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diff --git a/old/11329-8.txt b/old/11329-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d798a89 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11329-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,19508 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Lands of the Slave and the Free, by Henry A. Murray + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Lands of the Slave and the Free + Cuba, The United States, and Canada + +Author: Henry A. Murray + +Release Date: February 27, 2004 [EBook #11329] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LANDS OF THE SLAVE AND THE FREE *** + + + + +Produced by PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +LANDS OF THE +SLAVE AND THE FREE: + +OR, + +Cuba, the United States, and Canada. + +BY + +CAPTAIN THE HON. HENRY A. MURRAY, R.N. + +[Illustration: Entrance to a Coffee Planter's Residence.] + +1857. + + + + + "He gave us only over beast, fish, fowl, + Dominion absolute; that right we hold + By his donation; but man over man + He made not lord." + +MILTON. + + + "Gone, gone--sold and gone, + To the rice-swamp, dank and lone; + There no mother's eye is near them, + There no mother's ear can hear them; + Never, when the torturing lash + Seams their backs with many a gash, + Shall a mother's kindness bless them, + Or a mother's arms caress them." + +WHITTIER. + + +"LA CURIOSIDAD NUNCA SE ENFADA DE SABER."[A] + +ANTONIO PEREZ + + + "Oh, give me liberty! + For were even Paradise my prison, + Still I would long to leap the crystal walls." + +DRYDEN. + + + "A happy bit hame this arrld[*] warld wad be, + If men, whan they're here, would make shift to agree, + And ilk said to his neebor in cottage an' hall, + 'Come, gie me your hand, we are brethren all.'" + +[Transcribers note *: illegible] + +ROBERT NICOL. + + + + TO NIF, NASUS, AND CO., + THESE VOLUMES + Are Dedicated + AS A TOKEN OF THE SINCERE AND AFFECTIONATE REGARD + OF THEIR OBEDIENT SERVANT, + + HENRY A. MURRAY. + + LONDON, JUNE 1ST, 1855. + + + + +SECOND AND CHEAP EDITION. + + * * * * * + +The encouragement of friends, and the opinions expressed by a large +majority of those publications that considered the former edition worthy +of notice, have induced me to cut out many passages which might possibly +not interest the general reader, in order that I might send it forth to +the public in a more cheap and popular form. + +Writing upon such a subject as the United States, her constitution, and +her institutions, there was necessarily some danger of a taint of +political partisanship. I trust, however, I may he considered to have +redeemed the pledge I made of writing "free from political bias," when I +have found favour in the pages of two publications so opposite in their +politics as the _Westminster Review_ and the _Press_. + +One weekly paper with pretensions to literary criticism (the +_Athenaeum_, September 15, 1855) did me the honour of making me the +object of its unmeasured censure; but, as I was forewarned that my +success would interfere with the prospects of one of its contributors, I +was prepared for its animadversions, though most certainly I did not +anticipate the good fortune of a zeal so totally void of discretion, +that the animus which guided the critic's pen should be too transparent +to impose upon even a child. + +Conceive a would-be critic, after various spasmodic efforts at severity, +selecting from among many _comprehensive_ measures suggested by me for +the future emancipation, and for the present benefit, of the slave, the +proposition of "a proper instrument for flogging, to be established by +law," and _that_ with the evident intention of throwing ridicule on the +idea. If the critic were occasionally subject to the discipline of the +various instruments used for the punishment of the negro, his instinct +would soon teach him that which appears to be at present beyond the +grasp of his intellect, viz., the difference between a cow-hide and a +dog-whip; and if he knew anything of his own country, he could scarcely +be ignorant that the instruments used for corporal punishment in army, +navy, and prisons, are established by law or by a custom, as strong as +law. But enough of this Athenian Reviewer, I offer for his reflection +the old story, "Let her alone, poor thing; it amuses her, and does me no +harm." The next time he tries to sling a stone, I hope he will not again +crack his own skull in the clumsy endeavour. + + "Ill nature blended-with cold blood + Will make a critic sound and good. + This useful lesson hence we learn, + Bad wine to good sound vinegar will turn." +OLD PAMPHLET. + + +I now launch my barque upon a wider ocean than before. The public must +decide whether her sails shall flap listlessly against the masts, or +swell before a stiff and prosperous breeze. + +H.A.M. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +A CHAPTER GRATIS AND EXPLANATORY + + +CHAPTER I. + +_Make Ready--Fire--Departure_. + +FROM LONDON TO NEW YORK. + +Preparations +LIVERPOOL--Embarkation Scenes +Scenes on Board +CAPE RACE +Pilot +NEW YORK + + +CHAPTER II. + +_Land of Stars and Stripes_. + +AT NEW YORK. + +The First View +Custom House +Ferry Boat +First Impressions +Hospitality +American Hotels +Bar and Barbers +Bridal Chamber +Paddy Waiter +Feeding System +Streets and Buildings +Portrait Hatter +Advertisements +Loafing in Broadway + + +CHAPTER III. + +_Sights and Amusements_. + +AT NEW YORK. + +Yacht Club and Dinner. +Railway Society to LONG ISLAND +Race Stand +Trotting Match +Metallic Coffin +American Horse +Hack Cabs and Drivers +Omnibuses +City Railway Cars +Travelling Railway Cars +Tickets for Luggage +Locomotive +Suggestions for Railway Companies + +CHAPTER IV. + +_A Day on the North River_. + +FROM NEW YORK TO GENESEO. + +Embark in Steamer on Hudson +Passengers and Anecdotes +Scenery of River +ALBANY--Disembark +A Hint for Travellers +Population and Prosperity +Railway through Town +Professor of Soap +CANANDAIGUA--Hospitality. +Early Education +Opposite System +Drive across Country--Snake Fences and Scenery +Churches--a Hint for the Highlands +Cheap Bait--GENESEO + + +CHAPTER V. + +_Geneseo_. + +AT GENESEO + +Absence of Animal Life--Early Rising +View from the Terrace--Work of the Pioneer +Farm and System, Wages, &c. +A Drive--Family Scene +LAKE CANESUS +Plank road. Toll gates, &c. +Scotch Pikeman + + +CHAPTER VI. + +_Stirring Scenes and Strange Sights_. + +FROM GENESEO TO NEW YORK. + +A Drive to BATAVIA--Railway Warning +Buffalo Railway Station and Yankee Cabby +Prosperity and Contrast +NIAGARA +ROCHESTER +A Live Bloomer +Advantage proved by Contrast +Reflections on Old Fashions +Pleasant Night + + +CHAPTER VII. + +_Construction and Destruction_. + +AT NEW YORK. + +Cutter Yacht, "Black Maria" +Dinner on Board +Toddy and Chowder +Prosperity--Croton Aqueduct +Destruction of Dogs +Drive on the Bloomingdale Road +A Storm + +CHAPTER VIII. + +_South and West_. + +FROM NEW YORK TO LOUISVILLE. + +Ticket Station +PHILADELPHIA--Convenience +Luggage left behind +BALTIMORE--MAXWELL POINT +Canvas-back Ducks +Tolling for Ducks +Start by Rail--A Fix +HARRISBURGH--The Whittling Colonel +Start again. Pleasant Company +Inclined Planes--Canal Boat +Coaching Comfort +PITTSBURG +Railing through Forest, and Reflections +CLEVELAND--Mud-walk +To Sleep or not to Sleep +CINCINNATI--Statistics and Education +Porkopolis and Pigs +A bloody Scene +Ships at Marietta +OHIO--Levee and Literature +Embark on Steamer--Black Stewardess +Ibrahim Pacha and Fat + + +CHAPTER IX. + +_Scenes Ashore and Afloat_. + +FROM LOUISVILLE TO ST. LOUIS. + +Fabrication of the Republican Bonbon +Wood Machinery +A Nine-inside Coach +Human Polecat +Breakfast and Cigar _versus_ Foetor +Ferry Crossing--Travelling Beasts +Old Bell's and Old Bell +Cross Country Drive--Scenery +The Mammoth Cave +Old Bell and the Mail +Pleasant Companions +Rural Lavatory +Fat Boy and Circus Intelligence +LOUISVILLE and Advice +Ohio--A Bet at the Bar +A Dinner Scene and a Lady +Dessert and Toothpicks +Evening Recreation +CAIRO--Its Prospects +ST. LOUIS--Its Prosperity + + +CHAPTER X. + +_River Scenes_. + +FROM ST. LOUIS TO NEW ORLEANS. + +MISSISSIPPI--Good-natured Weakness +Mississippi _v_. Missouri +Stale Anecdote revived +Marriage Certificate +Folly--Description of Steamer +Inspection Farce described +Corporal Punishment--Illustration +Captain of Mizen Top _v_. White Nigger +Scenery +Mississippi--Good night +Screecher & Burster--A Race +Captain leaves us +Bed--Alarm--Wreck +Brutal Heartlessness +River Wreckers +NEW ORLEANS +Wrecks, Causes and Remedies +Anecdotes of Blood + + +CHAPTER XI. + +_New Orleans_. + +FROM NEW ORLEANS TO HAVANA. + +Situation and Bustle +Cotton, Tobacco and Sugar +Steamers, and Wages +Streets, Hotels, &c +A Friend in Need. Neighbourhood, Shell-road +Society and Remarks +Rough-and-Tumble--Lola Montez +A Presbyterian Church +The Gold Man +Autocracy of the Police +Law--Boys and Processions +Duel Penalties--Stafford House Address +Clubs +Spanish Consul and Passport +Parting Cadeau +Pilot Dodge +Purser Smith +Sneezing Dangerous--Selecting a Companion +HAVANA + + +CHAPTER XII. + +_The Queen of the Antilles_. + +AT CUBA. + +Volante +Lively Funeral +A Light to a Cigar +Evening Amusement +Trip to MATANZAS--El Casero +Slave Plantation +Sugar Making +Luxuriant Vegetation +Punic Faith and Cuban Cruelty +H.M.S. "Vestal" +Bribery +Admiralty Wisdom +Cigars and Manufactory +Population--Chinese +Laws of Domicile--Police and Slavery +Increase of Slaves and Produce +Tobacco, Games, and Lotteries +Cuban Jokes +Sketch of Governors +The Future of Cuba? + +CHAPTER XIII. + +_Change of Dynasty_. + +FROM CUBA TO BALTIMORE. + +KEY POINT +Vulgar Hebrew +CHARLESTON, WASHINGTON +Night and Morning +Congress and Inauguration +General Jackson and Changes +Cabmen and City +Shopman and Drinking +Levees and Buildings +BALTIMORE and Terrapin +The Drama +Progress--Fire Companies + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +_Philadelphia and Richmond_. + +FROM BALTIMORE TO RICHMOND. + +PHILADELPHIA and Hospitality. +Streets--Mint +Gerard College +High School +A Jail and a Cure for the Turbulent +Lunatic Asylum +NEW YORK and Embark +A Wild Paddy +CHARLESTON Arrival +Hotel and Hospitality +Climate and Buildings +Commercial Prosperity +Fire Companies +Miniature WEST POINT (_Vide_ Note) +WILMINGTON Railway Accident +PETERBOROUGH and my Hat +RICHMOND Scenery and Prosperity +Powhattan's Tree, an Episode +A Lady Friend +Fire and Folly +Monkey Boy +Gerymander +Fire Company, Frolic and Reflections + + +CHAPTER XV. + +_From a River to a Race-course_. + +FROM RICHMOND TO NEW YORK. + +Down the River +WILLIAMSBURG. Old Palace +A Governor and a Paddy +The College +Uncle Ben and his Inn +Reflections +SHIRLEY, Hospitality, &c. +BEANDON, Hospitality, &c. +Rural Election--A Cruise in a Calm +Choral Warblers and Family Altar +NORFOLK, Dockyard, &c. +Slave Servants, a Hint to the Foreign Office +_Via_ BALTIMORE to PHILADELPHIA--A Confession. +Race--Mac and Tac +NEW YORK + +CHAPTER XVI. + +_Home of the Pilgrim Fathers_. + +FROM NEW YORK TO BOSTON. + +Off by rail--Foxhunting Fire +BOSTON. Buildings and Hospitality +Neighbourhood and Names +The Drama +Spirit-rapping and Gulls + +CHAPTER XVII. + +_Teaching of Youth and a Model Jail_. + +AT BOSTON. + +Pilgrim Fathers +Education--Expenditure--Regulations, &c. +Phonetic System +A Model Jail--Telegraph and Fire--Dockyard +Water Supply, Prosperity, &c. + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +_Canada_. + +FROM BOSTON TO QUEBEC. + +Railroad and Scenery +MONTREAL, and a Welcome Face +Gavazzi--Excitement--Mob, &c. +QUEBEC and Neighbourhood Mrs. Paul and Miss Paddy +Ferry-boat and Friends +Rebellion Losses Bill +Moral Courage and Administrative Ability evidenced and acknowledged +Hint for Militia +Canadian Government + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +_A Trip to the Uttáwa_. + +FROM QUEBEC TO TORONTO. + +Mr. Hincks--Mr. Drummond--MONTREAL +Up the OTTAWAY to LACHINE, ST. ANNE'S to BYTOWN and AYLMER +The CHATS FALLS +Canadian Highlanders +Conflagration, Rafts, Lumberers, and Teetotallers +The Struggle, the Goal, and the Return +AYLMER Prosperity +BYTOWN. Scenery and Advantages +Slides for Lumber--Mr. Mackay +Object of Councillor's Visit +Drive across Country +PRESCOTT and OGDENSBURG +KINGSTON +LAKE ONTARIO and a Nice Bed +TORONTO + +CHAPTER XX. + +_Colonial Education and Prosperity_. + +AT TORONTO. + +TORONTO. Population, Prosperity and Buildings +The Normal School +Education generally Canadian Prospects and Prosperity + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +_A Cataract and a Celebration_. + +FROM TORONTO TO NEW YORK. + +Embark in Steamer +QUEENSTOWN & LEWISTOWN +A Drive, a Bait, and a Lesson +NIAGARA and Moonlight +BATAVIA, GENESEO, and 4th July +Hawking Carriages--ROCHESTER +ALBANY--Hands and Sandwiches +Dropped outside--NEW YORK + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +_Education, Civil and Military_. + +NEW YORK AND WEST POINT. + +Free Academy +WEST POINT. Military Academy +Anecdote, &c. +NEW YORK + + * * * * * + +Here travelling ceases, and the remaining Chapters are devoted to the +discussion of subjects which I trust may interest the reader. + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +_Watery Highways and Metallic Intercourse_. + +Area of Lakes, and Tonnage thereon +Mississippi--Produce borne and destroyed +Mr. Douglas and Custom Houses +A Great Party Doctrine +Erie Canal--Barn-burners and Hunkers +Railways--United States and England +Telegraph +Systems of Telegraph + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +_America's Press and England's Censor_. + +Issues of the Press +Wonderful Statistics +Character of the Press +Great Britain's Press +Low Literature of America +Barefaced Robbery--_Northwood_ Specimen +_English Items_ Specimen +The Author of _English Items_ +SUBJECTS EXTRACTED:-- + Relations with England + Sixpenny Miracles + Army Commissions--English Writers + American Spitting + Holy Places + English Friends + Original Sin + English Manners + English Church and Heraldry + Devotion to Dinner + Conclusion +Subsequent Career of Mr. Ward--The Offence--The Scene and the Death +Acquittal and Effects + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +_The Institution of Slavery_. + +Original Guilt +Northern Fanatics +Irritation produced +Northern Friendship questioned +Grounds of Southerners' Objections to the Abolitionists +English Abolitionists +Mrs. Stowe's Ovation +Treatment of Slaves +Irresponsible Power and Public Opinion +Sources of Opinion as to Treatment of Slaves--Law--Self-interest +Christianity +Habit +Causes of Indignation +Recrimination +Evidence from Authors--Press and Canada +Review of Progress of Slavery +Slave Population and Value +Question of Freedom + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +_Hints for Master and Hopes for Slave_. + +PROPOSALS. + Free Soil + Fugitive Law + Territory of Refuge +TREATMENT DISCUSSED. + Corporal Punishment + Forfeiture and Testimony + System for Ultimate Freedom + The Blackest Feature in Slavery +VISIONARY DEPUTATION + Inveterate Slaveholder + Touchy Slaveholder, and Swaggering Bully + Clerical Slave Advocate + Amiable Planter + Recriminator + Abolitionist and Intelligent Slaveholder + A frightful Question + Closing Observations +Nebraska--The Christian and the Mussulman + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +_Constitution of the United States_. + +Plan Proposed +Government and Qualification for Office +Elective Franchise +Frequency of Elections +Ballot +Effects of Elections under the Ballot +Remedy proposed +John Randolph, Sydney Smith, and Clubs +Payment of Members and its Effects +Scene in Congress +The Judiciary +Exclusion of Cabinet from Seats +Power of President +Election of President +Governors of States, and Power of Pardon +Conclusion and Testimony of Bishop Hopkins + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +_The Church, the School, and the Law_. + +Church Statistics +American Episcopal Prayer-Book +Methodist Episcopacy and Presbyterian Music +What exists at Home +Ismite Convention +Education Statistics and College Expenses +Pray read this--Law for Conveyance of Land + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +_Inventions and Inveighings_. + +What is a Bay? +Dr. King--Fulton and Steam +Telegraph and American Modesty +Reaping Machine +Opinion of a Borderer +American Ingenuity +Fire-arms and Militia + +CHAPTER XXX. + +_Adverse Influences_. + +The 4th July +Mr. Douglas and Congress +Miss Willard and John Mitchell +Who are the Antipathists? + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +_Olla Podrida_. + +American Vanity +American Sensitiveness +American Morals +Territory and Population +Effect of Early Education +Phases of Liberty +Strikes +Intelligence +Energy +'Cuteness and Eggs +Enterprise--Lord-hunting +Hospitality--Political Parties +Know-nothings +The Future +My Endeavour +My Warning +Lord Holland, Hope, and Farewell + + +NOTES. + +EXTENT OF TELEGRAPH IN THE UNITED KINGDOM +A SHORT SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF FIRE-ARMS + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote A: + "THE INQUIRING MIND WEARIES NOT IN THE PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE." + +ANTONIO PEREZ. (_Translation_)] + + + + +EXPLANATORY LIST OF PLATES. + + +VIGNETTE OF THE ENTRANCE TO A COFFEE PLANTER'S RESIDENCE + +RAILWAY CARRIAGE + +LOCOMOTIVE + +CUTTER YACHT "MARIA" + + The following are the dimensions referred to in the text as being on + the original engraving:-- + + Tonnage by displacement 137 tons + Length on deck 110 feet + Breadth of beam 26-1/2 " + Depth of hold 8-1/4 " + Length of mast 91 " + Length of boom 95 " + Length of gaff 50 feet + Length of jibboom 70 " + Length of bowsprit on board 27 " + Diameter of bowsprit 24 in. + Diameter of boom 26 in. + +MAP OF CROTON AQUEDUCT + + This map is accurately copied from Mr. Schramke's scientific work, but + the reader is requested to understand that the lines drawn at right + angles over the whole of Manhattan Island represent what the city of + New York is intended to be. At present its limits scarcely pass _No. + 1. Distributing Reservoir_. + +STEWARDESS OF THE "LADY FRANKLIN" + + This print may possibly be a little exaggerated. + +A MISSISSIPPI STEAMER + + This print is raised out of all proportion, for the purpose of giving + a better idea of the scenes on board, than the limits of the sheet + would otherwise have permitted. If the cabin on the deck of the Hudson + River steamer were raised upon pillars about 15 or 20 feet high, it + would convey a tolerably accurate impression of the proper + proportions. + +THE NEW ST. CHARLES HOTEL, NEW ORLEANS + +EL CASERO, OR THE PARISH HAWKER IN CUBA + +THE GERARD COLLEGE, PHILADELPHIA + +NORMAL SCHOOL, TORONTO + + A great portion of the ground adjoining is now given up to + agricultural experimental purposes. + +HUDSON RIVER STEAMER, 1200 TONS + + The dimensions are:-- + + Length 325 feet + Breadth 38 " + Depth of hold 11 " + Width of cylinder. 5 ft. 10 in. + Length of stroke. 14 feet + Diameter of wheel. 40 " + +MAP OF THE UNITED STATES + + + + +A CHAPTER, + +_Gratis and Explanatory_. + + +What is the use of a preface? Who wants a preface? Nay, more--what is a +preface? Who can define it? That which it is most unlike is the +mathematical myth called a point, which may be said to have neither +length nor breadth, and consequently no existence; whereas a preface +generally has extreme length, all the breadth the printer can give it, +and an universal existence. + +But if prefaces cannot be described with mathematical accuracy, they +admit of classification with most unmathematical inaccuracy. First, you +have a large class which may be called CLAIMERS. Ex.: One claims a +certain degree of consideration, upon the ground that it is the author's +first effort; a second claims indulgence, upon the ground of haste; a +third claims attention, upon the ground of the magnitude and importance +of the subject, &c. &c. Another large class may be termed MAKERS. Ex.: +One makes an excuse for tediousness; a second makes an apology for +delay; a third makes his endeavours plead for favourable reception, &c. +Then again you have the INTERROGATOR, wherein a reader is found before +the work is printed, convenient questions are put into his mouth, and +ready replies are given, to which no rejoinder is permitted. This is +very astute practice.--Then again there is the PUFFER AND CONDENSER, +wherein, if matter be wanting in the work, a prefacial waggon is put +before the chapteral pony, the former acting the part of pemican, or +concentrated essence, the latter representing the liquid necessary for +cooking it; the whole forming a _potage au lecteur_, known among +professional men as "soldier's broth." + +My own opinion on this important point is, that a book is nothing more +nor less than a traveller; he is born in Fact or Fancy; he travels along +a goose-quill; then takes a cruise to a printer's. On his return thence +his health is discovered to be very bad; strong drastics are applied; he +is gradually cooked up; and when convalescent, he puts on his Sunday +clothes, and struts before the public. At this critical juncture up +comes the typish master of the ceremonies, Mr. Preface, and commences +introducing him to them; but knowing that both man and woman are +essentially inquisitive, he follows the example of that ancient and +shrewd traveller who, by way of saving time and trouble, opened his +address to every stranger he accosted, in some such manner as the +following:--"Sir, I am Mr. ----, the son of Mr. ----, by ----, his wife +and my mother. I left ---- two days ago. I have got ---- in my +carpet-bag. I am going to ---- to see Mr. ----, and to try and purchase +some ----." Then followed the simple question for which an answer was +wanted, "Will you lend me half-a-crown?" "Tell me the road;" "Give me a +pinch of snuff;" or "Buy my book," as the case might be. The stranger, +gratified with his candour, became immediately prepossessed in his +favour. I will endeavour to follow the example of that 'cute traveller, +and forestall those questions which I imagine the reader--if there be +one--might wish to ask. + +1. Why do I select a subject on which so many abler pens have been +frequently and lately employed?--Because it involves so many important +questions, both socially and politically, in a field where the changes +are scarcely less rapid than the ever-varying hues on the dying dolphin; +and because the eyes of mankind, whether mental or visual, are as +different as their physiognomies; and thus those who are interested in +the subject are enabled to survey it from different points of view. + +2. Do I belong to any of those homoeopathic communities called political +parties?--I belong to none of them; I look upon all of them as so many +drugs in a national apothecary's shop. All have their useful qualities, +even the most poisonous; but they are frequently combined so +injudiciously as to injure John Bull's health materially, especially as +all have a strong phlebotomizing tendency, so much so, that I often see +poor John in his prostration ready to cry out, "Throw Governments to the +dogs--I'll none of them!" If in my writings I appear to show on some +points a political bias, it is only an expression of those sentiments +which my own common sense[B] and observation have led me to entertain on +the subject under discussion, and for which I offer neither defence nor +apology. + +3. Am I an artist?--No; I am an author and a plagiarist. Every sketch in +my book is taken from some other work, except the "Screecher," which is +from the artistic pen of Lady G.M.; and the lovely form and features of +the coloured sylph, for which I am indebted to my friend Mr. J.F.C.--You +must not be too curious.--I consider myself justified in plagiarizing +anything from anybody, if I conceive it will help to elucidate my +subject or amuse my reader, provided always I have a reasonable ground +for believing the source is one with which the general reader is not +likely to be acquainted. But when I do steal, I have the honesty to +confess it. + +4. What is my book about?--It treats of an island, a confederacy and a +colony; and contains events of travel, facts and thoughts concerning +people, telegraphs, railroads, canals, steam, rivers, commercial +prosperity, education, the Press, low literature, slavery, government, +&c. &c. + +5. What security can I offer for the pretensions advanced being made +good?--None whatever. Who takes me, must take me, like a wife, "for +better for worse," only he is requested to remember I possess three +distinct advantages over that lady.--First, you can look inside me as +well as out: Secondly, you can get me more easily and keep me more +cheaply: Thirdly, if you quarrel with me, you can get a divorce in the +fire-place or at the trunkmaker's, without going to the House of Lords. + +I trust I have now satisfied all the legitimate demands of curiosity. + +I will only further remark that in some of my observations upon, the +United States, such as travelling and tables-d'hôte, the reader must +bear in mind that in a land of so-called equality, whenever that +principle is carried out, no comparison can be drawn accurately between +similar subjects in the Republic and in England. + +The society conveyed in one carriage in the States embraces the first, +second, and third-class passengers of Great Britain; and the society fed +at their tables-d'hôte contains all the varieties found in this country, +from the pavilion to the pot-house. If we strike a mean between the +extremes as the measure of comfort thus obtained, it is obvious, that in +proportion as the traveller is accustomed to superior comforts in this +country, so will he write disparagingly of their want in the States, +whereas people of the opposite extreme will with equal truth laud their +superior comforts. The middle man is never found, for every traveller +either praises or censures. However unreasonable it might be to expect +the same refinements in a Republic of "Equal rights," as those which +exist in some of the countries of the Old World under a system more +favourable to their development, it is not the less a traveller's duty +to record his impressions faithfully, leaving it to the reader to draw +his own conclusions. + +It was suggested to me to read several works lately published, and +treating of the United States; but as I was most anxious to avoid any of +that bias which such reading would most probably have produced, I have +strictly avoiding so doing, even at the risk of repeating what others +may have said before. + +I have nothing further to add in explanation.--The horses are to.--The +coach is at the door.--Chapter one is getting in.--To all who are +disposed to accompany me in my journey, I say--Welcome! + +H.A.M. + +D 4, ALBANY, LONDON, + +_1st June, 1855_. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote B: Perhaps "human instinct" might be a more modest +expression.] + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +_"Make ready ... Fire!" The Departure._ + + +The preparations for the start of a traveller on a long journey are +doubtless of every variety in quality and quantity, from the poor Arab, +whose wife carries his house as well as all his goods--or perhaps I +should rather say, from Sir Charles Napier of Scinde with his one +flannel waistcoat and his piece of brown soap--up to the owners of the +Dover waggon-looking "_fourgon_" who carry with them for a week's trip +enough to last a century. My weakness, reader, is, I believe, a very +common one, i.e., a desire to have everything, and yet carry scarce +anything. + +The difficulties of this arrangement are very perplexing to your +servant, if you have one, as in my case. First you put out every +conceivable article on the bed or floor, and then with an air of +self-denial you say, "There, that will be enough;" and when you find an +additional portmanteau lugged out, you ask with an air of astonishment +(which may well astonish the servant), "What on earth are you going to +do with that?" "To put your things into it, sir," is the very natural, +reply; so, after a good deal of "Confound it, what a bore," &c., it ends +in everything being again unpacked, a fresh lot thrown aside, and a new +packing commenced; and believe me, reader, the oftener you repeat this +discarding operation, the more pleasantly you will travel. I speak from +experience, having, during my wanderings, lost everything by shipwreck, +and thus been forced to pass through all the stages of quantity, till I +once more burdened myself as unnecessarily as at starting. + +It was a lovely September morning in 1852, when, having put my traps +through the purging process twice, and still having enough for +half-a-dozen people, I took my place in the early train from +Euston-square for Liverpool, where I was soon housed in the Adelphi. A +young American friend, who was going out in the same steamer on the +following morning, proposed a little walk before the shades of evening +closed in, as he had seen nothing of the city. Off we started, full of +intentions never to be realized: I stepped into a cutler's shop to buy a +knife; a nice-looking girl in the middle of her teens, placed one or two +before me; I felt a nudge behind, and a voice whispered in my ear, "By +George, what a pretty hand!" It was perfectly true; and so convinced was +my friend of the fact, that he kept repeating it in my ear. When my +purchase was completed, and the pretty hand retired, my friend exhibited +symptoms of a strong internal struggle: it was too much for him. At last +he burst out with, "Have you any scissors?"--Aside to me, "What a pretty +little hand!"--Then came a demand for bodkins, then for needles, then +for knives, lastly for thimbles, which my friend observed were too +large, and begged might be tried on her taper fingers. He had become so +enthusiastic, and his asides to me were so rapid, that I believe he +would have bought anything which those dear little hands had touched. + +Paterfamilias, who, while poring over his ledger, had evidently had his +ears open, now became alarmed at the reduction that was going on in his +stock, and consequently came forward to scrutinize the mysterious +purchaser. I heard a voice muttering "Confound that old fellow!" as the +dutiful daughter modestly gave place to papa; a Bank of England tenner +passed from my friend's smallclothes to the cutler's small till, and a +half-crown _vice versa_. When we got to the door it was pitch dark; and +thus ended our lionizing of the public buildings of Liverpool. + +On the way back to the hotel, as my companion was thinking aloud, I +heard him alternately muttering in soft tones, "What a pretty hand," and +then, in harsh and hasty tones, '"Confound," ... "crusty old fellow;" +and reflecting thereon, I came to the conclusion that if the expressions +indicated weakness, they indicated that pardonable civilizing weakness, +susceptibility to the charms of beauty; and I consequently thought more +kindly of my future fellow-traveller. In the evening we were joined by +my brother and a young officer of the Household Brigade, who were to be +fellow-passengers in our trip across the Atlantic. + +Early morning witnessed a procession of hackney coaches, laden as though +we were bent on permanent emigration. Arrived at the quay, a small, +wretched-looking steamer was lying alongside, to receive us and our +goods for transport to the leviathan lying in mid-channel, with her +steam up ready for a start. + +The operation of disposing of the passengers' luggage in this wretched +little tea-kettle was amusing enough in its way. Everybody wanted +everybody else's traps to be put down, below, and their own little this, +and little that, kept up: one group, a man, wife, and child, +particularly engaged my attention; the age of the child, independent of +the dialogue, showed that the honeymoon was passed. + +WIFE.--"Now, William, my dear, _do_ keep that little box up!" + +HUSBAND.--"Hi! there; keep that hat-box of mine up!" (_Aside_,) "Never +mind your box, my dear, _it_ wont hurt." + +WIFE.--"Oh, William, there's my little cap-box going down! it will be +broken, in pieces." + +HUSBAND.--"Oh! don't be afraid, my dear, they'll take care of it. Stop, +my man, that's my desk; give it me here," &c. &c. + +The dialogue was brought to a sudden stop by the frantic yell of the +juvenile pledge of their affections, whose years had not yet reached two +figures; a compact little iron-bound box had fallen on his toe, and the +poor little urchin's pilliloo, pilliloo, was pitiful. Mamma began +hugging and kissing, while papa offered that handy consolation of, +"Never mind, that's a good boy; don't cry." In the meantime, the Jacks +had profited by the squall, and, when it ceased, the happy couple had +the satisfaction of seeing all their precious boxes buried deep in the +hold. + +The stream of luggage having stopped, and the human cargo being all on +board, we speedily cast off our lashings, and started: fortunately, it +was fine weather, for, had there been rain, our ricketty tea-kettle +would have afforded us no protection whatever. On reaching the +leviathan, the passengers rushed up hastily, and, armed with +walking-sticks or umbrellas, planted themselves like sentries on the +deck. As the Jacks came tumbling up with the luggage, shouts of "Hi! +that's mine," rent the air; and if Jack, in the hurry and confusion, did +not attend to the cry, out would dart one or other with umbrella or +stick, as the case might be, and harpoon him under the fifth rib; for, +with a heavy burden on his head and shoulders, necessarily supported by +both hands, defence was impossible. I must say, Jack took it all in good +humour, and filing a bill "STOMACH _v_. RIBS," left it to Old Neptune to +obtain restitution for injuries inflicted on his sons. I believe those +who have once settled their accounts with that sea-deity are not more +anxious to be brought into his court again, than those who have enjoyed +the prolonged luxury of a suit in Chancery. + +Everything must have an end; so, the mail agent arriving with his postal +cargo, on goes the steam, and off goes the "Africa," Captain Harrison. + + "Some wave the hand, and some begin to cry, + Some take a weed, and nodding, say good-bye." + +I am now fairly off for New York, with a brother and two friends; we +have each pinned our card to the red table-cover in the saloon, to +indicate our permanent positions at the festive board during the voyage. +Unless there is some peculiarity in arrangement or circumstance, all +voyages resemble each other so much, that I may well spare you the +dullness of repetition. Stewards will occasionally upset a soup-plate, +and it will sometimes fall inside the waistcoat of a "swell," who +travelling for the first time, thinks it requisite to "get himself up" +as if going to the Opera. People under the influence of some internal +and irresistible agency, will occasionally spring from the table with an +energy that is but too soon painfully exhausted, upsetting a few side +dishes as their feet catch the corner of the cloth. Others will rise, +and try to look dignified and composed, the hypocrisy whereof is +unpleasantly revealed ere they reach the door of the saloon; others eat +and drink with an ever-increasing vigour, which proves irresistibly the +truth of the saying, "_L'appétit vient en mangeant_." Heads that walked +erect, puffing cigars like human chimneys in the Mersey, hang listless +and 'baccoless in the Channel (Mem., "Pride goes before a fall"). +Ladies, whose rosy cheeks and bright eyes, dimmed with the parting tear, +had, as they waved the last adieu, told of buoyant health and spirits, +gather mysteriously to the sides of the vessel, ready for any emergency, +or lie helpless in their berths, resigning themselves to the ubiquitous +stewardess, indifferent even to death itself. Others, again, whose +interiors have been casehardened by Old Neptune, patrol the deck, and, +if the passengers are numerous, congratulate each other in the most +heartless manner by the observation, "There'll be plenty of room in the +saloon, if this jolly breeze continues!" + +All these things are familiar to most travellers, suffice it, therefore, +to say, that on the present occasion Old Neptune was in a good humour, +"the jolly breeze" did not last long, nor was it ever very jolly. My +American friend and the Household Brigade-man tried very hard to make +out that they felt sick at first, but I believe I succeeded in +convincing them that it was all imagination, for they both came steadily +to meals, and between them and my brother, who has the appetite of a +Pawnee when at sea, I found that a modest man like myself got but +"monkey's allowance" of the champagne which I had prescribed as a +medicine, erroneously imagining that those internal qualms usually +produced by a sea voyage would have enabled me to enjoy the lion's +share. + +We saw nothing during the voyage but a few strange sail and a couple of +icebergs, the latter very beautiful when seen in the distance, with the +sea smooth as a mirror, and the sun's rays striking upon them. I felt +very thankful the picture was not reversed; the idea of running your +nose against an iceberg, in the middle of a dark night, with a heavy +gale blowing and sea running, was anything but pleasant. + +In due time we made Cape Race. I merely mention the fact for the purpose +of observing that the captain, and others to whom I have spoken since, +unanimously agree in condemning the position of the lighthouse; first, +as not being placed on the point a vessel from Europe would make, +inasmuch as that point is further north and east; and secondly, because +vessels coasting northwards are not clear of danger if they trend away +westward after passing the light. There may be some advantages to the +immediate neighbourhood, but, for the general purposes of navigation, +its position is a mistake, and has, on more than one occasion, been very +nearly the cause of the wreck of one of our large steamers[C]. + +Early on the morning of the tenth day I heard voices outside my cabin +saying, "Well, they've got the pilot on board," _ergo_, we must be +nearing our haven. In the Channel at home you know a pilot by a +foul-weather hat, a pea-coat, broad shoulders, and weather-beaten +cheeks; here, the captain had told me that I could always know them by a +polished beaver and a satin or silk waistcoat. When I got on deck, sure +enough there was the beaver hat and the silk vest, but what struck me +most, was the wearer, a slim youth, hardly out of his teens. In the +distance, the New York pilot-boat, a build rendered famous by the +achievements of the "America," at Cowes, lay on the water like a duck, +with her canvas white as snow, and taut as a deal board. The perfect +ease and nonchalance of the young pilot amused me immensely, and all +went on smoothly enough till the shades of evening closed in upon us; at +which time, entering the Narrows, the satin-vested youth felt himself +quite nonplused, despite his taking off his beaver, and trying to +scratch for knowledge; in short, had it not been for Captain Harrison, +who is a first-rate seaman and navigator, as all who ever sail with him +are ready to testify, we might have remained out all night: fortunately, +his superior skill got us safe in, and no easy task I assure you is it, +either to find the channel, or to thread your way through hosts of +shipping, in one of these leviathan steamers. + +I confess I formed a very low estimate of New York pilots, which was not +heightened by one of the mates showing me an embossed card, with his +address, which our pilot had presented to him, accompanied with an +invitation to come to a _soirée_. As the mystery was subsequently +solved, I had better give you the solution thereof at once, and not let +the corps of New York pilots lie under the ban of condemnation in your +minds as long as they did in mine. It turned out that the pert little +youth was not an authorized pilot, but merely schooling for it; and +that, when the steamer hove in sight, the true pilots were asleep, and +he would not allow them to be called, but quietly slipped away in the +boat, and came on board of us to try his 'prentice hand; the pilots of +New York are, I believe, a most able and efficient body of men. + +Here I am, reader, at New York, a new country, a new hemisphere, and +pitch dark, save the lights reflected in the water from the town on +either side. All of a sudden a single toll of a bell, then another, and +from the lights in the windows you discover a large wooden house is +adrift. On inquiry, you ascertain it is merely one of their mammoth +ferry-boats; that is something to think of, so you go to bed at +midnight, and dream what it will really look like in the morning. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote C: I believe another lighthouse is to be erected on the proper +headland.] + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +_The Land of Stars and Stripes._ + + +The sun had aired the opening day before I appeared on deck. What a +scene! There was scarce a zephyr to ripple the noble Hudson, or the +glorious bay; the latter, land-locked save where lost in the distant +ocean; the former skirted by the great Babylon of America on one side, +and the lovely wooded banks of Hoboken on the other. The lofty western +hills formed a sharp yet graceful bend in the stream, round which a +fleet of small craft, with rakish hulls and snowy sails, were stealing +quietly and softly, like black swans with white wings; the stillness and +repose were only broken by the occasional trumpet blast of some giant +high-pressure steamer, as she dashed past them with lightning speed. +Suddenly a floating island appeared in the bend of the river; closer +examination proved it to be a steamer, with from twenty to twenty-five +large boats secured alongside, many of them laden at Buffalo, and coming +by the Erie Canal to the ocean. Around me was shipping of every kind and +clime; enormous ferry-boats radiating in all directions; forests of +masts along the wharves; flags of every colour and nation flying; the +dingy old storehouses of the wealthy Wall-street neighbourhood, and the +lofty buildings of the newer parts of the town; everything had something +novel in its character, but all was stamped with go-aheadism. This +glorious panorama, seen through the bright medium of a rosy morn and a +cloudless sky, has left an enjoyable impression which time can never +efface. But although everything was strange, I could not feel myself +abroad, so strong is the power of language. + +Taking leave of our worthy and able skipper, we landed on the soil of +the giant Republic at Jersey city, where the wharves, &c., of the Cunard +line are established, they not having been able to procure sufficient +space on the New York side. The first thing we ran our heads against +was, of course, the Custom-house; but you must not imagine, gentle +reader, that a Custom-house officer in America is that mysterious +compound of detective police and high-bred ferret which you too often +meet with in the Old World. He did not consider it requisite to tumble +everything out on the floor, and put you to every possible +inconvenience, by way of exhibiting his importance; satisfied on that +point himself, he impressed you with it by simple courtesy, thus gaining +respect where the pompous inquisitive type of the animal would have +excited ill-will and contempt. Thank heaven, the increased +inter-communication, consequent upon steam-power, has very much +civilized that, until lately, barbarian portion of the European family; +nor do I attempt to deny that the contiguity of the nations, and the far +greater number of articles paying duty, facilitating and increasing +smuggling, render a certain degree of ferretishness a little more +requisite on the part of the operator, and a little more patience +requisite on the part of the victim. + +A very few minutes polished our party off, and found us on board of the +ferry-boat; none of your little fiddling things, where a donkey-cart and +an organ-boy can hardly find standing-room, but a good clear +hundred-feet gangway, twelve or fourteen feet broad, on each side of the +engine, and a covered cabin outside each gangway, extending half the +length of the vessel; a platform accommodating itself to the rise and +fall of the water, enables you to drive on board with perfect ease, +while the little kind of basin into which you run on either side, being +formed of strong piles fastened only at the bottom, yields to the vessel +as she strikes, and entirely does away with any concussion. I may here +add, that during my whole travels in the States, I found nothing more +perfect in construction and arrangement than the ferries and their +boats, the charges for which are most moderate, varying according to +distances, and ranging from one halfpenny upwards. + +It is difficult to say what struck me most forcibly on landing at New +York; barring the universality of the Saxon tongue, I should have been +puzzled to decide in what part of the world I was. The forest of masts, +and bustle on the quays, reminded me of the great sea-port of Liverpool: +but scarce had I left the quays, when the placards of business on the +different stories reminded me of Edinburgh. A few minutes more, and I +passed one of their large streets, justly called "Avenues," the rows of +trees on each side reminding me of the _Alamedas_ in the Spanish towns; +but the confusion of my ideas was completed when the hackney coach was +brought to a standstill, to allow a huge railway carriage to cross our +bows, the said carriage being drawn by four horses, and capable of +containing fifty people. + +At last, with my brain in a whirl, I alighted at Putnam's hotel, where +my kind friend, Mr. W. Duncan, had prepared rooms for our party; nor did +his zeal in our behalf stop here, for he claimed the privilege of being +the first to offer hospitality, and had already prepared a most +excellent spread for us at the far-famed _Café Delmonico_, where we +found everything of the best: oysters, varying from the "native" size up +to the large American oyster, the size of a small leg of Welsh +mutton--mind, I say a small leg--the latter wonderful to look at, and +pleasant to the taste, though far inferior to the sweet little "native." + +Here I saw for the first time a fish called "the sheep's head," which is +unknown, I believe, on our side of the Atlantic. It derives its name +from having teeth exactly like those of a sheep, and is a most excellent +fish wherewith to console themselves for the want of the turbot, which +is never seen in the American waters. Reader, I am not going to inflict +upon you a bill of fare; I merely mention the giant oyster and the +sheep's head, because they are peculiar to the country; and if nearly my +first observations on America are gastronomic, it is not because I +idolize my little interior, though I confess to having a strong +predilection in favour of its being well supplied; but it is because +during the whole time I was in the United States,--from my friend D., +who thus welcomed me on my arrival, to Mr. R. Phelps, in whose house +I lived like a tame cat previous to re-embarking for old +England,--wherever I went I found hospitality a prominent feature in the +American character. + +Having enjoyed a very pleasant evening, and employed the night in +sleeping off the fumes of sociability, I awoke, for the first time, in +one of the splendid American hotels; and here, perhaps, it may be as +well to say a few words about them, as their enormous size makes them +almost a national peculiarity. + +The largest hotel in New York, when I arrived, was the Metropolitan, in +the centre of which is a theatre; since then, the St. Nicholas has been +built, which is about a hundred yards square, five stories high, and +will accommodate, when completed, about a thousand people. Generally +speaking, a large hotel has a ladies' entrance on one side, which is +quite indispensable, as the hall entrance is invariably filled with +smokers; all the ground floor front, except this hall and a +reading-room, is let out as shops: there are two dining-saloons, one of +which is set apart for ladies and their friends, and to this the vagrant +bachelor is not admitted, except he be acquainted with some of the +ladies, or receive permission from the master of the house. The great +entrance is liberally supplied with an abundance of chairs, benches, +&c., and decorated with capacious spittoons, and a stove which glows +red-hot in the winter. Newspapers, of the thinnest substance and the +most microscopic type, and from every part of the Union, are scattered +about in profusion; the human species of every kind may be seen +variously occupied--groups talking, others roasting over the stove, many +cracking peanuts, many more smoking, and making the pavement, by their +united labours, an uncouth mosaic of expectoration and nutshells, varied +occasionally with cigar ashes and discarded stumps. Here and there you +see a pair of Wellington-booted legs dangling over the back of one +chair, while the owner thereof is supporting his centre of gravity on +another. One feature is common to them all--busy-ness; whether they are +talking, or reading, or cracking nuts, a peculiar energy shows the mind +is working. Further inside is the counter for the clerks who appoint the +rooms to the travellers, as they enter their names in a book; on long +stools close by is the corps of servants, while in full sight of all +stands the "Annunciator," that invaluable specimen of American +mechanical ingenuity, by which, if any bell is pulled in any room, one +loud stroke is heard, and the number of the room disclosed, in which +state it remains until replaced; so that if everybody had left the hall, +the first person returning would see at once what bells had been rung +during his absence, and the numbers of the rooms they belonged to. Why +this admirable contrivance has not been introduced into this country, I +cannot conceive. + +The bar is one of the most--if not the most--important departments in +the hotel; comparatively nothing is drunk at dinner, but the moment the +meal is over, the bar becomes assailed by applicants; moreover, from +morning to midnight, there is a continuous succession of customers; not +merely the lodgers and their friends, but any parties passing along the +street, who feel disposed, walk into the bar of any hotel, and get "a +drink." The money taken at a popular bar in the course of a day is, I +believe, perfectly fabulous. + +Scarcely less important than the bar is the barber's shop. Nothing +struck me more forcibly than an American under the razor or brush: in +any and every other circumstance of life full of activity and energy, +under the razor or brush he is the picture of indolence and +helplessness. Indifferent usually to luxury, he here exhausts his +ingenuity to obtain it; shrinking usually from the touch of a nigger as +from the venomed tooth of a serpent, he here is seen resigning his nose +to the digital custody of that sable operator, and placing his throat at +his mercy, or revelling in titillary ecstasy from his manipulations with +the hog's bristles;--all this he enjoys in a semi-recumbent position, +obtained from an easy chair and a high stool, wherein he lies +with a steadiness which courts prolongation--life-like, yet +immoveable--suggesting the idea of an Egyptian corpse newly embalmed. +Never shaving myself more than once a fortnight, and then requiring no +soap and water, and having cut my own hair for nearly twenty years, I +never thought of going through the experiment, which I have since +regretted; for, many a time and oft have I stood, in wonder, gazing at +this strange anomaly of character, and searching in vain for a first +cause. The barber's shop at the St. Nicholas is the most luxurious in +New York, and I believe every room has its own brush, glass, &c., +similarly numbered in the shop. + +The crowning peculiarity of the new hotels is "The Bridal Chamber;" the +want of delicacy that suggested the idea is only equalled by the want of +taste with which it is carried out. Fancy a modest girl, having said +"Yes," and sealed the assertion in the solemn services of the Church, +retiring to the bridal chamber of the St. Nicholas! In the first place, +retiring to an hotel would appear to her a contradiction in terms; but +what would be her feelings when she found the walls of her apartment +furnished with fluted white silk and satin, and in the centre of the +room a matrimonial couch, hung with white silk curtains, and blazing +with a bright jet of gas from each bed-post! The doors of the +sleeping-rooms are often fitted with a very ingenious lock, having a +separate bolt and keyhole on each side, totally disconnected, and +consequently, as they can only be opened from the same side they are +fastened, no person, though possessed of a skeleton key, is able to +enter. The ominous warning, "Lock your door at night," which is usually +hung up, coupled with the promiscuous society frequently met in large +hotels, renders it most advisable to use every precaution. + +Many hotels have a Bible in each bed-room, the gift of some religious +community in the city; those that I saw during my travels were most +frequently from the Presbyterians. + +Having given you some details of an American first-class hotel in a +large city, you will perhaps be better able to realize the gigantic +nature of these establishments when I tell you that in some of them, +during the season, they consume, in one way and another, DAILY, from +fifteen hundred to two thousand pounds of meats, and from forty-five to +fifty pounds of tea, coffee, &c., and ice by the ton, and have a corps +of one hundred and fifty servants of all kinds. Washing is done in the +hotel with a rapidity little short of marvellous. You can get a shirt +well washed, and ready to put on, in nearly the same space of time as an +American usually passes under the barber's hands. The living at these +hotels is profuse to a degree, but, generally speaking, most +disagreeable: first, because the meal is devoured with a rapidity which +a pack of fox-hounds, after a week's fast, might in vain attempt to +rival; and, secondly, because it is impossible to serve up dinners for +hundreds without nine-tenths thereof being cold. The best of the large +hotels I dined at in New York, as regards _cuisine_, &c., was decidedly +the New York Hotel; but by far the most comfortable was the one I lived +in--Putnam's, Union-square--which was much smaller and quite new, +besides being removed from the racket of Broadway. + +The increased intercourse with this country is evidently producing a +most improving effect in many of the necessary and unmentionable +comforts of this civilized age, which you find to predominate chiefly in +those cities that have most direct intercourse with us; but as you go +further west, these comforts are most disagreeably deficient. One point +in which the hotels fail universally is attendance; it is their +misfortune, not their fault; for the moment a little money is realized +by a servant, he sets up in some business, or migrates westward. The +consequence is, that the field of service is left almost entirely to the +Irish and the negro, and between the two--after nearly a year's +experience thereof--I am puzzled to say in whose favour the balance is. + +I remember poor Paddy, one morning, having answered the Household +Brigade man's bell, was told to get some warm water. He went away, and +forgot all about it. Of course, the bell rang again; and, on Paddy +answering it, he was asked-- + +"Did I not tell you to get me some warm water?" + +"You did, your honour." + +"Then, why have you not brought it?" + +"Can't tell, your honour." + +"Well, go and get it at once." + +Paddy left the room, and waited outside the door scratching his head. In +about a quarter of an hour a knock was heard:-- + +"Come in!" + +Paddy's head appeared, and, with a most inquiring voice, he said-- + +"Is it warm water to dhrink you want, your honour?" _Ex uno_, &c. + +Another inconvenience in their hotels is the necessity of either living +at the public table, or going to the enormous expense of private rooms; +the comfort of a quiet table to yourself in a coffee-room is quite +unknown. There is no doubt that sitting down at a table-d'hôte is a +ready way to ascertain the manners, tone of conversation, and, partly, +the habits of thought, of a nation, especially when, as in the United +States, it is the habitual resort of everybody; but truth obliges me to +confess that, after a very short experience of it, I found the old adage +applicable, "A little of it goes a great way;" and I longed for the +cleanliness, noiselessness, and comfort of an English coffee-room, +though its table be not loaded with equal variety and profusion. + +The American system is doubtless the best for the hotelkeeper, as there +are manifest advantages in feeding masses at once, over feeding the same +number in detail. A mess of twenty officers, on board a man-of-war, will +live better on two pounds each a month than one individual could on +three times that sum. It is the want of giving this difference due +consideration which raises, from time to time, a crusade against the +hotels at home, by instituting comparisons with those of the United +States. If people want to have hotels as cheap as they are in America, +they must use them as much, and submit to fixed hours and a mixture of +every variety of cultivation of mind and cleanliness of person--which +change is not likely, I trust, to take place in my day. It is a curious +fact, that when the proprietor of the Adelphi, at Liverpool--in +consequence of a remonstrance made by some American, gentlemen as to his +charges--suggested to them that they should name their own hour and dine +together, in which case his charges would be greatly diminished, they +would not hear of such a thing, and wanted to know why they should be +forced to dine either all together, or at one particular hour. An +American gentleman, with whom I am acquainted, told me that, when he +first came over to England, the feeling of solitude, while breakfasting +alone, at his table in Morley's coffee-room, was quite overpowering. +"Now," he added, "I look forward to my quiet breakfast and the paper +every morning with the greatest pleasure, and only wonder how I can have +lived so long, and been so utterly ignorant of such simple enjoyment." I +have thought it better to make these observations thus early, although +it must be obvious they are the results of my subsequent experience, and +I feel I ought to apologize for their lengthiness. + +There is comparatively little difficulty in finding your way about New +York, or, indeed, most American towns, except it be in the old parts +thereof, which are as full of twists, creeks, and names as our own. The +newer part of the town is divided into avenues running nearly parallel +with the Hudson; the streets cross them at right angles, and both are +simply numbered; the masses of buildings which these sections form are +very nearly uniform in area, and are termed blocks. The great place for +lounging, or loafing, as they term it--is Broadway, which may be said to +bisect New York longitudinally; the shops are very good, but, generally +speaking, painfully alike, wearying the eye with sameness, when the +novelty has worn off: the rivalry which exists as to the _luxe_ of +fitting up some of these shops is inconceivable. + +I remember going into an ice-saloon, just before I embarked for England; +the room on the ground-floor was one hundred and fifty feet long by +forty broad; rows of pillars on each side were loaded to the most +outrageous extent with carving and gilding, and the ceiling was to +match; below that was another room, a little smaller, and rather less +gaudy; both were crowded with the most tag-rag and bob-tail mixture of +people. + +The houses are built of brick, and generally have steps up to them, by +which arrangement the area receives much more light; and many people +with very fine large houses live almost exclusively in these basements, +only using the other apartments for some swell party: the better class +of houses, large hotels, and some of the shops, have their fronts faced +with stone of a reddish brown, which has a warm and pleasant appearance. +The famous "Astor House" is faced with granite, and the basement is of +solid granite. The most remarkable among the new buildings is the +magnificent store of Mr. Stewart--one of the largest, I believe, in the +world: it has upwards of one hundred and fifty feet frontage on +Broadway, and runs back nearly the same distance: is five stories high, +besides the basement; its front is faced with white marble, and it +contains nearly every marketable commodity except eatables. If you want +anything, in New York, except a dinner, go to Stewart's, and it is ten +to one you find it, and always of the newest kind and pattern; for this +huge establishment clears out every year, and refills with everything of +the newest and best. Goods are annually sold here to the amount of +upwards of a million sterling--a sum which I should imagine was hardly +exceeded by any establishment of a similar nature except Morison's in +London, which, I believe, averages one and a half million. Some idea of +the size of this store may be formed, from the fact that four hundred +gas burners are required to light it up. Mr. Stewart, I was informed, +was educated for a more intellectual career than the keeper of a store, +on however grand a scale; but circumstances induced him to change his +pursuits, and as he started with scarce any capital, the success which +has attended him in business cannot but make one regret that the world +has lost the benefit which might have been anticipated from the same +energy and ability, if it had been applied to subjects of a higher +class. + +I will now offer a few observations on the state of the streets. The +assertion has been made by some writer--I really know not who--that New +York is one of the dirtiest places in the world. To this I must give a +most unqualified denial. No person conversant with many of the large +provincial towns in England and Scotland, can conscientiously "throw a +very large stone" at New York; for though much is doing among us to +improve and sweeten--chiefly, thanks to the scourge of epidemics--I fear +that in too many places we are still on this point "living in glass +houses." Doubtless, New York is infinitely dirtier than London, as +London at present is far less clean than Paris has become under the rule +of the Third Napoleon. I fully admit that it is not so clean as it +should be, considering that the sum nominally spent on cleansing the +streets amounts to very nearly sixty thousand pounds a year, a sum equal +to one pound for every ten inhabitants; but the solution of this problem +must be looked for in the system of election to the corporation offices, +on which topic I propose to make a few observations in some future +portion of these pages. While on the subject of streets, I cannot help +remarking that it always struck me as very curious that so intelligent a +people as the Americans never adopted the simple plan of using sweeping +carts, which many of their countrymen must have seen working in London. +If not thoroughly efficient, their ingenuity might have made them so; +and, at all events, they effect a great saving of human labour. But +there is a nuisance in the streets of New York, especially in the lower +and business part of the town, which must be palpable to every +visitor--I mean the obstructions on the pavement; and that, be it +observed, in spite of laws passed for the prevention thereof, but +rendered nugatory from maladministration. In many places, you will see a +man occupying the whole pavement opposite his store with leviathan boxes +and bales, for apparently an indefinite period, inasmuch as I have seen +the same things occupying the same place day after day, and forcing +every passer-by off the pavement. This information may console some of +our own communities who are labouring under the gnawing and painful +disease of a similar corrupt and inefficient administration. + +Amid the variety of shops, the stranger cannot fail to be struck with +the wonderful number of oyster-saloons stuck down on the basement, and +daguerreotypists perched in the sky-line: their name is legion; +everybody eats oysters, and everybody seems to take everybody else's +portrait. To such an extent is this mania for delineating the 'human +face divine' carried, that a hatter in Chatham-street has made no small +profit by advertising that, in addition to supplying hats at the same +price as his rivals, he will take the portrait of the purchaser, and fix +it inside thereof gratis. This was too irresistible; so off I went, and, +selecting my two dollar beaver on the ground-floor, walked up to a six +foot square garret room, where the sun did its work as quick as light, +after which the liberal artist, with that flattering propensity which +belongs to the profession, threw in the roseate hues of youth by the aid +of a little brick-dust. I handed him my dust in return, and walked away +with myself on my head, where myself may still be daily seen, a +travelled and travelling advertisement of Chatham-street enterprise. + +Our American friends deal largely in newspaper puffs, and as some of +them are amusing enough, I select the following as specimens of their +"Moses and Son" style:-- + + ANOTHER DREADFUL ACCIDENT.--OH, MA! I MET WITH A DREADFUL + ACCIDENT!--The other night, while dancing with cousin Frank, I dropped + my Breastpin and Ear-Ring on the floor and broke them all to + pieces--Never mind, my dear. Just take them to ---- Jewellery + Store. You can get them made as good as new again! + + GRATIFYING NEWS.--We have just learned, with real pleasure, that the + _seedy_ young man who sprained his back whilst trying to "raise the + wind" is fast recovering, in consequence of judiciously applying the + Mustang Liniment. It is to be hoped he will soon be entirely cured, + and that the next time he undertakes it, he will take an _upright_ + position, and not adopt the _stooping_ posture. This precaution, we + have no doubt, will ensure success. + + This Liniment can be had of ----. + +Even, marriage and death are not exempt from the fantastic advertising +style. + + On Friday, June 10, by the Rev. Mr. ----, after a severe and + long-protracted courtship, which they bore with Christian fortitude + and resignation, solely sustained and comforted, under all misgivings, + by their sincere and confiding belief in the promise of a rich, and + living inheritance in another state, Mr. ---- to Miss ----, all of this + city. + + On April 4, of congestion of the brain, F---- E----, son of J---- and + + M---- C. D----, aged fourteen months. + + His remains were taken to G---- for interment yesterday. + + List! heard you that angel say, + As he waved his little wing, + "Come, Freddy, come away, + Learn of me a song to sing!" + +The most gigantic advertiser--if the _New York Daily Sun_ is to be +trusted for information--is Professor Holloway, so well known in this +country. According to that paper, he advertises in thirteen hundred +papers in the United States, and has expended, in different parts of the +world, the enormous sum of nearly half a million sterling, solely for +that purpose. + +But, reader, there are more interesting objects to dwell upon than +these. If you will only "loaf" up and down Broadway on a fine afternoon, +you will see some of the neatest feet, some of the prettiest hands, some +of the brightest eyes, and some of the sweetest smiles the wildest +beauty-dreamer ever beheld in his most rapturous visions; had they but +good figures, they would excite envy on the Alamedas of Andalusia; in +short, they are the veriest little ducks in the world, and dress with +Parisian perfection. No wonder, then, reader, when I tell you that +"loafing" up and down Broadway is a favourite occupation with the young +men who have leisure hours to spare. So attractive did my young friend +of the Household Brigade find it, that it was with difficulty he was +ever induced to forego his daily pilgrimage. Alas! poor fellow, those +days are gone--he has since been "caught," and another now claims his +undivided adoration. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +_Sights and Amusements_. + + +There is a very pleasant yacht club at New York, the festive assembly +whereof is held at Hoboken. Having received a hospitable invite, I +gladly availed myself of it, and, crossing the Hudson, a short walk +brought me and my chaperon to the club-house--no palatial edifice, but a +rustic cottage, with one large room and a kitchen attached, and +beautifully situated a few yards from the water's edge, on the woody +bank of Hoboken, and on one of the most graceful bends of the river. It +commands a splendid view, while perfectly cozy in itself, and is, "par +excellence," the place for a pic-nic. The property belongs to Commodore +Stevens, who is well known to English yachting gentlemen, not only from +his having "taken the shine out of them" at Cowes, but also for his +amiability and hospitality. + +On my arrival, I found a host of bachelors, and wedded men _en garçon_, +ready to greet me with a hearty welcome. The room was very comfortable, +but as unfurnished as those who like to smoke could desire; in fact, +barring the table and its burden, the chairs and their occupiers, the +remainder of the furniture consisted of models of all the yachts of the +club. The only exception was that of the Commodore's triumphant "Black +Maria," of which extraordinary vessel I purpose speaking more fully +hereafter. One of the peculiar customs of the club is, that two members, +whose capabilities are beyond dispute, are appointed, one to make the +soup, called "chowder," the other the punch--or "toddy," as it is here +termed,--both of these being excellent in their way, and different in +many respects from any similar article at home. The proper recipe for +the same shall be forthcoming when I give details of the "Black Maria." + +Our party was a very jovial one, as I think parties generally are when +composed of those who are much _on_ the water. Such people naturally +look upon a leak as very lubberly and unprofessional, and therefore +scrupulously avoid letting _in_ any water, supplying its place with +something more cheery, under the enlivening influence whereof, those who +would be puzzled to decide whether a hand-organ was playing "Hail, +Columbia!" or "Pop goes the Weasel," lose all false modesty as to their +musical powers, and become royally (I beg majesty's pardon) vocal. +Choruses receive the additional charm of variety from each vocalist +giving his tongue "universal suffrage" as to power, matter, and melody; +everybody evinces a happy independence, and if, as the chorus is +beginning, an unlucky wight finds his cigar just going out, he takes a +few puffs to save the precious fire, and then starts off Derby pace to +catch up his vocal colleagues, blending ten notes into one in his +frantic chase. + +To any one who delights in the opera, this description might suggest a +slight idea of discord, but to one who has enjoyed a midshipman's berth +it recals some of the cheeriest days of his life; as I heard the joyous +shouts, I felt my grey lank hairs getting black and curly again (?). Do +not imagine this merry scene was the produce of any excess; we were as +sober as judges, though we felt their gravity would have been out of +place; but when some choice spirit--and there was more than one +such--with the soul of melody in him, took the field, we left him to +make all the running himself, and smoked our cigars with increased +vigour, shrouding him in the curling cloud to prevent any nervous +hesitation. + +Everything, however, must have an end, and as the hour for the last +ferry-boat was fast approaching, the voice of melody was hushed in the +hall, to echo through the groves of Hoboken and o'er the waters of the +Hudson, as we strolled from the club-house to the ferry, and thence to +bed. + +Among other "lions" to be seen, my curiosity was excited by the news of +a trotting match, to come off at Long Island: some friend was ever +ready, so off we started for Brooklyn Ferry, whence we went by railway. +In the olden time these races were as fashionable at New York as Ascot +or Epsom are in England; all the _élite_ of both sexes filled the stand, +and the whole scene was lively and gay. Various circumstances, which all +who know the turf are aware it is liable to, rendered gentlemen so +disgusted with it at Long Island, that they discontinued sending horses +to run, and gradually gave up going themselves, and it is now left all +but entirely to the "rowdies,"--_alias_ mob. + +The railway carriage into which we got contained about forty of these +worthies, all with cigars in their mouths, and exhibiting many strange +varieties of features and costume. In the passage up and down the middle +of the carriage; ragged juvenile vendors of lollipops and peanuts kept +patrolling and crying out their respective goods, for which they found a +ready market; suddenly another youth entered, and, dispensing a fly-leaf +right and left as he passed along to each passenger, disappeared at the +other door. At first, I took him for an itinerant advertiser of some +Yankee "Moses and Son," or of some of those medicinal quacks who strive +to rob youth by lies calculated to excite their fears. Judge my +astonishment, then, when on looking at the paper, I found it was hymns +he was distributing. A short ride brought us close to the course, and, +as I alighted, there was the active distributor freely dispensing on +every side, everybody accepting, many reading, but all hurrying on to +the ground. + +Having paid a good round sum as entrance to the stand, I was rather +disappointed at nearly breaking my neck, when endeavouring to take +advantage of my privilege, for my foot well-nigh went through a hole in +the flooring. Never was anything more wretched-looking in this world. It +was difficult to believe, that a few years back, this stand had been +filled with magnates of the "upper ten thousand" and stars of beauty: +there it was before me, with its broken benches, scarce a whole plank in +the floor, and wherever there was one, it was covered with old cigar +stumps, shells of peanuts, orange-peel, &c. When, however, I found that +seven people constituted the number of spectators in the stand, its +dilapidation was more easily explained, especially when I discovered +that access, with a little activity, was easily obtainable at the sides +_gratis_--a fact soon proved by the inroad of a few "rowdies," and the +ubiquitous vendors of lollipops and peanuts, headed by the persevering +distributor of hymns. + +Let us turn now from the dreary stand to the scene below. The +race-course is a two-mile distance, perfectly level, on a smooth and +stoneless road, and forming a complete circle--light trotting waggons +are driving about in the centre, taking it easy at sixteen miles an +hour; outside are groups of "rowdies." making their hooks and looking +out for greenhorns--an article not so readily found at Long Island as at +Epsom. + +The race is to be "under the saddle," and the long list of competitors +which had been announced has dwindled down to the old and far-famed Lady +Suffolk and the young and unfamed Tacony. + +A stir among the "rowdies" is seen, followed by the appearance "on the +boards" of Lady Suffolk. I gazed in wonder as I saw her--a small +pony-looking animal--moving her legs as though they were in splints, and +as if six miles an hour was far beyond her powers; soon after, Tacony +came forward, the picture of a good bony post-horse, destitute of any +beauty, but looking full of good stuff. The riders have no distinctive +dress; a pair of Wellington boots are pulled on outside the trousers, +sharp spurs are on the heels--rough and ready looking birds these. The +winning-post is opposite the stand, the umpire is there with a deal +board in his hand, a whack on the side of the stand "summons to horse," +and another summons to "start." The start is from the distance-post, so +as to let the horses get into the full swing of their pace by the time +they reach the winning-post, when, if they are fairly up together, the +cry "Off" is given; if it be not given, they try again. When speaking of +the time in which the mile is completed, the fact of its commencing at +full speed should always be borne in mind: sometimes false starts are +made by one party, on purpose to try and irritate the temper of the +adversary's horse; and in the same way, if a man feels he has full +command of his own horse, he will yell like a wild Indian, as he nears +his adversary, to make him "break up"--or go into a gallop; and, as they +are all trained to speed more by voice than by spur, he very often +succeeds, and of course the adversary loses much ground by pulling up +into a trot again. + +On the present occasion there was no false start; the echo of the second +whack was still in the car as they reached the winning-post neck and +neck. "Off" was the word, and away they went. It certainly was +marvellous to see how dear old Lady Suffolk and her stiff legs flew +round the course; one might have fancied she had been fed on lightning, +so quick did she move them, but with wonderfully short steps. Tack, on +the contrary, looked as if he had been dieted on India-rubber balls: +every time he raised a hind leg it seemed to shoot his own length a-head +of himself; if he could have made his steps as quick as the old lady, he +might have done a mile in a minute nearly. Presently, Tacony breaks up, +and, ere he pulls into a trot, a long gap is left. Shouts of "Lady +Suffolk, Lady Suffolk wins!" rend the air; a few seconds more, and the +giant strides of Tacony lessen the gap at every step: they reach the +distance-post neck and neck; "Tacony wins!" is the cry, and true enough +it is--by a length. Young blood beats old blood--India-rubber balls +"whip" lightning. Time, five minutes. + +The usual excitement and disputing follow, the usual time elapses--whack +number one is heard, all ready--whack number two, on they come, snaffle +bridles, pulling at their horses' mouths as though they would pull the +bit right through to the tips of their tails. "Off" is the cry: away +they go again; Tacony breaks up--again a gap, which huge strides +speedily close up--again Tacony wins. Time, five minutes five seconds. +All is over, rush to the cars, &c. Remarks:--first, the pace is at the +rate of twenty-four miles an hour; second, the clear old lady, who was +only beaten by a length, is long out of her teens; is it not wonderful, +and is she not glorious in her defeat? Fancy Dowager Lady L---- taking a +pedestrian fit, and running a race along Rotten Row with some "fast +young man;" what would you say, if she clutched his coat-tail as he +touched the winning-post? Truly, that dear old Lady Suffolk is a +marvellous quadruped. Reader, as you do not care to go back again with +the Rowdies and Co., we will suppose ourselves returned to New York, and +I can only hope you have not been bored with your day's amusement. + +Among the extraordinary fancies of this extraordinary race--who are ever +panting for something new, even if it be a new territory--the most +strange is the metallic coffin: the grave is no protection against their +mania for novelty. In the windows of a shop in Broadway, this strange, +and to my mind revolting, article may be seen, shaped like a mummy, +fitting hermetically tight, and with a plate of glass to reveal the +features of the inanimate inmate. I have certainly read of the +disconsolate lover who, on the death of her who ungratefully refused to +reciprocate his affection, disinterred her body by stealth, supplied +himself with scanty provision, and embarking in a small boat, launched +forth upon the wide waters, to watch her gradual decomposition till +starvation found them one common grave. I also knew an officer, who, +having stuffed an old and faithful dog, and placed him on the +mantel-piece, when his only child died soon after, earnestly entreated a +surgeon to stuff the child, that he might place it beside the faithful +dog. Nevertheless, I cannot believe that such aberrations of human +intellect are sufficiently frequent to make the Patent Metallic Coffin +Company a popular or profitable affair. + +An important feature in a populous town is the means of conveyance, +which here, in addition to hack cabs and omnibuses, includes railway +carriages. I would observe, once for all, that the horses of America, as +a whole, may be classed as enduring, wiry, and active hacks. You do not +see anything to compare with some of the beautiful nags that "Rotten +Row" or Melton exhibits; but, on the other hand, you rarely see the +lumbering, lolloping, heavy brutes so common in this country. Then, +again, a horse in this country is groomed and turned out in a style +which I never saw in America, and therefore shows to much greater +advantage, in spite of the Yankee sometimes ornamenting his head with +hairs from his tail; while on the other hand, though an Englishman +considers a pair of nags that will go a mile in five minutes a great +prize, no man in America who is a horse fancier would look at a pair +that could not do the same distance in four; nor would he think them +worth speaking about, if they could not do the distance in a very few +seconds over three minutes. On one side of the water, pace is almost the +only object; on the other side, shape and appearance are weighty +matters. + +The habits of the Americans being essentially gregarious, and business +teaching the truism that a cent saved is a cent gained, hackney coaches +are comparatively little used by the men; for it must be remembered that +idlers in this country are an invisible minority of the community! The +natural consequence is, that they are clean and expensive. The drivers +are charmingly independent and undeniably free-and-easy birds, but not +meaning to be uncivil. One of them showed his independence by asking two +dollars one night for a three-mile drive home to the hotel. I inquired +of the master, and found the proper charge was a dollar and a half; +but, on my sending out the same, Jarvey was too proud to confess he was +wrong, and, refusing the money, drove off--nor did I ever hear more of +him. + +Their free-and-easiness can never be better exemplified than in the old +anecdote told of so many people, from an ex-prince of France, downward; +viz., the prince having ordered a hack cab, was standing at the door of +the hotel, smoking his cigar, and waiting for its arrival. When Cabby +drove up, judging from the appearance of the prince that he was "the +fare," he said, "Are you the chap that sent for a cab?" And, being +answered with an affirmative smile, he said, "Well, get in; I guess I'm +the gentleman that's to drive you." + +The next means of conveyance to be spoken of is the omnibus. I was told +by a friend who had made inquiries on the subject, that there were +upwards of a thousand, and that they pay twenty-two per cent. They are +infinitely better than ours, simply because they are broader: the most +rotund embodiment of an alderman after a turtle-soup dinner, even if he +had--to use the emphatic language of Mr. Weller--been "swellin' +wisibly," could pass up the centre without inconvenience to the +passengers on either side; and as a good dividend is a thing not to be +despised, they do not employ a "cad" behind. The door shuts by a strap +running along the roof, with a noose in the end, which Jehu puts on his +foot. Any one wishing to alight pulls the strap; Jehu stops; and, poking +his nose to a pigeon-hole place in the roof, takes the silver fare; and, +slipping the noose, the door is open to the human "fare." Doubtless, +this effects a very great saving, and, dispensing with a cad in this +country might enable the fares to be lowered; but I question if there be +not very many objections to our adopting the plan; and I should miss +very much that personification of pertness and civility, with his +inquisitive eye, and the eccentric and perpetual gyrations of his fore +finger, which ever and anon stiffens in a skyward point, as though under +the magic influence of some unseen electro-biologist whose decree had +gone forth--"You can't move your finger, sir, you can't; no, you can't." +I have only one grudge against the omnibuses in New York--and that is, +their monopoly of Broadway, which would really have a very fine and +imposing appearance were it not for them: they destroy all the +effect, and you gradually begin to think it is the Strand grown wider, +despite of the magnificent palaces, hotels, &c., which adorn it on each +side. + +[Illustration: A RAILWAY CARRIAGE.] + +The last means of conveyance to be mentioned is the railway carriage, +which--the city being built on a perfect flat--is admirably adapted for +locomotion. The rails are laid down in a broad avenue on each side of +Broadway, and the cars are drawn by horses, some two, some four. Those +that are used for the simple town business have only two horses, and +will hold about twenty-four passengers; the others run from the lower +end of the town to a place where the engine is waiting for them outside. +The town railway-car may be called a long omnibus, low on the wheels, +broad, airy, and clean inside, and, excessively convenient for getting +in and out. There is a break at both ends, one under the charge of Jehu, +the other under the charge of the guard; so that, though trotting along +at a good pace, they are very easily stopped. When they get to the end +of the journey, the horses change ends, thus avoiding the necessity of +any turning, the space required for which would have made a great +difference in the expense. For a busy, bustling city, on a flat, it is +unquestionably by far the best conveyance, on account of carrying so +many, and being so handy for ingress and egress. + +There was a strong push made to get one laid down in Broadway, and +corporation jobbery had nearly succeeded. For my own part, did I live in +Broadway, if they would lay down a single line of rail, with shunters at +intervals, to enable the cars to pass one another, and fix regular hours +for running, I should infinitely prefer it to the unlimited army of +omnibuses that now block up the street; but I fancy the interests of the +latter are too deeply involved to be readily resigned. + +Before leaving the subject of railway carriages, I may as well give you +a description of the travelling cars in ordinary use. + +They are forty-two feet long, nine and a half wide, from six to six and +a half feet high, and carry from fifty to sixty passengers. Each seat is +three feet four inches long, placed at right angles to the window, and +has a reversible back. There is a passage through the centre of the car, +between the rows of seats. In winter, a stove is always burning in each +carriage; and in one of them there is generally a small room +partitioned off, containing a water-closet, &c. A door is placed at +each extremity, outside which there is a platform whereon the break is +fixed. These carriages are supported at each end by four wheels, of +thirty-three inches diameter, fitted together in a frame-work, and +moving on a pivot, whereby to enable them to take more easily any sharp +bend in the road. Their weight is from ten to twelve tons, and their +cost from 400l. to 450l. sterling. The system of coupling adopted is +alike rude and uncomfortable; instead of screwing the carriages tightly +up against the buffers, as is the practice in England, they are simply +hooked together, thus subjecting the passengers to a succession of jerks +when starting, and consequently producing an equal number of concussions +when the train stops. + +From the foregoing sketch, it will be seen that the narrowness of the +seats is such as to prevent its two occupants--if of ordinary +dimensions--from sitting together without rubbing shoulders. It will +also be observed, that the passage through the centre of the carriages +enables any one to pass with ease throughout the whole length of the +train. This is a privilege of which the mercurial blood and inquisitive +mind of the American take unlimited advantage, rendering the journey one +continued slamming of doors, which, if the homoeopathic principle be +correct, would prove an infallible cure for headache, could the sound +only be triturated, and passed through the finest sieve, so as to reach +the tympanum in infinitesimal doses. But, alas! it is administered +wholesale, and with such power, that almost before the ear catches the +sound, it is vibrating in the tendon Achilles. It is said by some, that +salmon get accustomed to crimping; and I suppose that, in like manner, +the American tympanum gets accustomed to this abominable clatter and +noise. + +The luggage-van is generally placed between the carriages and the +engine. And here it is essential I should make some observations with +reference to the ticket system which is universally adopted in America. +Every passenger is furnished with brass tickets, numbered, and a +duplicate is attached to each article of luggage. No luggage is +delivered without the passenger producing the ticket corresponding to +that on the article claimed, the Company being responsible for any loss. +This system is peculiarly suited to the habits of the American +people, inasmuch as nine-tenths of them, if not more, upon arriving at +the end of their journey, invariably go to some hotel; and as each +establishment, besides providing an omnibus for the convenience of its +customers, has an agent ready to look after luggage, the traveller has +merely to give his ticket to that functionary, thus saving himself all +further trouble. + +[Illustration: THE LOCOMOTIVE.] + +The last, but not the least important, object connected with railways, +remains yet to be mentioned--viz., the locomotive. Its driving-wheels +are generally six feet and a half in diameter, the cylinder is sixteen +inches in diameter, and has a stroke of twenty-two inches. But the point +to which I wish to call especial attention, is the very sensible +provision made for the comfort of the engineer and stokers, who are +thoroughly protected by a weather-proof compartment, the sides whereof, +being made of glass, enable them to exercise more effective vigilance +than they possibly could do if they were exposed in the heartless manner +prevalent in this country. + +From my subsequent experience in the railway travelling of the United +States, I am induced to offer the following suggestions for the +consideration of our legislature. First, for the protection of the old, +the helpless, or the desirous, an act should be passed, compelling every +railway company to supply tickets for luggage to each passenger applying +for them, provided that the said application be made within a given +period previous to the departure of the train; this ticket to insure the +delivery of the luggage at the proper station, and to the proper owner. + +Secondly, an act compelling railway companies to afford efficient +protection from the weather to the engineer and stokers of every train, +holding the chairman and board of directors responsible in the heaviest +penalties for every accident that may occur where this simple and humane +provision is neglected. + +Thirdly, an act requiring some system of communication between guard, +passengers, and engineer. The following rude method strikes me as so +obvious, that I wonder it has not been tried, until some better +substitute be found. Let the guard's seat project in all trains--as it +now does in some--beyond the carriages, thus enabling him to see the +whole length of one side of the train; carry the foot-board and the +hand-rail half way across the space between the carriages, by which +simple means the guard could walk outside from one end of the train to +the other, thus supervising everything, and gathering in the tickets _en +route_, instead of inconveniencing the public, as at present, by +detaining the train many minutes for that purpose.[D] + +Next, fit every carriage with two strong metal pipes, running just over +the doors, and projecting a foot or so beyond the length of the +carriage, the end of the pipe to have a raised collar, by which means an +elastic gutta percha tube could connect the pipes while the carriages +were being attached; a branch tube of gutta percha should then be led +from the pipe on one side into each compartment, so that any passenger, +by blowing through it, would sound a whistle in the place appropriated +to the guard. On the opposite side, the pipes would be solely for +communication between the guard and engine-driver. Should the length of +any train be found too great for such communication, surely it were +better to sacrifice an extra guard's salary, than trifle with human life +in the way we have hitherto done. Each engine should have a second +whistle, with a trumpet tone, similar to that employed in America, to be +used in case of _danger_, the ordinary one being employed, as at +present, only to give warning of approach. + +With these sagacious hints for the consideration of my countrymen, I +postpone for the present the subject of railways, and, in excuse for the +length of my remarks, have only to plead a desire to make railway +travelling in England more safe, and my future wanderings more +intelligible. I have much more to say with regard to New York and its +neighbourhood; but not wishing to overdose the reader at once, I shall +return to the subject in the pages, as I did to the place in my +subsequent travels. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote D: This power of supervision, on the part of the guard, might +also act as an effective check upon the operations of those swindling +gamblers who infest many of our railroads--especially the express trains +of the Edinburgh and Glasgow--in which, owing to no stoppage taking +place, they exercise their villanous calling with comparative impunity.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +_A Day on the North River_. + + +Early one fine morning in October, a four-seated fly might have been +seen at the door of Putnam's hotel, on the roof of which was being piled +a Babel of luggage, the inside being already full. Into another vehicle, +our party--i.e., three of us--entered, and ere long both the carriages +were on the banks of the river, where the steamer was puffing away, +impatient for a start. The hawsers were soon cast off, and we launched +forth on the bosom of the glorious Hudson, whose unruffled surface +blazed like liquid fire beneath the rays of the rising sun. I purposely +abstain from saying anything of the vessel, as she was an old one, and a +very bad specimen. The newer and better class of vessel, I shall have to +describe hereafter. + +On leaving New York, the northern banks of the river are dotted in every +direction with neat little villas, the great want being turf, to which +the American climate is an inveterate foe. Abreast of one of these +villas, all around me is now smiling with peace and gladness; alas! how +different was the scene but a few months previous; then, struggling +bodies strewed the noble stream, and the hills and groves resounded with +the bitterest cries of human agony, as one of the leviathan steamers, +wrapped in a fierce and fiery mantle, hurried her living cargo to a +burning or a watery grave. + +We had a motley collection of passengers, but were not overcrowded. Of +course, there was a Paddy on board. Where can one go without meeting one +of that migratory portion of our race! There he was, with his "shocking +bad hat," his freckled face, his bright eye, and his shrewd expression, +smoking his old "dudeen," and gazing at the new world around him. But +who shall say his thoughts were not in some wretched hovel in the land +of his birth, and his heart beating with the noble determination, that +when his industry met its reward, those who had shared his sorrows in +the crowded land of his fathers, should partake of his success in the +thinly-tenanted home of his adoption. Good luck to you, Paddy, with all +my heart! + +I was rather amused by a story I heard, of a newly-arrived Paddy +emigrant, who, having got a little money, of course wanted a little +whisky. On going to the bar to ask the price, he was told +three-halfpence. "For how much?" quoth Paddy. The bottle was handed to +him, and he was told to take as much as he liked. Paddy's joy knew no +bounds at this liberality, and, unable to contain his ecstasy, he rushed +to the door to communicate the good news to his companions, which he did +in the following racy sentence: "Mike! Mike, my sowl! com' an' haf a +dhrink--only thruppence for both of us, an' the botthel in yer own +fisht!" + +One unfortunate fellow on board had lost a letter of recommendation, and +was in great distress in consequence. I hope he succeeded in replacing +it better than a servant-girl is said to have done, under similar +circumstances, who--as the old story goes--having applied to the captain +of the vessel, received the following doubtful recommendation at the +hand of that functionary: "This is to certify that Kate Flannagan had a +good character when she embarked at New York, but she lost it on board +the steamer coming up. Jeremiah Peascod, Captain." + +The scenery of the Hudson has been so well described, and so justly +eulogized, that I need say little on that score. In short, no words can +convey an adequate impression of the gorgeousness of the forest tints in +North America during the autumn. The foliage is inconceivably beautiful +and varied, from the broad and brightly dark purple leaf of the maple, +to the delicate and pale sere leaf of the poplar, all blending +harmoniously with the deep green of their brethren in whom the vital sap +still flows in full vigour. I have heard people compare the Hudson and +the Rhine. I cannot conceive two streams more totally dissimilar--the +distinctive features of one being wild forest scenery, glowing with +ever-changing hues, and suggestive of a new world; and those of the +other, the wild and craggy cliff capped with beetling fortresses, and +banks fringed with picturesque villages and towns, all telling of feudal +times and an old world. I should as soon think of comparing the castle +of Heidelberg, on its lofty hill with Buckingham Palace, in its +metropolitan hole.--But to return to the Hudson. + +In various places you will see tramways from the top of the banks down +to the water; these are for the purpose of shooting down the ice, from +the lakes and ponds above, to supply the New York market. The ice-houses +are made on a slope, and fronting as much north as possible. They are +built of wood, and doubled, the space between which--about a foot and a +half--is filled with bark, tanned. In a bend of the river, I saw the +indications of something like the forming of a dock, or basin; and, on +inquiry, was told it was the work of a Company who imagined they had +discovered where the famous pirate Kidd had buried his treasure. The +Company found to their cost, that it was they who were burying their +treasure, instead of Captain Kidd who had buried his; so, having +realized their mare's-nest, they gave it up. One of the most beautiful +"bits" on the Hudson is West Point; but, as I purpose visiting it at my +leisure hereafter, I pass it by at present without further comment. + +There are every now and then, especially on the southern bank, large +plots, which, at a distance, look exactly like Turkish cemeteries. On +nearing them, you find that the old destroyer, Time, has expended all +the soil sufficiently to allow the bare rock to peep through, and the +disconsolate forest has retired in consequence, leaving only the funeral +cypress to give silent expression to its affliction. Hark! what sound is +that? Dinner! A look at the company was not as _appétissant_ as a glass +of bitters, but a peep at the _tout-ensemble_ was fatal; so, patience to +the journey's end. Accordingly, I consoled myself with a cigar and the +surrounding scenery; no hard task either, with two good friends to help +you. On we went, passing little villages busy as bees, and some looking +as fresh as if they had been built over-night. At last, a little before +dusk, Albany hove in sight. As we neared the wharf, it became alive with +Paddy cabmen and porters of every age: the former, brandishing their +whips, made such a rush on board when we got within jumping distance, +that one would have thought they had come to storm the vessel. We took +it coolly, allowing the rush of passengers to land first; and then, +having engaged two "broths of boys" with hackney coaches, we drove up to +the Congress Hall Hotel, where, thanks to our young American cicerone, +we were very soon comfortably lodged, with a jolly good dinner before +us. I may as well explain why it was thanks to our friend that we were +comfortably lodged. + +'Throughout the whole length and breadth of the Republic, the people are +gregarious, and go everywhere in flocks; consequently, on the arrival of +railway train or steamer, 'buses from the various hotels are always in +waiting, and speedily filled. No sooner does the 'bus pull up, than a +rush is made by each one to the book lying on the counter, that he may +inscribe his name as soon as possible, and secure a bedroom. The duty of +allotting the apartments generally devolves upon the head clerk, or +chief assistant; but as, from the locomotive propensities of the +population, he has a very extensive acquaintance, and knows not how soon +some of them may be arriving, he billets the unknown in the most +out-of-the-way rooms; for the run upon all the decent hotels is so +great, that courtesy is scarce needed to insure custom. Not that they +are uncivil; but the confusion caused by an arrival is so great, and the +mass of travellers are so indifferent to the comfort or the attention +which one meets with in a decent hotel in this country, that, acting +from habit, they begin by roosting their guests, like crows, at the top +of the tree. + +To obviate this inconvenience, I would suggest, for the benefit of +future travellers, the plan I found on many occasions so successful +myself, in my subsequent journeys; which is, whenever you are +comfortably lodged in any hotel, to take a letter from the proprietor to +the next you wish to stop at. They give it you most readily, and on many +occasions I found the advantage of it. They all know one another; and in +this way you might travel all through the Union. + +Dinner is over--the events of the day have been discussed 'mid fragrant +clouds, and we are asleep in the capital of the State of New York. + +We were obliged to be astir early in the morning, so as to be in time +for the railway; consequently, our lionizing of the city consisted +chiefly in smoking a cigar at the front-door. The town is prettily +situated on the banks of the Hudson, and at its confluence with the Erie +canal. It is one of the few towns in the Republic which enjoys a +Royalist name, having been called after the Duke of York and Albany, +and is a very thriving place, with a steadily increasing population, +already amounting to sixty thousand; and some idea of its prosperity may +be formed from the fact of its receiving, by the Erie canal, annually, +goods to the value of near six millions sterling. Some years ago it was +scourged by an awful fire; but it has risen, like a phoenix, from its +ashes, and profited materially by the chastisement. The chief objection +I had to the town was the paving of the streets, which was abominable, +and full of holes, any of them large enough to bury a hippopotamus, and +threatening dislocation of some joint at every step; thus clearly +proving that the contract for the paving was in the hands of the +surgeons. On similar grounds, it has often occurred to me that the +proprietors of the London cabs must be chiefly hatters. + +Our descent from the hotel to the railway station was as lively as that +of a parched pea on a red-hot frying-pan, but it was effected without +any injury requiring the assistance of the paving-surgeons, and by the +time our luggage was ticketed the train had arrived: some tumbled out, +others tumbled in; the kettle hissed, and off we went, the first few +hundred yards of our journey being along the street. Not being +accustomed to see a train going in full cry through the streets, I +expected every minute to hear a dying squeak, as some of the little +urchins came out, jumping and playing close to the cars; but they seem +to be protected by a kind of instinct; and I believe it would be as easy +to drive a train over a cock-sparrow as over a Yankee boy. At last we +emerged from the town, and went steaming away merrily over the country. +Our companions inside were a motley group of all classes. By good +fortune, we found a spare seat on which to put our cloaks, &c., which +was a luxury rarely enjoyed in my future travels, being generally +obliged to carry them on my knee, as the American cars are usually so +full that there is seldom a vacant place on which to lay them. + +Our route lay partly along the line of the Mohawk, on the banks of which +is situated the lovely village of Rockton, or Little Falls, where the +gushing stream is compressed between two beautifully wooded cliffs, +affording a water-power which has been turned to good account by the +establishment of mills. At this point the Erie canal is cut for two +miles through the solid rock, and its unruffled waters, contrasting +with the boiling river struggling through the narrow gorge, look like +streams of Peace and Passion flowing and struggling side by side. As the +"iron horse" hurries us onward, the ears are assailed, amid the wild +majesty of Nature, with the puny cockneyisms of "Rome," "Syracuse," &c. +Such absurdities are ridiculous enough in our suburban villas; but to +find them substituted for the glorious old Indian names, is positively +painful. + +Among other passengers in the train, was a man conspicuous among his +fellows for clean hide and clean dimity; on inquiry, I was told he was a +Professor. He looked rather young for a professorial chair, and further +investigation confused me still more, for I found he was a _Professor of +Soap_. At last, I ascertained that he had earned his title by going +about the country lecturing upon, and exhibiting in his person, the +valuable qualities of his detergent treasures, through which peripatetic +advertisement he had succeeded in realizing dollars and honours. The +oratory of some of these Professors is, I am told, of an order before +which the eloquence of a Demosthenes would shrink abashed, if success is +admitted as the test; for, only put them at the corner of a street in +any town, and I have no fears of binding myself to eat every cake they +do not sell before they quit their oratorical platform. The soapy orator +quitted the train at Auburn, and soon after, the vandalism of "Rome" and +"Syracuse" was atoned for by the more appropriate and euphonical old +Indian names of "Cayuga" and "Canandaigua." + +On reaching the station of the latter, an old and kind friend to my +brother, when he first visited America, was waiting to welcome us to his +house, which was about a quarter of a mile distant, and a most +comfortable establishment it proved, in every way. Our worthy host was a +Scotchman by birth, and though he had passed nearly half a century in +the United States, he was as thoroughly Scotch in all his ways as if he +had just arrived from his native land; and while enjoying his +hospitalities, you might have fancied yourself in a Highland laird's old +family mansion. In all his kind attentions, he was most ably assisted by +his amiable lady. Everything I had seen hitherto was invested with an +air of newness, looking as if of yesterday: here, the old furniture and +the fashion thereof, even its very arrangement, all told of days long +bygone, and seemed to say, "We are heir-looms." When you went upstairs, +the old Bible on your bedroom table, with its worn cover, well-thumbed +leaves, and its large paper-mark, browned by the hand of Time, again +proclaimed, "I am an heir-loom," and challenged your respect; and worthy +companions they all were to mine host and his lady, who, while they +warmed your heart with their cheerful and unostentatious hospitality, +also commanded your respect by the way they dispensed it. + +The following day our route lay across country, out of the line of stage +or rail; so a vehicle had to be got, which my young American cicerone, +under the guidance of mine host, very soon arranged; and in due time, a +long, slight, open cart, with the seats slung to the sides, drove to the +door, with four neat greys, that might have made "Tommy Onslow's" mouth +water. + +While they are putting in the luggage, I may as well give you a sketch +of how the young idea is sometimes taught to shoot in this country. +Time--early morning. Paterfamilias at the door, smoking a cigar--a lad +of ten years of age appears. + +"I say, father, can I have Two-forty?[E] I want to go down to the farm, +to see my cattle fed!" + +Scarce had leave been obtained, before a cry was heard in another +quarter. "Hallo, Jemmy! what's the matter now? Wont Shelty go?" + +The youth so addressed was about six, and sitting in a little low +four-wheeled carriage, whacking away at a Shetland-looking pony, with a +coat, every hair of which was long enough for a horse's tail. The +difficulty was soon discovered, for it was an old trick of Shelty to +lift one leg outside the shaft, and strike for wages, if he wasn't +pleased. + +"Get out, Jemmy, I'll set him right;" and accordingly, Shelty's leg +was lifted inside, and Paterfamilias commenced lunging him round and +round before the door. After a few circles he said, "Now then, Jemmy, +get in again; he's all right now." + +The infant Jehu mounts, and of course commences pitching into Shelty, +alike vigorously and harmlessly; off they go at score." + +"Where are you going, Jemmy?" + +"What--say--father?" No words are lost. + +"Where are you going, Jemmy?" + +"Going to get some turnips for my pigs;" and Jemmy disappeared in a bend +of the road. + +On inquiry, I found Jemmy used often to go miles from home in this way, +and was as well known in the neighbourhood as his father. + +On another occasion, I remember seeing three lads, the oldest about +twelve, starting off in a four-wheeled cart, armed with an old gun. + +"Where are you going, there?" + +"To shoot pigeons." + +"What's that sticking out of your pocket?" + +"A loaded pistol;" and off they went at full swing. + +Thinks I to myself, if those lads don't break their necks, or blow their +brains out, they will learn to take care of themselves; and I began to +reflect whether this was the way they were taught to love independence. + +Now for a sketch of the other sex. Two horses come to the door +side-saddled. Out rush, and on jump, two girls under twelve. Young Ten, +upon his Two-forty, is the chaperon. "Take care!" says an anxious +parent. "Oh, I'm not afraid, mother;" and away they go, galloping about +the park as if they were Persians. My mind turned involuntarily +homewards, and I drew a picture from life. A faithful nurse stands at +the door; a young lady about twelve is mounting; a groom is on another +horse, with a leading-rein strong enough to hold a line-of-battle ship +in a gale of wind. The old nurse takes as long packing the young lady as +if she were about to make a tour of the globe; sundry whispers are going +on all the time, the purport of which is easily guessed. At last all +excuses are exhausted, and off they go. The lady's nag jog-trots a +little; the nurse's voice is heard--"Walk, walk, that's a dear! walk +till you're comfortable in the saddle. William, mind you don't let go +the rein; is it strong enough?" William smothers a laugh; the procession +moves funereally, the faithful nurse watching it with an expression +betokening intense anxiety. "Take care, that's a dear!" and then, as the +object of her solicitude disappears among the trees, she draws a long +sigh; a mutter is heard--"some accident" are the only words +distinguishable; a bang of the door follows, and the affectionate nurse +is--what?--probably wiping her eyes in the passage. + +Here are two systems which may be said to vary a little, and might +require my consideration, were it not that I have no daughters, partly +owing, doubtless, to the primary deficiency of a wife. At all events, I +have at present no time for further reflections; for the waggon is +waiting at the door, the traps are all in, and there stand mine host and +his lady, as ready to speed the parting as they were to welcome the +coming guest. A hearty shake of the hand, and farewell to Hospitality +Hall. May no cloud ever shade the happiness of its worthy inmates! + +As we drive on, I may as well tell you that Canandaigua is a beautiful +little village, situated on a slope descending towards a lake of the +same name, and therefore commanding a lovely view--for when is a sheet +of water not lovely? There are some very pretty little villas in the +upper part of the village, which is a long broad street, with trees on +either side, and is peopled by a cozy little community of about four +thousand. Here we are in the open country. What is the first novelty +that strikes the eye?--the snake fences; and a tickler they would prove +to any hot-headed Melton gentleman who might try to sky over them. They +are from six to seven feet high--sometimes higher--and are formed by +laying long split logs one over another diagonally, by which simple +process the necessity of nails or uprights is avoided; and as wood is +dirt-cheap, the additional length caused by their diagonal construction +is of no importance;--but, being all loose, they are as awkward to leap +as a swing-bar, which those who have once got a cropper at, are not +anxious to try again. + +It is at all times a cheery thing to go bowling along behind a spicy +team, but especially so when traversing a wild and half-cultivated +country, where everything around you is strange to the eye, and where +the vastness of space conveys a feeling of grandeur; nor is it the less +enjoyable when the scenery is decked in the rich attire of autumn, and +seen through the medium of a clear and cloudless sky. Then, again, there +is something peculiarly pleasing while gazing at the great extent of +rich timbered land, in reflecting that it is crying aloud for the +stalwart arm of man, and pointing to the girdle of waving fields which +surround it, to assure that stalwart arm that industry will meet a sure +reward. Poverty may well hide her head in shame amid such scenes as +these, for it can only be the fruit of wilful indolence. + +The farm cottages are all built of wood, painted white, and look as +clean and fresh as so many new-built model dairies. The neat little +churches, too, appeared as bright as though the painters had left them +the evening before. And here I must remark a convenience attached to +them, which it might be well to imitate in those of our own churches +which are situated in out-of-the-way districts, such as the Highlands of +Scotland, where many of the congregation have to come from a +considerable distance. The convenience I allude to is simply a long, +broad shed, open all one side of its length, and fitted with rings, &c., +for tethering the horses of those who, from fancy, distance, age, or +sickness, are unwilling or unable to come on foot. The expense would be +but small, and the advantage great. Onward speed our dapper greys, fresh +as four-year-olds; and the further we go, the better they seem to like +it. The only bait they get is five minutes' breathing time, and a great +bucket of water, which they seem to relish as much as if it were a +magnum of iced champagne. The avenue before us leads into Geneseo, the +place of our destination, where my kind friend, Mr. Wadsworth, was +waiting to welcome us to his charming little country-place, situated +just outside the village. 'And what a beautiful place is this same +Geneseo! But, for the present, we must discharge our faithful greys--see +our new friends, old and young--enjoy a better bait than our nags did at +the half-way house, indulge in the fragrant Havana, and retire to roost. +To-morrow we will talk of the scenery. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote E: As a similar expression occurs frequently in this work, the +reader is requested to remember that it is a common custom in America to +name a horse according to the time in which he can trot a mile. The boy +evidently had a visionary idea in his mind that the little hack he was +asking permission to ride, had accomplished the feat of trotting a mile +in two minutes and forty seconds.] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +_Geneseo_. + + +It is a lovely bright autumn morning, with a pure blue sky, and a pearly +atmosphere through which scarce a zephyr is stealing; the boughs of the +trees hang motionless; my window is open; but, how strange the perfect +stillness! No warbling note comes from the feathered tribe to greet the +rising sun, and sing, with untaught voice, their Maker's praise; even +the ubiquitous house-sparrow is neither seen nor heard. How strange this +comparative absence of animal life in a country which, having been so +recently intruded upon by the destroyer--man--one would expect to find +superabundantly populated with those animals, against which he does not +make war either for his use or amusement. Nevertheless, so it is; and I +have often strolled about for hours in the woods, in perfect solitude, +with no sound to meet the ear--no life to catch the eye. But I am +wandering from the house too soon;--a jolly scream in the nursery +reminds me that, at all events, there is animal life within, and that +the possessor thereof has no disease of the lungs. + +Let us now speed to breakfast; for folk are early in the New World, and +do not lie a-bed all the forenoon, thinking how to waste the afternoon, +and then, when the afternoon comes, try and relieve the tedium thereof +by cooking up some project to get over the _ennui_ of the evening. +Whatever else you may deny the American, this one virtue you must allow +him. He is, emphatically, an early riser; as much so as our own +most gracious Sovereign, whose example, if followed by her +subjects--especially some in the metropolis--would do more to destroy +London hells, and improve London health, than the Legislature, or Sir B. +Hall, and all the College of Surgeons, can ever hope to effect among the +post-meridian drones. + +Breakfast was speedily despatched, and Senor Cabaños y Carvajal followed +as a matter of course. While reducing him to ashes, and luxuriating in +the clouds which proclaim his certain though lingering death, we went +out upon the terrace before the house to wish good speed to my two +companions who were just starting, and to enjoy a view of the far-famed +vale of Genesee. Far as the eye could see, with no bounds save the power +of its vision, was one wide expanse of varied beauty. The dark forest +hues were relieved by the rich tints of the waving corn; neat little +cottages peeped out in every direction. Here and there, a village, with +its taper steeples, recalled the bounteous Hand "that giveth us all +things richly to enjoy." Below my feet was beautifully undulating park +ground, magnificently timbered, through which peeped the river, bright +as silver beneath the rays of an unclouded sun, whose beams, streaming +at the same time on a field of the rich-coloured pumpkin, burnished each +like a ball of molten gold. All around was richness, beauty, and +abundance. + +The descendant of a Wellington or a Washington, while contemplating the +glorious deeds of an illustrious ancestor, and recalling the adoration +of a grateful country, may justly feel his breast swelling with pride +and emulation; but while I was enjoying this scene, there stood one at +my side within whom also such emotions might be as fully and justly +stirred--for there are great men to be found in less conspicuous, though +not less useful spheres of life. A son who knew its history enjoyed with +me this goodly scene. His father was the first bold pioneer. The rut +made by the wheel of his rude cart, drawn by two oxen, was the first +impress made by civilization in the whole of this rich and far-famed +valley. A brother shared with him his early toils and privations; their +own hands raised the log-hut--their new home in the wilderness. Ere they +broke ground, the boundless forest howled around a stray party of +Indians, come to hunt, or to pasture their flocks on the few open plots +skirting the river: all else was waste and solitude. One brother died +comparatively early; but the father of mine host lived long to enjoy the +fruit of his labours. He lived to see industry and self-denial +metamorphose that forest and its straggling Indian band into a land +bursting with the rich fruits of the soil, and buzzing with a busy hive +of human energy and intelligence. Yes; and he lived to see temple after +temple, raised for the pure worship of the True God, supplant the +ignorance and idolatry which reigned undisturbed at his first coming. +Say, then, reader, has not the son of such a father just cause for +pride--a solemn call to emulation? The patriarchal founder of his family +and their fortunes has left an imperishable monument of his greatness in +the prosperity of this rich vale; and Providence has blessed his +individual energies and forethought with an unusual amount of this +world's good things. "Honour and fame--industry and wealth," are +inscribed on the banner of his life, and the son is worthily fighting +under the paternal standard. The park grounds below the house bear +evidence of his appreciation of the beauties of scenery, in the taste +with which he has performed that difficult task of selecting the groups +of trees requisite for landscape, while cutting down a forest; and the +most cursory view of his library can leave no doubt that his was a +highly-cultivated mind. I will add no more, lest I be led insensibly to +trench upon the privacy of domestic life. + +I now propose to give a slight sketch of his farm, so as to convey, to +those interested, an idea of the general system of agriculture adopted +in the Northern States; and if the reader think the subject dull, a turn +of the leaf will prove a simple remedy. + +The extent farmed is 2000 acres, of which 400 are in wood, 400 in +meadow, 400 under plough, and 800 in pasture. On the wheat lands, summer +fallow, wheat, and clover pasture, form the three years' rotation. In +summer fallow, the clover is sometimes ploughed in, and sometimes fed +off, according to the wants of the soil and the farm. Alluvial lands are +cultivated in Indian corn from five to ten years successively, and then +laid down in grass indeterminately from three to forty years. +Wheat--sometimes broadcast, sometimes drilled--is put in as near as +possible the 1st of September, and cut from the 10th to the 20th of +July. Clover-seed is sown during March in wheat, and left till the +following year. Wheat stubble is pastured slightly; the clover, if +mowed, is cut in the middle of June; if pastured, the cattle are turned +in about the 1st of May. + +Pumpkins are raised with the Indian corn, and hogs fattened on them; +during the summer they are turned into clover pasture. Indian corn and +pumpkins are planted in May, and harvested in October; the leaf and +stalk of the Indian corn are cut up for fodder, and very much liked. +Oats and barley are not extensively cultivated. + +The average crop of Indian corn is from fifty to sixty bushels, and of +wheat, from twenty-five to thirty per acre. The pasture land supports +one head to one and one-third acre. Grass-fattened cattle go to market +from September to November, fetching 2-1/4d. per lb. live weight, or +4-1/2d. per lb. for beef alone. Cattle are kept upon hay and straw +from the middle of November to 1st of May, if intended for fattening +upon grass; but, if intended for spring market, they are fed on Indian +corn-meal in addition. Sheep are kept on hay exclusively, from the +middle of November to the 1st of April. A good specimen of Durham ox, +three and a half years old, weighs 1500 lbs. live weight. The farm is +provided with large scales for weighing hay, cattle, &c., and so +arranged, that one hundred head can easily be weighed in two hours. + +No manure is used, except farm-pen and gypsum; the former is generally +applied to Indian corn and meadow land. The gypsum is thrown, a bushel +to the acre, on each crop of wheat and clover--cost of gypsum, ten +shillings for twenty bushels. A mowing machine, with two or three horses +and one man, can cut, in one day, twelve acres of heavy meadow land, if +it stand up; but if laid at all, from six to ten. The number of men +employed on the farm is, six for six months, twelve for three months, +and twenty-five for three months. Ten horses and five yoke of oxen are +kept for farm purposes. The common waggon used weighs eight +hundredweight, and holds fifty bushels. Sometimes they are ten +hundredweight, and hold one hundred and five bushels. + +The wages of the farm servants are:--For those engaged by the year, +2l. 10s. a month; for six months, 2l. 18s. 6d. a month; for +three months, 3l. 11s. a month--besides board and lodging, on the +former of which they are not likely to find their bones peeping through +their skin. They have meat three times a day--pork five days, and mutton +two days in the week--a capital pie at dinner; tea and sugar twice a +day; milk _ad libitum_; vegetables twice a day; butter usually three +times a day; no spirits nor beer are allowed. The meals are all cooked +at the farm, and the overseer eats with the men, and receives from +75l. to 125l. a year, besides board and lodging for his family, who +keep the farm-house. When every expense is paid, mine host netts a +clear six per cent. on his farm, and I think you will allow that he may +go to bed at night with little fear of the nightmare of a starving +labourer disturbing his slumbers. Not that he troubles sleep much, for +he is the nearest thing to perpetual motion I ever saw, not excepting +even the armadillo at the Zoological Gardens, and he has more "irons in +the fire" than there were bayonet-points before Sevastopol. + +The village contains a population of two thousand inhabitants, and +consists of a few streets, the principal of which runs along a terrace, +which, being a continuation of the one on which we were lately standing, +commands the same lovely view. But, small as is the village, it has four +churches, an academy, two banks, two newspaper offices, and a telegraph +office. What a slow coach you are, John Bull! + +One day I was taking a drive with an amiable couple, who, having been +married sixteen or seventeen years, had got well over the mysterious +influences of honeymoonism. The husband was acting Jarvey, and I was +inside with madame. The roads being in some places very bad, and neither +the lady nor myself being feather-weight, the springs were frequently +brought down upon one another with a very disagreeable jerk. The lady +remonstrated: + +"John, I declare these springs are worn out, and the carriage itself is +little better." + +"Now, Susan, what's the good of your talking that way; you know they are +perfectly good, my dear." + +"Oh, John! you know what I say is true, and that the carriage has never +been touched since we married." + +"My dear, if I prove to you one of your assertions is wrong, I suppose +you will be ready to grant the others may be equally incorrect." + +"Well, what then?" said the unsuspecting wife. + +"Why, my dear, I'll prove to you the springs are in perfectly good +order," said the malicious husband, who descried a most abominable bit +of road ready for his purpose; and, suiting the action to the word, he +put his spicy nags into a hand-canter. Bang went the springs together; +and, despite of all the laws of gravitation, madame and I kept bobbing +up and down, and into one another's laps. + +"Oh, John, stop! stop!" + +"No, no, my dear, I shall go on till you're perfectly satisfied with +the goodness of the springs and the soundness of the carriage." + +Resistance was useless; John was determined, and the horses would not +have tired in a week; so the victim had nothing for it but to cry +_peccavi_, upon which John moderated his pace gradually, and our elastic +bounds ceased correspondingly, until we settled once more firmly on our +respective cushions; then John turned round, and, with a mixed +expression of malice and generosity, said, "Well, my dear, I do think +the carriage wants a new lining, but you must admit they are really good +springs." And the curtain fell on this little scene in the drama of +"Sixteen Years after Marriage." May the happy couple live to re-enact +the same sixty years after marriage! + +Our drive brought us to the shore of Lake Canesus, and a lovely scene it +was; the banks were in many places timbered to the water's edge by the +virgin forest, now radiant with the rich autumnal tints; the afternoon +sun shone forth in all its glory from a cloudless sky, on a ripp'less +lake, which, like a burnished mirror, reflected with all the +truthfulness of nature the gorgeous scene above; and as you gazed on the +azure abyss below, it kept receding and receding till the wearied sight +of the creature was lost in the fathomless depths of the work of his +Almighty Creator. Who has not for the moment imagined that he could +realise the infinity of space, as, when gazing at some bright star, he +strives to measure the distance of the blue curtain spread behind, +which, ever receding, so mocks the efforts of the ambitious eye, that +its powers become bewildered in the unfathomable depths of immensity; +but I am not sure whether such feelings do not come home to one more +powerfully when the eye gazes on the same object through the medium of +reflection;--for, as with the bounties of the Creator, so with the +wonders of His creation--man is too prone to undervalue them in +proportion to the frequency with which they are spread before him; and +thus the deep azure vault, so often seen in the firmament above, is less +likely to attract his attention and engage his meditations, than when +the same glorious scene lies mirrored beneath his feet. + +This charming lake has comparatively little cultivation on its borders; +two or three cottages, and a few cattle grazing, are the only signs that +man is asserting his dominion over the wilderness. One of these +cottages belongs to a member of the Wadsworth family, who owns some +extent of land in the neighbourhood, and who has built a nice little +boat for sailing about in the summer season. I may as well mention in +this place, that the roofing generally used for cottages is a wooden +tile called "shingle," which is very cheap--twelve-and-sixpence +purchasing enough to cover a thousand feet. + +While driving about in this neighbourhood, I saw, for the first time, +what is termed a "plank-road,"--a system which has been introduced into +the United States from Canada. The method of construction is very +simple, consisting of two stringers of oak two inches square, across +which are laid three-inch planks eight feet long, and generally of +hemlock or pine. No spiking of the planks into the stringers is +required, and a thin layer of sand or soil being placed over all, the +road is made; and, as the material for construction is carried along as +the work progresses, the rapidity of execution is astonishing. When +completed, it is as smooth as a bowling-green. The only objection I ever +heard to these roads is, that the jarring sensation produced by them is +very injurious to the horses' legs; but it can hardly be thought that, +if the cart were up to the axle and the horse up to the belly-band in a +good clay soil, any advantage would be derived from such a primitive +state of things. Taking an average, the roads may be said to last from +eight to ten years, and cost about £330 a mile. Those in Canada are +often made much broader, so as to enable two vehicles to pass abreast, +and their cost is a little above £400 a mile. The toll here is about +three-farthings a mile per horse. They have had the good sense to avoid +the ridiculous wheel-tollage to which we adhere at home with a tenacity +only equalled by its folly, as if a two-wheeled cart, with a ton weight +of cargo, drawn by a Barclay and Perkinser, did not cut up a road much +more than the little four-wheel carriage of the clergyman's wife, drawn +by a cob pony, and laden with a tin of soup or a piece of flannel for +some suffering parishioner. But as our ancestors adopted this system "in +the year dot, before one was invented," I suppose we shall bequeath the +precious legacy to our latest posterity, unless some "Rebecca League," +similar to Taffy's a few years since, be got up on a grand national +scale, in which case tolls may, perhaps, be included in the tariff of +free-trade. Until that auspicious event take place,--for I confess to an +ever-increasing antipathy to paying any gate,--we might profit in some +of our bleak and dreary districts by copying the simple arrangement +adopted at many American tolls, which consists of throwing a covered +archway over the road; so that if you have to unbutton half-a-dozen +coats in a snow-storm to find a sixpence, you are not necessitated to +button-in a bucketful of snow, which, though it may cool the body, has a +very opposite effect on the temper. + +It is bad enough in England; but any one who wishes to enjoy it to +perfection had better take a drive from Stirling, crossing the Forth, +when, if he select his road happily, he may have the satisfaction of +paying half-a-dozen tolls in nearly as many minutes, on the plea that +this piece of ground, the size of a cocked-hat-box,--and that piece, the +size of a cabbage-garden,--and so on, belong to different counties; and +his amusement may derive additional zest if he be fortunate enough to +find the same tollman there whom I met some years ago. When passing his +toll in a driving snow-storm that penetrated even to the very marrow, I +pulled up a few yards beyond the gate, upon which he came out very +sulkily, took the half-crown I tendered him, and, walking deliberately +back, placed the change on the post of the gate, and said,--"If ye want +'ut, ye may take 'ut; it's no my place to walk half a mile o' the road +to gie folk their change;" after which courteous address he disappeared, +banging his door to with a sound that fell on the ear very like "Put +that in your pipe and smoke it." Precious work I had, with a heavy +dog-cart, no servant, and a hack whose mouth was case-hardened. I would +willingly have given it up; but I knew the brute (the man, not the +horse) would very soon have got drunk upon it; so I persevered until I +succeeded, and then went on my road full of thoughts which are, I fear, +totally unfit to be committed to paper. + +Reader, I must ask you to forgive my wanderings on the banks of the +Forth. I hasten back to Geneseo, and pack up ready for to-morrow's +start, for the days I had spent with my kind host and his merry family +had slipped by so pleasantly I had quite lost count of them. There was +but one cloud to our enjoyment--one sad blank in the family group: my +sister-in-law, in whose charming society I had fondly hoped to make my +first visit to the scenes of her early youth, had been recently summoned +to a better world; and the void her absence made in that family circle, +of which she was both the radiating and the centring point of affection, +was too deeply felt for aught but time ever to eradicate. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +_Stirring Scenes and Strange Sights_. + + +My host having kindly lent me his carriage and a pair of wiry nags, I +started for Batavia to meet the railway. The distance was about thirty +miles, and the road in many places execrable--in one part so bad that we +had to go through a quarter of a mile of wood, as it was absolutely +impassable;--yet, despite all these hindrances, and without pressing the +horses in the least, we completed the distance in the three hours, +including from five to ten minutes at a half-way house, where we gave +them the usual American bait of a bucket of cold water; and when we +arrived they were as fresh as four-year-olds, and quite ready to return +if need had been. I saw nothing worth remarking during the drive. There +was plenty of cultivated land; and plenty of waste, waiting to reward +the labourer. All the little villages had their daguerreotype shops +except one, and there the deficiency was supplied by a perambulating +artist in a tented cart. + +When a railway crosses the road, you are expected to see it,--the only +warning being a large painted board, inscribed "Look out for the Train." +If it be dark, I suppose you are expected to guess it; but it must be +remembered that this is the country of all countries where every person +is required to look after himself. The train coming up soon after my +arrival, I went on to Buffalo, amid a railway mixture of +tag-rag-and-bobtail, squalling infancy and expectorating manhood. On +arriving at the terminus, I engaged a cab, and, after waiting half an +hour, I found that Jarvey was trying to pick up some other "fare," not +thinking myself and my servant a sufficient cargo to pay well. I tried +to find a railway official; but I might almost as well have looked for a +flea in a flower-garden--no badges, no distinctive marks, the station +full of all the riff-raff of the town;--it was hopeless. At last, by a +lucky accident, I saw a man step into a small office, so I bolted after +him, like a terrier after a badger, but I could not draw him; he knew +nothing about the cabs--he was busy--nay, in short, he would not be +bothered. Having experienced this beautiful specimen of Buffalo railway +management, I returned to the open air and lit my cigar. After some +time, Cabby, having found that no other "fare" was to be had, +condescended to tell me he was ready; so in I got, and drove to the +hotel, on entering which I nearly broke my neck over a pyramid of boxes, +all looking of one family. They turned out to be the property of Mr. +G.V. Brooke, the actor, who had just arrived "to star it" at Buffalo. +Supper being ready, as it always is on the arrival of the evening train, +I repaired thither, and found the usual wondrous medley which the +American tables d'hôte exhibit, the usual deafening clatter, the usual +profusion of eatables, the usual rapidity of action, and the usual +disagreeable odour which is consequent upon such a mass of humanity and +food combined. Being tolerably tired, I very soon retired to roost. + +What a wondrous place is this Buffalo!--what a type of American activity +and enterprise! I had visited it in the year 1826, and then it had only +three thousand inhabitants. The theatre, I remember, amused me +immensely, the stage and accommodation for spectators barely occupying +an area of twenty-five feet square. Mr. G.V. Brooke's boxes, at that +time, would have filled the whole house; and here they are in 1852, +drawing our metropolitan stars to their boards. Their population has +increased twenty-fold, and now exceeds sixty thousand; a splendid +harbour, a lighthouse, piers, breakwater, &c., have been constructed, +and the place is daily increasing. Churches rear their spiry steeples in +every direction. Banks and insurance offices are scattered broadcast. +Educational, literary, and benevolent establishments abound, and upwards +of a dozen newspapers are published. Land which, during my visit in +1826, you might almost have had for the asking, is now selling at two +hundred guineas the foot of frontage for building. Even during the last +ten years, the duties collected at the port have increased from £1000 to +nearly £14,000. In the year 1852 upwards of four thousand vessels, +representing a million and a half of tonnage, cleared at the harbour, +and goods to the value of nearly seven millions sterling arrived from +the lakes, the greater portion of the cargoes being grain. The value of +goods annually delivered by Erie Canal is eight millions. Never was a +more energetic hive of humanity than these "Buffalo lads;" and they are +going ahead every day, racing pace. + +Now, John Bull, come with me to the cliff outside the town, and +overhanging the Niagara river. Look across the stream, to the Canada +shore, and you will see a few houses and a few people. There they have +been, for aught I know, since the creation. The town(!) is called +Waterloo, and the couple of dozen inhabitants, despite the rich fruits +of industry on which they may gaze daily, seem to regard industry as a +frightful scourge to be studiously avoided. Their soil is as rich as, if +not richer than, that on the opposite shore: the same lake is spread +before them, and the same river runs by their doors. It does, indeed, +look hopeless, where such an example, constantly under their eyes, fails +to stir them up to action. But, perhaps, you will say, you think you see +a movement among the "dry bones." True, my dear Bull, there is now a +movement; but, if you inquire, you will find it is a Buffalo movement. +It is their energy, activity, and enterprise which, is making a railway +to run across Canada to Goderich, by which means they will save, for +traffic, the whole length of Lake Erie, and half that of Lake Huron, for +all produce coming from the North of Michigan, Wisconsin, &c. So +thoroughly is it American enterprise, that, although the terminus of the +railway is at Waterloo, the name is ignored; and Buffalo enterprise +having carried forward the work, it is styled the "Buffalo, Brentford, +and Goderich Line." Truly, John Bull, your colony shows very badly by +the side of this same Buffalo. Let us hope increasing intercourse may +infuse a little vitality into them. + +The train is starting for Niagara, and I am in it, endeavouring to recal +the impressions of 1826, which, being but very dim, my anticipations +partake of the charm of novelty. While in the middle of a seventh heaven +of picturative fancy, the screeching of the break announces the +journey's end. As I emerge from the motley group of fellow-passengers, a +sound, as of very distant thunder heard through ears stuffed with +cotton, is all that announces the neighbourhood of the giant cataract. A +fly is speedily obtained, and off I start for the hotel on the Canadian +side. Our drive took us along the eastern bank till we reached the +suspension-bridge which spans the cliffs of the river. Across this +gossamer causeway, vehicles are required to walk, under a heavy penalty +for any breach of this rule. The vibration when walking is not very +great; but, going at a quick pace, it would undoubtedly be considerable, +and might eventually loosen those fastenings on which the aerial pathway +depends. Arrived at the other side, I was quite taken aback on being +stopped by an official. I found he was merely a _pro formâ_ custom-house +officer. Not having been schooled in the Old World, he showed none of +the ferret, and in a few seconds I was again trotting southwards along +the western bank to the Clifton House Hotel. The dull work of life is +done, the cab is paid, my room is engaged, and there I am, on the +balcony, alone, with the roaring of the cataract in my ears and the +mighty cataract itself before my eyes. + +What were my first impressions?--That is a difficult question. +Certainly, I did not share that feeling of disappointment which some +people take pains to express. Such people, if they had dreamt that an +unknown friend had left them 100,000l., would feel disappointed if he +awoke and found a legacy of 90,000l. lying on their table; or, +perhaps, they give expression to their feelings, by way of inducing the +public to suppose that their fertile imaginations conceived something +far grander than this most glorious work of Nature. If a man propose to +go to Niagara for mere beauty, he had better stay at home and look at a +lily through a microscope; if to hear a mighty noise, he had better go +where the anchors are forged in Portsmouth dockyard; if to see a mighty +struggle of waters, he had better take a cruise, on board a pilot-boat, +in the Bay of Biscay, during an equinoctial gale; but, if he be content +to see the most glorious cataract his Maker has placed upon our globe; +if, in a stupendous work of Nature, he have a soul to recognise the +Almighty Workman; and if, while gazing thereon, he can travel from +Nature up to Nature's God; then, let him go to Niagara, in full +assurance of enjoying one of the grandest and most solemnizing scenes +that this earth affords. It wants but one qualification to be perfect +and complete; that, it had originally when fresh from the hands of its +Divine Maker; and of that man has rifled it--I mean solitude.--Palace +hotels are very convenient things; energy and enterprise are very +valuable qualities, and natural features of American character which I +admire; but, seeing how universally everything is sacrificed to the +useful and dollar-making, I dread to contemplate the future: for visions +rise before me of the woodman's axe levelling the forest timber on Goat +Island, which at present shrouds the town; and fancy pictures a line of +villas, shops, and mills, ending in a huge hotel, at the edge of the +cataract. I trust my vision may never be realized. But my hopes are +small; for I invariably observed that, in clearing ground, scarce any +attention had been paid to aught else but the best method of getting the +best return for the labour bestowed. + +Now, reader, I have not told you as yet what my impressions were, as I +stood on the balcony gazing at Niagara; and, I pray you take not +offence, when I add that I have not the slightest intention of trying to +record them. Writing frankly, as I feel, I have said enough for you to +glean something of the turn they took, and to see that they were +impressions which a pen is too feeble an agent adequately to express. I +shall not tax your patience with Table Rock and Goat Island points of +view, American and Canadian falls, the respective beauties of the +Straight Line and the Horse-shoe; I do not purpose clothing you in +Mackintosh, and dragging you with trembling steps along the slimy +pathway between the Falls and the rock, to gaze on the sun through the +roaring and rolling flood; nor will I draw upon your nerves by a detail +of the hair-breadth escapes of Mr. Bumptious and Mrs. Positive, who, +when they got half-way along the said path, were seized with panic, and +only escaped a header into the boiling caldron by lying flat on their +stomachs until the rest of the party had lionized the whole distance, +when the guide returned and hauled them out by the heels, like drowned +rats out of a sink-hole; nor will I ask you to walk five miles with me, +to see the wooden hut, built over a sulphur spring within ten feet of +the river, and which is lit by the sulphuretted hydrogen gas thereof, +led through a simple tube. + +All these, and the rapids above, and the whirlpool below, and the +four-and-a-half million horse-power of the Falls, have been so often +described by abler pens and more fertile imaginations, that the effort +would be a failure and the result a bore. + +I have in my possession a collection from the various albums at +Niagara; it opens with the following lines by Lord Morpeth, now Earl of +Carlisle-- + + "There's nothing great or bright, thou glorious Fall! + Thou may'st not to the fancy's sense recal; + The thunder-riven cloud, the lightning's leap, + The stirring of the chambers of the deep, + Earth's emerald green, and many-tinted dyes, + The fleecy whiteness of the upper skies, + The tread of armies thickening as they come, + The boom of cannon and the beat of drum, + The brow of beauty and the form of grace, + The passion and the prowess of our race, + The song of Homer in its loftiest hour, + The unresisted sweep of human power, + Britannia's trident on the azure sea, + America's young shout of liberty! + Oh! may the waves that madden in thy deep, + There spend their rage, nor climb the encircling steep,-- + And till the conflict of thy surges cease, + The nations on thy banks repose in peace!" + +There are other effusions equally creditable to their authors; but there +is also a mass of rubbish, from which I will only inflict two specimens. +One, evidently from the pen of a Cockney; and the other, the poetical +inspiration of a free and enlightened. + +Cockney poet-- + + "Next to the bliss of seeing Sarah, + Is that of seeing Niagara." + +Free and enlightened-- + + "Of all the roaring, pouring, + Spraying streams that dash, + Niagara is Number One, + All to immortal smash!" + +Not desiring to appear to as great disadvantage as either of the two +last-quoted writers, I decline the attempt; and, while saving myself, +spare the public. + +I think, reader, that I have a claim upon your gratitude for not +expatiating at greater length upon a theme from which it were easy to +fill chapter upon chapter; for, if you are generous, you will throw a +veil over the selfish reasons that have produced so happy a result. I +will only add one piece of advice, which is, if the pleasure of +visiting Niagara would be enhanced by a full larder and a ruck of +people, go there "during the season;" but if your pleasure would be +greater in visiting it when the hotel is empty, even though the larder +be nearly in the same state, follow my example, and go later in the +year, by which means you will partially obtain that quiet, without +which, I freely confess, I never care to look upon "The Falls" again. + +A formidable rival to this magnificent fall of water has-been discovered +by that indefatigable traveller, Dr. Livingston. It is called the +Mosiotunya Falls, which are thus described:--"They occur," we read +("Outlines of Dr. Livingston's Missionary Journeys," p. 19), "in the +most southerly part of the Zambese. Although previously unvisited by any +European, Dr. Livingston had often heard of these smoke-resounding +falls, which, with points of striking difference from Niagara, are, if +possible, more remarkable and not less sublime than that noble cataract. +He was therefore anxious to inspect them, and on the 20th of November, +1855, he reached Kalai, a place eight miles west of the Falls. On +arriving at the latter, he found that this natural phenomenon was caused +by the sudden contraction, or rather compression, of the river, here +about 1000 yards broad, which urges its ponderous mass through a narrow +rent in the basaltic rock of not more than twenty-five yards, and down a +deep cleft, but a little wider, into a basin or trough about thirty +yards in diameter, lying at a depth of thirty-five yards. Into this +narrow receptacle the vast river precipitated itself. When Dr. +Livingston visited the spot, the Zambese flowed through its narrowest +channel, and its waters were at their lowest. The effect, however, of +its sudden contraction and fall was in the highest degree sublime, and, +from the point at which he surveyed it, appalling. For, not satisfied +with a distant view of the opening through its rocky barrier, and of the +columns of vapour rushing up for 300 to 400 feet, forming a spreading +cloud, and then falling in perpetual rain, he engaged a native, with +nerves as strong as his own and expert in the management of the canoe, +to paddle him down the river, here heaving, eddying, and fretting, as if +reluctant to approach the gorge and hurl itself down the precipice to an +islet immediately above the fall, and from one point of which he could +look over its edge into the foaming caldron below, mark the mad whirl +of its waters, and stand in the very focus of its vapoury columns and +its deafening roar. But unique and magnificent as was the cataract when +Dr. Livingston beheld it, the reports of others, and the inference drawn +by himself, satisfied him that the spectacle was tame compared with what +occurs during the rainy season, when the river flows between banks many +miles apart, and still forces its augmented waters through the same +fissure into the same trough. At these times the columns of spray may be +seen, and the sound heard ten or twelve miles distant." + +My traps are all in the ferry-boat: I have crossed the river, been wound +up the opposite bank, paid my fare, and am hissing away for Rochester. +What thoughts does Rochester give rise to? If you are a commercial man, +you will conjure up visions of activity and enterprise; if you are an +inquirer into mysteries and manners, your dreams will be of +"spirit-rapping and Bloomers." Coming fresh from Buffalo, I confess I +was rather interested in the latter. But here I am at the place itself, +and lodged in an hotel wonderfully handy to the station; and before the +front door thereof railways are interlaced like the meshes of a +fisherman's net. Having no conversable companion, I take to my ever +faithful and silent friend, the fragrant cigar, and start for a stroll. +There is a bookseller's shop at the corner; I almost invariably feel +tempted to stop when passing a depôt for literature, especially in a +strange place; but on the present occasion a Brobdignagian notice caught +my eye, and gave me a queer sensation inside my waistcoat--"Awful smash +among the Banks!" Below, in more Lilliputian characters, followed a list +of names. I had just obtained notes of different banks for my travelling +expenses, and I knew not how many thereof might belong to the bankrupt +list before me; a short examination sufficed, and with a quieted mind, I +continued my stroll and my cigar. + +The progress of Rochester has not been so rapid as that of Buffalo; in +1826 they made a pretty fair start, and at present Rochester has only a +little above forty thousand, while, as we said a few pages back, Buffalo +has sixty thousand. Rochester has the disadvantage of not being built +quite on the lake, as Buffalo may be said to be; moreover, the carrying +on Lake Ontario is not so great as on Lake Erie. Both towns enjoy the +rich advantages of the Erie canal, and Rochester is benefited by +water-power in a way Buffalo is not. Genesee river, in a distance of +three miles, falls nearly two hundred and thirty feet, and has three +cascades, the greatest of which is upwards of one hundred feet; this +power has not been overlooked by the Rochesterians, who have established +enormous flour-mills in consequence, using up annually three million +bushels of wheat. As one of the Genesee falls was close to the town, I +bent my steps thither; the roads were more than ankle deep in mud, and I +had some difficulty in getting to the spot; when there, the dreary +nakedness of the banks and the matter-of-factism of a huge mill, chased +even the very thought of beauty from my mind: whether man stripped the +banks, or Nature, I cannot say, but I should rather "guess" it was man. + +I was puddling back full of disappointment, and had just got upon the +wooden pavement, which is a trottoir upon the plank-road system, when I +saw a strange sail ahead, with rather a novel rig; could it be?--no! +yes!--no! yes!--yes, by George! a real, living Rochester Bloomer was +steering straight for me. She was walking arm-in-arm with a man who +looked at a distance awfully dirty; upon closer examination, I found the +effect was produced by his wearing all his face-hair close clipped, like +a hunter's coat in the season: but I had but little time to spare upon +_him_--the Bloomer was the star of attraction: on she came with a pretty +face, dark hair, eyes to match, and a good figure; she wore a black +beaver hat, low crown, and broad brim; round the hat was tied, in a +large bow, a bright red ribbon: under a black silk polka, which fitted +to perfection, she had a pair of chocolate-coloured pantaloons, hanging +loosely and gathered in above the ankles, and a neat pair of little feet +were cased in a sensible pair of boots, light, but at the same time +substantial. A gap occurring in the trottoir, and the roads being +shockingly muddy, I was curious to see how Bloomer faced the difficulty; +it never seemed to give her a moment's thought: she went straight at it, +and reached the opposite side with just as much ease as her companion. + +Now, reader, let us change the scene and bring before you one with which +you are probably not unfamiliar. Place--A muddy crossing near a parish +school. Time--Play hours. _Dramatis personae_--An old lady and twenty +school-boys. Scene--The old lady comes sailing along the footways, +doing for nothing that for which sweepers are paid; arrived at the +crossing, a cold shudder comes over her as she gazes in despair at the +sea of mud she must traverse; behold now the frantic efforts she is +making to gather up the endless mass of gown, petticoats, and +auxiliaries with which custom and fashion have smothered her; her hands +can scarcely grasp the puckers and the folds; at last she makes a start, +exhibiting a beautifully filled pair of snow-white stockings; on she +goes, the journey is half over; suddenly a score of urchin voices are +heard in chorus, "Twig her legs, twig her legs." The irate dame turns +round to reprove them by words, or wither them with a glance; but alas! +in her indignation she raises a threatening hand, forgetful of the +important duties it was fulfilling, and down go gown, petticoats, and +auxiliaries in the filthy mire; the boys of course roar with +delight--it's the jolliest fun they have had for many a day; the old +lady gathers up her bundle in haste, and reaches the opposite side with +a filthy dress and a furious temper. Let any mind, unwarped by prejudice +and untrammelled by custom, decide whether the costume of the Rochester +Bloomer or of the old lady be the more sensible. + +I grant that I have placed before you the two extremes, and I should be +as sorry to see my fair friends in "cut o' knee" kilts, as I now am to +see them in "sweep-the-ground gowns," &c. "But," cries one, "you will +aim a blow at female delicacy!" A blow, indeed! when all that female +delicacy has to depend upon is the issue of a struggle between pants and +petticoats, it will need no further blow: it is pure matter of fashion +and custom. Do not girls wear a Bloomer constantly till they are +fourteen or fifteen, then generally commence the longer dress? And what +reason can be given but custom, which, in so many articles of dress, is +ever changing? How long is it since the dressing of ladies' hair for +Court was a work of such absurd labour and nicety, that but few artists +were equal to the task, and, consequently, having to attend so many +customers, ladies were often obliged to have their hair dressed the day +before, and sit up all night that the coiffure might remain perfect? Or +how long is it since ladies at Court used to move about like human +balloons, with gowns hooped out to such an extent that it was a work of +labour and dexterity to get in and out of a carriage; trains, &c., to +match? Hundreds of people, now living, can not only remember these +things, but can remember also the outcry with which the proposal of +change was received. Delicacy, indeed! I should be glad to know what our +worthy grandmammas would think of the delicacy of the present generation +of ladies, could they but see them going about with nothing but an +oyster-shell bonnet stuck at the back of their heads! Take another +remnant of barbarism, handed down to us in the shape of powder. Masters +have taken care of themselves, and got rid of the abomination; so have +upper servants; but so wedded are some people to the habit, that they +still continue to pay a poll-tax of 1l. 3s. 6d. for the pleasure +of powdering and plastering their footmen's heads, as if they had just +escaped from a flour-mill and passed a greasy hand over their hair: will +any one deny, that the money spent in the tax would promote "John's" +comfort and cleanliness much more, if expended in good baths, brown +Windsor, and small-tooth combs. + +Pardon me, reader, I feel that there is no analogy between a Bloomer and +a small-tooth comb; it is from following out the principle of recording +the reflections which what I saw gave rise to, that I have thus wandered +back to the old country; with your permission, we are again at +Rochester, and the Bloomer has gone out of sight round the corner. + +The shades of evening having closed in upon me, I retired to roost. My +head was snugly bedded in my pillow; I was in that charmingly doubtful +state in which thoughts and dreams have become imperceptibly blended. +Suddenly there was a trumpet-blast, loud as a thunder-clap, followed by +bells ringing as rapidly as those of the churches in Malta; as these +died away, the hum of human voices and the tread of human feet along the +passages followed, and then all was once more hushed in silence. I +turned over, gave the clothes an extra jerk, and again sought the land +of dreams. Vain and delusive hope!--trains seemed starting or arriving +every half-hour, and the whole night was spent 'mid the soothing +varieties of mineral trumpets and bells, and animal hoofs and tongues, +till from sheer exhaustion, about five A.M., I dropped off into a +snooze, which an early start rendered it necessary to cut short soon +after seven. + +Mem.--What a nice thing it is to put up at an hotel quite handy to a +railway station. + +Reader, you are doubtless aware that Rochester is on Lake Ontario, and a +considerable distance from New York; but I must nevertheless beg you to +transport yourself to the latter place, without going through the +humdrum travelling routine of--stopped here, stopped there, ate here, +ate there, which constituted the main features of my hasty journey +thither, undertaken for the purpose of seeing my brother off, on his +return to Europe, which duty bringing me within the yachting waters of +New York, I think this a legitimate place for a chapter on the "Black +Maria." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +_Construction and Destruction_. + + +The "Black Maria" is a vessel so unique in every respect, that the most +detailed description of her cannot but be most interesting to all +yachting men; and, so far from apologizing for the length of my +observations, I would rather crave indulgence for the scanty information +which this chapter will afford; but as it must prove pre-eminently dull +to those who are ignorant of such matters, I would entreat them to pass +it over, lest, getting through the first page, their ideas become +bewildered, and, voting me a bore, they throw down the book, subjoining +a malediction upon my poor innocent head. + +The following notes were furnished me by Commodore Stevens and his +brother, who were the designers and builders of this extraordinary +yacht, and I therefore can vouch for their accuracy. + +In case the term "centre-board" should be unknown to my reader, it may +be as well to explain that it means a board passing longitudinally +through the keel, above which a strong water-tight case is fixed for its +reception; it is raised and lowered by hand or by machinery, according +to its weight. The advantages proposed by the centre-board are--the +stability it gives to the vessel on a wind when let down; the resistance +it removes if, when running before the wind, it be raised; the small +draught of water which the vessel requires, thereby enabling her to keep +close in-shore out of the influence of strong tides, &c.; and, lastly, +the facility for getting afloat again, by merely raising the +centre-board, should she take the ground. To proceed with the notes:-- + + +THE CUTTER YACHT "BLACK MARIA." + +Displacement, 145 tons. + +Draught of water on straight keel, 5 feet 2 inches. + +Length of straight keel, 60 feet, then running away in a curving line +upwards, till at the bow it draws 10 inches. + +Length of centre-board, 24 feet. + +Total depth of ditto, 15 feet; weight, 7 tons. + +Foremost end of ditto, about 8 feet abaft the foremost end of straight +keel. + +When let down, it descends 10 feet at the further end, and 8 feet at the +foremost. It is made of oak, with sufficient lead let in to make it +sink. By an ingenious mechanical contrivance one man is enabled to raise +and lower it with perfect facility. + +There is another centre-board abaft, about 10 feet from the stern, which +is 8 feet long, with a total depth of 9 feet, and, when down, extending +5 feet below the keel. + +Length over all, 113 feet. + +The extreme beam is 26-1/2 feet at 40 feet from the rudder-post running +aft to about 19 feet at taffrail; forward, it decreases about 20 inches +when abreast of mast, thence runs away sharp to about four feet at the +bow. + +The mainmast is placed about 5 feet abaft the end of straight keel; it +is 92 feet long, housing 8 feet: the diameter in the partners is 32 +inches, tapering off to 23 inches at the hounds. The mast is made of +white pine, the centre of it is bored out, for the lowest twenty feet +about 12 inches diameter--the next 20 feet, 10 inches diameter--the next +20 feet, 8 inches, and the remainder 7 inches. This was done to make the +mast lighter, and, by the circulation of air, enable it to season +itself. + +The main boom is 95 feet long[F] and made like a cask. The staves are 31 +in number, of white pine, 2-1/4 inches thick; the staves are of +different lengths, so as to vary the points at which they respectively +abut. The extreme length of boom is obtained by two lengths of the +staves; small cogs of wood are let in at intervals, half in one stave +and half in its neighbour, so as to keep them from drawing, the whole +bound together with strong hoops fitted with screws. The extreme +diameter of the boom is 26 inches where the sheets are fixed, tapering +off at the jaws, and 13 inches at the boom end. To give additional +support to the boom, an iron outrigger, extending about 3 feet on each +side thereof, is fixed where the boom-sheets are placed, and a strong +iron brace extends from the jaws through the outrigger to the boom +end. The gaff is of spruce, 61 feet long and 9 inches diameter. + +The bowsprit is of white pine, 38 feet long, 18 of which is outboard; +the remainder comes under the deck, is let in to each beam, and abuts +against the bitts: it is 24 inches diameter, and bored out like the +mast, from 10 inches diameter at the heel to 7 at the end. The jibboom +is made of two pieces of yellow pine, grooved out and hooped together; +it is about 70 feet long and about 8 inches in diameter; the foot of the +jib is laced to this spar on hooks (when required). + +The mainsail is made with the seams horizontal, to avoid the resistance +perpendicular seams in so large a sail would offer to the wind. It has +been calculated that the resistance of perpendicular seams, in a sail of +this size, is equal to that of a plank 10 inches broad and 60 feet long, +placed on end broadside to the wind; the luff of the sail is 66 feet; +the foot, 93; the head, 50; the head and foot of the sail are laced to +battens under gaff and on boom; the luff is brought to the mast by a +contrivance as original as it is perfect; two battens are fixed on +afterpart of the mast, about an inch and a half apart, the inner parts +shod with iron, and rather broader than the exterior opening. To each +eyelet-hole of the sail a strong brass-plate is fixed, having 4 rollers +traversing fore and aft, and 2 transversely; these plates, as the sail +goes up, are slipped into the grooves of the battens, the rollers +preventing friction, and the battens keeping the luff fixed to the after +centre line of the mast--without this ingenious arrangement the huge +mast would, if on a wind, becalm at least three feet of the sail--three +lazy-jacks are fitted to support the huge mass of canvas when lowering +the sail. + +The jib is 69 feet in the hoist, and 70 in the foot. + +The bobstays are of solid iron, running 8 feet on each side of the keel, +and going through a strong iron cap over the bowsprit end, where, a +strong iron washer being put on, they are securely fixed with a nut. + +It will be seen that there is a slight discrepancy between some of the +measurements which I have given, and those which are marked on the +print; I place confidence in those I have received direct from the +fountain-head; the difference is, however, so trifling, as scarce to +need any notice. I regret omitting to obtain the length of the +after-leech of the mainsail, and of the head of the jib; but I think the +print, which I believe to be very accurate, would justify me in +concluding that the former is about 110 feet and the latter about 120 +feet. + +[Illustration: THE BLACK MARIA.] + +Assuming those calculations to be correct--and they cannot be very far +wrong--the mainsail would contain about 5790 square feet, and the jib +about 2100 square feet. When it is remembered that the largest sail in +the British Navy only contains 5480 square feet, some conception may be +formed of their gigantic proportions. + +The gallant commodore was kind enough to trip his anchor and give me a +short cruise. Unfortunately, there was scarcely a breath of wind; but +even under the influence of such scanty propelling power, the way she +shot through the water, like a dolphin in full cry, was perfectly +marvellous; and the ease with which she came round, and the incredible +distance she shot ahead in stays, was, if possible, more astonishing +still; she steered as easy as a jolly-boat; or if, when running, a puff +made her refractory, by dropping the after centre-board she became as +docile as a lamb. My only regret was that I could not see her under the +high pressure of a good snorter. Of course, any salt-water fish will +have long since discovered that this wonderful yacht is a leviathan +plaything, and totally unfit to withstand the most moderate gale, +especially if any sea were running. What she might do if she were +sparred, as other vessels of her tonnage usually are, I cannot pretend +to say; but my yachting friends need never expect to see her, with her +present rig, re-enacting the "America," hurling friendly defiance at the +R.Y.C., and carrying off the crown of victory in their own waters. + +But if any of my Cowes friends are anxious to test the powers of the +"Maria," the gallant commodore will be happy to accommodate them, +and--as he expressed it to me--will further rejoice at having an +opportunity of returning some of the many hospitalities which made his +short stay in England so agreeable to him. The only complaint I heard +him make of the rules of the yachting at Cowes, was the want of some +restriction as to vessels entering shallow water, by which omission a +yacht with a light draught of water is enabled sometimes to draw ahead +of her competitors by simply hugging the land out of the full swing of +the tide, while others are forced, from their deeper draught of water, +to struggle against its full force. As, in my humble opinion, the +observation is a perfectly just one, I insert it here for the +consideration of those whom it may concern. + +The accommodation on board is not nearly so good as in an English yacht, +partly owing to the little height between decks, consequent upon her +very small draught of water, and partly owing to the great space taken +up by the case for the centre-board; besides which, it should be +remembered that a yacht is not used as a home in America in the same way +as in England. The great, and, I might almost say, the only quality, +transatlantic yachtsmen care about is speed; and I think my yachting +friends at Cowes must admit that they have proved that they know how to +attain their end, and that Mr. Steers, the builder of the "America," is +second to none in his craft; unless the "Black Maria" some future day +assume a practicable rig, and, crossing the Atlantic, earn the victor's +laurels, in which case Steers will have to yield the palm to the worthy +fraternity, who are at one and the same time the owners, builders, and +sailers of the subject of this chapter. + +I believe it is very generally considered that the wind-up of a day's +sport is by no means the least enjoyable portion of the twenty-four +hours, when it comes in the shape of good fellowship and good cheer; and +upon the present occasion we had both alike undeniable of their kind. +The commodore's cellar is as rich a rarity in its way as the Bernal +collection, and, from the movement of the corks, I should imagine it was +upon an equally large scale. I do not purpose inflicting a bill of fare +upon you; but, having, in the foregoing pages, made a promise to furnish +the proper recipe for Toddy and Chowder, I consider this the proper +place to redeem that promise, under the guidance of my hospitable host, +who initiated me fully into the mysteries of mixture, proportion, &c., +by making both before me. + +Whether it is of great importance to adhere exactly to the recipes, I +cannot pretend to say; the soup was pronounced on all hands to be most +excellent, and some of the knowing ones declared it was unusually good. +We afterwards found out a good reason for its superior excellence. It +appears that the commodore had given some instructions to the steward, +which he evidently had not understood, for, upon asking that functionary +towards the end of dinner for a bottle of fine old Madeira which had +been kept back as a bonnebouche, he gave a wild stare-of astonishment, +and said he had put it all into the chowder. This little addition, I can +testify, most certainly did not spoil it. The toddy was not subject to +any such unwarrantable addition; and, if I may judge from the quantity +taken by my neighbours, they all found it as delicious a drink as I did +myself. + +_Recipes_. + +TODDY.--4 tumblers of water: 1 ditto, sugar: peel of 5 lemons, and +dessert spoon of the juice: add a few pieces of peach and pine-apple, +and some strawberries. Quarter of an hour before use, throw in 2 +tumblers of old rum and a lump or two of block ice. + +CHOWDER.--Saucepan ready, frizzle pork and onions till quite brown; put +a layer at bottom of the saucepan--saucerful;--on that, a layer of +mashed potatoes--soup-plateful;--on that, raw sea-bass,[G] cut in lumps +4 lbs.;--on that, pork and onions as before;--add half a nutmeg, +spoonful of mace, spoonful of cloves, and double that quantity of thyme +and summer savory; another layer of mashed potatoes, 3 or 4 Crackers,[H] +half a bottle of ketchup, half a bottle of claret, a liberal pinch of +black, and a small pinch of red pepper. Just cover this with boiling +water, and put it on the fire till the fish is cooked. + +The gallant commodore and his brother are now employed in building an +iron bomb-proof floating battery, four hundred feet long, intended as a +harbour defence. What guns she is destined to mount is a question which +has not been definitively settled. + +In so large a community as that of New York, the supply of water forms a +subject of the highest importance, especially when the rapid increase of +the population is taken into account. Some conception of this +extraordinary increase may be formed from the statistical fact that the +city, which in the year of Independence contained only 35,000 +inhabitants, has now 850,000, if the suburbs are included; nearly +4000 vessels enter the port annually, bearing merchandise valued at +25,500,000l., and bringing 300,000 emigrants, of whom one-third are +Irish and one-third German. The tonnage of New York is upwards of a +million, or equal to one-fourth of that of the whole Union: the business +of the city gives employment to upwards of fifty banks. Religion is +represented by 250 churches, of which 46 are Presbyterian, and 45 are +Episcopalian. The Press sends forth 155 papers, of which 14 are +published daily and 58 weekly. + +This short sketch will suffice to show that the city required a supply +of water upon a gigantic scale. The difficulties were increased by the +situation of the town, which is built upon the eastern extremity of an +island--Manhattan--fourteen miles long and two broad, the highest point +of which is but two hundred and thirty-eight feet above the level of the +sea. Various plans for supplying water had been attempted without +success, and the health of the population was suffering so much in +consequence, that at last American energy, which here had been long +dormant, rose like a giant refreshed and commenced that imperishable +monument, the Croton aqueduct.[I] + +It is impossible to convey any idea of this stupendous work without +figures; but I will endeavour to draw upon your patience as little as +possible. My authority is a work published by Mr. Schramke in English, +French, and German, and full of explanatory details and plans, &c. Mr. +Schramke being one of the corps of engineers employed upon the work, I +conclude his statements are peculiarly accurate. Long discussions, +patient investigations, and careful surveys, combined to fix the +position for commencing operations upon the Croton river, forty and a +half miles from New York, and five miles below a small lake of the same +name. All the preliminaries had been hitherto carried on under the +superintendence of Major Douglas, professor of engineering at the +Military Academy at West Point; but, owing to some disagreements, Mr. +J.B. Jervis was the engineer eventually selected to carry out the +undertaking. It is but just to mention his name, as the skill exhibited +entitles him to lasting fame. By the construction of a substantial +dam, the water was raised 40 feet, and a collecting reservoir formed, of +500,000,000 gallons, above the level that would allow the aqueduct to +discharge 35,000,000 gallons a day. This stupendous work consists of a +covered way seven feet broad and eight feet and a half high; in its +course it has to pass through sixteen tunnellings, forming an aggregate +of nearly 7000 feet; to cross the river Harlem by a bridge 1450 feet +long and 114 feet above tide water, and to span various valleys. The +receiving reservoir outside the town gives a water surface of 31 acres, +and contains 150,000,000 gallons; it is divided into two separate +compartments, so that either may be emptied for cleansing or repair. +From this point the water is carried on, by three 36-inch pipes, to the +distributing reservoir, which is 386 feet square and 42 feet deep, but +filled generally to the depth of 38 feet, and then holding 21,000,000 +gallons. From this point it radiates throughout the city by means of 134 +miles of pipes, varying in size from 4 to 36 inches. There is an average +fall of 14 inches in the mile; and the supply, if required, can be +increased to 60,000,000 gallons daily. The total cost was 2,500,000l.; +the revenue derived from it is 100,000l. a year, moderate-sized houses +paying 2l., and others in proportion. + +[Illustration: PLAN OF THE CROTON AQUEDUCT. + +(_From Schramke's Description of the New York Croton Aqueduct_.)] + +In conclusion, I would observe that this grand work is entitled to +notice from the skill displayed by the engineers, the quantity of the +supply, and the quality of the article, which latter is nearly as good +as sherry cobbler--not quite. If my reader has been inveigled into +reading the foregoing details, and has got bored thereby, a gallon of +Croton water is an admirable antidote; but, as that may not be +available, I would suggest a cobbler, and another page or two; the +latter upon the principle adopted by indiscreet drinkers, of "taking a +hair of the dog that bit them." + +The concluding passage of the last paragraph reminds me of a practice +which, I have no doubt, the intense heat of a New York summer renders +very advisable, if not absolutely necessary--viz., the canine +_auto-da-fé_, which takes place in July. The heart sickens at the +thought of the wholesale murder of "man's most faithful companion," and +the feeling increases when you read that sometimes more than a thousand +dogs fall victims to the law in one season; but that very fact is the +strongest point which can be urged in its justifications for the dry hot +atmosphere of the summer affords a ready stepping-stone to hydrophobia, +and the larger the canine family, the greater the danger of that fearful +and incurable disease. + +Upon a certain day, the mayor of New York offers the usual reward of +2s. for every dog, which, having been found unmuzzled in the streets, +is brought to the canine pound. However judicious this municipal +regulation may be, it cannot fail to strike the reader as offering one +most objectionable feature, in the golden harvest which it enables those +astute rogues, the dog-stealers, to reap. Any one conversant with the +irresistible nostrums possessed by those rascals, can readily understand +what an extensive field is hereby opened up to them; and, if one can +form a just opinion by comparing the number of dogs one habitually meets +in the streets with the multitude that are reputed to fall victims under +the official mandate, they certainly make the most of their opportunity. + +To any admirer of the race, the inside of the pound must be a most +painful and revolting spectacle: there may be seen, lying side by side, +"dignity and impudence," the fearless bull and the timid spaniel, the +bloated pug and the friendly Newfoundland, the woolly lap-dog and the +whining cur; some growling in defiance, some whimpering in misery, some +looking imploringly--their intelligent eyes challenging present sympathy +on the ground of past fidelity--all, all in vain: the hour that summons +the Mussulman to prayer, equally silently tolls their death-knell; yon +glorious sun, setting in a flood of fire, lights them to their untimely +grave; one ruthless hand holds the unconscious head, another with deadly +aim smashes the skull and scatters the brain--man's faithful friend is a +corpse. + +Owners are allowed to reclaim their property before sunset, on payment +of the 2s. reward; the best-looking dogs are sometimes kept for two or +three days, as purchasers are frequently found. The price, after the +first day, is, the killer's fee and the food given, in addition to the +original reward; altogether, it rarely exceeds 8s. The owner has to +purchase like any other person. The bodies are all taken away to be +boiled down for their fat, and the skins go to the tanners. Let us now +turn from this disgusting subject to something more agreeable. + +I have already alluded to the great fancy Americans have for trotters. +The best place to see "turns out" is the Bloomingdale road, which runs +out of New York, nearly parallel with the Hudson, and separated from it +only by the country villas, &c., built on the banks of that noble +stream. This drive may be called a purely democratic "Rotten-row," as +regards its being the favourite resort; but there the similarity ceases. +To the one, people go to lounge, meet friends, and breathe fresh air on +horseback; to the other, people go with a fixed determination to pass +everybody, and on wheels. To the one, people go before dinner; to the +other, after. + +A friend of mine having offered me a feed, and a seat behind a pair of +three-minuters, the offer was too good to be refused. The operation of +getting into one of these four-wheel waggons, looks perplexing enough, +as the only rest for the feet, which appears, is the cap of the axle; +but, upon pulling the horses' heads into the middle of the street, and +thus locking the fore-wheels, a stop is discovered, which renders the +process easy. It is difficult to say which is the more remarkable, the +lightness of the waggon, or the lightness of the harness; either is +sufficient to give a nervous feeling of insufficiency to a stranger who +trusts himself to them for the first time; but experience proves both +their sufficiency and their advantage. In due time, we reached the outer +limits of the town; struggling competitors soon appeared, and, in spite +of dust as plentiful as a plague of locusts, every challenge was +accepted; a fair pass once made, the victor was satisfied, and resumed a +more moderate pace. We had already given one or two the go-by, when we +heard a clattering of hoofs close behind us, and the well-known cry, +"G'lang." My friend let out his three-minuters, but ere they reached +their speed, the foe was well on our bow, and there he kept, bidding us +defiance. It is, doubtless, very exciting to drive at the rate of twenty +miles an hour, and though the horses' hoofs throw more gravel down your +throat in five minutes than would suffice a poultry-yard for a week, one +does not think of it at the time. + +On we flew; our foe on two wheels and single harness every now and then +letting us get abreast of him, and then shooting ahead like an arrow +from a bow. A few trials showed us the struggle was useless: we had to +deal with a regular "pacer," and--as I have elsewhere remarked--their +speed is greater than that of any fair trotter, although so fatiguing +that they are unable to keep it up for any great distance; but as we had +already turned the bottom of the car into a gravel-pit, we did not think +it worth while to continue the amusement. The reason may be asked why +these waggons have such low splashboards as to admit all the gravel? The +reason is simple. Go-ahead is the great desideratum, and they are kept +low to enable you to watch the horses' hind legs; by doing which, a +knowing Jehu can discover when they are about to break into a gallop, +and can handle "the ribands" accordingly. + +A tremendous storm brewing to windward, cut short our intended drive; +and, putting the nags to their best pace, we barely succeeded in +obtaining shelter ere it burst upon us; and such a pelter as it came +down, who ever saw? It seemed as though the countless hosts of heaven +had been mustered with barrels, not buckets, of water, and as they upset +them on the poor devoted earth, a regular hurricane came to the rescue, +and swept them eastward to the ocean. The sky, from time to time, was +one blaze of sheet lightning, and during the intervals, forked flashes +shot through the darkness like fiery serpents striking their prey. This +storm, if short, was at all events magnificently grand, and we +subsequently found it had been terribly destructive also; boats on the +Hudson had been capsized and driven ashore, houses had been unroofed, +and forest trees split like penny canes. + +The inn where we had taken shelter was fortunately not touched, nor were +any of the trees which surrounded it. Beautifully situated on a high +bank, sloping down to the Hudson, full of fine old timber; it had +belonged to some English noble--I forget his name--in the old colonial +times; now, it was a favourite baiting-place for the frequenters of the +Bloomingdale road, and dispensed the most undeniably good republican +drinks, cobblers, cock-tails, slings, and hail-storms, with other more +substantial and excellent things to match. The storm being over, we +unhitched the horses, and returned to town at a more sober pace; nor +were we much troubled with dust during the drive home. + +Lest the reader should get wearied with so long a stay at New York, I +now propose to shift the scene for his amusement, and hope he will +accompany me in my wanderings. If, during the operation, he occasionally +finds me tedious in any details uninteresting to him, I trust that a +judicious skipping of a few leaves will bring us again into agreeable +companionship. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote F: The largest boom in the Navy is 72 feet long, and 16-1/2 +inches in diameter; the largest mast is 127 feet 3 inches long, and 42 +inches diameter; the largest yard is 111 feet long, and 26-1/2 inches +diameter.] + +[Footnote G: Turbot is a good substitute for sea-bass.] + +[Footnote H: A small American biscuit made of best flour.] + +[Footnote I: _Vide_ sketch of Aqueduct.] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +_South and West_. + + +Being anxious to visit the southern parts of this Empire State, and +having found an agreeable companion, we fixed upon an early day in +November for our start; and although I anticipated much pleasure from +the scenery and places of interest which my proposed trip would carry me +through, I could not blind myself to the sad fact, that the gorgeous +mantle of autumn had fallen from the forest, and left in its stead the +dreary nakedness of winter. The time I could allot to the journey was +unfortunately so short, that, except of one or two of the leading +places, I could not hope to have more than literally a flying sight, and +should therefore be insensibly compelled to receive many impressions +from the travelling society among which the Fates threw me. + +Eight o'clock in the morning found us both at the Jersey ferry, where +our tickets for Baltimore--both for man and luggage--were to be +obtained. It was a pelting snow-storm, and the luggage-ticketing had to +be performed _al fresco_, which, combined with the total want of order +so prevalent in the railway establishments in this country, made it +anything but an agreeable operation. Our individual tickets were +obtained under shelter, but in an office of such Lilliputian dimensions, +that the ordinary press of passengers made it like a theatrical squeeze +on a Jenny Lind night; only with this lamentable difference--that the +theatrical squeeze was a prelude to all that could charm the senses, +whereas the ticket squeeze was, I knew but too well, the precursor of a +day of most uncomfortable travelling. + +Having our tickets, we crossed the ever-glorious Hudson, and, landing at +Jersey City, had the pleasure of "puddling it up" through the snow to +the railway carriages. There they were, with the red-hot stove and +poisonous atmosphere, as usual; so my friend and I, selecting a +cushionless "smoking-car," where the windows would at all events be +open, seated ourselves on the hard boards of resignation, lit the tapery +weed of consolation, and shrouded ourselves in its fragrant clouds. On +we went, hissing through the snow-storm, till the waters of the Delaware +brought us to a stand-still; then, changing to a steamer, we crossed the +broad stream, on which to save time, they served dinner, and almost +before it was ended we had reached Philadelphia, where 'busses were in +waiting to take us to the railway. I may as well mention here, that one +of the various ways in which the glorious liberty of the country shows +itself, is the deliberate manner in which 'busses and stages stop in the +middle of the muddiest roads, in the worst weather, so that you may get +thoroughly well muddied and soaked in effecting your entry. Equality, I +suppose, requires that if the coachman is to be wet and uncomfortable, +the passengers should be brought as near as possible to the same state. + +The 'busses being all ready, off we started, and just reached the train +in time; for, being a mail-train, it could not wait, though we had paid +our fares all through to Baltimore. Soon after our departure, I heard +two neighbours conversing between the intervals of the clouds of +Virginia which they puffed assiduously. Says one, "I guess all the +baggage is left behind." The friend, after a long draw at his weed, +threw out a cloud sufficient to cover the rock of Gibraltar, and +replied, with the most philosophical composure, "I guess it aint +nurthin' else." My friend and I puffed vigorously, and looked +inquiringly at each other, as much as to say, "Can our luggage be left +behind?" Soon the conductor appeared to _viser_ the tickets: he would +solve our doubts.--"I say, conductor, is our luggage which came from New +York, left behind?" "Ay, I guess it is, every stick of it; and if you +had been ten minutes later, I guess you might have stayed with it; it'll +come on to-night, and be at Baltimore to-morrow morning about half-past +four; if you'll give me your tickets, and tell me what hotel you are +going to, I'll have it sent up." Upon inquiry, we found this was a very +common event, nor did anybody seem to think it a subject worth taking +pains to have rectified, though the smallest amount of common sense and +common arrangement might easily obviate it. And why this indifference? +Because, first it would cost a few cents; secondly, it doesn't affect +the majority, who travel with a small hand-bag only; thirdly, the +railway across New Jersey is a monopoly, and therefore people must take +that road or none; and lastly, from the observations I elicited in the +course of examining my witnesses, it appeared to me that the jealousy +and rivalry existing between New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia, +have some little effect; at all events, it is an ignoble affair that it +is suffered to remain. I have, however, no doubt that time will remedy +this, as I trust it will many of the other inconveniences and wants of +arrangement which the whole railway system in this country is at present +subject to.--To return from my digression. + +On we went, and soon crossed the Campbell-immortalized Susquehana. +Whatever beauties there were, the elements effectually concealed; and +after a day's journey, which, for aught we saw, might as well have been +over the Shrap Falls, half-past six P.M. landed us in Baltimore, where +we safely received our luggage the following morning. + +A letter of introduction to a friend soon surrounded us with kindness in +this hospitable city. My object in stopping here was merely to enjoy a +little of the far-famed canvas-back duck shooting and eating, as I +purposed revisiting these parts early in spring, when I should have more +leisure. No sooner were our wishes known than one of our kind friends +immediately offered to drive us down to Maxwell Point, which is part of +a large property belonging to General Cadwallader, and is situated in +one of the endless inlets with which Chesapeake Bay abounds. All being +arranged, our friend appeared in a light waggon, with a pair of spicy +trotters before it. The road out was dreary and uninteresting enough; +but when we left it, and turned into a waggon way through an extensive +forest, I could not but feel what a lovely ride or drive it must be in +the more genial seasons of the year, when the freshness of spring and +summer, or the richness of autumn, clothes the dense wood with its +beauties. A short and pleasant drive brought us to a ferry, by which we +crossed over to the famous Point, thereby avoiding the long round which +we otherwise must have made. The waters were alive with duck in every +direction; it reminded me forcibly of the Lake Menzaleh, near Damietta, +the only place where I had ever before seen such a duckery. + +The sporting ground is part of a property belonging to General +Cadwallader, and is leased to a club of gentlemen; they have built a +very snug little shooting-box, where they leave their guns and +_matériel_ for sport, running down occasionally from Baltimore for a day +or two, when opportunity offers, and enjoying themselves in true pic-nic +style.[J] The real time for good sport is from the middle of October to +the middle of November, and what produces the sport is, the ducks +shifting their feeding-ground, in performing which operation they cross +over this long point. As the season gets later, the birds do not shift +their ground so frequently; and, moreover, getting scared by the eternal +cannonade which is kept up, they fly very high when they do cross. The +best times are daybreak and just before dark; but even then, if the +weather is not favourable, they pass but scantily. My friend warned me +of this, as the season for good sport was already passed, though only +the nineteenth of November, and he did not wish me to be disappointed. +We landed on the Point about half-past four P.M., and immediately +prepared for mischief, though those who had been there during the day +gave us little encouragement. + +The _modus operandi_ is very simply told. You dress yourself in the most +invisible colours, and, armed with a huge duck-gun--double or single, as +you like--you proceed to your post, which is termed here a "blind." It +is a kind of box, about four feet high, with three sides and no top; a +bench is fixed inside, on which to sit and place your loading gear. +These blinds are fixed in the centre line of the long point, and about +fifty yards apart. One side of the point they call "Bay," and the other +"River." The sportsmen look out carefully from side to side, and the +moment any ducks are seen in motion, the cry is given "bay" or "river," +according to the side from which they are approaching. Each sportsman, +the moment he "views the ducks," crouches down in his blind as much out +of sight as possible, waiting till they are nearly overhead, then, +rising with his murderous weapon, lets drive at them the moment they +have passed. As they usually fly very high, their thick downy coating +would turn any shots directed against them, on their approach. In this +way, during a favourable day in the early part of the season, a mixed +"file and platoon" firing of glorious _coups de roi_ is kept up +incessantly. We were very unfortunate that evening, as but few ducks +were in motion, and those few passed at so great a height, that, +although the large A.A. rattled against them from a ponderous Purdey +which a friend had lent me, they declined coming down. I had only +succeeded in getting one during my two hours' watching, when darkness +forced me to beat a retreat. + +But who shall presume to attempt a description of the luscious birds as +they come in by pairs, "hot and hot?" A dozen of the members of the club +are assembled; a hearty and hospitable welcome greets the stranger--a +welcome so warm that he cannot feel he is a stranger; every face is +radiant with health, every lip moist with appetite; an unmistakeable +fragrance reaches the nostrils--no further summons to the festive scene +is needed. The first and minor act of soup being over, the "smoking +pair" come in, and are placed before the president. In goes the +fork;--gracious! how the juice spouts out. The dry dish swims; one +skilful dash with the knife on each side, the victim is severed in three +parts, streaming with richness, and whetting the appetite to absolute +greediness. But there is an old adage which says, "All is not gold that +glitters." Can this be a deception? The first piece you put in your +mouth, as it melts away on the palate, dissipates the thought, and you +unhesitatingly pronounce it the most delicious morsel you ever tasted. +In they come, hot and hot; and, like Oliver, you ask for more, but with +better success. Your host, when he sees you flagging, urges, "one" more +cut. You hesitate, thinking a couple of ducks a very fair allowance. He +replies,--"'Pon my word, it's such light food; you can eat a dozen!" A +jovial son of Aesculapius, on whom Father Time had set his mark, though +he has left his conviviality in all the freshness of youth, is appealed +to. He declares, positively, that he knows nothing so easy of digestion +as a canvas-back duck; and he eats away jollily up to his assertion. How +very catching it is!--each fresh arrival from the kitchen brings a fresh +appetite to the party. "One down, t'other come on," is the order of the +day. Those who read, may say "Gormandizer!" But many such, believe me, +if placed behind three, or even four, of these luscious birds, cooked +with the artistic accuracy of the Maxwell Point _cuisine_, would leave +a cat but sorry pickings, especially when the bottle passes freely, and +jovial friends cheer you on. Of course, I do not allude to such people +as enjoy that "soaked oakum," called "bouilli." To offer a well-cooked +canvas-back duck to them, would, indeed, be casting pearls +before--something. Neither would it suit the fastidious taste of those +who, not being able to discern the difference between juice and blood, +cook all flavour and nourishment out of their meats, and luxuriate on +the chippy substance which is left.--But time rolls on; cigars and toddy +have followed; and, as we must be at our posts ere dawn, to Bedfordshire +we go. + +Ere the day had dawned, a hasty cup of coffee prepared us for the +morning's sport; and, lighting the friendly weed, we groped our way to +our respective blinds, full of hope and thirsting for blood. Alas! the +Fates were not propitious; but few birds crossed, and those mostly out +of range. However, I managed to bag half a dozen before I was summoned +to nine o'clock breakfast, a meal at which, it is needless to say, the +"glorious bird" was plentifully distributed. After breakfast, I amused +myself with a telescope, watching the ducks diving and fighting for the +wild celery which covers the bottom of these creeks and bays, and which +is generally supposed to give the birds their rich and peculiar flavour. +They know the powers of a duck-gun to a T; and, keeping beyond its +range, they come as close as possible to feed, the water being, of +course, shallower, and the celery more easily obtained. Our time being +limited, we were reluctantly constrained to bid adieu to our kind and +hospitable entertainers, of whose friendly welcome and good cheer I +retain the most lively recollections. + +Crossing the bay in a small boat, we re-entered the light carriage, and +were soon "tooling away" merrily to Baltimore. On the road, our friend +amused us with accounts of two different methods adopted in these waters +for getting ducks for the pot. One method is, to find a bay where the +ducks are plentiful, and tolerably near the shore; and then, concealing +yourself as near the water's edge as possible, you take a stick, on the +end of which you tie a handkerchief, and keep waving it steadily +backwards and forwards. The other method is to employ a dog in lieu of +the stick and handkerchief. They have a regular breed for the purpose, +about the size of a large Skye terrier, and of a sandy colour. You keep +throwing pebbles to the water's edge, which the dog follows; and thus he +is ever running to and fro. In either case, the ducks, having something +of the woman in their composition, gradually swim in, to ascertain the +meaning or cause of these mysterious movements; and, once arrived within +range, the sportsman rises suddenly, and, as the scared birds get on the +wing, they receive the penalty of their curiosity in a murderous +discharge. These two methods they call "tolling;" and most effectual +they prove for supplying the market. + +Different nations exhibit different methods of ingenuity for the capture +of game, &c. I remember being struck, when in Egypt, with the artful +plan employed for catching ducks and flamingos, on Lake Menzaleh; which +is, for the huntsman to put a gourd on his head, pierced sufficiently to +see through, and by means of which,--the rest of his body being +thoroughly immersed in water,--he approaches his game so easily, that +the first notice they have thereof is the unpleasant sensation they +experience as his hand closes upon their legs in the depths of the +water. + +Of the town, &c., of Baltimore, I hope to tell you something more on my +return. We will therefore proceed at once to the railway station, and +take our places for Pittsburg. It is a drizzly, snowy morning, a kind of +moisture that laughs at so-called waterproofs, and would penetrate an +air-pump. As there was no smoking-car, we were constrained to enter +another; and off we started. At first, the atmosphere was bearable; but +soon, alas! too soon, every window was closed; the stove glowed red-hot; +the tough-hided natives gathered round it, and, deluging it with +expectorated showers of real Virginian juice, the hissing and stench +became insufferable. I had no resource but to open my window, and let +the driving sleet drench one side of me, while the other was baking; +thus, one cheek was in an ice-house, and the other in an oven. At noon +we came to "a fix;" the railway bridge across to Harrisburg had broken +down. There was nothing for it but patience; and, in due time, it was +rewarded by the arrival of three omnibuses and a luggage-van. As there +were about eighty people in the train, it became a difficult task to +know how to pack, for the same wretched weather continued, and nobody +courted an outside place, with drenched clothes wherein to continue the +journey. At last, however, it was managed, something on the +herrings-in-a-barrel principle. I had one lady in my lap, and a darling +unwashed pledge of her affection on each foot. We counted twenty-six +heads, in all; and we jolted away, as fast as the snow would let us, to +catch the Philadelphia train, which was to pick us up here. + +We managed to arrive about an hour and a half after it had passed; and, +therefore, no alternative remained but to adjourn to the little inn, and +fortify ourselves for the trial with such good things as mine host of +the "Culverley" could produce. It had now settled down to a regular fall +of snow, and we began to feel anxious about the chances of proceeding. + +Harrisburg may be very pretty and interesting in fine weather, but it +was a desolately dreary place to anticipate being snowed-up at in +winter, although situated on the banks of the lovely Susquehana: +accordingly, I asked mine host when the next train would pass. He +replied, with grammatical accuracy, "It should pass about four to-morrow +morning; but when it will I am puzzled to say.--What's your opinion, +Colonel?" he added; and, turning round, I observed the distinguished +military authority seated on one chair, and his legs gracefully pendent +over the back of another. In his sword-hand, he wielded a small +clasp-knife, which did the alternate duty of a toothpick and a +whittler,[K] for which latter amusement he kept a small stick in his +left hand to operate upon; and the floor bore testimony to his untiring +zeal. When the important question was propounded to him, he ceased from +his whittling labours, and, burying the blade deep between his ivories, +looked out of the window with an authoritative air, apparently +endeavouring, first, to ascertain what depth of snow was on the ground, +and then, by an upward glance, to calculate how much more was likely to +follow. Having duly weighed these points, and having perfected the +channel between his ivories, he sucked the friendly blade, and replied, +with a stoical indifference--which, considering my anxiety, might almost +be styled heartless--"I guess, if it goes on snowing like this, you'll +have no cars here to-morrow at all." Then, craning up to the heavens, as +if seeking for the confirmation of a more terrible prophecy, he added, +"By the looks of it, I think the gem'men may be fixed here for a week." +Having delivered himself of the foregoing consolatory observation, and +duly discharged a shower of Virginia juice on the floor, the military +authority resumed his whittling labours with increased vigour. His +occupation involuntarily carried my mind across the water to a +country-house, where I had so often seen an old blind friend amusing +himself, by tearing up paper into small pieces, to make pillows for the +poor. If the gallant Colonel would only substitute this occupation for +whittling, what good might he not do in Harrisburg! + +I am happy to say that my Job's comforter turned out a false prophet; +snow soon gave place to sleet, and sleet to rain, and before midnight +the muck was complete. Next morning, at three, we got into the 'bus, and +soon after four the cars came in, and we found ourselves once more _en +route_ for Pittsburg. I think this was about the most disagreeable day's +journey I ever had. The mixture of human and metallic heat, the chorus +of infantine squallers--who kept responding to one another from all +parts of the car, like so many dogs in an eastern city--and the +intervals filled up by the hissing on the stove of the Virginia juice, +were unpleasant enough; but even the elements combined against us. The +rain and the snow were fighting together, and producing that slushiness +of atmosphere which obscures all scenery; added to which, the +unfortunate foreknowledge that we were doomed to fifteen or sixteen +hours of these combinations of misery, made it indeed a wretched day. My +only resource was to open a window, which the moment I attempted, a +hulking fellow, swaddled up in coats and comforters, and bursting with +health, begged it might be closed as "It was so cold:" the thermometer, +I am sure, was ranging, within the car, from ninety to a hundred +degrees. He then tried to hector and bully, and finding that of no use, +he appealed to the guard. I claimed my right, and further pleaded the +necessity of fresh air, not merely for comfort, but for very life. As my +friend expressed the same sentiments, the cantankerous Hector was left +to sulk; and I must own to a malicious satisfaction, when, soon after, +two ladies came in, and seating themselves on the bench abreast of mine, +opened their window, and placed Hector in a thorough draught, which, +while gall and wormwood to him, was balm of Gilead to me. As I freely +criticise American habits, &c., during my travels, it is but just I +should state, that Hector was the only one of his countrymen I ever met +who was wilfully offensive and seemed to wish to insult. + +The engineering on this road was so contrived, that we had to go through +an operation, which to me was quite novel--viz., being dragged by wire +ropes up one of the Alleghany hills, and eased down the other side. The +extreme height is sixteen hundred feet; and it is accomplished by five +different stationary engines, each placed on a separate inclined plane, +the highest of which is two thousand six hundred feet above the level of +the sea. The want of proper arrangement and sufficient hands made this a +most dilatory and tedious operation. Upon asking why so 'cute and +go-ahead a people had tolerated such bad engineering originally, and +such dilatory arrangements up to the present hour, I was answered, "Oh, +sir, that's easily explained; it is a government road and a monopoly, +but another road is nearly completed, by which all this will be avoided; +and, as it is in the hands of a company, there will be no delay +then."--How curious it is, the way governments mess such things when +they undertake them! I could not help thinking of the difference between +our own government mails from Marseilles to Malta, &c., and the glorious +steamers of the Peninsular and Oriental Company, that carry on the same +mails from Malta.--But to return from my digression. + +I was astonished to see a thing like a piece of a canal-boat descending +one of these inclined planes on a truck; nor was my astonishment +diminished when I found that it really was part of a canal-boat, and +that the remaining portions were following in the rear. The boats are +made, some in three, some in five compartments; and, being merely +forelocked together, are easily carried across the hill, from the canal +on one side to the continuation thereof on the other.[L] + + +A few hours after quitting these planes, we came to the end of the +railway, and had to coach it over a ten-mile break in the line. It was +one of those wretched wet days which is said to make even an old +inhabitant of Argyleshire look despondingly,--in which county, it will +be remembered that, after six weeks' incessant wet, an English +traveller, on asking a shepherd boy whether it always rained there, +received the consoling reply of, "No, sir--it sometimes snaws." The +ground was from eight to eighteen inches deep in filthy mud; the old +nine-inside stages--of which more anon--were waiting ready; and as there +were several ladies in the cars, I thought the stages might be induced +to draw up close to the scantily-covered platform to take up the +passengers; but no such idea entered their heads. I imagine such an +indication of civilization would have been at variance with their +republican notions of liberty; and the fair ones had no alternative but +to pull their garments up to the altitude of those of a ballet-dancer, +and to bury their neat feet and well-turned ankles deep, deep, deep in +the filthy mire. But what made this conduct irresistibly +ludicrous--though painful to any gentleman to witness--was the mockery +of make-believe gallantry exhibited, in seating all the ladies before +any gentleman was allowed to enter; the upshot of which was, that they +gradually created a comparatively beaten path for the gentlemen to get +in by. One pull of the rein and one grain of manners would have enabled +everybody to enter clean and dry; yet so habituated do the better +classes appear to have become to this phase of democracy, that no one +remonstrated on behalf of the ladies or himself. + +The packing completed, a jolting ride brought us again to the railway +cars; and in a few hours more--amid the cries of famishing babes and +sleepy children, the "hush-hushes" of affectionate mammas, the bustle of +gathering packages, and the expiring heat of the poisonous stove--we +reached the young Birmingham of America about 10 P.M., and soon found +rest in a comfortable bed, at a comfortable hotel. + +If you wish a good idea of Pittsburg, you should go to Birmingham, and +reduce its size, in your imagination, to one-fourth the reality; after +which, let the streets of this creation of your fancy be "top-dressed" +about a foot deep with equal proportions of clay and coal-dust; then try +to realize in your mind the effect which a week's violent struggle +between Messrs. Snow and Sleet would produce, and you will thus be +enabled to enjoy some idea of the charming scene which Pittsburg +presented on the day of my visit. But if this young Birmingham has so +much in common with the elder, there is one grand feature it possesses +which the other wants. The Ohio and Monongahela rivers form the delta on +which it is built, and on the bosom of the former the fruits of its +labour are borne down to New Orleans, _viâ_ the Mississippi--a distance +of two thousand and twenty-five miles exactly. Coal and iron abound in +the neighbourhood; they are as handy, in reality, as the Egyptian geese +are in the legend, where they are stated to fly about ready roasted, +crying, "Come and eat me!" Perhaps, then, you will ask, why is the town +not larger, and the business not more active? The answer is simple. The +price of labour is so high, that they cannot compote with the parent +rival; and the _ad valorem_ duty on iron, though it may bring in a +revenue to the government, is no protection to the home trade. What +changes emigration from the Old World may eventually produce, time alone +can decide; but it requires no prophetic vision to foresee that the +undeveloped mineral riches of this continent must some day be worked +with telling effect upon England's trade. I must not deceive you into a +belief that the Ohio is always navigable. So far from that being the +case, I understand that, for weeks and months even, it is constantly +fordable. As late as the 23rd of November, the large passage-boats were +unable to make regular passages, owing to their so frequently getting +aground; and the consequence was, that we were doomed to prosecute our +journey to Cincinnati by railroad, to my infinite--but, as my friend +said, not inexpressible--regret. + +Noon found us at the station, taking the last bite of fresh air before +we entered the travelling oven. Fortunately, the weather was rather +finer than it had been, and more windows were open. There is something +solemn and grand in traversing, with the speed of the wind, miles and +miles of the desolate forest. Sometimes you pass a whole hour without +any--the slightest--sign of animal life: not a bird, nor a beast, nor a +being. The hissing train rattles along; the trumpet-tongued whistle--or +rather horn--booms far away in the breeze, and finds no echo; the giant +monarchs of the forest line the road on either side, like a guard of +Titans, their nodding heads inquiring, as it were curiously, why their +ranks were thinned, and what strange meteor is that which, with clatter +and roar, rushes past, disturbing their peaceful solitude. Patience my +noble friends; patience, I say. A few short years more, and many of you, +like your deceased brethren, will bend your proud heads level with the +dust, and those giant limbs, which now kiss the summer sun and dare the +winter's blast, will feed that insatiate meteor's stomach, or crackle +beneath some adventurous pioneer's soup-kettle. But, never mind; like +good soldiers in a good cause, you will sacrifice yourselves for the +public good; and possibly some of you may be carved into figures of +honour, and dance triumphantly on the surge's crest in the advance post +of glory on a dashing clipper's bows, girt with a band on which is +inscribed, in letters of gold, the imperishable name of Washington or +Franklin. + +Being of a generous disposition, I have thrown out these hints in the +hopes some needy American author may make his fortune, and immortalize +his country, by writing "The Life and Adventures of the Forest Monarch;" +or, as the public like mystery, he might make a good hit by entitling it +"The Child of the Woods that danced on the Wave." Swift has immortalized +a tub; other authors have endeavoured to immortalize a shilling, and a +halfpenny. Let that great country which professes to be able to "whip +creation" take a noble subject worthy of such high pretensions. + +Here we are at Cleveland; and, "by the powers of Mercury"--this +expletive originated, I believe, with a proud barometer,--it is raining +cats and dogs and a host of inferior animals. Everybody seems very +impatient, for all are getting out, and yet we have not reached the +station,--no; and they don't mean to get there at present. Possession is +nine points of the law, and another train is ensconced there. Wood, of +course, is so dear in this country, and railroads give such low +interest--varying from six to forty per cent.--that they can't afford to +have sufficient shedding. Well, out we get. Touters from the hotels cry +out lustily. We hear the name of the house to which we are bound, and +prepare to follow. The touter carries a lantern of that ingenious size +which helps to make the darkness more visible; two steps, and you are +over the ankles in mud. "Show a light, boy." He turns round, and, +placing his lantern close to the ground, you see at a glance the horrid +truth revealed--you are in a perfect mud swamp; so, tuck up your +trowsers, and wade away to the omnibuses, about a quarter of a mile off. +Gracious me! there are two ladies, with their dresses hitched up like +kilts, sliding and floundering through the slushy road. How miserable +they must be, poor things! Not the least; they are both tittering and +giggling merrily; they are accustomed to it, and habit is second nature. +A man from the Old World of advanced civilization--in these matters of +minor comforts, at least--will soon learn to conduct himself upon the +principle, that where ignorance is bliss, wisdom becomes folly. +Laughing, like love, is catching; so these two jolly ladies put me in a +good humour, and I laughed my way to the 'bus half up to my knees in +mud. After all, it made it lighter work than growling, and go I must; so +thank you, ladies, for the cheering example. + +Hot tea soon washes away from a thirsty and wearied soul the remembrance +of muddy boots, and a good Havana soothes the wounded spirit. After +enjoying both, I retired to rest, as I hoped, for we had to make an +early start in the morning. Scarce was I in bed, ere the house rang +again with laughing and romping just outside my door; black and white, +old and young, male and female, all seemed chorusing together--feet +clattered, passages echoed--it was a very Babel of noise and confusion. +What strange beings we are! Not two hours before, I had said and felt +that laughing was catching; now, although the merry chirp of youth +mingled with it, I wished the whole party at the residence of an old +gentleman whose name I care not to mention. May we not truly say of +ourselves what the housemaid says of the missing article--"Really, sir, +I don't know nothing at all about it?" A few hours before, I was +joining in the laugh as I waded nearly knee-deep in mud, and now I was +lying in a comfortable bed grinding my teeth at the same joyous sounds. + +It took three messages to the proprietor, before order was restored and +I was asleep. In the morning, I found that the cause of all the rumpus +was a marriage that had taken place in the hotel; and the master and +mistress being happy, the servants caught the joyous infection, and got +the children to share it with them. I must not be understood to cast any +reflections upon the happy pair, when I say that the marriage took place +in the morning, and that the children were laughing at night, for +remember, I never inquired into the parentage of the little ducks. On +learning the truth, I was rejoiced to feel that they had not gone to the +residence of the old gentleman before alluded to, and I made resolutions +to restrain my temper in future. After a night's rest, with a cup of hot +_café au lait_ before you, how easy and pleasant good resolutions are. + +Having finished a hasty breakfast, we tumbled into an omnibus, packed +like herrings in a barrel, for our number was "Legion," and the omnibus +was "Zoar." Off we went to the railway; such a mass of mud I never saw. +Is it from this peculiarity that the city takes its name? This, however, +does not prevent it from being a very thriving place, and destined, I +believe, to be a town of considerable importance, as soon as the grain +and mineral wealth of Michigan, Wisconsin, &c., get more fully +developed, and when the new canal pours the commerce of Lake Superior +into Lake Erie. Cleveland is situated on the slope of a hill commanding +a beautiful and extensive view; the latter I was told, for as it rained +incessantly, I had no opportunity of judging. Here we are at the +station, i.e., two hundred yards off it, which we are allowed to walk, +so as to damp ourselves pleasantly before we start. Places taken, in we +get; we move a few hundred yards, and come to a stand-still, waiting for +another train, which allows us the excitement of suspense for nearly an +hour and a half, and then we really start for Cincinnati. The cars have +the usual attractions formerly enumerated: grin and bear it is the order +of the day; scenery is shrouded in mist, night closes in with her sable +mantle, and about eleven we reach the hotel, where, by the blessing of +a happy contrast, we soon forget the wretched day's work we have gone +through. + +Here we are in the "Queen City of the West," the rapid rise whereof is +astounding. By a statistical work, I find that in 1800 it numbered only +750 inhabitants; in 1840, 46,338--1850, 115,438: these calculations +merely include its corporate limits. If the suburbs be added, the +population will reach 150,000: of which number only about 3000 are +coloured. The Americans constitute 54 per cent.; Germans, 28; English, +16; other foreigners, 2 per cent. of the population. They have 102 +schools, and 357 teachers, and 20,737 pupils are yearly instructed by +these means. Of these schools 19 are free, instructing 12,240 pupils, +not in mere writing and reading, but rising in the scale to "algebra, +grammar, history, composition, declamation, music, drawing," &c. The +annual cost of these schools is between 13,000l. and 14,000l. There +is also a "Central School," where the higher branches of literature and +science are taught to those who have time and talent; in short, a "Free +College." + +According to the ordinance for the North-Western territory of 1787, +"religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government +and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall +for ever be encouraged." Congress, in pursuance of this laudable object, +"has reserved one thirty-sixth part of all public lands for the support +of education in the States in which the lands lie; besides which, it has +added endowments for numerous universities, &c." We have seen that the +public schools in this city cost 13,500l., of which sum they receive +from the State fund above alluded to 1500l., the remainder being +raised by a direct tax upon the property of the city, and increased from +time to time in proportion to the wants of the schools. One of the +schools is for coloured children, and contains 360 pupils. There are 91 +churches and 4 synagogues, and the population is thus classed--Jews, 3 +per cent.; Roman Catholics, 35; Protestant, 62. The Press is represented +by 12 daily and 20 weekly papers. From these statistics, dry though they +may appear, one must confess that the means of education and religious +instruction are provided for in a manner that reflects the highest +credit on this "Queen City of the West." + +It is chiefly owing to the untiring perseverance of Mr. Longworth, that +they have partially succeeded in producing wine. As far as I could +ascertain, they made about fifty thousand gallons a year. The wine is +called "Catawba," from the grape, and is made both still and sparkling. +Thanks to the kind hospitality of a friend, I was enabled to taste the +best of each. I found the still wine rather thin and tart, but, as the +weather was very cold, that need not affect the truth of my friend's +assertion, that in summer it was a very pleasant beverage. The sparkling +wine was much more palatable, and reminded me of a very superior kind of +perry. They cannot afford to sell it on the spot under four shillings a +bottle, and of course the hotels double that price immediately. I think +there can be no doubt that a decided improvement must be made in it +before it can become valuable enough to find its way into the European +market; although I must confess that, as it is, I should be most happy +to see it supplant the poisonous liquids called champagne which appear +at our "suppers," and at many of our hotels. + +The "Burnet House" is the principal hotel here, and afforded me every +comfort I could have expected, not the least being the satisfaction I +derived from the sight of the proprietor, who, in the spotless +cleanliness of his person and his "dimity," and surrounded by hosts of +his travelling inmates--myself among the number--stood forth in bold +relief, like a snowball in a coal-hole. + +But we must now visit the great lion of the place, whence the city +obtains the _sobriquet_ of "Porkopolis," i.e., the _auto da fé_ of the +unclean animal. We will stroll down and begin at the beginning; but +first let me warn you, if your nerves are at all delicate, to pass this +description over, for, though perfectly true, it is very horrid. "Poor +piggy must die" is a very old saying; whence it came I cannot tell; but +were it not for its great antiquity, Cincinnati might claim the honour. +Let us however to the deadly work! + +The post of slaughter is at the outskirts of the town, and as you +approach it, the squeaking of endless droves proceeding to their doom +fills the air, and in wet weather the muck they make is beyond +description, as the roads and streets are carelessly made, and as +carelessly left to fate. When we were within a couple of hundred yards +of the slaughter-house, they were absolutely knee-deep, and, there being +no trottoir, we were compelled to wait till an empty cart came by, when, +for a small consideration, Jonathan ferried us through the mud-pond. +Behind the house is the large pen in which the pigs are first gathered, +and hence they are driven up an inclined plane into a small partition +about twelve feet square, capable of containing from ten to fifteen pigs +at once. In this inclosure stands the executioner, armed with a +hammer,--something in shape like that used to break stones for the roads +in England--his shirt-sleeves turned up, so that nothing may impede the +free use of his brawny arms. The time arrived, down comes the hammer +with deadly accuracy on the forehead of poor piggy, generally killing +but sometimes only stunning him, in which case, as he awakes to +consciousness in the scalding caldron, his struggles are frightful to +look at, but happily very short. A trap-hatch opens at the side of this +enclosure, through which the corpses are thrust into the sticking-room, +whence the blood flows into tanks beneath, to be sold, together with the +hoofs and hair, to the manufacturers of prussiate of potash and Prussian +blue. Thence they are pushed down an inclined plane into a trough +containing a thousand gallons of boiling water, and broad enough to take +in piggy lengthways. By the time they have passed down this caldron, +they are ready for scraping, for which purpose a large table is joined +on to the lower end of the caldron, and on which they are artistically +thrown. Five men stand in a row on each side of the table, armed with +scrapers, and, as piggy passes down, he gets scraped cleaner and +cleaner, till the last polishes him as smooth as a yearling baby. Having +thus reached the lower end of the table, there are a quantity of hooks +fitted to strong wooden arms, which revolve round a stout pillar, and +which, in describing the circle, plumb the lower end of the table. On +these piggy is hooked, and the operation of cutting open and cleansing +is performed--at the rate of three a minute--by operators steeped in +blood, and standing in an ocean of the same, despite the eternal buckets +of water with which a host of boys keep deluging the floor. These +operations finished, piggy is hung up on hooks to cool, and, when +sufficiently so, he is removed thence to the other end of the building, +ready for sending to the preparing-houses, whither he and his defunct +brethren are convoyed in carts, open at the side, and containing about +thirty pigs each. + +The whole of this part of the town during porking season is alive with +these carts, and we will now follow one, so that we may see how piggy is +finally disposed of. The cart ascends the hill till it comes to a line +of buildings with the canal running at the back thereof; a huge and +solid block lies ready for the corpse, and at each side appear a pair of +brawny arms grasping a long cleaver made scimitar-shape; smaller tables +are around, and artists with sharp knives attend thereat. Piggy is +brought in from the cart, and laid on the solid block; one blow of the +scimitar-shaped cleaver severs his head, which is thrown aside and sold +in the town, chiefly, I believe, to Germans, though of course a Hebrew +might purchase if he had a fancy therefor. The head off, two blows sever +him lengthways; the hams, the shoulders, and the rib-pieces fly off at a +blow each, and it has been stated that "two hands, in less than thirteen +hours, cut up eight hundred and fifty hogs, averaging over two hundred +pounds each, two others placing them on the blocks for the purpose. All +these hogs were weighed singly on the scales, in the course of eleven +hours. Another hand trimmed the hams--seventeen hundred pieces--as fast +as they were separated from the carcasses. The hogs were thus cut up and +disposed of at the rate of more than one to the minute." Knifemen then +come into play, cutting out the inner fat, and trimming the hams neatly, +to send across the way for careful curing; the other parts are put in +the pickle-barrels, except the fat, which, after carefully removing all +the small pieces of meat that the first hasty cutting may have left, is +thrown into a boiling caldron to be melted down into lard. Barring the +time taken up in the transit from the slaughter-house to these +cutting-up stores, and the time he hangs to cool, it may be safely +asserted, that from the moment piggy gets his first blow till his +carcass is curing and his fat boiling into lard, not more than five +minutes elapse. + +A table of piggy statistics for one year may not be uninteresting to my +reader, or, at all events, to an Irish pig-driver:-- + + 180,000 Barrels of Pork, 196 lbs. each 35,280,000 lbs. + Bacon 25,000,000 + No. 1 Lard 16,500,000 + Star Candles, made by Hydraulic pressure. 2,500,000 + Bar Soap 6,200,000 + Fancy Soap, &c. 8,800,000 + ---------- + 94,280,000 +Besides Lard Oil, 1,200,000 gallons. + +Some idea of the activity exhibited may be formed, when I tell you that +the season for these labours averages only ten weeks, beginning with the +second week in November and closing in January; and that the annual +number cured at Cincinnati is about 500,000 head, and the value of these +animals when cured, &c., was estimated in 1851 at about 1,155,000l. +What touching statistics the foregoing would be for a Hebrew or a +Mussulman! The wonder to me is, that the former can locate in such an +unclean atmosphere; at all events, I hold it as a sure sign that there +is money to be made. + +They are very proud of their beef here, and it is very good; for they +possess all the best English breeds, both here and across the river in +Kentucky. They stall-feed very fat, no doubt; but though generally very +good, I have never, in any part of the States, tasted beef equal to the +best in England. All the fat is on the outside; it is never marbled as +the best beef is with us. The price is very moderate, being about +fourpence a pound. + +Monongahela whisky is a most important article of manufacture in the +neighbourhood, being produced annually to the value of 560,000l. There +are forty-four foundries, one-third of which are employed in the +stove-trade; as many as a thousand stoves have been made in one day. The +value of foundry products is estimated at 725,000l. annually. + +If commerce be the true wealth and prosperity of a nation, there never +was a nation in the history of the world that possessed by nature the +advantages which this country enjoys. Take the map, and look at the +position of this city; nay, go two hundred miles higher up, to Marietta. +From that port, which is nearly two thousand miles from the ocean, the +"Muskingum," a barque of three hundred and fifty tons, went laden with +provisions, direct to Liverpool, in 1845, and various other vessels have +since that time been built at Cincinnati; one, a vessel of eight hundred +and fifty tons, called the "Minnesota:" in short, there is quite an +active business going on; shipbuilders from Maine coming here to carry +on their trade--wood, labour, and lodging being much cheaper than on +the Eastern coast. + +It is now time to continue our journey, and as the water is high enough, +we will embark on the "Ohio," and steam away to Louisville. The place +you embark from is called the levee: and as all the large towns on the +river have a levee, I may as well explain the term at once. It is +nothing more nor less than the sloping off of the banks of a river, and +then paving them, by which operation two objects are gained:--first, the +banks are secured from the inroads of the stream; secondly, the boats +are thereby enabled at all times to land passengers and cargo with +perfect facility. These levees extend the whole length of the town, and +are lined with steamers of all kinds and classes, but all built on a +similar plan; and the number of them gives sure indication of the +commercial activity of Cincinnati. When a steamer is about to start, +book-pedlers crowd on board with baskets full of their--generally +speaking--trashy ware. Sometimes these pedlers are grown-up men, but +generally boys about twelve or fourteen years of age. On going up to one +of these latter, what was my astonishment to find in his basket, volume +after volume of publications such as Holywell-street scarce ever dared +to exhibit; these he offered and commended with the most unblushing +effrontery. The first lad having such a collection, I thought I would +look at the others, to see if their baskets were similarly supplied; I +found them all alike without exception, I then became curious to know if +these debauched little urchins found any purchasers, and, to ascertain +the fact, I ensconced myself among some of the freight, and watched one +of them. Presently a passenger came up, and these books were brought to +his notice: he looked cautiously round, and, thinking himself +unobserved, he began to examine them. The lad, finding the bait had +taken, then looked cautiously round on his side, and stealthily drew two +more books from his breast, evidently of the same kind, and it is +reasonable to suppose infinitely worse. After a careful examination of +the various volumes, the passenger pulled out his purse, paid his money, +and walked off with eight of these Holywell-street publications, taking +them immediately into his cabin. I saw one or two more purchasers, +before I left my concealment. And now I may as well observe, that the +sale of those works is not confined to one place; wherever I went on +board a steamer, I was sure to find boys with baskets of books, and +among them many of the kind above alluded to. In talking to an American +gentleman on this subject, he told me that it was indeed but too common +a practice, although by law nominally prohibited; and he further added, +that once asking a vendor why he had such blackguard books which nobody +would buy, he took up one of the worst, and said, "Why, sir, this book +is so eagerly sought after, that I have the utmost difficulty in keeping +up the requisite supply." It is a melancholy reflection, that in a +country where education is at every one's door, and poverty at no one's, +such unblushing exhibitions of immorality should exist. + +We embarked in the "Lady Franklin," and were soon "floating down the +river of the O-hi-o." The banks are undulating, and prettily +interspersed with cottage villas, which peep out from the woods, and are +clotted about the more cultivated parts; but, despite this, the dreary +mantle of winter threw a cold churlishness over everything. The boat I +shall describe hereafter, when I have seen more of them, for their +general features are the same; but there was a specimen of the fair sex +on board, to whom I must introduce you, as I may never see her like +again. + +The main piece was the counterpart of a large steamer's funnel cut off +at about four feet two inches high, a most perfect cylinder, and of a +dark greyish hue: a sombre coloured riband supported a ditto coloured +apron. If asked where this was fastened, I suppose she would have +replied, "Round the waist, to be sure;" yet, if Lord Rosse's telescope +had been applied, no such break in the smooth surface of the cylinder +could have been descried. The arms hung down on either side like the +funnel of a cabin stove, exciting the greatest wonder and the liveliest +curiosity to know how the skin of the shoulder obtained the elasticity +requisite to exhibit such a phenomenon. On the top of the cylinder was +a beautifully polished ebony pedestal, about two inches high on one +side, tapering away to nothing at the other, so that whatever might be +placed thereon, would lie at an angle of forty-five degrees. This +pedestal did duty for a neck; and upon it was placed a thing which, +viewed as a whole, resembled a demijohn. The lower part was pillowed on +the cylinder, no gleam of light ever penetrating between the two. Upon +the upper surface, at a proper distance from the extremity, two lips +appeared, very like two pieces of raw beefsteak picked up off a dusty +road. + +While wrapt in admiration of this interesting spot, the owner thereof +was seized with a desire to yawn, to obtain which luxury it was +requisite to throw back the demijohn into nearly a horizontal line, so +as to relieve the lower end from its pressure on the cylinder. The aid +of both hands was called in to assist in supporting her intellectual +depository. This feat accomplished, a roseate gulf was revealed, which +would have made the stout heart of Quintus Curtius quail ere he took the +awful plunge. Time or contest had removed the ivory obstructions in the +centre, but the shores on each side of the gulf were terrifically +iron-bound, and appeared equal to crushing the hardest granite; the +shinbone of an ox would have been to her like an oyster to ordinary +mortals. She revelled in this luxurious operation so long, that I began +to fear she was suffering from the antipodes to a lockjaw, and that she +was unable to close the chasm; but at last the demijohn rose slowly and +solemnly from the horizontal, the gulf gradually closed until, obtaining +the old angle of forty-five degrees, the two dusty pieces of beefsteak +once more stood sentry over the abyss. Prosecuting my observations along +the upper surface, I next came to the proboscis, which suggested the +idea of a Bologna sausage after a passage through a cotton-press. Along +the upper part, the limits were invisible, so beautifully did it blend +with the sable cheek on each side; but the lower part seemed to have +been outside the press during the process, and therefore to have +obtained unusual rotundity, thanks to which two nostrils appeared, which +would, for size, have excited the envy of the best bred Arab that was +ever foaled; and the division between them was nearly equal to that of +the horse. I longed to hear her sneeze; it must have been something +quite appallingly grand. Continuing my examination, I was forced to the +conclusion that the poor delicate creature was bilious; for the dark +eyes gleamed from their round yellow beds like pieces of cannel-coal set +in a gum-cistus. The forehead was a splendid prairie of flat table-land, +beyond which stretched a jungle of curly locks, like horse-hair ready +picked for stuffing sofas, and being tied tightly round near the apex, +the neck of the bottle was formed, and the demijohn complete. + +[Illustration: STEWARDESS OF "THE LADY FRANKLIN"] + +I was very curious to see this twenty-five stone sylph in motion, and +especially anxious to have an opportunity of examining the pedestals by +which she was supported and set in motion. After a little patience, I +was gratified to a certain extent, as the stately mass was summoned to +her duties. By careful observation, I discovered the pedestals resembled +flounders, out of which grew, from their centre, two cylinders, the +ankles deeply imbedded therein, and in no way disturbing the smooth +surface. All higher information was of course wrapt in the mystery of +conjecture; but from the waddling gait and the shoulders working to and +fro at every step, the concealed cylinders doubtless increased in size +to such an extent, that the passing one before the other was a task of +considerable difficulty; and if the motion was not dignified, it was +imposingly slow, and seemed to call all the energies of the various +members into action to accomplish its end. Even the demijohn rolled as +if it were on a pivot, nodding grandly as the mighty stewardess of the +"Franklin" proceeded to obey the summons. I watched her receding form, +and felt that I had never before thoroughly realized the meaning of an +"armsful of joy," and I could not but wonder who was the happy possessor +of this great blessing. + +Ibrahim Pacha, when in England, was said to have had an intense desire +to purchase two ladies, one aristocratic, the other horticultural, the +solidity of these ladies being their great point of attraction in his +estimation. Had he but seen my lovely stewardess, I am sure he would +instantly have given up negotiations for both, could he thereby have +hoped to obtain such a massive treasure as the "Sylph of the +'Franklin.'" + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote J: Since I was there, General Cadwallader has taken the place +into his own hands.] + +[Footnote K: In case the expression is new to the reader, I beg to +inform him that to "whittle" is to cut little chips of wood--if, when +the fit comes on, no stick is available, the table is sometimes operated +on.] + +[Footnote L: I believe the plan of making the canal-boats in sections is +original; but the idea of dragging them up inclines to avoid expenses of +lockage, &c., is of old date, having been practised as far back as 1792, +upon a canal in the neighbourhood of Colebrook Dale, where the boats +were raised by stationary engines up two inclines, one of 207 feet, and +the other of 126 feet. I believe this is the first instance of the +adoption of this plan, and the engineers were Messrs. Reynolds and +Williams. The American inclines being so much greater, the dividing the +boat into sections appears to me an improvement.] + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +_Scenes Ashore and Afloat_. + + +A trip on a muddy river, whose banks are fringed with a leafless forest +resembling a huge store of Brobdignagian stable brooms, may be +favourable to reflection; but, if description be attempted, there is +danger lest the brooms sweep the ideas into the muddy water of dulness. +Out of consideration therefore to the reader, we will suppose ourselves +disembarked at Louisville, with the intention of travelling inland to +visit the leviathan wonder--the would-be rival to Niagara,--yclept "The +Mammoth Cave." Its distance from Louisville is ninety-five miles. There +is no such thing as a relay of horses to be met with--at all events, it +is problematical; therefore, as the roads were execrable, we were +informed it would take us two long days, and our informant strongly +advised us to go by the mail, which only employs twenty-one hours to +make the ninety-five miles' journey. There was no help for it; so, with +a sigh of sad expectation, I resigned myself to my fate, of which I had +experienced a short foretaste on my way to Pittsburg. I then inquired +what lions the town offered to interest a traveller. I found there was +little in that way, unless I wished to go through the pig-killing, +scalding, and cutting process again; but stomach and imagination +rebelled at the bare thought of a second edition of the bloody scene, so +I was fain to content myself with the novelty of the tobacco pressing; +and, as tobacco is the favourite _bonbon_ of the country, I may as well +describe the process which the precious vegetable goes through ere it +mingles with the human saliva. + +A due admixture of whites and blacks assemble together, and, damping the +tobacco, extract all the large stems and fibres, which are then +carefully laid aside ready for export to Europe, there to be cooked up +for the noses of monarchs, old maids, and all others who aspire to the +honour and glory of carrying a box--not forgetting those who carry it in +the waistcoat-pocket, and funnel it up the nose with a goose-quill. How +beautifully simple and unanswerable is the oft-told tale, of the reply +of a testy old gentleman who hated snuff as much as a certain elderly +person is said to hate holy-water--when offered a pinch by an +"extensive" young man with an elaborate gold-box. "Sir," said the +indignant patriarch, "I never take the filthy stuff! If the Almighty had +intended my nostrils for a dust-pan, he would have turned them the other +way."--But I wander from the subject. We will leave the fibre to find +its way to Europe and its noses, and follow the leaf to America and its +mouths. In another apartment niggers and whites re-pick the fibres out +more carefully, and then roll up the pure loaf in a cylindrical shape, +according to the measure provided for the purpose. It is then taken to +another apartment, and placed in duly prepared compartments under a +strong screw-press, by which operation it is transformed from a loose +cylinder to a well squashed parallelogram. It is hard work, and the +swarthy descendants of Ham look as if they were in a vapour-bath, and +doubtless bedew the leaf with superfluous heat. + +After the first pressing, it goes to a more artistic old negro, who, +with two buckets of water--one like pea-soup, the other as dark as if +some of his children had been boiled down in it--and armed with a sponge +of most uninviting appearance, applies these liquids with most +scientific touch, thereby managing to change the colour, and marble it, +darken it, or lighten it, so as to suit the various tastes. This +operation completed, and perspiring negroes screwing down frantically, +it is forced into the box prepared for its reception, which is imbedded +in a strong iron-bound outer case during the process, to prevent the +more fragile one from bursting under the pressure. All this over, and +the top fixed, a master-painter covers it with red and black paint, +recording its virtues and its charms. What a pity it could not lie in +its snug bed for ever! But, alas! fate and the transatlantic Anglo-Saxon +have decreed otherwise. Too short are its slumbers, too soon it bursts +again, to suffer fresh pressure under the molars of the free and +enlightened, and to fall in filthy showers over the length and breadth +of the land, deluging every house and every vehicle to a degree that +must be seen to be believed, and filling the stranger with much wonder, +but far more disgust. I really think it must be chewing tobacco which +makes the Americans so much more restless, so much more like armadillos +than any other nation. It often has excited my wonder, how the more +intelligent and civilized portion of the community, who do not generally +indulge in the loathsome practice, can reconcile themselves to the +annoyance of it as kindly as they do. Habit and necessity are powerful +masters. + +Having finished this exhibition--which, by the way, kept me sneezing all +the time--I went next to see a steam sawing, planing, and fitting mill. +Labour being very expensive, these establishments are invaluable here; +such an establishment as I saw could supply, from the raw wood in logs, +all the doors and window-frames of "Stafford House" in three days, +barring the polish and paint. If Mr. Cubitt is not up to this machinery, +this hint may be the means of making his fortune double itself in +"quarter-less no time."[M] As we knew that our journey to-morrow must be +inexpressibly tedious, we beat an early retreat, requesting a cup of hot +tea or coffee might be ready for us half an hour before our departure. +Poor simple creatures that we were, to expect such a thing! The free and +enlightened get their breakfast after being two hours _en route_, and +can do without anything before starting--_ergo_, we must do the same: +thus, though there were literally servants enough in the house to form a +substantial militia regiment, a cup of tea was impossible to be obtained +for love or money. All we had for it was to bury our disappointment in +sleep. + +Soon after three the next morning we were roused from our slumbers, and, +finishing our toilet, cheered our insides with an unadulterated draught +from the Ohio. All outside the door was dark, cheerless, solitary, and +still. Presently the silence was broken by some violent puffs from a +penny trumpet. "Dat's de mayle, massa," said a nigger in the hall, +accompanying his observation with a mysterious grin, evidently meant to +convey the idea, "You'll have enough of her before you've done." Up she +came to the door--I believe, by custom if not by grammar, a man-of-war +and a mail-coach are shes--a heavy, lumbering machine, with springs, +&c., apparently intended for scaling the Rocky Mountains. The inside +was about three feet broad and five feet long, and was intended for the +convenience (?) of nine people, the three who occupied the centre seat +having a moveable leather strap to support their backs. Outside, there +was one seat by the coachman; and if the correspondence was not great, +three more might sit behind the coachman, in all the full enjoyment of a +splendidly cramped position. The sides of the carriage were made of +leather, and fitted with buttons, for the purpose of opening in summer. +Being a nasty drizzling morning, we got inside, with our two servants, +and found we had it all to ourselves. "I am sure this is comfortable +enough," observed my companion, who was one of the mildest and most +contented of human beings. "Too good to last long," thought I. + +The penny trumpet sounds, and off we go--not on our journey, but all +over the town to the different hotels, to pick up live freight. I +heartily hoped they might all oversleep themselves that morning. Alas! +no such luck. Jonathan and a weasel are two animals that are very rarely +caught napping. Passengers kept coming in until we were six, and +"comfortable enough" became a misnomer. A furious blast of the tin tube, +with a few spicy impromptu variations, portended something important, +and, as we pulled up, we saw it was the post-office; but, murder of +murders! we saw four more passengers! One got up outside; another was +following; Jarvey stopped him, with--"I guess there aint no room up here +for you; the mail's a-coming here." The door opened,--the three damp +bodkins in line commenced their assault,--the last came between my +companion and myself, I could not see much of him, it was so dark; +but--woe is me!--there are other senses besides sight, and my +unfortunate nostrils drank in a most foetid polecatty odour, ever +increasing as he drew nearer and nearer. Room to sit there was none; +but, at the blast of the tube, the rattle over the pitty pavement soon +shook the obnoxious animal down between us, squeezing the poisonous +exhalation out of him at each successive jolt. As dawn rose, we saw he +was a German, and doubtless the poor fellow was very hard-up for money, +and had been feeding for some time past on putrid pork. As for his hide +and his linen, it would have been an unwarrantable tax upon his memory +to have asked him when they had last come in contact with soap and +water. My stomach felt like the Bay of Biscay in an equinoctial gale, +and I heartily wished I could have dispensed with the two holes at the +bottom of my nose. I dreaded asking how far he was going; but another +passenger--under the influence of the human nosegay he was constrained +to inhale--summed up the courage to pop the question, and received a +reply which extinguished in my breast the last flickering ray of Hope's +dim taper--"Sair, I vosh go to Nashveele." Only conceive the horror of +being squashed into such a neighbour for twenty-one long hours, and over +a road that necessarily kept jerking the unwashed and polecatty head +into your face ten times in a minute! Who that has bowels of compassion +but must commiserate me in such "untoward circumstances?" + +Although we had left the hotel at four, it was five before we left the +town, and about seven before we unpacked for breakfast, nine miles out +of town. The stench of my neighbour had effectually banished all idea of +eating or drinking from my mind; so I walked up and down outside, +smoking my cigar, and thinking "What can I do?" At last, the bright idea +struck me--I will get in next time with my cigar; what if we are nine +herrings in the barrel?--everybody smokes in this country--they won't +object--and I think, by keeping the steam well up, I can neutralize a +little of the polecat. So when the time came for starting, I got my big +cigar-case, &c., out on my knees--as getting at your pockets, when once +packed, was impossible--and entering boldly with my weed at high +pressure, down I sat. We all gradually shook into our places. Very soon +a passenger looked me steadily in the face; he evidently was going to +speak; I quailed inwardly, dreading he was going to object to the smell +of smoke. Oh, joyous sight! a cigar appeared between his fingers, and +the re-assuring words came forth--"A light, sir, if you please." I never +gave one more readily in my life. Gradually, passenger after passenger +produced cigars; the aroma filled the coach, and the fragrance of the +weed triumphed over the foetor of the polecat. Six insides out of nine +hard at it, and four of them with knock-me-down Virginia tobacco, the +single human odour could not contend against such powerful odds; as well +might a musquito sneeze against thunder. I always loved a cigar; but +here I learnt its true value in a desperate emergency. + +On we went, puffing, pumping, and jolting, till at last we came to a +stand on the banks of a river. As there was a reasonable probability of +the mail shooting into the stream on its descent, we were told to get +out, on doing which we found ourselves pleasantly situated about a foot +deep in mud; the mail got down safe into an open ferry-boat with two +oars, and space for passengers before the horses or behind the coach. +The ferry was but for a few minutes, and we then had to ascend another +bank of mud, at the top of which we retook our seats in the mail, +bringing with us in the aggregate, about a hundredweight of fine clay +soil, with which additional cargo we continued our journey. One o'clock +brought us to Elizabeth Town, and dinner; the latter was very primitive, +tough, and greasy. + +Once more we entered our cells, and continued our route, the bad road +getting worse and worse, rarely allowing us to go out of a walk. Two of +our fellow-passengers managed to make themselves as offensive as +possible. They seemed to be travelling bagmen of the lowest class. +Conversation they had none, but by way of appearing witty, they kept +repeating over and over again some four or five stories, laughing at one +another's tales, which were either blasphemous or beastly--so much so, +that I would most willingly have compounded for two more human polecats +in lieu of them. I must say, that although all classes mix together in +public conveyances, this was the first time I had ever found people +conduct themselves in so disgusting a manner. We soon came to another +river, and getting out, enjoyed a second mud walk, bringing in with us +as before a rich cargo of clay soil; and after a continuous and +increasing jolting, which threatened momentary and universal +dislocation, we arrived, after a drive of twenty-one hours, at our +journey's end--i.e., at "Old Bell's," so called from the proprietor of +the inn. Here we were to pass the night, or rather the remainder of it, +the mail going on to Nashville, and taking our foetid bodkin on with it. +But, alas! the two more disagreeable passengers before alluded to +remained, as they had suddenly made up their minds to stay and visit the +Mammoth Cave. + +Old Bell is a venerable specimen of seventy odd years of age, and has +been here, I believe, half a century nearly. One of his daughters, I am +told, is very pretty. She is married to a senator of the United States, +and keeps one of the most agreeable houses in Washington. The old +gentleman is said to be worth some money, but he evidently is determined +to die in harness. As regularly as the mail arrives, about one in the +morning, so regularly does he turn out and welcome the passengers with a +glass of mixed honey, brandy, and water. The beverage and the donor +reminded me forcibly of "Old Crerer," and the "Athole Brose," with which +he always welcomed those who visited him in his Highland cottage. Having +got beds to ourselves--after repeated requests to roost two in a nest, +as the house was small--I soon tumbled into my lair, and in the blessed +forgetfulness of sleep the miseries of the day became mingled with the +things that were. The next morning, after breakfast, we got a conveyance +to take the party over to the Cave, a distance of seven miles. One may +really say there is no road. For at least one half of the way there is +nothing but a rugged track of rock and roots of trees, ever threatening +the springs of the carriage and the limbs of the passenger with +frightful fractures. However, by walking over the worst of it, you +protect the latter and save the former, thus rendering accidents of rare +occurrence. + +The hotel is a straggling building, chiefly ground floor, and with a +verandah all round. The air is deliriously pure, and in summer it must +be lovely. It is situated on a plateau, from the extremity of which the +bank descends to the Green River. On both sides is the wild forest, and +round the giant trunks the enamoured vine twines itself with the +affectionate pertinacity of a hungry boa-constrictor, and boars its head +in triumph to the topmost branches. But vegetable life is not like a +Venus who, "when unadorned, is adorned the most;" and, the forest having +cast off its summer attire, presents an uninviting aspect in the cold +nudity of winter. When the virgin foliage of spring appears, and ripens +into the full verdure of summer, the shade of these banks must be +delicious; the broad-leaved and loving vine extending its matrimonial +embrace as freely and universally through the forest as Joe Smith and +his brethren do theirs among the ladies at the Salt Lake; and when +autumn arrives, with those gorgeous glowing tints unknown to the Old +World, the scene must be altogether lovely; then the admirer of nature, +floating between the banks on the light-green bosom of the stream below, +and watching the ever-changing tints, as the sun dropped softly into his +couch in the west, would enjoy a feast that memory might in vain try to +exhaust itself in recalling. + +There are guides appointed who provide lanterns and torches for visitors +who wish to examine the Mammoth Cave; and its interior is such a +labyrinth, that, without their aid, the task would be a dangerous one. +Rough clothing is provided at the hotel, the excursion being one of +scramble and difficulty. + +Thus prepared, we started on our exploring expedition, passing at the +entry the remnants of old saltpetre works, which were established here +during the struggle at New Orleans. The extent of this cave would render +a detail tedious, as there are comparatively few objects of interest. +The greatest marvel is a breed of small white fish without eyes, several +of which are always to be seen. Like all similar places, it varies in +size in the most arbitrary manner. At one minute you are struggling for +space, and suddenly you emerge upon a Gothic-looking hall, full of +gracefully pendent stalactites. Again you proceed along corridors, at +one time lofty, at another threatening your head, if pride do not give +way to humility. Then you come to rivers, of which there are two. At one +time you are rowing under a magnificent vault, and then, anon, you are +forced to lie flat down in the boat, or leave your head behind you, as +you float through a passage, the roof whereof grazes the gunwale of the +boat. My guide informed me that there was a peculiarity in these rivers +nobody could satisfactorily account for, viz., that the more it rained, +the lower these waters fell. I expect the problem resembled that which +is attributed to King Charles, viz., "How it was, that if a dead fish +was put into a vessel full of water it immediately overflowed, but that, +if a live fish was put in, it did not do so;" and I have some suspicion +the solution is the same in both cases. Among other strange places, is +one which rejoices in the name of "Fat Man's Misery." At one minute the +feet get fixed as in the stocks; at another, the upper portion of the +body is called upon to make a right angle with the lower; even then, a +projecting point of the rock above will sometimes prod you upon the +upturned angle, in endeavouring to save which, by a too rapid act of +humility, you knock all the skin off the more vulnerable knee. Emerging +from this difficulty, and, perhaps, rising too hastily, a crack on the +head closes your eyes, filling them with a vision of forked lightning. +Recovering from this agreeable sensation, you find a gap like the edge +of a razor, in going through which, you feel the buttons of your +waistcoat rubbing against your backbone. It certainly would be no bad +half-hour's recreation to watch a rotund Lord Mayor, followed by a court +of aldermen to match, forcing their way through this pass after a turtle +dinner. + +The last place I shall mention is the one which, to me, afforded the +greatest pleasure: it is a large hall, in which, after being placed in a +particular position, the guide retires to a distance, taking with him +all the lights; and knowing by experience what portion of them to +conceal, bids you, when he is ready, look overhead. In a few seconds it +has the appearance of the sky upon a dark night; but, as the eye becomes +accustomed to the darkness, small spots are seen like stars; and they +keep increasing till the vaulted roof has the appearance of a lovely +star-light night. I never saw a more pleasing or perfect illusion. It +would be difficult to estimate correctly the size of the Mammoth Cave. +The American gazetteers say it extends ten or twelve miles, and has +lateral branches, which, altogether, amount to forty miles. It is, I +imagine, second in size only to the Cacuhuainilpa, in Mexico, which, if +the accounts given are accurate, would take half a dozen such as the +Mammoth inside. I fear it is almost superfluous to inform the reader, +that the Anglo-Saxon keeps up his unenviable character for disfiguring +every place he visits; and you consequently see the names of Smith, +Brown, Snooks, &c., smoked on the rocks in all directions--an +appropriate sooty record of a barbarous practice.[N] + + +Having enjoyed two days in exploring this "gigantic freak of Nature," +we commenced our return about half-past four in the afternoon, so as to +get over the break-neck track before dark. Old Bell[O] welcomed us as +usual with his honey, brandy, and water. He then prepared us some +dinner, as we wished to snatch a few hours' sleep before commencing our +return to Louisville, with its twenty-one hours of pleasure. About +half-past ten at night, a blast in the breeze, mixed with a confused +slushy sound, as sixteen hoofs plashed in the mud, rang the knell in our +ears, "Your time has come!" I anxiously looked as the mail pulled up in +the middle of the road opposite to the door--they always allow the +passengers the privilege of wading through the mud to the door of the +inn--to see if by any chance it was empty, having been told that but few +people comparatively travelled the back route--no wonder, if they could +help it. Alas! the steam on the window announced, with fatal certainty, +some humanities inside. The door opened; out they came, one, two, three, +four. It was a small coach, with three seats, having only space for two +persons on each, thus leaving places inside for my friend and myself. +"Any room outside, there?" + +"Room for one, sir!" + +There was no help for it, and we were therefore obliged to leave one +servant behind, to follow next night. + +Horses changed, honey-toddy all drank, in we got into the centre seat. +"What is this all round?" "Thick drugget, sir; they nail it round in +winter to keep the cold out."--Thank Heaven, it is only nailed at the +bottom. Suffocation began; down goes my window. Presently a +sixteen-stone kind of overgrown Pickwickian "Fat Boy," sitting opposite +me, exclaims aloud, with a polar shudder, "Ugh! it's very cold!" and +finding I was inattentive, he added, "Don't you find it very cold?" "Me, +sir? I'm nearly fainting from heat," I replied; and then, in charity, I +lent him a heavy full-sized Inverness plaid, in which he speedily +enveloped his fat carcass. What with the plaids, and his five inches +deep of fat, his bones must have been in a vapour bath. The other +_vis-à-vis_ was a source of uneasiness to me on a different score. He +kept up a perpetual expectorating discharge; and, as my open window +was the only outlet, and it did not come that way, I naturally felt +anxious for my clothes. Daylight gradually dawned upon the scene, and +then the ingenuity of my friend was made manifest in a way calculated to +move any stomach not hardened by American travelling. Whenever he had +expressed the maximum quantity of juice from the tobacco, the drugget +lining was moved sufficiently for him to discharge his cargo against the +inside of the carriage; after which, the drugget was replaced, and the +effect of the discharge concealed thereby. This drugget lining must have +been invaluable to him; for upon another occasion, it did duty for a +pocket-handkerchief. I must say, that when I saw the otherwise +respectable appearance of the culprit, his filthy practices astounded +me. Behind us were two gentlemen who were returning to Louisville, and +whom we found very agreeable. + +We stopped for breakfast at a wayside pot-house sort of place; but, +before feasting, we wanted to wash ourselves. The conveniences for that +purpose were a jug, a basin, and a piece of soap, on a bench in the open +court, which, as it was raining pretty smartly, was a very ingenious +method of dissuasion, particularly as your pocket-handkerchief, or the +sleeve of your shirt, had to supply the place of a towel. The meal was +as dissuasive as the washing arrangements, and I was glad when the +trumpet summoned us to coach. I made an effort to sleep, for which +purpose I closed my eyes, but in vain; however, the expectorating +_vis-à-vis,_ who was also a chilly bird, thought he had caught me +napping, and said to his fat neighbour,--"I say, the old gentleman's +asleep, pull up the window." The fat 'un did so, and I kept perfectly +quiet. In a few minutes I began to breathe heavily, and then, awaking as +it were with a groan, I complained of suffocation, and, dashing down the +window, poked out my head and panted for fresh air: they were very civil +all the rest of the journey, and never asked for the window to be shut +again. In the course of the day, I found out that the fat boy opposite +was connected with a circus company, and from him I gleaned something of +their history, which I hope may not be uninteresting to the reader. + +Each company has a puffer, or advertiser, who is sent on a week before +the company, to get bills printed, and see them posted up and +distributed to the best advantage, in the places at which the company +intend to perform. This was the fat boy's occupation, and for it he +received eight pounds a month and his travelling expenses. + +His company consisted of seventy-five bipeds and one hundred and +twenty-five quadrupeds. Of the bipeds, twelve were performers, two being +women; the pay varied from sixteen pounds a month to the chief Amazonian +lady, down as low as five pounds a month to the least efficient of the +corps. They work all the year round, sucking their cents from the North +in summer, and from the South in winter. They carry everything with +them, except it may be fuel and provisions. Each has his special duty +appointed. After acting at night they retire to their tents to sleep, +and the proper people take the circus-tent down, and start at once for +the next place they are to appear at; the performers and their tent-men +rise early in the morning, and start so as to reach the ground about +eleven; they then rest and prepare, so as to be ready, after the people +of the village have dined, to give their first performance; then they +rest and refresh ready for their evening repetition. Some companies used +to make their own gas, but experience has proved that wax-lights are +sweeter and cheaper in the long run, so gas making is nearly exploded. +After this second performance they retire to rest; the circus tent-men +strike and pack the tent, then start off for the next place of +exhibition, the actors and their tents following as before mentioned: +thus they go on throughout the year, bipeds and quadrupeds scarcely ever +entering a house. + +There are numbers of these circus companies in the States, of which the +largest is the one to which Van Amburgh is attached, and which, the fat +boy told me, is about three times the size of his own--Van Amburgh +taking always upwards of a dozen cages of his wild beasts. The work, he +says, is very hard, but the money comes in pretty freely, which I can +readily believe, as the bump of Inquisitiveness grows here with a +luxuriance unknown elsewhere, and is only exceeded by its sister bump of +Acquisitiveness, which two organs constitute audience and actors. + +I give you no account of scenery on the road for two reasons: first, +because there are no striking features to relieve the alternations of +rude cultivation and ruder forest; and secondly, because in winter, +Nature being despoiled of the life-giving lines of herbage and foliage, +a sketch of dreariness would be all that truth could permit. I will +therefore beg you to consider the twenty-one hours past, and Louisville +reached in safety, where hot tea and "trimmings"--as the astute young +Samivel hath it--soon restored us from the fatigues of a snail-paced +journey, over the most abominable road a man can imagine, although it is +the mail route between the flourishing towns of Louisville and +Nashville. Should any ambitious spirit feel a burning desire to visit +the Mammoth Cave, let me advise him to slake the said flame with the +waters of Patience, and take for his motto--"I bide my time." Snoring +has been the order of the day in these parts for many years; but the +kettle-screaming roads of the North have at last disturbed the Southern +slumberers, and, like giants refreshed, they are now working vigorously +at their own kettle, which will soon hiss all the way from Louisville to +Nashville. Till then, I say, Patience.--One of our companions in the +stage very kindly offered to take us to the club, which is newly formed +here, and which, if not large, is very comfortable. I mention this as +one among the many instances which have occurred to me while travelling +in this country, of the desire exhibited by the better classes to show +civility and attention to any gentleman who they observe is a stranger +among them. + +The following morning we were obliged to continue our route, for which +purpose it was necessary to embark two miles below the town, as the +river was not high enough to allow the steamers to pass over a kind of +bar called "The Falls." The road was one continuous bog of foot-deep +mud, but that difficulty concerned the horses, and they got over it with +perfect ease, despite the heavy drag. Once more we were floating down +the Ohio, and, curiously enough, in, another "Franklin;" but she could +not boast of such a massive cylindrical stewardess as her sister +possessed. A host of people, as usual, were gathered round the bar, +drinking, smoking, and arguing. Jonathan is "first-chop" at an argument. +Two of them were hard at it as I walked up. + +Says the Colonel--"I tell you, Major, it is more than a hundred miles." + +Major--"Well, but I tell you, Colonel, it aint not no such thing." + +Colonel--"But, sir'ree, I know it is." + +Judge--"Well, Colonel, I tell you what it is; I reckon you're wrong." + +Colonel--getting evidently excited--"No, sir'ree, I aint, and,"--holding +out a brawny hand capable of scrunching a nine-pound shot into infant +pap--"darned if I wont lay you, or any other gentleman, six Kentucky +niggers to a julep I'm right." + +After offering these tremendous odds, he travelled his fiery eagle eyes +from the major to the judge, and from the judge to the major, to +ascertain which of them would have it; and as they were silent, he +extended the radius of his glance to the company around, chucking his +head, and looking out of the corner of his eye, from time to time, +towards major and judge with a triumphant sneer, as much as to say, +"I've fixed you, anyhow." The argument was over; whether the major and +the judge were right about the distance, or not, I cannot decide; but if +the bet, when accepted, had to be ratified in the grasp of the muscular +hand which the colonel extended, they were decidedly right in not +accepting it, as some painful surgical operation must have followed such +a crushing and dislocation as his gripe inevitably portended. I would as +soon have put my hand between the rollers of a cane-press. + +The feeding arrangements for the humanities on board were, if +disagreeable, sufficiently amusing once in a way. A table extends nearly +the whole length of the gentlemen's saloon; on each side are ranged low +wooden straight-back arm-chairs, of a breadth well suited for the ghost +_qui n'avait pas de quoi_. But the unfortunate man who happened to be +very well supplied therewith, ran considerable risk of finding the chair +a permanent appendage. At the sound of the bell, all the seats being +arranged opposite the respective places, the men rush forward and place +themselves behind the said chairs, and, like true cavaliers, stand there +till the ladies are seated. I was standing waiting among the rest, and +getting impatient as time flew on. One lady had not yet arrived. At last +the steward came with the said article on his arm, and having deposited +her in the seat nearly opposite mine, at a knowing wink from him, a +second steward sounded another bell, and the men dropped into their +seats like magic. Soup having been already served, the spoons rattled +away furiously. I was wondering who the lady--all females are ladies +here--could be, for whom we had been so long waiting, and who had +eventually come in with the steward, or gentleman--all men are gentlemen +here--in so friendly a manner. She did not appear burdened with any +refined manners, but, judge of my astonishment when, after she had got +quit of her soup-plate and was waiting for her next helping, I observed +the lady poking the point of her knife into a sweet dish near her, and +sucking off the precious morsel she had captured, which interesting +operation she kept repeating till her roast turkey arrived. There was an +air of such perfect innocence about her, as she was employed in the +sucking process, that you could not help feeling she was unconscious any +eye fixed upon her could find her occupation offensive or extraordinary. + +A gentleman seated near me next attracted my attention. They had helped +him to a piece of meat the size and shape of a Holborn-hill +paving-stone. How insulted he must be at having his plate filled in that +way. Look! look! how he seizes vegetable after vegetable, building his +plate all round, like a fortification, the junk of beef in the middle +forming the citadel. It would have taken Napoleon a whole day to have +captured such a fortress; but, remember, poor Napoleon did not belong to +the nation that can "whip creation." See how Jonathan batters down +bastion after bastion! Now he stops!--his piercing eye scrutinizes +around!--a pie is seen! With raised body and lengthened arm, he pounces +on it, and drags it under the guns of his fortress. Knives and forks are +scarce--his own will do very well. A breach is made--the pastry parapet +is thrown at the foot of the half-demolished citadel; spoons are not at +hand, the knife plunges into the abyss, the fork follows--'tis a chicken +pie--pillage ensues; all the white meat is captured, the dish is raised +on high, from the horizontal it is turned to the "slantindicular," and +the citadel is deluged in the shower. "Catch who can," is not confined +to school-boys, I see. I was curious to witness the end of this attack, +and, as he had enough to occupy his ivories for half an hour--if they +did not give in before--I turned quietly to my own affairs, and began +eating my dinner; but, curiosity is impatient. In a few minutes, I +turned back to gaze on the fortress. By Jupiter Tonans! the plate lay +before him, clean as if a cat had licked it; and, having succeeded in +capturing another plate, he was organizing on this new plateau various +battalions of sweets, for which he skirmished around with incomparable +skill. + +The parade-ground being full, I expected to see an instant attack; but +he was too knowing to be caught napping in that way. He looked around, +and with a masterly eye scanned apples, oranges, and nuts. The two +former he selected with great judgment; the latter he brought home in +quantities sufficient to secure plenty of good ones. Then pouncing upon +a pair of nutcrackers, and extending them like a chevaux-de-frise round +his prizes, he began his onslaught upon the battalion of sweets before +him. + +The great general now set seriously to work. Scarce had he commenced, +when an innocent young man, who had finished his sweets and was +meditating an attack on some nuts, espied the crackers lying idle before +the gastronomic general, and said, "Will you lend me the nutcrackers, +sir?" The great general raised his head, and gave the youth one of those +piercing looks with which Napoleon used to galvanize all askers of +impertinent questions. The youth, understanding the refusal conveyed in +that terrible glance, had however enough courage to add, "You don't want +them, sir!" This was too much to bear in silence; so he replied with +awful distinctness, "But I reckon I shall, sir!" Then dropping his head +to the original position, he balanced a large piece of pumpkin-pie on +the point of his knife, and gallantly charged with it down his throat. +Poor youth! a neighbour relieved his distress, and saved his ivories. + +Nearly a quarter of an hour has elapsed; dinner is all over, the nuts +are all cracked and put in the pockets, and away the company go either +to the other end of the saloon, where the stove is placed, round which +they eat their nuts and smoke their cigars, or to drink at the bar. When +the smoking is over, clasp-knives are opened. Don't be alarmed; there is +no bloodshed intended, although half a dozen people strolling about with +these weapons may appear ominous. Watch their faces; the lower part of +their cheeks goes in with high-sucking pressure, then swells again, and +the active tongue sweeps with restless energy along and around the +ivory barriers within its range. In vain--in vain it strives to +dispossess the intruders; rebellious particles of nut burrow deep +between the ivories, like rabbits in an old stone dike. The knife comes +to the rescue, and, plunging fearlessly into the dark abyss, the victory +is won. Then the victors commence chewing _à l'outrance,_ and +expectorate on the red-hot stove, till it hisses like a steam-engine, or +else they deluge the floor until there is no alternative but thick shoes +or damp feet. The fumes of every known alcohol exhale from the bar, and +mix with the head-bursting fragrance of the strongest "Warginny." Some +seek safety in flight; others luxuriate in the poisonous atmosphere, and +scream out, like deeply-injured men, if any door by chance be left open. + +Behold! the table is laid again for dinner; piles of food keep coming +in; the company arrive--some in coats, some in waistcoats only; some in +coloured shirts, some in red flannel shirts; one, with sleeves turned up +to the elbow. "Who on earth are these?" I ask, in my ignorance. "Oh! +those, I guess, are the officers of the ship." Truly, they are "free," +but whether "enlightened" also I had no opportunity of ascertaining. A +short ten minutes, and they are all scattered, and the piles of food +with them. Once more I look, and, behold! the table is again preparing. +Who can this be for? Doubts are speedily solved, as a mixture of niggers +and whites sit down to the festive hoard; it is the boys--_alias_ +waiters--whose turn has come at last. Their meal over, the spare leaves +of the table are removed, half a dozen square tables dot the centre line +of the saloon, and all is comparatively quiet. This process takes place +at every meal--8 A.M., 1 P.M., and 5 P.M.--with the most rigid +punctuality. + +Fancy my distress one evening, when, on opening my cabin-door, I beheld +a fellow-creature doubled up at the entry of the door opposite. I +thought the poor sufferer had a fit of cholera, and I was expecting each +instant to hear his screams; but hearing nothing, I examined the person +in question more minutely. It was merely a gentleman, who had +dispossessed himself of his jacket, waistcoat, trousers, and boots, not +forgetting his stockings; and then deliberately planting his chair in +the open entry of the door, and gathering up one foot on the seat +thereof, was amusing himself by cutting and picking the horny +excrescences of his pedal digits, for the benefit of the passengers in +the gentlemen's saloon; and, unfortunately, you could not be sure that +his hands would be washed before he sat next to you at breakfast in the +morning,--for I can testify that I have, over and over again, sat next +to people, on these Western waters, whose hands were scarce fit to take +coals out of a scuttle. + +There is nothing I have here set down but what actually passed under my +own eye. You will, of course, find gentlemen on board, and many whose +manners there is nothing to complain of, and whose conversation is both +instructive and amusing; but you evidently are liable to find others to +realize the picture I have given of scenes in the gentlemen's saloon, +and, unless you have some acquaintance among the ladies, their saloon is +as sacred from a gentleman as the Sultan's harem. And whence comes all +this, except from that famous bugbear "equality?" Is there any real +gentleman throughout the Empire State who would, in his heart, approve +of this ridiculous hustling together of well-bred and ill-bred? But it +pleases the masses, and they must submit to this incongruous herding and +feeding, like the hungry dogs of a "Dotheboys Hall" kennel. + +It may be useful information for the traveller, and is only fair to the +Mississippi boat proprietors, to observe, that if you succeed in getting +a passage in a perfectly new boat, there is always more care, more +safety, better living, and better company. In all the boats there is one +brush and comb for the use of the passengers. + +By the aid of steam and stream, we at last reached Cairo, which is on +the southern bank of the Ohio and the eastern of the Mississippi; its +advantageous position has not passed unnoticed, but much money has been +thrown away upon it, owing to the company's not sitting down and +counting the cost before they began. There can be no question that, +geographically, it is _par excellence_ the site for the largest inland +town of America, situated as it is at the confluence of the two giant +arteries; and not merely is its position so excellent but mountains of +coal are in its neighbourhood. The difficulty which has to be contended +against is the inundation of these rivers. Former speculators built up +levees; but either from want of pluck or purse, they were inefficiently +constructed; the Mississippi overflowed them and overwhelmed the +speculators. Latterly, however, another company has taken the task in +hand, and having sufficient capital, it embraces the coal mines as well +as the site, &c., of the new town, to which the coal will of course be +brought by rail, and thus be enabled to supply the steamers on both +rivers at the cheapest rate, and considerably less than one-third the +price of wood; and if the indefatigable Swede's calorie-engine should +ever become practicable, every steamer will easily carry sufficient coal +from Cairo to last till her return; in short, I think it requires no +prophetic eye to foresee that Cairo in fifty years, if the Union +continues, will be one of the greatest, most important, and most +flourishing inland towns in America; and curiously enough, this effect +will be essentially brought about by the British capital embarked in the +enterprise. + +A few hours' run up the river brought us to St. Louis, whose nose, I +prophesy, is to be put out of joint by Cairo some future day. +Nevertheless, what a wonderful place is this same St. Louis; its rapid +increase is almost as extraordinary as that of Cincinnati, and perhaps +more so, when you consider, not only that it is further west by hundreds +of miles, but that it has to contend with the overflowing of the +Mississippi, which has, on more than one occasion, risen to the first +floor of the houses and stores built on the edge of the levee; +fortunately, the greater part of the town, being built on higher ground, +escapes the ruinous periodical duckings. It is situated seven hundred +and fifty miles below the falls of St. Anthony, and twelve hundred miles +above New Orleans. + +Le Clede and his party appreciated the value of its position as early as +1764, and named it in honour of Louis the Fifteenth. Subsequently it was +transferred to the Spaniards, in 1768: however, it made but little +progress until it passed into the hands of the United States, in 1804. +The energy of the American character soon changed the face of affairs, +and there are now 3000 steam-boats arriving annually, which I believe to +be a greater number than there were inhabitants at the date of its +cession to them. But the more active impulse seems to have commenced in +1830, at which time the population was under 7000, since which date it +has so rapidly increased, that in 1852 its population was bordering on +100,000. The natives of the United States form about one-half of the +community, and those of Germany one-fourth; the remainder are chiefly +Irish. There are twenty newspapers, of which four are published in +German. There are forty churches, one-fourth of which are Roman +Catholic, and a liberal provision is made for education; the material +prosperity of this thriving community is evidenced by the fact, that the +annual value of the produce of their manufacturing-establishments +exceeds 3,000,000l.; flour-mills, sugar refineries, and carpenters, +contributing more largely than other occupations; after which come the +tailors, thanks probably to the Germans, who appear to have a strong +predilection for this trade, at which there are more hands employed than +at any other. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote M: Messrs. Wallis and Whitworth, in their Report on the +Industry of the United States, remark at Chapter V.--"In no branch of +manufacture does the application of labour-saving machinery produce, by +simple means, more important results than in the working of wood."] + +[Footnote N: Since my return to England, I have seen it asserted, by a +correspondent in the _Morning Chronicle_, that Colonel Crogan, of +Louisville, purchased this cave for 2000l., and that, shortly after, +he was offered 20,000l. for his bargain. It is further stated that, +in his will, he tied it up in his family for two generations. If this +latter be true, it proves that entails are not quite unknown even in the +Democratic Republic.] + +[Footnote O: I have heard, since my return to England, that old Mr. Bell +is dead.] + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +_River Scenes_. + + +I felt very anxious to make an excursion from St. Louis, and get a +little shooting, either to the north-west or down near Cairo, where +there are deer; but my companion was dying to get to New Orleans, and +strongly urged me not to delay, "fiddling after sport." I always looked +upon myself as a model of good-natured easiness, ever ready to sacrifice +self for a friend; but I have been told by some intimates, that such is +not my character, and some have even said, "You're a obstinate follow." +If they were wrong, I suffered enough for my easiness; if they were +right, I must have yielded the only time that I ought to have been firm; +at all events, I gave up my shooting expedition, which I had intended to +occupy the time with till a first-class boat started for New Orleans; +and, in an evil hour, I allowed myself to be inveigled on board the +"Western World." The steam was up, and we were soon bowling down the +leviathan artery of the North American continent. Why the said artery +should keep the name of the Mississippi, I cannot explain; for, not only +is the Missouri the larger river above the confluence, but the +Mississippi is a clear stream, with solid, and, in some instances, +granite-bound shores, and perfectly free from "snags;" whereas the +Missouri has muddy banks, and revels in snags, which, as many have sadly +experienced, is the case with the stream on which they are borne +throughout its whole length, thereby fully evincing its true parentage, +and painfully exhibiting its just right to be termed Missouri; but the +rights of men and women are difficult enough to settle, without entering +into the rights of rivers, although from them, as from men and women, +flow both good and evil. A truce to rights, then, especially in this +"Far West," where every one is obliged to maintain his own for himself. + +This river is one of the places assigned as the scene of the +conversation between the philosopher and the boatman--a tale so old, +that it had probably died out before some of my younger readers were +born; I therefore insert it for their benefit exclusively.--A +philosopher, having arrived at a ferry, entered a boat, rowed by one of +those rare articles in this enlightened Republic--a man without any +education. + +PHILOSOPHER _(loquitur)._--Can you write? + +BOATMAN.--I guess I can't. + +PHILOSOPHER.--How sad! why, you've lost one-third of your life! Of +course you can read? + +BOATMAN,--Well, I guess I can't that neither. + +PHILOSOPHER.--Good gracious me! why, you've lost two-thirds of your +life. + +When the conversation had proceeded thus far, the boatman discovered +that, in listening to his learned passenger, he had neglected that +vigilance which the danger of the river rendered indispensable. The +stream was hurrying them into a most frightful snag; escape was +hopeless; so the boatman opened the conversation with this startling +question: + +BOATMAN.--Can you swim, sir? + +PHILOSOPHER.--No, that I can't. + +BOATMAN.--Then, I guess, you've lost all your life. + +Ere the sentence was finished, the boat upset; the sturdy rower +struggled manfully, and reached the shore in safety. On looking round, +nought was to be seen of the philosopher save his hat, floating down to +New Orleans. The boatman sat down on the bank, reflecting on the fate of +the philosopher; and, as the beaver disappeared in the bend of the +river, he rose up and gave vent to his reflections in the following +terms: "I guess that gentleman was never taught much of the useful; +learning is a good thing in its place, but I guess swimming is the thing +on the Mississippi, fix it how you will." + +As I have alluded to that _rara avis_ in the United States, a totally +uneducated man, I may as well give an amusing specimen of the production +of another Western, whose studies were evidently in their infancy. It is +a certificate of marriage, and runs thus:-- + + "State of Illenois Peoria County ss + + "To all the world Greeting. Know ye that John Smith and Peggy Myres is + hereby certified to go together and do as old folks does, anywhere + inside coperas precinct, and when my commission comes I am to marry em + good, and date em back to _kivver accidents_. + + "O---- M---- R---- [ss] + + "Justice of the Peace." + +Let us now return to the "Western World." + +Having committed the indiscretion of taking my passage on board of her, +the next step I took--i.e., paying for it--was worse, and proclaimed +me a griffin. The old stagers know these waters too well to think of +paying before they are at, or about, the end of their journey. Having, +however, both taken and paid for my passage, and committed what old +maids and sailors would call the audacious folly of starting upon a +Friday, I may as well give you a description of the boat. + +The river at many places and in many seasons being very low, these +steamers are built as light as possible; in short, I believe they are +built as light as any company can be found to insure them. Above the +natural load-line they flam out like the rim of a washing-basin, so as +to give breadth for the superstructure; on the deck is placed the engine +and appurtenances, fuel, &c.; whatever is not so occupied is for +freight. This deck is open all round, and has pillars placed at +convenient distances, about fifteen to twenty feet high, to support the +cabin deck. The cabin deck is occupied in the centre by a saloon, +extending nearly the whole length of the vessel, with sleeping +cabins--two beds in each--opening off it on both sides. The saloon is +entered from forward; about one-third of its length at the after-end is +shut off by doors, forming the ladies' sanctum, which is provided with +sofas, arm-chairs, piano, &c.; about one-fifth of the length at the +foremost-end, but not separated in any way, is the smoking-place, with +the bar quite handy, and the stove in the centre. The floor of this +place may with propriety be termed the great expectorating deposit, +owing to the inducements it offers for centralization, though, of +course, no creek or cranny of the vessel is free from this American +tobacco-tax--if I may presume so to dignify and designate it. Having +thus taken off one-third and one-fifth, the remaining portion is the +"gentlemen's share"--how many 'eenths it may be, I leave to fractional +calculators. Their average size is about sixteen feet broad, and from +seven and a half to eight and a half feet high; the centre part is +further raised about eighteen inches, having glass along the sides +thereof, to give light; they are always well painted and elaborately +gilt--in some vessels, such as the "Eclipse," of Louisville, they are +quite gorgeous. The cabins are about six feet by seven, the same height +as the saloon, and lit by a door on the outside part, the upper portion +of which is glass, protected, if required, by folding _jalousies_, +intended chiefly for summer use. Outside these cabins a gallery runs +round, covered at the top, and about four feet broad, and with entries +to the main cabin on each side. The box which covers the paddle-wheel, +&c., helps to make a break in this gallery, separating the gentlemen +from the ladies. + +Some boats have a narrow passage connecting the two galleries, but +fitted with a _grille_ door, to prevent intrusion into the harem +gallery; before, the paddle-box, on one side, is the steward's pantry, +and on the other, that indispensable luxury to an American, the barber's +shop; where, at all hours of the day, the free and enlightened, mounted +on throne-like chairs and lofty footstools, stretch their carcases at +full length, to enjoy the tweaking of their noses and the scraping of +their chins, by the artistic nigger who officiates. This distinguished +official is also the solo dispenser of the luxury of oysters, upon which +fish the Anglo-Saxon in this hemisphere is intensely ravenous. It looks +funny enough to a stranger, to see a notice hung up (generally near the +bar), "Oysters to be had in the barber's saloon." Everything is saloon +in America. Above this saloon deck, and its auxiliaries of barber-shop, +gallery, &c., is the hurricane-deck, whereon is a small collection of +cabins for the captain, pilots, &c.--there are always two of the latter, +and their pay each, the captain told me, is forty pounds a month--and +towering above these cabins is the wheel-house, lit all round by large +windows, whence all orders to the engineers are readily transmitted by +the sound of a good bell. The remainder of the deck--which is, in +fact, only the roof of the saloon-cabins and gallery--is open to all +those who feel disposed to admire distant views under the soothing +influence of an eternal shower of wood-cinders and soot. These vessels +vary in breadth from thirty-five to fifty feet, and from one hundred and +fifty to--the "Eclipse"--three hundred and sixty-five feet in length; +the saloons extending the whole length, except about thirty feet at each +end. They have obtained the name of "palace-steamers," and at a _coup +d'oeil_ they appear to deserve it, for they are grand and imposing, both +outside and inside; but many an European who has travelled in them will +agree with me in the assertion, that they might, with more propriety, be +termed "palace sepulchres;" not merely from the loss of life to which +their constant disasters give rise, but also from the contrast between +the grandeur outside and the uncleanliness within, of which latter I +have already given a sketch in my trip from Louisville. + +Some idea may be formed of their solidity, when I tell you they are only +calculated to last five years; but at the end of three, it is generally +admitted that they have paid for themselves, with good interest. I give +you this, on the information derived from a captain who was sole owner, +and I have also heard many others repeat the same thing; and yet the +"Eclipse" cost 120,000 dollars, or about 25,000l. In the saloon you +will always see an account of the goodness of the hull and the soundness +of the boilers hung up, and duly attested by the proper inspectors of +the same. The way these duties of the inspectors are performed makes it +a perfect farce, at least on most occasions. + +The inspector comes on board; the captain and engineer see him, and, of +course, they shake hands, for here everybody shakes hands with everybody +the moment they meet, if only for the first time; the only variation +being in the words addressed: if for the first time, it may run +thus:--"Sir, I'm happy to make your acquaintance;" which may be replied +to by an additional squeeze, and perhaps a "Sir, I reciprocate." +N.B.--Hats off always the first time. If it is a previous acquaintance, +then a "Glad to see you, sir," is sufficient.--But to return from this +digression. The captain and engineer greet the inspector--"I s'pose +you're come to look at our bilers, sir?" "Yes, sir, I am." The parties +all instinctively drawing nearer and nearer to the bar. "Well, sir, +let's have a drink."--"Well, sir, let's."--"A cigar, sir?"--"Thank'ee, +sir!" Parties smoke and drink. Ingeniously enough, the required document +and pen and ink are all lying handy: the obdurate heart of the inspector +is quite melted by kindness. "Well, sir, I s'pose your bilers are all +right?"--"I guess they are that, sir, and nurthin else; you can't go and +for to bust them bilers of mine, fix it anyhow you will; you can't that, +I do assure you, sir."--What inspector can doubt such clear +evidence.--"Take another glass, sir, do."--"Thank'ee, I'll sign this +paper first." The inspection is over, all except the "glass" and the +"'bacco," which continue to flow and fume. The skippers of these boats +are rough enough; but I always found them very civil, plain spoken, and +ready to give all the information in their power; and many of them have +confessed to me that the inspection was but too often conducted in the +manner above described. + +There is little to interest in the account of a trip down the river. The +style of society met with on board these vessels, I have already given +you a sketch of; it may sometimes be better, and sometimes worse. One of +my "messmates" in this boat, was a young fellow who had been second +captain of the mizen-top on board of H.M.S. "Vengeance;" but not liking +the style of discipline, especially--as he said--the irritating +substitutes for flogging which have been introduced of late years into +the Navy, to suit the mawkish sensibility of public opinion in England, +as well as the clamours of the all-ruling Press, he took the first +opportunity of running away, to seek his fortune in the Far West. He +observed to me one day, "Those chaps who kick up such a devil of a row +about flogging in the Navy, whatever their intentions may be, are no +real friends to the sailor or the service." + +As a slight illustration of the truth of his remarks, I may here observe +that a purser in the American Navy, in which service they have lately +abolished flogging, told me, that soon after the paying off of a +line-of-battle ship in which he had been serving, he happened to meet +fifty of his old shipmates in the port, and asking them what they were +going to do, they told him they were about to embark for England, to +take service in the English Navy; for said they, "Since corporal +punishment has been abolished, the good men have to do all the work, and +that wont pay." Only three of the fifty had ever been in the English +service. There can be no doubt that many gentlemen of sensitive minds, +seeing the names of their brother officers dragged before the public, +through the House of Commons or the columns of an anonymous Press, +endeavour to keep up discipline by other means, which annoy Jack far +more, or else, slackening the bonds of discipline, leave all the work to +be done by the willing and the good; anything, rather than be branded as +a tyrant in every quarter of the globe by an anonymous assailant, +knowing full well that, however explicit a denial may be inserted, ten +people will read the charge for every one that reads its contradiction. +But I am wandering from my young friend, the captain of the mizen-top. + +If he did not look very well "got up" in his red shirt, at all events he +was clean in his person, thus forming a pleasing contrast to a young +chap who came in the evening, and seated himself on the table, where I +was playing a game at écarté with my companion. His hands absolutely +appeared the hands of a nigger, though his voice was the voice of a +white; travelling my eyes up to and beyond his face, I found it was all +in keeping; his hair looked like an Indian jungle. If some one could +only have caught him by the heels, and swung him round and round on a +carding machine, like a handful of hemp, it would have improved him +immensely; especially if, after going through that process, he had been +passed between two of the pigs through the scalding-trough at +Cincinnati. Among others of our fellow-voyagers, we found one or two +very agreeable and intelligent American gentlemen, who, though more +accustomed to the _désagréments_ of travel, were fully alive to it, and +expressed their disgust in the freest manner. + +Let us now turn from company to scenery.--What is there to be said on +this latter subject? Truly it is nought but sameness on a gigantic +scale. What there is of grand is all in the imagination, or rather the +reflection, that you are on the bosom of the largest artery of commerce +in the world. What meets the eye is an average breadth of from half a +mile to a mile of muddy water, tenanted by uprooted trees, and bristling +with formidable snags. On either side a continuous forest confines the +view, thus depriving the scene of that solemn grandeur which the +horizonless desert or the boundless main is calculated to inspire. The +signs of human life, like angels' visits, are few and far between. No +beast is seen in the forest, no bird in the air, except from time to +time a flight of water-fowl. At times the eye is gratified by a +convocation of wild swans, geese, and ducks, assembled in conclave upon +the edge of some bank; or, if perchance at sunrise or sunset you happen +to come to some broad bend of the river, the gorgeous rays light up its +surface till it appears a lake of liquid fire, rendered brighter by the +surrounding darkness of the dense and leafless forest. Occasionally the +trumpet-toned pipe of the engine--fit music for the woods--bursts forth; +but there are no mountains or valleys to echo its strains far and wide. +The grenadier ranks of vegetable life, standing like sentries along the +margin of the stream, refuse it either an entry or an answer, and the +rude voice of mechanism finds a speedy and certain sepulture in the +muddy banks. This savage refusal of Nature to hold converse is +occasionally relieved by the sight of a log hut, surrounded with cords +of wood[P] prepared for sale to the steamers. At other times a few +straggling huts, and piles of goods ready for transport, vary the scene. +Sometimes you come to a real village, and there you generally find an +old steamer doing duty for wharf-boat and hotel, in case of passengers +landing at unseasonable hours of the night. Thanks also to the great +commercial activity of the larger towns above, the monotony of the river +is occasionally relieved by the sight of steam-boats, barges, +coal-boats, salt-boats, &c. Now and then one's heart is cheered and +one's spirits fortified by the sight of a vessel or two that has been +snagged, and which the indignant stream appears to have left there as a +gentle hint for travellers. + +Thus the day passes on, and, when night closes in, you bid adieu to your +friends, not with "Pleasant dreams to you!" but with a kind of +mysterious smile, and a "I hope we sha'n't be snagged to-night!" You +then retire to your cabin, and ... what you do there depends on +yourself; but a man whose mind is not sobered when travelling on these +waters is not to be envied. + +When you leave your cabin in the morning, as you enter the saloon, you +fancy a cask of spirits has burst. A little observation will show you +your mistake, and the cause of it; which is merely that the free and +enlightened are taking their morning drink at the bar. Truly they are a +wonderful race; or, as they themselves sometimes express it, "We are a +tall nation, sir; a big people." Though they drink on all occasions, +whether from sociability or self-indulgence, and at all times, from rosy +morn to dewy eve, and long after;--though breath and clothes are "alive" +with the odour of alcohol, you will scarcely ever see a passenger drunk. +Cards are also going all day long, and there is generally a +Fancy-man--or blackleg--ready to oblige a friend. These card-playings +are conducted quietly enough at present; but an old traveller told me he +remembered, some fifteen years ago, when things were very different, and +when every player came armed with a pistol and bowie-knife, by which all +little difficulties as to an odd trick or a bet were speedily settled on +the spot. In those days the sun never rose and set without witnessing +one or more of these exciting little adjustments of difficulties, with +which the bystanders were too good judges ever to interfere. In fact, +they seem to have been considered as merely pleasing little breaks in +the monotony of the trip. + +As it may interest some of _my_ readers, I will endeavour to retail for +their amusement a sketch which was given me of a scene of boat-racing in +the olden time. The "Screecher" was a vessel belonging to Louisville, +having a cargo of wild Kentuckians and other passengers on board, among +whom was an old lady, who, having bought a winter stock of bacon, pork, +&c., was returning to her home on the banks of the Mississippi. The +"Burster" was a St. Louis boat, having on board a lot of wild +back-woodsmen, &c. The two rivals met at the confluence of the Ohio and +the Mississippi. Beat or burst was the alternative. Victory hung in one +scale; in the other, defeat and death. The "Screecher" was a little +ahead; gradually the "Burster" closes. The silence of a death-struggle +prevails. The Screechers put on more wood, and place more weight on the +safety-valve; she bounds ahead. Slowly, but surely, the "Burster" draws +nearer. The captain of the "Screecher" looks wistfully at the fires, for +the boilers are well-nigh worn out. The "Burster" is almost abreast. The +enraged Kentuckians gather round the captain, and, in fury, ask--"Why +don't you put more weight on?" + +CAPTAIN--"Boilers are done; can't bear it nohow." + +KENTUCKIANS--"Can't bear it? You chicken-hearted coward--" + +Knives are drawn, pistols click, a hundred voices exclaim, "Get on it +yourself, or I'll bury this knife below your outer skin." Their eyes +gleam--their hands are raised for the deadly blow. Wild boys, these +Kentuckians; the captain knows it too well. A choice of deaths is before +him; excitement decides--he mounts the breach. The "Screecher" shoots +through the waters, quivering from head to stern. The Kentucky boys yell +with delight and defiance. Again the "Burster" closes on her rival. +Kentuckians brandish their knives, and call to the negroes, who are +already half-roasted, "Pile on the wood; pile like agony; I'll ram a +nigger into the fire for every foot the 'Burster' gains." Soon a cry of +exultation is heard on board the "Burster," as she shoots up close to +her rival. The enraged Kentuckians shout out, "Oil, I swear!--oil, by +all creation!" "I smell it!" exclaims the old lady with the store of +bacon. Her eyes flash fire; a few words to her slaves Pompey and Caesar, +and casks of bacon, smashed quick as thought, lay before the furnace. In +it all goes; the "Screecher" is wild; the captain bounds up and down +like a parched pea on a filing-pan; once more she flies ahead of her +rival "like a streak of greased lightning." Suddenly--horror of +horrors!--the river throbs beneath; the forest trees quake like aspen +leaves; the voice of many thunders rends the air; clouds of splinters +and human limbs darken the sky. The "Burster" is blown to atoms! The +captain jumps down, and joins the wild Kentucky boys in a yell of +victory, through the bass notes of which may be heard the shrill voice +of the old lady, crying, "I did it, I did it--it's all my bacon!" + +The struggle over, and the excitement passed, they return and pick up +such portions of the human frame as may be found worth preserving.--To +resume. + +Our captain was overtaken by a telegraphic message, requiring his +appearance on a certain day to answer a charge of libel. From what I +could glean, it seems that the captain, considering himself cheated by a +person with whom he had been transacting business, took the liberty of +saying to him, "Well, you're a darned infernal rascal, fix it anyhow you +will!" The insulted person sued for 2500 dollars damages, and the +captain was obliged to leave us, that he might go and defend his cause. +He was a good type of a "hard-a-weather-bird," and I was sorry to see +him obliged to quit the ship. I told him so, adding, that if he deserted +us, we should be sure to get snagged, or something worse. He +replied,--"Oh, no, sir; I guess you'll be safe enough; I shall leave my +clerk in charge; he's been a captain of these boats; you'll be right +enough, sir." And away he went ashore at Memphis, leaving us to continue +our course to New Orleans. + +Night came on, and we all toddled off to roost. I am habitually a very +sound sleeper, dropping off the moment I turn in, and never awaking till +daylight. On this occasion, however, I awoke about two o'clock A.M., +and, do what I would, I could not coax myself to sleep again. While +tossing from side to side, I felt the vessel strike as if gently +touching a bank; and wood being a good conductor of sound, I heard the +water, as it were, gurgling in. My first idea was, "We are snagged;" +then, remembering how slight the concussion had been, I calmed my fears +and turned over on my side, determined to bottle off a little more sleep +if possible. Scarce had the thought crossed the threshold of my mind, +when men with hasty steps rushed into the saloon, banging frantically at +the cabin-doors, and the piercing cry was heard--"Turn out! turn +out!--we're sinking!" Passengers flew from their beds, and opened their +doors to get what scanty light the lamps in the saloon might afford. A +mysterious and solemn silence prevailed; all was action; no time for +words; dress, catch up what you can, and bolt for your life. As I got to +the side of the vessel, I saw a steamer alongside, and felt the boat I +was in careening over. A neighbour, in fear and desperation, caught hold +of me as a drowning man catches at a straw; no time for compliments +this, when it is neck or nothing; so, by a right-hander in the pit of +the stomach, I got quit of his clutch, and, throwing my desk over to the +other boat, I grasped the wooden fender and slid down. Thank God, I was +safe!--my companion was already safe also. + +It was about half-past four A.M., a drizzly, wet morning, quite dark, +except the flame of the torches. A plank was got on board of the sinking +boat, along which more passengers and even some luggage were saved. The +crew of the sound boat had hard work to keep people from trying to +return and save their luggage, thus risking not only their own lives but +at the same time impeding the escape of others. From the gallery above +I was looking down upon the wreck, lit up by the lurid light of some +dozen torches, when, with a crash like thunder, she went clean over and +broke into a thousand pieces; eighty head of cattle, fastened by the +horns, vainly struggled to escape a watery grave. It was indeed a +terrific and awful scene to witness. From the first striking till she +went to pieces, not a quarter of an hour had elapsed; but who was saved? +Who knew, and--alas! that I must add--who cared? + +The crew worked hard enough to rescue all, and to them be every credit +for their exertions; but the indifference exhibited by those who had +been snatched from the jaws of death was absolutely appalling. The +moment they escaped, they found their way to the bar and the stove, and +there they were smoking, drinking, and passing the ribald jest, even +before the wreck had gone to pieces, or the fate of one-half of their +companions been ascertained. Yet there was a scene before their eyes +sufficient, one would have imagined, to have softened the hardest heart +and made the most thoughtless think. There, among them, at the very +stove round which they were gathered, stood one with a haggard eye and +vacant gaze, and at his feet clung two half-naked infants; a quarter of +an hour before he was a hale man, a husband, with five children; now, he +was an idiot and a widower, with two. No tear dimmed his eye, no trace +of grief was to be read in his countenance; though the two pledges of +the love of one now no more hung helplessly round his legs, he heeded +them not; they sought a father's smile--they found an idiot's stare. +They cried: was it for their mother's embrace, or did they miss their +brother and sisters? Not even the piteous cry of motherless infancy +could light one spark of emotion in the widowed husband's breast--all +was one awful blank of idiocy. A wife and three children, buried beneath +piles of freight, had found a wretched grave; his heart and his reason +had fled after them--never, apparently, to return. + +Surely this was a scene pre-eminently calculated to excite in those who +wore, by their very escape, living monuments of God's mercy, the deepest +feelings of gratitude and commiseration; yet, there stood the poor +idiot, as if he had not been; and the jest, the glass, and cigar went on +with as much indifference as if the party had just come out of a +theatre, instead of having providentially escaped from a struggle +between life and death. A more perfect exhibition of heartlessness +cannot be conceived, nor do I believe any other part of the world could +produce its equal. + +The immediate cause of the wreck was the steamer "H.R.W. Hill" running +into us, owing to misunderstanding the bell signal; most providentially +she caught alongside of us after striking; if she had not done so, God +alone knows who could have been saved. As far as I could ascertain, all +the first-class passengers were saved. Do not stare at the word +first-class, for although in this country of so-called equality no +difference of classes is acknowledged, poor helpless emigrants are taken +as deck-passengers, and, as freight is the great object, no space is set +apart for them; they are stowed away among the cargo as best they can +be, with no avenue of escape in case of accidents, and with the +additional prospect of being buried beneath bales and barrels. I believe +fifteen passengers perished in this way: one poor English-woman among +the deck-passengers fought her way through the freight, and, after being +nearly drowned and trampled to death under the hoofs of the cattle, +succeeded in escaping. A slave-merchant with a dozen negroes managed to +save all of them, inasmuch as, being valuable, he had them stowed away +in a better place. The moment the wreck was completed, we proceeded up +the river, wasting no time in trying to save any part of the cargo or +luggage. My own position was anything but a pleasant one, though I trust +I was truly thankful for my preservation. I found I had managed to throw +my desk between the two steamers, and it was therefore irrecoverably +lost, with all my papers, letters of credit, journal, &c. I had also +lost everything else except what T had on,--rifle, guns, clothes,--all +were gone. A few things, such as money, watch, note-book, which I always +kept in my pockets, were all my stock in trade. Fortunately, my friend +had saved his papers, and thus our identity could be established at New +Orleans. In the course of a few hours we saw a fine steamer coming down +the river, in which we embarked, and again pursued our journey south. + +In the afternoon we passed several pieces of the wreck: the shores were +covered with the casks of pork and mustang liniment which had formed a +great part of our freight. At one place, a large portion of the wreck, +was made fast ashore, and being plundered by the settlers on the bank; +boxes and trunks were all broken open and cleaned out; little boats were +flying across the river full of pork and other prizes: it was an +universal scramble in all directions, and appeared to be considered as +lawful plunder by them as if they had been Cornish wreckers. It was +hopeless to try and recover anything, so we continued our journey, and +left our goods to the tender mercies of the landsharks on the banks. +Having lost all my papers, I was obliged to forego the pleasure I had +anticipated from a visit to Natchez, or rather to the gentlemen and +plantations in the neighbourhood. + +As you approach the lower part of the river, signs of human life become +more frequent; the forest recedes, the banks of the river are leveed up, +and legions of Uncle Tom's Cabins stud the banks; some, clustered near +the more luxurious but still simple building wherein dwells the +proprietor, surrounded by orange groves and the rich flowers and foliage +of southern climes. These little spots appear like bright oases in the +otherwise dreary, uninteresting flats, which extend from the banks on +either side; yet it is only as a scene they are uninteresting; as a +reality, they have a peculiar interest. On these Hats the negro slave +expends his labour and closes his life, and from the bitter of his +career the white man draws the sweet luxury of his own. How few reflect +upon this, even for as many seconds as it takes to melt the clarified +lump in the smoking bohea. But here we are at La Fayette, which is the +upper or American end of New Orleans, where steamers always stop if +there are any cattle on board, which being our case, we preferred +landing and taking an omnibus, to waiting for the discharge of the +live-stock. Half an hour brought us to the St. Louis Hotel, and there +you may sit down a minute or two while I make some observations on the +steaming in Western rivers. + +The whole system and management is a most grievous reproach to the +American nation. I speak not of the architecture, which is good, nor of +the absurd inconsistency in uniting such palatial appearance with such +absolute discomfort, which perhaps, with their institutions and ideas, +it would be very difficult to remedy. My observations refer more to +that by which human life is endangered, and the valuable produce of +human labour recklessly destroyed. The following extract from a +Louisville paper will more than justify any animadversions which I may +make:-- + + DISASTERS ON WESTERN RIVERS.--The Louisville _Courier_ has published a + list of disasters on Western waters during the year 1852. It is a + formidable one, embracing 78 steam-boats, 4 barges, 73 coal-boats, 3 + salt-boats, and 4 others, flat-boats. It appears that 47 boats were + lost by being snagged, 16 by explosions, 4 were burnt, and the others + lost by collision and other mishaps. The greatest number of lives lost + by one disaster was the explosion of the "Saluda," 100. The total loss + of life exceeds 400 persons.[Q] + +Here is a list of one hundred and sixty-two vessels of different kinds, +and four hundred human beings, lost in one year; of which vessels it +appears forty-six were snagged. You will naturally ask here, what +precautions are taken to avoid such frightful casualties? The answer is +short--None. They had a few boats employed once to raise the snags, but +the thirst for annexation ran them into a war, and the money was wanted +for that purpose. The Westerns say they are ridden over by the Easterns, +and that Government will do nothing for them.[R] + +It is not for me to decide the reasons, but the fact is but too clear, +that in a country boasting of its wealth, its power, its resources, and +not burdened with one farthing of debt, not a cent is being expended in +making the slightest endeavours to remove the dangers of this gigantic +artery of commerce. And what would be the cost of this national object? +The captains of the boats told me that two dozen snag-boats in three +years would clear the river; and that half that number could keep it +clear; yet, rather than vote the money requisite, they exhibit a +national indifference to the safety of life and property such as, I may +confidently affirm, cannot be found in any other civilized nation. A +very small tax on the steamers would pay the expenses; but the Westerns +say, and say with truth, "This is not a local, this is a national question. +Government builds lighthouses, harbours, &c., for the eastern board, and +we are entitled to the same care for our commerce." A navigation of two +thousand miles is most certainly as thoroughly a national question as a +seaboard is. It should also be remembered that, if the navigable +tributaries be added, the total presents an unbroken highway of internal +commerce amounting to 16,700 miles--a distance which, it has been +remarked, "is sufficient to encircle Europe and leave a remnant which +would span the Atlantic." + +Next on the list comes the "explosions." I have already given you an +account of how the so-called examinations are too often made. Surely +these inspections might be signed upon oath before a magistrate; and as +surely, I should hope, men might be found who would not perjure +themselves. The burnt vessels are few in number, and more than one case +has, I believe, been tried on suspicion of being set fire to +intentionally. + +The last on the list is "collisions, &c." By the "&c.," I suppose, is +mount vessels which, having run on the river till they wore only fit for +firewood, still continued "just one more trip;" and then, of course, the +slightest concussion, either on a bank or a floating log, would break +them up like a chip basket. The examination on this point is conducted +like that of the boilers, and the same remedy might readily be applied. +I think, however, that the greater number of losses from collisions, +&c., may be chiefly ascribed to the collisions. The cause of these +collisions is easily understood, when you are informed that vessels +meeting indicate the side they intend to take by sounding a bell. They +have no fixed rule, like vessels meeting at sea. The sound of the toll +of the second bell may easily be blended with the first, if it be struck +hurriedly, which in cases of danger is more than probable; or, the sound +of a single toll may find an echo and be mistaken for two tolls. The +collision we met with was caused by this very misunderstanding; at +least, so the captains mutually explained it. The reason given me for +this unsettled system was, that, owing to banks and currents, vessels +could not always take the same side. Supposing this to be so, still, a +more correct indication of the side intended to be taken might be +obtained by lights kept burning for that purpose in a box with a +sliding front, removeable at pleasure by a line leading to the +wheel-house, in the same way as the lanyard of the bell is at present +fitted; and a further palpable advantage would be obtained by obliging +vessels meeting in the night to stop the engines and pass at "slow +speed." In addition to these precautions, a stout cork fender, extending +round the bows some ten feet on each side, and fixed every night at +dark, would materially lessen the chances of destruction, even if +collision did take place. + +There is, however, another cause of accident which the Louisville paper +does not allude to, and that is overloading. We started about two and a +half feet out of the water when leaving St. Louis, and, long before we +met with our accident, we had taken in cargo till we were scarce five +inches above the river. Not only do they cram the lower or freight deck, +but the gallery outside the saloons and cabins is filled till all the +use and comfort thereof is destroyed, and scarce a passage along them to +be obtained. Seeing the accidents such reckless freighting must +necessarily give rise to, what more simple than obliging every vessel to +have a float or loading line painted from stem to stern at a certain +elevation, making the captain and owners liable to a heavy penalty if +the said line be brought below the water by the freight. There is one +other point which I may as well notice here, and that is the manner in +which these boats are allowed to carry deck-passengers. There is no +clear portion of deck for them, and they are driven by necessity among +the bales and boxes of freight, with no avenue of escape in case of +accident. These are the people who suffer in cases of snagging and +collision, &c. These hardy sons of toil, migrating with their families, +are all but penniless, and therefore, despite all vaunt of equality, +they are friendless. Had every deck-passenger that has perished in the +agony of a crushing and drowning death been a Member of Senate or +Congress, the Government would have interfered long ere this; but these +miserable wretches perish in their agony, and there is no one to re-echo +that cry in the halls of Congress. They are chiefly poor emigrants, and +plenty more will come to fill their places. + +If the Government took any such steps as those above recommended, the +fear of losing insurance by neglecting them would tend greatly to make +them respected. Companies would insure at a lower rate, and all parties +would be gainers in the long run; for, if the Government obtained no +pecuniary profit, it would gain in national character by the removal of +a reproach such as no other commercial country at the present day +labours under. + +There is, moreover, a moral point of view to be taken of this +question--viz., "the recklessness of human life engendered by things as +they are." + +The anecdotes which one hears are of themselves sufficient to leave +little doubt on this point. Take, for instance, the following:--A vessel +having been blown up during the high pressure of a race, among the +witnesses called was one who thus replied to the questions put to him:-- + +EXAMINER.--"Were you on board when the accident took place?" + +WITNESS.--"I guess I was, and nurthing else." + +EXAMINER.--"Was the captain sober?" + +WITNESS.--"Can't tell that, nohow." + +EXAMINER.--"Did you not see the captain during the day?" + +WITNESS.--"I guess I did." + +EXAMINER.--"Then can, you not state your opinion whether he was drunk or +not?" + +WITNESS.--"I guess I had not much time for observation; he was not on +board when I saw him." + +EXAMINER.--"When did you see him, then?" + +WITNESS.--"As I was coming down, I passed the gentleman going up." + +The court, of course, was highly amused at his coolness, and called +another witness.--But let us turn from this fictitious anecdote to fact. + +It was only the other day that I read in a Louisville paper of a +gentleman going into the Gait-house Hotel, and deliberately shooting at +another in the dining-saloon when full of people, missing his aim, and +the hall lodging in the back of a stranger's chair who was quietly +sitting at his dinner. Again, I read of an occurrence--at Memphis, I +think--equally outrageous. A man hard pressed by creditors, who had +assembled at his house and were urgent in their demands, called to them +to keep back, and upon their still pressing on, he seized a bowie-knife +in each hand, and rushed among them, stabbing and ripping right and +left, till checked in his mad career of assassination by a creditor, in +self-defence, burying a cleaver in his skull. + +In a Natchez paper I read as follows:--"Levi Tarver, formerly a resident +of Atala county, was recently killed in Texas. Tarver interrupted a +gentleman on the highway; high words ensued, when Tarver gave the +gentleman the lie; whereupon the latter drew a bowie-knife, and +completely severed, at one blow, Levi's head from his body." + +In a St. Louis paper, I read of a German, Hoffman by name, who was +supposed by Baker to be too intimate with his wife, and who was +consequently desired to discontinue his visits. Hoffman remonstrated in +his reply, assuring the husband that his suspicions were groundless. A +short time after he received a letter from Mrs. Baker, requesting him to +call upon her: he obeyed the summons, and was shown into her bedroom at +the hotel. The moment he got there, Mrs. Baker pulled two pistols from +under the pillow, and discharged both at his head. Hoffman rushed out of +the house; scarce was he in the street, when Mr. Baker and three other +ruffians pounced upon him, dragged him back to the hotel, and placed +guards at the door to prevent any further ingress from the street. They +then stripped him perfectly naked, lashed him with cow-hides till there +was scarce a sound piece of flesh in his body, dashing cold water over +him at intervals, and then recommencing their barbarities. When tired of +this brutality, they emasculated their wretched victim with a common +table-knife. And who were these ruffians? Were they uneducated villains, +whom poverty and distress had hardened into crime? Far from it. Mr. +Baker was the owner of a grocery store; of the others, one was the +proprietor of the St. Charles hotel, New Bremen; the second was a young +lawyer, the third was a clerk in the "Planter's House." Can the sinks of +ignorance and vice in any community present a more bloody scene of +brutality than was here deliberately enacted, by educated people in +respectable positions, in the middle of the day? What can be thought of +the value of human life, when I add that all these miscreants were +bailed? + +These are merely the accounts which have met my eye in the natural +course of reading the newspaper, for I can most truthfully declare I +have not taken the slightest trouble to hunt them up. The following, +which bears upon the same point, was related to me in the course of +conversation at dinner, and it occurred in New Orleans. Mr. A. treads on +Mr. B.'s too several times; Mr. B. kicks Mr. A. down stairs, and this at +a respectable evening party. Now what does Mr. A. do? He goes outside +and borrows a bowie-knife from a hack-cabman, then returns to the party, +watches and follows Mr. B. to the room where the hats and cloaks were +placed, seizes a favourable moment, and rips Mr. B.'s bowels open. He is +tried for murder, with evidence sufficient to hang a dozen men; and, to +the astonishment of even the Westerns themselves, he is acquitted. These +facts occurred not many years since, and they were narrated to me by a +gentleman who was at the party. + +When two members of the Legislature disgraced the halls at Washington, +by descending into the political arena with pistols and bowie-knives, +and there entering into deadly conflict, were they not two Western +members? Now, what do these occurrences prove? Certainly not that all +Westerns are bloodthirsty, for many of them are the most kind, quiet, +and amiable men I have ever met; but, when taken in connexion with the +free use of the bowie-knife, they afford strong evidence that there is a +general and extraordinary recklessness of human life; and surely, common +sense and experience would both endorse the assertion, that habituating +men to bloody disputes or fatal accidents has a tendency to harden both +actors and spectators into utter indifference. And what is the whole of +the Western river navigation but one daily--I might almost say, +continual--scene of accidents and loss of life, tending to nourish those +very feelings which it is the duty of every government to use all +possible means to allay and humanize? + +The heartless apathy with which all classes of society, with scarce +individual exceptions, speak of these events is quite revolting to a +stranger, and a manifest proof of the injurious moral effect of +familiarizing people with such horrors. The bowie-knife, the revolver, +and the river accidents, mutually act and react upon each other, and no +moral improvement can reasonably be expected until some great change be +effected. Government can interfere with the accidents;--deadly weapons +are, to a certain extent, still necessary for self-protection. Let us +hope, then, that something will ore long be done to prevent disasters +pregnant with so many evils to the community, and reflecting so strongly +on the United States as a nation.[S] Having gone off at a tangent, like +a boomerang, I had better, like the same weapon, return whence I +started--in military language, "as you was." + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote P: On the Mississippi a cord contains one definite quantity, +being a pile 1 feet high, 4 feet broad, and 8 feet long, and does not +vary in size in the same absurd manner as it does in various parts of +England: the price paid is from eight to thirteen shillings, increasing +as you descend the river.] + +[Footnote Q: A committee of the United States calculated that, in 1846, +the losses on the Mississippi amounted to 500,000l.; and as commerce has +increased enormously, while precautions have remained all but stagnant, +I think it may be fairly estimated, that the annual losses at the +present day amount to at least 750,000l.] + +[Footnote R: _Vide_ chapter on "Watery Highways."] + +[Footnote S: Since writing the above, some more stringent regulations as +to inspection have appeared, similar to those advocated in the text; but +they contain nothing respecting loading, steering, &c. In fact, they are +general laws, having 110 especial bearing on Western waters.] + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +_New Orleans_. + + +New Orleans is a surprising evidence of what men will endure, when +cheered by the hopes of an ever-flowing tide of all-mighty dollars and +cents. It is situated on a marsh, and bounded by the river on one side, +and on the other by a continuation of the marsh on which it is built, +beyond which extends a forest swamp. All sewerage and drainage is +superficial--more generally covered in, but in very many places dragging +its sluggish stream, under the broad light of day, along the edges of +the footway. The chief business is, of course, in those streets skirting +the river; and at this season--December--when the cotton and sugar mania +is at its height, the bustle and activity is marvellous. Streets are +piled in every direction with mounds of cotton, which rise as high as +the roofs; storehouses are bursting with bales; steam and hydraulic +presses hiss in your ear at every tenth step, and beneath their power +the downy fibre is compressed into a substance as hard as Aberdeen +granite, which semi-nude negroes bind, roll, and wheel in all +directions, the exertion keeping them in perpetual self-supplying animal +steam-baths. Gigantic mules arrive incessantly, dragging fresh freight +for pressure; while others as incessantly depart, bearing freight for +embarkation to Europe. If a pair of cotton socks could be made vocal, +what a tale of sorrow and labour their history would reveal, from the +nigger who picked with a sigh to the maiden who donned with a smile. + +Some idea may be formed of the extent of this branch of trade, from the +statistical fact that last year the export amounted to 1,435,815 +bales[T]--or, in round numbers, one and a half millions--which was an +increase of half a million upon the exports of the preceding twelve +months. Tobacco is also an article of great export, and amounted last +year to 94,000 hogsheads, being an increase of two-thirds upon the +previous twelve months. The great staple produce of the neighbourhood is +sugar and molasses. In good years, fifty gallons of molasses go to a +thousand pounds of sugar; but, when the maturity of the cane is impeded +by late rains, as was the case last year, seventy gallons go to the +thousand pounds of sugar. Thus, in 1853, 10,500,000 gallons of molasses +were produced, representing 210,000,000 pounds of sugar; while, in 1854, +18,300,000 gallons of molasses were produced, being nearly double the +produce of the preceding year, but representing only 261,500,000 pounds +of sugar,--owing, as before explained, to the wet weather. Some general +idea of the commercial activity of New Orleans may be formed from the +following statistics for 1853:--2266 vessels, representing 911,000 tons, +entered New Orleans; and 2202 vessels, representing 930,000 tons, +cleared. + +Now, of course, the greater portion--or I might almost say the whole--of +the goods exported reach New Orleans by the Mississippi, and therefore +justify the assertion that the safe navigation of that river is, in the +fullest sense of the term, a national and not a local interest, bearing +as it does on its bosom an essential portion of the industrial produce +of eleven different States of the Union. + +It is quite astounding to see the legions of steamers from the upper +country which are congregated here; for miles and miles the levee forms +one unbroken line of them, all lying with their noses on shore--no room +for broadsides. On arriving, piled up with goods mountain high, scarce +does a bow touch the levee, when swarms of Irish and niggers rush down, +and the mountainous pile is landed, and then dragged off by sturdy mules +to its destination. Scarce is she cleared, when the same hardy sons of +toil build another mountainous pile on board; the bell rings, passengers +run, and she is facing the current and the dangers of the snaggy +Mississippi. The labour of loading and unloading steamers is, as you may +suppose, very severe, and is done for the most part by niggers and +Irishmen. The average wages are from 7l. to 8l. per month; but, in +times of great pressure from sudden demand, &c., they rise as high as +from. 12l. to 14l. per month, which was the case just before my +arrival. The same wages are paid to those who embark in the steamers to +load and unload at the different stations on the river. Every day is +a working day; and as, by the law, the slave has his Sunday to himself +to earn what he can, the master who hires him out on the river is +supposed to give him one-seventh of the wages earned; but I believe they +only receive one-seventh of the ordinary wages--i.e., 1l. per month. + +[Illustration: THE NEW ST. CHARLES HOTEL, NEW ORLEANS.] + +Let us now turn from the shipping to the town. In the old, or French +part, the streets are generally very narrow; but in the American, or the +La Fayette quarter, they are very broad, and, whether from indolence or +some other reason, badly paved and worse cleansed; nevertheless, if the +streets are dirty and muddy, the houses have the advantage of being +airy. There are no buildings of any importance except the new +Custom-house, and, of course, the hotels. The St. Louis is at present +the largest; but the St. Charles, which is being rebuilt, was, and will +again be, the hotel pride of New Orleans.[U] They are both enormous +establishments, well arranged, and, with the locomotive propensities of +the people, sure to be well filled during the winter months, at which +period only they are open. When I arrived at the St. Louis, it was so +full that the only room I could get was like a large Newfoundland dog's +kennel, with but little light and less air. The hotel was originally +built for an Exchange, and the rotundo in the centre is one of the +finest pieces of architecture in the States. It is a lofty, vaulted +hall, eighty feet in diameter, with an aisle running all round, +supported by a row of fine pillars fifty feet in height; the dome rises +nearly as many-feet more, and has a large skylight in the centre; the +sides thereof are ornamented by well-executed works in _chiaroscuro_, +representing various successful actions gained during the struggle for +independence, and several of the leading men who figured during that +eventful period. A great portion of the aisle is occupied by the +all-important bar, where drinks flow as freely as the river outside; but +there is another feature in the aisles which contrasts strangely with +the pictorial ornaments round the dome above--a succession of platforms +are to be seen, on which human flesh and blood is exposed to public +auction, and the champions of the equal rights of man are thus made to +endorse, as it were, the sale of their fellow-creatures. + +I had only been in the hotel one day when a gentleman to whom I had a +letter kindly offered me a room in his house. The offer was too +tempting, so I left my kennel without delay, and in my new quarters +found every comfort and a hearty welcome, rendered more acceptable from +the agreeable society which it included, and the tender nursing I +received at the hands of one of the young ladies during the week I was +confined to the house by illness. Among all the kind and hospitable +friends I met with in my travels, none have a stronger claim on my +grateful recollection than Mr. Egerton and his family. When able to get +out, I took a drive with mine host: as you may easily imagine, there is +not much scenery to be found in a marsh bounded by a forest swamp, but +the effect is very curious; all the trees are covered with Spanish moss, +a long, dark, fibrous substance which hangs gracefully down from every +bough and twig; it is often used for stuffing beds, pillows, &e. This +most solemn drapery gave the forest the appearance of a legion of mute +mourners attending the funeral of some beloved patriarch, and one felt +disposed to admire the patience with which they stood, with their feet +in the wet, their heads nodding to and fro as if distracted with grief, +and their fibrous weeds quivering, as though convulsed with the +intensity of agony. The open space around is a kind of convalescent +marsh; that is, canals and deep ditch drains have been opened all +through it, and into these the waters of the marsh flow, as a token of +gratitude for the delicate little attention; at the same time, the +adjacent soil, freed from its liquid encumbrance, courts the attractive +charms of the sun, and has already risen from two and a half to three +and a half feet above its marshy level. + +The extremity of this open space furthest from the town has been +appropriately fixed upon as the site of various cemeteries. The +lugubrious forest is enough to give a man the blue devils, and the +ditches and drains into which the sewers, &c., of the town are pumped, +dragging their sluggish and all but stagnant course under a broiling +summer gun, are sufficient to prepare most mortals for the calm repose +towards which the cypress and the cenotaph beckon them with greedy +welcome. The open space I have been describing is the "Hyde Park" and +"Rotten Row" of New Orleans, and the drive round it is one of the best +roads I ever travelled; it is called the "Shell Road," from the +top-dressing thereof being entirely composed of small shells, which soon +bind together and make it as smooth as a bowling-green. The Two-forty +trotters--when there are any--come out here in the afternoon, and show +off their paces, and if you fail in finding any of that first flight, at +all events you are pretty sure to see some good teams, that can hug the +three minutes very closely. Custom is second nature, and necessity is +the autocrat of autocrats, which even the free and enlightened must +obey; the consequence is, that the inhabitants of New Orleans look +forward to the Shell-road ride, or drive, with as much interest and +satisfaction as our metropolitan swells do to the Serpentine or the Row. + +Having had our drive, let us now say a few words about the society. In +the first place, you will not see such grand houses as in New York; but +at the same time it is to be observed, that the tenants here occupy and +enjoy all their houses, while in New York, as I have before observed, +the owners of many of the finest residences live almost exclusively in +the basements thereof. This more social system at New Orleans, I am +inclined to attribute essentially to the French--or Creole--habits with +which society is leavened, and into which, it appears to me, the +Americans naturally and fortunately drop. On the other hand, the rivalry +which too often taints a money-making community has found its way here. +If A. gives a party which costs 200l., B. will try and get up one at +300l., and so on. This false pride--foolish enough anywhere--is more +striking in New Orleans, from the fact that the houses are not +calculated for such displays, and when they are attempted, it involves +unfurnishing bed-rooms and upsetting the whole establishment. I should +add they are comparatively rare, perhaps as rare as those parties which +are sometimes given in London at the expense of six weeks' fasting, in +order that the donor's name and the swells who attended the festive +scene may go forth to the world in the fashionable column of the +_Morning Post_. Whenever they do occur, they are invariably attended +with some such observations as the following:-- + +"What did Mrs. B.'s party cost last night?" + +"Not less than 300l." + +"Well, I'm sure they have not the means to afford such extravagant +expense; and I suppose the bed-rooms upstairs were all cleared out?" + +"Oh, yes! three of them." + +"Well I know that house, and, fix it how you will, if they cleared out +three bed-rooms, I'm sure they must have slept on the sofas or the +tables. I declare it's worse than foolish--it's wicked to have so much +pride," &c. + +If those who thus indulged their vanity, only heard one-half of the +observations made by those who accent their hospitalities, or who strive +to get invitations and cannot, they would speedily give up their folly; +but money is the great Juggernaut, at the feet of which all the nations +of the earth fall down and worship; whether it be the coronets that +bowed themselves down in the temple of the Railway King in Hyde Park, +who could afford the expense; or the free and enlightened who do homage +in Mrs. ----'s temple at New Orleans, though perhaps she could not +afford the expense; one thing is clear--where the money is spent, there +will the masses be gathered together. General society is, however, more +sober and sociable, many families opening their houses one day in the +week to all their friends. The difference of caste is going out fast: +the Creoles found that their intermarriages were gradually introducing a +race as effete as the Bourbons appear to be in France; they are now +therefore very sensibly seeking alliances with the go-ahead blood of the +Anglo-Saxon, which will gradually absorb them entirely, and I expect +that but little Trench will be spoken in New Orleans by the year 1900. +Another advantage of the Creole element, is the taste it appears to have +given for French wines. As far as I am capable of judging, the claret, +champagne, and sauterne which I tasted here were superior in quality and +more generally in use than I ever found them in any other city. The +hours of dinner vary from half-past three to half-past five, and an +unostentatious hospitality usually prevails. + +Servants here are expensive articles. In the hotels you find Irishmen +almost exclusively, and their wages vary from 2l. 8s. to 10l. per +month. In private houses, women's wages range from 2l. 8s. to 4l. +and men's from 6l. to 8l. the month. The residents who find it +inconvenient to go to the north during the summer, cross the lake to +their country villas at Passe Christianne, a pretty enough little place, +far cooler and more shady than the town, and where they get bathing, &c. +A small steamer carries you across in a few hours; but competition is +much wanted, for their charges are treble those of the boats in the +north, and the accommodation poor in comparison. + +When crossing over in the steamer, I overheard a conversation which +showed how early in life savage ideas are imbibed here. Two lads, the +eldest about fifteen, had gone over from New Orleans to shoot ducks. +They were both very gentlemanly-looking boys, and evidently attending +some school. Their conversation of course turned upon fighting--when did +schoolboys meet that it was not so? At last, the younger lad said-- + +"Well, what do you think of Mike Maloney?", "Oh! Mike is very good with +his fists; but I can whip him right off at rough-and-tumble." + +Now, what is "rough-and-tumble?" It consists of clawing, scratching, +kicking, hair-pulling, and every other atrocity, for which, I am happy +to think, a boy at an English school would be well flogged by the +master, and sent to Coventry by his companions. Yet, here was as nice a +looking lad as one could wish to see, evidently the son of well-to-do +parents, glorying in this savage, and, as we should call it, cowardly +accomplishment. I merely mention this to show how early the mind is +tutored to feelings which doubtless help to pave the way for the +bowie-knife in more mature years. + +The theatres at New Orleans are neat and airy. Lola Montez succeeded in +creating a great _furore_, at last. I say "at last," because, as there +really is nothing in her acting above mediocrity, she received no +especial encouragement at first, although she had chosen her own career +in Bavaria as the subject in which to make her _débût._ She waited with +considerable tact till she was approaching those scenes in which the mob +triumph over order; and then, pretending to discover a cabal in the +meagre applause she was receiving, she stopped in the middle of her +acting, and, her eyes flashing fire, her face beaming brass, and her +voice wild with well-assumed indignation, she cried--"I'm anxious to do +my best to please the company; but if this cabal continues, I must +retire!" The effect was electric. Thunders of applause followed, and +"Bravo, Lolly!" resounded through the theatre, from the nigger-girl in +the upper gallery to the octogenarian in the pit. When the clamour had +subsided, some spicy attacks on kingcraft and the nobles followed most +opportunely; the shouts were redoubled; her victory was complete. When +the piece was over, she came forward to assure the company that the +scenes she had been enacting were all facts in which she had, in +reality, played the same part she had been representing that evening. +Thunders of "Go it, Lolly! you're a game 'un, and nurthin' else!" rang +all through the house as she retired, bowing. She did not appear in the +character of "bowie-knifing a policeman at Berlin;" and of course she +omitted some scenes said to have taken place during interviews with the +king, and in which her conduct might not have been considered, strictly +speaking, quite correct. She obtained further notoriety after my +departure, by kicking and cuffing a prompter, and calling the proprietor +a d--d scoundrel, a d--d liar, and a d--d thief, for which she was +committed for trial. I may as well mention here, that the theatre was +well attended by ladies. This fact must satisfy every unprejudiced mind +how utterly devoid of foundation is the rumour of the ladies of America +putting the legs of their pianofortes in petticoats, that their +sensitive delicacy may not receive too rude a shock. Besides the +theatres here, there is also an opera, the music of which, vocal and +instrumental, is very second-rate. Nevertheless, I think it is highly to +the credit of New Orleans that they support one at all, and sincerely do +I wish them better success. + +The town is liberally supplied with churches of all denominations. I +went one Sunday to a Presbyterian church, and was much struck on my +entry at seeing all the congregation reading newspapers. Seating myself +in my pew, I found a paper lying alongside of me, and, taking it up, I +discovered it was a religious paper, full of anecdotes and experiences, +&c., and was supplied _gratis_ to the congregation. There were much +shorter prayers than in Scotland, more reading of the Bible, the same +amount of singing, but performed by a choir accompanied by an organ, the +congregation joining but little. The sermon was about the usual length +of one in Scotland, lasting about an hour, and extemporized from notes. +The preacher was eloquent, and possessed of a strong voice, which he +gave the reins to in a manner which would have captivated the wildest +Highlander. The discourse delivered was in aid of foreign missions, and +the method he adopted in dealing with it was--first, powerfully to +attack monarchical forms of government and priestly influence, by which +soft solder he seemed to win his way to their republican hearts; and +from this position, he secondly set to work and fed their vanity freely, +by glowing encomiums on their national deeds and greatness, and the +superior perfections of their glorious constitution; whence he deduced, +thirdly, that the Almighty had more especially committed to them the +great work of evangelizing mankind. This discourse sounded like the +political essay of an able enthusiast, and fell strangely on my ears +from the lips of a Christian minister, whose province, I had always been +taught to consider, was rather to foster humility than to inflame +vanity. It is to be presumed he knew his congregation well, and felt +that he was treading the surest road to their dollars and cents. + +Among other curiosities in this town is a human one, known as the Golden +Man, from the quantity of that metal with which he bedizens waistcoat, +fingers, &c. During my stay at New Orleans, he appeared decked with such +an astounding gem, that it called forth the following notice from the +press:-- + + ANOTHER RING.--The "gold" individual who exhibits himself and any + quantity of golden ornaments, of Sunday mornings, in the vicinity of + the Verandah and City Hotels, will shortly appear with a new wonder + wherewith to astonish the natives. One would think that he had already + ornaments enough to satisfy any mortal; but he, it appears, is not of + the stuff every-day people are made of, and he could not rest + satisfied until his fingers boasted another ring. The new prodigy is, + like its predecessors, of pure solid gold. It is worth 500 dollars, + and weighs nearly, if not quite, a pound. This small treasure is + intended for the owner's "little" finger. It is the work of Mr. Melon, + jeweller and goldsmith, on Camp-street, and is adorned with small + carved figures, standing out in bold relief, and of very diminutive + size, yet distinct and expressive. The right outer surface represents + the flight of Joseph, the Virgin, and the infant Jesus into Egypt. + Joseph, bearing a palm-branch, leads the way, the Virgin follows, + seated on a donkey, and holding the Saviour in her lap. On the left + outer edge of the ring is seen the prophet Daniel, standing between + two lions. The prophet has not got a blue umbrella under his arm to + distinguish him from the lions. The face of the ring exhibits an + excellent design of the crucifixion, with the three crosses and the + Saviour and the two thieves suspended thereto. This ring is certainly + a curiosity. + +There is a strong body of police here, and some of their powers are +autocratically autocratic: thus, a person once committed as a vagrant is +liable to be re-imprisoned by them if met in the street unemployed. Now, +as it is impossible to expect that people in business will take the +trouble to hunt up vagrants, what can be conceived more cruelly +arbitrary than preventing them from hunting up places for themselves? +Yet such is the law in this democratic city.[V] A gentleman told me of a +vagrant once coming to him and asking for employment, and, on his +declining to employ him, begging to be allowed to lie concealed in his +store during the day, lest the police should re-imprison him before he +could get on board one of the steamers to take him up the river to try +his fortunes elsewhere. At the same time, a person in good circumstances +getting into difficulties can generally manage to buy his way out. + +The authorities, on the return of Christmas, having come to the +conclusion that the letting off of magazines of crackers in the streets +by the juvenile population was a practice attended with much +inconvenience and danger to those who were riding and driving, gave +orders that it should be discontinued. The order was complied with in +some places, but in others the youngsters set it at defiance. It will +hardly be credited that, in a nation boasting of its intelligence and +proud of its education, the press should take part with the youngsters, +and censure the magistrates for their sensible orders. Yet such was the +case at New Orleans. The press abused the authorities for interfering +with the innocent amusements of the children, and expressed their +satisfaction at the latter having asserted their independence and +successfully defied the law. The same want of intelligence was exhibited +by the press in censuring the authorities for discontinuing the +processions on the anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans--"a ceremony +calculated to excite the courage and patriotism of the people." They +seem to lose sight of the fact, that it is a reflection on the courage +of their countrymen to suppose that they require such processions to +animate their patriotism, and that the continuance of such public +demonstrations parading the streets betokens rather pride of past deeds +than confidence in their power to re-enact them. Although such +demonstrations may be readily excused, or even reasonably encouraged, in +an infant community struggling for liberty, they are childish and +undignified in a powerful nation. What would be more ridiculous than +Scotland having grand processions on the anniversary of Bannockburn, or +England on that of Waterloo? Moreover, in a political point of view, it +should not be lost sight of, that if such demonstrations have any effect +at all on the community, it must be that of reviving hostile feelings +towards those to whom they are united most closely by the ties of blood, +sense, and--though last, not least--cents. I merely mention these +trivial things to show the punyizing effects which the democratic +element has on the press. + +Formerly, duels were as innumerable here as bales of cotton; they have +considerably decreased latterly, one cause of which has been, the State +of Louisiana passing a law by which any person engaging in a duel is at +once deprived of his vote, and disabled from holding any state +employment. John Bull may profit by this hint. + +I was much amused, during my stay at New Orleans, by hearing the remarks +of the natives upon the anti-slavery meeting at Stafford House, of which +the papers were then full. If the poor duchess and her lady allies had +been fiends, there could scarcely have been more indignation at her +"presumptuous interference" and "mock humility." Her "sisters, indeed! +as if she would not be too proud to stretch out her hand to any one of +them," &c. Then another would break out with, "I should like to know by +what right she presumes to interfere with us and offer advice? If she +wants to do good, she has opportunities enough of exercising her charity +in London. Let any one read _The Times_, and then visit a plantation +here, and say whether the negroes are not happier and better off than +one-half of the lower classes in England," &c. If every animadversion +which the duchess and her colleagues' kind intentions and inoffensive +wording of them called forth in America had been a pebble, and if they +had all been gathered together, the monument of old Cheops at Ghizeh +would have sunk into insignificance when contrasted with the gigantic +mass; in short, no one unacquainted with the sensitiveness of the +American character can form a conception of the violent state of +indignation which followed the perusal of the proceedings of that small +conclave of English lady philanthropists. Mrs. Jones, Smith, Adams, and +Brown might have had their meeting on the same subject without producing +much excitement; but when the aristocratic element was introduced, it +acted as a spark in a barrel of gunpowder. As an illustration of the +excitement produced, I subjoin an extract from one of their daily +papers, under the heading of "Mrs. Stowe in Great Britain:"-- + + "The principles of free government developed here, and urging our + people on with unexampled rapidity in the career of wealth and + greatness, have always been subjects of alarm to monarchs and + aristocracies--of pleasure and hope to the people. It has, of course, + been the object of the former to blacken us in every conceivable way, + and to make us detestable in the eyes of the world. There has been + nothing since the revolution so well calculated to advance this end, + as the exhibition which Mrs. Stowe is making in England. + + "It is because they have a deep and abiding hostility to this country, + and to republicanism in general, that the aristocracy, not only of + England, but of all Europe, have seized with so much avidity upon + _Uncle Tom_, and have been at so much pains to procure a triumphal + march for its author through all the regions she may choose to visit. + They are delighted to see a native of the United States--of that + republic which has taught that a people can flourish without an + aristocracy or a monarch--of that republic, the example of whose + prosperity was gradually undermining thrones and digging a pit for + privileged classes--describing her country as the worst, the most + abandoned, the most detestable that ever existed. Royalty draws a long + breath, and privilege recovers from its fears. Among the people of the + continent, especially among the Germans, Italians, and Russians, there + are thousands who believe that murder is but a pastime here--that the + bowie-knife and pistol are used upon any provocation--that, in fact, + we are a nation of assassins, without law, without morality, and + without religion. They are taught to believe these things by their + newspapers, which, published under the eye of Government, allow no + intelligence but of murders, bowie-knife fights, &c., coming from + America, to appear in their columns. By these, therefore, only is + America known to their readers; and they are very careful to instil + the belief, that if America is a land of murderers, it is so because + it has had the folly to establish a republican form of government. + + "These ideas are very general in England, even where the hostility is + greater than it is on the Continent. To British avarice we owe slavery + in this country. To British hatred we owe the encouragement of + anti-slavery agitation now. The vile hypocrisy which has + characterised the whole proceeding is not the least objectionable part + of it. The English care not one farthing about slavery. If they did, + why do they keep it up in such a terrific form in their own country? + Where was there ever true charity that did not begin at home? It is + because there is a deep-rooted hostility to this country pervading the + whole British mind, that these things have taken place." + +The wounded sensitiveness, however, which the foregoing paragraph +exhibits, found some consolation from an article which appeared in _The +Times_. They poured over its lines with intense delight, soothing +themselves with each animadversion it made upon the meeting, and +deducing from the whole--though how, I could never understand--that they +had found in the columns of that journal a powerful advocate for +slavery. Thus was peace restored within their indignant breasts, and +perhaps a war with the ladies of the British aristocracy averted. Of two +facts, however, I feel perfectly certain; one is, that the +animadversions made in America will not in the least degree impair her +Grace's healthy condition; and the other is, that the meeting held at +Stafford House will in no way improve the condition of the negro. + +There are two or three clubs established here, into one of which +strangers are admitted as visitors, but the one which is considered the +"first chop" does not admit strangers, except by regular ballot; one +reason, I believe, for their objecting to strangers, is the immense +number of them, and the quality of the article. Their ideas of an +English gentleman, if formed from the mass of English they see in this +city, must be sufficiently small: there is a preponderating portion of +the "cotton bagman," many of whom seek to make themselves important by +talking large. Although probably more than nine out of ten never have +"thrown their leg" over anything except a bale of cotton, since the +innocent days of the rocking-horse, they try to impress Jonathan by +pulling up their shirt-collar consequentially, and informing him,--"When +I was in England, I was used to 'unt with the Dook's 'ounds; first-rate, +sir, first-rate style--no 'ats, all 'unting-caps." Then, passing his +left thumb down one side of his cheek, his fingers making a parallel +course down the opposite cheek, with an important air and an expression +indicative of great intimacy, he would condescendingly add,--"The Dook +wasn't a bad chap, after all: he used to give me a capital weed now and +then." With this style of John Bull in numerical ascendency, you cannot +wonder at the club-doors not being freely opened to "the Dook's +friends," or at the character of an English gentleman being imperfectly +understood. + +Time hurries on, a passport must be obtained, and that done, it must be +_viséd_ before the Spanish consul, as Cuba is my destination. The +Filibusteros seem to have frightened this functionary out of his +proprieties. A Spaniard is proverbially proud and courteous--the present +specimen was neither; perhaps the reason may have been that I was an +Englishman, and that the English consul had done all his work for him +_gratis_ when the Filibustero rows obliged him to fly. Kindness is a +thing which the Spaniards as a nation find it very difficult to forgive. +However, I got his signature, which was far more valuable than his +courtesy; most of his countrymen would have given me both, but the one +sufficed on the present occasion. Portmanteaus are packed--my time is +come. + +Adieu, New Orleans!--adieu, kind host and amiable family, and a thousand +thanks for the happy days I spent under your roof. Adieu, all ye +hospitable friends, not forgetting my worthy countryman the British +consul. The ocean teapot is hissing, the bell rings, friends cry, kiss, +and smoke--handkerchiefs flutter in the breeze, a few parting gifts are +thrown on board by friends who arrive just too late; one big-whiskered +fellow with bushy moustache picks up the parting _cadeau_--gracious me! +he opens it, and discloses a paper bag of lollipops; another unfolds a +precious roll of chewing tobacco. Verily, extremes do meet. The +"Cherokee" is off, and I'm aboard. Down we go, sugar plantations +studding either shore; those past, flat dreary banks succeed; ships of +all nations are coming up and going down by the aid of tugboats; two +large vessels look unpleasantly "fixed"--they are John Bull and +Jonathan, brothers in misfortune and both on a bank. + +"I guess the pilots will make a good thing out of that job!" says my +neighbour.-- + +"Pilots!" I exclaimed, "how can that be? I should think they stood a +fair chance of losing their licence." + +"Ah! sir, we don't fix things that way here; the pilots are too 'cute, +sir." Upon inquiry, I found that, as the banks were continually +shifting, it was, as my friend said, very difficult "to fix the +pilots,"--a fact which these worthies take every advantage of, for the +purpose of driving a most profitable trade in the following manner. +Pilot goes to tug and says, "What do you charge for getting a ship off?" +The price understood, a division of the spoil is easily agreed upon. +Away goes the pilot, runs the ship on shore on the freshest sandbank, +curses the Mississippi and everything else in creation; a tug comes up +very opportunely, a tidy bargain is concluded; the unfortunate pilot +forfeits 100l., his pilotage from the ship, and consoles himself the +following evening by pocketing 500l. from the tugman as his share of the +spoil, and then starts off again in search of another victim. Such, I +was informed by practical people, is a common feature in the pilotage of +these waters, and such it appears likely to continue. + +The "Cherokee" is one of those vessels which belong to Mr. Law, of whom +I could get no information, expect that he had sprung up like a mushroom +to wealth and Filibustero notoriety. He is also the custodian, I +believe, of the three hundred thousand stand of arms ordered by Kossuth +for the purpose of "whipping" Russia and Austria, and establishing the +Republic of Hungary, unless by accident he found brains enough to become +a Hungarian Louis Napoleon; but Mr. Law's other vessel, called the +"Crescent City," and the Cuban Black Douglas, yclept "Purser Smith," are +perhaps better known. Peradventure, you imagine this latter to be a wild +hyena-looking man, with radiant red hair, fiery ferret eyes, and his +pockets swelled out with revolutionary documents for the benefit of the +discontented Cubans; but I can inform you, on the best authority, such +is not the case, for he was purser of the "Cherokee" this voyage. He +looks neither wild nor rabid, and is a grey-headed man, about fifty +years of age, with a dash of the Israelite in his appearance: he may or +he may not have Filibustero predilections--I did not presume to make +inquiry on the subject. And here I cannot but remark upon the childish +conduct of the parties concerned in the ridiculous "Crescent City and +Cuba question," although, having taken the view they did, the Spaniards +were of course perfectly right in maintaining it. It was unworthy of +the Spanish nation to take notice of the arrival of so uninfluential a +person as Purser Smith; and it was imprudent, inasmuch as it made him a +person of importance, and gave the party with whom he was supposed to be +connected a peg to hang grievances upon, and thus added to their +strength. It was equally unworthy of Mr. Law, when objection was made, +and a notification sent that Mr. Smith would not be admitted nor the +vessel that carried him, to persist in a course of conduct obnoxious to +a friendly power; and it was imprudent, when it must have been obvious +that he could not carry his point; thereby eventually adding strength to +the Spanish authority. When, all the fuss and vapour was made by Mr. Law +and his friends, they seemed to have forgotten the old adage, "People +who live in glass houses should not throw stones." President Filmore, in +his statesmanlike observations, when the subject was brought before him, +could not help delicately alluding to Charleston, a city of America. +Americans at Charleston claim to exercise the right--what a prostitution +of the term right!--of imprisoning any of the free subjects of another +nation who may enter their ports, if they are men of colour. Thus, if a +captain arrives in a ship with twenty men, of whom ten are black, he is +instantly robbed of half his crew during his whole stay in the harbour; +and on what plea is this done? Is any previous offence charged against +them? None whatever. The only plea is that it is a municipal regulation +which their slave population renders indispensable. In other words, it +is done lest the sacred truth should spread, that man has no right to +bind his fellow-man in the fetters of slavery.[W] + +Was there ever such a farce as for a nation that tolerates such a +municipal regulation as this to take umbrage at any of their citizens +being, on strong suspicions of unfriendly feeling, denied entry into any +port? Why, if there was a Chartist riot in monarchical England, and the +ports thereof were closed against the sailors of republican America, +they could have no just cause of offence, so long as the present +municipal law of Charleston exists. What lawful boast of freedom can +there ever be, where contact with freemen is dreaded, be their skins +black or any colour of the rainbow? Why can England offer an asylum to +the turbulent and unfortunate of all countries and climes?--Because she +is perfectly free! Don't be angry, my dear Anglo-Saxon brother; you +know, "if what I say bayn't true, there's no snakes in Warginny." I feel +sure you regret it; but then why call forth the observations, by +supporting the childish obstinacy in the "Crescent City" affair. +However, as the housemaids say, in making up quarrels, "Let bygones be +bygones." Spain has maintained her rights; you have satisfied her, and +quiet Mr. Smith enters the Havana periodically, without disturbing the +Governor's sleep or exciting the hopes of the malcontents. May we never +see the Great Empire States in such an undignified position again! + +Here we are still in the "Cherokee;" she is calculated to hold some +hundreds of passengers. Thank God! there are only some sixty on board; +but I do not feel equally grateful for their allowing me to pay double +price for a cabin to myself when two-thirds of them are empty, not to +mention that the single fare is eight guineas. She is a regular old tub +of a boat; the cabins are profitably fitted with three beds in each, one +above the other; the consequence is, that if you wish to sneeze at +night, you must turn on your side, or you'll break your nose against the +bed above you in the little jerk that usually accompanies the +sternutatory process. The feeding on board is the worst I ever +saw--tough, cold, and greasy, the whole unpleasantly accompanied with +dirt. + +Having parted from my travelling companion at New Orleans, one of my +first endeavours was, by the aid of physiognomy, to discover some +passenger on whom it might suit me to inflict my society. Casting my +eyes around, they soon lit upon a fair-haired youth with a countenance +to match, the expression thereof bespeaking kindness and intelligence; +and when, upon further examination, I saw the most indubitable and +agreeable evidence that his person and apparel were on the most +successful and intimate terms with soap and water, I pounced upon him +without delay, and soon found that he was a German gentleman travelling +with his brother-in-law, and they both had assumed an _incognito_, being +desirous of avoiding that curious observation which, had their real +position in life been known, they would most inevitably have been +subject to. Reader, be not you too curious, for I cannot withdraw the +veil they chose to travel under; suffice it to know, their society added +much to my enjoyment, both on the passage and at the Havana. The sailing +of the vessel is so ingeniously managed, that you arrive at the +harbour's mouth just after sunset, and are consequently allowed the +privilege of waiting outside all night, no vessels except men-of-war +being allowed to enter between sunset and daybreak. The hopes of the +morrow were our only consolation, until at early dawn we ran through the +narrow battery-girt entrance, and dropped anchor in the land-locked +harbour of Havana. + +[Illustration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote T: This was written in January, 1853.--The bale may be roughly +estimated at 450 lbs.] + +[Footnote U: This hotel has long since been re-opened.] + +[Footnote V: All large cities in America must of necessity be +democratic.] + +[Footnote W: I have since heard that the Charleston authorities allow +the captains of vessels to keep their coloured crew on board, under +penalty of a heavy fine in case they land.] + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +_The Queen of the Antilles_. + + +It was a lovely morning, not a cloud in the sky; the harbour was as +smooth as a mirror, and bright with the rays of a sun which had reached +that height at which--in tropical climates--it gilds and gladdens the +scene without scorching the spectator; the quay was lined with ships +loading and unloading; small boats were flying about in every direction; +all around was gay and fresh, but the filthy steamer was still beneath +me. I lost no time in calling a skiff alongside; then, shaking the dust +from off my feet, I was soon pulling away for the shore. + +As a matter of course, the Custom-house is the landing-place, and the +great object of search seems to be for Filibustero papers, or books +which advocate that cause. Having passed this ordeal, you take your +first drive in the national vehicle of the island, which rejoices in the +appellation of a "Volante," a name given it, I suppose, in bitter +sarcasm; a "Tortugante" would have been far more appropriate, inasmuch +as the pace resembles that of a tortoise far more than that of a bird. I +may here as well describe one of the best, of which, in spite of its gay +appearance, I feel sure the bare sight would have broken the heart of +"Humanity Dick of Galway." + +From the point of the shaft to the axle of the wheel measures fifteen +feet, and as the wheel varies in diameter from six to seven feet, it of +course extends three feet beyond the axle. The body is something like a +swell private cab, the leather at the back being moveable, so as to +admit air, and a curtain is fitted in front joining the head of the cab +and the splash-board, for the sake of shade, if needed; this body is +suspended on strong leather springs, attached to the axle at one end, +and to a strengthening-piece across the shafts, seven and a half feet +distance from the axle, at the other. The point of the shaft is fitted +with rings, by which it hangs on the back-pad of the horse, whose head +necessarily extends about four feet beyond; thus you will observe, that +from the outer tire of the wheel to the horse's nose occupies at least +twenty-two feet, and that the poor little animal has the weight of the +carriage lying on him at the end of a lever fifteen feet long. Owing to +their great length, it is excessively difficult to turn them; a "Tommy +Onslow" would cut in and out with a four-in-hand fifteen miles an hour, +where the poor Volante would come to a regular fix--if the horses in +Cuba came into power, they would burn every one of them the next minute. +It must however be admitted that they are excessively easy to ride in, +and peculiarly suited to a country with bad roads, besides being the +gayest-looking vehicles imaginable; the boxes of the wheels, the ends of +the axle, the springs for the head, the bar to keep the feet off the +splash-board, the steps, the points of the fastenings of carriage and +harness are all silvered and kept bright. Nor does the use of the +precious metal stop here; the niggers who bestride the poor horses are +put into high jack-boots fitted with plated buckles and huge spurs, both +equally brilliant. These niggers have a most comical appearance; they +wear a skull-cap, or a handkerchief under a gold-banded hat; some wear a +red short-tailed jacket, the seams and the front of the collar covered +with bright yellow, on which are dispersed innumerable emblazonments of +heraldry, even to the very tails, which I should hardly have expected to +find thus gaily decorated,--it may have been from this practice we have +derived the expression of the seat of honour. The jack-boots they wear +sometimes fit very tight to the legs, in which case poor Sambo has to +roll up his pants till they assume the appearance of small bolsters tied +round the knee, presenting a most ludicrous caricature. The poor little +horses are all hog-maned, and their tails are neatly plaited down the +whole length, the point thereof being then tied up to the crupper, so +that they are as badly off as a certain class of British sheep-dog. This +is probably an ancient custom, originating from a deputation of flies +waiting upon the authorities, and binding themselves by treaty to leave +the bipeds in peace if they would allow them the unmolested torture of +the quadruped. + +If the owner wishes to "make a splash," another horse, equally silvered, +is harnessed abreast, something like the Russian Furieux; and in the +country, where the roads on the plantations are execrable, and quite +impassable for any spring carriage, a third horse is often added, the +postilion always riding the near, or left-hand horse. The body of the +carriage is comfortably cushioned, and lined with bright gay colours, +and generally has a stunning piece of carpet for a rug. Such is the +Cuban Volante, in which the Hidalgos and the Corazoncitas with glowing +lustrous eyes roll about in soft undulating motion from place to place; +and, believe me, such a Volante, tenanted by fairy forms lightly and +gaily dressed, with a pleasant smile on their lips and an encyclopedia +of language beaming from the orbs above, would arrest the attention of +the most inveterate old bachelor that ever lived; nay, it might possibly +give birth to a deep penitential sigh and a host of good and sensible +resolutions. Ordinary Volantes are the same style of thing, only not so +gay, and the usual pace is from three to five and a half miles an hour, +always allowing five minutes for turning at the corner of every street. +If you are curious to know why I am in such a hurry to describe a +Volante, as if it were the great feature of Cuba, the reason is, simply, +that my first act on landing was to get into one of the said vehicles +and drive to the hotel. + +The horses are generally very neat and compact, and about the size of a +very small English hack. For riding there are two kinds--the Spanish, +which goes at the "rack" or amble pace, and the American, which goes the +regular pace; the broad foreheads, short heads, and open nostrils show +plenty of good breeding. The charges both for horses and Volante, if you +wish to go out of the town, are, like everything else in Cuba, +ridiculously exorbitant. An American here is doing a tolerably good +business in letting horses and carriages. For a short evening drive, we +had the pleasure of paying him thirty-five shillings. He says his best +customers are a gang of healthy young priests, whom he takes out nearly +daily to a retired country village famous for the youth and beauty of +its fair sex, and who appear to be very dutiful daughters of the Church, +as they are said to appreciate and profit by the kind visits of these +excellent young men and their zealous labours of love. + +There is a very good view of the town from the top of the hotel[X]. Most +of the houses have both flat and sloping roofs, the latter covered with +concave red tiles, cemented together with white, thus giving them a +strange freckled appearance; while in many cases the dust and dew have +produced a little soil, upon which a spontaneous growth of shrubbery has +sprung up; the flat roofs have usually a collection of little urn-shaped +turrets round the battlement, between which are stretched clothes-lines. +Here the ebony daughters of Eve, with their bullet-heads and polished +faces and necks, may be seen at all hours hanging up washed clothes, +their capacious mouths ornamented with long cigars, at which they puff +away like steam-engines. + +One of the first sights I witnessed was a funeral, but not the solemn, +imposing ceremony which that word conveys to English ears. The sides of +the hearse and the upper part of the coffin were made of glass; inside +lay a little girl, six or seven years old, dressed as if going to a +wedding, and decorated with gay flowers. Volantes followed, bearing the +mourners--or the rejoicers; I know not which is the more correct term. +One or two were attired in black, but generally the colours were gay; +some were quietly smoking cigars, which it is to be hoped they did that +the ashes at the end thereof might afford them food for profitable +reflection. Custom is said to be second nature, and I suppose, +therefore, one could get habituated to this system if brought up under +it; but, seen for the first time, it is more calculated to excite +feelings of curiosity than solemnity. Doubtless, some fond parent's +heart was bleeding deeply, and tears such as a mother only can shed were +flowing freely, despite the gay bridal appearance of the whole ceremony. + +On my return to the hotel, I found the Press--if the slavish tool of a +government can justly be designated by such a term--full of remarks upon +the new British Ministry[Y], many of which were amusing enough; they +showed a certain knowledge of political parties in England, and laughed +good-humouredly at the bundling together in one faggot of such +differently-seasoned sticks. Even the name of the Secretary of the +Admiralty was honoured by them with a notice, in which they scorned to +look upon him as a wild democrat. They criticised the great Peel's tail +going over in a body to the enemy's camp and placing themselves at the +head of the troops; but what puzzled them most was, how _aquellos Grey's +tan famosos por el nepotismo_ had not formed part of the ministry. I +confess they were not more puzzled than I was to account for the +mysterious combination; the only solution whereof which presented itself +to my mind, was the supposition that power has the same influence on +public men that lollipops have on the juvenile population, and that the +one and the other are ready to sacrifice a great deal to obtain +possession of the luscious morsel. However, as we live in an age of +miracles, we may yet see even a rope of sand, mud, and steel-filings, +hold together.--Pardon this digression, and let us back to Cuba. + +The Cubans usually dine about half-past three; after dinner some go to +the _Paseo_ in their Volantes, others lounge on the quay or gather round +the military band before the Governor-General's palace. Look at that man +with swarthy countenance, dark hair, and bright eyes--he is seated on a + stone bench listening to the music; a preserved bladder full of +tobacco is open before him, a small piece of thin paper is in his hand; +quick as thought a cigarette is made, and the tobacco returned to his +pocket. Now he rises, and walks towards a gentleman who is smoking; when +close, he raises his right hand, which holds the cigarette, nearly level +with his chin, then gracefully throwing his hand forward, accompanies +the act with the simple word _Favor_; having taken his light, the same +action is repeated, followed by a courteous inclination of the head as a +faintly expressed _Gracias_ escapes his lips. In this man you have a +type of a very essential portion of the male population. Reader, it is +no use your trying to imitate him; the whole scene, is peculiar to the +Spaniard, in its every act, movement and expression. Old Hippo at the +Zoological might as well try to rival the grace of a Taglioni. + +The promenade over, many spend their evenings at billiards, dominoes, +&c., adjourning from time to time to some _café_ for the purpose of +eating ices or sucking goodies, and where any trifling conversation or +dispute is carried on with so much vivacity, both of tongue and of +fingers, that the uninitiated become alarmed with apprehensions of some +serious quarrel. Others again, who are ladies' men, or of domestic +habits, either go home or meet at some friend's house, where they all +sit in the front room on the ground-floor, with the windows wide open to +the street, from which they are separated only by a few perpendicular +iron bars. Yankee rocking-chairs and cane chairs are placed abreast of +these windows, and facing each other like lines of sentinels; there they +chat, smoke cigars, or suck their fingers, according to their sex and +fancy. Occasionally a merry laugh is heard, but I cannot say it is very +general. Sometimes they dance, which with them is a slow undulating +movement, suited to a marble floor and a thermometer at eighty degrees. +At a small village in the neighbourhood I saw a nigger hall,--the dance +was precisely the same, being a mixture of country-dance and waltz; and +I can assure you, Sambo and his ebony partner acquitted themselves +admirably: they were all well dressed, looked very jolly and +comfortable, and were by no means uproarious. + +You must not imagine, from my observations on the fair tenant of the +Volante, that this is a land of beauty--far from it: one feature of +beauty, and one only, is general--good eyes: with that exception, it +is rare; but there are some few lovely daughters of Eve that would make +the mouth of a marble statue water. Old age here is anything but +attractive, either producing a mountainous obesity, or a skeleton on +which the loose dried skin hangs in countless wrinkles. But such is +generally the case in warm climates, as far as my observation goes. Any +one wishing to verify these remarks, has only to go on the Paseo a +little before sunset upon a Sunday evening, when he will be sure to meet +nine-tenths of the population and the Volantes all in gayest attire. The +weather on my arrival was very wet, and I was therefore unable to go +into the country for some days; but having cleared up, I got my passport +and took a trip into the interior. + +[Illustration: "EL CASERO," THE PARISH HAWKER IN CUBA.] + +The railway cars are built on the American models, i.e., long cars, +capable of containing about forty or fifty people; but they have had the +good sense to establish first, second, and third-class carriages; and, +at the end of each first-class carriage, there is a partition, shutting +off eight seats, so that any party wishing to be private can easily be +so. They travel at a very fair pace, but waste much time at the +stopping-places, and whole hours at junctions. By one of these +conveyances I went to Matanzas, which is very prettily situated in a +lovely bay. There is a ridge, about three miles from the town, which is +called the Cumbre, from the summit whereof you obtain a beautiful view +of the valley of the Yumuri, so called from a river of that name, and +concerning which there is a legend that it is famous for the slaughter +of the Indians by the Spaniards; a legend which, too probably, rests on +the foundation of truth, if we are to judge by the barbarities which +dimmed the brilliancy of all their western conquests. The valley is now +fruitful in sugar-canes, and surrounded with hills and woods; and the +_coup-d'oeil,_ when seen in the quick changing lights and shadows of the +setting sun, is quite, enchanting. Continuing our ride, we crossed the +valley as the moon was beginning to throw her dubious and silvery light +upon the cane fields. A light breeze springing up, their flowery heads +swayed to and fro like waving plumes, while their long leaves, striking +one against the other, swept like a mournful sigh across the vale, as +though Nature were offering its tribute of compassion to the fettered +sons of Adam that had helped to give it birth. + +There is a very important personage frequently met with in Cuba, who is +called _El Casero_--in other words, the parish commissariat pedler. He +travels on horseback, seated between two huge panniers, and goes round +to all the cottages collecting what they wish to sell, and selling what +they wish to buy, and every one who addresses him on business he styles, +in reply, _Caserita_. This pedlering system may be very primitive, but +it doubtless is a great convenience to the rural population, especially +in an island which is so deficient in roads and communication. In short, +I consider _El Casero_ the representative of so useful and peculiar a +class of the community, that I have honoured him with a wood-cut wherein +he is seen bargaining with a negress for fowls, or _vice +versâ_,--whichever the reader prefers,--for not being the artist, I +cannot undertake to decide which idea he meant to convey. + +There is nothing in the town of Matanzas worth seeing except the views +of it and around it. The population amounts to about twenty-five +thousand, and the shipping always helps to give it a gay appearance. My +chief object in visiting these parts was to see something of the sugar +plantations in the island; but as they resemble each other in essential +features, I shall merely describe one of the best, which I visited when +retracing my steps to Havana, and which belongs to one of the most +wealthy men in the island. On driving up to it, you see a large airy +house,--windows and doors all open, a tall chimney rearing its proud +head in another building, and a kind of barrack-looking building round +about. The hospitable owner appears to delight in having an opportunity +of showing kindness to strangers. He speaks English fluently; but alas! +the ladies do not; so we must look up our old rusty armoury of Spanish, +and take the field with what courage we may. Kindness and good-will +smooth all difficulties, and we feel astonished how well we get on; in +short, if we stay here too long we shall get vain, and think we really +can speak Spanish,--we must dine, we must stay, we must make the house +our own, and truly I rejoiced that it was so. The house had every +comfort, the society every charm, and the welcome was as warm as it was +unostentatious. We--for you must know our party was four in number--most +decidedly lit upon our legs, and the cuisine and the cellar lent +effectual aid. The proprietor is an elderly man, and the son, who has +travelled a good deal in Europe, manages the properties, which consist +of several plantations, and employ about twelve hundred slaves. The +sound of the lash is rarely heard, and the negroes are all healthy and +happy-looking; several of them have means to purchase their liberty, but +prefer their present lot. A doctor is kept on the estate for them; their +houses are clean and decent; there is an airy hospital for them if sick, +and there is a large nursery, with three old women who are appointed to +take charge during the day of all children too young to work: at night +they go to their respective families. On the whole property there was +only one man under punishment, and he was placed to work in chains for +having fired one of his master's buildings, which he was supposed to +have been led to do, owing to his master refusing to allow him to take +his infant home to his new wife till it was weaned; his former wife had +died in child-bed, and he wished to rear it on arrowroot, &c. This the +master--having found a good wet nurse for it--would not permit. The man +had generally borne a very good character, and the master, whose +_entourage_ bears strong testimony to his kind rule, seized the +opportunity of my visit to let him free at my request, as he had already +been working four months in chains similar to those convicts sometimes +wear; thus were three parties gratified by this act of grace. + +It is well known that there are various ways of making sugar; but as the +method adopted on this plantation contains all the newest improvements, +I may as well give a short detail of the process as I witnessed it. The +cane when brought from the field is placed between two heavy rollers, +worked by steam, and the juice falls into a conductor below--the +squashed cane being carried away to dry for fuel--whence it is raised by +what is termed a "_monte jus_" into a tank above the "clarifier," which +is a copper boiler, with iron jacket and steam between. A proper +proportion of lime is introduced, sufficient to neutralize the acidity. +When brought to the boiling-point the steam is shut off, and the liquid +subsides. This operation is one of the most important in the whole +process; from the clarifier it is run through an animal charcoal +filterer, which, by its chemical properties, purifies it; from the +filterer it runs into a tank, whence it is pumped up above the +condensers, i.e., tubes, about fifteen in number, laid horizontally, +one above the other, and containing the steam from the vacuum pans. The +cold juice in falling over these hot tubes, condenses the steam-therein, +and at the same time evaporates the water, which is always a +considerable ingredient in the juice of the cane; the liquor then passes +into a vacuum pan, which is fitted with a bull's-eye on one side, and a +corresponding bull's-eye with a lamp on the opposite side, by which the +process can be watched. Having boiled here sufficiently, it passes +through a second filtration of animal charcoal, and then returns to a +second vacuum pan, where it is boiled to the point of granulation; it is +then run off into heaters below, whence it is ladled into moulds of an +irregular conical shape, in which it is left to cool and to drain off +any molasses that remain; when cooled it is taken to the purging-house. +The house where the operations which we have been describing were going +on, was two hundred yards long, forty yards broad, and built of solid +cedar and mahogany. + +In the purging-house, these moulds are all ranged with the point of the +cone down, and gutters below. A layer of moist clay, about two inches +deep, is then placed upon the sugar at the broad end of the cone, and, +by the gradual percolation of its thick liquid, carries off the +remaining impurities. When this operation is finished, the cones are +brought out, and the sugar contained therein is divided into three +parts, the apex of the cone being the least pure, the middle rather +better, and the base the most pure and looking very white. This latter +portion is then placed upon strong wooden troughs, about six or eight +feet square. There, negroes and negresses break it up with long poles +armed with hard-wood head, trampling it under their delicate pettitoes +to such an extent as to give rise to the question whether sugar-tongs +are not a useless invention. When well smashed and trodden, it is packed +in boxes, and starts forth on its journeys; a very large proportion goes +to Spain. The two least pure portions are sent to Europe, to be there +refined. Such is a rough sketch of the sugar-making process, as I saw +it. All the machinery was English, and the proprietor had a corps of +English engineers, three in number, to superintend the work. In our +roadless trips to various parts of the plantation, we found the +advantage of the Volante, before described; and though three horses +were harnessed, they had in many places enough to do. We stayed a couple +of days with our kind and hospitable friends, and then returned to +Havana. + +No pen can convey the least idea of the wonderful luxuriance of +vegetation which charms the eye at every step. There is a richness of +colour and a fatness of substance in the foliage of every tree and shrub +which I never met with before in any of my travels. The stately palm, +with its smooth white stem glittering in the sunbeams like a column of +burnished silver; the waving bamboo growing in little clumps, and +nodding in the gentle breeze with all the graceful appearance of a +gigantic ostrich plume; groves of the mango, with its deep and dark +foliage defying the sun's rays; the guava, growing at its feet, like an +infant of the same family; the mammee--or _abricot de St. +Domingue_--with its rich green fruit hanging in clusters, and a foliage +rivalling the mango; the dark and feathery tamarind; the light and +graceful indigo; the slow-growing arrowroot, with its palmy and feathery +leaves spreading like a tender rampart round its precious fruit; +boundless fields of the rich sugar-cane; acres of the luscious pine +apple; groves of banana and plantain; forests of cedar and mahogany; +flowers of every hue and shade; the very jungle netted over with the +creeping convolvulus,--these, and a thousand others, of which +fortunately for the reader I know not the names, are continually +bursting on the scene with equal profusion and variety, bearing lovely +testimony to the richness of the soil and the mildness of the climate. + +Alas! that this fair isle should be at one and the same time the richest +gem in the crown of Spain, and the foulest blot on her escutcheon. Her +treaties are violated with worse than Punic faith, and here horrors have +been enacted which would make the blood of a Nero curdle in his veins. +Do you ask, how are treaties violated? When slaves are brought here by +our cruisers, Spain is bound by treaty to apprentice them out for three +years, so as to teach them how to earn a living, and then to free them. +My dear John Bull, you will be sorry to hear, that despite the activity +of our squadron for the suppression of slavery, that faithless country +which owes a national existence to oceans of British treasure, and the +blood of the finest army the great Wellington ever led, has the +unparalleled audacity to make us slave carriers to Cuba. Yes, thousands +of those who, if honour and truth were to be found in the Government of +Spain, would now be free, are here to be seen pining away their lives in +the galling and accursed chains of slavery, a living reproach to +England, and a black monument of Spanish faith. Yes, John Bull, I repeat +the fact; thousands of negroes are bound here in hopeless fetters, that +were brought here under the British flag. And, that there may be no +doubt of the wilfulness with which the Cuban authorities disregard their +solemn obligations, it is a notorious fact, that in a country where +passports and police abound in every direction, so that a negro cannot +move from his own home, upwards of a hundred were landed in the last +year, 1852, from one vessel, at a place only thirty-five miles from the +Havana, and marched in three days across the island to--where do you +think?--to some Creole's, or to some needy official's estate? no such +thing; but, as if to stamp infamy on Spain, at the highest step of the +ladder, they were marched to the Queen Mother's estate. If this be not +wickedness in high places, what is? The slave trade flourishes +luxuriantly here with the connivance of authority; and what makes the +matter worse is, that the wealth accumulated by this dishonesty and +national perjury is but too generally--and I think too justly--believed +to be the mainspring of that corruption at home for which Spain stands +pre-eminent among the nations of the earth. I will now give you a sketch +of the cruelties which have been enacted here; and, although an old +story, I do not think it is very generally known. + +When General O'Donnell obtained the captain-generalship of Cuba, whether +his object was to obtain honours from Spain for quelling an +insurrection, or whether he was deceived, I cannot decide; but an +imaginary insurrection was got up, and a military court was sent in +every direction throughout the island. These courts were to obtain all +information as to the insurrection, and, of course, to flog the negroes +till they confessed. Unfledged ensigns would come with their guard upon +a plantation, and despite the owner's assurance that there was no +feeling of insubordination among the negroes, they would set to work +flogging right and left, till in agony the poor negro would say +something which would be used to criminate some other, who in turn +would be flogged till in agony he made some assertion; and so it went +on, till the blood-thirsty young officer was satiated. On one plantation +a negro lad had been always brought up with one of the sons of the +proprietor, and was, in fact, quite a pet in the family. One of these +military courts visited the plantation, and insisted upon flogging this +pet slave till he confessed what he never knew. In vain his master +strove to convince the officer of his perfect innocence; he would not +listen, and the poor lad was tied up, and received seven hundred lashes, +during which punishment some remarks he made in the writhings of his +agony were noted down, and he was shot at Matanzas for the same. The +master's son, who was forced to witness this barbarity inflicted upon +the constant companion of his early youth, never recovered the shock, +and died the following year insane. + +The streets of Matanzas were in some places running with negro blood. An +eye-witness told me that near the village of Guinés he saw a negro +flogged with an aloe-leaf till both hip-bones were perfectly bare; and +there is little doubt that 1500 slaves died under the lash. You will +perhaps be surprised, most excellent John Bull, when I tell you that the +cruelties did not stop at the negroes, but extended even to whites who +claimed British protection. One of them was chained to a log of wood in +the open air for a hundred days and a hundred nights, despite the +strongest remonstrances on the part of the British authorities, and was +eventually unchained, to die two days after in jail. Several others were +imprisoned and cruelly treated; and when this reign of terror, worthy +even of Spain in her bloodiest days, was over, and their case was +inquired into, they were perfectly exonerated, and a compensation was +awarded them. This was in 1844. Some of them have since died from the +treatment they then received; and, if I am correctly informed, Spain--by +way of keeping up her character--has not paid to those who survive one +farthing of the sum awarded. Volumes might be filled with the atrocities +of 1844; but the foregoing is enough of the sickening subject. When I +call to mind the many amiable and high-minded Spaniards I have met, the +national conduct of Spain becomes indeed a mystery. But to return to +present times. + +H.M.S. "Vestal," commanded by that active young officer, Captain C.B. +Hamilton, was stationed at Cuba for the suppression of slavery, &c. She +had been watching some suspicious vessels in the harbour for a long +time; but as they showed no symptoms of moving, she unbent sails and +commenced painting, &c. A day or two after, as daylight broke, the +suspicious vessels were missing from the harbour. The "Vestal" +immediately slipped, and, getting the ferry-boat to tow her outside, +commenced a chase, and the next day succeeded in capturing four vessels. +Of course they were brought into Havana, to be tried at the Mixed Court +there; three, I believe, were condemned, but the fourth, called the +"Emilia Arrogante" is the one to which I wish to call your attention, +because she, though the most palpably guilty, belonged to wealthy people +in the island, and therefore, of course, was comparatively safe. When +taken, the slave-deck which she had on board was carefully put into its +place, and every plank and beam exactly fitted, as was witnessed and +testified to by several of the "Vestal's" officers; yet, will you +believe it, when given up to the local authorities, they either burnt or +made away with this only but all-sufficient evidence, so that it became +impossible for the Court to condemn her. + +It is curious to hear the open way people speak of the bribery of the +officials in the island, and the consequent endless smuggling that goes +on. A captain of a merchant-vessel told me that in certain articles, +which, for obvious reasons, I omit to mention, it is impossible to trade +except by smuggling; so universal is the practice, that he would be +undersold fifty per cent. He mentioned an instance, when the proper +duties amounted to 1200l., the broker went to the official and +obtained a false entry by which he only paid 400l. duty, and this +favour cost him an additional 400l. bribe to the official, thus saving +400l. This he assured me, after being several years trading to Cuba, +was the necessary practice of the small traders; nobody in Cuba is so +high that a bribe does not reach him, from the Captain-General, who is +handsomely paid for breaking his country's plighted faith in permitting +the landing of negroes, down to the smallest unpaid official. With +two-thirds the excuse is, "We are so ill-paid, we must take bribes;" +with the other third the excuse is, "It is the custom of the island." +Spain could formerly boast pre-eminence in barbarity--she has now +attained to pre-eminence in official corruption; but the day must come, +though it may yet be distant, when her noble sons of toil will burst the +fetters of ignorance in which they are bound, and rescue their fair land +from the paltry nothingness of position which it occupies among the +nations of Europe, despite many generous and noble hearts which even +now, in her degradation, are to be found blushing over present realities +and striving to live on past recollections. + +There were some British men-of-war lying in the harbour; and as my two +German friends were anxious to see the great-gun exercise, I went on +board with these gentlemen to witness the drill, with which they were +much pleased. After it was over, and the ship's company had gone to +dinner, they wished to smoke a cigar, the whiffs of Jack's pipe having +reached their olfactories. Great was their astonishment, and infinite my +disgust, when we were walked forward to the galley to enjoy our weed, to +find the crew smoking on the opposite side. It is astonishing to think +that, with so much to be improved and attended to in the Navy, the +authorities in Whitehall-place should fiddle-faddle away precious time +in framing regulations about smoking, for the officers; and, instead of +leaving the place to be fixed by the captain of each vessel, and holding +him responsible, should name a place which, it is not too much to say, +scarce one captain in ten thinks of confining his officers to, for the +obvious reason that discipline is better preserved by keeping the +officers and men apart during such occupations,--and, moreover, that +sending officers to the kitchen to smoke is unnecessarily offensive. +These same orders existed thirty years ago; and, as it was well known +they were never attended to, except by some anti-smoking captain, who +used them as an excuse, the Admiralty very wisely rescinded an order +which, by being all but universally disregarded, tended to weaken the +weight and authority of all other orders; and after the word "galley," +they then added, "or such other place as the captain shall appoint." +After some years, however, so little was there of greater importance to +engage their attention in naval affairs, that this sensible order was +rescinded, and the original one renewed in full force, and, of course, +with similar bad effect, as only those captains who detest smoking--an +invisible minority--or those who look for promotion from scrupulous +obedience to insignificant details--an equally invisible minority--act +up to the said instructions. Nevertheless, so important an element in +naval warfare is smoking now considered, that in the printed form +supplied to admirals for the inspection of vessels under their command, +as to "State and Preparation for Battle," one of the first questions is, +"Are the orders relative to smoking attended to?" If I am not much +misinformed, when Admiral Collier was appointed to the Channel squadron, +he repaired to the Admiralty, and told the First Lord that he had smoked +in his own cabin for twenty years, and that he could not forego that +pleasure. The First Lord is said to have laughed, and made the sensible +remark, "Of course you'll do as you like;" thereby showing, in my +opinion, his just sense of the ridiculousness of such a childish +regulation. So much for folly _redivivus_. + +While on the subject of smoking, I may as well say a few words upon +cigar manufacture. In the first place, all the best tobacco grows at the +lower end of the island, and is therefore called "_Vuelta abajo_." An +idea has found its way into England, that it is impossible to make +cigars at home as well as at the Havana; and the reason given is, the +tobacco is made up at Havana during its first damping, and that, having +to be re-damped in England, it loses thereby its rich flavour and aroma. +Now, this is a most egregious mistake; for in some of the best houses +here you will find tobacco two and even four years old, which is not yet +worked up into cigars, and which, consequently, has to be re-damped for +that purpose. If this be so, perhaps you will ask how is it that +British-made cigars are never so good as those from Havana? There are +two very good reasons for this--the one certain, the other probable. The +probable one is, that the best makers in Havana, whose brand is their +fortune--such as Cabaños y Carvajal--will be jealous of sending the +best tobacco out of the country, lest, being forced to use inferior +tobacco, they might lose their good name; and the other reason is, that +cigars improve in flavour considerably by a sea voyage. So fully is this +fact recognised here, that many merchants pay the duty of three +shillings a thousand to embark their cigars in some of the West India +steamers, and then have them carried about for a month or so, thereby +involving a further payment for freight; and they all express +themselves as amply repaid by the improvement thereby effected in their +cigars. Nevertheless, many old Cubans prefer smoking cigars the same +week that they are made. At the same time, if any honest tobacconist in +England chose to hoist the standard of "small profit and plenty of it," +he might make very good Havana tobacco cigars, at 50 per cent. profit, +under 16s. per 100. Thus--duty, 3s. 6_d_; tobacco, 5s.; freight and +dues, &c., 6d.; making up, 1s. 6d.--absolute cost of cigars, 10s. +6d. per 100; 50 per cent. profit thereon, 5s. 3d.; total, 15s. 9d. +For this sum a better article could be supplied than is ordinarily +obtained at prices varying from 25s. to 30s. + +But 50 per cent. profit will not satisfy the British tobacconist when he +finds John Bull willing to give him 100 per cent. He therefore makes the +cigars at the prices above-mentioned, puts them into old boxes with some +pet brand upon them, and sells them as the genuine article. John Bull is +indebted for this extortionate charge to the supreme wisdom of the +Legislature, which has established a 3s. 6d. duty on the pound of +unmanufactured tobacco, and a 9s. duty on manufactured; instead of +fixing one duty for manufactured and unmanufactured, and making the +difference thereof depend upon the quality--lowering the duty upon the +tobacco used by the poor to 2s. 6d., and establishing on all the +better kinds a uniform rate, say 6s. or 7s. The revenue, I believe, +would gain, and the public have a better protection against the fraud of +which they are now all but universal victims. But to return to Havana. + +The price paid for making cigars varies from 8s. to 80s. a thousand, +the average being about 15s. A certain quality of tobacco is made up +into cigars, and from time to time they are handed over to the examiner, +who divides them into three separate classes, the difference being +merely in the make thereof. A second division then takes place, +regulated by the colour of the outside wrapper, making the distinction +of "light" or "brown." Now, the three classes first noticed, you will +observe, are precisely the same tobacco; but knowing how the public are +gulled by the appearance, the prices are very different. Thus, taking +the brand of Cabaños y Carvajal _Prensados_, his first, or prettiest, +are 6l. 8s. per 1000; his second are 5l. 12s.; and his third are +5l.; and yet no real difference of quality exists. The cigars of which +I speak are of the very best quality, and the dearest brand in Havana. +Now, let us see what they cost put into the tobacconist's shop in +London:--32 dollars is 180s.; duty, 90s.; export at Havana, 3s.; +freight and extra expenses, say 7s.--making 230s. a thousand, or +23s. a hundred, for the dearest and best Havana cigars, London size. +But three-fourths of the cigars which leave the Havana for England do +not cost more than 3l. 4s. per thousand, which would bring their +cost price to the tobacconist down to 16s. 5d. The public know what +they pay, and can make their own reflections. + +There is another class of cigar known in England as "Plantations," here +called "Vegueros." They are of the richest tobacco, and are all made in +the country by the sable ladies of the island, who use no tables to work +at, if report speaks truth; and as both hands are indispensable in the +process of rolling, what they roll upon must be left to the imagination. +It will not do to be too fastidious in this world. Cooks finger the +dainty cutlets, and keep dipping their fingers into the rich sauces, and +sucking them, to ascertain their progress, and yet the feasters relish +the savoury dish not one whit the less; so smokers relish the Veguero, +though on what rolled modesty forbids me to mention,--nor do they +hesitate to press between their lips the rich "Regalia," though its +beautifully-finished point has been perfected by an indefinite number of +passages of the negro's forefinger from the fragrant weed to his own +rosy tongue. Men must not be too nice; but I think in the above +description a fair objection is to be found to ladies smoking. + +With regard to the population of Cuba, the authorities, of course, wish +to give currency to the idea that the whites are the most numerous. +Having asked one of these officials who had the best means of knowing, +he told me there were 550,000 whites and 450,000 negroes; but +prosecuting my inquiries in a far more reliable quarter, I found there +were 600,000 slaves, 200,000 free, and only 500,000 whites,--thus making +the coloured population as eight to five. The military force in the +island consists of 20,000, of which 18,000 are infantry, 1000 cavalry, +and 1000 artillery[Z]. The demand for labour in the island is so great, +that a speculation has been entered into by a mercantile house here to +bring 6000 Chinese. The speculator has already disposed of them at +24l. a-head; they are to serve for five years, and receive four +shillings a day, and they find their own way back. The cost of bringing +them is calculated at 10l. a head,--thus leaving 14l. gain on each, +which, multiplied by 6000, gives 84,000l. profit to the +speculator,--barring, of course, losses from deaths and casualties on +the journey. Chinese have already been tried here, and they prove +admirably suited to all the mechanical labour, but far inferior to the +negroes in the fields. + +I find that people in the Havana can he humbugged as well as John Bull. +A Chinese botanist came here, and bethought him of trying his skill as a +doctor. Everybody became mad to consult him; no street was ever so +crowded as the one he lived in, since Berners-street on the day of the +hoax. He got a barrel of flour, or some other innocuous powder, packed +up in little paper parcels, and thus armed he received his patients. On +entering, he felt the pulse with becoming silence and gravity; at last +he said, "Great fire." He then put his hand on the ganglionic centre, +from which he radiated to the circumjacent parts, and then, frowning +deep thought, he observed, "Belly great swell; much wind; pain all +round." His examination being thus accomplished, he handed the patient a +paper of the innocuous powder, pocketed sixteen shillings, and dismissed +him. This scene, without any variety in observation, examination, +prescription, or fee, was going on for two months, at the expiration of +which time he re-embarked for China with 8000l. + +As I believe that comparatively little is known in England of the laws +existing in Cuba with respect to domicile, police, slavery, &c., I shall +devote a few pages to the subject, which, in some of its details, is +amusing enough. No person is allowed to land on the island without a +passport from the place whence he arrives, and a _fiador_, or surety, in +the island, who undertakes to supply the authorities with information of +the place of his residence for one year; nor can he remain in the island +more than three months without a "domiciliary ticket." People of colour +arriving in any vessel are to be sent to a government deposit; if the +master prefers to keep them on board he may, but in that case he is +liable to a fine of 200l. if any of them land on the island; after a +certain hour in the evening all gatherings in the street are put a stop +to, and everybody is required to carry a lantern about with him; the +hierarchy and "swells"--_personas de distincion_--being alone exempt. +All purchases made from slaves or children or doubtful parties are at +the risk of the purchaser, who is liable not merely to repay the price +given, but is further subject to a heavy fine: no bad law either. Any +boy between the ages of ten and sixteen who may be found in the streets +as a vagrant may be taken before the president of the _Seccion de +Industria de la Real Sociedad Economica_, by whom he is articled out to +a master of the trade he wishes to learn. No place of education can be +opened without the teacher thereof has been duly licensed. No game of +chance is allowed in any shop or tavern, except in billiard-saloons and +coffee-houses, where draughts and dominoes, chess and backgammon are +tolerated. After a certain fixed hour of the night, no person is allowed +to drive about in a Volante with the head up, unless it rains or the +sitter be an invalid; the penalty is fifteen shillings. No private +individual is allowed to give a ball or a concert without permission of +the authorities. Fancy Londonderry House going to the London +police-office to get permission for a quadrille or a concert. How +pleasant! The specific gravity of milk is accurately calculated, and but +a moderate margin allowed for pump mixture; should that margin be +exceeded, or any adulteration discovered, the whole is forfeited to some +charitable institution. If such a salutary law existed in London, pigs' +brains would fall in the market, and I should not see so many milk-pails +at the spring during my early morning walks to the Serpentine. + +Among the regulations for health, the following are to be found. No +private hospital or infirmary is to be opened without a government +licence. All keepers of hotels, coffee or eating houses, &c., are bound +to keep their kitchen "battery" well tinned inside, under a heavy +penalty of 3l. 10s. for every utensil which may be found +insufficiently tinned, besides any further liabilities to which they may +be subject for accidents arising from neglect thereof. Every shop is +obliged to keep a vessel with water at the threshold of the outer door, +to assist in avoiding hydrophobia. All houses that threaten to tumble +down must be rebuilt, and if the owner is unable to bear the expense, +he must sell the house to some one who can bear it. Another clause, +after pointing out the proper places for bathing, enjoins a pair of +bathing breeches, under a penalty of fifteen shillings for each offence; +the particular cut is not specified. Let those who object to put convex +fig-leaves over the little cherubs, and other similar works of art at +the Crystal Palace, take a lesson from the foregoing, and clothe them +all in Cuba pants as soon as possible; scenes are generally more +interesting when the imagination is partially called into play. Boys, +both little and big, are kept in order by a fine of fifteen shillings +for every stone they throw, besides paying in full for all damage caused +thereby. No one is allowed to carry a stick more than one inch in +diameter under a penalty of twelve shillings; but all white people are +allowed to carry swords, provided they are carried openly and in their +scabbards. + +The foregoing are sufficient to convey to the reader some idea of the +ban of pains and penalties under which a resident is placed; at the same +time it may be as well to inform him, that, except those enactments +which bear upon espionage, they are about as much attended to as the +laws with regard to the introduction of slaves, respecting which latter +I will now give you a few of the regulations. + +Slave owners are bound to give their slaves three meals a-day, and the +substance thereof must be eleven ounces of meat or salt-fish, four +ounces of bread, and farinaceous vegetables equal to six plantains; +besides this, they are bound to give them two suits of clothes--all +specified--yearly. Alas! how appropriate is the slang phrase "Don't you +wish you may get 'em?" So beautifully motherly is Spain regarding her +slaves, that the very substance of infants' clothes under three years of +age is prescribed; another substance from three to six; then comes an +injunction that from six to fourteen the girls are to be shirted and the +boys breeched. I am sure this super-parental solicitude upon the part of +the Government must be admitted to be most touching. By another +regulation, the working time is limited from nine to ten hours daily, +except in the harvest or sugar season, during which time the working +hours are eighteen a-day. No slave under sixteen or over sixty can be +employed on task-work, or at any age at a work not suited to his or her +strength and sex. + +Old slaves must be kept by their master, and cannot be freed for the +purpose of getting rid of the support of them. Upon a plantation, the +houses must be built on a dry position, well ventilated, and the sexes +kept apart, and a proper hospital provided for them. By another law, +marriage is inculcated on moral grounds, and the master of the slave is +required to purchase the wife, so that they may both be under one roof; +if he declines the honour, then the owner of the wife is to purchase the +husband; and if that fails, a third party is to buy both: failing all +these efforts, the law appears non-plused, and leaves their fate to +Providence. If the wife has any children under three years of age, they +must be sold with her. The law can compel an owner to sell any slave +upon whom he may be proved to have exercised cruelty; should any party +offer him the price he demands, he may close the bargain at once, but if +they do not agree, his value is to be appraised by two arbiters, one +chosen by each party, and if either decline naming an arbiter, a law +officer acts _ex officio_. Any slave producing fifty dollars (ten +pounds) as a portion of his ransom-money, the master is obliged to fix a +price upon him, at which his ransom may be purchased; he then becomes a +_coartado_, and whatever sums he can save his master is bound to receive +in part payment, and, should he be sold, the price must not exceed the +price originally named, after subtracting therefrom the amount he has +advanced for his ransom. Each successive purchaser must buy him subject +to these conditions. In all disputes as to original price or completion +of the ransom, the Government appoints a law officer on behalf of the +slave. The punishments of the slave are imprisonment, stocks, &c.; when +the lash is used, the number of stripes is limited to twenty-five. + +The few regulations I have quoted are sufficient to show how carefully +the law has fenced-in the slave from bad treatment. I believe the laws +of no other country in regard to slaves are so merciful, excepting +always Peru; but, alas! though the law is as fair as the outside of the +whited sepulchre, the practice is as foul as the inside thereof; nor can +one ever expect that it should be otherwise, when we see that, following +the example of the treaty-breaking, slave-importing Queen Mother, every +official, from the highest government authority down to the lowest petty +custom-house officer, exposes his honesty daily in the dirty market of +bribery. + +A short summary of the increase of slave population may be interesting, +as showing that the charges made against the Cubans of only keeping up +the numbers of the slaves by importation is not quite correct. In the +year 1835 a treaty was made with Spain, renewing the abolition of slave +traffic, to which she had assented in 1817 by words which her subsequent +deeds belied. At this latter date, the slave population amounted to +290,000, since which period she has proved the value of plighted faith +by introducing upwards of 100,000 slaves, which would bring the total up +to 390,000. The present slave population, I have before remarked, +amounts to 600,000, which would give as the increase by births during +nearly twenty years, 210,000. If we take into consideration the ravages +of epidemics, and the serious additional labour caused by the long +duration of the sugar harvest, we may fairly conclude, as far as +increase by birth is admitted as evidence, that the treatment of slaves +in Cuba will stand comparison with that of the slave in the United +States, especially when it is borne in mind that the addition of slave +territory in the latter has made the breeding of slaves a regular +business. + +The increase of the produce of Cuba may very naturally be ascribed to +the augmentation of slave labour, and to the improvements in machinery; +but there is another cause which is very apt to be overlooked, though I +think there can be no doubt it has exercised the most powerful influence +in producing that result: I allude to the comparative monopoly of the +sugar trade, which the events of late years have thrown into her hands. + +When England manumitted the 750,000 slaves in the neighbouring islands, +the natural law of reaction came into play, and the negro who had been +forced to work hard, now chose to take his ease, and his absolute +necessities were all that he cared to supply: a little labour sufficed +for that, and he consequently became in his turn almost the master. The +black population, unprepared in any way for the sudden change, became +day by day more idle and vicious, the taxes of the islands increased, +and the circulation issued by the banks decreased in an equally fearful +ratio. When sugar the produce of slave labour was admitted into England, +a short time after the emancipation, upon the same terms as the produce +of the free islands, as a natural consequence, the latter, who could +only command labour at high wages and for uncertain time, were totally +unable to compete with the cheap labour and long hours of work in Cuba; +nearly every proprietor in our West India colonies feel into deep +distress,--some became totally ruined. One property which had cost +118,000l., so totally lost its value, owing to these changes in the +law, that its price fell to 16,000l. In Demerara, the sugar produce +sank from 104,000,000 lbs. to 61,000,000 lbs., and coffee from 9,000,000 +lbs. to 91,000 lbs., while 1,500,000 lbs. of cotton disappeared +entirely. + +These are no fictions, they are plain facts, borne testimony to in many +instances by the governors of the colonies; and I might quote an +infinite number of similar statements, all tending to prove the rapid +growth of idleness and vice in the emancipated slaves, and the equally +rapid ruin of the unfortunate proprietor. The principles upon which we +legislated when removing the sugar duties is a mystery to me, unless I +accept the solution, so degrading to the nation, "that humanity is a +secondary consideration to _£ s.d._, and that justice goes for nothing." +If such were not the principles on which we legislated, there never was +a more complete failure. Not content with demoralizing the slave and +ruining the owner, by our hasty and ill-matured plan of emancipation, we +gave the latter a dirty kick when he was falling, by removing the little +protection we had all put pledged our national faith that he should +retain; and thus it was we threw nearly the whole West India sugar trade +into the hands of Cuba, stimulating her energy, increasing her produce, +and clinching the fetters of the slave with that hardest holding of all +rivets--the doubled value of his labour. + +Perhaps my reader may say I am taking a party and political view of the +question. I repudiate the charge _in toto_: I have nothing to do with +politics: I merely state facts, which I consider it requisite should be +brought forward, in order that the increase of Cuban produce may not be +attributed to erroneous causes. For this purpose it was necessary to +show that the ruin we have brought upon the free West Indian colonies is +the chief cause of the increased and increasing prosperity of their +slave rival; at the same time, it is but just to remark, that the +establishment of many American houses in Cuba has doubtless had some +effect in adding to the commercial activity of the island. + +I have, in the preceding pages, shown the retrogression of some parts of +the West Indies, since the passing of the Emancipation and Sugar-Duty +Acts. Let me now take a cursory view of the progression of Cuba during +the same period.--Annual produce-- + + Previous to Emancipation. 1852. + + Sugar 300,000,000 lbs. -- 620,000,000 lbs. + Molasses 125,000,000 " -- 220,000,000 " + Leaf Tobacco 6,000,000 " -- 10,000,000 " + Coffee 30,000,000 " -- 19,000,000 " + +The sugar manufactories during that time had also increased from eight +hundred to upwards of sixteen hundred. Can any one calmly compare this +marvellous progression of Cuba with the equally astounding retrogression +of our Antilles, and fail to come to the irresistible conclusion that +the prosperity of the one is intimately connected with the distress of +the other. + +While stating the annual produce of tobacco, I should observe that +upwards of 180,000,000 of cigars, and nearly 2,000,000 boxes of +cigarettes, were exported in 1852, independent of the tobacco-leaf +before mentioned. Professor J.F.W. Johnston, in that curious and able +work entitled _Chemistry of Common Life_, styles tobacco "the first +subject in the vegetable kingdom in the power of its service to +man,"--some of my lady friends, I fear, will not approve of this +opinion,--and he further asserts that 4,500,000,000 lbs. thereof are +annually dispersed throughout the earth, which, at twopence the pound, +would realize the enormous sum of 37,000,000l. + +If smoking may be called the popular enjoyment of the island, billiards +and dominoes may be called the popular games, and the lottery the +popular excitement. There are generally fifteen ordinary lotteries, and +two extraordinary, every year. The ordinary consist of 32,000l. paid, +and 24,000l. thereof as prizes. There are 238 prizes, the highest +being 600l., and the lowest 40l. The extraordinary consist of +54,400l. paid, of which 40,800l. are drawn as prizes. There are 206 +prizes, the highest of which is 20,000l., and the lowest 40l.; from +which it will appear, according to Cocker, that the sums drawn annually +as prizes are very nearly 150,000l. less than the sums paid. Pretty +pickings for Government! As may naturally be supposed, the excitement +produced by this constitutional gambling--which has its nearest +counterpart in our own Stock Exchange--is quite intense; and as the time +for drawing approaches, people may be seen in all the _cafés_ and public +places, hawking and auctioning the billets at premium, like so many +Barnums with Jenny Lind tickets. One curious feature in the lotteries +here is the interest the niggers take in them. To understand this, I +must explain to you that the coloured population are composed of various +African tribes, and each tribe keeps comparatively separate from the +others; they then form a kind of club among their own tribe, for the +purpose of purchasing the freedom of some of their enslaved brethren, +who, I believe, receive assistance in proportion as they contribute to +the funds, and bear such a character as shall interpose no obstacle to +their ransom being permitted. A portion of their funds is frequently +employed in the purchase of lottery-tickets, and a deep spirit of +gambling is the natural consequence; for though the stake entered is +dollars, the prize, if won, is freedom. These lotteries date back to +1812; and if they have always been kept up as before explained, they +must have contributed something like ten millions sterling to the +Government during their forty years' working. + +A friend told me of a shameful instance of injustice connected with +these lotteries. A poor slave who had saved enough money to buy a +ticket, did so; and, drawing a small prize, immediately went off to his +master, and presented it to him as a part of his redemption-money. The +master having ascertained how he obtained it, explained to him that, as +a slave, he could not hold property; he then quietly pocketed it, and +sent poor Sambo about his business. What a beautiful commentary this is +on the law respecting Coartados, which I inserted a few pages back. I +must, however, remark that, from the inquiries I made, and from my own +observations of their countenances and amusements, the impression left +on my mind is, that the slaves are quite as happy here as in the United +States; the only disadvantage that they labour under being, that the +sugar harvest and manufacture last much longer in Cuba, and the labour +thereof is by far the hardest drain upon the endurance of the slave. The +free negroes I consider fully as well off as those in the Southern +States, and immeasurably more comfortable than those who are domiciled +in the Northern or Free States of the Union. The number of free negroes +in Cuba amounts to one-fourth of the whole coloured population, while in +the United States it only amounts to one-ninth--proving the great +facilities for obtaining freedom which the island offers, or the higher +cultivation of the negro, which makes him strive for it more +laboriously. I will not attempt to draw any comparison between the +scenes of horror with which, doubtless, both parties are chargeable, but +which, for obvious reasons, are carefully concealed from the traveller's +eye. + +Among the curious anomalies of some people, is that of a dislike to be +called by the national name, if they have a local one. The islanders +feel quite affronted if you call them Españoles; and a native of Old +Spain would feel even more affronted if you called him a Cubano or an +Havanero. The appellations are as mutually offensive as were in the +olden times those of Southron and Scot, although Cuba is eternally +making a boast of her loyalty. The manner of a Cuban is as stiff and +hidalgoish as that of any old Spaniard; in fact, so far as my short +acquaintance with the mother country and the colony enables me to judge, +I see little or no difference. Some of them, however, have a dash of fun +about them, as the two following little squibs will show. + +It appears that a certain Conde de ----, who had lately been decorated, +was a most notorious rogue; in consequence of which, some wag chalked up +on his door in large letters, during the night, the following lines, +which, of course, were in everybody's mouth soon after the sun had +risen:-- + + En el tiempo de las barbaras naciones + A los ladrones se les colgaban en cruces; + Pero hoy en el siglo de las luces + A los ladrones se les cuelgan cruces. + +A play upon words is at all times a hopeless task to transfer to another +language; nevertheless, for the benefit of those who are unacquainted +with Spanish, I will convey the idea as well as I can in English;-- + + Hang the thief on the cross was the ancient decree; + But the cross on the thief now suspended we see. + +The idea is of very ancient date, and equally well known in Italy and +Spain; but I believe the Spanish verses given above are original. + +The following was written upon a wealthy man who lived like a hermit, +and was reported to be very averse to paying for anything. He had, to +the astonishment of everybody, given a grand entertainment the night +before. On his door appeared-- + + "El Marquis de C---- Hace lo que debe + Y debe por lo que hace." + +It is useless to try and carry this into Saxon. In drawing it from the +Spanish well, the bottom must come out of the translationary bucket. The +best version I can offer is-- + + "He gives a party, which he ought to do, + But, doing that, he _does_ his tradesmen too." + +I am aware my English version is tame and insipid, though, perhaps, not +quite as much so as a translation I once met with of the sentence with +which it was said Timoleon, Duc de Brissac, used to apostrophize himself +before the looking-glass every morning. The original runs thus:-- +"Timoleon, Duc de Brissac, Dieu t'a fait gentilhomme, le roi t'a fait +duc, fais toi la barbe, pour faire quelque chose." The translation was +charmingly ridiculous, and ran thus:--"Timoleon, Duke of Brissac, +Providence made you a gentleman; the king gave you a dukedom; shave +yourself by way of doing something."--But I wander terribly. Reader, you +must excuse me. + +I one day asked an intelligent friend, long resident in the island, +whether any of the governors had ever done any good to the island, or +whether they were all satisfied by filling their pockets with handsome +bribes. He told me that the first governor-general who had rendered real +service to the people was Tacon. On his arrival, the whole place was so +infested with rogues and villains that neither property nor even life +was secure after dusk. Gambling, drunkenness, and vice of every kind +rode rampant. He gave all evil-doers one week's warning, at the +expiration of which all who could not give a satisfactory account of +themselves were to be severely punished. Long accustomed to idle +threats, they treated his warning with utter indifference; but they soon +found their mistake, to their cost. Inflexible in purpose, iron-handed +in rule, unswerving in justice, he treated nobles, clergy, and commoners +alike, and, before the fortnight was concluded, twelve hundred were in +banishment or in durance vile. Their accomplices in guilt stood aghast +at this new order of things, and, foreseeing their fate, either bolted, +reformed, or fell victims to it, and Havana became as quiet and orderly +as a church-parade. Shops, stores, and houses sprung up in every +direction. A magnificent opera-house was built outside the town, on the +Grand Paseo, and named after the governor-general; nothing can exceed +the lightness, airiness, and taste of the interior. I never saw its +equal in any building of a similar nature, and it is in every respect +most perfectly adapted to this lovely climate. + +The next governor-general who seems to have left any permanent mark of +usefulness is Valdes, whom I suppose I may be allowed to call their +modern Lycurgus. It was during his rule that the laws were weeded and +improved, and eventually produced in a clear and simple form. The +patience he must have exhibited in this laborious occupation is +evidenced by the minuteness of the details entered into, descending, as +we have seen, even to the pants of bathers and the bibs of the infant +nigger, but, by some unaccountable omission, giving no instructions as +to the tuckers of their mammas. If Tacon was feared and respected, +Valdes was beloved; and each appears to have fairly earned the +reputation he obtained. Valdes was succeeded by O'Donnell, whose rule +was inaugurated in negro blood. Frightful hurricanes soon followed, and +were probably sent in mercy to purify the island from the pollutions of +suffering and slaughter. During the rule of his successor, Roncali, the +rebel Lopez appears on the stage. The American campaign in Mexico had +stirred up a military ardour which extended to the rowdies, and a +piratical expedition was undertaken, with Lopez at the head. He had +acquired a name for courage in the Spanish army, and was much liked by +many of them, partly from indulging in the unofficer-like practice of +gambling and drinking with officers and men. His first attempt at a +landing was ludicrously hopeless, and he was very glad to re-embark +with a whole skin; but he was not the man to allow one failure to +dishearten him, for, independent of his courage, he had a feeling of +revenge to gratify.[AA] Having recruited his forces, he landed the +following year, 1851, with a stronger and better-equipped force of +American piratical brigands, and succeeded in stirring up a few Cubans +to rebellion. He maintained himself for a few days, struggling with a +courage worthy of a better cause. The pirates were defeated; Lopez was +made prisoner, and died by the garotte, at Havana, on the 1st of +September. Others also of the band paid the penalty of the law; and the +ruffian crew, who escaped to the United States, now constitute a kind of +nucleus for the "Lone Star," "Filibustero," and other such pests of the +community to gather round, being ready at any moment to start on a +buccaneering expedition, if they can only find another Lopez ass enough +to lead them. + +Concha became governor-general just before Lopez' last expedition, and +the order for his execution was a most painful task for poor Concha, who +had been for many years an intimate friend of his. Concha appears to +have left an excellent name behind him. I always heard him called "the +honest governor." He introduced a great many reforms into the civil +code, and established a great many schools and scientific and literary +societies. During my stay in the island, his successor, Cañedo, was the +governor-general. Whenever I made inquiries about him, the most +favourable answer I could get was, a chuck-up of the head, a slight +"p'tt" with the lips, and an expression of the eyes indicating the sight +of a most unpleasant object. The three combined required no dictionary +of the Academy to interpret.[AB] + +The future of this rich and lovely island, who can predict? It is talked +of by its powerful neighbours as "the sick man." Filibustero vultures +hover above it as though it were already a putrid corpse inviting their +descent; young America points to it with the absorbing index of +"manifest destiny;" gold is offered for it; Ostend conferences are held +about it; the most sober senators cry respecting it--"Patience, when the +pear is ripe, it must drop into our lap." Old Spain--torn by faction, +and ruined by corruption--supports its tottering treasury from it. Thus, +plundered by friends, coveted by neighbours, and assailed by pirates, it +lies like a helpless anatomical subject, with the ocean for a +dissecting-table, on one side whereof stands a mother sucking its blood, +and on the other "Lone Stars" gashing its limbs, while in the +background, a young and vigorous republic is seen anxiously waiting for +the whole carcass. If I ask, "Where shall vitality be sought?" Echo +answers "Where?" If I ask, "Where shall I look for hope?" the very +breath of the question extinguishes the flickering taper. Who, then, can +shadow forth the fate that is reserved for this tropical gem of the +ocean, where all around is so dark and louring?... A low voice, borne on +a western breeze, whispers in my ear--"I guess I can." + +Cuba, farewell! + +[Note: The subsequent squabbles between the Cuban authorities and the +United States have taken place long since my departure, and are too +complicated to enter into without more accurate information than I +possess.] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote X: I put up at "The Havana House," where I found everything +very clean, and the proprietor, an American, very civil. It is now kept +by his son.] + +[Footnote Y: This was written in January, 1853.] + +[Footnote Z: The Filibustero movement in the United States has caused +Spain to increase her military force considerably.] + +[Footnote AA: When first suspected of treason, he had been hunted with +dogs like a wild beast, and, with considerable difficulty, escaped to +America.] + +[Footnote AB: Those who desire more detailed information respecting Cuba +will find it in a work entitled _La Reine des Antilles_. Par LE VICOMTE +GUSTAVE D'HARPONVILLE. 1850.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +_Change of Dynasty_. + + +The month of February was drawing to a close, when I took my passage on +board the "Isabel," bound for Charleston. A small coin removed all +difficulty about embarking luggage, cigars, &c.; the kettle was boiling, +hands shook violently, bells rang rapidly, non-passengers flew down to +shore-boats; round go the wheels, waving go the kerchiefs, and down fall +the tears. The "Isabel" bounds o'er the ripp'less waters; forts and +dungeons, as we gaze astern, fade from the view; an indistinct shade is +all by which the eye can recal the lovely isle of Cuba; and, lest memory +should fail, the piles of oranges, about four feet square, all round the +upper-deck, are ready to refresh it. How different the "Isabel" from the +"Cherokee!" Mr. Law might do well to take a cruise in the former; and, +if he had any emulation, he would sell all his dirty old tubs for +firewood, and invest the proceeds in the "Isabel" style of vessel. Land +a-head!--a flourishing little village appears, with watch-towers high as +minarets. What can all this mean? + +This is a thriving, happy community, fixed on the most dreary and +unhealthy-looking point imaginable, and deriving all their wealth and +happiness from the misfortunes of others. It is Key West, a village of +wreckers, who, doubtless, pray earnestly for a continuance and increase +of the changing currents, which are eternally drifting some ill-fated +barque on the ever-growing banks and coral reefs of these treacherous +and dangerous waters; the lofty watch-towers are their Pisgah, and the +stranded barques their Land of Promise. The sight of one is doubtless as +refreshing to their sight as the clustering grapes of Eschol were to the +wandering Israelites of old. So thoroughly does the wrecking spirit +pervade this little community, that they remind one of the "Old Joe +Miller," which gives an account of a clergyman who, seeing all his +congregation rise from their seats at the joyous cry of, "A wreck! a +wreck!" called them to order with an irresistible voice of thunder, and +deliberately commencing to despoil himself of his surplice, added, +"Gentlemen, a fair start, if you please!" + +We picked up a couple of captains here, whose ships had tasted these +bitter waters, and who were on their road to New York to try and make +the best of a bad job. We had some very agreeable companions on board; +but we had others very much the contrary, conspicuous among whom was an +undeniable Hebrew but no Nathanael. He was one of those pompous loud +talkers, whose every word and work bespoke vulgarity in its most +obnoxious form, and whose obtuseness in matters of manners was so great +that nothing short of the point of your shoe could have made him +understand how offensive he was. He spoke of courts in Europe, and of +the Vice-regal court in Ireland, as though he had the _entrée_ of them +all; which it was palpable to the most superficial observer he never +could have had, except possibly when, armed with a dingy bag on his +shoulder and an "Ol clo'" on his lips, he sought an investment in +cast-off garments. He was taking cigars, which, from their quantity, +were evidently for sale; and as the American Government is very liberal +in allowing passengers to enter cigars, never--I believe--refusing any +one the privilege of five hundred, he was beating up for friends who had +no cigars to divide his speculations among, so as to avoid the duty; at +last his arrangements were completed, and his mind at ease. + +On entering the port of Charleston he got up the box containing his +treasures, and was about to open it, when, to my intense delight and +amusement, an officer of the ship stayed his hasty hand. "What's that +for?" exclaimed the wrathful Israelite. "I guess that box is in the +manifest," was the calm reply, "and you can't touch it till it goes to +the custom-house." Jonathan had "done" the Hebrew; and besides the duty, +he had the pleasure of paying freight on them also; while, to add to his +satisfaction, he enjoyed the sight of all the other passengers taking +their five hundred or so unmolested, while compelled to pay duty on +every cigar himself. But we must leave the Jew, the "Isabel"--ay, +Charleston itself. "Hurry hurry, bubble bubble, toil and trouble!" +Washington must be reached before the 4th of March, or we shall not see +the Senate and the other House in session. Steamer and rail; on we +dash. The boiling horse checks his speed; the inconveniences of the +journey are all forgotten: we are at Washington, and the all-absorbing +thought is, "Where shall we get a bed?" + +My companion[AC] and myself drove about from hotel to boarding-house, +from boarding-house to hotel, and from hotel to the Capitol, seeking a +resting-place in vain. Every chink and cranny was crammed; the +reading-rooms of the hotels had from one to two dozen stretcher beds in +each of them. 'Twas getting on for midnight; Hope's taper was flickering +faintly, when a police-officer came to the rescue, and recommended us to +try a small boarding-house at which he was himself lodging. There, as an +especial favour, we got two beds put into a room where another lodger +was already snoring; but fatigue and sleep soon obliterated that fact +from our remembrance. Next morning, while lying in a half doze, I heard +something like the upsetting of a jug near my bedside, and then, a sound +like mopping up; suspicious of my company, I opened my eyes, and lo! +there was the owner of the third bed, deliberately mopping up the +contents of the jug he had upset over the carpet, with--what do you +think? His handkerchief? oh, no--his coat-tails? oh, no--a spare towel? +oh, no; the savage, with the most placid indifference, was mopping it up +with my sponge! He expressed so much astonishment when I remonstrated, +that I supposed the poor man must have been in the habit of using his +own sponge for such purposes, and my ire subsided gradually as he wrung +out the sponge by an endless succession of vigorous squeezes, +accompanying each with a word of apology. So much for my first night at +Washington. + +We will pass over breakfast, and away to the Capitol. There it stands, +on a rising knoll, commanding an extensive panoramic view of the town +and surrounding country. The building is on a grand scale, and faced +with marble, which, glittering in the sunbeams, gives it a very imposing +appearance; but the increasing wants of this increasing Republic have +caused two wings to be added, which are now in the course of +construction. Entrance to the Senate and House of Representatives was +afforded to us with that readiness and courtesy which strangers +invariably experience. But, alas! the mighty spirits who had, by their +power of eloquence, so often charmed and spell-bound the tenants of the +senate chamber--where were they? The grave had but recently closed over +the last of those giant spirits; Webster was no more! Like all similar +bodies, they put off and put off, till, in the last few days of the +session, a quantity of business is hustled through, and thus no scope is +left for eloquent speeches; all is matter of fact, and a very +business-looking body they appeared, each senator with his desk and +papers before him; and when anything was to be said, it was expressed in +plain, unadorned language, and free from hesitation. The only +opportunity offered for eloquence was, after the inauguration, on the +discussion of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. I will not say that the +venerable senator for Delaware--Mr. Clayton--was eloquent, but he was +very clear both in language and delivery, and his bearing altogether +showed the honest conviction of a man who knew he was in the right, and +was certain he would be ultimately so judged. His principal antagonist +was the senator for Illinois--Mr. Douglas--one of the stars of the Young +American party, and an aspirant to the presidential honours of the +Republic. He is a stout-built man, rather short, with a massive +overhanging forehead. When he rose, he did so with the evident +consciousness that the gallery above him was filled with many of his +political school, and thrusting both hands well into the bottom of his +breeches pockets, he commenced his oration with an air of great +self-confidence, occasionally drawing one hand from its concealment to +aid his oratory by significant gesture. He made an excellent +clap-trap--or, as they term it in America, Buncombe--speech, aiding and +emphasizing, by energetic shakings of the forefinger, such passages as +he thought would tell in the gallery above; his voice was loud and +clear, his language blunt and fluent, and amusingly replete with "dares +and daren't;" "England's in the wrong, and she knows it;" if the +original treaty, by which America was to have had the canal exclusively, +had been concluded, "America would have had a rod to hold over all the +nations." Then came "manifest destiny;" then the mare's nest called +"Monroe doctrine;" then more Buncombe about England; and then ... he sat +down--satisfied, no doubt, that he had very considerably increased his +chances for the "tenancy of the White House." + +I regretted much not being able to hear Mr. Everett speak, for I believe +he is admitted on all hands to be the most eloquent and classical orator +within the precincts of the senate at the present moment; but I was +obliged to leave Washington before he addressed the assembly. The +absence of all signs of approbation or disapprobation, while a senator +is addressing the House, gives a coldness to the debate, and I should +think must have a damping effect upon the enthusiasm of the speaker. The +"Hear hears" and "cheers" of friends, and the "Oh ohs" or "laughter" of +opponents, certainly give an air of much greater excitement to the +scene, and act as an encouragement to the orator. But such exclamations +are not allowed either in the Senate or the House of Representatives. +The chamber of the latter is of course much larger than that of the +Senators, and, as far as I can judge, a bad room to hear in. When the +new wings are finished, they will move into one of them, and their +present chamber is, I believe, to be a library. I had no opportunity of +hearing any of the oratory of this house, as they were merely hustling a +few money and minor bills through, previous to the inauguration, which +closed their session. They also have each a desk and chair; but with +their increasing numbers I fear that any room large enough to afford +them such accommodation must be bad for speaking in.--Let us now turn to +the great event of the day, i.e., the Inauguration. + +The senators are all in their places; ministers of foreign Powers and +their suites are seated on the row of benches under the gallery; the +expectant masses are waiting outside; voices are suddenly hushed, and +all eyes turned towards the door of the senate-chamber; the herald walks +in, and says, "The President Elect of the United States." The chosen of +his country appears with as little form or ceremony as a gentleman +walking into an ordinary drawing-room. All rise as he enters. + +I watched the man of the day as he proceeded to his seat on the floor +of the senate. There was neither pride in his eye nor nervousness in his +step, but a calm and dignified composure, well fitted to his high +position, as though gratified ambition were duly tempered by a deep +sense of responsibility. The procession moved out in order to a platform +in front of the Capitol, the late able president walking side by side +with his untried successor, and apparently as calm in resigning office +as his successor appeared to be in entering upon it. Of the inaugural +speech I shall say nothing, as all who care to read it have done so long +since. But one thing should always be remembered, and that is, that the +popular candidates here are all compelled to "do a little Buncombe," and +therefore, under the circumstances, I think it must be admitted there +was as little as was possible. That speech tolled the knell, for the +present at least, of the Whig party, and ushered in the reign of General +Pierce and the Democrats. + +Since these lines were penned, the "chosen of the nation" has passed +through his ordeal of four years' administration; and, whatever private +virtues may have adorned his character, I imagine the unanimous voice of +his countrymen would unhesitatingly declare, that so utterly inefficient +a man never filled the presidential chair. He has been succeeded by Mr. +Buchanan, who was well known as the accredited Minister to the Court of +St. James's, and who also made himself ludicrously conspicuous as one of +the famous Ostend manifesto party. However, his talents are undoubted, +and his public career renders it probable that, warned by the failure of +his predecessor, his presidency will reflect more credit upon the +Republic than that of Mr. Pierce. Mr. B.'s inaugural address has been +published in this country, and is, in its way, a contradictory +curiosity. He urges, in diplomacy, "frankness and clearness;" while, to +his fellow-citizens, he offers some very wily diplomatic sentences. +Munroe doctrine and manifest destiny are not named; but they are +shadowed forth in language worthy of a Talleyrand. First, he glories in +his country having never extended its territory by the sword(?); he then +proceeds to say--what everybody says in anticipation of conquest, +annexation, or absorption--"Our past history forbids that, in future, we +should acquire territory, unless this be sanctioned by the laws of +justice and honour" (two very elastic laws among nations). "Acting on +this principle, no nation will have a right to interfere, or to +complain if, in the progress of events, we shall still further extend +our possessions." Leaving these frank and clear sentences to the +consideration of the reader, we return from the digression. + +The crowd outside was very orderly, but by no means so numerous as I had +expected; I estimated them at 8000; but a friend who was with me, and +well versed in such matters, calculated the numbers at nearly 10,000, +but certainly, he said, not more. The penny Press, by way of doing +honour to their new ruler, boldly fixed the numbers at 40,000--that was +their bit of Buncombe. One cause, probably, of the crowd not being +greater, was the drizzling snow, which doubtlessly induced many to be +satisfied with seeing the procession pass along Pennsylvania Avenue. + +I cannot help remarking here, how little some of their eminent men know +of England. A senator, of great and just reputation, came to me during +the ceremony, and said, "There is one thing which must strike you as +very remarkable, and that is, that we have no soldiers here to keep +order upon an occasion of such political importance." He was evidently +unaware that, not only was such the case invariably in England, but that +soldiers are confined to barracks, or even removed during the excitement +of elections. There is no doubt that the falsehoods and exaggerations +with which the Press here teems, in matters referring to England, are +sufficiently glaring to be almost self-confuting; but if they can so +warp the mind of an enlightened senator, how is it to be wondered at +that, among the masses, many suck in all such trash as if it were Gospel +truth, and look upon England as little else than a land of despotism; +but of that, more anon. The changing of presidents in this country +resembles, practically speaking, the changing of a premier in England; +but, thank Heaven! the changing of a premier in England does not involve +the same changes as does the changing of a president here. + +I believe it was General Jackson who first introduced the practice of a +wholesale sweeping out of opponents from all situations, however small; +and this bright idea has been religiously acted upon by all succeeding +presidents. The smallest clerkships, twopenny-halfpenny postmasterships +in unheard-of villages--all, all that can be dispensed with, must make +way for the friends of the incomers to power. Fancy a new premier in +England making a clean sweep of nine-tenths of the clerks, &c., at the +Treasury, Foreign-office, Post-office, Custom-house, Dockyards, &c., &c. +Conceive the jobbing such a system must lead to, not to mention the +comparative inefficiency it must produce in the said departments, and +the ridiculous labour it throws upon the dispensers of these gifts of +place. The following quotation may be taken as a sample:-- + + OUR CUSTOM-HOUSE--WHAT A HAUL.--The _New Hampshire Patriot_, in an + article on proscription, thus refers to the merciless decapitation of + the Democrats of our Custom-house, by Mr. Collector Maxwell:-- + + "Take the New York Custom-house as a sample. There are 626 officers + there, exclusive of labourers; and it appears from the records that, + since the Whigs came into power, 427 removals have been there made. + And to show the greediness of the Whig applicants for the spoils, it + need only be stated that, on the very day the collector was sworn into + office he made forty-two removals. He made six before he was sworn. In + thirty days from the time of his entrance upon his duties he removed + 220 persons; and, in the course of a few months, he had made such a + clean sweep, that only sixty-two Democrats remained in office, with + 564 Whigs! A like sweep was made in other custom-houses; and so clean + work did this 'anti-proscription' administration make in the offices, + that a Democrat could scarcely be found in an office which a Whig + could be found to take." + + This is ominous, for the 564 Whigs to be turned over to the charity of + the new collector. Alas! the Democrats are hungry--hard shells and + soft shells--and charity begins at home. In the course of the coming + month we may anticipate a large emigration from the custom-house to + California and Australia. What a blessing to ejected office-holders + that they can fall back upon the gold mines! Such is the beautiful + working of our beneficent institutions! What a magnificent country! + +As a proof of the excitement which these changes produce, I remember +perfectly there being ten to one more fuss and telegraphing between +Washington and New York, as to who should be collector at the latter +port, than would exist between London and Paris if a revolution was in +full swing at the latter. To this absurd system may no doubt be partly +attributed the frequent irregularities of their inland postage; but it +is an evil which, as far as I can judge from observation and +conversation, will continue till, with an increasing population and +increase of business, necessity re-establishes the old and better order +of things. Political partisanship is so strong that nothing but +imperative necessity can alter it. + +The cabmen here, as in every other place I ever visited, make strenuous +efforts to do the new comers. They tried it on me; so, to show them how +knowing I was, I quoted their legitimate fares. "Ah, sir," says Cabby, +"that's very well; but, you see, we charges more at times like these." I +replied, "You've no right to raise your charges; by what authority do +you do it?" "Oh, sir, we meet together and agree what is the proper +thing." "But," says I, "the authorities are the people to settle those +things." "The authorities don't know nothing at all about it; we can +manage our own matters better than they." And they all stoutly stuck to +their own charges, the effect of which was that I scarcely saw a dozen +cabs employed during the ten days I was there. + +Nothing could exceed the crowd in the streets, in the hotels, and +everywhere; the whole atmosphere was alive with the smoke of the +fragrant weed, and all the hotels were afloat with the juice thereof. +The city has repeatedly been called the City of Magnificent Distances; +but anything so far behind its fellow cities cannot well be imagined. It +sounds incredible--nevertheless, it is a fact--that, except from the +Capitol to the "White House," there is not a street-light of any kind, +or a watchman. I lost my way one evening, and wandered all over the town +for two hours, without seeing light or guardian of any kind. I suppose +this is intended as a proof of the honest and orderly conduct of the +inhabitants, but I fear it must also be taken as a proof of their +poverty or want of energy. Whatever the reason may be, it certainly is a +reflection on the liberality of the Government, that the capital of this +Great Union should be the worst paved, worst lit, and worst guarded in +the whole Republic. + +The system of sweeping changes on the election of a new president tends +materially to stop any increase of householders, the uncertain tenure of +office making the _employés_ prefer clustering in hotels and +boarding-houses to entering on a short career of housekeeping, which +will, of course, militate against any steady increase of the city, and +thus diminish the tax-payers. There are several hotels, but they will +not stand the least comparison with those in any of the leading towns of +the Union. Like the hotels in London, they are crammed during the +season--i.e., session--and during the rest of the year are +comparatively empty, and consequently do not pay very well; but they +are not the only establishments that make hay during the session; if +report speaks truly, the bars and gambling-houses reap an immense +harvest from the representatives of the people in both houses of +congress. + +I amused myself here, as I often had done in other towns, by taking a +cigar in some decent-looking shop, and then having a chat with the +owner. On this occasion the subject of conversation was drinking in the +States. He said, in reply to a question I put to him, "Sir, a gentleman +must live a long time in the country before he can form the slightest +idea of the frightful extent to which drinking is carried, even by the +decently educated and well-to-do classes. I do not say that nine-tenths +of the people die drunk, but I firmly believe that with that proportion +death has been very materially hastened from perpetual drinks. It is one +of the greatest curses of this country, and I cannot say that I believe +it to be on the decrease." One reason, doubtless, why it is so +pernicious, is the constant habit of drinking before breakfast. That he +was correct in his per-centage, I do not pretend to say; but I certainly +have seen enough of the practice to feel sure it must have a most +pernicious effect on very many. To what extent it is carried on by the +lowest classes I had no opportunity of judging. + +The following observations, however, made by so high an authority as Mr. +Everett, must be admitted as a convincing proof that education has not +been able to cope effectually with drunkenness. Speaking of ardent +spirits, he says:-- + + "What has it done in ten years in the States of America? First, it has + cost the nation a direct expense of 120,000,000l. Secondly, it has + cost the nation an indirect expense of 120,000,000l. Thirdly, it has + destroyed 300,000 lives. Fourthly, it has sent 100,000 children to the + poor-house. Fifthly, it has consigned at least 150,000 persons to + jails and penitentiaries. Sixthly, it has made at least a thousand + maniacs. Seventhly, it has instigated to the commission of at least + fifteen hundred murders. Eighthly, it has caused 2000 persons to + commit suicide. Ninthly, it has burnt or otherwise destroyed property + to the amount of 2,000,000l. Tenthly, it has made 200,000 widows, + and 1,000,000 of orphan children." + +When I turn from the contemplation of this sad picture, and think how +many fall victims to the same vice in my own country, I cannot help +feeling that the "myriad-minded poet" wrote the following lines as an +especial warning and legacy to the Anglo-Saxon and the Celt:-- + + "Oh, that men should put an enemy in their mouths to steal away their + brains! that we should, with joy, pleasance, revel, and applause, + transform ourselves into beasts!" + +I was very sorry time did not admit of my witnessing one of the new +president's levees, as I much wished to see the olla podrida of +attendants. It must be a quaint scene; the hack-cabman who drives you to +the door will get a boy to look after his shay, and go in with you; +tag-rag and bob-tail, and all their family, go in precisely as they +like; neither soap nor brush is a necessary prelude. By late accounts +from America, it appears that at Mr. Pierce's last levee a gentleman +charged another with picking his pocket: the latter went next day with a +friend to explain the mistake, which the former refusing to accept, he +was struck by the accused, and, in return, shot him dead on the spot. A +pleasant state of society for the metropolis of a civilized community! +How changed since the days of Washington and knee-breeches! It should +however be mentioned as highly creditable to the masses, that they +rarely take advantage of their rights. The building is the size of a +moderately wealthy country gentleman's house in England, and has one or +two fine reception-rooms; between it and the water a monument is being +raised to Washington. I fear it will be a sad failure; the main shaft or +column suggests the idea of a semaphore station, round the base whereof +the goodly things of sculpture are to be clustered. As far as I could +glean from conversation with Americans, they seem themselves to +anticipate anything but success. + +The finest buildings here are the Capitol, Patent-office, and +Post-office. Of these the Patent-office, which is modelled after the +Parthenon, is the only one that has any pretensions to architecture. I +fear the Anglo-Saxon of these later days, whether in the old country or +here, is destined to leave no solid traces of architectural +taste--_vide_ National Gallery, London, and Post-office, Washington. + +Having seen the lions of Washington, and enjoyed the hospitalities of +our able and agreeable minister, I again trusted myself to the iron +horse, and started for Baltimore. During my residence in Washington, I +had revelled latterly in the comfort of a lodging free from the horrors +of American inns. Profiting by this experience, I had applied to a +friend at Baltimore to engage me rooms in some quiet place there; by +this precaution I got into Guy's, in Monument-square. He keeps a +restaurant, but has a few beds for friends or old customers. I found +myself most comfortably housed, and the living of the cleanest and the +best; besides which, my kind friends gave me the _entrée_ of the Club, +which was almost next door. The hospitalities of which I had enjoyed a +foretaste in November last, now thickened upon me, and though the season +of Lent had put a stop to large and general parties, enough was still +left to make my stay very agreeable. + +The town is beautifully situated on undulating ground, commanding a +lovely view of the hay; the streets are of a rational breadth, the town +is rapidly increasing, the new buildings are all large and airy, and +everything indicates prosperity. The cuisine of Baltimore has a very +high, and, as far as I can judge, a very just reputation; not merely +Maxwell Point canvas-back ducks, but the famous Terrapin also, lend +their aid to the enjoyment of the inner man. In fact, so famous is the +Terrapin, that a wicked wag detailed to me an account of a highly +improper scene which he said took place once in the Episcopal Church +here, viz., a gentleman who had a powerful voice and generally led the +responses, had his heart and mind so full of the luscious little animal, +that by a sad fatality he substituted "Terrapin" for "Seraphin" in the +response; and so far was any one from remarking it, that the whole +congregation repeated the mistake after him. The curly twinkle in the +eye with which my friend told me the story, leaves an impression in my +mind that it may be an exaggeration. + +While here, I observed a play-bill with "The White Slave of England" +printed on it, evidently intended as a set-off against the dramatizing +of "Uncle Tom" in London, at some of our penny theatres. Of course I +went to see it, and never laughed more in all my life. + +The theatre was about the size of a six-stalled stable, and full of +rowdies, &c.--no ladies; our party had a private-box. The tragedy opens +by revealing the under-ground of a coal-pit in England, where is seen a +fainting girl, &c. &c.: the girl is, of course, well licked by a driver; +an explosion takes place; dead and dying bodies are heaped together, +the driver says, "D---- 'em, let 'em lie; we'll get plenty more from the +poor-house." These mines belong to a Lord Overstone; an American arrives +with a negro servant, whom he leaves to seek his own amusement. He then +calls on Lord Overstone, and obtains permission to visit the mines; +there he finds the girl alluded to above all but dying, and, of course, +rescues her. In the meantime, the nigger calls on Lord Overstone as a +foreign prince, is immensely _fêted_, the Duchess of Southernblack and +her friend Lady Cunning are invited to meet his Royal Highness; the +rescued girl is claimed as a slave by Lord Overstone; philanthropic +Jonathan, after some difficulty, succeeds in keeping her, having first +ordered Lord Overstone's servants to the right-about with all the +swagger of a northern negro-driver. It appears that Jonathan was +formerly a boy in the mines himself, and had conceived an affection for +this girl. Lord Overstone finds out that Jonathan has papers requisite +for him to prove his right to his property; he starts with his family +for America, to visit him on his plantation. There the niggers exhibit a +paradise such as never was; nearly the first person is his Royal +Highness the nigger servant. Lady Overstone faints when he comes up to +shake hands. Business proceeds; Lord Overstone bullies,--Jonathan is the +milk of mildness. At last it turns out the girl is a daughter of Lord +Overstone, and that the Yankee is the owner by right of Lord Overstone's +property. He delivers a Buncombe speech, resigning his rights, and +enlarging on the higher privilege of being in the land of true +freedom--a slave plantation. The audience scream frantically, Lord and +Lady Overstone go back humbled, and the curtain falls on one of the most +absurd farces I ever saw; not the least absurd part being Jonathan +refusing to take possession of his inheritance of 17,000l. a-year. +Truly, "Diogenes in his tub" is nothing to "Jonathan in his sugar-cask." + +The population of Maryland has increased in whites and free negroes, and +decreased in slaves, between the years 1800 and 1852, in the following +manner:-- + + Whites. Free Negroes. Slaves. + 1800 216,000 8,000 103,000 + 1852 500,000 74,008 90,000. + +The state has nearly a thousand educational establishments; and there +are sixty daily and weekly papers for the instruction of the community. +Baltimore has a population of 140,000 whites, 25,000 free blacks, 3000 +slaves. Among this population are nearly 30,000 Germans and 20,000 +Irish. The value of the industrial establishments of the city is +estimated at considerably above 4,000,000l. From the above, I leave +the reader to judge of its prosperity. + +The people in Baltimore who enjoy the widest--if not the most +enviable--reputation, are the fire companies. They are all volunteer, +and their engines are admirable. They are all jealous as Kilkenny cats +of one another, and when they come together, they scarcely ever lose an +opportunity of getting up a bloody fight. They are even accused of doing +occasionally a little bit of arson, so as to get the chance of a row. +The people composing the companies are almost entirely rowdies, and +apparently of any age above sixteen: when extinguishing fires, they +exhibit a courage and reckless daring that cannot be surpassed, and they +are never so happy as when the excitement of danger is at its highest. +Their numbers are so great, that they materially affect the elections of +all candidates for city offices; the style of persons chosen, may hence +be easily guessed. The cup of confusion is fast filling up; and unless +some knowing hands can make a hole in the bottom and drain off the +dregs, the overflow will be frightful. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote AC: I had had the good fortune to pick up an agreeable +companion on board the "Isabel"--the brother of one of our most +distinguished members of the House of Commons--who, like myself, had +been visiting Cuba, and was hastening to Washington, to be present at +the inauguration of the President Elect, and with him I spent many very +pleasant days.] + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +_Philadelphia and Richmond_. + + +Having spent a very pleasant time at Baltimore, I took rail for +Philadelphia, the city of "loving brotherhood," being provided with +letters to several most amiable families in that town. I took up my +abode at Parkinson's--a restaurant in Chestnut-street--where I found the +people very civil and the house very clean; but I saw little of the +inside of the house, except at bed and breakfast time. The hospitality +for which this city is proverbial soon made me as much at home as if I +had been a resident there all my life. Dinner-party upon dinner-party +succeeded each other like waves of the ocean; the tables groaned under +precious vintages of Madeira, dating back all but to the Flood. I have +never before or since tasted such delicious wine, and in such profusion, +and everybody stuck to it with such leech-like tenacity. On one +occasion, having sat down to dinner at two o'clock, I found myself +getting up from table half an hour after midnight, and quite as fresh as +when I had sat down. There was no possibility of leaving the hospitable +old General's mahogany.[AD] One kind friend, Mr. C.H. Fisher, insisted +that I must make his house my hotel, either he or his wife were always +at dinner at four o'clock, and my cover was always laid. The society of +his amiable lady and himself made it too tempting an offer to refuse, +and I need scarcely say, it added much to the pleasure of my stay in +Philadelphia. The same kind friend had also a seat for me always in his +box at the opera, where that most charming and lady-like of actresses, +the Countess Rossi,[AE] with her sweet voice, was gushing forth +soft melody to crammed houses. On every side I met nothing but +kindness. Happening one day at dinner to mention incidentally, that I +thought the butter unworthy of the reputation of Philadelphia--for it +professes to stand pre-eminent in dairy produce--two ladies present +exclaimed, "Well!" and accompanied the expression by a look of active +benevolence. The next morning, as I was sitting down to breakfast, a +plate arrived from each of the rivals in kindness; the dew of the +morning was on the green leaf, and underneath, such butter as my mouth +waters at the remembrance of, and thus it continued during my whole +stay. The club doors, with all its conveniences--and to a solitary +stranger they are very great--were thrown open to me: in short, my +friends left me nothing to wish, except that my time had permitted me a +longer enjoyment of their hospitalities. + +The streets of Philadelphia, which run north and south from the +Schuylkill to the Delaware, are named after the trees, a row whereof +grow on each side; but whether from a poetic spirit, or to aid the +memory, some of the names are changed, that the following couplet, +embracing the eight principal ones, may form a handy guide to the +stranger or the resident:-- + + "Chestnut, walnut, spruce, and pine, + Market, arch, race, and vine." + +Mulberry, and sassafras, and juniper, would have dished the poetry. The +cross-streets are all called by numbers; thus any domicile is readily +found. The principal traverse street is an exception, being called +"Broad;" it looks its name well, and extends beyond the town into the +country: strange as it may seem to those who associate stiff white +bonnets, stiff coat-collars, and broad-brimmed hats, with Philadelphia, +on the extremity of this street every Sunday afternoon, all the famous +trotters may be seen dashing along at three-minute pace. The country +round about is pretty and undulating, and the better-to-do inhabitants +of Philadelphia have very snug little country places, in which they +chiefly reside during the summer, and to which, at other seasons, they +often adjourn upon the Saturday, to enjoy the quiet of Sunday in the +country. + +One of the first objects of interest I went to visit was the Mint, the +labours of which are of course immensely increased since the working of +the Californian mines. Men are coming in every day with gold in greater +or lesser quantities; it is first assayed, and the per-centage for this +work being deducted, the value is paid in coin to the owner. While I was +there, I saw a wiry-looking fellow arrive, in bright hat and brighter +satin waistcoat, with a beard as bushy as an Indian jungle, and as red +as the furnace into which his precious burden was to be thrown. Two +small leather bags were carefully taken out of a waist-belt, their +contents emptied into a tin can, a number placed in the can, and a +corresponding number given him--no words spoken: in two days he would +return, and, producing his number, receive value in coin. The dust would +all have gone into a good-sized coffee-cup. I asked the officer about +the value. "400l., sir." He had left a New England state some eight +months previous, and was going home to invest in land. + +What strikes a stranger most on entering the Mint, is the absence of all +extra defence round it; the building appears as open as any London +house. The process is, of course, essentially the same as elsewhere; but +I was astonished when the director told me that the parties employed in +the establishment are never searched on leaving, though the value of +hundreds of thousands of dollars is daily passing through their hands in +every shape. The water in which the workmen wash their hands runs into a +tank below, and from this water, value to the amount of from 60l. to +80l. is extracted annually. The sweepings, &c., after the most careful +sifting, are packed in casks and sold--chiefly, I believe, to European +Jews--for 4000l. annually. The only peculiarity in the Philadelphian +Mint is a frame-work for counting the number of pieces coined, by which +ingenious contrivance--rendered necessary by Californian pressure--one +man does the work of from twenty to thirty. The operation of weighing +the several pieces of coin being of a delicate nature, it is confided to +the hands of the fair sex, who occupy a room to themselves, where each +daughter of Eve sits with the gravity of a Chancellor opposite a +delicate pair of scales. Most parts of the establishment are open to the +public from ten till two, and they are only excluded from those portions +of the building where intrusion would impede the operations in progress. + +This city, like most others in America, is liberally supplied with +water. Magnificent basins are built in a natural mound at Fairmount, +nearly opposite an old family mansion of the Barings, and the water is +forced up into these basins from the river by powerful water-wheels, +worked by the said river, which is dammed up for the purpose of +obtaining sufficient fall, as the stream is sometimes very low. + +Perhaps the most interesting, and certainly the most imposing sight in +the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, is "The Gerard College." So singular +and successful a career as that of the founder deserves a slight record. + +Stephen Gerard was born of French parents, at Bordeaux, the 21st of May, +1750, and his home--owing to his mother's place having soon been filled +by a step-mother--appears to have left no pleasant reminiscences. At +fourteen years of age he took to the sea. Subsequently, as master and +part owner of a small vessel, he arrived, in the year 1777, at +Philadelphia for the first time, and commenced business as a merchant; +but it appears that in 1786, he took command of one of his own vessels, +leaving the management of his mercantile house to his brother. Returning +in 1788, he dissolved partnership with his brother, and bade a final +adieu to the sea. In the year 1793, the yellow fever raged with fury at +Philadelphia; as the ravage increased, the people fled aghast. A +hospital was organized at Bush Hill, in the neighbourhood, but all was +confusion, for none could be found to face the dreaded enemy, till +Stephen Gerard and Peter Helm boldly volunteered their services at the +risk of their lives. Stephen Gerard was married, but his wife was +consigned to an asylum in 1790, after various ineffectual efforts for +her cure; there she remained till her death, in 1815. His mercantile +pursuits prospered in every direction, and he soon became one of the +most wealthy and influential men in the community; he was possessed of a +vigorous constitution, and was extremely regular and abstemious in his +habits. In 1830 he was knocked down by a passing vehicle as he was +crossing the street; by this accident he was severely injured in the +head, from which he was slowly recovering, when, in 1831, he was seized +with violent influenza, and ultimately pneumonia, of which he died, the +26th of December, aged eighty-one. + +His character appears to have been a curious compound. The assiduity +with which he amassed wealth, coupled with his abstemious habits, and +his old knee-breeches patched all over--and still to be seen in the +college--strongly bespoke the miser; while his contributions to public +works, and his liberal transactions in money matters, led to an opposite +conclusion; and from his noble conduct during the yellow fever it is +reasonable to infer he was a humane man. I do not wish to judge people +uncharitably, but, I must say, I can allow but little credit to a man +who legacies the bulk of his fortune away from his relations when he can +no longer enjoy it himself. Mr. Gerard had very many relatives; let us +see how he provided for them. The _résumé_ of his will may be thus +stated: he died worth 1,500,000l., and thus disposes of it:-- + + Erection and endowment of college £400,000 + Different institutions of charity 23,200 + To his relatives and next of kin 28,000 + City of Philadelphia, for improvements 100,000 + Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, for + internal improvements 60,000 + Sundry friends, &c. 13,000 + +The residue left to the city of Philadelphia, for improvement and +maintenance of his college, the establishment of better police, and to +improve the city and diminish taxation. Thus, out of a fortune of one +million and a half, he leaves his relatives 28,000l. Charity, in this +instance, can scarcely be said to have begun at home. + +A certain increase of property to the amount of 60,000l. having taken +place since the date of his will, a suit was instituted by the +heirs-at-law to recover the same; in which, I am happy to say, they were +successful. + +Perhaps one of the most extraordinary clauses in his will is the +following, viz.:-- + +"_I enjoin and require that no ecclesiastic, missionary, or Minister of +any sect whatsoever, shall ever hold or exercise any station or duty +whatever in the said college; nor shall any such person ever be admitted +for any purpose, or as a visitor, within the premises appropriated to +the purposes of the said college._" + +The general design of the college is taken from the Madeleine. +Thirty-four columns surround it, each column six feet in diameter and +fifty feet high, made of marble, and weighing 103 tons, and costing when +placed 2600l. Some idea of the massiveness of the building may be +formed from the fact that, measuring 111 feet by 169 feet, and 59 of +height, the weight of material employed is estimated at 76,594-1/2 tons. +The effect of the whole is grand and graceful; and although as an orphan +asylum much money has been needlessly turned from its charitable uses, +as a building it does credit to the architect and all employed upon it, +and is, beyond all comparison, the best specimen of architecture I have +seen in the States. + +[Illustration: Gerard College, Philadelphia] + +The number of orphans receiving instruction is three hundred and one; +they are cleanly and comfortably lodged, and well-boarded; their ages +average from ten to fourteen and a half, and the upper classes of the +school are taught conic sections, geometry, chemistry, natural +philosophy, navigation, astronomy, mechanics, physical geography, &c. + +While in the school vein, I visited one appropriated to four hundred +free negroes, whom I found of all ages, from five to fifty, males and +females being kept separate. The master told me that he found the boys +tolerably sharp, but very cunning, and always finding some excuse for +irregular attendance. The mistress said she found the girls very docile, +and the parents very anxious, but too soon satisfied with the first +stages of progress. The patience and pains I saw one of the teachers +exhibiting in the process of enlightening the little woolly heads was +most creditable. + +Having finished the negro school, I got a letter to the principal of the +High School, Professor Hart, by whom I was kindly shown over that +admirable institution, which is also free; but, before proceeding to any +observations on the High School, it may be interesting to know something +of the entire provision for instruction which exists in the city and +county of Philadelphia. The number of schools is 256, teachers 727, +scholars 45,383. The teachers are principally females--646; of scholars, +the males rather preponderate. The annual expense of these +establishments is 66,500l., and the average cost of each pupil is +26s. No pupil can be admitted into the High School without producing +satisfactory testimonials from the inferior schools, as well as passing +the requisite examination; the consequence of this arrangement is a vast +improvement in the inferior schools, as bad conduct there would +effectually bar their entry to the High School. The average age of +entry is fourteen, and a lad is required to stay five years before he +can take his degree as Master of Arts, one indispensable requisite for +which is moral character. The school numbers about 500 of all kinds and +positions in society, from the hopes of the tinsmith to the heir of the +toga'd judge. + +The instruction is of so high an order that no private establishment can +compete with it; in short, it may be said to embrace a very fair college +education. Read the following list of professors: the Principal, who is +also Professor of Moral, Mental, and Political Science; Professor of +Practical Mathematics; of Theoretical Science and Astronomy; of History +and Belles-Lettres; of Natural History; of Latin and Greek; of French +and Spanish; of Drawing, Writing, and Book-keeping; of Chemistry and +Natural Philosophy; and three assistants. The highest salary received by +these professors is 270l. a-year, except that of Mr. Hart the +Principal, which is 400l.; and in him all the responsibilities centre. +This is the only school where I ever knew the old Saxon regularly +taught. Instruction is given in various other studies not enumerated in +the Professors' list; thus, in the class under the Professor of Natural +History, botany, and anatomy, and such medical information as may be +useful on any of the emergencies of every-day life are taught. No books +are brought to this class; the instruction is entirely by lecture, and +the subjects treated are explained by beautifully-executed +transparencies, placed before a window by day, and before a bright jet +of gas by night, and thus visible easily to all. The readiness with +which I heard the pupils in this class answer the questions propounded +to them showed the interest they took in the subject, and was a +conclusive proof of the efficiency of the system of instruction pursued; +they dived into the arcana of human and vegetable life with an ease that +bore the most satisfactory testimony to the skill of the instructor and +the attention of the pupils. + +There is a plan adopted at this school which I never saw before, and +which Professor Hart told me was most admirable in its results. At the +end of every three-quarters of an hour all the doors and windows in the +house are opened simultaneously; the bell is then rung twice: at the +first sound, all lectures, recitations, and exercises cease, and the +students put their books, caps, &c., in readiness to move; at the second +sound, all the classes move simultaneously from the room in which they +have been studying to the room in which the next course of study is to +be followed. The building is so arranged, that in passing from one room +to another, they have to pass through the court round the house. This +operation takes three minutes, and is repeated about eight times a-day, +during which intervals all the doors and windows are open, thus +thoroughly ventilating the rooms; but there is a further advantage, +which is thus described in the Report,--"These movements are found very +useful in giving periodically a fresh impulse both to the bodies and to +the minds of the students, and in interrupting almost mechanically the +dull monotony which is apt to befall school hours." The Principal told +me, that, from careful observation, he looked upon this as one of the +most valuable regulations in the establishment, and that it was +difficult to rate its advantages too highly, the freshness of mind which +it brought infinitely outweighing any loss of time, interruption, &c. I +spent three interesting hours in this admirable institution. + +The next establishment I visited was of a very different description; +i.e., the jail of solitary confinement. I much wished to have seen +some of the prisoners who had been confined for a length of time, but +from some informality in the letter I brought, the guardian did not feel +authorized to break through the regulations. The prisoners are sometimes +confined here for twelve years; they are kept totally separate, but they +are allowed to occupy themselves at different trades, &c., in their +cells. My guide told me he had never seen any of them become the least +idiotic or light-headed from long confinement. Their cells were clean +and airy, and some had a little eight-feet-square garden attached; their +food was both plentiful and good, and discipline was preserved by the +rod of diet; "but," says the guide, "if they become very troublesome +and obstinate we" ... what d'ye think?... "give them a shower-bath;" +criminals here seem to hate fresh water as much as the tenants of the +poor-houses in England do. The jail seems very well adapted for +escaping; but I suppose the rifle-armed sentries at the angles of the +wall keep them in sufficient awe, as I was told they very rarely get +away. The number confined was two hundred and eighty. + +The last place I visited was the Lunatic Asylum, which appears admirably +placed and admirably conducted. The situation commands a view of two +public roads, where the bustle and stir of life are continually passing +before their eyes, and with no visible fence intervening, the ground +being so undulating and wooded as effectually to conceal the barrier. +The grounds are pleasantly laid out in walks, gardens, hothouses, &c.; a +comfortable reading-room and ten-pin alley[AF] are provided on each +side, one for the males, the other for the females. The rooms and +dormitories are large and airy, and carriages and horses are ready for +such as the physician recommends should take that exercise. The comfort +of the inmates appeared fully equal to that of any similar establishment +I have visited, and the position far superior, for there was no visible +barrier between them and the open country. + +But Time says to the traveller what the policeman says to the gathering +crowd, "Move on, if you please, sir; move on." Obey is the word. Kind +friends are left behind, the kettle hisses, the iron horse snorts, the +Hudson is passed, New York is gained, the journey is behind me, bread, +butter, and Bohea before me. "Go on," says Time. The Charleston steamer, +"James Adger," is bursting to be off. Introduced to the agents, they +introduced me to the skipper. The skipper seems to think I am his +father; he insists upon my occupying his cabin--a jolly room, big enough +to polka in--fifteen feet square. Thanks, most excellent skipper, "may +your shadow never be less"--it is substantial enough now. Do you ask why +I go to New York from Philadelphia to reach Charleston? The reply is +simple:--to avoid the purgatory of an American railway, and to enjoy the +life-giving breezes "that sweep o'er the ocean wave." The skipper was +a regular trump; the service was clean, and we fed like fighting-cocks. +The weather was fine, the ship a clipping good one, passengers few, but +with just enough 'bacco-juice flying about the decks to remind me where +I was. + +One of our company was a charming rarity in his way. He was an Irish +Yankee, aged eighty-three. A more perfect Paddy never existed; and so, +of course, he talked about fighting, and began detailing to me the +various frays in which "we whipt the Britishers." By way of chaffing +him, I said, "No wonder; they were Anglo-Saxon blood, brought their +courage from England, and were not only fighting at home, but with a +halter round their necks." The old veteran got furious, cursed England +and the Saxon blood, from Harold to the present hour; he then proved to +his own satisfaction that all the great men in America, and all the +soldiers, were Celts. "It was the Celts, sir, that whipt the Britishers; +and, ould as I am, sure I'd like to take 20,000 men over to the ould +counthree, and free it from the bloodthirsty villins, the Saxon brutes." +If poor O'Brien had had half the fire of this old Yankee Paddy, he never +would have been caught snoozing among the old widow's cabbages. I really +thought the old gentleman would have burst outright, or collapsed from +reaction; but it passed over like a white squall, and left the original +octogenarian calm behind. The darkness of the third evening has closed +in upon us, the struggling stream is bellowing for release, hawsers are +flying about, boys running from them, and men after them; the good +"James Adger" is coquetting about with those well-known young ladies, +the Misses "Bakkur and Ternahed;" James seems determined to enjoy it for +an unusually prolonged period this evening; but, like everything else, +it must have an end, and at last good James lies snugly in his berth, +alongside the wharf at Charleston. Cabmen and touters offer an infinity +of services; passengers radiate--my Yankee Paddy, it is to be hoped, +went to an ice-saloon. Your humble servant went to a boarding-house kept +by a most worthy old lady, but where flies occupied one half the house, +and the filthiest negro-boys the other. Several respectable people, out +of regard to the old lady, were performing the penance of residing in +her house: a trip on hot ashes from Dan to Beersheba would have been +luxury by comparison. I resigned myself and got reconciled, as I saw the +sincere desire of the dear old girl to make me as comfortable as she +could; and by learning to eat my meals with my eyes shut, I got on +tolerably well. But scarce had I set foot in this establishment which I +have been describing, ere kind friends sprang up to greet me and offer +me the use of their club-room, which was just opposite my +boarding-house; and as this was only the prelude to endless other +civilities, my lodging saw very little of me; which may be easily +imagined, when it is recollected how famous Charleston is, not only for +the good living which it affords, but for the liberal hospitality with +which it is dispensed. A letter to one gentleman becomes, like magic, an +"Open Sesame" to all the cellars and society in the place; and the only +point in dispute is, who can show you most kindness. + +The town is conveniently situated between the Ashley and Cooper rivers, +with a population of 25,000 whites and the same number of blacks; it is +a mixture of all that is lovely and annoying. The houses have mostly +little gardens attached to them, sparkling with tropical flowers, and +the streets are shaded with avenues of trees. This is all very lovely to +look upon; but when you go out to enjoy a stroll, if the air is still, a +beefsteak would frizzle on the crown of your hat; and if there is the +slightest breeze, the sandy dust, like an Egyptian _khamseen_, laughs at +all precautions, blinding your eyes, stuffing your nose, filling your +mouth, and bringing your hide to a state which I can find no other +comparison for but that of a box intended to represent a stone pedestal, +and which, when the paint has half dried, is sprinkled with sand to +perfect the delusion. Thus you can understand the lovely and the +annoying of which I have spoken. When the inhabitants wish to take a +drive, there is a plank road about six miles long, which enables them to +enjoy this luxury. If they are not content with this road, they must +seek their pleasure with the carriages up to their axles in sand. There +are three old royalist buildings still standing--viz., the Episcopal +church, the Court-house, and the Exchange. The first reminds one warmly +of the dear old parish church in England, with its heavy oak pulpit and +the square family pews, and it sobers the mind as it leads the memory to +those days when, if the church was not full of activity, it was not full +of strife--when parishioners were not brought to loggerheads as to the +colour of the preacher's gown--when there was no triangular duel (_vide_ +Marryat) as to candles, no candles, and lit candles--when, in short, if +there was but moderate zeal about the substance, there was no +quarrelling about the shadows of religion; and if we were not blessed +with the zeal of a Bennet, we were not cursed with the strife of a +Barnabas. At the time the colonists kicked us out of this place, by way +of not going empty-handed, we bagged the church-bells as a +trophy--(query, is not robbing a church sacrilege?)--and they eventually +found their way into a merchant's store in England, where they remained +for years. Not long since, having been ferreted out, they were replaced +in their original position, and now summon the Republicans of the +nineteenth century to their devotions as lustily as they did the +Royalists in the eighteenth. There is nothing remarkable in the two +other buildings, except their antiquity, and the associations arising +therefrom.[AG] + +One of the most striking sights here is the turn-out of the Fire +Companies on any gala day. They consist of eight companies, of one +hundred each; their engines are brilliantly got up, and decorated +tastefully with flowers; banners flying; the men, in gay but +business-like uniform, dragging their engines about, and bands playing +away joyously before them. The peculiarity of the Charleston firemen is +that, instead of being composed of all the rowdies of the town, as is +often the case in the large eastern cities, they are, generally +speaking, the most respectable people in the community. This may partly +be accounted for by the militia service being so hard, and the fines +for the neglect of the same so heavy, from which all those serving in +the Fire Companies are exempt.[AH] The South Carolinians, in +anticipation of any insurrection among the negroes, or in case of being +driven into secession by success attending the efforts of the +Abolitionists, have very prudently established a little miniature West +Point institution,[AI] where lads from fifteen to twenty receive a +thorough military education, and then retire into private life and +follow any pursuits they choose. By this means the nucleus of military +officers requisite for an army is obtained, and the frequent drilling of +the militia forms a solid groundwork for that latter, should the hour of +necessity unfortunately arrive. The gay time of Charleston is during the +races, which take place in February, and have a considerable reputation, +although, perhaps, not quite so high as they had some few years back. I +have never seen any of their racing studs; but, as they import from +England some of the finest stallions that come into the market, and as +the breed of horse in America is very active and enduring, their racers, +it is to be presumed, make a very good show. + +Having impregnated my system with turtle, terrapin, mint-julep, and +Madeira--the latter such as only America can show--I bade adieu to my +kind and hospitable friends, and started for Virginia. The first part of +the journey--i.e., as far as Wilmington--I performed in a wretched +little steamer, anything but seaworthy, with horrid cribs, three one +above the other, to sleep in, and a motley mixture of passengers, as +usual. No particular incident occurred; and having fine weather, we +escaped wrecking or putting back. On ascending the river to Wilmington, +you see royal--I beg pardon, republican--sturgeons jumping about in all +directions, and of all sizes, from three to five feet in length. We +reached the town in time to catch the train, and off we started. When +about six miles on our journey, a curious motion of the carriages, added +to their "slantingdicular" position and accompanied by a slight scream, +proclaimed that we were off the rails. Thank God! no lives were lost or +limbs broken. The first person that I saw jump from the train was a +Spanish colonel, who shot out with an activity far beyond his years, +hugging to his bosom a beloved fiddle, which was the joy of his heart, +and about the safety of which he was evidently as anxious as about his +own. He sat down by the side of the carriages, a ludicrous picture of +alarm and composure combined. He was on his way to England with the +intention of presenting some musical compositions to the Queen, and +possibly had a floating idea he might do a bit of Paganini before Her +Gracious Majesty. Gradually, all the party unkenneled; and it was then +discovered that, had we run off the rails a few yards further on, we +should have had a nasty cropper down a thirty-feet bank; fortunately, we +ran off on the level, and merely stuck in the sand. + +Upon inquiry as to the cause of the accident, I ascertained that it was +in consequence of a point for turning off on to another set of rails +being broken. Upon examining the said point, I found it was as worn and +rotten as time could make it. I mentioned this to the engineer, who told +me he was perfectly aware of it, and had reported it to the +superintendent a fortnight before, but that he--the superintendent--had +guessed it would do very well for some time yet; consequently, the +engineer always went slower when approaching the spot, to avoid, if +possible, an accident. By this precaution we had been saved the capsize +over the bank, which otherwise would inevitably have been our fate. +Thus, for the sake of twenty shillings, they had smashed an engine, +doing damage to the amount of twenty pounds at least, besides risking +the lives of all the passengers. What was to be done? There was nothing +for it but to go back to Wilmington, chew the cud of disgust, and hope +the rascally superintendent might break every bone in his body the first +favourable opportunity. This done, and a night's rest over, we again +tempted fate, and continued our journey, which for a long time ran +through large pine-forests, every member of which community was a victim +of laceration, inflicted on him for the purpose of drawing off his +life's blood, which dribbled into a box at the root, and, when full, was +carried off to make turpentine. + +Arrived at Peterborough, we found the population so far behind the +American age, that they would not allow a railroad to pass through their +town; we were consequently constrained to shift into omnibuses, and +drive some three miles to the station on the other side. As this trip +was peculiarly barren of incident, it may gratify the reader to be +informed, that in the confusion of shifting from one station to the +other I lost my best and only hat. I hope this simple record will be +received as conclusive evidence of the monotony and dullness of the +journey. I do not mention it to excite sympathy, for I am happy to say +that I have since purchased a new and a better one; and in case my old +one is found, I hereby will and bequeath the same to the mayor of +Peterborough, his heirs and successors, hoping that they may wear no +other until a railroad round or through the town connects the termini. +Again we mount the iron horse--time flies--light mingles with +darkness--and at nine o'clock I alight at the Royal Exchange Hotel, +Richmond. Soap and water, tea and bed, follow in quick succession, and +then comes the land of dreams and oblivion. + +Richmond is a lovely spot, situated on the northern bank of James River, +one hundred and fifty miles from the sea, and is the capital of +Virginia. It contains nearly 30,000 inhabitants of whom 1000 are slaves. +Being built upon several hills, it is free from the eternal sameness of +level and regularity of lines which tire the eye so much in New York, +Philadelphia, &c., and its site resembles more that of Boston or +Baltimore. The James River is navigable for small vessels as high as +Richmond; but just above the town there is a barrier which arrests alike +the navigator's course and the traveller's eye. This barrier is called +the Rapids, and is a most beautiful feature in the scenery. + +The Rapids are about three-quarters of a mile in extent, having a fall +of more than one hundred feet in that distance. The stream is broad, and +interspersed with endless little wooded islands and rocks, around and +above which it dashes the spray and foam in its impetuous descent. The +climate is lovely, the atmosphere pearly; and when, from the height +above, you look down upon the panorama spread beneath your feet, it +recalls to the mind the beautiful view so many of us must have +frequently been entranced with, while inhaling the meditative weed and +strolling along Richmond-terrace on a summer afternoon, gazing on old +Father Thames glowing in the rays of a setting sun, and looking doubly +bright from the sombre shade of the venerable timber which fringes the +margin of this sluggish stream. Pardon this digression; those only who +have wandered so far away can feel the indefinite, indescribable +pleasure with which one grasps at anything that recals the home of one's +affections, the scenes of early days, and the dear friends who are still +enjoying them. + +The best place for reviewing the Rapids is from the drive leading to the +Cemetery, which here, as in most large American towns, is one of the +prettiest spots in the neighbourhood; but the Rapids are not only +ornamental, they are eminently useful. They afford a water-power to +several mills, one of which, the Gallego Flour-Mill, is a splendid +establishment, six stories high, nearly one hundred feet square, and +capable of sending out daily 1200 barrels of flour. The flour is of very +superior quality, the brand fetching a higher price than that of most +others in the country. There are also rolling-mills, cotton and tobacco +factories; the latter of course in great quantities, as tobacco is one +of the chief products of the state, and rapidly increasing. The produce +entered in Richmond, which in 1851 was under 16,000 hogsheads, in 1852 +amounted to more than 24,000, and is now very probably above 30,000. +Virginia has the honour of being the first State that raised cotton, the +cultivation whereof was commenced in the year 1662. + +Let us pass on to the hill at the eastern extremity of the city, +commanding a panoramic view of the river below the town, and all the +surrounding country. One spot arrests the attention, a spot closed with +the deepest and most romantic interest. A solitary tree, to which no +sacrilegious hand has yet dared to apply the axe, stands a few miles +down the river, on the same side as the town, and marks the site of the +lodge of the venerable old chieftain, Powhattan, when as yet the colony +was in its infancy, and when the Indian and the white man--the spoiler +and the spoiled--were looking at each other with mutual distrust, deep +fear on one side and dark foreboding on the other. The Indian is no +more; and nought remains as a memorial of this chief who once ruled this +fertile land with absolute sway, except this solitary tree;--and what an +episode in the history of colonization does that tree recal! Who can +forget that, when despair was the Colonists' daily bread, when nought +but the energy and genius of Smith--a man of very ordinary name, but of +no ordinary character--kept hope flickering in its socket, an attack of +Indians made him a prisoner, and left them hopeless. Then, how romantic +the tale of his captivity! He betrayed no fear, but retained perfect +self-possession; and remembering how easy their superstitious minds +could be worked upon, he drew forth, and with great solemnity commenced +looking steadily at his pocket-compass, and thence to heaven, +alternating between the two, until he impressed them with a feeling of +awe, as though he were a superior being communing with the Great Spirit. +This feeling gradually wearing off, the captors insisted upon his death, +as an expiation for the many injuries they had experienced at the hands +of the whites. The tribe meet, the block is prepared, the captive's neck +is laid ready, the upraised tomahawk, held by a brawny Indian arm, whose +every muscle quivers with revenge, glitters in the sunbeams; swarthy +figures around, thirsting for blood, anxiously await the sacrifice of +the victim, already too long delayed. Hope has fled from the captive's +breast, and he is communing in earnest with the Great Spirit into whose +presence he is about to be so sadly and speedily ushered. Suddenly a +shriek is heard! At that well-known voice the savage arm falls helpless +at its side, as, stretched upon the neck of the despairing captive, lies +the lovely daughter of Powhattan, with tearful eye, and all the wild +energy of her race, vowing she will not survive the butchery of her +kindest friend. Ruthless hands would tear her away, and complete the +bloody tragedy. Who dares lay even a finger upon the noble daughter of +their adored chief? They stand abashed, revenge and doubt striving in +their hearts; the eloquence of love and mercy pleading irresistibly from +the eyes of Pocahontas. The tomahawk, upraised by man's revenge for the +work of a captive's death, descends, when moved by woman's tears, to cut +a captive's bonds. + +Callous indeed must that man's heart be, who can gaze upon the spot +where the noble Pocahontas--reared among savages, 'mid the solemn +grandeur of the forest, and beneath, the broad canopy of heaven, with no +Gospel light to guide and soften--received the holy impulses of love and +mercy fresh from her Maker's hand; and how gratifying to remember, that +she who had thus early imbibed these sacred feelings, became soon after +a convert to Christianity. Alas! how short her Christian career. +Marrying Mr. J. Rolfe, she died in childbirth ere she had reached her +twenty-fifth year, and from her many of the oldest families in Virginia +at this day have their origin. Virginia, as is well known, has always +been considered an aristocratic State; and it is a kind of joke--in +allusion to this Indian origin--for other States to speak disparagingly +of the F.F.Vs.--_alias_ first families of Virginia. Let those who sneer, +seek carefully amid their musty ancestral rolls for a nobler heart than +that of Pocahontas, the joy of Powhattan's house and the pride of all +his tribe. How strange, that a scene so well known as the foregoing, and +a life so adventurous as that of Smith, has never yet engaged the pen of +a Cooper or a Bulwer! + +One of my friends in New York had given me a letter to a gentleman in +Richmond, at whose house I called soon after my arrival, as my stay was +necessarily short. He was out in the country, at his plantation. This +disappointment I endeavoured to rectify by enclosing the letter; but +when I had done so, Sambo could not tell me how to address it, as he was +in ignorance both of the place and its distance. In this dilemma, and +while ransacking my brain-box how to remedy the difficulty, a lady came +in, and having passed me, Sambo--grinning through a _chevaux-de-frise_ +of snow-white ivories--informed me that was "his Missus." I instantly +sent the letter in to her to receive its direction, and in lieu of my +letter received an immediate summons to walk in. Nothing could be more +lady-like and cordial than the reception she gave me. Shy as I am, she +immediately put me quite at my ease; in less than a quarter of an hour I +felt I was in the society of an old friend; and during my stay in +Richmond, each day found me in the same snug corner of the sofa, near +the fire, enjoying the society of one of the most amiable and agreeable +ladies it has ever been my good fortune to meet. The husband soon +returned from the plantation, and then all the hospitalities of the +house were as much at my disposal as if it had been my own, and one or +the other of these kind friends, if not both, daily lionized me over +Richmond or its neighbourhood. I feel sure, that any of my countrymen +who have visited this city when Mr. and Mrs. Stanard were staying in +town, will readily hear testimony to their kind hospitality and +agreeable society. + +There are various public buildings here, among the most conspicuous of +which is the Capitol, built in the great public square, and from its +summit commanding a splendid panoramic view. There are also about thirty +churches, one of which, the Monumental Church--which is +Episcopalian--stands upon ground of melancholy recollections; for here, +in 1811, stood the theatre, which during that year was utterly consumed +by a fire, in which the governor and scores of other human beings +perished. One great cause of the destruction of life was, having the +doors of the building fitted to open inwards--a custom, the folly of +which is only equalled by its universality. At the cry of fire, the rush +to the doors was so great that it was impossible to open them, owing to +the pressure. The only avenues of escape were the windows, in retreating +through which, the greater number of those few who succeeded in escaping +suffered the most serious injuries. How is this absurd practice of doors +opening inwards to be stopped? What think you if Insurance Companies +would combine, and make people forfeit their insurance if they entered +any public building whose doors were so fitted; or perhaps the +Chancellor of the Exchequer might bring in a bill to levy a very heavy +tax on all public buildings the doors of which opened in this dangerous +manner, and containing a stringent clause compelling managers and all +parties concerned to support the widows and orphans, and pay the +doctors' fees, arising from accidents caused therefrom. Alas! I fear +until--as Sydney Smith would say--we reduce a few cabinet ministers and +a leading member or two of the House of Peers to cinders, we shall go on +in our folly, because our ancestors did so before us. + +Among other places I went to was the public billiard-room, and on +entering, my sympathies were immediately aroused by seeing a lad about +thirteen or fourteen, with a very extensive flaming choker on, above +which was a frightful large swelling. Not being a medical man, I was +very much puzzled when I saw the said swelling move about like a penny +roll in a monkey's cheek; presently the sympathy fled, and the puzzle +was solved, as a shower of 'bacco juice deluged the floor. Poor boy! it +must have taken him an hour's hard work to have got the abominable mass +in, and it could only have been done by instalments: the size it had +reached would have broken any jaw to remove in the lump; but he seemed +to have no idea of parting with his treasure, which, to do him justice, +he rolled about with as much ease as if he had had a monkey-teacher +before him from his cradle; nor did it prevent his betting away in a +style that quite astonished a steady old gentleman like myself. + +The State of Virginia, like all the other States of the Union, is +undergoing the increasing pressure of democracy:[AJ] one of its +features--which is peculiarly obnoxious to the more sober-minded of the +community--is the new arrangement for the division of the electoral +districts, and which goes by the name of "Gerymander." In the early days +of the Republic, all divisions were made by straight lines, or as near +straight as possible; but that fair and natural mode of division is not +considered by the autocratic democracy as sufficiently favourable to +their views; and the consequence is, that other divisions have been +substituted, most irregular in shape, so as if possible to annihilate +entirely the already weakened opposition. This operation, my informant +told me, acquired a kind of celebrity in Massachusetts some years ago; +and, in the discussions upon the subject in their State legislature, one +of the speakers is said to have compared some of these arbitrary +divisions to a salamander which, in their outline they somewhat +resembled. The governor of the State was of the democratic party, and +therefore supporting and encouraging these changes, and his name was +"Gery;" so a wag interrupted the speaker, exclaiming, "Don't say +salamander; call it Gerymander,"--by which name it has been known since +that day. + +I may here as well mention a little occurrence I witnessed, which, +however pleasant it may have been to the democratic rowdies enacting it, +must have been anything but agreeable to those operated upon. A fire +company was out trying its engine and hoses, and followed of course by a +squad of the idle and unwashed. Arrived at the market-place, they tried +its range; that appeared satisfactory enough; but the idea seems to +have struck the man who held the hose-end, that range without good aim +was useless: he accordingly looked round for a target, and a glass coach +passing by at the time, it struck him as peculiarly suited for his +experiment. Two elderly females were inside, and a white Jehu on the +box. In the most deliberate manner he pointed his weapon, amidst +encouraging shouts from bystanders, and increasing zeal on the part of +the pumpers; lucidly the windows were closed, or the ladies would have +been drenched; as it was, the gushing stream rattled against the +carriage, then fixed itself steadily upon poor Jehu, frightening the +horses and nearly knocking him off the box. Naturally enough Jehu was +highly incensed, and pulled up; then getting off the box, he walked up +to his assailants, who received him with shouts of laughter; the horses, +left without a ruler, started off at a gallop, Jehu ran after them, but +luckily another person and myself rushed up, and stopped them before any +accident occurred. + +All this took place at noonday, and not a voice was raised against it. +If I had presumed to interfere with this liberty of the subject, the +chances are I should have been tied to one of the posts of the +market-place and made to stand target for an hour. It must be a charming +thing when the masses rule supreme. Fancy St. James's-street, upon a +drawing-room day, full of a pleasant little water-dispensing community +such as this;--what cheers they would raise as a good shot took off some +Jarvy's cocked-hat and bob-wig, or sent his eighteen-inch-diameter +bouquet flying into the street!--then what fun to play upon the padded +calves and silk stockings of Patagonian John, as he stood behind!--and +only imagine the immense excitement, if by good luck they could smash +some window and deluge a live aristocrat! What a nice thing a pure +democracy must be! how the majority must enjoy themselves! how the +minority must rejoice at the mild rule of bone over brain! What a +glorious idea, equality! only excelled by that gigantic conception of +Messrs. Cobden and Co., yclept the Peace Society, upon which such a +bloody comment was enacted before Sevastopol. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote AD: General Cadwallader, whose hospitality is well known to +all strangers visiting Philadelphia.] + +[Footnote AE: Alas! she has since met a melancholy death, being +accidentally poisoned in Mexico, on the 18th of June, 1854; but her fame +is as imperishable as her life was stainless.] + +[Footnote AF: The origin of ten-pins is amusing enough, and is as +follows:--The State having passed an act, during a time when religious +fervour was at high pressure, prohibiting nine-pin alleys, a tenth pin +was added, and the law evaded. In the meantime, high pressure went below +the boiling point, and the ten-pin alley remains to this day, an +amusement for the people, and a warning to indiscreet legislators.] + +[Footnote AG: The commercial prosperity of South Carolina appears to be +increasing steadily, if not rapidly. The cotton produce was-- + + In 1847. In 1852. + Bales, main land 336,562 472,338 + Ditto, sea islands 13,529 20,500 + ------- ------- + Total 350,091 492,838 + ------- ------- + +Rice in 1847 146,260 tierces. +Do. in 1852 137,497 ditto. + +The average value of the bale (450lbs.) of main land cotton is from +6l. to 8l. sterling; of the sea-island cotton, from 30_l_ to 36l. +sterling. The average price of a tierce of rice (600lbs.) is from 3l. +5s. to 4l.] + +[Footnote AH: Independent of the enormous charge of fifty per cent. on +the taxes you pay, there is also a small fine for each parade missed.] + +[Footnote AI: _Vide_ chapter on "Military Education."] + +[Footnote AJ: _Vide_ chapter on "The Constitution."] + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +_From a River to a Racecourse_. + + +Having enjoyed as much of the hospitalities of my kind friends as time +permitted, I obtained a letter of introduction, and, embarking in a +steamer, started for Williamsburg, so called after King William III. On +our way down, we picked up as healthy and jolly a set of little ducks in +their 'teens as one could wish to see. On inquiring what this aggregate +of rosy cheeks and sunny smiles represented, I was informed they were +the sum total of a ladies' school at Williamsburg--and a very charming +sum total they were. Having a day's holiday, they had come up by the +early steamer to pic-nic on the banks, and were now returning to +chronology and crotchet-work, or whatever else their studies might be. +Landing at King's Mills, a "'bus" took us all up to Williamsburg, a +distance of three or four miles, one half of which was over as dreary a +road as need be, and the other through a shady forest grove. + +This old city is composed of a straight street, at one end of which is +the establishment occupied by the rosy cheeks of whom we have been +speaking, and which is very neat and clean-looking; at the other +end--only with half a mile of country intervening--is the college. On +each side of the said street is a crescent of detached houses, with a +common before them. The population is 1500, and has not varied--as far +as I could learn--in the memory of the oldest inhabitant. I naturally +felt very much interest in visiting this place, as it was originally the +seat of the royal government, and my grandfather had been the last +governor of the state. The body of the old palace was burnt down by +accident, while occupied by French troops, in 1782. The foundations, +which were six feet thick, are still traceable, although most of the +bricks have been used for the buildings in the neighbourhood. The +outlines of the old garden and its terraces may also be traced, and a +very charming spot it must have been. There are two beautiful +lime-trees in a thriving state, which, I was told, he had planted +himself from seeds he had brought from home. His thoughts were evidently +on that far-off home when he planted them; for, as to position +relatively to each other and distance from the old palace, they +precisely coincide with two beneath which many of my early days were +passed, at the old family mansion of Glenfinarl, on Loch Fine, which has +since become the property of Mr. Douglas. + +There is an old ditch in the neighbourhood, which goes by the name of +Lord Dunmore's Ditch. The history which my informant gave me thereof is +absurd enough, and there is a negro of the name of Isaac still living +who remembers all the circumstances. It appears that Lord Dunmore, +having found fault with an Irish labourer for not doing sufficient work, +Paddy replied, "'Faith, if 'twas yer 'onnur that had the shpade in yer +hand, maybe one-half would satisfy yer 'onnur." The Governor, who +happened to be a man of iron frame, and not at all averse to a joke, +immediately took up Paddy's challenge, and replied, "Paddy, I'll work +four hours against you in a ditch for a month's wages." The combatants +set to work the following morning, and at the end of four hours Paddy +was obliged to confess himself beaten, and the result of my +grandfather's labours goes by the name of Lord Dunmore's Ditch to this +day. + +The only parts of the old palace still standing are the two wings, one +of which is now the parsonage, and the other a school, which is kept by +an Englishman, educated at one of our universities, and living here for +his health. This place is both a well-chosen and a favourite locality +for schools, being situated upon a high plateau of land, with James +River on one side and York River on the other; consequently, the air is +peculiarly healthy and pure. + +The most imposing, if not the most useful, of the scholastic +establishments is the college, which was founded by William and Mary in +the year 1692. It contains a very fair library of old books, but +comparatively few additions appear to have been made in latter years. +The building bears every internal mark of neglect and dilapidation, +defaced walls, broken plaster, &c. Upon entering the lecture-room, a +quantity of eighteen-inch square boxes full of moisture suggest the idea +of a rainy day and a roofless chamber. Be not deceived: these are +merely receptacles for the discharge of the students' 'bacco juice; and +the surrounding floor gives painful demonstration that their free +spirits scorn the trammels of eighteen-inch boundaries, however +profusely supplied. From what causes I cannot say, but the college has +been all but deserted until lately. The present authorities are striving +to infuse into it a little vitality of usefulness. With these simple +facts before me, it was amusing to read, in an American gazetteer of the +day, that the college "is at present in a flourishing condition." + +In front of the college there is an enclosed green, and in the centre a +statue, erected in honour of one of the old royal governors, Berkeley, +Lord Bowtetort. Whether from a desire to exhibit their anti-aristocratic +sentiments, or from innate Vandalism, or from a childish wish to exhibit +independence by doing mischief, the said statue is the pistol-mark for +the students, who have exhibited their skill as marksmen by its total +mutilation, in spite of all remonstrances from the authorities. The +college was formerly surrounded by magnificent elms, but a few years +since a blight came which destroyed every one of them, leaving the +building in a desert-like nakedness. The inn at Williamsburg is a +miserable building, but it is kept by as kind-hearted, jolly old +John-Bull-looking landlord as ever was seen, and who rejoices in the +name of Uncle Ben. Meat is difficult to get at, as there are no +butchers; the cream and butter are, however, both plentiful and +excellent. The house is almost entirely overshadowed by one magnificent +elm, which has fortunately escaped the blight that annihilated nearly +all its fellows. + +After the hustle of most American cities, there was to me an unspeakable +charm in the quiet of this place. Sitting at the inn-door, before you +lies the open green, with its daisies and buttercups; horses and cattle +are peaceably grazing; in the background are the remaining wings of the +old palace; to your left stands the old village church, built with +bricks brought from England, and long since mellowed by the hand of +time, around which the clinging ivy throws the venerable mantle of its +dark and massive foliage. Now, the summoning church-bell tolls its +solemn note; school children, with merry laugh and light step, cross the +common; the village is astir, and a human tide is setting towards its +sacred portals: all, all speaks to the heart and to the imagination of +happy days and happy scenes in a far-off land. You close your eyes, the +better to realize the dream which fancy is painting. When they open upon +the reality again, the illusion is dispelled by the sight of a brawny +negro, with a grin on his face which threatens to split his ears, +jogging merrily along the street with a huge piece of sturgeon for his +Sunday feast. My friends, however, left me little time to indulge in a +contemplative mood, for good old Madeira, a hearty welcome, and a stroll +about and around the place, filled up the day; while the fragrant weed +and the social circle occupied no small portion of the evening. Having +spent a few but very pleasant days here, I took leave of my hospitable +friends--not forgetting that jovial soul, Uncle Ben; then embarking in a +steamer, and armed with a solitary letter of introduction, I started off +to visit a plantation on the banks of James River. + +A planter's home, like the good Highland laird's, seems made of India +rubber. Without writing to inquire whether the house is full, or your +company agreeable, you consider the former improbable and the latter +certain. When you approach your victim, a signal is thrown out; the +answer is a boat; in you get, bag and baggage; you land at the foot of +his lawn or of some little adjoining pier, and thus apparently force +yourself upon his hospitality. Reader, if it is ever your good fortune +to be dropped with a letter of introduction at Shirley, one glance from +the eye of the amiable host and hostess, accompanied by a real shake of +the hand, satisfy you beyond doubt you are truly and heartily welcome. A +planter's house on James River reminds one in many ways of the old +country. The building is old, the bricks are of the brownest red, and in +many places concealed by ivy of colonial birth; a few venerable monarchs +of the forest throw their ample shade over the greensward, which slopes +gently down to the water. The garden, the stables, the farm-yard, the +old gates, the time-honoured hues of everything,--all is so different +from the new facing and new painting which prevails throughout the +North, that you feel you are among other elements; and if you go inside +the house, the thoughts also turn homeward irresistibly as the eye +wanders from object to object. The mahogany table and the old +dining-room chairs, bright with that dark ebony polish of time which +human ingenuity vainly endeavours to imitate; the solid bookcases, with +their quaint gothic-windowly-arranged glass-doors, behind which, in calm +and dusty repose, lie heavy patriarchal-looking tomes on the lower +shelves, forming a sold basis above which to place lighter and less +scholastic literature; an arm-chair, that might have held the invading +Caesar, and must have been second-hand in the days of the conquering +William; a carpet, over whose chequered face the great Raleigh might +have strolled in deep contemplation; a rug, on whose surface generations +of spinsters might have watched the purrings of their pet Toms or gazed +on the glutinous eyes and inhaled the loaded breeze that came from the +fat and fragrant Pug: whichever way the eye turned, whatever direction +the imagination took, the conviction forced upon the mind was, that you +were in an inheritance, and that what the wisdom and energy of one +generation had gathered together, succeeding generations had not yet +scattered to the winds by the withering blast of infinitesimal division. +With the imagination thus forcibly filled with home and its +associations, you involuntarily feel disposed to take a stroll on the +lawn; but on reaching the door, your ears are assailed by wild shouts of +infantine laughter, and, raising your eyes, you behold a dozen little +black imps skylarking about in every direction, their fat faces, bright +eyes, and sunny smiles beaming forth joyousness and health. Home and its +varying visions fly at the sight, giving place to the reality that you +are on a slave plantation. Of the slaves I shall say nothing here beyond +the general fact that they appeared healthy, well fed, and well clothed +on all the plantations I visited. Having enjoyed the hospitalities of +Shirley for a few days, it was agreed that I should make a descent upon +another property lower down the river. So, bidding adieu to my good +friends at Shirley, I embarked once more on the steamer, and was landed +at the pier of Brandon, in the most deluging rain imaginable. A walk of +a quarter of a mile brought me to the door like a drowned rat, a note +from my Shirley friends secured me an immediate and cordial welcome. + +Brandon is perhaps the plantation which is more thoroughly kept up than +any other on the James River, and which consequently has altered less. +I am alluding now to the house and grounds about, not to the plantation +at large; for I believe the proprietor at Shirley is reckoned A1 as a +farmer. I have before alluded to the blight which destroyed so many fine +elms on both shores of the James River. The withering insect appeared at +Brandon; but the lady of the house soon proved that she knew the use of +tobacco as well as the men, by turning a few hogsheads of the said weed +into water, making thereby a murderous decoction, with which, by the +intervention of a fire-engine, she utterly annihilated the countless +hosts of the all-but invisible enemy, and thus saved some of the finest +elms I ever saw in my life, under the shade of which the old family +mansion had enjoyed shelter from many a summer's sun. Brandon is the +only place I visited where the destroyer had not left marks of his +ravages. The lawn is beautifully laid out, and in the style of one of +our country villas of the olden time, giving every assurance of comfort +and every feeling of repose. The tropical richness and brightness of +leaf and flower added an inexpressible charm to them, as they stood out +in bold relief against the pure and cloudless air around, so different +from that indistinct outline which is but too common in our moist +atmosphere. Then there was the graceful and weeping willow, the +trembling aspen, the wild ivy, its white bloom tinged as with maiden's +blush; the broad-leafed catalpa; the magnolia, rich in foliage and in +flower; while scattered around were beds of bright and lovely colours. +The extremes of this charming view were bounded, either by the venerable +mansion over whose roof the patriarchal elms of which we have been +speaking threw their cool and welcome shade, or by the broad stream +whose bosom was ever and anon enlivened with some trim barque or +rapid-gliding steamer, and whose farther shore was wooded to the water's +edge. There is one of the finest China rose-trees here I ever beheld; it +covers a space of forty feet square, being led over on trellis-work, and +it might extend much beyond that distance: it is one mass of flowers +every year. Unfortunately, I was a week too late to see it in its glory; +but the withered flowers gave ample evidence how splendid it must have +been. + +In one of my drives, I went to see an election which took place in the +neighbourhood. The road for some distance lay through a forest full of +magnificent timber; but, like most forest timber, that which gives it a +marketable value destroys its picturesque effect. A few noble +stems--however poor their heads--have a fine effect when surrounded by +others which have had elbow-room; but a forest of stems, with +Lilliputian heads--great though the girth of the stem may be--conveys +rather the idea of Brobdingnagian piles driven in by giants, and +exhibiting the last flickerings of vitality in a few puny sprouts at +their summit. The underwood was enlivened by shrubs of every shade and +hue, the wild flowering ivy predominating. The carriage-springs were +tested by an occasional drop of the wheels into a pit-hole, on merging +from which you came sometimes to a hundred yards of rut of dimensions +similar to those of military approaches to a citadel; nevertheless, I +enjoyed my drive excessively. The place of election was a romantic spot +near a saw-mill, at the edge of what, in a gentleman's park in England, +would be called a pretty little lake, styled in America a small pond. As +each party arrived, the horse was hitched to the bough of some tree, and +the company divided itself into various knots; a good deal of tobacco +was expended in smoke and juice; there was little excitement; all were +jolly and friendly; and, in short, the general scene conveyed the idea +of a gathering together for field-preaching; but that was speedily +replaced by the idea of a pleasant pic-nic of country farmers, as a +dashing charge was made by the whole _posse comitatus_ upon a long table +which was placed under a fine old elm, and lay groaning beneath the +weight of substantial meat and drink. As for drunkenness, they were all +as sober as washerwomen. So much for a rural election-scene in Virginia. + +By way of making time pass agreeably, it was proposed to take a sail in +a very nice yacht, called "The Breeze," which belonged to a neighbouring +planter. We all embarked, in the cool of the evening, and the merry +laugh would soon have told you the fair sex was fairly represented. +Unfortunately, the night was so still that not a breath rippled the +surface of the river, except as some inquisitive zephyr came curling +along the stream, filling us with hope, and then, having satisfied its +curiosity, suddenly disappeared, as though in mockery of our distress. +The name of the yacht afforded ample field for punning, which was +cruelly taken advantage of by all of us; and if our cruise was not a +long one, at all events it was very pleasant, and full of fun and +frolic. Pale Cinthia was throwing her soft and silvery light over the +eastern horizon before we landed. + +Walking up the lawn, the scene was altogether lovely; the fine trees +around were absolutely alive with myriads of fire-flies. These bright +and living lights, darting to and fro 'mid the dark foliage, formed the +most beautiful illumination imaginable--at one time clustering into a +ball of glowing fire, at another streaking away in a line of lightning +flame; then, bursting into countless sparks, they would for a moment +disappear in the depths of their sombre bower, to come forth again in +some more varied and more lovely form. + +Pleasant indeed were the hours I passed here; lovely was the climate, +beautiful was the landscape, hearty was the welcome: every day found +some little plan prepared to make their hospitality more pleasant to the +stranger; nature herself seemed to delight in aiding their efforts, for +though I arrived in a deluge, I scarce ever saw a cloud afterwards. As +the morning light stole through my open window in undimmed transparency, +the robin, the blue-bird, the mocking-bird, the hosts of choral +warblers, held their early oratorio in the patriarchal elms. If +unskilled in music's science, they were unfettered by its laws, and +hymned forth their wild and varied notes as though calling upon man to +admire and adore the greatness and the goodness of his Maker, and to + + "Shake off dull sloth, and early rise, + To pay his morning sacrifice." + +If such were their appeal, it was not made in vain; for both morning and +evening--both here and at Shirley--every member and visitor gathered +round the family altar, the services of which were performed with equal +cheerfulness and reverence. I felt as if I could have lingered on and on +in this charming spot, and amid such warm hospitality, an indefinite +period; it was indeed with sincere regret I was obliged to bid adieu to +my agreeable hosts, and once more embark on board the steamer. + +The river James lacks entirely those features that give grandeur to +scenery; the river, it is true, by its tortuous windings, every now and +then presents a broad sheet of water; the banks are also prettily +wooded; but there is a great sameness, and a total absence of that +mountain scenery so indispensable to grandeur. The only thing that +relieves the eye is a glimpse, from time to time, of some lovely spot +like the one I have just been describing; but such charming villas, like +angel's visits, are "few and far between." Here we are, at Norfolk. How +different is this same Norfolk from the other eastern ports I have +visited!--there all is bustle, activity, and increase,--here all is +dreariness, desolation, and stagnation. It is, without exception, the +most uninteresting town I ever set foot in; the only thing that gives it +a semblance of vitality is its proximity to the dockyard, and the +consequent appearance of officers in uniform; but in spite of this +impression, which a two-days' residence confirmed me in, I was told, on +good authority, that it is thriving and improving. By the statistics +which our consul, Mr. James, was kind enough to furnish me, it appears +that 1847 was the great year of its commercial activity, its imports in +that year valuing 94,000l., and its exports 364,000l. In 1852, the +imports were under 25,000l. and the exports a little more than +81,000l., which is certainly, by a comparison with the average of the +ten years preceding, an evidence of decreasing, rather than increasing, +commercial prosperity. Its population is 16,000; and that small +number--when it is remembered that it is the port of entry for the great +state of Virginia--is a strong argument against its asserted prosperity. +Not long before my arrival they had been visited with a perfect deluge +of rain, accompanied with a waterspout, which evidently had whirled up +some of the ponds in the neighbourhood; for quantities of cat-fish fell +during the storm, one of which, measuring ten inches, a friend told me +he had himself picked up at a considerable distance from any water. + +The only real object of interest at Norfolk is the dockyard, which of +course I visited. Mr. James was kind enough to accompany me, and it is +needless to say we were treated with the utmost courtesy, and every +facility afforded us for seeing everything of interest, after which we +enjoyed an excellent lunch at the superintendent's. They were building a +splendid frigate, intended to carry 58-inch guns; her length was 250 +feet, and her breadth of beam 48. Whether the manifest advantages of +steam will induce them to change her into a screw frigate, I cannot say. +The dockyard was very clean and the buildings airy. Steam, saw-mills, +&c., were in full play, and anchors forging under Nasmyth's hammer, I +found them making large masts of four pieces--one length and no +scarfings--the root part of the tree forming the mast-head, and a very +large air-hole running up and down the centre. The object of this +air-hole is to allow the mast to season itself; the reader may remember +that the mast of the "Black Maria" is made the same way. As far as I +know, this is a plan we have not yet tried in our dockyards. I find that +they use metallic boats far more than we do. I saw some that had +returned after being four years in commission, which were perfectly +sound. To say that I saw fine boats and spars here, would be like a +traveller remarking he saw a great many coals at Newcastle. All waste +wood not used in the yard is given away every Saturday to any old woman +who will come and take it; and no searching of people employed in the +dockyard is ever thought of. The cattle employed in and for the dockyard +have a most splendid airy stable, and are kept as neat and clean as if +in a drawing-room. Materials are abundant; but naturally there is little +bustle and activity when compared to that which exists in a British +yard. Their small navy can hardly find them enough work to keep their +"hands in;" but doubtless the first knell of the accursed tocsin of war, +while it gave them enough to do, would soon fill their dockyards with +able and willing hands to do it. Commodore Ringold's surveying +expedition, consisting of a corvette, schooner, steamer, &c., was +fitting out for service, and most liberally and admirably were they +supplied with all requisites and comforts for their important duties. + +During my stay I enjoyed the kind hospitalities of our consul, Mr. +G.P.E. James, who is so well known to the literary world. He was +indulging the good people of Norfolk with lectures, which seem to be all +the fashion with the Anglo-Saxon race wherever they are gathered +together. The subject which I heard him treat of was "The Novelists," +handling some favourites with severity and others with a gentler touch, +and winding up with a glowing and just eulogy upon the author of _My +Novel_. Altogether I spent a very pleasant hour and a half. + +I may here mention a regulation of the Foreign-office, which, however +necessary it may be considered, every one must admit presses very hardly +on British _employés_ in the Slave States. I allude to the regulation by +which officials are prevented from employing other people's slaves as +their servants. White men soon earn enough money to be enabled to set +up in some trade, business, or farm, and, as service is looked down +upon, they seize the first opportunity of quitting it, even although +their comforts may be diminished by the change. Free negroes won't +serve, and the official must not employ a slave; thus, a gentleman sent +out to look after the interest of his country, and in his own person to +uphold its dignity, must either submit to the dictation and extortion of +his white servant--if even then he can keep him--or he may be called +upon suddenly, some fine morning, to do all the work of housemaid, John, +cook, and knife and button boy, to the neglect of those duties he was +appointed by his country to perform, unless he be a married man with a +large family, in which case he may perhaps delegate to them the +honourable occupations, above named. Surely there is something a little +puritanical in the prohibition. To hold a slave is one thing, but to +employ the labour of one who is a slave, and over whose hopes of freedom +you have no control, is quite another thing; and I hold that, under the +actual circumstances, the employment of another's slave could never he +so distorted in argument as to bring home a charge of connivance in a +system we so thoroughly repudiate. + +Go to the East, follow in imagination your ambassadors, ministers, and +consular authorities. Behold them on the most friendly terms--or +striving to be so--with people in high places, who are but too often +revelling in crimes, with the very name of which they would scorn even +to pollute their lips; and I would ask, did such a monstrous absurdity +ever enter into any one's head as to doubt from these amicable relations +whether the Government of this country or its agents repudiated such +abomination of abominations? If for political purposes you submit to +this latter, while for commercial purposes you refuse to tolerate the +former, surely you are straining at a black gnat while swallowing a +beastly camel. Such, good people of the Foreign-office, is my decided +view of the case; and if you profit by the hint, you will do what I +believe no public body ever did yet. Perhaps, therefore, the idea of +setting the fashion may possibly induce you to reconsider and rectify an +absurdity, which, while no inconvenience to you, is often a very great +one to those you employ. It is wonderful, the difference in the view +taken of affairs by actors on the spot and spectators at a distance. A +man who sees a fellow-creature half crushed to death and crippled for +life by some horrible accident, is too often satisfied with little more +than a passing "Good gracious!" but if, on his returning homeward, some +gigantic waggon-wheel scrunch the mere tip of his toes, or annihilate a +bare inch of his nose, his ideas of the reality of an accident become +immensely enlarged. + +Let the Foreign Secretary try for a couple of days some such _régime_ as +the following:-- + + 5 A.M. Light fires, fetch water, and put kettle on. + 6 " Dust room and make beds. + 7 " Clean shoes, polish knives, and sand kitchen. + 7:30 " Market for dinner. + 8:30 " Breakfast. + 9 " To Downing-street, light fires, and dust office. + 10 " Sit down comfortably(?) to work. + 1:30 P.M. Off to coal-hole for more coals. + 4 " Sweep up, and go home. + 5 " Off coat, up sleeves, and cook. + 6:30 " Eat dinner. + 7 " Wash up. + 8 " Light your pipe, walk to window, and see your + colleague over the way, with a couple of Patagonian + footmen flying about amid a dozen guests, while, to + give additional zest to your feelings of enjoyment, + a couple of buxom lassies are peeping out of the + attics, and singing like crickets. + 9 " Make your own reflections upon the Government + that dooms you to personal servitude, while your + colleague is allowed purchaseable service. Sleep + over the same, and repeat the foregoing _régime_ on + the second day; and, filled with the happy influences + so much cause for gratitude must inspire, give + reflection her full tether, and sleep over her again. + On the third morning, let your heart and brain + dictate a despatch upon the subject of your reflections + to all public servants in slave-holding communities, + and, while repudiating slavery, you will + find no difficulty in employing the services of the + slave, under peculiar circumstances, and with proper + restrictions. + +I embarked from Norfolk per steamer for Baltimore, and thence by rail +through Philadelphia to New York. I took a day's hospitality among my +kind friends at Baltimore. At Philadelphia I was in such a hurry to pass +on, that I exhibited what I fear many will consider a symptom of +inveterate bachelorship; but truth bids me not attempt to cloak my +delinquency. Hear my confession:-- + +My friend Mr. Fisher, whose hospitality I had drawn most largely upon +during my previous stay, invited me to come and pay him and his charming +lady a visit, at a delightful country house of his a few miles out of +town. Oh, no! that was impossible; my time was so limited; I had so much +to see in the north and Canada. In vain he urged, with hearty warmth, +that I should spend only one night: it was quite impossible--quite. That +point being thoroughly settled, he said, "It is a great pity you are so +pressed for time, because the trotting champion, 'Mac,' runs against a +formidable antagonist, 'Tacony,' to-morrow." In half an hour I was in +his waggon, and in an hour and a half I was enjoying the warm greeting +of his amiable wife in their country-house, the blush of shame and a +guilty conscience tinging my cheeks as each word of welcome passed from +her lips or flashed from her speaking eyes. Why did I thus act? Could I +say, in truth, "'Twas not that I love thee less, but that I love Tacony +more?" Far from it. Was it that I was steeped in ingratitude? I trust +not. Ladies, oh, ladies!--lovely creatures that you are--think not so +harshly of a penitent bachelor. You have all read of one of your sex +through whom Evil--which takes its name from, her--first came upon +earth, and you know the motive power of that act was--curiosity. I plead +guilty to that motive power on the present occasion; and, while throwing +myself unreservedly on your clemency, I freely offer myself as a target +for the censure of each one among you who, in the purity of truth can +say, "I never felt such an influence in all my life." Reader, remember +you cannot be one of these, for the simple fact of casting your eyes +over this page affords sufficient presumptive evidence for any court of +law to bring you in guilty of a curiosity to know what the writer has to +say.--To resume. + +The race-course at Philadelphia is a road on a perfect level, and a +circle of one mile; every stone is carefully removed, and it looks as +smooth and clean as a swept floor. The stand commands a perfect view of +the course; but its neglected appearance shows clearly that +trotting-matches here are not as fashionable as they used to be, though +far better attended than at New York. Upon the present occasion the +excitement was intense; you could detect it even in the increased vigour +with which the smoking and spitting was carried on. An antagonist had +been found bold enough to measure speed with "Mac"--the great Mac who, +while "Whipping creation," was also said never to have let out his full +speed. He was thorough-bred, about fifteen and a half hands, and lighter +built than my raw-boned friend Tacony, and he had lately been sold for +1600l. So sure did people apparently feel of Mac's easy victory, that +even betting was out of the question. Unlike the Long Island affair, the +riders appeared in jockey attire, and the whole thing was far better got +up. Ladies, however, had long ceased to grace such scenes. + +Various false starts were made, all on the part of Mac, who, trusting to +the bottom of blood, apparently endeavoured to ruffle Tacony's temper +and weary him out a little. How futile were the efforts the sequel +plainly showed. At length a start was effected, and away they went, +Tacony with his hind legs as far apart as the centre arch of Westminster +Bridge, and with strides that would almost clear the Bridgewater Canal. +Mac's rider soon found that, in trying to ginger Tacony's temper, he had +peppered his own horse's, for he broke-up into a gallop twice. Old +Tacony and his rider had evidently got intimate since I had seen them at +New York, and they now thoroughly understood each other. On he went, +with giant strides; Mac fought bravely for the van, but could not get +his nose beyond Tacony's saddle-girth at the winning-post--time, 2m. +25-1/2s. + +Then, followed the usual race-course accompaniments of cheers, +squabbles, growling, laughing, betting, drinking, &c. The public were +not convinced. Mac was still the favourite; the champion chaplet was not +thus hastily to be plucked from his hitherto victorious brows. Half an +hour's rest brought them again to the starting-post, where Mac repeated +his old tactics, and with similar bad success. Nothing could ruffle +Tacony, or produce one false step: he flew round the course, every +stride like the ricochet of a 32lb. shot; his adversary broke-up again +and again, losing both his temper and his place, and barely saved his +distance, as the gallant Tacony--his rider with a slack rein, and +patting him on the neck--reached the winning-post--time, 2m. 25s. The +shouts were long and loud; such time had never been made before by fair +trotting, and Tacony evidently could have done it in two, if not three +seconds less. The fastest pacing ever accomplished before was 2m. 13s., +and the fastest trotting 2m. 26s. The triumph was complete; Tacony nobly +won the victorious garland; and as long as he and his rider go together, +it will take, if not a rum 'un to look at, at all events a d----l to +go, ere he be forced to resign his championship. + +The race over, waggons on two wheels and waggons on four wheels, with +trotters in them capable of going the mile in from 2m. 40s. to 3m. 20s., +began to shoot about in every direction, and your ears were assailed on +all sides with "G'lang, g'lang!" and occasionally a frantic yell, to +which some Jehu would give utterance by way of making some horse that +was passing him "break-up." Thus ended the famous race between Mac and +Tac, which, by the way, gave me an opportunity of having a little fun +with some of my American friends, as I condoled with them on their +champion being beaten by a British subject; for, strange to say, Tac is +a Canadian horse. I therefore of course expressed the charitable wish +that an American horse might be found some day equal to the task of +wearing the champion trotting crown(!)--I beg pardon, not crown, but, +I suppose, cap of liberty. I need scarce say that it is not so much the +horse as the perfect teaming that produces the result; and all Tac's +training is exclusively American, and received in a place not very far +from Philadelphia, from which he gets his name. A friend gave me a lift +into Philadelphia, whence the iron horse speedily bore me to the great +republican Babylon, New York. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +_Home of the Pilgrim Fathers_. + + +Having made the necessary preparations, I again put myself behind the +boiling kettle, _en route_ to the republican Athens. The day was +intensely hot; even the natives required the windows open, and the dust +being very lively, we soon became as powdered as a party going down to +the Derby in the ante-railway days. My curiosity was excited on the way, +by seeing a body of men looking like a regiment of fox-hunters--all well +got up, fine stout fellows--who entered, and filled two of the +carriages. On inquiring who kept the hounds, and if they had good runs, +a sly smile stole across my friend's cheek as he told me they were +merely the firemen of the city going to fraternize with the ditto ditto +of Boston. It stupidly never occurred to me to ask him whether any +provision was made in case of a quiet little fire developing itself +during their absence, for their number was legion, and as active, +daring, orderly-looking fellows as ever I set eyes upon. Jolly apopletic +aldermen of our capital may forsake the green fat of their soup-making +deity, to be feasted by their Parisian fraternity, without inconvenience +to anybody, except it be to their fellow-passengers in the steamer upon +their return, if they have been over-fed and have not tempest-tried +organs of digestion. But a useful body like firemen migrating should, I +confess, have suggested to me the propriety of asking what substitutes +were left to perform, if need be, their useful duties; not having done +so, I am constrained to leave this important point in its present +painful obscurity. + +A thundering whistle and a cloud of steam announce the top is off the +kettle, and that we have reached Boston. Wishing to take my own luggage +in a hackney, I found that, however valuable for security the ticketing +system may be, it was, under circumstances like mine at present, +painfully trying to patience. In three-quarters of an hour, however, I +managed to get hold of it, and then, by way of improving my temper, I +ascertained that one of my boxes was in a state of "pretty considerable +all mighty smash." At last I got off with my goods and chattels, and +having seen quite enough of the American palace-hotels and their +bountifully-spread tables, and of the unrivalled energy with which the +meals are despatched; remembering, also, how frequently the drum of my +ears had been distracted by the eternal rattling and crackling of plates +and dishes for a couple of hundred people, and how my olfactories had +suffered from the mixed odours of the kitchen produce, I declined going +to the palatial Revere House, which is one of the best hotels in the +Union, and put up at a house of less pretensions, where I found both +quiet and comfort. + +To write a description of Boston, when so many others have done so far +better than I can pretend to do, and when voluminous gazetteers record +almost every particular, would be drawing most unreasonably upon the +patience of a reader, and might further be considered as inferring a +doubt of his acquaintance with, I might almost say, a hackneyed subject. +I shall, therefore, only inflict a few short observations to refresh his +memory. The most striking feature in Boston, to my mind, is the common +or park, inasmuch as it is the only piece of ground in or attached to +any city which I saw deserving the name of a park. It was originally a +town cow-pasture, and called the Tower Fields. The size is about fifty +acres; it is surrounded with an iron fencing, and, although not large, +the lay of the ground is very pretty. It contains some very fine old +trees, which every traveller in America must know are a great rarity in +the neighbourhood of any populous town. It is overlooked by the +State-house, which is built upon Beacon Hill, just outside the highest +extremity of the park, and from the top of which a splendid panoramic +view of the whole town and neighbourhood is obtained. The State-house is +a fine building in itself, and contains one of Chantrey's best +works--the statue of Washington. The most interesting building in +Boston, to the Americans, is, undoubtedly, Faneuil Hall, called also the +"Cradle of Liberty." Within those walls the stern oratory of noble +hearts striving to be free, and daring to strike for it, was listened to +by thousands, in whose breasts a ready response was found, and who, +catching the glowing enthusiasm of the orators, determined rather to be +rebels and free than subjects and slaves: the sequel is matter of +history. + +I shall not tax the temper of my reader by going through any further +list of the public buildings, which are sufficiently known to those who +take an interest in this flourishing community; but I must hasten to +apologize for my ingratitude in not sooner acknowledging that most +pleasing feature in every traveller's experience in America, which, I +need hardly say, is hospitality. + +Scarce was my half-smashed box landed at the hotel, when my young +American friend, who came from England with our party, appeared to +welcome me--perhaps to atone for the lion's share of champagne he had +enjoyed at our table on board the steamer. Then he introduced me to +another, and another introduced me to another another, and another +another introduced me to another another another, and so on, till I +began to feel I must know the _élite_ of Boston. Club-doors flew open, +champagne-corks flew out, cicerones, pedal and vehicular, were ever +ready to guide me by day and feed me by night; and though there are no +drones in a Yankee hive, so thoroughly did they dedicate themselves to +my comfort and amusement, that a person ignorant of the true state of +things might have fancied they were as idle and occupationless as the +cigar-puffers who adorn some of our metropolitan-club steps, the envy of +passing butcher-boys and the liberal distributors of cigar-ends to +unwashed youths who hang about ready to pounce upon the delicious and +rejected morsels. Among other gentlemen whose acquaintance I had the +pleasure of making, and whose hospitalities, of course, I enjoyed, I may +mention Mr. Prescott and Mr. Ticknor, the former highly appreciated in +the old country, and both so widely known and so justly esteemed in the +world of literature. As I consider such men public property, I make no +apology for using their names, while in so doing I feel I am best +conveying to the reader some idea of the society which a traveller meets +with in Yankee Athens. + +The town has one charm to me, which it shares in common with Baltimore. +Not only is it built on undulating ground, but there are old parts +remaining, whereby the eye is relieved from the tiring monotony of broad +and straight streets, while the newer parts form a pleasing variety, and +bear gratifying evidence of the increasing wealth of its intelligent +and industrious population. Then, again, the neighbourhood of the town +has a charm for a wanderer from the old country; the roads are +excellent, the fields and gardens are tidied up, creepers are led up the +cottage walls, suburban villas abound, everything looks more clean, more +_soigné_, more snug, more filled and settled than the neighbourhood of +any other city I visited in America, and thus forces back upon the mind +associations and reflections of dear old home. + +Having enjoyed a visit to a friend in one of the suburban villas inland, +to which he drove me in his light waggon, another vehicular cicerone +insisted that I should drive out to his uncle's, and spend a day at his +marine villa, about twelve miles distant. I joyfully assented to so +pleasant a proposition, and, "hitching a three-forty before a light +waggon"--as the term is in America--we were soon bowling away merrily +along a capital road. A pleasant drive of nine miles brought us to a +little town called Lynn, after Lynn Regis in England, from which place +some of the early settlers came. How often has the traveller to regret +the annihilation of the wild old Indian names, and the substitution of +appellatives from every creek and corner of the older continents; with +Poquanum, Sagamore, Wenepoykin, with Susquehanna, Wyoming, Miami, and a +thousand other such of every length and sound, all cut-and-dried to +hand, it is more than a pity to see so great a country plagiarizing in +such a wholesale manner Pekins, Cantons, Turing, Troys, Carmels, +Emmauses, Cairos, and a myriad other such borrowed plumes, plucked from +Europe, Asia, and Africa, and hustled higgledy-piggledy side by side, +without a single element or association to justify the uncalled-for +robbery. + +Forgive me, reader,--all this digression comes from my wishing Lynn had +kept its old Indian name of Saugus; from such little acorns will such +great oak-trees spring.--To resume. The said town of Lynn supplies +understandings to a very respectable number of human beings, and may be +called a gigantic shoemaker's shop, everything being on the gigantic +scale in America. It employs 11,000, out of its total population of +14,000, in that trade, and produces annually nearly 5,000,000 of women's +and children's boots, shoes, and gaiters, investing in the business a +capital amounting to 250,000l. Moses and Son, Hyam and Co., Nicoll +and Co., and the whole of the three-halfpence-a-shirt-paying +capitalists, can show nothing like my shoemakers' shop, "fix it how you +will,"--as they say in the Great Republic. + +The three-forty trotter soon left boots, shoes, and all behind, and +deposited us at the door of the uncle's villa, where a friendly hand +welcomed us to its hospitalities. It was very prettily situated upon a +cliff overlooking Massachusetts Bay, in which said cliff a zigzag +stepway was cut down to the water, for the convenience of bathing. The +grounds were nicely laid out and planted, and promised in time to be +well wooded, if the ocean breeze driving upon them did not lay an +embargo upon their growth, in the same heartless manner as it does upon +the west coast of Scotland, where, the moment a tree gets higher than a +mop handle, its top becomes curved over by the gales, with the same +graceful sweep as that which a successful stable-boy gives a birch broom +after a day's soaking. I hope, for my hospitable friend's sake, it may +not prove true in his case; but I saw an ostrich-feathery curve upon the +tops of some of his trees, which looked ominous. Having spent a very +pleasant day, and enjoyed good cheer and good company, Three-forty was +again "hitched to;" joined hands announced the parting moment had +arrived; wreaths of smoke from fragrant Havanas ascended like incense +from the shrine of Adieu; "G'lang"--the note of advance--was sounded; +Three-forty sprang to the word of command; friends, shoes, and +shoemakers were soon tailed of; and ere long your humble servant was +nestling his nose in his pillow at Boston. + +Hearing that the drama was investing its talent in Abolitionism, I went +one evening to the theatre, to see if I could extract as much fun from +the metropolis of a free state as I had previously obtained from the +capital of slave-holding Maryland; for I knew the Americans, both North +and South, were as ticklish as young ladies. I found very much the same +style of thing as at Baltimore, except that her abolitionist highness, +the Duchess of Southernblack, did not appear on the stage by deputy; but +as an atonement for the omission, you had a genuine Yankee abolitionist; +poor Uncle Tom and his fraternity were duly licked and bullied by a +couple of heartless Southern nigger-drivers; and while their victims +were writhing in agony, a genuine abolitionist comes on the stage and +whops the two nigger-drivers, amid shouts of applause. The suppliant +Southerners, midst sobs and tears, plead for mercy, and in vain, until +the happy thought occurs to one of them, to break forth into a wondrous +tale of the atrocities inflicted upon the starving and naked slaves of +English mines and factories, proving by contrast the superior happiness +of the nigger and the greater mercifulness of his treatment. The +indignant abolitionist drops the upraised cowhide, the sobs and tears of +the Southerners cease, the whole house thunders forth the ecstasy of its +delight, the curtain drops, and the enchanted audience adjourn to the +oyster saloons, vividly impressed with British brutality, the charms of +slavery, and the superiority of Abolitionism. + +How strange, that in a country like this, boasting of its education, and +certainly with every facility for its prosecution--how strange, that in +the very Athens of the Republic, the deluded masses should exhibit as +complete ignorance as you could find in the gallery of any +twopenny-halfpenny metropolitan theatre of the old country! + +Another of the lions of Boston which I determined to witness, if +possible, was "spirit-rapping." A friend undertook the arrangement for +me; but so fully were the hours of the exhibitor taken up, that it was +five days before we could obtain a spare hour. At length the time +arrived, and, fortified with a good dinner and a skinful of "Mumm +Cabinet," we proceeded to the witch's den. The witch was a clean and +decent-looking girl about twenty, rather thin, and apparently very +exhausted; gradually a party of ten assembled, and we gathered round the +witch's table. The majority were ladies--those adorers of the +marvellous! The names of friends were called for; the ladies took the +alphabet, and running over it with the point of a pencil, the spirit +rapped as the wished-for letter was reached. John Davis was soon spelt, +each letter probably having been indicated by the tremulous touch of +affectionate hope. Harriet Mercer was then rapped out by the obliging +spirit. The pencil and the alphabet were then handed to me, and the +spirit being asked if it would answer my inquiries, and a most +satisfactory "Yes" being rapped out, I proceeded to put its powers to +the test. I concentrated my thoughts upon a Mr. L---- and his shop in +Fleet-street, with both of which being thoroughly familiar I had no +difficulty in fixing my attention upon them. The pencil was put in +motion, powerful rappings were heard as it touched the D. I kept my +gravity, and went on again and again, till the name of the illustrious +duke, whose death the civilized world was then deploring with every +token of respect, was fully spelt out. The witch was in despair; she +tried again and again to summon the rebellious spirit, but it would not +come. At last, a gentleman present, and who evidently was an _habitué_ +of the witch's den, proposed that the refractory spirit should be asked +if any of the company were objectionable to it. This being done, a +rattling "Yes" came forth, upon which each person asked in succession, +"Am I objectionable to you?" There was a dead silence until it came to +my friend and myself, to each of whom it gave a most rappingly emphatic +"Yes." Accordingly, we rose and left the field to those whose greater +gullibility rendered them more plastic objects for working upon. Never +in my life did I witness greater humbug; and yet so intense was the +anxiety of the Boston public to witness the miracle, that during all the +day and half the night the spirit was being invoked by the witch, into +whose pockets were pouring the dollars of thousands of greater gabies +than myself, for many went away believers, receiving the first germs of +impressions which led them to a Lunatic Asylum, or an early grave, as +various statistics in America prove most painfully. + +To show the extent to which belief in these absurdities goes, I subjoin +an extract from a paper, by which it appears that even the solemnities +of a funeral cannot sober the minds of their deluded followers. Mr. +Calvin R. Brown--better known as the husband of Mrs. Anne L. Fish, a +famous "spirit medium" in New York--having died, we read the following +notice of the funeral:--"After prayer, the Rev. S. Brittan delivered an +address, in which he dwelt with much earnestness upon the superiority of +the life of the spirit, as compared with that of the body. At various +points in his address there were rappings, sometimes apparently on the +bottom of the coffin, and at others upon the floor, as if in response to +the sentiments uttered. After concluding his address, Professor Brittan +read a communication purporting to have come from the deceased after his +entrance into the spirit world. While it was being read, the reporter +states that the rappings were distinctly heard. Several friends then +sang, "Come, ye disconsolate," after which the Rev. Mr. Denning made a +few remarks, during which the rappings were more audible than before. +Other ceremonies closed the funeral. The whole party, preachers, +physicians, and all, were spiritualists," &c. + +But I have before me a letter written by Judge Edmonds, which is a more +painful exemplification of the insanity superinduced by giving way to +these absurdities; in that document you will find him deliberately +stating, that he saw heavy tables flying about without touch, like the +leaves in autumn; bells walking off shelves and ringing themselves, &c. +Also, you will find him classing among his co-believers "Doctors, +lawyers, clergymen, a Protestant bishop, a learned and reverend +president of a college, judges of higher courts, members of congress, +foreign ambassadors (I hope not Mr. Crampton), and ex-members of the +United States Senate." + +The ladies of the old country will, no doubt, be astonished to hear that +their sisters of the younger country have medical colleges in various +States; but, I believe, mostly in the northern ones. To what extent +their studies in the healing art are carried, I cannot precisely inform +them; it most probably will not stop at combinations of salts and senna, +or spreading plasters--for which previous nursery practice with bread +and butter might eminently qualify them. How deeply they will dive into +the mysteries of anatomy, unravelling the tangled web of veins and +arteries, and mastering the intricacies of the ganglionic centre; or how +far they will practise the subjugation of their feelings, whether only +enough to whip off some pet finger and darling little toe, or whether +sufficiently to perform more important operations, even such as Sydney +Smith declared a courageous little prime minister was ready to undertake +at a minute's notice; these are questions which I cannot answer: but one +thing is clear, the wedge is entered. How far it will be driven in, time +must show.[AK] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote AK: The Massachusetts Legislature, in a recent session, +appropriated funds to the New England Female Medical College, located in +Boston, to pay forty students for five years; and I have since observed +in a Boston paper that there are twenty lady physicians, who, confining +themselves to midwifery and diseases of their own sex, have a fair +practice, and enjoy the confidence of the families they visit.] + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +_Teaching of Youth, and a Model Jail_. + + +I must now turn to a more important and interesting feature of Boston, +viz., education. We all remember how the religious persecution in the +reign of Elizabeth, fettering men's consciences, drove a devoted band of +deep-thinking Christians into caves of concealment, and how, after much +peril, they escaped in 1609, in the reign of James the First, to +Amsterdam, under the leadership of the noble-hearted J. Robinson, where, +after sighing long for a return beneath the flag of the country of their +birth, they obtained a charter from the Virginia Company. The first +division of them embarked on board "The Mayflower," a small vessel of +180 tons, and sailed from Plymouth, 6th September, 1620, landing in +their new and barren home upon the 11th of December. These were the +sturdy champions of liberty of conscience, from whom the New Englanders +may be said to have sprung, and who have leavened the whole community +with their energy and indomitable spirit: such men knew how to +appreciate education, as the leveller of oppression and the bulwark of +freedom; and it is, therefore, no wonder that the American Republic +recognises them as the worthy pioneers of that noble feature in their +institutions--free education, supplied to all by the State. + +Let us, then, see how far their descendants are treading in their +footsteps upon this point. I speak of Boston and its 150,000 +inhabitants, not of the State. And first, it is important to observe, +that the strict provisions of the State requirements would be met by +three schools, and three teachers with assistants, whose salaries would +amount to 900l. The actual provision made by this energetic community, +is,--Schools: 1 Latin, 1 English, 22 grammar, 194 primary,--total for +salaries, 37,000l. And that it may not be supposed the salaries are +great prizes, it is important to remark, that there are 65 male +teachers, and about 300 female teachers. The highest paid are +head-masters of Latin and English schools, 490l.; sub-masters of same, +and head-masters of grammar, 300l.; ushers, assistants, &c., from +50l. to 160l.; and female teachers, from 45l. to 60l., with +5l. additional for care of the rooms. + +All the primary schools have female teachers; and the feeling is +strongly in favour of females for instructing the very young, their +patience and kindness being less likely to foster feelings of dread and +dislike. + +The total amount of taxes raised in the city is, in round numbers, +250,000l.; of which 65,000l., or more than one-fourth, is devoted to +schools. The total value of all public school estates of Boston, up to +May, 1851, was 260,000l.; and the salary of the head-master is, within +a few pounds, equal to that of the governor of the State. + +Say, then, reader, has some portion of the spirit of the Pilgrim Fathers +descended to the present generation, or not?--a population of 150,000 +devoting 260,000l. to education. + +Wherever parents are unable to provide books, &c., the children are +supplied with the use of them _gratis_. All corporal punishment is +strongly discouraged, but not prohibited; and all inflictions thereof +are recorded for the information of the Visiting Board. Having omitted +to make personal inquiries on the spot, I obtained, through the kindness +of Mr. Ticknor, answers to the following questions on the point of +religious instruction:-- + +1. "Are the pupils at your normal schools obliged to receive religious +instruction from some minister, and to attend some place of worship; or +may they, if they prefer, receive no such instruction, and attend no +church?" + +"The State has put the normal schools under the charge of the Board of +Education, with no special law or instructions. The Board of Education +endeavours to act on exactly the same principles as those which the law +has laid down with respect to the common schools. The Board requires +that the pupils of the normal schools attend some place of worship, the +pupil making his own choice. These schools are opened every morning with +reading the Scriptures, singing, and prayer. The moral conduct of the +pupils is carefully watched over, and instruction is given in respect to +the best methods of training the young in religion and morals. The +religious teaching is ethical, not doctrinal." + +2. "Are the children at your common schools obliged to receive some +religious instruction, or if their parents express a wish they should +not receive any at school, is the wish complied with?" + +"The law requires all teachers to instruct their pupils 'in the +principles of piety,' and forbids any sectarian books to be introduced +into the public schools. The school committees of each town prescribe +the class-books to be used, and commonly make the Bible one of those +books. The teacher is expected to follow the law in respect to teaching +the principles of piety, without any instruction from the school +committee, and is almost always allowed to do this in his own way, +unless he is guilty of some impropriety, in which case the school +committee interferes. He usually has devotional exercises at the opening +of the school, and reads the Scriptures, or causes them to be read, as +an act of worship, whether they are prescribed by the committee or not. +Many teachers take that occasion to remark upon topics of morality, and +thereby aim to prevent misconduct. Indeed, the Bible is much relied on +as a means of discipline rather for preventing wrong-doing, than for +correcting it. + +"No minister, as such, gives religious instruction in any of our public +schools. Ministers are commonly on the school committees, and when +visiting the schools, as committees, exhort the children to good +behaviour, and to a religious life. + +"No cases are known of parents wishing their children to be excused from +such religious instruction, except with the Catholics, who desire that +their children be excused from the devotional exercises, especially from +reading the Protestant version of the Bible. Even this is very rare +where the teacher himself reads the Scriptures in connexion with other +devotional exercises. It occurs most frequently where the children are +required to use the Bible themselves, either in devotional exercises or +in a reading lesson. But those wishes are not often regarded, because +the committee has a legal right to prescribe the Bible as a school-book, +and to require all the pupils to comply with all the regulations of the +school. In some few instances, committees have thought it expedient to +allow the Douay version to be used by Catholic children; but it amounts +to nothing, as it is an abstract point started by the priests, for which +parents care but little; besides, it is objected that the Douay version +with its glosses is 'a sectarian book,' whereas the common English +version without note or comment is not." + +Scholars desirous of entering the higher schools are generally required +to pass through the lower, and bring therefrom certificates of capacity +and conduct. In the statute of the State, with reference to education, +all professors, tutors, instructors, &c., are enjoined to impress upon +the minds of those committed to their charge "the principles of piety, +justice, a sacred regard to truth, and love of their country." Among the +various subjects in connexion with education, in which instruction is +given in these schools, it may be as well to mention one, which, I +believe, is all but totally neglected in England. By legislative +enactment, section 2, "All school-teachers shall hereafter be examined +in their knowledge of the elementary principles of physiology and +hygiène, and their ability to give instructions in the same." + +The School Committee consists of two members from each of the twelve +wards of the city, chosen annually, and assisted by the Mayor and +President of the Common Council. The average expense of each scholar at +the primary schools is 25s. per annum, at the higher schools three +guineas. Under the foregoing system, 12,000 children are instructed +annually at the primary schools, and 10,000 at the higher schools, which +aggregate of 22,000 will give an attendance of nearly 70 per cent. upon +all children between the ages of five and fifteen, to whom the avenues +of knowledge, from the lisping letters of infancy to the highest +branches of philosophy, are freely opened. + +Through the kindness of Mr. B. Seaver, the Mayor of Boston, I was +enabled to visit several of these schools, the cleanliness of which, as +well as their good ventilation, was most satisfactory. The plan adopted +here, of having the stools made of iron and screwed on to the floor, +with a wooden seat fixed on the top for each pupil, and a separate desk +for every two, struck me as admirably calculated to improve ventilation +and check sky-larking and noise. The number of public schools in the +whole State is 4056, which are open for seven months and a half in the +year, and the average attendance of scholars is 145,000; besides which, +there are 749 private schools, with 16,000 scholars. It is a curious +fact, and bears strong testimony to the efficiency of the public +schools, that while they have increased by 69 during the year, the +private schools have decreased by 36. The foregoing sketch is from the +official Reports, printed at Boston in 1853. + +In addition to these schools, there are four colleges, three theological +seminaries, and two medical schools. Of these I shall only notice one of +the colleges, which I visited, and which enjoys a high reputation--viz., +Harvard College, or Cambridge, as it is sometimes called, from the +village where it is situated. The history of this college is a wholesome +proof how a small institution, if duly fostered by a nation, may +eventually repay future generations with liberal interest. Established +in 1636, by a vote of 400l., it obtained the name of Harvard, from the +bequeathment by a reverend gentleman of that name, A.D. 1638, of the sum +of 780l. and 300 volumes. Its property now amounts to upwards of +100,000l., and it is divided into five departments--collegiate, law, +medical, theological, and scientific--affording education to 652 +students, of whom one half are undergraduates. There are forty-five +instructors, all men of unquestionable attainments, and capable of +leading the students up to the highest steps of every branch of +knowledge; the necessary expenses of a student are about 45l. a year; +the fee for a master of arts, including the diploma, is 1l. sterling. + +Meritorious students, whose circumstances require it, are allowed, at +the discretion of the Faculty, to be absent for thirteen weeks, +including the winter vacation, for the purpose of teaching schools. +Parents who think their sons unable to take care of their own money, may +send it to a patron duly appointed by the college, who will then pay all +bills and keep the accounts, receiving, as compensation two and a half +per cent. I think the expenses of this establishment will astonish those +who have had to "pay the piper" for a smart young man at Oxford, as much +as the said young man would have been astonished, had his allowance, +while there, been paid into the hands of some prudent and trusty +patron. Tandems and tin horns would have been rather at a discount--_cum +pluribus aliis_. + +The college has a look of antiquity, which is particularly pleasant in a +land where almost everything is spick-and-span new; but the rooms I +thought low and stuffy, and the walls and passages had a neglected +plaster-broken appearance. There are some very fine old trees in the +green, which, throwing their shade over the time-worn building, help to +give it a venerable appearance. A new school of science has just been +built by the liberality of Mr. Lawrence,[AL] late Minister of the United +States in this country; and I may add that the wealth and prosperity of +the college are almost entirely due to private liberality. + +As the phonetic system of education has been made a subject of so much +discussion in the United States, I make no apology for inserting the +following lengthy observations thereon. A joint committee on education, +appointed to inquire into its merits by the Senate, in 1851, reported +that there was evidence tending to show--"That it will enable the pupil +to learn to read phonetically in one-tenth of the time ordinarily +employed. That it will enable the learner to read the common type in +one-fourth of the time necessary according to the usual mode of +instruction. That its acquisition leads the pupil to the correct +pronunciation of every word. That it will present to the missionary a +superior alphabet for the representation of hitherto unwritten +languages," &c. A similar committee, to whom the question was referred +by the House of Representatives in 1852, state that during the past year +the system had been tried in twelve public schools, and that, according +to the testimony of the teachers, children evinced greater attachment to +their books, and learnt to read with comparative ease; and they conclude +their report in these words:--"Impressed with the importance of the +phonetic system, which, if primarily learnt, according to the testimony +presented, would save two years of time to each of the two hundred +thousand children in the State, the committee would recommend to school +committees and teachers, the introduction of the phonetic system of +instruction into all the primary schools of the State, for the purpose +of teaching the reading and spelling of the common orthography, with an +enunciation which can rarely be secured by the usual method, and with a +saving of time and labour to both teachers and pupils, which will enable +the latter to advance in physical and moral education alone until they +are six years of age, without any permanent loss in the information they +will ultimately obtain." + +One gentleman of the minority of the committee sent in a very strong +report condemning the system. He declares "the system is nothing but an +absurd attempt to mystify and perplex a subject, which ought to be left +plain and clear to the common apprehensions of common men." Further on +he states, "No human ingenuity can show a reason for believing that the +way to learn the true alphabet, is first to study a false alphabet; that +the way to speak words rightly, is to begin by spelling them wrong; that +the way to teach the right use of a letter, is to begin by giving a +false account of a letter. Yet the phonetic system, so far as it is +anything, is precisely this." Then, again, with reference to the eight +specimen scholars, taken from a school of fifty, and who were exhibited, +he observes, "they were the same as those who were examined a year ago; +nothing is said of the other forty-two. It is not necessary to say +anything more of the character of such evidence as this;" and he winds +up by observing: "Such a mode of instruction would, in his opinion, +waste both the time and the labour employed upon it, and complicate and +embarrass a study, which in its true shape is perfectly simple and +clear." The following old anecdote would rather tend to prove that +spelling and reading were not either "simple or clear" to a Lancashire +judge, who, having asked the name of a witness, and not catching the +word exactly, desired him to spell it, which he proceeded to do +thus:--"O double T, I double U, E double L, double U, double O, D." The +learned judge laid down his pen in astonishment, and after two or three +unsuccessful efforts, at last declared he was unable to record it--so +puzzled was he with the "simple" spelling of that clear name--Ottiwell +Wood. + +In the _Massachusetts Teacher_ of January, 1853, there is the report of +a committee, in which they state "that children taught solely by the +phonetic system, and only twenty minutes each day, outstripped all their +compeers." They further add, that "the phonetic system, thus beneficial +in its effects, has been introduced into one hundred and nineteen public +and five private schools, and that they have reason to believe, that no +committee ever appointed to examine its merits have ever reported +adverse to it;" and they conclude by strongly "recommending teachers to +test the merits of the System by actual trial in their schools." Then +again, in the following number of their journal, they strongly condemn +the system as both useless and impracticable. + +Having carefully weighed the arguments on both sides, I am led to the +conclusion, that the objections of those who condemn the system are +partly owing to the fact, that while reaching their present advanced +state of knowledge, they have entirely forgotten their own struggles, +and are thus insensibly led to overlook the confusion and difficulty +which must ever arise in the infant mind, where similar combinations +produce similar sounds. An infant mind is incapable of grasping +differences, but understands readily simple facts; if what meets the eye +represent a certain fixed sound, the infant readily acquires that sound; +but if the eye rest on _o, u, g, h,_ as a combination, and the endeavour +is made to teach him the endless varieties of sound produced thereby, +his little mind becomes puzzled, his ideas of truth become confused, his +memory becomes distrusted, and his powers of reading become retarded by +the time occupied in the--to him--most uninteresting task of learning a +host of unmeaning sounds. The inevitable consequence is that the poor +little victim becomes disheartened, rendering a considerable amount of +additional trouble and--which is far more difficult to find--patience +necessary upon the part of the teacher. + +Common sense points out, that the reading of phonetic words must be more +easily learnt than the reading of the aphonetic words, of which our +language is essentially composed. The real question is simply +this,--Does the infant mind advance with such rapidity under phonetic +teaching, as to enable it at a certain age to transfer its powers to +orthodox orthography, and reach a given point of knowledge therein, +with less trouble, and in a shorter space of time, than those infants +do who are educated upon the old system? If phonetic teaching has this +effect, it is an inestimable boon, and if not, it is a complete +humbug.[AM] It should also be borne in mind, that the same arguments +which hold good in the case of infants will apply also, in a great +degree, to adults who wish to learn to read, and to foreigners +commencing the study of our language. Whether any further use of +phonetics is either desirable or practicable, would be a discussion out +of place in these pages. + +When any startling novelty is proposed, enthusiasts carry their advocacy +of it so far as often to injure the cause they wish to serve: on the +other hand, too many of the educated portion of the community are so +strenuously opposed to innovation, as to raise difficulties rather than +remove them. Has not the common sense of the age been long calling for +changes in the law of partnership, divorce, &c., and is not some +difficulty always arising? Has not the commercial world been crying +aloud for decimal coinage and decimal weights and measures, and are not +educated men constantly finding some objections, and will they not +continue to do so, until some giant mind springs up able to grasp the +herculean task, and force the boon upon the community? Were not +steamboats and railways long opposed as being little better than insane +visions? Did not Doctor Lardner prove to demonstration that railway +carriages could never go more than twenty miles an hour, owing to the +laws of resistance, friction, &c., and did not Brunel take the breath +out of him, and the pith out of his arguments, by carrying the learned +demonstrator with him on a locomotive, and whisking him ten miles out of +London in as many minutes? When I see that among so intelligent and +practical a people as the New Englanders--a people whose thoughts and +energies are so largely devoted to education--one hundred and nineteen +schools have adopted the phonetic system, I cannot but look back to the +infancy of steam, and conclude, that there must be more advantages in +that system than its opponents seem disposed to allow it to possess. + +The Committee of Council on Education in England, to whom the funds +set apart for educational purposes are, intrusted, authorized the +printing of phonetic books for schools some years since; but authorizing +books without training masters to teach them, is about as useful as +putting engines into a ship, without supplying engineers to work them. +Besides which, their phonetic system was in itself confusing and +objectionable; they have also informed the public, that the system, in +various forms, is almost universally adopted in the elementary schools +of Holland, Prussia, and Germany.[AN] + +I should also mention that other systems have been tried both in England +and Scotland, and that those teachers who employ them speak highly of +their advantages, especially in the latter country. I have now a paper +before me, called _The Reading Reformer_, in which I find the following +sentence, which tends to show that the system is approved of in France +in the highest quarters:--"The phonetic method of primary instruction is +used in the 5th regiment of the line, the 12th Light, the Penitentiary +of St. Germain, and the House of Correction for young prisoners. The +Minister of War has ordered that French should be taught by this method +to the young Arabs, in the three schools of Algiers, Oran, and +Philipville." + +One great mistake has been made by the champions of this mode of +teaching, which is more fatal to its success, in my opinion, than any +difficulty raised by its opponents, and that is the adoption by each +champion of his own phonetic alphabet; and for which he claims a +superiority over the alphabets of others. The absurdity of this +perpetual strife must be palpable. If a Fireworshipper were to be +converted, what hopes of success would there be if a Mormonite and a +Mussulman were placed on one side of him, and a Free Kirk man and a +Jesuit on the other? The public, as regards phonetic teaching, are +precisely in that Fireworshipper's position. Reader, you must form your +own opinion: I offer none. And now, with your permission, we will quit +the region of speculation and return to sober fact. + +One of the most striking buildings I visited during my stay at Boston +was the jail; the airiness and cleanliness were both perfect, and the +arrangement was to me totally novel. Independent of the ground outside, +which is walled all round, the jail itself is built under a large outer +case, affording abundance of light and ventilation. This outer building +forms a corridor all round the jail, affording protection to the keepers +from all weathers, and thus enables them to keep an efficient watch over +the inmates. Supposing any prisoner to escape from his cell, he is still +hemmed in by this outer case, which has only one door, so situated that +no one can approach it without being seen from a considerable distance; +and, even if these difficulties be overcome, the outer wall common to +all prisons still remains. As far as I could learn, no prisoner has ever +been able to force his way out. At night a blaze of gas in the outer +hall lights all the dormitories and the corridor which runs round +outside the jail, thus rendering escape as difficult at night as in +broad daylight. Water is freely supplied to every room on every storey, +and means of bathing are arranged in various parts of the building. +School-rooms, private rooms, and a chapel are all contained within this +leviathan outer case. In short, to those who take an interest in +improving the airiness of jails and the security of prisoners, this +building is well worth the most careful examination; and I trust we may +some day profit by the improvements which the ingenuity of the New +Englanders has here exhibited, for the frequent escapes from our jails +prove that some change is requisite. + +The Bostonians have applied the telegraph to a most important use, +which, I believe, we have totally overlooked in England. The town is +divided into sections, in each of which are a certain number of +stations; all of these latter have a telegraph-office, communicating +with one grand central office, by which means they explain where the +fire is. The central office immediately indicates to every section the +information thus obtained by the ringing of alarm-bells; and, by this +method, every fire-station in the city is informed of the locality of +the danger within a few minutes after its occurrence. + +The naval arsenal at Boston is moderate in size, kept very clean; but +when I visited it there were little signs of activity or life. They have +only three building sheds, in one of which a vessel has been in progress +for twenty years; the other two are vacant. The principal feature is the +rope-walk, which is 1640 feet long, and worked by steam-power. + +The United States, being on friendly terms with England, and so far +removed from Europe and its politics and its disturbances, pays +comparatively little attention to the navy, which is small, when +considered in reference to the size and wealth of the country and the +extent of its seaboard. + +The convention for the amendment of the constitution being in session, I +was enabled, through the kindness of Mr. Sumner, the senator for the +State, to witness their proceedings, which were conducted with becoming +dignity. The speakers, if not eloquent, at least adhered to the subject +under discussion, in a manner some of the wordy and wandering gentlemen +in our House of Commons might imitate with advantage. + +The supply of water for the town is brought from Lake Cochitnate, a +distance of twenty miles; and the length of piping in connexion with it +is upwards of 100 miles. The State authorized a city debt of 900,000l. +for the necessary expenses of the undertaking and purchase of the +ground, &c. The annual receipts amount to 36,000l., which will, of +course, increase with the population. Dwelling-houses pay from 1l. as +high as 15l. tax, according to their consumption. The average daily +expenditure in 1853 was about 7,000,000 gallons, or nearly 50 gallons +per head. + +Before leaving Boston, I may as well give some evidence of the +prosperity of the State. In the year 1830, the population was 600,000; +at the present date it is 1,000,000. The exports of domestic produce, +which in 1844 amounted to 1,275,000l., now amount to upwards of +2,830,000l.; and the imports, which at the former period amounted to +4,000,000l., now amount to nearly 7,000,000l. The population of +Boston has increased 600 per cent. during the present century. Lowell, +which is the great Manchester of Massachusetts, has increased its +population from 6500 in 1830 to nearly 40,000 at the present date; and +the capital invested, which in 1823 was only 500,000l., is now nearly +2,700,000l. I do not wish to weary my readers with statistics, and +therefore trust I have said enough to convey a tolerable impression of +the go-aheadism of these hardy and energetic descendants of the Pilgrim +Fathers; and, for the same reasons, I have not made any observations +upon their valuable libraries, hospitals, houses of industry, +reformation, &c., the former of which are so largely indebted to private +munificence. But before taking my leave of Boston, I must notice the +great pleasure I derived from hearing in all quarters the favourable +impression which Lord Elgin's visit, on the occasion of opening the +railway in 1851, had produced. His eloquence and urbanity was a constant +theme of conversation with many of my friends, who generally wound up by +saying, "A few such visits as that of the Railway Jubilee would do more +to cement the good feeling between the two countries than the diplomacy +of centuries could effect." I must here add, that upon my visiting +Quebec, I found that the same cordial feeling of fellowship had been +produced on the Canadian mind, by the brotherly reception they had met +with upon that memorable occasion. Farewell to Boston! but not farewell +to the pleasing recollection of the many happy hours I spent, nor of the +many kind friends whose acquaintance I enjoyed there, and which I hope +on same future occasion to renew and improve. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote AL: Such gifts during the lifetime of the donor, are in my +estimation, better evidences of liberality and zeal in a cause, than the +most munificent bequests even of a Stephen Gerard, who only gave what he +could no longer enjoy.] + +[Footnote AM: A _Vide_ observation by Mr. H. Mann, chap. 20.] + +[Footnote AN: The expense of printing proper books is sometimes +mentioned as an objection, on account of requiring new types for the new +sounds taught. No expense can outweigh the value of a change by which +education can be facilitated; but even this difficulty has been obviated +by Major Beniowski's plan. He obtains the new symbols requisite by +simply inverting a certain number of letters for that purpose.] + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +_Canada_. + + +Early morning found me seated in the cars on my way to Quebec. Not being +a good hand at description of scenery, this railway travelling is a +great boon to my unfortunate reader--if he have got thus far. A Nubian +clothed in castor-oil, and descending from the heavens by a slippery +seat upon a rainbow, might as well attempt to describe the beauties of +our sphere as the caged traveller at the tail of the boiling kettle +attempt to convey much idea of the scenery he passes through. Not merely +do the scrunching squeaks of the break, the blasty trumpet whistle, the +slamming of doors, and the squalling of children bewilder his brain and +bedeafen his ears, but the iron tyrant enchains and confuses his eyes. A +beautiful village rivets his attention,--bang he goes into the tunneled +bowels of the earth; a magnificent panorama enchants his sight as he +emerges from the realms of darkness; he calls to a neighbour to share +the enjoyment of the lovely scene with him; the last sounds of the call +have not died away, ere he finds himself wedged in between two +embankments, with nought else but the sky for the eye to rest on. Is it +any wonder, then--nay, rather, is it not an evidence of +truthfulness--that I find the record of my journey thus described in my +note-book:--"7-1/2 A.M., Fizz, fizz; hiss, hiss--waving +fields--undulating ground--sky--varied tints of green--cottages, cattle, +humanities--bridges, bays, rivers, dust, and heat--Rouse's Point, 7-1/2 +P.M." At this point we got out of the cage and embarked in a steamer. +The shroud of night hung heavily around us, and the lights of Montreal +and its suburbs, reflected in the unruffled stream, shone all the +brighter from the density of the surrounding darkness, and formed a +brilliant illumination. In half an hour I was comfortably housed in the +hotel, where, to my agreeable surprise, I met one of my countrywomen, +whose many charms had made her a theme of much admiration at Washington, +where I first had the pleasure of making her acquaintance. + +Any one who, wandering far from home, finds himself surrounded with +utter strangers, will partially understand the pleasure I enjoyed at +finding one face I had looked upon before; but to understand it fully, +they must know the face I was then gazing upon. Don't be curious, +reader, as to whom it belonged, for I have no intention of enlightening +you, further than to say it belonged to her and her husband. Twelve +hours of railway makes me sleepy; it's my nature, and I can't help it, +so I trust I may be excused, when I confess that I very soon exchanged +the smile of beauty for the snore of Morpheus. What my dreams were, it +concerns nobody to know. + +The magnificent brow of hill which overhangs Montreal was named in 1535 +Mont Royal, by the famous Jacques Cartier, in honour of his royal +master; the French settlement which arose a century after, in the +neighbourhood of the Indian village of Hochelaga, assumed the name of +the hill, and has at last shaken down into its present combination. What +Goths, not to preserve the Indian name which savours of the land and of +antiquity, instead of substituting a French concoction! With regard to +the site of the town, there is no doubt it is on the island now called +Montreal; but where that island is situated may be considered an open +question; the river Ottawa runs into the St. Lawrence at the western +extremity of the island, and the question is, whether the water on the +northern shore is the Ottawa or the St. Lawrence; upon which depends +whether the island is in the St. Lawrence, or between the St. Lawrence +and the Ottawa. Not wishing to deprive either of their finger in the +pie, I should give my verdict in favour of the latter opinion; but I +leave it an open question to the reader. The population of the town is +increasing rapidly, no doubt owing in great measure to emigration. In +1849 it was 48,000, in 1851, 58,000. The great majority are of the +Church of Rome, 41,000; of the Church of England there are 4000; the +other denominations are in small numbers. + +At the time I arrived, the town was full of gloom and excitement, for +it was but a few days previous that the Roman Catholics endeavoured to +murder Gavazzi, while delivering one of his anti-Romanistic lectures, +which, whatever their merits or demerits, were most certainly very +injudicious, considering the elements of which the population of +Montreal is composed; and it cannot be denied, that Signor Gavazzi's +lectures upon sacred subjects are delivered in a style partaking so much +of the theatrical, that a person ignorant of the language of his +address, might readily suppose that he was taking off John Kemble and +Liston alternately, and therefore the uneducated Irish emigrants might +very well conclude his sole object was to turn their creed into +ridicule. I certainly never heard or saw a person, lecturing on sacred +subjects, whose tone and manner were so ridiculously yet painfully at +variance with the solemnity due to such a theme. The excitement +produced, the constant calling out of the military, and the melancholy +sequel, are too recent and well known to require recapitulation here. It +is but just to the French Romanists to state, that as a body they +repudiated and took no part in the villanous attempt upon Gavazzi's +life; the assailants were almost exclusively Irish Romanists, who form +nearly one-fifth of the population. Would that they could leaven their +faith with those Christian virtues of peacefulness and moderation which +shine so creditably in their co-religionists of French origin. + +While touching upon the subject of the military being called out in aid +of the civil power, I am reminded of a passage extracted from some +journal which a friend showed me, and which I consider so well +expressed, that I make no apology for giving it at length. + + "THE MOB.--The mob is a demon fierce and ungovernable. It will not + listen to reason: it will not be influenced by fear, or pity, or + self-preservation. It has no sense of justice. Its energy is exerted + in frenzied fits; its forbearance is apathy or ignorance. It is a + grievous error to suppose that this cruel, this worthless hydra has + any political feeling. In its triumph, it breaks windows; in its + anger, it breaks heads. Gratify it, and it creates a disturbance; + disappoint it, and it grows furious; attempt to appease it, and it + becomes outrageous; meet it boldly, and it turns away. It is + accessible to no feeling but one of personal suffering; it submits to + no argument but that of the strong hand. The point of the bayonet + convinces; the edge of the sabre speaks keenly; the noise of musketry + is listened to with respect; the roar of artillery is unanswerable. + How deep, how grievous, how burdensome is the responsibility that lies + on him who would rouse this fury from its den! It is astonishing, it + is too little known, how much individual character is lost in the + aggregate character of a multitude. Men may be rational, moderate, + peaceful, loyal, and sober, as individuals; yet heap them by the + thousand, and in the very progress of congregation, loyalty, + quietness, moderation, and reason evaporate, and a multitude of + rational beings is an unreasonable and intemperate being--a wild, + infuriated monster, which may be driven, but not led, except to + mischief--which has an appetite for blood, and a savage joy in + destruction, for the mere gratification of destroying." + +The various fires with which the city has been visited, however +distressing to the sufferers, have not been without their good effect, +of which the eye has most satisfactory evidence in the numerous public +and other buildings now built of stone. The only monument in the city is +one which was raised to Nelson. Whether the memory of the hero has +passed away, or the ravages of the weather call too heavily on the +public purse, I cannot say; but it would be more creditable to the town +to remove it entirely, than to allow it to remain in its present +disgraceful state. It is reported that its restoration is to be effected +by private subscription; if so, more shame to the authorities. + +As nay first object was to reach Quebec, I only stayed one day at +Montreal, which I employed in driving about to see what changes had +taken place in the town and neighbourhood since my former visit in 1826. +I started by steamer in the evening, and arrived early the next morning. + +Is there any scene more glorious to look upon than that which greets the +eye from the citadel at Quebec? The only scene I know more glorious is +Rio Janeiro, which I believe to be by far the grandest in the world; but +the Rio lacks the associations of Quebec. Who can ever forget that +beneath its walls two chieftains, the bravest of the brave, fell on the +same battle-field--the one in the arms of victory, the other in defence +of his country and her honour? The spot where our hero fell is marked by +a pillar thus simply inscribed:-- + + HERE DIED + WOLFE, + VICTORIOUS. + +Nor has the noble foe been forgotten, though for a long time unnoticed. +In the year 1827, the Earl of Dalhousie being Governor-General, a +monument was raised in Quebec to Wolfe and Montcalm; and the death they +both met at the post of honour is commemorated on the same column,--a +column on which an Englishman may gaze with pride and a Frenchman +without a blush. The following words, forming part of the inscription, I +think well worthy of insertion: "Military prowess gave them a common +death, History a common fame, Posterity a common monument." + +It is a curious fact, that when the foundation-stone was laid, an old +soldier from Ross-shire, the last living veteran of the gallant band who +fought under Wolfe, was present at the ceremony, being then in his +ninety-fifth year. Everybody who has seen or read of Quebec must +remember the magnificent towering rock overhanging the river, on the +summit of which the citadel is placed, forming at once the chief +stronghold of its defence, and the grandest feature of its scenery. But +perhaps everybody does not know that to this same glorious feature the +city owes its name. The puny exclamation of Jacques Cartier's Norman +pilot upon beholding it was, "_Que bec_!" and this expression of +admiration has buried, in all but total oblivion, the old Algonquin name +of Stadacona. What a pity that old pilot was not born dumb. + +The increase of population here does not seem, to be very rapid. In +1844, it was about 36,000; now, it is little more than 42,000. There can +be no doubt that the severity of the climate is one great cause of so +small an increase. When it is remembered that the average arrival of the +first vessel after the breaking up of the ice is between the last week +of April and the first week in May, this need not he much wondered at. + +The Governor-General's residence, is removed from the town, and a +beautiful little country villa, called Spencer Wood, has been assigned +him in lieu. It is situated on the banks of the river, about half a mile +inland; the only objection to it is, that the size thereof is not +sufficient for vice-regal entertainments; but a very slight addition +would remedy that defect. In all other respects it is a charming place, +as I can gratefully testify. The drives and sights around the city are +too well known to need much notice from me. + +Montmorenci, with its frozen cone in winter, is one of the chief +resorts for pic-nickers in their sleighs. The trackless path over the +frozen snow during the season is as full of life as Windsor park was in +the old Ascot days. Bright eyes beaming from rosy cheeks, and half +buried in furs, anxiously watch for the excitement of a capsize, and +laugh merrily as the mixed tenants of some sleigh are seen rolling over +one another in most ludicrous confusion; the sun shines brightly, the +bells ring cheerily, all is jollity and fun, and a misanthrope would be +as much out of his element in one of these pic-nics as a bear in a +ballet. + +The falls of Lorette afford another pleasant excursion, not forgetting +old Paul and his wife--a venerable Indian chief and his squaw--whom I +visited, and the cleanliness of whose cottage I had great pleasure in +complimenting him upon, as also upon his various medals, which extended +from Château Gai down to the Exhibition of 1851. He appeared as much +struck with my venerable appearance as I was with his; for, upon being +asked my age, he bestowed a searching glance from head to foot, and then +gravely replied, "Seventy-five." I rebelled against his decision, and +appealed to his wife, who kindly took my part, and after a steady gaze, +said, "Oh, Paul! that gentleman is not more than seventy-two." It was in +vain I tried to satisfy them, that thirty summers would have to pass +over my head before I reached that honourable time of life. However, it +is not only Indians who miscalculate age, for a young lady, fresh from +Ireland, having the same question put to her, said "Sixty;" and upon +being told she was seventeen years out in her calculation, she replied, +with painful coolness, "Which way?" I never felt a confirmed old +bachelor till I heard that awful "Which way?" + +The roads round about in all directions are admirable; not so if you +cross the river to the Falls of the Chaudière; but the abomination of +abominations is the ferry-boat, and the facilities, or rather obstacles, +for entering and exiting. To any one who has seen the New York +ferry-boats, and all the conveniences connected with them, the contrast +is painfully humiliating. In the one case you drive on board as readily +as into a court-yard, and find plenty of room when you get there; in the +other, you have half a dozen men holding horses and carriages, screaming +in all directions, and more time is wasted in embarking than a Yankee +boat would employ to deposit you safely on the other side; and it would +puzzle a Philadelphia lawyer to decide which is the more abominable, the +exit or the entry. Nevertheless, the traveller will find himself +compensated for all his troubles--especially if the horse and carriage +be a friend's--by the lovely drive which takes him to the Chaudière +Falls, a trip I had the pleasure of making in company with a jolly party +of good fellows belonging to the 72nd Highlanders, then in garrison at +Quebec, and whose hospitalities during my stay I gratefully remember. + +If, however, an Englishman feels humiliated in crossing the Quebec +ferry, he feels a compensating satisfaction upon entering the Quebec +Legislative Council Chamber, which in its aspect of cleanliness, +furniture, &c., has an appearance of refinement far superior to that at +Washington. As they were not sitting during my stay in Canada, I had no +opportunity of drawing any comparison on their different modes of +carrying on public business. I had heard so much during my absence from +England of the famous Rebellion Losses Bill, and all the obloquy which +had been heaped upon the Governor-General in consequence, that I was +very anxious to get some insight into the true state of the case, +although perhaps the justification of the Earl of Elgin's conduct by Sir +Robert Peel ought to have satisfied me. + +I soon became convinced that in this, as in most similar cases, the +violence of party spirit had clouded truth; and the bitterness of +defeat, in minds thus prejudiced, had sought relief in the too-common +channels of violence and abuse. However much to be deplored, I fear that +the foregoing opinions will be found, on most occasions of political +excitement, to be true. The old party, who may be said to have enjoyed +the undisguised support of the Queen's representatives from time +immemorial, were not likely to feel very well disposed to Lord Elgin, +when they found that he was determined to identify himself with no +particular party, but that, being sent to govern Canada +constitutionally, he was resolved to follow the example of his +sovereign, and give his confidence and assistance to whichever party +proved, by its majority, to be the legitimate representative of the +opinions of the governed, at the same time ever upholding the right and +dignity of the Crown. This was, of course, a first step in unpopularity +with the party who, long triumphant, now found themselves in a minority; +then, again, it must be remembered that a majority which had for so many +years been out of power was not likely, in the excitement of victory, to +exercise such moderation as would be calculated to soothe the irritated +feelings of their opponents, who, they considered, had enjoyed too long +the colonial loaves and fishes. + +With all these elements at work, it is not to be wondered at that a +question which admitted of misinterpretation should be greedily laid +hold of, and that, thus misinterpreted, the passions of the mob should +be successfully roused. I believe there is little question that the +Government brought forward the Rebellion Losses Bill in the Senate in a +manner, if not arrogant, at all events most offensive, and thus added +fuel to the flames; but, viewed dispassionately, what is the truth of +this far-famed bill? It was framed upon the precedent of that for the +payment of similar losses in Upper Canada on a previous occasion, and I +believe the very same commissioners were appointed to carry out its +provisions. It received the sanction of the Governor-General in the same +way as all other bills, and was never smuggled through, as the irritated +opposition and infuriated mobs would have us believe. The +Governor-General clearly states that it never was intended in any way +"to compensate the losses of persons guilty of the heinous crime of +treason," and the names of the commissioners appointed to decide upon +the claims of the sufferers might alone have been a sufficient guarantee +that such an abominable idea was never entertained. Without mentioning +others, take Colonel W.C. Hanson: schooled in the field of honour and +patriotism, whose courage has been tried in many a bloody struggle +during the Peninsular war, and is attested by the honourable badges that +adorn his breast. Is a recreant rebel likely to find sympathy in that +breast which for half a century stood unchallenged for loyalty and +truth? What do his letters, as one of the commissioners, prove beyond +the shadow of a doubt? I have them now before me; and, so far from +claims being hastily admitted, I find the gallant old soldier constantly +advocating the cause of some claimant whom the commissioners declined to +indemnify, but never yet have I seen his name as opposed to any +compensation granted; possessing that still more noble quality which is +ever the lovely handmaid of true courage, his voice is raised again and +again for mercy. + +I could quote from numerous letters of this veteran, extracts similar to +the following:--The claimants were inhabitants of St. Benoit, some +portion of which population had been in arms as rebels, but upon the +approach of the Queen's troops they had all laid down their arms. As to +the facts of the case, Colonel Hanson writes to Lord Seaton, who +replies:--"The soldiers were regularly put up in the village by the +Quartermaster-General's department, and strict orders were issued to +each officer to protect the inhabitants and their property; Lieut.-Col. +Townsend to remain in the village of St. Benoit for its protection, the +remainder of the troops to return to Montreal. The utmost compassion and +consideration should be felt for the families of the sufferers plunged +into affliction by the reckless conduct of their relatives; every house +injured or destroyed at St. Benoit was a wanton destruction, perpetrated +in defiance of guards placed to protect property." Thus writes Lord +Seaton. Colonel Hanson, after quoting the above, proceeds to state that +the evidence before the commissioners proves that "immediately after +Lieut.-Col. Townsend assembled his regiment for the purpose of marching +back to Montreal, the volunteers from the northern townships commenced +plundering the village, carrying off the whole of the effects belonging +to the inhabitants, burning the church, and nearly every house in the +village ... wilfully and wantonly destroying houses, and in many +instances burning valuable barns and granaries.... Therefore I humbly +pretend that every such individual who thus suffered should be +indemnified, as his loss was a wanton destruction of the dwellings, +buildings, property, and effects of the said inhabitants." Yet such was +the jealous way in which the commissioners excluded all doubtful +claimants, that Colonel Hanson found himself in a minority upon the +consideration of the foregoing claims, and, as a man of honour and +anxious for justice, felt it his duty to address a letter to the +Governor-General upon the subject, from which letter, bearing date +January, 1852, the foregoing extracts have been taken. + +I have very many of such complaints of justice being withheld from +claimants, in the opinion of the gallant colonel, now lying before me, +but "_ex uno disce omnes_." I have read a great portion of the Report, +and the conclusion is irresistibly forced upon my mind, that everything +which could possibly be brought to assume the slightest shade of +rebellion was made fatal to an applicant's claim; but if anything were +wanting to satisfy my mind that the vilifiers of the "Losses Bill" had +not any ground of complaint against the measure, it would be found in +the fact, that among its various opponents to whom I spoke, they one and +all exclaimed, "Look at the case of Nelson, absolutely a rebel in arms, +and his claims listened to!" This was their invariable reply; and, until +I made inquiry, it looked very bad. But what was the real state of the +case? Simply that Nelson, having been ruined by his rebellion, many +loyal and faithful subjects to whom he owed debts suffered for his +faults; and the money awarded for the losses sustained by the rebel went +to pay the loyal debtors, except a small portion which was granted to +his wife, who was well known to be strongly opposed to the course he had +pursued, and who had lost considerable property which she held in her +own right. I say that the fact of Nelson's case being always brought up +as the great enormity carried more conviction to my mind of the utter +weakness of the opponents' cause than anything else; and it also proved +to me how ignorant many of them were of the truth, for several of them +who vilified the Bill, the Government, and the Governor-General, had not +the slightest idea, till I informed them, how the Nelson award was +applied. + +There is no doubt that the atrocities of which Montreal was the scene +constitute the most discreditable features in modern Canadian history, +and which, it is to be hoped, the instigators to and actors in are long +since fully ashamed of; nor can the temper and judgment of the +Governor-General on this trying occasion be too highly extolled. When it +was imperative to dissolve the Parliament, he foresaw that his not doing +so in person would be misconstrued by his enemies, and that he would be +branded by them with that most galling of all accusations to a noble +heart--cowardice. With a high-minded sense of duty, he put all such +personal considerations aside. There were two courses open to him: one, +to call out the military, and in their safe keeping dissolve the +Assembly; the other, to depute the Commander of the Forces to perform +that duty. The former must have produced a collision with the populace, +and the blood of many whom he believed to be as loyal as he knew they +were misguided and excited would have flowed freely; the latter, he +foresaw, would be misconstrued into an act of personal cowardice, but he +knew it would prevent a flow of blood, the remembrance of which would +keep alive the bitterest elements of political animosity for years to +come. With true patriotism, he sacrificed himself at the shrine of the +country he was sent to govern, preferring to be the subject of the most +galling accusations rather than shed unnecessarily one drop of the blood +of those committed to his rule. + +During the whole of Lord Elgin's able and prosperous administration, I +can scarcely conceive any one act of his to which he can look back with +more satisfaction, than this triumph of his judgment over his feelings, +when he offered up just pride and dignity on the altar of mercy, and +retired to Quebec. A shallow-pated fellow, who had probably figured +personally in the outrages of that period, in talking to me on the +subject, thus described it,--"he bolted off in a funk to Quebec;" and +doubtless hundreds of others, as shallow-pated as himself, had been made +to believe such was the case, and vituperation being the easiest of all +ignoble occupations, they had probably done their best to circulate the +paltry slander. Lord Elgin, however, needs no goose-quill defender; the +unprecedented increasing prosperity of the colony under his +administration is the most valuable testimony he could desire. It is not +every governor who, on his arrival, finding a colony in confusion and +rebellion, has the satisfaction, on his resignation of office, of +leaving harmony and loyalty in their place, and the revenue during the +same period increased from 400,000l. to 1,500,000l.: and if any +doubt ever rested upon his mind as to whether his services were approved +of and appreciated at home, it must have been removed in the most +gratifying manner, when, upon a public dinner being given him at the +London Tavern, 1854, all shades of politicals gathered readily to do him +honour; and while the chairman, Lord John Russell, was eulogizing his +talents and his administration, five other colonial and ex-colonial +ministers were present at the same board to endorse the compliment; the +American Minister also bearing his testimony to the happy growth of +good feeling between the two countries, which Lord Elgin had so +successfully fostered and developed. I cannot recal to my memory any +other instance of so great an honour having been paid to a colonial +governor. + +I was astonished to find so little had been done in Canada for the +organization of a militia force, especially when their republican +neighbours afford them an example of so much activity and efficiency in +that department. It may not be desirable as yet for the colony to +establish any military school, such as West Point; but it might be +agreeable and advantageous to the colonists, if we allowed a given +number of young men to be educated at each of our military colleges in +England; those only being eligible, who, by a severe examination, had +proved their capabilities, and whose conduct at the places of their +education had been noted as exemplary. By such simple means, a certain +amount of military knowledge would gradually be diffused amongst the +colonists, which would render them more efficient to repress internal +troubles or repel foreign aggression. + +As it may be interesting to some of my readers, I shall here give a +slight sketch of the Canadian parliaments. The Legislative Assembly, or +House of Commons, is composed of eighty-four members, being forty-two +for each province. The qualification for membership is 500l., and the +franchise 40s. freehold, or 7l. 10s. the householder; it is also +granted to wealthy leaseholders and to farmers renting largely; the term +is for four years, and members are paid 1l. per day while sitting, and +6d. per mile travelling expenses. The Legislative Council consists of +forty members, and is named by the Crown for life. The Cabinet, or +Executive Council, are ten in number, and selected from both Houses by +the Governor-General. Their Chancellor of the Exchequer is the Prime +Minister. The Canadians wish to do away with the qualification for +members of the Assembly, retaining the qualification for the franchise, +and to increase the number of members to sixty-five for each province. +They also desire to supersede the nomination of the Crown, and to make +the Legislative Council elective,[AO] with a property qualification of +1000l., thirty members for each province; these latter to be elected +for six years. + +With regard to the proposed change in the Legislative Council, I confess +I look upon its supposed advantages--if carried out--with considerable +doubt, inasmuch as the electors being the same as those for the other +Chamber, it will become merely a lower house, elected for a longer +period, and will lose that prestige which might have been obtained by +exacting a higher qualification from the electors. Then, again, I think +the period for which they are elected decidedly too short, being fully +convinced that an increase in duration will usually produce an increase +in the respectability of the candidates offering themselves for +election; an opinion in which I am fully borne out by many of the wisest +heads who assisted in framing the government of the United States, and +who deplored excessively the shortness of the period for which the +senators were elected.[AP] I cannot believe, either, that the removing +the power of nomination entirely from the Crown will prove beneficial to +the colony. Had the experiment been commenced with the Crown resigning +the nomination of one-half of the members, I think it would have been +more prudent, and would have helped to keep alive those feelings of +association with, and loyalty to, the Crown which I am fully certain the +majority of the Canadians deeply feel; a phalanx of senators, removed +from all the sinister influences of the periodical simoons common to all +countries would thus have been retained, and the Governor-General would +have had the power of calling the highest talent and patriotism to his +councils, in those times of political excitement when the passions of +electors are too likely to be enlisted in favour of voluble agitators, +who have neither cash nor character to lose. However, as these questions +are to be decided, as far as this country is concerned, by those who +probably care but little for my opinions, and as the question is not one +likely to interest the general reader, I shall not dilate further upon +it. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote AO: Since my return to England the proposed increase in the +Legislative Assembly has taken place. The Imperial Government has also +empowered the colony to alter the constitution of the Legislative +Council, and to render it elective if they thought proper so to do.] + +[Footnote AP: _Vide_ Chapter on the "Constitution of the United +States."] + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +_A Trip to the Uttawa_. + + +Having spent a fortnight in the enjoyment of lovely scenery and warm +hospitality, and taken a last and lingering gaze at the glorious +panoramic view from the citadel, I embarked once more on the St. +Lawrence. It was evening; and, as the moon rose bright and clear, the +wooded banks and silvered stream formed as charming a picture as the eye +of man could wish to rest upon. Morning found us at Montreal. Among my +fellow-passengers were two members of the Cabinet, or Executive Council, +Mr. Hincks and Mr. Drummond, both on their way to the Ottawa, the +commercial importance of that river to the prosperity of the colony +having induced them to take the trip with a view of ascertaining, by +actual observation and examination, what steps were most advisable to +improve its navigation. + +My intention was to start at once for Kingston; but when they kindly +asked me to accompany them, I joyfully accepted, and an hour after I +landed at Montreal I was on the rail with my friends, hissing away to +Lachine, where the chief office of the Hudson's Bay Company is fixed. +There we embarked in a steamer on Lake St. Louis, which is a struggling +compound of the dark brown Ottawa and the light blue St. Lawrence. The +lake was studded with islands, and the scenery rendered peculiarly +lovely by the ever-changing lights and shades from the rising sun. We +soon left the St. Lawrence compound and reached that part of the +Ottawa[AQ] which the poet has immortalized by his beautiful "Canadian +Boat Song." + +St. Anne's is a small village, and the rapids being impassable in low +water they have built a lock to enable steamers to ascend; but +fortunately, when we passed, there was sufficient water, and we steamed +up the song-famed rapids, above which the river spreads out into the +Lake of the Two Mountains. It is proposed to build a railway bridge for +the main trunk line, just above the rapids. How utterly the whizzing, +whistling kettle spoils the poetry of scenery, undeniable though its +utility be! There is no doubt that the Lake of the Two Mountains has +many great beauties; but, whatever they may be, a merciless storm of +rain effectually curtained them from us, and we traversed the whole lake +to Point Fortune in a mist worthy of the Western Highlands. There we +took coach, as the locks at Carillon are not yet large enough for +full-sized steamers to pass. The road was alike good and uninteresting, +running by the side of the canal, whose banks were here and there +enlivened by groups of wild flowers. + +A stage of twelve miles brought us to Grenville, where we again took +steamer on the Ottawa, and, the weather being finer, we had an +opportunity of enjoying the scenery, which is very peculiar. It has none +of the wild features of grandeur which one associates with comparatively +unknown streams, in a country where all is gigantesque. There is nothing +mountainous or craggy, but the banks and hills at the back being +luxuriously wooded, and conveying the idea of being well tenanted, the +absence of human habitations seems unnatural, and gives the solitude an +air of mystery, only broken at long intervals by a bowered cottage or a +wreath of smoke. The most remarkable building is the French château of +M. Papineau, very prettily situated on the northern bank, commanding an +extensive view of the river, and looking in its isolation as though its +occupant was a second Robinson Crusoe, and monarch of all he surveyed. +Night soon buried all scenery in its sable mantle, and, after sixty +miles steaming, we reached Bytown, where we found friends and +conveyances ready to take us over to Aylmer, there to sleep preparatory +to a further excursion up the river early in the morning. As the +distance was only eight miles, we were soon at Mr. Egan's hospitable +board, from which we speedily retired to rest, so as to be ready for the +morrow's trip. + +Early dawn found us on hoard and steaming merrily up the glorious +stream, which, spreading out very widely, has been lakefied, and is +called Lake Chaudière and Du Chêne, thus named, I suppose, because the +water is cold and there are few oaks to be seen. Be that as it may, the +scenery, though possessing neither striking features nor variety, is +very pretty and cheerful. A quantity of lovely little villas stud the +banks, some ensconced snugly in cosy nooks, others standing out boldly +upon the rich greensward; and, for a background, you have full-bosomed +hills, rich in forest monarchs, clad in their dense and dark mantles. +Suddenly the scene changes, the Chats Falls burst upon the sight; and +well does the magnificent view repay the traveller for any difficulty he +may have had in his endeavours to reach this spot. About three miles +above the rocky and well-wooded island that creates the falls, the river +contracts very considerably, and in its rushing impetuosity seems as +though it were determined to sweep the whole island into the lake below; +then there appears to have been a compromise between the indignant +stream and the obstinate island, and the latter seems to have offered up +a great portion of its timber at the shrine of Peace, and to have +further granted various rights of way to its excited neighbour. The +river seems to have taken advantage of both these concessions very +largely, but it appears that in nature, as it often occurs in politics, +concessions only breed increased demands, and the ungrateful Ottawa, +while sweeping away forest timber and baring the granite rock in a dozen +different channels, thunders its foaming waters along with an angry +voice, ever crying "More, more." + +I never saw anything more beautiful than these falls. They are generally +from twenty to forty feet broad, and about the same in height; but from +the shape of the island you cannot see them all at once; and as you +steam along there is a continual succession of them, each revealing some +new beauty. It was at this place that I, for the first time, saw a slide +for the descent of lumber, to which I shall have to refer hereafter. For +many years the porterage of goods across this island to the Ottawa +above--which is called Lake Chats--was a work of much difficulty and +expense. Mr. E., with that enterprise and energy which mark his +character, got two friends of kindred spirit to join him, and made a +railway across, about three miles and a half long. It is a single line, +constructed upon piles, and the car is rattled over at a jolly pace by +two spicy ponies. As the piles are in some places from twenty to thirty +feet in the air, it looks nervous work; and if one of the ponies bolted, +it might produce a serious accident; but they seem aware of the danger, +and trot away as steadily as an engine, if not quite so rapidly. + +On reaching the north-western end of the island, another steamer was +waiting for us, and we again breasted the stream of the Ottawa. After +passing the first three miles, which, as before mentioned, are very +narrow, and thus produce that additional impetus which ends in the +lovely Chats Falls, the river opens out into the Lake. The shores are +low and with a gentle rise, and there is comparatively little appearance +of agricultural activity, the settler having found the ground at the +back of the rise better suited for farming purposes. + +Some distance up the lake, and close to its margin, is the farm of Mr. +McDonnell, thus forming an exception to the general rule. His residence +is an excessively pretty cottage, commanding a grand panoramic view. +Here we stopped to pay a visit to the energetic old Highlander and his +family, and to enjoy his hospitalities. If he is to be taken as a +specimen of the salubrity of the climate, I never saw so healthy a +place. He came here as a lad to push his fortunes, with nothing but a +good axe and a stout heart. He has left fifty summers far behind him; he +looks the embodiment of health, and he carries his six feet two inches +in a way that might well excite the envy of a model drill-sergeant; and +when he took my hand to welcome me, I felt all my little bones +scrunching under his iron grasp, as if they were so many bits of pith. + +I could not help contrasting the heartiness of his welcome with the two +stiff fingers which in highly-civilized life are so often proffered +either from pride or indifference; and though he did very nearly make me +cry "Enough!" I would a thousand times rather suffer and enjoy his +hearty grasp than the cold formality of conventional humbug. The hardy +old pioneer has realized a very comfortable independence, and he told me +his only neighbours were a band of his countrymen at the back of the +hill, who speak Gaelic exclusively and scarce know a word of English. +They mostly came out with "The Macnab," but from time to time they are +refreshed by arrivals from the Old Country. + +Having a long day's work before us, we were enabled to make but a short +stay, so, bidding him and his family a sincere good-bye and good speed, +we renewed our journey. We soon came in sight of the black stumpy +monuments of one of the most disastrous conflagrations which ever +victimized a forest. Some idea may be formed of the ravages of the +"devouring element," from the simple fact that it all but totally +consumed every stick of timber covering a space of forty-five miles by +twenty-five; and the value of what was thus destroyed may be partially +estimated, when it is considered that one good raft of timber is worth +from three to five thousand pounds. These rafts, which are seen dotted +about the lake in every direction, have a very pretty effect, with their +little distinguishing flags floating in the breeze, some from the top of +a pole, some from the top of the little shanty in which their hardy +navigators live; and a dreary, fatiguing, and dangerous career it must +be; but Providence, in his mercy, has so constituted man, that habit +grows into a new nature; and these hardy sons of creation sing as +merrily, smile as cheerfully, smoke as calmly, and unquestionably sleep +as soundly, as any veteran in idleness, though pampered with luxuries, +and with a balance at his banker's which he is at a loss how to +squander. + +These sons of toil bear practical testimony to the truth of what the +late lamented Sir J. Franklin always declared to be his conviction, from +long experience, viz., that the use of spirits is enfeebling rather than +invigorating to those who have to work in the most severe climates. The +Lumberers are nearly all teetotallers, and I am told they declare that +they find their health bettered, their endurance strengthened, their +muscles hardened, and their spirits enlivened by the change. If this be +so, and if we find that the natives of warm climates are, as a mass, +also teetotallers, and that when they forsake their temperance colours +they deteriorate and eventually disappear, I fear we must come to the +conclusion, that however delicious iced champagne or sherry-cobbler may +be, or however enjoyable "a long pull at the pewter-pot," they are not +in any way necessary to health or cheerfulness, and that, like all +actions, they have their reactions, and thus create a desire for their +repetition, until by habit they become a second nature, to the great +comfort and consolation of worthy wine-merchants and fashionable medical +men, whose balance-sheets would suffer about equally by the +discontinuance of their use; not to mention the sad effects of their +misuse, as daily exhibited in police reports and other features, if +possible worse, which the records of "hells" would reveal. + +So strong does the passion become, that I know of a lady who weighs +nearly a ton, and is proud of displaying more of her precious substance +than society generally approves of, in whom the taste "for a wee drop" +is so strong, that, to enable her to gratify it more freely, she has the +pleasure of paying two medical men a guinea each daily, to stave off as +long as they can its insidious attacks upon her gigantic frame. You must +not, however, suppose that I am a teetotaller. I have tried it, and +never found myself better than while practising it; still I never lose a +chance if a bottle of iced champagne is circulating, for I confess--I +love it dearly. + +Pardon this digression.--We are again on the Ottawa; as we advance, the +river narrows and becomes studded with little islands covered with wild +shrubs and forest trees, from whose stiff unyielding boughs the more +pliant shoots droop playfully into the foaming stream below, like the +children of Gravity coquetting with the family of Passion. Of course +these islands form rapids in every direction: we soon, approach the one +selected as the channel in which to try our strength. On we dash +boldly--down rushes the stream with a roar of defiance; arrived midway, +a deadly struggle ensues between boiling water and running water; we +tremble in the balance of victory--the rushing waters triumph; we sound +a retreat, which is put in practice with the caution of a Xenophon, and +down we glide into the stiller waters below. + +Poke the fires,--pile the coals! Again we dash onwards--again we reach +midway--again the moment of struggle--again the ignominy of +defeat--again the council of war in the stiller waters below. We now +summon all our energies, determined that defeat shall but nerve us to +greater exertion. We go lower down, so as to obtain greater initial +velocity; the fires are made to glow one spotless mass of living heat. +Again the charge is sounded: on we rush, our little boat throbbing from +stem to stern; again the angry waters roar defiance--again the deadly +struggle--again for a moment we tremble in the balance of victory. +Suddenly a universal shout of triumph is heard, and as the joyous cheers +die in echoes through the forest, we are breasting the smoother waters +of the Ottawa above the rapids. + +This is all very well on paper, but I assure you it was a time of +intense excitement to us; if in the moment of deadly struggle the tiller +ropes had broken, or the helmsman had made one false turn of the wheel, +we might have got across the boiling rapids, and then good-bye to +sublunary friends; our bones might have been floating past Quebec before +the news of our destruction had reached it. + +The Ottawa is by no means the only channel in these parts for conveying +the produce of the lumberer's toil: there are tributaries innumerable, +affording hundreds of miles of raft navigation; so that an almost +indefinite field for their labour is open, and years, if not centuries, +must elapse before the population can increase sufficiently to effect +any very material inroad on these all but inexhaustible forests. + +After proceeding a few miles beyond the scene of our late severe +struggle, we reached the little village of Portage du Fort, above which +the rapids are perfectly impassable. The inhabitants of this little wild +forest community are not very numerous, as may be supposed, and the only +object of interest is a flour-mill, which supplies the lumberers for +many miles, both above and below. Our little steamer being unable to +ascend higher, we were compelled to make a Scotchman's cruise of +it--"There and bock agin." So, turning our head eastward, we bowled +along merrily with the stream, dashing down our late antagonist like a +flash of lightning, then across the lake, and through a fleet of +bannered rafts, till we landed on the Chats Falls Island, where we found +our ponies ready to whisk us along the mid-air railway. Re-embarking on +the steamer of the morning, we found a capital dinner ready for us, and +ere the shades of evening had closed in, we were once more enjoying the +hospitalities of Aylmer. + +Aylmer has only a population of 1100 inhabitants, but they are not idle. +The house of Mr. E. does business with the lumberers to the tune of +200,000l. annually, and supplies them with 15,000 lb. of tea every +year. Grog-shops are at a discount in these parts. The increasing +prosperity of this neighbourhood is mainly owing to the energy and +enterprise of Mr. Egan and his friend M. Aumond. It was by these two +gentlemen that the steam-boats were put on the lakes, and the rail made +across the island. Everybody feels how much the facility of conveyance +has increased the prosperity of this locality; and the value of Mr. E.'s +services is honourably recognised, by his unopposed election as the +representative of the district. Having had a good night's rest, and +taken in a substantial breakfast, we started off on our return to +Bytown, which city may he considered as the headquarters of the +lumberers. + +The ground upon which the greater part of Bytown stands was offered some +years since to a servant, as payment for a debt of 70l.; he found the +bargain so bad, that he tried to get out of it. The value of the same +land is now estimated at 200,000l.!!! As late as 1826, there was not +one stone put upon another; now the population is 10,000, and steadily +increasing. Nothing can exceed the beauty of the panoramic view from the +verge of the Barrack Hill, which is a dark, frowning, perpendicular rock +several hundred feet high. To the west are the Chaudière Falls, 200 feet +broad and 60 feet high, irregular in shape, and broken here and there by +rocks, around which the rapids leap in unceasing frenzy, ere they take +their last plunge into the maddened gulf below, thence rolling their +dark waters beneath your feet. Below the falls the river is spanned by a +very light and beautiful suspension-bridge. This part of the scene is +enlivened by the continual descent of timber-rafts rushing down the +slides, skilfully guided by their hardy and experienced navigators. +Around you is a splendid expanse of waving field and sombre forest, far +as the eye can stretch, and bounded towards the north by mountains +looming and half lost in distance, whence comes the mighty Gatineau--a +watery highway for forest treasure, threading its course like a stream +of liquid silver as the sun's rays dance upon its bosom,--the whole +forming one of the most beautiful panoramas imaginable. + +No place was ever better calculated for the capital of a great country. +Bordering upon Upper and Lower Canada, only twelve hours from Montreal, +easily capable of defence, with a trade increasing in value as rapidly +as the source thereof is inexhaustible, at the confluence of two rivers +whose banks are alike rich in timber and arable land--requiring but +nineteen miles of lockage to unite the St. Lawrence, the Ottawa, and the +Gatineau with the boundless inland lakes of America--possessing the +magnificent Rideau Canal, which affords a ready transport down to +Kingston on Lake Ontario--rich with scenery, unsurpassed in beauty and +grandeur, and enjoying a climate as healthy as any the world can +produce,--Nature seems to have marked out Bytown as the site for a +Canadian metropolis. In short, were I a prophet instead of a traveller, +I should boldly predict that such it must be some day, if Canada remain +united and independent. + +I must here explain the slides for lumber, before alluded to. In days +gone by, all lumber was shot down the rapids, to find its way as best it +could, the natural consequence being that large quantities were +irrecoverably lost. It occurred to Mr. Wright that this waste of toil +and timber might be obviated, and he accordingly, after great labour and +expense, succeeded in inventing what is termed a slide--in other words, +an inclined wooden frame--upon which a certain number of the huge logs +that compose a portion of a raft can be floated down together in perfect +security, under the guidance of one or two expert men. The invention +answered admirably, as is proved by the fact that, through its +instrumentality, timber which formerly took two seasons to reach Quebec, +now does so in five months. Like many other inventors, I fear Mr. Wright +has not received justice at the hands of the Government, who, by +building slides of their own, and granting advantages to those who use +them, have thus removed the traffic from Mr. Wright's--an injustice +which it is to be hoped it is not too late to repair; at all events, the +Imperial Legislature, which felt bound to vote 4000l. to a man that +invented a machine for making little holes between penny stamps, on the +ground of commercial utility, must agree with me that it is unworthy of +a lumbering colony to neglect the claims of a man whose invention has +proved to be a benefit to the lumber trade, absolutely beyond +calculation. + +The chief proprietor at Bytown is the Hon. Mr. Mackay, and of his career +in Canada he may indeed be justly proud. Arriving in the country as a +labourer without a friend, he has, by his integrity and intellectual +capability, fought his way up nobly to the highest position in the +colony, and is one of the most respected members of the Legislative +Council. Nor has he, while battling for senatorial honours, neglected +his more material interests, and the energy he has brought to bear upon +them has been rewarded to his heart's desire. He has a charming little +country place, called Rideau Hall, about three miles out of town, and is +the owner of several carding, saw, and flour mills, besides an +extensive cloth factory, from the produce of which I am at this moment +most comfortably clad. Mr. Mackay's career may fairly be termed a useful +colonial monument, to encourage the aspirations of noble ambition, and +to scourge the consciences of those drones who always see "a lion in the +way." We had the pleasure of enjoying his hospitalities at a grand +breakfast which he gave in honour of my two travelling friends, who +were, I believe, the first members of the Executive Council that had +been here for very many years. + +One object of their present visit was to ascertain, from personal +observation and inquiry, how far it was desirable the Government should +grant money for the purpose of making any of the locks requisite to +connect the Ottawa, &c., with Montreal and Quebec. I cannot for an +instant doubt their being most thoroughly convinced both of its perfect +practicability and of its immense importance. It only requires the +construction of nineteen miles of canal, to complete an unbroken water +communication from Quebec to the Ottawa and all its gigantic +tributaries, extending even to Lake Temiscaming; and if a canal were cut +from this latter to Lake Nipissing, the communication would then be +complete through the heart of Canada across all the inland ocean waters +of the American continent, and thence to New York _viâ_ Erie Canal and +Hudson, or to New Orleans _viâ_ Illinois Canal, River, and Mississippi. +Already 50,000l. have been, voted for this purpose, and this first +instalment is mainly due to the energy of Mr. Egan. As a mark of respect +for their representative, he was to be honoured with a public dinner, at +which my two companions of the Executive Council were to attend. +Unfortunately, my time was limited, and I was obliged to decline +participating in the compliment which Mr. Egan had so well earned; so, +bidding adieu to my friends, and casting one last and lingering glance +at that glorious panorama--the remembrance of which time can never +efface, I got into an open shay, and began prosecuting my solitary way +towards Prescott. + +I left the hotel as the guests were all arriving, and the fumes of the +coming feast proclaiming in the most appetizing way the object of their +meeting. I had two hours' daylight still left, and thus was enabled to +see a little of that part of the neighbourhood, which alone was +concealed when standing on the Barrack-hill. The more I saw of it, the +more convinced was I of the peculiar adaptation of Bytown for a great +city; the ground is admirably suited for building, and possesses a +water-power which is inexhaustible. My road, as may naturally be +supposed in a new country, lay through alternations of forest and +cultivation; if it was not well macadamized, at least it was far better +than I had expected, and there is some pleasure in being agreeably +disappointed, and able to jog along without eternally bumping in some +deep rut, which shakes the ash off your cigar inside your waistcoat. +Here and there, of course, I came across a break-neck tract, but that +only made the contrast more enjoyable. + +At half-past twelve at night the little horses began to feel the effects +of six hours' work, so I stopped at a tolerably miserable wayside inn +for four hours, which was distributed between washing, feeding, and +sleeping. Sharp work, but I was anxious to catch the steamer; so, +snatching what rest I could out of that brief period, and hoping the +horses had done the same, I was again _en route_ at 5 A.M., and by great +exertions reached Prescott in good time to learn that the steamer had +started half an hour before my arrival. I consoled myself, as well as I +could, with a washing basin, a teapot, and auxiliaries. I then went to +look at the town, which consists of about three streets, and 3000 +inhabitants; so that operation was accomplished without trouble, +interest, or much loss of time. Ascertaining that if I went over to +Ogdensburg, I could catch a steamer at 2 P.M., I ferried across +instanter, wishing to get a look at Brother Jonathan's town before +starting. A comparison between the two was not flattering to my national +vanity. Instead of finding a population of 3000, with no indication of +progress, I found a population of 8000, with go-aheadism in all +quarters; large houses, large streets, and active prosperity stamped on +everything. Doubtless this disparity is greatly owing to the railway, by +which the latter is connected with the whole State of New York, and also +from the want of reciprocity. Nevertheless, there is a stamp of energy +at Ogdensburg, which the most careless observer cannot but see is +wanting at Prescott. + +Mr. Parish is the great proprietor at the former of these towns, and is +said to be a man of considerable wealth, which he appears to be +employing alike usefully and profitably--viz., in reclaiming from the +lake a piece of land, about four hundred square yards, adjoining the +railway terminus, by which means vessels will be able to unload readily +on his new wharf; the reclaimed ground will thereby acquire an enormous +value for storehouses. + +Having finished my observations, and been well baked by a vertical +sun, I embarked at 2 P.M. Lovely weather and lovely scenery. + +The village of Brockville is very prettily situated on the banks of the +lake, and is considered one of the prettiest towns in Canada. Continuing +our course, numberless neat little villages and lovely villas appear +from time to time; but when fairly on the Lake of The Thousand Isles, +the scenery is altogether charming, and some new beauty is constantly +bursting into view. Upon the present occasion the scene was rendered +more striking by the perfect reflection of all the islands upon the +burnished bosom of the glassy lake. We reached Cape Vincent towards +evening, and, changing into another steamer, landed safely at Kingston +about ten at night, where, finding a young artillery friend, I was soon +immersed in that most absorbing of all pleasures to one long from +home--viz., talking over old friends and old scenes, until you feel as +though you were among both of them. Night, however, has its claims upon +man, and, being honest, I discharged my obligation by going to bed as +the tell-tale clock struck three. + +Kingston is but a small place, though once of considerable importance. +The population is about 12,000. In the year 1841, Lord Sydenham having +removed the seat of Government from Toronto to Kingston, the inhabitants +expended large sums of money in the expectation that it would so +continue; but, in 1844, it was removed back again, and consequently a +very heavy loss was incurred by those who had laid out their money. It +is this eternal shifting about of the seat of Government--the +disadvantage of which must be manifest to every one--that makes me hope +Bytown, the position of which is so central, may some day be decided +upon as the city to enjoy that honour permanently. However much Kingston +may be recovering itself, and I was told it is, I must confess that, +despite its cathedral, colleges, university, and other fine buildings, +which it undoubtedly possesses, the grass in the streets and lanes, the +pigs and the cows feeding about in all directions, made me feel ashamed, +especially when I thought of young Ogdensburg, which I had so lately +left. Taking into consideration the extent of lake communication which +it enjoys, and that by the magnificent Rideau Canal the whole country of +the Ottawa is open to it, I must say that I consider the state of +Kingston the strongest reflection upon the energy and enterprise of the +population. The finest view is from the citadel, which commands a +splendid panoramic expanse; the fortifications are in good repair, and +garrisoned by Canadian Rifles and a few Royal Artillerymen. One of the +objects I should have had most interest in visiting was the Provincial +Penitentiary, the arrangements of which, I had heard, were admirable; +but, as I had no time to see them, the reader is saved the details. + +At 3 P.M., I was again steaming away on Lake Ontario, which soon spreads +out into an open sea. The boat was tolerably good and clean, and the +food to match, but it was served down below; the cabin was therefore +very stuffy. I selected a bed with great care, and in due time got into +it, quite delighted with my carefully-chosen position, and soon buried +my nose in the pillow, full of peaceful hopes. Luckless mortal! scarce +had my nose extracted the cold from its contact with the pillow-case, +when a sound came rushing forth with a violence which shook not only me +and my bed, but the whole cabin. The tale is soon told. I had built my +nest at the muzzle of the whistle of the engine, and, as they made a +point of screeching forth the moment anything appeared in sight, you may +guess that I had a pleasant night of it, and have scrupulously avoided +repeating the experiment in any subsequent steam excursions. Having +nobody to blame but myself, I lost the little satisfaction I might have +had in abusing somebody else, and calling him a stupid ass for making +such a choice. However, as a matter of justice, I abused myself, and the +point being beyond dispute, no rejoinder was put in. Pleased with the +candour of my confession, I caught such snatches of rest as the engineer +and his whistle in mercy vouchsafed me--the next morning we were in +Toronto. + + * * * * * + +NOTE.--The Bytown mentioned in the foregoing chapter is now called +Ottawa, and is a candidate, in conjunction with Montreal and Toronto, +for the honour of permanent metropolitanism. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote AQ: Originally Uttàwa, wherein Moore has shown alike his good +taste and respect for antiquity by adhering to the original and more +beautiful name.] + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +_Colonial Education and Prosperity_. + + +Toronto is prettily situated, and looks flourishing and prosperous; the +way in which property is increasing in value here is wonderful, and the +hits some people have made are quite fabulous. A property which had been +bought for 30,000l., was, within a month--before even the price was +paid in full--resold in lots for 100,000l. The position of the town is +admirably adapted for a great commercial city: it possesses a secure +harbour; it is situated on a lake about 190 miles long by 50 broad; +thence the St. Lawrence carries its produce to the ocean, and the Rideau +Canal connects it with the lumberers' home on the Ottawa; the main trunk +line of railway, which will extend from the western point of the colony +to Halifax, passes through it; a local line, traversing some of the +richest land in Canada, is now in progress to Lake Simcoe and Lake +Huron; one iron horse already affords it communication with +Waterloo--nearly opposite Buffalo--whence produce descends by the Erie +Canal and the Hudson to New York: besides all which advantages, it +enjoys at present the privilege of being one of the seats of government +and the radiating point of education. Surely, then, if any town in Upper +Canada ought to flourish, it is Toronto; nor is there, I trust, any +reason to doubt that it will become a most wealthy and important place. +The influence of the young railways is already beginning to be felt: the +population, which in 1851 was only 25,000, amounted in 1853 to upwards +of 30,000, and is still rapidly increasing. Having been fortunate enough +to make the acquaintance of Mr. Cumberland, the chief engineer of the +line of railway to Lake Simcoe, he was kind enough to ask me to +accompany him to that lake on a trip of inspection, an offer of which I +gladly availed myself. I was delighted to find that the Canadians had +sufficient good sense to patronize first and second class carriages; +and, also, that they have begun to make their own carriages and +locomotives. The rails appeared very solidly laid down, and the road +fenced off; but, despite the fences, an inquisitive cow managed to get +on the line, and was very near being made beef of in consequence. The +progress of cultivation gave the most satisfactory evidence of +increasing prosperity, while the virgin forest-land told what a rich +harvest was still in store for the industrious emigrant. + +Ever and anon you saw on the cleared ground that feature so peculiar to +American scenery, a patriarchal remnant of the once dense forest, as +destitute of branches as the early Adam was of small-clothes, his bark +sabled by the flames, the few summit leaves--which alone indicated +vitality--scarce more in number than the centuries he could boast, and +trembling, as it were, at their perilous weight and doubtful tenure, +while around him stood stumps more sabled, on whom the flames had done +more deadly work, the whole--when the poetry had passed away--reminding +one of a black Paterfamilias standing proudly in the centre of his +nigger brood. + +There is a good iron-foundry established here, which turns out some +excellent engines. Some of the public buildings are also fine; but, +there being unfortunately no quarries in the neighbourhood, they are +built of brick. The Lunatic Asylum is one of the best; but it is +surrounded with a high prison-looking wall, which I believe modern +experience condemns strongly as exercising a baneful influence upon the +unfortunate patients. If it be so, let us hope it may be enclosed by +something more light, airy, and open. + +Several of the churches are very fine. I visited the Episcopal Church, +which has been burnt down three times; and on my remarking to the +architect the apparent clumsiness of the pews, which destroyed the +effect inside, he smiled, and told me that by the contract he was +obliged to replace them exactly as before. I told him I thought it was a +specimen of conservatism run mad, to which he fully assented. Trinity +Episcopal College is one of the finest edifices in the neighbourhood; at +present it contains only thirty-five students, but it is to be hoped its +sphere of usefulness may be extended as its funds increase. It has the +foundation of a very good library, which is rapidly extending; the +University of Cambridge sent them out a magnificent addition of 3000 +volumes. The last building I shall mention is the Normal School, to +visit which was one of my chief objects in stopping at Toronto. + +[Illustration: THE NORMAL SCHOOL, TORONTO] + +The ceremony of laying the foundation-stone of this building was +inaugurated with all due solemnity, and under the auspices of the able +representative of our gracious Queen, on the 2nd of July, 1851. In his +eloquent speech on that memorable occasion, when referring to the +difficulties on the question of religious instruction, the following +beautiful passage occurs:-- + + "I understand, sir, that while the varying views and opinions of a + mixed religious society are scrupulously respected, while every + semblance of dictation is carefully avoided, it is desired, it is + earnestly recommended, it is confidently expected and hoped, that + every child who attends our common schools shall learn there that he + is a being who has an interest in eternity as well as in time; that he + has a Father towards whom he stands in a closer and more affecting and + more endearing relationship than to any earthly father, and that + Father is in heaven; that he has a hope far transcending every earthly + hope--a hope full of immortality--the hope, namely, that that Father's + kingdom may come; that he has a duty which, like the sun in our + celestial system, stands in the centre of his moral obligations, + shedding upon them a hallowing light which they in their turn reflect + and absorb,--the duty of striving to prove by his life and + conversation the sincerity of his prayer that that Father's will may + be done upon earth as it is in heaven. I understand, sir, that upon + the broad and solemn platform which is raised upon that good + foundation, we invite the ministers of religion of all + denominations--the _de facto_ spiritual guides of the people of the + country--to take their stand along with us; that, so far from + hampering or impeding them in the exercise of their sacred functions, + we ask, and we beg them to take the children--the lambs of the flock + which are committed to their care--aside, and lead them to those + pastures and streams where they will find, as they believe it, the + food of life and the waters of consolation. + + * * * * * + + "Permit me in conclusion, to say, both as an humble Christian man and + as the head of the civil government of the province, that it gives me + unfeigned pleasure to perceive that the youth of this country, of all + denominations, who are destined in their maturer years to meet in the + discharge of the duties of civil life upon terms of perfect civil and + religious equality--I say it gives me pleasure to hear and to know + that they are receiving an education which is fitted so well to + qualify them for the discharge of these important duties, and that + while their hearts are yet tender and their affections yet green and + young, they are associated under conditions which are likely to + promote among them the growth of those truly Christian graces--mutual + respect, forbearance, and charity." + +The position of the building is well chosen, being surrounded with +cultivated ground sufficiently extensive to be usefully employed in +illustrating the lectures given on vegetable physiology and agricultural +chemistry. The rooms are all very lofty, airy, and scrupulously clean. A +notice at the entrance warns you--"The dirty practice of spitting not +allowed in this building;" and as far as eye could discern, the notice +is rigidly obeyed. I was told that a specific had been found to cure the +filthy habit. I mention it for the benefit of hotel-keepers and +railway-conductors, in all places where such a relic of barbarism may +still find a welcome. On a certain occasion, the lecturer having +received undeniable proof that one of the students had violated the +above-mentioned regulation, stopped in the middle of one of his +sublimest flights, repeated sonorously the notice, called the culprit by +name, informed him that his endeavour to dissipate his filth into +infinity by the sole of his shoe was useless, and ordered him forthwith +to take his handkerchief out and wipe it up clean. Disobedience was +expulsion: with crimson cheek he expiated his offence by obedience to +the order, and doubtless during the hushed silence in which he completed +his labour, he became a confirmed anti-expectorationist. + +Great attention is very properly paid to cleanliness, inasmuch as if +these young men, who are destined to teach others, acquire filthy +habits, they naturally encourage the same vice in their pupils, and thus +may be almost said to nationalize it. All the tables and stools are +fitted like those in the schools of the United States, which is an +immense improvement on the one long-desk and long form to match, which +predominate all but universally at home. The instruction given is +essentially by lecture and questioning; and I was particularly struck +with the quiet modulated tones in which the answers were given, and +which clearly proved how much pains were taken upon this apparently +trifling, but really very important, point.[AR] You heard no harsh +declamation grating on your ear; and, on the other hand, you were not +lulled to sleep by dreary, dull monotony. + +There are two small schools attached to the establishment, for these +Normal aspirants, male and female, to practise upon, when considered +sufficiently qualified. Those thus employed during my visit seemed to +succeed admirably, for I never saw more merry, cheerful faces, which I +consider one of the best tests of a master's efficiency. The little +girls, taking a fancy for music, purchased among themselves a cottage +piano, which, being their own instrument, I have no doubt increased +their interest in the study amazingly. The boys have a kind of gymnasium +under a shed, which, when released from school, they rush to with an +avidity only equalled by that which the reader may have experienced in +his early days when catching sight of a pastry-cook's shop immediately +after receiving his first tip.[AS] + +I believe that to this establishment, which was founded in 1846, belongs +the honour of being the Pioneer Normal School in the Western Hemisphere. +But while giving due credit to the Governor-General and the Government +for their leading parts in its foundation, it should never be forgotten, +how much indebted the establishment is to the unwearying zeal and +patient investigations of Dr. Ryerson, the chief superintendent of +schools in Canada. This gentleman carefully examined the various systems +and internal arrangement of scholastic establishments, not only all over +the States, but in every country of the Old World, selecting from each +those features which seemed to produce the most comfort, the best +instruction, and the greatest harmony. The result of his inquiries I +subjoin from his own pen:-- + + "Our system of public elementary instruction is eclectic, and is, to a + considerable extent, derived from four sources. The conclusions at + which the present head of the department arrived during his + observations and investigations of 1845, were, firstly: That the + machinery, or law part of the system, in the State of New York, was + the best upon the whole, appearing, however, defective in the + intricacy of some of its details, in the absence of an efficient + provision for the visitation and inspection of schools, the + examination of teachers, religious instruction, and uniform text-books + for the schools. Secondly. That the principle of supporting schools in + the State of Massachusetts was the best, supporting them all according + to property, and opening them to all without distinction; but that the + application of this principle should not be made by the requirements + of state or provincial statute, but at the discretion and by the + action, from year to year, of the inhabitants in each school + municipality--thus avoiding the objection which might be made against + an uniform coercive law on this point, and the possible indifference + which might in some instances be induced by the provisions of such a + law--independent of local choice and action. Thirdly: That the series + of elementary text-books, prepared by experienced teachers, and + revised and published under the sanction of the National Board of + Education in Ireland, were, as a whole, the best adapted to schools in + Upper Canada--having long been tested, having been translated into + several languages of the continent of Europe, and having been + introduced more extensively than any other series of text-books into + the schools of England and Scotland. Fourthly: That the system of + normal-school training of teachers, and the principles and modes of + teaching which were found to exist in Germany, and which have been + largely introduced into other countries, were incomparably the + best--the system which makes school-teaching a profession, which, at + every stage, and in every branch of knowledge, teaches things and not + merely words, which unfolds and illustrates the principles of rules, + rather than assuming and resting upon their verbal authority, which + develops all the mental faculties instead of only cultivating and + loading the memory--a system which is solid rather than showy, + practical rather than ostentatious, which prompts to independent + thinking and action rather than to servile imitation. + + "Such are the sources from which the principal features of the school + system in Upper Canada have been derived, though the application of + each of them has been modified by the local circumstances of our + country. There is another feature, or rather cardinal principle of it, + which is rather indigenous than exotic, which is wanting in the + educational systems of some countries, and which is made the occasion + and instrument of invidious distinctions and unnatural proscriptions + in other countries; we mean the principle of not only making + Christianity the basis of the system, and the pervading element of all + its parts, but of recognising and combining in their official + character, all the clergy of the land, with their people, in its + practical operations--maintaining absolute parental supremacy in the + religious instruction of their children, and upon this principle + providing for it according to the circumstances, and under the + auspices of the elected trustee-representatives of each school + municipality. The clergy of the country have access to each of its + schools; and we know of no instance in which the school has been made + the place of religious discord; but many instances, especially on + occasions of quarterly public examinations, in which the school has + witnessed the assemblage and friendly intercourse of clergy of various + religious persuasions, and thus become the radiating centre of a + spirit of Christian charity and potent co-operation in the primary + work of a people's civilization and happiness." + +With reference to religious instruction at the normal schools, Dr. +Ryerson has kindly furnished me with the following statement:--"A part +of each Friday afternoon is set apart for this purpose, and a room +allowed for the minister of each of the religious persuasions of the +students, to give instruction to the members of his church, who are +required to attend, as also to attend the service of such church at +least once every Sunday. Hitherto we have found no difficulty, +reluctance, or neglect, in giving full effect to this system." + +The only difficulty in these matters that I have heard of, is a long +dispute with the Roman Catholic bishop of Toronto; but such an event one +must be prepared for when dealing with a church which claims +infallibility. I have no doubt the tact and moderation of Dr. Ryerson +have ere this thrown oil on the troubled waters, and restored the +harmony which existed between the former Roman bishop and the reverend +doctor. To those who take an interest in education, the report of the +system used in Canada, drawn up by Dr. Ryerson, and printed by order of +the Legislative Assembly, will afford much pleasure and information. It +is, of course, far too large a subject to enter upon in these pages, +containing, as it does, so vast an amount of matter worthy of serious +reflection. I will, however, indulge such of my friends as were taught +to read in the last century, with a quotation from page 67, which will +probably astonish them. + +Mr. Horace Mann, so long the able Secretary of the Board of Education in +Massachusetts, after pointing out the absurdity of worrying a child's +life out, in teaching the A B C, &c., and their doubtful and +often-varying sounds utterly destitute of meaning, instead of words +which have distinct sounds and distinct meaning, thus winds +up:--"Learning his letters, therefore, gives him no new sound; it even +restricts his attention to a small number of those he already knows. So +far, then, the learning of his letters contracts his practice; and were +it not for keeping up his former habits of speaking, at home and in the +playground, the teacher, during the six months or year in which he +confines him to the twenty-six sounds of the alphabet, would pretty near +deprive him of the faculty of speech." + +This extract, from the pen of one who has devoted so much talent and +patient investigation to the subject of education, entitles it to the +serious consideration of all those who are in any way connected with the +same subject in this country, where the old A B C cramming all but +universally prevails.--But to return to Upper Canada and its schools. +Some estimate of the value of its scholastic establishments may be +formed from the fact, that while its sphere of usefulness is rapidly +extending, it has already reached the following honourable position: The +population of Upper Canada is close upon 1,000,000; the number of +children between the ages of 5 and 16 is 263,000; the number of children +on the rolls of the common school establishments is 179,587; and the +grand total of money available for these glorious purposes, is +170,000l. I feel conscious that I have by no means done full justice +to this important subject; but the limits of a work like this render it +impossible so to do. Let it suffice to say, that Upper Canada is +inferior to none of its neighbouring rivals, as regards the quality of +instruction given; and that it is rapidly treading on the heels of the +most liberal of them, as regards the amount raised for its support. The +normal school, I conceive to be a model as nearly perfect as human +agency has yet achieved; and the chemical and agricultural lectures +there given, and practically illustrated on the small farm adjoining the +building, cannot fail to produce most useful and important results in a +young uncultivated country possessing the richest soil imaginable. The +Governor-General and the Government deserve every credit for the support +and encouragement they have given to education; but, if I may draw a +comparison without being invidious, I would repeat, that it is to the +unusual zeal and energy of Dr. Ryerson, to his great powers of +discriminating and selecting what he found most valuable in the +countless methods he examined, and to his combination and adaptation of +them, that the colony is mainly indebted for its present admirable +system. Well may Upper Canada be proud of her educational achievements, +and in her past exertions read a hopeful earnest of a yet more noble +future.[AT] + +But it is not in education alone that Canada has been shadowing forth a +noble career. Emancipated from maternal apron-strings by a +constitutional self-government, and aided by the superior administrative +powers of the Earl of Elgin, she has exhibited an innate vitality which +had so long been smothered by Imperial misrule as to cause a doubt of +its existence; and if she has not shown it by the birth of populous +cities, she has proved it by a more general and diffusive prosperity. A +revenue quadrupled in four years needs no Chicagos or Buffalos to +endorse the colony's claims to energy and progress. Internal +improvements have also been undertaken on a large scale: railways are +threading their iron bands through waste and forest, and connecting in +one link all the North American colonies; the tubular bridge at Montreal +will be the most stupendous work yet undertaken by engineering skill; +canals are making a safe way for commerce, where a year or two back the +roaring rapid threw its angry barrier. Population, especially in Upper +Canada, is marching forward with hasty strides; the value of property is +fast increasing; loyalty has supplanted discontent and rebellion; an +imperial baby has become a princely colony, with as national an +existence as any kingdom of the Old World.[AU] These are facts upon +which the colonists may, and do, look with feelings of both pride and +satisfaction; and none can more justly contemplate them with such +emotions, than those through whose administrative talents these +prosperous results have been produced, out of a state of chaos, in eight +short years. Dissatisfied men there ever will be among a large +community, and therefore questions of independence and annexation will +be mooted from time to time; but it seems hardly probable that a colony +which enjoys an almost independent nationality would ever be disposed to +resign that proud position, and to swamp her individuality among the +thirty-three free and slave States of the adjoining Republic. At all +events, the colony, by her conduct with reference to the present war, +has shown that she is filled with a spirit of loyalty, devotion, and +sympathy as true, as fervent, and as deep as those which animate all the +other subjects of our beloved Sovereign. + +Farewell, Canada! May the sun of prosperity, which has been rising upon +you steadily for eight years, rise higher and higher, and never know +either a cloud or a meridian! Canada, adieu! + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote AR: My observations at various schools in the United States +satisfied me that no attention is paid by the teachers to the tone of +voice in which the boys give their answers.] + +[Footnote AS: The females are regularly taught calisthenics, and the +boys gymnastics, by a professor.] + +[Footnote AT: These remarks were made in 1853. The report for the year +1854 is now lying before me, by which I find that the attendance has +increased to 194,376; and the money raised has also increased in a +similar ratio, being at that date 199,674l.] + +[Footnote AU: + + Population of Canada 1841, 1,156,139 } Increase, + Ditto ditto 1851, 1,842,265 } 59.34 percent. + + Population of Upper Canada 1841, 405,357 } Increase, + Ditto ditto 1851, 952,004 } 104.57 percent + + The increase of the United States from 1840 to 1850 was only 37.77 + percent. + + Wheat crop, Upper Canada 1841, 3,221,991 bushels. + Ditto ditto 1851, 12,692,852 ditto, + Wheat crop, Lower Canada 1841, 1,021,405 bushels. + Ditto ditto 1851, 3,326,190 ditto. + +This table is taken from an able statement sent by the Governor-General +to the Colonial Office, dated Quebec, Dec. 22, 1852.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +_A Cataract and a Celebration_. + + +The convulsive efforts of the truant steam, echoing across the harbour, +told me I had little time to lose: so, bidding farewell to friends, I +hurried down to the quay, and was soon bowling over a lake as smooth and +polished as the bald head of age. The pat of every float in the wheel, +as it struck in the water, echoed with individual distinctness, and the +hubbub created thereby, in the otherwise unruffled lake, left its trace +visible on the mirrory surface for so great a distance as to justify a +disputatious man in questioning whether the term "trackless way" was +applicable to the course a vessel had passed over. Here we are, steaming +away merrily for Niagara. + +There is nothing interesting in scenery until you come to the entrance +of the river, on the opposite sides of which stand Lewistown and +Queenstown, and above the latter the ruthlessly mutilated remains of the +monument to the gallant Brock. The miscreant who perpetrated the vile +act in 1841, has since fallen into the clutches of the law, and has +done--and, for aught I know, is now doing--penance in the New York +State Prison at Auburn. I believe the Government are at last repairing +it;--better late than never. The precipitous banks on either side +clearly indicate they are the silent and persevering work of the +ever-rolling stream, and leave no doubt upon any reflecting mind that +they must lead to some fall or cataract, though no reflection can fully +realize the giant cataract of Niagara. + +There are several country places on the banks, and the whole appearance +bespeaks comfort and civilization. Far away in the distance is to be +seen the suspension-bridge, high in mid-air, and straight as the arrow's +flight. On either bank rival railroads are in progress; that on the +Canada side is protected from the yawning abyss by a wall calculated to +defy the power of steam. The boat touches at Queenstown, and thence +proceeds to Lewistown, where a stage is waiting for Niagara City. No +botherations of custom-house--what a blessing! The distance to ride is +seven miles, and the time one hour; but in the United States, you are +aware, every chap will "do as he best pleases;" consequently, there is a +little information to be obtained from the fresh arrival, a cock-tail +with a friend or two, a quiet piling on of luggage, &c.; all this takes +a long half-hour, and away we go with four tough little nags. A +tremendous long hill warms their hides and cools their mettle, though by +no means expending it. On we go, merrily; Jehu, a free-and-easy, +well-informed companion, guessing at certainties and calculating on +facts. + +At last we reach a spring by the roadside, the steam rising from the +flanks of the team like mist from a marsh. What do I see? Number one nag +with a pailful of water, swigging away like a Glasgow baillie at a bowl +of punch. He drains it dry with a rapidity which says "More, more!" and +sure enough they keep on giving pail after pail, till he has taken in +enough to burst the tough hide of a rhinoceros. I naturally concluded +the horse was an invalid, or a culprit who had got drunk, and that they +were mixing the liquor "black list" fashion, to save his intestines and +to improve his manners; but no--round goes the pailman to every nag, +drenching each to the bursting point. + +"Ain't you afraid," I said, "of killing the poor beasts by giving them +such a lot of water?" + +"I guess if I was, I shouldn't give it 'em," was the terse reply. + +Upon making further inquiries into this mysterious treatment, he told me +that it was a sulphur spring, and that all tired horses having exhibited +an avidity for it far greater than for common water, the instinct of the +animal had been given a fair trial, and subsequent experience had so +ratified that instinct that it had become a "known fact." An intelligent +American, sitting at the feet of a quadruped Gamaliel, humbly learning +from his instincts, should teach the bigots of every class and clime to +let their prejudices hang more loosely upon them. But half an hour has +passed, and Jehu is again on the box, the nags as fresh as daisies, and +as full as a corncob. Half an hour more lands us at Niagara. Avoiding +the hum of men, I took refuge for the night in a snug little cottage +handy to the railway, and, having deposited my traps, started on a +moonlight trip. I need scarce say whither. + +Men of the highest and loftiest minds, men of the humblest and simplest +minds, the poet and the philosopher, the shepherd and the Christian, +have alike borne testimony to the fact, that the solitude of night tends +to solemnize and elevate the thoughts. How greatly must this effect be +increased when aided by the contemplation of so grand a work of nature +as Niagara! In the broad blaze of a noonday sun, the power of such +contemplation is weakened by the forced admixture of the earthly +element, interspersed as the scene is with the habitations and works of +man. But, in the hushed repose of night, man stands, as it were, more +alone with his Maker. The mere admirer of the picturesque or the grand +will find much to interest and charm him; but may there not arise in the +Christian's mind far deeper and higher thoughts to feed his +contemplation? In the cataract's mighty roar may he not hear a voice +proclaiming the anger of an unreconciled God? May not the soft beams of +the silvery moon above awaken thoughts of the mercies of a pardoning +God? And as he views those beams, veiled, as it wore, in tears by the +rising spray, may he not think of Him and his tears, through whom alone +those mercies flow to man? May not yon mist rising heavenward recal his +glorious hopes through an ascended Saviour; and as it falls again +perpetually and imperceptibly, may it not typify the dew of the Holy +Spirit--ever invisible, ever descending--the blessed fruit of that Holy +Ascension? And if the mind be thus insensibly led into such a train of +thought, may not the deep and rugged cliff, worn away by centuries +unnumbered by man, shadow forth to him ideas of that past Eternity, +compared to which they are but as a span; and may not the rolling +stream, sweeping onward in rapid and unceasing flight into the abyss +beneath his feet, fill his soul with the contemplation of Time's flight, +which, alike rapid and continuous, is ever bearing him nearer and nearer +to the brink of that future Eternity in which all his highest and +brightest hopes will be more than realized in the enjoyment of a +happiness such as "eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither hath it +entered into the heart of man to conceive." Say, then, reader, is not +every element of thought which can arise between a Christian and his +Creator symbolled forth here in equal beauty and grandeur? One, indeed, +is wanting, which, alas! none of Nature's works but man can supply--that +sad element, which those who search their own hearts the deepest will +feel the most.--I feel I have departed from the legitimate subject of +travels; let the majesty of the scene plead my excuse. + +Adieu, Niagara. + +Early next morning I put myself into a railway car, and in due time +reached Batavia. On my arrival, being rather hungry, I made a modest +request for a little brandy and some biscuits; fancy my astonishment +when the "help" said, "I guess we only give meals at the fixed hours." +As I disapproved very much of such an unreasonable and ridiculous +refusal, I sought out the chief, and, preferring my modest request to +him, was readily supplied with my simple luncheon. In the meantime a +light fly had been prepared, and off I started for Geneseo. The road +presented the usual features of rich cultivated land, a dash of wild +forest, a bit of bog, and ruts like drains; and each hamlet or village +exhibited a permanent or an ambulating daguerreotype shop. Four hours +housed me with my kind and hospitable friends at Geneseo. + +As the chances of travel had brought me to a small country village at +the time of the annual celebration of the 4th of July, I was unable to +witness the ceremony on the grand scale in which it is conducted in the +large cities of the Union; and, as I think it is frequently accompanied +with circumstances which are entitled to some consideration, I shall +revert, in a subsequent chapter, to those points which appear to me +calculated to act upon the national character. On the present occasion I +was delighted to find that, although people all "liquored" freely, there +was scarcely any drunkenness; at all events, they had their little bit +of fun, such as we see at fairs at home. By way of enabling those who +have a turn for the facetious to share in their jokes, I insert a couple +of specimens:-- + + "ORDER OF THE DAY. + + "The vast multitude will be assembled on the Public Square, in rear of + the Candy Factory, under the direction of Marshal JOHN A. DITTO, where + they will be formed in procession in the following order: + + "1. Officers of the Day, in their stocking feet. + + "2. Revolutionary Relics, under the direction of the venerable G.W.S. + Mattocks. + + "3. Soldiers of the last War, looking for Bounty Land Warrants. + + "4. The Mayor and Common Council, drawn in a Willow Wagon, by the + Force of Habit. + + "5. Officers of the Hoodoos, drawn by 13 Shanghai Chickens, and driven + by Joe Garlinghouse's Shanghai Quail. + + "6. The Bologna Guards, in new dress, counting their money. + + "7. The Ancient Fire Company expecting their treasurer to chuck 42$ 50 + under their windows. + + "The procession will then march to the grove in rear of Smith + Scovell's barn, where the following exercises will take place:-- + + "1. The reading of the Declaration of Independence--by the Tinker, + Dan. + + "2. Oration--by Bill Garrison. + + "3. Hymn--There was three Crows sit on a Tree--by the Hoodo Choir. + + "4. Benediction--by Elder Bibbins. + + "After which the multitude will repair to Charley Babcock's old stand + for Refreshments. + + "_Bill of Fare.--_1. Mud Turtle Soup. 2. Boiled Eggs, hard. 3. + Pea-nuts. 4. Boiled Eggs, soft. 5. More Pea-nuts. + + "_Dessert._--Scotch Herring, dried. 2. Do. do., dead. 3. Do., done + brown. 4. Sardines, by special request. + + "_Wines and Liquors_.--Hugh Doty's Rattle-Belly Pop. 2. + Hide-and-go-Seek (a new brand). + + "Precisely at 4 o'clock, P.M., the Double Oven Air Calorie Engine, + attached to a splendidly decorated Wheel barrow, will make an + excursion, on the + + _Conhocton Valley Switch_, + + to the old Hemp Factory and back. It is expected that the President + and Directors will go over the Road, and they are to have the first + chance, strictly under the direction of the '_Rolling Stock_.' + + "Hail, ye freeborn Sons of Happy America. 'Arouse, Git up, and Git!' + _Music_--Loud Fifing during the day. + + "June, 1853. + + "By Order of COMMITTEE." + + * * * * * + + "CLEAR THE TRACK FOR THE LIGHTNING LINE OF MALE AND FEMALE STAGES!!! + + "From Perry to Geneseo and back in a Flash. + + "BAGGAGE, PERSONS, AND EYESIGHT AT RISK OF OWNERS, AND NO QUESTIONS + ANSWERED. + + "--Having bought out the valuable rights of young Master James Howard + in this Line, the subscriber will streak it daily between Perry and + Geneseo, for the conveyance of Uncle Sam's Mails and Family; leaving + Perry before the Crows wake up in the morning, and arriving at the + first house on this side Geneseo about the same time; returning, + leave Geneseo after the Crows have gone to roost, and reach Perry in + time to join them. Passengers will please to keep their mouths shut + for fear they should lose their teeth. No Smoking allowed for fear of + fretting the Horses; no Talking lest it wake the Driver. Fare to suit + passengers. + + "The public's very much obliged servant, &c. &c." + +A quiet and simple stage of rough wood was put up at one end of the +village, close to the Court-house, from whence the Declaration of +Independence was read, after which a flowery orator--summoned for the +occasion, and who travels about to different villages in different years +with his well-digested oration--addressed the multitude. Of course +similes and figures of rhetoric were lugged in by the heels in every +sentence, as is the all but universal practice on such occasions in +every part of the world. The moral of his speech was in the main +decidedly good, and he urged upon his audience strongly, "the undying +advantages of cultivating pluck and education" in preference to "dollars +and shrewdness." All went off in a very orderly manner, and in the +evening there were fireworks and a village ball. It was at once a wild +and interesting sight during the fireworks; the mixture of men, women, +and children, some walking, some carried, some riding, some driving; +empty buggies, some with horses, some without, tied all round; stray +dogs looking for masters as hopelessly as old maids seeking for their +spectacles when raised above their eyes and forgotten. Fire companies +parading ready for any emergency; the son of mine host tugging away at +the rope of the engine in his red shirt, like a juvenile Atlas, as proud +as Lucifer, as pleased as Punch. All busy, all excited, all happy; no +glimpse of poverty to mar the scene; all come with one voice and one +heart to celebrate the glorious anniversary of the birth of a nation, +whose past gigantic strides, unparalleled though they be, are +insufficient to enable any mind to realize what future is in store for +her, if she only prove true to herself. + +Leave-takings do not interest the public, so the reader will be +satisfied to know that two days after found me in an open carriage on my +way to Rochester. The road lay entirely through cultivated land, and had +no peculiar features. The only thing I saw worth noticing, was two men +in a light four-wheel one-horse shay, attached to which were at least a +dozen others, some on two wheels, some on four. I of course thought +they were some country productions going to a city manufacturer. What +was my astonishment at finding upon inquiry, that it was merely an +American phase of hawking. The driver told me that these people will go +away from home for weeks together, trying to sell their novel ware at +hamlet, village, farm-house, &c., and that some of the shrewdest of +them, the genuine Sam Slick breed, manage to make a good thing of it. + +The shades of evening closed in upon me as I alighted at a very +comfortable hotel at Rochester. The amiable Morpheus soon claimed me as +his own, nor was I well pleased when ruthlessly dragged from his soft +embrace at 6-1/2 A.M. the following morning; but railways will not wait +for Morpheus or any other deity of fancy or fiction; so, making the best +use I could of a tub of water and a beefsteak, and calming my temper +with a fragrant weed, I was soon ensconced in one of their cars, a +passenger to New York. + +On reaching Albany, we crossed the river and threw ourselves into the +cars of the Hudson River Railway, which, running close to the margin +nearly all the way, gives you an ever-varying view of the charming +scenery of this magnificent stream. Yankee industry was most +disagreeably prominent at several of the stations, in the shape of a +bevy of unwashed urchins parading the cars with baskets of the eternal +pea-nut and various varieties of lollipop, lemonade, &c., all crying out +their wares, and finding as ready a sale for them as they would at any +school in England. The baiting-place was not very tempting; we all +huddled into one room, where everything was hurry and confusion: besides +which, the appetite was not strengthened by the sight of hands--whose +owners seemed to have "registered a vow in heaven," to forego the use of +soap--turning over the sandwiches, one after another, until they had +made their selection. However, the majority approve of the system; and +as no thought is given to the minority, "if you don't like it, you may +lump it." + +But the more permanent inconvenience of this railroad is one for which +the majority cannot be held responsible, i.e., it runs three-fourths +of the way over a bed of granite, and often between cuts in the solid +granite rock, the noise therefore is perfectly stunning; and when to +this you add the echoing nature of their long wooden cars, destitute of +anything to check the vibrations of sound, except the human cargo and +the cushions they sit upon, and when you add further the eternal +slamming of the doors at each end by the superintending conductor and +the inquisitive portion of the passengers, you may well conceive that +this combination is enough to rouse the slumbers of the dead, and rack +the brains of the living. At the same time, I must allow that this line +runs the best pace and keeps the best time of any in the Union. + +On reaching the outskirts of New York, I asked, "Is this the proper +place for me to get out at?" And being answered in the affirmative, I +alighted, and found myself in a broad open street. Scarce had I set my +foot on the ground, when I saw the train going on again, and therefore +asked for my luggage. After a few questions and answers, I ascertained +it had gone on in the train about three miles further; and the only +consolation I got, was being told, "I guess you'd best have gone on +too." However, all troubles must have an end; so getting into a hackney, +I drove to my hospitable friend Phelps' house, where, under the +influence of glorious old Madeira--P. had just finished dinner--and most +undeniable claret, the past was soon buried in the present; and by the +time I had knocked the first ash off one of his best "_prensados_," the +stray luggage returned from the involuntary trip it had made on its own +account. What a goodly cheery thing is hospitality, when it flows pure +from a warm heart; nor does it lose aught in my estimation when viewed +through the medium of a first-rate cellar and the social "Havana." + +Time progresses--small hours approach--the front door shuts behind some +of the guests--six-foot-two of animal life may be seen going up-stairs +with a bed-candle; the latter is soon out, and your humble servant is +snug in the former.--Reader, good-night! + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +_Education, Civil and Military_. + + +Having said so much of education in other cities, I will only observe, +that in regard to common schools, New York is on a par with most of her +rivals in this noble strife for superiority; but I must ask those who +are interested in the subject to give me their attention while I enter +into a few details connected with their admirable Free Academy. The +object of this institution is to combine--under one system and under one +roof--high school, academy, polytechnic, and college, and to furnish as +good an education as can be obtained by passing through each of those +places of instruction separately. All this free of cost! + +A sum of 10,000l. was authorized for the building, and 4000l. +annually for its support. The course of instruction is divided into +thirteen departments, with a professor at the head of each, aided by +tutors where necessary; the whole under a principal, with a salary of +500l. a year, who is at the same time professor of moral, +intellectual, and political philosophy. The salaries of the other +professors average 300l. a year, those of the tutors 100l. The +course of study embraces all that is taught at the four different places +of education before-named. The student is allowed to make his selection +between the classical languages and the modern--French, Spanish, and +German. The whole course occupies five years. The requisites for +admission are, that the applicant be thirteen years old, living in the +city of New York, and have attended the common schools for eighteen +months; besides which he is required to pass a moderate examination. The +number of students at present is about 350, but they will doubtless +increase. If to the annual expenses of the institution be added the +interest at six per cent, on the outlay, the instruction given will be +found to cost the inconceivably small sum of 13l. 5s. per scholar, +including books, stationery, and etceteras. + +Mr. S.B. Ruggles was kind enough to introduce me to Mr. Horace Webster, +by whom I was shown over the whole establishment. The cleanliness and +good ventilation certainly exceeded that of any other similar +establishment which I had visited in the United States. There is a very +good library containing 3000 volumes, besides 8000 which are used as +text-books, or books of reference. Many publishers supplied the +requisite books at reduced prices, which, as long as they retain the +ignominious position of the literary pirates of the world, I suppose +they can afford to do without inconvenience. There is also a fine +studio, full of casts from the best models, and copies of the Elgin +marbles presented by Mr. Leap. Instruments of the best quality abound +for the explanation of all the sciences taught. + +In one of the rooms which I entered there was an examination going on. +The subject was astronomy, and it was the first class. I was +particularly struck with the very clear manner in which the lad under +examination replied to the questions put to him, and I began to suspect +it was merely something he had learnt by rote; but the professor dodged +him about in such a heartless manner with his "whys" and his +"wherefores," his "how do you knows" and "how do you proves," that I +quite trembled for the victim. Vain fears on my part; nothing could put +him out; he seemed as much at home as the professor, and answered all +the questions propounded to him in language as clear and simple as that +which the great Faraday employs to instruct his eager listeners at the +Royal Institution. Not once could the professor make him trip during the +long half-hour of his searching examination. Having remarked that the +appearance of the student was rather that of a labouring than of a +wealthy stock, I asked the principal who he was. "That, sir," replied +Mr. Webster, "is one of our best students, and he is the son of a poor +journeyman blacksmith." + +New York may point with just pride to her Free Academy, and say, "In +our city the struggling efforts of genius are never cramped by the chill +blast of poverty, for within those walls the avenues to the highest +branches of literature and science are opened without charge to the +humblest and most destitute of our citizens." I spent several hours in +this most admirable and interesting institution, so ably presided over +by Mr. Horace Webster, through whose kindness I was provided with the +full details of all its workings. It would seem that the best class of +schools for young ladies are not very numerous, for the papers announced +the other day that Mrs. Okill had realized 250,000 dollars by her +establishment, which could hardly have been the case in the face of good +opposition. + +A few days afterwards Mr. Ruggles offered to accompany me in a visit I +wished to make to the National Military College of West Point. I gladly +accepted his proffered kindness, and in due time we were rattling away +over the granite-bottomed railroad, along the banks of the Hudson. Close +to the station we found a small ferry-boat, ready to take us across to +the southern bank. On landing at West Point, "my pipe was immediately +put out" by a summary order from a sentry on the wharf. Dropping a tear +of sorrow through a parting whiff, and hurling the precious stump into +the still waters of the little bay, I followed my cicerone up the hill, +and soon found myself in the presence of one of the professors, through +whose assistance we were enabled thoroughly to lionize every department. +As many of my military friends who have visited West Point have spoken +to me in terms of the highest admiration of the institution, I propose +entering more into detail than I otherwise might have thought requisite; +and I trust that, as military education is engaging a great deal of +public interest, the following observations may be found worthy of +attention. + +The candidates for admission are nominated by the members of Congress, +one for each congressional district, in addition to which the President +of the United States has the nomination of forty from the Republic at +large.[AV] The requisites for admission are--the passing a very easy +examination, being a bachelor between the ages of sixteen and +twenty-one, and having no physical defect. The pay of each cadet is +about five pounds a month, of which his board takes two pounds, and +8s. 6d. is laid aside monthly, whereby to form a fund to assist him +in the expenses of equipment upon leaving. The balance provides for his +dress and other expenses, and a treasurer is appointed to superintend +and keep the accounts. The routine of duty prescribed is the +following:--Rise at 5 A.M. in summer, and 5-1/2 in winter; double up bed +and mattress, &c., and study till 7; then fall in and go to breakfast; +at 7-1/2, guard-mounting--twenty-four cadets are on guard every day; at +8, study; at 1 o'clock, break up, fall in, and go to dinner, which they +rise from at the word of command, and are then free till 2. From 2 P.M. +to 4, study; at 4, drill for one hour and a half, after which they are +free till sunset; at sunset, parade in front of the barracks, and +delinquents' names called over; then follows supper, after which the +cadets are free till 8, at which time there is a call to quarters, and +every cadet is required to retire to his own room and study till 9-1/2, +when the tattoo is beat; at 10, there is a roll of the drum, at sound +whereof every light must be out and every student in bed. + +The cadets are organized into a battalion of four companies; the +officers and non-commissioned officers are all appointed by the +superintendent, from a list submitted to him by the commandant of +cadets, the selection being made from those most advanced in their +studies and most exemplary in their conduct; they perform in every +particular the same duties as those of the officers and privates of a +regiment; they have divisions and sub-divisions, with superintendent +cadets attached to each, regular orderlies who sweep and clean out the +room, furniture, &c.: guards are regularly mounted, an officer of the +day duly appointed, and all the duties of a regular barrack punctually +performed, even to the sentinels being supplied with ball-cartridge at +night. Their uniform is of grey cloth, and their hair is kept a close +crop; neither whiskers nor moustache are tolerated, and liquor and +tobacco are strictly prohibited. The punishments consist of privation of +recreation, extra duty, reprimand, arrest or confinement to room or +tent, confinement to light or dark prison, dismission with privilege of +resigning, and public dismission; the former of these are at the will of +the superintendent--confinement to prison and dismission are by sentence +of a court-martial. + +The course of studies pursued are classed under twelve heads:--1. +Infantry tactics and military police; 2. Mathematics; 3. French; 4. +Drawing; 5. Chemistry, mineralogy, and geology; 6. Natural and +experimental philosophy; 7. Artillery tactics, science of gunnery, and +the duties of the military laboratory; 8. Cavalry tactics; 9. The use +of the sword; 10. Practical military engineering; 11. Grammar, +geography, ethics, &c.; 12. Military and civil engineering, and the +science of war. + +In the preceding pages we have seen that ten hours are daily devoted to +study, besides an hour and a half to drill; and thus, while the brain is +severely taxed, but little leisure is left to get into those minor +scrapes so prevalent at most public schools. + +There is a most minute system of merit and demerit established; +everything good and everything bad has a specific value in numbers and +decimals, which is accurately recorded against the owners thereof in the +reports made for each year. The cadet appears to be expected to improve +in conduct as well as knowledge; for, according to the rules, after his +first year is completed, the number expressing his absolute demerit is +increased by one-sixth during the second year, by one-third during the +third year, and by one-half during the fourth year. Thus, suppose a +certain number of faults to be represented by the sum of 36, if faults +which those figures represent are committed during the second year of +the cadet's course, one-sixth would be added, and his name appear on the +demerit list with 42 against it; if in the third year, one-third would +be added to the 36, and 48 would be placed against his name; and if +during the fourth year, one-half would be added, and 54 would appear +against it. It will thus be seen that, supposing offences of equal value +to be committed by the cadet in his first year and by another in his +fourth year, the figures of demerit against the latter would be one-half +more than those placed against the name of the cadet in his first year. +A demerit conduct roll is made out each year, and a copy sent to the War +Department. + +There is also a general merit roll of proficiency and good conduct sent +to the same department, an abstract whereof, with demerit added, is sent +to the parents or guardians in a printed book containing the names of +all the cadets, by which they can at once see the relative position of +their son or ward. The following tables will explain the system adopted +for ascertaining the merit, demerit, and qualifications of the +students:-- + +DEMERIT. + +_Degree of Criminality of Offences, arranged in Classes_. + + 1. Mutinous conduct 10 + 2. Disobedience of orders of military superior 8 + 3. Visiting in study hours 5 + 4. Absence from drill 4 + 5. Idleness in academy 3 + 6. Inattention under arms 2 + 7. Late at roll call 1 + +_Form of Conduct Roll made up for the yearly examination_. + +The column marked "Class" indicates number of years student has been in +the academy. + + Name. Class. Demerit. + + H.L. 1 5 + C.P. 3 10 + W.K.M. 2 192 + +_A particular case to exemplify the manner of obtaining the numbers in +the column of demerit_:-- + + Cadet W.K.M. was charged with 48 delinquencies, to wit: + of the second class of offences, 2, which being multiplied + by 8, the number expressing the degree of criminality + of an offence of that class, is 16 + Of the 3rd class 3 multiplied by 5 15 + 4th " 13 " 4 52 + 5th " 10 " 3 30 + 6th " 11 " 2 22 + 7th " 9 " 1 9 + ---- + 144 + + The Cadet being a member of the + 2nd class, add 1/3 48 + ---- + Total demerit 192 + +The following list of Cadets is attached to the Army Register in +conformity with a regulation for the Government of the United States +Military Academy, requiring the names of the most distinguished Cadets, +not exceeding five in each class, to be reported for this purpose at +each annual examination:-- + +_Reported at the Examination in June_, 18--. + + No. Names. Appointed Science and Art in which each Cadet + from particularly excels. + + 1 First Class. Mass. Civil and Military Engineering, Ethics, + G.L.A. Mineralogy and Geology, Infantry + Tactics, Artillery, Natural and + Experimental Philosophy, Chemistry, + Drawing, Mathematics, French and + English Studies. + + 2 J.St.C.M. Pa. Civil and Military Engineering, Ethics, + Mineralogy and Geology, Infantry + Tactics, Artillery, Natural and + Experimental Philosophy, Chemistry, + Drawing, Mathematics, and French. + + +_"General Merit Roll," sent also to the War Office._ + + Names A B C + Mathematics 300.0 295.3 276.7 + French 98.7 97.5 69.1 + English Studies 100.0 89.5 98.9 + Philosophy 300.0 295.6 278.2 + Chemistry 150.0 147.5 145.1 + Drawing 91.3 100.0 94.2 + Engineering 300.0 285.3 290.2 + Ethics 200.0 193.4 186.9 + Mineralogy & + Geology 100.0 96.7 98.2 + Infantry Tactics 150.0 147.5 137.8 + Artillery 158.0 145.1 147.5 + Conduct 297.3 293.8 294.5 + General Merit 2237.3 2187.2 2117.3 + + +_"Official Register of the Cadets" at West Point, printed yearly._ + + Order of general merit 1 2 3 + Names T.L.C. N.C.A. G.H.M. + State At large Tenn. Pa. + Date of Admission July 1, 1848 do. do. + Age at date of admission + Years / Months 17 / 1 18 / 7 16 / 8 + Order of merit in their + respective Studies + Engineering 1 2 3 + Ethics 3 4 2 + Mineral. & Geol. 1 2 4 + Infantry Tactics 1 2 5 + Artillery 2 1 3 + Demerit of the Year 39 18 73 + +A board with the marks of demerit is always publicly hung up, so that +each cadet may know the exact length of his tether, for if the numbers +amount to 200 he is dismissed. I have dwelt very lengthily upon the +system adopted of recording and publishing the merit and demerit of the +students, because I was informed of the admirable effect produced by it. +As far as I can judge, it certainly appears not only an admirable means +of enabling the War-office to estimate character, but the great +publicity given to it must act as a powerful stimulus to exertion and +good conduct. + +A portion of the cadets are instructed every day in fencing and riding. +When well advanced in the latter, they are taught spearing rings or +stuffed heads at the gallop, and the same with the sword. The +riding-school is perfectly abominable, being dark, full of pillars, and +most completely out of harmony with all the rest of the establishment, +which is excellent in every detail. On Sundays all the cadets attend +church, unless excused on conscientious motives, and with the approval +of their parents. The minister is selected by the President, and may be +of any denomination. I was told that an Episcopalian had been most +frequently chosen. The present minister is, I believe, a Presbyterian. +During the months of July and August the cadets all turn out of their +barracks, pitch their tents, and live regular camp life--only going to +the barracks to eat their meals. During the time they are tented, the +education is exclusively military practice; the same hours are kept as +in the barracks; the tents are boarded, and two cadets sleep in each. +They are all pitched with scrupulous accuracy, and they are obliged to +keep their camp as clean as a new pin--performing among themselves every +duty of a complete regiment--cleaning their own shoes, fetching their +own water, &c. They were all in tents at the time of my visit, and I +fear not particularly comfortable, for there had been two days and +nights' hard rain, and the wet mattresses were courting the warm rays of +the afternoon sun. Whatever jobbery is attempted in the selection of +candidates for admission to the Academy, is soon corrected by the +Academy itself; for, though the entrance examination is simple to a +degree, the subsequent examinations are very severe, and those who +cannot come up to the mark get notice to quit; and the unerring +tell-tale column of demerit soon obliges the turbulent to "clear out." + +The result of this system is, that when I saw them under arms, their +soldierlike appearance struck me very much; and the effect produced upon +them by discipline was very marked. You might almost guess the time they +had been there by their gentlemanly bearing, a quality which they do not +readily lose; for the officers of the American army who have been +educated at West Point, enjoy a universal reputation for intelligence +and gentlemanly bearing wherever they are to be met with. + +The discipline here is no fiction; they do not play at soldiers; they +all work their way up from the ranks, performing every duty of each +rank, and the most rigid obedience is exacted. In the calculations for +demerit, while idleness in the Academy obtains a mark of three, +disobedience to a superior officer is marked eight. There is no bullying +thought of here; the captain of his company would as soon think of +bullying the cadet private as a captain of a regiment of the line would +of bullying any private under his command. An officer who had been for +many years connected with West Point, told me that among all the duels +which unfortunately are so prevalent in the United States, he had never +either known or heard of one between any two gentlemen who had received +their education at this Academy--tricks, of course, are sometimes +played, but nothing oppressive is ever thought of. + +I did hear a story of a cadet, who, by way of a joke, came and tried to +take away the musket of a wiry young Kentuckian, who was planted sentry +for the first time; but he found a military ardour he had little +anticipated; for the novice sentry gave him a crack on the side of the +head that turned him round, and before he could recover himself, he felt +a couple of inches of cold steel running into the bank situated at the +juncture of the hips and the back-bone; and thus not only did he suffer +total defeat and an ignominious wound, but he earned a large figure on +the demerit roll. From the way the story was told to me, I imagine it is +a solitary instance of such an outrage being attempted; for one of the +first things they seek to inculcate is a military spirit, and the young +Kentuckian at all events proved that he had caught the spirit; nor can +it be denied that the method he took to impress it upon his assailant, +as a fundamental principle of action, was equally sharp and striking. + +Happening to be on the ground at the hour of dinner, I saw them all +marched off to their great dining-ball, where the table was well +supplied with meat, vegetables, and pudding; it was all substantial and +good, but the _tout-ensemble_ was decidedly very rough. If the intention +is to complete the soldier life by making them live like well-fed +privates of the line, the object is attained; but I should be disposed +to think, they might dispense with a good deal of the roughness of the +style with great advantage; though doubtless, where the general +arrangements are so good, they have their own reasons for keeping it as +it is. I paid a visit in the course of the afternoon to the +fencing-room; but being the hour of recreation, I found about thirty +lusty cadets, votaries to Terpsichore, all waltzing and polking merrily +to a fiddle, ably wielded by their instructor: as their capabilities +were various, the confusion was great, and the master bewildered; but +they all seemed heartily enjoying themselves. + +The professors and military instructors, &c., have each a small +comfortable house with garden attached, and in the immediate vicinity of +the Academy. There is a comfortable hotel, which in the summer months is +constantly filled with the friends and relatives of the cadets; and +occasionally they get permission to give a little _soirée dansante_ in +the fencing-room. The hotel is prohibited from selling any spirituous +liquors, wines, &c. + +The Government property at West Point consists of about three thousand +acres: the Academy, professors' houses, hotel, &c., are built upon a +large plateau, commanding a magnificent view of the Hudson both ways. +The day I was there, the scene was quite lovely; the noble stream was as +smooth as a mirror; a fleet of rakish schooners lay helpless, their +snow-white sails hanging listlessly in the calm; and, as the clear +waters reflected everything with unerring truthfulness, another fleet +appeared beneath, lying keel to keel with those that floated on the +surface. With such beautiful scenery, and so far removed from the bustle +and strife of cities, I cannot conceive any situation better adapted +for health and study, pleasure and exercise. + +The great day of the year is that of the annual review of the cadets by +a board of gentlemen belonging to the different States of the Union, and +appointed by the Secretary of War; it takes place early in June, I +believe, and consequently before the cadets take the tented field. The +examination goes on in the library hall, which is a very fine room, and +hung with portraits of some of their leading men; the library is a very +fair one, and the cadets have always easy access to it, to assist them +in their studies. I could have spent many more hours here with much +pleasure, but the setting sun warned us no time was to be lost if we +wished to save the train; so, bidding adieu, to the friends who had so +kindly afforded me every assistance in accomplishing the object of my +visit, I returned to the great Babylon, after one of the most +interesting and gratifying days I had spent in America.[AW] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote AV: By the published class-list the numbers at present are +224.] + +[Footnote AW: An account of a visit to this Academy, from the pen of Sir +J. Alexander, is published in Golburn's _United Service Magazine,_ +September, 1854.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +_Watery Highways and Metallic Intercourse._ + + +There is perhaps scarcely any feature in which the United States differ +more from the nations of the Old World, than in the unlimited extent of +their navigable waters, the value of which has been incalculably +increased by the introduction of steam. By massing these waters +together, we shall be the better able to appreciate their importance; +but in endeavouring to do this, I can only offer an approximation as to +the size of the lakes, from the want of any official information, in the +absence of which I am forced to take my data from authorities that +sometimes differ widely. I trust the following statement will be found +sufficiently accurate to convey a tolerably correct idea. + +The seaboard on each ocean may be estimated at 1500 miles; the +Mississippi and its tributaries, at 17,000 miles; Lake Ontario, at 190 +miles by 50; Lake Erie, at 260 miles by 60; Lake Huron, at 200 miles by +70; the Georgian Bay, at 160 miles, one half whereof is about 50 broad; +Lake Michigan, at 350 miles by 60; and Lake Superior, at 400 miles by +160, containing 32,000 square miles, and almost capable of floating +England, if its soil were as buoyant as its credit. All the lakes +combined contain about 100,000 square miles. The rate at which the +tonnage upon them is increasing, appears quite fabulous. In 1840 it +amounted to 75,000 tons, from which it had risen in 1850 to 216,000 +tons. Besides the foregoing, there are the eastern rivers, and the deep +bays on the ocean board. Leaving, however, these latter out of the +question, let us endeavour to realize in one sum the extent of soil +benefited by this bountiful provision of Providence; to do which it is +necessary to calculate both sides of the rivers and the shores of the +lakes, which, of course, must be of greater extent than double the +length of the lakes: nevertheless, if we estimate them at only double, +we shall find that there are 40,120 miles washed by their navigable +waters; and by the constitution of the Union these waters are declared +to be "common property, for ever free, without any tax, duty, or impost +whatever." + +The Americans are not free from the infirmities of human nature; and +having got a "good thing" among them, in process of time it became a +bone of contention, which it still remains: the Whigs contending that +the navigable waters having been declared by the constitution "for ever +free," are national waters, and as such, entitled to have all necessary +improvements made at the expense of the Union; their opponents +asserting, that rivers and harbours are not national, but local, and +that their improvements should be exclusively committed to the +respective States. This latter opinion sounds strange indeed, when it is +remembered that the Mississippi and its tributaries bathe the shores of +some thirteen States, carrying on their bosoms produce annually valued +at 55,000,000l. sterling, of which 500,000l. is utterly destroyed +from the want of any sufficient steps to remove the dangers of +navigation.[AX] + +Mr. Ruggles has always been a bold and able advocate of the Whig +doctrine of nationality; and, in a lecture delivered by him upon the +subject, he states that during the recent struggle to pass the River and +Harbour Bill through the Senate, Mr. Douglas, a popular democrat from +Illinois, offered as a substitute an amendment giving the consent of +Congress "to the levy of local tonnage dues, not only by each of the +separate States, but even by the authorities of any city or town." One +can hardly conceive any man of the most ordinary intellect deliberately +proposing to inflict upon his country the curse of an unlimited legion +of custom-houses, arresting commerce in every bend of the river and in +every bay of the sea; yet such was the case, though happily the +proposition was not carried. How inferior does the narrow mind which +made the above proposition in 1848 appear, when placed beside the +prescient mind which in 1787 proposed and carried, "That navigable +waters should be for ever free from any tax or impost whatever!" + + +One of the most extraordinary instances of routine folly which I ever +read or heard of, and which, among so practical and unroutiney a +people as the Americans, appears all but incredible, is the +following:--Congress having resisted the Harbour Improvement Bill, but +acknowledged its duties as to certain lights and beacons, "Ordered, that +a beacon should be placed on a rock in the harbour of New Haven. The +engineer reported, that the cost of removing the rock would be less than +the cost of erecting the beacon; but the President was firm--a great +party doctrine was involved, and the rock remains to uphold the +beacon--a naked pole, with an empty barrel at its head--a suitable type +of the whole class of constitutional obstructions."[AY] + +The State of New York may fairly claim the credit of having executed one +of the most--if not the most--valuable public works in the Union--the +Erie Canal. At the time of its first proposal, it received the most +stubborn opposition, especially from that portion of the democratic +party known by the appellation of "Barn-burners," whose creed is thus +described in a pamphlet before me:--"All accumulations of wealth or +power, whether in associations, corporate bodies, public works, or in +the state itself, are anti-democratic and dangerous.... The construction +of public works tends to engender a race of demagogues, who are sure to +lead the people into debt and difficulty," &c. The origin of their name +I have not ascertained. + +Another party, possessing the equally euphonical name of "Old Hunkers," +are thus described:--"Standing midway between this wing of the Democracy +and the Whig party, is that portion who have taken upon themselves the +comfortable title of 'Old Hunkers.' The etymological origin of this +epithet is already lost in obscurity. They embrace a considerable +portion of our citizens who are engaged in banking and other active +business, but at the same time decided lovers of political place and +power. At heart they believe in progress, and are in favour of a liberal +prosecution of works of improvement, but most generally disguise it, in +order to win the Barn-burners' votes. They are by no means deficient +in intelligence or private worth, but are deeply skilled in political +tactics; and their creed, if it is rightly understood, is that public +works ought to be 'judiciously' prosecuted, provided they themselves can +fill all the offices of profit or honour connected with their +administration."[AZ] + +Such is the description given of these two parties by the pen of a +political opponent, who found in them the greatest obstacles to the +enlargement of the canal. + +The name of De Witt Clinton will ever be associated with this great and +useful work, by which the whole commerce of the ocean lakes is poured +into the Hudson, and thence to the Atlantic. After eight years' hard +struggle, and the insane but undivided opposition of the city of New +York, the law for the construction of the canal was passed in the year +1817. One opponent to the undertaking, when the difficulty of supplying +water was started as an objection, assisted his friend by the +observation, "Give yourself no trouble--the tears of our constituents +will fill it." Many others opposed the act on the ground that, by +bringing the produce of the States on the lake shores so easily to New +York, the property of the State would be depreciated; which appears to +me, in other words, to be--they opposed it on the ground of its utility. +Others again grounded their objections on the doubt that the revenue +raised by the tolls would be sufficient to justify the expense. +Fortunately, however, the act was carried; and in seven years, the +canal, though not quite completed, was receiving tolls to the amount of +upwards of 50,000l. In 1836 the canal debt was paid, and produce +valued at 13,000,000l.--of which 10,000,000l. belonged to the State +of New York--was carried through it; the tolls had risen to 320,000l. +per annum, and 80,000l. of that sum was voted to be appropriated to +the general purposes of the State, the total cost having been under one +and a half million sterling. + +One might imagine that such triumphant success would have made the State +ready to vote any reasonable sum of money to enlarge it if required; +but the old opponents took the field in force when the proposition was +made. Even after a certain sum had been granted, and a contract entered +into, they rescinded the grant and paid a forfeit to the contractor of +15,000l. It was in vain that the injury to commerce, resulting from +the small dimensions of the canal,[BA] was represented to them; it was +in vain that statistics were laid before them, showing that the +7,000,000 miles traversed by the 4500 canal-boats might, if the proposed +enlargement took place, reduce the distance traversed to two millions of +miles, and the boats employed to 1500; Barn-burners triumphed, and it +was decided that the enlargements should only be made out of the surplus +proceeds of the tolls and freight; by which arrangement this vast +commercial advantage will be delayed for many years, unless the fruits +of the canal increase more rapidly than even their present wonderful +strides can lead one to anticipate, although amounting at this present +day to upwards of 1,000,000l. yearly.[BB] Such is a short epitome of a +canal through which, when the Sault St. Marie Channel between Lakes +Superior and Huron is completed, an unbroken watery highway will bear +the rich produce of the West from beyond the 90° meridian of longitude +to the Atlantic Ocean.[BC] + +Although the Erie is perhaps the canal which bears the most valuable +freight, it is by no means the greatest undertaking of the kind in the +Union. The Chesapeake and Ohio canal, uniting Washington and Pittsburg, +has nearly 400 locks, and is tunnelled four miles through the +Alleghanies; and the Pennsylvania canal, as we have already seen in a +former chapter, runs to the foot of the same ridge, and being unable to +tunnel, uses boats in compartments, and drags them by stationary engines +across the mountains. Nothing daunts American energy. If the people are +once set upon having a canal, go ahead it must; "can't" is an unknown +expression.[BD] + +However important the works we have been considering may be to the +United States, there can be no doubt that railways are infinitely more +so; I therefore trust the following remarks upon them may have some +interest. + +By the statement of the last Census, it appears that there are no less +than 13,266 miles of railroad in operation, and 12,681 in progress, +giving a total of nearly 26,000 miles; the cost of those which are +completed amounts to a little less than 75,000,000l., and the estimate +for those in progress is a little above 44,000,000l. We thus see that +the United States will possess 26,000 miles of railroad, at the cost of +about 120,000,000l. In England we have 8068 miles of railway, and the +cost of these amounts to 273,860,000l., or at the rate of 34,020l. +per mile. This extraordinary difference between the results produced and +the expenses incurred requires some little explanation. By the Census +report, I learn that the average expense of the railways varies in +different parts of the Union; those in the northern, or New England +States, costing 9250l. per mile; those in the middle States, 8000l.; +and those in the southern and western States, 4000l. per mile. The +railway from Charleston to Augusta, on the Savannah River, only cost +1350l. per mile. From the above we see clearly that the expenses of +their railways are materially affected by density of population and the +consequent value of land, by the comparative absence of forest to supply +material, and by the value of labour. If these three causes produce such +material differences in a country comparatively unoccupied like the +United States, it is but natural to expect that they should be felt with +infinitely more force in England. Moreover, as it has been well observed +by Captain D. Galton, R.E.,[BE] "railways originated in England, and +therefore the experience which is always required to perfect a new +system has been chiefly acquired in this country, and has increased the +cost of our own railways for the benefit of our neighbours."--Some +conception may be formed of the irregular nature of the expense on the +lines in England from the statement subjoined, also taken from the same +paper, viz.:-- + + Name of Railway. Land and Total Cost + Compensation. Works. Rails. per Mile. + £ £ £ £ + + London } + and } 113,500 98,000 1,000 253,000[BF] + Blackwall } + + Leicester } + and } 1,000 5,700 700 8,700[BF] + Swannington } + +From the table on the opposite page, it will be seen that the cost of +construction and engineering expenses amounted to 35,526,535l. out of +45,051,217l. Taking the railways quoted as representing a fair average +of the whole, we ascertain that more than one-fourth of the expense of +our railways is incurred for extras comparatively unknown in the United +States. At a general meeting of the London and North Western, in 1854, +Mr. Glyn mentioned as a fact, that a chairman of a certain line, in +giving evidence, had stated that a competition for the privilege of +making 28 miles of railway had cost 250,000l. Such an item of +expenditure can hardly enter into the cost of a railway in a country as +thinly populated as the Republic. There are also two other important +facts which are apt to be overlooked: first, that a great portion of the +railways in the United States are single lines; and secondly, that the +labour performed is of a far less solid and enduring character. A most +competent civil engineer told me that the slovenly and insecure nature +of many of the railway works in the United States was perfectly +inconceivable, and most unquestionably would not stand the inspection +required in England. A friend of mine has travelled upon a railway in +America, between Washington and Virginia, of which a great portion was +composed of merely a wooden rail with a bar of iron screwed on to the +surface.[BG] The carriages are also far less expensive and comfortable; +a carriage in the United States, which carries fifty people, weighs +twelve tons, and costs 450l.; in England it may be fairly asserted, +that for every fifty people in a mixed train there is a carriage weight +of eighteen tons, at a cost of 1500l. + +The following Table, extracted from a Return moved for by Lord +Brougham, may help to give a better general idea of the reason why our +Railroads have been so costly:-- + + Name of London & Great Midland, South Eastern Total + Railway. North Western, and 12 and 6 + Western, and 3 branches branches + and 12 branches + branches + + Length/Miles 433 215-3/4 449-1/4 198-1/2 1296-1/2 + + Cost of Con- + struction. £ 13,302,313 6,961,011 9,064,089 5,375,366 34,702,779 + + Conveyance + and Law + Charges. £ 143,479 105,269 119,344 138,034 506,128 + + Cost of + Land. £ 3,153,226 1,132,964 1,764,582 1,458,627 7,509,399 + + Parliamentary + Expenses. £ 555,698 245,139 287,853 420,467 1,509,157 + + Engineering + and Sur- + veying. £ 289,698 201,909 216,110 116,039 823,756 + + Total + Cost. £ 17,444,414 8,646,292 11,451,978 7,508,533 45,051,217 + +When all the foregoing facts are taken into consideration, it must +appear clear to the reader, that until the efficiency of the work done, +the actual number of miles of rail laid down, and the comfort enjoyed +are ascertained, any comparison of the relative expenses of the +respective railways must be alike useless and erroneous; at the same +time, it can scarcely be denied that it is impossible to give the +Republic too much credit for the energy, engineering skill, and economy +with which they have railway-netted the whole continent. Much remains +for them to do in the way of organizing the corps of officials, and in +the erection of proper stations, sufficient at all events, to protect +travellers from the weather, for which too common neglect the abundance +of wood and their admirable machinery leave them without excuse; not +that we are without sin ourselves in this last particular. The uncovered +station at Warrington is a disgrace to the wealthy London and North +Western Company, and the inconveniences for changing trains at Gretna +junction is even more disreputable; but these form the rare exceptions, +and as a general rule, there cannot be the slightest comparison between +the admirably arranged corps of railway servants in England, and the +same class of men in the States; nor between the excellent stations in +this country, and the wretched counterpart thereof in the Republic. +Increased intercourse with Europe will, it is to be hoped, gradually +modify these defects; but as long as they continue the absurd system of +running only one class of carriage, the incongruous hustling together of +humanities must totally prevent the travelling in America being as +comfortable as that in the Old World. + +Let us now turn from that which carries our bodies at the rate of +forty miles an hour, to that last giant stride of science by which our +words are carried quick as thought itself--the Telegraph. The Americans +soon discovered that this invention was calculated to be peculiarly +useful to them, owing to their enormous extent of territory; and having +come to this conclusion, their energy soon stretched the electric +messenger throughout the length and breadth of the land, and by the last +Census the telegraphic lines extend 16,735 miles, and the length of +wires employed amounts to 23,281. _The Seventh Census_ gives the expense +of construction as 30l. per mile.[BH] The systems in use are Morse's, +House's, and Bain's; the two former of American invention, the latter +imported from this country. Of these three the system most generally +employed is Morse's, the others being only worked upon about 2000 miles +each. It would be out of place to enter into any scientific explanation +of their different methods in these pages; suffice it to say, that all +three record their messages on ribands of paper; Morse employing a kind +of short-hand symbol which indents the paper; Bain, a set of symbols +which by chemical agency discolour the paper instead of indenting it; +and House printing Roman letters in full by the discolouring process. +Those who wish for details and explanations, will find them in the works +of Dr. Lardner and others on the Telegraph. + +The following anecdote will give some idea of the rapidity with which +they work. A house in New York expected a synopsis of commercial news by +the steamer from Liverpool. A swift boat was sent down to wait for the +steamer at the quarantine ground. Immediately the steamer arrived, the +synopsis was thrown into the boat, and away she went as fast as oars and +sails could carry her to New York. The news was immediately telegraphed +to New Orleans and its receipt acknowledged back in three hours and five +minutes, and before the steamer that brought it was lashed alongside her +wharf. The distance to New Orleans by telegraph is about 2000 miles. The +most extensive purchases are frequently made at a thousand miles +distance by the medium of the telegraph. Some brokers in Wall-street +average from six to ten messages per day throughout the year. I remember +hearing of a young officer, at Niagara Falls, who, finding himself low +in the purse, telegraphed to New York for credit, and before he had +finished his breakfast the money was brought to him. Cypher is very +generally used for two reasons; first, to obtain the secrecy which is +frequently essential to commercial affairs; and secondly, that by +well-organized cypher a few words are sufficient to convey a long +sentence. + +Among other proposed improvements is one to transmit the signature of +individuals, maps and plans, and even the outlines of the human face, so +as to aid in the apprehension of rogues, &c. By a table of precedence, +Government messages, and messages for the furtherance of justice and +detection of criminals, are first attended to; then follow notices of +death, or calls to a dying bed; after which, is the Press, if the news +be important; if not, it takes its turn with the general, commercial, +and other news. The wires in America scorn the railway apron-strings in +which they are led about in this country. They thread their independent +course through forests, along highways and byways, through streets, over +roofs of houses,--everybody welcomes them,--appearance bows down at the +shrine of utility, and in the smallest villages these winged messengers +are seen dropping their communicative wires into the post-office, or +into some grocer's shop where a 'cute lad picks up all the passing +information--which is not in cypher--and probably retails it with an +amount of compound interest commensurate with the trouble he has taken +to obtain it. There is no doubt that many of these village stations are +not sure means of communication, partly perhaps from carelessness, and +partly from the trunk arteries having more important matter to transmit, +and elbowing their weaker neighbours out of the field. Their gradual +increase is, however, a sufficient proof that the population find them +useful, despite the disadvantages they labour under. In some instances, +they have shown a zeal without discretion, for a friend of mine, lately +arrived from the Far West, informs me, that in many places the wires may +be seen broken, and the poles tumbling down for miles and miles +together, the use of the telegraph not being sufficient even to pay for +the keeping up. This fact should be borne in mind when we give them the +full benefit of the 16,735 miles according to their own statement in +_The Seventh Census_. + +The very low tariff of charge renders the use of the telegraph universal +throughout the Union. In Messrs. Whitworth's and Wallis's report, they +mention an instance of a manufacturer in New York, who had his office in +one part of the town and his works in an opposite direction, and who, to +keep up a direct communication between the two, erected a telegraph at +his own expense, obtaining leave to carry it along over the tops of the +intervening houses without any difficulty. The tariff alluded to above +will of course vary according to the extent of the useful pressure of +competition. I subjoin two of their charges as an example. From +Washington to Baltimore is forty miles, and the charge is 10d. for ten +words. From New York to New Orleans is two thousand miles, and the +charge for ten words is ten shillings. It must be remembered that these +ten words are exclusive of the names and addresses of the parties +sending and receiving the message. + +The extent to which the telegraph is used in the United States, induced +those interested in the matter in England to send over for the most +competent and practical person that could be obtained, with the view of +ascertaining how far any portion of the system employed by them might be +beneficially introduced into our country. The American system is that of +the complete circuit, and therefore requiring only one wire; and the +patent of Bain was the one experimented with, as requiring the slightest +intensity of current. After considerable expense incurred in trials, the +American system was found decidedly inferior to our own, solely owing to +the humidity of our climate, which, after repeated trials, has been +found to require a far more perfect insulation than is necessary either +in the United States or on the Continent, and therefore requiring a +greater outlay of capital in bringing the telegraphic wire into a +practical working state; 260 miles is the greatest length that a battery +is equal to working in this country in the worst weather. + +Bain's system was formerly not sufficiently perfected to work +satisfactorily in our climate; recent improvements are removing those +objections, and the employment of it is now rapidly increasing. The +advantages that Bain's possesses over Morse's are twofold: first, the +intensity of current required to work it is lighter; and secondly, the +discoloration it produces is far more easily read than the indentations +of Morse's. The advantage Morse's possesses over Bain's is, that the +latter requires damp paper to be always ready for working, which the +former does not. The advantage Cook and Wheatstone's[BI] possesses over +both the former is, that it does not demand the same skilled hands to +wind and adjust the machine and prepare the paper; it is always ready at +hand, and only needs attention at long intervals, for which reasons it +is more generally employed at all minor and intermediate stations; its +disadvantages are, that it does not trace the message, and consequently +leaves no telegraphic record for reference, and it requires two wires, +while Bain's or Morse's employs but one; the intensity of the current +required to work it is the same as Bain's, and rather less than Morse's. +All three admit of messages going the whole length of the line being +read at all intermediate stations. The proportion of work capable of +being done by Bain's, as compared with Cook and Wheatstone's, is: Bain's +and one wire = 3; Cook and Wheatstone's and two wires = 5. But if Bain's +had a second wire, a second set of clerks would be requisite to attend +to it. The errors from the tracing telegraph are less than those from +the magnetic needle; but the difference is very trifling. No extra clerk +is wanted by Cook and Wheatstone's, as all messages are written out by a +manifold writer. Every message sent by telegraph in England has a +duplicate copy sent by rail to the "Clearing Office," at Lothbury, to be +compared with the original; thanks to which precaution, clerks keep +their eyes open, and the public are efficiently protected from errors. + +How strange it is, that with the manifest utility of the telegraph in +case of fire, and the ease with which it could be adapted to that +purpose--as it has now been for some years in Boston--the authorities +take no steps to obtain its invaluable services. The alarm of fire can +be transmitted to every district of London at the small cost of 350l. +a-year. The most competent parties are ready to undertake the contract; +but it is too large a sum for a poor little village, with only 2,500,000 +of inhabitants, and not losing more than 500,000l. annually by fires, +to expend. The sums spent at St. Stephen's in giving old gentlemen +colds, and in making those of all ages sneeze from underfoot snuff--in +other words, the attempt at ventilation, which is totally useless--has +cost the country more than would be necessary to supply this vast +metropolis with telegraphic wire communication for a century. + +In conclusion, I must state that in this country several establishments +and individuals have their own private telegraphs, in a similar manner +to that referred to at New York, and many more would do the same, did +not vested interests interfere. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote AX: _Vide_ observations on this subject in Chapter X.] + +[Footnote AY: Extract from lecture delivered by S.B. Ruggles, at New +York, October, 1852.] + +[Footnote AZ: This extract is from a lecture by S.B. Ruggles to the +citizens of Rochester, October, 1849.] + +[Footnote BA: The neighbouring colony "whips" the Republic in canals. +Vessels from 350 to 400 tons can pass the St. Lawrence and Welland +Canals. Nothing above 75 tons can use the Erie Canal.] + +[Footnote BB: The governor of the State, in his annual message, 1854, +calls attention to the fact, that the toll on the canals is rapidly +decreasing, and will be seriously imperilled if steps are not taken to +enlarge it.] + +[Footnote BC: By the Illinois and Michigan Canal the ocean lakes +communicate with the Mississippi; and when the channel is made by Lake +Nipissing, there will be an unbroken watercourse between New Orleans, +New York, Bytown, and Quebec.] + +[Footnote BD: There are upwards of 5000 miles of canal in America.] + +[Footnote BE: _Vide_ an able paper on railways, written by that officer +and published in that valuable work, _Aide Mémoire to the Military +Sciences_; or for fuller particulars the reader is referred to Report on +the Railways of the United States, by Capt. Douglas Galton, R.N., +recently issued.] + +[Footnote BF: This is without the expenses arising from law and +parliamentary proceedings.] + +[Footnote BG: I believe the railway from Charleston to Savannah was +entirely laid down on this plan.] + +[Footnote BH: Mr. Jones, in his _Historical Sketch of the Electric +Telegraph_, makes the calculation 40l. a mile, and estimates that, to +erect them durably, would cost 100l. a mile.] + +[Footnote BI: Having alluded in the text to the systems of Morse, Bain, +and House, I must apologize for omitting to add, that the system of Cook +and Wheatstone consists simply of a deflecting needle--or needles--which +being acted upon by the currents, are, according to the manipulations of +the operator, made to indicate the required letters by a certain number +of ticks to the right or left.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +_America's Press and England's Censor._ + + +In treating of a free country, the Press must ever be considered as +occupying too important an influence to be passed over in silence. I +therefore propose dedicating a few pages to the subject. The following +Table, arranged from information given in the Census Report of 1850, is +the latest account within my reach:-- + +_Newspapers Published._ + + Daily Tri-Weekly Semi-Weekly Weekly + 254 115 31 1902 + + Printed Printed Printed Printed + Annually Annually Annually Annually + 235,119,966 11,811,140 5,565,176 153,120,708 + + + Semi-Monthly Monthly Quarterly + 95 100 19 + + Printed Printed Printed + Annually Annually Annually + 11,703,480 8,887,803 103,500 + +_General Classification._ + + Literary and Neutral and Political Religious Scientific + Miscellaneous Independent + 568 88 1630 191 53 + + Printed Printed Printed Printed Printed + Annually Annually Annually Annually Annually + 77,877,276 88,023,953 221,844,133 33,645,484 4,893,932 + +Total number of newspapers and periodicals, 2526; and copies printed +annually, 426,409,978. + +The minute accuracy of the number of copies issued annually is a piece +of startling information: the Republic is most famous for statistics, +but how, without any stamp to test the accuracy of the issues, they have +ascertained the units while dealing with hundreds of millions is a +statistical prodigy that throws the calculating genius of a Babbage and +the miraculous powers of Herr Döbler and Anderson into the shade. I can +therefore no more pretend to explain the method they employ for +statistics, than I can the system adopted by Herr Döbler to mend plates +by firing pistols at them. The exact quantity of reliance that can be +placed upon them, I must leave to my reader's judgment. + +As a general rule, it may be said that the literary, religious, and +scientific portions of the Press are printed on good paper, and provided +with useful matter, reflecting credit on the projectors and +contributors. I wish I could say the same of the political Press; but +truth compels me to give a far different account of their publications: +they certainly partake more of the "cheap and nasty" style. The paper is +generally abominable, the type is so small as to be painful to the eyes, +and would almost lead one to suppose it had been adopted at the +suggestion of a conclave of 'cute oculists: the style of language in +attacking adversaries is very low: the terms employed are painfully +coarse, and there is a total absence of dignity; besides which they are +profuse caterers to the vanity of the nation. I do not say there are no +exceptions; I merely speak generally, and as they came under my own eye, +while travelling through the whole length of the States. At the same +time, in justice, it must be stated, that they contain a great deal of +commercial information for the very small price they cost, some of them +being as low as one halfpenny in price. + +I do not endorse the following extract, nor do I give it as the opinion +which editors entertain generally of each other, but rather to show the +language in which adverse opinions are expressed. It is taken from the +columns of the _The Liberator_:--"We have been in the editorial harness +for more than a quarter of a century, and, during that period, have had +every facility to ascertain the character of the American Press, in +regard to every form that has struggled for the ascendency during that +period; and we soberly aver, as our conviction, that a majority of the +proprietors and editors of public journals more justly deserve a place +in the penitentiaries of the land than the inmates of those places +generally. No felons are more lost to shame, no liars are so +unscrupulous, no calumniators are so malignant and satanic."--The +language of the foregoing is doubtless unmistakeably clear, but I think +the style can hardly be thought defensible. On general topics of +interest, if nothing occurs to stir the writer's bile, or if the theme +be not calculated to excite the vanity of their countrymen, the language +usually employed is perhaps a little metaphorical, but is at the same +time grammatical and sufficiently clear; and, I believe, that as a +general principle they expend liberally for information, and +consequently the whole Republic may be said to be kept well informed on +all passing events of interest. + +If we turn for a moment from considering the American Press, to take a +slight glimpse at our own, how startling does the difference appear! +Great Britain, Ireland, and the Channel Islands, with a population +exceeding that of the United States, and with wealth immeasurably +greater, produce 624 papers, and of these comparatively few are daily; +only 180 issue above 100,000 copies annually, only 32 circulate above +500,000, and only 12 above 1,000,000. It has further been stated, that +there are 75 towns returning 115 members, and representing 1,500,000 of +the population, without any local paper at all. + +The information respecting the Press in England is derived from _The +Sixth Annual Report of the Association for promoting the Repeal of the +Taxes on Knowledge_, and _The Newspaper Press Directory_. The issues +subjoined are taken from the Return ordered by the House of Commons, of +newspaper stamps, which is "_A Return of the Number of Newspaper Stamps +at one penny, issued to Newspapers in England, Wales, Scotland and +Ireland, for the year_ 1854." + +_In England._ + + The Times 15,975,739 + The News of the World 5,673,525 + Illustrated London News 5,627,866 + Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper 5,572,897 + Weekly Times 3,902,169 + Reynold's Weekly 2,496,256 + Morning Advertiser 2,392,780 + Weekly Dispatch 1,982,933 + Daily News 1,485,099 + Bell's Life in London 1,161,000 + Morning Herald 1,159,000 + Manchester Guardian 1,066,575 + Liverpool Mercury 912,000 + Morning Chronicle 873,500 + The Globe 850,000 + The Express 841,342 + Morning Post 832,500 + The Sun 825,000 + Evening Mail 800,000 + Leeds Mercury 735,500 + Stamford Mercury 689,000 + Birmingham Journal 650,750 + Shipping Gazette 628,000 + Weekly Messenger 625,500 + + +_In Scotland._ + + North British Advertiser 802,000 + Glasgow Saturday Post 727,000 + North British Mail 565,000 + Glasgow Herald 541,000 + + +_In Ireland._ + + The Telegraph 959,000 + Saunders's News Letter 756,000 + Daily Express 748,000 + General Advertiser 598,000 + +Various reasons may be given for this great difference between the Press +of the two countries. Many are disposed to attribute it, very naturally, +to the Government stamp, and the securities which are required; some, to +the machinery of Government of this country being necessarily so +complicated by ancient rights and privileges, and the difficulties of +raising a revenue, whereof the item of interest on the national debt +alone amounts to nearly 30,000,000l.; while others, again planting one +foot of the Press compass in London, show that a half circle with a +radius of five hundred miles brings nearly the whole community within +twenty-four hours' post of the metropolis, in which the best information +and the most able writers are to be found, thereby rendering it +questionable if local papers, in any numbers, would obtain sufficient +circulation to enable the editors to retain the services of men of +talent, or to procure valuable general information, without wholesale +plagiarism from their giant metropolitan rivals. Besides, it must he +remembered that in America, each State, being independent, requires a +separate press of its own, while the union of all the States renders it +necessary that the proceedings in each of the others should be known, in +order that the constitutional limits within which they are permitted to +exercise their independence, may be constantly and jealously watched; +from which cause it will be seen that there is a very simple reason for +the Republic requiring comparatively far more papers than this country, +though by no means accounting for the very great disproportion existing. + +While, however, I readily admit that the newspapers of Great Britain +are greatly inferior in numbers, I am bound in justice to add, that they +are decidedly superior in tone and character. I am not defending the +wholesale manner in which, when it suits their purpose, they drag an +unfortunate individual before the public, and crucify him on the +anonymous editorial WE, which is at one and the same time their +deadliest weapon and their surest shield. Such acts all honest men must +alike deplore and condemn; but it must be admitted that the language +they employ is more in accordance with the courtesies of civilized life, +than that used by the Press of the Republic under similar circumstances; +and if, in a time of excitement and hope, they do sometimes cater for +the vanity of John Bull, they more generally employ their powers to +"take him down a peg;" and every newspaper which has sought for +popularity in the muddy waters of scurrility, has--to use an Oriental +proverb--"eaten its own dirt, and died a putrid death." + +Let me now turn from the Press to the literature of the United States. +Of the higher order of publications, it is needless to say anything in +these pages. Irving, Prescott, Ticknor, Stephens, Longfellow, Hawthorne, +and writers of that stamp, are an honour to any country, and are as well +known in England as they are in America, consequently any encomium from +my pen is as unnecessary as it would be presumptuous. + +The literature on which I propose to comment, is that which I may +reasonably presume to be the popular literature of the masses, because +it is the staple commodity for sale on all railways and steamboats. I +need not refer again to the most objectionable works, inasmuch as the +very fact of their being sold by stealth proves that, however numerous +their purchasers, they are at all events an outrage on public opinion. I +made a point of always purchasing whatever books appeared to me to be +selling most freely among my fellow-travellers, and I am sorry to say +that the mass of trash I thus became possessed of was perfectly +inconceivable, and the most vulgar abuse of this country was decidedly +at a premium. But their language was of itself so penny-a-liny, that +they might have lain for weeks on the book-shelf at an ordinary +railway-station in England--price, _gratis_--and nobody but a trunkmaker +or a grocer would have been at the trouble of removing them. + +Not content, however, with writing trash, they do not scruple to +deceive the public in the most barefaced way by deliberate falsehood. I +have in my possession two of these specimens of honesty, purchased +solely from seeing my brother's name as the author, which of course I +knew perfectly well to be false, and which they doubtless put there +because the American public had received favourably the volumes he +really had written. Of the contents of these works attributed to him I +will only say, the rubbish was worthy of the robber. I would not convey +the idea that all the books offered for sale are of this calibre; there +are also magazines and other works, some of which are both interesting +and well-written. If I found no quick sale going on, I generally +selected some work treating of either England or the English, so as to +ascertain the popular shape in which my countrymen were represented. + +One work which I got hold of, called _Northwood_, amused me much: I +there found the Englishman living under a belief that the Americans were +little better than savages and Pagans, and quite overcome at the +extraordinary scene of a household meeting together for domestic +worship, which of course was never heard of in England. This little +scene affords a charming opportunity for "buttering up" New England +piety at the cheap expense of a libel upon the old country. He then is +taken to hear a sermon, where for his special benefit, I suppose, the +preacher expatiates on the glorious field of Bunker's Hill, foretells +England's decline, and generously promises our countrymen a home in +America when they are quite "used up." The Englishman is quite overcome +with the eloquence and sympathy of the Church militant preacher, whose +discourse being composed by the authoress, I may fairly conclude is +given as a model of New England oratory in her estimation. Justice +requires I should add, that the sermons I heard during my stay in those +States were on religious topics, and not on revolutionary war. + +Perhaps it may be said that _Northwood_ was written some years ago, I +will therefore pass from it to what at the present day appears to be +considered a _chef d'oeuvre_ among the popular style of works of which I +have been speaking. I ground my opinion of the high estimation in which +it is held from the flattering encomiums passed upon it by the Press +throughout the whole Republic from Boston to New Orleans. Boston styles +it a "_vigorous volume;"_ Philadelphia, a "_delightful treat;"_ New +York, "_interesting and instructive;"_ Albany admires the Author's +"_keen discriminating powers;"_ Detroit, "a _lively and racy style;" The +Christian Advocate_ styles it "_a skinning operation"_ and then adds, it +is a "_retort courteous"_ to Uncle Tommyism; Rochester honours the +author with the appellation of "_the most chivalrous American that ever +crossed the Atlantic."_ New Orleans winds up a long paragraph with the +following magnificent burst of editorial eloquence:--"_The work is +essentially American. It is the type, the representative,_ THE AGGREGATE +OUTBURST OF THE GREAT AMERICAN HEART, _so well expressed, so admirably +revealing the sentiment of our whole people_--_with the exception of +some puling lovers he speaks of-_--_that it will find sympathy in the +mind of every true son of the soil."_ The work thus heralded over the +Republic with such perfect _e pluribus unum_ concord is entitled +_English Items;_ and the embodiment of the "_aggregate outburst of the +great American heart"_ is a Mr. Matthew F. Ward, whose work is sent +forth to the public from one of the most respectable publishers in New +York--D. Appleton and Co., Broadway. + +Before I present the reader specimens of ore from this valuable mine I +must make a few observations. The author is the son of one of the +wealthiest families in Kentucky, a man of education and travel, and has +appeared before the public in a work entitled _The Three Continents:_ I +have given extracts from the opinions of the Press at greater length +than I otherwise should have done, because I think after the reader has +followed me through a short review of _English Items,_ he will see what +strong internal testimony they bear to the truth of my previous +observations. I would also remark that I am not at all thin-skinned as +to travellers giving vent to their true feelings with regard to my own +country. All countries have their weaknesses, their follies, and their +wickednesses. Public opinion in England, taken as a whole, is decidedly +good, and therefore the more the wrong is laid bare the more hope for +its correction; but, while admitting this right in its fullest extent, +it is under two conditions: one that the author speak the truth, the +other that his language be not an outrage on decency or good manners. +Now then, come forth, _thou aggregate outburst of the great American +heart_![BJ] Speak for thyself--let the public be thy judge. + +The following extracts are from the chapter on "Our Individual Relations +with England," the chaste style whereof must gratify the reader:--"I am +sorry to observe that it is becoming more and more the fashion, +especially among travelled Americans, to pet the British beast; ... +instead of treating him like other refractory brutes, they +pusillanimously strive to soothe him by a forbearance he cannot +appreciate; ... beasts are ruled through fear, not kindness: they +submissively lick the hand that wields the lash." Then follow +instructions for his treatment, so terrible as to make future tourists +to America tremble:--"Seize him fearlessly by the throat, and once +strangle him into involuntary silence, and the British lion will +hereafter be as fawning as he has been hitherto spiteful." He then +informs his countrymen that the English "cannot appreciate the retiring +nature of true gentility ... nor can they realize how a nation can fail +to be blustering except from cowardice." Towards the conclusion of the +chapter he explains that "hard blows are the only logic the English +understand;" and then, lest the important fact should be forgotten, he +clothes the sentiment in the following burst of genuine _American_ +eloquence:--"To affect their understandings, we must punch their heads." +So much for the chapter on "Our Individual Relations with England," +which promise to be of so friendly a nature that future travellers had +better take with them a supply of bandages, lint, and diachylon plaster, +so as to be ready for the new _genuine American_ process of intellectual +expansion. + +Another chapter is dedicated to "Sixpenny Miracles in England," which is +chiefly composed of _réchauffées_ from our own press, and with which the +reader is probably familiar; but there are some passages sufficiently +amusing for quotation:--"English officials are invariably impertinent, +from the policeman at the corner to the minister in Downing-street ... +a stranger might suppose them paid to insult, rather than to oblige ... +from the clerk at the railway depôt to the secretary of the office where +a man is compelled to go about passports, the same laconic rudeness is +observable." How the _American mind_ must have been galled, when a +cabinet minister said, "not at home" to a free and enlightened citizen, +who, on a levee day at the White House, can follow his own +hackney-coachman into the august presence of the President elect. +Conceive him strolling up Charing Cross, then suddenly stopping in the +middle of the pavement, wrapt in thought as to whether he should cowhide +the insulting minister, or give him a chance at twenty yards with a +revolving carbine. Ere the knotty point is settled in his mind, a voice +from beneath a hat with an oilskin top sounds in his ear, "Move on, sir, +don't stop the pathway!" Imagine the sensations of a sovereign citizen +of a sovereign state, being subject to such indignities from stipendiary +ministers and paid police. Who can wonder that he conceives it the duty +of government so to regulate public offices, &c., "as to protect not +only its own subjects, but strangers, from the insults of these +impertinent hirelings." The bile of the author rises with his subject, +and a few pages further on he throws it off in the following beautiful +sentence:--"Better would it be for the honour of the English nation if +they had been born in the degradation, as they are endued with the +propensities, of the modern Egyptians." + +At last, among other "sixpenny miracles," he arrives at the Zoological +Gardens,--the beauty of arrangement, the grandness of the scale, &c., +strike him forcibly; but his keen inquiring mind, and his accurately +recording pen, have enabled him to afford his countrymen information +which most of my co-members in the said Society were previously +unconscious of. He tells them, "It is under control of the English +Government, and subject to the same degradation as Westminster, St. +Paul's, &c."--Starting from this basis, which only wants truth to make +it solid, he complains of "the meanness of reducing the nation to the +condition of a common showman;" the trifling mistake of confounding +public and private property moves his democratic _chivalry_, and he +takes up the cudgels for the masses. I almost fear to give the sentence +publicity, lest it should shake the Ministry, and be a rallying-point +for Filibustero Chartists. My anticipation of but a moderate circulation +for this work must plead my excuse for not withholding it. "The +Government basely use, without permission, the authority of the people's +name, to make them sharers in a disgrace for which they alone are +responsible. A stranger, in paying his shilling for admission into an +exhibition, which has been dubbed nation (by whom?) in contradistinction +from another in the Surrey Gardens, very naturally suspects that the +people are partners in this contemptible transaction.... The English +people are compelled to pay for the ignominy with which their despotic +rulers have loaded them." Having got his foot into this mare's nest, he +finds an egg a little further on, which he thus hatches for the American +public: "Englishmen not only regard eating as the most inestimable +blessing of life, when they enjoy it themselves, but they are always +intensely delighted to see it going on. The Government charge an extra +shilling at the Zoological Gardens on the days that the animals are fed +in public; but, as much as an Englishman dislikes spending money, the +extraordinary attraction never fails to draw," &c. + +From the Gardens he visits Chelsea Hospital, where his _keen +discriminating powers_ having been sharpened by the demand for a +shilling--the chief object of which demand is to protect the pensioners +from perpetual intrusion--he bursts forth in a sublime magnifico +Kentuckyo flight of eloquence: "Sordid barbarians might degrade the +wonderful monuments of their more civilized ancestors by charging +visitors to see them; but to drag from their lowly retreat these maimed +and shattered victims of national ambition, to be stared at, and +wondered at, like caged beasts, is an outrage against humanity that even +savages would shrink from." And then, a little further on, he makes the +following profound reflection, which no doubt appears to the _American +mind_ peculiarly appropriate to Chelsea Hospital: "Cringing to the +great, obsequious to the high, the dwarfed souls of Englishmen have no +wide extending sympathy for the humble, no soothing pity for the lowly," +&c. It would probably astonish some of the readers who have been gulled +by his book, could they but know that the sum paid by Great Britain for +the support and pension of her veterans by sea and land costs annually +nearly enough to buy, equip, and pay the whole army and navy of the +United States.[BK] + +The next "sixpenny miracle" he visits is Chatsworth, which calls forth +the following _vigorous_ attack on sundry gentlemen, clothed in the +author's peculiarly _lively and racy_ language: "The showy magnificence +of Chatsworth, Blenheim, and the gloomy grandeur of Warwick and Alnwick +Castles, serve to remind us, like the glittering shell of the tortoise, +what worthless and insignificant animals often inhabit the most splendid +mansions." He follows up this general castigation of the owners of the +above properties with the infliction of a special cowhiding upon the +Duke of Devonshire, who, he says, "would, no doubt, be very reluctant +frankly to confess to the world, that although he had the vanity to +affect liberality, he was too penurious to bear the expense of it. Like +the ostrich, he sticks his head in the sand, and imagines himself in the +profoundest concealment." He then begs the reader to understand, that he +does not mean to intimate "that any portion of the large amounts +collected at the doors of Chatsworth actually goes into the pocket of +His Grace, but they are, nevertheless, remarkably convenient in +defraying the expense of a large household of servants.... The idea of a +private gentleman of wealth and rank deriving a profit from the +exhibition of his grounds must be equally revolting to all classes." +These truthful observations are followed by a description of the +gardens; and the whole is wound up in the following _chivalrous and +genuine American_ reflection: "Does it not appear extraordinary that a +man dwelling in a spot of such fairy loveliness should retain and +indulge the most grovelling instincts of human nature's lowest grade?" +What a _delightful treat_ these passages must be to the rowdy +Americans, and how the Duke must writhe under--what _The Christian +Advocate_ lauds as--the _skinning operation _of the renowned American +champion![BL] + +The Press-bespattered author then proceeds to make some observations on +various subjects, in a similar vein of chaste language, lighting at last +upon the system of the sale of army commissions. His vigour is so great +upon this point, that had he only been in the House of Commons when the +subject was under consideration, his eloquence must have hurled the +"hireling ministers" headlong from the government. I can fancy them +sitting pale and trembling as the giant orator thus addressed the House: +"She speculates in glory as a petty hucksterer does in rancid cheese; +but the many who hate, and the few who despise England, cannot exult +over her baseness in selling commissions in her own army. There is a +degree of degradation which changes scorn into pity, and makes us +sincerely sympathize with those whom we most heartily despise." The +annexed extract from his observations on English writers on America is +an equally elegant specimen of _genuine American feeling:_--"When the +ability to calumniate is the only power which has survived the gradual +encroachment of bowels upon intellect in Great Britain, it would be a +pity to rob the English even of this miserable evidence of mind ... she +gloats over us with that sort of appetizing tenderness which might be +supposed to have animated a sow that had eaten her nine farrow." The +subjoined sentiment, if it rested with the author to verify, would +doubtless be true; and I suppose it is the paragraph which earned for +his work the laudations of _The Christian Advocate:_--"Mutual enmity is +the only feeling which can ever exist between the two nations.... She +gave us no assistance in our rise.... She must expect none from us in +her decline." How frightful is the contemplation of this omnipotent and +_Christian_ threat! It is worthy of the consideration of my countrymen +whether they had not better try and bribe the great Matt. Ward to use +his influence in obtaining them recognition as American territory. The +honour of being admitted as a sovereign state is too great to be hoped +for. He has already discovered signs of our decay, and therefore informs +the reader that "the weaker rival ever nurses the bitterest hate." This +information is followed by extracts from various English writers +commenting upon America, at one of whom he gets so indignant, that he +suggests as an appropriate _American_ translation of the F.R.S. which is +added to the author's name, "First Royal Scavenger." + +He then gets into a fever about the remarks made by travellers upon what +they conceive to be the filthy practice of indiscriminate spitting. He +becomes quite furious because he has never found any work in which "an +upstart inlander has ever preached a crusade against the Turks because +they did not introduce knives and forks at their tables," &c. Even +Scripture--and this, be it remembered, by the sanction of _The Christian +Advocate_--is blasphemously quoted to extenuate the American practice of +expectoration. "What, after all, is there so unbearably revolting about +spitting? Our Saviour, in one of his early miracles, 'spat upon the +ground and made clay of the spittle, and anointed the eyes of the blind +man with the clay. And he said unto him, Go wash in the pool of Siloam. +He went his way therefore and washed, and came seeing.' I have with a +crowd of pilgrims gone down to drink from this very pool, for the water +had borrowed new virtue from the miracle." He then states his strong +inclination to learn to chew tobacco in order to show his contempt for +the opinions of travellers. What a beautiful picture to contemplate--a +popular author with a quid of Virginia before him; Nausea drawing it +back with one hand, and Vengeance bringing it forward with the other! +Suddenly a bright idea strikes him: others may do what he dare not; so +he makes the following stirring appeal to his countrymen: "Let us spit +out courageously before the whole world ... let us spit fearlessly and +profusely. Spitting on ordinary occasions may be regarded by a portion +of my countrymen as a luxury: it becomes a duty in the presence of an +Englishman. Let us spit around him--above him--beneath him--everywhere +but on him, that he may become perfectly familiar with the habit in all +its phases. I would make it the first law of hospitality to an +Englishman, that every tobacco-twist should be called into requisition, +and every spittoon be flooded, in order thoroughly to initiate him into +the mysteries of chewing. Leave no room for imagination to work. Only +spit him once into a state of friendly familiarity with the barbarous +custom," &c. What a splendid conception!--the population of a whole +continent organized under the expectorating banner of the illustrious +Matt. Ward: field-days twice a week; ammunition supplied _gratis;_ +liberal prizes to the best marksmen. The imagination is perfectly +bewildered in the contemplation of so majestic an _aggregate outburst of +the great American_ mouth. I would only suggest that they should gather +round the margin of Lake Superior, lest in their hospitable +entertainment of the "upstart islanders" they destroyed the vegetation +of the whole continent. + +In another chapter he informs his countrymen that the four hundred and +thirty nobles in England speak and act for the nation; his knowledge of +history, or his love of truth, ignoring that little community called the +House of Commons. Bankers and wealthy men come under the ban of his +condemnation, as having no time for "enlightened amusements;" he then, +with that truthfulness which makes him so safe a guide to his readers, +adds that "they were never known to manifest a friendship, except for +the warehouse cat; they have no time to talk, and never write except on +business; all hours are office-hours to them, except those they devote +to dinner and sleep; they know nothing, they love nothing, and hope for +nothing beyond the four walls of their counting-room; nobody knows them, +nobody loves them; they are too mean to make friends, and too silent to +make acquaintances," &c. What very interesting information this must be +for Messrs. Baring and their co-fraternity! + +In another part of this volume, the author becomes suddenly impressed +with deep reverence for the holy localities of the East, and he falls +foul of Dr. Clarke for his scepticism on these points, winding up his +remarks in the following beautiful Kentucky vein:--"A monster so +atrocious could only have been a Goth or an Englishman." How fortunate +for his countryman, Dr. Robinson, that he had never heard of his three +learned tomes on the same subject! though, perhaps, scepticism in an +American, in his discriminating mind, would have been deep erudition +correcting the upstart islanders. The great interest which he evinces +for holy localities--accompanied as it is by an expression of horror at +some English traveller, who, he asserts, thought that David picked up +his pebbles in a brook between Jordan and the Dead Sea, whereas he knew +it was in an opposite direction--doubtless earned for him the patronage +of _The Christian Advocate_; and the pious indignation he expresses at +an Englishman telling him he would get a good dinner at Mount Carmel, is +a beautiful illustration of his religious feelings. + +The curious part of this portion of Mr. Ward's book is, that having +previously informed his countrymen, in every variety of American +phraseology, that the English are composed of every abominable compound +which can exist in human nature, he selects them as his companions, and +courts their friendship to enjoy the pleasure of betraying it. Of +course, if one is to judge by former statements made in the volume, +which are so palpably and ridiculously false, one may reasonably +conclude that truth is equally disregarded here; but it looks to me +rather as if my countrymen had discovered his cloven hoof, as well as +his overweening vanity and pretensions, and, when he got pompously +classical, in his trip through Greece, they amused themselves at his +expense by suggesting that the Acropolis "was a capital place for +lunch;" Parnassus, "a regular sell;" Thermopylae, "great for +water-cresses." Passing on from his companions--one of whom was a fellow +of Oxford, and the other a captain in Her Majesty's service--he becomes +grandly Byronic, and consequently quite frantic at the idea of Mr. A. +Tennyson supplanting him! "Byron and Tennyson!--what an unholy alliance +of names!--what sinful juxtaposition! He who could seriously compare the +insipid effusions of Mr. Tennyson with the mighty genius of Byron, might +commit the sacrilege of likening the tricks of Professor Anderson to the +miracles of Our Saviour." + +Having delivered himself of this pious burst, he proceeds to a +castigation of the English for their observations on the nasal twang of +his countrymen, and also for their criticism upon the sense in which +sundry adjectives are used; and, to show the superior purity of the +American language, he informs the reader that in England "the most +elegant and refined talk constantly of "fried 'am" ... they seem very +reluctant to _h_acknowledge this peculiarly _h_exceptionable 'abit, and +_h_insist that _h_it _h_is confined to the low and _h_ignorant of the +country." He then gets indignant that we call "stone" "stun," and +measure the gravity of flesh and blood thereby. "To unsophisticated +ears, 21 stone 6 pounds sounds infinitely less than three hundred +pounds, which weight is a fair average of the avoirdupois density of the +Sir Tunbelly Clumsies of the middle and upper classes." + +From this elegant sentence he passes on to the evils of idleness, in +treating of which he supplies _The Christian Advocate_ with the true +cause of original sin. "Does any one imagine that the forbidden fruit +would ever have been tasted if Adam had been daily occupied in tilling +the earth, and Eve, like a good housewife, in darning fig-leaf aprons +for herself and her husband? Never!" The observation would lead one to +imagine that the Bible was a scarce article in Kentucky. He passes on +from Adam to the banker and merchant of the present day, and informs the +reader that they command a high respect in society, but it would be +deemed a shocking misapplication of terms to speak of any of them as +gentlemen. After which truthful statement, he enters into a long +definition of a gentleman, as though he thought his countrymen totally +ignorant on that point: he gets quite _chivalrous_ in his description: +"He ought to touch his hat to his opponent with whom he was about to +engage in mortal combat."[BM] After which remark he communicates two +pieces of information--the one as true as the other is modest: +"Politeness is deemed lessening to the position of a gentleman in +England; in America it is thought his proudest boast." Of course he only +alludes to manner; his writings prove at every page that _genuine +American feeling_ dispenses with it in language. His politeness, I +suppose, may be described in the words Junius applied to +friendship:--"The insidious smile upon the cheek should warn you of the +canker in the heart." By way of encouraging civility, he informs the +reader that an Englishman "never appears so disgusting as when he +attempts to be especially kind; ...in affecting to oblige, he becomes +insulting." He confesses, however, "I have known others in America whom +you would never suspect of being Englishmen--they were such good +fellows; but they had been early transplanted from England. If the sound +oranges be removed from a barrel in which decay has commenced, they may +be saved; but if suffered to remain, they are all soon reduced to the +same disgusting state." + +His discriminating powers next penetrate some of the deep mysteries of +animal nature: he discovers that the peculiarities of the bullock and +the sheep have been gradually absorbed into the national character, as +far as conversation is concerned. "They have not become woolly, nor do +they wear horns, but the nobility are eternally bellowing forth the +astounding deeds of their ancestors, whilst the muttonish middle classes +bleat a timorous approval.... Such subjects constitute their fund of +amusing small talk," &c. From the foregoing elegant description of +conversation, he passes onwards to the subject of gentility, and +describes a young honourable, on board a steamer, who refused to shut a +window when asked by a sick and suffering lady, telling the husband, "he +could not consent to be suffocated though his wife was sick." And having +cooked up the story, he gives the following charming reason for his +conduct: "He dreaded the possibility of compromising his own position +and that of his noble family at home by obliging an ordinary person." He +afterwards touches upon English visitors to America, who, he says, +"generally come among us in the undisguised nakedness of their +vulgarity. Wholly freed from the restraints imposed upon them at home by +the different grades in society, they indolently luxuriate in the +inherent brutality of their nature. They constantly violate not only all +rules of decorum, but the laws of decency itself.... They abuse our +hospitality, insult our peculiar institutions, set at defiance all the +refinements of life, and return home, lamenting the social anarchy of +America, and retailing their own indecent conduct as the ordinary +customs of the country.... The pranks which, in a backwoods American, +would be stigmatized as shocking obscenity, become, when perpetrated by +a rich Englishman, charming evidence of sportive humour," &c. + +A considerable portion of the volume is dedicated to Church matters; for +which subject the meek and lowly style which characterizes his writing +pre-eminently qualifies him, and to which, doubtless, he is indebted for +the patronage of _The Christian Advocate_. I shall only indulge the +reader with the following beautiful description of the Established +Church:--"It is a bloated, unsightly mass of formalities, hypocrisy, +bigotry, and selfishness, without a single charitable impulse or pious +aspiration." After this touching display of _genuine American feeling_, +he draws the picture of a clergyman in language so opposite, that one is +reminded of a certain mysterious personage, usually represented with +cloven feet, and who is said to be very apt at quoting Scripture. + +Heraldry and ancestry succeed the Church in gaining a notice from his +pen; and his researches have gone so deep, that one is led to +imagine--despite his declarations of contempt--that he looks forward to +becoming some day The Most Noble the Duke of Arkansas and Mississippi, +with a second title of Viscount de' Tucky and Ohio;[BN] the "de" +suggestive of his descent from _The Three Continents_. One of the most +remarkable discoveries he has made, is, that "the soap-makers and the +brewers are the compounders of the great staple commodities of +consumption in Great Britain, and therefore surpass even Charles himself +in the number of their additions to the Peerage." This valuable hint +should not be lost upon those employed in these useful occupations, as +hope is calculated to stimulate zeal and ambition. + +The last quotations I propose making from this _vigorous volume_ are +taken from the seventh chapter, headed, "English Devotion to Dinner." On +this subject the author seems to have had his _keen discriminating +powers_ peculiarly sharpened; and the observations made are in most +_lively and racy style_, and--according to the Press--perfectly +_courteous_. The Englishman "is never free till armed with a knife and +fork; indeed, he is never completely himself without them[BO] ... which +may he as properly considered integral portions of an Englishman, as +claws are of a cat; ... they are not original even in their gluttony; +... they owe to a foreign nation the mean privilege of bestial +indulgence; ... they make a run into Scotland for the sake of oatmeal +cakes, and sojourn amongst the wild beauties of Switzerland in order to +be convenient to goat's milk.... Like other carnivorous animals, an +Englishman is always surly over his meals. Morose at all times, he +becomes unbearably so at that interesting period of the day, when his +soul appears to cower among plates and dishes; ... though he gorges his +food with the silent deliberation of the anaconda, yet, in descanting +upon the delicacies of the last capital dinner, he makes an approach to +animation altogether unusual to him; ... when, upon such auspicious +occasions, he does go off into something like gaiety, there is such +fearful quivering of vast jelly mounds of flesh, something so +supernaturally tremendous in his efforts, that, like the recoil of an +overloaded musket, he never fails to astound those who happen to be near +him." But his _keen observation_ has discovered a practice before +dinner, which, being introduced into the centre of various censures, may +also be fairly supposed to be considered by him and his friends of the +Press as most objectionable, and as forming one of the aggregate _Items_ +which constitute the English beast. "For dinner, he bathes, rubs, and +dresses." How filthy! Yet be not too hard upon him, reader, for this +observation; I have travelled in his neighbourhood, on the Mississippi +steamers, and I can, therefore, well understand how the novelty of the +operation must have struck him with astonishment, and how repugnant the +practice must have been to his habits. + +Among other important facts connected with this great question, his +_discriminating_ mind has ascertained that an Englishman "makes it a +rule to enjoy a dinner at his own expense as little as possible." Armed +with this important discovery, he lets drive the following American +shell, thus shivering to atoms the whole framework of our society. The +nation may tremble as it reads these withering words of Kentucky +eloquence:--"When it is remembered that of all the vices, avarice is +most apt to corrupt the heart, and gluttony has the greatest tendency to +brutalize the mind, it no longer continues surprising that an +Englishman has become a proverb of meanness from Paris to Jerusalem. The +hatred and contempt of all classes of society as necessarily attend him +in his wanderings as his own shadow.... Equally repulsive to every grade +of society, he stands isolated and alone, a solitary monument of the +degradation of which human nature is capable." + +Feeling that ordinary language is insufficient to convey his _courteous_ +and _chivalrous_ sentiments, he ransacks natural history in search of a +sublime metaphor: his triumphant success he records in this beautifully +expressed sentence--"The dilating power of the anaconda and the gizzard +of the cassowary are the highest objects of his ambition." But neither +ordinary language nor metaphor can satisfy his lofty aspirations: it +requires something higher, it requires an embodiment of _genuine +American feeling, vigorous yet courteous_; his giant intellect rises +equal to the task. He warns my countrymen "to use expletives oven with +the danger of being diffuse, rather than be so blunt and so vulgar;" and +then--by way, I suppose, of showing them how to be sarcastic without +being either blunt or vulgar--he delivers himself of the following +magnificent bursts:--"If guts could perform the function of brains, +Greece's seven wise men would cease to be proverbial, for England would +present to the world twenty-seven millions of sages.... To eat, to +drink, to look greasy, and to grow fat, appear to constitute, in their +opinion, the career of a worthy British subject.... The lover never asks +his fair one if she admires Donizetti's compositions, but tenderly +inquires if she loves beef-steak pies. This sordid vice of greediness is +rapidly brutalizing natures not originally spiritual; every other +passion is sinking, oppressed by flabby folds of fat, into helplessness. +All the mental energies are crushed beneath the oily mass. Sensibility +is smothered in, the feculent steams of roast beef, and delicacy stained +by the waste drippings of porter. The brain is slowly softening into +blubber, and the liver is gradually encroaching upon the heart. All the +nobler impulses of man are yielding to those animal propensities which +must soon render Englishmen beasts in all save form alone." + +I have now finished my _Elegant Extracts_ from the work of Mr. Ward. The +reader can judge for himself of Boston's "_vigorous volume_," of +Philadelphia's "_delightful treat_," of Rochester's "_chivalrous and +genuine Amercan feeling_," of The Christian Advocate's "_retort +courteous_," and of New Orleans' "_aggregate outburst of the great +American heart_," &c. These compliments from the Press derive additional +value from the following passage in the work they eulogize. Pages 96, +97, Mr. Ward writes: "It is the labour of every author so to adapt his +style and sentiments to the tastes of his readers, as most probably to +secure their approbation.... The consciousness that his success is so +wholly dependent on their approval, will make him, without his being +aware of it, adapt his ideas to theirs." And the New Orleans Press +endorses all the author's sentiments, and insults American gentlemen and +American intelligence, by asserting that it "_admirably reveals the +sentiments of the whole people, and will find sympathy in the mind of +every true son of the soil_." + +Before taking a final leave of _English Items_, I owe some apology to +the reader for the length at which I have quoted from it. My only excuse +is, that I desired to show the grounds upon which I spoke disparagingly +of a portion of the Press, and of the low popular literature of the +country. I might have quoted from various works instead of one; but if I +had done so, it might fairly have been said that I selected an isolated +passage for a particular purpose; or else, had I quoted largely, I might +have been justly charged with being tedious. Besides which, to +corroborate my assertions regarding the Press, I should have been bound +to give their opinion also upon each book from which I quoted; and, +beyond all these reasons, I felt that the generality of the works of low +literature which I came across were from the pen of people with far less +education than the author I selected, who, as I have before remarked, +belongs to one of the wealthiest families in Kentucky, and for whom, +consequently, neither the want of education nor the want of +opportunities of mixing in respectable society--had he wished to do +so--can be offered as the slightest extenuation.[BP] + + +I feel also that I owe some apology to my American friends for dragging +such a work before the public; but I trust they will find sufficient +excuse for my doing so, in the explanation thus afforded, of the way the +mind of Young America gets poisoned, and which will also partly account +for the abuse of this country that is continually appearing in their +Press. I feel sure there is hardly a gentleman in America, whose +acquaintance I had the pleasure of making, who would read even the first +twenty pages of the book; and I am in justice hound to say, that among +all the works of a similar class which I saw, _English Items_ enjoys +unapproachable pre-eminence in misrepresentation and vulgarity, besides +being peculiarly contemptible, from the false being mixed up with many +true statements of various evils and iniquities still existing in +England, and which, being quoted from our own Press, are calculated to +give the currency of truth to the whole work, among that mass of his +countrymen who, with all their intelligence, are utterly ignorant of +England, either socially or politically. + +The subsequent career of this censor of English manners and morals is +too remarkable to be passed over in silence. I therefore now proceed to +give you a short epitome of it, as a specimen of morals and manners in +Kentucky, as exhibited by him, and his trial. My information is taken +from the details of the trial published at full length, a copy of which +I obtained in consequence of the extraordinary accounts of the +transaction which I read in the papers. Professor Butler had formerly +been tutor in the family of the Wards, and was equally esteemed by them +and the public of Louisville generally. At the time of the following +occurrence the Professor was Principal of the High School in that city. + +One of the boys at the school was William--brother of Mr. Matt. F. Ward: +it appears that in the opinion of the Professor the boy had been guilty +of eating nuts in the school and denying it, for which offence he was +called out and whipped, as the master told him, for telling a lie. +Whether the charge or the punishment was just is not a point of any +moment, though I must say the testimony goes far to justify both. +William goes home, complains to his brother Matt. F., not so much of the +severity of the punishment, as of being called a liar. The elder brother +becomes highly indignant, and determines to go to the Professor and +demand an apology. It must be remembered that the father was all this +time in Louisville, and of course the natural person to have made any +remonstrance with his old friend the Professor. Matt. F.'s family remind +him that he is very weakly, and that one of the masters at the school is +an enemy of his. They therefore beg of him to be calm, and to take his +intermediate brother Robert with him, in case of accidents. He consents. +He then goes to the gun-store of Messrs. Dixon and Gilmore, and +purchases of the latter, about 9 A.M., two small pocket-pistols, three +inches long in the barrel. These he gets Mr. Gilmore to load, but +purchases no further ammunition. After this he proceeds with his brother +Robert, who is armed with a bowie-knife, to the school. Not wishing to +be unjust to Mr. Matt. F. Ward, I give the statement of the subsequent +occurrence in the words of his brother Robert's evidence in court.[BQ] + +"On entering the school-room,[BR] Matt. asked for Butler. He came. Matt. +remarked, I wish to have a talk with you. Butler said, Come into my +private room. Matt. said, No; here is the place. Mr. Butler nodded. +Matt. said, What are your ideas of justice? Which is the worst, the boy +who begs chestnuts, and throws the shells on the floor, and lies about +it, or my brother who gives them to him? Mr. Butler said he would not +he interrogated, putting his pencil in his pocket and buttoning up his +coat. Matt, repeated the question. Butler said, There is no such boy +here. Matt. said, That settles the matter: you called my brother a liar, +and for that I must have an apology. Butler said he had no apology to +make. Is your mind made up? said Matt. Butler said it was. Then, said +Matt., you must hear my opinion of you. You are a d----d scoundrel and +a coward. Butler then struck Matt. twice, and pushed him back against +the door. Matt. drew his pistol and fired. Butler held his hand on him +for a moment. As the pistol fired, Sturgus[BS] came to the door. I drew +my knife, and told him to stand back." Thus was Professor Butler, +Principal of the High School of Louisville, shot by the author of +_English Items_, with a pistol bought and loaded only an hour and a half +previous, in broad daylight, and in the middle of his scholars. The +Professor died during the night. + +The details of the trial are quite unique as to the language employed by +jury, counsel, and evidence; but I purposely abstain from making +extracts, though I could easily quote passages sufficiently ridiculous +and amusing, and others which leave a painful impression of the state of +law in Kentucky. My reason for abstaining is, that if I quoted at all, I +ought to do so at greater length than the limits of a book of travels +would justify: suffice it that I inform you that Mr. Matthew F. Ward was +tried and acquitted. + +When the result of the trial was made known, an indignation meeting was +held in Louisville, presided over by General Thomas Strange, at which +various resolutions were passed unanimously. The first was in the +following terms:--"Resolved--That the verdict of the jury, recently +rendered in the Hardin County Court, by which Matt. F. Ward was declared +innocent of any crime in the killing of William H.G. Butler, is in +opposition to all the evidence in the case, contrary to our ideas of +public justice, and subversive of the fundamental principles of personal +security guaranteed to us by the constitution of the State. + +"Secondly: Resolved--That the published evidence given on the trial of +Matt. F. Ward shows, beyond all question, that a most estimable citizen, +and a most amiable, moral, and peaceable man has been wantonly and +cruelly killed while in the performance of his regular and responsible +duties as a teacher of youth; and, notwithstanding the verdict of a +corrupt and venal jury, the deliberate judgment of the heart and +conscience of this community pronounces that killing to be murder." The +committee appointed by the meeting also requested Mr. Wolfe, one of the +counsel for the prisoner, to resign his seat in the State Senate, and +the Honourable Mr. Crittenden, another counsel, to resign his place in +the Senate of the United States; effigies of the two brothers Ward were +burnt, and a public subscription opened to raise a monument to the +murdered Professor. I cannot, of course, decide how far the conclusions +of the committee are just, as I do not pretend to know Kentucky law. I +have, however, given the trial to members of the Bar in this country +accustomed to deal with such cases, and they have without hesitation +asserted that not one man in ten who has been hanged in England has been +condemned on more conclusive evidence. It is also apparent that in some +parts of the Union the same opinion prevails, as the following paragraph +from the _New York Daily Times_ will clearly show:--"The trial is +removed from the scene of the homicide, so that the prisoners shall Dot +be tried by those who knew them best, but is taken to a distant country. +The Press is forbidden, against all law and right, to publish a report +of the proceedings while the trial is in progress. Every particle of +evidence in regard to Butler's character is excluded; while a perfect +army of witnesses--clergymen, colonels, members of Congress, editors, +cabinet officers, &c., who had enjoyed the social intimacy of the +Wards--testified ostentatiously to the prisoner's mildness of temper, +declaring him, with anxious and undisguised exaggeration, to be gentle +and amiable to a fault. All these preparations, laboriously made and +steadily followed up, were for the purpose, not of determining the +truth, which is the only proper object of judicial inquiry--not of +ascertaining accurately and truly whether Matthew Ward did or did not +murder Butler--but to secure impunity for his act. This whole drama was +enacted to induce the jury to affirm a falsehood; and it has succeeded. +We do not believe John J. Crittenden entertains in his heart the shadow +of a doubt that Butler was murdered: we do not believe that a single man +on that jury believes that the man they have acquitted is innocent of +the crime laid to his charge. We regard the issue of this trial as of +the gravest importance: it proves that in one State of this Union, +wealth is stronger than justice; that Kentucky's most distinguished sons +take to their hearts and shield with all their power a murderer who has +money and social position at his command; and that under their auspices, +legal tribunals and the most solemn forms of justice have been made to +confer impunity on one of the blackest and most wanton murders which the +annals of crime record." + +I add no comment, leaving the reader to make his own, deductions, and I +only hope, if the foregoing lines should ever meet the eye of a citizen +belonging to the sovereign State of Kentucky, they may stir him up to +amend the law or to purify the juries. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote BJ: The reader is requested to remember that all the words +printed in italics--while dealing with _English Items_--are so done to +show that they are quotations from the eulogies of the American press. +They are as thoroughly repudiated by me as they must be by every +American gentleman.] + +[Footnote BK: Did Mr. Ward ever read any account in the gazettes of his +own country, of the poor soldiers going to "Washington to procure land +warrants, and after being detained there till they were reduced to +beggary, receiving no attention? Let me commend the following letter, +taken from the press of his own country, dated July 6, 1853, and +addressed to the President:-- + +"DEAR SIR,--_In the humblest tone do I implore your charity for three +cents, to enable me to procure something to eat._ Pray be so kind, and +receive the grateful thanks of your humble supplicant of Shenandoah +County, Va."] + +[Footnote BL: The reader will be astonished to know that these remarks +are from the pen of a Kentucky man; in which State there is a large hole +in the ground, made by Providence, and called "The Mammoth Cave;" it is +situated on private property, and for the privilege of lionizing it, you +pay 10s. So carefully is it watched, that no one is even allowed to +make a plan of it, lest some entrance should be found available on the +adjoining property.] + +[Footnote BM: I must beg the reader to remember this last sentence when +he comes to the interview between the Kentucky author and his old +friend, the schoolmaster.] + +[Footnote BN: Kentucky is the State of his birth and family, Arkansas +the State of his adoption, and "The Three Continents" the fruit of his +pen.] + +[Footnote BO: The reader will find that, in his interview with the +schoolmaster, his brother was "completely himself" with a bowie-knife +only.] + +[Footnote BP: One other instance I must give of the coolness with which +an American writer can pen the most glaring falsehood; _vide_ "English +Traits," by R.W. Emerson. I might quote many fake impressions conveyed, +but I shall confine myself to one of his observations upon a religious +subject, where at least decency might have made him respect truth. At +page 126 I find the following sentence:--"They put up no Socratic +prayer, _much less any saintly prayer, for the Queen's mind_; ask +neither for light nor right, but say bluntly, 'grant her in health and +wealth long to live.'" Now, I will not ask whether the author of this +passage ever saw our Book of Common Prayer, because printing the words +in inverted commas is proof sufficient; nor will I go out of my way to +show the _many_ prayers put up for the bestowal of purely spiritual +blessings; but, when I find the previous sentence to the one quoted by +him to be as follows, "Endow her plenteously with heavenly gifts," what +can I say of such a writer? Either that by heavenly gifts he understands +dollars and cents, or that he has wilfully sacrificed religious truth at +the shrine of democratic popularity. Having placed him on these two +horns of a dilemma, I leave him to arrange his seat.] + +[Footnote BQ: Of course the evidence of the brother is the _most +favourable_ to Mr. M.F.W. that the trial produces.] + +[Footnote BR: It appears in evidence that the scene described took place +about half-past ten A.M.] + +[Footnote BS: Mr. Sturgus is the master who was supposed to be +unfriendly to Mr. Matthew F. Ward.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +_The Institution of Slavery._ + + +There is one subject which no person who pretends to convey to the +reader the honest thoughts and impressions which occupied his mind +during his travels in this vast Republic, can pass over in silence; and +that subject, I need scarcely observe, is Slavery. It is an institution +which deserves most serious consideration; for while a general unity of +sentiment binds the various States together in a manner that justifies +the national motto, "_E pluribus unum_," the question of slavery hangs +fearfully over their Union; and the thread by which it is suspended is +more uncertain than the fragile hair of the sword of Damocles, for it is +dependent upon the angry passions of angry man. + +So true do I feel this to be, that were I a citizen of one of the Free +States of America, I might hesitate before I committed my opinions to +the Press. I trust, however, that I may so treat the subject that no +cause for ill-blood may be given. Unquestionably, the origin of the evil +is wholly with the mother country. We entered into the diabolical +traffic of our fellow-creatures, and forced the wretched negro upon a +land which had never before received the impress of a slave's foot; and +this we did despite all the remonstrances of the outraged and indignant +colonists; and with this revolting sin upon our shoulders, it is but +natural we should feel deeply interested in the sable ivy-shoot we +planted, and which now covers the whole southern front of the stately +edifice of the Giant Republic. Time was when a Newcastle collier might +have carried the sable shoot back to the soil whence it had been stolen; +now, the keels of many nations combined would scarce suffice to move the +rapid growth. + +But, while at England's door lies the original guilt, America has since +put the solemn seal of her paternity upon it; every foot of land which, +in the rapid career of her aggrandisement, has been sullied with the +footsteps of the slave for the first time, mars the beauty of the cap +of liberty, and plants a slave-trader's star in the banner of the +nation. She is only doing a century later what we wickedly did a century +before--viz., planting slavery on a soil hitherto free, and enlarging +the market for the sale of flesh and blood. The futile excuse sometimes +offered, that they were merely moved from one part to another of the +same country, cannot be admitted; or, if it be, upon the same principle +all the Free States might return again to slavery. If it be no sin to +introduce slavery into a free Sovereign State, then was England not so +guilty in the first instance, for she sent slaves from a land of +ignorance, cruelty, and idolatry, to an enlightened and Christian +colony. It is in vain for either England or the United States to shirk +the guilty responsibility of introducing slaves on free soil. England +has the additional guilt of having acted against the wishes of the +colonists; the United States has the additional guilt of increasing +slave territory a century later, and when the philanthropists of every +country were busied in endeavours to solve the problem, "How can slavery +be abolished?" + +Without dwelling further upon respective guilt, I will at once proceed +to review the crusades which have been made against the institution, and +the hopes of the slave under it; after which, I will offer for +consideration such proposals as appear to me worthy the attention of all +the true friends of the negro, whether owners or not. While thus +treating the subject, I beg to observe that I fully recognise each +individual State as possessing plenipotentiary powers within the limits +of that constitution by which they are all bound together: and I trust +that, in any observations I may make, no one expression will be so +misconstrued as to give offence; for I know full well the stupendous +difficulties with which the whole question is surrounded, and I feel it +is one which should be approached only in a true spirit of charity and +kindness towards the much-maligned gentlemen of the South. + +I open the question by asking--what is the meaning of the cry raised by +the fanatics of the North--the abolition crusaders? In words, it is +freedom to the slave; in fact, it is spoliation of their neighbours. Had +the proposition come from wild Arabs who live in houses they carry on +their backs, and feed on the milk of flocks that pasture at their side, +I might have comprehended the modest proposal; but coming from those +whose energy for business is proverbial, and whose acuteness in all +matters of dollars and cents is unsurpassed, if equalled, by the +shrewdest Hebrew of the Hebrews, I confess it is beyond my puny +imagination to fathom. Were it accompanied with any pecuniary offer +adequate to the sacrifice proposed, I might be able to comprehend it: +but for those, or the descendants of those, who, as they found white +labour more profitable, sold their sable brethren to their southern +neighbours, and thus easily and profitably removed slavery from their +borders,--for those, I say, to turn round and preach a crusade for the +emancipation of the negro, in homilies of contumely, with the voice of +self-righteousness, exhibits a degree of assurance that cannot be +surpassed. Had they known as much of human nature as of the laws of +profit and loss, they might have foreseen that in every epithet heaped +upon their southern countrymen, they were riveting a fresh bolt in the +slave's fetters. On what plea did the American colony rebel? Was it not, +as a broad principle, the right of self-government? Does not their +constitution allow independent action to each State, subject only to +certain obligations, binding alike on all? If those are complied with, +on what principle of patriotism or honour do individuals or societies +hurl torches of discord among their southern co-citizens? + +No person who has watched or inquired into the social state of the +slaves during the present century, can fail to have observed that much +has been done to improve their condition among the respectable holders +thereof, both as regards common education and religious instruction; at +the same time, they will perceive that the first law of +nature--self-preservation--compelled them to make common education +penal, as soon as fanatical abolitionists inundated the country with +firebrand pamphlets. No American can deny, that when an oppressed people +feel their chains galling to them, they have a right to follow the +example of the colonists, and strike for freedom. This right doubtless +belongs to the negro, and these inflammable publications were calculated +to lead them on to make the effort. But what reflecting mind can fail to +foresee the horrors consequent upon such a hopeless endeavour? More +especially must it have presented itself to the mind of the +slave-masters; and could they, with sure visions before their eyes of +the fearful sacrifice of human life, the breaking-up of whatever good +feeling now exists between master and slave, and the inauguration of a +reign of terror and unmitigated severity--could they, I say, with such +consequences staring them in the face, have taken a more mild, sensible, +and merciful step than checking that education, through the +instrumentality of which, the abolitionists were hastening forward so +awful a catastrophe? + +The following extract may suffice to prove the irritation produced by +the abolitionists in Virginia, though, of course, I do not pretend to +insinuate that the respectable portion of the community in that State +would endorse its barbarous ravings:-- + +"SLAVERY IN THE SCHOOL-ROOM.--The (American) _Richmond Examiner_, in +connexion with the recent trial of Ward of Kentucky, has the following +theory on the extinction of schoolmasters in general:--'The South has +for years been overrun with hordes of illiterate, unprincipled graduates +of the Yankee free schools (those hot-beds of self-conceit and +ignorance), who have, by dint of unblushing impudence, established +themselves as schoolmasters in our midst. So odious are some of these +"itinerant ignoramuses" to the people of the South; so full of +abolitionism and concealed incendiarism are many of this class; so full +of guile, fraud, and deceit,--that the deliberate shooting one of them +down, in the act of poisoning the minds of our slaves or our children, +we think, if regarded as homicide at all, should always be deemed +perfectly justifiable; and we imagine the propriety of shooting an +abolition schoolmaster, when caught tampering with our slaves, has never +been questioned by any intelligent Southern man. This we take to be the +unwritten common law of the South, and we deem it advisable to +promulgate the law, that it may be copied into all the abolition papers, +thundered at by the three thousand New England preachers, and read with +peculiar emphasis, and terrible upturning of eyes, by Garrison, at the +next meeting of the anti-slavery party at Faneuil Hall. We repeat, that +the shooting of itinerant abolition schoolmasters is frequently a +creditable and laudable act, entitling a respectable Southern man to, at +least, a seat in the Legislature or a place in the Common Council. Let +all Yankee schoolmasters who propose invading the South, endowed with a +strong nasal twang, a long scriptural name, and Webster's lexicographic +book of abominations, seek some more congenial land, where their own +lives will be more secure than in the "vile and homicidal Slave States." +We shall be glad if the ravings of the abolition press about the Ward +acquittal shall have this effect.'" + +We now see that the abolitionists have rendered the education of the +negro, with a view to his ultimate fitness for freedom or +self-government, utterly impracticable, however anxious the slave-owner +might have otherwise been to instruct him. Thus, by their imprudent +violence, they have effectually closed the educational pathway to +emancipation. It should not either be forgotten that the Southerners may +have seen good reason to doubt the Christian sincerity of those who +clamoured so loudly for loosening the fetters of the slaves. The freed +slaves in the Northern States must have frequently been seen by them, +year after year, as they went for "the season" to the watering-places, +and could they observe much in his position there to induce the belief +that the Northerners are the friends of the negro? In some cities, he +must not drive a coach or a car; in others, he must not enter a public +conveyance; in places of amusement, he is separated from his white +friend; even in the house of that God with whom "there is no respect of +persons," he is partitioned off as if he were an unclean animal; in some +States he is not admitted at all. + +With such evidences of friendship for the negro, might they not question +the honesty of Northern champions of emancipation? Could they really +place confidence in the philanthropic professions of those who treat the +negro as an outcast, and force on him a life of wretchedness instead of +striving to raise him in the social scale? If a negro had the intellect +of a Newton--if he were clothed in purple and fine linen, and if he came +fresh from an Oriental bath, and fragrant as "Araby's spices," a +Northerner would prefer sitting down with a pole-cat--he would rather +pluck a living coal from the fire than grasp the hand of the worthiest +negro that ever stepped. Whoever sees a negro in the North smile at the +approach of the white man? Who has not seen a worthy planter or +slave-owner returning from a short absence, greeted with smiles in +abundance, or perhaps receiving a broad grin of pride and pleasure as +the worthy owner gave his hand to some old faithful slave? + +I think I have shown, in the foregoing remarks, that the Southern has +three solid and distinct grounds of objection to the Free States +abolitionist. First,--The natural spirit of man, which rebels against +wholesale vituperation and calumny. Secondly,--The obstacle they have +placed in the way of giving the slave simple education, by introducing +most inflammable pamphlets. Thirdly,--The questionable sincerity of +their professed sympathy for the slave, as evidenced by the antipathy +they exhibit towards the free negro, and by the palpable fact that he is +far worse off in a free than in a slave State. + +The same objection cannot justly be taken against English abolitionists, +because they act and think chiefly upon the evidence furnished by +American hands; besides which, slavery in the West Indian colonies was +felt by the majority of the nation to be so dark a stain upon our +national character, that, although burdened with a debt such as the +world never before dreamt of, the sum of 20,000,000l. was readily +voted for the purposes of emancipation. Whether the method in which the +provisions of the act were carried out was very wise or painfully +faulty, we need not stop to inquire: the object was a noble one, and the +sacrifice was worthy of the object. + +With all the feelings of that discussion fresh in the public mind, it is +no wonder that philanthropists, reading the accounts published by +American authors of the horrors of slavery, should band themselves +together for the purpose of urging America in a friendly tone to follow +Great Britain's noble example, and to profit by any errors she had +committed as to the method of carrying emancipation into effect. I am +quite aware a slaveholder may reply, "This is all very good; but I must +have a word with you, good gentlemen of England, as to sincerity. If you +hold slavery so damnable a sin, why do you so greedily covet the fruits +of the wages of that sin? The demand of your markets for slave produce +enhances the value of the slave, and in so doing clenches another nail +in the coffin, of his hopes." I confess I can give no reply, except the +humiliating confession which, if the feeling of the nation is to be read +in its Parliamentary acts, amounts to this--"We have removed slavery +from our own soil, and we don't care a farthing if all the rest of the +world are slaves, provided only we can get cheap cotton and sugar, &c. +Mammon! Mammon! Mammon! is ever the presiding deity of the Anglo-Saxon +race, whether in the Old or the New World. + +There can be no doubt that the reception of Mrs. Beecher Stowe's work +and person in England was very galling to many a Southerner, and +naturally so; because it conveyed a tacit endorsement of all her +assertions as to the horrors of the slavery system. When I first read +_Uncle Tom_, I said, "This will rather tend to rivet than to loosen the +fetters of the slave, rousing the indignation of all the South against +her and her associates." Everything I have since seen, heard, and read, +only tends to confirm my original impression. While I would readily give +Mrs. Stowe a chaplet of laurel as a clever authoress, I could never +award her a faded leaf as the negro's friend. There can be no doubt that +Mrs. Beecher Stowe has had no small share in the abolition excitement +which has been raging in the States, and which has made Kansas the +battle-field of civil war; but the effect of this agitation has gone +farther: owing to husting speeches and other occurrences, the negro's +mind has been filled with visionary hopes of liberty; insurrections have +been planned, and, worse still, insurrections have been imagined. In +fear for life and property, torture worthy of the worst days of the +Inquisition has been resorted to, to extort confession from those who +had nothing to confess. Some died silent martyrs; others, in their +agony, accused falsely the first negro whose name came to their memory; +thus, injustice bred injustice, and it is estimated that not less than a +thousand wretched victims have closed their lives in agony. One white +man, who was found encouraging revolt, and therefore merited punishment +of the severest kind, was sentenced, in that land of equality, to 900 +lashes, and died under the infliction--a sight that would have gladdened +the eyes of Bloody Jeffreys. And why all these horrors? I distinctly +say,--thanks to the rabid Abolitionists. + +Let me now for a moment touch upon the treatment of slaves. The farms of +the wealthy planters, and the chapels with negro minister and negro +congregation, bear bright evidence to the fact that negroes have their +bodily and spiritual wants attended to, not forgetting also the oral +teaching they often receive from the wife of the planter. But is that +system universal? Those who would answer that question truthfully need +not travel to the Southern States for documentary evidence. Is any human +being fit to be trusted with absolute power over one of his +fellow-creatures, however deeply his public reputation and his balance +at the banker's may be benefited by the most moderate kindness to them? +If every man were a Howard or a Wilberforce, and every woman a Fry or a +Nightingale, the truth would be ever the same, and they would be the +first to acknowledge it.--Man is unfit for irresponsible power. + +Now the only bar before which the proprietor of slaves is likely to be +arraigned, is the bar of public opinion; and the influence which that +knowledge will have upon his conduct is exactly in the inverse ratio to +its need; for the hardened brute, upon whom its influence is most +wanted, is the very person who, if he can escape lynching, is +indifferent to public opinion. No Southerner can be affronted, if I say +that he is not more Christian, kind-hearted, and mild-tempered than his +fellow-man in the Northern States, in France, or in England; and yet how +constantly do we find citizens of those communities evincing +unrestrained passions in the most brutal acts, and that with the +knowledge that the law is hanging over their heads, and that their +victims can give evidence against them; whereas, in the Slave States, +provided the eye of a white man is excluded, there is scarce a limit to +the torture which a savage monster may inflict upon the helpless slave, +whose word cannot be received in evidence. It is as absurd to judge of +the condition of the slave by visiting an amiable planter and his lady, +as it would be to judge of the clothing, feeding, and comfort of our +labouring population by calling at the town-house of the Duke of +Well-to-do and carefully noting the worthy who fills an arm-chair like a +sentry-box, and is yclept the porter. Look at him, with his hair +powdered and fattened down to the head; behold him as the bell rings, +using his arms as levers to force his rotundity out of its case; then +observe the pedestals on which he endeavours to walk; one might imagine +he had been tapped for the dropsy half-a-dozen times, and that all the +water had run into the calves of his legs. Is that a type of the poorer +classes? + +Where, then, are we to look for true data on which to form an opinion of +the treatment of the slave?--Simply by studying human nature and +weighing human passions, and then inquiring by what laws they are held +in check. Now, as to the laws, they amount to nothing, inasmuch as slave +evidence is not admissible, and the possibility of any oppression, even +to death itself, must frequently be, without any fear of punishment, in +the hands of the owner. If law, then, affords the negro no efficient +protection from human passions, where are we to look for it in human +nature, except it be in the influences of Christianity, self-interest, +or public opinion? The last of these, we have seen, is upon a +sliding-scale of an inefficiency which increases in proportion to the +necessity for its influence, and is therefore all but impotent for good. + +Let us now consider self-interest. Will any one assert that +self-interest is sufficient to restrain anger? How many a hasty word +does man utter, or how many a hasty act does man commit, under the +influence of passion he cannot or will not restrain--and that among his +equals, who may be able to resent it, or in the face of law ready to +avenge it! How prone are we all, if things go wrong from some fault of +our own, to lose our temper and try to throw the blame on others, rather +than admit the failure to be our own fault! Without dwelling upon the +serious injury people often do to themselves by unrestrained passion, +think for a moment of the treatment frequently inflicted upon the poor +animals over whom they rule absolute. Is not kindness to a horse the +interest as well as the duty of the owner? and yet how often is he the +unfortunate victim of the owner's rage or cruel disposition, while +faithfully and willingly expending all his powers in the service of his +tyrant master! If these things be so among equals, or comparative +equals, and also in man's dealings with the lower orders of the +creation, what chance has the poor slave, with the arm of legislative +justice paralysed, and an arm nerved with human passion his only hope of +mercy?--for self-defence, that first law of nature, is the highest crime +he can be guilty of: and, while considering the mercenary view of +self-interest, let it not be forgotten that an awful amount of human +suffering is quite compatible with unimpaired health, and that a slave +may be frequently under the lash and yet fully able to do his day's +work. + +The last influence we have to consider is indeed the brightest and best +of all--Christianity: high on the brotherly arch of man's duty to his +fellow-man, and forming its enduring keystone, we read, traced by +Jehovah in imperishable letters, radiant with love, "Do unto others as +you would that they should do unto you;" "Love thy neighbour as +thyself." Surely it needs no words of mine to show, that a faithful +history of the most Christian country in the most Christian times the +world ever witnessed, would contain, fearful evidence of the cruelty of +man setting at nought the above blessed precept. Nay, more--I question +if, viewed in its entire fulness, there is any one single command in +Scripture more habitually disregarded. Proverbs are generally supposed +to be a condensation of facts or experiences. Whence comes "Every one +for himself, and God for us all"? or, the more vulgar one, "Go ahead, +and the d----l take the hindmost?" What are they but concentrations of +the fact that selfishness is man's ruling passion? What are most laws +made for, but to restrain men by human penalties from a broach of the +law of love? and, if these laws be needful in communities, all the +members of which are equal in the eyes of the law, and even then be +found inefficient for their purpose, as may be daily witnessed in every +country, who will say that the influence of Christianity is sufficient +protection to the poor slave? + +There is only one other influence that I shall mention--that is habit; +it acts for and against the slave. Thus, the kind and good, brought up +among slaves, very often nursed by them, and grown up in the continual +presence of their gentleness and faithfulness, repay them with +unmeasured kindness, and a sympathy in all their sickness and their +sorrows, to a degree which I feel quite certain the most tender-hearted +Christian breathing could never equal, if landed among slaves, for the +first time, at years of maturity. The Christian planter's wife or +daughter may be seen sitting up at night, cooking, nursing, tending an +old sick and helpless slave, with nearly, if not quite, the same +affectionate care she would bestow upon a sick relation, the very +friendlessness of the negro stimulating the benevolent heart. This is, +indeed, the bright side of the influence of habit.--But the other side +is not less true; and there the effect is, that a coarse, brutal mind, +trained up among those it can bully with impunity, acquires a +heartlessness and indifference to the negro's wants and sufferings, that +grow with the wretched possessor's growth. This is the dark side of the +influence of habit. + +Let two examples suffice, both of which I have upon the very best +authority. A faithful slave, having grown up with his master's rising +family, obtained his freedom as a reward for his fidelity, and was +entrusted with the management of the property; realizing some money, he +became the owner of slaves himself, from among whom he selected his +wife, and to all of whom he showed the greatest consideration. Some +time after, lying upon his deathbed, he made his will, in which he +bequeathed his wife and all his other negroes to his old master, giving +as his reason, that, from his own lively recollections of his master's +unvarying kindness to himself and the other slaves, he felt certain that +in so doing he was taking the best means in his power of securing their +future happiness. What stronger evidence of the growth of kindness in +the master's heart could possibly be desired? Here, then, is the effect +of habit in a benevolent owner.--Now, turn to the opposite picture. A +lady of New Orleans was accustomed to strip and flog a slave for the +pleasure of witnessing sufferings which she endeavoured to render more +acute by rubbing soft soap into the broken skin. Here you have the +effect of habit upon a brutal mind. + +To the credit of New Orleans be it recorded, that the knowledge of this +atrocity having come to white ears, her house was broken open, every +article it contained pulled out in the street and burnt, and, had she +not succeeded in eluding search, the she-devil would have been most +assuredly reduced to ashes with her own goods. America became too hot +for her, and Providence alone knows the demon's cave of concealment. + +Having thus passed in review the various influences bearing upon the +treatment of the slave, and seen how utterly inadequate they are to +protect him from ill-treatment, who can wonder that the tales of real or +supposed cruelty inflicted upon slaves by the Southerners are received +with indignation by both parties in the States?--the virtuous and kind +master, indignant at the thought of being included in the category of +monsters, and the real savage, if possible, still more indignant, +because his conscience brings home to his seared heart the truthfulness +of the picture, even if it be overdrawn almost to caricature. And here +it is curious to observe the different action of these two parties: the +former, in the consciousness of a kind heart and a real desire for the +negro's good, calmly states what has been done and is doing for the +negro, and throws a natural veil of doubt over horrors so utterly +repulsive to the feelings that their existence is discredited; the +latter, with a shallowness which Providence sometimes attaches to guilt, +aware that some such accusations come too painfully and truthfully +home, pronounce their own condemnation by their line of +defence--recrimination. + +Take, for example, the following extract from an article in a Slave +State paper, entitled "A Sequel to Uncle Tom's Cabin," and in which +Queen Victoria, under the guidance of a "genius," has the condition of +her subjects laid bare before her. After various other paragraphs of a +similar nature comes the following:-- + +"The sky was obscured by the smoke of hundreds of small chimneys and +vast edifices, stretching in lines for miles and miles. The latter were +crowded with women and children, young in years, but withered in form +and feature. The countenances of the men were as colourless as the white +fabric in their looms; their eyes sparkled with intelligence, but it was +chiefly the intelligence of suffering, of privation, of keen sense of +wrong, of inability to be better, of rankling hatred against existing +institutions, and a furtive wish that some hideous calamity would bury +them all in one common, undistinguishable ruin. + +"'Are these the people? groaned the Queen, as the cold damp of more than +mortal agony moistened her marble forehead. + +"'Not all of them!" sounded the voice in her ear, so sharply that her +Majesty looked up eagerly, and saw written, in letters of fire, on the +palace wall:-- + +"'1. Every twelfth person in your dominions is a pauper, daily receiving +parochial relief. + +"'2. Every twentieth person in your dominions is a destitute wanderer, +with no roof but the sky--no home but a prison. They are the Ishmaelites +of modern society; every one's hand is against them, and their hands are +against every one. + +"'3. There are in Freeland 10,743,747 females; divide that number by +500,000, and you will find that every twentieth woman in your dominions +is--Oh! horror piled on horror!--a harlot!'" + +Then follows the scene of a disconsolate female throwing herself over a +bridge, the whole winding up with this charming piece of information, +addressed by the genius to her Majesty:-- + +"In your own land, liberty, the absence of which in another is deplored, +is, in its most god-like development, but a name--unless that may be +termed liberty which practically is but vulgar license--license to work +from rosy morn to dark midnight for the most scanty pittances--license +to store up wealth in the hands and for the benefit of the few--license +to bellow lustily for rival politicians--license to send children to +ragged schools--license to sot in the ale-house--license to grow lumpish +and brutal--license to neglect the offices of religion, to swear, to +lie, to blaspheme--license to steal, to pander unchecked to the coarsest +appetites, to fawn and slaver over the little great ones of the +earth--license to creep like a worm through life, or bound through it +like a wild beast; and, last and most precious of all--for it is +untaxed--license to starve, to rot, to die, and be buried in a foetid +pauper's grave, on which the sweet-smelling flowers, sent to strew the +pathway of man and woman with beauty, love, and hope, will refuse to +grow, much less bloom." + +Setting aside all exaggerations, who does not recognise in the foregoing +quotations "the galled jade wincing"? Were the writer a kind owner of +slaves, he might have replied to _Uncle Tom's Cabin_ by facts of +habitual kindness to them, sufficient to prove that the authoress had +entered into the region of romance; but in his recrimination he +unconsciously displays the cloven hoof, and leaves no doubt on the mind +that he writes under the impulse of a bitterly-accusing monitor within. +It would be wasting time to point out the difference between a system +which binds millions of its people in bondage to their fellow-man, a +master's sovereign will their only practical protection, and a system +which not only makes all its subjects equal in the eye of the law, and +free to seek their fortunes wherever they list, but which is for ever +striving to mitigate the distress that is invariably attendant upon an +overcrowded population. Even granting that his assertions were not only +true, but that they were entirely produced by tyrannical enactments, +what justification would England's sins be for America's crimes? Suppose +the House of Commons and the Lords Temporal and Spiritual obtained the +royal sanction to an act for kidnapping boys and grilling them daily for +a table-d'hôte in their respective legislative assemblies, would such an +atrocity--or any worse atrocity, if such be possible--in any respect +alter the question of right and wrong between master and slave? Let any +charge of cruelty or injustice in England be advanced on its own simple +grounds, and, wherever it comes from, it will find plenty of people, I +am proud and happy to say, ready to inquire into it and to work hard for +its removal; but when it comes in the shape of recrimination, who can +fail to recognise an accusing conscience striving to throw the cloak of +other people's sins over the abominations which that conscience is ever +ringing in the writer's ears at home. + +I must, however, state that, in speaking of the sufferings or injuries +to which the slave is liable, I am not proclaiming them merely on the +authority of Northern abolitionists, or on the deductions which I have +drawn from human nature; many travellers have made similar charges. Miss +Bremer writes:--"I beheld the old slave hunted to death because he dared +to visit his wife--beheld him mangled, beaten, recaptured, fling himself +into the water of the Black River, over which he was retaken into the +power of his hard master--and the law was silent. I beheld a young woman +struck, for a hasty word, upon the temples, so that she fell down +dead!--and the law was silent. I heard the law, through its jury, +adjudicate between a white man and a black, and sentence the latter to +be flogged when the former was guilty--and they who were honest among +the jurymen in vain opposed the verdict. I beheld here on the shores of +the Mississippi, only a few months since, a young negro girl fly from +the maltreatment of her master, and he was a professor of religion, and +fling herself into the river."--_Homes of the New World._ Would Miss +Bremer write these things for the press, as occurring under her own eye, +if they were not true? + +Then, again, the Press itself in the South bears witness to what every +one must admit to be an inhuman practice. How often must the reader of a +Southern States' paper see children of the tenderest age, sometimes even +under a year old, advertised for public sale! Did any one every take up +the New Orleans paper without seeing more than one such advertisement as +the following?-- + + 150 NEGROES FOE SALE. + + Just arrived, and for sale, at my old stand, No. 7, Moreau-street, + Third Municipality, one hundred and fifty young and likely NEGROES, + consisting of field-hands, house servants, and mechanics. They will be + sold on reasonable terms for good paper or cash. Persons wishing to + purchase will find it to their advantage to give me a call. [Sep. + 30--6m.] Wm. F. TALBOTT. + +What happiness can the slave enjoy among a community where such an +advertisement as the following can be tolerated, or, worse still, when, +as in the present instance, it is sent forth under the sanction of the +law? The advertisement is taken from a paper published at Wilmington, +North Carolina. + + $225 REWARD.--STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, NEW HANOVER COUNTY.--_Whereas_, + complaint upon, oath hath this day been made to us, two of the + Justices of the Peace for the State and County aforesaid, by BENJAMIN + HALLET, of the said county, that two certain male slaves belonging to + him, named LOTT, aged about twenty-two years, five feet four or five + inches high, and black, formerly belonging to LOTT WILLIAMS, of Onslow + county; and BOB, aged about sixteen years, five feet high, and black; + have absented themselves from their said master's service, and are + supposed to be lurking about this county, committing acts of felony + and other misdeeds. These are, therefore, in the name of the State + aforesaid, to command the slaves forthwith to return home to their + masters; and we do hereby, by virtue of the Act of the General + Assembly in such cases made and provided, intimate and declare that + _if the said_ LOTT and BOB _do not return home and surrender + themselves,_ immediately after the publication of these presents, that + ANY PERSON MAY KILL AND DESTROY THE SAID SLAVES, by such means as he + or they may think fit, without accusation or impeachment of any crime + or offence for so doing, and without incurring any penalty or + forfeiture thereby. + + Given under our hands and seals, this 28th day of February, 1853. + + W.N. PEDEN, J.P., [Seal] + + W.C. BETTENCOURT, J.P., [Seal.] + + $225 REWARD.--TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS will be given for negro LOTT, EITHER + DEAD OR ALIVE; and TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS FOR BOB'S HEAD, delivered to + the subscriber in the town of Wilmington. + + BENJAMIN HALLET. + + March 2nd, 1853. + +There is another evidence of a want of happiness among the slaves, +which, though silent and unheard, challenges contradiction: I mean the +annual escape of from one to two thousand into Canada, in spite not only +of the natural difficulties and privations of the journey, but also of +the fearful dread of the consequences of re-capture. Doubtless some of +these may be fleeing from the dread of just punishment for offences +against the law, but none can doubt that many more are endeavouring to +escape from what they feel to be cruelty, injustice, and oppression. + +I do not wish to pander to a morbid appetite for horrors by gathering +together under one view all the various tales of woe and misery which I +have heard of, known, or seen. I think I have said enough to prove to +any unprejudiced person that such things do and must ever exist under +the institution of slavery; and that, although the statements of rabid +abolitionists are often the most unwarranted exaggerations, the all but +total denial of their occurrence by the slave-owners is also not +correct. The conviction forced upon my own mind, after much thought and +inquiry on this most interesting topic is, that there are many dark +clouds of cruelty in a sky which is bright with much of the truest and +kindest sympathy for the poor slave. + +I now propose to take a short review of the progress and real state of +slavery, and I will commence by giving _in extenso_ an enactment which +materially affects the negro, and, as I have before observed, has more +than once threatened the Republic with disunion:-- + +Section 2.--Privileges of Citizens.--Clause 3. "No person held to +service or labour in one state under the laws thereof, escaping to +another, shall in consequence of any law or regulation therein be +discharged from such service or labour, but shall be delivered up on +claim of the party to whom such service or labour may be due." + +Of course the word "slave" would have read strangely among a community +who set themselves up as the champions of the "equal rights of man;" but +it is clear that, according to this clause in the constitution which +binds the Republic together, every free state is compelled to assist in +the recapture of a fugitive slave. + +What was the exact number of slaves at the date of this law being passed +I have not the means of ascertaining: at the beginning of this century +it was under 900,000; in the Census of 1850 they had increased to +3,200,000.[BT] There were originally 13 States. At present there are +31, besides territory not yet incorporated into States. The Slave States +are 15, or nearly half. Thus much for increase of slaves and the slave +soil. But, it will naturally be asked, how did it happen that, as the +additional soil was incorporated, the sable workmen appeared as if by +magic? The answer is very simple. The demand regulated the supply, and +slave breeding became a most important feature in the system: thus the +wants of the more southern States became regularly lessened by large +drafts from Maryland, Kentucky, and Virginia. Anybody desirous of +testing the truth of this statement will find statistical data to assist +him in an unpretending volume by Marshall Hall, M.D., &c., _On Twofold +Slavery,_ which I read with much interest, although I cannot agree with +him in everything.[BV] + +I am aware that residents in these breeding States are to be found who +would scorn to utter a wilful falsehood, and who deny this propagation +of the human chattel for the flesh market; but there can be little doubt +that the unbiased seeker after truth will find that such is the case. +And why not? Why should those who make their livelihood by trafficking +in the flesh of their fellow-creatures hesitate to increase their +profits by paying attention to the breeding of them? These facts do not +come under the general traveller's eye, because, armed with letters of +introduction, he consorts more with worthy slave-owners, who, occupied +with the welfare of those around and dependent upon them, know little +of the world beyond; in the same way as in England, a Christian family +may be an example of patriarchal simplicity and of apostolic zeal and +love, and yet beyond the circle of their action, though not very far +from its circumference, the greatest distress and perhaps cruelty may +abound. How many of the dark spots on our community has the single zeal +of the Earl of Shaftesbury forced upon the public mind, of which we were +utterly ignorant, though living in the midst of them. The degraded +female drudge in a coal-pit, the agonized infant in a chimney, and the +death-wrought child in a factory--each and all bear testimony to how +much of suffering may exist while surrounded by those whose lives are +spent in Christian charity. And so it is in every community, Slave +States included. Christian hearts, pregnant with zeal and love, are +diffusing blessings around them; and, occupied with their noble work, +they know little of the dark places that hang on their borders. The +Southern planter and his lady may be filled with the love of St. John, +and radiate the beams thereof on every man, woman, and child under their +guardianship, and then, "measuring other people's corn by their own +lovely bushel," they may well hesitate to believe in the existence of a +profligate breeding Pandemonium within the precincts of their immediate +country. Yet, alas! there can be little doubt that it does exist. + +Let us now fix our attention on the actual facts of the case which all +parties admit. First, we have a slave population of 3,200,000. I think, +if I estimate their marketable value at 80_l_ a head, I shall be +considerably below the truth. That gives us in human flesh, +250,000,000l. Secondly, let us take the product of their labour. The +Slave States raise annually-- + + Rice 215,000,000 lbs. + Tobacco 185,000,000 " + Sugar 248,000,000 " + Cotton 1,000,000,000 " + Molasses 12,000,000 gallons. + Indian Corn. 368,000,000 bushels. + +Estimating these at a lower value than they have ever fallen to, you +have here represented 80,000,000l. sterling of annual produce from +the muscle and sinew of the slave.[BW] Surely the wildest enthusiast, +did he but ponder over these facts, could not fail to pause ere he +mounted the breach, shouting the rabid war-cry of abolition, which +involves a capital of 250,000,000_l_, and an annual produce of +80,000,000l. + +The misery which an instantaneous deliverance of the slave would cause +by the all but certain loss of the greater portion of the products above +enumerated, must be apparent to the least reflecting mind. If any such +schemer exist, he would do well to study the history of our West India +islands from the period of their sudden emancipation, especially since +free-trade admitted slave produce on equal terms with the produce of +free labour. Complaints of utter ruin are loud and constant from the +proprietors in nearly every island; they state, and state with truth, +that it is impossible for free labour at a high price, and which can +only be got perhaps for six hours a day, to compete with the steady +slave work of twelve hours a day; and they show that slaveholding +communities have materially increased their products, which can only +have been effected by a further taxing of the slave's powers, or a vast +increase of fresh human material.[BX] But they further complain that the +negro himself is sadly retrograding. "They attend less to the +instruction of their religious teachers; they pay less attention to the +education of their children; vice and immorality are on the increase," +&c.--_Petition to the Imperial Parliament from St. George's, Jamaica,_ +July, 1852. + +I might multiply such statements from nearly every island, and quote the +authority of even some of their governors to the same effect; but the +above are sufficient for my purpose. They prove three most important +facts for consideration, when treating the question of Slavery. First, +that you may ruin the planter. Secondly, that you may free--without +benefiting--the slave. Thirdly, that each State, as it becomes free, +tends to give additional value to the property of those States which +choose to hold on to slavery; and all these results may occur despite +the wisdom (?) of senators, and an indemnity of 20,000,000l. + +Surely, then, the Southern planter may well assert that he sees not +sufficient inducement to follow our hasty wholesale example. But while +such convictions are forced upon him, he will be a degenerate son of +energetic sires, if he be so scared at our ill-success as to fear to +look for some better path to the same noble object; and there is one +most important consideration which should impel him, while avoiding all +rash haste, to brook no dangerous delay; that consideration is, that the +difficulty of dealing with the question is increasing with fearful +rapidity, for the slave population has nearly quadrupled itself since +the beginning of the century. The capital involved is, we have seen, +gigantic; but the question of numbers is by far the most perplexing to +deal with, in a social point of view. The white population of the Slave +States is, in rough numbers, 6,000,000; the slave population is more +than 3,000,000, and the free blacks 250,000. Does any sane man believe +that, if slavery had existed in Great Britain, and that the slaves had +constituted one-third of the population, we should have attempted to +remove the black bar from our escutcheon, by the same rapid and summary +process which we adopted to free the negro in our colonies? + +An American writer on Slavery has said, and I think most justly, "that +two distinct races of people, nearly equal in numbers, and unlike in +colour, manners, habits, feelings and state of civilization to such a +degree that amalgamation is impossible, cannot dwell together in the +same community unless the one be in subjection to the other." So fully +am I convinced of the truth of this statement, and so certain am I that +every one who has been in a Slave State must be satisfied of the truth +of it, that I feel sure, if the South freed every slave to-morrow, not a +week would elapse before each State in the Union without exception would +pass stringent laws to prevent them settling within their borders; even +at this moment such a law exists in some States. + +With all these difficulties constantly before them, who can wonder that +a kind-hearted planter, while gazing on the cheerful and happy faces of +his well-fed and well-housed slaves, should look distrustfully at +emancipation, and strive to justify to his conscience opposition to any +plan, however gradual, which leads thereto. Nevertheless, however +satisfied in his mind that the slaves are kindly treated, and that +harshness even is never used, he cannot contemplate the institution from +a sufficient distance to be beyond its influences, without feeling that +emancipation is the goal towards which his thoughts should ever bend, +and that in proportion as the steps towards it must be gradual, so +should they speedily commence. But how? Washington, while confessing his +most earnest desire for abolition, declares his conviction that "it can +only be effected by legislative authority." + +The next chapter will detail such propositions as, in my humble opinion, +appear most worthy of the consideration of the Legislature, with a view +to the gradual removal of the black star from the striped banner. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote BT: _List of States and Territories forming the Confederation. +Those marked_ S. _are Slave-holding States._ + +STATES. + + New Hampshire + Massachusetts + Rhode Island + Connecticut + New York + New Jersey[BU] + Pennsylvania + S. Delaware + S. Maryland + S. Virginia + S. North Carolina + S. South Carolina + S. Georgia + + +NEW STATES. + + Vermont 1791 + S. Kentucky 1792 + S. Tennessee 1796 + Ohio 1802 + S. Louisiana 1812 + Indiana 1816 + S. Mississippi 1817 + Illinois 1818 + S. Alabama 1819 + Maine 1820 + S. Missouri 1821 + S. Arkansas 1836 + Michigan 1837 + S. Florida 1845 + S. Texas 1845 + Iowa 1846 + Wisconsin 1848 + California 1850 + + +DISTRICT. + +S. Columbia 1791 + + +TERRITORIES. + + Oregon 1848 + Minnesota 1849 + S. Kansas 1855 + S. Utah 1850 + New Mexico 1850 + Nebraska 1853] + +[Footnote BU: I believe the last slave has been removed from New +Jersey.--H.A.M.] + +[Footnote BV: Between 1810 and 1850 the slave population in Virginia has +only increased from 392,000 to 470,000, while in Tennessee it has +increased from 44,000 to 240,000; and in Louisiana, from 35,000 to +240,000.] + +[Footnote BW: I take no notice of the various other valuable productions +of these States: they may fairly represent the produce of the white +man's labour.] + +[Footnote BX: _Vide_ ch. xii., "The Queen of the Antilles."] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +_Hints for Master--Hopes for Slave._ + + +I will now suggest certain proposals,[BY] in the hope that while they +can do no harm, they may by chance lead to some good result. The first +proposal is a very old one, and only made by me now, because I consider +it of primary importance--I mean a "Free-Soil" bill. I advocate it upon +two distinct grounds--the one affecting the Republic, the other the +slave. The Republic sanctions and carries on the slave-trade by +introducing the institution into land hitherto free, and the slave +throughout the Union has his fetters tightened by the enhancement of his +value; but the great Channing has so fully and ably argued the truth of +these evils, when treating of the annexation of Texas, that none but the +wilfully blind can fail to be convinced; in short, if Slavery is to be +introduced into land hitherto free, it is perhaps questionable if it be +not better to send for the ill-used and degraded slave from Africa, and +leave the more elevated slave in his comparatively happy home in the Old +Slave States; the plea may be used for bettering the condition of the +former, but that plea cannot be used for the latter. + +The next proposal is one which, if it came from the South, would, I +suppose, have the support of all the kind masters in those States, and +most assuredly would find no opposition in the North,--I mean the +expulsion from the Constitution of that law by which fugitive slaves are +forced to be given up. If the proposal came from the North, it would +naturally excite ill-feeling in the South, after all the angry passions +which abolition crusading has set in action; but the South might easily +propose it: and when we see the accounts of the affectionate attachment +of the slaves to their masters, and of the kindness with which they are +treated, in proportion, as such statements are correct, so will it +follow as a consequence, that none but those who are driven to it by +cruelty will wish to leave their snug homes and families, to seek for +peace in the chilly winters of the North. And surely the slaves who are +victims of cruelty, every kind-hearted slave-master would rejoice to see +escaping; it would only be the compulsory giving up of fugitives, except +for criminal offences, which would be expunged; each individual State +would be able, if desirous, to enter into any mutual arrangement with +any other State, according to their respective necessities. This +proposal has two advantages: one, that it removes a bone of bitter +contention ever ready to be thrown down between the North and the South; +and the other, that it opens a small loophole for the oppressed to +escape from the oppressor. + +The next proposal I have to make, is one which, as every year makes it +more difficult, merits immediate attention,--and that is, the providing +a territory of refuge. No one for a moment can doubt that the foundation +of Liberia was an act of truly philanthropic intent, reflecting credit +upon all parties concerned in it; but it must, I fear, be acknowledged +that it is totally unequal to the object in view. No further evidence of +this need he adduced, than the simple fact, that, for every negro sent +to Liberia, nearer twenty than ten are born in the States. Dame +Partington's effort to sweep back the incoming tide with a hair-broom +promised better hopes of success; a brigade of energetic firemen would +drain off Lake Superior in a much shorter space of time than Liberian +colonization would remove one-third of the slave population. The scheme +is in the right direction, but as insufficient to overcome the +difficulty as a popgun is to breach a fortified city; the only method of +effectually enabling the system of colonization to be carried out, +is--in my humble opinion--by setting apart some portion of the +unoccupied territory of the Union as a negro colony. In making the +selection, a suitable climate should be considered, in justice to the +health of the negro, as it is clear, from the fate of those who fly from +persecution to Canada, that they are unable to resist cold; and +proximity to the ocean is desirable, as affording a cheap conveyance for +those who become manumitted: the expense of a passage to Liberia is one +great obstacle to its utility. + +The quantity of land required for such a purpose would be very small; +and stringent regulations as to the negro leaving the territory so +granted, would effectually prevent any inconvenience to the neighbouring +States. I have before shown that the comparative number of whites and +blacks--whites 6,000,000, and blacks 3,000,000--renders it all but, if +not quite, impossible for the two races to live together free. I have +also shown that the Northern States either refuse to admit them, or pass +such laws respecting them, that slavery under a good master is a +paradise by comparison. I have further shown that Liberia is, from its +distance, so expensive for their removal, as to be of but little +assistance, and Canada too often proves an early grave. If, then, these +difficulties present themselves with a population of 3,000,000 slaves, +and if they are increasing their numbers rapidly--which statistics fully +prove to be the case--it is clear that these difficulties must augment +in a corresponding ratio, until at last they will become insurmountable. +I therefore come to the conclusion, either that territory must be set +apart in America itself for the negro's home, or that the black bar of +slavery must deface the escutcheon of the Republic for ever. + +I now propose to make a few remarks on the treatment of slaves. As to +the nature of that treatment, I have already given my calm and unbiased +opinion. My present observations refer to corporal punishment, and the +implements for the infliction thereof. Of the latter I have seen four; +of course there may be many others; I speak only of those that have come +under my own eye. The four I have seen are first, the common +hunting-whip, which is too well known to require description. Secondly, +the cowhide--its name expresses its substance--when wet, it is rolled up +tightly and allowed to dry, by which process it becomes as hard as the +raw hide commonly seen in this country; its shape is that of a +racing-whip, and its length from four to five feet. Thirdly, the strap, +i.e., a piece off the end of a stiff heavy horse's trace, and about +three or three-and-a-half feet in length. Fourthly, the paddle; i.e., +a piece of white oak about an inch thick all through, the handle about +two inches broad, and rather more than two feet long, the blade about +nine inches long by four and a quarter broad. The two latter implements +I found, upon inquiry, were of modern date, and the reason of their +introduction was, that the marks of the punishment inflicted thereby +became more speedily effaced; and as upon the sale of a slave, if, when +examined, marks of punishment are clearly developed, his price suffers +from the impression of his being obstreperous, the above-named articles +of punishment came into favour. + +The foregoing observations--without entering into the respective merits +of the four instruments--are sufficient to prove that no one definite +implement for corporal punishment is established by law, and, +consequently, that any enactment appointing a limit to the number of +stripes which may he given is an absurdity, however well intended. Forty +stripes, is, I believe, the authorized number. A certain number of +blows, if given with a dog-whip, would inflict no injury beyond the +momentary pain, whereas the same number inflicted with a heavy +walking-stick might lame a man for life. Again, I know of no law in the +States prohibiting the corporal punishment of any slave, of whatever age +or sex; at all events, grown-up girls and mothers of families are doomed +to have their persons exposed to receive its infliction. Of this latter +fact, I am positive, though I cannot say whether the practice is general +or of rare occurrence. + +I have entered rather fully into a description of the implements of +punishment, to show the grounds upon which I make the following +proposals:--First, that a proper instrument for flogging be authorized +by law, and that the employment of any other be severely punished. +Secondly, that the number of lashes a master may inflict, or order to be +inflicted, be reduced to a minimum, and that while a greater number of +lashes are permitted for grave offences, they be only administered on +the authority of a jury or a given number of magistrates. Thirdly, that +common decency be no longer outraged by any girl above fifteen receiving +corporal punishment.[BZ] Fourthly, that by State enactment--as it now +sometimes is by municipal regulation--no master in any town be permitted +to inflict corporal punishment on a slave above fifteen; those who have +passed that age to be sent to the jail, or some authorized place, to +receive their punishment, a faithful record whereof, including slave and +owner's names, to be kept. My reasons for this proposal are, that a man +will frequently punish on the spur of the moment, when a little +reflection would subdue his anger, and save the culprit. Also, that it +is my firm conviction that a great portion of the cruelty of which +slaves are the victims, is caused by half-educated owners of one or two +slaves, who are chiefly to be found in towns, and upon whom such a law +might operate as a wholesome check. Such a law would doubtless be good +in all cases, but the distances of plantations from towns would render +it impossible to be carried out; and I am sorry to say, I have no +suggestion to make by which the slaves on plantations might be +protected, in those cases where the absence of the owners leaves them +entirely at the mercy of the driver, which I believe the cause of by far +the greatest amount of suffering they endure, though I trust many +drivers are just and merciful. Fifthly, that the law by which negroes +can hold slaves should immediately be abolished. The white man holding a +slave is bad enough, but nothing can justify the toleration of the negro +holding his own flesh and blood in fetters, especially when the door of +Education is hermetically sealed against him. + +In addition to the foregoing suggestions for the regulation of +punishment, I would propose that any master proved guilty of inflicting +or tolerating gross cruelty upon a slave, should forfeit every slave he +may possess to the State, and be rendered incapable of again holding +them, and that copies of such decisions be sent to each county in the +State. In connexion with this subject, there is another point of +considerable importance--viz., the testimony of slaves. As matters now +stand, or are likely to stand for some time to come, there appear +insuperable objections to the testimony of a slave being received on a +par with that of a white man, and this constitutes one of the greatest +difficulties in enabling the negro to obtain justice for any injury he +may have sustained. It appears to me, however, that a considerable +portion of this difficulty might he removed by admitting a certain +number of slaves--say three--to constitute one witness. +Cross-examination would easily detect either combination or falsehood, +and a severe punishment attached to such an offence would act as a +powerful antidote to its commission. Until some system is arranged for +receiving negro evidence in some shape, he must continue the hopeless +victim of frequent injustice. + +The next subject I propose to consider is a legalized system, having +for its object the freedom of the slave. To accomplish this, I would +suggest that the State should fix a fair scale of prices, at which the +slave might purchase his freedom, one price for males and another for +females under twenty, and a similar arrangement of price between the +ages of twenty and fifty, after which age the slave to be free, and +receive some fixed assistance, either from the State or the master, as +might be thought most just and expedient. To enable the slave to take +advantage of the privilege of purchasing his freedom, it would be +requisite that the State should have banks appointed in which he might +deposit his savings at fair interest; but to enable him to have +something to deposit, it is also requisite that some law should be +passed compelling owners to allow a slave certain portions of time to +work out for himself, or if preferred, to work for the master, receiving +the ordinary wages for the time so employed, and this, of course, in +addition to the Sunday. As, however, among so many masters, some will be +cruel and do their utmost to negative any merciful laws which the State +may enact, I would for the protection of the slave propose that, if he +feel discontented with the treatment of his master, he be allowed to +claim the right of being publicly sold, upon giving a certain number of +days' warning of such desire on his part; or if he can find any +slave-owner who will give the price fixed by law--as before +suggested--and is willing to take him, his master to be bound to deliver +him up. With regard to the sale of slaves, I think humanity will justify +me in proposing that no slave under fifteen years of ago be sold or +transferred to another owner without the parents also; and secondly, +that husband and wife be never sold or transferred separately, except it +be by their own consent. However rarely such separations may take place +at present, there is no law to prevent the cruel act, and I have every +reason to believe it takes place much oftener than many of my +kind-hearted plantation friends would he ready to admit. + +Looking forward to the gradual, but ultimately total abolition of +slavery, I would next suggest that, after a certain date--say ten +years--every slave, upon reaching thirty years of age, be apprenticed by +his master to some trade or occupation for five years, at the expiration +of which time he be free; after another fixed period--say ten +years--all slaves above twenty years of age be similarly treated; and +after a third period, I would propose that the United States should +follow the noble example long since set them by _Peru_, and make it an +integral part of their constitution that "_no one is born a slave in the +Republic."_ + +The next proposal I have to make is one which I cannot but hope that all +Americans will fell the propriety of, inasmuch as the present system is, +in my estimation, one of the blackest features of the institution we are +considering. I allude to the slavery of Americans themselves. In nearly +every civilized nation in the world, blood is considered to run in the +father's line, and although illegitimacy forfeits inheritance, it never +forfeits citizenship. How is it in the United States? _There the white +man's offspring is to be seen in fetters--the blood of the free in the +market of the slave._ No one can have travelled in the Southern States +without having this sad fact forced upon his observation. Over and over +again have I seen features, dark if you will, but which showed +unmistakeably the white man's share in their parentage. Nay, more--I +have seen slaves that in Europe would pass for German blondes. Can +anything be imagined more horrible than a free nation trafficking in the +blood of its co-citizens? Is it not a diabolical premium on iniquity, +that the fruit of sin can be sold for the benefit of the sinner? Though +the bare idea may well nauseate the kind and benevolent among the +Southerners, the proof of parentage is stamped by Providence on the +features of the victims, and their slavery is incontrovertible evidence +that the offspring of Columbia's sons may be sold at human shambles. +Even in Mussulman law, the offspring of the slave girl by her master is +declared free; and shall it be said that the followers of Christ are, in +any point of mercy, behind the followers of the false prophet? My +proposition, then, is, that every slave who is not of pure African +blood, and who has reached, or shall reach, the age of thirty, be +apprenticed to some trade for five years, and then become free; and that +all who shall subsequently be so born, be free from their birth, and of +course, that the mother who is proved thus to have been the victim of +the white man's passion be manumitted as well as her child. + +I make no proposal about the spiritual instruction of the slave, as I +believe that as much is given at present as any legislative enactment +would be likely to procure; but I have one more suggestion to make, and +it is one without which I fear any number of acts which might be passed +for the benefit of the slave would lose the greater portion of their +value. That suggestion is, the appointment of a sufficient number of +officers, selected from persons known to be friendly to the slave, to +whom the duty of seeing the enactments strictly carried out should be +delegated. + +While ruminating on the foregoing pages, a kind of vision passed before +my mind. I beheld a deputation of Republicans--among whom was one +lady--approaching me. Having stated that they had read my remarks upon +Slavery, I immediately became impressed in their favour, and could not +refuse the audience they requested. I soon found the deputation +consisted of people of totally different views, and consequently each +addressed me separately. + +The first was an old gentleman, and a determined advocate of the +institution. He said, "Your remarks are all bosh; the African race were +born slaves, and have been so for centuries, and are fit for nothing +else."--I replied, "I am quite aware of the effect of breeding; we have +a race of dog in England which, from their progenitors of many +successive generations having had their tails cut off in puppyhood, now +breed their species without tails; nay, more--what are all our sporting +dogs, but evidence of the same fact? A pointer puppy stands +instinctively at game, and a young hound will run a fox; take the +trouble, for many generations, to teach the hound to point and the +pointer to run, and their two instincts will become entirely changed. +The fact, sir, is that the African having been bred a slave for so many +generations is one great cause of his lower order of intellect; breed +him free and educate him, and you will find the same result in him as in +the dog."--He was about to reply when another of the deputation rose and +reminded him they had agreed to make but one observation each, and to +receive one answer. I rejoiced at this arrangement, as it saved me +trouble and gave me the last word. + +A very touchy little slaveholder next addressed me, saying, "Pray, sir, +why can't you leave us alone, and mind your own business?"--I replied, +"As for leaving you alone, I am quite ready to do so when you have left +the negro alone; but as for exclusively attending to my own business, +that would be far too dull; besides, it is human nature to interfere +with other people's affairs, and I can't go against nature."--He +retired, biting his lip, and as the door closed, I thought I heard the +words "Meddling ass!"--but I wont be sure. + +Next came a swaggering bully of a slave-driver, evidently bred in the +North. He said, "This, sir, is a free country; why mayn't every master +wallop his own nigger?"--I thought it best to cut him short; so I said, +"Because, if freedom is perfect, such a permission would involve its +opposite--viz., that every nigger may wallop his own master; and your +antecedents, I guess, might make such a law peculiarly objectionable to +you personally."--He retired, eyeing first me and then his cowhide in a +very significant manner. + +The next spokesman was a clerical slaveholder, with a very stiff and +very white neckcloth, hair straight and long, and a sanctified, +reproof-ful voice. "Sir," said he, "why endeavour to disturb an +institution that Scripture sanctions, and which provides so large a +field for the ministrations of kindness and sympathy--two of the most +tender Christian virtues?" A crocodile tear dropped like a full stop to +finish his sentence. Irascibility and astonishment were struggling +within me, when I heard his speech; but memory brought St. Paul to my +aid, who reminded me he had before written certain words to the +Corinthian Church--"Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light; +therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed," +&e. Thereupon I became calmer, and replied, "Sir, you are perfectly +aware that our Saviour's mission was to the heart of man, and not to the +institutions of man. Did He not instruct his subjugated countrymen to +pay tribute to Caesar? and did He not set the example in his own person? +Did He not instruct his disciples in the same breath, 'Fear God! honour +the king?'--and is it not elsewhere written, 'But I say unto you, that +ye resist not evil?' You are also perfectly aware that the American +colonies refused to pay tribute to their Caesar, refused to honour their +king, and did resist the evil. Now, sir, these things being so, you are +compelled to admit one of two alternatives--either the whole of your +countrymen are rebels against the Most High, and therefore aliens from +God, or else, as I before said, the mission of the Gospel is to the +hearts and not to the institutions of man. I see, sir, by the way you +winced under the term 'rebel,' that you accept the latter alternative. +If, then, it be addressed to the heart of man, it is through that +channel--as it becomes enlarged by those virtues of which you spoke, +kindness and sympathy--that human institutions are to become modified to +suit the growing intelligence and growing wants of the human race, the +golden rule for man's guidance being, Do as you would be done by. Be +kind enough, sir, to look at Mr. Sambo Caesar working under the lash in +a Carolina rice swamp; behold Mrs. Sambo Caesar torn from his bosom, and +working under the same coercive banner in Maryland; and little Master +Pompey, the only pledge of their affections, on his way to Texas. Is not +this a beautiful comment on the Divine command, 'Love thy neighbour as +thyself?' Permit me, sir, with all due respect, to urge you not to rest +satisfied with preaching Christian resignation to the slave, and +Christian kindness to the owner, but to seize every opportunity of +fearlessly asserting that slavery is at variance with the spirit of the +Gospel, and therefore that it behoves all Christians so to modify and +change the laws respecting it, as gradually to lead to its total +extinction. Good morning."--The reverend gentleman, who during the +latter part of my observations had buried his hands in the bottom of his +tail pockets, no sooner saw that I had finished my remarks, than he +hastily withdrew his hands, exhibiting in one a Testament, in the other +a Concordance; he evidently was rampant for controversy, but the next +deputy, who thought I had already devoted an unfair proportion of time +to the minister, reminded him of the regulations, and he was obliged to +retire, another deputy opening the door for him, as both his hands were +full. + +The deputy who next rose to address me was accompanied by the lady, +whom, of course, I begged to be seated. The husband--for such he proved +to be--then spoke as follows:--"Sir, my wife and I have been in +possession of a plantation for nearly twenty years. During all that +period the rod has scarcely ever been used, except occasionally to some +turbulent little boy. We have built cottages for our slaves; we allow +them to breed poultry, which we purchase from them; old slaves are +carefully nurtured and exempt from labour; the sick have the best of +medical attendance, and are in many cases ministered to by my wife and +daughter; the practical truths of Christianity are regularly taught to +them; and every slave, I am sure, looks upon me and my family as his +truest friends. This happy state, this patriarchal relationship, your +proposals, if carried out, would completely overthrow." He was then +silent, and his wife bowed an assent to the observations he had made. My +heart was touched with the picture of the little negro paradise which he +had given, and I replied, as mildly as possible, "The sketch you have so +admirably drawn, and every word of which I fully believe, is indeed one +which might dispose me to abandon my proposals for change, did any one +which I had made interfere with the continuance of your benevolent rule, +as long as slavery exists; but I must call your attention to an +important fact which you, I fear, have quite overlooked during your +twenty years of kind rule. To be brief--the cheerful homes of your happy +negro families can afford no possible consolation to the less fortunate +negroes whose wives and children are torn from their bosoms and sold in +separate lots to different parts of the Union; nor will the knowledge +that on your plantation the rod only falls occasionally on some +turbulent child, be any comfort to grown-up negroes and negresses while +writhing under thirty or forty stripes from the cowhide or paddle. +Continue, most excellent people, your present merciful rule; strive to +secure to every negro the same treatment; and if you find that +impossible, join the honourable ranks of the temperate and gradual +abolitionist and colonizer." They listened patiently to my observations, +smiled quietly at the vanity which they thought the last sentence +exhibited, and retired. + +Scarce had the last charming couple disappeared, when a deputy arose, +the antipodes of the last speaker; his manner was so arrogant, I +instantly suspected his ignorance, and his observations showed such +painful sensitiveness, that they were evidently the production of an +accusing conscience. His parentage I could not ascertain accurately; +but, being a slight judge of horseflesh, I should suspect he was by +"Slave-bully" out of "Kantankerousina,"--a breed by no means rare in +America, but thought very little of by the knowing ones. On referring to +the list, I found he was entered as "Recriminator," and that the rest of +the deputation had refused to give him a warranty. He sprang up with +angry activity; he placed his left hand on his breast, the right hand he +extended with cataleptic rigidity, and with an expression of countenance +which I can only compare to that of an injured female of spotless +virtue, he began, "You, sir--yes, I say, you, sir--you presume to speak +of the slave--you, sir, who come from a nation of slaves, whose rampant +aristocrats feed on the blood of their serfs, where title is another +word for villany, and treads honesty beneath its iron heel! You, sir, +you offer suggestions for the benefit of a country whose prosperity +excites your jealousy, and whose institutions arouse mingled feelings of +hatred and fear! Go home, sir--go home! no more of your canting +hypocrisy about the lusty negro! go home, sir, I say! enrich your own +poor, clothe your naked, and feed your own starving--the negro here is +better off than most of them! Imitate the example of this free and +enlightened nation, where every citizen is an independent sovereign; +send your royalty and, aristocracy to all mighty smash, raise the cap of +Liberty on the lofty pole of Democracy, and let the sinews of men obtain +their just triumphs over the flimsy rubbish of intellect and capital! +Tyranny alone makes differences. All men are equal!"--He concluded his +harangue just in time to save a fit, for it was given with all the fuss +and fury of a penny theatre King Richard; in fact, I felt at one time +strongly inclined to call for "a horse," but, having accepted the +deputation, I was bound to treat its members with courtesy; so I +replied, "Sir, your elegantly expressed opinions of royalty, &c., +require nothing but ordinary knowledge to show their absurdity, so I +will not detain you by dwelling on that subject; but, sir, you +studiously avoid alluding to the condition of the slave, and, by seeking +for a fault elsewhere, endeavour to throw a cloak over the subject of +this meeting. You tell me the poor in England need much clothing and +food--that is very true; but, sir, if every pauper had a fur cloak and a +round of beef, I cannot see the advantage the negro would derive +therefrom. Again, sir, you say the negro is better off than many of our +poor; so he is far better off than many of the drunken rowdies of your +own large towns; yet I have never heard it suggested that they should be +transformed into slaves, by way of bettering their condition. Take my +advice, sir; before you throw stones, he sure that there is not a pane +of glass in your Cap of Liberty big enough for 3,000,000 of slaves to +look through. And pray, sir, do not forget, 'Tyranny alone makes +differences. All men are equal!'" + +A slam of the door announced the departure and the temper of +Recriminator, and it also brought upon his feet another deputy who had +kept hitherto quite in the background. He evidently was anxious for a +private audience, but that being impossible, he whispered in my ear, +"Sir, I am an abolitionist, slick straight off; and all I have got to +say is, that you are a soap-suddy, milk-and-water friend to the slave, +fix it how you will." Seeing he was impatient to be off, I whispered to +him in reply, "Sir, there is an old prayer that has often been uttered +with great sincerity, and is probably being so uttered now by more than +one intelligent slave: it is this, 'Good Lord, save me from my friends.' +The exertions of your party, sir, remind me much of those of a man who +went to pull a friend out of the mud, but, by a zeal without discretion, +he jumped on his friend's head, and stuck him faster than ever." + +When he disappeared, I was in hopes it was all over; but a very +mild-tempered looking man, with a broad intelligent forehead, got up, +and, approaching me in the most friendly manner, said, "Sir, I both +admit and deplore the evil of the institution you have been discussing, +but its stupendous difficulties require a much longer residence than +yours has been to fathom them; and until they are fully fathomed, the +remedies proposed must be in many cases very unsuitable, uncalled for, +and insufficient. However, sir, I accept your remarks in the same +friendly spirit as, I am sure, you have offered them. Permit me, at the +same time, as one many years your senior, to say that, in considering +your proposals, I shall separate the chaff--of which there is a good +deal--from the wheat--of which there is some little; the latter I shall +gather into my mind's garner, and I trust it will fall on good soil." I +took the old gentleman's hand and shook it warmly, and, as he retired, I +made up my mind he was the sensible slave-owner. + +I was about to leave the scene, quite delighted that the ordeal was +over, when, to my horror, I heard a strong Northern voice calling out +lustily, "Stranger, I guess I have a word for you." On turning round I +beheld a man with a keen Hebrew eye, an Alleghany ridge nose, and a chin +like the rounded half of a French roll. I was evidently alone with a +'cute man of dollars and cents. On my fronting him, he said, with +Spartan brevity, "Who's to pay?" Conceive, O reader! my consternation at +being called upon to explain who was to make compensation for the +sweeping away--to a considerable extent, at all events--of what +represented, in human flesh, 250,000,000l., and in the produce of its +labour 80,000,000l. annually! + +Answer I must; so, putting on an Exchequery expression, I said, "Sir, if +a national stain is to be washed out, the nation are in honour bound to +pay for the soap. England has set you a noble example under similar +circumstances, and the zeal of the abolitionists will, no doubt, make +them tax themselves double; but as for suggesting to you by what tax the +money is to be raised, you must excuse me, sir. I am a Britisher, and +remembering how skittish you were some years ago about a little stamp +and tea affair, I think I may fairly decline answering your question +more in detail; a burnt child dreads the fire."--The 'cute man +disappeared and took the vision with him; in its place came the reality +of 2 A.M. and the candles flickering in their sockets. + +Reader, I have now done with the question of the gradual improvement and +ultimate emancipation of the slave. The public institutions of any +country are legitimate subjects of comment for the traveller, and in +proportion as his own countrymen feel an interest in them, so is it +natural he should comment on them at greater or less length. I have, +therefore, dwelt at large upon this subject, from the conviction that it +is one in which the deepest interest is felt at home; and I trust that I +have so treated it as to give no just cause of offence to any one, +whether English or American. + +I hope I have impressed my own countrymen with some idea of the gigantic +obstacles that present themselves, of which I will but recapitulate +three;--the enormous pecuniary interests involved; the social difficulty +arising from the amount of negro population; and, though last not least, +the perplexing problem--if Washington's opinion, that "Slavery can only +cease by legislative authority," is received--how Congress can legislate +for independent and sovereign States beyond the limits of the +Constitution by which they are mutually bound to each other. I feel sure +that much of the rabid outcry, the ovation of Mrs. B. Stowe, and other +similar exhibitions, have arisen from an all but total ignorance of the +true facts of the case. This ignorance it has been my object to dispel; +and I unhesitatingly declare that the emancipation of the negroes +throughout the Southern States, if it took place to-morrow, would be the +greatest curse the white man could inflict upon them. I also trust that +I may have shadowed forth some useful idea, to assist my Southern +friends in overtaking a gangrene which lies at their heart's core, and +which every reflecting mind must see is eating into their vitals with +fearful rapidity. My last and not my least sincere hope is, that some +one among the many suggestions I have offered for the negro's present +benefit, may be found available to mitigate the undoubted sufferings and +cruel injustice of which those with bad masters must frequently be the +victims. Should I succeed in even one solitary instance, I shall feel +more than repaid for the many hours of thought and trouble I have spent +over the intricate problem--the best road from Slavery to Emancipation. + +Since writing the foregoing, 20,000,000 freemen, by the decision of +their representatives at Washington, have hung another negro's shackle +on their pole of Liberty (?). Kansas is enslaved--freedom is +dishonoured. As a proof how easily those who are brought up under the +institution of Slavery blind themselves to the most simple facts, Mr. +Badger, the senator for North Carolina, after eulogizing the treatment +of slaves, and enlarging upon the affection between them and their +masters, stated that, if Nebraska was not declared a Slave State[CA] it +would preclude him, should he wish to settle there, from taking with him +his "old mammy,"--the negro woman who had nursed him in infancy. Mr. +Wade, from Ohio, replied, "that the senator was labouring under a +mistake; there was nothing to prevent his taking his beloved mammy +with him, though Nebraska remained free, except it were that he could +not sell her when he got there." + +Let the Christian learn charity from the despised Mussulman. Read the +following proclamation:-- + + "From the Servant of God, the Mushir Ahmed Basha Bey, Prince of the + Tunisian dominions. + + "To our ally, Sir Thomas Reade, Consul-General of the British + Government at Tunis. + + "The servitude imposed on a part of the human kind whom God has + created is a very cruel thing, and our heart shrinks from it. + + "It never ceased to be the object of our attention for years past, + which we employed in adopting such proper means as could bring us to + its extirpation, as is well known to you. Now, therefore, we have + thought proper to publish that we have abolished men's slavery in all + our dominions, inasmuch as we regard all slaves who are on our + territory as free, and do not recognise the legality of their being + kept as a property. We have sent the necessary orders to all the + governors of our Tunisian kingdom, and inform you thereof, in order + that you may know that all slaves that shall touch our territory, by + sea or by land, shall become free. + + "May you live under the protection of God! + + "Written in Moharrem, 1262." (23rd of January, 1846.) + +What a bitter satire upon the vaunted "Land of Liberty" have her sons +enacted since the Mahometan Prince penned the above! Not only has the +slave territory been nearly doubled in the present century; but by a +recent decision of the Supreme Court, every law which _has been_ passed +by Congress restricting slavery, is pronounced contrary to the +constitution, and therefore invalid. Congress is declared powerless to +prohibit slavery from any portion of the Federal Territory, or to +authorize the inhabitants to do so; the African race, whether slave or +free, are declared not to be citizens, and consequently to be +incompetent to sue in the United States' Courts, and the slave-owner is +pronounced authorized to carry his rights into every corner of the +Union, despite the decrees of Congress or the will of the inhabitants. + +In short, in the year 1857, upwards of eighty years after Washington and +his noble band declared--and at the point of the sword won--their +independence, and after so many States have purified their shields from +the negro's blood, the highest tribunal in the Republic has decreed that +the rights of the slave-owner extend to every inch of the Federal soil, +and that by their Constitution _the United States is a Slave Republic._ + +What will the end be? A few short years have rolled past since the +foregoing remarks were penned, and in that interval the question of +Slavery has again made the Union tremble to its uttermost borders. The +cloud, not bigger than a man's hand, was sped by President Pierce's +administration to the new State of Kansas, and ere long it burst in a +deluge of ruffianism and blood; the halls of Congress were dishonoured +by the violent assault which Mr. Brookes (a Southern senator) made upon +Mr. Sumner of Massachusetts; the Press spread far and wide the +ignominious fact, that the ladies of his State presented the assailant +with a cane, inscribed "Hit him again!" the State itself endorsed his +act by re-electing him unanimously; North and South are ranged in bitter +hostility; in each large meetings have advocated a separation, in terms +of rancour and enmity; and it is to be feared the Union does not possess +a man of sufficient weight and character to spread oil over the troubled +waters. + +How will "Manifest Destiny" unfold itself, and what will the end +be?--The cup must fill first. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote BY: Many of my suggestions, the reader will observe, are drawn +from the Cuba code.] + +[Footnote BZ: In Peru, the maximum of stripes the law permits to be +inflicted is twelve; and girls above fourteen, married women, fathers of +children, and old men, are exempt from the lash.] + +[Footnote CA: At the time of the discussion, the Nebraska territory +included Nebraska and Kansas] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +_Constitution of United States._ + + +The most important subject that claims the attention of the traveller in +any country that pretends to education or civilization, is undoubtedly +its Constitution. The reader cannot expect--and most probably would not +wish--to find, in a work like this, any elaborate account of the +government of so vast and varied a republic as that of the United +States. Those who wish thoroughly to grasp so very extensive a topic +must study the history of each individual State from its foundation; +must watch the changes each has undergone, noting the effect produced; +and must carefully pore over the writings of the great men who +originally planned--if I may so express myself--the Republic, and must +dive deep into the learned and valuable tomes of Story, Kent, &c. Those +who are content with more moderate information, will find a great deal, +very ably condensed, in a volume by Mr. Tremenheere. To the reader, I +pretend to offer nothing but a glance at such elements as appear to me +most useful and interesting; and in so doing, I shall freely borrow such +quotations from Mr. Tremenheere's references to Story and Kent as I +conceive may help to elucidate my subject, not having those authors at +hand to refer to. + +The Government of the United States consists of three departments,--the +Executive, Legislative, and Judicial; or the President, the House of +Representatives and Senate, and the Judicial Courts. The President and +Vice-President are chosen by an elective body from all the States, the +said body being selected by popular vote in each State. The +Vice-President is _ex officio_ Speaker or President of the Senate, and +in case of the chief dying, he becomes for the remainder of the term the +President of the United States. They are elected for 4 years, but may be +re-elected indefinitely. Should the votes be equal, the House of +Representatives selects the President from the three on the list who +have most votes, and the Senate selects the Vice in the same way. The +qualifications for President and Vice are--native born, 35 years of age, +and 14 years' residence in the States. The salary of the President is +about 5100l. a year, and a residence at Washington, called "The White +House." The salary of the Vice-President is 1680l. a year. There are +five Secretaries,--State, Interior, Treasury, War, Navy, and a +Postmaster-General; the Attorney-General also forms part of the Cabinet. +These officials also receive the same salary. The Senate is composed of +two members from each State, irrespective of population, so as not to +swamp the small States. The election is by the Legislature of each +State, and for 6 years; one-third of their number go out every 2 years. +The qualification for a senator is that he should be 30 years of age, +have been 9 years a citizen, and living in the State for which he is +elected. The House of Representatives originally consisted of one member +for a certain amount of population, and as the increase in population +was very rapid, the number of Representatives increased as a matter of +course. In 1843, it was one member for every 70,000 of population, but, +to prevent the body from becoming unmanageable owing to numbers, in 1853 +the House was limited to 234 Representatives, elected _pro ratâ_ to the +several States. Slaves are reckoned in the proportion of three-fifths of +their number. The preliminary steps are, that every 10 years a census is +taken, after which a bill is passed by Congress, apportioning number of +representatives to each State, according to its population. This done, +each State passes a law, districting the State according to the number +of members assigned it, and each district elects its own representative +for Congress. The election is for 2 years, and the qualification is 7 +years a citizen, 25 years of age, and living in the State. The salary is +the same as that of a senator. The names of members composing a division +on any question in either house, are not printed unless they are +demanded by one-fifth of the members present. One of the clauses of +their Constitution is very original, and runs thus:--"Each House may +determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for +disorderly behaviour, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a +member." + +All impeachments are tried in the Senate, and a majority of two-thirds +is requisite for a conviction. If the President be on trial, the Chief +Justice, or head of the Supreme Court, presides. While power of trial +rests with the Senate, the power of impeachment rests solely with the +House of Representatives. In addition to the ordinary functions of an +Upper House, the Senate has also what is called "an Executive Session," +which is held with closed doors; at this Session all treaties and high +appointments are discussed, and the appointments are not held to be +valid till ratified by them. Whenever fresh land becomes sufficiently +populous, the general Government admit it as territory, and appoint an +administration. This was the case with Nebraska and Kansas in 1853; and +the "Missouri Compromise" (which confined slavery south of the 36º 3' +parallel of latitude) having been repealed, it became optional with them +to adopt slavery or not. Kansas fought barbarously for the dishonourable +privilege, and with temporary success: Nebraska has declined the honour +as yet. The interests of territories are watched over at Washington by +delegates in the House of Representatives, who have a seat, but no vote. +This sensible arrangement might, in my humble opinion, be adopted in +this country with reference to our colonies, whose wants at present have +no interpreter intimately acquainted with colonial affairs in either +branch of the Legislature. + +Each State in the Union has its own Governor, House of Representatives, +Senate, and Judiciary, and is in every respect a sovereign State--they +like the word as much as they pretend to dislike the reality--acting +perfectly independently within its limits, except in such cases as were +mutually agreed upon by the terms of the Union, and to some of which we +shall refer by and by. This sovereignty of individual States renders the +elective franchise different in different States. + +At the date of the first elections after the Declaration of +Independence, no State admitted mere citizenship as a qualification for +the elective franchise. The great men who appeared upon the stage at +that period, profiting by the experience of past ages, threw certain +guards around the franchise in every State in the Union, varying in +different States, but all bearing unmistakeable testimony to the fact, +that a perfect democracy was not the basis on which they ever +contemplated building up the Republic. A few short years have rolled by; +the 13 States are increased to 33, and according to Mr. Tremenheere, "a +grave departure from the theory of the Constitution, as it existed in +the eyes and expectations of its careful and prudent founders, has taken +place, in the gradual lowering throughout nearly all the States of the +Union, and the entire abandonment in two-thirds of them, of those +qualifications for the exercise of the franchise which existed when the +Constitution was adopted." In one State--Illinois--aliens being +residents are entitled to vote. Now, if the great men of 1776 thought +safeguards around the franchise wise and prudent in their day, before +the great tide of emigration had set in to the westward, and when the +population was only 4,000,000, what would they say, could they but rise +from their graves and see how their successors have thrown down the +prudent barriers they had raised, and laid the franchise bare to +citizenship, now that the Union numbers 23,000,000 souls, and that the +tide of emigration is daily flooding them with hordes of the +discontented and turbulent from every country in the Old World? + +But perhaps it may be said that I, as an Englishman, am prejudiced +against republican institutions in any shape; let me, then, quote you an +authority which every educated American will respect. Mr. Justice Kent +says, "The progress and impulse of popular opinion, is rapidly +destroying every constitutional check, every conservative element, +intended by the sages who framed the earliest American Constitutions as +safeguards against the abuses of popular suffrage." Let us turn to +another equally eminent American authority, Mr. Justice Story. "It might +be urged, that it is far from being clear, upon reasoning or experience, +that uniformity in the composition of a representative body is either +desirable or expedient, founded in sounder policy, or more promotive of +the general good, than a mixed system, embracing, representing, and +combining distinct interests, classes, and opinions. In England, the +House of Commons, as a representative body, is founded upon no uniform +principle, either of numbers, or classes, or places; ... and in every +system of reform which has found public favour in that country, many of +these diversities have been embodied from choice, as important checks +upon undue legislation, as facilitating the representation of different +interests and different opinions, and as thus securing, by a +well-balanced and intelligent representation of all the various classes +of society, a permanent protection of the public liberties of the +people, and a firm security of the private rights of persons and +property." + +Thus far I have quoted the opinions of the highest American authorities +upon the franchise. And, as far as the lowering it in England affords us +any light, I would wish some unbiased and competent person to inform the +public, whether--whatever other benefit it may have procured to the +community--it has increased or decreased bribery and corruption; and how +the balance between advantage and disadvantage will stand, in reference +to the community at large, by a further lowering of the franchise in +this country; and also to what extent--if any--it can be lowered, +without throwing all but unlimited power into the hands of the masses, +and thus destroying that balance of the different interests of the +community which are--thank God--still represented, and which, if once +lost, would reduce our beloved Sovereign to the position of a gaudy +puppet, and the House of Lords to a mere cypher, and be as certainly +followed by all the horrors of a revolution, and all the evils of a +corrupt democracy. How easy is it to find politicians ever ready to +sniff the incense of popularity at the plausible shrine of a descending +franchise!--how difficult to find those who, while granting what is just +and prudent, have the wisdom to plan, and the courage to dare, measures +to arrest a mobular avalanche! + +With regard to the frequency of elections, I will only insert the +following sentence from Mr. Justice Story, as, I believe, public opinion +in this country is all but universal in its condemnation: "Men, to act +with vigour and effect, ... must not be hurried on to their conclusions +by the passions of elections has a tendency to create agitation and +dissensions in the public mind, to nourish factions and encourage +restlessness, to favour rash innovations in domestic legislation and +public policy, and to produce violent and sudden changes in the +administration of public affairs, founded upon temporary excitements and +prejudices: ... it operates also as a great discouragement upon suitable +candidates offering themselves for the public service ... the period of +service ought, therefore, to bear some proportion to the variety of +knowledge and practical skill which the duties of the station +demand."--If any annual-parliament maniac still exist, let him profit by +these words of wisdom from the pen of a republican, dipped in the ink of +Prudence and Patriotism; and in the marked difference between the House +of Representatives and the Senate Chamber--the former of whom are +elected for two, the latter for six years--let him behold the most +incontrovertible living proof's of their truth. John Jay, one of the +most able men of America, writing to Washington, expresses his wish that +the Upper House, or Senate, should be elected for life. + +I will now turn to a topic which probably interests the British public +more than any other--except the franchise--I mean the Ballot. So much +has been said about the coercion of voters by those on whom they are +dependent, and so much disgraceful jobbery at elections in this country +has been laid bare, that if the Ballot were really a panacea for the +evil, every patriot should exert his utmost energies to forward the +introduction of so essential a measure. In reading any American document +where the word "ballot" is used, it must be remembered that, unless the +word "secret" precede it, the meaning is merely voting by an open piece +of paper on which the name of the candidate is printed, and which he may +enclose in an envelope or not, as he chooses. It is, therefore, only +with the secret ballot we have to deal at present; for although the +power to vote secretly exists, it is obvious, that unless secret voting +is made compulsory, it affords no protection to those who are in a +position to be bribed or coerced, inasmuch as those who did bribe or +coerce would insist upon the vote so obtained being given openly. + +It will perhaps astonish an Englishman to be told that "secret" ballot +is all but unknown in the United States. Nevertheless, such is the case. +An act was passed some four years ago in Massachusetts requiring +secrecy; and what was the effect of this act? A large body of the +electors met together to denounce with indignation any attempt at +enforcing that which they repudiated as unworthy of freemen. So strong +was this feeling that in 1853, the act which enforced it was repealed, +and in the convention called to discuss the revision of their +Constitution--according to Mr. Tremenheere--although the democratic +party were in a great majority, the effort to impose secrecy was thrown +out by a majority of 5000[CB]. + +A friend of mine, who took considerable interest in this question, was +present at the elections for the State of Massachusetts, and when, at +the same time, a popular vote was to be taken on the proposed revision +of the Constitution; this latter was by special enactment made +compulsorily secret. How far this object was attained, the following +statement will show. As the voters came up to the polling-place, tickets +were offered them by the agents of the opposite parties, in a large room +full of people. The voters selected whichever ticket they preferred, in +the presence of the whole room, and then, in compliance with the terms +of the enactment, they sealed it up in an envelope before depositing it +in the voting-box. So much for compulsory secrecy. Of course on this +occasion, as on all electioneering occasions, the voters might have +concealed their votes, had they chosen so to do. + +The only States, that I am aware of, where secrecy is enjoined by law +are New York and Indiana; and in the former of these I can most +certainly testify, from personal observation, that in many instances, if +not in most, it is a dead letter. I never met a soul who, in talking +about politics, ever thought of concealing his sentiments. I am +therefore forced to the conclusion that secrecy only exists among the +very lowest; and here it may be as well to introduce the opinions of the +Governor of this important State. Mr. Washington Hunt, in his Message of +January 7, 1851, says, "The alarming increase of bribery in our popular +elections demands your serious attention. The preservation of our +liberties depends on the purity of the elective franchise, and its +independent exercise by the citizen, and I trust you will adopt such +measures as shall effectually protect the ballot-box from all corrupting +influences." + + +If any efforts were made to stay the tide of corruption, the message of +the same Governor the following year will enable you to judge of their +success. In his address on the 6th of January, 1852, this paragraph +occurs: "The increase of corrupt practices in our elections has become a +subject of general and just complaint: it is represented that in some +localities the suffrages of considerable numbers of voters have been +openly purchased with money. We owe it to ourselves and to posterity, +and to the free institutions which we have inherited, to crush this +hateful evil in its infancy, before it attains sufficient growth to +endanger our political system. The honest and independent exercise of +the right of suffrage is a vital principle in the theory of +representative government. It is the only enduring foundation for a +republic. Not only should the law punish every violation of this +principle as a crime against the integrity of the State, but any person +concerned in giving or receiving any pecuniary consideration for a vote +should, upon challenge, be deprived of the privilege of voting. I submit +the subject to your consideration, in the hope that additional remedies +may be prescribed and enforced."--The two foregoing extracts do equal +credit to the head and heart of Governor Hunt; but what a picture do +they portray of the effects of secret voting! + +Let us now turn from Governor Hunt, and see what the Press says on the +subject. The _New York Herald_, which if not highly esteemed is at least +widely circulated, thus writes in the month of May, 1852:--"Look at the +proceedings on Thursday last in the 19th Ward. Voters carried to the +ballot-boxes in scores of waggons from, various localities; and, in +other wards, hundreds of democrats voting for Scott and for Fillmore, +men ignorant and steeped in crime, picked up in all the purlieus of the +city and purchased at a dollar a head; and some, it is said, so low as +half a dollar, to deposit in the ballot-box a vote they had never +seen."--The article then goes on to explain the methods employed at +elections--viz., a lazy fellow who wont work, brawls, and drinks, and +spouts, and defames every honest man in the ward, till he becomes a +semi-deity among the riff-raff, then "his position is found out by those +who want to use him. He is for sale to the highest bidder, either to +defeat his own party by treachery, or to procure a nomination for any +scoundrel who will pay for it. He has no politics of any kind. He has +rascality to sell, and there are those who are willing to purchase it, +in order that they may traffic in it, and sell it to themselves again at +a very high profit.... We have heard of a case in one of the Lower Wards +of the city, in which one man got, at the time of the late democratic +conventions, the enormous sum of two thousand dollars, out of which it +is said he bribed the majority of the electors and kept the balance for +himself." + +A few paragraphs further on he suggests remedies for the evil;--and what +do you suppose they are? First, that honest people should not leave +politics to the riff-raff. Secondly, "there ought to be a registration +established, by which no man could sail under false colours, or deposit +a vote at a primary election, unless he belonged to the ward, and +belonged to the party to which he professed to belong." Conceive the +state to which secret voting has reduced the wealthy and intelligent +city of New York; absolutely, a return to open voting is considered +insufficient to reach the vitals of the evil which secrecy has brought +about. Here we have proposed as a remedy _the compulsory register of +political sentiments_; and to prove that things are not mending, in the +"Retrospect of the year 1852," which forms a leading article in the same +journal at the commencement of 1853, after a lengthy panegyric upon the +state of America, &c., during 1852, he winds up with these most serious +drawbacks to the previous eulogy: "if we are bound to admit with crimson +blush that crime is sadly on the increase, and that our municipal +institutions have reached the lowest depths of inefficiency and infamy, +these but remind us that the work which 1852 has bravely carried on is +not yet achieved."--I would wish carefully to guard against being +understood to endorse the violent language employed by the _New York +Herald_. I am aware how unsafe a guide the Press ever is in times of +political excitement; but after making every reasonable allowance, +enough remains to prove the tendency of the secret ballot, corroborated +as it is by the authoritative message of the Governor of the State. + +Let us now turn for a moment to that most witty and amusing writer, +Sydney Smith. In speaking of Mr. Grote's proposal for the ballot, the +author says, "He tells us that the bold cannot be free, and bids us +seek for liberty by clothing ourselves in the mask of falsehood, and +trampling on the cross of truth;"--and further on, towards the end of +the pamphlet, he quotes an authority that Americans must respect--"Old +John Randolph, the American orator, was asked one day, at a dinner-party +in London, whether the ballot prevailed in his State of Virginia? 'I +scarcely believe,' he said, 'we have such a fool in all Virginia as to +mention even the vote by ballot; and I do not hesitate to say that the +adoption of the ballot would make any nation a set of scoundrels if it +did not find them so.'"--John Randolph was right; he felt that it was +not necessary that a people should be false in order to be free. +Universal hypocrisy would be the consequence of ballot. We should soon +say, on deliberation, what David only asserted in his haste, that "all +men are liars."[CC]--How strangely prophetic the opinion of John +Randolph appears, when read by the light of the _New York Herald_ of +1852. + +It has always appeared to me that the argument in favour of ballot which +is drawn from its use in clubs, if it prove anything at all, is rather +against than for it; its value there arises from the fact of the +independence of the members, which enables any member if asked by the +rejected candidate how he had voted, to decline giving any answer +without fear of consequences. Were he dependent, he must either deny the +black-ball he gave, had he so voted, or, confessing the fact, he must +suffer for it, and silence would be sure to be construed into a +black-ball: therefore, before ballot could be of any value to a +constituency, they must be independent; and if independent, there would +be no need of the ballot. Of course secrecy could be obtained by +falsehood. Moreover, the object of it in a club is to keep out of a +select society not only those who are considered absolutely offensive, +but many with whom, though you might like to meet them in general +society, you do not think it desirable to be on more intimate terms; and +even in a club, who will deny that it is often used to gratify private +malice, and frequently, when candidates are numerous, are black-balls +put in to hasten forward the election of friends? While freely +confessing and deeply regretting the disgraceful jobbery and bribery +which an inquiry into our own elections too often reveals, we ought to +be thankful for the light of experience which a contemplation of the +elective system of the United States affords, warning us as it does that +an imprudent lowering of the franchise and a recourse to the secret +ballot do but aggravate the evils they were intended to cure. Before we +proceed to lower our franchise, should we not do wisely to try and +devise some means for obtaining the votes of those already entitled to +vote? Many an honest and industrious artisan at present entitled to a +vote will not come to the poll on account of the violence which--if not +of the mobular party--he may be subject to; his family depend on his +exertions for their daily bread--a broken limb, or any such accident +happening to him, may bring the whole family to deep distress, if not to +the workhouse. It appears by the _Edinburgh Review_ of October, 1852, +that at a previous general election, 40 per cent, of those possessing +the privilege did not poll their votes. A hasty lowering of the +franchise would certainly increase that number, and thus while losing +more votes of the peaceful and industrious citizens, we should be +increasing those of the more turbulent, and of those who are excited by +designing demagogues. + +But to return to the United States. In the former edition I omitted to +explain that "a Congress" meant a Parliament for two years--the term for +which the representatives are elected. One of the sessions is from the +first Monday in December to about the end of August, and is called the +long session; the other commences the same day, and sits till the 4th +March, and is called the short session; but, besides these regular +sittings, there may be extra sessions as often as the President thinks +fit to assemble Congress. At the time I was in the States, by a fiction +very agreeable to the members, if Congress closed the session on Monday, +and the President ordered its reassembling on Tuesday, the members were +supposed to be at their respective homes, and received mileage payment +accordingly. This snug little bonus was called "constructive mileage." + +In the year 1856 an act was passed fixing the payment of members at +1260l. each for their services in each Congress of two years, and +abolishing the constructive mileage job. The only deduction from the +above is that made for non-attendance of members. The payment is thus +arranged:--Each member receives 1l. 13s. 6d. for every day he +attends in Congress; the whole number of days a session lasts are +calculated at the above rate, and the difference between that amount and +630l. (the half of 1260l.) is a bonus given, at the end of the first +year's session, and is in lieu of all further payments for any extra +sessions which the President may think it advisable to call during the +year. It will thus be seen that each member receives the same sum, minus +1l. 13s. 6d. for every day's non-attendance. + +Mileage is allowed at the rate of 1l. 13s. 6d.. for every twenty +miles distance to and fro, but only for one session each; year. The +advantage Texas and Californian members obtain from this liberal +allowance is obvious, and its injustice is felt by those who live in the +neighbouring States to Washington. + +Now, as travelling, in most parts of the Union, is at the rate of less +than 2d. a mile, and living at the rate of two and a half dollars +(10s. 6d.) a day, it is obvious that the situation of a +representative is advantageous in a pecuniary point of view to those who +wish to make a trade of politics. A member coming from a distance, say +of 200 miles, and attending 120 days, would have a clear balance of +about 150l. left for the rest of the year; and a member from Texas +would clear about 500l. How far such a measure is wise, and brings the +most desirable men into the public service, let their own countrymen +tell. Mr. Venables, of North Carolina, in a speech at Richmond, Virginia +(quoted by Mr. Tremenheere) says, "With money enough, any bill can be +carried through Congress." No nation--and, least of all, so very +sensitive a nation as the United States--would pass an act which could +possibly throw a cloud of doubt over the integrity of its +representatives were there not some imperative necessity; the act +referred to below will be found in page 363 of _Appendix_ to +Tremenheere's _Constitution of the United States_, one clause of which +runs thus:--"That any senator or representative in Congress who, after +the passage of this act ... shall receive any gratuity, or any share of, +or interest in, any claim from any claimant against the United States, +&c., on conviction shall pay a fine not exceeding 5000 dollars +(1000l.), suffer imprisonment in the Penitentiary, not exceeding one +year, or both, as the court in its discretion shall adjudge." Another +clause follows, against the knowing and wilful destruction of public +documents; another, against any individual who shall tempt any member of +the Senate or House of Representatives with bribe of any kind to +influence his vote, and against members accepting the same. This act +bears date Feb. 26, 1853, and certainly proves that Mr. Venables' +assertion had some solid foundation in truth. + +It will be remembered by some that Collins, finding the Cunard line of +steamers, when supported by Government, too strong for him to contend +against, applied to Congress for a Government grant. In obtaining that +grant, I do not pretend to say that he, or any one on his behalf, used +bribery or corruption, when he took round one of his magnificent vessels +to Washington, and feasted Congress on board in a most champagnely +style; but this I know, that many Americans were most indignant at the +proceeding, for, coupled with the act above referred to, it could not +but excite suspicion; and I feel sure, if Cunard had brought round one +of his splendid steamers to the Thames, and there feasted the +Legislature while his obtaining a Government grant was under discussion, +he could not have taken a more effectual method to mar his object. _La +femme de César ne doit pas être suspecte_. Thus, then, as far as we can +judge of any advantage to be derived from payment of members, we can see +nothing to induce us to adopt such a system; and, if I mistake not, the +American himself feels disposed to give it up, believing that the +standard of the representative will be raised thereby. + +We will now make a few remarks upon a body peculiar to America, and +known as "the Lobby." But, first, I would observe that, by a rule in +both Houses, changeable at pleasure, ex-members of Congress, ministers, +secretaries of legation, &c., are allowed the privilege of coming within +the bar to hear debates; and of the people so privileged the Lobby is +chiefly composed. They have no counterpart in this country, but may +perhaps be said to have a faint and distant resemblance to our +Parliamentary agents, and they are in no way recognised by Congress. +Their work consists in endeavouring to force all members who purpose +presenting public or private bills to employ them, which, of course, +involves a "consideration;" and, as their name is "Legion," and their +motto on this point "unanimity," they are enabled, owing to their +influence with the members, to throw the greatest possible obstruction +in the way of most bills which are not passed through their "greased +palms." The result need not be described. The correspondent of the +_Times_, who, if report he correct, has held the highest situations a +citizen of the United States can hold, states, in a letter to be found +in that journal, on the 27th January 1857, that the Minnesota Land Bill +had been said, in the House of Representatives, to be supported by +bribery, and that one member openly avowed in his seat that he had been +offered 1500 dollars for his vote in favour of the bill. The consequence +was an inquiry into the alleged charge, and doubtless it will affect the +weight of the Lobby. He adds--"The Lobby has, no doubt, great influence +on the Legislature, but it is not yet all-powerful." In estimating the +effect of a vote, it must be remembered that there are only 234 members +in the House of Representatives, and 62 in the Senate; and, to give some +idea of the interests concerned, the correspondent states--"It is +scarcely an exaggeration to say that the Federal Congress at Washington +has a disposing power over twice the amount of national property subject +to the votes of the Parliament at Westminster." Those who feel an +interest in this subject I would strongly urge to read the whole of the +very able letter alluded to. + +I have before spoken of the very great readiness with which any stranger +gains admittance to Congress to listen to the debates. As a broad +feature, I believe their discussions are carried on in a sober, +practical, business-like manner; nevertheless, most outrageous scenes +have occurred. I subjoin the following extract, not from any one +sentence it contains, but from its continuity, as a proof that the tone +of the House is not worthy of the dignity of so great a country. A +member of any community may get up and use the most gross and offensive +language; but if the offender be immediately called to order, and made +to retract the offensive expressions, the community thus vindicates its +character. Should, however, the most gross and offensive language be +used by two members for any length of time without any interference, +reprobation, retraction, or punishment, the community as a body must +fairly be considered, by their silence, as endorsing such conduct. + +The extract is taken from that widely circulating journal, "the +_Illustrated London News_:-- + +"In the House of Representatives at Washington, on the 11th ult., the +following amusing but disgraceful scene occurred between two of the +members--Messrs. Stanly and Giddings. The former having charged the +latter with uttering a falsehood, the following conversation ensued:-- + +"Mr. Stanly: 'It is usual for one who has no regard for the decencies of +life to relieve himself from responsibility by pronouncing statements +false, and it is characteristic of the man who sneaked away from this +House, and took his pay for work which he did not do. + +"Mr. Giddings: 'When the gentleman descends to low vulgarity, I cannot +follow him, I protest against Dough-faces prompting the gentleman from +South Carolina. + +"Mr. Stanly: 'It is the business of a scavenger to have anything to do +with him, and I will have to wash my hands after handling him; but the +thing has to be done, as he has thrust himself on us as a kind of +censor. It is a small business for me, and I don't know how I can +descend any lower than to take hold of the hon. member for Ohio. (Cry of +'Good.') + +"Mr. Giddings: 'Will you hear me? + +"Mr. Stanly: 'Nobody wants to hear you, but I will indulge you. + +"Mr. Giddings: 'The gentleman is barking up the wrong tree. + +"Mr. Stanly: 'The galled jade winces again. + +"Mr. Giddings: 'The gentleman sha'n't crack the overseer's lash to put +me down. + +"Mr. Stanly: 'I hope that the gentleman will not gnash his teeth so +hard; he might hurt himself. Who is here playing the overseer over white +men--who but he, who is throwing his filthy gall and assailing everybody +as Northern Whig Dough-faces, and what he calls the vile slave-holders? +He is the only man who acts in that way. We don't raise the overseer's +lash over our slaves in North Carolina. If that member was in the +southern country, nobody would own him as a black man with a white +skin--(laughter)--but he would be suffered to run wild as a free negro, +and in the course of three weeks he would be brought up to the +whipping-post and lashed, for stealing or slandering his neighbours. +(Laughter.) If I say that he is a gentleman, I tell a falsehood. + +"The Speaker (to Mr. Stanly)--'Will the gentleman suspend for a moment? + +"Mr. Stanly: 'We ought to suspend that fellow (pointing to Mr. Giddings) +by the neck. (Laughter.) + +"Mr. Giddings: 'The gentleman from North Carolina reminds me of the boy +who turned round so fast that the hind part of his breeches was on both +sides. (Laughter.) The gentleman says that I was at Norristown, too; but +where was he and the members of the House? Why, drinking their grog. +(Laughter.) + +"Mr. Stanly: 'I charge the official reporters not to let his (Mr. +Giddings') felonious hand touch one word of what I say, for we know how +he on a former occasion misrepresented my colleague from the Orange +district, and his own colleague from the Chillicothe district, having +altered his own speech after he got to his room with his coloured +friends. (Laughter.) He talks about my associates: but has anybody ever +seen him in private decent company? Free negroes may call to see him. He +does not let his right hand know what his left doeth. He alludes to my +absence; but I have not set myself up as a standard. I don't say I'm +always in the house as I ought to be. He says we were here drinking our +grog during Christmas times. Where was he? In Philadelphia, drinking +beer and eating oysters with free negroes. (Laughter.) Which was the +best off? Judge ye. (Laughter.) He thinks he was better off than we +were. [Mr. Stanly paused, and, looking towards Mr. Preston King, who was +standing near Sir. Giddings, remarked, raising his voice to a higher +pitch, "Help him out; he needs a little more poison." (Voices, "Ha, ha! +Good! Ha, ha!")] I quit this subject in disgust. I find that I have been +in a dissecting-room, cutting up a dead dog. I will treat him as an +insane man, who was never taught the decencies of life, proprieties of +conduct--whose associations show that he never mingled with gentlemen. +Let him rave on till doomsday.' + +"The conversation then ceased." + +Any one who has seen much of American gentlemen, must know that such +language as the above contains would be reprobated by them fully as +strongly as by any gentleman in this country. To doubt that would be to +do them a gross injustice. Does not, therefore, the recurrence of such +scenes go far to prove, that the advance of ultra-democratic principles +has the effect of lowering the tone of the Representative Chamber, and +that men of liberal education and gentlemanly bearing do not constitute +the majority in that House? In the days of Washington, would any member +have dared to use, or would any other member have for a moment +tolerated, such language? It is but justice to say, that the tone of the +Senate Chamber is far more dignified; and many who have been members of +that body have established a world-wide reputation both as orators and +statesmen. + +Let us now turn for a few minutes to that important subject, the +Judiciary of the States, one peculiar feature of which is, its being a +co-ordinate branch of the Legislature. The Supreme Court of the United +States is the highest tribunal in the country; it consists of a Chief +Justice and eight associate Justices, the Attorney-General, a reporter, +and a clerk. All questions affecting foreign ambassadors, consuls, &c., +are tried before this court; and it is a final court of appeal in cases +involving constitutional questions, and various others, too long to +enumerate here. It has even the power of annulling the acts of the +Federal Congress at Washington, if such acts are contrary to the +Constitution. + +The following article in the Constitution regulates the terms upon which +alone any change may be made, and which is of so peculiar and +conservative a character that I insert it in full:-- + + "ARTICLE V.--_Power of Amendment_. + + "The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it + necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the + application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, + shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either + case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this + Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of + the several States, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the + one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; + provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one + thousand eight hundred and eight, shall in any manner affect the first + and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article, and that + no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage + in the Senate." + +The foregoing article is a remarkable instance of prudence and +forethought, and acts as the strongest safeguard against hasty measures, +which in times of great excitement may sometimes obtain a majority that +would afterwards be regretted by all parties. If the principle involved +in any question is really felt to be of vital importance, the majority +can dissolve the Union if they consider the object in view worth the +sacrifice. + +The salary of the Chief Justice is about 1050l. a-year. This court is, +I believe, invariably composed of men of the highest talent and +integrity; their appointment is from the President, and endorsed by the +Senate, and their tenure of office is "during good behaviour."[CD] There +has, fortunately, been no change in the manner or term of these +appointments; but, in the different States, the democratic mania has +removed the old landmarks of prudence bequeathed to them by their +fathers. Mr. Tremenheere tells, that in 1833 only 5 States out of the 24 +had adopted the principle of electing Judges, and appointing them for a +term of years; in 1844, 12 States out of the 29 had adopted the +principle; and in 1853, 22 out of the 31 States had come to the same +resolution. We surely have in these facts a most important warning of +the danger of introducing too much of the democratic element into the +constitution of any country. Reflect, if but for a moment, on the danger +to the community, where the selection of the Judges of the land may be +guided by political rancour or public clamour; the bare knowledge that +such may be the case, even if the purity of the masses be so great as +not to admit of such sinister influence, the bare possibility, I say, is +calculated to lower the respect in which it is most desirable the +judiciary should ever be held,[CE] and to deter the most pure and +high-minded citizens from offering their services. The salaries of the +Judges range from 250l. to 400l. a-year. + +The next point to which I would call attention, is to be found in Art. +I., sect. 6, of the Constitution of the United States, the last clause +of which runs thus:--"No person holding any office under the United +States shall be a member of either House during his continuance in +office." This was probably one of the most extraordinary blunders such +an able body of men as the framers of the Constitution ever made; and if +their object was to guard against corruption, and the undue influence of +the leading men of the country, it has most signally failed, as the Act +before referred to, of February, 1853, fully testifies. Only conceive +the effect of excluding all the Cabinet and high functionaries from +seats in the Lords and Commons; conceive the great statesmen of this +country being obliged to hand over the introduction of most important +measures, and the defence and explanation of them, to other hands. On +this point, Mr. Justice Story remarks: "Thus, that open and public +responsibility for measures, which properly belongs to the executive in +all governments, especially in a republican government, as its greatest +security and strength, is completely done away. The executive is +compelled to resort to secret and unseen influence,--to private +interviews and private arrangements,--to accomplish its own appropriate +purposes, instead of proposing and sustaining its own duties and +measures by a bold and manly appeal to the nation in the face of its +representatives. One consequence of this state of things is, that there +never can be traced home to the executive any responsibility for the +measures which are planned and carried at its suggestion. Another +consequence will be--if it has not yet been--that measures will be +adopted or defeated by private intrigues, political combinations, +irresponsible recommendations, by all the blandishments of office, and +all the deadening weight of silent patronage; ... ministers may conceal +or evade any expression of their opinions." + +In charity it should be presumed that in all nations which possess +anything worthy of the name of free institutions, the ablest men of the +political majority constitute the Cabinet; and, by the enactment we are +considering, all this talent is excluded from the councils of the +nation, whereas all the talent of the Opposition may be there arrayed +against their measures. I confess it is beyond my penetration, to see +how this can be reconciled to justice or common sense; in no one +principle of their Government did they more completely ignore the wisdom +and experience of the mother country, and in the object they had in view +they appear to have most completely failed. It is but fair to the +democrats to say it is no act of theirs; they inherited the misfortune, +and are likely to keep it, as it is one of the fundamental principles of +their Constitution, and they have a salutary dread--much to their +praise--of tinkering up any flaw they find in that document, lest in +mending one hole they make two. They have, as a nation, so greatly +prospered under its combined enactments, and possess such an unlimited +independence in their individual States, that although the exclusion of +the Cabinet is now very generally admitted to be an error, I saw no +inclination to moot the question; probably, lest other questions +affecting the slave and non-slave-holding States might be brought on the +boards, and again disturb the bonds of union. + +Another very remarkable--and in a Republic anomalous--feature in the +government, is the power of the President, who, by the Constitution, is +enabled during his four years' tenure of office to rule in total +opposition to the majority, obstructing all the measures they may bring +forward, unless the majority amounts to two-thirds in both Houses of +Congress. + +Article I., section 7, clause 2, runs thus:--"Every bill which shall +have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate shall, before +it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States; if +he approves, he shall sign it, but if not, he shall return it with his +objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall +enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to +re-consider it. If after such re-consideration two-thirds of that House +shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the +objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be +re-considered, and if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall +become a law," &c. + +This power of the President has been used by Washington, Jackson, Tyler, +and Polk; particularly by Tyler, who opposed the wishes of the majority +even when those wishes were backed by his own ministry. During the +discussions on the Constitution, many of the wisest heads at that +eventful period desired to establish the Presidency for life, but +eventually the term of four years was agreed upon; and if such powers of +obstructing the wishes of a majority were to accompany the office, it +certainly was a prudent conclusion they arrived at. In a densely +populated community like Great Britain, such powers, whether in the +hands of the sovereign or the ministers, would produce a revolution in +much less time than four years. It may, however, be questioned, whether +these powers are not productive of evil, by rendering necessary such +frequent elections for the Presidency. On this point, Mr. Justice Story +states: "The inconvenience of such frequently recurring elections of the +chief magistrate, by generating factions, combining intrigues, and +agitating the public mind, seems not hitherto to have attracted as much +attention, as it deserves." And Chancellor Kent remarks, that "the +election of a supreme executive magistrate for a whole nation affects so +many interests, addresses itself so strongly to popular passions, and +holds out such powerful temptations to ambition, that it necessarily +becomes a strong trial to public virtue, and even hazardous to public +tranquillity." + +There is another evil which attends these frequent elections of the +chief magistrate--namely, the enormous patronage at his disposal, and +the mass of jobbery and corruption to which the exercise of it almost +invariably leads. Besides the appointment of nearly ever military, +naval, civil, judicial, and revenue-collecting official--some of these +subject, it is true to the approval of the Senate--Mr. Justice Story +remarks, that with regard to inferior offices "his patronage probably +includes ninety-nine out of every hundred of the lucrative offices of +the government." His great rival in patronage is the Postmaster-General, +who has power to appoint and remove all deputy-postmasters, which, as +the number of post-offices is 22,688, amounts to something considerable. + +This power was doubtless intended for the public good, and in order that +incompetent or inefficient persons should be removed. To the honour of +Washington, it is recorded that during his eight years' Presidency only +nine removals took place. To President Jackson they are indebted, as I +have before remarked, for the introduction of the present corrupt +system. According to Justice Story, on his entering office he removed +233 _employés_; since then, the snowball has been steadily increasing +till the present moment; it has now reached an amount which it would +require Mr. Babbage's machine to calculate. Who can doubt that such vast +patronage, has far more influence in the selection of a President, than +any personal qualification for the high and important post? Nothing +could prove more clearly that such influences are paramount to all +others than the last election. There were eight candidates on the +democratic side, of whom General Pierce was not one; all the eight had +their special friends, and each party was loth to lose the chance of +patronage which their friend's election might reasonably lead them to +hope for. Thus they fought so vigorously that there was no chance of any +one having the requisite number of votes, i.e., a majority of the +whole number polled. + +The Convention being deputed by the different States to select from the +candidates already in the field, how do they get out of the difficulty +at the eleventh hour? They take upon themselves to nominate a candidate +for the Presidential chair, who was not fettered by any particular +followers, and from whom all parties hoped they would receive some share +of the loaves and fishes as a reward for their support. The electors +endorsed the new selection of the Convention, and General Pierce, lately +commanding a brigade in the Mexican war, was elected by a most +astounding majority. Scarcely any President was ever elected with such +all-but unanimity, and the Press was equally undivided in its praises. +Every paper I read, in every place I passed through, was full of the +most unbounded eulogy. But mark the change a few months made. Before +the end of the year, one-half of that Press, which had bespattered him +with such fulsome adulation during the honeymoon of which his +inauguration was the centre, were filling their columns with long and +loud complaints, if not abuse. And what was the chief burden of their +invective? It was the manner in which he distributed his patronage. In +short, they were discontented with the share they received of the loaves +and fishes, and thus the target of their adulation during the summer of +hope, became the butt for their abuse in the winter of disappointment. + +There is another subject connected with these elections, which speaks +with warning voice against the presumable advantage of democracy. I +would not be misunderstood as casting the slightest reflection upon the +amiable qualities, intellectual powers, or administrative talents of any +American citizen who has been raised to the Presidency during later +years. Let any candid reader, however, whether English or American, look +at the following lists of Presidents since the Constitution, and he +cannot fail to observe that while the franchise was restricted in nearly +every State, those called to that high post were the marked men of the +highest talent in the country--men whose reputation and abilities were +patent to the whole community; while, with the increase of democracy, +those selected during later years are men who, whatever their virtues +and capabilities, were comparatively unknown. In the case of General +Franklin Pierce, he was never even named by the community; but, as we +have shown, was selected by the Convention at the eleventh hour, as a +compromise of political partisanship. Let us not forget, that while some +of the later Presidents were elected, Calhoun, Clay, and Webster--whose +names are the just pride of the Republic, and household words in every +family--were passed over.[CF] Surely these simple facts may afford us +subject for profitable reflection. + + +We will now pass on from the Governor of the Republic to the Governors +of individual States. Their salaries vary in different States, and range +from 300l. to 2000l. a-year. Their election is in some States by the +people, in others by the legislature: their term of office varies; in +some States the election is annual, and in all for a very limited +period; and under them each separate State has its own House of +Representatives and its Senate. The chief power, which resides in the +Governor alone, is that of pardon; and here we may observe, that it is +only reasonable to suppose that so enlightened a community as the United +States would not for any considerable number of years have tolerated the +most flagrant abuse of such a power as that of pardon; and consequently +that if it be found that such abuse do now exist, it must have grown +with the ever-growing democratic element. + +Mr. Tremenheere quotes largely from a work by Dr. Lieber, Professor of +Political Philosophy in the State College of South Carolina. Among +others of a similar character, the following passage occurs:--"I +consider the indiscriminate pardoning so frequent in many parts of the +United States, one of the most hostile things, now at work in our +country, to a perfect government of law." He elsewhere states "that the +New York Committee had ascertained that there are men who make a regular +trade of procuring pardons for convicts by which they support +themselves." Further on he says, "To this statement we have now to add +the still more appalling fact, which we would pass over in silence if +our duty permitted it, that but a short time ago the Governor of a large +State--a State among the foremost in prison discipline--was openly and +widely accused of taking money for his pardons. We have it not in our +power to state whether this be true or not, but it is obvious that a +state of things which allows suspicions and charges so degrading and so +ruinous to a healthy condition, ought not to be borne with." He then +subjoins this note:--"While these sheets are going through the press, +the papers report that the Governor of a large State has pardoned thirty +criminals, among whom were some of the worst characters, at one stroke, +on leaving the gubernatorial chair."--Among the conclusions Dr. Lieber +draws on this point, is the following astounding one--"That the +executive in our country is so situated that, in the ordinary course of +things, it cannot be expected of him that he will resist the abuse; at +least, that he will not resist it in many cases." + +The foregoing extracts are certainly entitled to no small weight when it +is remembered they come from the pen of a republican professor, writing +upon "Civil Liberty and Self-government." I do not pretend to say that +such gross cases as those referred to by him came within my cognizance +during my travels, but I most certainly did hear charges made against +governors, in more than one instance, of granting pardons through +corrupt influence. + +I have now given a cursory review of the leading features in the +executive of the United States; and I have endeavoured, while doing so, +to point out the effects which the gradual inroads of the democratic +element have produced. The subject is one of the deepest interest to us +as Englishmen, inasmuch as it is the duty of every government to +enlarge, as far as is consistent with the welfare of the nation, the +liberty of the subject. The foregoing remarks on the constitution of the +United States appear to me conclusive as to one fact--viz., that the +democratic element may be introduced so largely as that, despite a high +standard of national education and worldly prosperity, its influence +will produce the most pernicious effect upon the government of the +country. + +This truth cannot be too strongly brought forward, for undoubtedly +change is the mania of the day; and as, in a free country, all +constitutional changes must have a liberal tendency, it behoves our +legislators to study deeply and patiently the effect produced upon any +country whose constitution is more democratic than our own, so as to +enable them, while steadily advancing with the age, to know when the +well-being of their country requires them, as true patriots, to resist +those measures which threaten injury to the social fabric committed to +their guidance. No field can afford them more profitable subjects for +reflection than the United States. Independent of the fact that her +institutions are more democratic than our own, she possesses natural +advantages that enable her to carry them out, such as we do not; and, +therefore, the British statesman may always study her career with +profit when any great liberal movement is being agitated in his own +country. + +Lest any one should be disposed to imagine that the statements I have +made, or the deductions I have drawn, are merely the prejudices of a +traveller brought up under a constitutional monarchy, I will add a +passage showing the conclusions at which one of the ablest men in +America has arrived. + +Bishop Hopkins, in an address delivered before the House of Convocation +of Trinity College, Hartford, after eulogizing the wisdom and +patriotism, of the founders of his country, as being "the wise master +builders of the noblest republic in the world," asks what is its present +state after seventy years' brief experience? Behold the reply:--"First, +then, we hear on every side the charge of political corruption. Bribery +is practised in all our elections. The spoils of office are expected as +a matter of course by the victorious party. The President of the United +States dares not be impartial; for, if he were, he would lose the +confidence of his friends without gaining the confidence of his enemies. +The oldest statesmen, and the most prominent, cannot follow the dictates +of their own judgment and conscience without being reproached as though +they were laying a trap for the presidential chair. The very laws of +Congress are set down as the results of personal venality or ambition. +The House of Representatives, or even the Senate Chamber, are disgraced +every year by fierce passion and violent denunciation. The barbarous and +unchristian duel is anticipated as quite inevitable unless it be averted +by explanations which may satisfy worldly honour, in utter contempt of +all religious principle. And no member of either House can go to the +performance of his public duties with any security that he may not be +insulted by coarse invective before the day is closed. Yet our rulers +are never weary of lauding the character of Washington, as if they were +quite convinced that the time had passed by when they might be expected +to verify the language of praise by the act of imitation. When we look +into the other classes of the community, the same charge of venality and +corruption meets us again. Our merchants are accused of all sorts of +dishonest management; our brokers, of stock-jobbing; our city aldermen, +of bribery; our lawyers, of knavery; our justices, of complicity with +the guilty. The same worship of Mammon seems to govern the whole, and +the current phrase, 'the almighty dollar,' is a sad but powerful +exponent of the universal sin which involves the mass of our +population." + +Being perfectly aware what a "glass house" of corruption we ourselves +are living in, I do not quote the foregoing by way of "throwing a +stone," but insert it merely as a warning of the direction in which we +should not seek for an advance in purification. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote CB: Why is it that, in our yearly debate in Parliament, and in +all the journals of the day, from the _Times_ down even to the _Morning +Advertiser_, the United States are always quoted as a republic where the +ballot succeeds, when there is no excuse for the most commonly educated +man being ignorant of the fact, that the ballot, as understood in this +country, does not exist among them? To their honour be it said, they +hold secret voting in sovereign contempt.] + +[Footnote CC: _The Ballot_, by the Rev. SYDNEY SMITH. 1839.] + +[Footnote CD: This expression, both in America and England, is +tantamount to--for life.] + +[Footnote CE: _Vide ante_, opinion of New York Press upon the trial of +Matthew F. Ward.] + +[Footnote CF: + + G. Washington 1789 + J. Adams 1797 + T. Jefferson 1801 + J. Madison 1809 + J. Munroe 1817 + J.Q. Adams 1825 + A. Jackson 1829 + M. Van Buren 1837 + W.H. Harrison 1841 + J. Tyler 1841 + J.K. Polk 1845 + Z. Taylor 1849 + M. Fillmore 1850 + F. Pierce 1853] + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +_The Church, the School, and the Law._ + + +Although the Church has no connexion with the State, it must ever be a +most important element in any Christian community. I therefore furnish a +table of the various denominations, so as to enable the reader, at a +glance, to get the particular information he may desire. Some of the +denominations given in this table are, of course, again divided into +other sects, such as "Reformed Methodists," "Episcopal Methodists," +"Wesleyan Methodists," "Six Principle Baptists," "Seventh-Day Baptists," +"Anti-mission Baptists," &c. + + Denominations. Number of Aggregate Total Value + Churches. Accommodation. of + Church Property. + £ + Baptists 8791 3,130,878 2,295,590 + Christian 812 296,050 177,621 + Congregational 1674 795,177 1,674,532 + Dutch Reformed 324 181,986 860,313 + Episcopal 1422 625,213 2,365,013 + Free 361 108,605 52,973 + Friends 714 282,823 359,071 + German Reformed 327 156,932 29,024 + Jewish 31 16,575 78,036 + Lutheran 1203 531,100 602,205 + Mennonite 110 29,900 19,791 + Methodist 12,467 4,209,333 3,073,700 + Moravian 331 112,185 93,002 + Presbyterian 4584 2,040,316 3,017,675 + Roman Catholic 1112 620,950 1,884,505 + Swedenborgian 15 5,070 22,701 + Tunker 52 35,075 9,665 + Union 619 213,552 144,913 + Unitarian 243 137,367 686,305 + Universalist 494 205,462 371,073 + Minor Sects 325 115,347 155,815 + + Total 36,011 13,849,896 £17,973,523 + +If the foregoing table may be taken as indicative of the whole +population, it will be seen that one person out of every three is a +Methodist, and only one in every twenty-two is a Romanist; but what is +more worthy of remark is, the provision which, under the voluntary +system, has been made for public worship. + +We here see accommodation provided for 14,000,000 in a population of +23,000,000--of which 3,000,000 are slaves. At the same time, it must +also be observed, that all these churches are not necessarily supplied +with ministers. Their support being dependent upon their congregation, +it will occasionally happen that a minister gets starved out, and some +time may elapse before a successor is appointed; the inconvenience of +which contingency occurring is obvious. More than one such case came +under my own observation when travelling through the country. + +With regard to the distribution of the churches, the only peculiarity I +observe is, that the Unitarian community appear to be nearly all +gathered into one spot, and that spot the Land of the Pilgrim Fathers, +and the State that is considered foremost in education. Out of 243 +churches, 163 are situated in Massachusetts. I have never heard any +reason given for this curious fact; doubtless the great talents of +Channing tended to swell their numbers, but could hardly account for the +extraordinary proportion established in this State. + +In proportion to its numbers, it will be seen that the Episcopal is the +wealthiest of all Churches; and yet we find complaint made of the +insufficiency of the support for their ministers. Bishop Eastburn, of +Massachusetts, in a pastoral letter, states that in his diocese +"respectable parents will not bring up their children to the clerical +profession, because the salaries hardly keep people from starving." How +far this is true generally, or whether confined to his own +neighbourhood, I cannot say. The Episcopal Church in America is free +from the violent factions that have distracted and thrown obloquy upon +the sister church in this country. The puerile struggle about surplices, +and candles, and steps up to altars, and Brussels lace offerings, appear +to have attracted little attention among those in America, whose +theological views assimilate with the extreme high party in England: and +I never heard, during my residence in the States, any of that violent +and uncharitable language with which discussions on religious topics too +frequently abound in this country; nor is the Episcopal community by any +means so divided as it is here. The Bishop of New Zealand is far nearer +their type than the controversial prelate of Exeter. + +The Book of Common Prayer, as arranged by Convention in 1790, is well +worthy of notice, and, in many points, of imitation. These pages are not +the proper place for a theological discussion, and my only reason for +touching upon the subject at all is, that the public voice is constantly +calling for some modification of the great length of our present Sunday +services, and I therefore conclude that the following observations may +be interesting to some of my readers. + +The leading points of retrenchment are--removing all repetitions, such +as the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Collect for the day; a portion +of the close of the Litany is omitted at the discretion of the minister. +The Communion Service is not read every Sunday. I suppose the Church +authorizes this omission at the discretion of the minister, as I have +attended service on more than one occasion when the Communion was not +read; when read, Our Lord's commandment, Matthew xxii. 37-40, follows +the Commandments of the Old Testament, and a short Collect, followed by +the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel for the day, finish that portion of the +service. Independent of the regular Psalms, for the day, there are ten +separate short collections, any one of which the minister may substitute +for the proper Psalms, and the Gloria Patri is only said after the last +Psalm. + +The leading features of difference from our own "Common Prayer" are as +follow:--They appoint proper Second Lessons for the Sunday, instead of +leaving them, to the chance of the Calendar--they place the Nicene and +Apostles' Creed side by side, and leave the minister to select which he +prefers, and to use, if he think proper, the word "Hades" instead of +Hell. They remove the Athanasian Creed entirely from the Prayer Book, +leaving to the minister to explain the mysteries which that creed so +summarily disposes of. When it is considered how many Episcopalians are +opposed to its damnatory clauses, and how much more nearly the other +creeds resemble that model of simplicity, the Lord's Prayer, they appear +to have exercised a sound discretion in this excision. Few +deep-thinking people, I imagine, can have heard the children of the +parish school reading the responses of that creed after the minister, +without pain. + +Lest the passing opinion of a traveller upon the subject be deemed hasty +or irreverent, I beg to quote Bishop Tomline's opinion. He says--"Great +objections have been made to the clauses which denounce eternal +damnation against those who do not believe the faith as here stated; and +it certainly is to be lamented that assertions of so peremptory a +nature, unexplained and unqualified, should have been used in any human +composition.... Though I firmly believe that the doctrines of this creed +are all founded on Scripture, I cannot but conceive it to be both +unnecessary and presumptuous to say that, "except every one do keep them +whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly." Mr. +Wheatley also, when writing on the Creed, says, that the third and +fourth verses constitute the creed, and that what follows "requires our +assent no more than a sermon does, which is made to prove or illustrate +a text."--To resume. + +They have proper prayers and thanksgivings for individuals who desire +their use, instead of, as with us, introducing a few words into the +ordinary service. They have provided a liberal collection of psalms and +hymns for singing in church, and no others are allowed to be used. Each +psalm and hymn has the Gloria Patri suited to it marked at the +beginning. The inconvenience of the total want of such a provision in +our Church is most palpable. Not long before I went to America, I was +attending a parish church in the country, where a great proportion of +the psalms and hymns used were the minister's own composition, and if I +recollect right, the book cost half-a-crown. I came up to town, and I +found my parish church there had a selection under the sanction of the +Bishop of London. Since my return from America, I have gone to the same +London church, under the same Bishop, and I have found a totally +different book in use.--The foregoing are the principal alterations in +the Sunday services. + +The alterations in the other services are chiefly the following:--In the +full Communion Service, the word "condemnation" is substituted for +"damnation," in the notice of intimation. The whole of the damnatory +clause in the exhortation, from the word "unworthily" to "sundry kinds +of death," is expunged. The first prayer in our Church after the +reception, is modified by them into an oblation and invocation, and +precedes the reception. The remainder of the service is nearly the same +as our own. + +They have removed the objectionable opening of the Marriage Service; +but, not content with that, they have also removed the whole of the +service which follows the minister's blessing after the marriage is +pronounced, and thus reduced it to a five minutes' ceremony. While on +this subject, I may as well observe that, from inquiries I made, I +believe but few of those marriages take place by which husband and wife +are prevented from kneeling at the same altar, by which their highest +interests can never be a subject of mutual discussion, and by which +children are either brought up without any fixed religious ideas at all, +or else a compromise is entered into, and the girls are educated in one +church and the boys in another. In short, I believe the Romanists in +America marry but rarely out of the pale of their own church. I cannot +say what the law of divorce is, but it appears to offer far greater +facilities than would be approved of in England. A gentleman mentioned +two cases to me, in one of which the divorce was obtained by the wife +without the husband being aware of it, although living in the same +State; in the other, the wife returned to the State from which her +husband had taken her, and there obtained a divorce without his +knowledge.--To return from this digression. In the Visitation of the +Sick they have removed that individual absolution of the minister, the +wording of which is so objectionable that, if I am rightly informed, it +is rarely used by ministers in England. In the Burial of the Dead, they +have changed the two concluding prayers in those sentences which refer +to the deceased. The Commination they have entirely expunged. They have +added a full service for Visitation of Prisoners, and a Harvest +Thanksgiving; and they have provided a form of morning and evening +prayer for families. + +The foregoing constitute the leading points of difference. Of course +there are many minor ones which are merely verbal, such, for instance, +as their expunging the scriptural quotation of "King of kings, Lord of +lords," from the prayer for the President, probably out of deference to +the prejudices of the Republicans, for which omission they have +partially atoned by the substitution of the grander expression of "only +Ruler of the Universe," in lieu of the more limited term "only Ruler of +Princes." To enter into all these verbal changes would be alike tedious +and useless. Enough, I trust, has been written to convey a general idea +of the most striking and interesting points of difference. + +Other churches transplanted to this hemisphere seem to differ from the +parent stock most essentially. Thus I find in the almanack for 1853, +"Methodist Episcopal Church (North) 3984 ministers, and 662,315 +communicants," and below them "Methodist Episcopal Church (South)" +without any return of statistics. I regret not being able to give the +reader any history of this occidental hierarchy. I do not even know the +Episcopacizing process they go through, whether it is entirely lay or +entirely clerical, or whether it is a fusion of the two. At first I +imagined it was a Wesleyan offshoot, but I can find no indication of +that fact; and, moreover, the Wesleyan is a very small body, numbering +600 ministers and 20,000 communicants. I only allude to it because it +appears to me a totally novel feature in Dissenting bodies--as +understood in England. Another curious change produced by this Western +climate is, that it turns all my Presbyterian friends instrumentally +musical. I do not remember entering any of their churches without +finding an organ, and in many instances a very good choir. Although I +approve highly of the euphonious improvement, I feel sure that many of +my countrymen in the extreme north would rather see a picture +representing Satan in Abraham's bosom inside their kirk than any musical +instrument. Such is the force of habit and prejudice. + +The extent to which the churches in America have increased is doubtless +most creditable to the community, when it is remembered that all the +various denominations are supported voluntarily. Nor is their number the +only point worthy of notice: the buildings themselves have all, some +ecclesiastical appearance, and many of them are fine specimens of +architecture. Besides which, they are always kept clean and in good +order; you will never find those unsightly barns, and still less the +dilapidation which is often met with in the mother land. I have myself +been in a church at home where the flooring was all worn away, and +gravel from the outside substituted, and where the seats were so rickety +that a fall might be anticipated at any moment. The parishioners were +poor Highlanders, it is true, but the owner of the soil was a man of +considerable wealth. + +I have, since my return to England, been into a beautiful old parish +church in one of the midland counties; the building was in a most +deplorable state of dilapidation, and the communion-rail formed a +music-stand, while inside were placed an orchestra of two fiddles and a +bass-viol. The minister received, for the first three years he +officiated, the exorbitant remuneration of thirty pounds a year; since +which time he has taken the duties of parish schoolmaster, the salary of +which, increased by a small sum from Queen Anne's Bounty, enables him to +keep body and soul together. But of course the school engrossed all his +time, except what was necessary to prepare his discourses, and his +parishioners were unavoidably and totally neglected, till dissenting +ministers came to the rescue. As a natural consequence, they soon +followed the ministers who made them the objects of their care, and when +I attended this beautiful old parish church, the congregation, +independent of the orchestra and the parish school, consisted of eleven +souls, three of whom came from the minister's own house. You might seek +in vain to parallel such a case throughout the whole Republic. + +I now propose to make a few observations about disbelief in the United +States. On this point I have no statistics to refer to, nor do I believe +such exist. I therefore can form no idea of its extent; but the open way +in which some parties not only express their doubts of the authenticity +of Scripture, but dispute every doctrine which it contains, and openly +proclaim it the enemy of man, is worthy of some notice. An Ismite +Convention was held for many days at Hartford, in one of the New England +States (Connecticut) where, I suppose, education may be considered as +universal as in any other State in the Union. + +The meeting was considered of sufficient importance to occupy daily +several columns of one of the New York leading journals, and to employ a +special reporter. It is thus headed--"MEETING OF PHILOSOPHERS, +THEOLOGIANS, THINKERS, STRONG-MINDED WOMEN, SPIRITUAL RAPPERS, +ATHEISTS, AND NEGROES." Details of this Convention would be too +tedious; I propose only giving a few of their resolutions. +Resolved--"That the Bible, in some parts of the Old and New Testament, +sanctions injustice, concubinage, prostitution, oppression, war, +plunder, and wholesale murder, and, therefore, that the Bible as a +whole, originated,[CG] is false, and injurious to the social and +spiritual growth of man." After which the chairman goes on to prove (?) +it is purely human, &c. Another resolution reiterates the former, and +adds that "the time has come to declare its untruthfulness, and to +unmask those who are guilty of its imposture." Then follows a resolution +for the especial consideration of slave-owners:--"Resolved--That it is +the climax of audacity and impiety for this nation to receive the Bible +as the inspired Word of God, and then to make it a penal offence to give +it to any of the millions who are held as chattel slaves on its soil, +thus conspiring to make them miserable here and hereafter." Then follows +a charitable resolution, declaring their belief that all the clergy +"would readily burn the Bible to-morrow if public sentiment demanded +it." One of the orators brings the Bible to the bar of geology, and +there condemns it, and recommends "that the Hindoos should establish a +mission to enlighten Christians of this and other countries. He believed +that the priesthood and the Bible were opposed to all liberty and +progress, and the deadliest enemies of mankind." + +Another member of this blasphemous band becomes highly indignant because +the orthodox clergymen--who probably remembered that "evil +communications corrupt good manners"--would not meet them on their +infidel platform, and he presents a resolution declaring that "by their +absence, they had openly declared their infidelity to their professions +of theological faith, and had thus confessed the weakness and folly of +their arrogant assumptions, and proved that they loved popular favour +more than common good; and they are therefore moral cowards, pharisees +of this nineteenth century, seeking to enslave more and more the mind of +man," &c. Another orator then proposes a resolution, to the effect that +the spirit and genius of Bible religion is not a system of salvation +from sin and its effects, but a system of damnation into sin and its +effects; that it is the friend of moral and spiritual slavery, and +therefore "the foe of human mental and spiritual liberty." Subsequently +a strong-minded woman, called Mrs. Rose, appeared on the platform amid +considerable uproar, followed by extinguishing the gas and singing +songs. After a severe struggle, the lady managed to express her +sentiments in these mild and Christian terms:--"The Church is upon your +neck. Do you want to be free? Then trample the Church, the priest, and +the Bible under your feet."--The last day's proceeding closed by a row +in the gallery, owing to a fight, in which a dirk had been drawn; and +then the Convention adjourned till the following year. + +The reader must not imagine that I state this as an indication of the +tone of religious feeling in the New England States,--far from it; but +it appears to me a fact worth noticing, that a Convention of such a +nature and magnitude, and considered of sufficient importance to employ +the special reporter of a leading journal of New York, should by any +possibility assemble for days and days together, and give vent to such +blasphemous sentiments among a people so liberally educated and so amply +supplied with means of religious instruction. I only hope that the +infidelity of the whole Republic was gathered into that one assembly, +and that having met in so uncongenial an atmosphere, they all returned +to their homes impregnated with some of the purer atmosphere of the +great majority of the people. + +The subject of Education naturally follows the Church; but, on this +point, any attempt at accuracy is hopeless. Whether it be from the +variety of school systems in the different States, or from some innate +defect in the measures taken to obtain information, I cannot pretend to +say; but the discrepancies between the statements made are so great, +that I can only pretend to give a moderate approximation to the truth, +which is the more to be regretted, as the means provided for education +throughout the length and breadth of the Republic constitute one of its +noblest features. In rough numbers, they may be thus stated:-- + + Schools. Number. Instructors. Pupils. + + Public 81,000 92,000 4,000,000 + Colleges 220 1500 20,000 + Academies, & others 6,000 12,000 261,000 + +Of the above colleges, theology claims 44, medicine 37, law 16. + +Among the expenses of the various colleges, which I can refer to, I find +University College, Virginia--the terms of which occupy 44 weeks--is the +most expensive. The annual charges for a student are the +following:--College expenses, 40l.; board, 22l.; washing, fuel, and +lights, 4l.--in all, 70l. It is obvious that no provision is here +made for champagne suppers, hunters, tandems, and other "necessaries," +of our University students, including a few "auxiliaries," in the shape +of I O U's, for red coats, top-boots, Hudson's regalias, and mysterious +jewellery bills for articles that men don't wear. Doubtless some papas +would prefer the Virginian bill of fare; but then, they must remember +that the republican lads go to college to learn something, whereas many +papas send their first-born hopes to Oxford and Cambridge to save +themselves trouble, and to keep the youths out of mischief during the +awkward period of life yclept "hobbledehoyhood." How they succeed is +pretty well known to themselves, and probably their bankers have some +idea also; yet, with all these drawbacks, who will deny that those seats +of learning turn out annually some of the most manly and high-minded, +and some of the best educated and most industrious, young men in the +country? + +Having entered into some of the details of education at various places +during my travels, I shall not trespass on the reader's patience by +dwelling further on the subject, except to call attention to the +following important regulation with regard to children in factories; and +I most sincerely hope it may reach the eye of Lord Shaftesbury, or some +other of his coadjutors in the noble work of the protection and +education of helpless youth. The regulation exists in some shape or +other in many States. I subjoin the wording of it from that of +Massachusetts:-- + +_"No child under the age of fifteen years shall be employed in any +manufacturing establishment, unless such child shall have attended some +public or private day-school, where instruction is given by a teacher +qualified according to law to teach orthography, reading, writing, +English grammar, geography, arithmetic, and good behaviour, at least one +term of eleven weeks of the twelve months next preceding the time of +such employment, and for the same period during any and every twelve +months in which such child shall be so employed."_ + +Although my salt-fish friends are probably very familiar with +sea-lawyers, the general reader may be astonished to see any allusion to +law made by a sea-captain. I therefore beg to inform him, that the +following observations on a most interesting point are furnished me by a +friend who is legitimately at home in that complicated business, and who +devoted much attention to the study of the method by which land is +conveyed in the United States with so much ease and so little expense:-- + +"In America all conveyances of land, whether absolute or by way of +mortgage only, are, with the exception of some chattel interests, +required to be registered within a fixed or a reasonable time after +their execution. Registration is constructive notice to all the world; +if not registered, a deed is only valid against the parties to it and +the heirs and devisees of the grantor. Generally, however, notice +obtained by a purchaser previous to his purchase, will, if clearly +proved, prevent his taking the advantage, though he may have been +beforehand in registering his own title. + +"By the old laws of Massachusetts, all deeds of conveyance were required +to be recorded, 'that neither creditors might be defrauded, nor courts +troubled with vexatious suits and endless contentions.' In consequence +of the number of registers established in each county--and the +excellence of their arrangements, no inconvenience results from the +accumulation of deeds, notwithstanding the early period to which they go +back. In register for Suffolk county, Massachusetts, are to be seen +copies of deeds from 1640 down to the present time. They are bound up in +640 volumes, and do not as yet take up much space. They have lately +multiplied in an increasing ratio, the volumes having risen from 250 to +their present number in the last 25 years. + +"The register for Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania, contains within a +moderate compass deeds from 1683 downwards. They are referred to by +indices on the following plan: All deeds made within a certain time, and +in which the name of the grantor commences with the same letter of the +alphabet, are bound up in one volume; thus, a volume marked "H +1820-1847," contains all deeds executed between those years by grantors +whose names begin with H. One index volume contains the names of all +grantors between those years in alphabetical order, another that of all +grantees, and both refer to volume and page of the books of deeds. A +third index gives the names of grantors and grantees, arranged +chronologically, according to the year in which the deed they were +parties to was executed. + +"The original deed remain in the possession of the proprietors, but are +of secondary importance. They are written in a plain, legible hand on +paper, parchment being seldom used. The signatures of the parties are of +course requisite; but the seal, which is essential to a deed in England, +is in many States dispensed with. The custom of registering obviates the +necessity for those long recitals that so swell out an English +conveyance, and the shortest possible forms of covenants are preferred. +The American conveyance only witnesses that the grantor conveys the +property therein described, which, or part of which, was conveyed to him +by such a one by a deed of such a date, and a marginal note states the +volume and page where the deed thus mentioned is to be seen. + +"The advantages of registration are,--greater security of title, and +brevity and economy in conveyances. The example of the United States +shows that there is nothing in the Anglo-Saxon laws of real property to +render such a system impracticable. Several of the most eminent lawyers +in Boston declared, that their registration was found to work easily and +safely; the only change desired was by a few, who expressed a wish that +more registers should be established, as, one for every district, +instead of for every county. They all expressed their astonishment that +a similar plan had not long ago been adopted in England. They admitted +that dealings with property were more simple in America, where strict +settlements are either not allowed, or not generally in use, but +maintained that the real obstacles to a registration in this country +lie not so much in the difficulty of carrying it out, as in the +prejudices of landowners, the self-interest of lawyers, and the +superstitious dread entertained by John Bull generally of anything to +which he is unaccustomed."[CH] + +I am no lawyer, as I observed before, and therefore I do not pretend to +pass an opinion on the details of the foregoing remarks; but of the +results produced by their system, I certainly can speak, for I have seen +property transferred without the slightest trouble, and for a few +shillings, which, owing to the amount involved, and the complications +connected with it, would, if transferred in this country, have kept the +firm of Screw, Skinflint, and Stickem hard at work for mouths, and when +finished, would have required a week to make up the bill of costs, &c. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote CG: I suppose originated _from the Deity_ is +intended.--H.A.M.] + +[Footnote CH: Communicated to me by Mr. J.G. Dodson, son of the Right +Honourable Sir J. Dodson, Dean of the Arches, &c.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +_Inventions and Inveighings.--Palquam qui meruit ferat._ + + +Writing about law makes one litigious; so I seize this opportunity for +making a few observations on American claims. I am not going to open the +question of the Bay of Fundy, &c., fisheries; because British liberality +has resigned a right, the retention of which was a source of continual +irritation to our republican neighbours. I must, however, quote a few +lines from the work of their able Chancellor, Kent, to show how fully +justified we were in claiming the sovereignty of the Bay of Fundy. If +the Chancellor's work on the Law of Nations is consulted, it will be +found that he points out to his countrymen their right to the +sovereignty of lines stretching "from Cape Anne to Cape Cod, Nantucket +to Montauck Point, thence to the Capes of the Delaware, and _from the +South Cape of Florida to the Mississippi."_ With such wholesale claims +asserted on their part, it would require something more than modest +assurance to dispute England's right to the Bay of Fundy. But my +litigation with the Republic is respecting some of their claims to +inventions, which they put forward in so barefaced a manner, that the +unwary or the uninquiring--which two sections of the human family +constitute the great majority--are constantly misled into a belief of +their truth; and the citizens of the Republic would do well to remember, +that by putting forward unwarrantable pretensions to some discoveries, +they afford just grounds for questioning their lawful claims to others. + +The first I shall mention is with reference to Fulton and steam. Mr. +Charles King, the President of Columbia College, in a lecture delivered +before the Mechanics' Institute, Broadway, New York, in December, 1851, +claims for Fulton "the application of a known force _in a new manner, +and to new and before unthought-of purposes_." Now what are the real +facts? James Watt, in 1769, patented the double-acting engine, which +was the first step by which the steam-engine was made capable of being +used to propel a vessel. In 1780, James Pickard patented what is no +other than the present connecting rod and crank, and a fly-wheel, the +second and last great improvement in the steam-engine, which enabled it +to be of service in propelling vessels.[CI] In 1785, William Symington +took out a patent, by which he obtained, with economy of fuel, a more +perfect method of condensation of steam and a more perfect vacuum. + +In 1787, Mr. Miller, of Dalswinton, a gentleman who had spent a fortune +of nearly 30,000l. in ship-building experiments, was urged by Mr. +Taylor to try and apply the power of steam to vessels. William Symington +was applied to, with the view of knowing if he could apply his engine to +one of Mr. Miller's boats, which he accordingly did, and propelled a +little pleasure vessel on the lake at Dalswinton, at the rate of five +miles an hour, on the 14th November, 1788. In the following year, Mr. +Symington made a double engine for a boat to be tried upon the Forth and +Clyde Canal; and in the month of December, 1789, this trial-vessel was +propelled at the rate of six and a half miles an hour. Lord Dundas, who +was a large proprietor in the Forth and Clyde Canal, employed Symington +to make experiments in 1801. The result of these trials was the +construction of the "Charlotte Dundas," the first practical steam-boat +ever built. The engines of this vessel combined the patents before +mentioned of Watt, Pickard, and Symington, which combinations--made by +the latter patentee--constitute the present system of steam navigation. +The "Charlotte Dundas" made her trial trip in March, 1802, and so +satisfactory was the trial, that the Duke of Bridgewater ordered eight +boats of Symington, for the purpose of running on his canal. The Duke of +Bridgewater died immediately after; and the Forth and Clyde proprietors, +owing to the injury caused to the banks, discontinued the use of the +boat. The foregoing observations prove that if any one individual can +claim the merit of inventing the steam-engine, that man is William +Symington, who, combining previous inventions with his own patent, +constructed the engine as at present in use. At the same time, every +credit is due to Mr. Miller, who first afforded Symington the +opportunity of putting his ingenuity to the test. + +[Illustration: HUDSON RIVER STEAMER.] + +Let us now look at Mr. Fulton's part in the transaction. In 1801 he +visited Scotland, and was present at one of the experiments making by +Symington on the canal, and from him he obtained permission to make full +sketches and notes of both boat and apparatus. The fact is sworn to on +oath of the presence of an American gentleman, who called himself Mr. +Fulton, during the experiments; and further evidence is found in the +fact that the engines he ordered of Messrs. Boulton and Watt for the +"Clermont" were precisely of the same dimensions as those in the +"Charlotte Dundas," with the exception of two inches more diameter in +the piston; and the patent of Fulton dates from 1809--twenty years after +Symington had propelled a boat by steam on Lake Dalswinton, and eight +years after he had himself taken sketches of Symington's engines in the +Forth and Clyde canal-boat. + +Beyond the foregoing evidence, there is the testimony of Mr. Bell that, +at Fulton's request, he sent him information, plans, &c., of Mr. +Miller's first experiments. The long and the short of the story is +clearly this:--Mr. Fulton was a shrewd and clever engineer. He came to +England, copied the steam-engine which Symington had combined--one can +hardly say invented--and then returned to his own country, and applied +it successfully, for which the Republic ought to be thankful to him, and +to honour his name; but, for a president of a college lecturing before a +mechanics' society, to call Fulton the inventor "of applying a known +force _in a new manner and to new and before unthought-of purposes,"_ +exhibits an ignorance or an assurance, for neither of which the +slightest excuse can be made.[CJ] + + +With equal accuracy Mr. King informs the mechanics that "Colonel John +Stevens had clearly worked out in his own mind, long before any +locomotive was constructed in Europe, the theory of such an application +of steam, and the actual form in which it could be advantageously made, +as well as the cost of constructing and working a railway for the use of +locomotives." If this were true, how does it happen that the son of the +Colonel, an able and ingenious mechanician, came over to George +Stephenson, at Liverpool, to learn what he was doing, and to order +engines from him; but Mr. King out-herods Herod, for he claims on behalf +of the Colonel, the working of Steam expansively in 1815, for which Watt +had taken out a patent thirty-five years before. If presidents of +colleges in America cannot in their lectures deal more closely with +facts, the instruction given within the walls of the college will come +under very unfavourable suspicions. + +In conclusion, I will only add a few remarks as to ocean steamers, on +which subject, as on the invention of the engine, there is considerable +difficulty in awarding the honours to any single individual. The +Americans were the first to employ steamers along the coast, and the +"Savannah," built by them in 1819, was the first vessel that crossed the +ocean employing steam in any way as an assistant. But in her the steam +was a very small auxiliary power, and upon the sails the vessel mainly +depended. She cannot, therefore, fairly be called an ocean steamer. The +"Enterprise," a vessel of 500 tons burden, with two 120 horse-power +engines, started from London for Calcutta, touching at the Cape of Good +Hope, about the year 1826; and may be fairly considered as the first +vessel that made an ocean journey essentially dependent on steam. +Subsequently the "Royal William," built at Quebec, after running between +that port and Halifax from 1831 to 1833, started in the fall of the +latter year for Falmouth; and to her belongs the honour of being the +first _bonâ fide_ paddle-wheel steamer that crossed the Atlantic. She +was afterwards sold to the Portuguese government, and fitted up as a +man-of-war steamer, under the name of the "Doña Isabella." + +If, however, it be asked, where oceanic communication took its rise, +unquestionably that honour belongs to Bristol and the "Great Western," a +steamer of 210 feet in length, 1240 tons, fitted with two engines of 210 +horse-power each. This vessel started on the 8th of March, 1838, under +the command of Captain Hosken, reached New York in thirteen days ten +hours, and made the return passage in fifteen days. Since that date +ocean steamers and steam companies have risen up like mushrooms. England +and America have established a kind of weekly Derby, Cunard entering one +horse and Collins the other. Unquestionably the Americans have been +pioneers in improving the build, and a rivalry has sprung up which is as +useful as it is honourable. + +The English boats adhere to a greater proportion of sail, in case of +accidents to the engine; the Americans carry less sail than we do, for +the sake of increasing the speed. As to relative comfort on board the +two boats, an American gentleman, who had made several voyages, told me +the only difference he ever discovered was, the same as exists between +the hotels of the respective countries.--To return to litigation. + +Another claim frequently set up in America is the invention of the +telegraph. Even in the Census Report--which I suppose may be considered +a Government work--I read the following:--"It is to American ingenuity +that we owe the practical application of the telegraph. While the honour +is due to Professor Morse for the practical application and successful +prosecution of the telegraph, it is mainly owing to the researches and +discoveries of Professor Henry, and other scientific Americans, that he +was enabled to perfect so valuable an invention." It is difficult to +conceive a more unblushing piece of effrontery than the foregoing +sentence, which proclaims throughout the Union that the electric +telegraph in its practical working is the invention of one American, and +in its scientific details the invention of other Americans, neither of +which assertions has truth for its basis, and consequently the +superstructure is a fiction--the only available excuse for which would +be, that the writer had never heard of what was going on in Europe. Had +he taken the least trouble to inquire into the subject before he wrote, +he never would--it is to be hoped--have so grossly deceived his +countrymen. + +He might have easily ascertained that such men as Oersted, Ampère, +Arago, Sturgeon, had mastered in detail the various scientific +difficulties that stood in the way of the accomplishment of the +long-desired object; and he might also have known that Cooke in England +and Stienhiel in Germany had both overcome the practical difficulties +before Professor Morse had enlightened the Republic with his system, +which--like Bain's--is simply another method of producing the same +result--i.e., telegraphic communication. + +Mr. Cooke took out his patent in conjunction with Professor Wheatstone, +whose attention had long been turned to this subject, and whose name has +been so much before the public, that not a few persons attribute the +telegraph to him exclusively. There was, indeed, some dispute between +them as to their respective claims, and the matter was referred to Sir +I. Brunel and Professor Daniell for arbitration. The burden of their +decision was, that Mr. Cooke was entitled to stand alone as the +gentleman to whom Great Britain is indebted for having practically +introduced and carried out the telegraph as a useful undertaking; +Professor Wheatstone's profound and successful researches having already +prepared the public to receive it.--So much for the justice of the +American claim to the invention, which, like steam, has been the produce +of many heads, and was brought into practical use first by Cooke, then +by Stienhiel in Germany, and lastly by Morse in America. + +Another invention of which the public have heard no little discussion +lately is the reaping machine. To the American nation doubtless belongs +the credit of forcing it into notice and into use; but as for any claim +to the invention, it is equally certain they have none. That honour is +due solely to the Rev. Patrick Bell, a Scotch minister in the presbytery +of Arbroath. He first tried his reaping machine in August, 1828, at his +father's farm on Lord Airlie's estate, where it has been in yearly use +ever since; and in October he exhibited it at the Highland Society's +meeting at Glasgow. The principle upon which his first machine was made +differs in nothing from those making at this hour; and, as some of the +people employed on his father's farm migrated to America, it is only +reasonable to suppose they carried sufficient information with them to +explain the machine. American ingenuity soon copied, and American energy +soon gave an impulse to, Mr. Bell's machine, for which, though denying +them the invention, we ought not to deny them our thanks. + +But while I thus explain the unwarrantable claims which Americans have +set forth, I must not allow John Bull to lay the flattering unction to +his soul that none of his claimed discoveries are disputed on the other +side of the Atlantic, I have seen a _Book of Facts_ printed in America, +which charges us with more than one geographical robbery in the Arctic +Seas, in which regions, it is well known, American enterprise and +sympathy have been most nobly employed. As I am incapable of balancing +the respective claims, I leave that subject to the Hydrographer's office +of the two countries. + +The citizens of the Republic have but little idea of the injurious +effects which the putting forward unwarrantable claims has upon their +just claims. I have now before me a letter from a seafaring man who has +spent a quarter of a century upon the borders of the United States; he +is writing on the subject of their claims to the invention of steam, and +he winds up in these words:--"They are with this, as they are with +every other thing to which either merit or virtue is attached--the sole +and only proprietors and originators, and say both the one and the other +are unknown out of the universal Yankee nation." I do not endorse the +sentiment, but I quote it to show the effect produced on some minds by +the unfounded claims they have put forward. + +They have ingenuity and invention enough legitimately belonging to them +for any nation to be justly proud of, without plucking peacock's +feathers from others, and sending them throughout the length and breadth +of the Republic as the plumage of the American eagle. How many useful +inventions have they not made in machinery for working wood? Is not +England daily importing some new improvement therein from the American +shores? Look again at their perfect and beautiful invention for the +manufacture of seamless bags, by Mr. Cyrus Baldwin, and which he has at +work at the Stark Mills. There are 126 looms in operation, all +self-acting and each one making 47 bags daily; the bags are a little +more than three and a half feet long, and chiefly used, I believe, for +flour and grain. When they are finished, sewing-machines are at hand, +which can hem at the rate of 650 bags each daily. This same gentleman +has also adapted his looms to the making hoses for water, of which he +can complete 1000 feet a day by the experimental loom now in use, and it +is more than probable these hoses will entirely supersede the use of the +leather ones, being little more than one-tenth the price, and not +requiring any expense to keep in order. + +Another and very important purpose to which their ingenuity has applied +machinery is, the manufacture of fire-arms. It has long been a matter of +surprise to me, why so obvious and useful an application of machinery +was neglected by the Government at home. The advantages of being able to +transfer all screws, springs, nipples, hammers, &c., from one musket to +another, are so manifest to the most infantine comprehension, that I +suppose they considered it beneath their notice; nor can I make out that +they have duly inquired into the various breech-loading systems used in +the States, some of which they have been testing in their Navy for +years. As, however, we are beginning to copy their application of +machinery, I dare say the next generation will take up the question of +breech-loading arms. + +A few observations on the Militia appear to follow naturally after +remarks on fire-arms. According to the most reliable information which I +have been able to obtain, every able-bodied male between 18 and 40 years +of age is liable to militia service. Those who do not serve are subject +to a fine, varying in different States, from 3s. upwards; which sum +helps to pay those who do duty. The pay of a private while on duty is +about 10s. a-day, and that of officers in proportion. Formerly, they +only turned out two days in the year; now I believe, they generally turn +out ten, and in some of the cities twenty, days annually. The persons +excused from militia service, are the clergy, medical men, fire +companies, and those who have held a commission for three years. Each +regiment settles its own uniform; and it is a strange sight to see +companies in French, German, and Highland uniforms, all marching gaily +through the streets. + +The day of firing at a mark is quite a fête; they parade the town, with +the target untouched, on their road to the ground: there they commence +firing, at 100 yards; if the bull's-eye be not sufficiently riddled, +they get closer and closer, until, perforated and in shreds, it scarce +hangs together as they return through the town bearing it aloft in +triumph, and followed by all the washed, half-washed, and unwashed +aspirants to military glory. + +I believe the good sense of the people is endeavouring to break through +the system of nationalizing the companies into French, German, Highland, +&c., believing that keeping up such distinctions is more calculated to +produce discord than harmony. How long it will be before they succeed in +eradicating these separate nationalities, I cannot pretend to say. + +With respect to their numbers, I cannot give any accurate information. +_The American Almanack_--generally a very useful source of +information--puts them down at 2,202,113; which is evidently a little +bit of Buncombe, as those figures represent very nearly the whole +able-bodied men in the Republic between the ages of 18 and 40. As they +are liable to be called on, the _Almanack_ puts them down as though +regularly enrolled; their real numbers I leave to the fertility of the +imagination. In the same authority, I find the officers calculated at +76,920, of which 765 are generals. These numbers, I imagine, must also go +through a powerful process of subtraction before the exact truth would +be arrived at, although I believe there are twice 765 citizens who enjoy +the titular honour. + +One fact, however, is beyond doubt; they have a large militia, +accustomed to, and fond of, using fire-arms; and those who feel disposed +to approach their shores with hostile intentions, will find the old +Scotch motto applicable to them in its fullest sense,-- + +"Nemo me impune lacessit." + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote CI: The Marquis de Jouffroy is said to have worked a boat by +steam on the Seine in 1781; but the Revolution breaking out, he appears +to have been unable to complete his invention.] + +[Footnote CJ: The foregoing details are essentially extracted from a +work by Mr. Woodcroft, professor of machinery at University College, +London; who, after proving that the previous inventions of his +countrymen were combined together, for the first time, in the boat +engined by Symington, thus clearly and summarily disposes of the +pretensions put forward in favour of Fulton:--"In fact, if these +inventions separately, or as a combination, were removed out of Fulton's +boat, nothing would be left but the hull; and if the hull could then be +divested of that peculiarity of form, admitted to have been derived from +Colonel Beaufoy's experiments, _all that would remain would be the hull +of a boat of ordinary construction."_] + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +_Adverse Influences._ + + +I now come to the consideration of the annual celebration of the 4th +July, an event which presents itself to my mind under two opposite +aspects, the one beneficial, the other injurious. If contemplated as a +nation's grateful acknowledgment to Providence for the successful +termination of an arduous struggle for independence, it assumes an +aspect at once dignified and Christian; but if into its celebration +other elements enter which are calculated to nourish hostile feelings +towards those who have long ceased to reciprocate such unworthy +sentiments, in that case I think its aspect may be fairly termed both +injurious and unchristian. + +Let me then call your attention to the method of celebration. It +consists of three parts:--First, the reading of the Declaration of +Independence; secondly, an oration on the subject; lastly, procession +and jollification. + +Now what is the Declaration of Independence? It is a document which +details their views of the oppression and injustice which justified +their rebellion against the mother country. The clauses are too numerous +to quote in full, but I subjoin a few, that the reader may form his own +opinion. Speaking of the sovereign of Great Britain, they say he has +protected "armed troops among us, by a mock trial, from punishment for +any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States. +He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and +destroyed the lives of our people. He is, at this time, transporting +large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, +desolation, and tyranny, already begun, with circumstances of cruelty +and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally +unworthy the head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our +fellow-citizens taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against +their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, +or to fall themselves by their hands. He has excited domestic +insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the +inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known +rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, +and conditions. In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned +for redress in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been +answered only by repeated injury. A prince whose character is thus +marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler +of a free people." + +I pause not to ask if any of these charges are correct or not: grant +them accuracy in every statement, nay more, admit that they were +eminently calculated to stir up the feelings of the colonists, and to +inflame that spirit which was requisite to make their struggle for +independence justifiable and successful, and that they were therefore +called for by the emergencies of the day;--but nearly eighty years have +rolled over since that Declaration was penned; there is no success +sought for now which renders such appeals necessary, and surely it is +not for the purpose of justifying their rebellion that they are made. +Where then is the good to be derived from such declarations? Is there +any misgiving in the Republic as to sentiments of patriotism or pluck? +Surely none. But who can help seeing the evil to which they lead? These +annual recapitulations of old grievances, buried beneath nearly a +century, must tend to excite hostile feelings towards England. Conceive +for one moment France reading annually a declaration of independence +from British arms on the anniversary of their recapture of Calais, and +engrossing in that document every injustice or atrocity which the +English perpetrated during their rule; not to mention the undignified +nature of such a course, who can doubt that it would be pre-eminently +calculated to generate those hostile feelings which it is the bounden +duty of all civilized States to allay? In short, what does it so much +resemble as the system by which, in barbarous days long since past, the +Highland clans used to perpetuate their feuds. If a Christian community +cannot glory in and commemorate national independence without such +adjuncts, such a ceremony would, in my humble opinion, be more honoured +in the breach than in the observance. + +Among other pernicious influences, I should mention that the Irish +celebrate the battle of the Boyne annually in order to prevent their +national angry passions from subsiding. Not the least curious features +in these same Paddies is the fact that, while cursing England for her +treatment of Ireland, they all unite as one man in favour of Slavery. +Mr. Mitchell, the escaped convict, is said to have expressed his opinion +that a plantation on the Alabama river with fifty sleek slaves, was the +_beau idéal_ of a terrestrial paradise. If he be a bachelor, and still +entertain the same sentiments, I would recommend him to take "The +stewardess of the Lady Franklin" as the sharer of his joys. + +With regard to the orations pronounced, the one I heard at Geneseo had +nothing that struck me as in any way lending itself to those feelings I +have so freely censured; but it is not always so. I have before me now +an epitome of a speech made by the Honourable D.S. Dickenson, at +Syracuse, on July 4th, 1853. Being an honourable, it is not unfair to +suppose him--mind, I say to suppose him--a man of superior attainment, +selected by a well-educated people. The epitome is headed "Vigorous +Discussion and Patriotic Sentiments." I only quote one passage, which I +could almost fancy Matthew Ward, the hero of the Louisville school-room, +had written; it runs thus--"The eloquent orator then went on for nearly +half an hour in a strain of withering sarcasm and invective, exposing +the shameless and wicked oppressions of England in her collieries, in +her factories, in her oppression of Ireland; denouncing her as a nation +whose history was written in oppression and blood (_great +applause_.)"--It is difficult to believe that the chosen representative +of an intelligent community should thus speak of that nation to which +his own country is indebted for nearly every valuable institution she +possesses; but when such ridiculous vituperation is received with shouts +of applause from the gaping rowdies who throng around him, does it not +clearly demonstrate the truth of my previous statements as to the +effects which the celebration of the 4th of July, as now observed, may +naturally lead to? I say, may lead to, because I would fain hope, for +the sake of the credit and dignity of the Republic, that such +disreputable orations are rare exceptions. + +But that such feelings of aversion to the mother country are generated +among the masses, is proved indirectly in another quarter--viz., +Congress. During the debate on the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, a Mr. Douglas, +to whom I have before alluded, and who may be considered as the +representative of the rabid and rowdy portion of the community, thus +expresses himself with regard to England: "It is impossible she can love +us,--I do not blame her for not loving us,--sir, we have wounded her +vanity and humbled her pride,--she can never forgive us. But for us, she +would be the first Power on the face of the earth,--but for us, she +would have the prospect of maintaining that proud position which she +held for so long a period. We are in her way. She is jealous of us; and +jealousy forbids the idea of friendship. England does not love us; she +cannot love us, and we cannot love her either. We have some things in +the past to remember that are not agreeable. She has more in the present +to humiliate her that she cannot forgive."--After which expressions, the +poor little man, as though he had not the slightest conception of the +meaning of the words he was using, adds the following sentence, +deprecating all he had previously uttered: "I do not wish to administer +to the feeling of jealousy and rivalry that exists between us and +England. I wish to soften and smooth it down as much as possible." + +On a subsequent occasion, Mr. Butler, senator for South Carolina, who +honestly did deprecate such language as the foregoing, referred, by way +of contrast, to the many constitutional principles the Republic had +derived from England, and also to the valuable literature which she had +produced, and by which the Republic had benefited. Upon which, poor Mr. +Douglas got furious, and asserted, that "Every English book circulated +contains lurking and insidious slanders and libels upon the character of +our people and the institutions and policy of our Government."--He then +discovered that abolitionism began, in England, and that "she keeps her +missionaries perambulating this country, delivering lectures and +scattering abroad incendiary publications, designed to excite +prejudices, hate, and strife between the different sections of the +Union."--He then, with Illinois truthfulness, hints at _Uncle Tom's +Cabin_, as though it were English literature, and which, he says, "is +designed to stir up treason and insurrection around his--Mr. +Butler's--fireside," &c.--He returns to the charge, and asserts, with +equal accuracy, "Millions are being expended to distribute _Uncle Tom's +Cabin_ throughout the world, with the view of combining the fanaticism, +ignorance, and hatred of all the nations of the earth in a common +crusade against the peculiar institutions of the State and section of +this Union represented by the senator from South Carolina." One might +almost imagine that the copy of Webster's Dictionary, which Mr. Douglas +has in his library--if he possess such a thing--has omitted an old +English word, spelt T R U T H. + +But the point I wish to call the reader's especial attention to, is, +that the little senator's rabid rhapsody was received with shouts of +gallery applause, which, as I have before observed, is an exhibition of +sentiment not allowed in the Senate to either members of Congress or +gallery. Yet, so thoroughly had he expressed the feelings of the said +rowdies, that they could not resist the unlawful burst of approval. Mr. +Butler of course replied to his absurd arguments; but my object is not +discussion. I only allude to the subject at all for the purpose of +proving my previous assertion, that within the walls of Congress itself, +elements calculated to engender feelings of animosity towards Great +Britain are to be found at work. It is this deep-seated consciousness of +guilt that makes that portion of the citizens of the Republic so +sensitive with regard to the observations which proceed from this +country. Americans like Mr. Butler, who maintain the dignity of their +country without descending to paltry popularity-hunting calumny, can +afford to read any criticisms which may come from across the water with +as much calmness as American remarks are read here. Such men have no +accusing conscience gnawing at their vitals. If the population of the +two countries were fed upon Judge Douglas's venomous diet, ere long, +like the Kilkenny cats, nothing but the tails would be left. + +I have felt it imperative to make these remarks, that my countrymen may +understand why they so constantly find the strongest symptoms of +hostility to England in a certain class of American writers. Even in the +text-books for children, you can detect the same animus working. Miss +Willard, in her _History of the United States_, narrates that six Indian +chiefs came to Colonel Washington, the grandfather of the founder of +the Republic, to treat for peace. The treachery to, and cold-blooded +murder of, these poor Indians she disposes of thus:--"He _wrongfully_ +put them to death." General Clinton's conduct, in the prosecution of his +duties to his country, which never displayed any such revolting act, she +describes as reviving in a civilized age "_barbarous atrocities_."--Take +another instance of amiable sentiments towards England, as exhibited by +the Common Council of New York, who voted 200l. to entertain John +Mitchell, the convict who had escaped from custody. The Mayor addresses +him in the following terms:--"When, sir, you were silenced by restraint, +overpowered by brutal force, and foreign bayonets were employed on your +own soil to suppress truth and to bind upon your limbs and mind the +shackles of slavery, we sympathized with you in your adversity. We hated +the tyrant and loved the victim. And when, sir, after the semblance of a +trial, you were condemned and hurried as a felon from your home, your +country, and your friends, to a distant land, we were filled with +indignation, and pledged a deeper hatred towards the enemies of +man."--Mr. Mitchell, in reply, confesses himself from earliest youth a +traitor to his country, and honours the British Government with the +following epithets: "I say to them that they are not a government at +all, but a gang of conspirators, of robbers, of murderers." These +sentiments were received by the multitude around with "great applause." +Considering how many causes for exciting ill-will exist, the only wonder +is that, when so large a portion of the Republicans are utterly ignorant +of the truth as regards England, the feeling is not more hostile. + +It is needless to assert, that the feelings of jealousy and animosity +ascribed to England by Mr. Douglas, exist only in the disordered +imagination of his own brain and of those of the deluded gulls who +follow in his train: for I am proud to say no similar undignified and +antagonistic elements are at work here; and, if any attempt were made to +introduce them, the good sense of the country would unite with one voice +to cry them down. I defy all the educated, ignorant, or rabid population +of the Republic to bring forward any instance where, either in the +celebration of any ceremony, the orations of any senator, or the +meetings of any corporation, such unworthy and contemptible animosity +towards the United States has ever been shadowed forth. + +I must not, however, allow the reader to understand from the foregoing +remark that there is an universal national antipathy to England; +although, whenever she is brought into juxtaposition with the Republic, +it may appear very strongly developed. The most erroneous impressions +were at the time this was written, abroad among my countrymen, in +respect of American sympathies with Russia. Filibusteros, rabid +annexationists, inveterate Slaveholders, and Rowdies of every class, to +which might have been added a few ignoble minds who made the grave of +conscience a "stump" from which to pour forth Buncombe speeches to catch +ephemeral popularity, constituted the body in America who sympathised +with Russia. All the intelligence of the North, and a great portion of +that of the South, felt the deepest interest in our success, not merely +as descendants of the mother country, but also because they recognised +the war in which we were engaged as a struggle in the cause of liberty. +We could not suffer ourselves to be deceived by the Filibustero Press, +nor by the accounts we read of vessels laden with arms carrying them to +Russia. Those were no more proofs of the national feeling, than the +building of slave-clippers every year at Baltimore is a proof that the +nation wishes to encourage the slave-trade. The true feeling of a nation +must be sought for far deeper than in the superficial clamour of +political demagogues, backed though it be by the applause of gaping +crowds whose worst passions are pandered to for the sake of a transient +breath of popularity. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +_Olla Podrida._ + + +The preceding observations lead naturally to a few observations upon +American character in a national point of view; for in treating of so +exceedingly varied a community, combining as it does nearly every nation +of the Old World, it would be beyond the limits of a work like this to +enter into details on so complicated a subject. + +As I prefer commencing with the objectionable points, and winding up +with the more favourable, I shall first name Vanity as a great national +feature. The fulsome adulation with which the Press bespatters its +readers, throughout the length and breadth of the Union, wherever any +comparisons are drawn with other nations, is so great that the masses +have become perfectly deluded; and being so far removed from the nations +of the Old World, and knowing, consequently, nothing of them except +through the columns of a vanity-feeding Press, they receive the most +exaggerated statements as though they were Gospel truths--little aware +how supremely ridiculous the vaunting which they read with delight makes +them appear in the eyes of other people. + +I insert the following extract from the Press, as one instance among +many of the vain and ridiculous style of some of their editorial +leaders. It is taken from the _New York Herald_--one of the most +widely-circulated papers in the Union, but one which, I am bound in +justice to say, is held in contempt[CK] by the more intelligent portion +of the community. Speaking of Mrs. B. Stowe's reception in England, he +says:--"She proves herself quite an American in her intercourse with the +English aristocracy. Her self-possession, ease, and independence of +manner were quite undisturbed in the presence of the proud duchesses +and fraughty dames of the titled English nobility. They expected +timidity and fear, and reverence for their titles, in an untitled +person, and they found themselves disappointed. Mrs. Stowe felt herself +their equal in social life, and acted among them as she felt. This, +above all other things, has caused a great astonishment in the higher +circles in favour of American women, for in fact it is a quality +peculiarly distinguishing an American woman, that she can be and is a +duchess among duchesses." + +Even in the simple article of diplomatic dress we see the same feature +peeping out. Vanity may be discovered as readily in singularity, however +simple, as in the naked savage who struts about as proud as a peacock, +with no covering but a gold-laced cocked hat on his head and a +brass-mounted sword at his side. When civilized society agrees upon some +distinctive uniform for diplomatic service, who can fail to observe the +lurking vanity that dictated the abolition of it by the Republic?--not +to mention the absurdity of wearing a sword in plain clothes. The only +parallel it has among bipeds, that I know of, is a master-at-arms on +board a ship, with a cane by his side; but then he carries a weapon +which he is supposed to use. The Minister of the Republic carries a +weapon for ornament only. In quadruped life, it reminds me of a poodle +closely shaved all over, except a little tuft at the end of his tail, +the sword and the tuft recalling to mind the fact that the respective +possessors have been shorn of something. + +Firmly convinced, from my earliest schoolboy days, of the intimate +connexion which exists between boasting and bullying, I had long blushed +to feel how pre-eminent my own country was in the ignoble practice; but +a more intimate acquaintance with the United States has thoroughly +satisfied me that that pre-eminence justly belongs to the great +Republic. But it is not merely in national matters that this feeling +exhibits itself; you observe it in ordinary life as well, by the intense +love shown for titles; nobody is contented until he obtain some rank. I +am aware this is a feature inseparable from democracy. Everybody you +meet is Captain, Colonel, General, Honourable, Judge, or something; and +if they cannot obtain it legitimately, they obtain it by courtesy, or +sometimes facetiously, like a gentleman I have before alluded to, who +obtained the rank of judge because he was a connoisseur in wine. In +these, and a thousand other ways, the love of vanity stands nationally +revealed. + +I do not think Americans are aware what injustice they do themselves by +this love of high-sounding titles.[CL] For instance, in a paper before +me, I see a Deputy Sheriff calling on the mob to resist the law; I see +Governor Bigler authorizing General King to call out the military, one +naturally supposes to keep order; but observe he calls Mr. Walker, of +Erie, a traitor and a scoundrel; of the directors and managers of the +railroad, he says, "We will whip them, will whip them, will bury them so +deep electricity can't reach them--we will whip them--we will whip the +g--ts out of them!" &c.--Now, judging of these people by their titles, +as recognised by the rest of the civilized world, what a disgrace to the +higher classes of Americans is the foregoing! But anybody who really +knows the title system of the Republic will at once see that the orator +was a mere rowdy. Thus they suffer for their vanity. It pervades every +class of the whole community, from the rowdy, who talks of "whipping +creation," to the pulpit orator, who often heralds forth past success to +feed the insatiable appetite: in short, it has become a national +disease; and were it not for the safety-valve formed by the unmeasured +terms of mutual vituperation they heap upon each other on occasions of +domestic squabbles, their fate would assuredly be that of the frog in +the fable. + +In the medical world, it is said no one has a cold without fever; and I +think it may with equal truth be asserted of the national world, no +nations are vain without being afflicted with sensitiveness: at all +events, it is true as regards the United States. No maiden in her teens +is so ticklishly sensitive as the Americans. I do not refer merely to +that portion of the community of which I have selected Mr. Douglas, of +Illinois, as the type; I allude also to the far higher order of +intelligence with which the Republic abounds. There is a touchiness +about them all with respect to national and local questions which I +never saw equalled: in fact, the few sheets of their Press which reach +this country are alone sufficient to convince any one on that point; for +in a free country the Press may always be fairly considered, to a +certain extent, as the reflex of the public mind. I suppose it is with +nations as with individuals, and that each are alike blind to their own +failings. In no other way can I account for the Republic overlooking so +entirely the sensitiveness of others. Take for instance the appointment +of M. Soulé--a Frenchman naturalized in America--as minister to the +court of Spain. I do not say that he was a Filibustero, but he was +universally supposed to be identified with that party; and if he were +not so identified, he showed a puerile ignorance of the requirements of +a Minister, quite beyond conception, when he received a serenade of five +thousand people at New York, who came in procession, bearing aloft the +accompanying transparencies, he being at the time accredited to his new +ministry. + +On the first transparency was the following motto:-- + + A STAR. PIERCE. + + SOULÉ. CUBA. + +On the second banner:-- + + YOUNG AMERICA AND YOUNG CUBA. + Free thought and free speech for the Cubans. + + 'Tis no flight of fancy, for + Cuba must be, and 'tis + Written by fate, an isle + Great and free. + + O pray, ye doomed tyrants, + Your fate's not far: + A dread Order now watches you,-- + It is the Lone Star. + +On the third banner:-- + + Cuba must and shall be free. + + The Antilles Flower, + The true Key of the Gulf, + Must be plucked from the Crown + Of the Old Spanish Wolf. + +Monumental representation--a tomb and a weeping willow. On the tomb were +the words-- + + LOPEZ AND CRITTENDEN, + + AGUERO AND ARMATERO. + + They and their companions are not forgotten. + +M. Soulé accepts the compliment, and makes a speech, in which he informs +his audience that he cannot believe "that this mighty nation can be +chained now within the narrow limits which fettered the young Republic +of America," &c. + +Change the scene, and let any American judge in the following supposed +and parallel case. Imagine expeditions fitted out in England, in spite +of Government, to free the slaves in the Southern States; imagine a +Lopez termination to the affair, and the rowdy blood of England forming +other Filibustero expeditions; then imagine the Hon. Mr. Tenderheart +identifying himself with them, and receiving an appointment as minister +to Washington; after which, imagine him serenaded at St. James's by +thousands of people bearing transparencies, the first representing a +naked woman under the slave-driver's lash; the second, containing some +such verses as "The Antilles Flower," &c.; for instance:-- + + "The slaves must be plucked + From the chains that now gall 'em, + Though American wolves + An inferior race call 'em." + +Let the minister accept the serenade, and address the multitude, +declaring "that this mighty nation can no longer be chained down to +passive interference," &c. Let me ask any American how the Hon. Mr. +Tenderheart would be received at Washington, particularly if a few days +after he took a shot at his French colleague because another person +insulted him in that gentleman's house?--I ask, what would Americans say +if such a line of conduct were to be pursued towards them? I might go +further, and suppose that a conclave of English Ministers met at Quebec, +and discussed the question as to how far the flourishing town of +Buffalo, so close on the frontier, was calculated to endanger the peace +and prosperity of Canada, and then imagine them winding up their report +with this clause--If it be so--"then by every law, human and divine, we +shall be justified in wresting it from its present owners." The American +who penned that sentence must possess a copy of the Scriptures unknown +to the rest of the world. Surely America must imagine she has the +monopoly of all the sensitiveness in the world, or she would never have +acted by Spain as she has done. How humiliated must she feel while +contemplating the contrast between her act in appointing the minister, +and Spain's demeanour in her silent and dignified reception of him! + +This same sensitiveness peeps out in small things as well as great, +especially where England is concerned: thus, one writer discovers that +the Americans speak French better than the English; probably he infers +it from having met a London Cit who had run over to Paris for a quiet +Sunday, and who asked him "_Moosyere, savvay voo oo ey lay Toolureeze?"_ +Another discovers that American society is much more sought after than +English; that Americans are more agreeable, more intelligent, more +liberal, &c.; but the comparison is always with England or the English. +And why all this? Simply because it feeds the morbid appetite of many +Republican citizens, which the pure truth would not. + +This sensitiveness also shows itself in the way they watch the opinions +of their country expressed by _The Times_, or by any largely circulating +paper. I remember an American colonel who had been through the whole +Mexican war, saying to me one day, "I assure you the Mexican troops are +the most contemptible soldiers in the world; I would rather a thousand +to one face them than half the number of Camanche Indians."--The object +of this remark was to show on what slight and insufficient grounds _The +Times_ had spoken of the United States as a great military nation since +the Mexican war. An article giving them due credit for a successful +campaign was easily magnified beyond its intended proportions, and my +gallant friend was modestly disclaiming so high-sounding an appellation; +but such evidently was the construction which he felt his countrymen had +put upon it. + +I turn now for a few moments to the question of Morals; and here, again, +it is of course only in a wholesale manner I can treat of the subject. +As far as my inquiries enable me to judge, I find the same elements +producing the same results here as in England. Wherever masses are +clustered together most largely, there vice runs as rampant as in +England; nay, I have the authority of a lecture delivered at the +Maryland Institute, for saying that it is even worse in many places. +After describing various instances of lawless conduct, the lecturer +continues thus: "Such lawlessness as I have described is not tolerated +in any other part of the world, and would not be tolerated here for a +moment, but for the criminal apathy of our citizens generally, and the +truckling, on the part of our politicians and public officers, for the +votes of the very men whom they know to be violating and trampling on +the laws."--In illustration, he states, "In every part of Europe in +which I have travelled,--in England, Holland, France, Germany, +Switzerland, and Italy; under all the different systems of religion and +forms of government; in the large cities, and the small towns and +villages; in the highways and byways,--I found better public order, more +decorum, where bodies of men were assembled together, and less tendency +to rowdyism, pugilism, and violence, than there is in most parts of this +country. In this general statement of the fact, all unprejudiced +travellers will, I suppose concur."--Further on, he draws a comparison +favourable to London; and, with regard to the Police in our metropolis, +he says, "A more respectable and finer-looking body of men it would be +difficult to find in any country. A stranger may apply to one for +information, with a certainty of receiving a polite and intelligent +answer," &c.--I only quote the last paragraph, in case Mr. Matt. Ward +should see these pages, and that he may know how the Police behave +towards those who know how to conduct themselves.[CM] + +The lecturer goes on to complain of the depravity of youth. He then +attacks the dispensation of the law, pointing out many instances of +their mal-administration. He then proceeds to attack the fire companies; +he admits their courage and daring, but points out at the same time +their lawlessness. He says--speaking of Philadelphia--"Almost every +company has its war-song, breathing the most barbarous and bloodthirsty +sentiments towards some rival association, and describing the glory of +the fireman to the destruction of his enemy's apparatus, or worse yet, +his life."--He gives the following list of the terrific names of the +companies: "Hornets, Snappers, Blood-reds, Bed-bugs, Rock-boys, +Buffaloes, Skimmers, Scrougers, Revengers, Knockers, Black-hawks, +Pirate-boys, Kill-devils." After which he gives the following specimen, +of their songs, written by a "Bluffer and Red-devil:"-- + + "INDEPENDENT HOSE SONG. + + "We're the saucy Hyena-boys of George's-street, as all knows; We can + whip the Penn and Globe, likewise the Carroll Hose; We'll whip the + three together, the Bed-bugs and South Penn throw in for ease; We do + run our carriage among our foes, and run her where we please. + + "You'd better hush your blowing, Globe, if you know when you are well; + For if we take your engine again, we'll smash her all to hell. Here is + luck to the Bluffers, and all honest boys of that name; Here is to the + Hyenas and Red-devils, that no one can tame." + +He subsequently points out the evils of allowing political passions to +guide citizens in the selection of officers, and declares, "that persons +are elected to, and now fill, important offices in Baltimore, to whom no +responsible trust in private life would be confided by the very men who +voted for them."[CN] With regard to the actual commission of crime, and +the due punishment of the offenders, he draws the following comparison +between London and Baltimore: "The population of the former is 13 times +greater than that of the latter; but the number of arrests is as 1 to +7,--in other words, the commission of crime, in proportion to numbers, +was 46 per cent. greater than in London. Then, to show the inefficiency +of the law, he proceeds to state, that the commitments for trial were +only 29 per cent. greater, and that, even of those committed, many +escaped just punishment. Of course, the large cities in America are the +only places in which any comparison can be made with this country; but, +while doing so, the tide of emigration, which helps to fill up their +numbers, must not be lost sight of, or we should judge them unfairly. + +With regard to the masses that are spread over the length and breadth of +the land, I certainly have never seen nor heard anything that need make +England ashamed of the comparison. It would not be equitable to judge by +mere numbers,--you must also bring into the balance the comparative +state of affluence and independence of the respective parties; for who +can doubt that distress is one of the great causes of crime? Even in the +wealthy State of New York, I find an account of the following outrage, +committed upon a Mr. Lawrence, when serving a summons upon his +aggressor, Mr. Deitz: "He found Mr. Deitz near the house, and handed him +the papers. Deitz took them and read them, when he threw them on the +ground,--seized Lawrence by the throat, calling him a d----d scoundrel, +for coming to serve papers on him. He then called to his family to blow +a horn, when a man, named Hollenbeck, who was at work for Deitz as a +mason, interceded for Lawrence, who managed to get away, and started off +on a run. Deitz followed in pursuit, knocked Lawrence down, and held him +until four men in disguise made their appearance. They then tied his +hands behind him, and took him to a small piece of bush near by,--then +tore off his coat, vest, and cravat, and with a jack-knife cut off his +hair, occasionally cutting his scalp,--and, remarking that they had a +plaster that would heal it up, they tarred his head and body, and poured +tar into his boots. After exhausting all their ingenuity this way, each +cut a stick, and whipped him until they got tired. They then tied his +hands before him, and started him for the house, each of them kicking +him at every step. They made him take the papers back, but took them +away again;--when, after knocking him down again, they left him, and he +succeeded in reaching the residence of George Beckers last evening. His +legs, hands, arms, and face are badly bruised."--If we travel West and +South, we shall doubtless find that morality is far more lax than in +England; but what can you expect where gentlemen, even senators for +States, go out to fight bloody duels with rifles at twenty paces, while +crowds of spectators are looking on? + +Where the Americans have the advantage over our population is, first and +foremost, in possessing a boundless extent of territory which gives a +rich return for comparatively little labour, and where, if labour is +wanted, the scarcity of the article insures its commanding a high price. +Compare England for one moment with two of the oldest American States, +and therefore the most thickly populated:-- + + Square Miles. Inhabitants. + + England contains 50,000 17,923,000 + New York " 46,000 3,097,000 + Pennsylvania " 46,000 2,311,786 + +We here see, that if we take the most populous States in the Union, the +proportion is nearly 6 to 1 in favour of America; but, if we mass the +whole, we shall find-- + + Square Miles. Inhabitants. + +Great Britain and Ireland contain 120,000 27,400,000 +United States 3,500,000 23,192,000 + +This would bring the proportion of population to extent of territory, in +rough numbers:-- + + Great Britain and Ireland 228 inhabitants to the square mile. + United States 7 " " " + +In other words, Great Britain is 32 times as thickly populated as the +Republic. If these facts are borne in mind, I confess that the +commission of crime in Great Britain appears to me proportionally far +smaller than in the States, notwithstanding all the advantages of the +free and liberal education which is within their reach. + +I cannot but think that the general system of training youth in the +Republic has a most prejudicial effect, in many instances, on their +after-life. In their noble zeal for the education of the brain, they +appear to me to lose sight almost entirely of the necessity of +disciplining the mind to that obedience to authority, which lays the +foundation of self-control and respect for the laws of the land. +Nationally speaking, there is scarcely such a thing as a lad in the +whole Union. A boy in the States hardly gets over the novelty of that +portion of his dress which marks the difference of sex, ere his motto +is: "I don't care; I shall do what I best please:" in short, he is made +a man before he ceases to be a boy; he consequently becomes unable to +exercise that restraint which better discipline might have taught him, +and the acts of his after-life are thus more likely to be influenced by +passion and self-will than by reason or reflection. I find in the +lecture from which I have already quoted, the following paragraph, +which, as I consider it illustrative of my last observation, I insert at +length. + + "But the most alarming feature in the condition of things, not only in + the city, but elsewhere throughout the country, is the lawlessness of + the youth. The most striking illustration of this which I have seen is + taken from a Cincinnati paper of last January. It seems that in the + course of a few days one hundred applications had been made by parents + in that city to have their own children sent to the House of Refuge. + The particulars of one case, which happened a short time before, are + given:--a boy, twelve years of age, was brought before the Mayor's + Court by his father, who stated that the family were absolutely afraid + the youth would take their lives, and that he had purchased a pistol + for the purpose of shooting the housekeeper. A double-barrelled pistol + was produced in court, which the police-officer had taken from the + boy, who avowed that he had bought it for the purpose stated. The + mayor sent the boy to the House of Refuge." + +I now pass on to the question of Liberty in the United States. If by +liberty be understood the will of the greater number ruling the State or +regulating its laws, certainly they have more liberty than England; but +if by liberty be understood that balance of power and adaptation of the +laws to the various interests of the whole community, combined with the +due execution, of them against offenders of whatever class, then I +consider that there is unquestionably more liberty in England, in spite +of the restrictions by which the franchise is limited--nay, rather I +should say, in consequence of those very restrictions; for I believe +they tend to secure the services of more liberal, high-minded, and +independent representatives than any country--however highly educated +its population may be--would return under a system of universal +suffrage. I do not intend to convey in the foregoing observation, any +opinion as to how far it is desirable, or otherwise, to modify the +restrictions at present existing in England; it is obvious they should +keep pace with the growing intelligence of the community, inasmuch as, +if they do not, popular agitation is readily excited, and violent +changes are forced by ignorant passion, going far beyond those which +educated prudence and a sense of justice ought to have brought +forward.--Prevention is better than cure. + +Mr. Everett, in a letter dated July 25, 1853, after observing that it +has long been the boast of England that she is the great city of refuge +for the rest of Europe, adds, "it is the prouder boast of the United +States, that they are, and ever have been, an asylum for the rest of the +world, including Great Britain herself:" he then goes on to say, "no +citizen has ever been driven into banishment."--This is bravely said by +an able son of the "Land of Liberty;" but when he penned it, he appears +to have forgotten that there are upwards of three millions of his own +fellow-creatures held in the galling shackles of hopeless slavery by the +citizens of that land of which he makes so proud a boast; and that from +one to two thousand of the wretched victims escape annually to the +British colony adjoining, which is their sole city of refuge on the +whole North American continent. Doubtless Mr. Everett's countrymen do +not sufficiently know this startling point of difference, or they would +hesitate in accepting such a boast. So ignorant are some of his +countrymen of the real truth as regards the citizens of Great Britain, +that a friend of mine was asked by a well-educated and otherwise +intelligent son of the Republic, "Is it really true that all the land in +England belongs to the Queen?" + +While on the subject of liberty, it is well to observe one or two +curious ways in which it may be said to be controlled in America. If +any gentleman wished to set up a marked livery for his servants, he +could not do so without being the subject of animadversions in the rowdy +Press, styling him a would-be aristocrat. But perhaps the most +extraordinary vagary is the Yankee notion that service is degrading; the +consequence of which is that you very rarely see a Yankee servant; and +if by chance you find one on a farm, he insists on living and eating +with the overseer. So jealous are they of the appearance of service, +that on many of the railways there was considerable difficulty in +getting the guard, or conductor, to wear a riband on his hat designating +his office, and none of the people attached to the railway station will +put on any livery or uniform by which they can be known. I wonder if it +ever occurs to these sons of the Republic, that in thus acting they are +striking at the very root of their vaunted equal rights of man, and +spreading a broader base of aristocracy than even the Old World can +produce. Servants, of course, there must be in every community, and it +is ridiculous to suppose that American gentlemen ever did, or ever will, +live with their housemaids, cooks, and button-boys; and if this be so, +and that Americans consider such service as degrading, is it not +perfectly clear that the sons of the soil set themselves up as nobles, +and look upon the emigrants--on whom the duties of service chiefly +devolve--in the light of serfs? + +I may, while discussing service, as well touch upon the subject of +strikes. The Press in America is very ready to pass strictures on the +low rate of wages in this country, such as the three-ha'penny +shirt-makers, and a host of other ill-paid and hard-worked poor. Every +humane man must regret to see the pressure of competition producing such +disgraceful results; but my American friends, if they look carefully +into their own country, will see that they act in precisely the same +way, as far as they are able; in short, that they get labour as cheap as +they can. Fortunately for the poor emigrant, the want of hands is so +great, that they can insure a decent remuneration for their work; but +the proof that the Anglo-Saxon in America is no better than the rest of +the world in this respect, is to be found in the fact that strikes for +higher wages also take place among them. I remember once reading in the +same paper of the strike of three different interests; one of which was +that indispensable body, the hotel-waiters. The negroes even joined with +the whites, and they gained their point; they knew the true theory of +strikes, and made their move "when the market was rising." The hotels +were increasing their charges, and they merely wanted their share of the +prosperity. + +I now propose to consider one of the brightest features in the national +character--Intelligence. Irresistible testimony is borne to their +appreciation of the value of education, not merely by the multitudes of +schools of all kinds, and by the numbers that attend them, but also by +that arrangement of which they may be so justly proud, and which opens +the door to every branch of study to their poorest citizens free of +expense. No praise is too high for such a noble national institution as +the school system of the Republic. How far it may be advisable to bring +all the various classes of the community together at that early age when +habits which affect after-life are so readily acquired, is another +question. Though the roughness of the many may derive advantage from +contact with the polish of the few, it appears to me more than probable +that the polish of the few will be influenced far more considerably by +the roughness of the many. I cannot, therefore, but imagine that the +universal admixture of all classes of society in early infancy must +operate prejudicially to that advancement in the refinements of +civilization which tends to give a superior tone to the society of every +country. It must not, however, be imagined that the intelligence +obtained at these schools is confined to those subjects which are +requisite for making dollars and cents. People of this country, judging +of the Republicans by the general accounts given of them through the +Press, can have little idea of the extent to which the old standard +works of the mother-country are read; but there is an intelligent +portion of our own nation to be found among the booksellers, who can +enlighten them on this point. I have been told by several of them, not +only that old editions of our best authors are rapidly being bought up +by citizens of the United States, but that in making their purchases +they exhibit an intimate acquaintance with them far greater than they +find generally among Englishmen, and which proves how thoroughly they +are appreciated by them. + +Then again, with reference to their own country; it is impossible for +any one to travel among them without being struck with the universal +intelligence they possess as to its constitution, its politics, its +laws, and all general subjects connected with its prosperity or its +requirements; and if they do not always convey their information in the +most classical language, at all events they convey it in clear and +unmistakeable terms. The Constitution of their country is regularly +taught at their schools; and doubtless it is owing to this early insight +into the latent springs by which the machinery of Government is worked, +that their future appetite for more minute details becomes whetted. I +question very much if every boy, on leaving a high school in the United +States, does not know far more of the institutions of his country than +nine-tenths of the members of the British House of Commons do of theirs. +At the same time it should not be forgotten, that the complications +which have grown up with a nationality of centuries render the study far +more difficult in this country, than it possibly can, be in the giant +Republic of yesterday. And in the same way taxation in England, of which +30,000,000l. is due as interest on debt before the State receives one +farthing for its disbursements, is one of the most intricate questions +to be understood even by enlarged minds; whereas in the United States, +scarcely any taxation exists, and the little that does, creates a +surplus revenue which they often appear at a loss to know how to get rid +of. + +Doubtless, the intelligence of the community sometimes exhibits itself +in a 'cuteness which I am not prepared to defend. A clear apprehension +of their immediate material interests has produced repudiation of +legitimate obligations; but those days are, nationally speaking, I hope, +gone by, and many of their merchants stand as high in the estimation of +the commercial world as it is possible to desire. At the same time, it +is equally true that the spirit of commercial gambling has risen to a +point in the States far above what it ever has in this country,--except, +perhaps, during the Railway epidemic; and the number of failures is +lamentably great. + +With their intelligence they combine an enterprise that knows no +national parallel. This quality, aided by their law of limited +liability, has doubtless tended to urge forward many works and schemes +from which the Union is deriving, and has derived, great wealth and +advantage; at the same time it has opened the door for the unscrupulous +and the shrewd to come in and play high stakes with small capital--in +playing which reckless game, while some become millionaires others +become bankrupts. This latter state is a matter of comparative +unimportance in a country like the Republic, where the field is so +great, and a livelihood easily attainable until some opening occurs, +when they are as ready to rush into it again as if they had been foaled +at Niagara, and had sucked in the impetuosity of its cataract. + +There is one shape that their enterprise takes which it would indeed be +well for us to imitate, and that is early rising. I quite blush for my +country when I think what a "Castle of Indolence" we are in that +respect, especially those who have not the slightest excuse for it. On +what principle the classes of society in England who are masters of +their own time, turn night into day, waste millions yearly in oil and +wax, and sleep away the most fresh and healthy hours of the morning, for +no other visible purpose but to enable themselves to pass the night in +the most stuffy and unhealthy atmosphere, is beyond my comprehension. +One thing is certain: it has a tendency to enervate both body and mind, +and were it not for the revivifying effects produced by a winter +residence in the country, where gentlemen take to field sports, and +ladies to razeed dresses, sensible shoes, and constitutional walks, the +mortality among our "upper ten thousand" would, I believe, be frightful. +In America, the "boys" get up so early, that it is said they frequently +"catch the birds by their tails as they are going to roost;" and it is +no doubt owing to this that they are so 'cute. Talk about "catching a +weasel asleep," let me see any of my metropolitan drone friends who can +catch a Yankee boy asleep! + +It is not, however, merely to early rising that they owe their +'cuteness. A total absence of idleness, and the fact of being constantly +thrown on their own resources in cases of minor difficulty, aid +materially in sharpening their wits. You may see these latter influences +operating in the difference between soldiers and sailors, when placed in +situations where they have to shift for themselves. Some of their +anecdotes bearing upon 'cuteness are amusing enough. I will give one as +an illustration.--Owing to some unknown cause, there was a great dearth +of eggs in one of the New England States, and they consequently rose +considerably in price. It immediately occurred to a farmer's wife, that, +if she could in any way increase the produce of her hens, it would be a +source of great gain to her; she accordingly fitted the bottom of each +laying hen's bed with a spring, and fixed a basin underneath, capable of +holding two eggs. In due time, the hens laid; but as each hen, after +laying, missed the warmth of the precious deposit, she got up to look if +it was all right. To her astonishment, no egg was to be seen. "Bless my +soul!" says the hen, "well, I declare I thought I had laid an egg. I +suppose I must be mistaken;" and down she went to fulfil her duties +again. Once more she rose to verify her success. No egg was there. +"Well, I vow," quoth Mrs. Hen, "they must be playing me some trick: I'll +have one more shot, and, if I don't succeed, I shall give it up." Again +she returned to her labours, and the two eggs that had passed into the +basin below supporting the base of her bed, success crowned her efforts, +and she exclaimed, "Well, I have done it this time at all events!" The +'cute wife kept her counsel, and said nothing, either to the hens or to +her neighbours, and thus realized a comfortable little bag of +dollars.--I give the anecdote as narrated to me, and I must confess I +never saw the operation, or heard the remarks of the outwitted hens. I +insert it lest in these days of agricultural distress (?) any farmer's +wife be disposed to make a trial of a similar experiment.[CO] + +I proceed to consider the energy of the Republicans, a quality in which +they may challenge comparison with the world. No enterprise is too great +for them to undertake, and no hardship too severe for them to endure. +A Yankee will start off with his household gods, and seek a new home in +the wilderness, with less fuss than a Cockney would make about packing +up a basket of grub to go and pic-nic in Richmond Park. It is the spirit +of adventure that has enabled them to cover a whole continent in the +incredible manner which the map of the United States shows. The great +drawback to this phase of their energy is the total absence it exhibits +of those ties of home to which we so fondly cling in the old country. If +we were a nation of Yankees, I feel persuaded that in five years we +should not have ten millions of inhabitants. No Yankee can exist without +elbow-room, except it be the more degraded and rowdy portion of the +community, who find a more congenial atmosphere in those sinks of vice +inseparable from large towns. This migratory spirit has caused them to +exhibit their energy and enterprise in those countless miles of rail and +telegraph, which bring the citizens of the most distant States into easy +communication with Washington and the Eastern cities. The difficulty of +procuring labour is no doubt one cause of the very inefficient way in +which many of these works are performed; and it also disables them for +executing gigantic works with the speed and certainty that such +operations are completed in England. The miniature Crystal Palace at New +York afforded a convincing proof of what I have stated; for although it +was little more than a quarter of the size of the one in Hyde Park, they +were utterly foiled in their endeavours to prepare it in time. In +revenge for that failure, the Press tried to console the natives by +enlarging on the superior attraction of hippodromes, ice-saloons, and +penny shows, with which it was surrounded, and contrasting them with the +"gloomy grandeur" of the palace in London. Gloomy grandeur is, I +suppose, the Yankee way of expressing the finest park in any city in the +world. + +Among other remarks on Americans, I have heard many of my countrymen +say, "Look how they run after lords!"--It is quite true; a live lord is +a comparative novelty, and they run after him in the same way as people +in England run after an Indian prince, or any pretentious Oriental: it +is an Anglo-Saxon mania. Not very long ago, a friend of mine found a +Syrian swaggering about town, _fêted_ everywhere, as though he were the +greatest man of the day; and who should the Syrian nabob turn out to be, +but a man he had employed as a servant in the East, and whom he had been +obliged to get bastinadoed for petty theft. In England we run after we +know not whom; in America, if a lord be run after, there is at all +events a strong presumption in favour of his being at least a gentleman. +We toady our Indian swells, and they toady their English swells; and I +trust, for our sake, that in so doing they have a decided advantage over +us. + +I have also heard some of my countrymen observe, as to their +hospitality, "Oh! it's very well; but if you went there as often as I +do, you would see how soon their hospitality wears off." Who on earth +ever heard such an unreasonable remark! Because a man, in the fulness of +hospitality, dedicates his time, his money, and his convenience to +welcome a stranger, of whose character and of whose sociability he knows +nothing whatever, is he therefore bound to be saddled with that +acquaintance as often as the traveller chooses to visit the American +Continent? Is not the very idea preposterous? No man in the world is +more ready to welcome the stranger than the American; but if the +stranger revisit the same places, the courtesy and hospitality he +receives must, in justice, depend upon the impression which his company +has left on those upon whom he inflicted it. No doubt the scanty number +of travellers enables Americans to exercise more universal hospitality +than they could do if the country were filled with strangers in the same +way as Great Britain is. The increased travelling of late years has +necessarily made a marked difference on that point among ourselves, and +doubtless it may hereafter act upon the United States; but the man who +does not admit hospitality to be a most distinctive feature of the +Republic, at the present time, must indeed be rotten in the brain or the +heart. + +With regard to the political character of the Union, it is very much in +the same state as that of England. The two original parties were Whig +and Democrat, the former being synonymous with the Tory party in this +country--i.e., an honest body of men, who, in their earnest endeavours +to keep the coach straight, put the drag on so often that the horses get +restive sometimes, and start off at score when they feel the wheel +clogged. The Democrats are more nearly represented by a compound of +Whig and Radical--i.e., a body of men who, in their energetic +exertions to make the coach go, don't trouble themselves much about the +road, and look upon the drag as a piece of antiquated humbug. Sometimes +this carelessness also leads to the team-bolting; but in the States +there is so much open country that they may run away for miles without +an upset; whereas in England, when this difficulty occurs, the ribands +are generally handed over to the Jarvey of the opposite party. This old +state of affairs is entirely changed in both hemispheres; each party is +more or less broken up, and in neither country is there at present any +distinct body sufficiently numerous to form a strong government. + +In consequence of these disruptions, it may be imagined how difficult it +would be to give any accurate description of the different pieces of +crockery that constitute the political "service." Formerly, the two +cries of "Protection to Home Manufacture" and "Free Trade" were the +distinct rallying points. At present there are Slaveholders, Slavery +Extension, Free-soil, Abolitionist, Annexationist, and Heaven alone +knows how many more parties, on the question of Slavery alone, into +which the Democratic or dominant party is divided, independent of those +other general political divisions which must necessarily exist in so +large and varied a community. From the foregoing you will observe that, +to say a man is a Democrat conveys no distinct idea of his politics +except that he is not a Whig; and the Whigs also have their divisions on +the Slave question. + +But there is a party lately come into the field, and called the +Know-nothings, which requires a special notice. Their ostensible +principles have been published in the leading journals of this country, +and carry a certain degree of reason upon the face of them, the leading +features being that they are a secret society banded together for the +purpose of opposing the priestly influence of the Humanists in political +matters: for prolonging the period requisite to obtain the rights of +citizenship; and for the support of the native-born American in +opposition to all other candidates for any public situation that may be +contested. Such is the substance of their manifesto. Their opponents say +that they are sheer humbugs, and brought into life by a few old +political hacks for their own selfish ends. Owing to the factions in +the old Whig and Democratic parties, their opponents believe they may +succeed for a year or two, but they prophesy their speedy and total +disruption. Time will show--I am no prophet. There is one point in their +charter, however, that I cannot believe will ever succeed--viz., +naturalization or citizenship. Congress would be loth to pass any law +that might tend to turn the stream of emigration into another channel, +such as Australia or Canada; and individual States would be equally loth +to pass such a local law for the same reason, inasmuch as if they did, +the emigrants would move on to those States where they obtained most +speedily the rights of citizens. The crusade against the Romanists is +also so opposed to the spirit of a constitution which professes the +principle of the equal rights of man, that it is more than probable they +may ere long divide upon the unsolvable question of how to draw the line +of demarcation between the influence of the priest and the opinion of +his flock. As far, therefore, as I am capable of judging, I do not +believe they have a sufficiently broad and distinct basis to stand upon, +and I think also that the fact of their being a secret society will +rather hasten their end than otherwise. + +The last point I shall allude to is the future prospects of the +Republic; a question which doubtless is veiled in much obscurity. The +black cloud of the South hangs perpetually over their heads, ever from +time to time threatening to burst upon them. In the Free States many +feel strongly the degradation of being forced to aid in the capture of +the fugitive slave; and the aversion to the repulsive task is increasing +rather than decreasing. The citizens have on many occasions risen in +masses against those who were executing the law, and the military have +been brought into collision with them in defending the authorities. The +dread of breaking up the Union alone prevents that clause being struck +out from the Constitution, by which they are compelled not merely to +restore but to hunt up the fugitive. The "Freesoilers" also feel +indignant at seeing their nation turning virgin soil into a land of +Slavery; the Nebraska Bill has strengthened that feeling considerably. +The Abolitionists are subject to constant fits of rabidity which +increase intensity with each successive attack. Thousands and thousands +of Northerns, who writhe under the feeling that their star-spangled +banner is crossed with the stripes of the slave, turn back to the +history of their country, and recalling to mind the glorious deeds that +their ancestors have accomplished under that flag, their hearts +respond--"The Union for ever!" + +But perhaps the strongest feeling in the Republic which tends to keep +things quiet, is that the intelligence of the community of the North, +who are opposed both to slavery and to the fugitive law, foresee that if +those objects are only to be obtained at the price of separation from +the South, greater evils would probably accrue than those they are +anxious to remove. However peaceably a separation might be made in +appearance, it could never take place without the most bitter feelings +of animosity. Junius describes the intensity of the feeling, by saying, +"He hated me as much as if he had once been my friend;" and so it would +assuredly prove. Squabbles would breed quarrels, and quarrels would grow +into wars; the comparative harmony of a continent would be broken up, +and standing armies and fleets become as necessary in the New World as +they unfortunately are in the Old. If the South are determined to +perpetuate Slavery, the only way it will ever cease to stain the Union +is by the force of public opinion, and by the immigration of the white +man gradually driving the negro southwards from State to State. As his +value decreases, breeding for the market will gradually cease; and he +may eventually die out if the millennium does not interfere with the +process. + +Another, possible cause for division in the Union may come from +California, in which State a feeble cry has already been heard of--"a +Western Republic." The facility of intercourse afforded by railroads +seems likely to stop the swelling of that cry; but if California did +separate, it would not be attended with those evils which a disruption +of the Southern States would inevitably produce. The only other chance +of a division in the Republic which I can conceive possible is, in the +event of a long war with any great maritime power, for ends which only +affected one particular portion of the States; in which case the +irresistible influence of the all mighty dollar might come into powerful +action. The wealth of America is her commerce; whatever checks that, +checks the pulsations of her vitality; and unless her honour was +thoroughly compromised in the struggle, neither North nor South would be +disposed to prolong a ruinous struggle for the sole benefit of the +other. The prospects of such a contingency may, I trust, be deemed +visionary. France is not likely to come in contact with the Union; and +the only other maritime nation is Great Britain, whose interests are so +identified with peace, that it is hardly possible she should encourage +any other than the most friendly relations. Neither party could gain +anything by a war, and both parties would inevitably suffer immensely; +and although I fear there is but too strong evidence, that many ignoble +minds in the Republic make blustering speeches, and strive to excite +hostile feelings, the real intelligence and wealth of the States +repudiate the unworthy sentiment, and deprecate any acts that could +possibly lead to a collision between the two countries. Besides all +which, there is that strong affinity between _£. s. d._ and dollars and +cents, whereby so strong an influence is exercised over that commercial +body which constitutes no unimportant portion of the wealth and +intelligence of both nations. + +If the views I have taken be correct, it is indeed impossible to +foreshadow the future of the United States; centuries must elapse ere it +can become sufficiently peopled to test the adaptation of its present +form of government to a thickly populated country; in the meantime, +there seems scarcely a limit to her increase in wealth and prosperity. +Her present gigantic stride among the nations of the world appears but +an invisible atom, if compared with the boundless resources she +encircles within her borders, not the least important of which is that +mass of energy and intelligence she is, year by year, sowing broadcast +throughout the length and breadth of the land, the Church and the School +ever following in the train, and reproducing those elements to which she +owes her present proud position. + +My task is now done. I have endeavoured, in the preceding pages, to +convey some general idea of the places I visited, and of the objects +which appeared to me most worthy of notice. I have touched but lightly +on Cuba, and I have not dwelt at any great length on the prosperous and +rising colony of Canada. My remarks have been chiefly on the United +States, which, differing in so many points from, the country of her +birth, and occupying so conspicuous a place among the nations, presented +the most extended field for observation and comment. I have on all +occasions stated plainly the impressions produced upon my mind. I have +freely remarked upon all those topics which, being public, I conceive to +be the legitimate field for a traveller's criticism; where I have +praised, or where I have condemned, I have equally endeavoured to +explain my reasons. I have called attention to facts and opinions +connected with my own country, where I thought similar points in the +Republic might help to throw light upon them. Lastly, I have endeavoured +to explain the various causes by which hostile feelings towards this +country are engendered and spread abroad among a certain portion of the +community; and I have stated my firm conviction, that the majority of +the highest order of intelligence and character entertain a sincere +desire to perpetuate our present friendly relations. + +In conclusion, I would observe, that the opinions and feelings of a +nation should not be hastily drawn from the writings of a passing +traveller, or from the casual leaders of a Free Press. Man is ever prone +to find fault with his neighbour, because the so doing involves a latent +claim to superior intelligence in himself; but a man may condemn many +things in a nation, while holding the nation itself in high esteem. The +world is a large society,--a traveller is but one of the company, who +converses through the Press; and as, in the smaller circles, +conversation would die or freeze if nothing were stated but what could +be mathematically proved, so would volumes of travels come to an +untimely end, if they never passed beyond the dull boundary of facts. In +both cases, opinions are the life of conversation; because, as no two +people agree, they provoke discussion, through the openings of which, as +truth oozes out, wise men catch it, leaving the refuse to the +unreflecting. + +The late Lord Holland, who was equally remarkable for his kindness and +his intelligence, is said to have observed, "I never met a man so great +a fool, but what I could learn something from him." Reader, I am bound +to confess his Lordship never met me; but I cannot take my leave without +expressing a hope, that you will not be less fortunate than that +amiable Peer. + +And now, farewell, thou Giant Republic! I have long since left thy +shores; but I have brought with me, and fondly cherish, the recollection +of the many pleasant days I spent within thy borders, and of all those +friends whose unceasing hospitality and kindness tracked my path without +intermission. I care not for the Filibusteros and Russian sympathizers; +I know that the heart of the intelligence of thy people beats with +friendly pulsations, to which that of my own countrymen readily +responds. All we should, and I trust all we do, mutually desire, is, to +encourage an honourable and increasing rivalry in arts, science, +commerce, and good-will. He who would disturb our amicable relations, be +he Briton or American, is unworthy of the name of a man; for he is a foe +to Liberty--Humanity--and Christianity. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote CK: The _New York Herald_ is edited by two renegade British +subjects, one of whom was, I am told, formerly a writer in a scurrilous +publication in this country.] + +[Footnote CL: It has been cited as an example of their fondness for +grand-sounding titles, that while, by the Census of Great Britain, there +were only 2,328 physicians to 15,163 surgeons, in the United States +there were 40,564 physicians to only 191 surgeons.] + +[Footnote CM: _Vide_ chapter entitled "America's Press and England's +Censor."] + +[Footnote CN: One of the few cases in which perhaps there is an +advantage in the masses voting, is where a question of public advantage +is brought forward, to which many and powerful local interests or +monopolies are opposed. Take, for instance, the supply of London with +good water, which the most utter dunderhead must admit to be most +desirable; yet the influence of vested interests is so strong that its +two millions of inhabitants seem destined to be poisoned for centuries, +and the lanes and courts will, in all probability, continue as arid as +the desert during the same period.--London, look at New York and blush!] + +[Footnote CO: While on the subject of eggs, I would ask my reader, did +you ever, while eating the said article, find your patience sorely tried +as each mouthful was being taken from its shell, and dipped carefully +into the salt? If you have ever felt the inconvenience of this tedious +process, let me suggest to you a simple remedy. After opening the egg, +and taking out one spoonful, put in enough salt for the whole, and then +on the top thereof pour a few drops of water; the saline liquid will +pervade the whole nutritious substance, and thus render unnecessary +those annoying transits above named, which make an egg as great a +nuisance at the breakfast-table as a bore in society. Who first took out +a patent for this dodge I cannot say, but I suppose it must have been a +New Englander.] + + + + +NOTES. + + +NOTE I. + +_Extent of Telegraph in the United Kingdom._ + + Miles. Miles of Wire. + ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY. + 5,070 Under ground 5,000 + Above ground 20,700 + + MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY. + 1,740 Under ground 6,180 + Above ground 4,076 + + SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH COMPANY. + 400 Under ground 2,740 + Above ground -- + + BRITISH TELEGRAPH COMPANY. + 1,000[CP] Under ground 2,755 + Above ground 3,218 + + IRISH TELEGRAPH COMPANY. + 88 Under ground 176 + Above ground -- + ---- ---- + Total 8,298 Total 44,845 + +Of the foregoing, 534 miles are submarine, employing 1100 miles of wire. +The cost of putting up a telegraph was originally 105l. per mile for +two wires. Experience now enables it to be done for 50l., and that in +a far more durable and efficient manner than is practised in the United +States. The cost of laying down a submarine telegraph is stated to be +about 230l. per mile for six wires, and 110l. for single wires. + +One feature in which the telegraphs of Great Britain differ materially +from those of America and all other countries, is, the great extent of +underground lines. There are nearly 17,000 miles of wire placed +underground in England, the cost of which is six times greater than that +of overground lines; but it has the inestimable advantage of being never +interrupted by changes of weather or by accidents, while the cost of its +maintenance is extremely small. This fact must be borne in mind, when +we come to consider the relative expense of the transmission of messages +in England and the States. + +In the foregoing lines we have shown, that England possesses, miles of +line, 8,298; miles of wire, 44,845; the United States possesses, miles +of lines, 16,735; miles of wire, 23,281. + +We thus see, that the telegraph in the United States extends over more +than twice as much ground as the British lines; while on the other hand +the system of telegraph in England is so much more fully developed, that +nearly double the quantity of wire is in actual use. On the English +lines, which are in the hands of three companies only, from 25,000 to +30,000 miles are worked on Cook and Wheatstone's system; 10,000 on the +magnetic system--without batteries;--3000 on Bain's chemical +principle--which is rapidly extending;--and the remainder on Morse's +plan. + +The price of the transmission of messages is less in America than in +England, especially if we regard the distance of transmission. In +America a message is limited to ten words; in England to twenty words; +and the message is delivered free within a certain distance from the +station. + +In both countries the names and addresses of the sender and receiver are +sent free of charge. The average cost of transmission from London to +every station in Great Britain is 13/10 of a penny per word per 100 +miles. The average cost from Washington to all the principal towns in +America is about 6/10 of a penny per word per 100 miles. The ordinary +scale of charges for twenty words in England is 1s. for fifty miles +and under; 2s. 6d. between fifty miles and 100 miles; all distances +beyond that, 5s. with a few exceptions, where there is great +competition. Having received the foregoing statement from a most +competent authority, its accuracy may be confidently relied upon. + +In conclusion, I would observe that the competition which is gradually +growing up in this country must eventually compel a reduction of the +present charges; but even before that desirable opposition arrives, the +companies would, in my humble opinion, exercise a wise and profitable +discretion by modifying their present system of charges. Originally the +addresses of both parties were included in the number of words allowed; +that absurdity is now given up, but one scarcely less ridiculous still +remains--viz., twenty words being the shortest message upon which their +charges are based. A merchant in New York can send a message to New +Orleans, a distance of 2000 miles, and transact important business in +ten words--say "Buy me a thousand bales of cotton--ship to Liverpool;" +but if I want to telegraph from Windsor to London a distance of twenty +miles, "Send me my portmanteau," I must pay for twenty words. Surely +telegraph companies would show a sound discretion by lowering the scale +to ten words, and charging two-thirds of the present price for twenty. +Opposition would soon compel such a manifestly useful change; but, +independent of all coercion, I believe those companies that strive the +most to meet the reasonable demands of the public will always show the +best balance-sheet at the end of the year.--Thirteenpence is more than +one shilling. + + +NOTE II. + +_A short Sketch of the Progress of Fire-arms._ + +The first clear notice which we have of rifles is in the year 1498, +nearly 120 years after the invention of gunpowder was known to Europe. +The Chinese, I believe, claim the invention 3000 years before the +Creation. The first rifle-maker was one Zugler, in Germany, and his +original object appears to have been merely to make the balls more +ragged, so as to inflict more serious wounds; a result produced before +that time by biting and hacking the balls. This appears clearly to have +been the intention, inasmuch as the cuts were made perfectly straight in +the first instance. The accurate dates of the introduction of the +various twists I have not been able to ascertain. + +I can find no mention of breech-loading arms before the reign of Henry +VIII., since which time they have been constantly used in China and +other parts of the East. In 1839, they were, I understand, extensively +used in Norway. A breech-loading carbine, lately brought across to this +country from America as the invention of Mr. Sharpe, was patented by a +Mr. Melville, of London, as far back as 1838. I understand Mr. Sharpe's +carbine was tried at Woolwich not long ago, and found to clog, owing to +the expansion of the metal from consecutive firing. Nor has any +breech-loading weapon hitherto introduced been able to make its way into +extensive practical use, although the Americans have constantly used +them in their navy for some years past. To return to ancient +times.--There is a matchlock in the Tower of London with one barrel and +a revolving breech cylinder which was made in the fifteenth century, and +there is a pistol on a similar plan, and dating from Henry VIII., which +may be seen in the Rotunda at Woolwich. The cylinders of both of these +weapons were worked by hand. + +The old matchlock, invented in 1471, gave way to a substitute scarcely +less clumsy, and known by the initiated as the wheel-lock, the ignition +taking place by the motion of the steel wheel against a fixed flint +placed in the midst of the priming. This crude idea originated in 1530, +and reigned undisputed until the invention of the common old flint and +steel, about the year 1692, when this latter became lord paramount, +which it still remains with some infatuated old gentlemen, in spite of +the beautiful discovery of the application of fulminating powder, as a +means of producing the discharge. + +Mr. Forsyth patented this invention in 1807, but, whether from prejudice +or want of perfection in its application, no general use was made of the +copper cap until it was introduced among sportsmen by Mr. Egg, in 1818, +and subsequently Mr. J. Manton patented his percussion tubes for a +similar purpose. The use of the copper cap in the army dates 1842, or +nearly a quarter of a century after its manifest advantages had been +apparent to the rest of the community. + +Previous to this invention it was impossible to make revolving weapons +practically available for general use. + +The public are indebted to Mr. Jones for the ingenious mechanism by +which continuous pressure on the trigger causes both the revolution of +the barrels and the discharge of the piece; this patent goes back to +1829-1830. Colonel Colt first endeavoured to make a number of barrels +revolve by raising the hammer, but the weight of the barrels suggested a +return to the old rotatory cylinder, for which he took out a patent in +1835; and in 1836 he took out another patent for obtaining the rotatory +motion by drawing back the trigger, and he subsequently introduced the +addition of a lever ramrod fixed on to the barrel. Col. Colt came to the +conclusion that the hammer-revolving cylinder was the more useful +article, inasmuch as it enabled the person using it to take a more +steady aim than with the other, which, revolving and firing by the +action of the trigger, the moment of explosion could not be depended +upon. To Col. Colt belongs the honour of so combining obsolete and +modern inventions, and superadding such improvements of his own, as to +produce the first practical and really serviceable weapon. + +Since then Messrs. Dean and Adams, in 1852, revived the old invention of +the trigger-revolving cylinder, which has the advantage of only +requiring one hand to fire, but which is immeasurably inferior where +accuracy of aim is wanted. Mr. Tranter, in 1853, patented a new +invention, which, by employing a double trigger, combines the advantages +of Colt and avoids the drawbacks of Dean and Adams. By a side-wind he +has also adapted that invaluable application of Colt's--a fixed lever +ramrod. Many other patents are springing up daily, too numerous to +mention, and too similar to admit of easy definition. + +To return to rifles.--It is well known that the ordinary rifle in use +until late years was the seven-grooved, with a spherical ball, and the +two-grooved, with a zone bullet; the latter an invention known as the +Brunswick rifle; and imported from Berlin about 1836. It was upon this +weapon Mr. Lancaster proceeded to make some very ingenious experiments, +widening the grooves gradually until at last they met, and an elliptic +bore rifle was produced, for which he obtained a patent in July, 1850; +but upon investigation it would be proved that Mr. Lancaster's patent +was invalid, inasmuch as the elliptical bore rifle is of so ancient a +date that it is mentioned in _Scloppetaria_--a work printed in 1808--as +even then obsolete; the details, methods, and instruments for their +fabrication are fully described therein; and I have seen a rifle of this +kind, made by "Dumazin, à Paris," which is at least a century old; it is +now in the possession of the Duke of Athole. Mr. Lancaster is entitled +to the credit of bringing into practical use what others had thrown on +one side as valueless. + +From rifles I turn to balls, in which the chief feature of improvement +is the introduction of the conical shape. The question of a conical ball +with a saucer base is fully discussed in _Scloppetaria_, but no +practical result seems to have been before the public until Monsieur +Delvigue, in 1828, employed a solid conical ball, which, resting on the +breech clear of the powder, he expanded by several blows with the ramrod +sufficiently to make it take the grooves. Colonel Thouvenin introduced a +steel spire into the breech, upon which the ball being forced, it +expanded more readily. This spire is called the "tige." Colonel Tamisier +cut three rings into the cylindrical surface of the bullet, to +facilitate the expansion and improve its flight. These three +combinations constitute the _Carabine à Tige_ now in general use in the +French army. Captain Minié--in, I believe, 1850--dispensed with the +tige, and employed a conical hollow in the ball; into which, introducing +an iron cup, the explosion of the powder produced the expansion +requisite. As Captain Minié has made no change in the rifle, except +removing a tige which was only lately introduced, it is certainly an +extraordinary Irishism to call his conical ball a Minié rifle; it was +partially adopted in England as early as 1851. Why his invention has not +been taken up in France, I cannot say. + +Miraculous to remark, the British Government for once appear to have +appreciated a useful invention, and various experiments with the Minié +ball were carried on with an energy so unusual as to be startling. It +being discovered that the iron cup had various disadvantages, besides +being a compound article, a tornado of inventions rushed in upon the +Government with every variety of modification. The successful competitor +of this countless host was Mr. Pritchett, who, while dispensing with the +cup entirely, produced the most satisfactory results with a simple +conical bullet imperceptibly saucered out in the base, and which is now +the generally adopted bullet in Her Majesty's service. The reader will +recognise in Mr. Pritchett's bullet a small modification of the conical +ball alluded to in _Scloppetaria_ nearly fifty years ago. + +Through the kindness of a friend, I have been able to get some +information as to the vexed question of the Minié ball, which militates +against some of the claims of the French captain, if invention be one. +The character of the friend through whom I have been put in +correspondence with the gentleman named below, I feel to be a sufficient +guarantee for the truthfulness of the statements which I here subjoin. + +[Illustration] + +Mr. Stanton, a proprietor of collieries at Newcastle-on-Tyne, conceived +the idea that if a bullet were made to receive the projectile force in +the interior of the bullet, but beyond the centre of gravity, it would +continue its flight without deviation. Having satisfied himself of the +truth of this theory, he sent the mould to the Board of Ordnance on the +20th of January, 1797, and received a reply the following month, stating +that upon trial it was found to be less accurate in its flight and less +powerful in its penetration than the round bullet then in use. They also +informed Mr. Stanton that there were some conical balls in the +repository which had been deposited there by the late Lieutenant-General +Parker, and which, having more solidity, were superior to those sent by +Mr. Stanton, thus proving that the idea of a conical expanding ball is +of very ancient date. The mould sent to the Ordnance by Mr. Stanton was +taken from a wooden model, of which the accompanying is an exact +diagram, and which is in the possession of Mr. Stanton, solicitor, at +Newcastle, the son of the originator. Evidence is afforded that Mr. Boyd +a banker, and Mr. Stanton, sen., both tried the ball with very different +success to that obtained at Woolwich; but this need excite no +astonishment, as every sportsman is aware of the wonderful difference in +the accuracy with which smooth-bored fire-arms carry balls, and for +which no satisfactory reason has ever been advanced. Mr. Kell was +subsequently present when his friend Mr. Stanton, jun., had balls made +on his father's principle for a pair of Wogden's pistols thirty years +ago; the result is reported as satisfactory. + +In 1829, Mr. Kell conceived the idea of applying the principle to +rifles, for which purpose he had a mould made by Mr. Thomas Bulcraig. +Mr. Kell altered the original ball in two points; he made the sides +stronger, and he formed the front of the ball conoidical instead of +hemispherical. I have the ball made from that mould now lying before me, +and it is precisely the same as the Minié ball without the iron cup, +which we have shown in the preceding pages is totally unnecessary. This +ball has been constantly in use by Mr. Kell and others until the present +day; it is the first application of a conical expanding ball to rifles +that I can find on record, and whatever credit is due to the person who +transferred the expanding ball from a smooth bore wherein it was +useless, to a rifle wherein it is now proved to be invaluable, belongs, +as far as I can trace the application back, to Mr. Kell, A.D. 1829. + +In 1830, Mr. Kell employed Mr. Greener, then a gunmaker at Newcastle, to +make him a mould for a double pea rifle, and he left in Mr. Greener's +hands one of the balls made for the Wogden pistol, and one of those made +by Mr. Bulcraig, to assist him in so doing. It appears that Mr. Greener +must have been satisfied with the success attending Mr. Kell's +application of the conical ball to a rifle, for some years after, in +August, 1836, he applied to the Ordnance for permission to have a trial +of the conical ball made; this was granted, and the experiment was +conducted under Major Walcott of the Royal Artillery, on the sands near +Tynemouth Castle, the firing party consisting of a company of the 60th +Rifles. Mr. Greener having failed to bring a target, to test the +superior penetrating power of his balls, the ordinary Artillery target +was used. Mr. Greener's ball had a conical plug of lead in the hollow, +for the purpose of producing the expansion when driven home by the force +of the powder. After firing several rounds at two hundred yards, only +one ball of Mr. Greener's, which had struck the target, was found to +have the plug driven home, the others had all lost their plugs. The same +effect was produced when firing into a sand-bank. A trial was then made +at 350 yards; the spherical balls and the conical balls both went home +to the target, but only one of the latter penetrated. + +The objections pointed out to the conical ball were: the frequent loss +of the plug, by which its weight was diminished; the inconvenience of +having a hall composed of two separate parts; the difficulty of loading +if the plug was not placed accurately in the centre; and the danger of +the plug losing its place in consequence of being put in loosely, +especially when carried about for any length of time in a +cartridge.--Mr. Greener loaded the rifles during the trial with the ball +and powder separate, not in cartridge.--The advantage admitted was, +merely, rapidity of loading if the plug was fairly placed: no +superiority of range appears to have been produced over the rifles used +by the 60th Regiment. Mr. Greener solicited another trial, but after +the report of Major Walcott, the Select Committee considering the ball +"useless and chimerical," no further trial was accorded. The conical +ball question was thus once more doomed to oblivion. + +In process of time the fabulous ranges of the "_Carabine à Tige_" were +heard of, and when it was ascertained that the French riflemen potted +the gunners on the ramparts of Rome with such rapidity that they could +not stand to their guns before a rifle nearly a mile distant, the cone +shape once more turned up, and Captain Minié came forward as the +champion of the old expanding ball. The toscin of war was sounded in the +East; the public were crying aloud for British arms to be put upon an +equality with those of foreign armies; the veterans who had earned their +laurels under poor old "Brown Bess" stuck faithfully to her in her +death-struggle, and dropped a tear over the triumph of new-fangled +notions. + +In the middle of last century Lieutenant-General Parker's ball was +thrown aside; at the end of the century, Mr. Stanton's shared the same +fate; Mr. Greener's followed in 1836 with equal ill success; Captain +Minié's had a short reign, and was in turn superseded by the more solid +and superior ball now in use, and for which the country is indebted to +the experimental perseverance of Mr. Pritchett; and if ever things +obtain their right names, the weapon of the British army will be called +the Pritchett ball and not the Minié rifle; but as the world persists in +calling the Missouri the Mississippi, I suppose the British public will +behave equally shabbily by Mr. Pritchett. The reader will judge for +himself of the respective credit due to the various persons through +whose ingenuity we have at length succeeded in obtaining the present +efficient ball, the wounds from which are more frightful than pen can +portray. + +There is, however, one lesson which we should learn from the great +opposition there has been to the introduction of the conical ball, and +that is, the advantage of remodelling the department to which such +inventions are referred. The foregoing remarks appear to me conclusive +evidence that the testing of fire-arms should not be left to age and +experience alone. Prejudice is all but inseparable from age--young and +fresh blood is a powerful auxiliary. What I would suggest is, that there +should be a special examination to qualify officers of the engineers and +artillery to sit in judgment on so important a subject as arms and +missiles; and I would then propose that two officers of the former +corps, and five of the latter, be selected from those below the rank of +field-officer, to form a separate and junior Board, and that each Board +should send in its own report. The method of selection which I would +suggest is by ballot or vote of those Officers of the same rank in their +respective corps; for I feel sure that those who live most together are +the best acquainted with one another's talents. If two Boards are +objectionable, form one Board, of which one-half shall be of the junior +rank; and if they be equally divided in opinion, let the higher +authority appoint an umpire and order a second trial. + +Remember how long the now all-but-forgotten "Brown Bess" kept the field +against the adversary which has since proved her immeasurable superior; +and let the future prove that past experience has not been entirely +thrown away. Trials may be troublesome, but officers are paid for taking +trouble; and the ingenuity of inventors will always be quickened in +proportion to the conviction that their inventions will receive a full +and unprejudiced trial; and that, if their first shot at the target of +Success be an outside ringer, they will not be denied a chance of +throwing another in the Bull's-eye. + +Since the foregoing remarks went to press, it appears that the Pritchett +ball has been found wanting, both in England and in the Crimea; its +flight is said to be irregular, and the deposit of lead in the barrel so +great that after thirty rounds the charge cannot be got down. If this be +so, it is only one more proof of the necessity for some improvement in +the Board appointed to judge of and superintend warlike missiles. + +When Mr. Pritchett had perfected his ball, it was tried in the +three-groove rifle, for which it was intended, with the most +satisfactory results, and was fired an indefinite number of times +without the slightest difficulty. It appears, however, that this +successful trial was not sufficient to satisfy the new-born zeal of the +authorities. Accordingly, a conclave of gunmakers was consulted previous +to the order for manufacturing being sent to Enfield; but with a depth +of wisdom far beyond human penetration, they never asked the opinion of +Mr. Pritchett, who had made the rifle which had carried the ball so +satisfactorily. + +The wise men decided that it would be an improvement if the grooves were +deepened--a strange decision, when all the experience of the day tends +to prove that the shallower the groove the better. Down went the order; +the improved rifles were made as fast as possible, and in the month of +March they went to the seat of war. May is hardly passed by, and the sad +fact discovered in the Crimea is echoed back on our shores, that after +thirty rounds the soldiers may right about face or trust to cold steel. +I think my youngest boy--if I had one--would have suggested testing the +improvement before indulging the army with the weapon. Perhaps the +authorities went on the principle that a rifle is a rifle, and a ball is +a ball, and therefore that it must be all right. It might as well be +said a chancellor is a chancellor, and a black dose is a black dose; +therefore, because an able Aesculapius had prescribed a draught which +had proved eminently useful to bilious Benjamin, it must agree equally +well with lymphatic William.--Never mind, my dear John Bull, sixpence +more in the pound Income-tax will remedy the little oversight. + +Three years have elapsed since these observations were penned, and +behold a giant competitor has entered the field, threatening utter +annihilation to the three-groove (or Enfield) rifle and the Pritchett +ball. Mr. Whitworth (whose mechanical powers have realized an accuracy +almost fabulous), after a long course of experiments made at the +Government's expence, has produced a rifle with an hexagonal box and +ball, the correctness of which, at 1100 yards, has proved nearly equal +to that of the Enfield at 500 yards, and possessing a penetrating power +of wonderful superiority; the Enfield rifle ball scarcely penetrated 13 +half-inch Elm planks. Whitworth's hexagonal ball penetrated 33, and +buried itself in the solid block of wood behind. It remains to be seen +whether this formidable weapon can be made at such a price as to render +it available for military purposes. The hexagonal bore is not a new +invention, some of the Russians having used it in the late Baltic +campaign; but it is doubtless Mr. Whitworth's wonderful accuracy of +construction that is destined to give it celebrity, by arming it with a +power and correctness it wanted before.[CQ] An explosive ball has also +been introduced by Colonel Jacob of Eastern celebrity, which from its +greater flight will prove, when perfected, a more deadly arm than the +old spherical explosive ball invented and forgotten years ago. With the +daily improvements in science, we may soon expect to see Colonel Jacob's +in general use, unless the same principle applied to Whitworth's +hexagonal ball should be found preferable. + + * * * * * + +To those who are amateurs of the rifle, I would recommend a pamphlet, +written by Chapman, and published in New York; it is chiefly intended +for those who delight in the infantine or octogenarian amusement of +peppering a target, but it also contains many points of interest. Among +other subjects discussed are the following:--The quantity of twist +requisite in a rifle barrel--the gaining twist, as opposed to Mr. +Greener, and the decreasing twist--the size of ball best suited to +different distances--the swedge, by which a ball, being cast rather +larger than requisite, is compressed into a more solid mass--the powder +to use, decreasing in size of the grain in proportion to the diminishing +length of barrel--the loading muzzle, by which the lips of the grooves +are preserved as sharp as a razor, &c. The pamphlet can easily be +procured through Messrs. Appleton, of New York and London. + + +THE END. + +[Illustration] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Footnote CP: The miles of distance may not be quite exact, but the +miles of wire may be depended upon.] + +[Footnote CQ: The trial between the Enfield and the Whitworth rifles +cannot be yet considered conclusive, as there was a difference in the +bore of the rifles, and also Mr. Whitworth used a different kind of ball +for penetration to that used for long range.] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Lands of the Slave and the Free, by Henry A. 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