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diff --git a/old/10345-0.txt b/old/10345-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..425c201 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10345-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11877 @@ +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 *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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