some
+beautiful lines, and if I may judge from the specimens of his speeches, as
+preserved in the volumes intitled &ldquo;Eloquence of the United States,&rdquo;
+I should say that he shone more as a poet than an orator. But American fame has
+decided otherwise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. M. Flint, of Louisiana, has published a volume of poems which ought to be
+naturalised here. Mr. Hallock, of New York, has much facility of versification,
+and is greatly in fashion as a drawing-room poet, but I think he has somewhat
+too much respect for himself, and too little for his readers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is, I think, Mr. Bryant who ranks highest as the poet of the Union. This is
+too lofty an eminence for me to attack; besides, &ldquo;I am of another
+parish,&rdquo; and therefore, perhaps, no very fair judge.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From miscellaneous poetry I made a great many extracts, but upon returning to
+them for transcription I thought that ill-nature and dulness, (&lsquo;oh
+ill-matched pair!&rsquo;) would be more served by their insertion, than
+wholesome criticism.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The massive Fredoniad of Dr. Emmons, in forty cantos, I never read; but as I
+did not meet a single native who had, I hope this want of poetical enterprise
+will be excused.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They have very few native tragedies; not more than half a dozen I believe, and
+those of very recent date. It would be ungenerous to fall heavily upon these;
+the attempt alone, nearly the most arduous a poet can make, is of itself
+honourable: and the success at least equal to that in any other department of
+literature.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Paulding is a popular writer of novels; some of his productions have been
+recently republished in England. Miss Sedgwick is also well known among us; her
+&ldquo;Hope Leslie&rdquo; is a beautiful story. Mr. Washington Irving and Mr.
+Cooper have so decidedly chosen another field, whereon to reap their laurels,
+that it is hardly necessary to name them here.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I am not, of course, competent to form any opinion of their scientific works;
+but some papers which I read almost accidentally, appeared to me to be written
+with great clearness, and neatness of definition.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It appears extraordinary that a people who loudly declare their respect for
+science, should be entirely without observatories. Neither at their seats of
+learning, nor in their cities, does any thing of the kind exist; nor did I in
+any direction hear of individuals, given to the study of astronomy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had not the pleasure of making any acquaintance with Mr. Bowditch, of Boston,
+but I know that this gentleman ranks very high as a mathematician in the
+estimation of the scientific world of Europe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jefferson&rsquo;s posthumous works were very generally circulated whilst I was
+in America. They are a mighty mass of mischief. He wrote with more perspicuity
+than he thought, and his hot-headed democracy has done a fearful injury to his
+country. Hollow and unsound as his doctrines are, they are but too palatable to
+a people, each individual of whom would rather derive his importance from
+believing that none are above him, than from the consciousness that in his
+station he makes part of a noble whole. The social system of Mr. Jefferson, if
+carried into effect, would make of mankind an unamalgamated mass of grating
+atoms, where the darling &ldquo;I&rsquo;m as good as you,&rdquo; would soon
+take place of the law and the Gospel. As it is, his principles, though happily
+not fully put in action, have yet produced most lamentable results. The
+assumption of equality, however empty, is sufficient to tincture the manners of
+the poor with brutal insolence, and subjects the rich to the paltry expediency
+of sanctioning the falsehood, however deep their conviction that it is such. It
+cannot, I think, be denied that the great men of America attain to power and to
+fame, by eternally uttering what they know to be untrue. American citizens are
+not equal. Did Washington feel them to be so, when his word outweighed (so
+happily for them) the votes of thousands? Did Franklin think that all were
+equal when he shouldered his way from the printing press to the cabinet? True,
+he looked back in high good humour, and with his kindest smile told the poor
+devils whom he left behind, that they were all his equals; but Franklin did not
+speak the truth, and he knew it. The great, the immortal Jefferson himself, he
+who when past the three score years and ten, still taught young females to obey
+his nod, and so became the father of unnumbered generations of groaning slaves,
+what was his matin and his vesper hymn? &ldquo;All men are born free and
+equal.&rdquo; Did the venerable father of the gang believe it? Or did he too
+purchase his immortality by a lie?
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+From the five heavy volumes of the &ldquo;Eloquence of the United
+States,&rdquo; I made a few extracts, which I give more for the sake of their
+political interest, than for any purpose of literary criticism.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Hancock (one of those venerated men who signed the act of independence), in
+speaking of England, thus expresses himself: &ldquo;But if I was possessed of
+the gift of prophecy, I dare not (except by Divine command) unfold the leaves
+on which the destiny of that once powerful kingdom is inscribed.&rdquo; It is
+impossible not to regret that Mr. Hancock should thus have let &ldquo;I dare
+not, wait upon I would.&rdquo; It would have been exceedingly edifying to have
+known beforehand all the terrible things the republic was about to do for us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This prophetic orator spoke the modest, yet awful words, above quoted, nearly
+sixty years ago; in these latter days men are become bolder, for in a modern
+4th of July oration, Mr. Rush, without waiting, I think, for Divine command,
+gives the following amiable portrait of the British character.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In looking at Britain, we see a harshness of individual character in the
+general view of it, which is perceived and acknowledged by all Europe; a spirit
+of unbecoming censure as regards all customs and institutions not their own; a
+ferocity in some of their characteristics of national manners, pervading their
+very pastimes, which no other modern people are endued with the blunted
+sensibility to bear; an universal self-assumed superiority, not innocently
+manifesting itself in speculative sentiments among themselves, but unamiably
+indulged when with foreigners, of whatever description, in their own country,
+or when they themselves are the temporary sojourners in a foreign country; a
+code of criminal law that forgets to feel for human frailty, that sports with
+human misfortune, that has shed more blood in deliberate judicial severity for
+two centuries past, constantly increasing, too, in its sanguinary hue, than has
+ever been sanctioned by the jurisprudence of any ancient or modern nation,
+civilized and refined like herself; the merciless whippings in her army,
+peculiar to herself alone, the conspicuous commission and freest acknowledgment
+of vice in the upper classes; the overweening distinctions shown to opulence
+and birth, so destructive of a sound moral sentiment in the nation, so baffling
+to virtue. These are some of the traits that rise up to a contemplation of the
+inhabitants of this isle.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Where is the alchymy that can extract from Captain Hall&rsquo;s work one
+thousandth part of the ill-will contained in this one passage? Yet America has
+resounded from shore to shore with execrations against his barbarous calumnies.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But now we will listen to another tone. Let us see how Americans can praise.
+Mr. Everett, in a recent 4th of July oration, speaks thus:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;We are authorised to assert, that the era of our independence dates the
+establishment of the only perfect organization of government.&rdquo; Again,
+&ldquo;Our government is in its theory perfect, and in its operation it is
+perfect also. Thus we have solved the great problem in human affairs.&rdquo;
+And again, &ldquo;A frame of government perfect in its principles has been
+brought down from the airy regions of Utopia, and has found a local habitation
+and a name in our country.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Among my miscellaneous reading, I got hold of an American publication giving a
+detailed, and, indeed, an official account of the capture of Washington by the
+British, in 1814. An event so long past, and of so little ultimate importance,
+is, perhaps, hardly worth alluding to; but there are some passages in the
+official documents which I thought very amusing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the very moment of receiving the attack of the British on the heights of
+Bladensburgh, there seems to have been a most curious puzzle among the American
+generals, as to where they were to be stationed, and what they were to do. It
+is stated that the British threw themselves forward in open order, advancing
+singly. The American general (Winden) goes on in his narrative to describe what
+followed, thus:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Our advanced riflemen now began to fire, and continued it for half a
+dozen rounds, when I observed them to run back to an orchard. They halted
+there, and seemed for a moment about returning to their original position, but
+in a few moments entirely broke and retired to the left of Stansburg&rsquo;s
+line. The advanced artillery immediately followed the riflemen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The first three or four rockets fired by the enemy were much above the
+heads of Stansburg&rsquo;s line; but the rockets having taken a more horizontal
+direction, an universal flight of the centre and left of this brigade was the
+consequence. The 5th regiment and the artillery still remained, and I hoped
+would prevent the enemy&rsquo;s approach, but they advancing singly, their fire
+annoyed the 5th considerably, when I ordered it to retire, to put it out of the
+reach of the enemy. This order was, however, immediately countermanded, from an
+aversion to retire before the necessity became stronger, and from a hope that
+the enemy would issue in a body, and enable us to act upon him on terms of
+equality. But the enemy&rsquo;s fire beginning to annoy the 5th still more, by
+wounding several of them, and a strong column passing up the road, and
+deploying on its left, I ordered them to retire; their retreat became a flight
+of absolute and total disorder.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of Beall&rsquo;s regiment, the general gives the following succinct
+account&mdash;&ldquo;It gave one or two ineffectual fires and fled.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In another place he says, piteously,&mdash;&ldquo;The cavalry would do any
+thing but charge.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+General Armstrong&rsquo;s gentle and metaphysical account of the business was,
+that&mdash;&ldquo;Without all doubt the determining cause of our disasters is
+to be found in the love of life.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This affair at Washington, which in its result was certainly advantageous to
+America, inasmuch as it caused the present beautiful capitol to be built in the
+place of the one we burnt, was, nevertheless, considered as a national calamity
+at the time. In a volume of miscellaneous poems I met with one, written with
+the patriotic purpose of cheering the country under it; one triplet struck me
+as rather alarming for us, however soothing to America.
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Supposing George&rsquo;s house at Kew<br/>
+Were burnt, as we intend to do,<br/>
+Would that be burning England too?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I think I have before mentioned that no work of mere pleasantry has hitherto
+been found to answer; but a recent attempt of the kind as been made, with what
+success cannot as yet be decided. The editors are comedians belonging to the
+Boston company, and it is entitled &ldquo;The American Comic Annual.&rdquo; It
+is accompanied by etchings, somewhat in the manner, but by no means with the
+spirit of Cruikshank&rsquo;s. Among the pleasantries of this lively volume are
+some biting attacks upon us, particularly upon our utter incapacity of speaking
+English. We really must engage a few American professors, or we shall lose all
+trace of classic purity in our language. As a specimen, and rather a favourable
+one, of the work, I transcribed an extract from a little piece, entitled,
+&ldquo;Sayings and Doings, a Fragment of a Farce.&rdquo; One of the personages
+of this farce is an English gentleman, a Captain Mandaville, and among many
+speeches of the same kind, I selected the following. Collins&rsquo;s Ode is the
+subject of conversation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A&mdash;r, A&mdash;a&mdash;a it stroiks me that that you manetion his
+the hode about hangger and ope and orror and revenge you know. I&rsquo;ve eard
+Mrs. Sitdowns hencored in it at Common Garden and Doory Lane in the ight of her
+poplarity you know. By the boye, hall the hactin in Amareka is werry orrid.
+You&rsquo;re honely in the hinfancy of the istoryonic hart you know; your
+performers never haspirate the haitch in sich vords for instance as hink and
+hoats, and leave out the <i>w</i> in wice wanity you know; and make nothink of
+homittin the <i>k</i> in somethink.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is much more in the same style, but, perhaps, this may suffice. I have
+given this passage chiefly because it affords an example of the manner in which
+the generality of Americans are accustomed to speak of English pronunciation
+and phraseology.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It must be remembered, however, here and every where, that this phrase,
+&ldquo;the Americans,&rdquo; does not include the instructed and travelled
+portion of the community.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It would be absurd to swell my little volumes with extracts in proof of the
+veracity of their contents, but having spoken of the taste of their lighter
+works, and also of the general tone of manners, I cannot forbear inserting a
+page from an American annual (The Token), which purports to give a scene from
+fashionable life. It is part of a dialogue between a young lady of the
+&ldquo;highest standing&rdquo; and her &ldquo;tutor,&rdquo; who is moreover her
+lover, though not yet acknowledged.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;And so you wo&rsquo;nt tell me,&rdquo; said she, &ldquo;what has come
+over you, and why you look as grave and sensible as a Dictionary, when, by
+general consent, even mine, &lsquo;motley&rsquo;s the only wear?&rsquo;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&lsquo;&ldquo;Am I so grave, Miss Blair?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&lsquo;&ldquo;Are you so grave, Miss Blair? One would think I had not got my
+lesson today. Pray, sir, has the black ox trod upon your toe since we
+parted?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&lsquo;Philip tried to laugh, but he did not succeed; he bit his lip and was
+silent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&lsquo;&ldquo;I am under orders to entertain you, Mr. Blondel, and if my poor
+brain can be made to gird this fairy isle, I shall certainly be obedient. So I
+begin with playing the leech. What ails you, sir?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&lsquo;&ldquo;Miss Blair!&rdquo; he was going to remonstrate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&lsquo;&ldquo;Miss Blair! Now, pity. I&rsquo;m a quack! for whip me, if I know
+whether Miss Blair is a fever or an ague. How did you catch it, sir?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&lsquo;&ldquo;Really, Miss Blair&mdash;&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&lsquo;&ldquo;Nay, I see you don&rsquo;t like doctoring; I give over, and now
+I&rsquo;ll be sensible. It&rsquo;s a fine day, Mr. Blondel.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&lsquo;&ldquo;Very.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&lsquo;&ldquo;A pleasant lane, this, to walk in, if one&rsquo;s company were
+agreeable.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&lsquo;&ldquo;Does Mr. Skefton stay long?&rdquo; asked Philip, abruptly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&lsquo;&ldquo;No one knows,&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&lsquo;&ldquo;Indeed! are you so ignorant?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&lsquo;&ldquo;And why does your wisdom ask that question?&rdquo;&rsquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In no society in the world can the advantage of travel be so conspicuous as in
+America, in other countries a tone of unpretending simplicity can more than
+compensate for the absence of enlarged views or accurate observation; but this
+tone is not to be found in America, or if it be, it is only among those who,
+having looked at that insignificant portion of the world not included in the
+Union, have learnt to know how much is still unknown within the mighty part
+which is. For the rest, they all declare, and do in truth believe, that they
+only, among the sons of men, have wit and wisdom, and that one of their
+exclusive privileges is that of speaking English <i>elegantly</i>. There are
+two reasons for this latter persuasion; the one is, that the great majority
+have never heard any English but their own, except from the very lowest of the
+Irish; and the other, that those who have chanced to find themselves in the
+society of the few educated English who have visited America, have discovered
+that there is a marked difference between their phrases and accents and those
+to which they have been accustomed, whereupon they have, of course, decided
+that no Englishman can speak English.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The reviews of America contain some good clear-headed articles; but I sought in
+vain for the playful vivacity and the keenly-cutting satire, whose sharp edge,
+however painful to the patient, is of such high utility in lopping off the
+excrescences of bad taste, and levelling to its native clay the heavy growth of
+dulness. Still less could I find any trace of that graceful familiarity of
+learned allusion and general knowledge which mark the best European reviews,
+and which make one feel in such perfectly good company while perusing them. But
+this is a tone not to be found either in the writings or conversation of
+Americans; as distant from pedantry as from ignorance, it is not learning
+itself, but the effect of it; and so pervading and subtle is its influence that
+it may be traced in the festive halls and gay drawing-rooms of Europe as
+certainly as in the cloistered library or student&rsquo;s closet; it is,
+perhaps, the last finish of highly-finished society.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A late American Quarterly has an article on a work of Dr. Von Schmidt
+Phiseldek, from which I made an extract, as a curious sample of the dreams they
+love to batten on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dr. Von Phiseldek (not Fiddlestick), who is not only a doctor of philosophy,
+but a knight of Dannebrog to boot, has never been in America, but he has
+written a prophecy, showing that the United States must and will govern the
+whole world, because they are so very big, and have so much uncultivated
+territory; he prophesies that an union will take place between North and South
+America, which will give a death-blow to Europe, at no distant period; though
+he modestly adds that he does not pretend to designate the precise period at
+which this will take place. This Danish prophecy, as may be imagined, enchants
+the reviewer. He exhorts all people to read Dr. Phiseldek&rsquo;s book, because
+&ldquo;nothing but good can come of such contemplations of the future, and
+because it is eminently calculated to awaken the most lofty anticipations of
+the destiny which awaits them, and will serve to impress upon the nation the
+necessity of being prepared for such high destiny.&rdquo; In another place the
+reviewer bursts out, &ldquo;America, young as she is, has become already the
+beacon, the patriarch of the struggling nations of the world;&rdquo; and
+afterwards adds, It would be departing from the natural order of things, and
+the ordinary operations of the great scheme of Providence, it would be shutting
+our ears to the voice of experience, and our eyes to the inevitable connexion
+of causes and their effects, were we to reject the extreme probability, not to
+say <i>moral certainty</i>, that the old world is destined to receive its
+influences in future from the new.&rdquo; There are twenty pages of this
+article, but I will only give one passage more; it is an instance of the sort
+of reasoning by which American citizens persuade themselves that the glory of
+Europe is, in reality, her reproach. &ldquo;Wrapped up in a sense of his
+superiority, the European reclines at home, shining in his borrowed plumes,
+derived from the product of every corner of the earth, and the industry of
+every portion of its inhabitants, with which his own natural resources would
+never have invested him, he continues revelling in enjoyments which nature has
+denied him.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The American Quarterly deservedly holds the highest place in their periodical
+literature, and, therefore, may be fairly quoted as striking the keynote for
+the chorus of public opinion. Surely it is nationality rather than patriotism
+which leads it thus to speak in scorn of the successful efforts of enlightened
+nations to win from every corner of the earth the riches which nature has
+scattered over it.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+The incorrectness of the press is very great; they make strange work in the
+reprints of French and Italian; and the Latin, I suspect, does not fare much
+better: I believe they do not often meddle with Greek.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With regard to the fine arts, their paintings, I think, are quite as good, or
+rather better, than might be expected from the patronage they receive; the
+wonder is that any man can be found with courage enough to devote himself to a
+profession in which he has so little chance of finding a maintenance. The trade
+of a carpenter opens an infinitely better prospect; and this is so well known,
+that nothing but a genuine passion for the art could beguile any one to pursue
+it. The entire absence of every means of improvement, and effectual study, is
+unquestionably the cause why those who manifest this devotion cannot advance
+farther. I heard of one young artist, whose circumstances did not permit his
+going to Europe, but who being nevertheless determined that his studies should,
+as nearly as possible, resemble those of the European academies, was about to
+commence drawing the human figure, for which purpose he had provided himself
+with a thin silk dress, in which to clothe his models, as no one of any
+station, he said, could be found who would submit to sit as a model without
+clothing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was at Alexandria that I saw what I consider as the best picture by an
+American artist that I met with. The subject was Hagar and Ishmael. It had
+recently arrived from Rome, where the painter, a young man of the name of
+Chapman, had been studying for three years. His mother told me that he was
+twenty-two years of age, and passionately devoted to the art; should he, on
+returning to his country, receive sufficient encouragement to keep his ardour
+and his industry alive, I think I shall hear of him again.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Much is said about the universal diffusion of education in America, and a vast
+deal of genuine admiration is felt and expressed at the progress of mind
+throughout the Union. They believe themselves in all sincerity to have
+surpassed, to be surpassing, and to be about to surpass, the whole earth in the
+intellectual race. I am aware that not a single word can be said, hinting a
+different opinion, which will not bring down a transatlantic anathema on my
+head; yet the subject is too interesting to be omitted. Before I left England I
+remember listening, with much admiration, to an eloquent friend, who deprecated
+our system of public education, as confining the various and excursive
+faculties of our children to one beaten path, paying little or no attention to
+the peculiar powers of the individual.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This objection is extremely plausible, but doubts of its intrinsic value must,
+I think, occur to every one who has marked the result of a different system
+throughout the United States.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From every enquiry I could make, and I took much pains to obtain accurate
+information, it appeared that much is attempted, but very little beyond
+reading, writing, and bookkeeping, is thoroughly acquired. Were we to read a
+prospectus of the system pursued in any of our public schools and that of a
+first-rate seminary in America, we should be struck by the confined scholastic
+routine of the former, when compared to the varied and expansive scope of the
+latter; but let the examination go a little farther, and I believe it will be
+found that the old fashioned school discipline of England has produced
+something higher, and deeper too, than that which roars so loud, and thunders
+in the index.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They will not afford to let their young men study till two or three and twenty,
+and it is therefore declared, <i>ex cathedra Americana</i>, to be unnecessary.
+At sixteen, often much earlier, education ends, and money-making begins; the
+idea that more learning is necessary than can be acquired by that time, is
+generally ridiculed as obsolete monkish bigotry; added to which, if the seniors
+willed a more prolonged discipline, the juniors would refuse submission. When
+the money-getting begins, leisure ceases, and all of lore which can be acquired
+afterwards, is picked up from novels, magazines, and newspapers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At what time can the taste be formed? How can a correct and polished style,
+even of speaking, be acquired? or when can the fruit of the two thousand years
+of past thinking be added to the native growth of American intellect? These are
+the tools, if I may so express myself, which our elaborate system of school
+discipline puts into the hands of our scholars; possessed of these, they may
+use them in whatever direction they please afterwards, they can never be an
+incumbrance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No people appear more anxious to excite admiration and receive applause than
+the Americans, yet none take so little trouble, or make so few sacrifices to
+obtain it. This may answer among themselves, but it will not with the rest of
+the world; individual sacrifices must be made, and national economy enlarged,
+before America can compete with the old world in taste, learning, and
+liberality.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The reception of General Lafayette is the one single instance in which the
+national pride has overcome the national thrift; and this was clearly
+referrible to the one single feeling of enthusiasm of which they appear
+capable, namely, the triumph of their successful struggle for national
+independence. But though this feeling will be universally acknowledged as a
+worthy and lawful source of triumph and of pride, it will not serve to trade
+upon for ever, as a fund of glory and high station among the nations. Their
+fathers were colonists; they fought stoutly, and became an independent people.
+Success and admiration, even the admiration of those whose yoke they had
+broken, cheered them while living, still sheds a glory round their remote and
+untitled sepulchres, and will illumine the page of their history for ever.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Their children inherit the independence; they inherit too the honour of being
+the sons of brave fathers; but this will not give them the reputation at which
+they aim, of being scholars and gentlemen, nor will it enable them to sit down
+for evermore to talk of their glory, while they drink mint julap and chew
+tobacco, swearing by the beard of Jupiter (or some other oath) that they are
+very graceful, and agreeable, and, moreover abusing every body who does not cry
+out Amen!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To doubt that talent and mental power of every kind exist in America would be
+absurd; why should it not? But in taste and learning they are woefully
+deficient; and it is this which renders them incapable of graduating a scale by
+which to measure themselves. Hence arises that over weening complacency and
+self-esteem, both national and individual, which at once renders them so
+extremely obnoxious to ridicule, and so peculiarly restive under it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If they will scorn the process by which other nations have become what they
+avowedly intend to be, they must rest satisfied with the praise and admiration
+they receive from each other; and turning a deaf ear to the criticism of the
+old world, consent to be their own prodigious great reward.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Alexandria has its churches, chapels, and conventicles as abundantly, in
+proportion to its size, as any city in the Union. I visited most of them, and
+in the Episcopal and Catholic heard the services performed quietly and
+reverently.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The best sermon, however, that I listened to, was in a Methodist church, from
+the mouth of a Piquot Indian. It was impossible not be touched by the simple
+sincerity of this poor man. He gave a picture frightfully eloquent of the decay
+of his people under the united influence of the avarice and intemperance of the
+white men. He described the effect of the religious feeling which had recently
+found its way among them as most salutary. The purity of his moral feeling, and
+the sincerity of his sympathy with his forest brethren, made it unquestionable
+that he must be the most valuable priest who could officiate for them. His
+English was very correct, and his pronunciation but slightly tinctured by
+native accent.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+While we were still in the neighbourhood of Washington, a most violent and
+unprecedented schism occurred in the cabinet. The four secretaries of State all
+resigned, leaving General Jackson to manage the queer little state barge alone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Innumerable contradictory statements appeared upon this occasion in the papers,
+and many a cigar was thrown aside, ere half consumed, that the disinterested
+politician might give breath to his cogitations on this extraordinary event;
+but not all the eloquence of all the smokers, nor even the ultradiplomatic
+expositions which appeared from the seceding secretaries themselves, could
+throw any light on the mysterious business. It produced, however, the only
+tolerable caricature I ever saw in the country. It represents the President
+seated alone in his cabinet, wearing a look of much discomfiture, and making
+great exertions to detain one of four rats, who are running off, by placing his
+foot on the tail. The rats&rsquo; heads bear a very sufficient resemblance to
+the four ex-ministers. General Jackson, it seems, had requested Mr. Van Buren,
+the Secretary of State, to remain in office till his place was supplied; this
+gave occasion to a <i>bon mot</i> from his son, who, being asked when his
+father would be in New York, replied, &ldquo;When the President takes off his
+foot.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap30"></a>CHAPTER XXX</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Journey to New York&mdash;Delaware River&mdash;Stagecoach&mdash;City of New
+York&mdash;Collegiate Institute for Young Ladies&mdash;Theatres&mdash;Public
+Garden&mdash;Churches&mdash;Morris Canal&mdash;Fashions&mdash;Carriages
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length, in spite of the lingering pace necessarily attending consultations,
+and arrangements across the Atlantic, our plans were finally settled; the
+coming spring was to show us New York, and Niagara, and the early summer was to
+convey us home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No sooner did the letter arrive which decided this, than we began our
+preparations for departure. We took our last voyage on the Potomac, we bade a
+last farewell to Virginia, and gave a last day to some of our kind friends near
+Washington.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The spring, though slow and backward, was sufficiently advanced to render the
+journey pleasant; and though the road from Washington to Baltimore was less
+brilliant in foliage than when I had seen it before, it still had much of
+beauty. The azalias were in full bloom, and the delicate yellow blossom of the
+sassafras almost rivalled its fruit in beauty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At Baltimore we again embarked on a gigantic steam-boat, and reached
+Philadelphia in the middle of the night. Here we changed our boat and found
+time, before starting in the morning, to take a last look at the Doric and
+Corinthian porticos of the two celebrated temples dedicated to Mammon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Delaware river, above Philadelphia, still flows through a landscape too
+level for beauty, but it is rendered interesting by a succession of
+gentlemen&rsquo;s seats, which, if less elaborately finished in architecture,
+and garden grounds, than the lovely villas on the Thames, are still beautiful
+objects to gaze upon as you float rapidly past on the broad silvery stream that
+washes their lawns They present a picture of wealth and enjoyment that accords
+well with the noble city to which they are an appendage. One mansion arrested
+our attention, not only from its being more than usually large and splendid,
+but from its having the monument which marked the family resting-place, rearing
+itself in all the gloomy grandeur of black and white marble, exactly opposite
+the door of entrance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In Virginia and Maryland we had remarked that almost every family mansion had
+its little grave yard, sheltered by locust and cypress trees; but this
+decorated dwelling of the dead seemed rather a melancholy ornament in the
+grounds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had, for a considerable distance, a view of the dwelling of Joseph
+Bonaparte, which is situated on the New Jersey shore, in the midst of an
+extensive tract of land, of which he is the proprietor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here the ex-monarch has built several houses, which are occupied by French
+tenants. The country is very flat, but a terrace of two sides has been raised,
+commanding a fine reach of the Delaware River; at the point where this terrace
+forms a right angle, a lofty chapel has been erected, which looks very much
+like an observatory; I admired the ingenuity with which the Catholic prince has
+united his religion and his love of a fine terrestrial prospect. The highest
+part of the building presents, in every direction, the appearance of an immense
+cross; the transept, if I may so express it, being formed by the projection of
+an ample balcony, which surrounds a tower. A Quaker gentleman, from
+Philadelphia, exclaimed, as he gazed on the mansion, &ldquo;There we see a
+monument of fallen royalty! Strange! that dethroned kings should seek and find
+their best strong-hold in a Republic.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was more of philosophy than of scorn in his accent, and his countenance
+was the symbol of gentleness and benevolence; but I overheard many unquakerlike
+jokes from others, as to the comfortable assurance a would-be king must feel of
+a faithful alliance between his head and shoulders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At Trenton, the capital of New Jersey, we left our smoothly-gliding comfortable
+boat for the most detestable stage-coach that ever Christian built to dislocate
+the joints of his fellow men. Ten of these torturing machines were crammed full
+of the passengers who left the boat with us. The change in our movement was not
+more remarkable than that which took place in the tempers and countenances of
+our fellow-travellers. Gentlemen who had lounged on sofas, and balanced
+themselves in chairs, all the way from Philadelphia, with all the conscious
+fascinations of stiff stays and neck-cloths, which, while doing to death the
+rash beauties who ventured to gaze, seemed but a whalebone panoply to guard the
+wearer, these pretty youths so guarded from without, so sweetly at peace
+within, now crushed beneath their armour, looked more like victims on the
+wheel, than dandies armed for conquest; their whalebones seemed to enter into
+their souls, and every face grew grim and scowling. The pretty ladies too, with
+their expansive bonnets, any one of which might handsomely have filled the
+space allotted to three,&mdash;how sad the change! I almost fancied they must
+have been of the race of Undine, and that it was only when they heard the
+splashing of water that they could smile. As I looked into the altered eyes of
+my companions, I was tempted to ask, &ldquo;Look I as cross as you?&rdquo;
+Indeed, I believe that, if possible, I looked crosser still, for the roads and
+the vehicle together were quite too much for my philosophy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length, however, we found ourselves alive on board the boat which was to
+convey us down the Raraton River to New York.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We fully intended to have gone to bed, to heal our bones, on entering the
+steam-boat, but the sight of a table neatly spread determined us to go to
+dinner instead. Sin and shame would it have been, indeed, to have closed our
+eyes upon the scene which soon opened before us. I have never seen the bay of
+Naples, I can therefore make no comparison, but my imagination is incapable of
+conceiving any thing of the kind more beautiful than the harbour of New York.
+Various and lovely are the objects which meet the eye on every side, but the
+naming them would only be to give a list of words, without conveying the
+faintest idea of the scene. I doubt if ever the pencil of Turner could do it
+justice, bright and glorious as it rose upon us. We seemed to enter the harbour
+of New York upon waves of liquid gold, and as we darted past the green isles
+which rise from its bosom, like guardian centinels of the fair city, the
+setting sun stretched his horizontal beams farther and farther at each moment,
+as if to point out to us some new glory in the landscape.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+New York, indeed, appeared to us, even when we saw it by a soberer light, a
+lovely and a noble city. To us who had been so long travelling through
+half-cleared forests, and sojourning among an
+&ldquo;I&rsquo;m-as-good-as-you&rdquo; population, it seemed, perhaps, more
+beautiful, more splendid, and more refined than it might have done, had we
+arrived there directly from London; but making every allowance for this, I must
+still declare that I think New York one of the finest cities I ever saw, and as
+much superior to every other in the Union (Philadelphia not excepted), as
+London to Liverpool, or Paris to Rouen. Its advantages of position are,
+perhaps, unequalled any where. Situated on an island, which I think it will one
+day cover, it rises, like Venice, from the sea, and like that fairest of cities
+in the days of her glory, receives into its lap tribute of all the riches of
+the earth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The southern point of Manhatten Island divides the waters of the harbour into
+the north and east rivers; on this point stands the city of New York, extending
+from river to river, and running northward to the extent of three or four
+miles. I think it covers nearly as much ground as Paris, but is much less
+thickly peopled. The extreme point is fortified towards the sea by a battery,
+and forms an admirable point of defence; I should suppose, no city could boast.
+From hence commences the splendid Broadway, as the fine avenue is called, which
+runs through the whole city. This noble street may vie with any I ever saw, for
+its length and breadth, its handsome shops, neat awnings, excellent
+<i>trottoir</i>, and well-dressed pedestrians. It has not the crowded glitter
+of Bond Street equipages, nor the gorgeous fronted palaces of Regent Street;
+but it is magnificent in its extent, and ornamented by several handsome
+buildings, some of them surrounded by grass and trees. The Park, in which
+stands the noble city-hall, is a very fine area, I never found that the most
+graphic description of a city could give me any feeling of being there; and
+even if others have the power, I am very sure I have not, of setting churches
+and squares, and long drawn streets, before the mind&rsquo;s eye. I will not,
+therefore, attempt a detailed description of this great metropolis of the new
+world, but will only say that during the seven weeks we stayed there, we always
+found something new to see and to admire; and were it not so very far from all
+the old-world things which cling about the heart of an European, I should say
+that I never saw a city more desirable as a residence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dwelling houses of the higher classes are extremely handsome, and very
+richly furnished. Silk or satin furniture is as often, or oftener, seen than
+chintz; the mirrors are as handsome as in London; the cheffoniers, slabs, and
+marble tables as elegant; and in addition, they have all the pretty tasteful
+decoration of French porcelaine, and or-molu in much greater abundance, because
+at a much cheaper rate. Every part of their houses is well carpeted, and the
+exterior finishing, such as steps, railings, and door-frames, are very
+superior. Almost every house has handsome green blinds on the outside;
+balconies are not very general, nor do the houses display, externally, so many
+flowers as those of Paris and London; but I saw many rooms decorated within,
+exactly like those of an European <i>petite maitresse</i>. Little tables,
+looking and smelling like flower beds, portfolios, nick-nacks, bronzes, busts,
+cameos, and alabaster vases, illustrated copies of ladylike rhymes bound in
+silk, and, in short, all the pretty coxcomalities of the drawing-room scattered
+about with the same profuse and studied negligence as with us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hudson Square and its neighbourhood is, I believe, the most fashionable part of
+the town; the square is beautiful, excellently well planted with a great
+variety of trees, and only wanting our frequent and careful mowing to make it
+equal to any square in London. The iron railing which surrounds this enclosure
+is as high and as handsome as that of the Tuilleries, and it will give some
+idea of the care bestowed on its decoration, to know that the gravel for the
+walks was conveyed by barges from Boston, not as ballast, but as freight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The great defect in the houses is their extreme uniformity when you have seen
+one, you have seen all. Neither do I quite like the arrangement of the rooms.
+In nearly all the houses the dining and drawing rooms are on the same floor,
+with ample folding doors between them; when thrown together they certainly make
+a very noble apartment; but no doors can be barrier sufficient between dining
+and drawing-rooms. Mixed dinner parties of ladies and gentlemen, however, are
+very rare, which is a great defect in the society; not only as depriving them
+of the most social and hospitable manner of meeting, but as leading to frequent
+dinner parties of gentlemen without ladies, which certainly does not conduce to
+refinement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The evening parties, excepting such as are expressly for young people, are
+chiefly conversational; we were too late in the season for large parties, but
+we saw enough to convince us that there is society to be met with in New York,
+which would be deemed delightful any where. Cards are very seldom used; and
+music, from their having very little professional aid at their parties is
+seldom, I believe, as good as what is heard at private concerts in London.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Americans have certainly not the same <i>besoin</i> of being amused, as
+other people; they may be the wiser for this, perhaps, but it makes them less
+agreeable to a looker-on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There are three theatres at New York, all of which we visited. The Park Theatre
+is the only one licensed by fashion, but the Bowery is infinitely superior in
+beauty; it is indeed as pretty a theatre as I ever entered, perfect as to size
+and proportion, elegantly decorated, and the scenery and machinery equal to any
+in London, but it is not the fashion. The Chatham is so utterly condemned by
+<i>bon ton</i>, that it requires some courage to decide upon going there; nor
+do I think my curiosity would have penetrated so far, had I not seen Miss
+Mitford&rsquo;s Rienzi advertised there. It was the first opportunity I had had
+of seeing it played, and spite of very indifferent acting, I was delighted. The
+interest must have been great, for till the curtain fell, I saw not one quarter
+of the queer things around me: then I observed in the front row of a dress-box
+a lady performing the most maternal office possible; several gentlemen without
+their coats, and a general air of contempt for the decencies of life, certainly
+more than usually revolting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the Park Theatre I again saw the American Roscius, Mr. Forrest. He played
+the part of Damon, and roared, I thought, very unlike a nightingale. I cannot
+admire this celebrated performer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Another night we saw Cinderella there; Mrs. Austin was the prima donna, and
+much admired. The piece was extremely well got up, and on this occasion we saw
+the Park Theatre to advantage, for it was filled with well-dressed company; but
+still we saw many &ldquo;yet unrazored lips&rdquo; polluted with the grim tinge
+of the hateful tobacco, and heard, without ceasing, the spitting, which of
+course is its consequence. If their theatres had the orchestra of the Feydeau,
+and a choir of angels to boot, I could find but little pleasure, so long as
+they were followed by this running accompaniment of <i>thorough base</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Whilst at New York, the prospectus of a fashionable boarding-school was
+presented to me. I made some extracts from it, as a specimen of the enlarged
+scale of instruction proposed for young females.
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Brooklyn Collegiate Institute<br/>
+for Young Ladies,<br/>
+Brooklyn Heights, opposite the City of<br/>
+New York.
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+JUNIOR DEPARTMENT
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Sixth Class
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Latin Grammar, Liber Primus; Jacob&rsquo;s Latin Reader, (first part); Modern
+Geography; Intellectual and Practical Arithmetic finished; Dr. Barber&rsquo;s
+Grammar of Elocution; Writing, Spelling, Composition, and Vocal Music.
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Fifth Class
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jacob&rsquo;s Latin Reader, (second part); Roman Antiquities, Sallust;
+Clark&rsquo;s Introduction to the Making of Latin; Ancient and Sacred
+Geography; Studies of Poetry; Short Treatise on Rhetoric; Map Drawing,
+Composition, Spelling, and Vocal Music.
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Fourth Class
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Caesar&rsquo;s Commentaries; first five books of Virgil&rsquo;s Aeneid;
+Mythology; Watts on the Mind; Political Geography, (Woodbridge&rsquo;s large
+work); Natural History; Treatise on the Globes; Ancient History; Studies of
+Poetry concluded; English Grammar, Composition, Spelling, and Vocal Music.
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+SENIOR DEPARTMENT
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Third Class
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Virgil, (finished); Cicero&rsquo;s Select Orations; Modern History; Plane
+Geometry; Moral Philosophy; Critical Reading of Young&rsquo;s Poems;
+Perspective Drawing; Rhetoric; Logic, Composition, and Vocal Music.
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+Second Class
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Livy; Horace, (Odes); Natural Theology; small Compend of Ecclesiastical
+History; Female Biography; Algebra; Natural Philosophy, (Mechanics,
+Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, and Acoustics); Intellectual Philosophy; Evidences of
+Christianity; Composition, and Vocal Music.
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+First Class
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Horace, (finished); Tacitus; Natural Philosophy, (Electricity, Optics,
+Magnetism, Galvanism); Astronomy, Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Geology; Compend
+of Political Economy; Composition, and Vocal Music.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The French, Spanish, Italian, or Greek languages may be attended to, if
+required, at any time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Exchange is very handsome, and ranks about midway between the heavy gloom
+that hangs over our London merchants, and the light and lofty elegance which
+decorates the Bourse at Paris. The churches are plain, but very neat, and kept
+in perfect repair within and without; but I saw none which had the least
+pretension to splendour; the Catholic Cathedral at Baltimore is the only church
+in America which has.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At New York, as every where else, they show within, during the time of service,
+like beds of tulips, so gay, so bright, so beautiful, are the long rows of
+French bonnets and pretty faces; rows but rarely broken by the unribboned heads
+of the male population; the proportion is about the same as I have remarked
+elsewhere. Excepting at New York, I never saw the other side of the picture,
+but there I did. On the opposite side of the North River, about three miles
+higher up, is a place called Hoboken. A gentleman who possessed a handsome
+mansion and grounds there, also possessed the right of ferry, and to render
+this productive, he has restricted his pleasure grounds to a few beautiful
+acres, laying out the remainder simply and tastefully as a public walk. It is
+hardly possible to imagine one of greater attraction; a broad belt of light
+underwood and flowering shrubs, studded at intervals with lofty forest trees,
+runs for two miles along a cliff which overhangs the matchless Hudson;
+sometimes it feathers the rocks down to its very margin, and at others leaves a
+pebbly shore, just rude enough to break the gentle waves, and make a music
+which mimics softly the loud chorus of the ocean. Through this beautiful little
+wood, a broad well gravelled terrace is led by every point which can exhibit
+the scenery to advantage; narrower and wilder paths diverge at intervals, some
+into the deeper shadow of the wood, and some shelving gradually to the pretty
+coves below.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The price of entrance to this little Eden, is the six cents you pay at the
+ferry. We went there on a bright Sunday afternoon, expressly to see the humours
+of the place. Many thousand persons were scattered through the grounds; of
+these we ascertained, by repeatedly counting, that nineteen-twentieths were
+men. The ladies were at church. Often as the subject has pressed upon my mind,
+I think I never so strongly felt the conviction that the Sabbath-day, the holy
+day, the day on which alone the great majority of the Christian world can spend
+their hours as they please, is ill passed (if passed entirely) within brick
+walls, listening to an earth-born preacher, charm he never so wisely.
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Oh! how can they renounce the boundless store<br/>
+Of charms, which Nature to her vot&rsquo;ries yields!<br/>
+The warbling woodland, the resounding shore,<br/>
+The pomp of groves, and garniture of fields,<br/>
+All that the genial ray of morning gilds,<br/>
+And all that echoes to the song of even,<br/>
+All that the mountain&rsquo;s sheltering bosom yields,<br/>
+And all the dread magnificence of heaven;<br/>
+Oh! how can they renounce, and hope to be forgiven!&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How is it that the men of America, who are reckoned good husbands and good
+fathers, while they themselves enjoy sufficient freedom of spirit to permit
+their walking forth into the temple of the living God, can leave those they
+love best on earth, bound in the iron chains of a most tyrannical fanaticism?
+How can they breathe the balmy air, and not think of the tainted atmosphere so
+heavily weighing upon breasts still dearer than their own? How can they gaze
+upon the blossoms of the spring, and not remember the fairer cheeks of their
+young daughters, waxing pale, as they sit for long sultry hours, immured with
+hundreds of fellow victims, listening to the roaring vanities of a preacher
+canonized by a college of old women? They cannot think it needful to
+salvation,or they would not withdraw themselves. Wherefore is it? Do they fear
+these self-elected, self-ordained priests, and offer up their wives and
+daughters to propitiate them? Or do they deem their hebdomadal freedom more
+complete, because their wives and daughters are shut up four or five times in
+the day at church or chapel? It is true, that at Hoboken, as every where else,
+there are <i>reposoires</i>, which, as you pass them, blast the sense for a
+moment, by reeking forth the fumes of whiskey and tobacco, and it may be that
+these cannot be entered with a wife or daughter. The proprietor of the grounds,
+however, has contrived with great taste to render these abominations not
+unpleasing to the eye; there is one in particular, which has quite the air of a
+Grecian temple, and did they drink wine instead of whiskey, it might be
+inscribed to Bacchus; but in this particular, as in many others, the ancient
+and modern Republics differ.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is impossible not to feel, after passing one Sunday in the churches and
+chapels of New York, and the next in the gardens of Hoboken, that the thousands
+of well-dressed men you see enjoying themselves at the latter, have made over
+the thousands of well-dressed women you saw exhibited at the former, into the
+hands of the priests, at least, for the day. The American people arrogate to
+themselves a character of superior morality and religion, but this division of
+their hours of leisure does not give me a favourable idea of either.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I visited all the exhibitions in New York. The Medici of the Republic must
+exert themselves a little more before these can become even respectable. The
+worst of the business is, that with the exception of about half a dozen
+individuals, the good citizens are more than contented, they are delighted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The newspaper lungs of the Republic breathe forth praise and triumph, may,
+almost pant with extacy in speaking of their native <i>chef
+d&rsquo;oeuvres</i>. I should be hardly believed were I to relate the instances
+which fell in my way, of the utter ignorance respecting pictures to be found
+among persons of the <i>first standing</i> in society. Often where a liberal
+spirit exists, and a wish to patronise the fine arts is expressed, it is joined
+to a profundity of ignorance on the subject almost inconceivable. A doubt as to
+the excellence of their artists is very nervously received, and one gentleman,
+with much civility, told me, that at the present era, all the world were aware
+that competition was pretty well at an end between our two nations, and that a
+little envy might naturally be expected to mix with the surprise with which the
+mother country beheld the distance at which her colonies were leaving her
+behind them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I must, however, do the few artists with whom I became acquainted, the justice
+to say, that their own pretensions are much more modest than those of their
+patrons for them. I have heard several confess and deplore their ignorance of
+drawing, and have repeatedly remarked a sensibility to the merit of European
+artists, though perhaps only known by engravings, and a deference to their
+authority, which showed a genuine feeling for the art. In fact, I think that
+there is a very considerable degree of natural talent for painting in America,
+but it has to make its way through darkness and thick night. When an academy is
+founded, their first care is to hang the walls of its exhibition room with all
+the unutterable trash that is offered to them. No living models are sought for;
+no discipline as to the manner of study is enforced. Boys who know no more of
+human form, than they do of the eyes, nose, and mouth in the moon, begin
+painting portraits. If some of them would only throw away their palettes for a
+year, and learn to draw; if they would attend anatomical lectures, and take
+notes, not in words, but in forms, of joints and muscles, their exhibitions
+would soon cease to be so utterly below criticism.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The most interesting exhibition open when I was there was, decidedly, Colonel
+Trumbold&rsquo;s; and how the patriots of America can permit this truly
+national collection to remain a profitless burden on the hands of the artist,
+it is difficult to understand. Many of the sketches are masterly; but like his
+illustrious countryman, West, his sketches are his <i>chef d&rsquo;oeuvres</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I can imagine nothing more perfect than the interior of the public institutions
+of New York. There is a practical good sense in all their arrangements that
+must strike foreigners very forcibly. The Asylum for the Destitute offers a
+hint worth taking. It is dedicated to the reformation of youthful offenders of
+both sexes, and it is as admirable in the details of its management, as in its
+object. Every part of the institution is deeply interesting; but there is a
+difference very remarkable between the boys and the girls. The boys are, I
+think, the finest set of lads I ever saw brought together; bright looking, gay,
+active, and full of intelligence. The girls are exactly in reverse; heavy,
+listless, indifferent, and melancholy. In conversing with the gentleman who is
+the general superintendant of the establishment, I made the remark to him, and
+he told me, that the reality corresponded with the appearance. All of them had
+been detected in some act of dishonesty; but the boys, when removed from the
+evil influence which had led them so to use their ingenuity, rose like a spring
+when a pressure is withdrawn; and feeling themselves once more safe from danger
+and from shame, hope and cheerfulness animated every countenance. But the pour
+girls, on the contrary, can hardly look up again. They are as different as an
+oak and a lily after a storm. The one, when the fresh breeze blows over it,
+shakes the raindrops from its crest, and only looks the brighter; the other,
+its silken leaves once soiled, shrinks from the eye, and is levelled to the
+earth for ever.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+We spent a delightful day in New Jersey, in visiting, with a most agreeable
+party, the inclined planes, which are used instead of locks on the Morris
+canal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This is a very interesting work; it is one among a thousand which prove the
+people of America to be the most enterprising in the world. I was informed that
+this important canal, which connects the waters of the Hudson and the Delaware,
+is a hundred miles long, and in this distance overcomes a variation of level
+amounting to sixteen hundred feet. Of this, fourteen hundred are achieved by
+inclined planes. The planes average about sixty feet of perpendicular lift
+each, and are to support about forty tons. The time consumed in passing them is
+twelve minutes for one hundred feet of perpendicular rise. The expense is less
+than a third of what locks would be for surmounting the same rise. If we set
+about any more canals, this may be worth attending to.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This Morris canal is certainly an extraordinary work; it not only varies its
+level sixteen hundred feet, but at one point runs along the side of a mountain
+at thirty feet above the tops of the highest buildings in the town of Paterson,
+below; at another it crosses the falls of the Passaic in a stone aqueduct sixty
+feet above the water in the river. This noble work, in a great degree, owes its
+existence to the patriotic and scientific energy of Mr. Cadwallader Colden.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is no point in the national character of the Americans which commands so
+much respect as the boldness and energy with which public works are undertaken
+and carried through. Nothing stops them if a profitable result can be fairly
+hoped for. It is this which has made cities spring up amidst the forests with
+such inconceivable rapidity; and could they once be thoroughly persuaded that
+any point of the ocean had a hoard of dollars beneath it, I have not the
+slightest doubt that in about eighteen months we should see a snug covered
+rail-road leading direct to the spot.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+I was told at New York, that in many parts of the state it was usual to pay the
+service of the Presbyterian ministers in the following manner. Once a year a
+day is fixed, on which some member of every family in a congregation meet at
+their minister&rsquo;s house in the afternoon. They each bring an offering
+(according to their means) of articles necessary for housekeeping. The poorer
+members leave their contributions in a large basket, placed for the purpose,
+close to the door of entrance. Those of more importance, and more calculated to
+do honour to the piety of the donors, are carried into the room where the
+company is assembled. Sugar, coffee, tea, cheese, barrels of flour, pieces of
+Irish linen, sets of china and of glass, were among the articles mentioned to
+me as usually making parts of these offerings. After the party is assembled,
+and the business of giving and receiving is dispatched, tea, coffee, and cakes
+are handed round; but these are not furnished at any expense either of trouble
+or money to the minster, for selected ladies of the congregation take the whole
+arrangement upon themselves. These meetings are called spinning visits.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Another New York custom, which does not seem to have so reasonable a cause, is
+the changing house once a year. On the 1st of May the city of New York has the
+appearance of sending off a population flying from the plague, or of a town
+which had surrendered on condition of carrying away all their goods and
+chattels. Rich furniture and ragged furniture, carts, waggons, and drays,
+ropes, canvas, and straw, packers, porters, and draymen, white, yellow, and
+black, occupy the streets from east to west, from north to south, on this day.
+Every one I spoke to on the subject complained of this custom as most annoying,
+but all assured me it was unavoidable, if you inhabit a rented house. More than
+one of my New York friends have built or bought houses solely to avoid this
+annual inconvenience.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There are a great number of negroes in New York, all free; their emancipation
+having been completed in 1827. Not even in Philadelphia, where the anti-slavery
+opinions have been the most active and violent, do the blacks appear to wear an
+air of so much consequence as they do at New York. They have several chapels,
+in which negro ministers officiate; and a theatre in which none but negroes
+perform. At this theatre a gallery is appropriated to such whites as choose to
+visit it; and here only are they permitted to sit; following in this, with nice
+etiquette, and equal justice, the arrangement of the white theatres, in all of
+which is a gallery appropriated solely to the use of the blacks. I have often,
+particularly on a Sunday, met groups of negroes, elegantly dressed; and have
+been sometimes amused by observing the very superior air of gallantry assumed
+by the men, when in attendance on their <i>belles</i>, to that of the whites in
+similar circumstances. On one occasion we met in Broadway a young negress in
+the extreme of the fashion, and accompanied by a black beau, whose toilet was
+equally studied; eye-glass, guard-chain, nothing was omitted; he walked beside
+his sable goddess uncovered, and with an air of the most tender devotion. At
+the window of a handsome house which they were passing, stood a very pretty
+white girl, with two gentlemen beside her; but alas! both of them had their
+hats on, and one was smoking!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If it were not for the peculiar manner of walking, which distinguishes all
+American women, Broadway might be taken for a French street, where it was the
+fashion for very smart ladies to promenade. The dress is entirely French; not
+an article (except perhaps the cotton stockings) must be English, on pain of
+being stigmatized as out of the fashion. Every thing English is decidedly
+<i>mauvais ton</i>; English materials, English fashions, English accent,
+English manner, are all terms of reproach; and to say that an unfortunate looks
+like an English woman, is the cruellest satire which can be uttered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I remember visiting France almost immediately after we had made the most
+offensive invasion of her territory that can well be imagined, yet, despite the
+feelings which lengthened years of war must have engendered, it was the fashion
+to admire every thing English. I suppose family quarrels are most difficult to
+adjust; for fifteen years of peace have not been enough to calm the angry
+feelings of brother Jonathan towards the land of his fathers,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;The which he hateth passing well.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is hardly needful to say the most courteous amenity of manner distinguishes
+the reception given to foreigners by the patrician class of Americans.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Gentlemen</i>, in the old world sense of the term, are the same every where;
+and an American gentleman and his family know how to do the honours of their
+country to strangers of every nation, as well as any people on earth. But this
+class, though it decidedly exists, is a very small one, and cannot, in justice,
+be represented as affording a specimen of the whole.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+Most of the houses in New York are painted on the outside, but in a manner
+carefully to avoid disfiguring the material which it preserves: on the
+contrary, nothing can be neater. They are now using a great deal of a beautiful
+stone called Jersey freestone; it is of a warm rich brown, and extremely
+ornamental to the city wherever it has been employed. They have also a grey
+granite of great beauty. The trottoir paving, in most of the streets, is
+extremely good, being of large flag stones, very superior to the bricks of
+Philadelphia.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At night the shops, which are open till very late, are brilliantly illuminated
+with gas, and all the population seem as much alive as in London or Paris. This
+makes the solemn stillness of the evening hours in Philadelphia still more
+remarkable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There are a few trees in different parts of the city, and I observed young ones
+planted, and guarded with much care; were they more abundant it would be
+extremely agreeable, for the reflected light of their fierce summer sheds
+intolerable day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ice is in profuse abundance; I do not imagine that there is a house in the city
+without the luxury of a piece of ice to cool the water, and harden the butter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The hackney coaches are the best in the world, but abominably dear, and it is
+necessary to be on the <i>qui vive</i> in making your bargain with the driver;
+if you do not, he has the power of charging immoderately. On my first
+experiment I neglected this, and was asked two dollars and a half for an
+excursion of twenty minutes. When I referred to the waiter of the hotel, he
+asked if I had made a bargain. &ldquo;No.&rdquo; &ldquo;Then I expect&rdquo;
+(with the usual look of triumph) &ldquo;that the Yankee has been too smart for
+you.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The private carriages of New York are infinitely handsomer and better appointed
+than any I saw elsewhere; the want of smart liveries destroys much of the gay
+effect, but, on the whole, a New York summer equipage, with the pretty women
+and beautiful children it contains, look extremely well in Broadway, and would
+not be much amiss anywhere.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The luxury of the New York aristocracy is not confined to the city; hardly an
+acre of Manhatten Island but shows some pretty villa or stately mansion. The
+most chosen of these are on the north and east rivers, to whose margins their
+lawns descend. Among these, perhaps, the loveliest is one situated in the
+beautiful village of Bloomingdale; here, within the space of sixteen acres,
+almost every variety of garden scenery may be found. To describe all its
+diversity of hill and dale, of wood and lawn, of rock and river, would be in
+vain; nor can I convey an idea of it by comparison, for I never saw anything
+like it. How far the elegant hospitality which reigns there may influence my
+impression, I know not; but, assuredly, no spot I have ever seen dwells more
+freshly on my memory, nor did I ever find myself in a circle more calculated to
+give delight in meeting, and regret at parting, than that of Woodlawn.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap31"></a>CHAPTER XXXI</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Reception of Captain Basil Hall&rsquo;s Book in the United States
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having now arrived nearly at the end of our travels, I am induced, ere I
+conclude, again to mention what I consider as one of the most remarkable traits
+in the national character of the Americans; namely, their exquisite
+sensitiveness and soreness respecting everything said or written concerning
+them. Of this, perhaps, the most remarkable example I can give, is the effect
+produced on nearly every class of readers by the appearance of Captain Basil
+Hall&rsquo;s &ldquo;Travels in North America.&rdquo; In fact, it was a sort of
+moral earthquake, and the vibration it occasioned through the nerves of the
+Republic, from one corner of the Union to the other, was by no means over when
+I left the country in July, 1831, a couple of years after the shock.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was in Cincinnati when these volumes came out, but it was not till July,
+1830, that I procured a copy of them. One bookseller to whom I applied, told me
+that he had had a few copies before he understood the nature of the work, but
+that after becoming acquainted with it, nothing should induce him to sell
+another. Other persons of his profession must, however, have been less
+scrupulous, for the book was read in city, town, village, and hamlet,
+steam-boat, and stage-coach, and a sort of war-whoop was sent forth perfectly
+unprecedented in my recollection upon any occasion whatever.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was fortunate for me that I did not procure these volumes till I had heard
+them very generally spoken of, for the curiosity I felt to know the contents of
+a work so violently anathematised, led me to make enquiries which elicited a
+great deal of curious feeling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+An ardent desire for approbation, and delicate sensitiveness under censure,
+have always, I believe, been considered as amiable traits of character; but the
+condition into which the appearance of Capt. Hall&rsquo;s work threw the
+Republic, shows plainly that these feelings, if carried to excess, produce a
+weakness which amounts to imbecility.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was perfectly astonishing to hear men, who, on other subjects, were sane of
+judgment, utter their opinions upon this. I never heard of any instance in
+which the common sense generally found in national criticism was so overthrown
+by passion. I do not speak of the want of justice, and of fair and liberal
+interpretation: these, perhaps, were hardly to be expected. Other nations have
+been called thin-skinned, but the citizens of the Union have, apparently, no
+skins at all; they wince if a breeze blows over them, unless it be tempered
+with adulation. It was not, therefore, very surprising that the acute and
+forcible observations of a traveller they knew would be listened to, should be
+received testily. The extraordinary features of the business were, first, the
+excess of the rage into which they lashed themselves; and secondly, the
+puerility of the inventions by which they attempted to account for the severity
+with which they fancied they had been treated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not content with declaring that the volumes contained no word of truth from
+beginning to end (which is an assertion I heard made very nearly as often as
+they were mentioned), the whole country set to work to discover the causes why
+Capt. Hall had visited the United States, and why he had published his book.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have heard it said with as much precision and gravity as if the statement had
+been conveyed by an official report, that Capt. Hall had been sent out by the
+British government expressly for the purpose of checking the growing admiration
+of England for the government of the United States, that it was by a commission
+from the Treasury he had come, and that it was only in obedience to orders that
+he had found anything to object to.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I do not give this as the gossip of a coterie; I am persuaded that it is the
+belief of a very considerable portion of the country. So deep is the conviction
+of this singular people that they cannot be seen without being admired, that
+they will not admit the possibility that anyone should honestly and sincerely
+find aught to disapprove in them, or their country.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At Philadelphia I met with a little anonymous book, written to show that Capt.
+Basil Hall was in no way to be depended on, for that he not only slandered the
+Americans, but was himself, in other respects, a person of very equivocal
+morals. One proof of this is given by a quotation of the following playful
+account of the distress occasioned by the want of a bell. The commentator calls
+it an instance of &ldquo;shocking coarseness.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;One day I was rather late for breakfast, and as there was no water in my
+jug, I set off, post haste, half shaved, half dressed, and more than half
+vexed, in quest of water, like a seaman on short allowance, hunting for
+rivulets on some unknown coast. I went up stairs, and down stairs, and in the
+course of my researches into half a dozen different apartments, might have
+stumbled on some lady&rsquo;s chamber, as the song says, which considering the
+plight I was in, would have been awkward enough.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Another indication of this moral coarseness is pointed out in the passage where
+Capt. Hall says, he never saw a flirtation all the time he was in the Union.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The charge of ingratitude also was echoed from mouth to mouth. That he should
+himself bear testimony to the unvarying kindness of the reception he met with,
+and yet find fault with the country, was declared on all hands to be a proof of
+the most abominable ingratitude that it ever entered into the heart of man to
+conceive. I once ventured before about a dozen people to ask whether more blame
+would not attach to an author, if he suffered himself to be bribed by
+individual kindness to falsify facts, than if, despite all personal
+considerations, he stated them truly?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Facts!&rdquo; cried the whole circle at once, &ldquo;facts! I tell you
+there is not a word of fact in it from beginning to end.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The American Reviews are, many of them, I believe, well known in England; I
+need not, therefore, quote them here, but I sometimes wondered that they, none
+of them, ever thought of translating Obadiah&rsquo;s curse into classic
+American; if they had done so, only placing (he, Basil Hall,) between brackets
+instead of (he, Obadiah,) it would have saved them a world of trouble.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I can hardly describe the curiosity with which I sat down at length to pursue
+these tremendous volumes; still less can I do justice to my surprise at their
+contents. To say that I found not one exaggerated statement throughout the
+work, is by no means saying enough. It is impossible for any one who knows the
+country not to see that Captain Hall earnestly sought out things to admire and
+commend. When he praises, it is with evident pleasure, and when he finds fault,
+it is with evident reluctance and restraint, excepting where motives purely
+patriotic urge him to state roundly what it is for the benefit of his country
+should be known.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In fact, Captain Hall saw the country to the greatest possible advantage.
+Furnished, of course, with letters of introduction to the most distinguished
+individuals, and with the still more influential recommendation of his own
+reputation, he was received in full drawing-room style and state from one end
+of the Union to the other. He saw the country in full dress, and had little or
+no opportunity of judging of it unhouselled, disappointed, unannealed, with all
+its imperfections on its head, as I and my family too often had.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Captain Hall had certainly excellent opportunities of making himself acquainted
+with the form of the government and the laws; and of receiving, moreover, the
+best oral commentary upon them, in conversation with the most distinguished
+citizens. Of these opportunities he made excellent use; nothing important met
+his eye which did not receive that sort of analytical attention which an
+experienced and philosophical traveller alone can give. This has made his
+volumes highly interesting and valuable; but I am deeply persuaded, that were a
+man of equal penetration to visit the United States with no other means of
+becoming acquainted with the national character than the ordinary working-day
+intercourse of life, he would conceive an infinitely lower idea of the moral
+atmosphere of the country than Captain Hall appears to have done; and the
+internal conviction on my mind is strong, that if Captain Hall had not placed a
+firm restraint on himself, he must have given expression to far deeper
+indignation than any he has uttered against many points in the American
+character, with which he shows, from other circumstances, that he was well
+acquainted. His rule appears to have been to state just so much of the truth as
+would leave on the minds of his readers a correct impression, at the least cost
+of pain to the sensitive folks he was writing about. He states his own opinions
+and feelings, and leaves it to be inferred that he has good grounds for
+adopting them; but he spares the Americans the bitterness which a detail of the
+circumstances would have produced.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If any one chooses to say that some wicked antipathy to twelve millions of
+strangers is the origin of my opinion, I must bear it; and were the question
+one of mere idle speculation, I certainly would not court the abuse I must meet
+for stating it. But it is not so. I know that among the best, the most pious,
+the most benevolent of my countrymen, there are hundreds, nay, I fear
+thousands, who conscientiously believe that a greater degree of political and
+religious liberty (such as is possessed in America) would be beneficial for us.
+How often have I wished, during my abode in the United States, that one of
+these conscientious, but mistaken reasoners, fully possessed of his
+country&rsquo;s confidence, could pass a few years in the United States,
+sufficiently among the mass of the citizens to know them, and sufficiently at
+leisure to trace effects to their causes. Then might we look for a statement
+which would teach these mistaken philanthropists to tremble at every symptom of
+democratic power among us; a statement which would make even our sectarians
+shudder at the thought of hewing down the Established Church, for they would be
+taught, by fearful example, to know that it was the bulwark which protects us
+from the gloomy horrors of fanatic superstition on one side, and the still more
+dreadful inroads of infidelity on the other. And more than all, such a man
+would see as clear as light, that where every class is occupied in getting
+money, and no class in spending it, there will neither be leisure for
+worshipping the theory of honesty, nor motive strong enough to put its
+restrictive doctrine in practice. Where every man is engaged in driving hard
+bargains with his fellows, where is the honoured class to be found into which
+gentleman-like feelings, principles, and practice, are necessary as an
+introduction?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That there are men of powerful intellect, benevolent hearts, and high moral
+feeling in America, I know: and I could, if challenged to do so, name
+individuals surpassed by none of any country in these qualities; but they are
+excellent, despite their institutions, not in consequence of them. It is not by
+such that Captain Hall&rsquo;s statements are called slanders, nor is it from
+such that I shall meet the abuse which I well know these pages will inevitably
+draw upon me; and I only trust I may be able to muster as much self-denial as
+my predecessor, who asserts in his recently published &ldquo;Fragments,&rdquo;
+that he has read none of the American criticisms on his book. He did wisely, if
+he wished to retain an atom of his kindly feeling toward America, and he has,
+assuredly, lost but little on the score of information, for these criticisms,
+generally speaking, consist of mere downright personal abuse, or querulous
+complaints of his ingratitude and ill usage of them; complaints which it is
+quite astonishing that any persons of spirit could indulge in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The following good-humoured paragraphs from the Fragments, must, I think,
+rather puzzle the Americans. Possibly they may think that Captain Hall is
+quizzing them, when he says he has read none of their criticisms; but I think
+there is in these passages internal evidence that he has not seen them. For if
+he had read one-fiftieth part of the vituperation of his Travels, which it has
+been my misfortune to peruse, he could hardly have brought himself to write
+what follows.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If the Americans still refuse to shake the hand proffered to them in the true
+old John Bull spirit, they are worse folks than even I take them for.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Captain Hall, after describing the hospitable reception he formerly met with,
+at a boarding-house in New York, goes on thus:&mdash;&ldquo;If our hostess be
+still alive, I hope she will not repent of having bestowed her obliging
+attentions on one, who so many years afterwards made himself, he fears, less
+popular in her land, than he could wish to be amongst a people to whom he owes
+so much, and for whom he really feels so much kindness. He still anxiously
+hopes, however, they will believe him, when he declares, that, having said in
+his recent publication no more than what he conceived was due to strict truth,
+and to the integrity of history, as far as his observations and opinions went,
+he still feels, as he always has, and ever must continue to feel towards
+America, the heartiest good-will.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Americans are perpetually repeating that the foundation-stone of
+their liberty is fixed on the doctrine, that every man is free to form his own
+opinions, and to promulgate them in candour and in moderation. Is it meant that
+a foreigner is excluded from these privileges? If not, may I ask, in what
+respect have I passed these limitations? The Americans have surely no fair
+right to be offended because my views differ from their&rsquo;s; and yet I am
+told I have been rudely handled by the press of that country. If my motives are
+distrusted, I can only say, I am sorely belied. If I am mistaken, regret at my
+political blindness were surely more dignified than anger on the part of those
+with whom I differ; and if it shall chance that I am in the right, the best
+confirmation of the correctness of my views, in the opinion of indifferent
+persons, will perhaps be found in the soreness of those, who wince when the
+truth is spoken.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Yet, after all, few things would give me more real pleasure, than to
+know that my friends across the water would consent to take me at my word; and,
+considering what I have said about them as so much public matter, which it
+truly is, agree to reckon me, in my absence, and they always did, when I was
+amongst them, and, I am sure, they would count me, if I went back again, as a
+private friend. I differed with them in politics, and I differ with them now as
+much as ever; but I sincerely wish them happiness individually; and, as a
+nation, I shall rejoice if they prosper. As the Persians write, &ldquo;What can
+I say more?&rdquo; And I only hope these few words may help to make my peace
+with people who justly pride themselves on bearing no malice. As for myself, I
+have no peace to make; for I have studiously avoided reading any of the
+American criticisms on my book, in order that the kindly feelings I have ever
+entertained towards that country should not be ruffled. By this abstinence I
+may have lost some information, and perhaps missed many opportunities of
+correcting erroneous impressions. But I set so much store by the pleasing
+recollection of the journey itself, and of the hospitality with which my family
+were every where received, that whether it be right, or whether it be wrong, I
+cannot bring myself to read anything which might disturb these agreeable
+associations. So let us part in peace; or, rather, let us meet again in cordial
+communication; and if this little work shall find its way across the Atlantic,
+I hope it will be read there without reference to anything that has passed
+between us; or, at all events, with reference only to those parts of our former
+intercourse, which are satisfactory to all
+parties.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>Hall&rsquo;s Fragments</i>, Vol.1.p.200.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I really think it is impossible to read, not only this passage, but many others
+in these delightful little volumes, without feeling that their author is as
+little likely to deserve the imputation of harshness and ill-will, as any man
+that ever lived.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In reading Capt. Hall&rsquo;s volumes on America, the observation which, I
+think, struck me the most forcibly, and which certainly came the most
+completely home to my own feelings, was the following.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;In all my travels both amongst Heathens, and amongst Christians, I have
+never encountered any people by whom I found it nearly so difficult to make
+myself understood as by the Americans.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have conversed in London and in Paris with foreigners of many nations, and
+often through the misty medium of an idiom imperfectly understood, but I
+remember no instance in which I found the same difficulty in conveying my
+sentiments, my impressions, and my opinions to those around me, as I did in
+America. Whatever faith may be given to my assertion, no one who has not
+visited the country can possibly conceive to what extent it is true. It is less
+necessary, I imagine, for the mutual understanding of persons conversing
+together, that the language should be the same, than that their ordinary mode
+of thinking, and habits of life should, in some degree, assimilate; whereas, in
+point of fact, there is hardly a single point of sympathy between the Americans
+and us; but whatever the cause, the fact is certainly as I have stated it, and
+herein, I think, rests the only apology for the preposterous and undignified
+anger felt and expressed against Capt. Hall&rsquo;s work. They really cannot,
+even if they wished it, enter into any of his views, or comprehend his most
+ordinary feelings; and, therefore, they cannot believe in the sincerity of the
+impressions he describes. The candour which he expresses, and evidently feels,
+they mistake for irony, or totally distrust; his unwillingness to give pain to
+persons from whom he has received kindness, they scornfully reject as
+affectation; and, although they must know right well, in their own secret
+hearts, how infinitely more they lay at his mercy than he has chosen to betray,
+they pretend, even to themselves, that he has exaggerated the bad points of
+their character and institutions; whereas, the truth is, that he has let them
+off with a degree of tenderness which may be quite suitable for him to
+exercise, however little merited; while, at the same time, he has most
+industriously magnified their merits, whenever he could possibly find anything
+favourable. One can perfectly well understand why Capt. Hall&rsquo;s avowed
+Tory principles should be disapproved of in the United States, especially as
+(with a questionable policy in a bookselling point of view, in these reforming
+times,) he volunteers a profession of political faith, in which, to use the
+Kentucky phrase, &ldquo;he goes the whole hog,&rdquo; and bluntly avows, in his
+concluding chapter, that he not only holds stoutly to Church and State, but
+that he conceives the English House of Commons to be, if not quite perfect, at
+least as much so for all the required purposes of representation as it can by
+possibility be made in practice. Such a downright thorough-going Tory and
+Anti-reformer, pretending to judge of the workings of the American democratical
+system, was naturally held to be a monstrous abomination, and it has been
+visited accordingly, both in America, and as I understand, with us also. The
+experience which Capt. Hall has acquired in visits to every part of the world,
+during twenty or thirty years, goes for nothing with the Radicals on either
+side the Atlantic: on the contrary, precisely in proportion to the value of
+that authority which is the result of actual observation, are they irritated to
+find its weight cast into the opposite scale. Had not Capt. Hall been converted
+by what he saw in North America, from the Whig faith he exhibited in his
+description of South America, his book would have been far more popular in
+England during the last two years of public excitement; it may, perhaps, be
+long before any justice is done to Capt. Hall&rsquo;s book in the United
+States, but a less time will probably suffice to establish its claim to
+attention at home.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap32"></a>CHAPTER XXXII</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Journey to Niagara&mdash;Hudson&mdash;West Point&mdash;Hyde
+Park&mdash;Albany&mdash;Yankees&mdash;Trenton
+Falls&mdash;Rochester&mdash;Genesee Falls&mdash;Lockport
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How quickly weeks glide away in such a city as New York, especially when you
+reckon among your friends some of the most agreeable people in either
+hemisphere. But we had still a long journey before us, and one of the wonders
+of the world was to be seen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the 30th of May we set off for Niagara. I had heard so much of the
+surpassing beauty of the North River, that I expected to be disappointed, and
+to find reality flat after description. But it is not in the power of man to
+paint with a strength exceeding that of nature, in such scenes as the Hudson
+presents. Every mile shows some new and startling effect of the combination of
+rocks, trees, and water; there is no interval of flat or insipid scenery, from
+the moment you enter upon the river at New York, to that of quitting it at
+Albany, a distance of 180 miles.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For the first twenty miles the shore of New Jersey, on the left, offers almost
+a continued wall of trap rock, which from its perpendicular form, and lineal
+fissures, is called the Palisados. This wall sometimes rises to the height of a
+hundred and fifty feet, and sometimes sinks down to twenty. Here and there, a
+watercourse breaks its uniformity; and every where the brightest foliage, in
+all the splendour of the climate and the season, fringed and chequered the dark
+barrier. On the opposite shore, Manhatten Island, with its leafy coronet gemmed
+with villas, forms a lovely contrast to these rocky heights.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After passing Manhatten Island, the eastern shore gradually assumes a wild and
+rocky character, but ever varying; woods, lawns, pastures, and towering cliffs
+all meet the eye in quick succession, as the giant steam-boat cleaves its swift
+passage up the stream.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For several miles the voyage is one of great interest independent of its
+beauty, for it passes many points where important events of the revolutionary
+war took place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was not without a pang that I looked on the spot where poor Andre was taken,
+and another where he was executed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Several forts, generally placed in most commanding situations, still show by
+their battered ruins, where the struggle was strongest, and I felt no lack of
+that moral interest so entirely wanting in the new States, and without which no
+journey can, I think, continue long without wearying the spirits.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+About forty miles from New York you enter upon the Highlands, as a series of
+mountains which then flank the river on both sides, are called. The beauty of
+this scenery can only be conceived when it is seen. One might fancy that these
+capricious masses, with all their countless varieties of light and shade, were
+thrown together to show how passing lovely rocks and woods, and water could be.
+Sometimes a lofty peak shoots suddenly up into the heavens, showing in bold
+relief against the sky; and then a deep ravine sinks in solemn shadow, and
+draws the imagination into its leafy recesses. For several miles the river
+appears to form a succession of lakes; you are often enclosed on all sides by
+rocks rising directly from the very edge of the stream, and then you turn a
+point, the river widens, and again woods, lawns, and villages are reflected on
+its bosom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The state prison of Sing Sing is upon the edge of the water, and has no
+picturesque effect to atone for the painful images it suggests; the
+&ldquo;Sleepy Hollow&rdquo; of Washington Irving, just above it, restores the
+imagination to a better tone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+West Point, the military academy of the United States, is fifty miles from New
+York. The scenery around it is magnificent, and though the buildings of the
+establishment are constructed with the handsome and unpicturesque regularity
+which marks the work of governments, they are so nobly placed, and so embosomed
+in woods, that they look beautiful. The lengthened notes of a French horn,
+which I presume was attending some of their military manoeuvres, sounded with
+deep and solemn sweetness as we passed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+About thirty miles further is Hyde Park, the magnificent seat of Dr. Hosack;
+here the misty summit of the distant Kaatskill begins to form the outline of
+the landscape; it is hardly possible to imagine anything more beautiful than
+this place. We passed a day there with great enjoyment; and the following
+morning set forward again in one of those grand floating hotels called
+steamboats. Either on this day, or the one before, we had two hundred cabin
+passengers on board, and they all sat down together to a table spread
+abundantly, and with considerable elegance. A continual succession of
+gentlemen&rsquo;s seats, many of them extremely handsome, borders the river to
+Albany. We arrived there late in the evening, but had no difficulty in finding
+excellent accommodation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Albany is the state capital of New York, and has some very handsome public
+buildings; there are also some curious relics of the old Dutch inhabitants.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The first sixteen miles from Albany we travelled in a stage, to avoid a
+multitude of locks at the entrance of the Erie canal; but at Scenectedy we got
+on board one of the canal packet-boats for Utica.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With a very delightful party, of one&rsquo;s own choosing, fine temperate
+weather, and a strong breeze to chase the mosquitos, this mode of travelling
+might be very agreeable, but I can hardly imagine any motive of convenience
+powerful enough to induce me again to imprison myself in a canal boat under
+ordinary circumstances. The accommodations being greatly restricted, every
+body, from the moment of entering the boat, acts upon a system of unshrinking
+egotism. The library of a dozen books, the backgammon board, the tiny berths,
+the shady side of the cabin, are all jostled for in a manner to make one
+greatly envy the power of the snail; at the moment I would willingly have given
+up some of my human dignity for the privilege of creeping into a shell of my
+own. To any one who has been accustomed in travelling, to be addressed with,
+&ldquo;Do sit here, you will find it more comfortable,&rdquo; the &ldquo;You
+must go there, I made for this place first,&rdquo; sounds very unmusical.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is a great quietness about the women of America (I speak of the exterior
+manner of persons casually met), but somehow or other, I should never call it
+gentleness. In such trying moments as that of <i>fixing</i> themselves on board
+a packet-boat, the men are prompt, determined, and will compromise any
+body&rsquo;s convenience, except their own. The women are doggedly stedfast in
+their will, and till matters are settled, look like hedgehogs, with every quill
+raised, and firmly set, as if to forbid the approach of any one who might wish
+to rub them down. In circumstances where an English woman would look proud, and
+a French woman <i>nonchalante</i>, an American lady looks grim; even the
+youngest and the prettiest can set their lips, and knit their brows, and look
+as hard and unsocial as their grandmothers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Though not in the Yankee or New England country, we were bordering upon it
+sufficiently to meet in the stages and boats many delightful specimens of this
+most peculiar race. I like them extremely well, but I would not wish to have
+any business transactions with them, if I could avoid it, lest, to use their
+own phrase, &ldquo;they should be too smart for me.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is by no means rare to meet elsewhere, in this working-day world of
+our&rsquo;s, people who push acuteness to the verge of honesty, and sometimes,
+perhaps, a little bit beyond; but, I believe, the Yankee is the only one who
+will be found to boast of doing so. It is by no means easy to give a clear and
+just idea of a Yankee; if you hear his character from a Virginian, you will
+believe him a devil: if you listen to it from himself, you might fancy him a
+god&mdash;though a tricky one; Mercury turned righteous and notable. Matthews
+did very well, as far as &ldquo;I expect,&rdquo; &ldquo;I calculate,&rdquo; and
+&ldquo;I guess;&rdquo; but this is only the shell; there is an immense deal
+within, both of sweet and bitter. In acuteness, cautiousness, industry, and
+perseverance, he resembles the Scotch; in habits of frugal neatness, he
+resembles the Dutch; in love of lucre he doth greatly resemble the sons of
+Abraham; but in frank admission, and superlative admiration of all his own
+peculiarities, he is like nothing on earth but himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Quakers have been celebrated for the pertinacity with which they avoid
+giving a direct answer, but what Quaker could ever vie with a Yankee in this
+sort of fencing? Nothing, in fact, can equal their skill in evading a question,
+excepting that with which they set about asking one. I am afraid that in
+repeating a conversation which I overheard on board the Erie canal boat, I
+shall spoil it, by forgetting some of the little delicate doublings which
+delighted me&mdash;yet I wrote it down immediately. Both parties were Yankees,
+but strangers to each other; one of them having, by gentle degrees, made
+himself pretty well acquaninted with the point from which every one on board
+had started, and that for which he was bound, at last attacked his brother
+Reynard thus:-
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, now, which way may you be travelling?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I expect this canal runs pretty nearly west.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Are you going far with it?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, now, I don&rsquo;t rightly know how many miles it may be.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I expect you&rsquo;ll be from New York?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Sure enough I have been at New York, often and often.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I calculate, then, &rsquo;tis not there as you stop?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Business must be minded, in stopping and in stirring.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You may say that. Well, I look then you&rsquo;ll be making for the
+Springs?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Folks say as all the world is making for the Springs, and I except a
+good sight of them is.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you calculate upon stopping long when you get to your journey&rsquo;s
+end?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;&rsquo;Tis my business must settle that, I expect?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I guess that&rsquo;s true, too; but you&rsquo;ll be for making pleasure
+a business for once, I calculate?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My business don&rsquo;t often lie in that line.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Then, may be, it is not the Springs as takes you this line?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The Springs is a right elegant place, I reckon.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;It is your health, I calculate, as makes you break your good
+rules?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;My health don&rsquo;t trouble me much, I guess.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No? Why that&rsquo;s well. How is the markets, sir? Are bread stuffs
+up?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I a&rsquo;nt just capable to say.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;A deal of money&rsquo;s made by just looking after the article at the
+fountain&rsquo;s head.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You may say that.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Do you look to be making great dealings in produce up the
+country?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why that, I expect, is difficult to know.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I calculate you&rsquo;ll find the markets changeable these times?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No markets ben&rsquo;t very often without changing.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, that&rsquo;s right down true. What may be your biggest article of
+produce?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;I calculate, generally, that&rsquo;s the biggest, as I makes most
+by.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You may say that. But what do you chiefly call your most particular
+branch?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, that&rsquo;s what I can&rsquo;t justly say.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so they went on, without advancing or giving an inch, &rsquo;till I was
+weary of listening; but I left them still at it, when I stepped out to resume
+my station on a trunk at the bow of the boat, where I scribbled in my note-book
+this specimen of Yankee conversation.
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+The Erie canal has cut through much solid rock, and we often passed between
+magnificent cliffs. The little falls of the Mohawk form a lovely scene; the
+rocks over which the river runs are most fantastic in form. The fall continues
+nearly a mile, and a beautiful village, called the Little Falls, overhangs it.
+As many locks occur at this point, we quitted the boat, that we might the
+better enjoy the scenery, which is of the widest description. Several other
+passengers did so likewise, and I was much amused by one of our Yankees, who
+very civilly accompanied our party, pointing out to me the wild state of the
+country, and apologizing for it, by saying, that the property all round
+thereabouts had been owned by an Englishman; &ldquo;and you&rsquo;ll excuse me,
+ma&rsquo;am, but when the English gets a spot of wild ground like this here,
+they have no notions about it like us; but the Englishman have sold it, and if
+you was to see it five years hence, you would not know it again; I&rsquo;ll
+engage there will be by that, half a score elegant factories&mdash;&rsquo;tis a
+true shame to let such a privilege of water lie idle.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We reached Utica at twelve o&rsquo;clock the following day, pretty well fagged
+by the sun by day, and a crowded cabin by night; lemon-juice and iced-water
+(without sugar) kept us alive. But for this delightful recipe, feather fans,
+and eau de Cologne, I think we should have failed altogether; the thermometer
+stood at 90 degrees.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At two, we set off in a very pleasant airy carriage for Trenton Falls, a
+delightful drive of fourteen miles. These falls have become within the last few
+years only second in fame to Niagara. The West Canada Creek, which in the map
+shows but as a paltry stream, has found its way through three miles of rock,
+which, at many points, is 150 feet high. A forest of enormous cedars is on
+their summit; and many of that beautiful species of white cedar which droops
+its branches like the weeping-willow grow in the clefts of the rock, and in
+some places almost dip their dark foliage in the torrent. The rock is of a dark
+grey limestone, and often presents a wall of unbroken surface. Near the hotel a
+flight of very alarming steps leads down to the bed of the stream, and on
+reaching it you find yourself enclosed in a deep abyss of solid rock, with no
+visible opening but that above your head. The torrent dashes by with
+inconceivable rapidity; its colour is black as night, and the dark ledge of
+rock on which you stand, is so treacherously level with it, that nothing warns
+you of danger. Within the last three years two young people, though surrounded
+by their friends, have stepped an inch too far, and disappeared from among
+them, as if by magic, never to revisit earth again. This broad flat ledge
+reached but a short distance, and then the perpendicular wall appears to stop
+your farther progress; but there is a spirit of defiance in the mind of man; he
+will not be stayed either by rocks or waves. By the aid of gunpowder a
+sufficient quantity of the rock has been removed to afford a fearful footing
+round a point, which, when doubled, discloses a world of cataracts, all leaping
+forward together in most magnificent confusion. I suffered considerably before
+I reached the spot where this grand scene is visible; a chain firmly fastened
+to the rock serves to hang by, as you creep along the giddy verge, and this
+enabled me to proceed so far; but here the chain failed, and my courage with
+it, though the rest of the party continued for some way farther, and reported
+largely of still increasing sublimity. But my knees tottered, and my head swam,
+so while the rest crept onward, I sat down to wait their return on the floor of
+rock which had received us on quitting the steps.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A hundred and fifty feet of bare black rock on one side, an equal height
+covered with solemn cedars on the other, an unfathomed torrent roaring between
+them, the fresh remembrance of the ghastly legend belonging to the spot, and
+the idea of my children clinging to the dizzy path I had left, was altogether
+sombre enough; but I had not sat long before a tremendous burst of thunder
+shook the air; the deep chasm answered from either side, again, again, and
+again; I thought the rock I sat upon trembled: but the whole effect was so
+exceedingly grand, that I had no longer leisure to think of fear; my children
+immediately returned, and we enjoyed together the darkening shadows cast over
+the abyss, the rival clamour of the torrent and the storm, and that delightful
+exaltation of the spirits which sets danger at defiance. A few heavy rain drops
+alarmed us more than all the terrors of the spot, or rather, they recalled our
+senses, and we retreated by the fearful steps, reaching our hotel unwetted and
+unharmed. The next morning we were again early a foot; the last night&rsquo;s
+storm had refreshed the air, and renewed our strength. We now took a different
+route, and instead of descending, as before, walked through the dark forest
+along the cliff, sufficiently near its edge to catch fearful glimpses of the
+scene below. After some time the patch began to descend, and at length brought
+us to the Shantee, commemorated in Miss Sedgwick&rsquo;s Clarence. This is by
+far the finest point of the falls. There is a little balcony in front of the
+Shantee, literally hanging over the tremendous whirlpool; though frail, it
+makes one fancy oneself in safety, and reminded me of the feeling with which I
+have stood on one side a high gate, watching a roaring bull on the other. The
+walls of this Shantee are literally covered with autographs, and I was inclined
+to join the laugh against the egotistical trifling, when one of the party
+discovered &ldquo;Trollope, England,&rdquo; amidst the innumerable scrawls. The
+well known characters were hailed with such delight, that I think I shall never
+again laugh at any one for leaving their name where it is possible a friend may
+find it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We returned to Utica to dinner, and found that we must either wait till the
+next day for the Rochester coach, or again submit to the packet-boat. Our
+impatience induced us to prefer the latter, not very wisely, I think, for every
+annoyance seemed to increase upon us. The Oneida and the Genesee country are
+both extremely beautiful, but had we not returned by another route we should
+have known little about it. From the canal nothing is seen to advantage, and
+very little is seen at all. My chief amusement, I think, was derived from
+names. One town, consisting of a whiskey store and a warehouse, is called Port
+Byron. At Rome, the first name I saw over a store was Remus, doing infinite
+honour, I thought, to the classic lore of his godfathers and godmothers; but it
+would be endless to record all the drolleries of this kind which we met with.
+We arrived at Rochester, a distance of a hundred and forty miles, on the second
+morning after leaving Utica, fully determined never to enter a canal boat
+again, at least, not in America.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rochester is one of the most famous of the cities built on the Jack and
+Bean-stalk principle. There are many splendid edifices in wood; and certainly
+more houses, warehouses, factories, and steam-engines than ever were collected
+together in the same space of time; but I was told by a fellow-traveller that
+the stumps of the forest are still to be found firmly rooted in the cellars.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The fall of the Genesee is close to the town, and in the course of a few months
+will, perhaps, be in the middle of it. It is a noble sheet of water, of a
+hundred and sixty feet perpendicular fall; but I looked at it through the
+window of a factory, and as I did not like that, I was obligingly handed to the
+door-way of a sawing-mill; in short, &ldquo;the great water privilege&rdquo;
+has been so ingeniously taken advantage of, that no point can be found where
+its voice and its movement are not mixed and confounded with those of the
+&ldquo;admirable machinery of this flourishing city.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Genesee fall is renowned as being the last and fatal leap of the
+adventurous madman, Sam Patch; he had leaped it once before, and rose to the
+surface of the river in perfect safety, but the last time he was seen to falter
+as he took the leap, and was never heard of more. It seems that he had some
+misgivings of his fate, for a pet bear, which he had always taken with him on
+his former break-neck adventures, and which had constantly leaped after him
+without injury, he on this occasion left behind, in the care of a friend, to
+whom he bequeathed him &ldquo;in case of his not returning.&rdquo; We saw the
+bear, which is kept at the principal hotel; he is a noble creature, and more
+completely tame than I ever saw any animal of the species.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our journey now became wilder every step, the unbroken forest often skirted the
+road for miles, and the sight of a log-hut was an event. Yet the road was, for
+the greater part of the day, good, running along a natural ridge, just wide
+enough for it. This ridge is a very singular elevation, and, by all the enquiry
+I could make, the favourite theory concerning it is, that it was formerly the
+boundary of Lake Ontario, near which it passes. When this ridge ceased, the
+road ceased too, and for the rest of the way to Lockport, we were most
+painfully jumbled and jolted over logs and through bogs, till every joint was
+nearly dislocated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lockport is beyond all comparison, the strangest looking place I ever beheld.
+As fast as half a dozen trees were cut down, a <i>factory</i> was raised up;
+stumps still contest the ground with pillars, and porticos are seen to struggle
+with rocks. It looks as if the demon of machinery, having invaded the peaceful
+realms of nature, had fixed on Lockport as the battle-ground on which they
+should strive for mastery. The fiend insists that the streams should go one
+way, though the gentle mother had ever led their dancing steps another; nay,
+the very rocks must fall before him, and take what form he wills. The battle is
+lost and won. Nature is fairly routed and driven from the field, and the
+rattling, crackling, hissing, spitting demon has taken possession of Lockport
+for ever.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We slept there, dismally enough. I never felt more out of humour at what the
+Americans call improvement; it is, in truth, as it now stands, a most hideous
+place, and gladly did I leave it behind me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our next stage was to Lewiston; for some miles before we reached it we were
+within sight of the British frontier; and we made our salaams.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The monument of the brave General Brock stands on an elevated point near
+Queenstown, and is visible at a great distance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We breakfasted at Lewiston, but felt every cup of coffee as a sin, so impatient
+were we, as we approached the end of our long pilgrimage, to reach the shrine,
+which nature seems to have placed at such a distance from her worshippers on
+purpose to try the strength of their devotion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A few miles more would bring us to the high altar, but first we had to cross
+the ferry, for we were determined upon taking our first view from British
+ground. The Niagara river is very lovely here; the banks are bold, rugged, and
+richly coloured, both by rocks and woods; and the stream itself is bright,
+clear, and unspeakably green.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In crossing the ferry a fellow-passenger made many enquiries of the young
+boatman respecting the battle of Queenstown; he was but a lad, and could
+remember little about it, but he was a British lad, and his answers smacked
+strongly of his loyal British feeling. Among other things, the questioner asked
+if many American citizens had not been thrown from the heights into the river.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Why, yes, there was a good many of them; but it was right to show them
+there was water between us, and you know it might help to keep the rest of them
+from coming to trouble us on our own ground.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This phrase, &ldquo;our own ground,&rdquo; gave interest to every mile, or I
+believe I should have shut my eyes, and tried to sleep, that I might annihilate
+what remained of time and space between me and Niagara.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But I was delighted to see British oaks, and British roofs, and British boys
+and girls. These latter, as if to impress upon us that they were not citizens,
+made bows and courtseys as we passed, and this little touch of long unknown
+civility produced great effect. &ldquo;See these dear children, mamma! do they
+not look English? how I love them!&rdquo; was the exclamation it produced.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap33"></a>CHAPTER XXXIII</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Niagara&mdash;Arrival at Forsythes&mdash;First sight of the Falls&mdash;Goat
+Island&mdash;The Rapids&mdash;Buffalo&mdash;Lake
+Erie&mdash;Canandaigna&mdash;Stage-coach adventures
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At length we reached Niagara. It was the brightest day that June could give;
+and almost any day would have seemed bright that brought me to the object,
+which for years, I had languished to look upon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We did not hear the sound of the Falls till very near the hotel, which
+overhangs them; as you enter the door you see behind the hall an open space
+surrounded by galleries, one above another, and in an instant you feel that
+from thence the wonder is visible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I trembled like a fool, and my girls clung to me, trembling too, I believe, but
+with faces beaming with delight. We encountered a waiter who had a sympathy of
+some sort with us, for he would not let us run through the hall to the first
+gallery, but ushered us up stairs, and another instant placed us where, at one
+glance, I saw all I had wished for, hoped for, dreamed of.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is not for me to attempt a description of Niagara; I feel I have no powers
+for it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After one long, stedfast gaze, we quitted the gallery that we might approach
+still nearer, and in leaving the house had the good fortune to meet an English
+gentleman,<a href="#fn11" name="fnref11" id="fnref11"><sup>[11]</sup></a> who
+had been introduced to us at New York; he had preceded us by a few days, and
+knew exactly how and where to lead us. If any man living can describe the scene
+we looked upon it is himself, and I trust he will do it. As for myself, I can
+only say, that wonder, terror, and delight completely overwhelmed me. I wept
+with a strange mixture of pleasure and of pain, and certainly was, for some
+time, too violently affected in the <i>physique</i> to be capable of much
+pleasure; but when this emotion of the senses subsided, and I had recovered
+some degree of composure, my enjoyment was very great indeed.
+</p>
+
+<p class="footnote">
+<a name="fn11" id="fn11"></a> <a href="#fnref11">[11]</a>
+The accomplished author of &ldquo;Cyril Thornton.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To say that I was not disappointed is but a weak expression to convey the
+surprise and astonishment which this long dreamed of scene produced. It has to
+me something beyond its vastness; there is a shadowy mystery hangs about it
+which neither the eye nor even the imagination can penetrate; but I dare not
+dwell on this, it is a dangerous subject, and any attempt to describe the
+sensations produced must lead direct to nonsense.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Exactly at the Fall, it is the Fall and nothing else you have to look upon;
+there are not, as at Trenton, mighty rocks and towering forests, there is only
+the waterfall; but it is the fall of an ocean, and were Pelion piled on Ossa on
+either side of it, we could not look at them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The noise is greatly less than I expected; one can hear with perfect
+distinctness everything said in an ordinary tone, when quite close to the
+cataract. The cause of this, I imagine to be, that it does not fall immediately
+among rocks, like the far noisier Potomac, but direct and unbroken, save by its
+own rebound. The colour of the water, before this rebound hides it in foam and
+mist, is of the brightest and most delicate green; the violence of the impulse
+sends it far over the precipice before it falls, and the effect of the ever
+varying light through its transparency is, I think, the loveliest thing I ever
+looked upon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We descended to the edge of the gulf which received the torrent, and thence
+looked at the horse-shoe fall in profile; it seems like awful daring to stand
+close beside it, and raise one&rsquo;s eyes to its immensity. I think the point
+the most utterly inconceivable to those who have not seen it, is the centre of
+the horse-shoe. The force of the torrent converges there, and as the heavy mass
+pours in, twisted, wreathed, and curled together, it gives an idea of
+irresistible power, such as no other object ever conveyed to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The following anecdote, which I had from good authority, may give some notion
+of this mighty power.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After the last American war, three of our ships stationed on Lake Erie were
+declared unfit for service, and condemned. Some of their officers obtained
+permission to send them over Niagara Falls. The first was torn to shivers by
+the rapids, and went over in fragments; the second filled with water before she
+reached the fall; but the third, which was in better condition, took the leap
+gallantly, and retained her form till it was hid in the cloud of mist below. A
+reward of ten dollars was offered for the largest fragment of wood that should
+be found from either wreck, five for the second, and so on. One morsel only was
+ever seen, and that about a foot in length, was mashed as by a vice, and its
+edges notched like the teeth of a saw. What had become of the immense quantity
+of wood which had been precipitated? What unknown whirlpool had engulphed it,
+so that, contrary to the very laws of nature, no vestige of the floating
+material could find its way to the surface?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Beyond the horse-shoe is Goat Island, and beyond Goat Island the American fall,
+bold, straight, and chafed to snowy whiteness by the rocks which meet it; but
+it does not approach, in sublimity or awful beauty, to the wondrous crescent on
+the other shore. There, the form of the mighty cauldron, into which the deluge
+poors, the hundred silvery torrents congregating round its verge, the smooth
+and solemn movement with which it rolls its massive volume over the rock, the
+liquid emerald of its long unbroken waters, the fantastic wreaths which spring
+to meet it, and then, the shadowy mist that veils the horrors of its crash
+below, constitute a scene almost too enormous in its features for man to look
+upon. &ldquo;Angels might tremble as they gazed;&rdquo; and I should deem the
+nerves obtuse, rather than strong, which did not quail at the first sight of
+this stupendous cataract.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Minute local particulars can be of no interest to those who have not felt their
+influence for pleasure or for pain. I will not tell of giddy stairs which scale
+the very edge of the torrent, nor of beetling slabs of table rock, broken and
+breaking, on which, shudder as you may, you must take your stand or lose your
+reputation as a tourist. All these feats were performed again and again even on
+the first day of our arrival, and most earthly weary was I when the day was
+done, though I would not lose the remembrance of it to purchase the addition of
+many soft and silken ones to my existence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By four o&rsquo;clock the next morning I was again at the little shantee, close
+to the horse-shoe fall, which seems reared in water rather than in air, and
+took an early shower-bath of spray. Much is concealed at this early hour by the
+heavy vapour, but there was a charm in the very obscurity; and every moment, as
+the light increased, cloud after cloud rolled off, till the vast wonder was
+again before me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is in the afternoon that the rainbow is visible from the British side; and
+it is a lovely feature in the mighty landscape. The gay arch springs from fall
+to fall, a fairy bridge.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After breakfast we crossed to the American side, and explored Goat Island. The
+passage across the Niagara, directly in face of the falls, is one of the most
+delightful little voyages imaginable; the boat crosses marvellously near them,
+and within reach of a light shower of spray. Real safety and apparent danger
+have each their share in the pleasure felt. The river is here two hundred feet
+deep. The passage up the rock brings you close upon the American cataract; it
+is a vast sheet, and has all the sublimity that height and width, and uproar
+can give; but it has none of the magic of its rival about it. Goat Island has,
+at all points, a fine view of the rapids; the furious velocity with which they
+rush onward to the abyss is terrific; and the throwing a bridge across them was
+a work of noble daring.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Below the falls, the river runs between lofty rocks, crowned with unbroken
+forests; this scene forms a striking contrast to the level shores above the
+cataract. It appears as if the level of the river had been broken up by some
+volcanic force. The Niagara flows out of Lake Erie, a broad, deep river; but
+for several miles its course is tranquil, and its shores perfectly level. By
+degrees its bed begins to sink, and the glassy smoothness is disturbed by a
+slight ripple. The inverted trees, that before lay so softly still upon its
+bosom, become twisted and tortured till they lose their form, and seem madly to
+mix in the tumult that destroys them. The current becomes more rapid at every
+step, till rock after rock has chafed the stream to fury, making the green one
+white. This lasts for a mile, and then down sink the rocks at once, one hundred
+and fifty feet, and the enormous flood falls after them. God said, let there be
+a cataract, and it was so. When the river has reached its new level, the
+precipice on either side shows a terrific chasm of solid rock; some beautiful
+plants are clinging to its sides, and oak, ash, and cedar, in many places,
+clothe their terrors with rich foliage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This violent transition from level shores to a deep ravine, seems to indicate
+some great convulsion as its cause, and when I heard of a burning spring close
+by, I fancied the volcanic power still at work, and that the wonders of the
+region might yet increase.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We passed four delightful days of excitement and fatigue; we drenched ourselves
+in spray; we cut our feet on the rocks; we blistered our faces in the sun; we
+looked up the cataract, and down the cataract; we perched ourselves on every
+pinnacle we could find; we dipped our fingers in the flood at a few
+yards&rsquo; distance from its thundering fall; in short, we strove to fill as
+many niches of memory with Niagara as possible; and I think the images will be
+within the power of recall for ever.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We met many groups of tourists in our walks, chiefly American, but they were,
+or we fancied they were, but little observant of the wonders around them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One day we were seated on a point of the cliff, near the ferry, which commands
+a view of both the Falls. This, by the way, is considered as the finest general
+view of the scene. One of our party was employed in attempting to sketch, what,
+however, I believe it is impossible for any pencil to convey an idea of to
+those who have not seen it. We had borrowed two or three chairs from a
+neighbouring cottage, and amongst us had gathered a quantity of boughs which,
+with the aid of shawls and parasols, we had contrived to weave into a shelter
+from the midday sun, so that altogether I have no doubt we looked very cool and
+comfortable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A large party who had crossed from the American side, wound up the steep ascent
+from the place where the boat had left them; in doing so their backs were
+turned to the cataracts, and as they approached the summit, our party was the
+principal object before them. They all stood perfectly still to look at us.
+This first examination was performed at the distance of about a dozen yard from
+the spot we occupied, and lasted about five minutes, by which time they had
+recovered breath, and acquired courage. They then advanced in a body, and one
+or two of them began to examine (wrong side upwards) the work of the sketcher,
+in doing which they stood precisely between him and his object; but of this I
+think it is very probable they were not aware. Some among them next began to
+question us as to how long we had been at the Falls; whether there were much
+company; if we were not from the old country, and the like. In return we learnt
+that they were just arrived; yet not one of them (there were eight) ever turned
+the head, even for a moment, to look at the most stupendous spectacle that
+nature has to show.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The company at the hotel changed almost every day. Many parties arrived in the
+morning, walked to the falls; returned to the hotel to dinner, and departed by
+the coach immediately after it. Many groups were indescribably whimsical, both
+in appearance and manner. Now and then a first-rate dandy shot in among us,
+like a falling star.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On one occasion, when we were in the beautiful gallery, at the back of the
+hotel, which overlooks the horse-shoe fall, we saw the booted leg of one of
+this graceful race protruded from the window which commands the view, while his
+person was thrown back in his chair, and his head enveloped in a cloud of
+tobacco smoke.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have repeatedly remarked, when it has happened to me to meet any ultra fine
+men among the wilder and more imposing scenes of our own land, that they throw
+off, in a great degree, their airs, and their &ldquo;townliness,&rdquo; as some
+one cleverly calls these <i>simagrées</i>, as if ashamed to &ldquo;play their
+fantastic tricks&rdquo; before the god of nature, when so forcibly reminded of
+his presence; and more than once on these occasions I have been surprised to
+find how much intellect lurked behind the inane mask of fashion. But in America
+the effect of fine scenery upon this class of persons is different, for it is
+exactly when amongst it, that the most strenuous efforts at elegant
+<i>nonchalance</i> are perceptible among the young exquisites of the western
+world. It is true that they have little leisure for the display of grace in the
+daily routine of commercial activity in which their lives are passed, and this
+certainly offers a satisfactory explanation of the fact above stated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Fortunately for our enjoyment, the solemn character of the scene was but little
+broken in upon by these gentry. Every one who comes to Forsythe&rsquo;s Hotel
+(except Mrs. Bogle Corbet), walks to the shantee, writes their name in a book
+which is kept there, and, for the most part, descends by the spiral staircase
+which leads from the little platform before it, to the rocks below. Here they
+find another shantee, but a few yards from the entrance of that wondrous cavern
+which is formed by the falling flood on one side, and by the mighty rock over
+which it pours, on the other. To this frail shelter from the wild uproar, and
+the blinding spray, nearly all the touring gentlemen, and even many of the
+pretty ladies, find their way. But here I often saw their noble daring fail,
+and have watched them dripping and draggled turn again to the sheltering
+stairs, leaving us in full possession of the awful scene we so dearly loved to
+gaze upon. How utterly futile must every attempt be to describe the spot! How
+vain every effort to convey an idea of the sensations it produces! Why is it so
+exquisite a pleasure to stand for hours drenched in spray, stunned by the
+ceaseless roar, trembling from the concussion that shakes the very rock you
+cling to, and breathing painfully in the moist atmosphere that seems to have
+less of air than water in it? Yet pleasure it is, and I almost think the
+greatest I ever enjoyed. We more than once approached the entrance to this
+appalling cavern, but I never fairly entered it, though two or three of my
+party did. I lost my breath entirely; and the pain at my chest was so severe,
+that not all my curiosity could enable me to endure it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What was that cavern of the winds, of which we heard of old, compared to this?
+A mightier spirit than Aeolus reigns here.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nor was this spot of dread and danger the only one in which we found ourselves
+alone. The path taken by &ldquo;the company&rdquo; to the shantee, which
+contained the &ldquo;book of names&rdquo; was always the same; this wound down
+the steep bank from the gate of the hotel garden, and was rendered tolerably
+easy by its repeated doublings; but it was by no means the best calculated to
+manage to advantage the pleasure of the stranger in his approach to the spot.
+All others, however, seemed left for us alone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During our stay we saw the commencement of another staircase, intended to rival
+in attraction that at present in use; it is but a few yards from it, and can in
+no way, I think, contribute to the convenience of the descent. The erection of
+the central shaft of this spiral stair was a most tremendous operation, and
+made me sick and giddy as I watched it. After it had been made fast at the
+bottom, the carpenters swung themselves off the rocks, by the means of ropes,
+to the beams which traversed it; and as they sat across them, in the midst of
+the spray and the uproar, I thought I had never seen life periled so wantonly.
+But the work proceeded without accident, and was nearly finished before we left
+the hotel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a sort of pang to take what we knew must be our last look at Niagara;
+but &ldquo;we had to do it,&rdquo; as the Americans say, and left it on the
+10th June, for Buffalo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The drive along the river, above the Falls, is as beautiful as a clear stream
+of a mile in width can make it; and the road continues close to it till you
+reach the ferry at Black Rock.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We welcomed, almost with a shout, the British colours which we saw, for the
+first time, on Commodore Barrie&rsquo;s pretty sloop, the <i>Bull Dog</i>,
+which we passed as it was towing up the river to Lake Erie, the commodore being
+about to make a tour of the lakes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At Black Rock we crossed again into the United States, and a few miles of
+horrible jolting brought us to Buffalo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of all the thousand and one towns I saw in America, I think Buffalo is the
+queerest looking; it is not quite so wild as Lockport, but all the buildings
+have the appearance of having been run up in a hurry, though every thing has an
+air of great pretension; there are porticos, columns, domes, and colonnades,
+but all in wood. Every body tells you there, as in all their other new-born
+towns, and every body believes, that their improvement, and their progression,
+are more rapid, more wonderful, than the earth ever before witnessed; while to
+me, the only wonder is, how so many thousands, nay millions of persons, can be
+found, in the nineteenth century, who can be content so to live. Surely this
+country may be said to spread rather than to rise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Eagle Hotel, an immense wooden fabric, has all the pretension of a splendid
+establishment, but its monstrous corridors, low ceilings, and intricate
+chambers, gave me the feeling of a catacomb rather than a house. We arrived
+after the <i>table d&rsquo;hôte</i> tea-drinking was over, and supped
+comfortably enough with a gentleman, who accompanied us from the Falls: but the
+next morning we breakfasted in a long, low, narrow room, with a hundred
+persons, and any thing less like comfort can hardly be imagined.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What can induce so many intellectual citizens to prefer these long, silent
+tables, scantily covered with morsels of fried ham, salt fish and liver, to a
+comfortable loaf of bread with their wives and children at home? How greatly
+should I prefer eating my daily meals with my family, in an Indian wig-wam, to
+boarding at a <i>table d&rsquo;hôte</i> in these capacious hotels; the custom,
+however, seems universal through the country, at least we have met it, without
+a shadow of variation as to its general features, from New Orleans to Buffalo.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lake Erie has no beauty to my eyes; it is not the sea, and it is not the river,
+nor has it the beautiful scenery generally found round smaller lakes. The only
+interest its unmeaning expanse gave me, arose from remembering that its waters,
+there so tame and tranquil, were destined to leap the gulf of Niagara. A
+dreadful road, through forests only beginning to be felled, brought us to Avon;
+it is a straggling, ugly little place, and not any of their &ldquo;Romes,
+Carthages, Ithacas, or Athens,&rdquo; ever provoked me by their name so much.
+This Avon flows sweetly with nothing but whiskey and tobacco juice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The next day&rsquo;s journey was much more interesting, for it showed us the
+lake of Canandaigua. It is about eighteen miles long, but narrow enough to
+bring the opposite shore, clothed with rich foliage, near to the eye; the
+back-ground is a ridge of mountains. Perhaps the state of the atmosphere lent
+an unusual charm to the scene; one of those sudden thunderstorms, so rapid in
+approach, and so sombre in colouring, that they change the whole aspect of
+things in a moment, rose over the mountains and passed across the lake while we
+looked upon it. Another feature in the scene gave a living, but most sad
+interest to it. A glaring wooden hotel, as fine as paint and porticos can make
+it, overhangs the lake; beside it stands a shed for cattle. To this shed, and
+close by the white man&rsquo;s mushroom palace, two Indians had crept to seek a
+shelter from the storm. The one was an aged man, whose venerable head in
+attitude and expression indicated the profoundest melancholy: the other was a
+youth, and in his deep-set eye there was a quiet sadness more touching still.
+There they stood, the native rightful lords of the fair land, looking out upon
+the lovely lake which yet bore the name their fathers had given it, watching
+the threatening storm that brooded there; a more fearful one had already burst
+over them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Though I have mentioned the lake first, the little town of Canandaigua precedes
+it, in returning from the West. It is as pretty a village as ever man contrived
+to build. Every house is surrounded by an ample garden, and at that flowery
+season they were half buried in roses.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is true these houses are of wood, but they are so neatly painted, in such
+perfect repair, and show so well within their leafy setting, that it is
+impossible not to admire them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Forty-six miles farther is Geneva, beautifully situated on Seneca Lake. This,
+too, is a lovely sheet of water, and I think the town may rival its European
+namesake in beauty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We slept at Auburn, celebrated for its prison, where the highly-approved system
+of American discipline originated. In this part of the country there is no want
+of churches; every little village has its wooden temple, and many of them too;
+that the Methodists and Presbyterians may not clash.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We passed through an Indian reserve, and the untouched forests again hung close
+upon the road. Repeated groups of Indians passed us, and we remarked that they
+were much cleaner and better dressed than those we had met wandering far from
+their homes. The blankets which they use so gracefully as mantles were as white
+as snow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We took advantage of the loss of a horse&rsquo;s shoe, to leave the coach, and
+approach a large party of them, consisting of men, women, and children, who
+were regaling themselves with I know not what, but milk made a part of the
+repast. They could not talk to us, but they received us with smiles, and seemed
+to understand when we asked if they had mocassins to sell, for they shook their
+sable locks, and answered &ldquo;no.&rdquo; A beautiful grove of butternut
+trees was pointed out to us, as the spot where the chiefs of the six nations
+used to hold their senate; our informer told me that he had been present at
+several of their meetings, and though he knew but little of their language, the
+power of their eloquence was evident from the great effect it produced among
+themselves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Towards the end of this day, we encountered an adventure which revived our
+doubts whether the invading white men, in chasing the poor Indians from their
+forests, have done much towards civilizing the land. For myself, I almost
+prefer the indigenous manner to the exotic.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The coach stopped to take in &ldquo;a lady&rdquo; at Vernon; she entered, and
+completely filled the last vacant inch of our vehicle; for &ldquo;we were
+eight&rdquo; before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But no sooner was she seated, than her <i>beau</i> came forward with a most
+enormous wooden best-bonnet box. He paused for a while to meditate the
+possibilities&mdash;raised it, as if to place it on our laps&mdash;sunk it, as
+if to put it beneath our feet. Both alike appeared impossible; when, in true
+Yankee style he addressed one of our party with. If you&rsquo;ll just step out
+a minute, I guess I&rsquo;ll find room for it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Perhaps so. But how shall I find room for myself afterwards?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was uttered in European accents, and in an instant half a dozen whiskey
+drinkers stepped from before the whiskey store, and took the part of the
+<i>beau</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;That&rsquo;s because you&rsquo;ll be English travellers I expect, but we
+have travelled in better countries than Europe&mdash;we have travelled in
+America&mdash;and the box will go, I calculate.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We remonstrated on the evident injustice of the proceeding, and I ventured to
+say, that as we had none of us any luggage in the carriage, because the space
+was so very small, I thought a chance passenger could have no right so greatly
+to incommode us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Right!&mdash;there they go&mdash;that&rsquo;s just their way&mdash;that
+will do in Europe, may be; it sounds just like English tyranny, now don&rsquo;t
+it? but it won&rsquo;t do here.&rdquo; And thereupon he began thrusting in the
+wooden box against our legs, with all his strength.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;No law, sir, can permit such conduct as this.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Law!&rdquo; exclaimed a gentleman very particularly drunk, &ldquo;we
+makes our own laws, and governs our own selves.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Law!&rdquo; echoed another gentleman of Vernon, &ldquo;this is a free
+country, <i>we have no laws here</i>, and we don&rsquo;t want no foreign power
+to tyrannize over us.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+295
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I give the words exactly. It is, however, but fair to state, that the party had
+evidently been drinking more than an usual portion of whiskey, but, perhaps, in
+whiskey, as in wine, truth may come to light. At any rate the people of the
+Western Paradise follow the Gentiles in this, that they are a law unto
+themselves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During the contest, the coachman sat upon the box without saying a word, but
+seemed greatly to enjoy the joke; the question of the box, however, was finally
+decided in our favour by the nature of the human material, which cannot be
+compressed beyond a certain degree.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For the great part of this day we had the good fortune to have a gentleman and
+his daughter for our fellow-travellers, who were extremely intelligent and
+agreeable; but I nearly got myself into a scrape by venturing to remark upon a
+phrase used by the gentleman, and which had met me at every corner from the
+time I first entered the country. We had been talking of pictures, and I had
+endeavoured to adhere to the rule I had laid down for myself, of saying very
+little, where I could say nothing agreeable. At length he named an American
+artist, with whose works I was very familiar, and after having declared him
+equal to Lawrence (judging by his portrait of West, now at New York), he added,
+&ldquo;and what is more, madam, he is perfectly <i>self-taught</i>.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I prudently took a few moments before I answered; for the equalling our
+immortal Lawrence to a most vile dauber stuck in my throat; I could not say
+Amen; so for some time I said nothing; but, at last, I remarked on the
+frequency with which I had heard this phrase of <i>self-taught</i> used, not as
+an apology, but as positive praise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Well, madam, can there be a higher praise?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Certainly not, if spoken of the individual merits of a person, without
+the means of instruction, but I do not understand it when applied as praise to
+his works.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Not understand it, madam? Is it not attributing genius to the author,
+and what is teaching compared to that?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+296
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I do not wish to repeat all my own <i>bons mots</i> in praise of study, and on
+the disadvantages of profound ignorance, but I would, willingly, if I could,
+give an idea of the mixed indignation and contempt expressed by our companion
+at the idea that study was necessary to the formation of taste, and to the
+development of genius. At last, however, he closed the discussion
+thus,&mdash;&ldquo;There is no use in disputing a point that is already
+settled, madam; the best judges declare that Mr. H&mdash;g&rsquo;s portraits
+are equal to that of Lawrence.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;Who is it who has passed this judgement, sir?&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;The men of taste of America, madam.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I then asked him, if he thought it was going to rain?
+</p>
+
+<p class="p2">
+The stages do not appear to have any regular stations at which to stop for
+breakfast, dinner, and supper. These necessary interludes, therefore, being
+generally <i>impromptu</i>, were abominably bad. We were amused by the patient
+manner in which our American fellow-travellers ate whatever was set before
+them, without uttering a word of complaint, or making any effort to improve it,
+but no sooner reseated in the stage, than they began their
+complaints&mdash;&ldquo;twas a shame&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;twas a
+robbery&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;twas poisoning folks&rdquo;&mdash;and the like. I,
+at last, asked the reason of this, and why they did not remonstrate?
+&ldquo;Because, madam, no American gentleman or lady that keeps an inn
+won&rsquo;t bear to be found fault with.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We reached Utica very late and very weary; but the delights of a good hotel and
+perfect civility sent us in good humour to bed, and we arose sufficiently
+refreshed to enjoy a day&rsquo;s journey through some of the loveliest scenery
+in the world.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Who is it that says America is not picturesque? I forget; but surely he never
+travelled from Utica to Albany. I really cannot conceive that any country can
+furnish a drive of ninety-six miles more beautiful, or more varied in its
+beauty. The road follows the Mohawk River, which flows through scenes changing
+from fields, waving with plenty, to rocks and woods; gentle slopes, covered
+with cattle, are divided from each other by precipices 500 feet high. Around
+the little falls there is a character of beauty as singular as it is striking.
+Here, as I observed of many other American rivers, the stream appears to run in
+a much narrower channel than it once occupied, and the space which it seems
+formerly to have filled, is now covered with bright green herbage, save that,
+at intervals, large masses of rock rise abruptly from the level turf; these are
+crowned with all such trees as love the scanty diet which a rock affords. Dwarf
+oak, cedars, and the mountain ash, are grouped in a hundred different ways
+among them; each clump you look upon is lovelier than its neighbour; I never
+saw so sweetly wild a spot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was surprised to hear a fellow-traveller say, as we passed a point of
+peculiar beauty, &ldquo;all this neighbourhood belongs, or did belong, to Mr.
+Edward Ellice, an English Member of Parliament, but he has sold a deal of it,
+and now, madam, you may see as it begins to improve;&rdquo; and he pointed to a
+great wooden edifice, where, on the white paint, &ldquo;Cash for Rags,&rdquo;
+in letters three feet high, might be seen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I then remembered that it was near this spot that my Yankee friend had made his
+complaint against English indifference to &ldquo;water privilege.&rdquo; He did
+not name Mr. Edward Ellice, but doubtless he was the &ldquo;English, as never
+thought of improvement.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have often confessed my conscious incapacity for description, but I must
+repeat it here to apologize for my passing so dully through this matchless
+valley of the Mohawk. I would that some British artist, strong in youthful
+daring, would take my word for it, and pass over, for a summer pilgrimage
+through the State of New York. In very earnest, he would wisely, for I question
+if the world could furnish within the same space, and with equal facility of
+access, so many subjects for his pencil. Mountains, forests, rocks, lakes,
+rivers, cataracts, all in perfection. But he must be bold as a lion in
+colouring, or he will make nothing of it. There is a clearness of atmosphere, a
+strength of <i>chiaro oscuro</i>, a massiveness in the foliage, and a
+brilliance of contrast, that must make a colourist of any one who has an eye.
+He must have courage to dip his pencil in shadows black as night, and light
+that might blind an eagle. As I presume my young artist to be an enthusiast, he
+must first go direct to Niagara, or even in the Mohawk valley his pinioned wing
+may droop. If his fever run very high, he may slake his thirst at Trenton, and
+while there, he will not dream of any thing beyond it. Should my advice be
+taken, I will ask the young adventurer on his return (when he shall have made a
+prodigious quantity of money by my hint), to reward me by two sketches. One
+shall be the lake of Canandaigua; the other the Indians&rsquo; Senate Grove of
+Butternuts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During our journey, I forget on which day of it, a particular spot in the
+forest, at some distance from the road, was pointed out to us as the scene of a
+true, but very romantic story. During the great and the terrible French
+revolution (1792), a young nobleman escaped from the scene of horror, having
+with difficulty saved his head, and without the possibility of saving any thing
+else. He arrived at New York nearly destitute; and after passing his life, not
+only in splendour, but in the splendour of the court of France, he found
+himself jostled by the busy population of the New World, without a dollar
+between him and starvation. In such a situation one might almost sigh for the
+guillotine. The young noble strove to labour; but who would purchase the
+trembling efforts of his white hands, while the sturdy strength of many a black
+Hercules was in the market? He abandoned the vain attempt to sustain himself by
+the aid of his fellow-men, and determined to seek a refuge in the forest. A few
+shillings only remained to him; he purchased an axe, and reached the Oneida
+territory. He felled a few of the slenderest trees, and made himself a shelter
+that Robinson Crusoe would have laughed at, for it did not keep out the rain.
+Want of food, exposure to the weather, and unwonted toil, produced the natural
+result; the unfortunate young man fell sick, and stretched upon the reeking
+earth, stifled, rather than sheltered, by the withering boughs which hung over
+him; he lay parched with thirst, and shivering in ague, with the one last
+earthly hope, that each heavy moment would prove the last.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Near to the spot which he had chosen for his miserable rest, but totally
+concealed from it by the thick forest, was the last straggling wigwam of an
+Indian village. It is not known how many days the unhappy man had lain without
+food, but he was quite insensible when a young squaw, whom chance had brought
+from this wigwam to his hut, entered, and found him alive, but totally
+insensible. The heart of woman is, I believe, pretty much the same every where;
+the young girl paused not to think whether he were white or red, but her fleet
+feet rested not till she had brought milk, rum, and blankets, and when the
+sufferer recovered his senses, his head was supported on her lap, while, with
+the gentle tenderness of a mother, she found means to make him swallow the
+restoratives she had brought.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No black eyes in the world, be they of France, Italy, or even of Spain, can
+speak more plainly of kindness, than the large deep-set orbs of a squaw; this
+is a language that all nations can understand, and the poor Frenchman read most
+clearly, in the anxious glance of his gentle nurse, that he should not die
+forsaken.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So far the story is romantic enough, and what follows is hardly less so. The
+squaw found means to introduce her white friend to her tribe; he was adopted as
+their brother, speedily acquired their language, and assumed their dress and
+manner of life. His gratitude to his preserver soon ripened into love, and if
+the chronicle spoke true, the French noble and the American savage were more
+than passing happy as man and wife, and it was not till he saw himself the
+father of many thriving children that the exile began to feel a wish of rising
+again from savage to civilized existence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My historian did not explain what his project was in visiting New York, but he
+did so in the habit of an Indian, and learnt enough of the restored
+tranquillity of his country to give him hope that some of the broad lands he
+had left there might be restored to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have made my story already too long, and must not linger upon it farther than
+to say that his hopes were fulfilled, and that, of a large and flourishing
+family, some are settled in France, and some remain in America, (one of these,
+I understood, was a lawyer at New York), while the hero and the heroine of the
+tale continue to inhabit the Oneida country, not in a wigwam, however, but in a
+good house, in a beautiful situation, with all the comforts of civilized life
+around them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Such was the narrative we listened to, from a stage coach companion; and it
+appears to me sufficiently interesting to repeat, though I have no better
+authority to quote for its truth, than the assertion of this unknown traveller.
+</p>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+<h2><a name="chap34"></a>CHAPTER XXXIV</h2>
+
+<p class="letter">
+Return to New York&mdash;Conclusion
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The comfortable Adelphi Hotel again received us at Albany, on the 14th of June,
+and we decided upon passing the following day there, both to see the place, and
+to recruit our strength, which we began to feel we had taxed severely by a very
+fatiguing journey, in most oppressively hot weather. It would have been
+difficult to find a better station for repose; the rooms were large and airy,
+and ice was furnished in most profuse abundance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But notwithstanding the manifold advantages of this excellent hotel, I was
+surprised at the un-English arrangement communicated to me by two ladies with
+whom we made a speaking acquaintance, by which it appeared that they made it
+their permanent home. These ladies were a mother and daughter; the daughter was
+an extremely pretty young married woman, with two little children. Where the
+husbands were, or whether they were dead or alive, I know not; but they told me
+they had been <i>boarding</i> there above a year. They breakfasted, dined, and
+supped at the <i>table d&rsquo;hôte</i>, with from twenty to a hundred people,
+as accident might decide; dressed very smart, played on the piano, in the
+public sitting-room, and assured me they were particularly comfortable and well
+accommodated. What a life!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Some parts of the town are very handsome; the Town Hall, the Chamber of
+Representatives, and some other public buildings, stand well on a hill that
+overlooks the Hudson, with ample enclosures of grass and trees around them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Many of the shops are large, and showily set out. I was amused by a national
+trait which met me at one of them. I entered it to purchase some <i>eau de
+Cologne</i>, but finding what was offered to me extremely bad, and very cheap,
+I asked if they had none at a higher price, and better.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;You are a stranger, I guess,&rdquo; was the answer. &ldquo;The Yankees
+want low price, that&rsquo;s all; they don&rsquo;t stand so much for goodness
+as the English.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nothing could be more beautiful than our passage down the Hudson on the
+following day, as I thought of some of my friends in England, dear lovers of
+the picturesque, I could not but exclaim,
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+&ldquo;Que je vous plains! que je vous plains!<br/>
+Vous ne la verrez pas.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+Not even a moving panoramic view, gliding before their eyes for an hour
+together, in all the scenic splendour of Drury Lane, or Covent Garden, could
+give them an idea of it. They could only see one side at a time. The change,
+the contrast, the ceaseless variety of beauty, as you skim from side to side,
+the liquid smoothness of the broad mirror that reflects the scene, and most of
+all, the clear bright air through which you look at it; all this can only be
+seen and believed by crossing the Atlantic.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we approached New York the burning heat of the day relaxed, and the long
+shadows of evening fell coolly on the beautiful villas we passed. I really can
+conceive nothing more exquisitely lovely than this approach to the city. The
+magnificent boldness of the Jersey shore on the one side, and the luxurious
+softness of the shady lawns on the other, with the vast silvery stream that
+flows between them, altogether form a picture which may well excuse a traveller
+for saying, once and again, that the Hudson river can be surpassed in beauty by
+none on the outside of Paradise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was nearly dark when we reached the city, and it was with great satisfaction
+that we found our comfortable apartments in Hudson Street unoccupied; and our
+pretty, kind (Irish) hostess willing to receive us again. We passed another
+fortnight there; and again we enjoyed the elegant hospitality of New York,
+though now it was offered from beneath the shade of their beautiful villas. In
+truth, were all America like this fair city, and all, no, only a small
+proportion of its population like the friends we left there, I should say, that
+the land was the fairest in the world.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But the time was come to bid it adieu! The important business of securing our
+homeward passage was to be performed. One must know what it is to cross the
+ocean before the immense importance of all the little details of accommodation
+can be understood. The anxious first look: into the face of the captain, to
+ascertain if he be gentle or rough; another, scarcely less important, in that
+of the steward, generally a sable one, but not the less expressive; the
+accurate, but rapid glance of measurement thrown round the little state-rooms;
+another at the good or bad arrangement of the stair-case, by which you are to
+stumble up and stumble down, from cabin to deck, and from deck to cabin; all
+this, they only can understand who have felt it. At length, however, this
+interesting affair was settled, and most happily. The appearance promised well,
+and the performance bettered it. We hastened to pack up our
+&ldquo;trumpery,&rdquo; as Captain Mirven unkindly calls the paraphernalia of
+the ladies, and among the rest, my six hundred pages of griffonage. There is
+enough of it, yet I must add a few more lines.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I suspect that what I have written will make it evident that I do not like
+America. Now, as it happens that I met with individuals there whom I love and
+admire, far beyond the love and admiration of ordinary acquaintance, and as I
+declare the country to be fair to the eye, and most richly teeming with the
+gifts of plenty, I am led to ask myself why it is that I do not like it. I
+would willingly know myself, and confess to others, why it is that neither its
+beauty nor its abundance can suffice to neutralize, or greatly soften, the
+distaste which the aggregate of my recollections has left upon my mind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I remember hearing it said, many years ago, when the advantages and
+disadvantages of a particular residence were being discussed, that it was the
+&ldquo;who?&rdquo; and not the &ldquo;where?&rdquo; that made the difference
+between the pleasant or unpleasant residence. The truth of the observation
+struck me forcibly when I heard it; and it has been recalled to my mind since,
+by the constantly recurring evidence of its justness. In applying this to
+America, I speak not of my friends, nor of my friends&rsquo; friends. The small
+patrician band is a race apart; they live with each other, and for each other;
+mix wondrously little with the high matters of state, which they seem to leave
+rather supinely to their tailors and tinkers, and are no more to be taken as a
+sample of the American people, than the head of Lord Byron as a sample of the
+heads of the British peerage. I speak not of these, but of the population
+generally, as seen in town and country, among the rich and the poor, in the
+slave states, and the free states. I do not like them. I do not like their
+principles, I do not like their manners, I do not like their opinions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Both as a woman, and as a stranger, it might be unseemly for me to say that I
+do not like their government, and therefore I will not say so. That it is one
+which pleases themselves is most certain, and this is considerably more
+important than pleasing all the travelling old ladies in the world. I entered
+the country at New Orleans, remained for more than two years west of the
+Alleghanies, and passed another year among the Atlantic cities, and the country
+around them. I conversed during this time with citizens of all orders and
+degrees, and I never heard from any one a single disparaging word against their
+government. It is not, therefore, surprising, that when the people of that
+country hear strangers questioning the wisdom of their institutions, and
+expressing disapprobation at some of their effects, they should set it down
+either to an incapacity of judging, or a malicious feeling of envy and
+ill-will.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&ldquo;How can any one in their senses doubt the excellence of a government
+which we have tried for half a century, and loved the better the longer we have
+known it.&rdquo; Such is the natural enquiry of every American when the
+excellence of their government is doubted; and I am inclined to answer, that no
+one in their senses, who has visited the country, and known the people, can
+doubt its fitness for them, such as they now are, or its utter unfitness for
+any other people..
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Whether the government has made the people what they are, or whether the people
+have made the government what it is, to suit themselves, I know not; but if the
+latter, they have shown a consummation of wisdom which the assembled world may
+look upon and admire.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is a matter of historical notoriety that the original stock of the white
+population now inhabiting the United States, were persons who had banished
+themselves, or were banished from the mother country. The land they found was
+favourable to their increase and prosperity; the colony grew and flourished.
+Years rolled on, and the children, the grand-children, and the great
+grand-children of the first settlers, replenished the land, and found it
+flowing with milk and honey. That they should wish to keep this milk and honey
+to themselves, is not very surprising. What did the mother country do for them?
+She sent them out gay and gallant officers to guard their frontier; the which
+they thought they could guard as well themselves; and then she taxed their tea.
+Now, this was disagreeable; and to atone for it, the distant colony had no
+great share in her mother&rsquo;s grace and glory. It was not from among them
+that her high and mighty were chosen; the rays which emanated from that bright
+sun of honour, the British throne, reached them but feebly. They knew not, they
+cared not, for her kings nor her heroes; their thriftiest trader was their
+noblest man; the holy seats of learning were but the cradles of superstition;
+the splendour of the aristocracy, but a leech that drew their &ldquo;golden
+blood.&rdquo; The wealth, the learning, the glory of Britain, was to them
+nothing; the having their own way every thing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Can any blame their wish to obtain it? Can any lament that they succeeded?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And now the day was their own, what should they do next? Their elders drew
+together, and said, &ldquo;Let us make a government that shall suit us all; let
+it be rude, and rough, and noisy; let it not affect either dignity, glory, or
+splendour; let it interfere with no man&rsquo;s will, nor meddle with any
+man&rsquo;s business; let us have neither tithes nor taxes, game laws, nor poor
+laws; let every man have a hand in making the laws, and no man be troubled
+about keeping them; let not our magistrates wear purple, nor our judges ermine;
+if a man grow rich, let us take care that his grandson be poor, and then we
+shall all keep equal; let every man take care of himself, and if England should
+come to bother us again, why then we will fight altogether.&rdquo;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Could any thing be better imagined than such a government for a people so
+circumstanced? Or is it strange that they are contented with it? Still less is
+it strange that those who have lived in the repose of order, and felt secure
+that their country could go on very well, and its business proceed without
+their bawling and squalling, scratching and scrambling to help it, should bless
+the gods that they are not republicans.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So far all is well. That they should prefer a constitution which suits them so
+admirably, to one which would not suit them at all, is surely no cause of
+quarrel on our part; nor should it be such on theirs, if we feel no inclination
+to exchange the institutions which have made us what we are, for any other on
+the face of the earth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But when a native of Europe visits America, a most extraordinary species of
+tyranny is set in action against him; and as far as my reading and experience
+have enabled me to judge, it is such as no other country has ever exercised
+against strangers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Frenchman visits England; he is <i>abimé d&rsquo;ennui</i> at our stately
+dinners; shrugs his shoulders at our <i>corps de ballet</i>, and laughs <i>à
+gorge déployée</i> at our passion for driving, and our partial affection for
+roast beef and plum pudding. The Englishman returns the visit, and the first
+thing he does on arriving at Paris, is to hasten to <i>le Théatre des
+Variétés</i>, that he may see &ldquo;<i>Les Anglaises pour rire</i>,&rdquo; and
+if among the crowd of laughters, you hear a note of more cordial mirth than the
+rest, seek out the person from whom it proceeds, and you will find the
+Englishman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Italian comes to our green island, and groans at our climate; he vows that
+the air which destroys a statue cannot be wholesome for man; he sighs for
+orange trees, and maccaroni, and smiles at the pretensions of a nation to
+poetry, while no epics are chaunted through her streets. Yet we welcome the
+sensitive southern with all kindness, listen to his complaints with interest,
+cultivate our little orange trees, and teach our children to lisp Tasso, in the
+hope of becoming more agreeable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yet we are not at all superior to the rest of Europe in our endurance of
+censure, nor is this wish to profit by it all peculiar to the English; we laugh
+at, and find fault with, our neighbours quite as freely as they do with us, and
+they join the laugh, and adopt our fashions and our customs. These mutual
+pleasantries produce no shadow of unkindly feeling; and as long as the
+governments are at peace with each other, the individuals of every nation in
+Europe make it a matter of pride, as well as of pleasure, to meet each other
+frequently, to discuss, compare, and reason upon their national varieties, and
+to vote it a mark of fashion and good taste to imitate each other in all the
+external embellishments of life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The consequence of this is most pleasantly perceptible at the present time, in
+every capital of Europe. The long peace has given time for each to catch from
+each what was best in customs and manners, and the rapid advance of refinement
+and general information has been the result.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To those who have been accustomed to this state of things, the contrast upon
+crossing to the new world is inconceivably annoying; and it cannot be doubted
+that this is one great cause of the general feeling of irksomeness, and fatigue
+of spirits, which hangs upon the memory while recalling the hours passed in
+American society.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A single word indicative of doubt, that any thing, or every thing, in that
+country is not the very best in the world, produces an effect which must be
+seen and felt to be understood. If the citizens of the United States were
+indeed the devoted patriots they call themselves, they would surely not thus
+encrust themselves in the hard, dry, stubborn persuasion, that they are the
+first and best of the human race, that nothing is to be learnt, but what they
+are able to teach, and that nothing is worth having, which they do not possess.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The art of man could hardly discover a more effectual antidote to improvement,
+than this persuasion; and yet I never listened to any public oration, or read
+any work, professedly addressed to the country, in which they did not labour to
+impress it on the minds of the people.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To hint to the generality of Americans that the silent current of events may
+change their beloved government, is not the way to please them; but in truth
+they need be tormented with no such fear. As long as by common consent they can
+keep down the pre-eminence which nature has assigned to great powers, as long
+as they can prevent human respect and human honour from resting upon high
+talent, gracious manners, and exalted station, so long may they be sure of
+going on as they are.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have been told, however, that there are some among them who would gladly see
+a change; some, who with the wisdom of philosophers, and the fair candour of
+gentlemen, shrink from a profession of equality which they feel to be untrue,
+and believe to be impossible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I can well believe that such there are, though to me no such opinions were
+communicated, and most truly should I rejoice to see power pass into such
+hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If this ever happens, if refinement once creeps in among them, if they once
+learn to cling to the graces, the honours, the chivalry of life, then we shall
+say farewell to American equality, and welcome to European fellowship one of
+the finest countries on the earth.
+</p>
+
+<h3>THE END</h3>
+
+</div><!--end chapter-->
+
+<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOMESTIC MANNERS OF THE AMERICANS ***</div>
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+Project Gutenberg's Domestic Manners of the Americans, by Fanny Trollope
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Domestic Manners of the Americans
+
+Author: Fanny Trollope
+
+Release Date: November 30, 2003 [EBook #10345]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOMESTIC MANNERS OF THE AMERICANS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David G Johnson
+
+
+
+
+Domestic Manners of the Americans
+by
+Fanny Trollope
+
+
+Frances Milton Trollope (known as Fanny Trollope)
+1780--1863
+(Mother of the author Anthony Trollope)
+
+
+First published in 1832
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 1
+
+Entrance of the Mississippi--Balize
+
+
+
+On the 4th of November, 1827, I sailed from London, accompanied
+by my son and two daughters; and after a favourable, though
+somewhat tedious voyage, arrived on Christmas-day at the mouth of
+the Mississippi.
+
+The first indication of our approach to land was the appearance
+of this mighty river pouring forth its muddy mass of waters, and
+mingling with the deep blue of the Mexican Gulf.  The shores of
+this river are so utterly flat, that no object upon them is
+perceptible at sea, and we gazed with pleasure on the muddy ocean
+that met us, for it told us we were arrived, and seven weeks of
+sailing had wearied us; yet it was not without a feeling like
+regret that we passed from the bright blue waves, whose varying
+aspect had so long furnished our chief amusement, into the murky
+stream which now received us.
+
+Large flights of pelicans were seen standing upon the long masses
+of mud which rose above the surface of the waters, and a pilot
+came to guide us over the bar, long before any other indication
+of land was visible.
+
+I never beheld a scene so utterly desolate as this entrance of
+the Mississippi.  Had Dante seen it, he might have drawn images
+of another Bolgia from its horrors.  One only object rears itself
+above the eddying waters; this is the mast of a vessel long since
+wrecked in attempting to cross the bar, and it still stands, a
+dismal witness of the destruction that has been, and a boding
+prophet of that which is to come.
+
+By degrees bulrushes of enormous growth become visible, and a few
+more miles of mud brought us within sight of a cluster of huts
+called the Balize, by far the most miserable station that I ever
+saw made the dwelling of man, but I was told that many families
+of pilots and fishermen lived there.
+
+For several miles above its mouth, the Mississippi presents no
+objects more interesting than mud banks, monstrous bulrushes, and
+now and then a huge crocodile luxuriating in the slime.  Another
+circumstance that gives to this dreary scene an aspect of
+desolation, is the incessant appearance of vast quantities of
+drift wood, which is ever finding its way to the different mouths
+of the Mississippi.  Trees of enormous length, sometimes still
+bearing their branches, and still oftener their uptorn roots
+entire, the victims of the frequent hurricane, come floating down
+the stream.  Sometimes several of these, entangled together,
+collect among their boughs a quantity of floating rubbish, that
+gives the mass the appearance of a moving island, bearing a
+forest, with its roots mocking the heavens; while the dishonoured
+branches lash the tide in idle vengeance: this, as it approaches
+the vessel, and glides swiftly past, looks like the fragment of a
+world in ruins.
+
+As we advanced, however, we were cheered, notwithstanding the
+season, by the bright tints of southern vegetation.  The banks
+continue invariably flat, but a succession of planless villas,
+sometimes merely a residence, and sometimes surrounded by their
+sugar grounds and negro huts, varied the scene.  At no one point
+was there an inch of what painters call a second distance; and
+for the length of one hundred and twenty miles, from the Balize
+to New Orleans, and one hundred miles above the town, the land is
+defended from the encroachments of the river by a high embankment
+which is called the Levee; without which the dwellings would
+speedily disappear, as the river is evidently higher than the
+banks would be without it.  When we arrived, there had been
+constant rains, and of long continuance, and this appearance was,
+therefore, unusually striking, giving to "this great natural
+feature" the most unnatural appearance imaginable; and making
+evident, not only that man had been busy there, but that even the
+mightiest works of nature might be made to bear his impress; it
+recalled, literally, Swift's mock heroic,
+
+"Nature must give way to art;"
+
+yet, she was looking so mighty, and so unsubdued all the time,
+that I could not help fancying she would some day take the matter
+into her own hands again, and if so, farewell to New Orleans.
+
+It is easy to imagine the total want of beauty in such a
+landscape; but yet the form and hue of the trees and plants, so
+new to us, added to the long privation we had endured of all
+sights and sounds of land, made even these swampy shores seem
+beautiful.  We were, however, impatient to touch as well as see
+the land; but the navigation from the Balize to New Orleans is
+difficult and tedious, and the two days that it occupied appeared
+longer than any we had passed on board.
+
+In truth, to those who have pleasure in contemplating the
+phenomena of nature, a sea voyage may endure many weeks without
+wearying.  Perhaps some may think that the first glance of ocean
+and of sky shew all they have to offer; nay, even that that first
+glance may suggest more of dreariness than sublimity; but to me,
+their variety appeared endless, and their beauty unfailing.  The
+attempt to describe scenery, even where the objects are prominent
+and tangible, is very rarely successful; but where the effect is
+so subtile and so varying, it must be vain.  The impression,
+nevertheless, is perhaps deeper than any other; I think it
+possible I may forget the sensations with which I watched the
+long course of the gigantic Mississippi; the Ohio and the Potomac
+may mingle and be confounded with other streams in my memory, I
+may even recall with difficulty the blue outline of the Alleghany
+mountains, but never, while I remember any thing, can I forget
+the first and last hour of light on the Atlantic.
+
+The ocean, however, and all its indescribable charm, no longer
+surrounded us; we began to feel that our walk on the quarter-deck
+was very like the exercise of an ass in a mill; that our books
+had lost half their pages, and that the other half were known by
+rote; that our beef was very salt, and our biscuits very hard; in
+short, that having studied the good ship, Edward, from stem to
+stern till we knew the name of every sail, and the use of every
+pulley, we had had enough of her, and as we laid down, head to
+head, in our tiny beds for the last time, I exclaimed with no
+small pleasure,
+
+"Tomorrow to fresh fields and pastures new."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 2
+
+New Orleans--Society--
+Creoles and Quadroons Voyage up the Mississippi
+
+
+
+On first touching the soil of a new land, of a new continent, of
+a new world, it is impossible not to feel considerable excitement
+and deep interest in almost every object that meets us.  New
+Orleans presents very little that can gratify the eye of taste,
+but nevertheless there is much of novelty and interest for a
+newly arrived European.  The large proportion of blacks seen in
+the streets, all labour being performed by them; the grace and
+beauty of the elegant Quadroons, the occasional groups of wild
+and savage looking Indians, the unwonted aspect of the
+vegetation, the huge and turbid river, with its low and slimy
+shore, all help to afford that species of amusement which
+proceeds from looking at what we never saw before.
+
+The town has much the appearance of a French Ville de Province,
+and is, in fact, an old French colony taken from Spain by France.
+The names of the streets are French, and the language about
+equally French and English.  The market is handsome and well
+supplied, all produce being conveyed by the river.  We were much
+pleased by the chant with which the Negro boatmen regulate and
+beguile their labour on the river; it consists but of very few
+notes, but they are sweetly harmonious, and the Negro voice is
+almost always rich and powerful.
+
+By far the most agreeable hours I passed at New Orleans were
+those in which I explored with my children the forest near
+the town.  It was our first walk in "the eternal forests of
+the western world," and we felt rather sublime and poetical.
+The trees, generally speaking, are much too close to be either
+large or well grown; and, moreover, their growth is often
+stunted by a parasitical plant, for which I could learn no
+other name than "Spanish moss;" it hangs gracefully from the
+boughs, converting the outline of all the trees it hangs upon
+into that of weeping willows.  The chief beauty of the forest
+in this region is from the luxuriant undergrowth of palmetos,
+which is decidedly the loveliest coloured and most graceful
+plant I know.  The pawpaw, too, is a splendid shrub, and in
+great abundance.  We here, for the first time, saw the wild
+vine, which we afterwards found growing so profusely in every
+part of America, as naturally to suggest the idea that the
+natives ought to add wine to the numerous production of their
+plenty-teeming soil.  The strong pendant festoons made safe and
+commodious swings, which some of our party enjoyed, despite the
+sublime temperament above-mentioned.
+
+Notwithstanding it was mid-winter when we were at New Orleans,
+the heat was much more than agreeable, and the attacks of the
+mosquitos incessant, and most tormenting; yet I suspect that, for
+a short time, we would rather have endured it, than not have seen
+oranges, green peas, and red pepper, growing in the open air at
+Christmas.  In one of our rambles we ventured to enter a garden,
+whose bright orange hedge attracted our attention; here we saw
+green peas fit for the table, and a fine crop of red pepper
+ripening in the sun.  A young Negress was employed on the steps
+of the house; that she was a slave made her an object of interest
+to us.  She was the first slave we had ever spoken to, and I
+believe we all felt that we could hardly address her with
+sufficient gentleness.  She little dreamed, poor girl, what deep
+sympathy she excited; she answered us civilly and gaily, and
+seemed amused at our fancying there was something unusual in red
+pepper pods; she gave us several of them, and I felt fearful lest
+a hard mistress might blame her for it.  How very childish does
+ignorance make us! and how very ignorant we are upon almost every
+subject, where hearsay evidence is all we can get!
+
+I left England with feelings so strongly opposed to slavery, that
+it was not without pain I witnessed its effects around me.  At
+the sight of every Negro man, woman, and child that passed, my
+fancy wove some little romance of misery, as belonging to each of
+them; since I have known more on the subject, and become better
+acquainted with their real situation in America, I have often
+smiled at recalling what I then felt.
+
+The first symptom of American equality that I perceived, was
+my being introduced in form to a milliner; it was not at a
+boarding-house, under the indistinct outline of "Miss C--," nor
+in the street through the veil of a fashionable toilette, but in
+the very penetralia of her temple, standing behind her counter,
+giving laws to ribbon and to wire, and ushering caps and bonnets
+into existence.  She was an English woman, and I was told that
+she possessed great intellectual endowments, and much
+information; I really believe this was true.  Her manner was easy
+and graceful, with a good deal of French tournure; and the
+gentleness with which her fine eyes and sweet voice directed the
+movements of a young female slave, was really touching: the way,
+too, in which she blended her French talk of modes with her
+customers, and her English talk of metaphysics with her friends,
+had a pretty air of indifference in it, that gave her a
+superiority with both.
+
+I found with her the daughter of a judge, eminent, it was said,
+both for legal and literary ability, and I heard from many
+quarters, after I had left New Orleans, that the society of this
+lady was highly valued by all persons of talent.  Yet were I,
+traveller-like, to stop here, and set it down as a national
+peculiarity, or republican custom, that milliners took the lead
+in the best society, I should greatly falsify facts.  I do not
+remember the same thing happening to me again, and this is one
+instance among a thousand, of the impression every circumstance
+makes on entering a new country, and of the propensity, so
+irresistible, to class all things, however accidental, as
+national and peculiar.  On the other hand, however, it is certain
+that if similar anomalies are unfrequent in America, they are
+nearly impossible elsewhere.
+
+In the shop of Miss C-- I was introduced to Mr. M'Clure, a
+venerable personage, of gentlemanlike appearance, who in the
+course of five minutes propounded as many axioms, as "Ignorance
+is the only devil;" "Man makes his own existence;" and the like.
+He was of the New Harmony school, or rather the New Harmony
+school was of him.  He was a man of good fortune, (a Scotchman, I
+believe), who after living a tolerably gay life, had "conceived
+high thoughts, such as Lycurgus loved, who bade flog the little
+Spartans," and determined to benefit the species, and immortalize
+himself, by founding a philosophical school at New Harmony.
+There was something in the hollow square legislations of Mr.
+Owen, that struck him as admirable, and he seems, as far as I can
+understand, to have intended aiding his views, by a sort of
+incipient hollow square drilling; teaching the young ideas of all
+he could catch, to shoot into parallelogramic form and order.
+This venerable philosopher, like all of his school that I ever
+heard of, loved better to originate lofty imaginings of faultless
+systems, than to watch their application to practice.  With much
+liberality he purchased and conveyed to the wilderness a very
+noble collection of books and scientific instruments; but not
+finding among men one whose views were liberal and enlarged as
+his own, he selected a woman to put into action the machine he
+had organized.  As his acquaintance with this lady had been of
+long standing, and, as it was said, very intimate, he felt sure
+that no violation of his rules would have place under her sway;
+they would act together as one being: he was to perform the
+functions of the soul, and will everything; she, those of the
+body, and perform everything.
+
+The principal feature of the scheme was, that (the first liberal
+outfit of the institution having been furnished by Mr. M'Clure,)
+the expense of keeping it up should be defrayed by the profits
+arising from the labours of the pupils, male and female, which
+was to be performed at stated intervals of each day, in regular
+rotation with learned study and scientific research.  But
+unfortunately the soul of the system found the climate of Indiana
+uncongenial to its peculiar formation, and, therefore, took its
+flight to Mexico, leaving the body to perform the operations of
+both, in whatever manner it liked best; and the body, being a
+French body, found no difficulty in setting actively to work
+without troubling the soul about it; and soon becoming conscious
+that the more simple was a machine, the more perfect were its
+operations, she threw out all that related to the intellectual
+part of the business, (which to do poor soul justice, it had laid
+great stress upon), and stirred herself as effectually as ever
+body did, to draw wealth from the thews and sinews of the youths
+they had collected.  When last I heard of this philosophical
+establishment, she, and a nephew-son were said to be reaping a
+golden harvest, as many of the lads had been sent from a distance
+by indigent parents, for gratuitous education, and possessed no
+means of leaving it.
+
+Our stay in New Orleans was not long enough to permit our
+entering into society, but I was told that it contained two
+distinct sets of people, both celebrated, in their way, for their
+social meetings and elegant entertainments.  The first of these
+is composed of Creole families, who are chiefly planters and
+merchants, with their wives and daughters; these meet together,
+eat together, and are very grand and aristocratic; each of their
+balls is a little Almack's, and every portly dame of the set is
+as exclusive in her principles as the excluded but amiable
+Quandroons, and such of the gentlemen of the former class as can
+by any means escape from the high places, where pure Creole blood
+swells the veins at the bare mention of any being tainted in the
+remotest degree with the Negro stain.
+
+Of all the prejudices I have ever witnessed, this appears to me
+the most violent, and the most inveterate.  Quadroon girls, the
+acknowledged daughters of wealthy American or Creole fathers,
+educated with all of style and accomplishments which money can
+procure at New Orleans, and with all the decorum that care and
+affection can give; exquisitely beautiful, graceful, gentle, and
+amiable, these are not admitted, nay, are not on any terms
+admissable, into the society of the Creole families of Louisiana.
+They cannot marry; that is to say, no ceremony can render an
+union with them legal or binding; yet such is the powerful effect
+of their very peculiar grace, beauty, and sweetness of manner,
+that unfortunately they perpetually become the objects of choice
+and affection.  If the Creole ladies have privilege to exercise
+the awful power of repulsion, the gentle Quadroon has the sweet
+but dangerous vengeance of possessing that of attraction.  The
+unions formed with this unfortunate race are said to be often
+lasting and happy, as far as any unions can be so, to which a
+certain degree of disgrace is attached.
+
+There is a French and an English theatre in the town; but we were
+too fresh from Europe to care much for either; or, indeed, for
+any other of the town delights of this city, and we soon became
+eager to commence our voyage up the Mississippi.
+
+Miss Wright, then less known (though the author of more than one
+clever volume) than she has since become, was the companion of
+our voyage from Europe; and it was my purpose to have passed some
+months with her and her sister at the estate she had purchased in
+Tennessee.  This lady, since become so celebrated as the advocate
+of opinions that make millions shudder, and some half-score
+admire, was, at the time of my leaving England with her,
+dedicated to a pursuit widely different from her subsequent
+occupations.  Instead of becoming a public orator in every town
+throughout America, she was about, as she said, to seclude
+herself for life in the deepest forests of the western world,
+that her fortune, her time, and her talents might be exclusively
+devoted to aid the cause of the suffering Africans.  Her first
+object was to shew that nature had made no difference between
+blacks and whites, excepting in complexion; and this she expected
+to prove by giving an education perfectly equal to a class of
+black and white children.  Could this fact be once fully
+established, she conceived that the Negro cause would stand on
+firmer ground than it had yet done, and the degraded rank which
+they have ever held amongst civilized nations would be proved to
+be a gross injustice.
+
+This question of the mental equality, or inequality between us,
+and the Negro race, is one of great interest, and has certainly
+never yet been fairly tried; and I expected for my children and
+myself both pleasure and information from visiting her
+establishment, and watching the success of her experiment.
+
+The innumerable steam boats, which are the stage coaches and fly
+waggons of this land of lakes and rivers, are totally unlike any
+I had seen in Europe, and greatly superior to them.  The fabrics
+which I think they most resemble in appearance, are the floating
+baths (les bains Vigier) at Paris.  The annexed drawing will give
+a correct idea of their form.  The room to which the double line
+of windows belongs, is a very handsome apartment; before each
+window a neat little cot is arranged in such a manner as to give
+its drapery the air of a window curtain.  This room is called the
+gentlemen's cabin, and their exclusive right to it is somewhat
+uncourteously insisted upon.  The breakfast, dinner, and supper
+are laid in this apartment, and the lady passengers are permitted
+to take their meals there.
+
+On the first of January, 1828, we embarked on board the
+Belvidere, a large and handsome boat; though not the largest or
+handsomest of the many which displayed themselves along the
+wharfs; but she was going to stop at Memphis, the point of the
+river nearest to Miss Wright's residence, and she was the first
+that departed after we had got through the customhouse, and
+finished our sight-seeing.  We found the room destined for the
+use of the ladies dismal enough, as its only windows were below
+the stem gallery; but both this and the gentlemen's cabin were
+handsomely fitted up, and the former well carpeted; but oh! that
+carpet! I will not, I may not describe its condition; indeed it
+requires the pen of a Swift to do it justice.  Let no one who
+wishes to receive agreeable impressions of American manners,
+commence their travels in a Mississippi steam boat; for myself,
+it is with all sincerity I declare, that I would infinitely
+prefer sharing the apartment of a party of well conditioned pigs
+to the being confined to its cabin.
+
+I hardly know any annoyance so deeply repugnant to English
+feelings, as the incessant, remorseless spitting of Americans.
+I feel that I owe my readers an apology for the repeated use of
+this, and several other odious words; but I cannot avoid them,
+without suffering the fidelity of description to escape me.  It
+is possible that in this phrase, "Americans," I may be too
+general.  The United States form a continent of almost distinct
+nations, and I must now, and always, be understood to speak only
+of that portion of them which I have seen.  In conversing with
+Americans I have constantly found that if I alluded to anything
+which they thought I considered as uncouth, they would assure me
+it was local, and not national; the accidental peculiarity of a
+very small part, and by no means a specimen of the whole.  "That
+is because you know so little of America," is a phrase I have
+listened to a thousand times, and in nearly as many different
+places.  _It may be so_--and having made this concession, I
+protest against the charge of injustice in relating what I have
+seen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 3
+
+Company on board the Steam Boat--Scenery of the Mississippi--
+Crocodiles--Arrival at Memphis--Nashoba
+
+
+
+The weather was warm and bright, and we found the guard of the
+boat, as they call the gallery that runs round the cabins, a very
+agreeable station; here we all sat as long as light lasted, and
+sometimes wrapped in our shawls, we enjoyed the clear bright
+beauty of American moonlight long after every passenger but
+ourselves had retired.  We had a full complement of passengers on
+board.  The deck, as is usual, was occupied by the Kentucky
+flat-boat men, returning from New Orleans, after having disposed
+of the boat and cargo which they had conveyed thither, with no
+other labour than that of steering her, the current bringing her
+down at the rate of four miles an hour.  We had about two hundred
+of these men on board, but the part of the vessel occupied by
+them is so distinct from the cabins, that we never saw them,
+except when we stopped to take in wood; and then they ran, or
+rather sprung and vaulted over each other's heads to the shore,
+whence they all assisted in carrying wood to supply the steam
+engine; the performance of this duty being a stipulated part of
+the payment of their passage.
+
+From the account given by a man servant we had on board, who
+shared their quarters, they are a most disorderly set of persons,
+constantly gambling and wrangling, very seldom sober, and never
+suffering a night to pass without giving practical proof of the
+respect in which they hold the doctrines of equality, and
+community of property.  The clerk of the vessel was kind enough
+to take our man under his protection, and assigned him a berth in
+his own little nook; but as this was not inaccessible, he told
+him by no means to detach his watch or money from his person
+during the night.  Whatever their moral characteristics may be,
+these Kentuckians are a very noble-looking race of men; their
+average height considerably exceeds that of Europeans, and their
+countenances, excepting when disfigured by red hair, which is not
+unfrequent, extremely handsome.
+
+The gentlemen in the cabin (we had no ladies) would certainly
+neither, from their language, manners, nor appearance, have
+received that designation in Europe; but we soon found their
+claim to it rested on more substantial ground, for we heard them
+nearly all addressed by the titles of general, colonel, and
+major.  On mentioning these military dignities to an English
+friend some time afterwards, he told me that he too had made the
+voyage with the same description of company, but remarking that
+there was not a single captain among them; he made the
+observation to a fellow-passenger, and asked how he accounted for
+it.  "Oh, sir, the captains are all on deck," was the reply.
+
+Our honours, however, were not all military, for we had a
+judge among us.  I know it is equally easy and invidious to
+ridicule the peculiarities of appearance and manner in people of
+a different nation from ourselves; we may, too, at the same
+moment, be undergoing the same ordeal in their estimation; and,
+moreover, I am by no means disposed to consider whatever is new
+to me as therefore objectionable; but, nevertheless, it was
+impossible not to feel repugnance to many of the novelties that
+now surrounded me.
+
+The total want of all the usual courtesies of the table, the
+voracious rapidity with which the viands were seized and
+devoured, the strange uncouth phrases and pronunciation; the
+loathsome spitting, from the contamination of which it was
+absolutely impossible to protect our dresses; the frightful
+manner of feeding with their knives, till the whole blade seemed
+to enter into the mouth; and the still more frightful manner of
+cleaning the teeth afterwards with a pocket knife, soon forced us
+to feel that we were not surrounded by the generals, colonels,
+and majors of the old world; and that the dinner hour was to be
+any thing rather than an hour of enjoyment.
+
+The little conversation that went forward while we remained in
+the room, was entirely political, and the respective claims of
+Adams and Jackson to the presidency were argued with more oaths
+and more vehemence than it had ever been my lot to hear.  Once a
+colonel appeared on the verge of assaulting a major,  when a huge
+seven-foot Kentuckian gentleman horse-dealer, asked of the
+heavens to confound them both, and bade them sit still and be
+d--d.  We too thought we should share this sentence; at least
+sitting still in the cabin seemed very nearly to include the rest
+of it, and we never tarried there a moment longer than was
+absolutely necessary to eat.
+
+The unbroken flatness of the banks of the Mississippi continued
+unvaried for many miles above New Orleans; but the graceful and
+luxuriant palmetto, the dark and noble ilex, and the bright
+orange, were every where to be seen, and it was many days before
+we were weary of looking at them.  We occasionally used the
+opportunity of the boat's stopping to take in wood for a ten
+minutes' visit to the shore; we in this manner explored a field
+of sugar canes, and loaded ourselves with as much of the sweet
+spoil as we could carry.  Many of the passengers seemed fond of
+the luscious juice that is easily expressed from the canes, but
+it was too sweet for my palate.  We also visited, in the same
+rapid manner, a cotton plantation.  A handsome spacious building
+was pointed out to us as a convent, where a considerable number
+of young ladies were educated by the nuns.
+
+At one or two points the wearisome level line of forest is
+relieved by _bluffs_, as they call the short intervals of high
+ground.  The town of Natches is beautifully situated on one of
+these high spots; the climate here, in the warm season, is as
+fatal as that of New Orleans; were it not for this, Natches would
+have great attractions to new settlers.  The beautiful contrast
+that its bright green hill forms with the dismal line of black
+forest that stretches on every side, the abundant growth of
+pawpaw, palmetto and orange, the copious variety of sweet-scented
+flowers that flourish there, all make it appear like an oasis in
+the desert.  Natches is the furthest point to the north at which
+oranges ripen in the open air, or endure the winter without
+shelter.  With the exception of this sweet spot, I thought all
+the little towns and villages we passed, wretched looking, in the
+extreme.  As the distance from New Orleans increased, the air of
+wealth and comfort exhibited in its immediate neighbourhood
+disappeared, and but for one or two clusters of wooden houses,
+calling themselves towns, and borrowing some pompous name,
+generally from Greece or Rome, we might have thought ourselves
+the first of the human race who had ever penetrated into this
+territory of bears and alligators.  But still from time to time
+appeared the hut of the wood-cutter, who supplies the steam-boats
+with fuel, at the risk, or rather with the assurance of early
+death, in exchange for dollars and whiskey.  These sad dwellings
+are nearly all of them inundated during the winter, and the best
+of them are constructed on piles, which permit the water to reach
+its highest level without drowning the wretched inhabitants.
+These unhappy beings are invariably the victims of ague, which
+they meet recklessly, sustained by the incessant use of ardent
+spirits.  The squalid look of the miserable wives and children of
+these men was dreadful, and often as the spectacle was renewed I
+could never look at it with indifference.  Their complexion is of
+a blueish white, that suggests the idea of dropsy; this is
+invariable, and the poor little ones wear exactly the same
+ghastly hue.  A miserable cow and a few pigs standing knee-deep
+in water, distinguish the more prosperous of these dwellings, and
+on the whole I should say that I never witnessed human nature
+reduced so low, as it appeared in the wood-cutters' huts on the
+unwholesome banks of the Mississippi.
+
+It is said that at some points of this dismal river, crocodiles
+are so abundant as to add the terror of their attacks to the
+other sufferings of a dwelling there.  We were told a story of
+a squatter, who having "located" himself close to the river's
+edge, proceeded to build his cabin.  This operation is soon
+performed, for social feeling and the love of whiskey bring all
+the scanty neighbourhood round a new corner, to aid him in
+cutting down trees, and in rolling up the logs, till the mansion
+is complete.  This was done; the wife and five young children
+were put in possession of their new home, and slept soundly after
+a long march.  Towards daybreak the husband and father was
+awakened by a faint cry, and looking up, beheld relics of three
+of his children scattered over the floor, and an enormous
+crocodile, with several young ones around her, occupied in
+devouring the remnants of their horrid meal.  He looked round for
+a weapon, but finding none, and aware that unarmed he could do
+nothing, he raised himself gently on his bed, and contrived to
+crawl from thence through a window, hoping that his wife, whom he
+left sleeping, might with the remaining children rest
+undiscovered till his return.  He flew to his nearest neighbour
+and besought his aid; in less than half an hour two men returned
+with him, all three well armed; but alas! they were too late! the
+wife and her two babes lay mangled on their bloody bed.  The
+gorged reptiles fell an easy prey to their assailants, who, upon
+examining the place, found the hut had been constructed close to
+the mouth of a large hole, almost a cavern, where the monster had
+hatched her hateful brood.
+
+Among other sights of desolation which mark this region,
+condemned of nature, the lurid glare of a burning forest was
+almost constantly visible after sunset, and when the wind so
+willed, the smoke arising from it floated in heavy vapour over
+our heads.  Not all the novelty of the scene, not all its
+vastness, could prevent its heavy horror wearying the spirits.
+Perhaps the dinners and suppers I have described may help to
+account for this; but certain it is, that when we had wondered
+for a week at the ceaseless continuity of forest; had first
+admired, and then wearied of the festooned drapery of Spanish
+moss; when we had learned to distinguish the different masses of
+timber that passed us, or that we passed, as a "snag," a "log" or
+a "sawyer;" when we had finally made up our minds that the
+gentlemen of the Kentucky and Ohio military establishments, were
+not of the same genus as those of the Tuilleries and St. James's,
+we began to wish that we could sleep more hours away.  As we
+advanced to the northward we were no longer cheered by the
+beautiful border of palmettos; and even the amusement of
+occasionally spying out a sleeping crocodile was over.
+
+Just in this state, when we would have fain believed that every
+mile we went, carried us two towards Memphis, a sudden and
+violent shock startled us frightfully.
+
+"It is a sawyer!" said one.
+
+"It is a snag!" cried another.
+
+"We are aground!" exclaimed the captain.
+
+"Aground? Good heavens! and how long shall we stay here?"
+
+"The Lord in his providence can only tell, but long enough to
+tire my patience, I expect."
+
+And the poor English ladies, how fared they the while?
+
+Two breakfasts, two dinners, and a supper did they eat, with the
+Ohio and Kentucky gentlemen, before they moved an inch.  Several
+steam-boats passed while we were thus enthralled; but some were
+not strong enough to attempt drawing us off, and some attempted
+it, but were not strong enough to succeed; at length a vast and
+mighty "thing of life" approached, threw out grappling irons; and
+in three minutes the business was done; again we saw the trees
+and mud slide swiftly past us; and a hearty shout from every
+passenger on deck declared their joy.
+
+At length we had the pleasure of being told that we had arrived
+at Memphis; but this pleasure was considerably abated by the hour
+of our arrival, which was midnight, and by the rain, which was
+falling in torrents.
+
+Memphis stands on a high bluff, and at the time of our arrival
+was nearly inaccessible.  The heavy rain which had been falling
+for many hours would have made any steep ascent difficult, but
+unfortunately a new road had been recently marked out, which
+beguiled us into its almost bottomless mud, from the firmer
+footing of the unbroken cliff.  Shoes and gloves were lost in the
+mire, for we were glad to avail ourselves of all our limbs, and
+we reached the grand hotel in a most deplorable state.
+
+Miss Wright was well known there, and as soon as her arrival was
+announced, every one seemed on the alert to receive her, and we
+soon found ourselves in possession of the best rooms in the
+hotel.  The house was new, and in what appeared to me a very
+comfortless condition, but I was then new to Western America, and
+unaccustomed to their mode of "getting along," as they term it.
+This phrase is eternally in use among them, and seems to mean
+existing with as few of the comforts of life as possible.
+
+We slept soundly however, and rose in the hope of soon changing
+our mortar-smelling-quarters for Miss Wright's Nashoba.
+
+But we presently found that the rain which had fallen during the
+night would make it hazardous to venture through the forests of
+Tennessee in any sort of carriage; we therefore had to pass the
+day at our queer comfortless hotel.  The steam-boat had wearied
+me of social meals, and I should have been thankful to have eaten
+our dinner of hard venison and peach-sauce in a private room; but
+this, Miss Wright said was impossible; the lady of the house
+would consider the proposal as a personal affront, and, moreover,
+it would be assuredly refused.  This latter argument carried
+weight with it, and when the great bell was sounded from an upper
+window of the house, we proceeded to the dining-room.  The table
+was laid for fifty persons, and was already nearly full.  Our
+party had the honour of sitting near "the lady," but to check the
+proud feelings to which such distinction might give birth, my
+servant, William, sat very nearly opposite to me.  The company
+consisted of all the shop-keepers (store-keepers as they are
+called throughout the United States) of the little town.  The
+mayor also, who was a friend of Miss Wright's, was of the party;
+he is a pleasing gentlemanlike man, and seems strangely misplaced
+in a little town on the Mississippi.  We were told that since the
+erection of this hotel, it has been the custom for all the male
+inhabitants of the town to dine and breakfast there.  They ate in
+perfect silence, and with such astonishing rapidity that their
+dinner was over literally before our's was began; the instant
+they ceased to eat, they darted from the table in the same moody
+silence which they had preserved since they entered the room, and
+a second set took their places, who performed their silent parts
+in the same manner.  The only sounds heard were those produced by
+the knives and forks, with the unceasing chorus of coughing, &c.
+No women were present except ourselves and the hostess; the good
+women of Memphis being well content to let their lords partake of
+Mrs. Anderson's turkeys and venison, (without their having the
+trouble of cooking for them), whilst they regale themselves on
+mash and milk at home.
+
+The remainder of the day passed pleasantly enough in rambling
+round the little town, which is situated at the most beautiful
+point of the Mississippi; the river is here so wide as to give it
+the appearance of a noble lake; an island, covered with lofty
+forest trees divides it, and relieves by its broad mass of shadow
+the uniformity of its waters.  The town stretches in a rambling
+irregular manner along the cliff, from the Wolf River, one of the
+innumerable tributaries to the Mississippi, to about a mile below
+it.  Half a mile more of the cliff beyond the town is cleared of
+trees, and produces good pasture for horses, cows, and pigs;
+sheep they had none.  At either end of this space the forest
+again rears its dark wall, and seems to say to man, "so far shalt
+thou come, and no farther!"  Courage and industry, however, have
+braved the warning.  Behind this long street the town straggles
+back into the forest, and the rude path that leads to the more
+distant log dwellings becomes wilder at every step.  The ground
+is broken by frequent water-courses, and the bridges that lead
+across them are formed by trunks of trees thrown over the stream,
+which support others of smaller growth, that are laid across
+them.  These bridges are not very pleasant to pass, for they
+totter under the tread of a man, and tremble most frightfully
+beneath a horse or a waggon; they are, however, very picturesque.
+The great height of the trees, the quantity of pendant vine
+branches that hang amongst them; and the variety of gay plumaged
+birds, particularly the small green parrot, made us feel we were
+in a new world; and a repetition of our walk the next morning
+would have pleased us well, but Miss Wright was anxious to get
+home, and we were scarcely less so to see her Nashoba.  A clumsy
+sort of caravan drawn by two horses was prepared for us; and we
+set off in high spirits for an expedition of fifteen miles
+through the forest.  To avoid passing one of the bridges above
+described, which was thought insecure, our negro driver took us
+through a piece of water, which he assured us was not deep "to
+matter" however we soon lost sight of our pole, and as we were
+evidently descending, we gently remonstrated with him on the
+danger of proceeding, but he only grinned, and flogged in reply;
+we soon saw the front wheels disappear, and horses began to
+plunge and kick most alarmingly, but still without his looking at
+all disturbed.  At length the splinter-bar gave way, upon which
+the black philosopher said very composedly, "I expect you'll best
+be riding out upon the horses, as we've got into an unhandsome
+fix here."  Miss Wright, who sat composedly smiling at the scene,
+said, "Yes, Jacob, that is what we must do;" and with some
+difficulty we, in this manner, reached the shore, and soon found
+ourselves again assembled round Mrs. Anderson's fire.
+
+It was soon settled that we must delay our departure till the
+waters had subsided, but Miss Wright was too anxious to reach
+home to endure this delay and she set off again on horseback,
+accompanied by our man servant, who told me afterwards that they
+rode through places that might have daunted the boldest hunter,
+but that "Miss Wright took it quite easy."
+
+The next day we started again, and the clear air, the bright sun,
+the novel wildness of the dark forest, and our keenly awakened
+curiosity, made the excursion delightful, and enabled us to bear
+without shrinking the bumps and bruises we encountered.  We soon
+lost all trace of a road, at least so it appeared to us, for the
+stumps of the trees, which had been cut away to open a passage,
+were left standing three feet high.  Over these, the high-hung
+Deerborn, as our carriage was called, passed safely; but it
+required some miles of experience to convince us that every stump
+would not be our last; it was amusing to watch the cool and easy
+skill with which the driver wound his horses and wheels among
+these stumps.  I thought he might have been imported to Bond
+street with great advantage.  The forest became thicker and more
+dreary-looking every mile we advanced, but our ever-grinning
+negro declared it was a right good road, and that we should be
+sure to get to Nashoba.
+
+And so we did....and one glance sufficed to convince me that
+every idea I had formed of the place was as far as possible from
+the truth.  Desolation was the only feeling--the only word that
+presented itself; but it was not spoken.  I think, however, that
+Miss Wright was aware of the painful impression the sight of her
+forest home produced on me, and I doubt not that the conviction
+reached us both at the same moment, that we had erred in thinking
+that a few months passed together at this spot could be
+productive of pleasure to either.  But to do her justice, I
+believe her mind was so exclusively occupied by the object she
+had then in view, that all things else were worthless, or
+indifferent to her.  I never heard or read of any enthusiasm
+approaching her's, except in some few instances, in ages past, of
+religious fanaticism.
+
+It must have been some feeling equally powerful which enabled
+Miss Wright, accustomed to all the comfort and refinement of
+Europe, to imagine not only that she herself could exist in this
+wilderness, but that her European friends could enter there, and
+not feel dismayed at the savage aspect of the scene.  The annexed
+plate gives a faithful view of the cleared space and buildings
+which form the settlement.  Each building consisted of two large
+rooms furnished in the most simple manner; nor had they as yet
+collected round them any of those minor comforts which ordinary
+minds class among the necessaries of life.  But in this our
+philosophical friend seemed to see no evil; nor was there any
+mixture of affectation in this indifference; it was a
+circumstance really and truly beneath her notice.  Her whole
+heart and soul were occupied by the hope of raising the African
+to the level of European intellect; and even now, that I have
+seen this favourite fabric of her imagination fall to pieces
+beneath her feet, I cannot recall the self-devotion with which
+she gave herself to it, without admiration.
+
+The only white persons we found at Nashoba were my amiable
+friend, Mrs. W--, the sister of Miss Wright, and her husband.
+I think they had between thirty and forty slaves, including
+children, but when I was there no school had been established.
+Books and other materials for the great experiment had been
+collected, and one or two professors engaged, but nothing was yet
+organized.  I found my friend Mrs. W-- in very bad health, which
+she confessed she attributed to the climate.  This naturally so
+much alarmed me for my children, that I decided upon leaving the
+place with as little delay as possible, and did so at the end of
+ten days.
+
+I do not exactly know what was the immediate cause which induced
+Miss Wright to abandon a scheme which had taken such possession
+of her imagination, and on which she had expended so much money;
+but many months had not elapsed before I learnt, with much
+pleasure, that she and her sister had also left it.  I think it
+probable that she became aware upon returning to Nashoba, that
+the climate was too hostile to their health.  All I know farther
+of Nashoba is, that Miss Wright having found (from some cause or
+other) that it was impossible to pursue her object, herself
+accompanied her slaves to Hayti, and left them there, free, and
+under the protection of the President.
+
+I found no beauty in the scenery round Nashoba, nor can I
+conceive that it would possess any even in summer.  The trees
+were so close to each other as not to permit the growth of
+underwood, the great ornament of the forest at New Orleans, and
+still less of our seeing any openings, where the varying effects
+of light and shade might atone for the absence of other objects.
+The clearing round the settlement appeared to me inconsiderable
+and imperfect; but I was told that they had grown good crops of
+cotton and Indian corn.  The weather was dry and agreeable, and
+the aspects of the heavens by night surprisingly beautiful.  I
+never saw moonlight so clear, so pure, so powerful.
+
+We returned to Memphis on the 26th January, 1828, and found
+ourselves obliged to pass five days there, awaiting a steam-boat
+for Cincinnati, to which metropolis of the west, I was now
+determined to proceed with my family to await the arrival of
+Mr. Trollope.  We were told by everyone we spoke to at Memphis,
+that it was in all respects the finest situation west of the
+Alleghanies.  We found many lovely walks among the broken
+forest glades around Memphis, which, together with a morning
+and evening enjoyment of the effects of a glowing horizon on
+the river, enabled us to wait patiently for the boat that was
+to bear us away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 4
+
+Departure from Memphis--Ohio River Louisville--Cincinnati
+
+
+
+On the 1st of February, 1828, we embarked on board the Criterion,
+and once more began to float on the "father of waters," as the
+poor banished Indians were wont to call the Mississippi.  The
+company on board was wonderfully like what we had met in coming
+from New Orleans; I think they must have all been first cousins;
+and what was singular, they too had all arrived at high rank in
+the army.  For many a wearisome mile above the Wolf River the
+only scenery was still forest--forest--forest; the only variety
+was produced by the receding of the river at some points, and its
+encroaching on the opposite shore.  These changes are continually
+going on, but from what cause none could satisfactorily explain
+to me.  Where the river is encroaching, the trees are seen
+growing in the water many feet deep; after some time, the water
+undermines their roots, and they become the easy victims of the
+first hurricane that blows.  This is one source of the immense
+quantities of drift wood that float into the gulf of Mexico.
+Where the river has receded, a young growth of cane-brake is soon
+seen starting up with the rapid vegetation of the climate; these
+two circumstances in some degree relieve the sameness of the
+thousand miles of vegetable wall.  But we were now approaching
+the river which is emphatically called "the beautiful," La Belle
+Riveriere of the New Orleans French; and a few days took us, I
+trust for ever, out of that murky stream which is as emphatically
+called "the deadly;" and well does it seem to merit the title;
+the air of its shores is mephitic, and it is said that nothing
+that ever sunk beneath its muddy surface was known to rise again.
+As truly does "La Belle Riviere" deserve its name; the Ohio is
+bright and clear; its banks are continually varied, as it flows
+through what is called a rolling country, which seems to mean a
+district that cannot .shew a dozen paces of level ground at a
+time.  The primaeval forest still occupies a considerable portion
+of the ground, and hangs in solemn grandeur from the cliffs; but
+it is broken by frequent settlements, where we were cheered by
+the sight of herds and flocks.  I imagine that this river
+presents almost every variety of river scenery; sometimes its
+clear wave waters a meadow of level turf; sometimes it is bounded
+by perpendicular rocks; pretty dwellings, with their gay porticos
+are seen, alternately with wild intervals of forest, where the
+tangled bear-brake plainly enough indicates what inhabitants are
+native there.  Often a mountain torrent comes pouring its silver
+tribute to the stream, and were there occasionally a ruined
+abbey, or feudal castle, to mix the romance of real life with
+that of nature, the Ohio would be perfect.
+
+So powerful was the effect of this sweet scenery, that we ceased
+to grumble at our dinners and suppers; nay, we almost learnt to
+rival our neighbours at table in their voracious rapidity of
+swallowing, so eager were we to place ourselves again on the
+guard, lest we might lose sight of the beauty that was passing
+away from us.
+
+Yet these fair shores are still unhealthy.  More than once we
+landed, and conversed with the families of the wood-cutters, and
+scarcely was there one in which we did not hear of some member
+who had "lately died of the fever."--They are all subject to
+ague, and though their dwellings are infinitely better than those
+on the Mississippi, the inhabitants still look like a race that
+are selling their lives for gold.
+
+Louisville is a considerable town, prettily situated on the
+Kentucky, or south side of the Ohio; we spent some hours in
+seeing all it had to shew; and had I not been told that a bad
+fever often rages there during the warm season, I should have
+liked to pass some months there for the purpose of exploring
+the beautiful country in its vicinity.  Frankfort and Lexington
+are both towns worth visiting, though from their being out of
+the way places, I never got to either.  The first is the seat of
+the state government of Kentucky, and the last is, I was told,
+the residence of several independent families, who, with more
+leisure than is usually enjoyed in America, have its natural
+accompaniment, more refinement.
+
+The falls of the Ohio are about a mile below Louisville, and
+produce a rapid, too sudden for the boats to pass, except in the
+rainy season.  The passengers are obliged to get out below them,
+and travel by land to Louisville, where they find other vessels
+ready to receive them for the remainder of the voyage.  We were
+spared this inconvenience by the water being too high for the
+rapid to be much felt, and it will soon be altogether removed by
+the Louisville canal coming into operation, which will permit the
+steam-boats to continue their progress from below the falls to
+the town.
+
+The scenery on the Kentucky side is much finer than on that of
+Indiana, or Ohio.  The State of Kentucky was the darling spot of
+many tribes of Indians, and was reserved among them as a common
+hunting ground; it is said that they cannot yet name it without
+emotion, and that they have a sad and wild lament that they still
+chaunt to its memory.  But their exclusion thence is of no recent
+date; Kentucky has been longer settled than the Illinois,
+Indiana, or Ohio, and it appears not only more highly cultivated,
+but more fertile and more picturesque than either.  I have rarely
+seen richer pastures than those of Kentucky.  The forest trees,
+where not too crowded, are of magnificent growth, and the crops
+are gloriously abundant where the thriftless husbandry has not
+worn out the soil by an unvarying succession of exhausting crops.
+We were shewn ground which had borne abundant crops of wheat for
+twenty successive years; but a much shorter period suffices to
+exhaust the ground, if it were made to produce tobacco without
+the intermission of some other crop.
+
+We reached Cincinnati on the 10th of February.  It is finely
+situated on the south side of a hill that rises gently from
+the water's edge; yet it is by no means a city of striking
+appearance; it wants domes, towers, and steeples; but its
+landing-place is noble, extending for more than a quarter of
+a mile; it is well paved, and surrounded by neat, though not
+handsome buildings.  I have seen fifteen steam-boats lying
+there at once, and still half the wharf was unoccupied.
+
+On arriving we repaired to the Washington Hotel, and thought
+ourselves fortunate when we were told that we were just in time
+for dinner at the table d'hote; but when the dining-room door was
+opened, we retreated with a feeling of dismay at seeing between
+sixty and seventy men already at table.  We took our dinner with
+the females of the family, and then went forth to seek a house
+for our permanent accommodation.
+
+We went to the office of an advertising agent, who professed to
+keep a register of all such information, and described the
+dwelling we wanted.  He made no difficulty, but told us his boy
+should be our guide through the city, and shew us what we sought;
+we accordingly set out with him, and he led us up one street, and
+down another, but evidently without any determinate object; I
+therefore stopped, and asked him whereabout the houses were which
+we were going to see.  "I am looking for bills," was his reply.
+
+I thought we could have looked for bills as well without him, and
+I told him so; upon which he assumed an air of great activity,
+and began knocking regularly at every door we passed, enquiring
+if the house was to be let.  It was impossible to endure this
+long, and our guide was dismissed, though I was afterwards
+obliged to pay him a dollar for his services.
+
+We had the good fortune, however, to find a dwelling before
+long, and we returned to our hotel, having determined upon
+taking possession of it as soon at it could be got ready.
+Not wishing to take our evening meal either with the three
+score and ten gentlemen of the dining-room, nor yet with the
+half dozen ladies of the bar-room, I ordered tea in my own
+chamber.  A good-humoured Irish woman came forward with a sort
+of patronising manner, took my hand, and said, "Och, my honey,
+ye'll be from the old country.  I'll see you will have your tay
+all to yourselves, honey."  With this assurance we retired to
+my room, which was a handsome one as to its size and bed
+furniture, but it had no carpet, and was darkened by blinds of
+paper, such as rooms are hung with, which required to be rolled
+up, and then fastened with strings very awkwardly attached to
+the window-frames, whenever light or air were wished for.
+I afterwards met with these same uncomfortable blinds in every
+part of America.
+
+Our Irish friend soon reappeared, and brought us tea, together
+with the never failing accompaniments of American tea drinking,
+hung beef, "chipped up" raw, and sundry sweetmeats of brown
+sugar hue and flavour.  We took our tea, and were enjoying our
+family talk, relative to our future arrangements, when a loud
+sharp knocking was heard at our door.  My "come in," was answered
+by the appearance of a portly personage, who proclaimed himself
+our landlord.
+
+"Are any of you ill?" he began.
+
+"No thank you, sir; we are all quite well," was my reply.
+
+"Then, madam, I must tell you, that I cannot accommodate you on
+these terms; we have no family tea-drinkings here, and you must
+live either with me or my wife, or not at all in my house."
+
+This was said with an air of authority that almost precluded
+reply, but I ventured a sort of apologistic hint, that we were
+strangers and unaccustomed to the manners of the country.
+
+"Our manners are very good manners, and we don't wish any changes
+from England."
+
+I thought of mine host of the Washington afterwards, when reading
+Scott's "Anne of Geierstein;" he, in truth, strongly resembled
+the inn keeper therein immortalized, who made his guests eat,
+drink, and sleep, just where, when, and how he pleased.  I made
+no farther remonstrance, but determined to hasten my removal.
+This we achieved the next day to our great satisfaction.
+
+We were soon settled in our new dwelling, which looked neat and
+comfortable enough, but we speedily found that it was devoid of
+nearly all the accommodation that Europeans conceive necessary to
+decency and comfort.  No pump, no cistern, no drain of any kind,
+no dustman's cart, or any other visible means of getting rid of
+the rubbish, which vanishes with such celerity in London, that
+one has no time to think of its existence; but which accumulated
+so rapidly at Cincinnati, that I sent for my landlord to know in
+what manner refuse of all kinds was to be disposed of.
+
+"Your Help will just have to fix them all into the middle of
+the street, but you must mind, old woman, that it is the middle.
+I expect you don't know as we have got a law what forbids
+throwing such things at the sides of the streets; they must
+just all be cast right into the middle, and the pigs soon takes
+them off."
+
+In truth the pigs are constantly seen doing Herculean service in
+this way through every quarter of the city; and though it is not
+very agreeable to live surrounded by herds of these unsavoury
+animals, it is well they are so numerous, and so active in
+their capacity of scavengers, for without them the streets
+would soon be choked up with all sorts of substances in every
+stage of decomposition.
+
+We had heard so much of Cincinnati, its beauty, wealth, and
+unequalled prosperity, that when we left Memphis to go thither,
+we almost felt the delight of Rousseau's novice, "un voyage �
+faire, et Paris au bout!"  --As soon, therefore, as our little
+domestic arrangements were completed, we set forth to view
+this "wonder of the west" this "prophet's gourd of magic
+growth,"--this "infant Hercules;" and surely no travellers
+ever paraded a city under circumstances more favourable to
+their finding it fair to the sight.  Three dreary months had
+elapsed since we had left the glories of London behind us; for
+nearly the whole of that time we beheld no other architecture
+than what our ship and steam-boats had furnished, and excepting
+at New Orleans, had seen hardly a trace of human habitations.
+The sight of bricks and mortar was really refreshing, and a
+house of three stories looked splendid.  Of this splendour we
+saw repeated specimens, and moreover a brick church, which,
+from its two little peaked spires, is called the two-horned
+church.  But, alas! the flatness of reality after the imagination
+has been busy!  I hardly know what I expected to find in this
+city, fresh risen from the bosom of the wilderness, but certainly
+it was not a little town, about the size of Salisbury, without
+even an attempt at beauty in any of its edifices, and with only
+just enough of the air of a city to make it noisy and bustling.
+The population is greater than the appearance of the town would
+lead one to expect.  This is partly owing to the number of free
+Negroes who herd together in an obscure part of the city, called
+little Africa; and partly to the density of the population round
+the paper-mills and other manufactories.  I believe the number of
+inhabitants exceeds twenty thousand.
+
+We arrived in Cincinnati in February, 1828, and I speak of the
+town as it was then; several small churches have been built
+since, whose towers agreeably relieve its uninteresting mass of
+buildings.  At that time I think Main street, which is the
+principal avenue, (and runs through the whole town, answering to
+the High street of our old cities), was the only one entirely
+paved.  The _troittoir_ is of brick, tolerably well laid, but it
+is inundated by every shower, as Cincinnati has no drains
+whatever.  What makes this omission the more remarkable is, that
+the situation of the place is calculated both to facilitate their
+construction and render them necessary.  Cincinnati is built on
+the side of a hill that begins to rise at the river's edge, and
+were it furnished with drains of the simplest arrangement, the
+heavy showers of the climate would keep them constantly clean; as
+it is, these showers wash the higher streets, only to deposit
+their filth in the first level spot; and this happens to be in
+the street second in importance to Main street, running at right
+angles to it, and containing most of the large warehouses of the
+town.  This deposit is a dreadful nuisance, and must be
+productive of miasma during the hot weather.
+
+The town is built, as I believe most American towns are, in
+squares, as they call them; but these squares are the reverse of
+our's, being solid instead of hollow.  Each consists, or is
+intended to consist, when the plan of the city is completed, of
+a block of buildings fronting north, east, west, and south; each
+house communicating with an alley, furnishing a back entrance.
+This plan would not be a bad one were the town properly drained,
+but as it is, these alleys are horrible abominations, and must, I
+conceive, become worse with every passing year.
+
+To the north, Cincinnati is bounded by a range of forest-covered
+hills, sufficiently steep and rugged to prevent their being built
+upon, or easily cultivated, but not sufficiently high to command
+from their summits a view of any considerable extent.  Deep and
+narrow water-courses, dry in summer, but bringing down heavy
+streams in winter, divide these hills into many separate heights,
+and this furnishes the only variety the landscape offers for many
+miles round the town.  The lovely Ohio is a beautiful feature
+wherever it is visible, but the only part of the city that has
+the advantage of its beauty is the street nearest to its bank.
+The hills of Kentucky, which rise at about the same distance from
+the river, on the opposite side, form the southern boundary to
+the basin in which Cincinnati is built.
+
+On first arriving, I thought the many tree covered hills around,
+very beautiful, but long before my departure, I felt so weary of
+the confined view, that Salisbury Plain would have been an
+agreeable variety.  I doubt if any inhabitant of Cincinnati ever
+mounted these hills so often as myself and my children; but it
+was rather for the enjoyment of a freer air than for any beauty
+of prospect, that we took our daily climb.  These hills afford
+neither shrubs nor flowers, but furnish the finest specimens of
+millepore in the world; and the water courses are full of fossil
+productions.
+
+The forest trees are neither large nor well grown, and so close
+as to be nearly knotted together at top; even the wild vine here
+loses its beauty, for its graceful festoons bear leaves only when
+they reach the higher branches of the tree that supports them,
+both air and light being too scantily found below to admit of
+their doing more than climbing with a bare stem till they reach a
+better atmosphere.  The herb we call pennyroyal was the only one
+I found in abundance, and that only on the brows, where the
+ground had been partially cleared; vegetation is impossible
+elsewhere, and it is this circumstance which makes the "eternal
+forests" of America so detestable.  Near New Orleans the
+undergrowth of Palmetto and pawpaw is highly beautiful, but in
+Tennessee, Indiana, and Ohio, I never found the slightest beauty
+in the forest scenery.  Fallen trees in every possible stage of
+decay, and congeries of leaves that have been rotting since the
+flood, cover the ground and infect the air.  The beautiful
+variety of foliage afforded by evergreens never occurs, and in
+Tennessee, and that part of Ohio that surrounds Cincinnati, even
+the sterile beauty of rocks is wanting.  On crossing the water to
+Kentucky the scene is greatly improved; beech and chestnut, of
+magnificent growth, border the beautiful river; the ground has
+been well cleared, and the herbage is excellent; the pawpaw grows
+abundantly, and is a splendid shrub, though it bears neither
+fruit nor flowers so far north.  The noble tulip tree flourishes
+here, and blooms profusely.
+
+The river Licking flows into the Ohio nearly opposite Cincinnati;
+it is a pretty winding stream, and two or three miles from its
+mouth has a brisk rapid, dancing among white stones, which, in
+the absence of better rocks, we found very picturesque.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 5
+
+Cincinnati--Forest Farm--Mr. Bullock
+
+
+
+Though I do not quite sympathise with those who consider
+Cincinnati as one of the wonders of the earth, I certainly think
+it a city of extraordinary size and importance, when it is
+remembered that thirty years ago the aboriginal forest occupied
+the ground where it stands; and every month appears to extend its
+limits and its wealth.
+
+Some of the native political economists assert that this rapid
+conversion of a bear-brake into a prosperous city, is the result
+of free political institutions; not being very deep in such
+matters, a more obvious cause suggested itself to me, in the
+unceasing goad which necessity applies to industry in this
+country, and in the absence of all resource for the idle.
+During nearly two years that I resided in Cincinnati, or its
+neighbourhood, I neither saw a beggar, nor a man of sufficient
+fortune to permit his ceasing his efforts to increase it; thus
+every bee in the hive is actively employed in search of that
+honey of Hybla, vulgarly called money; neither art, science,
+learning, nor pleasure can seduce them from its pursuit.  This
+unity of purpose, backed by the spirit of enterprise, and joined
+with an acuteness and total absence of probity, where interest is
+concerned, which might set canny Yorkshire at defiance, may well
+go far towards obtaining its purpose.
+
+The low rate of taxation, too, unquestionably permits a more
+rapid accumulation of individual wealth than with us; but till I
+had travelled through America, I had no idea how much of the
+money collected in taxes returns among the people, not only in
+the purchase of what their industry furnishes, but in the actual
+enjoyment of what is furnished.  Were I an English legislator,
+instead of sending sedition to the Tower, I would send her to
+make a tour of the United States.  I had a little leaning towards
+sedition myself when I set out, but before I had half completed
+my tour I was quite cured.
+
+I have read much of the "few and simple wants of rational man,"
+and I used to give a sort of dreamy acquiescence to the reasoning
+that went to prove each added want an added woe.  Those who
+reason in a comfortable London drawing-room know little about the
+matter.  Were the aliments which sustain life all that we wanted,
+the faculties of the hog might suffice us; but if we analyze an
+hour of enjoyment, we shall find that it is made up of agreeable
+sensations occasioned by a thousand delicate impressions on
+almost as many nerves; where these nerves are sluggish from never
+having been awakened, external objects are less important, for
+they are less perceived; but where the whole machine of the human
+frame is in full activity, where every sense brings home to
+consciousness its touch of pleasure or of pain, then every object
+that meets the senses is important as a vehicle of happiness or
+misery.  But let no frames so tempered visit the United States,
+or if they do, let it be with no longer pausing than will store
+the memory with images, which, by the force of contrast, shall
+sweeten the future.
+
+"Guarda e passa (e poi) ragiam di lor."
+
+The "simple" manner of living in Western America was more
+distasteful to me from its levelling effects on the manners of
+the people, than from the personal privations that it rendered
+necessary; and yet, till I was without them, I was in no degree
+aware of the many pleasurable sensations derived from the little
+elegancies and refinements enjoyed by the middle classes in
+Europe.  There were many circumstances, too trifling even for my
+gossiping pages, which pressed themselves daily and hourly upon
+us, and which forced us to remember painfully that we were not at
+home.  It requires an abler pen than mine to trace the connection
+which I am persuaded exists between these deficiencies and the
+minds and manners of the people.  All animal wants are supplied
+profusely at Cincinnati, and at a very easy rate; but, alas!
+these go but a little way in the history of a day's enjoyment.
+The total and universal want of manners, both in males and
+females, is so remarkable, that I was constantly endeavouring to
+account for it.  It certainly does not proceed from want of
+intellect.  I have listened to much dull and heavy conversation
+in America, but rarely to any that I could strictly call silly,
+(if I except the every where privileged class of very young
+ladies).  They appear to me to have clear heads and active
+intellects; are more ignorant on subjects that are only of
+conventional value, than on such as are of intrinsic importance;
+but there is no charm, no grace in their conversation.  I very
+seldom during my whole stay in the country heard a sentence
+elegantly turned, and correctly pronounced from the lips of an
+American.  There is always something either in the expression or
+the accent that jars the feelings and shocks the taste.
+
+I will not pretend to decide whether man is better or worse off
+for requiring refinement in the manners and customs of the
+society that surrounds him, and for being incapable of enjoyment
+without them; but in America that polish which removes the
+coarser and rougher parts of our nature is unknown and undreamed
+of.  There is much substantial comfort, and some display in the
+larger cities; in many of the more obvious features they are as
+Paris or as London, being all large assemblies of active and
+intelligent human beings--but yet they are wonderfully unlike in
+nearly all their moral features.  Now God forbid that any
+reasonable American, (of whom there are so many millions), should
+ever come to ask me what I mean; I should find it very difficult,
+nay, perhaps, utterly impossible, to explain myself; but, on the
+other hand, no European who has visited the Union, will find the
+least difficulty in understanding me.  I am in no way competent
+to judge of the political institutions of America; and if I
+should occasionally make an observation on their effects, as they
+meet my superficial glance, they will be made in the spirit, and
+with the feeling of a woman, who is apt to tell what her first
+impressions may be, but unapt to reason back from effects to
+their causes.  Such observations, if they be unworthy of much
+attention, are also obnoxious to little reproof: but there are
+points of national peculiarity of which women may judge as ably
+as men,--all that constitutes the external of society may be
+fairly trusted to us.
+
+Captain Hall, when asked what appeared to him to constitute the
+greatest difference between England and America, replied, like a
+gallant sailor, "the want of loyalty." Were the same question put
+to me, I should answer, "the want of refinement."
+
+Were Americans, indeed, disposed to assume the plain unpretending
+deportment of the Switzer in the days of his picturesque
+simplicity, (when, however, he never chewed tobacco), it would
+be in bad taste to censure him; but this is not the case.
+Jonathan will be a fine gentleman, but it must be in his own way.
+Is he not a free-born American?  Jonathan, however, must
+remember, that if he will challenge competition with the old
+world, the old world will now and then look out to see how he
+supports his pretensions.
+
+With their hours of business, whether judicial or mercantile,
+civil or military, I have nothing to do; I doubt not they are all
+spent wisely and profitably; but what are their hours of
+recreation?  Those hours that with us are passed in the enjoyment
+of all that art can win from nature; when, if the elaborate
+repast be more deeply relished than sages might approve, it is
+redeemed from sensuality by the presence of elegance and beauty.
+What is the American pendant to this?  I will not draw any
+comparisons between a good dinner party in the two countries; I
+have heard American gentlemen say, that they could perceive no
+difference between them; but in speaking of general manners, I
+may observe, that it is rarely they dine in society, except in
+taverns and boarding houses.  Then they eat with the greatest
+possible rapidity, and in total silence; I have heard it said by
+American ladies, that the hours of greatest enjoyment to the
+gentlemen were those in which a glass of gin cocktail, or egging,
+receives its highest relish from the absence of all restraint
+whatever; and when there were no ladies to trouble them.
+
+Notwithstanding all this, the country is a very fine country,
+well worth visiting for a thousand reasons; nine hundred and
+ninety-nine of these are reasons founded on admiration and
+respect; the thousandth is, that we shall feel the more contented
+with our own.  The more unlike a country through which we travel
+is to all we have left, the more we are likely to be amused;
+every thing in Cincinnati had this newness, and I should have
+thought it a place delightful to visit, but to tarry there was
+not to feel at home.
+
+My home, however, for a time it was to be.  We heard on every
+side, that of all the known places on "the globe called earth,"
+Cincinnati was the most favourable for a young man to settle in;
+and I only awaited the arrival of Mr. T. to fix our son there,
+intending to continue with him till he should feel himself
+sufficiently established.  We accordingly determined upon making
+ourselves as comfortable as possible.  I took a larger house,
+which, however, I did not obtain without considerable difficulty,
+as, notwithstanding fourteen hundred new dwellings had been
+erected the preceding year, the demand for houses greatly
+exceeded the supply.  We became acquainted with several amiable
+people, and we beguiled the anxious interval that preceded Mr.
+T.'s joining us by frequent excursions in the neighbourhood,
+which not only afforded us amusement, but gave us an opportunity
+of observing the mode of life of the country people.
+
+We visited one farm, which interested us particularly from its
+wild and lonely situation, and from the entire dependence of the
+inhabitants upon their own resources.  It was a partial clearing
+in the very heart of the forest.  The house was built on the side
+of a hill, so steep that a high ladder was necessary to enter the
+front door, while the back one opened against the hill side; at
+the foot of this sudden eminence ran a clear stream, whose bed
+had been deepened into a little reservoir, just opposite the
+house.  A noble field of Indian-corn stretched away into the
+forest on one side, and a few half-cleared acres, with a shed or
+two upon them, occupied the other, giving accommodation to cows,
+horses, pigs, and chickens innumerable.  Immediately before the
+house was a small potatoe garden, with a few peach and apple
+trees.  The house was built of logs, and consisted of two rooms,
+besides a little shanty or lean-to, that was used as a kitchen.
+Both rooms were comfortably furnished with good beds, drawers,
+&c.  The farmer's wife, and a young woman who looked like her
+sister, were spinning, and three little children were playing
+about.  The woman told me that they spun and wove all the cotton
+and woolen garments of the family, and knit all the stockings;
+her husband, though not a shoe-maker by trade, made all the
+shoes.  She manufactured all the soap and candles they used, and
+prepared her sugar from the sugar-trees on their farm.  All she
+wanted with money, she said, was to buy coffee, tea, and whiskey,
+and she could "get enough any day by sending a batch of butter
+and chicken to market."  They used no wheat, nor sold any of
+their corn, which, though it appeared a very large quantity, was
+not more than they required to make their bread and cakes of
+various kinds, and to feed all their live stock during the
+winter.  She did not look in health, and said they had all had
+ague in "the fall;" but she seemed contented, and proud of her
+independence; though it was in somewhat a mournful accent that
+she said, "Tis strange to us to see company: I expect the sun may
+rise and set a hundred times before I shall see another _human_
+that does not belong to the family."
+
+I have been minute in the description of this forest farm, as
+I think it the best specimen I saw of the back-wood's
+independence, of which so much is said in America.
+These people were indeed independent, Robinson Crusoe was
+hardly more so, and they eat and drink abundantly; but yet
+it seemed to me that there was something awful and almost
+unnatural in their loneliness.  No village bell ever summoned
+them to prayer, where they might meet the friendly greeting of
+their fellow-men.  When they die, no spot sacred by ancient
+reverence will receive their bones--Religion will not breathe
+her sweet and solemn farewell upon their grave; the husband or
+the father will dig the pit that is to hold them, beneath the
+nearest tree; he will himself deposit them within it, and the
+wind that whispers through the boughs will be their only requiem.
+But then they pay neither taxes nor tythes, are never expected to
+pull off a hat or to make a curtsy, and will live and die without
+hearing or uttering the dreadful words, "God save the king."
+
+
+About two miles below Cincinnati, on the Kentucky side of the
+river, Mr. Bullock, the well known proprietor of the Egyptian
+Hall, has bought a large estate, with a noble house upon it.
+He and his amiable wife were devoting themselves to the
+embellishment of the house and grounds; and certainly there is
+more taste and art lavished on one of their beautiful saloons,
+than all Western America can show elsewhere.  It is impossible to
+help feeling that Mr. Bullock is rather out of his element in
+this remote spot, and the gems of art he has brought with him,
+shew as strangely there, as would a bower of roses in Siberia, or
+a Cincinnati fashionable at Almack's.  The exquisite beauty of
+the spot, commanding one of the finest reaches of the Ohio, the
+extensive gardens, and the large and handsome mansion, have
+tempted Mr. Bullock to spend a large sum in the purchase of this
+place, and if any one who has passed his life in London could
+endure such a change, the active mind and sanguine spirit of Mr.
+Bullock might enable him to do it; but his frank, and truly
+English hospitality, and his enlightened and enquiring mind,
+seemed sadly wasted there.  I have since heard with pleasure that
+Mr. Bullock has parted with this beautiful, but secluded mansion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 6
+
+Servants--Society--Evening Parties
+
+
+
+The greatest difficulty in organising a family establishment in
+Ohio, is getting servants, or, as it is there called, "getting
+help," for it is more than petty treason to the Republic, to call
+a free citizen a _servant_.  The whole class of young women,
+whose bread depends upon their labour, are taught to believe that
+the most abject poverty is preferable to domestic service.
+Hundreds of half-naked girls work in the paper-mills, or in any
+other manufactory, for less than half the wages they would
+receive in service; but they think their equality is compromised
+by the latter, and nothing but the wish to obtain some particular
+article of finery will ever induce them to submit to it.  A kind
+friend, however, exerted herself so effectually for me, that a
+tall stately lass soon presented herself, saying, "I be come to
+help you."  The intelligence was very agreeable, and I welcomed
+her in the most gracious manner possible, and asked what I should
+give her by the year.
+
+"Oh Gimini!" exclaimed the damsel, with a loud laugh, "you be a
+downright Englisher, sure enough.  I should like to see a young
+lady engage by the year in America!  I hope I shall get a husband
+before many months, or I expect I shall be an outright old maid,
+for I be most seventeen already; besides, mayhap I may want to go
+to school.  You must just give me a dollar and half a week, and
+mother's slave, Phillis, must come over once a week, I expect,
+from t'other side the water, to help me clean."  I agreed to the
+bargain, of course, with all dutiful submission; and seeing she
+was preparing to set to work in a yellow dress parseme with red
+roses, I gently hinted, that I thought it was a pity to spoil so
+fine a gown, and that she had better change it.
+
+"'Tis just my best and my worst," she answered, "for I've got no
+other."
+
+And in truth I found that this young lady had left the paternal
+mansion with no more clothes of any kind than what she had on.
+I immediately gave her money to purchase what was necessary for
+cleanliness and decency, and set to work with my daughters to
+make her a gown.  She grinned applause when our labour was
+completed, but never uttered the slightest expression of
+gratitude for that, or for any thing else we could do for her.
+She was constantly asking us to lend her different articles of
+dress, and when we declined it, she said, "Well, I never seed
+such grumpy folks as you be; there is several young ladies of my
+acquaintance what goes to live out now and then with the old
+women about the town, and they and their gurls always lends them
+what they asks for; I guess you Inglish thinks we should poison
+your things, just as bad as if we was Negurs."  And here I beg to
+assure the reader, that whenever I give conversations they were
+not made � LOISIR, but were written down immediately after they
+occurred, with all the verbal fidelity my memory permitted.
+
+This young lady left me at the end of two months, because I
+refused to lend her money enough to buy a silk dress to go to a
+ball, saying, "Then 'tis not worth my while to stay any longer."
+
+I cannot imagine it possible that such a state of things can be
+desirable, or beneficial to any of the parties concerned.
+I might occupy a hundred pages on the subject, and yet fail to
+give an adequate idea of the sore, angry, ever wakeful pride that
+seemed to torment these poor wretches.  In many of them it was so
+excessive, that all feeling of displeasure, or even of ridicule,
+was lost in pity.  One of these was a pretty girl, whose natural
+disposition must have been gentle and kind; but her good feelings
+were soured, and her gentleness turned to morbid sensitiveness,
+by having heard a thousand and a thousand times that she was as
+good as any other lady, that all men were equal, and women too,
+and that it was a sin and a shame for a free-born American to be
+treated like a servant.
+
+When she found she was to dine in the kitchen, she turned up her
+pretty lip, and said, "I guess that's 'cause you don't think I'm
+good enough to eat with you.  You'll find that won't do here."
+I found afterwards that she rarely ate any dinner at all, and
+generally passed the time in tears.  I did every thing in my
+power to conciliate and make her happy, but I am sure she hated
+me.  I gave her very high wages, and she staid till she had
+obtained several expensive articles of dress, and then, UN BEAU
+MATIN, she came to me full dressed, and said, "I must go."  "When
+shall you return, Charlotte?"  "I expect you'll see no more of
+me."  And so we parted.  Her sister was also living with me, but
+her wardrobe was not yet completed, and she remained some weeks
+longer, till it was.
+
+I fear it may be called bad taste to say so much concerning my
+domestics, but, nevertheless, the circumstances are so
+characteristic of America that I must recount another history
+relating to them.  A few days after the departure of my ambitious
+belle, my cries for "Help" had been so effectual that another
+young lady presented herself, with the usual preface "I'm come to
+help you."  I had been cautioned never to ask for a reference for
+character, as it would not only rob me of that help, but entirely
+prevent my ever getting another; so, five minutes after she
+entered she was installed, bundle and all, as a member of the
+family.  She was by no means handsome, but there was an air of
+simple frankness in her manner that won us all.  For my own part,
+I thought I had got a second Jeanie Deans; for she recounted to
+me histories of her early youth, wherein her plain good sense and
+strong mind had enabled her to win her way through a host of
+cruel step-mothers, faithless lovers, and cheating brothers.
+Among other things, she told me, with the appearance of much
+emotion, that she had found, since she came to town, a cure for
+all her sorrows, "Thanks and praise for it, I have got religion!"
+and then she asked if I would spare her to go to Meeting every
+Tuesday and Thursday evening; "You shall not have to want me,
+Mrs. Trollope, for our minister knows that we have all our duties
+to perform to man, as well as to God, and he makes the Meeting
+late in the evening that they may not cross one another."  Who
+could refuse?  Not I, and Nancy had leave to go to Meeting two
+evenings in the week, besides Sundays.
+
+One night, that the mosquitoes had found their way under my net,
+and prevented my sleeping, I heard some one enter the house very
+late; I got up, went to the top of the stairs, and, by the help
+of a bright moon, recognised Nancy's best bonnet.  I called to
+her: "You are very late." said I.  "what is the reason of it?"
+"Oh, Mrs. Trollope," she replied, "I am late, indeed!  We have
+this night had seventeen souls added to our flock.  May they live
+to bless this night!  But it has been a long sitting, and very
+warm; I'll just take a drink of water, and get to bed; you shan't
+find me later in the morning for it."  Nor did I.  She was an
+excellent servant, and performed more than was expected from her;
+moreover, she always found time to read the Bible several times
+in the day, and I seldom saw her occupied about any thing without
+observing that she had placed it near her.
+
+At last she fell sick with the cholera, and her life was
+despaired of.  I nursed her with great care, and sat up the
+greatest part of two nights with her.  She was often delirious,
+and all her wandering thoughts seemed to ramble to heaven.
+"I have been a sinner," she said, "but I am safe in the Lord
+Jesus."  When she recovered, she asked me to let her go into the
+country for a few days, to change the air, and begged me to lend
+her three dollars.
+
+While she was absent a lady called on me, and enquired, with some
+agitation, if my servant, Nancy Fletcher, were at home.
+I replied that she was gone into the country.  "Thank God," she
+exclaimed, "never let her enter your doors again, she is the most
+abandoned woman in the town: a gentleman who knows you, has been
+told that she lives with you, and that she boasts of having the
+power of entering your house at any hour of night."  She told me
+many other circumstances, unnecessary to repeat, but all tending
+to prove that she was a very dangerous inmate.
+
+I expected her home the next evening, and I believe I passed the
+interval in meditating how to get rid of her without an
+_eclaircissement_.  At length she arrived, and all my study
+having failed to supply me with any other reason than the real
+one for dismissing her, I stated it at once.  Not the slightest
+change passed over her countenance, but she looked steadily at
+me, and said, in a very civil tone, "I should like to know who
+told you."  I replied that it could be of no advantage to her to
+know, and that I wished her to go immediately.  "I am ready to
+go," she said, in the same quiet tone, "but what will you do for
+your three dollars?"  "I must do without them, Nancy; good
+morning to you."  "I must just put up my things," she said, and
+left the room.  About half an hour afterwards, when we were all
+assembled at dinner, she entered with her usual civil composed
+air, "Well, I am come to wish you all goodbye," and with a
+friendly good-humoured smile she left us.
+
+This adventure frightened me so heartily, that, notwithstanding I
+had the dread of cooking my own dinner before my eyes, I would
+not take any more young ladies into my family without receiving
+some slight sketch of their former history.  At length I met with
+a very worthy French woman, and soon after with a tidy English
+girl to assist her; and I had the good fortune to keep them till
+a short time before my departure: so, happily, I have no more
+misfortunes of this nature to relate.
+
+Such being the difficulties respecting domestic arrangements, it
+is obvious, that the ladies who are brought up amongst them
+cannot have leisure for any great development of the mind: it
+is, in fact, out of the question; and, remembering this, it is
+more surprising that some among them should be very pleasing,
+than that none should be highly instructed.
+
+Had I passed as many evenings in company in any other town that I
+ever visited as I did in Cincinnati, I should have been able to
+give some little account of the conversations I had listened to;
+but, upon reading over my notes, and then taxing my memory to the
+utmost to supply the deficiency, I can scarcely find a trace of
+any thing that deserves the name.  Such as I have, shall be given
+in their place.  But, whatever may be the talents of the persons
+who meet together in society, the very shape, form, and
+arrangement of the meeting is sufficient to paralyze
+conversation.  The women invariably herd together at one part of
+the room, and the men at the other; but, in justice to
+Cincinnati, I must acknowledge that this arrangement is by no
+means peculiar to that city, or to the western side of the
+Alleghanies.  Sometimes a small attempt at music produces a
+partial reunion; a few of the most daring youths, animated by the
+consciousness of curled hair and smart waistcoats, approach the
+piano forte, and begin to mutter a little to the half-grown
+pretty things, who are comparing with one another "how many
+quarters' music they have had."  Where the mansion is of
+sufficient dignity to have two drawing-rooms, the piano, the
+little ladies, and the slender gentlemen are left to themselves,
+and on such occasions the sound of laughter is often heard to
+issue from among them.  But the fate of the more dignified
+personages, who are left in the other room, is extremely dismal.
+The gentlemen spit, talk of elections and the price of produce,
+and spit again.  The ladies look at each other's dresses till
+they know every pin by heart; talk of Parson Somebody's last
+sermon on the day of judgment, on Dr. T'otherbody's new pills for
+dyspepsia, till the "tea" is announced, when they all console
+themselves together for whatever they may have suffered in
+keeping awake, by taking more tea, coffee, hot cake and custard,
+hoe cake, johny cake, waffle cake, and dodger cake, pickled
+peaches, and preserved cucumbers, ham, turkey, hung beef, apple
+sauce, and pickled oysters than ever were prepared in any other
+country of the known world.  After this massive meal is over,
+they return to the drawing-room, and it always appeared to me
+that they remained together as long as they could bear it, and
+then they rise EN MASSE, cloak, bonnet, shawl, and exit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 7
+
+Market--Museum--Picture Gallery--Academy of Fine Arts Drawing
+School--Phrenological Society--Miss Wright's Lecture.
+
+
+
+Perhaps the most advantageous feature in Cincinnati is its
+market, which, for excellence, abundance, and cheapness, can
+hardly, I should think, be surpassed in any part of the world, if
+I except the luxury of fruits, which are very inferior to any I
+have seen in Europe.  There are no butchers, fishmongers, or
+indeed any shops for eatables, except bakeries, as they are
+called, in the town; every thing must be purchased at market; and
+to accomplish this, the busy housewife must be stirring betimes,
+or, 'spite of the abundant supply, she will find her hopes of
+breakfast, dinner, and supper for the day defeated, the market
+being pretty well over by eight o'clock.
+
+The beef is excellent, and the highest price when we were there,
+four cents (about two-pence) the pound.  The mutton was inferior,
+and so was veal to the eye, but it ate well, though not very fat;
+the price was about the same.  The poultry was excellent; fowls
+or full-sized chickens, ready for table, twelve cents, but much
+less if bought alive, and not quite fat; turkeys about fifty
+cents, and geese the same.  The Ohio furnishes several sorts of
+fish, some of them very good, and always to be found cheap and
+abundant in the market.  Eggs, butter, nearly all kinds of
+vegetables, excellent, and at moderate prices.  From June till
+December tomatoes (the great luxury of the American table in the
+opinion of most Europeans) may be found in the highest perfection
+in the market for about sixpence the peck.  They have a great
+variety of beans unknown in England, particularly the lima-bean,
+the seed of which is dressed like the French harico; it furnishes
+a very abundant crop, and is a most delicious vegetable: could it
+be naturalised with us it would be a valuable acquisition.  The
+Windsor, or broad-bean, will not do well there; Mr. Bullock had
+them in his garden, where they were cultivated with much care;
+they grew about a foot high and blossomed, but the pod never
+ripened.  All the fruit I saw exposed for sale in Cincinnati was
+most miserable.  I passed two summers there, but never tasted a
+peach worth eating.  Of apricots and nectarines I saw none;
+strawberries very small, raspberries much worse; gooseberries
+very few, and quite uneatable; currants about half the size of
+ours, and about double the price; grapes too sour for tarts;
+apples abundant, but very indifferent, none that would be thought
+good enough for an English table; pears, cherries, and plums most
+miserably bad.  The flowers of these regions were at least
+equally inferior: whether this proceeds from want of cultivation
+or from peculiarity of soil I know not, but after leaving
+Cincinnati, I was told by a gentleman who appeared to understand
+the subject, that the state of Ohio had no indigenous flowers or
+fruits.  The water-melons, which in that warm climate furnish a
+delightful refreshment, were abundant and cheap; but all other
+melons very inferior to those of France, or even of England, when
+ripened in a common hot-bed.
+
+From the almost total want of pasturage near the city, it is
+difficult for a stranger to divine how milk is furnished for its
+supply, but we soon learnt that there are more ways than one of
+keeping a cow.  A large proportion of the families in the town,
+particularly of the poorer class, have one, though apparently
+without any accommodation whatever for it.  These animals are
+fed morning and evening at the door of the house, with a good
+mess of Indian corn, boiled with water; while they eat, they are
+milked, and when the operation is completed the milk-pail and the
+meal-tub retreat into the dwelling, leaving the republican cow to
+walk away, to take her pleasure on the hills, or in the gutters,
+as may suit her fancy best.  They generally return very regularly
+to give and take the morning and evening meal; though it more
+than once happened to us, before we were supplied by a regular
+milk cart, to have our jug sent home empty, with the sad news
+that "the cow was not come home, and it was too late to look for
+her to breakfast now."  Once, I remember, the good woman told us
+that she had overslept herself, and that the cow had come and
+gone again, "not liking, I expect, to hanker about by herself
+for nothing, poor thing."
+
+Cincinnati has not many lions to boast, but among them are
+two museums of natural history; both of these contain many
+respectable specimens, particularly that of Mr. Dorfeuille,
+who has moreover, some highly interesting Indian antiquities.
+He is a man of taste and science, but a collection formed
+strictly according to their dictates, would by no means satisfy
+the western metropolis.  The people have a most extravagant
+passion for wax figures, and the two museums vie with each other
+in displaying specimens of this barbarous branch of art.
+As Mr. Dorfeuille cannot trust to his science for attracting the
+citizens, he has put his ingenuity into requisition, and this has
+proved to him the surer aid of the two.  He has constructed a
+pandaemonium in an upper story of his museum, in which he has
+congregated all the images of horror that his fertile fancy could
+devise; dwarfs that by machinery grow into giants before the eyes
+of the spectator; imps of ebony with eyes of flame; monstrous
+reptiles devouring youth and beauty; lakes of fire, and mountains
+of ice; in short, wax, paint and springs have done wonders.
+"To give the scheme some more effect," he makes it visible only
+through a grate of massive iron bars, among which are arranged
+wires connected with an electrical machine in a neighbouring
+chamber; should any daring hand or foot obtrude itself with the
+bars, it receives a smart shock, that often passes through many
+of the crowd, and the cause being unknown, the effect is
+exceedingly comic; terror, astonishment, curiosity, are all set
+in action, and all contribute to make "Dorfeuille's Hell" one of
+the most amusing exhibitions imaginable.
+
+There is also a picture gallery at Cincinnati, and this was a
+circumstance of much interest to us, as our friend Mr. H., who
+had accompanied Miss Wright to America, in the expectation of
+finding a good opening in the line of historical painting,
+intended commencing his experiment at Cincinnati.  It would be
+invidious to describe the picture gallery; I have no doubt, that
+some years hence it will present a very different appearance.
+Mr. H. was very kindly received by many of the gentlemen of the
+city, and though the state of the fine arts there gave him but
+little hope that he should meet with much success, he immediately
+occupied himself in painting a noble historical picture of the
+landing of General Lafayette at Cincinnati.
+
+Perhaps the clearest proof of the little feeling for art that
+existed at that time in Cincinnati, may be drawn from the result
+of an experiment originated by a German, who taught drawing
+there.  He conceived the project of forming a chartered academy
+of fine arts; and he succeeded in the beginning to his utmost
+wish, or rather, "they fooled him to the top of his bent."  Three
+thousand dollars were subscribed, that is to say, names were
+written against different sums to that amount, a house was
+chosen, and finally, application was made to the government, and
+the charter obtained, rehearsing formally the names of the
+subscribing members, the professors, and the officers.  So far
+did the steam of their zeal impel them, but at this point it was
+let off; the affair stood still, and I never heard the academy of
+fine arts mentioned afterwards.
+
+This same German gentleman, on seeing Mr. H.'s sketches, was so
+well pleased with them, that he immediately proposed his joining
+him in his drawing school, with an agreement, I believe that his
+payment from it should be five hundred dollars a year.  Mr. H.
+accepted the proposal, but the union did not last long, and the
+cause of its dissolution was too American to be omitted.  Mr. H.
+prepared his models, and attended the class, which was numerous,
+consisting both of boys and girls.  He soon found that the "sage
+called Decipline" was not one of the assistants, and he
+remonstrated against the constant talking, and running from one
+part of the room to another, but in vain; finding, however, that
+he could do nothing till this was discontinued, he wrote some
+rules, enforcing order, for the purpose of placing them at the
+door of the academy.  When he shewed them to his colleague, he
+shook his head, and said, "Very goot, very goot in Europe, but
+America boys and gals vill not bear it, dey will do just vat dey
+please; Suur, dey vould all go avay next day."  "And you will not
+enforce these regulations _si necessaires_, Monsieur?"  "Olar!
+not for de vorld."  "_Eh bien_, Monsieur, I must leave the young
+republicans to your management."
+
+I heard another anecdote that will help to show the state of art
+at this time in the west.  Mr. Bullock was shewing to some
+gentlemen of the first standing, the very _elite_ of Cincinnati,
+his beautiful collection of engravings, when one among them
+exclaimed, "Have you really done all these since you came here?
+How hard you must have worked!"
+
+I was also told of a gentleman of High Cincinnati, TON and
+critical of his taste for the fine arts, who, having a drawing
+put into his hands, representing Hebe and the bird, umquhile
+sacred to Jupiter, demanded in a satirical tone, "What is this?"
+"Hebe," replied the alarmed collector.  "Hebe," sneered the man
+of taste, "What the devil has Hebe to do with the American
+eagle?"
+
+We had not been long at Cincinnati when Dr. Caldwell, the
+Spurzheim of America, arrived there for the purpose of delivering
+lectures on phrenology.  I attended his lectures, and was
+introduced to him.  He has studied Spurzheim and Combe
+diligently, and seems to understand the science to which he has
+devoted himself; but neither his lectures nor his conversation
+had that delightful truth of genuine enthusiasm, which makes
+listening to Dr. Spurzheim so great a treat.  His lectures,
+however, produced considerable effect.  Between twenty and thirty
+of the most erudite citizens decided upon forming a phrenological
+society.  A meeting was called, and fully attended; a respectable
+number of subscribers' names was registered, the payment of
+subscriptions being arranged for a future day.  President, vice-
+president, treasurer, and secretary, were chosen; and the first
+meeting dissolved with every appearance of energetic perseverance
+in scientific research.
+
+The second meeting brought together one-half of this learned
+body, and they enacted rules and laws, and passed resolutions,
+sufficient, it was said, to have filled three folios.
+
+A third day of meeting arrived, which was an important one, as on
+this occasion the subscriptions were to be paid.  The treasurer
+came punctually, but found himself alone.  With patient hope, he
+waited two hours for the wise men of the west, but he waited in
+vain: and so expired the Phrenological Society of Cincinnati.
+
+I had often occasion to remark that the spirit of enterprise or
+improvement seldom glowed with sufficient ardour to resist the
+smothering effect of a demand for dollars.  The Americans love
+talking.  All great works, however, that promise a profitable
+result, are sure to meet support from men who have enterprise and
+capital sufficient to await the return; but where there is
+nothing but glory, or the gratification of taste to be expected,
+it is, I believe, very rarely that they give any thing beyond
+"their most sweet voices."
+
+Perhaps they are right.  In Europe we see fortunes crippled by a
+passion for statues, or for pictures, or for books, or for gems;
+for all and every of the artificial wants that give grace to
+life, and tend to make man forget that he is a thing of clay.
+They are wiser in their generation on the other side the
+Atlantic; I rarely saw any thing that led to such oblivion there.
+
+Soon after Dr. Caldwell's departure, another lecturer appeared
+upon the scene, whose purpose of publicly addressing the people
+was no sooner made known, than the most violent sensation was
+excited.
+
+That a lady of fortune, family, and education, whose youth had
+been passed in the most refined circles of private life, should
+present herself to the people as a public lecturer, would
+naturally excite surprise any where, and the nil admirari of the
+old world itself, would hardly be sustained before such a
+spectacle; but in America, where women are guarded by a seven-
+fold shield of habitual insignificance, it caused an effect that
+can hardly be described.  "Miss Wright, of Nashoba, is going to
+lecture at the court-house," sounded from street to street, and
+from house to house.  I shared the surprise, but not the wonder;
+I knew her extraordinary gift of eloquence, her almost unequalled
+command of words, and the wonderful power of her rich and
+thrilling voice; and I doubted not that if it was her will to
+do it, she had the power of commanding the attention, and
+enchanting the ear of any audience before whom it was her
+pleasure to appear.  I was most anxious to hear her, but was
+almost deterred from attempting it, by the reports that reached
+me of the immense crowd that was expected.  After many
+consultations, and hearing that many other ladies intended going,
+my friend Mrs. P--, and myself, decided upon making the attempt,
+accompanied by a party of gentlemen, and found the difficulty
+less than we anticipated, though the building was crowded in
+every part.  We congratulated ourselves that we had had the
+courage to be among the number, for all my expectations fell far
+short of the splendour, the brilliance, the overwhelming
+eloquence of this extraordinary orator.
+
+Her lecture was upon the nature of true knowledge, and it
+contained little that could be objected to, by any sect or
+party; it was intended as an introduction to the strange and
+startling theories contained in her subsequent lectures, and
+could alarm only by the hints it contained that the fabric of
+human wisdom could rest securely on no other base than that of
+human knowledge.
+
+There was, however, one passage from which common-sense revolted;
+it was one wherein she quoted that phrase of mischievous
+sophistry, "all men are born free and equal."  This false and
+futile axiom, which has done, is doing, and will do so much harm
+to this fine country, came from Jefferson; and truly his life was
+a glorious commentary upon it.  I pretend not to criticise his
+written works, but commonsense enables me to pronounce this, his
+favourite maxim, false.
+
+Few names are held in higher estimation in America, than that of
+Jefferson; it is the touchstone of the democratic party, and all
+seem to agree that he was one of the greatest of men; yet I have
+heard his name coupled with deeds which would make the sons of
+Europe shudder.  The facts I allude to are spoken openly by all,
+not whispered privately by a few; and in a country where religion
+is the tea-table talk, and its strict observance a fashionable
+distinction, these facts are recorded, and listened to, without
+horror, nay, without emotion.
+
+Mr. Jefferson is said to have been the father of children by
+almost all his numerous gang of female slaves.  These wretched
+offspring were also the lawful slaves of their father, and worked
+in his house and plantations as such; in particular, it is
+recorded that it was his especial pleasure to be waited upon by
+them at table, and the hospitable orgies for which his Montecielo
+was so celebrated, were incomplete, unless the goblet he quaffed
+were tendered by the trembling hand of his own slavish offspring.
+
+I once heard it stated by a democratical adorer of this great
+man, that when, as it sometimes happened, his children by
+Quadroon slaves were white enough to escape suspicion of their
+origin, he did not pursue them if they attempted to escape,
+saying laughingly, "Let the rogues get off, if they can; I will
+not hinder them."  This was stated in a large party, as a proof
+of his kind and noble nature, and was received by all with
+approving smiles.
+
+If I know anything of right or wrong, if virtue and vice be
+indeed something more than words, then was this great American
+an unprincipled tyrant, and most heartless libertine.
+
+But to return to Miss Wright,--it is impossible to imaging any
+thing more striking than her appearance.  Her tall and majestic
+figure, the deep and almost solemn expression of her eyes, the
+simple contour of her finely formed head, unadorned excepting by
+its own natural ringlets; her garment of plain white muslin,
+which hung around her in folds that recalled the drapery of a
+Grecian statue, all contributed to produce an effect, unlike
+anything I had ever seen before, or ever expect to see again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 8
+
+Absence of public and private Amusement--Churches and
+Chapels--Influence of the Clergy--A Revival
+
+
+
+I never saw any people who appeared to live so much without
+amusement as the Cincinnatians.  Billiards are forbidden by law,
+so are cards.  To sell a pack of cards in Ohio subjects the
+seller to a penalty of fifty dollars.  They have no public balls,
+excepting, I think, six, during the Christmas holidays.  They
+have no concerts.  They have no dinner parties.
+
+They have a theatre, which is, in fact, the only public amusement
+of this triste little town; but they seem to care little about
+it, and either from economy or distaste, it is very poorly
+attended.  Ladies are rarely seen there, and by far the larger
+proportion of females deem it an offence against religion to
+witness the representation of a play.  It is in the churches and
+chapels of the town that the ladies are to be seen in full
+costume; and I am tempted to believe that a stranger from the
+continent of Europe would be inclined, on first reconnoitering
+the city, to suppose that the places of worship were the theatres
+and cafes of the place.  No evening in the week but brings
+throngs of the young and beautiful to the chapels and meeting-
+houses, all dressed with care, and sometimes with great
+pretension; it is there that all display is made, and all
+fashionable distinction sought.  The proportion of gentlemen
+attending these evening meetings is very small, but often, as
+might be expected, a sprinkling of smart young clerks make this
+sedulous display of ribbons and ringlets intelligible and
+natural.  Were it not for the churches, indeed, I think there
+might be a general bonfire of best bonnets, for I never could
+discover any other use for them.
+
+The ladies are too actively employed in the interior of their
+houses to permit much parading in full dress for morning visits.
+There are no  public gardens or lounging shops of fashionable
+resort, and were it not for public worship, and private tea-
+drinkings, all the ladies in Cincinnati would be in danger of
+becoming perfect recluses.
+
+The influence which the ministers of all the innumerable
+religious sects throughout America, have on the females of their
+respective congregations, approaches very nearly to what we read
+of in Spain, or in other strictly Roman Catholic countries.
+There are many causes for this peculiar influence.  Where
+equality of rank is affectedly acknowledged by the rich, and
+clamourously claimed by the poor, distinction and preeminence are
+allowed to the clergy only.  This gives them high importance in
+the eyes of the ladies.  I think, also, that it is from the
+clergy only that the women of America receive that sort of
+attention which is so dearly valued by every female heart
+throughout the world.  With the priests of America, the women
+hold that degree of influential importance which, in the
+countries of Europe, is allowed them throughout all orders and
+ranks of society, except, perhaps, the very lowest; and in return
+for this they seem to give their hearts and souls into their
+keeping.  I never saw, or read, of any country where religion had
+so strong a hold upon the women, or a slighter hold upon the men.
+
+I mean not to assert that I met with no men of sincerely
+religious feelings, or with no women of no religious feeling at
+all; but I feel perfectly secure of being correct as to the great
+majority in the statement I have made.
+
+We had not been many months in Cincinnati when our curiosity was
+excited by hearing the "revival" talked of by every one we met
+throughout the town.  "The revival will be very full"--"We shall
+be constantly engaged during the revival"--were the phrases we
+constantly heard repeated, and for a long time, without in the
+least comprehending what was meant; but at length I learnt that
+the un-national church of America required to be roused, at
+regular intervals, to greater energy and exertion.  At these
+seasons the most enthusiastic of the clergy travel the country,
+and enter the cities and towns by scores, or by hundreds, as the
+accommodation of the place may admit, and for a week or
+fortnight, or, if the population be large, for a month; they
+preach and pray all day, and often for a considerable portion of
+the night, in the various churches and chapels of the place.
+This is called a Revival.
+
+I took considerable pains to obtain information on this subject;
+but in detailing what I learnt I fear that it is probable I shall
+be accused of exaggeration; all I can do is cautiously to avoid
+deserving it.  The subject is highly interesting, and it would be
+a fault of no trifling nature to treat it with levity.
+
+These itinerant clergymen are of all persuasions, I believe,
+except the Episcopalian, Catholic, Unitarian, and Quaker.  I
+heard of Presbyterians of all varieties; of Baptists of I know
+not how many divisions; and of Methodists of more denominations
+than I can remember; whose innumerable shades of varying belief,
+it would require much time to explain, and more to comprehend.
+They enter all the cities, towns, and villages of the Union, in
+succession; I could not learn with sufficient certainty to
+repeat, what the interval generally is between their visits.
+These itinerants are, for the most part, lodged in the houses of
+their respective followers, and every evening that is not spent
+in the churches and meeting-houses, is devoted to what would be
+called parties by others, but which they designate as prayer
+meetings.  Here they eat, drink, pray, sing, hear confessions,
+and make converts.  To these meetings I never got invited, and
+therefore I have nothing but hearsay evidence to offer, but my
+information comes from an eye-witness, and one on whom I believe
+I may depend.  If one half of what I heard may be believed, these
+social prayer meetings are by no means the most curious, or the
+least important part of the business.
+
+It is impossible not to smile at the close resemblance to be
+traced between the feelings of a first-rate Presbyterian or
+Methodist lady, fortunate enough to have secured a favourite
+Itinerant for her meeting, and those of a first-rate London Blue,
+equally blest in the presence of a fashionable poet.  There is a
+strong family likeness among us all the world over.
+
+The best rooms, the best dresses, the choicest refreshments
+solemnize the meeting.  While the party is assembling, the
+load-star of the hour is occupied in whispering conversations
+with the guests as they arrive.  They are called brothers and
+sisters, and the greetings are very affectionate.  When the room
+is full, the company, of whom a vast majority are always women,
+are invited, intreated, and coaxed to confess before their
+brothers and sisters, all their thoughts, faults, and follies.
+
+These confessions are strange scenes; the more they confess, the
+more invariably are they encouraged and caressed.  When this is
+over, they all kneel, and the Itinerant prays extempore.  They
+then eat and drink; and then they sing hymns, pray, exhort, sing,
+and pray again, till the excitement reaches a very high pitch
+indeed.  These scenes are going on at some house or other every
+evening during the revival, nay, at many at the same time, for
+the churches and meeting-houses cannot give occupation to half
+the Itinerants, though they are all open throughout the day, and
+till a late hour in the night, and the officiating ministers
+succeed each other in the occupation of them.
+
+It was at the principal of the Presbyterian churches that
+I was twice witness to scenes that made me shudder; in
+describing one, I describe both and every one; the same thing
+is constantly repeated.
+
+It was in the middle of summer, but the service we were
+recommended to attend did not begin till it was dark.  The
+church was well lighted, and crowded almost to suffocation.
+On entering, we found three priests standing side by side,
+in a sort of tribune, placed where the altar usually is,
+handsomely fitted up with crimson curtains, and elevated
+about as  high as our pulpits.  We took our places in a pew
+close to the rail which surrounded it.
+
+The priest who stood in the middle was praying; the prayer was
+extravagantly vehement, and offensively familiar in expression;
+when this ended, a hymn was sung, and then another priest took
+the centre place, and preached.  The sermon had considerable
+eloquence, but of a frightful kind.  The preacher described, with
+ghastly minuteness, the last feeble fainting moments of human
+life, and then the gradual progress of decay after death, which
+he followed through every process up to the last loathsome stage
+of decomposition.  Suddenly changing his tone, which had been
+that of sober accurate description, into the shrill voice of
+horror, he bent forward his head, as if to gaze on some object
+beneath the pulpit.  And as Rebecca made known to Ivanhoe what
+she saw through the window, so the preacher made known to us what
+he saw in the pit that seemed to open before him.  The device was
+certainly a happy one for giving effect to his description of
+hell.  No image that fire, flame, brimestone, molten lead, or
+red-hot pincers could supply; with flesh, nerves, and sinews
+quivering under them, was omitted.  The perspiration ran in
+streams from the face of the preacher; his eyes rolled, his lips
+were covered with foam, and every feature had the deep expression
+of horror it would have borne, had he, in truth, been gazing at
+the scene he described.  The acting was excellent.  At length he
+gave a languishing look to his supporters on each side, as if to
+express his feeble state, and then sat down, and wiped the drops
+of agony from his brow.
+
+The other two priests arose, and began to sing a hymn.  It was
+some seconds before the congregation could join as usual; every
+upturned face looked pale and horror struck.  When the singing
+ended, another took the centre place, and began in a sort of
+coaxing affectionate tone, to ask the congregation if what their
+dear brother had spoken had reached their hearts?  Whether they
+would avoid the hell he had made them see?  "Come, then!" he
+continued, stretching out his arms towards them, "come to us, and
+tell us so, and we will make you see Jesus, the dear gentle
+Jesus, who shall save you from it.  But you must come to him!
+You must not be ashamed to come to him!  This night you shall
+tell him that you are not ashamed of him; we will make way for
+you; we will clear the bench for anxious sinners to sit upon.
+Come, then! come to the anxious bench, and we will shew you
+Jesus! Come! Come! Come!"  Again a hymn was sung, and while it
+continued, one of the three was employed in clearing one or two
+long benches that went across the rail, sending the people back
+to the lower part of the church.  The singing ceased, and again
+the people were invited, and exhorted not to be ashamed of Jesus,
+but to put themselves upon "the anxious benches," and lay their
+heads on his bosom.  "Once more we will sing," he concluded,
+"that we may give you time."  And again they sung a hymn.
+
+And now in every part of the church a movement was perceptible,
+slight at first, but by degrees becoming more decided.  Young
+girls arose, and sat down, and rose again; and then the pews
+opened, and several came tottering out, their hands clasped,
+their heads hanging on their bosoms, and every limb trembling,
+and still the hymn went on; but as the poor creatures approached
+the rail their sobs and groans became audible.  They seated
+themselves on the "anxious benches;" the hymn ceased, and two of
+the three priests walked down from the tribune, and going, one to
+the right, and the other to the left, began whispering to the
+poor tremblers seated there.  These whispers were inaudible to
+us, but the sobs and groans increased to a frightful excess.
+Young creatures, with features pale and distorted, fell on their
+knees on the pavement, and soon sunk forward on their faces; the
+most violent cries and shrieks followed, while from time to time
+a voice was heard in convulsive accents, exclaiming, "Oh Lord!"
+"Oh Lord Jesus!"  "Help me, Jesus!" and the like.
+
+Meanwhile the two priests continued to walk among them; they
+repeatedly mounted on the benches, and trumpet-mouthed proclaimed
+to the whole congregation, "the tidings of salvation," and then
+from every corner of the building arose in reply, short sharp
+cries of "Amen!" "Glory!" "Amen!" while the prostrate penitents
+continued to receive whispered comfortings, and from time to time
+a mystic caress.  More than once I saw a young neck encircled by
+a reverend arm.  Violent hysterics and convulsions seized many of
+them, and when the tumult was at the highest, the priest who
+remained above, again gave out a hymn as if to drown it.
+
+It was a frightful sight to behold innocent young creatures, in
+the gay morning of existence, thus seized upon, horror struck,
+and rendered feeble and enervated for ever.  One young girl,
+apparently not more than fourteen, was supported in the arms of
+another, some years older; her face was pale as death; her eyes
+wide open, and perfectly devoid of meaning; her chin and bosom
+wet with slaver; she had every appearance of idiotism.  I saw a
+priest approach her, he took her delicate hand, "Jesus is with
+her! Bless the Lord!" he said, and passed on.
+
+Did the men of America value their women as men ought to
+value their wives and daughters, would such scenes be permitted
+among them?
+
+It is hardly necessary to say that all who obeyed the call to
+place themselves on the "anxious benches" were women, and by far
+the greater number very young women.  The congregation was, in
+general, extremely well dressed, and the smartest and most
+fashionable ladies of the town were there; during the whole
+revival the churches and meeting-houses were every day crowded
+with well dressed people.
+
+It is thus the ladies of Cincinnati amuse themselves; to attend
+the theatre is forbidden; to play cards is unlawful; but they
+work hard in their families, and must have some relaxation.  For
+myself, I confess that I think the coarsest comedy ever written
+would be a less detestable exhibition for the eyes of youth and
+innocence than such a scene.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 9
+
+Schools--Climate--Water Melons--Fourth of July--Storms--Pigs--
+Moving Houses--Mr. Flint--Literature
+
+
+
+Cincinnati contains many schools, but of their rank or merit I
+had very little opportunity of judging; the only one which I
+visited was kept by Dr. Lock, a gentleman who appears to have
+liberal and enlarged opinions on the subject of female education.
+Should his system produce practical results proportionably
+excellent, the ladies of Cincinnati will probably some years
+hence be much improved in their powers of companionship.
+I attended the annual public exhibition at this school, and
+perceived, with some surprise, that the higher branches of
+science were among the studies of the pretty creatures I saw
+assembled there.  One lovely girl of sixteen took her degree
+in mathematics, and another was examined in moral philosophy.
+They blushed so sweetly, and looked so beautifully puzzled
+and confounded, that it might have been difficult for an abler
+judge than I was to decide how far they merited the diploma
+they received.
+
+This method of letting young ladies graduate, and granting them
+diplomas on quitting the establishment, was quite new to me; at
+least, I do not remember to have heard of any thing similar
+elsewhere.  I should fear that the time allowed to the fair
+graduates of Cincinnati for the acquirement of these various
+branches of education would seldom be sufficient to permit their
+reaching the eminence in each which their enlightened instructor
+anticipates.  "A quarter's" mathematics, or "two quarters"
+political economy, moral philosophy, algebra, and quadratic
+equations, would seldom, I should think, enable the teacher and
+the scholar, by their joint efforts, to lay in such a stock of
+these sciences as would stand the wear and tear of half a score
+of children, and one help.
+
+Towards the end of May we began to feel that we were in a climate
+warmer than any we had been accustomed to, and my son suffered
+severely from the effects of it.  A bilious complaint, attended
+by a frightful degree of fever, seized him, and for some days we
+feared for his life.  The treatment he received was, I have no
+doubt, judicious, but the quantity of calomel prescribed was
+enormous.  I asked one day how many grains I should prepare, and
+was told to give half a teaspoonful.  The difference of climate
+must, I imagine, make a difference in the effect of this drug, or
+the practice of the old and new world could hardly differ so
+widely as it does in the use of it.  Anstey, speaking of the Bath
+physicians, says,
+
+    "No one e'er viewed
+     Any one of the medical gentlemen stewed."
+
+But I can vouch, upon my own experience, that no similar
+imputation lies against the gentlemen who prescribe large
+quantities of calomel in America.  To give one instance in proof
+of this, when I was afterwards in Montgomery county, near
+Washington, a physician attended one of our neighbours, and
+complained that he was himself unwell.  "You must take care of
+yourself, Doctor," said the patient; "I do so," he replied, "I
+took forty grains of calomel yesterday, and I feel better than I
+did."  Repeated and violent bleeding was also had recourse to in
+the case of my son, and in a few days he was able to leave his
+room, but he was dreadfully emaciated, and it was many weeks
+before he recovered his strength.
+
+As the heat of the weather increased we heard of much sickness
+around us.  The city is full of physicians, and they were all to
+be seen driving about in their cabs at a very alarming rate.  One
+of these gentlemen told us, that when a medical man intended
+settling in a new situation, he always, if he knew his business,
+walked through the streets at nights, before he decided.  If he
+saw the dismal twinkle of the watch-light from many windows he
+might be sure that disease was busy, and the the "location" might
+suit him well.  Judging, by this criterion, Cincinnati was far
+from healthy, I began to fear for our health, and determined to
+leave the city; but, for a considerable time I found it
+impossible to procure a dwelling out of it.  There were many
+boarding-houses in the vicinity, but they were all overflowing
+with guests.  We were advised to avoid, as much as possible,
+walking out in the heat of the day; but the mornings and evenings
+were delightful, particularly the former, if taken sufficiently
+early.  For several weeks I was never in bed after four o'clock,
+and at this hour I almost daily accompanied my "help" to market,
+where the busy novelty of the scene afforded me much amusement.
+
+Many waggon-loads of enormous water-melons were brought to market
+every day, and I was sure to see groups of men, women, and
+children seated on the pavement round the spot where they were
+sold, sucking in prodigious quantities of this water-fruit.
+Their manner of devouring them is extremely unpleasant; the huge
+fruit is cut into half a dozen sections, of about a foot long,
+and then, dripping as it is with water, applied to the mouth,
+from either side of which pour copious streams of the fluid,
+while, ever and anon, a mouthful of the hard black seeds are shot
+out in all directions, to the great annoyance of all within
+reach.  When I first tasted this fruit I thought it very vile
+stuff indeed, but before the end of the season we all learned to
+like it.  When taken with claret and sugar it makes delicious
+wine and water.
+
+It is the custom for the gentlemen to go to market at Cincinnati;
+the smartest men in the place, and those of the "highest
+standing" do not scruple to leave their beds with the sun, six
+days in the week, and, prepared with a mighty basket, to sally
+forth in search of meat, butter, eggs and vegetables.  I have
+continually seen them returning, with their weighty basket on one
+arm and an enormous ham depending from the other.
+
+And now arrived the 4th of July, that greatest of all American
+festivals.  On the 4th of July, 1776, the declaration of their
+independence was signed, at the State-house in Philadelphia.
+
+To me, the dreary coldness and want of enthusiasm in American
+manners is one of their greatest defects, and I therefore hailed
+the demonstrations of general feeling which this day elicits with
+real pleasure.  On the 4th of July the hearts of the people seem
+to awaken from a three hundred and sixty-four days' sleep; they
+appear high-spirited, gay, animated, social, generous, or at
+least liberal in expense; and would they but refrain from
+spitting on that hallowed day, I should say, that on the 4th of
+July, at least, they appeared to be an amiable people.  It is
+true that the women have but little to do with the pageantry, the
+splendour, or the gaiety of the day; but, setting this defect
+aside, it was indeed a glorious sight to behold a jubilee so
+heartfelt as this; and had they not the bad taste and bad feeling
+to utter an annual oration, with unvarying abuse of the mother
+country, to say nothing of the warlike manifesto called
+Declaration of Independence, our gracious king himself might look
+upon the scene and say that it was good; nay, even rejoice, that
+twelve millions of bustling bodies, at four thousand miles
+distance from his throne and his altars, should make their own
+laws, and drink their own tea, after the fashion that pleased
+them best.
+
+
+One source of deep interest to us, in this new clime, was the
+frequent recurrence of thunderstorms.  Those who have only
+listened to thunder in England have but a faint idea of the
+language which the gods speak when they are angry.  Thomson's
+description, however, will do: it is hardly possible that words
+can better paint the spectacle, or more truly echo to the sound,
+than his do.  The only point he does not reach is the vast blaze
+of rose-coloured light that ever and anon sets the landscape on
+fire.
+
+In reading this celebrated description in America, and observing
+how admirably true it was to nature there, I seemed to get a
+glimpse at a poet's machinery, and to perceive, that in order to
+produce effect he must give his images more vast than he finds
+them in nature; but the proportions must be just, and the
+colouring true.  Every thing seems colossal on this great
+continent; if it rains, if it blows, if it thunders, it is all
+done _fortissimo_; but I often felt terror yield to wonder and
+delight, so grand, so glorious were the scenes a storm exhibited.
+Accidents are certainly more frequent than with us, but not so
+much so as reasonably to bring terror home to one's bosom every
+time a mass of lurid clouds is seen rolling up against the wind.
+
+
+It seems hardly fair to quarrel with a place because its staple
+commodity is not pretty, but I am sure I should have liked
+Cincinnati much better if the people had not dealt so very
+largely in hogs.  The immense quantity of business done in this
+line would hardly be believed by those who had not witnessed it.
+I never saw a newspaper without remarking such advertisements as
+the following:
+
+    "Wanted, immediately, 4,000 fat hogs."
+    "For sale, 2,000 barrels of prime pork."
+
+But the annoyance came nearer than this; if I determined upon
+a walk up Main-street, the chances were five hundred to one
+against my reaching the shady side without brushing by a snout
+fresh dripping from the kennel; when we had screwed our courage
+to the enterprise of mounting a certain noble looking sugar-loaf
+hill, that promised pure air and a fine view, we found the brook
+we had to cross, at its foot, red with the stream from a pig
+slaughter house; while our noses, instead of meeting "the thyme
+that loves the green hill's breast," were greeted by odours
+that I will not describe, and which I heartily hope my readers
+cannot imagine; our feet, that on leaving the city had expected
+to press the flowery sod, literally got entangled in pigs' tails
+and jaw-bones: and thus the prettiest walk in the neighbourhood
+was interdicted for ever.
+
+
+One of the sights to stare at in America is that of houses
+moving from place to place.  We were often amused by watching
+this exhibition of mechanical skill in the streets.  They make
+no difficulty of moving dwellings from one part of the town to
+another.  Those I saw travelling were all of them frame-houses,
+that is, built wholly of wood, except the chimneys; but it is
+said that brick buildings are sometimes treated in the same
+manner.  The largest dwelling that I saw in motion was one
+containing two stories of four rooms each; forty oxen were yoked
+to it.  The first few yards brought down the two stacks of
+chimneys, but it afterwards went on well.  The great difficulties
+were the first getting it in motion and the stopping exactly in
+the right place.  This locomotive power was extremely convenient
+at Cincinnati, as the constant improvements going on there made
+it often desirable to change a wooden dwelling for one of brick;
+and whenever this happened, we were sure to see the ex No.100 of
+Main-street or the ex No.55 of Second street creeping quietly out
+of town, to take possession of a humble suburban station on the
+common above it.
+
+
+The most agreeable acquaintance I made in Cincinnati, and indeed
+one of the most talented men I ever met, was Mr. Flint, the
+author of several extremely clever volumes, and the editor of the
+Western Monthly Review.  His conversational powers are of the
+highest order: he is the only person I remember to have known
+with first rate powers of satire, and even of sarcasm, whose
+kindness of nature and of manner remained perfectly uninjured.
+In some of his critical notices there is a strength and keenness
+second to nothing of the kind I have ever read.  He is a warm
+patriot, and so true-hearted an American, that we could not
+always be of the same opinion on all the subjects we discussed;
+but whether it were the force and brilliancy of his language, his
+genuine and manly sincerity of feeling, or his bland and
+gentleman-like manner that beguiled me, I know not, but certainly
+he is the only American I ever listened to whose unqualified
+praise of his country did not appear to me somewhat overstrained
+and ridiculous.
+
+On one occasion, but not at the house of Mr. Flint, I passed an
+evening in company with a gentleman said to be a scholar and a
+man of reading; he was also what is called a _serious_ gentleman,
+and he appeared to have pleasure in feeling that his claim to
+distinction was acknowledged in both capacities.  There was a
+very amiable _serious_ lady in the company, to whom he seemed to
+trust for the development of his celestial pretensions, and to
+me he did the honour of addressing most of his terrestrial
+superiority.  The difference between us was, that when he spoke
+to her, he spoke as to a being who, if not his equal, was at
+least deserving high distinction; and he gave her smiles, such
+as Michael might have vouchsafed to Eve.  To me he spoke as Paul
+to the offending Jews; he did not, indeed, shake his raiment at
+me, but he used his pocket-handkerchief so as to answer the
+purpose; and if every sentence did not end with "I am clean,"
+pronounced by his lips, his tone, his look, his action, fully
+supplied the deficiency.
+
+Our poor Lord Byron, as may be supposed, was the bull's-eye
+against which every dart in his black little quiver was aimed.
+I had never heard any serious gentleman talk of Lord Byron at
+full length before, and I listened attentively.  It was evident
+that the noble passages which are graven on the hearts of the
+genuine lovers of poetry had altogether escaped the serious
+gentleman's attention; and it was equally evident that he knew
+by rote all those that they wish the mighty master had never
+written.  I told him so, and I shall not soon forget the look
+he gave me.
+
+Of other authors his knowledge was very imperfect, but his
+criticisms very amusing.  Of Pope, he said, "He is so entirely
+gone by, that in _our_ country it is considered quite fustian to
+speak of him"
+
+But I persevered, and named "the Rape of the Lock" as evincing
+some little talent, and being in a tone that might still hope for
+admittance in the drawing-room; but, on the mention of this poem,
+the serious gentleman became almost as strongly agitated as when
+he talked of Don Juan; and I was unfeignedly at a loss to
+comprehend the nature of his feelings, till he muttered, with an
+indignant shake of the handkerchief, "The very title!"
+
+At the name of Dryden he smiled, and the smile spoke as plainly
+as a smile could speak, "How the old woman twaddles!"
+
+"We only know Dryden by quotations.  Madam, and these, indeed,
+are found only in books that have long since had their day."
+
+"And Shakspeare, sir?"
+
+"Shakspeare, Madam, is obscene, and, thank God, WE are
+sufficiently advanced to have found it out!  If we must have the
+abomination of stage plays, let them at least be marked by the
+refinement of the age in which we live."
+
+This was certainly being _au courant du jour_.
+
+Of Massenger he knew nothing.  Of Ford he had never heard.  Gray
+had had his day.  Prior he had never read, but understood he was
+a very childish writer.  Chaucer and Spenser he tied in a couple,
+and dismissed by saying, that he thought it was neither more nor
+less than affectation to talk of authors who wrote in a tongue no
+longer intelligible.
+
+This was the most literary conversation I was ever present at in
+Cincinnati.*
+
+    *(The pleasant, easy, unpretending talk on all subjects,
+     (which I enjoyed in Mr. Flint's family, was an exception
+     (to every thing else I met at Cincinnati.
+
+In truth, there are many reasons which render a very general
+diffusion of literature impossible in America.  I can scarcely
+class the universal reading of newspapers as an exception to this
+remark; if I could, my statement would be exactly the reverse,
+and I should say that America beat the world in letters.  The
+fact is, that throughout all ranks of society, from the
+successful merchant, which is the highest, to the domestic
+serving man, which is the lowest, they are all too actively
+employed to read, except at such broken moments as may suffice
+for a peep at a newspaper.  It is for this reason, I presume,
+that every _American newspaper_ is more or less a magazine,
+wherein the merchant may scan while he holds out his hand for an
+invoice, "Stanzas by Mrs. Hemans," or a garbled extract from
+Moore's Life of Byron; the lawyer may study his brief faithfully,
+and yet contrive to pick up the valuable dictum of some American
+critic, that "Bulwer's novels are decidedly superior to Sir
+Walter Scott's;" nay, even the auctioneer may find time, as he
+bustles to his tub, or his tribune, to support his pretensions to
+polite learning, by glancing his quick eye over the columns, and
+reading that "Miss Mitford's descriptions are indescribable."  If
+you buy a yard of ribbon, the shopkeeper lays down his newspaper,
+perhaps two or three, to measure it.  I have seen a brewer's
+drayman perched on the shaft of his dray and reading one
+newspaper, while another was tucked under his arm; and I once
+went into the cottage of a country shoemaker, of the name of
+Harris, where I saw a newspaper half full of "original" poetry,
+directed to Madison F. Harris.  To be sure of the fact, I asked
+the man if his name were Madison.  "Yes, Madam, Madison Franklin
+Harris is my name."  The last and the lyre divided his time, I
+fear too equally, for he looked pale and poor.
+
+This, I presume, is what is meant by the general diffusion of
+knowledge, so boasted of in the United States; such as it is, the
+diffusion of it is general enough, certainly; but I greatly doubt
+its being advantageous to the population.
+
+The only reading men I met with were those who made letters their
+profession; and of these, there were some who would hold a higher
+rank in the great Republic (not of America, but of letters), did
+they write for persons less given to the study of magazines and
+newspapers; and they might hold a higher rank still, did they
+write for the few and not for the many.  I was always drawing a
+parallel, perhaps a childish one, between the external and
+internal deficiency of polish and of elegance in the native
+volumes of the country.  Their compositions have not that
+condensation of thought, or that elaborate finish, which the
+consciousness of writing for the scholar and the man of taste is
+calculated to give; nor have their dirty blue paper and slovenly
+types* the polished elegance that fits a volume for the hand or
+the eye of the fastidious epicure in literary enjoyment.  The
+first book I bought in America was the "Chronicles of the
+Cannongate."  In asking the price, I was agreeably surprised to
+hear a dollar and a half named, being about one sixth of what I
+used to pay for its fellows in England; but on opening the grim
+pages, it was long before I could again call them cheap.  To be
+sure the pleasure of a bright well-printed page ought to be quite
+lost sight of in the glowing, galloping, bewitching course that
+the imagination sets out upon with a new Waverley novel; and so
+it was with me till I felt the want of it; and then I am almost
+ashamed to confess how often, in turning the thin dusky pages,
+my poor earth-born spirit paused in its pleasure, to sigh for
+hot-pressed wire-wove.
+
+    *(I must make an exception in favour of the American
+     (Quarterly Review.  To the eye of the body it is in
+     (all respects exactly the same thing as the English
+     (Quarterly Review.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 10
+
+Removal to the country--Walk in the forest--Equality
+
+
+
+At length my wish of obtaining a house in the country was
+gratified.  A very pretty cottage, the residence of a gentleman
+who was removing into town, for the convenience of his business
+as a lawyer, was to let, and I immediately secured it.  It was
+situated in a little village about a mile and a half from the
+town, close to the foot of the hills formerly mentioned as the
+northern boundary of it.  We found ourselves much more
+comfortable here than in the city.  The house was pretty and
+commodious, our sitting-rooms were cool and airy; we had got rid
+of the detestable mosquitoes, and we had an ice-house that never
+failed.  Beside all this, we had the pleasure of gathering our
+tomatoes from our own garden, and receiving our milk from our own
+cow.  Our manner of life was infinitely more to my taste than
+before; it gave us all the privileges of rusticity, which are
+fully as incompatible with a residence in a little town of
+Western America as with a residence in London.  We lived on terms
+of primaeval intimacy with our cow, for if we lay down on our
+lawn she did not scruple to take a sniff at the book we were
+reading, but then she gave us her own sweet breath in return.
+The verge of the cool-looking forest that rose opposite our
+windows was so near, that we often used it as an extra drawing-
+room, and there was no one to wonder if we went out with no other
+preparation than our parasols, carrying books and work enough to
+while away a long summer day in the shade; the meadow that
+divided us from it was covered with a fine short grass, that
+continued for a little way under the trees, making a beautiful
+carpet, while sundry logs and stumps furnished our sofas and
+tables.  But even this was not enough to satisfy us when we first
+escaped from the city, and we determined upon having a day's
+enjoyment of the wildest forest scenery we could find.  So we
+packed up books, albums, pencils, and sandwiches, and, despite a
+burning sun, dragged up a hill so steep that we sometimes fancied
+we could rest ourselves against it by only leaning forward a
+little.  In panting and in groaning we reached the top, hoping to
+be refreshed by the purest breath of heaven; but to have tasted
+the breath of heaven we must have climbed yet farther, even to
+the tops of the trees themselves, for we soon found that the air
+beneath them stirred not, nor ever had stirred, as it seemed to
+us, since first it settled there, so heavily did it weigh upon
+our lungs.
+
+Still we were determined to enjoy ourselves, and forward we went,
+crunching knee deep through aboriginal leaves, hoping to reach
+some spot less perfectly airtight than our landing-place.
+Wearied with the fruitless search, we decided on reposing awhile
+on the trunk of a fallen tree; being all considerably exhausted,
+the idea of sitting down on this tempting log was conceived and
+executed simultaneously by the whole party, and the whole party
+sunk together through its treacherous surface into a mass of
+rotten rubbish that had formed part of the pith and marrow of the
+eternal forest a hundred years before.
+
+We were by no means the only sufferers by the accident; frogs,
+lizards, locusts, katiedids, beetles, and hornets, had the whole
+of their various tenements disturbed, and testified their
+displeasure very naturally by annoying us as much as possible in
+return; we were bit, we were stung, we were scratched; and when,
+at last, we succeeded in raising ourselves from the venerable
+ruin, we presented as woeful a spectacle as can well be imagined.
+We shook our (not ambrosial) garments, and panting with heat,
+stings, and vexation, moved a few paces from the scene of our
+misfortune, and again sat down; but this time it was upon the
+solid earth.
+
+We had no sooner began to "chew the cud" of the bitter fancy that
+had beguiled us to these mountain solitudes than a new annoyance
+assailed us.  A cloud of mosquitoes gathered round, and while
+each sharp proboscis sucked our blood, they teased us with their
+humming chorus, till we lost all patience, and started again on
+our feet, pretty firmly resolved never to try the _al fresco_
+joys of an American forest again.  The sun was now in its
+meridian splendour, but our homeward path was short and down
+hill, so again packing up our preparations for felicity, we
+started homeward, or, more properly speaking, we started, for in
+looking for an agreeable spot in this dungeon forest we had
+advanced so far from the verge of the hill that we had lost all
+trace of the precise spot where we had entered it.  Nothing was
+to be seen but multitudes of tall, slender, melancholy stems, as
+like as peas, and standing within a foot of each other.  The
+ground, as far as the eye could reach (which certainly was not
+far), was covered with an unvaried bed of dried leaves; no trace,
+no track, no trail, as Mr. Cooper would call it, gave us a hint
+which way to turn; and having paused for a moment to meditate, we
+remembered that chance must decide for us at last, so we set
+forward, in no very good mood, to encounter new misfortunes.  We
+walked about a quarter of a mile, and coming to a steep descent,
+we thought ourselves extremely fortunate, and began to scramble
+down, nothing doubting that it was the same we had scrambled up.
+In truth, nothing could be more like, but, alas! things that are
+like are not the same; when we had slipped and stumbled down to
+the edge of the wood, and were able to look beyond it, we saw no
+pretty cottage with the shadow of its beautiful acacias coming
+forward to meet us: all was different; and, what was worse, all
+was distant from the spot where we had hoped to be.  We had come
+down the opposite side of the ridge, and had now to win our weary
+way a distance of three miles round its base, I believe we shall
+none of us ever forget that walk.  The bright, glowing, furnace-
+like heat of the atmosphere seems to scorch as I recall it.  It
+was painful to tread, it was painful to breathe, it was painful
+to look round; every object glowed with the reflection of the
+fierce tyrant that glared upon us from above.
+
+We got home alive, which agreeably surprised us; and when our
+parched tongues again found power of utterance, we promised each
+other faithfully never to propose any more parties of pleasure in
+the grim store-like forests of Ohio.
+
+We were now in daily expectation of the arrival of Mr. T.; but
+day after day, and week after week passed by till we began to
+fear some untoward circumstance might delay his coming till the
+Spring; at last, when we had almost ceased to look out for him.
+on the road which led from the town, he arrived, late at night,
+by that which leads across the country from Pitzburgh.  The
+pleasure we felt at seeing him was greatly increased by his
+bringing with him our eldest son, which was a happiness we had
+not hoped for.  Our walks and our drives now became doubly
+interesting.  The young men, fresh from a public school, found
+America so totally unlike all the nations with which their
+reading had made them acquainted, that it was indeed a new world
+to them.  Had they visited Greece or Rome they would have
+encountered objects with whose images their minds had been long
+acquainted; or had they travelled to France or Italy they would
+have seen only what daily conversation had already rendered
+familiar; but at our public schools America (except perhaps as to
+her geographical position) is hardly better known than Fairy
+Land; and the American character has not been much more deeply
+studied than that of the Anthropophagi: all, therefore, was new,
+and every thing amusing.
+
+The extraordinary familiarity of our poor neighbours startled us
+at first, and we hardly knew how to receive their uncouth
+advances, or what was expected of us in return; however, it
+sometimes produced very laughable scenes.  Upon one occasion two
+of my children set off upon an exploring walk up the hills; they
+were absent rather longer than we expected, and the rest of our
+party determined upon going out to meet them; we knew the
+direction they had taken, but thought it would be as well to
+enquire at a little public-house at the bottom of the hill, if
+such a pair had been seen to pass.  A woman, whose appearance
+more resembled a Covent Garden market-woman than any thing else I
+can remember, came out and answered my question with the most
+jovial good humour in the affirmative, and prepared to join us in
+our search.  Her look, her voice, her manner, were so exceedingly
+coarse and vehement, that she almost frightened me; she passed
+her arm within mine, and to the inexpressible amusement of my
+young people, she dragged me on, talking and questioning me
+without ceasing.  She lived but a short distance from us, and I
+am sure intended to be a very good neighbour; but her violent
+intimacy made me dread to pass her door; my children, including
+my sons, she always addressed by their Christian names, excepting
+when she substituted the word "honey;" this familiarity of
+address, however, I afterwards found was universal throughout all
+ranks in the United States.
+
+My general appellation amongst my neighbours was "the English old
+woman," but in mentioning each other they constantly employed the
+term "lady;" and they evidently had a pleasure in using it, for I
+repeatedly observed, that in speaking of a neighbour, instead of
+saying Mrs. Such-a-one, they described her as "the lady over the
+way what takes in washing," or as "that there lady, out by the
+Gulley, what is making dip-candles."  Mr. Trollope was as
+constantly called "the old man," while draymen, butchers' boys,
+and the labourers on the canal were invariably denominated "them
+gentlemen;" nay, we once saw one of the most gentlemanlike men in
+Cincinnati introduce a fellow in dirty shirt sleeves, and all
+sorts of detestable et cetera, to one of his friends, with this
+formula, "D-- let me introduce this gentleman to you." Our
+respective titles certainly were not very important; but the
+eternal shaking hands with these ladies and gentlemen was really
+an annoyance, and the more so, as the near approach of the
+gentlemen was always redolent of whiskey and tobacco.
+
+But the point where this republican equality was the most
+distressing was in the long and frequent visitations that it
+produced.  No one dreams of fastening a door in Western America;
+I was told that it would be considered as an affront by the whole
+neighbourhood.  I was thus exposed to perpetual, and most
+vexatious interruptions from people whom I had often never seen,
+and whose names still oftener were unknown to me.
+
+Those who are native there, and to the manner born, seem to pass
+over these annoyances with more skill than I could ever acquire.
+More than once I have seen some of my acquaintance beset in the
+same way, without appearing at all distressed by it; they
+continued their employment or conversation with me, much as if no
+such interruption had taken place; when the visitor entered, they
+would say, "How do you do?" and shake hands.
+
+"Tolerable, I thank ye, how be you?" was the reply.
+
+If it was a female, she took off her hat; if a male, he kept it
+on, and then taking possession of the first chair in their way,
+they would retain it for an hour together, without uttering
+another word; at length, rising abruptly, they would again shake
+hands, with, "Well, now I must be going, I guess," and so take
+themselves off, apparently well contented with their reception.
+
+I could never attain this philosophical composure; I could
+neither write nor read, and I always fancied I must talk to them.
+I will give the minutes of a conversation which I once set down
+after one of their visits, as a specimen of their tone and manner
+of speaking and thinking.  My visitor was a milkman.
+
+"Well now, so you be from the old country? Ay--you'll see sights
+here, I guess."
+
+"I hope I shall see many."
+
+"That's a fact.  I expect your little place of an island don't
+grow such dreadful fine corn as you sees here?"  [Corn always
+means Indian corn, or maize.]
+
+"It grows no corn at all, sir.'"
+
+"Possible! no wonder, then, that we reads such awful stories in
+the papers of your poor people being starved to death."
+
+"We have wheat, however."
+
+"Ay, for your rich folks, but I calculate the poor seldom gets a
+belly full."
+
+"You have certainly much greater abundance here."
+
+"I expect so.  Why they do say, that if a poor body contrives
+to be smart enough to scrape together a few dollars, that your
+King George always comes down upon 'em, and takes it all away.
+Don't he?"
+
+"I do not remember hearing of such a transaction."
+
+"I guess they be pretty close about it.  Your papers ben't like
+ourn, I reckon?  Now we says and prints just what we likes."
+
+"You spend a good deal of time in reading the newspapers."
+
+"And I'd like you to tell me how we can spend it better.  How
+should freemen spend their time, but looking after their
+government, and watching that them fellers as we gives offices
+to, doos their duty, and gives themselves no airs?"
+
+"But I sometimes think, sir, that your fences might be in more
+thorough repair, and your roads in better order, if less time was
+spent in politics."
+
+"The Lord! to see how little you knows of a free country?  Why,
+what's the smoothness of a road, put against the freedom of a
+free-born American?  And what does a broken zig-zag signify,
+comparable to knowing that the men what we have been pleased to
+send up to Congress, speaks handsome and straight, as we chooses
+they should?"
+
+"It is from a sense of duty, then, that you all go to the liquor
+store to read the papers?"
+
+"To be sure it is, and he'd be no true born American as didn't.
+I don't say that the father of a family should always be after
+liquor, but I do say that I'd rather have my son drunk three
+times in a week, than not look after the affairs of his country."
+
+
+Our autumn walks were delightful; the sun ceased to scorch; the
+want of flowers was no longer peculiar to Ohio; and the trees
+took a colouring, which in richness, brilliance, and variety,
+exceeded all description.  I think it is the maple, or sugar-
+tree, that first sprinkles the forest with rich crimson; the
+beech follows, with all its harmony of golden tints, from pale
+yellow up to brightest orange.  The dog-wood gives almost the
+purple colour of the mulberry; the chesnut softens all with its
+frequent mass of delicate brown, and the sturdy oak carries its
+deep green into the very lap of winter.  These tints are too
+bright for the landscape painter; the attempt to follow nature in
+an American autumn scene must be abortive.  The colours are in
+reality extremely brilliant, but the medium through which they
+are seen increases the effect surprisingly.  Of all the points in
+which America has the advantage of England, the one I felt most
+sensibly was the clearness and brightness of the atmosphere.  By
+day and by night this exquisite purity of air gives tenfold
+beauty to every object.  I could hardly believe the stars were
+the same; the Great Bear looked like a constellation of suns; and
+Jupiter justified all the fine things said of him in those
+beautiful lines from I know not what spirited pen, beginning,
+
+    "I looked on thee, Jove! till my gaze
+     Shrunk, smote by the pow'r of thy blaze."
+
+I always remarked that the first silver line of the moon's
+crescent attracted the eye on the first day, in America, as
+strongly as it does here on the third.  I observed another
+phenomenon in the crescent moon of that region, the cause of
+which I less understood.  That appearance which Shakespear
+describes as "the new moon, with the old moon in her lap," and
+which I have heard ingeniously explained as the effect of _earth
+light_, was less visible there than here.
+
+Cuyp's clearest landscapes have an atmosphere that approaches
+nearer to that of America than any I remember on canvas; but even
+Cuyp's _air_ cannot reach the lungs, and, therefore, can only
+give an idea of half the enjoyment; for it makes itself felt as
+well as seen, and is indeed a constant source of pleasure.
+
+Our walks were, however, curtailed in several directions by my
+old Cincinnati enemies, the pigs; immense droves of them were
+continually arriving from the country by the road that led to
+most of our favourite walks; they were often fed and lodged in
+the prettiest valleys,and worse still, were slaughtered beside
+the prettiest streams.  Another evil threatened us from the same
+quarter, that was yet heavier.  Our cottage had an ample piazza,
+(a luxury almost universal in the country houses of America),
+which, shaded by a group of acacias, made a delightful sitting-
+room; from this favourite spot we one day perceived symptoms of
+building in a field close to it; with much anxiety we hastened to
+the spot, and asked what building was to be erected there.
+
+"'Tis to be a slaughter house for hogs," was the dreadful reply.
+As there were several gentlemen's houses in the neighbourhood, I
+asked if such an erection might not be indicted as a nuisance.
+
+"A what?"
+
+"A nuisance," I repeated, and explained what I meant.
+
+"No, no," was the reply, "that may do very well for your
+tyrannical country, where a rich man's nose is more thought
+of than a poor man's mouth; but hogs be profitable produce here,
+and we be too free for such a law as that, I guess."
+
+During my residence in America, little circumstances like the
+foregoing often recalled to my mind a conversation I once held in
+France with an old gentleman on the subject of their active
+police, and its omnipresent gens d'armerie; "Croyez moi, Madame,
+il n'y a que ceux, � qui ils ont � faire, qui les trouvent de
+trop."  And the old gentleman was right, not only in speaking of
+France, but of the whole human family, as philosophers call us.
+The well disposed, those whose own feeling of justice would
+prevent their annoying others, will never complain of the
+restraints of the law.  All the freedom enjoyed in America,
+beyond what is enjoyed in England, is enjoyed solely by the
+disorderly at the expense of the orderly; and were I a stout
+knight, either of the sword or of the pen, I would fearlessly
+throw down my gauntlet, and challenge the whole Republic to
+prove the contrary; but being, as I am, a feeble looker on,
+with a needle for my spear, and "I talk" for my device, I must
+be contented with the power of stating the fact, perfectly
+certain that I shall be contradicted by one loud shout from
+Maine to Georgia.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 11
+
+Religion
+
+
+
+I had often heard it observed before I visited America, that one
+of the great blessings of its constitution was the absence of a
+national religion, the country being thus exonerated from all
+obligation of supporting the clergy; those only contributing to
+do so whose principles led them to it.  My residence in the
+country has shewn me that a religious tyranny may be exerted very
+effectually without the aid of the government, in a way much more
+oppressive than the paying of tithe, and without obtaining any of
+the salutary decorum, which I presume no one will deny is the
+result of an established mode of worship.
+
+As it was impossible to remain many weeks in the country without
+being struck with the strange anomalies produced by its religious
+system, my early notes contain many observations on the subject;
+but as nearly the same scenes recurred in every part of the
+country, I state them here, not as belonging to the west alone,
+but to the whole Union, the same cause producing the same effect
+every where.
+
+The whole people appear to be divided into an almost endless
+variety of religious factions, and I was told, that to be well
+received in society, it was necessary to declare yourself as
+belonging to some one of these.  Let your acknowledged belief
+be what it may, you are said to be _not a Christian_, unless you
+attach yourself to a particular congregation.  Besides the
+broad and well-known distinctions of Episcopalian, Catholic,
+Presbyterian, Calvinist, Baptist, Quaker, Sweden-borgian,
+Universalist, Dunker, &c. &c. &c.; there are innumerable
+others springing out of these, each of which assumes a church
+government of its own; of this, the most intriguing and factious
+individual is invariably the head; and in order, as it should
+seem, to shew a reason for this separation, each congregation
+invests itself with some queer variety of external observance
+that has the melancholy effect of exposing _all_ religious
+ceremonies to contempt.
+
+It is impossible, in witnessing all these unseemly vagaries,
+not to recognise the advantages of an established church as a
+sort of headquarters for quiet unpresuming Christians, who are
+contented to serve faithfully, without insisting upon having
+each a little separate banner, embroidered with a device of
+their own imagining.
+
+The Catholics alone appear exempt from the fury of division
+and sub-division that has seized every other persuasion.
+Having the Pope for their common head, regulates, I presume,
+their movements, and prevents the outrageous display of
+individual whim which every other sect is permitted.
+
+I had the pleasure of being introduced to the Catholic bishop of
+Cincinnati, and have never known in any country a priest of a
+character and bearing more truly apostolic.  He was an American,
+but I should never have discovered it from his pronunciation or
+manner.  He received his education partly in England, and partly
+in France.  His manners were highly polished; his piety active
+and sincere, and infinitely more mild and tolerant than that of
+the factious Sectarians who form the great majority of the
+American priesthood.
+
+I believe I am sufficiently tolerant; but this does not prevent
+my seeing that the object of all religious observances is better
+obtained, when the government of the church is confided to the
+wisdom and experience of the most venerated among the people,
+than when it is placed in the hands of every tinker and tailor
+who chooses to claim a share in it.  Nor is this the only evil
+attending the want of a national religion, supported by the
+State.  As there is no legal and fixed provision for the clergy,
+it is hardly surprising that their services are confined to those
+who can pay them.  The vehement expressions of insane or
+hypocritical zeal, such as were exhibited during "the Revival,"
+can but ill atone for the want of village worship, any more than
+the eternal talk of the admirable and unequalled government, can
+atone for the continual contempt of social order.  Church and
+State hobble along, side by side, notwithstanding their boasted
+independence.  Almost every man you meet will tell you, that he
+is occupied in labours most abundant for the good of his country;
+and almost every woman will tell you, that besides those things
+that are within (her house) she has coming upon her daily the
+care of all the churches.  Yet spite of this universal attention
+to the government, its laws are half asleep; and spite of the old
+women and their Dorcas societies, atheism is awake and thriving.
+
+In the smaller cities and towns prayer-meetings take the place
+of almost all other amusements; but as the thinly scattered
+population of most villages can give no parties, and pay no
+priests, they contrive to marry, christen, and bury without them.
+A stranger taking up his residence in any city in America must
+think the natives the most religious people upon earth; but if
+chance lead him among her western villages, he will rarely find
+either churches or chapels, prayer or preacher; except, indeed,
+at that most terrific saturnalia, "a camp-meeting."  I was much
+struck with the answer of a poor woman, whom I saw ironing on a
+Sunday.  "Do you make no difference in your occupations on a
+Sunday?" I said.  "I beant a Christian, Ma'am; we have got no
+opportunity," was the reply.  It occurred to me, that in a
+country where "all men are equal," the government would be guilty
+of no great crime, did it so far interfere as to give them all
+_an opportunity_ of becoming Christians if they wished it.  But
+should the federal government dare to propose building a church,
+and endowing it, in some village that has never heard "the
+bringing home of bell and burial," it is perfectly certain that
+not only the sovereign state where such an abomination was
+proposed, would rush into the Congress to resent the odious
+interference, but that all the other states would join the
+clamour, and such an intermeddling administration would run
+great risk of impeachment and degradation.
+
+Where there is a church-government so constituted as to deserve
+human respect, I believe it will always be found to receive it,
+even from those who may not assent to the dogma of its creed; and
+where such respect exists, it produces a decorum in manners and
+language often found wanting where it does not.  Sectarians will
+not venture to rhapsodise, nor infidels to scoff, in the common
+intercourse of society.  Both are injurious to the cause of
+rational religion, and to check both must be advantageous.
+
+It is certainly possible that some of the fanciful variations
+upon the ancient creeds of the Christian Church, with which
+transatlantic religionists amuse themselves, might inspire morbid
+imaginations in Europe as well as in America; but before they can
+disturb the solemn harmony HERE they must prelude by a defiance,
+not only to common sense, but what is infinitely more appalling,
+to common usage.  They must at once rank themselves with the low
+and the illiterate, for only such prefer the eloquence of the tub
+to that of the pulpit.  The aristocracy must ever, as a body,
+belong to the established Church, and it is but a small
+proportion of the influential classes who would be willing to
+allow that they do not belong to the aristocracy.  That such
+feelings influence the professions of men it were ignorance or
+hypocrisy to deny; and that nation is wise who knows how to turn
+even such feelings into a wholesome stream of popular influence.
+
+As a specimen of the tone in which religion is mixed in the
+ordinary intercourse of society, I will transcribe the notes I
+took of a conversation, at which I was present, at Cincinnati; I
+wrote them immediately after the conversation took place.
+
+     Dr. A.
+
+"I wish, Mrs. M., that you would explain to me what a revival is.
+I hear it talked of all over the city, and I know it means
+something about Jesus Christ and religion; but that is all I
+know, will you instruct me farther?"
+
+     Mrs. M.
+
+"I expect, Dr. A., that you want to laugh at me.  But that
+makes no difference.  I am firm in my principles, and I fear
+no one's laughter."
+
+     Dr. A.
+
+"Well, but what is a revival?"
+
+     Mrs. M.
+
+"It is difficult, very difficult, to make those see who have no
+light; to make those understand whose souls are darkened.  A
+revival means just an elegant kindling of the spirit; it is
+brought about to the Lord's people by the hands of his saints,
+and it means salvation in the highest."
+
+     Dr. A.
+
+"But what is it the people mean by talking of feeling the
+revival? and waiting in spirit for the revival? and the extacy
+of the revival?"
+
+     Mrs. M.
+
+"Oh Doctor! I am afraid that you are too far gone astray to
+understand all that.  It is a glorious assurance, a whispering of
+the everlasting covenant, it is the bleating of the lamb, it is
+the welcome of the shepherd, it is the essence of love, it is the
+fullness of glory, it is being in Jesus, it is Jesus being in us,
+it is taking the Holy Ghost into our bosoms, it is sitting
+ourselves down by God, it is being called to the high places, it
+is eating, and drinking, and sleeping in the Lord, it is becoming
+a lion in the faith, it is being lowly and meek, and kissing the
+hand that smites, it is being mighty and powerful, and scorning
+reproof, it is--"
+
+     Dr. A.
+
+"Thank you, Mrs. M., I feel quite satisfied; and I think I
+understand a revival now almost as well as you do yourself."
+
+     Mrs. A.
+
+"My!  Where can you have learnt all that stuff, Mrs. M.?"
+
+     Mrs. M.
+
+"How benighted you are! From the holy book, from the Word of the
+Lord, from the Holy Ghost, and Jesus Christ themselves."
+
+     Mrs. A.
+
+"It does seem so droll to me, to hear you talk of "the Word of
+the Lord."  Why, I have been brought up to look upon the Bible as
+nothing better than an old newspaper."
+
+     Mrs. O.
+
+"Surely you only say this for the sake of hearing what Mrs. M.
+will say in return--you do not mean it?"
+
+     Mrs. A.
+
+"La, yes! to be sure I do."
+
+     Dr. A.
+
+"I profess that I by no means wish my wife to read all she might
+find there.--What says the Colonel, Mrs. M.?"
+
+     Mrs. M.
+
+"As to that, I never stop to ask him.  I tell him every day that
+I believe in Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and that it is his duty
+to believe in them too, and then my conscience is clear, and I
+don't care what he believes.  Really, I have no notion of one's
+husband interfering in such matters."
+
+     Dr. A.
+
+"You are quite right.  I am sure I give my wife leave to believe
+just what she likes; but she is a good woman, and does not abuse
+the liberty; for she believes nothing."
+
+It was not once, nor twice, nor thrice, but many many times,
+during my residence in America, that I was present when subjects
+which custom as well as principle had taught me to consider as
+fitter for the closet than the tea-table, were thus lightly
+discussed.  I hardly know whether I was more startled at first
+hearing, in little dainty namby pamby tones, a profession of
+Atheism over a teacup, or at having my attention called from a
+Johnny cake, to a rhapsody on election and the second birth.
+
+But, notwithstanding this revolting license, persecution exists
+to a degree unknown, I believe, in our well-ordered land since
+the days of Cromwell.  I had the following anecdote from a
+gentleman perfectly well acquainted with the circumstances.  A
+tailor sold a suit of clothes to a sailor a few moments before he
+sailed, which was on a Sunday morning.  The corporation of New
+York prosecuted the tailor, and he was convicted, and sentenced
+to a fine greatly beyond his means to pay.  Mr. F., a lawyer of
+New York, defended him with much eloquence, but in vain.  His
+powerful speech, however, was not without effect, for it raised
+him such a host of Presbyterian enemies as sufficed to destroy
+his practice.  Nor was this all: his nephew was at the time
+preparing for the bar, and soon after the above circumstance
+occurred his certificates were presented, and refused, with this
+declaration, "that no man of the name and family of F. should be
+admitted."  I have met this young man in society; he is a person
+of very considerable talent, and being thus cruelly robbed of his
+profession, has become the editor of a newspaper.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 12
+
+Peasantry, compared to that of England--Early marriages--
+Charity--Independence and equality--Cottage prayer-meeting
+
+
+
+Mohawk, as our little village was called, gave us an excellent
+opportunity of comparing the peasants of the United States
+with those of England, and of judging the average degree of
+comfort enjoyed by each.  I believe Ohio gives as fair a
+specimen as any part of the union; if they have the roughness
+and inconveniences of a new state to contend with, they have
+higher wages and cheaper provisions; if I err in supposing it
+a mean state in point of comfort, it certainly is not in taking
+too low a standard.
+
+Mechanics, if good workmen, are certain of employment, and good
+wages, rather higher than with us; the average wages of a
+labourer throughout the Union is ten dollars a month, with
+lodging, boarding, washing, and mending; if he lives at his own
+expense he has a dollar a day.  It appears to me that the
+necessaries of life, that is to say, meat, bread, butter, tea,
+and coffee, (not to mention whiskey), are within the reach of
+every sober, industrious, and healthy man who chooses to have
+them; and yet I think that an English peasant, with the same
+qualifications, would, in coming to the United States, change for
+the worse.  He would find wages somewhat higher, and provisions
+in Western America considerably lower: but this statement, true
+as it is, can lead to nothing but delusion if taken apart from
+other facts, fully as certain, and not less important, but which
+require more detail in describing, and which perhaps cannot be
+fully comprehended, except by an eye-witness.  The American poor
+are accustomed to eat meat three times a day; I never enquired
+into the habits of any cottagers in Western America, where this
+was not the case.  I found afterwards in Maryland, Pennsylvania,
+and other parts of the country, where the price of meat was
+higher, that it was used with more economy; yet still a much
+larger portion of the weekly income is thus expended than with
+us.  Ardent spirits, though lamentably cheap,* still cost
+something, and the use of them among the men, with more or less
+of discretion, according to the character, is universal.  Tobacco
+also grows at their doors, and is not taxed; yet this too costs
+something, and the air of heaven is not in more general use among
+the men of America, than chewing tobacco.  I am not now pointing
+out the evils of dram-drinking, but it is evident, that where
+this practice prevails universally, and often to the most
+frightful excess, the consequence must be, that the money spent
+to obtain the dram is less than the money lost by the time
+consumed in drinking it.  Long, disabling, and expensive fits of
+sickness are incontestably more frequent in every part of
+America, than in England, and the sufferers have no aid to look
+to, but what they have saved, or what they may be enabled to
+sell.  I have never seen misery exceed what I have witnessed in
+an American cottage where disease has entered.
+
+    *(About a shilling a gallon is the retail price of good
+     (whiskey.  If bought wholesale, or of inferior quality, it
+     (is much cheaper.
+
+But if the condition of the labourer be not superior to that
+of the English peasant, that of his wife and daughters is
+incomparably worse.  It is they who are indeed the slaves of the
+soil.  One has but to look at the wife of an American cottager,
+and ask her age, to be convinced that the life she leads is one
+of hardship, privation, and labour.  It is rare to see a woman in
+this station who has reached the age of thirty, without losing
+every trace of youth and beauty.  You continually see women with
+infants on their knee, that you feel sure are their grand-
+children, till some convincing proof of the contrary is
+displayed.  Even the young girls, though often with lovely
+features, look pale, thin, and haggard.  I do not remember to
+have seen in any single instance among the poor, a specimen of
+the plump, rosy, laughing physiognomy so common among our cottage
+girls.  The horror of domestic service, which the reality of
+slavery, and the fable of equality, have generated, excludes the
+young women from that sure and most comfortable resource of
+decent English girls; and the consequence is, that with a most
+irreverend freedom of manner to the parents, the daughters are,
+to the full extent of the word, domestic slaves.  This condition,
+which no periodical merry-making, no village F�TE, ever occurs to
+cheer, is only changed for the still sadder burdens of a teeming
+wife.  They marry very young; in fact, in no rank of life do you
+meet with young women in that delightful period of existence
+between childhood and marriage, wherein, if only tolerably well
+spent, so much useful information is gained, and the character
+takes a sufficient degree of firmness to support with dignity the
+more important parts of wife and mother.  The slender, childish
+thing, without vigour of mind or body, is made to stem a sea of
+troubles that dims her young eye and makes her cheek grow pale,
+even before nature has given it the last beautiful finish of the
+full-grown woman.
+
+"We shall get along," is the answer in full, for all that can be
+said in way of advice to a boy and girl who take it into their
+heads to go before a magistrate and "get married."  And they do
+get along, till sickness overtakes them, by means perhaps of
+borrowing a kettle from one and a tea-pot from another; but
+intemperance, idleness, or sickness will, in one week, plunge
+those who are even getting along well, into utter destitution;
+and where this happens, they are completely without resource.
+
+The absence of poor-laws is, without doubt, a blessing to the
+country, but they have not that natural and reasonable dependence
+on the richer classes which, in countries differently
+constituted, may so well supply their place.  I suppose there is
+less alms-giving in America than in any other Christian country
+on the face of the globe.  It is not in the temper of the people
+either to give or to receive.
+
+I extract the following pompous passage from a Washington paper
+of Feb. 1829, (a season of uncommon severity and distress,)
+which, I think, justifies my observation.
+
+"Among the liberal evidences of sympathy for the suffering poor
+of this city, two have come to our knowledge which deserve to be
+especially noticed: the one a donation by the President of the
+United States to the committee of the ward in which he resides of
+fifty dollars; the other the donation by a few of the officers of
+the war department to the Howard and Dorcas Societies, of
+seventy-two dollars."  When such mention is made of a gift of
+about nine pounds sterling from the sovereign magistrate of the
+United States, and of thirteen pounds sterling as a contribution
+from one of the state departments, the inference is pretty
+obvious, that the sufferings of the destitute in America are not
+liberally relieved by individual charity.
+
+I had not been three days at Mohawk-cottage before a pair of
+ragged children came to ask for medicine for a sick mother; and
+when it was given to them, the eldest produced a handful of
+cents, and desired to know what he was to pay.  The superfluous
+milk of our cow was sought after eagerly, but every new comer
+always proposed to pay for it.  When they found out that "the
+English old woman" did not sell anything, I am persuaded they by
+no means liked her the better for it; but they seemed to think,
+that if she were a fool it was no reason they should be so too,
+and accordingly the borrowing, as they called it, became very
+constant, but always in a form that shewed their dignity and
+freedom.  One woman sent to borrow a pound of cheese; another
+half a pound of coffee; and more than once an intimation
+accompanied the milk-jug, that the milk must be fresh, and
+unskimmed: on one occasion the messenger refused milk, and said,
+"Mother only wanted a little cream for her coffee."
+
+I could never teach them to believe, during above a year that
+I lived at this house, that I would not sell the old clothes
+of the family; and so pertinacious were they in bargain-making,
+that often, when I had given them the articles which they wanted
+to purchase, they would say, "Well, I expect I shall have to do
+a turn of work for this; you may send for me when you want me."
+But as I never did ask for the turn of work, and as this
+formula was constantly repeated, I began to suspect that it
+was spoken solely to avoid uttering the most un-American phrase
+"I thank you."
+
+There was one man whose progress in wealth I watched with much
+interest and pleasure.  When I first became his neighbour,
+himself, his wife, and four children, were living in one room,
+with plenty of beef-steaks and onions for breakfast, dinner and
+supper, but with very few other comforts.  He was one of the
+finest men I ever saw, full of natural intelligence and activity
+of mind and body, but he could neither read nor write.  He drank
+but little whiskey, and but rarely chewed tobacco, and was
+therefore more free from that plague spot of spitting which
+rendered male colloquy so difficult to endure.  He worked for us
+frequently, and often used to walk into the drawing-room and seat
+himself on the sofa, and tell me all his plans.  He made an
+engagement with the proprietor of the wooded hill before
+mentioned, by which half the wood he could fell was to be his
+own.  His unwearied industry made this a profitable bargain, and
+from the proceeds he purchased the materials for building a
+comfortable frame (or wooden) house; he did the work almost
+entirely himself.  He then got a job for cutting rails, and, as
+he could cut twice as many in a day as any other man in the
+neighbourhood, he made a good thing of it.  He then let half his
+pretty house, which was admirably constructed, with an ample
+portico, that kept it always cool.  His next step was contracting
+for the building a wooden bridge, and when I left Mohawk he had
+fitted up his half of the building as an hotel and grocery store;
+and I have no doubt that every sun that sets sees him a richer
+man than when it rose.  He hopes to make his son a lawyer, and I
+have little doubt that he will live to see him sit in congress;
+when this time arrives, the wood-cutter's son will rank with any
+other member of congress, not of courtesy, but of right, and the
+idea that his origin is a disadvantage, will never occur to the
+imagination of the most exalted of his fellow-citizens.
+
+This is the only feature in American society that I recognise as
+indicative of the equality they profess.  Any man's son may
+become the equal of any other man's son, and the consciousness of
+this is certainly a spur to exertion; on the other hand, it is
+also a spur to that coarse familiarity, untempered by any shadow
+of respect, which is assumed by the grossest and the lowest in
+their intercourse with the highest and most refined.  This is a
+positive evil, and, I think, more than balances its advantages.
+
+And here again it may be observed, that the theory of equality
+may be very daintily discussed by English gentlemen in a London
+dining-room, when the servant, having placed a fresh bottle of
+cool wine on the table, respectfully shuts the door, and leaves
+them to their walnuts and their wisdom; but it will be found
+less palatable when it presents itself in the shape of a hard,
+greasy paw, and is claimed in accents that breathe less of
+freedom than of onions and whiskey.  Strong, indeed, must be
+the love of equality in an English breast if it can survive a
+tour through the Union.
+
+There was one house in the village which was remarkable from its
+wretchedness.  It had an air of indecent poverty about it, which
+long prevented my attempting an entrance; but at length, upon
+being told that I could get chicken and eggs there whenever I
+wanted them, I determined upon venturing.  The door being opened
+to my knock, I very nearly abandoned my almost blunted purpose; I
+never beheld such a den of filth and misery: a woman, the very
+image of dirt and disease, held a squalid imp of a baby on her
+hip bone while she kneaded her dough with her right fist only
+A great lanky girl, of twelve years old, was sitting on a barrel,
+gnawing a corn cob; when I made known my business, the woman
+answered, "No not I; I got no chickens to sell, nor eggs neither;
+but my son will, plenty I expect.  Here Nick," (bawling at the
+bottom of a ladder), "here's an old woman what wants chickens."
+Half a moment brought Nick to the bottom of the ladder, and I
+found my merchant was one of a ragged crew, whom I had been used
+to observe in my daily walk, playing marbles in the dust, and
+swearing lustily; he looked about ten years old.
+
+"Have you chicken to sell, my boy?"
+
+"Yes, and eggs too, more nor what you'll buy."
+
+Having enquired price, condition, and so on, I recollected that I
+had been used to give the same price at market, the feathers
+plucked, and the chicken prepared for the table, and I told him
+that he ought not to charge the same.
+
+"Oh for that, I expect I can fix 'em as well as ever them was,
+what you got in market."
+
+"You fix them?"
+
+"Yes to be sure, why not?"
+
+"I thought you were too fond of marbles."
+
+He gave me a keen glance, and said, "You don't know I.--When will
+you be wanting the chickens?"
+
+He brought them at the time directed, extremely well "fixed," and
+I often dealt with him afterwards.  When I paid him, he always
+thrust his hand into his breaches pocket, which I presume, as
+being _the keep_, was fortified more strongly than the
+dilapidated outworks, and drew from thence rather more dollars,
+half-dollars, levies, and fips, than his dirty little hand could
+well hold.  My curiosity was excited, and though I felt an
+involuntary disgust towards the young Jew, I repeatedly conversed
+with him.
+
+"You are very rich, Nick," I said to him one day, on his making
+an ostentatious display of change, as he called it; he sneered
+with a most unchildish expression of countenance, and replied, "I
+guess 'twould be a bad job for I, if that was all I'd got to
+shew."
+
+I asked him how he managed his business.  He told me that he
+bought eggs by the hundred, and lean chicken by the score, from
+the waggons that passed their door on the way to market; that he
+fatted the latter in coops he had made himself, and could easily
+double their price, and that his eggs answered well too, when he
+sold them out by the dozen.
+
+"And do you give the money to your mother?"
+
+"I expect not," was the answer, with another sharp glance of his
+ugly blue eyes.
+
+"What do you do with it.  Nick?"
+
+His look said plainly, what is that to you? but he only answered,
+quaintly enough, "I takes care of it."
+
+How Nick got his first dollar is very doubtful; I was told that
+when he entered the village store, the person serving always
+called in another pair of eyes; but having obtained it, the
+spirit, activity, and industry, with which he caused it to
+increase and multiply, would have been delightful in one of Miss
+Edgeworth's dear little clean bright-looking boys, who would have
+carried all he got to his mother; but in Nick it was detestable.
+No human feeling seemed to warm his young heart, not even the
+love of self-indulgence, for he was not only ragged and dirty,
+but looked considerably more than half starved, and I doubt not
+his dinners and suppers half fed his fat chickens.
+
+I by no means give this history of Nick, the chicken merchant, as
+an anecdote characteristic in all respects of America; the only
+part of the story which is so, is the independence of the little
+man, and is one instance out of a thousand, of the hard, dry,
+calculating character that is the result of it.  Probably Nick
+will be very rich; perhaps he will be President.  I once got so
+heartily scolded for saying, that I did not think all American
+citizens were equally eligible to that office, that I shall never
+again venture to doubt it.
+
+Another of our cottage acquaintance was a market-gardener, from
+whom we frequently bought vegetables; from the wife of this man
+we one day received a very civil invitation to "please to come
+and pass the evening with them in prayer."  The novelty of the
+circumstance, and its great dissimilarity to the ways and manners
+of our own country, induced me to accept the invitation, and also
+to record the visit here.
+
+We were received with great attention, and a place was assigned
+us on one of the benches that surrounded the little parlour.
+Several persons, looking like mechanics and their wives, were
+present; every one sat in profound silence, and with that quiet
+subdued air, that serious people assume on entering a church.  At
+length, a long, black, grim-looking man entered; his dress, the
+cut of his hair, and his whole appearance, strongly recalled the
+idea of one of Cromwell's fanatics.  He stepped solemnly into the
+middle of the room, and took a chair that stood there, but not to
+sit upon it; he turned the back towards him, on which he placed
+his hands, and stoutly uttering a sound between a hem and a
+cough, he deposited freely on either side of him a considerable
+portion of masticated tobacco.  He then began to preach.  His
+text was "Live in hope," and he continued to expound it for two
+hours in a drawling, nasal tone, with no other respite than what
+he allowed himself for expectoration.  If I say that he repeated
+the words of this text a hundred times, I think I shall not
+exceed the truth, for that allows more than a minute for each
+repetition, and in fact the whole discourse was made up of it.
+The various tones in which he uttered it might have served as a
+lesson on emphasis; as a question--in accents of triumph--in
+accents of despair--of pity--of threatening--of authority--of
+doubt--of hope--of faith.  Having exhausted every imaginable
+variety of tone, he abruptly said, "Let us pray," and twisting
+his chair round, knelt before it.  Every one knelt before the
+seat they had occupied, and listened for another half hour to a
+rant of miserable, low, familiar jargon, that he presumed to
+improvise to his Maker as a prayer.  In this, however, the
+cottage apostle only followed the example set by every preacher
+throughout the Union, excepting those of the Episcopalian and
+Catholic congregations; THEY only do not deem themselves
+privileged to address the Deity in strains of crude and unweighed
+importunity.  These ranters may sometimes be very much in
+earnest, but surely the least we can say of it is, that they
+
+    "Praise their God amiss."
+
+I enquired afterwards of a friend, well acquainted with such
+matters, how the grim preacher of "Hope" got paid for his
+labours, and he told me that the trade was an excellent one, for
+that many a gude wife bestowed more than a tithe of what her gude
+man trusted to her keeping, in rewarding the zeal of these self-
+chosen apostles.  These sable ministers walk from house to house,
+or if the distance be considerable, ride on a comfortable ambling
+nag.  They are not only as empty as wind, but resemble it in
+other particulars; for they blow where they list, and no man
+knoweth whence they come, nor whither they go.  When they see a
+house that promises comfortable lodging and entertainment, they
+enter there, and say to the good woman of the house, "Sister,
+shall I pray with you?"  If the answer be favourable, and it is
+seldom otherwise, he instals himself and his horse till after
+breakfast the next morning.  The best meat, drink, and lodging
+are his, while he stays, and he seldom departs without some
+little contribution in money for the support of the crucified and
+suffering church.  Is it not strange that "the most intelligent
+people in the world" should prefer such a religion as this, to a
+form established by the wisdom and piety of the ablest and best
+among the erring sons of men, solemnly sanctioned by the nation's
+law, and rendered sacred by the use of their fathers?
+
+It would be well for all reasoners on the social system to
+observe steadily, and with an eye obscured by no beam of
+prejudice, the result of the experiment that is making on the
+other side of the Atlantic.  If I mistake not, they might learn
+there, better than by any abstract speculation, what are the
+points on which the magistrates of a great people should dictate
+to them and on what points they should be left freely to their
+own guidance, I sincerely believe, that if a fire-worshipper, or
+an Indian Brahmin, were to come to the United States, prepared to
+preach and pray in English, he would not be long without a "very
+respectable congregation."
+
+The influence of a religion, sanctioned by the government, could
+in no country, in the nineteenth century, interfere with the
+speculations of a philosopher in his closet, but it might, and
+must, steady the weak and wavering opinions of the multitude.
+There is something really pitiable in the effect produced by the
+want of this rudder oar.  I knew a family where one was a
+Methodist, one a Presbyterian, and a third a Baptist; and
+another, where one was a Quaker, one a declared Atheist, and
+another an Universalist.  These are all females, and all moving
+in the best society that America affords; but one and all of them
+as incapable of reasoning on things past, present, and to come,
+as the infants they nourish, yet one and all of them perfectly
+fit to move steadily and usefully in a path marked out for them.
+But I shall be called an itinerant preacher myself if I pursue
+this theme.
+
+As I have not the magic power of my admirable friend, Miss
+Mitford, to give grace and interest to the humblest rustic
+details, I must not venture to linger among the cottages that
+surrounded us; but before I quit them I must record the pleasing
+recollection of one or two neighbours of more companionable rank,
+from whom I received so much friendly attention, and such
+unfailing kindness, in all my little domestic embarrassments,
+that I shall never recall the memory of Mohawk, without paying an
+affectionate tribute to these far distant friends.  I wish it
+were within the range of hope, that I might see them again, in my
+own country, and repay, in part, the obligations I owe them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 13
+
+Theatre--Fine Arts--Delicacy--Shaking Quakers--
+Big-Bone Lick--Visit of the President
+
+
+
+The theatre at Cincinnati is small, and not very brilliant in
+decoration, but in the absence of every other amusement our young
+men frequently attended it, and in the bright clear nights of
+autumn and winter, the mile and a half of distance was not enough
+to prevent the less enterprising members of the family from
+sometimes accompanying them.  The great inducement to this was
+the excellent acting of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Drake, the
+managers.  [Mr. Drake was an Englishman.]  Nothing could be more
+distinct than their line of acting, but the great versatility of
+their powers enabled them often to appear together.  Her cast was
+the highest walk of tragedy, and his the broadest comedy; but
+yet, as Goldsmith says of his sister heroines, I have known them
+change characters for a whole evening together, and have wept
+with him and laughed with her, as it was their will and pleasure
+to ordain.  I think in his comedy he was superior to any actor I
+ever saw in the same parts, except Emery.  Alexander Drake's
+comedy was like that of the French, who never appear to be acting
+at all; he was himself the comic being the author aimed at
+depicting.  Let him speak whose words he would, from Shakspeare
+to Colman, it was impossible not to feel that half the fun was
+his own; he had, too, in a very high degree, the power that
+Fawcett possessed, of drawing tears by a sudden touch of natural
+feeling.  His comic songs might have set the gravity of the
+judges and bishops together at defiance.  Liston is great, but
+Alexander Drake was greater.
+
+Mrs. Drake, formerly Miss Denny, greatly resembles Miss
+O'Neil; a proof of this is, that Mr. Kean, who had heard of
+the resemblance, arrived at New York late in the evening, and
+having repaired to the theatre, saw her for the first time
+across the stage, and immediately exclaimed, "that's Miss Denny."
+Her voice, too, has the same rich and touching tones, and is
+superior in power.  Her talent is decidedly first-rate.  Deep
+and genuine feeling, correct judgment, and the most perfect good
+taste, distinguish her play in every character.  Her last act
+of Belvidera is superior in tragic effect to any thing I ever
+saw on the stage, the one great exception to all comparison,
+Mrs. Siddons, being set aside.
+
+It was painful to see these excellent performers playing to a
+miserable house, not a third full, and the audience probably
+not including half a dozen persons who would prefer their playing
+to that of the vilest strollers.  In proof of this, I saw them,
+as managers, give place to paltry third-rate actors from London,
+who would immediately draw crowded houses, and be overwhelmed
+with applause.
+
+Poor Drake died just before we left Ohio, and his wife, who,
+besides her merit as an actress, is a most estimable and amiable
+woman, is left with a large family.  I have little, or rather no
+doubt, of her being able to obtain an excellent engagement in
+London, but her having property in several of the Western
+theatres will, I fear, detain her in a neighbourhood, where she
+is neither understood nor appreciated.  She told me many very
+excellent professional anecdotes collected during her residence
+in the West; one of these particularly amused me as a specimen of
+Western idiom.  A lady who professed a great admiration for Mrs.
+Drake had obtained her permission to be present upon one occasion
+at her theatrical toilet.  She was dressing for some character in
+which she was to stab herself, and her dagger was lying on the
+table.  The visitor took it up, and examining it with much
+emotion, exclaimed, "what! do you really jab this into yourself
+sevagarous?"
+
+We also saw the great American star, Mr. Forrest.  What he may
+become I will not pretend to prophesy; but when I saw him play
+Hamlet at Cincinnati, not even Mrs. Drake's sweet Ophelia could
+keep me beyond the third act.  It is true that I have seen
+Kemble, Macready, Kean, Young, C. Kemble, Cook, and Talma play
+Hamlet, and I might not, perhaps, be a very fair judge of this
+young actor's merits; but I was greatly amused when a gentleman,
+who asked my opinion of him, told me upon hearing it, that he
+would not advise me to state it freely in America, "for they
+would not bear it."  The theatre was really not a bad one, though
+the very poor receipts rendered it impossible to keep it in high
+order; but an annoyance infinitely greater than decorations
+indifferently clean, was the style and manner of the audience.
+Men came into the lower tier of boxes without their coats; and I
+have seen shirt sleeves tucked up to the shoulder; the spitting
+was incessant, and the mixed smell of onions and whiskey was
+enough to make one feel even the Drakes' acting dearly bought
+by the obligation of enduring its accompaniments.  The bearing
+and attitudes of the men are perfectly indescribable; the heels
+thrown higher than the head, the entire rear of the person
+presented to the audience, the whole length supported on
+the  benches, are among the varieties that these exquisite
+posture-masters exhibit.  The noises, too, were perpetual, and
+of the most unpleasant kind; the applause is expressed by cries
+and thumping with the feet, instead of clapping; and when a
+patriotic fit seized them, and "Yankee Doodle" was called for,
+every man seemed to think his reputation as a citizen depended
+on the noise he made.
+
+Two very indifferent figurantes, probably from the Ambigu
+Comique, or la Gaiete, made their appearance at Cincinnati while
+we were there; and had Mercury stepped down, and danced a _pas
+seul_ upon earth, his godship could not have produced a more
+violent sensation.  But wonder and admiration were by no means
+the only feelings excited; horror and dismay were produced in at
+least an equal degree.  No one, I believe, doubted their being
+admirable dancers, but every one agreed that the morals of the
+Western world would never recover the shock.  When I was asked if
+I had ever seen any thing so dreadful before, I was embarrassed
+how to answer; for the young women had been exceedingly careful,
+both in their dress and in their dancing, to meet the taste of
+the people; but had it been Virginie in her most transparent
+attire, or Taglioni in her most remarkable pirouette, they could
+not have been more reprobated.  The ladies altogether forsook the
+theatre; the gentlemen muttered under their breath, and turned
+their heads aside when the subject was mentioned; the clergy
+denounced them from the pulpit; and if they were named at the
+meetings of the saints, it was to show how deep the horror such a
+theme could produce.  I could not but ask myself if virtue were a
+plant, thriving under one form in one country, and flourishing
+under a different one in another?  If these Western Americans are
+right, then how dreadfully wrong are we!  It is really a very
+puzzling subject.
+
+But this was not the only point on which I found my notions of
+right and wrong utterly confounded; hardly a day passed in which
+I did not discover that something or other that I had been taught
+to consider lawful as eating, was held in abhorrence by those
+around me; many words to which I had never heard an objectionable
+meaning attached, were totally interdicted, and the strangest
+paraphrastic sentences substituted.  I confess it struck me, that
+notwithstanding a general stiffness of manner, which I think must
+exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, the Americans have
+imaginations that kindle with alarming facility.  I could give
+many anecdotes to prove this, but will content myself with a few.
+
+A young German gentleman of perfectly good manners, once came to
+me greatly chagrined at having offended one of the principal
+families in the neighbourhood, by having pronounced the word
+_corset_ before the ladies of it.  An old female friend had
+kindly overcome her own feelings so far as to mention to him the
+cause of the coolness he had remarked, and strongly advised his
+making an apology.  He told me that he was perfectly well
+disposed to do so, but felt himself greatly at a loss how to
+word it.
+
+An English lady who had long kept a fashionable boarding-school
+in one of the Atlantic cities, told me that one of her earliest
+cares with every new comer, was the endeavour to substitute real
+delicacy for this affected precision of manner; among many
+anecdotes, she told me one of a young lady about fourteen, who on
+entering the receiving room, where she only expected to see a
+lady who had enquired for her, and finding a young man with her,
+put her hands before her eyes, and ran out of the room again,
+screaming "A man! a man! a man!"
+
+On another occasion, one of the young ladies in going up stairs
+to the drawing-room, unfortunately met a boy of fourteen coming
+down, and her feelings were so violently agitated, that she
+stopped panting and sobbing, nor would pass on till the boy had
+swung himself up on the upper banisters, to leave the passage
+free.
+
+At Cincinnati there is a garden where the people go to eat ices,
+and to look at roses.  For the preservation of the flowers, there
+is placed at the end of one of the walks a sign-post sort of
+daub, representing a Swiss peasant girl, holding in her hand a
+scroll, requesting that the roses might not be gathered.
+Unhappily for the artist, or for the proprietor, or for both,
+the petticoat of this figure was so short as to shew her ancles.
+The ladies saw, and shuddered; and it was formally intimated to
+the proprietor, that if he wished for the patronage of the ladies
+of Cincinnati, he must have the petticoat of this figure
+lengthened.  The affrighted purveyor of ices sent off an express
+for the artist and his paint pot.  He came, but unluckily not
+provided with any colour that would match the petticoat; the
+necessity, however, was too urgent for delay, and a flounce of
+blue was added to the petticoat of red, giving bright and shining
+evidence before all men of the immaculate delicacy of the
+Cincinnati ladies.
+
+I confess I was sometimes tempted to suspect that this ultra
+refinement was not very deep seated.  It often appeared to me
+like the consciousness of grossness, that wanted a veil; but the
+veil was never gracefully adjusted.  Occasionally, indeed, the
+very same persons who appeared ready to faint at the idea of a
+statue, would utter some unaccountable sally that was quite
+startling, and which made me feel that the indelicacy of which we
+were accused had its limits.  The following anecdote is hardly
+fit to tell, but it explains what I mean too well to be omitted.
+
+A young married lady, of _high standing_ and most fastidious
+delicacy, who had been brought up at one of the Atlantic
+seminaries of highest reputation, told me that her house, at the
+distance of half a mile from a populous city, was unfortunately
+opposite a mansion of worse than doubtful reputation.  "It is
+abominable," she said, "to see the people that go there; they
+ought to be exposed.  I and another lady, an intimate friend of
+mine, did make one of them look foolish enough last summer: she
+was passing the day with me, and, while we were sitting at the
+window, we saw a young man we both knew ride up there, we went
+into the garden and watched at the gate for him to come back, and
+when he did, we both stepped out, and I said to him, "are you not
+ashamed, Mr. William D., to ride by my house and back again in
+that manner?"  I never saw a man look so foolish!"
+
+In conversing with ladies on the customs and manners of Europe, I
+remarked a strong propensity to consider every thing as wrong to
+which they were not accustomed.  I once mentioned to a young lady
+that I thought a picnic party would be very agreeable, and that I
+would propose it to some of our friends.  She agreed that it
+would be delightful, but she added, "I fear you will not succeed;
+we are not used to such sort of things here, and I know it is
+considered very indelicate for ladies and gentlemen to sit down
+together on the grass."
+
+I could multiply anecdotes of this nature; but I think these
+sufficient to give an accurate idea of the tone of manners in
+this particular, and I trust to justify the observations I
+have made.
+
+One of the spectacles which produced the greatest astonishment
+on us all was the Republican simplicity of the courts of justice.
+We had heard that the judges indulged themselves on the bench
+in those extraordinary attitudes which, doubtless, some
+peculiarity of the American formation leads them to find the
+most comfortable.  Of this we were determined to judge for
+ourselves, and accordingly entered the court when it was in full
+business, with three judges on the bench.  The annexed sketch
+will better describe what we saw than any thing I can write.
+
+Our winter passed rapidly away, and pleasantly enough, by the
+help of frosty walks, a little skaiting, a visit to Big-Bone
+Lick, and a visit to the shaking Quakers, a good deal of chess,
+and a good deal of reading, notwithstanding we were almost in the
+back woods of Western America.
+
+The excursion to Big-Bone Lick, in Kentucky, and that to the
+Quaker village, were too fatiguing for females at such a season,
+but our gentlemen brought us home mammoth bones and shaking
+Quaker stories in abundance.
+
+These singular people, the shaking Quakers of America, give
+undeniable proof that communities may exist and prosper, for they
+have continued for many years to adhere strictly to this manner
+of life, and have been constantly increasing in wealth.  They
+have formed two or three different societies in distant parts of
+the Union, all governed by the same general laws, and all
+uniformly prosperous and flourishing.
+
+There must be some sound and wholesome principle at work in these
+establishments to cause their success in every undertaking, and
+this principle must be a powerful one, for it has to combat much
+that is absurd and much that is mischievous.
+
+The societies are generally composed of about an equal proportion
+of males and females, many of them being men and their wives; but
+they are all bound by their laws not to cohabit together.  Their
+religious observances are wholly confined to singing and dancing
+of the most grotesque kind, and this repeated so constantly as to
+occupy much time; yet these people become rich and powerful
+wherever they settle themselves.  Whatever they manufacture,
+whatever their farms produce, is always in the highest repute,
+and brings the highest price in the market.  They receive all
+strangers with great courtesy, and if they bring an introduction
+they are lodged and fed for any length of time they choose to
+stay; they are not asked to join in their labours, but are
+permitted to do so if they wish it.
+
+The Big-Bone Lick was not visited, and even partially examined,
+without considerable fatigue.
+
+It appeared from the account of our travellers, that the spot
+which gives the region its elegant name is a deep bed of blue
+clay, tenacious and unsound, so much so as to render it both
+difficult and dangerous to traverse.  The digging it has been
+found so laborious that no one has yet hazarded the expense of a
+complete search into its depths for the gigantic relics so
+certainly hidden there.  The clay has never been moved without
+finding some of them; and I think it can hardly be doubted that
+money and perseverance would procure a more perfect specimen of
+an entire mammoth than we have yet seen.  [Since the above was
+written an immense skeleton, nearly perfect, has been extracted.]
+
+And now the time arrived that our domestic circle was again to be
+broken up.  Our eldest son was to be entered at Oxford, and it
+was necessary that his father should accompany him; and, after
+considerable indecision, it was at length determined that I and
+my daughters should remain another year, with our second son.  It
+was early in February, and our travellers prepared themselves to
+encounter some sharp gales upon the mountains, though the great
+severity of the cold appeared to be past.  We got buffalo robes
+and double shoes prepared for them, and they were on the eve of
+departure when we heard that General Jackson, the newly-elected
+President, was expected to arrive immediately at Cincinnati, from
+his residence in the West, and to proceed by steamboat to
+Pittsburgh, on his way to Washington.  This determined them not
+to fix the day of their departure till they heard of his arrival,
+and then, if possible, to start in the same boat with him; the
+decent dignity of a private conveyance not being deemed necessary
+for the President of the United States.
+
+The day of his arrival was however quite uncertain, and we could
+only determine to have every thing very perfectly in readiness,
+let it come when it would.  This resolution was hardly acted upon
+when the news reached us that the General had arrived at
+Louisville, and was expected at Cincinnati in a few hours.  All
+was bustle and hurry at Mohawk-cottage; we quickly dispatched our
+packing business, and this being the first opportunity we had had
+of witnessing such a demonstration of popular feeling, we all
+determined to be present at the debarkation of the great man.
+We accordingly walked to Cincinnati, and secured a favourable
+station at the landing-place, both for the purpose of seeing the
+first magistrate and of observing his reception by the people.
+We had waited but a few moments when the heavy panting of the
+steam engines and then a discharge of cannon told that we were
+just in time; another moment brought his vessel in sight.
+
+Nothing could be better of its kind than his approach to the
+shore: the noble steam-boat which conveyed him was flanked on
+each side by one of nearly equal size and splendour; the roofs of
+all three were covered by a crowd of men; cannon saluted them
+from the shore as they passed by, to the distance of a quarter of
+a mile above the town; there they turned about, and came down the
+river with a rapid but stately motion, the three vessels so close
+together as to appear one mighty mass upon the water.
+
+When they arrived opposite the principal landing they swept
+gracefully round, and the side vessels, separating themselves
+from the centre, fell a few feet back, permitting her to approach
+before them with her honoured freight.  All this manoeuvring was
+extremely well executed, and really beautiful.
+
+The crowd on the shore awaited her arrival in perfect stillness.
+When she touched the bank the people on board gave a faint huzza,
+but it was answered by no note of welcome from the land: this
+cold silence was certainly not produced by any want of friendly
+feeling towards the new President; during the whole of the
+canvassing he had been decidedly the popular candidate at
+Cincinnati, and, for months past, we had been accustomed to the
+cry of "Jackson for ever" from an overwhelming majority; but
+enthusiasm is not either the virtue or the vice of America.
+
+More than one private carriage was stationed at the water's edge
+to await the General's orders, but they were dismissed with the
+information that he would walk to the hotel.  Upon receiving this
+intimation the silent crowd divided itself in a very orderly
+manner, leaving a space for him to walk through them.  He did so,
+uncovered, though the distance was considerable, and the weather
+very cold; but he alone (with the exception of a few European
+gentlemen who were present) was without a hat.  He wore his grey
+hair, carelessly, but not ungracefully arranged, and, spite of
+his harsh gaunt features, he looks like a gentleman and a
+soldier.  He was in deep mourning, having very recently lost his
+wife; they were said to have been very happy together, and I was
+pained by hearing a voice near me exclaim, as he approached the
+spot where I stood, "There goes Jackson, where is his wife?"
+Another sharp voice, at a little distance, cried, "Adams for
+ever!"  And these sounds were all I heard to break the silence.
+
+"They manage these matters better" in the East, I have no doubt,
+but as yet I was still in the West, and still inclined to think,
+that however meritorious the American character may be, it is not
+amiable.
+
+Mr. T. and his sons joined the group of citizens who waited upon
+him to the hotel, and were presented to the President in form;
+that is, they shook hands with him.  Learning that he intended to
+remain a few hours there, or more properly, that it would be a
+few hours before the steam-boat would be ready to proceed, Mr. T.
+secured berths on board, and returned, to take a hasty dinner
+with us.  At the hour appointed by the captain, Mr. T. and his
+son accompanied the General on board; and by subsequent letters I
+learnt that they had conversed a good deal with him, and were
+pleased by his conversation and manners, but deeply disgusted by
+the brutal familiarity to which they saw him exposed at every
+place on their progress at which they stopped; I am tempted to
+quote one passage, as sufficiently descriptive of the manner,
+which so painfully grated against their European feelings.
+
+'There was not a hulking boy from a keel-boat who was not
+introduced to the President, unless, indeed, as was the case
+with some, they introduced themselves: for instance, I was at
+his elbow when a greasy fellow accosted him thus:-
+
+"General Jackson, I guess?"
+
+'The General bowed assent.
+
+"Why they told me you was dead."
+
+"No!  Providence has hitherto preserved my life."
+
+"And is your wife alive too?"
+
+'The General, apparently much hurt, signified the contrary, upon
+which the courtier concluded his harangue, by saying, "Aye, I
+thought it was the one or the t'other of ye."'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 14
+
+American Spring--Controversy between Messrs. Owen and Cambell--
+Public ball--Separation of the sexes--American freedom--Execution
+
+
+
+The American spring is by no means so agreeable as the American
+autumn; both move with faultering step, and slow; but this
+lingering pace, which is delicious in autumn, is most tormenting
+in the spring.  In the one case you are about to part with a
+friend, who is becoming more gentle and agreeable at every step,
+and such steps can hardly be made too slowly; but in the other
+you are making your escape from a dreary cavern, where you have
+been shut up with black frost and biting blasts, and where your
+best consolation was being smoke-dried.
+
+But, upon second thoughts, I believe it would be more correct,
+instead of complaining of the slow pace of the American spring,
+to declare that they have no spring at all.  The beautiful autumn
+often lingers on till Christmas, after which winter can be
+trifled with no longer, and generally keeps a stubborn hold
+through the months which we call spring, when he suddenly turns
+his back, and summer takes his place.
+
+The inconceivable uncertainty of the climate is, however, such,
+that I will not venture to state about what time this change
+takes place, for it is certain, that let me name what time I
+would, it would be easy for any weather journaliser to prove me
+wrong, by quoting that the thermometer was at 100 at a period
+which my statement included in the winter; or 50 long after I
+made the summer commence.
+
+The climate of England is called uncertain, but it can never, I
+think, be so described by any who have experienced that of the
+United States.  A gentleman, on whose accuracy I could depend,
+told me he had repeatedly known the thermometer vary above 40
+degrees in the space of twelve hours.  This most unpleasant
+caprice of the temperature is, I conceive, one cause of the
+unhealthiness of the climate.
+
+At length, however, after shivering and shaking till we were
+tired of it, and having been half ruined in fire-wood (which,
+by the way, is nearly as dear as at Paris, and dearer in many
+parts of the Union), the summer burst upon us full blown,
+and the ice-house, the piazza, and the jalousies were again
+in full requisition.
+
+It was in the early summer of this year (1829) that Cincinnati
+offered a spectacle unprecedented, I believe, in any age or
+country.  Mr. Owen, of Lanark, of New Harmony, of Texas, well
+known to the world by all or either of these additions, had
+challenged the whole religious public of the United States to
+discuss with him publicly the truth or falsehood of all the
+religions that had ever been propagated on the face of the earth;
+stating, further, that he undertook to prove that they were all
+equally false, and nearly equally mischievous.  This most
+appalling challenge was conveyed to the world through the medium
+of New Orleans newspapers, and for some time it remained
+unanswered; at length the Reverend Alexander Campbell, from
+Bethany, (not of Judaea, but of Kentucky,) proclaimed, through
+the same medium, that he was ready to take up the gauntlet.  The
+place fixed for this extraordinary discussion was Cincinnati; the
+time, the second Monday in May, 1829, being about a year from the
+time the challenge was accepted; thus giving the disputants time
+to prepare themselves.
+
+Mr. Owen's preparation, however, could only have been such as
+those who run may read, for, during the interval, he traversed
+great part of North America, crossed the Atlantic twice, visited
+England, Scotland, Mexico, Texas, and I know not how many places
+besides.
+
+Mr. Campbell, I was told, passed this period very differently,
+being engaged in reading with great research and perseverance all
+the theological works within his reach.  But whatever confidence
+the learning and piety of Mr. Campbell might have inspired in his
+friends, or in the Cincinnati Christians in general, it was not,
+as it appeared, sufficient to induce Mr. Wilson, the Presbyterian
+minister of the largest church in the town, to permit the display
+of them within its walls.  This refusal was greatly reprobated,
+and much regretted, as the curiosity to hear the discussion was
+very general, and no other edifice offered so much accommodation.
+
+A Methodist meeting-house, large enough to contain a thousand
+persons, was at last chosen; a small stage was arranged round the
+pulpit, large enough to accommodate the disputants and their
+stenographers; the pulpit itself was throughout the whole time
+occupied by the aged father of Mr. Campbell, whose flowing white
+hair, and venerable countenance, constantly expressive of the
+deepest attention, and the most profound interest, made him a
+very striking figure in the group.  Another platform was raised
+in a conspicuous part of the building, on which were seated seven
+gentlemen of the city, selected as moderators.
+
+The chapel was equally divided, one half being appropriated to
+ladies, the other to gentlemen; and the door of entrance reserved
+for the ladies was carefully guarded by persons appointed to
+prevent any crowding or difficulty from impeding their approach.
+I suspect that the ladies were indebted to Mr. Owen for this
+attention; the arrangements respecting them on this occasion were
+by no means American.
+
+When Mr. Owen rose, the building was thronged in every part; the
+audience, or congregation, (I hardly know which to call them)
+were of the highest rank of citizens, and as large a proportion
+of best bonnets fluttered there, as the "two horned church"
+itself could boast.
+
+It was in the profoundest silence, and apparently with the
+deepest attention, that Mr. Owen's opening address was received;
+and surely it was the most singular one that ever Christian men
+and women sat to listen to.
+
+When I recollect its object, and the uncompromising manner in
+which the orator stated his mature conviction that the whole
+history of the Christian mission was a fraud, and its sacred
+origin a fable, I cannot but wonder that it was so listened to;
+yet at the time I felt no such wonder.  Never did any one
+practise the _suaviter in modo_ with more powerful effect than
+Mr. Owen.  The gentle tone of his voice; his mild, sometimes
+playful, but never ironical manner; the absence of every
+vehement or harsh expression; the affectionate interest
+expressed for "the whole human family," the air of candour
+with which he expressed his wish to be convinced he was wrong,
+if he indeed were so--his kind smile--the mild expression of
+his eyes--in short, his whole manner, disarmed zeal, and
+produced a degree of tolerance that those who did not hear
+him would hardly believe possible.
+
+Half an hour was the time allotted for each haranguer; when this
+was expired, the moderators were seen to look at their watches.
+Mr. Owen, too, looked at his (without pausing) smiled, shook his
+head, and said in a parenthesis "a moment's patience," and
+continued for nearly another half hour.
+
+Mr. Campbell then arose; his person, voice, and manner all
+greatly in his favour.  In his first attack he used the arms,
+which in general have been considered as belonging to the other
+side of the question.  He quizzed Mr. Owen most unmercifully;
+pinched him here for his parallelograms; hit him there for his
+human perfectibility, and kept the whole audience in a roar of
+laughter.  Mr. Owen joined in it most heartily himself, and
+listened to him throughout with the air of a man who is delighted
+at the good things he is hearing, and exactly in the cue to
+enjoy all the other good things that he is sure will follow.
+Mr. Campbell's watch was the only one which reminded us that we
+had listened to him for half an hour; and having continued
+speaking for a few minutes after he had looked at it, he sat down
+with, I should think, the universal admiration of his auditory.
+
+Mr. Owen again addressed us; and his first five minutes were
+occupied in complimenting Mr. Campbell with all the strength
+his exceeding hearty laughter had left him.  But then he changed
+his tone, and said the business was too serious to permit the
+next half hour to pass so lightly and so pleasantly as the last;
+and then he read us what he called his twelve fundamental laws
+of human nature.  These twelve laws he has taken so much trouble
+to circulate to all the nations of the earth, that it must be
+quite unnecessary to repeat them here.  To me they appear
+twelve truisms, that no man in his senses would ever think of
+contradicting; but how any one can have conceived that the
+explanation and defence of these laws could furnish forth
+occupation for his pen and his voice, through whole years of
+unwearying declamation, or how he can have dreamed that they
+could be twisted into a refutation of the Christian religion,
+is a mystery which I never expect to understand.
+
+From this time Mr. Owen entrenched himself behind his twelve
+laws, and Mr. Campbell, with equal gravity, confined himself to
+bringing forward the most elaborate theological authorities in
+evidence of the truth of revealed religion.
+
+Neither appeared to me to answer the other; but to confine
+themselves to the utterance of what they had uppermost in their
+own minds when the discussion began.  I lamented this on the side
+of Mr. Campbell, as I am persuaded he would have been much more
+powerful had he trusted more to himself and less to his books.
+Mr. Owen is an extraordinary man, and certainly possessed of
+talent, but he appears to me so utterly benighted in the mists
+of his own theories, that he has quite lost the power of looking
+through them, so as to get a peep at the world as it really
+exists around him.
+
+At the conclusion of the debate (which lasted for fifteen
+sittings) Mr. Campbell desired the whole assembly to sit down.
+They obeyed.  He then requested all who wished well to
+Christianity to rise, and a very large majority were in an
+instant on their legs.  He again requested them to be seated, and
+then desired those who believed not in its doctrines to rise, and
+a few gentlemen and one lady obeyed.  Mr. Owen protested against
+this manoeuvre, as he called it, and refused to believe that it
+afforded any proof of the state of men's minds, or of women's
+either; declaring, that not only was such a result to be
+expected, in the present state of things, but that it was the
+duty of every man who had children to feed, not to hazard the
+sale of his hogs, or his iron, by a declaration of opinions which
+might offend the majority of his customers.  It was said, that at
+the end of the fifteen meetings the numerical amount of the
+Christians and the Infidels of Cincinnati remained exactly what
+it was when they began.
+
+This was a result that might have been perhaps anticipated; but
+what was much less to have been expected, neither of the
+disputants ever appeared to lose their temper.  I was told they
+were much in each other's company, constantly dining together,
+and on all occasions expressed most cordially their mutual
+esteem.
+
+All this I think could only have happened in America.  I am not
+quite sure that it was very desirable it should have happened
+any where.
+
+In noting the various brilliant events which diversified our
+residence in the western metropolis, I have omitted to mention
+the Birthday Ball, as it is called, a festivity which, I believe,
+has place on the 22nd of February, in every town and city
+throughout the Union.  It is the anniversary of the birth of
+General Washington, and well deserves to be marked by the
+Americans as a day of jubilee.
+
+I was really astonished at the _coup d'oeil_ on entering, for I
+saw a large room filled with extremely well-dressed company,
+among whom were many very beautiful girls.  The gentlemen also
+were exceedingly smart, but I had not yet been long enough in
+Western America not to feel startled at recognising in almost
+every full-dressed _beau_ that passed me, the master or shopman
+that I had been used to see behind the counter, or lolling at the
+door of every shop in the city.  The fairest and finest belles
+smiled and smirked on them with as much zeal and satisfaction as
+I ever saw bestowed on an eldest son, and I therefore could feel
+no doubt of their being considered as of the highest rank.  Yet
+it must not be supposed that there is no distinction of classes:
+at this same ball I was looking among the many very beautiful
+girls I saw there for one more beautiful still, with whose lovely
+face I had been particularly struck at the school examination I
+have mentioned.  I could not find her, and asked a gentleman why
+the beautiful Miss C. was not there.
+
+"You do not yet understand our aristocracy," he replied, "the
+family of Miss C. are mechanics."
+
+"But the young lady has been educated at the same school as
+these, whom I see here, and I know her brother has a shop in the
+town, quite as large, and apparently as prosperous, as those
+belonging to any of these young men.  What is the difference?"
+
+"He is a mechanic; he assists in making the articles he sells;
+the others call themselves merchants."
+
+The dancing was not quite like, yet not very unlike, what we see
+at an assize or race-ball in a country town.  They call their
+dances cotillions instead of quadrilles, and the figures are
+called from the orchestra in English, which has very ludicrous
+effect on European ears.
+
+The arrangements for the supper were very singular, but eminently
+characteristic of the country.  The gentlemen had a splendid
+entertainment spread for them in another large room of the hotel,
+while the poor ladies had each a plate put into their hands, as
+they pensively promenaded the ballroom during their absence; and
+shortly afterwards servants appeared, bearing trays of
+sweetmeats, cakes, and creams.  The fair creatures then sat down
+on a row of chairs placed round the walls, and each making a
+table of her knees, began eating her sweet, but sad and sulky
+repast.  The effect was extremely comic; their gala dresses and
+the decorated room forming a contrast the most unaccountable with
+their uncomfortable and forlorn condition.
+
+This arrangement was owing neither to economy nor want of a
+room large enough to accommodate the whole party, but purely
+because the gentlemen liked it better.  This was the answer
+given me, when my curiosity tempted me to ask why the ladies
+and gentlemen did not sup together; and this was the answer
+repeated to me afterwards by a variety of people to whom I put
+the same question.
+
+I am led to mention this feature of American manners very
+frequently, not only because it constantly recurs, but because
+I consider it as being in a great degree the cause of that
+universal deficiency in good manners and graceful demeanour,
+both in men and women, which is so remarkable.
+
+Where there is no court, which every where else is the glass
+wherein the higher orders dress themselves, and which again
+reflected from them to the classes below, goes far towards
+polishing, in some degree, a great majority of the population,
+it is not to be expected that manner should be made so much a
+study, or should attain an equal degree of elegance; but the
+deficiency, and the total difference, is greater than this
+cause alone could account for.  The hours of enjoyment are
+important to human beings every where, and we every where find
+them preparing to make the most of them.  Those who enjoy
+themselves only in society, whether intellectual or convivial,
+prepare themselves for it, and such make but a poor figure when
+forced to be content with the sweets of solitude: while, on
+the other hand, those to whom retirement affords the greatest
+pleasure, seldom give or receive much in society.  Wherever
+the highest enjoyment is found by both sexes in scenes where
+they meet each other, both will prepare themselves to appear
+with advantage there.  The men will not indulge in the luxury
+of chewing tobacco, or even of spitting, and the women will
+contrive to be capable of holding a higher post than that of
+unwearied tea-makers.
+
+In America, with the exception of dancing, which is almost wholly
+confined to the unmarried of both sexes, all the enjoyments of
+the men are found in the absence of the women.  They dine, they
+play cards, they have musical meetings, they have suppers, all in
+large parties but all without women.  Were it not that such is
+the custom, it is impossible but that they would have ingenuity
+enough to find some expedient for sparing the wives and daughters
+of the opulent the sordid offices of household drudgery which
+they almost all perform in their families.  Even in the slave
+states, though they may not clear-starch and iron, mix puddings
+and cakes one half of the day, and watch them baking the other
+half, still the very highest occupy themselves in their household
+concerns, in a manner that precludes the possibility of their
+becoming elegant and enlightened companions.  In Baltimore,
+Philadelphia, and New York, I met with some exceptions to this;
+but speaking of the country generally, it is unquestionably true.
+
+Had I not become heartily tired of my prolonged residence in a
+place I cordially disliked, and which moreover I began to fear
+would not be attended with the favourable results we had
+anticipated, I should have found an almost inexhaustible source
+of amusement in the notions and opinions of the people I
+conversed with; and as it was, I often did enjoy this in a
+considerable degree.
+
+We received, as I have mentioned, much personal kindness; but
+this by no means interfered with the national feeling of, I
+believe, unconquerable dislike, which evidently lives at the
+bottom of every truly American heart against the English.  This
+shows itself in a thousand little ways, even in the midst of the
+most kind and friendly intercourse, but often in a manner more
+comic than offensive.
+
+Sometimes it was thus.--"Well, now, I think your government must
+just be fit to hang themselves for that last war they cooked up;
+it has been the ruin of you I expect, for it has just been the
+making of us."
+
+Then.--"Well, I do begin to understand your broken English better
+than I did; but no wonder I could not make it out very well at
+first, as you come from London; for every body knows that London
+slang is the most dreadful in the world.  How queer it is now,
+that all the people that live in London should put the _h_ where
+it is not, and never will put it where it is."
+
+I was egotistical enough to ask the lady who said this, if she
+found that I did so.
+
+"No; you do not," was the reply; but she added, with a complacent
+smile, "it is easy enough to see the pains you take about it: I
+expect you have heard how we Americans laugh at you all for it,
+and so you are trying to learn our way of pronouncing."
+
+One lady asked me very gravely, if we had left home in order to
+get rid of the vermin with which the English of all ranks were
+afflicted?  "I have heard from unquestionable authority," she
+added, "that it is quite impossible to walk through the streets
+of London without having the head filled."
+
+I laughed a little, but spoke not a word.  She coloured highly,
+and said, "There is nothing so easy as to laugh, but truth is
+truth, laughed at or not."
+
+I must preface the following anecdote by observing that in
+America nearly the whole of the insect tribe are classed under
+the general name of bug; the unfortunate cosmopolite known by
+that name amongst us is almost the only one not included in this
+term.  A lady abruptly addressed me with, "Don't you hate
+chintzes, Mrs. Trollope?"
+
+"No indeed," I replied, "I think them very pretty."
+
+"There now! if that is not being English! I reckon you call that
+loving your country; well, thank God! we Americans have something
+better to love our country for than that comes to; we are not
+obliged to say that we like nasty filthy chintzes to shew that we
+are good patriots."
+
+"Chintzes? what are chintzes?"
+
+"Possible! do you pretend you don't know what chintzes are?  Why
+the nasty little stinking blood-suckers that all the beds in
+London are full of."
+
+I have since been informed that _chinche_ is Spanish for bug; but
+at the time the word suggested only the material of a curtain.
+
+Among other instances of that species of modesty so often seen in
+America, and so unknown to us, I frequently witnessed one, which,
+while it evinced the delicacy of the ladies, gave opportunity for
+many lively sallies from the gentlemen.  I saw the same sort of
+thing repeated on different occasions at least a dozen times;
+e.g. a young lady is employed in making a shirt, (which it would
+be a symptom of absolute depravity to name), a gentleman enters,
+and presently begins the sprightly dialogue with "What are you
+making Miss Clarissa?"
+
+"Only a frock for my sister's doll, sir."
+
+"A frock? not possible.  Don't I see that it is not a frock?
+Come, Miss Clarissa, what is it?"
+
+"Tis just an apron for one of our Negroes, Mr. Smith."
+
+"How can you.  Miss Clarissa! why is not the two side joined
+together?  I expect you were better tell me what it is."
+
+"My! why then Mr. Smith, it is just a pillow-case."
+
+"Now that passes.  Miss Clarissa! 'Tis a pillow-case for a giant
+then.  Shall I guess, Miss?"
+
+"Quit, Mr. Smith; behave yourself, or I'll certainly be affronted."
+
+Before the conversation arrives at this point, both gentleman
+and lady are in convulsions of laughter.  I once saw a young
+lady so hard driven by a wit, that to prove she was making a
+bag, and nothing but a bag, she sewed up the ends before his
+eyes, shewing it triumphantly, and exclaiming, "there now! what
+can you say to that?"
+
+One of my friends startled me one day by saying in an
+affectionate, but rather compassionate tone, "How will you bear
+to go back to England to live, and to bring up your children in
+a country where you know you are considered as no better than
+the dirt in the streets?"
+
+I begged she would explain.
+
+"Why, you know I would not affront you for any thing; but the
+fact is, we Americans know rather more than you think for, and
+certainly if I was in England I should not think of associating
+with anything but lords.  I have always been among the first
+here, and if I travelled I should like to do the same.  I don't
+mean, I'm sure, that I would not come to see you, but you know
+you are not lords, and therefore I know very well how you are
+treated in your own country."
+
+I very rarely contradicted statements of this kind, as I found
+it less trouble, and infinitely more amusing, to let them pass;
+indeed, had I done otherwise, it would have been of little avail,
+as among the many conversations I held in America respecting my
+own country, I do not recollect a single instance in which it
+was not clear that I knew much less about it than those I
+conversed with.
+
+On the subject of national glory, I presume I got more than my
+share of buffeting; for being a woman, there was no objection to
+their speaking out.  One lady, indeed, who was a great patriot,
+evinced much delicacy towards me, for upon some one speaking of
+New Orleans, she interrupted them, saying, "I wish you would not
+talk of New Orleans;" and, turning to me, added with great
+gentleness, "It must be so painful to your feelings to hear that
+place mentioned!"
+
+The immense superiority of the American to the British navy was
+a constant theme, and to this I always listened, as nearly as
+possible, in silence.  I repeatedly heard it stated, (so often,
+indeed, and from such various quarters, that I think there must
+be some truth in it), that the American sailors fire with a
+certainty of slaughter, whereas our shots are sent very nearly at
+random.  "This, " said a naval officer of high reputation, "is
+the blessed effect of your game laws; your sailors never fire at
+a mark; whilst our free tars, from their practice in pursuit of
+game, can any of them split a hair."  But the favourite, the
+constant, the universal sneer that met me every where, was on our
+old-fashioned attachments to things obsolete.  Had they a little
+wit among them, I am certain they would have given us the
+cognomen of "My Grandmother, the British," for that is the tone
+they take, and it is thus they reconcile themselves to the crude
+newness of every thing around them.
+
+"I wonder you are not sick of kings, chancellors, and
+archbishops, and all your fustian of wigs and gowns," said a
+very clever gentleman to me once, with an affected yawn,
+"I protest the very sound almost sets me to sleep."
+
+It is amusing to observe how soothing the idea seems, that they
+are more modern, more advanced than England.  Our classic
+literature, our princely dignities, our noble institutions, are
+all gone-by relics of the dark ages.
+
+This, and the vastness of their naked territory, make up the
+flattering unction which is laid upon the soul, as an antidote
+to the little misgiving which from time to time arises, lest
+their large country be not of quite so much importance among
+the nations, as a certain paltry old-fashioned little place that
+they wot of.
+
+I was once sitting with a party of ladies, among whom were one
+or two young girls, whose curiosity was greater than their
+patriotism, and they asked me many questions respecting the
+splendour and extent of London.  I was endeavouring to satisfy
+them by the best description I could give, when we were
+interrupted by another lady, who exclaimed, "Do hold your
+tongues, girls, about London; if you want to know what a
+beautiful city is, look at Philadelphia; when Mrs. Trollope has
+been there, I think she will allow that it is better worth
+talking about than that great overgrown collection of nasty,
+filthy, dirty streets, that they call London."
+
+Once in Ohio, and once in the district of Columbia, I had
+an atlas displayed before me, that I might be convinced by
+the evidence of my own eyes what a very contemptible little
+country I came from.  I shall never forget the gravity with
+which, on the latter occasion, a gentleman drew out his
+graduated pencil-case, and shewed me past contradiction, that
+the whole of the British dominions did not equal in size one of
+their least important states; nor the air with which, after the
+demonstration, he placed his feet upon the chimney-piece,
+considerably higher than his head, and whistled Yankee Doodle.
+
+Their glorious institutions, their unequalled freedom, were, of
+course, not left unsung.
+
+I took some pains to ascertain what they meant by their glorious
+institutions, and it is with no affectation of ignorance that I
+profess I never could comprehend the meaning of the phrase, which
+is, however, on the lip of every American, when he talks of his
+country.  I asked if by their institutions they meant their
+hospitals and penitentiaries.  "Oh no! we mean the glorious
+institutions which are coeval with the revolution."  "Is it," I
+asked, "your institution of marriage, which you have made purely
+a civil and not a religious rite, to be performed by a justice of
+peace, instead of a clergyman?"
+
+"Oh no! we speak of our divine political institutions."  Yet
+still I was in the dark, nor can I guess what they mean, unless
+they call incessant electioneering, without pause or interval for
+a single day, for a single hour, of their whole existence, "a
+glorious institution."
+
+Their unequalled freedom, I think, I understand better.  Their
+code of common law is built upon ours; and the difference between
+us is this, in England the laws are acted upon, in America they
+are not.
+
+I do not speak of the police of the Atlantic cities; I
+believe it is well arranged: in New York it is celebrated
+for being so; but out of the range of their influence, the
+contempt of law is greater than I can venture to state, with
+any hope of being believed.  Trespass, assault, robbery, nay,
+even murder, are often committed without the slightest attempt
+at legal interference.
+
+During the summer that we passed most delightfully in Maryland,
+our rambles were often restrained in various directions by the
+advice of our kind friends, who knew the manners and morals of
+the country.  When we asked the cause, we were told, "There is a
+public-house on that road, and it will not be safe to pass it,"
+
+The line of the Chesapeak and Ohio canal passed within a few
+miles of Mrs. S--'s residence.  It twice happened during our
+stay with her, that dead bodies were found partially concealed
+near it.  The circumstance was related as a sort of half hour's
+wonder; and when I asked particulars of those who, on one
+occasion, brought the tale, the reply was, "Oh, he was murdered
+I expect; or maybe he died of the canal fever; but they say he
+had marks of being throttled."  No inquest was summoned; and
+certainly no more sensation was produced by the occurrence than
+if a sheep had been found in the same predicament.
+
+The abundance of food and the scarcity of hanging were also
+favourite topics, as proving their superiority to England.  They
+are both excellent things, but I do not admit the inference.
+A wide and most fertile territory, as yet but thinly inhabited,
+may easily be made to yield abundant food for its population: and
+where a desperate villain knows, that when he has made his town
+or his village "too hot to hold him," he has nothing to do but to
+travel a few miles west, and be sure of finding plenty of beef
+and whiskey, with no danger that the law shall follow him, it is
+not extraordinary that executions should be rare.
+
+Once during our residence at Cincinnati, a murderer of uncommon
+atrocity was taken, tried, convicted, and condemned to death.
+It had been shewn on his trial, that some years before he had
+murdered a wife and child at New Orleans, but little notice had
+been taken of it at the time.  The crime which had now thrown
+him into the hands of justice was the recent murder of a second
+wife, and the chief evidence against him was his own son.
+
+The day of his execution was fixed, and the sensation produced
+was so great from the strangeness of the occurrence, (no white
+man having ever been executed at Cincinnati,) that persons from
+sixty miles' distance came to be present at it.
+
+Meanwhile some unco' good people began to start doubts as to
+the righteousness of hanging a man, and made application to the
+Governor of the State* of Ohio, to commute the sentence into
+imprisonment.  The Governor for some time refused to interfere
+with the sentence of the tribunal before which he had been tried;
+but at length, frightened at the unusual situation in which he
+found himself, he yielded to the importunity of the Presbyterian
+party who had assailed him, and sent off an order to the sheriff
+accordingly.  But this order was not to reprieve him, but to ask
+him if he pleased to be reprieved, and sent to the penitentiary
+instead of being hanged.
+
+    *(The Governors of states have the same power over life and
+     (death as is vested, with us, in the crown.
+
+The sheriff waited upon the criminal, and made his proposal, and
+was answered.  "If any thing could make me agree to it, it would
+be the hope of living long enough to kill you and my dog of a
+son: however, I won't agree; you shall have the hanging of me."
+
+The worthy sheriff, to whom the ghastly office of executioner is
+assigned, said all in his power to persuade him to sign the
+offered document, but in vain; he obtained nothing but abuse for
+his efforts.
+
+The day of execution arrived; the place appointed was the side
+of a hill, the only one cleared of trees near the town; and many
+hours before the time fixed, we saw it entirely covered by an
+immense multitude of men, women, and children.  At length the
+hour arrived, the dismal cart was seen slowly mounting the hill,
+the noisy throng was hushed into solemn silence; the wretched
+criminal mounted the scaffold, when again the sheriff asked him
+to sign his acceptance of the commutation proposed; but he
+spurned the paper from him, and cried aloud, "Hang me!"
+
+Midday was the moment appointed for cutting the rope; the sheriff
+stood, his watch in one hand, and a knife in the other; the hand
+was lifted to strike, when the criminal stoutly exclaimed, "I
+sign;" and he was conveyed back to prison, amidst the shouts,
+laughter, and ribaldry of the mob.
+
+I am not fond of hanging, but there was something in all this
+that did not look like the decent dignity of wholesome justice.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 15
+
+Camp-Meeting
+
+
+
+It was in the course of this summer that I found the opportunity
+I had long wished for, of attending a camp-meeting, and I gladly
+accepted the invitation of an English lady and gentleman to
+accompany them in their carriage to the spot where it is held;
+this was in a wild district on the confines of Indiana.
+
+The prospect of passing a night in the back woods of Indiana was
+by no means agreeable, but I screwed my courage to the proper
+pitch, and set forth determined to see with my own eyes, and hear
+with my own ears, what a camp-meeting really was.  I had heard it
+said that being at a camp-meeting was like standing at the gate
+of heaven, and seeing it opening before you; I had heard it said,
+that being at a camp-meeting was like finding yourself within the
+gates of hell; in either case there must be something to gratify
+curiosity, and compensate one for the fatigue of a long rumbling
+ride and a sleepless night.
+
+We reached the ground about an hour before midnight, and the
+approach to it was highly picturesque.  The spot chosen was the
+verge of an unbroken forest, where a space of about twenty acres
+appeared to have been partially cleared for the purpose.  Tents
+of different sizes were pitched very near together in a circle
+round the cleared space; behind them were ranged an exterior
+circle of carriages of every description, and at the back of each
+were fastened the horses which had drawn them thither.  Through
+this triple circle of defence we distinguished numerous fires
+burning brightly within it; and still more numerous lights
+flickering from the trees that were left in the enclosure.  The
+moon was in meridian splendour above our heads.
+
+We left the carriage to the care of a servant, who was to prepare
+a bed in it for Mrs. B. and me, and entered the inner circle.
+The first glance reminded me of Vauxhall, from the effect of the
+lights among the trees, and the moving crowd below them; but the
+second shewed a scene totally unlike any thing I had ever
+witnessed.  Four high frames, constructed in the form of altars,
+were placed at the four corners of the enclosure; on these were
+supported layers of earth and sod, on which burned immense fires
+of blazing pinewood.  On one side a rude platform was erected to
+accommodate the preachers, fifteen of whom attended this meeting,
+and with very short intervals for necessary refreshment and
+private devotion, preached in rotation, day and night, from
+Tuesday to Saturday.
+
+When we arrived, the preachers were silent; but we heard issuing
+from nearly every tent mingled sounds of praying, preaching,
+singing, and lamentation.  The curtains in front of each tent
+were dropped, and the faint light that gleamed through the white
+drapery, backed as it was by the dark forest, had a beautiful and
+mysterious effect, that set the imagination at work; and had the
+sounds which vibrated around us been less discordant, harsh, and
+unnatural, I should have enjoyed it; but listening at the corner
+of a tent, which poured forth more than its proportion of
+clamour, in a few moments chased every feeling derived from
+imagination, and furnished realities that could neither be
+mistaken or forgotten.
+
+Great numbers of persons were walking about the ground, who
+appeared like ourselves to be present only as spectators; some
+of these very unceremoniously contrived to raise the drapery of
+this tent, at one comer, so as to afford us a perfect view of
+the interior.
+
+The floor was covered with straw, which round the sides was
+heaped in masses, that might serve as seats, but which at
+that moment were used to support the heads and the arms of the
+close-packed circle of men and women who kneeled on the floor.
+
+Out of about thirty persons thus placed, perhaps half a dozen
+were men.  One of these, a handsome looking youth of eighteen
+or twenty, kneeled just below the opening through which I looked.
+His arm was encircling the neck of a young girl who knelt beside
+him, with her hair hanging dishevelled upon her shoulders, and
+her features working with the most violent agitation; soon after
+they both fell forward on the straw, as if unable to endure in
+any other attitude the burning eloquence of a tall grim figure
+in black, who, standing erect in the centre, was uttering with
+incredible vehemence an oration that seemed to hover between
+praying and preaching; his arms hung stiff and immoveable by
+his side, and he looked like an ill-constructed machine, set
+in action by a movement so violent, as to threaten its own
+destruction, so jerkingly, painfully, yet rapidly, did his
+words tumble out; the kneeling circle ceasing not to call in
+every variety of tone on the name of Jesus; accompanied with
+sobs, groans, and a sort of low howling inexpressibly painful
+to listen to.  But my attention was speedily withdrawn from the
+preacher, and the circle round him, by a figure which knelt
+alone at some distance; it was a living image of Scott's
+Macbriar, as young, as wild, and as terrible.  His thin arms
+tossed above his head, had forced themselves so far out of the
+sleeves, that they were bare to the elbow; his large eyes glared
+frightfully, and he continued to scream without an instant's
+intermission the word "Glory!" with a violence that seemed to
+swell every vein to bursting.  It was too dreadful to look upon
+long, and we turned away shuddering.
+
+We made the circuit of the tents, pausing where attention was
+particularly excited by sounds more vehement than ordinary.
+We contrived to look into many; all were strewed with straw, and
+the distorted figures that we saw kneeling, sitting, and lying
+amongst it, joined to the woeful and convulsive cries, gave to
+each, the air of a cell in Bedlam.
+
+One tent was occupied exclusively by Negroes.  They were all
+full-dressed, and looked exactly as if they were performing
+a scene on the stage.  One woman wore a dress of pink gauze
+trimmed with silver lace; another was dressed in pale yellow
+silk; one or two had splendid turbans; and all wore a profusion
+of ornaments.  The men were in snow white pantaloons, with gay
+coloured linen jackets.  One of these, a youth of coal-black
+comeliness, was preaching with the most violent gesticulations,
+frequently springing high from the ground, and clapping his
+hands over his head.  Could our missionary societies have heard
+the trash he uttered, by way of an address to the Deity, they
+might perhaps have doubted whether his conversion had much
+enlightened his mind.
+
+At midnight a horn sounded through the camp, which, we were told,
+was to call the people from private to public worship; and we
+presently saw them flocking from all sides to the front of the
+preachers' stand.  Mrs. B. and I contrived to place ourselves
+with our backs supported against the lower part of this
+structure, and we were thus enabled to witness the scene which
+followed without personal danger.  There were about two thousand
+persons assembled.
+
+One of the preachers began in a low nasal tone, and, like all
+other Methodist preachers, assured us of the enormous depravity
+of man as he comes from the hands of his Maker, and of his
+perfect sanctification after he had wrestled sufficiently with
+the Lord to get hold of him, _et cetera_.  The admiration of the
+crowd was evinced by almost constant cries of "Amen! Amen!"
+"Jesus! Jesus!" "Glory! Glory!" and the like.  But this
+comparative tranquility did not last long: the preacher told
+them that "this night was the time fixed upon for anxious
+sinners to wrestle with the Lord;" that he and his brethren
+"were at hand to help them," and that such as needed their
+help were to come forward into "the pen." The phrase forcibly
+recalled Milton's lines--
+
+    "Blind mouths! that scarce themselves know how to hold
+     A sheep-hook, or have learned aught else, the least
+     That to the faithful herdsman's art belongs!
+     --But when they list their lean and flashy songs,
+     Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw;--
+     The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed!
+     But swoln with wind, and the rank mist they draw,
+     Rot inwardly--and foul contagion spread."
+
+"The pen" was the space immediately below the preachers' stand;
+we were therefore placed on the edge of it, and were enabled to
+see and hear all that took place in the very centre of this
+extraordinary exhibition.
+
+The crowd fell back at the mention of the _pen_, and for some
+minutes there was a vacant space before us.  The preachers came
+down from their stand and placed themselves in the midst of it,
+beginning to sing a hymn, calling upon the penitents to come
+forth.  As they sung they kept turning themselves round to every
+part of the crowd and, by degrees, the voices of the whole
+multitude joined in chorus.  This was the only moment at which
+I perceived any thing like the solemn and beautiful effect,
+which I had heard ascribed to this woodland worship.  It is
+certain that the combined voices of such a multitude, heard at
+dead of night, from the depths of their eternal forests, the
+many fair young faces turned upward, and looking paler and
+lovelier as they met the moon-beams, the dark figures of the
+officials in the middle of the circle, the lurid glare thrown by
+the altar-fires on the woods beyond, did altogether produce a
+fine and solemn effect, that I shall not easily forget; but ere
+I had well enjoyed it, the scene changed, and sublimity gave
+place to horror and disgust.
+
+The exhortation nearly resembled that which I had heard at
+"the Revival," but the result was very different; for, instead
+of the few hysterical women who had distinguished themselves
+on that occasion, above a hundred persons,, nearly all females,
+came forward, uttering howlings and groans, so terrible that I
+shall never cease to shudder when I recall them.  They appeared
+to drag each other forward, and on the word being given, "let us
+pray," they all fell on their knees; but this posture was soon
+changed for others that permitted greater scope for the
+convulsive movements of their limbs; and they were soon all
+lying on the ground in an indescribable confusion of heads and
+legs.  They threw about their limbs with such incessant and
+violent motions, that I was every instant expecting some serious
+accident to occur.
+
+But how am I to describe the sounds that proceeded from this
+strange mass of human beings?  I know no words which can convey
+an idea of it.  Hysterical sobbings, convulsive groans, shrieks
+and screams the most appalling, burst forth on all sides.  I felt
+sick with horror.  As if their hoarse and over strained voices
+failed to make noise enough, they soon began to clap their hands
+violently.  The scene described by Dante was before me:-
+
+    "Quivi sospiri, pianti, ed alti guai
+     Risonavon per l'aere--
+     --Orribili favelle
+     Parole di dolore, accenti d'ira
+     Voci alti e floche, e suon di man con elle."
+
+Many of these wretched creatures were beautiful young females.
+The preachers moved about among them, at once exciting and
+soothing their agonies.  I heard the muttered "Sister! dear
+sister!"  I saw the insidious lips approach the cheeks of the
+unhappy girls; I heard the murmured confessions of the poor
+victims, and I watched their tormentors, breathing into their
+ears consolations that tinged the pale cheek with red.  Had I
+been a man, I am sure I should have been guilty of some rash
+act of interference; nor do I believe that such a scene could
+have been acted in the presence of Englishmen without instant
+punishment being inflicted; not to mention the salutary
+discipline of the treadmill, which, beyond all question, would,
+in England, have been applied to check so turbulent and so
+vicious a scene.
+
+After the first wild burst that followed their prostration, the
+meanings, in many instances, became loudly articulate; and I then
+experienced a strange vibration between tragic and comic feeling.
+
+A very pretty girl, who was kneeling in the attitude of Canova's
+Magdalene immediately before us, amongst an immense quantity of
+jargon, broke out thus: "Woe! woe to the backsliders! hear it,
+hear it Jesus! when I was fifteen my mother died, and I
+backslided, oh Jesus, I backslided! take me home to my mother,
+Jesus! take me home to her, for I am weary!  Oh John Mitchel!
+John Mitchel!" and after sobbing piteously behind her raised
+hands, she lifted her sweet face again, which was as pale as
+death, and said, "Shall I sit on the sunny bank of salvation with
+my mother? my own dear mother? oh Jesus, take me home, take me
+home!"  Who could refuse a tear to this earnest wish for death in
+one so young and so lovely?  But I saw her, ere I left the
+ground, with her hand fast locked, and her head supported by a
+man who looked very much as Don Juan might, when sent back to
+earth as too bad for the regions below.
+
+One woman near us continued to "call on the Lord," as it is
+termed, in the loudest possible tone, and without a moment's
+interval, for the two hours that we kept our dreadful station.
+She became frightfully hoarse, and her face so red as to make
+me expect she would burst a blood-vessel.  Among the rest of
+her rant, she said, "I will hold fast to Jesus, I never will
+let him go; if they take me to hell, I will still hold him fast,
+fast, fast!"
+
+The stunning noise was sometimes varied by the preachers
+beginning to sing; but the convulsive movements of the poor
+maniacs only became more violent.  At length the atrocious
+wickedness of this horrible scene increased to a degree of
+grossness, that drove us from our station; we returned to the
+carriage at about three o'clock in the morning, and passed
+the remainder of the night in listening to the ever increasing
+tumult at the pen.  To sleep was impossible.  At daybreak the
+horn again sounded, to send them to private devotion; and in
+about an hour afterwards I saw the whole camp as joyously
+and eagerly employed in preparing and devouring their most
+substantial breakfasts as if the night had been passed in
+dancing; and I marked many a fair but pale face, that I
+recognised as a demoniac of the night, simpering beside a
+swain, to whom she carefully administered hot coffee and
+eggs.  The preaching saint and the howling sinner seemed alike
+to relish this mode of recruiting their strength.
+
+After enjoying abundance of strong tea, which proved a
+delightful restorative after a night so strangely spent, I
+wandered alone into the forest, and I never remember to have
+found perfect quiet more delightful.
+
+We soon after left the ground; but before our departure we
+learnt that a very _satisfactory_ collection had been made by
+the preachers, for Bibles, Tracts, and _all other religious
+purposes_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 16
+
+Danger of rural excursions--Sickness
+
+
+
+It is by no means easy to enjoy the beauties of American scenery
+in the west, even when you are in a neighbourhood that affords
+much to admire; at least, in doing so, you run considerable risk
+of injuring your health.  Nothing is considered more dangerous
+than exposure to midday heat, except exposure to evening damp;
+and the twilight is so short, that if you set out on an
+expedition when the fervid heat subsides, you can hardly get half
+a mile before "sun down," as they call it, warns you that you
+must run or drive home again, as fast as possible, for fear you
+should get "a chill."
+
+I believe we braved all this more than any one else in the whole
+country, and if we had not, we should have left Cincinnati
+without seeing any thing of the country around it.
+
+Though we kept steadily to our resolution of passing no more
+sylvan hours in the forests of Ohio, we often spent entire days
+in Kentucky, tracing the course of a "creek," or climbing the
+highest points within our reach, in the hope of catching a
+glimpse of some distant object.  A beautiful reach of the Ohio,
+or the dark windings of the pretty Licking, were indeed always
+the most remarkable features in the landscape.
+
+There was one spot, however, so beautiful that we visited it
+again and again; it was by no means free from mosquitoes; and
+being on the bank of a stream, with many enormous trees lying on
+the half-cleared ground around, it was just such a place as we
+had been told a hundred times was particularly "dangerous;"
+nevertheless, we dared every thing for the sake of dining beside
+our beautiful rippling stream, and watching the bright sunbeams
+dancing on the grassy bank, at such a distance from our retreat
+that they could not heat us.  A little below the basin that
+cooled our wine was a cascade of sufficient dimensions to give us
+all the music of a waterfall, and all the sparkling brightness of
+clear water when it is broken again and again by jutting crags.
+
+To sit beside this miniature cascade, and read, or dream away a
+day, was one of our greatest pleasures.
+
+It was indeed a mortifying fact, that whenever we found out a
+picturesque nook, where turf, and moss, and deep shade, and a
+crystal stream, and fallen trees, majestic in their ruin, tempted
+us to sit down, and be very cool and very happy, we invariably
+found that that spot lay under the imputation of malaria.
+
+A row upon the Ohio was another of our favourite amusements; but
+in this, I believe, we were also very singular, for often, when
+enjoying it, we were shouted at, by the young free-borns on the
+banks, as if we had been so many monsters.
+
+The only rural amusement in which we ever saw any of the natives
+engaged was eating strawberries and cream in a pretty garden
+about three miles from the town; here we actually met three or
+four carriages; a degree of dissipation that I never witnessed
+on any other occasion.  The strawberries were tolerable
+strawberries, but the cream was the vilest sky-blue, and the
+charge half a dollar to each person; which being about the price
+of half a fat sheep, I thought "pretty considerable much," if I
+may be permitted to use an expressive phrase of the country.
+
+We had repeatedly been told, by those who knew the land, that
+the _second summer_ was the great trial to the health of
+Europeans settled in America; but we had now reached the middle
+of our second August, and with the exception of the fever one of
+my sons had suffered from, the summer after our arrival, we had
+all enjoyed perfect health; but I was now doomed to feel the
+truth of the above prediction, for before the end of August I
+fell low before the monster that is for ever stalking through
+that land of lakes and rivers, breathing fever and death around.
+It was nine weeks before I left my room, and when I did, I
+looked more fit to walk into the Potter's Field, (as they call
+the English burying ground) than any where else.
+
+Long after my general health was pretty well restored, I suffered
+from the effect of the fever in my limbs, and lay in bed reading
+several weeks after I had been pronounced convalescent.  Several
+American novels were brought me.  Mr. Flint's Francis Berrian is
+excellent; a little wild and romantic, but containing scenes of
+first-rate interest and pathos.  Hope Leslie, and Redwood, by
+Miss Sedgewick, an American lady, have both great merit; and I
+now first read the whole of Mr. Cooper's novels.  By the time
+these American studies were completed, I never closed my eyes
+without seeing myriads of bloody scalps floating round me; long
+slender figures of Red Indians crept through my dreams with
+noiseless tread; panthers flared; forests blazed; and which
+ever way I fled, a light foot, a keen eye, and a long rifle
+were sure to be on my trail.  An additional ounce of calomel
+hardly sufficed to neutralize the effect of these raw-head
+and bloody-bones adventures.  I was advised to plunge
+immediately into a course of fashionable novels.  It was a
+great relief to me; but as my head was by no means very clear,
+I sometimes jumbled strangely together the civilized rogues
+and assassins of Mr. Bulwer, and the wild men, women, and
+children slayers of Mr. Cooper; and, truly, between them, I
+passed my dreams in very bad company.
+
+Still I could not stand, nor even sit upright.  What was I to
+read next?  A happy thought struck me.  I determined upon
+beginning with Waverley, and reading through (not for the first
+time certainly) the whole series.  And what a world did I enter
+upon!  The wholesome vigour of every page seemed to communicate
+itself to my nerves; I ceased to be languid and fretful, and
+though still a cripple, I certainly enjoyed myself most
+completely, as long as my treat lasted; but this was a shorter
+time than any one would believe, who has not found how such
+volumes melt, before the constant reading of a long idle day.
+When it was over, however, I had the pleasure of finding that I
+could walk half a dozen yards at a time, and take short airings
+in an open carriage; and better still, could sleep quietly.
+
+It was no very agreeable conviction which greeted my recovery,
+that our Cincinnati speculation for my son would in no way answer
+our expectation; and very soon after, he was again seized with
+the bilious fever of the country, which terminated in that most
+distressing of all maladies, an ague.  I never witnessed is
+effects before, and therefore made my self extremely miserable at
+what those around me considered of no consequence.
+
+I believe this frightful complaint is not immediately dangerous;
+but I never can believe that the violent and sudden prostration
+of strength, the dreadfully convulsive movements which distort
+the limbs, the livid hue that spreads itself over the complexion,
+can take place without shaking the seat of health and life.
+Repeatedly we thought the malady cured, and for a few days the
+poor sufferer believed himself restored to health and strength;
+but again and again it returned upon him, and he began to give
+himself up as the victim of ill health.  My own health was still
+very infirm, and it took but little time to decide that we must
+leave Cincinnati.  The only impediment to this was, the fear that
+Mr. Trollope, who was to join us in the Spring, might have set
+out, and thus arrive at Cincinnati after we had left it.
+However, as the time he had talked of leaving England was later
+in the season, I decided upon running the risk; but the winter
+had set in with great severity, and the river being frozen, the
+steam-boats could not run; the frost continued unbroken through
+the whole of February, and we were almost weary of waiting for
+its departure, which was to be the signal of ours.
+
+The breaking up of the ice, on the Licking and Ohio, formed a
+most striking spectacle.  At night the river presented a solid
+surface of ice, but in the morning it shewed a collection of
+floating icebergs, of every imaginable size and form, whirling
+against each other with frightful violence, and with a noise
+unlike any sound I remember.
+
+This sight was a very welcome one, as it gave us hopes of
+immediate departure, but my courage failed, when I heard that
+one or two steam-boats, weary of waiting, meant to start on
+the morrow.  The idea of running against these floating islands
+was really alarming, and I was told by many, that my fears were
+not without foundation, for that repeated accidents had happened
+from this cause; and then they talked of the little Miami river,
+whose mouth we were to pass, sending down masses of ice that
+might stop our progress; in short, we waited patiently and
+prudently, till the learned in such matters told us that we might
+start with safety.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 17
+
+Departure from Cincinnati--Society on board the Steam-boat--
+Arrival at Wheeling--Bel Esprit
+
+
+
+We quitted Cincinnati the beginning of March, 1830, and I believe
+there was not one of our party who did not experience a sensation
+of pleasure in leaving it.  We had seen again and again all the
+queer varieties of it's little world; had amused ourselves with
+it's consequence, it's taste, and it's ton, till they had ceased
+to be amusing.  Not a hill was left unclimbed, nor a forest path
+unexplored; and, with the exception of two or three individuals,
+who bore heads and hearts peculiar to no clime, but which are
+found scattered through the world, as if to keep us every where
+in good humour with it, we left nought to regret at Cincinnati.
+The only regret was, that we had ever entered it; for we had
+wasted health, time, and money there.
+
+We got on board the steam-boat which was to convey us to Wheeling
+at three o'clock.  She was a noble boat, by far the finest we had
+seen.  The cabins were above, and the deck passengers, as they
+are called, were accommodated below.  In front of the ladies'
+cabin was an ample balcony, sheltered by an awning; chairs and
+sofas were placed there, and even at that early season, nearly
+all the female passengers passed the whole day there.  The name
+of this splendid vessel was the Lady Franklin.  By the way, I was
+often amused by the evident fondness which the Americans shew for
+titles.  The wives of their eminent men constantly receive that
+of "Lady."  We heard of Lady Washington, Lady Jackson, and many
+other "ladies."  The eternal recurrence of their militia titles
+is particularly ludicrous, met with, as they are, among the
+tavern-keepers, market-gardeners, &c.  But I think the most
+remarkable instance which we noticed of this sort of
+aristocratical longing occurred at Cincinnati.  Mr. T-- in
+speaking of a gentleman of the neighbourhood, called him Mr. M--.
+"General M--, sir," observed his companion.  "I beg his pardon,"
+rejoined Mr. T--, "but I was not aware of his being in the army."
+"No, sir, not in the army," was the reply, "but he was surveyor-
+general of the district."
+
+The weather was delightful; all trace of winter had disappeared,
+and we again found ourselves moving rapidly up the stream, and
+enjoying all the beauty of the Ohio.
+
+Of the male part of the passengers we saw nothing, excepting at
+the short silent periods allotted for breakfast, dinner, and
+supper, at which we were permitted to enter their cabin, and
+place ourselves at their table.
+
+In the Lady Franklin we had decidedly the best of it, for we had
+our beautiful balcony to sit in.  In all respects, indeed, our
+accommodations were very superior to what we had found in the
+boat which brought us from New Orleans to Memphis, where we were
+stowed away in a miserable little chamber close aft, under the
+cabin, and given to understand by the steward, that it was our
+duty there to remain "till such time as the bell should ring for
+meals."
+
+The separation of the sexes, so often mentioned, is no where more
+remarkable than on board the steam-boats.  Among the passengers
+on this occasion we had a gentleman and his wife, who really
+appeared to suffer from the arrangement.  She was an invalid, and
+he was extremely attentive to her, as far, at least, as the
+regulations permitted.  When the steward opened the door of
+communication between the cabins, to permit our approaching the
+table, her husband was always stationed close to it to hand her
+to her place; and when he accompanied her again to the door, he
+always lingered for a moment or two on the forbidden threshold,
+nor left his station, till the last female had passed through.
+Once or twice he ventured, when all but his wife were on the
+balcony, to sit down beside her for a moment in our cabin, but
+the instant either of us entered, he started like a guilty thing
+and vanished.
+
+While mentioning the peculiar arrangements which are thought
+necessary to the delicacy of the American ladies, or the comfort
+of the American gentlemen, I am tempted to allude to a story
+which I saw in the papers respecting the visits which it was
+stated Captain Basil Hall persisted in making to his wife and
+child on board a Mississippi steam-boat, after bring informed
+that doing so was contrary to law.  Now I happen to know that
+neither himself or Mrs. Hall ever entered the ladies' cabin
+during the whole voyage, as they occupied a state-room which
+Captain Hall had secured for his party.  The veracity of
+newspaper statements is, perhaps, nowhere quite unimpeachable,
+but if I am not greatly mistaken, there are more direct
+falsehoods circulated by the American newspapers than by all the
+others in the world, and the one great and never-failing source
+of these voluminous works of imagination is England and the
+English.  How differently would such a voyage be managed on the
+other side of the Atlantic, were such a mode of travelling
+possible there.  Such long calm river excursions would be
+perfectly delightful, and parties would be perpetually formed to
+enjoy them.  Even were all the parties strangers to each other,
+the knowledge that they were to eat, drink, and steam away
+together for a week or fortnight, would induce something like a
+social feeling in any other country.
+
+It is true that the men became sufficiently acquainted to game
+together, and we were told that the opportunity was considered as
+so favourable, that no boat left New Orleans without having as
+cabin passengers one or two gentlemen from that city whose
+profession it was to drill the fifty-two elements of a pack of
+cards to profitable duty.  This doubtless is an additional reason
+for the strict exclusion of the ladies from their society.  The
+constant drinking of spirits is another, for though they do not
+scruple to chew tobacco and to spit incessantly in the presence
+of women, they generally prefer drinking and gaming in their
+absence.
+
+I often used to amuse myself with fancying the different scene
+which such a vessel would display in Europe.  The noble length of
+the gentlemen's cabin would be put into requisition for a dance,
+while that of the ladies, with their delicious balcony, would be
+employed for refreshments, instead of sitting down in two long
+silent melancholy rows, to swallow as much coffee and beef-steak
+as could be achieved in ten minutes.  Then song and music would
+be heard borne along by the midnight breeze; but on the Ohio,
+when light failed to shew us the bluffs, and the trees, with
+their images inverted in the stream, we crept into our little
+cots, listening to the ceaseless churning of the engine, in hope
+it would prove a lullaby till morning.
+
+We were three days in reaching Wheeling, where we arrived at
+last, at two o'clock in the morning, an uncomfortable hour to
+disembark with a good deal of luggage, as the steam-boat was
+obliged to go on immediately; but we were instantly supplied with
+a dray, and in a few moments found ourselves comfortably seated
+before a good fire, at an hotel near the landing-place; our
+rooms, with fires in them, were immediately ready for us, and
+refreshments brought, with all that sedulous attention which in
+this country distinguishes a slave state.  In making this
+observation I am very far from intending to advocate the system
+of slavery; I conceive it to be essentially wrong; but so far as
+my observation has extended, I think its influence is far less
+injurious to the manners and morals of the people than the
+fallacious ideas of equality, which are so fondly cherished by
+the working classes of the white population in America.  That
+these ideas are fallacious, is obvious, for in point of fact the
+man possessed of dollars does command the services of the man
+possessed of no dollars; but these services are given grudgingly,
+and of necessity, with no appearance of cheerful goodwill on the
+one side, or of kindly interest on the other.  I never failed to
+mark the difference on entering a slave state.  I was immediately
+comfortable, and at my ease, and felt that the intercourse
+between me and those who served me, was profitable to both
+parties and painful to neither.
+
+It was not till I had leisure for more minute observation that I
+felt aware of the influence of slavery upon the owners of slaves;
+when I did, I confess I could not but think that the citizens of
+the United States had contrived, by their political alchymy, to
+extract all that was most noxious both in democracy and in
+slavery, and had poured the strange mixture through every vein of
+the moral organization of their country.
+
+Wheeling is the state of Virginia, and appears to be a
+flourishing town.  It is the point at which most travellers from
+the West leave the Ohio, to take the stages which travel the
+mountain road to the Atlantic cities.
+
+It has many manufactories, among others, one for blowing and
+cutting glass, which we visited.  We were told by the workmen
+that the articles finished there were equal to any in the world;
+but my eyes refused their assent.  The cutting was very good,
+though by no means equal to what we see in daily use in London;
+but the chief inferiority is in the material, which is never
+altogether free from colour.  I had observed this also in the
+glass of the Pittsburgh manufactory, the labour bestowed on it
+always appearing greater than the glass deserved.  They told us
+also, that they were rapidly improving in the art, and I have no
+doubt that this was true.
+
+Wheeling has little of beauty to distinguish it, except the ever
+lovely Ohio, to which we here bid adieu, and a fine bold hill,
+which rises immediately behind the town.  This hill, as well as
+every other in the neighbourhood, is bored for coal.  Their mines
+are all horizontal.  The coal burns well, but with a very black
+and dirty cinder.
+
+We found the coach, by which we meant to proceed to Little
+Washington, full, and learnt that we must wait two days before it
+would again leave the town.  Posting was never heard of in the
+country, and the mail travelled all night, which I did not
+approve of; we therefore found ourselves compelled to pass two
+days at the Wheeling hotel.
+
+I know not how this weary interval would have worn away, had it
+not been for the fortunate circumstance of our meeting with a
+_bel esprit_ among the boarders there.  We descended to the
+common sitting room (for private parlours there are none) before
+breakfast the morning after our arrival; several ordinary
+individuals entered, till the party amounted to eight or nine.
+Again the door opened, and in swam a female, who had once
+certainly been handsome, and who, it was equally evident, still
+thought herself so.  She was tall, and well formed, dressed in
+black, with many gaudy trinkets about her: a scarlet _fichu_
+relieved the sombre colour of her dress, and a very smart little
+cap at the back of her head set off an immense quantity of sable
+hair, which naturally, or artificially, adorned her forehead.
+A becoming quantity of rouge gave the finishing touch to her
+figure, which had a degree of pretension about it that
+immediately attracted our notice.  She talked fluently, and
+without any American restraint, and I began to be greatly puzzled
+as to who or what she could be; a lady, in the English sense of
+the word, I was sure she was not, and she was a little like an
+American female of what they call good standing.  A beautiful
+girl of seventeen entered soon after, and called her "Ma," and
+both mother and daughter chattered away, about themselves and
+their concerns, in a manner that greatly increased my puzzle.
+
+After breakfast, being much in want of amusement, I seated myself
+by her, and entered into conversation.  I found her nothing loth,
+and in about a minute and a half she put a card into my hand,
+setting forth, that she taught the art of painting upon velvet in
+all its branches.
+
+She stated to me, with great volubility, that no one but herself
+and her daughter knew any thing of this invaluable branch of art;
+but that for twenty-five dollars they were willing to communicate
+all they knew.
+
+In five minutes more she informed me that she was the author of
+some of the most cutting satires in the language; and then she
+presented me a paper, containing a prospectus, as she called it,
+of a novel, upon an entirely new construction.  I was strangely
+tempted to ask her if it went by steam, but she left me no time
+to ask any thing, for, continuing the autobiography she had so
+obligingly begun, she said, "I used to write against all the
+Adams faction.  I will go up stairs in a moment and fetch you
+down my sat-heres against that side.  But oh! my dear madam! it
+is really frightful to think how talent is neglected in this
+country.  Ah! I know what you are going to say, my dear madam,
+you will tell me that it is not so in yours.  I know it! but
+alas! the Atlantic!  However, I really must tell you how I have
+been treated: not only did I publish the most biting sat-heres
+against the Adams faction, but I wrote songs and odes in honour
+of Jackson; and my daughter, Cordelia, sang a splendid song of
+my writing, before eight hundred people, entirely and altogether
+written in his praise; and would you believe it, my dear madam,
+he has never taken the slightest notice of me, or made me the
+least remuneration.  But you can't suppose I mean to bear it
+quietly?  No!  I promise him that is not my way.  The novel
+I have just mentioned to you was began as a sentimental
+romance (that, perhaps, after all, is my real forte), but
+after the provocation I received at Washington, I turned it
+into a sat-herical novel, and I now call it _Yankee Doodle
+Court_.  By the way my dear madam, I think if I could make up
+my mind to cross that terrible Atlantic, I should be pretty
+well received, after writing Yankee Doodle Court!"
+
+I took the opportunity of a slight pause to ask her to what party
+she now belonged, since she had forsworn both Adams and Jackson.
+
+"Oh Clay! Clay for ever! he is a real true-hearted republican;
+the others are neither more nor less than tyrants."
+
+When next I entered the sitting-room she again addressed me, to
+deplore the degenerate taste of the age.
+
+"Would you believe it? I have at this moment a comedy ready for
+representation; I call it 'The Mad Philosopher.'  It is really
+admirable, and its success certain, if I could get it played.
+I assure you the neglect I meet with amounts perfectly to
+persecution.  But I have found out how to pay them, and to make
+my own fortune.  Sat-here, (as she constantly pronounced satire)
+sat-here is the only weapon that can revenge neglect, and I
+flatter myself I know how to use it.  Do me the favour to look
+at this,"
+
+She then presented me with a tiny pamphlet, whose price, she
+informed me, was twenty-five cents, which I readily paid to
+become the possessor of this _chef d'oeuvre_.  The composition
+was pretty nearly such as I anticipated, excepting that the
+English language was done to death by her pen still more than by
+her tongue.  The epigraph, which was subscribed "original," was
+as follows:
+
+  "Your popularity's on the decline:
+   You had your triumph! now I'll have mine."
+
+These are rather a favourable specimen of the verses that follow.
+
+In a subsequent conversation she made me acquainted with another
+talent, informing me that she had played the part of Charlotte,
+in _Love a la mode_, when General Lafayette honoured the theatre
+at Cincinnati with his presence.
+
+She now appeared to have run out the catalogue of her
+accomplishments; and I came to the conclusion that my new
+acquaintance was a strolling player: but she seemed to guess my
+thoughts, for she presently added.  "It was a Thespian corps that
+played before the General."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 18
+
+Departure for the mountains in the Stage--Scenery of the
+Alleghany--Haggerstown
+
+
+
+The weather was bleak and disagreeable during the two days we
+were obliged to remain at Wheeling.  I had got heartily tired of
+my gifted friend; we had walked up every side of the rugged hill,
+and I set off on my journey towards the mountains with more
+pleasure than is generally felt in quitting a pillow before
+daylight, for a cold corner in a rumbling stage-coach.
+
+This was the first time we had got into an American stage, though
+we had traversed above two thousand miles of the country, and we
+had all the satisfaction in it, which could be derived from the
+conviction that we were travelling in a foreign land.  This
+vehicle had no step, and we climbed into it by a ladder; when
+that was removed I remembered, with some dismay, that the females
+at least were much in the predicament of sailors, who, "in danger
+have no door to creep out," but when a misfortune is absolutely
+inevitable, we are apt to bear it remarkably well; who would
+utter that constant petition of ladies on rough roads, "let me get
+out," when compliance would oblige the pleader to make a step of
+five feet before she could touch the ground?
+
+The coach had three rows of seats, each calculated to hold three
+persons, and as we were only six, we had, in the phrase of
+Milton, to "inhabit lax" this exalted abode, and, accordingly, we
+were for some miles tossed about like a few potatoes in a
+wheelbarrow.  Our knees, elbows, and heads required too much care
+for their protection to allow us leisure to look out of the
+windows; but at length the road became smoother, and we became
+more skilful in the art of balancing ourselves, so as to meet the
+concussion with less danger of dislocation.
+
+We then found that we were travelling through a very beautiful
+country, essentially different in its features from what we had
+been accustomed to round Cincinnati: it is true we had left "_la
+belle riviere_" behind us, but the many limpid and rapid little
+streams that danced through the landscape to join it, more than
+atoned for its loss.
+
+The country already wore an air of more careful husbandry, and
+the very circumstance of a wide and costly road (though not a
+very smooth one), which in theory might be supposed to injure
+picturesque effect, was beautiful to us, who, since we had
+entered the muddy mouth of the Mississippi, had never seen any
+thing except a steam-boat and the _levee_ professing to have so
+noble an object as public accommodation.  Through the whole of
+the vast region we had passed, excepting at New Orleans itself,
+every trace of the art of man appeared to be confined to the
+individual effort of "getting along," which, in western phrase,
+means contriving to live with as small a portion of the
+incumbrances of civilized society as possible.
+
+This road was made at the expense of the government as far as
+Cumberland, a town situated among the Alleghany mountains, and,
+from the nature of the ground, must have been a work of great
+cost.  I regretted not having counted the number of bridges
+between Wheeling and Little Washington, a distance of thirty-four
+miles; over one stream only there are twenty-five, all passed by
+the road.  They frequently occurred within a hundred yards of
+each other, so serpentine is its course; they are built of stone,
+and sometimes very neatly finished.
+
+Little Washington is in Pennsylvania, across a corner of which
+the road runs.  This is a free state, but we were still waited
+upon by Negroes, hired from the neighbouring state of Virginia.
+We arrived at night, and set off again at four in the morning;
+all, therefore, that we saw of Little Washington was its hotel,
+which was clean and comfortable.  The first part of the next
+day's journey was through a country much less interesting: its
+character was unvaried for nearly thirty miles, consisting of an
+uninterrupted succession of forest-covered hills.  As soon as we
+had wearily dragged to the top of one of these, we began to
+rumble down the other side as rapidly as our four horses could
+trot; and no sooner arrived at the bottom than we began to crawl
+up again; the trees constantly so thick and so high as to
+preclude the possibility of seeing fifty yards in any direction.
+
+The latter part of the day, however, amply repaid us.  At four
+o'clock we began to ascend the Alleghany mountains: the first
+ridge on the western side is called Laurel Hill, and takes its
+name from the profuse quantity of evergreens with which it is
+covered; not any among them, however, being the shrub to which we
+give the name of laurel.
+
+The whole of this mountain region, through ninety miles of which
+the road passes, is a garden.  The almost incredible variety of
+plants, and the lavish profusion of their growth, produce an
+effect perfectly enchanting.  I really can hardly conceive a
+higher enjoyment than a botanical tour among the Alleghany
+mountains, to any one who had science enough to profit by it.
+
+The magnificent rhododendron first caught our eyes; it fringes
+every cliff, nestles beneath every rock, and blooms around every
+tree.  The azalia, the shumac, and every variety of that
+beautiful mischief, the kalmia, are in equal profusion.  Cedars
+of every size and form were above, around, and underneath us;
+firs more beautiful and more various than I had ever seen, were
+in equal abundance, but I know not whether they were really such
+as I had never seen in Europe, or only in infinitely greater
+splendour and perfection of growth; the species called the
+hemlock is, I think, second to the cedar only, in magnificence.
+Oak and beech, with innumerable roses and wild vines, hanging in
+beautiful confusion among their branches, were in many places
+scattered among the evergreens.  The earth was carpeted with
+various mosses and creeping plants, and though still in the month
+of March, not a trace of the nakedness of winter could be seen.
+Such was the scenery that shewed us we were indeed among the
+far-famed Alleghany mountains.
+
+As our noble terrace-road, the Semplon of America, rose higher
+and higher, all that is noblest in nature was joined to all that
+is sweetest.  The blue tops of the higher ridges formed the
+outline; huge masses of rock rose above us on the left, half hid
+at intervals by the bright green shrubs, while to the right we
+looked down upon the tops of the pines and cedars which clothed
+the bottom.
+
+I had no idea of the endless variety of mountain scenery.  My
+notions had been of rocks and precipices, of torrents and of
+forest trees, but I little expected that the first spot which
+should recall the garden scenery of our beautiful England would
+be found among the moutains: yet so it was.  From the time I
+entered America I had never seen the slightest approach to what
+we call pleasure-grounds; a few very worthless and scentless
+flowers were all the specimens of gardening I had seen in Ohio;
+no attempt at garden scenery was ever dreamed of, and it was with
+the sort of delight with which one meets an old friend, that we
+looked on the lovely mixture of trees, shrubs, and flowers, that
+now continually met our eyes.  Often, on descending into the
+narrow vallies, we found a little spot of cultivation, a garden
+or a field, hedged round with shumacs, rhododendrons, and
+azalias, and a cottage covered with roses.  These vallies are
+spots of great beauty; a clear stream is always found running
+through them, which is generally converted to the use of the
+miller, at some point not far from the road; and here, as on the
+heights, great beauty of colouring is given to the landscape, by
+the bright hue of the vegetation, and the sober grey of the
+rocks.
+
+The first night we passed among the mountains recalled us
+painfully from the enjoyment of nature to all the petty miseries
+of personal discomfort.  Arrived at our inn, a forlorn parlour,
+filled with the blended fumes of tobacco and whiskey, received
+us; and chilled, as we began to feel ourselves with the mountain
+air, we preferred going to our cold bedrooms rather than sup in
+such an atmosphere.  We found linen on the beds which they
+assured us had only been used _a few nights_; every kind of
+refreshment we asked for we were answered, "We do not happen to
+have that article."  We were still in Pennsylvania, and no longer
+waited upon by slaves; it was, therefore, with great difficulty
+that we procured a fire in our bedrooms from the surly-looking
+_young lady_ who condescended to officiate as chambermaid, and
+with much more, that we extorted clean linen for our beds; that
+done, we patiently crept into them supperless, while she made her
+exit muttering about the difficulty of "fixing English folks."
+
+The next morning cheered our spirits again; we now enjoyed a new
+kind of alpine witchery; the clouds were floating around, and
+below us, and the distant peaks were indistinctly visible as
+through a white gauze veil, which was gradually lifted up, till
+the sun arose, and again let in upon us the full glory of these
+interminable heights.
+
+We were told before we began the ascent, that we should find snow
+four inches deep on the road; but as yet we had seen none, and
+indeed it was with difficulty we persuaded ourselves that we were
+not travelling in the midst of summer.  As we proceeded, however,
+we found the northern declivities still covered with it, and at
+length, towards the summit, the road itself had the promised four
+inches.  The extreme mildness of the air, and the brilliant hue
+of the evergreens, contrasted strangely with this appearance of
+winter; it was difficult to understand how the snow could help
+melting in such an atmosphere.
+
+Again and again we enjoyed all the exhilarating sensations that
+such scenes must necessarily inspire, but in attempting a
+continued description of our progress over these beautiful
+mountains, I could only tell again of rocks, cedars, laurels, and
+running streams, of blue heights, and green vallies, yet the
+continually varying combinations of these objects afforded us
+unceasing pleasure.  From one point, pre-eminently above any
+neighbouring ridge, we looked back upon the enormous valley of
+the West.  It is a stupendous view; but having gazed upon it for
+some moments, we turned to pursue our course, and the certainty
+that we should see it no more, raised no sigh of regret.
+
+We dined, on the second day, at a beautiful spot, which we were
+told was the highest point on the road, being 2,846 feet above
+the level of the sea.  We were regaled luxuriously on wild turkey
+and mountain venison; which latter is infinitely superior to any
+furnished by the forests of the Mississippi, or the Ohio.  The
+vegetables also were extremely fine, and we were told by a pretty
+girl, who superintended the slaves that waited on us, (for we
+were again in Virginia), that the vegetables of the Alleghany
+were reckoned the finest in America.  She told us also, that wild
+strawberries were profusely abundant, and very fine; that their
+cows found for themselves, during the summer, plenty of flowery
+food, which produced a copious supply of milk; that their spring
+gave them the purest water, of icy coldness in the warmest
+seasons; and that the climate was the most delicious in the
+world, for though the thermometer sometimes stood at ninety,
+their cool breeze never failed them.  What a spot to turn hermit
+in for a summer!  My eloquent mountaineer gave me some specimens
+of ground plants, far unlike any thing I had ever seen.  One
+particularly, which she called the ground pine, is peculiar as
+she told me, to the Alleghany, and in some places runs over whole
+acres of ground; it is extremely beautiful.  The rooms were very
+prettily decorated with this elegant plant, hung round it in
+festoons.
+
+In many places the clearing has been considerable; the road
+passes through several fine farms, situated in the sheltered
+hollows; we were told that the wolves continue to annoy them
+severely, but that panthers, the terror of the West, are never
+seen, and bears very rarely.  Of snakes, they confessed they had
+abundance, but very few that were considered dangerous.
+
+In the afternoon we came in sight of the Monongehala river; and
+its banks gave us for several miles a beautiful succession of
+wild and domestic scenery.  In some points, the black rock rises
+perpendicularly from its margin, like those at Chepstow; at
+others, a mill, with its owner's cottage, its corn-plat, and its
+poultry, present a delightful image of industry and comfort.
+
+Brownsville is a busy looking little town built upon the banks of
+this river; it would be pretty, were it not stained by the hue of
+coal.  I do not remember in England to have seen any spot,
+however near a coal mine, so dyed in black as Wheeling and
+Brownsville.  At this place we crossed the Monongehala, in a flat
+ferry-boat, which very commodiously received our huge coach and
+four horses.
+
+On leaving the black little town, we were again cheered by
+abundance of evergreens, reflected in the stream, with fantastic
+piles of rock, half visible through the pines and cedars above,
+giving often the idea of a vast gothic castle.  It was a folly, I
+confess, but I often lamented they were not such; the travelling
+for thousands of miles, without meeting any nobler trace of the
+ages that are passed, than a mass of rotten leaves, or a fragment
+of fallen rock, produces a heavy, earthly matter-of-fact effect
+upon the imagination, which can hardly be described, and for
+which the greatest beauty of scenery can furnish only an
+occasional and transitory remedy.
+
+Our second night in the mountains was past at a solitary house of
+rather forlorn appearance; but we fared much better than the
+night before, for they gave us clean sheets, a good fire, and no
+scolding.  We again started at four o'clock in the morning, and
+eagerly watched for the first gleam of light that should show the
+same lovely spectacle we had seen the day before; nor were we
+disappointed, though the show was somewhat different.  The
+vapours caught the morning ray, as it first darted over the
+mountain top, and passing it to the scene below, we seemed
+enveloped in a rainbow.
+
+We had now but one ridge left to pass over, and as we reached the
+top, and looked down on the new world before us, I hardly knew
+whether most to rejoice that
+
+      "All the toil of the long-pass'd way"
+
+was over, or to regret that our mountain journey was drawing to
+a close.
+
+The novelty of my enjoyment had doubtless added much to its
+keenness.  I have never been familiar with mountain scenery.
+Wales has shewn me all I ever saw, and the region of the
+Alleghany Alps in no way resembles it.  It is a world of
+mountains rising around you in every direction, and in every
+form; savage, vast, and wild; yet almost at every step, some
+lovely spot meets your eye, green, bright and blooming, as the
+most cherished nook belonging to some noble Flora in our own
+beautiful land.  It is a ride of ninety miles through kalmies,
+rhododendrons, azalias, vines and roses; sheltered from every
+blast that blows by vast masses of various coloured rocks, on
+which
+
+    "Tall pines and cedars wave their dark green crests."
+
+While in every direction you have a background of blue mountain
+tops, that play at bo-peep with you in the clouds.
+
+After descending the last ridge we reached Haggerstown, a small
+neat place, between a town and a village; and here by the piety
+of the Presbyterian coach-masters, we were doomed to pass an
+entire day, and two nights, "as the accommodation line must not
+run on the sabbath."
+
+I must, however, mention, that this day of enforced rest was
+_not_ Sunday.  Saturday evening we had taken in at Cumberland a
+portly passenger, whom we soon discovered to be one of the
+proprietors of the coach.  He asked us, with great politeness, if
+we should wish to travel on the sabbath, or to delay our journey.
+We answered that we would rather proceed; "The coach, then, shall
+go on tomorrow," replied the liberal coach-master, with the
+greatest courtesy; and accordingly we travelled all Sunday, and
+arrived at Haggerstown on Sunday night.  At the door of the inn
+our civil proprietor left us; but when we enquired of the waiter
+at what hour we were to start on the morrow, he told us that we
+should be obliged to pass the whole of Monday there, as the coach
+which was to convey us forward would not arrive from the east,
+till Tuesday morning.
+
+Thus we discovered that the waiving the sabbath-keeping by the
+proprietor, was for his own convenience, and not for ours, and
+that we were to be tied by the leg for four-and-twenty hours
+notwithstanding.  This was quite a Yankee trick.
+
+Luckily for us, the inn at Haggerstown was one of the most
+comfortable I ever entered.  It was there that we became fully
+aware that we had left Western America behind us.  Instead of
+being scolded, as we literally were at Cincinnati, for asking for
+a private sitting-room, we here had two, without asking at all.
+A waiter, quite _comme il faut_, summoned us to breakfast,
+dinner, and tea, which we found prepared with abundance, and even
+elegance.  The master of the house met us at the door of the
+eating-room, and, after asking if we wished for any thing not on
+the table, retired.  The charges were in no respect higher than
+at Cincinnati.
+
+A considerable creek, called Conococheque Creek, runs near the
+town, and the valley through which it passes is said to be the
+most fertile in America.
+
+On leaving Haggerstown we found, to our mortification, that we
+were not to be the sole occupants of the bulky accommodation, two
+ladies and two gentlemen appearing at the door ready to share it
+with us.  We again started, at four o'clock, by the light of a
+bright moon, and rumbled and nodded through the roads
+considerably worse than those over the mountains.
+
+As the light began to dawn we discovered our ladies to be an old
+woman and her pretty daughter.
+
+Soon after daylight we found that our pace became much slower
+than usual, and that from time to time our driver addressed to
+his companion on the box many and vehement exclamations.  The
+gentlemen put their heads out, to ask what was the matter, but
+could get no intelligence, till the mail overtook us, when both
+vehicles stopped, and an animated colloquy of imprecations took
+place between the coachmen.  At length we learnt that one of our
+wheels was broken in such a manner as to render it impossible for
+us to proceed.  Upon this the old lady immediately became a
+principal actor in the scene.  She sprung to the window, and
+addressing the set of gentlemen who completely filled the mail,
+exclaimed "Gentlemen! can't you make room for two? only me and my
+daughter?"  The naive simplicity of this request set both the
+coaches into an uproar of laughter.  It was impossible to doubt
+that she acted upon the same principle as the pious Catholic, who
+addressing heaven with a prayer for himself alone, added "_pour
+ne pas fatiguer ta misericorde._"  Our laugh, however, never
+daunted the old woman, or caused her for a moment to cease the
+reiteration of her request, "only for two of us, gentlemen! can't
+you find room for two?"
+
+Our situation was really very embarrassing, but not to laugh was
+impossible.  After it was ascertained that our own vehicle could
+not convey us, and that the mail had not even room for two, we
+decided upon walking to the next village, a distance,
+fortunately, of only two miles, and awaiting there the repair of
+the wheel.  We immediately set off, at the brisk pace that six
+o'clock and a frosty morning in March were likely to inspire,
+leaving our old lady and her pretty daughter considerably in the
+rear; our hearts having been rather hardened by the exclusive
+nature of her prayer for aid.
+
+When we had again started upon our new wheel, the driver, to
+recover the time he had lost, drove rapidly over a very rough
+road, in consequence of which, our self-seeking old lady fell
+into a perfect agony of terror, and her cries of "we shall be
+over! oh, Lord! we shall be over! we must over! we shall be
+over!" lasted to the end of the stage which with laughing,
+walking, and shaking, was a most fatiguing one.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 19
+
+Baltimore--Catholic Cathedral--St.  Mary's--College Sermons--
+Infant School
+
+
+
+As we advanced towards Baltimore the look of cultivation
+increased, the fences wore an air of greater neatness, the houses
+began to look like the abodes of competence and comfort, and we
+were consoled for the loss of the beautiful mountains by knowing
+that we were approaching the Atlantic.
+
+From the time of quitting the Ohio river, though, unquestionably,
+it merits its title of "the beautiful," especially when compared
+with the dreary Mississippi, I strongly felt the truth of an
+observation I remembered to have heard in England, that little
+rivers were more beautiful than great ones.  As features in a
+landscape, this is assuredly the case.  Where the stream is so
+wide that the objects on the opposite shore are indistinct, all
+the beauty must be derived from the water itself; whereas, when
+the stream is narrow, it becomes only a part of the composition.
+The Monongahela, which is in size between the Wye and the Thames,
+is infinitely more picturesque than the Ohio.
+
+To enjoy the beauty of the vast rivers of this vast country you
+must be upon the water; and then the power of changing the
+scenery by now approaching one shore, and now the other, is very
+pleasing; but travelling as we now did, by land, the wild, rocky,
+narrow, rapid little rivers we encountered, were a thousand times
+more beautiful.  The Potapsco, near which the road runs, as you
+approach Baltimore, is at many points very picturesque.  The
+large blocks of grey rock, now close upon its edge, and now
+retiring to give room for a few acres of bright green herbage,
+give great interest and variety to its course.
+
+Baltimore is, I think, one of the handsomest cities to approach
+in the Union.  The noble column erected to the memory of
+Washington, and the Catholic Cathedral, with its beautiful dome,
+being built on a commanding eminence, are seen at a great
+distance.  As you draw nearer, many other domes and towers become
+visible, and as you enter Baltimore-street, you feel that you are
+arrived in a handsome and populous city.
+
+We took up our quarters at an excellent hotel, where the coach
+stopped, and the next day were fortunate enough to find
+accommodation in the house of a lady, well known to many of my
+European friends.  With her and her amiable daughter, we spent a
+fortnight very agreeably, and felt quite aware that if we had not
+arrived in London or Paris, we had, at least, left far behind the
+"half-horse, half-alligator" tribes of the West, as the
+Kentuckians call themselves.
+
+Baltimore is in many respects a beautiful city; it has several
+handsome buildings, and even the private dwelling-houses have a
+look of magnificence, from the abundance of white marble with
+which many of them are adorned.  The ample flights of steps, and
+the lofty door frames, are in most of the best houses formed of
+this beautiful material.
+
+This has been called the city of monuments, from its having the
+stately column erected to the memory of General Washington, and
+which bears a colossal statue of him at the top; and another
+pillar of less dimensions, recording some victory; I forget
+which.  Both these are of brilliant white marble.  There are also
+several pretty marble fountains in different parts of the city,
+which greatly add to its beauty.  These are not, it is true,
+quite so splendid as that of the Innocents, or many others at
+Paris, but they are fountains of clear water, and they are built
+of white marble.  There is one which is sheltered from the sun by
+a roof supported by light columns; it looks like a temple
+dedicated to the genius of the spring.  The water flows into a
+marble cistern, to which you descend by a flight of steps of
+delicate whiteness, and return by another.  These steps are never
+without groups of negro girls, some carrying the water on their
+heads, with that graceful steadiness of step, which requires no
+aid from the hand; some tripping gaily with their yet unfilled
+pitchers; many of them singing in the soft rich voice, peculiar
+to their race; and all dressed with that strict attention to
+taste and smartness, which seems the distinguishing
+characteristic of the Baltimore females of all ranks.
+
+The Catholic Cathedral is considered by all Americans as a
+magnificent church, but it can hardly be so classed by any one
+who has seen the churches of Europe; its interior, however, has
+an air of neatness that amounts to elegance.  The form is a Greek
+cross, having a dome in the centre; but the proportions are ill-
+preserved; the dome is too low, and the arches which support it
+are flattened, and too wide for their height.  On each side of
+the high altar are chapels to the Saviour and the Virgin.  The
+altars in these, as well as the high altar, are of native marble
+of different colours, and some of the specimens are very
+beautiful.  The decorations of the altar are elegant and costly.
+The prelate is a cardinal, and bears, moreover, the title of
+"Archbishop of Baltimore."
+
+There are several paintings in different parts of the church,
+which we heard were considered as very fine.  There are two
+presented by Louis XVIII; one of these is the Descent from the
+Cross, by Paulin Guirin; the other a copy from Rubens, (as they
+told us) of a legend of St. Louis in the Holy Land; but the
+composition of the picture is so abominably bad, that I conceive
+the legend of its being after Rubens, must be as fabulous as its
+subject.  The admiration in which these pictures are held, is an
+incontestable indication of the state of art in the country.
+
+We attended mass in this church the Sunday after our arrival, and
+I was perfectly astonished at the beauty and splendid appearance
+of the ladies who filled it.  Excepting on a very brilliant
+Sunday at the Tuilleries, I never saw so shewy a display of
+morning costume, and I think I never saw any where so many
+beautiful women at one glance.  They all appeared to be in full
+dress, and were really all beautiful.
+
+The sermon (I am very attentive to sermons) was a most
+extraordinary one.  The priest began by telling us, that he was
+about to preach upon a vice that he would not "mention or name"
+from the beginning of his sermon to the end.
+
+Having thus excited the curiosity of his hearers, by proposing a
+riddle to them, he began.
+
+Adam, he said, was most assuredly the first who had committed
+this sin, and Cain the next; then, following the advice given by
+the listener, in the Plaideurs, "Passons au deluge, je vous
+prie;" he went on to mention the particular propriety of Noah's
+family on this point; and then continued, "Now observe, what did
+God shew the greatest dislike to?  What was it that Jesus was
+never even accused of?  What was it Joseph hated the most?  Who
+was the disciple that Jesus chose for his friend?" and thus he
+went on for nearly an hour, in a strain that was often perfectly
+unintelligible to me, but which, as far as I could comprehend
+it, appeared to be a sort of expose and commentary upon private
+anecdotes which he had found, or fancied he had found in the
+Bible.  I never saw the attention of a congregation more strongly
+excited, and I really wished, in Christian charity, that
+something better had rewarded it.
+
+There are a vast number of churches and chapels in the city, in
+proportion to its extent, and several that are large and well-
+built; the Unitarian church is the handsomest I have ever seen
+dedicated to that mode of worship.  But the prettiest among them
+is a little _bijou_ of a thing belonging to the Catholic college.
+The institution is dedicated to St. Mary, but this little chapel
+looks, though in the midst of a city, as if it should have been
+sacred to St. John of the wilderness.  There is a sequestered
+little garden behind it, hardly large enough to plant cabbages
+in, which yet contains a Mount Calvary, bearing a lofty cross.
+The tiny path which leads up to this sacred spot, is not much
+wider than a sheep-track, and its cedars are but shrubs, but all
+is in proportion; and notwithstanding its fairy dimensions, there
+is something of holiness, and quiet beauty about it, that excites
+the imagination strangely.  The little chapel itself has the same
+touching and impressive character.  A solitary lamp, whose glare
+is tempered by delicately painted glass, hangs before the altar.
+The light of day enters dimly, yet richly, through crimson
+curtains, and the silence with which the well-lined doors opened
+from time to time, admitting a youth of the establishment, who,
+with noiseless tread, approached the altar, and kneeling, offered
+a whispered prayer, and retired, had something in it more
+calculated, perhaps, to generate holy thoughts, than even the
+swelling anthem heard beneath the resounding dome of St. Peter's.
+
+Baltimore has a handsome museum, superintended by one of the
+Peale family, well known for their devotion to natural science,
+and to works of art.  It is not their fault if the specimens
+which they are enabled to display in the latter department are
+very inferior to their splendid exhibitions in the former.
+
+The theatre was closed when we were in Baltimore, but we were
+told that it was very far from being a popular or fashionable
+amusement.  We were, indeed, told this every where throughout the
+country, and the information was generally accompanied by the
+observation, that the opposition of the clergy was the cause of
+it.  But I suspect that this is not the principal cause,
+especially among the men, who, if they were so implicit in their
+obedience to the clergy, would certainly be more constant in
+their attendance at the churches; nor would they, moreover, deem
+the theatre more righteous because an English actor, or a French
+dancer, performed there; yet on such occasions the theatres
+overflow.  The cause, I think, is in the character of the people.
+I never saw a population so totally divested of gaiety; there is
+no trace of this feeling from one end of the Union to the other.
+They have no fetes, no fairs, no merry makings, no music in the
+streets, no Punch, no puppet-shows.  If they see a comedy or a
+farce, they may laugh at it; but they can do very well without
+it; and the consciousness of the number of cents that must be
+paid to enter a theatre, I am very sure turns more steps from its
+door than any religious feeling.  A distinguished publisher of
+Philadelphia told me that no comic publication had ever yet been
+found to answer in America.
+
+We arrived at Baltimore at the season of the "Conference."  I
+must be excused from giving any very distinct explanation of
+this term, as I did not receive any.  From what I could learn,
+it much resembles a Revival.  We entered many churches, and
+heard much preaching, and not one of the reverend orators could
+utter the reproach,
+
+"Peut-on si bien precher qu'elle ne dorme au sermon?"
+
+for I never even dosed at any.  There was one preacher whose
+manner and matter were so peculiar, that I took the liberty of
+immediately writing down a part of his discourse as a specimen.
+I confess I began writing in the middle of a sentence, for I
+waited in vain for a beginning.  It was as follows:-
+
+"Nevertheless, we must not lose sight of the one important,
+great, and only object; for the Lord is mighty, his works are
+great, likewise wonderful, likewise wise, likewise merciful; and,
+moreover, we must ever keep in mind, and close to our hearts, all
+his precious blessings, and unspeakable mercies, and
+overflowings; and moreover we must never lose sight of, no, never
+lose sight of, nor ever cease to remember, nor ever let our souls
+forget, nor ever cease to dwell upon, and to reverence, and to
+welcome, and to bless, and to give thanks, and to sing hosanna,
+and give praise,"--and here my fragment of paper failed, but
+this strain continued, without a shadow of meaning that I could
+trace, and in a voice inconceivably loud, for more than an hour.
+After he had finished his sermon, a scene exactly resembling that
+at the Cincinnati Revival, took place.  Two other priests
+assisted in calling forward the people, and in whispering comfort
+to them.  One of these men roared out in the coarsest accents,
+"Do you want to go to hell tonight?"  The church was almost
+entirely filled with women, who vied with each other in howlings
+and contortions of the body; many of them tore their clothes
+nearly off.  I was much amused, spite of the indignation and
+disgust the scene inspired, by the vehemence of the negro part of
+the congregation; they seemed determined to bellow louder than
+all the rest, to shew at once their piety and their equality.
+
+At this same chapel, a few nights before, a woman had fallen in
+a fit of ecstasy from the gallery, into the arms of the people
+below, a height of twelve feet.  A young slave who waited upon
+us at table, when this was mentioned, said, that similar
+accidents had frequently happened, and that once she had seen
+it herself.  Another slave in the house told us, that she "liked
+religion right well, but that she never took fits in it, 'cause
+she was always fixed in her best, when she went to chapel, and
+she did not like to have all her best clothes broke up."
+
+We visited the infant school, instituted in this city by Mr.
+Ibbertson, an amiable and intelligent Englishman.  It was the
+first infant school, properly so called, which I had ever seen,
+and I was greatly pleased with all the arrangements, and the
+apparent success of them.  The children, of whom we saw about a
+hundred, boys and girls, were between eighteen months and six
+years.  The apartment was filled with all sorts of instructive
+and amusing objects; a set of Dutch toys, arranged as a cabinet
+of natural history, was excellent; a numerous collection of large
+wooden bricks filled one corner of the room; the walls were hung
+with gay papers of different patterns, each representing some
+pretty group of figures; large and excellent coloured engravings
+of birds and beasts were exhibited in succession as the theme of
+a little lesson; and the sweet flute of Mr. Ibbertson gave tune
+and time to the prettiest little concert of chirping birds that I
+ever listened to.
+
+A geographical model, large enough to give clear ideas of
+continent, island, cape, isthmus, et cetera, all set in water, is
+placed before the children, and the pretty creatures point their
+little rosy fingers with a look of intense interest, as they are
+called upon to shew where each of them is to be found.  The
+dress, both of boys and girls, was elegantly neat, and their
+manner, when called upon to speak individually, was well-bred,
+intelligent, and totally free from the rude indifference, which
+is so remarkably prevalent in the manners of American children.
+Mr. Ibbertson will be benefactor to the Union, if he become the
+means of spreading the admirable method by which he had polished
+the manner, and awakened the intellect of these beautiful little
+Republicans.  I have conversed with many American ladies on the
+total want of discipline and subjection which I observed
+universally among children of all ages, and I never found any who
+did not both acknowledge and deplore the truth of the remark.  In
+the state of Ohio they have a law (I know not if it exist
+elsewhere), that if a father strike his son, he shall pay a fine
+of ten dollars for every such offence.  I was told by a gentleman
+of Cincinnati, that he had seen this fine inflicted there, at the
+requisition of a boy of twelve years of age, whose father, he
+proved, had struck him for lying.  Such a law, they say,
+generates a spirit of freedom.  What else may it generate?
+
+Mr. Ibbertson, who seems perfectly devoted, heart and head to
+the subject, told me that he was employed in organizing
+successive schools that should receive the pupils as they
+advanced in age.  If he prove himself as capable of completing
+education, as he appears to be of beginning it, his institution
+will be a very valuable one.  It would, indeed, be valuable any
+where; but in America, where discipline is not, where, from the
+shell, they are beings "that cannot rule, nor ever will be
+ruled," it is invaluable.
+
+About two miles from Baltimore is a fort, nobly situated on the
+Patapsco, and commanding the approach from the Chesapeak bay.  As
+our visit was on a Sunday we were not permitted to enter it.  The
+walk to this fort is along a fine terrace of beautiful verdure,
+which commands a magnificent view of the city, with its columns,
+towers, domes, and shipping; and also of the Patapsco river,
+which is here so wide as to present almost a sea view.  This
+terrace is ornamented with abundance of evergreens, and wild
+roses innumerable, but, the whole region has the reputation of
+being unhealthy, and the fort itself most lamentably so.  Before
+leaving the city of monuments, I must not omit naming one reared
+to the growing wealth of the country; Mr. Barham's hotel is said
+to be the most splendid in the Union, and it is certainly
+splendid enough for a people more luxurious than the citizens of
+the republic appear yet to be.  I heard different, and, indeed,
+perfectly contradictory accounts of the success of the
+experiment; but at least every one seemed to agree that the
+liberal projector was fully entitled to exclaim,
+
+     "'Tis not in mortals to command success;
+      I have done more, Jonathan, I've deserved it."
+
+After enjoying a very pleasant fortnight, the greater part of
+which was passed in rambling about this pretty city and its
+environs, we left it, not without regret, and all indulging the
+hope that we should be able to pay it another visit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 20
+
+Voyage to Washington--Capitol--City of Washington--Congress--
+Indians--Funeral of a Member of Congress
+
+
+
+By far the shortest route to Washington, both as to distance and
+time, is by land; but I much wished to see the celebrated
+Chesapeak bay, and it was therefore decided that we should take
+our passage in the steam-boat.  It is indeed a beautiful little
+voyage, and well worth the time it costs; but as to the beauty of
+the bay, it must, I think, be felt only by sailors.  It is, I
+doubt not, a fine shelter for ships, from the storms of the
+Atlantic, but its very vastness prevents its striking the eye as
+beautiful: it is, in fact, only a fine sea view.  But the
+entrance from it into the Potomac river is very noble, and is one
+of the points at which one feels conscious of the gigantic
+proportions of the country, without having recourse to a
+graduated pencil-case.
+
+The passage up this river to Washington is interesting, from many
+objects that it passes, but beyond all else, by the view it
+affords of Mount Vernon, the seat of General Washington.  It is
+there that this truly great man passed the last years of his
+virtuous life, and it is there that he lies buried: it was easy
+to distinguish, as we passed, the cypress that waves over his
+grave.
+
+The latter part of the voyage shews some fine river scenery; but
+I did not discover this till some months afterwards, for we now
+arrived late at night.
+
+Our first object the next morning was to get a sight of the
+capitol, and our impatience sent us forth before breakfast.  The
+mists of morning still hung around this magnificent building when
+first it broke upon our view, and I am not sure that the effect
+produced was not the greater for this circumstance.  At all
+events, we were struck with admiration and surprise.  None of us,
+I believe, expected to see so imposing a structure on that side
+of the Atlantic.  I am ill at describing buildings, but the
+beauty and majesty of the American capitol might defy an abler
+pen than mine to do it justice.  It stands so finely too, high,
+and alone.
+
+The magnificent western facade is approached from the city by
+terraces and steps of bolder proportions than I ever before saw.
+The elegant eastern front, to which many persons give the
+preference, is on a level with a newly-planted but exceedingly
+handsome inclosure, which, in a few years, will offer the shade
+of all the most splendid trees which flourish in the Union, to
+cool the brows and refresh the spirits of the members.  The view
+from the capitol commands the city and many miles around, and it
+is itself an object of imposing beauty to the whole country
+adjoining.
+
+We were again fortunate enough to find a very agreeable family to
+board with; and soon after breakfast left our comfortless hotel
+near the water, for very pleasant apartments in F. street.  [The
+streets that intersect the great avenues in Washington are
+distinguished by the letters of the alphabet.]
+
+I was delighted with the whole aspect of Washington; light,
+cheerful, and airy, it reminded me of our fashionable watering
+places.  It has been laughed at by foreigners, and even by
+natives, because the original plan of the city was upon an
+enormous scale, and but a very small part of it has been as yet
+executed.  But I confess I see nothing in the least degree
+ridiculous about it; the original design, which was as beautiful
+as it was extensive, has been in no way departed from, and all
+that has been done has been done well.  From the base of the hill
+on which the capitol stands extends a street of most magnificent
+width, planted on each side with trees, and ornamented by many
+splendid shops.  This street, which is called Pennsylvania
+Avenue, is above a mile in length, and at the end of it is the
+handsome mansion of the President; conveniently near to his
+residence are the various public offices, all handsome, simple,
+and commodious; ample areas are left round each, where grass and
+shrubs refresh the eye.  In another of the principal streets is
+the general post-office, and not far from it a very noble town-
+hall.  Towards the quarter of the President's house are several
+handsome dwellings, which are chiefly occupied by the foreign
+ministers.  The houses in the other parts of the city are
+scattered, but without ever losing sight of the regularity of the
+original plan; and to a person who has been travelling much
+through the country, and marked the immense quantity of new
+manufactories, new canals, new railroads, new towns, and new
+cities, which are springing, as it were, from the earth in every
+part of it, the appearance of the metropolis rising gradually
+into life and splendour, is a spectacle of high historic
+interest.
+
+Commerce had already produced large and handsome cities in
+America before she had attained to an individual political
+existence, and Washington may be scorned as a metropolis, where
+such cities as Philadelphia and New York exist; but I considered
+it as the growing metropolis of the growing population of the
+Union, and it already possesses features noble enough to sustain
+its dignity as such.
+
+The residence of the foreign legations and their families gives a
+tone to the society of this city which distinguishes it greatly
+from all others.  It is also, for a great part of the year, the
+residence of the senators and representatives, who must be
+presumed to be the _elite_ of the entire body of citizens, both
+in respect to talent and education.  This cannot fail to make
+Washington a more agreeable abode than any other city in the
+Union.
+
+The total absence of all sights, sounds, or smells of commerce,
+adds greatly to the charm.  Instead of drays you see handsome
+carriages; and instead of the busy bustling hustle of men,
+shuffling on to a sale of "dry goods" or "prime broad stuffs,"
+you see very well-dressed personages lounging leisurely up and
+down Pennsylvania Avenue.
+
+Mr. Pishey Thompson, the English bookseller, with his pretty
+collection of all sorts of pretty literature, fresh from London,
+and Mr. Somebody, the jeweller, with his brilliant shop full of
+trinkets, are the principal points of attraction and business.
+What a contrast to all other American cities!  The members, who
+pass several months every year in this lounging easy way, with no
+labour but a little talking, and with the _douceur_ of eight
+dollars a day to pay them for it, must feel the change sadly when
+their term of public service is over.
+
+There is another circumstance which renders the evening parties
+at Washington extremely unlike those of other places in the
+Union; this is the great majority of gentlemen.  The expense, the
+trouble, or the necessity of a ruling eye at home, one or all of
+these reasons, prevents the members' ladies from accompanying
+them to Washington; at least, I heard of very few who had their
+wives with them.  The female society is chiefly to be found among
+the families of the foreign ministers, those of the officers of
+state, and of the few members, the wealthiest and most
+aristocratic of the land, who bring their families with them.
+Some few independent persons reside in or near the city, but this
+is a class so thinly scattered that they can hardly be accounted
+a part of the population.
+
+But, strange to say, even here a theatre cannot be supported for
+more than a few weeks at a time.  I was told that gambling is the
+favourite recreation of the gentlemen, and that it is carried to
+a very considerable extent; but here, as elsewhere within the
+country, it is kept extremely well out of sight.  I do not think
+I was present with a pack of cards a dozen times during more than
+three years that I remained in the country.  Billiards are much
+played, though in most places the amusement is illegal.  It often
+appeared to me that the old women of a state made the laws, and
+the young men broke them.
+
+Notwithstanding the diminutive size of the city, we found much to
+see, and to amuse us.
+
+The patent office is a curious record of the fertility of the
+mind of man when left to its own resources; but it gives ample
+proof also that it is not under such circumstances it is most
+usefully employed.  This patent office contains models of all the
+mechanical inventions that have been produced in the Union, and
+the number is enormous.  I asked the man who shewed these, what
+proportion of them had been brought into use, he said about one
+in a thousand; he told me also, that they chiefly proceeded from
+mechanics and agriculturists settled in remote parts of the
+country, who had began by endeavouring to hit upon some
+contrivance to enable them to _get along_ without sending some
+thousand and odd miles for the thing they wanted.  If the
+contrivance succeeded, they generally became so fond of this
+offspring of their ingenuity, that they brought it to Washington
+for a patent.
+
+At the secretary of state's office we were shewn autographs of
+all the potentates with whom the Union were in alliance; which, I
+believe, pretty well includes all.  To the parchments bearing
+these royal signs manual were appended, of course, the official
+seals of each, enclosed in gold or silver boxes of handsome
+workmanship: I was amused by the manner in which one of their
+own, just prepared for the court of Russia, was displayed to us,
+and the superiority of their decorations pointed out.  They were
+superior, and in much better taste than the rest; and I only wish
+that the feeling that induced this display would spread to every
+corner of the Union, and mix itself with every act and with every
+sentiment.  Let America give a fair portion other attention to
+the arts and the graces that embellish life, and I will make her
+another visit, and write another book as unlike this as possible.
+
+Among the royal signatures, the only ones which much interested
+me were two from the hand of Napoleon.  The earliest of these,
+when he was first consul, was a most illegible scrawl, and, as
+the tradition went, was written on horseback; but his writing
+improved greatly after he became an emperor, the subsequent
+signature being firmly and clearly written.--I longed to steal
+both.
+
+The purity of the American character, formed and founded on the
+purity of the American government, was made evident to our senses
+by the display of all the offerings of esteem and regard which
+had been presented by various sovereigns to the different
+American ministers who had been sent to their courts.  The object
+of the law which exacted this deposit from every individual so
+honoured, was, they told us, to prevent the possibility of
+bribery being used to corrupt any envoy of the Republic.  I
+should think it would be a better way to select for the office
+such men as they felt could not be seduced by a sword or a
+snuff-box.  But they, doubtless, know their own business best.
+
+The bureau for Indian affairs contains a room of great interest:
+the walls are entirely covered with original portraits of all the
+chiefs who, from time to time, have come to negotiate with their
+great father, as they call the President.
+
+These portraits are by Mr. King, and, it cannot be doubted, are
+excellent likenesses, as are all the portraits I have ever seen
+from the hands of that gentleman.  The countenances are full of
+expression, but the expression in most of them is extremely
+similar; or rather, I should say that they have but two sorts of
+expression; the one is that of very noble and warlike daring, the
+other of a gentle and naive simplicity, that has no mixture of
+folly in it, but which is inexpressibly engaging, and the more
+touching, perhaps, because at the moment we were looking at them,
+those very hearts which lent the eyes such meek and friendly
+softness, were wrung by a base, cruel, and most oppressive act of
+their _great father_.
+
+We were at Washington at the time that the measure for chasing
+the last of several tribes of Indians from their forest homes,
+was canvassed in congress, and finally decided upon by the FIAT
+of the President.  If the American character may be judged by
+their conduct in this matter, they are most lamentably deficient
+in every feeling of honour and integrity.  It is among
+themselves, and from themselves, that I have heard the statements
+which represent them as treacherous and false almost beyond
+belief in their intercourse with the unhappy Indians.  Had I,
+during my residence in the United States, observed any single
+feature in their national character that could justify their
+eternal boast of liberality and the love of freedom, I might have
+respected them, however much my taste might have been offended by
+what was peculiar in their manners and customs.  But it is
+impossible for any mind of common honesty not to be revolted by
+the contradictions in their principles and practice.  They
+inveigh against the governments of Europe, because, as they say,
+they favour the powerful and oppress the weak.  You may hear this
+declaimed upon in Congress, roared out in taverns, discussed in
+every drawing-room, satirized upon the stage, nay, even
+anathematized from the pulpit: listen to it, and then look at
+them at home; you will see them with one hand hoisting the cap of
+liberty, and with the other flogging their slaves.  You will see
+them one hour lecturing their mob on the indefeasible rights of
+man, and the next driving from their homes the children of the
+soil, whom they have bound themselves to protect by the most
+solemn treaties.
+
+In justice to those who approve not this treacherous policy, I
+will quote a paragraph from a New York paper, which shews that
+there are some among them who look with detestation on the bold
+bad measure decided upon at Washington in the year 1830.
+
+"We know of no subject, at the present moment, of more importance
+to the character of our country for justice and integrity than
+that which relates to the Indian tribes in Georgia and Alabama,
+and particularly the Cherokees in the former state.  The Act
+passed by Congress, just at the end of the session, co-operating
+with the tyrannical and iniquitous statute of Georgia, strikes a
+formidable blow at the reputation of the United States, in
+respect to their faith, pledged in almost innumerable instances,
+in the most solemn treaties and compacts."
+
+There were many objects of much interest shewn us at this Indian
+bureau; but, from the peculiar circumstances of this most unhappy
+and ill-used people, it was a very painful interest.
+
+The dresses worn by the chiefs when their portraits were taken,
+are many of them splendid, from the embroidery of beads and other
+ornaments: and the room contains many specimens of their
+ingenuity, and even of their taste.  There is a glass case in the
+room, wherein are arranged specimens of worked muslin, and other
+needlework, some very excellent handwriting, and many other
+little productions of male and female Indians, all proving
+clearly that they are perfectly capable of civilization.  Indeed,
+the circumstance which renders their expulsion from their own,
+their native lands, so peculiarly lamentable, is, that they were
+yielding rapidly to the force of example; their lives were no
+longer those of wandering hunters, but they were becoming
+agriculturists, and the tyrannical arm of brutal power has not
+now driven them, as formerly, only from their hunting grounds,
+their favourite springs, and the sacred bones of their fathers,
+but it has chased them from the dwellings their advancing
+knowledge had taught them to make comfortable; from the
+newly-ploughed fields of their pride; and from the crops their
+sweat had watered.  And for what? to add some thousand acres of
+territory to the half-peopled wilderness which borders them.
+
+The Potomac, on arriving at Washington, makes a beautiful sweep,
+which forms a sort of bay, round which the city is built.  Just
+where it makes the turn, a wooden bridge is thrown across,
+connecting the shores of Maryland and Virginia.  This bridge is
+a mile and a quarter in length, and is ugly enough.  [It has
+since been washed away by the breaking up of the  frost of
+February, 1831.]  The navy-yard, and arsenal, are just above it,
+on the Maryland side, and make a handsome appearance on the edge
+of the river, following the sweep above mentioned.  Near the
+arsenal (much too near) is the penitentiary, which, as it was
+just finished, and not inhabited, we examined in every part.  It
+is built for the purpose of solitary confinement for life.  A
+gallows is a much less nerve-shaking spectacle than one of these
+awful cells, and assuredly, when imprisonment therein for life
+is substituted for death, it is no mercy to the criminal; but if
+it be a greater terror to the citizen, it may answer the purpose
+better.  I do not conceive, that out of a hundred human beings
+who had been thus confined for a year, one would be found at the
+end of it who would continue to linger on there, _certain it was
+for ever_, if the alternative of being hanged were offered to
+them.  I had written a description of these horrible cells, but
+Captain Hall's picture of a similar building is so accurate, and
+so clear, that it is needless to insert it.
+
+Still following the sweep of the river, at the distance of two
+miles from Washington, is George Town, formerly a place of
+considerable commercial importance, and likely, I think, to
+become so again, when the Ohio and Chesapeake canals, which there
+mouths into the Potomac, shall be in full action.  It is a very
+pretty town, commanding a lovely view, of which the noble Potomac
+and the almost nobler capitol, are the great features.  The
+country rises into a beautiful line of hills behind Washington,
+which form a sort of undulating terrace on to George Town; this
+terrace is almost entirely occupied by a succession of
+gentlemen's seats.  At George Town the Potomac suddenly contracts
+itself, and begins to assume that rapid, rocky and irregular
+character which marks it afterwards, and renders its course, till
+it meets the Shenandoah at Harper's Ferry, a series of the most
+wild and romantic views that are to be found in America.
+
+Attending the debates in Congress was, of course, one of our
+great objects; and, as an English woman, I was perhaps the more
+eager to avail myself of the privilege allowed.  It was
+repeatedly observed to me that, at least in this instance, I must
+acknowledge the superior gallantry of the Americans, and that
+they herein give a decided proof of surpassing the English in a
+wish to honour the ladies, as they have a gallery in the House of
+Representatives erected expressly for them, while in England they
+are rigorously excluded from every part of the House of Commons.
+
+But the inference I draw from this is precisely the reverse of
+the suggested.  It is well known that the reason why the House of
+Commons was closed against ladies was, that their presence was
+found too attractive, and that so many members were tempted to
+neglect the business before the House, that they might enjoy the
+pleasure of conversing with the fair critics in the galleries,
+that it became a matter of national importance to banish
+them--and they were banished.  It will be long ere the American
+legislature will find it necessary to pass the same law for the
+same reason.  A lady of Washington, however, told me an anecdote
+which went far to shew that a more intellectual turn in the
+women, would produce a change in the manners of the men.  She
+told me, that when the Miss Wrights were in Washington, with
+General Lafayette, they very frequently attended the debates, and
+that the most distinguished members were always crowding round
+them.  For this unwonted gallantry they apologized to their
+beautiful countrywomen by saying, that if they took equal
+interest in the debates, the galleries would be always thronged
+by the members.
+
+The privilege of attending these debates would be more valuable
+could the speakers be better heard from the gallery; but, with
+the most earnest attention, I could only follow one or two of the
+orators, whose voices were peculiarly loud and clear.  This made
+it really a labour to listen; but the extreme beauty of the
+chamber was of itself a reason for going again and again.  It
+was, however, really mortifying to see this splendid hall, fitted
+up in so stately and sumptuous a manner, filled with men, sitting
+in the most unseemly attitudes, a large majority with their hats
+on, and nearly all, spitting to an excess that decency forbids me
+to describe.
+
+Among the crowd, who must be included in this description, a
+few were distinguished by not wearing their hats, and by sitting
+on their chairs like other human beings, without throwing their
+legs above their heads.  Whenever I enquired the name of one of
+these exceptions, I was told that it was Mr. This, or Mr. That,
+_of Virginia_.
+
+One day we were fortunate enough to get placed on the sofas
+between the pillars, on the floor of the House; the galleries
+being shut up, for the purpose of making some alterations, which
+it was hoped might improve the hearing in that part of the House
+occupied by the members, and which is universally complained of,
+as being very defective.*  But in our places on the sofas we
+found we heard very much better than up stairs, and well enough
+to be extremely amused by the rude eloquence of a thorough horse
+and alligator orator from Kentucky, who entreated the house
+repeatedly to "go the whole hog."
+
+     *(As a proof of this defective hearing in the Hall of
+      (Congress, I may quote a passage from a newspaper report of
+      (a debate on improvements.  It was proposed to suspend a
+      (ceiling of glass fifteen feet above the heads of the
+      (members.  A member, speaking in favour of this proposal,
+      (said, "Members would then, at least, be able to understand
+      (what was the question before the House, an advantage which
+      (most of them did not now possess, respecting more than
+      (half the propositions upon which they voted."
+
+If I mistake not, every debate I listened to in the American
+Congress was upon one and the same subject, namely, the entire
+independence of each individual state, with regard to the federal
+government.  The jealousy on this point appeared to me to be the
+very strangest political feeling that ever got possession of the
+mind of man.  I do not pretend to judge the merits of this
+question.  I speak solely of the very singular effect of seeing
+man after man start eagerly to his feet, to declare that the
+greatest injury, the basest injustice, the most obnoxious tyranny
+that could be practised against the state of which he was a
+member, would be a vote of a few million dollars for the purpose
+of making their roads or canals; or for drainage; or, in short,
+for any purpose of improvement whatsoever.
+
+During the month we were at Washington, I heard a great deal of
+conversation respecting a recent exclusion from Congress of a
+gentleman, who, by every account, was one of the most esteemed
+men in the house, and, I think, the father of it.  The crime for
+which this gentleman was out-voted by his own particular friends
+and admirers was, that he had given his vote for a grant of
+public money for the purpose of draining a most lamentable and
+unhealthy district, called "_the dismal swamp!_"
+
+One great boast of the country is, that they have no national
+debt, or that they shall have none in two years.  This seems not
+very wonderful, considering their productive tariff, and that the
+income paid to their president is 6,000_L. per annum_; other
+government salaries being in proportion, and all internal
+improvements, at the expense of the government treasury, being
+voted unconstitutional.
+
+The Senate-chamber is, like the Hall of Congress, a semicircle,
+but of very much smaller dimensions.  It is most elegantly fitted
+up, and what is better still, the senators, generally speaking,
+look like gentlemen.  They do not wear their hats, and the
+activity of youth being happily past, they do not toss their
+heels above their heads.  I would I could add they do not spit;
+but, alas! "I have an oath in heaven," and may not write an
+untruth.
+
+A very handsome room, opening on a noble stone balcony is fitted
+up as a library for the members.  The collection, as far as a
+very cursory view could enable me to judge, was very like that of
+a private English gentleman, but with less Latin, Greek, and
+Italian.  This room also is elegantly furnished; rich Brussels
+carpet; library tables, with portfolios of engravings; abundance
+of sofas, and so on.  The view from it is glorious, and it looks
+like the abode of luxury and taste.
+
+I can by no means attempt to describe all the apartments of this
+immense building, but the magnificent rotunda in the centre must
+not be left unnoticed.  It is, indeed, a noble hall, a hundred
+feet in diameter, and of an imposing loftiness, lighted by an
+ample dome.
+
+Almost any pictures (excepting the cartoons) would look paltry in
+this room, from the immense height of the walls; but the subjects
+of the four pictures which are placed there, are of such high
+historic interest that they should certainly have a place
+somewhere, as national records.  One represents the signing of
+the declaration of independence; another the resignation of the
+presidency by the great Washington; another the celebrated
+victory of General Gates at Saratoga; and the fourth....I do not
+well remember, but I think it is some other martial scene,
+commemorating a victory; I rather think that of York Town.
+
+One other object in the capitol must be mentioned, though it
+occurs in so obscure a part of the building, that one or two
+members to whom I mentioned it, were not aware of its existence.
+The lower part of the edifice, a story below the rotunda, &c.,
+has a variety of committee rooms, courts, and other places of
+business.  In a hall leading to some of these rooms, the ceiling
+is supported by pillars, the capitals of which struck me as
+peculiarly beautiful.  They are composed of the ears and leaves
+of the Indian corn, beautifully arranged, and forming as graceful
+an outline as the acanthus itself.  This was the only instance I
+saw, in which America has ventured to attempt national
+originality; the success is perfect.  A sense of fitness always
+enhances the effect of beauty.  I will not attempt a long essay
+on the subject, but if America, in her vastness, her immense
+natural resources, and her remote grandeur, would be less
+imitative, she would be infinitely more picturesque and
+interesting.
+
+The President has regular evening parties, every other Wednesday,
+which are called his _levees_; the last syllable is pronounced by
+every one as long as possible, being exactly the reverse of the
+French and English manner of pronouncing the same word.  The
+effect of this, from the very frequent repetition of the word in
+all companies is very droll, and for a long time I thought people
+were quizzing these public days.  The reception rooms are
+handsome, particularly the grand saloon, which is elegantly, nay,
+splendidly furnished; this has been done since the visit of
+Captain Hall, whose remarks upon the former state of this room
+may have hastened its decoration; but there are a few anomalies
+in some parts of the entertainment, which are not very courtly.
+The company are about as select as that of an Easter-day ball at
+the Mansion-house.
+
+The churches at Washington are not superb; but the Episcopalian
+and Catholic were filled with elegantly dressed women.  I
+observed a greater proportion of gentlemen at church at
+Washington than any where else.
+
+The Presbyterian ladies go to church three times in the day,
+but the general appearance of Washington on a Sunday is much
+less puritanical than that of most other American towns; the
+people walk about, and there are no chains in the streets, as
+at Philadelphia, to prevent their riding or driving, if they
+like it.
+
+The ladies dress well, but not so splendidly as at Baltimore.  I
+remarked that it was not very unusual at Washington for a lady to
+take the arm of a gentleman, who was neither her husband, her
+father, nor her brother.  This remarkable relaxation of American
+decorum has been probably introduced by the foreign legations.
+
+At about a mile from the town, on the high terrace ground above
+described, is a very pretty place, to which the proprietor has
+given the name Kaleirama.  It is not large, or in any way
+magnificent, but the view from it is charming; and it has a
+little wood behind, covering about two hundred acres of broken
+ground, that slopes down to a dark cold little river, so closely
+shut in by rocks and evergreens, that it might serve as a
+noon-day bath for Diana and her nymphs.  The whole of this wood
+is filled with wild flowers, but such as we cherish fondly in
+our gardens.
+
+A ferry at George Town crosses the Potomac, and about two miles
+from it, on the Virginian side, is Arlington, the seat of Mr.
+Custis, who is the grandson of General Washington's wife.  It is
+a noble looking place, having a portico of stately white columns,
+which, as the mansion stands high, with a background of dark
+woods, forms a beautiful object in the landscape.  At George Town
+is a nunnery, where many young ladies are educated, and at a
+little distance from it, a college of Jesuits for the education
+of young men, where, as their advertisements state, "the
+humanities are taught."  We attended mass at the chapel of the
+nunnery, where the female voices that performed the chant were
+very pleasing.  The shadowy form of the veiled abbess in her
+little sacred parlour, seen through a grating and a black
+curtain, but rendered clearly visible by the light of a Gothic
+window behind her, drew a good deal of our attention; every act
+of genuflection, even the telling her beads, was discernible, but
+so mistily that it gave her, indeed, the appearance of a being
+who had already quitted this life, and was hovering on the
+confines of the world of shadows.
+
+The convent has a considerable inclosure attached to it, where I
+frequently saw from the heights above it, dark figures in awfully
+thick black veils, walking solemnly up and down.
+
+The American lady, who was the subject of one of Prince
+Hohenlohe's celebrated miracles, was pointed out to us at
+Washington.  All the world declare that her recovery was
+marvellous.
+
+
+
+There appeared to be a great many foreigners at Washington,
+particularly French.  In Paris I have often observed that it was
+a sort of fashion to speak of America as a new Utopia, especially
+among the young liberals, who, before the happy accession of
+Philip, fancied that a country without a king, was the land of
+promise; but I sometimes thought that, like many other fine
+things, it lost part of its brilliance when examined too nearly;
+I overheard the following question and answer pass between two
+young Frenchmen, who appeared to have met for the first time.
+
+"Eh bien.  Monsieur, comment trouvez-vous la liberte et l'egalite
+mises en action?"
+
+"Mais, Monsieur, je vous avoue que ie beau ideal que nous autres,
+nous avons concu de tout cela a Paris, avait quelque chose de
+plus poetique que ce que nous trouvons ici!"
+
+On another occasion I was excessively amused by the tone in
+which one of these young men replied to a question put to him
+by another Frenchman.  A pretty looking woman, but exceedingly
+deficient in _tournure_, was standing alone at a little distance
+from them and close at their elbows stood a very awkward
+looking gentleman.  "Qui est cette dame?" said the enquirer.
+"Monsieur," said my young _fat_, with an indescribable grimace,
+"c'est la femelle de ce male, " indicating his neighbour by
+an expressive curl of his upper lip.
+
+The theatre was not open while we were in Washington, but we
+afterwards took advantage of our vicinity to the city, to visit
+it.  The house is very small, and most astonishingly dirty and
+void of decoration, considering that it is the only place of
+public amusement that the city affords.  I have before mentioned
+the want of decorum at the Cincinnati theatre, but certainly that
+of the capital at least rivalled it in the freedom of action and
+attitude; a freedom which seems to disdain the restraints of
+civilized manners.  One man in the pit was seized with a violent
+fit of vomiting, which appeared not in the least to annoy or
+surprise his neighbours; and the happy coincidence of a physician
+being at that moment personated on the stage, was hailed by many
+of the audience as an excellent joke, of which the actor took
+advantage, and elicited shouts of applause by saying, "I expect
+my services are wanted elsewhere."
+
+The spitting was incessant; and not one in ten of the male part
+of the illustrious legislative audiences sat according to the
+usual custom of human beings; the legs were thrown sometimes over
+the front of the box, sometimes over the side of it; here and
+there a senator stretched his entire length along a bench, and in
+many instances the front rail was preferred as a seat.
+
+I remarked one young man, whose handsome person, and most
+elaborate toilet, led me to conclude he was a first-rate
+personage, and so I doubt not he was; nevertheless, I saw him
+take from the pocket of his silk waistcoat a lump of tobacco,
+and daintily deposit it within his cheek.
+
+I am inclined to think this most vile and universal habit of
+chewing tobacco is the cause of a remarkable peculiarity in the
+male physiognomy of Americans; their lips are almost uniformly
+thin and compressed.  At first I accounted for this upon
+Lavater's theory, and attributed it to the arid temperament of
+the people; but it is too universal to be explained; whereas the
+habit above mentioned, which pervades all classes (excepting the
+literary) well accounts for it, as the act of expressing the
+juices of this loathsome herb, enforces exactly that position
+of the lips, which gives this remarkable peculiarity to the
+American countenance.
+
+A member of Congress died while we were at Washington, and I was
+surprised by the ceremony and dignity of his funeral.  It seems
+that whenever a senator or member of Congress dies during the
+session, he is buried at the expense of the government, (the
+ceremony not coming under the head of internal improvement), and
+the arrangements for the funeral are not interfered with by his
+friends, but become matters of State.  I transcribed the order of
+the procession as being rather grand and stately.
+
+     Chaplains of both Houses.
+     Physicians who attend the deceased.
+     Committee of arrangement.
+     THE BODY,
+     (Pall borne by six members.)
+     The Relations of the deceased, with the
+     Senators and Representatives of the State
+     to which he belonged, as Mourners.
+     Sergeant at arms of the House of Representatives.
+     The House of Representatives,
+     Their Speaker and Clerk preceding.
+     The Senate of the United States.
+     The Vice-president and Secretary preceding,
+     THE PRESIDENT
+
+The procession was of considerable extent, but not on foot, and
+the majority of the carriages were hired for the occasion.  The
+body was interred in an open "grave yard" near the city.  I did
+not see the monument erected on this occasion, but I presume it
+was in the same style as several others I had remarked in the
+same burying-ground, inscribed to the memory of members who had
+died at Washington.  These were square blocks of masonry without
+any pretension to splendour.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 21
+
+Stonington--Great Falls of the Potomac
+
+
+
+The greatest pleasure I had promised myself in visiting
+Washington was the seeing a very old friend, who had left
+England many years ago, and married in America; she was now a
+widow, and, as I believed, settled in Washington.  I soon had
+the mortification of finding that she was not in the city; but
+ere long I learnt that her residence was not more than ten miles
+from it.  We speedily met, and it was settled that we should
+pass the summer with her in Maryland, and after a month devoted
+to Washington, we left it for Stonington.
+
+We arrived there the beginning of May, and the kindness of our
+reception, the interest we felt in becoming acquainted with the
+family of my friend, the extreme beauty of the surrounding
+country, and the lovely season, altogether, made our stay there
+a period of great enjoyment.
+
+I wonder not that the first settlers in Virginia, with the bold
+Captain Smith of chivalrous memory at their head, should have
+fought so stoutly to dispossess the valiant father of Pocohantas
+of his fair domain, for I certainly never saw a more tempting
+territory.  Stonington is about two miles from the most romantic
+point of the Potomac River, and Virginia spreads her wild, but
+beautiful, and most fertile Paradise, on the opposite shore.  The
+Maryland side partakes of the same character, and perfectly
+astonished us by the profusion of her wild fruits and flowers.
+
+We had not been long within reach of the great falls of the
+Potomac before a party was made for us to visit them; the walk
+from Stonington to these falls is through scenery that can hardly
+be called forest, park, or garden; but which partakes of all
+three.  A little English girl accompanied us, who had but lately
+left her home; she exclaimed, "Oh! how many English ladies would
+glory in such a garden as this!" and in truth they might; cedars,
+tulip-trees, planes, shumacs, junipers, and oaks of various
+kinds, most of them new to us, shaded our path.  Wild vines, with
+their rich expansive leaves, and their sweet blossom, rivalling
+the mignionette in fragrance, clustered round their branches.
+Strawberries in full bloom, violets, anemonies, heart's-ease, and
+wild pinks, with many other, and still lovelier flowers, which my
+ignorance forbids me to name, literally covered the ground.  The
+arbor judae, the dog-wood, in its fullest glory of star-like
+flowers, azalias, and wild roses, dazzled our eyes whichever way
+we turned them.  It was the most flowery two miles I ever walked.
+
+The sound of the falls is heard at Stonington, and the gradual
+increase of this sound is one of the agreeable features of this
+delicious walk.  I know not why the rush of waters is so
+delightful to the ear; all other monotonous sounds are wearying,
+and harass the spirits, but I never met any one who did not love
+to listen to a waterfall.  A rapid stream, called the "Branch
+Creek," was to be crossed ere we reached the spot where the falls
+are first visible.  This rumbling, turbid, angry little rivulet,
+flows through evergreens and flowering underwood, and is crossed
+_a plusieures reprises_, by logs thrown from rock to rock.  The
+thundering noise of the still unseen falls suggests an idea of
+danger while crossing these rude bridges, which hardly belongs to
+them; having reached the other side of the creek, we continued
+under the shelter of the evergreens for another quarter of a
+mile, and then emerged upon a sight that drew a shout of wonder
+and delight from us all.  The rocky depths of an enormous river
+were opened before our eyes and so huge are the black crags that
+inclose it, that the thundering torrents of water rushing
+through, over, and among the rocks of this awful chasm, appear
+lost and swallowed up in it.
+
+The river, or rather the bed of it, is here of great width, and
+most frightful depth, lined on all sides with huge masses of
+black rock of every imaginable form.  The flood that roars
+through them is seen only at intervals; here in a full heavy
+sheet of green transparent water, falling straight and unbroken;
+there dashing along a narrow channel, with a violence that makes
+one dizzy to see and hear.  In one place an unfathomed pool shows
+a mirror of inky blackness, and as still as night; in another the
+tortured twisted cataract tumbles headlong in a dozen different
+torrents, half hid by the cloud of spray they send high into the
+air.  Despite this uproar, the slenderest, loveliest shrubs, peep
+forth from among these hideous rocks, like children smiling in
+the midst of danger.  As we stood looking at this tremendous
+scene, one of our friends made us remark, that the poison alder,
+and the poison vine, threw their graceful, but perfidious
+branches, over every rock, and assured us also that innumerable
+tribes of snakes found their dark dwellings among them.
+
+To call this scene beautiful would be a strange abuse of terms,
+for it is altogether composed of sights and sounds of terror.
+The falls of the Potomac are awfully sublime: the dark deep gulf
+which yawns before you, the foaming, roaring cataract, the
+eddying whirlpool, and the giddy precipice, all seem to threaten
+life, and to appal the senses.  Yet it was a great delight to sit
+upon a high and jutting crag, and look and listen.
+
+I heard with pleasure that it was to the Virginian side of the
+Potomac that the "felicity hunters" of Washington resorted to see
+this fearful wonder, for I never saw a spot where I should less
+have liked the annoying "how d'ye," of a casual rencontre.  One
+could not even give or receive the exciting "is it not charming,"
+which Rousseau talks of, for if it were uttered, it could not be
+heard, or, if heard, would fall most earthly dull on the spirit,
+when rapt by the magic of such a scene.  A look, or the silent
+pressure of the arm, is all the interchange of feeling that such
+a scene allows, and in the midst of my terror and my pleasure, I
+wished for the arm and the eye of some few from the other side of
+the Atlantic.
+
+The return from such a scene is more soberly silent than the
+approach to it; but the cool and quiet hour, the mellowed tints
+of some gay blossoms, and the closed bells of others, the drowsy
+hum of the insects that survive the day, and the moist freshness
+that forbids the foot to weary in its homeward path, have all
+enjoyment in them, and seem to harmonize with the half wearied,
+half excited state of spirits, that such an excursion is sure to
+produce: and then the entering the cool and moonlit portico, the
+well-iced sangaree, or still more refreshing coffee, that waits
+you, is all delightful; and if to this be added the happiness of
+an easy sofa, and a friend like my charming Mrs. S--, to soothe
+you with an hour of Mozart the most fastidious European might
+allow that such a day was worth waking for.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 22
+
+Small Landed Proprietors--Slavery
+
+
+
+I now, for the first time since I crossed the mountains, found
+myself sufficiently at leisure to look deliberately round, and
+mark the different aspects of men and things in a region which,
+though bearing the same name, and calling itself the same land,
+was, in many respects, as different from the one I had left, as
+Amsterdam from St. Petersburg.  There every man was straining,
+and struggling, and striving for himself (heaven knows!)  Here
+every white man was waited upon, more or less, by a slave.
+There, the newly-cleared lands, rich with the vegetable manure
+accumulated for ages, demanded the slightest labour to return the
+richest produce; where the plough entered, crops the most
+abundant followed; but where it came not, no spot of native
+verdure, no native fruits, no native flowers cheered the eye;
+all was close, dark, stifling forest.  Here the soil had long
+ago yielded its first fruits; much that had been cleared and
+cultivated for tobacco (the most exhausting of crops) by the
+English, required careful and laborious husbandry to produce any
+return; and much was left as sheep-walks.  It was in these spots
+that the natural bounty of the soil and climate was displayed by
+the innumerable wild fruits and flowers which made every dingle
+and bushy dell seem a garden.
+
+On entering the cottages I found also a great difference in the
+manner of living.  Here, indeed, there were few cottages without
+a slave, but there were fewer still that had their beefsteak and
+onions for breakfast, dinner, and supper.  The herrings of the
+bountiful Potomac supply their place.  These are excellent
+"relish," as they call it, when salted, and, if I mistake not,
+are sold at a dollar and a half per thousand.  Whiskey, however,
+flows every where at the same fatally cheap rate of twenty cents
+(about one shilling) the gallon, and its hideous effects are
+visible on the countenance of every man you meet.
+
+The class of people the most completely unlike any existing in
+England, are those who, farming their own freehold estates, and
+often possessing several slaves, yet live with as few of the
+refinements, and I think I may say, with as few of the comforts
+of life, as the very poorest English peasant.  When in Maryland,
+I went into the houses of several of these small proprietors,
+and remained long enough, and looked and listened sufficiently,
+to obtain a tolerably correct idea of their manner of living.
+
+One of these families consisted of a young man, his wife, two
+children, a female slave, and two young lads, slaves also.  The
+farm belonged to the wife, and, I was told, consisted of about
+three hundred acres of indifferent land, but all cleared.  The
+house was built of wood, and looked as if the three slaves might
+have overturned it, had they pushed hard against the gable end.
+It contained one room, of about twelve feet square, and another
+adjoining it, hardly larger than a closet; this second chamber
+was the lodging-room of the white part of the family.  Above
+these rooms was a loft, without windows, where I was told the
+"staying company" who visited them, were lodged.  Near this
+mansion was a "shanty," a black hole, without any window, which
+served as kitchen and all other offices, and also as the lodging
+of the blacks.
+
+We were invited to take tea with this family, and readily
+consented to do so.  The furniture of the room was one heavy huge
+table, and about six wooden chairs.  When we arrived the lady was
+in rather a dusky dishabille, but she vehemently urged us to be
+seated, and then retired into the closet-chamber above mentioned,
+whence she continued to address to us from behind the door, all
+kinds of "genteel country visiting talk," and at length emerged
+upon us in a smart new dress.
+
+Her female slave set out the great table, and placed upon it cups
+of the very coarsest blue ware, a little brown sugar in one, and
+a tiny drop of milk in another, no butter, though the lady
+assured us she had a "_deary_" and two cows.  Instead of butter,
+she "hoped we would fix a little relish with our crackers," in
+ancient English, eat salt meat and dry biscuits.  Such was the
+fare, and for guests that certainly were intended to be honoured.
+I could not help recalling the delicious repasts which I
+remembered to have enjoyed at little dairy farms in England, not
+_possessed_, but rented, and at high rents too; where the clean,
+fresh-coloured, bustling mistress herself skimmed the delicious
+cream, herself spread the yellow butter on the delightful brown
+loaf, and placed her curds, and her junket, and all the delicate
+treasures other dairy before us, and then, with hospitable pride,
+placed herself at her board, and added the more delicate "relish"
+of good tea and good cream.  I remembered all this, and did not
+think the difference atoned for, by the dignity of having my cup
+handed to me by a slave.  The lady I now visited, however,
+greatly surpassed my quondam friends in the refinement of her
+conversation.  She ambled through the whole time the visit
+lasted, in a sort of elegantly mincing familiar style of gossip,
+which, I think, she was imitating from some novel, for I was told
+she was a great novel reader, and left all household occupations
+to be performed by her slaves.  To say she addressed us in a tone
+of equality, will give no adequate idea of her manner; I am
+persuaded that no misgiving on the subject ever entered her head.
+She told us that their estate was her divi-_dend_ of her father's
+property.  She had married a first cousin, who was as fine a
+gentleman as she was a lady, and as idle, preferring hunting (as
+they called shooting) to any other occupation.  The consequence
+was, that but a very small portion of the dividend was
+cultivated, and their poverty was extreme.  The slaves,
+particularly the lads, were considerably more than half naked,
+but the air of dignity with which, in the midst of all this
+misery, the lanky lady said to one of the young negroes, "Attend
+to your young master, Lycurgus," must have been heard to be
+conceived in the full extent of its mock heroic.
+
+Another dwelling of one of these landed proprietors was a hovel
+as wretched as the one above described, but there was more
+industry within it.  The gentleman, indeed, was himself one of
+the numerous tribe of regular whiskey drinkers, and was rarely
+capable of any work; but he had a family of twelve children, who,
+with their skeleton mother, worked much harder than I ever saw
+negroes do.  They were, accordingly, much less elegant and much
+less poor than the heiress; yet they lived with no appearance of
+comfort, and with, I believe, nothing beyond the necessaries of
+life.  One proof of this was, that the worthless father would not
+suffer them to raise, even by their own labour, any garden
+vegetables, and they lived upon their fat pork, salt fish, and
+corn bread, summer and winter, without variation.  This, I found,
+was frequently the case among the farmers.  The luxury of whiskey
+is more appreciated by the men than all the green delicacies from
+the garden, and if all the ready money goes for that and their
+darling chewing tobacco, none can be spent by the wife for garden
+seeds; and as far as my observation extended, I never saw any
+American _menage_ where the toast and no toast question, would
+have been decided in favour of the lady.
+
+There are some small farmers who hold their lands as tenants, but
+these are by no means numerous: they do not pay their rent in
+money, but by making over a third of the produce to the owner; a
+mode of paying rent, considerably more advantageous to the tenant
+than the landlord; but the difficulty of obtaining _money_ in
+payment, excepting for mere retail articles, is very great in all
+American transactions.  "I can pay in pro-_duce_," is the offer
+which I was assured is constantly made on all occasions, and if
+rejected, "Then I guess we can't deal," is the usual rejoinder.
+This statement does not, of course, include the great merchants
+of great cities, but refers to the mass of the people scattered
+over the country; it has, indeed, been my object, in speaking of
+the customs of the people, to give an idea of what they are
+_generally_.
+
+The effect produced upon English people by the sight of slavery
+in every direction is very new, and not very agreeable, and it is
+not the less painfully felt from hearing upon every breeze the
+mocking words, "All men are born free and equal."  One must be in
+the heart of American slavery, fully to appreciate that
+wonderfully fine passage in Moore's Epistle to Lord Viscount
+Forbes, which describes perhaps more faithfully, as well as more
+powerfully, the political state of America, than any thing that
+has ever been written upon it.
+
+     Oh! Freedom, Freedom, how I hate thy cant!
+     Not eastern bombast, nor the savage rant
+     Of purpled madmen, were they numbered all
+     From Roman Nero, down to Russian Paul,
+     Could grate upon my ear so mean, so base,
+     As the rank jargon of that factious race,
+     Who, poor of heart, and prodigal of words,
+     Born to be slaves, and struggling to be lords,
+     But pant for licence, while they spurn controul,
+     And shout for rights, with rapine in their soul!
+     Who can, with patience, for a moment see
+     The medley mass of pride and misery,
+     Of whips and charters, manacles and rights,
+     Of slaving blacks, and democratic whites,
+     Of all the pyebald polity that reigns
+     In free confusion o'er Columbia's plains?
+     To think that man, thou just and gentle God!
+     Should stand before thee with a tyrant's rod,
+     O'er creatures like himself, with soul from thee,
+     Yet dare to boast of perfect liberty:
+     Away, away, I'd rather hold my neck
+     By doubtful tenure from a Sultan's beck,
+     In climes where liberty has scarce been named,
+     Nor any right, but that of ruling, claimed,
+     Than thus to live, where bastard freedom waves
+     Her fustian flag in mockery o'er slaves;
+     Where (motley laws admitting no degree
+     Betwixt the vilely slaved, and madly free)
+     Alike the bondage and the licence suit,
+     The brute made ruler, and the man made brute!
+
+The condition of domestic slaves, however, does not generally
+appear to be bad; but the ugly feature is, that should it be so,
+they have no power to change it.  I have seen much kind attention
+bestowed upon the health of slaves; but it is on these occasions
+impossible to forget, that did this attention fail, a valuable
+piece of property would be endangered.  Unhappily the slaves,
+too, know this, and the consequence is, that real kindly feeling
+very rarely can exist between the parties.  It is said that
+slaves born in a family are attached to the children of it, who
+have grown up with them.  This may be the case where the petty
+acts of infant tyranny have not been sufficient to conquer the
+kindly feeling naturally produced by long and early association;
+and this sort of attachment may last as long as the slave can be
+kept in that state of profound ignorance which precludes
+reflection.  The law of Virginia has taken care of this.  The
+State legislators may truly be said to be "wiser in their
+generation than the children of light," and they ensure their
+safety by forbidding light to enter among them.  By the law of
+Virginia it is penal to teach any slave to read, and it is penal
+to be aiding and abetting in the act of instructing them.  This
+law speaks volumes.  Domestic slaves are, generally speaking,
+tolerably well fed, and decently clothed; and the mode in which
+they are lodged seems a matter of great indifference to them.
+They are rarely exposed to the lash, and they are carefully
+nursed in sickness.  These are the favourable features of their
+situation.  The sad one is, that they may be sent to the south
+and sold.  This is the dread of all the slaves north of
+Louisiana.  The sugar plantations, and more than all, the rice
+grounds of Georgia and the Carolinas, are the terror of American
+negroes; and well they may be, for they open an early grave to
+thousands; and to _avoid loss_ it is needful to make their
+previous labour pay their value.
+
+There is something in the system of breeding and rearing negroes
+in the Northern States, for the express purpose of sending them
+to be sold in the South, that strikes painfully against every
+feeling of justice, mercy, or common humanity.  During my
+residence in America I became perfectly persuaded that the state
+of a domestic slave in a gentleman's family was preferable to
+that of a hired American "help," both because they are more cared
+for and valued, and because their condition being born with them,
+their spirits do not struggle against it with that pining
+discontent which seems the lot of all free servants in America.
+But the case is widely different with such as, in their own
+persons, or those of their children, "loved in vain," are exposed
+to the dreadful traffic above mentioned.  In what is their
+condition better than that of the kidnapped negroes on the coast
+of Africa?  Of the horror in which this enforced migration is
+held I had a strong proof during our stay in Virginia.  The
+father of a young slave, who belonged to the lady with whom we
+boarded, was destined to this fate, and within an hour after it
+was made known to him, he sharpened the hatchet with which he had
+been felling timber, and with his right hand severed his left
+from the wrist.
+
+But this is a subject on which I do not mean to dilate; it has
+been lately treated most judiciously by a far abler hand.  [See
+Captain Hall's Travels in America.]  Its effects on the moral
+feelings and external manners of the people are all I wish to
+observe upon, and these are unquestionably most injurious.  The
+same man who beards his wealthier and more educated neighbour
+with the bullying boast, "I'm as good as you," turns to his
+slave, and knocks him down, if the furrow he has ploughed, or the
+log he has felled, please not this stickler for equality.  There
+is a glaring falsehood on the very surface of such a man's
+principles that is revolting.  It is not among the higher classes
+that the possession of slaves produces the worst effects.  Among
+the poorer class of landholders, who are often as profoundly
+ignorant as the negroes they own, the effect of this plenary
+power over males and females is most demoralising; and the kind
+of coarse, not to say brutal, authority which is exercised,
+furnishes the most disgusting moral spectacle I ever witnessed.
+In all ranks, however, it appeared to me that the greatest and
+best feelings of the human heart were paralyzed by the relative
+positions of slave and owner.  The characters, the hearts of
+children, are irretrievably injured by it.  In Virginia we
+boarded for some time in a family consisting of a widow and her
+four daughters, and I there witnessed a scene strongly indicative
+of the effect I have mentioned.  A young female slave, about
+eight years of age, had found on the shelf of a cupboard a
+biscuit, temptingly buttered, of which she had eaten a
+considerable portion before she was observed.  The butter had
+been copiously sprinkled with arsenic for the destruction of
+rats, and had been thus most incautiously placed by one of the
+young ladies of the family.  As soon as the circumstance was
+known, the lady of the house came to consult me as to what had
+best be done for the poor child; I immediately mixed a large cup
+of mustard and water (the most rapid of all emetics) and got the
+little girl to swallow it.  The desired effect was instantly
+produced, but the poor child, partly from nausea, and partly from
+the terror of hearing her death proclaimed by half a dozen voices
+round her, trembled so violently that I thought she would fall.
+I sat down in the court where we were standing, and, as a matter
+of course, took the little sufferer in my lap.  I observed a
+general titter among the white members of the family, while the
+black stood aloof, and looked stupified.  The youngest of the
+family, a little girl about the age of the young slave, after
+gazing at me for a few moments in utter astonishment, exclaimed
+"My! If Mrs. Trollope has not taken her in her lap, and wiped her
+nasty mouth! Why I would not have touched her mouth for two
+hundred dollars!"
+
+The little slave was laid on a bed, and I returned to my own
+apartments; some time afterwards I sent to enquire for her, and
+learnt that she was in great pain.  I immediately went myself to
+enquire farther, when another young lady of the family, the one
+by whose imprudence the accident had occurred, met my anxious
+enquiries with ill-suppressed mirth--told me they had sent for
+the doctor--and then burst into uncontrollable laughter.  The
+idea of really sympathising in the sufferings of a slave appeared
+to them as absurd as weeping over a calf that had been
+slaughtered by the butcher.  The daughters of my hostess were as
+lovely as features and complexion could make them; but the
+neutralizing effect of this total want of feeling upon youth and
+beauty, must be witnessed, to be conceived.
+
+There seems in general a strong feeling throughout America, that
+none of the negro race can be trusted, and as fear, according to
+their notions, is the only principle by which a slave can be
+actuated, it is not wonderful if the imputation be just.  But I
+am persuaded that were a different mode of moral treatment
+pursued, most important and beneficial consequences would result
+from it.  Negroes are very sensible to kindness, and might, I
+think, be rendered more profitably obedient by the practice of it
+towards them, than by any other mode of discipline whatever.  To
+emancipate them entirely throughout the Union cannot, I conceive,
+be thought of, consistently with the safety of the country; but
+were the possibility of amelioration taken into the consideration
+of the legislature, with all the wisdom, justice, and mercy, that
+could be brought to bear upon it, the negro population of the
+Union might cease to be a terror, and their situation no longer
+be a subject either of indignation or of pity.
+
+I observed every where throughout the slave States that all
+articles which can be taken and consumed are constantly locked
+up, and in large families, where the extent of the establishment
+multiplies the number of keys, these are deposited in a basket,
+and consigned to the care of a little negress, who is constantly
+seen following her mistress's steps with this basket on her arm,
+and this, not only that the keys may be always at hand, but
+because, should they be out of sight one moment, that moment
+would infallibly be employed for purposes of plunder.  It seemed
+to me in this instance, as in many others, that the close
+personal attendance of these sable shadows, must be very
+annoying; but whenever I mentioned it, I was assured that no
+such feeling existed, and that use rendered them almost
+unconscious of their presence.
+
+I had, indeed, frequent opportunities of observing this habitual
+indifference to the presence of their slaves.  They talk of them,
+of their condition, of their faculties, of their conduct, exactly
+as if they were incapable of hearing.  I once saw a young lady,
+who, when seated at table between a male and a female, was
+induced by her modesty to intrude on the chair of her female
+neighbour to avoid the indelicacy of touching the elbow of a man.
+I once saw this very young lady lacing her stays with the most
+perfect composure before a negro footman.  A Virginian gentleman
+told me that ever since he had married, he had been accustomed to
+have a negro girl sleep in the same chamber with himself and his
+wife.  I asked for what purpose this nocturnal attendance was
+necessary? "Good heaven!" was the reply, "if I wanted a glass of
+water during the night, what would become of me?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 23
+
+Fruits and Flowers of Maryland and Virginia--Copper-head
+Snake--Insects--Elections
+
+
+
+Our summer in Maryland, (1830), was delightful.  The thermometer
+stood at 94, but the heat was by no means so oppressive as what
+we had felt in the West.  In no part of North America are the
+natural productions of the soil more various, or more beautiful.
+Strawberries of the richest flavour sprung beneath our feet; and
+when these past away, every grove, every lane, every field looked
+like a cherry orchard, offering an inexhaustible profusion of
+fruit to all who would take the trouble to gather it.  Then
+followed the peaches; every hedgerow was planted with them, and
+though the fruit did not equal in size or flavour those ripened
+on our garden walls, we often found them good enough to afford a
+delicious refreshment on our long rambles.  But it was the
+flowers, and the flowering shrubs that, beyond all else, rendered
+this region the most beautiful I had ever seen, (the Alleghany
+always excepted.)  No description can give an idea of the
+variety, the profusion, the luxuriance of them.  If I talk of
+wild roses, the English reader will fancy I mean the pale
+ephemeral blossoms of our bramble hedges; but the wild roses of
+Maryland and Virginia might be the choicest favourites of the
+flower garden.  They are rarely very double, but the brilliant
+eye atones for this.  They are of all shades, from the deepest
+crimson to the tenderest pink.  The scent is rich and delicate;
+in size they exceed any single roses I ever saw, often measuring
+above four inches in diameter.  The leaf greatly resembles that
+of the china rose; it is large, dark, firm, and brilliant.  The
+sweetbrier grows wild, and blossoms abundantly; both leaves and
+flowers are considerably larger than with us.  The acacia, or as
+it is there called, the locust, blooms with great richness and
+profusion; I have gathered a branch less than a foot long, and
+counted twelve full bunches of flowers on it.  The scent is equal
+to the orange flower.  The dogwood is another of the splendid
+white blossoms that adorn the woods.  Its lateral branches are
+flat, like a fan, and dotted all over, with star-like blossoms,
+as large as those of the gum-cistus.  Another pretty shrub, of
+smaller size, is the poison alder.  It is well that its noxious
+qualities are very generally known, for it is most tempting to
+the eye by its delicate fringe-like bunches of white flowers.
+Even the touch of this shrub is poisonous, and produces violent
+swelling.  The arbor judae is abundant in every wood, and its
+bright and delicate pink is the earliest harbinger of the
+American spring.  Azalias, white, yellow, and pink; kalmias of
+every variety, the too sweet magnolia, and the stately
+rhododendron, all grow in wild abundance there.  The plant known
+in England as the Virginian creeper, is often seen climbing to
+the top of the highest forest trees, and bearing a large trumpet-
+shaped blossom of a rich scarlet.  The sassafras is a beautiful
+shrub, and I cannot imagine why it has not been naturalized in
+England, for it has every appearance of being extremely hardy.
+The leaves grow in tufts, and every tuft contains leaves of five
+or six different forms.  The fruit is singularly beautiful; it
+resembles in form a small acorn, and is jet black; the cup and
+stem looking as if they were made of red coral.  The graceful and
+fantastic grapevine is a feature of great beauty, and its
+wandering festoons bear no more resemblance to our well-trained
+vines, than our stunted azalias, and tiny magnolias, to their
+thriving American kindred.
+
+There is another charm that haunts the summer wanderer in
+America, and it is perhaps the only one found in greatest
+perfection in the West: but it is beautiful every where.  In a
+bright day, during any of the summer months, your walk is through
+an atmosphere of butterflies, so gaudy in hue, and so varied in
+form, that I often thought they looked like flowers on the wing.
+Some of them are very large, measuring three or four inches
+across the wings; but many, and I think the most beautiful, are
+smaller than ours.  Some have wings of the most dainty lavender
+colour; and bodies of black; others are fawn and rose colour; and
+others again are orange and bright blue.  But pretty as they are,
+it is their number, even more than their beauty, that delights
+the eye.  Their gay and noiseless movement as they glance through
+the air, crossing each other in chequered maze, is very
+beautiful.  The humming-bird is another pretty summer toy; but
+they are not sufficiently numerous, nor do they live enough on
+the wing to render them so important a feature in the
+transatlantic show, as the rainbow-tinted butterflies.  The
+fire-fly was a far more brilliant novelty.  In moist situations,
+or before a storm, they are very numerous, and in the dark sultry
+evening of a burning day, when all employment was impossible, I
+have often found it a pastime to watch their glancing light, now
+here, now there; now seen, now gone; shooting past with the
+rapidity of lightning, and looking like a shower of falling
+stars, blown about in the breeze of evening.
+
+
+
+In one of our excursions we encountered and slew a copperhead
+snake.  I escaped treading on it by about three inches.  While we
+were contemplating our conquered foe, and doubting in our
+ignorance if he were indeed the deadly copper-head we had so
+often heard described, a farmer joined us, who, as soon as he
+cast his eyes on our victim, exclaimed, "My! if you have not got
+a copper.  That's right down well done, they be darnation
+beasts."  He told us that he had once seen a copper-head bite
+himself to death, from being teazed by a stick, while confined in
+a cage where he could find no other victim.  We often heard
+terrible accounts of the number of these desperate reptiles to be
+found on the rocks near the great falls of the Potomac; but not
+even the terror these stories inspired could prevent our repeated
+visits to that sublime scene; Luckily our temerity was never
+punished by seeing any there.  Lizards, long, large, and most
+hideously like a miniature crocodile, I frequently saw, gliding
+from the fissures of the rocks, and darting again under shelter,
+perhaps beneath the very stone I was seated upon; but every one
+assured us they were harmless.  Animal life is so infinitely
+abundant, and in forms so various, and so novel to European eyes,
+that it is absolutely necessary to divest oneself of all the
+petty terrors which the crawling, creeping, hopping, and buzzing
+tribes can inspire, before taking an American summer ramble.  It
+is, I conceive, quite impossible for any description to convey an
+idea of the sounds which assail the ears from the time the short
+twilight begins, until the rising sun scatters the rear of
+darkness, and sends the winking choristers to rest.
+
+Be where you will (excepting in the large cities) the appalling
+note of the bull-frog will reach you, loud, deep, and hoarse,
+issuing from a thousand throats in ceaseless continuity of croak.
+The tree-frog adds her chirping and almost human voice; the
+kattiedid repeats her own name through the livelong night; the
+whole tribe of locusts chirp, chirrup, squeak, whiz, and whistle,
+without allowing one instant of interval to the weary ear; and
+when to this the mosquito adds her threatening hum, it is
+wonderful that any degree of fatigue can obtain for the listener
+the relief of sleep.  In fact, it is only in ceasing to listen
+that this blessing can be found.  I passed many feverish nights
+during my first summer, literally in listening to this most
+astounding mixture of noises, and it was only when they became
+too familiar to excite attention, that I recovered my rest.
+
+I know not by what whimsical link of association the
+recapitulation of this insect din suggests the recollection of
+other discords, at least as harsh and much more troublesome.
+
+Even in the retirement in which we passed this summer, we were
+not beyond reach of the election fever which is constantly raging
+through the land.  Had America every attraction under heaven that
+nature and social enjoyment can offer, this electioneering
+madness would make me fly it in disgust.  It engrosses every
+conversation, it irritates every temper, it substitutes party
+spirit for personal esteem; and, in fact, vitiates the whole
+system of society.
+
+When a candidate for any office starts, his party endow him with
+every virtue, and with all the talents.  They are all ready to
+peck out the eyes of those who oppose him, and in the warm and
+mettlesome south-western states, do literally often perform this
+operation: but as soon as he succeeds, his virtues and his
+talents vanish, and, excepting those holding office under his
+appointment, every man Jonathan of them set off again full gallop
+to elect his successor.  When I first arrived in America Mr. John
+Quincy Adams was President, and it was impossible to doubt, even
+from the statement of his enemies, that he was every way
+calculated to do honour to the office.  All I ever heard against
+him was, that "he was too much of a gentleman;" but a new
+candidate must be set up, and Mr. Adams was out-voted for no
+other reason, that I could learn, but because it was "best to
+change." "Jackson for ever!" was, therefore, screamed from the
+majority of mouths, both drunk and sober, till he was elected;
+but no sooner in his place, than the same ceaseless operation
+went on again, with "Clay for ever" for its war-whoop.
+
+I was one morning paying a visit, when a party of gentlemen
+arrived at the same house on horseback.  The one whose air
+proclaimed him the chief of his party, left us not long in doubt
+as to his business, for he said, almost in entering,
+
+"Mr. P--, I come to ask for your vote."
+
+"Who are you for, sir?" was the reply.
+
+"Clay for ever!" the rejoinder; and the vote was promised.
+
+This gentleman was candidate for a place in the state
+representation, whose members have a vote in the presidential
+election.
+
+I was introduced to him as an English woman: he addressed me
+with, "Well madam, you see we do these things openly and
+above-board here; you mince such matters more, I expect."
+
+After his departure, his history and standing were discussed.
+"Mr. M. is highly respectable, and of very good standing; there
+can be no doubt of his election if he is a thorough-going
+Clay-man," said my host.
+
+I asked what his station was.
+
+The lady of the house told me that his father had been a
+merchant, and when this future legislator was a young man, he had
+been sent by him to some port in the Mediterranean as his
+super-cargo.  The youth, being a free-born high-spirited youth,
+appropriated the proceeds to his own uses, traded with great
+success upon the fund thus obtained, and returned, after an
+absence of twelve years, a gentleman of fortune and excellent
+standing.  I expressed some little disapprobation of this
+proceeding, but was assured that Mr. M. was considered by every
+one as a very "honourable man."
+
+Were I to relate one-tenth part of the dishonest transactions
+recounted to me by Americans, of their fellow-citizens and
+friends, I am confident that no English reader would give me
+credit for veracity it would, therefore, be very unwise to repeat
+them, but I cannot refrain from expressing the opinion that
+nearly four years of attentive observation impressed on me,
+namely, that the moral sense is on every point blunter than with
+us.  Make an American believe that his next-door neighbour is a
+very worthless fellow, and I dare say (if he were quite sure he
+could make nothing by him) he would drop the acquaintance; but as
+to what constitutes a worthless fellow, people differ on the
+opposite sides of the Atlantic, almost by the whole decalogue.
+There is, as it appeared to me, an obtusity on all points of
+honourable feeling.
+
+"Cervantes laughed Spain's chivalry away," but he did not laugh
+away that better part of chivalry, so beautifully described by
+Burke as "the unbought grace of life, the cheap defence of
+nations, that chastity of honour, which feels a stain as a wound,
+which ennobles whatever it touches, and by which vice itself
+loses half its evil, by losing all its grossness."  The better
+part of chivalry still mixes with gentle blood in every part of
+Europe, nor is it less fondly guarded than when sword and buckler
+aided its defence.  Perhaps this unbought grace of life is not to
+be looked for where chivalry has never been.  I certainly do not
+lament the decadence of knight errantry, nor wish to exchange the
+protection of the laws for that of the doughtiest champion who
+ever set lance in rest; but I do, in truth, believe that this
+knightly sensitiveness of honourable feeling is the best antidote
+to the petty soul-degrading transactions of every day life, and
+that the total want of it, is one reason why this free-born race
+care so very little for the vulgar virtue called probity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 24
+
+Journey to Philadelphia--Chesapeak and Delaware Canal--City of
+Philadelphia--Miss Wright's Lecture
+
+
+
+In the latter part of August, 1830, we paid a visit to
+Philadelphia, and, notwithstanding the season, we were so
+fortunate as to have both bright and temperate weather for the
+expedition.  The road from Washington to Baltimore, which was our
+first day's journey, is interesting in summer from the variety of
+luxuriance of the foliage which borders great parts of it.
+
+We passed the night at Baltimore, and embarked next morning on
+board a steam-boat for Philadelphia.  The scenery of the Elk
+river, upon which you enter soon after leaving the port of
+Baltimore, is not beautiful.  We embarked at six in the morning,
+and at twelve reached the Chesapeak and Delaware canal; we then
+quitted the steam-boat, and walked two or three hundred yards to
+the canal, where we got on board a pretty little decked boat,
+sheltered by a neat awning, and drawn by four horses.  This canal
+cuts across the state of Delaware, and connects the Chesapeak and
+Delaware rivers: it has been a work of great expense, though the
+distance is not more than thirteen miles; for a considerable part
+of this distance the cutting has been very deep, and the banks
+are in many parts thatched, to prevent their crumbling.  At the
+point where the cutting is deepest, a light bridge is thrown
+across, which, from its great height, forms a striking object to
+the travellers passing below it.  Every boat that passes this
+canal pays a toll of twenty dollars.
+
+Nothing can be less interesting than that part of the state of
+Delaware through which this cut passes, the Mississippi hardly
+excepted.  At one, we reached the Delaware river, at a point
+nearly opposite Delaware Fort, which looks recently built, and
+is very handsome.  [This fort was destroyed by fire a few months
+afterwards.]  Here we again changed our vessel, and got on
+board another of their noble steam-boats; both these changes
+were made with the greatest regularity and dispatch.
+
+There is nothing remarkable in the scenery of the Delaware.  The
+stream is wide and the banks are flat; a short distance before
+you reach Philadelphia two large buildings of singular appearance
+strike the eye.  On enquiry I learnt that they were erected for
+the purpose of sheltering two ships of war.  They are handsomely
+finished, with very neat roofs, and are ventilated by many
+windows.  The expense of these buildings must have been
+considerable, but, as the construction of the vast machines they
+shelter was more so, it may be good economy.
+
+We reached Philadelphia at four o'clock in the afternoon.  The
+approach to this city is not so striking as that to Baltimore;
+though much larger, it does not now show itself so well; it wants
+domes and columns: it is, nevertheless, a beautiful city.
+Nothing can exceed its neatness; the streets are well paved, the
+foot-way, as in all the old American cities, is of brick, like
+the old pantile walk at Tunbridge Wells.  This is almost entirely
+sheltered from the sun by the awnings, which, in all the
+principal streets, are spread from the shop windows to the edge
+of the pavement.
+
+The city is built with extreme and almost wearisome regularity;
+the streets, which run north and south, are distinguished by
+numbers, from one to--I know not how many, but I paid a visit in
+Twelth Street; these are intersected at right angles by others,
+which are known by the names of various trees; Mulberry (more
+commonly called Arch-street), Chesnut, and Walnut, appear the
+most fashionable: in each of these there is a theatre.  This mode
+of distinguishing the streets is commodious to strangers, from
+the facility it gives of finding out whereabouts you are; if you
+ask for the United States Bank, you are told it is in Chesnut,
+between Third and Fourth, and as the streets are all divided from
+each other by equal distances, of about three hundred feet, you
+are sure of not missing your mark.  There are many handsome
+houses, but none that are very splendid; they are generally of
+brick, and those of the better order have white marble steps, and
+some few, door frames of the same beautiful material; but, on the
+whole, there is less display of it in the private dwellings than
+at Baltimore.
+
+The Americans all seem greatly to admire this city, and to give
+it the preference in point of beauty to all others in the Union,
+but I do not agree with them.  There are some very handsome
+buildings, but none of them so placed as to produce a striking
+effect, as is the case both with the Capitol and the President's
+house, at Washington.  Notwithstanding these fine buildings, one
+or more of which are to be found in all the principal streets,
+the _coup d'oeil_ is every where the same.  There is no Place de
+Louis Quinze or Carrousel, no Regent Street, or Green Park, to
+make one exclaim "how beautiful!" all is even, straight, uniform,
+and uninteresting.
+
+There is one spot, however, about a mile from the town, which
+presents a lovely scene.  The water-works of Philadelphia have
+not yet perhaps as wide extended fame as those of Marley, but
+they are not less deserving it.  At a most beautiful point of the
+Schuylkill River the water has been forced up into a magnificent
+reservoir, ample and elevated enough to send it through the whole
+city.  The vast yet simple machinery by which this is achieved is
+open to the public, who resort in such numbers to see it, that
+several evening stages run from Philadelphia to Fair Mount for
+their accommodation.  But interesting and curious as this
+machinery is, Fair Mount would not be so attractive had it not
+something else to offer.  It is, in truth, one of the very
+prettiest spots the eye can look upon.  A broad weir is thrown
+across the Schuylkill, which produces the sound and look of a
+cascade.  On the farther side of the river is a gentleman's seat,
+the beautiful lawns of which slope to the water's edge, and
+groups of weeping-willows and other trees throw their shadows on
+the stream.  The works themselves are enclosed in a simple but
+very handsome building of freestone, which has an extended front
+opening upon a terrace, which overhangs the river: behind the
+building, and divided from it only by a lawn, rises a lofty wall
+of solid limestone rock, which has, at one or two points, been
+cut into, for the passage of the water into the noble reservoir
+above.  From the crevices of this rock the catalpa was every
+where pushing forth, covered with its beautiful blossom.  Beneath
+one of these trees an artificial opening in the rock gives
+passage to a stream of water, clear and bright as crystal, which
+is received in a stone basin of simple workmanship, having a cup
+for the service of the thirsty traveller.  At another point, a
+portion of the water in its upward way to the reservoir, is
+permitted to spring forth in a perpetual _jet d'eau_, that
+returns in a silver shower upon the head of a marble _naiad_ of
+snowy whiteness.  The statue is not the work of Phidias, but its
+dark, rocky background, the flowery catalpas which shadow it, and
+the bright shower through which it shows itself, altogether make
+the scene one of singular beauty; add to which, the evening on
+which I saw it was very sultry, and the contrast of this cool
+spot to all besides certainly enhanced its attraction; it was
+impossible not to envy the nymph her eternal shower-bath.
+
+On returning from this excursion we saw handbills in all parts of
+the city announcing that Miss Wright was on that evening to
+deliver her parting address to the citizens of Philadelphia, at
+the Arch Street theatre, previous to her departure for Europe.
+I immediately determined to hear her, and did so, though not
+without some difficulty, from the crowds who went thither with
+the same intention.  The house, which is a very pretty one, was
+filled in every part, including the stage, with a well dressed
+and most attentive audience.  There was a larger proportion of
+ladies present than I ever saw on any other occasion in an
+American theatre.  One reason for this might be, perhaps, that
+they were admitted gratis.
+
+Miss Wright came on the stage surrounded by a body guard of
+Quaker ladies, in the full costume of their sect.  She was, as
+she always is, startling in her theories, but powerfully
+eloquent, and, on the whole, was much applauded, though one
+passage produced great emotion, and some hissing.  She stated
+broadly, on the authority of Jefferson, furnished by his
+posthumous works, that "Washington was not a Christian."  One
+voice from the crowded pit exclaimed, in an accent of
+indignation, "Washington was a Christian." but it was evident
+that the majority of the audience considered Mr. Jefferson's
+assertion as a compliment to the country's idol, for the hissing
+was soon triumphantly clapped down.  General Washington himself,
+however, gives a somewhat different account of his own
+principles, for in his admirable farewell address on declining a
+re-election to the Presidency, I find the following passage.
+
+"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political
+prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.
+In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who would
+labour to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these
+firmest props of the destinies of men and citizens.  A volume
+could not trace all their connections with private and public
+felicity.  And let us with caution indulge the supposition that
+morality can be maintained without religion, reason and
+experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can
+prevail in exclusion of religious principle."
+
+Whether Mr. Jefferson or himself knew best what his principles
+were, I will not decide, but, at least, it appears fair, when
+repeating one statement, to add the other also.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 25
+
+Washington Square--American Beauty--Gallery of Fine Arts--
+Antiques--Theatres--Museum
+
+
+
+Our mornings were spent, as all travellers' mornings must be, in
+asking questions, and in seeing all that the answers told us it
+was necessary to see.  Perhaps this can be done in no city with
+more facility than in Philadelphia; you have nothing to do but to
+walk up one straight street, and down another, till all the
+parallelograms have been threaded.  In doing this you will see
+many things worth looking at.  The United States, and
+Pennsylvania banks, are the most striking buildings, and are both
+extremely handsome, being of white marble, and built after
+Grecian models.  The State House has nothing externally to
+recommend it, but the room shown as that in which the declaration
+of independence was signed, and in which the estimable Lafayette
+was received half a century after he had shed his noble blood in
+aiding to obtain it, is an interesting spot.  At one end of this
+room is a statue in wood of General Washington; on its base is
+the following inscription:-
+
+     First in Peace,
+     First in War,
+     and
+     First in the hearts of his Countrymen.
+
+There is a very pretty enclosure before the Walnut Street
+entrance to the State House, with good well-kept gravel walks,
+and many of their beautiful flowering trees.  It is laid down in
+grass, not in turf; that, indeed, is a luxury I never saw in
+America.  Near this enclosure is another of much the same
+description, called Washington Square.  Here there was an
+excellent crop of clover; but as the trees are numerous, and
+highly beautiful, and several commodious seats are placed beneath
+their shade, it is, in spite of the long grass, a very agreeable
+retreat from heat and dust.  It was rarely, however, that I saw
+any of these seats occupied; the Americans have either no
+leisure, or no inclination for those moments of _delassement_
+that all other people, I believe, indulge in.  Even their drams,
+so universally taken by rich and poor, are swallowed standing,
+and, excepting at church, they never have the air of leisure or
+repose.  This pretty Washington Square is surrounded by houses on
+three sides, but (lasso!) has a prison on the fourth; it is
+nevertheless the nearest approach to a London square that is to
+be found in Philadelphia.
+
+One evening, while the rest of my party went to visit some
+objects which I had before seen, I agreed to await their return
+in this square, and sat down under a magnificent catalpa, which
+threw its fragrant blossoms in all directions; the other end of
+the bench was occupied by a young lady, who was employed in
+watching the gambols of a little boy.  There was something in her
+manner of looking at me, and exchanging a smile when her young
+charge performed some extraordinary feat of activity on the
+grass, that persuaded me she was not an American.  I do not
+remember who spoke first, but we were presently in a full flow of
+conversation.  She spoke English with elegant correctness, but
+she was a German, and with an ardour of feeling which gave her a
+decidedly foreign air in Philadelphia, she talked to me of her
+country, of all she had left, and of all she had found, or rather
+of all she had not found, for thus ran her lament:-
+
+"They do not love music.  Oh no! and they never amuse
+themselves--no; and their hearts are not warm, at least they
+seem not so to strangers; and they have no ease, no forgetfulness
+of business and of care--no, not for a moment.  But I will not
+stay long, I think, for I should not live."  She told me that
+she had a brother settled there as a merchant, and that she had
+passed a year with him; but she was hoping soon to return to her
+father land.
+
+I never so strongly felt the truth of the remark, that expression
+is the soul of beauty, as in looking at, and listening to this
+young German.  She was any thing but handsome; it is true she had
+large eyes, full of gentle expression, but every feature was
+irregular; but, oh! the charm of that smile, of that look of deep
+feeling which animated every feature when she spoke of her own
+Germany!  The tone of her voice, the slight and graceful action
+which accompanied her words, all struck me as so attractive, that
+the half hour I passed with her was continually recurring to my
+memory.  I had often taxed myself with feeling something like
+prejudice against the beautiful American women; but this half
+hour set my conscience at rest; it is not prejudice which causes
+one to feel that regularity of features is insufficient to
+interest, or even to please, beyond the first glance.  I
+certainly believe the women of America to be the handsomest in
+the world, but as surely do I believe that they are the least
+attractive.
+
+
+
+We visited the nineteenth annual exhibition of the Pennsylvanian
+academy of the fine arts; 431 was the number of objects
+exhibited, which were so arranged as to fill three tolerably
+large rooms, and one smaller called the director's room.  There
+were among the number about thirty engravings, and a much larger
+proportion of water-colour drawings; about seventy had the P.A.
+(Pensylvanian Academician) annexed to the name of the artist.
+
+The principal historical composition was a large scripture piece
+by Mr. Washington Alston.  This gentleman is spoken of as an
+artist of great merit, and I was told that his manner was much
+improved since this picture was painted, (it bears date, 1813).
+I believe it was for this picture Mr. Alston received a prize at
+the British Gallery.
+
+There was a portrait of a lady, which, in the catalogue, is
+designated as "the White Plume," which had the reputation of
+being the most admired in the collection, and the artist, Mr.
+Ingham, is said to rank highest among the portrait-painters of
+America.  This picture is of very high finish, particularly the
+drapery, which is most elaborately worked, even to the pile of
+the velvet; the management of the light is much in the manner of
+Good; but the drawing is very defective, and the contour, though
+the face is a lovely one, hard and unfleshy.  From all the
+conversations on painting, which I listened to in America, I
+found that the finish of drapery was considered as the highest
+excellence, and next to this, the resemblance in a portrait; I
+do not remember ever to have heard the words _drawing_ or
+_composition_ used in any conversation on the subject.
+
+One of the rooms of this academy has inscribed over its door,
+
+                   ANTIQUE STATUE GALLERY
+
+The door was open, but just within it was a screen, which
+prevented any objects in the room being seen from without.  Upon
+my pausing to read this inscription, an old woman who appeared to
+officiate as guardian of the gallery, hustled up, and addressing
+me with an air of much mystery, said, "Now, ma'am, now; this is
+just the time for you--nobody can see you--make haste."
+
+I stared at her with unfeigned surprise, and disengaging my arm,
+which she had taken apparently to hasten my movements, I very
+gravely asked her meaning.
+
+"Only, ma'am, that ladies like to go into that room by
+themselves, when there be no gentlemen watching them."
+
+On entering this mysterious apartment, the first thing I
+remarked, was written paper, deprecating the disgusting depravity
+which had led some of the visitors to mark and deface the casts
+in a most indecent and shameless manner.  This abomination has
+unquestionably been occasioned by the coarse-minded custom which
+sends alternate groups of males and females into the room.  Were
+the antique gallery thrown open to mixed parties of ladies and
+gentlemen, it would soon cease.  Till America has reached the
+degree of refinement which permits of this, the antique casts
+should not be exhibited to ladies at all.  I never felt my
+delicacy shocked at the Louvre, but I was strangely tempted to
+resent as an affront the hint I received, that I might steal a
+glance at what was deemed indecent.  Perhaps the arrangements for
+the exhibition of this room, the feelings which have led to them,
+and the result they have produced, furnish as good a specimen of
+the kind of delicacy on which the Americans pride themselves, and
+of the peculiarities arising from it, as can be found.  The room
+contains about fifty casts, chiefly from the antique.
+
+In the director's room I was amused at the means which a poet had
+hit upon for advertising his works, or rather HIS WORK, and not
+less at the elaborate notice of it.  His portrait was suspended
+there, and attached to the frame was a paper inscribed thus:-
+
+    'PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR
+     of
+     The Fredoniad, or Independence Preserved,
+     a political, naval, and military poem,
+     on the late war of 1812, in forty cantos;
+     the whole compressed in four volumes;
+     each volume averaging more than 305 pages,
+     By RICHARD EMMONS, M.D."
+
+I went to the Chesnut Street Theatre to see Mr. Booth, formerly
+of Drury Lane, in the character of Lear, and a Mrs. Duff in
+Cordelia; but I have seen too many Lears and Cordelias to be
+easily pleased; I thought the whole performance very bad.  The
+theatre is of excellently moderate dimensions, and prettily
+decorated.  It was not the fashionable season for the theatres,
+which I presume must account for the appearance of the company in
+the boxes, which was any thing but elegant; nor was there more
+decorum of demeanour than I had observed elsewhere; I saw one man
+in the lower tier of boxes deliberately take off his coat that he
+might enjoy the refreshing coolness of shirt sleeves; all the
+gentlemen wore their hats, and the spitting was unceasing.
+
+On another evening we went to the Walnut Street Theatre; the
+chief attraction of the night was furnished by the performance of
+a young man who had been previously exhibited as "a living
+skeleton."  He played the part of Jeremiah Thin, and certainly
+looked the part well; and here I think must end my praise of the
+evening's performances.
+
+The great and most striking contrast between this city and those
+of Europe, is perceived after sunset; scarcely a sound is heard;
+hardly a voice or a wheel breaks the stillness.  The Streets are
+entirely dark, except where a stray lamp marks an hotel or the
+like; no shops are open, but those of the apothecary, and here
+and there a cook's shop; scarcely a step is heard, and for a note
+of music, or the sound of mirth, I listened in vain.  In leaving
+the theatre, which I always did before the afterpiece, I saw not
+a single carriage; the night of Miss Wright's lecture, when I
+stayed to the end, I saw one.  This darkness, this stillness, is
+so great, that I almost felt it awful.  As we walked home one
+fine moonlight evening from the Chestnut Street house, we stopped
+a moment before the United States Bank, to look at its white
+marble columns by the subdued lights said to be so advantageous
+to them; the building did, indeed, look beautiful; the
+incongruous objects around were hardly visible, while the
+brilliant white of the building, which by daylight is dazzling,
+was mellowed into fainter light and softer shadow.
+
+While pausing before this modern temple of Theseus, we remarked
+that we alone seemed alive in this great city; it was ten
+o'clock, and a most lovely cool evening, after a burning day, yet
+all was silence.  Regent Street, Bond Street, with their blaze of
+gas-light _bijouterie_, and still more the Italian Boulevard of
+Paris, rose in strong contrast on the memory; the light, which
+outshines that of day--the gay, graceful, laughing throng--the
+elegant saloons of Tortoni, with all their varieties of cooling
+nectar--were all remembered.  Is it an European prejudice to deem
+that the solitary dram swallowed by the gentlemen on quitting an
+American theatre indicates a lower and more vicious state of
+manners, than do the ices so sedulously offered to the ladies on
+leaving a French one?
+
+
+
+The museum contains a good collection of objects illustrative of
+natural history, and some very interesting specimens of Indian
+antiquities; both here and at Cincinnati I saw so many things
+resembling Egyptian relics, that I should like to see the origin
+of the Indian nations enquired into, more accurately than has yet
+been done.
+
+The shops, of which there appeared to me to be an unusually large
+proportion, are very handsome; many of them in a style of
+European elegance.  Lottery offices abound, and that species of
+gambling is carried to a great extent.  I saw fewer carriages in
+Philadelphia than either at Baltimore or Washington, but in the
+winter I was told they were more numerous.
+
+Many of the best families had left the city for different
+watering-places, and others were daily following.  Long Branch is
+a fashionable bathing place on the Jersey shore, to which many
+resort, both from this place and from New York; the description
+given of the manner of bathing appeared to me rather
+extraordinary, but the account was confirmed by so many different
+people, that I could not doubt its correctness.  The shore, it
+seems, is too bold to admit of bathing machines, and the ladies
+have, therefore, recourse to another mode of ensuring the
+enjoyment of a sea-bath with safety.  The accommodation at Long
+Branch is almost entirely at large boarding-houses, where all the
+company live at a _table d'hote_.  It is customary for ladies on
+arriving to look round among the married gentlemen, the first
+time they meet at table, and to select the one her fancy leads
+her to prefer as a protector in her purposed visits to the realms
+of Neptune; she makes her request, which is always graciously
+received, that he would lead her to taste the briny wave; but
+another fair one must select the same protector, else the
+arrangement cannot be complete, as custom does not authorise
+_tete a tete_ immersion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 26
+
+Quakers--Presbyterians--Itinerant Methodist
+Preacher--Market--Influence of females in society
+
+
+
+I had never chanced, among all my wanderings, to enter a Quaker
+Meeting-house; and as I thought I could no where make my first
+visit better than at Philadelphia, I went under the protection of
+a Quaker lady to the principal _orthodox_ meeting of the city.
+The building is large, but perfectly without ornament; the men
+and women are separated by a rail which divides it into two
+equal parts; the meeting was very full on both sides, and the
+atmosphere almost intolerably hot.  As they glided in at their
+different doors, I spied many pretty faces peeping from the prim
+head gear of the females, and as the broad-brimmed males sat
+down, the welcome Parney supposes prepared for them in heaven,
+recurred to me,
+
+           "Entre done, et garde ton chapeau."
+
+The little bonnets and the large hats were ranged in long rows,
+and their stillness was for a long time so unbroken, that I could
+hardly persuade myself the figures they surmounted were alive.
+At length a grave square man arose, laid aside his ample beaver,
+and after another solemn interval of silence, he gave a deep
+groan, and as it were by the same effort uttered, "Keep thy
+foot."  Again he was silent for many minutes, and then he
+continued for more that an hour to put forth one word at a time,
+but at such an interval from each other that I found it quite
+impossible to follow his meaning, if, indeed, he had any.  My
+Quaker friend told me she knew not who he was, and that she much
+regretted I had heard so poor a preacher.  After he had
+concluded, a gentleman-like old man (a physician by profession)
+arose, and delivered a few moral sentences in an agreeable
+manner; soon after he had sat down, the whole congregation rose,
+I know not at what signal, and made their exit.  It is a singular
+kind of worship, if worship it may be called, where all prayer is
+forbidden; yet it appeared to me, in its decent quietness,
+infinitely preferable to what I had witnessed at the Presbyterian
+and Methodist Meeting-houses.  A great schism had lately taken
+place among the Quakers of Philadelphia; many objecting to the
+over-strict discipline of the orthodox.  Among the seceders there
+are again various shades of difference; I met many who called
+themselves Unitarian Quakers, others were Hicksites, and others
+again, though still wearing the Quaker habit, were said to be
+Deists.
+
+We visited many churches and chapels in the city, but none that
+would elsewhere be called handsome, either internally or
+externally.
+
+I went one evening, not a Sunday, with a party of ladies to see a
+Presbyterian minister inducted.  The ceremony was woefully long,
+and the charge to the young man awfully impossible to obey, at
+least if he were a man, like unto other men.  It was matter of
+astonishment to me to observe the deep attention, and the
+unwearied patience with which some hundreds of beautiful young
+girls who were assembled there, (not to mention the old ladies,)
+listened to the whole of this tedious ceremony; surely there is
+no country in the world where religion makes so large a part of
+the amusement and occupation of the ladies.  Spain, in its most
+catholic days, could not exceed it: besides, in spite of the
+gloomy horrors of the Inquisition, gaiety and amusement were not
+there offered as a sacrifice by the young and lovely.
+
+The religious severity of Philadelphian manners is in nothing
+more conspicuous than in the number of chains thrown across the
+streets on a Sunday to prevent horses and carriages from passing.
+Surely the Jews could not exceed this country in their external
+observances.  What the gentlemen of Philadelphia do with
+themselves on a Sunday, I will not pretend to guess, but the
+prodigious majority of females in the churches is very
+remarkable.  Although a large proportion of the population of
+this city are Quakers, the same extraordinary variety of faith
+exists here, as every where else in the Union, and the priests
+have, in some circles, the same unbounded influence which has
+been mentioned elsewhere.
+
+One history reached me, which gave a terrible picture of the
+effect this power may produce; it was related to me by my
+mantua-maker; a young woman highly estimable as a wife and
+mother, and on whose veracity I perfectly rely.  She told me that
+her father was a widower, and lived with his family of three
+daughters, at Philadelphia.  A short time before she married, an
+itinerant preacher came to the city, who contrived to obtain an
+intimate footing in many respectable families.  Her father's was
+one of these, and his influence and authority were great with all
+the sisters, but particularly with the youngest.  The young
+girl's feelings for him seem to have been a curious mixture of
+spiritual awe and earthly affection.  When she received a hint
+from her sisters that she ought not to give him too much
+encouragement till he spoke out, she showed as much holy
+resentment as if they had told her not to say her prayers too
+devoutly.  At length the father remarked the sort of covert
+passion that gleamed through the eyes of his godly visitor, and
+he saw too, the pallid anxious look which had settled on the
+young brow of his daughter; either this, or some rumours he had
+heard abroad, or both together, led him to forbid this man his
+house.  The three girls were present when he did so, and all
+uttered a deprecating "Oh father!" but the old man added stoutly.
+If you show yourself here again, reverend sir, I will not only
+teach you the way out of my house, but out of the city also.  The
+preacher withdrew, and was never heard of in Philadelphia
+afterwards; but when a few months had passed, strange whispers
+began to creep through the circle which had received and honoured
+him, and, in due course of time, no less than seven unfortunate
+girls produced living proofs of the wisdom of my informant's
+worthy father.  In defence of this dreadful story I can only make
+the often repeated quotation, "I tell the tale as 'twas told to
+me;" but, in all sincerity I must add, that I have no doubt of
+its truth.
+
+
+
+I was particularly requested to visit the market of Philadelphia,
+at the hour when it presented the busiest scene; I did so, and
+thought few cities had any thing to show better worth looking at;
+it is, indeed, the very perfection of a market, the _beau ideal_
+of a notable housewife, who would confide to no deputy the
+important office of caterer.  The neatness, freshness, and entire
+absence of every thing disagreeable to sight or smell, must be
+witnessed to be believed.  The stalls were spread with snow-white
+napkins; flowers and fruit, if not quite of Paris or London
+perfection, yet bright, fresh, and fragrant; with excellent
+vegetables in the greatest variety and abundance, were all so
+delightfully exhibited, that objects less pleasing were
+overlooked and forgotten.  The dairy, the poultry-yard, the
+forest, the river, and the ocean, all contributed their spoil;
+in short, for the first time in my life, I thought a market a
+beautiful object.  The prices of most articles were, as nearly
+as I could calculate between dollars and francs, about the same
+ as at Paris; certainly much cheaper than in London, but much
+dearer than at Exeter.
+
+My letters of introduction brought me acquainted with several
+amiable and interesting people.  There is something in the tone
+of manners at Philadelphia that I liked; it appeared to me that
+there was less affectation of ton there than elsewhere.  There is
+a quietness, a composure in a Philadelphia drawing-room, that is
+quite characteristic of a city founded by William Penn.  The
+dress of the ladies, even those who are not Quakers, partakes of
+this; they are most elegantly neat, and there was a delicacy and
+good taste in the dress of the young ladies that might serve as a
+model to the whole Union.  There can hardly be a stronger
+contrast in the style of dress between any two cities than may be
+remarked between Baltimore and Philadelphia; both are costly, but
+the former is distinguished by gaudy splendour, the latter by
+elegant simplicity.
+
+It is said that this city has many gentlemen distinguished by
+their scientific pursuits; I conversed with several well informed
+and intelligent men, but there is a cold dryness of manner and an
+apparent want of interest in the subjects they discuss, that, to
+my mind, robs conversation of all its charm.  On one occasion I
+heard the character and situation of an illustrious officer
+discussed, who had served with renown under Napoleon, and whose
+high character might have obtained him favour under the
+Bourbons, could he have abandoned the principles which led him to
+dislike their government.  This distinguished man had retreated
+to America after the death of his master, and was endeavouring to
+establish a sort of Polytechnic academy at New York: in speaking
+of him, I observed, that his devotion to the cause of freedom
+must prove a strong recommendation in the United States.  "Not
+the least in the world, madam," answered a gentleman who ranked
+deservedly high among the _literati_ of the city, "it might
+avail him much in England, perhaps, but here we are perfectly
+indifferent as to what people's principles may be."
+
+This I believe to be exactly true, though I never before heard it
+avowed as a national feature.
+
+The want of warmth, of interest, of feeling, upon all subjects
+which do not immediately touch their own concerns, is universal,
+and has a most paralysing effect upon conversation.  All the
+enthusiasm of America is concentrated to the one point of her own
+emancipation and independence; on this point nothing can exceed
+the warmth of her feelings.  She may, I think, be compared to a
+young bride, a sort of Mrs. Major Waddle; her independence is to
+her as a newly-won bridegroom; for him alone she has eyes, ears,
+or heart;--the honeymoon is not over yet;--when it is, America
+will, perhaps, learn more coquetry, and know better how to _faire
+l'aimable_ to other nations.
+
+I conceive that no place in the known world can furnish so
+striking a proof of the immense value of literary habits as the
+United States, not only in enlarging the mind, but what is of
+infinitely more importance, in purifying the manners.  During my
+abode in the country I not only never met a literary man who was
+a tobacco chewer or a whiskey drinker, but I never met any who
+were not, that had escaped these degrading habits.  On the women,
+the influence is, if possible, still more important;
+unfortunately, the instances are rare, but they are to be found.
+One admirable example occurs in the person of a young lady of
+Cincinnati: surrounded by a society totally incapable of
+appreciating, or even of comprehending her, she holds a place
+among it, as simply and unaffectedly as if of the same species;
+young, beautiful, and gifted by nature with a mind singularly
+acute and discriminating, she has happily found such
+opportunities of cultivation as might distinguish her in any
+country; it is, indeed, that best of all cultivation which is
+only to be found in domestic habits of literature, and in that
+hourly education which the daughter of a man of letters receives
+when she is made the companion and friend of her father.  This
+young lady is the more admirable as she contrives to unite all
+the multifarious duties which usually devolve upon American
+ladies, with her intellectual pursuits.  The companion and
+efficient assistant of her father's literary labours, the active
+aid in all the household cares of her mother, the tender nurse of
+a delicate infant sister, the skilful artificer of her own always
+elegant wardrobe, ever at leisure, and ever prepared to receive
+with the sweetest cheerfulness her numerous acquaintance, the
+most animated in conversation, the most indefatigable in
+occupation, it was impossible to know her, and study her
+character without feeling that such women were "the glory of all
+lands," and, could the race be multiplied, would speedily become
+the reformers of all the grossness and ignorance that now degrade
+her own.  Is it to be imagined, that if fifty modifications of
+this charming young woman were to be met at a party, the men
+would dare to enter it reeking with whiskey, their lips blackened
+with tobacco, and convinced, to the very centre of their hearts
+and souls, that women were made for no other purpose than to
+fabricate sweetmeats and gingerbread, construct shirts, darn
+stockings, and become mothers of possible presidents?  Assuredly
+not.  Should the women of America ever discover what their power
+might be, and compare it with what it is, much improvement might
+be hoped for.  While, at Philadelphia, among the handsomest, the
+wealthiest, and the most distinguished of the land, their
+comparative influence in society, with that possessed in Europe
+by females holding the same station, occurred forcibly to my
+mind.
+
+Let me be permitted to describe the day of a Philadelphian lady
+of the first class, and the inference I would draw from it will
+be better understood.
+
+It may be said that the most important feature in a woman's
+history is her maternity.  It is so; but the object of the
+present observation is the social, and not the domestic influence
+of woman.
+
+This lady shall be the wife of a senator and a lawyer in the
+highest repute and practice.  She has a very handsome house, with
+white marble steps and door-posts, and a delicate silver knocker
+and door-handle; she has very handsome drawing-rooms, very
+handsomely furnished, (there is a sideboard in one of them, but
+it is very handsome, and has very handsome decanters and cut
+glass water-jugs upon it); she has a very handsome carriage, and
+a very handsome free black coachman; she is always very
+handsomely dressed; and, moreover, she is very handsome herself.
+
+She rises, and her first hour is spent in the scrupulously nice
+arrangement of her dress; she descends to her parlour neat,
+stiff, and silent; her breakfast is brought in by her free black
+footman; she eats her fried ham and her salt fish, and drinks her
+coffee in silence, while her husband reads one newspaper, and
+puts another under his elbow; and then, perhaps, she washes the
+cups and saucers.  Her carriage is ordered at eleven; till that
+hour she is employed in the pastry-room, her snow-white apron
+protecting her mouse-coloured silk.  Twenty minutes before her
+carriage should appear, she retires to her chamber, as she calls
+it, shakes, and folds up her still snow-white apron, smooths her
+rich dress, and with nice care, sets on her elegant bonnet, and
+all the handsome _et cetera_; then walks down stairs, just at
+the moment that her free black coachman announces to her free
+black footman that the carriage waits.  She steps into it, and
+gives the word, "Drive to the Dorcas society." her footman stays
+at home to clean the knives, but her coachman can trust his
+horses while he opens the carriage door, and his lady not being
+accustomed to a hand or an arm, gets out very safely without,
+though one of her own is occupied by a work-basket, and the other
+by a large roll of all those indescribable matters which ladies
+take as offerings to Dorcas societies.  She enters the parlour
+appropriated for the meeting, and finds seven other ladies, very
+like herself, and takes her place among them; she presents her
+contribution, which is accepted with a gentle circular smile, and
+her parings of broad cloth, her ends of ribbon, her gilt paper,
+and her minikin pins, are added to the parings of broad cloth,
+the ends of ribbon, the gilt papers, and the minikin pins with
+which the table is already covered; she also produces from her
+basket three ready-made pincushions, four ink-wipers, seven paper
+matches, and a paste-board watch-case; these are welcomed with
+acclamations, and the youngest lady present deposits them
+carefully on shelves, amid a prodigious quantity of similar
+articles.  She then produces her thimble, and asks for work; it
+is presented to her, and the eight ladies all stitch together for
+some hours.  Their talk is of priests and of missions; of the
+profits of their last sale, of their hopes from the next; of the
+doubt whether your Mr. This, or young Mr. That should receive the
+fruits of it to fit him out for Liberia; of the very ugly bonnet
+seen at church on Sabbath morning, of the very handsome preacher
+who performed on Sabbath afternoon, and of the very large
+collection made on Sabbath evening.  This lasts till three, when
+the carriage again appears, and the lady and her basket return
+home; she mounts to her chamber, carefully sets aside her bonnet
+and its appurtenances, puts on her scolloped black silk apron,
+walks into the kitchen to see that all is right, then into the
+parlour, where, having cast a careful glance over the table
+prepared for dinner, she sits down, work in hand, to await her
+spouse.  He comes, shakes hands with her, spits, and dines.  The
+conversation is not much, and ten minutes suffices for the
+dinner; fruit and toddy, the newspaper and the work-bag succeed.
+In the evening the gentleman, being a savant, goes to the Wister
+society, and afterwards plays a snug rubber at a neighbour's.
+The lady receives at tea a young missionary and three members of
+the Dorcas society.--And so ends her day.
+
+For some reason or other, which English people are not very
+likely to understand, a great number of young married persons
+board by the year, instead of "going to housekeeping," as they
+call having an establishment of their own.  Of course this
+statement does not include persons of large fortune, but it does
+include very many whose rank in society would make such a mode of
+life quite impossible with us.  I can hardly imagine a
+contrivance more effectual for ensuring the insignificance of a
+woman, than marrying her at seventeen, and placing her in a
+boarding-house.  Nor can I easily imagine a life of more uniform
+dulness for the lady herself; but this certainly is a matter of
+taste.  I have heard many ladies declare that it is "just quite
+the perfection of comfort to have nothing to fix for oneself."
+Yet despite these assurances I always experienced a feeling
+which hovered between pity and contempt, when I contemplated
+their mode of existence.
+
+How would a newly-married Englishwoman endure it, her head and
+her heart full of the one dear scheme--
+
+    "Well ordered home, _his_ dear delight to make?"
+
+She must rise exactly in time to reach the boarding table at the
+hour appointed for breakfast, or she will get a stiff bow from
+the lady president, cold coffee, and no egg.  I have been
+sometimes greatly amused upon these occasions by watching a
+little scene in which the bye-play had much more meaning than the
+words uttered.  The fasting, but tardy lady, looks round the
+table, and having ascertained that there was no egg left, says
+distinctly, "I will take an egg if you please."  But as this is
+addressed to no one in particular, no one in particular answers
+it, unless it happen that her husband is at table before her, and
+then he says, "There are no eggs, my dear."  Whereupon the lady
+president evidently cannot hear, and the greedy culprit who has
+swallowed two eggs (for there are always as many eggs as noses)
+looks pretty considerably afraid of being found out.  The
+breakfast proceeds in sombre silence, save that sometimes a
+parrot, and sometimes a canary bird, ventures to utter a timid
+note.  When it is finished, the gentlemen hurry to their
+occupation, and the quiet ladies mount the stairs, some to the
+first, some to the second, and some to the third stories, in an
+inverse proportion to the number of dollars paid, and ensconce
+themselves in their respective chambers.  As to what they do
+there it is not very easy to say, but I believe they clear-starch
+a little, and iron a little, and sit in a rocking-chair, and sew
+a great deal.  I always observed that the ladies who boarded,
+wore more elaborately worked collars and petticoats than any one
+else.  The plough is hardly a more blessed instrument in America
+than the needle.  How could they live without it?  But time and
+the needle wear through the longest morning, and happily the
+American morning is not very long, even though they breakfast at
+eight.
+
+It is generally about two o'clock that the boarding gentlemen
+meet the boarding ladies at dinner.  Little is spoken, except a
+whisper between the married pairs.  Sometimes a sulky bottle of
+wine flanks the plate of one or two individuals, but it adds
+nothing to the mirth of the meeting, and seldom more than one
+glass to the good cheer of the owners, it is not then, and it is
+not there, that the gentlemen of the Union drink.  Soon, very
+soon, the silent meal is done, and then, if you mount the stairs
+after them, you will find from the doors of the more affectionate
+and indulgent wives, a smell of cigars steam forth, which plainly
+indicates the felicity of the couple within.  If the gentleman be
+a very polite husband, he will, as soon as he has done smoking
+and drinking his toddy, offer his arm to his wife, as far as the
+corner of the street, where his store, or his office is situated,
+and there he will leave her to turn which way she likes.  As this
+is the hour for being full dressed, of course she turns the way
+she can be most seen.  Perhaps she pays a few visits; perhaps she
+goes to chapel; or, perhaps, she enters some store where her
+husband deals, and ventures to order a few notions; and then she
+goes home again--no, not home--I will not give that name to a
+boarding-house--but she re-enters the cold heartless atmosphere
+in which she dwells, where hospitality can never enter, and where
+interest takes the management instead of affection.  At tea they
+all meet again, and a little trickery is perceptible to a nice
+observer in the manner of partaking the pound-cake, &c.  After
+this, those who are happy enough to have engagements hasten to
+keep them; those who have not, either mount again to the solitude
+of their chamber, or, what appeared to me much worse, remain in
+the common sitting-room, in a society cemented by no tie,
+endeared by no connexion, which choice did not bring together,
+and which the slightest motive would break asunder.  I remarked
+that the gentlemen were generally obliged to go out every
+evening on business, and, I confess, the arrangement did not
+surprise me.
+
+It is not thus that the women can obtain that influence in
+society which is allowed to them in Europe, and to which, both
+sages and men of the world have agreed in ascribing such salutary
+effects.  It is in vain that "collegiate institutes" are formed
+for young ladies, or that "academic degrees" are conferred upon
+them.  It is after marriage, and when these young attempts upon
+all the sciences are forgotten, that the lamentable
+insignificance of the American woman appears, and till this be
+remedied, I venture to prophesy that the tone of their
+drawing-rooms will not improve.
+
+Whilst I was at Philadelphia a great deal of attention was
+excited by the situation of two criminals, who had been convicted
+of robbing the Baltimore mail, and were lying under sentence of
+death.  The rare occurrence of capital punishment in America
+makes it always an event of great interest; and the approaching
+execution was repeatedly the subject of conversation at the
+boarding table.  One day a gentleman told us he had that morning
+been assured that one of the criminals had declared to the
+visiting clergyman that he was certain of being reprieved, and
+that nothing the clergyman could say to the contrary made any
+impression upon him.  Day after day this same story was repeated,
+and commented upon at table, and it appeared that the report had
+been heard in so many quarters, that not only was the statement
+received as true, but it began to be conjectured that the criminal
+had some ground for his hope.  I learnt from these daily
+conversations that one of the prisoners was an American, and the
+other an Irishman, and it was the former who was so strongly
+persuaded he should not be hanged.  Several of the gentlemen at
+table, in canvassing the subject, declared, that if the one were
+hanged and the other spared, this hanging would be a murder, and
+not a legal execution.  In discussing this point, it was stated
+that very nearly all the white men who had suffered death since
+the declaration of Independence had been Irishmen.  What truth
+there may be in this general statement, I have no means of
+ascertaining; all I know is, that I heard it made.  On this
+occasion, however, the Irishman was hanged, and the American
+was not.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 27
+
+Return to Stonington--Thunderstorm--Emigrants--Illness--Alexandria
+
+
+
+A fortnight passed rapidly away in this great city, and,
+doubtless, there was still much left unseen when we quitted it,
+according to previous arrangement, to return to our friends in
+Maryland.  We came back by a different route, going by land from
+Newcastle to French Town, instead of passing by the canal.  We
+reached Baltimore in the middle of the night, but finished our
+repose on board the steam-boat, and started for Washington at
+five o'clock the next morning.
+
+Our short abode amid the heat and closeness of a city made us
+enjoy more than ever the beautiful scenery around Stonington.
+The autumn, which soon advanced upon us, again clothed the woods
+in colours too varied and gaudy to be conceived by those who have
+never quitted Europe; and the stately maize, waving its flowing
+tassels, as the long drooping blossoms are called, made every
+field look like a little forest.  A rainy spring had been
+followed by a summer of unusual heat; and towards the autumn
+frequent thunderstorms of terrific violence cleared the air, but
+at the same time frightened us almost out of our wits.  On one
+occasion I was exposed, with my children, to the full fury of
+one of these awful visitations.  We suffered considerable
+terror during this storm, but when we were all again safe, and
+comfortably sheltered, we rejoiced that the accident had
+occurred, as it gave us the best possible opportunity of
+witnessing, in all its glory, a transatlantic thunderstorm.  It
+was, however, great imprudence that exposed us to it, for we
+quitted the house, and mounted a hill at a considerable distance
+from it, for the express purpose of watching to advantage the
+extraordinary aspect of the clouds.  When we reached the top of
+the hill half the heavens appeared hung with a heavy curtain; a
+sort of deep blue black seemed to colour the very air; the
+blizzards screamed, as with heavy wing they sought the earth.  We
+ought, in common prudence, to have immediately retreated to the
+house, but the scene was too beautiful to be left.  For several
+minutes after we reached our station, the air appeared perfectly
+without movement, no flash broke through the seven-fold cloud,
+but a flickering light was visible, darting to and fro behind it.
+By degrees the thunder rolled onward, nearer and nearer, till
+the inky cloud burst asunder, and cataracts of light came pouring
+from behind it.  From that moment there was no interval, no
+pause, the lightning did not flash, there were no claps of
+thunder, but the heavens blazed and bellowed above and around us,
+till stupor took the place of terror, and we stood utterly
+confounded.  But we were speedily aroused, for suddenly, as if
+from beneath our feet, a gust arose which threatened to mix all
+the elements in one.  Torrents of water seemed to bruise the
+earth by their violence; eddies of thick dust rose up to meet
+them; the fierce fires of heaven only blazed the brighter for the
+falling flood; while the blast almost out-roared the thunder.
+But the wind was left at last the lord of all, for after striking
+with wild force, now here, now there, and bringing worlds of
+clouds together in most hostile contact, it finished by clearing
+the wide heavens of all but a few soft straggling masses, whence
+sprung a glorious rainbow, and then retired, leaving the earth to
+raise her half crushed forests; and we, poor pigmies, to call
+back our frighted senses, and recover breath as we might.
+
+During this gust, it would have been impossible for us to have
+kept our feet; we crouched down under the shelter of a heap of
+stones, and, as we informed each other, looked most dismally
+pale.
+
+Many trees were brought to the earth before our eyes; some torn
+up by the roots, and some mighty stems snapt off several feet
+from the ground.  If the West Indian hurricanes exceed this, they
+must be terrible indeed.
+
+The situation of Mrs. S--'s house was considered as remarkably
+healthy, and I believe justly so, for on more than one occasion,
+persons who were suffering from fever and ague at the distance of
+a mile or two, were perfectly restored by passing a week or
+fortnight at Stonington; but the neighbourhood of it,
+particularly on the side bordering the Potomac, was much
+otherwise, and the mortality among the labourers on the canal
+was frightful.
+
+I have elsewhere stated my doubts if the labouring poor of our
+country mend their condition by emigrating to the United States,
+but it was not till the opportunity which a vicinity to the
+Chesapeake and Ohio canal gave me, of knowing what their
+situation was after making the change, that I became fully aware
+how little it was to be desired for them.
+
+Of the white labourers on this canal, the great majority are
+Irishmen; their wages are from ten to fifteen dollars a month,
+with a miserable lodging, and a large allowance of whiskey.  It
+is by means of this hateful poison that they are tempted, and
+indeed enabled for a time, to stand the broiling heat of the sun
+in a most noxious climate: for through such, close to the
+romantic but unwholesome Potomac, the line of the canal has
+hitherto run.  The situation of these poor strangers, when they
+sink at last in "_the fever,_" which sooner or later is sure to
+overtake them, is dreadful.  There is a strong feeling against
+the Irish in every part of the Union, but they will do twice as
+much work as a negro, and therefore they are employed.  When
+they fall sick, they may, and must, look with envy on the slaves
+around them; for they are cared for; they are watched and
+physicked, as a valuable horse is watched and physicked: not so
+the Irishman, he is literally thrown on one side, and a new
+comer takes his place. Details of their sufferings, and unheeded
+death, too painful to dwell upon, often reached us; on one
+occasion a farmer calling at the house, told the family that a
+poor man, apparently in a dying condition, was lying beside a
+little brook at the distance of a quarter of a mile.  The spot
+was immediately visited by some of the family, and there in
+truth lay a poor creature, who was already past the power of
+speaking; he was conveyed to the house and expired during the
+night.  By enquiring at the canal, it was found that he was an
+Irish labourer, who having fallen sick, and spent his last cent,
+had left the stifling shanty where he lay, in the desperate
+attempt of finding his way to Washington, with what hope I know
+not.  He did not appear above twenty, and as I looked on his
+pale young face, which even in death expressed suffering, I
+thought that perhaps he had left a mother and a home to seek
+wealth in America.  I saw him buried under a group of locust
+trees, his very name unknown to those who laid him there, but
+the attendance of the whole family at the grave, gave a sort of
+decency to his funeral which rarely, in that country, honors the
+poor relics of British dust: but no clergyman attended, no
+prayer was said, no bell was tolled; these, indeed, are
+ceremonies unthought of, and in fact unattainable without much
+expense, at such a distance from a town; had the poor youth been
+an American, he would have been laid in the earth in the same
+unceremonious manner.  But had this poor Irish lad fallen sick
+in equal poverty and destitution among his own people, he would
+have found a blanket to wrap his shivering limbs, and a kindred
+hand to close his eyes.
+
+The poor of great Britain, whom distress, or a spirit of
+enterprise tempt to try another land, ought, for many reasons,
+to repair to Canada; there they would meet co-operation and
+sympathy, instead of malice, hatred, and all uncharitableness.
+
+I frequently heard vehement complaints, and constantly met the
+same in the newspapers, of a practice stated to be very generally
+adopted in Britain of sending out cargoes of parish paupers to
+the United States.  A Baltimore paper heads some such remarks
+with the words
+
+                    "INFAMOUS CONDUCT!"
+
+and then tells us of a cargo of aged paupers just arrived from
+England, adding, "John Bull has squeezed the orange, and now
+insolently casts the skin in our faces."  Such being the feeling,
+it will be readily believed that these unfortunates are not
+likely to meet much kindness or sympathy in sickness, or in
+suffering of any kind.  If these American statements be correct,
+and that different parishes are induced, from an excessive
+population, to pay the voyage and outfit of some of their paupers
+across the Atlantic, why not send them to Canada?
+
+It is certain, however, that all the enquiries I could make
+failed to substantiate these American statements.  All I could
+ascertain was, that many English and Irish poor arrived yearly in
+the United States, with no other resources than what their labour
+furnished.  This, though very different from the newspaper
+stories, is quite enough to direct attention to the subject.  It
+is generally acknowledged that the suffering among our labouring
+classes arises from the excess of our population; and it is
+impossible to see such a country as Canada, its extent, its
+fertility, its fine climate, and know that it is British ground,
+without feeling equal sorrow and astonishment that it is not made
+the means of relief.  How earnestly it is to be wished that some
+part of that excellent feeling which is for ever at work in
+England to help the distressed, could be directed systematically
+to the object of emigration to the Canadas.  Large sums are
+annually raised for charitable purposes, by weekly subscriptions
+of one penny; were only a part of the money so obtained to be
+devoted to this object, hundreds of families might yearly be sent
+to people our own land.  The religious feeling, which so
+naturally mixes with every charitable purpose, would there find
+the best field for its exertions.  Where could a missionary,
+whether Protestant or Catholic, find a holier mission than that
+which sent him to comfort and instruct his countrymen in the
+wilderness? or where could he reap a higher reward in this world,
+than seeing that wilderness growing into fertile fields under the
+hands of his flock?
+
+
+
+I never saw so many autumn flowers as grow in the woods and
+sheep-walks of Maryland; a second spring seemed to clothe the
+fields, but with grief and shame I confess, that of these
+precious blossoms I scarcely knew a single name.  I think the
+Michaelmas daisy, in wonderful variety of form and colour, and
+the prickly pear, were almost my only acquaintance: let no one
+visit America without having first studied botany; it is an
+amusement, as a clever friend of mine once told me, that helps
+one wonderfully up and down hill, and must be superlatively
+valuable in America, both from the plentiful lack of other
+amusements, and the plentiful material for enjoyment in this;
+besides, if one is dying to know the name of any of these lovely
+strangers, it is a thousand to one against his finding any one
+who can tell it.
+
+The prettiest eclipse of the moon I ever saw was that of
+September, of this year, (1830).  We had been passing some hours
+amid the solemn scenery of the Potomac falls, and just as we were
+preparing to quit it, the full moon arose above the black pines,
+with half our shadow thrown across her.  The effect of her rising
+thus eclipsed was more strange, more striking by far, than
+watching the gradual obscuration; and as I turned to look at the
+black chasm behind me, and saw the deadly alder, and the
+poison-vine waving darkly on the rocks around, I thought the
+scene wanted nothing but the figure of a palsied crone, plucking
+the fatal branches to concoct some charm of mischief.
+
+Whether some such maga dogged my steps, I know not, but many
+hours had not elapsed ere I again felt the noxious influence of
+an American autumn.  This fever, "built in th' eclipse," speedily
+brought me very low, and though it lasted not so long as that of
+the preceding year, I felt persuaded I should never recover from
+it.  Though my forebodings were not verified by the event, it was
+declared that change of air was necessary, and it was arranged
+for me, (for I was perfectly incapable of settling any thing for
+myself,) that I should go to Alexandria, a pretty town at the
+distance of about fifteen miles, which had the reputation of
+possessing a skilful physician.
+
+It was not without regret that we quitted our friends at
+Stonington; but the prescription proved in a great degree
+efficacious; a few weeks' residence in Alexandria restored my
+strength sufficiently to enable me to walk to a beautiful little
+grassy terrace, perfectly out of the town, but very near it, from
+whence we could watch the various craft that peopled the Potomac
+between Alexandria and Washington.  But though gradually
+regaining strength, I was still far from well; all plans for
+winter gaiety were abandoned, and finding ourselves very well
+accommodated, we decided upon passing the winter where we were.
+It proved unusually severe; the Potomac was so completely frozen
+as to permit considerable traffic to be carried on by carts,
+crossing on the ice, from Maryland.  This had not occurred before
+for thirty years.  The distance was a mile and a quarter, and we
+ventured to brave the cold, and walk across this bright and
+slippery mirror, to make a visit on the opposite shore; the
+fatigue of keeping our feet was by no means inconsiderable, but
+we were rewarded by seeing as noble a winter landscape around us
+as the eye could look upon.
+
+When at length the frost gave way, the melting snow produced
+freshes so violent as to carry away the long bridge at
+Washington; large fragments of it, with the railing still erect,
+came floating down amidst vast blocks of ice, during many
+successive days, and it was curious to see the intrepidity with
+which the young sailors of Alexandria periled their lives to
+make spoil of the timber.
+
+The solar eclipse of the 12th of February, 1831, was nearer total
+than any I ever saw, or ever shall see.  It was completely
+annular at Alexandria, and the bright ring which surrounded the
+moon's shadow, though only 81� in breadth, gave light sufficient
+to read the smallest print; the darkness was considerably
+lessened by the snow, which, as the day was perfectly unclouded,
+reflected brightly all the light that was left us.
+
+Notwithstanding the extreme cold, we passed the whole time in the
+open air, on a rising ground near the river; in this position
+many beautiful effects were perceptible; the rapid approach and
+change of shadows, the dusky hue of the broad Potomac, that
+seemed to drink in the feeble light, which its snow-covered banks
+gave back to the air, the gradual change of every object from the
+colouring of bright sunshine to one sad universal tint of dingy
+purple, the melancholy lowing of the cattle, and the short, but
+remarkable suspension of all labour, gave something of mystery
+and awe to the scene that we shall long remember.
+
+During the following months I occupied myself partly in revising
+my notes, and arranging these pages; and partly in making myself
+acquainted, as much as possible, with the literature of the
+country.
+
+While reading and transcribing my notes, I underwent a strict
+self-examination.  I passed in review all I had seen, all I had
+felt, and scrupulously challenged every expression of
+disapprobation; the result was, that I omitted in transcription
+much that I had written, as containing unnecessary details of
+things which had displeased me; yet, as I did so, I felt strongly
+that there was no exaggeration in them; but such details, though
+true, might be ill-natured, and I retained no more than were
+necessary to convey the general impressions received.  While thus
+reviewing my notes, I discovered that many points, which all
+scribbling travellers are expected to notice, had been omitted;
+but a few pages of miscellaneous observations will, I think,
+supply all that can be expected from so idle a pen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 28
+
+American Cooking--Evening Parties--Dress--Sleighing--
+Money-getting Habits--Tax-Gatherer's Notice--Indian
+Summer--Anecdote of the Duke of Saxe-Weimar
+
+
+
+In relating all I know of America, I surely must not omit so
+important a feature as the cooking.  There are sundry anomalies
+in the mode of serving even a first-rate table; but as these are
+altogether matters of custom, they by no means indicate either
+indifference or neglect in this important business; and whether
+castors are placed on the table or on the sideboard; whether
+soup, fish, patties, and salad be eaten in orthodox order or not,
+signifies but little.  I am hardly capable, I fear, of giving a
+very erudite critique on the subject; general observations
+therefore must suffice.  The ordinary mode of living is abundant,
+but not delicate.  They consume an extraordinary quantity of
+bacon.  Ham and beaf-steaks appear morning, noon, and night.  In
+eating, they mix things together with the strangest incongruity
+imaginable.  I have seen eggs and oysters eaten together: the
+sempiternal ham with apple-sauce; beefsteak with stewed peaches;
+and salt fish with onions.  The bread is everywhere excellent,
+but they rarely enjoy it themselves, as they insist upon eating
+horrible half-baked hot rolls both morning and evening.  The
+butter is tolerable; but they have seldom such cream as every
+little dairy produces in England; in fact, the cows are very
+roughly kept, compared with our's.  Common vegetables are
+abundant and very fine.  I never saw sea-cale or cauliflowers,
+and either from the want of summer rain, or the want of care, the
+harvest of green vegetables is much sooner over than with us.
+They eat the Indian corn in a great variety of forms; sometimes
+it is dressed green, and eaten like peas; sometimes it is broken
+to pieces when dry, boiled plain, and brought to table like rice;
+this dish is called hominy.  The flour of it is made into at
+least a dozen different sorts of cakes; but in my opinion all
+bad.  This flour, mixed in the proportion of one-third with fine
+wheat, makes by far the best bread I ever tasted.
+
+I never saw turbot, salmon, or fresh cod; but the rock and shad
+are excellent.  There is a great want of skill in the composition
+of sauces; not only with fish, but with every thing.  They use
+very few made dishes, and I never saw any that would be approved
+by our savants.  They have an excellent wild duck, called the
+Canvass Back, which, if delicately served, would surpass the
+black cock; but the game is very inferior to our's; they have no
+hares, and I never saw a pheasant.  They seldom indulge in second
+courses, with all their ingenious temptations to the eating a
+second dinner; but almost every table has its dessert,
+(invariably pronounced desart) which is placed on the table
+before the cloth is removed, and consists of pastry, preserved
+fruits, and creams.  They are "extravagantly fond," to use their
+own phrase, of puddings, pies, and all kinds of "sweets,"
+particularly the ladies; but are by no means such connoisseurs in
+soups and ragouts as the gastronomes of Europe.  Almost every one
+drinks water at table, and by a strange contradiction, in the
+country where hard drinking is more prevalent than in any other,
+there is less wine taken at dinner; ladies rarely exceed one
+glass, and the great majority of females never take any.  In
+fact, the hard drinking, so universally acknowledged, does not
+take place at jovial dinners, but, to speak plain English, in
+solitary dram-drinking.  Coffee is not served immediately after
+dinner, but makes part of the serious matter of tea-drinking,
+which comes some hours later.  Mixed dinner parties of ladies and
+gentlemen are very rare, and unless several foreigners are
+present, but little conversation passes at table.  It certainly
+does not, in my opinion, add to the well ordering a dinner table,
+to set the gentlemen at one end of it, and the ladies at the
+other; but it is very rarely that you find it otherwise.
+
+Their large evening parties are supremely dull; the men sometimes
+play cards by themselves, but if a lady plays, it must not be for
+money; no ecarte, no chess; very little music, and that little
+lamentably bad.  Among the blacks, I heard some good voices,
+singing in tune; but I scarcely ever heard a white American, male
+or female, go through an air without being out of tune before the
+end of it; nor did I ever meet any trace of science in the
+singing I heard in society.  To eat inconceivable quantities of
+cake, ice, and pickled oysters--and to show half their revenue in
+silks and satins, seem to be the chief object they have in these
+parties.
+
+The most agreeable meetings, I was assured by all the young
+people, were those to which no married women are admitted; of the
+truth of this statement I have not the least doubt.  These
+exclusive meetings occur frequently, and often last to a late
+hour; on these occasions, I believe, they generally dance.  At
+regular balls, married ladies are admitted, but seldom take much
+part in the amusement.  The refreshments are always profuse and
+costly, but taken in a most uncomfortable manner.  I have known
+many private balls, where every thing was on the most liberal
+scale of expense, where the gentlemen sat down to supper in one
+room, while the ladies took theirs, standing, in another.
+
+What we call picnics are very rare, and when attempted, do not
+often succeed well.  The two sexes can hardly mix for the greater
+part of a day without great restraint and ennui; it is quite
+contrary to their general habits; the favourite indulgences of
+the gentlemen (smoking cigars and drinking spirits), can neither
+be indulged in with decency, nor resigned with complacency.
+
+The ladies have strange ways of adding to their charms.  They
+powder themselves immoderately, face, neck, and arms, with
+pulverised starch; the effect is indescribably disagreeable by
+daylight, and not very favourable at any time.  They are also
+most unhappily partial to false hair, which they wear in
+surprising quantities; this is the more to be lamented, as they
+generally have very fine hair of their own.  I suspect this
+fashion to arise from an indolent mode of making their toilet,
+and from accomplished ladies' maids not being very abundant; it
+is less trouble to append a bunch of waving curls here, there,
+and every where, than to keep their native tresses in perfect
+order.
+
+Though the expense of the ladies' dress greatly exceeds, in
+proportion to their general style of living, that of the ladies
+of Europe, it is very far (excepting in Philadelphia) from being
+in good taste.  They do not consult the seasons in the colours or
+in the style of their costume; I have often shivered at seeing a
+young beauty picking her way through the snow with a pale
+rose-coloured bonnet, set on the very top of her head: I knew one
+young lady whose pretty little ear was actually frostbitten from
+being thus exposed.  They never wear muffs or boots, and appear
+extremely shocked at the sight of comfortable walking shoes and
+cotton stockings, even when they have to step to their sleighs
+over ice and snow.  They walk in the middle of winter with their
+poor little toes pinched into a miniature slipper, incapable of
+excluding as much moisture as might bedew a primrose.  I must say
+in their excuse, however, that they have, almost universally,
+extremely pretty feet.  They do not walk well, nor, in fact, do
+they ever appear to advantage when in movement.  I know not why
+this should be, for they have abundance of French dancing-masters
+among them, but somehow or other it is the fact.  I fancied I
+could often trace a mixture of affectation and of shyness in
+their little mincing unsteady step, and the ever changing
+position of the hands.  They do not dance well; perhaps I should
+rather say they do not look well when dancing; lovely as their
+faces are, they cannot, in a position that exhibits the whole
+person, atone for the want of _tournure_, and for the universal
+defect in the formation of the bust, which is rarely full, or
+gracefully formed.
+
+I never saw an American man walk or stand well; notwithstanding
+their frequent militia drillings, they are nearly all hollow
+chested and round shouldered: perhaps this is occasioned by no
+officer daring to say to a brother free-born "hold up your head;"
+whatever the cause, the effect is very remarkable to a stranger.
+In stature, and in physiognomy, a great majority of the
+population, both male and female, are strikingly handsome, but
+they know not how to do their own honours; half as much
+comeliness elsewhere would produce ten times as much effect.
+
+Nothing can exceed their activity and perseverance in all kinds
+of speculation, handicraft, and enterprise, which promises a
+profitable pecuniary result.  I heard an Englishman, who had been
+long resident in America, declare that in following, in meeting,
+or in overtaking, in the street, on the road, or in the field, at
+the theatre, the coffee-house, or at home, he had never overheard
+Americans conversing without the word DOLLAR being pronounced
+between them.  Such unity of purpose, such sympathy of feeling,
+can, I believe, be found nowhere else, except, perhaps, in an
+ants' nest.  The result is exactly what might be anticipated.
+This sordid object, for ever before their eyes, must inevitably
+produce a sordid tone of mind, and, worse still, it produces a
+seared and blunted conscience on all questions of probity.  I
+know not a more striking evidence of the low tone of morality
+which is generated by this universal pursuit of money, than the
+manner in which the New England States are described by
+Americans.  All agree in saying that they present a spectacle of
+industry and prosperity delightful to behold, and this is the
+district and the population most constantly quoted as the finest
+specimen of their admirable country; yet I never met a single
+individual in any part of the Union who did not paint these New
+Englanders as sly, grinding, selfish, and tricking.  The yankees
+(as the New Englanders are called) will avow these qualities
+themselves with a complacent smile, and boast that no people on
+the earth can match them at over reaching in a bargain.  I have
+heard them unblushingly relate stories of their cronies and
+friends, which, if believed among us, would banish the heroes
+from the fellowship of honest men for ever; and all this is
+uttered with a simplicity which sometimes led me to doubt if the
+speakers knew what honour and honesty meant.  Yet the Americans
+declare that "they are the most moral people upon earth."  Again
+and again I have heard this asserted, not only in conversation,
+and by their writings, but even from the pulpit.  Such broad
+assumption of superior virtue demands examination, and after four
+years of attentive and earnest observation and enquiry, my honest
+conviction is, that the standard of moral character in the United
+States is very greatly lower than in Europe.  Of their religion,
+as it appears outwardly, I have had occasion to speak frequently;
+I pretend not to judge the heart, but, without any uncharitable
+presumption, I must take permission to say, that both Protestant
+England and Catholic France show an infinitely superior religious
+and moral aspect to mortal observation, both as to reverend
+decency of external observance, and as to the inward fruit of
+honest dealing between man and man.
+
+In other respects I think no one will be disappointed who visits
+the country, expecting to find no more than common sense might
+teach him to look for, namely, a vast continent, by far the
+greater part of which is still in the state in which nature left
+it, and a busy, bustling, industrious population, hacking and
+hewing their way through it.  What greatly increases the interest
+of this spectacle, is the wonderful facility for internal
+commerce, furnished by the rivers, lakes, and canals, which
+thread the country in every direction, producing a rapidity of
+progress in all commercial and agricultural speculation
+altogether unequalled.  This remarkable feature is perceptible in
+every part of the union into which the fast spreading population
+has hitherto found its way, and forms, I think, the most
+remarkable and interesting peculiarity of the country.  I hardly
+remember a single town where vessels of some description or other
+may not constantly be seen in full activity.
+
+Their carriages of every kind are very unlike ours; those
+belonging to private individuals seem all constructed with a view
+to summer use, for which they are extremely well calculated, but
+they are by no means comfortable in winter.  The waggons and cars
+are built with great strength, which is indeed necessary, from
+the roads they often have to encounter.  The stagecoaches are
+heavier and much less comfortable than those of France; to those
+of England they can bear no comparison.  I never saw any harness
+that I could call handsome, nor any equipage which, as to horses,
+carriage, harness, and servants, could be considered as complete.
+The sleighs are delightful, and constructed at so little expense
+that I wonder we have not all got them in England, lying by, in
+waiting for the snow, which often remains with us long enough to
+permit their use.  Sleighing is much more generally enjoyed by
+night than by day, for what reason I could never discover, unless
+it be, that no gentlemen are to be found disengaged from business
+in the mornings.  Nothing, certainly, can be more agreeable than
+the gliding smoothly and rapidly along, deep sunk in soft furs,
+the moon shining with almost midday splendour, the air of crystal
+brightness, and the snow sparkling on every side, as if it were
+sprinkled with diamonds.  And then the noiseless movement of the
+horses, so mysterious and unwonted, and the gentle tinkling of
+the bells you meet and carry, all help at once to soothe and
+excite the spirits: in short, I had not the least objection to
+sleighing by night, I only wished to sleigh by day also.
+
+Almost every resident in the country has a carriage they call a
+carryall, which name I suspect to be a corruption of the cariole
+so often mentioned in the pretty Canadian story of Emily Montagu.
+It is clumsy enough, certainly, but extremely convenient, and
+admirably calculated, with its thick roof and moveable draperies,
+for every kind of summer excursion.
+
+Their steam-boats, were the social arrangements somewhat
+improved, would be delightful, as a mode of travelling; but they
+are very seldom employed for excursions of mere amusement: nor do
+I remember seeing pleasure-boats, properly so called, at any of
+the numerous places where they might be used with so much safety
+and enjoyment.
+
+How often did our homely adage recur to me, "All work and no play
+would make Jack a dull boy;" Jonathan is a very dull boy.  We are
+by no means so gay as our lively neighbours on the other side the
+Channel, but, compared with Americans, we are whirligigs and
+tetotums; every day is a holyday, and every night a festival.
+
+Perhaps if the ladies had quite their own way, a little more
+relaxation would be permitted; but there is one remarkable
+peculiarity in their manners which precludes the possibility of
+any dangerous outbreaking of the kind: few ladies have any
+command of ready money entrusted to them.  I have been a hundred
+times present when bills for a few dollars, perhaps for one, have
+been brought for payment to ladies living in perfectly easy
+circumstances, who have declared themselves without money, and
+referred the claimant to their husbands for payment.  On every
+occasion where immediate disbursement is required it is the same;
+even in shopping for ready cash they say, "send a bill home with
+the things, and my husband will give you a draft."
+
+I think that it was during my stay at Washington, that I was
+informed of a government regulation, which appeared to me
+curious; I therefore record it here.
+
+Every Deputy Post-Master is required to insert in his return the
+title of every newspaper received at his office for distribution.
+This return is laid before the Secretary of State, who,
+perfectly knowing the political character of each newspaper, is
+thus enabled to feel the pulse of every limb of the monster mob.
+This is a well imagined device for getting a peep at the politics
+of a country where newspapers make part of the daily food, but is
+it quite consistent with their entire freedom?  I do not believe
+we have any such tricks to regulate the disposal of offices and
+appointments.
+
+I believe it was in Indiana that Mr. T. met with a printed
+notice relative to the payment of taxes, which I preserved as a
+curious sample of the manner in which the free citizens are
+coaxed and reasoned into obeying the laws.
+
+                    "LOOK OUT DELINQUENTS"
+
+"Those indebted to me for taxes, fees, notes, and accounts, are
+specially requested to call and pay the same on or before the 1st
+day of December, 1828, as no longer indulgence will be given.  I
+have called time and again, by advertisement and otherwise, to
+little effect; but now the time has come when my situation
+requires immediate payment from all indebted to me.  It is
+impossible for me to pay off the amount of the duplicates of
+taxes and my other debts without recovering the same of those
+from whom it is due.  I am at a loss to know the reason why those
+charged with taxes neglect to pay; from the negligence of many it
+would seem that they think the money is mine, or I have funds to
+discharge the taxes due to the State, and that I can wait with
+them until it suits their convenience to pay.  The money is not
+mine; neither have I the funds to settle amount of the duplicate.
+My only resort is to collect; in doing so I should be sorry to
+have to resort to the authority given me by law for the recovery
+of the same.  It should be the first object of every good citizen
+to pay his taxes, for it is in that way government is supported.
+Why are taxes assessed unless they are collected?  Depend upon
+it, I shall proceed to collect agreeably to law, so govern
+yourselves accordingly.
+
+     JOHN SPENCER,
+     Sh'ff and Collector, D.C.
+     Nov 20, 1828."
+
+"N.B.  On Thursday, the 27th inst.  A. St. Clair and Geo. H.
+Dunn, Esqrs. depart for Indianopolis; I wish as many as can pay
+to do so, to enable me to forward as much as possible, to save
+the twenty-one per cent, that will be charged against me after
+the 8th of December next.
+
+     JS."
+
+The first autumn I passed in America, I was surprised to find a
+great and very oppressive return of heat, accompanied with a
+heavy mistiness in the air, long after the summer heats were
+over; when this state of the atmosphere comes on, they say, "we
+have got to the Indian summer."  On desiring to have this phrase
+explained, I was told that the phenomenon described as the
+_Indian Summer_ was occasioned by the Indians setting fire to the
+woods, which spread heat and smoke to a great distance; but I
+afterwards met with the following explanation, which appears to
+me much more reasonable.  "The Indian summer is so called
+because, at the particular period of the year in which it
+obtains, the Indians break up their village communities, and go
+to the interior to prepare for their winter hunting.  This
+season seems to mark a dividing line, between the heat of summer,
+and the cold of winter, and is, from its mildness, suited to
+these migrations.  The cause of this heat is the slow combustion
+of the leaves and other vegetable matter of the boundless and
+interminable forests.  Those who at this season of the year have
+penetrated these forests, know all about it.  To the feet the
+heat is quite sensible, whilst the ascending vapour warms every
+thing it embraces, and spreading out into the wide atmosphere,
+fills the circuit of the heavens with its peculiar heat and
+smokiness."
+
+This unnatural heat sufficiently accounts for the sickliness of
+the American autumn.  The effect of it is extremely distressing
+to the nerves, even when the general health continues good; to
+me, it was infinitely more disagreeable than the glowing heat of
+the dog-days.
+
+A short time before we arrived in America, the Duke of
+Saxe-Weimar made a tour of the United States.  I heard many
+persons speak of his unaffected and amiable manners, yet he could
+not escape the dislike which every trace of gentlemanly feeling
+is sure to create among the ordinary class of Americans.  As an
+amusing instance of this, I made the following extract from a
+newspaper.
+
+"A correspondent of the Charlestown Gazette tells an anecdote
+connected with the Duke of Saxe-Weimar's recent journey through
+our country, which we do not recollect to have heard before,
+although some such story is told of the veritable Capt. Basil
+Hall.  The scene occurred on the route between Augusta and
+Milledgeville; it seems that the sagacious Duke engaged three or
+four, or more seats, in the regular stage, for the accommodation
+of himself and suite, and thought by this that he had secured the
+monopoly of the vehicle.  Not so, however; a traveller came
+along, and entered his name upon the book, and secured his seat
+by payment of the customary charges.  To the Duke's great
+surprise on entering the stage, he found our traveller
+comfortably housed in one of the most eligible seats, wrapt up in
+his fear-nought, and snoring like a buffalo.  The Duke, greatly
+irritated, called for the question of consideration.  He
+demanded, in broken English, the cause of the gross intrusion,
+and insisted in a very princely manner, though not, it seems in
+very princely language, upon the incumbent vacating the seat in
+which he had made himself so impudently at home.  But the Duke
+had yet to learn his first lesson of republicanism.  The driver
+was one of those sturdy southrons, who can always, and at a
+moment's warning, whip his weight in wild cats: and he as
+resolutely told the Duke, that the traveller was as good, if not
+a better man, than himself; and that no alteration of the
+existing arrangement could be permitted.  Saxe-Weimar became
+violent at this opposition, so unlike any to which his education
+hitherto had ever subjected him, and threatened John with the
+application of the bamboo.  This was one of those threats which
+in Georgia dialect would subject a man to "a rowing up salt
+river;" and, accordingly, down leaped our driver from his box,
+and peeling himself for the combat, he leaped about the vehicle
+in the most wild-boar style, calling upon the prince of a five
+acre patch to put his threat in execution.  But he of the star
+refused to make up issue in the way suggested, contenting himself
+with assuring the enraged southron of a complaint to his
+excellency the Governor, on arriving at the seat of government.
+This threat was almost as unlucky as the former, for it wrought
+the individual for whom it was intended into that species of
+fury, which, through discriminating in its madness, is
+nevertheless without much limit in its violence, and he swore
+that the Governor might go to --, and for his part he would just
+as leave lick the Governor as the Duke; he'd like no better fun
+than to give both Duke and Governor a dressing in the same
+breath; could do it, he had little doubt, &c. &c.; and
+instigating one fist to diverge into the face of the marvelling
+and panic-stricken nobleman, with the other he thrust him down
+into a seat alongside the traveller, whose presence had been
+originally of such sore discomfort to his excellency, and bidding
+the attendants jump in with their discomfited master, he mounted
+his box in triumph, and went on his journey."  I fully believe
+that this brutal history would be as distasteful to the travelled
+and polished few who are to be found scattered through the Union,
+as it is to me: but if they do not deem the _possibility_ of such
+a scene to be a national degradation, I differ from them.  The
+American people (speaking of the great mass) have no more idea of
+what constitutes the difference between this "Prince of a five
+acre patch," and themselves, than a dray-horse has of estimating
+the points of the elegant victor of the race-course.  Could the
+dray-horse speak, when expected to yield the daintiest stall to
+his graceful rival, he would say, "a horse is a horse;" and is it
+not with the same logic that the transatlantic Houynnhnm puts
+down all superiority with "a man is a man?"
+
+This story justifies the reply of Talleyrand, when asked by
+Napoleon what he thought of the Americans, "Sire, ce sont des
+fiers cochons, et des cochons fiers."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 29
+
+Literature--Extracts--Fine Arts--Education
+
+
+
+The character of the American literature is, generally speaking,
+pretty justly appreciated in Europe.  The immense exhalation of
+periodical trash, which penetrates into every cot and corner of
+the country, and which is greedily sucked in by all ranks, is
+unquestionably one great cause of its inferiority.  Where
+newspapers are the principal vehicles of the wit and wisdom of a
+people, the higher graces of composition can hardly be looked
+for.
+
+That there are many among them who can write well, is most
+certain; but it is at least equally so, that they have little
+encouragement to exercise the power in any manner more dignified
+than becoming the editor of a newspaper or a magazine.  As far as
+I could judge, their best writers are far from being the most
+popular.  The general taste is decidedly bad; this is obvious,
+not only from the mass of slip-slop poured forth by the daily and
+weekly press, but from the inflated tone of eulogy in which their
+insect authors are lauded.
+
+To an American writer, I should think it must be a flattering
+distinction to escape the admiration of the newspapers.  Few
+persons of taste, I imagine, would like such notice as the
+following, which I copied from a New York paper, where it
+followed the advertisement of a partnership volume of poems by a
+Mr, and Mrs. Brooks; but of such, are their literary notices
+chiefly composed.
+
+"The lovers of impassioned and classical numbers may promise
+themselves much gratification from the muse of Brooks, while the
+many-stringed harp of his lady, the Norna of the Courier Harp,
+which none but she can touch, has a chord for every heart."
+
+Another obvious cause of inferiority in the national literature,
+is the very slight acquaintance with the best models of
+composition, which is thought necessary for persons called well
+educated.  There may be reason for deprecating the lavish expense
+of time bestowed in England on the acquirement of Latin and
+Greek, and it may be doubtful whether the power of composing in
+these languages with correctness and facility, be worth all the
+labour it costs; but as long as letters shall be left on the
+earth, the utility of a perfect familiarity with the exquisite
+models of antiquity, cannot be doubted.  I think I run no risk of
+contradiction, when I say that an extremely small proportion of
+the higher classes in America possess this familiar acquaintance
+with the classics.  It is vain to suppose that translations may
+suffice.  Noble as are the thoughts the ancients have left us,
+their power of expression is infinitely more important as a study
+to modern writers; and this no translation can furnish.  Nor did
+it appear to me that their intimacy with modern literature was
+such as to assist them much in the formation of style.  What they
+class as modern literature seems to include little beyond the
+English publications of the day.
+
+To speak of Chaucer, or even Spenser, as a modern, appears to
+them inexpressibly ridiculous; and all the rich and varied
+eloquence of Italy, from Dante to Monti, is about as much known
+to them, as the Welsh effusions of Urien and Modred, to us.
+
+Rousseau, Voltaire, Diderot, &c., were read by the old
+federalists, but now they seem known more as naughty words, than
+as great names.  I am much mistaken if a hundred untravelled
+Americans could be found, who have read Boileau or Le Fontaine.
+Still fewer are acquainted with that delightful host of French
+female writers, whose memoirs and letters sparkle in every page
+with unequalled felicity of style.  The literature of Spain and
+Portugal is no better known, and as for "the wits of Queen Anne's
+day," they are laid _en masse_ upon a shelf, in some score of
+very old-fashioned houses, together with Sherlock and Taylor, as
+much too antiquated to suit the immensely rapid progress of mind
+which distinguishes America.
+
+The most perfect examples of English writing, either of our own,
+or of any former day, have assuredly not been produced by the
+imitation of any particular style; but the Fairy Queen would
+hardly have been written, if the Orlando had not; nor would
+Milton have been the perfect poet he was, had Virgil and Tasso
+been unknown to him.  It is not that the scholar mimics in
+writing the phrases he has read, but that he can neither think,
+feel, nor express himself as he might have done, had his mental
+companionship been of a lower order.
+
+They are great novel readers, but the market is chiefly furnished
+by England.  They have, however, a few very good native novels.
+Mr. Flint's Francis Berrian is delightful.  There is a vigor and
+freshness in his writing that is exactly in accordance with what
+one looks for, in the literature of a new country; and yet,
+strange to say, it is exactly what is most wanting in that of
+America.  It appeared to me that the style of their imaginative
+compositions was almost always affected, and inflated.  Even in
+treating their great national subject of romance, the Indians,
+they are seldom either powerful or original.  A few well known
+general features, moral and physical, are presented over and over
+again in all their Indian stories, till in reading them you lose
+all sense of individual character.  Mr. Flint's History of the
+Mississippi Valley is a work of great interest, and information,
+and will, I hope, in time find its way to England, where I think
+it is much more likely to be appreciated than in America.
+
+Dr. Channing is a writer too well known in England to require my
+testimony to his great ability.  As a preacher he has, perhaps,
+hardly a rival any where.  This gentleman is an Unitarian, and I
+was informed by several persons well acquainted with the literary
+character of the country, that nearly all their distinguished men
+were of this persuasion.
+
+Mr. Pierpoint is a very eloquent preacher, and a sweet poet.  His
+works are not so well known among us as .they ought to be.  Mr.
+Everett has written some beautiful lines, and if I may judge from
+the specimens of his speeches, as preserved in the volumes
+intitled "Eloquence of the United States," I should say that he
+shone more as a poet than an orator.  But American fame has
+decided otherwise.
+
+Mr. M. Flint, of Louisiana, has published a volume of poems which
+ought to be naturalised here.  Mr. Hallock, of New York, has much
+facility of versification, and is greatly in fashion as a
+drawing-room poet, but I think he has somewhat too much respect
+for himself, and too little for his readers.
+
+It is, I think, Mr. Bryant who ranks highest as the poet of the
+Union.  This is too lofty an eminence for me to attack; besides,
+"I am of another parish," and therefore, perhaps, no very fair
+judge.
+
+From miscellaneous poetry I made a great many extracts, but upon
+returning to them for transcription I thought that ill-nature and
+dulness, ('oh ill-matched pair!') would be more served by their
+insertion, than wholesome criticism.
+
+The massive Fredoniad of Dr. Emmons, in forty cantos, I never
+read; but as I did not meet a single native who had, I hope this
+want of poetical enterprise will be excused.
+
+They have very few native tragedies; not more than half a dozen I
+believe, and those of very recent date.  It would be ungenerous
+to fall heavily upon these; the attempt alone, nearly the most
+arduous a poet can make, is of itself honourable: and the success
+at least equal to that in any other department of literature.
+
+Mr. Paulding is a popular writer of novels; some of his
+productions have been recently republished in England.  Miss
+Sedgwick is also well known among us; her "Hope Leslie" is a
+beautiful story.  Mr. Washington Irving and Mr. Cooper have so
+decidedly chosen another field, whereon to reap their laurels,
+that it is hardly necessary to name them here.
+
+I am not, of course, competent to form any opinion of their
+scientific works; but some papers which I read almost
+accidentally, appeared to me to be written with great clearness,
+and neatness of definition.
+
+It appears extraordinary that a people who loudly declare their
+respect for science, should be entirely without observatories.
+Neither at their seats of learning, nor in their cities, does any
+thing of the kind exist; nor did I in any direction hear of
+individuals, given to the study of astronomy.
+
+I had not the pleasure of making any acquaintance with Mr.
+Bowditch, of Boston, but I know that this gentleman ranks very
+high as a mathematician in the estimation of the scientific world
+of Europe.
+
+Jefferson's posthumous works were very generally circulated
+whilst I was in America.  They are a mighty mass of mischief.  He
+wrote with more perspicuity than he thought, and his hot-headed
+democracy has done a fearful injury to his country.  Hollow and
+unsound as his doctrines are, they are but too palatable to a
+people, each individual of whom would rather derive his
+importance from believing that none are above him, than from the
+consciousness that in his station he makes part of a noble whole.
+The social system of Mr. Jefferson, if carried into effect,
+would make of mankind an unamalgamated mass of grating atoms,
+where the darling "I'm as good as you," would soon take place of
+the law and the Gospel.  As it is, his principles, though happily
+not fully put in action, have yet produced most lamentable
+results.  The assumption of equality, however empty, is
+sufficient to tincture the manners of the poor with brutal
+insolence, and subjects the rich to the paltry expediency of
+sanctioning the falsehood, however deep their conviction that it
+is such.  It cannot, I think, be denied that the great men of
+America attain to power and to fame, by eternally uttering what
+they know to be untrue.  American citizens are not equal.  Did
+Washington feel them to be so, when his word outweighed (so
+happily for them) the votes of thousands?  Did Franklin think
+that all were equal when he shouldered his way from the printing
+press to the cabinet?  True, he looked back in high good humour,
+and with his kindest smile told the poor devils whom he left
+behind, that they were all his equals; but Franklin did not speak
+the truth, and he knew it.  The great, the immortal Jefferson
+himself, he who when past the three score years and ten, still
+taught young females to obey his nod, and so became the father of
+unnumbered generations of groaning slaves, what was his matin and
+his vesper hymn?  "All men are born free and equal."  Did the
+venerable father of the gang believe it?  Or did he too purchase
+his immortality by a lie?
+
+From the five heavy volumes of the "Eloquence of the United
+States," I made a few extracts, which I give more for the sake of
+their political interest, than for any purpose of literary
+criticism.
+
+Mr. Hancock (one of those venerated men who signed the act of
+independence), in speaking of England, thus expresses himself:
+"But if I was possessed of the gift of prophecy, I dare not
+(except by Divine command) unfold the leaves on which the destiny
+of that once powerful kingdom is inscribed."  It is impossible
+not to regret that Mr. Hancock should thus have let "I dare not,
+wait upon I would."  It would have been exceedingly edifying to
+have known beforehand all the terrible things the republic was
+about to do for us.
+
+This prophetic orator spoke the modest, yet awful words, above
+quoted, nearly sixty years ago; in these latter days men are
+become bolder, for in a modern 4th of July oration, Mr. Rush,
+without waiting, I think, for Divine command, gives the following
+amiable portrait of the British character.
+
+"In looking at Britain, we see a harshness of individual character
+in the general view of it, which is perceived and acknowledged by
+all Europe; a spirit of unbecoming censure as regards all customs
+and institutions not their own; a ferocity in some of their
+characteristics of national manners, pervading their very
+pastimes, which no other modern people are endued with the
+blunted sensibility to bear; an universal self-assumed
+superiority, not innocently manifesting itself in speculative
+sentiments among themselves, but unamiably indulged when with
+foreigners, of whatever description, in their own country, or
+when they themselves are the temporary sojourners in a foreign
+country; a code of criminal law that forgets to feel for human
+frailty, that sports with human misfortune, that has shed more
+blood in deliberate judicial severity for two centuries past,
+constantly increasing, too, in its sanguinary hue, than has ever
+been sanctioned by the jurisprudence of any ancient or modern
+nation, civilized and refined like herself; the merciless
+whippings in her army, peculiar to herself alone, the conspicuous
+commission and freest acknowledgment of vice in the upper
+classes; the overweening distinctions shown to opulence and
+birth, so destructive of a sound moral sentiment in the nation,
+so baffling to virtue.  These are some of the traits that rise up
+to a contemplation of the inhabitants of this isle."
+
+Where is the alchymy that can extract from Captain Hall's work
+one thousandth part of the ill-will contained in this one
+passage? Yet America has resounded from shore to shore with
+execrations against his barbarous calumnies.
+
+But now we will listen to another tone.  Let us see how Americans
+can praise.  Mr. Everett, in a recent 4th of July oration, speaks
+thus:--
+
+"We are authorised to assert, that the era of our independence
+dates the establishment of the only perfect organization of
+government."  Again, "Our government is in its theory perfect,
+and in its operation it is perfect also.  Thus we have solved
+the great problem in human affairs."  And again, "A frame of
+government perfect in its principles has been brought down from
+the airy regions of Utopia, and has found a local habitation and
+a name in our country."
+
+Among my miscellaneous reading, I got hold of an American
+publication giving a detailed, and, indeed, an official account
+of the capture of Washington by the British, in 1814.  An event
+so long past, and of so little ultimate importance, is, perhaps,
+hardly worth alluding to; but there are some passages in the
+official documents which I thought very amusing.
+
+At the very moment of receiving the attack of the British on the
+heights of Bladensburgh, there seems to have been a most curious
+puzzle among the American generals, as to where they were to be
+stationed, and what they were to do.  It is stated that the
+British threw themselves forward in open order, advancing singly.
+The American general (Winden) goes on in his narrative to
+describe what followed, thus:
+
+"Our advanced riflemen now began to fire, and continued it for
+half a dozen rounds, when I observed them to run back to an
+orchard.  They halted there, and seemed for a moment about
+returning to their original position, but in a few moments
+entirely broke and retired to the left of Stansburg's line.  The
+advanced artillery immediately followed the riflemen.
+
+"The first three or four rockets fired by the enemy were much
+above the heads of Stansburg's line; but the rockets having taken
+a more horizontal direction, an universal flight of the centre
+and left of this brigade was the consequence.  The 5th regiment
+and the artillery still remained, and I hoped would prevent the
+enemy's approach, but they advancing singly, their fire annoyed
+the 5th considerably, when I ordered it to retire, to put it out
+of the reach of the enemy.  This order was, however, immediately
+countermanded, from an aversion to retire before the necessity
+became stronger, and from a hope that the enemy would issue in a
+body, and enable us to act upon him on terms of equality.  But
+the enemy's fire beginning to annoy the 5th still more, by
+wounding several of them, and a strong column passing up the
+road, and deploying on its left, I ordered them to retire; their
+retreat became a flight of absolute and total disorder."
+
+Of Beall's regiment, the general gives the following succinct
+account--"It gave one or two ineffectual fires and fled."
+
+In another place he says, piteously,--"The cavalry would do any
+thing but charge."
+
+General Armstrong's gentle and metaphysical account of the
+business was, that--"Without all doubt the determining cause of
+our disasters is to be found in the love of life."
+
+This affair at Washington, which in its result was certainly
+advantageous to America, inasmuch as it caused the present
+beautiful capitol to be built in the place of the one we burnt,
+was, nevertheless, considered as a national calamity at the time.
+In a volume of miscellaneous poems I met with one, written with
+the patriotic purpose of cheering the country under it; one
+triplet struck me as rather alarming for us, however soothing to
+America.
+
+          "Supposing George's house at Kew
+           Were burnt, as we intend to do,
+           Would that be burning England too?"
+
+I think I have before mentioned that no work of mere pleasantry
+has hitherto been found to answer; but a recent attempt of the
+kind as been made, with what success cannot as yet be decided.
+The editors are comedians belonging to the Boston company, and it
+is entitled "The American Comic Annual."  It is accompanied by
+etchings, somewhat in the manner, but by no means with the spirit
+of Cruikshank's.  Among the pleasantries of this lively volume
+are some biting attacks upon us, particularly upon our utter
+incapacity of speaking English.  We really must engage a few
+American professors, or we shall lose all trace of classic purity
+in our language.  As a specimen, and rather a favourable one, of
+the work, I transcribed an extract from a little piece, entitled,
+"Sayings and Doings, a Fragment of a Farce."  One of the
+personages of this farce is an English gentleman, a Captain
+Mandaville, and among many speeches of the same kind, I selected
+the following.  Collins's Ode is the subject of conversation.
+
+"A--r, A--a--a it stroiks me that that you manetion his the hode
+about hangger and ope and orror and revenge you know.  I've eard
+Mrs. Sitdowns hencored in it at Common Garden and Doory Lane in
+the ight of her poplarity you know.  By the boye, hall the hactin
+in Amareka is werry orrid.  You're honely in the hinfancy of the
+istoryonic hart you know; your performers never haspirate the
+haitch in sich vords for instance as hink and hoats, and leave
+out the _w_ in wice wanity you know; and make nothink of homittin
+the _k_ in somethink."
+
+There is much more in the same style, but, perhaps, this may
+suffice.  I have given this passage chiefly because it affords an
+example of the manner in which the generality of Americans are
+accustomed to speak of English pronunciation and phraseology.
+
+It must be remembered, however, here and every where, that this
+phrase, "the Americans," does not include the instructed and
+travelled portion of the community.
+
+It would be absurd to swell my little volumes with extracts in
+proof of the veracity of their contents, but having spoken of the
+taste of their lighter works, and also of the general tone of
+manners, I cannot forbear inserting a page from an American
+annual (The Token), which purports to give a scene from
+fashionable life.  It is part of a dialogue between a young lady
+of the "highest standing" and her "tutor," who is moreover her
+lover, though not yet acknowledged.
+
+"And so you wo'nt tell me," said she, "what has come over you,
+and why you look as grave and sensible as a Dictionary, when, by
+general consent, even mine, 'motley's the only wear?'"
+
+'"Am I so grave, Miss Blair?"
+
+'"Are you so grave, Miss Blair?  One would think I had not got
+my lesson today.  Pray, sir, has the black ox trod upon your toe
+since we parted?"
+
+'Philip tried to laugh, but he did not succeed; he bit his lip
+and was silent.
+
+'"I am under orders to entertain you, Mr. Blondel, and if my poor
+brain can be made to gird this fairy isle, I shall certainly be
+obedient.  So I begin with playing the leech.  What ails you,
+sir?"
+
+'"Miss Blair!" he was going to remonstrate.
+
+'"Miss Blair!  Now, pity.  I'm a quack! for whip me, if I know
+whether Miss Blair is a fever or an ague.  How did you catch it,
+sir?"
+
+'"Really, Miss Blair--"
+
+'"Nay, I see you don't like doctoring; I give over, and now I'll
+be sensible.  It's a fine day, Mr. Blondel."
+
+'"Very."
+
+'"A pleasant lane, this, to walk in, if one's company were
+agreeable."
+
+'"Does Mr. Skefton stay long?" asked Philip, abruptly.
+
+'"No one knows,"
+
+'"Indeed! are you so ignorant?"
+
+'"And why does your wisdom ask that question?"'
+
+In no society in the world can the advantage of travel be so
+conspicuous as in America, in other countries a tone of
+unpretending simplicity can more than compensate for the absence
+of enlarged views or accurate observation; but this tone is not
+to be found in America, or if it be, it is only among those who,
+having looked at that insignificant portion of the world not
+included in the Union, have learnt to know how much is still
+unknown within the mighty part which is.  For the rest, they all
+declare, and do in truth believe, that they only, among the sons
+of men, have wit and wisdom, and that one of their exclusive
+privileges is that of speaking English _elegantly_.  There are
+two reasons for this latter persuasion; the one is, that the
+great majority have never heard any English but their own, except
+from the very lowest of the Irish; and the other, that those who
+have chanced to find themselves in the society of the few
+educated English who have visited America, have discovered that
+there is a marked difference between their phrases and accents
+and those to which they have been accustomed, whereupon they
+have, of course, decided that no Englishman can speak English.
+
+The reviews of America contain some good clear-headed articles;
+but I sought in vain for the playful vivacity and the
+keenly-cutting satire, whose sharp edge, however painful to the
+patient, is of such high utility in lopping off the excrescences
+of bad taste, and levelling to its native clay the heavy growth
+of dulness.  Still less could I find any trace of that graceful
+familiarity of learned allusion and general knowledge which mark
+the best European reviews, and which make one feel in such
+perfectly good company while perusing them.  But this is a tone
+not to be found either in the writings or conversation of
+Americans; as distant from pedantry as from ignorance, it is not
+learning itself, but the effect of it; and so pervading and
+subtle is its influence that it may be traced in the festive
+halls and gay drawing-rooms of Europe as certainly as in the
+cloistered library or student's closet; it is, perhaps, the last
+finish of highly-finished society.
+
+A late American Quarterly has an article on a work of Dr. Von
+Schmidt Phiseldek, from which I made an extract, as a curious
+sample of the dreams they love to batten on.
+
+Dr. Von Phiseldek (not Fiddlestick), who is not only a doctor of
+philosophy, but a knight of Dannebrog to boot, has never been in
+America, but he has written a prophecy, showing that the United
+States must and will govern the whole world, because they are so
+very big, and have so much uncultivated territory; he prophesies
+that an union will take place between North and South America,
+which will give a death-blow to Europe, at no distant period;
+though he modestly adds that he does not pretend to designate the
+precise period at which this will take place.  This Danish
+prophecy, as may be imagined, enchants the reviewer.  He exhorts
+all people to read Dr. Phiseldek's book, because "nothing but
+good can come of such contemplations of the future, and because
+it is eminently calculated to awaken the most lofty anticipations
+of the destiny which awaits them, and will serve to impress upon
+the nation the necessity of being prepared for such high
+destiny."  In another place the reviewer bursts out, "America,
+young as she is, has become already the beacon, the patriarch of
+the struggling nations of the world;" and afterwards adds, It
+would be departing from the natural order of things, and the
+ordinary operations of the great scheme of Providence, it would
+be shutting our ears to the voice of experience, and our eyes to
+the inevitable connexion of causes and their effects, were we to
+reject the extreme probability, not to say _moral certainty_,
+that the old world is destined to receive its influences in
+future from the new."  There are twenty pages of this article,
+but I will only give one passage more; it is an instance of the
+sort of reasoning by which American citizens persuade themselves
+that the glory of Europe is, in reality, her reproach.  "Wrapped
+up in a sense of his superiority, the European reclines at home,
+shining in his borrowed plumes, derived from the product of every
+corner of the earth, and the industry of every portion of its
+inhabitants, with which his own natural resources would never
+have invested him, he continues revelling in enjoyments which
+nature has denied him."
+
+The American Quarterly deservedly holds the highest place in
+their periodical literature, and, therefore, may be fairly quoted
+as striking the keynote for the chorus of public opinion.  Surely
+it is nationality rather than patriotism which leads it thus to
+speak in scorn of the successful efforts of enlightened nations
+to win from every corner of the earth the riches which nature has
+scattered over it.
+
+
+
+The incorrectness of the press is very great; they make strange
+work in the reprints of French and Italian; and the Latin, I
+suspect, does not fare much better: I believe they do not often
+meddle with Greek.
+
+With regard to the fine arts, their paintings, I think, are quite
+as good, or rather better, than might be expected from the
+patronage they receive; the wonder is that any man can be found
+with courage enough to devote himself to a profession in which he
+has so little chance of finding a maintenance.  The trade of a
+carpenter opens an infinitely better prospect; and this is so
+well known, that nothing but a genuine passion for the art could
+beguile any one to pursue it.  The entire absence of every means
+of improvement, and effectual study, is unquestionably the cause
+why those who manifest this devotion cannot advance farther.  I
+heard of one young artist, whose circumstances did not permit his
+going to Europe, but who being nevertheless determined that his
+studies should, as nearly as possible, resemble those of the
+European academies, was about to commence drawing the human
+figure, for which purpose he had provided himself with a thin
+silk dress, in which to clothe his models, as no one of any
+station, he said, could be found who would submit to sit as a
+model without clothing.
+
+It was at Alexandria that I saw what I consider as the best
+picture by an American artist that I met with.  The subject was
+Hagar and Ishmael.  It had recently arrived from Rome, where the
+painter, a young man of the name of Chapman, had been studying
+for three years.  His mother told me that he was twenty-two years
+of age, and passionately devoted to the art; should he, on
+returning to his country, receive sufficient encouragement to
+keep his ardour and his industry alive, I think I shall hear of
+him again.
+
+Much is said about the universal diffusion of education in
+America, and a vast deal of genuine admiration is felt and
+expressed at the progress of mind throughout the Union.  They
+believe themselves in all sincerity to have surpassed, to be
+surpassing, and to be about to surpass, the whole earth in the
+intellectual race.  I am aware that not a single word can be
+said, hinting a different opinion, which will not bring down a
+transatlantic anathema on my head; yet the subject is too
+interesting to be omitted.  Before I left England I remember
+listening, with much admiration, to an eloquent friend, who
+deprecated our system of public education, as confining the
+various and excursive faculties of our children to one beaten
+path, paying little or no attention to the peculiar powers of
+the individual.
+
+This objection is extremely plausible, but doubts of its
+intrinsic value must, I think, occur to every one who has marked
+the result of a different system throughout the United States.
+
+From every enquiry I could make, and I took much pains to obtain
+accurate information, it appeared that much is attempted, but
+very little beyond reading, writing, and bookkeeping, is
+thoroughly acquired.  Were we to read a prospectus of the system
+pursued in any of our public schools and that of a first-rate
+seminary in America, we should be struck by the confined
+scholastic routine of the former, when compared to the varied and
+expansive scope of the latter; but let the examination go a
+little farther, and I believe it will be found that the old
+fashioned school discipline of England has produced something
+higher, and deeper too, than that which roars so loud, and
+thunders in the index.
+
+They will not afford to let their young men study till two or
+three and twenty, and it is therefore declared, _ex cathedra
+Americana_, to be unnecessary.  At sixteen, often much earlier,
+education ends, and money-making begins; the idea that more
+learning is necessary than can be acquired by that time, is
+generally ridiculed as obsolete monkish bigotry; added to which,
+if the seniors willed a more prolonged discipline, the juniors
+would refuse submission.  When the money-getting begins, leisure
+ceases, and all of lore which can be acquired afterwards, is
+picked up from novels, magazines, and newspapers.
+
+At what time can the taste be formed?  How can a correct and
+polished style, even of speaking, be acquired? or when can the
+fruit of the two thousand years of past thinking be added to the
+native growth of American intellect?  These are the tools, if I
+may so express myself, which our elaborate system of school
+discipline puts into the hands of our scholars; possessed of
+these, they may use them in whatever direction they please
+afterwards, they can never be an incumbrance.
+
+No people appear more anxious to excite admiration and receive
+applause than the Americans, yet none take so little trouble,
+or make so few sacrifices to obtain it.  This may answer among
+themselves, but it will not with the rest of the world;
+individual sacrifices must be made, and national economy
+enlarged, before America can compete with the old world in
+taste, learning, and liberality.
+
+The reception of General Lafayette is the one single instance
+in which the national pride has overcome the national thrift;
+and this was clearly referrible to the one single feeling of
+enthusiasm of which they appear capable, namely, the triumph
+of their successful struggle for national independence.  But
+though this feeling will be universally acknowledged as a worthy
+and lawful source of triumph and of pride, it will not serve to
+trade upon for ever, as a fund of glory and high station among
+the nations.  Their fathers were colonists; they fought stoutly,
+and became an independent people.  Success and admiration, even
+the admiration of those whose yoke they had broken, cheered
+them while living, still sheds a glory round their remote and
+untitled sepulchres, and will illumine the page of their history
+for ever.
+
+Their children inherit the independence; they inherit too the
+honour of being the sons of brave fathers; but this will not give
+them the reputation at which they aim, of being scholars and
+gentlemen, nor will it enable them to sit down for evermore to
+talk of their glory, while they drink mint julap and chew
+tobacco, swearing by the beard of Jupiter (or some other oath)
+that they are very graceful, and agreeable, and, moreover abusing
+every body who does not cry out Amen!
+
+To doubt that talent and mental power of every kind exist in
+America would be absurd; why should it not?  But in taste and
+learning they are woefully deficient; and it is this which
+renders them incapable of graduating a scale by which to measure
+themselves.  Hence arises that over weening complacency and
+self-esteem, both national and individual, which at once renders
+them so extremely obnoxious to ridicule, and so peculiarly
+restive under it.
+
+If they will scorn the process by which other nations have become
+what they avowedly intend to be, they must rest satisfied with
+the praise and admiration they receive from each other; and
+turning a deaf ear to the criticism of the old world, consent to
+be their own prodigious great reward."
+
+
+
+Alexandria has its churches, chapels, and conventicles as
+abundantly, in proportion to its size, as any city in the Union.
+I visited most of them, and in the Episcopal and Catholic heard
+the services performed quietly and reverently.
+
+The best sermon, however, that I listened to, was in a Methodist
+church, from the mouth of a Piquot Indian.  It was impossible not
+be touched by the simple sincerity of this poor man.  He gave a
+picture frightfully eloquent of the decay of his people under the
+united influence of the avarice and intemperance of the white
+men.  He described the effect of the religious feeling which had
+recently found its way among them as most salutary.  The purity
+of his moral feeling, and the sincerity of his sympathy with his
+forest brethren, made it unquestionable that he must be the most
+valuable priest who could officiate for them.  His English was
+very correct, and his pronunciation but slightly tinctured by
+native accent.
+
+While we were still in the neighbourhood of Washington, a most
+violent and unprecedented schism occurred in the cabinet.  The
+four secretaries of State all resigned, leaving General Jackson
+to manage the queer little state barge alone.
+
+Innumerable contradictory statements appeared upon this occasion
+in the papers, and many a cigar was thrown aside, ere half
+consumed, that the disinterested politician might give breath to
+his cogitations on this extraordinary event; but not all the
+eloquence of all the smokers, nor even the ultradiplomatic
+expositions which appeared from the seceding secretaries
+themselves, could throw any light on the mysterious business.
+It produced, however, the only tolerable caricature I ever saw
+in the country.  It represents the President seated alone in his
+cabinet, wearing a look of much discomfiture, and making great
+exertions to detain one of four rats, who are running off, by
+placing his foot on the tail.  The rats' heads bear a very
+sufficient resemblance to the four ex-ministers.  General
+Jackson, it seems, had requested Mr. Van Buren, the Secretary of
+State, to remain in office till his place was supplied; this gave
+occasion to a _bon mot_ from his son, who, being asked when his
+father would be in New York, replied, "When the President takes
+off his foot."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 30
+
+Journey to New York--Delaware River--Stagecoach--
+City of New York--Collegiate Institute for Young Ladies--
+Theatres--Public Garden--Churches--Morris Canal--
+Fashions--Carriages
+
+
+
+At length, in spite of the lingering pace necessarily attending
+consultations, and arrangements across the Atlantic, our plans
+were finally settled; the coming spring was to show us New York,
+and Niagara, and the early summer was to convey us home.
+
+No sooner did the letter arrive which decided this, than we began
+our preparations for departure.  We took our last voyage on the
+Potomac, we bade a last farewell to Virginia, and gave a last day
+to some of our kind friends near Washington.
+
+The spring, though slow and backward, was sufficiently advanced
+to render the journey pleasant; and though the road from
+Washington to Baltimore was less brilliant in foliage than when
+I had seen it before, it still had much of beauty.  The azalias
+were in full bloom, and the delicate yellow blossom of the
+sassafras almost rivalled its fruit in beauty.
+
+At Baltimore we again embarked on a gigantic steam-boat, and
+reached Philadelphia in the middle of the night.  Here we changed
+our boat and found time, before starting in the morning, to take
+a last look at the Doric and Corinthian porticos of the two
+celebrated temples dedicated to Mammon.
+
+The Delaware river, above Philadelphia, still flows through a
+landscape too level for beauty, but it is rendered interesting by
+a succession of gentlemen's seats, which, if less elaborately
+finished in architecture, and garden grounds, than the lovely
+villas on the Thames, are still beautiful objects to gaze upon as
+you float rapidly past on the broad silvery stream that washes
+their lawns They present a picture of wealth and enjoyment that
+accords well with the noble city to which they are an appendage.
+One mansion arrested our attention, not only from its being more
+than usually large and splendid, but from its having the monument
+which marked the family resting-place, rearing itself in all the
+gloomy grandeur of black and white marble, exactly opposite the
+door of entrance.
+
+In Virginia and Maryland we had remarked that almost every family
+mansion had its little grave yard, sheltered by locust and
+cypress trees; but this decorated dwelling of the dead seemed
+rather a melancholy ornament in the grounds.
+
+We had, for a considerable distance, a view of the dwelling of
+Joseph Bonaparte, which is situated on the New Jersey shore, in
+the midst of an extensive tract of land, of which he is the
+proprietor.
+
+Here the ex-monarch has built several houses, which are occupied
+by French tenants.  The country is very flat, but a terrace of
+two sides has been raised, commanding a fine reach of the
+Delaware River; at the point where this terrace forms a right
+angle, a lofty chapel has been erected, which looks very much
+like an observatory; I admired the ingenuity with which the
+Catholic prince has united his religion and his love of a fine
+terrestrial prospect.  The highest part of the building presents,
+in every direction, the appearance of an immense cross; the
+transept, if I may so express it, being formed by the projection
+of an ample balcony, which surrounds a tower.  A Quaker
+gentleman, from Philadelphia, exclaimed, as he gazed on the
+mansion, "There we see a monument of fallen royalty!  Strange!
+that dethroned kings should seek and find their best strong-hold
+in a Republic."
+
+There was more of philosophy than of scorn in his accent, and his
+countenance was the symbol of gentleness and benevolence; but I
+overheard many unquakerlike jokes from others, as to the
+comfortable assurance a would-be king must feel of a faithful
+alliance between his head and shoulders.
+
+At Trenton, the capital of New Jersey, we left our
+smoothly-gliding comfortable boat for the most detestable
+stage-coach that ever Christian built to dislocate the joints of
+his fellow men.  Ten of these torturing machines were crammed
+full of the passengers who left the boat with us.  The change in
+our movement was not more remarkable than that which took place
+in the tempers and countenances of our fellow-travellers.
+Gentlemen who had lounged on sofas, and balanced themselves in
+chairs, all the way from Philadelphia, with all the conscious
+fascinations of stiff stays and neck-cloths, which, while doing
+to death the rash beauties who ventured to gaze, seemed but a
+whalebone panoply to guard the wearer, these pretty youths so
+guarded from without, so sweetly at peace within, now crushed
+beneath their armour, looked more like victims on the wheel, than
+dandies armed for conquest; their whalebones seemed to enter into
+their souls, and every face grew grim and scowling.  The pretty
+ladies too, with their expansive bonnets, any one of which might
+handsomely have filled the space allotted to three,--how sad the
+change!  I almost fancied they must have been of the race of
+Undine, and that it was only when they heard the splashing of
+water that they could smile.  As I looked into the altered eyes
+of my companions, I was tempted to ask, "Look I as cross as you?"
+Indeed, I believe that, if possible, I looked crosser still, for
+the roads and the vehicle together were quite too much for my
+philosophy.
+
+At length, however, we found ourselves alive on board the boat
+which was to convey us down the Raraton River to New York.
+
+We fully intended to have gone to bed, to heal our bones, on
+entering the steam-boat, but the sight of a table neatly spread
+determined us to go to dinner instead.  Sin and shame would it
+have been, indeed, to have closed our eyes upon the scene which
+soon opened before us.  I have never seen the bay of Naples, I
+can therefore make no comparison, but my imagination is incapable
+of conceiving any thing of the kind more beautiful than the
+harbour of New York.  Various and lovely are the objects which
+meet the eye on every side, but the naming them would only be to
+give a list of words, without conveying the faintest idea of the
+scene.  I doubt if ever the pencil of Turner could do it justice,
+bright and glorious as it rose upon us.  We seemed to enter the
+harbour of New York upon waves of liquid gold, and as we darted
+past the green isles which rise from its bosom, like guardian
+centinels of the fair city, the setting sun stretched his
+horizontal beams farther and farther at each moment, as if to
+point out to us some new glory in the landscape.
+
+New York, indeed, appeared to us, even when we saw it by a
+soberer light, a lovely and a noble city.  To us who had been so
+long travelling through half-cleared forests, and sojourning
+among an "I'm-as-good-as-you" population, it seemed, perhaps,
+more beautiful, more splendid, and more refined than it might
+have done, had we arrived there directly from London; but making
+every allowance for this, I must still declare that I think New
+York one of the finest cities I ever saw, and as much superior to
+every other in the Union (Philadelphia not excepted), as London
+to Liverpool, or Paris to Rouen.  Its advantages of position are,
+perhaps, unequalled any where.  Situated on an island, which I
+think it will one day cover, it rises, like Venice, from the sea,
+and like that fairest of cities in the days of her glory,
+receives into its lap tribute of all the riches of the earth.
+
+The southern point of Manhatten Island divides the waters of the
+harbour into the north and east rivers; on this point stands the
+city of New York, extending from river to river, and running
+northward to the extent of three or four miles.  I think it
+covers nearly as much ground as Paris, but is much less thickly
+peopled.  The extreme point is fortified towards the sea by a
+battery, and forms an admirable point of defence; I should
+suppose, no city could boast.  From hence commences the splendid
+Broadway, as the fine avenue is called, which runs through the
+whole city.  This noble street may vie with any I ever saw, for
+its length and breadth, its handsome shops, neat awnings,
+excellent _trottoir_, and well-dressed pedestrians.  It has not
+the crowded glitter of Bond Street equipages, nor the gorgeous
+fronted palaces of Regent Street; but it is magnificent in its
+extent, and ornamented by several handsome buildings, some of
+them surrounded by grass and trees.  The Park, in which stands
+the noble city-hall, is a very fine area, I never found that the
+most graphic description of a city could give me any feeling of
+being there; and even if others have the power, I am very sure I
+have not, of setting churches and squares, and long drawn
+streets, before the mind's eye.  I will not, therefore, attempt a
+detailed description of this great metropolis of the new world,
+but will only say that during the seven weeks we stayed there, we
+always found something new to see and to admire; and were it not
+so very far from all the old-world things which cling about the
+heart of an European, I should say that I never saw a city more
+desirable as a residence.
+
+The dwelling houses of the higher classes are extremely handsome,
+and very richly furnished.  Silk or satin furniture is as often,
+or oftener, seen than chintz; the mirrors are as handsome as in
+London; the cheffoniers, slabs, and marble tables as elegant; and
+in addition, they have all the pretty tasteful decoration of
+French porcelaine, and or-molu in much greater abundance, because
+at a much cheaper rate.  Every part of their houses is well
+carpeted, and the exterior finishing, such as steps, railings,
+and door-frames, are very superior.  Almost every house has
+handsome green blinds on the outside; balconies are not very
+general, nor do the houses display, externally, so many flowers
+as those of Paris and London; but I saw many rooms decorated
+within, exactly like those of an European _petite maitresse_.
+Little tables, looking and smelling like flower beds, portfolios,
+nick-nacks, bronzes, busts, cameos, and alabaster vases,
+illustrated copies of ladylike rhymes bound in silk, and, in
+short, all the pretty coxcomalities of the drawing-room scattered
+about with the same profuse and studied negligence as with us.
+
+Hudson Square and its neighbourhood is, I believe, the most
+fashionable part of the town; the square is beautiful,
+excellently well planted with a great variety of trees, and only
+wanting our frequent and careful mowing to make it equal to any
+square in London.  The iron railing which surrounds this
+enclosure is as high and as handsome as that of the Tuilleries,
+and it will give some idea of the care bestowed on its
+decoration, to know that the gravel for the walks was conveyed
+by barges from Boston, not as ballast, but as freight.
+
+The great defect in the houses is their extreme uniformity when
+you have seen one, you have seen all.  Neither do I quite like
+the arrangement of the rooms.  In nearly all the houses the
+dining and drawing rooms are on the same floor, with ample
+folding doors between them; when thrown together they certainly
+make a very noble apartment; but no doors can be barrier
+sufficient between dining and drawing-rooms.  Mixed dinner
+parties of ladies and gentlemen, however, are very rare, which is
+a great defect in the society; not only as depriving them of the
+most social and hospitable manner of meeting, but as leading to
+frequent dinner parties of gentlemen without ladies, which
+certainly does not conduce to refinement.
+
+The evening parties, excepting such as are expressly for young
+people, are chiefly conversational; we were too late in the
+season for large parties, but we saw enough to convince us that
+there is society to be met with in New York, which would be
+deemed delightful any where.  Cards are very seldom used; and
+music, from their having very little professional aid at their
+parties is seldom, I believe, as good as what is heard at private
+concerts in London.
+
+The Americans have certainly not the same _besoin_ of being
+amused, as other people; they may be the wiser for this, perhaps,
+but it makes them less agreeable to a looker-on.
+
+There are three theatres at New York, all of which we visited.
+The Park Theatre is the only one licensed by fashion, but the
+Bowery is infinitely superior in beauty; it is indeed as pretty a
+theatre as I ever entered, perfect as to size and proportion,
+elegantly decorated, and the scenery and machinery equal to any
+in London, but it is not the fashion.  The Chatham is so utterly
+condemned by _bon ton_, that it requires some courage to decide
+upon going there; nor do I think my curiosity would have
+penetrated so far, had I not seen Miss Mitford's Rienzi
+advertised there.  It was the first opportunity I had had of
+seeing it played, and spite of very indifferent acting, I was
+delighted.  The interest must have been great, for till the
+curtain fell, I saw not one quarter of the queer things around
+me: then I observed in the front row of a dress-box a lady
+performing the most maternal office possible; several gentlemen
+without their coats, and a general air of contempt for the
+decencies of life, certainly more than usually revolting.
+
+At the Park Theatre I again saw the American Roscius, Mr.
+Forrest.  He played the part of Damon, and roared, I thought,
+very unlike a nightingale.  I cannot admire this celebrated
+performer.
+
+Another night we saw Cinderella there; Mrs. Austin was the prima
+donna, and much admired.  The piece was extremely well got up,
+and on this occasion we saw the Park Theatre to advantage, for it
+was filled with well-dressed company; but still we saw many "yet
+unrazored lips" polluted with the grim tinge of the hateful
+tobacco, and heard, without ceasing, the spitting, which of
+course is its consequence.  If their theatres had the orchestra
+of the Feydeau, and a choir of angels to boot, I could find but
+little pleasure, so long as they were followed by this running
+accompaniment of _thorough base_.
+
+Whilst at New York, the prospectus of a fashionable
+boarding-school was presented to me.  I made some extracts from
+it, as a specimen of the enlarged scale of instruction proposed
+for young females.
+
+     Brooklyn Collegiate Institute
+     for Young Ladies,
+     Brooklyn Heights, opposite the City of
+     New York.
+
+          JUNIOR DEPARTMENT
+
+          Sixth Class
+
+Latin Grammar, Liber Primus; Jacob's Latin Reader, (first part);
+Modern Geography; Intellectual and Practical Arithmetic finished;
+Dr. Barber's Grammar of Elocution; Writing, Spelling,
+Composition, and Vocal Music.
+
+          Fifth Class
+
+Jacob's Latin Reader, (second part); Roman Antiquities, Sallust;
+Clark's Introduction to the Making of Latin; Ancient and Sacred
+Geography; Studies of Poetry; Short Treatise on Rhetoric; Map
+Drawing, Composition, Spelling, and Vocal Music.
+
+          Fourth Class
+
+Caesar's Commentaries; first five books of Virgil's Aeneid;
+Mythology; Watts on the Mind; Political Geography, (Woodbridge's
+large work); Natural History; Treatise on the Globes; Ancient
+History; Studies of Poetry concluded; English Grammar,
+Composition, Spelling, and Vocal Music.
+
+          SENIOR DEPARTMENT
+
+          Third Class
+
+Virgil, (finished); Cicero's Select Orations; Modern History;
+Plane Geometry; Moral Philosophy; Critical Reading of Young's
+Poems; Perspective Drawing; Rhetoric; Logic, Composition, and
+Vocal Music.
+
+          Second Class
+
+Livy; Horace, (Odes); Natural Theology; small Compend of
+Ecclesiastical History; Female Biography; Algebra; Natural
+Philosophy, (Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, and Acoustics);
+Intellectual Philosophy; Evidences of Christianity; Composition,
+and Vocal Music.
+
+          First Class
+
+Horace, (finished); Tacitus; Natural Philosophy, (Electricity,
+Optics, Magnetism, Galvanism); Astronomy, Chemistry, Mineralogy,
+and Geology; Compend of Political Economy; Composition, and Vocal
+Music.
+
+The French, Spanish, Italian, or Greek languages may be attended
+to, if required, at any time.
+
+
+
+The Exchange is very handsome, and ranks about midway between the
+heavy gloom that hangs over our London merchants, and the light
+and lofty elegance which decorates the Bourse at Paris.  The
+churches are plain, but very neat, and kept in perfect repair
+within and without; but I saw none which had the least pretension
+to splendour; the Catholic Cathedral at Baltimore is the only
+church in America which has.
+
+At New York, as every where else, they show within, during the
+time of service, like beds of tulips, so gay, so bright, so
+beautiful, are the long rows of French bonnets and pretty faces;
+rows but rarely broken by the unribboned heads of the male
+population; the proportion is about the same as I have remarked
+elsewhere.  Excepting at New York, I never saw the other side of
+the picture, but there I did.  On the opposite side of the North
+River, about three miles higher up, is a place called Hoboken.
+A gentleman who possessed a handsome mansion and grounds there,
+also possessed the right of ferry, and to render this productive,
+he has restricted his pleasure grounds to a few beautiful acres,
+laying out the remainder simply and tastefully as a public walk.
+It is hardly possible to imagine one of greater attraction; a
+broad belt of light underwood and flowering shrubs, studded at
+intervals with lofty forest trees, runs for two miles along a
+cliff which overhangs the matchless Hudson; sometimes it feathers
+the rocks down to its very margin, and at others leaves a pebbly
+shore, just rude enough to break the gentle waves, and make a
+music which mimics softly the loud chorus of the ocean.  Through
+this beautiful little wood, a broad well gravelled terrace is led
+by every point which can exhibit the scenery to advantage;
+narrower and wilder paths diverge at intervals, some into the
+deeper shadow of the wood, and some shelving gradually to the
+pretty coves below.
+
+The price of entrance to this little Eden, is the six cents you
+pay at the ferry.  We went there on a bright Sunday afternoon,
+expressly to see the humours of the place.  Many thousand persons
+were scattered through the grounds; of these we ascertained, by
+repeatedly counting, that nineteen-twentieths were men.  The
+ladies were at church.  Often as the subject has pressed upon my
+mind, I think I never so strongly felt the conviction that the
+Sabbath-day, the holy day, the day on which alone the great
+majority of the Christian world can spend their hours as they
+please, is ill passed (if passed entirely) within brick walls,
+listening to an earth-born preacher, charm he never so wisely.
+
+  "Oh! how can they renounce the boundless store
+   Of charms, which Nature to her vot'ries yields!
+   The warbling woodland, the resounding shore,
+   The pomp of groves, and garniture of fields,
+   All that the genial ray of morning gilds,
+   And all that echoes to the song of even,
+   All that the mountain's sheltering bosom yields,
+   And all the dread magnificence of heaven;
+   Oh! how can they renounce, and hope to be forgiven!"
+
+How is it that the men of America, who are reckoned good husbands
+and good fathers, while they themselves enjoy sufficient freedom
+of spirit to permit their walking forth into the temple of the
+living God, can leave those they love best on earth, bound in the
+iron chains of a most tyrannical fanaticism?  How can they
+breathe the balmy air, and not think of the tainted atmosphere so
+heavily weighing upon breasts still dearer than their own?  How
+can they gaze upon the blossoms of the spring, and not remember
+the fairer cheeks of their young daughters, waxing pale, as they
+sit for long sultry hours, immured with hundreds of fellow
+victims, listening to the roaring vanities of a preacher
+canonized by a college of old women?  They cannot think it
+needful to salvation,or they would not withdraw themselves.
+Wherefore is it?  Do they fear these self-elected, self-ordained
+priests, and offer up their wives and daughters to propitiate
+them?  Or do they deem their hebdomadal freedom more complete,
+because their wives and daughters are shut up four or five times
+in the day at church or chapel?  It is true, that at Hoboken, as
+every where else, there are _reposoires_, which, as you pass
+them, blast the sense for a moment, by reeking forth the fumes of
+whiskey and tobacco, and it may be that these cannot be entered
+with a wife or daughter.  The proprietor of the grounds, however,
+has contrived with great taste to render these abominations not
+unpleasing to the eye; there is one in particular, which has
+quite the air of a Grecian temple, and did they drink wine
+instead of whiskey, it might be inscribed to Bacchus; but in this
+particular, as in many others, the ancient and modern Republics differ.
+
+It is impossible not to feel, after passing one Sunday in the
+churches and chapels of New York, and the next in the gardens of
+Hoboken, that the thousands of well-dressed men you see enjoying
+themselves at the latter, have made over the thousands of
+well-dressed women you saw exhibited at the former, into the
+hands of the priests, at least, for the day.  The American people
+arrogate to themselves a character of superior morality and
+religion, but this division of their hours of leisure does not
+give me a favourable idea of either.
+
+I visited all the exhibitions in New York.  The Medici of the
+Republic must exert themselves a little more before these can
+become even respectable.  The worst of the business is, that with
+the exception of about half a dozen individuals, the good
+citizens are more than contented, they are delighted.
+
+The newspaper lungs of the Republic breathe forth praise and
+triumph, may, almost pant with extacy in speaking of their native
+_chef d'oeuvres_.  I should be hardly believed were I to relate
+the instances which fell in my way, of the utter ignorance
+respecting pictures to be found among persons of the _first
+standing_ in society.  Often where a liberal spirit exists, and a
+wish to patronise the fine arts is expressed, it is joined to a
+profundity of ignorance on the subject almost inconceivable.  A
+doubt as to the excellence of their artists is very nervously
+received, and one gentleman, with much civility, told me, that at
+the present era, all the world were aware that competition was
+pretty well at an end between our two nations, and that a little
+envy might naturally be expected to mix with the surprise with
+which the mother country beheld the distance at which her
+colonies were leaving her behind them.
+
+I must, however, do the few artists with whom I became
+acquainted, the justice to say, that their own pretensions are
+much more modest than those of their patrons for them.  I have
+heard several confess and deplore their ignorance of drawing, and
+have repeatedly remarked a sensibility to the merit of European
+artists, though perhaps only known by engravings, and a deference
+to their authority, which showed a genuine feeling for the art.
+In fact, I think that there is a very considerable degree of
+natural talent for painting in America, but it has to make its
+way through darkness and thick night.  When an academy is
+founded, their first care is to hang the walls of its exhibition
+room with all the unutterable trash that is offered to them.  No
+living models are sought for; no discipline as to the manner of
+study is enforced.  Boys who know no more of human form, than
+they do of the eyes, nose, and mouth in the moon, begin painting
+portraits.  If some of them would only throw away their palettes
+for a year, and learn to draw; if they would attend anatomical
+lectures, and take notes, not in words, but in forms, of joints
+and muscles, their exhibitions would soon cease to be so utterly
+below criticism.
+
+The most interesting exhibition open when I was there was,
+decidedly, Colonel Trumbold's; and how the patriots of America
+can permit this truly national collection to remain a profitless
+burden on the hands of the artist, it is difficult to understand.
+Many of the sketches are masterly; but like his illustrious
+countryman, West, his sketches are his _chef d'oeuvres_.
+
+I can imagine nothing more perfect than the interior of the
+public institutions of New York.  There is a practical good sense
+in all their arrangements that must strike foreigners very
+forcibly.  The Asylum for the Destitute offers a hint worth
+taking.  It is dedicated to the reformation of youthful offenders
+of both sexes, and it is as admirable in the details of its
+management, as in its object.  Every part of the institution is
+deeply interesting; but there is a difference very remarkable
+between the boys and the girls.  The boys are, I think, the
+finest set of lads I ever saw brought together; bright looking,
+gay, active, and full of intelligence.  The girls are exactly in
+reverse; heavy, listless, indifferent, and melancholy.  In
+conversing with the gentleman who is the general superintendant
+of the establishment, I made the remark to him, and he told me,
+that the reality corresponded with the appearance.  All of them
+had been detected in some act of dishonesty; but the boys, when
+removed from the evil influence which had led them so to use
+their ingenuity, rose like a spring when a pressure is withdrawn;
+and feeling themselves once more safe from danger and from shame,
+hope and cheerfulness animated every countenance.  But the pour
+girls, on the contrary, can hardly look up again.  They are as
+different as an oak and a lily after a storm.  The one, when the
+fresh breeze blows over it, shakes the raindrops from its crest,
+and only looks the brighter; the other, its silken leaves once
+soiled, shrinks from the eye, and is levelled to the earth for
+ever.
+
+
+
+We spent a delightful day in New Jersey, in visiting, with a most
+agreeable party, the inclined planes, which are used instead of
+locks on the Morris canal.
+
+This is a very interesting work; it is one among a thousand which
+prove the people of America to be the most enterprising in the
+world.  I was informed that this important canal, which connects
+the waters of the Hudson and the Delaware, is a hundred miles
+long, and in this distance overcomes a variation of level
+amounting to sixteen hundred feet.  Of this, fourteen hundred are
+achieved by inclined planes.  The planes average about sixty feet
+of perpendicular lift each, and are to support about forty tons.
+The time consumed in passing them is twelve minutes for one
+hundred feet of perpendicular rise.  The expense is less than a
+third of what locks would be for surmounting the same rise.  If
+we set about any more canals, this may be worth attending to.
+
+This Morris canal is certainly an extraordinary work; it not only
+varies its level sixteen hundred feet, but at one point runs
+along the side of a mountain at thirty feet above the tops of the
+highest buildings in the town of Paterson, below; at another it
+crosses the falls of the Passaic in a stone aqueduct sixty feet
+above the water in the river.  This noble work, in a great
+degree, owes its existence to the patriotic and scientific energy
+of Mr. Cadwallader Colden.
+
+There is no point in the national character of the Americans
+which commands so much respect as the boldness and energy with
+which public works are undertaken and carried through.  Nothing
+stops them if a profitable result can be fairly hoped for.  It is
+this which has made cities spring up amidst the forests with such
+inconceivable rapidity; and could they once be thoroughly
+persuaded that any point of the ocean had a hoard of dollars
+beneath it, I have not the slightest doubt that in about eighteen
+months we should see a snug covered rail-road leading direct to
+the spot.
+
+
+
+I was told at New York, that in many parts of the state it was
+usual to pay the service of the Presbyterian ministers in the
+following manner.  Once a year a day is fixed, on which some
+member of every family in a congregation meet at their minister's
+house in the afternoon.  They each bring an offering (according
+to their means) of articles necessary for housekeeping.  The
+poorer members leave their contributions in a large basket,
+placed for the purpose, close to the door of entrance.  Those of
+more importance, and more calculated to do honour to the piety of
+the donors, are carried into the room where the company is
+assembled.  Sugar, coffee, tea, cheese, barrels of flour, pieces
+of Irish linen, sets of china and of glass, were among the
+articles mentioned to me as usually making parts of these
+offerings.  After the party is assembled, and the business of
+giving and receiving is dispatched, tea, coffee, and cakes are
+handed round; but these are not furnished at any expense either
+of trouble or money to the minster, for selected ladies of the
+congregation take the whole arrangement upon themselves.  These
+meetings are called spinning visits.
+
+Another New York custom, which does not seem to have so
+reasonable a cause, is the changing house once a year.  On the
+1st of May the city of New York has the appearance of sending off
+a population flying from the plague, or of a town which had
+surrendered on condition of carrying away all their goods and
+chattels.  Rich furniture and ragged furniture, carts, waggons,
+and drays, ropes, canvas, and straw, packers, porters, and
+draymen, white, yellow, and black, occupy the streets from east
+to west, from north to south, on this day.  Every one I spoke to
+on the subject complained of this custom as most annoying, but
+all assured me it was unavoidable, if you inhabit a rented house.
+More than one of my New York friends have built or bought houses
+solely to avoid this annual inconvenience.
+
+There are a great number of negroes in New York, all free; their
+emancipation having been completed in 1827.  Not even in
+Philadelphia, where the anti-slavery opinions have been the most
+active and violent, do the blacks appear to wear an air of so
+much consequence as they do at New York.  They have several
+chapels, in which negro ministers officiate; and a theatre in
+which none but negroes perform.  At this theatre a gallery is
+appropriated to such whites as choose to visit it; and here only
+are they permitted to sit; following in this, with nice
+etiquette, and equal justice, the arrangement of the white
+theatres, in all of which is a gallery appropriated solely to the
+use of the blacks.  I have often, particularly on a Sunday, met
+groups of negroes, elegantly dressed; and have been sometimes
+amused by observing the very superior air of gallantry assumed by
+the men, when in attendance on their _belles_, to that of the
+whites in similar circumstances.  On one occasion we met in
+Broadway a young negress in the extreme of the fashion, and
+accompanied by a black beau, whose toilet was equally studied;
+eye-glass, guard-chain, nothing was omitted; he walked beside his
+sable goddess uncovered, and with an air of the most tender
+devotion.  At the window of a handsome house which they were
+passing, stood a very pretty white girl, with two gentlemen
+beside her; but alas! both of them had their hats on, and one
+was smoking!
+
+If it were not for the peculiar manner of walking, which
+distinguishes all American women, Broadway might be taken for a
+French street, where it was the fashion for very smart ladies to
+promenade.  The dress is entirely French; not an article (except
+perhaps the cotton stockings) must be English, on pain of being
+stigmatized as out of the fashion.  Every thing English is
+decidedly _mauvais ton_; English materials, English fashions,
+English accent, English manner, are all terms of reproach; and to
+say that an unfortunate looks like an English woman, is the
+cruellest satire which can be uttered.
+
+I remember visiting France almost immediately after we had made
+the most offensive invasion of her territory that can well be
+imagined, yet, despite the feelings which lengthened years of war
+must have engendered, it was the fashion to admire every thing
+English.  I suppose family quarrels are most difficult to adjust;
+for fifteen years of peace have not been enough to calm the angry
+feelings of brother Jonathan towards the land of his fathers,
+
+     "The which he hateth passing well."
+
+It is hardly needful to say the most courteous amenity of manner
+distinguishes the reception given to foreigners by the patrician
+class of Americans.
+
+_Gentlemen_, in the old world sense of the term, are the same
+every where; and an American gentleman and his family know how to
+do the honours of their country to strangers of every nation, as
+well as any people on earth.  But this class, though it decidedly
+exists, is a very small one, and cannot, in justice, be
+represented as affording a specimen of the whole.
+
+
+
+Most of the houses in New York are painted on the outside, but in
+a manner carefully to avoid disfiguring the material which it
+preserves: on the contrary, nothing can be neater.  They are now
+using a great deal of a beautiful stone called Jersey freestone;
+it is of a warm rich brown, and extremely ornamental to the city
+wherever it has been employed.  They have also a grey granite of
+great beauty.  The trottoir paving, in most of the streets, is
+extremely good, being of large flag stones, very superior to the
+bricks of Philadelphia.
+
+At night the shops, which are open till very late, are
+brilliantly illuminated with gas, and all the population seem as
+much alive as in London or Paris.  This makes the solemn
+stillness of the evening hours in Philadelphia still more
+remarkable.
+
+There are a few trees in different parts of the city, and I
+observed young ones planted, and guarded with much care; were
+they more abundant it would be extremely agreeable, for the
+reflected light of their fierce summer sheds intolerable day.
+
+Ice is in profuse abundance; I do not imagine that there is a
+house in the city without the luxury of a piece of ice to cool
+the water, and harden the butter.
+
+The hackney coaches are the best in the world, but abominably
+dear, and it is necessary to be on the _qui vive_ in making your
+bargain with the driver; if you do not, he has the power of
+charging immoderately.  On my first experiment I neglected this,
+and was asked two dollars and a half for an excursion of twenty
+minutes.  When I referred to the waiter of the hotel, he asked if
+I had made a bargain.  "No." "Then I expect" (with the usual look
+of triumph) "that the Yankee has been too smart for you."
+
+The private carriages of New York are infinitely handsomer and
+better appointed than any I saw elsewhere; the want of smart
+liveries destroys much of the gay effect, but, on the whole, a
+New York summer equipage, with the pretty women and beautiful
+children it contains, look extremely well in Broadway, and would
+not be much amiss anywhere.
+
+The luxury of the New York aristocracy is not confined to the
+city; hardly an acre of Manhatten Island but shows some pretty
+villa or stately mansion.  The most chosen of these are on the
+north and east rivers, to whose margins their lawns descend.
+Among these, perhaps, the loveliest is one situated in the
+beautiful village of Bloomingdale; here, within the space of
+sixteen acres, almost every variety of garden scenery may be
+found.  To describe all its diversity of hill and dale, of wood
+and lawn, of rock and river, would be in vain; nor can I convey
+an idea of it by comparison, for I never saw anything like it.
+How far the elegant hospitality which reigns there may influence
+my impression, I know not; but, assuredly, no spot I have ever
+seen dwells more freshly on my memory, nor did I ever find myself
+in a circle more calculated to give delight in meeting, and
+regret at parting, than that of Woodlawn.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 31
+
+Reception of Captain Basil Hall's Book in the United States
+
+
+
+Having now arrived nearly at the end of our travels, I am
+induced, ere I conclude, again to mention what I consider as one
+of the most remarkable traits in the national character of the
+Americans; namely, their exquisite sensitiveness and soreness
+respecting everything said or written concerning them.  Of this,
+perhaps, the most remarkable example I can give, is the effect
+produced on nearly every class of readers by the appearance of
+Captain Basil Hall's "Travels in North America."  In fact, it was
+a sort of moral earthquake, and the vibration it occasioned
+through the nerves of the Republic, from one corner of the Union
+to the other, was by no means over when I left the country in
+July, 1831, a couple of years after the shock.
+
+I was in Cincinnati when these volumes came out, but it was not
+till July, 1830, that I procured a copy of them.  One bookseller
+to whom I applied, told me that he had had a few copies before he
+understood the nature of the work, but that after becoming
+acquainted with it, nothing should induce him to sell another.
+Other persons of his profession must, however, have been less
+scrupulous, for the book was read in city, town, village, and
+hamlet, steam-boat, and stage-coach, and a sort of war-whoop was
+sent forth perfectly unprecedented in my recollection upon any
+occasion whatever.
+
+It was fortunate for me that I did not procure these volumes till
+I had heard them very generally spoken of, for the curiosity I
+felt to know the contents of a work so violently anathematised,
+led me to make enquiries which elicited a great deal of curious
+feeling.
+
+An ardent desire for approbation, and delicate sensitiveness
+under censure, have always, I believe, been considered as amiable
+traits of character; but the condition into which the appearance
+of Capt. Hall's work threw the Republic, shows plainly that
+these feelings, if carried to excess, produce a weakness which
+amounts to imbecility.
+
+It was perfectly astonishing to hear men, who, on other subjects,
+were sane of judgment, utter their opinions upon this.  I never
+heard of any instance in which the common sense generally found
+in national criticism was so overthrown by passion.  I do not
+speak of the want of justice, and of fair and liberal
+interpretation: these, perhaps, were hardly to be expected.
+Other nations have been called thin-skinned, but the citizens of
+the Union have, apparently, no skins at all; they wince if a
+breeze blows over them, unless it be tempered with adulation.  It
+was not, therefore, very surprising that the acute and forcible
+observations of a traveller they knew would be listened to,
+should be received testily.  The extraordinary features of the
+business were, first, the excess of the rage into which they
+lashed themselves; and secondly, the puerility of the inventions
+by which they attempted to account for the severity with which
+they fancied they had been treated.
+
+Not content with declaring that the volumes contained no word of
+truth from beginning to end (which is an assertion I heard made
+very nearly as often as they were mentioned), the whole country
+set to work to discover the causes why Capt. Hall had visited
+the United States, and why he had published his book.
+
+I have heard it said with as much precision and gravity as if the
+statement had been conveyed by an official report, that Capt.
+Hall had been sent out by the British government expressly for
+the purpose of checking the growing admiration of England for the
+government of the United States, that it was by a commission from
+the Treasury he had come, and that it was only in obedience to
+orders that he had found anything to object to.
+
+I do not give this as the gossip of a coterie; I am persuaded
+that it is the belief of a very considerable portion of the
+country.  So deep is the conviction of this singular people that
+they cannot be seen without being admired, that they will not
+admit the possibility that anyone should honestly and sincerely
+find aught to disapprove in them, or their country.
+
+At Philadelphia I met with a little anonymous book, written to
+show that Capt. Basil Hall was in no way to be depended on, for
+that he not only slandered the Americans, but was himself, in
+other respects, a person of very equivocal morals.  One proof of
+this is given by a quotation of the following playful account of
+the distress occasioned by the want of a bell.  The commentator
+calls it an instance of "shocking coarseness."
+
+"One day I was rather late for breakfast, and as there was no
+water in my jug, I set off, post haste, half shaved, half
+dressed, and more than half vexed, in quest of water, like a
+seaman on short allowance, hunting for rivulets on some unknown
+coast.  I went up stairs, and down stairs, and in the course of
+my researches into half a dozen different apartments, might have
+stumbled on some lady's chamber, as the song says, which
+considering the plight I was in, would have been awkward enough."
+
+Another indication of this moral coarseness is pointed out in the
+passage where Capt. Hall says, he never saw a flirtation all the
+time he was in the Union.
+
+The charge of ingratitude also was echoed from mouth to mouth.
+That he should himself bear testimony to the unvarying kindness
+of the reception he met with, and yet find fault with the
+country, was declared on all hands to be a proof of the most
+abominable ingratitude that it ever entered into the heart of man
+to conceive.  I once ventured before about a dozen people to ask
+whether more blame would not attach to an author, if he suffered
+himself to be bribed by individual kindness to falsify facts,
+than if, despite all personal considerations, he stated them
+truly?
+
+"Facts!" cried the whole circle at once, "facts! I tell you there
+is not a word of fact in it from beginning to end."
+
+The American Reviews are, many of them, I believe, well known in
+England; I need not, therefore, quote them here, but I sometimes
+wondered that they, none of them, ever thought of translating
+Obadiah's curse into classic American; if they had done so, only
+placing (he, Basil Hall,) between brackets instead of (he,
+Obadiah,) it would have saved them a world of trouble.
+
+I can hardly describe the curiosity with which I sat down at
+length to pursue these tremendous volumes; still less can I do
+justice to my surprise at their contents.  To say that I found
+not one exaggerated statement throughout the work, is by no means
+saying enough.  It is impossible for any one who knows the
+country not to see that Captain Hall earnestly sought out things
+to admire and commend.  When he praises, it is with evident
+pleasure, and when he finds fault, it is with evident reluctance
+and restraint, excepting where motives purely patriotic urge him
+to state roundly what it is for the benefit of his country should
+be known.
+
+In fact, Captain Hall saw the country to the greatest possible
+advantage.  Furnished, of course, with letters of introduction to
+the most distinguished individuals, and with the still more
+influential recommendation of his own reputation, he was received
+in full drawing-room style and state from one end of the Union to
+the other.  He saw the country in full dress, and had little or
+no opportunity of judging of it unhouselled, disappointed,
+unannealed, with all its imperfections on its head, as I and my
+family too often had.
+
+Captain Hall had certainly excellent opportunities of making
+himself acquainted with the form of the government and the laws;
+and of receiving, moreover, the best oral commentary upon them,
+in conversation with the most distinguished citizens.  Of these
+opportunities he made excellent use; nothing important met his
+eye which did not receive that sort of analytical attention which
+an experienced and philosophical traveller alone can give.  This
+has made his volumes highly interesting and valuable; but I am
+deeply persuaded, that were a man of equal penetration to visit
+the United States with no other means of becoming acquainted with
+the national character than the ordinary working-day intercourse
+of life, he would conceive an infinitely lower idea of the moral
+atmosphere of the country than Captain Hall appears to have done;
+and the internal conviction on my mind is strong, that if Captain
+Hall had not placed a firm restraint on himself, he must have
+given expression to far deeper indignation than any he has
+uttered against many points in the American character, with which
+he shows, from other circumstances, that he was well acquainted.
+His rule appears to have been to state just so much of the truth
+as would leave on the minds of his readers a correct impression,
+at the least cost of pain to the sensitive folks he was writing
+about.  He states his own opinions and feelings, and leaves it to
+be inferred that he has good grounds for adopting them; but he
+spares the Americans the bitterness which a detail of the
+circumstances would have produced.
+
+If any one chooses to say that some wicked antipathy to twelve
+millions of strangers is the origin of my opinion, I must bear
+it; and were the question one of mere idle speculation, I
+certainly would not court the abuse I must meet for stating it.
+But it is not so.  I know that among the best, the most pious,
+the most benevolent of my countrymen, there are hundreds, nay, I
+fear thousands, who conscientiously believe that a greater degree
+of political and religious liberty (such as is possessed in
+America) would be beneficial for us.  How often have I wished,
+during my abode in the United States, that one of these
+conscientious, but mistaken reasoners, fully possessed of his
+country's confidence, could pass a few years in the United
+States, sufficiently among the mass of the citizens to know them,
+and sufficiently at leisure to trace effects to their causes.
+Then might we look for a statement which would teach these
+mistaken philanthropists to tremble at every symptom of
+democratic power among us; a statement which would make even our
+sectarians shudder at the thought of hewing down the Established
+Church, for they would be taught, by fearful example, to know
+that it was the bulwark which protects us from the gloomy horrors
+of fanatic superstition on one side, and the still more dreadful
+inroads of infidelity on the other.  And more than all, such a
+man would see as clear as light, that where every class is
+occupied in getting money, and no class in spending it, there
+will neither be leisure for worshipping the theory of honesty,
+nor motive strong enough to put its restrictive doctrine in
+practice.  Where every man is engaged in driving hard bargains
+with his fellows, where is the honoured class to be found into
+which gentleman-like feelings, principles, and practice, are
+necessary as an introduction?
+
+That there are men of powerful intellect, benevolent hearts, and
+high moral feeling in America, I know: and I could, if challenged
+to do so, name individuals surpassed by none of any country in
+these qualities; but they are excellent, despite their
+institutions, not in consequence of them.  It is not by such that
+Captain Hall's statements are called slanders, nor is it from
+such that I shall meet the abuse which I well know these pages
+will inevitably draw upon me; and I only trust I may be
+able to muster as much self-denial as my predecessor, who asserts
+in his recently published "Fragments," that he has read none of
+the American criticisms on his book.  He did wisely, if he wished
+to retain an atom of his kindly feeling toward America, and he
+has, assuredly, lost but little on the score of information, for
+these criticisms, generally speaking, consist of mere downright
+personal abuse, or querulous complaints of his ingratitude and
+ill usage of them; complaints which it is quite astonishing that
+any persons of spirit could indulge in.
+
+The following good-humoured paragraphs from the Fragments, must,
+I think, rather puzzle the Americans.  Possibly they may think
+that Captain Hall is quizzing them, when he says he has read none
+of their criticisms; but I think there is in these passages
+internal evidence that he has not seen them.  For if he had read
+one-fiftieth part of the vituperation of his Travels, which it
+has been my misfortune to peruse, he could hardly have brought
+himself to write what follows.
+
+If the Americans still refuse to shake the hand proffered to them
+in the true old John Bull spirit, they are worse folks than even
+I take them for.
+
+Captain Hall, after describing the hospitable reception he
+formerly met with, at a boarding-house in New York, goes on
+thus:--"If our hostess be still alive, I hope she will not repent
+of having bestowed her obliging attentions on one, who so many
+years afterwards made himself, he fears, less popular in her
+land, than he could wish to be amongst a people to whom he owes
+so much, and for whom he really feels so much kindness.  He still
+anxiously hopes, however, they will believe him, when he
+declares, that, having said in his recent publication no more
+than what he conceived was due to strict truth, and to the
+integrity of history, as far as his observations and opinions
+went, he still feels, as he always has, and ever must continue to
+feel towards America, the heartiest good-will.
+
+"The Americans are perpetually repeating that the
+foundation-stone of their liberty is fixed on the doctrine, that
+every man is free to form his own opinions, and to promulgate
+them in candour and in moderation.  Is it meant that a foreigner
+is excluded from these privileges?  If not, may I ask, in what
+respect have I passed these limitations?  The Americans have
+surely no fair right to be offended because my views differ from
+their's; and yet I am told I have been rudely handled by the
+press of that country.  If my motives are distrusted, I can only
+say, I am sorely belied.  If I am mistaken, regret at my
+political blindness were surely more dignified than anger on the
+part of those with whom I differ; and if it shall chance that I
+am in the right, the best confirmation of the correctness of my
+views, in the opinion of indifferent persons, will perhaps be
+found in the soreness of those, who wince when the truth is
+spoken.
+
+"Yet, after all, few things would give me more real pleasure,
+than to know that my friends across the water would consent to
+take me at my word; and, considering what I have said about them
+as so much public matter, which it truly is, agree to reckon me,
+in my absence, and they always did, when I was amongst them, and,
+I am sure, they would count me, if I went back again, as a
+private friend.  I differed with them in politics, and I differ
+with them now as much as ever; but I sincerely wish them
+happiness individually; and, as a nation, I shall rejoice if they
+prosper.  As the Persians write, "What can I say more?"  And I
+only hope these few words may help to make my peace with people
+who justly pride themselves on bearing no malice.  As for myself,
+I have no peace to make; for I have studiously avoided reading
+any of the American criticisms on my book, in order that the
+kindly feelings I have ever entertained towards that country
+should not be ruffled.  By this abstinence I may have lost some
+information, and perhaps missed many opportunities of correcting
+erroneous impressions.  But I set so much store by the pleasing
+recollection of the journey itself, and of the hospitality with
+which my family were every where received, that whether it be
+right, or whether it be wrong, I cannot bring myself to read
+anything which might disturb these agreeable associations.
+So let us part in peace; or, rather, let us meet again in
+cordial communication; and if this little work shall find its
+way across the Atlantic, I hope it will be read there without
+reference to anything that has passed between us; or, at all
+events, with reference only to those parts of our former
+intercourse, which are satisfactory to all parties."--_Hall's
+Fragments_, Vol.1.p.200.
+
+I really think it is impossible to read, not only this passage,
+but many others in these delightful little volumes, without
+feeling that their author is as little likely to deserve the
+imputation of harshness and ill-will, as any man that ever lived.
+
+In reading Capt. Hall's volumes on America, the observation
+which, I think, struck me the most forcibly, and which certainly
+came the most completely home to my own feelings, was the
+following.
+
+"In all my travels both amongst Heathens, and amongst Christians,
+I have never encountered any people by whom I found it nearly so
+difficult to make myself understood as by the Americans."
+
+I have conversed in London and in Paris with foreigners of many
+nations, and often through the misty medium of an idiom
+imperfectly understood, but I remember no instance in which I
+found the same difficulty in conveying my sentiments, my
+impressions, and my opinions to those around me, as I did in
+America.  Whatever faith may be given to my assertion, no one who
+has not visited the country can possibly conceive to what extent
+it is true.  It is less necessary, I imagine, for the mutual
+understanding of persons conversing together, that the language
+should be the same, than that their ordinary mode of thinking,
+and habits of life should, in some degree, assimilate; whereas,
+in point of fact, there is hardly a single point of sympathy
+between the Americans and us; but whatever the cause, the fact is
+certainly as I have stated it, and herein, I think, rests the
+only apology for the preposterous and undignified anger felt and
+expressed against Capt. Hall's work.  They really cannot, even
+if they wished it, enter into any of his views, or comprehend his
+most ordinary feelings; and, therefore, they cannot believe in
+the sincerity of the impressions he describes.  The candour which
+he expresses, and evidently feels, they mistake for irony, or
+totally distrust; his unwillingness to give pain to persons from
+whom he has received kindness, they scornfully reject as
+affectation; and, although they must know right well, in their
+own secret hearts, how infinitely more they lay at his mercy than
+he has chosen to betray, they pretend, even to themselves, that
+he has exaggerated the bad points of their character and
+institutions; whereas, the truth is, that he has let them off
+with a degree of tenderness which may be quite suitable for him
+to exercise, however little merited; while, at the same time, he
+has most industriously magnified their merits, whenever he could
+possibly find anything favourable.  One can perfectly well
+understand why Capt. Hall's avowed Tory principles should be
+disapproved of in the United States, especially as (with a
+questionable policy in a bookselling point of view, in these
+reforming times,) he volunteers a profession of political faith,
+in which, to use the Kentucky phrase, "he goes the whole hog,"
+and bluntly avows, in his concluding chapter, that he not only
+holds stoutly to Church and State, but that he conceives the
+English House of Commons to be, if not quite perfect, at least as
+much so for all the required purposes of representation as it can
+by possibility be made in practice.  Such a downright
+thorough-going Tory and Anti-reformer, pretending to judge of the
+workings of the American democratical system, was naturally held
+to be a monstrous abomination, and it has been visited
+accordingly, both in America, and as I understand, with us also.
+The experience which Capt. Hall has acquired in visits to every
+part of the world, during twenty or thirty years, goes for
+nothing with the Radicals on either side the Atlantic: on the
+contrary, precisely in proportion to the value of that authority
+which is the result of actual observation, are they irritated to
+find its weight cast into the opposite scale.  Had not Capt.
+Hall been converted by what he saw in North America, from the
+Whig faith he exhibited in his description of South America, his
+book would have been far more popular in England during the last
+two years of public excitement; it may, perhaps, be long before
+any justice is done to Capt. Hall's book in the United States,
+but a less time will probably suffice to establish its claim to
+attention at home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 32
+
+Journey to Niagara--Hudson--West Point--Hyde Park--
+Albany--Yankees--Trenton Falls--Rochester--
+Genesee Falls--Lockport
+
+
+
+How quickly weeks glide away in such a city as New York,
+especially when you reckon among your friends some of the most
+agreeable people in either hemisphere.  But we had still a long
+journey before us, and one of the wonders of the world was to be
+seen.
+
+On the 30th of May we set off for Niagara.  I had heard so much
+of the surpassing beauty of the North River, that I expected to
+be disappointed, and to find reality flat after description.  But
+it is not in the power of man to paint with a strength exceeding
+that of nature, in such scenes as the Hudson presents.  Every
+mile shows some new and startling effect of the combination of
+rocks, trees, and water; there is no interval of flat or insipid
+scenery, from the moment you enter upon the river at New York, to
+that of quitting it at Albany, a distance of 180 miles.
+
+For the first twenty miles the shore of New Jersey, on the left,
+offers almost a continued wall of trap rock, which from its
+perpendicular form, and lineal fissures, is called the Palisados.
+This wall sometimes rises to the height of a hundred and fifty
+feet, and sometimes sinks down to twenty.  Here and there, a
+watercourse breaks its uniformity; and every where the brightest
+foliage, in all the splendour of the climate and the season,
+fringed and chequered the dark barrier.  On the opposite shore,
+Manhatten Island, with its leafy coronet gemmed with villas,
+forms a lovely contrast to these rocky heights.
+
+After passing Manhatten Island, the eastern shore gradually
+assumes a wild and rocky character, but ever varying; woods,
+lawns, pastures, and towering cliffs all meet the eye in quick
+succession, as the giant steam-boat cleaves its swift passage up
+the stream.
+
+For several miles the voyage is one of great interest independent
+of its beauty, for it passes many points where important events
+of the revolutionary war took place.
+
+It was not without a pang that I looked on the spot where poor
+Andre was taken, and another where he was executed.
+
+Several forts, generally placed in most commanding situations,
+still show by their battered ruins, where the struggle was
+strongest, and I felt no lack of that moral interest so entirely
+wanting in the new States, and without which no journey can, I
+think, continue long without wearying the spirits.
+
+About forty miles from New York you enter upon the Highlands, as
+a series of mountains which then flank the river on both sides,
+are called.  The beauty of this scenery can only be conceived
+when it is seen.  One might fancy that these capricious masses,
+with all their countless varieties of light and shade, were
+thrown together to show how passing lovely rocks and woods, and
+water could be.  Sometimes a lofty peak shoots suddenly up into
+the heavens, showing in bold relief against the sky; and then a
+deep ravine sinks in solemn shadow, and draws the imagination
+into its leafy recesses.  For several miles the river appears to
+form a succession of lakes; you are often enclosed on all sides
+by rocks rising directly from the very edge of the stream, and
+then you turn a point, the river widens, and again woods, lawns,
+and villages are reflected on its bosom.
+
+The state prison of Sing Sing is upon the edge of the water, and
+has no picturesque effect to atone for the painful images it
+suggests; the "Sleepy Hollow" of Washington Irving, just above
+it, restores the imagination to a better tone.
+
+West Point, the military academy of the United States, is fifty
+miles from New York.  The scenery around it is magnificent, and
+though the buildings of the establishment are constructed with
+the handsome and unpicturesque regularity which marks the work of
+governments, they are so nobly placed, and so embosomed in woods,
+that they look beautiful.  The lengthened notes of a French horn,
+which I presume was attending some of their military manoeuvres,
+sounded with deep and solemn sweetness as we passed.
+
+About thirty miles further is Hyde Park, the magnificent seat of
+Dr. Hosack; here the misty summit of the distant Kaatskill begins
+to form the outline of the landscape; it is hardly possible to
+imagine anything more beautiful than this place.  We passed a day
+there with great enjoyment; and the following morning set forward
+again in one of those grand floating hotels called steamboats.
+Either on this day, or the one before, we had two hundred cabin
+passengers on board, and they all sat down together to a table
+spread abundantly, and with considerable elegance.  A continual
+succession of gentlemen's seats, many of them extremely handsome,
+borders the river to Albany.  We arrived there late in the
+evening, but had no difficulty in finding excellent
+accommodation.
+
+Albany is the state capital of New York, and has some very
+handsome public buildings; there are also some curious relics of
+the old Dutch inhabitants.
+
+The first sixteen miles from Albany we travelled in a stage, to
+avoid a multitude of locks at the entrance of the Erie canal; but
+at Scenectedy we got on board one of the canal packet-boats for
+Utica.
+
+With a very delightful party, of one's own choosing, fine
+temperate weather, and a strong breeze to chase the mosquitos,
+this mode of travelling might be very agreeable, but I can hardly
+imagine any motive of convenience powerful enough to induce me
+again to imprison myself in a canal boat under ordinary
+circumstances.  The accommodations being greatly restricted,
+every body, from the moment of entering the boat, acts upon a
+system of unshrinking egotism.  The library of a dozen books, the
+backgammon board, the tiny berths, the shady side of the cabin,
+are all jostled for in a manner to make one greatly envy the
+power of the snail; at the moment I would willingly have given up
+some of my human dignity for the privilege of creeping into a
+shell of my own.  To any one who has been accustomed in
+travelling, to be addressed with, "Do sit here, you will find it
+more comfortable," the "You must go there, I made for this place
+first," sounds very unmusical.
+
+There is a great quietness about the women of America (I speak of
+the exterior manner of persons casually met), but somehow or
+other, I should never call it gentleness.  In such trying moments
+as that of _fixing_ themselves on board a packet-boat, the men
+are prompt, determined, and will compromise any body's
+convenience, except their own.  The women are doggedly stedfast
+in their will, and till matters are settled, look like hedgehogs,
+with every quill raised, and firmly set, as if to forbid the
+approach of any one who might wish to rub them down.  In
+circumstances where an English woman would look proud, and a
+French woman _nonchalante_, an American lady looks grim; even the
+youngest and the prettiest can set their lips, and knit their
+brows, and look as hard and unsocial as their grandmothers.
+
+Though not in the Yankee or New England country, we were
+bordering upon it sufficiently to meet in the stages and boats
+many delightful specimens of this most peculiar race.  I like
+them extremely well, but I would not wish to have any business
+transactions with them, if I could avoid it, lest, to use their
+own phrase, "they should be too smart for me."
+
+It is by no means rare to meet elsewhere, in this working-day
+world of our's, people who push acuteness to the verge of
+honesty, and sometimes, perhaps, a little bit beyond; but, I
+believe, the Yankee is the only one who will be found to boast
+of doing so.  It is by no means easy to give a clear and just
+idea of a Yankee; if you hear his character from a Virginian,
+you will believe him a devil: if you listen to it from himself,
+you might fancy him a god--though a tricky one; Mercury turned
+righteous and notable.  Matthews did very well, as far as "I
+expect," "I calculate," and "I guess;" but this is only the
+shell; there is an immense deal within, both of sweet and bitter.
+In acuteness, cautiousness, industry, and perseverance, he
+resembles the Scotch; in habits of frugal neatness, he resembles
+the Dutch; in love of lucre he doth greatly resemble the sons of
+Abraham; but in frank admission, and superlative admiration of
+all his own peculiarities, he is like nothing on earth but
+himself.
+
+The Quakers have been celebrated for the pertinacity with which
+they avoid giving a direct answer, but what Quaker could ever vie
+with a Yankee in this sort of fencing?  Nothing, in fact, can
+equal their skill in evading a question, excepting that with
+which they set about asking one.  I am afraid that in repeating a
+conversation which I overheard on board the Erie canal boat, I
+shall spoil it, by forgetting some of the little delicate
+doublings which delighted me--yet I wrote it down immediately.
+Both parties were Yankees, but strangers to each other; one of
+them having, by gentle degrees, made himself pretty well
+acquaninted with the point from which every one on board had
+started, and that for which he was bound, at last attacked his
+brother Reynard thus:-
+
+"Well, now, which way may you be travelling?"
+
+"I expect this canal runs pretty nearly west."
+
+"Are you going far with it?"
+
+"Well, now, I don't rightly know how many miles it may be."
+
+"I expect you'll be from New York?"
+
+"Sure enough I have been at New York, often and often."
+
+"I calculate, then, 'tis not there as you stop?"
+
+"Business must be minded, in stopping and in stirring."
+
+"You may say that.  Well, I look then you'll be making for the
+Springs?"
+
+"Folks say as all the world is making for the Springs, and I
+except a good sight of them is."
+
+"Do you calculate upon stopping long when you get to your
+journey's end?"
+
+"'Tis my business must settle that, I expect?"
+
+"I guess that's true, too; but you'll be for making pleasure a
+business for once, I calculate?"
+
+"My business don't often lie in that line."
+
+"Then, may be, it is not the Springs as takes you this line?"
+
+"The Springs is a right elegant place, I reckon."
+
+"It is your health, I calculate, as makes you break your good
+rules?"
+
+"My health don't trouble me much, I guess."
+
+"No?  Why that's well.  How is the markets, sir?  Are bread
+stuffs up?"
+
+"I a'nt just capable to say."
+
+"A deal of money's made by just looking after the article at the
+fountain's head."
+
+"You may say that."
+
+"Do you look to be making great dealings in produce up the
+country?"
+
+"Why that, I expect, is difficult to know."
+
+"I calculate you'll find the markets changeable these times?"
+
+"No markets ben't very often without changing."
+
+"Why, that's right down true.  What may be your biggest article
+of produce?"
+
+"I calculate, generally, that's the biggest, as I makes most by."
+
+"You may say that.  But what do you chiefly call your most
+particular branch?"
+
+"Why, that's what I can't justly say."
+
+And so they went on, without advancing or giving an inch, 'till I
+was weary of listening; but I left them still at it, when I
+stepped out to resume my station on a trunk at the bow of the
+boat, where I scribbled in my note-book this specimen of Yankee
+conversation.
+
+
+
+The Erie canal has cut through much solid rock, and we often
+passed between magnificent cliffs.  The little falls of the
+Mohawk form a lovely scene; the rocks over which the river runs
+are most fantastic in form.  The fall continues nearly a mile,
+and a beautiful village, called the Little Falls, overhangs it.
+As many locks occur at this point, we quitted the boat, that we
+might the better enjoy the scenery, which is of the widest
+description.  Several other passengers did so likewise, and I was
+much amused by one of our Yankees, who very civilly accompanied
+our party, pointing out to me the wild state of the country, and
+apologizing for it, by saying, that the property all round
+thereabouts had been owned by an Englishman; "and you'll excuse
+me, ma'am, but when the English gets a spot of wild ground like
+this here, they have no notions about it like us; but the
+Englishman have sold it, and if you was to see it five years
+hence, you would not know it again; I'll engage there will be by
+that, half a score elegant factories--'tis a true shame to let
+such a privilege of water lie idle."
+
+We reached Utica at twelve o'clock the following day, pretty
+well fagged by the sun by day, and a crowded cabin by night;
+lemon-juice and iced-water (without sugar) kept us alive.  But
+for this delightful recipe, feather fans, and eau de Cologne, I
+think we should have failed altogether; the thermometer stood at
+90 degrees.
+
+At two, we set off in a very pleasant airy carriage for Trenton
+Falls, a delightful drive of fourteen miles.  These falls have
+become within the last few years only second in fame to Niagara.
+The West Canada Creek, which in the map shows but as a paltry
+stream, has found its way through three miles of rock, which, at
+many points, is 150 feet high.  A forest of enormous cedars is on
+their summit; and many of that beautiful species of white cedar
+which droops its branches like the weeping-willow grow in the
+clefts of the rock, and in some places almost dip their dark
+foliage in the torrent.  The rock is of a dark grey limestone,
+and often presents a wall of unbroken surface.  Near the hotel a
+flight of very alarming steps leads down to the bed of the
+stream, and on reaching it you find yourself enclosed in a deep
+abyss of solid rock, with no visible opening but that above your
+head.  The torrent dashes by with inconceivable rapidity; its
+colour is black as night, and the dark ledge of rock on which you
+stand, is so treacherously level with it, that nothing warns you
+of danger.  Within the last three years two young people, though
+surrounded by their friends, have stepped an inch too far, and
+disappeared from among them, as if by magic, never to revisit
+earth again.  This broad flat ledge reached but a short distance,
+and then the perpendicular wall appears to stop your farther
+progress; but there is a spirit of defiance in the mind of man;
+he will not be stayed either by rocks or waves.  By the aid of
+gunpowder a sufficient quantity of the rock has been removed to
+afford a fearful footing round a point, which, when doubled,
+discloses a world of cataracts, all leaping forward together in
+most magnificent confusion.  I suffered considerably before I
+reached the spot where this grand scene is visible; a chain
+firmly fastened to the rock serves to hang by, as you creep along
+the giddy verge, and this enabled me to proceed so far; but here
+the chain failed, and my courage with it, though the rest of the
+party continued for some way farther, and reported largely of
+still increasing sublimity.  But my knees tottered, and my head
+swam, so while the rest crept onward, I sat down to wait their
+return on the floor of rock which had received us on quitting
+the steps.
+
+A hundred and fifty feet of bare black rock on one side, an equal
+height covered with solemn cedars on the other, an unfathomed
+torrent roaring between them, the fresh remembrance of the
+ghastly legend belonging to the spot, and the idea of my children
+clinging to the dizzy path I had left, was altogether sombre
+enough; but I had not sat long before a tremendous burst of
+thunder shook the air; the deep chasm answered from either side,
+again, again, and again; I thought the rock I sat upon trembled:
+but the whole effect was so exceedingly grand, that I had no
+longer leisure to think of fear; my children immediately
+returned, and we enjoyed together the darkening shadows cast over
+the abyss, the rival clamour of the torrent and the storm, and
+that delightful exaltation of the spirits which sets danger at
+defiance.  A few heavy rain drops alarmed us more than all the
+terrors of the spot, or rather, they recalled our senses, and we
+retreated by the fearful steps, reaching our hotel unwetted and
+unharmed.  The next morning we were again early a foot; the last
+night's storm had refreshed the air, and renewed our strength.
+We now took a different route, and instead of descending, as
+before, walked through the dark forest along the cliff,
+sufficiently near its edge to catch fearful glimpses of the scene
+below.  After some time the patch began to descend, and at length
+brought us to the Shantee, commemorated in Miss Sedgwick's
+Clarence.  This is by far the finest point of the falls.  There
+is a little balcony in front of the Shantee, literally hanging
+over the tremendous whirlpool; though frail, it makes one fancy
+oneself in safety, and reminded me of the feeling with which I
+have stood on one side a high gate, watching a roaring bull on
+the other.  The walls of this Shantee are literally covered with
+autographs, and I was inclined to join the laugh against the
+egotistical trifling, when one of the party discovered "Trollope,
+England," amidst the innumerable scrawls.  The well known
+characters were hailed with such delight, that I think I shall
+never again laugh at any one for leaving their name where it is
+possible a friend may find it.
+
+We returned to Utica to dinner, and found that we must either
+wait till the next day for the Rochester coach, or again submit
+to the packet-boat.  Our impatience induced us to prefer the
+latter, not very wisely, I think, for every annoyance seemed to
+increase upon us.  The Oneida and the Genesee country are both
+extremely beautiful, but had we not returned by another route we
+should have known little about it.  From the canal nothing is
+seen to advantage, and very little is seen at all.  My chief
+amusement, I think, was derived from names.  One town, consisting
+of a whiskey store and a warehouse, is called Port Byron.  At
+Rome, the first name I saw over a store was Remus, doing infinite
+honour, I thought, to the classic lore of his godfathers and
+godmothers; but it would be endless to record all the drolleries
+of this kind which we met with.  We arrived at Rochester, a
+distance of a hundred and forty miles, on the second morning
+after leaving Utica, fully determined never to enter a canal boat
+again, at least, not in America.
+
+Rochester is one of the most famous of the cities built on the
+Jack and Bean-stalk principle.  There are many splendid edifices
+in wood; and certainly more houses, warehouses, factories, and
+steam-engines than ever were collected together in the same space
+of time; but I was told by a fellow-traveller that the stumps of
+the forest are still to be found firmly rooted in the cellars.
+
+The fall of the Genesee is close to the town, and in the course
+of a few months will, perhaps, be in the middle of it.  It is a
+noble sheet of water, of a hundred and sixty feet perpendicular
+fall; but I looked at it through the window of a factory, and as
+I did not like that, I was obligingly handed to the door-way of a
+sawing-mill; in short, "the great water privilege" has been so
+ingeniously taken advantage of, that no point can be found where
+its voice and its movement are not mixed and confounded with
+those of the "admirable machinery of this flourishing city."
+
+The Genesee fall is renowned as being the last and fatal leap of
+the adventurous madman, Sam Patch; he had leaped it once before,
+and rose to the surface of the river in perfect safety, but the
+last time he was seen to falter as he took the leap, and was
+never heard of more.  It seems that he had some misgivings of his
+fate, for a pet bear, which he had always taken with him on his
+former break-neck adventures, and which had constantly leaped
+after him without injury, he on this occasion left behind, in the
+care of a friend, to whom he bequeathed him "in case of his not
+returning." We saw the bear, which is kept at the principal
+hotel; he is a noble creature, and more completely tame than I
+ever saw any animal of the species.
+
+Our journey now became wilder every step, the unbroken forest
+often skirted the road for miles, and the sight of a log-hut was
+an event.  Yet the road was, for the greater part of the day,
+good, running along a natural ridge, just wide enough for it.
+This ridge is a very singular elevation, and, by all the enquiry
+I could make, the favourite theory concerning it is, that it was
+formerly the boundary of Lake Ontario, near which it passes.
+When this ridge ceased, the road ceased too, and for the rest of
+the way to Lockport, we were most painfully jumbled and jolted
+over logs and through bogs, till every joint was nearly
+dislocated.
+
+Lockport is beyond all comparison, the strangest looking place I
+ever beheld.  As fast as half a dozen trees were cut down, a
+_factory_ was raised up; stumps still contest the ground with
+pillars, and porticos are seen to struggle with rocks.  It looks
+as if the demon of machinery, having invaded the peaceful realms
+of nature, had fixed on Lockport as the battle-ground on which
+they should strive for mastery.  The fiend insists that the
+streams should go one way, though the gentle mother had ever led
+their dancing steps another; nay, the very rocks must fall before
+him, and take what form he wills.  The battle is lost and won.
+Nature is fairly routed and driven from the field, and the
+rattling, crackling, hissing, spitting demon has taken possession
+of Lockport for ever.
+
+We slept there, dismally enough.  I never felt more out of humour
+at what the Americans call improvement; it is, in truth, as it
+now stands, a most hideous place, and gladly did I leave it
+behind me.
+
+Our next stage was to Lewiston; for some miles before we reached
+it we were within sight of the British frontier; and we made our
+salaams.
+
+The monument of the brave General Brock stands on an elevated
+point near Queenstown, and is visible at a great distance.
+
+We breakfasted at Lewiston, but felt every cup of coffee as a
+sin, so impatient were we, as we approached the end of our long
+pilgrimage, to reach the shrine, which nature seems to have
+placed at such a distance from her worshippers on purpose to try
+the strength of their devotion.
+
+A few miles more would bring us to the high altar, but first we
+had to cross the ferry, for we were determined upon taking our
+first view from British ground.  The Niagara river is very lovely
+here; the banks are bold, rugged, and richly coloured, both by
+rocks and woods; and the stream itself is bright, clear, and
+unspeakably green.
+
+In crossing the ferry a fellow-passenger made many enquiries of
+the young boatman respecting the battle of Queenstown; he was but
+a lad, and could remember little about it, but he was a British
+lad, and his answers smacked strongly of his loyal British
+feeling.  Among other things, the questioner asked if many
+American citizens had not been thrown from the heights into the
+river.
+
+"Why, yes, there was a good many of them; but it was right to
+show them there was water between us, and you know it might help
+to keep the rest of them from coming to trouble us on our own
+ground."
+
+This phrase, "our own ground," gave interest to every mile, or I
+believe I should have shut my eyes, and tried to sleep, that I
+might annihilate what remained of time and space between me and
+Niagara.
+
+But I was delighted to see British oaks, and British roofs, and
+British boys and girls.  These latter, as if to impress upon us
+that they were not citizens, made bows and courtseys as we
+passed, and this little touch of long unknown civility produced
+great effect.  "See these dear children, mamma! do they not look
+English? how I love them!" was the exclamation it produced.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 33
+
+Niagara--Arrival at Forsythes--First sight of the Falls--
+Goat Island--The Rapids--Buffalo--Lake Erie--Canandaigna--
+Stage-coach adventures
+
+
+
+At length we reached Niagara.  It was the brightest day that June
+could give; and almost any day would have seemed bright that
+brought me to the object, which for years, I had languished to
+look upon.
+
+We did not hear the sound of the Falls till very near the hotel,
+which overhangs them; as you enter the door you see behind the
+hall an open space surrounded by galleries, one above another,
+and in an instant you feel that from thence the wonder is
+visible.
+
+I trembled like a fool, and my girls clung to me, trembling too,
+I believe, but with faces beaming with delight.  We encountered a
+waiter who had a sympathy of some sort with us, for he would not
+let us run through the hall to the first gallery, but ushered us
+up stairs, and another instant placed us where, at one glance, I
+saw all I had wished for, hoped for, dreamed of.
+
+It is not for me to attempt a description of Niagara; I feel I
+have no powers for it.
+
+After one long, stedfast gaze, we quitted the gallery that we
+might approach still nearer, and in leaving the house had the
+good fortune to meet an English gentleman, (The accomplished
+author of "Cyril Thornton.") who had been introduced to us at New
+York; he had preceded us by a few days, and knew exactly how and
+where to lead us.  If any man living can describe the scene we
+looked upon it is himself, and I trust he will do it.  As for
+myself, I can only say, that wonder, terror, and delight
+completely overwhelmed me.  I wept with a strange mixture of
+pleasure and of pain, and certainly was, for some time, too
+violently affected in the _physique_ to be capable of much
+pleasure; but when this emotion of the senses subsided, and I had
+recovered some degree of composure, my enjoyment was very great
+indeed.
+
+To say that I was not disappointed is but a weak expression to
+convey the surprise and astonishment which this long dreamed of
+scene produced.  It has to me something beyond its vastness;
+there is a shadowy mystery hangs about it which neither the eye
+nor even the imagination can penetrate; but I dare not dwell on
+this, it is a dangerous subject, and any attempt to describe the
+sensations produced must lead direct to nonsense.
+
+Exactly at the Fall, it is the Fall and nothing else you have to
+look upon; there are not, as at Trenton, mighty rocks and
+towering forests, there is only the waterfall; but it is the fall
+of an ocean, and were Pelion piled on Ossa on either side of it,
+we could not look at them.
+
+The noise is greatly less than I expected; one can hear with
+perfect distinctness everything said in an ordinary tone, when
+quite close to the cataract.  The cause of this, I imagine to be,
+that it does not fall immediately among rocks, like the far
+noisier Potomac, but direct and unbroken, save by its own
+rebound.  The colour of the water, before this rebound hides it
+in foam and mist, is of the brightest and most delicate green;
+the violence of the impulse sends it far over the precipice
+before it falls, and the effect of the ever varying light through
+its transparency is, I think, the loveliest thing I ever looked
+upon.
+
+We descended to the edge of the gulf which received the torrent,
+and thence looked at the horse-shoe fall in profile; it seems
+like awful daring to stand close beside it, and raise one's eyes
+to its immensity.  I think the point the most utterly
+inconceivable to those who have not seen it, is the centre of the
+horse-shoe.  The force of the torrent converges there, and as the
+heavy mass pours in, twisted, wreathed, and curled together, it
+gives an idea of irresistible power, such as no other object ever
+conveyed to me.
+
+The following anecdote, which I had from good authority, may give
+some notion of this mighty power.
+
+After the last American war, three of our ships stationed on Lake
+Erie were declared unfit for service, and condemned.  Some of
+their officers obtained permission to send them over Niagara
+Falls.  The first was torn to shivers by the rapids, and went
+over in fragments; the second filled with water before she
+reached the fall; but the third, which was in better condition,
+took the leap gallantly, and retained her form till it was hid in
+the cloud of mist below.  A reward of ten dollars was offered for
+the largest fragment of wood that should be found from either
+wreck, five for the second, and so on.  One morsel only was ever
+seen, and that about a foot in length, was mashed as by a vice,
+and its edges notched like the teeth of a saw.  What had become
+of the immense quantity of wood which had been precipitated? What
+unknown whirlpool had engulphed it, so that, contrary to the very
+laws of nature, no vestige of the floating material could find
+its way to the surface?
+
+Beyond the horse-shoe is Goat Island, and beyond Goat Island the
+American fall, bold, straight, and chafed to snowy whiteness by
+the rocks which meet it; but it does not approach, in sublimity
+or awful beauty, to the wondrous crescent on the other shore.
+There, the form of the mighty cauldron, into which the deluge
+poors, the hundred silvery torrents congregating round its verge,
+the smooth and solemn movement with which it rolls its massive
+volume over the rock, the liquid emerald of its long unbroken
+waters, the fantastic wreaths which spring to meet it, and then,
+the shadowy mist that veils the horrors of its crash below,
+constitute a scene almost too enormous in its features for man to
+look upon.  "Angels might tremble as they gazed;" and I should
+deem the nerves obtuse, rather than strong, which did not quail
+at the first sight of this stupendous cataract.
+
+Minute local particulars can be of no interest to those who have
+not felt their influence for pleasure or for pain.  I will not
+tell of giddy stairs which scale the very edge of the torrent,
+nor of beetling slabs of table rock, broken and breaking, on
+which, shudder as you may, you must take your stand or lose your
+reputation as a tourist.  All these feats were performed again
+and again even on the first day of our arrival, and most earthly
+weary was I when the day was done, though I would not lose the
+remembrance of it to purchase the addition of many soft and
+silken ones to my existence.
+
+By four o'clock the next morning I was again at the little
+shantee, close to the horse-shoe fall, which seems reared in
+water rather than in air, and took an early shower-bath of spray.
+Much is concealed at this early hour by the heavy vapour, but
+there was a charm in the very obscurity; and every moment, as the
+light increased, cloud after cloud rolled off, till the vast
+wonder was again before me.
+
+It is in the afternoon that the rainbow is visible from the
+British side; and it is a lovely feature in the mighty landscape.
+The gay arch springs from fall to fall, a fairy bridge.
+
+After breakfast we crossed to the American side, and explored
+Goat Island.  The passage across the Niagara, directly in face of
+the falls, is one of the most delightful little voyages
+imaginable; the boat crosses marvellously near them, and within
+reach of a light shower of spray.  Real safety and apparent
+danger have each their share in the pleasure felt.  The river is
+here two hundred feet deep.  The passage up the rock brings you
+close upon the American cataract; it is a vast sheet, and has all
+the sublimity that height and width, and uproar can give; but it
+has none of the magic of its rival about it.  Goat Island has, at
+all points, a fine view of the rapids; the furious velocity with
+which they rush onward to the abyss is terrific; and the throwing
+a bridge across them was a work of noble daring.
+
+Below the falls, the river runs between lofty rocks, crowned with
+unbroken forests; this scene forms a striking contrast to the
+level shores above the cataract.  It appears as if the level of
+the river had been broken up by some volcanic force.  The Niagara
+flows out of Lake Erie, a broad, deep river; but for several
+miles its course is tranquil, and its shores perfectly level.  By
+degrees its bed begins to sink, and the glassy smoothness is
+disturbed by a slight ripple.  The inverted trees, that before
+lay so softly still upon its bosom, become twisted and tortured
+till they lose their form, and seem madly to mix in the tumult
+that destroys them.  The current becomes more rapid at every
+step, till rock after rock has chafed the stream to fury, making
+the green one white.  This lasts for a mile, and then down sink
+the rocks at once, one hundred and fifty feet, and the enormous
+flood falls after them.  God said, let there be a cataract, and
+it was so.  When the river has reached its new level, the
+precipice on either side shows a terrific chasm of solid rock;
+some beautiful plants are clinging to its sides, and oak, ash,
+and cedar, in many places, clothe their terrors with rich
+foliage.
+
+This violent transition from level shores to a deep ravine, seems
+to indicate some great convulsion as its cause, and when I heard
+of a burning spring close by, I fancied the volcanic power still
+at work, and that the wonders of the region might yet increase.
+
+We passed four delightful days of excitement and fatigue; we
+drenched ourselves in spray; we cut our feet on the rocks; we
+blistered our faces in the sun; we looked up the cataract, and
+down the cataract; we perched ourselves on every pinnacle we
+could find; we dipped our fingers in the flood at a few yards'
+distance from its thundering fall; in short, we strove to fill as
+many niches of memory with Niagara as possible; and I think the
+images will be within the power of recall for ever.
+
+We met many groups of tourists in our walks, chiefly American,
+but they were, or we fancied they were, but little observant of
+the wonders around them.
+
+One day we were seated on a point of the cliff, near the ferry,
+which commands a view of both the Falls.  This, by the way, is
+considered as the finest general view of the scene.  One of our
+party was employed in attempting to sketch, what, however, I
+believe it is impossible for any pencil to convey an idea of to
+those who have not seen it.  We had borrowed two or three chairs
+from a neighbouring cottage, and amongst us had gathered a
+quantity of boughs which, with the aid of shawls and parasols, we
+had contrived to weave into a shelter from the midday sun, so
+that altogether I have no doubt we looked very cool and
+comfortable.
+
+A large party who had crossed from the American side, wound up
+the steep ascent from the place where the boat had left them; in
+doing so their backs were turned to the cataracts, and as they
+approached the summit, our party was the principal object before
+them.  They all stood perfectly still to look at us.  This first
+examination was performed at the distance of about a dozen yard
+from the spot we occupied, and lasted about five minutes, by
+which time they had recovered breath, and acquired courage.  They
+then advanced in a body, and one or two of them began to examine
+(wrong side upwards) the work of the sketcher, in doing which
+they stood precisely between him and his object; but of this I
+think it is very probable they were not aware.  Some among them
+next began to question us as to how long we had been at the
+Falls; whether there were much company; if we were not from the
+old country, and the like.  In return we learnt that they were
+just arrived; yet not one of them (there were eight) ever turned
+the head, even for a moment, to look at the most stupendous
+spectacle that nature has to show.
+
+The company at the hotel changed almost every day.  Many parties
+arrived in the morning, walked to the falls; returned to the
+hotel to dinner, and departed by the coach immediately after it.
+Many groups were indescribably whimsical, both in appearance and
+manner.  Now and then a first-rate dandy shot in among us, like a
+falling star.
+
+On one occasion, when we were in the beautiful gallery, at the
+back of the hotel, which overlooks the horse-shoe fall, we saw
+the booted leg of one of this graceful race protruded from the
+window which commands the view, while his person was thrown back
+in his chair, and his head enveloped in a cloud of tobacco smoke.
+
+I have repeatedly remarked, when it has happened to me to meet
+any ultra fine men among the wilder and more imposing scenes of
+our own land, that they throw off, in a great degree, their
+airs, and their "townliness," as some one cleverly calls these
+_simagrees_, as if ashamed to "play their fantastic tricks"
+before the god of nature, when so forcibly reminded of his
+presence; and more than once on these occasions I have been
+surprised to find how much intellect lurked behind the inane
+mask of fashion.  But in America the effect of fine scenery
+upon this class of persons is different, for it is exactly
+when amongst it, that the most strenuous efforts at elegant
+_nonchalance_ are perceptible among the young exquisites of the
+western world.  It is true that they have little leisure for the
+display of grace in the daily routine of commercial activity in
+which their lives are passed, and this certainly offers a
+satisfactory explanation of the fact above stated.
+
+Fortunately for our enjoyment, the solemn character of the scene
+was but little broken in upon by these gentry.  Every one who
+comes to Forsythe's Hotel (except Mrs. Bogle Corbet), walks to
+the shantee, writes their name in a book which is kept there,
+and, for the most part, descends by the spiral staircase which
+leads from the little platform before it, to the rocks below.
+Here they find another shantee, but a few yards from the entrance
+of that wondrous cavern which is formed by the falling flood on
+one side, and by the mighty rock over which it pours, on the
+other.  To this frail shelter from the wild uproar, and the
+blinding spray, nearly all the touring gentlemen, and even many
+of the pretty ladies, find their way.  But here I often saw their
+noble daring fail, and have watched them dripping and draggled
+turn again to the sheltering stairs, leaving us in full
+possession of the awful scene we so dearly loved to gaze upon.
+How utterly futile must every attempt be to describe the spot!
+How vain every effort to convey an idea of the sensations it
+produces!  Why is it so exquisite a pleasure to stand for hours
+drenched in spray, stunned by the ceaseless roar, trembling from
+the concussion that shakes the very rock you cling to, and
+breathing painfully in the moist atmosphere that seems to have
+less of air than water in it?  Yet pleasure it is, and I almost
+think the greatest I ever enjoyed.  We more than once approached
+the entrance to this appalling cavern, but I never fairly entered
+it, though two or three of my party did.  I lost my breath
+entirely; and the pain at my chest was so severe, that not all my
+curiosity could enable me to endure it.
+
+What was that cavern of the winds, of which we heard of old,
+compared to this?  A mightier spirit than Aeolus reigns here.
+
+Nor was this spot of dread and danger the only one in which we
+found ourselves alone.  The path taken by "the company" to the
+shantee, which contained the "book of names" was always the same;
+this wound down the steep bank from the gate of the hotel garden,
+and was rendered tolerably easy by its repeated doublings; but it
+was by no means the best calculated to manage to advantage the
+pleasure of the stranger in his approach to the spot.  All
+others, however, seemed left for us alone.
+
+During our stay we saw the commencement of another staircase,
+intended to rival in attraction that at present in use; it is but
+a few yards from it, and can in no way, I think, contribute to
+the convenience of the descent.  The erection of the central
+shaft of this spiral stair was a most tremendous operation, and
+made me sick and giddy as I watched it.  After it had been made
+fast at the bottom, the carpenters swung themselves off the
+rocks, by the means of ropes, to the beams which traversed it;
+and as they sat across them, in the midst of the spray and the
+uproar, I thought I had never seen life periled so wantonly.  But
+the work proceeded without accident, and was nearly finished
+before we left the hotel.
+
+It was a sort of pang to take what we knew must be our last look
+at Niagara; but "we had to do it," as the Americans say, and left
+it on the 10th June, for Buffalo.
+
+The drive along the river, above the Falls, is as beautiful as a
+clear stream of a mile in width can make it; and the road
+continues close to it till you reach the ferry at Black Rock.
+
+We welcomed, almost with a shout, the British colours which we
+saw, for the first time, on Commodore Barrie's pretty sloop, the
+_Bull Dog_, which we passed as it was towing up the river to Lake
+Erie, the commodore being about to make a tour of the lakes.
+
+At Black Rock we crossed again into the United States, and a few
+miles of horrible jolting brought us to Buffalo.
+
+Of all the thousand and one towns I saw in America, I think
+Buffalo is the queerest looking; it is not quite so wild as
+Lockport, but all the buildings have the appearance of having
+been run up in a hurry, though every thing has an air of great
+pretension; there are porticos, columns, domes, and colonnades,
+but all in wood.  Every body tells you there, as in all their
+other new-born towns, and every body believes, that their
+improvement, and their progression, are more rapid, more
+wonderful, than the earth ever before witnessed; while to me,
+the only wonder is, how so many thousands, nay millions of
+persons, can be found, in the nineteenth century, who can be
+content so to live.  Surely this country may be said to spread
+rather than to rise.
+
+The Eagle Hotel, an immense wooden fabric, has all the
+pretension of a splendid establishment, but its monstrous
+corridors, low ceilings, and intricate chambers, gave me the
+feeling of a catacomb rather than a house.  We arrived after
+the _table d'hote_ tea-drinking was over, and supped comfortably
+enough with a gentleman, who accompanied us from the Falls: but
+the next morning we breakfasted in a long, low, narrow room,
+with a hundred persons, and any thing less like comfort can
+hardly be imagined.
+
+What can induce so many intellectual citizens to prefer these
+long, silent tables, scantily covered with morsels of fried ham,
+salt fish and liver, to a comfortable loaf of bread with their
+wives and children at home?  How greatly should I prefer eating
+my daily meals with my family, in an Indian wig-wam, to boarding
+at a _table d'hote_ in these capacious hotels; the custom,
+however, seems universal through the country, at least we have
+met it, without a shadow of variation as to its general features,
+from New Orleans to Buffalo.
+
+Lake Erie has no beauty to my eyes; it is not the sea, and it is
+not the river, nor has it the beautiful scenery generally found
+round smaller lakes.  The only interest its unmeaning expanse
+gave me, arose from remembering that its waters, there so tame
+and tranquil, were destined to leap the gulf of Niagara.  A
+dreadful road, through forests only beginning to be felled,
+brought us to Avon; it is a straggling, ugly little place, and
+not any of their "Romes, Carthages, Ithacas, or Athens," ever
+provoked me by their name so much.  This Avon flows sweetly with
+nothing but whiskey and tobacco juice.
+
+The next day's journey was much more interesting, for it showed
+us the lake of Canandaigua.  It is about eighteen miles long, but
+narrow enough to bring the opposite shore, clothed with rich
+foliage, near to the eye; the back-ground is a ridge of
+mountains.  Perhaps the state of the atmosphere lent an unusual
+charm to the scene; one of those sudden thunderstorms, so rapid
+in approach, and so sombre in colouring, that they change the
+whole aspect of things in a moment, rose over the mountains and
+passed across the lake while we looked upon it.  Another feature
+in the scene gave a living, but most sad interest to it.  A
+glaring wooden hotel, as fine as paint and porticos can make it,
+overhangs the lake; beside it stands a shed for cattle.  To this
+shed, and close by the white man's mushroom palace, two Indians
+had crept to seek a shelter from the storm.  The one was an aged
+man, whose venerable head in attitude and expression indicated
+the profoundest melancholy: the other was a youth, and in his
+deep-set eye there was a quiet sadness more touching still.
+There they stood, the native rightful lords of the fair land,
+looking out upon the lovely lake which yet bore the name their
+fathers had given it, watching the threatening storm that brooded
+there; a more fearful one had already burst over them.
+
+Though I have mentioned the lake first, the little town of
+Canandaigua precedes it, in returning from the West.  It is as
+pretty a village as ever man contrived to build.  Every house is
+surrounded by an ample garden, and at that flowery season they
+were half buried in roses.
+
+It is true these houses are of wood, but they are so neatly
+painted, in such perfect repair, and show so well within their
+leafy setting, that it is impossible not to admire them.
+
+Forty-six miles farther is Geneva, beautifully situated on Seneca
+Lake.  This, too, is a lovely sheet of water, and I think the
+town may rival its European namesake in beauty.
+
+We slept at Auburn, celebrated for its prison, where the
+highly-approved system of American discipline originated.  In
+this part of the country there is no want of churches; every
+little village has its wooden temple, and many of them too; that
+the Methodists and Presbyterians may not clash.
+
+We passed through an Indian reserve, and the untouched forests
+again hung close upon the road.  Repeated groups of Indians
+passed us, and we remarked that they were much cleaner and better
+dressed than those we had met wandering far from their homes.
+The blankets which they use so gracefully as mantles were as
+white as snow.
+
+We took advantage of the loss of a horse's shoe, to leave the
+coach, and approach a large party of them, consisting of men,
+women, and children, who were regaling themselves with I know not
+what, but milk made a part of the repast.  They could not talk to
+us, but they received us with smiles, and seemed to understand
+when we asked if they had mocassins to sell, for they shook their
+sable locks, and answered "no."  A beautiful grove of butternut
+trees was pointed out to us, as the spot where the chiefs of the
+six nations used to hold their senate; our informer told me that
+he had been present at several of their meetings, and though he
+knew but little of their language, the power of their eloquence
+was evident from the great effect it produced among themselves.
+
+Towards the end of this day, we encountered an adventure which
+revived our doubts whether the invading white men, in chasing
+the poor Indians from their forests, have done much towards
+civilizing the land.  For myself, I almost prefer the indigenous
+manner to the exotic.
+
+The coach stopped to take in "a lady" at Vernon; she entered, and
+completely filled the last vacant inch of our vehicle; for "we
+were eight" before.
+
+But no sooner was she seated, than her _beau_ came forward with a
+most enormous wooden best-bonnet box.  He paused for a while to
+meditate the possibilities--raised it, as if to place it on our
+laps--sunk it, as if to put it beneath our feet.  Both alike
+appeared impossible; when, in true Yankee style he addressed one
+of our party with.  If you'll just step out a minute, I guess
+I'll find room for it."
+
+"Perhaps so.  But how shall I find room for myself afterwards?"
+
+This was uttered in European accents, and in an instant half a
+dozen whiskey drinkers stepped from before the whiskey store, and
+took the part of the _beau_.
+
+"That's because you'll be English travellers I expect, but we
+have travelled in better countries than Europe--we have travelled
+in America--and the box will go, I calculate."
+
+We remonstrated on the evident injustice of the proceeding, and I
+ventured to say, that as we had none of us any luggage in the
+carriage, because the space was so very small, I thought a chance
+passenger could have no right so greatly to incommode us.
+
+"Right!--there they go--that's just their way--that will do in
+Europe, may be; it sounds just like English tyranny, now don't
+it? but it won't do here."  And thereupon he began thrusting in
+the wooden box against our legs, with all his strength.
+
+"No law, sir, can permit such conduct as this."
+
+"Law!" exclaimed a gentleman very particularly drunk, "we makes
+our own laws, and governs our own selves."
+
+"Law!" echoed another gentleman of Vernon, "this is a free
+country, _we have no laws here_, and we don't want no foreign
+power to tyrannize over us."
+
+295
+
+I give the words exactly.  It is, however, but fair to state,
+that the party had evidently been drinking more than an usual
+portion of whiskey, but, perhaps, in whiskey, as in wine, truth
+may come to light.  At any rate the people of the Western
+Paradise follow the Gentiles in this, that they are a law unto
+themselves.
+
+During the contest, the coachman sat upon the box without saying
+a word, but seemed greatly to enjoy the joke; the question of the
+box, however, was finally decided in our favour by the nature of
+the human material, which cannot be compressed beyond a certain
+degree.
+
+For the great part of this day we had the good fortune to have a
+gentleman and his daughter for our fellow-travellers, who were
+extremely intelligent and agreeable; but I nearly got myself into
+a scrape by venturing to remark upon a phrase used by the
+gentleman, and which had met me at every corner from the time I
+first entered the country.  We had been talking of pictures, and
+I had endeavoured to adhere to the rule I had laid down for
+myself, of saying very little, where I could say nothing
+agreeable.  At length he named an American artist, with whose
+works I was very familiar, and after having declared him equal to
+Lawrence (judging by his portrait of West, now at New York), he
+added, "and what is more, madam, he is perfectly _self-taught_."
+
+I prudently took a few moments before I answered; for the
+equalling our immortal Lawrence to a most vile dauber stuck in my
+throat; I could not say Amen; so for some time I said nothing;
+but, at last, I remarked on the frequency with which I had heard
+this phrase of _self-taught_ used, not as an apology, but as
+positive praise.
+
+"Well, madam, can there be a higher praise?"
+
+"Certainly not, if spoken of the individual merits of a person,
+without the means of instruction, but I do not understand it when
+applied as praise to his works."
+
+"Not understand it, madam?  Is it not attributing genius to the
+author, and what is teaching compared to that?"
+
+296
+
+I do not wish to repeat all my own _bons mots_ in praise of
+study, and on the disadvantages of profound ignorance, but I
+would, willingly, if I could, give an idea of the mixed
+indignation and contempt expressed by our companion at the idea
+that study was necessary to the formation of taste, and to the
+development of genius.  At last, however, he closed the
+discussion thus,--"There is no use in disputing a point that is
+already settled, madam; the best judges declare that Mr. H--g's
+portraits are equal to that of Lawrence."
+
+"Who is it who has passed this judgement, sir?"
+
+"The men of taste of America, madam."
+
+I then asked him, if he thought it was going to rain?
+
+
+
+The stages do not appear to have any regular stations at which
+to stop for breakfast, dinner, and supper.  These necessary
+interludes, therefore, being generally _impromptu_, were
+abominably bad.  We were amused by the patient manner in which
+our American fellow-travellers ate whatever was set before them,
+without uttering a word of complaint, or making any effort to
+improve it, but no sooner reseated in the stage, than they began
+their complaints--"twas a shame"--"twas a robbery"--"twas
+poisoning folks"--and the like.  I, at last, asked the reason of
+this, and why they did not remonstrate?  "Because, madam, no
+American gentleman or lady that keeps an inn won't bear to be
+found fault with."
+
+We reached Utica very late and very weary; but the delights of a
+good hotel and perfect civility sent us in good humour to bed,
+and we arose sufficiently refreshed to enjoy a day's journey
+through some of the loveliest scenery in the world.
+
+Who is it that says America is not picturesque?  I forget; but
+surely he never travelled from Utica to Albany.  I really cannot
+conceive that any country can furnish a drive of ninety-six miles
+more beautiful, or more varied in its beauty.  The road follows
+the Mohawk River, which flows through scenes changing from
+fields, waving with plenty, to rocks and woods; gentle slopes,
+covered with cattle, are divided from each other by precipices
+500 feet high.  Around the little falls there is a character of
+beauty as singular as it is striking.  Here, as I observed of
+many other American rivers, the stream appears to run in a much
+narrower channel than it once occupied, and the space which it
+seems formerly to have filled, is now covered with bright green
+herbage, save that, at intervals, large masses of rock rise
+abruptly from the level turf; these are crowned with all such
+trees as love the scanty diet which a rock affords.  Dwarf oak,
+cedars, and the mountain ash, are grouped in a hundred different
+ways among them; each clump you look upon is lovelier than its
+neighbour; I never saw so sweetly wild a spot.
+
+I was surprised to hear a fellow-traveller say, as we passed a
+point of peculiar beauty, "all this neighbourhood belongs, or did
+belong, to Mr. Edward Ellice, an English Member of Parliament,
+but he has sold a deal of it, and now, madam, you may see as it
+begins to improve;" and he pointed to a great wooden edifice,
+where, on the white paint, "Cash for Rags," in letters three feet
+high, might be seen.
+
+I then remembered that it was near this spot that my Yankee
+friend had made his complaint against English indifference to
+"water privilege."  He did not name Mr. Edward Ellice, but
+doubtless he was the "English, as never thought of improvement."
+
+I have often confessed my conscious incapacity for description,
+but I must repeat it here to apologize for my passing so dully
+through this matchless valley of the Mohawk.  I would that some
+British artist, strong in youthful daring, would take my word for
+it, and pass over, for a summer pilgrimage through the State of
+New York.  In very earnest, he would wisely, for I question if
+the world could furnish within the same space, and with equal
+facility of access, so many subjects for his pencil.  Mountains,
+forests, rocks, lakes, rivers, cataracts, all in perfection.  But
+he must be bold as a lion in colouring, or he will make nothing
+of it.  There is a clearness of atmosphere, a strength of _chiaro
+oscuro_, a massiveness in the foliage, and a brilliance of
+contrast, that must make a colourist of any one who has an eye.
+He must have courage to dip his pencil in shadows black as night,
+and light that might blind an eagle.  As I presume my young
+artist to be an enthusiast, he must first go direct to Niagara,
+or even in the Mohawk valley his pinioned wing may droop.  If his
+fever run very high, he may slake his thirst at Trenton, and
+while there, he will not dream of any thing beyond it.  Should my
+advice be taken, I will ask the young adventurer on his return
+(when he shall have made a prodigious quantity of money by my
+hint), to reward me by two sketches.  One shall be the lake of
+Canandaigua; the other the Indians' Senate Grove of Butternuts.
+
+During our journey, I forget on which day of it, a particular
+spot in the forest, at some distance from the road, was pointed
+out to us as the scene of a true, but very romantic story.
+During the great and the terrible French revolution (1792), a
+young nobleman escaped from the scene of horror, having with
+difficulty saved his head, and without the possibility of saving
+any thing else.  He arrived at New York nearly destitute; and
+after passing his life, not only in splendour, but in the
+splendour of the court of France, he found himself jostled by the
+busy population of the New World, without a dollar between him
+and starvation.  In such a situation one might almost sigh for
+the guillotine.  The young noble strove to labour; but who would
+purchase the trembling efforts of his white hands, while the
+sturdy strength of many a black Hercules was in the market?  He
+abandoned the vain attempt to sustain himself by the aid of his
+fellow-men, and determined to seek a refuge in the forest.  A few
+shillings only remained to him; he purchased an axe, and reached
+the Oneida territory.  He felled a few of the slenderest trees,
+and made himself a shelter that Robinson Crusoe would have
+laughed at, for it did not keep out the rain.  Want of food,
+exposure to the weather, and unwonted toil, produced the natural
+result; the unfortunate young man fell sick, and stretched upon
+the reeking earth, stifled, rather than sheltered, by the
+withering boughs which hung over him; he lay parched with thirst,
+and shivering in ague, with the one last earthly hope, that each
+heavy moment would prove the last.
+
+Near to the spot which he had chosen for his miserable rest, but
+totally concealed from it by the thick forest, was the last
+straggling wigwam of an Indian village.  It is not known how many
+days the unhappy man had lain without food, but he was quite
+insensible when a young squaw, whom chance had brought from this
+wigwam to his hut, entered, and found him alive, but totally
+insensible.  The heart of woman is, I believe, pretty much the
+same every where; the young girl paused not to think whether he
+were white or red, but her fleet feet rested not till she had
+brought milk, rum, and blankets, and when the sufferer recovered
+his senses, his head was supported on her lap, while, with the
+gentle tenderness of a mother, she found means to make him
+swallow the restoratives she had brought.
+
+No black eyes in the world, be they of France, Italy, or even
+of Spain, can speak more plainly of kindness, than the large
+deep-set orbs of a squaw; this is a language that all nations
+can understand, and the poor Frenchman read most clearly, in
+the anxious glance of his gentle nurse, that he should not die
+forsaken.
+
+So far the story is romantic enough, and what follows is hardly
+less so.  The squaw found means to introduce her white friend to
+her tribe; he was adopted as their brother, speedily acquired
+their language, and assumed their dress and manner of life.  His
+gratitude to his preserver soon ripened into love, and if the
+chronicle spoke true, the French noble and the American savage
+were more than passing happy as man and wife, and it was not till
+he saw himself the father of many thriving children that the
+exile began to feel a wish of rising again from savage to
+civilized existence.
+
+My historian did not explain what his project was in visiting
+New York, but he did so in the habit of an Indian, and learnt
+enough of the restored tranquillity of his country to give him
+hope that some of the broad lands he had left there might be
+restored to him.
+
+I have made my story already too long, and must not linger upon
+it farther than to say that his hopes were fulfilled, and that,
+of a large and flourishing family, some are settled in France,
+and some remain in America, (one of these, I understood, was a
+lawyer at New York), while the hero and the heroine of the tale
+continue to inhabit the Oneida country, not in a wigwam, however,
+but in a good house, in a beautiful situation, with all the
+comforts of civilized life around them.
+
+Such was the narrative we listened to, from a stage coach
+companion; and it appears to me sufficiently interesting to
+repeat, though I have no better authority to quote for its
+truth, than the assertion of this unknown traveller.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 34
+
+Return to New York--Conclusion
+
+
+
+The comfortable Adelphi Hotel again received us at Albany, on the
+14th of June, and we decided upon passing the following day
+there, both to see the place, and to recruit our strength, which
+we began to feel we had taxed severely by a very fatiguing
+journey, in most oppressively hot weather.  It would have been
+difficult to find a better station for repose; the rooms were
+large and airy, and ice was furnished in most profuse abundance.
+
+But notwithstanding the manifold advantages of this excellent
+hotel, I was surprised at the un-English arrangement communicated
+to me by two ladies with whom we made a speaking acquaintance,
+by which it appeared that they made it their permanent home.
+These ladies were a mother and daughter; the daughter was an
+extremely pretty young married woman, with two little children.
+Where the husbands were, or whether they were dead or alive, I
+know not; but they told me they had been _boarding_ there above
+a year. They breakfasted, dined, and supped at the _table
+d'hote_, with from twenty to a hundred people, as accident might
+decide; dressed very smart, played on the piano, in the public
+sitting-room, and assured me they were particularly comfortable
+and well accommodated.  What a life!
+
+Some parts of the town are very handsome; the Town Hall, the
+Chamber of Representatives, and some other public buildings,
+stand well on a hill that overlooks the Hudson, with ample
+enclosures of grass and trees around them.
+
+Many of the shops are large, and showily set out.  I was amused
+by a national trait which met me at one of them.  I entered it to
+purchase some _eau de Cologne_, but finding what was offered to
+me extremely bad, and very cheap, I asked if they had none at a
+higher price, and better.
+
+"You are a stranger, I guess," was the answer.  "The Yankees want
+low price, that's all; they don't stand so much for goodness as
+the English."
+
+Nothing could be more beautiful than our passage down the Hudson
+on the following day, as I thought of some of my friends in
+England, dear lovers of the picturesque, I could not but exclaim,
+
+      "Que je vous plains! que je vous plains!
+       Vous ne la verrez pas."
+
+Not even a moving panoramic view, gliding before their eyes for
+an hour together, in all the scenic splendour of Drury Lane, or
+Covent Garden, could give them an idea of it.  They could only
+see one side at a time.  The change, the contrast, the ceaseless
+variety of beauty, as you skim from side to side, the liquid
+smoothness of the broad mirror that reflects the scene, and most
+of all, the clear bright air through which you look at it; all
+this can only be seen and believed by crossing the Atlantic.
+
+As we approached New York the burning heat of the day relaxed,
+and the long shadows of evening fell coolly on the beautiful
+villas we passed.  I really can conceive nothing more exquisitely
+lovely than this approach to the city.  The magnificent boldness
+of the Jersey shore on the one side, and the luxurious softness
+of the shady lawns on the other, with the vast silvery stream
+that flows between them, altogether form a picture which may well
+excuse a traveller for saying, once and again, that the Hudson
+river can be surpassed in beauty by none on the outside of
+Paradise.
+
+It was nearly dark when we reached the city, and it was with
+great satisfaction that we found our comfortable apartments in
+Hudson Street unoccupied; and our pretty, kind (Irish) hostess
+willing to receive us again.  We passed another fortnight there;
+and again we enjoyed the elegant hospitality of New York, though
+now it was offered from beneath the shade of their beautiful
+villas.  In truth, were all America like this fair city, and all,
+no, only a small proportion of its population like the friends we
+left there, I should say, that the land was the fairest in the
+world.
+
+But the time was come to bid it adieu!  The important business of
+securing our homeward passage was to be performed.  One must know
+what it is to cross the ocean before the immense importance of
+all the little details of accommodation can be understood.  The
+anxious first look: into the face of the captain, to ascertain if
+he be gentle or rough; another, scarcely less important, in that
+of the steward, generally a sable one, but not the less
+expressive; the accurate, but rapid glance of measurement thrown
+round the little state-rooms; another at the good or bad
+arrangement of the stair-case, by which you are to stumble up and
+stumble down, from cabin to deck, and from deck to cabin; all
+this, they only can understand who have felt it.  At length,
+however, this interesting affair was settled, and most happily.
+The appearance promised well, and the performance bettered it.
+We hastened to pack up our "trumpery," as Captain Mirven
+unkindly calls the paraphernalia of the ladies, and among the
+rest, my six hundred pages of griffonage.  There is enough of it,
+yet I must add a few more lines.
+
+I suspect that what I have written will make it evident that I do
+not like America.  Now, as it happens that I met with individuals
+there whom I love and admire, far beyond the love and admiration
+of ordinary acquaintance, and as I declare the country to be fair
+to the eye, and most richly teeming with the gifts of plenty, I
+am led to ask myself why it is that I do not like it.  I would
+willingly know myself, and confess to others, why it is that
+neither its beauty nor its abundance can suffice to neutralize,
+or greatly soften, the distaste which the aggregate of my
+recollections has left upon my mind.
+
+I remember hearing it said, many years ago, when the advantages
+and disadvantages of a particular residence were being discussed,
+that it was the "who?" and not the "where?" that made the
+difference between the pleasant or unpleasant residence.  The
+truth of the observation struck me forcibly when I heard it; and
+it has been recalled to my mind since, by the constantly
+recurring evidence of its justness.  In applying this to America,
+I speak not of my friends, nor of my friends' friends.  The small
+patrician band is a race apart; they live with each other, and
+for each other; mix wondrously little with the high matters of
+state, which they seem to leave rather supinely to their tailors
+and tinkers, and are no more to be taken as a sample of the
+American people, than the head of Lord Byron as a sample of the
+heads of the British peerage.  I speak not of these, but of the
+population generally, as seen in town and country, among the rich
+and the poor, in the slave states, and the free states.  I do not
+like them.  I do not like their principles, I do not like their
+manners, I do not like their opinions.
+
+Both as a woman, and as a stranger, it might be unseemly for me
+to say that I do not like their government, and therefore I will
+not say so.  That it is one which pleases themselves is most
+certain, and this is considerably more important than pleasing
+all the travelling old ladies in the world.  I entered the
+country at New Orleans, remained for more than two years west of
+the Alleghanies, and passed another year among the Atlantic
+cities, and the country around them.  I conversed during this
+time with citizens of all orders and degrees, and I never heard
+from any one a single disparaging word against their government.
+It is not, therefore, surprising, that when the people of that
+country hear strangers questioning the wisdom of their
+institutions, and expressing disapprobation at some of their
+effects, they should set it down either to an incapacity
+of judging, or a malicious feeling of envy and ill-will.
+
+"How can any one in their senses doubt the excellence of a a
+government which we have tried for half a century, and loved the
+better the longer we have known it."  Such is the natural enquiry
+of every American when the excellence of their government is
+doubted; and I am inclined to answer, that no one in their
+senses, who has visited the country, and known the people, can
+doubt its fitness for them, such as they now are, or its utter
+unfitness for any other people..
+
+Whether the government has made the people what they are, or
+whether the people have made the government what it is, to suit
+themselves, I know not; but if the latter, they have shown a
+consummation of wisdom which the assembled world may look upon
+and admire.
+
+It is a matter of historical notoriety that the original stock of
+the white population now inhabiting the United States, were
+persons who had banished themselves, or were banished from the
+mother country.  The land they found was favourable to their
+increase and prosperity; the colony grew and flourished.  Years
+rolled on, and the children, the grand-children, and the great
+grand-children of the first settlers, replenished the land, and
+found it flowing with milk and honey.  That they should wish to
+keep this milk and honey to themselves, is not very surprising.
+What did the mother country do for them?  She sent them out gay
+and gallant officers to guard their frontier; the which they
+thought they could guard as well themselves; and then she taxed
+their tea.  Now, this was disagreeable; and to atone for it, the
+distant colony had no great share in her mother's grace and
+glory.  It was not from among them that her high and mighty were
+chosen; the rays which emanated from that bright sun of honour,
+the British throne, reached them but feebly.  They knew not, they
+cared not, for her kings nor her heroes; their thriftiest trader
+was their noblest man; the holy seats of learning were but the
+cradles of superstition; the splendour of the aristocracy, but a
+leech that drew their "golden blood."  The wealth, the learning,
+the glory of Britain, was to them nothing; the having their own
+way every thing.
+
+Can any blame their wish to obtain it?  Can any lament that they
+succeeded?
+
+And now the day was their own, what should they do next?  Their
+elders drew together, and said, "Let us make a government that
+shall suit us all; let it be rude, and rough, and noisy; let it
+not affect either dignity, glory, or splendour; let it interfere
+with no man's will, nor meddle with any man's business; let us
+have neither tithes nor taxes, game laws, nor poor laws; let
+every man have a hand in making the laws, and no man be troubled
+about keeping them; let not our magistrates wear purple, nor our
+judges ermine; if a man grow rich, let us take care that his
+grandson be poor, and then we shall all keep equal; let every man
+take care of himself, and if England should come to bother us
+again, why then we will fight altogether."
+
+Could any thing be better imagined than such a government for a
+people so circumstanced?  Or is it strange that they are
+contented with it?  Still less is it strange that those who have
+lived in the repose of order, and felt secure that their country
+could go on very well, and its business proceed without their
+bawling and squalling, scratching and scrambling to help it,
+should bless the gods that they are not republicans.
+
+So far all is well.  That they should prefer a constitution which
+suits them so admirably, to one which would not suit them at all,
+is surely no cause of quarrel on our part; nor should it be such
+on theirs, if we feel no inclination to exchange the institutions
+which have made us what we are, for any other on the face of the
+earth.
+
+But when a native of Europe visits America, a most extraordinary
+species of tyranny is set in action against him; and as far as my
+reading and experience have enabled me to judge, it is such as no
+other country has ever exercised against strangers.
+
+The Frenchman visits England; he is _abime d'ennui_ at our
+stately dinners; shrugs his shoulders at our _corps de ballet_,
+and laughs _a gorge deployee_ at our passion for driving, and
+our partial affection for roast beef and plum pudding.  The
+Englishman returns the visit, and the first thing he does on
+arriving at Paris, is to hasten to _le Theatre des Varietes_,
+that he may see "_Les Anglaises pour rire_," and if among the
+crowd of laughters, you hear a note of more cordial mirth than
+the rest, seek out the person from whom it proceeds, and you
+will find the Englishman.
+
+The Italian comes to our green island, and groans at our climate;
+he vows that the air which destroys a statue cannot be wholesome
+for man; he sighs for orange trees, and maccaroni, and smiles at
+the pretensions of a nation to poetry, while no epics are
+chaunted through her streets.  Yet we welcome the sensitive
+southern with all kindness, listen to his complaints with
+interest, cultivate our little orange trees, and teach our
+children to lisp Tasso, in the hope of becoming more agreeable.
+
+Yet we are not at all superior to the rest of Europe in our
+endurance of censure, nor is this wish to profit by it all
+peculiar to the English; we laugh at, and find fault with, our
+neighbours quite as freely as they do with us, and they join the
+laugh, and adopt our fashions and our customs.  These mutual
+pleasantries produce no shadow of unkindly feeling; and as long
+as the governments are at peace with each other, the individuals
+of every nation in Europe make it a matter of pride, as well as
+of pleasure, to meet each other frequently, to discuss, compare,
+and reason upon their national varieties, and to vote it a mark
+of fashion and good taste to imitate each other in all the
+external embellishments of life.
+
+The consequence of this is most pleasantly perceptible at the
+present time, in every capital of Europe.  The long peace has
+given time for each to catch from each what was best in customs
+and manners, and the rapid advance of refinement and general
+information has been the result.
+
+To those who have been accustomed to this state of things, the
+contrast upon crossing to the new world is inconceivably
+annoying; and it cannot be doubted that this is one great cause
+of the general feeling of irksomeness, and fatigue of spirits,
+which hangs upon the memory while recalling the hours passed in
+American society.
+
+A single word indicative of doubt, that any thing, or every
+thing, in that country is not the very best in the world,
+produces an effect which must be seen and felt to be understood.
+If the citizens of the United States were indeed the devoted
+patriots they call themselves, they would surely not thus encrust
+themselves in the hard, dry, stubborn persuasion, that they are
+the first and best of the human race, that nothing is to be
+learnt, but what they are able to teach, and that nothing is
+worth having, which they do not possess.
+
+The art of man could hardly discover a more effectual antidote to
+improvement, than this persuasion; and yet I never listened to
+any public oration, or read any work, professedly addressed to
+the country, in which they did not labour to impress it on the
+minds of the people.
+
+To hint to the generality of Americans that the silent current of
+events may change their beloved government, is not the way to
+please them; but in truth they need be tormented with no such
+fear.  As long as by common consent they can keep down the
+pre-eminence which nature has assigned to great powers, as long
+as they can prevent human respect and human honour from resting
+upon high talent, gracious manners, and exalted station, so long
+may they be sure of going on as they are.
+
+I have been told, however, that there are some among them who
+would gladly see a change; some, who with the wisdom of
+philosophers, and the fair candour of gentlemen, shrink from a
+profession of equality which they feel to be untrue, and believe
+to be impossible.
+
+I can well believe that such there are, though to me no such
+opinions were communicated, and most truly should I rejoice to
+see power pass into such hands.
+
+If this ever happens, if refinement once creeps in among them, if
+they once learn to cling to the graces, the honours, the chivalry
+of life, then we shall say farewell to American equality, and
+welcome to European fellowship one of the finest countries on the
+earth.
+
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Domestic Manners of the Americans
+by Fanny Trollope
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+Project Gutenberg's Domestic Manners of the Americans, by Fanny Trollope
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Domestic Manners of the Americans
+
+Author: Fanny Trollope
+
+Release Date: November 30, 2003 [EBook #10345]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOMESTIC MANNERS OF THE AMERICANS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David G Johnson
+
+
+
+
+Domestic Manners of the Americans
+by
+Fanny Trollope
+
+
+Frances Milton Trollope (known as Fanny Trollope)
+1780--1863
+(Mother of the author Anthony Trollope)
+
+
+First published in 1832
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 1
+
+Entrance of the Mississippi--Balize
+
+
+
+On the 4th of November, 1827, I sailed from London, accompanied
+by my son and two daughters; and after a favourable, though
+somewhat tedious voyage, arrived on Christmas-day at the mouth of
+the Mississippi.
+
+The first indication of our approach to land was the appearance
+of this mighty river pouring forth its muddy mass of waters, and
+mingling with the deep blue of the Mexican Gulf.  The shores of
+this river are so utterly flat, that no object upon them is
+perceptible at sea, and we gazed with pleasure on the muddy ocean
+that met us, for it told us we were arrived, and seven weeks of
+sailing had wearied us; yet it was not without a feeling like
+regret that we passed from the bright blue waves, whose varying
+aspect had so long furnished our chief amusement, into the murky
+stream which now received us.
+
+Large flights of pelicans were seen standing upon the long masses
+of mud which rose above the surface of the waters, and a pilot
+came to guide us over the bar, long before any other indication
+of land was visible.
+
+I never beheld a scene so utterly desolate as this entrance of
+the Mississippi.  Had Dante seen it, he might have drawn images
+of another Bolgia from its horrors.  One only object rears itself
+above the eddying waters; this is the mast of a vessel long since
+wrecked in attempting to cross the bar, and it still stands, a
+dismal witness of the destruction that has been, and a boding
+prophet of that which is to come.
+
+By degrees bulrushes of enormous growth become visible, and a few
+more miles of mud brought us within sight of a cluster of huts
+called the Balize, by far the most miserable station that I ever
+saw made the dwelling of man, but I was told that many families
+of pilots and fishermen lived there.
+
+For several miles above its mouth, the Mississippi presents no
+objects more interesting than mud banks, monstrous bulrushes, and
+now and then a huge crocodile luxuriating in the slime.  Another
+circumstance that gives to this dreary scene an aspect of
+desolation, is the incessant appearance of vast quantities of
+drift wood, which is ever finding its way to the different mouths
+of the Mississippi.  Trees of enormous length, sometimes still
+bearing their branches, and still oftener their uptorn roots
+entire, the victims of the frequent hurricane, come floating down
+the stream.  Sometimes several of these, entangled together,
+collect among their boughs a quantity of floating rubbish, that
+gives the mass the appearance of a moving island, bearing a
+forest, with its roots mocking the heavens; while the dishonoured
+branches lash the tide in idle vengeance: this, as it approaches
+the vessel, and glides swiftly past, looks like the fragment of a
+world in ruins.
+
+As we advanced, however, we were cheered, notwithstanding the
+season, by the bright tints of southern vegetation.  The banks
+continue invariably flat, but a succession of planless villas,
+sometimes merely a residence, and sometimes surrounded by their
+sugar grounds and negro huts, varied the scene.  At no one point
+was there an inch of what painters call a second distance; and
+for the length of one hundred and twenty miles, from the Balize
+to New Orleans, and one hundred miles above the town, the land is
+defended from the encroachments of the river by a high embankment
+which is called the Levee; without which the dwellings would
+speedily disappear, as the river is evidently higher than the
+banks would be without it.  When we arrived, there had been
+constant rains, and of long continuance, and this appearance was,
+therefore, unusually striking, giving to "this great natural
+feature" the most unnatural appearance imaginable; and making
+evident, not only that man had been busy there, but that even the
+mightiest works of nature might be made to bear his impress; it
+recalled, literally, Swift's mock heroic,
+
+"Nature must give way to art;"
+
+yet, she was looking so mighty, and so unsubdued all the time,
+that I could not help fancying she would some day take the matter
+into her own hands again, and if so, farewell to New Orleans.
+
+It is easy to imagine the total want of beauty in such a
+landscape; but yet the form and hue of the trees and plants, so
+new to us, added to the long privation we had endured of all
+sights and sounds of land, made even these swampy shores seem
+beautiful.  We were, however, impatient to touch as well as see
+the land; but the navigation from the Balize to New Orleans is
+difficult and tedious, and the two days that it occupied appeared
+longer than any we had passed on board.
+
+In truth, to those who have pleasure in contemplating the
+phenomena of nature, a sea voyage may endure many weeks without
+wearying.  Perhaps some may think that the first glance of ocean
+and of sky shew all they have to offer; nay, even that that first
+glance may suggest more of dreariness than sublimity; but to me,
+their variety appeared endless, and their beauty unfailing.  The
+attempt to describe scenery, even where the objects are prominent
+and tangible, is very rarely successful; but where the effect is
+so subtile and so varying, it must be vain.  The impression,
+nevertheless, is perhaps deeper than any other; I think it
+possible I may forget the sensations with which I watched the
+long course of the gigantic Mississippi; the Ohio and the Potomac
+may mingle and be confounded with other streams in my memory, I
+may even recall with difficulty the blue outline of the Alleghany
+mountains, but never, while I remember any thing, can I forget
+the first and last hour of light on the Atlantic.
+
+The ocean, however, and all its indescribable charm, no longer
+surrounded us; we began to feel that our walk on the quarter-deck
+was very like the exercise of an ass in a mill; that our books
+had lost half their pages, and that the other half were known by
+rote; that our beef was very salt, and our biscuits very hard; in
+short, that having studied the good ship, Edward, from stem to
+stern till we knew the name of every sail, and the use of every
+pulley, we had had enough of her, and as we laid down, head to
+head, in our tiny beds for the last time, I exclaimed with no
+small pleasure,
+
+"Tomorrow to fresh fields and pastures new."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 2
+
+New Orleans--Society--
+Creoles and Quadroons Voyage up the Mississippi
+
+
+
+On first touching the soil of a new land, of a new continent, of
+a new world, it is impossible not to feel considerable excitement
+and deep interest in almost every object that meets us.  New
+Orleans presents very little that can gratify the eye of taste,
+but nevertheless there is much of novelty and interest for a
+newly arrived European.  The large proportion of blacks seen in
+the streets, all labour being performed by them; the grace and
+beauty of the elegant Quadroons, the occasional groups of wild
+and savage looking Indians, the unwonted aspect of the
+vegetation, the huge and turbid river, with its low and slimy
+shore, all help to afford that species of amusement which
+proceeds from looking at what we never saw before.
+
+The town has much the appearance of a French Ville de Province,
+and is, in fact, an old French colony taken from Spain by France.
+The names of the streets are French, and the language about
+equally French and English.  The market is handsome and well
+supplied, all produce being conveyed by the river.  We were much
+pleased by the chant with which the Negro boatmen regulate and
+beguile their labour on the river; it consists but of very few
+notes, but they are sweetly harmonious, and the Negro voice is
+almost always rich and powerful.
+
+By far the most agreeable hours I passed at New Orleans were
+those in which I explored with my children the forest near
+the town.  It was our first walk in "the eternal forests of
+the western world," and we felt rather sublime and poetical.
+The trees, generally speaking, are much too close to be either
+large or well grown; and, moreover, their growth is often
+stunted by a parasitical plant, for which I could learn no
+other name than "Spanish moss;" it hangs gracefully from the
+boughs, converting the outline of all the trees it hangs upon
+into that of weeping willows.  The chief beauty of the forest
+in this region is from the luxuriant undergrowth of palmetos,
+which is decidedly the loveliest coloured and most graceful
+plant I know.  The pawpaw, too, is a splendid shrub, and in
+great abundance.  We here, for the first time, saw the wild
+vine, which we afterwards found growing so profusely in every
+part of America, as naturally to suggest the idea that the
+natives ought to add wine to the numerous production of their
+plenty-teeming soil.  The strong pendant festoons made safe and
+commodious swings, which some of our party enjoyed, despite the
+sublime temperament above-mentioned.
+
+Notwithstanding it was mid-winter when we were at New Orleans,
+the heat was much more than agreeable, and the attacks of the
+mosquitos incessant, and most tormenting; yet I suspect that, for
+a short time, we would rather have endured it, than not have seen
+oranges, green peas, and red pepper, growing in the open air at
+Christmas.  In one of our rambles we ventured to enter a garden,
+whose bright orange hedge attracted our attention; here we saw
+green peas fit for the table, and a fine crop of red pepper
+ripening in the sun.  A young Negress was employed on the steps
+of the house; that she was a slave made her an object of interest
+to us.  She was the first slave we had ever spoken to, and I
+believe we all felt that we could hardly address her with
+sufficient gentleness.  She little dreamed, poor girl, what deep
+sympathy she excited; she answered us civilly and gaily, and
+seemed amused at our fancying there was something unusual in red
+pepper pods; she gave us several of them, and I felt fearful lest
+a hard mistress might blame her for it.  How very childish does
+ignorance make us! and how very ignorant we are upon almost every
+subject, where hearsay evidence is all we can get!
+
+I left England with feelings so strongly opposed to slavery, that
+it was not without pain I witnessed its effects around me.  At
+the sight of every Negro man, woman, and child that passed, my
+fancy wove some little romance of misery, as belonging to each of
+them; since I have known more on the subject, and become better
+acquainted with their real situation in America, I have often
+smiled at recalling what I then felt.
+
+The first symptom of American equality that I perceived, was
+my being introduced in form to a milliner; it was not at a
+boarding-house, under the indistinct outline of "Miss C--," nor
+in the street through the veil of a fashionable toilette, but in
+the very penetralia of her temple, standing behind her counter,
+giving laws to ribbon and to wire, and ushering caps and bonnets
+into existence.  She was an English woman, and I was told that
+she possessed great intellectual endowments, and much
+information; I really believe this was true.  Her manner was easy
+and graceful, with a good deal of French tournure; and the
+gentleness with which her fine eyes and sweet voice directed the
+movements of a young female slave, was really touching: the way,
+too, in which she blended her French talk of modes with her
+customers, and her English talk of metaphysics with her friends,
+had a pretty air of indifference in it, that gave her a
+superiority with both.
+
+I found with her the daughter of a judge, eminent, it was said,
+both for legal and literary ability, and I heard from many
+quarters, after I had left New Orleans, that the society of this
+lady was highly valued by all persons of talent.  Yet were I,
+traveller-like, to stop here, and set it down as a national
+peculiarity, or republican custom, that milliners took the lead
+in the best society, I should greatly falsify facts.  I do not
+remember the same thing happening to me again, and this is one
+instance among a thousand, of the impression every circumstance
+makes on entering a new country, and of the propensity, so
+irresistible, to class all things, however accidental, as
+national and peculiar.  On the other hand, however, it is certain
+that if similar anomalies are unfrequent in America, they are
+nearly impossible elsewhere.
+
+In the shop of Miss C-- I was introduced to Mr. M'Clure, a
+venerable personage, of gentlemanlike appearance, who in the
+course of five minutes propounded as many axioms, as "Ignorance
+is the only devil;" "Man makes his own existence;" and the like.
+He was of the New Harmony school, or rather the New Harmony
+school was of him.  He was a man of good fortune, (a Scotchman, I
+believe), who after living a tolerably gay life, had "conceived
+high thoughts, such as Lycurgus loved, who bade flog the little
+Spartans," and determined to benefit the species, and immortalize
+himself, by founding a philosophical school at New Harmony.
+There was something in the hollow square legislations of Mr.
+Owen, that struck him as admirable, and he seems, as far as I can
+understand, to have intended aiding his views, by a sort of
+incipient hollow square drilling; teaching the young ideas of all
+he could catch, to shoot into parallelogramic form and order.
+This venerable philosopher, like all of his school that I ever
+heard of, loved better to originate lofty imaginings of faultless
+systems, than to watch their application to practice.  With much
+liberality he purchased and conveyed to the wilderness a very
+noble collection of books and scientific instruments; but not
+finding among men one whose views were liberal and enlarged as
+his own, he selected a woman to put into action the machine he
+had organized.  As his acquaintance with this lady had been of
+long standing, and, as it was said, very intimate, he felt sure
+that no violation of his rules would have place under her sway;
+they would act together as one being: he was to perform the
+functions of the soul, and will everything; she, those of the
+body, and perform everything.
+
+The principal feature of the scheme was, that (the first liberal
+outfit of the institution having been furnished by Mr. M'Clure,)
+the expense of keeping it up should be defrayed by the profits
+arising from the labours of the pupils, male and female, which
+was to be performed at stated intervals of each day, in regular
+rotation with learned study and scientific research.  But
+unfortunately the soul of the system found the climate of Indiana
+uncongenial to its peculiar formation, and, therefore, took its
+flight to Mexico, leaving the body to perform the operations of
+both, in whatever manner it liked best; and the body, being a
+French body, found no difficulty in setting actively to work
+without troubling the soul about it; and soon becoming conscious
+that the more simple was a machine, the more perfect were its
+operations, she threw out all that related to the intellectual
+part of the business, (which to do poor soul justice, it had laid
+great stress upon), and stirred herself as effectually as ever
+body did, to draw wealth from the thews and sinews of the youths
+they had collected.  When last I heard of this philosophical
+establishment, she, and a nephew-son were said to be reaping a
+golden harvest, as many of the lads had been sent from a distance
+by indigent parents, for gratuitous education, and possessed no
+means of leaving it.
+
+Our stay in New Orleans was not long enough to permit our
+entering into society, but I was told that it contained two
+distinct sets of people, both celebrated, in their way, for their
+social meetings and elegant entertainments.  The first of these
+is composed of Creole families, who are chiefly planters and
+merchants, with their wives and daughters; these meet together,
+eat together, and are very grand and aristocratic; each of their
+balls is a little Almack's, and every portly dame of the set is
+as exclusive in her principles as the excluded but amiable
+Quandroons, and such of the gentlemen of the former class as can
+by any means escape from the high places, where pure Creole blood
+swells the veins at the bare mention of any being tainted in the
+remotest degree with the Negro stain.
+
+Of all the prejudices I have ever witnessed, this appears to me
+the most violent, and the most inveterate.  Quadroon girls, the
+acknowledged daughters of wealthy American or Creole fathers,
+educated with all of style and accomplishments which money can
+procure at New Orleans, and with all the decorum that care and
+affection can give; exquisitely beautiful, graceful, gentle, and
+amiable, these are not admitted, nay, are not on any terms
+admissable, into the society of the Creole families of Louisiana.
+They cannot marry; that is to say, no ceremony can render an
+union with them legal or binding; yet such is the powerful effect
+of their very peculiar grace, beauty, and sweetness of manner,
+that unfortunately they perpetually become the objects of choice
+and affection.  If the Creole ladies have privilege to exercise
+the awful power of repulsion, the gentle Quadroon has the sweet
+but dangerous vengeance of possessing that of attraction.  The
+unions formed with this unfortunate race are said to be often
+lasting and happy, as far as any unions can be so, to which a
+certain degree of disgrace is attached.
+
+There is a French and an English theatre in the town; but we were
+too fresh from Europe to care much for either; or, indeed, for
+any other of the town delights of this city, and we soon became
+eager to commence our voyage up the Mississippi.
+
+Miss Wright, then less known (though the author of more than one
+clever volume) than she has since become, was the companion of
+our voyage from Europe; and it was my purpose to have passed some
+months with her and her sister at the estate she had purchased in
+Tennessee.  This lady, since become so celebrated as the advocate
+of opinions that make millions shudder, and some half-score
+admire, was, at the time of my leaving England with her,
+dedicated to a pursuit widely different from her subsequent
+occupations.  Instead of becoming a public orator in every town
+throughout America, she was about, as she said, to seclude
+herself for life in the deepest forests of the western world,
+that her fortune, her time, and her talents might be exclusively
+devoted to aid the cause of the suffering Africans.  Her first
+object was to shew that nature had made no difference between
+blacks and whites, excepting in complexion; and this she expected
+to prove by giving an education perfectly equal to a class of
+black and white children.  Could this fact be once fully
+established, she conceived that the Negro cause would stand on
+firmer ground than it had yet done, and the degraded rank which
+they have ever held amongst civilized nations would be proved to
+be a gross injustice.
+
+This question of the mental equality, or inequality between us,
+and the Negro race, is one of great interest, and has certainly
+never yet been fairly tried; and I expected for my children and
+myself both pleasure and information from visiting her
+establishment, and watching the success of her experiment.
+
+The innumerable steam boats, which are the stage coaches and fly
+waggons of this land of lakes and rivers, are totally unlike any
+I had seen in Europe, and greatly superior to them.  The fabrics
+which I think they most resemble in appearance, are the floating
+baths (les bains Vigier) at Paris.  The annexed drawing will give
+a correct idea of their form.  The room to which the double line
+of windows belongs, is a very handsome apartment; before each
+window a neat little cot is arranged in such a manner as to give
+its drapery the air of a window curtain.  This room is called the
+gentlemen's cabin, and their exclusive right to it is somewhat
+uncourteously insisted upon.  The breakfast, dinner, and supper
+are laid in this apartment, and the lady passengers are permitted
+to take their meals there.
+
+On the first of January, 1828, we embarked on board the
+Belvidere, a large and handsome boat; though not the largest or
+handsomest of the many which displayed themselves along the
+wharfs; but she was going to stop at Memphis, the point of the
+river nearest to Miss Wright's residence, and she was the first
+that departed after we had got through the customhouse, and
+finished our sight-seeing.  We found the room destined for the
+use of the ladies dismal enough, as its only windows were below
+the stem gallery; but both this and the gentlemen's cabin were
+handsomely fitted up, and the former well carpeted; but oh! that
+carpet! I will not, I may not describe its condition; indeed it
+requires the pen of a Swift to do it justice.  Let no one who
+wishes to receive agreeable impressions of American manners,
+commence their travels in a Mississippi steam boat; for myself,
+it is with all sincerity I declare, that I would infinitely
+prefer sharing the apartment of a party of well conditioned pigs
+to the being confined to its cabin.
+
+I hardly know any annoyance so deeply repugnant to English
+feelings, as the incessant, remorseless spitting of Americans.
+I feel that I owe my readers an apology for the repeated use of
+this, and several other odious words; but I cannot avoid them,
+without suffering the fidelity of description to escape me.  It
+is possible that in this phrase, "Americans," I may be too
+general.  The United States form a continent of almost distinct
+nations, and I must now, and always, be understood to speak only
+of that portion of them which I have seen.  In conversing with
+Americans I have constantly found that if I alluded to anything
+which they thought I considered as uncouth, they would assure me
+it was local, and not national; the accidental peculiarity of a
+very small part, and by no means a specimen of the whole.  "That
+is because you know so little of America," is a phrase I have
+listened to a thousand times, and in nearly as many different
+places.  _It may be so_--and having made this concession, I
+protest against the charge of injustice in relating what I have
+seen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 3
+
+Company on board the Steam Boat--Scenery of the Mississippi--
+Crocodiles--Arrival at Memphis--Nashoba
+
+
+
+The weather was warm and bright, and we found the guard of the
+boat, as they call the gallery that runs round the cabins, a very
+agreeable station; here we all sat as long as light lasted, and
+sometimes wrapped in our shawls, we enjoyed the clear bright
+beauty of American moonlight long after every passenger but
+ourselves had retired.  We had a full complement of passengers on
+board.  The deck, as is usual, was occupied by the Kentucky
+flat-boat men, returning from New Orleans, after having disposed
+of the boat and cargo which they had conveyed thither, with no
+other labour than that of steering her, the current bringing her
+down at the rate of four miles an hour.  We had about two hundred
+of these men on board, but the part of the vessel occupied by
+them is so distinct from the cabins, that we never saw them,
+except when we stopped to take in wood; and then they ran, or
+rather sprung and vaulted over each other's heads to the shore,
+whence they all assisted in carrying wood to supply the steam
+engine; the performance of this duty being a stipulated part of
+the payment of their passage.
+
+From the account given by a man servant we had on board, who
+shared their quarters, they are a most disorderly set of persons,
+constantly gambling and wrangling, very seldom sober, and never
+suffering a night to pass without giving practical proof of the
+respect in which they hold the doctrines of equality, and
+community of property.  The clerk of the vessel was kind enough
+to take our man under his protection, and assigned him a berth in
+his own little nook; but as this was not inaccessible, he told
+him by no means to detach his watch or money from his person
+during the night.  Whatever their moral characteristics may be,
+these Kentuckians are a very noble-looking race of men; their
+average height considerably exceeds that of Europeans, and their
+countenances, excepting when disfigured by red hair, which is not
+unfrequent, extremely handsome.
+
+The gentlemen in the cabin (we had no ladies) would certainly
+neither, from their language, manners, nor appearance, have
+received that designation in Europe; but we soon found their
+claim to it rested on more substantial ground, for we heard them
+nearly all addressed by the titles of general, colonel, and
+major.  On mentioning these military dignities to an English
+friend some time afterwards, he told me that he too had made the
+voyage with the same description of company, but remarking that
+there was not a single captain among them; he made the
+observation to a fellow-passenger, and asked how he accounted for
+it.  "Oh, sir, the captains are all on deck," was the reply.
+
+Our honours, however, were not all military, for we had a
+judge among us.  I know it is equally easy and invidious to
+ridicule the peculiarities of appearance and manner in people of
+a different nation from ourselves; we may, too, at the same
+moment, be undergoing the same ordeal in their estimation; and,
+moreover, I am by no means disposed to consider whatever is new
+to me as therefore objectionable; but, nevertheless, it was
+impossible not to feel repugnance to many of the novelties that
+now surrounded me.
+
+The total want of all the usual courtesies of the table, the
+voracious rapidity with which the viands were seized and
+devoured, the strange uncouth phrases and pronunciation; the
+loathsome spitting, from the contamination of which it was
+absolutely impossible to protect our dresses; the frightful
+manner of feeding with their knives, till the whole blade seemed
+to enter into the mouth; and the still more frightful manner of
+cleaning the teeth afterwards with a pocket knife, soon forced us
+to feel that we were not surrounded by the generals, colonels,
+and majors of the old world; and that the dinner hour was to be
+any thing rather than an hour of enjoyment.
+
+The little conversation that went forward while we remained in
+the room, was entirely political, and the respective claims of
+Adams and Jackson to the presidency were argued with more oaths
+and more vehemence than it had ever been my lot to hear.  Once a
+colonel appeared on the verge of assaulting a major,  when a huge
+seven-foot Kentuckian gentleman horse-dealer, asked of the
+heavens to confound them both, and bade them sit still and be
+d--d.  We too thought we should share this sentence; at least
+sitting still in the cabin seemed very nearly to include the rest
+of it, and we never tarried there a moment longer than was
+absolutely necessary to eat.
+
+The unbroken flatness of the banks of the Mississippi continued
+unvaried for many miles above New Orleans; but the graceful and
+luxuriant palmetto, the dark and noble ilex, and the bright
+orange, were every where to be seen, and it was many days before
+we were weary of looking at them.  We occasionally used the
+opportunity of the boat's stopping to take in wood for a ten
+minutes' visit to the shore; we in this manner explored a field
+of sugar canes, and loaded ourselves with as much of the sweet
+spoil as we could carry.  Many of the passengers seemed fond of
+the luscious juice that is easily expressed from the canes, but
+it was too sweet for my palate.  We also visited, in the same
+rapid manner, a cotton plantation.  A handsome spacious building
+was pointed out to us as a convent, where a considerable number
+of young ladies were educated by the nuns.
+
+At one or two points the wearisome level line of forest is
+relieved by _bluffs_, as they call the short intervals of high
+ground.  The town of Natches is beautifully situated on one of
+these high spots; the climate here, in the warm season, is as
+fatal as that of New Orleans; were it not for this, Natches would
+have great attractions to new settlers.  The beautiful contrast
+that its bright green hill forms with the dismal line of black
+forest that stretches on every side, the abundant growth of
+pawpaw, palmetto and orange, the copious variety of sweet-scented
+flowers that flourish there, all make it appear like an oasis in
+the desert.  Natches is the furthest point to the north at which
+oranges ripen in the open air, or endure the winter without
+shelter.  With the exception of this sweet spot, I thought all
+the little towns and villages we passed, wretched looking, in the
+extreme.  As the distance from New Orleans increased, the air of
+wealth and comfort exhibited in its immediate neighbourhood
+disappeared, and but for one or two clusters of wooden houses,
+calling themselves towns, and borrowing some pompous name,
+generally from Greece or Rome, we might have thought ourselves
+the first of the human race who had ever penetrated into this
+territory of bears and alligators.  But still from time to time
+appeared the hut of the wood-cutter, who supplies the steam-boats
+with fuel, at the risk, or rather with the assurance of early
+death, in exchange for dollars and whiskey.  These sad dwellings
+are nearly all of them inundated during the winter, and the best
+of them are constructed on piles, which permit the water to reach
+its highest level without drowning the wretched inhabitants.
+These unhappy beings are invariably the victims of ague, which
+they meet recklessly, sustained by the incessant use of ardent
+spirits.  The squalid look of the miserable wives and children of
+these men was dreadful, and often as the spectacle was renewed I
+could never look at it with indifference.  Their complexion is of
+a blueish white, that suggests the idea of dropsy; this is
+invariable, and the poor little ones wear exactly the same
+ghastly hue.  A miserable cow and a few pigs standing knee-deep
+in water, distinguish the more prosperous of these dwellings, and
+on the whole I should say that I never witnessed human nature
+reduced so low, as it appeared in the wood-cutters' huts on the
+unwholesome banks of the Mississippi.
+
+It is said that at some points of this dismal river, crocodiles
+are so abundant as to add the terror of their attacks to the
+other sufferings of a dwelling there.  We were told a story of
+a squatter, who having "located" himself close to the river's
+edge, proceeded to build his cabin.  This operation is soon
+performed, for social feeling and the love of whiskey bring all
+the scanty neighbourhood round a new corner, to aid him in
+cutting down trees, and in rolling up the logs, till the mansion
+is complete.  This was done; the wife and five young children
+were put in possession of their new home, and slept soundly after
+a long march.  Towards daybreak the husband and father was
+awakened by a faint cry, and looking up, beheld relics of three
+of his children scattered over the floor, and an enormous
+crocodile, with several young ones around her, occupied in
+devouring the remnants of their horrid meal.  He looked round for
+a weapon, but finding none, and aware that unarmed he could do
+nothing, he raised himself gently on his bed, and contrived to
+crawl from thence through a window, hoping that his wife, whom he
+left sleeping, might with the remaining children rest
+undiscovered till his return.  He flew to his nearest neighbour
+and besought his aid; in less than half an hour two men returned
+with him, all three well armed; but alas! they were too late! the
+wife and her two babes lay mangled on their bloody bed.  The
+gorged reptiles fell an easy prey to their assailants, who, upon
+examining the place, found the hut had been constructed close to
+the mouth of a large hole, almost a cavern, where the monster had
+hatched her hateful brood.
+
+Among other sights of desolation which mark this region,
+condemned of nature, the lurid glare of a burning forest was
+almost constantly visible after sunset, and when the wind so
+willed, the smoke arising from it floated in heavy vapour over
+our heads.  Not all the novelty of the scene, not all its
+vastness, could prevent its heavy horror wearying the spirits.
+Perhaps the dinners and suppers I have described may help to
+account for this; but certain it is, that when we had wondered
+for a week at the ceaseless continuity of forest; had first
+admired, and then wearied of the festooned drapery of Spanish
+moss; when we had learned to distinguish the different masses of
+timber that passed us, or that we passed, as a "snag," a "log" or
+a "sawyer;" when we had finally made up our minds that the
+gentlemen of the Kentucky and Ohio military establishments, were
+not of the same genus as those of the Tuilleries and St. James's,
+we began to wish that we could sleep more hours away.  As we
+advanced to the northward we were no longer cheered by the
+beautiful border of palmettos; and even the amusement of
+occasionally spying out a sleeping crocodile was over.
+
+Just in this state, when we would have fain believed that every
+mile we went, carried us two towards Memphis, a sudden and
+violent shock startled us frightfully.
+
+"It is a sawyer!" said one.
+
+"It is a snag!" cried another.
+
+"We are aground!" exclaimed the captain.
+
+"Aground? Good heavens! and how long shall we stay here?"
+
+"The Lord in his providence can only tell, but long enough to
+tire my patience, I expect."
+
+And the poor English ladies, how fared they the while?
+
+Two breakfasts, two dinners, and a supper did they eat, with the
+Ohio and Kentucky gentlemen, before they moved an inch.  Several
+steam-boats passed while we were thus enthralled; but some were
+not strong enough to attempt drawing us off, and some attempted
+it, but were not strong enough to succeed; at length a vast and
+mighty "thing of life" approached, threw out grappling irons; and
+in three minutes the business was done; again we saw the trees
+and mud slide swiftly past us; and a hearty shout from every
+passenger on deck declared their joy.
+
+At length we had the pleasure of being told that we had arrived
+at Memphis; but this pleasure was considerably abated by the hour
+of our arrival, which was midnight, and by the rain, which was
+falling in torrents.
+
+Memphis stands on a high bluff, and at the time of our arrival
+was nearly inaccessible.  The heavy rain which had been falling
+for many hours would have made any steep ascent difficult, but
+unfortunately a new road had been recently marked out, which
+beguiled us into its almost bottomless mud, from the firmer
+footing of the unbroken cliff.  Shoes and gloves were lost in the
+mire, for we were glad to avail ourselves of all our limbs, and
+we reached the grand hotel in a most deplorable state.
+
+Miss Wright was well known there, and as soon as her arrival was
+announced, every one seemed on the alert to receive her, and we
+soon found ourselves in possession of the best rooms in the
+hotel.  The house was new, and in what appeared to me a very
+comfortless condition, but I was then new to Western America, and
+unaccustomed to their mode of "getting along," as they term it.
+This phrase is eternally in use among them, and seems to mean
+existing with as few of the comforts of life as possible.
+
+We slept soundly however, and rose in the hope of soon changing
+our mortar-smelling-quarters for Miss Wright's Nashoba.
+
+But we presently found that the rain which had fallen during the
+night would make it hazardous to venture through the forests of
+Tennessee in any sort of carriage; we therefore had to pass the
+day at our queer comfortless hotel.  The steam-boat had wearied
+me of social meals, and I should have been thankful to have eaten
+our dinner of hard venison and peach-sauce in a private room; but
+this, Miss Wright said was impossible; the lady of the house
+would consider the proposal as a personal affront, and, moreover,
+it would be assuredly refused.  This latter argument carried
+weight with it, and when the great bell was sounded from an upper
+window of the house, we proceeded to the dining-room.  The table
+was laid for fifty persons, and was already nearly full.  Our
+party had the honour of sitting near "the lady," but to check the
+proud feelings to which such distinction might give birth, my
+servant, William, sat very nearly opposite to me.  The company
+consisted of all the shop-keepers (store-keepers as they are
+called throughout the United States) of the little town.  The
+mayor also, who was a friend of Miss Wright's, was of the party;
+he is a pleasing gentlemanlike man, and seems strangely misplaced
+in a little town on the Mississippi.  We were told that since the
+erection of this hotel, it has been the custom for all the male
+inhabitants of the town to dine and breakfast there.  They ate in
+perfect silence, and with such astonishing rapidity that their
+dinner was over literally before our's was began; the instant
+they ceased to eat, they darted from the table in the same moody
+silence which they had preserved since they entered the room, and
+a second set took their places, who performed their silent parts
+in the same manner.  The only sounds heard were those produced by
+the knives and forks, with the unceasing chorus of coughing, &c.
+No women were present except ourselves and the hostess; the good
+women of Memphis being well content to let their lords partake of
+Mrs. Anderson's turkeys and venison, (without their having the
+trouble of cooking for them), whilst they regale themselves on
+mash and milk at home.
+
+The remainder of the day passed pleasantly enough in rambling
+round the little town, which is situated at the most beautiful
+point of the Mississippi; the river is here so wide as to give it
+the appearance of a noble lake; an island, covered with lofty
+forest trees divides it, and relieves by its broad mass of shadow
+the uniformity of its waters.  The town stretches in a rambling
+irregular manner along the cliff, from the Wolf River, one of the
+innumerable tributaries to the Mississippi, to about a mile below
+it.  Half a mile more of the cliff beyond the town is cleared of
+trees, and produces good pasture for horses, cows, and pigs;
+sheep they had none.  At either end of this space the forest
+again rears its dark wall, and seems to say to man, "so far shalt
+thou come, and no farther!"  Courage and industry, however, have
+braved the warning.  Behind this long street the town straggles
+back into the forest, and the rude path that leads to the more
+distant log dwellings becomes wilder at every step.  The ground
+is broken by frequent water-courses, and the bridges that lead
+across them are formed by trunks of trees thrown over the stream,
+which support others of smaller growth, that are laid across
+them.  These bridges are not very pleasant to pass, for they
+totter under the tread of a man, and tremble most frightfully
+beneath a horse or a waggon; they are, however, very picturesque.
+The great height of the trees, the quantity of pendant vine
+branches that hang amongst them; and the variety of gay plumaged
+birds, particularly the small green parrot, made us feel we were
+in a new world; and a repetition of our walk the next morning
+would have pleased us well, but Miss Wright was anxious to get
+home, and we were scarcely less so to see her Nashoba.  A clumsy
+sort of caravan drawn by two horses was prepared for us; and we
+set off in high spirits for an expedition of fifteen miles
+through the forest.  To avoid passing one of the bridges above
+described, which was thought insecure, our negro driver took us
+through a piece of water, which he assured us was not deep "to
+matter" however we soon lost sight of our pole, and as we were
+evidently descending, we gently remonstrated with him on the
+danger of proceeding, but he only grinned, and flogged in reply;
+we soon saw the front wheels disappear, and horses began to
+plunge and kick most alarmingly, but still without his looking at
+all disturbed.  At length the splinter-bar gave way, upon which
+the black philosopher said very composedly, "I expect you'll best
+be riding out upon the horses, as we've got into an unhandsome
+fix here."  Miss Wright, who sat composedly smiling at the scene,
+said, "Yes, Jacob, that is what we must do;" and with some
+difficulty we, in this manner, reached the shore, and soon found
+ourselves again assembled round Mrs. Anderson's fire.
+
+It was soon settled that we must delay our departure till the
+waters had subsided, but Miss Wright was too anxious to reach
+home to endure this delay and she set off again on horseback,
+accompanied by our man servant, who told me afterwards that they
+rode through places that might have daunted the boldest hunter,
+but that "Miss Wright took it quite easy."
+
+The next day we started again, and the clear air, the bright sun,
+the novel wildness of the dark forest, and our keenly awakened
+curiosity, made the excursion delightful, and enabled us to bear
+without shrinking the bumps and bruises we encountered.  We soon
+lost all trace of a road, at least so it appeared to us, for the
+stumps of the trees, which had been cut away to open a passage,
+were left standing three feet high.  Over these, the high-hung
+Deerborn, as our carriage was called, passed safely; but it
+required some miles of experience to convince us that every stump
+would not be our last; it was amusing to watch the cool and easy
+skill with which the driver wound his horses and wheels among
+these stumps.  I thought he might have been imported to Bond
+street with great advantage.  The forest became thicker and more
+dreary-looking every mile we advanced, but our ever-grinning
+negro declared it was a right good road, and that we should be
+sure to get to Nashoba.
+
+And so we did....and one glance sufficed to convince me that
+every idea I had formed of the place was as far as possible from
+the truth.  Desolation was the only feeling--the only word that
+presented itself; but it was not spoken.  I think, however, that
+Miss Wright was aware of the painful impression the sight of her
+forest home produced on me, and I doubt not that the conviction
+reached us both at the same moment, that we had erred in thinking
+that a few months passed together at this spot could be
+productive of pleasure to either.  But to do her justice, I
+believe her mind was so exclusively occupied by the object she
+had then in view, that all things else were worthless, or
+indifferent to her.  I never heard or read of any enthusiasm
+approaching her's, except in some few instances, in ages past, of
+religious fanaticism.
+
+It must have been some feeling equally powerful which enabled
+Miss Wright, accustomed to all the comfort and refinement of
+Europe, to imagine not only that she herself could exist in this
+wilderness, but that her European friends could enter there, and
+not feel dismayed at the savage aspect of the scene.  The annexed
+plate gives a faithful view of the cleared space and buildings
+which form the settlement.  Each building consisted of two large
+rooms furnished in the most simple manner; nor had they as yet
+collected round them any of those minor comforts which ordinary
+minds class among the necessaries of life.  But in this our
+philosophical friend seemed to see no evil; nor was there any
+mixture of affectation in this indifference; it was a
+circumstance really and truly beneath her notice.  Her whole
+heart and soul were occupied by the hope of raising the African
+to the level of European intellect; and even now, that I have
+seen this favourite fabric of her imagination fall to pieces
+beneath her feet, I cannot recall the self-devotion with which
+she gave herself to it, without admiration.
+
+The only white persons we found at Nashoba were my amiable
+friend, Mrs. W--, the sister of Miss Wright, and her husband.
+I think they had between thirty and forty slaves, including
+children, but when I was there no school had been established.
+Books and other materials for the great experiment had been
+collected, and one or two professors engaged, but nothing was yet
+organized.  I found my friend Mrs. W-- in very bad health, which
+she confessed she attributed to the climate.  This naturally so
+much alarmed me for my children, that I decided upon leaving the
+place with as little delay as possible, and did so at the end of
+ten days.
+
+I do not exactly know what was the immediate cause which induced
+Miss Wright to abandon a scheme which had taken such possession
+of her imagination, and on which she had expended so much money;
+but many months had not elapsed before I learnt, with much
+pleasure, that she and her sister had also left it.  I think it
+probable that she became aware upon returning to Nashoba, that
+the climate was too hostile to their health.  All I know farther
+of Nashoba is, that Miss Wright having found (from some cause or
+other) that it was impossible to pursue her object, herself
+accompanied her slaves to Hayti, and left them there, free, and
+under the protection of the President.
+
+I found no beauty in the scenery round Nashoba, nor can I
+conceive that it would possess any even in summer.  The trees
+were so close to each other as not to permit the growth of
+underwood, the great ornament of the forest at New Orleans, and
+still less of our seeing any openings, where the varying effects
+of light and shade might atone for the absence of other objects.
+The clearing round the settlement appeared to me inconsiderable
+and imperfect; but I was told that they had grown good crops of
+cotton and Indian corn.  The weather was dry and agreeable, and
+the aspects of the heavens by night surprisingly beautiful.  I
+never saw moonlight so clear, so pure, so powerful.
+
+We returned to Memphis on the 26th January, 1828, and found
+ourselves obliged to pass five days there, awaiting a steam-boat
+for Cincinnati, to which metropolis of the west, I was now
+determined to proceed with my family to await the arrival of
+Mr. Trollope.  We were told by everyone we spoke to at Memphis,
+that it was in all respects the finest situation west of the
+Alleghanies.  We found many lovely walks among the broken
+forest glades around Memphis, which, together with a morning
+and evening enjoyment of the effects of a glowing horizon on
+the river, enabled us to wait patiently for the boat that was
+to bear us away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 4
+
+Departure from Memphis--Ohio River Louisville--Cincinnati
+
+
+
+On the 1st of February, 1828, we embarked on board the Criterion,
+and once more began to float on the "father of waters," as the
+poor banished Indians were wont to call the Mississippi.  The
+company on board was wonderfully like what we had met in coming
+from New Orleans; I think they must have all been first cousins;
+and what was singular, they too had all arrived at high rank in
+the army.  For many a wearisome mile above the Wolf River the
+only scenery was still forest--forest--forest; the only variety
+was produced by the receding of the river at some points, and its
+encroaching on the opposite shore.  These changes are continually
+going on, but from what cause none could satisfactorily explain
+to me.  Where the river is encroaching, the trees are seen
+growing in the water many feet deep; after some time, the water
+undermines their roots, and they become the easy victims of the
+first hurricane that blows.  This is one source of the immense
+quantities of drift wood that float into the gulf of Mexico.
+Where the river has receded, a young growth of cane-brake is soon
+seen starting up with the rapid vegetation of the climate; these
+two circumstances in some degree relieve the sameness of the
+thousand miles of vegetable wall.  But we were now approaching
+the river which is emphatically called "the beautiful," La Belle
+Riveriere of the New Orleans French; and a few days took us, I
+trust for ever, out of that murky stream which is as emphatically
+called "the deadly;" and well does it seem to merit the title;
+the air of its shores is mephitic, and it is said that nothing
+that ever sunk beneath its muddy surface was known to rise again.
+As truly does "La Belle Riviere" deserve its name; the Ohio is
+bright and clear; its banks are continually varied, as it flows
+through what is called a rolling country, which seems to mean a
+district that cannot .shew a dozen paces of level ground at a
+time.  The primaeval forest still occupies a considerable portion
+of the ground, and hangs in solemn grandeur from the cliffs; but
+it is broken by frequent settlements, where we were cheered by
+the sight of herds and flocks.  I imagine that this river
+presents almost every variety of river scenery; sometimes its
+clear wave waters a meadow of level turf; sometimes it is bounded
+by perpendicular rocks; pretty dwellings, with their gay porticos
+are seen, alternately with wild intervals of forest, where the
+tangled bear-brake plainly enough indicates what inhabitants are
+native there.  Often a mountain torrent comes pouring its silver
+tribute to the stream, and were there occasionally a ruined
+abbey, or feudal castle, to mix the romance of real life with
+that of nature, the Ohio would be perfect.
+
+So powerful was the effect of this sweet scenery, that we ceased
+to grumble at our dinners and suppers; nay, we almost learnt to
+rival our neighbours at table in their voracious rapidity of
+swallowing, so eager were we to place ourselves again on the
+guard, lest we might lose sight of the beauty that was passing
+away from us.
+
+Yet these fair shores are still unhealthy.  More than once we
+landed, and conversed with the families of the wood-cutters, and
+scarcely was there one in which we did not hear of some member
+who had "lately died of the fever."--They are all subject to
+ague, and though their dwellings are infinitely better than those
+on the Mississippi, the inhabitants still look like a race that
+are selling their lives for gold.
+
+Louisville is a considerable town, prettily situated on the
+Kentucky, or south side of the Ohio; we spent some hours in
+seeing all it had to shew; and had I not been told that a bad
+fever often rages there during the warm season, I should have
+liked to pass some months there for the purpose of exploring
+the beautiful country in its vicinity.  Frankfort and Lexington
+are both towns worth visiting, though from their being out of
+the way places, I never got to either.  The first is the seat of
+the state government of Kentucky, and the last is, I was told,
+the residence of several independent families, who, with more
+leisure than is usually enjoyed in America, have its natural
+accompaniment, more refinement.
+
+The falls of the Ohio are about a mile below Louisville, and
+produce a rapid, too sudden for the boats to pass, except in the
+rainy season.  The passengers are obliged to get out below them,
+and travel by land to Louisville, where they find other vessels
+ready to receive them for the remainder of the voyage.  We were
+spared this inconvenience by the water being too high for the
+rapid to be much felt, and it will soon be altogether removed by
+the Louisville canal coming into operation, which will permit the
+steam-boats to continue their progress from below the falls to
+the town.
+
+The scenery on the Kentucky side is much finer than on that of
+Indiana, or Ohio.  The State of Kentucky was the darling spot of
+many tribes of Indians, and was reserved among them as a common
+hunting ground; it is said that they cannot yet name it without
+emotion, and that they have a sad and wild lament that they still
+chaunt to its memory.  But their exclusion thence is of no recent
+date; Kentucky has been longer settled than the Illinois,
+Indiana, or Ohio, and it appears not only more highly cultivated,
+but more fertile and more picturesque than either.  I have rarely
+seen richer pastures than those of Kentucky.  The forest trees,
+where not too crowded, are of magnificent growth, and the crops
+are gloriously abundant where the thriftless husbandry has not
+worn out the soil by an unvarying succession of exhausting crops.
+We were shewn ground which had borne abundant crops of wheat for
+twenty successive years; but a much shorter period suffices to
+exhaust the ground, if it were made to produce tobacco without
+the intermission of some other crop.
+
+We reached Cincinnati on the 10th of February.  It is finely
+situated on the south side of a hill that rises gently from
+the water's edge; yet it is by no means a city of striking
+appearance; it wants domes, towers, and steeples; but its
+landing-place is noble, extending for more than a quarter of
+a mile; it is well paved, and surrounded by neat, though not
+handsome buildings.  I have seen fifteen steam-boats lying
+there at once, and still half the wharf was unoccupied.
+
+On arriving we repaired to the Washington Hotel, and thought
+ourselves fortunate when we were told that we were just in time
+for dinner at the table d'hote; but when the dining-room door was
+opened, we retreated with a feeling of dismay at seeing between
+sixty and seventy men already at table.  We took our dinner with
+the females of the family, and then went forth to seek a house
+for our permanent accommodation.
+
+We went to the office of an advertising agent, who professed to
+keep a register of all such information, and described the
+dwelling we wanted.  He made no difficulty, but told us his boy
+should be our guide through the city, and shew us what we sought;
+we accordingly set out with him, and he led us up one street, and
+down another, but evidently without any determinate object; I
+therefore stopped, and asked him whereabout the houses were which
+we were going to see.  "I am looking for bills," was his reply.
+
+I thought we could have looked for bills as well without him, and
+I told him so; upon which he assumed an air of great activity,
+and began knocking regularly at every door we passed, enquiring
+if the house was to be let.  It was impossible to endure this
+long, and our guide was dismissed, though I was afterwards
+obliged to pay him a dollar for his services.
+
+We had the good fortune, however, to find a dwelling before
+long, and we returned to our hotel, having determined upon
+taking possession of it as soon at it could be got ready.
+Not wishing to take our evening meal either with the three
+score and ten gentlemen of the dining-room, nor yet with the
+half dozen ladies of the bar-room, I ordered tea in my own
+chamber.  A good-humoured Irish woman came forward with a sort
+of patronising manner, took my hand, and said, "Och, my honey,
+ye'll be from the old country.  I'll see you will have your tay
+all to yourselves, honey."  With this assurance we retired to
+my room, which was a handsome one as to its size and bed
+furniture, but it had no carpet, and was darkened by blinds of
+paper, such as rooms are hung with, which required to be rolled
+up, and then fastened with strings very awkwardly attached to
+the window-frames, whenever light or air were wished for.
+I afterwards met with these same uncomfortable blinds in every
+part of America.
+
+Our Irish friend soon reappeared, and brought us tea, together
+with the never failing accompaniments of American tea drinking,
+hung beef, "chipped up" raw, and sundry sweetmeats of brown
+sugar hue and flavour.  We took our tea, and were enjoying our
+family talk, relative to our future arrangements, when a loud
+sharp knocking was heard at our door.  My "come in," was answered
+by the appearance of a portly personage, who proclaimed himself
+our landlord.
+
+"Are any of you ill?" he began.
+
+"No thank you, sir; we are all quite well," was my reply.
+
+"Then, madam, I must tell you, that I cannot accommodate you on
+these terms; we have no family tea-drinkings here, and you must
+live either with me or my wife, or not at all in my house."
+
+This was said with an air of authority that almost precluded
+reply, but I ventured a sort of apologistic hint, that we were
+strangers and unaccustomed to the manners of the country.
+
+"Our manners are very good manners, and we don't wish any changes
+from England."
+
+I thought of mine host of the Washington afterwards, when reading
+Scott's "Anne of Geierstein;" he, in truth, strongly resembled
+the inn keeper therein immortalized, who made his guests eat,
+drink, and sleep, just where, when, and how he pleased.  I made
+no farther remonstrance, but determined to hasten my removal.
+This we achieved the next day to our great satisfaction.
+
+We were soon settled in our new dwelling, which looked neat and
+comfortable enough, but we speedily found that it was devoid of
+nearly all the accommodation that Europeans conceive necessary to
+decency and comfort.  No pump, no cistern, no drain of any kind,
+no dustman's cart, or any other visible means of getting rid of
+the rubbish, which vanishes with such celerity in London, that
+one has no time to think of its existence; but which accumulated
+so rapidly at Cincinnati, that I sent for my landlord to know in
+what manner refuse of all kinds was to be disposed of.
+
+"Your Help will just have to fix them all into the middle of
+the street, but you must mind, old woman, that it is the middle.
+I expect you don't know as we have got a law what forbids
+throwing such things at the sides of the streets; they must
+just all be cast right into the middle, and the pigs soon takes
+them off."
+
+In truth the pigs are constantly seen doing Herculean service in
+this way through every quarter of the city; and though it is not
+very agreeable to live surrounded by herds of these unsavoury
+animals, it is well they are so numerous, and so active in
+their capacity of scavengers, for without them the streets
+would soon be choked up with all sorts of substances in every
+stage of decomposition.
+
+We had heard so much of Cincinnati, its beauty, wealth, and
+unequalled prosperity, that when we left Memphis to go thither,
+we almost felt the delight of Rousseau's novice, "un voyage a
+faire, et Paris au bout!"  --As soon, therefore, as our little
+domestic arrangements were completed, we set forth to view
+this "wonder of the west" this "prophet's gourd of magic
+growth,"--this "infant Hercules;" and surely no travellers
+ever paraded a city under circumstances more favourable to
+their finding it fair to the sight.  Three dreary months had
+elapsed since we had left the glories of London behind us; for
+nearly the whole of that time we beheld no other architecture
+than what our ship and steam-boats had furnished, and excepting
+at New Orleans, had seen hardly a trace of human habitations.
+The sight of bricks and mortar was really refreshing, and a
+house of three stories looked splendid.  Of this splendour we
+saw repeated specimens, and moreover a brick church, which,
+from its two little peaked spires, is called the two-horned
+church.  But, alas! the flatness of reality after the imagination
+has been busy!  I hardly know what I expected to find in this
+city, fresh risen from the bosom of the wilderness, but certainly
+it was not a little town, about the size of Salisbury, without
+even an attempt at beauty in any of its edifices, and with only
+just enough of the air of a city to make it noisy and bustling.
+The population is greater than the appearance of the town would
+lead one to expect.  This is partly owing to the number of free
+Negroes who herd together in an obscure part of the city, called
+little Africa; and partly to the density of the population round
+the paper-mills and other manufactories.  I believe the number of
+inhabitants exceeds twenty thousand.
+
+We arrived in Cincinnati in February, 1828, and I speak of the
+town as it was then; several small churches have been built
+since, whose towers agreeably relieve its uninteresting mass of
+buildings.  At that time I think Main street, which is the
+principal avenue, (and runs through the whole town, answering to
+the High street of our old cities), was the only one entirely
+paved.  The _troittoir_ is of brick, tolerably well laid, but it
+is inundated by every shower, as Cincinnati has no drains
+whatever.  What makes this omission the more remarkable is, that
+the situation of the place is calculated both to facilitate their
+construction and render them necessary.  Cincinnati is built on
+the side of a hill that begins to rise at the river's edge, and
+were it furnished with drains of the simplest arrangement, the
+heavy showers of the climate would keep them constantly clean; as
+it is, these showers wash the higher streets, only to deposit
+their filth in the first level spot; and this happens to be in
+the street second in importance to Main street, running at right
+angles to it, and containing most of the large warehouses of the
+town.  This deposit is a dreadful nuisance, and must be
+productive of miasma during the hot weather.
+
+The town is built, as I believe most American towns are, in
+squares, as they call them; but these squares are the reverse of
+our's, being solid instead of hollow.  Each consists, or is
+intended to consist, when the plan of the city is completed, of
+a block of buildings fronting north, east, west, and south; each
+house communicating with an alley, furnishing a back entrance.
+This plan would not be a bad one were the town properly drained,
+but as it is, these alleys are horrible abominations, and must, I
+conceive, become worse with every passing year.
+
+To the north, Cincinnati is bounded by a range of forest-covered
+hills, sufficiently steep and rugged to prevent their being built
+upon, or easily cultivated, but not sufficiently high to command
+from their summits a view of any considerable extent.  Deep and
+narrow water-courses, dry in summer, but bringing down heavy
+streams in winter, divide these hills into many separate heights,
+and this furnishes the only variety the landscape offers for many
+miles round the town.  The lovely Ohio is a beautiful feature
+wherever it is visible, but the only part of the city that has
+the advantage of its beauty is the street nearest to its bank.
+The hills of Kentucky, which rise at about the same distance from
+the river, on the opposite side, form the southern boundary to
+the basin in which Cincinnati is built.
+
+On first arriving, I thought the many tree covered hills around,
+very beautiful, but long before my departure, I felt so weary of
+the confined view, that Salisbury Plain would have been an
+agreeable variety.  I doubt if any inhabitant of Cincinnati ever
+mounted these hills so often as myself and my children; but it
+was rather for the enjoyment of a freer air than for any beauty
+of prospect, that we took our daily climb.  These hills afford
+neither shrubs nor flowers, but furnish the finest specimens of
+millepore in the world; and the water courses are full of fossil
+productions.
+
+The forest trees are neither large nor well grown, and so close
+as to be nearly knotted together at top; even the wild vine here
+loses its beauty, for its graceful festoons bear leaves only when
+they reach the higher branches of the tree that supports them,
+both air and light being too scantily found below to admit of
+their doing more than climbing with a bare stem till they reach a
+better atmosphere.  The herb we call pennyroyal was the only one
+I found in abundance, and that only on the brows, where the
+ground had been partially cleared; vegetation is impossible
+elsewhere, and it is this circumstance which makes the "eternal
+forests" of America so detestable.  Near New Orleans the
+undergrowth of Palmetto and pawpaw is highly beautiful, but in
+Tennessee, Indiana, and Ohio, I never found the slightest beauty
+in the forest scenery.  Fallen trees in every possible stage of
+decay, and congeries of leaves that have been rotting since the
+flood, cover the ground and infect the air.  The beautiful
+variety of foliage afforded by evergreens never occurs, and in
+Tennessee, and that part of Ohio that surrounds Cincinnati, even
+the sterile beauty of rocks is wanting.  On crossing the water to
+Kentucky the scene is greatly improved; beech and chestnut, of
+magnificent growth, border the beautiful river; the ground has
+been well cleared, and the herbage is excellent; the pawpaw grows
+abundantly, and is a splendid shrub, though it bears neither
+fruit nor flowers so far north.  The noble tulip tree flourishes
+here, and blooms profusely.
+
+The river Licking flows into the Ohio nearly opposite Cincinnati;
+it is a pretty winding stream, and two or three miles from its
+mouth has a brisk rapid, dancing among white stones, which, in
+the absence of better rocks, we found very picturesque.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 5
+
+Cincinnati--Forest Farm--Mr. Bullock
+
+
+
+Though I do not quite sympathise with those who consider
+Cincinnati as one of the wonders of the earth, I certainly think
+it a city of extraordinary size and importance, when it is
+remembered that thirty years ago the aboriginal forest occupied
+the ground where it stands; and every month appears to extend its
+limits and its wealth.
+
+Some of the native political economists assert that this rapid
+conversion of a bear-brake into a prosperous city, is the result
+of free political institutions; not being very deep in such
+matters, a more obvious cause suggested itself to me, in the
+unceasing goad which necessity applies to industry in this
+country, and in the absence of all resource for the idle.
+During nearly two years that I resided in Cincinnati, or its
+neighbourhood, I neither saw a beggar, nor a man of sufficient
+fortune to permit his ceasing his efforts to increase it; thus
+every bee in the hive is actively employed in search of that
+honey of Hybla, vulgarly called money; neither art, science,
+learning, nor pleasure can seduce them from its pursuit.  This
+unity of purpose, backed by the spirit of enterprise, and joined
+with an acuteness and total absence of probity, where interest is
+concerned, which might set canny Yorkshire at defiance, may well
+go far towards obtaining its purpose.
+
+The low rate of taxation, too, unquestionably permits a more
+rapid accumulation of individual wealth than with us; but till I
+had travelled through America, I had no idea how much of the
+money collected in taxes returns among the people, not only in
+the purchase of what their industry furnishes, but in the actual
+enjoyment of what is furnished.  Were I an English legislator,
+instead of sending sedition to the Tower, I would send her to
+make a tour of the United States.  I had a little leaning towards
+sedition myself when I set out, but before I had half completed
+my tour I was quite cured.
+
+I have read much of the "few and simple wants of rational man,"
+and I used to give a sort of dreamy acquiescence to the reasoning
+that went to prove each added want an added woe.  Those who
+reason in a comfortable London drawing-room know little about the
+matter.  Were the aliments which sustain life all that we wanted,
+the faculties of the hog might suffice us; but if we analyze an
+hour of enjoyment, we shall find that it is made up of agreeable
+sensations occasioned by a thousand delicate impressions on
+almost as many nerves; where these nerves are sluggish from never
+having been awakened, external objects are less important, for
+they are less perceived; but where the whole machine of the human
+frame is in full activity, where every sense brings home to
+consciousness its touch of pleasure or of pain, then every object
+that meets the senses is important as a vehicle of happiness or
+misery.  But let no frames so tempered visit the United States,
+or if they do, let it be with no longer pausing than will store
+the memory with images, which, by the force of contrast, shall
+sweeten the future.
+
+"Guarda e passa (e poi) ragiam di lor."
+
+The "simple" manner of living in Western America was more
+distasteful to me from its levelling effects on the manners of
+the people, than from the personal privations that it rendered
+necessary; and yet, till I was without them, I was in no degree
+aware of the many pleasurable sensations derived from the little
+elegancies and refinements enjoyed by the middle classes in
+Europe.  There were many circumstances, too trifling even for my
+gossiping pages, which pressed themselves daily and hourly upon
+us, and which forced us to remember painfully that we were not at
+home.  It requires an abler pen than mine to trace the connection
+which I am persuaded exists between these deficiencies and the
+minds and manners of the people.  All animal wants are supplied
+profusely at Cincinnati, and at a very easy rate; but, alas!
+these go but a little way in the history of a day's enjoyment.
+The total and universal want of manners, both in males and
+females, is so remarkable, that I was constantly endeavouring to
+account for it.  It certainly does not proceed from want of
+intellect.  I have listened to much dull and heavy conversation
+in America, but rarely to any that I could strictly call silly,
+(if I except the every where privileged class of very young
+ladies).  They appear to me to have clear heads and active
+intellects; are more ignorant on subjects that are only of
+conventional value, than on such as are of intrinsic importance;
+but there is no charm, no grace in their conversation.  I very
+seldom during my whole stay in the country heard a sentence
+elegantly turned, and correctly pronounced from the lips of an
+American.  There is always something either in the expression or
+the accent that jars the feelings and shocks the taste.
+
+I will not pretend to decide whether man is better or worse off
+for requiring refinement in the manners and customs of the
+society that surrounds him, and for being incapable of enjoyment
+without them; but in America that polish which removes the
+coarser and rougher parts of our nature is unknown and undreamed
+of.  There is much substantial comfort, and some display in the
+larger cities; in many of the more obvious features they are as
+Paris or as London, being all large assemblies of active and
+intelligent human beings--but yet they are wonderfully unlike in
+nearly all their moral features.  Now God forbid that any
+reasonable American, (of whom there are so many millions), should
+ever come to ask me what I mean; I should find it very difficult,
+nay, perhaps, utterly impossible, to explain myself; but, on the
+other hand, no European who has visited the Union, will find the
+least difficulty in understanding me.  I am in no way competent
+to judge of the political institutions of America; and if I
+should occasionally make an observation on their effects, as they
+meet my superficial glance, they will be made in the spirit, and
+with the feeling of a woman, who is apt to tell what her first
+impressions may be, but unapt to reason back from effects to
+their causes.  Such observations, if they be unworthy of much
+attention, are also obnoxious to little reproof: but there are
+points of national peculiarity of which women may judge as ably
+as men,--all that constitutes the external of society may be
+fairly trusted to us.
+
+Captain Hall, when asked what appeared to him to constitute the
+greatest difference between England and America, replied, like a
+gallant sailor, "the want of loyalty." Were the same question put
+to me, I should answer, "the want of refinement."
+
+Were Americans, indeed, disposed to assume the plain unpretending
+deportment of the Switzer in the days of his picturesque
+simplicity, (when, however, he never chewed tobacco), it would
+be in bad taste to censure him; but this is not the case.
+Jonathan will be a fine gentleman, but it must be in his own way.
+Is he not a free-born American?  Jonathan, however, must
+remember, that if he will challenge competition with the old
+world, the old world will now and then look out to see how he
+supports his pretensions.
+
+With their hours of business, whether judicial or mercantile,
+civil or military, I have nothing to do; I doubt not they are all
+spent wisely and profitably; but what are their hours of
+recreation?  Those hours that with us are passed in the enjoyment
+of all that art can win from nature; when, if the elaborate
+repast be more deeply relished than sages might approve, it is
+redeemed from sensuality by the presence of elegance and beauty.
+What is the American pendant to this?  I will not draw any
+comparisons between a good dinner party in the two countries; I
+have heard American gentlemen say, that they could perceive no
+difference between them; but in speaking of general manners, I
+may observe, that it is rarely they dine in society, except in
+taverns and boarding houses.  Then they eat with the greatest
+possible rapidity, and in total silence; I have heard it said by
+American ladies, that the hours of greatest enjoyment to the
+gentlemen were those in which a glass of gin cocktail, or egging,
+receives its highest relish from the absence of all restraint
+whatever; and when there were no ladies to trouble them.
+
+Notwithstanding all this, the country is a very fine country,
+well worth visiting for a thousand reasons; nine hundred and
+ninety-nine of these are reasons founded on admiration and
+respect; the thousandth is, that we shall feel the more contented
+with our own.  The more unlike a country through which we travel
+is to all we have left, the more we are likely to be amused;
+every thing in Cincinnati had this newness, and I should have
+thought it a place delightful to visit, but to tarry there was
+not to feel at home.
+
+My home, however, for a time it was to be.  We heard on every
+side, that of all the known places on "the globe called earth,"
+Cincinnati was the most favourable for a young man to settle in;
+and I only awaited the arrival of Mr. T. to fix our son there,
+intending to continue with him till he should feel himself
+sufficiently established.  We accordingly determined upon making
+ourselves as comfortable as possible.  I took a larger house,
+which, however, I did not obtain without considerable difficulty,
+as, notwithstanding fourteen hundred new dwellings had been
+erected the preceding year, the demand for houses greatly
+exceeded the supply.  We became acquainted with several amiable
+people, and we beguiled the anxious interval that preceded Mr.
+T.'s joining us by frequent excursions in the neighbourhood,
+which not only afforded us amusement, but gave us an opportunity
+of observing the mode of life of the country people.
+
+We visited one farm, which interested us particularly from its
+wild and lonely situation, and from the entire dependence of the
+inhabitants upon their own resources.  It was a partial clearing
+in the very heart of the forest.  The house was built on the side
+of a hill, so steep that a high ladder was necessary to enter the
+front door, while the back one opened against the hill side; at
+the foot of this sudden eminence ran a clear stream, whose bed
+had been deepened into a little reservoir, just opposite the
+house.  A noble field of Indian-corn stretched away into the
+forest on one side, and a few half-cleared acres, with a shed or
+two upon them, occupied the other, giving accommodation to cows,
+horses, pigs, and chickens innumerable.  Immediately before the
+house was a small potatoe garden, with a few peach and apple
+trees.  The house was built of logs, and consisted of two rooms,
+besides a little shanty or lean-to, that was used as a kitchen.
+Both rooms were comfortably furnished with good beds, drawers,
+&c.  The farmer's wife, and a young woman who looked like her
+sister, were spinning, and three little children were playing
+about.  The woman told me that they spun and wove all the cotton
+and woolen garments of the family, and knit all the stockings;
+her husband, though not a shoe-maker by trade, made all the
+shoes.  She manufactured all the soap and candles they used, and
+prepared her sugar from the sugar-trees on their farm.  All she
+wanted with money, she said, was to buy coffee, tea, and whiskey,
+and she could "get enough any day by sending a batch of butter
+and chicken to market."  They used no wheat, nor sold any of
+their corn, which, though it appeared a very large quantity, was
+not more than they required to make their bread and cakes of
+various kinds, and to feed all their live stock during the
+winter.  She did not look in health, and said they had all had
+ague in "the fall;" but she seemed contented, and proud of her
+independence; though it was in somewhat a mournful accent that
+she said, "Tis strange to us to see company: I expect the sun may
+rise and set a hundred times before I shall see another _human_
+that does not belong to the family."
+
+I have been minute in the description of this forest farm, as
+I think it the best specimen I saw of the back-wood's
+independence, of which so much is said in America.
+These people were indeed independent, Robinson Crusoe was
+hardly more so, and they eat and drink abundantly; but yet
+it seemed to me that there was something awful and almost
+unnatural in their loneliness.  No village bell ever summoned
+them to prayer, where they might meet the friendly greeting of
+their fellow-men.  When they die, no spot sacred by ancient
+reverence will receive their bones--Religion will not breathe
+her sweet and solemn farewell upon their grave; the husband or
+the father will dig the pit that is to hold them, beneath the
+nearest tree; he will himself deposit them within it, and the
+wind that whispers through the boughs will be their only requiem.
+But then they pay neither taxes nor tythes, are never expected to
+pull off a hat or to make a curtsy, and will live and die without
+hearing or uttering the dreadful words, "God save the king."
+
+
+About two miles below Cincinnati, on the Kentucky side of the
+river, Mr. Bullock, the well known proprietor of the Egyptian
+Hall, has bought a large estate, with a noble house upon it.
+He and his amiable wife were devoting themselves to the
+embellishment of the house and grounds; and certainly there is
+more taste and art lavished on one of their beautiful saloons,
+than all Western America can show elsewhere.  It is impossible to
+help feeling that Mr. Bullock is rather out of his element in
+this remote spot, and the gems of art he has brought with him,
+shew as strangely there, as would a bower of roses in Siberia, or
+a Cincinnati fashionable at Almack's.  The exquisite beauty of
+the spot, commanding one of the finest reaches of the Ohio, the
+extensive gardens, and the large and handsome mansion, have
+tempted Mr. Bullock to spend a large sum in the purchase of this
+place, and if any one who has passed his life in London could
+endure such a change, the active mind and sanguine spirit of Mr.
+Bullock might enable him to do it; but his frank, and truly
+English hospitality, and his enlightened and enquiring mind,
+seemed sadly wasted there.  I have since heard with pleasure that
+Mr. Bullock has parted with this beautiful, but secluded mansion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 6
+
+Servants--Society--Evening Parties
+
+
+
+The greatest difficulty in organising a family establishment in
+Ohio, is getting servants, or, as it is there called, "getting
+help," for it is more than petty treason to the Republic, to call
+a free citizen a _servant_.  The whole class of young women,
+whose bread depends upon their labour, are taught to believe that
+the most abject poverty is preferable to domestic service.
+Hundreds of half-naked girls work in the paper-mills, or in any
+other manufactory, for less than half the wages they would
+receive in service; but they think their equality is compromised
+by the latter, and nothing but the wish to obtain some particular
+article of finery will ever induce them to submit to it.  A kind
+friend, however, exerted herself so effectually for me, that a
+tall stately lass soon presented herself, saying, "I be come to
+help you."  The intelligence was very agreeable, and I welcomed
+her in the most gracious manner possible, and asked what I should
+give her by the year.
+
+"Oh Gimini!" exclaimed the damsel, with a loud laugh, "you be a
+downright Englisher, sure enough.  I should like to see a young
+lady engage by the year in America!  I hope I shall get a husband
+before many months, or I expect I shall be an outright old maid,
+for I be most seventeen already; besides, mayhap I may want to go
+to school.  You must just give me a dollar and half a week, and
+mother's slave, Phillis, must come over once a week, I expect,
+from t'other side the water, to help me clean."  I agreed to the
+bargain, of course, with all dutiful submission; and seeing she
+was preparing to set to work in a yellow dress parseme with red
+roses, I gently hinted, that I thought it was a pity to spoil so
+fine a gown, and that she had better change it.
+
+"'Tis just my best and my worst," she answered, "for I've got no
+other."
+
+And in truth I found that this young lady had left the paternal
+mansion with no more clothes of any kind than what she had on.
+I immediately gave her money to purchase what was necessary for
+cleanliness and decency, and set to work with my daughters to
+make her a gown.  She grinned applause when our labour was
+completed, but never uttered the slightest expression of
+gratitude for that, or for any thing else we could do for her.
+She was constantly asking us to lend her different articles of
+dress, and when we declined it, she said, "Well, I never seed
+such grumpy folks as you be; there is several young ladies of my
+acquaintance what goes to live out now and then with the old
+women about the town, and they and their gurls always lends them
+what they asks for; I guess you Inglish thinks we should poison
+your things, just as bad as if we was Negurs."  And here I beg to
+assure the reader, that whenever I give conversations they were
+not made A LOISIR, but were written down immediately after they
+occurred, with all the verbal fidelity my memory permitted.
+
+This young lady left me at the end of two months, because I
+refused to lend her money enough to buy a silk dress to go to a
+ball, saying, "Then 'tis not worth my while to stay any longer."
+
+I cannot imagine it possible that such a state of things can be
+desirable, or beneficial to any of the parties concerned.
+I might occupy a hundred pages on the subject, and yet fail to
+give an adequate idea of the sore, angry, ever wakeful pride that
+seemed to torment these poor wretches.  In many of them it was so
+excessive, that all feeling of displeasure, or even of ridicule,
+was lost in pity.  One of these was a pretty girl, whose natural
+disposition must have been gentle and kind; but her good feelings
+were soured, and her gentleness turned to morbid sensitiveness,
+by having heard a thousand and a thousand times that she was as
+good as any other lady, that all men were equal, and women too,
+and that it was a sin and a shame for a free-born American to be
+treated like a servant.
+
+When she found she was to dine in the kitchen, she turned up her
+pretty lip, and said, "I guess that's 'cause you don't think I'm
+good enough to eat with you.  You'll find that won't do here."
+I found afterwards that she rarely ate any dinner at all, and
+generally passed the time in tears.  I did every thing in my
+power to conciliate and make her happy, but I am sure she hated
+me.  I gave her very high wages, and she staid till she had
+obtained several expensive articles of dress, and then, UN BEAU
+MATIN, she came to me full dressed, and said, "I must go."  "When
+shall you return, Charlotte?"  "I expect you'll see no more of
+me."  And so we parted.  Her sister was also living with me, but
+her wardrobe was not yet completed, and she remained some weeks
+longer, till it was.
+
+I fear it may be called bad taste to say so much concerning my
+domestics, but, nevertheless, the circumstances are so
+characteristic of America that I must recount another history
+relating to them.  A few days after the departure of my ambitious
+belle, my cries for "Help" had been so effectual that another
+young lady presented herself, with the usual preface "I'm come to
+help you."  I had been cautioned never to ask for a reference for
+character, as it would not only rob me of that help, but entirely
+prevent my ever getting another; so, five minutes after she
+entered she was installed, bundle and all, as a member of the
+family.  She was by no means handsome, but there was an air of
+simple frankness in her manner that won us all.  For my own part,
+I thought I had got a second Jeanie Deans; for she recounted to
+me histories of her early youth, wherein her plain good sense and
+strong mind had enabled her to win her way through a host of
+cruel step-mothers, faithless lovers, and cheating brothers.
+Among other things, she told me, with the appearance of much
+emotion, that she had found, since she came to town, a cure for
+all her sorrows, "Thanks and praise for it, I have got religion!"
+and then she asked if I would spare her to go to Meeting every
+Tuesday and Thursday evening; "You shall not have to want me,
+Mrs. Trollope, for our minister knows that we have all our duties
+to perform to man, as well as to God, and he makes the Meeting
+late in the evening that they may not cross one another."  Who
+could refuse?  Not I, and Nancy had leave to go to Meeting two
+evenings in the week, besides Sundays.
+
+One night, that the mosquitoes had found their way under my net,
+and prevented my sleeping, I heard some one enter the house very
+late; I got up, went to the top of the stairs, and, by the help
+of a bright moon, recognised Nancy's best bonnet.  I called to
+her: "You are very late." said I.  "what is the reason of it?"
+"Oh, Mrs. Trollope," she replied, "I am late, indeed!  We have
+this night had seventeen souls added to our flock.  May they live
+to bless this night!  But it has been a long sitting, and very
+warm; I'll just take a drink of water, and get to bed; you shan't
+find me later in the morning for it."  Nor did I.  She was an
+excellent servant, and performed more than was expected from her;
+moreover, she always found time to read the Bible several times
+in the day, and I seldom saw her occupied about any thing without
+observing that she had placed it near her.
+
+At last she fell sick with the cholera, and her life was
+despaired of.  I nursed her with great care, and sat up the
+greatest part of two nights with her.  She was often delirious,
+and all her wandering thoughts seemed to ramble to heaven.
+"I have been a sinner," she said, "but I am safe in the Lord
+Jesus."  When she recovered, she asked me to let her go into the
+country for a few days, to change the air, and begged me to lend
+her three dollars.
+
+While she was absent a lady called on me, and enquired, with some
+agitation, if my servant, Nancy Fletcher, were at home.
+I replied that she was gone into the country.  "Thank God," she
+exclaimed, "never let her enter your doors again, she is the most
+abandoned woman in the town: a gentleman who knows you, has been
+told that she lives with you, and that she boasts of having the
+power of entering your house at any hour of night."  She told me
+many other circumstances, unnecessary to repeat, but all tending
+to prove that she was a very dangerous inmate.
+
+I expected her home the next evening, and I believe I passed the
+interval in meditating how to get rid of her without an
+_eclaircissement_.  At length she arrived, and all my study
+having failed to supply me with any other reason than the real
+one for dismissing her, I stated it at once.  Not the slightest
+change passed over her countenance, but she looked steadily at
+me, and said, in a very civil tone, "I should like to know who
+told you."  I replied that it could be of no advantage to her to
+know, and that I wished her to go immediately.  "I am ready to
+go," she said, in the same quiet tone, "but what will you do for
+your three dollars?"  "I must do without them, Nancy; good
+morning to you."  "I must just put up my things," she said, and
+left the room.  About half an hour afterwards, when we were all
+assembled at dinner, she entered with her usual civil composed
+air, "Well, I am come to wish you all goodbye," and with a
+friendly good-humoured smile she left us.
+
+This adventure frightened me so heartily, that, notwithstanding I
+had the dread of cooking my own dinner before my eyes, I would
+not take any more young ladies into my family without receiving
+some slight sketch of their former history.  At length I met with
+a very worthy French woman, and soon after with a tidy English
+girl to assist her; and I had the good fortune to keep them till
+a short time before my departure: so, happily, I have no more
+misfortunes of this nature to relate.
+
+Such being the difficulties respecting domestic arrangements, it
+is obvious, that the ladies who are brought up amongst them
+cannot have leisure for any great development of the mind: it
+is, in fact, out of the question; and, remembering this, it is
+more surprising that some among them should be very pleasing,
+than that none should be highly instructed.
+
+Had I passed as many evenings in company in any other town that I
+ever visited as I did in Cincinnati, I should have been able to
+give some little account of the conversations I had listened to;
+but, upon reading over my notes, and then taxing my memory to the
+utmost to supply the deficiency, I can scarcely find a trace of
+any thing that deserves the name.  Such as I have, shall be given
+in their place.  But, whatever may be the talents of the persons
+who meet together in society, the very shape, form, and
+arrangement of the meeting is sufficient to paralyze
+conversation.  The women invariably herd together at one part of
+the room, and the men at the other; but, in justice to
+Cincinnati, I must acknowledge that this arrangement is by no
+means peculiar to that city, or to the western side of the
+Alleghanies.  Sometimes a small attempt at music produces a
+partial reunion; a few of the most daring youths, animated by the
+consciousness of curled hair and smart waistcoats, approach the
+piano forte, and begin to mutter a little to the half-grown
+pretty things, who are comparing with one another "how many
+quarters' music they have had."  Where the mansion is of
+sufficient dignity to have two drawing-rooms, the piano, the
+little ladies, and the slender gentlemen are left to themselves,
+and on such occasions the sound of laughter is often heard to
+issue from among them.  But the fate of the more dignified
+personages, who are left in the other room, is extremely dismal.
+The gentlemen spit, talk of elections and the price of produce,
+and spit again.  The ladies look at each other's dresses till
+they know every pin by heart; talk of Parson Somebody's last
+sermon on the day of judgment, on Dr. T'otherbody's new pills for
+dyspepsia, till the "tea" is announced, when they all console
+themselves together for whatever they may have suffered in
+keeping awake, by taking more tea, coffee, hot cake and custard,
+hoe cake, johny cake, waffle cake, and dodger cake, pickled
+peaches, and preserved cucumbers, ham, turkey, hung beef, apple
+sauce, and pickled oysters than ever were prepared in any other
+country of the known world.  After this massive meal is over,
+they return to the drawing-room, and it always appeared to me
+that they remained together as long as they could bear it, and
+then they rise EN MASSE, cloak, bonnet, shawl, and exit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 7
+
+Market--Museum--Picture Gallery--Academy of Fine Arts Drawing
+School--Phrenological Society--Miss Wright's Lecture.
+
+
+
+Perhaps the most advantageous feature in Cincinnati is its
+market, which, for excellence, abundance, and cheapness, can
+hardly, I should think, be surpassed in any part of the world, if
+I except the luxury of fruits, which are very inferior to any I
+have seen in Europe.  There are no butchers, fishmongers, or
+indeed any shops for eatables, except bakeries, as they are
+called, in the town; every thing must be purchased at market; and
+to accomplish this, the busy housewife must be stirring betimes,
+or, 'spite of the abundant supply, she will find her hopes of
+breakfast, dinner, and supper for the day defeated, the market
+being pretty well over by eight o'clock.
+
+The beef is excellent, and the highest price when we were there,
+four cents (about two-pence) the pound.  The mutton was inferior,
+and so was veal to the eye, but it ate well, though not very fat;
+the price was about the same.  The poultry was excellent; fowls
+or full-sized chickens, ready for table, twelve cents, but much
+less if bought alive, and not quite fat; turkeys about fifty
+cents, and geese the same.  The Ohio furnishes several sorts of
+fish, some of them very good, and always to be found cheap and
+abundant in the market.  Eggs, butter, nearly all kinds of
+vegetables, excellent, and at moderate prices.  From June till
+December tomatoes (the great luxury of the American table in the
+opinion of most Europeans) may be found in the highest perfection
+in the market for about sixpence the peck.  They have a great
+variety of beans unknown in England, particularly the lima-bean,
+the seed of which is dressed like the French harico; it furnishes
+a very abundant crop, and is a most delicious vegetable: could it
+be naturalised with us it would be a valuable acquisition.  The
+Windsor, or broad-bean, will not do well there; Mr. Bullock had
+them in his garden, where they were cultivated with much care;
+they grew about a foot high and blossomed, but the pod never
+ripened.  All the fruit I saw exposed for sale in Cincinnati was
+most miserable.  I passed two summers there, but never tasted a
+peach worth eating.  Of apricots and nectarines I saw none;
+strawberries very small, raspberries much worse; gooseberries
+very few, and quite uneatable; currants about half the size of
+ours, and about double the price; grapes too sour for tarts;
+apples abundant, but very indifferent, none that would be thought
+good enough for an English table; pears, cherries, and plums most
+miserably bad.  The flowers of these regions were at least
+equally inferior: whether this proceeds from want of cultivation
+or from peculiarity of soil I know not, but after leaving
+Cincinnati, I was told by a gentleman who appeared to understand
+the subject, that the state of Ohio had no indigenous flowers or
+fruits.  The water-melons, which in that warm climate furnish a
+delightful refreshment, were abundant and cheap; but all other
+melons very inferior to those of France, or even of England, when
+ripened in a common hot-bed.
+
+From the almost total want of pasturage near the city, it is
+difficult for a stranger to divine how milk is furnished for its
+supply, but we soon learnt that there are more ways than one of
+keeping a cow.  A large proportion of the families in the town,
+particularly of the poorer class, have one, though apparently
+without any accommodation whatever for it.  These animals are
+fed morning and evening at the door of the house, with a good
+mess of Indian corn, boiled with water; while they eat, they are
+milked, and when the operation is completed the milk-pail and the
+meal-tub retreat into the dwelling, leaving the republican cow to
+walk away, to take her pleasure on the hills, or in the gutters,
+as may suit her fancy best.  They generally return very regularly
+to give and take the morning and evening meal; though it more
+than once happened to us, before we were supplied by a regular
+milk cart, to have our jug sent home empty, with the sad news
+that "the cow was not come home, and it was too late to look for
+her to breakfast now."  Once, I remember, the good woman told us
+that she had overslept herself, and that the cow had come and
+gone again, "not liking, I expect, to hanker about by herself
+for nothing, poor thing."
+
+Cincinnati has not many lions to boast, but among them are
+two museums of natural history; both of these contain many
+respectable specimens, particularly that of Mr. Dorfeuille,
+who has moreover, some highly interesting Indian antiquities.
+He is a man of taste and science, but a collection formed
+strictly according to their dictates, would by no means satisfy
+the western metropolis.  The people have a most extravagant
+passion for wax figures, and the two museums vie with each other
+in displaying specimens of this barbarous branch of art.
+As Mr. Dorfeuille cannot trust to his science for attracting the
+citizens, he has put his ingenuity into requisition, and this has
+proved to him the surer aid of the two.  He has constructed a
+pandaemonium in an upper story of his museum, in which he has
+congregated all the images of horror that his fertile fancy could
+devise; dwarfs that by machinery grow into giants before the eyes
+of the spectator; imps of ebony with eyes of flame; monstrous
+reptiles devouring youth and beauty; lakes of fire, and mountains
+of ice; in short, wax, paint and springs have done wonders.
+"To give the scheme some more effect," he makes it visible only
+through a grate of massive iron bars, among which are arranged
+wires connected with an electrical machine in a neighbouring
+chamber; should any daring hand or foot obtrude itself with the
+bars, it receives a smart shock, that often passes through many
+of the crowd, and the cause being unknown, the effect is
+exceedingly comic; terror, astonishment, curiosity, are all set
+in action, and all contribute to make "Dorfeuille's Hell" one of
+the most amusing exhibitions imaginable.
+
+There is also a picture gallery at Cincinnati, and this was a
+circumstance of much interest to us, as our friend Mr. H., who
+had accompanied Miss Wright to America, in the expectation of
+finding a good opening in the line of historical painting,
+intended commencing his experiment at Cincinnati.  It would be
+invidious to describe the picture gallery; I have no doubt, that
+some years hence it will present a very different appearance.
+Mr. H. was very kindly received by many of the gentlemen of the
+city, and though the state of the fine arts there gave him but
+little hope that he should meet with much success, he immediately
+occupied himself in painting a noble historical picture of the
+landing of General Lafayette at Cincinnati.
+
+Perhaps the clearest proof of the little feeling for art that
+existed at that time in Cincinnati, may be drawn from the result
+of an experiment originated by a German, who taught drawing
+there.  He conceived the project of forming a chartered academy
+of fine arts; and he succeeded in the beginning to his utmost
+wish, or rather, "they fooled him to the top of his bent."  Three
+thousand dollars were subscribed, that is to say, names were
+written against different sums to that amount, a house was
+chosen, and finally, application was made to the government, and
+the charter obtained, rehearsing formally the names of the
+subscribing members, the professors, and the officers.  So far
+did the steam of their zeal impel them, but at this point it was
+let off; the affair stood still, and I never heard the academy of
+fine arts mentioned afterwards.
+
+This same German gentleman, on seeing Mr. H.'s sketches, was so
+well pleased with them, that he immediately proposed his joining
+him in his drawing school, with an agreement, I believe that his
+payment from it should be five hundred dollars a year.  Mr. H.
+accepted the proposal, but the union did not last long, and the
+cause of its dissolution was too American to be omitted.  Mr. H.
+prepared his models, and attended the class, which was numerous,
+consisting both of boys and girls.  He soon found that the "sage
+called Decipline" was not one of the assistants, and he
+remonstrated against the constant talking, and running from one
+part of the room to another, but in vain; finding, however, that
+he could do nothing till this was discontinued, he wrote some
+rules, enforcing order, for the purpose of placing them at the
+door of the academy.  When he shewed them to his colleague, he
+shook his head, and said, "Very goot, very goot in Europe, but
+America boys and gals vill not bear it, dey will do just vat dey
+please; Suur, dey vould all go avay next day."  "And you will not
+enforce these regulations _si necessaires_, Monsieur?"  "Olar!
+not for de vorld."  "_Eh bien_, Monsieur, I must leave the young
+republicans to your management."
+
+I heard another anecdote that will help to show the state of art
+at this time in the west.  Mr. Bullock was shewing to some
+gentlemen of the first standing, the very _elite_ of Cincinnati,
+his beautiful collection of engravings, when one among them
+exclaimed, "Have you really done all these since you came here?
+How hard you must have worked!"
+
+I was also told of a gentleman of High Cincinnati, TON and
+critical of his taste for the fine arts, who, having a drawing
+put into his hands, representing Hebe and the bird, umquhile
+sacred to Jupiter, demanded in a satirical tone, "What is this?"
+"Hebe," replied the alarmed collector.  "Hebe," sneered the man
+of taste, "What the devil has Hebe to do with the American
+eagle?"
+
+We had not been long at Cincinnati when Dr. Caldwell, the
+Spurzheim of America, arrived there for the purpose of delivering
+lectures on phrenology.  I attended his lectures, and was
+introduced to him.  He has studied Spurzheim and Combe
+diligently, and seems to understand the science to which he has
+devoted himself; but neither his lectures nor his conversation
+had that delightful truth of genuine enthusiasm, which makes
+listening to Dr. Spurzheim so great a treat.  His lectures,
+however, produced considerable effect.  Between twenty and thirty
+of the most erudite citizens decided upon forming a phrenological
+society.  A meeting was called, and fully attended; a respectable
+number of subscribers' names was registered, the payment of
+subscriptions being arranged for a future day.  President, vice-
+president, treasurer, and secretary, were chosen; and the first
+meeting dissolved with every appearance of energetic perseverance
+in scientific research.
+
+The second meeting brought together one-half of this learned
+body, and they enacted rules and laws, and passed resolutions,
+sufficient, it was said, to have filled three folios.
+
+A third day of meeting arrived, which was an important one, as on
+this occasion the subscriptions were to be paid.  The treasurer
+came punctually, but found himself alone.  With patient hope, he
+waited two hours for the wise men of the west, but he waited in
+vain: and so expired the Phrenological Society of Cincinnati.
+
+I had often occasion to remark that the spirit of enterprise or
+improvement seldom glowed with sufficient ardour to resist the
+smothering effect of a demand for dollars.  The Americans love
+talking.  All great works, however, that promise a profitable
+result, are sure to meet support from men who have enterprise and
+capital sufficient to await the return; but where there is
+nothing but glory, or the gratification of taste to be expected,
+it is, I believe, very rarely that they give any thing beyond
+"their most sweet voices."
+
+Perhaps they are right.  In Europe we see fortunes crippled by a
+passion for statues, or for pictures, or for books, or for gems;
+for all and every of the artificial wants that give grace to
+life, and tend to make man forget that he is a thing of clay.
+They are wiser in their generation on the other side the
+Atlantic; I rarely saw any thing that led to such oblivion there.
+
+Soon after Dr. Caldwell's departure, another lecturer appeared
+upon the scene, whose purpose of publicly addressing the people
+was no sooner made known, than the most violent sensation was
+excited.
+
+That a lady of fortune, family, and education, whose youth had
+been passed in the most refined circles of private life, should
+present herself to the people as a public lecturer, would
+naturally excite surprise any where, and the nil admirari of the
+old world itself, would hardly be sustained before such a
+spectacle; but in America, where women are guarded by a seven-
+fold shield of habitual insignificance, it caused an effect that
+can hardly be described.  "Miss Wright, of Nashoba, is going to
+lecture at the court-house," sounded from street to street, and
+from house to house.  I shared the surprise, but not the wonder;
+I knew her extraordinary gift of eloquence, her almost unequalled
+command of words, and the wonderful power of her rich and
+thrilling voice; and I doubted not that if it was her will to
+do it, she had the power of commanding the attention, and
+enchanting the ear of any audience before whom it was her
+pleasure to appear.  I was most anxious to hear her, but was
+almost deterred from attempting it, by the reports that reached
+me of the immense crowd that was expected.  After many
+consultations, and hearing that many other ladies intended going,
+my friend Mrs. P--, and myself, decided upon making the attempt,
+accompanied by a party of gentlemen, and found the difficulty
+less than we anticipated, though the building was crowded in
+every part.  We congratulated ourselves that we had had the
+courage to be among the number, for all my expectations fell far
+short of the splendour, the brilliance, the overwhelming
+eloquence of this extraordinary orator.
+
+Her lecture was upon the nature of true knowledge, and it
+contained little that could be objected to, by any sect or
+party; it was intended as an introduction to the strange and
+startling theories contained in her subsequent lectures, and
+could alarm only by the hints it contained that the fabric of
+human wisdom could rest securely on no other base than that of
+human knowledge.
+
+There was, however, one passage from which common-sense revolted;
+it was one wherein she quoted that phrase of mischievous
+sophistry, "all men are born free and equal."  This false and
+futile axiom, which has done, is doing, and will do so much harm
+to this fine country, came from Jefferson; and truly his life was
+a glorious commentary upon it.  I pretend not to criticise his
+written works, but commonsense enables me to pronounce this, his
+favourite maxim, false.
+
+Few names are held in higher estimation in America, than that of
+Jefferson; it is the touchstone of the democratic party, and all
+seem to agree that he was one of the greatest of men; yet I have
+heard his name coupled with deeds which would make the sons of
+Europe shudder.  The facts I allude to are spoken openly by all,
+not whispered privately by a few; and in a country where religion
+is the tea-table talk, and its strict observance a fashionable
+distinction, these facts are recorded, and listened to, without
+horror, nay, without emotion.
+
+Mr. Jefferson is said to have been the father of children by
+almost all his numerous gang of female slaves.  These wretched
+offspring were also the lawful slaves of their father, and worked
+in his house and plantations as such; in particular, it is
+recorded that it was his especial pleasure to be waited upon by
+them at table, and the hospitable orgies for which his Montecielo
+was so celebrated, were incomplete, unless the goblet he quaffed
+were tendered by the trembling hand of his own slavish offspring.
+
+I once heard it stated by a democratical adorer of this great
+man, that when, as it sometimes happened, his children by
+Quadroon slaves were white enough to escape suspicion of their
+origin, he did not pursue them if they attempted to escape,
+saying laughingly, "Let the rogues get off, if they can; I will
+not hinder them."  This was stated in a large party, as a proof
+of his kind and noble nature, and was received by all with
+approving smiles.
+
+If I know anything of right or wrong, if virtue and vice be
+indeed something more than words, then was this great American
+an unprincipled tyrant, and most heartless libertine.
+
+But to return to Miss Wright,--it is impossible to imaging any
+thing more striking than her appearance.  Her tall and majestic
+figure, the deep and almost solemn expression of her eyes, the
+simple contour of her finely formed head, unadorned excepting by
+its own natural ringlets; her garment of plain white muslin,
+which hung around her in folds that recalled the drapery of a
+Grecian statue, all contributed to produce an effect, unlike
+anything I had ever seen before, or ever expect to see again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 8
+
+Absence of public and private Amusement--Churches and
+Chapels--Influence of the Clergy--A Revival
+
+
+
+I never saw any people who appeared to live so much without
+amusement as the Cincinnatians.  Billiards are forbidden by law,
+so are cards.  To sell a pack of cards in Ohio subjects the
+seller to a penalty of fifty dollars.  They have no public balls,
+excepting, I think, six, during the Christmas holidays.  They
+have no concerts.  They have no dinner parties.
+
+They have a theatre, which is, in fact, the only public amusement
+of this triste little town; but they seem to care little about
+it, and either from economy or distaste, it is very poorly
+attended.  Ladies are rarely seen there, and by far the larger
+proportion of females deem it an offence against religion to
+witness the representation of a play.  It is in the churches and
+chapels of the town that the ladies are to be seen in full
+costume; and I am tempted to believe that a stranger from the
+continent of Europe would be inclined, on first reconnoitering
+the city, to suppose that the places of worship were the theatres
+and cafes of the place.  No evening in the week but brings
+throngs of the young and beautiful to the chapels and meeting-
+houses, all dressed with care, and sometimes with great
+pretension; it is there that all display is made, and all
+fashionable distinction sought.  The proportion of gentlemen
+attending these evening meetings is very small, but often, as
+might be expected, a sprinkling of smart young clerks make this
+sedulous display of ribbons and ringlets intelligible and
+natural.  Were it not for the churches, indeed, I think there
+might be a general bonfire of best bonnets, for I never could
+discover any other use for them.
+
+The ladies are too actively employed in the interior of their
+houses to permit much parading in full dress for morning visits.
+There are no  public gardens or lounging shops of fashionable
+resort, and were it not for public worship, and private tea-
+drinkings, all the ladies in Cincinnati would be in danger of
+becoming perfect recluses.
+
+The influence which the ministers of all the innumerable
+religious sects throughout America, have on the females of their
+respective congregations, approaches very nearly to what we read
+of in Spain, or in other strictly Roman Catholic countries.
+There are many causes for this peculiar influence.  Where
+equality of rank is affectedly acknowledged by the rich, and
+clamourously claimed by the poor, distinction and preeminence are
+allowed to the clergy only.  This gives them high importance in
+the eyes of the ladies.  I think, also, that it is from the
+clergy only that the women of America receive that sort of
+attention which is so dearly valued by every female heart
+throughout the world.  With the priests of America, the women
+hold that degree of influential importance which, in the
+countries of Europe, is allowed them throughout all orders and
+ranks of society, except, perhaps, the very lowest; and in return
+for this they seem to give their hearts and souls into their
+keeping.  I never saw, or read, of any country where religion had
+so strong a hold upon the women, or a slighter hold upon the men.
+
+I mean not to assert that I met with no men of sincerely
+religious feelings, or with no women of no religious feeling at
+all; but I feel perfectly secure of being correct as to the great
+majority in the statement I have made.
+
+We had not been many months in Cincinnati when our curiosity was
+excited by hearing the "revival" talked of by every one we met
+throughout the town.  "The revival will be very full"--"We shall
+be constantly engaged during the revival"--were the phrases we
+constantly heard repeated, and for a long time, without in the
+least comprehending what was meant; but at length I learnt that
+the un-national church of America required to be roused, at
+regular intervals, to greater energy and exertion.  At these
+seasons the most enthusiastic of the clergy travel the country,
+and enter the cities and towns by scores, or by hundreds, as the
+accommodation of the place may admit, and for a week or
+fortnight, or, if the population be large, for a month; they
+preach and pray all day, and often for a considerable portion of
+the night, in the various churches and chapels of the place.
+This is called a Revival.
+
+I took considerable pains to obtain information on this subject;
+but in detailing what I learnt I fear that it is probable I shall
+be accused of exaggeration; all I can do is cautiously to avoid
+deserving it.  The subject is highly interesting, and it would be
+a fault of no trifling nature to treat it with levity.
+
+These itinerant clergymen are of all persuasions, I believe,
+except the Episcopalian, Catholic, Unitarian, and Quaker.  I
+heard of Presbyterians of all varieties; of Baptists of I know
+not how many divisions; and of Methodists of more denominations
+than I can remember; whose innumerable shades of varying belief,
+it would require much time to explain, and more to comprehend.
+They enter all the cities, towns, and villages of the Union, in
+succession; I could not learn with sufficient certainty to
+repeat, what the interval generally is between their visits.
+These itinerants are, for the most part, lodged in the houses of
+their respective followers, and every evening that is not spent
+in the churches and meeting-houses, is devoted to what would be
+called parties by others, but which they designate as prayer
+meetings.  Here they eat, drink, pray, sing, hear confessions,
+and make converts.  To these meetings I never got invited, and
+therefore I have nothing but hearsay evidence to offer, but my
+information comes from an eye-witness, and one on whom I believe
+I may depend.  If one half of what I heard may be believed, these
+social prayer meetings are by no means the most curious, or the
+least important part of the business.
+
+It is impossible not to smile at the close resemblance to be
+traced between the feelings of a first-rate Presbyterian or
+Methodist lady, fortunate enough to have secured a favourite
+Itinerant for her meeting, and those of a first-rate London Blue,
+equally blest in the presence of a fashionable poet.  There is a
+strong family likeness among us all the world over.
+
+The best rooms, the best dresses, the choicest refreshments
+solemnize the meeting.  While the party is assembling, the
+load-star of the hour is occupied in whispering conversations
+with the guests as they arrive.  They are called brothers and
+sisters, and the greetings are very affectionate.  When the room
+is full, the company, of whom a vast majority are always women,
+are invited, intreated, and coaxed to confess before their
+brothers and sisters, all their thoughts, faults, and follies.
+
+These confessions are strange scenes; the more they confess, the
+more invariably are they encouraged and caressed.  When this is
+over, they all kneel, and the Itinerant prays extempore.  They
+then eat and drink; and then they sing hymns, pray, exhort, sing,
+and pray again, till the excitement reaches a very high pitch
+indeed.  These scenes are going on at some house or other every
+evening during the revival, nay, at many at the same time, for
+the churches and meeting-houses cannot give occupation to half
+the Itinerants, though they are all open throughout the day, and
+till a late hour in the night, and the officiating ministers
+succeed each other in the occupation of them.
+
+It was at the principal of the Presbyterian churches that
+I was twice witness to scenes that made me shudder; in
+describing one, I describe both and every one; the same thing
+is constantly repeated.
+
+It was in the middle of summer, but the service we were
+recommended to attend did not begin till it was dark.  The
+church was well lighted, and crowded almost to suffocation.
+On entering, we found three priests standing side by side,
+in a sort of tribune, placed where the altar usually is,
+handsomely fitted up with crimson curtains, and elevated
+about as  high as our pulpits.  We took our places in a pew
+close to the rail which surrounded it.
+
+The priest who stood in the middle was praying; the prayer was
+extravagantly vehement, and offensively familiar in expression;
+when this ended, a hymn was sung, and then another priest took
+the centre place, and preached.  The sermon had considerable
+eloquence, but of a frightful kind.  The preacher described, with
+ghastly minuteness, the last feeble fainting moments of human
+life, and then the gradual progress of decay after death, which
+he followed through every process up to the last loathsome stage
+of decomposition.  Suddenly changing his tone, which had been
+that of sober accurate description, into the shrill voice of
+horror, he bent forward his head, as if to gaze on some object
+beneath the pulpit.  And as Rebecca made known to Ivanhoe what
+she saw through the window, so the preacher made known to us what
+he saw in the pit that seemed to open before him.  The device was
+certainly a happy one for giving effect to his description of
+hell.  No image that fire, flame, brimestone, molten lead, or
+red-hot pincers could supply; with flesh, nerves, and sinews
+quivering under them, was omitted.  The perspiration ran in
+streams from the face of the preacher; his eyes rolled, his lips
+were covered with foam, and every feature had the deep expression
+of horror it would have borne, had he, in truth, been gazing at
+the scene he described.  The acting was excellent.  At length he
+gave a languishing look to his supporters on each side, as if to
+express his feeble state, and then sat down, and wiped the drops
+of agony from his brow.
+
+The other two priests arose, and began to sing a hymn.  It was
+some seconds before the congregation could join as usual; every
+upturned face looked pale and horror struck.  When the singing
+ended, another took the centre place, and began in a sort of
+coaxing affectionate tone, to ask the congregation if what their
+dear brother had spoken had reached their hearts?  Whether they
+would avoid the hell he had made them see?  "Come, then!" he
+continued, stretching out his arms towards them, "come to us, and
+tell us so, and we will make you see Jesus, the dear gentle
+Jesus, who shall save you from it.  But you must come to him!
+You must not be ashamed to come to him!  This night you shall
+tell him that you are not ashamed of him; we will make way for
+you; we will clear the bench for anxious sinners to sit upon.
+Come, then! come to the anxious bench, and we will shew you
+Jesus! Come! Come! Come!"  Again a hymn was sung, and while it
+continued, one of the three was employed in clearing one or two
+long benches that went across the rail, sending the people back
+to the lower part of the church.  The singing ceased, and again
+the people were invited, and exhorted not to be ashamed of Jesus,
+but to put themselves upon "the anxious benches," and lay their
+heads on his bosom.  "Once more we will sing," he concluded,
+"that we may give you time."  And again they sung a hymn.
+
+And now in every part of the church a movement was perceptible,
+slight at first, but by degrees becoming more decided.  Young
+girls arose, and sat down, and rose again; and then the pews
+opened, and several came tottering out, their hands clasped,
+their heads hanging on their bosoms, and every limb trembling,
+and still the hymn went on; but as the poor creatures approached
+the rail their sobs and groans became audible.  They seated
+themselves on the "anxious benches;" the hymn ceased, and two of
+the three priests walked down from the tribune, and going, one to
+the right, and the other to the left, began whispering to the
+poor tremblers seated there.  These whispers were inaudible to
+us, but the sobs and groans increased to a frightful excess.
+Young creatures, with features pale and distorted, fell on their
+knees on the pavement, and soon sunk forward on their faces; the
+most violent cries and shrieks followed, while from time to time
+a voice was heard in convulsive accents, exclaiming, "Oh Lord!"
+"Oh Lord Jesus!"  "Help me, Jesus!" and the like.
+
+Meanwhile the two priests continued to walk among them; they
+repeatedly mounted on the benches, and trumpet-mouthed proclaimed
+to the whole congregation, "the tidings of salvation," and then
+from every corner of the building arose in reply, short sharp
+cries of "Amen!" "Glory!" "Amen!" while the prostrate penitents
+continued to receive whispered comfortings, and from time to time
+a mystic caress.  More than once I saw a young neck encircled by
+a reverend arm.  Violent hysterics and convulsions seized many of
+them, and when the tumult was at the highest, the priest who
+remained above, again gave out a hymn as if to drown it.
+
+It was a frightful sight to behold innocent young creatures, in
+the gay morning of existence, thus seized upon, horror struck,
+and rendered feeble and enervated for ever.  One young girl,
+apparently not more than fourteen, was supported in the arms of
+another, some years older; her face was pale as death; her eyes
+wide open, and perfectly devoid of meaning; her chin and bosom
+wet with slaver; she had every appearance of idiotism.  I saw a
+priest approach her, he took her delicate hand, "Jesus is with
+her! Bless the Lord!" he said, and passed on.
+
+Did the men of America value their women as men ought to
+value their wives and daughters, would such scenes be permitted
+among them?
+
+It is hardly necessary to say that all who obeyed the call to
+place themselves on the "anxious benches" were women, and by far
+the greater number very young women.  The congregation was, in
+general, extremely well dressed, and the smartest and most
+fashionable ladies of the town were there; during the whole
+revival the churches and meeting-houses were every day crowded
+with well dressed people.
+
+It is thus the ladies of Cincinnati amuse themselves; to attend
+the theatre is forbidden; to play cards is unlawful; but they
+work hard in their families, and must have some relaxation.  For
+myself, I confess that I think the coarsest comedy ever written
+would be a less detestable exhibition for the eyes of youth and
+innocence than such a scene.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 9
+
+Schools--Climate--Water Melons--Fourth of July--Storms--Pigs--
+Moving Houses--Mr. Flint--Literature
+
+
+
+Cincinnati contains many schools, but of their rank or merit I
+had very little opportunity of judging; the only one which I
+visited was kept by Dr. Lock, a gentleman who appears to have
+liberal and enlarged opinions on the subject of female education.
+Should his system produce practical results proportionably
+excellent, the ladies of Cincinnati will probably some years
+hence be much improved in their powers of companionship.
+I attended the annual public exhibition at this school, and
+perceived, with some surprise, that the higher branches of
+science were among the studies of the pretty creatures I saw
+assembled there.  One lovely girl of sixteen took her degree
+in mathematics, and another was examined in moral philosophy.
+They blushed so sweetly, and looked so beautifully puzzled
+and confounded, that it might have been difficult for an abler
+judge than I was to decide how far they merited the diploma
+they received.
+
+This method of letting young ladies graduate, and granting them
+diplomas on quitting the establishment, was quite new to me; at
+least, I do not remember to have heard of any thing similar
+elsewhere.  I should fear that the time allowed to the fair
+graduates of Cincinnati for the acquirement of these various
+branches of education would seldom be sufficient to permit their
+reaching the eminence in each which their enlightened instructor
+anticipates.  "A quarter's" mathematics, or "two quarters"
+political economy, moral philosophy, algebra, and quadratic
+equations, would seldom, I should think, enable the teacher and
+the scholar, by their joint efforts, to lay in such a stock of
+these sciences as would stand the wear and tear of half a score
+of children, and one help.
+
+Towards the end of May we began to feel that we were in a climate
+warmer than any we had been accustomed to, and my son suffered
+severely from the effects of it.  A bilious complaint, attended
+by a frightful degree of fever, seized him, and for some days we
+feared for his life.  The treatment he received was, I have no
+doubt, judicious, but the quantity of calomel prescribed was
+enormous.  I asked one day how many grains I should prepare, and
+was told to give half a teaspoonful.  The difference of climate
+must, I imagine, make a difference in the effect of this drug, or
+the practice of the old and new world could hardly differ so
+widely as it does in the use of it.  Anstey, speaking of the Bath
+physicians, says,
+
+    "No one e'er viewed
+     Any one of the medical gentlemen stewed."
+
+But I can vouch, upon my own experience, that no similar
+imputation lies against the gentlemen who prescribe large
+quantities of calomel in America.  To give one instance in proof
+of this, when I was afterwards in Montgomery county, near
+Washington, a physician attended one of our neighbours, and
+complained that he was himself unwell.  "You must take care of
+yourself, Doctor," said the patient; "I do so," he replied, "I
+took forty grains of calomel yesterday, and I feel better than I
+did."  Repeated and violent bleeding was also had recourse to in
+the case of my son, and in a few days he was able to leave his
+room, but he was dreadfully emaciated, and it was many weeks
+before he recovered his strength.
+
+As the heat of the weather increased we heard of much sickness
+around us.  The city is full of physicians, and they were all to
+be seen driving about in their cabs at a very alarming rate.  One
+of these gentlemen told us, that when a medical man intended
+settling in a new situation, he always, if he knew his business,
+walked through the streets at nights, before he decided.  If he
+saw the dismal twinkle of the watch-light from many windows he
+might be sure that disease was busy, and the the "location" might
+suit him well.  Judging, by this criterion, Cincinnati was far
+from healthy, I began to fear for our health, and determined to
+leave the city; but, for a considerable time I found it
+impossible to procure a dwelling out of it.  There were many
+boarding-houses in the vicinity, but they were all overflowing
+with guests.  We were advised to avoid, as much as possible,
+walking out in the heat of the day; but the mornings and evenings
+were delightful, particularly the former, if taken sufficiently
+early.  For several weeks I was never in bed after four o'clock,
+and at this hour I almost daily accompanied my "help" to market,
+where the busy novelty of the scene afforded me much amusement.
+
+Many waggon-loads of enormous water-melons were brought to market
+every day, and I was sure to see groups of men, women, and
+children seated on the pavement round the spot where they were
+sold, sucking in prodigious quantities of this water-fruit.
+Their manner of devouring them is extremely unpleasant; the huge
+fruit is cut into half a dozen sections, of about a foot long,
+and then, dripping as it is with water, applied to the mouth,
+from either side of which pour copious streams of the fluid,
+while, ever and anon, a mouthful of the hard black seeds are shot
+out in all directions, to the great annoyance of all within
+reach.  When I first tasted this fruit I thought it very vile
+stuff indeed, but before the end of the season we all learned to
+like it.  When taken with claret and sugar it makes delicious
+wine and water.
+
+It is the custom for the gentlemen to go to market at Cincinnati;
+the smartest men in the place, and those of the "highest
+standing" do not scruple to leave their beds with the sun, six
+days in the week, and, prepared with a mighty basket, to sally
+forth in search of meat, butter, eggs and vegetables.  I have
+continually seen them returning, with their weighty basket on one
+arm and an enormous ham depending from the other.
+
+And now arrived the 4th of July, that greatest of all American
+festivals.  On the 4th of July, 1776, the declaration of their
+independence was signed, at the State-house in Philadelphia.
+
+To me, the dreary coldness and want of enthusiasm in American
+manners is one of their greatest defects, and I therefore hailed
+the demonstrations of general feeling which this day elicits with
+real pleasure.  On the 4th of July the hearts of the people seem
+to awaken from a three hundred and sixty-four days' sleep; they
+appear high-spirited, gay, animated, social, generous, or at
+least liberal in expense; and would they but refrain from
+spitting on that hallowed day, I should say, that on the 4th of
+July, at least, they appeared to be an amiable people.  It is
+true that the women have but little to do with the pageantry, the
+splendour, or the gaiety of the day; but, setting this defect
+aside, it was indeed a glorious sight to behold a jubilee so
+heartfelt as this; and had they not the bad taste and bad feeling
+to utter an annual oration, with unvarying abuse of the mother
+country, to say nothing of the warlike manifesto called
+Declaration of Independence, our gracious king himself might look
+upon the scene and say that it was good; nay, even rejoice, that
+twelve millions of bustling bodies, at four thousand miles
+distance from his throne and his altars, should make their own
+laws, and drink their own tea, after the fashion that pleased
+them best.
+
+
+One source of deep interest to us, in this new clime, was the
+frequent recurrence of thunderstorms.  Those who have only
+listened to thunder in England have but a faint idea of the
+language which the gods speak when they are angry.  Thomson's
+description, however, will do: it is hardly possible that words
+can better paint the spectacle, or more truly echo to the sound,
+than his do.  The only point he does not reach is the vast blaze
+of rose-coloured light that ever and anon sets the landscape on
+fire.
+
+In reading this celebrated description in America, and observing
+how admirably true it was to nature there, I seemed to get a
+glimpse at a poet's machinery, and to perceive, that in order to
+produce effect he must give his images more vast than he finds
+them in nature; but the proportions must be just, and the
+colouring true.  Every thing seems colossal on this great
+continent; if it rains, if it blows, if it thunders, it is all
+done _fortissimo_; but I often felt terror yield to wonder and
+delight, so grand, so glorious were the scenes a storm exhibited.
+Accidents are certainly more frequent than with us, but not so
+much so as reasonably to bring terror home to one's bosom every
+time a mass of lurid clouds is seen rolling up against the wind.
+
+
+It seems hardly fair to quarrel with a place because its staple
+commodity is not pretty, but I am sure I should have liked
+Cincinnati much better if the people had not dealt so very
+largely in hogs.  The immense quantity of business done in this
+line would hardly be believed by those who had not witnessed it.
+I never saw a newspaper without remarking such advertisements as
+the following:
+
+    "Wanted, immediately, 4,000 fat hogs."
+    "For sale, 2,000 barrels of prime pork."
+
+But the annoyance came nearer than this; if I determined upon
+a walk up Main-street, the chances were five hundred to one
+against my reaching the shady side without brushing by a snout
+fresh dripping from the kennel; when we had screwed our courage
+to the enterprise of mounting a certain noble looking sugar-loaf
+hill, that promised pure air and a fine view, we found the brook
+we had to cross, at its foot, red with the stream from a pig
+slaughter house; while our noses, instead of meeting "the thyme
+that loves the green hill's breast," were greeted by odours
+that I will not describe, and which I heartily hope my readers
+cannot imagine; our feet, that on leaving the city had expected
+to press the flowery sod, literally got entangled in pigs' tails
+and jaw-bones: and thus the prettiest walk in the neighbourhood
+was interdicted for ever.
+
+
+One of the sights to stare at in America is that of houses
+moving from place to place.  We were often amused by watching
+this exhibition of mechanical skill in the streets.  They make
+no difficulty of moving dwellings from one part of the town to
+another.  Those I saw travelling were all of them frame-houses,
+that is, built wholly of wood, except the chimneys; but it is
+said that brick buildings are sometimes treated in the same
+manner.  The largest dwelling that I saw in motion was one
+containing two stories of four rooms each; forty oxen were yoked
+to it.  The first few yards brought down the two stacks of
+chimneys, but it afterwards went on well.  The great difficulties
+were the first getting it in motion and the stopping exactly in
+the right place.  This locomotive power was extremely convenient
+at Cincinnati, as the constant improvements going on there made
+it often desirable to change a wooden dwelling for one of brick;
+and whenever this happened, we were sure to see the ex No.100 of
+Main-street or the ex No.55 of Second street creeping quietly out
+of town, to take possession of a humble suburban station on the
+common above it.
+
+
+The most agreeable acquaintance I made in Cincinnati, and indeed
+one of the most talented men I ever met, was Mr. Flint, the
+author of several extremely clever volumes, and the editor of the
+Western Monthly Review.  His conversational powers are of the
+highest order: he is the only person I remember to have known
+with first rate powers of satire, and even of sarcasm, whose
+kindness of nature and of manner remained perfectly uninjured.
+In some of his critical notices there is a strength and keenness
+second to nothing of the kind I have ever read.  He is a warm
+patriot, and so true-hearted an American, that we could not
+always be of the same opinion on all the subjects we discussed;
+but whether it were the force and brilliancy of his language, his
+genuine and manly sincerity of feeling, or his bland and
+gentleman-like manner that beguiled me, I know not, but certainly
+he is the only American I ever listened to whose unqualified
+praise of his country did not appear to me somewhat overstrained
+and ridiculous.
+
+On one occasion, but not at the house of Mr. Flint, I passed an
+evening in company with a gentleman said to be a scholar and a
+man of reading; he was also what is called a _serious_ gentleman,
+and he appeared to have pleasure in feeling that his claim to
+distinction was acknowledged in both capacities.  There was a
+very amiable _serious_ lady in the company, to whom he seemed to
+trust for the development of his celestial pretensions, and to
+me he did the honour of addressing most of his terrestrial
+superiority.  The difference between us was, that when he spoke
+to her, he spoke as to a being who, if not his equal, was at
+least deserving high distinction; and he gave her smiles, such
+as Michael might have vouchsafed to Eve.  To me he spoke as Paul
+to the offending Jews; he did not, indeed, shake his raiment at
+me, but he used his pocket-handkerchief so as to answer the
+purpose; and if every sentence did not end with "I am clean,"
+pronounced by his lips, his tone, his look, his action, fully
+supplied the deficiency.
+
+Our poor Lord Byron, as may be supposed, was the bull's-eye
+against which every dart in his black little quiver was aimed.
+I had never heard any serious gentleman talk of Lord Byron at
+full length before, and I listened attentively.  It was evident
+that the noble passages which are graven on the hearts of the
+genuine lovers of poetry had altogether escaped the serious
+gentleman's attention; and it was equally evident that he knew
+by rote all those that they wish the mighty master had never
+written.  I told him so, and I shall not soon forget the look
+he gave me.
+
+Of other authors his knowledge was very imperfect, but his
+criticisms very amusing.  Of Pope, he said, "He is so entirely
+gone by, that in _our_ country it is considered quite fustian to
+speak of him"
+
+But I persevered, and named "the Rape of the Lock" as evincing
+some little talent, and being in a tone that might still hope for
+admittance in the drawing-room; but, on the mention of this poem,
+the serious gentleman became almost as strongly agitated as when
+he talked of Don Juan; and I was unfeignedly at a loss to
+comprehend the nature of his feelings, till he muttered, with an
+indignant shake of the handkerchief, "The very title!"
+
+At the name of Dryden he smiled, and the smile spoke as plainly
+as a smile could speak, "How the old woman twaddles!"
+
+"We only know Dryden by quotations.  Madam, and these, indeed,
+are found only in books that have long since had their day."
+
+"And Shakspeare, sir?"
+
+"Shakspeare, Madam, is obscene, and, thank God, WE are
+sufficiently advanced to have found it out!  If we must have the
+abomination of stage plays, let them at least be marked by the
+refinement of the age in which we live."
+
+This was certainly being _au courant du jour_.
+
+Of Massenger he knew nothing.  Of Ford he had never heard.  Gray
+had had his day.  Prior he had never read, but understood he was
+a very childish writer.  Chaucer and Spenser he tied in a couple,
+and dismissed by saying, that he thought it was neither more nor
+less than affectation to talk of authors who wrote in a tongue no
+longer intelligible.
+
+This was the most literary conversation I was ever present at in
+Cincinnati.*
+
+    *(The pleasant, easy, unpretending talk on all subjects,
+     (which I enjoyed in Mr. Flint's family, was an exception
+     (to every thing else I met at Cincinnati.
+
+In truth, there are many reasons which render a very general
+diffusion of literature impossible in America.  I can scarcely
+class the universal reading of newspapers as an exception to this
+remark; if I could, my statement would be exactly the reverse,
+and I should say that America beat the world in letters.  The
+fact is, that throughout all ranks of society, from the
+successful merchant, which is the highest, to the domestic
+serving man, which is the lowest, they are all too actively
+employed to read, except at such broken moments as may suffice
+for a peep at a newspaper.  It is for this reason, I presume,
+that every _American newspaper_ is more or less a magazine,
+wherein the merchant may scan while he holds out his hand for an
+invoice, "Stanzas by Mrs. Hemans," or a garbled extract from
+Moore's Life of Byron; the lawyer may study his brief faithfully,
+and yet contrive to pick up the valuable dictum of some American
+critic, that "Bulwer's novels are decidedly superior to Sir
+Walter Scott's;" nay, even the auctioneer may find time, as he
+bustles to his tub, or his tribune, to support his pretensions to
+polite learning, by glancing his quick eye over the columns, and
+reading that "Miss Mitford's descriptions are indescribable."  If
+you buy a yard of ribbon, the shopkeeper lays down his newspaper,
+perhaps two or three, to measure it.  I have seen a brewer's
+drayman perched on the shaft of his dray and reading one
+newspaper, while another was tucked under his arm; and I once
+went into the cottage of a country shoemaker, of the name of
+Harris, where I saw a newspaper half full of "original" poetry,
+directed to Madison F. Harris.  To be sure of the fact, I asked
+the man if his name were Madison.  "Yes, Madam, Madison Franklin
+Harris is my name."  The last and the lyre divided his time, I
+fear too equally, for he looked pale and poor.
+
+This, I presume, is what is meant by the general diffusion of
+knowledge, so boasted of in the United States; such as it is, the
+diffusion of it is general enough, certainly; but I greatly doubt
+its being advantageous to the population.
+
+The only reading men I met with were those who made letters their
+profession; and of these, there were some who would hold a higher
+rank in the great Republic (not of America, but of letters), did
+they write for persons less given to the study of magazines and
+newspapers; and they might hold a higher rank still, did they
+write for the few and not for the many.  I was always drawing a
+parallel, perhaps a childish one, between the external and
+internal deficiency of polish and of elegance in the native
+volumes of the country.  Their compositions have not that
+condensation of thought, or that elaborate finish, which the
+consciousness of writing for the scholar and the man of taste is
+calculated to give; nor have their dirty blue paper and slovenly
+types* the polished elegance that fits a volume for the hand or
+the eye of the fastidious epicure in literary enjoyment.  The
+first book I bought in America was the "Chronicles of the
+Cannongate."  In asking the price, I was agreeably surprised to
+hear a dollar and a half named, being about one sixth of what I
+used to pay for its fellows in England; but on opening the grim
+pages, it was long before I could again call them cheap.  To be
+sure the pleasure of a bright well-printed page ought to be quite
+lost sight of in the glowing, galloping, bewitching course that
+the imagination sets out upon with a new Waverley novel; and so
+it was with me till I felt the want of it; and then I am almost
+ashamed to confess how often, in turning the thin dusky pages,
+my poor earth-born spirit paused in its pleasure, to sigh for
+hot-pressed wire-wove.
+
+    *(I must make an exception in favour of the American
+     (Quarterly Review.  To the eye of the body it is in
+     (all respects exactly the same thing as the English
+     (Quarterly Review.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 10
+
+Removal to the country--Walk in the forest--Equality
+
+
+
+At length my wish of obtaining a house in the country was
+gratified.  A very pretty cottage, the residence of a gentleman
+who was removing into town, for the convenience of his business
+as a lawyer, was to let, and I immediately secured it.  It was
+situated in a little village about a mile and a half from the
+town, close to the foot of the hills formerly mentioned as the
+northern boundary of it.  We found ourselves much more
+comfortable here than in the city.  The house was pretty and
+commodious, our sitting-rooms were cool and airy; we had got rid
+of the detestable mosquitoes, and we had an ice-house that never
+failed.  Beside all this, we had the pleasure of gathering our
+tomatoes from our own garden, and receiving our milk from our own
+cow.  Our manner of life was infinitely more to my taste than
+before; it gave us all the privileges of rusticity, which are
+fully as incompatible with a residence in a little town of
+Western America as with a residence in London.  We lived on terms
+of primaeval intimacy with our cow, for if we lay down on our
+lawn she did not scruple to take a sniff at the book we were
+reading, but then she gave us her own sweet breath in return.
+The verge of the cool-looking forest that rose opposite our
+windows was so near, that we often used it as an extra drawing-
+room, and there was no one to wonder if we went out with no other
+preparation than our parasols, carrying books and work enough to
+while away a long summer day in the shade; the meadow that
+divided us from it was covered with a fine short grass, that
+continued for a little way under the trees, making a beautiful
+carpet, while sundry logs and stumps furnished our sofas and
+tables.  But even this was not enough to satisfy us when we first
+escaped from the city, and we determined upon having a day's
+enjoyment of the wildest forest scenery we could find.  So we
+packed up books, albums, pencils, and sandwiches, and, despite a
+burning sun, dragged up a hill so steep that we sometimes fancied
+we could rest ourselves against it by only leaning forward a
+little.  In panting and in groaning we reached the top, hoping to
+be refreshed by the purest breath of heaven; but to have tasted
+the breath of heaven we must have climbed yet farther, even to
+the tops of the trees themselves, for we soon found that the air
+beneath them stirred not, nor ever had stirred, as it seemed to
+us, since first it settled there, so heavily did it weigh upon
+our lungs.
+
+Still we were determined to enjoy ourselves, and forward we went,
+crunching knee deep through aboriginal leaves, hoping to reach
+some spot less perfectly airtight than our landing-place.
+Wearied with the fruitless search, we decided on reposing awhile
+on the trunk of a fallen tree; being all considerably exhausted,
+the idea of sitting down on this tempting log was conceived and
+executed simultaneously by the whole party, and the whole party
+sunk together through its treacherous surface into a mass of
+rotten rubbish that had formed part of the pith and marrow of the
+eternal forest a hundred years before.
+
+We were by no means the only sufferers by the accident; frogs,
+lizards, locusts, katiedids, beetles, and hornets, had the whole
+of their various tenements disturbed, and testified their
+displeasure very naturally by annoying us as much as possible in
+return; we were bit, we were stung, we were scratched; and when,
+at last, we succeeded in raising ourselves from the venerable
+ruin, we presented as woeful a spectacle as can well be imagined.
+We shook our (not ambrosial) garments, and panting with heat,
+stings, and vexation, moved a few paces from the scene of our
+misfortune, and again sat down; but this time it was upon the
+solid earth.
+
+We had no sooner began to "chew the cud" of the bitter fancy that
+had beguiled us to these mountain solitudes than a new annoyance
+assailed us.  A cloud of mosquitoes gathered round, and while
+each sharp proboscis sucked our blood, they teased us with their
+humming chorus, till we lost all patience, and started again on
+our feet, pretty firmly resolved never to try the _al fresco_
+joys of an American forest again.  The sun was now in its
+meridian splendour, but our homeward path was short and down
+hill, so again packing up our preparations for felicity, we
+started homeward, or, more properly speaking, we started, for in
+looking for an agreeable spot in this dungeon forest we had
+advanced so far from the verge of the hill that we had lost all
+trace of the precise spot where we had entered it.  Nothing was
+to be seen but multitudes of tall, slender, melancholy stems, as
+like as peas, and standing within a foot of each other.  The
+ground, as far as the eye could reach (which certainly was not
+far), was covered with an unvaried bed of dried leaves; no trace,
+no track, no trail, as Mr. Cooper would call it, gave us a hint
+which way to turn; and having paused for a moment to meditate, we
+remembered that chance must decide for us at last, so we set
+forward, in no very good mood, to encounter new misfortunes.  We
+walked about a quarter of a mile, and coming to a steep descent,
+we thought ourselves extremely fortunate, and began to scramble
+down, nothing doubting that it was the same we had scrambled up.
+In truth, nothing could be more like, but, alas! things that are
+like are not the same; when we had slipped and stumbled down to
+the edge of the wood, and were able to look beyond it, we saw no
+pretty cottage with the shadow of its beautiful acacias coming
+forward to meet us: all was different; and, what was worse, all
+was distant from the spot where we had hoped to be.  We had come
+down the opposite side of the ridge, and had now to win our weary
+way a distance of three miles round its base, I believe we shall
+none of us ever forget that walk.  The bright, glowing, furnace-
+like heat of the atmosphere seems to scorch as I recall it.  It
+was painful to tread, it was painful to breathe, it was painful
+to look round; every object glowed with the reflection of the
+fierce tyrant that glared upon us from above.
+
+We got home alive, which agreeably surprised us; and when our
+parched tongues again found power of utterance, we promised each
+other faithfully never to propose any more parties of pleasure in
+the grim store-like forests of Ohio.
+
+We were now in daily expectation of the arrival of Mr. T.; but
+day after day, and week after week passed by till we began to
+fear some untoward circumstance might delay his coming till the
+Spring; at last, when we had almost ceased to look out for him.
+on the road which led from the town, he arrived, late at night,
+by that which leads across the country from Pitzburgh.  The
+pleasure we felt at seeing him was greatly increased by his
+bringing with him our eldest son, which was a happiness we had
+not hoped for.  Our walks and our drives now became doubly
+interesting.  The young men, fresh from a public school, found
+America so totally unlike all the nations with which their
+reading had made them acquainted, that it was indeed a new world
+to them.  Had they visited Greece or Rome they would have
+encountered objects with whose images their minds had been long
+acquainted; or had they travelled to France or Italy they would
+have seen only what daily conversation had already rendered
+familiar; but at our public schools America (except perhaps as to
+her geographical position) is hardly better known than Fairy
+Land; and the American character has not been much more deeply
+studied than that of the Anthropophagi: all, therefore, was new,
+and every thing amusing.
+
+The extraordinary familiarity of our poor neighbours startled us
+at first, and we hardly knew how to receive their uncouth
+advances, or what was expected of us in return; however, it
+sometimes produced very laughable scenes.  Upon one occasion two
+of my children set off upon an exploring walk up the hills; they
+were absent rather longer than we expected, and the rest of our
+party determined upon going out to meet them; we knew the
+direction they had taken, but thought it would be as well to
+enquire at a little public-house at the bottom of the hill, if
+such a pair had been seen to pass.  A woman, whose appearance
+more resembled a Covent Garden market-woman than any thing else I
+can remember, came out and answered my question with the most
+jovial good humour in the affirmative, and prepared to join us in
+our search.  Her look, her voice, her manner, were so exceedingly
+coarse and vehement, that she almost frightened me; she passed
+her arm within mine, and to the inexpressible amusement of my
+young people, she dragged me on, talking and questioning me
+without ceasing.  She lived but a short distance from us, and I
+am sure intended to be a very good neighbour; but her violent
+intimacy made me dread to pass her door; my children, including
+my sons, she always addressed by their Christian names, excepting
+when she substituted the word "honey;" this familiarity of
+address, however, I afterwards found was universal throughout all
+ranks in the United States.
+
+My general appellation amongst my neighbours was "the English old
+woman," but in mentioning each other they constantly employed the
+term "lady;" and they evidently had a pleasure in using it, for I
+repeatedly observed, that in speaking of a neighbour, instead of
+saying Mrs. Such-a-one, they described her as "the lady over the
+way what takes in washing," or as "that there lady, out by the
+Gulley, what is making dip-candles."  Mr. Trollope was as
+constantly called "the old man," while draymen, butchers' boys,
+and the labourers on the canal were invariably denominated "them
+gentlemen;" nay, we once saw one of the most gentlemanlike men in
+Cincinnati introduce a fellow in dirty shirt sleeves, and all
+sorts of detestable et cetera, to one of his friends, with this
+formula, "D-- let me introduce this gentleman to you." Our
+respective titles certainly were not very important; but the
+eternal shaking hands with these ladies and gentlemen was really
+an annoyance, and the more so, as the near approach of the
+gentlemen was always redolent of whiskey and tobacco.
+
+But the point where this republican equality was the most
+distressing was in the long and frequent visitations that it
+produced.  No one dreams of fastening a door in Western America;
+I was told that it would be considered as an affront by the whole
+neighbourhood.  I was thus exposed to perpetual, and most
+vexatious interruptions from people whom I had often never seen,
+and whose names still oftener were unknown to me.
+
+Those who are native there, and to the manner born, seem to pass
+over these annoyances with more skill than I could ever acquire.
+More than once I have seen some of my acquaintance beset in the
+same way, without appearing at all distressed by it; they
+continued their employment or conversation with me, much as if no
+such interruption had taken place; when the visitor entered, they
+would say, "How do you do?" and shake hands.
+
+"Tolerable, I thank ye, how be you?" was the reply.
+
+If it was a female, she took off her hat; if a male, he kept it
+on, and then taking possession of the first chair in their way,
+they would retain it for an hour together, without uttering
+another word; at length, rising abruptly, they would again shake
+hands, with, "Well, now I must be going, I guess," and so take
+themselves off, apparently well contented with their reception.
+
+I could never attain this philosophical composure; I could
+neither write nor read, and I always fancied I must talk to them.
+I will give the minutes of a conversation which I once set down
+after one of their visits, as a specimen of their tone and manner
+of speaking and thinking.  My visitor was a milkman.
+
+"Well now, so you be from the old country? Ay--you'll see sights
+here, I guess."
+
+"I hope I shall see many."
+
+"That's a fact.  I expect your little place of an island don't
+grow such dreadful fine corn as you sees here?"  [Corn always
+means Indian corn, or maize.]
+
+"It grows no corn at all, sir.'"
+
+"Possible! no wonder, then, that we reads such awful stories in
+the papers of your poor people being starved to death."
+
+"We have wheat, however."
+
+"Ay, for your rich folks, but I calculate the poor seldom gets a
+belly full."
+
+"You have certainly much greater abundance here."
+
+"I expect so.  Why they do say, that if a poor body contrives
+to be smart enough to scrape together a few dollars, that your
+King George always comes down upon 'em, and takes it all away.
+Don't he?"
+
+"I do not remember hearing of such a transaction."
+
+"I guess they be pretty close about it.  Your papers ben't like
+ourn, I reckon?  Now we says and prints just what we likes."
+
+"You spend a good deal of time in reading the newspapers."
+
+"And I'd like you to tell me how we can spend it better.  How
+should freemen spend their time, but looking after their
+government, and watching that them fellers as we gives offices
+to, doos their duty, and gives themselves no airs?"
+
+"But I sometimes think, sir, that your fences might be in more
+thorough repair, and your roads in better order, if less time was
+spent in politics."
+
+"The Lord! to see how little you knows of a free country?  Why,
+what's the smoothness of a road, put against the freedom of a
+free-born American?  And what does a broken zig-zag signify,
+comparable to knowing that the men what we have been pleased to
+send up to Congress, speaks handsome and straight, as we chooses
+they should?"
+
+"It is from a sense of duty, then, that you all go to the liquor
+store to read the papers?"
+
+"To be sure it is, and he'd be no true born American as didn't.
+I don't say that the father of a family should always be after
+liquor, but I do say that I'd rather have my son drunk three
+times in a week, than not look after the affairs of his country."
+
+
+Our autumn walks were delightful; the sun ceased to scorch; the
+want of flowers was no longer peculiar to Ohio; and the trees
+took a colouring, which in richness, brilliance, and variety,
+exceeded all description.  I think it is the maple, or sugar-
+tree, that first sprinkles the forest with rich crimson; the
+beech follows, with all its harmony of golden tints, from pale
+yellow up to brightest orange.  The dog-wood gives almost the
+purple colour of the mulberry; the chesnut softens all with its
+frequent mass of delicate brown, and the sturdy oak carries its
+deep green into the very lap of winter.  These tints are too
+bright for the landscape painter; the attempt to follow nature in
+an American autumn scene must be abortive.  The colours are in
+reality extremely brilliant, but the medium through which they
+are seen increases the effect surprisingly.  Of all the points in
+which America has the advantage of England, the one I felt most
+sensibly was the clearness and brightness of the atmosphere.  By
+day and by night this exquisite purity of air gives tenfold
+beauty to every object.  I could hardly believe the stars were
+the same; the Great Bear looked like a constellation of suns; and
+Jupiter justified all the fine things said of him in those
+beautiful lines from I know not what spirited pen, beginning,
+
+    "I looked on thee, Jove! till my gaze
+     Shrunk, smote by the pow'r of thy blaze."
+
+I always remarked that the first silver line of the moon's
+crescent attracted the eye on the first day, in America, as
+strongly as it does here on the third.  I observed another
+phenomenon in the crescent moon of that region, the cause of
+which I less understood.  That appearance which Shakespear
+describes as "the new moon, with the old moon in her lap," and
+which I have heard ingeniously explained as the effect of _earth
+light_, was less visible there than here.
+
+Cuyp's clearest landscapes have an atmosphere that approaches
+nearer to that of America than any I remember on canvas; but even
+Cuyp's _air_ cannot reach the lungs, and, therefore, can only
+give an idea of half the enjoyment; for it makes itself felt as
+well as seen, and is indeed a constant source of pleasure.
+
+Our walks were, however, curtailed in several directions by my
+old Cincinnati enemies, the pigs; immense droves of them were
+continually arriving from the country by the road that led to
+most of our favourite walks; they were often fed and lodged in
+the prettiest valleys,and worse still, were slaughtered beside
+the prettiest streams.  Another evil threatened us from the same
+quarter, that was yet heavier.  Our cottage had an ample piazza,
+(a luxury almost universal in the country houses of America),
+which, shaded by a group of acacias, made a delightful sitting-
+room; from this favourite spot we one day perceived symptoms of
+building in a field close to it; with much anxiety we hastened to
+the spot, and asked what building was to be erected there.
+
+"'Tis to be a slaughter house for hogs," was the dreadful reply.
+As there were several gentlemen's houses in the neighbourhood, I
+asked if such an erection might not be indicted as a nuisance.
+
+"A what?"
+
+"A nuisance," I repeated, and explained what I meant.
+
+"No, no," was the reply, "that may do very well for your
+tyrannical country, where a rich man's nose is more thought
+of than a poor man's mouth; but hogs be profitable produce here,
+and we be too free for such a law as that, I guess."
+
+During my residence in America, little circumstances like the
+foregoing often recalled to my mind a conversation I once held in
+France with an old gentleman on the subject of their active
+police, and its omnipresent gens d'armerie; "Croyez moi, Madame,
+il n'y a que ceux, a qui ils ont a faire, qui les trouvent de
+trop."  And the old gentleman was right, not only in speaking of
+France, but of the whole human family, as philosophers call us.
+The well disposed, those whose own feeling of justice would
+prevent their annoying others, will never complain of the
+restraints of the law.  All the freedom enjoyed in America,
+beyond what is enjoyed in England, is enjoyed solely by the
+disorderly at the expense of the orderly; and were I a stout
+knight, either of the sword or of the pen, I would fearlessly
+throw down my gauntlet, and challenge the whole Republic to
+prove the contrary; but being, as I am, a feeble looker on,
+with a needle for my spear, and "I talk" for my device, I must
+be contented with the power of stating the fact, perfectly
+certain that I shall be contradicted by one loud shout from
+Maine to Georgia.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 11
+
+Religion
+
+
+
+I had often heard it observed before I visited America, that one
+of the great blessings of its constitution was the absence of a
+national religion, the country being thus exonerated from all
+obligation of supporting the clergy; those only contributing to
+do so whose principles led them to it.  My residence in the
+country has shewn me that a religious tyranny may be exerted very
+effectually without the aid of the government, in a way much more
+oppressive than the paying of tithe, and without obtaining any of
+the salutary decorum, which I presume no one will deny is the
+result of an established mode of worship.
+
+As it was impossible to remain many weeks in the country without
+being struck with the strange anomalies produced by its religious
+system, my early notes contain many observations on the subject;
+but as nearly the same scenes recurred in every part of the
+country, I state them here, not as belonging to the west alone,
+but to the whole Union, the same cause producing the same effect
+every where.
+
+The whole people appear to be divided into an almost endless
+variety of religious factions, and I was told, that to be well
+received in society, it was necessary to declare yourself as
+belonging to some one of these.  Let your acknowledged belief
+be what it may, you are said to be _not a Christian_, unless you
+attach yourself to a particular congregation.  Besides the
+broad and well-known distinctions of Episcopalian, Catholic,
+Presbyterian, Calvinist, Baptist, Quaker, Sweden-borgian,
+Universalist, Dunker, &c. &c. &c.; there are innumerable
+others springing out of these, each of which assumes a church
+government of its own; of this, the most intriguing and factious
+individual is invariably the head; and in order, as it should
+seem, to shew a reason for this separation, each congregation
+invests itself with some queer variety of external observance
+that has the melancholy effect of exposing _all_ religious
+ceremonies to contempt.
+
+It is impossible, in witnessing all these unseemly vagaries,
+not to recognise the advantages of an established church as a
+sort of headquarters for quiet unpresuming Christians, who are
+contented to serve faithfully, without insisting upon having
+each a little separate banner, embroidered with a device of
+their own imagining.
+
+The Catholics alone appear exempt from the fury of division
+and sub-division that has seized every other persuasion.
+Having the Pope for their common head, regulates, I presume,
+their movements, and prevents the outrageous display of
+individual whim which every other sect is permitted.
+
+I had the pleasure of being introduced to the Catholic bishop of
+Cincinnati, and have never known in any country a priest of a
+character and bearing more truly apostolic.  He was an American,
+but I should never have discovered it from his pronunciation or
+manner.  He received his education partly in England, and partly
+in France.  His manners were highly polished; his piety active
+and sincere, and infinitely more mild and tolerant than that of
+the factious Sectarians who form the great majority of the
+American priesthood.
+
+I believe I am sufficiently tolerant; but this does not prevent
+my seeing that the object of all religious observances is better
+obtained, when the government of the church is confided to the
+wisdom and experience of the most venerated among the people,
+than when it is placed in the hands of every tinker and tailor
+who chooses to claim a share in it.  Nor is this the only evil
+attending the want of a national religion, supported by the
+State.  As there is no legal and fixed provision for the clergy,
+it is hardly surprising that their services are confined to those
+who can pay them.  The vehement expressions of insane or
+hypocritical zeal, such as were exhibited during "the Revival,"
+can but ill atone for the want of village worship, any more than
+the eternal talk of the admirable and unequalled government, can
+atone for the continual contempt of social order.  Church and
+State hobble along, side by side, notwithstanding their boasted
+independence.  Almost every man you meet will tell you, that he
+is occupied in labours most abundant for the good of his country;
+and almost every woman will tell you, that besides those things
+that are within (her house) she has coming upon her daily the
+care of all the churches.  Yet spite of this universal attention
+to the government, its laws are half asleep; and spite of the old
+women and their Dorcas societies, atheism is awake and thriving.
+
+In the smaller cities and towns prayer-meetings take the place
+of almost all other amusements; but as the thinly scattered
+population of most villages can give no parties, and pay no
+priests, they contrive to marry, christen, and bury without them.
+A stranger taking up his residence in any city in America must
+think the natives the most religious people upon earth; but if
+chance lead him among her western villages, he will rarely find
+either churches or chapels, prayer or preacher; except, indeed,
+at that most terrific saturnalia, "a camp-meeting."  I was much
+struck with the answer of a poor woman, whom I saw ironing on a
+Sunday.  "Do you make no difference in your occupations on a
+Sunday?" I said.  "I beant a Christian, Ma'am; we have got no
+opportunity," was the reply.  It occurred to me, that in a
+country where "all men are equal," the government would be guilty
+of no great crime, did it so far interfere as to give them all
+_an opportunity_ of becoming Christians if they wished it.  But
+should the federal government dare to propose building a church,
+and endowing it, in some village that has never heard "the
+bringing home of bell and burial," it is perfectly certain that
+not only the sovereign state where such an abomination was
+proposed, would rush into the Congress to resent the odious
+interference, but that all the other states would join the
+clamour, and such an intermeddling administration would run
+great risk of impeachment and degradation.
+
+Where there is a church-government so constituted as to deserve
+human respect, I believe it will always be found to receive it,
+even from those who may not assent to the dogma of its creed; and
+where such respect exists, it produces a decorum in manners and
+language often found wanting where it does not.  Sectarians will
+not venture to rhapsodise, nor infidels to scoff, in the common
+intercourse of society.  Both are injurious to the cause of
+rational religion, and to check both must be advantageous.
+
+It is certainly possible that some of the fanciful variations
+upon the ancient creeds of the Christian Church, with which
+transatlantic religionists amuse themselves, might inspire morbid
+imaginations in Europe as well as in America; but before they can
+disturb the solemn harmony HERE they must prelude by a defiance,
+not only to common sense, but what is infinitely more appalling,
+to common usage.  They must at once rank themselves with the low
+and the illiterate, for only such prefer the eloquence of the tub
+to that of the pulpit.  The aristocracy must ever, as a body,
+belong to the established Church, and it is but a small
+proportion of the influential classes who would be willing to
+allow that they do not belong to the aristocracy.  That such
+feelings influence the professions of men it were ignorance or
+hypocrisy to deny; and that nation is wise who knows how to turn
+even such feelings into a wholesome stream of popular influence.
+
+As a specimen of the tone in which religion is mixed in the
+ordinary intercourse of society, I will transcribe the notes I
+took of a conversation, at which I was present, at Cincinnati; I
+wrote them immediately after the conversation took place.
+
+     Dr. A.
+
+"I wish, Mrs. M., that you would explain to me what a revival is.
+I hear it talked of all over the city, and I know it means
+something about Jesus Christ and religion; but that is all I
+know, will you instruct me farther?"
+
+     Mrs. M.
+
+"I expect, Dr. A., that you want to laugh at me.  But that
+makes no difference.  I am firm in my principles, and I fear
+no one's laughter."
+
+     Dr. A.
+
+"Well, but what is a revival?"
+
+     Mrs. M.
+
+"It is difficult, very difficult, to make those see who have no
+light; to make those understand whose souls are darkened.  A
+revival means just an elegant kindling of the spirit; it is
+brought about to the Lord's people by the hands of his saints,
+and it means salvation in the highest."
+
+     Dr. A.
+
+"But what is it the people mean by talking of feeling the
+revival? and waiting in spirit for the revival? and the extacy
+of the revival?"
+
+     Mrs. M.
+
+"Oh Doctor! I am afraid that you are too far gone astray to
+understand all that.  It is a glorious assurance, a whispering of
+the everlasting covenant, it is the bleating of the lamb, it is
+the welcome of the shepherd, it is the essence of love, it is the
+fullness of glory, it is being in Jesus, it is Jesus being in us,
+it is taking the Holy Ghost into our bosoms, it is sitting
+ourselves down by God, it is being called to the high places, it
+is eating, and drinking, and sleeping in the Lord, it is becoming
+a lion in the faith, it is being lowly and meek, and kissing the
+hand that smites, it is being mighty and powerful, and scorning
+reproof, it is--"
+
+     Dr. A.
+
+"Thank you, Mrs. M., I feel quite satisfied; and I think I
+understand a revival now almost as well as you do yourself."
+
+     Mrs. A.
+
+"My!  Where can you have learnt all that stuff, Mrs. M.?"
+
+     Mrs. M.
+
+"How benighted you are! From the holy book, from the Word of the
+Lord, from the Holy Ghost, and Jesus Christ themselves."
+
+     Mrs. A.
+
+"It does seem so droll to me, to hear you talk of "the Word of
+the Lord."  Why, I have been brought up to look upon the Bible as
+nothing better than an old newspaper."
+
+     Mrs. O.
+
+"Surely you only say this for the sake of hearing what Mrs. M.
+will say in return--you do not mean it?"
+
+     Mrs. A.
+
+"La, yes! to be sure I do."
+
+     Dr. A.
+
+"I profess that I by no means wish my wife to read all she might
+find there.--What says the Colonel, Mrs. M.?"
+
+     Mrs. M.
+
+"As to that, I never stop to ask him.  I tell him every day that
+I believe in Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and that it is his duty
+to believe in them too, and then my conscience is clear, and I
+don't care what he believes.  Really, I have no notion of one's
+husband interfering in such matters."
+
+     Dr. A.
+
+"You are quite right.  I am sure I give my wife leave to believe
+just what she likes; but she is a good woman, and does not abuse
+the liberty; for she believes nothing."
+
+It was not once, nor twice, nor thrice, but many many times,
+during my residence in America, that I was present when subjects
+which custom as well as principle had taught me to consider as
+fitter for the closet than the tea-table, were thus lightly
+discussed.  I hardly know whether I was more startled at first
+hearing, in little dainty namby pamby tones, a profession of
+Atheism over a teacup, or at having my attention called from a
+Johnny cake, to a rhapsody on election and the second birth.
+
+But, notwithstanding this revolting license, persecution exists
+to a degree unknown, I believe, in our well-ordered land since
+the days of Cromwell.  I had the following anecdote from a
+gentleman perfectly well acquainted with the circumstances.  A
+tailor sold a suit of clothes to a sailor a few moments before he
+sailed, which was on a Sunday morning.  The corporation of New
+York prosecuted the tailor, and he was convicted, and sentenced
+to a fine greatly beyond his means to pay.  Mr. F., a lawyer of
+New York, defended him with much eloquence, but in vain.  His
+powerful speech, however, was not without effect, for it raised
+him such a host of Presbyterian enemies as sufficed to destroy
+his practice.  Nor was this all: his nephew was at the time
+preparing for the bar, and soon after the above circumstance
+occurred his certificates were presented, and refused, with this
+declaration, "that no man of the name and family of F. should be
+admitted."  I have met this young man in society; he is a person
+of very considerable talent, and being thus cruelly robbed of his
+profession, has become the editor of a newspaper.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 12
+
+Peasantry, compared to that of England--Early marriages--
+Charity--Independence and equality--Cottage prayer-meeting
+
+
+
+Mohawk, as our little village was called, gave us an excellent
+opportunity of comparing the peasants of the United States
+with those of England, and of judging the average degree of
+comfort enjoyed by each.  I believe Ohio gives as fair a
+specimen as any part of the union; if they have the roughness
+and inconveniences of a new state to contend with, they have
+higher wages and cheaper provisions; if I err in supposing it
+a mean state in point of comfort, it certainly is not in taking
+too low a standard.
+
+Mechanics, if good workmen, are certain of employment, and good
+wages, rather higher than with us; the average wages of a
+labourer throughout the Union is ten dollars a month, with
+lodging, boarding, washing, and mending; if he lives at his own
+expense he has a dollar a day.  It appears to me that the
+necessaries of life, that is to say, meat, bread, butter, tea,
+and coffee, (not to mention whiskey), are within the reach of
+every sober, industrious, and healthy man who chooses to have
+them; and yet I think that an English peasant, with the same
+qualifications, would, in coming to the United States, change for
+the worse.  He would find wages somewhat higher, and provisions
+in Western America considerably lower: but this statement, true
+as it is, can lead to nothing but delusion if taken apart from
+other facts, fully as certain, and not less important, but which
+require more detail in describing, and which perhaps cannot be
+fully comprehended, except by an eye-witness.  The American poor
+are accustomed to eat meat three times a day; I never enquired
+into the habits of any cottagers in Western America, where this
+was not the case.  I found afterwards in Maryland, Pennsylvania,
+and other parts of the country, where the price of meat was
+higher, that it was used with more economy; yet still a much
+larger portion of the weekly income is thus expended than with
+us.  Ardent spirits, though lamentably cheap,* still cost
+something, and the use of them among the men, with more or less
+of discretion, according to the character, is universal.  Tobacco
+also grows at their doors, and is not taxed; yet this too costs
+something, and the air of heaven is not in more general use among
+the men of America, than chewing tobacco.  I am not now pointing
+out the evils of dram-drinking, but it is evident, that where
+this practice prevails universally, and often to the most
+frightful excess, the consequence must be, that the money spent
+to obtain the dram is less than the money lost by the time
+consumed in drinking it.  Long, disabling, and expensive fits of
+sickness are incontestably more frequent in every part of
+America, than in England, and the sufferers have no aid to look
+to, but what they have saved, or what they may be enabled to
+sell.  I have never seen misery exceed what I have witnessed in
+an American cottage where disease has entered.
+
+    *(About a shilling a gallon is the retail price of good
+     (whiskey.  If bought wholesale, or of inferior quality, it
+     (is much cheaper.
+
+But if the condition of the labourer be not superior to that
+of the English peasant, that of his wife and daughters is
+incomparably worse.  It is they who are indeed the slaves of the
+soil.  One has but to look at the wife of an American cottager,
+and ask her age, to be convinced that the life she leads is one
+of hardship, privation, and labour.  It is rare to see a woman in
+this station who has reached the age of thirty, without losing
+every trace of youth and beauty.  You continually see women with
+infants on their knee, that you feel sure are their grand-
+children, till some convincing proof of the contrary is
+displayed.  Even the young girls, though often with lovely
+features, look pale, thin, and haggard.  I do not remember to
+have seen in any single instance among the poor, a specimen of
+the plump, rosy, laughing physiognomy so common among our cottage
+girls.  The horror of domestic service, which the reality of
+slavery, and the fable of equality, have generated, excludes the
+young women from that sure and most comfortable resource of
+decent English girls; and the consequence is, that with a most
+irreverend freedom of manner to the parents, the daughters are,
+to the full extent of the word, domestic slaves.  This condition,
+which no periodical merry-making, no village FETE, ever occurs to
+cheer, is only changed for the still sadder burdens of a teeming
+wife.  They marry very young; in fact, in no rank of life do you
+meet with young women in that delightful period of existence
+between childhood and marriage, wherein, if only tolerably well
+spent, so much useful information is gained, and the character
+takes a sufficient degree of firmness to support with dignity the
+more important parts of wife and mother.  The slender, childish
+thing, without vigour of mind or body, is made to stem a sea of
+troubles that dims her young eye and makes her cheek grow pale,
+even before nature has given it the last beautiful finish of the
+full-grown woman.
+
+"We shall get along," is the answer in full, for all that can be
+said in way of advice to a boy and girl who take it into their
+heads to go before a magistrate and "get married."  And they do
+get along, till sickness overtakes them, by means perhaps of
+borrowing a kettle from one and a tea-pot from another; but
+intemperance, idleness, or sickness will, in one week, plunge
+those who are even getting along well, into utter destitution;
+and where this happens, they are completely without resource.
+
+The absence of poor-laws is, without doubt, a blessing to the
+country, but they have not that natural and reasonable dependence
+on the richer classes which, in countries differently
+constituted, may so well supply their place.  I suppose there is
+less alms-giving in America than in any other Christian country
+on the face of the globe.  It is not in the temper of the people
+either to give or to receive.
+
+I extract the following pompous passage from a Washington paper
+of Feb. 1829, (a season of uncommon severity and distress,)
+which, I think, justifies my observation.
+
+"Among the liberal evidences of sympathy for the suffering poor
+of this city, two have come to our knowledge which deserve to be
+especially noticed: the one a donation by the President of the
+United States to the committee of the ward in which he resides of
+fifty dollars; the other the donation by a few of the officers of
+the war department to the Howard and Dorcas Societies, of
+seventy-two dollars."  When such mention is made of a gift of
+about nine pounds sterling from the sovereign magistrate of the
+United States, and of thirteen pounds sterling as a contribution
+from one of the state departments, the inference is pretty
+obvious, that the sufferings of the destitute in America are not
+liberally relieved by individual charity.
+
+I had not been three days at Mohawk-cottage before a pair of
+ragged children came to ask for medicine for a sick mother; and
+when it was given to them, the eldest produced a handful of
+cents, and desired to know what he was to pay.  The superfluous
+milk of our cow was sought after eagerly, but every new comer
+always proposed to pay for it.  When they found out that "the
+English old woman" did not sell anything, I am persuaded they by
+no means liked her the better for it; but they seemed to think,
+that if she were a fool it was no reason they should be so too,
+and accordingly the borrowing, as they called it, became very
+constant, but always in a form that shewed their dignity and
+freedom.  One woman sent to borrow a pound of cheese; another
+half a pound of coffee; and more than once an intimation
+accompanied the milk-jug, that the milk must be fresh, and
+unskimmed: on one occasion the messenger refused milk, and said,
+"Mother only wanted a little cream for her coffee."
+
+I could never teach them to believe, during above a year that
+I lived at this house, that I would not sell the old clothes
+of the family; and so pertinacious were they in bargain-making,
+that often, when I had given them the articles which they wanted
+to purchase, they would say, "Well, I expect I shall have to do
+a turn of work for this; you may send for me when you want me."
+But as I never did ask for the turn of work, and as this
+formula was constantly repeated, I began to suspect that it
+was spoken solely to avoid uttering the most un-American phrase
+"I thank you."
+
+There was one man whose progress in wealth I watched with much
+interest and pleasure.  When I first became his neighbour,
+himself, his wife, and four children, were living in one room,
+with plenty of beef-steaks and onions for breakfast, dinner and
+supper, but with very few other comforts.  He was one of the
+finest men I ever saw, full of natural intelligence and activity
+of mind and body, but he could neither read nor write.  He drank
+but little whiskey, and but rarely chewed tobacco, and was
+therefore more free from that plague spot of spitting which
+rendered male colloquy so difficult to endure.  He worked for us
+frequently, and often used to walk into the drawing-room and seat
+himself on the sofa, and tell me all his plans.  He made an
+engagement with the proprietor of the wooded hill before
+mentioned, by which half the wood he could fell was to be his
+own.  His unwearied industry made this a profitable bargain, and
+from the proceeds he purchased the materials for building a
+comfortable frame (or wooden) house; he did the work almost
+entirely himself.  He then got a job for cutting rails, and, as
+he could cut twice as many in a day as any other man in the
+neighbourhood, he made a good thing of it.  He then let half his
+pretty house, which was admirably constructed, with an ample
+portico, that kept it always cool.  His next step was contracting
+for the building a wooden bridge, and when I left Mohawk he had
+fitted up his half of the building as an hotel and grocery store;
+and I have no doubt that every sun that sets sees him a richer
+man than when it rose.  He hopes to make his son a lawyer, and I
+have little doubt that he will live to see him sit in congress;
+when this time arrives, the wood-cutter's son will rank with any
+other member of congress, not of courtesy, but of right, and the
+idea that his origin is a disadvantage, will never occur to the
+imagination of the most exalted of his fellow-citizens.
+
+This is the only feature in American society that I recognise as
+indicative of the equality they profess.  Any man's son may
+become the equal of any other man's son, and the consciousness of
+this is certainly a spur to exertion; on the other hand, it is
+also a spur to that coarse familiarity, untempered by any shadow
+of respect, which is assumed by the grossest and the lowest in
+their intercourse with the highest and most refined.  This is a
+positive evil, and, I think, more than balances its advantages.
+
+And here again it may be observed, that the theory of equality
+may be very daintily discussed by English gentlemen in a London
+dining-room, when the servant, having placed a fresh bottle of
+cool wine on the table, respectfully shuts the door, and leaves
+them to their walnuts and their wisdom; but it will be found
+less palatable when it presents itself in the shape of a hard,
+greasy paw, and is claimed in accents that breathe less of
+freedom than of onions and whiskey.  Strong, indeed, must be
+the love of equality in an English breast if it can survive a
+tour through the Union.
+
+There was one house in the village which was remarkable from its
+wretchedness.  It had an air of indecent poverty about it, which
+long prevented my attempting an entrance; but at length, upon
+being told that I could get chicken and eggs there whenever I
+wanted them, I determined upon venturing.  The door being opened
+to my knock, I very nearly abandoned my almost blunted purpose; I
+never beheld such a den of filth and misery: a woman, the very
+image of dirt and disease, held a squalid imp of a baby on her
+hip bone while she kneaded her dough with her right fist only
+A great lanky girl, of twelve years old, was sitting on a barrel,
+gnawing a corn cob; when I made known my business, the woman
+answered, "No not I; I got no chickens to sell, nor eggs neither;
+but my son will, plenty I expect.  Here Nick," (bawling at the
+bottom of a ladder), "here's an old woman what wants chickens."
+Half a moment brought Nick to the bottom of the ladder, and I
+found my merchant was one of a ragged crew, whom I had been used
+to observe in my daily walk, playing marbles in the dust, and
+swearing lustily; he looked about ten years old.
+
+"Have you chicken to sell, my boy?"
+
+"Yes, and eggs too, more nor what you'll buy."
+
+Having enquired price, condition, and so on, I recollected that I
+had been used to give the same price at market, the feathers
+plucked, and the chicken prepared for the table, and I told him
+that he ought not to charge the same.
+
+"Oh for that, I expect I can fix 'em as well as ever them was,
+what you got in market."
+
+"You fix them?"
+
+"Yes to be sure, why not?"
+
+"I thought you were too fond of marbles."
+
+He gave me a keen glance, and said, "You don't know I.--When will
+you be wanting the chickens?"
+
+He brought them at the time directed, extremely well "fixed," and
+I often dealt with him afterwards.  When I paid him, he always
+thrust his hand into his breaches pocket, which I presume, as
+being _the keep_, was fortified more strongly than the
+dilapidated outworks, and drew from thence rather more dollars,
+half-dollars, levies, and fips, than his dirty little hand could
+well hold.  My curiosity was excited, and though I felt an
+involuntary disgust towards the young Jew, I repeatedly conversed
+with him.
+
+"You are very rich, Nick," I said to him one day, on his making
+an ostentatious display of change, as he called it; he sneered
+with a most unchildish expression of countenance, and replied, "I
+guess 'twould be a bad job for I, if that was all I'd got to
+shew."
+
+I asked him how he managed his business.  He told me that he
+bought eggs by the hundred, and lean chicken by the score, from
+the waggons that passed their door on the way to market; that he
+fatted the latter in coops he had made himself, and could easily
+double their price, and that his eggs answered well too, when he
+sold them out by the dozen.
+
+"And do you give the money to your mother?"
+
+"I expect not," was the answer, with another sharp glance of his
+ugly blue eyes.
+
+"What do you do with it.  Nick?"
+
+His look said plainly, what is that to you? but he only answered,
+quaintly enough, "I takes care of it."
+
+How Nick got his first dollar is very doubtful; I was told that
+when he entered the village store, the person serving always
+called in another pair of eyes; but having obtained it, the
+spirit, activity, and industry, with which he caused it to
+increase and multiply, would have been delightful in one of Miss
+Edgeworth's dear little clean bright-looking boys, who would have
+carried all he got to his mother; but in Nick it was detestable.
+No human feeling seemed to warm his young heart, not even the
+love of self-indulgence, for he was not only ragged and dirty,
+but looked considerably more than half starved, and I doubt not
+his dinners and suppers half fed his fat chickens.
+
+I by no means give this history of Nick, the chicken merchant, as
+an anecdote characteristic in all respects of America; the only
+part of the story which is so, is the independence of the little
+man, and is one instance out of a thousand, of the hard, dry,
+calculating character that is the result of it.  Probably Nick
+will be very rich; perhaps he will be President.  I once got so
+heartily scolded for saying, that I did not think all American
+citizens were equally eligible to that office, that I shall never
+again venture to doubt it.
+
+Another of our cottage acquaintance was a market-gardener, from
+whom we frequently bought vegetables; from the wife of this man
+we one day received a very civil invitation to "please to come
+and pass the evening with them in prayer."  The novelty of the
+circumstance, and its great dissimilarity to the ways and manners
+of our own country, induced me to accept the invitation, and also
+to record the visit here.
+
+We were received with great attention, and a place was assigned
+us on one of the benches that surrounded the little parlour.
+Several persons, looking like mechanics and their wives, were
+present; every one sat in profound silence, and with that quiet
+subdued air, that serious people assume on entering a church.  At
+length, a long, black, grim-looking man entered; his dress, the
+cut of his hair, and his whole appearance, strongly recalled the
+idea of one of Cromwell's fanatics.  He stepped solemnly into the
+middle of the room, and took a chair that stood there, but not to
+sit upon it; he turned the back towards him, on which he placed
+his hands, and stoutly uttering a sound between a hem and a
+cough, he deposited freely on either side of him a considerable
+portion of masticated tobacco.  He then began to preach.  His
+text was "Live in hope," and he continued to expound it for two
+hours in a drawling, nasal tone, with no other respite than what
+he allowed himself for expectoration.  If I say that he repeated
+the words of this text a hundred times, I think I shall not
+exceed the truth, for that allows more than a minute for each
+repetition, and in fact the whole discourse was made up of it.
+The various tones in which he uttered it might have served as a
+lesson on emphasis; as a question--in accents of triumph--in
+accents of despair--of pity--of threatening--of authority--of
+doubt--of hope--of faith.  Having exhausted every imaginable
+variety of tone, he abruptly said, "Let us pray," and twisting
+his chair round, knelt before it.  Every one knelt before the
+seat they had occupied, and listened for another half hour to a
+rant of miserable, low, familiar jargon, that he presumed to
+improvise to his Maker as a prayer.  In this, however, the
+cottage apostle only followed the example set by every preacher
+throughout the Union, excepting those of the Episcopalian and
+Catholic congregations; THEY only do not deem themselves
+privileged to address the Deity in strains of crude and unweighed
+importunity.  These ranters may sometimes be very much in
+earnest, but surely the least we can say of it is, that they
+
+    "Praise their God amiss."
+
+I enquired afterwards of a friend, well acquainted with such
+matters, how the grim preacher of "Hope" got paid for his
+labours, and he told me that the trade was an excellent one, for
+that many a gude wife bestowed more than a tithe of what her gude
+man trusted to her keeping, in rewarding the zeal of these self-
+chosen apostles.  These sable ministers walk from house to house,
+or if the distance be considerable, ride on a comfortable ambling
+nag.  They are not only as empty as wind, but resemble it in
+other particulars; for they blow where they list, and no man
+knoweth whence they come, nor whither they go.  When they see a
+house that promises comfortable lodging and entertainment, they
+enter there, and say to the good woman of the house, "Sister,
+shall I pray with you?"  If the answer be favourable, and it is
+seldom otherwise, he instals himself and his horse till after
+breakfast the next morning.  The best meat, drink, and lodging
+are his, while he stays, and he seldom departs without some
+little contribution in money for the support of the crucified and
+suffering church.  Is it not strange that "the most intelligent
+people in the world" should prefer such a religion as this, to a
+form established by the wisdom and piety of the ablest and best
+among the erring sons of men, solemnly sanctioned by the nation's
+law, and rendered sacred by the use of their fathers?
+
+It would be well for all reasoners on the social system to
+observe steadily, and with an eye obscured by no beam of
+prejudice, the result of the experiment that is making on the
+other side of the Atlantic.  If I mistake not, they might learn
+there, better than by any abstract speculation, what are the
+points on which the magistrates of a great people should dictate
+to them and on what points they should be left freely to their
+own guidance, I sincerely believe, that if a fire-worshipper, or
+an Indian Brahmin, were to come to the United States, prepared to
+preach and pray in English, he would not be long without a "very
+respectable congregation."
+
+The influence of a religion, sanctioned by the government, could
+in no country, in the nineteenth century, interfere with the
+speculations of a philosopher in his closet, but it might, and
+must, steady the weak and wavering opinions of the multitude.
+There is something really pitiable in the effect produced by the
+want of this rudder oar.  I knew a family where one was a
+Methodist, one a Presbyterian, and a third a Baptist; and
+another, where one was a Quaker, one a declared Atheist, and
+another an Universalist.  These are all females, and all moving
+in the best society that America affords; but one and all of them
+as incapable of reasoning on things past, present, and to come,
+as the infants they nourish, yet one and all of them perfectly
+fit to move steadily and usefully in a path marked out for them.
+But I shall be called an itinerant preacher myself if I pursue
+this theme.
+
+As I have not the magic power of my admirable friend, Miss
+Mitford, to give grace and interest to the humblest rustic
+details, I must not venture to linger among the cottages that
+surrounded us; but before I quit them I must record the pleasing
+recollection of one or two neighbours of more companionable rank,
+from whom I received so much friendly attention, and such
+unfailing kindness, in all my little domestic embarrassments,
+that I shall never recall the memory of Mohawk, without paying an
+affectionate tribute to these far distant friends.  I wish it
+were within the range of hope, that I might see them again, in my
+own country, and repay, in part, the obligations I owe them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 13
+
+Theatre--Fine Arts--Delicacy--Shaking Quakers--
+Big-Bone Lick--Visit of the President
+
+
+
+The theatre at Cincinnati is small, and not very brilliant in
+decoration, but in the absence of every other amusement our young
+men frequently attended it, and in the bright clear nights of
+autumn and winter, the mile and a half of distance was not enough
+to prevent the less enterprising members of the family from
+sometimes accompanying them.  The great inducement to this was
+the excellent acting of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Drake, the
+managers.  [Mr. Drake was an Englishman.]  Nothing could be more
+distinct than their line of acting, but the great versatility of
+their powers enabled them often to appear together.  Her cast was
+the highest walk of tragedy, and his the broadest comedy; but
+yet, as Goldsmith says of his sister heroines, I have known them
+change characters for a whole evening together, and have wept
+with him and laughed with her, as it was their will and pleasure
+to ordain.  I think in his comedy he was superior to any actor I
+ever saw in the same parts, except Emery.  Alexander Drake's
+comedy was like that of the French, who never appear to be acting
+at all; he was himself the comic being the author aimed at
+depicting.  Let him speak whose words he would, from Shakspeare
+to Colman, it was impossible not to feel that half the fun was
+his own; he had, too, in a very high degree, the power that
+Fawcett possessed, of drawing tears by a sudden touch of natural
+feeling.  His comic songs might have set the gravity of the
+judges and bishops together at defiance.  Liston is great, but
+Alexander Drake was greater.
+
+Mrs. Drake, formerly Miss Denny, greatly resembles Miss
+O'Neil; a proof of this is, that Mr. Kean, who had heard of
+the resemblance, arrived at New York late in the evening, and
+having repaired to the theatre, saw her for the first time
+across the stage, and immediately exclaimed, "that's Miss Denny."
+Her voice, too, has the same rich and touching tones, and is
+superior in power.  Her talent is decidedly first-rate.  Deep
+and genuine feeling, correct judgment, and the most perfect good
+taste, distinguish her play in every character.  Her last act
+of Belvidera is superior in tragic effect to any thing I ever
+saw on the stage, the one great exception to all comparison,
+Mrs. Siddons, being set aside.
+
+It was painful to see these excellent performers playing to a
+miserable house, not a third full, and the audience probably
+not including half a dozen persons who would prefer their playing
+to that of the vilest strollers.  In proof of this, I saw them,
+as managers, give place to paltry third-rate actors from London,
+who would immediately draw crowded houses, and be overwhelmed
+with applause.
+
+Poor Drake died just before we left Ohio, and his wife, who,
+besides her merit as an actress, is a most estimable and amiable
+woman, is left with a large family.  I have little, or rather no
+doubt, of her being able to obtain an excellent engagement in
+London, but her having property in several of the Western
+theatres will, I fear, detain her in a neighbourhood, where she
+is neither understood nor appreciated.  She told me many very
+excellent professional anecdotes collected during her residence
+in the West; one of these particularly amused me as a specimen of
+Western idiom.  A lady who professed a great admiration for Mrs.
+Drake had obtained her permission to be present upon one occasion
+at her theatrical toilet.  She was dressing for some character in
+which she was to stab herself, and her dagger was lying on the
+table.  The visitor took it up, and examining it with much
+emotion, exclaimed, "what! do you really jab this into yourself
+sevagarous?"
+
+We also saw the great American star, Mr. Forrest.  What he may
+become I will not pretend to prophesy; but when I saw him play
+Hamlet at Cincinnati, not even Mrs. Drake's sweet Ophelia could
+keep me beyond the third act.  It is true that I have seen
+Kemble, Macready, Kean, Young, C. Kemble, Cook, and Talma play
+Hamlet, and I might not, perhaps, be a very fair judge of this
+young actor's merits; but I was greatly amused when a gentleman,
+who asked my opinion of him, told me upon hearing it, that he
+would not advise me to state it freely in America, "for they
+would not bear it."  The theatre was really not a bad one, though
+the very poor receipts rendered it impossible to keep it in high
+order; but an annoyance infinitely greater than decorations
+indifferently clean, was the style and manner of the audience.
+Men came into the lower tier of boxes without their coats; and I
+have seen shirt sleeves tucked up to the shoulder; the spitting
+was incessant, and the mixed smell of onions and whiskey was
+enough to make one feel even the Drakes' acting dearly bought
+by the obligation of enduring its accompaniments.  The bearing
+and attitudes of the men are perfectly indescribable; the heels
+thrown higher than the head, the entire rear of the person
+presented to the audience, the whole length supported on
+the  benches, are among the varieties that these exquisite
+posture-masters exhibit.  The noises, too, were perpetual, and
+of the most unpleasant kind; the applause is expressed by cries
+and thumping with the feet, instead of clapping; and when a
+patriotic fit seized them, and "Yankee Doodle" was called for,
+every man seemed to think his reputation as a citizen depended
+on the noise he made.
+
+Two very indifferent figurantes, probably from the Ambigu
+Comique, or la Gaiete, made their appearance at Cincinnati while
+we were there; and had Mercury stepped down, and danced a _pas
+seul_ upon earth, his godship could not have produced a more
+violent sensation.  But wonder and admiration were by no means
+the only feelings excited; horror and dismay were produced in at
+least an equal degree.  No one, I believe, doubted their being
+admirable dancers, but every one agreed that the morals of the
+Western world would never recover the shock.  When I was asked if
+I had ever seen any thing so dreadful before, I was embarrassed
+how to answer; for the young women had been exceedingly careful,
+both in their dress and in their dancing, to meet the taste of
+the people; but had it been Virginie in her most transparent
+attire, or Taglioni in her most remarkable pirouette, they could
+not have been more reprobated.  The ladies altogether forsook the
+theatre; the gentlemen muttered under their breath, and turned
+their heads aside when the subject was mentioned; the clergy
+denounced them from the pulpit; and if they were named at the
+meetings of the saints, it was to show how deep the horror such a
+theme could produce.  I could not but ask myself if virtue were a
+plant, thriving under one form in one country, and flourishing
+under a different one in another?  If these Western Americans are
+right, then how dreadfully wrong are we!  It is really a very
+puzzling subject.
+
+But this was not the only point on which I found my notions of
+right and wrong utterly confounded; hardly a day passed in which
+I did not discover that something or other that I had been taught
+to consider lawful as eating, was held in abhorrence by those
+around me; many words to which I had never heard an objectionable
+meaning attached, were totally interdicted, and the strangest
+paraphrastic sentences substituted.  I confess it struck me, that
+notwithstanding a general stiffness of manner, which I think must
+exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, the Americans have
+imaginations that kindle with alarming facility.  I could give
+many anecdotes to prove this, but will content myself with a few.
+
+A young German gentleman of perfectly good manners, once came to
+me greatly chagrined at having offended one of the principal
+families in the neighbourhood, by having pronounced the word
+_corset_ before the ladies of it.  An old female friend had
+kindly overcome her own feelings so far as to mention to him the
+cause of the coolness he had remarked, and strongly advised his
+making an apology.  He told me that he was perfectly well
+disposed to do so, but felt himself greatly at a loss how to
+word it.
+
+An English lady who had long kept a fashionable boarding-school
+in one of the Atlantic cities, told me that one of her earliest
+cares with every new comer, was the endeavour to substitute real
+delicacy for this affected precision of manner; among many
+anecdotes, she told me one of a young lady about fourteen, who on
+entering the receiving room, where she only expected to see a
+lady who had enquired for her, and finding a young man with her,
+put her hands before her eyes, and ran out of the room again,
+screaming "A man! a man! a man!"
+
+On another occasion, one of the young ladies in going up stairs
+to the drawing-room, unfortunately met a boy of fourteen coming
+down, and her feelings were so violently agitated, that she
+stopped panting and sobbing, nor would pass on till the boy had
+swung himself up on the upper banisters, to leave the passage
+free.
+
+At Cincinnati there is a garden where the people go to eat ices,
+and to look at roses.  For the preservation of the flowers, there
+is placed at the end of one of the walks a sign-post sort of
+daub, representing a Swiss peasant girl, holding in her hand a
+scroll, requesting that the roses might not be gathered.
+Unhappily for the artist, or for the proprietor, or for both,
+the petticoat of this figure was so short as to shew her ancles.
+The ladies saw, and shuddered; and it was formally intimated to
+the proprietor, that if he wished for the patronage of the ladies
+of Cincinnati, he must have the petticoat of this figure
+lengthened.  The affrighted purveyor of ices sent off an express
+for the artist and his paint pot.  He came, but unluckily not
+provided with any colour that would match the petticoat; the
+necessity, however, was too urgent for delay, and a flounce of
+blue was added to the petticoat of red, giving bright and shining
+evidence before all men of the immaculate delicacy of the
+Cincinnati ladies.
+
+I confess I was sometimes tempted to suspect that this ultra
+refinement was not very deep seated.  It often appeared to me
+like the consciousness of grossness, that wanted a veil; but the
+veil was never gracefully adjusted.  Occasionally, indeed, the
+very same persons who appeared ready to faint at the idea of a
+statue, would utter some unaccountable sally that was quite
+startling, and which made me feel that the indelicacy of which we
+were accused had its limits.  The following anecdote is hardly
+fit to tell, but it explains what I mean too well to be omitted.
+
+A young married lady, of _high standing_ and most fastidious
+delicacy, who had been brought up at one of the Atlantic
+seminaries of highest reputation, told me that her house, at the
+distance of half a mile from a populous city, was unfortunately
+opposite a mansion of worse than doubtful reputation.  "It is
+abominable," she said, "to see the people that go there; they
+ought to be exposed.  I and another lady, an intimate friend of
+mine, did make one of them look foolish enough last summer: she
+was passing the day with me, and, while we were sitting at the
+window, we saw a young man we both knew ride up there, we went
+into the garden and watched at the gate for him to come back, and
+when he did, we both stepped out, and I said to him, "are you not
+ashamed, Mr. William D., to ride by my house and back again in
+that manner?"  I never saw a man look so foolish!"
+
+In conversing with ladies on the customs and manners of Europe, I
+remarked a strong propensity to consider every thing as wrong to
+which they were not accustomed.  I once mentioned to a young lady
+that I thought a picnic party would be very agreeable, and that I
+would propose it to some of our friends.  She agreed that it
+would be delightful, but she added, "I fear you will not succeed;
+we are not used to such sort of things here, and I know it is
+considered very indelicate for ladies and gentlemen to sit down
+together on the grass."
+
+I could multiply anecdotes of this nature; but I think these
+sufficient to give an accurate idea of the tone of manners in
+this particular, and I trust to justify the observations I
+have made.
+
+One of the spectacles which produced the greatest astonishment
+on us all was the Republican simplicity of the courts of justice.
+We had heard that the judges indulged themselves on the bench
+in those extraordinary attitudes which, doubtless, some
+peculiarity of the American formation leads them to find the
+most comfortable.  Of this we were determined to judge for
+ourselves, and accordingly entered the court when it was in full
+business, with three judges on the bench.  The annexed sketch
+will better describe what we saw than any thing I can write.
+
+Our winter passed rapidly away, and pleasantly enough, by the
+help of frosty walks, a little skaiting, a visit to Big-Bone
+Lick, and a visit to the shaking Quakers, a good deal of chess,
+and a good deal of reading, notwithstanding we were almost in the
+back woods of Western America.
+
+The excursion to Big-Bone Lick, in Kentucky, and that to the
+Quaker village, were too fatiguing for females at such a season,
+but our gentlemen brought us home mammoth bones and shaking
+Quaker stories in abundance.
+
+These singular people, the shaking Quakers of America, give
+undeniable proof that communities may exist and prosper, for they
+have continued for many years to adhere strictly to this manner
+of life, and have been constantly increasing in wealth.  They
+have formed two or three different societies in distant parts of
+the Union, all governed by the same general laws, and all
+uniformly prosperous and flourishing.
+
+There must be some sound and wholesome principle at work in these
+establishments to cause their success in every undertaking, and
+this principle must be a powerful one, for it has to combat much
+that is absurd and much that is mischievous.
+
+The societies are generally composed of about an equal proportion
+of males and females, many of them being men and their wives; but
+they are all bound by their laws not to cohabit together.  Their
+religious observances are wholly confined to singing and dancing
+of the most grotesque kind, and this repeated so constantly as to
+occupy much time; yet these people become rich and powerful
+wherever they settle themselves.  Whatever they manufacture,
+whatever their farms produce, is always in the highest repute,
+and brings the highest price in the market.  They receive all
+strangers with great courtesy, and if they bring an introduction
+they are lodged and fed for any length of time they choose to
+stay; they are not asked to join in their labours, but are
+permitted to do so if they wish it.
+
+The Big-Bone Lick was not visited, and even partially examined,
+without considerable fatigue.
+
+It appeared from the account of our travellers, that the spot
+which gives the region its elegant name is a deep bed of blue
+clay, tenacious and unsound, so much so as to render it both
+difficult and dangerous to traverse.  The digging it has been
+found so laborious that no one has yet hazarded the expense of a
+complete search into its depths for the gigantic relics so
+certainly hidden there.  The clay has never been moved without
+finding some of them; and I think it can hardly be doubted that
+money and perseverance would procure a more perfect specimen of
+an entire mammoth than we have yet seen.  [Since the above was
+written an immense skeleton, nearly perfect, has been extracted.]
+
+And now the time arrived that our domestic circle was again to be
+broken up.  Our eldest son was to be entered at Oxford, and it
+was necessary that his father should accompany him; and, after
+considerable indecision, it was at length determined that I and
+my daughters should remain another year, with our second son.  It
+was early in February, and our travellers prepared themselves to
+encounter some sharp gales upon the mountains, though the great
+severity of the cold appeared to be past.  We got buffalo robes
+and double shoes prepared for them, and they were on the eve of
+departure when we heard that General Jackson, the newly-elected
+President, was expected to arrive immediately at Cincinnati, from
+his residence in the West, and to proceed by steamboat to
+Pittsburgh, on his way to Washington.  This determined them not
+to fix the day of their departure till they heard of his arrival,
+and then, if possible, to start in the same boat with him; the
+decent dignity of a private conveyance not being deemed necessary
+for the President of the United States.
+
+The day of his arrival was however quite uncertain, and we could
+only determine to have every thing very perfectly in readiness,
+let it come when it would.  This resolution was hardly acted upon
+when the news reached us that the General had arrived at
+Louisville, and was expected at Cincinnati in a few hours.  All
+was bustle and hurry at Mohawk-cottage; we quickly dispatched our
+packing business, and this being the first opportunity we had had
+of witnessing such a demonstration of popular feeling, we all
+determined to be present at the debarkation of the great man.
+We accordingly walked to Cincinnati, and secured a favourable
+station at the landing-place, both for the purpose of seeing the
+first magistrate and of observing his reception by the people.
+We had waited but a few moments when the heavy panting of the
+steam engines and then a discharge of cannon told that we were
+just in time; another moment brought his vessel in sight.
+
+Nothing could be better of its kind than his approach to the
+shore: the noble steam-boat which conveyed him was flanked on
+each side by one of nearly equal size and splendour; the roofs of
+all three were covered by a crowd of men; cannon saluted them
+from the shore as they passed by, to the distance of a quarter of
+a mile above the town; there they turned about, and came down the
+river with a rapid but stately motion, the three vessels so close
+together as to appear one mighty mass upon the water.
+
+When they arrived opposite the principal landing they swept
+gracefully round, and the side vessels, separating themselves
+from the centre, fell a few feet back, permitting her to approach
+before them with her honoured freight.  All this manoeuvring was
+extremely well executed, and really beautiful.
+
+The crowd on the shore awaited her arrival in perfect stillness.
+When she touched the bank the people on board gave a faint huzza,
+but it was answered by no note of welcome from the land: this
+cold silence was certainly not produced by any want of friendly
+feeling towards the new President; during the whole of the
+canvassing he had been decidedly the popular candidate at
+Cincinnati, and, for months past, we had been accustomed to the
+cry of "Jackson for ever" from an overwhelming majority; but
+enthusiasm is not either the virtue or the vice of America.
+
+More than one private carriage was stationed at the water's edge
+to await the General's orders, but they were dismissed with the
+information that he would walk to the hotel.  Upon receiving this
+intimation the silent crowd divided itself in a very orderly
+manner, leaving a space for him to walk through them.  He did so,
+uncovered, though the distance was considerable, and the weather
+very cold; but he alone (with the exception of a few European
+gentlemen who were present) was without a hat.  He wore his grey
+hair, carelessly, but not ungracefully arranged, and, spite of
+his harsh gaunt features, he looks like a gentleman and a
+soldier.  He was in deep mourning, having very recently lost his
+wife; they were said to have been very happy together, and I was
+pained by hearing a voice near me exclaim, as he approached the
+spot where I stood, "There goes Jackson, where is his wife?"
+Another sharp voice, at a little distance, cried, "Adams for
+ever!"  And these sounds were all I heard to break the silence.
+
+"They manage these matters better" in the East, I have no doubt,
+but as yet I was still in the West, and still inclined to think,
+that however meritorious the American character may be, it is not
+amiable.
+
+Mr. T. and his sons joined the group of citizens who waited upon
+him to the hotel, and were presented to the President in form;
+that is, they shook hands with him.  Learning that he intended to
+remain a few hours there, or more properly, that it would be a
+few hours before the steam-boat would be ready to proceed, Mr. T.
+secured berths on board, and returned, to take a hasty dinner
+with us.  At the hour appointed by the captain, Mr. T. and his
+son accompanied the General on board; and by subsequent letters I
+learnt that they had conversed a good deal with him, and were
+pleased by his conversation and manners, but deeply disgusted by
+the brutal familiarity to which they saw him exposed at every
+place on their progress at which they stopped; I am tempted to
+quote one passage, as sufficiently descriptive of the manner,
+which so painfully grated against their European feelings.
+
+'There was not a hulking boy from a keel-boat who was not
+introduced to the President, unless, indeed, as was the case
+with some, they introduced themselves: for instance, I was at
+his elbow when a greasy fellow accosted him thus:-
+
+"General Jackson, I guess?"
+
+'The General bowed assent.
+
+"Why they told me you was dead."
+
+"No!  Providence has hitherto preserved my life."
+
+"And is your wife alive too?"
+
+'The General, apparently much hurt, signified the contrary, upon
+which the courtier concluded his harangue, by saying, "Aye, I
+thought it was the one or the t'other of ye."'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 14
+
+American Spring--Controversy between Messrs. Owen and Cambell--
+Public ball--Separation of the sexes--American freedom--Execution
+
+
+
+The American spring is by no means so agreeable as the American
+autumn; both move with faultering step, and slow; but this
+lingering pace, which is delicious in autumn, is most tormenting
+in the spring.  In the one case you are about to part with a
+friend, who is becoming more gentle and agreeable at every step,
+and such steps can hardly be made too slowly; but in the other
+you are making your escape from a dreary cavern, where you have
+been shut up with black frost and biting blasts, and where your
+best consolation was being smoke-dried.
+
+But, upon second thoughts, I believe it would be more correct,
+instead of complaining of the slow pace of the American spring,
+to declare that they have no spring at all.  The beautiful autumn
+often lingers on till Christmas, after which winter can be
+trifled with no longer, and generally keeps a stubborn hold
+through the months which we call spring, when he suddenly turns
+his back, and summer takes his place.
+
+The inconceivable uncertainty of the climate is, however, such,
+that I will not venture to state about what time this change
+takes place, for it is certain, that let me name what time I
+would, it would be easy for any weather journaliser to prove me
+wrong, by quoting that the thermometer was at 100 at a period
+which my statement included in the winter; or 50 long after I
+made the summer commence.
+
+The climate of England is called uncertain, but it can never, I
+think, be so described by any who have experienced that of the
+United States.  A gentleman, on whose accuracy I could depend,
+told me he had repeatedly known the thermometer vary above 40
+degrees in the space of twelve hours.  This most unpleasant
+caprice of the temperature is, I conceive, one cause of the
+unhealthiness of the climate.
+
+At length, however, after shivering and shaking till we were
+tired of it, and having been half ruined in fire-wood (which,
+by the way, is nearly as dear as at Paris, and dearer in many
+parts of the Union), the summer burst upon us full blown,
+and the ice-house, the piazza, and the jalousies were again
+in full requisition.
+
+It was in the early summer of this year (1829) that Cincinnati
+offered a spectacle unprecedented, I believe, in any age or
+country.  Mr. Owen, of Lanark, of New Harmony, of Texas, well
+known to the world by all or either of these additions, had
+challenged the whole religious public of the United States to
+discuss with him publicly the truth or falsehood of all the
+religions that had ever been propagated on the face of the earth;
+stating, further, that he undertook to prove that they were all
+equally false, and nearly equally mischievous.  This most
+appalling challenge was conveyed to the world through the medium
+of New Orleans newspapers, and for some time it remained
+unanswered; at length the Reverend Alexander Campbell, from
+Bethany, (not of Judaea, but of Kentucky,) proclaimed, through
+the same medium, that he was ready to take up the gauntlet.  The
+place fixed for this extraordinary discussion was Cincinnati; the
+time, the second Monday in May, 1829, being about a year from the
+time the challenge was accepted; thus giving the disputants time
+to prepare themselves.
+
+Mr. Owen's preparation, however, could only have been such as
+those who run may read, for, during the interval, he traversed
+great part of North America, crossed the Atlantic twice, visited
+England, Scotland, Mexico, Texas, and I know not how many places
+besides.
+
+Mr. Campbell, I was told, passed this period very differently,
+being engaged in reading with great research and perseverance all
+the theological works within his reach.  But whatever confidence
+the learning and piety of Mr. Campbell might have inspired in his
+friends, or in the Cincinnati Christians in general, it was not,
+as it appeared, sufficient to induce Mr. Wilson, the Presbyterian
+minister of the largest church in the town, to permit the display
+of them within its walls.  This refusal was greatly reprobated,
+and much regretted, as the curiosity to hear the discussion was
+very general, and no other edifice offered so much accommodation.
+
+A Methodist meeting-house, large enough to contain a thousand
+persons, was at last chosen; a small stage was arranged round the
+pulpit, large enough to accommodate the disputants and their
+stenographers; the pulpit itself was throughout the whole time
+occupied by the aged father of Mr. Campbell, whose flowing white
+hair, and venerable countenance, constantly expressive of the
+deepest attention, and the most profound interest, made him a
+very striking figure in the group.  Another platform was raised
+in a conspicuous part of the building, on which were seated seven
+gentlemen of the city, selected as moderators.
+
+The chapel was equally divided, one half being appropriated to
+ladies, the other to gentlemen; and the door of entrance reserved
+for the ladies was carefully guarded by persons appointed to
+prevent any crowding or difficulty from impeding their approach.
+I suspect that the ladies were indebted to Mr. Owen for this
+attention; the arrangements respecting them on this occasion were
+by no means American.
+
+When Mr. Owen rose, the building was thronged in every part; the
+audience, or congregation, (I hardly know which to call them)
+were of the highest rank of citizens, and as large a proportion
+of best bonnets fluttered there, as the "two horned church"
+itself could boast.
+
+It was in the profoundest silence, and apparently with the
+deepest attention, that Mr. Owen's opening address was received;
+and surely it was the most singular one that ever Christian men
+and women sat to listen to.
+
+When I recollect its object, and the uncompromising manner in
+which the orator stated his mature conviction that the whole
+history of the Christian mission was a fraud, and its sacred
+origin a fable, I cannot but wonder that it was so listened to;
+yet at the time I felt no such wonder.  Never did any one
+practise the _suaviter in modo_ with more powerful effect than
+Mr. Owen.  The gentle tone of his voice; his mild, sometimes
+playful, but never ironical manner; the absence of every
+vehement or harsh expression; the affectionate interest
+expressed for "the whole human family," the air of candour
+with which he expressed his wish to be convinced he was wrong,
+if he indeed were so--his kind smile--the mild expression of
+his eyes--in short, his whole manner, disarmed zeal, and
+produced a degree of tolerance that those who did not hear
+him would hardly believe possible.
+
+Half an hour was the time allotted for each haranguer; when this
+was expired, the moderators were seen to look at their watches.
+Mr. Owen, too, looked at his (without pausing) smiled, shook his
+head, and said in a parenthesis "a moment's patience," and
+continued for nearly another half hour.
+
+Mr. Campbell then arose; his person, voice, and manner all
+greatly in his favour.  In his first attack he used the arms,
+which in general have been considered as belonging to the other
+side of the question.  He quizzed Mr. Owen most unmercifully;
+pinched him here for his parallelograms; hit him there for his
+human perfectibility, and kept the whole audience in a roar of
+laughter.  Mr. Owen joined in it most heartily himself, and
+listened to him throughout with the air of a man who is delighted
+at the good things he is hearing, and exactly in the cue to
+enjoy all the other good things that he is sure will follow.
+Mr. Campbell's watch was the only one which reminded us that we
+had listened to him for half an hour; and having continued
+speaking for a few minutes after he had looked at it, he sat down
+with, I should think, the universal admiration of his auditory.
+
+Mr. Owen again addressed us; and his first five minutes were
+occupied in complimenting Mr. Campbell with all the strength
+his exceeding hearty laughter had left him.  But then he changed
+his tone, and said the business was too serious to permit the
+next half hour to pass so lightly and so pleasantly as the last;
+and then he read us what he called his twelve fundamental laws
+of human nature.  These twelve laws he has taken so much trouble
+to circulate to all the nations of the earth, that it must be
+quite unnecessary to repeat them here.  To me they appear
+twelve truisms, that no man in his senses would ever think of
+contradicting; but how any one can have conceived that the
+explanation and defence of these laws could furnish forth
+occupation for his pen and his voice, through whole years of
+unwearying declamation, or how he can have dreamed that they
+could be twisted into a refutation of the Christian religion,
+is a mystery which I never expect to understand.
+
+From this time Mr. Owen entrenched himself behind his twelve
+laws, and Mr. Campbell, with equal gravity, confined himself to
+bringing forward the most elaborate theological authorities in
+evidence of the truth of revealed religion.
+
+Neither appeared to me to answer the other; but to confine
+themselves to the utterance of what they had uppermost in their
+own minds when the discussion began.  I lamented this on the side
+of Mr. Campbell, as I am persuaded he would have been much more
+powerful had he trusted more to himself and less to his books.
+Mr. Owen is an extraordinary man, and certainly possessed of
+talent, but he appears to me so utterly benighted in the mists
+of his own theories, that he has quite lost the power of looking
+through them, so as to get a peep at the world as it really
+exists around him.
+
+At the conclusion of the debate (which lasted for fifteen
+sittings) Mr. Campbell desired the whole assembly to sit down.
+They obeyed.  He then requested all who wished well to
+Christianity to rise, and a very large majority were in an
+instant on their legs.  He again requested them to be seated, and
+then desired those who believed not in its doctrines to rise, and
+a few gentlemen and one lady obeyed.  Mr. Owen protested against
+this manoeuvre, as he called it, and refused to believe that it
+afforded any proof of the state of men's minds, or of women's
+either; declaring, that not only was such a result to be
+expected, in the present state of things, but that it was the
+duty of every man who had children to feed, not to hazard the
+sale of his hogs, or his iron, by a declaration of opinions which
+might offend the majority of his customers.  It was said, that at
+the end of the fifteen meetings the numerical amount of the
+Christians and the Infidels of Cincinnati remained exactly what
+it was when they began.
+
+This was a result that might have been perhaps anticipated; but
+what was much less to have been expected, neither of the
+disputants ever appeared to lose their temper.  I was told they
+were much in each other's company, constantly dining together,
+and on all occasions expressed most cordially their mutual
+esteem.
+
+All this I think could only have happened in America.  I am not
+quite sure that it was very desirable it should have happened
+any where.
+
+In noting the various brilliant events which diversified our
+residence in the western metropolis, I have omitted to mention
+the Birthday Ball, as it is called, a festivity which, I believe,
+has place on the 22nd of February, in every town and city
+throughout the Union.  It is the anniversary of the birth of
+General Washington, and well deserves to be marked by the
+Americans as a day of jubilee.
+
+I was really astonished at the _coup d'oeil_ on entering, for I
+saw a large room filled with extremely well-dressed company,
+among whom were many very beautiful girls.  The gentlemen also
+were exceedingly smart, but I had not yet been long enough in
+Western America not to feel startled at recognising in almost
+every full-dressed _beau_ that passed me, the master or shopman
+that I had been used to see behind the counter, or lolling at the
+door of every shop in the city.  The fairest and finest belles
+smiled and smirked on them with as much zeal and satisfaction as
+I ever saw bestowed on an eldest son, and I therefore could feel
+no doubt of their being considered as of the highest rank.  Yet
+it must not be supposed that there is no distinction of classes:
+at this same ball I was looking among the many very beautiful
+girls I saw there for one more beautiful still, with whose lovely
+face I had been particularly struck at the school examination I
+have mentioned.  I could not find her, and asked a gentleman why
+the beautiful Miss C. was not there.
+
+"You do not yet understand our aristocracy," he replied, "the
+family of Miss C. are mechanics."
+
+"But the young lady has been educated at the same school as
+these, whom I see here, and I know her brother has a shop in the
+town, quite as large, and apparently as prosperous, as those
+belonging to any of these young men.  What is the difference?"
+
+"He is a mechanic; he assists in making the articles he sells;
+the others call themselves merchants."
+
+The dancing was not quite like, yet not very unlike, what we see
+at an assize or race-ball in a country town.  They call their
+dances cotillions instead of quadrilles, and the figures are
+called from the orchestra in English, which has very ludicrous
+effect on European ears.
+
+The arrangements for the supper were very singular, but eminently
+characteristic of the country.  The gentlemen had a splendid
+entertainment spread for them in another large room of the hotel,
+while the poor ladies had each a plate put into their hands, as
+they pensively promenaded the ballroom during their absence; and
+shortly afterwards servants appeared, bearing trays of
+sweetmeats, cakes, and creams.  The fair creatures then sat down
+on a row of chairs placed round the walls, and each making a
+table of her knees, began eating her sweet, but sad and sulky
+repast.  The effect was extremely comic; their gala dresses and
+the decorated room forming a contrast the most unaccountable with
+their uncomfortable and forlorn condition.
+
+This arrangement was owing neither to economy nor want of a
+room large enough to accommodate the whole party, but purely
+because the gentlemen liked it better.  This was the answer
+given me, when my curiosity tempted me to ask why the ladies
+and gentlemen did not sup together; and this was the answer
+repeated to me afterwards by a variety of people to whom I put
+the same question.
+
+I am led to mention this feature of American manners very
+frequently, not only because it constantly recurs, but because
+I consider it as being in a great degree the cause of that
+universal deficiency in good manners and graceful demeanour,
+both in men and women, which is so remarkable.
+
+Where there is no court, which every where else is the glass
+wherein the higher orders dress themselves, and which again
+reflected from them to the classes below, goes far towards
+polishing, in some degree, a great majority of the population,
+it is not to be expected that manner should be made so much a
+study, or should attain an equal degree of elegance; but the
+deficiency, and the total difference, is greater than this
+cause alone could account for.  The hours of enjoyment are
+important to human beings every where, and we every where find
+them preparing to make the most of them.  Those who enjoy
+themselves only in society, whether intellectual or convivial,
+prepare themselves for it, and such make but a poor figure when
+forced to be content with the sweets of solitude: while, on
+the other hand, those to whom retirement affords the greatest
+pleasure, seldom give or receive much in society.  Wherever
+the highest enjoyment is found by both sexes in scenes where
+they meet each other, both will prepare themselves to appear
+with advantage there.  The men will not indulge in the luxury
+of chewing tobacco, or even of spitting, and the women will
+contrive to be capable of holding a higher post than that of
+unwearied tea-makers.
+
+In America, with the exception of dancing, which is almost wholly
+confined to the unmarried of both sexes, all the enjoyments of
+the men are found in the absence of the women.  They dine, they
+play cards, they have musical meetings, they have suppers, all in
+large parties but all without women.  Were it not that such is
+the custom, it is impossible but that they would have ingenuity
+enough to find some expedient for sparing the wives and daughters
+of the opulent the sordid offices of household drudgery which
+they almost all perform in their families.  Even in the slave
+states, though they may not clear-starch and iron, mix puddings
+and cakes one half of the day, and watch them baking the other
+half, still the very highest occupy themselves in their household
+concerns, in a manner that precludes the possibility of their
+becoming elegant and enlightened companions.  In Baltimore,
+Philadelphia, and New York, I met with some exceptions to this;
+but speaking of the country generally, it is unquestionably true.
+
+Had I not become heartily tired of my prolonged residence in a
+place I cordially disliked, and which moreover I began to fear
+would not be attended with the favourable results we had
+anticipated, I should have found an almost inexhaustible source
+of amusement in the notions and opinions of the people I
+conversed with; and as it was, I often did enjoy this in a
+considerable degree.
+
+We received, as I have mentioned, much personal kindness; but
+this by no means interfered with the national feeling of, I
+believe, unconquerable dislike, which evidently lives at the
+bottom of every truly American heart against the English.  This
+shows itself in a thousand little ways, even in the midst of the
+most kind and friendly intercourse, but often in a manner more
+comic than offensive.
+
+Sometimes it was thus.--"Well, now, I think your government must
+just be fit to hang themselves for that last war they cooked up;
+it has been the ruin of you I expect, for it has just been the
+making of us."
+
+Then.--"Well, I do begin to understand your broken English better
+than I did; but no wonder I could not make it out very well at
+first, as you come from London; for every body knows that London
+slang is the most dreadful in the world.  How queer it is now,
+that all the people that live in London should put the _h_ where
+it is not, and never will put it where it is."
+
+I was egotistical enough to ask the lady who said this, if she
+found that I did so.
+
+"No; you do not," was the reply; but she added, with a complacent
+smile, "it is easy enough to see the pains you take about it: I
+expect you have heard how we Americans laugh at you all for it,
+and so you are trying to learn our way of pronouncing."
+
+One lady asked me very gravely, if we had left home in order to
+get rid of the vermin with which the English of all ranks were
+afflicted?  "I have heard from unquestionable authority," she
+added, "that it is quite impossible to walk through the streets
+of London without having the head filled."
+
+I laughed a little, but spoke not a word.  She coloured highly,
+and said, "There is nothing so easy as to laugh, but truth is
+truth, laughed at or not."
+
+I must preface the following anecdote by observing that in
+America nearly the whole of the insect tribe are classed under
+the general name of bug; the unfortunate cosmopolite known by
+that name amongst us is almost the only one not included in this
+term.  A lady abruptly addressed me with, "Don't you hate
+chintzes, Mrs. Trollope?"
+
+"No indeed," I replied, "I think them very pretty."
+
+"There now! if that is not being English! I reckon you call that
+loving your country; well, thank God! we Americans have something
+better to love our country for than that comes to; we are not
+obliged to say that we like nasty filthy chintzes to shew that we
+are good patriots."
+
+"Chintzes? what are chintzes?"
+
+"Possible! do you pretend you don't know what chintzes are?  Why
+the nasty little stinking blood-suckers that all the beds in
+London are full of."
+
+I have since been informed that _chinche_ is Spanish for bug; but
+at the time the word suggested only the material of a curtain.
+
+Among other instances of that species of modesty so often seen in
+America, and so unknown to us, I frequently witnessed one, which,
+while it evinced the delicacy of the ladies, gave opportunity for
+many lively sallies from the gentlemen.  I saw the same sort of
+thing repeated on different occasions at least a dozen times;
+e.g. a young lady is employed in making a shirt, (which it would
+be a symptom of absolute depravity to name), a gentleman enters,
+and presently begins the sprightly dialogue with "What are you
+making Miss Clarissa?"
+
+"Only a frock for my sister's doll, sir."
+
+"A frock? not possible.  Don't I see that it is not a frock?
+Come, Miss Clarissa, what is it?"
+
+"Tis just an apron for one of our Negroes, Mr. Smith."
+
+"How can you.  Miss Clarissa! why is not the two side joined
+together?  I expect you were better tell me what it is."
+
+"My! why then Mr. Smith, it is just a pillow-case."
+
+"Now that passes.  Miss Clarissa! 'Tis a pillow-case for a giant
+then.  Shall I guess, Miss?"
+
+"Quit, Mr. Smith; behave yourself, or I'll certainly be affronted."
+
+Before the conversation arrives at this point, both gentleman
+and lady are in convulsions of laughter.  I once saw a young
+lady so hard driven by a wit, that to prove she was making a
+bag, and nothing but a bag, she sewed up the ends before his
+eyes, shewing it triumphantly, and exclaiming, "there now! what
+can you say to that?"
+
+One of my friends startled me one day by saying in an
+affectionate, but rather compassionate tone, "How will you bear
+to go back to England to live, and to bring up your children in
+a country where you know you are considered as no better than
+the dirt in the streets?"
+
+I begged she would explain.
+
+"Why, you know I would not affront you for any thing; but the
+fact is, we Americans know rather more than you think for, and
+certainly if I was in England I should not think of associating
+with anything but lords.  I have always been among the first
+here, and if I travelled I should like to do the same.  I don't
+mean, I'm sure, that I would not come to see you, but you know
+you are not lords, and therefore I know very well how you are
+treated in your own country."
+
+I very rarely contradicted statements of this kind, as I found
+it less trouble, and infinitely more amusing, to let them pass;
+indeed, had I done otherwise, it would have been of little avail,
+as among the many conversations I held in America respecting my
+own country, I do not recollect a single instance in which it
+was not clear that I knew much less about it than those I
+conversed with.
+
+On the subject of national glory, I presume I got more than my
+share of buffeting; for being a woman, there was no objection to
+their speaking out.  One lady, indeed, who was a great patriot,
+evinced much delicacy towards me, for upon some one speaking of
+New Orleans, she interrupted them, saying, "I wish you would not
+talk of New Orleans;" and, turning to me, added with great
+gentleness, "It must be so painful to your feelings to hear that
+place mentioned!"
+
+The immense superiority of the American to the British navy was
+a constant theme, and to this I always listened, as nearly as
+possible, in silence.  I repeatedly heard it stated, (so often,
+indeed, and from such various quarters, that I think there must
+be some truth in it), that the American sailors fire with a
+certainty of slaughter, whereas our shots are sent very nearly at
+random.  "This, " said a naval officer of high reputation, "is
+the blessed effect of your game laws; your sailors never fire at
+a mark; whilst our free tars, from their practice in pursuit of
+game, can any of them split a hair."  But the favourite, the
+constant, the universal sneer that met me every where, was on our
+old-fashioned attachments to things obsolete.  Had they a little
+wit among them, I am certain they would have given us the
+cognomen of "My Grandmother, the British," for that is the tone
+they take, and it is thus they reconcile themselves to the crude
+newness of every thing around them.
+
+"I wonder you are not sick of kings, chancellors, and
+archbishops, and all your fustian of wigs and gowns," said a
+very clever gentleman to me once, with an affected yawn,
+"I protest the very sound almost sets me to sleep."
+
+It is amusing to observe how soothing the idea seems, that they
+are more modern, more advanced than England.  Our classic
+literature, our princely dignities, our noble institutions, are
+all gone-by relics of the dark ages.
+
+This, and the vastness of their naked territory, make up the
+flattering unction which is laid upon the soul, as an antidote
+to the little misgiving which from time to time arises, lest
+their large country be not of quite so much importance among
+the nations, as a certain paltry old-fashioned little place that
+they wot of.
+
+I was once sitting with a party of ladies, among whom were one
+or two young girls, whose curiosity was greater than their
+patriotism, and they asked me many questions respecting the
+splendour and extent of London.  I was endeavouring to satisfy
+them by the best description I could give, when we were
+interrupted by another lady, who exclaimed, "Do hold your
+tongues, girls, about London; if you want to know what a
+beautiful city is, look at Philadelphia; when Mrs. Trollope has
+been there, I think she will allow that it is better worth
+talking about than that great overgrown collection of nasty,
+filthy, dirty streets, that they call London."
+
+Once in Ohio, and once in the district of Columbia, I had
+an atlas displayed before me, that I might be convinced by
+the evidence of my own eyes what a very contemptible little
+country I came from.  I shall never forget the gravity with
+which, on the latter occasion, a gentleman drew out his
+graduated pencil-case, and shewed me past contradiction, that
+the whole of the British dominions did not equal in size one of
+their least important states; nor the air with which, after the
+demonstration, he placed his feet upon the chimney-piece,
+considerably higher than his head, and whistled Yankee Doodle.
+
+Their glorious institutions, their unequalled freedom, were, of
+course, not left unsung.
+
+I took some pains to ascertain what they meant by their glorious
+institutions, and it is with no affectation of ignorance that I
+profess I never could comprehend the meaning of the phrase, which
+is, however, on the lip of every American, when he talks of his
+country.  I asked if by their institutions they meant their
+hospitals and penitentiaries.  "Oh no! we mean the glorious
+institutions which are coeval with the revolution."  "Is it," I
+asked, "your institution of marriage, which you have made purely
+a civil and not a religious rite, to be performed by a justice of
+peace, instead of a clergyman?"
+
+"Oh no! we speak of our divine political institutions."  Yet
+still I was in the dark, nor can I guess what they mean, unless
+they call incessant electioneering, without pause or interval for
+a single day, for a single hour, of their whole existence, "a
+glorious institution."
+
+Their unequalled freedom, I think, I understand better.  Their
+code of common law is built upon ours; and the difference between
+us is this, in England the laws are acted upon, in America they
+are not.
+
+I do not speak of the police of the Atlantic cities; I
+believe it is well arranged: in New York it is celebrated
+for being so; but out of the range of their influence, the
+contempt of law is greater than I can venture to state, with
+any hope of being believed.  Trespass, assault, robbery, nay,
+even murder, are often committed without the slightest attempt
+at legal interference.
+
+During the summer that we passed most delightfully in Maryland,
+our rambles were often restrained in various directions by the
+advice of our kind friends, who knew the manners and morals of
+the country.  When we asked the cause, we were told, "There is a
+public-house on that road, and it will not be safe to pass it,"
+
+The line of the Chesapeak and Ohio canal passed within a few
+miles of Mrs. S--'s residence.  It twice happened during our
+stay with her, that dead bodies were found partially concealed
+near it.  The circumstance was related as a sort of half hour's
+wonder; and when I asked particulars of those who, on one
+occasion, brought the tale, the reply was, "Oh, he was murdered
+I expect; or maybe he died of the canal fever; but they say he
+had marks of being throttled."  No inquest was summoned; and
+certainly no more sensation was produced by the occurrence than
+if a sheep had been found in the same predicament.
+
+The abundance of food and the scarcity of hanging were also
+favourite topics, as proving their superiority to England.  They
+are both excellent things, but I do not admit the inference.
+A wide and most fertile territory, as yet but thinly inhabited,
+may easily be made to yield abundant food for its population: and
+where a desperate villain knows, that when he has made his town
+or his village "too hot to hold him," he has nothing to do but to
+travel a few miles west, and be sure of finding plenty of beef
+and whiskey, with no danger that the law shall follow him, it is
+not extraordinary that executions should be rare.
+
+Once during our residence at Cincinnati, a murderer of uncommon
+atrocity was taken, tried, convicted, and condemned to death.
+It had been shewn on his trial, that some years before he had
+murdered a wife and child at New Orleans, but little notice had
+been taken of it at the time.  The crime which had now thrown
+him into the hands of justice was the recent murder of a second
+wife, and the chief evidence against him was his own son.
+
+The day of his execution was fixed, and the sensation produced
+was so great from the strangeness of the occurrence, (no white
+man having ever been executed at Cincinnati,) that persons from
+sixty miles' distance came to be present at it.
+
+Meanwhile some unco' good people began to start doubts as to
+the righteousness of hanging a man, and made application to the
+Governor of the State* of Ohio, to commute the sentence into
+imprisonment.  The Governor for some time refused to interfere
+with the sentence of the tribunal before which he had been tried;
+but at length, frightened at the unusual situation in which he
+found himself, he yielded to the importunity of the Presbyterian
+party who had assailed him, and sent off an order to the sheriff
+accordingly.  But this order was not to reprieve him, but to ask
+him if he pleased to be reprieved, and sent to the penitentiary
+instead of being hanged.
+
+    *(The Governors of states have the same power over life and
+     (death as is vested, with us, in the crown.
+
+The sheriff waited upon the criminal, and made his proposal, and
+was answered.  "If any thing could make me agree to it, it would
+be the hope of living long enough to kill you and my dog of a
+son: however, I won't agree; you shall have the hanging of me."
+
+The worthy sheriff, to whom the ghastly office of executioner is
+assigned, said all in his power to persuade him to sign the
+offered document, but in vain; he obtained nothing but abuse for
+his efforts.
+
+The day of execution arrived; the place appointed was the side
+of a hill, the only one cleared of trees near the town; and many
+hours before the time fixed, we saw it entirely covered by an
+immense multitude of men, women, and children.  At length the
+hour arrived, the dismal cart was seen slowly mounting the hill,
+the noisy throng was hushed into solemn silence; the wretched
+criminal mounted the scaffold, when again the sheriff asked him
+to sign his acceptance of the commutation proposed; but he
+spurned the paper from him, and cried aloud, "Hang me!"
+
+Midday was the moment appointed for cutting the rope; the sheriff
+stood, his watch in one hand, and a knife in the other; the hand
+was lifted to strike, when the criminal stoutly exclaimed, "I
+sign;" and he was conveyed back to prison, amidst the shouts,
+laughter, and ribaldry of the mob.
+
+I am not fond of hanging, but there was something in all this
+that did not look like the decent dignity of wholesome justice.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 15
+
+Camp-Meeting
+
+
+
+It was in the course of this summer that I found the opportunity
+I had long wished for, of attending a camp-meeting, and I gladly
+accepted the invitation of an English lady and gentleman to
+accompany them in their carriage to the spot where it is held;
+this was in a wild district on the confines of Indiana.
+
+The prospect of passing a night in the back woods of Indiana was
+by no means agreeable, but I screwed my courage to the proper
+pitch, and set forth determined to see with my own eyes, and hear
+with my own ears, what a camp-meeting really was.  I had heard it
+said that being at a camp-meeting was like standing at the gate
+of heaven, and seeing it opening before you; I had heard it said,
+that being at a camp-meeting was like finding yourself within the
+gates of hell; in either case there must be something to gratify
+curiosity, and compensate one for the fatigue of a long rumbling
+ride and a sleepless night.
+
+We reached the ground about an hour before midnight, and the
+approach to it was highly picturesque.  The spot chosen was the
+verge of an unbroken forest, where a space of about twenty acres
+appeared to have been partially cleared for the purpose.  Tents
+of different sizes were pitched very near together in a circle
+round the cleared space; behind them were ranged an exterior
+circle of carriages of every description, and at the back of each
+were fastened the horses which had drawn them thither.  Through
+this triple circle of defence we distinguished numerous fires
+burning brightly within it; and still more numerous lights
+flickering from the trees that were left in the enclosure.  The
+moon was in meridian splendour above our heads.
+
+We left the carriage to the care of a servant, who was to prepare
+a bed in it for Mrs. B. and me, and entered the inner circle.
+The first glance reminded me of Vauxhall, from the effect of the
+lights among the trees, and the moving crowd below them; but the
+second shewed a scene totally unlike any thing I had ever
+witnessed.  Four high frames, constructed in the form of altars,
+were placed at the four corners of the enclosure; on these were
+supported layers of earth and sod, on which burned immense fires
+of blazing pinewood.  On one side a rude platform was erected to
+accommodate the preachers, fifteen of whom attended this meeting,
+and with very short intervals for necessary refreshment and
+private devotion, preached in rotation, day and night, from
+Tuesday to Saturday.
+
+When we arrived, the preachers were silent; but we heard issuing
+from nearly every tent mingled sounds of praying, preaching,
+singing, and lamentation.  The curtains in front of each tent
+were dropped, and the faint light that gleamed through the white
+drapery, backed as it was by the dark forest, had a beautiful and
+mysterious effect, that set the imagination at work; and had the
+sounds which vibrated around us been less discordant, harsh, and
+unnatural, I should have enjoyed it; but listening at the corner
+of a tent, which poured forth more than its proportion of
+clamour, in a few moments chased every feeling derived from
+imagination, and furnished realities that could neither be
+mistaken or forgotten.
+
+Great numbers of persons were walking about the ground, who
+appeared like ourselves to be present only as spectators; some
+of these very unceremoniously contrived to raise the drapery of
+this tent, at one comer, so as to afford us a perfect view of
+the interior.
+
+The floor was covered with straw, which round the sides was
+heaped in masses, that might serve as seats, but which at
+that moment were used to support the heads and the arms of the
+close-packed circle of men and women who kneeled on the floor.
+
+Out of about thirty persons thus placed, perhaps half a dozen
+were men.  One of these, a handsome looking youth of eighteen
+or twenty, kneeled just below the opening through which I looked.
+His arm was encircling the neck of a young girl who knelt beside
+him, with her hair hanging dishevelled upon her shoulders, and
+her features working with the most violent agitation; soon after
+they both fell forward on the straw, as if unable to endure in
+any other attitude the burning eloquence of a tall grim figure
+in black, who, standing erect in the centre, was uttering with
+incredible vehemence an oration that seemed to hover between
+praying and preaching; his arms hung stiff and immoveable by
+his side, and he looked like an ill-constructed machine, set
+in action by a movement so violent, as to threaten its own
+destruction, so jerkingly, painfully, yet rapidly, did his
+words tumble out; the kneeling circle ceasing not to call in
+every variety of tone on the name of Jesus; accompanied with
+sobs, groans, and a sort of low howling inexpressibly painful
+to listen to.  But my attention was speedily withdrawn from the
+preacher, and the circle round him, by a figure which knelt
+alone at some distance; it was a living image of Scott's
+Macbriar, as young, as wild, and as terrible.  His thin arms
+tossed above his head, had forced themselves so far out of the
+sleeves, that they were bare to the elbow; his large eyes glared
+frightfully, and he continued to scream without an instant's
+intermission the word "Glory!" with a violence that seemed to
+swell every vein to bursting.  It was too dreadful to look upon
+long, and we turned away shuddering.
+
+We made the circuit of the tents, pausing where attention was
+particularly excited by sounds more vehement than ordinary.
+We contrived to look into many; all were strewed with straw, and
+the distorted figures that we saw kneeling, sitting, and lying
+amongst it, joined to the woeful and convulsive cries, gave to
+each, the air of a cell in Bedlam.
+
+One tent was occupied exclusively by Negroes.  They were all
+full-dressed, and looked exactly as if they were performing
+a scene on the stage.  One woman wore a dress of pink gauze
+trimmed with silver lace; another was dressed in pale yellow
+silk; one or two had splendid turbans; and all wore a profusion
+of ornaments.  The men were in snow white pantaloons, with gay
+coloured linen jackets.  One of these, a youth of coal-black
+comeliness, was preaching with the most violent gesticulations,
+frequently springing high from the ground, and clapping his
+hands over his head.  Could our missionary societies have heard
+the trash he uttered, by way of an address to the Deity, they
+might perhaps have doubted whether his conversion had much
+enlightened his mind.
+
+At midnight a horn sounded through the camp, which, we were told,
+was to call the people from private to public worship; and we
+presently saw them flocking from all sides to the front of the
+preachers' stand.  Mrs. B. and I contrived to place ourselves
+with our backs supported against the lower part of this
+structure, and we were thus enabled to witness the scene which
+followed without personal danger.  There were about two thousand
+persons assembled.
+
+One of the preachers began in a low nasal tone, and, like all
+other Methodist preachers, assured us of the enormous depravity
+of man as he comes from the hands of his Maker, and of his
+perfect sanctification after he had wrestled sufficiently with
+the Lord to get hold of him, _et cetera_.  The admiration of the
+crowd was evinced by almost constant cries of "Amen! Amen!"
+"Jesus! Jesus!" "Glory! Glory!" and the like.  But this
+comparative tranquility did not last long: the preacher told
+them that "this night was the time fixed upon for anxious
+sinners to wrestle with the Lord;" that he and his brethren
+"were at hand to help them," and that such as needed their
+help were to come forward into "the pen." The phrase forcibly
+recalled Milton's lines--
+
+    "Blind mouths! that scarce themselves know how to hold
+     A sheep-hook, or have learned aught else, the least
+     That to the faithful herdsman's art belongs!
+     --But when they list their lean and flashy songs,
+     Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw;--
+     The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed!
+     But swoln with wind, and the rank mist they draw,
+     Rot inwardly--and foul contagion spread."
+
+"The pen" was the space immediately below the preachers' stand;
+we were therefore placed on the edge of it, and were enabled to
+see and hear all that took place in the very centre of this
+extraordinary exhibition.
+
+The crowd fell back at the mention of the _pen_, and for some
+minutes there was a vacant space before us.  The preachers came
+down from their stand and placed themselves in the midst of it,
+beginning to sing a hymn, calling upon the penitents to come
+forth.  As they sung they kept turning themselves round to every
+part of the crowd and, by degrees, the voices of the whole
+multitude joined in chorus.  This was the only moment at which
+I perceived any thing like the solemn and beautiful effect,
+which I had heard ascribed to this woodland worship.  It is
+certain that the combined voices of such a multitude, heard at
+dead of night, from the depths of their eternal forests, the
+many fair young faces turned upward, and looking paler and
+lovelier as they met the moon-beams, the dark figures of the
+officials in the middle of the circle, the lurid glare thrown by
+the altar-fires on the woods beyond, did altogether produce a
+fine and solemn effect, that I shall not easily forget; but ere
+I had well enjoyed it, the scene changed, and sublimity gave
+place to horror and disgust.
+
+The exhortation nearly resembled that which I had heard at
+"the Revival," but the result was very different; for, instead
+of the few hysterical women who had distinguished themselves
+on that occasion, above a hundred persons,, nearly all females,
+came forward, uttering howlings and groans, so terrible that I
+shall never cease to shudder when I recall them.  They appeared
+to drag each other forward, and on the word being given, "let us
+pray," they all fell on their knees; but this posture was soon
+changed for others that permitted greater scope for the
+convulsive movements of their limbs; and they were soon all
+lying on the ground in an indescribable confusion of heads and
+legs.  They threw about their limbs with such incessant and
+violent motions, that I was every instant expecting some serious
+accident to occur.
+
+But how am I to describe the sounds that proceeded from this
+strange mass of human beings?  I know no words which can convey
+an idea of it.  Hysterical sobbings, convulsive groans, shrieks
+and screams the most appalling, burst forth on all sides.  I felt
+sick with horror.  As if their hoarse and over strained voices
+failed to make noise enough, they soon began to clap their hands
+violently.  The scene described by Dante was before me:-
+
+    "Quivi sospiri, pianti, ed alti guai
+     Risonavon per l'aere--
+     --Orribili favelle
+     Parole di dolore, accenti d'ira
+     Voci alti e floche, e suon di man con elle."
+
+Many of these wretched creatures were beautiful young females.
+The preachers moved about among them, at once exciting and
+soothing their agonies.  I heard the muttered "Sister! dear
+sister!"  I saw the insidious lips approach the cheeks of the
+unhappy girls; I heard the murmured confessions of the poor
+victims, and I watched their tormentors, breathing into their
+ears consolations that tinged the pale cheek with red.  Had I
+been a man, I am sure I should have been guilty of some rash
+act of interference; nor do I believe that such a scene could
+have been acted in the presence of Englishmen without instant
+punishment being inflicted; not to mention the salutary
+discipline of the treadmill, which, beyond all question, would,
+in England, have been applied to check so turbulent and so
+vicious a scene.
+
+After the first wild burst that followed their prostration, the
+meanings, in many instances, became loudly articulate; and I then
+experienced a strange vibration between tragic and comic feeling.
+
+A very pretty girl, who was kneeling in the attitude of Canova's
+Magdalene immediately before us, amongst an immense quantity of
+jargon, broke out thus: "Woe! woe to the backsliders! hear it,
+hear it Jesus! when I was fifteen my mother died, and I
+backslided, oh Jesus, I backslided! take me home to my mother,
+Jesus! take me home to her, for I am weary!  Oh John Mitchel!
+John Mitchel!" and after sobbing piteously behind her raised
+hands, she lifted her sweet face again, which was as pale as
+death, and said, "Shall I sit on the sunny bank of salvation with
+my mother? my own dear mother? oh Jesus, take me home, take me
+home!"  Who could refuse a tear to this earnest wish for death in
+one so young and so lovely?  But I saw her, ere I left the
+ground, with her hand fast locked, and her head supported by a
+man who looked very much as Don Juan might, when sent back to
+earth as too bad for the regions below.
+
+One woman near us continued to "call on the Lord," as it is
+termed, in the loudest possible tone, and without a moment's
+interval, for the two hours that we kept our dreadful station.
+She became frightfully hoarse, and her face so red as to make
+me expect she would burst a blood-vessel.  Among the rest of
+her rant, she said, "I will hold fast to Jesus, I never will
+let him go; if they take me to hell, I will still hold him fast,
+fast, fast!"
+
+The stunning noise was sometimes varied by the preachers
+beginning to sing; but the convulsive movements of the poor
+maniacs only became more violent.  At length the atrocious
+wickedness of this horrible scene increased to a degree of
+grossness, that drove us from our station; we returned to the
+carriage at about three o'clock in the morning, and passed
+the remainder of the night in listening to the ever increasing
+tumult at the pen.  To sleep was impossible.  At daybreak the
+horn again sounded, to send them to private devotion; and in
+about an hour afterwards I saw the whole camp as joyously
+and eagerly employed in preparing and devouring their most
+substantial breakfasts as if the night had been passed in
+dancing; and I marked many a fair but pale face, that I
+recognised as a demoniac of the night, simpering beside a
+swain, to whom she carefully administered hot coffee and
+eggs.  The preaching saint and the howling sinner seemed alike
+to relish this mode of recruiting their strength.
+
+After enjoying abundance of strong tea, which proved a
+delightful restorative after a night so strangely spent, I
+wandered alone into the forest, and I never remember to have
+found perfect quiet more delightful.
+
+We soon after left the ground; but before our departure we
+learnt that a very _satisfactory_ collection had been made by
+the preachers, for Bibles, Tracts, and _all other religious
+purposes_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 16
+
+Danger of rural excursions--Sickness
+
+
+
+It is by no means easy to enjoy the beauties of American scenery
+in the west, even when you are in a neighbourhood that affords
+much to admire; at least, in doing so, you run considerable risk
+of injuring your health.  Nothing is considered more dangerous
+than exposure to midday heat, except exposure to evening damp;
+and the twilight is so short, that if you set out on an
+expedition when the fervid heat subsides, you can hardly get half
+a mile before "sun down," as they call it, warns you that you
+must run or drive home again, as fast as possible, for fear you
+should get "a chill."
+
+I believe we braved all this more than any one else in the whole
+country, and if we had not, we should have left Cincinnati
+without seeing any thing of the country around it.
+
+Though we kept steadily to our resolution of passing no more
+sylvan hours in the forests of Ohio, we often spent entire days
+in Kentucky, tracing the course of a "creek," or climbing the
+highest points within our reach, in the hope of catching a
+glimpse of some distant object.  A beautiful reach of the Ohio,
+or the dark windings of the pretty Licking, were indeed always
+the most remarkable features in the landscape.
+
+There was one spot, however, so beautiful that we visited it
+again and again; it was by no means free from mosquitoes; and
+being on the bank of a stream, with many enormous trees lying on
+the half-cleared ground around, it was just such a place as we
+had been told a hundred times was particularly "dangerous;"
+nevertheless, we dared every thing for the sake of dining beside
+our beautiful rippling stream, and watching the bright sunbeams
+dancing on the grassy bank, at such a distance from our retreat
+that they could not heat us.  A little below the basin that
+cooled our wine was a cascade of sufficient dimensions to give us
+all the music of a waterfall, and all the sparkling brightness of
+clear water when it is broken again and again by jutting crags.
+
+To sit beside this miniature cascade, and read, or dream away a
+day, was one of our greatest pleasures.
+
+It was indeed a mortifying fact, that whenever we found out a
+picturesque nook, where turf, and moss, and deep shade, and a
+crystal stream, and fallen trees, majestic in their ruin, tempted
+us to sit down, and be very cool and very happy, we invariably
+found that that spot lay under the imputation of malaria.
+
+A row upon the Ohio was another of our favourite amusements; but
+in this, I believe, we were also very singular, for often, when
+enjoying it, we were shouted at, by the young free-borns on the
+banks, as if we had been so many monsters.
+
+The only rural amusement in which we ever saw any of the natives
+engaged was eating strawberries and cream in a pretty garden
+about three miles from the town; here we actually met three or
+four carriages; a degree of dissipation that I never witnessed
+on any other occasion.  The strawberries were tolerable
+strawberries, but the cream was the vilest sky-blue, and the
+charge half a dollar to each person; which being about the price
+of half a fat sheep, I thought "pretty considerable much," if I
+may be permitted to use an expressive phrase of the country.
+
+We had repeatedly been told, by those who knew the land, that
+the _second summer_ was the great trial to the health of
+Europeans settled in America; but we had now reached the middle
+of our second August, and with the exception of the fever one of
+my sons had suffered from, the summer after our arrival, we had
+all enjoyed perfect health; but I was now doomed to feel the
+truth of the above prediction, for before the end of August I
+fell low before the monster that is for ever stalking through
+that land of lakes and rivers, breathing fever and death around.
+It was nine weeks before I left my room, and when I did, I
+looked more fit to walk into the Potter's Field, (as they call
+the English burying ground) than any where else.
+
+Long after my general health was pretty well restored, I suffered
+from the effect of the fever in my limbs, and lay in bed reading
+several weeks after I had been pronounced convalescent.  Several
+American novels were brought me.  Mr. Flint's Francis Berrian is
+excellent; a little wild and romantic, but containing scenes of
+first-rate interest and pathos.  Hope Leslie, and Redwood, by
+Miss Sedgewick, an American lady, have both great merit; and I
+now first read the whole of Mr. Cooper's novels.  By the time
+these American studies were completed, I never closed my eyes
+without seeing myriads of bloody scalps floating round me; long
+slender figures of Red Indians crept through my dreams with
+noiseless tread; panthers flared; forests blazed; and which
+ever way I fled, a light foot, a keen eye, and a long rifle
+were sure to be on my trail.  An additional ounce of calomel
+hardly sufficed to neutralize the effect of these raw-head
+and bloody-bones adventures.  I was advised to plunge
+immediately into a course of fashionable novels.  It was a
+great relief to me; but as my head was by no means very clear,
+I sometimes jumbled strangely together the civilized rogues
+and assassins of Mr. Bulwer, and the wild men, women, and
+children slayers of Mr. Cooper; and, truly, between them, I
+passed my dreams in very bad company.
+
+Still I could not stand, nor even sit upright.  What was I to
+read next?  A happy thought struck me.  I determined upon
+beginning with Waverley, and reading through (not for the first
+time certainly) the whole series.  And what a world did I enter
+upon!  The wholesome vigour of every page seemed to communicate
+itself to my nerves; I ceased to be languid and fretful, and
+though still a cripple, I certainly enjoyed myself most
+completely, as long as my treat lasted; but this was a shorter
+time than any one would believe, who has not found how such
+volumes melt, before the constant reading of a long idle day.
+When it was over, however, I had the pleasure of finding that I
+could walk half a dozen yards at a time, and take short airings
+in an open carriage; and better still, could sleep quietly.
+
+It was no very agreeable conviction which greeted my recovery,
+that our Cincinnati speculation for my son would in no way answer
+our expectation; and very soon after, he was again seized with
+the bilious fever of the country, which terminated in that most
+distressing of all maladies, an ague.  I never witnessed is
+effects before, and therefore made my self extremely miserable at
+what those around me considered of no consequence.
+
+I believe this frightful complaint is not immediately dangerous;
+but I never can believe that the violent and sudden prostration
+of strength, the dreadfully convulsive movements which distort
+the limbs, the livid hue that spreads itself over the complexion,
+can take place without shaking the seat of health and life.
+Repeatedly we thought the malady cured, and for a few days the
+poor sufferer believed himself restored to health and strength;
+but again and again it returned upon him, and he began to give
+himself up as the victim of ill health.  My own health was still
+very infirm, and it took but little time to decide that we must
+leave Cincinnati.  The only impediment to this was, the fear that
+Mr. Trollope, who was to join us in the Spring, might have set
+out, and thus arrive at Cincinnati after we had left it.
+However, as the time he had talked of leaving England was later
+in the season, I decided upon running the risk; but the winter
+had set in with great severity, and the river being frozen, the
+steam-boats could not run; the frost continued unbroken through
+the whole of February, and we were almost weary of waiting for
+its departure, which was to be the signal of ours.
+
+The breaking up of the ice, on the Licking and Ohio, formed a
+most striking spectacle.  At night the river presented a solid
+surface of ice, but in the morning it shewed a collection of
+floating icebergs, of every imaginable size and form, whirling
+against each other with frightful violence, and with a noise
+unlike any sound I remember.
+
+This sight was a very welcome one, as it gave us hopes of
+immediate departure, but my courage failed, when I heard that
+one or two steam-boats, weary of waiting, meant to start on
+the morrow.  The idea of running against these floating islands
+was really alarming, and I was told by many, that my fears were
+not without foundation, for that repeated accidents had happened
+from this cause; and then they talked of the little Miami river,
+whose mouth we were to pass, sending down masses of ice that
+might stop our progress; in short, we waited patiently and
+prudently, till the learned in such matters told us that we might
+start with safety.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 17
+
+Departure from Cincinnati--Society on board the Steam-boat--
+Arrival at Wheeling--Bel Esprit
+
+
+
+We quitted Cincinnati the beginning of March, 1830, and I believe
+there was not one of our party who did not experience a sensation
+of pleasure in leaving it.  We had seen again and again all the
+queer varieties of it's little world; had amused ourselves with
+it's consequence, it's taste, and it's ton, till they had ceased
+to be amusing.  Not a hill was left unclimbed, nor a forest path
+unexplored; and, with the exception of two or three individuals,
+who bore heads and hearts peculiar to no clime, but which are
+found scattered through the world, as if to keep us every where
+in good humour with it, we left nought to regret at Cincinnati.
+The only regret was, that we had ever entered it; for we had
+wasted health, time, and money there.
+
+We got on board the steam-boat which was to convey us to Wheeling
+at three o'clock.  She was a noble boat, by far the finest we had
+seen.  The cabins were above, and the deck passengers, as they
+are called, were accommodated below.  In front of the ladies'
+cabin was an ample balcony, sheltered by an awning; chairs and
+sofas were placed there, and even at that early season, nearly
+all the female passengers passed the whole day there.  The name
+of this splendid vessel was the Lady Franklin.  By the way, I was
+often amused by the evident fondness which the Americans shew for
+titles.  The wives of their eminent men constantly receive that
+of "Lady."  We heard of Lady Washington, Lady Jackson, and many
+other "ladies."  The eternal recurrence of their militia titles
+is particularly ludicrous, met with, as they are, among the
+tavern-keepers, market-gardeners, &c.  But I think the most
+remarkable instance which we noticed of this sort of
+aristocratical longing occurred at Cincinnati.  Mr. T-- in
+speaking of a gentleman of the neighbourhood, called him Mr. M--.
+"General M--, sir," observed his companion.  "I beg his pardon,"
+rejoined Mr. T--, "but I was not aware of his being in the army."
+"No, sir, not in the army," was the reply, "but he was surveyor-
+general of the district."
+
+The weather was delightful; all trace of winter had disappeared,
+and we again found ourselves moving rapidly up the stream, and
+enjoying all the beauty of the Ohio.
+
+Of the male part of the passengers we saw nothing, excepting at
+the short silent periods allotted for breakfast, dinner, and
+supper, at which we were permitted to enter their cabin, and
+place ourselves at their table.
+
+In the Lady Franklin we had decidedly the best of it, for we had
+our beautiful balcony to sit in.  In all respects, indeed, our
+accommodations were very superior to what we had found in the
+boat which brought us from New Orleans to Memphis, where we were
+stowed away in a miserable little chamber close aft, under the
+cabin, and given to understand by the steward, that it was our
+duty there to remain "till such time as the bell should ring for
+meals."
+
+The separation of the sexes, so often mentioned, is no where more
+remarkable than on board the steam-boats.  Among the passengers
+on this occasion we had a gentleman and his wife, who really
+appeared to suffer from the arrangement.  She was an invalid, and
+he was extremely attentive to her, as far, at least, as the
+regulations permitted.  When the steward opened the door of
+communication between the cabins, to permit our approaching the
+table, her husband was always stationed close to it to hand her
+to her place; and when he accompanied her again to the door, he
+always lingered for a moment or two on the forbidden threshold,
+nor left his station, till the last female had passed through.
+Once or twice he ventured, when all but his wife were on the
+balcony, to sit down beside her for a moment in our cabin, but
+the instant either of us entered, he started like a guilty thing
+and vanished.
+
+While mentioning the peculiar arrangements which are thought
+necessary to the delicacy of the American ladies, or the comfort
+of the American gentlemen, I am tempted to allude to a story
+which I saw in the papers respecting the visits which it was
+stated Captain Basil Hall persisted in making to his wife and
+child on board a Mississippi steam-boat, after bring informed
+that doing so was contrary to law.  Now I happen to know that
+neither himself or Mrs. Hall ever entered the ladies' cabin
+during the whole voyage, as they occupied a state-room which
+Captain Hall had secured for his party.  The veracity of
+newspaper statements is, perhaps, nowhere quite unimpeachable,
+but if I am not greatly mistaken, there are more direct
+falsehoods circulated by the American newspapers than by all the
+others in the world, and the one great and never-failing source
+of these voluminous works of imagination is England and the
+English.  How differently would such a voyage be managed on the
+other side of the Atlantic, were such a mode of travelling
+possible there.  Such long calm river excursions would be
+perfectly delightful, and parties would be perpetually formed to
+enjoy them.  Even were all the parties strangers to each other,
+the knowledge that they were to eat, drink, and steam away
+together for a week or fortnight, would induce something like a
+social feeling in any other country.
+
+It is true that the men became sufficiently acquainted to game
+together, and we were told that the opportunity was considered as
+so favourable, that no boat left New Orleans without having as
+cabin passengers one or two gentlemen from that city whose
+profession it was to drill the fifty-two elements of a pack of
+cards to profitable duty.  This doubtless is an additional reason
+for the strict exclusion of the ladies from their society.  The
+constant drinking of spirits is another, for though they do not
+scruple to chew tobacco and to spit incessantly in the presence
+of women, they generally prefer drinking and gaming in their
+absence.
+
+I often used to amuse myself with fancying the different scene
+which such a vessel would display in Europe.  The noble length of
+the gentlemen's cabin would be put into requisition for a dance,
+while that of the ladies, with their delicious balcony, would be
+employed for refreshments, instead of sitting down in two long
+silent melancholy rows, to swallow as much coffee and beef-steak
+as could be achieved in ten minutes.  Then song and music would
+be heard borne along by the midnight breeze; but on the Ohio,
+when light failed to shew us the bluffs, and the trees, with
+their images inverted in the stream, we crept into our little
+cots, listening to the ceaseless churning of the engine, in hope
+it would prove a lullaby till morning.
+
+We were three days in reaching Wheeling, where we arrived at
+last, at two o'clock in the morning, an uncomfortable hour to
+disembark with a good deal of luggage, as the steam-boat was
+obliged to go on immediately; but we were instantly supplied with
+a dray, and in a few moments found ourselves comfortably seated
+before a good fire, at an hotel near the landing-place; our
+rooms, with fires in them, were immediately ready for us, and
+refreshments brought, with all that sedulous attention which in
+this country distinguishes a slave state.  In making this
+observation I am very far from intending to advocate the system
+of slavery; I conceive it to be essentially wrong; but so far as
+my observation has extended, I think its influence is far less
+injurious to the manners and morals of the people than the
+fallacious ideas of equality, which are so fondly cherished by
+the working classes of the white population in America.  That
+these ideas are fallacious, is obvious, for in point of fact the
+man possessed of dollars does command the services of the man
+possessed of no dollars; but these services are given grudgingly,
+and of necessity, with no appearance of cheerful goodwill on the
+one side, or of kindly interest on the other.  I never failed to
+mark the difference on entering a slave state.  I was immediately
+comfortable, and at my ease, and felt that the intercourse
+between me and those who served me, was profitable to both
+parties and painful to neither.
+
+It was not till I had leisure for more minute observation that I
+felt aware of the influence of slavery upon the owners of slaves;
+when I did, I confess I could not but think that the citizens of
+the United States had contrived, by their political alchymy, to
+extract all that was most noxious both in democracy and in
+slavery, and had poured the strange mixture through every vein of
+the moral organization of their country.
+
+Wheeling is the state of Virginia, and appears to be a
+flourishing town.  It is the point at which most travellers from
+the West leave the Ohio, to take the stages which travel the
+mountain road to the Atlantic cities.
+
+It has many manufactories, among others, one for blowing and
+cutting glass, which we visited.  We were told by the workmen
+that the articles finished there were equal to any in the world;
+but my eyes refused their assent.  The cutting was very good,
+though by no means equal to what we see in daily use in London;
+but the chief inferiority is in the material, which is never
+altogether free from colour.  I had observed this also in the
+glass of the Pittsburgh manufactory, the labour bestowed on it
+always appearing greater than the glass deserved.  They told us
+also, that they were rapidly improving in the art, and I have no
+doubt that this was true.
+
+Wheeling has little of beauty to distinguish it, except the ever
+lovely Ohio, to which we here bid adieu, and a fine bold hill,
+which rises immediately behind the town.  This hill, as well as
+every other in the neighbourhood, is bored for coal.  Their mines
+are all horizontal.  The coal burns well, but with a very black
+and dirty cinder.
+
+We found the coach, by which we meant to proceed to Little
+Washington, full, and learnt that we must wait two days before it
+would again leave the town.  Posting was never heard of in the
+country, and the mail travelled all night, which I did not
+approve of; we therefore found ourselves compelled to pass two
+days at the Wheeling hotel.
+
+I know not how this weary interval would have worn away, had it
+not been for the fortunate circumstance of our meeting with a
+_bel esprit_ among the boarders there.  We descended to the
+common sitting room (for private parlours there are none) before
+breakfast the morning after our arrival; several ordinary
+individuals entered, till the party amounted to eight or nine.
+Again the door opened, and in swam a female, who had once
+certainly been handsome, and who, it was equally evident, still
+thought herself so.  She was tall, and well formed, dressed in
+black, with many gaudy trinkets about her: a scarlet _fichu_
+relieved the sombre colour of her dress, and a very smart little
+cap at the back of her head set off an immense quantity of sable
+hair, which naturally, or artificially, adorned her forehead.
+A becoming quantity of rouge gave the finishing touch to her
+figure, which had a degree of pretension about it that
+immediately attracted our notice.  She talked fluently, and
+without any American restraint, and I began to be greatly puzzled
+as to who or what she could be; a lady, in the English sense of
+the word, I was sure she was not, and she was a little like an
+American female of what they call good standing.  A beautiful
+girl of seventeen entered soon after, and called her "Ma," and
+both mother and daughter chattered away, about themselves and
+their concerns, in a manner that greatly increased my puzzle.
+
+After breakfast, being much in want of amusement, I seated myself
+by her, and entered into conversation.  I found her nothing loth,
+and in about a minute and a half she put a card into my hand,
+setting forth, that she taught the art of painting upon velvet in
+all its branches.
+
+She stated to me, with great volubility, that no one but herself
+and her daughter knew any thing of this invaluable branch of art;
+but that for twenty-five dollars they were willing to communicate
+all they knew.
+
+In five minutes more she informed me that she was the author of
+some of the most cutting satires in the language; and then she
+presented me a paper, containing a prospectus, as she called it,
+of a novel, upon an entirely new construction.  I was strangely
+tempted to ask her if it went by steam, but she left me no time
+to ask any thing, for, continuing the autobiography she had so
+obligingly begun, she said, "I used to write against all the
+Adams faction.  I will go up stairs in a moment and fetch you
+down my sat-heres against that side.  But oh! my dear madam! it
+is really frightful to think how talent is neglected in this
+country.  Ah! I know what you are going to say, my dear madam,
+you will tell me that it is not so in yours.  I know it! but
+alas! the Atlantic!  However, I really must tell you how I have
+been treated: not only did I publish the most biting sat-heres
+against the Adams faction, but I wrote songs and odes in honour
+of Jackson; and my daughter, Cordelia, sang a splendid song of
+my writing, before eight hundred people, entirely and altogether
+written in his praise; and would you believe it, my dear madam,
+he has never taken the slightest notice of me, or made me the
+least remuneration.  But you can't suppose I mean to bear it
+quietly?  No!  I promise him that is not my way.  The novel
+I have just mentioned to you was began as a sentimental
+romance (that, perhaps, after all, is my real forte), but
+after the provocation I received at Washington, I turned it
+into a sat-herical novel, and I now call it _Yankee Doodle
+Court_.  By the way my dear madam, I think if I could make up
+my mind to cross that terrible Atlantic, I should be pretty
+well received, after writing Yankee Doodle Court!"
+
+I took the opportunity of a slight pause to ask her to what party
+she now belonged, since she had forsworn both Adams and Jackson.
+
+"Oh Clay! Clay for ever! he is a real true-hearted republican;
+the others are neither more nor less than tyrants."
+
+When next I entered the sitting-room she again addressed me, to
+deplore the degenerate taste of the age.
+
+"Would you believe it? I have at this moment a comedy ready for
+representation; I call it 'The Mad Philosopher.'  It is really
+admirable, and its success certain, if I could get it played.
+I assure you the neglect I meet with amounts perfectly to
+persecution.  But I have found out how to pay them, and to make
+my own fortune.  Sat-here, (as she constantly pronounced satire)
+sat-here is the only weapon that can revenge neglect, and I
+flatter myself I know how to use it.  Do me the favour to look
+at this,"
+
+She then presented me with a tiny pamphlet, whose price, she
+informed me, was twenty-five cents, which I readily paid to
+become the possessor of this _chef d'oeuvre_.  The composition
+was pretty nearly such as I anticipated, excepting that the
+English language was done to death by her pen still more than by
+her tongue.  The epigraph, which was subscribed "original," was
+as follows:
+
+  "Your popularity's on the decline:
+   You had your triumph! now I'll have mine."
+
+These are rather a favourable specimen of the verses that follow.
+
+In a subsequent conversation she made me acquainted with another
+talent, informing me that she had played the part of Charlotte,
+in _Love a la mode_, when General Lafayette honoured the theatre
+at Cincinnati with his presence.
+
+She now appeared to have run out the catalogue of her
+accomplishments; and I came to the conclusion that my new
+acquaintance was a strolling player: but she seemed to guess my
+thoughts, for she presently added.  "It was a Thespian corps that
+played before the General."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 18
+
+Departure for the mountains in the Stage--Scenery of the
+Alleghany--Haggerstown
+
+
+
+The weather was bleak and disagreeable during the two days we
+were obliged to remain at Wheeling.  I had got heartily tired of
+my gifted friend; we had walked up every side of the rugged hill,
+and I set off on my journey towards the mountains with more
+pleasure than is generally felt in quitting a pillow before
+daylight, for a cold corner in a rumbling stage-coach.
+
+This was the first time we had got into an American stage, though
+we had traversed above two thousand miles of the country, and we
+had all the satisfaction in it, which could be derived from the
+conviction that we were travelling in a foreign land.  This
+vehicle had no step, and we climbed into it by a ladder; when
+that was removed I remembered, with some dismay, that the females
+at least were much in the predicament of sailors, who, "in danger
+have no door to creep out," but when a misfortune is absolutely
+inevitable, we are apt to bear it remarkably well; who would
+utter that constant petition of ladies on rough roads, "let me get
+out," when compliance would oblige the pleader to make a step of
+five feet before she could touch the ground?
+
+The coach had three rows of seats, each calculated to hold three
+persons, and as we were only six, we had, in the phrase of
+Milton, to "inhabit lax" this exalted abode, and, accordingly, we
+were for some miles tossed about like a few potatoes in a
+wheelbarrow.  Our knees, elbows, and heads required too much care
+for their protection to allow us leisure to look out of the
+windows; but at length the road became smoother, and we became
+more skilful in the art of balancing ourselves, so as to meet the
+concussion with less danger of dislocation.
+
+We then found that we were travelling through a very beautiful
+country, essentially different in its features from what we had
+been accustomed to round Cincinnati: it is true we had left "_la
+belle riviere_" behind us, but the many limpid and rapid little
+streams that danced through the landscape to join it, more than
+atoned for its loss.
+
+The country already wore an air of more careful husbandry, and
+the very circumstance of a wide and costly road (though not a
+very smooth one), which in theory might be supposed to injure
+picturesque effect, was beautiful to us, who, since we had
+entered the muddy mouth of the Mississippi, had never seen any
+thing except a steam-boat and the _levee_ professing to have so
+noble an object as public accommodation.  Through the whole of
+the vast region we had passed, excepting at New Orleans itself,
+every trace of the art of man appeared to be confined to the
+individual effort of "getting along," which, in western phrase,
+means contriving to live with as small a portion of the
+incumbrances of civilized society as possible.
+
+This road was made at the expense of the government as far as
+Cumberland, a town situated among the Alleghany mountains, and,
+from the nature of the ground, must have been a work of great
+cost.  I regretted not having counted the number of bridges
+between Wheeling and Little Washington, a distance of thirty-four
+miles; over one stream only there are twenty-five, all passed by
+the road.  They frequently occurred within a hundred yards of
+each other, so serpentine is its course; they are built of stone,
+and sometimes very neatly finished.
+
+Little Washington is in Pennsylvania, across a corner of which
+the road runs.  This is a free state, but we were still waited
+upon by Negroes, hired from the neighbouring state of Virginia.
+We arrived at night, and set off again at four in the morning;
+all, therefore, that we saw of Little Washington was its hotel,
+which was clean and comfortable.  The first part of the next
+day's journey was through a country much less interesting: its
+character was unvaried for nearly thirty miles, consisting of an
+uninterrupted succession of forest-covered hills.  As soon as we
+had wearily dragged to the top of one of these, we began to
+rumble down the other side as rapidly as our four horses could
+trot; and no sooner arrived at the bottom than we began to crawl
+up again; the trees constantly so thick and so high as to
+preclude the possibility of seeing fifty yards in any direction.
+
+The latter part of the day, however, amply repaid us.  At four
+o'clock we began to ascend the Alleghany mountains: the first
+ridge on the western side is called Laurel Hill, and takes its
+name from the profuse quantity of evergreens with which it is
+covered; not any among them, however, being the shrub to which we
+give the name of laurel.
+
+The whole of this mountain region, through ninety miles of which
+the road passes, is a garden.  The almost incredible variety of
+plants, and the lavish profusion of their growth, produce an
+effect perfectly enchanting.  I really can hardly conceive a
+higher enjoyment than a botanical tour among the Alleghany
+mountains, to any one who had science enough to profit by it.
+
+The magnificent rhododendron first caught our eyes; it fringes
+every cliff, nestles beneath every rock, and blooms around every
+tree.  The azalia, the shumac, and every variety of that
+beautiful mischief, the kalmia, are in equal profusion.  Cedars
+of every size and form were above, around, and underneath us;
+firs more beautiful and more various than I had ever seen, were
+in equal abundance, but I know not whether they were really such
+as I had never seen in Europe, or only in infinitely greater
+splendour and perfection of growth; the species called the
+hemlock is, I think, second to the cedar only, in magnificence.
+Oak and beech, with innumerable roses and wild vines, hanging in
+beautiful confusion among their branches, were in many places
+scattered among the evergreens.  The earth was carpeted with
+various mosses and creeping plants, and though still in the month
+of March, not a trace of the nakedness of winter could be seen.
+Such was the scenery that shewed us we were indeed among the
+far-famed Alleghany mountains.
+
+As our noble terrace-road, the Semplon of America, rose higher
+and higher, all that is noblest in nature was joined to all that
+is sweetest.  The blue tops of the higher ridges formed the
+outline; huge masses of rock rose above us on the left, half hid
+at intervals by the bright green shrubs, while to the right we
+looked down upon the tops of the pines and cedars which clothed
+the bottom.
+
+I had no idea of the endless variety of mountain scenery.  My
+notions had been of rocks and precipices, of torrents and of
+forest trees, but I little expected that the first spot which
+should recall the garden scenery of our beautiful England would
+be found among the moutains: yet so it was.  From the time I
+entered America I had never seen the slightest approach to what
+we call pleasure-grounds; a few very worthless and scentless
+flowers were all the specimens of gardening I had seen in Ohio;
+no attempt at garden scenery was ever dreamed of, and it was with
+the sort of delight with which one meets an old friend, that we
+looked on the lovely mixture of trees, shrubs, and flowers, that
+now continually met our eyes.  Often, on descending into the
+narrow vallies, we found a little spot of cultivation, a garden
+or a field, hedged round with shumacs, rhododendrons, and
+azalias, and a cottage covered with roses.  These vallies are
+spots of great beauty; a clear stream is always found running
+through them, which is generally converted to the use of the
+miller, at some point not far from the road; and here, as on the
+heights, great beauty of colouring is given to the landscape, by
+the bright hue of the vegetation, and the sober grey of the
+rocks.
+
+The first night we passed among the mountains recalled us
+painfully from the enjoyment of nature to all the petty miseries
+of personal discomfort.  Arrived at our inn, a forlorn parlour,
+filled with the blended fumes of tobacco and whiskey, received
+us; and chilled, as we began to feel ourselves with the mountain
+air, we preferred going to our cold bedrooms rather than sup in
+such an atmosphere.  We found linen on the beds which they
+assured us had only been used _a few nights_; every kind of
+refreshment we asked for we were answered, "We do not happen to
+have that article."  We were still in Pennsylvania, and no longer
+waited upon by slaves; it was, therefore, with great difficulty
+that we procured a fire in our bedrooms from the surly-looking
+_young lady_ who condescended to officiate as chambermaid, and
+with much more, that we extorted clean linen for our beds; that
+done, we patiently crept into them supperless, while she made her
+exit muttering about the difficulty of "fixing English folks."
+
+The next morning cheered our spirits again; we now enjoyed a new
+kind of alpine witchery; the clouds were floating around, and
+below us, and the distant peaks were indistinctly visible as
+through a white gauze veil, which was gradually lifted up, till
+the sun arose, and again let in upon us the full glory of these
+interminable heights.
+
+We were told before we began the ascent, that we should find snow
+four inches deep on the road; but as yet we had seen none, and
+indeed it was with difficulty we persuaded ourselves that we were
+not travelling in the midst of summer.  As we proceeded, however,
+we found the northern declivities still covered with it, and at
+length, towards the summit, the road itself had the promised four
+inches.  The extreme mildness of the air, and the brilliant hue
+of the evergreens, contrasted strangely with this appearance of
+winter; it was difficult to understand how the snow could help
+melting in such an atmosphere.
+
+Again and again we enjoyed all the exhilarating sensations that
+such scenes must necessarily inspire, but in attempting a
+continued description of our progress over these beautiful
+mountains, I could only tell again of rocks, cedars, laurels, and
+running streams, of blue heights, and green vallies, yet the
+continually varying combinations of these objects afforded us
+unceasing pleasure.  From one point, pre-eminently above any
+neighbouring ridge, we looked back upon the enormous valley of
+the West.  It is a stupendous view; but having gazed upon it for
+some moments, we turned to pursue our course, and the certainty
+that we should see it no more, raised no sigh of regret.
+
+We dined, on the second day, at a beautiful spot, which we were
+told was the highest point on the road, being 2,846 feet above
+the level of the sea.  We were regaled luxuriously on wild turkey
+and mountain venison; which latter is infinitely superior to any
+furnished by the forests of the Mississippi, or the Ohio.  The
+vegetables also were extremely fine, and we were told by a pretty
+girl, who superintended the slaves that waited on us, (for we
+were again in Virginia), that the vegetables of the Alleghany
+were reckoned the finest in America.  She told us also, that wild
+strawberries were profusely abundant, and very fine; that their
+cows found for themselves, during the summer, plenty of flowery
+food, which produced a copious supply of milk; that their spring
+gave them the purest water, of icy coldness in the warmest
+seasons; and that the climate was the most delicious in the
+world, for though the thermometer sometimes stood at ninety,
+their cool breeze never failed them.  What a spot to turn hermit
+in for a summer!  My eloquent mountaineer gave me some specimens
+of ground plants, far unlike any thing I had ever seen.  One
+particularly, which she called the ground pine, is peculiar as
+she told me, to the Alleghany, and in some places runs over whole
+acres of ground; it is extremely beautiful.  The rooms were very
+prettily decorated with this elegant plant, hung round it in
+festoons.
+
+In many places the clearing has been considerable; the road
+passes through several fine farms, situated in the sheltered
+hollows; we were told that the wolves continue to annoy them
+severely, but that panthers, the terror of the West, are never
+seen, and bears very rarely.  Of snakes, they confessed they had
+abundance, but very few that were considered dangerous.
+
+In the afternoon we came in sight of the Monongehala river; and
+its banks gave us for several miles a beautiful succession of
+wild and domestic scenery.  In some points, the black rock rises
+perpendicularly from its margin, like those at Chepstow; at
+others, a mill, with its owner's cottage, its corn-plat, and its
+poultry, present a delightful image of industry and comfort.
+
+Brownsville is a busy looking little town built upon the banks of
+this river; it would be pretty, were it not stained by the hue of
+coal.  I do not remember in England to have seen any spot,
+however near a coal mine, so dyed in black as Wheeling and
+Brownsville.  At this place we crossed the Monongehala, in a flat
+ferry-boat, which very commodiously received our huge coach and
+four horses.
+
+On leaving the black little town, we were again cheered by
+abundance of evergreens, reflected in the stream, with fantastic
+piles of rock, half visible through the pines and cedars above,
+giving often the idea of a vast gothic castle.  It was a folly, I
+confess, but I often lamented they were not such; the travelling
+for thousands of miles, without meeting any nobler trace of the
+ages that are passed, than a mass of rotten leaves, or a fragment
+of fallen rock, produces a heavy, earthly matter-of-fact effect
+upon the imagination, which can hardly be described, and for
+which the greatest beauty of scenery can furnish only an
+occasional and transitory remedy.
+
+Our second night in the mountains was past at a solitary house of
+rather forlorn appearance; but we fared much better than the
+night before, for they gave us clean sheets, a good fire, and no
+scolding.  We again started at four o'clock in the morning, and
+eagerly watched for the first gleam of light that should show the
+same lovely spectacle we had seen the day before; nor were we
+disappointed, though the show was somewhat different.  The
+vapours caught the morning ray, as it first darted over the
+mountain top, and passing it to the scene below, we seemed
+enveloped in a rainbow.
+
+We had now but one ridge left to pass over, and as we reached the
+top, and looked down on the new world before us, I hardly knew
+whether most to rejoice that
+
+      "All the toil of the long-pass'd way"
+
+was over, or to regret that our mountain journey was drawing to
+a close.
+
+The novelty of my enjoyment had doubtless added much to its
+keenness.  I have never been familiar with mountain scenery.
+Wales has shewn me all I ever saw, and the region of the
+Alleghany Alps in no way resembles it.  It is a world of
+mountains rising around you in every direction, and in every
+form; savage, vast, and wild; yet almost at every step, some
+lovely spot meets your eye, green, bright and blooming, as the
+most cherished nook belonging to some noble Flora in our own
+beautiful land.  It is a ride of ninety miles through kalmies,
+rhododendrons, azalias, vines and roses; sheltered from every
+blast that blows by vast masses of various coloured rocks, on
+which
+
+    "Tall pines and cedars wave their dark green crests."
+
+While in every direction you have a background of blue mountain
+tops, that play at bo-peep with you in the clouds.
+
+After descending the last ridge we reached Haggerstown, a small
+neat place, between a town and a village; and here by the piety
+of the Presbyterian coach-masters, we were doomed to pass an
+entire day, and two nights, "as the accommodation line must not
+run on the sabbath."
+
+I must, however, mention, that this day of enforced rest was
+_not_ Sunday.  Saturday evening we had taken in at Cumberland a
+portly passenger, whom we soon discovered to be one of the
+proprietors of the coach.  He asked us, with great politeness, if
+we should wish to travel on the sabbath, or to delay our journey.
+We answered that we would rather proceed; "The coach, then, shall
+go on tomorrow," replied the liberal coach-master, with the
+greatest courtesy; and accordingly we travelled all Sunday, and
+arrived at Haggerstown on Sunday night.  At the door of the inn
+our civil proprietor left us; but when we enquired of the waiter
+at what hour we were to start on the morrow, he told us that we
+should be obliged to pass the whole of Monday there, as the coach
+which was to convey us forward would not arrive from the east,
+till Tuesday morning.
+
+Thus we discovered that the waiving the sabbath-keeping by the
+proprietor, was for his own convenience, and not for ours, and
+that we were to be tied by the leg for four-and-twenty hours
+notwithstanding.  This was quite a Yankee trick.
+
+Luckily for us, the inn at Haggerstown was one of the most
+comfortable I ever entered.  It was there that we became fully
+aware that we had left Western America behind us.  Instead of
+being scolded, as we literally were at Cincinnati, for asking for
+a private sitting-room, we here had two, without asking at all.
+A waiter, quite _comme il faut_, summoned us to breakfast,
+dinner, and tea, which we found prepared with abundance, and even
+elegance.  The master of the house met us at the door of the
+eating-room, and, after asking if we wished for any thing not on
+the table, retired.  The charges were in no respect higher than
+at Cincinnati.
+
+A considerable creek, called Conococheque Creek, runs near the
+town, and the valley through which it passes is said to be the
+most fertile in America.
+
+On leaving Haggerstown we found, to our mortification, that we
+were not to be the sole occupants of the bulky accommodation, two
+ladies and two gentlemen appearing at the door ready to share it
+with us.  We again started, at four o'clock, by the light of a
+bright moon, and rumbled and nodded through the roads
+considerably worse than those over the mountains.
+
+As the light began to dawn we discovered our ladies to be an old
+woman and her pretty daughter.
+
+Soon after daylight we found that our pace became much slower
+than usual, and that from time to time our driver addressed to
+his companion on the box many and vehement exclamations.  The
+gentlemen put their heads out, to ask what was the matter, but
+could get no intelligence, till the mail overtook us, when both
+vehicles stopped, and an animated colloquy of imprecations took
+place between the coachmen.  At length we learnt that one of our
+wheels was broken in such a manner as to render it impossible for
+us to proceed.  Upon this the old lady immediately became a
+principal actor in the scene.  She sprung to the window, and
+addressing the set of gentlemen who completely filled the mail,
+exclaimed "Gentlemen! can't you make room for two? only me and my
+daughter?"  The naive simplicity of this request set both the
+coaches into an uproar of laughter.  It was impossible to doubt
+that she acted upon the same principle as the pious Catholic, who
+addressing heaven with a prayer for himself alone, added "_pour
+ne pas fatiguer ta misericorde._"  Our laugh, however, never
+daunted the old woman, or caused her for a moment to cease the
+reiteration of her request, "only for two of us, gentlemen! can't
+you find room for two?"
+
+Our situation was really very embarrassing, but not to laugh was
+impossible.  After it was ascertained that our own vehicle could
+not convey us, and that the mail had not even room for two, we
+decided upon walking to the next village, a distance,
+fortunately, of only two miles, and awaiting there the repair of
+the wheel.  We immediately set off, at the brisk pace that six
+o'clock and a frosty morning in March were likely to inspire,
+leaving our old lady and her pretty daughter considerably in the
+rear; our hearts having been rather hardened by the exclusive
+nature of her prayer for aid.
+
+When we had again started upon our new wheel, the driver, to
+recover the time he had lost, drove rapidly over a very rough
+road, in consequence of which, our self-seeking old lady fell
+into a perfect agony of terror, and her cries of "we shall be
+over! oh, Lord! we shall be over! we must over! we shall be
+over!" lasted to the end of the stage which with laughing,
+walking, and shaking, was a most fatiguing one.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 19
+
+Baltimore--Catholic Cathedral--St.  Mary's--College Sermons--
+Infant School
+
+
+
+As we advanced towards Baltimore the look of cultivation
+increased, the fences wore an air of greater neatness, the houses
+began to look like the abodes of competence and comfort, and we
+were consoled for the loss of the beautiful mountains by knowing
+that we were approaching the Atlantic.
+
+From the time of quitting the Ohio river, though, unquestionably,
+it merits its title of "the beautiful," especially when compared
+with the dreary Mississippi, I strongly felt the truth of an
+observation I remembered to have heard in England, that little
+rivers were more beautiful than great ones.  As features in a
+landscape, this is assuredly the case.  Where the stream is so
+wide that the objects on the opposite shore are indistinct, all
+the beauty must be derived from the water itself; whereas, when
+the stream is narrow, it becomes only a part of the composition.
+The Monongahela, which is in size between the Wye and the Thames,
+is infinitely more picturesque than the Ohio.
+
+To enjoy the beauty of the vast rivers of this vast country you
+must be upon the water; and then the power of changing the
+scenery by now approaching one shore, and now the other, is very
+pleasing; but travelling as we now did, by land, the wild, rocky,
+narrow, rapid little rivers we encountered, were a thousand times
+more beautiful.  The Potapsco, near which the road runs, as you
+approach Baltimore, is at many points very picturesque.  The
+large blocks of grey rock, now close upon its edge, and now
+retiring to give room for a few acres of bright green herbage,
+give great interest and variety to its course.
+
+Baltimore is, I think, one of the handsomest cities to approach
+in the Union.  The noble column erected to the memory of
+Washington, and the Catholic Cathedral, with its beautiful dome,
+being built on a commanding eminence, are seen at a great
+distance.  As you draw nearer, many other domes and towers become
+visible, and as you enter Baltimore-street, you feel that you are
+arrived in a handsome and populous city.
+
+We took up our quarters at an excellent hotel, where the coach
+stopped, and the next day were fortunate enough to find
+accommodation in the house of a lady, well known to many of my
+European friends.  With her and her amiable daughter, we spent a
+fortnight very agreeably, and felt quite aware that if we had not
+arrived in London or Paris, we had, at least, left far behind the
+"half-horse, half-alligator" tribes of the West, as the
+Kentuckians call themselves.
+
+Baltimore is in many respects a beautiful city; it has several
+handsome buildings, and even the private dwelling-houses have a
+look of magnificence, from the abundance of white marble with
+which many of them are adorned.  The ample flights of steps, and
+the lofty door frames, are in most of the best houses formed of
+this beautiful material.
+
+This has been called the city of monuments, from its having the
+stately column erected to the memory of General Washington, and
+which bears a colossal statue of him at the top; and another
+pillar of less dimensions, recording some victory; I forget
+which.  Both these are of brilliant white marble.  There are also
+several pretty marble fountains in different parts of the city,
+which greatly add to its beauty.  These are not, it is true,
+quite so splendid as that of the Innocents, or many others at
+Paris, but they are fountains of clear water, and they are built
+of white marble.  There is one which is sheltered from the sun by
+a roof supported by light columns; it looks like a temple
+dedicated to the genius of the spring.  The water flows into a
+marble cistern, to which you descend by a flight of steps of
+delicate whiteness, and return by another.  These steps are never
+without groups of negro girls, some carrying the water on their
+heads, with that graceful steadiness of step, which requires no
+aid from the hand; some tripping gaily with their yet unfilled
+pitchers; many of them singing in the soft rich voice, peculiar
+to their race; and all dressed with that strict attention to
+taste and smartness, which seems the distinguishing
+characteristic of the Baltimore females of all ranks.
+
+The Catholic Cathedral is considered by all Americans as a
+magnificent church, but it can hardly be so classed by any one
+who has seen the churches of Europe; its interior, however, has
+an air of neatness that amounts to elegance.  The form is a Greek
+cross, having a dome in the centre; but the proportions are ill-
+preserved; the dome is too low, and the arches which support it
+are flattened, and too wide for their height.  On each side of
+the high altar are chapels to the Saviour and the Virgin.  The
+altars in these, as well as the high altar, are of native marble
+of different colours, and some of the specimens are very
+beautiful.  The decorations of the altar are elegant and costly.
+The prelate is a cardinal, and bears, moreover, the title of
+"Archbishop of Baltimore."
+
+There are several paintings in different parts of the church,
+which we heard were considered as very fine.  There are two
+presented by Louis XVIII; one of these is the Descent from the
+Cross, by Paulin Guirin; the other a copy from Rubens, (as they
+told us) of a legend of St. Louis in the Holy Land; but the
+composition of the picture is so abominably bad, that I conceive
+the legend of its being after Rubens, must be as fabulous as its
+subject.  The admiration in which these pictures are held, is an
+incontestable indication of the state of art in the country.
+
+We attended mass in this church the Sunday after our arrival, and
+I was perfectly astonished at the beauty and splendid appearance
+of the ladies who filled it.  Excepting on a very brilliant
+Sunday at the Tuilleries, I never saw so shewy a display of
+morning costume, and I think I never saw any where so many
+beautiful women at one glance.  They all appeared to be in full
+dress, and were really all beautiful.
+
+The sermon (I am very attentive to sermons) was a most
+extraordinary one.  The priest began by telling us, that he was
+about to preach upon a vice that he would not "mention or name"
+from the beginning of his sermon to the end.
+
+Having thus excited the curiosity of his hearers, by proposing a
+riddle to them, he began.
+
+Adam, he said, was most assuredly the first who had committed
+this sin, and Cain the next; then, following the advice given by
+the listener, in the Plaideurs, "Passons au deluge, je vous
+prie;" he went on to mention the particular propriety of Noah's
+family on this point; and then continued, "Now observe, what did
+God shew the greatest dislike to?  What was it that Jesus was
+never even accused of?  What was it Joseph hated the most?  Who
+was the disciple that Jesus chose for his friend?" and thus he
+went on for nearly an hour, in a strain that was often perfectly
+unintelligible to me, but which, as far as I could comprehend
+it, appeared to be a sort of expose and commentary upon private
+anecdotes which he had found, or fancied he had found in the
+Bible.  I never saw the attention of a congregation more strongly
+excited, and I really wished, in Christian charity, that
+something better had rewarded it.
+
+There are a vast number of churches and chapels in the city, in
+proportion to its extent, and several that are large and well-
+built; the Unitarian church is the handsomest I have ever seen
+dedicated to that mode of worship.  But the prettiest among them
+is a little _bijou_ of a thing belonging to the Catholic college.
+The institution is dedicated to St. Mary, but this little chapel
+looks, though in the midst of a city, as if it should have been
+sacred to St. John of the wilderness.  There is a sequestered
+little garden behind it, hardly large enough to plant cabbages
+in, which yet contains a Mount Calvary, bearing a lofty cross.
+The tiny path which leads up to this sacred spot, is not much
+wider than a sheep-track, and its cedars are but shrubs, but all
+is in proportion; and notwithstanding its fairy dimensions, there
+is something of holiness, and quiet beauty about it, that excites
+the imagination strangely.  The little chapel itself has the same
+touching and impressive character.  A solitary lamp, whose glare
+is tempered by delicately painted glass, hangs before the altar.
+The light of day enters dimly, yet richly, through crimson
+curtains, and the silence with which the well-lined doors opened
+from time to time, admitting a youth of the establishment, who,
+with noiseless tread, approached the altar, and kneeling, offered
+a whispered prayer, and retired, had something in it more
+calculated, perhaps, to generate holy thoughts, than even the
+swelling anthem heard beneath the resounding dome of St. Peter's.
+
+Baltimore has a handsome museum, superintended by one of the
+Peale family, well known for their devotion to natural science,
+and to works of art.  It is not their fault if the specimens
+which they are enabled to display in the latter department are
+very inferior to their splendid exhibitions in the former.
+
+The theatre was closed when we were in Baltimore, but we were
+told that it was very far from being a popular or fashionable
+amusement.  We were, indeed, told this every where throughout the
+country, and the information was generally accompanied by the
+observation, that the opposition of the clergy was the cause of
+it.  But I suspect that this is not the principal cause,
+especially among the men, who, if they were so implicit in their
+obedience to the clergy, would certainly be more constant in
+their attendance at the churches; nor would they, moreover, deem
+the theatre more righteous because an English actor, or a French
+dancer, performed there; yet on such occasions the theatres
+overflow.  The cause, I think, is in the character of the people.
+I never saw a population so totally divested of gaiety; there is
+no trace of this feeling from one end of the Union to the other.
+They have no fetes, no fairs, no merry makings, no music in the
+streets, no Punch, no puppet-shows.  If they see a comedy or a
+farce, they may laugh at it; but they can do very well without
+it; and the consciousness of the number of cents that must be
+paid to enter a theatre, I am very sure turns more steps from its
+door than any religious feeling.  A distinguished publisher of
+Philadelphia told me that no comic publication had ever yet been
+found to answer in America.
+
+We arrived at Baltimore at the season of the "Conference."  I
+must be excused from giving any very distinct explanation of
+this term, as I did not receive any.  From what I could learn,
+it much resembles a Revival.  We entered many churches, and
+heard much preaching, and not one of the reverend orators could
+utter the reproach,
+
+"Peut-on si bien precher qu'elle ne dorme au sermon?"
+
+for I never even dosed at any.  There was one preacher whose
+manner and matter were so peculiar, that I took the liberty of
+immediately writing down a part of his discourse as a specimen.
+I confess I began writing in the middle of a sentence, for I
+waited in vain for a beginning.  It was as follows:-
+
+"Nevertheless, we must not lose sight of the one important,
+great, and only object; for the Lord is mighty, his works are
+great, likewise wonderful, likewise wise, likewise merciful; and,
+moreover, we must ever keep in mind, and close to our hearts, all
+his precious blessings, and unspeakable mercies, and
+overflowings; and moreover we must never lose sight of, no, never
+lose sight of, nor ever cease to remember, nor ever let our souls
+forget, nor ever cease to dwell upon, and to reverence, and to
+welcome, and to bless, and to give thanks, and to sing hosanna,
+and give praise,"--and here my fragment of paper failed, but
+this strain continued, without a shadow of meaning that I could
+trace, and in a voice inconceivably loud, for more than an hour.
+After he had finished his sermon, a scene exactly resembling that
+at the Cincinnati Revival, took place.  Two other priests
+assisted in calling forward the people, and in whispering comfort
+to them.  One of these men roared out in the coarsest accents,
+"Do you want to go to hell tonight?"  The church was almost
+entirely filled with women, who vied with each other in howlings
+and contortions of the body; many of them tore their clothes
+nearly off.  I was much amused, spite of the indignation and
+disgust the scene inspired, by the vehemence of the negro part of
+the congregation; they seemed determined to bellow louder than
+all the rest, to shew at once their piety and their equality.
+
+At this same chapel, a few nights before, a woman had fallen in
+a fit of ecstasy from the gallery, into the arms of the people
+below, a height of twelve feet.  A young slave who waited upon
+us at table, when this was mentioned, said, that similar
+accidents had frequently happened, and that once she had seen
+it herself.  Another slave in the house told us, that she "liked
+religion right well, but that she never took fits in it, 'cause
+she was always fixed in her best, when she went to chapel, and
+she did not like to have all her best clothes broke up."
+
+We visited the infant school, instituted in this city by Mr.
+Ibbertson, an amiable and intelligent Englishman.  It was the
+first infant school, properly so called, which I had ever seen,
+and I was greatly pleased with all the arrangements, and the
+apparent success of them.  The children, of whom we saw about a
+hundred, boys and girls, were between eighteen months and six
+years.  The apartment was filled with all sorts of instructive
+and amusing objects; a set of Dutch toys, arranged as a cabinet
+of natural history, was excellent; a numerous collection of large
+wooden bricks filled one corner of the room; the walls were hung
+with gay papers of different patterns, each representing some
+pretty group of figures; large and excellent coloured engravings
+of birds and beasts were exhibited in succession as the theme of
+a little lesson; and the sweet flute of Mr. Ibbertson gave tune
+and time to the prettiest little concert of chirping birds that I
+ever listened to.
+
+A geographical model, large enough to give clear ideas of
+continent, island, cape, isthmus, et cetera, all set in water, is
+placed before the children, and the pretty creatures point their
+little rosy fingers with a look of intense interest, as they are
+called upon to shew where each of them is to be found.  The
+dress, both of boys and girls, was elegantly neat, and their
+manner, when called upon to speak individually, was well-bred,
+intelligent, and totally free from the rude indifference, which
+is so remarkably prevalent in the manners of American children.
+Mr. Ibbertson will be benefactor to the Union, if he become the
+means of spreading the admirable method by which he had polished
+the manner, and awakened the intellect of these beautiful little
+Republicans.  I have conversed with many American ladies on the
+total want of discipline and subjection which I observed
+universally among children of all ages, and I never found any who
+did not both acknowledge and deplore the truth of the remark.  In
+the state of Ohio they have a law (I know not if it exist
+elsewhere), that if a father strike his son, he shall pay a fine
+of ten dollars for every such offence.  I was told by a gentleman
+of Cincinnati, that he had seen this fine inflicted there, at the
+requisition of a boy of twelve years of age, whose father, he
+proved, had struck him for lying.  Such a law, they say,
+generates a spirit of freedom.  What else may it generate?
+
+Mr. Ibbertson, who seems perfectly devoted, heart and head to
+the subject, told me that he was employed in organizing
+successive schools that should receive the pupils as they
+advanced in age.  If he prove himself as capable of completing
+education, as he appears to be of beginning it, his institution
+will be a very valuable one.  It would, indeed, be valuable any
+where; but in America, where discipline is not, where, from the
+shell, they are beings "that cannot rule, nor ever will be
+ruled," it is invaluable.
+
+About two miles from Baltimore is a fort, nobly situated on the
+Patapsco, and commanding the approach from the Chesapeak bay.  As
+our visit was on a Sunday we were not permitted to enter it.  The
+walk to this fort is along a fine terrace of beautiful verdure,
+which commands a magnificent view of the city, with its columns,
+towers, domes, and shipping; and also of the Patapsco river,
+which is here so wide as to present almost a sea view.  This
+terrace is ornamented with abundance of evergreens, and wild
+roses innumerable, but, the whole region has the reputation of
+being unhealthy, and the fort itself most lamentably so.  Before
+leaving the city of monuments, I must not omit naming one reared
+to the growing wealth of the country; Mr. Barham's hotel is said
+to be the most splendid in the Union, and it is certainly
+splendid enough for a people more luxurious than the citizens of
+the republic appear yet to be.  I heard different, and, indeed,
+perfectly contradictory accounts of the success of the
+experiment; but at least every one seemed to agree that the
+liberal projector was fully entitled to exclaim,
+
+     "'Tis not in mortals to command success;
+      I have done more, Jonathan, I've deserved it."
+
+After enjoying a very pleasant fortnight, the greater part of
+which was passed in rambling about this pretty city and its
+environs, we left it, not without regret, and all indulging the
+hope that we should be able to pay it another visit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 20
+
+Voyage to Washington--Capitol--City of Washington--Congress--
+Indians--Funeral of a Member of Congress
+
+
+
+By far the shortest route to Washington, both as to distance and
+time, is by land; but I much wished to see the celebrated
+Chesapeak bay, and it was therefore decided that we should take
+our passage in the steam-boat.  It is indeed a beautiful little
+voyage, and well worth the time it costs; but as to the beauty of
+the bay, it must, I think, be felt only by sailors.  It is, I
+doubt not, a fine shelter for ships, from the storms of the
+Atlantic, but its very vastness prevents its striking the eye as
+beautiful: it is, in fact, only a fine sea view.  But the
+entrance from it into the Potomac river is very noble, and is one
+of the points at which one feels conscious of the gigantic
+proportions of the country, without having recourse to a
+graduated pencil-case.
+
+The passage up this river to Washington is interesting, from many
+objects that it passes, but beyond all else, by the view it
+affords of Mount Vernon, the seat of General Washington.  It is
+there that this truly great man passed the last years of his
+virtuous life, and it is there that he lies buried: it was easy
+to distinguish, as we passed, the cypress that waves over his
+grave.
+
+The latter part of the voyage shews some fine river scenery; but
+I did not discover this till some months afterwards, for we now
+arrived late at night.
+
+Our first object the next morning was to get a sight of the
+capitol, and our impatience sent us forth before breakfast.  The
+mists of morning still hung around this magnificent building when
+first it broke upon our view, and I am not sure that the effect
+produced was not the greater for this circumstance.  At all
+events, we were struck with admiration and surprise.  None of us,
+I believe, expected to see so imposing a structure on that side
+of the Atlantic.  I am ill at describing buildings, but the
+beauty and majesty of the American capitol might defy an abler
+pen than mine to do it justice.  It stands so finely too, high,
+and alone.
+
+The magnificent western facade is approached from the city by
+terraces and steps of bolder proportions than I ever before saw.
+The elegant eastern front, to which many persons give the
+preference, is on a level with a newly-planted but exceedingly
+handsome inclosure, which, in a few years, will offer the shade
+of all the most splendid trees which flourish in the Union, to
+cool the brows and refresh the spirits of the members.  The view
+from the capitol commands the city and many miles around, and it
+is itself an object of imposing beauty to the whole country
+adjoining.
+
+We were again fortunate enough to find a very agreeable family to
+board with; and soon after breakfast left our comfortless hotel
+near the water, for very pleasant apartments in F. street.  [The
+streets that intersect the great avenues in Washington are
+distinguished by the letters of the alphabet.]
+
+I was delighted with the whole aspect of Washington; light,
+cheerful, and airy, it reminded me of our fashionable watering
+places.  It has been laughed at by foreigners, and even by
+natives, because the original plan of the city was upon an
+enormous scale, and but a very small part of it has been as yet
+executed.  But I confess I see nothing in the least degree
+ridiculous about it; the original design, which was as beautiful
+as it was extensive, has been in no way departed from, and all
+that has been done has been done well.  From the base of the hill
+on which the capitol stands extends a street of most magnificent
+width, planted on each side with trees, and ornamented by many
+splendid shops.  This street, which is called Pennsylvania
+Avenue, is above a mile in length, and at the end of it is the
+handsome mansion of the President; conveniently near to his
+residence are the various public offices, all handsome, simple,
+and commodious; ample areas are left round each, where grass and
+shrubs refresh the eye.  In another of the principal streets is
+the general post-office, and not far from it a very noble town-
+hall.  Towards the quarter of the President's house are several
+handsome dwellings, which are chiefly occupied by the foreign
+ministers.  The houses in the other parts of the city are
+scattered, but without ever losing sight of the regularity of the
+original plan; and to a person who has been travelling much
+through the country, and marked the immense quantity of new
+manufactories, new canals, new railroads, new towns, and new
+cities, which are springing, as it were, from the earth in every
+part of it, the appearance of the metropolis rising gradually
+into life and splendour, is a spectacle of high historic
+interest.
+
+Commerce had already produced large and handsome cities in
+America before she had attained to an individual political
+existence, and Washington may be scorned as a metropolis, where
+such cities as Philadelphia and New York exist; but I considered
+it as the growing metropolis of the growing population of the
+Union, and it already possesses features noble enough to sustain
+its dignity as such.
+
+The residence of the foreign legations and their families gives a
+tone to the society of this city which distinguishes it greatly
+from all others.  It is also, for a great part of the year, the
+residence of the senators and representatives, who must be
+presumed to be the _elite_ of the entire body of citizens, both
+in respect to talent and education.  This cannot fail to make
+Washington a more agreeable abode than any other city in the
+Union.
+
+The total absence of all sights, sounds, or smells of commerce,
+adds greatly to the charm.  Instead of drays you see handsome
+carriages; and instead of the busy bustling hustle of men,
+shuffling on to a sale of "dry goods" or "prime broad stuffs,"
+you see very well-dressed personages lounging leisurely up and
+down Pennsylvania Avenue.
+
+Mr. Pishey Thompson, the English bookseller, with his pretty
+collection of all sorts of pretty literature, fresh from London,
+and Mr. Somebody, the jeweller, with his brilliant shop full of
+trinkets, are the principal points of attraction and business.
+What a contrast to all other American cities!  The members, who
+pass several months every year in this lounging easy way, with no
+labour but a little talking, and with the _douceur_ of eight
+dollars a day to pay them for it, must feel the change sadly when
+their term of public service is over.
+
+There is another circumstance which renders the evening parties
+at Washington extremely unlike those of other places in the
+Union; this is the great majority of gentlemen.  The expense, the
+trouble, or the necessity of a ruling eye at home, one or all of
+these reasons, prevents the members' ladies from accompanying
+them to Washington; at least, I heard of very few who had their
+wives with them.  The female society is chiefly to be found among
+the families of the foreign ministers, those of the officers of
+state, and of the few members, the wealthiest and most
+aristocratic of the land, who bring their families with them.
+Some few independent persons reside in or near the city, but this
+is a class so thinly scattered that they can hardly be accounted
+a part of the population.
+
+But, strange to say, even here a theatre cannot be supported for
+more than a few weeks at a time.  I was told that gambling is the
+favourite recreation of the gentlemen, and that it is carried to
+a very considerable extent; but here, as elsewhere within the
+country, it is kept extremely well out of sight.  I do not think
+I was present with a pack of cards a dozen times during more than
+three years that I remained in the country.  Billiards are much
+played, though in most places the amusement is illegal.  It often
+appeared to me that the old women of a state made the laws, and
+the young men broke them.
+
+Notwithstanding the diminutive size of the city, we found much to
+see, and to amuse us.
+
+The patent office is a curious record of the fertility of the
+mind of man when left to its own resources; but it gives ample
+proof also that it is not under such circumstances it is most
+usefully employed.  This patent office contains models of all the
+mechanical inventions that have been produced in the Union, and
+the number is enormous.  I asked the man who shewed these, what
+proportion of them had been brought into use, he said about one
+in a thousand; he told me also, that they chiefly proceeded from
+mechanics and agriculturists settled in remote parts of the
+country, who had began by endeavouring to hit upon some
+contrivance to enable them to _get along_ without sending some
+thousand and odd miles for the thing they wanted.  If the
+contrivance succeeded, they generally became so fond of this
+offspring of their ingenuity, that they brought it to Washington
+for a patent.
+
+At the secretary of state's office we were shewn autographs of
+all the potentates with whom the Union were in alliance; which, I
+believe, pretty well includes all.  To the parchments bearing
+these royal signs manual were appended, of course, the official
+seals of each, enclosed in gold or silver boxes of handsome
+workmanship: I was amused by the manner in which one of their
+own, just prepared for the court of Russia, was displayed to us,
+and the superiority of their decorations pointed out.  They were
+superior, and in much better taste than the rest; and I only wish
+that the feeling that induced this display would spread to every
+corner of the Union, and mix itself with every act and with every
+sentiment.  Let America give a fair portion other attention to
+the arts and the graces that embellish life, and I will make her
+another visit, and write another book as unlike this as possible.
+
+Among the royal signatures, the only ones which much interested
+me were two from the hand of Napoleon.  The earliest of these,
+when he was first consul, was a most illegible scrawl, and, as
+the tradition went, was written on horseback; but his writing
+improved greatly after he became an emperor, the subsequent
+signature being firmly and clearly written.--I longed to steal
+both.
+
+The purity of the American character, formed and founded on the
+purity of the American government, was made evident to our senses
+by the display of all the offerings of esteem and regard which
+had been presented by various sovereigns to the different
+American ministers who had been sent to their courts.  The object
+of the law which exacted this deposit from every individual so
+honoured, was, they told us, to prevent the possibility of
+bribery being used to corrupt any envoy of the Republic.  I
+should think it would be a better way to select for the office
+such men as they felt could not be seduced by a sword or a
+snuff-box.  But they, doubtless, know their own business best.
+
+The bureau for Indian affairs contains a room of great interest:
+the walls are entirely covered with original portraits of all the
+chiefs who, from time to time, have come to negotiate with their
+great father, as they call the President.
+
+These portraits are by Mr. King, and, it cannot be doubted, are
+excellent likenesses, as are all the portraits I have ever seen
+from the hands of that gentleman.  The countenances are full of
+expression, but the expression in most of them is extremely
+similar; or rather, I should say that they have but two sorts of
+expression; the one is that of very noble and warlike daring, the
+other of a gentle and naive simplicity, that has no mixture of
+folly in it, but which is inexpressibly engaging, and the more
+touching, perhaps, because at the moment we were looking at them,
+those very hearts which lent the eyes such meek and friendly
+softness, were wrung by a base, cruel, and most oppressive act of
+their _great father_.
+
+We were at Washington at the time that the measure for chasing
+the last of several tribes of Indians from their forest homes,
+was canvassed in congress, and finally decided upon by the FIAT
+of the President.  If the American character may be judged by
+their conduct in this matter, they are most lamentably deficient
+in every feeling of honour and integrity.  It is among
+themselves, and from themselves, that I have heard the statements
+which represent them as treacherous and false almost beyond
+belief in their intercourse with the unhappy Indians.  Had I,
+during my residence in the United States, observed any single
+feature in their national character that could justify their
+eternal boast of liberality and the love of freedom, I might have
+respected them, however much my taste might have been offended by
+what was peculiar in their manners and customs.  But it is
+impossible for any mind of common honesty not to be revolted by
+the contradictions in their principles and practice.  They
+inveigh against the governments of Europe, because, as they say,
+they favour the powerful and oppress the weak.  You may hear this
+declaimed upon in Congress, roared out in taverns, discussed in
+every drawing-room, satirized upon the stage, nay, even
+anathematized from the pulpit: listen to it, and then look at
+them at home; you will see them with one hand hoisting the cap of
+liberty, and with the other flogging their slaves.  You will see
+them one hour lecturing their mob on the indefeasible rights of
+man, and the next driving from their homes the children of the
+soil, whom they have bound themselves to protect by the most
+solemn treaties.
+
+In justice to those who approve not this treacherous policy, I
+will quote a paragraph from a New York paper, which shews that
+there are some among them who look with detestation on the bold
+bad measure decided upon at Washington in the year 1830.
+
+"We know of no subject, at the present moment, of more importance
+to the character of our country for justice and integrity than
+that which relates to the Indian tribes in Georgia and Alabama,
+and particularly the Cherokees in the former state.  The Act
+passed by Congress, just at the end of the session, co-operating
+with the tyrannical and iniquitous statute of Georgia, strikes a
+formidable blow at the reputation of the United States, in
+respect to their faith, pledged in almost innumerable instances,
+in the most solemn treaties and compacts."
+
+There were many objects of much interest shewn us at this Indian
+bureau; but, from the peculiar circumstances of this most unhappy
+and ill-used people, it was a very painful interest.
+
+The dresses worn by the chiefs when their portraits were taken,
+are many of them splendid, from the embroidery of beads and other
+ornaments: and the room contains many specimens of their
+ingenuity, and even of their taste.  There is a glass case in the
+room, wherein are arranged specimens of worked muslin, and other
+needlework, some very excellent handwriting, and many other
+little productions of male and female Indians, all proving
+clearly that they are perfectly capable of civilization.  Indeed,
+the circumstance which renders their expulsion from their own,
+their native lands, so peculiarly lamentable, is, that they were
+yielding rapidly to the force of example; their lives were no
+longer those of wandering hunters, but they were becoming
+agriculturists, and the tyrannical arm of brutal power has not
+now driven them, as formerly, only from their hunting grounds,
+their favourite springs, and the sacred bones of their fathers,
+but it has chased them from the dwellings their advancing
+knowledge had taught them to make comfortable; from the
+newly-ploughed fields of their pride; and from the crops their
+sweat had watered.  And for what? to add some thousand acres of
+territory to the half-peopled wilderness which borders them.
+
+The Potomac, on arriving at Washington, makes a beautiful sweep,
+which forms a sort of bay, round which the city is built.  Just
+where it makes the turn, a wooden bridge is thrown across,
+connecting the shores of Maryland and Virginia.  This bridge is
+a mile and a quarter in length, and is ugly enough.  [It has
+since been washed away by the breaking up of the  frost of
+February, 1831.]  The navy-yard, and arsenal, are just above it,
+on the Maryland side, and make a handsome appearance on the edge
+of the river, following the sweep above mentioned.  Near the
+arsenal (much too near) is the penitentiary, which, as it was
+just finished, and not inhabited, we examined in every part.  It
+is built for the purpose of solitary confinement for life.  A
+gallows is a much less nerve-shaking spectacle than one of these
+awful cells, and assuredly, when imprisonment therein for life
+is substituted for death, it is no mercy to the criminal; but if
+it be a greater terror to the citizen, it may answer the purpose
+better.  I do not conceive, that out of a hundred human beings
+who had been thus confined for a year, one would be found at the
+end of it who would continue to linger on there, _certain it was
+for ever_, if the alternative of being hanged were offered to
+them.  I had written a description of these horrible cells, but
+Captain Hall's picture of a similar building is so accurate, and
+so clear, that it is needless to insert it.
+
+Still following the sweep of the river, at the distance of two
+miles from Washington, is George Town, formerly a place of
+considerable commercial importance, and likely, I think, to
+become so again, when the Ohio and Chesapeake canals, which there
+mouths into the Potomac, shall be in full action.  It is a very
+pretty town, commanding a lovely view, of which the noble Potomac
+and the almost nobler capitol, are the great features.  The
+country rises into a beautiful line of hills behind Washington,
+which form a sort of undulating terrace on to George Town; this
+terrace is almost entirely occupied by a succession of
+gentlemen's seats.  At George Town the Potomac suddenly contracts
+itself, and begins to assume that rapid, rocky and irregular
+character which marks it afterwards, and renders its course, till
+it meets the Shenandoah at Harper's Ferry, a series of the most
+wild and romantic views that are to be found in America.
+
+Attending the debates in Congress was, of course, one of our
+great objects; and, as an English woman, I was perhaps the more
+eager to avail myself of the privilege allowed.  It was
+repeatedly observed to me that, at least in this instance, I must
+acknowledge the superior gallantry of the Americans, and that
+they herein give a decided proof of surpassing the English in a
+wish to honour the ladies, as they have a gallery in the House of
+Representatives erected expressly for them, while in England they
+are rigorously excluded from every part of the House of Commons.
+
+But the inference I draw from this is precisely the reverse of
+the suggested.  It is well known that the reason why the House of
+Commons was closed against ladies was, that their presence was
+found too attractive, and that so many members were tempted to
+neglect the business before the House, that they might enjoy the
+pleasure of conversing with the fair critics in the galleries,
+that it became a matter of national importance to banish
+them--and they were banished.  It will be long ere the American
+legislature will find it necessary to pass the same law for the
+same reason.  A lady of Washington, however, told me an anecdote
+which went far to shew that a more intellectual turn in the
+women, would produce a change in the manners of the men.  She
+told me, that when the Miss Wrights were in Washington, with
+General Lafayette, they very frequently attended the debates, and
+that the most distinguished members were always crowding round
+them.  For this unwonted gallantry they apologized to their
+beautiful countrywomen by saying, that if they took equal
+interest in the debates, the galleries would be always thronged
+by the members.
+
+The privilege of attending these debates would be more valuable
+could the speakers be better heard from the gallery; but, with
+the most earnest attention, I could only follow one or two of the
+orators, whose voices were peculiarly loud and clear.  This made
+it really a labour to listen; but the extreme beauty of the
+chamber was of itself a reason for going again and again.  It
+was, however, really mortifying to see this splendid hall, fitted
+up in so stately and sumptuous a manner, filled with men, sitting
+in the most unseemly attitudes, a large majority with their hats
+on, and nearly all, spitting to an excess that decency forbids me
+to describe.
+
+Among the crowd, who must be included in this description, a
+few were distinguished by not wearing their hats, and by sitting
+on their chairs like other human beings, without throwing their
+legs above their heads.  Whenever I enquired the name of one of
+these exceptions, I was told that it was Mr. This, or Mr. That,
+_of Virginia_.
+
+One day we were fortunate enough to get placed on the sofas
+between the pillars, on the floor of the House; the galleries
+being shut up, for the purpose of making some alterations, which
+it was hoped might improve the hearing in that part of the House
+occupied by the members, and which is universally complained of,
+as being very defective.*  But in our places on the sofas we
+found we heard very much better than up stairs, and well enough
+to be extremely amused by the rude eloquence of a thorough horse
+and alligator orator from Kentucky, who entreated the house
+repeatedly to "go the whole hog."
+
+     *(As a proof of this defective hearing in the Hall of
+      (Congress, I may quote a passage from a newspaper report of
+      (a debate on improvements.  It was proposed to suspend a
+      (ceiling of glass fifteen feet above the heads of the
+      (members.  A member, speaking in favour of this proposal,
+      (said, "Members would then, at least, be able to understand
+      (what was the question before the House, an advantage which
+      (most of them did not now possess, respecting more than
+      (half the propositions upon which they voted."
+
+If I mistake not, every debate I listened to in the American
+Congress was upon one and the same subject, namely, the entire
+independence of each individual state, with regard to the federal
+government.  The jealousy on this point appeared to me to be the
+very strangest political feeling that ever got possession of the
+mind of man.  I do not pretend to judge the merits of this
+question.  I speak solely of the very singular effect of seeing
+man after man start eagerly to his feet, to declare that the
+greatest injury, the basest injustice, the most obnoxious tyranny
+that could be practised against the state of which he was a
+member, would be a vote of a few million dollars for the purpose
+of making their roads or canals; or for drainage; or, in short,
+for any purpose of improvement whatsoever.
+
+During the month we were at Washington, I heard a great deal of
+conversation respecting a recent exclusion from Congress of a
+gentleman, who, by every account, was one of the most esteemed
+men in the house, and, I think, the father of it.  The crime for
+which this gentleman was out-voted by his own particular friends
+and admirers was, that he had given his vote for a grant of
+public money for the purpose of draining a most lamentable and
+unhealthy district, called "_the dismal swamp!_"
+
+One great boast of the country is, that they have no national
+debt, or that they shall have none in two years.  This seems not
+very wonderful, considering their productive tariff, and that the
+income paid to their president is 6,000_L. per annum_; other
+government salaries being in proportion, and all internal
+improvements, at the expense of the government treasury, being
+voted unconstitutional.
+
+The Senate-chamber is, like the Hall of Congress, a semicircle,
+but of very much smaller dimensions.  It is most elegantly fitted
+up, and what is better still, the senators, generally speaking,
+look like gentlemen.  They do not wear their hats, and the
+activity of youth being happily past, they do not toss their
+heels above their heads.  I would I could add they do not spit;
+but, alas! "I have an oath in heaven," and may not write an
+untruth.
+
+A very handsome room, opening on a noble stone balcony is fitted
+up as a library for the members.  The collection, as far as a
+very cursory view could enable me to judge, was very like that of
+a private English gentleman, but with less Latin, Greek, and
+Italian.  This room also is elegantly furnished; rich Brussels
+carpet; library tables, with portfolios of engravings; abundance
+of sofas, and so on.  The view from it is glorious, and it looks
+like the abode of luxury and taste.
+
+I can by no means attempt to describe all the apartments of this
+immense building, but the magnificent rotunda in the centre must
+not be left unnoticed.  It is, indeed, a noble hall, a hundred
+feet in diameter, and of an imposing loftiness, lighted by an
+ample dome.
+
+Almost any pictures (excepting the cartoons) would look paltry in
+this room, from the immense height of the walls; but the subjects
+of the four pictures which are placed there, are of such high
+historic interest that they should certainly have a place
+somewhere, as national records.  One represents the signing of
+the declaration of independence; another the resignation of the
+presidency by the great Washington; another the celebrated
+victory of General Gates at Saratoga; and the fourth....I do not
+well remember, but I think it is some other martial scene,
+commemorating a victory; I rather think that of York Town.
+
+One other object in the capitol must be mentioned, though it
+occurs in so obscure a part of the building, that one or two
+members to whom I mentioned it, were not aware of its existence.
+The lower part of the edifice, a story below the rotunda, &c.,
+has a variety of committee rooms, courts, and other places of
+business.  In a hall leading to some of these rooms, the ceiling
+is supported by pillars, the capitals of which struck me as
+peculiarly beautiful.  They are composed of the ears and leaves
+of the Indian corn, beautifully arranged, and forming as graceful
+an outline as the acanthus itself.  This was the only instance I
+saw, in which America has ventured to attempt national
+originality; the success is perfect.  A sense of fitness always
+enhances the effect of beauty.  I will not attempt a long essay
+on the subject, but if America, in her vastness, her immense
+natural resources, and her remote grandeur, would be less
+imitative, she would be infinitely more picturesque and
+interesting.
+
+The President has regular evening parties, every other Wednesday,
+which are called his _levees_; the last syllable is pronounced by
+every one as long as possible, being exactly the reverse of the
+French and English manner of pronouncing the same word.  The
+effect of this, from the very frequent repetition of the word in
+all companies is very droll, and for a long time I thought people
+were quizzing these public days.  The reception rooms are
+handsome, particularly the grand saloon, which is elegantly, nay,
+splendidly furnished; this has been done since the visit of
+Captain Hall, whose remarks upon the former state of this room
+may have hastened its decoration; but there are a few anomalies
+in some parts of the entertainment, which are not very courtly.
+The company are about as select as that of an Easter-day ball at
+the Mansion-house.
+
+The churches at Washington are not superb; but the Episcopalian
+and Catholic were filled with elegantly dressed women.  I
+observed a greater proportion of gentlemen at church at
+Washington than any where else.
+
+The Presbyterian ladies go to church three times in the day,
+but the general appearance of Washington on a Sunday is much
+less puritanical than that of most other American towns; the
+people walk about, and there are no chains in the streets, as
+at Philadelphia, to prevent their riding or driving, if they
+like it.
+
+The ladies dress well, but not so splendidly as at Baltimore.  I
+remarked that it was not very unusual at Washington for a lady to
+take the arm of a gentleman, who was neither her husband, her
+father, nor her brother.  This remarkable relaxation of American
+decorum has been probably introduced by the foreign legations.
+
+At about a mile from the town, on the high terrace ground above
+described, is a very pretty place, to which the proprietor has
+given the name Kaleirama.  It is not large, or in any way
+magnificent, but the view from it is charming; and it has a
+little wood behind, covering about two hundred acres of broken
+ground, that slopes down to a dark cold little river, so closely
+shut in by rocks and evergreens, that it might serve as a
+noon-day bath for Diana and her nymphs.  The whole of this wood
+is filled with wild flowers, but such as we cherish fondly in
+our gardens.
+
+A ferry at George Town crosses the Potomac, and about two miles
+from it, on the Virginian side, is Arlington, the seat of Mr.
+Custis, who is the grandson of General Washington's wife.  It is
+a noble looking place, having a portico of stately white columns,
+which, as the mansion stands high, with a background of dark
+woods, forms a beautiful object in the landscape.  At George Town
+is a nunnery, where many young ladies are educated, and at a
+little distance from it, a college of Jesuits for the education
+of young men, where, as their advertisements state, "the
+humanities are taught."  We attended mass at the chapel of the
+nunnery, where the female voices that performed the chant were
+very pleasing.  The shadowy form of the veiled abbess in her
+little sacred parlour, seen through a grating and a black
+curtain, but rendered clearly visible by the light of a Gothic
+window behind her, drew a good deal of our attention; every act
+of genuflection, even the telling her beads, was discernible, but
+so mistily that it gave her, indeed, the appearance of a being
+who had already quitted this life, and was hovering on the
+confines of the world of shadows.
+
+The convent has a considerable inclosure attached to it, where I
+frequently saw from the heights above it, dark figures in awfully
+thick black veils, walking solemnly up and down.
+
+The American lady, who was the subject of one of Prince
+Hohenlohe's celebrated miracles, was pointed out to us at
+Washington.  All the world declare that her recovery was
+marvellous.
+
+
+
+There appeared to be a great many foreigners at Washington,
+particularly French.  In Paris I have often observed that it was
+a sort of fashion to speak of America as a new Utopia, especially
+among the young liberals, who, before the happy accession of
+Philip, fancied that a country without a king, was the land of
+promise; but I sometimes thought that, like many other fine
+things, it lost part of its brilliance when examined too nearly;
+I overheard the following question and answer pass between two
+young Frenchmen, who appeared to have met for the first time.
+
+"Eh bien.  Monsieur, comment trouvez-vous la liberte et l'egalite
+mises en action?"
+
+"Mais, Monsieur, je vous avoue que ie beau ideal que nous autres,
+nous avons concu de tout cela a Paris, avait quelque chose de
+plus poetique que ce que nous trouvons ici!"
+
+On another occasion I was excessively amused by the tone in
+which one of these young men replied to a question put to him
+by another Frenchman.  A pretty looking woman, but exceedingly
+deficient in _tournure_, was standing alone at a little distance
+from them and close at their elbows stood a very awkward
+looking gentleman.  "Qui est cette dame?" said the enquirer.
+"Monsieur," said my young _fat_, with an indescribable grimace,
+"c'est la femelle de ce male, " indicating his neighbour by
+an expressive curl of his upper lip.
+
+The theatre was not open while we were in Washington, but we
+afterwards took advantage of our vicinity to the city, to visit
+it.  The house is very small, and most astonishingly dirty and
+void of decoration, considering that it is the only place of
+public amusement that the city affords.  I have before mentioned
+the want of decorum at the Cincinnati theatre, but certainly that
+of the capital at least rivalled it in the freedom of action and
+attitude; a freedom which seems to disdain the restraints of
+civilized manners.  One man in the pit was seized with a violent
+fit of vomiting, which appeared not in the least to annoy or
+surprise his neighbours; and the happy coincidence of a physician
+being at that moment personated on the stage, was hailed by many
+of the audience as an excellent joke, of which the actor took
+advantage, and elicited shouts of applause by saying, "I expect
+my services are wanted elsewhere."
+
+The spitting was incessant; and not one in ten of the male part
+of the illustrious legislative audiences sat according to the
+usual custom of human beings; the legs were thrown sometimes over
+the front of the box, sometimes over the side of it; here and
+there a senator stretched his entire length along a bench, and in
+many instances the front rail was preferred as a seat.
+
+I remarked one young man, whose handsome person, and most
+elaborate toilet, led me to conclude he was a first-rate
+personage, and so I doubt not he was; nevertheless, I saw him
+take from the pocket of his silk waistcoat a lump of tobacco,
+and daintily deposit it within his cheek.
+
+I am inclined to think this most vile and universal habit of
+chewing tobacco is the cause of a remarkable peculiarity in the
+male physiognomy of Americans; their lips are almost uniformly
+thin and compressed.  At first I accounted for this upon
+Lavater's theory, and attributed it to the arid temperament of
+the people; but it is too universal to be explained; whereas the
+habit above mentioned, which pervades all classes (excepting the
+literary) well accounts for it, as the act of expressing the
+juices of this loathsome herb, enforces exactly that position
+of the lips, which gives this remarkable peculiarity to the
+American countenance.
+
+A member of Congress died while we were at Washington, and I was
+surprised by the ceremony and dignity of his funeral.  It seems
+that whenever a senator or member of Congress dies during the
+session, he is buried at the expense of the government, (the
+ceremony not coming under the head of internal improvement), and
+the arrangements for the funeral are not interfered with by his
+friends, but become matters of State.  I transcribed the order of
+the procession as being rather grand and stately.
+
+     Chaplains of both Houses.
+     Physicians who attend the deceased.
+     Committee of arrangement.
+     THE BODY,
+     (Pall borne by six members.)
+     The Relations of the deceased, with the
+     Senators and Representatives of the State
+     to which he belonged, as Mourners.
+     Sergeant at arms of the House of Representatives.
+     The House of Representatives,
+     Their Speaker and Clerk preceding.
+     The Senate of the United States.
+     The Vice-president and Secretary preceding,
+     THE PRESIDENT
+
+The procession was of considerable extent, but not on foot, and
+the majority of the carriages were hired for the occasion.  The
+body was interred in an open "grave yard" near the city.  I did
+not see the monument erected on this occasion, but I presume it
+was in the same style as several others I had remarked in the
+same burying-ground, inscribed to the memory of members who had
+died at Washington.  These were square blocks of masonry without
+any pretension to splendour.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 21
+
+Stonington--Great Falls of the Potomac
+
+
+
+The greatest pleasure I had promised myself in visiting
+Washington was the seeing a very old friend, who had left
+England many years ago, and married in America; she was now a
+widow, and, as I believed, settled in Washington.  I soon had
+the mortification of finding that she was not in the city; but
+ere long I learnt that her residence was not more than ten miles
+from it.  We speedily met, and it was settled that we should
+pass the summer with her in Maryland, and after a month devoted
+to Washington, we left it for Stonington.
+
+We arrived there the beginning of May, and the kindness of our
+reception, the interest we felt in becoming acquainted with the
+family of my friend, the extreme beauty of the surrounding
+country, and the lovely season, altogether, made our stay there
+a period of great enjoyment.
+
+I wonder not that the first settlers in Virginia, with the bold
+Captain Smith of chivalrous memory at their head, should have
+fought so stoutly to dispossess the valiant father of Pocohantas
+of his fair domain, for I certainly never saw a more tempting
+territory.  Stonington is about two miles from the most romantic
+point of the Potomac River, and Virginia spreads her wild, but
+beautiful, and most fertile Paradise, on the opposite shore.  The
+Maryland side partakes of the same character, and perfectly
+astonished us by the profusion of her wild fruits and flowers.
+
+We had not been long within reach of the great falls of the
+Potomac before a party was made for us to visit them; the walk
+from Stonington to these falls is through scenery that can hardly
+be called forest, park, or garden; but which partakes of all
+three.  A little English girl accompanied us, who had but lately
+left her home; she exclaimed, "Oh! how many English ladies would
+glory in such a garden as this!" and in truth they might; cedars,
+tulip-trees, planes, shumacs, junipers, and oaks of various
+kinds, most of them new to us, shaded our path.  Wild vines, with
+their rich expansive leaves, and their sweet blossom, rivalling
+the mignionette in fragrance, clustered round their branches.
+Strawberries in full bloom, violets, anemonies, heart's-ease, and
+wild pinks, with many other, and still lovelier flowers, which my
+ignorance forbids me to name, literally covered the ground.  The
+arbor judae, the dog-wood, in its fullest glory of star-like
+flowers, azalias, and wild roses, dazzled our eyes whichever way
+we turned them.  It was the most flowery two miles I ever walked.
+
+The sound of the falls is heard at Stonington, and the gradual
+increase of this sound is one of the agreeable features of this
+delicious walk.  I know not why the rush of waters is so
+delightful to the ear; all other monotonous sounds are wearying,
+and harass the spirits, but I never met any one who did not love
+to listen to a waterfall.  A rapid stream, called the "Branch
+Creek," was to be crossed ere we reached the spot where the falls
+are first visible.  This rumbling, turbid, angry little rivulet,
+flows through evergreens and flowering underwood, and is crossed
+_a plusieures reprises_, by logs thrown from rock to rock.  The
+thundering noise of the still unseen falls suggests an idea of
+danger while crossing these rude bridges, which hardly belongs to
+them; having reached the other side of the creek, we continued
+under the shelter of the evergreens for another quarter of a
+mile, and then emerged upon a sight that drew a shout of wonder
+and delight from us all.  The rocky depths of an enormous river
+were opened before our eyes and so huge are the black crags that
+inclose it, that the thundering torrents of water rushing
+through, over, and among the rocks of this awful chasm, appear
+lost and swallowed up in it.
+
+The river, or rather the bed of it, is here of great width, and
+most frightful depth, lined on all sides with huge masses of
+black rock of every imaginable form.  The flood that roars
+through them is seen only at intervals; here in a full heavy
+sheet of green transparent water, falling straight and unbroken;
+there dashing along a narrow channel, with a violence that makes
+one dizzy to see and hear.  In one place an unfathomed pool shows
+a mirror of inky blackness, and as still as night; in another the
+tortured twisted cataract tumbles headlong in a dozen different
+torrents, half hid by the cloud of spray they send high into the
+air.  Despite this uproar, the slenderest, loveliest shrubs, peep
+forth from among these hideous rocks, like children smiling in
+the midst of danger.  As we stood looking at this tremendous
+scene, one of our friends made us remark, that the poison alder,
+and the poison vine, threw their graceful, but perfidious
+branches, over every rock, and assured us also that innumerable
+tribes of snakes found their dark dwellings among them.
+
+To call this scene beautiful would be a strange abuse of terms,
+for it is altogether composed of sights and sounds of terror.
+The falls of the Potomac are awfully sublime: the dark deep gulf
+which yawns before you, the foaming, roaring cataract, the
+eddying whirlpool, and the giddy precipice, all seem to threaten
+life, and to appal the senses.  Yet it was a great delight to sit
+upon a high and jutting crag, and look and listen.
+
+I heard with pleasure that it was to the Virginian side of the
+Potomac that the "felicity hunters" of Washington resorted to see
+this fearful wonder, for I never saw a spot where I should less
+have liked the annoying "how d'ye," of a casual rencontre.  One
+could not even give or receive the exciting "is it not charming,"
+which Rousseau talks of, for if it were uttered, it could not be
+heard, or, if heard, would fall most earthly dull on the spirit,
+when rapt by the magic of such a scene.  A look, or the silent
+pressure of the arm, is all the interchange of feeling that such
+a scene allows, and in the midst of my terror and my pleasure, I
+wished for the arm and the eye of some few from the other side of
+the Atlantic.
+
+The return from such a scene is more soberly silent than the
+approach to it; but the cool and quiet hour, the mellowed tints
+of some gay blossoms, and the closed bells of others, the drowsy
+hum of the insects that survive the day, and the moist freshness
+that forbids the foot to weary in its homeward path, have all
+enjoyment in them, and seem to harmonize with the half wearied,
+half excited state of spirits, that such an excursion is sure to
+produce: and then the entering the cool and moonlit portico, the
+well-iced sangaree, or still more refreshing coffee, that waits
+you, is all delightful; and if to this be added the happiness of
+an easy sofa, and a friend like my charming Mrs. S--, to soothe
+you with an hour of Mozart the most fastidious European might
+allow that such a day was worth waking for.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 22
+
+Small Landed Proprietors--Slavery
+
+
+
+I now, for the first time since I crossed the mountains, found
+myself sufficiently at leisure to look deliberately round, and
+mark the different aspects of men and things in a region which,
+though bearing the same name, and calling itself the same land,
+was, in many respects, as different from the one I had left, as
+Amsterdam from St. Petersburg.  There every man was straining,
+and struggling, and striving for himself (heaven knows!)  Here
+every white man was waited upon, more or less, by a slave.
+There, the newly-cleared lands, rich with the vegetable manure
+accumulated for ages, demanded the slightest labour to return the
+richest produce; where the plough entered, crops the most
+abundant followed; but where it came not, no spot of native
+verdure, no native fruits, no native flowers cheered the eye;
+all was close, dark, stifling forest.  Here the soil had long
+ago yielded its first fruits; much that had been cleared and
+cultivated for tobacco (the most exhausting of crops) by the
+English, required careful and laborious husbandry to produce any
+return; and much was left as sheep-walks.  It was in these spots
+that the natural bounty of the soil and climate was displayed by
+the innumerable wild fruits and flowers which made every dingle
+and bushy dell seem a garden.
+
+On entering the cottages I found also a great difference in the
+manner of living.  Here, indeed, there were few cottages without
+a slave, but there were fewer still that had their beefsteak and
+onions for breakfast, dinner, and supper.  The herrings of the
+bountiful Potomac supply their place.  These are excellent
+"relish," as they call it, when salted, and, if I mistake not,
+are sold at a dollar and a half per thousand.  Whiskey, however,
+flows every where at the same fatally cheap rate of twenty cents
+(about one shilling) the gallon, and its hideous effects are
+visible on the countenance of every man you meet.
+
+The class of people the most completely unlike any existing in
+England, are those who, farming their own freehold estates, and
+often possessing several slaves, yet live with as few of the
+refinements, and I think I may say, with as few of the comforts
+of life, as the very poorest English peasant.  When in Maryland,
+I went into the houses of several of these small proprietors,
+and remained long enough, and looked and listened sufficiently,
+to obtain a tolerably correct idea of their manner of living.
+
+One of these families consisted of a young man, his wife, two
+children, a female slave, and two young lads, slaves also.  The
+farm belonged to the wife, and, I was told, consisted of about
+three hundred acres of indifferent land, but all cleared.  The
+house was built of wood, and looked as if the three slaves might
+have overturned it, had they pushed hard against the gable end.
+It contained one room, of about twelve feet square, and another
+adjoining it, hardly larger than a closet; this second chamber
+was the lodging-room of the white part of the family.  Above
+these rooms was a loft, without windows, where I was told the
+"staying company" who visited them, were lodged.  Near this
+mansion was a "shanty," a black hole, without any window, which
+served as kitchen and all other offices, and also as the lodging
+of the blacks.
+
+We were invited to take tea with this family, and readily
+consented to do so.  The furniture of the room was one heavy huge
+table, and about six wooden chairs.  When we arrived the lady was
+in rather a dusky dishabille, but she vehemently urged us to be
+seated, and then retired into the closet-chamber above mentioned,
+whence she continued to address to us from behind the door, all
+kinds of "genteel country visiting talk," and at length emerged
+upon us in a smart new dress.
+
+Her female slave set out the great table, and placed upon it cups
+of the very coarsest blue ware, a little brown sugar in one, and
+a tiny drop of milk in another, no butter, though the lady
+assured us she had a "_deary_" and two cows.  Instead of butter,
+she "hoped we would fix a little relish with our crackers," in
+ancient English, eat salt meat and dry biscuits.  Such was the
+fare, and for guests that certainly were intended to be honoured.
+I could not help recalling the delicious repasts which I
+remembered to have enjoyed at little dairy farms in England, not
+_possessed_, but rented, and at high rents too; where the clean,
+fresh-coloured, bustling mistress herself skimmed the delicious
+cream, herself spread the yellow butter on the delightful brown
+loaf, and placed her curds, and her junket, and all the delicate
+treasures other dairy before us, and then, with hospitable pride,
+placed herself at her board, and added the more delicate "relish"
+of good tea and good cream.  I remembered all this, and did not
+think the difference atoned for, by the dignity of having my cup
+handed to me by a slave.  The lady I now visited, however,
+greatly surpassed my quondam friends in the refinement of her
+conversation.  She ambled through the whole time the visit
+lasted, in a sort of elegantly mincing familiar style of gossip,
+which, I think, she was imitating from some novel, for I was told
+she was a great novel reader, and left all household occupations
+to be performed by her slaves.  To say she addressed us in a tone
+of equality, will give no adequate idea of her manner; I am
+persuaded that no misgiving on the subject ever entered her head.
+She told us that their estate was her divi-_dend_ of her father's
+property.  She had married a first cousin, who was as fine a
+gentleman as she was a lady, and as idle, preferring hunting (as
+they called shooting) to any other occupation.  The consequence
+was, that but a very small portion of the dividend was
+cultivated, and their poverty was extreme.  The slaves,
+particularly the lads, were considerably more than half naked,
+but the air of dignity with which, in the midst of all this
+misery, the lanky lady said to one of the young negroes, "Attend
+to your young master, Lycurgus," must have been heard to be
+conceived in the full extent of its mock heroic.
+
+Another dwelling of one of these landed proprietors was a hovel
+as wretched as the one above described, but there was more
+industry within it.  The gentleman, indeed, was himself one of
+the numerous tribe of regular whiskey drinkers, and was rarely
+capable of any work; but he had a family of twelve children, who,
+with their skeleton mother, worked much harder than I ever saw
+negroes do.  They were, accordingly, much less elegant and much
+less poor than the heiress; yet they lived with no appearance of
+comfort, and with, I believe, nothing beyond the necessaries of
+life.  One proof of this was, that the worthless father would not
+suffer them to raise, even by their own labour, any garden
+vegetables, and they lived upon their fat pork, salt fish, and
+corn bread, summer and winter, without variation.  This, I found,
+was frequently the case among the farmers.  The luxury of whiskey
+is more appreciated by the men than all the green delicacies from
+the garden, and if all the ready money goes for that and their
+darling chewing tobacco, none can be spent by the wife for garden
+seeds; and as far as my observation extended, I never saw any
+American _menage_ where the toast and no toast question, would
+have been decided in favour of the lady.
+
+There are some small farmers who hold their lands as tenants, but
+these are by no means numerous: they do not pay their rent in
+money, but by making over a third of the produce to the owner; a
+mode of paying rent, considerably more advantageous to the tenant
+than the landlord; but the difficulty of obtaining _money_ in
+payment, excepting for mere retail articles, is very great in all
+American transactions.  "I can pay in pro-_duce_," is the offer
+which I was assured is constantly made on all occasions, and if
+rejected, "Then I guess we can't deal," is the usual rejoinder.
+This statement does not, of course, include the great merchants
+of great cities, but refers to the mass of the people scattered
+over the country; it has, indeed, been my object, in speaking of
+the customs of the people, to give an idea of what they are
+_generally_.
+
+The effect produced upon English people by the sight of slavery
+in every direction is very new, and not very agreeable, and it is
+not the less painfully felt from hearing upon every breeze the
+mocking words, "All men are born free and equal."  One must be in
+the heart of American slavery, fully to appreciate that
+wonderfully fine passage in Moore's Epistle to Lord Viscount
+Forbes, which describes perhaps more faithfully, as well as more
+powerfully, the political state of America, than any thing that
+has ever been written upon it.
+
+     Oh! Freedom, Freedom, how I hate thy cant!
+     Not eastern bombast, nor the savage rant
+     Of purpled madmen, were they numbered all
+     From Roman Nero, down to Russian Paul,
+     Could grate upon my ear so mean, so base,
+     As the rank jargon of that factious race,
+     Who, poor of heart, and prodigal of words,
+     Born to be slaves, and struggling to be lords,
+     But pant for licence, while they spurn controul,
+     And shout for rights, with rapine in their soul!
+     Who can, with patience, for a moment see
+     The medley mass of pride and misery,
+     Of whips and charters, manacles and rights,
+     Of slaving blacks, and democratic whites,
+     Of all the pyebald polity that reigns
+     In free confusion o'er Columbia's plains?
+     To think that man, thou just and gentle God!
+     Should stand before thee with a tyrant's rod,
+     O'er creatures like himself, with soul from thee,
+     Yet dare to boast of perfect liberty:
+     Away, away, I'd rather hold my neck
+     By doubtful tenure from a Sultan's beck,
+     In climes where liberty has scarce been named,
+     Nor any right, but that of ruling, claimed,
+     Than thus to live, where bastard freedom waves
+     Her fustian flag in mockery o'er slaves;
+     Where (motley laws admitting no degree
+     Betwixt the vilely slaved, and madly free)
+     Alike the bondage and the licence suit,
+     The brute made ruler, and the man made brute!
+
+The condition of domestic slaves, however, does not generally
+appear to be bad; but the ugly feature is, that should it be so,
+they have no power to change it.  I have seen much kind attention
+bestowed upon the health of slaves; but it is on these occasions
+impossible to forget, that did this attention fail, a valuable
+piece of property would be endangered.  Unhappily the slaves,
+too, know this, and the consequence is, that real kindly feeling
+very rarely can exist between the parties.  It is said that
+slaves born in a family are attached to the children of it, who
+have grown up with them.  This may be the case where the petty
+acts of infant tyranny have not been sufficient to conquer the
+kindly feeling naturally produced by long and early association;
+and this sort of attachment may last as long as the slave can be
+kept in that state of profound ignorance which precludes
+reflection.  The law of Virginia has taken care of this.  The
+State legislators may truly be said to be "wiser in their
+generation than the children of light," and they ensure their
+safety by forbidding light to enter among them.  By the law of
+Virginia it is penal to teach any slave to read, and it is penal
+to be aiding and abetting in the act of instructing them.  This
+law speaks volumes.  Domestic slaves are, generally speaking,
+tolerably well fed, and decently clothed; and the mode in which
+they are lodged seems a matter of great indifference to them.
+They are rarely exposed to the lash, and they are carefully
+nursed in sickness.  These are the favourable features of their
+situation.  The sad one is, that they may be sent to the south
+and sold.  This is the dread of all the slaves north of
+Louisiana.  The sugar plantations, and more than all, the rice
+grounds of Georgia and the Carolinas, are the terror of American
+negroes; and well they may be, for they open an early grave to
+thousands; and to _avoid loss_ it is needful to make their
+previous labour pay their value.
+
+There is something in the system of breeding and rearing negroes
+in the Northern States, for the express purpose of sending them
+to be sold in the South, that strikes painfully against every
+feeling of justice, mercy, or common humanity.  During my
+residence in America I became perfectly persuaded that the state
+of a domestic slave in a gentleman's family was preferable to
+that of a hired American "help," both because they are more cared
+for and valued, and because their condition being born with them,
+their spirits do not struggle against it with that pining
+discontent which seems the lot of all free servants in America.
+But the case is widely different with such as, in their own
+persons, or those of their children, "loved in vain," are exposed
+to the dreadful traffic above mentioned.  In what is their
+condition better than that of the kidnapped negroes on the coast
+of Africa?  Of the horror in which this enforced migration is
+held I had a strong proof during our stay in Virginia.  The
+father of a young slave, who belonged to the lady with whom we
+boarded, was destined to this fate, and within an hour after it
+was made known to him, he sharpened the hatchet with which he had
+been felling timber, and with his right hand severed his left
+from the wrist.
+
+But this is a subject on which I do not mean to dilate; it has
+been lately treated most judiciously by a far abler hand.  [See
+Captain Hall's Travels in America.]  Its effects on the moral
+feelings and external manners of the people are all I wish to
+observe upon, and these are unquestionably most injurious.  The
+same man who beards his wealthier and more educated neighbour
+with the bullying boast, "I'm as good as you," turns to his
+slave, and knocks him down, if the furrow he has ploughed, or the
+log he has felled, please not this stickler for equality.  There
+is a glaring falsehood on the very surface of such a man's
+principles that is revolting.  It is not among the higher classes
+that the possession of slaves produces the worst effects.  Among
+the poorer class of landholders, who are often as profoundly
+ignorant as the negroes they own, the effect of this plenary
+power over males and females is most demoralising; and the kind
+of coarse, not to say brutal, authority which is exercised,
+furnishes the most disgusting moral spectacle I ever witnessed.
+In all ranks, however, it appeared to me that the greatest and
+best feelings of the human heart were paralyzed by the relative
+positions of slave and owner.  The characters, the hearts of
+children, are irretrievably injured by it.  In Virginia we
+boarded for some time in a family consisting of a widow and her
+four daughters, and I there witnessed a scene strongly indicative
+of the effect I have mentioned.  A young female slave, about
+eight years of age, had found on the shelf of a cupboard a
+biscuit, temptingly buttered, of which she had eaten a
+considerable portion before she was observed.  The butter had
+been copiously sprinkled with arsenic for the destruction of
+rats, and had been thus most incautiously placed by one of the
+young ladies of the family.  As soon as the circumstance was
+known, the lady of the house came to consult me as to what had
+best be done for the poor child; I immediately mixed a large cup
+of mustard and water (the most rapid of all emetics) and got the
+little girl to swallow it.  The desired effect was instantly
+produced, but the poor child, partly from nausea, and partly from
+the terror of hearing her death proclaimed by half a dozen voices
+round her, trembled so violently that I thought she would fall.
+I sat down in the court where we were standing, and, as a matter
+of course, took the little sufferer in my lap.  I observed a
+general titter among the white members of the family, while the
+black stood aloof, and looked stupified.  The youngest of the
+family, a little girl about the age of the young slave, after
+gazing at me for a few moments in utter astonishment, exclaimed
+"My! If Mrs. Trollope has not taken her in her lap, and wiped her
+nasty mouth! Why I would not have touched her mouth for two
+hundred dollars!"
+
+The little slave was laid on a bed, and I returned to my own
+apartments; some time afterwards I sent to enquire for her, and
+learnt that she was in great pain.  I immediately went myself to
+enquire farther, when another young lady of the family, the one
+by whose imprudence the accident had occurred, met my anxious
+enquiries with ill-suppressed mirth--told me they had sent for
+the doctor--and then burst into uncontrollable laughter.  The
+idea of really sympathising in the sufferings of a slave appeared
+to them as absurd as weeping over a calf that had been
+slaughtered by the butcher.  The daughters of my hostess were as
+lovely as features and complexion could make them; but the
+neutralizing effect of this total want of feeling upon youth and
+beauty, must be witnessed, to be conceived.
+
+There seems in general a strong feeling throughout America, that
+none of the negro race can be trusted, and as fear, according to
+their notions, is the only principle by which a slave can be
+actuated, it is not wonderful if the imputation be just.  But I
+am persuaded that were a different mode of moral treatment
+pursued, most important and beneficial consequences would result
+from it.  Negroes are very sensible to kindness, and might, I
+think, be rendered more profitably obedient by the practice of it
+towards them, than by any other mode of discipline whatever.  To
+emancipate them entirely throughout the Union cannot, I conceive,
+be thought of, consistently with the safety of the country; but
+were the possibility of amelioration taken into the consideration
+of the legislature, with all the wisdom, justice, and mercy, that
+could be brought to bear upon it, the negro population of the
+Union might cease to be a terror, and their situation no longer
+be a subject either of indignation or of pity.
+
+I observed every where throughout the slave States that all
+articles which can be taken and consumed are constantly locked
+up, and in large families, where the extent of the establishment
+multiplies the number of keys, these are deposited in a basket,
+and consigned to the care of a little negress, who is constantly
+seen following her mistress's steps with this basket on her arm,
+and this, not only that the keys may be always at hand, but
+because, should they be out of sight one moment, that moment
+would infallibly be employed for purposes of plunder.  It seemed
+to me in this instance, as in many others, that the close
+personal attendance of these sable shadows, must be very
+annoying; but whenever I mentioned it, I was assured that no
+such feeling existed, and that use rendered them almost
+unconscious of their presence.
+
+I had, indeed, frequent opportunities of observing this habitual
+indifference to the presence of their slaves.  They talk of them,
+of their condition, of their faculties, of their conduct, exactly
+as if they were incapable of hearing.  I once saw a young lady,
+who, when seated at table between a male and a female, was
+induced by her modesty to intrude on the chair of her female
+neighbour to avoid the indelicacy of touching the elbow of a man.
+I once saw this very young lady lacing her stays with the most
+perfect composure before a negro footman.  A Virginian gentleman
+told me that ever since he had married, he had been accustomed to
+have a negro girl sleep in the same chamber with himself and his
+wife.  I asked for what purpose this nocturnal attendance was
+necessary? "Good heaven!" was the reply, "if I wanted a glass of
+water during the night, what would become of me?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 23
+
+Fruits and Flowers of Maryland and Virginia--Copper-head
+Snake--Insects--Elections
+
+
+
+Our summer in Maryland, (1830), was delightful.  The thermometer
+stood at 94, but the heat was by no means so oppressive as what
+we had felt in the West.  In no part of North America are the
+natural productions of the soil more various, or more beautiful.
+Strawberries of the richest flavour sprung beneath our feet; and
+when these past away, every grove, every lane, every field looked
+like a cherry orchard, offering an inexhaustible profusion of
+fruit to all who would take the trouble to gather it.  Then
+followed the peaches; every hedgerow was planted with them, and
+though the fruit did not equal in size or flavour those ripened
+on our garden walls, we often found them good enough to afford a
+delicious refreshment on our long rambles.  But it was the
+flowers, and the flowering shrubs that, beyond all else, rendered
+this region the most beautiful I had ever seen, (the Alleghany
+always excepted.)  No description can give an idea of the
+variety, the profusion, the luxuriance of them.  If I talk of
+wild roses, the English reader will fancy I mean the pale
+ephemeral blossoms of our bramble hedges; but the wild roses of
+Maryland and Virginia might be the choicest favourites of the
+flower garden.  They are rarely very double, but the brilliant
+eye atones for this.  They are of all shades, from the deepest
+crimson to the tenderest pink.  The scent is rich and delicate;
+in size they exceed any single roses I ever saw, often measuring
+above four inches in diameter.  The leaf greatly resembles that
+of the china rose; it is large, dark, firm, and brilliant.  The
+sweetbrier grows wild, and blossoms abundantly; both leaves and
+flowers are considerably larger than with us.  The acacia, or as
+it is there called, the locust, blooms with great richness and
+profusion; I have gathered a branch less than a foot long, and
+counted twelve full bunches of flowers on it.  The scent is equal
+to the orange flower.  The dogwood is another of the splendid
+white blossoms that adorn the woods.  Its lateral branches are
+flat, like a fan, and dotted all over, with star-like blossoms,
+as large as those of the gum-cistus.  Another pretty shrub, of
+smaller size, is the poison alder.  It is well that its noxious
+qualities are very generally known, for it is most tempting to
+the eye by its delicate fringe-like bunches of white flowers.
+Even the touch of this shrub is poisonous, and produces violent
+swelling.  The arbor judae is abundant in every wood, and its
+bright and delicate pink is the earliest harbinger of the
+American spring.  Azalias, white, yellow, and pink; kalmias of
+every variety, the too sweet magnolia, and the stately
+rhododendron, all grow in wild abundance there.  The plant known
+in England as the Virginian creeper, is often seen climbing to
+the top of the highest forest trees, and bearing a large trumpet-
+shaped blossom of a rich scarlet.  The sassafras is a beautiful
+shrub, and I cannot imagine why it has not been naturalized in
+England, for it has every appearance of being extremely hardy.
+The leaves grow in tufts, and every tuft contains leaves of five
+or six different forms.  The fruit is singularly beautiful; it
+resembles in form a small acorn, and is jet black; the cup and
+stem looking as if they were made of red coral.  The graceful and
+fantastic grapevine is a feature of great beauty, and its
+wandering festoons bear no more resemblance to our well-trained
+vines, than our stunted azalias, and tiny magnolias, to their
+thriving American kindred.
+
+There is another charm that haunts the summer wanderer in
+America, and it is perhaps the only one found in greatest
+perfection in the West: but it is beautiful every where.  In a
+bright day, during any of the summer months, your walk is through
+an atmosphere of butterflies, so gaudy in hue, and so varied in
+form, that I often thought they looked like flowers on the wing.
+Some of them are very large, measuring three or four inches
+across the wings; but many, and I think the most beautiful, are
+smaller than ours.  Some have wings of the most dainty lavender
+colour; and bodies of black; others are fawn and rose colour; and
+others again are orange and bright blue.  But pretty as they are,
+it is their number, even more than their beauty, that delights
+the eye.  Their gay and noiseless movement as they glance through
+the air, crossing each other in chequered maze, is very
+beautiful.  The humming-bird is another pretty summer toy; but
+they are not sufficiently numerous, nor do they live enough on
+the wing to render them so important a feature in the
+transatlantic show, as the rainbow-tinted butterflies.  The
+fire-fly was a far more brilliant novelty.  In moist situations,
+or before a storm, they are very numerous, and in the dark sultry
+evening of a burning day, when all employment was impossible, I
+have often found it a pastime to watch their glancing light, now
+here, now there; now seen, now gone; shooting past with the
+rapidity of lightning, and looking like a shower of falling
+stars, blown about in the breeze of evening.
+
+
+
+In one of our excursions we encountered and slew a copperhead
+snake.  I escaped treading on it by about three inches.  While we
+were contemplating our conquered foe, and doubting in our
+ignorance if he were indeed the deadly copper-head we had so
+often heard described, a farmer joined us, who, as soon as he
+cast his eyes on our victim, exclaimed, "My! if you have not got
+a copper.  That's right down well done, they be darnation
+beasts."  He told us that he had once seen a copper-head bite
+himself to death, from being teazed by a stick, while confined in
+a cage where he could find no other victim.  We often heard
+terrible accounts of the number of these desperate reptiles to be
+found on the rocks near the great falls of the Potomac; but not
+even the terror these stories inspired could prevent our repeated
+visits to that sublime scene; Luckily our temerity was never
+punished by seeing any there.  Lizards, long, large, and most
+hideously like a miniature crocodile, I frequently saw, gliding
+from the fissures of the rocks, and darting again under shelter,
+perhaps beneath the very stone I was seated upon; but every one
+assured us they were harmless.  Animal life is so infinitely
+abundant, and in forms so various, and so novel to European eyes,
+that it is absolutely necessary to divest oneself of all the
+petty terrors which the crawling, creeping, hopping, and buzzing
+tribes can inspire, before taking an American summer ramble.  It
+is, I conceive, quite impossible for any description to convey an
+idea of the sounds which assail the ears from the time the short
+twilight begins, until the rising sun scatters the rear of
+darkness, and sends the winking choristers to rest.
+
+Be where you will (excepting in the large cities) the appalling
+note of the bull-frog will reach you, loud, deep, and hoarse,
+issuing from a thousand throats in ceaseless continuity of croak.
+The tree-frog adds her chirping and almost human voice; the
+kattiedid repeats her own name through the livelong night; the
+whole tribe of locusts chirp, chirrup, squeak, whiz, and whistle,
+without allowing one instant of interval to the weary ear; and
+when to this the mosquito adds her threatening hum, it is
+wonderful that any degree of fatigue can obtain for the listener
+the relief of sleep.  In fact, it is only in ceasing to listen
+that this blessing can be found.  I passed many feverish nights
+during my first summer, literally in listening to this most
+astounding mixture of noises, and it was only when they became
+too familiar to excite attention, that I recovered my rest.
+
+I know not by what whimsical link of association the
+recapitulation of this insect din suggests the recollection of
+other discords, at least as harsh and much more troublesome.
+
+Even in the retirement in which we passed this summer, we were
+not beyond reach of the election fever which is constantly raging
+through the land.  Had America every attraction under heaven that
+nature and social enjoyment can offer, this electioneering
+madness would make me fly it in disgust.  It engrosses every
+conversation, it irritates every temper, it substitutes party
+spirit for personal esteem; and, in fact, vitiates the whole
+system of society.
+
+When a candidate for any office starts, his party endow him with
+every virtue, and with all the talents.  They are all ready to
+peck out the eyes of those who oppose him, and in the warm and
+mettlesome south-western states, do literally often perform this
+operation: but as soon as he succeeds, his virtues and his
+talents vanish, and, excepting those holding office under his
+appointment, every man Jonathan of them set off again full gallop
+to elect his successor.  When I first arrived in America Mr. John
+Quincy Adams was President, and it was impossible to doubt, even
+from the statement of his enemies, that he was every way
+calculated to do honour to the office.  All I ever heard against
+him was, that "he was too much of a gentleman;" but a new
+candidate must be set up, and Mr. Adams was out-voted for no
+other reason, that I could learn, but because it was "best to
+change." "Jackson for ever!" was, therefore, screamed from the
+majority of mouths, both drunk and sober, till he was elected;
+but no sooner in his place, than the same ceaseless operation
+went on again, with "Clay for ever" for its war-whoop.
+
+I was one morning paying a visit, when a party of gentlemen
+arrived at the same house on horseback.  The one whose air
+proclaimed him the chief of his party, left us not long in doubt
+as to his business, for he said, almost in entering,
+
+"Mr. P--, I come to ask for your vote."
+
+"Who are you for, sir?" was the reply.
+
+"Clay for ever!" the rejoinder; and the vote was promised.
+
+This gentleman was candidate for a place in the state
+representation, whose members have a vote in the presidential
+election.
+
+I was introduced to him as an English woman: he addressed me
+with, "Well madam, you see we do these things openly and
+above-board here; you mince such matters more, I expect."
+
+After his departure, his history and standing were discussed.
+"Mr. M. is highly respectable, and of very good standing; there
+can be no doubt of his election if he is a thorough-going
+Clay-man," said my host.
+
+I asked what his station was.
+
+The lady of the house told me that his father had been a
+merchant, and when this future legislator was a young man, he had
+been sent by him to some port in the Mediterranean as his
+super-cargo.  The youth, being a free-born high-spirited youth,
+appropriated the proceeds to his own uses, traded with great
+success upon the fund thus obtained, and returned, after an
+absence of twelve years, a gentleman of fortune and excellent
+standing.  I expressed some little disapprobation of this
+proceeding, but was assured that Mr. M. was considered by every
+one as a very "honourable man."
+
+Were I to relate one-tenth part of the dishonest transactions
+recounted to me by Americans, of their fellow-citizens and
+friends, I am confident that no English reader would give me
+credit for veracity it would, therefore, be very unwise to repeat
+them, but I cannot refrain from expressing the opinion that
+nearly four years of attentive observation impressed on me,
+namely, that the moral sense is on every point blunter than with
+us.  Make an American believe that his next-door neighbour is a
+very worthless fellow, and I dare say (if he were quite sure he
+could make nothing by him) he would drop the acquaintance; but as
+to what constitutes a worthless fellow, people differ on the
+opposite sides of the Atlantic, almost by the whole decalogue.
+There is, as it appeared to me, an obtusity on all points of
+honourable feeling.
+
+"Cervantes laughed Spain's chivalry away," but he did not laugh
+away that better part of chivalry, so beautifully described by
+Burke as "the unbought grace of life, the cheap defence of
+nations, that chastity of honour, which feels a stain as a wound,
+which ennobles whatever it touches, and by which vice itself
+loses half its evil, by losing all its grossness."  The better
+part of chivalry still mixes with gentle blood in every part of
+Europe, nor is it less fondly guarded than when sword and buckler
+aided its defence.  Perhaps this unbought grace of life is not to
+be looked for where chivalry has never been.  I certainly do not
+lament the decadence of knight errantry, nor wish to exchange the
+protection of the laws for that of the doughtiest champion who
+ever set lance in rest; but I do, in truth, believe that this
+knightly sensitiveness of honourable feeling is the best antidote
+to the petty soul-degrading transactions of every day life, and
+that the total want of it, is one reason why this free-born race
+care so very little for the vulgar virtue called probity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 24
+
+Journey to Philadelphia--Chesapeak and Delaware Canal--City of
+Philadelphia--Miss Wright's Lecture
+
+
+
+In the latter part of August, 1830, we paid a visit to
+Philadelphia, and, notwithstanding the season, we were so
+fortunate as to have both bright and temperate weather for the
+expedition.  The road from Washington to Baltimore, which was our
+first day's journey, is interesting in summer from the variety of
+luxuriance of the foliage which borders great parts of it.
+
+We passed the night at Baltimore, and embarked next morning on
+board a steam-boat for Philadelphia.  The scenery of the Elk
+river, upon which you enter soon after leaving the port of
+Baltimore, is not beautiful.  We embarked at six in the morning,
+and at twelve reached the Chesapeak and Delaware canal; we then
+quitted the steam-boat, and walked two or three hundred yards to
+the canal, where we got on board a pretty little decked boat,
+sheltered by a neat awning, and drawn by four horses.  This canal
+cuts across the state of Delaware, and connects the Chesapeak and
+Delaware rivers: it has been a work of great expense, though the
+distance is not more than thirteen miles; for a considerable part
+of this distance the cutting has been very deep, and the banks
+are in many parts thatched, to prevent their crumbling.  At the
+point where the cutting is deepest, a light bridge is thrown
+across, which, from its great height, forms a striking object to
+the travellers passing below it.  Every boat that passes this
+canal pays a toll of twenty dollars.
+
+Nothing can be less interesting than that part of the state of
+Delaware through which this cut passes, the Mississippi hardly
+excepted.  At one, we reached the Delaware river, at a point
+nearly opposite Delaware Fort, which looks recently built, and
+is very handsome.  [This fort was destroyed by fire a few months
+afterwards.]  Here we again changed our vessel, and got on
+board another of their noble steam-boats; both these changes
+were made with the greatest regularity and dispatch.
+
+There is nothing remarkable in the scenery of the Delaware.  The
+stream is wide and the banks are flat; a short distance before
+you reach Philadelphia two large buildings of singular appearance
+strike the eye.  On enquiry I learnt that they were erected for
+the purpose of sheltering two ships of war.  They are handsomely
+finished, with very neat roofs, and are ventilated by many
+windows.  The expense of these buildings must have been
+considerable, but, as the construction of the vast machines they
+shelter was more so, it may be good economy.
+
+We reached Philadelphia at four o'clock in the afternoon.  The
+approach to this city is not so striking as that to Baltimore;
+though much larger, it does not now show itself so well; it wants
+domes and columns: it is, nevertheless, a beautiful city.
+Nothing can exceed its neatness; the streets are well paved, the
+foot-way, as in all the old American cities, is of brick, like
+the old pantile walk at Tunbridge Wells.  This is almost entirely
+sheltered from the sun by the awnings, which, in all the
+principal streets, are spread from the shop windows to the edge
+of the pavement.
+
+The city is built with extreme and almost wearisome regularity;
+the streets, which run north and south, are distinguished by
+numbers, from one to--I know not how many, but I paid a visit in
+Twelth Street; these are intersected at right angles by others,
+which are known by the names of various trees; Mulberry (more
+commonly called Arch-street), Chesnut, and Walnut, appear the
+most fashionable: in each of these there is a theatre.  This mode
+of distinguishing the streets is commodious to strangers, from
+the facility it gives of finding out whereabouts you are; if you
+ask for the United States Bank, you are told it is in Chesnut,
+between Third and Fourth, and as the streets are all divided from
+each other by equal distances, of about three hundred feet, you
+are sure of not missing your mark.  There are many handsome
+houses, but none that are very splendid; they are generally of
+brick, and those of the better order have white marble steps, and
+some few, door frames of the same beautiful material; but, on the
+whole, there is less display of it in the private dwellings than
+at Baltimore.
+
+The Americans all seem greatly to admire this city, and to give
+it the preference in point of beauty to all others in the Union,
+but I do not agree with them.  There are some very handsome
+buildings, but none of them so placed as to produce a striking
+effect, as is the case both with the Capitol and the President's
+house, at Washington.  Notwithstanding these fine buildings, one
+or more of which are to be found in all the principal streets,
+the _coup d'oeil_ is every where the same.  There is no Place de
+Louis Quinze or Carrousel, no Regent Street, or Green Park, to
+make one exclaim "how beautiful!" all is even, straight, uniform,
+and uninteresting.
+
+There is one spot, however, about a mile from the town, which
+presents a lovely scene.  The water-works of Philadelphia have
+not yet perhaps as wide extended fame as those of Marley, but
+they are not less deserving it.  At a most beautiful point of the
+Schuylkill River the water has been forced up into a magnificent
+reservoir, ample and elevated enough to send it through the whole
+city.  The vast yet simple machinery by which this is achieved is
+open to the public, who resort in such numbers to see it, that
+several evening stages run from Philadelphia to Fair Mount for
+their accommodation.  But interesting and curious as this
+machinery is, Fair Mount would not be so attractive had it not
+something else to offer.  It is, in truth, one of the very
+prettiest spots the eye can look upon.  A broad weir is thrown
+across the Schuylkill, which produces the sound and look of a
+cascade.  On the farther side of the river is a gentleman's seat,
+the beautiful lawns of which slope to the water's edge, and
+groups of weeping-willows and other trees throw their shadows on
+the stream.  The works themselves are enclosed in a simple but
+very handsome building of freestone, which has an extended front
+opening upon a terrace, which overhangs the river: behind the
+building, and divided from it only by a lawn, rises a lofty wall
+of solid limestone rock, which has, at one or two points, been
+cut into, for the passage of the water into the noble reservoir
+above.  From the crevices of this rock the catalpa was every
+where pushing forth, covered with its beautiful blossom.  Beneath
+one of these trees an artificial opening in the rock gives
+passage to a stream of water, clear and bright as crystal, which
+is received in a stone basin of simple workmanship, having a cup
+for the service of the thirsty traveller.  At another point, a
+portion of the water in its upward way to the reservoir, is
+permitted to spring forth in a perpetual _jet d'eau_, that
+returns in a silver shower upon the head of a marble _naiad_ of
+snowy whiteness.  The statue is not the work of Phidias, but its
+dark, rocky background, the flowery catalpas which shadow it, and
+the bright shower through which it shows itself, altogether make
+the scene one of singular beauty; add to which, the evening on
+which I saw it was very sultry, and the contrast of this cool
+spot to all besides certainly enhanced its attraction; it was
+impossible not to envy the nymph her eternal shower-bath.
+
+On returning from this excursion we saw handbills in all parts of
+the city announcing that Miss Wright was on that evening to
+deliver her parting address to the citizens of Philadelphia, at
+the Arch Street theatre, previous to her departure for Europe.
+I immediately determined to hear her, and did so, though not
+without some difficulty, from the crowds who went thither with
+the same intention.  The house, which is a very pretty one, was
+filled in every part, including the stage, with a well dressed
+and most attentive audience.  There was a larger proportion of
+ladies present than I ever saw on any other occasion in an
+American theatre.  One reason for this might be, perhaps, that
+they were admitted gratis.
+
+Miss Wright came on the stage surrounded by a body guard of
+Quaker ladies, in the full costume of their sect.  She was, as
+she always is, startling in her theories, but powerfully
+eloquent, and, on the whole, was much applauded, though one
+passage produced great emotion, and some hissing.  She stated
+broadly, on the authority of Jefferson, furnished by his
+posthumous works, that "Washington was not a Christian."  One
+voice from the crowded pit exclaimed, in an accent of
+indignation, "Washington was a Christian." but it was evident
+that the majority of the audience considered Mr. Jefferson's
+assertion as a compliment to the country's idol, for the hissing
+was soon triumphantly clapped down.  General Washington himself,
+however, gives a somewhat different account of his own
+principles, for in his admirable farewell address on declining a
+re-election to the Presidency, I find the following passage.
+
+"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political
+prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.
+In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who would
+labour to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these
+firmest props of the destinies of men and citizens.  A volume
+could not trace all their connections with private and public
+felicity.  And let us with caution indulge the supposition that
+morality can be maintained without religion, reason and
+experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can
+prevail in exclusion of religious principle."
+
+Whether Mr. Jefferson or himself knew best what his principles
+were, I will not decide, but, at least, it appears fair, when
+repeating one statement, to add the other also.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 25
+
+Washington Square--American Beauty--Gallery of Fine Arts--
+Antiques--Theatres--Museum
+
+
+
+Our mornings were spent, as all travellers' mornings must be, in
+asking questions, and in seeing all that the answers told us it
+was necessary to see.  Perhaps this can be done in no city with
+more facility than in Philadelphia; you have nothing to do but to
+walk up one straight street, and down another, till all the
+parallelograms have been threaded.  In doing this you will see
+many things worth looking at.  The United States, and
+Pennsylvania banks, are the most striking buildings, and are both
+extremely handsome, being of white marble, and built after
+Grecian models.  The State House has nothing externally to
+recommend it, but the room shown as that in which the declaration
+of independence was signed, and in which the estimable Lafayette
+was received half a century after he had shed his noble blood in
+aiding to obtain it, is an interesting spot.  At one end of this
+room is a statue in wood of General Washington; on its base is
+the following inscription:-
+
+     First in Peace,
+     First in War,
+     and
+     First in the hearts of his Countrymen.
+
+There is a very pretty enclosure before the Walnut Street
+entrance to the State House, with good well-kept gravel walks,
+and many of their beautiful flowering trees.  It is laid down in
+grass, not in turf; that, indeed, is a luxury I never saw in
+America.  Near this enclosure is another of much the same
+description, called Washington Square.  Here there was an
+excellent crop of clover; but as the trees are numerous, and
+highly beautiful, and several commodious seats are placed beneath
+their shade, it is, in spite of the long grass, a very agreeable
+retreat from heat and dust.  It was rarely, however, that I saw
+any of these seats occupied; the Americans have either no
+leisure, or no inclination for those moments of _delassement_
+that all other people, I believe, indulge in.  Even their drams,
+so universally taken by rich and poor, are swallowed standing,
+and, excepting at church, they never have the air of leisure or
+repose.  This pretty Washington Square is surrounded by houses on
+three sides, but (lasso!) has a prison on the fourth; it is
+nevertheless the nearest approach to a London square that is to
+be found in Philadelphia.
+
+One evening, while the rest of my party went to visit some
+objects which I had before seen, I agreed to await their return
+in this square, and sat down under a magnificent catalpa, which
+threw its fragrant blossoms in all directions; the other end of
+the bench was occupied by a young lady, who was employed in
+watching the gambols of a little boy.  There was something in her
+manner of looking at me, and exchanging a smile when her young
+charge performed some extraordinary feat of activity on the
+grass, that persuaded me she was not an American.  I do not
+remember who spoke first, but we were presently in a full flow of
+conversation.  She spoke English with elegant correctness, but
+she was a German, and with an ardour of feeling which gave her a
+decidedly foreign air in Philadelphia, she talked to me of her
+country, of all she had left, and of all she had found, or rather
+of all she had not found, for thus ran her lament:-
+
+"They do not love music.  Oh no! and they never amuse
+themselves--no; and their hearts are not warm, at least they
+seem not so to strangers; and they have no ease, no forgetfulness
+of business and of care--no, not for a moment.  But I will not
+stay long, I think, for I should not live."  She told me that
+she had a brother settled there as a merchant, and that she had
+passed a year with him; but she was hoping soon to return to her
+father land.
+
+I never so strongly felt the truth of the remark, that expression
+is the soul of beauty, as in looking at, and listening to this
+young German.  She was any thing but handsome; it is true she had
+large eyes, full of gentle expression, but every feature was
+irregular; but, oh! the charm of that smile, of that look of deep
+feeling which animated every feature when she spoke of her own
+Germany!  The tone of her voice, the slight and graceful action
+which accompanied her words, all struck me as so attractive, that
+the half hour I passed with her was continually recurring to my
+memory.  I had often taxed myself with feeling something like
+prejudice against the beautiful American women; but this half
+hour set my conscience at rest; it is not prejudice which causes
+one to feel that regularity of features is insufficient to
+interest, or even to please, beyond the first glance.  I
+certainly believe the women of America to be the handsomest in
+the world, but as surely do I believe that they are the least
+attractive.
+
+
+
+We visited the nineteenth annual exhibition of the Pennsylvanian
+academy of the fine arts; 431 was the number of objects
+exhibited, which were so arranged as to fill three tolerably
+large rooms, and one smaller called the director's room.  There
+were among the number about thirty engravings, and a much larger
+proportion of water-colour drawings; about seventy had the P.A.
+(Pensylvanian Academician) annexed to the name of the artist.
+
+The principal historical composition was a large scripture piece
+by Mr. Washington Alston.  This gentleman is spoken of as an
+artist of great merit, and I was told that his manner was much
+improved since this picture was painted, (it bears date, 1813).
+I believe it was for this picture Mr. Alston received a prize at
+the British Gallery.
+
+There was a portrait of a lady, which, in the catalogue, is
+designated as "the White Plume," which had the reputation of
+being the most admired in the collection, and the artist, Mr.
+Ingham, is said to rank highest among the portrait-painters of
+America.  This picture is of very high finish, particularly the
+drapery, which is most elaborately worked, even to the pile of
+the velvet; the management of the light is much in the manner of
+Good; but the drawing is very defective, and the contour, though
+the face is a lovely one, hard and unfleshy.  From all the
+conversations on painting, which I listened to in America, I
+found that the finish of drapery was considered as the highest
+excellence, and next to this, the resemblance in a portrait; I
+do not remember ever to have heard the words _drawing_ or
+_composition_ used in any conversation on the subject.
+
+One of the rooms of this academy has inscribed over its door,
+
+                   ANTIQUE STATUE GALLERY
+
+The door was open, but just within it was a screen, which
+prevented any objects in the room being seen from without.  Upon
+my pausing to read this inscription, an old woman who appeared to
+officiate as guardian of the gallery, hustled up, and addressing
+me with an air of much mystery, said, "Now, ma'am, now; this is
+just the time for you--nobody can see you--make haste."
+
+I stared at her with unfeigned surprise, and disengaging my arm,
+which she had taken apparently to hasten my movements, I very
+gravely asked her meaning.
+
+"Only, ma'am, that ladies like to go into that room by
+themselves, when there be no gentlemen watching them."
+
+On entering this mysterious apartment, the first thing I
+remarked, was written paper, deprecating the disgusting depravity
+which had led some of the visitors to mark and deface the casts
+in a most indecent and shameless manner.  This abomination has
+unquestionably been occasioned by the coarse-minded custom which
+sends alternate groups of males and females into the room.  Were
+the antique gallery thrown open to mixed parties of ladies and
+gentlemen, it would soon cease.  Till America has reached the
+degree of refinement which permits of this, the antique casts
+should not be exhibited to ladies at all.  I never felt my
+delicacy shocked at the Louvre, but I was strangely tempted to
+resent as an affront the hint I received, that I might steal a
+glance at what was deemed indecent.  Perhaps the arrangements for
+the exhibition of this room, the feelings which have led to them,
+and the result they have produced, furnish as good a specimen of
+the kind of delicacy on which the Americans pride themselves, and
+of the peculiarities arising from it, as can be found.  The room
+contains about fifty casts, chiefly from the antique.
+
+In the director's room I was amused at the means which a poet had
+hit upon for advertising his works, or rather HIS WORK, and not
+less at the elaborate notice of it.  His portrait was suspended
+there, and attached to the frame was a paper inscribed thus:-
+
+    'PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR
+     of
+     The Fredoniad, or Independence Preserved,
+     a political, naval, and military poem,
+     on the late war of 1812, in forty cantos;
+     the whole compressed in four volumes;
+     each volume averaging more than 305 pages,
+     By RICHARD EMMONS, M.D."
+
+I went to the Chesnut Street Theatre to see Mr. Booth, formerly
+of Drury Lane, in the character of Lear, and a Mrs. Duff in
+Cordelia; but I have seen too many Lears and Cordelias to be
+easily pleased; I thought the whole performance very bad.  The
+theatre is of excellently moderate dimensions, and prettily
+decorated.  It was not the fashionable season for the theatres,
+which I presume must account for the appearance of the company in
+the boxes, which was any thing but elegant; nor was there more
+decorum of demeanour than I had observed elsewhere; I saw one man
+in the lower tier of boxes deliberately take off his coat that he
+might enjoy the refreshing coolness of shirt sleeves; all the
+gentlemen wore their hats, and the spitting was unceasing.
+
+On another evening we went to the Walnut Street Theatre; the
+chief attraction of the night was furnished by the performance of
+a young man who had been previously exhibited as "a living
+skeleton."  He played the part of Jeremiah Thin, and certainly
+looked the part well; and here I think must end my praise of the
+evening's performances.
+
+The great and most striking contrast between this city and those
+of Europe, is perceived after sunset; scarcely a sound is heard;
+hardly a voice or a wheel breaks the stillness.  The Streets are
+entirely dark, except where a stray lamp marks an hotel or the
+like; no shops are open, but those of the apothecary, and here
+and there a cook's shop; scarcely a step is heard, and for a note
+of music, or the sound of mirth, I listened in vain.  In leaving
+the theatre, which I always did before the afterpiece, I saw not
+a single carriage; the night of Miss Wright's lecture, when I
+stayed to the end, I saw one.  This darkness, this stillness, is
+so great, that I almost felt it awful.  As we walked home one
+fine moonlight evening from the Chestnut Street house, we stopped
+a moment before the United States Bank, to look at its white
+marble columns by the subdued lights said to be so advantageous
+to them; the building did, indeed, look beautiful; the
+incongruous objects around were hardly visible, while the
+brilliant white of the building, which by daylight is dazzling,
+was mellowed into fainter light and softer shadow.
+
+While pausing before this modern temple of Theseus, we remarked
+that we alone seemed alive in this great city; it was ten
+o'clock, and a most lovely cool evening, after a burning day, yet
+all was silence.  Regent Street, Bond Street, with their blaze of
+gas-light _bijouterie_, and still more the Italian Boulevard of
+Paris, rose in strong contrast on the memory; the light, which
+outshines that of day--the gay, graceful, laughing throng--the
+elegant saloons of Tortoni, with all their varieties of cooling
+nectar--were all remembered.  Is it an European prejudice to deem
+that the solitary dram swallowed by the gentlemen on quitting an
+American theatre indicates a lower and more vicious state of
+manners, than do the ices so sedulously offered to the ladies on
+leaving a French one?
+
+
+
+The museum contains a good collection of objects illustrative of
+natural history, and some very interesting specimens of Indian
+antiquities; both here and at Cincinnati I saw so many things
+resembling Egyptian relics, that I should like to see the origin
+of the Indian nations enquired into, more accurately than has yet
+been done.
+
+The shops, of which there appeared to me to be an unusually large
+proportion, are very handsome; many of them in a style of
+European elegance.  Lottery offices abound, and that species of
+gambling is carried to a great extent.  I saw fewer carriages in
+Philadelphia than either at Baltimore or Washington, but in the
+winter I was told they were more numerous.
+
+Many of the best families had left the city for different
+watering-places, and others were daily following.  Long Branch is
+a fashionable bathing place on the Jersey shore, to which many
+resort, both from this place and from New York; the description
+given of the manner of bathing appeared to me rather
+extraordinary, but the account was confirmed by so many different
+people, that I could not doubt its correctness.  The shore, it
+seems, is too bold to admit of bathing machines, and the ladies
+have, therefore, recourse to another mode of ensuring the
+enjoyment of a sea-bath with safety.  The accommodation at Long
+Branch is almost entirely at large boarding-houses, where all the
+company live at a _table d'hote_.  It is customary for ladies on
+arriving to look round among the married gentlemen, the first
+time they meet at table, and to select the one her fancy leads
+her to prefer as a protector in her purposed visits to the realms
+of Neptune; she makes her request, which is always graciously
+received, that he would lead her to taste the briny wave; but
+another fair one must select the same protector, else the
+arrangement cannot be complete, as custom does not authorise
+_tete a tete_ immersion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 26
+
+Quakers--Presbyterians--Itinerant Methodist
+Preacher--Market--Influence of females in society
+
+
+
+I had never chanced, among all my wanderings, to enter a Quaker
+Meeting-house; and as I thought I could no where make my first
+visit better than at Philadelphia, I went under the protection of
+a Quaker lady to the principal _orthodox_ meeting of the city.
+The building is large, but perfectly without ornament; the men
+and women are separated by a rail which divides it into two
+equal parts; the meeting was very full on both sides, and the
+atmosphere almost intolerably hot.  As they glided in at their
+different doors, I spied many pretty faces peeping from the prim
+head gear of the females, and as the broad-brimmed males sat
+down, the welcome Parney supposes prepared for them in heaven,
+recurred to me,
+
+           "Entre done, et garde ton chapeau."
+
+The little bonnets and the large hats were ranged in long rows,
+and their stillness was for a long time so unbroken, that I could
+hardly persuade myself the figures they surmounted were alive.
+At length a grave square man arose, laid aside his ample beaver,
+and after another solemn interval of silence, he gave a deep
+groan, and as it were by the same effort uttered, "Keep thy
+foot."  Again he was silent for many minutes, and then he
+continued for more that an hour to put forth one word at a time,
+but at such an interval from each other that I found it quite
+impossible to follow his meaning, if, indeed, he had any.  My
+Quaker friend told me she knew not who he was, and that she much
+regretted I had heard so poor a preacher.  After he had
+concluded, a gentleman-like old man (a physician by profession)
+arose, and delivered a few moral sentences in an agreeable
+manner; soon after he had sat down, the whole congregation rose,
+I know not at what signal, and made their exit.  It is a singular
+kind of worship, if worship it may be called, where all prayer is
+forbidden; yet it appeared to me, in its decent quietness,
+infinitely preferable to what I had witnessed at the Presbyterian
+and Methodist Meeting-houses.  A great schism had lately taken
+place among the Quakers of Philadelphia; many objecting to the
+over-strict discipline of the orthodox.  Among the seceders there
+are again various shades of difference; I met many who called
+themselves Unitarian Quakers, others were Hicksites, and others
+again, though still wearing the Quaker habit, were said to be
+Deists.
+
+We visited many churches and chapels in the city, but none that
+would elsewhere be called handsome, either internally or
+externally.
+
+I went one evening, not a Sunday, with a party of ladies to see a
+Presbyterian minister inducted.  The ceremony was woefully long,
+and the charge to the young man awfully impossible to obey, at
+least if he were a man, like unto other men.  It was matter of
+astonishment to me to observe the deep attention, and the
+unwearied patience with which some hundreds of beautiful young
+girls who were assembled there, (not to mention the old ladies,)
+listened to the whole of this tedious ceremony; surely there is
+no country in the world where religion makes so large a part of
+the amusement and occupation of the ladies.  Spain, in its most
+catholic days, could not exceed it: besides, in spite of the
+gloomy horrors of the Inquisition, gaiety and amusement were not
+there offered as a sacrifice by the young and lovely.
+
+The religious severity of Philadelphian manners is in nothing
+more conspicuous than in the number of chains thrown across the
+streets on a Sunday to prevent horses and carriages from passing.
+Surely the Jews could not exceed this country in their external
+observances.  What the gentlemen of Philadelphia do with
+themselves on a Sunday, I will not pretend to guess, but the
+prodigious majority of females in the churches is very
+remarkable.  Although a large proportion of the population of
+this city are Quakers, the same extraordinary variety of faith
+exists here, as every where else in the Union, and the priests
+have, in some circles, the same unbounded influence which has
+been mentioned elsewhere.
+
+One history reached me, which gave a terrible picture of the
+effect this power may produce; it was related to me by my
+mantua-maker; a young woman highly estimable as a wife and
+mother, and on whose veracity I perfectly rely.  She told me that
+her father was a widower, and lived with his family of three
+daughters, at Philadelphia.  A short time before she married, an
+itinerant preacher came to the city, who contrived to obtain an
+intimate footing in many respectable families.  Her father's was
+one of these, and his influence and authority were great with all
+the sisters, but particularly with the youngest.  The young
+girl's feelings for him seem to have been a curious mixture of
+spiritual awe and earthly affection.  When she received a hint
+from her sisters that she ought not to give him too much
+encouragement till he spoke out, she showed as much holy
+resentment as if they had told her not to say her prayers too
+devoutly.  At length the father remarked the sort of covert
+passion that gleamed through the eyes of his godly visitor, and
+he saw too, the pallid anxious look which had settled on the
+young brow of his daughter; either this, or some rumours he had
+heard abroad, or both together, led him to forbid this man his
+house.  The three girls were present when he did so, and all
+uttered a deprecating "Oh father!" but the old man added stoutly.
+If you show yourself here again, reverend sir, I will not only
+teach you the way out of my house, but out of the city also.  The
+preacher withdrew, and was never heard of in Philadelphia
+afterwards; but when a few months had passed, strange whispers
+began to creep through the circle which had received and honoured
+him, and, in due course of time, no less than seven unfortunate
+girls produced living proofs of the wisdom of my informant's
+worthy father.  In defence of this dreadful story I can only make
+the often repeated quotation, "I tell the tale as 'twas told to
+me;" but, in all sincerity I must add, that I have no doubt of
+its truth.
+
+
+
+I was particularly requested to visit the market of Philadelphia,
+at the hour when it presented the busiest scene; I did so, and
+thought few cities had any thing to show better worth looking at;
+it is, indeed, the very perfection of a market, the _beau ideal_
+of a notable housewife, who would confide to no deputy the
+important office of caterer.  The neatness, freshness, and entire
+absence of every thing disagreeable to sight or smell, must be
+witnessed to be believed.  The stalls were spread with snow-white
+napkins; flowers and fruit, if not quite of Paris or London
+perfection, yet bright, fresh, and fragrant; with excellent
+vegetables in the greatest variety and abundance, were all so
+delightfully exhibited, that objects less pleasing were
+overlooked and forgotten.  The dairy, the poultry-yard, the
+forest, the river, and the ocean, all contributed their spoil;
+in short, for the first time in my life, I thought a market a
+beautiful object.  The prices of most articles were, as nearly
+as I could calculate between dollars and francs, about the same
+ as at Paris; certainly much cheaper than in London, but much
+dearer than at Exeter.
+
+My letters of introduction brought me acquainted with several
+amiable and interesting people.  There is something in the tone
+of manners at Philadelphia that I liked; it appeared to me that
+there was less affectation of ton there than elsewhere.  There is
+a quietness, a composure in a Philadelphia drawing-room, that is
+quite characteristic of a city founded by William Penn.  The
+dress of the ladies, even those who are not Quakers, partakes of
+this; they are most elegantly neat, and there was a delicacy and
+good taste in the dress of the young ladies that might serve as a
+model to the whole Union.  There can hardly be a stronger
+contrast in the style of dress between any two cities than may be
+remarked between Baltimore and Philadelphia; both are costly, but
+the former is distinguished by gaudy splendour, the latter by
+elegant simplicity.
+
+It is said that this city has many gentlemen distinguished by
+their scientific pursuits; I conversed with several well informed
+and intelligent men, but there is a cold dryness of manner and an
+apparent want of interest in the subjects they discuss, that, to
+my mind, robs conversation of all its charm.  On one occasion I
+heard the character and situation of an illustrious officer
+discussed, who had served with renown under Napoleon, and whose
+high character might have obtained him favour under the
+Bourbons, could he have abandoned the principles which led him to
+dislike their government.  This distinguished man had retreated
+to America after the death of his master, and was endeavouring to
+establish a sort of Polytechnic academy at New York: in speaking
+of him, I observed, that his devotion to the cause of freedom
+must prove a strong recommendation in the United States.  "Not
+the least in the world, madam," answered a gentleman who ranked
+deservedly high among the _literati_ of the city, "it might
+avail him much in England, perhaps, but here we are perfectly
+indifferent as to what people's principles may be."
+
+This I believe to be exactly true, though I never before heard it
+avowed as a national feature.
+
+The want of warmth, of interest, of feeling, upon all subjects
+which do not immediately touch their own concerns, is universal,
+and has a most paralysing effect upon conversation.  All the
+enthusiasm of America is concentrated to the one point of her own
+emancipation and independence; on this point nothing can exceed
+the warmth of her feelings.  She may, I think, be compared to a
+young bride, a sort of Mrs. Major Waddle; her independence is to
+her as a newly-won bridegroom; for him alone she has eyes, ears,
+or heart;--the honeymoon is not over yet;--when it is, America
+will, perhaps, learn more coquetry, and know better how to _faire
+l'aimable_ to other nations.
+
+I conceive that no place in the known world can furnish so
+striking a proof of the immense value of literary habits as the
+United States, not only in enlarging the mind, but what is of
+infinitely more importance, in purifying the manners.  During my
+abode in the country I not only never met a literary man who was
+a tobacco chewer or a whiskey drinker, but I never met any who
+were not, that had escaped these degrading habits.  On the women,
+the influence is, if possible, still more important;
+unfortunately, the instances are rare, but they are to be found.
+One admirable example occurs in the person of a young lady of
+Cincinnati: surrounded by a society totally incapable of
+appreciating, or even of comprehending her, she holds a place
+among it, as simply and unaffectedly as if of the same species;
+young, beautiful, and gifted by nature with a mind singularly
+acute and discriminating, she has happily found such
+opportunities of cultivation as might distinguish her in any
+country; it is, indeed, that best of all cultivation which is
+only to be found in domestic habits of literature, and in that
+hourly education which the daughter of a man of letters receives
+when she is made the companion and friend of her father.  This
+young lady is the more admirable as she contrives to unite all
+the multifarious duties which usually devolve upon American
+ladies, with her intellectual pursuits.  The companion and
+efficient assistant of her father's literary labours, the active
+aid in all the household cares of her mother, the tender nurse of
+a delicate infant sister, the skilful artificer of her own always
+elegant wardrobe, ever at leisure, and ever prepared to receive
+with the sweetest cheerfulness her numerous acquaintance, the
+most animated in conversation, the most indefatigable in
+occupation, it was impossible to know her, and study her
+character without feeling that such women were "the glory of all
+lands," and, could the race be multiplied, would speedily become
+the reformers of all the grossness and ignorance that now degrade
+her own.  Is it to be imagined, that if fifty modifications of
+this charming young woman were to be met at a party, the men
+would dare to enter it reeking with whiskey, their lips blackened
+with tobacco, and convinced, to the very centre of their hearts
+and souls, that women were made for no other purpose than to
+fabricate sweetmeats and gingerbread, construct shirts, darn
+stockings, and become mothers of possible presidents?  Assuredly
+not.  Should the women of America ever discover what their power
+might be, and compare it with what it is, much improvement might
+be hoped for.  While, at Philadelphia, among the handsomest, the
+wealthiest, and the most distinguished of the land, their
+comparative influence in society, with that possessed in Europe
+by females holding the same station, occurred forcibly to my
+mind.
+
+Let me be permitted to describe the day of a Philadelphian lady
+of the first class, and the inference I would draw from it will
+be better understood.
+
+It may be said that the most important feature in a woman's
+history is her maternity.  It is so; but the object of the
+present observation is the social, and not the domestic influence
+of woman.
+
+This lady shall be the wife of a senator and a lawyer in the
+highest repute and practice.  She has a very handsome house, with
+white marble steps and door-posts, and a delicate silver knocker
+and door-handle; she has very handsome drawing-rooms, very
+handsomely furnished, (there is a sideboard in one of them, but
+it is very handsome, and has very handsome decanters and cut
+glass water-jugs upon it); she has a very handsome carriage, and
+a very handsome free black coachman; she is always very
+handsomely dressed; and, moreover, she is very handsome herself.
+
+She rises, and her first hour is spent in the scrupulously nice
+arrangement of her dress; she descends to her parlour neat,
+stiff, and silent; her breakfast is brought in by her free black
+footman; she eats her fried ham and her salt fish, and drinks her
+coffee in silence, while her husband reads one newspaper, and
+puts another under his elbow; and then, perhaps, she washes the
+cups and saucers.  Her carriage is ordered at eleven; till that
+hour she is employed in the pastry-room, her snow-white apron
+protecting her mouse-coloured silk.  Twenty minutes before her
+carriage should appear, she retires to her chamber, as she calls
+it, shakes, and folds up her still snow-white apron, smooths her
+rich dress, and with nice care, sets on her elegant bonnet, and
+all the handsome _et cetera_; then walks down stairs, just at
+the moment that her free black coachman announces to her free
+black footman that the carriage waits.  She steps into it, and
+gives the word, "Drive to the Dorcas society." her footman stays
+at home to clean the knives, but her coachman can trust his
+horses while he opens the carriage door, and his lady not being
+accustomed to a hand or an arm, gets out very safely without,
+though one of her own is occupied by a work-basket, and the other
+by a large roll of all those indescribable matters which ladies
+take as offerings to Dorcas societies.  She enters the parlour
+appropriated for the meeting, and finds seven other ladies, very
+like herself, and takes her place among them; she presents her
+contribution, which is accepted with a gentle circular smile, and
+her parings of broad cloth, her ends of ribbon, her gilt paper,
+and her minikin pins, are added to the parings of broad cloth,
+the ends of ribbon, the gilt papers, and the minikin pins with
+which the table is already covered; she also produces from her
+basket three ready-made pincushions, four ink-wipers, seven paper
+matches, and a paste-board watch-case; these are welcomed with
+acclamations, and the youngest lady present deposits them
+carefully on shelves, amid a prodigious quantity of similar
+articles.  She then produces her thimble, and asks for work; it
+is presented to her, and the eight ladies all stitch together for
+some hours.  Their talk is of priests and of missions; of the
+profits of their last sale, of their hopes from the next; of the
+doubt whether your Mr. This, or young Mr. That should receive the
+fruits of it to fit him out for Liberia; of the very ugly bonnet
+seen at church on Sabbath morning, of the very handsome preacher
+who performed on Sabbath afternoon, and of the very large
+collection made on Sabbath evening.  This lasts till three, when
+the carriage again appears, and the lady and her basket return
+home; she mounts to her chamber, carefully sets aside her bonnet
+and its appurtenances, puts on her scolloped black silk apron,
+walks into the kitchen to see that all is right, then into the
+parlour, where, having cast a careful glance over the table
+prepared for dinner, she sits down, work in hand, to await her
+spouse.  He comes, shakes hands with her, spits, and dines.  The
+conversation is not much, and ten minutes suffices for the
+dinner; fruit and toddy, the newspaper and the work-bag succeed.
+In the evening the gentleman, being a savant, goes to the Wister
+society, and afterwards plays a snug rubber at a neighbour's.
+The lady receives at tea a young missionary and three members of
+the Dorcas society.--And so ends her day.
+
+For some reason or other, which English people are not very
+likely to understand, a great number of young married persons
+board by the year, instead of "going to housekeeping," as they
+call having an establishment of their own.  Of course this
+statement does not include persons of large fortune, but it does
+include very many whose rank in society would make such a mode of
+life quite impossible with us.  I can hardly imagine a
+contrivance more effectual for ensuring the insignificance of a
+woman, than marrying her at seventeen, and placing her in a
+boarding-house.  Nor can I easily imagine a life of more uniform
+dulness for the lady herself; but this certainly is a matter of
+taste.  I have heard many ladies declare that it is "just quite
+the perfection of comfort to have nothing to fix for oneself."
+Yet despite these assurances I always experienced a feeling
+which hovered between pity and contempt, when I contemplated
+their mode of existence.
+
+How would a newly-married Englishwoman endure it, her head and
+her heart full of the one dear scheme--
+
+    "Well ordered home, _his_ dear delight to make?"
+
+She must rise exactly in time to reach the boarding table at the
+hour appointed for breakfast, or she will get a stiff bow from
+the lady president, cold coffee, and no egg.  I have been
+sometimes greatly amused upon these occasions by watching a
+little scene in which the bye-play had much more meaning than the
+words uttered.  The fasting, but tardy lady, looks round the
+table, and having ascertained that there was no egg left, says
+distinctly, "I will take an egg if you please."  But as this is
+addressed to no one in particular, no one in particular answers
+it, unless it happen that her husband is at table before her, and
+then he says, "There are no eggs, my dear."  Whereupon the lady
+president evidently cannot hear, and the greedy culprit who has
+swallowed two eggs (for there are always as many eggs as noses)
+looks pretty considerably afraid of being found out.  The
+breakfast proceeds in sombre silence, save that sometimes a
+parrot, and sometimes a canary bird, ventures to utter a timid
+note.  When it is finished, the gentlemen hurry to their
+occupation, and the quiet ladies mount the stairs, some to the
+first, some to the second, and some to the third stories, in an
+inverse proportion to the number of dollars paid, and ensconce
+themselves in their respective chambers.  As to what they do
+there it is not very easy to say, but I believe they clear-starch
+a little, and iron a little, and sit in a rocking-chair, and sew
+a great deal.  I always observed that the ladies who boarded,
+wore more elaborately worked collars and petticoats than any one
+else.  The plough is hardly a more blessed instrument in America
+than the needle.  How could they live without it?  But time and
+the needle wear through the longest morning, and happily the
+American morning is not very long, even though they breakfast at
+eight.
+
+It is generally about two o'clock that the boarding gentlemen
+meet the boarding ladies at dinner.  Little is spoken, except a
+whisper between the married pairs.  Sometimes a sulky bottle of
+wine flanks the plate of one or two individuals, but it adds
+nothing to the mirth of the meeting, and seldom more than one
+glass to the good cheer of the owners, it is not then, and it is
+not there, that the gentlemen of the Union drink.  Soon, very
+soon, the silent meal is done, and then, if you mount the stairs
+after them, you will find from the doors of the more affectionate
+and indulgent wives, a smell of cigars steam forth, which plainly
+indicates the felicity of the couple within.  If the gentleman be
+a very polite husband, he will, as soon as he has done smoking
+and drinking his toddy, offer his arm to his wife, as far as the
+corner of the street, where his store, or his office is situated,
+and there he will leave her to turn which way she likes.  As this
+is the hour for being full dressed, of course she turns the way
+she can be most seen.  Perhaps she pays a few visits; perhaps she
+goes to chapel; or, perhaps, she enters some store where her
+husband deals, and ventures to order a few notions; and then she
+goes home again--no, not home--I will not give that name to a
+boarding-house--but she re-enters the cold heartless atmosphere
+in which she dwells, where hospitality can never enter, and where
+interest takes the management instead of affection.  At tea they
+all meet again, and a little trickery is perceptible to a nice
+observer in the manner of partaking the pound-cake, &c.  After
+this, those who are happy enough to have engagements hasten to
+keep them; those who have not, either mount again to the solitude
+of their chamber, or, what appeared to me much worse, remain in
+the common sitting-room, in a society cemented by no tie,
+endeared by no connexion, which choice did not bring together,
+and which the slightest motive would break asunder.  I remarked
+that the gentlemen were generally obliged to go out every
+evening on business, and, I confess, the arrangement did not
+surprise me.
+
+It is not thus that the women can obtain that influence in
+society which is allowed to them in Europe, and to which, both
+sages and men of the world have agreed in ascribing such salutary
+effects.  It is in vain that "collegiate institutes" are formed
+for young ladies, or that "academic degrees" are conferred upon
+them.  It is after marriage, and when these young attempts upon
+all the sciences are forgotten, that the lamentable
+insignificance of the American woman appears, and till this be
+remedied, I venture to prophesy that the tone of their
+drawing-rooms will not improve.
+
+Whilst I was at Philadelphia a great deal of attention was
+excited by the situation of two criminals, who had been convicted
+of robbing the Baltimore mail, and were lying under sentence of
+death.  The rare occurrence of capital punishment in America
+makes it always an event of great interest; and the approaching
+execution was repeatedly the subject of conversation at the
+boarding table.  One day a gentleman told us he had that morning
+been assured that one of the criminals had declared to the
+visiting clergyman that he was certain of being reprieved, and
+that nothing the clergyman could say to the contrary made any
+impression upon him.  Day after day this same story was repeated,
+and commented upon at table, and it appeared that the report had
+been heard in so many quarters, that not only was the statement
+received as true, but it began to be conjectured that the criminal
+had some ground for his hope.  I learnt from these daily
+conversations that one of the prisoners was an American, and the
+other an Irishman, and it was the former who was so strongly
+persuaded he should not be hanged.  Several of the gentlemen at
+table, in canvassing the subject, declared, that if the one were
+hanged and the other spared, this hanging would be a murder, and
+not a legal execution.  In discussing this point, it was stated
+that very nearly all the white men who had suffered death since
+the declaration of Independence had been Irishmen.  What truth
+there may be in this general statement, I have no means of
+ascertaining; all I know is, that I heard it made.  On this
+occasion, however, the Irishman was hanged, and the American
+was not.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 27
+
+Return to Stonington--Thunderstorm--Emigrants--Illness--Alexandria
+
+
+
+A fortnight passed rapidly away in this great city, and,
+doubtless, there was still much left unseen when we quitted it,
+according to previous arrangement, to return to our friends in
+Maryland.  We came back by a different route, going by land from
+Newcastle to French Town, instead of passing by the canal.  We
+reached Baltimore in the middle of the night, but finished our
+repose on board the steam-boat, and started for Washington at
+five o'clock the next morning.
+
+Our short abode amid the heat and closeness of a city made us
+enjoy more than ever the beautiful scenery around Stonington.
+The autumn, which soon advanced upon us, again clothed the woods
+in colours too varied and gaudy to be conceived by those who have
+never quitted Europe; and the stately maize, waving its flowing
+tassels, as the long drooping blossoms are called, made every
+field look like a little forest.  A rainy spring had been
+followed by a summer of unusual heat; and towards the autumn
+frequent thunderstorms of terrific violence cleared the air, but
+at the same time frightened us almost out of our wits.  On one
+occasion I was exposed, with my children, to the full fury of
+one of these awful visitations.  We suffered considerable
+terror during this storm, but when we were all again safe, and
+comfortably sheltered, we rejoiced that the accident had
+occurred, as it gave us the best possible opportunity of
+witnessing, in all its glory, a transatlantic thunderstorm.  It
+was, however, great imprudence that exposed us to it, for we
+quitted the house, and mounted a hill at a considerable distance
+from it, for the express purpose of watching to advantage the
+extraordinary aspect of the clouds.  When we reached the top of
+the hill half the heavens appeared hung with a heavy curtain; a
+sort of deep blue black seemed to colour the very air; the
+blizzards screamed, as with heavy wing they sought the earth.  We
+ought, in common prudence, to have immediately retreated to the
+house, but the scene was too beautiful to be left.  For several
+minutes after we reached our station, the air appeared perfectly
+without movement, no flash broke through the seven-fold cloud,
+but a flickering light was visible, darting to and fro behind it.
+By degrees the thunder rolled onward, nearer and nearer, till
+the inky cloud burst asunder, and cataracts of light came pouring
+from behind it.  From that moment there was no interval, no
+pause, the lightning did not flash, there were no claps of
+thunder, but the heavens blazed and bellowed above and around us,
+till stupor took the place of terror, and we stood utterly
+confounded.  But we were speedily aroused, for suddenly, as if
+from beneath our feet, a gust arose which threatened to mix all
+the elements in one.  Torrents of water seemed to bruise the
+earth by their violence; eddies of thick dust rose up to meet
+them; the fierce fires of heaven only blazed the brighter for the
+falling flood; while the blast almost out-roared the thunder.
+But the wind was left at last the lord of all, for after striking
+with wild force, now here, now there, and bringing worlds of
+clouds together in most hostile contact, it finished by clearing
+the wide heavens of all but a few soft straggling masses, whence
+sprung a glorious rainbow, and then retired, leaving the earth to
+raise her half crushed forests; and we, poor pigmies, to call
+back our frighted senses, and recover breath as we might.
+
+During this gust, it would have been impossible for us to have
+kept our feet; we crouched down under the shelter of a heap of
+stones, and, as we informed each other, looked most dismally
+pale.
+
+Many trees were brought to the earth before our eyes; some torn
+up by the roots, and some mighty stems snapt off several feet
+from the ground.  If the West Indian hurricanes exceed this, they
+must be terrible indeed.
+
+The situation of Mrs. S--'s house was considered as remarkably
+healthy, and I believe justly so, for on more than one occasion,
+persons who were suffering from fever and ague at the distance of
+a mile or two, were perfectly restored by passing a week or
+fortnight at Stonington; but the neighbourhood of it,
+particularly on the side bordering the Potomac, was much
+otherwise, and the mortality among the labourers on the canal
+was frightful.
+
+I have elsewhere stated my doubts if the labouring poor of our
+country mend their condition by emigrating to the United States,
+but it was not till the opportunity which a vicinity to the
+Chesapeake and Ohio canal gave me, of knowing what their
+situation was after making the change, that I became fully aware
+how little it was to be desired for them.
+
+Of the white labourers on this canal, the great majority are
+Irishmen; their wages are from ten to fifteen dollars a month,
+with a miserable lodging, and a large allowance of whiskey.  It
+is by means of this hateful poison that they are tempted, and
+indeed enabled for a time, to stand the broiling heat of the sun
+in a most noxious climate: for through such, close to the
+romantic but unwholesome Potomac, the line of the canal has
+hitherto run.  The situation of these poor strangers, when they
+sink at last in "_the fever,_" which sooner or later is sure to
+overtake them, is dreadful.  There is a strong feeling against
+the Irish in every part of the Union, but they will do twice as
+much work as a negro, and therefore they are employed.  When
+they fall sick, they may, and must, look with envy on the slaves
+around them; for they are cared for; they are watched and
+physicked, as a valuable horse is watched and physicked: not so
+the Irishman, he is literally thrown on one side, and a new
+comer takes his place. Details of their sufferings, and unheeded
+death, too painful to dwell upon, often reached us; on one
+occasion a farmer calling at the house, told the family that a
+poor man, apparently in a dying condition, was lying beside a
+little brook at the distance of a quarter of a mile.  The spot
+was immediately visited by some of the family, and there in
+truth lay a poor creature, who was already past the power of
+speaking; he was conveyed to the house and expired during the
+night.  By enquiring at the canal, it was found that he was an
+Irish labourer, who having fallen sick, and spent his last cent,
+had left the stifling shanty where he lay, in the desperate
+attempt of finding his way to Washington, with what hope I know
+not.  He did not appear above twenty, and as I looked on his
+pale young face, which even in death expressed suffering, I
+thought that perhaps he had left a mother and a home to seek
+wealth in America.  I saw him buried under a group of locust
+trees, his very name unknown to those who laid him there, but
+the attendance of the whole family at the grave, gave a sort of
+decency to his funeral which rarely, in that country, honors the
+poor relics of British dust: but no clergyman attended, no
+prayer was said, no bell was tolled; these, indeed, are
+ceremonies unthought of, and in fact unattainable without much
+expense, at such a distance from a town; had the poor youth been
+an American, he would have been laid in the earth in the same
+unceremonious manner.  But had this poor Irish lad fallen sick
+in equal poverty and destitution among his own people, he would
+have found a blanket to wrap his shivering limbs, and a kindred
+hand to close his eyes.
+
+The poor of great Britain, whom distress, or a spirit of
+enterprise tempt to try another land, ought, for many reasons,
+to repair to Canada; there they would meet co-operation and
+sympathy, instead of malice, hatred, and all uncharitableness.
+
+I frequently heard vehement complaints, and constantly met the
+same in the newspapers, of a practice stated to be very generally
+adopted in Britain of sending out cargoes of parish paupers to
+the United States.  A Baltimore paper heads some such remarks
+with the words
+
+                    "INFAMOUS CONDUCT!"
+
+and then tells us of a cargo of aged paupers just arrived from
+England, adding, "John Bull has squeezed the orange, and now
+insolently casts the skin in our faces."  Such being the feeling,
+it will be readily believed that these unfortunates are not
+likely to meet much kindness or sympathy in sickness, or in
+suffering of any kind.  If these American statements be correct,
+and that different parishes are induced, from an excessive
+population, to pay the voyage and outfit of some of their paupers
+across the Atlantic, why not send them to Canada?
+
+It is certain, however, that all the enquiries I could make
+failed to substantiate these American statements.  All I could
+ascertain was, that many English and Irish poor arrived yearly in
+the United States, with no other resources than what their labour
+furnished.  This, though very different from the newspaper
+stories, is quite enough to direct attention to the subject.  It
+is generally acknowledged that the suffering among our labouring
+classes arises from the excess of our population; and it is
+impossible to see such a country as Canada, its extent, its
+fertility, its fine climate, and know that it is British ground,
+without feeling equal sorrow and astonishment that it is not made
+the means of relief.  How earnestly it is to be wished that some
+part of that excellent feeling which is for ever at work in
+England to help the distressed, could be directed systematically
+to the object of emigration to the Canadas.  Large sums are
+annually raised for charitable purposes, by weekly subscriptions
+of one penny; were only a part of the money so obtained to be
+devoted to this object, hundreds of families might yearly be sent
+to people our own land.  The religious feeling, which so
+naturally mixes with every charitable purpose, would there find
+the best field for its exertions.  Where could a missionary,
+whether Protestant or Catholic, find a holier mission than that
+which sent him to comfort and instruct his countrymen in the
+wilderness? or where could he reap a higher reward in this world,
+than seeing that wilderness growing into fertile fields under the
+hands of his flock?
+
+
+
+I never saw so many autumn flowers as grow in the woods and
+sheep-walks of Maryland; a second spring seemed to clothe the
+fields, but with grief and shame I confess, that of these
+precious blossoms I scarcely knew a single name.  I think the
+Michaelmas daisy, in wonderful variety of form and colour, and
+the prickly pear, were almost my only acquaintance: let no one
+visit America without having first studied botany; it is an
+amusement, as a clever friend of mine once told me, that helps
+one wonderfully up and down hill, and must be superlatively
+valuable in America, both from the plentiful lack of other
+amusements, and the plentiful material for enjoyment in this;
+besides, if one is dying to know the name of any of these lovely
+strangers, it is a thousand to one against his finding any one
+who can tell it.
+
+The prettiest eclipse of the moon I ever saw was that of
+September, of this year, (1830).  We had been passing some hours
+amid the solemn scenery of the Potomac falls, and just as we were
+preparing to quit it, the full moon arose above the black pines,
+with half our shadow thrown across her.  The effect of her rising
+thus eclipsed was more strange, more striking by far, than
+watching the gradual obscuration; and as I turned to look at the
+black chasm behind me, and saw the deadly alder, and the
+poison-vine waving darkly on the rocks around, I thought the
+scene wanted nothing but the figure of a palsied crone, plucking
+the fatal branches to concoct some charm of mischief.
+
+Whether some such maga dogged my steps, I know not, but many
+hours had not elapsed ere I again felt the noxious influence of
+an American autumn.  This fever, "built in th' eclipse," speedily
+brought me very low, and though it lasted not so long as that of
+the preceding year, I felt persuaded I should never recover from
+it.  Though my forebodings were not verified by the event, it was
+declared that change of air was necessary, and it was arranged
+for me, (for I was perfectly incapable of settling any thing for
+myself,) that I should go to Alexandria, a pretty town at the
+distance of about fifteen miles, which had the reputation of
+possessing a skilful physician.
+
+It was not without regret that we quitted our friends at
+Stonington; but the prescription proved in a great degree
+efficacious; a few weeks' residence in Alexandria restored my
+strength sufficiently to enable me to walk to a beautiful little
+grassy terrace, perfectly out of the town, but very near it, from
+whence we could watch the various craft that peopled the Potomac
+between Alexandria and Washington.  But though gradually
+regaining strength, I was still far from well; all plans for
+winter gaiety were abandoned, and finding ourselves very well
+accommodated, we decided upon passing the winter where we were.
+It proved unusually severe; the Potomac was so completely frozen
+as to permit considerable traffic to be carried on by carts,
+crossing on the ice, from Maryland.  This had not occurred before
+for thirty years.  The distance was a mile and a quarter, and we
+ventured to brave the cold, and walk across this bright and
+slippery mirror, to make a visit on the opposite shore; the
+fatigue of keeping our feet was by no means inconsiderable, but
+we were rewarded by seeing as noble a winter landscape around us
+as the eye could look upon.
+
+When at length the frost gave way, the melting snow produced
+freshes so violent as to carry away the long bridge at
+Washington; large fragments of it, with the railing still erect,
+came floating down amidst vast blocks of ice, during many
+successive days, and it was curious to see the intrepidity with
+which the young sailors of Alexandria periled their lives to
+make spoil of the timber.
+
+The solar eclipse of the 12th of February, 1831, was nearer total
+than any I ever saw, or ever shall see.  It was completely
+annular at Alexandria, and the bright ring which surrounded the
+moon's shadow, though only 81 deg. in breadth, gave light sufficient
+to read the smallest print; the darkness was considerably
+lessened by the snow, which, as the day was perfectly unclouded,
+reflected brightly all the light that was left us.
+
+Notwithstanding the extreme cold, we passed the whole time in the
+open air, on a rising ground near the river; in this position
+many beautiful effects were perceptible; the rapid approach and
+change of shadows, the dusky hue of the broad Potomac, that
+seemed to drink in the feeble light, which its snow-covered banks
+gave back to the air, the gradual change of every object from the
+colouring of bright sunshine to one sad universal tint of dingy
+purple, the melancholy lowing of the cattle, and the short, but
+remarkable suspension of all labour, gave something of mystery
+and awe to the scene that we shall long remember.
+
+During the following months I occupied myself partly in revising
+my notes, and arranging these pages; and partly in making myself
+acquainted, as much as possible, with the literature of the
+country.
+
+While reading and transcribing my notes, I underwent a strict
+self-examination.  I passed in review all I had seen, all I had
+felt, and scrupulously challenged every expression of
+disapprobation; the result was, that I omitted in transcription
+much that I had written, as containing unnecessary details of
+things which had displeased me; yet, as I did so, I felt strongly
+that there was no exaggeration in them; but such details, though
+true, might be ill-natured, and I retained no more than were
+necessary to convey the general impressions received.  While thus
+reviewing my notes, I discovered that many points, which all
+scribbling travellers are expected to notice, had been omitted;
+but a few pages of miscellaneous observations will, I think,
+supply all that can be expected from so idle a pen.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 28
+
+American Cooking--Evening Parties--Dress--Sleighing--
+Money-getting Habits--Tax-Gatherer's Notice--Indian
+Summer--Anecdote of the Duke of Saxe-Weimar
+
+
+
+In relating all I know of America, I surely must not omit so
+important a feature as the cooking.  There are sundry anomalies
+in the mode of serving even a first-rate table; but as these are
+altogether matters of custom, they by no means indicate either
+indifference or neglect in this important business; and whether
+castors are placed on the table or on the sideboard; whether
+soup, fish, patties, and salad be eaten in orthodox order or not,
+signifies but little.  I am hardly capable, I fear, of giving a
+very erudite critique on the subject; general observations
+therefore must suffice.  The ordinary mode of living is abundant,
+but not delicate.  They consume an extraordinary quantity of
+bacon.  Ham and beaf-steaks appear morning, noon, and night.  In
+eating, they mix things together with the strangest incongruity
+imaginable.  I have seen eggs and oysters eaten together: the
+sempiternal ham with apple-sauce; beefsteak with stewed peaches;
+and salt fish with onions.  The bread is everywhere excellent,
+but they rarely enjoy it themselves, as they insist upon eating
+horrible half-baked hot rolls both morning and evening.  The
+butter is tolerable; but they have seldom such cream as every
+little dairy produces in England; in fact, the cows are very
+roughly kept, compared with our's.  Common vegetables are
+abundant and very fine.  I never saw sea-cale or cauliflowers,
+and either from the want of summer rain, or the want of care, the
+harvest of green vegetables is much sooner over than with us.
+They eat the Indian corn in a great variety of forms; sometimes
+it is dressed green, and eaten like peas; sometimes it is broken
+to pieces when dry, boiled plain, and brought to table like rice;
+this dish is called hominy.  The flour of it is made into at
+least a dozen different sorts of cakes; but in my opinion all
+bad.  This flour, mixed in the proportion of one-third with fine
+wheat, makes by far the best bread I ever tasted.
+
+I never saw turbot, salmon, or fresh cod; but the rock and shad
+are excellent.  There is a great want of skill in the composition
+of sauces; not only with fish, but with every thing.  They use
+very few made dishes, and I never saw any that would be approved
+by our savants.  They have an excellent wild duck, called the
+Canvass Back, which, if delicately served, would surpass the
+black cock; but the game is very inferior to our's; they have no
+hares, and I never saw a pheasant.  They seldom indulge in second
+courses, with all their ingenious temptations to the eating a
+second dinner; but almost every table has its dessert,
+(invariably pronounced desart) which is placed on the table
+before the cloth is removed, and consists of pastry, preserved
+fruits, and creams.  They are "extravagantly fond," to use their
+own phrase, of puddings, pies, and all kinds of "sweets,"
+particularly the ladies; but are by no means such connoisseurs in
+soups and ragouts as the gastronomes of Europe.  Almost every one
+drinks water at table, and by a strange contradiction, in the
+country where hard drinking is more prevalent than in any other,
+there is less wine taken at dinner; ladies rarely exceed one
+glass, and the great majority of females never take any.  In
+fact, the hard drinking, so universally acknowledged, does not
+take place at jovial dinners, but, to speak plain English, in
+solitary dram-drinking.  Coffee is not served immediately after
+dinner, but makes part of the serious matter of tea-drinking,
+which comes some hours later.  Mixed dinner parties of ladies and
+gentlemen are very rare, and unless several foreigners are
+present, but little conversation passes at table.  It certainly
+does not, in my opinion, add to the well ordering a dinner table,
+to set the gentlemen at one end of it, and the ladies at the
+other; but it is very rarely that you find it otherwise.
+
+Their large evening parties are supremely dull; the men sometimes
+play cards by themselves, but if a lady plays, it must not be for
+money; no ecarte, no chess; very little music, and that little
+lamentably bad.  Among the blacks, I heard some good voices,
+singing in tune; but I scarcely ever heard a white American, male
+or female, go through an air without being out of tune before the
+end of it; nor did I ever meet any trace of science in the
+singing I heard in society.  To eat inconceivable quantities of
+cake, ice, and pickled oysters--and to show half their revenue in
+silks and satins, seem to be the chief object they have in these
+parties.
+
+The most agreeable meetings, I was assured by all the young
+people, were those to which no married women are admitted; of the
+truth of this statement I have not the least doubt.  These
+exclusive meetings occur frequently, and often last to a late
+hour; on these occasions, I believe, they generally dance.  At
+regular balls, married ladies are admitted, but seldom take much
+part in the amusement.  The refreshments are always profuse and
+costly, but taken in a most uncomfortable manner.  I have known
+many private balls, where every thing was on the most liberal
+scale of expense, where the gentlemen sat down to supper in one
+room, while the ladies took theirs, standing, in another.
+
+What we call picnics are very rare, and when attempted, do not
+often succeed well.  The two sexes can hardly mix for the greater
+part of a day without great restraint and ennui; it is quite
+contrary to their general habits; the favourite indulgences of
+the gentlemen (smoking cigars and drinking spirits), can neither
+be indulged in with decency, nor resigned with complacency.
+
+The ladies have strange ways of adding to their charms.  They
+powder themselves immoderately, face, neck, and arms, with
+pulverised starch; the effect is indescribably disagreeable by
+daylight, and not very favourable at any time.  They are also
+most unhappily partial to false hair, which they wear in
+surprising quantities; this is the more to be lamented, as they
+generally have very fine hair of their own.  I suspect this
+fashion to arise from an indolent mode of making their toilet,
+and from accomplished ladies' maids not being very abundant; it
+is less trouble to append a bunch of waving curls here, there,
+and every where, than to keep their native tresses in perfect
+order.
+
+Though the expense of the ladies' dress greatly exceeds, in
+proportion to their general style of living, that of the ladies
+of Europe, it is very far (excepting in Philadelphia) from being
+in good taste.  They do not consult the seasons in the colours or
+in the style of their costume; I have often shivered at seeing a
+young beauty picking her way through the snow with a pale
+rose-coloured bonnet, set on the very top of her head: I knew one
+young lady whose pretty little ear was actually frostbitten from
+being thus exposed.  They never wear muffs or boots, and appear
+extremely shocked at the sight of comfortable walking shoes and
+cotton stockings, even when they have to step to their sleighs
+over ice and snow.  They walk in the middle of winter with their
+poor little toes pinched into a miniature slipper, incapable of
+excluding as much moisture as might bedew a primrose.  I must say
+in their excuse, however, that they have, almost universally,
+extremely pretty feet.  They do not walk well, nor, in fact, do
+they ever appear to advantage when in movement.  I know not why
+this should be, for they have abundance of French dancing-masters
+among them, but somehow or other it is the fact.  I fancied I
+could often trace a mixture of affectation and of shyness in
+their little mincing unsteady step, and the ever changing
+position of the hands.  They do not dance well; perhaps I should
+rather say they do not look well when dancing; lovely as their
+faces are, they cannot, in a position that exhibits the whole
+person, atone for the want of _tournure_, and for the universal
+defect in the formation of the bust, which is rarely full, or
+gracefully formed.
+
+I never saw an American man walk or stand well; notwithstanding
+their frequent militia drillings, they are nearly all hollow
+chested and round shouldered: perhaps this is occasioned by no
+officer daring to say to a brother free-born "hold up your head;"
+whatever the cause, the effect is very remarkable to a stranger.
+In stature, and in physiognomy, a great majority of the
+population, both male and female, are strikingly handsome, but
+they know not how to do their own honours; half as much
+comeliness elsewhere would produce ten times as much effect.
+
+Nothing can exceed their activity and perseverance in all kinds
+of speculation, handicraft, and enterprise, which promises a
+profitable pecuniary result.  I heard an Englishman, who had been
+long resident in America, declare that in following, in meeting,
+or in overtaking, in the street, on the road, or in the field, at
+the theatre, the coffee-house, or at home, he had never overheard
+Americans conversing without the word DOLLAR being pronounced
+between them.  Such unity of purpose, such sympathy of feeling,
+can, I believe, be found nowhere else, except, perhaps, in an
+ants' nest.  The result is exactly what might be anticipated.
+This sordid object, for ever before their eyes, must inevitably
+produce a sordid tone of mind, and, worse still, it produces a
+seared and blunted conscience on all questions of probity.  I
+know not a more striking evidence of the low tone of morality
+which is generated by this universal pursuit of money, than the
+manner in which the New England States are described by
+Americans.  All agree in saying that they present a spectacle of
+industry and prosperity delightful to behold, and this is the
+district and the population most constantly quoted as the finest
+specimen of their admirable country; yet I never met a single
+individual in any part of the Union who did not paint these New
+Englanders as sly, grinding, selfish, and tricking.  The yankees
+(as the New Englanders are called) will avow these qualities
+themselves with a complacent smile, and boast that no people on
+the earth can match them at over reaching in a bargain.  I have
+heard them unblushingly relate stories of their cronies and
+friends, which, if believed among us, would banish the heroes
+from the fellowship of honest men for ever; and all this is
+uttered with a simplicity which sometimes led me to doubt if the
+speakers knew what honour and honesty meant.  Yet the Americans
+declare that "they are the most moral people upon earth."  Again
+and again I have heard this asserted, not only in conversation,
+and by their writings, but even from the pulpit.  Such broad
+assumption of superior virtue demands examination, and after four
+years of attentive and earnest observation and enquiry, my honest
+conviction is, that the standard of moral character in the United
+States is very greatly lower than in Europe.  Of their religion,
+as it appears outwardly, I have had occasion to speak frequently;
+I pretend not to judge the heart, but, without any uncharitable
+presumption, I must take permission to say, that both Protestant
+England and Catholic France show an infinitely superior religious
+and moral aspect to mortal observation, both as to reverend
+decency of external observance, and as to the inward fruit of
+honest dealing between man and man.
+
+In other respects I think no one will be disappointed who visits
+the country, expecting to find no more than common sense might
+teach him to look for, namely, a vast continent, by far the
+greater part of which is still in the state in which nature left
+it, and a busy, bustling, industrious population, hacking and
+hewing their way through it.  What greatly increases the interest
+of this spectacle, is the wonderful facility for internal
+commerce, furnished by the rivers, lakes, and canals, which
+thread the country in every direction, producing a rapidity of
+progress in all commercial and agricultural speculation
+altogether unequalled.  This remarkable feature is perceptible in
+every part of the union into which the fast spreading population
+has hitherto found its way, and forms, I think, the most
+remarkable and interesting peculiarity of the country.  I hardly
+remember a single town where vessels of some description or other
+may not constantly be seen in full activity.
+
+Their carriages of every kind are very unlike ours; those
+belonging to private individuals seem all constructed with a view
+to summer use, for which they are extremely well calculated, but
+they are by no means comfortable in winter.  The waggons and cars
+are built with great strength, which is indeed necessary, from
+the roads they often have to encounter.  The stagecoaches are
+heavier and much less comfortable than those of France; to those
+of England they can bear no comparison.  I never saw any harness
+that I could call handsome, nor any equipage which, as to horses,
+carriage, harness, and servants, could be considered as complete.
+The sleighs are delightful, and constructed at so little expense
+that I wonder we have not all got them in England, lying by, in
+waiting for the snow, which often remains with us long enough to
+permit their use.  Sleighing is much more generally enjoyed by
+night than by day, for what reason I could never discover, unless
+it be, that no gentlemen are to be found disengaged from business
+in the mornings.  Nothing, certainly, can be more agreeable than
+the gliding smoothly and rapidly along, deep sunk in soft furs,
+the moon shining with almost midday splendour, the air of crystal
+brightness, and the snow sparkling on every side, as if it were
+sprinkled with diamonds.  And then the noiseless movement of the
+horses, so mysterious and unwonted, and the gentle tinkling of
+the bells you meet and carry, all help at once to soothe and
+excite the spirits: in short, I had not the least objection to
+sleighing by night, I only wished to sleigh by day also.
+
+Almost every resident in the country has a carriage they call a
+carryall, which name I suspect to be a corruption of the cariole
+so often mentioned in the pretty Canadian story of Emily Montagu.
+It is clumsy enough, certainly, but extremely convenient, and
+admirably calculated, with its thick roof and moveable draperies,
+for every kind of summer excursion.
+
+Their steam-boats, were the social arrangements somewhat
+improved, would be delightful, as a mode of travelling; but they
+are very seldom employed for excursions of mere amusement: nor do
+I remember seeing pleasure-boats, properly so called, at any of
+the numerous places where they might be used with so much safety
+and enjoyment.
+
+How often did our homely adage recur to me, "All work and no play
+would make Jack a dull boy;" Jonathan is a very dull boy.  We are
+by no means so gay as our lively neighbours on the other side the
+Channel, but, compared with Americans, we are whirligigs and
+tetotums; every day is a holyday, and every night a festival.
+
+Perhaps if the ladies had quite their own way, a little more
+relaxation would be permitted; but there is one remarkable
+peculiarity in their manners which precludes the possibility of
+any dangerous outbreaking of the kind: few ladies have any
+command of ready money entrusted to them.  I have been a hundred
+times present when bills for a few dollars, perhaps for one, have
+been brought for payment to ladies living in perfectly easy
+circumstances, who have declared themselves without money, and
+referred the claimant to their husbands for payment.  On every
+occasion where immediate disbursement is required it is the same;
+even in shopping for ready cash they say, "send a bill home with
+the things, and my husband will give you a draft."
+
+I think that it was during my stay at Washington, that I was
+informed of a government regulation, which appeared to me
+curious; I therefore record it here.
+
+Every Deputy Post-Master is required to insert in his return the
+title of every newspaper received at his office for distribution.
+This return is laid before the Secretary of State, who,
+perfectly knowing the political character of each newspaper, is
+thus enabled to feel the pulse of every limb of the monster mob.
+This is a well imagined device for getting a peep at the politics
+of a country where newspapers make part of the daily food, but is
+it quite consistent with their entire freedom?  I do not believe
+we have any such tricks to regulate the disposal of offices and
+appointments.
+
+I believe it was in Indiana that Mr. T. met with a printed
+notice relative to the payment of taxes, which I preserved as a
+curious sample of the manner in which the free citizens are
+coaxed and reasoned into obeying the laws.
+
+                    "LOOK OUT DELINQUENTS"
+
+"Those indebted to me for taxes, fees, notes, and accounts, are
+specially requested to call and pay the same on or before the 1st
+day of December, 1828, as no longer indulgence will be given.  I
+have called time and again, by advertisement and otherwise, to
+little effect; but now the time has come when my situation
+requires immediate payment from all indebted to me.  It is
+impossible for me to pay off the amount of the duplicates of
+taxes and my other debts without recovering the same of those
+from whom it is due.  I am at a loss to know the reason why those
+charged with taxes neglect to pay; from the negligence of many it
+would seem that they think the money is mine, or I have funds to
+discharge the taxes due to the State, and that I can wait with
+them until it suits their convenience to pay.  The money is not
+mine; neither have I the funds to settle amount of the duplicate.
+My only resort is to collect; in doing so I should be sorry to
+have to resort to the authority given me by law for the recovery
+of the same.  It should be the first object of every good citizen
+to pay his taxes, for it is in that way government is supported.
+Why are taxes assessed unless they are collected?  Depend upon
+it, I shall proceed to collect agreeably to law, so govern
+yourselves accordingly.
+
+     JOHN SPENCER,
+     Sh'ff and Collector, D.C.
+     Nov 20, 1828."
+
+"N.B.  On Thursday, the 27th inst.  A. St. Clair and Geo. H.
+Dunn, Esqrs. depart for Indianopolis; I wish as many as can pay
+to do so, to enable me to forward as much as possible, to save
+the twenty-one per cent, that will be charged against me after
+the 8th of December next.
+
+     JS."
+
+The first autumn I passed in America, I was surprised to find a
+great and very oppressive return of heat, accompanied with a
+heavy mistiness in the air, long after the summer heats were
+over; when this state of the atmosphere comes on, they say, "we
+have got to the Indian summer."  On desiring to have this phrase
+explained, I was told that the phenomenon described as the
+_Indian Summer_ was occasioned by the Indians setting fire to the
+woods, which spread heat and smoke to a great distance; but I
+afterwards met with the following explanation, which appears to
+me much more reasonable.  "The Indian summer is so called
+because, at the particular period of the year in which it
+obtains, the Indians break up their village communities, and go
+to the interior to prepare for their winter hunting.  This
+season seems to mark a dividing line, between the heat of summer,
+and the cold of winter, and is, from its mildness, suited to
+these migrations.  The cause of this heat is the slow combustion
+of the leaves and other vegetable matter of the boundless and
+interminable forests.  Those who at this season of the year have
+penetrated these forests, know all about it.  To the feet the
+heat is quite sensible, whilst the ascending vapour warms every
+thing it embraces, and spreading out into the wide atmosphere,
+fills the circuit of the heavens with its peculiar heat and
+smokiness."
+
+This unnatural heat sufficiently accounts for the sickliness of
+the American autumn.  The effect of it is extremely distressing
+to the nerves, even when the general health continues good; to
+me, it was infinitely more disagreeable than the glowing heat of
+the dog-days.
+
+A short time before we arrived in America, the Duke of
+Saxe-Weimar made a tour of the United States.  I heard many
+persons speak of his unaffected and amiable manners, yet he could
+not escape the dislike which every trace of gentlemanly feeling
+is sure to create among the ordinary class of Americans.  As an
+amusing instance of this, I made the following extract from a
+newspaper.
+
+"A correspondent of the Charlestown Gazette tells an anecdote
+connected with the Duke of Saxe-Weimar's recent journey through
+our country, which we do not recollect to have heard before,
+although some such story is told of the veritable Capt. Basil
+Hall.  The scene occurred on the route between Augusta and
+Milledgeville; it seems that the sagacious Duke engaged three or
+four, or more seats, in the regular stage, for the accommodation
+of himself and suite, and thought by this that he had secured the
+monopoly of the vehicle.  Not so, however; a traveller came
+along, and entered his name upon the book, and secured his seat
+by payment of the customary charges.  To the Duke's great
+surprise on entering the stage, he found our traveller
+comfortably housed in one of the most eligible seats, wrapt up in
+his fear-nought, and snoring like a buffalo.  The Duke, greatly
+irritated, called for the question of consideration.  He
+demanded, in broken English, the cause of the gross intrusion,
+and insisted in a very princely manner, though not, it seems in
+very princely language, upon the incumbent vacating the seat in
+which he had made himself so impudently at home.  But the Duke
+had yet to learn his first lesson of republicanism.  The driver
+was one of those sturdy southrons, who can always, and at a
+moment's warning, whip his weight in wild cats: and he as
+resolutely told the Duke, that the traveller was as good, if not
+a better man, than himself; and that no alteration of the
+existing arrangement could be permitted.  Saxe-Weimar became
+violent at this opposition, so unlike any to which his education
+hitherto had ever subjected him, and threatened John with the
+application of the bamboo.  This was one of those threats which
+in Georgia dialect would subject a man to "a rowing up salt
+river;" and, accordingly, down leaped our driver from his box,
+and peeling himself for the combat, he leaped about the vehicle
+in the most wild-boar style, calling upon the prince of a five
+acre patch to put his threat in execution.  But he of the star
+refused to make up issue in the way suggested, contenting himself
+with assuring the enraged southron of a complaint to his
+excellency the Governor, on arriving at the seat of government.
+This threat was almost as unlucky as the former, for it wrought
+the individual for whom it was intended into that species of
+fury, which, through discriminating in its madness, is
+nevertheless without much limit in its violence, and he swore
+that the Governor might go to --, and for his part he would just
+as leave lick the Governor as the Duke; he'd like no better fun
+than to give both Duke and Governor a dressing in the same
+breath; could do it, he had little doubt, &c. &c.; and
+instigating one fist to diverge into the face of the marvelling
+and panic-stricken nobleman, with the other he thrust him down
+into a seat alongside the traveller, whose presence had been
+originally of such sore discomfort to his excellency, and bidding
+the attendants jump in with their discomfited master, he mounted
+his box in triumph, and went on his journey."  I fully believe
+that this brutal history would be as distasteful to the travelled
+and polished few who are to be found scattered through the Union,
+as it is to me: but if they do not deem the _possibility_ of such
+a scene to be a national degradation, I differ from them.  The
+American people (speaking of the great mass) have no more idea of
+what constitutes the difference between this "Prince of a five
+acre patch," and themselves, than a dray-horse has of estimating
+the points of the elegant victor of the race-course.  Could the
+dray-horse speak, when expected to yield the daintiest stall to
+his graceful rival, he would say, "a horse is a horse;" and is it
+not with the same logic that the transatlantic Houynnhnm puts
+down all superiority with "a man is a man?"
+
+This story justifies the reply of Talleyrand, when asked by
+Napoleon what he thought of the Americans, "Sire, ce sont des
+fiers cochons, et des cochons fiers."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 29
+
+Literature--Extracts--Fine Arts--Education
+
+
+
+The character of the American literature is, generally speaking,
+pretty justly appreciated in Europe.  The immense exhalation of
+periodical trash, which penetrates into every cot and corner of
+the country, and which is greedily sucked in by all ranks, is
+unquestionably one great cause of its inferiority.  Where
+newspapers are the principal vehicles of the wit and wisdom of a
+people, the higher graces of composition can hardly be looked
+for.
+
+That there are many among them who can write well, is most
+certain; but it is at least equally so, that they have little
+encouragement to exercise the power in any manner more dignified
+than becoming the editor of a newspaper or a magazine.  As far as
+I could judge, their best writers are far from being the most
+popular.  The general taste is decidedly bad; this is obvious,
+not only from the mass of slip-slop poured forth by the daily and
+weekly press, but from the inflated tone of eulogy in which their
+insect authors are lauded.
+
+To an American writer, I should think it must be a flattering
+distinction to escape the admiration of the newspapers.  Few
+persons of taste, I imagine, would like such notice as the
+following, which I copied from a New York paper, where it
+followed the advertisement of a partnership volume of poems by a
+Mr, and Mrs. Brooks; but of such, are their literary notices
+chiefly composed.
+
+"The lovers of impassioned and classical numbers may promise
+themselves much gratification from the muse of Brooks, while the
+many-stringed harp of his lady, the Norna of the Courier Harp,
+which none but she can touch, has a chord for every heart."
+
+Another obvious cause of inferiority in the national literature,
+is the very slight acquaintance with the best models of
+composition, which is thought necessary for persons called well
+educated.  There may be reason for deprecating the lavish expense
+of time bestowed in England on the acquirement of Latin and
+Greek, and it may be doubtful whether the power of composing in
+these languages with correctness and facility, be worth all the
+labour it costs; but as long as letters shall be left on the
+earth, the utility of a perfect familiarity with the exquisite
+models of antiquity, cannot be doubted.  I think I run no risk of
+contradiction, when I say that an extremely small proportion of
+the higher classes in America possess this familiar acquaintance
+with the classics.  It is vain to suppose that translations may
+suffice.  Noble as are the thoughts the ancients have left us,
+their power of expression is infinitely more important as a study
+to modern writers; and this no translation can furnish.  Nor did
+it appear to me that their intimacy with modern literature was
+such as to assist them much in the formation of style.  What they
+class as modern literature seems to include little beyond the
+English publications of the day.
+
+To speak of Chaucer, or even Spenser, as a modern, appears to
+them inexpressibly ridiculous; and all the rich and varied
+eloquence of Italy, from Dante to Monti, is about as much known
+to them, as the Welsh effusions of Urien and Modred, to us.
+
+Rousseau, Voltaire, Diderot, &c., were read by the old
+federalists, but now they seem known more as naughty words, than
+as great names.  I am much mistaken if a hundred untravelled
+Americans could be found, who have read Boileau or Le Fontaine.
+Still fewer are acquainted with that delightful host of French
+female writers, whose memoirs and letters sparkle in every page
+with unequalled felicity of style.  The literature of Spain and
+Portugal is no better known, and as for "the wits of Queen Anne's
+day," they are laid _en masse_ upon a shelf, in some score of
+very old-fashioned houses, together with Sherlock and Taylor, as
+much too antiquated to suit the immensely rapid progress of mind
+which distinguishes America.
+
+The most perfect examples of English writing, either of our own,
+or of any former day, have assuredly not been produced by the
+imitation of any particular style; but the Fairy Queen would
+hardly have been written, if the Orlando had not; nor would
+Milton have been the perfect poet he was, had Virgil and Tasso
+been unknown to him.  It is not that the scholar mimics in
+writing the phrases he has read, but that he can neither think,
+feel, nor express himself as he might have done, had his mental
+companionship been of a lower order.
+
+They are great novel readers, but the market is chiefly furnished
+by England.  They have, however, a few very good native novels.
+Mr. Flint's Francis Berrian is delightful.  There is a vigor and
+freshness in his writing that is exactly in accordance with what
+one looks for, in the literature of a new country; and yet,
+strange to say, it is exactly what is most wanting in that of
+America.  It appeared to me that the style of their imaginative
+compositions was almost always affected, and inflated.  Even in
+treating their great national subject of romance, the Indians,
+they are seldom either powerful or original.  A few well known
+general features, moral and physical, are presented over and over
+again in all their Indian stories, till in reading them you lose
+all sense of individual character.  Mr. Flint's History of the
+Mississippi Valley is a work of great interest, and information,
+and will, I hope, in time find its way to England, where I think
+it is much more likely to be appreciated than in America.
+
+Dr. Channing is a writer too well known in England to require my
+testimony to his great ability.  As a preacher he has, perhaps,
+hardly a rival any where.  This gentleman is an Unitarian, and I
+was informed by several persons well acquainted with the literary
+character of the country, that nearly all their distinguished men
+were of this persuasion.
+
+Mr. Pierpoint is a very eloquent preacher, and a sweet poet.  His
+works are not so well known among us as .they ought to be.  Mr.
+Everett has written some beautiful lines, and if I may judge from
+the specimens of his speeches, as preserved in the volumes
+intitled "Eloquence of the United States," I should say that he
+shone more as a poet than an orator.  But American fame has
+decided otherwise.
+
+Mr. M. Flint, of Louisiana, has published a volume of poems which
+ought to be naturalised here.  Mr. Hallock, of New York, has much
+facility of versification, and is greatly in fashion as a
+drawing-room poet, but I think he has somewhat too much respect
+for himself, and too little for his readers.
+
+It is, I think, Mr. Bryant who ranks highest as the poet of the
+Union.  This is too lofty an eminence for me to attack; besides,
+"I am of another parish," and therefore, perhaps, no very fair
+judge.
+
+From miscellaneous poetry I made a great many extracts, but upon
+returning to them for transcription I thought that ill-nature and
+dulness, ('oh ill-matched pair!') would be more served by their
+insertion, than wholesome criticism.
+
+The massive Fredoniad of Dr. Emmons, in forty cantos, I never
+read; but as I did not meet a single native who had, I hope this
+want of poetical enterprise will be excused.
+
+They have very few native tragedies; not more than half a dozen I
+believe, and those of very recent date.  It would be ungenerous
+to fall heavily upon these; the attempt alone, nearly the most
+arduous a poet can make, is of itself honourable: and the success
+at least equal to that in any other department of literature.
+
+Mr. Paulding is a popular writer of novels; some of his
+productions have been recently republished in England.  Miss
+Sedgwick is also well known among us; her "Hope Leslie" is a
+beautiful story.  Mr. Washington Irving and Mr. Cooper have so
+decidedly chosen another field, whereon to reap their laurels,
+that it is hardly necessary to name them here.
+
+I am not, of course, competent to form any opinion of their
+scientific works; but some papers which I read almost
+accidentally, appeared to me to be written with great clearness,
+and neatness of definition.
+
+It appears extraordinary that a people who loudly declare their
+respect for science, should be entirely without observatories.
+Neither at their seats of learning, nor in their cities, does any
+thing of the kind exist; nor did I in any direction hear of
+individuals, given to the study of astronomy.
+
+I had not the pleasure of making any acquaintance with Mr.
+Bowditch, of Boston, but I know that this gentleman ranks very
+high as a mathematician in the estimation of the scientific world
+of Europe.
+
+Jefferson's posthumous works were very generally circulated
+whilst I was in America.  They are a mighty mass of mischief.  He
+wrote with more perspicuity than he thought, and his hot-headed
+democracy has done a fearful injury to his country.  Hollow and
+unsound as his doctrines are, they are but too palatable to a
+people, each individual of whom would rather derive his
+importance from believing that none are above him, than from the
+consciousness that in his station he makes part of a noble whole.
+The social system of Mr. Jefferson, if carried into effect,
+would make of mankind an unamalgamated mass of grating atoms,
+where the darling "I'm as good as you," would soon take place of
+the law and the Gospel.  As it is, his principles, though happily
+not fully put in action, have yet produced most lamentable
+results.  The assumption of equality, however empty, is
+sufficient to tincture the manners of the poor with brutal
+insolence, and subjects the rich to the paltry expediency of
+sanctioning the falsehood, however deep their conviction that it
+is such.  It cannot, I think, be denied that the great men of
+America attain to power and to fame, by eternally uttering what
+they know to be untrue.  American citizens are not equal.  Did
+Washington feel them to be so, when his word outweighed (so
+happily for them) the votes of thousands?  Did Franklin think
+that all were equal when he shouldered his way from the printing
+press to the cabinet?  True, he looked back in high good humour,
+and with his kindest smile told the poor devils whom he left
+behind, that they were all his equals; but Franklin did not speak
+the truth, and he knew it.  The great, the immortal Jefferson
+himself, he who when past the three score years and ten, still
+taught young females to obey his nod, and so became the father of
+unnumbered generations of groaning slaves, what was his matin and
+his vesper hymn?  "All men are born free and equal."  Did the
+venerable father of the gang believe it?  Or did he too purchase
+his immortality by a lie?
+
+From the five heavy volumes of the "Eloquence of the United
+States," I made a few extracts, which I give more for the sake of
+their political interest, than for any purpose of literary
+criticism.
+
+Mr. Hancock (one of those venerated men who signed the act of
+independence), in speaking of England, thus expresses himself:
+"But if I was possessed of the gift of prophecy, I dare not
+(except by Divine command) unfold the leaves on which the destiny
+of that once powerful kingdom is inscribed."  It is impossible
+not to regret that Mr. Hancock should thus have let "I dare not,
+wait upon I would."  It would have been exceedingly edifying to
+have known beforehand all the terrible things the republic was
+about to do for us.
+
+This prophetic orator spoke the modest, yet awful words, above
+quoted, nearly sixty years ago; in these latter days men are
+become bolder, for in a modern 4th of July oration, Mr. Rush,
+without waiting, I think, for Divine command, gives the following
+amiable portrait of the British character.
+
+"In looking at Britain, we see a harshness of individual character
+in the general view of it, which is perceived and acknowledged by
+all Europe; a spirit of unbecoming censure as regards all customs
+and institutions not their own; a ferocity in some of their
+characteristics of national manners, pervading their very
+pastimes, which no other modern people are endued with the
+blunted sensibility to bear; an universal self-assumed
+superiority, not innocently manifesting itself in speculative
+sentiments among themselves, but unamiably indulged when with
+foreigners, of whatever description, in their own country, or
+when they themselves are the temporary sojourners in a foreign
+country; a code of criminal law that forgets to feel for human
+frailty, that sports with human misfortune, that has shed more
+blood in deliberate judicial severity for two centuries past,
+constantly increasing, too, in its sanguinary hue, than has ever
+been sanctioned by the jurisprudence of any ancient or modern
+nation, civilized and refined like herself; the merciless
+whippings in her army, peculiar to herself alone, the conspicuous
+commission and freest acknowledgment of vice in the upper
+classes; the overweening distinctions shown to opulence and
+birth, so destructive of a sound moral sentiment in the nation,
+so baffling to virtue.  These are some of the traits that rise up
+to a contemplation of the inhabitants of this isle."
+
+Where is the alchymy that can extract from Captain Hall's work
+one thousandth part of the ill-will contained in this one
+passage? Yet America has resounded from shore to shore with
+execrations against his barbarous calumnies.
+
+But now we will listen to another tone.  Let us see how Americans
+can praise.  Mr. Everett, in a recent 4th of July oration, speaks
+thus:--
+
+"We are authorised to assert, that the era of our independence
+dates the establishment of the only perfect organization of
+government."  Again, "Our government is in its theory perfect,
+and in its operation it is perfect also.  Thus we have solved
+the great problem in human affairs."  And again, "A frame of
+government perfect in its principles has been brought down from
+the airy regions of Utopia, and has found a local habitation and
+a name in our country."
+
+Among my miscellaneous reading, I got hold of an American
+publication giving a detailed, and, indeed, an official account
+of the capture of Washington by the British, in 1814.  An event
+so long past, and of so little ultimate importance, is, perhaps,
+hardly worth alluding to; but there are some passages in the
+official documents which I thought very amusing.
+
+At the very moment of receiving the attack of the British on the
+heights of Bladensburgh, there seems to have been a most curious
+puzzle among the American generals, as to where they were to be
+stationed, and what they were to do.  It is stated that the
+British threw themselves forward in open order, advancing singly.
+The American general (Winden) goes on in his narrative to
+describe what followed, thus:
+
+"Our advanced riflemen now began to fire, and continued it for
+half a dozen rounds, when I observed them to run back to an
+orchard.  They halted there, and seemed for a moment about
+returning to their original position, but in a few moments
+entirely broke and retired to the left of Stansburg's line.  The
+advanced artillery immediately followed the riflemen.
+
+"The first three or four rockets fired by the enemy were much
+above the heads of Stansburg's line; but the rockets having taken
+a more horizontal direction, an universal flight of the centre
+and left of this brigade was the consequence.  The 5th regiment
+and the artillery still remained, and I hoped would prevent the
+enemy's approach, but they advancing singly, their fire annoyed
+the 5th considerably, when I ordered it to retire, to put it out
+of the reach of the enemy.  This order was, however, immediately
+countermanded, from an aversion to retire before the necessity
+became stronger, and from a hope that the enemy would issue in a
+body, and enable us to act upon him on terms of equality.  But
+the enemy's fire beginning to annoy the 5th still more, by
+wounding several of them, and a strong column passing up the
+road, and deploying on its left, I ordered them to retire; their
+retreat became a flight of absolute and total disorder."
+
+Of Beall's regiment, the general gives the following succinct
+account--"It gave one or two ineffectual fires and fled."
+
+In another place he says, piteously,--"The cavalry would do any
+thing but charge."
+
+General Armstrong's gentle and metaphysical account of the
+business was, that--"Without all doubt the determining cause of
+our disasters is to be found in the love of life."
+
+This affair at Washington, which in its result was certainly
+advantageous to America, inasmuch as it caused the present
+beautiful capitol to be built in the place of the one we burnt,
+was, nevertheless, considered as a national calamity at the time.
+In a volume of miscellaneous poems I met with one, written with
+the patriotic purpose of cheering the country under it; one
+triplet struck me as rather alarming for us, however soothing to
+America.
+
+          "Supposing George's house at Kew
+           Were burnt, as we intend to do,
+           Would that be burning England too?"
+
+I think I have before mentioned that no work of mere pleasantry
+has hitherto been found to answer; but a recent attempt of the
+kind as been made, with what success cannot as yet be decided.
+The editors are comedians belonging to the Boston company, and it
+is entitled "The American Comic Annual."  It is accompanied by
+etchings, somewhat in the manner, but by no means with the spirit
+of Cruikshank's.  Among the pleasantries of this lively volume
+are some biting attacks upon us, particularly upon our utter
+incapacity of speaking English.  We really must engage a few
+American professors, or we shall lose all trace of classic purity
+in our language.  As a specimen, and rather a favourable one, of
+the work, I transcribed an extract from a little piece, entitled,
+"Sayings and Doings, a Fragment of a Farce."  One of the
+personages of this farce is an English gentleman, a Captain
+Mandaville, and among many speeches of the same kind, I selected
+the following.  Collins's Ode is the subject of conversation.
+
+"A--r, A--a--a it stroiks me that that you manetion his the hode
+about hangger and ope and orror and revenge you know.  I've eard
+Mrs. Sitdowns hencored in it at Common Garden and Doory Lane in
+the ight of her poplarity you know.  By the boye, hall the hactin
+in Amareka is werry orrid.  You're honely in the hinfancy of the
+istoryonic hart you know; your performers never haspirate the
+haitch in sich vords for instance as hink and hoats, and leave
+out the _w_ in wice wanity you know; and make nothink of homittin
+the _k_ in somethink."
+
+There is much more in the same style, but, perhaps, this may
+suffice.  I have given this passage chiefly because it affords an
+example of the manner in which the generality of Americans are
+accustomed to speak of English pronunciation and phraseology.
+
+It must be remembered, however, here and every where, that this
+phrase, "the Americans," does not include the instructed and
+travelled portion of the community.
+
+It would be absurd to swell my little volumes with extracts in
+proof of the veracity of their contents, but having spoken of the
+taste of their lighter works, and also of the general tone of
+manners, I cannot forbear inserting a page from an American
+annual (The Token), which purports to give a scene from
+fashionable life.  It is part of a dialogue between a young lady
+of the "highest standing" and her "tutor," who is moreover her
+lover, though not yet acknowledged.
+
+"And so you wo'nt tell me," said she, "what has come over you,
+and why you look as grave and sensible as a Dictionary, when, by
+general consent, even mine, 'motley's the only wear?'"
+
+'"Am I so grave, Miss Blair?"
+
+'"Are you so grave, Miss Blair?  One would think I had not got
+my lesson today.  Pray, sir, has the black ox trod upon your toe
+since we parted?"
+
+'Philip tried to laugh, but he did not succeed; he bit his lip
+and was silent.
+
+'"I am under orders to entertain you, Mr. Blondel, and if my poor
+brain can be made to gird this fairy isle, I shall certainly be
+obedient.  So I begin with playing the leech.  What ails you,
+sir?"
+
+'"Miss Blair!" he was going to remonstrate.
+
+'"Miss Blair!  Now, pity.  I'm a quack! for whip me, if I know
+whether Miss Blair is a fever or an ague.  How did you catch it,
+sir?"
+
+'"Really, Miss Blair--"
+
+'"Nay, I see you don't like doctoring; I give over, and now I'll
+be sensible.  It's a fine day, Mr. Blondel."
+
+'"Very."
+
+'"A pleasant lane, this, to walk in, if one's company were
+agreeable."
+
+'"Does Mr. Skefton stay long?" asked Philip, abruptly.
+
+'"No one knows,"
+
+'"Indeed! are you so ignorant?"
+
+'"And why does your wisdom ask that question?"'
+
+In no society in the world can the advantage of travel be so
+conspicuous as in America, in other countries a tone of
+unpretending simplicity can more than compensate for the absence
+of enlarged views or accurate observation; but this tone is not
+to be found in America, or if it be, it is only among those who,
+having looked at that insignificant portion of the world not
+included in the Union, have learnt to know how much is still
+unknown within the mighty part which is.  For the rest, they all
+declare, and do in truth believe, that they only, among the sons
+of men, have wit and wisdom, and that one of their exclusive
+privileges is that of speaking English _elegantly_.  There are
+two reasons for this latter persuasion; the one is, that the
+great majority have never heard any English but their own, except
+from the very lowest of the Irish; and the other, that those who
+have chanced to find themselves in the society of the few
+educated English who have visited America, have discovered that
+there is a marked difference between their phrases and accents
+and those to which they have been accustomed, whereupon they
+have, of course, decided that no Englishman can speak English.
+
+The reviews of America contain some good clear-headed articles;
+but I sought in vain for the playful vivacity and the
+keenly-cutting satire, whose sharp edge, however painful to the
+patient, is of such high utility in lopping off the excrescences
+of bad taste, and levelling to its native clay the heavy growth
+of dulness.  Still less could I find any trace of that graceful
+familiarity of learned allusion and general knowledge which mark
+the best European reviews, and which make one feel in such
+perfectly good company while perusing them.  But this is a tone
+not to be found either in the writings or conversation of
+Americans; as distant from pedantry as from ignorance, it is not
+learning itself, but the effect of it; and so pervading and
+subtle is its influence that it may be traced in the festive
+halls and gay drawing-rooms of Europe as certainly as in the
+cloistered library or student's closet; it is, perhaps, the last
+finish of highly-finished society.
+
+A late American Quarterly has an article on a work of Dr. Von
+Schmidt Phiseldek, from which I made an extract, as a curious
+sample of the dreams they love to batten on.
+
+Dr. Von Phiseldek (not Fiddlestick), who is not only a doctor of
+philosophy, but a knight of Dannebrog to boot, has never been in
+America, but he has written a prophecy, showing that the United
+States must and will govern the whole world, because they are so
+very big, and have so much uncultivated territory; he prophesies
+that an union will take place between North and South America,
+which will give a death-blow to Europe, at no distant period;
+though he modestly adds that he does not pretend to designate the
+precise period at which this will take place.  This Danish
+prophecy, as may be imagined, enchants the reviewer.  He exhorts
+all people to read Dr. Phiseldek's book, because "nothing but
+good can come of such contemplations of the future, and because
+it is eminently calculated to awaken the most lofty anticipations
+of the destiny which awaits them, and will serve to impress upon
+the nation the necessity of being prepared for such high
+destiny."  In another place the reviewer bursts out, "America,
+young as she is, has become already the beacon, the patriarch of
+the struggling nations of the world;" and afterwards adds, It
+would be departing from the natural order of things, and the
+ordinary operations of the great scheme of Providence, it would
+be shutting our ears to the voice of experience, and our eyes to
+the inevitable connexion of causes and their effects, were we to
+reject the extreme probability, not to say _moral certainty_,
+that the old world is destined to receive its influences in
+future from the new."  There are twenty pages of this article,
+but I will only give one passage more; it is an instance of the
+sort of reasoning by which American citizens persuade themselves
+that the glory of Europe is, in reality, her reproach.  "Wrapped
+up in a sense of his superiority, the European reclines at home,
+shining in his borrowed plumes, derived from the product of every
+corner of the earth, and the industry of every portion of its
+inhabitants, with which his own natural resources would never
+have invested him, he continues revelling in enjoyments which
+nature has denied him."
+
+The American Quarterly deservedly holds the highest place in
+their periodical literature, and, therefore, may be fairly quoted
+as striking the keynote for the chorus of public opinion.  Surely
+it is nationality rather than patriotism which leads it thus to
+speak in scorn of the successful efforts of enlightened nations
+to win from every corner of the earth the riches which nature has
+scattered over it.
+
+
+
+The incorrectness of the press is very great; they make strange
+work in the reprints of French and Italian; and the Latin, I
+suspect, does not fare much better: I believe they do not often
+meddle with Greek.
+
+With regard to the fine arts, their paintings, I think, are quite
+as good, or rather better, than might be expected from the
+patronage they receive; the wonder is that any man can be found
+with courage enough to devote himself to a profession in which he
+has so little chance of finding a maintenance.  The trade of a
+carpenter opens an infinitely better prospect; and this is so
+well known, that nothing but a genuine passion for the art could
+beguile any one to pursue it.  The entire absence of every means
+of improvement, and effectual study, is unquestionably the cause
+why those who manifest this devotion cannot advance farther.  I
+heard of one young artist, whose circumstances did not permit his
+going to Europe, but who being nevertheless determined that his
+studies should, as nearly as possible, resemble those of the
+European academies, was about to commence drawing the human
+figure, for which purpose he had provided himself with a thin
+silk dress, in which to clothe his models, as no one of any
+station, he said, could be found who would submit to sit as a
+model without clothing.
+
+It was at Alexandria that I saw what I consider as the best
+picture by an American artist that I met with.  The subject was
+Hagar and Ishmael.  It had recently arrived from Rome, where the
+painter, a young man of the name of Chapman, had been studying
+for three years.  His mother told me that he was twenty-two years
+of age, and passionately devoted to the art; should he, on
+returning to his country, receive sufficient encouragement to
+keep his ardour and his industry alive, I think I shall hear of
+him again.
+
+Much is said about the universal diffusion of education in
+America, and a vast deal of genuine admiration is felt and
+expressed at the progress of mind throughout the Union.  They
+believe themselves in all sincerity to have surpassed, to be
+surpassing, and to be about to surpass, the whole earth in the
+intellectual race.  I am aware that not a single word can be
+said, hinting a different opinion, which will not bring down a
+transatlantic anathema on my head; yet the subject is too
+interesting to be omitted.  Before I left England I remember
+listening, with much admiration, to an eloquent friend, who
+deprecated our system of public education, as confining the
+various and excursive faculties of our children to one beaten
+path, paying little or no attention to the peculiar powers of
+the individual.
+
+This objection is extremely plausible, but doubts of its
+intrinsic value must, I think, occur to every one who has marked
+the result of a different system throughout the United States.
+
+From every enquiry I could make, and I took much pains to obtain
+accurate information, it appeared that much is attempted, but
+very little beyond reading, writing, and bookkeeping, is
+thoroughly acquired.  Were we to read a prospectus of the system
+pursued in any of our public schools and that of a first-rate
+seminary in America, we should be struck by the confined
+scholastic routine of the former, when compared to the varied and
+expansive scope of the latter; but let the examination go a
+little farther, and I believe it will be found that the old
+fashioned school discipline of England has produced something
+higher, and deeper too, than that which roars so loud, and
+thunders in the index.
+
+They will not afford to let their young men study till two or
+three and twenty, and it is therefore declared, _ex cathedra
+Americana_, to be unnecessary.  At sixteen, often much earlier,
+education ends, and money-making begins; the idea that more
+learning is necessary than can be acquired by that time, is
+generally ridiculed as obsolete monkish bigotry; added to which,
+if the seniors willed a more prolonged discipline, the juniors
+would refuse submission.  When the money-getting begins, leisure
+ceases, and all of lore which can be acquired afterwards, is
+picked up from novels, magazines, and newspapers.
+
+At what time can the taste be formed?  How can a correct and
+polished style, even of speaking, be acquired? or when can the
+fruit of the two thousand years of past thinking be added to the
+native growth of American intellect?  These are the tools, if I
+may so express myself, which our elaborate system of school
+discipline puts into the hands of our scholars; possessed of
+these, they may use them in whatever direction they please
+afterwards, they can never be an incumbrance.
+
+No people appear more anxious to excite admiration and receive
+applause than the Americans, yet none take so little trouble,
+or make so few sacrifices to obtain it.  This may answer among
+themselves, but it will not with the rest of the world;
+individual sacrifices must be made, and national economy
+enlarged, before America can compete with the old world in
+taste, learning, and liberality.
+
+The reception of General Lafayette is the one single instance
+in which the national pride has overcome the national thrift;
+and this was clearly referrible to the one single feeling of
+enthusiasm of which they appear capable, namely, the triumph
+of their successful struggle for national independence.  But
+though this feeling will be universally acknowledged as a worthy
+and lawful source of triumph and of pride, it will not serve to
+trade upon for ever, as a fund of glory and high station among
+the nations.  Their fathers were colonists; they fought stoutly,
+and became an independent people.  Success and admiration, even
+the admiration of those whose yoke they had broken, cheered
+them while living, still sheds a glory round their remote and
+untitled sepulchres, and will illumine the page of their history
+for ever.
+
+Their children inherit the independence; they inherit too the
+honour of being the sons of brave fathers; but this will not give
+them the reputation at which they aim, of being scholars and
+gentlemen, nor will it enable them to sit down for evermore to
+talk of their glory, while they drink mint julap and chew
+tobacco, swearing by the beard of Jupiter (or some other oath)
+that they are very graceful, and agreeable, and, moreover abusing
+every body who does not cry out Amen!
+
+To doubt that talent and mental power of every kind exist in
+America would be absurd; why should it not?  But in taste and
+learning they are woefully deficient; and it is this which
+renders them incapable of graduating a scale by which to measure
+themselves.  Hence arises that over weening complacency and
+self-esteem, both national and individual, which at once renders
+them so extremely obnoxious to ridicule, and so peculiarly
+restive under it.
+
+If they will scorn the process by which other nations have become
+what they avowedly intend to be, they must rest satisfied with
+the praise and admiration they receive from each other; and
+turning a deaf ear to the criticism of the old world, consent to
+be their own prodigious great reward."
+
+
+
+Alexandria has its churches, chapels, and conventicles as
+abundantly, in proportion to its size, as any city in the Union.
+I visited most of them, and in the Episcopal and Catholic heard
+the services performed quietly and reverently.
+
+The best sermon, however, that I listened to, was in a Methodist
+church, from the mouth of a Piquot Indian.  It was impossible not
+be touched by the simple sincerity of this poor man.  He gave a
+picture frightfully eloquent of the decay of his people under the
+united influence of the avarice and intemperance of the white
+men.  He described the effect of the religious feeling which had
+recently found its way among them as most salutary.  The purity
+of his moral feeling, and the sincerity of his sympathy with his
+forest brethren, made it unquestionable that he must be the most
+valuable priest who could officiate for them.  His English was
+very correct, and his pronunciation but slightly tinctured by
+native accent.
+
+While we were still in the neighbourhood of Washington, a most
+violent and unprecedented schism occurred in the cabinet.  The
+four secretaries of State all resigned, leaving General Jackson
+to manage the queer little state barge alone.
+
+Innumerable contradictory statements appeared upon this occasion
+in the papers, and many a cigar was thrown aside, ere half
+consumed, that the disinterested politician might give breath to
+his cogitations on this extraordinary event; but not all the
+eloquence of all the smokers, nor even the ultradiplomatic
+expositions which appeared from the seceding secretaries
+themselves, could throw any light on the mysterious business.
+It produced, however, the only tolerable caricature I ever saw
+in the country.  It represents the President seated alone in his
+cabinet, wearing a look of much discomfiture, and making great
+exertions to detain one of four rats, who are running off, by
+placing his foot on the tail.  The rats' heads bear a very
+sufficient resemblance to the four ex-ministers.  General
+Jackson, it seems, had requested Mr. Van Buren, the Secretary of
+State, to remain in office till his place was supplied; this gave
+occasion to a _bon mot_ from his son, who, being asked when his
+father would be in New York, replied, "When the President takes
+off his foot."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 30
+
+Journey to New York--Delaware River--Stagecoach--
+City of New York--Collegiate Institute for Young Ladies--
+Theatres--Public Garden--Churches--Morris Canal--
+Fashions--Carriages
+
+
+
+At length, in spite of the lingering pace necessarily attending
+consultations, and arrangements across the Atlantic, our plans
+were finally settled; the coming spring was to show us New York,
+and Niagara, and the early summer was to convey us home.
+
+No sooner did the letter arrive which decided this, than we began
+our preparations for departure.  We took our last voyage on the
+Potomac, we bade a last farewell to Virginia, and gave a last day
+to some of our kind friends near Washington.
+
+The spring, though slow and backward, was sufficiently advanced
+to render the journey pleasant; and though the road from
+Washington to Baltimore was less brilliant in foliage than when
+I had seen it before, it still had much of beauty.  The azalias
+were in full bloom, and the delicate yellow blossom of the
+sassafras almost rivalled its fruit in beauty.
+
+At Baltimore we again embarked on a gigantic steam-boat, and
+reached Philadelphia in the middle of the night.  Here we changed
+our boat and found time, before starting in the morning, to take
+a last look at the Doric and Corinthian porticos of the two
+celebrated temples dedicated to Mammon.
+
+The Delaware river, above Philadelphia, still flows through a
+landscape too level for beauty, but it is rendered interesting by
+a succession of gentlemen's seats, which, if less elaborately
+finished in architecture, and garden grounds, than the lovely
+villas on the Thames, are still beautiful objects to gaze upon as
+you float rapidly past on the broad silvery stream that washes
+their lawns They present a picture of wealth and enjoyment that
+accords well with the noble city to which they are an appendage.
+One mansion arrested our attention, not only from its being more
+than usually large and splendid, but from its having the monument
+which marked the family resting-place, rearing itself in all the
+gloomy grandeur of black and white marble, exactly opposite the
+door of entrance.
+
+In Virginia and Maryland we had remarked that almost every family
+mansion had its little grave yard, sheltered by locust and
+cypress trees; but this decorated dwelling of the dead seemed
+rather a melancholy ornament in the grounds.
+
+We had, for a considerable distance, a view of the dwelling of
+Joseph Bonaparte, which is situated on the New Jersey shore, in
+the midst of an extensive tract of land, of which he is the
+proprietor.
+
+Here the ex-monarch has built several houses, which are occupied
+by French tenants.  The country is very flat, but a terrace of
+two sides has been raised, commanding a fine reach of the
+Delaware River; at the point where this terrace forms a right
+angle, a lofty chapel has been erected, which looks very much
+like an observatory; I admired the ingenuity with which the
+Catholic prince has united his religion and his love of a fine
+terrestrial prospect.  The highest part of the building presents,
+in every direction, the appearance of an immense cross; the
+transept, if I may so express it, being formed by the projection
+of an ample balcony, which surrounds a tower.  A Quaker
+gentleman, from Philadelphia, exclaimed, as he gazed on the
+mansion, "There we see a monument of fallen royalty!  Strange!
+that dethroned kings should seek and find their best strong-hold
+in a Republic."
+
+There was more of philosophy than of scorn in his accent, and his
+countenance was the symbol of gentleness and benevolence; but I
+overheard many unquakerlike jokes from others, as to the
+comfortable assurance a would-be king must feel of a faithful
+alliance between his head and shoulders.
+
+At Trenton, the capital of New Jersey, we left our
+smoothly-gliding comfortable boat for the most detestable
+stage-coach that ever Christian built to dislocate the joints of
+his fellow men.  Ten of these torturing machines were crammed
+full of the passengers who left the boat with us.  The change in
+our movement was not more remarkable than that which took place
+in the tempers and countenances of our fellow-travellers.
+Gentlemen who had lounged on sofas, and balanced themselves in
+chairs, all the way from Philadelphia, with all the conscious
+fascinations of stiff stays and neck-cloths, which, while doing
+to death the rash beauties who ventured to gaze, seemed but a
+whalebone panoply to guard the wearer, these pretty youths so
+guarded from without, so sweetly at peace within, now crushed
+beneath their armour, looked more like victims on the wheel, than
+dandies armed for conquest; their whalebones seemed to enter into
+their souls, and every face grew grim and scowling.  The pretty
+ladies too, with their expansive bonnets, any one of which might
+handsomely have filled the space allotted to three,--how sad the
+change!  I almost fancied they must have been of the race of
+Undine, and that it was only when they heard the splashing of
+water that they could smile.  As I looked into the altered eyes
+of my companions, I was tempted to ask, "Look I as cross as you?"
+Indeed, I believe that, if possible, I looked crosser still, for
+the roads and the vehicle together were quite too much for my
+philosophy.
+
+At length, however, we found ourselves alive on board the boat
+which was to convey us down the Raraton River to New York.
+
+We fully intended to have gone to bed, to heal our bones, on
+entering the steam-boat, but the sight of a table neatly spread
+determined us to go to dinner instead.  Sin and shame would it
+have been, indeed, to have closed our eyes upon the scene which
+soon opened before us.  I have never seen the bay of Naples, I
+can therefore make no comparison, but my imagination is incapable
+of conceiving any thing of the kind more beautiful than the
+harbour of New York.  Various and lovely are the objects which
+meet the eye on every side, but the naming them would only be to
+give a list of words, without conveying the faintest idea of the
+scene.  I doubt if ever the pencil of Turner could do it justice,
+bright and glorious as it rose upon us.  We seemed to enter the
+harbour of New York upon waves of liquid gold, and as we darted
+past the green isles which rise from its bosom, like guardian
+centinels of the fair city, the setting sun stretched his
+horizontal beams farther and farther at each moment, as if to
+point out to us some new glory in the landscape.
+
+New York, indeed, appeared to us, even when we saw it by a
+soberer light, a lovely and a noble city.  To us who had been so
+long travelling through half-cleared forests, and sojourning
+among an "I'm-as-good-as-you" population, it seemed, perhaps,
+more beautiful, more splendid, and more refined than it might
+have done, had we arrived there directly from London; but making
+every allowance for this, I must still declare that I think New
+York one of the finest cities I ever saw, and as much superior to
+every other in the Union (Philadelphia not excepted), as London
+to Liverpool, or Paris to Rouen.  Its advantages of position are,
+perhaps, unequalled any where.  Situated on an island, which I
+think it will one day cover, it rises, like Venice, from the sea,
+and like that fairest of cities in the days of her glory,
+receives into its lap tribute of all the riches of the earth.
+
+The southern point of Manhatten Island divides the waters of the
+harbour into the north and east rivers; on this point stands the
+city of New York, extending from river to river, and running
+northward to the extent of three or four miles.  I think it
+covers nearly as much ground as Paris, but is much less thickly
+peopled.  The extreme point is fortified towards the sea by a
+battery, and forms an admirable point of defence; I should
+suppose, no city could boast.  From hence commences the splendid
+Broadway, as the fine avenue is called, which runs through the
+whole city.  This noble street may vie with any I ever saw, for
+its length and breadth, its handsome shops, neat awnings,
+excellent _trottoir_, and well-dressed pedestrians.  It has not
+the crowded glitter of Bond Street equipages, nor the gorgeous
+fronted palaces of Regent Street; but it is magnificent in its
+extent, and ornamented by several handsome buildings, some of
+them surrounded by grass and trees.  The Park, in which stands
+the noble city-hall, is a very fine area, I never found that the
+most graphic description of a city could give me any feeling of
+being there; and even if others have the power, I am very sure I
+have not, of setting churches and squares, and long drawn
+streets, before the mind's eye.  I will not, therefore, attempt a
+detailed description of this great metropolis of the new world,
+but will only say that during the seven weeks we stayed there, we
+always found something new to see and to admire; and were it not
+so very far from all the old-world things which cling about the
+heart of an European, I should say that I never saw a city more
+desirable as a residence.
+
+The dwelling houses of the higher classes are extremely handsome,
+and very richly furnished.  Silk or satin furniture is as often,
+or oftener, seen than chintz; the mirrors are as handsome as in
+London; the cheffoniers, slabs, and marble tables as elegant; and
+in addition, they have all the pretty tasteful decoration of
+French porcelaine, and or-molu in much greater abundance, because
+at a much cheaper rate.  Every part of their houses is well
+carpeted, and the exterior finishing, such as steps, railings,
+and door-frames, are very superior.  Almost every house has
+handsome green blinds on the outside; balconies are not very
+general, nor do the houses display, externally, so many flowers
+as those of Paris and London; but I saw many rooms decorated
+within, exactly like those of an European _petite maitresse_.
+Little tables, looking and smelling like flower beds, portfolios,
+nick-nacks, bronzes, busts, cameos, and alabaster vases,
+illustrated copies of ladylike rhymes bound in silk, and, in
+short, all the pretty coxcomalities of the drawing-room scattered
+about with the same profuse and studied negligence as with us.
+
+Hudson Square and its neighbourhood is, I believe, the most
+fashionable part of the town; the square is beautiful,
+excellently well planted with a great variety of trees, and only
+wanting our frequent and careful mowing to make it equal to any
+square in London.  The iron railing which surrounds this
+enclosure is as high and as handsome as that of the Tuilleries,
+and it will give some idea of the care bestowed on its
+decoration, to know that the gravel for the walks was conveyed
+by barges from Boston, not as ballast, but as freight.
+
+The great defect in the houses is their extreme uniformity when
+you have seen one, you have seen all.  Neither do I quite like
+the arrangement of the rooms.  In nearly all the houses the
+dining and drawing rooms are on the same floor, with ample
+folding doors between them; when thrown together they certainly
+make a very noble apartment; but no doors can be barrier
+sufficient between dining and drawing-rooms.  Mixed dinner
+parties of ladies and gentlemen, however, are very rare, which is
+a great defect in the society; not only as depriving them of the
+most social and hospitable manner of meeting, but as leading to
+frequent dinner parties of gentlemen without ladies, which
+certainly does not conduce to refinement.
+
+The evening parties, excepting such as are expressly for young
+people, are chiefly conversational; we were too late in the
+season for large parties, but we saw enough to convince us that
+there is society to be met with in New York, which would be
+deemed delightful any where.  Cards are very seldom used; and
+music, from their having very little professional aid at their
+parties is seldom, I believe, as good as what is heard at private
+concerts in London.
+
+The Americans have certainly not the same _besoin_ of being
+amused, as other people; they may be the wiser for this, perhaps,
+but it makes them less agreeable to a looker-on.
+
+There are three theatres at New York, all of which we visited.
+The Park Theatre is the only one licensed by fashion, but the
+Bowery is infinitely superior in beauty; it is indeed as pretty a
+theatre as I ever entered, perfect as to size and proportion,
+elegantly decorated, and the scenery and machinery equal to any
+in London, but it is not the fashion.  The Chatham is so utterly
+condemned by _bon ton_, that it requires some courage to decide
+upon going there; nor do I think my curiosity would have
+penetrated so far, had I not seen Miss Mitford's Rienzi
+advertised there.  It was the first opportunity I had had of
+seeing it played, and spite of very indifferent acting, I was
+delighted.  The interest must have been great, for till the
+curtain fell, I saw not one quarter of the queer things around
+me: then I observed in the front row of a dress-box a lady
+performing the most maternal office possible; several gentlemen
+without their coats, and a general air of contempt for the
+decencies of life, certainly more than usually revolting.
+
+At the Park Theatre I again saw the American Roscius, Mr.
+Forrest.  He played the part of Damon, and roared, I thought,
+very unlike a nightingale.  I cannot admire this celebrated
+performer.
+
+Another night we saw Cinderella there; Mrs. Austin was the prima
+donna, and much admired.  The piece was extremely well got up,
+and on this occasion we saw the Park Theatre to advantage, for it
+was filled with well-dressed company; but still we saw many "yet
+unrazored lips" polluted with the grim tinge of the hateful
+tobacco, and heard, without ceasing, the spitting, which of
+course is its consequence.  If their theatres had the orchestra
+of the Feydeau, and a choir of angels to boot, I could find but
+little pleasure, so long as they were followed by this running
+accompaniment of _thorough base_.
+
+Whilst at New York, the prospectus of a fashionable
+boarding-school was presented to me.  I made some extracts from
+it, as a specimen of the enlarged scale of instruction proposed
+for young females.
+
+     Brooklyn Collegiate Institute
+     for Young Ladies,
+     Brooklyn Heights, opposite the City of
+     New York.
+
+          JUNIOR DEPARTMENT
+
+          Sixth Class
+
+Latin Grammar, Liber Primus; Jacob's Latin Reader, (first part);
+Modern Geography; Intellectual and Practical Arithmetic finished;
+Dr. Barber's Grammar of Elocution; Writing, Spelling,
+Composition, and Vocal Music.
+
+          Fifth Class
+
+Jacob's Latin Reader, (second part); Roman Antiquities, Sallust;
+Clark's Introduction to the Making of Latin; Ancient and Sacred
+Geography; Studies of Poetry; Short Treatise on Rhetoric; Map
+Drawing, Composition, Spelling, and Vocal Music.
+
+          Fourth Class
+
+Caesar's Commentaries; first five books of Virgil's Aeneid;
+Mythology; Watts on the Mind; Political Geography, (Woodbridge's
+large work); Natural History; Treatise on the Globes; Ancient
+History; Studies of Poetry concluded; English Grammar,
+Composition, Spelling, and Vocal Music.
+
+          SENIOR DEPARTMENT
+
+          Third Class
+
+Virgil, (finished); Cicero's Select Orations; Modern History;
+Plane Geometry; Moral Philosophy; Critical Reading of Young's
+Poems; Perspective Drawing; Rhetoric; Logic, Composition, and
+Vocal Music.
+
+          Second Class
+
+Livy; Horace, (Odes); Natural Theology; small Compend of
+Ecclesiastical History; Female Biography; Algebra; Natural
+Philosophy, (Mechanics, Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, and Acoustics);
+Intellectual Philosophy; Evidences of Christianity; Composition,
+and Vocal Music.
+
+          First Class
+
+Horace, (finished); Tacitus; Natural Philosophy, (Electricity,
+Optics, Magnetism, Galvanism); Astronomy, Chemistry, Mineralogy,
+and Geology; Compend of Political Economy; Composition, and Vocal
+Music.
+
+The French, Spanish, Italian, or Greek languages may be attended
+to, if required, at any time.
+
+
+
+The Exchange is very handsome, and ranks about midway between the
+heavy gloom that hangs over our London merchants, and the light
+and lofty elegance which decorates the Bourse at Paris.  The
+churches are plain, but very neat, and kept in perfect repair
+within and without; but I saw none which had the least pretension
+to splendour; the Catholic Cathedral at Baltimore is the only
+church in America which has.
+
+At New York, as every where else, they show within, during the
+time of service, like beds of tulips, so gay, so bright, so
+beautiful, are the long rows of French bonnets and pretty faces;
+rows but rarely broken by the unribboned heads of the male
+population; the proportion is about the same as I have remarked
+elsewhere.  Excepting at New York, I never saw the other side of
+the picture, but there I did.  On the opposite side of the North
+River, about three miles higher up, is a place called Hoboken.
+A gentleman who possessed a handsome mansion and grounds there,
+also possessed the right of ferry, and to render this productive,
+he has restricted his pleasure grounds to a few beautiful acres,
+laying out the remainder simply and tastefully as a public walk.
+It is hardly possible to imagine one of greater attraction; a
+broad belt of light underwood and flowering shrubs, studded at
+intervals with lofty forest trees, runs for two miles along a
+cliff which overhangs the matchless Hudson; sometimes it feathers
+the rocks down to its very margin, and at others leaves a pebbly
+shore, just rude enough to break the gentle waves, and make a
+music which mimics softly the loud chorus of the ocean.  Through
+this beautiful little wood, a broad well gravelled terrace is led
+by every point which can exhibit the scenery to advantage;
+narrower and wilder paths diverge at intervals, some into the
+deeper shadow of the wood, and some shelving gradually to the
+pretty coves below.
+
+The price of entrance to this little Eden, is the six cents you
+pay at the ferry.  We went there on a bright Sunday afternoon,
+expressly to see the humours of the place.  Many thousand persons
+were scattered through the grounds; of these we ascertained, by
+repeatedly counting, that nineteen-twentieths were men.  The
+ladies were at church.  Often as the subject has pressed upon my
+mind, I think I never so strongly felt the conviction that the
+Sabbath-day, the holy day, the day on which alone the great
+majority of the Christian world can spend their hours as they
+please, is ill passed (if passed entirely) within brick walls,
+listening to an earth-born preacher, charm he never so wisely.
+
+  "Oh! how can they renounce the boundless store
+   Of charms, which Nature to her vot'ries yields!
+   The warbling woodland, the resounding shore,
+   The pomp of groves, and garniture of fields,
+   All that the genial ray of morning gilds,
+   And all that echoes to the song of even,
+   All that the mountain's sheltering bosom yields,
+   And all the dread magnificence of heaven;
+   Oh! how can they renounce, and hope to be forgiven!"
+
+How is it that the men of America, who are reckoned good husbands
+and good fathers, while they themselves enjoy sufficient freedom
+of spirit to permit their walking forth into the temple of the
+living God, can leave those they love best on earth, bound in the
+iron chains of a most tyrannical fanaticism?  How can they
+breathe the balmy air, and not think of the tainted atmosphere so
+heavily weighing upon breasts still dearer than their own?  How
+can they gaze upon the blossoms of the spring, and not remember
+the fairer cheeks of their young daughters, waxing pale, as they
+sit for long sultry hours, immured with hundreds of fellow
+victims, listening to the roaring vanities of a preacher
+canonized by a college of old women?  They cannot think it
+needful to salvation,or they would not withdraw themselves.
+Wherefore is it?  Do they fear these self-elected, self-ordained
+priests, and offer up their wives and daughters to propitiate
+them?  Or do they deem their hebdomadal freedom more complete,
+because their wives and daughters are shut up four or five times
+in the day at church or chapel?  It is true, that at Hoboken, as
+every where else, there are _reposoires_, which, as you pass
+them, blast the sense for a moment, by reeking forth the fumes of
+whiskey and tobacco, and it may be that these cannot be entered
+with a wife or daughter.  The proprietor of the grounds, however,
+has contrived with great taste to render these abominations not
+unpleasing to the eye; there is one in particular, which has
+quite the air of a Grecian temple, and did they drink wine
+instead of whiskey, it might be inscribed to Bacchus; but in this
+particular, as in many others, the ancient and modern Republics differ.
+
+It is impossible not to feel, after passing one Sunday in the
+churches and chapels of New York, and the next in the gardens of
+Hoboken, that the thousands of well-dressed men you see enjoying
+themselves at the latter, have made over the thousands of
+well-dressed women you saw exhibited at the former, into the
+hands of the priests, at least, for the day.  The American people
+arrogate to themselves a character of superior morality and
+religion, but this division of their hours of leisure does not
+give me a favourable idea of either.
+
+I visited all the exhibitions in New York.  The Medici of the
+Republic must exert themselves a little more before these can
+become even respectable.  The worst of the business is, that with
+the exception of about half a dozen individuals, the good
+citizens are more than contented, they are delighted.
+
+The newspaper lungs of the Republic breathe forth praise and
+triumph, may, almost pant with extacy in speaking of their native
+_chef d'oeuvres_.  I should be hardly believed were I to relate
+the instances which fell in my way, of the utter ignorance
+respecting pictures to be found among persons of the _first
+standing_ in society.  Often where a liberal spirit exists, and a
+wish to patronise the fine arts is expressed, it is joined to a
+profundity of ignorance on the subject almost inconceivable.  A
+doubt as to the excellence of their artists is very nervously
+received, and one gentleman, with much civility, told me, that at
+the present era, all the world were aware that competition was
+pretty well at an end between our two nations, and that a little
+envy might naturally be expected to mix with the surprise with
+which the mother country beheld the distance at which her
+colonies were leaving her behind them.
+
+I must, however, do the few artists with whom I became
+acquainted, the justice to say, that their own pretensions are
+much more modest than those of their patrons for them.  I have
+heard several confess and deplore their ignorance of drawing, and
+have repeatedly remarked a sensibility to the merit of European
+artists, though perhaps only known by engravings, and a deference
+to their authority, which showed a genuine feeling for the art.
+In fact, I think that there is a very considerable degree of
+natural talent for painting in America, but it has to make its
+way through darkness and thick night.  When an academy is
+founded, their first care is to hang the walls of its exhibition
+room with all the unutterable trash that is offered to them.  No
+living models are sought for; no discipline as to the manner of
+study is enforced.  Boys who know no more of human form, than
+they do of the eyes, nose, and mouth in the moon, begin painting
+portraits.  If some of them would only throw away their palettes
+for a year, and learn to draw; if they would attend anatomical
+lectures, and take notes, not in words, but in forms, of joints
+and muscles, their exhibitions would soon cease to be so utterly
+below criticism.
+
+The most interesting exhibition open when I was there was,
+decidedly, Colonel Trumbold's; and how the patriots of America
+can permit this truly national collection to remain a profitless
+burden on the hands of the artist, it is difficult to understand.
+Many of the sketches are masterly; but like his illustrious
+countryman, West, his sketches are his _chef d'oeuvres_.
+
+I can imagine nothing more perfect than the interior of the
+public institutions of New York.  There is a practical good sense
+in all their arrangements that must strike foreigners very
+forcibly.  The Asylum for the Destitute offers a hint worth
+taking.  It is dedicated to the reformation of youthful offenders
+of both sexes, and it is as admirable in the details of its
+management, as in its object.  Every part of the institution is
+deeply interesting; but there is a difference very remarkable
+between the boys and the girls.  The boys are, I think, the
+finest set of lads I ever saw brought together; bright looking,
+gay, active, and full of intelligence.  The girls are exactly in
+reverse; heavy, listless, indifferent, and melancholy.  In
+conversing with the gentleman who is the general superintendant
+of the establishment, I made the remark to him, and he told me,
+that the reality corresponded with the appearance.  All of them
+had been detected in some act of dishonesty; but the boys, when
+removed from the evil influence which had led them so to use
+their ingenuity, rose like a spring when a pressure is withdrawn;
+and feeling themselves once more safe from danger and from shame,
+hope and cheerfulness animated every countenance.  But the pour
+girls, on the contrary, can hardly look up again.  They are as
+different as an oak and a lily after a storm.  The one, when the
+fresh breeze blows over it, shakes the raindrops from its crest,
+and only looks the brighter; the other, its silken leaves once
+soiled, shrinks from the eye, and is levelled to the earth for
+ever.
+
+
+
+We spent a delightful day in New Jersey, in visiting, with a most
+agreeable party, the inclined planes, which are used instead of
+locks on the Morris canal.
+
+This is a very interesting work; it is one among a thousand which
+prove the people of America to be the most enterprising in the
+world.  I was informed that this important canal, which connects
+the waters of the Hudson and the Delaware, is a hundred miles
+long, and in this distance overcomes a variation of level
+amounting to sixteen hundred feet.  Of this, fourteen hundred are
+achieved by inclined planes.  The planes average about sixty feet
+of perpendicular lift each, and are to support about forty tons.
+The time consumed in passing them is twelve minutes for one
+hundred feet of perpendicular rise.  The expense is less than a
+third of what locks would be for surmounting the same rise.  If
+we set about any more canals, this may be worth attending to.
+
+This Morris canal is certainly an extraordinary work; it not only
+varies its level sixteen hundred feet, but at one point runs
+along the side of a mountain at thirty feet above the tops of the
+highest buildings in the town of Paterson, below; at another it
+crosses the falls of the Passaic in a stone aqueduct sixty feet
+above the water in the river.  This noble work, in a great
+degree, owes its existence to the patriotic and scientific energy
+of Mr. Cadwallader Colden.
+
+There is no point in the national character of the Americans
+which commands so much respect as the boldness and energy with
+which public works are undertaken and carried through.  Nothing
+stops them if a profitable result can be fairly hoped for.  It is
+this which has made cities spring up amidst the forests with such
+inconceivable rapidity; and could they once be thoroughly
+persuaded that any point of the ocean had a hoard of dollars
+beneath it, I have not the slightest doubt that in about eighteen
+months we should see a snug covered rail-road leading direct to
+the spot.
+
+
+
+I was told at New York, that in many parts of the state it was
+usual to pay the service of the Presbyterian ministers in the
+following manner.  Once a year a day is fixed, on which some
+member of every family in a congregation meet at their minister's
+house in the afternoon.  They each bring an offering (according
+to their means) of articles necessary for housekeeping.  The
+poorer members leave their contributions in a large basket,
+placed for the purpose, close to the door of entrance.  Those of
+more importance, and more calculated to do honour to the piety of
+the donors, are carried into the room where the company is
+assembled.  Sugar, coffee, tea, cheese, barrels of flour, pieces
+of Irish linen, sets of china and of glass, were among the
+articles mentioned to me as usually making parts of these
+offerings.  After the party is assembled, and the business of
+giving and receiving is dispatched, tea, coffee, and cakes are
+handed round; but these are not furnished at any expense either
+of trouble or money to the minster, for selected ladies of the
+congregation take the whole arrangement upon themselves.  These
+meetings are called spinning visits.
+
+Another New York custom, which does not seem to have so
+reasonable a cause, is the changing house once a year.  On the
+1st of May the city of New York has the appearance of sending off
+a population flying from the plague, or of a town which had
+surrendered on condition of carrying away all their goods and
+chattels.  Rich furniture and ragged furniture, carts, waggons,
+and drays, ropes, canvas, and straw, packers, porters, and
+draymen, white, yellow, and black, occupy the streets from east
+to west, from north to south, on this day.  Every one I spoke to
+on the subject complained of this custom as most annoying, but
+all assured me it was unavoidable, if you inhabit a rented house.
+More than one of my New York friends have built or bought houses
+solely to avoid this annual inconvenience.
+
+There are a great number of negroes in New York, all free; their
+emancipation having been completed in 1827.  Not even in
+Philadelphia, where the anti-slavery opinions have been the most
+active and violent, do the blacks appear to wear an air of so
+much consequence as they do at New York.  They have several
+chapels, in which negro ministers officiate; and a theatre in
+which none but negroes perform.  At this theatre a gallery is
+appropriated to such whites as choose to visit it; and here only
+are they permitted to sit; following in this, with nice
+etiquette, and equal justice, the arrangement of the white
+theatres, in all of which is a gallery appropriated solely to the
+use of the blacks.  I have often, particularly on a Sunday, met
+groups of negroes, elegantly dressed; and have been sometimes
+amused by observing the very superior air of gallantry assumed by
+the men, when in attendance on their _belles_, to that of the
+whites in similar circumstances.  On one occasion we met in
+Broadway a young negress in the extreme of the fashion, and
+accompanied by a black beau, whose toilet was equally studied;
+eye-glass, guard-chain, nothing was omitted; he walked beside his
+sable goddess uncovered, and with an air of the most tender
+devotion.  At the window of a handsome house which they were
+passing, stood a very pretty white girl, with two gentlemen
+beside her; but alas! both of them had their hats on, and one
+was smoking!
+
+If it were not for the peculiar manner of walking, which
+distinguishes all American women, Broadway might be taken for a
+French street, where it was the fashion for very smart ladies to
+promenade.  The dress is entirely French; not an article (except
+perhaps the cotton stockings) must be English, on pain of being
+stigmatized as out of the fashion.  Every thing English is
+decidedly _mauvais ton_; English materials, English fashions,
+English accent, English manner, are all terms of reproach; and to
+say that an unfortunate looks like an English woman, is the
+cruellest satire which can be uttered.
+
+I remember visiting France almost immediately after we had made
+the most offensive invasion of her territory that can well be
+imagined, yet, despite the feelings which lengthened years of war
+must have engendered, it was the fashion to admire every thing
+English.  I suppose family quarrels are most difficult to adjust;
+for fifteen years of peace have not been enough to calm the angry
+feelings of brother Jonathan towards the land of his fathers,
+
+     "The which he hateth passing well."
+
+It is hardly needful to say the most courteous amenity of manner
+distinguishes the reception given to foreigners by the patrician
+class of Americans.
+
+_Gentlemen_, in the old world sense of the term, are the same
+every where; and an American gentleman and his family know how to
+do the honours of their country to strangers of every nation, as
+well as any people on earth.  But this class, though it decidedly
+exists, is a very small one, and cannot, in justice, be
+represented as affording a specimen of the whole.
+
+
+
+Most of the houses in New York are painted on the outside, but in
+a manner carefully to avoid disfiguring the material which it
+preserves: on the contrary, nothing can be neater.  They are now
+using a great deal of a beautiful stone called Jersey freestone;
+it is of a warm rich brown, and extremely ornamental to the city
+wherever it has been employed.  They have also a grey granite of
+great beauty.  The trottoir paving, in most of the streets, is
+extremely good, being of large flag stones, very superior to the
+bricks of Philadelphia.
+
+At night the shops, which are open till very late, are
+brilliantly illuminated with gas, and all the population seem as
+much alive as in London or Paris.  This makes the solemn
+stillness of the evening hours in Philadelphia still more
+remarkable.
+
+There are a few trees in different parts of the city, and I
+observed young ones planted, and guarded with much care; were
+they more abundant it would be extremely agreeable, for the
+reflected light of their fierce summer sheds intolerable day.
+
+Ice is in profuse abundance; I do not imagine that there is a
+house in the city without the luxury of a piece of ice to cool
+the water, and harden the butter.
+
+The hackney coaches are the best in the world, but abominably
+dear, and it is necessary to be on the _qui vive_ in making your
+bargain with the driver; if you do not, he has the power of
+charging immoderately.  On my first experiment I neglected this,
+and was asked two dollars and a half for an excursion of twenty
+minutes.  When I referred to the waiter of the hotel, he asked if
+I had made a bargain.  "No." "Then I expect" (with the usual look
+of triumph) "that the Yankee has been too smart for you."
+
+The private carriages of New York are infinitely handsomer and
+better appointed than any I saw elsewhere; the want of smart
+liveries destroys much of the gay effect, but, on the whole, a
+New York summer equipage, with the pretty women and beautiful
+children it contains, look extremely well in Broadway, and would
+not be much amiss anywhere.
+
+The luxury of the New York aristocracy is not confined to the
+city; hardly an acre of Manhatten Island but shows some pretty
+villa or stately mansion.  The most chosen of these are on the
+north and east rivers, to whose margins their lawns descend.
+Among these, perhaps, the loveliest is one situated in the
+beautiful village of Bloomingdale; here, within the space of
+sixteen acres, almost every variety of garden scenery may be
+found.  To describe all its diversity of hill and dale, of wood
+and lawn, of rock and river, would be in vain; nor can I convey
+an idea of it by comparison, for I never saw anything like it.
+How far the elegant hospitality which reigns there may influence
+my impression, I know not; but, assuredly, no spot I have ever
+seen dwells more freshly on my memory, nor did I ever find myself
+in a circle more calculated to give delight in meeting, and
+regret at parting, than that of Woodlawn.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 31
+
+Reception of Captain Basil Hall's Book in the United States
+
+
+
+Having now arrived nearly at the end of our travels, I am
+induced, ere I conclude, again to mention what I consider as one
+of the most remarkable traits in the national character of the
+Americans; namely, their exquisite sensitiveness and soreness
+respecting everything said or written concerning them.  Of this,
+perhaps, the most remarkable example I can give, is the effect
+produced on nearly every class of readers by the appearance of
+Captain Basil Hall's "Travels in North America."  In fact, it was
+a sort of moral earthquake, and the vibration it occasioned
+through the nerves of the Republic, from one corner of the Union
+to the other, was by no means over when I left the country in
+July, 1831, a couple of years after the shock.
+
+I was in Cincinnati when these volumes came out, but it was not
+till July, 1830, that I procured a copy of them.  One bookseller
+to whom I applied, told me that he had had a few copies before he
+understood the nature of the work, but that after becoming
+acquainted with it, nothing should induce him to sell another.
+Other persons of his profession must, however, have been less
+scrupulous, for the book was read in city, town, village, and
+hamlet, steam-boat, and stage-coach, and a sort of war-whoop was
+sent forth perfectly unprecedented in my recollection upon any
+occasion whatever.
+
+It was fortunate for me that I did not procure these volumes till
+I had heard them very generally spoken of, for the curiosity I
+felt to know the contents of a work so violently anathematised,
+led me to make enquiries which elicited a great deal of curious
+feeling.
+
+An ardent desire for approbation, and delicate sensitiveness
+under censure, have always, I believe, been considered as amiable
+traits of character; but the condition into which the appearance
+of Capt. Hall's work threw the Republic, shows plainly that
+these feelings, if carried to excess, produce a weakness which
+amounts to imbecility.
+
+It was perfectly astonishing to hear men, who, on other subjects,
+were sane of judgment, utter their opinions upon this.  I never
+heard of any instance in which the common sense generally found
+in national criticism was so overthrown by passion.  I do not
+speak of the want of justice, and of fair and liberal
+interpretation: these, perhaps, were hardly to be expected.
+Other nations have been called thin-skinned, but the citizens of
+the Union have, apparently, no skins at all; they wince if a
+breeze blows over them, unless it be tempered with adulation.  It
+was not, therefore, very surprising that the acute and forcible
+observations of a traveller they knew would be listened to,
+should be received testily.  The extraordinary features of the
+business were, first, the excess of the rage into which they
+lashed themselves; and secondly, the puerility of the inventions
+by which they attempted to account for the severity with which
+they fancied they had been treated.
+
+Not content with declaring that the volumes contained no word of
+truth from beginning to end (which is an assertion I heard made
+very nearly as often as they were mentioned), the whole country
+set to work to discover the causes why Capt. Hall had visited
+the United States, and why he had published his book.
+
+I have heard it said with as much precision and gravity as if the
+statement had been conveyed by an official report, that Capt.
+Hall had been sent out by the British government expressly for
+the purpose of checking the growing admiration of England for the
+government of the United States, that it was by a commission from
+the Treasury he had come, and that it was only in obedience to
+orders that he had found anything to object to.
+
+I do not give this as the gossip of a coterie; I am persuaded
+that it is the belief of a very considerable portion of the
+country.  So deep is the conviction of this singular people that
+they cannot be seen without being admired, that they will not
+admit the possibility that anyone should honestly and sincerely
+find aught to disapprove in them, or their country.
+
+At Philadelphia I met with a little anonymous book, written to
+show that Capt. Basil Hall was in no way to be depended on, for
+that he not only slandered the Americans, but was himself, in
+other respects, a person of very equivocal morals.  One proof of
+this is given by a quotation of the following playful account of
+the distress occasioned by the want of a bell.  The commentator
+calls it an instance of "shocking coarseness."
+
+"One day I was rather late for breakfast, and as there was no
+water in my jug, I set off, post haste, half shaved, half
+dressed, and more than half vexed, in quest of water, like a
+seaman on short allowance, hunting for rivulets on some unknown
+coast.  I went up stairs, and down stairs, and in the course of
+my researches into half a dozen different apartments, might have
+stumbled on some lady's chamber, as the song says, which
+considering the plight I was in, would have been awkward enough."
+
+Another indication of this moral coarseness is pointed out in the
+passage where Capt. Hall says, he never saw a flirtation all the
+time he was in the Union.
+
+The charge of ingratitude also was echoed from mouth to mouth.
+That he should himself bear testimony to the unvarying kindness
+of the reception he met with, and yet find fault with the
+country, was declared on all hands to be a proof of the most
+abominable ingratitude that it ever entered into the heart of man
+to conceive.  I once ventured before about a dozen people to ask
+whether more blame would not attach to an author, if he suffered
+himself to be bribed by individual kindness to falsify facts,
+than if, despite all personal considerations, he stated them
+truly?
+
+"Facts!" cried the whole circle at once, "facts! I tell you there
+is not a word of fact in it from beginning to end."
+
+The American Reviews are, many of them, I believe, well known in
+England; I need not, therefore, quote them here, but I sometimes
+wondered that they, none of them, ever thought of translating
+Obadiah's curse into classic American; if they had done so, only
+placing (he, Basil Hall,) between brackets instead of (he,
+Obadiah,) it would have saved them a world of trouble.
+
+I can hardly describe the curiosity with which I sat down at
+length to pursue these tremendous volumes; still less can I do
+justice to my surprise at their contents.  To say that I found
+not one exaggerated statement throughout the work, is by no means
+saying enough.  It is impossible for any one who knows the
+country not to see that Captain Hall earnestly sought out things
+to admire and commend.  When he praises, it is with evident
+pleasure, and when he finds fault, it is with evident reluctance
+and restraint, excepting where motives purely patriotic urge him
+to state roundly what it is for the benefit of his country should
+be known.
+
+In fact, Captain Hall saw the country to the greatest possible
+advantage.  Furnished, of course, with letters of introduction to
+the most distinguished individuals, and with the still more
+influential recommendation of his own reputation, he was received
+in full drawing-room style and state from one end of the Union to
+the other.  He saw the country in full dress, and had little or
+no opportunity of judging of it unhouselled, disappointed,
+unannealed, with all its imperfections on its head, as I and my
+family too often had.
+
+Captain Hall had certainly excellent opportunities of making
+himself acquainted with the form of the government and the laws;
+and of receiving, moreover, the best oral commentary upon them,
+in conversation with the most distinguished citizens.  Of these
+opportunities he made excellent use; nothing important met his
+eye which did not receive that sort of analytical attention which
+an experienced and philosophical traveller alone can give.  This
+has made his volumes highly interesting and valuable; but I am
+deeply persuaded, that were a man of equal penetration to visit
+the United States with no other means of becoming acquainted with
+the national character than the ordinary working-day intercourse
+of life, he would conceive an infinitely lower idea of the moral
+atmosphere of the country than Captain Hall appears to have done;
+and the internal conviction on my mind is strong, that if Captain
+Hall had not placed a firm restraint on himself, he must have
+given expression to far deeper indignation than any he has
+uttered against many points in the American character, with which
+he shows, from other circumstances, that he was well acquainted.
+His rule appears to have been to state just so much of the truth
+as would leave on the minds of his readers a correct impression,
+at the least cost of pain to the sensitive folks he was writing
+about.  He states his own opinions and feelings, and leaves it to
+be inferred that he has good grounds for adopting them; but he
+spares the Americans the bitterness which a detail of the
+circumstances would have produced.
+
+If any one chooses to say that some wicked antipathy to twelve
+millions of strangers is the origin of my opinion, I must bear
+it; and were the question one of mere idle speculation, I
+certainly would not court the abuse I must meet for stating it.
+But it is not so.  I know that among the best, the most pious,
+the most benevolent of my countrymen, there are hundreds, nay, I
+fear thousands, who conscientiously believe that a greater degree
+of political and religious liberty (such as is possessed in
+America) would be beneficial for us.  How often have I wished,
+during my abode in the United States, that one of these
+conscientious, but mistaken reasoners, fully possessed of his
+country's confidence, could pass a few years in the United
+States, sufficiently among the mass of the citizens to know them,
+and sufficiently at leisure to trace effects to their causes.
+Then might we look for a statement which would teach these
+mistaken philanthropists to tremble at every symptom of
+democratic power among us; a statement which would make even our
+sectarians shudder at the thought of hewing down the Established
+Church, for they would be taught, by fearful example, to know
+that it was the bulwark which protects us from the gloomy horrors
+of fanatic superstition on one side, and the still more dreadful
+inroads of infidelity on the other.  And more than all, such a
+man would see as clear as light, that where every class is
+occupied in getting money, and no class in spending it, there
+will neither be leisure for worshipping the theory of honesty,
+nor motive strong enough to put its restrictive doctrine in
+practice.  Where every man is engaged in driving hard bargains
+with his fellows, where is the honoured class to be found into
+which gentleman-like feelings, principles, and practice, are
+necessary as an introduction?
+
+That there are men of powerful intellect, benevolent hearts, and
+high moral feeling in America, I know: and I could, if challenged
+to do so, name individuals surpassed by none of any country in
+these qualities; but they are excellent, despite their
+institutions, not in consequence of them.  It is not by such that
+Captain Hall's statements are called slanders, nor is it from
+such that I shall meet the abuse which I well know these pages
+will inevitably draw upon me; and I only trust I may be
+able to muster as much self-denial as my predecessor, who asserts
+in his recently published "Fragments," that he has read none of
+the American criticisms on his book.  He did wisely, if he wished
+to retain an atom of his kindly feeling toward America, and he
+has, assuredly, lost but little on the score of information, for
+these criticisms, generally speaking, consist of mere downright
+personal abuse, or querulous complaints of his ingratitude and
+ill usage of them; complaints which it is quite astonishing that
+any persons of spirit could indulge in.
+
+The following good-humoured paragraphs from the Fragments, must,
+I think, rather puzzle the Americans.  Possibly they may think
+that Captain Hall is quizzing them, when he says he has read none
+of their criticisms; but I think there is in these passages
+internal evidence that he has not seen them.  For if he had read
+one-fiftieth part of the vituperation of his Travels, which it
+has been my misfortune to peruse, he could hardly have brought
+himself to write what follows.
+
+If the Americans still refuse to shake the hand proffered to them
+in the true old John Bull spirit, they are worse folks than even
+I take them for.
+
+Captain Hall, after describing the hospitable reception he
+formerly met with, at a boarding-house in New York, goes on
+thus:--"If our hostess be still alive, I hope she will not repent
+of having bestowed her obliging attentions on one, who so many
+years afterwards made himself, he fears, less popular in her
+land, than he could wish to be amongst a people to whom he owes
+so much, and for whom he really feels so much kindness.  He still
+anxiously hopes, however, they will believe him, when he
+declares, that, having said in his recent publication no more
+than what he conceived was due to strict truth, and to the
+integrity of history, as far as his observations and opinions
+went, he still feels, as he always has, and ever must continue to
+feel towards America, the heartiest good-will.
+
+"The Americans are perpetually repeating that the
+foundation-stone of their liberty is fixed on the doctrine, that
+every man is free to form his own opinions, and to promulgate
+them in candour and in moderation.  Is it meant that a foreigner
+is excluded from these privileges?  If not, may I ask, in what
+respect have I passed these limitations?  The Americans have
+surely no fair right to be offended because my views differ from
+their's; and yet I am told I have been rudely handled by the
+press of that country.  If my motives are distrusted, I can only
+say, I am sorely belied.  If I am mistaken, regret at my
+political blindness were surely more dignified than anger on the
+part of those with whom I differ; and if it shall chance that I
+am in the right, the best confirmation of the correctness of my
+views, in the opinion of indifferent persons, will perhaps be
+found in the soreness of those, who wince when the truth is
+spoken.
+
+"Yet, after all, few things would give me more real pleasure,
+than to know that my friends across the water would consent to
+take me at my word; and, considering what I have said about them
+as so much public matter, which it truly is, agree to reckon me,
+in my absence, and they always did, when I was amongst them, and,
+I am sure, they would count me, if I went back again, as a
+private friend.  I differed with them in politics, and I differ
+with them now as much as ever; but I sincerely wish them
+happiness individually; and, as a nation, I shall rejoice if they
+prosper.  As the Persians write, "What can I say more?"  And I
+only hope these few words may help to make my peace with people
+who justly pride themselves on bearing no malice.  As for myself,
+I have no peace to make; for I have studiously avoided reading
+any of the American criticisms on my book, in order that the
+kindly feelings I have ever entertained towards that country
+should not be ruffled.  By this abstinence I may have lost some
+information, and perhaps missed many opportunities of correcting
+erroneous impressions.  But I set so much store by the pleasing
+recollection of the journey itself, and of the hospitality with
+which my family were every where received, that whether it be
+right, or whether it be wrong, I cannot bring myself to read
+anything which might disturb these agreeable associations.
+So let us part in peace; or, rather, let us meet again in
+cordial communication; and if this little work shall find its
+way across the Atlantic, I hope it will be read there without
+reference to anything that has passed between us; or, at all
+events, with reference only to those parts of our former
+intercourse, which are satisfactory to all parties."--_Hall's
+Fragments_, Vol.1.p.200.
+
+I really think it is impossible to read, not only this passage,
+but many others in these delightful little volumes, without
+feeling that their author is as little likely to deserve the
+imputation of harshness and ill-will, as any man that ever lived.
+
+In reading Capt. Hall's volumes on America, the observation
+which, I think, struck me the most forcibly, and which certainly
+came the most completely home to my own feelings, was the
+following.
+
+"In all my travels both amongst Heathens, and amongst Christians,
+I have never encountered any people by whom I found it nearly so
+difficult to make myself understood as by the Americans."
+
+I have conversed in London and in Paris with foreigners of many
+nations, and often through the misty medium of an idiom
+imperfectly understood, but I remember no instance in which I
+found the same difficulty in conveying my sentiments, my
+impressions, and my opinions to those around me, as I did in
+America.  Whatever faith may be given to my assertion, no one who
+has not visited the country can possibly conceive to what extent
+it is true.  It is less necessary, I imagine, for the mutual
+understanding of persons conversing together, that the language
+should be the same, than that their ordinary mode of thinking,
+and habits of life should, in some degree, assimilate; whereas,
+in point of fact, there is hardly a single point of sympathy
+between the Americans and us; but whatever the cause, the fact is
+certainly as I have stated it, and herein, I think, rests the
+only apology for the preposterous and undignified anger felt and
+expressed against Capt. Hall's work.  They really cannot, even
+if they wished it, enter into any of his views, or comprehend his
+most ordinary feelings; and, therefore, they cannot believe in
+the sincerity of the impressions he describes.  The candour which
+he expresses, and evidently feels, they mistake for irony, or
+totally distrust; his unwillingness to give pain to persons from
+whom he has received kindness, they scornfully reject as
+affectation; and, although they must know right well, in their
+own secret hearts, how infinitely more they lay at his mercy than
+he has chosen to betray, they pretend, even to themselves, that
+he has exaggerated the bad points of their character and
+institutions; whereas, the truth is, that he has let them off
+with a degree of tenderness which may be quite suitable for him
+to exercise, however little merited; while, at the same time, he
+has most industriously magnified their merits, whenever he could
+possibly find anything favourable.  One can perfectly well
+understand why Capt. Hall's avowed Tory principles should be
+disapproved of in the United States, especially as (with a
+questionable policy in a bookselling point of view, in these
+reforming times,) he volunteers a profession of political faith,
+in which, to use the Kentucky phrase, "he goes the whole hog,"
+and bluntly avows, in his concluding chapter, that he not only
+holds stoutly to Church and State, but that he conceives the
+English House of Commons to be, if not quite perfect, at least as
+much so for all the required purposes of representation as it can
+by possibility be made in practice.  Such a downright
+thorough-going Tory and Anti-reformer, pretending to judge of the
+workings of the American democratical system, was naturally held
+to be a monstrous abomination, and it has been visited
+accordingly, both in America, and as I understand, with us also.
+The experience which Capt. Hall has acquired in visits to every
+part of the world, during twenty or thirty years, goes for
+nothing with the Radicals on either side the Atlantic: on the
+contrary, precisely in proportion to the value of that authority
+which is the result of actual observation, are they irritated to
+find its weight cast into the opposite scale.  Had not Capt.
+Hall been converted by what he saw in North America, from the
+Whig faith he exhibited in his description of South America, his
+book would have been far more popular in England during the last
+two years of public excitement; it may, perhaps, be long before
+any justice is done to Capt. Hall's book in the United States,
+but a less time will probably suffice to establish its claim to
+attention at home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 32
+
+Journey to Niagara--Hudson--West Point--Hyde Park--
+Albany--Yankees--Trenton Falls--Rochester--
+Genesee Falls--Lockport
+
+
+
+How quickly weeks glide away in such a city as New York,
+especially when you reckon among your friends some of the most
+agreeable people in either hemisphere.  But we had still a long
+journey before us, and one of the wonders of the world was to be
+seen.
+
+On the 30th of May we set off for Niagara.  I had heard so much
+of the surpassing beauty of the North River, that I expected to
+be disappointed, and to find reality flat after description.  But
+it is not in the power of man to paint with a strength exceeding
+that of nature, in such scenes as the Hudson presents.  Every
+mile shows some new and startling effect of the combination of
+rocks, trees, and water; there is no interval of flat or insipid
+scenery, from the moment you enter upon the river at New York, to
+that of quitting it at Albany, a distance of 180 miles.
+
+For the first twenty miles the shore of New Jersey, on the left,
+offers almost a continued wall of trap rock, which from its
+perpendicular form, and lineal fissures, is called the Palisados.
+This wall sometimes rises to the height of a hundred and fifty
+feet, and sometimes sinks down to twenty.  Here and there, a
+watercourse breaks its uniformity; and every where the brightest
+foliage, in all the splendour of the climate and the season,
+fringed and chequered the dark barrier.  On the opposite shore,
+Manhatten Island, with its leafy coronet gemmed with villas,
+forms a lovely contrast to these rocky heights.
+
+After passing Manhatten Island, the eastern shore gradually
+assumes a wild and rocky character, but ever varying; woods,
+lawns, pastures, and towering cliffs all meet the eye in quick
+succession, as the giant steam-boat cleaves its swift passage up
+the stream.
+
+For several miles the voyage is one of great interest independent
+of its beauty, for it passes many points where important events
+of the revolutionary war took place.
+
+It was not without a pang that I looked on the spot where poor
+Andre was taken, and another where he was executed.
+
+Several forts, generally placed in most commanding situations,
+still show by their battered ruins, where the struggle was
+strongest, and I felt no lack of that moral interest so entirely
+wanting in the new States, and without which no journey can, I
+think, continue long without wearying the spirits.
+
+About forty miles from New York you enter upon the Highlands, as
+a series of mountains which then flank the river on both sides,
+are called.  The beauty of this scenery can only be conceived
+when it is seen.  One might fancy that these capricious masses,
+with all their countless varieties of light and shade, were
+thrown together to show how passing lovely rocks and woods, and
+water could be.  Sometimes a lofty peak shoots suddenly up into
+the heavens, showing in bold relief against the sky; and then a
+deep ravine sinks in solemn shadow, and draws the imagination
+into its leafy recesses.  For several miles the river appears to
+form a succession of lakes; you are often enclosed on all sides
+by rocks rising directly from the very edge of the stream, and
+then you turn a point, the river widens, and again woods, lawns,
+and villages are reflected on its bosom.
+
+The state prison of Sing Sing is upon the edge of the water, and
+has no picturesque effect to atone for the painful images it
+suggests; the "Sleepy Hollow" of Washington Irving, just above
+it, restores the imagination to a better tone.
+
+West Point, the military academy of the United States, is fifty
+miles from New York.  The scenery around it is magnificent, and
+though the buildings of the establishment are constructed with
+the handsome and unpicturesque regularity which marks the work of
+governments, they are so nobly placed, and so embosomed in woods,
+that they look beautiful.  The lengthened notes of a French horn,
+which I presume was attending some of their military manoeuvres,
+sounded with deep and solemn sweetness as we passed.
+
+About thirty miles further is Hyde Park, the magnificent seat of
+Dr. Hosack; here the misty summit of the distant Kaatskill begins
+to form the outline of the landscape; it is hardly possible to
+imagine anything more beautiful than this place.  We passed a day
+there with great enjoyment; and the following morning set forward
+again in one of those grand floating hotels called steamboats.
+Either on this day, or the one before, we had two hundred cabin
+passengers on board, and they all sat down together to a table
+spread abundantly, and with considerable elegance.  A continual
+succession of gentlemen's seats, many of them extremely handsome,
+borders the river to Albany.  We arrived there late in the
+evening, but had no difficulty in finding excellent
+accommodation.
+
+Albany is the state capital of New York, and has some very
+handsome public buildings; there are also some curious relics of
+the old Dutch inhabitants.
+
+The first sixteen miles from Albany we travelled in a stage, to
+avoid a multitude of locks at the entrance of the Erie canal; but
+at Scenectedy we got on board one of the canal packet-boats for
+Utica.
+
+With a very delightful party, of one's own choosing, fine
+temperate weather, and a strong breeze to chase the mosquitos,
+this mode of travelling might be very agreeable, but I can hardly
+imagine any motive of convenience powerful enough to induce me
+again to imprison myself in a canal boat under ordinary
+circumstances.  The accommodations being greatly restricted,
+every body, from the moment of entering the boat, acts upon a
+system of unshrinking egotism.  The library of a dozen books, the
+backgammon board, the tiny berths, the shady side of the cabin,
+are all jostled for in a manner to make one greatly envy the
+power of the snail; at the moment I would willingly have given up
+some of my human dignity for the privilege of creeping into a
+shell of my own.  To any one who has been accustomed in
+travelling, to be addressed with, "Do sit here, you will find it
+more comfortable," the "You must go there, I made for this place
+first," sounds very unmusical.
+
+There is a great quietness about the women of America (I speak of
+the exterior manner of persons casually met), but somehow or
+other, I should never call it gentleness.  In such trying moments
+as that of _fixing_ themselves on board a packet-boat, the men
+are prompt, determined, and will compromise any body's
+convenience, except their own.  The women are doggedly stedfast
+in their will, and till matters are settled, look like hedgehogs,
+with every quill raised, and firmly set, as if to forbid the
+approach of any one who might wish to rub them down.  In
+circumstances where an English woman would look proud, and a
+French woman _nonchalante_, an American lady looks grim; even the
+youngest and the prettiest can set their lips, and knit their
+brows, and look as hard and unsocial as their grandmothers.
+
+Though not in the Yankee or New England country, we were
+bordering upon it sufficiently to meet in the stages and boats
+many delightful specimens of this most peculiar race.  I like
+them extremely well, but I would not wish to have any business
+transactions with them, if I could avoid it, lest, to use their
+own phrase, "they should be too smart for me."
+
+It is by no means rare to meet elsewhere, in this working-day
+world of our's, people who push acuteness to the verge of
+honesty, and sometimes, perhaps, a little bit beyond; but, I
+believe, the Yankee is the only one who will be found to boast
+of doing so.  It is by no means easy to give a clear and just
+idea of a Yankee; if you hear his character from a Virginian,
+you will believe him a devil: if you listen to it from himself,
+you might fancy him a god--though a tricky one; Mercury turned
+righteous and notable.  Matthews did very well, as far as "I
+expect," "I calculate," and "I guess;" but this is only the
+shell; there is an immense deal within, both of sweet and bitter.
+In acuteness, cautiousness, industry, and perseverance, he
+resembles the Scotch; in habits of frugal neatness, he resembles
+the Dutch; in love of lucre he doth greatly resemble the sons of
+Abraham; but in frank admission, and superlative admiration of
+all his own peculiarities, he is like nothing on earth but
+himself.
+
+The Quakers have been celebrated for the pertinacity with which
+they avoid giving a direct answer, but what Quaker could ever vie
+with a Yankee in this sort of fencing?  Nothing, in fact, can
+equal their skill in evading a question, excepting that with
+which they set about asking one.  I am afraid that in repeating a
+conversation which I overheard on board the Erie canal boat, I
+shall spoil it, by forgetting some of the little delicate
+doublings which delighted me--yet I wrote it down immediately.
+Both parties were Yankees, but strangers to each other; one of
+them having, by gentle degrees, made himself pretty well
+acquaninted with the point from which every one on board had
+started, and that for which he was bound, at last attacked his
+brother Reynard thus:-
+
+"Well, now, which way may you be travelling?"
+
+"I expect this canal runs pretty nearly west."
+
+"Are you going far with it?"
+
+"Well, now, I don't rightly know how many miles it may be."
+
+"I expect you'll be from New York?"
+
+"Sure enough I have been at New York, often and often."
+
+"I calculate, then, 'tis not there as you stop?"
+
+"Business must be minded, in stopping and in stirring."
+
+"You may say that.  Well, I look then you'll be making for the
+Springs?"
+
+"Folks say as all the world is making for the Springs, and I
+except a good sight of them is."
+
+"Do you calculate upon stopping long when you get to your
+journey's end?"
+
+"'Tis my business must settle that, I expect?"
+
+"I guess that's true, too; but you'll be for making pleasure a
+business for once, I calculate?"
+
+"My business don't often lie in that line."
+
+"Then, may be, it is not the Springs as takes you this line?"
+
+"The Springs is a right elegant place, I reckon."
+
+"It is your health, I calculate, as makes you break your good
+rules?"
+
+"My health don't trouble me much, I guess."
+
+"No?  Why that's well.  How is the markets, sir?  Are bread
+stuffs up?"
+
+"I a'nt just capable to say."
+
+"A deal of money's made by just looking after the article at the
+fountain's head."
+
+"You may say that."
+
+"Do you look to be making great dealings in produce up the
+country?"
+
+"Why that, I expect, is difficult to know."
+
+"I calculate you'll find the markets changeable these times?"
+
+"No markets ben't very often without changing."
+
+"Why, that's right down true.  What may be your biggest article
+of produce?"
+
+"I calculate, generally, that's the biggest, as I makes most by."
+
+"You may say that.  But what do you chiefly call your most
+particular branch?"
+
+"Why, that's what I can't justly say."
+
+And so they went on, without advancing or giving an inch, 'till I
+was weary of listening; but I left them still at it, when I
+stepped out to resume my station on a trunk at the bow of the
+boat, where I scribbled in my note-book this specimen of Yankee
+conversation.
+
+
+
+The Erie canal has cut through much solid rock, and we often
+passed between magnificent cliffs.  The little falls of the
+Mohawk form a lovely scene; the rocks over which the river runs
+are most fantastic in form.  The fall continues nearly a mile,
+and a beautiful village, called the Little Falls, overhangs it.
+As many locks occur at this point, we quitted the boat, that we
+might the better enjoy the scenery, which is of the widest
+description.  Several other passengers did so likewise, and I was
+much amused by one of our Yankees, who very civilly accompanied
+our party, pointing out to me the wild state of the country, and
+apologizing for it, by saying, that the property all round
+thereabouts had been owned by an Englishman; "and you'll excuse
+me, ma'am, but when the English gets a spot of wild ground like
+this here, they have no notions about it like us; but the
+Englishman have sold it, and if you was to see it five years
+hence, you would not know it again; I'll engage there will be by
+that, half a score elegant factories--'tis a true shame to let
+such a privilege of water lie idle."
+
+We reached Utica at twelve o'clock the following day, pretty
+well fagged by the sun by day, and a crowded cabin by night;
+lemon-juice and iced-water (without sugar) kept us alive.  But
+for this delightful recipe, feather fans, and eau de Cologne, I
+think we should have failed altogether; the thermometer stood at
+90 degrees.
+
+At two, we set off in a very pleasant airy carriage for Trenton
+Falls, a delightful drive of fourteen miles.  These falls have
+become within the last few years only second in fame to Niagara.
+The West Canada Creek, which in the map shows but as a paltry
+stream, has found its way through three miles of rock, which, at
+many points, is 150 feet high.  A forest of enormous cedars is on
+their summit; and many of that beautiful species of white cedar
+which droops its branches like the weeping-willow grow in the
+clefts of the rock, and in some places almost dip their dark
+foliage in the torrent.  The rock is of a dark grey limestone,
+and often presents a wall of unbroken surface.  Near the hotel a
+flight of very alarming steps leads down to the bed of the
+stream, and on reaching it you find yourself enclosed in a deep
+abyss of solid rock, with no visible opening but that above your
+head.  The torrent dashes by with inconceivable rapidity; its
+colour is black as night, and the dark ledge of rock on which you
+stand, is so treacherously level with it, that nothing warns you
+of danger.  Within the last three years two young people, though
+surrounded by their friends, have stepped an inch too far, and
+disappeared from among them, as if by magic, never to revisit
+earth again.  This broad flat ledge reached but a short distance,
+and then the perpendicular wall appears to stop your farther
+progress; but there is a spirit of defiance in the mind of man;
+he will not be stayed either by rocks or waves.  By the aid of
+gunpowder a sufficient quantity of the rock has been removed to
+afford a fearful footing round a point, which, when doubled,
+discloses a world of cataracts, all leaping forward together in
+most magnificent confusion.  I suffered considerably before I
+reached the spot where this grand scene is visible; a chain
+firmly fastened to the rock serves to hang by, as you creep along
+the giddy verge, and this enabled me to proceed so far; but here
+the chain failed, and my courage with it, though the rest of the
+party continued for some way farther, and reported largely of
+still increasing sublimity.  But my knees tottered, and my head
+swam, so while the rest crept onward, I sat down to wait their
+return on the floor of rock which had received us on quitting
+the steps.
+
+A hundred and fifty feet of bare black rock on one side, an equal
+height covered with solemn cedars on the other, an unfathomed
+torrent roaring between them, the fresh remembrance of the
+ghastly legend belonging to the spot, and the idea of my children
+clinging to the dizzy path I had left, was altogether sombre
+enough; but I had not sat long before a tremendous burst of
+thunder shook the air; the deep chasm answered from either side,
+again, again, and again; I thought the rock I sat upon trembled:
+but the whole effect was so exceedingly grand, that I had no
+longer leisure to think of fear; my children immediately
+returned, and we enjoyed together the darkening shadows cast over
+the abyss, the rival clamour of the torrent and the storm, and
+that delightful exaltation of the spirits which sets danger at
+defiance.  A few heavy rain drops alarmed us more than all the
+terrors of the spot, or rather, they recalled our senses, and we
+retreated by the fearful steps, reaching our hotel unwetted and
+unharmed.  The next morning we were again early a foot; the last
+night's storm had refreshed the air, and renewed our strength.
+We now took a different route, and instead of descending, as
+before, walked through the dark forest along the cliff,
+sufficiently near its edge to catch fearful glimpses of the scene
+below.  After some time the patch began to descend, and at length
+brought us to the Shantee, commemorated in Miss Sedgwick's
+Clarence.  This is by far the finest point of the falls.  There
+is a little balcony in front of the Shantee, literally hanging
+over the tremendous whirlpool; though frail, it makes one fancy
+oneself in safety, and reminded me of the feeling with which I
+have stood on one side a high gate, watching a roaring bull on
+the other.  The walls of this Shantee are literally covered with
+autographs, and I was inclined to join the laugh against the
+egotistical trifling, when one of the party discovered "Trollope,
+England," amidst the innumerable scrawls.  The well known
+characters were hailed with such delight, that I think I shall
+never again laugh at any one for leaving their name where it is
+possible a friend may find it.
+
+We returned to Utica to dinner, and found that we must either
+wait till the next day for the Rochester coach, or again submit
+to the packet-boat.  Our impatience induced us to prefer the
+latter, not very wisely, I think, for every annoyance seemed to
+increase upon us.  The Oneida and the Genesee country are both
+extremely beautiful, but had we not returned by another route we
+should have known little about it.  From the canal nothing is
+seen to advantage, and very little is seen at all.  My chief
+amusement, I think, was derived from names.  One town, consisting
+of a whiskey store and a warehouse, is called Port Byron.  At
+Rome, the first name I saw over a store was Remus, doing infinite
+honour, I thought, to the classic lore of his godfathers and
+godmothers; but it would be endless to record all the drolleries
+of this kind which we met with.  We arrived at Rochester, a
+distance of a hundred and forty miles, on the second morning
+after leaving Utica, fully determined never to enter a canal boat
+again, at least, not in America.
+
+Rochester is one of the most famous of the cities built on the
+Jack and Bean-stalk principle.  There are many splendid edifices
+in wood; and certainly more houses, warehouses, factories, and
+steam-engines than ever were collected together in the same space
+of time; but I was told by a fellow-traveller that the stumps of
+the forest are still to be found firmly rooted in the cellars.
+
+The fall of the Genesee is close to the town, and in the course
+of a few months will, perhaps, be in the middle of it.  It is a
+noble sheet of water, of a hundred and sixty feet perpendicular
+fall; but I looked at it through the window of a factory, and as
+I did not like that, I was obligingly handed to the door-way of a
+sawing-mill; in short, "the great water privilege" has been so
+ingeniously taken advantage of, that no point can be found where
+its voice and its movement are not mixed and confounded with
+those of the "admirable machinery of this flourishing city."
+
+The Genesee fall is renowned as being the last and fatal leap of
+the adventurous madman, Sam Patch; he had leaped it once before,
+and rose to the surface of the river in perfect safety, but the
+last time he was seen to falter as he took the leap, and was
+never heard of more.  It seems that he had some misgivings of his
+fate, for a pet bear, which he had always taken with him on his
+former break-neck adventures, and which had constantly leaped
+after him without injury, he on this occasion left behind, in the
+care of a friend, to whom he bequeathed him "in case of his not
+returning." We saw the bear, which is kept at the principal
+hotel; he is a noble creature, and more completely tame than I
+ever saw any animal of the species.
+
+Our journey now became wilder every step, the unbroken forest
+often skirted the road for miles, and the sight of a log-hut was
+an event.  Yet the road was, for the greater part of the day,
+good, running along a natural ridge, just wide enough for it.
+This ridge is a very singular elevation, and, by all the enquiry
+I could make, the favourite theory concerning it is, that it was
+formerly the boundary of Lake Ontario, near which it passes.
+When this ridge ceased, the road ceased too, and for the rest of
+the way to Lockport, we were most painfully jumbled and jolted
+over logs and through bogs, till every joint was nearly
+dislocated.
+
+Lockport is beyond all comparison, the strangest looking place I
+ever beheld.  As fast as half a dozen trees were cut down, a
+_factory_ was raised up; stumps still contest the ground with
+pillars, and porticos are seen to struggle with rocks.  It looks
+as if the demon of machinery, having invaded the peaceful realms
+of nature, had fixed on Lockport as the battle-ground on which
+they should strive for mastery.  The fiend insists that the
+streams should go one way, though the gentle mother had ever led
+their dancing steps another; nay, the very rocks must fall before
+him, and take what form he wills.  The battle is lost and won.
+Nature is fairly routed and driven from the field, and the
+rattling, crackling, hissing, spitting demon has taken possession
+of Lockport for ever.
+
+We slept there, dismally enough.  I never felt more out of humour
+at what the Americans call improvement; it is, in truth, as it
+now stands, a most hideous place, and gladly did I leave it
+behind me.
+
+Our next stage was to Lewiston; for some miles before we reached
+it we were within sight of the British frontier; and we made our
+salaams.
+
+The monument of the brave General Brock stands on an elevated
+point near Queenstown, and is visible at a great distance.
+
+We breakfasted at Lewiston, but felt every cup of coffee as a
+sin, so impatient were we, as we approached the end of our long
+pilgrimage, to reach the shrine, which nature seems to have
+placed at such a distance from her worshippers on purpose to try
+the strength of their devotion.
+
+A few miles more would bring us to the high altar, but first we
+had to cross the ferry, for we were determined upon taking our
+first view from British ground.  The Niagara river is very lovely
+here; the banks are bold, rugged, and richly coloured, both by
+rocks and woods; and the stream itself is bright, clear, and
+unspeakably green.
+
+In crossing the ferry a fellow-passenger made many enquiries of
+the young boatman respecting the battle of Queenstown; he was but
+a lad, and could remember little about it, but he was a British
+lad, and his answers smacked strongly of his loyal British
+feeling.  Among other things, the questioner asked if many
+American citizens had not been thrown from the heights into the
+river.
+
+"Why, yes, there was a good many of them; but it was right to
+show them there was water between us, and you know it might help
+to keep the rest of them from coming to trouble us on our own
+ground."
+
+This phrase, "our own ground," gave interest to every mile, or I
+believe I should have shut my eyes, and tried to sleep, that I
+might annihilate what remained of time and space between me and
+Niagara.
+
+But I was delighted to see British oaks, and British roofs, and
+British boys and girls.  These latter, as if to impress upon us
+that they were not citizens, made bows and courtseys as we
+passed, and this little touch of long unknown civility produced
+great effect.  "See these dear children, mamma! do they not look
+English? how I love them!" was the exclamation it produced.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 33
+
+Niagara--Arrival at Forsythes--First sight of the Falls--
+Goat Island--The Rapids--Buffalo--Lake Erie--Canandaigna--
+Stage-coach adventures
+
+
+
+At length we reached Niagara.  It was the brightest day that June
+could give; and almost any day would have seemed bright that
+brought me to the object, which for years, I had languished to
+look upon.
+
+We did not hear the sound of the Falls till very near the hotel,
+which overhangs them; as you enter the door you see behind the
+hall an open space surrounded by galleries, one above another,
+and in an instant you feel that from thence the wonder is
+visible.
+
+I trembled like a fool, and my girls clung to me, trembling too,
+I believe, but with faces beaming with delight.  We encountered a
+waiter who had a sympathy of some sort with us, for he would not
+let us run through the hall to the first gallery, but ushered us
+up stairs, and another instant placed us where, at one glance, I
+saw all I had wished for, hoped for, dreamed of.
+
+It is not for me to attempt a description of Niagara; I feel I
+have no powers for it.
+
+After one long, stedfast gaze, we quitted the gallery that we
+might approach still nearer, and in leaving the house had the
+good fortune to meet an English gentleman, (The accomplished
+author of "Cyril Thornton.") who had been introduced to us at New
+York; he had preceded us by a few days, and knew exactly how and
+where to lead us.  If any man living can describe the scene we
+looked upon it is himself, and I trust he will do it.  As for
+myself, I can only say, that wonder, terror, and delight
+completely overwhelmed me.  I wept with a strange mixture of
+pleasure and of pain, and certainly was, for some time, too
+violently affected in the _physique_ to be capable of much
+pleasure; but when this emotion of the senses subsided, and I had
+recovered some degree of composure, my enjoyment was very great
+indeed.
+
+To say that I was not disappointed is but a weak expression to
+convey the surprise and astonishment which this long dreamed of
+scene produced.  It has to me something beyond its vastness;
+there is a shadowy mystery hangs about it which neither the eye
+nor even the imagination can penetrate; but I dare not dwell on
+this, it is a dangerous subject, and any attempt to describe the
+sensations produced must lead direct to nonsense.
+
+Exactly at the Fall, it is the Fall and nothing else you have to
+look upon; there are not, as at Trenton, mighty rocks and
+towering forests, there is only the waterfall; but it is the fall
+of an ocean, and were Pelion piled on Ossa on either side of it,
+we could not look at them.
+
+The noise is greatly less than I expected; one can hear with
+perfect distinctness everything said in an ordinary tone, when
+quite close to the cataract.  The cause of this, I imagine to be,
+that it does not fall immediately among rocks, like the far
+noisier Potomac, but direct and unbroken, save by its own
+rebound.  The colour of the water, before this rebound hides it
+in foam and mist, is of the brightest and most delicate green;
+the violence of the impulse sends it far over the precipice
+before it falls, and the effect of the ever varying light through
+its transparency is, I think, the loveliest thing I ever looked
+upon.
+
+We descended to the edge of the gulf which received the torrent,
+and thence looked at the horse-shoe fall in profile; it seems
+like awful daring to stand close beside it, and raise one's eyes
+to its immensity.  I think the point the most utterly
+inconceivable to those who have not seen it, is the centre of the
+horse-shoe.  The force of the torrent converges there, and as the
+heavy mass pours in, twisted, wreathed, and curled together, it
+gives an idea of irresistible power, such as no other object ever
+conveyed to me.
+
+The following anecdote, which I had from good authority, may give
+some notion of this mighty power.
+
+After the last American war, three of our ships stationed on Lake
+Erie were declared unfit for service, and condemned.  Some of
+their officers obtained permission to send them over Niagara
+Falls.  The first was torn to shivers by the rapids, and went
+over in fragments; the second filled with water before she
+reached the fall; but the third, which was in better condition,
+took the leap gallantly, and retained her form till it was hid in
+the cloud of mist below.  A reward of ten dollars was offered for
+the largest fragment of wood that should be found from either
+wreck, five for the second, and so on.  One morsel only was ever
+seen, and that about a foot in length, was mashed as by a vice,
+and its edges notched like the teeth of a saw.  What had become
+of the immense quantity of wood which had been precipitated? What
+unknown whirlpool had engulphed it, so that, contrary to the very
+laws of nature, no vestige of the floating material could find
+its way to the surface?
+
+Beyond the horse-shoe is Goat Island, and beyond Goat Island the
+American fall, bold, straight, and chafed to snowy whiteness by
+the rocks which meet it; but it does not approach, in sublimity
+or awful beauty, to the wondrous crescent on the other shore.
+There, the form of the mighty cauldron, into which the deluge
+poors, the hundred silvery torrents congregating round its verge,
+the smooth and solemn movement with which it rolls its massive
+volume over the rock, the liquid emerald of its long unbroken
+waters, the fantastic wreaths which spring to meet it, and then,
+the shadowy mist that veils the horrors of its crash below,
+constitute a scene almost too enormous in its features for man to
+look upon.  "Angels might tremble as they gazed;" and I should
+deem the nerves obtuse, rather than strong, which did not quail
+at the first sight of this stupendous cataract.
+
+Minute local particulars can be of no interest to those who have
+not felt their influence for pleasure or for pain.  I will not
+tell of giddy stairs which scale the very edge of the torrent,
+nor of beetling slabs of table rock, broken and breaking, on
+which, shudder as you may, you must take your stand or lose your
+reputation as a tourist.  All these feats were performed again
+and again even on the first day of our arrival, and most earthly
+weary was I when the day was done, though I would not lose the
+remembrance of it to purchase the addition of many soft and
+silken ones to my existence.
+
+By four o'clock the next morning I was again at the little
+shantee, close to the horse-shoe fall, which seems reared in
+water rather than in air, and took an early shower-bath of spray.
+Much is concealed at this early hour by the heavy vapour, but
+there was a charm in the very obscurity; and every moment, as the
+light increased, cloud after cloud rolled off, till the vast
+wonder was again before me.
+
+It is in the afternoon that the rainbow is visible from the
+British side; and it is a lovely feature in the mighty landscape.
+The gay arch springs from fall to fall, a fairy bridge.
+
+After breakfast we crossed to the American side, and explored
+Goat Island.  The passage across the Niagara, directly in face of
+the falls, is one of the most delightful little voyages
+imaginable; the boat crosses marvellously near them, and within
+reach of a light shower of spray.  Real safety and apparent
+danger have each their share in the pleasure felt.  The river is
+here two hundred feet deep.  The passage up the rock brings you
+close upon the American cataract; it is a vast sheet, and has all
+the sublimity that height and width, and uproar can give; but it
+has none of the magic of its rival about it.  Goat Island has, at
+all points, a fine view of the rapids; the furious velocity with
+which they rush onward to the abyss is terrific; and the throwing
+a bridge across them was a work of noble daring.
+
+Below the falls, the river runs between lofty rocks, crowned with
+unbroken forests; this scene forms a striking contrast to the
+level shores above the cataract.  It appears as if the level of
+the river had been broken up by some volcanic force.  The Niagara
+flows out of Lake Erie, a broad, deep river; but for several
+miles its course is tranquil, and its shores perfectly level.  By
+degrees its bed begins to sink, and the glassy smoothness is
+disturbed by a slight ripple.  The inverted trees, that before
+lay so softly still upon its bosom, become twisted and tortured
+till they lose their form, and seem madly to mix in the tumult
+that destroys them.  The current becomes more rapid at every
+step, till rock after rock has chafed the stream to fury, making
+the green one white.  This lasts for a mile, and then down sink
+the rocks at once, one hundred and fifty feet, and the enormous
+flood falls after them.  God said, let there be a cataract, and
+it was so.  When the river has reached its new level, the
+precipice on either side shows a terrific chasm of solid rock;
+some beautiful plants are clinging to its sides, and oak, ash,
+and cedar, in many places, clothe their terrors with rich
+foliage.
+
+This violent transition from level shores to a deep ravine, seems
+to indicate some great convulsion as its cause, and when I heard
+of a burning spring close by, I fancied the volcanic power still
+at work, and that the wonders of the region might yet increase.
+
+We passed four delightful days of excitement and fatigue; we
+drenched ourselves in spray; we cut our feet on the rocks; we
+blistered our faces in the sun; we looked up the cataract, and
+down the cataract; we perched ourselves on every pinnacle we
+could find; we dipped our fingers in the flood at a few yards'
+distance from its thundering fall; in short, we strove to fill as
+many niches of memory with Niagara as possible; and I think the
+images will be within the power of recall for ever.
+
+We met many groups of tourists in our walks, chiefly American,
+but they were, or we fancied they were, but little observant of
+the wonders around them.
+
+One day we were seated on a point of the cliff, near the ferry,
+which commands a view of both the Falls.  This, by the way, is
+considered as the finest general view of the scene.  One of our
+party was employed in attempting to sketch, what, however, I
+believe it is impossible for any pencil to convey an idea of to
+those who have not seen it.  We had borrowed two or three chairs
+from a neighbouring cottage, and amongst us had gathered a
+quantity of boughs which, with the aid of shawls and parasols, we
+had contrived to weave into a shelter from the midday sun, so
+that altogether I have no doubt we looked very cool and
+comfortable.
+
+A large party who had crossed from the American side, wound up
+the steep ascent from the place where the boat had left them; in
+doing so their backs were turned to the cataracts, and as they
+approached the summit, our party was the principal object before
+them.  They all stood perfectly still to look at us.  This first
+examination was performed at the distance of about a dozen yard
+from the spot we occupied, and lasted about five minutes, by
+which time they had recovered breath, and acquired courage.  They
+then advanced in a body, and one or two of them began to examine
+(wrong side upwards) the work of the sketcher, in doing which
+they stood precisely between him and his object; but of this I
+think it is very probable they were not aware.  Some among them
+next began to question us as to how long we had been at the
+Falls; whether there were much company; if we were not from the
+old country, and the like.  In return we learnt that they were
+just arrived; yet not one of them (there were eight) ever turned
+the head, even for a moment, to look at the most stupendous
+spectacle that nature has to show.
+
+The company at the hotel changed almost every day.  Many parties
+arrived in the morning, walked to the falls; returned to the
+hotel to dinner, and departed by the coach immediately after it.
+Many groups were indescribably whimsical, both in appearance and
+manner.  Now and then a first-rate dandy shot in among us, like a
+falling star.
+
+On one occasion, when we were in the beautiful gallery, at the
+back of the hotel, which overlooks the horse-shoe fall, we saw
+the booted leg of one of this graceful race protruded from the
+window which commands the view, while his person was thrown back
+in his chair, and his head enveloped in a cloud of tobacco smoke.
+
+I have repeatedly remarked, when it has happened to me to meet
+any ultra fine men among the wilder and more imposing scenes of
+our own land, that they throw off, in a great degree, their
+airs, and their "townliness," as some one cleverly calls these
+_simagrees_, as if ashamed to "play their fantastic tricks"
+before the god of nature, when so forcibly reminded of his
+presence; and more than once on these occasions I have been
+surprised to find how much intellect lurked behind the inane
+mask of fashion.  But in America the effect of fine scenery
+upon this class of persons is different, for it is exactly
+when amongst it, that the most strenuous efforts at elegant
+_nonchalance_ are perceptible among the young exquisites of the
+western world.  It is true that they have little leisure for the
+display of grace in the daily routine of commercial activity in
+which their lives are passed, and this certainly offers a
+satisfactory explanation of the fact above stated.
+
+Fortunately for our enjoyment, the solemn character of the scene
+was but little broken in upon by these gentry.  Every one who
+comes to Forsythe's Hotel (except Mrs. Bogle Corbet), walks to
+the shantee, writes their name in a book which is kept there,
+and, for the most part, descends by the spiral staircase which
+leads from the little platform before it, to the rocks below.
+Here they find another shantee, but a few yards from the entrance
+of that wondrous cavern which is formed by the falling flood on
+one side, and by the mighty rock over which it pours, on the
+other.  To this frail shelter from the wild uproar, and the
+blinding spray, nearly all the touring gentlemen, and even many
+of the pretty ladies, find their way.  But here I often saw their
+noble daring fail, and have watched them dripping and draggled
+turn again to the sheltering stairs, leaving us in full
+possession of the awful scene we so dearly loved to gaze upon.
+How utterly futile must every attempt be to describe the spot!
+How vain every effort to convey an idea of the sensations it
+produces!  Why is it so exquisite a pleasure to stand for hours
+drenched in spray, stunned by the ceaseless roar, trembling from
+the concussion that shakes the very rock you cling to, and
+breathing painfully in the moist atmosphere that seems to have
+less of air than water in it?  Yet pleasure it is, and I almost
+think the greatest I ever enjoyed.  We more than once approached
+the entrance to this appalling cavern, but I never fairly entered
+it, though two or three of my party did.  I lost my breath
+entirely; and the pain at my chest was so severe, that not all my
+curiosity could enable me to endure it.
+
+What was that cavern of the winds, of which we heard of old,
+compared to this?  A mightier spirit than Aeolus reigns here.
+
+Nor was this spot of dread and danger the only one in which we
+found ourselves alone.  The path taken by "the company" to the
+shantee, which contained the "book of names" was always the same;
+this wound down the steep bank from the gate of the hotel garden,
+and was rendered tolerably easy by its repeated doublings; but it
+was by no means the best calculated to manage to advantage the
+pleasure of the stranger in his approach to the spot.  All
+others, however, seemed left for us alone.
+
+During our stay we saw the commencement of another staircase,
+intended to rival in attraction that at present in use; it is but
+a few yards from it, and can in no way, I think, contribute to
+the convenience of the descent.  The erection of the central
+shaft of this spiral stair was a most tremendous operation, and
+made me sick and giddy as I watched it.  After it had been made
+fast at the bottom, the carpenters swung themselves off the
+rocks, by the means of ropes, to the beams which traversed it;
+and as they sat across them, in the midst of the spray and the
+uproar, I thought I had never seen life periled so wantonly.  But
+the work proceeded without accident, and was nearly finished
+before we left the hotel.
+
+It was a sort of pang to take what we knew must be our last look
+at Niagara; but "we had to do it," as the Americans say, and left
+it on the 10th June, for Buffalo.
+
+The drive along the river, above the Falls, is as beautiful as a
+clear stream of a mile in width can make it; and the road
+continues close to it till you reach the ferry at Black Rock.
+
+We welcomed, almost with a shout, the British colours which we
+saw, for the first time, on Commodore Barrie's pretty sloop, the
+_Bull Dog_, which we passed as it was towing up the river to Lake
+Erie, the commodore being about to make a tour of the lakes.
+
+At Black Rock we crossed again into the United States, and a few
+miles of horrible jolting brought us to Buffalo.
+
+Of all the thousand and one towns I saw in America, I think
+Buffalo is the queerest looking; it is not quite so wild as
+Lockport, but all the buildings have the appearance of having
+been run up in a hurry, though every thing has an air of great
+pretension; there are porticos, columns, domes, and colonnades,
+but all in wood.  Every body tells you there, as in all their
+other new-born towns, and every body believes, that their
+improvement, and their progression, are more rapid, more
+wonderful, than the earth ever before witnessed; while to me,
+the only wonder is, how so many thousands, nay millions of
+persons, can be found, in the nineteenth century, who can be
+content so to live.  Surely this country may be said to spread
+rather than to rise.
+
+The Eagle Hotel, an immense wooden fabric, has all the
+pretension of a splendid establishment, but its monstrous
+corridors, low ceilings, and intricate chambers, gave me the
+feeling of a catacomb rather than a house.  We arrived after
+the _table d'hote_ tea-drinking was over, and supped comfortably
+enough with a gentleman, who accompanied us from the Falls: but
+the next morning we breakfasted in a long, low, narrow room,
+with a hundred persons, and any thing less like comfort can
+hardly be imagined.
+
+What can induce so many intellectual citizens to prefer these
+long, silent tables, scantily covered with morsels of fried ham,
+salt fish and liver, to a comfortable loaf of bread with their
+wives and children at home?  How greatly should I prefer eating
+my daily meals with my family, in an Indian wig-wam, to boarding
+at a _table d'hote_ in these capacious hotels; the custom,
+however, seems universal through the country, at least we have
+met it, without a shadow of variation as to its general features,
+from New Orleans to Buffalo.
+
+Lake Erie has no beauty to my eyes; it is not the sea, and it is
+not the river, nor has it the beautiful scenery generally found
+round smaller lakes.  The only interest its unmeaning expanse
+gave me, arose from remembering that its waters, there so tame
+and tranquil, were destined to leap the gulf of Niagara.  A
+dreadful road, through forests only beginning to be felled,
+brought us to Avon; it is a straggling, ugly little place, and
+not any of their "Romes, Carthages, Ithacas, or Athens," ever
+provoked me by their name so much.  This Avon flows sweetly with
+nothing but whiskey and tobacco juice.
+
+The next day's journey was much more interesting, for it showed
+us the lake of Canandaigua.  It is about eighteen miles long, but
+narrow enough to bring the opposite shore, clothed with rich
+foliage, near to the eye; the back-ground is a ridge of
+mountains.  Perhaps the state of the atmosphere lent an unusual
+charm to the scene; one of those sudden thunderstorms, so rapid
+in approach, and so sombre in colouring, that they change the
+whole aspect of things in a moment, rose over the mountains and
+passed across the lake while we looked upon it.  Another feature
+in the scene gave a living, but most sad interest to it.  A
+glaring wooden hotel, as fine as paint and porticos can make it,
+overhangs the lake; beside it stands a shed for cattle.  To this
+shed, and close by the white man's mushroom palace, two Indians
+had crept to seek a shelter from the storm.  The one was an aged
+man, whose venerable head in attitude and expression indicated
+the profoundest melancholy: the other was a youth, and in his
+deep-set eye there was a quiet sadness more touching still.
+There they stood, the native rightful lords of the fair land,
+looking out upon the lovely lake which yet bore the name their
+fathers had given it, watching the threatening storm that brooded
+there; a more fearful one had already burst over them.
+
+Though I have mentioned the lake first, the little town of
+Canandaigua precedes it, in returning from the West.  It is as
+pretty a village as ever man contrived to build.  Every house is
+surrounded by an ample garden, and at that flowery season they
+were half buried in roses.
+
+It is true these houses are of wood, but they are so neatly
+painted, in such perfect repair, and show so well within their
+leafy setting, that it is impossible not to admire them.
+
+Forty-six miles farther is Geneva, beautifully situated on Seneca
+Lake.  This, too, is a lovely sheet of water, and I think the
+town may rival its European namesake in beauty.
+
+We slept at Auburn, celebrated for its prison, where the
+highly-approved system of American discipline originated.  In
+this part of the country there is no want of churches; every
+little village has its wooden temple, and many of them too; that
+the Methodists and Presbyterians may not clash.
+
+We passed through an Indian reserve, and the untouched forests
+again hung close upon the road.  Repeated groups of Indians
+passed us, and we remarked that they were much cleaner and better
+dressed than those we had met wandering far from their homes.
+The blankets which they use so gracefully as mantles were as
+white as snow.
+
+We took advantage of the loss of a horse's shoe, to leave the
+coach, and approach a large party of them, consisting of men,
+women, and children, who were regaling themselves with I know not
+what, but milk made a part of the repast.  They could not talk to
+us, but they received us with smiles, and seemed to understand
+when we asked if they had mocassins to sell, for they shook their
+sable locks, and answered "no."  A beautiful grove of butternut
+trees was pointed out to us, as the spot where the chiefs of the
+six nations used to hold their senate; our informer told me that
+he had been present at several of their meetings, and though he
+knew but little of their language, the power of their eloquence
+was evident from the great effect it produced among themselves.
+
+Towards the end of this day, we encountered an adventure which
+revived our doubts whether the invading white men, in chasing
+the poor Indians from their forests, have done much towards
+civilizing the land.  For myself, I almost prefer the indigenous
+manner to the exotic.
+
+The coach stopped to take in "a lady" at Vernon; she entered, and
+completely filled the last vacant inch of our vehicle; for "we
+were eight" before.
+
+But no sooner was she seated, than her _beau_ came forward with a
+most enormous wooden best-bonnet box.  He paused for a while to
+meditate the possibilities--raised it, as if to place it on our
+laps--sunk it, as if to put it beneath our feet.  Both alike
+appeared impossible; when, in true Yankee style he addressed one
+of our party with.  If you'll just step out a minute, I guess
+I'll find room for it."
+
+"Perhaps so.  But how shall I find room for myself afterwards?"
+
+This was uttered in European accents, and in an instant half a
+dozen whiskey drinkers stepped from before the whiskey store, and
+took the part of the _beau_.
+
+"That's because you'll be English travellers I expect, but we
+have travelled in better countries than Europe--we have travelled
+in America--and the box will go, I calculate."
+
+We remonstrated on the evident injustice of the proceeding, and I
+ventured to say, that as we had none of us any luggage in the
+carriage, because the space was so very small, I thought a chance
+passenger could have no right so greatly to incommode us.
+
+"Right!--there they go--that's just their way--that will do in
+Europe, may be; it sounds just like English tyranny, now don't
+it? but it won't do here."  And thereupon he began thrusting in
+the wooden box against our legs, with all his strength.
+
+"No law, sir, can permit such conduct as this."
+
+"Law!" exclaimed a gentleman very particularly drunk, "we makes
+our own laws, and governs our own selves."
+
+"Law!" echoed another gentleman of Vernon, "this is a free
+country, _we have no laws here_, and we don't want no foreign
+power to tyrannize over us."
+
+295
+
+I give the words exactly.  It is, however, but fair to state,
+that the party had evidently been drinking more than an usual
+portion of whiskey, but, perhaps, in whiskey, as in wine, truth
+may come to light.  At any rate the people of the Western
+Paradise follow the Gentiles in this, that they are a law unto
+themselves.
+
+During the contest, the coachman sat upon the box without saying
+a word, but seemed greatly to enjoy the joke; the question of the
+box, however, was finally decided in our favour by the nature of
+the human material, which cannot be compressed beyond a certain
+degree.
+
+For the great part of this day we had the good fortune to have a
+gentleman and his daughter for our fellow-travellers, who were
+extremely intelligent and agreeable; but I nearly got myself into
+a scrape by venturing to remark upon a phrase used by the
+gentleman, and which had met me at every corner from the time I
+first entered the country.  We had been talking of pictures, and
+I had endeavoured to adhere to the rule I had laid down for
+myself, of saying very little, where I could say nothing
+agreeable.  At length he named an American artist, with whose
+works I was very familiar, and after having declared him equal to
+Lawrence (judging by his portrait of West, now at New York), he
+added, "and what is more, madam, he is perfectly _self-taught_."
+
+I prudently took a few moments before I answered; for the
+equalling our immortal Lawrence to a most vile dauber stuck in my
+throat; I could not say Amen; so for some time I said nothing;
+but, at last, I remarked on the frequency with which I had heard
+this phrase of _self-taught_ used, not as an apology, but as
+positive praise.
+
+"Well, madam, can there be a higher praise?"
+
+"Certainly not, if spoken of the individual merits of a person,
+without the means of instruction, but I do not understand it when
+applied as praise to his works."
+
+"Not understand it, madam?  Is it not attributing genius to the
+author, and what is teaching compared to that?"
+
+296
+
+I do not wish to repeat all my own _bons mots_ in praise of
+study, and on the disadvantages of profound ignorance, but I
+would, willingly, if I could, give an idea of the mixed
+indignation and contempt expressed by our companion at the idea
+that study was necessary to the formation of taste, and to the
+development of genius.  At last, however, he closed the
+discussion thus,--"There is no use in disputing a point that is
+already settled, madam; the best judges declare that Mr. H--g's
+portraits are equal to that of Lawrence."
+
+"Who is it who has passed this judgement, sir?"
+
+"The men of taste of America, madam."
+
+I then asked him, if he thought it was going to rain?
+
+
+
+The stages do not appear to have any regular stations at which
+to stop for breakfast, dinner, and supper.  These necessary
+interludes, therefore, being generally _impromptu_, were
+abominably bad.  We were amused by the patient manner in which
+our American fellow-travellers ate whatever was set before them,
+without uttering a word of complaint, or making any effort to
+improve it, but no sooner reseated in the stage, than they began
+their complaints--"twas a shame"--"twas a robbery"--"twas
+poisoning folks"--and the like.  I, at last, asked the reason of
+this, and why they did not remonstrate?  "Because, madam, no
+American gentleman or lady that keeps an inn won't bear to be
+found fault with."
+
+We reached Utica very late and very weary; but the delights of a
+good hotel and perfect civility sent us in good humour to bed,
+and we arose sufficiently refreshed to enjoy a day's journey
+through some of the loveliest scenery in the world.
+
+Who is it that says America is not picturesque?  I forget; but
+surely he never travelled from Utica to Albany.  I really cannot
+conceive that any country can furnish a drive of ninety-six miles
+more beautiful, or more varied in its beauty.  The road follows
+the Mohawk River, which flows through scenes changing from
+fields, waving with plenty, to rocks and woods; gentle slopes,
+covered with cattle, are divided from each other by precipices
+500 feet high.  Around the little falls there is a character of
+beauty as singular as it is striking.  Here, as I observed of
+many other American rivers, the stream appears to run in a much
+narrower channel than it once occupied, and the space which it
+seems formerly to have filled, is now covered with bright green
+herbage, save that, at intervals, large masses of rock rise
+abruptly from the level turf; these are crowned with all such
+trees as love the scanty diet which a rock affords.  Dwarf oak,
+cedars, and the mountain ash, are grouped in a hundred different
+ways among them; each clump you look upon is lovelier than its
+neighbour; I never saw so sweetly wild a spot.
+
+I was surprised to hear a fellow-traveller say, as we passed a
+point of peculiar beauty, "all this neighbourhood belongs, or did
+belong, to Mr. Edward Ellice, an English Member of Parliament,
+but he has sold a deal of it, and now, madam, you may see as it
+begins to improve;" and he pointed to a great wooden edifice,
+where, on the white paint, "Cash for Rags," in letters three feet
+high, might be seen.
+
+I then remembered that it was near this spot that my Yankee
+friend had made his complaint against English indifference to
+"water privilege."  He did not name Mr. Edward Ellice, but
+doubtless he was the "English, as never thought of improvement."
+
+I have often confessed my conscious incapacity for description,
+but I must repeat it here to apologize for my passing so dully
+through this matchless valley of the Mohawk.  I would that some
+British artist, strong in youthful daring, would take my word for
+it, and pass over, for a summer pilgrimage through the State of
+New York.  In very earnest, he would wisely, for I question if
+the world could furnish within the same space, and with equal
+facility of access, so many subjects for his pencil.  Mountains,
+forests, rocks, lakes, rivers, cataracts, all in perfection.  But
+he must be bold as a lion in colouring, or he will make nothing
+of it.  There is a clearness of atmosphere, a strength of _chiaro
+oscuro_, a massiveness in the foliage, and a brilliance of
+contrast, that must make a colourist of any one who has an eye.
+He must have courage to dip his pencil in shadows black as night,
+and light that might blind an eagle.  As I presume my young
+artist to be an enthusiast, he must first go direct to Niagara,
+or even in the Mohawk valley his pinioned wing may droop.  If his
+fever run very high, he may slake his thirst at Trenton, and
+while there, he will not dream of any thing beyond it.  Should my
+advice be taken, I will ask the young adventurer on his return
+(when he shall have made a prodigious quantity of money by my
+hint), to reward me by two sketches.  One shall be the lake of
+Canandaigua; the other the Indians' Senate Grove of Butternuts.
+
+During our journey, I forget on which day of it, a particular
+spot in the forest, at some distance from the road, was pointed
+out to us as the scene of a true, but very romantic story.
+During the great and the terrible French revolution (1792), a
+young nobleman escaped from the scene of horror, having with
+difficulty saved his head, and without the possibility of saving
+any thing else.  He arrived at New York nearly destitute; and
+after passing his life, not only in splendour, but in the
+splendour of the court of France, he found himself jostled by the
+busy population of the New World, without a dollar between him
+and starvation.  In such a situation one might almost sigh for
+the guillotine.  The young noble strove to labour; but who would
+purchase the trembling efforts of his white hands, while the
+sturdy strength of many a black Hercules was in the market?  He
+abandoned the vain attempt to sustain himself by the aid of his
+fellow-men, and determined to seek a refuge in the forest.  A few
+shillings only remained to him; he purchased an axe, and reached
+the Oneida territory.  He felled a few of the slenderest trees,
+and made himself a shelter that Robinson Crusoe would have
+laughed at, for it did not keep out the rain.  Want of food,
+exposure to the weather, and unwonted toil, produced the natural
+result; the unfortunate young man fell sick, and stretched upon
+the reeking earth, stifled, rather than sheltered, by the
+withering boughs which hung over him; he lay parched with thirst,
+and shivering in ague, with the one last earthly hope, that each
+heavy moment would prove the last.
+
+Near to the spot which he had chosen for his miserable rest, but
+totally concealed from it by the thick forest, was the last
+straggling wigwam of an Indian village.  It is not known how many
+days the unhappy man had lain without food, but he was quite
+insensible when a young squaw, whom chance had brought from this
+wigwam to his hut, entered, and found him alive, but totally
+insensible.  The heart of woman is, I believe, pretty much the
+same every where; the young girl paused not to think whether he
+were white or red, but her fleet feet rested not till she had
+brought milk, rum, and blankets, and when the sufferer recovered
+his senses, his head was supported on her lap, while, with the
+gentle tenderness of a mother, she found means to make him
+swallow the restoratives she had brought.
+
+No black eyes in the world, be they of France, Italy, or even
+of Spain, can speak more plainly of kindness, than the large
+deep-set orbs of a squaw; this is a language that all nations
+can understand, and the poor Frenchman read most clearly, in
+the anxious glance of his gentle nurse, that he should not die
+forsaken.
+
+So far the story is romantic enough, and what follows is hardly
+less so.  The squaw found means to introduce her white friend to
+her tribe; he was adopted as their brother, speedily acquired
+their language, and assumed their dress and manner of life.  His
+gratitude to his preserver soon ripened into love, and if the
+chronicle spoke true, the French noble and the American savage
+were more than passing happy as man and wife, and it was not till
+he saw himself the father of many thriving children that the
+exile began to feel a wish of rising again from savage to
+civilized existence.
+
+My historian did not explain what his project was in visiting
+New York, but he did so in the habit of an Indian, and learnt
+enough of the restored tranquillity of his country to give him
+hope that some of the broad lands he had left there might be
+restored to him.
+
+I have made my story already too long, and must not linger upon
+it farther than to say that his hopes were fulfilled, and that,
+of a large and flourishing family, some are settled in France,
+and some remain in America, (one of these, I understood, was a
+lawyer at New York), while the hero and the heroine of the tale
+continue to inhabit the Oneida country, not in a wigwam, however,
+but in a good house, in a beautiful situation, with all the
+comforts of civilized life around them.
+
+Such was the narrative we listened to, from a stage coach
+companion; and it appears to me sufficiently interesting to
+repeat, though I have no better authority to quote for its
+truth, than the assertion of this unknown traveller.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER 34
+
+Return to New York--Conclusion
+
+
+
+The comfortable Adelphi Hotel again received us at Albany, on the
+14th of June, and we decided upon passing the following day
+there, both to see the place, and to recruit our strength, which
+we began to feel we had taxed severely by a very fatiguing
+journey, in most oppressively hot weather.  It would have been
+difficult to find a better station for repose; the rooms were
+large and airy, and ice was furnished in most profuse abundance.
+
+But notwithstanding the manifold advantages of this excellent
+hotel, I was surprised at the un-English arrangement communicated
+to me by two ladies with whom we made a speaking acquaintance,
+by which it appeared that they made it their permanent home.
+These ladies were a mother and daughter; the daughter was an
+extremely pretty young married woman, with two little children.
+Where the husbands were, or whether they were dead or alive, I
+know not; but they told me they had been _boarding_ there above
+a year. They breakfasted, dined, and supped at the _table
+d'hote_, with from twenty to a hundred people, as accident might
+decide; dressed very smart, played on the piano, in the public
+sitting-room, and assured me they were particularly comfortable
+and well accommodated.  What a life!
+
+Some parts of the town are very handsome; the Town Hall, the
+Chamber of Representatives, and some other public buildings,
+stand well on a hill that overlooks the Hudson, with ample
+enclosures of grass and trees around them.
+
+Many of the shops are large, and showily set out.  I was amused
+by a national trait which met me at one of them.  I entered it to
+purchase some _eau de Cologne_, but finding what was offered to
+me extremely bad, and very cheap, I asked if they had none at a
+higher price, and better.
+
+"You are a stranger, I guess," was the answer.  "The Yankees want
+low price, that's all; they don't stand so much for goodness as
+the English."
+
+Nothing could be more beautiful than our passage down the Hudson
+on the following day, as I thought of some of my friends in
+England, dear lovers of the picturesque, I could not but exclaim,
+
+      "Que je vous plains! que je vous plains!
+       Vous ne la verrez pas."
+
+Not even a moving panoramic view, gliding before their eyes for
+an hour together, in all the scenic splendour of Drury Lane, or
+Covent Garden, could give them an idea of it.  They could only
+see one side at a time.  The change, the contrast, the ceaseless
+variety of beauty, as you skim from side to side, the liquid
+smoothness of the broad mirror that reflects the scene, and most
+of all, the clear bright air through which you look at it; all
+this can only be seen and believed by crossing the Atlantic.
+
+As we approached New York the burning heat of the day relaxed,
+and the long shadows of evening fell coolly on the beautiful
+villas we passed.  I really can conceive nothing more exquisitely
+lovely than this approach to the city.  The magnificent boldness
+of the Jersey shore on the one side, and the luxurious softness
+of the shady lawns on the other, with the vast silvery stream
+that flows between them, altogether form a picture which may well
+excuse a traveller for saying, once and again, that the Hudson
+river can be surpassed in beauty by none on the outside of
+Paradise.
+
+It was nearly dark when we reached the city, and it was with
+great satisfaction that we found our comfortable apartments in
+Hudson Street unoccupied; and our pretty, kind (Irish) hostess
+willing to receive us again.  We passed another fortnight there;
+and again we enjoyed the elegant hospitality of New York, though
+now it was offered from beneath the shade of their beautiful
+villas.  In truth, were all America like this fair city, and all,
+no, only a small proportion of its population like the friends we
+left there, I should say, that the land was the fairest in the
+world.
+
+But the time was come to bid it adieu!  The important business of
+securing our homeward passage was to be performed.  One must know
+what it is to cross the ocean before the immense importance of
+all the little details of accommodation can be understood.  The
+anxious first look: into the face of the captain, to ascertain if
+he be gentle or rough; another, scarcely less important, in that
+of the steward, generally a sable one, but not the less
+expressive; the accurate, but rapid glance of measurement thrown
+round the little state-rooms; another at the good or bad
+arrangement of the stair-case, by which you are to stumble up and
+stumble down, from cabin to deck, and from deck to cabin; all
+this, they only can understand who have felt it.  At length,
+however, this interesting affair was settled, and most happily.
+The appearance promised well, and the performance bettered it.
+We hastened to pack up our "trumpery," as Captain Mirven
+unkindly calls the paraphernalia of the ladies, and among the
+rest, my six hundred pages of griffonage.  There is enough of it,
+yet I must add a few more lines.
+
+I suspect that what I have written will make it evident that I do
+not like America.  Now, as it happens that I met with individuals
+there whom I love and admire, far beyond the love and admiration
+of ordinary acquaintance, and as I declare the country to be fair
+to the eye, and most richly teeming with the gifts of plenty, I
+am led to ask myself why it is that I do not like it.  I would
+willingly know myself, and confess to others, why it is that
+neither its beauty nor its abundance can suffice to neutralize,
+or greatly soften, the distaste which the aggregate of my
+recollections has left upon my mind.
+
+I remember hearing it said, many years ago, when the advantages
+and disadvantages of a particular residence were being discussed,
+that it was the "who?" and not the "where?" that made the
+difference between the pleasant or unpleasant residence.  The
+truth of the observation struck me forcibly when I heard it; and
+it has been recalled to my mind since, by the constantly
+recurring evidence of its justness.  In applying this to America,
+I speak not of my friends, nor of my friends' friends.  The small
+patrician band is a race apart; they live with each other, and
+for each other; mix wondrously little with the high matters of
+state, which they seem to leave rather supinely to their tailors
+and tinkers, and are no more to be taken as a sample of the
+American people, than the head of Lord Byron as a sample of the
+heads of the British peerage.  I speak not of these, but of the
+population generally, as seen in town and country, among the rich
+and the poor, in the slave states, and the free states.  I do not
+like them.  I do not like their principles, I do not like their
+manners, I do not like their opinions.
+
+Both as a woman, and as a stranger, it might be unseemly for me
+to say that I do not like their government, and therefore I will
+not say so.  That it is one which pleases themselves is most
+certain, and this is considerably more important than pleasing
+all the travelling old ladies in the world.  I entered the
+country at New Orleans, remained for more than two years west of
+the Alleghanies, and passed another year among the Atlantic
+cities, and the country around them.  I conversed during this
+time with citizens of all orders and degrees, and I never heard
+from any one a single disparaging word against their government.
+It is not, therefore, surprising, that when the people of that
+country hear strangers questioning the wisdom of their
+institutions, and expressing disapprobation at some of their
+effects, they should set it down either to an incapacity
+of judging, or a malicious feeling of envy and ill-will.
+
+"How can any one in their senses doubt the excellence of a a
+government which we have tried for half a century, and loved the
+better the longer we have known it."  Such is the natural enquiry
+of every American when the excellence of their government is
+doubted; and I am inclined to answer, that no one in their
+senses, who has visited the country, and known the people, can
+doubt its fitness for them, such as they now are, or its utter
+unfitness for any other people..
+
+Whether the government has made the people what they are, or
+whether the people have made the government what it is, to suit
+themselves, I know not; but if the latter, they have shown a
+consummation of wisdom which the assembled world may look upon
+and admire.
+
+It is a matter of historical notoriety that the original stock of
+the white population now inhabiting the United States, were
+persons who had banished themselves, or were banished from the
+mother country.  The land they found was favourable to their
+increase and prosperity; the colony grew and flourished.  Years
+rolled on, and the children, the grand-children, and the great
+grand-children of the first settlers, replenished the land, and
+found it flowing with milk and honey.  That they should wish to
+keep this milk and honey to themselves, is not very surprising.
+What did the mother country do for them?  She sent them out gay
+and gallant officers to guard their frontier; the which they
+thought they could guard as well themselves; and then she taxed
+their tea.  Now, this was disagreeable; and to atone for it, the
+distant colony had no great share in her mother's grace and
+glory.  It was not from among them that her high and mighty were
+chosen; the rays which emanated from that bright sun of honour,
+the British throne, reached them but feebly.  They knew not, they
+cared not, for her kings nor her heroes; their thriftiest trader
+was their noblest man; the holy seats of learning were but the
+cradles of superstition; the splendour of the aristocracy, but a
+leech that drew their "golden blood."  The wealth, the learning,
+the glory of Britain, was to them nothing; the having their own
+way every thing.
+
+Can any blame their wish to obtain it?  Can any lament that they
+succeeded?
+
+And now the day was their own, what should they do next?  Their
+elders drew together, and said, "Let us make a government that
+shall suit us all; let it be rude, and rough, and noisy; let it
+not affect either dignity, glory, or splendour; let it interfere
+with no man's will, nor meddle with any man's business; let us
+have neither tithes nor taxes, game laws, nor poor laws; let
+every man have a hand in making the laws, and no man be troubled
+about keeping them; let not our magistrates wear purple, nor our
+judges ermine; if a man grow rich, let us take care that his
+grandson be poor, and then we shall all keep equal; let every man
+take care of himself, and if England should come to bother us
+again, why then we will fight altogether."
+
+Could any thing be better imagined than such a government for a
+people so circumstanced?  Or is it strange that they are
+contented with it?  Still less is it strange that those who have
+lived in the repose of order, and felt secure that their country
+could go on very well, and its business proceed without their
+bawling and squalling, scratching and scrambling to help it,
+should bless the gods that they are not republicans.
+
+So far all is well.  That they should prefer a constitution which
+suits them so admirably, to one which would not suit them at all,
+is surely no cause of quarrel on our part; nor should it be such
+on theirs, if we feel no inclination to exchange the institutions
+which have made us what we are, for any other on the face of the
+earth.
+
+But when a native of Europe visits America, a most extraordinary
+species of tyranny is set in action against him; and as far as my
+reading and experience have enabled me to judge, it is such as no
+other country has ever exercised against strangers.
+
+The Frenchman visits England; he is _abime d'ennui_ at our
+stately dinners; shrugs his shoulders at our _corps de ballet_,
+and laughs _a gorge deployee_ at our passion for driving, and
+our partial affection for roast beef and plum pudding.  The
+Englishman returns the visit, and the first thing he does on
+arriving at Paris, is to hasten to _le Theatre des Varietes_,
+that he may see "_Les Anglaises pour rire_," and if among the
+crowd of laughters, you hear a note of more cordial mirth than
+the rest, seek out the person from whom it proceeds, and you
+will find the Englishman.
+
+The Italian comes to our green island, and groans at our climate;
+he vows that the air which destroys a statue cannot be wholesome
+for man; he sighs for orange trees, and maccaroni, and smiles at
+the pretensions of a nation to poetry, while no epics are
+chaunted through her streets.  Yet we welcome the sensitive
+southern with all kindness, listen to his complaints with
+interest, cultivate our little orange trees, and teach our
+children to lisp Tasso, in the hope of becoming more agreeable.
+
+Yet we are not at all superior to the rest of Europe in our
+endurance of censure, nor is this wish to profit by it all
+peculiar to the English; we laugh at, and find fault with, our
+neighbours quite as freely as they do with us, and they join the
+laugh, and adopt our fashions and our customs.  These mutual
+pleasantries produce no shadow of unkindly feeling; and as long
+as the governments are at peace with each other, the individuals
+of every nation in Europe make it a matter of pride, as well as
+of pleasure, to meet each other frequently, to discuss, compare,
+and reason upon their national varieties, and to vote it a mark
+of fashion and good taste to imitate each other in all the
+external embellishments of life.
+
+The consequence of this is most pleasantly perceptible at the
+present time, in every capital of Europe.  The long peace has
+given time for each to catch from each what was best in customs
+and manners, and the rapid advance of refinement and general
+information has been the result.
+
+To those who have been accustomed to this state of things, the
+contrast upon crossing to the new world is inconceivably
+annoying; and it cannot be doubted that this is one great cause
+of the general feeling of irksomeness, and fatigue of spirits,
+which hangs upon the memory while recalling the hours passed in
+American society.
+
+A single word indicative of doubt, that any thing, or every
+thing, in that country is not the very best in the world,
+produces an effect which must be seen and felt to be understood.
+If the citizens of the United States were indeed the devoted
+patriots they call themselves, they would surely not thus encrust
+themselves in the hard, dry, stubborn persuasion, that they are
+the first and best of the human race, that nothing is to be
+learnt, but what they are able to teach, and that nothing is
+worth having, which they do not possess.
+
+The art of man could hardly discover a more effectual antidote to
+improvement, than this persuasion; and yet I never listened to
+any public oration, or read any work, professedly addressed to
+the country, in which they did not labour to impress it on the
+minds of the people.
+
+To hint to the generality of Americans that the silent current of
+events may change their beloved government, is not the way to
+please them; but in truth they need be tormented with no such
+fear.  As long as by common consent they can keep down the
+pre-eminence which nature has assigned to great powers, as long
+as they can prevent human respect and human honour from resting
+upon high talent, gracious manners, and exalted station, so long
+may they be sure of going on as they are.
+
+I have been told, however, that there are some among them who
+would gladly see a change; some, who with the wisdom of
+philosophers, and the fair candour of gentlemen, shrink from a
+profession of equality which they feel to be untrue, and believe
+to be impossible.
+
+I can well believe that such there are, though to me no such
+opinions were communicated, and most truly should I rejoice to
+see power pass into such hands.
+
+If this ever happens, if refinement once creeps in among them, if
+they once learn to cling to the graces, the honours, the chivalry
+of life, then we shall say farewell to American equality, and
+welcome to European fellowship one of the finest countries on the
+earth.
+
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Domestic Manners of the Americans
+by Fanny Trollope
+
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