diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/11329-h/11329-h.htm')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/11329-h/11329-h.htm | 22456 |
1 files changed, 22456 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/11329-h/11329-h.htm b/old/11329-h/11329-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..984796d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11329-h/11329-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,22456 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of LANDS OF THE SLAVE AND THE FREE, by Henry A. Murray.</title> +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + + P { text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%;} + .ctr {text-align: center;} + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .note {margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} /* block indent */ + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; right: 100%; font-size: 8pt; justify: right;} /* page numbers */ + // --> + +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +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 + + + + + +</pre> + +<h1>LANDS OF THE<br> +SLAVE AND THE FREE:<br> +</h1> + +<h2>OR,<br> + Cuba, the United States, and Canada.<br> +</h2> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>CAPTAIN THE HON. HENRY A. MURRAY, R.N.</h2> + +<p class="ctr"><img src="illustrations/2.png" alt= +"Entrance to a Coffee Planter's Residence."></p> + +<p class="ctr">Entrance to a Coffee Planter's Residence.</p> + +<p>1857.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"He gave us only over beast, fish, +fowl,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dominion absolute; that right we +hold</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By his donation; but man over +man</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">He made not lord."</span><br> + + +<p>MILTON.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Gone, gone—sold and +gone,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To the rice-swamp, dank and +lone;</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">There no mother's eye is near +them,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">There no mother's ear can hear +them;</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Never, when the torturing +lash</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Seams their backs with many a +gash,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Shall a mother's kindness bless +them,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Or a mother's arms caress +them."</span><br> + + +<p>WHITTIER.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"LA CURIOSIDAD NUNCA SE ENFADA DE +SABER."<a name="FNanchorA"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_A"><sup>[A]</sup></a></span><br> + + +<p>ANTONIO PEREZ</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">"Oh, give me liberty!</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For were even Paradise my +prison,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Still I would long to leap the +crystal walls."</span><br> + + +<p>DRYDEN.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"A happy bit hame this arrld[*] +warld wad be,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">If men, whan they're here, would +make shift to agree,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And ilk said to his neebor in +cottage an' hall,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">'Come, gie me your hand, we are +brethren all.'"</span><br> + + +<p>[Transcribers note *: illegible]</p> + +<p>ROBERT NICOL.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">TO NIF, NASUS, AND CO.,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">THESE VOLUMES</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Are Dedicated</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">AS A TOKEN OF THE SINCERE AND +AFFECTIONATE REGARD</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">OF THEIR OBEDIENT +SERVANT,</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">HENRY A. MURRAY.</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">LONDON, JUNE 1ST, 1855.</span><br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="SECOND_AND_CHEAP_EDITION"></a> +<h2>SECOND AND CHEAP EDITION.</h2> + +<hr> +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i> +Westminster Review</i> and the <i>Press</i>.</p> + +<p>One weekly paper with pretensions to literary criticism (the <i> +Athenaeum</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>Conceive a would-be critic, after various spasmodic efforts at +severity, selecting from among many <i>comprehensive</i> 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 <i>that</i> 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.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Ill nature blended-with cold +blood</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Will make a critic sound and +good.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">This useful lesson hence we +learn,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bad wine to good sound vinegar will +turn."</span><br> +OLD PAMPHLET.<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>H.A.M.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CONTENTS"></a> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<br> + + +<p><a href="#A_CHAPTER">A CHAPTER GRATIS AND EXPLANATORY</a></p> + +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></p> + +<p><i>Make Ready—Fire—Departure</i>.</p> + +<p>FROM LONDON TO NEW YORK.</p> + +Preparations<br> +LIVERPOOL—Embarkation Scenes<br> +Scenes on Board<br> +CAPE RACE<br> +Pilot<br> +NEW YORK<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></p> + +<p><i>Land of Stars and Stripes</i>.</p> + +<p>AT NEW YORK.</p> + +The First View<br> +Custom House<br> +Ferry Boat<br> +First Impressions<br> +Hospitality<br> +American Hotels<br> +Bar and Barbers<br> +Bridal Chamber<br> +Paddy Waiter<br> +Feeding System<br> +Streets and Buildings<br> +Portrait Hatter<br> +Advertisements<br> +Loafing in Broadway<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></p> + +<p><i>Sights and Amusements</i>.</p> + +<p>AT NEW YORK.</p> + +Yacht Club and Dinner.<br> +Railway Society to LONG ISLAND<br> +Race Stand<br> +Trotting Match<br> +Metallic Coffin<br> +American Horse<br> +Hack Cabs and Drivers<br> +Omnibuses<br> +City Railway Cars<br> +Travelling Railway Cars<br> +Tickets for Luggage<br> +Locomotive<br> +Suggestions for Railway Companies<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></p> + +<p><i>A Day on the North River</i>.</p> + +<p>FROM NEW YORK TO GENESEO.</p> + +Embark in Steamer on Hudson<br> +Passengers and Anecdotes<br> +Scenery of River<br> +ALBANY—Disembark<br> +A Hint for Travellers<br> +Population and Prosperity<br> +Railway through Town<br> +Professor of Soap<br> +CANANDAIGUA—Hospitality.<br> +Early Education<br> +Opposite System<br> +Drive across Country—Snake Fences and Scenery<br> +Churches—a Hint for the Highlands<br> +Cheap Bait—GENESEO<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></p> + +<p><i>Geneseo</i>.</p> + +<p>AT GENESEO</p> + +Absence of Animal Life—Early Rising<br> +View from the Terrace—Work of the Pioneer<br> +Farm and System, Wages, &c.<br> +A Drive—Family Scene<br> +LAKE CANESUS<br> +Plank road. Toll gates, &c.<br> +Scotch Pikeman<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></p> + +<p><i>Stirring Scenes and Strange Sights</i>.</p> + +<p>FROM GENESEO TO NEW YORK.</p> + +A Drive to BATAVIA—Railway Warning<br> +Buffalo Railway Station and Yankee Cabby<br> +Prosperity and Contrast<br> +NIAGARA<br> +ROCHESTER<br> +A Live Bloomer<br> +Advantage proved by Contrast<br> +Reflections on Old Fashions<br> +Pleasant Night<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></p> + +<p><i>Construction and Destruction</i>.</p> + +<p>AT NEW YORK.</p> + +Cutter Yacht, "Black Maria"<br> +Dinner on Board<br> +Toddy and Chowder<br> +Prosperity—Croton Aqueduct<br> +Destruction of Dogs<br> +Drive on the Bloomingdale Road<br> +A Storm<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a></p> + +<p><i>South and West</i>.</p> + +<p>FROM NEW YORK TO LOUISVILLE.</p> + +Ticket Station<br> +PHILADELPHIA—Convenience<br> +Luggage left behind<br> +BALTIMORE—MAXWELL POINT<br> +Canvas-back Ducks<br> +Tolling for Ducks<br> +Start by Rail—A Fix<br> +HARRISBURGH—The Whittling Colonel<br> +Start again. Pleasant Company<br> +Inclined Planes—Canal Boat<br> +Coaching Comfort<br> +PITTSBURG<br> +Railing through Forest, and Reflections<br> +CLEVELAND—Mud-walk<br> +To Sleep or not to Sleep<br> +CINCINNATI—Statistics and Education<br> +Porkopolis and Pigs<br> +A bloody Scene<br> +Ships at Marietta<br> +OHIO—Levee and Literature<br> +Embark on Steamer—Black Stewardess<br> +Ibrahim Pacha and Fat<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a></p> + +<p><i>Scenes Ashore and Afloat</i>.</p> + +<p>FROM LOUISVILLE TO ST. LOUIS.</p> + +Fabrication of the Republican Bonbon<br> +Wood Machinery<br> +A Nine-inside Coach<br> +Human Polecat<br> +Breakfast and Cigar <i>versus</i> Foetor<br> +Ferry Crossing—Travelling Beasts<br> +Old Bell's and Old Bell<br> +Cross Country Drive—Scenery<br> +The Mammoth Cave<br> +Old Bell and the Mail<br> +Pleasant Companions<br> +Rural Lavatory<br> +Fat Boy and Circus Intelligence<br> +LOUISVILLE and Advice<br> +Ohio—A Bet at the Bar<br> +A Dinner Scene and a Lady<br> +Dessert and Toothpicks<br> +Evening Recreation<br> +CAIRO—Its Prospects<br> +ST. LOUIS—Its Prosperity<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a></p> + +<p><i>River Scenes</i>.</p> + +<p>FROM ST. LOUIS TO NEW ORLEANS.</p> + +MISSISSIPPI—Good-natured Weakness<br> +Mississippi <i>v</i>. Missouri<br> +Stale Anecdote revived<br> +Marriage Certificate<br> +Folly—Description of Steamer<br> +Inspection Farce described<br> +Corporal Punishment—Illustration<br> +Captain of Mizen Top <i>v</i>. White Nigger<br> +Scenery<br> +Mississippi—Good night<br> +Screecher & Burster—A Race<br> +Captain leaves us<br> +Bed—Alarm—Wreck<br> +Brutal Heartlessness<br> +River Wreckers<br> +NEW ORLEANS<br> +Wrecks, Causes and Remedies<br> +Anecdotes of Blood<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a></p> + +<p><i>New Orleans</i>.</p> + +<p>FROM NEW ORLEANS TO HAVANA.</p> + +Situation and Bustle<br> +Cotton, Tobacco and Sugar<br> +Steamers, and Wages<br> +Streets, Hotels, &c<br> +A Friend in Need. Neighbourhood, Shell-road<br> +Society and Remarks<br> +Rough-and-Tumble—Lola Montez<br> +A Presbyterian Church<br> +The Gold Man<br> +Autocracy of the Police<br> +Law—Boys and Processions<br> +Duel Penalties—Stafford House Address<br> +Clubs<br> +Spanish Consul and Passport<br> +Parting Cadeau<br> +Pilot Dodge<br> +Purser Smith<br> +Sneezing Dangerous—Selecting a Companion<br> +HAVANA<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a></p> + +<p><i>The Queen of the Antilles</i>.</p> + +<p>AT CUBA.</p> + +Volante<br> +Lively Funeral<br> +A Light to a Cigar<br> +Evening Amusement<br> +Trip to MATANZAS—El Casero<br> +Slave Plantation<br> +Sugar Making<br> +Luxuriant Vegetation<br> +Punic Faith and Cuban Cruelty<br> +H.M.S. "Vestal"<br> +Bribery<br> +Admiralty Wisdom<br> +Cigars and Manufactory<br> +Population—Chinese<br> +Laws of Domicile—Police and Slavery<br> +Increase of Slaves and Produce<br> +Tobacco, Games, and Lotteries<br> +Cuban Jokes<br> +Sketch of Governors<br> +The Future of Cuba?<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a></p> + +<p><i>Change of Dynasty</i>.</p> + +<p>FROM CUBA TO BALTIMORE.</p> + +KEY POINT<br> +Vulgar Hebrew<br> +CHARLESTON, WASHINGTON<br> +Night and Morning<br> +Congress and Inauguration<br> +General Jackson and Changes<br> +Cabmen and City<br> +Shopman and Drinking<br> +Levees and Buildings<br> +BALTIMORE and Terrapin<br> +The Drama<br> +Progress—Fire Companies<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</a></p> + +<p><i>Philadelphia and Richmond</i>.</p> + +<p>FROM BALTIMORE TO RICHMOND.</p> + +PHILADELPHIA and Hospitality.<br> +Streets—Mint<br> +Gerard College<br> +High School<br> +A Jail and a Cure for the Turbulent<br> +Lunatic Asylum<br> +NEW YORK and Embark<br> +A Wild Paddy<br> +CHARLESTON Arrival<br> +Hotel and Hospitality<br> +Climate and Buildings<br> +Commercial Prosperity<br> +Fire Companies<br> +Miniature WEST POINT (<i>Vide</i> Note)<br> +WILMINGTON Railway Accident<br> +PETERBOROUGH and my Hat<br> +RICHMOND Scenery and Prosperity<br> +Powhattan's Tree, an Episode<br> +A Lady Friend<br> +Fire and Folly<br> +Monkey Boy<br> +Gerymander<br> +Fire Company, Frolic and Reflections<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</a></p> + +<p><i>From a River to a Race-course</i>.</p> + +<p>FROM RICHMOND TO NEW YORK.</p> + +Down the River<br> +WILLIAMSBURG. Old Palace<br> +A Governor and a Paddy<br> +The College<br> +Uncle Ben and his Inn<br> +Reflections<br> +SHIRLEY, Hospitality, &c.<br> +BEANDON, Hospitality, &c.<br> +Rural Election—A Cruise in a Calm<br> +Choral Warblers and Family Altar<br> +NORFOLK, Dockyard, &c.<br> +Slave Servants, a Hint to the Foreign Office<br> +<i>Via</i> BALTIMORE to PHILADELPHIA—A Confession.<br> +Race—Mac and Tac<br> +NEW YORK<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</a></p> + +<p><i>Home of the Pilgrim Fathers</i>.</p> + +<p>FROM NEW YORK TO BOSTON.</p> + +Off by rail—Foxhunting Fire<br> +BOSTON. Buildings and Hospitality<br> +Neighbourhood and Names<br> +The Drama<br> +Spirit-rapping and Gulls<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</a></p> + +<p><i>Teaching of Youth and a Model Jail</i>.</p> + +<p>AT BOSTON.</p> + +Pilgrim Fathers<br> +Education—Expenditure—Regulations, &c.<br> +Phonetic System<br> +A Model Jail—Telegraph and Fire—Dockyard<br> +Water Supply, Prosperity, &c.<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.</a></p> + +<p><i>Canada</i>.</p> + +<p>FROM BOSTON TO QUEBEC.</p> + +Railroad and Scenery<br> +MONTREAL, and a Welcome Face<br> +Gavazzi—Excitement—Mob, &c.<br> +QUEBEC and Neighbourhood Mrs. Paul and Miss Paddy<br> +Ferry-boat and Friends<br> +Rebellion Losses Bill<br> +Moral Courage and Administrative Ability evidenced and +acknowledged<br> +Hint for Militia<br> +Canadian Government<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.</a></p> + +<p><i>A Trip to the Uttáwa</i>.</p> + +<p>FROM QUEBEC TO TORONTO.</p> + +Mr. Hincks—Mr. Drummond—MONTREAL<br> +Up the OTTAWAY to LACHINE, ST. ANNE'S to BYTOWN and AYLMER<br> +The CHATS FALLS<br> +Canadian Highlanders<br> +Conflagration, Rafts, Lumberers, and Teetotallers<br> +The Struggle, the Goal, and the Return<br> +AYLMER Prosperity<br> +BYTOWN. Scenery and Advantages<br> +Slides for Lumber—Mr. Mackay<br> +Object of Councillor's Visit<br> +Drive across Country<br> +PRESCOTT and OGDENSBURG<br> +KINGSTON<br> +LAKE ONTARIO and a Nice Bed<br> +TORONTO<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.</a></p> + +<p><i>Colonial Education and Prosperity</i>.</p> + +<p>AT TORONTO.</p> + +TORONTO. Population, Prosperity and Buildings<br> +The Normal School<br> +Education generally Canadian Prospects and Prosperity<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.</a></p> + +<p><i>A Cataract and a Celebration</i>.</p> + +<p>FROM TORONTO TO NEW YORK.</p> + +Embark in Steamer<br> +QUEENSTOWN & LEWISTOWN<br> +A Drive, a Bait, and a Lesson<br> +NIAGARA and Moonlight<br> +BATAVIA, GENESEO, and 4th July<br> +Hawking Carriages—ROCHESTER<br> +ALBANY—Hands and Sandwiches<br> +Dropped outside—NEW YORK<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.</a></p> + +<p><i>Education, Civil and Military</i>.</p> + +<p>NEW YORK AND WEST POINT.</p> + +Free Academy<br> +WEST POINT. Military Academy<br> +Anecdote, &c.<br> +NEW YORK<br> + + +<hr> +<p>Here travelling ceases, and the remaining Chapters are devoted +to the discussion of subjects which I trust may interest the +reader.</p> + +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.</a></p> + +<p><i>Watery Highways and Metallic Intercourse</i>.</p> + +Area of Lakes, and Tonnage thereon<br> +Mississippi—Produce borne and destroyed<br> +Mr. Douglas and Custom Houses<br> +A Great Party Doctrine<br> +Erie Canal—Barn-burners and Hunkers<br> +Railways—United States and England<br> +Telegraph<br> +Systems of Telegraph<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.</a></p> + +<p><i>America's Press and England's Censor</i>.</p> + +Issues of the Press<br> +Wonderful Statistics<br> +Character of the Press<br> +Great Britain's Press<br> +Low Literature of America<br> +Barefaced Robbery—<i>Northwood</i> Specimen<br> +<i>English Items</i> Specimen<br> +The Author of <i>English Items</i><br> +SUBJECTS EXTRACTED:—<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Relations with England</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sixpenny Miracles</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Army Commissions—English +Writers</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">American Spitting</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Holy Places</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">English Friends</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Original Sin</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">English Manners</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">English Church and +Heraldry</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Devotion to Dinner</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Conclusion</span><br> +Subsequent Career of Mr. Ward—The Offence—The Scene and +the Death<br> +Acquittal and Effects<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV.</a></p> + +<p><i>The Institution of Slavery</i>.</p> + +Original Guilt<br> +Northern Fanatics<br> +Irritation produced<br> +Northern Friendship questioned<br> +Grounds of Southerners' Objections to the Abolitionists<br> +English Abolitionists<br> +Mrs. Stowe's Ovation<br> +Treatment of Slaves<br> +Irresponsible Power and Public Opinion<br> +Sources of Opinion as to Treatment of +Slaves—Law—Self-interest<br> +Christianity<br> +Habit<br> +Causes of Indignation<br> +Recrimination<br> +Evidence from Authors—Press and Canada<br> +Review of Progress of Slavery<br> +Slave Population and Value<br> +Question of Freedom<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI.</a></p> + +<p><i>Hints for Master and Hopes for Slave</i>.</p> + +PROPOSALS.<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Free Soil</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fugitive Law</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Territory of Refuge</span><br> +TREATMENT DISCUSSED.<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Corporal Punishment</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Forfeiture and Testimony</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">System for Ultimate +Freedom</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The Blackest Feature in +Slavery</span><br> +VISIONARY DEPUTATION<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Inveterate Slaveholder</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Touchy Slaveholder, and Swaggering +Bully</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Clerical Slave Advocate</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Amiable Planter</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Recriminator</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Abolitionist and Intelligent +Slaveholder</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A frightful Question</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Closing Observations</span><br> +Nebraska—The Christian and the Mussulman<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII.</a></p> + +<p><i>Constitution of the United States</i>.</p> + +Plan Proposed<br> +Government and Qualification for Office<br> +Elective Franchise<br> +Frequency of Elections<br> +Ballot<br> +Effects of Elections under the Ballot<br> +Remedy proposed<br> +John Randolph, Sydney Smith, and Clubs<br> +Payment of Members and its Effects<br> +Scene in Congress<br> +The Judiciary<br> +Exclusion of Cabinet from Seats<br> +Power of President<br> +Election of President<br> +Governors of States, and Power of Pardon<br> +Conclusion and Testimony of Bishop Hopkins<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII.</a></p> + +<p><i>The Church, the School, and the Law</i>.</p> + +Church Statistics<br> +American Episcopal Prayer-Book<br> +Methodist Episcopacy and Presbyterian Music<br> +What exists at Home<br> +Ismite Convention<br> +Education Statistics and College Expenses<br> +Pray read this—Law for Conveyance of Land<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX.</a></p> + +<p><i>Inventions and Inveighings</i>.</p> + +What is a Bay?<br> +Dr. King—Fulton and Steam<br> +Telegraph and American Modesty<br> +Reaping Machine<br> +Opinion of a Borderer<br> +American Ingenuity<br> +Fire-arms and Militia<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX.</a></p> + +<p><i>Adverse Influences</i>.</p> + +The 4th July<br> +Mr. Douglas and Congress<br> +Miss Willard and John Mitchell<br> +Who are the Antipathists?<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI.</a></p> + +<p><i>Olla Podrida</i>.</p> + +American Vanity<br> +American Sensitiveness<br> +American Morals<br> +Territory and Population<br> +Effect of Early Education<br> +Phases of Liberty<br> +Strikes<br> +Intelligence<br> +Energy<br> +'Cuteness and Eggs<br> +Enterprise—Lord-hunting<br> +Hospitality—Political Parties<br> +Know-nothings<br> +The Future<br> +My Endeavour<br> +My Warning<br> +Lord Holland, Hope, and Farewell<br> +<br> + + +<p><a href="#NOTES">NOTES.</a></p> + +EXTENT OF TELEGRAPH IN THE UNITED KINGDOM<br> +A SHORT SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF FIRE-ARMS<br> +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<a name="Footnote_A"></a><a href="#FNanchorA">[A]</a> +<div class="note"><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"THE INQUIRING MIND WEARIES NOT IN +THE PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE."</span><br> +ANTONIO PEREZ. (<i>Translation</i>)</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="EXPLANATORY_LIST_OF_PLATES"></a> +<h2>EXPLANATORY LIST OF PLATES.</h2> + +<br> + + +<p>VIGNETTE OF THE ENTRANCE TO A COFFEE PLANTER'S RESIDENCE</p> + +<p>RAILWAY CARRIAGE</p> + +<p>LOCOMOTIVE</p> + +<p>CUTTER YACHT "MARIA"</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The following are the dimensions +referred to in the text as being on</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the original +engraving:—</span><br> + + +<pre> + 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. +</pre> + +<p>MAP OF CROTON AQUEDUCT</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">This map is accurately copied from +Mr. Schramke's scientific work, but</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the reader is requested to +understand that the lines drawn at right</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">angles over the whole of Manhattan +Island represent what the city of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">New York is intended to be. At +present its limits scarcely pass <i>No.</i><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">1. Distributing +Reservoir</span>.</span><br> + + +<p>STEWARDESS OF THE "LADY FRANKLIN"</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">This print may possibly be a little +exaggerated.</span><br> + + +<p>A MISSISSIPPI STEAMER</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">This print is raised out of all +proportion, for the purpose of giving</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a better idea of the scenes on +board, than the limits of the sheet</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">would otherwise have permitted. If +the cabin on the deck of the Hudson</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">River steamer were raised upon +pillars about 15 or 20 feet high, it</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">would convey a tolerably accurate +impression of the proper</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">proportions.</span><br> + + +<p>THE NEW ST. CHARLES HOTEL, NEW ORLEANS</p> + +<p>EL CASERO, OR THE PARISH HAWKER IN CUBA</p> + +<p>THE GERARD COLLEGE, PHILADELPHIA</p> + +<p>NORMAL SCHOOL, TORONTO</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A great portion of the ground +adjoining is now given up to</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">agricultural experimental +purposes.</span><br> + + +<p>HUDSON RIVER STEAMER, 1200 TONS</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The dimensions +are:—</span><br> + + +<pre> + 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 " +</pre> + +<p>MAP OF THE UNITED STATES</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="A_CHAPTER"></a> +<h2>A CHAPTER,</h2> + +<h3><i>Gratis and Explanatory</i>.</h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>potage au +lecteur</i>, known among professional men as "soldier's broth."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<a name="FNanchorB"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_B"><sup>[B]</sup></a> and observation have led me to +entertain on the subject under discussion, and for which I offer +neither defence nor apology.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>I trust I have now satisfied all the legitimate demands of +curiosity.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>H.A.M.</p> + +<p>D 4, ALBANY, LONDON,</p> + +<p><i>1st June, 1855</i>.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_B"></a><a href="#FNanchorB">[B]</a></p> + +<div class="note">Perhaps "human instinct" might be a more modest +expression.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_I"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3><i>"Make ready ... Fire!" The Departure.</i></h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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 +"<i>fourgon</i>" 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>i.e.</i>, a desire to have everything, and yet carry scarce +anything.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>vice versa</i>. When we +got to the door it was pitch dark; and thus ended our lionizing of +the public buildings of Liverpool.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>WIFE.—"Now, William, my dear, <i>do</i> keep that little +box up!"</p> + +<p>HUSBAND.—"Hi! there; keep that hat-box of mine up!" +(<i>Aside</i>,) "Never mind your box, my dear, <i>it</i> wont +hurt."</p> + +<p>WIFE.—"Oh, William, there's my little cap-box going down! +it will be broken, in pieces."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>v</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Some wave the hand, and some begin +to cry,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Some take a weed, and nodding, say +good-bye."</span><br> + + +<p>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, "<i>L'appétit vient en +mangeant</i>." 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!"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<a name= +"FNanchorC"></a><a href="#Footnote_C"><sup>[C]</sup></a>.</p> + +<p>Early on the morning of the tenth day I heard voices outside my +cabin saying, "Well, they've got the pilot on board," <i>ergo</i>, +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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>soirée</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_C"></a><a href="#FNanchorC">[C]</a></p> + +<div class="note">I believe another lighthouse is to be erected on +the proper headland.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_II"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3><i>The Land of Stars and Stripes.</i></h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Alamedas</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i> +Café Delmonico</i>, 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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>cuisine</i>, +&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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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—</p> + +<p>"Did I not tell you to get me some warm water?"</p> + +<p>"You did, your honour."</p> + +<p>"Then, why have you not brought it?"</p> + +<p>"Can't tell, your honour."</p> + +<p>"Well, go and get it at once."</p> + +<p>Paddy left the room, and waited outside the door scratching his +head. In about a quarter of an hour a knock was heard:—</p> + +<p>"Come in!"</p> + +<p>Paddy's head appeared, and, with a most inquiring voice, he +said—</p> + +<p>"Is it warm water to dhrink you want, your honour?" <i>Ex +uno</i>, &c.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>luxe</i> of fitting up some of these shops is +inconceivable.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ANOTHER DREADFUL +ACCIDENT.—OH, MA! I MET WITH A DREADFUL</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ACCIDENT!--The other night, while +dancing with cousin Frank, I dropped</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">my Breastpin and Ear-Ring on the +floor and broke them all to</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">pieces—Never mind, my dear. +Just take them to ---- Jewellery</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Store. You can get them made as +good as new again!</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">GRATIFYING NEWS.—We have +just learned, with real pleasure, that the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>seedy</i> young man who sprained +his back whilst trying to "raise the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">wind" is fast recovering, in +consequence of judiciously applying the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mustang Liniment. It is to be hoped +he will soon be entirely cured,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and that the next time he +undertakes it, he will take an <i>upright</i></span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">position, and not adopt the <i> +stooping</i> posture. This precaution, we</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">have no doubt, will ensure +success.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">This Liniment can be had of +----.</span><br> + + +<p>Even, marriage and death are not exempt from the fantastic +advertising style.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">On Friday, June 10, by the Rev. Mr. +----, after a severe and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">long-protracted courtship, which +they bore with Christian fortitude</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and resignation, solely sustained +and comforted, under all misgivings,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">by their sincere and confiding +belief in the promise of a rich, and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">living inheritance in another +state, Mr. ---- to Miss ----, all of this</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">city.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">On April 4, of congestion of the +brain, F---- E----, son of J---- and</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">M---- C. D----, aged fourteen +months.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">His remains were taken to G---- +for interment yesterday.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">List! heard you that angel +say,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">As he waved his little +wing,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1.5em;">"Come, Freddy, come +away,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Learn of me a song to +sing!"</span><br> + + +<p>The most gigantic advertiser—if the <i>New York Daily +Sun</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_III"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3><i>Sights and Amusements</i>.</h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>On my arrival, I found a host of bachelors, and wedded men <i>en +garçon</i>, 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."</p> + +<p>Our party was a very jovial one, as I think parties generally +are when composed of those who are much <i>on</i> the water. Such +people naturally look upon a leak as very lubberly and +unprofessional, and therefore scrupulously avoid letting <i>in</i> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i> +élite</i> 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,"—<i>alias</i> mob.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>gratis</i>—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><img src="illustrations/53.png" alt= +"A RAILWAY CARRIAGE."></p> + +<p class="ctr">A RAILWAY CARRIAGE.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Before leaving the subject of railway carriages, I may as well +give you a description of the travelling cars in ordinary use.</p> + +<p>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 400<i>l</i>. to 450<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><img src="illustrations/57.png" alt= +"THE LOCOMOTIVE."></p> + +<p class="ctr">THE LOCOMOTIVE.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>en route</i>, instead +of inconveniencing the public, as at present, by detaining the +train many minutes for that purpose.<a name="FNanchorD"></a><a +href="#Footnote_D"><sup>[D]</sup></a></p> + +<p>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 <i>danger</i>, the ordinary one being +employed, as at present, only to give warning of approach.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_D"></a><a href="#FNanchorD">[D]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_IV"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3><i>A Day on the North River</i>.</h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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!"</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>appétissant</i> as a glass +of bitters, but a peep at the <i>tout-ensemble</i> 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.</p> + +<p>'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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Professor of Soap</i>. 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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"I say, father, can I have Two-forty?<a name="FNanchorE"></a><a +href="#Footnote_E"><sup>[E]</sup></a> I want to go down to the +farm, to see my cattle fed!"</p> + +<p>Scarce had leave been obtained, before a cry was heard in +another quarter. "Hallo, Jemmy! what's the matter now? Wont Shelty +go?"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>The infant Jehu mounts, and of course commences pitching into +Shelty, alike vigorously and harmlessly; off they go at score."</p> + +<p>"Where are you going, Jemmy?"</p> + +<p>"What—say—father?" No words are lost.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going, Jemmy?"</p> + +<p>"Going to get some turnips for my pigs;" and Jemmy disappeared +in a bend of the road.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>On another occasion, I remember seeing three lads, the oldest +about twelve, starting off in a four-wheeled cart, armed with an +old gun.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going, there?"</p> + +<p>"To shoot pigeons."</p> + +<p>"What's that sticking out of your pocket?"</p> + +<p>"A loaded pistol;" and off they went at full swing.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_E"></a><a href="#FNanchorE">[E]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_V"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3><i>Geneseo</i>.</h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i> +ennui</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 2-1/4<i>d</i>. +per lb. live weight, or 4-1/2<i>d</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The wages of the farm servants are:—For those engaged by +the year, 2<i>l</i>. 10<i>s</i>. a month; for six months, +2<i>l</i>. 18<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>. a month; for three months, +3<i>l</i>. 11<i>s</i>. 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 <i>ad libitum</i>; +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 75<i>l</i>. +to 125<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>"John, I declare these springs are worn out, and the carriage +itself is little better."</p> + +<p>"Now, Susan, what's the good of your talking that way; you know +they are perfectly good, my dear."</p> + +<p>"Oh, John! you know what I say is true, and that the carriage +has never been touched since we married."</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>"Well, what then?" said the unsuspecting wife.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"Oh, John, stop! stop!"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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 <i>peccavi</i>, 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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_VI"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3><i>Stirring Scenes and Strange Sights</i>.</h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>pro +formâ</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 100,000<i>l</i>., would +feel disappointed if he awoke and found a legacy of 90,000<i>l</i>. +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"There's nothing great or bright, +thou glorious Fall!</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Thou may'st not to the fancy's +sense recal;</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The thunder-riven cloud, the +lightning's leap,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The stirring of the chambers of the +deep,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earth's emerald green, and +many-tinted dyes,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The fleecy whiteness of the upper +skies,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The tread of armies thickening as +they come,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The boom of cannon and the beat of +drum,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The brow of beauty and the form of +grace,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The passion and the prowess of our +race,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The song of Homer in its loftiest +hour,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The unresisted sweep of human +power,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Britannia's trident on the azure +sea,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">America's young shout of +liberty!</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Oh! may the waves that madden in +thy deep,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">There spend their rage, nor climb +the encircling steep,—</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And till the conflict of thy surges +cease,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The nations on thy banks repose in +peace!"</span><br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Cockney poet—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Next to the bliss of seeing +Sarah,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Is that of seeing +Niagara."</span><br> + + +<p>Free and enlightened—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Of all the roaring, +pouring,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Spraying streams that +dash,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Niagara is Number One,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All to immortal smash!"</span><br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i> +him</i>—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.</p> + +<p>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. <i>Dramatis +personae</i>—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.</p> + +<p>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 +1<i>l</i>. 3<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Mem.—What a nice thing it is to put up at an hotel quite +handy to a railway station.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_VII"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3><i>Construction and Destruction</i>.</h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<br> + + +<p>THE CUTTER YACHT "BLACK MARIA."</p> + +<p>Displacement, 145 tons.</p> + +<p>Draught of water on straight keel, 5 feet 2 inches.</p> + +<p>Length of straight keel, 60 feet, then running away in a curving +line upwards, till at the bow it draws 10 inches.</p> + +<p>Length of centre-board, 24 feet.</p> + +<p>Total depth of ditto, 15 feet; weight, 7 tons.</p> + +<p>Foremost end of ditto, about 8 feet abaft the foremost end of +straight keel.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Length over all, 113 feet.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The main boom is 95 feet long<a name="FNanchorF"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_F"><sup>[F]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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).</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The jib is 69 feet in the hoist, and 70 in the foot.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><img src="illustrations/95.png" alt= +"THE BLACK MARIA."></p> + +<p class="ctr">THE BLACK MARIA.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>Recipes</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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,<a name= +"FNanchorG"></a><a href="#Footnote_G"><sup>[G]</sup></a> 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,<a name="FNanchorH"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_H"><sup>[H]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 25,500,000<i>l</i>., 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.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchorI"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_I"><sup>[I]</sup></a></p> + +<p>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 2,500,000<i>l</i>.; the revenue +derived from it is 100,000<i>l</i>. a year, moderate-sized houses +paying 2<i>l</i>., and others in proportion.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><img src="illustrations/100.png" alt= +"PLAN OF THE CROTON AQUEDUCT."></p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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 <i>auto-da-fé</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>Upon a certain day, the mayor of New York offers the usual +reward of 2<i>s</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Owners are allowed to reclaim their property before sunset, on +payment of the 2<i>s</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_F"></a><a href="#FNanchorF">[F]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_G"></a><a href="#FNanchorG">[G]</a></p> + +<div class="note">Turbot is a good substitute for sea-bass.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_H"></a><a href="#FNanchorH">[H]</a></p> + +<div class="note">A small American biscuit made of best +flour.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_I"></a><a href="#FNanchorI">[I]</a></p> + +<div class="note"><i>Vide</i> sketch of Aqueduct.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_VIII"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3><i>South and West</i>.</h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>al fresco</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>viser</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>matériel</i> for sport, running down occasionally from +Baltimore for a day or two, when opportunity offers, and enjoying +themselves in true pic-nic style.<a name="FNanchorJ"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_J"><sup>[J]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p>The <i>modus operandi</i> 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 <i>coups de roi</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>cuisine</i>, +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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,<a name= +"FNanchorK"></a><a href="#Footnote_K"><sup>[K]</sup></a> 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!</p> + +<p>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 <i>en route</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchorL"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_L"><sup>[L]</sup></a></p> + +<br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, <i>viâ</i> 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 <i>ad valorem</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i> +café au lait</i> before you, how easy and pleasant good +resolutions are.</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 13,000<i>l</i>. and 14,000<i>l</i>. +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."</p> + +<p>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 13,500<i>l</i>., of which sum they receive from the State +fund above alluded to 1500<i>l</i>., 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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>But we must now visit the great lion of the place, whence the +city obtains the <i>sobriquet</i> of "Porkopolis," <i>i.e.</i>, the +<i>auto da fé</i> 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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>A table of piggy statistics for one year may not be +uninteresting to my reader, or, at all events, to an Irish +pig-driver:—</p> + +<pre> + 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 +</pre> + +Besides Lard Oil, 1,200,000 gallons.<br> + + +<p>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 1,155,000<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Monongahela whisky is a most important article of manufacture in +the neighbourhood, being produced annually to the value of +560,000<i>l</i>. 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 +725,000<i>l</i>. annually.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><img src="illustrations/130.png" alt= +"STEWARDESS OF "THE LADY FRANKLIN""></p> + +<p class="ctr">STEWARDESS OF "THE LADY FRANKLIN"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.'"</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_J"></a><a href="#FNanchorJ">[J]</a></p> + +<div class="note">Since I was there, General Cadwallader has taken +the place into his own hands.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_K"></a><a href="#FNanchorK">[K]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_L"></a><a href="#FNanchorL">[L]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_IX"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3><i>Scenes Ashore and Afloat</i>.</h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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 <i>bonbon</i> of the country, I may as +well describe the process which the precious vegetable goes through +ere it mingles with the human saliva.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."<a name="FNanchorM"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_M"><sup>[M]</sup></a> 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 <i>en route</i>, and can do without anything +before starting—<i>ergo</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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?"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchorN"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_N"><sup>[N]</sup></a></p> + +<br> + + +<p>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<a name="FNanchorO"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_O"><sup>[O]</sup></a> 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?"</p> + +<p>"Room for one, sir!"</p> + +<p>There was no help for it, and we were therefore obliged to leave +one servant behind, to follow next night.</p> + +<p>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 <i>vis-à-vis</i> +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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>vis-à-vis,</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Says the Colonel—"I tell you, Major, it is more than a +hundred miles."</p> + +<p>Major—"Well, but I tell you, Colonel, it aint not no such +thing."</p> + +<p>Colonel—"But, sir'ree, I know it is."</p> + +<p>Judge—"Well, Colonel, I tell you what it is; I reckon +you're wrong."</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>qui n'avait pas de quoi</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>à +l'outrance,</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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—<i>alias</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>par excellence</i> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 3,000,000<i>l</i>.; +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.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_M"></a><a href="#FNanchorM">[M]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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."</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_N"></a><a href="#FNanchorN">[N]</a></p> + +<div class="note">Since my return to England, I have seen it +asserted, by a correspondent in the <i>Morning Chronicle</i>, that +Colonel Crogan, of Louisville, purchased this cave for +2000<i>l</i>., and that, shortly after, he was offered +20,000<i>l</i>. 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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_O"></a><a href="#FNanchorO">[O]</a></p> + +<div class="note">I have heard, since my return to England, that +old Mr. Bell is dead.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_X"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3><i>River Scenes</i>.</h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>PHILOSOPHER <i>(loquitur).</i>—Can you write?</p> + +<p>BOATMAN.—I guess I can't.</p> + +<p>PHILOSOPHER.—How sad! why, you've lost one-third of your +life! Of course you can read?</p> + +<p>BOATMAN,—Well, I guess I can't that neither.</p> + +<p>PHILOSOPHER.—Good gracious me! why, you've lost two-thirds +of your life.</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>BOATMAN.—Can you swim, sir?</p> + +<p>PHILOSOPHER.—No, that I can't.</p> + +<p>BOATMAN.—Then, I guess, you've lost all your life.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>As I have alluded to that <i>rara avis</i> 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:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"State of Illenois Peoria County +ss</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"To all the world Greeting. Know +ye that John Smith and Peggy Myres is</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">hereby certified to go together and +do as old folks does, anywhere</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">inside coperas precinct, and when +my commission comes I am to marry em</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">good, and date em back to <i>kivver +accidents</i>.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"O---- M---- R---- [ss]</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Justice of the Peace."</span><br> + + +<p>Let us now return to the "Western World."</p> + +<p>Having committed the indiscretion of taking my passage on board +of her, the next step I took—<i>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>jalousies</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>Some boats have a narrow passage connecting the two galleries, +but fitted with a <i>grille</i> 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 <i>coup d'oeil</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 25,000<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>désagréments</i> of travel, were fully alive +to it, and expressed their disgust in the freest manner.</p> + +<p>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<a name="FNanchorP"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_P"><sup>[P]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>As it may interest some of <i>my</i> 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?"</p> + +<p>CAPTAIN—"Boilers are done; can't bear it nohow."</p> + +<p>KENTUCKIANS—"Can't bear it? You chicken-hearted +coward—"</p> + +<p>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!"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">DISASTERS ON WESTERN +RIVERS.—The Louisville <i>Courier</i> has published +a</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">list of disasters on Western waters +during the year 1852. It is a</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">formidable one, embracing 78 +steam-boats, 4 barges, 73 coal-boats, 3</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">salt-boats, and 4 others, +flat-boats. It appears that 47 boats were</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">lost by being snagged, 16 by +explosions, 4 were burnt, and the others</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">lost by collision and other +mishaps. The greatest number of lives lost</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">by one disaster was the explosion +of the "Saluda," 100. The total loss</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of life exceeds 400 persons.<a +name="FNanchorQ"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_Q"><sup>[Q]</sup></a></span><br> + + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchorR"></a><a +href="#Footnote_R"><sup>[R]</sup></a></p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>EXAMINER.—"Were you on board when the accident took +place?"</p> + +<p>WITNESS.—"I guess I was, and nurthing else."</p> + +<p>EXAMINER.—"Was the captain sober?"</p> + +<p>WITNESS.—"Can't tell that, nohow."</p> + +<p>EXAMINER.—"Did you not see the captain during the +day?"</p> + +<p>WITNESS.—"I guess I did."</p> + +<p>EXAMINER.—"Then can, you not state your opinion whether he +was drunk or not?"</p> + +<p>WITNESS.—"I guess I had not much time for observation; he +was not on board when I saw him."</p> + +<p>EXAMINER.—"When did you see him, then?"</p> + +<p>WITNESS.—"As I was coming down, I passed the gentleman +going up."</p> + +<p>The court, of course, was highly amused at his coolness, and +called another witness.—But let us turn from this fictitious +anecdote to fact.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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.<a name= +"FNanchorS"></a><a href="#Footnote_S"><sup>[S]</sup></a> 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."</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_P"></a><a href="#FNanchorP">[P]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_Q"></a><a href="#FNanchorQ">[Q]</a></p> + +<div class="note">A committee of the United States calculated that, +in 1846, the losses on the Mississippi amounted to +500,000<i>l</i>.; 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 750,000<i>l</i>.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_R"></a><a href="#FNanchorR">[R]</a></p> + +<div class="note"><i>Vide</i> chapter on "Watery Highways."</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_S"></a><a href="#FNanchorS">[S]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XI"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3><i>New Orleans</i>.</h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<a name="FNanchorT"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_T"><sup>[T]</sup></a>—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 7<i>l</i>. to 8<i>l</i>. per +month; but, in times of great pressure from sudden demand, &c., +they rise as high as from. 12<i>l</i>. to 14<i>l</i>. 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>i.e.</i>, +1<i>l</i>. per month.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><img src="illustrations/177.png" alt= +"THE NEW ST. CHARLES HOTEL, NEW ORLEANS."></p> + +<p class="ctr">THE NEW ST. CHARLES HOTEL, NEW ORLEANS.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchorU"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_U"><sup>[U]</sup></a> 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 <i> +chiaroscuro</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 200<i>l</i>., B. will +try and get up one at 300<i>l</i>., 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 +<i>Morning Post</i>. Whenever they do occur, they are invariably +attended with some such observations as the following:—</p> + +<p>"What did Mrs. B.'s party cost last night?"</p> + +<p>"Not less than 300<i>l</i>."</p> + +<p>"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?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes! three of them."</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Servants here are expensive articles. In the hotels you find +Irishmen almost exclusively, and their wages vary from 2<i>l</i>. +8<i>s</i>. to 10<i>l</i>. per month. In private houses, women's +wages range from 2<i>l</i>. 8<i>s</i>. to 4<i>l</i>. and men's from +6<i>l</i>. to 8<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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—</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The theatres at New Orleans are neat and airy. Lola Montez +succeeded in creating a great <i>furore</i>, 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 <i>débût.</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>gratis</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ANOTHER RING.—The "gold" +individual who exhibits himself and any</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">quantity of golden ornaments, of +Sunday mornings, in the vicinity of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Verandah and City Hotels, will +shortly appear with a new wonder</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">wherewith to astonish the natives. +One would think that he had already</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ornaments enough to satisfy any +mortal; but he, it appears, is not of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the stuff every-day people are made +of, and he could not rest</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">satisfied until his fingers boasted +another ring. The new prodigy is,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">like its predecessors, of pure +solid gold. It is worth 500 dollars,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and weighs nearly, if not quite, a +pound. This small treasure is</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">intended for the owner's "little" +finger. It is the work of Mr. Melon,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">jeweller and goldsmith, on +Camp-street, and is adorned with small</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">carved figures, standing out in +bold relief, and of very diminutive</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">size, yet distinct and expressive. +The right outer surface represents</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the flight of Joseph, the Virgin, +and the infant Jesus into Egypt.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Joseph, bearing a palm-branch, +leads the way, the Virgin follows,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">seated on a donkey, and holding the +Saviour in her lap. On the left</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">outer edge of the ring is seen the +prophet Daniel, standing between</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">two lions. The prophet has not got +a blue umbrella under his arm to</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">distinguish him from the lions. The +face of the ring exhibits an</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">excellent design of the +crucifixion, with the three crosses and the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Saviour and the two thieves +suspended thereto. This ring is certainly</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">a curiosity.</span><br> + + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchorV"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_V"><sup>[V]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>The Times</i>, 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:"—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"The principles of free government +developed here, and urging our</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">people on with unexampled rapidity +in the career of wealth and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">greatness, have always been +subjects of alarm to monarchs and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">aristocracies—of pleasure and +hope to the people. It has, of course,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">been the object of the former to +blacken us in every conceivable way,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and to make us detestable in the +eyes of the world. There has been</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">nothing since the revolution so +well calculated to advance this end,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as the exhibition which Mrs. Stowe +is making in England.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"It is because they have a deep +and abiding hostility to this country,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and to republicanism in general, +that the aristocracy, not only of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">England, but of all Europe, have +seized with so much avidity upon</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Uncle Tom</i>, and have been at +so much pains to procure a triumphal</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">march for its author through all +the regions she may choose to visit.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">They are delighted to see a native +of the United States—of that</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">republic which has taught that a +people can flourish without an</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">aristocracy or a monarch—of +that republic, the example of whose</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">prosperity was gradually +undermining thrones and digging a pit for</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">privileged classes—describing +her country as the worst, the most</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">abandoned, the most detestable that +ever existed. Royalty draws a long</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">breath, and privilege recovers from +its fears. Among the people of the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">continent, especially among the +Germans, Italians, and Russians, there</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">are thousands who believe that +murder is but a pastime here—that the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">bowie-knife and pistol are used +upon any provocation—that, in fact,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">we are a nation of assassins, +without law, without morality, and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">without religion. They are taught +to believe these things by their</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">newspapers, which, published under +the eye of Government, allow no</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">intelligence but of murders, +bowie-knife fights, &c., coming from</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">America, to appear in their +columns. By these, therefore, only is</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">America known to their readers; and +they are very careful to instil</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the belief, that if America is a +land of murderers, it is so because</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">it has had the folly to establish a +republican form of government.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"These ideas are very general in +England, even where the hostility is</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">greater than it is on the +Continent. To British avarice we owe slavery</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in this country. To British hatred +we owe the encouragement of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">anti-slavery agitation now. The +vile hypocrisy which has</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">characterised the whole proceeding +is not the least objectionable part</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of it. The English care not one +farthing about slavery. If they did,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">why do they keep it up in such a +terrific form in their own country?</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Where was there ever true charity +that did not begin at home? It is</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">because there is a deep-rooted +hostility to this country pervading the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">whole British mind, that these +things have taken place."</span><br> + + +<p>The wounded sensitiveness, however, which the foregoing +paragraph exhibits, found some consolation from an article which +appeared in <i>The Times</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Time hurries on, a passport must be obtained, and that done, it +must be <i>viséd</i> 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 <i>gratis</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>cadeau</i>—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.</p> + +<p>"I guess the pilots will make a good thing out of that job!" +says my neighbour.—</p> + +<p>"Pilots!" I exclaimed, "how can that be? I should think they +stood a fair chance of losing their licence."</p> + +<p>"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 +100<i>l</i>., his pilotage from the ship, and consoles himself the +following evening by pocketing 500<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchorW"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_W"><sup>[W]</sup></a></p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>incognito</i>, 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.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><img src="illustrations/194.png" alt= +""></p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_T"></a><a href="#FNanchorT">[T]</a></p> + +<div class="note">This was written in January, 1853.—The bale +may be roughly estimated at 450 lbs.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_U"></a><a href="#FNanchorU">[U]</a></p> + +<div class="note">This hotel has long since been re-opened.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_V"></a><a href="#FNanchorV">[V]</a></p> + +<div class="note">All large cities in America must of necessity be +democratic.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_W"></a><a href="#FNanchorW">[W]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XII"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3><i>The Queen of the Antilles</i>.</h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>There is a very good view of the town from the top of the +hotel<a name="FNanchorX"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_X"><sup>[X]</sup></a>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<a name= +"FNanchorY"></a><a href="#Footnote_Y"><sup>[Y]</sup></a>, 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 <i>aquellos +Grey's tan famosos por el nepotismo</i> 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.</p> + +<p>The Cubans usually dine about half-past three; after dinner some +go to the <i>Paseo</i> 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<br> +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 <i> +Favor</i>; having taken his light, the same action is repeated, +followed by a courteous inclination of the head as a faintly +expressed <i>Gracias</i> 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.</p> + +<p>The promenade over, many spend their evenings at billiards, +dominoes, &c., adjourning from time to time to some <i> +café</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><img src="illustrations/201.png" alt= +""EL CASERO," THE PARISH HAWKER IN CUBA."></p> + +<p>"EL CASERO," THE PARISH HAWKER IN CUBA.</p> + +<p>The railway cars are built on the American models, <i>i.e.</i>, +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 <i>coup-d'oeil,</i> 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.</p> + +<p>There is a very important personage frequently met with in Cuba, +who is called <i>El Casero</i>—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, <i>Caserita</i>. +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 <i>El Casero</i> 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 +<i>vice versâ</i>,—whichever the reader +prefers,—for not being the artist, I cannot undertake to +decide which idea he meant to convey.</p> + +<p>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 <i>entourage</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 +"<i>monte jus</i>" 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>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>abricot de St. Domingue</i>—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 1200<i>l</i>., the +broker went to the official and obtained a false entry by which he +only paid 400<i>l</i>. duty, and this favour cost him an additional +400<i>l</i>. bribe to the official, thus saving 400<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i> +redivivus</i>.</p> + +<p>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 +"<i>Vuelta abajo</i>." 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 16<i>s</i>. per 100. +Thus—duty, 3<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>; tobacco, 5<i>s</i>.; freight +and dues, &c., 6<i>d</i>.; making up, 1<i>s</i>. +6<i>d</i>.—absolute cost of cigars, 10<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>. +per 100; 50 per cent. profit thereon, 5<i>s</i>. 3<i>d</i>.; total, +15<i>s</i>. 9<i>d</i>. For this sum a better article could be +supplied than is ordinarily obtained at prices varying from +25<i>s</i>. to 30<i>s</i>.</p> + +<p>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 +3<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>. duty on the pound of unmanufactured tobacco, +and a 9<i>s</i>. 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 2<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>., and establishing +on all the better kinds a uniform rate, say 6<i>s</i>. or +7<i>s</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>The price paid for making cigars varies from 8<i>s</i>. to +80<i>s</i>. a thousand, the average being about 15<i>s</i>. 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 <i>Prensados</i>, his +first, or prettiest, are 6<i>l</i>. 8<i>s</i>. per 1000; his second +are 5<i>l</i>. 12<i>s</i>.; and his third are 5<i>l</i>.; 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 180<i>s</i>.; duty, 90<i>s</i>.; export +at Havana, 3<i>s</i>.; freight and extra expenses, say +7<i>s</i>.—making 230<i>s</i>. a thousand, or 23<i>s</i>. 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 3<i>l</i>. 4<i>s</i>. per thousand, which would +bring their cost price to the tobacconist down to 16<i>s</i>. +5<i>d</i>. The public know what they pay, and can make their own +reflections.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<a name= +"FNanchorZ"></a><a href="#Footnote_Z"><sup>[Z]</sup></a>. 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 24<i>l</i>. 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 10<i>l</i>. a head,—thus leaving 14<i>l</i>. +gain on each, which, multiplied by 6000, gives 84,000<i>l</i>. +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.</p> + +<p>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 8000<i>l</i>.</p> + +<p>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 <i>fiador</i>, 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 200<i>l</i>. 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"—<i>personas de distincion</i>—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 <i>Seccion de Industria de la Real Sociedad +Economica</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 3<i>l</i>. 10<i>s</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>ex officio</i>. 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 <i> +coartado</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 118,000<i>l</i>., so totally lost its value, owing to +these changes in the law, that its price fell to 16,000<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>£ s.d.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>Perhaps my reader may say I am taking a party and political view +of the question. I repudiate the charge <i>in toto</i>: 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.</p> + +<p>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—</p> + +<pre> + 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 " +</pre> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Chemistry of Common Life</i>, +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 37,000,000<i>l</i>.</p> + +<p>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 32,000<i>l</i>. paid, and 24,000<i>l</i>. thereof as +prizes. There are 238 prizes, the highest being 600<i>l</i>., and +the lowest 40<i>l</i>. The extraordinary consist of 54,400<i>l</i>. +paid, of which 40,800<i>l</i>. are drawn as prizes. There are 206 +prizes, the highest of which is 20,000<i>l</i>., and the lowest +40<i>l</i>.; from which it will appear, according to Cocker, that +the sums drawn annually as prizes are very nearly 150,000<i>l</i>. +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 <i> +cafés</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">En el tiempo de las barbaras +naciones</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A los ladrones se les colgaban en +cruces;</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pero hoy en el siglo de las +luces</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A los ladrones se les cuelgan +cruces.</span><br> + + +<p>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;—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hang the thief on the cross was the +ancient decree;</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But the cross on the thief now +suspended we see.</span><br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"El Marquis de C---- Hace lo que +debe</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Y debe por lo que hace."</span><br> + + +<p>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—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"He gives a party, which he ought +to do,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But, doing that, he <i>does</i> his +tradesmen too."</span><br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchorAA"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_AA"><sup>[AA]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchorAB"></a><a +href="#Footnote_AB"><sup>[AB]</sup></a></p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>Cuba, farewell!</p> + +<p>[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.]</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_X"></a><a href="#FNanchorX">[X]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_Y"></a><a href="#FNanchorY">[Y]</a></p> + +<div class="note">This was written in January, 1853.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_Z"></a><a href="#FNanchorZ">[Z]</a></p> + +<div class="note">The Filibustero movement in the United States has +caused Spain to increase her military force considerably.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_AA"></a><a href="#FNanchorAA">[AA]</a></p> + +<div class="note">When first suspected of treason, he had been +hunted with dogs like a wild beast, and, with considerable +difficulty, escaped to America.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_AB"></a><a href="#FNanchorAB">[AB]</a></p> + +<div class="note">Those who desire more detailed information +respecting Cuba will find it in a work entitled <i>La Reine des +Antilles</i>. Par LE VICOMTE GUSTAVE D'HARPONVILLE. 1850.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIII"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<h3><i>Change of Dynasty</i>.</h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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!"</p> + +<p>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 <i>entrée</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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?"</p> + +<p>My companion<a name="FNanchorAC"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_AC"><sup>[AC]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, the Inauguration.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">OUR CUSTOM-HOUSE—WHAT A +HAUL.—The <i>New Hampshire Patriot</i>, in an</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">article on proscription, thus +refers to the merciless decapitation of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Democrats of our Custom-house, +by Mr. Collector Maxwell:—</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Take the New York Custom-house as +a sample. There are 626 officers</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">there, exclusive of labourers; and +it appears from the records that,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">since the Whigs came into power, +427 removals have been there made.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And to show the greediness of the +Whig applicants for the spoils, it</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">need only be stated that, on the +very day the collector was sworn into</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">office he made forty-two removals. +He made six before he was sworn. In</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">thirty days from the time of his +entrance upon his duties he removed</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">220 persons; and, in the course of +a few months, he had made such a</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">clean sweep, that only sixty-two +Democrats remained in office, with</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">564 Whigs! A like sweep was made in +other custom-houses; and so clean</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">work did this 'anti-proscription' +administration make in the offices,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">that a Democrat could scarcely be +found in an office which a Whig</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">could be found to take."</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">This is ominous, for the 564 Whigs +to be turned over to the charity of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the new collector. Alas! the +Democrats are hungry—hard shells and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">soft shells—and charity +begins at home. In the course of the coming</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">month we may anticipate a large +emigration from the custom-house to</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">California and Australia. What a +blessing to ejected office-holders</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">that they can fall back upon the +gold mines! Such is the beautiful</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">working of our beneficent +institutions! What a magnificent country!</span><br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>employés</i> +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>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"What has it done in ten years in +the States of America? First, it has</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">cost the nation a direct expense of +120,000,000<i>l</i>. Secondly, it has</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">cost the nation an indirect expense +of 120,000,000<i>l</i>. Thirdly, it has</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">destroyed 300,000 lives. Fourthly, +it has sent 100,000 children to the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">poor-house. Fifthly, it has +consigned at least 150,000 persons to</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">jails and penitentiaries. Sixthly, +it has made at least a thousand</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">maniacs. Seventhly, it has +instigated to the commission of at least</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">fifteen hundred murders. Eighthly, +it has caused 2000 persons to</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">commit suicide. Ninthly, it has +burnt or otherwise destroyed property</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">to the amount of 2,000,000<i>l</i>. +Tenthly, it has made 200,000 widows,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and 1,000,000 of orphan +children."</span><br> + + +<p>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:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Oh, that men should put an enemy +in their mouths to steal away their</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">brains! that we should, with joy, +pleasance, revel, and applause,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">transform ourselves into +beasts!"</span><br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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—<i>vide</i> National Gallery, London, and +Post-office, Washington.</p> + +<p>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 <i>entrée</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>fêted</i>, 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 17,000<i>l</i>. a-year. Truly, "Diogenes in his tub" +is nothing to "Jonathan in his sugar-cask."</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<pre> + Whites. Free Negroes. Slaves. + 1800 216,000 8,000 103,000 + 1852 500,000 74,008 90,000. +</pre> + +<p>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 +4,000,000<i>l</i>. From the above, I leave the reader to judge of +its prosperity.</p> + +<p>The people in Baltimore who enjoy the widest—if not the +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.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_AC"></a><a href="#FNanchorAC">[AC]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIV"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<h3><i>Philadelphia and Richmond</i>.</h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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.<a +name="FNanchorAD"></a><a href="#Footnote_AD"><sup>[AD]</sup></a> +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,<a name="FNanchorAE"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_AE"><sup>[AE]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Chestnut, walnut, spruce, and +pine,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Market, arch, race, and +vine."</span><br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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. "400<i>l</i>., sir." He had left a New England state +some eight months previous, and was going home to invest in +land.</p> + +<p>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 60<i>l</i>. to 80<i>l</i>. +is extracted annually. The sweepings, &c., after the most +careful sifting, are packed in casks and sold—chiefly, I +believe, to European Jews—for 4000<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>résumé</i> of his will may +be thus stated: he died worth 1,500,000<i>l</i>., and thus disposes +of it:—</p> + +<pre> + 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 +</pre> + +<p>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 +28,000<i>l</i>. Charity, in this instance, can scarcely be said to +have begun at home.</p> + +<p>A certain increase of property to the amount of 60,000<i>l</i>. +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.</p> + +<p>Perhaps one of the most extraordinary clauses in his will is the +following, viz.:—</p> + +<p>"<i>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.</i>"</p> + +<p>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 2600<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><img src="illustrations/246.png" alt= +"Gerard College, Philadelphia"></p> + +<p class="ctr">Gerard College, Philadelphia</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +66,500<i>l</i>., and the average cost of each pupil is 26<i>s</i>. +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.</p> + +<p>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 270<i>l</i>. a-year, except that of Mr. Hart +the Principal, which is 400<i>l</i>.; 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The next establishment I visited was of a very different +description; <i>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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<a name="FNanchorAF"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_AF"><sup>[AF]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>khamseen</i>, 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 (<i>vide</i> 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.<a name="FNanchorAG"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_AG"><sup>[AG]</sup></a></p> + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchorAH"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_AH"><sup>[AH]</sup></a> 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,<a name="FNanchorAI"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_AI"><sup>[AI]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.—<i>alias</i> 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!</p> + +<p>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 <i> +chevaux-de-frise</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The State of Virginia, like all the other States of the Union, +is undergoing the increasing pressure of democracy:<a name= +"FNanchorAJ"></a><a href="#Footnote_AJ"><sup>[AJ]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_AD"></a><a href="#FNanchorAD">[AD]</a></p> + +<div class="note">General Cadwallader, whose hospitality is well +known to all strangers visiting Philadelphia.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_AE"></a><a href="#FNanchorAE">[AE]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_AF"></a><a href="#FNanchorAF">[AF]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_AG"></a><a href="#FNanchorAG">[AG]</a></p> + +<div class="note">The commercial prosperity of South Carolina +appears to be increasing steadily, if not rapidly. The cotton +produce was—<br> + + +<pre> + 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. +</pre> + +The average value of the bale (450lbs.) of main land cotton is from +6<i>l</i>. to 8<i>l</i>. sterling; of the sea-island cotton, from +30<i>l</i> to 36<i>l</i>. sterling. The average price of a tierce +of rice (600lbs.) is from 3<i>l</i>. 5<i>s</i>. to 4<i>l</i>.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_AH"></a><a href="#FNanchorAH">[AH]</a></p> + +<div class="note">Independent of the enormous charge of fifty per +cent. on the taxes you pay, there is also a small fine for each +parade missed.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_AI"></a><a href="#FNanchorAI">[AI]</a></p> + +<div class="note"><i>Vide</i> chapter on "Military +Education."</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_AJ"></a><a href="#FNanchorAJ">[AJ]</a></p> + +<div class="note"><i>Vide</i> chapter on "The Constitution."</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XV"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<h3><i>From a River to a Racecourse</i>.</h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>posse comitatus</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Shake off dull sloth, and early +rise,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To pay his morning +sacrifice."</span><br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 94,000<i>l</i>., and its exports +364,000<i>l</i>. In 1852, the imports were under 25,000<i>l</i>. +and the exports a little more than 81,000<i>l</i>., 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>My Novel</i>. Altogether I spent a very pleasant +hour and a half.</p> + +<p>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 <i>employés</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Let the Foreign Secretary try for a couple of days some such <i> +régime</i> as the following:—</p> + +<pre> +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 <i>régime</i> 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. +</pre> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 1600<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVI"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<h3><i>Home of the Pilgrim Fathers</i>.</h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>Having made the necessary preparations, I again put myself +behind the boiling kettle, <i>en route</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i> +élite</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>soigné</i>, +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 250,000<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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 <i>habitué</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.<a name= +"FNanchorAK"></a><a href="#Footnote_AK"><sup>[AK]</sup></a></p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_AK"></a><a href="#FNanchorAK">[AK]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVII"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<h3><i>Teaching of Youth, and a Model Jail.</i></h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 900<i>l</i>. The actual provision made by +this energetic community, is,—Schools: 1 Latin, 1 English, 22 +grammar, 194 primary,—total for salaries, 37,000<i>l</i>. 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, 490<i>l</i>.; sub-masters of same, and +head-masters of grammar, 300<i>l</i>.; ushers, assistants, &c., +from 50<i>l</i>. to 160<i>l</i>.; and female teachers, from +45<i>l</i>. to 60<i>l</i>., with 5<i>l</i>. additional for care of +the rooms.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The total amount of taxes raised in the city is, in round +numbers, 250,000<i>l</i>.; of which 65,000<i>l</i>., or more than +one-fourth, is devoted to schools. The total value of all public +school estates of Boston, up to May, 1851, was 260,000<i>l</i>.; +and the salary of the head-master is, within a few pounds, equal to +that of the governor of the State.</p> + +<p>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 260,000<i>l</i>. to education.</p> + +<p>Wherever parents are unable to provide books, &c., the +children are supplied with the use of them <i>gratis</i>. 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:—</p> + +<p>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?"</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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?"</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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 25<i>s</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 400<i>l</i>., it obtained the name of Harvard, from the +bequeathment by a reverend gentleman of that name, A.D. 1638, of +the sum of 780<i>l</i>. and 300 volumes. Its property now amounts +to upwards of 100,000<i>l</i>., 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 45<i>l</i>. a year; the fee for a +master of arts, including the diploma, is 1<i>l</i>. sterling.</p> + +<p>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—<i>cum pluribus aliis</i>.</p> + +<p>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,<a name="FNanchorAL"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_AL"><sup>[AL]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>In the <i>Massachusetts Teacher</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>o, u, g, h,</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchorAM"></a> +<a href="#Footnote_AM"><sup>[AM]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchorAN"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_AN"><sup>[AN]</sup></a></p> + +<p>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 <i>The Reading Reformer</i>, 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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 900,000<i>l</i>. for the necessary expenses of the +undertaking and purchase of the ground, &c. The annual receipts +amount to 36,000<i>l</i>., which will, of course, increase with the +population. Dwelling-houses pay from 1<i>l</i>. as high as +15<i>l</i>. tax, according to their consumption. The average daily +expenditure in 1853 was about 7,000,000 gallons, or nearly 50 +gallons per head.</p> + +<p>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 1,275,000<i>l</i>., now +amount to upwards of 2,830,000<i>l</i>.; and the imports, which at +the former period amounted to 4,000,000<i>l</i>., now amount to +nearly 7,000,000<i>l</i>. 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 500,000<i>l</i>., is now +nearly 2,700,000<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_AL"></a><a href="#FNanchorAL">[AL]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_AM"></a><a href="#FNanchorAM">[AM]</a></p> + +<div class="note">A <i>Vide</i> observation by Mr. H. Mann, chap. +20.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_AN"></a><a href="#FNanchorAN">[AN]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<h3><i>Canada</i>.</h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"THE MOB.—The mob is a demon +fierce and ungovernable. It will not</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">listen to reason: it will not be +influenced by fear, or pity, or</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">self-preservation. It has no sense +of justice. Its energy is exerted</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in frenzied fits; its forbearance +is apathy or ignorance. It is a</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">grievous error to suppose that this +cruel, this worthless hydra has</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">any political feeling. In its +triumph, it breaks windows; in its</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">anger, it breaks heads. Gratify it, +and it creates a disturbance;</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">disappoint it, and it grows +furious; attempt to appease it, and it</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">becomes outrageous; meet it boldly, +and it turns away. It is</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">accessible to no feeling but one of +personal suffering; it submits to</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">no argument but that of the strong +hand. The point of the bayonet</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">convinces; the edge of the sabre +speaks keenly; the noise of musketry</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is listened to with respect; the +roar of artillery is unanswerable.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">How deep, how grievous, how +burdensome is the responsibility that lies</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on him who would rouse this fury +from its den! It is astonishing, it</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is too little known, how much +individual character is lost in the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">aggregate character of a multitude. +Men may be rational, moderate,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">peaceful, loyal, and sober, as +individuals; yet heap them by the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">thousand, and in the very progress +of congregation, loyalty,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">quietness, moderation, and reason +evaporate, and a multitude of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rational beings is an unreasonable +and intemperate being—a wild,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">infuriated monster, which may be +driven, but not led, except to</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mischief—which has an +appetite for blood, and a savage joy in</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">destruction, for the mere +gratification of destroying."</span><br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">HERE DIED</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">WOLFE,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">VICTORIOUS.</span><br> + + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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, "<i>Que +bec</i>!" 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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?"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 "<i>ex uno disce omnes</i>." 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +400,000<i>l</i>. to 1,500,000<i>l</i>.: 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 500<i>l</i>., and the franchise 40<i>s</i>. freehold, or +7<i>l</i>. 10<i>s</i>. the householder; it is also granted to +wealthy leaseholders and to farmers renting largely; the term is +for four years, and members are paid 1<i>l</i>. per day while +sitting, and 6<i>d</i>. 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,<a name="FNanchorAO"></a><a +href="#Footnote_AO"><sup>[AO]</sup></a> with a property +qualification of 1000<i>l</i>., thirty members for each province; +these latter to be elected for six years.</p> + +<p>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.<a name= +"FNanchorAP"></a><a href="#Footnote_AP"><sup>[AP]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_AO"></a><a href="#FNanchorAO">[AO]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_AP"></a><a href="#FNanchorAP">[AP]</a></p> + +<div class="note"><i>Vide</i> Chapter on the "Constitution of the +United States."</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIX"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<h3><i>A Trip to the Uttawa</i>.</h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<a name="FNanchorAQ"></a><a +href="#Footnote_AQ"><sup>[AQ]</sup></a> which the poet has +immortalized by his beautiful "Canadian Boat Song."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 200,000<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>The ground upon which the greater part of Bytown stands was +offered some years since to a servant, as payment for a debt of +70<i>l</i>.; he found the bargain so bad, that he tried to get out +of it. The value of the same land is now estimated at +200,000<i>l</i>.!!! 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 4000<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>viâ</i> Erie Canal and +Hudson, or to New Orleans <i>viâ</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>en +route</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Having finished my observations, and been well baked by a +vertical sun, I embarked at 2 P.M. Lovely weather and lovely +scenery.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr> +<p>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.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_AQ"></a><a href="#FNanchorAQ">[AQ]</a></p> + +<div class="note">Originally Uttàwa, wherein Moore has shown +alike his good taste and respect for antiquity by adhering to the +original and more beautiful name.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XX"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<h3><i>Colonial Education and Prosperity</i>.</h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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 30,000<i>l</i>., +was, within a month—before even the price was paid in +full—resold in lots for 100,000<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><img src="illustrations/329.png" alt= +"THE NORMAL SCHOOL, TORONTO"></p> + +<p class="ctr">THE NORMAL SCHOOL, TORONTO</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"I understand, sir, that while the +varying views and opinions of a</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mixed religious society are +scrupulously respected, while every</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">semblance of dictation is carefully +avoided, it is desired, it is</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">earnestly recommended, it is +confidently expected and hoped, that</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">every child who attends our common +schools shall learn there that he</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">is a being who has an interest in +eternity as well as in time; that he</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">has a Father towards whom he stands +in a closer and more affecting and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">more endearing relationship than to +any earthly father, and that</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Father is in heaven; that he has a +hope far transcending every earthly</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">hope—a hope full of +immortality—the hope, namely, that that Father's</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">kingdom may come; that he has a +duty which, like the sun in our</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">celestial system, stands in the +centre of his moral obligations,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">shedding upon them a hallowing +light which they in their turn reflect</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and absorb,—the duty of +striving to prove by his life and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">conversation the sincerity of his +prayer that that Father's will may</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">be done upon earth as it is in +heaven. I understand, sir, that upon</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the broad and solemn platform which +is raised upon that good</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">foundation, we invite the ministers +of religion of all</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">denominations—the <i>de +facto</i> spiritual guides of the people of the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">country—to take their stand +along with us; that, so far from</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">hampering or impeding them in the +exercise of their sacred functions,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">we ask, and we beg them to take the +children—the lambs of the flock</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">which are committed to their +care—aside, and lead them to those</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">pastures and streams where they +will find, as they believe it, the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">food of life and the waters of +consolation.</span><br> + + +<hr> +<br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Permit me in conclusion, to say, +both as an humble Christian man and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as the head of the civil government +of the province, that it gives me</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">unfeigned pleasure to perceive that +the youth of this country, of all</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">denominations, who are destined in +their maturer years to meet in the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">discharge of the duties of civil +life upon terms of perfect civil and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">religious equality—I say it +gives me pleasure to hear and to know</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">that they are receiving an +education which is fitted so well to</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">qualify them for the discharge of +these important duties, and that</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">while their hearts are yet tender +and their affections yet green and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">young, they are associated under +conditions which are likely to</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">promote among them the growth of +those truly Christian graces—mutual</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">respect, forbearance, and +charity."</span><br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchorAR"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_AR"><sup>[AR]</sup></a> You heard no harsh declamation +grating on your ear; and, on the other hand, you were not lulled to +sleep by dreary, dull monotony.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchorAS"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_AS"><sup>[AS]</sup></a></p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Our system of public elementary +instruction is eclectic, and is, to a</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">considerable extent, derived from +four sources. The conclusions at</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">which the present head of the +department arrived during his</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">observations and investigations of +1845, were, firstly: That the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">machinery, or law part of the +system, in the State of New York, was</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the best upon the whole, appearing, +however, defective in the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">intricacy of some of its details, +in the absence of an efficient</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">provision for the visitation and +inspection of schools, the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">examination of teachers, religious +instruction, and uniform text-books</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">for the schools. Secondly. That the +principle of supporting schools in</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the State of Massachusetts was the +best, supporting them all according</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">to property, and opening them to +all without distinction; but that the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">application of this principle +should not be made by the requirements</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of state or provincial statute, but +at the discretion and by the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">action, from year to year, of the +inhabitants in each school</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">municipality—thus avoiding +the objection which might be made against</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">an uniform coercive law on this +point, and the possible indifference</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">which might in some instances be +induced by the provisions of such a</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">law—independent of local +choice and action. Thirdly: That the series</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of elementary text-books, prepared +by experienced teachers, and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">revised and published under the +sanction of the National Board of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Education in Ireland, were, as a +whole, the best adapted to schools in</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Upper Canada—having long been +tested, having been translated into</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">several languages of the continent +of Europe, and having been</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">introduced more extensively than +any other series of text-books into</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the schools of England and +Scotland. Fourthly: That the system of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">normal-school training of teachers, +and the principles and modes of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">teaching which were found to exist +in Germany, and which have been</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">largely introduced into other +countries, were incomparably the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">best—the system which makes +school-teaching a profession, which, at</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">every stage, and in every branch of +knowledge, teaches things and not</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">merely words, which unfolds and +illustrates the principles of rules,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rather than assuming and resting +upon their verbal authority, which</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">develops all the mental faculties +instead of only cultivating and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">loading the memory—a system +which is solid rather than showy,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">practical rather than ostentatious, +which prompts to independent</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">thinking and action rather than to +servile imitation.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Such are the sources from which +the principal features of the school</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">system in Upper Canada have been +derived, though the application of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">each of them has been modified by +the local circumstances of our</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">country. There is another feature, +or rather cardinal principle of it,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">which is rather indigenous than +exotic, which is wanting in the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">educational systems of some +countries, and which is made the occasion</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and instrument of invidious +distinctions and unnatural proscriptions</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in other countries; we mean the +principle of not only making</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Christianity the basis of the +system, and the pervading element of all</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its parts, but of recognising and +combining in their official</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">character, all the clergy of the +land, with their people, in its</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">practical +operations—maintaining absolute parental supremacy in +the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">religious instruction of their +children, and upon this principle</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">providing for it according to the +circumstances, and under the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">auspices of the elected +trustee-representatives of each school</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">municipality. The clergy of the +country have access to each of its</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">schools; and we know of no instance +in which the school has been made</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the place of religious discord; but +many instances, especially on</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">occasions of quarterly public +examinations, in which the school has</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">witnessed the assemblage and +friendly intercourse of clergy of various</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">religious persuasions, and thus +become the radiating centre of a</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">spirit of Christian charity and +potent co-operation in the primary</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">work of a people's civilization and +happiness."</span><br> + + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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 170,000<i>l</i>. 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.<a name="FNanchorAT"></a><a +href="#Footnote_AT"><sup>[AT]</sup></a></p> + +<p>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.<a name= +"FNanchorAU"></a><a href="#Footnote_AU"><sup>[AU]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_AR"></a><a href="#FNanchorAR">[AR]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_AS"></a><a href="#FNanchorAS">[AS]</a></p> + +<div class="note">The females are regularly taught calisthenics, +and the boys gymnastics, by a professor.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_AT"></a><a href="#FNanchorAT">[AT]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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 +199,674<i>l</i>.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_AU"></a><a href="#FNanchorAU">[AU]</a></p> + +<div class="note"><br> + + +<pre> +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. +</pre> + +This table is taken from an able statement sent by the +Governor-General to the Colonial Office, dated Quebec, Dec. 22, +1852.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXI"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<h3><i>A Cataract and a Celebration</i>.</h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"Ain't you afraid," I said, "of killing the poor beasts by +giving them such a lot of water?"</p> + +<p>"I guess if I was, I shouldn't give it 'em," was the terse +reply.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Adieu, Niagara.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"ORDER OF THE DAY.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"The vast multitude will be +assembled on the Public Square, in rear of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Candy Factory, under the +direction of Marshal JOHN A. DITTO, where</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">they will be formed in procession +in the following order:</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"1. Officers of the Day, in their +stocking feet.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"2. Revolutionary Relics, under +the direction of the venerable G.W.S.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mattocks.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"3. Soldiers of the last War, +looking for Bounty Land Warrants.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"4. The Mayor and Common Council, +drawn in a Willow Wagon, by the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Force of Habit.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"5. Officers of the Hoodoos, drawn +by 13 Shanghai Chickens, and driven</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">by Joe Garlinghouse's Shanghai +Quail.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"6. The Bologna Guards, in new +dress, counting their money.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"7. The Ancient Fire Company +expecting their treasurer to chuck 42$ 50</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">under their windows.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"The procession will then march to +the grove in rear of Smith</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Scovell's barn, where the following +exercises will take place:—</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"1. The reading of the Declaration +of Independence—by the Tinker,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dan.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"2. Oration—by Bill +Garrison.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"3. Hymn—There was three +Crows sit on a Tree—by the Hoodo Choir.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"4. Benediction—by Elder +Bibbins.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"After which the multitude will +repair to Charley Babcock's old stand</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">for Refreshments.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"<i>Bill of Fare.—</i>1. Mud +Turtle Soup. 2. Boiled Eggs, hard. 3.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pea-nuts. 4. Boiled Eggs, soft. 5. +More Pea-nuts.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"<i>Dessert.</i>—Scotch +Herring, dried. 2. Do. do., dead. 3. Do., done</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">brown. 4. Sardines, by special +request.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"<i>Wines and +Liquors</i>.—Hugh Doty's Rattle-Belly Pop. 2.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hide-and-go-Seek (a new +brand).</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Precisely at 4 o'clock, P.M., the +Double Oven Air Calorie Engine,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">attached to a splendidly decorated +Wheel barrow, will make an</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">excursion, on the</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Conhocton Valley +Switch</i>,</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">to the old Hemp Factory and back. +It is expected that the President</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and Directors will go over the +Road, and they are to have the first</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">chance, strictly under the +direction of the '<i>Rolling Stock</i>.'</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Hail, ye freeborn Sons of Happy +America. 'Arouse, Git up, and Git!'</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Music</i>—Loud Fifing +during the day.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"June, 1853.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"By Order of +COMMITTEE."</span><br> + + +<hr> +<br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"CLEAR THE TRACK FOR THE LIGHTNING +LINE OF MALE AND FEMALE STAGES!!!</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"From Perry to Geneseo and back in +a Flash.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"BAGGAGE, PERSONS, AND EYESIGHT AT +RISK OF OWNERS, AND NO QUESTIONS</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ANSWERED.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"—Having bought out the +valuable rights of young Master James Howard</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in this Line, the subscriber will +streak it daily between Perry and</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Geneseo, for the conveyance of +Uncle Sam's Mails and Family; leaving</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Perry before the Crows wake up in +the morning, and arriving at the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">first house on this side Geneseo +about the same time; returning,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">leave Geneseo after the Crows have +gone to roost, and reach Perry in</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">time to join them. Passengers will +please to keep their mouths shut</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">for fear they should lose their +teeth. No Smoking allowed for fear of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">fretting the Horses; no Talking +lest it wake the Driver. Fare to suit</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">passengers.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"The public's very much obliged +servant, &c. &c."</span><br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>But the more permanent inconvenience of this railroad is one for +which the majority cannot be held responsible, <i>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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 "<i>prensados</i>," +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."</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXII"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + +<h3><i>Education, Civil and Military</i>.</h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>A sum of 10,000<i>l</i>. was authorized for the building, and +4000<i>l</i>. 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 500<i>l</i>. a year, who is at the same +time professor of moral, intellectual, and political philosophy. +The salaries of the other professors average 300<i>l</i>. a year, +those of the tutors 100<i>l</i>. 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 13<i>l</i>. 5<i>s</i>. per scholar, including books, +stationery, and etceteras.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchorAV"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_AV"><sup>[AV]</sup></a> 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 8<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>DEMERIT.</p> + +<p><i>Degree of Criminality of Offences, arranged in +Classes</i>.</p> + +<pre> + 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 +</pre> + +<p><i>Form of Conduct Roll made up for the yearly +examination</i>.</p> + +<p>The column marked "Class" indicates number of years student has +been in the academy.</p> + +<pre> + Name. Class. Demerit. + + H.L. 1 5 + C.P. 3 10 + W.K.M. 2 192 +</pre> + +<p><i>A particular case to exemplify the manner of obtaining the +numbers in the column of demerit</i>:—</p> + +<pre> +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 +</pre> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p><i>Reported at the Examination in June</i>, 18—.</p> + +<pre> +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. +</pre> + +<p><i>"General Merit Roll," sent also to the War Office.</i></p> + +<pre> + 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 +</pre> + +<p><i>"Official Register of the Cadets" at West Point, printed +yearly.</i></p> + +<pre> + 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 +</pre> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tout-ensemble</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>soirée dansante</i> in the fencing-room. The hotel +is prohibited from selling any spirituous liquors, wines, +&c.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.<a name= +"FNanchorAW"></a><a href="#Footnote_AW"><sup>[AW]</sup></a></p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_AV"></a><a href="#FNanchorAV">[AV]</a></p> + +<div class="note">By the published class-list the numbers at +present are 224.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_AW"></a><a href="#FNanchorAW">[AW]</a></p> + +<div class="note">An account of a visit to this Academy, from the +pen of Sir J. Alexander, is published in Golburn's <i>United +Service Magazine,</i> September, 1854.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + +<h3><i>Watery Highways and Metallic Intercourse.</i></h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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 +55,000,000<i>l</i>. sterling, of which 500,000<i>l</i>. is utterly +destroyed from the want of any sufficient steps to remove the +dangers of navigation.<a name="FNanchorAX"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_AX"><sup>[AX]</sup></a></p> + +<p>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!"</p> + +<br> + + +<p>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."<a name="FNanchorAY"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_AY"><sup>[AY]</sup></a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."<a name="FNanchorAZ"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_AZ"><sup>[AZ]</sup></a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 50,000<i>l</i>. In 1836 the canal debt +was paid, and produce valued at 13,000,000<i>l</i>.—of which +10,000,000<i>l</i>. belonged to the State of New York—was +carried through it; the tolls had risen to 320,000<i>l</i>. per +annum, and 80,000<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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 15,000<i>l</i>. It was in vain that +the injury to commerce, resulting from the small dimensions of the +canal,<a name="FNanchorBA"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_BA"><sup>[BA]</sup></a> 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 +1,000,000<i>l</i>. yearly.<a name="FNanchorBB"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_BB"><sup>[BB]</sup></a> 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.<a name="FNanchorBC"></a><a +href="#Footnote_BC"><sup>[BC]</sup></a></p> + +<p>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.<a name= +"FNanchorBD"></a><a href="#Footnote_BD"><sup>[BD]</sup></a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +75,000,000<i>l</i>., and the estimate for those in progress is a +little above 44,000,000<i>l</i>. We thus see that the United States +will possess 26,000 miles of railroad, at the cost of about +120,000,000<i>l</i>. In England we have 8068 miles of railway, and +the cost of these amounts to 273,860,000<i>l</i>., or at the rate +of 34,020<i>l</i>. 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 9250<i>l</i>. per +mile; those in the middle States, 8000<i>l</i>.; and those in the +southern and western States, 4000<i>l</i>. per mile. The railway +from Charleston to Augusta, on the Savannah River, only cost +1350<i>l</i>. 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.,<a name="FNanchorBE"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_BE"><sup>[BE]</sup></a> "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.:—</p> + +<pre> + Name of Railway. Land and Total Cost + Compensation. Works. Rails. per Mile. + £ £ £ £ + + London } + and } 113,500 98,000 1,000 253,000<a name="FNanchorBF"></a><a href="#Footnote_BF">[BF]</a> + Blackwall } + + Leicester } + and } 1,000 5,700 700 8,700<a href="#Footnote_BF">[BF]</a> + Swannington } +</pre> + +<p>From the table on the opposite page, it will be seen that the +cost of construction and engineering expenses amounted to +35,526,535<i>l</i>. out of 45,051,217<i>l</i>. 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 250,000<i>l</i>. 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.<a name="FNanchorBG"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_BG"><sup>[BG]</sup></a> The carriages are also far less +expensive and comfortable; a carriage in the United States, which +carries fifty people, weighs twelve tons, and costs 450<i>l</i>.; +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 1500<i>l</i>.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<pre> + 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 +</pre> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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. <i>The Seventh Census</i> gives the expense of +construction as 30<i>l</i>. per mile.<a name="FNanchorBH"></a><a +href="#Footnote_BH"><sup>[BH]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i> +The Seventh Census</i>.</p> + +<p>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 10<i>d</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<a name="FNanchorBI"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_BI"><sup>[BI]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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 350<i>l</i>. 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 500,000<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_AX"></a><a href="#FNanchorAX">[AX]</a></p> + +<div class="note"><i>Vide</i> observations on this subject in +Chapter X.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_AY"></a><a href="#FNanchorAY">[AY]</a></p> + +<div class="note">Extract from lecture delivered by S.B. Ruggles, +at New York, October, 1852.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_AZ"></a><a href="#FNanchorAZ">[AZ]</a></p> + +<div class="note">This extract is from a lecture by S.B. Ruggles to +the citizens of Rochester, October, 1849.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BA"></a><a href="#FNanchorBA">[BA]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BB"></a><a href="#FNanchorBB">[BB]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BC"></a><a href="#FNanchorBC">[BC]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BD"></a><a href="#FNanchorBD">[BD]</a></p> + +<div class="note">There are upwards of 5000 miles of canal in +America.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BE"></a><a href="#FNanchorBE">[BE]</a></p> + +<div class="note"><i>Vide</i> an able paper on railways, written by +that officer and published in that valuable work, <i>Aide +Mémoire to the Military Sciences</i>; 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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BF"></a><a href="#FNanchorBF">[BF]</a></p> + +<div class="note">This is without the expenses arising from law and +parliamentary proceedings.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BG"></a><a href="#FNanchorBG">[BG]</a></p> + +<div class="note">I believe the railway from Charleston to Savannah +was entirely laid down on this plan.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BH"></a><a href="#FNanchorBH">[BH]</a></p> + +<div class="note">Mr. Jones, in his <i>Historical Sketch of the +Electric Telegraph</i>, makes the calculation 40<i>l</i>. a mile, +and estimates that, to erect them durably, would cost 100<i>l</i>. +a mile.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BI"></a><a href="#FNanchorBI">[BI]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + +<br> + + +<h3><i>America's Press and England's Censor.</i></h3> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p><i>Newspapers Published.</i></p> + +<pre> + 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 +</pre> + +<p><i>General Classification.</i></p> + +<pre> + 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 +</pre> + +<p>Total number of newspapers and periodicals, 2526; and copies +printed annually, 426,409,978.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>The Liberator</i>:—"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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The information respecting the Press in England is derived from +<i>The Sixth Annual Report of the Association for promoting the +Repeal of the Taxes on Knowledge</i>, and <i>The Newspaper Press +Directory</i>. The issues subjoined are taken from the Return +ordered by the House of Commons, of newspaper stamps, which is +"<i>A Return of the Number of Newspaper Stamps at one penny, issued +to Newspapers in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, for the +year</i> 1854."</p> + +<p><i>In England.</i></p> + +<pre> + 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 +</pre> + +<p><i>In Scotland.</i></p> + +<pre> + North British Advertiser 802,000 + Glasgow Saturday Post 727,000 + North British Mail 565,000 + Glasgow Herald 541,000 +</pre> + +<p><i>In Ireland.</i></p> + +<pre> + The Telegraph 959,000 + Saunders's News Letter 756,000 + Daily Express 748,000 + General Advertiser 598,000 +</pre> + +<p>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 +30,000,000<i>l</i>.; 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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, <i>gratis</i>—and nobody but a +trunkmaker or a grocer would have been at the trouble of removing +them.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>One work which I got hold of, called <i>Northwood</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>Perhaps it may be said that <i>Northwood</i> was written some +years ago, I will therefore pass from it to what at the present day +appears to be considered a <i>chef d'oeuvre</i> 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 "<i>vigorous +volume;"</i> Philadelphia, a "<i>delightful treat;"</i> New York, +"<i>interesting and instructive;"</i> Albany admires the Author's +"<i>keen discriminating powers;"</i> Detroit, "a <i>lively and racy +style;" The Christian Advocate</i> styles it "<i>a skinning +operation"</i> and then adds, it is a "<i>retort courteous"</i> to +Uncle Tommyism; Rochester honours the author with the appellation +of "<i>the most chivalrous American that ever crossed the +Atlantic."</i> New Orleans winds up a long paragraph with the +following magnificent burst of editorial eloquence:—"<i>The +work is essentially American. It is the type, the +representative,</i> THE AGGREGATE OUTBURST OF THE GREAT AMERICAN +HEART, <i>so well expressed, so admirably revealing the sentiment +of our whole people</i>—<i>with the exception of some puling +lovers he speaks of-</i>—<i>that it will find sympathy in the +mind of every true son of the soil."</i> The work thus heralded +over the Republic with such perfect <i>e pluribus unum</i> concord +is entitled <i>English Items;</i> and the embodiment of the +"<i>aggregate outburst of the great American heart"</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i> +The Three Continents:</i> 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 <i>English Items,</i> 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, <i>thou aggregate +outburst of the great American heart</i>!<a name= +"FNanchorBJ"></a><a href="#Footnote_BJ"><sup>[BJ]</sup></a> Speak +for thyself—let the public be thy judge.</p> + +<p>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 <i>American</i> +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 <i> +genuine American</i> process of intellectual expansion.</p> + +<p>Another chapter is dedicated to "Sixpenny Miracles in England," +which is chiefly composed of <i>réchauffées</i> 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 <i> +American mind</i> 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."</p> + +<p>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 <i>chivalry</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>From the Gardens he visits Chelsea Hospital, where his <i>keen +discriminating powers</i> 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 <i>American mind</i> +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.<a name= +"FNanchorBK"></a><a href="#Footnote_BK"><sup>[BK]</sup></a></p> + +<p>The next "sixpenny miracle" he visits is Chatsworth, which calls +forth the following <i>vigorous</i> attack on sundry gentlemen, +clothed in the author's peculiarly <i>lively and racy</i> 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 <i>chivalrous and genuine American</i> 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 <i>delightful +treat</i> these passages must be to the rowdy Americans, and how +the Duke must writhe under—what <i>The Christian Advocate</i> +lauds as—the <i>skinning operation</i> of the renowned +American champion!<a name="FNanchorBL"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_BL"><sup>[BL]</sup></a></p> + +<p>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 <i> +genuine American feeling:</i>—"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 <i>The Christian +Advocate:</i>—"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 <i> +Christian</i> 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 <i>American</i> translation of the F.R.S. which is +added to the author's name, "First Royal Scavenger."</p> + +<p>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 <i>The Christian +Advocate</i>—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 <i>gratis;</i> +liberal prizes to the best marksmen. The imagination is perfectly +bewildered in the contemplation of so majestic an <i>aggregate +outburst of the great American</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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 <i>The Christian Advocate</i>; 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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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 <i>h</i>acknowledge +this peculiarly <i>h</i>exceptionable 'abit, and <i>h</i>insist +that <i>h</i>it <i>h</i>is confined to the low and <i>h</i>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."</p> + +<p>From this elegant sentence he passes on to the evils of +idleness, in treating of which he supplies <i>The Christian +Advocate</i> 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 <i>chivalrous</i> in +his description: "He ought to touch his hat to his opponent with +whom he was about to engage in mortal combat."<a name= +"FNanchorBM"></a><a href="#Footnote_BM"><sup>[BM]</sup></a> 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 <i>genuine American feeling</i> +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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>The +Christian Advocate</i>. 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 <i> +genuine American feeling</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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;<a name="FNanchorBN"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_BN"><sup>[BN]</sup></a> the "de" suggestive of his +descent from <i>The Three Continents</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>The last quotations I propose making from this <i>vigorous +volume</i> are taken from the seventh chapter, headed, "English +Devotion to Dinner." On this subject the author seems to have had +his <i>keen discriminating powers</i> peculiarly sharpened; and the +observations made are in most <i>lively and racy style</i>, +and—according to the Press—perfectly <i>courteous</i>. +The Englishman "is never free till armed with a knife and fork; +indeed, he is never completely himself without them<a name= +"FNanchorBO"></a><a href="#Footnote_BO"><sup>[BO]</sup></a> ... +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 <i>keen observation</i> 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 <i>Items</i> 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.</p> + +<p>Among other important facts connected with this great question, +his <i>discriminating</i> 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."</p> + +<p>Feeling that ordinary language is insufficient to convey his <i> +courteous</i> and <i>chivalrous</i> 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 <i>genuine American feeling, +vigorous yet courteous</i>; 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."</p> + +<p>I have now finished my <i>Elegant Extracts</i> from the work of +Mr. Ward. The reader can judge for himself of Boston's "<i>vigorous +volume</i>," of Philadelphia's "<i>delightful treat</i>," of +Rochester's "<i>chivalrous and genuine Amercan feeling</i>," of The +Christian Advocate's "<i>retort courteous</i>," and of New Orleans' +"<i>aggregate outburst of the great American heart</i>," &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 +"<i>admirably reveals the sentiments of the whole people, and will +find sympathy in the mind of every true son of the soil</i>."</p> + +<p>Before taking a final leave of <i>English Items</i>, 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.<a name="FNanchorBP"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_BP"><sup>[BP]</sup></a></p> + +<br> + + +<p>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, <i>English Items</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchorBQ"></a><a +href="#Footnote_BQ"><sup>[BQ]</sup></a></p> + +<p>"On entering the school-room,<a name="FNanchorBR"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_BR"><sup>[BR]</sup></a> 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<a name= +"FNanchorBS"></a><a href="#Footnote_BS"><sup>[BS]</sup></a> 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 <i>English Items</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>"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 <i>New +York Daily Times</i> 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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_BJ"></a><a href="#FNanchorBJ">[BJ]</a></p> + +<div class="note">The reader is requested to remember that all the +words printed in italics—while dealing with <i>English +Items</i>—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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BK"></a><a href="#FNanchorBK">[BK]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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,—<i>In the humblest tone do I +implore your charity for three cents, to enable me to procure +something to eat.</i> Pray be so kind, and receive the grateful +thanks of your humble supplicant of Shenandoah County, Va."</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BL"></a><a href="#FNanchorBL">[BL]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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 10<i>s</i>. 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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BM"></a><a href="#FNanchorBM">[BM]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BN"></a><a href="#FNanchorBN">[BN]</a></p> + +<div class="note">Kentucky is the State of his birth and family, +Arkansas the State of his adoption, and "The Three Continents" the +fruit of his pen.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BO"></a><a href="#FNanchorBO">[BO]</a></p> + +<div class="note">The reader will find that, in his interview with +the schoolmaster, his brother was "completely himself" with a +bowie-knife only.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BP"></a><a href="#FNanchorBP">[BP]</a></p> + +<div class="note">One other instance I must give of the coolness +with which an American writer can pen the most glaring falsehood; +<i>vide</i> "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, <i>much less any +saintly prayer, for the Queen's mind</i>; 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 <i>many</i> 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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BQ"></a><a href="#FNanchorBQ">[BQ]</a></p> + +<div class="note">Of course the evidence of the brother is the <i> +most favourable</i> to Mr. M.F.W. that the trial produces.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BR"></a><a href="#FNanchorBR">[BR]</a></p> + +<div class="note">It appears in evidence that the scene described +took place about half-past ten A.M.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BS"></a><a href="#FNanchorBS">[BS]</a></p> + +<div class="note">Mr. Sturgus is the master who was supposed to be +unfriendly to Mr. Matthew F. Ward.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXV"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XXV.</h2> + +<h3><i>The Institution of Slavery.</i></h3> + +<br> +<br> + <br> + + +<p>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, "<i>E +pluribus unum</i>," 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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?"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>"SLAVERY IN THE SCHOOL-ROOM.—The (American) <i>Richmond +Examiner</i>, 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.'"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +20,000,000<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Uncle Tom</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"'Are these the people? groaned the Queen, as the cold damp of +more than mortal agony moistened her marble forehead.</p> + +<p>"'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:—</p> + +<p>"'1. Every twelfth person in your dominions is a pauper, daily +receiving parochial relief.</p> + +<p>"'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.</p> + +<p>"'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!'"</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>"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."</p> + +<p>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 <i>Uncle Tom's +Cabin</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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."—<i>Homes of the New +World.</i> Would Miss Bremer write these things for the press, as +occurring under her own eye, if they were not true?</p> + +<p>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?—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">150 NEGROES FOE SALE.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Just arrived, and for sale, at my +old stand, No. 7, Moreau-street,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Third Municipality, one hundred and +fifty young and likely NEGROES,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">consisting of field-hands, house +servants, and mechanics. They will be</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sold on reasonable terms for good +paper or cash. Persons wishing to</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">purchase will find it to their +advantage to give me a call. [Sep.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">30—6m.] Wm. F. +TALBOTT.</span><br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">$225 REWARD.—STATE OF NORTH +CAROLINA, NEW HANOVER COUNTY.—<i>Whereas</i>,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">complaint upon, oath hath this day +been made to us, two of the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Justices of the Peace for the State +and County aforesaid, by BENJAMIN</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">HALLET, of the said county, that +two certain male slaves belonging to</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">him, named LOTT, aged about +twenty-two years, five feet four or five</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">inches high, and black, formerly +belonging to LOTT WILLIAMS, of Onslow</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">county; and BOB, aged about sixteen +years, five feet high, and black;</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">have absented themselves from their +said master's service, and are</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">supposed to be lurking about this +county, committing acts of felony</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and other misdeeds. These are, +therefore, in the name of the State</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">aforesaid, to command the slaves +forthwith to return home to their</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">masters; and we do hereby, by +virtue of the Act of the General</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Assembly in such cases made and +provided, intimate and declare that</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>if the said</i> LOTT and BOB <i> +do not return home and surrender</i><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">themselves,</span> immediately +after the publication of these presents, that</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ANY PERSON MAY KILL AND DESTROY THE +SAID SLAVES, by such means as he</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">or they may think fit, without +accusation or impeachment of any crime</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">or offence for so doing, and +without incurring any penalty or</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">forfeiture thereby.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">Given under our hands and seals, +this 28th day of February, 1853.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">W.N. PEDEN, J.P., +[Seal]</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">W.C. BETTENCOURT, J.P., +[Seal.]</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">$225 REWARD.—TWO HUNDRED +DOLLARS will be given for negro LOTT, EITHER</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">DEAD OR ALIVE; and TWENTY-FIVE +DOLLARS FOR BOB'S HEAD, delivered to</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the subscriber in the town of +Wilmington.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">BENJAMIN HALLET.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">March 2nd, 1853.</span><br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>I now propose to take a short review of the progress and real +state of slavery, and I will commence by giving <i>in extenso</i> +an enactment which materially affects the negro, and, as I have +before observed, has more than once threatened the Republic with +disunion:—</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchorBT"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_BT"><sup>[BT]</sup></a> 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., <i> +On Twofold Slavery,</i> which I read with much interest, although I +cannot agree with him in everything.<a name="FNanchorBV"></a><a +href="#Footnote_BV"><sup>[BV]</sup></a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<i>l</i> a head, I shall be considerably below the truth. That +gives us in human flesh, 250,000,000<i>l</i>. Secondly, let us take +the product of their labour. The Slave States raise +annually—</p> + +<pre> + 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. +</pre> + +<p>Estimating these at a lower value than they have ever fallen to, +you have here represented 80,000,000<i>l</i>. sterling of annual +produce from the muscle and sinew of the slave.<a name= +"FNanchorBW"></a><a href="#Footnote_BW"><sup>[BW]</sup></a> 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<i>l</i>, and an annual produce of +80,000,000<i>l</i>.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchorBX"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_BX"><sup>[BX]</sup></a> 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.—<i>Petition to the Imperial Parliament +from St. George's, Jamaica,</i> July, 1852.</p> + +<p>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 20,000,000<i>l</i>.</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_BT"></a><a href="#FNanchorBT">[BT]</a></p> + +<div class="note"><i>List of States and Territories forming the +Confederation. Those marked</i> S. <i>are Slave-holding States.</i> +STATES.<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">New Hampshire</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Massachusetts</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Rhode Island</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Connecticut</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">New York</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">New Jersey<a name= +"FNanchorBU"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_BU"><sup>[BU]</sup></a></span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pennsylvania</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">S. Delaware</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">S. Maryland</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">S. Virginia</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">S. North Carolina</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">S. South Carolina</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">S. Georgia</span><br> +NEW STATES. + +<pre> + 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 +</pre> + +DISTRICT.<br> +S. Columbia 1791<br> +TERRITORIES.<br> + + +<pre> + Oregon 1848 + Minnesota 1849 +S. Kansas 1855 +S. Utah 1850 + New Mexico 1850 + Nebraska 1853 +</pre> + +<p><a name="Footnote_BU"></a><a href="#FNanchorBU">[BU]</a></p> + +<div class="note">I believe the last slave has been removed from +New Jersey.—H.A.M.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BV"></a><a href="#FNanchorBV">[BV]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BW"></a><a href="#FNanchorBW">[BW]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BX"></a><a href="#FNanchorBX">[BX]</a></p> + +<div class="note"><i>Vide</i> ch. xii., "The Queen of the +Antilles."</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> + +<h3><i>Hints for Master—Hopes for Slave.</i></h3> + +<br> +<br> +<br> + + +<p>I will now suggest certain proposals,<a name="FNanchorBY"></a><a +href="#Footnote_BY"><sup>[BY]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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> +i.e.</i>, 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>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.<a name= +"FNanchorBZ"></a><a href="#Footnote_BZ"><sup>[BZ]</sup></a> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Peru</i>, and make it +an integral part of their constitution that "<i>no one is born a +slave in the Republic."</i></p> + +<p>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? <i>There the white +man's offspring is to be seen in fetters—the blood of the +free in the market of the slave.</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!'"</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, 250,000,000<i>l</i>., and in the produce of its labour +80,000,000<i>l</i>. annually!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<a name= +"FNanchorCA"></a><a href="#Footnote_CA"><sup>[CA]</sup></a> 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."</p> + +<p>Let the Christian learn charity from the despised Mussulman. +Read the following proclamation:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"From the Servant of God, the +Mushir Ahmed Basha Bey, Prince of the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tunisian dominions.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"To our ally, Sir Thomas Reade, +Consul-General of the British</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Government at Tunis.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"The servitude imposed on a part +of the human kind whom God has</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">created is a very cruel thing, and +our heart shrinks from it.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"It never ceased to be the object +of our attention for years past,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">which we employed in adopting such +proper means as could bring us to</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its extirpation, as is well known +to you. Now, therefore, we have</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">thought proper to publish that we +have abolished men's slavery in all</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">our dominions, inasmuch as we +regard all slaves who are on our</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">territory as free, and do not +recognise the legality of their being</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">kept as a property. We have sent +the necessary orders to all the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">governors of our Tunisian kingdom, +and inform you thereof, in order</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">that you may know that all slaves +that shall touch our territory, by</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sea or by land, shall become +free.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"May you live under the protection +of God!</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Written in Moharrem, 1262." (23rd +of January, 1846.)</span><br> + + +<p>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 <i> +has been</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>the United States is a Slave +Republic.</i></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>How will "Manifest Destiny" unfold itself, and what will the end +be?—The cup must fill first.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_BY"></a><a href="#FNanchorBY">[BY]</a></p> + +<div class="note">Many of my suggestions, the reader will observe, +are drawn from the Cuba code.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_BZ"></a><a href="#FNanchorBZ">[BZ]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_CA"></a><a href="#FNanchorCA">[CA]</a></p> + +<div class="note">At the time of the discussion, the Nebraska +territory included Nebraska and Kansas</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2> + +<h3><i>Constitution of United States.</i></h3> + +<br> +<br> +<br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>ex officio</i> +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 5100<i>l</i>. a year, and a +residence at Washington, called "The White House." The salary of +the Vice-President is 1680<i>l</i>. 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 <i>pro ratâ</i> 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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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<a name="FNanchorCB"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_CB"><sup>[CB]</sup></a>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<br> + + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>Let us now turn from Governor Hunt, and see what the Press says +on the subject. The <i>New York Herald</i>, 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."</p> + +<p>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 <i>the compulsory register of +political sentiments</i>; 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 <i>New +York Herald</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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."<a name="FNanchorCC"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_CC"><sup>[CC]</sup></a>—How strangely prophetic +the opinion of John Randolph appears, when read by the light of the +<i>New York Herald</i> of 1852.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Edinburgh +Review</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>In the year 1856 an act was passed fixing the payment of members +at 1260<i>l</i>. 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 +1<i>l</i>. 13<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>. 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 +630<i>l</i>. (the half of 1260<i>l</i>.) 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 1<i>l</i>. 13<i>s</i>. +6<i>d</i>. for every day's non-attendance.</p> + +<p>Mileage is allowed at the rate of 1<i>l</i>. 13<i>s</i>. +6<i>d</i>.. 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.</p> + +<p>Now, as travelling, in most parts of the Union, is at the rate +of less than 2<i>d</i>. a mile, and living at the rate of two and a +half dollars (10<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>.) 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 150<i>l</i>. left for the rest +of the year; and a member from Texas would clear about 500<i>l</i>. +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 <i> +Appendix</i> to Tremenheere's <i>Constitution of the United +States</i>, 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 +(1000<i>l</i>.), 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.</p> + +<p>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. <i>La femme +de César ne doit pas être suspecte</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>Times</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The extract is taken from that widely circulating journal, "the +<i>Illustrated London News</i>:—</p> + +<p>"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:—</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Giddings: 'When the gentleman descends to low vulgarity, I +cannot follow him, I protest against Dough-faces prompting the +gentleman from South Carolina.</p> + +<p>"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.')</p> + +<p>"Mr. Giddings: 'Will you hear me?</p> + +<p>"Mr. Stanly: 'Nobody wants to hear you, but I will indulge +you.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Giddings: 'The gentleman is barking up the wrong tree.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Stanly: 'The galled jade winces again.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Giddings: 'The gentleman sha'n't crack the overseer's lash +to put me down.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"The Speaker (to Mr. Stanly)—'Will the gentleman suspend +for a moment?</p> + +<p>"Mr. Stanly: 'We ought to suspend that fellow (pointing to Mr. +Giddings) by the neck. (Laughter.)</p> + +<p>"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.)</p> + +<p>"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.'</p> + +<p>"The conversation then ceased."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"ARTICLE V.—<i>Power of +Amendment</i>.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"The Congress, whenever two-thirds +of both Houses shall deem it</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">necessary, shall propose amendments +to this Constitution, or, on the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">application of the Legislatures of +two-thirds of the several States,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">shall call a convention for +proposing amendments, which, in either</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">case, shall be valid to all intents +and purposes, as part of this</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Constitution, when ratified by the +Legislatures of three-fourths of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the several States, or by +conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">one or the other mode of +ratification may be proposed by the Congress;</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">provided that no amendment which +may be made prior to the year one</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">thousand eight hundred and eight, +shall in any manner affect the first</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">and fourth clauses in the ninth +section of the first article, and that</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">no State, without its consent, +shall be deprived of its equal suffrage</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in the Senate."</span><br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The salary of the Chief Justice is about 1050<i>l</i>. 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."<a name="FNanchorCD"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_CD"><sup>[CD]</sup></a> 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,<a name="FNanchorCE"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_CE"><sup>[CE]</sup></a> and to deter the most pure and +high-minded citizens from offering their services. The salaries of +the Judges range from 250<i>l</i>. to 400<i>l</i>. a-year.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i> +employés</i>; 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>i.e.</i>, a majority of the whole +number polled.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.<a name="FNanchorCF"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_CF"><sup>[CF]</sup></a> Surely these simple facts may +afford us subject for profitable reflection.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>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 300<i>l</i>. to 2000<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_CB"></a><a href="#FNanchorCB">[CB]</a></p> + +<div class="note">Why is it that, in our yearly debate in +Parliament, and in all the journals of the day, from the <i> +Times</i> down even to the <i>Morning Advertiser</i>, 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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_CC"></a><a href="#FNanchorCC">[CC]</a></p> + +<div class="note"><i>The Ballot</i>, by the Rev. SYDNEY SMITH. +1839.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_CD"></a><a href="#FNanchorCD">[CD]</a></p> + +<div class="note">This expression, both in America and England, is +tantamount to—for life.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_CE"></a><a href="#FNanchorCE">[CE]</a></p> + +<div class="note"><i>Vide ante</i>, opinion of New York Press upon +the trial of Matthew F. Ward.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_CF"></a><a href="#FNanchorCF">[CF]</a></p> + +<div class="note"><br> + + +<pre> + 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 +</pre> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2> + +<h3><i>The Church, the School, and the Law.</i></h3> + +<br> +<br> +<br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<pre> + 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 +</pre> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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,<a name="FNanchorCG"></a><a +href="#Footnote_CG"><sup>[CG]</sup></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<pre> + 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 +</pre> + +<p>Of the above colleges, theology claims 44, medicine 37, law +16.</p> + +<p>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, 40<i>l</i>.; +board, 22<i>l</i>.; washing, fuel, and lights, 4<i>l</i>.—in +all, 70<i>l</i>. 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?</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p><i>"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."</i></p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"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.</p> + +<p>"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."<a name="FNanchorCH"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_CH"><sup>[CH]</sup></a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_CG"></a><a href="#FNanchorCG">[CG]</a></p> + +<div class="note">I suppose originated <i>from the Deity</i> is +intended.—H.A.M.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_CH"></a><a href="#FNanchorCH">[CH]</a></p> + +<div class="note">Communicated to me by Mr. J.G. Dodson, son of the +Right Honourable Sir J. Dodson, Dean of the Arches, &c.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2> + +<h3><i>Inventions and Inveighings.—Palquam qui meruit +ferat.</i></h3> + +<br> +<br> +<br> + + +<p>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 <i>from the South Cape of Florida to the Mississippi."</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>in a new manner, and to new and before unthought-of +purposes</i>." 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.<a name="FNanchorCI"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_CI"><sup>[CI]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p>In 1787, Mr. Miller, of Dalswinton, a gentleman who had spent a +fortune of nearly 30,000<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><img src="illustrations/476.png" alt= +"HUDSON RIVER STEAMER."></p> + +<p class="ctr">HUDSON RIVER STEAMER.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>in a new manner and to new and before unthought-of +purposes,"</i> exhibits an ignorance or an assurance, for neither +of which the slightest excuse can be made.<a name= +"FNanchorCJ"></a><a href="#Footnote_CJ"><sup>[CJ]</sup></a></p> + +<br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>bonâ fide</i> 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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, telegraphic +communication.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i> +Book of Facts</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 3<i>s</i>. upwards; which sum helps to pay those who +do duty. The pay of a private while on duty is about 10<i>s</i>. +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>With respect to their numbers, I cannot give any accurate +information. <i>The American Almanack</i>—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 <i>Almanack</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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,—</p> + +"Nemo me impune lacessit."<br> +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_CI"></a><a href="#FNanchorCI">[CI]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_CJ"></a><a href="#FNanchorCJ">[CJ]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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, <i>all +that would remain would be the hull of a boat of ordinary +construction."</i></div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXX"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XXX.</h2> + +<h3><i>Adverse Influences.</i></h3> + +<br> +<br> +<br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>beau idéal</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 (<i>great applause</i>.)"—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.</p> + +<p>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."</p> + +<p>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 <i> +Uncle Tom's Cabin</i>, 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 <i>Uncle Tom's Cabin</i> +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>History of the United +States</i>, 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 <i> +wrongfully</i> 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 "<i>barbarous atrocities</i>."—Take another instance of +amiable sentiments towards England, as exhibited by the Common +Council of New York, who voted 200<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a> +<h2>CHAPTER XXXI.</h2> + +<h3><i>Olla Podrida.</i></h3> + +<br> +<br> +<br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>New York +Herald</i>—one of the most widely-circulated papers in the +Union, but one which, I am bound in justice to say, is held in +contempt<a name="FNanchorCK"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_CK"><sup>[CK]</sup></a> 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."</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>I do not think Americans are aware what injustice they do +themselves by this love of high-sounding titles.<a name= +"FNanchorCL"></a><a href="#Footnote_CL"><sup>[CL]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>On the first transparency was the following motto:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A STAR. +PIERCE.</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">SOULÉ. +CUBA.</span><br> + + +<p>On the second banner:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">YOUNG AMERICA AND YOUNG +CUBA.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Free thought and free speech for +the Cubans.</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">'Tis no flight of fancy, +for</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Cuba must be, and 'tis</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Written by fate, an isle</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Great and free.</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">O pray, ye doomed +tyrants,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Your fate's not far:</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A dread Order now watches +you,—</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It is the Lone Star.</span><br> + + +<p>On the third banner:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Cuba must and shall be +free.</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The Antilles Flower,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The true Key of the +Gulf,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Must be plucked from the +Crown</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of the Old Spanish Wolf.</span><br> + + +<p>Monumental representation—a tomb and a weeping willow. On +the tomb were the words—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">LOPEZ AND +CRITTENDEN,</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">AGUERO AND ARMATERO.</span><br> +<br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">They and their companions are not +forgotten.</span><br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"The slaves must be +plucked</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From the chains that now gall +'em,</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Though American wolves</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">An inferior race call +'em."</span><br> + + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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 "<i>Moosyere, savvay +voo oo ey lay Toolureeze?"</i> 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.</p> + +<p>This sensitiveness also shows itself in the way they watch the +opinions of their country expressed by <i>The Times</i>, 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 <i>The Times</i>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.</p> + +<p>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.<a name= +"FNanchorCM"></a><a href="#Footnote_CM"><sup>[CM]</sup></a></p> + +<p>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:"—</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"INDEPENDENT HOSE SONG.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"We're the saucy Hyena-boys of +George's-street, as all knows; We can</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">whip the Penn and Globe, likewise +the Carroll Hose; We'll whip the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">three together, the Bed-bugs and +South Penn throw in for ease; We do</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">run our carriage among our foes, +and run her where we please.</span><br> + <span style="margin-left: 1em;">"You'd better hush your blowing, +Globe, if you know when you are well;</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For if we take your engine again, +we'll smash her all to hell. Here is</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">luck to the Bluffers, and all +honest boys of that name; Here is to the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hyenas and Red-devils, that no one +can tame."</span><br> + + +<p>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."<a name= +"FNanchorCN"></a><a href="#Footnote_CN"><sup>[CN]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<pre> + Square Miles. Inhabitants. + + England contains 50,000 17,923,000 + New York " 46,000 3,097,000 + Pennsylvania " 46,000 2,311,786 +</pre> + +<p>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—</p> + +<pre> + Square Miles. Inhabitants. + + Great Britain and Ireland contain 120,000 27,400,000 + United States 3,500,000 23,192,000 +</pre> + +<p>This would bring the proportion of population to extent of +territory, in rough numbers:—</p> + +<pre> + Great Britain and Ireland 228 inhabitants to the square mile. + United States 7 " " " +</pre> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"But the most alarming feature in +the condition of things, not only in</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the city, but elsewhere throughout +the country, is the lawlessness of</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the youth. The most striking +illustration of this which I have seen is</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">taken from a Cincinnati paper of +last January. It seems that in the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">course of a few days one hundred +applications had been made by parents</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in that city to have their own +children sent to the House of Refuge.</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The particulars of one case, which +happened a short time before, are</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">given:—a boy, twelve years of +age, was brought before the Mayor's</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Court by his father, who stated +that the family were absolutely afraid</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the youth would take their lives, +and that he had purchased a pistol</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">for the purpose of shooting the +housekeeper. A double-barrelled pistol</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">was produced in court, which the +police-officer had taken from the</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">boy, who avowed that he had bought +it for the purpose stated. The</span><br> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mayor sent the boy to the House of +Refuge."</span><br> + + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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?"</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 30,000,000<i>l</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.<a name= +"FNanchorCO"></a><a href="#Footnote_CO"><sup>[CO]</sup></a></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, <i> +fêted</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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>i.e.</i>, 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>i.e.</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!"</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>£. s. d.</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_CK"></a><a href="#FNanchorCK">[CK]</a></p> + +<div class="note">The <i>New York Herald</i> is edited by two +renegade British subjects, one of whom was, I am told, formerly a +writer in a scurrilous publication in this country.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_CL"></a><a href="#FNanchorCL">[CL]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_CM"></a><a href="#FNanchorCM">[CM]</a></p> + +<div class="note"><i>Vide</i> chapter entitled "America's Press and +England's Censor."</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_CN"></a><a href="#FNanchorCN">[CN]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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!</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_CO"></a><a href="#FNanchorCO">[CO]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<a name="NOTES"></a> +<h2>NOTES.</h2> + +<br> + + +<p>NOTE I.</p> + +<p><i>Extent of Telegraph in the United Kingdom.</i></p> + +<pre> + 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<a name="FNanchorCP"></a><a href="#Footnote_CP">[CP]</a> Under ground 2,755 + Above ground 3,218 + + IRISH TELEGRAPH COMPANY. + 88 Under ground 176 + Above ground — + ----- ------ +Total 8,298 Total 44,845 +</pre> + +<p>Of the foregoing, 534 miles are submarine, employing 1100 miles +of wire. The cost of putting up a telegraph was originally +105<i>l</i>. per mile for two wires. Experience now enables it to +be done for 50<i>l</i>., 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 +230<i>l</i>. per mile for six wires, and 110<i>l</i>. for single +wires.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 1<i>s</i>. for fifty miles and under; 2<i>s</i>. +6<i>d</i>. between fifty miles and 100 miles; all distances beyond +that, 5<i>s</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>NOTE II.</p> + +<p><i>A short Sketch of the Progress of Fire-arms.</i></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Previous to this invention it was impossible to make revolving +weapons practically available for general use.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Scloppetaria</i>—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.</p> + +<p>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 <i> +Scloppetaria</i>, 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 <i>Carabine à Tige</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Scloppetaria</i> nearly fifty years +ago.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><img src="illustrations/521.png" alt= +""></p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>In process of time the fabulous ranges of the "<i>Carabine +à Tige</i>" 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.<a name= +"FNanchorCQ"></a><a href="#Footnote_CQ"><sup>[CQ]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<hr> +<p>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.</p> + +<br> + + +<p>THE END.</p> + +<p class="ctr"><img src="illustrations/526.png" alt= +""></p> + +<br> + + +<p>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<p><a name="Footnote_CP"></a><a href="#FNanchorCP">[CP]</a></p> + +<div class="note">The miles of distance may not be quite exact, but +the miles of wire may be depended upon.</div> + +<br> +<br> + + +<p><a name="Footnote_CQ"></a><a href="#FNanchorCQ">[CQ]</a></p> + +<div class="note">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.</div> + +<br> +<br> + </div> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Lands of the Slave and the Free, by Henry A. Murray + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LANDS OF THE SLAVE AND THE FREE *** + +***** This file should be named 11329-h.htm or 11329-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/3/2/11329/ + +Produced by PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + + https://www.gutenberg.org/etext06 + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: + https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + + + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> + |