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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Impressions of America, by Tyrone Power
+
+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: Impressions of America
+       During the years 1833, 1834 and 1835. In Two Volumes, Volume I.
+
+Author: Tyrone Power
+
+Release Date: September 28, 2007 [EBook #22796]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA.
+
+VOL. I.
+
+LONDON:
+
+PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,
+
+Dorset Street, Fleet Street.
+
+[Illustration: SCENE BEFORE THE THEATRE AT NATCHEZ.
+Drawn & Etched by A. Hervieu]
+
+
+
+
+IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA,
+
+DURING THE YEARS 1833, 1834, AND 1835.
+
+
+BY TYRONE POWER, ESQ.
+
+IN TWO VOLUMES.
+
+VOL. I.
+
+LONDON:
+RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
+Publisher in Ordinary to His Majesty.
+
+1836.
+
+
+
+
+DEDICATION
+
+TO THE BRITISH PUBLIC.
+
+
+Most persons have a Patron, from whose power and influence they have
+derived support, and of whose favour they feel proud.
+
+I cannot claim to be of the few who are above this adventitious sort of
+aid, self-raised and self-sustained; on the contrary, I have a Patron,
+the only one I ever sought, but whose favour has well repaid my pains of
+solicitation.
+
+The Patron I allude to is yourself, my Public, much courted, much
+abused, and commonly accused of either being coldly neglectful or
+capriciously forgetful of all sorts of merit. To me, at least, you have
+proved most kind, and hitherto most constant.
+
+Yes, my Public, throughout my humble career, I have at all times of
+doubt or despondency invariably turned to you, and never have I been
+coldly regarded. I have leaned heavily upon you, yet have never found
+your aid withdrawn.
+
+As an Actor, when managers have appeared indifferent, or critics unkind,
+and my hopes have sunk within me, I have turned to your cheering
+plaudits, and found in them support for the present and encouragement
+for the future.
+
+As an Author, this appeal is founded solely upon my desire, not only to
+amuse, but to make you better acquainted with an important part and
+parcel of yourself, to which, although widely sundered, you are
+naturally and morally allied, and of which, as emanating from yourself,
+and in no way degenerate, you ought to feel very proud.
+
+If happily I succeed in effecting this--if I dissipate one common
+error, eradicate one vulgar prejudice, or kindle one kindly feeling
+between you and the people of whom I write, I shall feel that, by so
+doing, I have at length made you some return for the high favour with
+which you have repaid my efforts to please you.
+
+In presenting this offering to you, I am aware, at this the ninth hour,
+that it abounds in errors; and I would furnish a copious list of errata
+from each sheet, if I thought you would find patience to compare them.
+But you also know how my time has been employed since my return to you.
+Whilst you have nightly laughed with me at the playhouse, I have nightly
+had the devil[1] waiting for a contribution at home, and he is an imp
+importunate and insatiable. To soothe him, I have worked whilst you have
+slept.
+
+I do not tell this to deprecate the censure my crude publication merits,
+but only to excuse the impertinence of dedicating it to you.
+Nevertheless, being the best commodity I have to lay at your feet, I beg
+you to accept it, with the very sincere declaration that I am, my only
+Patron and gentle Public,
+
+                           Your devoted,
+                                  Humble servant,
+                                           TYRONE POWER.
+
+_Bolton Street, May Fair,_
+  _Dec. 23rd, 1835._
+
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[1] _i.e._ Printer's devil!
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+Although I have hitherto forborne all preface or dedication on
+exhibiting my small ware to the public, concluding that the less I said
+about the matter the better, and from having some scruples about tacking
+any lady's or gentleman's name to bantlings from which I had withheld my
+own; yet, in the present case, do I consider myself bound, in a like
+spirit of honesty, to provide this book with a few words descriptive of
+its quality, lest my Readers, being disappointed, may charge me with
+having deluded them under false "Impressions."
+
+I seek, then, to describe America as I saw it,--a mighty country, in the
+enjoyment of youth and health, and possessing ample room and time for
+the growth, which a few escapades incident to inexperience and high
+blood may retard, but cannot prevent. Heaven has written its destinies
+in the gigantic dimensions allotted to it, and it is not in the power of
+earth to change the record.
+
+I seek to describe its people as I saw them,--clear-headed, energetic,
+frank, and hospitable; a community suited to, and labouring for, their
+country's advancement, rather than for their own present comfort. This
+is and will be their lot for probably another generation.
+
+To those, then, who seek scandalous innuendos against, or imaginary
+conversations with, the fair, the brave, and the wise amongst the
+daughters and sons of America, I say, Read not at all; since herein,
+though something of mankind, there is little of any man, woman, or
+child, of the thousands with whom I have reciprocated hospitality and
+held kind communion.
+
+On the other hand, it can be objected that I set out by giving
+evidences of a partiality which may cause my judgment to be questioned.
+
+Frankly do I avow this fault, and in my justification have but to add,
+that the person who, for two years, could be in constant intercourse
+with a people, to the increase of his fortune, the improvement of his
+health, and the enlargement of all that is good in his mind, yet feel no
+partiality in their favour, I pity for coldness more than envy for
+philosophy.
+
+But whilst I am by nature incapable of repaying kindness by aspersion, I
+feel that I am no less above the meanness of attempting a return in that
+base coin--flattery; that which I saw I say, and as _I_ saw it. I blame
+none of my predecessors for their general views, but claim the right of
+differing from them wherever I think fit; and if my account of things
+most on the surface even, should sometimes appear opposite to theirs, I
+would not, by this, desire to impeach their veracity, since the changes
+working in society are as rapid, though not quite so apparent, as those
+operating on the face of these vast countries, whose probable destinies
+do in truth render almost ridiculous the opinions and speculations of
+even the sagest of the pigmies that have bustled over their varied
+surface.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+OF
+
+THE FIRST VOLUME.
+
+                                                       Page
+EUROPE                                                    1
+The Eve of Sailing                                     _ib._
+Sailing Day                                               4
+The Europe Packet                                         7
+The Europe continued.--Change of Affairs.                21
+Journal at Sea                                           28
+Land, ho!                                                34
+Port                                                     39
+NEW YORK                                                 47
+First Impressions of the City                          _ib._
+A Bivouac                                                49
+Cato's!                                                  58
+Theatre                                                  60
+PHILADELPHIA                                             74
+The Theatres.--Walnut and Chestnut.                      87
+JOURNEY TO BOSTON                                        90
+The East River.--Hurl-Gate.--The Sound.--Point
+  Judith.--Newport Harbour.--Providence.               _ib._
+BOSTON                                                  101
+State Prison                                            114
+Tremont Hotel                                           117
+The Tremont Theatre                                     123
+JOURNAL                                                 127
+BALTIMORE                                               135
+Baltimore.--Journal continued.                          140
+The Temperance House                                    145
+Journal                                                 153
+Journal continued.--New Year's Day in New York.         166
+The Dutch and Irish Colonies of Pennsylvania.           181
+THE STEAM-BOAT                                          188
+Delaware.--Newcastle.--Railroad.--French-Town.--Elk
+  River.--North Point.--Bay of Chesapeake.--Baltimore. _ib._
+WASHINGTON                                              200
+Theatre, Washington                                     210
+Pierce's Garden                                         215
+The Garden, Poetical and Political                      221
+The Falls of the Potomac                                225
+Impressions of Washington Society, public and private   240
+Impressions of Alexandria.--A blank day.                246
+The Fancy Ball                                          252
+LIONS OF WASHINGTON                                     260
+The Indian Cabinet.--House of Legislature.--Senate.--
+  Ladies.--Senators.--President.                       _ib._
+BOSTON                                                  284
+Journey across the Alleghany Mountains.--Pittsburg.    _ib._
+PITTSBURG                                               309
+THE HUDSON                                              341
+ALBANY                                                  347
+JOURNEY TO COOPER'S TOWN.--OTSEGO LAKE                  361
+TRENTON FALLS                                           369
+BUFFALO                                                 386
+NIAGARA                                                 391
+ERIE CANAL                                              412
+Packet-boat.--Heat.--Cedar Swamp, Long Swamp,
+and Musquito Swamp.--Utica.                            _ib._
+LITTLE FALLS                                            420
+Saratoga.--Ballston.--Albany.--Mountain-House.--
+  Catskill.--Hyde Park.--Lynn.                         _ib._
+
+
+
+
+IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA.
+
+
+
+
+EUROPE.
+
+
+THE EVE OF SAILING.
+
+
+     In youth's wild days, it cannot but be pleasant
+     This idle roaming round and round the world,
+     With wildfire spirits and heart disengaged.
+                                         _Anster's Faustus._
+
+
+When one first contemplates a voyage of many thousand miles, attended
+with long absence, loss of old associates, together with all the charms
+of home, country, and friends, often too lightly estimated whilst
+possessed, but always sorely missed when no longer within call; one is
+yet, and this through no lack of sensibility, apt to regard the
+sacrifice about to be made to duty as sufficiently light, and, with the
+aid of manhood and a little philosophy, easy of endurance. The very
+task, which a resolution of this grave nature necessarily imposes, of
+making as little of the matter as possible to those dear ones who yield
+up their fears, and subdue their strong affections, in obedience to your
+judgment, serves for a time the double purpose of hoodwinking oneself as
+well as blinding those on whom we seek to practise this kind imposition.
+Next comes the bustle of getting ready, assisted and cheered by the
+redoubled attentions of all who love, or feel an interest in one's
+fortunes. Amidst the excitement, then, of these various feelings, the
+deep-seated throb of natural apprehension, or home regret, if even felt,
+struggling for expression, is checked or smothered in the loud note of
+preparation. The day of departure is fixed at length, it is true; but
+then it is not yet come: even when contemplating its near approach, one
+feels wondrous firm and most stoically resolved: at last, however, come
+it does; and now our chief friend Philosophy, like many other friends,
+is found most weak when most needed. In vain do we invoke his approved
+maxims, hitherto so glibly dealt out to silence all gainsayers; yet now,
+they are either found inapt or are forgotten wholly, until, after a
+paltry show of defence, braggart Philosophy fairly takes to his heels,
+and leaves us abandoned to the will of old mother Nature. Now, indeed,
+arrives the tug; and I, for my part, pity the man who, however savagely
+resolute, does not feel and own her power. The adieus of those one loves
+are, at best,--that is, for the shortest absence,--sufficiently
+unpleasant; but when there lie years, and, to the eye of affection,
+dangers, in the way of the next meeting, as the old Scotch ballad has
+it, "O but it is sair to part!" I should, I confess, were I free to
+choose, prefer the ignominy of cowardly flight, to the greatest triumph
+firmness ever yet achieved, and be constrained to hear and respond to
+that last long "good-b'ye!"
+
+As I honestly own that, for various good reasons, I set out with the
+intention of keeping such a close record of my feelings and doings as my
+errant habits might permit, with the premeditated design also of giving
+them to that public which from the beginning had decided that I should
+do so, I concluded there was nothing like an early start; and finding
+these thoughts preface, or rather commence, my journal, so do I give
+them like precedence here.
+
+
+
+
+SAILING DAY.
+
+
+     Liverpool, Tuesday, July 16th, 1833.
+
+
+I am not usually very particular about dates; but, as there is an odd
+coincidence connected with the 16th, I desire to note it. On this day,
+then, about 3 P.M. I was rumbled from Bold-street down to St. George's
+Dock, accompanied by a few friends, who were resolute to extend their
+kindness to the latest limit time and tide, those unyielding agents,
+might allow.
+
+Arrived at the ship's side, I found a number of my own poor countrymen,
+_agricultural speculators_, filling up a leisure moment before seeking
+harvest, in seeing "Who in the world was going to America, all that
+way," with which country there are now few of the humbler class of Irish
+but have some intimate associations. Disposing amongst _the boys_ the
+few shillings I had left in my pocket, I jumped on board the packet-ship
+Europe, without cross or coin, saving only a couple of luck-pennies, the
+one an American gold eagle, the present of an amiable gentlewoman; the
+other a crooked sixpence, suspended by a crimson ribbon, the offering of
+a fair "maid of the inn," given to me on the very eve of sailing-day
+with many kind wishes, all of which have been realized.
+
+The wind had been all the morning, and was still, away from the
+south-west; that is, right into the harbour; and I had heard many doubts
+expressed whether or not we should sail at all before night tide; doubts
+which, I am almost ashamed to confess, did not offend my ears so very
+much, considering my avowed impatience to be gone; nay, I do further
+admit having observed carelessly that I would as soon we did not sail
+until night tide, though wherefore I should thus have sought to keep
+chords on the stretch already too painfully braced, I leave to the wise
+to resolve.
+
+Once on board, however, doubt was at an end; since the task of warping
+out from the tier was already commenced, and the noisy steamer might be
+heard bellowing and fuming, impatient of delay, from where she awaited
+us without the pier. We were moored inside several other ships; and the
+dock being quite full of craft, to the unpractised eye there appeared no
+possibility of winning a passage without doing or sustaining damage.
+However, what with warps and checks, careful and well-timed hauling, and
+ready backing, the gallant-looking Europe was quickly and safely handed
+over to the turbid waters of the Mersey without suffering a rub on her
+bright sides.
+
+The steamer now took us in tow, and in a few minutes the busy docks and
+crowded pier-heads had passed away. Our companion vessels at parting
+were three only--a large private Indiaman, (the Albion,) a smaller ship
+for the coast of Africa, and a little gaily-painted Irish schooner
+called the Shamrock. These, it appeared, were dependent upon their own
+resources, and were soon left behind contending hardily with a strong
+beating wind; whilst the Europe, with yards pointed and sails closely
+furled, steadily and swiftly followed in the wake of the George the
+Fourth, looking like a noble giant led captive by some sooty dwarf. The
+Black Rock was soon gained, Crosby and its pretty cottages showed dimly
+distant; the mountains of Wales opened grandly forth before us; and,
+after one last long look, I dived to my state-room, partly to busy
+myself with seeing all my traps arranged and set in trim for sea, and
+partly to be alone.
+
+
+
+
+THE EUROPE PACKET.
+
+
+     "This goodly ship our palace is,
+     Our heritage the sea."
+
+
+It will doubtless appear to many who shall win their way thus far into
+this book, a work of impertinent supererogation to describe at large an
+American packet-ship, together with the mode of living on board a
+regular _Liner_, considering that there are some three or four of these
+departing every week from Liverpool, London, and Havre, and at this same
+point I can fancy some hot fellow, who has performed his twentieth trip,
+here toss by my unoffending volume, with "Devil take the chap! does he
+think he knows about all this better than _us_?"
+
+But, hold hard, my fiery friend, whilst I remind your worship that there
+are some thousands of the lieges out of the countless numbers who will
+be our readers, who, insular though they be, and well used to ships,
+have yet no conception of these wonders of the water; that is, provided
+the "Europe" is to be taken as a true sample of the service she belongs
+to: not to mention that what was new and notable to me, who have
+voyaged much, can hardly fail to interest some gentlemen "who live at
+home at ease."
+
+Let, then, the reader who knows what a "between-decks" is, step below
+with me, and there picture to himself a room forty feet long, not taking
+in the deep transom, by sixteen in breadth, having on either hand a
+range of inclosed state-rooms about eight feet square, each with its own
+door and window, of bird's-eye maple curiously inlaid with variously
+grained wood, polished as glass. The upper part of the door and the
+whole of the side window are latticed; so that on both being closed, the
+occupant is hidden, yet the air admitted freely.
+
+Each of these state-rooms is furnished with a washhand stand, containing
+a double service, a chest of drawers, with handles of cut glass, a shelf
+or two for books, &c. and a brace of berths or bed-places of ample
+dimensions, well appointed with mattress and linen, white as ever lassie
+lifted off the sunny side of a brae, at whose foot brawled the burn to
+which her labour owed its freshness.
+
+Now, although each room is fitted up for two insides, you may
+nevertheless conserve your individuality,--the which I recommend,--at
+the cost of an additional half-fare, or, in all, about fifty-five pounds
+sterling.
+
+Being here installed, then, _solus_, you will be roused from your sound
+night's sleep in the morning at eight bells, or eight o'clock A.M., by
+the tinkling of a shrewish-sounding hand-bell, which says, as plainly as
+ever the chimes of Bow hailed Whittington lord mayor of London, "Arise,
+and shave, and make your toilet, and prepare to come forth; for the cow
+is milking, and the kettle is screeching, and the hot rolls beginning to
+get over-brown."
+
+Upon this welcome summons, if you are not sea-sick, which Heaven forbid!
+or insensible to the goods here by the gods provided for you, you will
+bounce or creep out of your crib, according as the waves and your
+agility may determine; and popping your head out of window, loudly bawl
+"Thomas!" or plain "Tom!" or "Steward!" according to the terms of
+friendship and familiarity on which you may stand with this dignitary,
+who, by the way, has a vote on board worth canvassing for;--I say bawl
+out, because, firstly, your mincing and Clarendon-like lisp of "Waiter!"
+would not be heard by one used to listen to the rush of the tempest and
+the shriek of the scourged Atlantic; also, for that your stirring call
+may remind some wretched skulker of a circumstance which he is miserably
+dozing out of remembrance, viz. that breakfast is under weigh. "Yes,
+sir!" is the prompt response from the larboard corner of the cabin,
+where the steward and his gang are installed with all their appointment
+of glass and crockery ranged neatly within reach. Your next call will
+be, "Bring me a bottle of Saratoga water"--a chalybeate, cool and brisk
+on the palate as soda water, a commendable morning draught, and such a
+trumpet to appetite!--well, having swallowed of this, your pint or so,
+dress, mount the deck, and inquire "how she heads," and what she has
+done during the long hours of night whilst you lay sleeping like a
+sea-bird in your wave-borne nest.
+
+You next take a look over the weather quarter, sweep the horizon
+knowingly with your best eye, and after, walk forward towards the galley
+or kitchen, pricking your ears at certain sputtering and hissing sounds,
+the which, backed up by sundry savoury sniffs caught under the tack of
+the main-sail, give you foretaste of broiled ham, spitch-cock, eggs,
+frizzled bacon, and mutton cutlets.
+
+One by one your messmates tumble up the companion, or cabin-stair; some
+hungry and blooming as sound stomachs and clear consciences can make
+them, others showing a _leetle_ blue and bilious-like; but each and all
+resolute to essay the onslaught, which the train of polished covers,
+making rapid transit from the caboose down the steward's hatchway,
+proclaim about to begin.
+
+Tinkle, tinkle, ting! again sounds the steward's bell; and, without any
+pauses of ceremony, down dive the _convives_, turning _en qûe_ the foot
+of the stair, some to windward, others to leeward, but all facing right
+aft--a double game of "follow my leader."
+
+"Oh! 'tis a goodly sight to see," the show which here presents
+itself;--covers of all sizes glisten under the flickering rays of the
+morning sun, stealing in through the open deck-light, and dancing about
+to the heave of the ship over a well-laid cloth flanked by ready plates
+and the weapons of attack.
+
+The signal is made, the covers drawn; and, appetite or no appetite, here
+is temptation for all. If the incipient voyager will benefit by my
+experience, as he might well have done by my example had we been happy
+enough to have possessed his amiable society on board the Europe, he
+will develope his main battle against the mutton chops _au naturel_;
+then gossip over a slice of broiled _Virginy_ ham, with an egg or twain,
+whilst his souchong is getting pleasantly cool; then, having emptied his
+cup, flirt with a couple of delicate morsels raised from the thin part
+of a salted shad-fish, the which shad, for richness and flavour is
+surpassing.
+
+To his second cup he will dedicate the upper crust of a well-baked roll
+with cold butter; and, after having duly paused a while, choose between
+Cognac and Schiedam for a _chasse_. If he will yet walk with me, I say
+unhesitatingly, try Schiedam, in the absence, reverently be it spoken,
+of Isla or Innishowen.
+
+Now, my pupil, if this breakfast would, which it could not fail to do,
+raise the bastard appetite of your close-curtained, feather-bedded
+coal-smoked, snivelling in-dweller of the city, judge of the influence
+it must exercise over a child of ocean, who inhales the breath of heaven
+freshly as generated beneath the blue sky that vaults his watery world,
+pure, uncorrupted, untainted by touch of anything more earthly.
+
+Why, man, it is worth a life of ordinary vegetation to be stirred but
+for once by the sensations, such a morning as I draw from, in such a
+place, create; and to those who sagely shake the head and doubt, if any
+such cavillers there be, I say, "Pay your just debts; make your tenants
+easy, that their prayers may be in your sails; forgive your enemies,
+kiss your wife, draw up and add in her favour a codicil to your
+testament; and your duties being thus fulfilled, with a clean heart,
+backed by forty-eight clean shirts, go and try; and if you 'fall not' of
+my advice before you again embrace your mother country, curse Fortune
+for a perverse wench, and set your humble servant down for false
+counsel."
+
+Leaving you now, my pupil, to write, to read, to practise shooting with
+ball at a bottle swinging from some outstanding spar, or to follow
+whatever pursuit most engages your fancy, for the space of some four
+hours, we will just name an intermediate and somewhat tempting meal,
+ycleped luncheon, chiefly indeed for the purpose of advising you to
+eschew it as you value unimpaired digestion, and would appreciate a
+four o'clock dinner. If, however, you are obstinately self-willed, and
+choose to obey a villanous unappeasable appetite, in place of following
+my wholesome advice, I pray you, at least, not to sit down knife in
+hand, as I have noted "some shameless creatures do;" but lift a piece of
+pilot biscuit, request some kind soul to shave the under side of the
+corned round for you, then desiring the steward to follow with a tumbler
+of Guiness's porter, fly the place and seek the deck.
+
+Shuffle-board, chess, and backgammon, with exercise and pleasant
+converse, will while away the intervening hours so quickly, that, if you
+do not keep a bright look-out, you will be surprised by the dinner-bell
+before you think of your toilet, which, if a luxury to you on shore,
+will be thrice welcome at sea, besides being a pleasant way of disposing
+of twenty minutes; not to mention the ladies, who, at all times sensibly
+alive to any neglect in us, become doubly so here, where there is so
+much to remind them that they are not ruling in their own pretty
+drawing-rooms, though, as the old song has it,
+
+
+     "Queens they be
+     On the boundless sea,"
+
+
+as indeed they are, and ought to be, everywhere.
+
+_Mem._--Do not trust your appetite to forewarn you of approaching
+dinner, since I have been more than once deceived by over-confidence in
+that quarter: truth is, you have the cry of "wolf" from that insatiable
+look-out so early and so often, that you learn after a time to treat the
+call as impertinent and troublesome, and so strive to cut it until the
+cutting moment really and unexpectedly comes upon you.
+
+I have been so elaborate upon the head of breakfast, which meal, I
+freely confess to be my foible, that I feel as though any description of
+dinner would now come comparatively weak; besides, to speak verily, one
+might, with time and prudent choice, get as good a dinner, perhaps,
+a-shore in favoured countries: but for a breakfast, pho! the thing is
+beyond reach, away from the stores of a well-regulated Yankee packet. I
+challenge Europe, including Scotland, with all her _Finnanhaddies_,
+_herrin's_, cakes, and preserves, to back her.
+
+Suffice it then to say, that here is a dinner of three courses, with
+pastry and various _confitures_ which would not shame Gunter; and, for
+_boisson_, sherry, madeira, hock, and claret, with port for those who
+indulge in strong potations, and three or four times a week well-iced
+champagne.
+
+A variety of dried fruits compose the dessert, since, although they
+sometimes raise small salad, I feel bound to admit that they have not
+yet attained to the comfort of a pinery on board: nor, let me add, did I
+see finger-glasses in use; and how persons get on who have never dined
+without them, I cannot guess, this not being my case, since luckily,
+even in England, I had sometimes roughed it in very good society without
+these necessaries. Once seated to dinner, there you remain, and imbibe
+until discretion bids you hold your hand, for other check have you none,
+cellar and servants remaining at your disposal.
+
+After a walk on deck, and a cup of tea or coffee, you form your party
+for whist or some round game, or join the ladies in their _boudoir_,
+which I ought to have mentioned before as leading out of the great room
+forward, being a pretty square apartment, fitted up with sofas, mirrors,
+loo-table, and other little elegancies which ladies love to look upon
+and be surrounded by. _Entre nous_, between the lights this snuggery
+affords tolerable convenience for a little flirtation, if you are lucky
+enough to get one up;--this broken off, you play your play, and at the
+conclusion of your rubber of whist, or _parti d'ecarté_, you prepare for
+bed,--early hours forming here one of those sanitary laws which the wise
+feel little inclined to impinge.
+
+Now I am quite well aware that on the head of night-caps every biped has
+his own fancy, and most of the genus I also know to be infernally
+pig-pated on this seemingly simple point; such incurables I abandon, to
+supper, porter, night-mare, and all the other nameless horrors that
+rouse them to avenge an ill-used stomach; but to the willing ear and
+ductile mind I whisper again, "try mine." _Imprimis_--one cigar, one
+tumbler of weak Hollands' grog, better named swizzle, all to be disposed
+of in pleasant company during some half-hour's walk on deck; when, if
+you should sometimes, as I hope you often may, fall in with a soft downy
+south-west breeze, a clear deep-blue sky over head, gemmed full with
+little stars, and fringed about, down into the watery round, by a broad
+border of jet-black cloud, against which each curling wave appears to
+break, and the goodly ship seems as though delving through a lake of
+quick-silver--when the track of the swift porpoises show like long
+furrows of dazzling flame, and over the whirling eddies of the keel's
+deep wake is seen to hover a strange unearthly light,--a thin bluish,
+devilish, vaporous haze, which, in the silent watch of night, maketh the
+lonely gazer's flesh to creep, and conjures through the brain every wild
+legend whispered of the "vasty deep," fascinating the eyes, and holding
+them with spell-like power, until--until what?--why, until a sharp
+twitch on the lip from the fire of the close-burned cigar we recommended
+awakens you to a due sense of such a "lame and most impotent
+conclusion."
+
+Jump off the spare spar on which you have been perched whilst gazing so
+dreamily over the ship's quarter, give the last half of your grog to the
+old lad at the wheel, peep in on the compass, find she heads about
+west-north-west, and, well satisfied, descend the stair. The steward
+lights the waxen taper which fixes on a branch before your glass; when,
+having performed such ceremonies as you delight in, thank God and sleep:
+and thus ends the chapter of a day.
+
+And, gentle pupil, if you would learn yet more especially to enjoy all
+this, which I have for your benefit somewhat _lengthily_ detailed, give
+directions to the steward to rouse you at deck-washing; that is, about
+six A.M.; put on drawers and jacket of fine cotton, and, sunshine or
+cloud, calm or squall, run on deck, leave your _robe de chambre_ in the
+round-house, and slide down into the lee gangway, where, according to
+previous contract, you see a grim-looking seven-foot seaman--pick out
+the tallest--waiting for you with a couple of buckets of sea-water, one
+held ready in his claw, with a half-grin upon his puckered phiz as he
+inwardly blesses the simplicity of the landsman who turns out of his
+hammock in the morning-watch to be soused like the captain's turtle in
+cold salt water; and i' faith! startlingly cold it gets when on the
+Banks, even in July, especially if within the influence of an ice-berg
+or twain: think not, however, of this, the infliction is light in
+comparison with the after enjoyment.
+
+Being seated in the lee-scuppers, give the word; up goes the bucket, and
+wush! down pours the deluge on your oil-capped crown. "Hah!" you cry
+involuntarily, for the flesh will quiver, &c. You then compress your
+lips a little closer, whilst Jack's giggle expands into a broad grin,
+and in a steadier stream descends the second shower; which, having
+abided to the last drop, away you scurry along the wet deck, that is,
+always provided you avoid a fall or two by the way, into the
+round-house, on gown, and down to your little den; where a coarse towel,
+and a couple of flesh-brushes smartly applied for five minutes, will
+produce such a circulation throughout your inward man, that, like bold
+Waterton, you feel as though you could back an alligator, take the
+sea-serpent by the beard, or kick a noisy steamboat fairly out of water.
+
+I have, since I am at confession, sometimes in very bad weather been
+tempted into bed after this ablution, when such an hour's nap awaits
+one! But this is a luxury Xerxes would have given a Satrapie to have
+tasted, and not to be indulged in over-often, lest it lead to
+effeminacy, which is as far removed from comfort as is sensuality from
+pleasure.
+
+I have often heard objected to these fine ships the discomfort and
+difficulty attending toilet; but, for my own part, I did not discover
+these. Having a state-room, and possessed of the same appliances, with
+perhaps a little more trouble, a man may be as scrupulously nice as in
+any other dressing-room; provided always he be not prostrated by that
+unsparing nausea, sea-sickness; from the which I wish you, gentle
+reader, the full exemption I enjoy, and so commend you to repose.
+
+
+
+
+THE EUROPE CONTINUED.--CHANGE OF AFFAIRS.
+
+
+     "Life's like a ship in constant motion:
+     Sometimes smooth, and sometimes rough."--_Song._
+
+
+"Oh! the pleasures of a summer trip across the Atlantic!" Thus sung and
+chorused my good friends one and all; some from experience, most from
+hearsay, but ever in unison.
+
+"You'll have quite a party of pleasure," says one. "The only thing to be
+dreaded will be the _ennui_ arising out of long calms, gentle breezes,
+eternal sunshine by day and moonlight by night," says another.
+
+One would have fancied, according to their account, that sun and moon
+alternated like buckets in a well, one up, the other down, with the
+exception that both were to be always at full.
+
+So constant, however, were these remarks about heat, and sun, and summer
+air, that I packed up every article of clothing heavier than duck or
+cachmere; nay, had not some worthy matter-of-fact soul let slip a stray
+hint about ice and sleighing parties in December, I verily believe,
+hating as I do all superfluous baggage, I should have left my greatcoats
+to the moth and fog of Old England.
+
+But whew! from such _airs_ the Lord preserve me!--whilst at the tail of
+our honest, grimy, grumbling steamer, cutting through the Mersey or
+along the coast of Wales, we were, I admit, tolerably sunned and warm
+enough, though not even here bedazzled or over-heated; but on the second
+morning out, what a change!
+
+I came on deck just before six A.M. to take my shower-bath; the wind was
+about west by south, blowing a brisk gale, the ship under double-reefed
+topsails, with top-gallant sails set over them, making all smoke
+again--on one hand lay the Isle of Rathlin, with the north coast of
+Ireland, bleak and bare; on the other, the Mull of Kyntyre, with a tide
+of its own rushing by like a mill-race, and over it the cloudy crest of
+Isla, looming through the flitting vapours, cold, dark, and
+hard-visaged, as though no drop of whisky had ever been brewed therein.
+One could not recognise the misty monster, thus grimly shadowed forth,
+to be the parent of that glorious sunny spirit.
+
+We had full time afforded to become well acquainted with the changing
+aspects of these and the other localities hereabouts, for we had to
+battle it with their ally the wind, and with their waters, for full
+sixty hours; and although we at length fought our course seaward, it was
+to feel that such another victory would be anything but serviceable to
+the gallant ship.
+
+Oh that infernal Rathlin! I shall not soon forget it; it is a spot I
+always held in ill odour ever since Miss Porter's "Scottish Chiefs"
+taught my unsophisticated youth to weep over the wrongs of Wallace
+wight. Now, although I abominate the place more, I have learned to
+compassionate her ill-starred hero less, since to have been carried
+southward through "merrie England" from such a place of exile, albeit
+the journey ended in hanging, was yet a deliverance especially to be
+rejoiced in.
+
+We had a near view of the natives too, one day, trying to catch us in a
+whale-boat, whilst we were hugging the land sculking from the strength
+of the tide of flood: but, thank Heaven! they missed taking us as we
+went about on the opposite tack, the which I shall ever consider a
+providential escape, although at the time, a heedless confidence in our
+numbers led Captain Maxwell to throw them the end of a rope. They failed
+to lay hold on it, however, and away we dashed by them like a whirlwind;
+whilst the disappointed men gesticulating fiercely, with their red
+"fell o' hair" blowing to the four corners of the earth, and their wild
+eyes and ogre mouths agape, yelled forth a volley of strange sounds,
+soon drowned by the louder roar of these summer waves. This was happily
+the only danger we incurred from the natives; we saw no more of them,[2]
+and right glad were all-hands when the last glimpse of the Hebrides, or
+Western Isles, as they are called in their charts, faded away in their
+mist.
+
+After this date one heavy blow succeeded another until the first of
+August, with seldom sun enough to afford an observation: yet it mattered
+not; like sea-birds we "rode and slept," for the excellence of the boat,
+and the way in which she was handled, was evident enough to inspire even
+the nervousness of inexperience with confidence; and the efficiency of
+our domestic arrangements bade defiance to the anger of the
+elements;--uninfluenced by their frowns as by their smiles, on went the
+work, and meal succeeded meal with faultless regularity.
+
+On the second of August we passed within the immediate atmosphere of a
+huge iceberg. We had for some time previous been enveloped in fog, which
+suddenly lifting, showed us this isle of ice, and two other smaller
+ones.
+
+The main island, by which we were most attracted, lay about a quarter of
+a mile to leeward, of dazzling whiteness, and picturesque of form,
+having at one end a lofty cone-shaped mountain, and at the other an
+angular bold mound, crowned by what we decided to be an extensive Gothic
+fortalice or castle, not unworthy the Ice-king himself if bent on a
+summer trip round the gulf stream: between these promontories lay a deep
+valley thickly tenanted by tribes of the white gull.
+
+Three sides of Castle-hill were regularly scarped, the fourth
+communicated by a neatly kept slope with the valley, and along this
+radiated a number of well-trodden paths, all uniting at the castle gate,
+at once giving evidence of considerable population, and great
+hospitality on the part of the worthy castellan.
+
+The position of these islands was unusual, and their appearance
+occasioned a little surprise, although the fall of the thermometer, and
+the change in the temperature of the water, had led Captain Maxwell,
+some hours before we met them, to decide upon their vicinity.
+
+On the banks of Newfoundland they are common at this season of the year,
+and form, indeed, the danger most to be dreaded of the voyage; since, if
+the weather should prove thick, and the ice swim deep, scarce showing
+above the surface, as is commonly the case, a ship going quickly through
+the water may strike before any measures can be taken to avoid the
+encounter.
+
+A fine packet, the Liverpool, but nine days out, on her first trip was
+totally lost on one of these in the summer of 1822; and this very year
+our captain coasted to the southward for seventy miles along the edge of
+a field of ice, in which he had previously been locked-up for fifty
+hours, till released by a lucky shift of wind. On this occasion he had
+one on board whose experience among ice had been well tested, and was
+about to be yet again tried; for Lieutenant Back was here on his
+perilous adventure in quest of the long lost Captain Ross and his crew.
+
+For the succeeding sixteen or seventeen days of our voyage the weather
+was generally fine. Upon the western edge of the Banks we had a few
+days' calm, which taking advantage of, I turned my morning shower-bath
+into a plunge from the bowsprit, and had a delicious swim round the
+ship. The passengers, however, got wind of my fun, and in obedience to
+the kindly meant remonstrances of one or two of them, I forbore a
+pleasure which never occurred to me to be perilous, for I have practised
+it in many parts of the ocean, always taking care that there was no way
+upon the ship.
+
+We had no casualties except amongst the pigs, sheep, and poultry; and as
+yet no great loss of spars, indeed in all our blows, we only sprung a
+main-topsail yard, carried away a fore-topmast, and made a few
+stu'n-sail booms,--for the latter, we had very little use, not having
+the wind abaft the beam over five days, all counted, out of a passage of
+thirty-five; and how it was accomplished in the time under the
+circumstances, is yet to me a matter of some wonderment.
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[2] To homeward-bound ships these visits of the _Rathlineans_, often
+prove sufficiently welcome, as they generally provide themselves with a
+cargo of ancient, fish-like milk, and fine potatoes. The Europe having
+an excellent dairy and a poultry-yard of her own, stood in no need of
+their supplies.
+
+
+
+
+JOURNAL AT SEA.
+
+
+This is usually a very monotonous task to the journalist, and can hardly
+fail of soon becoming tiresome to the reader, since a voyage away from
+the land affords but little to record; still, as it is my intention
+occasionally to refer to this current report of my _Impressions_ and
+every-day-doings, I may as well transcribe literally a page or two
+illustrative of every-day life in this, our "Europe."
+
+_July 31st._--Sixteen days out this afternoon; during which time, with
+but forty-four hours that we could fairly lay our course, the good ship
+has knocked off forty degrees of westing, a prodigious slant under the
+circumstances. The last two days up to meridian, we have run ten degrees
+of longitude and two of latitude.
+
+_Thursday, August 1st._--Going about seven knots, heading west by north;
+all well and mighty agreeable. Rifle-shooting and backgammon the great
+antagonists of time before dinner--whist after. Various wagers are daily
+made against time, as to the length of our passage, as well as for or
+against certain ships that preceded or were to follow us. Most persons
+have named some date for our arrival at New York, and backed it for more
+or less; finding that these days were selected more in accordance with
+the desires of the betters than their judgment, I selected an outsider,
+and took the longest date named for my day, August 20th. The odds
+fluctuate daily in the market, according to the view the knowing ones
+take of the weather: these bets form a subject of interest and banter
+which daily rises in importance.
+
+_Wednesday, 7th._--About meridian carried away our main-topsail yard,
+whilst two hands were employed rigging in the studding-sail boom; one
+fell into the top, and the other caught hold of the rigging, receiving
+much fright but small damage. Had they fallen on the deck or over-board,
+why their chance would have been exceeding small. There surely is "a
+sweet little cherub that sits up aloft," &c. or these careless rogues
+could not escape so often scot-free.
+
+To-day we have a rattling north-easter with sunshine: and the sea, which
+yesterday was wild, dreary, and dark, is now beaming and light as a
+beauty at a birth-day ball; and as radiant, for it sparkles in diamonds
+of its own.
+
+All hands in high spirits, the ship the favourite for odds; Time gone
+back sadly; the 13th inst. named for very long odds; I offered eight to
+one against it, and was taken up at a word. Made two or three entries in
+my book after dinner; against the 20th, my day; take all that offers,
+but have made a _leetle_ hedge on the 18th by way of a break-water.
+
+_Saturday, 9th._--A very heavy gale from north-west, a rare occurrence
+at this season; it stuck to us for fifty hours, hauling gradually round
+to the south'ard. No business done to-day; 'change deserted; not a
+time-bargain to be had for love or money; most of the bulls in bed.
+
+_Tuesday, 13th._--One of the most lovely days possible: all the morning
+we have been observing a large ship right a-head, on which we draw
+rapidly, though a stern chase is proverbially a long chase. The alley
+all alive, books and pencils in great demand: odds offered freely that
+this ship is the Tallahassie, Captain Glover, which sailed from
+Liverpool on the morning of the day we left; but owing to our taking the
+north channel, whilst she pursued the south, had thus gotten a decided
+pull upon us, besides being a very fine ship. Consultations frequent, as
+we neared, between the mate and the backers of the Tallahassie,
+adjournments to the top-gallant forecastle constant; every spy-glass in
+requisition.
+
+We drew near; the odds rose in favour of this being the ship in
+question--she was a large ship, square-built and long, so was
+Tallahassie--she was flush deck, so was Tallahassie--had stump-royal
+masts, and a storm-house abaft, so had Tallahassie, hurrah! Nearer we
+came, less ardour amongst the backers of Tal.--nearer still, they are
+all silent; the alley is deserted for the forecastle--a straggler now
+comes aft, with a sneaking offer of a hedge: no takers.
+
+One of the opposite side's scouts next comes aft. "This can't be the
+Tallahassie--this ship has no copper, Tallahassie had; she has a white
+line over her bright side, Tallahassie had not--her top-rail is white,
+and the yards tipped with the same colour, the Tallahassie's were
+black.--In short, it could not be the Tallahassie, as any one with half
+an eye might have seen from the first, and might see now."
+
+The latter part of the proposition was already demonstrated, for we were
+by this time right a-beam; the former might have been disputed,
+although it certainly was not the Tallahassie.
+
+Trifles like this were all-sufficient occupation for the day, and served
+as subjects of conversation after. On this occasion we had for nearly
+the first time a complete muster of our crew, the exceeding fineness of
+the day brought out even our sick, and there they lounged about in the
+sun, like weary birds plumeing their ruffled feathers.
+
+_Sunday, 18th._--Wind north-west; weather fine. We are now within one
+hundred and sixty miles of our port. Betting-market a little anxious,
+but a good deal of business doing in a quiet way; my odds looking well,
+but to-morrow, the 19th, by far the favourite, Captain Maxwell himself
+indeed, considering it a hollow thing. Got a notion in my head, however,
+in favour of my day, and accordingly took the odds; resolute to abide by
+the 20th, and either "mak' a spune or spoil a horn."
+
+All hands well and in motion; the crew busily employed getting the
+sea-service off the rigging, and setting it all up in holiday order. The
+mate is peering about jealously on all sides, eyeing his ship as a
+mother would a beauty dressing for her first drawing-room, and to the
+full as anxious about her appearance.
+
+_Monday, 19th._--In the middle watch had a heavy squall, and carried
+away our foretop-gallant mast. At nine o'clock, A.M. made the American
+shore off Jersey, to the southward of Barney Gat. Wind light, no
+betting, but anxious speculations on the probability of our getting
+within Sandy Hook this day. Tuesday a hollow thing, feel "cock
+sure:"--about noon, wind died away; and, right enough, it was not until
+
+_Tuesday, August 20th_, that at three o'clock, A.M. I was called on deck
+to look upon the Hook lights, and count my wagers won. I received the
+omen as a good one, and so it proved.
+
+
+
+
+LAND, HO!
+
+
+I had often, and with much pleasure, heard intelligent Americans
+describe the restless anxiety with which they approached the shores of
+Britain; the almost painful degree of excitement created by the various
+associations crowding on the imagination, and jostling each other for
+supremacy, as they looked for the first time on their father-land.
+
+The veneration with which they pictured her ivy-clad towers, and the
+throb with which they caught the names of places long familiar to memory
+and hallowed by historical events, to all of which they felt their claim
+inherited from their ancestors, whether from Thames, or Tweed, or
+Shannon.
+
+To all of this I have, I say, listened with great pleasure, and with a
+full sympathy in feelings at once natural and generous, yet can I hardly
+admit them to possess more force, or their nature to be more exciting,
+or richer in the material whence Fancy frames her chequered web, than
+the recollections awakened in a well-stored imagination by a near
+approach to the shores of America. Although differing widely, these are
+to every philosophic mind, especially to a subject of Britain, at least
+equally stirring.
+
+When it is first remembered, that on all the long line of coast
+extending from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico there was not, in
+the beginning of the sixteenth century, one European family settled, or
+a Christian voice that woke the forest with the name of God,--not a
+civilized man from Canada to Florida, who placed his foot upon the soil
+to call it home. Yet now, within this immense range may be reckoned the
+mightiest States of the Union; and over its wide circumference are
+scattered great cities, towns aspiring to be cities, and villages fast
+growing into busy towns--possessing a population which for wealth hardly
+need yield to the oldest countries of Europe, and in the general
+diffusion of intelligence and education offering indeed to most of these
+an example worthy of their imitation.
+
+When it is called to mind that the waters of her vast line of coast, now
+daily ploughed by thousands of busy prows, were at this same not very
+distant day as desert as her swamps and as unfurrowed, except where the
+canoe of the scared Indian left its light track behind, when driven from
+the shelter of some near river:--silent and shadowless, except when the
+sail of the adventurous explorer flitted slowly over the waves, as he
+steered his doubtful course filled with the many wonders seen and
+fancied by his watchful, credulous crew,--some band of daring spirits
+tempted hither in search of gold, or wild adventure, perhaps to perish
+suddenly by the arrow of the savage, or slowly to wither beneath the
+influence of the climate--God! what wonderful changes have been wrought
+here, and what a living marvel is this land! Changes, which it has
+required the labour of ages to accomplish elsewhere, have here been
+effected by the energy of a few busy generations, whose toil was begun
+and carried on amid want, and sickness, and a struggle against ignorance
+and neglect without, as well as a war of extermination within; a war
+which may be said to exist even to this day, for yet is the ever-growing
+frontier from time to time awakened by the night whoop of the savage and
+the answering shot of the hardy pioneer.
+
+Then come the recollections connected with the war of the
+Revolution,--the noble declaration of independence, for truly noble it
+was: no dark compact of a crew of ruffian conspirators, but a generous
+bond that their aggrieved country should be freed, given by a band of
+citizen gentlemen, husbands, fathers, and brothers, to the fulfilment of
+the which they pledged unto each other their lives, their fortunes, and
+their sacred honour; and having placed their hands to this bold deed,
+they gave it to their people and the world.
+
+Their bond is cancelled, and they are dismissed beyond the hearing of
+praise or censure; yet shall these, the names of their country's
+fathers, be read and blessed by ages yet to come, and shall stand for
+ever, each a synonyme for patriot honour.
+
+Washington, and the long wars he conducted through defeat and disaster
+to such a glorious end for his country, together with that large list of
+famous names connected with those and later events formed no mean
+subject for reverie, and these were the fancies conjured through my
+brain by a near approach to the shores of America. I confess I
+contemplated her triumphs with a participation in her glory where
+England was not a party, with no other feeling than regret when she
+was,--with regret that the hands of brothers should ever have been
+opposed in deadly enmity.
+
+I give back in love of country to no man, and to no foe under heaven
+would I yield up one jot due to Britain's well-won supremacy, but to the
+United States we may surely spare without envy the leaf she so hardily
+plucked from our thick laurels. The glory of having given her birth,
+language, and laws, she cannot rob us of; this will endure until her
+mountains crumble: and all else she has acquired at the expense of
+Britain, Britain can well spare, and still stand foremost on the roll of
+Fame.
+
+
+
+
+PORT.
+
+
+On the morning of Tuesday, August 20th, I was roused, according to a
+request I had left to that effect with Captain Maxwell, to look on the
+Hook Lights, the entrance to the outer bay and harbour of New York. It
+was three o'clock in the morning, a fresh yet bland breeze was just
+giving motion to the smooth sea, and above, the firmament showed thickly
+studded with heaven's lights; but the dazzling pharos of the Hook, to my
+mind, were brighter at this hour than the best twinklers on the floor of
+heaven,--so welcome were they.
+
+While waiting on deck, a couple of sky-rockets were discharged from the
+storm-house by way of signal for a pilot. The effect of the sudden blaze
+was fine; and the rush of each fiery messenger on its upward mission, as
+it burst away from the Europe's deck, seemed a glad sound of welcome,
+for it spoke of safe arrival, and consequent freedom from our present
+thrall; for, however pleasant a ship may be, and however poetical our
+notions about the "deep sea," after having been in the one and on the
+other for five or six weeks, there are few bipeds who do not hail the
+shore as a type of recovered liberty, and, however barren it may be,
+right joyfully embrace it.
+
+About 7 A.M.--for here it appears pilots do not hurry themselves--we
+made out a couple of schooner-rigged boats standing right for us, which
+were at first taken for pilots, but proved to be news-boats. Several
+such are, as it appears, kept in commission by the New York journals,
+and the struggle for early intelligence between the rivals occasions a
+display of considerable adventure not unattended with risk, since these
+news-boats are out in all weathers, and from a great distance often
+bring to the city a ship's letters, &c. many days before she makes her
+own appearance.
+
+The news-collectors were welcomed civilly by our captain, bagged their
+papers, made out a list of the passengers, and in a few moments were
+again on the wing for shore, looking right into the wind, and with
+smooth water and a light breeze, they drew rapidly away from the heavier
+ship. I must observe that our Mercury's correctness was by no means
+commensurate with his activity; for such ingenious changes did this
+worthy contrive in the names of the passengers, that the mothers of some
+would have failed to have discovered the arrival of their sons, except
+upon instinct.
+
+At length, after long watching, a couple of pilot-schooners were
+discovered standing out from under the high land, and in due time their
+boats boarded us nearly together; and hence arose a dispute as to whose
+particular prey the good Europe was to be considered.
+
+Each Pilot was voluble, and accused the other of violating the laws made
+and provided in such cases for their better government: who was wrong in
+this case it was difficult to say, but I very clearly made out that both
+parties had cheated on former occasions, were willing to cheat in this,
+and resolute to continue a like commendable practice in all others that
+might offer, as far as in them lay. What arrant rogues are we in all
+climes and under whatever rule, quoth I, internally, as I listened to
+these wordy disputants; for, to do messieurs the pilots justice, the
+matter was conducted in a manner more worthy the courts, better argued,
+and in language less offensively figurative, than similar disputes at
+which it has been my chance to assist between angry members of our own
+_bars_.
+
+At length the elder pilot left the deck, and returned to his attendant
+yawl, in evident dudgeon and disgust; when the junior, being hailed by
+his comrades in the schooner on the opposite quarter, was advised to
+give up the Europe, since they had made out a second ship quite as large
+in the offing.
+
+Whether this information, or a latent sense of justice prevailed, it is
+hard to say; but on the tidings our man hailed his irate senior--who was
+borne away amidst deeply-muttered vows of vengeance--desired him to
+return, and told him he would give up the ship. Thereon, back rowed our
+ancient mariner; and after a few explanatory sentences, mutually offered
+as salvos to their hurt honour, the rivals parted, to all outward
+seeming as good friends as ever.
+
+Which had right I know not, but one of them had fish, and we of the
+Europe had no cause to mourn the departure of that one, since, having
+gained his deck, he sent us back a basket of newly-taken porgies, and
+various other fishes with unpoetical names but of marvellous sweetness,
+and sumptuous was our _déjeuner_ in consequence of this unlooked-for
+addition.
+
+Henceforward, all between-decks presented a scene of bustle and
+preparation; the most sluggish natures amongst us appeared now inspired,
+whilst on all sides were heard good-humoured congratulations and glad
+anticipations. I confess, although a very experienced voyager, I felt a
+little touch of softness striving to sneak into and coil about my heart,
+as the words,--home--friends, with other household sounds, fell thick
+upon my hearing; for, all our passengers being American, I stood alone
+here on this day of happy greeting, a stranger amongst strangers.
+
+Let me add, that this was the last day on which I felt so during my long
+sojourn in the hospitable land; and even on this I possessed buoyancy
+enough of spirit to keep down these selfish reflections, and, I thank
+Heaven, sympathy enough to rejoice in the gladness of my comrades.
+
+I did not lack amusement, either after the first hurry was past; an
+intelligent friend or two busied themselves pointing out to me the
+various localities in detail, with whose general character Carey's
+excellent atlas had already made me tolerably conversant.
+
+The day was clear and cloudless; and when to this advantage is added a
+light head wind, which compelled us to work our way inward, no harbour
+could be approached under auspices more favourable, or better calculated
+to afford a complete and varying view of its beauties.
+
+Just as we had opened the Narrows, the entrance to the inner bay so
+called, the wind grew so unpromising that a party of us decided to
+engage the pilot vessel to take us as far as Staten Island, which they
+"calculated" they could reach before the departure of the steamer for
+New York.
+
+Bidding adieu to the Europe, away we dashed in the little witch of a
+pilot, a craft of some eighty tons' burthen, but, viewed from a short
+distance, not looking more than half that size, so snug was her build,
+as well as from the absence of every kind of hamper; her shrouds were
+without ratlins, and her deck without even the protection of a
+rough-tree--a nakedness I should by no means like in bad weather. The
+afterpart, however, or stern-sheets, is sunk about four feet; and as the
+bowsprit is a mere stump, and the sheets of both foresail and jib lead
+aft, all the work may be done here when under snug sail.
+
+The necessity, during our trip in the schooner, of working up between
+the shores of Long and Staten Islands, was a chance that added to the
+charm of our approach.
+
+Standing into the Narrows, under the guns of a formidable fort, the
+pretty-looking village of Staten, where quarantine is performed, first
+presented itself: the smoke of the steamer assured us she had not yet
+departed, and two or three tacks brought us within signaling distance,
+just as she broke away from the shore: our desire was readily
+understood, and, slightly changing her course, she soon after received
+us in addition to her already crowded freight.
+
+I found the upper deck of the Bolivar, the name of our steamer,
+uncommonly hot, but it afforded a good place from which to view the
+harbour and city as they were now rapidly unfolded: here, therefore, I
+planted myself, all eyes; and certainly have rarely been better repaid
+for a broiling.
+
+As we neared the Battery, we were afforded a passing glance up the East
+and North Rivers,--the great waters which give wealth to Manhattan, and
+jealously clip her beauty about, in equal participation. The _coup
+d'oeil_ thus taken is very imposing, and at once awakens the stranger
+to a sense of the commercial importance of the _entrepôt_ whose walls he
+perceives shaded by such a forest of lofty masts.
+
+
+
+
+NEW YORK.
+
+
+FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE CITY.
+
+
+On landing at the Battery, our first visit was to an office of the
+customs here; and, instead of the dogged, sulky, bribe-demanding scowl,
+too commonly encountered from our own low-class officials, who seem to
+consider the custom-house as a means rather of annoyance to the lieges
+than a protection to trade, we were met by civility, respect, and prompt
+despatch. The luggage we had brought with us on shore was not subjected
+to the least examination, and we went on our way highly pleased. First
+impressions give their colour to succeeding matters; and surely those
+derived from my encounter with the officials of a service at best
+annoying, were much in favour of the land.
+
+On entering the quiet Bowling Green, where many of the houses have
+coloured fronts, and all gaily painted jalousies, with trees shadowing
+the _stoups_, I was reminded of Cape Town: but the impression was
+momentary; a few yards on, and the long line of Broadway, with its
+crowded side walks, showy shops, and numerous hotels, at once transports
+you back to Europe; and, were it not for the sprinkling of black faces
+with which the mass is chequered, one might swear oneself in Paris on
+some portion of the Boulevards not altogether familiar to the eye, but
+offering most of the points needful to prove identity, from the monkey
+and hurdy-gurdy of the Savoyard, the _blouse_ of the carman and
+_Conducteur_, to the swagger of the citizen-soldier, and the mincing
+step and "_tournure charmante_" of the _belles_. The fronts of the
+_cafés_ and hotels, too, as you pass along, you perceive to be covered
+by chairs occupied by similar loungers to those on the Boulevards.
+
+Such were my impressions whilst moving on a hot day from the Battery to
+the City Hotel, and so give I them place here; since I have often, after
+a long residence in a place, found myself referring back to these first
+glimpses, when desirous to present it at once fresh and comprehensive to
+the eye of the stranger, and for such these sketches are chiefly
+designed.
+
+
+
+
+A BIVOUAC.
+
+
+The day after my arrival, I was both interested and amused by
+accidentally falling on the bivouac of a Swiss family of emigrants.
+
+I had risen early for the purpose of bathing, and was making my way to
+the fort through the grounds of the Battery as the rising sun was just
+adding new light and life to the most beautiful of harbours, when I came
+suddenly upon the barriers of a little encampment perfectly Teutonic in
+its arrangement; it was, however, no surprisal to the hive within, for
+their morning operations had already begun.
+
+Within a circular rampart, formed out of various articles of household
+gear,--three or four antique-looking spinning-wheels, a pair of churns,
+a few clumsy chairs, a large chest, together with a couple of small
+heavy waggons not yet placed upon the wheels,--were a few as lively
+recruits as any land desirous of population could wish to welcome.
+
+The party consisted, first, of a right venerable-looking old man, the
+patriarch of the tribe, as he told me, seventy-four years old; six men,
+his sons and grandsons; seven lively boys, his great-grandchildren, and
+about an equal number of girls, the patriarch's wife, nearly as aged as
+himself, but with a shrill piercing voice and the activity of a girl of
+nineteen, with four other women, the wives of the ancient's sons.
+
+At the moment I came upon them the whole camp was rousing into full
+activity. The grandmother, assisted by a couple of her young women,
+found ample occupation in first catching and next washing the junior
+branches of the colonists: these appeared already aware of their being
+in a country where every individual thinks for himself, or at least
+thinks he does, which comes to the same thing, for they stoutly
+resisted, to the last extremity, the soapless saline ablutions profusely
+administered by their great grandam.
+
+Meantime a couple of the more staid of the youngsters, who had been
+passed outside the lines, were busied beneath the trees collecting
+fallen sticks, leaves, &c. for keeping up the fire already lighted and
+presided over by one of the females, whose task it evidently was to
+prepare breakfast.
+
+A couple of the men yet slept soundly; another pair were composedly
+leaning against a waggon smoking their pipes; whilst a third, the
+youngest of the grown men, and evidently the _beau-garçon_ of the party,
+was busied about the completion of a careful toilet before six square
+inches of looking-glass, held up to him by a young lass, rather
+good-looking, who, kneeling before this Adonis in evident admiration,
+most patiently abided the completion of his equipment previous to
+commencing her own.
+
+My course was at once arrested by a scene so new and unexpected; and I
+stood for a long time contemplating the repose of this little group,
+camping here in the midst of a busy population on the banks of the
+Hudson, in the same manner and after the same fashion their ancestors
+are described to have followed by the Rhone and the Danube in the time
+of Cæsar.
+
+There was an air of confident security about the whole arrangement, that
+spoke equally in favour of the hardy simplicity of these strangers and
+the courtesy and honesty of their adopted country; for I know no
+European capital wherein such a group could have sat them down and
+passed a summer night, unhoused and unwatched, without receiving
+annoyance, if not suffering loss.
+
+I learned that the family had been landed late on the preceding
+afternoon from a French ship; so that, not being able, as is the wont of
+this people, to depart for their destination immediately, they had in
+the most prompt and orderly manner pitched their tents here for the
+night, and were now preparing for their march into the wilderness.
+
+This sight, striking in itself, was no less illustrative of the country
+and the time: these arrivals are of daily occurrence here during the
+season; every one of the northern nations of Europe is contributing her
+quota out of the most enterprising of her children to swell the numbers,
+and give additional pith and vigour to the population, of this land of
+wonder.
+
+About three hours after this first rencounter, whilst seated in our
+parlour at breakfast, I pointed out to my friend P---- the whole family
+passing the city hotel _en route_.
+
+They had now gotten one of their clumsy waggons mounted, and rudely
+harnessed to a stout-looking horse, and on this vehicle was piled all
+their worldly store. The males, pipe in hand and marching four abreast,
+strode boldly on before; next came the waggon, surrounded and followed
+by the women and children: the heads of one or two of the youngest of
+these, by the bye, might just be seen poking out from the lumber amongst
+which they were ensconced upon the car.
+
+I observed that the old dame now carried in her hand a wicker-cage,
+containing a little captive of the goldfinch tribe, some home-bred
+favourite, whose simple notes will often call up the memory of
+father-land, when this family of humble adventurers shall be located,
+happily I trust, on some wild stream of the far west, for thither were
+they bound, and, with the appliances I have sketched, were cheerfully
+setting forth to perform a journey of some two thousand miles. These,
+however, are the sort of persons who may look most to benefit by such a
+change; after a few to them trifling privations, and an industrious
+struggle, they have the certain satisfaction of beholding their
+offspring surrounded by comfort, and their means yearly increasing. They
+presently exchange want for plenty, and cease to look upon the coming
+time with fear or doubt for even their children's children; since
+generations must rise and pass away before enterprise and honest
+industry will feel any lack of elbow-room here.
+
+The weather was awfully hot during the last week of this month; and
+great was my delight, on entering the parlour of a morning, to look upon
+the butter luxuriating beneath a large wedge of clear ice: only for the
+cutting up, I should have gloried in being a _Pat_ of butter myself.
+This article of ice is presented here in a purity of form, and is withal
+so plentiful, that it almost makes amends for the dog-days.
+
+Our breakfasts were excellent--fish, fruit in abundance, chickens,
+omelette, &c. with good coffee, and the best black tea I ever drank. The
+parlour was a very large well-furnished room, level with and fronting on
+the busiest part of Broadway; and a more amusing stand than one of the
+windows, for a stranger, it would be difficult to select. The whole busy
+population, I should imagine, passed in review here once, at least, in
+six hours; together with samples of all the nondescript vehicles city or
+country rejoices in.
+
+To one worthy I owe many a hearty laugh,--who knows but I may have
+repaid the good soul in kind?--I hope I have, for my gratitude is his.
+Let the reader imagine a long street, very crowded, and about noon
+shadeless, with the thermometer at 98° in the sun. In the very middle
+of this broiling thoroughfare, fancy a low carriage on four wheels,
+ycleped a Jersey waggon, having a seat with a high back hung by straps
+athwart-ships; over this seat a buffalo robe of vast dimensions, the
+thick fur outside and a red lining within, falling in heavy folds to the
+waggon floor; upon this buffalo skin, seated right in the centre, with
+knees and elbows spread as far apart as possible, a huge mass of
+humanity clothed in a dark jacket of home-spun cloth, with vest and
+trousers of blue cotton; his pumpkin-like head covered by a broad-leafed
+straw hat, a Dutch pipe on his lip, and before him a hard-mouthed
+awkward little horse pulled about by both hands, now right, now left,
+but rarely going out of a walk. Above a high shirt-collar his full-blown
+cheeks might be seen, as he sucked in the hot air and rejected it again
+like a blowing porpoise: cravat he had none, because he had no neck to
+tie it about; but in lieu of this article he carried, knotted over his
+broad shoulders, a little red handkerchief. Daily did I ask myself for a
+whole week "Will it walk again?" and, so surely as the shadeless hour of
+noon arrived, did my Dutch fire-king arrive with it, steering his waggon
+through the sweltering mass with a composure--coolness I could not call
+it--most enviable.
+
+I would have given anything to have known him and his history; but
+though I had opportunities of pointing him out to my friends
+occasionally, no one knew him. Son of a thousand burgomasters, may your
+shadow never grow less! for I owe to you the beguilement of many a hot
+hour: but I fear me my friend must be "larding six feet of lean earth,"
+somewhere in the vicinity of Manhattan, since for the last year I have,
+on every day that the sun shone intensely with the glass over 90°,
+watched in vain for his coming.
+
+In the cool of the afternoon, if there chance to be any cool, it is a
+common custom for the young men of all classes to drive or ride some
+five or six miles along the north avenue,--an excellent road leading to
+the pretty village of Harlaem; and on this line, about sunset, the
+amateur of horse-flesh may see done, the fastest pace in the trotting
+world; double-horse waggons of the neatest and lightest construction,
+gig, sulky, and saddle, all are alike borne along by trotters or pacers
+at a speed varying from the pair that are doing their mile in three
+minutes, to the sulky or saddle nag flying at the rate of a mile in two
+minutes, thirty seconds.
+
+The first time I was whirled along this road at the heels of one of the
+crack goers of the city, amidst clouds of dust through which the rushing
+of other vehicles might be dimly made out, and startled by the wild
+cries used by the rival drivers, at once to encourage their horses and
+prove the impossibility of scaring them into breaking up, I thought it
+one of the most exciting things I had ever met; and on getting down at
+Cato's, involuntarily found myself drawing a long breath.
+
+
+
+
+CATO'S!
+
+
+And what is Cato's? and who is Cato? Shade of Rome's patriot and sage,
+anger not! for Cato is a great man, foremost amongst cullers of mint,
+whether for _julep_ or _hail-storm_; second to no man as a compounder of
+_cock-tail_, and such a hand at a _gin-sling_!
+
+Cato is a gentleman of colour who presides at a little tavern, named
+after its proprietor, lying just off the dust of the road between two
+sharp hills, and situated some four miles from New York--a good
+breathing distance for a fast burst--and here consequently most men halt
+to give their horses breath, and wash the dust out of their own throats
+with some one of Cato's many excellent compounds. The convenience of the
+place is enhanced by the manner of its master, who for courtesy and
+_bienséance_ might serve as a model to most of his young friends. His
+society indeed is of the very best, including all the first sporting
+youths of the city; and his liquors are equal to his breeding.
+
+Cato will give a few select friends breakfast too on a hot morning, if
+it be especially ordered; and, certes, a woodcock and toast as served up
+by him on these occasions is a thing not to be forgotten. It was my
+fortune, under the auspices of my friend, Mr. M'L--d, an especial
+favourite of "mine host," to pay several visits to Cato's, and to come
+away at each with added respect for the great man, and increased regard
+for his excellent entertainment.
+
+
+
+
+THEATRE.
+
+     _Great heat--doubts, dubitations, and début._
+
+
+I do not intend to bore my readers with a series of play-bills, or a
+journal of my theatrical career; but I feel that on this head there may
+be some little curiosity, and that it would on my part be an affectation
+to eschew the subject, as well as an injustice to my American comrades
+of the buskin, to whom I owe some kind mention, since it was my lot to
+add considerably to their labours. I will therefore just notice my
+appearance in each city as it occurred, and that as briefly as may be
+consistent; when any fun turns up, I promise the reader the benefit of
+it. I shall also give my impressions of the various audiences I
+encountered; because I think there is no place where the characteristics
+of a people are more clearly shown than at a theatre, where all mix upon
+a footing more purely democratic than in any other whatever, and each
+man having a right to evince his taste after his own fashion, opinion
+becomes the only conservation of propriety.
+
+To my first night at New York, then, I looked with much anxiety, and
+not without reason. I had, contrary to the advice of many friends, given
+up a large income, the continuance of which the increasing favour of the
+public gave me reasonable promise of. I had vacated my seat and quitted
+my country on no other engagement than one for twelve nights at New
+York, the profits of which were wholly dependent upon my success, as
+were my engagements in other cities dependent upon my reception in this.
+
+One kind soul assured me that every drama I possessed had been already
+anticipated; another, that they had no taste for Irish character, or
+that accustomed, as they had long been, to associate with the
+representative of my poor countrymen a ruffian with a black eye, and
+straw in his shoes, the public taste was too vitiated to relish a quiet
+portrait of nature undebased.
+
+This was flattering, but not pleasant: the only man whose views appeared
+sanguine was Mr. P----, who had been my companion on the voyage, and
+whose cheering reply to all doubters was, "I tell you, sir, it must do."
+
+The theatre was announced to be re-opened on the 28th of August, with
+the "Irish Ambassador" and "Teddy the Tiler." The day was one of the
+hottest we had known, and towards night it became oppressively close.
+
+No strange actor of the least note could open in New York, to anything
+short of a full house; it seems to be a hospitable principle to give the
+aspirant for fame a cordial welcome and a fair hearing; let it not be
+considered egotistical, therefore, when I say that the house was
+crowded; from pit to roof rose tier on tier one dark unbroken mass; I do
+not think there were twenty females in the dress circle; all men, and
+enduring, I should imagine, the heat of the black hole at Calcutta. I at
+the time regretted the absence of the ladies, when, had I been less
+selfish, I should have rejoiced at it.
+
+The moment came when "Sir Patrick" was announced; and amidst greetings
+as hearty as ever I received in my life, I made my first bow to the Park
+audience. I saw no coats off, no heels up, no legs over boxes--these
+times have passed away; a more cheerful, or apparently a more English
+audience, I would not desire to act before.
+
+I was called for at the end of the play, and thanked the house for its
+welcome. If the performance had not gone off with that electric and
+constant laughter and applause to which I had grown accustomed at home,
+I had received positive assurance that my new clients were intelligent
+and very attentive, and I therefore no longer entertained fears for the
+result.
+
+Not so, however, one or two of my friends, whose anxiety and kind wishes
+it would have been hard indeed for any measure of applause to have
+satisfied: amidst the congratulations they brought me were therefore
+mixed up little cautionary drawbacks.
+
+"It was capital," said one; "but you must not be so quiet: give them
+more bustle."
+
+"In some other piece," replied I; "here it is not in the bond."
+
+"You must paint a little broader, my dear fellow," says
+another:--"you're too natural for them; they don't feel it."
+
+"If it's natural they must feel it," said I, adding, "each of my
+characters are, according to my ability, painted from nature; they are
+individual abstractions with which _I_ have nothing to do; the colouring
+is a part of each, and I can't change it as I change my audience:--'tis
+only for me to present the picture as it is; for them to like or dislike
+it."
+
+For the six following evenings the houses, though not great, were equal
+and good; each night I found my audience understanding me better, and
+felt that I was grappling them closer to me. The arrival of Mrs. and Mr.
+Wood earlier than the manager counted upon, created a difficulty; to
+obviate which I waived my claim to six of my nights, as my acting must
+have kept them idle.
+
+A day or two before my departure for Philadelphia, I witnessed the first
+appearance of this lady and her husband. Her reception was enthusiastic,
+but Malibran had left impressions it was difficult to compete with; and,
+although her brilliant talent was on all hands admitted, I am not sure
+whether her husband's manly style of singing a ballad was not to the
+full as much considered as her execution of the most brilliant sçena.
+
+The Park Theatre is, as well as I could judge, about the size of the old
+Lyceum, of the horse-shoe form; has three tiers of boxes; is handsome,
+and in all respects as well appointed as any theatre out of London.
+
+The orchestra is at present excellent, and under the direction of a
+very clever man--Penson, formerly leader at Dublin. The company I found
+for my purpose a very fair one, my pieces requiring little save
+correctness from most of those concerned, except where old men, like
+"Aspen," "Frederick II." &c. occur, and all such parts found an
+excellent representative in an American actor, called Placide. Descended
+of a long line of talented players, he possesses a natural talent I have
+rarely seen surpassed, together with a chastity and simplicity of style
+that would do credit to the best school of comedy; yet he has never been
+away from his own country. I trust the model may not be lost on those
+who have to follow him.
+
+There is a representative of old women here, too, a native, Mrs.
+Wheatley, an inartificial charming actress, with a perfect conception of
+all she does, and a humorous _espièglerie_ of manner that is admirable.
+This lady has a daughter, a girl of fourteen, one of the cleverest
+mimics I ever saw: she would imitate Miss Fanny Kemble throughout a
+whole character, or think, talk, and walk, like her in private,--all
+with a slight dash of caricature, but in a spirit of truth and acute
+observation worthy of the inimitable Matthews himself.
+
+With these exceptions, the company is, I think, made up of English
+actors, many of whom have held respectable situations in the London
+houses.
+
+I had heard a good deal of the disorder of the American stage, and the
+intractability of American actors; with this specimen I had therefore
+every reason to be pleased. I am rather a hard drill, too; but I also
+know how painful is the task of studying and practising long parts for
+the star of the day, to be thrust out by some fresh stuff got up for his
+successor: I am aware of this, and therefore strive to make the pill
+less bitter by doing my "spiriting gently," where I see a desire to be
+attentive on the part of my friends.
+
+As I may not have occasion to revert to New York theatrically again, let
+me here say that, after repeated renewal of my engagements during two
+years, my last were amongst the greatest I made in this city: how, after
+this, the American public can be called cold or fickle, I at least have
+no means of judging.
+
+After a stay of three weeks in New York, rendered as agreeable as fine
+weather, kind friends, warm welcome, and success could make it, I took
+my departure for Philadelphia by the Camden and Amboy line of steam-boat
+and rail-road. Punctual to the minute advertised, we left the wharf;
+and, although the day was cold for the season, I was charmed with our
+trip across the harbour towards Raritan Creek.
+
+From about half-way over this channel, which separates Staten Island
+from the city, I should say, after some experience, the best general
+view of New York and its most prominent environs may be obtained.
+
+Behind you rise the heights of Brooklyn, undulating along your left to
+the passage of the Narrows, through which you catch a glimmer of the sea
+beyond; close on your right lies the picturesque-looking old city of
+Jersey; and immediately beyond, the village of Hoboken, famous for
+turtle and pistol-matches: its neighbourhood to the Elysian fields
+renders it a singularly lucky site for the fire-eaters, since, if shot,
+they have no Charon to pay; the turtle-eaters here find, no doubt, equal
+facilities. Far to the north, the dark promontory of the Palisadoes
+beetles broadly forth, marking the course of the Hudson.
+
+In the middle distance lies the city, looking as though it floated deep
+upon the bosom of the ready waters that encompass it about. It is
+happier in its place of rest than most Dutch towns, and well merited the
+name of New Amsterdam, given it by its founders. The ground it covers
+was at one time divided into hill and dale; but with eyes wide open to
+business, and close sealed against taste, the conscript fathers of our
+infant Rome shaved smooth every ant-hill that rose in their path, and to
+their inheritors have bequeathed a love of their trim lines of beauty,
+for they are proceeding on the levelling system with a worthy
+pains-taking that will in due time render the whole island as flat as a
+tulip-bed.
+
+The passage up the Raritan or Amboy Creek, between Staten Island and the
+main, is uninteresting enough; the channel reminding one very much of
+the left bank of the Thames about Erith,--swampy levels, with flat
+barges, and river-side public houses. The village of Perth Amboy is the
+first attractive object; it is built upon the face of a hill rising
+gently from the water, and is well shaded, looking healthy, fresh, and
+neat. Here the steamer stops for a minute to land or receive passengers,
+and then makes for Amboy landing, about a couple of miles distant. Here
+we left our boat, and were immediately transferred to the cars of the
+new railroad connecting the Raritan with the Delaware, and pursued our
+way to Bordentown, through a dreary, barren-looking country, whose only
+attractions were occasional orchards of a most fruitful kind, if one
+might judge by the plenteous gathering already in progress. In many
+places were piled up little mountains of apples, destined chiefly for
+the cider press.
+
+The loco-motives not being in condition to do duty, the horses occupied
+as yet their legitimate station, going at the rate of about eight miles
+per hour.
+
+Near the entrance to Bordentown, the present mansion of the ex-king of
+Spain was pointed out: it does not appear to be very happily located,
+but commands, I understand, an extensive view of the broad Delaware, and
+affords room enough to bustle in, even for one whose domain was once
+royal.
+
+Here we once more embarked; and hence to Philadelphia the Delaware is a
+broad placid stream, with low banks of alternate wood and meadow, having
+sprinkled along them numbers of well-built houses of all sizes, from
+the shingle cottage to the imposing-looking mansion with its lofty
+portico of painted pine.
+
+The boat touches on its way at two very charming-looking villages,
+Bristol and Burlington, situated at opposite angles of a fine bend of
+the river. On the quay of the latter I noticed, as we halted, a group of
+fairy-looking lassies watching for the landing of some friend; and their
+animated expression, delicate proportions, and graceful _tournure_, did
+much to bespeak favour for the girls of Pennsylvania.
+
+It was night before we gained the Quaker city, and exceeding dark
+withal; so that the long dotted lines of lights, regularly intersecting
+each other until lost in distance, had the effect of a general
+illumination, whilst it gave evidence of a widely-spread and populous
+city.
+
+We drove to Mr. Head's hotel, the Mansion House, where we were welcomed
+by the worthy host in person; although he had not bed-rooms for us that
+night, for we were three in company. We were, however, soon furnished
+with a most excellent supper; and after, two of us got, not "three
+chairs and a bolster," but a couple of camp bedsteads with good
+mattresses, and sheets white as snow. Our senior companion, Mr. P----,
+was provided with a bed-chamber; and what could the heart of weary
+traveller wish for more?
+
+On the morrow I also was installed in a capital chamber; and if those
+incarnate demons the musquitoes would have made peace with me, I should
+have scorned comparisons with the Nabob of the Carnatic. But, oh!
+immortal gods, how they did hum and bom, and bite and buzz! and how I
+did fume, and slap, and snatch, and swear, partly in fear, and partly
+through sheer vexation of spirit, at having no means of vengeance
+against a foe whose audacity was open and outrageous, whose trumpets
+were for ever sounding a charge, yet who were withal, as impassable as
+Etna.
+
+I would rather hear the roar of lions about my resting-place than the
+vicious hum of these infernal wee beasts; and I may be allowed to
+decide, having listened to both: the latter never failed to keep me
+wakeful through fair fright; but when well worn with fatigue, after a
+shiver and a start or two, I have slept sound, in safe company, although
+the crunch and roar of the nobler _varmint_ sounded near enough to make
+our terrified horses press to the watch-fire with breathings thick and
+loud,--a neighbourhood anything but agreeable, but, I swear, infinitely
+preferable to an incursion of hungry musquitoes.
+
+The next morning, Sept. 12th, rose early, took a hot bath, and dressed
+for a hot day; but the day was resolute not to be hot: a north-east wind
+had set in after breakfast, and down went the thermometer from
+seventy-nine to forty-five. "Zooks, what a tumble!" as Mister Poll says:
+all the time too the sky was cloudless, and the sun shining most
+treacherously. I wasn't to be done, however; so, after an hour, jumped
+again into my broad-cloth for comfort.
+
+During my first week here I occupied private apartments,--which may be
+had at every hotel, by the way,--and being in company with a friend, we
+had our meals at our own hours, all of which were excellent and well
+served, with wines most unexceptionable. My friend leaving me, however,
+I took the advice of my good host, Mr. Head, and, quitting my sulky
+solitude, joined the public table,--a change I had every reason to be
+satisfied with, since, however, unpleasant the bustle occasioned by a
+hundred or a hundred and fifty persons dining _ensemble_, no such
+objection can apply here, where the guests rarely exceed twenty-five or
+thirty, including from time to time men of the first rank and
+intelligence in the States. This dinner-table indeed is as well
+appointed in every way as any gentleman could desire; the attendants
+numerous and well ordered; the service, including every luxury the
+season can furnish, is of three courses; and the cloth is never drawn
+under an hour. I am thus particular, because, as much has been said of
+the badness of hotels in America, it is but fair to give place to a
+notice of those which are good; and so essentially good a _table d'hote_
+as that of the Mansion House at Philadelphia, whether for variety,
+cooking, wine, or all these things combined, I never yet met in any
+country of Europe.
+
+
+
+
+PHILADELPHIA.
+
+
+I pity the man who, on a fine morning, can walk through the shady and
+clean streets of Philadelphia and cry, "all is barren!" In my eyes, it
+appeared, even at first sight,--and no place improves more upon
+acquaintance,--one of the most attractive-looking towns I had ever
+beheld.
+
+Coming immediately out of the noise, bustle, and variety of Broadway,
+its general aspect appears quiet, almost _triste_; but the cleanliness,
+the neatness, the air of comfort, propriety, and health, that reigns on
+all sides, bespeaks immediate favour.
+
+The progress of improvement, and enlargement too, are sufficiently
+evident, for at either extremity of the city, the fall of hammer and
+chisel give unceasing note of preparation. The circle designed and
+marked out as the limit of its future greatness by the sanguine mind of
+its sagacious founder has long since been overleaped; the wide Delaware
+on one side, and on the other the Schuylkill, seem incapable of bounding
+the ambitious city. Already does Market-street rest upon these two
+points, which cannot be less than three miles apart.
+
+Touching Market-street I ought to know something, since, on two
+occasions, I got out of my bed to visit it at four A.M. I am curious in
+looking upon these interesting _entrepôts_ whence we cull the dainties
+of a well-furnished larder, and a view over this was truly worth the
+pains; for in no place have I ever seen more lavish display of the good
+things most esteemed by this eating generation, nor could any market
+offer them to the amateur in form more tempting. Neatness and care were
+evident in the perfect arrangement of the poultry, vegetables, fruit,
+butter, &c.; and the display of well-fed beef, with the artist-like way
+in which it was dressed, might have excited our Giblets' spleen even in
+the Christmas week.
+
+Poultry of all kinds here is equal to that of any country, and the
+butter almost as good as the best Irish, which I think the sweetest in
+the world. The market, at the early time I mentioned, offered a busy and
+amusing scene, and I passed away a couple of hours here very much to my
+satisfaction, besides cheating those souls of d----d critics, the
+musquitoes, out of a breakfast; for each day, about the first light, I
+used to be awakened by their assembling for a little _déjeuner dânsant_,
+whereat I was victim.
+
+One of the pleasantest visits a man can pay in Philadelphia on a hot
+day, is to the water-works at Fair-mount, on the Schuylkill: the very
+name is refreshing with the mercury at 96° in the shade; and, if there
+be a breeze in Pennsylvania, you will find it here. No city can be
+better supplied with water than this; and I never looked upon the pure
+liquid, welling through the pipes and deluging the thirsty streets,
+without a feeling of gratitude to these water-works, and of respect for
+the pride with which the Philadelphians regard their spirited public
+labour. They have evinced much taste, too, in the quiet, simple
+disposition of the ground and reservoirs connected with the machinery;
+the trees and plants are well selected for the situation, and will soon
+add to the natural beauty of this very fine reach of the river.
+
+Mounting the east bank of the stream, from this to the village of
+Manayunk, you have a very pretty ride; and crossing the bridge at the
+"Falls of the Schuylkill,"--falls no longer, thanks to the dam at
+Fair-mount,--the way back winds along by, or hangs above, the canal and
+river, here marching side by side; offering, in about four miles, as
+charming a succession of river views as painter or poet could desire. It
+is a lovely ramble by all lights, and I have viewed it by all,--in the
+blaze of noon, and by the sober grey of summer twilight; I have ridden
+beneath its wooded heights, and through its overhanging masses of rare
+foliage, in the alternate bright cold light and deep shade of a
+cloudless moon; and again, when tree, and field, and flower were yet
+fresh and humid with the heavy dew, and sparkling in the glow of early
+morning.
+
+At the period of my first visit, the huge piers of a new bridge,
+projected by the Columbian Railroad Company, were just appearing in
+different degrees above the gentle river's surface. The smoke of the
+workmen's fires rising from the wood above, and the numerous attendant
+barges moored beneath the tall cliff from which the road was to be
+thrown, added no little to the effect. I have since seen this viaduct
+completed, and have been whirled over it in the train of a locomotive;
+and, although it is a fine work, I cannot but think every lover of the
+picturesque will mourn the violation of the solitude so lately to be
+found here.
+
+I could not refrain from picturing to myself the light canoes of the
+Delaware Indians as at no very remote period they lay rocking beneath
+the shelter of that very bluff where now were moored a fleet of
+deep-laden barges: indeed these ideas were constantly forcing
+themselves, as it were, into my mind as I wandered over the changeful
+face of this singular land, where the fresh print of the moccasin is
+followed by the tread of the engineer and his attendants, and the light
+trail of the red man is effaced by the road of iron: hardly have the
+echoes ceased to repeat through the woods the Indian's hunter-cry before
+this is followed by the angry rush of the ponderous steam-engine, urged
+forward! still forward! by the restless pursuer of his fated race.
+
+Wander whither you will,--take any direction, the most frequented or the
+most secluded,--at every and at all points do these lines of railway
+intercept your path. Each state, north, south, and west, is eagerly
+thrusting forth these iron arms, to knit, as it were, in a straiter
+embrace her neighbours; and I have not a doubt but, in a very short
+time, a man may journey from the St. Lawrence to the gulf of Mexico
+coastwise with as much facility as he now does from Boston to
+Washington, a distance of four hundred and fifty miles, which may be at
+this day performed within forty hours, out of which you pass a night in
+New York.
+
+But to leave anticipations and imaginings,--which, by the way, is a
+forbearance hard of practice in a region where all things are on the
+whirl of speculative change, and where practical results outrun the
+projections of even the most visionary theorist,--and return to make
+such rapid survey of this interesting city as may be ventured on during
+a first visit of some twenty days. I feel, indeed, that but little can
+be really known in so short a time of a place containing two hundred and
+twenty thousand souls, and having in a rapid state of advancement
+various alterations and improvements, including nearly five thousand new
+buildings all immediately required: although there are persons gifted
+with such power of intuition, that, as I learn from their own showing,
+they are enabled in half the period to decide upon the condition of the
+whole state of Pennsylvania; to discover the wants of its capital, the
+defects of its institutions, the value of its commerce, the drift of its
+policy; to gauge its morals, become intimate with its society, and make
+out a correct estimate of its relative condition and prospects compared
+with the other great divisions of the Union, surveyed, I presume, with
+equal rapidity, judged with equal candour, and estimated with equal
+correctness.
+
+Each in his degree: and so, in my way, good reader, I will endeavour to
+give you some notion of this capital of old Penn's Sylvania; but if your
+own imagination come not to the help of my outline, I fear, after all my
+painstaking, your notion of the subject will be only a faintish one.
+
+Philadelphia is built upon a peninsula formed by two rivers, the
+Delaware and the Schuylkill, having a long graduated rise from each, the
+highest point being about the centre of the city. It is laid out in
+squares, and the streets run in parallel lines of two and three miles in
+length, retaining the same names throughout, only divided by
+Market-street into north, and south: with the exception of this dividing
+street, those running east and west are named after trees, flowers, and
+fruits,--as chestnut, walnut, peach, &c.; and those parallel with the
+rivers, first, Front-street, or that facing the water; next,
+Second-street, third, fourth, fifth, &c. distinguished as, divided by
+Market-street, into South-second, North-second, &c.; a simplicity of
+arrangement which is unique, and renders the stranger's course an
+exceeding easy one: all he has to do is, first, to run down the latitude
+of his street by any of the great avenues, and, having fairly struck it,
+steer north or south, as may be, till he hits upon the friendly number.
+
+The side-walks throughout are broad and well-ordered, neatly paved with
+brick, and generally bordered by rows of healthful trees of different
+kinds, affording in hot weather a most welcome shade, and giving to the
+houses an air of freshness and repose rarely to be met with in a
+populous city.
+
+The dwellings are chiefly of brick, of a good colour, very neatly
+pointed; and nothing can be more tasteful than their fitting-up
+externally. The windows are furnished with latticed shutters; these,
+when not closed, fold back on either hand against the wall, and being
+painted green, and kept with much care and freshness, would invest
+humbler dwellings with an attractive air, especially in the eyes of an
+Englishman, accustomed to the dingy aspect of our city residences, which
+look as though the owners had resolved on making them as forbidding as
+possible without, in order to enhance the excelling comforts within.
+
+Now the houses of Philadelphia are as clean and neat in all the detail
+of the exterior, as they are well-ordered and admirably furnished. The
+mountings of the rails and doors are either of polished silver plating
+or brass, and kept as bright as care can make them. The solid hall-door,
+in hot weather, is superseded by one of green lattice-work, similar to
+the window-shutters, which answers the purpose of keeping out every
+intrusive stranger, except the air,--air being at such seasons, as most
+strangers are at all times, especially welcome to Philadelphia, which is
+about the hottest place I know of in the autumn; the halls are commonly
+flagged with fine white marble, are spacious, lofty, and well fitted-up.
+
+The houses average three stories, but in the best streets, those of the
+first class are run up to five, and even six, and are of great depth:
+indeed, I should say, the inhabitants of this city generally enjoy
+greater space in their lodgings than is afforded to those of any other
+large capital. Where population increases rapidly rents are necessarily
+high; and a good house in Philadelphia costs about as much, independent
+of taxation, as a dwelling of the same class in London.
+
+Besides the great market, which gives its name to the dividing line of
+the city, and runs through its whole breadth, there are several others,
+less extensive perhaps, but all alike under cover, well adapted to the
+purpose, and boasting a due proportion of the abundance of good things,
+which, profusely displayed on all sides, give ready evidence of the
+agricultural wealth of the neighbourhood.
+
+Numbers of the best market-farmers for vegetables, poultry, butter, &c.
+are Germans, who, although most earnest in enriching the country by
+their labour, yet cling with strange tenacity to the customs and
+language of "Fader-land." Their costume and manner yet continues as
+distinct and recognizable as was the appearance of their progenitors on
+landing here some eighty years back, for the colony from which they are
+chiefly derived had existence about the middle of the eighteenth
+century; and many of these men, yet speaking no word of English, are of
+the third generation. They have German magistrates, an interpreter in
+courts when they act as jurors, German newspapers, &c.; and are the
+stoutest, if not the promptest, asserters of democracy.
+
+They are usually found a little in arrear on the subject of all passing
+events; and at election times, or on occasions of extraordinary stir,
+when a man is striving to render them _au courant_ with late
+occurrences, they will now and then interrupt their informant with, "Bud
+why de teufel doesn't Vashington come down to de Nord and bud it all to
+rights?"
+
+The public buildings are here of a more ambitious style of architecture
+than any of the other cities can boast, and some of them are built in
+exceeding good taste; but the one which had most interest in my eyes was
+the old State-house, wherein the "Declaration of Independence" was
+signed. The Senate-chamber is, I fancy, little changed since that
+period; and contained, when I was last within it, models for various
+public works: amongst others, several for a heroic statue of Washington,
+about to be erected, somewhat late in the day to be sure, by the city;
+others for the new college, now building, according to the will of the
+late S. Girard, and intended to assist in perpetuating his name and
+wealth to all posterity.
+
+Such appears to have been the great object of the will of this worthy
+citizen, and there is every prospect of its fully answering the purpose,
+since it has already set the whole community by the ears, and promises
+to prove as prolific of evils as the strong box of Miss Pandora, without
+having even Hope at the bottom.
+
+This man, who has been so much eulogized dead, seems, as well as I could
+glean amongst his contemporaries, to have been anything but estimable in
+his living character. He is universally described as having been tricky,
+overreaching, and litigious in his dealings as a merchant; an unfeeling
+relation, an exacting, ungrateful, and forgetful master; and a selfish,
+cold-hearted man: unoccupied with any generous sympathy, public or
+private, throughout a long life, devoted to one purpose with sleepless
+energy, and to one purpose only--making and hoarding money; which,
+living, he contrived, as far as in him lay, to render as little
+beneficial to any as possible, and, dying, disposed of to his own
+personal glorification, but to the vexation of the community, amongst
+which he appeared to have lived unhonoured, and certainly died
+unregretted!
+
+I am aware that "de mortuis nil nisi bonum" has usually been applied to
+cases similar to the above; "nil nisi _justem_" I think a sounder
+reading where a man is held up as a public example, and deem that the
+selection of a church or a college for a monument should not be
+permitted to shield the base from animadversion, or call for honours to
+the worthless.
+
+
+
+
+THE THEATRES--WALNUT AND CHESTNUT:
+
+
+So called were the houses at which I first acted here, situated in the
+two fine streets bearing the same names.
+
+The Walnut is a summer theatre, and the least fashionable; and here it
+was my fortune to make my _début_ to the Philadelphians with good
+success: a French company occupied at the same time the Chestnut, where,
+after a seven nights' engagement at the other house, I succeeded them;
+the proprietors being the same at both.
+
+These houses are large, handsome buildings, marble-fronted, having ample
+and well-arranged vomitories; and are not stuck into some obscure alley,
+as most of our theatres are, but standing in the finest streets of the
+city, and every way easy of approach: within, they are fitted up
+plainly, but conveniently, and very cleanly and well kept. I prefer the
+Chestnut, as smaller, and having a pit--as I think all pits ought to
+be--nearly on a level with the front of the stage, instead of being sunk
+deep below, looking, when filled, like a huge dark pool, covered with
+upturned faces.
+
+A crowded audience here presents as large a proportion of pretty,
+attractive women as are anywhere to be seen; and the male part is
+singularly respectable and attentive. Here again I must protest against
+the charge of insensibility being laid at their doors; that is, as far
+as my own feeling and experience goes.
+
+If by applause, a constant clapping of palms or hammering of sticks is
+only meant, interspersed with cries of "Bravo!" I admit they are
+deficient; but if an evident anxiety to lose no word or look of the
+artist, an evident abstraction from everything but the scene, with
+demonstrations of admiration discriminating and well applied, may be
+accepted as sufficient marks of approval, then has the actor no cause of
+complaint.
+
+With the tragedian, who strains after what in stage parlance are called
+_points_, and calculates on being interrupted by loud clapping before
+the sense of the sentence be complete, or else wants breath to finish
+it, a Philadelphian audience might prove a slippery dependence, since
+they come evidently to hear the author as well as see the actor, and are
+"attentive, that they may hear."
+
+For myself, the unreserved laughter in which they indulged I found
+abundant applause, and in well-filled houses the best assurance that
+they were pleased. The company here was a very good one, and the pieces
+as well gotten up as anywhere in the States.
+
+I paid frequent visits to this charming city, and shall have occasion
+again to refer to it. My first impressions are here set down, and
+favourable as these were, a more intimate knowledge only served to
+confirm them.
+
+
+
+
+JOURNEY TO BOSTON.
+
+
+THE EAST RIVER.--HURL-GATE.--THE SOUND.--POINT JUDITH.--NEWPORT
+HARBOUR.--PROVIDENCE.
+
+
+On Saturday morning, at 7 A.M. Sept. 28th, quitted Philadelphia; arrived
+in New York at 2 P.M.; and transferring my baggage from the steamer on
+the North River to the one about to depart for Providence, and whose
+wharf lay upon the East River, I had a couple of hours' leisure, which I
+employed in writing home, for the packet of the 1st of October; and at
+five o'clock P.M. left the city, in the noblest steam-vessel I had yet
+seen.
+
+The view of Brooklyn, the Navy Yard, and this part of the harbour, is
+very attractive from the point of departure; and the numerous little
+steamers, actively plying to and fro at the various ferries, give an
+unceasing air of bustle to the scene. I was greatly charmed by our sail
+up this passage into the Sound dividing Long Island from the continent,
+which it flanks and protects for a distance of one hundred miles.
+
+The banks on either side do not vary a great deal in elevation, but are
+of a slightly undulating character, beautifully wooded, and sprinkled
+with the attractive-looking villas of the country. Mr. Cooper's graphic
+description of Hurl-gate, in his novel of the "Red Rover," led me to
+look out for it with an interest which the reality did not repay,
+although the tide was in a favourable state. I confess, however, I think
+that my imagination rather outran discretion than that the whirlpool
+lacked grandeur: that it was not to be encountered without some peril we
+had very good evidence; for, on a rocky islet to the southward of the
+worst part of the fall, a large schooner lay hove up on her beam-ends,
+with all her spars aloft and her sails half furled, as she had been
+abandoned by her crew. Our pilot informed me that the accident had
+occurred the day previous, and was by no means a rare example, the
+downward passage at the last of the ebb requiring great care and
+experience.
+
+Our powerful engines forced the vessel through the dark eddies,
+apparently without difficulty; and in a little while this long
+looked-for wonder was forgotten.
+
+I remained on deck until after midnight; for there was a bright moon and
+a calm clear sky, and the Sound was sprinkled with craft of all kinds.
+
+I must not omit to notice supper, or tea,--for it was both, and an
+excellent meal it was,--served about eight o'clock upon two parallel
+tables, which ran the whole length of the cabin, at least one hundred
+and eighty feet; and to which sat down about one hundred persons of all
+ranks,--the richest merchants, the most eminent statesmen, and the
+humblest mechanic who chose to pay for a cabin fare, as most of these
+persons who travel do. I was seated with an exceeding lady-like and
+well-bred woman on my left hand, and on my right sat a man who, although
+decently dressed, was evidently a working operative of the humblest
+class; yet was there nothing in either his manner or appearance to annoy
+the most refined female: he asked for what he wanted respectfully,
+performed any little attention he could courteously, and evinced better
+breeding and less selfishness than I have witnessed at some public
+dinners at home, where the admission of such a person would have been
+deemed derogatory.
+
+I do not mean by this description to infer that a crowded table of this
+kind is as agreeable as a party whose habits, education, and sympathies,
+being on a level, render intercourse a matter of mutual pleasure: what I
+would show is, that in this mingling of classes, which is inevitable in
+travelling here, there is nothing to disgust or debase man or woman,
+however exclusive; for it would really be impossible to feed a like
+multitude, of any rank or country, with slighter breaches of decency or
+decorum, or throw persons so wholly dissimilar together with less
+personal inconvenience either to one class or another.
+
+I had been accustomed to see this set down as one of the chief nuisances
+of travelling in this country, and the consequences greatly exaggerated:
+things must have improved rapidly; since, as far as I have hitherto
+gone, I protest I prefer the steam-boat arrangements here to our own,
+and would back them to be considered less objectionable by any candid
+traveller who had fairly tested both.
+
+During the night it blew fresh, and the vessel pitched a little, the
+consequence of which movement was evident in the desertion of the upper
+deck in the morning. I had noticed it, the evening previous, occupied by
+sundry little groups reading or chatting, and with more than one couple
+of merry promenaders: I now made its circuit, meeting with but one
+adventurer, a lively-looking old gentleman, of whom I inquired where all
+our passengers were vanished to.
+
+"Most of them in bed yet," said the old gentleman, "or keeping out of
+the way in one hole or another. If there's any wind or sea, you always
+find the deck pretty clear till we get round Point Judith. Once let us
+get to the other side that hill yonder, and you'll see the swarm begin
+to muster pretty smart."
+
+I had often heard "Point Judith" mentioned by the New-Yorkers, as the
+Cockney voyager talks of Sea-reach, or the buoy at the Nore; and here it
+was close under our lee,--a long, low point of land, with a lighthouse
+upon it.
+
+We soon after opened the entrance to the fine harbour of Newport, and,
+as my informant predicted, the deck gradually recovered its population:
+some came up because they felt, and others because they were told, we
+had passed Point Judith.
+
+It was about seven o'clock A.M. that we ran alongside the wharf at
+Newport to land passengers. The appearance of the town, rising boldly
+from the water's edge, was imposing enough; but trade, judging from the
+deserted state of the wharves, is now inconsiderable, although formerly
+of much importance.
+
+After a delay of a quarter of an hour, we once more got under weigh; and
+one of the chief advantages of a steamer is the ease and facility with
+which this important movement is effected: nowhere is the management of
+these immense bodies, in my thinking, so perfect: the commanding
+position of the wheel, clear of all obstruction, and under the hand of
+the pilot, whose finger also directs the machinery below, through the
+medium of a few well-arranged bells,--the absence of all bawling and
+shouting, and the being independent of transmitted directions, gives
+these craft facilities which make their movements appear like
+inspiration.
+
+This system I found prevailing all through the States; and, as far as
+possible, it would be well to adopt it here. The arrangement of the
+wheel, or steering apparatus, if I remember rightly, was fully and
+technically described by Captain Hall. I do not know whether it has in
+any case been adopted; but if it were enforced upon our crowded rivers,
+there would, I feel assured, be fewer accidents.
+
+The fogs of the Sound, in this passage,--a highway as much travelled as
+the Clyde,--and indeed on all the great American rivers, are only to be
+paralleled by a London specimen about Christmas, in addition to the
+former being more frequent; yet accidents arising from running foul are
+of very rare occurrence, although the desire to drive along is yet
+stronger than with ourselves.
+
+The river up to Providence is of a breadth and character to command the
+voyager's attention, but offers little in detail to repay him for it.
+With the exception of the time devoted to breakfast, which a supply of
+newly-caught fish, taken on board at Newport, rendered a positive treat
+to me, I paced the upper deck, according to my custom, until we arrived
+at Providence, a very thriving place, seated on a commanding ridge, and
+already having, as viewed from the river, an air and aspect quite
+city-like.
+
+Here we found a line of coaches drawn up upon the wharf, awaiting our
+arrival. I had already secured a ticket for the Mail Pilot: and in a
+few minutes the luggage was packed on; the passengers, four in number,
+were packed in; and away we went, rolling and pitching, at the heels of
+as likely a team of four dark bays as I would wish to sit behind. At our
+first halt, I left the inside to the occupation of my companions,--a
+handsome girl, with, "I guess," her lover, and a rough specimen of a
+Western hunter or trader, who had already dubbed my younger companion
+Captain and myself Major, and invited us both to "liquor with him." I
+declined, but _the Captain_, to his evident satisfaction, frankly
+accepted his offer; and whilst I mounted the box, and the horses were
+changing, they entered the house together.
+
+This is a courtesy the traveller to the South will find constantly
+proffered to him by a class of honest souls, whose good-fellowship
+sometimes exceeds their discretion; and I had been told it was not at
+all times possible to decline the offer without risking insult. I
+discovered by experience this to be one of the numerous imaginary
+grievances conjured up to affright the innocent. In this, as in all
+other points, I have never departed from my own habits; and although
+often in remote parts of the Union strongly urged "to liquor," have
+always found my declaration that it was a custom which disagreed with
+me, an excuse admitted without hesitation or ill-humour.
+
+In this, my first experiment, indeed, I had to deal with the most
+punctilious specimen I ever afterwards encountered; for when, some two
+hours after I had declined his request, I called for a glass of
+lemonade, my friend popped his head out of the coach-window, calling out
+with a most beseeching air--
+
+"Well but, Major, I say; stop till I get out: you'll drink _that_ with
+me any how, won't you?"
+
+He was in the bar-room at my heels in a twinkling, and I need hardly say
+we emptied our glasses together very cordially, although their contents
+would, I fancy, in my friend's opinion, have assimilated best in a mixed
+state; for, giving his _sling_ a knowing twist as I swallowed my
+excellent lemonade, he observed:
+
+"Now that's a liquor I never could bring myself to try nohow, though I'm
+sometimes rather speculatin' in drink, when I'm travellin' or out on a
+frolic. Poorish stuff, I calculate: but _you_ hav'nt got the dyspepsy,
+have you, Major?"
+
+I assured my friend that I was perfectly free from dyspepsia, and that
+it was because I desired to continue so that I avoided any stronger
+drink before dinner.
+
+We were now summoned to our places, my companion declaring--
+
+"It is past my logic how lemon and water can prevent dyspepsy better
+than brandy and water;" adding, with a look half comic, half serious--
+
+"But I suppose everybody will go for the Temperance-ticket soon, and I
+shall be forced to clear out of all my spirits; for I never can drink by
+myself, if I'm forced to take to the milk and water line for company."
+
+Our road was a tolerably good one as roads go here, and the horses
+excellent. We arrived in Boston about half-past three, having performed
+forty miles in five hours, all stoppages included; and the whole
+distance from Philadelphia, being three hundred and twenty miles, in
+thirty-two hours and a half, including about three hours passed in New
+York. Quick as this travelling is, they contemplate, when the railroad
+to Providence shall be opened, by the aid of that and an improved
+steam-boat, to deduct eight or nine hours from the time between this
+and New York.
+
+Alighting at the Tremont hotel, I found dinner over, as on Sunday they
+accommodate the hour of dining to the time of church service: I was,
+however, quickly provided with a good meal, which a keen breeze, a long
+ride, and a long fast enabled me to do good justice to. In the
+afternoon, _malgré_ a cutting east wind, which was anything but
+agreeable after the hot weather I had been living in, I took a long walk
+about the town, accompanied by an old friend of mine and a
+constitutional grumbler, who yet joined with me in declaring that a
+first impression of Boston could hardly fail pleasing any man who could
+be pleased by a near view of a city, well and substantially built, as it
+is undoubtedly nobly situated.
+
+
+
+
+BOSTON.
+
+
+The approach to Boston, either by sea or land, gives to it an extremely
+bold and picturesque character. It is spread over a series of lofty
+heights, nearly insulated, and is surrounded by a marshy level running
+from the highlands on the main, to which the city is united by a very
+narrow isthmus to the southward.
+
+The lofty dome of its State-house, and the numerous spires and towers of
+its churches, rising between two and three hundred feet above the
+surrounding level of either land or sea, combine to produce a _coup
+d'oeil_ more imposing than is presented by either New York or
+Philadelphia.
+
+The streets of the city generally are narrow and irregular, following
+the windings of the lofty hills over which it is spread, and having more
+the air of an old English county-town than any place I have yet seen in
+the country.
+
+Its wharfs are spacious and well constructed, and it is not without
+surprise that one views the evidently rapid growth of these best
+evidences of prosperous commerce. I observed in my walks lines of
+substantial granite-built warehouses and quays, newly redeemed from the
+water: all were in occupation; tiers of vessels of every kind thronged
+them; and the inner harbour was thick with masts.
+
+The most modern quarter of the city lies to the west, surrounding the
+park, or common, as it is termed,--an ancient reserve of some sixty
+acres, the property of the citizens, beautifully situated and tastefully
+laid out. It is bordered on the lower side by a mall of
+venerable-looking elms; has a pretty pond of water under a rising ground
+near its centre, the remains of an English fort; and open to the front
+is the Charles River.
+
+On three sides, this common is flanked by very fine streets, having
+houses of the largest class, well built, and kept with a right English
+spirit as far as regards the scrupulous cleanliness of the entrances,
+areas, and windows. The English are a window-cleaning race, and nowhere
+have I observed this habit so closely inherited as here. Overlooking
+this common, too, is the State-house; and, on a line with it, the
+mansion of its patriot founder, Mr. Hancock, a venerable stone-built
+edifice, raised upon a terrace withdrawn a few yards from the line of
+the present street. The generous character of its first owner has made
+this house an object of great interest, and it is to be hoped the
+citizens will look carefully to its preservation as a worthy fellow to
+Fanieul Hall, for by no one was the "cradle of Liberty"[3] more
+carefully tended than by the owner of "Hancock House."
+
+Here, as in the other great cities of the Union, upon a close survey, I
+found the prevailing impression on my mind to be surprise at the
+apparent rapidity of increase made manifest in the great number of
+buildings either just completed or in progress. If the possession of
+inexhaustible supplies of the finest granite, marble, and all other
+material, be accompanied with taste and spirit in their use, the future
+buildings of this city will have an air of grandeur and stability
+superior to those of any other in the States.
+
+To reach the surrounding country in any direction from the peninsula
+the city occupies, one of its great bridges must be crossed. Of these
+there are six, besides the Western Avenue as it is called, a dam of vast
+extent; and they form the peculiarities of this place, to a stranger,
+most curious, and, in truth, most pleasing. By day, they form agreeable
+walks or rides, offering a variety of charming views; and, if crossed on
+a dark night, when their interminable lines of lamps are beheld
+radiating, as it were, from one centre, and multiplied by reflection on
+the surrounding waters, the effect is perfectly magical. The stars show
+dimly in comparison: and casting your eyes downward, it appears as
+though you beheld another and a brighter sky glittering beneath your
+feet.
+
+The great dam rises about five feet above the tide, is provided with
+enormous flood-gates, and in length is something over a mile and a half.
+The length of the other bridges varies from two thousand five hundred to
+one thousand four hundred feet.
+
+Crossing at any one of these points, you gain the open heights upon the
+main. Here you are first struck by the aspect of the soil, everywhere
+having huge masses of dark rock protruded above its surface. The
+country is said to be poor: of this I cannot judge, but I know it to be
+beautiful. It is everywhere undulating, and often broken in the wildest
+and most tropical manner. Like the interior of Herefordshire, it is cut
+up in all directions by rural lanes, bordered by stone walls and high
+hedges, and dotted thickly with handsome houses, whose verandahs of
+bright green, and whitened walls, show well amidst the luxuriant foliage
+by which they are commonly surrounded.
+
+About five miles from the city are a couple of delightful pieces of
+water, called Jamaica and Fresh-ponds; each bordered by wood, lawn, and
+meadow, naturally disposed in the most attractive manner. At the
+last-named pond,--which sounds unworthily on my ear when applied to a
+piece of water covering a surface of two hundred and fifty acres,--I
+passed an afternoon during the period of my first visit here.
+
+We sailed about, exploring every harbour of the little sea, caught our
+fish for dinner, and by the hotel were furnished with a well-broiled
+chicken and a good glass of champagne, with ice worthy of being
+dissolved in such liquor. I fell premeditatedly in love with the place;
+and D----, who was on the look-out for a location, and something hard
+to please withal, had already selected a site for building: but, alas!
+even Paradise, before the mission of St. Patrick, had serpents; and the
+delightful copses and rich meadows of Fresh-pond are, it appears, the
+haunts especially favoured by the incarnation of all Egyptian plagues,
+musquitoes.
+
+During the winter this is a great resort of the lovers of _bandy_ and
+_skating_; and from this ample reservoir is taken that transparent ice
+which gladdens the eyes and cools the throat of the dust-dried traveller
+throughout this part of the State. Nor is its grateful service confined
+to these limits; for cargoes of it are, during the spring, regularly
+shipped to the Havannah, New Orleans, Mobile, &c.; and,--for where will
+enterprise find limits?--this very season has a shipment of three
+hundred tons of the congealed waters of this pond of Massachusetts been
+consigned to Calcutta. Ice floating on the Ganges! How old Gunga will
+shiver and shake his ears when the first crystal offering is dropped on
+his hot bosom!
+
+Wild as the idea may at first appear of keeping such a commodity for a
+voyage of probably a hundred days in such latitudes, I am informed the
+speculator is assured, that with an ordinary run, enough of his cargo
+may be landed to pay a good freight.[4]
+
+Near to this pond lies another favourite spot of mine, "Mount Auburn;" a
+tract of woodland, bordering on Charles River, appropriated and
+consecrated as a cemetery, on the plan of "Pere la Chaise," but having
+natural attributes for such a purpose infinitely superior. It is covered
+by a thick growth of the finest forest-trees, of singular variety; and
+presents a surface, now gently undulating in hill and dale, now broken
+into deep ravines, or towered over by bold rocky elevations; and,
+intersecting the whole space from north to south, runs a natural
+terrace, having a surface so well and evenly levelled that one almost
+doubts its being other than the work of art.
+
+It takes its name from a lofty eminence, which, rising high over the
+surrounding level, commands as fine a view as any spot in the vicinity.
+Winding and well-kept avenues intersect the ground in all directions,
+giving it an appearance of much greater extent than it in reality
+possesses, and rendering the most secluded spot easy of access to those
+who desire to
+
+
+     "Choose their ground,
+     And take their rest."
+
+
+The ostentatious mausoleum may be placed by a broad carriage avenue,
+where its hollow walls will reverberate to every passing triumph of the
+tomb; the quiet and the lowly can build their humbler dwelling in some
+secluded nook, bordered by a narrow path the foot of affection alone
+will seek to tread, and where no heavier sound will ever echo!
+
+The perpetual right of sepulture may be purchased of the company whose
+property the place is; and already a number of monuments, in marble and
+granite, betoken the favour with which this place of "everlasting rest"
+is viewed. Most of these monuments are of a simple, unassuming
+character, and some of them gracefully appropriate.
+
+A wooden fence encircles the cemetery, and a lofty gateway leads into
+it, of Egyptian fashion, but of the like American material, which, it is
+to be presumed, will speedily be superseded by suitable erections of
+the fine dark granite found here in abundance.
+
+This spot, if presided over by anything like taste, must become, in a
+very few years, one of the places one might reasonably make a pilgrimage
+to look upon; so lavish has Nature been in its adornment, and so
+admirably are its accessories fitted to its present purpose.
+
+Boston and its neighbourhood possess, in the eyes of a British subject,
+a number of sites of singular historical interest.
+
+On Hancock's Wharf that tea-party was held which cost Britain ten
+millions of gold, and reft from the empire one quarter of the globe. The
+lines of the American army at Cambridge are still to be readily traced
+throughout their whole extent; the forts at the extremities, north and
+south, are yet perfect in form as when designed by the engineer.
+
+Across the peninsula, to the west of the isthmus, may be traced the
+British lines and the broad deep fosse which, filled by the tide,
+insulated the city these were projected to defend: their remains testify
+to the care and labour bestowed upon their completion.
+
+Bunker's Hill and the Breeds, where the first determined stand was made
+against the British army, is commanded from the steeples and many
+house-tops of the city.
+
+If the defenders of these miserable lines knew that they were observed
+by their kindred on this day, they took, at least, especial care that
+the lookers-on should have no cause to blush for their lack of manhood.
+Under cover of a hastily thrown-up breastwork, of which no trace
+remains, did those hardy yeomen abide and repulse several assaults of a
+regular and well-officered force; nor was it until their last charge of
+ammunition was delivered that they turned from the defences their
+courage alone had made good. The result proved how few charges of theirs
+were flung away; these men knew the value of their ammunition, they were
+excellent shots, and the word was constantly passed amongst them to
+"take sure aim."
+
+On Bunker's Hill a national monument is in progress, which, when
+completed, will form an obelisk of fine granite, according to the
+published plan, thirty feet square at the base, two hundred and twenty
+feet high, and fifteen feet square at the summit. After considerable
+progress had been made in this most durable memorial, the funds ran out
+and the work stood still; however, the reproach of its remaining
+unfinished is now likely to be speedily removed, for during this last
+year, I believe, the necessary sum has been raised, and the national
+monument of Massachusetts put _en train_ for completion.
+
+Below this celebrated hill lies one of the most complete and extensive
+navy-yards in the States. At the period of my visit its dry dock was
+occupied by a pet ship of the American navy, "the Constitution," or, as
+this fine frigate is familiarly called, "Old Ironsides." She was
+stripped down to her kelson outside and in, for the purpose of
+undergoing a repair that will make her, to all intents, a new ship.
+
+She is what would now be called a small frigate, but one of the
+prettiest models possible as high as the bends; above, she tumbles in a
+little too much to please the eye. Nor did her gun-deck appear to me
+particularly roomy for her burthen.
+
+She was logged nearly eleven feet during the whole of the period she was
+last afloat, yet is said to have sailed faster than anything she met;
+this defect the builders have now remedied, and expect that, on a
+straight keel, she will prove the fastest ship afloat.
+
+I also went on board a seventy-four, employed as a receiving ship; "a
+whapper! of her size," low between decks, but with a floor like a barn,
+and the greatest beam I ever saw in a two-decker. Here were also on the
+stocks a three and a two decker, both to be rated as seventy-fours; the
+latter a model of beauty.
+
+From the roof of the house covering this ship I enjoyed the finest
+panoramic view imaginable. Boston, its long bridges, and the great dam
+connecting the blue hills of the main with the peninsulas of Boston, and
+that on which the populous village of Charleston stands, all lay beneath
+the eye on the land side; whilst looking seaward, the inner and outer
+harbours, together with their numerous islands, stretched away far
+beyond the ken; and, were these islands only wooded, no harbour in the
+world would excel this in beauty: at present, though grand, from its
+great extent it looks bleak and naked, so completely have the islands
+and the surrounding heights been denuded of wood.
+
+I like this view better than either the one from the dome of the
+State-house or that from the summit of Mount Auburn: a few glances from
+this point affords one a good practical notion both of the city and the
+populous environs, which may be said to form a part of it, besides being
+in itself a varied and beautiful picture, viewed, as I first saw it, on
+the afternoon of a calm clear day.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[3] Fanieul Hall, so called, the old Town Hall,--a spot dedicated by the
+Bostonians to the recollections of their country's first struggle for
+independence, and greatly venerated.
+
+[4] This calculation was more than realised, the loss not exceeding
+one-fourth on the whole cargo shipped. The grateful epicures of Calcutta
+made an offering of a splendid cup to the merchant, in return for his
+spirited speculation, which I believe he has this year (1835) repeated.
+
+
+
+
+STATE PRISON.
+
+
+Whilst here, I visited the state-prison, the first I had seen where the
+Auburn system is pursued; that is, solitary night-cells, silence, and
+labour in gangs. The building itself is a fine one, having nearly four
+hundred cells, enclosed within external walls, round which run galleries
+that command a view of the interior of every cell without disturbing or
+annoying the confined; the whole covered by a common roof of the
+strongest kind, lighted and ventilated in the best manner.
+
+The merits of this plan will be fairly set forth long before this trifle
+meets the public eye, a commission being now in progress throughout
+these States for the purpose of relieving England from the stigma of
+having no means of employment in her prisons less brutalizing than the
+tread-mill.
+
+I here saw about two hundred convicts actively employed at various
+trades, preparing granite for building, doing smiths' work, making
+shoes, brushes, &c.; all very clean, but certainly not looking very
+healthy.
+
+A single overseer went the rounds of each building or department, and
+kept the hive in motion, without a word spoken, unless in reference to
+the task in hand. Whilst passing through the masons' shed, I noticed two
+persons make inquiries of the superintendent: their questions were to
+the point, given in few words, but with an air perfectly free and
+unrestrained, and were replied to in the like manner.
+
+Upon the value of this system as a preventive of crime, according to my
+view of human nature, I may be allowed to express a doubt, as well as of
+its applicability to the condition of Great Britain; but viewing it in
+the abstract, without such reference, I confess no philanthropic object
+ever struck me as so completely illustrative of the principles of true
+benevolence. This was, in fact, returning good for evil, in the most
+Christian sense of the word; "chastening as a father chasteneth." It
+would appear that a convict must be unnaturally hardened not to quit
+this abode a better man. Let him arrive here, however outcast, vile,
+ignorant, knowing no honest calling, broken in health and savage in
+spirit, here he will find teachers, masters, physicians, all provided
+for him by the community whose laws he has violated. His spirit is
+soothed, his health is recruited, his ignorance enlightened: he is made
+master of a sufficient calling; and, when restored to society, is able
+to contrast the value of the meal earned by the honest sweat of his brow
+with the bitter fruit of idleness and crime.
+
+Such is the result contemplated by the benevolent promoters of the
+prison system of this country, which everywhere has societies of
+voluntary philanthropists who watch over and study to improve it. One is
+ashamed, after this, to avow a doubt of its success in practice, since
+it almost amounts to an admission that man is indeed the brute our
+European legislators appear to think him.
+
+The subject is, at least, one that demands from England a rigid inquiry,
+when we call to mind what a den of debasement, what a sink of soul and
+body, a prison yet is amongst the most civilized and humane people in
+the world.
+
+
+
+
+TREMONT HOTEL.
+
+
+My last, though not least, lion of Boston is the "Tremont House," which
+being, in my opinion, the very best of the best class of large hotels in
+the Union, I shall select as a specimen.
+
+With externals I have little to do, although the architecture of this
+fine building might well claim a particular description: its frontage is
+nearly two hundred feet, with two wings about one hundred each in depth:
+it is three stories high in front above the basement, and the wings are
+each of four stories: the number of rooms, its proprietor informed me,
+amount to two hundred, independent of kitchens, cellars, and other
+offices: it contains hot and cold baths, and is, in fact, wanting in
+nothing essential to the character of a well-contrived hotel.
+
+The curious part of the affair, however, to a European, and more
+especially to an Englishman, is the internal arrangement of such a huge
+institution, the machinery by which it is so well and so quietly
+regulated.
+
+Let the reader reflect, that here are two public tables daily, one for
+men resident in the house, together with many gentlemen of the city, who
+regularly dine here; the other for ladies, or families who have not
+private apartments: of the latter there are a dozen, consisting of two
+or more chambers attached to each parlour; these are seldom unoccupied,
+and have also to be provided for: add to all this an occasional dinner
+or supper to large public parties, and he will then be enabled to
+appreciate the difficulties and do justice to the system which works as
+I shall presently describe.
+
+At half-past seven A.M. the crash of a gong rattles through the remotest
+galleries, to rouse the sleepers: this you may hear or not, just as you
+choose; but sound it does, and loudly. Again, at eight, it proclaims
+breakfast on the public tables: as I never made my appearance at this
+meal, I cannot be expected to tell how it may be attended. The lover of
+a late _déjeûner_ may either order his servant to provide one in his own
+room, or at any hour, up to noon, direct it to be served in the common
+hall: it will, in either case, consist of whatever he may desire that is
+in the house.
+
+At three o'clock, dinner is served in a well-proportioned, well-lighted
+room, seventy feet long by thirty-one wide, occupied by two parallel
+tables, perfectly appointed, and provided with every delicacy of the
+season, well dressed and in great abundance,--the French cooking the
+best in the country,--this _par parenthèse_. Meantime, the attendance is
+very sufficient for a man not in a "devouring rage," and the wines of
+every kind really unexceptionable to any reasonable _gourmet_.
+
+At this same hour, let it be borne in mind, the same play is playing in
+what is called the ladies' dining-room, where they sit surrounded by
+their husbands, fathers, brothers, or lovers, as may be; and surely
+having no meaner table-service. As for the possessors of an apartment,
+these persons order dinner for as many as they please, at what hour they
+please, and in what style they please, the which is duly provided in
+their respective parlours.
+
+In the public rooms tea is served at six, and supper at nine o'clock; it
+being yet a marvel to me, first, how all these elaborate meals are so
+admirably got up, and next, how the plague these good people find
+appetite to come to time with a regularity no less surprising.
+
+It was a constant subject of no little amusement to me to observe a few
+of the knowing hands hanging about, as feeding-time drew near, their
+ears on the prick and their eyes on the door, which is thrown open at
+the first bellow of the gong.
+
+As to the indecent pushing and driving, so amusingly described by some
+travellers, I never saw a symptom of it in any hotel I visited
+throughout the country: on the contrary, the absence of extraordinary
+bustle and confusion, where such numbers have to be provided for, is not
+the least striking part of the affair; and only to be accounted for by
+supposing that the habit of living thus together, and being in some sort
+accountable to one another, renders individuals more considerate and
+courteous than they can afford to be when congregated to feed amongst
+us.
+
+I confess that, at first, a dinner of a hundred, or a hundred and fifty
+persons, on a hot day, alarmed me; but, the strangeness got over, I
+rather liked this mode of living, and, as a stranger in a new country,
+would certainly prefer it to the solitary mum-chance dinner of a
+coffee-room.
+
+By eleven o'clock at night the hive is hushed, and the house as quiet as
+any well-ordered citizen's proper dwelling. The servants in this
+establishment were all Irish lads; and a civiller or better-conducted
+set of boys, as far as the guests were concerned, I never saw, or would
+desire to be waited on by. The bar was also well conducted, under the
+care of an obliging and very active person; and the proprietor, Mr.
+Boydon, or his father, constantly on the spot, both most active in all
+matters conducive to the ease and comfort of the visitors.
+
+This city abounds in charitable institutions, and nowhere have more
+princely contributions been made for philanthropic purposes,--witness
+the recent gift of Colonel Perkins of a mansion, valued at thirty
+thousand dollars, as a permanent asylum for the blind; one of those
+institutions most interesting in themselves, and which confer dignity
+and honour upon the age and upon human nature.
+
+The Bostonians are said to be proud of their literary character, and
+boast a number of societies whose object it is to justify their claim to
+this honourable distinction. The only one I can speak of from personal
+observation is the Athenæum, an excellently-supplied reading-room;
+having attached to it a library of thirty thousand volumes, a valuable
+collection of coins and medals, a gallery for the exhibition of
+pictures, and lecture-rooms well furnished with the necessary apparatus
+for philosophical and practical illustration.
+
+This institution is provided for by subscription: the principal portion
+of the mansion it occupies being the free gift of the same open hand
+which so munificently endowed the asylum for the blind.
+
+The private literary society here is said to be very superior to that of
+any other city of the States, and by no means small. Of society so
+called I nothing know, never having had the honour of being admitted of
+the community, or indeed having made any attempts upon their proper
+realm beyond an occasional rude foray on the border, uncontinued, and
+consequently little noted.
+
+Private intercourse is gay and agreeable, and less restrained by the
+exclusive pretension to dress and fashion which prevails in society both
+at New York and Philadelphia; whilst, if attractive women are less
+numerous here than in those cities, beauty is by no means rare; indeed
+Boston boasts of one family whose personal attractions might serve to
+sustain the pretensions of a larger population.
+
+
+
+
+THE TREMONT THEATRE.
+
+
+In the same street, and immediately opposite the great hotel, is the
+Tremont Theatre, certainly the most elegant exterior in the country, and
+with a very well-proportioned, but not well-arranged _salle_, or
+audience part.
+
+I commenced here on Monday the 30th of September, three days after
+closing at Philadelphia, to a well-filled house, composed, however,
+chiefly of men, as on my _début_ at New York. My welcome was cordial and
+kind in the extreme; but the audience, although attentive, appeared
+exceedingly cold. On a first night I did not heed this much, especially
+as report assured me they were very well pleased; but throughout the
+week this coldness appeared to me to increase rather than diminish, and
+so much was I affected by it, that, notwithstanding the houses were very
+good, I, on the last day of my first engagement of six nights, declined
+positively to renew it, as was the custom in such cases, and as, in
+fact, the manager and myself had contemplated: on this night, however,
+the aspect of affairs brightened up amazingly; the house was crowded; a
+brilliant show of ladies graced the boxes; the performances were a
+repetition of two pieces which had been previously acted, and from first
+to last the mirth was electric; the good people appeared, by common
+consent, to abandon themselves to the fun of the scene, and laughed _à
+gorge deployée_. At the fall of the curtain, after, in obedience to the
+call of the house, I had made my bow, the manager announced my
+re-engagement; and from this night forth I never met a merrier or a
+pleasanter audience.
+
+It was quite in accordance with the character ascribed to the
+New-Englanders that they should coolly and thoroughly examine and
+understand the novelty presented for their judgment, and that, being
+satisfied and pleased, they should no longer set limits to the
+demonstration of their feelings.
+
+In matters of graver import they have always evinced the like deliberate
+judgment and apparent coldness of bearing; but beneath this prudential
+outward veil they have feelings capable of the highest degree of
+excitement and the most enduring enthusiasm.
+
+I do not agree with those who describe the Yankee as a naturally
+cold-blooded, selfish being. From both the creed and the sumptuary
+regulations of the rigid moral censors from whom they sprung, they have
+inherited the practice of a close self-observance and a strict attention
+to conventional form, which gives a frigid restraint to their air that
+nevertheless does not sink far beneath the surface.
+
+A densely-populated and ungrateful soil has kept alive and quickened
+their natural gifts of intelligence and enterprise, whilst the shifts
+poverty imposes upon young adventure may possibly at times have impelled
+prudence to degenerate into cunning. But look at their history as a
+community; they have been found ever ready to make the most generous
+sacrifices for the commonwealth. In their domestic relations they are
+proverbial as the kindest husbands and most indulgent fathers; whilst as
+friends they are found to be, if reasonably wary, at least steadfast,
+and to be relied on to the uttermost of their professions.
+
+I can readily understand a stranger, having any share of sensibility,
+not liking a people whose observances are so peculiar and so decidedly
+marked; but I do think it impossible for an impartial person to spend
+any time in the country, or have any close intercourse with the
+community, without learning to respect and admire them, _malgré_ their
+calculating prudence, and the many prejudices inseparable from a system
+of education even to this day sufficiently narrow and sectarian.
+
+As far as my personal experience is worthy of consideration, I must
+declare that some of the kindest, gentlest, and most hospitable friends
+I had, and, I trust I may add, have, in the Union, were natives of
+New-England, or, as they say here, "real Yankee, born and raised within
+sight of the State-house of Bosting."
+
+
+
+
+JOURNAL.
+
+
+_Oct. 20th, New York._--Began my second engagement here,--the weather
+divine. Procured a very good hack at Tattersal's, and daily "skir the
+country round." The environs of this city possess more variety of
+scenery than one would suppose from a cursory glance at the country,
+which appears tame and unbroken. The river views are most attractive to
+me.
+
+Rode to the race-course on Long Island, this being the period of the
+"Fall Meeting," as it is termed. The assemblage thin on the first
+day--Appointments of the negro jockeys more picturesque than
+race-like,--ill-fitted jackets, trousers dirty, and loose, or
+stocking-net pantaloons ditto, but tight, with Wellingtons over or
+under, according to the taste of the rider; or shoes without stockings,
+or stockings without shoes, as weight may be required or rejected. They
+sit well forward on to the withers of the horses; do not seem over
+steady in their saddles, but cling like monkeys, their whole
+sleight-of-hand appears to consist of a dead pull; and their mode of
+running, with their time for lying back or making play, seems to be
+entirely governed by their masters, who, on a mile-course, they must
+frequently pass in heats, and who appear ever on the alert to direct
+them.
+
+After the running, which was indifferent, went to see "Paul Pry," a
+trotting-horse of Mr. M'Leod's, now in training to do a match of
+eighteen miles in the hour.[5] With the exception of a few scratches on
+one of his legs, he looked in slapping order; a powerful grey horse,
+just sixteen hands, with a fine countenance, and appearing to be nearly,
+if not quite, thorough-bred.
+
+_Second day._--Witnessed a good race, which a little mare, called
+Trifle, won in two four-mile heats. She had, on a former occasion, run
+four heats, or twenty miles, over the central course at Baltimore, and
+was beaten by one of her present competitors, a fine mare called Black
+Maria. Trifle is very little, but powerfully put together, and
+exceedingly handsome; her only drawback being a pair of mulish-looking
+ears. She has uncommon speed, and is one of the steadiest and smoothest
+gallopers I ever saw go over turf.
+
+I, at the start, took a great fancy to the little pet, and backed her
+even against the other two horses for a dozen of gloves with my friend
+Mr. C----n. By the close of the second heat our bet had increased
+ninefold,--Next morning received a box containing nine dozen of French
+gloves. It will be my duty henceforth to back Trifle.
+
+_October 29th._--The city yet crowded with strangers; every hotel full.
+
+Find out that I am No. 1. in this enormous house; the first time I ever
+could boast such an honour, and now am by no means certain that it is
+worth the labour it imposes, since it leads me a dance to the third
+story: however, it is an excellent room, very large, and removed from
+the bustle below; the sound of the dustman-like bell, which calls the
+house to meals, barely reaches my ear. I often catch myself parodying
+poor Maturin's lines, which I have applied to this unpoetical grievance,
+and concluded most impotently--
+
+
+     ----"Bell echoes bell,
+     Meal follows meal,
+     Till the ear aches for the last welcome summons
+     That tolls an end to the day's cookery."
+
+
+At this time there cannot be far short of one hundred and fifty persons
+dining daily in the public room: did I desire to dine at it, however,
+the hospitality of my friends I find would render this impracticable.
+
+_November 3rd._--Dined at Harlaem, a pretty village eight miles from the
+city, but daily drawing closer to it. Here a certain Mrs. Bradshaw fries
+chickens in a _sauce tartarre_, to the which could pen of mine do
+justice, "I guess" I know folk "our side" the water who would be
+stealing across to Harlaem some fine day to dine. We had tarapins too,
+of whose excellence most unfortunates in Europe, happily for their poor
+wives and innocent children, are ignorant.
+
+On our way home halted at Cato's, and discussed the comparative merits
+of hail-storm and julep, demonstrating our arguments by the practical
+experiments of this distinguished spirituous professor.
+
+The day deliciously genial, and the night like a fine harvest-moon at
+home. Of a verity this American autumn, or fall, as they call it, is a
+most delicate season.
+
+_Friday, 8th._--Up with the lark, and, accompanied by Captain D----n,
+got on board the steamer for Philadelphia, _viâ_ Amboy.
+
+The morning was clear, with a warm sun just tempered by a breeze balmy
+and soft: the packet was crowded, and our passage across the harbour a
+pleasure to remember. We were soon, however, to have all the happy
+recollections of this journey miserably blotted out by one of the most
+fearful accidents I ever beheld.
+
+At Amboy we took the railroad; and every one was delighted to find that
+the locomotives were now in operation, anticipating a quick and pleasant
+ride to Bordentown. For a time all went well: various surmises were made
+as to our rate; some calculated it at twenty miles in the hour; D----n
+and the Belgian minister, Baron de B----r, were disputing the point,
+watch in hand, when an alarm was given from the rear: our attention was
+quickly arrested by loud cries to "stop the engine," coming from the
+windows of every carriage in the train.
+
+On the halt being accomplished, the carriages were deserted in a moment;
+for it was discovered that one of those in the rear had been overturned
+in consequence of the axle breaking,--its occupants' fate as yet
+unknown.
+
+I was soon on the spot, and what a scene was here to witness! Out of
+twenty-four persons only one had escaped unhurt. One man was dead,
+another dying, and five others had fractures, more or less serious; a
+couple of ladies (sisters) dreadfully wounded; the children of one of
+them, two little girls, with broken limbs.
+
+Never were sufferers more patient; one of them was a surgeon, a fine
+young fellow, who immediately set about doing the best his skill could
+accomplish for those most desperately hurt. D----n and I volunteered as
+his assistants; and with such splints as the shattered panels of the
+carriage supplied, the fractured limbs were bound up.
+
+It was a melancholy task; but this gallant fellow stuck to it until he
+saw such of his patients as it was possible to remove disposed of in one
+of the baggage-cars, emptied for this purpose. I had, in the course of
+his task, frequently observed him pause, as though either faint, or
+finding some difficulty in the act of stooping, which was constantly
+required; but it was not until he had seen the last of his
+fellow-sufferers disposed of to his best ability that he examined his
+own condition, when it was discovered that two of his ribs were broken.
+
+It was full three hours before the wounded could be removed from the
+sandy bank on which they had been stretched; and it was an afflicting
+thing to see them lying here, bloody and disfigured, exposed to the
+glare of a hot sun, without the possibility of procuring them shelter;
+for we were some miles from the nearest village when the accident
+occurred.
+
+The ex-president, Mr. Quincy Adams, was in the carriage immediately
+attached to the one overturned: by his direction an inquest was held
+upon the deceased before we departed; and, this being concluded, the
+train once more moved forward, but with a character mournfully altered
+since our first departure.
+
+We found the steam-boat yet in waiting at Bordentown; and, bearing with
+us those of the wounded who could proceed so far, we reached
+Philadelphia at a late hour in the afternoon, with such a freight as I
+trust may never again visit its wharves.
+
+_Saturday._--Called to inquire after such of our wounded
+fellow-passengers as we could trace. The lady so severely hurt
+pronounced out of all danger; and her dear baby still living, with hopes
+of saving it. A man with numerous fractures, who had been left behind,
+report says, is relieved by death from all farther suffering.
+
+This is the first serious accident that has occurred upon this line,
+which appears to be most carefully conducted; one of the active
+proprietors or more--the Messrs. Stevens, men of great prudence and
+practical skill--being constantly upon the road, and personally
+supervising every department connected with both boats and railway.
+
+_Sunday, 10th._--At six A.M. departed for Baltimore, _viâ_ the Delaware
+and Newcastle railroad: the day was cloudless, and as warm as it is in
+England in June. I often, on these bright days, think of my good folk in
+Kent,--clouds and fog without, and sea-coal fire within: no bad
+substitute for a sun, by the way, after all; especially after one has
+had a sniff of the anthracite coal used in the close stoves here, an
+atmosphere which dread of freezing only could reconcile me to.
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[5] Which he shortly after won with ease, and was backed on the ground
+to perform nineteen, and twenty. No takers.
+
+
+
+
+BALTIMORE.
+
+
+The day upon which I first approached this city would have given a charm
+even to desolation. It was on the tenth of November; the air elastic,
+but bland as on a fine June morning at home; the temperature was about
+the same too, but attended with a clearness of atmosphere in all
+quarters that seldom falls out within our islands.
+
+The passage down the Elk river is quite beautiful: the shores on either
+hand are bold and undulating; the country finely wooded; the banks
+indented by numerous bays and inlets, whose jutting capes so intersect
+each other that in several reaches the voyager is, as it were,
+completely land-locked, and might imagine himself coasting about some
+pretty lake.
+
+We neared the well-closed harbour amidst a fleet of some hundred and
+fifty sail, of all sizes and of every variety of rig, from the simple
+two-sailed heavy sloop to that perfection of naval architecture, the
+Clipper schooner of Baltimore, with her long tapering masts raking over
+her taffrail, and her symmetrical hull fairly leaping out of water, as
+though she moved from wave to wave by a succession of graceful bounds
+rather than held her course by cleaving a pathway through them, as did
+her more cumbrous fellows.
+
+The eye was charmed and the heart elevated by these unequivocal
+evidences of thriving commerce sweeping towards the city; which rises
+gradually, as it spreads over the face of the irregular hill it
+occupies. Several domes of considerable magnitude, a tall column or two,
+with various towers and spires, rendered conspicuous from the nature of
+the site, invest it with an air of much importance, and have gained for
+it the title of the City of Monuments.
+
+The main street, like that of Boston, has very much the look of an
+English county-town; and the air of the shops is wholly English. I
+wandered about here guided by curiosity and caprice,--the only cicerone
+I ever desire,--and saw most things worthy note. I attended service at
+the cathedral, where I heard mass admirably performed, for in this
+choir are several voices of a very high order.
+
+The interior of the church is good; the altar most worthily fitted up;
+and the general effect would be imposing were it not marred by the
+introduction of regular lines of exceedingly comfortable but most
+uncatholic-looking pews, with the which, I confess, I felt so vexed,
+that I could have found in my heart, Heaven pardon me! to have wished
+them fairly floating in the bay, only for the delicate creatures who sat
+within them, on whose transparent brows and soft dark eyes it was
+impossible to look and breathe a wish or harbour a thought of evil.
+
+I next mounted the Washington column, as it is called, and beheld a
+sunset from its top that would have well recompensed a poet or painter
+for a journey over "the broa-a-d At-álantic," as poor Incledon used to
+emphasize it.
+
+This is a noble column and splendidly put together, of workmanship and
+material calculated to endure,--lasting, unimpeachable by time or
+change, as is the fame of the patriot to whose virtues it is well
+inscribed; but the statue itself is bad, ineffective, and in no
+situation or distance I could discover at all like the great original,
+whose personal characteristics were nevertheless striking, and well
+adapted for the artist.
+
+The inverted bee-hive too, which is overturned on the head of the
+capital, for the purpose, as it were, of hoisting the figure a little
+higher, is in bad taste, and detracts from the plainness of the column,
+which, if divested of both bee-hive and figure, would be an object
+worthy to commemorate the citizen Washington, in whose character
+simplicity gave lustre to the grandeur with which it was happily
+blended; softening and chastening it, and making him, even in the
+sternest times, more loved than feared.
+
+I rode hard for a few hours to the north and west of the city,
+accompanied by a Scotch friend; in the course of which ride we dived
+down some wooded glens, and crossed some rock-strewn brooks, that called
+to his memory the brawling waters of his own rugged land,--so
+constantly, at all times and in all places, is the wanderer's mind
+prepared to veer homeward.
+
+I have sometimes smiled at the total absence of similarity between the
+distant original and the subject that has served to challenge
+comparison. In this case, however, there was, in my mind, good ground
+enough for the recollection: at one spot, in particular, we broke from
+a thickly-wooded hill side that we had for some time been blindly
+threading, and found ourselves just over a clear pebbled stream, skirted
+on the opposite bank by a fair fresh meadow, itself bounded again by a
+wooded height yet more stony and steep than that by which we sought to
+descend: on our right, in an angle of the meadow, stood a farmhouse,
+roughly built of grey-stone and lime, surrounded by numerous offices;
+and, lower down the brook, a mill of similar character.
+
+After a long look upon this pretty sequestered spot, we descended to the
+bed of the stream, and found a railroad already skirting its course.
+
+Passing the mill by a bridle-path, we here saw the bed of our little
+brook, fallen far beneath, tossing, raging, and whirling its way amongst
+great masses, and tumbling over the rocky ledges dividing smooth beds of
+close black gneiss. Yet a little lower, we struck a road leading over a
+bridge, by which we re-crossed the now important current; and hence the
+upward view was as glen-like, gloomy, and wild as Scottish imagination
+could desire.
+
+
+BALTIMORE.
+
+
+JOURNAL CONTINUED.
+
+
+_Monday, 11th._--Find other Richmonds in the field, the Kembles being
+announced also, for to-night, at the Holiday Theatre, under the
+management of Mr. De Camp: I occupying "Front Street," with what is
+termed the regular Baltimore company. My front will prove in the rear, I
+fear.
+
+This _untoward_ meeting was purely accidental; a thing not desired or
+premeditated by either party: my interest and inclination making it
+desirable that I should give these attractive objects to the rest of the
+world, what sailors term, "a wide berth." Shame that I should say so,
+and a lady concerned too!
+
+_The Front Street._--A huge theatre, nearly as large as Covent-Garden.
+At night, I found there was indeed ample space "and verge enough." My
+clients, however, were uproariously merry, and made up for half an
+audience by bestowing upon the performance a double allowance of
+applause.
+
+_Tuesday, 12th_--At 'em again!--"the Holiday" against "the Front!" I
+have discovered that the _people_ are with _us_; "the Holiday" being
+considered the aristocratic house, and "the Front," being, indeed, the
+work of an opposition composed of the sturdy democracy of the good city.
+
+The manager says that last night our side was taken by surprise, but
+that now our forces are afoot. The worst of my case is, that I am
+compelled, _mal-gré bon-gré_, to laugh at my "beggarly account of empty
+boxes:" my tragic rivals may, at least, have the satisfaction of
+lowering upon their empty pit. But the _people_ are for us, consequently
+the right is with us; _ergo_, we must prevail.
+
+_Eight o'clock_ P.M.--A narrower selvage round the vast area of our
+_parterre_. "Front Street" for ever!
+
+_Wednesday, 12th._--I, this night at least, had the satisfaction of
+seeing my antagonists; for in the side-box I spied Messrs. Kemble and De
+Camp laughing to my teeth. I would have forgiven this, and joined with
+the wags, had my forces been assembled; but the musters on our side I
+find are not yet quite complete.
+
+_Tuesday, 18th._--The struggle continued until yesterday without either
+party being able to claim an absolute victory; nor is it for me now to
+record a triumph, since I left the allies yet camping on the field,
+whilst on their part they must at least admit that I marched off with
+all the honours of war.
+
+This day returned to Philadelphia--weather yet unbroken. Reached Mr.
+Head's in time to come in with the dinner.
+
+_Wednesday, Nov. 20th._--Took a long walk round the city; the weather
+fine. About midday Chestnut-street assumed quite a lively and very
+attractive appearance, for it was filled with shopping-parties of
+well-dressed women, and presented a sprinkling of carriages neatly
+appointed and exceedingly well horsed.
+
+Satisfied that I am correct in my judgment, when I assert that this
+population has the happiness to possess an unusual share of handsome
+girls. They walk with a freer air and more elastic step than their fair
+rivals of New York; have clear brunette complexions, and eyes of great
+beauty.
+
+The theatre very full, and the dress-boxes containing a large
+proportion of ladies.
+
+_21st._--On horseback early; crossed the Schuylkill, over the Manayunk
+bridge, and back by the right bank of the river. The piers of a viaduct,
+about to be thrown from the opposite heights by the Lancaster Rail-road
+Company, already much elevated since my first visit here in September.
+Highly beneficial to the community, no doubt; but destructive of the
+repose and seclusion of this charming scene. The sweetest spots, and
+such as one would most desire to conserve, seem to be always the places
+peculiarly selected for these useful but most unpicturesque invasions.
+
+_23rd._--Visited the dock-yard in company with Lieutenant I----d. A
+three-decker, classed according to law as a seventy-four, almost ready
+to be sent off the stocks--a noble ship. A frigate is housed close by
+her, but looks a mere toy when one views it immediately after having
+contemplated the proportions of the Pennsylvania. This dockyard is
+smaller, and in appearance inferior every way to that of Boston.
+
+_27th._--Having exhausted all the rides in the immediate neighbourhood,
+I this day determined upon widening my circle; so went, accompanied by
+K----r, about fifteen miles up the Delaware by the Bristol road.
+
+On the way-side we halted to look upon a mansion, made memorable for
+ever by one of those wild atrocities, the details of which indeed
+appear, upon review, fitter for the pages of romance than for a journal
+of every-day life, yet too striking to be heard and forgotten, or passed
+by without comment. I must only premise, that the affair I am about to
+describe is of recent occurrence, and strictly true in all its horrible
+details.
+
+
+
+
+THE TEMPERANCE HOUSE.
+
+
+Within these three years the house in question was inhabited by its
+builder, a respectable citizen, together with his wife, a woman of much
+intelligence, and possessed of considerable beauty, though no longer
+young. They had for many years kept a creditable academy; but had, a
+short time before the commencement of this relation, retired with ample
+means from the exercise of their honourable profession, built this
+house, and with an only child, a handsome girl of sixteen, here dwelt,
+as far as their neighbours could judge, contented and happy. It is
+certain that they were well considered and respected by all who knew
+anything of them.
+
+One afternoon, whilst the master was busied in his garden before the
+house, a passing wayfarer halted by his fence, and besought some
+refreshment. The accent of the stranger was foreign, and his aspect and
+whole appearance, although haggard and miserably needy, still bore
+evidence of better days, as his address did of gentle condition.
+
+After a moment's questioning, Mr. C---- asked the hungered and weary
+traveller to enter his house; and, with the hospitable promptitude of
+country life, a comfortable meal was set before him.
+
+Before another hour had elapsed, so strongly did the stranger's story of
+himself interest the kind nature of his host, this act of common charity
+was succeeded by an invitation to him to remain for a few days as the
+guest of the house, which was thankfully accepted.
+
+Senhor Mina, for this was the guest's name, was, as he said, a political
+exile, and having strong claims of a pecuniary kind upon the American
+government, he was on his way to the capital to prosecute them; when,
+through a total failure of his resources, he became exposed to the
+misery and want from which this providential chance had so happily
+rescued him. His appearance at this point arose from his inability to
+pay his fare on board the steam-boat; where some altercation taking
+place between him and the captain, who charged him with a design to
+cheat, it ended in his being summarily set ashore to make the best of
+his way to the end of his journey.
+
+The senhor was a scholar, was intelligent, and, what was better,
+interesting, having visited many lands, and encountered many of the
+adventurous perils of war and travel. He was here a penniless soldier in
+"the land of the brave"--a friendless exile for liberty in the "home of
+the free." He talked well; and by his enthusiastic discourses in favour
+of equality and independence,--topics which possess a charm for most
+American ears,--he quickly gained an interest in the best feelings of
+his honest host. He sang as all Spaniards sing, and touched the guitar
+as only Spaniards can; and with this artillery won yet more suddenly the
+love of his host's frail wife.
+
+Time passed rapidly in a little circle so happily constituted to banish
+tedium: nor was business wanting to occupy a due share, for the senhor
+despatched many letters; and, having established a correspondence with
+the foreign-office, the necessity for his own presence at the seat of
+government next became manifest. This was no sooner made known to Mr.
+C---- than ample means were placed at Senhor Mina's disposal; when, with
+the best wishes of the whole family, he took a short farewell of
+Pennsylvania.
+
+The absence of the interesting stranger was signalized by a change in
+the habits and condition of this household as sudden as that which had
+attended his first introduction to it. Mrs. C---- grew gradually
+fretful, restless, and anxious; which might well be, for her husband was
+on a sudden laid up with sickness, and their only child studiously
+shunned their society, locking herself within her chamber, or moping
+about the grounds she had so lately bounded over in the buoyancy of
+health and happy youth.
+
+The sequel was not long in arriving: the sick man daily grew worse and
+weaker; and his wife, as was perfectly natural, daily grew more wretched
+and impatient. She was assiduous to a jealous degree in the performance
+of her duties and close attendance on her husband's bed; she mixed his
+medicines, prepared his food and such diluents as were considered best
+calculated to allay the fever that for ever burned him up. With his hand
+within her's, she watched his last agonies, which were protracted and
+extreme; and received from his lips grateful acknowledgments of her
+unwearied kindness, and his dying blessing.
+
+So far all went unsuspectedly and well: for one month the widow lived
+unseen and retired, as became a sorrowing woman; but about the end of
+that period, to the great surprise of the neighbourhood, she was made
+again a bride by the grateful stranger, Senhor Mina.
+
+And now it was that men began to shake their heads and find their
+tongues; comments upon the shameless precipitancy of this wedding were
+everywhere heard, mixed up with strange surmises, and suspicions too
+horrible to remain long suppressed.
+
+Curious inquiries were next made amongst the domestics, and one servant
+girl quickly called to mind having noticed a sediment in the remains of
+a basin of soup prepared by her mistress for the sick man, which having
+been thrown to the poultry, together with some of the rice, these had
+all since withered and died; nay, a hardy hog even, whose portion had
+been small, with difficulty weathered an attack of sickness which had
+quickly followed.
+
+A legal inquiry was next demanded by the roused public, upon which such
+strong evidence appeared as to render the exhumation of the body
+necessary: the contents of the stomach were yet in a condition to admit
+of chemical analyzation, and the exhibition of a large portion of
+arsenic was by these means proven past doubt.
+
+The unconscious senhor--with whom, during this part of the process, they
+had prevented the miserable woman holding any communication--was
+meantime busily prosecuting his affairs, whatever they were, amidst the
+gaieties of Washington. One night, upon his return from a public ball,
+he was arrested by an officer who had just reached his quarters with a
+criminal warrant, taken back to the scene of his ingratitude, and,
+together with the partner of his crime, put upon trial for the murder of
+his benefactor.
+
+The guilt of both parties was established, I believe, beyond a doubt;
+but some legal loophole was found by which the woman was permitted to
+elude the capital punishment, and condemned to live. The ungrateful
+guest was sentenced to be hanged: shortly before the time of execution
+he made full confession of his having planned and instigated the
+poisoning of his unsuspecting host, and died the death of an assassin.
+
+Here is a suite of horrors, plainly and briefly set down, sufficient to
+supply stuff for any murder-loving three-volume novelist; yet is there
+one other, and that not least, to be added; for it appeared in the
+progress of the trial, and time in the ordinary course confirmed this
+evidence, that the poor child, the daughter of the murderess, had fallen
+a victim to the lust of this devil, Mina.
+
+The fate of the girl and her infant I could not rightly learn; all that
+was known, indeed, being her removal to some distant part of the
+continent. The mother, it was believed, yet resided within the walls her
+guilt has made for ever infamous.
+
+The house is always pointed out to the passing stranger, and was, when I
+saw it, no unfit monument of its owner's crime, and the curse which so
+quickly followed on it. Its fences were thrown down, its outhouses in
+ruin, the paths about it overgrown with filthy weeds; and the latticed
+window-shutters, once gay as green paint could make them, now dirty and
+broken, were left to swing loose from every wall. Still, evidences of
+its being inhabited were exhibited about the yard, where a dog and a few
+fowls lay basking; and suspended from the branch of a blighted tree,
+standing near the fallen entrance-gate, hung an ill-inscribed sign,
+bearing the inscription "_Temperance House_" in large characters.
+
+A singular change,--the abode of the grossest lust, and the scene of the
+foulest murder, perhaps, ever combined in the full catalogue of crime,
+changed into a temple to Temperance.
+
+
+
+
+JOURNAL.
+
+
+_Sunday, December 1st._--A little cloudy, but mild and pleasant. We have
+up to this date no severe weather; and, indeed, with the exception of
+now and then a day not colder than some which we experienced in
+September, have had no remembrancer of the approach of frost: but I
+fancy old father Winter "'bides his time," and will not spare us when
+his icy wings are once loosed upon the north-east wind.
+
+Rode to German Town, and down the ravine of the Wisihissing. A stranger,
+looking over the continuous level which is presented to his view on a
+first glance at the country surrounding Philadelphia, has many pleasant
+surprises in store, if he be of an errant habit and much given to
+exploration; since there are several ravines of singular wildness in
+this vicinity, having bridle-paths connecting them with the different
+roads, and a great deal of broken country, whose variety well repays the
+adventurous equestrian.
+
+This is a mode of proceeding I would counsel every traveller to follow
+who desires to become well acquainted with the general character of a
+country, as but little of this can be known from a hasty drive along the
+common line of road. Never let the idea of being badly mounted deter a
+man from this experiment; but let him send for the best hack that the
+place may afford, or, what is a better plan, go and see after one.
+
+In America, although all the nags thus procured may not prove the
+smoothest goers in the world, they will uniformly be found strong and
+well up to their work. Only let the stranger acquire the habit of
+getting into saddle with promptitude on arriving at a strange place, and
+more may be seen of its neighbourhood, and known of its condition, by
+this means, in a morning foray or two, than a month of idling will
+compass.
+
+_Saturday, 14th._--Back again to Baltimore to act in Front-street the
+same night.
+
+A clear cold morning until about midday, when it became overcast, with
+some rain and wind, which, just as we cleared the Elk river, was
+exchanged for snow. Not an inch of our way did we see after this: the
+boat was frequently stopped, and soundings carefully made; our speed
+was reduced to the slowest possible pace, and every precaution taken
+that prudence could suggest to the experience of our captain. Night came
+on, however, and we had the pleasant prospect of passing it in the bay
+of the Chesapeake, or on one of the shoals, or shores, about us, when
+happily our look-out got a momentary glimpse of Fort M'Henry, which we
+were about to pass to the southward. Had we done so, we must in a short
+time have grounded in the Patapsco, there to rest for the coming clear
+weather: as it was, a short time saw us snug in harbour, although we
+could hardly see ourselves when we got there.
+
+I was too late for Front-street, a circumstance which I did not regret,
+remembering its situation and the state of the weather, but consoled
+myself readily over a canvass-back duck and a tumbler of
+Monongahela,--when old, equal, if mixed with hot water, even to
+Innishtowen; at least I remember I thought so on this occasion.
+
+Retired early to my room, intending to read for an hour, having observed
+a cheery-looking fire in it whilst changing my wet things. It was
+exceedingly cold without; the snow fell thick, and the sight of a grate
+full of cinders, glowing like lumps of iron at red heat, was especially
+enlivening. I sat down to read, but in a few minutes found my eyes
+become strangely dim: after a vain attempt to clear them by ablution, I
+resigned my book, gave way to the headache and weariness, which grew
+worse every minute, and got into my bed, concluding these unpleasant
+symptoms were occasioned by previous cold and exposure to the weather.
+
+I lay down, but to rest was impossible; my temples throbbed, the veins
+became swollen and tense, whilst my breathing grew short and difficult:
+getting at last a little alarmed, and, indeed, fearing a fainting fit, I
+rose to ring for my servant; but not finding the bell, opened my
+chamber-door with the intention of seeking some assistance.
+
+I had not proceeded many steps down the passage before I felt my illness
+abate, in a manner quite as sudden and strange as its advance had been;
+my sight became clear, my pulse grew regular, my breathing natural; and
+after a momentary pause, almost of doubt at this rapid restoration to
+health and ease, I retraced my steps to my chamber, feeling glad that I
+had not communicated a false alarm in a house where two or three sudden
+deaths, from what was called cholera, had already predisposed the
+inmates to be nervous.
+
+On re-entering my room, the cause of my late symptoms became manifest in
+the first breath I inhaled of the atmosphere; even as it now was,
+comparatively purified by a current of fresh air, the gaseous smell
+continued disagreeable and distressing.
+
+I sent for the fireman of the hotel,--that is, the person so called who
+lights and looks after the hundred fires going in one of these
+establishments: he was a countryman and a staunch personal friend; and,
+after hearing my story and removing the anthracite coal, he pledged
+himself never to burn anything but wood in my chamber for the time to
+come.
+
+I next questioned my friend as to whether he had ever before known any
+person as severely affected from the same cause. He said he had heard
+gentlemen complain now and again, "But the cowld soon makes them get
+used to it," said Pat; adding, that most persons left a little of the
+window open if the weather permitted.
+
+This was my first and last experiment with this coal, which is
+nevertheless burned almost universally in the north, though they have
+abundance of fine Nova Scotia coal, that appears little inferior to the
+best Lancashire. Liverpool coal is a good deal used in New York; but the
+ladies give the preference uniformly to the anthracite, which does not
+yield much dust or black smoke, and consequently preserves for a longer
+period both furniture and dress: it also renders a room quickly and
+equally warm without requiring attendance, when once lighted, burning
+constantly with a red heat, and fiercely or otherwise in proportion to
+the draft, which all the stoves here permit to be regulated at will.
+
+Nevertheless, I think all its advantages are nothing when weighed
+against the injurious effect the atmosphere it generates must have upon
+the health of those constantly within its influence.
+
+It may, with great advantage, be used for hall-stoves, for heating
+air-pipes, or in situations where there is a ready circulation of air;
+but ought not, I think, to be continued in the drawing-rooms of families
+or in the chambers of the studious.
+
+_Sunday, 15th._--The snow lying about a foot deep in the streets, but in
+places drifted to a great height: numbers of make-shift sleighs already
+jingling about the town, Baltimore having precedence of the northern
+cities this year in an amusement not often enjoyed here.
+
+I had a trial of the sleigh for a couple of hours; and in company with a
+fat friend was bumped over the gutters through the soft snow,--for on it
+we could not be said to ride,--whilst every inequality of the streets
+was made evident to our bones.
+
+This is a species of amusement into which the Northerns enter with a
+spirit of positive enthusiasm: man, woman, and child all talk of, and
+look forward to, the arrival of sleighing-time as a season of the
+highest festivity. In New York, I am told, the first heavy fall of snow
+brings even business to a stand-still, and the whole population is seen
+whirling over the streets in every description of vehicle that can be
+lifted off its wheels and lodged upon runners.
+
+The regular fancy sleighs I have frequently examined: they are
+tastefully and comfortably built, and fitted up with all sorts of
+furs,--skins of bear and buffalo, and various other beasts; are lined
+and betasseled in a way that renders them quite beautiful; and might
+defy the recognition of their nearest of kin.
+
+_18th._--The snow has vanished wholly, and the weather is again mild as
+spring: the Southerners yet lingering here upon the confines of the
+north are, however, alarmed by this early demonstration of the absence
+of winter so far south, and daily set off for their yet sunny abodes in
+Georgia, the Carolinas, Alabama, or Louisiana.
+
+Our excellent table is gradually thinning off; and King David's labour,
+as grand carver, is daily abridged. We this day had a haunch of Virginia
+venison, with fat an inch and half deep, the flavour equal to anything I
+ever ate: it is the first fat venison I have seen in the country.
+Canvass-back still in abundance, and not to be wearied of. This, I find,
+is the true place to eat these rare birds: their case is well understood
+here, and they are treated to a nicety.
+
+_Saturday, 21st._--Back to Philadelphia, on my way to New York--will
+pass this night in the City of Squares, and Sunday--the day positively
+warm; observed, however, a thin flaking of ice stealing over the shaded
+surface of the Elk river.
+
+_Monday, 23rd._--Once more in New York, _viâ_ the Delaware and Raritan.
+Although on Sunday it was feared that these rivers would be closed with
+ice, we had only a little coating of Jack Frost to break through,
+suffering no detention, and found the bay perfectly free; arriving here
+about three o'clock.
+
+_27th._--Walked to the top of Broadway, which has lost much of its
+crowd, but is yet quite bustling enough to be a very lively and pleasant
+lounge.
+
+Went into the Episcopalian church near the Park, the graves of
+Montgomery and Emmett being the chief attraction: the monuments erected
+to their memories stand outside, close upon the street. Just as I turned
+out of the gate, after having read the inscription upon the monument of
+the latter, I was joined by R----t, who gave me an interesting account
+of the last meeting of the devoted brothers.
+
+Thomas Emmett being at Rotterdam, after his release from Fort George, on
+his way to the United States, chanced to be in waiting for his letters
+at the post-office, when a man stepping from the crowd threw himself
+into his arms with exclamations of glad recognition: it was his brother
+Robert, just arrived from Paris, and attending here on a like errand.
+
+"And from whence come you?" demanded Robert, the first congratulations
+being past.
+
+"Just escaped from poor Ireland," replied the senior brother; adding,
+"and whither are you now bound?"
+
+"Just escaping to poor Ireland," was the reply.
+
+The meeting was a short one; Robert would listen to no word of
+accompanying his family in their exile. He declared his only desire was
+either to procure for his country even justice, and freedom from neglect
+and oppression, or for himself a grave, and oblivion of her people's
+sufferings and degradation.
+
+The brothers parted here, never again to meet. Robert quickly found the
+fate he courted, and sleeps beneath the soil he died for,--mistakingly
+it may be, but neither unwept, unpitied, nor unsung.
+
+The senior pursued his more prudent course, and landed with his wife and
+children in this city, unknown, and having slight recommendation beyond
+his misfortunes and his country; these, however, proved all-sufficient
+to procure for him the sympathy and respect of the citizens from whom he
+sought adoption. He rested amongst them, became one of them, and lived
+to see his children standing with the best and most esteemed of the
+country.
+
+In the fulness of his honours Thomas Addis Emmett died, and on the most
+conspicuous part of Broadway stands the obelisk of marble reared in
+honour of his memory, and bearing testimony to the high talent and the
+many virtues of the Irish exile, the banished rebel, or the unsuccessful
+patriot; for the terms are yet unhappily considered by some as
+synonymous, and may be selected by each according to his political
+creed. By his family and associates, however, he appears to have been
+truly beloved, and by all men to have been viewed as an upright citizen
+and a most able counsel; his eloquence at the bar being still the theme
+of frequent enthusiastic eulogium.
+
+This night went to a dance at the hospitable house of Mr. C----ne, the
+first occasion which afforded me a view of the New York belles in
+society. The party was not large, but there were several very pretty
+women, and waltzing and music alternated in charming succession: there
+were two ladies who sang with infinite taste and sweetness, and we kept
+it up until rather a late hour for a sober country. My impression of the
+New York women is, that they are frank, lively, and intelligent, with
+much gentleness in their manners and address: in short, that these were
+very amiable and attractive specimens of their sex and country.
+
+_20th._--Went to look over the Opera-house, which has been built here
+very suddenly by subscription. It is about the size of the Lyceum;
+arranged after the French fashion, having stalls, a _parterre_, and
+_balcon_ below; and above, two circles of private boxes, the property of
+subscribers. Some of these are fitted up in a style of extravagance I
+never saw attempted elsewhere. There has been a sort of rivalry
+exercised on this head, and it has been pursued with that regardlessness
+of cost which distinguishes a trading community where their _amour
+propre_ is in question.
+
+Silk velvets, damask, and gilt furniture form the material within many;
+and, as the parties consult only their own taste, the colours of these
+are various as their proprietors' fancies. I do not find the _ensemble_
+bad, however; whilst the shape and mounting of the _salle_ are both
+unexceptionable.
+
+This effort, however creditable to the good taste of the city, is
+premature, and must be doomed to more failures than one before it
+permanently succeeds. A refined taste for the best kind of music is not
+consequent upon the erection of an opera-house, nor is it a feeling to
+be created at will. Even in the metropolis of England, with a capital so
+disproportionate, and possessing such superior facilities for the
+attainment of novelty, did the continuance of this refined amusement
+depend solely upon the love of good music, it would quickly die, if not
+be forgotten.
+
+From time to time, a small, but efficient and really good Italian troop,
+will, beyond doubt, find liberal encouragement in the great northern
+cities, and also in New Orleans, provided they make a short stay in
+each; but, rapidly as events progress here, I will undertake to predict
+that a century must elapse before even New York can sustain a permanent
+operatic establishment.
+
+
+JOURNAL CONTINUED.
+
+
+NEW YEAR'S DAY IN NEW YORK.
+
+
+With an unclouded sky, and a sun as bright and genial as we would desire
+on a May morning, the first day of January 1834 makes its bow to the New
+York public; and in no place does this same day meet heartier welcome,
+or witness better cheer.
+
+On this day, from an early hour, every door in New York is open, and all
+the good things possessed by the inmates paraded in lavish profusion.
+The shops and banks alone are closed: Mammon for this day sees his
+altars in one spot on earth deserted. Meantime every sort of vehicle is
+put in requisition; and if a man owns but a single acquaintance in the
+wide city, he on this day sets forth in kind heart to seek and shake him
+by the hand.
+
+On this day all family bickerings are made up; fancied or real wrongs
+admitted, explained, and forgiven. The first twenty-four hours of the
+new year in New York is a right _Trève de Dieu_, during which foes
+cease from strife, the long divided are re-united, and friendly compacts
+renewed and drawn closer: even Avarice, more wary of approach than the
+hare, on this day forgets to bolt his door, or calculate the cost of
+bidding welcome to his visitor.
+
+The stranger is also made sensible of the benevolent influence of this
+kindly day, if I may draw any inference from my own case. At an early
+hour a gentleman of whom I had a slight knowledge entered my room,
+accompanied by an elderly person I had never before seen, and who, on
+being named, excused himself for adopting such a frank mode of making my
+acquaintance, which he was pleased to add he much desired, and at once
+requested me to fall in with the custom of the day, whose privilege he
+had thus availed himself of, and accompany him on a visit to his family.
+
+I was the last man on earth likely to decline an offer made in such a
+spirit; so, entering his carriage which was in waiting, we drove to his
+house in Broadway, where, after being presented to a very amiable lady,
+his wife, and a pretty, gentle-looking young girl, his daughter, I
+partook of a sumptuous luncheon, drank a glass of champagne, and, on
+the arrival of other visitors, made my bow, well pleased with my visit.
+
+My host now begged me to make a few calls with him, explaining, as we
+drove along, the strict observances paid to this day throughout the
+State, and tracing the excellent custom to the early Dutch colonists.
+
+I paid several calls in company with my new friend, at each place met a
+hearty welcome, and witnessed the same abundant preparation; but to
+lunch at each was, with the best intentions possible, quite out of the
+question. After a considerable round, my companion suggested that I
+might possibly have some compliments to make on my own account, and so
+leaving me, begged me to consider his carriage perfectly at my disposal.
+
+This was very kind, but I at the time knew only two or three families;
+and indeed, on being left to myself in solitary state, where every
+carriage that whirled by was filled with merry stranger faces, my
+courage oozed away. So, leaving a card or two, and making a couple of
+hurried visits, I returned to my hotel, to think over the many
+beneficial effects likely to grow out of such a charitable custom, and
+to wish for its continued observance.
+
+We have days enough of division in each year, and should indeed welcome
+and cherish one which inculcates peace and good-will to all; a day on
+which little coolnesses are explained away, past kindnesses confirmed,
+and injuries consigned to oblivion.
+
+At night, the theatre was filled to suffocation by a joyous throng,
+although this portion of the season is not propitious to theatricals;
+but on to-day, as though no house must be left unvisited by any of its
+ordinary frequenters, the Park came in for a full participation in the
+benefit of this honoured custom.
+
+_Friday, 3rd._--The prevailing topics of the new year are the President
+and his _quondam_ chum, Major Jack Downing;[6] the agitation of the
+community on the Bank question becoming daily more violent, as the
+limitation placed on credit embarrasses trade by narrowing its
+resources. I observe, however, that, in the midst of much wordy
+violence, the bulk of the people appear confident that matters will, to
+use a coinage of their own, "_eventuate_ for their ultimate benefit."
+Meanwhile, the government and the laws appear equally omnipotent; and
+although much embarrassment is unquestionably felt in the money-market,
+and all stock become unseasonably low for the sellers, yet is the
+country generally admitted to be very prosperous, and perfectly able to
+meet this shock without any permanent or ruinous difficulty. We shall
+see.
+
+Went to Mrs. H----'s box at the opera,--the "Donna del Lago," for
+Bordogni's benefit: a very pretty woman, very well instructed; but with
+a little pipe, in which sweetness cannot make up for want of force.
+Fanti, a really good actress, and, although with a veiled voice, a
+capital singer, is not so much considered, I discover, as Bordogni.
+
+The house was quite filled, the boxes rejoicing in a display of pretty
+faces few _salles d'opéra_ might be admitted to rival. The prevailing
+head-dress exceedingly showy and fanciful, a little too much so
+perhaps:--but these are doings which, after all, change with each
+season; therefore fashion can alone be arbiter. On the subject of beauty
+I speak fearlessly, all men, having clear eyesight, being, upon this
+point, admitted as competent witnesses. The _parterre_, too, was
+occupied by a few parties of well-dressed women; but its prevailing
+character, stalls included, was sombre and great-coatish,--not quite up
+to the pit of the King's Theatre;--there was more applause though,
+therefore I presume more enjoyment, which is the main object after all.
+At the close of the performance several delicate bouquets, together with
+a pretty coronal or two of choice flowers, were showered on the stage in
+compliment to the fair _bénéficière_.
+
+_Wednesday, 12th._--Winter has at length arrived in person, and his
+active bridge-maker is laying for him a firm icy path across the waters.
+It was reported yesterday that the passage between Staten Island and New
+Jersey was no longer open, Amboy Creek being thickly frozen from Newark
+Bay to the Raritan. On reaching the steamboat this morning, I found that
+the report was a correct one, and that our only practicable passage lay
+through the Narrows and round the south end of Staten Island. The
+occasion thus presented of a winter view of the bay quite reconciled me
+to this more exposed and circuitous route, as it, in truth, amply
+compensated for it.
+
+It was just seven A.M. when I reached the dock where the boat lay, to
+all appearance firmly imbedded in thick ice; the river, I perceived, was
+still pretty clear. Punctual as usual, the bell ceased to clang; the
+paddle-wheels were vigorously applied; and in a few moments we burst our
+bonds, thrusting the thick flakes of ice aside, and darting into the
+clear river free from all farther impediment.
+
+There were very few passengers, and I had the promenade deck to my
+exclusive use. Although day had not long broke, the clearness and purity
+of the atmosphere gave to the most distant parts of the landscape an
+outline cold and distinct, and brought all objects apparently much
+nearer to each other, and to the looker-on, than they had ever before
+appeared. The city of Jersey, the woods of Hoboken, and the far-off
+bluffs of the Palisadoes, were each seen to stand separated and alone;
+not blended together into one harmonizing mass, as, through the medium
+of a rich warm atmosphere, I had hitherto viewed them. The effect was
+for a moment to render this scene, which frequent observation had made
+familiar, quite strange to me; and at the same time to invest its now
+separate portions with new and peculiar attractions.
+
+The yet quiet city soon dropped astern; and on a good plan of its
+streets one might have traced the earliest and most notable of its
+sections, if not the particular houses, by the thin spiral lines of
+smoke which curled distinctly high above the chimneys from which they
+escaped.
+
+We held our course close along the east side of Staten Island; and as we
+shot by the quarantine establishment, with its hospital and many
+offices, the sun rose, without one attendant cloud, over the forest
+heights of Brooklyn, burnishing, as with gold, every window and
+weathercock opposed to its radiance.
+
+The drooping boughs of the graceful willow tribes, and all the
+neighbouring shrubs, which only a moment before I had shivered to look
+upon, bent down, as they appeared, beneath a load of ungenial icicles,
+were now, as though touched by some enchanter's wand, sparkling and
+brilliant, reminding one of the diamond-growing trees of young Aladdin's
+cave.
+
+The Narrows were next passed, but the view seaward was bleak and
+cheerless: the Neversink hills for the first time appearing to me worthy
+such a high-sounding distinction. Not a symptom of frost was here,
+although the wind had ceased to stir the waters of the bay, and to the
+sun alone was left the task of opposing the advance of the ice-king.
+Sol, though with diminished powers, had made a glorious rally on this
+day; for not a thicket or creek within sight but rejoiced in his
+cheering rays, and gladly owned his supremacy.
+
+The smoothness of the sea enabled our boat to make rapid way; and by a
+little after ten o'clock we were landed at Amboy, where we found the
+train awaiting our arrival. As we left our first stage, Hights-town, an
+accident occurred similar to the one I had, on my last trip southward,
+seen attended by such fearful consequences. We were proceeding, luckily
+at a moderate rate, when the axle of the engine-tender broke in two:
+the car occupied by myself and three others led the van, yet the first
+intimation we got of the break-down of our tender was our running foul
+of it with a bump that fairly unshipped us all, pitching the occupiers
+of the hind-seats head-on into the laps of those _vis-à-vis_ to them.
+Happily, this was the worst of the present mischance: the engine was
+speedily arrested, a sound axle drawn from the near car to replace the
+one fractured, myself and the others belonging to the carriage thus
+hauled out of the line were stowed in, as supernumeraries, elsewhere,
+and, after a delay, of some forty minutes, off we bowled again.
+
+Halting for a few moments at Bordentown, where the Delaware steamer
+waits when the river is practicable, it now spread away below us in a
+solid mass; and we pursued our journey by the railroad provided for such
+seasons so far as it was at this time completed, that is, for some eight
+or nine miles farther on. This point achieved, we discovered a group of
+the clumsy-looking stage-coaches of the country, to the number of
+twelve, each having a team of four horses, ready harnessed, standing
+amongst the trees below.
+
+The cold was by this time extreme; bustle was the word, therefore,
+amongst all parties,--drivers, porters, and passengers; and in a quarter
+of an hour the transfer was completed, the luggage packed, the people
+arranged, and the caravan in motion. The place had quite a wild, lone,
+forest air; and it was a curious scene to view the bustle, and hear the
+noise, so uncongenial to the spot, and no less so to observe the coaches
+wheeling about amongst the trees as each Jehu sought to make the best of
+his way into the lane at a little distance.
+
+Miserably uncomfortable as the driver's seat is before these machines,
+I, as usual where the course was strange to me, requested leave to share
+it with him. I had cast about to select a team; and was soon seated,
+well rolled in broadcloth and bear-skin, behind four dark bays that
+might have done credit to a better judgment.
+
+We soon got into a very narrow lane, through which lay the first few
+miles. In this the ruts, or track, as it is here called, was over a foot
+deep: on either side grew trees, thick and low-branched; therefore my
+companion and I had as much as we could do to avoid broken heads and
+keep the track. I looked impatiently, after practising this dodging
+exercise some time, for the great road which the driver told me was "a
+bit further ahead;" and at last we broke from our leafy shelter into it,
+but with little advantage that I could discover; for, though our heads
+were in less peril, our necks, I considered, required more especial
+looking after than ever. We certainly had here wider space, and a free
+choice of ruts or tracks, for there were several; but not one of them
+less profound than those we had hitherto ploughed through. In one or two
+places, the road was deeply trenched in every direction, and the edges
+of these cuts so glazed with new-formed ice that I expected my friend
+who was pilot would pass the box and back out. But no such thing, faith!
+he steered round all impediments as coolly as the wind that whistled
+through the half-frozen reins he held.
+
+Finding one place in the road quite impassable, he cast his eyes about
+him for a moment, and chose the best part of the right bank; when,
+gathering up his leaders, he first vexed them a little with the whip,
+and then, putting them fairly at it, gained its summit, drove along for
+a hundred yards, crashing through a thick cover of shrubs growing
+breast-high, when having thus turned the impracticable bit of highway,
+he coolly dropped down into it again. On looking back, I saw each team
+taking in succession the line we had thus led over.
+
+This was all performed clumsily enough, as far as appearance went, I
+allow; but cleverly and confidently, though with leaders hardly within
+calling distance: and four snaffle-bits, and a pig-whip, being the only
+means of dictation and control possessed by the coachman. The more I see
+of these queer Whips the better I like them: it assuredly is impossible
+to conceive anything more uncoachmanlike than their outward man; but
+they grapple with the constantly occurring difficulties of their strange
+work hardily and with superior intelligence.
+
+I have seen a pass on the high-road between Albany and New York, where a
+descending driver perceiving that collision with a coming carriage was
+from the slippery condition of the hill unavoidable, and also being
+aware that such an event would be fatal to both parties, on the instant
+turned his horses to the near bank, and dashed down into the bed of the
+Mohawk, a descent of more than a hundred feet, as nearly perpendicular
+as may well be. His presence of mind and courage saved both his own
+passengers and those in the other vehicle, with the loss of his coach
+and one of his horses only. The man was publicly thanked and rewarded,
+and, I believe, yet waggons the same road.
+
+One might almost back one of these crack hands to hunt a picked team of
+their own, a cross country, with the Melton hounds, coach and all; and
+if it was not for the _pace_, it would not be such a very bad bet
+either.
+
+At Camden we quitted our vehicular mode of progressing, and took once
+more to the water, or rather to the ice, since it certainly ruled over
+the broad Delaware. In many places this was strong enough to sustain the
+weight of our little steamer's bow, and only gave way beneath repeated
+heavy blows of the iron-sheathed paddles.
+
+After a hard fight we forced a path through all obstacles, and as the
+clock struck four were alongside the Chestnut-street wharf; having,
+notwithstanding the delays occasioned by our mishap and various changes,
+accomplished the hundred miles in exactly ten hours.
+
+I was expected, found a dinner prepared for five o'clock, and, going at
+once to my chamber to dress, thought I had never seen the Mansion-house
+look to greater advantage. A well-warmed and carpeted corridor led to my
+snug little room, the window of which looking into the inner court,
+afforded one of the most attractive winter prospects imaginable, in the
+form of entire carcasses of several fat bucks all hanging in a comely
+row, and linked together by a festooning composed of turkey, woodcock,
+snipe, grouse, and ducks of several denominations. Although quartered
+here for a month to come, I felt fortified against any fear of famine by
+this single glance without; nor did my interior appear less inviting,
+cheered as this was by a brisk fire of hickory, several logs of which
+lay athwart my hearth, sustained by a couple of antique-looking brass
+dogs, blazing and crackling most uproariously: this is a fire I prefer
+even to one of Liverpool coal; and how it can ever be superseded by that
+quiet, unsocial, unearthly-looking and smelling, anthracite, I am at a
+loss to _guess_!
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[6] Described as the officer commanding the Downingsville militia, a
+New-Englander, and a stanch adherent of the "Gineral's, so far as 'a
+decent hunk of the animal wint,' but entirely agin' the whole-hog
+system." Under this perfect assumption there appeared a series of really
+familiar epistles, either remonstrating with or speaking of the
+"Gineral," or, as the Major latterly styled the President, "the
+Govermint;" no less admirable for the political acumen they display than
+for a caustic drollery, which is enforced with shrewd Yankee humour, and
+in the singular phraseology current amongst 'Uncle Sam's' kindred. These
+letters have been collected, and are published both in America and in
+England; and although neither the purity of the politics or the dialect
+of the honest Major can be fully appreciated by strangers, his intrinsic
+wit and native humour will well repay the task of a perusal by all who
+admire originality of thought and expression.
+
+
+
+
+THE DUTCH AND IRISH COLONIES OF PENNSYLVANIA.
+
+
+Here are two colonies yet existing within this State,--samples of both
+indeed may be found within a few miles of Philadelphia,--and these
+constitute with me a never-failing source of interest and amusement.
+They are composed of Dutch and Irish, often located on adjoining
+townships, but keeping their borders as clearly defined as though the
+wall of China were drawn between them. No two bodies exist in nature
+more repellent; neither time, nor the necessities of traffic, which
+daily arise amongst a growing population, can induce a repeal of their
+tacit non-intercourse system, or render them even tolerant of each
+other. I have understood that Pat has on occasions of high festivity
+been known to extend his courtesy so far as to pay his German neighbours
+a call to inquire kindly whether "any gintlemen in the place might be
+inclined for a fight;" but this evidence of good-nature appears to have
+been neither understood nor reciprocated, and, proof against the
+blandishment, Mynheer was not even to be hammered into contact with
+"dem wilder Irisher."
+
+It is a curious matter to observe the purity with which both people have
+conserved the dialect of their respective countries, and the integrity
+of their manners, costume, prejudices, nay, their very air, all of which
+they yet present fresh and characteristic as imported by their
+ancestors, although some of them are the third in descent from the first
+colonists. Differing in all other particulars, on this point of
+character their similarity is striking.
+
+Amongst the Germans I have had families pointed out to me, whose fathers
+beheld the commencement of the war of Independence in Pennsylvania, yet
+who are at this day as ignorant of its language, extent, policy, or
+population, as was the worthy pastor of whom it is related, that, having
+been requested to communicate to his flock the want of supplies which
+existed in the American camp, he assured the authorities that he had
+done so, as well as described to them the exact state of affairs:
+
+"I said to dem," he repeated in English, "Get op, min broders und mine
+zisters, und put dem paerd by die vagen, mit brood und corn; mit
+schaap's flesh und flesh of die groote bigs, und os flesh; und alles be
+brepare to go op de vay, mit oder goed mens, to sooply General
+Vashinton, who was fighting die Englishe Konig vor our peoples, und der
+lifes, und der liberdies, op-on dem banks of de Schuylkill, diese side
+of die Vestern Indies."
+
+In his piggery of a residence and his palace of a barn, in his waggon,
+his oxen, his pipe, his person and physiognomy, the third in descent,
+from the worthies exhorted as above, remains unchanged. The cases upon
+which, as a juryman, he decides, he hears through the medium of an
+official interpreter; he has his own journal, which serves out his
+portion of politics to him in Low Dutch, and in the same language is
+printed such portions of the acts of the State legislature as may in any
+way relate to the section he inhabits; the only portion of the
+community, indeed, which he knows, or cares to know, anything about.
+
+My honest countrymen of the same class, I can answer for being as
+slightly sophisticated as their colder neighbours: it is true, their
+tattered robes have been superseded by sufficient clothing, and a bit of
+good broadcloth for Sunday or Saint's day, and their protracted lenten
+fare exchanged for abundance of good meat, and bread, and "tay, galore,
+for the priest and the mistress;" but when politics or any stirring
+cause is offered to them, their feelings are found to be as excitable,
+and their temperament as fiery, as though still standing on the banks of
+the Suir or the Shannon.
+
+On all occasions of rustic holiday they may yet be readily recognised by
+their slinging gait, the bit of a stick borne in the hollow of the hand,
+the inimitable shape and set of the hat, the love of top-coats in the
+men, and the abiding taste for red ribands and silk gowns amongst the
+women.
+
+The inherent difference between the two people is never more strikingly
+perceived than when you have occasion to make any inquiry whilst passing
+through their villages. Pull up your horse by a group of little
+Dutchmen, in order to learn your way or ask any information, and the
+chance is they either run away, "upon instinct," or are screamed at to
+come within doors by their prudent mothers; upon which cry they scatter,
+like scared rabbits, for the warren, leaving you to "_Try Turner_" or
+any other shop within hail.
+
+For myself, after a slight experience, I succeeded with my friends to
+admiration: the few sentences of indifferent Dutch which I yet conserved
+from my education amongst the Vee boors, at the Cape, served as a
+passport to their civility. Without this accomplishment, all strangers
+are suspected of being Irishers; and, as such, partake of the dislike
+and dread in which their more mercurial neighbours are held by this
+sober-sided and close-handed generation.
+
+On the other hand, enter an Irish village, and by any chance see the
+young villains precipitated out of the common school: call to one of
+these, and a dozen will be under your horse's feet in a moment; prompt
+in their replies, even if ignorant of that you seek to learn; and ready
+and willing to show you any place or road they know anything, or
+nothing, about. I have frequently on these occasions, when asked to walk
+into their cabin by the old people, on hearing their accent, and seeing
+myself thus surrounded, almost doubted my being in the valley of
+Pennsylvania.
+
+So little indeed does the accent of the Irish American,--who lives
+exclusively amongst his own people in the country parts,--differ from
+that of the settler of a year, that on occasions of closely-contested
+elections this leads to imposition on one hand and vexation on the
+other; and it is by no means uncommon for a man, whose father was born
+in the States, to be questioned as to his right of citizenship, and
+requested to bring proofs of a three years' residence.
+
+I now passed another month in this city most agreeably, during which the
+weather was never unendurably cold: sharp frosts, but not a single fall
+of snow that continued over an hour or two, or lay longer on the ground.
+The majority of days I find noted in my journal as frosty but fine, many
+as mild, and some even are described as warm: there were few, indeed,
+during which exercise on horseback might not have been pleasantly taken.
+When February set in, and no snow had yet fallen, I heard much despair
+evinced on the diminished chances of a good sleighing-time; and,
+although an enemy to severe cold, I confess I had my own regrets at not
+being permitted to assist at a sleighing frolic, of which I received on
+all hands such glowing descriptions.
+
+On the eighth of this month I looked with some anxiety for the
+continuance of mild weather, as the Delaware was, happily, once more
+open, and the line by way of that river and French-town resumed; a very
+important event, as far as both comfort and expedition were concerned.
+Indeed, a journey by land to Baltimore was an adventure by no means to
+be desired; the time of travel having varied during the last month from
+three to nine days, the distance being under a hundred miles. But the
+waters were up, the bridges down; one road was washed away, and another
+filled in with rocks, and roots of trees on their travels from the
+Alleghanies to the Atlantic, which rested there, abiding the next flood,
+without any fear of receiving a visit _ad interim_ from M'Adam.
+
+All, however, went well; the steamer was advertised to sail on the
+morning of the 9th: there were here several weather-bound Southerners,
+who, like myself, were anxious to proceed as easily as possible to the
+capital; and we congratulated each other on the prospect we had of
+accomplishing this by aid of steamboat and railroad, now once more
+available.
+
+
+
+
+THE STEAMBOAT.
+
+
+DELAWARE.--NEWCASTLE.--RAILROAD.--FRENCH-TOWN.--ELK RIVER.--NORTH
+POINT.--BAY OF CHESAPEAKE.--BALTIMORE.
+
+
+Quitting one of these great seaports by the ordinary conveyance of
+steamboat, early on a fine winter morning, is at once an amusing and
+interesting event.
+
+Hastily summoned by your servant, who, himself not over early, bustles
+up to your bedside with "Just five minutes after six o'clock, sir," you
+start from a slumber that has been for some time back uneasy enough,
+broken up by visions of steamboats, locomotives, canvass-back ducks,
+Nott's stoves, and crowded cabin-tables.
+
+At the first shake out you jump, well aware how peremptory is the
+steamer's bell above all other _belles_,--make hasty toilet, and bustle
+into the hall, where a few half-burned candles yet outface the daylight;
+and here you find a dozen newly-awakened miserables like yourself,
+equipped for some steamer.
+
+The waiter inquires if you would like a cup of coffee, which as a matter
+of course you accept; and, hurrying after him into the next room, you
+are yet in the act of blowing and sipping your Mocha, which for once you
+find sufficiently hot, when a friend pops his head in to say that the
+baggage-cart is off, and your latest second of time come. Remedy there
+is none; a delay of one minute is fatal, since no timekeeper is so
+punctual as an American steamer anywhere north of the Potomac.
+
+Out you trudge, great-coated, muffled up in fur and shawl, to find the
+street silent and untrodden, except by a straggler or twain bending
+their steps hurriedly towards Chestnut. As you turn out of South-third
+into this great thoroughfare you observe an immediate change; the
+stragglers preceding you have mingled with the main current, and are
+quickly confounded amidst a confused jumble of men, women, and children,
+carts, coaches, and wheelbarrows, pressing in long columns of march down
+towards the Delaware.
+
+In the distance may be seen, curling from below, wavy pillars of dense
+black smoke, intermingled with vicious-looking lines of thin whitish
+vapour, which rush through and tower high over the more sluggish smoke
+with a savage, hissing sound that almost drowns the bell, now tolling a
+last summons.
+
+The wharf is gained: here lie the boats side by side, one going north,
+the other south: they are surrounded by a crowd,--friends making hasty
+adieus; porters, of all shades of colour, hurrying to and fro, aiding,
+scrambling, and squabbling, with the important air and ceaseless
+loquacity everywhere characteristic of the African race.
+
+Amidst this motley throng the unoccupied and observant man will easily
+pick out many individuals of gaunt outline, a bilious aspect and a staid
+sober demeanour, each carrying a small valise, a carpet-bag, a long
+Boston coat or cloak, and steadily and deliberately making a straight
+course for the common bourne, unaided and unaiding, self-sustained,
+independent, and, each for himself alone.
+
+At length, after a few last hasty bangs, the heavy bell clappers cease
+to move; the porters quit the luggage-cars and spring nimbly ashore; the
+independent gentlemen dispose of their _kits_, each after the fashion
+and on the spot he "judges" most convenient; the hissing sound of
+escaping steam suddenly stops, and this momentary silence is succeeded
+by the quick motion of the paddle-wheels.
+
+The vicious-looking columns of white vapour melt away; wheeling
+majestically about, the huge boats steadily head towards their opposite
+courses, and, in the next moment, are rushing, like unslipped
+greyhounds, through the smooth waters of the Delaware.
+
+And now occasionally arrive discoveries, at once whimsical and amusing
+to all save the sufferers. A lady with her children going South, for
+instance, finds out that her husband, or her carriage and horses, one or
+both, have gotten by mistake aboard the New York boat, and are off back
+again to the North: perhaps you get a glimpse of the miserable biped in
+question, like a waterman, looking one way and going the other. Without
+great care, these little accidents will occur, as I can vouch for; as
+the lines depart full drive at the same instant, stopping is out of the
+question; and the disunion of a day, at least, is the consequence of one
+moment's delay or mistake.
+
+Our way lies downward, and the long line of quays is dashed by like
+lightning. You have just time to mark, well pleased, the early activity
+of the numerous little steamers plying to and fro between Camden and the
+city ferries. You cast perchance a rambling glance over those pretty
+villages, above which the ruddy hue of morning is serenely spreading,
+and, even as you gaze, behold them melt away in the river's haze.
+
+The Navy-yard, with the huge wooden mansions built to shelter the
+"Pennsylvania" and a neighbour frigate, glide, as it were, hastily by;
+and nothing remains to break the monotony of the long level lines
+skirting the river, and hardly rising above it.
+
+Of this prospect the eye soon becomes weary, and now is the time to look
+upon your fellow-passengers. You descend from the upper or promenade
+deck, which, if the morning be chilly, you have most likely held in sole
+occupation. On the next deck beneath, seated back to back upon long
+ranges of settees, you behold the female portion of the living freight;
+for, I take it for granted, this is the first direction of your regards,
+and a pleasant task it often turns out to be; for, as I have already
+said, and shall probably yet more strongly confirm hereafter, the
+average of female beauty in America is high, and but few women are
+without those always striking points, fine expressive brows and eyes,
+which, shaded by a tasteful bonnet, and accompanied by a certain
+coquettish air, leave little wanting to ensure the admiration of the
+passing stranger.
+
+Having lounged about here for a turn or two, you find yourself reminded
+of a certain indispensable ceremony by a Stentor-lunged black, who most
+perseveringly vociferates, "Gentlemen who have not yet _paid_, will
+please step to the captain's office and settle their _passage_."
+
+At your convenience you obey this gentle hint; securing at the same time
+a ticket for breakfast, now becoming a very important consideration,
+assailed by a good natural appetite, sharpened in the shrewd air of a
+clear, cold morning. At last, ring goes the bell; and the deck, already
+thinned of the more anxious, or more provident, of the party, becomes,
+at that magic tinkle, a desert.
+
+On descending the stair, you perceive two long ranges of table thickly
+bestrewn with dishes containing beefsteak, ham, fish, chicken, game,
+_omelettes_,--together with hot rolls, cakes, and bread of every other
+form and denomination, with tea and coffee, borne about as called for;
+the whole arranged with an attention to neatness and propriety quite
+surprising when you consider the place, and the difficulties which are
+inseparable from having to cater and cook for such a multitude.
+
+If you are not of an active habit, or if you object to remain stewing in
+the cabin for a time waiting on the event, you observe at a glance that,
+ample as the tables appear, every seat is occupied. Here is no
+reservation of places--possession is your only admitted right, and, were
+the President himself too late, he must sit out, or be admitted of the
+party on courtesy: of this, however, let me add, it never was my chance
+to perceive any lack. One of the black waiters, recognising you for a
+frequent passenger, is touched by your appealing glance, motions you to
+follow him, advancing at the same time a stool with an insinuating air
+between two goodhumoured-looking men, with "Please, make a little room
+for this gentleman."
+
+A niche is readily conceded; and, casting an eye right, left, or
+straightforward, you can hardly fail to find something to your liking.
+The board is soon clear of the "Rapids,"--a large family in most such
+places; and now you acquire ample space to prove your prowess in.
+
+Having breakfasted, you once more mount the upper deck and breathe the
+pure air of heaven, unpolluted by that unpleasant gas which escapes from
+the iron coal burnt in the cabin stoves. Such at least was my constant
+habit: the natives, I observed, although accustomed to a climate whose
+vicissitudes are extreme, never appear voluntarily to face the cold, but
+for the most part, abide below, congregated in concentric circles, of
+which a red-hot stove, filled with that to me deadly abomination,
+anthracite coal, forms the centre.
+
+Wrapping well up, I found, even in the severest season, no difficulty in
+facing the open air, and have more than once paced the upper deck for a
+passage of three or four hours without having my territory invaded, or
+at most only for a few minutes by some adventurous spirit, who
+invariably dived down after a shiver or two.
+
+Here then, between your meals, you may promenade upon a noble deck fifty
+feet long, smoking your cigar, and eyeing the flitting forest or
+meadow, amidst dreamy reveries of William Penn's description of the
+populous tribes of the Delaware, and that first simple treaty which
+consigned to the unwarlike strangers a country and a home, a treaty
+which was a deed of disinheritance to the posterity of the donors, and
+of destruction to their nation, of whom, in their own land, their name
+has long been the sole memorial left.
+
+In travelling, as I did much and alone, this was always the current set
+of my day-dreaming. I never could draw on fancy to the exclusion of the
+Red-man; but, on the contrary, constantly detected myself re-peopling
+every wood with the wild forms of the aborigines, and in each distant
+skiff that darted over the broad stream picturing the fragile canoe, and
+its plumed and painted occupant.
+
+The town of Wilmington, the chief place of the little State of Delaware,
+shows very attractively from the river, with which it communicates by a
+navigable creek, and, together with the neighbouring springs of the
+Brandywine, is in high repute for the beauty of its scenery as well as
+for its general salubrity.
+
+Arrived at Newcastle, an ancient but not very populous city,--which
+nevertheless possessed an interest in my eyes, from the circumstance of
+my having chosen to write about it long before I ever dreamed of seeing
+it,--you quit the steamer, and, seating yourself in one of the long line
+of railway cars awaiting you, are whisked over the intervening neck to
+French-town,--by courtesy so called, since the _town_ is yet to be,--a
+distance of sixteen miles in about fifty minutes; and are there
+reshipped on the Elk river, down which you rush, at the usual rapid
+rate, amidst scenery that is really charming.
+
+At the junction of the Susquehannah, the view up the two fine rivers,
+with the dividing headland, the numerous winding creeks, deep shady
+coves, and spacious bays, all well wooded and backed by a range of bold
+mountainous ridges, calls for unqualified admiration, and cannot be too
+often seen.
+
+The vast bay of the Chesapeake now opens gradually out before you. On
+the right lie the Gunpowder and other rivers, famous as the favourite
+feeding-ground of the canvass-back; and here you find amusement in
+watching the innumerable flocks, or rather clouds, of every denomination
+of the duck tribe, which, disturbed by the noisy steamer, rise from the
+water in numbers that hide the sun.
+
+Boats too, of a beautiful model and most _varmint_ rig, now begin to
+thicken on the track, working up, close-hauled, into the eye of the
+wind, or going, right before it, with the foresail guy'd out on one side
+and mainsail on the other, showing an uncommon spread of canvass. Here
+and there, too, the masts of tall ships rise, as more gravely they seek
+their port, or win their way to the yet distant ocean, performing a
+voyage before they reach the sea.
+
+North Point is next passed by; and the fate of poor Ross is yet
+occupying the mind, when the city-crowned hill begins to open on the
+view, and Baltimore, with all its domes, spires, and columns, stands
+forth in bold relief against the evening sky.
+
+A bustle soon after commences on deck: the ladies draw closer their
+hoods and cloaks, and the men move to and fro, warned by the sable
+Mentor of the place, who paces the decks below and above with a
+ceaseless cry of "Ladies and gentle-_men_ will be pleased to step
+forward, and point out their bag-_gage_."
+
+A general loading of wheelbarrows is now the order of the hour; most of
+the waiters exercising the office of porters, and carrying with them
+their barrows. The landing-place gained, you are hailed by many voices
+ringing in a rich brogue, "Coach, your honour! Long life to ye! want a
+carriage?" and eager looks and ready uplifted fingers woo you for an
+assenting nod. Nowhere on this continent is the presence of Pat so
+immediately recognizable as in this good catholic city, where the office
+of Jarvey is nearly a monopoly amongst my poor countrymen, who appear to
+have left no tittle of their good-humour, eager importunity, and
+readiness of wit behind them.
+
+Being once known, I felt at all my future landings quite at home here,
+as these honest fellows were to me particularly attentive. Driving to
+Barnum's hotel, the stranger may count on a hearty welcome from King
+David (whom Heaven long preserve!) and from his household much civility;
+and here, with capital fare, over a fire of wood,--never use anthracite
+in a close room,--will find, if he has been as observant as he ought,
+much to amuse and gratify him in a retrospective glance over a journey
+of some hundred miles, performed with little fatigue or inconvenience,
+between the chief cities of quaker Pennsylvania and catholic Maryland.
+
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON.
+
+
+On arriving at Baltimore, I found that so woful was the condition of the
+road between this city and the capital, that, although the distance is
+but thirty-seven miles, and that there remained full three hours of
+daylight, still no regular stage would encounter, until morning, the
+perils of the road.
+
+I thereon made an agreement with two gentlemen,--one of whom was an
+excellent and learned judge, on some State business; and the other a
+Philadelphia merchant, escorting his daughter, and a pretty young lady
+her friend, on a visit of pleasure to Washington,--that we would
+together engage an extra coach for our party; and, instead of starting
+at the monstrous hour of five in the morning, set out at half-past
+eight, when, with the advantage of a light load and good horses, we
+might reasonably hope to reach our destination before dark.
+
+This was done accordingly: an extra, or exclusive carriage, to hold six
+inside, was contracted for with the proper authorities, and chartered to
+Washington city, to start between eight and nine next morning, for the
+sum of twenty-five dollars, or about six pounds sterling.
+
+With the punctuality for which these people are distinguished throughout
+the States, our carriage drove up to Barnum's door at a few minutes
+after eight; and, breakfast being despatched, our party was seated
+fairly, with all the luggage built up on the permanent platform which
+graces the rear of these machines, within the time appointed: a very
+creditable event, when it is considered there were two young ladies of
+the party.
+
+The air was mild as in May, and there being a goodly promise of
+sunshine, I resigned my share of the inside to my servant Sam,--the very
+pink of brown gentlemen in appearance, besides being a pattern of
+good-breeding; and seeing something unusually knowing in the look of our
+waggoner, mounted the box by his side, uneasy though it was; for never
+was anything worse contrived for comfort than the outside of a Yankee
+stage-coach,--except, perhaps, the inside of an English mail.
+
+Mr. Tolly, whose acquaintance I now made, let me record, was the only
+driver I ever met in America who took up his leather, and packed his
+cattle together, with that artist-like air, the perfection of which is
+only to be seen in England.
+
+The coachmen are not here, as with us, a distinct class, distinguished
+by peculiar costume, and by characteristics the result of careful
+education and exclusive habits; but might be taken for porters, drovers,
+or anything else indeed,--being men who have followed, and are ready
+again to follow, a dozen other vocations, as circumstances might
+require: they are nevertheless, generally, good drivers, and, uniformly,
+sober steady fellows.
+
+Mr. Tolly, however, one might see at a glance--despite the disadvantages
+of his toggery, plant, and all his other appointments--was born to look
+over four pair of lively ears; and had Fortune only dropped him in any
+stable-loft between London and York, there would not have been a cooler
+hand or a neater whip on the North road.
+
+About a mile from the city we came upon the country turnpike; and of
+this, as I now viewed it for the first time, any comprehensible
+description is out of the question, since I am possessed of no means of
+illustrating its condition to English senses;--a Cumberland fell,
+ploughed up at the end of a very wet November, would be the Bath road
+compared with this the only turnpike leading from one of the chief
+sea-board cities to the capital of the Union.
+
+I looked along the river of mud with despair. Mr. Tolly will pronounce
+this impracticable after the night's rain, thinks I; but I was mightily
+mistaken in my man: without pausing to pick or choose, he cheered his
+leaders, planted his feet firmly, and charged gallantly into it.
+
+The team was a capital one, and stuck to their dirty work like terriers.
+Some of the holes we scrambled safely by would, I seriously think, have
+swallowed coach and all up: the wheels were frequently buried up to the
+centre; and more than once we had three of our cattle down together all
+of-a-heap, but with whip and voice Mr. Tolly always managed to pick them
+out and put them on their legs again; indeed, as he said, if he could
+only see his leaders' heads well up, he felt "pretty certain the coach
+must come through, slick as soap."
+
+Mr. Tolly and myself very soon grew exceedingly intimate; a false
+reading of his having at starting inspired him with a high opinion of my
+judgment, and stirred his blood and mettle, both of which were decidedly
+game.
+
+Whilst smoking my cigar, and holding on by his side with as unconcerned
+an air as I could assume, I, in one of our pauses for breath, after a
+series of unusually heavy lurches, chanced to observe, by way of
+expressing my admiration, "This is a real _varmint_ team you've got hold
+on, Mr. Tolly."
+
+"How did you find that out, sir?" cries Tolly, biting off about a couple
+of ounces of 'baccy.
+
+"Why, it's not hard to tell so much, after taking a good look at them, I
+guess," replied I.
+
+"Well, that's rum any how! but, I guess, you're not far out for once,"
+answers Mr. Tolly, with a knowing grin of satisfaction: "sure enough,
+they are all from Varmont;[7] and I am Varmont myself as holds 'em. All
+mountain boys, horses and driver--real Yankee flesh and blood; and they
+can't better them, I know, neither one nor t'other, this side the
+Potomac."[8]
+
+I found my _hirgo_ was thrown away, but did not attempt an explanation,
+and became in a little time satisfied that this odd interpretation of my
+compliment had answered an excellent purpose; for my companion became
+exceedingly communicative, and most indefatigable in his exertions. More
+plucky or more judicious coachmanship, or better material under leather,
+I never came across in all my journeyings. About half way we bade adieu
+to my Varmont friend, to my great regret.
+
+Wearied with my rough seat, which the companionship of Mr. Tolly had
+alone rendered endurable so long, I now got inside; the Philadelphia
+gentleman succeeding to the vacancy on the box.
+
+I did my best to draw my fair companions into a little chat, but found
+my _vis-à-vis_--the daughter of my successor outside--most
+impracticable; a monosyllable was the extent of her exertion: whilst her
+companion, who was a lively, intelligent-looking girl, and very pretty
+withal, was necessarily chilled by the taciturnity of her senior. I note
+this as being an unusual case, since, when once properly introduced, the
+ladies of America are uncommonly frank and chatty, and evince an evident
+desire to please and be amiable; which is creditable to themselves, and
+to strangers is both flattering and agreeable.
+
+In the good old judge, whom I had the honour of meeting often after, I
+found one of the most amusing and intelligent companions a man could
+desire to rumble over a villanous road with, and for a couple of hours
+we made time light, when our day's journey had well-nigh terminated in
+an adventure that might have been attended with ugly consequences.
+
+Although the road for this stage was something less bad, our driver was
+not a Tolly; in avoiding some Charybdis or other, he let his leaders
+slip down a bank about eight feet deep, whither, but for the good temper
+and steady backing of the wheel-horses, we should have followed: as it
+was, we managed to pick out our cattle, and got off with a couple of
+broken traces. These being duly cobbled, away we scrambled again, I
+resuming my seat on the box; the last occupant having become most
+heartily sick of his elevation.
+
+About the end of nine hours' hard driving, the high dome of the Capitol
+showed near; and the city toll-gate, situated about a mile from this
+magnificent building, was opened. The prospect was, notwithstanding, yet
+sufficiently uncheery; a steep hill lay in front, having a road that
+looked like a river of black mud meandering about one side of it--the
+other side was seamed with various tracks made by the vehicles of bold
+explorers, who, like ourselves, had been doubtful about facing the
+regular road--the counsel of a well-mounted countryman, who reported
+that he had just passed the wrecks of two coaches on the turnpike,
+decided us to eschew it, and boldly try across country.
+
+We all alighted, except the ladies; and acting as pioneers, pushed up
+the hill, breasting it stoutly. It was very well we took this route;
+for, having at last safely crowned it, we beheld on our right the two
+coaches that left Baltimore three hours before us, hopelessly pounded in
+the highway, regularly swamped within sight of port; for the Capitol was
+not over three or four hundred yards from them.
+
+The passengers were all out, most of them assisting to unharness and
+unload, that, by combining both teams, they might extricate their
+vehicles one at a time.
+
+Here, within the shadow of the Capitol, I was struck with the gloomy and
+unimproved condition of the surrounding country. Except our caravan, not
+a living thing moved within sight--all was desert, silent, and solitary
+as the prairies of Arkansas.
+
+The great avenue once entered upon, the scene changed, and we rattled
+along briskly over a well Macadamized road. The judge we set down at the
+top of the Capitolinean hill, where his honourable brothers held their
+head-quarters; my other companions had rooms secured at Gadsby's, where
+we next halted; but to my inquiries here, I was answered, "All quite
+full." They advised me, at the same time, to try _Fuller_, which I
+thought waggish enough: however, after driving about a mile farther down
+the avenue, I found at Mr. Fuller's hotel rooms taken for me by a
+considerate friend, and had to congratulate myself now and henceforward
+on being the best-lodged errant _homo_ in the capital of the United
+States.
+
+The windows of my sitting-room, I perceived, commanded a view the whole
+extent of the avenue; but, for the present, I limited my speculation to
+the dinner that was soon placed before me, and which a fast of eleven
+hours had rendered a particularly desirable prospect.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[7] Varmont is a State famous for its wild mountain scenery, and having
+a breed of horses unequalled for hardihood, fine temper, and bottom:
+they are found all over the States, and are everywhere in high esteem.
+
+[8] The river Potomac is held to be the dividing line between the
+northern and southern States.
+
+
+
+
+THEATRE, WASHINGTON.
+
+
+I made my _début_ professionally in the capital upon the 12th of
+February. The theatre here was a most miserable-looking place, the worst
+I met with in the country, ill-situated and difficult of access; but it
+was filled nightly by a very delightful audience; and nothing could be
+more pleasant than to witness the perfect _abandon_ with which the
+gravest of the senate laughed over the diplomacy of the "Irish
+Ambassador." They found allusions and adopted sayings applicable to a
+crisis when party feelings were carried to extremity. The elaborate
+display of eloquence with which Sir Patrick seeks to _bother_ the
+Spanish envoy was quoted as the very model of a speech for a
+non-committal orator, and recommended for the study of several gentlemen
+who were considered as aiming at this convenient position, very much to
+their amusement.
+
+The pieces were ill mounted, and the company unworthy the capital, with
+the exception of two very pretty and very clever native actresses,
+Mesdames Willis and Chapman. The latter I had the satisfaction of
+seeing soon after transferred to New York, in which city she became a
+monstrous favourite, both in tragedy and comedy: a very great triumph
+for Mrs. Chapman--for she succeeded Miss F. Kemble in some of her best
+parts, and an excellent comic actress, a Mrs. Sharpe--acting on the same
+night Julia in "The Hunchback," and the Queen of Hearts in "High, Low,
+Jack, and Game," with a cleverness which rarely accompanies such
+versatility.
+
+I have much pleasure in offering this just tribute to a very amiable
+person, who has, since my departure from the States, quitted the stage,
+on which, had she been fortunately situated, she would have had very few
+superiors.
+
+I wonder there are not many more native actresses, since, I am sure,
+there is a great deal of latent talent in society here both for opera
+and the drama: the girls, too, are generally well educated; are pretty,
+have much expression, a naturally easy carriage, and great imitative
+powers. The latter talent is singularly common amongst them; and I have
+met, not one, but many young women, who would imitate the peculiarities
+of any actress or actor just then before the public with an accuracy
+and humour quite remarkable.
+
+I acted here seven nights on this occasion, and visited the city again
+in May, when I passed three or four weeks most agreeably. I had the
+pleasure, too, during this last visit, of seeing the plans for a theatre
+worthy the audience, and which, I trust, has by this time been happily
+erected, as the greatest part of the fund needed was readily subscribed
+for; and the attempt can hardly fail amongst a people so decidedly
+theatrical, and who are, besides, really in absolute want of public
+amusements for the number of stray men turned loose here during the
+session, many of whom are without other home than the bar-room of an
+inn, or better means of keeping off _ennui_ than gin-sling or the
+gaming-table.
+
+I shall now throw together in this place the result of my "Impressions"
+as received during my separate visits.
+
+The scenery in the neighbourhood is naturally as beautiful and varied as
+woods, rocks, and rivers, in all their most charming features, can
+combinedly render it. One of the finest of many noble prospects is, in
+my mind, that from the heights just over George Town. From this point
+the vast amphitheatre of city, valley, and river may be embraced at a
+glance, or followed out in detail, as time or inclination prompts.
+
+Following the windings of the majestic Potomac below the bridge,--which,
+viewed from this elevation, looks like a couple of cables drawn across
+its channel,--the town of Alexandria is clearly seen: away, on the other
+side, Fort Washington may be made out; and, opposite to this, the
+ever-hallowed, Mount Vernon is visible; a glimpse in itself worthy a
+pilgrimage to every lover of that rare combination--virtue and true
+patriotism!
+
+Turning from this direction, and setting your face towards the Capitol,
+you perceive extended in dotted lines, the thinly-furnished streets of
+the city: viewed from here, the meagre supply of buildings in proportion
+to its extent is made obvious; each separate house may be traced out;
+and, in their irregular and detached appearance, all design becomes
+confounded. It seemed to me as though some frolicsome fairy architect,
+whilst taking a flight with a sieveful of pretty houses, had suddenly
+betaken her to riddling them over this attractive site as she circled
+over the valley in her airy car.
+
+One of my most favourite rides was to a secluded spot in this
+neighbourhood, of which I shall attempt some description, since I would,
+in the very fulness of my heart's charity, induce all succeeding
+wayfarers to visit it.
+
+
+
+
+PIERCE'S GARDEN.
+
+
+At about four miles from the city, a gardener named Pierce has taken up
+his abode on the summit of a high and on all sides nearly precipitous
+hill, immediately surrounded by similar elevations, but separated from
+them by very deep ravines. Through one of these, encompassing two sides
+of the hill, rushes a clear, active little river, such as a trout-fisher
+would glory in, only that its banks in this neighbourhood are everywhere
+sentinelled by trees of willow, dog-wood, laburnum, &c. whose flowery
+arms entwined within each other shadow the clear water, and protect from
+the lure of the angler its finny inmates.
+
+Across this ravine lies the ordinary path by which the future stranger,
+who is an amateur of Nature's painting, will seek to gain one of those
+fair scenes she has lavished much care upon.
+
+No bridge connects the little domain with the busy world, from sight or
+sound of which it is isolated as absolutely as was the valley of
+Rasselas; but, slowly winding down an abrupt, thickly-shaded forest
+path, you at once break through this "leafy skreen" upon the ford, on
+the opposite side of which, a little to the right, lies the gate leading
+into the garden.
+
+Pushing your horse boldly through the stream,--for, though noisy, the
+bottom has been cleared, and is not usually over knee-deep,--you
+dismount, and open the only barrier. Right above you stands a rude stone
+dwelling, stern and square of outline, and in no way suited or in
+keeping with the graceful trees and shrubs whose rich verdure shadow its
+rough walls. Towards this you press onward and upward, until the natural
+platform on which the dwelling is placed be gained; when the view of and
+from this spot will well reward you for a ride through a secluded forest
+country, the freshness and wildness of which have already pleased you,
+especially if you are, as I happily was on most of my visits here,
+accompanied by companions at once fair and intelligent.
+
+Upon this little platform the grass is always of rare verdure for this
+country. Immediately in front of the dwelling four or five forest trees
+of the finest kind fling their branches athwart the entrance; and, a few
+yards removed, around the foot of a venerable elm, is spread a
+variegated carpet of daisies and other pretty flowers, whose colours
+the Persian loom might be proud to imitate for a prince's divan.
+
+A few garden-seats are placed here and there for the ease of visitors;
+and here have I often sat whilst Mr. Pierce was arranging a bouquet,--an
+art, by the way, and no mean one, in which he excels,--and looking about
+on the well-sheltered spot, have thought of my poor old friend Michael
+Kelly's ballad, until I have fancied him "alive again," and breathing
+over the folds of his ample cravat,
+
+
+     "And I said, if there's peace to be found in this world,
+     A heart that is humble might look for it here!"
+
+
+But there is no peace to be found in this world; so, after indulging a
+few wild fancies, that come quickly in such places, I quitted this, as I
+have done a hundred other like oases in life's desert, to wander again
+about the busy world and jostle with the worldly:
+
+
+                      "We feel pangs at parting
+     From many a spot, where yet we may not loiter."
+
+
+I did not bid adieu to this, however, before its tranquil and
+peace-giving features were impressed for ever upon my memory.
+
+The wooded and well-rounded hills which encircle the garden, are placed
+at distances varying from half a mile to half a bow-shot right Sherwood
+measure: within this range two buildings only are to be seen; one a
+pretty, classic-looking dwelling, nestled under the brow of the hill to
+the eastward; the other, sunk low in the extreme western distance, a
+rude-looking stone-built water-mill, surrounded by all its healthful and
+picturesque appointments; adding to the rustic beauty of the scene, yet
+so far removed as in no way to disturb a feeling of absolute seclusion,
+if such should be the desire of the possessor of this little domain,
+which a moderate sum of money, laid out with good taste, might render
+surpassingly beautiful.
+
+I observed that Mr. Pierce kept a few men constantly employed; and as he
+is a person of evident intelligence, neither unaware of the value of his
+possession, nor deaf to the admiration of his visitors, I trust it may
+become worth his while to complete by art what nature has so happily
+designed.
+
+Flowers were to be procured here at a season very far advanced, and a
+high price was given for bouquets, the procuring which for ladies on the
+evening of a ball or party is a common act of gallantry; consequently
+there is much rivalry amongst the beaux in gleaning the rarest and most
+beautiful flowers.
+
+This is a graceful and pretty fashion, and one not likely to grow out of
+use amongst women, which opens a market well worth the florist's notice.
+
+If my voice could reach Mr. Pierce, two things I would seek to press
+upon his consideration: the first should be never to suffer himself to
+be persuaded to throw a bridge--above all, a wooden one--across that
+prettiest of fords; the other, that he would, out of humanity to the
+cattle, and out of consideration for the necks of his fair visitors,
+make the drive, so called, leading through the wood into the George-town
+road, just passable.
+
+Meantime, until this be accomplished, let me caution all future
+explorers against venturing the approach by that route. The one by the
+race-course, and across the ford, is as good as need be; somewhat steep,
+a little difficult here and there, but in no way perilous.
+
+I might have selected spots for detail in this neighbourhood, which in
+other eyes may have attractions, though different, quite as powerful;
+but this, somehow or other, won strangely upon my fancy, and grew to be
+my favourite resort when pursuing my accustomed rides. I paid to it many
+visits alone, and in company it became associated with some of the
+pleasantest hours I passed here; and thus comes it that the reader is
+afforded such an opportunity as a meagre sketch can give, of becoming
+acquainted with this secluded spot, once perhaps the summer bower of
+some native princely Sagamore, and now the location of Mr. Pierce,
+gardener and seedsman!
+
+
+
+
+THE GARDEN, POETICAL AND POLITICAL.
+
+
+I one day had the honour of accompanying a lady on a drive to make some
+calls in the environs, and a most agreeable drive it was. One of our
+visits turned out to me quite an adventure; and procured me the
+acquaintance of a character rarely encountered in these rule-of-three
+days, wherein humanity is clipped and trained upon the principles of old
+Dutch gardening,--no exuberances permitted, but all offshoots duly
+trimmed to the conventional cut, until individuality is destroyed, and
+one half of the world, like Pope's parterre, is made to reflect, as
+nearly as possible, the other.
+
+We drove for some distance through an ill-tended but naturally pretty
+domain, alighting unnoticed at a house having an air of antiquity quite
+refreshing; three sides of the building were encompassed by a broad
+raised stoop, covered with a wide-spread veranda, whilst the walls were
+thickly coated with ivy, like the tower of an English village church.
+
+We mounted the stoop, which commanded a vast extent of valley bounded by
+distant hills, only needing water to make a perfect prospect. A few
+moments after we had rested here, the mistress of the place made her
+approach, hoe in hand, for she had been tending her flowers in person.
+Such a dear old shepherdess of a woman I have not seen for many a day,
+with all the poetry and enthusiasm of nineteen, and a pastoral, simple,
+unworldlike air, worthy the golden age of the flower-wreathed
+sheep-crook.
+
+She had an anecdote connected with every flower-bed;--her story of the
+ivy, so abundant, quite pleased me, as being interesting in itself, and
+made doubly so by her _naïve_ mode of telling it.
+
+It appeared that the plants were originally cultivated by Mr. Roscoe, on
+his place near Liverpool; that the shoots were gathered by the hands of
+that amiable and illustrious man, and sent, in fulfilment of a promise
+made, to Mr. Jefferson, for the adornment of Monticello.
+
+The bearer of the plants, on arriving at Washington, could find no
+immediate means of forwarding them safely into Virginia; so placed them
+in the keeping of their present enthusiastic possessor, beneath whose
+careful tending,--for the trust has not been reclaimed,--the gift of
+friendship has flourished and increased, and will, I hope, remain fresh
+as her own spirit, and fadeless as is the fame of the first donor!
+
+Her parterre afforded quite a summary of the history and habits of the
+departed great: here were stocks that had been cultivated by the hands
+of George Washington, and lilies growing from bulbs dug up by those of
+Thomas Jefferson, after each had cast aside the ungrateful cares of
+government and resumed those simpler and happier pursuits in which both
+delighted; and these flowers of theirs flourish yet in peace and beauty,
+side by side, and, fragile as they look, are perhaps more durably linked
+than the mighty Union over which these illustrious florists presided
+with views so widely different.
+
+The fruit-trees were thick with blossoms, and the air was absolutely
+perfumed. I felt exceedingly loath to obey the summons of my fair guide
+when informed that the time of departure was arrived, and have seldom
+found a visit to appear so very short. The carriage being laden with the
+sweet-scented spoils,--or, rather let me say, gifts of our kind hostess,
+for nothing could exceed the free hand with which every shrub was rifled
+for us,--we made our adieus, and set forth to return to the city by a
+different road, paying a call at another cottage residence by the way.
+
+Of these unpretending, but attractive-looking places, there are numbers
+in this neighbourhood; and if ever Washington rises to the importance
+fondly anticipated by its founders, no city ought to boast more charming
+environs.
+
+Here is no end of sites for country dwellings,--valley and hill, river
+and rivulet, towering rocks and dark ravines abound in as wild a variety
+as heart could wish; with land and living both exceedingly cheap.
+
+I saw one of the prettiest houses possible, with nearly a hundred acres
+of land, that had been purchased, a few months before, for five thousand
+dollars; and, during my stay here, a first-rate house, with stabling,
+&c. complete, as well situated as any in Washington, and as well built,
+sold for the same sum. At present, indeed, I should say land about here
+is of very little value: though admirably calculated for the residence
+of an independent class of gentry, here is no temptation for the planter
+or merchant; and but few in this country seek to live a life of leisure
+or retirement.
+
+
+
+
+THE FALLS OF THE POTOMAC.
+
+
+On St. George's day, in company with Captain T----ll, an engineer
+officer of high standing, and Mr. K----r, I set out on horseback, at an
+early hour, to view the much talked of, but too rarely visited, Falls of
+the Potomac.
+
+Our way lay along the tow-path of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, planned
+to unite the Potomac river with the Ohio below Pittsburg,--one of the
+greatest works yet contemplated. Its length will be three hundred and
+forty miles: the locks are of stone, one hundred feet by fifteen; and
+the amount of lockage designed for the whole line is three thousand two
+hundred and fifteen feet. Piercing the Alleghany mountains, where the
+canal attains its highest level, a tunnel is planned, four miles and
+some yards in length.
+
+For upwards of a hundred miles the line is already available; and in
+this distance are reckoned forty-four locks, and several noble
+aqueducts, in an ascent of a quarter of a mile.
+
+For sixteen miles we followed this magnificent work, which as far as
+one of the uninitiated may judge, presents a promise of endurance worthy
+the best days of Rome: the width of the canal here varied, as my
+companion informed me, from eighty to seventy feet, and the depth from
+six to seven feet.
+
+Independent of this work, in itself so interesting, the scenery is
+varied and striking. Upon our right lay the canal, to whose course all
+nature had been subdued,--the forest rooted up, the Potomac bestridden
+by an aqueduct eighteen hundred feet in length, beds of solid gneiss
+hewn out fathoms deep, valleys filled up and ramparted with granite
+against the assaults of the near river; everything on this hand was
+trimmed and levelled in a workmanlike manner: the labour of man was
+evident throughout, and the well-trained water stood still, or moved
+onward or backward, as directed by its master.
+
+Close upon our left ran the Potomac, but so changed in character, that
+the stranger, who from the Capitol had traced the mazy windings of this
+mighty stream, whose deep indents and sluggish current show like a
+series of lakes stretching away till lost in distance, suddenly removed
+to this point, short of two miles, would hardly credit that the narrow,
+noisy mountain stream beside him was the same, the very fountain and
+feeder of the inland sea spreading below.
+
+It was now dry, fine weather; no rain had fallen for some time; and the
+stream, pent within narrow limits, cowered beneath the wooded heights of
+the Virginia shore: but the condition of every unprotected level on our
+side spoke awfully of its force, when, backed by supplies from the
+mountains, it extends itself abroad, overthrowing trees and banks, and
+leaving their huge ruins to mark in undoubted characters the true limit
+of its sovereignty.
+
+At this time it was in its most peaceful mood, and went on, now
+expanding placidly over an even bed, and now divided before some
+stubborn rock-founded islet, chafing as it were at being compelled to
+yield to an obstruction it had as yet failed to overcome.
+
+Viewed at all points, the stream conducted by Nature outfaced, in my
+eyes, the neighbour work of her children; coursing onward, as it went,
+defying the hand of man, and rejoicing in its rude freedom.
+
+About the most savage part of our ride, where the path was a wide
+rampart of stone without any parapet, bounded on one hand by the canal
+and the overhanging rocks through which it was cut, and on the other, at
+a precipitous depth of eighty feet, by the rocky bed of the river, we
+were threatened with a hurricane, or other outbreak of the elements, of
+the wildest kind.
+
+It had become on a sudden unnaturally sultry: before us a cloud fell
+like a huge black curtain, until resting upon the lofty bluffs between
+which the river now ran, it was draped in folds down to the water; over
+this curtain broke a lurid silvery sort of light, making all things
+hideous; a heavy moaning sound as of wind was heard throughout the
+forest; the leaves shook rattling upon the surrounding shrubs, yet no
+air was perceptible even whilst going at a gallop. For a moment this
+strange sound would cease wholly, and then roar forth again, as though
+the pent tempest was striving close at hand for space and freedom of
+action.
+
+Occasionally a vivid flash of lightning would stream from the impending
+cloud downward upon the river; and, in momentary expectation of a
+regular tornado, on we spurred to reach some shelter.
+
+But after all, our fears were fruitless, or let me rather say our
+hopes, since we agreed that a hurricane chancing here would be a
+consummation singularly happy. It is certain no fitter scene could well
+have been selected for such an event, and indeed this was all that was
+needed to make the savage grandeur of the picture perfect.
+
+Expectation had attained its height, when, after a few big splashes of
+rain, the sombre curtain drew gradually up, the sun looked forth once
+more, shining vividly, and the so lately gloomy waters below, again
+laughed and sparkled as they went bounding, gladly, over their rugged
+bed.
+
+About midday we arrived at a house occupied by a person who attends one
+of the many locks on the canal; and by the ready aid of this worthy and
+his pretty young helpmate, our horses and ourselves were well supplied
+with _vivres_, and otherwise cared for.
+
+After we had discussed sundry rashers of ham, broiled chicken, and
+new-laid eggs, we were informed by our friend the lock-keeper, who had
+been examining the ford, that the frail bridge which had recently served
+to cross a branch of the stream to an island from whose southern side
+alone the Falls might be surveyed, was no longer in being.
+
+What was to be done? was the whole purpose of our hard ride to be
+defeated by the dislocation of a few loose planks? Our cool pioneer even
+admitted that it seemed "mighty hard," and called his spouse to council;
+but from her we received small hope, as she at once decided that to
+cross so as to get anywhere within sight of the Falls was impossible.
+
+We as stoutly declared our resolution to attempt fording the dividing
+current, and requested our host to point out the best probable place for
+this purpose.
+
+This he at last agreed to do; adding that "he guessed, with more or less
+of a ducking, we might gratify our curiosity, though he could not help
+thinking it was mighty foolish."
+
+The lady of the lock, more timid, or, as it turned out, more sage,
+remonstrated in vain. In the teeth of her advice and predictions,
+sufficiently alarming, we mounted our nags, and, under the good man's
+guidance, descended to the ford, by a very rough path; the din of the
+unseen torrent sounding in our ears.
+
+On reaching the stream in question, we found it not over twenty yards
+across, with an apparently tolerable landing on the opposite side; so
+that, albeit it had a threatening sort of look, and bullied and
+blustered somewhat loudly, myself and Mr. K----r decided _instanter_
+upon crossing. Our companion, a very tall and heavy man, mounted on a
+little thorough-bred steed none the stronger for the severe bucketting
+it had already gone through, we very wisely prevailed upon to await our
+return, and serve as our guide to the right landing when we should have
+to re-cross.
+
+With all that eagerness with which men rush on novelty, especially when
+any obstacle is thrown in the way, we pushed forward, listening
+impatiently to the distant thunder of the Falls. Like all obstacles, we
+found these before us less in reality than in report, our chief
+difficulty lying in the strength of the current, flowing over an unequal
+bottom; but in no part was the water up to the horses' shoulders. We
+kept their noses well up stream, and, after a little floundering about,
+reached and mounted the sandy bank in no time, whence a short rough ride
+over the thickly-wooded islet, gave the wished-for sight to our eyes in
+all its gloomy grandeur; and never before do I remember having looked
+upon so wildly sublime a scene.
+
+We dismounted; and, tying our horses to a tree, descended into the vast
+basin within whose rugged depths the river finds at all seasons ample
+space for its fury. Opposite to our stand the face of the black rock
+rose perpendicular for a hundred and fifty feet; and over its brow waved
+a grove of lofty trees and graceful flowering shrubs, forming together a
+plume befitting such a crest, and worthy to float above such a _mêlée_.
+
+Along in front of our position, and only a few yards off, the river was
+precipitated from a ledge of rock, three huge masses of which towered
+high over it, lying athwart the line of the torrent at apparently equal
+distances, as though Nature had designed to bridge this fearful caldron,
+but, having raised these piers had rested, content with this evidence of
+her power, and so left the work unfinished.
+
+Through the intervals of these piers then, if they may be so
+denominated, the water was impelled in three distinct columns of foam
+with inconceivable impetuosity; then, after forming many vortices,
+frightful to contemplate steadily, whirled boiling away beneath the
+boldly jutting table-rock, which afforded us sound footing amidst a din
+that of necessity made admiration dumb, since to hear your own voice or
+any other person's was quite out of the question.
+
+Oh what a pit of Acheron was here! I would have given a million a-year
+to have had Martin with me, pencil in hand, looking upwards upon the
+centre one of those three terrible piers. What a throne would it have
+made in his hands for the arch enemy of man! How his fancy would have
+imaged the lost angel forth, standing there in his might armed for
+hopeless combat, shadowed grandly out amidst the silvery vapours curling
+round him, whilst up through the raging whirlpools drove the countless
+columns of hell in battle array; what tossing of co-mingled plumes and
+waves above the thick squadrons of horse, who, with flowing manes and
+fiery nostrils, would be seen breaking through and riding over the
+foaming torrent, all shadowed forth in a dim reality he knows so well to
+deal with, and which, in his creations, leaves the fancy, already
+startled by that it can define, afraid to guess at all which yet remains
+only half told!
+
+We wandered here, from point to point, unable to express our
+bewilderment and delight otherwise than by pantomimic gestures more
+amusing than intelligible; and then, in consideration of the lone
+condition of our excellent comrade, began to crawl and climb our way
+back to the shade where we had left the horses.
+
+The table-rocks were everywhere worn into circular basins of greater or
+less dimensions; when the floods of spring and autumn subside, these
+pools are left well stocked with pike, trout, and other sorts of fish;
+the water was at this time exceedingly low, and a long continuance of
+premature heat had shortened the allowance of the denizens of these
+pools; our near neighbourhood, therefore, deprived as they were of the
+means of retreat or concealment, caused a great sensation amongst them,
+and much rushing, and floundering, and darting to and fro.
+
+We joined cordially in commiserating the fate of these unlucky
+_détenus_, who, as the summer advances, must, to say the least of it,
+become most uncomfortably warm about the middle of the day. K----r
+wasted, as I considered, much time in sentimentalizing over their
+probable fate, for I found that he loitered behind by every basin which
+contained a larger specimen than usual.
+
+After a rather prolonged halt, I was preparing to _row_ my friend for
+his vexatious display of philanthropy, when he came to me with his right
+arm soaked up to the shoulder, grievously lamenting his having failed,
+by an untimous slip, in securing a fellow of at least nine or ten
+pounds' weight.
+
+"What the devil!" exclaimed I, "is it possible that you contemplated
+scrambling your way back to give this finny gentleman the freedom of the
+river?"
+
+"Not at all, my dear fellow," replied my sensitive friend; "I merely
+contemplated carrying him to Washington, and giving him the freedom of
+the boiler. The Baron would have rejoiced in him; he was a fish for the
+Czar himself! Besides, it would have been an act of charity to the poor
+devil of a fish, the consummation of whose horrid fate is alarmingly
+nigh, since there is not over six inches of water on the rock, and that
+already as close as may be upon ninety-four degrees. That one dip has
+parboiled my right arm; I must plunge it in the first running water to
+cool it."
+
+I enjoyed a good laugh at K----'s hot-bath fishing, but did not dream of
+the thorough cooling in store for my charitable piscator.
+
+On we dashed, full of excitement and high spirits, and hit the stream
+at a point very little below where we had before landed. Captain T----ll
+was still on his post; and with less of precaution than we had used at
+crossing, in dashed K----r some yards in advance of me, although I being
+mounted on a more powerful horse, had before taken the first of the
+current whilst my friend rode on my quarter, thus mutually sustaining
+each other.
+
+Whilst I was yet upon the bank, K----'s nag lost his footing, and turned
+fairly head over heels in the very middle of the passage, at the
+shortest possible notice. The first intimation I got of the event was
+missing my man, and in his stead perceiving four bright shoes glancing
+in the sun above the broken water. In a moment, however, he emerged to
+day once more; and after a second dive or so, gained good bottom, losing
+only a few ounces of blood from a broken nose. I led his horse safely
+ashore; and the brute, though the least hurt, was by far the most
+frightened, for he shook like a negro in an ague fit.
+
+As for K----r, he bore his mishap with a _sangfroid_ and good-humour
+that were admirable: the only regret I heard from him was, that Sir
+Charles Vaughan's ball should come off on this night, since his
+appearance was marred past present help; and indeed, notwithstanding
+applications of whisky, cold water, vinegar, &c. which our friends of
+the lock supplied, the nose was growing of a most unseemly size.
+
+The lock-man expressed much regret; whilst his good lady, I fancied, was
+not very sorry to have her predictions fulfilled at so cheap a rate. I
+ventured to hint to my friend something about retributive justice,
+alluding to his fishy longings amongst the pools; but he rejected the
+application with indignation, insisting upon it that his desire to
+secure that fine fish was founded in the purest charity.
+
+We lost no time in setting out for home by a shorter route; and after a
+hard, hot ride, got back to the city in good time to dress for dinner,
+at which I was sorry to find my philanthropic fisherman did not make his
+appearance. This was the only drawback upon the pleasure with which I
+contemplated our day's work; indeed I had special cause to regret the
+mishap, since it was for my gratification alone K----r was led to push
+over this unlucky stream, he having before visited the Falls. However, I
+do not forget his amiability upon this and many other similar
+occasions, and hereby pledge myself to swim across a broader current,
+either with him, or for him, on any day between this and the year of our
+Lord 1850.
+
+Early hours being the mode here, about nine o'clock drove to Sir Charles
+Vaughan's, who, in honour of St. George's-day, gave a ball, to which all
+the beauties in the capital were bidden. I found the guests on this
+occasion less numerous than at one I had attended early in the season,
+during my first visit here. The scene was already brilliant as light,
+and life, and youth could make it; the music, consisting of a harp and
+four other instruments, was exceedingly good; the women were
+well-dressed and pretty, and danced with infinite grace and spirit.
+
+The _tournure_ of an American girl is generally very good; she excels in
+the dance, and one sees that she enjoys it with all her heart. In
+England I have rarely felt moved to dance; on the other hand, in France
+and America, so electric is evident unrestrained enjoyment, I have found
+it sometimes difficult to repress the inclination within becoming
+bounds.
+
+About midnight supper was announced; and let it not be forgotten, since
+it was of an order worthy the country represented, and our excellent
+minister's character for hospitality. After this the party thinned
+rapidly, and by half-past one o'clock the ball-room was silent. I
+lighted my cigar, and took my accustomed walk up the great avenue to the
+Capitol hill, thence surveyed for a moment the silent city, and back to
+my quarters at Fuller's, making a distance of full three miles; and so
+concluded a busy and right pleasant four-and-twenty hours.
+
+
+
+
+IMPRESSIONS OF WASHINGTON SOCIETY, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE.
+
+
+I attended several large assemblies at Washington, and must here, after
+a second visit, and so much experience as my opportunities afforded,
+enter my protest against the sweeping ridicule it has pleased some
+writers to cast upon these doings here; since I saw none of those
+outrageously unpresentable women, or coarsely habited and ungainly men,
+so amusingly arrayed by some of my more observant predecessors. I can
+only account for it by referring to the rapid changes ever taking place
+here, and to which I have alluded in my introduction to these
+"Impressions."
+
+The ordinary observances of good society are, I should say, fully
+understood and fully practised at these public gatherings, and not more
+of the ridiculous presented than might be observed at any similar
+assemblage in England, if half so much; since here I have commonly found
+that persons who have no other claims to advance save money or a seat in
+the legislature, very wisely avoid _reunions_, where they could neither
+look to receive nor bestow pleasure.
+
+It is quite true that many of these members, all of whom are by rank
+eligible to society, may be met with, who are more rusty of bearing than
+most of those within St. Stephen's; but I will answer for this latter
+assembly outfacing them in samples of rudeness, ill-breeding, and true
+vulgarity: for it is a striking characteristic of the American, that, if
+not conventionally polished perhaps, you will rarely find him either
+rude or discourteous; whilst amongst those who, in the nature of the
+government, are elevated from a comparatively obscure condition to place
+and power, although refinement cannot be inserted as an addendum to the
+official diploma, the aspirant usually adopts with his appointment a
+quiet formal strain of ceremony, which protects himself, and can never
+give offence to any.
+
+In the absence of that ease and self-possession which can only be
+acquired by long habitual intercourse with well-bred persons, this
+surely is the wisest course that could be adopted, and a hundred degrees
+above that fidgety, jackdaw-like assumption of _nonchalance_ with which
+the ill-bred amongst ourselves seek to cover their innate vulgarity.
+
+At all these assemblies, as elsewhere, great real attention is paid to
+women; and I vow I have, in this respect, seen more ill-breeding, and
+selfish rudeness, at a fashionable rout in England, than could be met
+with, at any decent crush, from Natchetoches to Marble-head. Beyond
+these points within the States I speak not, since without them the land
+is strange to me.
+
+No levee of the President's has occurred during my sojourn here; but I
+learn that in the true spirit of democracy, the doors on these occasions
+are open to every citizen without distinction of rank or costume;
+consequently the assemblage at such times may be oddly compounded
+enough.
+
+As for private society in Washington, although limited, it can in no
+place be conducted in a manner more agreeable, or extended to the
+stranger with more unostentatious freedom. Once presented to a family,
+and the house is thenceforward open to you. From twelve o'clock until
+two, the inmates either visit or receive visitors: between these hours,
+the question, "Are the ladies at home?" being answered in the
+affirmative, you walk into the drawing-room without farther form; and,
+joining the circle, or enjoying a _tête-à-tête_, as it may happen,
+remain just so long as you receive or can impart amusement.
+
+Again, after six, if you are so disposed, you sally forth to visit. If
+the family you seek be at home, you find its members forming a little
+group or groups, according to the number present, each after their age
+and inclination; and politics, dress, or scandal are discussed: or, if
+the night be serene,--and what lovely nights have I witnessed here, even
+at this early season! (May)--you make a little party to the covered
+stoup, or balcony, extended along the back-front of most houses; and
+here a song, a romp, a waltz, or a quiet still talk, while away hours of
+life, unheeded until passed, but never to be recalled without pleasure.
+About eleven the guests generally depart, and by midnight the great
+avenue of this city is hardly disturbed by a foot-fall; not a sound
+comes on the ear except the short, fierce wrangle of packs of vagrant
+curs crossing each other's hunting-ground, which they are as tenacious
+of as the Indians are of their prairies.
+
+At this hour I used often, after returning from a party, such as is
+described above, to put on my morning-gown and slippers, and light my
+pipe, then sallying forth, have strolled from Fuller's to the Capitol;
+and climbing its bold hill, have looked down along the sleeping city,
+speculating upon its possible destinies until my fancies waxed
+threadbare, and then quietly returned, making a distance of nearly three
+miles, without encountering an individual or hearing the sound of a
+human voice.
+
+At set balls even, the first hour of morning generally sees ample space
+on the, till then, crowded floor; and the most ardent pleasure-lovers
+rarely overleap the second by many minutes.
+
+The consequence of this excellent plan is, that, although the ladies are
+weak in numbers, they are always, to use an expressive sporting phrase,
+ready to come again; rising, the morning after a dance, unwearied and
+elastic in mind and body. I hope, for the sake of my American friends,
+it will be very long before these healthful hours are changed to those
+which custom has made fashionable in England; hours that soon fade the
+roses even on their most genial soil, the cheeks of the fair girls of
+Britain, blighting the healthful and the young, and withering the aged
+and the weak.
+
+Much of the population of Washington is migratory; and, during a long
+session, samples may be found here of all classes, from every part of
+the Union, whether represented or not. There are, however, generally
+resident a few old Southern families, who, together with the foreign
+ministers and their suites, form the nucleus of a permanent society,
+where the polish of Europe is grafted upon the simple and frank courtesy
+of the best of America. Were it not in violation of a rule I have
+imposed upon myself as imperative, I could name families here whose
+simple yet refined manners would do honour to any community, and from an
+intercourse with whom the most fastidious conventionalist would return
+satisfied.
+
+
+
+
+IMPRESSIONS OF ALEXANDRIA.
+
+
+A BLANK DAY.
+
+
+My worthy manager had often pressed me to accompany him on one of our
+off-nights to Alexandria, which he assured me boasted a very pretty
+theatre, and a population, if not generally theatrical, still capable of
+filling the house for two or three nights upon an extraordinary
+occasion. Such he was pleased to consider the present; and although I
+suggested the probability that most of the play-loving Alexandrians had
+most likely, during the late very lovely nights, visited the Washington
+theatre, Mr. Jefferson argued, there yet existed a sufficient body, of
+the unsatisfied curious, to repay us for our short trip. A steam-boat,
+he said, would take down him and his troop, bag and baggage, in a couple
+of hours; and, as I was fond of riding, it was for me but a pleasant
+canter.
+
+As it was my intention to pass a few hours at this city, whose spires
+might be seen any fine day from George-town heights, and close to which
+lived a gentleman whom I had promised to visit, I decided with the
+manager upon making trial of our popularity by convening on a certain
+evening a public meeting of its inhabitants; our object being similar to
+that of most conveners of public meetings, viz. to amuse the lieges and
+benefit ourselves.
+
+The town was advertised of our intended purpose, the night appointed,
+and all the usual blowing of trumpets duly done, when on the forenoon of
+a lovely day, accompanied by Captain R----y of the navy, I traversed the
+interminable-looking bridge uniting the district of Columbia with
+Virginia, and entered the _Old Dominion_, as the natives love to
+distinguish their State.
+
+The road was excellent, bordered with turf nearly the whole way, and
+commanding extensive and varied views of the Potomac, together with
+George-town and the Capitol. I often halted and turned my horse's head
+to look upon this picture, for such it truly was. Nothing, in fact, can
+be more panoramic than the aspect of these cities, lying in one of the
+best-defined and most beautiful of natural amphitheatres, and flanked by
+the grandest of rivers. At the distance of five or six miles all the
+meannesses of the city are lost sight of, and the extreme ends, so
+widely apart, and so worthily bounded, by the Capitol on the north and
+the President's mansion, with the surrounding offices belonging to the
+state department, on the south, combined with the dock-yard and a few
+other large public buildings in the middle distance, give to the
+metropolis of America an aspect no way unworthy of its high destiny.
+
+Arrived at Shooter's Hill, the seat of Mr. D----y, we were encountered
+with a welcome characteristic of a Virginian gentleman on his own soil,
+and worthy the descendant of an Irishman.
+
+Here then we dined, took our _tisan de champagne glacée_ upon the
+well-shaded gallery fronting the river, and in due time I mounted, and
+rode down to the city, to make my toilet and receive the Alexandrians.
+The first I soon effected, and the last I should have rejoiced to have
+also done; but they would not be received--"the more we waited, the more
+they would not come."
+
+I took possession of the stage, the only portion of the house occupied,
+where, eyed by half a dozen curious negroes, who were evidently
+amateurs, and by their good-humoured air ready to become admirers, I
+awaited the appearance of the audience. In lieu of these, some half-hour
+after the time of beginning, Mr. Jefferson made his appearance _solus_,
+with an expression half comic, half vexed.
+
+"It's no go, my good friend," said I.
+
+"They're not come _yet_" said Mr. J.
+
+"Nor are they on the road, Mr. Jefferson."
+
+"They're a long way off, I guess, if they are," said he.
+
+"And won't arrive in time, that's clear. Hadn't you better postpone the
+business _sine die_?"
+
+"We've nothing else left for it, I fear," said Mr. J., taking a last
+careful survey of the well-lighted solitary _salle_: adding, "We must
+dismiss."
+
+"That ceremony will be quite superfluous," observed I, "unless as far as
+we ourselves are concerned, and our sable friends here."
+
+I had observed that the two or three little knots occupying the
+intervals of the side-scenes were evidently interested observers of our
+debate, and grieved and disappointed by the result. I should have liked
+to have put them all into the front, and then have acted to them, could
+one have insured their not being intruded on by any stray white-man. As
+it was, Mr. Jefferson begged me to consider myself at perfect liberty.
+
+"It's provoking too," added my good-humoured manager, who was quite a
+philosopher in his vocation; "for it's a pretty theatre, isn't it?"
+
+"It is a very pretty theatre," responded I. And so it was, exceedingly
+so. It had been built when the place flourished, and the community was
+prosperous and could afford to be merry. Now, trade having decayed, and
+money ceased to circulate, the blood has also grown stagnant amongst
+this once gay people: the fire is out and the drama's spirit fled.
+
+Mr. Jefferson, however, had a much more summary mode of accounting for
+our desolate state; for, on my suggesting that his bills might have been
+ill distributed or his notice insufficient,--being rather desirous thus
+to find a loophole for my vanity to creep out of,--he convinced me that
+all points of 'vantage had been most provokingly well cared for.
+
+"What the plague can be the reason they won't come for _once_, at least,
+Mr. J.? One would be less surprised at their not answering to a second
+summons."
+
+Jefferson shook his head, in a fashion that expressed more than even
+Puff designed Lord Burleigh's shake to convey:[9] adding, by way of
+commentary,
+
+"The Bank question, sir! all the Bank question!"
+
+I waited for no more, feeling that this was indeed an explanation
+sufficiently satisfactory; since, for some time, it served to account
+fully for every possible event, moral and physical,--the depression of
+the markets, the failure of the fruit-crop, the non-arrival of the
+packets, the sinking of stock, and the flooding of the Ohio.
+
+Joining my friends at the hotel,--an exceedingly good one, by the
+way,--we were soon once more in saddle; and, lighted by as beautiful a
+moon as ever silvered the smooth surface of the Potomac, off I dashed
+with them, for Washington at a slapping pace, in no way regretting my
+having visited Alexandria or my premature return, since my day had been
+most delightfully passed: and my not having a _soirée_ of my own,
+enabled me to assist at one given by a very charming and intelligent
+person, to which I was bidden, but in consequence of my engagement to
+Mr. J. had no hopes of attending.
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[9] See "The Critic."
+
+
+
+
+THE FANCY BALL.
+
+
+This species of entertainment, so common in Europe, is in a great
+measure a novelty in the States; for although in New York and
+Philadelphia _materiel_ may be procured in abundance,--and there is no
+lack of either wealth or spirit to put it in requisition,--yet the
+society is too much divided to admit of numbers, and variety, sufficient
+to relieve the groups from sameness and consequent insipidity. At
+Washington, I believe, there had never been more than two or three
+attempts made; when, therefore, Senator W----e, of Florida, issued cards
+for a "Fancy Ball," with little more than a week's notice, the whole of
+the visiting community was thrown into confusion, and, indeed, despair.
+A rush was at once made upon the _materiel_; the candidates were many,
+the supplies few; and all were eager to monopolise as far as was
+possible.
+
+In twenty-four hours after the summons had gone forth, not a plume of
+feathers, a wreath of flowers, or a scarf or ribbon _couleur de rose_ or
+_flamme d'enfer_, could have been purchased in the city of Washington.
+
+It was most amusing to assist at the consultations of the ladies: not a
+portfolio but what was rummaged, not a pencil but what was in
+requisition copying or inventing authorities for all sorts of real and
+imaginary costume.
+
+Every man who either possessed, or was supposed possessed of, an iota of
+taste, suddenly found himself greatly increased in importance. The
+position of these virtuosi became enviable in the extreme: they ran or
+walked about the streets with an air of well-pleased mystery, their
+hands filled with delicate-looking triangular billets; they entered the
+residences of the most admired belles without knocking; they were
+consulted, caressed, listened to anxiously, smiled upon gratefully: in
+short, for three or four days, their influence seemed only limited by
+their discretion; they moved "air-borne, exalted above vulgar men."
+
+But all human happiness is transient at best, and even the sovereignty
+of taste could not endure for ever. As the costume became settled, the
+fair clients fell off; the portfolios were returned with "thanks;" the
+drawings, so lately pronounced "perfect loves," and gazed upon as though
+worthy the creation of a Rubens, were now to be found doubled up in the
+card-rack, or transfixed by two or three pins on the cushion of a
+work-table; the three-cornered missives circulated in other channels;
+and the man of Taste found ample leisure once more to speak to a friend
+in the avenue, or fall quietly into the ranks at a dinner-party.
+
+Nevertheless, up to the last hour, the ladies continued, if words might
+have been trusted, in absolute despair; and in truth, when one examined
+into the resources at their command, the case seemed desperate enough.
+To be sure, Baltimore was near, and was soon under contribution; even
+Philadelphia and New York were lightly visited, more than one belle
+having sent thus far for a dress. Some of these, by the way, were, like
+the Chevalier de Grammont's, swamped on the road, to the mortification
+of the fair expectants.
+
+Three or four gentlemen joined company in getting up a diplomatic group,
+which my friend Kenny's little comedy of "The Irish Ambassador" had here
+made very popular. Of this group I formed a part; and being honoured by
+the company of an embassy from a new quarter, in the portly person of
+"His Excellency minister extraordinary, and Plenipotentiary, from the
+Dry Tortugas," together with his Secretary of legation and suite, our
+equipages, as we left Fuller's, made rather a formidable show.
+
+Many other well-dressed groups of men were known to us as being
+prepared, and it was for the ladies only I felt any fear of a lame
+conclusion. But what will not the ingenuity of woman effect when
+inclination prompts and pleasure leads the way!
+
+I entered the reception-room, quite sorrowing for one or two of my
+personal friends, whose regret at being so miserably unprovided up to
+the last hour had met sympathy from my credulous simplicity, when, lo!
+here I found these fair sly things set forth in character, all plumed
+"like estridges."
+
+We made our bows to the lady patroness, a very charming person, habited
+as Isabel de Croye, and attended by a suite of well-chosen characters,
+very tastefully gotten up. Here were girls so unquestionably Greek, that
+any good Christian would willingly have ransomed them without suspicion
+of their country or quality; together with Turkish maidens, whose
+appearance would have dazzled and deceived even the argus-eyed
+guardians of the Imperial serai.
+
+I was struck with the great variety of Asiatic costume present, of the
+richest and most perfect kind, both male and female: a couple of women,
+with fine black eyes and features of remarkable classic beauty, wore the
+costume of Tripolitan ladies of the highest rank, and it would be
+difficult to conceive anything richer or more strikingly picturesque.
+The Mediterranean is the favourite cruising ground of the American navy;
+and from this abundant wardrobe, of the most becoming costumes, every
+ship imports specimens for their friends at home. On this occasion these
+had been laid under requisition to excellent purpose.
+
+There were two attempts only, as far as I remember, to embody character,
+as is more usual in masquerade; but these were both remarkable for their
+excellence. The most striking in appearance was a young officer of the
+United States' army, habited as an Osage warrior, painted and plumed
+with startling truth. Surrounded by all that was presumed to be strange
+and bewildering, never for a moment did the well-trained young warrior
+forget what was due to himself or his tribe: he looked on with the most
+imperturbable _sangfroid_, moved about with the ease and self-possession
+of one to whom all he mingled with had been a matter of common usage;
+heard jests, questions, or friendly explanations with the most unmoved
+gravity, replying by an occasional "Ou, ou!" or a slow bend of his head:
+his patience was indeed worthy the most tried of the race he
+represented, for never did he lose it or forget himself for a moment. He
+was a very fine young man, and the features of his face appeared to have
+been moulded to his present purpose.
+
+The other was a Yankee young man, as he described himself, "jist come
+away south, to see about;" and who, "noticin' that all kinds o' queer
+men was comin' in here without payin' nothin', thought he'd best jist
+step in tu, and make one among the lot."
+
+And of a certainty he did make the queerest specimen I ever met in this
+or any other lot. The supporter of this character was young Mr. W----r.
+The total change in his appearance was effected by a certain set of the
+hat and a mode of placing it on the head quite characteristic, together
+with an odd hanging on of the coat and vest, which gave them the look
+of having belonged to some one else, and as likely to fit any one as the
+present wearer.
+
+I had seen the original of this picture in the north, I had also
+witnessed it admirably represented by Messrs. Hill and Hacket, the rival
+Yankees of the American stage; but neither of them, I think, were so
+minutely perfect or so whimsical as this new actor. The abstraction was
+complete; and the odd questions, guesses, complicated relations, full of
+drollery and wholly applicable to the present scene and the actors
+engaged in it, were replete with humour, exhibiting a compound of vulgar
+assurance, simplicity, and native shrewdness, not surpassed by any
+assumption I have ever witnessed.
+
+Although quite intimate with this gentleman, I stood for a while
+listening to him where he stood grinning amidst a group who were
+quizzing and questioning him, and for a short time imagined it was some
+veritable rustic they held immeshed. It was not until after I had
+learned who it was, that I succeeded in recognising a person who had
+been sitting with me that very morning.
+
+A few of the gravest of the senators alone had been privileged by the
+host to appear _en habit de ville_, and these paid for their privilege
+before they got clear off. Their potent seignorships, in truth, soon
+found themselves exceedingly ill at ease here: jostled by lawless
+pirates, lassoed by wild Guachos, and plundered of their loose cash by
+irresistible broom and orange girls, they were fain to make an early
+retreat, with as good a grace as might be assumed, under circumstances
+so subversive of all due gravity.
+
+If enjoyment be the object of such meetings, nothing could be more
+absolutely attained than it was at this little fancy ball; for a scene
+of higher festivity and good-humour no man could desire to assist at. It
+had, however, the sin to account for of keeping its fair patronesses
+together some two hours later than any other _fête_ I witnessed in this
+most wisely merry capital.
+
+On reaching Fuller's, accompanied by a joyous knot of diplomatists, it
+was discovered to be over three hours past midnight; a novelty in
+etiquette which it was decided _nem. con._ would have "plenty of
+precedents _after_."
+
+
+
+
+LIONS OF WASHINGTON.
+
+
+THE INDIAN CABINET.--HOUSE OF
+LEGISLATURE.--SENATE.--LADIES.--SENATORS.--PRESIDENT.
+
+
+The principal lions of Washington, after the legislative chambers, are
+the Navy-yard, the President's mansion, the National Exhibition,
+connected with the patent-office, containing specimens of mechanical
+inventions either original or considered such by their industrious
+projectors, and lastly the offices for the department of State.
+
+In the latter was a chamber which to me offered more attractions than
+all the other objects put together: it contained a collection of
+original portraits of the most distinguished amongst the aborigines,
+allied with or opposed to the States.
+
+This is an object well worthy the care of government, and, it is to be
+hoped, one that will be persevered in, for yet but a few years, and here
+will be the only memento left of the Red-man within the land. Something
+is due to the memory of these savage warriors and legislators; this
+tribute serves to render them a sort of poetical justice, and wins a
+sympathy for their fate, through their portraits, which might have been
+withheld from themselves,--at least, judging of those I have seen,
+drunken, dirty, and debased.
+
+Here, indeed, they show gallantly out, the untameable children of the
+forest, the lords of the lake and of the river, some of them absolutely
+handsome, their costume being in the highest degree chivalric; many,
+unluckily, are clad in a mixed fashion, half Indian, half
+American,--grotesque, but unbecoming when compared with the gaudily
+turbaned and kilted Creek, or the plumed and painted Winnebago, who,
+leaning on his rifle beneath a forest tree, and listening with a keen,
+unwearying aspect for the coming tread of his foe or his prey, looks
+like a being never born to wear harness or own a master.
+
+A few of the chiefs are painted in the full-dress uniform of the
+American army, but are not for an instant to be mistaken; although Red
+Jacket, the great orator and warrior, and one or two others have
+features exceedingly resembling some of the Provençal _noblesse_ of
+France: the common expression is, however, almost uniformly
+characteristic of their nature, cold, crafty, and cruel; I hardly found
+one face in which I could have looked for either mercy or
+compunction--always excepting the women, of whom here are a few
+specimens. It would be but gallant to add to the number, if there are
+many such amongst the tribes; for the features of these are pretty,
+their expression truly feminine and gentle, with the most dove-like,
+loveable eyes in nature.
+
+I, some time after this, found a very fine work in course of publication
+at Philadelphia, containing coloured prints, large folio size, made from
+these and other original sources; with accurate biographical notices of
+the most important amongst the chiefs, and a detailed account of their
+history and habits. The author is Colonel M'Kenny, for many years
+resident Indian agent, living amongst and with the people he describes;
+and combining with these opportunities education, intelligence, and much
+enthusiasm on the subject. In this work will be given correct
+translations of their highly expressive but unpronounceable
+appellations; and as much justice done to their characters, as, I can
+answer for it, has been already rendered to their outward form and
+features.
+
+The courtesy which distinguishes officials of every rank in this
+country makes a visit to this, or any public place, not only a matter of
+pleasure but of profit to the stranger; since one rarely returns without
+some anecdote or information connected with the object visited, given in
+an off-hand agreeable manner, which is in itself a gratification. I have
+never been a sight-hunter in Europe, and this not from indolence or lack
+of laudable curiosity, I believe; but simply through considering the
+forms and difficulties that hedge in most places and persons worthy
+observance, more than equivalent to the gratification to be won from a
+sight of them. The case is different here: there is no unnecessary fuss
+or form; the highest public servants are left to protect themselves from
+impertinent intrusion; and to the stranger, all places that may be
+considered public property are perfectly accessible, without any tax
+being levied on his pride, his patience, or his purse,--matters which
+might be amended in England, greatly to the advancement of our national
+character, and in these reforming days not unworthy consideration.
+
+I was a good deal amused looking over the various costly gifts which
+have been, from time to time, presented by foreign potentates to the
+distinguished public servants of America, all of which are here
+collected; the law not permitting those on whom they were bestowed to
+retain them, although yielding to the custom which has rendered such
+marks of courtly approbation customary amongst the great ones of Europe.
+
+I could not help smiling as I fancied the disgorgement of all the
+_cadeaux_ exchanged between ministers and generals, and treaty-makers
+and breakers, since 1812, an epoch fruitful of such courtesies. Why, it
+would pay off the national debt of the general government of this
+country, and leave a surplus for watering the streets of the capital, if
+the legislature did not find fault with the appropriation, and continue
+to prefer being blinded, as they are at present, rather than purchase a
+few water-carts for the corporation, which it seems is too impoverished
+to afford any outlay on its own account.
+
+There was nothing that puzzled me more, on a first view of the matter,
+than the utter indifference with which the Americans look upon the
+exceedingly unworthy condition of their capital, when considered in
+relation with the magnitude, the greatness, and prosperous condition of
+their common country. During months of every session, the roads leading
+through the district of Columbia are all but impassable: independent of
+the discomfort and delay consequent upon their condition, hardly a
+season passes without some member or other being injured more or less by
+overturns, which are things of common occurrence; yet, only let
+government insert one extra item in the budget to be applied to the
+service of this their common property, and all parties from all quarters
+of the Union unite to reject the supply.
+
+I heard of a curious instance of this jealousy of poor Columbia whilst
+on my last visit here. The great avenue, or principal street, leading
+from the President's house to the Capitol, had recently been redeemed
+from mud according to the plans of M'Adam; but the exposure of the
+situation, and the nature of the material employed, rendered the
+improvement rather questionable: every breeze that now blew filled the
+atmosphere with thick clouds of dust charged with particles of mica,
+which really made it a hazardous matter to venture forth on a gusty day,
+unless in a closed carriage, when tired of sitting at home, suffocated
+with heat, or smothered with dust by the wind, which ought to have
+borne health and comfort on its wings instead of this eighth plague.
+
+Every one complained, all suffered; members, senators, the President,
+and the cabinet, all were having dust flung in their eyes, at a period
+when the commonwealth required that they should all be most especially
+keen and clearsighted. The Potomac, meantime, swept by them, clear and
+cool, and the classic Tiber could with difficulty be kept out of their
+houses. The Romans would have made their Tiber useful on such an
+occasion, and the ready remedy at length suggested itself to the
+half-smothered senators. The sum of a few hundred dollars was promptly
+voted to abate the evil, in conjunction with the Tiber, whose
+contribution was here on demand. The bill was, however, rejected on its
+farther course: the dust continued to rise, the people saved their
+dollars, their representatives continued blind, and the banks of the
+Tiber remained undrawn on.
+
+If you venture an observation upon this obvious absence of all decent
+pride in their capital, as being somewhat singular in a people who seem
+wrapt in their country, and solicitous that it should show worthily in
+the world's eyes, the case is admitted, and accounted for readily
+enough, but by no means creditably, in my mind.
+
+The members from Louisiana or Maine will tell you that they cannot
+satisfactorily account to their constituents for voting sums of money to
+adorn or render convenient a city these may never see, and for whose
+very existence they have no care.
+
+The man from the great western valley will shrug up his shoulders at
+your observation, admit its truth, but add, that the idea of the
+continuance of Washington, as the metropolis of the Union, and seat of
+the general government, is a ridicule, since this ought clearly to wait
+upon the tide of population, and be situated west of the Alleghanies.
+
+Neither of these answers are worthy the country or the American people:
+the citizen voters of these distant states should be reminded that the
+district of Columbia is their common property, and Washington the
+capital of their great Union, representing them in the eyes of
+strangers, and from whose present condition the least prejudiced
+European will find it difficult to avoid drawing injurious conclusions.
+
+Without internal resources, and entirely dependent upon the government,
+it would be worthy their national grandeur to make this district a type
+of that grandeur; and its city, as far as all public buildings and
+general conveniences might be concerned, second to none in the world.
+
+Presuming even its occupation to be temporary, and that, at no distant
+period, it will be deserted, left again to the dominion of nature, to be
+once more incorporated with the forest,--why, a Russian boyard has
+raised as fine a city, to lodge his royal mistress in for one night, and
+set it on fire to light her home on the next after!
+
+Were it of a certainty to be deserted in ten years, I would, were I a
+representative about to be sent to it, say to my clients: "As for
+Washington, let us build, beautify, and render it habitable and
+convenient, so that, when hereafter the European traveller seeks its
+ruins in the forest, he shall never doubt but that he looks upon the
+site once honoured as the capital of the American people."
+
+I have, when in conversation with intelligent friends here, delivered
+similar sentiments, and they have smiled at them without admitting
+their justice or applicability: I now set them down for their further
+amusement, not because I imagine they will be a tittle the more
+regarded, but simply because such were my "Impressions" of Washington.
+
+I went several times to the senate-chamber and the hall of the
+representatives; but was not fortunate enough to hear a debate in the
+latter, or find any very important topic under discussion. Speeches I
+never found much attraction in anywhere, unless deeply interested in the
+subject of them; and those of the American assembly are rather made to
+be read than to be listened to. The arguments, thus delivered in
+Washington, are in fact directed to, and intended for, the constituents
+of the party, to whom they are directly forwarded in the shape of most
+formidable-looking pamphlets, no matter to what distance, post-free,
+serving as an exposition of the author's sentiments, and an evidence of
+his industry.
+
+In the senate I had the happiness to hear a slight matter debated, in
+which Messrs. Clay and Forsyth took part; and I was struck with the
+force and fluency of the one, and the gentlemanlike tone and quiet
+self-possession of the other. Mr. Henry Clay reminded me strongly of
+Brougham, when the latter happens to be in one of his mildest
+moods;--the same facility of words and happy adaptation of them; the
+same bold, confident air, as though assured of his auditory and of
+himself; and withal, a touch of sly caustic humour, conveyed in look and
+in manner, that an adversary might well feel heedful of awakening.
+
+Mr. Webster, another of the thunderers of the senate, was in his place
+on the occasion I allude to, but did not rise, which I was exceedingly
+anxious he should do, for I had already heard him speak at Boston, and
+never remember to have been more impressed. The cast, and setting on, of
+his head is grand, quite antique, his features massive and regular, yet
+in their expression, and in the calm repose of his deep-set black eyes,
+there is a strong resemblance to the native Indian, with whose blood, I
+believe, the great orator claims close affinity.
+
+Mr. Van Buren's manner I thought highly characteristic of his political
+character,--cool, courteous; with a tone quiet but persuasive, a voice
+low-pitched, but singularly effective from the clearness of his
+enunciation and well-chosen emphasis. He bestows an undivided attention
+to the matter before the house becoming his situation.
+
+As vice-president, this gentleman is chairman of the senate; a situation
+at this time of peculiar delicacy, considering his position as the
+proclaimed director of the measures of General Jackson's cabinet, and
+heir to his party and his power. His filling this chair with so little
+reproach under assaults and provocations which it required the greatest
+good temper and good sense to encounter or turn aside, I consider no
+slight evidence of that wisdom and political sagacity for which his
+party give him credit, and which have acquired for him amongst his
+admirers the familiar cognomen of the Little Magician.
+
+The ladies, however, formed the chief attraction of the senate-chamber.
+Occupying a sort of passage or gallery on a level with and circling
+round two-thirds of the floor, here they sit, listening to their
+favourite speaker wherever he may be engaged, either before the
+President's chair boldly advancing the common interest, or behind some
+fair politician's, timidly seeking to advance his own, and hence, deal
+forth their award in well-pleased smiles, in due proportion to the
+eloquence of the speaker, public or private.
+
+This is a custom the advantages of which I am sorry to find are about
+to be tested in England. Shame that a man should ever have to express
+regret that one other muster-place had been invented for a _reunion_ of
+pretty faces! But such is my honest impression, and with me honesty is
+paramount;--a quality which must serve to balance my discourteous
+opinion, and restore me to the sex's favour. Then again, I am not of the
+Commons' House, or likely to be; and do not choose, perhaps, that the
+members should divide with me that part of my audience I value most, and
+would desire if possible to monopolize.
+
+Why then, it may be asked, are these your only reasons? In reply permit
+me to say, I have a reserve of minor importance, but which may be added
+as a make-weight to my graver argument,--I do not think the place will
+become them, or that the habit of hearing debates will improve them. I
+had as soon see a woman a dragoon as a politician: not a Hussar; for I
+have seen a lady of our land make a very dashing hussar, without
+forfeiting one charm as a woman. No: I mean a "Heavy," with jackboots
+and cuirass, helmet and horse-hair; and to this condition will the
+novelty of the thing, if it becomes a fashion, possibly degrade our
+gentle, retiring, womanly women.
+
+Let me here, however, declare, that it does not appear to have had this
+fatal effect upon the American ladies, since I never found one amongst
+them who thought about talking politics, unless it was with some snob
+who was too stupid to talk any nonsense less dull. But then they are
+born to the manner, and very few of them resident in the capital. It is
+only a novelty, therefore, enjoyed once or twice; then yawned over,
+voted tiresome, and forgotten.
+
+On the other hand, our ladies, who would be most likely to monopolize
+the house, are in town for the whole session, eager for new excitement,
+and prepared to die martyrs to anything that may become the rage: then
+again, although I will answer for their capability of remaining silent
+during a debate, unless they are differently constituted from their fair
+kinswomen, t'other side the Atlantic, yet is there a coming and going, a
+rustling of silk and pulling off of gloves, a glancing of sparkling
+rings and yet more sparkling eyes, anything but promoters of attention
+or order in the house; besides the danger of a faint or two during a
+crush or a row amongst the members,--the latter, if one may rely upon
+the journals, a thing of nightly recurrence now.
+
+I have many other good reasons to advance, but as they chiefly apply to
+the younger members, I think it useless to add them; indeed, my object
+in saying so much is rather to justify my expressed opinion, than from
+either the desire or hope of seeing an order so likely to prove
+agreeable to the Commons' House rescinded.
+
+Politics have rarely run higher, or assumed an aspect more startling to
+a European, than during my residence in the States; and though it is not
+my intention to deal largely with a subject which every brother
+scribbler, who spends his six months here, arranges to his great ease
+and perfect satisfaction, yet, whenever I think my object of making the
+people known may be advanced by giving a smack of their politics, I
+shall do so with perfect freedom, considering this as ground on which
+the best friends may differ without any impeachment of good feeling or
+sound judgment.
+
+The assumption of a new power by the President in the removal of the
+national fund, upon his own responsibility, from the United States
+Bank, and in violation of the terms of their unexpired charter, deranged
+for a time the credit of the community, and convulsed the land from one
+extremity to the other. During this panic, remonstrances and prayers for
+redress poured in from one party; whilst addresses, laudatory and
+congratulatory, were duly gotten up by the other.
+
+The sea-board cities, together with every trading community, crowded the
+capital with deputations, praying the President to restore the monies
+and heal the national credit, until their importunities became so
+frequent, so personal, and led to such undignified altercations between
+these delegates and the chief of the government, that the gates of the
+palace were fairly closed against them; and, as the Whig journals
+expressed it, "for the first time, the Republic beheld the doors of the
+chief magistrate barred upon delegates charged to pour out the
+sufferings of the people, to remonstrate against their causes, and to
+awaken their author to a sense of his tyranny and injustice."
+
+In senate and congress the tone assumed by this party against
+government, and the violence of the language used, become really
+startling to the ears of the subject of a monarchy: for instance, Mr.
+Webster, in a recent speech, drew a parallel between Sylla and the
+President, or _Dictator_, as he styled him, of the States, by no means
+disadvantageous to the Roman; showing how the tyrant of old first
+excited the populace, by the basest flattery, to overturn the
+restrictive power of the senate; which done, and his lawless will being
+left without a check, he turned upon his restless, ignorant allies, and
+slaughtering them by thousands, succeeded in prostrating their liberties
+and the freedom of his country: the speaker adding,
+
+"I fear the worst fate of Rome is hanging over us; whether that of Sylla
+be in store for our despot, I know not. Should he, however, abdicate at
+the end of three years (Sylla's term), he will be hunted by the cries of
+a guilty conscience and by the curses of an outraged people, more
+intolerable than the pangs which tortured in his last moment the Roman
+tyrant!"
+
+In anticipation of another speaker's assault, a journalist says,
+
+"We may, when he delivers his sentiments,--which will be indeed the
+reflex of public opinion,--look to behold the fur fly off the back of
+the treacherous old usurper, our implacable tyrant," &c. &c.
+
+On the other hand, the adulation of the administration exhausts
+panegyric in the President's praise: his qualities are proclaimed to be
+superhuman, his intuitive wisdom and farsightedness approaching to
+omniscience; by this party he, indeed, is all but deified. The
+vice-president proclaims that he shall consider it honour enough to have
+it known that he held a place in his counsels. Members of the
+legislature, of sound age and high character, dispute in their places
+within the house their seniority of standing as "true _soldiers_ of the
+General's administration;" an odd title, by the way, independent of the
+strangeness of the avowal, for a representative of the people.
+
+The assumption of the act of responsibility, and its exercise, it is
+argued by this party, have been decisive as to the conservation of the
+_morale_ of the country, without which their liberties were held by a
+tenure liable to be quickly subverted, and the blood, and toil, and
+treasure of their predecessors spent in vain; that the integrity of
+their institutions was by this act assured, and the continuance of the
+people's happiness and prosperity based upon marble, unimpeachable and
+to endure for ever!
+
+In every society, in all places, and at all times, this subject is
+all-absorbent amongst the men. Observing with pity a very intelligent
+friend arrested in the lobby of a drawing-room which was occupied by a
+whole bevy of beauty, and there undergo a buttoning of half an hour
+before he could shake off his worrier, I inquired with a compassionate
+air, just as he made his escape, "whether he would not be glad when the
+present ferment was over, and this eternal spectre laid in the sea of
+oblivion?"
+
+"No, indeed," replied my friend coolly; "since it would only vanish to
+be succeeded by some other, in reality not quite so important perhaps,
+but which, for lack of a better, would be made to the full as absorbing
+of one's time and patience."
+
+And this is strictly true: whatever subject may turn up is laid hold on,
+tooth and nail, by the _Ins_ and _Outs_ of the day, who, dividing upon
+it, lift banners, and under the chosen war-cry, be it "Masonry," "Indian
+treaties," or "Bank charter," fairly fight it out; a condition of
+turmoil, which, viewed on the surface, may appear anything but desirable
+to a man who loves his ease and quiet, and troubles himself with
+nothing less than with affairs of state, but which constitutes one of
+the personal taxes men must pay who look to govern themselves, or who
+desire to fancy that they do so.
+
+It is a matter of great regret to me that there occurred no levee whilst
+I was in Washington; because, had one taken place, I should have enjoyed
+the honour of a closer view of the venerable chief of the States than I
+could snatch from seeing him pass two or three times on the avenue. Not
+but that there are facilities enough afforded for a presentation to one
+who is never denied when disengaged from his public duties; facilities
+which it may be very right and proper for the American citizen to avail
+himself of, but which good taste might suggest to the stranger,
+especially the Englishman, it would be more becoming in him to forego:
+as it is, I have frequently, in travelling, heard Europeans talking with
+the most offensive familiarity of having called upon the President, who
+at home would have stood hat-in-hand in their county magistrate's
+office, waiting for an interview with the great man.
+
+As viewed on horseback, the General is a fine soldierly, well-preserved
+old gentleman, with a pale wrinkled countenance, and a keen clear eye,
+restless and searching. His seat is an uncommonly good one, his hand
+apparently light, and his carriage easy and horseman-like;
+circumstances, though trifling in themselves, not so general here as to
+escape observation.
+
+His personal friends, of whom I know many most intimately, speak of him
+with great regard, and describe him politically as one whose singleness
+of purpose and integrity of mind, in all that relates to his country,
+can never be fairly impeached upon any tenable ground. With these
+friends, without regard to rank or station, he lives at all times on the
+most familiar terms. When in his neighbourhood, they visit him as they
+have ever done, without finding the slightest increase of form; and,
+over his cigar, the President canvasses the events and receives the
+opinions of the day with all the frankness of an indifferent party,
+neither affecting nor enforcing mystery or restraint.
+
+His address is described as being naturally fluent, pleasing, and
+gentlemanlike: this I have from a source on which I can confidently
+rely; for both the wife and sister of an English officer of high rank,
+themselves women of remarkable refinement of mind and manners, observed
+to me, in speaking of the President, that they had seldom met a person
+possessed of more native courtesy or a more dignified deportment.
+
+To another of the great ones of the land I had an introduction, which,
+as it is characteristic of the man, I will here relate. One afternoon,
+about dusk, being on my way to a family party at the house occupied by
+the late Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Southard, I thought I had run down
+my distance, and began an inspection of the outward appearance of the
+houses, all puzzlingly alike, when a couple of men, lounging round a
+corner, single file, smoking their cigars, chanced to cross my track.
+Addressing the rearmost, I inquired, "Pray, sir, do you chance to know
+which of the houses opposite is Mr. Southard's, the senator from New
+Jersey?"
+
+"I do know where Mr. Southard's house is," replied the stranger, eyeing
+me as I fancied somewhat curiously; "though it is not exactly opposite.
+But surely you and I have met before now,--more than once too, or I am
+greatly mistaken?"
+
+"That is more than probable, sir," replied I, "if you are fond of a
+play. My name is Power, Mr. Power of the theatre."
+
+"I thought so," cried the stranger, holding out his hand; adding
+cordially, "My name, sir, is Clay, Henry Clay, of the senate; and I am
+glad, Mr. Power, that we are now personally acquainted."
+
+I need hardly say, I joined in expressing the pleasure I derived from
+any chance which had procured me this honour, begging that I might not
+detain him longer.
+
+"But stop, Mr. Power," said the orator;--"touching Mr. Southard's;--you
+observe yonder long-sided fellow propping up the post-office down below;
+only that he is waiting for me, I'd accompany you to the house; which,
+however, you can't miss if you'll observe that it's the very last of the
+next square but one."
+
+With many thanks for his politeness, I here parted from Mr. Clay, to
+pursue my way according to his instructions, whilst he passed forward to
+join the tall gentleman, who waited for him at some distance near the
+public building which he had humorously described him as propping.
+
+An accidental interview of this kind, however brief, will do more to
+prejudice the judgment for or against a man, than a much longer and more
+ceremonious intercourse. I confess my impressions on this occasion were
+all in Mr. Clay's favour; they were confirmatory of the _bonhommie_ and
+playful humour ascribed to him by his friends and admirers, who are to
+be found throughout every part of the country.
+
+The very day following this little incident I bade adieu to Washington,
+after a second prolonged visit. I had here encountered and mixed with
+persons from every State of the Union, and became thus in possession of
+the means of making comparisons, and drawing conclusions, such as no
+other single city, or perhaps any period less generally exciting, could
+have supplied.
+
+I quitted it gratefully impressed in favour both of its private society
+and of the kind and hospitable character of its citizens generally. I
+had, whilst here, without delivering a letter, received unlooked-for
+attentions and kindnesses from persons the most distinguished for
+character and talent: attentions which I am as hopeless of ever being
+able to return, as I am incapable of ever being desirous to forget.
+
+
+
+
+BOSTON.
+
+
+JOURNEY ACROSS THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS.--PITTSBURG.
+
+
+The season continued to wear away without any severe demonstration; and
+by the 19th of February, the day on which I reached New York on my way
+from Washington to Boston, I found the first boat advertised for the
+passage, just open, to Providence,--a piece of good luck, by hitting
+which I was saved a land journey of two hundred miles.
+
+We were detained by a fog in the Sound for a few hours, but reached
+Providence by three o'clock P.M. next day, and were just ten hours going
+the forty miles between that place and Boston; one extra bad bit of
+about three miles took an excellent team exactly two hours to pull
+through it. I could not conceive the possibility of this road, which I
+had seen three months before in a very fair condition, being so utterly
+washed out; but the heavy snows of these Northern States would penetrate
+ways of adamant, and will for ever exclude them from attaining the
+perfection of a well-kept turnpike.
+
+A little after one o'clock A.M. I was rattled up to the door of the
+Tremont; where, late as the hour was, I found friends waiting up for me,
+and experienced what at all times is a pleasure, but more especially
+after such a cold jolting,--a warm welcome.
+
+I was now a resident of this city for a month, during which time I
+enjoyed a continued series of the most friendly attentions. I found
+three or four men, who, like myself, were fond of riding, and together
+we rambled over the whole of the surrounding country; and a beautiful
+country it is, with its island-gemmed bay and gaily-painted country
+seats. One of these, the house of Colonel Thomas Perkins, is seated
+within grounds well kept and tastefully laid out, with a very extensive
+range of noble hot-houses, within which, at this season and in this
+latitude, the fruit and flowers of the tropics were to be found in their
+freshest bloom and beauty. I think these grounds are more agreeably
+broken, offer a greater variety of soil, and command a finer prospect of
+land and sea, than any place I ever visited of equal dimensions.
+
+We wanted nothing, on many of the fine open mornings we now had, but a
+pack of good foxhounds: the land is better cleared than it is farther
+south, the covers smaller, with fewer swamps, and no fencing that might
+not be crept round or got over by even a moderate-going man.
+
+I had heard a good many amusing anecdotes of the infinite respect with
+which the country people of New England view and address persons of
+their own grade, and the utter disregard of decent ceremony which they
+evince towards all others: there appeared something so whimsically
+exaggerated in these stories, that I never had received them as
+veritable history; and when the Duke of Saxe Weimar told of the
+coachman's inquiring "Are you the man going to Portland? because, if you
+are, I'm the gentleman that's a going to drive you," I set it down for a
+good joke, illustrative, perchance, of a _brusquerie_ of manner which
+did exist, but not in itself strictly true. I have, however, during my
+present sojourn here, received good corroborative evidence of its being
+a veracious report.
+
+I went out on one occasion to partake of a fine black bear, that had
+been killed at a house famous for the plenty, the quality, and cooking
+of game. There were eight or nine men of the party, some of whom had
+ridden out on horseback: in going over a rail-fence close to the house
+we were to dine at, the horse I rode struck both hind feet and cast his
+shoes: as soon as I got into the yard, where some of the party had
+already dismounted, I inquired for the ostler. A good-humoured,
+active-looking fellow immediately made his appearance, with whom, being
+desirous to have my nag's feet looked after before we set out on our
+return, I was led into the following dialogue.
+
+"Pray, have you a smithy in this neighbourhood?"
+
+"We've gotten a blacksmith or two, I guess."
+
+"At what distance is the nearest blacksmith's forge?"
+
+"Well, I don't 'no; there is a shop about half a mile maybe, or
+ther'bouts."
+
+"Can you have this horse taken down there to get the two hind shoes put
+on?"
+
+"Guess not, 'cept I car' him down myself."
+
+"Well, will you carry him down yourself?"
+
+"Well, you see, I can't tell about that nohow at present. Guess I will,
+if I can tho', by an' by."
+
+"But why can't you say whether you will or will not? I'll pay you for
+your trouble. Have you any objection to taking the horse down?"
+
+"Oh no! not at all, by no means. I've no objection nohow to obleege you,
+if, you see, I can find some other gentleman to look after my horses
+whiles I go."
+
+My companions, who had been enjoying this cross-examination of my
+equivocal friend, now laughed outright, and heartily did I join in the
+guffaw: they were to "the manner born," and it was my puzzled expression
+that so tickled them; to me, after the first surprise was over, the
+whole thing was indescribably droll. I caught instantly "another
+gentleman," an idler about the public-house door, who, for a shilling,
+found the cast shoes, and undertook to do for the horses whilst the
+first gentleman, of the stable, led my nag away to the forge.
+
+This was a very fair specimen, but we were to be favoured with another
+and a better. Mr. T. P----s, a son of the Colonel's, one of the foremost
+citizens of this State, was driven out in his English landau, with
+certain delicacies not to be expected where we dined. As the coachman,
+who was a servant of the old Colonel's, drew up by the inn-door, he was
+immediately recognised, and saluted most cordially by the landlord; who,
+addressing him by his name,--Jenkins, or whatever it was,--hoped he was
+quite well, and was "uncommon glad to see him." During this ceremony,
+Mr. P----s had alighted; and, in order to be particularly civil,
+observed with great good-humour to the landlord,
+
+"Ah, my friend, what you remember Jenkins, do you?"
+
+"Why yes, I guess I ought," replied our host of the game; "I've know'd
+Muster Jenkins long enough, seein' he's the _gentleman_ as used to drive
+old Tom P----'s coach."
+
+The fact was, the man knew the Colonel--or old Tom P----s, as he styled
+him--quite well, but had forgotten Mr. P----s, who had been much in
+Europe, and was, moreover, put quite out of his latitude by the English
+landau Mr. Jenkins was driving: he guessed, I suppose, that this
+_gentleman_ had hired a new master, and had consequently turned off the
+family of his old one.
+
+Odd as all this sounds, the strangest part of the matter is, that there
+appears no disrespect, nor churlishness of manner, conveyed or implied
+by this reversal of conventional distinctions. I can at least answer for
+the ostler, who required some other _gentleman_ as _aide_, turning out
+on this, and on other occasions, a most assiduously civil fellow; and as
+for our host, he served up the steaks of his bear as though it might
+never have danced to any but the "genteelest o' tunes," and himself have
+been its instructor.
+
+He certainly gave us, in a plain but comfortable way, the best game
+dinner possible, including trout and codling of the finest flavour. Let
+me add, that I liked the bear vastly; and, after assisting to pick his
+ribs, carried away the skin which had once covered them,--not the least
+delicate portion of this bruin, by the way, for it was the blackest and
+richest fur, of the kind, I ever saw.
+
+I quitted this hospitable city on the 10th of March, and remained in New
+York until the 20th, when I departed for Pittsburg _viâ_ Philadelphia;
+although, from the little I had seen of stageing, I would have given a
+trifle to have been off the engagement, which I had made without
+contemplating the difficulties to be expected in a stage journey of
+three hundred miles over the Alleghanies at this early season. I had
+latterly, however, heard enough of the condition of this route, or line
+as it is called; but the intelligence was of a colour anything but
+cheering.
+
+At Philadelphia I took my place for Pittsburg, in the "Good Intent
+line," professing to carry only six inside; but this excellent intention
+of the worthy proprietors must be consigned to the commissioners of
+pavement in a certain unmentionable place, since it was never fulfilled.
+We commenced our journey with seven, the book-keeper making it a favour
+that we should take in one gentleman who was greatly pressed for time. I
+perceived, as we started, another person get outside, which made us
+eight.
+
+We were very soon transferred to the Columbia rail-road, which was in
+progress and now travelled upon for about twenty-one miles: along this I
+was rolled over the viaduct whose commencement I had noted, and, I
+believe, regretted. According to Mitchell's description, it crosses the
+Schuylkill at a place called Peter's Island; is one thousand and
+forty-five feet long and forty-one wide, being thirty feet above
+water-mark. Of the elevation, when I crossed on this occasion, we had an
+excellent opportunity of forming an opinion; for, except a pathway in
+the centre, the spaces between the beams had not yet been filled in, so
+that we looked through on to the water running beneath: the workmen were
+hard at it covering over and filling up; but it was passable in its
+present state, and therefore, "Go a-head was the word:"--there's no time
+lost here, i'faith! Immediately on crossing this viaduct, you come on an
+inclined plane two thousand eight hundred and five feet long: this
+struck me as being admirably contrived.
+
+I was very sorry when we were once again to be re-packed in our stage.
+Though one gets accustomed to anything in time, I never exactly brought
+myself to view these frequent transfers as a part of travelling to be
+rejoiced in. Our system of running a coach through a journey is not yet
+adopted here; they still stick to the old plan,--every proprietor his
+own vehicle; consequently you are for ever trundling from one to
+another, to your own great discomfiture, and to the destruction of any
+but the toughest sort of trunks.
+
+I forget how often we changed coach on this journey; indeed, I fancy
+that, during the third night out, I might have effected a transfer or
+two in my sleep; but I recollect that they were vexatiously frequent,
+and would have been more grievous had the weather been less generally
+fair.
+
+My fellow passengers were, luckily, with one exception, thin spare
+fellows, all citizens of the frontier State of Illinois; the fat subject
+was a countryman of my own, who had been for many years a resident at
+Pittsburg, and was a merry, contented son of Erin as ever jolted over
+these rough roads, which he informed me he did once at least in every
+season.
+
+We soon shook into shape: the condition of the turnpike, after the woful
+accounts I had received, appeared to me exceedingly passable; indeed, it
+was infinitely better than any part of the one between Washington and
+Baltimore, or than the Boston and Providence turnpike, as I had last
+experienced it. The country through which we rode was under excellent
+cultivation; the barns attached to the roadside houses were all large,
+brick-built, and in the very neatest condition. The approach to
+Lancaster, a fine town about forty miles from Philadelphia, was very
+beautiful, and bespoke the people rich in agricultural wealth. I have
+seldom seen a finer valley, or one under more careful cultivation.
+
+The next large place we arrived at was Harrisburg, the capital of the
+State of Pennsylvania: it was midnight when we reached it; but I
+immediately walked to look at the State-house, where the legislature
+assembles, and about which are ranged the public offices.
+
+The mass appeared large; and the effect of the buildings with their
+lofty classic porticos, viewed under the influence of a fine starlight
+night, was imposing enough: the situation is well chosen, appearing like
+a natural elevation in the midst of a plain, and overlooking the waters
+of the Susquehannah, above whose banks the city is built.
+
+One always feels something like disappointment on entering one of these
+capitals, although previously aware that the site is selected with
+regard only to the general convenience of the community, and without
+reference to the probabilities of its ever becoming important for its
+trade or of monstrous size. A European accustomed to seek in the capital
+of a country the highest specimens of its excellence in art, and the
+utmost of its refinement in literature, and indeed, in all which relates
+to society, is necessarily hard to reconcile to these small rustic
+cities, whose population is doubled by villages he has only heard named
+for the first time whilst journeying on his way to the Liliputian
+mistress of them all. As places of meeting for the legislature, I am of
+those who think the smallness of the population an advantage. Firstly,
+the members are freed from the expense consequent upon living in large
+cities; and next, the chambers are removed from having their
+deliberations overawed or impeded by any of those sudden outbreaks of
+popular madness to which all people are prone, and to which the nature
+of this government more immediately exposes it, without possessing any
+power quickly to arrest or even control such licence.
+
+Harrisburg is highly spoken of for the salubrity as well as the beauty
+of its site, and gives promise of becoming important in point of
+population; at present its inhabitants are about four thousand.
+
+From this we steered away to the southward, until at Chambersburg we
+struck the direct road leading from Baltimore to Pittsburg. We had a
+rough night of it; but a halt of an hour at Chambersburg in the morning,
+enabled me to make a comfortable toilet and get an excellent breakfast.
+Here we took the first spur of the mountains, and from this were on a
+continual ascent.
+
+Up the longer and steeper hills I constantly walked, and was often an
+hour in advance of the stage. This mountain region is certainly a very
+fine one, and I do not think its grandeur has ever been done justice to
+in description. Its attributes are all gigantic: it has the picturesque
+ruggedness of the Appenines, without their barrenness; since the valleys
+lying between the ridges, wherever they have been cleared, give
+evidences of the richest soil. A view from any hill top, however, shows
+these clearings to be mere specks in the surrounding forest, which yet
+clothes richly the sides of each interminable ridge you cross, fringes
+their most rugged summits, and waves over the loftiest peaks.
+
+At Bedford Springs there is a most excellent inn; but the one at a
+miserable village called Macconnelville, presented an aspect anything
+but inviting: the precaution of Mr. Head, however, had made me
+independent of supplies. On quitting the Mansion-house he had fitted up
+a small basket with sundry comforts, which were of infinite use to
+myself and comrades, they served as a speedy introduction and a durable
+cement to our friendship.
+
+I like these Western men; their off-hand manner makes you at once at
+your ease with them: they abound in anecdote growing out of the state in
+which they live, full of wild frolic and hardy adventure, and they
+recount these adventures with an exaggeration of figure quite Oriental,
+in a phraseology peculiar to themselves, and with a manner most
+humorous.
+
+Much amongst strangers, they have a quick appreciation of character;
+and, where they take a dislike, are, I have no doubt, mighty troublesome
+customers; they are, however, naturally courteous, and capable of
+genuine and inbred kindness, as a little anecdote of my present trip
+will serve to illustrate.
+
+On the morning of our second night out, I observed the Major and his
+friends holding a council just as we were stepping into the coach. We
+were eight persons, which gave three sitters to two of the seats and two
+to the third; by way of relief, my servant or myself frequently mounted
+the box, enabling the parties to separate,--a luxury of no mean
+importance. On this occasion I noticed, on being about to take my seat,
+which was the front one, that it was unoccupied, Sam being on the box,
+and three persons on each of the other seats. On requesting that one of
+the sitters by my fat friend would share the vacant front with me, the
+Major informed me that the arrangement was preconcerted, as they knew I
+was not quite so well used to rough roads as they were, and had work
+before me on getting to my journey's end; begging me to fix myself
+comfortably on the seat, and try and sleep for an hour or two.
+
+This being a piece of unpurchasable, unthought-for consideration and
+civility, I conceived it as well worth notice as the many instances of
+brutality which ill-used travellers put on record; but it is by no means
+the only example I have seen of these rough subjects' innate kindness,
+and, I may add, good-breeding. There is, with them, a give-and-take
+system whilst thus roughing it in company, they seek no exclusive
+advantage, and evince no selfishness; but they are quick-sighted and
+shrewd observers, and I would recommend any who desire to travel
+comfortably with them, to carefully suppress any exhibition of
+over-regard for self.
+
+With this precaution, let a stranger, and a British subject, be only
+known as such, and if a preference should occur, I will answer for his
+standing a good chance of getting it.
+
+Here I enjoyed my first lesson in what is familiarly termed riding a
+rail; and from all such railways I hope to be spared henceforward. The
+term is derived from a fence-rail being occasionally used to supply the
+place of a broken thoro'-brace, by which all these stages are hung; and
+these are, in fact, the only sort of spring that would endure the load
+and the "rough breaks" their virtue must go through.
+
+We broke down by a sudden plump, into a hole, that would have shaken a
+broad-wheeled waggon into shavings. Our driver did not approve of any of
+the fence-rails in the vicinity, so plunged into the wood, accompanied
+by one of my Western companions; and in ten minutes they returned,
+bearing a young hickory pole, that the driver assured us was "as tough
+as Andrew Jackson himself,[10] and as hard to break, though it might
+give a leetle under a heavy load." This was shoved under the body of the
+carriage, and rested upon the fore and hind axles: it was lashed fast,
+and the spare part of the spar was left sticking out behind, like the
+end of the main boom of a smack. The coach body, when rested upon this,
+was found to have a considerable list to port; but to have brought it to
+an even keel would have been a work of time,--not that such a thing was
+contemplated for a moment. The driver was enabled by this ingenious
+substitute for a carriage-spring to "go ahead:" the rest was luxury,
+which the "Good-intent line" did not bargain for; so we were left to
+trim ship to our liking. Contrary to all my experience, I insisted that
+the heaviest part of our cargo should be stowed at the bottom, for to
+have had my countryman's eighteen stone of solid stuff to prop up, for
+twenty miles, would have required the shoulders of Atlas.
+
+Whilst walking up the mountains, I frequently overtook settlers moving
+with all their worldly goods over to the great Western valley. I
+generally exchanged a few words with them, and with the more
+communicative now and then had a considerable long talk. Most of them
+were small farmers and mechanics from the Northern States, who followed
+here in the wake of kindred or neighbours, their plan arranged and
+their location determined upon. One or two heads of families, however,
+told me they were just going to look about, and did not know rightly
+where they might set up.
+
+I overtook one old couple attending a single-horse waggon up
+Laurel-hill; and surely, if any laurels awaited them at the summit, they
+were hardly enough won. The appearance of this pair attracted me as I
+approached the rocky platform where for a moment they had halted to
+breathe: the woman was a little creature, dressed in an old-fashioned
+flowered gown, with sleeves tight to the elbows, met by black mittens of
+faded silk, and a very small close bonnet of the same colour. She had
+small brass buckles in her shoes; a cane, like those borne by running
+footmen, in one hand, and upon the other arm a small basket, rolled up
+within which lay a tabby cat, with which she held a conversation in what
+sounded to me like broken French and English.
+
+The man was a son of Anak in altitude, somewhat bent by years, but
+having a soldierlike air. His white hair was combed back, and gathered
+behind into a thick club: he wore a long greatcoat, which, if made for
+him, gave testimony to a considerable falling-off in his proportions,
+for it hung but loosely about him; had a very broad-leaved hat set
+jauntily on one side of his head; and supported his steps upon a sturdy
+stick.
+
+I saluted this singular-looking pair, and was by the lady honoured with
+an especially gracious curtsey, whilst the gaunt old man bade me good
+day in an accent decidedly foreign. I patted the cat of the basket,
+addressing it in French, and was in a moment overwhelmed by the delights
+of its mistress, who _ciel_'d, and _mon-Dieu_'d, and _quel-plaisir_'d,
+until, if her tall _mari_ had not stepped in to the rescue, I do not
+know to what lengths her delight might not have carried her.
+
+The horse was sufficiently rested; the man who drove it was ready to
+proceed; and the ancient Parisienne, for such she was, had once more to
+ensconce herself beneath the canvass covering of the waggon, into which
+I had the honour of assisting herself and her cat, amidst thanks and
+excuses blended with all the graceful volubility of a well-bred
+Frenchwoman,--for well-bred she was, beyond a doubt.
+
+"My poor little woman!" said the old giant, as, after the twentieth
+adieu, I joined him where he waited a little in advance of the waggon,
+and quickened my pace to keep up with his strides,--"she is made too
+happy for to-day to hear a gentleman address her in her own language,
+and by whom she can be understood;" adding, "You are not a Frenchman,
+sir?"
+
+"I am not," said I, smiling; "but should imagine you are, by the
+compliment you so adroitly infer."
+
+"No, sir," rejoined mine ancient, "I am a Biscayan; bred a ship-builder,
+but at present a house-carpenter."
+
+"But you speak English like a native: how is that?" inquired I, desirous
+of continuing the dialogue thus begun.
+
+"I have been forty years in this good country, and have made better
+progress than my poor little woman, though she is well educated and I
+have no learning to help me."
+
+"Madame, then, is not Spanish?"
+
+"No, sir, she is of Paris; and, what is very odd, that is nearly all she
+ever told me of herself. It was in the winter of 1792 that I first met
+my poor little woman: I had slept within a few miles of Havre, and was
+just turned away from the cabaret, when a little boy joined me,
+requesting that I would let him walk with me to the town. We fell into
+chat, when I discovered that my new friend had no passport, but that he
+had money, and was desirous to escape from France, no matter to what
+place. He was in great trouble; cried much; said he had lost all his
+friends, and begged me not to desert him.
+
+"It would be too long a story to tell you all the trouble I had to get
+him on board ship with me; but, sir, that little boy is now in the
+waggon where you handed him."
+
+"Your wife!" exclaimed I, affecting surprise, and really greatly
+interested. "But when did she disclose her sex to you?"
+
+"Why, sir, there was no great need of disclosure after we once got to
+sea; her cowardice told her story, but I kept her secret till we arrived
+at Philadelphia, where we married; and in the lower part of this State
+we have lived ever since quietly enough, until lately."
+
+"And what, at your age, could induce you to cross the mountains, my
+friend?"
+
+"Why, sir, work was scarce in our country place, and I'm told there's a
+heap of building raising about Pittsburg, that's one reason; but the
+truth is that our politics have changed a good deal in Pennsylvania of
+late. In a scuffle at the bar of our hotel, this last election, I got
+knocked down and trodden on; my arm was broken, and I a good deal hurt;
+and my poor woman took such a horror of the little bit of mobbing we had
+that she would make me pull up stakes, and here we are on our last
+move."
+
+We walked on side by side, until the waggon was left far behind and the
+coach came up. We had a long talk on the subject of politics; and,
+although a stanch American and a republican, I found my friend was
+opposed to "the removal of the deposits,"--the universal test of the
+day,--and by no means a whole-hog man. But he said, "It is a fine
+country and a fine people; I am a citizen, have lived here forty years,
+and hope to die here."
+
+Wishing that his desire might have a late fulfilment, I shook the honest
+veteran's hand; and we parted for ever, after an intercourse of three
+hours had created a sort of fellowship between us. Here was an humble
+chapter from the romance of real life, gleaned, where such an adventure
+was least expected, in one of the passes of the Alleghanies.
+
+The walk up this hill was, independent of the good companionship I
+enjoyed, in itself fine: the road circling about dark ravines, from
+whose thickly-wooded deeps rose the hollow murmur of closely-pent
+currents, whose waters had rarely reflected the rays of the sun; and in
+other places clinging to the steep precipice, from whose side it had
+been cut, and which was yet burthened with the half-burnt trunks of
+hundreds of noble trees that had fallen to make place for it. The view,
+too, from the summit was glorious; and I thought as I looked below,
+northward and eastward, where two wide openings gave a boundless stretch
+of valley to the eye, that my journey was well repaid: but it was not
+over yet; and, before we reached Pittsburg, I do not know but that there
+were moments when I would have retracted this burst of enthusiasm.
+
+The third afternoon and night it rained incessantly; the road from
+Youngstown, or Greensburg, being nearly as bad as that memorable
+Washington turnpike. The delays, too, were unnecessary and frequent; at
+some of the changing-places the servants had to be roused, and this was
+no easy task. Now and then, an extra independent hand refused to get
+up, or denied us help when he was up; in which case the poor devil of a
+driver was left to his own resources, with, now and then, the aid of a
+half-naked, wretched negro.
+
+The travelling of the "Good Intent," taking the roads into
+consideration, was a capital pace, the horses excellent; but I have set
+down, that, on a pretty fair estimate, making allowance for the
+exaggerations of discomfort and ill-humour, about nine hours on the
+whole line were lost for want of the commonest attention, and the
+passengers greatly inconvenienced without any advantage accruing to the
+proprietors.
+
+At length we emerged from the slough, and about daylight on the third
+morning were rumbled over the _pavé_ of Pittsburg.
+
+The inn was closed; but the rough assault of my Western friends soon
+roused the bar-keeper, who got his door open just in time to save his
+lock from a huge paving-stone, with which the angry Major purposed to
+test its power of resistance.
+
+"Why, you're in an uncommon hurry," exclaimed the half-awakened
+bar-keeper.
+
+"That's more than we can say of you, stranger," retorted the Major.
+"What was you about that you didn't hear the coach? Maybe it was the
+rain made such a noise you couldn't?"
+
+"No; does it rain that hard, though?" gaped the matter-of-fact mixer of
+liquids.
+
+"I guess it does; and if it wasn't that you've got the key of the
+liquor, it would be only right to put you out into it for an hour; for
+you are the hardest-hearted white-man I ever come across, this side the
+mountains, or you'd a' moved quicker to let in a dog on such a night."
+
+A rousing fire and some hot whisky and water soon restored our
+good-humour: a bed was quickly arranged for me by a good-natured negro,
+who had, I verily believe, just crawled out of it; a fire was lighted in
+the little hole it occupied; and in half an hour I was fast asleep on
+the banks of _la belle rivière_.
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[10] "Old Hickory" is one of the familiar names by which his lovers
+delight to designate the venerable President.
+
+
+
+
+PITTSBURG.
+
+
+My first visit, at an early hour on Monday morning, was to the banks of
+the Monongahela, which ran by the bottom of the main street, wherein I
+was lodged. The water was at this time low, being fifteen feet under its
+highest level: the point of junction with the Alleghany lay, as I
+discovered, some way below. The opposite heights, which rise boldly from
+the water's edge, looked dark and drear enough, covered as they are with
+a stubble of blackened stumps, and a few blasted trees, the ghosts of
+the ruined forest. The political economist, however, would find ready
+consolation in the mounds of coal-dust, the dingy low-roofed buildings,
+together with the swinging of a hundred cranks, worked by the engines
+whose smoke is seen curling along the face of the steep hill. It is to
+give place to these iron giants that the forest has been felled; and to
+supply these with fire, the mountain is in this direction pierced to its
+centre.
+
+Nature has supplied this place with wharves; and the people appear
+quite contented with her handiwork, for they are left as she made them.
+I counted fourteen steamboats all busied in taking in or discharging
+freight; and the river was here and there dotted by keels of a rude,
+picturesque construction: everything, indeed, gave evidence of active
+and prosperous trade.
+
+I from hence made a circuit of the principal part of the town, which is
+soon accomplished, for it offers nothing externally to arrest the
+passer-by for a moment: the streets are narrow, irregular, and
+ill-paved; the houses as dirty as the smoke of bituminous coal can make
+them, and, though substantially built, are in general wholly destitute
+of neatness or ornament.
+
+Upon Grant's Hill, a spur of one of the surrounding heights, that
+thrusts itself boldly into the heart of the delta on which the town is
+built, I found a Gothic edifice almost completed, the magnitude and
+tasteful design of which attracted me: I entered it, and perceived at
+once that it was a place of Catholic worship. From a communicative
+little man, whom I observed for some time eyeing me with a sociable
+look, I learnt that this was the cathedral; and it stands a pleasing
+memorial of the liberality of the sects of this town, having been
+raised by voluntary subscriptions made among the numerous congregations
+of the place.
+
+It is a grateful task to record such evidences of the existence of true
+Christian charity; they reconcile one to one's fellows, and serve to
+balance the barbarous acts of bigotry and blindness which yet
+occasionally disgrace the age and degrade humanity. This edifice, when
+completed, will be an attractive object, both from its commanding site
+and the character of its architecture, which is of the florid Gothic,
+tastefully sustained throughout.
+
+Descending the steep bluff of Grant's Hill, I entered the theatre, which
+lies within its shadow. This building was not yet a year old, and
+offered one of the neatest-formed interiors possible, calculated to
+contain about one thousand persons. It had all the offices and
+appointments of such an establishment, well and conveniently arranged;
+and in this respect might serve as a model to more important-looking
+houses. The ornamental parts of the interior were already disfigured by
+the smoke which fills this atmosphere day and night, and fully
+exonerates the people from the charge of being wilfully regardless of
+neatness and _propreté_ in the arrangement of their dwellings.
+
+I found the manager, Mr. Wemyss, at his post, and all things in
+tolerable order. At night the house was filled; though how the people
+made their way home again I do not know: even the short distance I had
+to explore on the line of the principal street, I found beset with
+perils; loose pavement, scaffold-poles, rubbish, and building materials
+of all kinds blocked up the _trottoir_ in several places, which were to
+be avoided by instinct, for light here was none, natural or artificial.
+At length, after a few stumbles, I was securely housed in a small room,
+which I was promised the exclusive use of, and wherein the cheerful
+light of the bituminous coal, that blazed like pitch-pine, in my mind
+made ample amends for the dust it created, and of this, the amount was
+by no means trifling.
+
+The next day I was joined by Lieutenant I----d, of the cavalry corps
+about to advance on an expedition through the prairies, and across the
+hunting-grounds of the Nomade tribes, ranging over the still
+slightly-explored regions lying between the Mississippi and the Rocky
+Mountains. We were ancient comrades of the spur and snaffle, having
+harried the low country in company far and wide; and, the morning being
+fine, we were quickly mounted for a raid through this new land.
+
+Crossing the long bridge over the Monongahela, a muddy, turbid-looking
+river, we commenced the ascent of Coal Hill, so called from the great
+quantities of this material it supplies; along its base lies a range of
+busy manufactories, and the roar of the steam-engine resounds on all
+sides. Here, too, is a growing town, called Birmingham; but it must
+overleap the mountain, or, following the galleries by which the miners
+have already penetrated to its centre, become a subterranean city,
+before it can hope to rival even a suburb of its gigantic sponsor.
+
+We had much difficulty in scaling the hill; the track was knee-deep in
+heavy mud, and in trying to follow a narrow ledge, by which we
+calculated to avoid this impediment for a hundred yards, I----'s horse
+made a false step, and fairly rolled down a precipitous descent of some
+fifty feet into the road beneath, to the infinite amusement of a group
+of miners, who had probably been "guessing" that such a termination to
+our scramble was likely: they now swore that a better Racker[11] down
+hill they had never seen. I----d had thrown himself adroitly out of his
+seat on the upper side of the ledge the very instant of the brute's
+slip, and, being unhurt, soon caught the astonished nag, which remained
+quietly looking about by the bottom of the precipice, half buried in an
+avalanche of shingle and small coal he had loosened in his course.
+
+Once on the summit of this coal-hill, the plan of the growing city of
+manufacture lay displayed as on a chart beneath our feet, together with
+a great extent of country, and the course and character of the two fine
+rivers which, combined at this spot, take henceforward the name and
+style of the Ohio, or River of Beauty.
+
+The course of the muddy Monongahela is north-west; and, from about
+north-east, the clear, lively Alleghany comes bounding into it,
+breasting its turbid waters, and bearing their heavy mass back by its
+brisk charge close against the western bank, whence, side by side, they
+take their downward course, but each preserving its distinctive
+character and colour for a considerable distance; divided by a pretty
+verdant island, about a couple of miles below their junction, they each
+embrace a moiety of it, renewing their churlish fellowship once more
+when this obstacle is passed.
+
+The town stands upon a small alluvial delta, of a triangular form, at
+the exact point of union between the rivers,--a spot so lovely, that, as
+I looked upon it, much as I respect manufactures, I found myself
+involuntarily wishing that fate had reserved it for some less dirty
+purpose. As the city grows, it must of necessity climb the steep bluffs
+by which it is encompassed; and on these it is not too much to imagine,
+at no far period, the squares, terraces, and crescents of a wealthy and
+public-spirited community; whilst, within the crowded triangle beneath,
+the clang of the noisy steam-engine and the black smoke will lie
+drowned, and along the narrow strips of level soil skirting its rivers
+will rise the warehouses and wharves of its commerce.
+
+To the north of the Alleghany you see the little town of that name, with
+one or two buildings conspicuous, at this distance, for their size:
+this, too, is united to Pittsburg by a bridge of great apparent
+lightness and strength.
+
+From the abutting hill whence we took our first long survey of this
+congeries of future cities, we took a western course, following the line
+of the Ohio; but holding to the high lands, till coming back, when we
+made a _détour_ to the north, and thus got frequent and fine views of
+the neighbourhood.
+
+The country appears generally hilly, with rich glens and valleys lying
+between, having numerous streams of clear living water, and presenting
+every proof of exhaustless mineral wealth; hence its adoption by the
+industrious swarm whose fires darken the sky by night and day.
+
+The day after this, I----d embarked on board a steamer for Louisville,
+on his way to join the head-quarters of his corps, somewhere upon the
+Missouri. The Republic allows no sinecure pay to its soldiers: most of
+these gallant men pass the best half of their lives upon the frontier,
+wasted by sickness, removed far from society or sympathy, poorly paid
+and worse thanked, enjoying very little present consideration, and
+without hope of future fame. It must require an ardent imagination, and
+all the romance with which poetry has invested sword and feather, to
+keep an American soldier to his colours in this time of peace; as, on a
+sober worldly view, his appears the least enviable condition to be
+found in the community.
+
+I on this day took a solitary ride up the Monongahela, and visited the
+scene of Bradock's defeat and death. I found it all snugly fenced in,
+and under good cultivation. An intelligent farmer, who was on the spot,
+good-naturedly undertook, in answer to an inquiry I made, to act as
+_cicerone_. The localities appeared like a book to him: he told where
+the French lay _perdu_; pointed out the cover from whence the British
+advanced, to be repulsed headlong; where they, according to his legend,
+were re-formed, and once more thrust forward, to be again, and finally,
+overthrown.
+
+I understood the minutest details of the whole affair, as well as the
+positions occupied by French, English, Indians, and Virginians, before
+my good-natured guide appeared quite satisfied; at least, I was forced,
+out of consideration for my own time and his patience, to say so much,
+and with many thanks to leave him: not, however, until he had urged me
+strongly to come home and take tea with his wife, or at least take a
+drink with him; one or both of which I pledged myself to do on a future
+occasion.
+
+It was not a little amusing, at this distant day, to observe the ardour
+with which my guide canvassed the lost fight, of which he had read, as
+he informed me, twenty different accounts.
+
+"It was a shame," he said, "a right-down sin, and a throwin' away of
+men's lives, ever to have put them under Bradock's command," whom he
+accused of having "no more military gumption than a goose."--"Why," he
+said, "two companies of British grenadiers would have eat every
+_crapaud_ on the ground, if they'd bin let to go round and in at one end
+o' the ditch, instead of walking right straight up hill agin' the loaded
+muzzles of guns they couldn't see, only by the smoke out o' the long
+grass."
+
+Then he would take off his hat, wipe his brow, and fairly knock it
+against his knee with vexation at the British defeat.
+
+"Why, sir," he said, at the same time grasping my thigh, where I sat in
+my saddle, with an energy that brought tears into my eyes,--"why,
+mister, just do you look up at that little knoll to the right; the place
+warn't cleared then, and there was a heap o' dead timber lying
+there-bout. Well, sir, Washington sent, out of his own head,--for he
+warn't a deal thought on then, you see,--a company of Virginians to try
+the trees for it. Well, now just look where they were fixed by that
+move, right over the _crapauds_,--every mother's son o' them Virginians
+good for a squirrel at fifty yards. I'm d----d if they wouldn't have
+used up every human of a Frenchman behind the drain, if it had been left
+to a settlement between them, and if the English would only quietly ha'
+looked on, and kept Johnny from breaking cover and treeing it."
+
+"And why the devil didn't they use them up?" I here demanded, to give my
+vexed informant time to breathe.
+
+"I'll tell you why, if you don't know. Why, because that d----d Bradock
+was blind as well as deaf, and took the Virginians for inimies; so, not
+bein' able to get at Johnny, he slamm'd it right smash into them, and
+killed the biggest half on 'em as they were tryin' to run back to their
+own side. Sir, it was nothin' better than an eternal murder, and Bradock
+ought to have swung for it; but he was shot down, somehow or other, and
+died amongst better men, only shootin' was a sight too good for him."
+
+Taking the statement of my friend for the ground of my opinion, I left
+him, at once amused by his enthusiasm and informed by his intelligence.
+
+I did purpose keeping tryst with my new acquaintance, and having the
+battle fought over again, when I might have been able to do some justice
+to the force and spirit of his narration; but other routes were to be
+visited, and my time was limited to a few days: so we met no more.
+
+On another day I rode by the United States' Arsenal, a fine building,
+inclosing some acres. It is well situated, near the banks of the
+Alleghany, about two miles out of the town. This is one of the most
+considerable _depôts_ for arms and ordnance stores to be found in the
+Western country.
+
+From this I pursued my way up the river for a mile or two, to where, at
+a pretty quiet spot, I observed a boat just leaving the bank for the
+north side. I hailed the ferryman, and he returned immediately, when,
+adding myself and nag to his freight, he again commenced pulling up the
+stream, assisted by a couple of curly-headed urchins, his sons, two out
+of twelve, as he laughingly told me; adding, that they were capital
+helps.
+
+We had a couple of market-waggons aboard the flat, each drawn by a pair
+of horses. The river, I fancied, was here about as wide as the Thames at
+Southwark, running clear and strong; the banks tolerably bold, very
+regular, and fringed by a luxuriant growth of various trees and
+water-loving shrubs. On the other side I fell on the Pennsylvania canal,
+and I for a mile followed the line by which it approaches the town of
+Alleghany, till, coming to a rough high hill, I was tempted to try the
+ascent, which, after a good deal of ducking and scrambling, I
+accomplished.
+
+The prospect from the summit amply repaid me: at my feet lay the growing
+town of Alleghany, which stands on a fine alluvial plain affording ample
+space for a city as large as Pekin; with two ports, one on the
+Alleghany, the other on the Ohio. I here traced the course of the canal
+to the aqueduct on which it crosses the river. Two fine steamers, with
+their galleried decks tier over tier, were stemming the current, each
+looking like the old wood-cut of Noah's Ark,--houses built upon rafts,
+of three stories high, with balconies running round them, the whole
+being covered by inclined roofs. Many of the picturesque-looking keels
+found here were also working up for the quays; and the waters just
+before the busy town presented a strange contrast to the view either up
+or down the rivers, where all was tranquil and solitary as when the
+light _pirogue_ of the adventurous _voyageur_ first timidly skimmed
+along by their rich shores, sending the startled deer to the mountain
+and drawing the watchful savage down.
+
+How to get back was now a consideration without retracing my steps, to
+do which I had neither the instinct nor the inclination. I pushed for a
+near wood, from which I perceived smoke stealthily curling over the tree
+tops; and, after a long threading of the thicket, stumbled upon a little
+colony of charcoal-burners, the blackest and the merriest devils I ever
+met: they might have been Iroquois, or negroes, from their colour; but
+the first reply I got to my hail rendered any inquiry as to country
+unnecessary.
+
+"Hola! my friend," shouted I at the top of my voice, as a tall,
+half-naked being stalked out of one of the huts, from which I was
+separated by a deep ravine; "pray step this way for one moment."
+
+The man did as I desired, without a word; a couple of attendant imps
+hanging on to the strings of his knees.
+
+"I'm sorry to trouble you," I added, as he drew within easy
+speaking-distance; "but the fact is, I have lost my road, and fear to
+lose my dinner."
+
+"I'faith, thin, sir, if you'll tell me where-abouts you lost the road
+I'll find you the dinner, and go and look for the road while you're
+atein' it: with the blessing o' God, it will be the first road I seen
+since I've bin this side o' Pittsburg, to say the laste."
+
+"Maybe you've seen a fine aisy-goin' road betune Cork and Cove?" I
+replied, in the same accent.
+
+"Maybe I hav'nt," grinned the pleased charcoal-burner, laughing from ear
+to ear. "Och murder! you're the devil, sure! wasn't it the last ten
+miles I ever toed of Irish ground? Long life to you, sir! wait till I
+call the wife. Molly ashtore, come out av id, for here's a witch of a
+gintleman here. Jem, you robber, go and bid your mammy stir herself and
+come here."
+
+Away ran Jem and his brother, or rather flew, for their feathers were
+fluttering in the air. I laughed immoderately whilst my countryman,
+with the most puzzled air, exclaimed,
+
+"Och murder! but it's the quarest thing alive. Sure you must have know'd
+us?"
+
+He was now joined by his wife and two or three others of the little
+family, who all appeared nearly of an age. Poor Molly, the Mistress,
+looked weak and haggard, and told me she "had the shakes on her for the
+last six months." She was affected to tears when her husband told her of
+my witchcraft, in knowing where they were from, and joined in begging
+that "I'd come round and take a bite o' cake and a sup o' spirits and
+water, to keep me from feelin' faint till I got to my dinner."
+
+I requested, however, as my time was short, that one of the little ones
+might at once put me on the nearest track by which I would reach the
+bridge; and finding I would not accept their hospitality, the father of
+the family, attended by Jem, walked along with me to where a bridle-path
+led on to a waggon-track, which he desired me to pursue. Here I left my
+friendly countryman, and with a "God send you safe home, sir!" he turned
+to his own humble dwelling, to think with a full heart of that distant
+home my chance visit had recalled in all its freshness, and which,
+although he may never look to revisit, no son of poor Ireland ever
+forgets.
+
+A circuitous route led me on to the main road, pursuing which I soon
+reached the bridge; but on my way through the street was struck with the
+growing air of this place, which I cannot help thinking is one day
+destined to be the great city of the river of beauty.
+
+I entered the smoky Pittsburg, more than ever charmed with the scenery
+amidst which it is seated, still beautiful despite the ravages of the
+miner and the pollution of steam, smoke, charcoal, and all the other
+useful abominations attendant upon the manufacture of iron, glass,
+pottery, &c. The wealth and various attractions of this rich heiress of
+Nature have proved her undoing.
+
+The greatest ravage which I had to mourn, because it appeared carried to
+a wanton and heedless extent, was the havoc everywhere making with
+barbarous and indiscriminate zeal amongst the neighbouring timber. I
+looked about upon the nearest hills, many of which are already bare,
+denuded of every shrub; and sorrowed to think that even such others as
+yet rejoiced in their rich forest garb were but enjoying a brief
+respite from the axe and flame, being assuredly condemned and marked for
+destruction.
+
+Every man here, in fact, is at work "for his own hand;" and as each
+proprietor is desirous to make the most he can of his acres, these burn
+and destroy on all sides, never feeling satisfied that their land is
+cleared whilst a single tree lives to tell where once the forest waved.
+
+In noticing the well-fenced fields, the comfortable dwellings,
+substantial offices, and generally excellent condition of these farms,
+one can hardly credit the history of the settlement of this Western
+country, when it is considered that, amongst these well-cleared and
+well-cultivated fields, within the memory of living men, the Indian
+ranged and the uncouth buffalo herded, and that the first "white-man"
+born west of the Alleghany is still living: by the way, a whimsical
+anecdote relating to this gentleman is current in Pittsburg, and which I
+here relate as I myself received it.
+
+At a public dinner, Mr. R----, the person alluded to, being present, had
+his health proposed and cordially drunk, as "the first white man born
+west of the Alleghany." Now Mr. R---- happening to be very
+dark-complexioned, a waggish countryman of mine, who was seated next to
+him, could not help adding, with a sly air, having repeated the toast,
+"and not particularly white either."
+
+"Why that's very true," returned the subject of this jest, with much
+good-humour; "and the reason assigned for the exceeding redness of my
+skin is in itself not a little illustrative of the late condition of our
+country, which is, in fact, the true subject of this toast.
+
+"Shortly after my father had located his family on the Ohio, my mother
+was, whilst in the act of fetching water from the stream a little way
+outside the stockade within which our dwelling stood, startled by the
+near whoop of an Indian warrior, and, on raising her head, perceived
+close beside her a chief of the neighbouring tribe; she instantly fled
+like a deer; and, being young and active, gained the shelter of the
+stockade, within which, however, she fell exhausted, but was so
+preserved. Some time after I was ushered into life; and the darkness of
+my complexion was always referred to the chance of my mother having been
+thus frightened and followed by the young Indian."
+
+"And a mighty natural mode of accounting for the same," replied Pat;
+adding with a most provoking air of simplicity, "but may I ask did you
+ever hear your poor mother say whether the Indian overtook her or not?"
+
+The last night I acted here was made memorable by the jovial condition
+of a couple of the leading members of the corps dramatic, and as it
+chanced, diplomatic. The play was "The Irish Ambassador," and the first
+news I had of my principal colleague, his Excellency the representative
+of his most Catholic Majesty, was, that he had arrived, but in a state
+unfit for our purposed conference, having been rendered utterly
+incapable by an imprudent application of gin cock-tail, prescribed, as
+his Excellency himself assured me with tears in his eyes, as a sovereign
+remedy for a disorganized state of nerves, to which he was unhappily
+subject.
+
+An excuse was made for the unavoidable absence of the Spanish minister,
+on the score of ill-health; and the indulgence of the meeting requested
+for one of the _attachés_, who had boldly undertaken to read the absent
+diplomatist's instructions at first sight. This point got over, we
+proceeded smoothly, as might be expected, until the period when his
+Highness the Grand-duke was required in person, when it became evident
+that, through sympathy or some cause less sentimental, the Prince too
+was royally rocky: availing himself of his rank however, he made shift
+to reach a chair, and, aided by the support it afforded, maintained his
+place at the conference.
+
+Nothing could exceed the charitable forbearance with which this
+republican assemblage looked upon the fallen condition of royalty:
+whether they judged that it was no way out of character for a German
+sovereign and the possessor of a hock-cellar to be fuddled, or whether
+they considered that this was no bad specimen of royalty to exhibit to
+their children's contempt, I know not; but, happily, the signs of their
+displeasure fell lightly on his Highness, and our negotiation was at
+length, though lamely, brought to a conclusion.
+
+On Tuesday the 8th of April, at eight o'clock P.M. I once more took my
+place in the Good Intent, to re-cross the Alleghanies; when, turning our
+backs upon the River of Beauty, we slowly traversed the dark streets of
+its sooty neighbour; for, strange to tell, although the material for gas
+lies at their doors in exhaustless abundance, and although they use a
+great quantity of coal-coke for manufacturing purposes, the streets
+remain as dark as the extremity of their deepest mine on a holiday.
+
+This too, I found upon inquiry, was by the good citizens laid to the
+account of the "removal of the deposits." "It is enough," they say, "for
+one side to originate a question, however obviously excellent and
+desirable, to have the antagonist party oppose it, and make the measure
+a new watchword to try battle on."
+
+I was informed of one spirited individual having offered to light the
+place with gas on his own risk, but, as a matter of course, he was
+immediately opposed by both parties; and so matters will rest, until the
+good people, wearied of being kept in the dark, open the eyes of their
+divided corporation; and in those days will the Pittsburgians cease to
+walk in darkness, and become what, considering the quantity of coal they
+possess, they are well entitled to be,--a gas-enlightened community.
+
+It was raining when we departed, and continued to rain all night, as we
+weltered through the mud. Next morning, although a shower yet fell, I
+became so weary of the close confinement of the stage, that I alighted
+at the foot of Laurel Hill, and, putting stoutly forth, pushed on ahead
+of the heavy vehicle. The road winds about the steep side of the
+mountain, and from several points affords grand views of the forest,
+valleys, and humbler hills below. The early shrubs were already putting
+forth abundant leaf and blossom, for the winter had been singularly
+mild, and the quiet air was impregnated with sweetness.
+
+When very near the top of the mountain,--for the ascent is full four
+miles,--I encountered one of those groups which appear in constant
+progress along the great Western line. The extent, however, of the
+present caravan made it peculiarly interesting. It consisted of five
+long, well-covered waggons, each drawn by eight or six horses, was
+attended by three or four led nags, and a number of dogs of various
+denominations. The occupants of the waggons were women and children: the
+faces of the chubby rogues were all crowded in front to look upon the
+passing stranger, with here and there a shining ebony phiz thrust
+between; the chief freight appeared to consist of household furniture
+and agricultural implements.
+
+By the side of these waggons first rode four or five horsemen, well
+mounted, who might be the principals of the party, for they were men
+past the meridian of life; straggling in the rear, or scattered along
+the edges of the forest, walked eight or nine younger men,
+rough-and-ready-looking fellows, each with his rifle in his hand. Wild
+pigeons abounded along the cover-edge, and the sharp crack which every
+now and then rang through the thin air of morning told that the hunters
+were dealing upon them.
+
+From the construction of the waggons, as well as because their owners
+evinced no inclination either to hold communion or exchange civilities
+with a passing wayfarer, which no Southern ever fails to do, I concluded
+this to be a party of New England men, who, abandoning their worn-out
+native fields, were pushing on for the "far West" with the lightness of
+heart consequent on the surety of reaping a brave harvest from a soil
+which withholds abundance from none who possess hearts and arms to task
+it.
+
+With what apparent indifference, if not positive pleasure, do the people
+of this country quit their ancient homes, and wander forth in search of
+new ones, to be again, in turn, deserted, if not by themselves, by their
+restless and enterprising children! The Tartar habit of movement and
+frequent change, which is, I fancy, natural to man, finds in no country
+at the present age such inviting facilities as are offered in this, nor
+could a people be found who more fully enjoy them.
+
+I looked upon this well-ordered, sober party with much pleasure; and as
+I stood upon the mountain top, and thence watched their downward track,
+I found my mind actively employed picturing their after progress and
+accompanying the line of their long travel. First, came their repose and
+rest, as in their plentifully-furnished flat they slowly drifted down
+the smooth course of the near Ohio; then, their after-journeying through
+the wilderness in search of a pleasant spot on which to rear their huts
+and make to themselves a home; now followed their early and
+long-enduring toil, accompanied perhaps by the sickness of their
+children and the pining of their women, whose sensibilities, more acute
+than those of men, ever revert in seasons of sadness to the far-off
+places their young days made pleasant; and, lastly, when, after years
+had passed away, and that their well-fenced fields were teeming with a
+plenteous harvest, I beheld their sons gathering together their
+inheritance and setting forth in search of another new country, within
+which they might resume the toil of their fathers. Man may change the
+scene of his labour, but the evil of his condition is not to be evaded;
+and alike, from the most fertile as from the most barren soil, by the
+sweat of his brow must his bread be won.
+
+I here waited, sheltered by a rocky projection, until the stage came up.
+The continuance of the rain effectually prevented me from indulging in
+any more walks this day; the tedium of the journey however, whilst light
+lasted, was greatly relieved by the constant changes of mountain
+scenery, as viewed through an atmosphere now wildly clear and again
+thick and gloomy.
+
+I found considerable amusement also in calculating the fair odds against
+our being pitched into some one of the many deep ravines along whose
+edge we were, when going down hill, whirled with startling speed. It was
+at these descents that the driver sought to pull up his lost time; and
+this he did with a recklessness of consequences that led me, after
+mature consideration, aided by the experience of much rough travel, to
+come to the following conclusion,--that, in crossing the Alleghany
+mountains, when the roads are rotten and slippery, the chances for and
+against a broken neck are so nearly equal that no sporting man, of any
+liberality, need desire to seek odds, should he feel inclined to make a
+bet before commencing the journey.
+
+We at times encountered a string of waggons at some narrow sharp turn of
+the corkscrew path, and were whirled by them, with our off-wheels
+curiously circling the unguarded ledge of a precipice some four or five
+hundred feet deep, where a wheel-horse suddenly jibbing, or a leader
+shying or falling, would, in all human probability, have provided the
+wolves and bears with a banquet, and the journalists with a neat
+paragraph, headed, "Melancholy result of fast driving, attended with
+serious loss of valuable lives."
+
+The practice is for the team to be put on a run the moment they gain the
+summit of a hill; and, if all things hold out, this is kept up until the
+bottom be reached: the horses are excellent, and rarely fail. On my
+asking the coachman,--by whom I rode as much as possible,--what he did
+in the event of a wheel-horse coming down in a steep pass, he replied,
+"Why, I keep driving ahead, and drag him along;"--an accident which he
+assured me had occurred more than once to himself when the roads were
+encrusted with ice and snow: the passengers at such times are placed in
+sleighs, which are perhaps less dangerous.
+
+On the morning of Thursday we once more arrived at the frontier town of
+the low-lands of Pennsylvania,--Chambersburg; and here I quitted the
+"Good Intent" line, transferring myself, servant, and kit to the
+Baltimore stage; and at three o'clock A.M. on Friday, I was set down,
+cold and weary and wet, at the door of Barnum's hotel. A few thundering
+knocks brought down the porter, and I was admitted within shelter of the
+well-warmed hall, with
+
+"Och murther alive! Mr. Power, is it yerself, sir? Why, thin, you're
+welcome!"
+
+And in five minutes after, I was in a comfortable chamber, and a blazing
+fire of wood rising under the inspection of my Irish porter. Anxious to
+conclude my journey, I desired him to rouse me in time for the eight
+o'clock stage to Washington, though, Heaven knows, I could have slept
+for twelve hours at the least; and so tumbled into bed whilst the man
+was yet regretting the "mighty haste" I was in.
+
+By nine A.M. I was once more rolling off the pavement of the monumental
+city. But what a change was I experiencing! The sun shone cheerily, as
+though rejoicing in his conquest over the cold mass which had so long
+imprisoned him, and all around appeared to hail his presence with
+gladness: the wind was light and mild, the road, which I had seen two
+months before all but impassable, was now, by comparison, excellent, and
+the surrounding country, then so bleak and bare, was now rejoicing in
+the beauty of early spring. My fatigue was all forgotten, and I enjoyed
+my present ride as though I had not before known what a bone-breaking
+jolt was.
+
+At two o'clock P.M. Washington once more lay beneath me, with the broad
+Potomac beyond, looking like a currentless transparent lake, clipped
+about by finely wooded irregular heights, and navigated by faëry barks.
+Such was the aspect this noble river presented, and just such the little
+fleet of fishing-boats scattered over its bosom, busied in pursuit of
+the shad and the herring, now coming into season.
+
+To my great joy, I found my excellent friend, Captain B----n, was still
+resident at Fuller's: my old rooms had that day been vacated for me, a
+few hours beheld me comfortably installed, and the rough-work of the
+past trip across the backbone of the continent only served to enhance
+my present enjoyments.
+
+The Impressions left by my present residence I have already given in an
+embodied form to the reader. I shall therefore beg him to accompany me
+back to Philadelphia, and thence _viâ_ Princeton to New York.
+
+_May 26th._--A lovely morning: landed from the Delaware steamer at
+Bordenton, and rode thence to Princeton on horseback, sixteen miles;
+passing two royal residences by the way, first, that of Joseph
+Buonaparte, and next a queer-looking, low, quadrangular building,
+inhabited by one of the sons of Joachim Murat, ex-king of Naples. On
+reaching the hospitable house to which I was bound at Princeton, I
+encountered the prince, paying a visit to my friend Mr. T----n. He is a
+tall, robust-looking personage, very fat, and fond of race-horses; but
+has not, as I learn, been over-lucky on the turf.
+
+One can never meet and contemplate any of these far-flung fragments of
+Napoleon's mighty empire without reverting with renewed interest to the
+founder of so much unlooked-for though brief greatness. Sheltered
+beneath his Titan ægis these new-made monarchs flourished, and ruffled
+it with the best of Europe's princes; until, grown vain of their fancied
+power, they deserted their shield and shelter, leaving it to abide
+unsustained the assault of an outraged world, and, whilst, forgetful of
+their origin, seeking to stand alone, were shattered into atoms by its
+fall!
+
+What a capricious climate is this! On Tuesday the 27th of May, I rode
+from Princeton to Brunswick, on a day as sultry as a July afternoon ever
+is in England; the heavy showers of the 25th had so saturated the sandy
+soil that no particle of dust could float, and the verdure of wood and
+valley was bright and refreshing to look upon. Yet here we are in New
+York, on the 28th, with large fires burning within, a north-east wind
+blowing without, attended by alternate sleet and showers, with fog and
+every other atmospheric misery most grievous to humanity. This sample of
+"the spring-time of the year" continued tolerably regular until
+
+_June 6th._--This day the sun is fairly on duty again. Rode to the
+course on Long Island, the third day of the present meeting, to witness
+a race which had called up North and South to arms. Trifle--a little
+mare of Colonel Johnson's, the Nestor of the American turf--had come on
+from Virginia to be entered against Shark, the property of Captain
+Robert Stockton, about to run his first four-mile race, a horse much was
+expected from. Alice Grey, the mare which I had seen beaten easily by
+Trifle at the fall meeting, was the only other entry expected to be made
+good; so that the thing was considered as a match between the two horses
+first named. For the only time I saw ladies present in considerable
+numbers, and was sorry that the gallantry of my sporting friends had not
+provided them with a more becoming stand.
+
+All was tiptoe expectation; but the anticipated sport fell through,
+owing to the ill condition of Shark. He was, from some cause or other,
+as completely out of order as an animal could well be, and ought
+properly to have been drawn. His spirited owner was, however, absent in
+Europe, and the friends who acted for him decided that he should do his
+best. Two heats, run in very indifferent time, decided the affair; and
+the little pet of the Southerners was once more hailed _victrix_.
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[11] Racking is a sort of shuffling gait, easy, I believe, to both horse
+and rider, when both are broken to it, and much followed throughout the
+West.
+
+
+
+
+THE HUDSON.
+
+
+With expectations highly raised, and for a long time cultivated and
+encouraged by an eager inspection of all the prints I could collect, and
+a perusal of glowing descriptions in both prose and poetry, did I at
+length wake on the morning which was to introduce me to the beauties of
+this vaunted river.
+
+My first act was to rush to my window, and throw open shutter and sash.
+It was six o'clock, the sun was up, and the sky cloudless; thanking my
+lucky star, which had prevailed to my wish, I hurried through my toilet,
+and away to the foot of Courtland-street, from whose wharf the steamboat
+Champion was advertised to start at seven A.M. Punctual to the hour, we
+slipped our moorings, and in a minute were gallantly heading up the
+Hudson, breasting its current at the rate of fifteen miles per hour.
+
+Hoboken and its Elysian fields were passed like lightning. Casting one
+backward glance, I perceived Jersey city floating indistinctly in the
+golden haze of morning; whilst the yet more distant heights of Long and
+Staten Islands, with the dividing Narrows, showed like two dusky clouds
+with a pathway of silver drawn between.
+
+I was first struck by a near view of that singular range of cliff, the
+Palisadoes, so named from the face of the rock bearing a resemblance to
+a gigantic stockade rising from the bank of the river, along whose
+southern side it is continued for a considerable distance. Lee's Fort is
+pointed out; the Tappan Zee is next entered, upon whose border lies the
+scene of poor André's capture; and farther on is the point from which
+the traitor Arnold made his timely flight.
+
+All these, with other memorable sites, are in turn pointed out, glanced
+at, and rapidly left behind. But I am free to confess historical
+associations were lost upon me; they awakened no sympathy in my mind; it
+was absorbed, filled, bewildered, in the admiration which each
+rapidly-opening point awakened, for never before this fair morning had
+such a succession of matchless river views passed before my delighted
+eyes.
+
+"Write down your first impressions of scenery when fairly viewed, and
+your descriptions will at least have correctness to recommend them."
+Somebody, I know, says something very like this; and I have hitherto
+quoted it as an axiom: but alas! what rule, however sage, but meets
+exceptions; for what man endowed with any ordinary share of devotion to
+Nature, and admiration of her handiwork, dare venture to set down his
+first impressions of this enchanting Hudson whilst the overwhelming
+influence it creates is yet dazzling his imagination! I say
+overwhelming, because such, in sober truth, was its first effect on me.
+
+I was at times unable to venture the expression of all I felt even to
+myself: I sought to avoid the intelligent friends who accompanied me,
+and am not ashamed to add, that, albeit "unused to the melting mood," I
+here was affected almost to weakness. There might, perhaps, have been
+chords awakened that helped this fancy; but in no mood could an
+enthusiast of Nature, I think, feel otherwise than "rapt" when free for
+the first time to view, on such a day, such glorious magic pass before
+his sight; for, in our rapid flight, I could compare the effect of all I
+saw to glamour only.
+
+The grape-covered steeps of the old Rhine, the mountain-enshrined lochs
+of our Hielans, with their clear blue waters, and the sweet valleys in
+which the little lakes of Killarney are set like gems,--all are lovely,
+and all of these appear to me to have contributed models for this
+masterpiece, each to be equalled, if not surpassed.
+
+But I must check my pen, since disjointed eulogium will do little
+towards satisfying the curious or silencing the sceptical; and for
+description in reasonable detail, worthy the subject, only one hand in
+our age has existed endowed by nature to grapple with such a task, and
+that wizard hand lies mouldering now beneath the ruins of Dryburg Abbey!
+
+Above West Point and the pass of the highlands the river expands
+grandly, forming the Bay of Newburg. The town of this name lies prettily
+spread along the face of a gently rising hill; and in a meadow at the
+foot of the town stands a venerable-looking stone-built house, rendered
+memorable from having been the residence of Washington when at this
+place; which, bordering upon his stronghold, the highlands, was often
+his head-quarters.
+
+On the opposite side of the river, deep within the bight of the bay,
+lies the stirring town of Fish-kill, occupied by a colony originally
+from the island of Nantucket, who carry on from this place their
+adventurous trade of whale-fishing; and appear, indeed, to have roused
+their neighbours of Newburg and Hudson to imitate their enterprise; many
+ships, the joint property of the most spirited of the community, being
+now yearly fitted out in these places, and sent to hunt the sperm-whale
+about the world.
+
+Above this bay the river again narrows, and the scenery upon its banks
+assumes a softer character: spacious meadows with well-cultivated lands
+stretch widely to the distant wooded heights; the bold outline of the
+highlands is drawn about the rear; and in front the loftier Catskills
+push their rugged peaks amongst the clouds.
+
+From Poughkeepsie, numerous country seats occupy the now park-like banks
+of the river to the north, which, although lying from eighty to one
+hundred miles distant from New York, may be yet considered reasonably
+near; for six or seven hours brings the boat up, and in the course of
+the day there do not pass fewer than five or six. On this morning I met
+on board the Champion Messrs. W----'s and L----e, on their way to the
+summer abode of their families: they were landed at Hyde Park, ninety
+miles distant from New York, before one o'clock.
+
+By half past five we were laid alongside the wharf of Albany, having
+steamed one hundred and sixty miles in ten hours and a half, including
+many stoppages of perhaps a couple of minutes each; and nothing can be
+more readily executed than one of these pulls-up, with the discharge or
+reception of luggage or passengers.
+
+
+
+
+ALBANY.
+
+
+This is the capital of the powerful state of New York, and promises at
+no very distant period to wear an aspect worthy its rank. No situation
+was ever chosen better adapted to display; for the town is built over
+the face of a lofty and steep hill, which only affords space for one or
+two streets about its foot, and this is chiefly occupied by docks and
+the several canal basins connected with the Hudson.
+
+The principal avenue, a regularly built, grandly proportioned street,
+with a railway running through its centre, climbs directly up the hill,
+and is terminated by a well-kept public square, or _Grande Place_, as
+the French would call it, about which the State House, City Hall, and
+other public buildings are ranged. These striking objects, from the
+nature of the ground, stand boldly out, and have all an appearance
+sufficiently imposing; whilst here are some buildings that possess
+strong claims to architectural beauty.
+
+Nearly all the more important public offices have lofty and
+well-proportioned domes; and these being uniformly covered with tin or
+other bright metal, impart a gay and picturesque effect to the general
+mass; and, indeed, the city, viewed from a little distance, with all
+these cupolas and towering domes reflected in the setting sun, assumes
+quite an Oriental appearance: one is immediately reminded of the mosque
+and minaret of some Turkish capital: the fine marble too used in the
+construction of all public buildings, and indeed of many private ones,
+increases the effect which they derive from their style and from the
+bold eminence they occupy.
+
+Albany was long almost exclusively Dutch, and may be said up to this
+time to have hardly kept pace with the rapid advance of the country
+generally: it must have marvelled at the spread of the numerous
+flourishing towns which have grown up around within a few years, and
+which threatened to eclipse, if not extinguish it wholly. A movement,
+however, has of late taken place: the inhabitants have awoke, new
+colonists have superseded the family from Sleepy-hollow, or imparted to
+them a share of their energy; and Albany begins to assert her claims on
+the productive country by which she is backed, and to turn into her own
+channel a portion of its commerce. Building is everywhere going forward;
+land has doubled and trebled in value; improvements are in steady
+progress; and, should the present prosperous course of things meet with
+no untoward check to paralyse the industry of the people, Albany will in
+a few years assume an importance more profitable to its citizens than
+the empty honour it derives from being styled the capital of the State.
+
+There are several excellent inns here: one kept by an Englishman, a Mr.
+Thomas, in which I dined once or twice with friends, and which bears a
+high reputation; another, wherein I always resided on my several visits
+here, kept by Mr. Crutenden; and if henceforward any stranger who
+relishes good fare, loves Shakspeare, and would choose to make the
+acquaintance of a Transatlantic Falstaff, passes through Albany without
+calling at the Eagle, and cracking a bottle with "mine host," he will
+have missed one of those days he would not have failed to mark with a
+white stone.
+
+Soberly, I do not remember ever to have met with a face and figure
+which, were I a painter, I would so readily adopt for a _beau-idéal_ of
+the profligate son of mirth and mischief as those of mine host o' th'
+Eagle. He has a fellow feeling too with "lean Jack," is as well read in
+Shakspeare as most good men, quotes him fluently and happily, honours
+and loves him as he should be loved and honoured, and in himself
+possesses much of the humour, much of the native wit, but not a single
+trait of the less admirable portions of the fat knight's character.
+
+Indebted to Mr. Crutenden for many pleasant hours, I will offer no
+excuse for making this indifferent sketch of him here, since it in no
+way trenches upon the rule I hold sacred of eschewing comment on private
+persons, or details of social intercourse, where indeed, men speak
+oftener from the heart than from the head. Mr. C. I look upon as a
+public character, and thus I am enabled to say how much I esteem him.
+Should he be wroth, I vow, if I ever should visit Albany again, never to
+make one at the "Feast of Shells." On the contrary, I'll fly the Eagle;
+forswear "the villanous company" of mine host; I'll disclaim him,
+renounce him, "and d--n me if ever I call him Jack again."
+
+The theatre here is a handsome building, and well adapted to the
+purpose for which it was designed; but is, I believe, worse supported
+than any other on this continent. I had been advised not to visit the
+city professionally; but being strongly solicited by the worthy manager,
+"mischief lay in my way, and I found it."
+
+I feel compelled in honesty to state the facts of this trip, though no
+way flattering to my powers of attraction: however, if there be anything
+unpleasant to relate, I ever find it better to tell of oneself, than
+leave it to the charity of good-natured friends. The only disagreement I
+ever had with an audience, in fact, occurred here, and roundly, thus it
+happened.
+
+On the evening when I was advertised to make my _début_ to an Albany
+audience, I at my usual hour walked to the house, dressed, and was
+ready; but when, half an hour after the time of beginning, I went on to
+the stage, there were not ten persons in the house. The stage-director
+and myself now held a consultation on the unpromising aspect of our
+affairs. He ascribed the unusually deserted condition of the _salle_ to
+the sultry and threatening state of the atmosphere, which had deterred
+the neighbouring towns of Troy and Waterford from furnishing their
+quota,--those indeed being his chief dependencies. I was opposed, on
+policy, to throwing away our ammunition so unprofitably; and so after
+due deliberation, the manager agreed to state to the few persons in
+front, that "with their permission" the performances intended for this
+night would be postponed until the evening after the next following; as,
+in consequence of the exceeding smallness of the audience, it was to be
+feared the play would prove dull to them, as it must be irksome to the
+actors.
+
+Nothing could be received with better feeling on the part of the persons
+assembled; not a breath of disapprobation was heard. They instantly went
+away; but soon after I reached home, I found, by the report of one or
+two gentlemen who had since been at the theatre seeking admittance, that
+a considerable excitement prevailed, and that at the public bars of the
+neighbourhood the affair was detailed in a way likely to produce
+unpleasant effects on my first appearance.
+
+The appointed night came, the house was filled with men, and everything
+foreboded a violent outbreak; the manager appeared terrified out of his
+wits; but, as far as I can judge, behaved with infinite honesty;
+disavowed the truth of the imputations connected with the dismissal,
+and which it was sought to fasten upon me; and affirmed that he was
+fully prepared to place the facts simply before the audience, in the
+event of my suffering any interruption.
+
+It was now found that an actor or two needed in the piece were absent.
+These worthies, the chief agitators in this affair, were, in fact, in
+front of the house to assist in the expected assault upon a stranger and
+one of their own profession. On this being explained to the manager, he
+said he was aware of it, and had threatened to discharge the
+individuals; but relying upon the affair terminating in my discomfiture,
+they did not fear being sustained by the same intelligence which they
+now directed against me.
+
+On my appearance the din was mighty deafening; the volunteer champions
+of the public had come well prepared, and every invention for making the
+voice of humanity bestial was present and in full use. The boxes I
+observed to be occupied by well-dressed men, who generally either
+remained neutral, or by signs sought that I should be heard. This,
+however, was out of the question; and after long and patient abiding,
+"for patience is the badge of all our tribe," I made my bow and
+retired, when the manager, who had on the night in question dismissed
+the house, made his bow, and, after silence was obtained, begged that
+the audience would give me a hearing, assuring them on his own knowledge
+that I had not contemplated insulting them.
+
+I again came forward, and after some time was permitted to say that I
+could in no way account for a simple matter of business being so
+misrepresented as to occasion this violent exhibition of their anger;
+that, before the audience in question was dismissed, its permission had
+been obtained; that, had I really contemplated insult, it is hardly
+probable I should wait two days to encounter the anger of those I had
+sought to offend. I farther said, that on the common principle which
+they professed, I was entitled to a hearing, since the sense of the
+majority was evidently with me; and that, if the disorder continued, I
+should, for the sake of that respectable majority, sincerely regret
+this, since the character of their city for justice and hospitality
+would be more impeached than my prospects be injured.
+
+After this the row was resumed with added fierceness: not a word of
+either play or farce was heard; but I persisted in going through with
+the performance, being determined not to dismiss a second time.
+
+At the fall of the curtain I begged the manager would not again announce
+me; as although, for the sake of the many who I could see were opposed
+to this misjudged outrage, I had gone through the business once, I could
+not again subject them to the annoyance of such a collision, or myself
+to continued insult.
+
+I was, however, happily induced to change this determination at the
+request of many gentlemen of the place, who assured me that the whole
+thing arose from stories most industriously circulated by one or two
+ill-conditioned actors, backed by inflammatory handbills and a
+scurrilous print.
+
+Out of this affair, which threatened me serious annoyance, I really
+gathered a new proof of the kindness of the people of this country, for
+I found persons on all sides interesting themselves for me, although I
+entered the place without an acquaintance; and, had I not stood in need
+of help, so in all probability should I have quitted it: but in this
+hour of annoyance, men not of theatrical habits put themselves actively
+forward to shield a calumniated stranger from insult or injury; in
+consequence of this interposition, on my next appearance, nothing could
+be more orderly than the conduct of the audience.
+
+I concluded my engagement, which was only for four nights, and left the
+theatre with a promise to return, which pledge, at some inconvenience, I
+redeemed; and I have never been able to regret a momentary vexation
+which obtained for me many friends, and made known to me the sterling
+good feeling existing in Albany, of which I might otherwise have
+remained ignorant.
+
+The rides about Albany are numerous, the roads the best in the country;
+and the little city of Troy, with its Mount Ida, worthy even the
+celestial visitants who honoured its less beautiful predecessor with
+their presence. Higher up lies Waterford, a thriving place, also
+charmingly situated; and, near this, the Fall of the Cohoos, one of the
+finest natural objects in the country. Indeed, a morning's ride in this
+direction offers a succession of views that can nowhere be surpassed,
+and which I do not remember to have often seen equalled.
+
+Approaching Albany from the west, and looking across the Hudson over
+the finely-wooded slopes and verdant meadows on which it fronts, it
+appears a city bordered by an ornamental park; to the south tower the
+cloud-capped Catskills; on the north are the blue mountains of Vermont;
+and about the verge of the landscape on all sides runs a line of boldly
+undulating hills, whose rugged outline forms no inappropriate framing to
+this very beautiful picture.
+
+It had been my intention from Albany to proceed directly for Niagara,
+and thence returning to Buffalo, join a steam-boat, which was advertised
+to make the tour of the great lakes, Superior and Erie, touching at
+Detroit and one or two other points of interest, then after visiting the
+new entrepôt for the territory of Michigan, Chicago, was to return with
+her passengers to Buffalo; the trip being one of pastime, and calculated
+to occupy about twenty days.
+
+This plan was, however, frustrated, through an application being made
+from the Polish committee of Philadelphia that I should act a night for
+the benefit of the fund raised for these exiles for liberty: back,
+therefore, I hurried to Philadelphia; arrived in the morning, acted at
+night, with the thermometer at ninety-seven, and was off again for New
+York by the mail-boat next day.
+
+I was anxious to get away west, to make the most of my holidays, and,
+being Sunday, this mail was the only public conveyance permitted through
+the State of Jersey. I however caution all thin-skinned travellers
+against using it any time between the first day of June and the last of
+October; for to run the gauntlet at night through the legions of
+musquitoes quartered between the Delaware and the Raritan is no laughing
+matter, as I found to my cost.
+
+The worst of this journey was, that, on arriving by the railroad car at
+Amboy, which we did at midnight, we were compelled to wait unhoused here
+until three or four in the morning, the steamer not departing until that
+hour for New York. The example those insatiable vermin made of me with
+four hours' leisure in which to work their wicked will, I even now sweat
+to think on; one of my eyes was hermetically sealed up, and my upper lip
+would have matched that of any Guinea negro, whilst my hands were so
+swollen that I could not close them without pain and difficulty: in
+short, as Roque says, there was not "a sounder-bitten bully in all
+Andalusia."
+
+Halting for one day at New York, I proceeded by the morning boat to
+West-point with the intention of resting here a few days: but not having
+taken the precaution of writing on to secure a chamber, I was
+indifferently provided for; this charming spot only possessing one
+hotel, which is a concession made by government to the public, as it is
+properly only a military post, and the seat of the national Military
+College.
+
+Much has been said and sung, well and ill, of the beauty of the place,
+but certainly not one word too much, for language can hardly convey any
+just notion of the variety of attributes Nature has laid under
+contribution, and here combined, for the embellishment of this most
+perfect spot.
+
+In the cool hour of twilight I strolled a little way up the western
+hill, and thence looked back upon the hotel and the lines of tents
+beyond, for at this season the cadets were in camp; excepting the hum of
+myriads of busy insects, not a sound was to be heard; the fire-fly was
+filling the lower grounds with his dazzling light, and seemed the only
+thing that lived or moved there; when suddenly the sharp roll of a drum,
+followed by a bugle-call, broke in on this tranquillity, and
+disenchanted the scene which I had just decided must have been designed
+by Nature as a temple to Solitude.
+
+The next morning I quitted West-point, and in the afternoon landed once
+again in Albany, where I took a couple of days' repose, and employed
+myself in making inquiries and settling my route to Niagara, the idea of
+visiting which wonder became all-absorbing; the long cherished desire
+was about to be gratified, the dream of years to be realized. All
+obstacles of business being removed, I grew restless and impatient of
+further delay; I had, however, pledged myself to make a visit by the
+way, and was only waiting for a couple of friends who were to be my
+travelling companions.
+
+
+
+
+JOURNEY TO COOPER'S TOWN.
+
+
+OTSEGO LAKE.
+
+
+At three o'clock A.M. on a cloudy and somewhat chilly morning, left the
+door of the Eagle in a very comfortable extra coach, which was chartered
+to convey a freight of four persons to the mansion of Mr. C----e, lying
+upon Otsego Lake, distant from Albany some sixty miles.
+
+My companions were Mr. H----e, whom I had with me at starting, and Mr.
+I. V. B----n, for whom we had agreed to halt at his hotel on the top of
+the State House hill, and a long halt we had of it; for, having no great
+confidence in our punctuality, he had very wisely, as far as his own
+comfort was concerned, left orders to be called whenever we should
+appear: and not a moment earlier was he in the least danger of being
+roused, for we had to awaken one of the Irish waiters before he could be
+come at; a task of no small difficulty. After some half-hour's delay at
+the top of the hill, we set forward.
+
+_Mem._--In future, always arrange on all early expeditions to have my
+quarters beat up last.
+
+Although the morning broke gloomily, the sun rose brave and bright, and
+managed throughout the day to keep the field against both wind and
+cloud, that sought to overcast him. For the most part, this line of
+country is very tame, and offers little to compensate for the bad road
+leading through it. The amusement, therefore, which a series of fine
+landscapes affords the traveller not being found here, we had to draw
+upon our own personal resources to banish weariness; happily these were
+not wanting: the youngest of my friends was the son of a leading Whig,
+or Oppositionist, and newly inoculated with the right degree of
+political fervour becoming the time and his age; the senior was a Tory,
+or of the Government party, possessed of much natural humour, and having
+a thorough knowledge of the people.
+
+Previous to starting, the young politician was bold in his assertion
+that in Schoharie county,--that through which our route lay,--the Whig
+interest was in the ascendant; this assertion his better instructed
+opponent as stoutly contradicted, insisting on the contrary, that
+Jacksonism was the political creed cherished as orthodox amongst the
+country people.
+
+The mode of coming at the true state of the parties was simple enough;
+we had only, whilst halting to change horses or bait, to touch upon the
+absorbing topic of the day, and the village loungers, landlord,
+bar-keeper, and guests, might have been placed upon a canvassing roll
+without a chance of error, so decidedly did they make "their love
+known."
+
+I soon discovered that the "ould Gineral" had a hollow thing of it on
+this line of march, as, indeed, I have uniformly observed to be the case
+in all the agricultural districts; and although it may be argued that
+the confidence of these sons of the soil may neither be wisely nor well
+placed, it must, I conceive, be on all hands admitted that it is at
+least the result of honest conviction; for, if a stranger may be
+permitted to judge, I should say, a more virtuous and right-meaning
+class does not exist than the agriculturists generally of these States;
+indeed it appears clear to me that it is to this great body of truly
+independent electors the political seer must turn when he would desire
+fairly to calculate the probable changes likely to be worked out in this
+vast region. They are the owners of the land which their votes govern;
+they are invulnerable to the anarchist and the mad agrarian; they are
+observant and intelligent; and although liable, as are all men, to be
+for a time hoodwinked, or led astray, by interested brawlers, only let
+the veil be once lifted, and a glimpse afforded which shall inform them
+that their property or the country's freedom are endangered, and they
+will be found a rampart behind which all true patriots, the lovers of
+order and country, may rally, and which they may hold impregnable
+against the furious assault of the leveller, or the insidious sap of the
+disguised despot.
+
+But enough of this: _chacun à son métier_; yet here I am betrayed into a
+homily where I only contemplated a jest. The truth is, my allusion to
+this topic at all arose from the vivid recollection I still have of the
+great fun I derived from this canvassing of my companions in support of
+their opinions previously expressed.
+
+At each new stopping-place, my Whig friend would jump out with eager
+anticipations that here his majority would be made too palpable for
+denial; after him would quickly stride his long-legged, long-headed
+rival; and in a moment both were hard at it with the inmates of the
+house.
+
+At places where a weak minority gave signs of hardihood, I usually
+adopted their side in argument; and, as I was fully _au fait_ to all the
+slang of party at least, it became my business in promotion of fun, to
+fan the flame, which in one instance had nearly ended in getting myself
+and my allies turned out of an honest Jacksonian's house, who swore no
+such libellous Whigs should drink at his bar. In fact, my ears being
+kept on strict duty during our noisy debates, in order to determine the
+exact moment for prudently backing out, I, in this case, concluded it
+wise to anticipate the expulsion which was decreed by a large majority,
+having caught certain ominous disjointed words, which, by the aid of a
+copulative conjunction or two, would have read, "Take 'em down and duck
+them in the river."
+
+About two o'clock we reached the neat little village called Cherry
+Valley, and, in a couple of hours after, entered upon the well-kept
+domain of Mr. C----e. The view of the lake and mansion, as it is
+approached from the main road, is exceedingly good; and, when the
+spirited proprietor's tasteful designs shall be completed, will have no
+equal in this country.
+
+Our reception at Hyde-hall was as hospitable as heart could wish. It was
+the birthday of our host's son; and we found a large party assembled,
+amongst whom were three or four remarkably handsome women.
+
+Otsego, or, as it is commonly called, Cooper's-Town Lake, has been best
+described by the novelist of that name, in, I think, his admirable
+American book, "The Last of the Mohicans." He looked upon it with the
+eye of a poet and the love of a son; for he was born and passed his
+boyhood upon its banks, and in the pretty town reflected in its clear
+water the name of his father is perpetuated. The son has founded his
+name upon a yet surer basis: towns may fall as they have risen, and
+their founders be forgotten; but the pleasure we derive from genius
+enshrines its possessor within our hearts, and transmits his name to be
+a household word amongst our children. Ages may pass away, and empires
+may flourish and may fade, but the hand of a Cicero will ever be found
+to pluck the weeds from the tomb of an Archimedes!
+
+This mansion, at which I continued for three or four days, is built
+upon a natural terrace, part of a fine hill that juts out into the lake,
+and creates a little bay that laves its south side, and forms a safe
+harbour for the boats of the family, in one of which I remember to have
+had the pleasure of making an exploring cruise under the infliction of
+as pitiless a shower as ever a party of fair voyagers was pelted by.
+
+On either hand range the bold finely-timbered hills by which the lake is
+bordered, until, gradually rounding at the southern extremity, it
+affords space for one of the neatest little towns I ever visited, and
+whose white buildings and glittering vanes give a charming termination
+to the view from Hyde, from which it is distant some eight or nine
+miles; but the character of the vista, and there being only water
+between, makes it look nearer by half this space.
+
+On Monday, June 30th, after abiding three cold, wet days, quitted Mr.
+C----e's family, drove along the bank of the lake to Cooper's Town, and
+thence took stage for Utica, accompanied by my young Whig companion, who
+now had the field of politics to himself; for our Tory friend had turned
+upon his steps for Albany.
+
+We did not reach Utica till late in the afternoon, the distance being
+forty miles, and our rate of going not exceeding six miles per hour: we
+made no halt here, but, hiring a carriage, immediately pushed for the
+Retreat at Trenton Falls, which we did not arrive at until after ten
+o'clock P.M. The people, however, were yet up, and with much civility
+set to work to provide us with a broiled chicken and a fresh trout, over
+which we quickly forgot a very rough day's ride.
+
+
+
+
+TRENTON FALLS.
+
+
+On awaking here in the morning, I rejoiced to hail the beams of a fine
+warm sun breaking into my little chamber; it had been a stranger for the
+last few days; and the weather, after having been prematurely hot, had
+at once jumped back into March, and become wet, boisterous, and cold to
+a most provoking degree.
+
+After an early breakfast we set out, with the din of the waters sounding
+an alarum in our ears, and directing our steps.
+
+Immediately on quitting the hall of the Retreat, we entered upon a grove
+of fine trees overhanging the bed of the torrent, and thence descended
+by several flights of ladders planted _en échelon_, for some hundred and
+sixty feet, until we at last stood on a level with the swift dark
+stream, and, looking upwards, beheld the forest high overhead bending
+from either side, with a narrow strip of clear blue sky drawn between.
+The first fall was visible about five hundred yards to our left; its
+waters tumbling, as it seemed, over the tops of the intervening trees,
+to whose foliage the late heavy rains had restored the freshness of
+early spring.
+
+Looking about from this first point, I could have readily imagined
+myself standing upon the floor timbers of a first-rate ship buried in a
+wooded ravine, so evenly were the sides of the rock scooped out; and
+this impression was assisted by narrow layers of different strata, which
+ran in slightly curved lines placed at equal distances, giving the
+effect of the ship's sheer and planking, whilst through her entrance or
+cloven bow the white foam rushed.
+
+Walking upward, along a narrow strand of bare rock, with the forest
+pressing on you, as, bent almost double in some places, you stoop
+beneath the overhanging cliff on which it grows; then for a time closely
+shouldering the precipice, walk upon a ledge or projecting shelf of from
+one to three feet wide, the current below boiling and whirling along the
+while, of dazzling brilliance; I at one moment counted five rainbow
+arches, perfect and imperfect. What a succession of "Maidens of the
+Mist" might a lover of romance conjure up from these vexed waters on a
+fine moonlight night!
+
+Proceeding onwards, you, on quitting this point, descend once more into
+the river's bed; and here the resistless power of the torrent when at
+its full is made manifest by the ruin which on all sides marks its
+headlong course. Trees of the largest growth lie twenty feet above its
+ordinary level; some with their roots uppermost, others sustained
+athwart the arms of their sturdier fellows, here decay and rot amidst
+their living leaves.
+
+Passing the second fall, we mounted a few steps to a resting-place,
+named the "Rural Retreat;" and here, from a little box perched on the
+point of a huge rock which abuts right upon the great abyss, we had a
+scene before us and about us of great wildness and grandeur; whilst high
+over all waved the original forest, contemporary with the continent
+itself,--trees beneath whose shade the sachems of the warlike Mohawks
+had feasted and legislated.
+
+The last fall lies about a quarter of a mile above this point; and
+immediately below is a dangerous pass, where the vast mass of falling
+water is hurled in its course against a deeply-serrated rock, over which
+rock the curious visitor is obliged to tread, making a step across an
+angle formed by the boiling whirlpool, clinging to a stout chain, and
+closely shouldering the rock; the river passing below, with a motion
+anything but composing for a nervous man to cast a sidelong glance upon.
+At all points of peril, however, lines of chain are securely riveted,
+affording a dependable holdfast; which after rains is indeed absolutely
+necessary, where a single _faux pas_ would be fatal.
+
+A little to our left the water of the river was collected into a basin
+of about one hundred yards' diameter; overflowing which, it found a
+narrow outlet between two rocks, and thence precipitating itself in a
+flood of the colour of amber, was bridged by rainbows dazzling to look
+upon, although a person of ordinary nerve has nothing to encounter
+really dangerous; yet, at this point, a very few years back, an accident
+of a fatal nature did occur, and under circumstances which give to it a
+melancholy interest and will ever keep it as a legend of the place.
+
+A family party, consisting of father, mother, son, two daughters, and
+the betrothed of one of the latter, a fine girl of seventeen, arrived
+in company at the "Retreat," where the parents decided upon remaining
+whilst the rest of the company explored the more adventurous route
+succeeding.
+
+On went the young people in high glee,--the last fall was at length
+achieved; here, after standing for a moment upon the table rock against
+which the strength of the fall bursts, one by one the attentive lover
+handed the merry girls up the dizzy step: he turned to offer to his
+young betrothed the last and dearest act of gallantry, but the rock was
+naked; the object of his care, who but the instant before smiled in his
+face, was here no longer.
+
+Not a soul of the party had witnessed any movement of their vanished
+companion. Absorbed by the scene, they were struggling onward beneath
+the overhanging cliff, when the arrival of the distracted lover, his mad
+gesticulations and horror-stricken looks, recalled them to hear his loss
+and aid his search.
+
+For a few minutes the hope that she had turned back, or concealed
+herself to cause a false alarm, held the worst conclusion at bay: but,
+on reaching a little cove a few yards lower down, this hope was
+crushed, and conviction of her fate placed before them; for here,
+quietly floating on the smooth eddy, lay a gaily-trimmed bonnet. It was
+at once recognised: the lover sprang into the river, snatched it up, and
+found within its hollow the comb of her they sought.
+
+She had, in truth, slipped from off that giddy ledge, and, sinking at
+once below the influence of the whirlpool, lay calmly upon its rocky
+bed.
+
+Next day, after much perseverance, the body was found, and rescued from
+beneath the very point off which she must have fallen; not a feature was
+discomposed, as it is said, or a garment ruffled: to use the words of my
+informant, who for thirty years has listened to the roar of this
+torrent, "She looked just as though she had lain down to sleep in the
+rain, where I saw her, stretched out upon the ledge here."
+
+The details of this story were given to me with added interest by the
+narrator, from the circumstance that, the very day previous, two of the
+party alluded to had revisited the spot for the first time since the
+chance which made it to them so memorable.
+
+Our guide, I believe, related the particulars of one or two other
+accidents; but after this I had ears for no more. That the young and
+happy maid should in one moment be snatched from a world to her so
+bright and beautiful, and engulphed down deep in that cold pool, her
+brothers in her sight, her lover by her side, yet no hand held forth to
+save her, was a picture too sorrowful to be shifted for any other. I
+could not indeed forget it during the remainder of the day, and the rush
+of the water no longer roused me to exertion. From this spot we turned,
+and retraced our steps to the hotel.
+
+Our next morning was devoted to an excursion down the stream, to a spot
+where a saw-mill was at work and a strong rude bridge in progress; we
+crossed upon it, unfinished as it was, and in a meadow upon the west
+side, Herkimer county, I believe, saw two youngsters herding a couple of
+fine cows. I called them to me, but the girl, at the sight of my
+companion and myself, ran off like a lapwing; the boy, a redheaded
+chubby rogue, about twelve years of age, was however soon persuaded to
+approach. When we questioned as to where his mammy lived, he pointed
+over the meadow to a thicket from out of which a little column of light
+smoke was rising; but in reply to one or two other queries, after a
+scratch or two at his head, our little squire boldly bolted out "No
+English!"
+
+And sure enough not another word could we coax out of him: he was,
+however, quite willing and able to make it up in good Irish, and much
+did I regret not being able to have a "goster" with him. From one of the
+carpenters at work on the bridge I learned that the mother spoke only
+Irish, but that she managed her dairy and farm admirably; and that the
+father, who was just able, as they expressed it, "to tell what he
+wanted," worked at the mill, and got "a heap o' money jobbin' about at
+one thing or t'other."
+
+These poor people had been in this neighbourhood about three years: they
+had arrived here destitute, friendless, ignorant even of the language of
+the country; but they were industrious and persevering, and at this time
+may have been said to possess independence; for they were owners of
+sixty acres of excellent land, a cow or two, a few sheep, with poultry,
+pigs, and other evidences of pastoral wealth. The situation of their
+little cottage might be envied by many a wealthy builder in search of a
+beautiful site, and the country about them is perfectly healthy.
+
+We this day met at the hotel a new arrival or two, and sat down in
+company to a very neat dinner: the trout here is excellent, and the
+butter the best out of Philadelphia.
+
+On the 2nd of July we left this comfortable house; and it was not
+without reluctance I so soon bade farewell to the Falls of Trenton,
+which, beautiful in themselves, are surrounded by a country possessing
+so much attraction that I felt a strong desire to become more intimate
+with it.
+
+My companion, Mr. H----, having met with a couple of friends here who
+were journeying our way, it was proposed that we should join company as
+far as Niagara, taking to our own use an extra. This we readily procured
+at Utica; the postmaster agreeing to forward the party to Buffalo by a
+route we laid down, for the sum of seventy-five dollars, the distance
+being nearly two hundred miles. We were by our agreement entitled to
+halt as long as we chose at any place on our route, and, moreover, were
+to be driven at the rate of seven miles per hour at the least.
+
+All these points being duly arranged, we left the thriving city of Utica
+in as heavy a storm of rain as could well fall, the weather having once
+more become cold and cheerless: a more dismal night I never would desire
+to encounter. The rate of travelling soon fell below the minimum of our
+stipulated pace: to do the drivers justice, this was owing to no fault
+of theirs, but the roads were cut into gullies broad and deep, and the
+tumbling we got would have been of vast service to a dyspeptic subject.
+The state of the weather was the more to be regretted as we were passing
+through some of the best cultivated farms in this State; and,
+notwithstanding the disadvantageous nature of the medium through which I
+saw the land, this character appeared to me well deserved.
+
+The farmhouses were very numerous, generally built of good brick, and
+putting forth strong claims on admiration in the shape of various
+ornamental flourishes; an ambition which distinguishes the rural
+architecture indeed of all this State, giving evidence of the ease and
+growing wealth, if not of the purest taste, existing amongst the
+proprietary.
+
+Syracuse we passed through in the middle of the storm and the darkness
+of night; and about six A.M. were safely landed under the ample portico
+of the hotel at Auburn, celebrated for its prison, regulated upon what
+is called the "silent system."
+
+Whilst my companions were making toilet I set forth to visit this penal
+abode, the character of which is made sufficiently evident as you
+approach the lofty walls that encompass so much of misery and guilt. At
+regular distances upon these battlements I perceived sentry-boxes, with
+men keeping watch, musket in hand.
+
+A small sum is here paid for admittance. On my arrival at the lodge, I
+was informed that the prisoners were at breakfast, during which time
+visitors were prohibited: I therefore had to wait some minutes in this
+place; and, except the occasional fall of a heavy bolt, did not hear a
+sound; the very turnkeys seemed infected by the system which it was
+their duty to enforce, and they moved in and out in silence, or spoke in
+monosyllables hardly above a whisper.
+
+Following the gaoler, I was passed within the square at the very moment
+when the prisoners were moving out from their breakfast-hall on the way
+to renew their several labours; and the sight was to me one of sickening
+melancholy.
+
+They were marched from the building in squads, using what is called the
+"lock-step," and were jammed together as close as they could possibly
+tread: they moved in quick-time, and fell out singly, or in pairs, as
+they arrived at the point nearest to the scene of their employment.
+
+I observed that, notwithstanding the regularity of labour, and the
+unquestionably wholesome diet provided here, the faces of the
+individuals composing these ruffian squads were uniformly pale and
+haggard; yet, on saying so much to my guide, I was assured that disease
+is comparatively rare amongst them, and that many who enter here with
+broken constitutions recover their bodily vigour and are made whole men
+again.
+
+The cleanliness of this prison-house, the convenient distribution of its
+various offices, and, indeed, the evident excellence of its general
+arrangement, must strike every stranger with admiration, and doubtless
+presented to the commissioners of inquiry recently appointed from
+England many hints worthy of adoption for home use. Of the merits of the
+system itself it does not become me to speak; it has been well
+considered by wise and worthy men, who continue to watch over its
+working with a philanthropic spirit; but I confess that the impressions
+I received from my visits to these prisons were anything but in its
+favour.
+
+At eight A.M. we quitted Auburn, the weather clear and mild: we crossed
+the head-water of the Seneca Lake upon a well-built bridge, a mile and a
+quarter in length, and, with this exception, observed no point of
+interest until we approached the Lake of Geneva.
+
+This is one of the lions of this route, and in no way disappointed our
+raised expectations. Gradually winding about the eastern bend of the
+lake, the road affords to the traveller a continuous view of the
+location of the little city; and certainly nothing was ever more happily
+chosen than the fine hill over whose side it is built, its streets
+rising gradually from the edge of the clear water in which they are
+reflected.
+
+Entering the main street, I observed that the stores were large and
+substantially built; there was a great bustle, and an air of business
+too, about most of them, which it was pleasant to look upon. The hotel
+at which we drew up was a large, well-appointed house: the landlord,
+finding that we were strangers, civilly invited us to ascend to the
+gallery upon the roof; and certainly the view it afforded was one I
+should have been sorry to miss.
+
+The environs appear to possess an unusual number of tasteful villas; on
+all sides these might be distinguished, giving and receiving adornment
+from the situation. The lake itself looked like a huge mirror; and from
+its polished surface was clearly reflected every turn of its shores, and
+each cloud that floated over it. Its characteristics are softness and
+repose; of a certainty it must have been a feminine spirit that presided
+at the creation of this spot, for its features are all of gentleness and
+beauty.
+
+At Canandaigua we stopped to dine at a very large, and, I should
+imagine, good hotel: the landlord was exceedingly obliging. The regular
+dinner of the house was long past, but he managed to get us a very
+tolerable meal; and what was wanting in this he made up by giving us an
+excellent bottle of wine.
+
+In the environs of this place, as at Geneva, I observed a number of
+well-built and neatly-appointed villas; indeed, this sort of country
+residence is better kept, and built in better taste, in this western
+country than I have elsewhere observed in the States.
+
+About nine P.M. we arrived at Avon Springs; and here we called a halt
+for the night, not a little pleased with the prospect of a comfortable
+bed, which the appearance of the inn gave promise of.
+
+This place is a good deal frequented of late years by invalids, its
+mineral waters being found of great service in dyspepsia,--the most
+crying complaint of the country next to the removal of the deposits, and
+certainly more universal.
+
+I here found my excellent friend R----d, who, together with his young
+bride, had accompanied his father-in-law, who was desirous of testing
+the salubrity of these springs. He described the surrounding country as
+beautiful, and the little place itself as agreeable enough for a short
+sojourn.
+
+The fourth of July, the anniversary of American Independence, was to be
+duly celebrated by a ball, for which my friend had received an invite
+printed upon the back of the nine of hearts; a medium now obsolete in
+England, but conserved here in its integrity.
+
+A less amusing remembrancer of the glorious event began to parade the
+avenue at an early hour in the shape of a patriotic drummer, having an
+instrument, to judge by its sound, coeval with the first fight for that
+freedom it was beaten to celebrate. If anything could have kept me
+awake, this cracked drum would; and, in truth, I had my fears, when, on
+entering my room, I heard my hero ruffing it away immediately in front
+of the window; but they were groundless apprehensions, though his
+efforts were varied and unceasing, for I undressed to the tune of the
+"Grenadiers' March," stepped into bed to the "Reveille," and dropped
+fast asleep to the first part of "Yankee Doodle!"
+
+At six A.M. of the 4th we were once more in motion; the vapours of night
+were yet hanging thick and low; but through the dense atmosphere, as we
+rolled down the avenue, I heard the indefatigable functionary, who
+composed the military band of Avon, determinately beating "Hail
+Columbia!"
+
+At the village of Caledonia we found that a ball was afoot, and we
+pushed on eagerly for Buffalo, anticipating, from the importance of the
+place and the wealth of its citizens, something in the way of display
+worthy of their loyalty and of the occasion.
+
+Between Le Roy, a town of remarkable neatness, and Batavia, I
+encountered my first sample of a corduroy-road, or, as it is sometimes
+facetiously termed, a Canadian railway.
+
+Our driver, a merry fellow, called out that we must look out "not to get
+mixed up of a heap," and rattled at it. I did not require much
+experience to decide that travelling over a road of corduroy was by no
+means going on velvet; but the effect was not so bad as I had expected
+to prove it: by holding fast, one could keep one's seat tolerably well,
+without much fear of dislocation; but I would strongly recommend any man
+having loose teeth, to walk over this stage, unless he desires to have
+them shaken out of his head.
+
+From Batavia the road is execrable, and the country without a feature to
+interest or amuse, uncultivated, wild, and dismal. It was about half an
+hour before sunset when we entered Buffalo, the City of the Lakes, the
+entrepôt for these inland oceans.
+
+
+
+
+BUFFALO.
+
+
+America is, perhaps, in our day, the only country wherein these infant
+capitals, these embryo cities, may be seen, and their growth noted, as
+they are gradually developed before living eyes.
+
+A very few years back, this frontier, now so populous and thriving, was
+only known as "the Wilderness;" and upon the edge of this, washed by the
+waters of Lake Erie, has Buffalo sprung up. The great source of that
+gratification which is felt on a near view of this, and other places of
+similar origin, is to be found in the feeling that they derive their
+being from the prosperous industry of our fellow-men, and that in their
+increase we behold its happy continuance. They are the vouchers which
+America may fairly produce to show that the fruition of liberty has been
+with her productive of increased energy and spreading enterprise.
+
+These places have not, like St. Petersburg, been raised up in obedience
+to the policy or the caprice of a despot; the work of bondsmen, founded
+amidst pestilence, and cemented with blood and tears. The unfinished
+palace of the half-savage prince already the tomb of hundreds of its
+miserable builders; a city of marble founded upon a marsh.
+
+Here, it is true, was a wonder having no parallel, of which the living
+of the last century might have observed the progress,--one may add, the
+completion, as, should its lord so will, the present generation may look
+upon its abandonment and depopulation;--but the cause of the existence
+of St. Petersburg calls up no generous sympathy with its progress,
+because we know that the labour was constrained; and from its story,
+when fairly told, we rise, not with pride in the power of our kind,
+which had overcome so many obstacles, but with pity for the suffering
+and debasement of humanity constrained to such exertion. On the
+contrary, these yet humble cities of America, so humble as sometimes to
+draw from the far-travelled a sneer upon the application of the word,
+are surrounded by a healthful, moral atmosphere: their infancy is
+vigorous, giving promise of a long endurance and ultimate greatness,
+only to be limited by the will of the King of kings.
+
+From the roof of the Eagle, a very large hotel, I took a general view of
+the wide-spread frame of Buffalo, whose many as yet barely definable
+streets are in the keeping of houses so thinly scattered, that they
+reminded me of lines of sentries placed to denote occupation. I traced
+the course of the great Erie canal from the Niagara river to the lake,
+whose busy harbour was filled with steamers, schooners, and other
+trading craft.
+
+After sunset we descended from our lofty observatory, and followed the
+line of the main street, witnessing the rejoicings called forth by this
+anniversary of American Independence. The feeling of the community at
+large could only be guessed at, since it made no sign; but if the body
+politic of Buffalo might be considered fairly represented by some
+hundred or so of active urchins who were congregated in a square near
+the centre of the main street, nothing could be more ardent than this
+city's gratitude, for these delegates beat drums, blew fifes, fired
+crackers, and huzzaed until the welkin rang with their shrill small
+yells. We found, upon inquiry, that there was no ball, dinner, or other
+public demonstration; the reason was ascribed to the extreme violence of
+party politics, which at this period completely divided the community,
+and were carried out to an extent without precedent in their brief
+annals.
+
+The street was chiefly occupied by a number of Indians of the Seneca
+tribe, dressed in a costume part native and part European: these
+holiday-keepers lounged lazily about in all the delight of utter
+intoxication, the men invariably in groups by themselves, and the ladies
+of the tribe trapesing after them at a long interval with stoical
+indifference.
+
+Nothing can be more subversive of the poetry one's early recollections
+connect with this race, than a first rencontre with the outcasts by whom
+it is represented on these frontiers, who daily degenerate where all
+else seems to thrive, and who perish in the midst of an abundance,
+which, for all but them, increases with each year.
+
+I am not sure whether it would not be more humane to deal upon the
+natives as summarily as with their forests; for the fall of the former
+before the advance of civilization is not, though slower, less certain.
+
+They may at present be likened to girdled trees, about whose vigorous
+trunk the axe of the woodman is but lightly drawn, yet whose fall is
+assured past remedy; the springs of health and life are stopped, upon
+their fading leaves the sun rises and heaven's dews descend in vain; for
+a little while they continue to wave their naked crests in the gale, and
+hold forth their gaunt limbs as if life were in them, objects exciting
+at once commiseration and disgust; until, crumbled into decay, the
+unseemly skeletons lie prostrate athwart the roots of their once
+fellows, who were stricken down in their bloom, and so perished by a
+quicker and more merciful sentence.
+
+
+
+
+NIAGARA.
+
+
+I felt interested with Buffalo, and had promised myself much pleasure
+from a visit to the country occupied by a branch of the Seneca tribe in
+its neighbourhood; but Niagara was now within a few hours,--the great
+object of the journey was almost in sight. I was for ever fancying that
+I heard the sound of the "Thunder-water"[12] booming on the breeze; so,
+with a restlessness and anxiety not to be suppressed, I got into the
+coach on the day after my arrival at the capital of the lakes, and was
+in a short time set down on the bank of the swift river Niagara, at the
+ferry, which is some four miles from Buffalo.
+
+We found the little rapids about the shore occupied by fishers of all
+ages, who required but a small share of the patience which is deemed so
+essential a qualification to the followers of this melancholy sport, for
+they were pulling the simple wretches out as fast as the lines could be
+baited and offered.
+
+The shipment was quickly effected, and in a few minutes our faces were
+turned from the dominion of the States. The vessel was a large
+horse-boat; that is, a flat propelled by paddle-wheels similar to those
+of a steam-boat, only wrought by horse-power,--an animal tread-mill in
+fact. Whether the horses working this were here on good behaviour, or
+not, I could not rightly ascertain, but certainly they were
+scampish-looking steeds, their physiognomical expression was low and
+dogged, such as one might expect from the degrading nature of their
+unvarying task.
+
+On the larboard gangway of our flat the American jack floated, and over
+the starboard side waved the Union flag of Old England; they fluttered
+proudly side by side, a worthy brotherhood, and so united may they long
+be found!
+
+The ride along the Canada shore was very fine, the noble stream being
+constantly in sight: the country appeared thickly populated; but the
+land poor, the cultivation of it, I believe, is not found very
+profitable.
+
+We halted to water the team at a public-house that stands upon the
+ground where was fought the battle of Chippewa, which, as the Yankees
+say, "eventuated just no how." This was the twentieth anniversary; and,
+on alighting from the box, I was exceedingly amused to find the host and
+a smart wayfaring young man, with mutual vehemence well worthy the
+cause, fighting the battle over again.
+
+From this house the eternal mist caused by the great fall may be plainly
+seen curling like a vast body of light smoke, and shooting occasionally
+in spiral columns high above the tree-tops; but not a sound told of its
+neighbourhood, although we were not five miles distant from it, and the
+day was calm and clear. At about three miles from this, as the vehicle
+slowly ascended a rise, I heard for the first time the voice of the
+waters, and called the attention of my friends within the carriage to
+the sound.
+
+Never let any impatient man set out for Niagara in one of these coaches;
+a railroad would hardly keep pace with one's eagerness, and here were we
+crawling at the rate of four miles per hour. I fancied that the last
+three miles never would be accomplished; and often wished internally, as
+I beat the devil's tattoo upon the footboard of the coach-box, that I
+had bought or borrowed or stolen a horse at Chippewa, and galloped to
+the wonder alone and silently.
+
+At length the hotel came in view, and I knew that the rapid was close at
+hand.
+
+"Now, sir, look out!" quietly said the driver.
+
+I almost determined upon shutting my eyes or turning away my head; but I
+do not think it would have been within the compass of my will so to have
+governed them; for even at this distant moment, as I write, I find my
+pen move too slow to keep pace with the recollections of the impatience
+which I seek to record.
+
+It was at the moment we struck the foot of the hill leading up to the
+hotel that the rapid and the great horse-shoe fall became visible over
+the sunken trees to our right, almost on a level with us. I have heard
+people talk of having felt disappointed on a first view of this
+stupendous scene: by what process they arrived at this conclusion I
+profess myself utterly incapable of divining, since, even now that two
+years have almost gone by, I find on this point my feelings are not yet
+to be analyzed; I dare not trust myself to their guidance, and only know
+that my wildest imaginings were forgotten in contemplating this awful
+reality.
+
+A very few minutes after we were released from the confinement of the
+coach saw myself and companions upon the Table-rock; and soon after we
+were submitting to the equipment provided by a man resident upon the
+spot for persons who chose to penetrate beneath the great fall, and
+whose advertisement assured us that the gratification of curiosity was
+unattended with either inconvenience or danger, as water-proof dresses
+were kept in readiness, together with an experienced guide. The
+water-proof dress given to me I found still wet through; and, on the
+arrival of the experienced guide, I was not a little surprised to see
+the fellow, after a long stare in my face, exclaim,
+
+"Och, blur an' 'oons! Mr. Power, sure it's not yer honour that's come
+all this way from home!"
+
+An explanation took place; when I found that our guide, whom I had seen
+some two years before as a helper in the stable of my hospitable friend
+Smith Barry, at Foaty, was this summer promoted to the office of
+"Conductor," as he styled himself, under the waterfall.
+
+And a most whimsical "conductor" he proved. His cautions, and "divil a
+fears!" and "not a hap'orth o' danger!" must have been mighty assuring
+to the timid or nervous, if any such ever make this experiment, which,
+although perfectly safe, is not a little startling.
+
+His directions,--when we arrived at the point where the mist, pent in
+beneath the overhanging rock, makes it impossible to distinguish
+anything, and where the rush of air is so violent as to render
+respiration for a few seconds almost impracticable,--were inimitable.
+
+"Now, yer honour!" he shouted in my ear--for we moved in Indian
+file,--"whisper the next gintleman to follow you smart; and, for the
+love o' God! shoulder the rock close, stoop yer heads, and shut fast yer
+eyes, or you won't be able to see an inch!"
+
+I repeated my orders verbatim, though the cutting wind made it difficult
+to open one's mouth.
+
+"Now thin, yer honour," he cried, cowering down as he spoke, "do as ye
+see me do; hould yer breath, and scurry after like divils!"
+
+With the last word away he bolted, and was lost to view in an instant.
+I repeated his instructions however to the next in file, and, as
+directed, scurried after.
+
+This rather difficult point passed, I came upon my countryman waiting
+for us within the edge of the curve described by this falling ocean; he
+grasped my wrist firmly as I emerged from the dense drift, and shouted
+in my ear,
+
+"Luk up, sir, at the green sea that's rowlin' over uz! Murder! bud iv it
+only was to take a shlope in on uz!"
+
+Here we could see and breathe with perfect ease; and even the ludicrous
+gestures and odd remarks of my poetical countryman could not wholly rob
+the scene of its striking grandeur.
+
+I next passed beyond my guide as he stood on tiptoe against the rock
+upon a ledge of which we trod, and under his direction attained that
+limit beyond which the foot of man never pressed. I sat for one moment
+on the Termination Rock, and then followed my guide back to my
+companions, when together we once more "scurried" into day.
+
+"Isn't it illegant, sir?" began the "Conductor," as soon as we were well
+clear of the mist.
+
+"Isn't it a noble sight intirely? Caps the world for grandness any way,
+that's sartain!"
+
+I need hardly say that in this opinion we all joined loudly; but Mr.
+Conductor was not yet done with us,--he had now to give us a taste of
+his "larnin."
+
+"I wish ye'd take notice, sir," said he, pointing across the river with
+an air of authority and a look of infinite wisdom. "Only take a luk at
+the falls, an' you'll see that Shakspeare is out altogether about the
+discription."
+
+"How's that, Pat?" inquired I, although not a little taken aback by the
+authority so gravely quoted by my critical friend.
+
+"Why, sir, Shakspeare first of all says that there's two falls; now, ye
+may see wid yer own eyes that it's one river sure, and one fall, only
+for the shtrip o' rock that makes two af id."
+
+This I admitted was evident; whilst Pat gravely went on:
+
+"Thin agin, only luk here, sir; Shakspeare says, 'The cloud-cap tower;'
+why, if he'd ever taken the trouble to luk at it, he'd seen better than
+that; an' if he wasn't a fool,--which I'm sure he wasn't, bein' a grand
+poet,--he'd know that the clouds never can rise to cap the tower, by
+reason that it stands up above the fall, and that the current for ever
+sets down."
+
+Again I agreed with him, excusing Shakspeare's discrepancies on the
+score of his never having had a proper guide to explain these matters.
+
+"I don't know who at all showed him the place," gravely responded Pat;
+"but it's my belief he never was in id at all at all, though the
+gintleman that tould me a heap more about it swears for sartin that he
+was."
+
+This last remark, and the important air with which the doubt was
+conveyed, proved too much for my risible faculties, already suffering
+some constraint, and I fairly roared out in concert with my companion,
+who had been for some time convulsed with laughter.
+
+Whoever first instructed the "Conductor" on this point of critical
+history deserves well of the visitors so long as the present subject
+remains here to communicate the knowledge; indeed, I trust, before he is
+drowned in the Niagara, or burnt up with the whisky required, as he
+says, "to keep the could out of the shtomach," the present possessor of
+this curiosity in literature will bequeath it to his successor, so that
+it may be handed down in its integrity to all future visitors.
+
+Next morning at an early hour I revisited the "Termination Rock," but
+excused myself from being accompanied by "the Conductor." I next
+wandered down the stream, and had a delightful bathe in it. Accompanied
+by a friend, I was pulled in a skiff as close to the fall as possible,
+and in short performed duly all the observances that have been suggested
+and practised by curiosity or idleness; but in all these I found no
+sensation equal to a long quiet contemplation of the mass entire, not as
+viewed from the balconies of the hotel, but from some rocky point or
+wooded shade, where house and fence and man and all his petty doings
+were shut out, and the eye left calmly to gaze upon the awful scene, and
+the rapt mind to raise its thoughts to Him who loosed this eternal flood
+and guides it harmless as the petty brook.
+
+There never should have been a house permitted within sight of the fall
+at least. How I have envied those who first sought Niagara, through the
+scarce trod wilderness, with the Indian for a guide; and who slept upon
+its banks with the summer trees for their only shelter, with the sound
+of its waters for their only _réveille_.
+
+Now, one is awakened here by a bell, which I never can liken to any
+other than a dustman's, and can hardly find a spot whereto parasols and
+smart forage-caps intrude not.
+
+I would even include in my denunciation the tower which is now erected
+upon the piece of rock that abuts upon the great fall, and standing in
+whose gallery you actually hang suspended over the abyss; not but that
+the tower is in itself rudely simple, and in good taste perhaps, but
+that one feels this place needs no such accessories, and, instead of
+deriving advantage from them, is degraded into a mere show by their
+presence; and, in saying this much, I feel as though the application of
+the term was a profanation.
+
+I only saw three natives near the fall during my stay; but these formed
+a little group I would like much to have had Landseer look upon.
+
+I was walking one morning before breakfast about a quarter of a mile
+below the fall, when I suddenly came upon a squaw leaning against a
+tree: as many of the Tuscaroras understand a few words of English, I
+addressed her with "Good morning, good morning!"
+
+With a calm bend of the head she placed her fingers over her lips by
+way of return to my salutation, turning herself at the same time a
+little away as if to avoid further notice or intercourse: curiosity,
+however, overcame good-breeding in me, and mounting the little bank to a
+level with the shady tree against which she passively leaned, I
+immediately became aware of her object.
+
+Coiled up, on the earth, by her feet lay an Indian, his head and
+shoulders wrapped close in his blanket; upon this motionless mass her
+eyes were calmly fixed: against the opposite side of the tree sat a very
+handsome lad, about eight or nine years old, who never lifted his head
+to look on the intruder: near the boy crouched a half-starved hound of
+the lurcher kind, a red-coloured, wire-haired brute, with a keen cold
+Indian look, and as apparently incurious as the best-taught warrior of
+the tribe: there was no wagging of the tail in friendly recognition, as
+might be expected from a kindly European dog; neither was there the
+warning growl and spiteful show of bristled crest and angry teeth, nor
+any suspicious circling round the stranger, with tail tucked close and
+thievish scrutiny, so common amongst low-bred white curs; this hound of
+the Red-man, on the contrary, deported himself in a manner creditable to
+his race, and to the tribe of his adoption: I do not believe his eye was
+ever once raised to survey me; or, if it was, the movement was so well
+managed that I did not detect it.
+
+Supported against the tree stood a long rifle, over whose muzzle was
+hung a scarlet shoulder-belt and pouch, richly worked with an embroidery
+of blue and white beads; by a thong of hide was also suspended from the
+rifle a sheath of leather, through which protruded a couple of inches of
+the bright broad blade of a knife: these I readily conceived to be the
+appointments of the sleeping man; and the trio thus patiently watching
+his slumbers,--his wife, child, and dog.
+
+I looked upon this savage group for some minutes, and no happier scene
+could have been found for such a rencontre:--the grassy knoll which the
+family occupied; the rich foliage of the butter-nut tree that shaded
+them; the wooded heights above, and the deep-channeled river flowing by;
+together with a stillness made more thrilling by the sound of the
+cataract, for a moment rumbling like near-coming thunder, and then
+dying away into a continuous moan, soft and absolutely musical, whilst
+afar off its light vapoury masses gently rose and fell, converted by the
+morning sun into clouds of silver tissue. I have often, amongst other
+vain wishes, sighed for the possession of the painter's power, but never
+more than at this moment; and as I silently looked upon the unchanging
+group, and called to mind the artists whom such a chance would have
+repaid for longer travel, I grieved to think it should have been given
+to one whose attempts by description to image it must prove so tame a
+record.
+
+After a long pause, pointing to the coiled-up sleeper, I ventured on a
+second inquiry, saying, "Man,--he sick?"
+
+The squaw fixed her fine eyes upon me, and comprehending my inquiry,
+nodded once or twice, articulating in a low musical voice, "Man
+sick,--whisky too much--make bad!"
+
+Again her head drooped, and her eyes rested upon the motionless mass
+before her; the little imp and the hound meanwhile never by a sign
+indicating their knowledge of the presence of an intruder. I now turned
+back towards the hotel, which I had left to watch the sun rise on the
+fall from the bed of the river. My early stirring was every way
+fortunate, for the morning was fresh and unseasonably cool, consequently
+the misty abyss into which the river tumbled was bridged by beautiful
+rainbows in every direction; whilst, to crown all, with the exception of
+the group I have mentioned, no unhallowed foot broke on the holy place.
+
+The family had not appeared on my return to the house; so seeking my
+little chamber, whose window commanded the rapids and the great fall, I
+flung myself upon my bed, and gratefully reviewed all the beauty of
+earth and sky which I had been so happily permitted to behold and to
+enjoy.
+
+The days I passed here must always be recalled by me as days of
+unalloyed enjoyment; I felt an indescribable calm steal, as it were,
+over my spirit. Generally active, impatient, and inquiring, I have
+seldom found any neighbourhood which I did not compass in a few days;
+but from the vicinity of this spot I had no desire to stir. Finding that
+the dinner-hour was two o'clock, which would have destroyed the day, I
+requested the proprietor of the hotel, one of the most obliging persons
+I ever met,--an Englishman,--to give our little party dinner at five;
+and from breakfast to this time I believe our time was usually passed
+lounging dreamily about Goat Island, to reach which you cross the river
+below the falls to the American side, and then pass over the rapids on a
+bridge, which is in itself a wonder.
+
+The turf of this island, its trees and flowers, retaining in summer the
+freshness of spring, the delicious purity of its atmosphere, and the
+brightness of its waters, render it most charming. The solitude here has
+no drawback; the strong currents of air by which it is encircled defy
+the powers of the musquito,--that bane to all thin-skinned people with
+pastoral inclinations, and not an insect in the least venomous or
+annoying is to be found here.
+
+This Island of the Rainbow, as it has been poetically and not
+inappropriately named, is situated exactly between the falls;
+surrounded, and intersected in part, by rapids frightful to look on.
+Before American enterprise and ingenuity spanned these with the bridge
+that now connects the Iris isle with the main land, the approach to it
+must have been attended with great difficulty and much danger; indeed,
+I believe it was very rarely attempted; at present it is occupied by one
+or two poor families, who tend a garden now in progress, under the care
+of the proprietor of the place.
+
+Within these few years, a young man of good appearance was known to have
+taken up his abode here; he shunned all observance, only holding
+communion with a poor family who procured him what necessaries he
+needed. After a residence of two years he died, without leaving the
+slightest clue to his name or country. That his condition was gentle may
+be inferred from his accomplishments: a flute and a guitar, on both of
+which he is said to have played much and well, with a drawing or two,
+are all that remain of the recluse, although the man who attended upon
+him says he sketched and wrote much.
+
+Certainly no anchorite ever selected a pleasanter summer solitude: how
+he got through the severity of a five or six months' winter in a place
+so exposed can only be imagined, since the hermit died and "made no
+sign."
+
+I visited the other lions of the place, but took little heed of them.
+The sulphur springs were exhibited, and the gas ignited, by a
+remarkably fine old man, who was full of anecdote of the late war: one
+or two of his stories I took good note of, and purpose availing myself
+of them at some future time.
+
+On one afternoon I forced myself away to visit the Devil's Hole and the
+Whirlpool, situated about five miles below the falls; and a wilder scene
+it is impossible for imagination to conceive than the deep rocky basin
+into which the river is precipitated, and from which it issues at right
+angles from its previous course, bearing with it portions of the wrack
+accumulated within the black vortex of this fearful pool, into whose
+gulf it is impossible to look without a shudder. The drive through the
+forest was delightful; and, if any sight could have repaid me for
+leaving the neighbourhood of the falls, this fitting _pendant_ would be
+that sight.
+
+The bad weather which occurred so late in the month of June, and,
+indeed, continued through the first days of July, had retarded the
+advance of visitors. At the period of our stay there were but two or
+three strangers here besides ourselves; and, not dining at the public
+table, these I never saw except at a distance. The weather during the
+day was warm without being oppressive, the evenings and nights
+deliciously cool.
+
+I had brought my companion, Mr. H----e, thus far on a promise of
+returning with him in a few days, and never did I feel more urged to
+break faith: but knowing that he was compelled to return in a certain
+time, and had accompanied me out of sheer good-nature, I could not
+reconcile it to myself to let him journey back alone; for our companions
+were bound on a wide tour through the Canadas.
+
+After a halt here of only three short days then, I finally crossed the
+Niagara for the American shore, and immediately took a coach for
+Tonnewanta, to intercept the boat on its way from Buffalo by the Erie
+canal, intending to journey by this route as far as Rochester.
+
+At Tonnewanta, a pretty little village, we were detained two or three
+hours; and here I once more encountered my family of Tuscarora Indians.
+The man was at this time wide awake, but still half drunk; and, although
+a fine-made fellow, had that horrid brutal look which accompanies
+continued debauch. He was attended as I at first saw him, only that now,
+as he stood by the public-house door talking with a couple of negroes,
+the boy and the hound only were beside him. I looked about for my lady
+of the tribe, and perceived her squatted on her heels against the wall,
+about fifty paces lower down, "burd alane."
+
+From a slight furtive glance of the urchin, I perceived that he
+recognised me; he spoke a couple of words to his father, who, turning
+his head in the direction where I stood, muttered an interjectional
+"Ugh!" and resumed his previous calm attitude, contrasting oddly with
+the _insouciant_ look and merry grimaces of his negro companions.
+
+I next walked on to the solitary squaw, in hopes of claiming
+acquaintance; but she kept her eyes fixed upon a necklace she was
+playing with as gravely as a devotee might tell her beads, and by no
+sign of recognition deigned to flatter me.
+
+Miserable and degraded race! on whose condition much care has been
+vainly bestowed, much generous sympathy idly wasted! I say wasted, since
+the aborigines of this continent are either above or below sympathy. I
+confess my feeling for them has been much changed by a near view of
+their condition and a better knowledge of their history and habits; and
+whatever complaints they may advance against the rapacity of the white
+man, he must at least be admitted a generous historian.
+
+I shall have occasion hereafter to revert to the unpopular view of this
+question, which I have adopted against my inclination in obedience to my
+judgment, and meantime must quit my family of the Tuscaroras--what a
+name to adorn a tale!--for the canal boat arrived, and in a moment we
+were hurried to embark.
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[12] The Indian name "Niagara" signifies Thunder-water.
+
+
+
+
+ERIE CANAL.
+
+
+PACKET-BOAT.--HEAT.--CEDAR SWAMP, LONG SWAMP, AND MUSQUITO
+SWAMP.--UTICA.
+
+
+This day, up to the meridian, had been temperately warm, but not in the
+least sultry or unbearable. The boat was exceedingly clean, not
+over-crowded; and I sat down within its neat cabin, anticipating a
+couple of days' quiet travel, which, if a little monotonous, would be at
+least unattended by the fatigue and dust of a stage journey between this
+and Utica.
+
+The boat for a few hours went on merrily; the eternal forest closed
+about us, and the sound of our horses' feet alone broke upon its
+silence. Towards evening the heat became great, and after sunset the
+southern sky began to give forth continuous sheets of flame, along whose
+pale surface would occasionally dart lines of red forked lightning,
+whilst the breeze gradually died away. My first idea was, that we were
+about to be favoured with a refreshing storm of rain and thunder; but
+vain were my hopes: I watched and listened, but no drop fell, no sound
+was heard.
+
+Meantime, the heat increased as the night closed in: the little cots,
+however, were duly hung one below another along the sides of the cabin.
+I had procured an upper berth, with a window by my side; and having
+exhausted my patience, and wearied my sight watching the fiery sky, I at
+last ventured to creep below. Although a hotter atmosphere can hardly be
+imagined, I slept tolerably sound; but, on waking, found myself anything
+but refreshed. The sun was not yet above the horizon when I crept forth
+on to the deck: it was that hour of morning which, of all others, one
+expects to be invigorating and cool, as indeed it usually is in all
+climates; but here, enclosed within the banks of the canal, and
+surrounded by swamp and forest, there was no morning air for us. My mind
+was made up to leave the boat at the first place where a stage might be
+procured.
+
+All this day the air absolutely stood still. At our places of halt we
+were joined by men who had left the stages in consequence of those
+vehicles not being able to travel. Our pace was reduced considerably;
+and the cattle, although in excellent condition, were terribly
+distressed. At Lockport we found business nearly at a stand-still; the
+thermometer was at 110 degrees of Fahrenheit. We passed several horses
+dead upon the banks of the canal, and were compelled to leave one or two
+of our own in a dying state. Here more persons joined than we could well
+accommodate, and I found positively that all movement by the stage route
+was at an end, forty horses having fallen on the line the day previous.
+To attempt abiding in any of the places along the canal, I was assured
+would be an exchange for the worse; so the only course was to endure the
+"ills we had," and certainly these did not become the lighter through
+practice. Towards the second night our progress became tediously slow,
+for it appeared to grow hot in proportion as the evening advanced.
+
+The south-western sky was again banked up by black clouds, from which
+the sheet lightning never ceased to burst. Under other circumstances the
+scene would have been viewed as one of infinite grandeur; but, at
+present, every consideration became absorbed by our sufferings, for to
+this the affair really amounted.
+
+This night I found it impossible to look in upon the cabin; I therefore
+made a request to the captain that I might be permitted to have a
+mattress on deck: but this, he told me, could not be; there was an
+existing regulation which positively forbade sleeping upon the deck of a
+canal packet; indeed, he assured me that this could only be done at the
+peril of life, with the certainty of catching fever and ague. I appeared
+to submit to his well-meant arguments; but inwardly resolved, _coûte qui
+coûte_, not to sleep within the den below, which exhibited a scene of
+suffocation and its consequences that defies description.
+
+I got my cloak up, filled my hat with cigars, and, planting myself about
+the centre of the deck, here resolved, _malgré_ dews and musquitoes, to
+weather it through the night.
+
+"What is this name of the country we are now passing?" I inquired of one
+of the boatmen who joined me about the first hour of morning.
+
+"Why sir, this is called the Cedar Swamp," answered the man, to whom I
+handed a cigar, in order to retain his society and create more smoke,
+weak as was the defence against the hungry swarms surrounding us on all
+sides.
+
+"We have not much more of this Cedar Swamp to get through, I hope?"
+inquired I, seeking for some consolatory information.
+
+"About fifty miles more, I guess," was the reply of my companion,
+accompanying each word with a sharp slap on the back of his hand, or on
+his cheek or forehead.
+
+"Thank Heaven!" I involuntarily exclaimed, drawing my cloak closer about
+me, although the heat was killing; "we shall after that escape in some
+sort, I hope, from these legions of musquitoes?"
+
+"I guess not quite," replied the man; "they are as thick, if not
+thicker, in the Long Swamp."
+
+"The Long Swamp!" I repeated: "what a horrible name for a country! Does
+the canal run far through it?"
+
+"No, not so very far, only about eighty miles."
+
+"We've then done with swamps, I hope, my friend?" I inquired, as he kept
+puffing and slapping on with unwearied constancy.
+
+"Why, yes, there's not a heap more swamp, that is to say, not close to
+the line, till we come to within about forty miles of Utica."
+
+"And is that one as much infested with these infernal insects as are
+the Cedar and Long Swamps."
+
+"I guess _that_ is _the_ place above all for musquitoes," replied the
+man grinning. "Thim's the real gallinippers, emigrating north for the
+summer all the way from the Balize and Red River. Let a man go to sleep
+with his head in a cast-iron kettle among thim chaps, and if their bills
+don't make a watering-pot of it before morning, I'm d----d. They're
+strong enough to lift the boat out of the canal, if they could only get
+underneath her."
+
+I found these swamps endless as Banquo's line: would they had been
+shadows only; but alas! they were yet to be encountered, horrible
+realities not to be evaded. I closed my eyes in absolute fear, and
+forbore further inquiry.
+
+Here I remained throughout the whole night, dozing a little between
+whiles, but never foregoing my cigar for a minute. Towards daylight the
+dew descended like rain, but brought with it no coolness to earth or
+man: it felt exactly as though it had been boiled the day before, and
+had not been left long enough to get cool.
+
+During this day many of our men frequently threw themselves overboard,
+clothes and all on, that is, in shirt and trousers, these being all of
+habiliment that could be worn; I really feared that some of them who had
+been a little too free in their cold applications, that is, of iced
+water and brandy, would have gone mad.
+
+This blessing of ice we were seldom many hours without, the poorest
+hovel on the canal being commonly provided with it in sufficient
+abundance to give us a supply. The inhabitants, I found, were suffering
+from the unusual continuance of heat as much as strangers: at night they
+built huge fires of pine before their doors, so that the thick smoke
+might penetrate the dwelling, and scour the infernal musquitoes out of
+it. At these fires we would find the poor women sitting in the smoke at
+the risk of suffocation; pale, haggard, with their hair neglected and
+dishevelled, looking like worn-out ghosts rather than living beings. The
+oldest inhabitants on the line of the canal assured us they never
+remembered any heat of three days' continuance which could compare to
+this; and I believe them, since no man could long endure such a
+visitation.
+
+This evening our condition was in no way improved, except that we heard
+the sound and felt the presence of a strong current of northerly wind;
+but it blew as though issuing from a furnace, and afforded no present
+relief. The sky continued to show "fiery off," and the musquitoes of
+that ilk did credit to the genealogy my informant ascribed to them: but
+there is a period beyond which even suffering ceases; this happy
+insensibility I had attained; and when after midnight we were landed at
+Utica, I felt as though I could have slept soundly and well even beneath
+the heated deck of our canal packet.
+
+I got an excellent bed at the hotel, however; and at daylight awoke to
+feel once more the delightful sensation of coolness. In the night heavy
+rain had fallen; a light but pleasant breeze was blowing; and the past
+was already a subject for merriment, although it was such matter for
+jest as I never willingly will undertake to collect again.
+
+
+
+
+LITTLE FALLS.
+
+
+SARATOGA.--BALLSTON.--ALBANY.--MOUNTAIN-HOUSE.--CATSKILL.--HYDE
+PARK.--LYNN.
+
+
+The early hour of six A.M. saw us once more in motion for Schnectady, by
+way of Little Falls. We pursued what is termed the ridge road, running
+along the valley of the Mohawk.
+
+The day was bright, and not over-warm. The sun's rays being tempered by
+a delicious north-east breeze, the condition of the atmosphere
+completely re-invigorated the almost prostrate body, whilst the
+loveliness of the prospect delighted and cheered the mind. No valley in
+the world can present charms more varied or more beautiful; even making
+every allowance for the happy change from musquitoes, swamps, close
+confinement, and suffocation, to freedom, exercise, and healthful
+breezes, with the satisfaction consequent upon the re-enjoyment of all
+these.
+
+We frequently ran along the line of cuttings for the railroad now in
+progress between Utica and Schnectady. The rocky nature of the ridge
+whose line they pursue, offers formidable impediments; but the work was
+proceeding with great rapidity notwithstanding. This railway, when
+complete, together with the canal by whose side it runs, will afford a
+facility of communication between New York and Utica, which, for speed
+and convenience, can have no rival.
+
+We breakfasted at Little Falls, a small town built on what was, at some
+period or other, the very bed of a torrent, amidst the huge piles of
+rock riven from the mountains in its course. Although overshadowed by
+the steep heights that wall the ravine in which it lies, it is kept cool
+and healthful by the constant current of air following the rapid fall of
+the river, which is here precipitated over a series of rocky ledges in a
+wild and hurried course, giving to the ravine and town the name of
+Little Falls. A more picturesque, romantic site no painter could desire.
+I felt vexed to be compelled to leave it after about an hour's halt; and
+should yet more regret this, did I not hope to revisit it.
+
+Arriving at Schnectady, we found the railroad train about to start for
+Saratoga springs; and, taking our places, we arrived at this Malvern of
+America about ten at night, after a delightful day's ride.
+
+Next morning I got up early, and took a lounge about Saratoga. The
+nominal attraction to this place is its water, which is much in vogue,
+and may be procured all over the States, being bottled and sold under
+the name of Congress water; as in all such places however, pleasure, not
+health, is the end pursued by the majority of visitors.
+
+The day was again close and hot: the street was a foot deep in light
+dust, so that every carriage moved in a cloud, and not a breath of air
+could rise without bearing this nuisance on its wing. I could not but
+think, considering the abundance of water, that there was a lack of
+charity in thus withholding a sprinkling from the road, especially as
+the resident invalids would, I am sure, have as much benefited by this
+mode of application as by any other; since to breathe for any length of
+time an atmosphere constantly impregnated with impalpable powder, must
+be anything but salutary.
+
+The chief attraction presented to my eyes was the piazza of the hotel
+where myself and friend had our quarters. This was of immense extent,
+full twenty feet wide, boarded throughout, and covered by the roof of
+the house, which was supported by lofty pillars of pine. About these
+columns grew, in the greatest luxuriance, the wild vine of the country,
+or some other Clematis, covering them from ground to roof, and forming a
+continuous rich drapery throughout the whole extent of the long piazza.
+
+This forms a promenade for the residents of the house and their
+visitors; and, were it out of reach of the dust, it would be difficult
+to create one more elegant and agreeable. There are several hotels here,
+whose exteriors present all the attractions of cleanliness and great
+size, both exceeding good points in so hot a climate as this now was. Of
+their internal arrangements I know nothing; for after partaking of a
+breakfast, in common with some hundred and fifty elaborately
+well-dressed ladies and gentlemen, in a room every way proportioned to
+the number of the _convives_, with the thermometer at about 88 degrees,
+I declared off, and made up my mind to decamp by the next train to seek
+quiet and coolness on the summit of the Catskill mountains.
+
+On our way we halted for a few hours at Ballston, the quality of whose
+water is, I believe, similar to that of the Saratoga springs: the place
+itself I liked better, simply, I suppose, because it had less of bustle
+and pretension. At the hotel, whose pillared piazza, was, like that I
+had just quitted, clothed with the freshest and most luxuriant clematis,
+I met a gay young belle of New York, who was resident here with her
+family, recruiting a sufficient stock of health to carry her through the
+fatigues of a winter campaign. By this lady I had my prepossessions in
+favour of Ballston confirmed; she assured me that the society here,
+though exceedingly small by comparison, was infinitely more pleasant;
+that there was less of dress or ceremony, and consequently more real
+comfort and sociability. I left this place with a strong inclination to
+remain for a few days at least: but my time of _relâche_ was short; and
+my misery was that I had much to see, and many points to visit lying far
+asunder, therefore was bound to hasten on, leaving agreeable realities
+as soon as found, to seek for something better, which too often proved a
+shadow when overtaken.
+
+Arrived at Albany, however, I found a right substantial welcome
+awaiting me from "mine host o' th' Eagle," in the shape of a six o'clock
+dinner of trout and woodcock, which would have recommended itself even
+without the aid of a hot day's journey and a ten hours' fast.
+
+Passed the evening with the K----s, one of those families of women
+which, if I did not value their delicacy more than my own inclination, I
+should like to describe, in contradiction to those who, viewing only the
+surface of American society, have so flippantly passed judgment upon its
+members.
+
+And how many of these little circles have I encountered, and been
+admitted into, in various parts of these States, composed of women who
+have seen little of what is called the world; but whose information,
+intelligence, and spirit would have made them the ornaments of any
+country; and whose manners, refined, feminine, and naturally graceful,
+might with infinite advantage be studied by some of the ungentle censors
+whose tone of criticism is so _prononcé_.
+
+It has often, when visiting in the country, been a matter of surprise to
+me to meet with so many women every way presentable, yet who have had
+such slight opportunity, as it is called, of acquiring that perfect
+ease and repose of manner by which truly well-bred women are readily
+distinguishable.
+
+The fact is, in the cities, where numbers congregate, society is apt
+rather to catch its tone from that which is most showy and prominent
+than from what, though more refined, is less obvious. In cities, also,
+strangers are often presented, and, from a deference to European
+fashion, observed and imitated, whose manner might with more profit be
+viewed as an example of what ought to be eschewed than held out as a
+model for adoption.
+
+But this is a digression I must close here, and which, indeed, the
+recollection of my fair friends at Albany alone could have betrayed me
+into. Acquainted with so much that is attractive and admirable in
+private life in this country, I should be less than honest did I not
+feel a desire to do it such poor justice as the expression of my feeling
+may render: I have only to regret that a rigid sense of propriety
+condemns me to deal in generalities only upon a point where I could
+individualise with such absolute truth.
+
+At seven o'clock A.M. went on board the Erie steamer, and a little after
+ten my companion and myself were landed at Catskill.
+
+A stage was in waiting at the landing-place, which quickly took us up
+to the town; and here we hired a carriage to proceed directly to the
+Mountain-house, which we had marked from the river as the morning sun
+lighted it up, looking like a white dovecot raised against the dark
+hill-side.
+
+In consequence of some bridge having been recently washed away by a
+flood, we were compelled to make a considerable circuit in order to ford
+the river; this, however, we accomplished, and continued our ascent
+under the happiest auspices.
+
+I will say nothing of our winding rocky road, or of the glimpses we now
+and then had of the nether world, which "momentarily grew less," as,
+whilst, halting for breath, we curiously peeped through the leafy
+skreen, flying from the faded leaf and drooping flower of scorching
+summer, and finding ourselves once more surrounded by all the lovely
+evidences of early spring.
+
+We took nearly five hours to win the house aptly called of the Mountain.
+I walked more than half way, and never felt less weary than when I
+rested on the natural platform, which, thrust from the hill-side, forms
+a stand whence may be worshipped one of the most glorious prospects
+ever given by the Creator to man's admiration.
+
+In the cool shade we stood here, and from this eyrie looked upon the
+silver line drawn through the vast rich valley far below, doubtful of
+its being the broad Hudson, upon whose bosom we had so lately floated in
+a huge vessel crowded with passengers: for this vessel we searched in
+vain; but, by the aid of a telescope, made out one of the same kind,
+which appeared to flit along like some fairy skiff over a pantomimic
+lake made all radiant with gold and pearl.
+
+How delightful were the sensations attendant upon a first repose in this
+changed climate, enhanced as these were by the remembrance of the
+broiling we had so recently endured! I never remember to have risen with
+feelings more elastic, or in higher spirits, than I did after my first
+night's rest upon this mountain: the rooms were small but very clean,
+and the house with but few inmates; a circumstance I rejoiced in
+exceedingly, although it was perfectly incomprehensible to me,
+considering the state of the atmosphere below.
+
+I found next day that here even there was a lion, in the shape of a
+waterfall, to be visited before one could be permitted to take absolute
+rest; so away I went to visit it,--a sort of waggon-omnibus being in
+preparation to take the inmates through the wood to the fall.
+
+A ride of some three miles brought us as close as might be to the spot,
+and a walk of as many hundred yards presented to view a scene as well
+suited for a witches' festival as any spot in the old Hartz.
+
+In the season of melting snow this must doubtless be a grand affair, for
+the fall is full three hundred feet deep; at present a mere rill crept
+over the centre of the rocky amphitheatre, and, long before it reached
+the basin beneath, it was changed into a silvery shower of light spray.
+We found a mill-dam had appropriated all the surplus of the weakened
+torrent, close by the head of the fall: as here was a day and night to
+recruit in, a trifling bribe induced the sawyers to raise their
+floodgates for our especial benefit.
+
+The bargain being completed, we descended into the bed of the river near
+the basin, and, giving the appointed signal, were indulged with a
+momentary glimpse of the scene under better form; but still, I am
+certain, received no idea of the effect produced here when the machinery
+is complete.
+
+After wandering a little way down the rugged bed of this misused
+river,--for surely Nature never designed that its waters should be
+arrested in their course to turn a saw-mill,--the party collected to
+return: with two others, I decided upon walking back, and pleasant it is
+to walk through these quiet wild wood-paths, where the chirp of the
+birds and the rustle of the leaves alone break in upon the repose.
+
+These mountains are everywhere thickly clothed with wood, saving only
+the platform whereon the house is built; deer abound on the lower
+ridges, and the bear yet finds ample cover here. A number of these
+animals are killed every season by an indefatigable old Nimrod who lives
+in the valley beneath, and who breeds some very fine dogs to this sport.
+
+I did promise unto myself that during the coming November I would return
+up here, and sojourn with the stout bear-hunter for a few days, for the
+purpose of seeing Bruin baited in his proper lair; but regret to say my
+plan was frustrated. It must be an exciting chase to rouse the lord of
+this wild mountain forest on a sunny morning, with the first hoar frost
+yet crisping the feathery pines; and to hear the deep-mouthed hounds
+giving tongue where a hundred echoes wait to bay the fierce challenge
+back, and to hear the sharp crack of the rifle rattle through the thin
+air.
+
+Or, whilst resting upon some crag under the blue sunny sky, to watch the
+sea of cold clouds tumbling about far below, and think that they
+o'er-canopy a region lower still, about which one's fellows are at the
+moment creeping with red noses and watery eyes, or rubbing their frozen
+fingers over anthracite stoves, utterly unconscious, poor devils! that
+
+
+     "The sun, when obscured by the clouds, yet above
+     "Shines not the less bright, though unseen."
+
+
+On Tuesday at five A.M. was roused to breakfast, and descended into the
+lower world to meet the Albany steamer.
+
+I opened my casement and looked forth upon the ocean of mist, whose huge
+waves rose and fell as they kept rolling by. It seemed as though river,
+valley, and mountain had been overwhelmed by this restless deluge, whose
+course was yet unstayed. The sun as yet wanted the power to shine
+through the mist; all was dark, chilling, and almost fearful.
+
+Before breakfast I had a last palaver with our guide; he said that the
+extreme denseness of the fog gave assured token of "an awful hot day."
+
+At six A.M. our muster was completed, and the party for the lower
+regions duly told off. As the carriage slowly crept down some of the
+steepest portions of the tortuous way, time and opportunities were
+afforded to steal a look under the cloudy canopy which the sun was
+quickly drawing upwards, and thus good assurance was afforded that the
+guide had prognosticated rightly.
+
+It did look "awful hot," to be sure; a golden-coloured haze seemed to
+float over the whole land like the subdued reflection of a bright flame.
+It made one feel uncomfortable to look upon the glowing landscape: the
+long snaky river gave no idea of coolness; it had a dead shiny look,
+only to be likened to a stream of molten lead.
+
+Meantime we mournfully beheld the green moist leaves, the yet half-open
+buds, together with all the other pleasant signs of spring, vanish with
+our too hasty fall, and to these succeeded parched grass, dry yellow
+leaves, and sickly flowers drooping and over-blown.
+
+At half-past ten we quitted Catskill in the steamer, and by half-after
+twelve were landed at Hyde Park. Mr. W----ks was awaiting our arrival,
+and a pair of his trotters soon set us down at his very pretty
+country-house, which is one of a cluster of charming residences
+scattered along this portion of the north bank of the river.
+
+A pleasant house and an agreeable party, with the sweetest possible
+scenery to ride or walk through, with a river and boats, and every
+accessory the frankest hospitality could furnish, might reasonably be
+presumed attractive enough to arrest a wayfarer in search of comfort:
+one drawback alone was to me insurmountable, mine ancient and implacable
+foes the musquito tribe were in full possession. These verdant shades
+form a portion of their hunting-ground on the Hudson; with them the
+war-hatchet is never buried; I had no sooner taken up my position
+therefore, than hostilities were re-commenced; my defence was creditable
+enough as I flatter myself; but Hercules himself might have shunned such
+fearful odds; I saw no reason therefore why I should abide to have every
+vein in my carcase breathed by these Cossacks, in obedience to a mere
+point of honour; so, shortly after dinner, I fairly cried peccavi, and
+decided to decamp.
+
+I was almost ashamed to declare my motives of flight to my hostess,
+whose hospitality I had accepted for a few days; especially as I saw
+others, and women too, heroically abiding the assault: but the truth
+is, my residence on the mountain had made me effeminate; Catskill proved
+my Cannæ. Freed from every accustomed annoyance in that "shady, blest
+retreat," I had absolutely begun to doubt whether there could be any
+longer found in the world below either heat or musquitoes; with the
+confident presumption of restored vigour, I stooped from my security,
+and reaped the harvest of my folly.
+
+My first idea was to return to the hills, but I had made an appointment
+to sail from Nahant down the east coast for a day or two with a friend,
+who I knew would expect me; and thither I resolved to push, the more
+especially as I was informed musquitoes were not strong enough on the
+wing to abide the rough breezes blowing in the bay of Massachusetts.
+
+It was nigh midnight when the night-boat touched, in its way down, at
+the pier of Hyde Park: bidding adieu to my friends, I stepped on board,
+and was again cutting through the dark river.
+
+The boat was crowded; and what a scene did the cabins present! But to
+describe it is impossible: indeed, the glance of curiosity I was tempted
+to take was an exceedingly brief one. Let the reader only imagine some
+two hundred men stowed away in double tiers of berths, or lying in rows
+upon stretchers placed close together, between the decks of a steamer,
+on one of the hottest, closest nights of a North American summer, and he
+may imagine a picture it would be very difficult to describe correctly.
+
+The night was very beautiful however, and almost reconciled me to
+passing it sleepless. Many persons kept the decks, which were yet ample
+enough to afford solitude to those who desired it. Myself and H----e
+quietly lighted our cigars, and philosophically roughed it out till six
+o'clock A.M., at which time we were landed in New York.
+
+We knocked up the lazy varlets of the hot baths, and with this luxury
+balanced the loss of sleep.
+
+I found myself back in New York sooner than I had anticipated on
+starting for the west; but, in the course of the day, discovered that
+the good city was yet too hot to hold me. W----n, who by good fortune
+was yet holding out here, invited me to dine with B----r and himself at
+the club; and, could we only have contrived to ice the atmosphere,
+nothing would have been wanting to our comfort. I found these last of
+the Romans were off in a day or two for the Springs, after the rest of
+the world; so, nothing being left to hold me, I took my passage next
+evening for Boston.
+
+Roomy as is the "Benjamin Franklin," I found on this occasion every
+berth already taken: the captain, however, resigned his room to me with
+much good-will; so my mischance proved fortunate, as I found myself
+installed in a neat cabin having a window opening on the water, which
+indeed the heat of the night made most necessary.
+
+There were two or three southern families on board, bound for Rhode
+Island: they appeared worn out by heat and long travel. The women
+especially pay dearly, I fear, for their sunny possessions; and what
+return can compensate for loss of health? Many of these are natives of
+the north; but, marrying southern gentlemen, they follow the fortunes of
+their husbands; the distances are great to which they are removed
+perhaps; and the necessity for a continuous residence on the plantation
+through two or three succeeding summers, saps, for ever, the
+constitution of a delicate female.
+
+The appearance of two or three of these young matrons now on board the
+packet excited my more than commiseration; attenuated in form,
+sallow-visaged, and fragile as the aspen, they appeared to shrink from
+the very breeze, to seek whose freshness they had journeyed so far. Two
+of them possessed the remains of positive beauty; their dark hair was of
+gossamer fineness, and their handsome eyes sparkled with that unnatural
+light which shines as it were from the tomb. No man could have looked
+upon them without pity; so attractive, so young, yet so evidently past
+all earthly cure.
+
+Landing at Providence, five hours' ride over a most dusty road brought
+us within sight of the State-house of Boston, when a thunder-storm,
+which had been for some time threatening, fell upon us with merciless
+fury. The overburdened cloud appeared as though it fairly rested upon
+the house-tops, and out of it ran a torrent of rain such as I should
+only have looked for under the line, or on some tropical island.
+
+I was outside, and had I even desired to seek shelter, the assault was
+of so sudden a nature, and so vigorous, that the worst one could expect
+from a complete ducking was effected in a moment: I sat it out
+therefore, and arrived at the Tremont uncommonly uncomfortable.
+
+_July 22nd._--Still on the move, seeking some cool spot where I may
+fold my tired wings and take "mine ease." One night's halt convinced me
+Boston was no quarter such as I desired just now; the house was crowded,
+the thermometer high, and my room as high as the glass, for it was one
+hundred and something up four flights of stairs. My good friend, Mr.
+T----r, took compassion on my condition, and volunteered to drive me
+down to Nahant; so off I was again. We passed across the harbour by one
+of the little steamers; and from hence to the pretty town of Lynn, there
+is nothing in the landscape particularly attractive. Over the destinies
+of this said town of Lynn St. Crispin holds absolute dominion; for the
+entire population, man, woman, and child, father, son, and brother,
+appear devoted to the calling in whose practice the princely saint was
+brought up.
+
+Vast quantities of shoes are here manufactured for the Indian markets;
+the amount exported annually is something enormous. The place wears an
+air of great prosperity; the dwellings being of remarkable neatness, and
+the public edifices of a size and character highly creditable to the
+ambition of these worthy citizens.
+
+This caste-like monopoly of certain callings is a singular feature in
+the economy of the New England republic, there being many of its towns
+where trades are exclusively exercised, and the practice of them handed
+down as an inheritance from one industrious generation to the next in
+succession; and notwithstanding the many arguments lately raised at home
+against hereditary honours, I do not find that in Massachusetts a souter
+is considered likely to make a shoe, a cooper a cask, or a farmer grow
+onions, with less ability, simply because their fathers did the same
+before them.
+
+The drive along the sandy beach from this place to Nahant was a most
+agreeable change from the dusty road on a warm July morning, especially
+with the prospect of a fresh breeze and a fish breakfast crowning the
+rocky peninsula rising boldly in the distance.
+
+The first happily encountered us before we reached the hotel, much to
+our relief; and the second was very quickly provided on our arrival. The
+precise day of the month when this place becomes fashionable had not yet
+arrived; although the heat, which alone could render such a residence
+desirable, had; consequently, there were few visitors, and my fears
+about want of room proved groundless. A choice of chambers was
+proffered me, and I selected one having an eastern aspect, with a
+window that commanded the north-east coast of the vast bay of
+Massachusetts; whilst just within reach lay the snugly-sheltered cove
+and rocky islet about which, according to the most authentic reports,
+the "great sea sarpint" delights to disport him when in a merry mood.
+"Who knows," said I to myself, when all the advantages of my location
+became known to me,--"who knows but that on some morning, bright and
+early, I may behold the monster combing his venerable beard amongst the
+rocks below, or see him lift his head to the level of my window--the
+height not being over a hundred feet--in civil search of a bit of old
+brown Windsor to shave withal?"
+
+Here, then, will I fix my head-quarters until the prompter's whistle
+shall once more summon me to commence a new campaign at New York;--six
+weeks nearly, with nothing to do,--it will require some management to
+complete this task without weariness!
+
+
+END OF VOL. I.
+
+
+LONDON:
+PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,
+Dorset Street, Fleet Street.
+
+
+
+
+
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+  </head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Impressions of America, by Tyrone Power
+
+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: Impressions of America
+       During the years 1833, 1834 and 1835. In Two Volumes, Volume I.
+
+Author: Tyrone Power
+
+Release Date: September 28, 2007 [EBook #22796]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h1>IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA.</h1>
+
+<h2>VOL. I.</h2>
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="center">LONDON:<br />PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,<br />Dorset Street, Fleet Street.</p>
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="center"><img src="images/illus-0005-1.jpg" width='700' height='511' alt="scene before the theatre at natchez" /></p>
+
+<h4>SCENE BEFORE THE THEATRE AT NATCHEZ.<br />Drawn &amp; Etched by A. Hervieu.</h4>
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<h2>IMPRESSIONS</h2>
+
+<h1>OF AMERICA,</h1>
+
+<h3>DURING THE YEARS 1833, 1834, AND 1835.</h3>
+
+<h2>BY TYRONE POWER, ESQ.</h2>
+
+<h3>IN TWO VOLUMES.</h3>
+
+<h2>VOL. I.</h2>
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h3>LONDON:<br />RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,<br />Publisher in Ordinary to His Majesty.<br />1836.</h3>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="DEDICATION" id="DEDICATION"></a>DEDICATION</h2>
+
+<h3>TO THE BRITISH PUBLIC.</h3>
+
+<hr class="smler" />
+
+<p>Most persons have a Patron, from whose power and influence they have
+derived support, and of whose favour they feel proud.</p>
+
+<p>I cannot claim to be of the few who are above this adventitious sort of
+aid, self-raised and self-sustained; on the contrary, I have a Patron,
+the only one I ever sought, but whose favour has well repaid my pains of
+solicitation.</p>
+
+<p>The Patron I allude to is yourself, my Public, much courted, much
+abused, and commonly accused of either being coldly neglectful or
+capriciously forgetful of all sorts of merit. To<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span> me, at least, you have
+proved most kind, and hitherto most constant.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, my Public, throughout my humble career, I have at all times of
+doubt or despondency invariably turned to you, and never have I been
+coldly regarded. I have leaned heavily upon you, yet have never found
+your aid withdrawn.</p>
+
+<p>As an Actor, when managers have appeared indifferent, or critics unkind,
+and my hopes have sunk within me, I have turned to your cheering
+plaudits, and found in them support for the present and encouragement
+for the future.</p>
+
+<p>As an Author, this appeal is founded solely upon my desire, not only to
+amuse, but to make you better acquainted with an important part and
+parcel of yourself, to which, although widely sundered, you are
+naturally and morally allied, and of which, as emanating from yourself,
+and in no way degenerate, you ought to feel very proud.</p>
+
+<p>If happily I succeed in effecting this&mdash;if I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span> dissipate one common
+error, eradicate one vulgar prejudice, or kindle one kindly feeling
+between you and the people of whom I write, I shall feel that, by so
+doing, I have at length made you some return for the high favour with
+which you have repaid my efforts to please you.</p>
+
+<p>In presenting this offering to you, I am aware, at this the ninth hour,
+that it abounds in errors; and I would furnish a copious list of errata
+from each sheet, if I thought you would find patience to compare them.
+But you also know how my time has been employed since my return to you.
+Whilst you have nightly laughed with me at the playhouse, I have nightly
+had the devil<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> waiting for a contribution at home, and he is an imp
+importunate and insatiable. To soothe him, I have worked whilst you have
+slept.</p>
+
+<p>I do not tell this to deprecate the censure my crude publication merits,
+but only to excuse the impertinence of dedicating it to you.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span>
+Nevertheless, being the best commodity I have to lay at your feet, I beg
+you to accept it, with the very sincere declaration that I am, my only
+Patron and gentle Public,</p>
+
+<p class="center">Your devoted,<br /> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Humble servant,<br />
+ &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<span class="smcap">Tyrone Power.</span></p>
+
+<p><i>Bolton Street, May Fair,</i><br /> &nbsp; &nbsp;<i>Dec. 23rd, 1835.</i></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> <i>i.e.</i> Printer's devil!</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2>
+
+<hr class="smler" />
+
+<p>Although I have hitherto forborne all preface or dedication on
+exhibiting my small ware to the public, concluding that the less I said
+about the matter the better, and from having some scruples about tacking
+any lady's or gentleman's name to bantlings from which I had withheld my
+own; yet, in the present case, do I consider myself bound, in a like
+spirit of honesty, to provide this book with a few words descriptive of
+its quality, lest my Readers, being disappointed, may charge me with
+having deluded them under false "Impressions."</p>
+
+<p>I seek, then, to describe America as I saw it,&mdash;a mighty country, in the
+enjoyment of youth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span> and health, and possessing ample room and time for
+the growth, which a few escapades incident to inexperience and high
+blood may retard, but cannot prevent. Heaven has written its destinies
+in the gigantic dimensions allotted to it, and it is not in the power of
+earth to change the record.</p>
+
+<p>I seek to describe its people as I saw them,&mdash;clear-headed, energetic,
+frank, and hospitable; a community suited to, and labouring for, their
+country's advancement, rather than for their own present comfort. This
+is and will be their lot for probably another generation.</p>
+
+<p>To those, then, who seek scandalous innuendos against, or imaginary
+conversations with, the fair, the brave, and the wise amongst the
+daughters and sons of America, I say, Read not at all; since herein,
+though something of mankind, there is little of any man, woman, or
+child, of the thousands with whom I have reciprocated hospitality and
+held kind communion.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, it can be objected that I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span> set out by giving
+evidences of a partiality which may cause my judgment to be questioned.</p>
+
+<p>Frankly do I avow this fault, and in my justification have but to add,
+that the person who, for two years, could be in constant intercourse
+with a people, to the increase of his fortune, the improvement of his
+health, and the enlargement of all that is good in his mind, yet feel no
+partiality in their favour, I pity for coldness more than envy for
+philosophy.</p>
+
+<p>But whilst I am by nature incapable of repaying kindness by aspersion, I
+feel that I am no less above the meanness of attempting a return in that
+base coin&mdash;flattery; that which I saw I say, and as <i>I</i> saw it. I blame
+none of my predecessors for their general views, but claim the right of
+differing from them wherever I think fit; and if my account of things
+most on the surface even, should sometimes appear opposite to theirs, I
+would not, by this, desire to impeach their veracity, since the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span> changes
+working in society are as rapid, though not quite so apparent, as those
+operating on the face of these vast countries, whose probable destinies
+do in truth render almost ridiculous the opinions and speculations of
+even the sagest of the pigmies that have bustled over their varied
+surface.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<h4>OF</h4>
+
+<h2>THE FIRST VOLUME.</h2>
+
+<div class="index">
+<ul>
+<li><a href="#DEDICATION">DEDICATION.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#PREFACE">PREFACE.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#EUROPE"><span class="smcap">Europe</span>.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#THE_EVE_OF_SAILING">The Eve of Sailing.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#SAILING_DAY">Sailing Day.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#THE_EUROPE_PACKET">The Europe Packet.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#THE_EUROPE_CONTINUED_CHANGE_OF_AFFAIRS">The Europe continued.&mdash;Change of Affairs.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#JOURNAL_AT_SEA">Journal at Sea.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#LAND_HO">Land, ho!</a></li>
+<li><a href="#PORT">Port.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#NEW_YORK"><span class="smcap">New York</span>.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#FIRST_IMPRESSIONS_OF_THE_CITY">First Impressions of the City.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#A_BIVOUAC">A Bivouac.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#CATOS">Cato's!</a></li>
+<li><a href="#THEATRE">Theatre.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#PHILADELPHIA"><span class="smcap">Philadelphia</span>.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#THE_THEATRES_WALNUT_AND_CHESTNUT">The Theatres.&mdash;Walnut and Chestnut.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#JOURNEY_TO_BOSTON"><span class="smcap">Journey to Boston</span>.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#THE_EAST_RIVER_HURL-GATEmdashTHE_SOUNDmdashPOINT_JUDITHmdashNEWPORT">The East River.&mdash;Hurl-Gate.&mdash;The Sound.&mdash;Point Judith.&mdash;Newport Harbour.&mdash;Providence.</a></li>
+<li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</a></span><a href="#BOSTON"><span class="smcap">Boston</span>.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#STATE_PRISON">State Prison.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#TREMONT_HOTEL">Tremont Hotel.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#THE_TREMONT_THEATRE">The Tremont Theatre.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#JOURNAL"><span class="smcap">Journal</span>.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#BALTIMORE"><span class="smcap">Baltimore</span>.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#JOURNAL_CONTINUED">Baltimore.&mdash;Journal continued.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#THE_TEMPERANCE_HOUSE">The Temperance House.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#JOURNALB">Journal.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#NEW_YEARS_DAY_IN_NEW_YORK">Journal continued.&mdash;New Year's Day in New York.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#THE_DUTCH_AND_IRISH_COLONIES_OF_PENNSYLVANIA">The Dutch and Irish Colonies of Pennsylvania.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#THE_STEAMBOAT"><span class="smcap">The Steam-boat</span>.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#DELAWARE_NEWCASTLEmdashRAILROADmdashFRENCH-TOWNmdashELK_RIVERmdashNORTH">Delaware.&mdash;Newcastle.&mdash;Railroad.&mdash;French-Town.&mdash;Elk River.&mdash;North Point.&mdash;Bay of Chesapeake.&mdash;Baltimore.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#WASHINGTON"><span class="smcap">Washington</span>.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#THEATRE_WASHINGTON">Theatre, Washington.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#PIERCES_GARDEN">Pierce's Garden.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#THE_GARDEN_POETICAL_AND_POLITICAL">The Garden, Poetical and Political.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#THE_FALLS_OF_THE_POTOMAC">The Falls of the Potomac.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#IMPRESSIONS_OF_WASHINGTON_SOCIETY_PUBLIC_AND_PRIVATE">Impressions of Washington Society, public and private.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#IMPRESSIONS_OF_ALEXANDRIA">Impressions of Alexandria.&mdash;A blank day.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#THE_FANCY_BALL">The Fancy Ball.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#LIONS_OF_WASHINGTON"><span class="smcap">Lions of Washington</span>.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#THE_INDIAN_CABINET_HOUSE_OF">The Indian Cabinet.&mdash;House of Legislature.&mdash;Senate.&mdash;Ladies.&mdash;Senators.&mdash;President.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#BOSTONB"><span class="smcap">Boston</span>.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#JOURNEY_ACROSS_THE_ALLEGHANY_MOUNTAINS_PITTSBURG">Journey across the Alleghany Mountains.&mdash;Pittsburg.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#PITTSBURG"><span class="smcap">Pittsburg</span>.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#THE_HUDSON"><span class="smcap">The Hudson</span>.</a></li>
+<li><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</a></span><a href="#ALBANY"><span class="smcap">Albany</span>.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#JOURNEY_TO_COOPERS_TOWN"><span class="smcap">Journey to Cooper's Town.&mdash;Otsego Lake</span>.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#TRENTON_FALLS"><span class="smcap">Trenton Falls</span>.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#BUFFALO"><span class="smcap">Buffalo</span>.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#NIAGARA"><span class="smcap">Niagara</span>.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#ERIE_CANAL"><span class="smcap">Erie Canal</span>.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#PACKET-BOAT_HEATmdashCEDAR_SWAMP_LONG_SWAMP_AND_MUSQUITO">Packet-boat.&mdash;Heat.&mdash;Cedar Swamp, Long Swamp, and Musquito Swamp.&mdash;Utica.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#LITTLE_FALLS"><span class="smcap">Little Falls</span>.</a></li>
+<li><a href="#SARATOGA_BALLSTONmdashALBANYmdashMOUNTAIN-HOUSEmdashCATSKILLmdashHYDE">Saratoga.&mdash;Ballston.&mdash;Albany.&mdash;Mountain-House.&mdash;Catskill.&mdash;Hyde Park.&mdash;Lynn.</a></li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h1>IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA.</h1>
+
+<hr class="smler" />
+
+<h2><a name="EUROPE" id="EUROPE"></a>EUROPE.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="THE_EVE_OF_SAILING" id="THE_EVE_OF_SAILING"></a>THE EVE OF SAILING.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div>In youth's wild days, it cannot but be pleasant</div>
+<div>This idle roaming round and round the world,</div>
+<div>With wildfire spirits and heart disengaged.</div>
+<div class="i16"><i>Anster's Faustus.</i></div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>When one first contemplates a voyage of many thousand miles, attended
+with long absence, loss of old associates, together with all the charms
+of home, country, and friends, often too lightly estimated whilst
+possessed, but always sorely missed when no longer within call; one is
+yet, and this through no lack of sensibility, apt to regard the
+sacrifice about to be made to duty as sufficiently light, and, with the
+aid of manhood and a little philosophy, easy of endurance. The very
+task, which a resolution of this grave nature necessarily imposes, of
+making as little of the matter as possible to those dear ones<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> who yield
+up their fears, and subdue their strong affections, in obedience to your
+judgment, serves for a time the double purpose of hoodwinking oneself as
+well as blinding those on whom we seek to practise this kind imposition.
+Next comes the bustle of getting ready, assisted and cheered by the
+redoubled attentions of all who love, or feel an interest in one's
+fortunes. Amidst the excitement, then, of these various feelings, the
+deep-seated throb of natural apprehension, or home regret, if even felt,
+struggling for expression, is checked or smothered in the loud note of
+preparation. The day of departure is fixed at length, it is true; but
+then it is not yet come: even when contemplating its near approach, one
+feels wondrous firm and most stoically resolved: at last, however, come
+it does; and now our chief friend Philosophy, like many other friends,
+is found most weak when most needed. In vain do we invoke his approved
+maxims, hitherto so glibly dealt out to silence all gainsayers; yet now,
+they are either found inapt or are forgotten wholly, until, after a
+paltry show of defence, braggart Philosophy fairly takes to his heels,
+and leaves us abandoned to the will of old mother Nature. Now, indeed,
+arrives the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> tug; and I, for my part, pity the man who, however savagely
+resolute, does not feel and own her power. The adieus of those one loves
+are, at best,&mdash;that is, for the shortest absence,&mdash;sufficiently
+unpleasant; but when there lie years, and, to the eye of affection,
+dangers, in the way of the next meeting, as the old Scotch ballad has
+it, "O but it is sair to part!" I should, I confess, were I free to
+choose, prefer the ignominy of cowardly flight, to the greatest triumph
+firmness ever yet achieved, and be constrained to hear and respond to
+that last long "good-b'ye!"</p>
+
+<p>As I honestly own that, for various good reasons, I set out with the
+intention of keeping such a close record of my feelings and doings as my
+errant habits might permit, with the premeditated design also of giving
+them to that public which from the beginning had decided that I should
+do so, I concluded there was nothing like an early start; and finding
+these thoughts preface, or rather commence, my journal, so do I give
+them like precedence here.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="SAILING_DAY" id="SAILING_DAY"></a>SAILING DAY.</h3>
+
+<p class="right">Liverpool, Tuesday, July 16th, 1833.</p>
+
+<p>I am not usually very particular about dates; but, as there is an odd
+coincidence connected with the 16th, I desire to note it. On this day,
+then, about 3 <span class="smaller">P.M.</span> I was rumbled from Bold-street down to St. George's
+Dock, accompanied by a few friends, who were resolute to extend their
+kindness to the latest limit time and tide, those unyielding agents,
+might allow.</p>
+
+<p>Arrived at the ship's side, I found a number of my own poor countrymen,
+<i>agricultural speculators</i>, filling up a leisure moment before seeking
+harvest, in seeing "Who in the world was going to America, all that
+way," with which country there are now few of the humbler class of Irish
+but have some intimate associations. Disposing amongst <i>the boys</i> the
+few shillings I had left in my pocket, I jumped on board the packet-ship
+Europe, without cross or coin, saving only a couple of luck-pennies, the
+one an American gold eagle, the present of an amiable gentlewoman; the
+other a crooked sixpence, suspended by a crimson ribbon, the offering of
+a fair "maid of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> the inn," given to me on the very eve of sailing-day
+with many kind wishes, all of which have been realized.</p>
+
+<p>The wind had been all the morning, and was still, away from the
+south-west; that is, right into the harbour; and I had heard many doubts
+expressed whether or not we should sail at all before night tide; doubts
+which, I am almost ashamed to confess, did not offend my ears so very
+much, considering my avowed impatience to be gone; nay, I do further
+admit having observed carelessly that I would as soon we did not sail
+until night tide, though wherefore I should thus have sought to keep
+chords on the stretch already too painfully braced, I leave to the wise
+to resolve.</p>
+
+<p>Once on board, however, doubt was at an end; since the task of warping
+out from the tier was already commenced, and the noisy steamer might be
+heard bellowing and fuming, impatient of delay, from where she awaited
+us without the pier. We were moored inside several other ships; and the
+dock being quite full of craft, to the unpractised eye there appeared no
+possibility of winning a passage without doing or sustaining damage.
+However, what with warps and checks, careful and well-timed hauling, and
+ready <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>backing, the gallant-looking Europe was quickly and safely handed
+over to the turbid waters of the Mersey without suffering a rub on her
+bright sides.</p>
+
+<p>The steamer now took us in tow, and in a few minutes the busy docks and
+crowded pier-heads had passed away. Our companion vessels at parting
+were three only&mdash;a large private Indiaman, (the Albion,) a smaller ship
+for the coast of Africa, and a little gaily-painted Irish schooner
+called the Shamrock. These, it appeared, were dependent upon their own
+resources, and were soon left behind contending hardily with a strong
+beating wind; whilst the Europe, with yards pointed and sails closely
+furled, steadily and swiftly followed in the wake of the George the
+Fourth, looking like a noble giant led captive by some sooty dwarf. The
+Black Rock was soon gained, Crosby and its pretty cottages showed dimly
+distant; the mountains of Wales opened grandly forth before us; and,
+after one last long look, I dived to my state-room, partly to busy
+myself with seeing all my traps arranged and set in trim for sea, and
+partly to be alone.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="THE_EUROPE_PACKET" id="THE_EUROPE_PACKET"></a>THE EUROPE PACKET.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div>"This goodly ship our palace is,</div>
+<div>Our heritage the sea."</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It will doubtless appear to many who shall win their way thus far into
+this book, a work of impertinent supererogation to describe at large an
+American packet-ship, together with the mode of living on board a
+regular <i>Liner</i>, considering that there are some three or four of these
+departing every week from Liverpool, London, and Havre, and at this same
+point I can fancy some hot fellow, who has performed his twentieth trip,
+here toss by my unoffending volume, with "Devil take the chap! does he
+think he knows about all this better than <i>us</i>?"</p>
+
+<p>But, hold hard, my fiery friend, whilst I remind your worship that there
+are some thousands of the lieges out of the countless numbers who will
+be our readers, who, insular though they be, and well used to ships,
+have yet no conception of these wonders of the water; that is, provided
+the "Europe" is to be taken as a true sample of the service she belongs
+to: not to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> mention that what was new and notable to me, who have
+voyaged much, can hardly fail to interest some gentlemen "who live at
+home at ease."</p>
+
+<p>Let, then, the reader who knows what a "between-decks" is, step below
+with me, and there picture to himself a room forty feet long, not taking
+in the deep transom, by sixteen in breadth, having on either hand a
+range of inclosed state-rooms about eight feet square, each with its own
+door and window, of bird's-eye maple curiously inlaid with variously
+grained wood, polished as glass. The upper part of the door and the
+whole of the side window are latticed; so that on both being closed, the
+occupant is hidden, yet the air admitted freely.</p>
+
+<p>Each of these state-rooms is furnished with a washhand stand, containing
+a double service, a chest of drawers, with handles of cut glass, a shelf
+or two for books, &amp;c. and a brace of berths or bed-places of ample
+dimensions, well appointed with mattress and linen, white as ever lassie
+lifted off the sunny side of a brae, at whose foot brawled the burn to
+which her labour owed its freshness.</p>
+
+<p>Now, although each room is fitted up for two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> insides, you may
+nevertheless conserve your individuality,&mdash;the which I recommend,&mdash;at
+the cost of an additional half-fare, or, in all, about fifty-five pounds
+sterling.</p>
+
+<p>Being here installed, then, <i>solus</i>, you will be roused from your sound
+night's sleep in the morning at eight bells, or eight o'clock <span class="smaller">A.M.</span>, by
+the tinkling of a shrewish-sounding hand-bell, which says, as plainly as
+ever the chimes of Bow hailed Whittington lord mayor of London, "Arise,
+and shave, and make your toilet, and prepare to come forth; for the cow
+is milking, and the kettle is screeching, and the hot rolls beginning to
+get over-brown."</p>
+
+<p>Upon this welcome summons, if you are not sea-sick, which Heaven forbid!
+or insensible to the goods here by the gods provided for you, you will
+bounce or creep out of your crib, according as the waves and your
+agility may determine; and popping your head out of window, loudly bawl
+"Thomas!" or plain "Tom!" or "Steward!" according to the terms of
+friendship and familiarity on which you may stand with this dignitary,
+who, by the way, has a vote on board worth canvassing for;&mdash;I say bawl
+out, because, firstly, your mincing and Clarendon-like lisp of "Waiter!"
+would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> not be heard by one used to listen to the rush of the tempest and
+the shriek of the scourged Atlantic; also, for that your stirring call
+may remind some wretched skulker of a circumstance which he is miserably
+dozing out of remembrance, viz. that breakfast is under weigh. "Yes,
+sir!" is the prompt response from the larboard corner of the cabin,
+where the steward and his gang are installed with all their appointment
+of glass and crockery ranged neatly within reach. Your next call will
+be, "Bring me a bottle of Saratoga water"&mdash;a chalybeate, cool and brisk
+on the palate as soda water, a commendable morning draught, and such a
+trumpet to appetite!&mdash;well, having swallowed of this, your pint or so,
+dress, mount the deck, and inquire "how she heads," and what she has
+done during the long hours of night whilst you lay sleeping like a
+sea-bird in your wave-borne nest.</p>
+
+<p>You next take a look over the weather quarter, sweep the horizon
+knowingly with your best eye, and after, walk forward towards the galley
+or kitchen, pricking your ears at certain sputtering and hissing sounds,
+the which, backed up by sundry savoury sniffs caught under the tack of
+the main-sail, give you foretaste of broiled ham,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> spitch-cock, eggs,
+frizzled bacon, and mutton cutlets.</p>
+
+<p>One by one your messmates tumble up the companion, or cabin-stair; some
+hungry and blooming as sound stomachs and clear consciences can make
+them, others showing a <i>leetle</i> blue and bilious-like; but each and all
+resolute to essay the onslaught, which the train of polished covers,
+making rapid transit from the caboose down the steward's hatchway,
+proclaim about to begin.</p>
+
+<p>Tinkle, tinkle, ting! again sounds the steward's bell; and, without any
+pauses of ceremony, down dive the <i>convives</i>, turning <i>en q&ucirc;e</i> the foot
+of the stair, some to windward, others to leeward, but all facing right
+aft&mdash;a double game of "follow my leader."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! 'tis a goodly sight to see," the show which here presents
+itself;&mdash;covers of all sizes glisten under the flickering rays of the
+morning sun, stealing in through the open deck-light, and dancing about
+to the heave of the ship over a well-laid cloth flanked by ready plates
+and the weapons of attack.</p>
+
+<p>The signal is made, the covers drawn; and, appetite or no appetite, here
+is temptation for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> all. If the incipient voyager will benefit by my
+experience, as he might well have done by my example had we been happy
+enough to have possessed his amiable society on board the Europe, he
+will develope his main battle against the mutton chops <i>au naturel</i>;
+then gossip over a slice of broiled <i>Virginy</i> ham, with an egg or twain,
+whilst his souchong is getting pleasantly cool; then, having emptied his
+cup, flirt with a couple of delicate morsels raised from the thin part
+of a salted shad-fish, the which shad, for richness and flavour is
+surpassing.</p>
+
+<p>To his second cup he will dedicate the upper crust of a well-baked roll
+with cold butter; and, after having duly paused a while, choose between
+Cognac and Schiedam for a <i>chasse</i>. If he will yet walk with me, I say
+unhesitatingly, try Schiedam, in the absence, reverently be it spoken,
+of Isla or Innishowen.</p>
+
+<p>Now, my pupil, if this breakfast would, which it could not fail to do,
+raise the bastard appetite of your close-curtained, feather-bedded
+coal-smoked, snivelling in-dweller of the city, judge of the influence
+it must exercise over a child of ocean, who inhales the breath of heaven
+freshly as generated beneath the blue sky that vaults his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> watery world,
+pure, uncorrupted, untainted by touch of anything more earthly.</p>
+
+<p>Why, man, it is worth a life of ordinary vegetation to be stirred but
+for once by the sensations, such a morning as I draw from, in such a
+place, create; and to those who sagely shake the head and doubt, if any
+such cavillers there be, I say, "Pay your just debts; make your tenants
+easy, that their prayers may be in your sails; forgive your enemies,
+kiss your wife, draw up and add in her favour a codicil to your
+testament; and your duties being thus fulfilled, with a clean heart,
+backed by forty-eight clean shirts, go and try; and if you 'fall not' of
+my advice before you again embrace your mother country, curse Fortune
+for a perverse wench, and set your humble servant down for false
+counsel."</p>
+
+<p>Leaving you now, my pupil, to write, to read, to practise shooting with
+ball at a bottle swinging from some outstanding spar, or to follow
+whatever pursuit most engages your fancy, for the space of some four
+hours, we will just name an intermediate and somewhat tempting meal,
+ycleped luncheon, chiefly indeed for the purpose of advising you to
+eschew it as you value unimpaired digestion, and would appreciate a
+four<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> o'clock dinner. If, however, you are obstinately self-willed, and
+choose to obey a villanous unappeasable appetite, in place of following
+my wholesome advice, I pray you, at least, not to sit down knife in
+hand, as I have noted "some shameless creatures do;" but lift a piece of
+pilot biscuit, request some kind soul to shave the under side of the
+corned round for you, then desiring the steward to follow with a tumbler
+of Guiness's porter, fly the place and seek the deck.</p>
+
+<p>Shuffle-board, chess, and backgammon, with exercise and pleasant
+converse, will while away the intervening hours so quickly, that, if you
+do not keep a bright look-out, you will be surprised by the dinner-bell
+before you think of your toilet, which, if a luxury to you on shore,
+will be thrice welcome at sea, besides being a pleasant way of disposing
+of twenty minutes; not to mention the ladies, who, at all times sensibly
+alive to any neglect in us, become doubly so here, where there is so
+much to remind them that they are not ruling in their own pretty
+drawing-rooms, though, as the old song has it,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div>"Queens they be</div>
+<div>On the boundless sea,"</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>as indeed they are, and ought to be, everywhere.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p><p><i>Mem.</i>&mdash;Do not trust your appetite to forewarn you of approaching
+dinner, since I have been more than once deceived by over-confidence in
+that quarter: truth is, you have the cry of "wolf" from that insatiable
+look-out so early and so often, that you learn after a time to treat the
+call as impertinent and troublesome, and so strive to cut it until the
+cutting moment really and unexpectedly comes upon you.</p>
+
+<p>I have been so elaborate upon the head of breakfast, which meal, I
+freely confess to be my foible, that I feel as though any description of
+dinner would now come comparatively weak; besides, to speak verily, one
+might, with time and prudent choice, get as good a dinner, perhaps,
+a-shore in favoured countries: but for a breakfast, pho! the thing is
+beyond reach, away from the stores of a well-regulated Yankee packet. I
+challenge Europe, including Scotland, with all her <i>Finnanhaddies</i>,
+<i>herrin's</i>, cakes, and preserves, to back her.</p>
+
+<p>Suffice it then to say, that here is a dinner of three courses, with
+pastry and various <i>confitures</i> which would not shame Gunter; and, for
+<i>boisson</i>, sherry, madeira, hock, and claret, with port for those who
+indulge in strong potations, and three or four times a week well-iced
+champagne.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p><p>A variety of dried fruits compose the dessert, since, although they
+sometimes raise small salad, I feel bound to admit that they have not
+yet attained to the comfort of a pinery on board: nor, let me add, did I
+see finger-glasses in use; and how persons get on who have never dined
+without them, I cannot guess, this not being my case, since luckily,
+even in England, I had sometimes roughed it in very good society without
+these necessaries. Once seated to dinner, there you remain, and imbibe
+until discretion bids you hold your hand, for other check have you none,
+cellar and servants remaining at your disposal.</p>
+
+<p>After a walk on deck, and a cup of tea or coffee, you form your party
+for whist or some round game, or join the ladies in their <i>boudoir</i>,
+which I ought to have mentioned before as leading out of the great room
+forward, being a pretty square apartment, fitted up with sofas, mirrors,
+loo-table, and other little elegancies which ladies love to look upon
+and be surrounded by. <i>Entre nous</i>, between the lights this snuggery
+affords tolerable convenience for a little flirtation, if you are lucky
+enough to get one up;&mdash;this broken off,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> you play your play, and at the
+conclusion of your rubber of whist, or <i>parti d'ecart&eacute;</i>, you prepare for
+bed,&mdash;early hours forming here one of those sanitary laws which the wise
+feel little inclined to impinge.</p>
+
+<p>Now I am quite well aware that on the head of night-caps every biped has
+his own fancy, and most of the genus I also know to be infernally
+pig-pated on this seemingly simple point; such incurables I abandon, to
+supper, porter, night-mare, and all the other nameless horrors that
+rouse them to avenge an ill-used stomach; but to the willing ear and
+ductile mind I whisper again, "try mine." <i>Imprimis</i>&mdash;one cigar, one
+tumbler of weak Hollands' grog, better named swizzle, all to be disposed
+of in pleasant company during some half-hour's walk on deck; when, if
+you should sometimes, as I hope you often may, fall in with a soft downy
+south-west breeze, a clear deep-blue sky over head, gemmed full with
+little stars, and fringed about, down into the watery round, by a broad
+border of jet-black cloud, against which each curling wave appears to
+break, and the goodly ship seems as though delving through a lake of
+quick-silver&mdash;when the track of the swift porpoises show like long
+furrows of dazzling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> flame, and over the whirling eddies of the keel's
+deep wake is seen to hover a strange unearthly light,&mdash;a thin bluish,
+devilish, vaporous haze, which, in the silent watch of night, maketh the
+lonely gazer's flesh to creep, and conjures through the brain every wild
+legend whispered of the "vasty deep," fascinating the eyes, and holding
+them with spell-like power, until&mdash;until what?&mdash;why, until a sharp
+twitch on the lip from the fire of the close-burned cigar we recommended
+awakens you to a due sense of such a "lame and most impotent
+conclusion."</p>
+
+<p>Jump off the spare spar on which you have been perched whilst gazing so
+dreamily over the ship's quarter, give the last half of your grog to the
+old lad at the wheel, peep in on the compass, find she heads about
+west-north-west, and, well satisfied, descend the stair. The steward
+lights the waxen taper which fixes on a branch before your glass; when,
+having performed such ceremonies as you delight in, thank God and sleep:
+and thus ends the chapter of a day.</p>
+
+<p>And, gentle pupil, if you would learn yet more especially to enjoy all
+this, which I have for your benefit somewhat <i>lengthily</i> detailed, give
+directions to the steward to rouse you at deck-washing;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> that is, about
+six <span class="smaller">A.M.</span>; put on drawers and jacket of fine cotton, and, sunshine or
+cloud, calm or squall, run on deck, leave your <i>robe de chambre</i> in the
+round-house, and slide down into the lee gangway, where, according to
+previous contract, you see a grim-looking seven-foot seaman&mdash;pick out
+the tallest&mdash;waiting for you with a couple of buckets of sea-water, one
+held ready in his claw, with a half-grin upon his puckered phiz as he
+inwardly blesses the simplicity of the landsman who turns out of his
+hammock in the morning-watch to be soused like the captain's turtle in
+cold salt water; and i' faith! startlingly cold it gets when on the
+Banks, even in July, especially if within the influence of an ice-berg
+or twain: think not, however, of this, the infliction is light in
+comparison with the after enjoyment.</p>
+
+<p>Being seated in the lee-scuppers, give the word; up goes the bucket, and
+wush! down pours the deluge on your oil-capped crown. "Hah!" you cry
+involuntarily, for the flesh will quiver, &amp;c. You then compress your
+lips a little closer, whilst Jack's giggle expands into a broad grin,
+and in a steadier stream descends the second shower; which, having
+abided to the last drop, away you scurry along the wet deck, that is,
+always provided you avoid a fall<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> or two by the way, into the
+round-house, on gown, and down to your little den; where a coarse towel,
+and a couple of flesh-brushes smartly applied for five minutes, will
+produce such a circulation throughout your inward man, that, like bold
+Waterton, you feel as though you could back an alligator, take the
+sea-serpent by the beard, or kick a noisy steamboat fairly out of water.</p>
+
+<p>I have, since I am at confession, sometimes in very bad weather been
+tempted into bed after this ablution, when such an hour's nap awaits
+one! But this is a luxury Xerxes would have given a Satrapie to have
+tasted, and not to be indulged in over-often, lest it lead to
+effeminacy, which is as far removed from comfort as is sensuality from
+pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>I have often heard objected to these fine ships the discomfort and
+difficulty attending toilet; but, for my own part, I did not discover
+these. Having a state-room, and possessed of the same appliances, with
+perhaps a little more trouble, a man may be as scrupulously nice as in
+any other dressing-room; provided always he be not prostrated by that
+unsparing nausea, sea-sickness; from the which I wish you, gentle
+reader, the full exemption I enjoy, and so commend you to repose.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="THE_EUROPE_CONTINUED_CHANGE_OF_AFFAIRS" id="THE_EUROPE_CONTINUED_CHANGE_OF_AFFAIRS"></a>THE EUROPE CONTINUED.&mdash;CHANGE OF AFFAIRS.</h3>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div>"Life's like a ship in constant motion:</div>
+<div>Sometimes smooth, and sometimes rough."&mdash;<i>Song.</i></div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>"Oh! the pleasures of a summer trip across the Atlantic!" Thus sung and
+chorused my good friends one and all; some from experience, most from
+hearsay, but ever in unison.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll have quite a party of pleasure," says one. "The only thing to be
+dreaded will be the <i>ennui</i> arising out of long calms, gentle breezes,
+eternal sunshine by day and moonlight by night," says another.</p>
+
+<p>One would have fancied, according to their account, that sun and moon
+alternated like buckets in a well, one up, the other down, with the
+exception that both were to be always at full.</p>
+
+<p>So constant, however, were these remarks about heat, and sun, and summer
+air, that I packed up every article of clothing heavier than duck or
+cachmere; nay, had not some worthy matter-of-fact soul let slip a stray
+hint about ice and sleighing parties in December, I verily believe,
+hating as I do all superfluous baggage, I should have left my greatcoats
+to the moth and fog of Old England.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p><p>But whew! from such <i>airs</i> the Lord preserve me!&mdash;whilst at the tail of
+our honest, grimy, grumbling steamer, cutting through the Mersey or
+along the coast of Wales, we were, I admit, tolerably sunned and warm
+enough, though not even here bedazzled or over-heated; but on the second
+morning out, what a change!</p>
+
+<p>I came on deck just before six <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> to take my shower-bath; the wind was
+about west by south, blowing a brisk gale, the ship under double-reefed
+topsails, with top-gallant sails set over them, making all smoke
+again&mdash;on one hand lay the Isle of Rathlin, with the north coast of
+Ireland, bleak and bare; on the other, the Mull of Kyntyre, with a tide
+of its own rushing by like a mill-race, and over it the cloudy crest of
+Isla, looming through the flitting vapours, cold, dark, and
+hard-visaged, as though no drop of whisky had ever been brewed therein.
+One could not recognise the misty monster, thus grimly shadowed forth,
+to be the parent of that glorious sunny spirit.</p>
+
+<p>We had full time afforded to become well acquainted with the changing
+aspects of these and the other localities hereabouts, for we had to
+battle it with their ally the wind, and with their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> waters, for full
+sixty hours; and although we at length fought our course seaward, it was
+to feel that such another victory would be anything but serviceable to
+the gallant ship.</p>
+
+<p>Oh that infernal Rathlin! I shall not soon forget it; it is a spot I
+always held in ill odour ever since Miss Porter's "Scottish Chiefs"
+taught my unsophisticated youth to weep over the wrongs of Wallace
+wight. Now, although I abominate the place more, I have learned to
+compassionate her ill-starred hero less, since to have been carried
+southward through "merrie England" from such a place of exile, albeit
+the journey ended in hanging, was yet a deliverance especially to be
+rejoiced in.</p>
+
+<p>We had a near view of the natives too, one day, trying to catch us in a
+whale-boat, whilst we were hugging the land sculking from the strength
+of the tide of flood: but, thank Heaven! they missed taking us as we
+went about on the opposite tack, the which I shall ever consider a
+providential escape, although at the time, a heedless confidence in our
+numbers led Captain Maxwell to throw them the end of a rope. They failed
+to lay hold on it, however, and away we dashed by them like a whirlwind;
+whilst the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>disappointed men gesticulating fiercely, with their red
+"fell o' hair" blowing to the four corners of the earth, and their wild
+eyes and ogre mouths agape, yelled forth a volley of strange sounds,
+soon drowned by the louder roar of these summer waves. This was happily
+the only danger we incurred from the natives; we saw no more of them,<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>
+and right glad were all-hands when the last glimpse of the Hebrides, or
+Western Isles, as they are called in their charts, faded away in their
+mist.</p>
+
+<p>After this date one heavy blow succeeded another until the first of
+August, with seldom sun enough to afford an observation: yet it mattered
+not; like sea-birds we "rode and slept," for the excellence of the boat,
+and the way in which she was handled, was evident enough to inspire even
+the nervousness of inexperience with confidence; and the efficiency of
+our domestic arrangements bade defiance to the anger of the
+elements;&mdash;uninfluenced by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> their frowns as by their smiles, on went the
+work, and meal succeeded meal with faultless regularity.</p>
+
+<p>On the second of August we passed within the immediate atmosphere of a
+huge iceberg. We had for some time previous been enveloped in fog, which
+suddenly lifting, showed us this isle of ice, and two other smaller
+ones.</p>
+
+<p>The main island, by which we were most attracted, lay about a quarter of
+a mile to leeward, of dazzling whiteness, and picturesque of form,
+having at one end a lofty cone-shaped mountain, and at the other an
+angular bold mound, crowned by what we decided to be an extensive Gothic
+fortalice or castle, not unworthy the Ice-king himself if bent on a
+summer trip round the gulf stream: between these promontories lay a deep
+valley thickly tenanted by tribes of the white gull.</p>
+
+<p>Three sides of Castle-hill were regularly scarped, the fourth
+communicated by a neatly kept slope with the valley, and along this
+radiated a number of well-trodden paths, all uniting at the castle gate,
+at once giving evidence of considerable population, and great
+hospitality on the part of the worthy castellan.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p><p>The position of these islands was unusual, and their appearance
+occasioned a little surprise, although the fall of the thermometer, and
+the change in the temperature of the water, had led Captain Maxwell,
+some hours before we met them, to decide upon their vicinity.</p>
+
+<p>On the banks of Newfoundland they are common at this season of the year,
+and form, indeed, the danger most to be dreaded of the voyage; since, if
+the weather should prove thick, and the ice swim deep, scarce showing
+above the surface, as is commonly the case, a ship going quickly through
+the water may strike before any measures can be taken to avoid the
+encounter.</p>
+
+<p>A fine packet, the Liverpool, but nine days out, on her first trip was
+totally lost on one of these in the summer of 1822; and this very year
+our captain coasted to the southward for seventy miles along the edge of
+a field of ice, in which he had previously been locked-up for fifty
+hours, till released by a lucky shift of wind. On this occasion he had
+one on board whose experience among ice had been well tested, and was
+about to be yet again tried; for Lieutenant Back was here on his
+perilous adventure in quest of the long lost Captain Ross and his crew.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p><p>For the succeeding sixteen or seventeen days of our voyage the weather
+was generally fine. Upon the western edge of the Banks we had a few
+days' calm, which taking advantage of, I turned my morning shower-bath
+into a plunge from the bowsprit, and had a delicious swim round the
+ship. The passengers, however, got wind of my fun, and in obedience to
+the kindly meant remonstrances of one or two of them, I forbore a
+pleasure which never occurred to me to be perilous, for I have practised
+it in many parts of the ocean, always taking care that there was no way
+upon the ship.</p>
+
+<p>We had no casualties except amongst the pigs, sheep, and poultry; and as
+yet no great loss of spars, indeed in all our blows, we only sprung a
+main-topsail yard, carried away a fore-topmast, and made a few
+stu'n-sail booms,&mdash;for the latter, we had very little use, not having
+the wind abaft the beam over five days, all counted, out of a passage of
+thirty-five; and how it was accomplished in the time under the
+circumstances, is yet to me a matter of some wonderment.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> To homeward-bound ships these visits of the <i>Rathlineans</i>,
+often prove sufficiently welcome, as they generally provide themselves
+with a cargo of ancient, fish-like milk, and fine potatoes. The Europe
+having an excellent dairy and a poultry-yard of her own, stood in no
+need of their supplies.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="JOURNAL_AT_SEA" id="JOURNAL_AT_SEA"></a>JOURNAL AT SEA.</h3>
+
+<p>This is usually a very monotonous task to the journalist, and can hardly
+fail of soon becoming tiresome to the reader, since a voyage away from
+the land affords but little to record; still, as it is my intention
+occasionally to refer to this current report of my <i>Impressions</i> and
+every-day-doings, I may as well transcribe literally a page or two
+illustrative of every-day life in this, our "Europe."</p>
+
+<p><i>July 31st.</i>&mdash;Sixteen days out this afternoon; during which time, with
+but forty-four hours that we could fairly lay our course, the good ship
+has knocked off forty degrees of westing, a prodigious slant under the
+circumstances. The last two days up to meridian, we have run ten degrees
+of longitude and two of latitude.</p>
+
+<p><i>Thursday, August 1st.</i>&mdash;Going about seven knots, heading west by north;
+all well and mighty agreeable. Rifle-shooting and backgammon the great
+antagonists of time before dinner&mdash;whist after. Various wagers are daily
+made against time, as to the length of our passage, as well as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> for or
+against certain ships that preceded or were to follow us. Most persons
+have named some date for our arrival at New York, and backed it for more
+or less; finding that these days were selected more in accordance with
+the desires of the betters than their judgment, I selected an outsider,
+and took the longest date named for my day, August 20th. The odds
+fluctuate daily in the market, according to the view the knowing ones
+take of the weather: these bets form a subject of interest and banter
+which daily rises in importance.</p>
+
+<p><i>Wednesday, 7th.</i>&mdash;About meridian carried away our main-topsail yard,
+whilst two hands were employed rigging in the studding-sail boom; one
+fell into the top, and the other caught hold of the rigging, receiving
+much fright but small damage. Had they fallen on the deck or over-board,
+why their chance would have been exceeding small. There surely is "a
+sweet little cherub that sits up aloft," &amp;c. or these careless rogues
+could not escape so often scot-free.</p>
+
+<p>To-day we have a rattling north-easter with sunshine: and the sea, which
+yesterday was wild, dreary, and dark, is now beaming and light as a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>
+beauty at a birth-day ball; and as radiant, for it sparkles in diamonds
+of its own.</p>
+
+<p>All hands in high spirits, the ship the favourite for odds; Time gone
+back sadly; the 13th inst. named for very long odds; I offered eight to
+one against it, and was taken up at a word. Made two or three entries in
+my book after dinner; against the 20th, my day; take all that offers,
+but have made a <i>leetle</i> hedge on the 18th by way of a break-water.</p>
+
+<p><i>Saturday, 9th.</i>&mdash;A very heavy gale from north-west, a rare occurrence
+at this season; it stuck to us for fifty hours, hauling gradually round
+to the south'ard. No business done to-day; 'change deserted; not a
+time-bargain to be had for love or money; most of the bulls in bed.</p>
+
+<p><i>Tuesday, 13th.</i>&mdash;One of the most lovely days possible: all the morning
+we have been observing a large ship right a-head, on which we draw
+rapidly, though a stern chase is proverbially a long chase. The alley
+all alive, books and pencils in great demand: odds offered freely that
+this ship is the Tallahassie, Captain Glover, which sailed from
+Liverpool on the morning of the day we left; but owing to our taking the
+north channel, whilst she pursued the south, had thus <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>gotten a decided
+pull upon us, besides being a very fine ship. Consultations frequent, as
+we neared, between the mate and the backers of the Tallahassie,
+adjournments to the top-gallant forecastle constant; every spy-glass in
+requisition.</p>
+
+<p>We drew near; the odds rose in favour of this being the ship in
+question&mdash;she was a large ship, square-built and long, so was
+Tallahassie&mdash;she was flush deck, so was Tallahassie&mdash;had stump-royal
+masts, and a storm-house abaft, so had Tallahassie, hurrah! Nearer we
+came, less ardour amongst the backers of Tal.&mdash;nearer still, they are
+all silent; the alley is deserted for the forecastle&mdash;a straggler now
+comes aft, with a sneaking offer of a hedge: no takers.</p>
+
+<p>One of the opposite side's scouts next comes aft. "This can't be the
+Tallahassie&mdash;this ship has no copper, Tallahassie had; she has a white
+line over her bright side, Tallahassie had not&mdash;her top-rail is white,
+and the yards tipped with the same colour, the Tallahassie's were
+black.&mdash;In short, it could not be the Tallahassie, as any one with half
+an eye might have seen from the first, and might see now."</p>
+
+<p>The latter part of the proposition was already demonstrated, for we were
+by this time right a-beam;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> the former might have been disputed,
+although it certainly was not the Tallahassie.</p>
+
+<p>Trifles like this were all-sufficient occupation for the day, and served
+as subjects of conversation after. On this occasion we had for nearly
+the first time a complete muster of our crew, the exceeding fineness of
+the day brought out even our sick, and there they lounged about in the
+sun, like weary birds plumeing their ruffled feathers.</p>
+
+<p><i>Sunday, 18th.</i>&mdash;Wind north-west; weather fine. We are now within one
+hundred and sixty miles of our port. Betting-market a little anxious,
+but a good deal of business doing in a quiet way; my odds looking well,
+but to-morrow, the 19th, by far the favourite, Captain Maxwell himself
+indeed, considering it a hollow thing. Got a notion in my head, however,
+in favour of my day, and accordingly took the odds; resolute to abide by
+the 20th, and either "mak' a spune or spoil a horn."</p>
+
+<p>All hands well and in motion; the crew busily employed getting the
+sea-service off the rigging, and setting it all up in holiday order. The
+mate is peering about jealously on all sides, eyeing his ship as a
+mother would a beauty dressing for her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> first drawing-room, and to the
+full as anxious about her appearance.</p>
+
+<p><i>Monday, 19th.</i>&mdash;In the middle watch had a heavy squall, and carried
+away our foretop-gallant mast. At nine o'clock, <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> made the American
+shore off Jersey, to the southward of Barney Gat. Wind light, no
+betting, but anxious speculations on the probability of our getting
+within Sandy Hook this day. Tuesday a hollow thing, feel "cock
+sure:"&mdash;about noon, wind died away; and, right enough, it was not until</p>
+
+<p><i>Tuesday, August 20th</i>, that at three o'clock, <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> I was called on deck
+to look upon the Hook lights, and count my wagers won. I received the
+omen as a good one, and so it proved.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="LAND_HO" id="LAND_HO"></a>LAND, HO!</h3>
+
+<p>I had often, and with much pleasure, heard intelligent Americans
+describe the restless anxiety with which they approached the shores of
+Britain; the almost painful degree of excitement created by the various
+associations crowding on the imagination, and jostling each other for
+supremacy, as they looked for the first time on their father-land.</p>
+
+<p>The veneration with which they pictured her ivy-clad towers, and the
+throb with which they caught the names of places long familiar to memory
+and hallowed by historical events, to all of which they felt their claim
+inherited from their ancestors, whether from Thames, or Tweed, or
+Shannon.</p>
+
+<p>To all of this I have, I say, listened with great pleasure, and with a
+full sympathy in feelings at once natural and generous, yet can I hardly
+admit them to possess more force, or their nature to be more exciting,
+or richer in the material whence Fancy frames her chequered web, than
+the recollections awakened in a well-stored <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>imagination by a near
+approach to the shores of America. Although differing widely, these are
+to every philosophic mind, especially to a subject of Britain, at least
+equally stirring.</p>
+
+<p>When it is first remembered, that on all the long line of coast
+extending from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico there was not, in
+the beginning of the sixteenth century, one European family settled, or
+a Christian voice that woke the forest with the name of God,&mdash;not a
+civilized man from Canada to Florida, who placed his foot upon the soil
+to call it home. Yet now, within this immense range may be reckoned the
+mightiest States of the Union; and over its wide circumference are
+scattered great cities, towns aspiring to be cities, and villages fast
+growing into busy towns&mdash;possessing a population which for wealth hardly
+need yield to the oldest countries of Europe, and in the general
+diffusion of intelligence and education offering indeed to most of these
+an example worthy of their imitation.</p>
+
+<p>When it is called to mind that the waters of her vast line of coast, now
+daily ploughed by thousands of busy prows, were at this same not very
+distant day as desert as her swamps<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> and as unfurrowed, except where the
+canoe of the scared Indian left its light track behind, when driven from
+the shelter of some near river:&mdash;silent and shadowless, except when the
+sail of the adventurous explorer flitted slowly over the waves, as he
+steered his doubtful course filled with the many wonders seen and
+fancied by his watchful, credulous crew,&mdash;some band of daring spirits
+tempted hither in search of gold, or wild adventure, perhaps to perish
+suddenly by the arrow of the savage, or slowly to wither beneath the
+influence of the climate&mdash;God! what wonderful changes have been wrought
+here, and what a living marvel is this land! Changes, which it has
+required the labour of ages to accomplish elsewhere, have here been
+effected by the energy of a few busy generations, whose toil was begun
+and carried on amid want, and sickness, and a struggle against ignorance
+and neglect without, as well as a war of extermination within; a war
+which may be said to exist even to this day, for yet is the ever-growing
+frontier from time to time awakened by the night whoop of the savage and
+the answering shot of the hardy pioneer.</p>
+
+<p>Then come the recollections connected with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> the war of the
+Revolution,&mdash;the noble declaration of independence, for truly noble it
+was: no dark compact of a crew of ruffian conspirators, but a generous
+bond that their aggrieved country should be freed, given by a band of
+citizen gentlemen, husbands, fathers, and brothers, to the fulfilment of
+the which they pledged unto each other their lives, their fortunes, and
+their sacred honour; and having placed their hands to this bold deed,
+they gave it to their people and the world.</p>
+
+<p>Their bond is cancelled, and they are dismissed beyond the hearing of
+praise or censure; yet shall these, the names of their country's
+fathers, be read and blessed by ages yet to come, and shall stand for
+ever, each a synonyme for patriot honour.</p>
+
+<p>Washington, and the long wars he conducted through defeat and disaster
+to such a glorious end for his country, together with that large list of
+famous names connected with those and later events formed no mean
+subject for reverie, and these were the fancies conjured through my
+brain by a near approach to the shores of America. I confess I
+contemplated her triumphs with a participation in her glory where
+England was not a party, with no other feeling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> than regret when she
+was,&mdash;with regret that the hands of brothers should ever have been
+opposed in deadly enmity.</p>
+
+<p>I give back in love of country to no man, and to no foe under heaven
+would I yield up one jot due to Britain's well-won supremacy, but to the
+United States we may surely spare without envy the leaf she so hardily
+plucked from our thick laurels. The glory of having given her birth,
+language, and laws, she cannot rob us of; this will endure until her
+mountains crumble: and all else she has acquired at the expense of
+Britain, Britain can well spare, and still stand foremost on the roll of
+Fame.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="PORT" id="PORT"></a>PORT.</h3>
+
+<p>On the morning of Tuesday, August 20th, I was roused, according to a
+request I had left to that effect with Captain Maxwell, to look on the
+Hook Lights, the entrance to the outer bay and harbour of New York. It
+was three o'clock in the morning, a fresh yet bland breeze was just
+giving motion to the smooth sea, and above, the firmament showed thickly
+studded with heaven's lights; but the dazzling pharos of the Hook, to my
+mind, were brighter at this hour than the best twinklers on the floor of
+heaven,&mdash;so welcome were they.</p>
+
+<p>While waiting on deck, a couple of sky-rockets were discharged from the
+storm-house by way of signal for a pilot. The effect of the sudden blaze
+was fine; and the rush of each fiery messenger on its upward mission, as
+it burst away from the Europe's deck, seemed a glad sound of welcome,
+for it spoke of safe arrival, and consequent freedom from our present
+thrall; for, however pleasant a ship may be, and however poetical our
+notions about the "deep sea," after <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>having been in the one and on the
+other for five or six weeks, there are few bipeds who do not hail the
+shore as a type of recovered liberty, and, however barren it may be,
+right joyfully embrace it.</p>
+
+<p>About 7 <span class="smaller">A.M.</span>&mdash;for here it appears pilots do not hurry themselves&mdash;we
+made out a couple of schooner-rigged boats standing right for us, which
+were at first taken for pilots, but proved to be news-boats. Several
+such are, as it appears, kept in commission by the New York journals,
+and the struggle for early intelligence between the rivals occasions a
+display of considerable adventure not unattended with risk, since these
+news-boats are out in all weathers, and from a great distance often
+bring to the city a ship's letters, &amp;c. many days before she makes her
+own appearance.</p>
+
+<p>The news-collectors were welcomed civilly by our captain, bagged their
+papers, made out a list of the passengers, and in a few moments were
+again on the wing for shore, looking right into the wind, and with
+smooth water and a light breeze, they drew rapidly away from the heavier
+ship. I must observe that our Mercury's correctness was by no means
+commensurate with his activity;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> for such ingenious changes did this
+worthy contrive in the names of the passengers, that the mothers of some
+would have failed to have discovered the arrival of their sons, except
+upon instinct.</p>
+
+<p>At length, after long watching, a couple of pilot-schooners were
+discovered standing out from under the high land, and in due time their
+boats boarded us nearly together; and hence arose a dispute as to whose
+particular prey the good Europe was to be considered.</p>
+
+<p>Each Pilot was voluble, and accused the other of violating the laws made
+and provided in such cases for their better government: who was wrong in
+this case it was difficult to say, but I very clearly made out that both
+parties had cheated on former occasions, were willing to cheat in this,
+and resolute to continue a like commendable practice in all others that
+might offer, as far as in them lay. What arrant rogues are we in all
+climes and under whatever rule, quoth I, internally, as I listened to
+these wordy disputants; for, to do messieurs the pilots justice, the
+matter was conducted in a manner more worthy the courts, better argued,
+and in language less offensively figurative, than similar disputes at
+which it has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> been my chance to assist between angry members of our own
+<i>bars</i>.</p>
+
+<p>At length the elder pilot left the deck, and returned to his attendant
+yawl, in evident dudgeon and disgust; when the junior, being hailed by
+his comrades in the schooner on the opposite quarter, was advised to
+give up the Europe, since they had made out a second ship quite as large
+in the offing.</p>
+
+<p>Whether this information, or a latent sense of justice prevailed, it is
+hard to say; but on the tidings our man hailed his irate senior&mdash;who was
+borne away amidst deeply-muttered vows of vengeance&mdash;desired him to
+return, and told him he would give up the ship. Thereon, back rowed our
+ancient mariner; and after a few explanatory sentences, mutually offered
+as salvos to their hurt honour, the rivals parted, to all outward
+seeming as good friends as ever.</p>
+
+<p>Which had right I know not, but one of them had fish, and we of the
+Europe had no cause to mourn the departure of that one, since, having
+gained his deck, he sent us back a basket of newly-taken porgies, and
+various other fishes with unpoetical names but of marvellous sweetness,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>
+and sumptuous was our <i>d&eacute;jeuner</i> in consequence of this unlooked-for
+addition.</p>
+
+<p>Henceforward, all between-decks presented a scene of bustle and
+preparation; the most sluggish natures amongst us appeared now inspired,
+whilst on all sides were heard good-humoured congratulations and glad
+anticipations. I confess, although a very experienced voyager, I felt a
+little touch of softness striving to sneak into and coil about my heart,
+as the words,&mdash;home&mdash;friends, with other household sounds, fell thick
+upon my hearing; for, all our passengers being American, I stood alone
+here on this day of happy greeting, a stranger amongst strangers.</p>
+
+<p>Let me add, that this was the last day on which I felt so during my long
+sojourn in the hospitable land; and even on this I possessed buoyancy
+enough of spirit to keep down these selfish reflections, and, I thank
+Heaven, sympathy enough to rejoice in the gladness of my comrades.</p>
+
+<p>I did not lack amusement, either after the first hurry was past; an
+intelligent friend or two busied themselves pointing out to me the
+various localities in detail, with whose general character<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> Carey's
+excellent atlas had already made me tolerably conversant.</p>
+
+<p>The day was clear and cloudless; and when to this advantage is added a
+light head wind, which compelled us to work our way inward, no harbour
+could be approached under auspices more favourable, or better calculated
+to afford a complete and varying view of its beauties.</p>
+
+<p>Just as we had opened the Narrows, the entrance to the inner bay so
+called, the wind grew so unpromising that a party of us decided to
+engage the pilot vessel to take us as far as Staten Island, which they
+"calculated" they could reach before the departure of the steamer for
+New York.</p>
+
+<p>Bidding adieu to the Europe, away we dashed in the little witch of a
+pilot, a craft of some eighty tons' burthen, but, viewed from a short
+distance, not looking more than half that size, so snug was her build,
+as well as from the absence of every kind of hamper; her shrouds were
+without ratlins, and her deck without even the protection of a
+rough-tree&mdash;a nakedness I should by no means like in bad weather. The
+afterpart, however, or stern-sheets, is sunk about four feet; and as the
+bowsprit is a mere stump, and the sheets<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> of both foresail and jib lead
+aft, all the work may be done here when under snug sail.</p>
+
+<p>The necessity, during our trip in the schooner, of working up between
+the shores of Long and Staten Islands, was a chance that added to the
+charm of our approach.</p>
+
+<p>Standing into the Narrows, under the guns of a formidable fort, the
+pretty-looking village of Staten, where quarantine is performed, first
+presented itself: the smoke of the steamer assured us she had not yet
+departed, and two or three tacks brought us within signaling distance,
+just as she broke away from the shore: our desire was readily
+understood, and, slightly changing her course, she soon after received
+us in addition to her already crowded freight.</p>
+
+<p>I found the upper deck of the Bolivar, the name of our steamer,
+uncommonly hot, but it afforded a good place from which to view the
+harbour and city as they were now rapidly unfolded: here, therefore, I
+planted myself, all eyes; and certainly have rarely been better repaid
+for a broiling.</p>
+
+<p>As we neared the Battery, we were afforded a passing glance up the East
+and North Rivers,&mdash;the great waters which give wealth to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>Manhattan, and
+jealously clip her beauty about, in equal participation. The <i>coup
+d'&oelig;il</i> thus taken is very imposing, and at once awakens the stranger
+to a sense of the commercial importance of the <i>entrep&ocirc;t</i> whose walls he
+perceives shaded by such a forest of lofty masts.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="NEW_YORK" id="NEW_YORK"></a>NEW YORK.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="FIRST_IMPRESSIONS_OF_THE_CITY" id="FIRST_IMPRESSIONS_OF_THE_CITY"></a>FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE CITY.</h3>
+
+<p>On landing at the Battery, our first visit was to an office of the
+customs here; and, instead of the dogged, sulky, bribe-demanding scowl,
+too commonly encountered from our own low-class officials, who seem to
+consider the custom-house as a means rather of annoyance to the lieges
+than a protection to trade, we were met by civility, respect, and prompt
+despatch. The luggage we had brought with us on shore was not subjected
+to the least examination, and we went on our way highly pleased. First
+impressions give their colour to succeeding matters; and surely those
+derived from my encounter with the officials of a service at best
+annoying, were much in favour of the land.</p>
+
+<p>On entering the quiet Bowling Green, where many of the houses have
+coloured fronts, and all gaily painted jalousies, with trees shadowing
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> <i>stoups</i>, I was reminded of Cape Town: but the impression was
+momentary; a few yards on, and the long line of Broadway, with its
+crowded side walks, showy shops, and numerous hotels, at once transports
+you back to Europe; and, were it not for the sprinkling of black faces
+with which the mass is chequered, one might swear oneself in Paris on
+some portion of the Boulevards not altogether familiar to the eye, but
+offering most of the points needful to prove identity, from the monkey
+and hurdy-gurdy of the Savoyard, the <i>blouse</i> of the carman and
+<i>Conducteur</i>, to the swagger of the citizen-soldier, and the mincing
+step and "<i>tournure charmante</i>" of the <i>belles</i>. The fronts of the
+<i>caf&eacute;s</i> and hotels, too, as you pass along, you perceive to be covered
+by chairs occupied by similar loungers to those on the Boulevards.</p>
+
+<p>Such were my impressions whilst moving on a hot day from the Battery to
+the City Hotel, and so give I them place here; since I have often, after
+a long residence in a place, found myself referring back to these first
+glimpses, when desirous to present it at once fresh and comprehensive to
+the eye of the stranger, and for such these sketches are chiefly
+designed.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="A_BIVOUAC" id="A_BIVOUAC"></a>A BIVOUAC.</h3>
+
+<p>The day after my arrival, I was both interested and amused by
+accidentally falling on the bivouac of a Swiss family of emigrants.</p>
+
+<p>I had risen early for the purpose of bathing, and was making my way to
+the fort through the grounds of the Battery as the rising sun was just
+adding new light and life to the most beautiful of harbours, when I came
+suddenly upon the barriers of a little encampment perfectly Teutonic in
+its arrangement; it was, however, no surprisal to the hive within, for
+their morning operations had already begun.</p>
+
+<p>Within a circular rampart, formed out of various articles of household
+gear,&mdash;three or four antique-looking spinning-wheels, a pair of churns,
+a few clumsy chairs, a large chest, together with a couple of small
+heavy waggons not yet placed upon the wheels,&mdash;were a few as lively
+recruits as any land desirous of population could wish to welcome.</p>
+
+<p>The party consisted, first, of a right venerable-looking old man, the
+patriarch of the tribe, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> he told me, seventy-four years old; six men,
+his sons and grandsons; seven lively boys, his great-grandchildren, and
+about an equal number of girls, the patriarch's wife, nearly as aged as
+himself, but with a shrill piercing voice and the activity of a girl of
+nineteen, with four other women, the wives of the ancient's sons.</p>
+
+<p>At the moment I came upon them the whole camp was rousing into full
+activity. The grandmother, assisted by a couple of her young women,
+found ample occupation in first catching and next washing the junior
+branches of the colonists: these appeared already aware of their being
+in a country where every individual thinks for himself, or at least
+thinks he does, which comes to the same thing, for they stoutly
+resisted, to the last extremity, the soapless saline ablutions profusely
+administered by their great grandam.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime a couple of the more staid of the youngsters, who had been
+passed outside the lines, were busied beneath the trees collecting
+fallen sticks, leaves, &amp;c. for keeping up the fire already lighted and
+presided over by one of the females, whose task it evidently was to
+prepare breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>A couple of the men yet slept soundly; another pair were composedly
+leaning against a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> waggon smoking their pipes; whilst a third, the
+youngest of the grown men, and evidently the <i>beau-gar&ccedil;on</i> of the party,
+was busied about the completion of a careful toilet before six square
+inches of looking-glass, held up to him by a young lass, rather
+good-looking, who, kneeling before this Adonis in evident admiration,
+most patiently abided the completion of his equipment previous to
+commencing her own.</p>
+
+<p>My course was at once arrested by a scene so new and unexpected; and I
+stood for a long time contemplating the repose of this little group,
+camping here in the midst of a busy population on the banks of the
+Hudson, in the same manner and after the same fashion their ancestors
+are described to have followed by the Rhone and the Danube in the time
+of C&aelig;sar.</p>
+
+<p>There was an air of confident security about the whole arrangement, that
+spoke equally in favour of the hardy simplicity of these strangers and
+the courtesy and honesty of their adopted country; for I know no
+European capital wherein such a group could have sat them down and
+passed a summer night, unhoused and unwatched, without receiving
+annoyance, if not suffering loss.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p><p>I learned that the family had been landed late on the preceding
+afternoon from a French ship; so that, not being able, as is the wont of
+this people, to depart for their destination immediately, they had in
+the most prompt and orderly manner pitched their tents here for the
+night, and were now preparing for their march into the wilderness.</p>
+
+<p>This sight, striking in itself, was no less illustrative of the country
+and the time: these arrivals are of daily occurrence here during the
+season; every one of the northern nations of Europe is contributing her
+quota out of the most enterprising of her children to swell the numbers,
+and give additional pith and vigour to the population, of this land of
+wonder.</p>
+
+<p>About three hours after this first rencounter, whilst seated in our
+parlour at breakfast, I pointed out to my friend P&mdash;&mdash; the whole family
+passing the city hotel <i>en route</i>.</p>
+
+<p>They had now gotten one of their clumsy waggons mounted, and rudely
+harnessed to a stout-looking horse, and on this vehicle was piled all
+their worldly store. The males, pipe in hand and marching four abreast,
+strode boldly on before; next came the waggon, surrounded and followed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>
+by the women and children: the heads of one or two of the youngest of
+these, by the bye, might just be seen poking out from the lumber amongst
+which they were ensconced upon the car.</p>
+
+<p>I observed that the old dame now carried in her hand a wicker-cage,
+containing a little captive of the goldfinch tribe, some home-bred
+favourite, whose simple notes will often call up the memory of
+father-land, when this family of humble adventurers shall be located,
+happily I trust, on some wild stream of the far west, for thither were
+they bound, and, with the appliances I have sketched, were cheerfully
+setting forth to perform a journey of some two thousand miles. These,
+however, are the sort of persons who may look most to benefit by such a
+change; after a few to them trifling privations, and an industrious
+struggle, they have the certain satisfaction of beholding their
+offspring surrounded by comfort, and their means yearly increasing. They
+presently exchange want for plenty, and cease to look upon the coming
+time with fear or doubt for even their children's children; since
+generations must rise and pass away before enterprise and honest
+industry will feel any lack of elbow-room here.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p><p>The weather was awfully hot during the last week of this month; and
+great was my delight, on entering the parlour of a morning, to look upon
+the butter luxuriating beneath a large wedge of clear ice: only for the
+cutting up, I should have gloried in being a <i>Pat</i> of butter myself.
+This article of ice is presented here in a purity of form, and is withal
+so plentiful, that it almost makes amends for the dog-days.</p>
+
+<p>Our breakfasts were excellent&mdash;fish, fruit in abundance, chickens,
+omelette, &amp;c. with good coffee, and the best black tea I ever drank. The
+parlour was a very large well-furnished room, level with and fronting on
+the busiest part of Broadway; and a more amusing stand than one of the
+windows, for a stranger, it would be difficult to select. The whole busy
+population, I should imagine, passed in review here once, at least, in
+six hours; together with samples of all the nondescript vehicles city or
+country rejoices in.</p>
+
+<p>To one worthy I owe many a hearty laugh,&mdash;who knows but I may have
+repaid the good soul in kind?&mdash;I hope I have, for my gratitude is his.
+Let the reader imagine a long street, very crowded, and about noon
+shadeless, with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> thermometer at 98&deg; in the sun. In the very middle
+of this broiling thoroughfare, fancy a low carriage on four wheels,
+ycleped a Jersey waggon, having a seat with a high back hung by straps
+athwart-ships; over this seat a buffalo robe of vast dimensions, the
+thick fur outside and a red lining within, falling in heavy folds to the
+waggon floor; upon this buffalo skin, seated right in the centre, with
+knees and elbows spread as far apart as possible, a huge mass of
+humanity clothed in a dark jacket of home-spun cloth, with vest and
+trousers of blue cotton; his pumpkin-like head covered by a broad-leafed
+straw hat, a Dutch pipe on his lip, and before him a hard-mouthed
+awkward little horse pulled about by both hands, now right, now left,
+but rarely going out of a walk. Above a high shirt-collar his full-blown
+cheeks might be seen, as he sucked in the hot air and rejected it again
+like a blowing porpoise: cravat he had none, because he had no neck to
+tie it about; but in lieu of this article he carried, knotted over his
+broad shoulders, a little red handkerchief. Daily did I ask myself for a
+whole week "Will it walk again?" and, so surely as the shadeless hour of
+noon arrived, did my Dutch fire-king arrive with it, steering his waggon
+through the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>sweltering mass with a composure&mdash;coolness I could not call
+it&mdash;most enviable.</p>
+
+<p>I would have given anything to have known him and his history; but
+though I had opportunities of pointing him out to my friends
+occasionally, no one knew him. Son of a thousand burgomasters, may your
+shadow never grow less! for I owe to you the beguilement of many a hot
+hour: but I fear me my friend must be "larding six feet of lean earth,"
+somewhere in the vicinity of Manhattan, since for the last year I have,
+on every day that the sun shone intensely with the glass over 90&deg;,
+watched in vain for his coming.</p>
+
+<p>In the cool of the afternoon, if there chance to be any cool, it is a
+common custom for the young men of all classes to drive or ride some
+five or six miles along the north avenue,&mdash;an excellent road leading to
+the pretty village of Harlaem; and on this line, about sunset, the
+amateur of horse-flesh may see done, the fastest pace in the trotting
+world; double-horse waggons of the neatest and lightest construction,
+gig, sulky, and saddle, all are alike borne along by trotters or pacers
+at a speed varying from the pair that are doing their mile in three
+minutes,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> to the sulky or saddle nag flying at the rate of a mile in two
+minutes, thirty seconds.</p>
+
+<p>The first time I was whirled along this road at the heels of one of the
+crack goers of the city, amidst clouds of dust through which the rushing
+of other vehicles might be dimly made out, and startled by the wild
+cries used by the rival drivers, at once to encourage their horses and
+prove the impossibility of scaring them into breaking up, I thought it
+one of the most exciting things I had ever met; and on getting down at
+Cato's, involuntarily found myself drawing a long breath.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="CATOS" id="CATOS"></a>CATO'S!</h3>
+
+<p>And what is Cato's? and who is Cato? Shade of Rome's patriot and sage,
+anger not! for Cato is a great man, foremost amongst cullers of mint,
+whether for <i>julep</i> or <i>hail-storm</i>; second to no man as a compounder of
+<i>cock-tail</i>, and such a hand at a <i>gin-sling</i>!</p>
+
+<p>Cato is a gentleman of colour who presides at a little tavern, named
+after its proprietor, lying just off the dust of the road between two
+sharp hills, and situated some four miles from New York&mdash;a good
+breathing distance for a fast burst&mdash;and here consequently most men halt
+to give their horses breath, and wash the dust out of their own throats
+with some one of Cato's many excellent compounds. The convenience of the
+place is enhanced by the manner of its master, who for courtesy and
+<i>biens&eacute;ance</i> might serve as a model to most of his young friends. His
+society indeed is of the very best, including all the first sporting
+youths of the city; and his liquors are equal to his breeding.</p>
+
+<p>Cato will give a few select friends breakfast<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> too on a hot morning, if
+it be especially ordered; and, certes, a woodcock and toast as served up
+by him on these occasions is a thing not to be forgotten. It was my
+fortune, under the auspices of my friend, Mr. M'L&mdash;d, an especial
+favourite of "mine host," to pay several visits to Cato's, and to come
+away at each with added respect for the great man, and increased regard
+for his excellent entertainment.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="THEATRE" id="THEATRE"></a>THEATRE.</h3>
+
+<p class="center"><i>Great heat&mdash;doubts, dubitations, and d&eacute;but.</i></p>
+
+<p>I do not intend to bore my readers with a series of play-bills, or a
+journal of my theatrical career; but I feel that on this head there may
+be some little curiosity, and that it would on my part be an affectation
+to eschew the subject, as well as an injustice to my American comrades
+of the buskin, to whom I owe some kind mention, since it was my lot to
+add considerably to their labours. I will therefore just notice my
+appearance in each city as it occurred, and that as briefly as may be
+consistent; when any fun turns up, I promise the reader the benefit of
+it. I shall also give my impressions of the various audiences I
+encountered; because I think there is no place where the characteristics
+of a people are more clearly shown than at a theatre, where all mix upon
+a footing more purely democratic than in any other whatever, and each
+man having a right to evince his taste after his own fashion, opinion
+becomes the only conservation of propriety.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p><p>To my first night at New York, then, I looked with much anxiety, and
+not without reason. I had, contrary to the advice of many friends, given
+up a large income, the continuance of which the increasing favour of the
+public gave me reasonable promise of. I had vacated my seat and quitted
+my country on no other engagement than one for twelve nights at New
+York, the profits of which were wholly dependent upon my success, as
+were my engagements in other cities dependent upon my reception in this.</p>
+
+<p>One kind soul assured me that every drama I possessed had been already
+anticipated; another, that they had no taste for Irish character, or
+that accustomed, as they had long been, to associate with the
+representative of my poor countrymen a ruffian with a black eye, and
+straw in his shoes, the public taste was too vitiated to relish a quiet
+portrait of nature undebased.</p>
+
+<p>This was flattering, but not pleasant: the only man whose views appeared
+sanguine was Mr. P&mdash;&mdash;, who had been my companion on the voyage, and
+whose cheering reply to all doubters was, "I tell you, sir, it must do."</p>
+
+<p>The theatre was announced to be re-opened<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> on the 28th of August, with
+the "Irish Ambassador" and "Teddy the Tiler." The day was one of the
+hottest we had known, and towards night it became oppressively close.</p>
+
+<p>No strange actor of the least note could open in New York, to anything
+short of a full house; it seems to be a hospitable principle to give the
+aspirant for fame a cordial welcome and a fair hearing; let it not be
+considered egotistical, therefore, when I say that the house was
+crowded; from pit to roof rose tier on tier one dark unbroken mass; I do
+not think there were twenty females in the dress circle; all men, and
+enduring, I should imagine, the heat of the black hole at Calcutta. I at
+the time regretted the absence of the ladies, when, had I been less
+selfish, I should have rejoiced at it.</p>
+
+<p>The moment came when "Sir Patrick" was announced; and amidst greetings
+as hearty as ever I received in my life, I made my first bow to the Park
+audience. I saw no coats off, no heels up, no legs over boxes&mdash;these
+times have passed away; a more cheerful, or apparently a more English
+audience, I would not desire to act before.</p>
+
+<p>I was called for at the end of the play,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> and thanked the house for its
+welcome. If the performance had not gone off with that electric and
+constant laughter and applause to which I had grown accustomed at home,
+I had received positive assurance that my new clients were intelligent
+and very attentive, and I therefore no longer entertained fears for the
+result.</p>
+
+<p>Not so, however, one or two of my friends, whose anxiety and kind wishes
+it would have been hard indeed for any measure of applause to have
+satisfied: amidst the congratulations they brought me were therefore
+mixed up little cautionary drawbacks.</p>
+
+<p>"It was capital," said one; "but you must not be so quiet: give them
+more bustle."</p>
+
+<p>"In some other piece," replied I; "here it is not in the bond."</p>
+
+<p>"You must paint a little broader, my dear fellow," says
+another:&mdash;"you're too natural for them; they don't feel it."</p>
+
+<p>"If it's natural they must feel it," said I, adding, "each of my
+characters are, according to my ability, painted from nature; they are
+individual abstractions with which <i>I</i> have nothing to do; the colouring
+is a part of each, and I can't change it as I change my audience:&mdash;'tis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>
+only for me to present the picture as it is; for them to like or dislike
+it."</p>
+
+<p>For the six following evenings the houses, though not great, were equal
+and good; each night I found my audience understanding me better, and
+felt that I was grappling them closer to me. The arrival of Mrs. and Mr.
+Wood earlier than the manager counted upon, created a difficulty; to
+obviate which I waived my claim to six of my nights, as my acting must
+have kept them idle.</p>
+
+<p>A day or two before my departure for Philadelphia, I witnessed the first
+appearance of this lady and her husband. Her reception was enthusiastic,
+but Malibran had left impressions it was difficult to compete with; and,
+although her brilliant talent was on all hands admitted, I am not sure
+whether her husband's manly style of singing a ballad was not to the
+full as much considered as her execution of the most brilliant s&ccedil;ena.</p>
+
+<p>The Park Theatre is, as well as I could judge, about the size of the old
+Lyceum, of the horse-shoe form; has three tiers of boxes; is handsome,
+and in all respects as well appointed as any theatre out of London.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p><p>The orchestra is at present excellent, and under the direction of a
+very clever man&mdash;Penson, formerly leader at Dublin. The company I found
+for my purpose a very fair one, my pieces requiring little save
+correctness from most of those concerned, except where old men, like
+"Aspen," "Frederick II." &amp;c. occur, and all such parts found an
+excellent representative in an American actor, called Placide. Descended
+of a long line of talented players, he possesses a natural talent I have
+rarely seen surpassed, together with a chastity and simplicity of style
+that would do credit to the best school of comedy; yet he has never been
+away from his own country. I trust the model may not be lost on those
+who have to follow him.</p>
+
+<p>There is a representative of old women here, too, a native, Mrs.
+Wheatley, an inartificial charming actress, with a perfect conception of
+all she does, and a humorous <i>espi&egrave;glerie</i> of manner that is admirable.
+This lady has a daughter, a girl of fourteen, one of the cleverest
+mimics I ever saw: she would imitate Miss Fanny Kemble throughout a
+whole character, or think, talk, and walk, like her in private,&mdash;all
+with a slight dash of caricature, but in a spirit of truth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> and acute
+observation worthy of the inimitable Matthews himself.</p>
+
+<p>With these exceptions, the company is, I think, made up of English
+actors, many of whom have held respectable situations in the London
+houses.</p>
+
+<p>I had heard a good deal of the disorder of the American stage, and the
+intractability of American actors; with this specimen I had therefore
+every reason to be pleased. I am rather a hard drill, too; but I also
+know how painful is the task of studying and practising long parts for
+the star of the day, to be thrust out by some fresh stuff got up for his
+successor: I am aware of this, and therefore strive to make the pill
+less bitter by doing my "spiriting gently," where I see a desire to be
+attentive on the part of my friends.</p>
+
+<p>As I may not have occasion to revert to New York theatrically again, let
+me here say that, after repeated renewal of my engagements during two
+years, my last were amongst the greatest I made in this city: how, after
+this, the American public can be called cold or fickle, I at least have
+no means of judging.</p>
+
+<p>After a stay of three weeks in New York, rendered as agreeable as fine
+weather, kind friends,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> warm welcome, and success could make it, I took
+my departure for Philadelphia by the Camden and Amboy line of steam-boat
+and rail-road. Punctual to the minute advertised, we left the wharf;
+and, although the day was cold for the season, I was charmed with our
+trip across the harbour towards Raritan Creek.</p>
+
+<p>From about half-way over this channel, which separates Staten Island
+from the city, I should say, after some experience, the best general
+view of New York and its most prominent environs may be obtained.</p>
+
+<p>Behind you rise the heights of Brooklyn, undulating along your left to
+the passage of the Narrows, through which you catch a glimmer of the sea
+beyond; close on your right lies the picturesque-looking old city of
+Jersey; and immediately beyond, the village of Hoboken, famous for
+turtle and pistol-matches: its neighbourhood to the Elysian fields
+renders it a singularly lucky site for the fire-eaters, since, if shot,
+they have no Charon to pay; the turtle-eaters here find, no doubt, equal
+facilities. Far to the north, the dark promontory of the Palisadoes
+beetles broadly forth, marking the course of the Hudson.</p>
+
+<p>In the middle distance lies the city, looking as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> though it floated deep
+upon the bosom of the ready waters that encompass it about. It is
+happier in its place of rest than most Dutch towns, and well merited the
+name of New Amsterdam, given it by its founders. The ground it covers
+was at one time divided into hill and dale; but with eyes wide open to
+business, and close sealed against taste, the conscript fathers of our
+infant Rome shaved smooth every ant-hill that rose in their path, and to
+their inheritors have bequeathed a love of their trim lines of beauty,
+for they are proceeding on the levelling system with a worthy
+pains-taking that will in due time render the whole island as flat as a
+tulip-bed.</p>
+
+<p>The passage up the Raritan or Amboy Creek, between Staten Island and the
+main, is uninteresting enough; the channel reminding one very much of
+the left bank of the Thames about Erith,&mdash;swampy levels, with flat
+barges, and river-side public houses. The village of Perth Amboy is the
+first attractive object; it is built upon the face of a hill rising
+gently from the water, and is well shaded, looking healthy, fresh, and
+neat. Here the steamer stops for a minute to land or receive passengers,
+and then makes for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> Amboy landing, about a couple of miles distant. Here
+we left our boat, and were immediately transferred to the cars of the
+new railroad connecting the Raritan with the Delaware, and pursued our
+way to Bordentown, through a dreary, barren-looking country, whose only
+attractions were occasional orchards of a most fruitful kind, if one
+might judge by the plenteous gathering already in progress. In many
+places were piled up little mountains of apples, destined chiefly for
+the cider press.</p>
+
+<p>The loco-motives not being in condition to do duty, the horses occupied
+as yet their legitimate station, going at the rate of about eight miles
+per hour.</p>
+
+<p>Near the entrance to Bordentown, the present mansion of the ex-king of
+Spain was pointed out: it does not appear to be very happily located,
+but commands, I understand, an extensive view of the broad Delaware, and
+affords room enough to bustle in, even for one whose domain was once
+royal.</p>
+
+<p>Here we once more embarked; and hence to Philadelphia the Delaware is a
+broad placid stream, with low banks of alternate wood and meadow, having
+sprinkled along them numbers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> of well-built houses of all sizes, from
+the shingle cottage to the imposing-looking mansion with its lofty
+portico of painted pine.</p>
+
+<p>The boat touches on its way at two very charming-looking villages,
+Bristol and Burlington, situated at opposite angles of a fine bend of
+the river. On the quay of the latter I noticed, as we halted, a group of
+fairy-looking lassies watching for the landing of some friend; and their
+animated expression, delicate proportions, and graceful <i>tournure</i>, did
+much to bespeak favour for the girls of Pennsylvania.</p>
+
+<p>It was night before we gained the Quaker city, and exceeding dark
+withal; so that the long dotted lines of lights, regularly intersecting
+each other until lost in distance, had the effect of a general
+illumination, whilst it gave evidence of a widely-spread and populous
+city.</p>
+
+<p>We drove to Mr. Head's hotel, the Mansion House, where we were welcomed
+by the worthy host in person; although he had not bed-rooms for us that
+night, for we were three in company. We were, however, soon furnished
+with a most excellent supper; and after, two of us got, not "three
+chairs and a bolster," but a couple of camp bedsteads with good
+mattresses, and sheets<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> white as snow. Our senior companion, Mr. P&mdash;&mdash;,
+was provided with a bed-chamber; and what could the heart of weary
+traveller wish for more?</p>
+
+<p>On the morrow I also was installed in a capital chamber; and if those
+incarnate demons the musquitoes would have made peace with me, I should
+have scorned comparisons with the Nabob of the Carnatic. But, oh!
+immortal gods, how they did hum and bom, and bite and buzz! and how I
+did fume, and slap, and snatch, and swear, partly in fear, and partly
+through sheer vexation of spirit, at having no means of vengeance
+against a foe whose audacity was open and outrageous, whose trumpets
+were for ever sounding a charge, yet who were withal, as impassable as
+Etna.</p>
+
+<p>I would rather hear the roar of lions about my resting-place than the
+vicious hum of these infernal wee beasts; and I may be allowed to
+decide, having listened to both: the latter never failed to keep me
+wakeful through fair fright; but when well worn with fatigue, after a
+shiver and a start or two, I have slept sound, in safe company, although
+the crunch and roar of the nobler <i>varmint</i> sounded near enough to make
+our terrified horses press to the watch-fire with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>breathings thick and
+loud,&mdash;a neighbourhood anything but agreeable, but, I swear, infinitely
+preferable to an incursion of hungry musquitoes.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning, Sept. 12th, rose early, took a hot bath, and dressed
+for a hot day; but the day was resolute not to be hot: a north-east wind
+had set in after breakfast, and down went the thermometer from
+seventy-nine to forty-five. "Zooks, what a tumble!" as Mister Poll says:
+all the time too the sky was cloudless, and the sun shining most
+treacherously. I wasn't to be done, however; so, after an hour, jumped
+again into my broad-cloth for comfort.</p>
+
+<p>During my first week here I occupied private apartments,&mdash;which may be
+had at every hotel, by the way,&mdash;and being in company with a friend, we
+had our meals at our own hours, all of which were excellent and well
+served, with wines most unexceptionable. My friend leaving me, however,
+I took the advice of my good host, Mr. Head, and, quitting my sulky
+solitude, joined the public table,&mdash;a change I had every reason to be
+satisfied with, since, however, unpleasant the bustle occasioned by a
+hundred or a hundred and fifty persons dining <i>ensemble</i>, no such
+objection can apply here, where the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> guests rarely exceed twenty-five or
+thirty, including from time to time men of the first rank and
+intelligence in the States. This dinner-table indeed is as well
+appointed in every way as any gentleman could desire; the attendants
+numerous and well ordered; the service, including every luxury the
+season can furnish, is of three courses; and the cloth is never drawn
+under an hour. I am thus particular, because, as much has been said of
+the badness of hotels in America, it is but fair to give place to a
+notice of those which are good; and so essentially good a <i>table d'hote</i>
+as that of the Mansion House at Philadelphia, whether for variety,
+cooking, wine, or all these things combined, I never yet met in any
+country of Europe.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="PHILADELPHIA" id="PHILADELPHIA"></a>PHILADELPHIA.</h2>
+
+<p>I pity the man who, on a fine morning, can walk through the shady and
+clean streets of Phildelphia and cry, "all is barren!" In my eyes, it
+appeared, even at first sight,&mdash;and no place improves more upon
+acquaintance,&mdash;one of the most attractive-looking towns I had ever
+beheld.</p>
+
+<p>Coming immediately out of the noise, bustle, and variety of Broadway,
+its general aspect appears quiet, almost <i>triste</i>; but the cleanliness,
+the neatness, the air of comfort, propriety, and health, that reigns on
+all sides, bespeaks immediate favour.</p>
+
+<p>The progress of improvement, and enlargement too, are sufficiently
+evident, for at either extremity of the city, the fall of hammer and
+chisel give unceasing note of preparation. The circle designed and
+marked out as the limit of its future greatness by the sanguine mind of
+its sagacious founder has long since been overleaped; the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> wide Delaware
+on one side, and on the other the Schuylkill, seem incapable of bounding
+the ambitious city. Already does Market-street rest upon these two
+points, which cannot be less than three miles apart.</p>
+
+<p>Touching Market-street I ought to know something, since, on two
+occasions, I got out of my bed to visit it at four <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> I am curious in
+looking upon these interesting <i>entrep&ocirc;ts</i> whence we cull the dainties
+of a well-furnished larder, and a view over this was truly worth the
+pains; for in no place have I ever seen more lavish display of the good
+things most esteemed by this eating generation, nor could any market
+offer them to the amateur in form more tempting. Neatness and care were
+evident in the perfect arrangement of the poultry, vegetables, fruit,
+butter, &amp;c.; and the display of well-fed beef, with the artist-like way
+in which it was dressed, might have excited our Giblets' spleen even in
+the Christmas week.</p>
+
+<p>Poultry of all kinds here is equal to that of any country, and the
+butter almost as good as the best Irish, which I think the sweetest in
+the world. The market, at the early time I mentioned, offered a busy and
+amusing scene, and I passed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> away a couple of hours here very much to my
+satisfaction, besides cheating those souls of d&mdash;&mdash;d critics, the
+musquitoes, out of a breakfast; for each day, about the first light, I
+used to be awakened by their assembling for a little <i>d&eacute;jeuner d&acirc;nsant</i>,
+whereat I was victim.</p>
+
+<p>One of the pleasantest visits a man can pay in Philadelphia on a hot
+day, is to the water-works at Fair-mount, on the Schuylkill: the very
+name is refreshing with the mercury at 96&deg; in the shade; and, if there
+be a breeze in Pennsylvania, you will find it here. No city can be
+better supplied with water than this; and I never looked upon the pure
+liquid, welling through the pipes and deluging the thirsty streets,
+without a feeling of gratitude to these water-works, and of respect for
+the pride with which the Philadelphians regard their spirited public
+labour. They have evinced much taste, too, in the quiet, simple
+disposition of the ground and reservoirs connected with the machinery;
+the trees and plants are well selected for the situation, and will soon
+add to the natural beauty of this very fine reach of the river.</p>
+
+<p>Mounting the east bank of the stream, from this to the village of
+Manayunk, you have a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> very pretty ride; and crossing the bridge at the
+"Falls of the Schuylkill,"&mdash;falls no longer, thanks to the dam at
+Fair-mount,&mdash;the way back winds along by, or hangs above, the canal and
+river, here marching side by side; offering, in about four miles, as
+charming a succession of river views as painter or poet could desire. It
+is a lovely ramble by all lights, and I have viewed it by all,&mdash;in the
+blaze of noon, and by the sober grey of summer twilight; I have ridden
+beneath its wooded heights, and through its overhanging masses of rare
+foliage, in the alternate bright cold light and deep shade of a
+cloudless moon; and again, when tree, and field, and flower were yet
+fresh and humid with the heavy dew, and sparkling in the glow of early
+morning.</p>
+
+<p>At the period of my first visit, the huge piers of a new bridge,
+projected by the Columbian Railroad Company, were just appearing in
+different degrees above the gentle river's surface. The smoke of the
+workmen's fires rising from the wood above, and the numerous attendant
+barges moored beneath the tall cliff from which the road was to be
+thrown, added no little to the effect. I have since seen this viaduct
+completed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> and have been whirled over it in the train of a locomotive;
+and, although it is a fine work, I cannot but think every lover of the
+picturesque will mourn the violation of the solitude so lately to be
+found here.</p>
+
+<p>I could not refrain from picturing to myself the light canoes of the
+Delaware Indians as at no very remote period they lay rocking beneath
+the shelter of that very bluff where now were moored a fleet of
+deep-laden barges: indeed these ideas were constantly forcing
+themselves, as it were, into my mind as I wandered over the changeful
+face of this singular land, where the fresh print of the moccasin is
+followed by the tread of the engineer and his attendants, and the light
+trail of the red man is effaced by the road of iron: hardly have the
+echoes ceased to repeat through the woods the Indian's hunter-cry before
+this is followed by the angry rush of the ponderous steam-engine, urged
+forward! still forward! by the restless pursuer of his fated race.</p>
+
+<p>Wander whither you will,&mdash;take any direction, the most frequented or the
+most secluded,&mdash;at every and at all points do these lines of railway
+intercept your path. Each state, north, south,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> and west, is eagerly
+thrusting forth these iron arms, to knit, as it were, in a straiter
+embrace her neighbours; and I have not a doubt but, in a very short
+time, a man may journey from the St. Lawrence to the gulf of Mexico
+coastwise with as much facility as he now does from Boston to
+Washington, a distance of four hundred and fifty miles, which may be at
+this day performed within forty hours, out of which you pass a night in
+New York.</p>
+
+<p>But to leave anticipations and imaginings,&mdash;which, by the way, is a
+forbearance hard of practice in a region where all things are on the
+whirl of speculative change, and where practical results outrun the
+projections of even the most visionary theorist,&mdash;and return to make
+such rapid survey of this interesting city as may be ventured on during
+a first visit of some twenty days. I feel, indeed, that but little can
+be really known in so short a time of a place containing two hundred and
+twenty thousand souls, and having in a rapid state of advancement
+various alterations and improvements, including nearly five thousand new
+buildings all immediately required: although there are persons gifted
+with such power of intuition, that, as I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> learn from their own showing,
+they are enabled in half the period to decide upon the condition of the
+whole state of Pennsylvania; to discover the wants of its capital, the
+defects of its institutions, the value of its commerce, the drift of its
+policy; to gauge its morals, become intimate with its society, and make
+out a correct estimate of its relative condition and prospects compared
+with the other great divisions of the Union, surveyed, I presume, with
+equal rapidity, judged with equal candour, and estimated with equal
+correctness.</p>
+
+<p>Each in his degree: and so, in my way, good reader, I will endeavour to
+give you some notion of this capital of old Penn's Sylvania; but if your
+own imagination come not to the help of my outline, I fear, after all my
+painstaking, your notion of the subject will be only a faintish one.</p>
+
+<p>Philadelphia is built upon a peninsula formed by two rivers, the
+Delaware and the Schuylkill, having a long graduated rise from each, the
+highest point being about the centre of the city. It is laid out in
+squares, and the streets run in parallel lines of two and three miles in
+length, retaining the same names throughout,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> only divided by
+Market-street into north, and south: with the exception of this dividing
+street, those running east and west are named after trees, flowers, and
+fruits,&mdash;as chestnut, walnut, peach, &amp;c.; and those parallel with the
+rivers, first, Front-street, or that facing the water; next,
+Second-street, third, fourth, fifth, &amp;c. distinguished as, divided by
+Market-street, into South-second, North-second, &amp;c.; a simplicity of
+arrangement which is unique, and renders the stranger's course an
+exceeding easy one: all he has to do is, first, to run down the latitude
+of his street by any of the great avenues, and, having fairly struck it,
+steer north or south, as may be, till he hits upon the friendly number.</p>
+
+<p>The side-walks throughout are broad and well-ordered, neatly paved with
+brick, and generally bordered by rows of healthful trees of different
+kinds, affording in hot weather a most welcome shade, and giving to the
+houses an air of freshness and repose rarely to be met with in a
+populous city.</p>
+
+<p>The dwellings are chiefly of brick, of a good colour, very neatly
+pointed; and nothing can be more tasteful than their fitting-up
+externally. The windows are furnished with latticed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>shutters; these,
+when not closed, fold back on either hand against the wall, and being
+painted green, and kept with much care and freshness, would invest
+humbler dwellings with an attractive air, especially in the eyes of an
+Englishman, accustomed to the dingy aspect of our city residences, which
+look as though the owners had resolved on making them as forbidding as
+possible without, in order to enhance the excelling comforts within.</p>
+
+<p>Now the houses of Philadelphia are as clean and neat in all the detail
+of the exterior, as they are well-ordered and admirably furnished. The
+mountings of the rails and doors are either of polished silver plating
+or brass, and kept as bright as care can make them. The solid hall-door,
+in hot weather, is superseded by one of green lattice-work, similar to
+the window-shutters, which answers the purpose of keeping out every
+intrusive stranger, except the air,&mdash;air being at such seasons, as most
+strangers are at all times, especially welcome to Philadelphia, which is
+about the hottest place I know of in the autumn; the halls are commonly
+flagged with fine white marble, are spacious, lofty, and well fitted-up.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p><p>The houses average three stories, but in the best streets, those of the
+first class are run up to five, and even six, and are of great depth:
+indeed, I should say, the inhabitants of this city generally enjoy
+greater space in their lodgings than is afforded to those of any other
+large capital. Where population increases rapidly rents are necessarily
+high; and a good house in Philadelphia costs about as much, independent
+of taxation, as a dwelling of the same class in London.</p>
+
+<p>Besides the great market, which gives its name to the dividing line of
+the city, and runs through its whole breadth, there are several others,
+less extensive perhaps, but all alike under cover, well adapted to the
+purpose, and boasting a due proportion of the abundance of good things,
+which, profusely displayed on all sides, give ready evidence of the
+agricultural wealth of the neighbourhood.</p>
+
+<p>Numbers of the best market-farmers for vegetables, poultry, butter, &amp;c.
+are Germans, who, although most earnest in enriching the country by
+their labour, yet cling with strange tenacity to the customs and
+language of "Fader-land." Their costume and manner yet continues as
+distinct and recognizable as was the appearance of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> their progenitors on
+landing here some eighty years back, for the colony from which they are
+chiefly derived had existence about the middle of the eighteenth
+century; and many of these men, yet speaking no word of English, are of
+the third generation. They have German magistrates, an interpreter in
+courts when they act as jurors, German newspapers, &amp;c.; and are the
+stoutest, if not the promptest, asserters of democracy.</p>
+
+<p>They are usually found a little in arrear on the subject of all passing
+events; and at election times, or on occasions of extraordinary stir,
+when a man is striving to render them <i>au courant</i> with late
+occurrences, they will now and then interrupt their informant with, "Bud
+why de teufel doesn't Vashington come down to de Nord and bud it all to
+rights?"</p>
+
+<p>The public buildings are here of a more ambitious style of architecture
+than any of the other cities can boast, and some of them are built in
+exceeding good taste; but the one which had most interest in my eyes was
+the old State-house, wherein the "Declaration of Independence" was
+signed. The Senate-chamber is, I fancy, little changed since that
+period; and contained,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> when I was last within it, models for various
+public works: amongst others, several for a heroic statue of Washington,
+about to be erected, somewhat late in the day to be sure, by the city;
+others for the new college, now building, according to the will of the
+late S. Girard, and intended to assist in perpetuating his name and
+wealth to all posterity.</p>
+
+<p>Such appears to have been the great object of the will of this worthy
+citizen, and there is every prospect of its fully answering the purpose,
+since it has already set the whole community by the ears, and promises
+to prove as prolific of evils as the strong box of Miss Pandora, without
+having even Hope at the bottom.</p>
+
+<p>This man, who has been so much eulogized dead, seems, as well as I could
+glean amongst his contemporaries, to have been anything but estimable in
+his living character. He is universally described as having been tricky,
+overreaching, and litigious in his dealings as a merchant; an unfeeling
+relation, an exacting, ungrateful, and forgetful master; and a selfish,
+cold-hearted man: unoccupied with any generous sympathy, public or
+private, throughout a long life, devoted to one purpose with sleepless
+energy, and to one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> purpose only&mdash;making and hoarding money; which,
+living, he contrived, as far as in him lay, to render as little
+beneficial to any as possible, and, dying, disposed of to his own
+personal glorification, but to the vexation of the community, amongst
+which he appeared to have lived unhonoured, and certainly died
+unregretted!</p>
+
+<p>I am aware that "de mortuis nil nisi bonum" has usually been applied to
+cases similar to the above; "nil nisi <i>justem</i>" I think a sounder
+reading where a man is held up as a public example, and deem that the
+selection of a church or a college for a monument should not be
+permitted to shield the base from animadversion, or call for honours to
+the worthless.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="THE_THEATRES_WALNUT_AND_CHESTNUT" id="THE_THEATRES_WALNUT_AND_CHESTNUT"></a>THE THEATRES&mdash;WALNUT AND CHESTNUT:</h3>
+
+<p>So called were the houses at which I first acted here, situated in the
+two fine streets bearing the same names.</p>
+
+<p>The Walnut is a summer theatre, and the least fashionable; and here it
+was my fortune to make my <i>d&eacute;but</i> to the Philadelphians with good
+success: a French company occupied at the same time the Chestnut, where,
+after a seven nights' engagement at the other house, I succeeded them;
+the proprietors being the same at both.</p>
+
+<p>These houses are large, handsome buildings, marble-fronted, having ample
+and well-arranged vomitories; and are not stuck into some obscure alley,
+as most of our theatres are, but standing in the finest streets of the
+city, and every way easy of approach: within, they are fitted up
+plainly, but conveniently, and very cleanly and well kept. I prefer the
+Chestnut, as smaller, and having a pit&mdash;as I think all pits ought to
+be&mdash;nearly on a level with the front of the stage, instead of being sunk
+deep below, looking, when filled, like a huge dark pool, covered with
+upturned faces.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p><p>A crowded audience here presents as large a proportion of pretty,
+attractive women as are anywhere to be seen; and the male part is
+singularly respectable and attentive. Here again I must protest against
+the charge of insensibility being laid at their doors; that is, as far
+as my own feeling and experience goes.</p>
+
+<p>If by applause, a constant clapping of palms or hammering of sticks is
+only meant, interspersed with cries of "Bravo!" I admit they are
+deficient; but if an evident anxiety to lose no word or look of the
+artist, an evident abstraction from everything but the scene, with
+demonstrations of admiration discriminating and well applied, may be
+accepted as sufficient marks of approval, then has the actor no cause of
+complaint.</p>
+
+<p>With the tragedian, who strains after what in stage parlance are called
+<i>points</i>, and calculates on being interrupted by loud clapping before
+the sense of the sentence be complete, or else wants breath to finish
+it, a Philadelphian audience might prove a slippery dependence, since
+they come evidently to hear the author as well as see the actor, and are
+"attentive, that they may hear."</p>
+
+<p>For myself, the unreserved laughter in which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> they indulged I found
+abundant applause, and in well-filled houses the best assurance that
+they were pleased. The company here was a very good one, and the pieces
+as well gotten up as anywhere in the States.</p>
+
+<p>I paid frequent visits to this charming city, and shall have occasion
+again to refer to it. My first impressions are here set down, and
+favourable as these were, a more intimate knowledge only served to
+confirm them.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="JOURNEY_TO_BOSTON" id="JOURNEY_TO_BOSTON"></a>JOURNEY TO BOSTON.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="THE_EAST_RIVER_HURL-GATEmdashTHE_SOUNDmdashPOINT_JUDITHmdashNEWPORT" id="THE_EAST_RIVER_HURL-GATEmdashTHE_SOUNDmdashPOINT_JUDITHmdashNEWPORT"></a>THE EAST RIVER.&mdash;HURL-GATE.&mdash;THE SOUND.&mdash;POINT JUDITH.&mdash;NEWPORT HARBOUR.&mdash;PROVIDENCE.</h3>
+
+<p>On Saturday morning, at 7 <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> Sept. 28th, quitted Philadelphia; arrived
+in New York at 2 <span class="smaller">P.M.</span>; and transferring my baggage from the steamer on
+the North River to the one about to depart for Providence, and whose
+wharf lay upon the East River, I had a couple of hours' leisure, which I
+employed in writing home, for the packet of the 1st of October; and at
+five o'clock <span class="smaller">P.M.</span> left the city, in the noblest steam-vessel I had yet
+seen.</p>
+
+<p>The view of Brooklyn, the Navy Yard, and this part of the harbour, is
+very attractive from the point of departure; and the numerous little
+steamers, actively plying to and fro at the various ferries, give an
+unceasing air of bustle to the scene. I was greatly charmed by our sail
+up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> this passage into the Sound dividing Long Island from the continent,
+which it flanks and protects for a distance of one hundred miles.</p>
+
+<p>The banks on either side do not vary a great deal in elevation, but are
+of a slightly undulating character, beautifully wooded, and sprinkled
+with the attractive-looking villas of the country. Mr. Cooper's graphic
+description of Hurl-gate, in his novel of the "Red Rover," led me to
+look out for it with an interest which the reality did not repay,
+although the tide was in a favourable state. I confess, however, I think
+that my imagination rather outran discretion than that the whirlpool
+lacked grandeur: that it was not to be encountered without some peril we
+had very good evidence; for, on a rocky islet to the southward of the
+worst part of the fall, a large schooner lay hove up on her beam-ends,
+with all her spars aloft and her sails half furled, as she had been
+abandoned by her crew. Our pilot informed me that the accident had
+occurred the day previous, and was by no means a rare example, the
+downward passage at the last of the ebb requiring great care and
+experience.</p>
+
+<p>Our powerful engines forced the vessel through the dark eddies,
+apparently without difficulty;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> and in a little while this long
+looked-for wonder was forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>I remained on deck until after midnight; for there was a bright moon and
+a calm clear sky, and the Sound was sprinkled with craft of all kinds.</p>
+
+<p>I must not omit to notice supper, or tea,&mdash;for it was both, and an
+excellent meal it was,&mdash;served about eight o'clock upon two parallel
+tables, which ran the whole length of the cabin, at least one hundred
+and eighty feet; and to which sat down about one hundred persons of all
+ranks,&mdash;the richest merchants, the most eminent statesmen, and the
+humblest mechanic who chose to pay for a cabin fare, as most of these
+persons who travel do. I was seated with an exceeding lady-like and
+well-bred woman on my left hand, and on my right sat a man who, although
+decently dressed, was evidently a working operative of the humblest
+class; yet was there nothing in either his manner or appearance to annoy
+the most refined female: he asked for what he wanted respectfully,
+performed any little attention he could courteously, and evinced better
+breeding and less selfishness than I have witnessed at some public
+dinners at home, where the admission of such a person would have been
+deemed derogatory.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p><p>I do not mean by this description to infer that a crowded table of this
+kind is as agreeable as a party whose habits, education, and sympathies,
+being on a level, render intercourse a matter of mutual pleasure: what I
+would show is, that in this mingling of classes, which is inevitable in
+travelling here, there is nothing to disgust or debase man or woman,
+however exclusive; for it would really be impossible to feed a like
+multitude, of any rank or country, with slighter breaches of decency or
+decorum, or throw persons so wholly dissimilar together with less
+personal inconvenience either to one class or another.</p>
+
+<p>I had been accustomed to see this set down as one of the chief nuisances
+of travelling in this country, and the consequences greatly exaggerated:
+things must have improved rapidly; since, as far as I have hitherto
+gone, I protest I prefer the steam-boat arrangements here to our own,
+and would back them to be considered less objectionable by any candid
+traveller who had fairly tested both.</p>
+
+<p>During the night it blew fresh, and the vessel pitched a little, the
+consequence of which movement was evident in the desertion of the upper<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>
+deck in the morning. I had noticed it, the evening previous, occupied by
+sundry little groups reading or chatting, and with more than one couple
+of merry promenaders: I now made its circuit, meeting with but one
+adventurer, a lively-looking old gentleman, of whom I inquired where all
+our passengers were vanished to.</p>
+
+<p>"Most of them in bed yet," said the old gentleman, "or keeping out of
+the way in one hole or another. If there's any wind or sea, you always
+find the deck pretty clear till we get round Point Judith. Once let us
+get to the other side that hill yonder, and you'll see the swarm begin
+to muster pretty smart."</p>
+
+<p>I had often heard "Point Judith" mentioned by the New-Yorkers, as the
+Cockney voyager talks of Sea-reach, or the buoy at the Nore; and here it
+was close under our lee,&mdash;a long, low point of land, with a lighthouse
+upon it.</p>
+
+<p>We soon after opened the entrance to the fine harbour of Newport, and,
+as my informant predicted, the deck gradually recovered its population:
+some came up because they felt, and others because they were told, we
+had passed Point Judith.</p>
+
+<p>It was about seven o'clock <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> that we ran<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> alongside the wharf at
+Newport to land passengers. The appearance of the town, rising boldly
+from the water's edge, was imposing enough; but trade, judging from the
+deserted state of the wharves, is now inconsiderable, although formerly
+of much importance.</p>
+
+<p>After a delay of a quarter of an hour, we once more got under weigh; and
+one of the chief advantages of a steamer is the ease and facility with
+which this important movement is effected: nowhere is the management of
+these immense bodies, in my thinking, so perfect: the commanding
+position of the wheel, clear of all obstruction, and under the hand of
+the pilot, whose finger also directs the machinery below, through the
+medium of a few well-arranged bells,&mdash;the absence of all bawling and
+shouting, and the being independent of transmitted directions, gives
+these craft facilities which make their movements appear like
+inspiration.</p>
+
+<p>This system I found prevailing all through the States; and, as far as
+possible, it would be well to adopt it here. The arrangement of the
+wheel, or steering apparatus, if I remember rightly, was fully and
+technically described by Captain Hall. I do not know whether it has in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>
+any case been adopted; but if it were enforced upon our crowded rivers,
+there would, I feel assured, be fewer accidents.</p>
+
+<p>The fogs of the Sound, in this passage,&mdash;a highway as much travelled as
+the Clyde,&mdash;and indeed on all the great American rivers, are only to be
+paralleled by a London specimen about Christmas, in addition to the
+former being more frequent; yet accidents arising from running foul are
+of very rare occurrence, although the desire to drive along is yet
+stronger than with ourselves.</p>
+
+<p>The river up to Providence is of a breadth and character to command the
+voyager's attention, but offers little in detail to repay him for it.
+With the exception of the time devoted to breakfast, which a supply of
+newly-caught fish, taken on board at Newport, rendered a positive treat
+to me, I paced the upper deck, according to my custom, until we arrived
+at Providence, a very thriving place, seated on a commanding ridge, and
+already having, as viewed from the river, an air and aspect quite
+city-like.</p>
+
+<p>Here we found a line of coaches drawn up upon the wharf, awaiting our
+arrival. I had already secured a ticket for the Mail Pilot: and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> in a
+few minutes the luggage was packed on; the passengers, four in number,
+were packed in; and away we went, rolling and pitching, at the heels of
+as likely a team of four dark bays as I would wish to sit behind. At our
+first halt, I left the inside to the occupation of my companions,&mdash;a
+handsome girl, with, "I guess," her lover, and a rough specimen of a
+Western hunter or trader, who had already dubbed my younger companion
+Captain and myself Major, and invited us both to "liquor with him." I
+declined, but <i>the Captain</i>, to his evident satisfaction, frankly
+accepted his offer; and whilst I mounted the box, and the horses were
+changing, they entered the house together.</p>
+
+<p>This is a courtesy the traveller to the South will find constantly
+proffered to him by a class of honest souls, whose good-fellowship
+sometimes exceeds their discretion; and I had been told it was not at
+all times possible to decline the offer without risking insult. I
+discovered by experience this to be one of the numerous imaginary
+grievances conjured up to affright the innocent. In this, as in all
+other points, I have never departed from my own habits; and although
+often in remote parts of the Union strongly urged "to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> liquor," have
+always found my declaration that it was a custom which disagreed with
+me, an excuse admitted without hesitation or ill-humour.</p>
+
+<p>In this, my first experiment, indeed, I had to deal with the most
+punctilious specimen I ever afterwards encountered; for when, some two
+hours after I had declined his request, I called for a glass of
+lemonade, my friend popped his head out of the coach-window, calling out
+with a most beseeching air&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Well but, Major, I say; stop till I get out: you'll drink <i>that</i> with
+me any how, won't you?"</p>
+
+<p>He was in the bar-room at my heels in a twinkling, and I need hardly say
+we emptied our glasses together very cordially, although their contents
+would, I fancy, in my friend's opinion, have assimilated best in a mixed
+state; for, giving his <i>sling</i> a knowing twist as I swallowed my
+excellent lemonade, he observed:</p>
+
+<p>"Now that's a liquor I never could bring myself to try nohow, though I'm
+sometimes rather speculatin' in drink, when I'm travellin' or out on a
+frolic. Poorish stuff, I calculate: but <i>you</i> hav'nt got the dyspepsy,
+have you, Major?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p><p>I assured my friend that I was perfectly free from dyspepsia, and that
+it was because I desired to continue so that I avoided any stronger
+drink before dinner.</p>
+
+<p>We were now summoned to our places, my companion declaring&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"It is past my logic how lemon and water can prevent dyspepsy better
+than brandy and water;" adding, with a look half comic, half serious&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"But I suppose everybody will go for the Temperance-ticket soon, and I
+shall be forced to clear out of all my spirits; for I never can drink by
+myself, if I'm forced to take to the milk and water line for company."</p>
+
+<p>Our road was a tolerably good one as roads go here, and the horses
+excellent. We arrived in Boston about half-past three, having performed
+forty miles in five hours, all stoppages included; and the whole
+distance from Philadelphia, being three hundred and twenty miles, in
+thirty-two hours and a half, including about three hours passed in New
+York. Quick as this travelling is, they contemplate, when the railroad
+to Providence shall be opened, by the aid of that and an improved
+steam-boat, to deduct<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> eight or nine hours from the time between this
+and New York.</p>
+
+<p>Alighting at the Tremont hotel, I found dinner over, as on Sunday they
+accommodate the hour of dining to the time of church service: I was,
+however, quickly provided with a good meal, which a keen breeze, a long
+ride, and a long fast enabled me to do good justice to. In the
+afternoon, <i>malgr&eacute;</i> a cutting east wind, which was anything but
+agreeable after the hot weather I had been living in, I took a long walk
+about the town, accompanied by an old friend of mine and a
+constitutional grumbler, who yet joined with me in declaring that a
+first impression of Boston could hardly fail pleasing any man who could
+be pleased by a near view of a city, well and substantially built, as it
+is undoubtedly nobly situated.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="BOSTON" id="BOSTON"></a>BOSTON.</h2>
+
+<p>The approach to Boston, either by sea or land, gives to it an extremely
+bold and picturesque character. It is spread over a series of lofty
+heights, nearly insulated, and is surrounded by a marshy level running
+from the highlands on the main, to which the city is united by a very
+narrow isthmus to the southward.</p>
+
+<p>The lofty dome of its State-house, and the numerous spires and towers of
+its churches, rising between two and three hundred feet above the
+surrounding level of either land or sea, combine to produce a <i>coup
+d'&oelig;il</i> more imposing than is presented by either New York or
+Philadelphia.</p>
+
+<p>The streets of the city generally are narrow and irregular, following
+the windings of the lofty hills over which it is spread, and having more
+the air of an old English county-town than any place I have yet seen in
+the country.</p>
+
+<p>Its wharfs are spacious and well constructed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> and it is not without
+surprise that one views the evidently rapid growth of these best
+evidences of prosperous commerce. I observed in my walks lines of
+substantial granite-built warehouses and quays, newly redeemed from the
+water: all were in occupation; tiers of vessels of every kind thronged
+them; and the inner harbour was thick with masts.</p>
+
+<p>The most modern quarter of the city lies to the west, surrounding the
+park, or common, as it is termed,&mdash;an ancient reserve of some sixty
+acres, the property of the citizens, beautifully situated and tastefully
+laid out. It is bordered on the lower side by a mall of
+venerable-looking elms; has a pretty pond of water under a rising ground
+near its centre, the remains of an English fort; and open to the front
+is the Charles River.</p>
+
+<p>On three sides, this common is flanked by very fine streets, having
+houses of the largest class, well built, and kept with a right English
+spirit as far as regards the scrupulous cleanliness of the entrances,
+areas, and windows. The English are a window-cleaning race, and nowhere
+have I observed this habit so closely inherited as here. Overlooking
+this common, too, is the State-house; and, on a line with it, the
+mansion of its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> patriot founder, Mr. Hancock, a venerable stone-built
+edifice, raised upon a terrace withdrawn a few yards from the line of
+the present street. The generous character of its first owner has made
+this house an object of great interest, and it is to be hoped the
+citizens will look carefully to its preservation as a worthy fellow to
+Fanieul Hall, for by no one was the "cradle of Liberty"<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> more
+carefully tended than by the owner of "Hancock House."</p>
+
+<p>Here, as in the other great cities of the Union, upon a close survey, I
+found the prevailing impression on my mind to be surprise at the
+apparent rapidity of increase made manifest in the great number of
+buildings either just completed or in progress. If the possession of
+inexhaustible supplies of the finest granite, marble, and all other
+material, be accompanied with taste and spirit in their use, the future
+buildings of this city will have an air of grandeur and stability
+superior to those of any other in the States.</p>
+
+<p>To reach the surrounding country in any <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>direction from the peninsula
+the city occupies, one of its great bridges must be crossed. Of these
+there are six, besides the Western Avenue as it is called, a dam of vast
+extent; and they form the peculiarities of this place, to a stranger,
+most curious, and, in truth, most pleasing. By day, they form agreeable
+walks or rides, offering a variety of charming views; and, if crossed on
+a dark night, when their interminable lines of lamps are beheld
+radiating, as it were, from one centre, and multiplied by reflection on
+the surrounding waters, the effect is perfectly magical. The stars show
+dimly in comparison: and casting your eyes downward, it appears as
+though you beheld another and a brighter sky glittering beneath your
+feet.</p>
+
+<p>The great dam rises about five feet above the tide, is provided with
+enormous flood-gates, and in length is something over a mile and a half.
+The length of the other bridges varies from two thousand five hundred to
+one thousand four hundred feet.</p>
+
+<p>Crossing at any one of these points, you gain the open heights upon the
+main. Here you are first struck by the aspect of the soil, everywhere
+having huge masses of dark rock protruded above<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> its surface. The
+country is said to be poor: of this I cannot judge, but I know it to be
+beautiful. It is everywhere undulating, and often broken in the wildest
+and most tropical manner. Like the interior of Herefordshire, it is cut
+up in all directions by rural lanes, bordered by stone walls and high
+hedges, and dotted thickly with handsome houses, whose verandahs of
+bright green, and whitened walls, show well amidst the luxuriant foliage
+by which they are commonly surrounded.</p>
+
+<p>About five miles from the city are a couple of delightful pieces of
+water, called Jamaica and Fresh-ponds; each bordered by wood, lawn, and
+meadow, naturally disposed in the most attractive manner. At the
+last-named pond,&mdash;which sounds unworthily on my ear when applied to a
+piece of water covering a surface of two hundred and fifty acres,&mdash;I
+passed an afternoon during the period of my first visit here.</p>
+
+<p>We sailed about, exploring every harbour of the little sea, caught our
+fish for dinner, and by the hotel were furnished with a well-broiled
+chicken and a good glass of champagne, with ice worthy of being
+dissolved in such liquor. I fell premeditatedly in love with the place;
+and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> D&mdash;&mdash;, who was on the look-out for a location, and something hard
+to please withal, had already selected a site for building: but, alas!
+even Paradise, before the mission of St. Patrick, had serpents; and the
+delightful copses and rich meadows of Fresh-pond are, it appears, the
+haunts especially favoured by the incarnation of all Egyptian plagues,
+musquitoes.</p>
+
+<p>During the winter this is a great resort of the lovers of <i>bandy</i> and
+<i>skating</i>; and from this ample reservoir is taken that transparent ice
+which gladdens the eyes and cools the throat of the dust-dried traveller
+throughout this part of the State. Nor is its grateful service confined
+to these limits; for cargoes of it are, during the spring, regularly
+shipped to the Havannah, New Orleans, Mobile, &amp;c.; and,&mdash;for where will
+enterprise find limits?&mdash;this very season has a shipment of three
+hundred tons of the congealed waters of this pond of Massachusetts been
+consigned to Calcutta. Ice floating on the Ganges! How old Gunga will
+shiver and shake his ears when the first crystal offering is dropped on
+his hot bosom!</p>
+
+<p>Wild as the idea may at first appear of keeping such a commodity for a
+voyage of probably<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> a hundred days in such latitudes, I am informed the
+speculator is assured, that with an ordinary run, enough of his cargo
+may be landed to pay a good freight.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p>
+
+<p>Near to this pond lies another favourite spot of mine, "Mount Auburn;" a
+tract of woodland, bordering on Charles River, appropriated and
+consecrated as a cemetery, on the plan of "Pere la Chaise," but having
+natural attributes for such a purpose infinitely superior. It is covered
+by a thick growth of the finest forest-trees, of singular variety; and
+presents a surface, now gently undulating in hill and dale, now broken
+into deep ravines, or towered over by bold rocky elevations; and,
+intersecting the whole space from north to south, runs a natural
+terrace, having a surface so well and evenly levelled that one almost
+doubts its being other than the work of art.</p>
+
+<p>It takes its name from a lofty eminence, which, rising high over the
+surrounding level, commands as fine a view as any spot in the vicinity.
+Winding and well-kept avenues intersect the ground<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> in all directions,
+giving it an appearance of much greater extent than it in reality
+possesses, and rendering the most secluded spot easy of access to those
+who desire to</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div>"Choose their ground,</div>
+<div>And take their rest."</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The ostentatious mausoleum may be placed by a broad carriage avenue,
+where its hollow walls will reverberate to every passing triumph of the
+tomb; the quiet and the lowly can build their humbler dwelling in some
+secluded nook, bordered by a narrow path the foot of affection alone
+will seek to tread, and where no heavier sound will ever echo!</p>
+
+<p>The perpetual right of sepulture may be purchased of the company whose
+property the place is; and already a number of monuments, in marble and
+granite, betoken the favour with which this place of "everlasting rest"
+is viewed. Most of these monuments are of a simple, unassuming
+character, and some of them gracefully appropriate.</p>
+
+<p>A wooden fence encircles the cemetery, and a lofty gateway leads into
+it, of Egyptian fashion, but of the like American material, which, it is
+to be presumed, will speedily be superseded by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> suitable erections of
+the fine dark granite found here in abundance.</p>
+
+<p>This spot, if presided over by anything like taste, must become, in a
+very few years, one of the places one might reasonably make a pilgrimage
+to look upon; so lavish has Nature been in its adornment, and so
+admirably are its accessories fitted to its present purpose.</p>
+
+<p>Boston and its neighbourhood possess, in the eyes of a British subject,
+a number of sites of singular historical interest.</p>
+
+<p>On Hancock's Wharf that tea-party was held which cost Britain ten
+millions of gold, and reft from the empire one quarter of the globe. The
+lines of the American army at Cambridge are still to be readily traced
+throughout their whole extent; the forts at the extremities, north and
+south, are yet perfect in form as when designed by the engineer.</p>
+
+<p>Across the peninsula, to the west of the isthmus, may be traced the
+British lines and the broad deep fosse which, filled by the tide,
+insulated the city these were projected to defend: their remains testify
+to the care and labour bestowed upon their completion.</p>
+
+<p>Bunker's Hill and the Breeds, where the first<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> determined stand was made
+against the British army, is commanded from the steeples and many
+house-tops of the city.</p>
+
+<p>If the defenders of these miserable lines knew that they were observed
+by their kindred on this day, they took, at least, especial care that
+the lookers-on should have no cause to blush for their lack of manhood.
+Under cover of a hastily thrown-up breastwork, of which no trace
+remains, did those hardy yeomen abide and repulse several assaults of a
+regular and well-officered force; nor was it until their last charge of
+ammunition was delivered that they turned from the defences their
+courage alone had made good. The result proved how few charges of theirs
+were flung away; these men knew the value of their ammunition, they were
+excellent shots, and the word was constantly passed amongst them to
+"take sure aim."</p>
+
+<p>On Bunker's Hill a national monument is in progress, which, when
+completed, will form an obelisk of fine granite, according to the
+published plan, thirty feet square at the base, two hundred and twenty
+feet high, and fifteen feet square at the summit. After considerable
+progress had been made in this most durable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>memorial, the funds ran out
+and the work stood still; however, the reproach of its remaining
+unfinished is now likely to be speedily removed, for during this last
+year, I believe, the necessary sum has been raised, and the national
+monument of Massachusetts put <i>en train</i> for completion.</p>
+
+<p>Below this celebrated hill lies one of the most complete and extensive
+navy-yards in the States. At the period of my visit its dry dock was
+occupied by a pet ship of the American navy, "the Constitution," or, as
+this fine frigate is familiarly called, "Old Ironsides." She was
+stripped down to her kelson outside and in, for the purpose of
+undergoing a repair that will make her, to all intents, a new ship.</p>
+
+<p>She is what would now be called a small frigate, but one of the
+prettiest models possible as high as the bends; above, she tumbles in a
+little too much to please the eye. Nor did her gun-deck appear to me
+particularly roomy for her burthen.</p>
+
+<p>She was logged nearly eleven feet during the whole of the period she was
+last afloat, yet is said to have sailed faster than anything she met;
+this defect the builders have now remedied, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> expect that, on a
+straight keel, she will prove the fastest ship afloat.</p>
+
+<p>I also went on board a seventy-four, employed as a receiving ship; "a
+whapper! of her size," low between decks, but with a floor like a barn,
+and the greatest beam I ever saw in a two-decker. Here were also on the
+stocks a three and a two decker, both to be rated as seventy-fours; the
+latter a model of beauty.</p>
+
+<p>From the roof of the house covering this ship I enjoyed the finest
+panoramic view imaginable. Boston, its long bridges, and the great dam
+connecting the blue hills of the main with the peninsulas of Boston, and
+that on which the populous village of Charleston stands, all lay beneath
+the eye on the land side; whilst looking seaward, the inner and outer
+harbours, together with their numerous islands, stretched away far
+beyond the ken; and, were these islands only wooded, no harbour in the
+world would excel this in beauty: at present, though grand, from its
+great extent it looks bleak and naked, so completely have the islands
+and the surrounding heights been denuded of wood.</p>
+
+<p>I like this view better than either the one from the dome of the
+State-house or that from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> the summit of Mount Auburn: a few glances from
+this point affords one a good practical notion both of the city and the
+populous environs, which may be said to form a part of it, besides being
+in itself a varied and beautiful picture, viewed, as I first saw it, on
+the afternoon of a calm clear day.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Fanieul Hall, so called, the old Town Hall,&mdash;a spot
+dedicated by the Bostonians to the recollections of their country's
+first struggle for independence, and greatly venerated.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> This calculation was more than realised, the loss not
+exceeding one-fourth on the whole cargo shipped. The grateful epicures
+of Calcutta made an offering of a splendid cup to the merchant, in
+return for his spirited speculation, which I believe he has this year
+(1835) repeated.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="STATE_PRISON" id="STATE_PRISON"></a>STATE PRISON.</h3>
+
+<p>Whilst here, I visited the state-prison, the first I had seen where the
+Auburn system is pursued; that is, solitary night-cells, silence, and
+labour in gangs. The building itself is a fine one, having nearly four
+hundred cells, enclosed within external walls, round which run galleries
+that command a view of the interior of every cell without disturbing or
+annoying the confined; the whole covered by a common roof of the
+strongest kind, lighted and ventilated in the best manner.</p>
+
+<p>The merits of this plan will be fairly set forth long before this trifle
+meets the public eye, a commission being now in progress throughout
+these States for the purpose of relieving England from the stigma of
+having no means of employment in her prisons less brutalizing than the
+tread-mill.</p>
+
+<p>I here saw about two hundred convicts actively employed at various
+trades, preparing granite for building, doing smiths' work, making
+shoes, brushes, &amp;c.; all very clean, but certainly not looking very
+healthy.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p><p>A single overseer went the rounds of each building or department, and
+kept the hive in motion, without a word spoken, unless in reference to
+the task in hand. Whilst passing through the masons' shed, I noticed two
+persons make inquiries of the superintendent: their questions were to
+the point, given in few words, but with an air perfectly free and
+unrestrained, and were replied to in the like manner.</p>
+
+<p>Upon the value of this system as a preventive of crime, according to my
+view of human nature, I may be allowed to express a doubt, as well as of
+its applicability to the condition of Great Britain; but viewing it in
+the abstract, without such reference, I confess no philanthropic object
+ever struck me as so completely illustrative of the principles of true
+benevolence. This was, in fact, returning good for evil, in the most
+Christian sense of the word; "chastening as a father chasteneth." It
+would appear that a convict must be unnaturally hardened not to quit
+this abode a better man. Let him arrive here, however outcast, vile,
+ignorant, knowing no honest calling, broken in health and savage in
+spirit, here he will find teachers, masters, physicians, all provided
+for him by the community whose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> laws he has violated. His spirit is
+soothed, his health is recruited, his ignorance enlightened: he is made
+master of a sufficient calling; and, when restored to society, is able
+to contrast the value of the meal earned by the honest sweat of his brow
+with the bitter fruit of idleness and crime.</p>
+
+<p>Such is the result contemplated by the benevolent promoters of the
+prison system of this country, which everywhere has societies of
+voluntary philanthropists who watch over and study to improve it. One is
+ashamed, after this, to avow a doubt of its success in practice, since
+it almost amounts to an admission that man is indeed the brute our
+European legislators appear to think him.</p>
+
+<p>The subject is, at least, one that demands from England a rigid inquiry,
+when we call to mind what a den of debasement, what a sink of soul and
+body, a prison yet is amongst the most civilized and humane people in
+the world.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="TREMONT_HOTEL" id="TREMONT_HOTEL"></a>TREMONT HOTEL.</h3>
+
+<p>My last, though not least, lion of Boston is the "Tremont House," which
+being, in my opinion, the very best of the best class of large hotels in
+the Union, I shall select as a specimen.</p>
+
+<p>With externals I have little to do, although the architecture of this
+fine building might well claim a particular description: its frontage is
+nearly two hundred feet, with two wings about one hundred each in depth:
+it is three stories high in front above the basement, and the wings are
+each of four stories: the number of rooms, its proprietor informed me,
+amount to two hundred, independent of kitchens, cellars, and other
+offices: it contains hot and cold baths, and is, in fact, wanting in
+nothing essential to the character of a well-contrived hotel.</p>
+
+<p>The curious part of the affair, however, to a European, and more
+especially to an Englishman, is the internal arrangement of such a huge
+institution, the machinery by which it is so well and so quietly
+regulated.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p><p>Let the reader reflect, that here are two public tables daily, one for
+men resident in the house, together with many gentlemen of the city, who
+regularly dine here; the other for ladies, or families who have not
+private apartments: of the latter there are a dozen, consisting of two
+or more chambers attached to each parlour; these are seldom unoccupied,
+and have also to be provided for: add to all this an occasional dinner
+or supper to large public parties, and he will then be enabled to
+appreciate the difficulties and do justice to the system which works as
+I shall presently describe.</p>
+
+<p>At half-past seven <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> the crash of a gong rattles through the remotest
+galleries, to rouse the sleepers: this you may hear or not, just as you
+choose; but sound it does, and loudly. Again, at eight, it proclaims
+breakfast on the public tables: as I never made my appearance at this
+meal, I cannot be expected to tell how it may be attended. The lover of
+a late <i>d&eacute;je&ucirc;ner</i> may either order his servant to provide one in his own
+room, or at any hour, up to noon, direct it to be served in the common
+hall: it will, in either case, consist of whatever he may desire that is
+in the house.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p><p>At three o'clock, dinner is served in a well-proportioned, well-lighted
+room, seventy feet long by thirty-one wide, occupied by two parallel
+tables, perfectly appointed, and provided with every delicacy of the
+season, well dressed and in great abundance,&mdash;the French cooking the
+best in the country,&mdash;this <i>par parenth&egrave;se</i>. Meantime, the attendance is
+very sufficient for a man not in a "devouring rage," and the wines of
+every kind really unexceptionable to any reasonable <i>gourmet</i>.</p>
+
+<p>At this same hour, let it be borne in mind, the same play is playing in
+what is called the ladies' dining-room, where they sit surrounded by
+their husbands, fathers, brothers, or lovers, as may be; and surely
+having no meaner table-service. As for the possessors of an apartment,
+these persons order dinner for as many as they please, at what hour they
+please, and in what style they please, the which is duly provided in
+their respective parlours.</p>
+
+<p>In the public rooms tea is served at six, and supper at nine o'clock; it
+being yet a marvel to me, first, how all these elaborate meals are so
+admirably got up, and next, how the plague these good people find
+appetite to come to time with a regularity no less surprising.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p><p>It was a constant subject of no little amusement to me to observe a few
+of the knowing hands hanging about, as feeding-time drew near, their
+ears on the prick and their eyes on the door, which is thrown open at
+the first bellow of the gong.</p>
+
+<p>As to the indecent pushing and driving, so amusingly described by some
+travellers, I never saw a symptom of it in any hotel I visited
+throughout the country: on the contrary, the absence of extraordinary
+bustle and confusion, where such numbers have to be provided for, is not
+the least striking part of the affair; and only to be accounted for by
+supposing that the habit of living thus together, and being in some sort
+accountable to one another, renders individuals more considerate and
+courteous than they can afford to be when congregated to feed amongst
+us.</p>
+
+<p>I confess that, at first, a dinner of a hundred, or a hundred and fifty
+persons, on a hot day, alarmed me; but, the strangeness got over, I
+rather liked this mode of living, and, as a stranger in a new country,
+would certainly prefer it to the solitary mum-chance dinner of a
+coffee-room.</p>
+
+<p>By eleven o'clock at night the hive is hushed, and the house as quiet as
+any well-ordered citizen's proper dwelling. The servants in this
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>establishment were all Irish lads; and a civiller or better-conducted
+set of boys, as far as the guests were concerned, I never saw, or would
+desire to be waited on by. The bar was also well conducted, under the
+care of an obliging and very active person; and the proprietor, Mr.
+Boydon, or his father, constantly on the spot, both most active in all
+matters conducive to the ease and comfort of the visitors.</p>
+
+<p>This city abounds in charitable institutions, and nowhere have more
+princely contributions been made for philanthropic purposes,&mdash;witness
+the recent gift of Colonel Perkins of a mansion, valued at thirty
+thousand dollars, as a permanent asylum for the blind; one of those
+institutions most interesting in themselves, and which confer dignity
+and honour upon the age and upon human nature.</p>
+
+<p>The Bostonians are said to be proud of their literary character, and
+boast a number of societies whose object it is to justify their claim to
+this honourable distinction. The only one I can speak of from personal
+observation is the Athen&aelig;um, an excellently-supplied reading-room;
+having attached to it a library of thirty thousand volumes, a valuable
+collection of coins and medals, a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> gallery for the exhibition of
+pictures, and lecture-rooms well furnished with the necessary apparatus
+for philosophical and practical illustration.</p>
+
+<p>This institution is provided for by subscription: the principal portion
+of the mansion it occupies being the free gift of the same open hand
+which so munificently endowed the asylum for the blind.</p>
+
+<p>The private literary society here is said to be very superior to that of
+any other city of the States, and by no means small. Of society so
+called I nothing know, never having had the honour of being admitted of
+the community, or indeed having made any attempts upon their proper
+realm beyond an occasional rude foray on the border, uncontinued, and
+consequently little noted.</p>
+
+<p>Private intercourse is gay and agreeable, and less restrained by the
+exclusive pretension to dress and fashion which prevails in society both
+at New York and Philadelphia; whilst, if attractive women are less
+numerous here than in those cities, beauty is by no means rare; indeed
+Boston boasts of one family whose personal attractions might serve to
+sustain the pretensions of a larger population.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="THE_TREMONT_THEATRE" id="THE_TREMONT_THEATRE"></a>THE TREMONT THEATRE.</h3>
+
+<p>In the same street, and immediately opposite the great hotel, is the
+Tremont Theatre, certainly the most elegant exterior in the country, and
+with a very well-proportioned, but not well-arranged <i>salle</i>, or
+audience part.</p>
+
+<p>I commenced here on Monday the 30th of September, three days after
+closing at Philadelphia, to a well-filled house, composed, however,
+chiefly of men, as on my <i>d&eacute;but</i> at New York. My welcome was cordial and
+kind in the extreme; but the audience, although attentive, appeared
+exceedingly cold. On a first night I did not heed this much, especially
+as report assured me they were very well pleased; but throughout the
+week this coldness appeared to me to increase rather than diminish, and
+so much was I affected by it, that, notwithstanding the houses were very
+good, I, on the last day of my first engagement of six nights, declined
+positively to renew it, as was the custom in such cases, and as, in
+fact, the manager and myself had contemplated: on this night, however,
+the aspect<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> of affairs brightened up amazingly; the house was crowded; a
+brilliant show of ladies graced the boxes; the performances were a
+repetition of two pieces which had been previously acted, and from first
+to last the mirth was electric; the good people appeared, by common
+consent, to abandon themselves to the fun of the scene, and laughed <i>&agrave;
+gorge deploy&eacute;e</i>. At the fall of the curtain, after, in obedience to the
+call of the house, I had made my bow, the manager announced my
+re-engagement; and from this night forth I never met a merrier or a
+pleasanter audience.</p>
+
+<p>It was quite in accordance with the character ascribed to the
+New-Englanders that they should coolly and thoroughly examine and
+understand the novelty presented for their judgment, and that, being
+satisfied and pleased, they should no longer set limits to the
+demonstration of their feelings.</p>
+
+<p>In matters of graver import they have always evinced the like deliberate
+judgment and apparent coldness of bearing; but beneath this prudential
+outward veil they have feelings capable of the highest degree of
+excitement and the most enduring enthusiasm.</p>
+
+<p>I do not agree with those who describe the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> Yankee as a naturally
+cold-blooded, selfish being. From both the creed and the sumptuary
+regulations of the rigid moral censors from whom they sprung, they have
+inherited the practice of a close self-observance and a strict attention
+to conventional form, which gives a frigid restraint to their air that
+nevertheless does not sink far beneath the surface.</p>
+
+<p>A densely-populated and ungrateful soil has kept alive and quickened
+their natural gifts of intelligence and enterprise, whilst the shifts
+poverty imposes upon young adventure may possibly at times have impelled
+prudence to degenerate into cunning. But look at their history as a
+community; they have been found ever ready to make the most generous
+sacrifices for the commonwealth. In their domestic relations they are
+proverbial as the kindest husbands and most indulgent fathers; whilst as
+friends they are found to be, if reasonably wary, at least steadfast,
+and to be relied on to the uttermost of their professions.</p>
+
+<p>I can readily understand a stranger, having any share of sensibility,
+not liking a people whose observances are so peculiar and so decidedly
+marked; but I do think it impossible for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> an impartial person to spend
+any time in the country, or have any close intercourse with the
+community, without learning to respect and admire them, <i>malgr&eacute;</i> their
+calculating prudence, and the many prejudices inseparable from a system
+of education even to this day sufficiently narrow and sectarian.</p>
+
+<p>As far as my personal experience is worthy of consideration, I must
+declare that some of the kindest, gentlest, and most hospitable friends
+I had, and, I trust I may add, have, in the Union, were natives of
+New-England, or, as they say here, "real Yankee, born and raised within
+sight of the State-house of Bosting."</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="JOURNAL" id="JOURNAL"></a>JOURNAL.</h2>
+
+<p><i>Oct. 20th, New York.</i>&mdash;Began my second engagement here,&mdash;the weather
+divine. Procured a very good hack at Tattersal's, and daily "skir the
+country round." The environs of this city possess more variety of
+scenery than one would suppose from a cursory glance at the country,
+which appears tame and unbroken. The river views are most attractive to
+me.</p>
+
+<p>Rode to the race-course on Long Island, this being the period of the
+"Fall Meeting," as it is termed. The assemblage thin on the first
+day&mdash;Appointments of the negro jockeys more picturesque than
+race-like,&mdash;ill-fitted jackets, trousers dirty, and loose, or
+stocking-net pantaloons ditto, but tight, with Wellingtons over or
+under, according to the taste of the rider; or shoes without stockings,
+or stockings without shoes, as weight may be required or rejected. They
+sit well forward on to the withers of the horses; do not seem over
+steady in their saddles, but cling like <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>monkeys, their whole
+sleight-of-hand appears to consist of a dead pull; and their mode of
+running, with their time for lying back or making play, seems to be
+entirely governed by their masters, who, on a mile-course, they must
+frequently pass in heats, and who appear ever on the alert to direct
+them.</p>
+
+<p>After the running, which was indifferent, went to see "Paul Pry," a
+trotting-horse of Mr. M'Leod's, now in training to do a match of
+eighteen miles in the hour.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> With the exception of a few scratches on
+one of his legs, he looked in slapping order; a powerful grey horse,
+just sixteen hands, with a fine countenance, and appearing to be nearly,
+if not quite, thorough-bred.</p>
+
+<p><i>Second day.</i>&mdash;Witnessed a good race, which a little mare, called
+Trifle, won in two four-mile heats. She had, on a former occasion, run
+four heats, or twenty miles, over the central course at Baltimore, and
+was beaten by one of her present competitors, a fine mare called Black
+Maria. Trifle is very little, but powerfully put together, and
+exceedingly handsome; her only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> drawback being a pair of mulish-looking
+ears. She has uncommon speed, and is one of the steadiest and smoothest
+gallopers I ever saw go over turf.</p>
+
+<p>I, at the start, took a great fancy to the little pet, and backed her
+even against the other two horses for a dozen of gloves with my friend
+Mr. C&mdash;&mdash;n. By the close of the second heat our bet had increased
+ninefold,&mdash;Next morning received a box containing nine dozen of French
+gloves. It will be my duty henceforth to back Trifle.</p>
+
+<p><i>October 29th.</i>&mdash;The city yet crowded with strangers; every hotel full.</p>
+
+<p>Find out that I am No. 1. in this enormous house; the first time I ever
+could boast such an honour, and now am by no means certain that it is
+worth the labour it imposes, since it leads me a dance to the third
+story: however, it is an excellent room, very large, and removed from
+the bustle below; the sound of the dustman-like bell, which calls the
+house to meals, barely reaches my ear. I often catch myself parodying
+poor Maturin's lines, which I have applied to this unpoetical grievance,
+and concluded most impotently&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span><div>----"Bell echoes bell,</div>
+<div>Meal follows meal,</div>
+<div>Till the ear aches for the last welcome summons</div>
+<div>That tolls an end to the day's cookery."</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>At this time there cannot be far short of one hundred and fifty persons
+dining daily in the public room: did I desire to dine at it, however,
+the hospitality of my friends I find would render this impracticable.</p>
+
+<p><i>November 3rd.</i>&mdash;Dined at Harlaem, a pretty village eight miles from the
+city, but daily drawing closer to it. Here a certain Mrs. Bradshaw fries
+chickens in a <i>sauce tartarre</i>, to the which could pen of mine do
+justice, "I guess" I know folk "our side" the water who would be
+stealing across to Harlaem some fine day to dine. We had tarapins too,
+of whose excellence most unfortunates in Europe, happily for their poor
+wives and innocent children, are ignorant.</p>
+
+<p>On our way home halted at Cato's, and discussed the comparative merits
+of hail-storm and julep, demonstrating our arguments by the practical
+experiments of this distinguished spirituous professor.</p>
+
+<p>The day deliciously genial, and the night like a fine harvest-moon at
+home. Of a verity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> this American autumn, or fall, as they call it, is a
+most delicate season.</p>
+
+<p><i>Friday, 8th.</i>&mdash;Up with the lark, and, accompanied by Captain D&mdash;&mdash;n,
+got on board the steamer for Philadelphia, <i>vi&acirc;</i> Amboy.</p>
+
+<p>The morning was clear, with a warm sun just tempered by a breeze balmy
+and soft: the packet was crowded, and our passage across the harbour a
+pleasure to remember. We were soon, however, to have all the happy
+recollections of this journey miserably blotted out by one of the most
+fearful accidents I ever beheld.</p>
+
+<p>At Amboy we took the railroad; and every one was delighted to find that
+the locomotives were now in operation, anticipating a quick and pleasant
+ride to Bordentown. For a time all went well: various surmises were made
+as to our rate; some calculated it at twenty miles in the hour; D&mdash;&mdash;n
+and the Belgian minister, Baron de B&mdash;&mdash;r, were disputing the point,
+watch in hand, when an alarm was given from the rear: our attention was
+quickly arrested by loud cries to "stop the engine," coming from the
+windows of every carriage in the train.</p>
+
+<p>On the halt being accomplished, the carriages were deserted in a moment;
+for it was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>discovered that one of those in the rear had been overturned
+in consequence of the axle breaking,&mdash;its occupants' fate as yet
+unknown.</p>
+
+<p>I was soon on the spot, and what a scene was here to witness! Out of
+twenty-four persons only one had escaped unhurt. One man was dead,
+another dying, and five others had fractures, more or less serious; a
+couple of ladies (sisters) dreadfully wounded; the children of one of
+them, two little girls, with broken limbs.</p>
+
+<p>Never were sufferers more patient; one of them was a surgeon, a fine
+young fellow, who immediately set about doing the best his skill could
+accomplish for those most desperately hurt. D&mdash;&mdash;n and I volunteered as
+his assistants; and with such splints as the shattered panels of the
+carriage supplied, the fractured limbs were bound up.</p>
+
+<p>It was a melancholy task; but this gallant fellow stuck to it until he
+saw such of his patients as it was possible to remove disposed of in one
+of the baggage-cars, emptied for this purpose. I had, in the course of
+his task, frequently observed him pause, as though either faint, or
+finding some difficulty in the act of stooping, which was constantly
+required; but it was not until he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> seen the last of his
+fellow-sufferers disposed of to his best ability that he examined his
+own condition, when it was discovered that two of his ribs were broken.</p>
+
+<p>It was full three hours before the wounded could be removed from the
+sandy bank on which they had been stretched; and it was an afflicting
+thing to see them lying here, bloody and disfigured, exposed to the
+glare of a hot sun, without the possibility of procuring them shelter;
+for we were some miles from the nearest village when the accident
+occurred.</p>
+
+<p>The ex-president, Mr. Quincy Adams, was in the carriage immediately
+attached to the one overturned: by his direction an inquest was held
+upon the deceased before we departed; and, this being concluded, the
+train once more moved forward, but with a character mournfully altered
+since our first departure.</p>
+
+<p>We found the steam-boat yet in waiting at Bordentown; and, bearing with
+us those of the wounded who could proceed so far, we reached
+Philadelphia at a late hour in the afternoon, with such a freight as I
+trust may never again visit its wharves.</p>
+
+<p><i>Saturday.</i>&mdash;Called to inquire after such of our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> wounded
+fellow-passengers as we could trace. The lady so severely hurt
+pronounced out of all danger; and her dear baby still living, with hopes
+of saving it. A man with numerous fractures, who had been left behind,
+report says, is relieved by death from all farther suffering.</p>
+
+<p>This is the first serious accident that has occurred upon this line,
+which appears to be most carefully conducted; one of the active
+proprietors or more&mdash;the Messrs. Stevens, men of great prudence and
+practical skill&mdash;being constantly upon the road, and personally
+supervising every department connected with both boats and railway.</p>
+
+<p><i>Sunday, 10th.</i>&mdash;At six <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> departed for Baltimore, <i>vi&acirc;</i> the Delaware
+and Newcastle railroad: the day was cloudless, and as warm as it is in
+England in June. I often, on these bright days, think of my good folk in
+Kent,&mdash;clouds and fog without, and sea-coal fire within: no bad
+substitute for a sun, by the way, after all; especially after one has
+had a sniff of the anthracite coal used in the close stoves here, an
+atmosphere which dread of freezing only could reconcile me to.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Which he shortly after won with ease, and was backed on the
+ground to perform nineteen, and twenty. No takers.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="BALTIMORE" id="BALTIMORE"></a>BALTIMORE.</h2>
+
+<p>The day upon which I first approached this city would have given a charm
+even to desolation. It was on the tenth of November; the air elastic,
+but bland as on a fine June morning at home; the temperature was about
+the same too, but attended with a clearness of atmosphere in all
+quarters that seldom falls out within our islands.</p>
+
+<p>The passage down the Elk river is quite beautiful: the shores on either
+hand are bold and undulating; the country finely wooded; the banks
+indented by numerous bays and inlets, whose jutting capes so intersect
+each other that in several reaches the voyager is, as it were,
+completely land-locked, and might imagine himself coasting about some
+pretty lake.</p>
+
+<p>We neared the well-closed harbour amidst a fleet of some hundred and
+fifty sail, of all sizes and of every variety of rig, from the simple
+two-sailed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> heavy sloop to that perfection of naval architecture, the
+Clipper schooner of Baltimore, with her long tapering masts raking over
+her taffrail, and her symmetrical hull fairly leaping out of water, as
+though she moved from wave to wave by a succession of graceful bounds
+rather than held her course by cleaving a pathway through them, as did
+her more cumbrous fellows.</p>
+
+<p>The eye was charmed and the heart elevated by these unequivocal
+evidences of thriving commerce sweeping towards the city; which rises
+gradually, as it spreads over the face of the irregular hill it
+occupies. Several domes of considerable magnitude, a tall column or two,
+with various towers and spires, rendered conspicuous from the nature of
+the site, invest it with an air of much importance, and have gained for
+it the title of the City of Monuments.</p>
+
+<p>The main street, like that of Boston, has very much the look of an
+English county-town; and the air of the shops is wholly English. I
+wandered about here guided by curiosity and caprice,&mdash;the only cicerone
+I ever desire,&mdash;and saw most things worthy note. I attended service at
+the cathedral, where I heard mass admirably <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>performed, for in this
+choir are several voices of a very high order.</p>
+
+<p>The interior of the church is good; the altar most worthily fitted up;
+and the general effect would be imposing were it not marred by the
+introduction of regular lines of exceedingly comfortable but most
+uncatholic-looking pews, with the which, I confess, I felt so vexed,
+that I could have found in my heart, Heaven pardon me! to have wished
+them fairly floating in the bay, only for the delicate creatures who sat
+within them, on whose transparent brows and soft dark eyes it was
+impossible to look and breathe a wish or harbour a thought of evil.</p>
+
+<p>I next mounted the Washington column, as it is called, and beheld a
+sunset from its top that would have well recompensed a poet or painter
+for a journey over "the broa-a-d At-&aacute;lantic," as poor Incledon used to
+emphasize it.</p>
+
+<p>This is a noble column and splendidly put together, of workmanship and
+material calculated to endure,&mdash;lasting, unimpeachable by time or
+change, as is the fame of the patriot to whose virtues it is well
+inscribed; but the statue itself is bad, ineffective, and in no
+situation or distance I could discover at all like the great <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>original,
+whose personal characteristics were nevertheless striking, and well
+adapted for the artist.</p>
+
+<p>The inverted bee-hive too, which is overturned on the head of the
+capital, for the purpose, as it were, of hoisting the figure a little
+higher, is in bad taste, and detracts from the plainness of the column,
+which, if divested of both bee-hive and figure, would be an object
+worthy to commemorate the citizen Washington, in whose character
+simplicity gave lustre to the grandeur with which it was happily
+blended; softening and chastening it, and making him, even in the
+sternest times, more loved than feared.</p>
+
+<p>I rode hard for a few hours to the north and west of the city,
+accompanied by a Scotch friend; in the course of which ride we dived
+down some wooded glens, and crossed some rock-strewn brooks, that called
+to his memory the brawling waters of his own rugged land,&mdash;so
+constantly, at all times and in all places, is the wanderer's mind
+prepared to veer homeward.</p>
+
+<p>I have sometimes smiled at the total absence of similarity between the
+distant original and the subject that has served to challenge
+comparison. In this case, however, there was, in my mind, good ground
+enough for the recollection: at one spot,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> in particular, we broke from
+a thickly-wooded hill side that we had for some time been blindly
+threading, and found ourselves just over a clear pebbled stream, skirted
+on the opposite bank by a fair fresh meadow, itself bounded again by a
+wooded height yet more stony and steep than that by which we sought to
+descend: on our right, in an angle of the meadow, stood a farmhouse,
+roughly built of grey-stone and lime, surrounded by numerous offices;
+and, lower down the brook, a mill of similar character.</p>
+
+<p>After a long look upon this pretty sequestered spot, we descended to the
+bed of the stream, and found a railroad already skirting its course.</p>
+
+<p>Passing the mill by a bridle-path, we here saw the bed of our little
+brook, fallen far beneath, tossing, raging, and whirling its way amongst
+great masses, and tumbling over the rocky ledges dividing smooth beds of
+close black gneiss. Yet a little lower, we struck a road leading over a
+bridge, by which we re-crossed the now important current; and hence the
+upward view was as glen-like, gloomy, and wild as Scottish imagination
+could desire.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>BALTIMORE.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="JOURNAL_CONTINUED" id="JOURNAL_CONTINUED"></a>JOURNAL CONTINUED.</h3>
+
+<p><i>Monday, 11th.</i>&mdash;Find other Richmonds in the field, the Kembles being
+announced also, for to-night, at the Holiday Theatre, under the
+management of Mr. De Camp: I occupying "Front Street," with what is
+termed the regular Baltimore company. My front will prove in the rear, I
+fear.</p>
+
+<p>This <i>untoward</i> meeting was purely accidental; a thing not desired or
+premeditated by either party: my interest and inclination making it
+desirable that I should give these attractive objects to the rest of the
+world, what sailors term, "a wide berth." Shame that I should say so,
+and a lady concerned too!</p>
+
+<p><i>The Front Street.</i>&mdash;A huge theatre, nearly as large as Covent-Garden.
+At night, I found there was indeed ample space "and verge enough." My
+clients, however, were uproariously merry,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> and made up for half an
+audience by bestowing upon the performance a double allowance of
+applause.</p>
+
+<p><i>Tuesday, 12th</i>&mdash;At 'em again!&mdash;"the Holiday" against "the Front!" I
+have discovered that the <i>people</i> are with <i>us</i>; "the Holiday" being
+considered the aristocratic house, and "the Front," being, indeed, the
+work of an opposition composed of the sturdy democracy of the good city.</p>
+
+<p>The manager says that last night our side was taken by surprise, but
+that now our forces are afoot. The worst of my case is, that I am
+compelled, <i>mal-gr&eacute; bon-gr&eacute;</i>, to laugh at my "beggarly account of empty
+boxes:" my tragic rivals may, at least, have the satisfaction of
+lowering upon their empty pit. But the <i>people</i> are for us, consequently
+the right is with us; <i>ergo</i>, we must prevail.</p>
+
+<p><i>Eight o'clock</i> <span class="smaller">P.M.</span>&mdash;A narrower selvage round the vast area of our
+<i>parterre</i>. "Front Street" for ever!</p>
+
+<p><i>Wednesday, 12th.</i>&mdash;I, this night at least, had the satisfaction of
+seeing my antagonists; for in the side-box I spied Messrs. Kemble and De
+Camp laughing to my teeth. I would have forgiven this, and joined with
+the wags, had my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> forces been assembled; but the musters on our side I
+find are not yet quite complete.</p>
+
+<p><i>Tuesday, 18th.</i>&mdash;The struggle continued until yesterday without either
+party being able to claim an absolute victory; nor is it for me now to
+record a triumph, since I left the allies yet camping on the field,
+whilst on their part they must at least admit that I marched off with
+all the honours of war.</p>
+
+<p>This day returned to Philadelphia&mdash;weather yet unbroken. Reached Mr.
+Head's in time to come in with the dinner.</p>
+
+<p><i>Wednesday, Nov. 20th.</i>&mdash;Took a long walk round the city; the weather
+fine. About midday Chestnut-street assumed quite a lively and very
+attractive appearance, for it was filled with shopping-parties of
+well-dressed women, and presented a sprinkling of carriages neatly
+appointed and exceedingly well horsed.</p>
+
+<p>Satisfied that I am correct in my judgment, when I assert that this
+population has the happiness to possess an unusual share of handsome
+girls. They walk with a freer air and more elastic step than their fair
+rivals of New York; have clear brunette complexions, and eyes of great
+beauty.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p><p>The theatre very full, and the dress-boxes containing a large
+proportion of ladies.</p>
+
+<p><i>21st.</i>&mdash;On horseback early; crossed the Schuylkill, over the Manayunk
+bridge, and back by the right bank of the river. The piers of a viaduct,
+about to be thrown from the opposite heights by the Lancaster Rail-road
+Company, already much elevated since my first visit here in September.
+Highly beneficial to the community, no doubt; but destructive of the
+repose and seclusion of this charming scene. The sweetest spots, and
+such as one would most desire to conserve, seem to be always the places
+peculiarly selected for these useful but most unpicturesque invasions.</p>
+
+<p><i>23rd.</i>&mdash;Visited the dock-yard in company with Lieutenant I&mdash;&mdash;d. A
+three-decker, classed according to law as a seventy-four, almost ready
+to be sent off the stocks&mdash;a noble ship. A frigate is housed close by
+her, but looks a mere toy when one views it immediately after having
+contemplated the proportions of the Pennsylvania. This dockyard is
+smaller, and in appearance inferior every way to that of Boston.</p>
+
+<p><i>27th.</i>&mdash;Having exhausted all the rides in the immediate neighbourhood,
+I this day determined<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> upon widening my circle; so went, accompanied by
+K&mdash;&mdash;r, about fifteen miles up the Delaware by the Bristol road.</p>
+
+<p>On the way-side we halted to look upon a mansion, made memorable for
+ever by one of those wild atrocities, the details of which indeed
+appear, upon review, fitter for the pages of romance than for a journal
+of every-day life, yet too striking to be heard and forgotten, or passed
+by without comment. I must only premise, that the affair I am about to
+describe is of recent occurrence, and strictly true in all its horrible
+details.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="THE_TEMPERANCE_HOUSE" id="THE_TEMPERANCE_HOUSE"></a>THE TEMPERANCE HOUSE.</h3>
+
+<p>Within these three years the house in question was inhabited by its
+builder, a respectable citizen, together with his wife, a woman of much
+intelligence, and possessed of considerable beauty, though no longer
+young. They had for many years kept a creditable academy; but had, a
+short time before the commencement of this relation, retired with ample
+means from the exercise of their honourable profession, built this
+house, and with an only child, a handsome girl of sixteen, here dwelt,
+as far as their neighbours could judge, contented and happy. It is
+certain that they were well considered and respected by all who knew
+anything of them.</p>
+
+<p>One afternoon, whilst the master was busied in his garden before the
+house, a passing wayfarer halted by his fence, and besought some
+refreshment. The accent of the stranger was foreign, and his aspect and
+whole appearance, although haggard and miserably needy, still bore
+evidence of better days, as his address did of gentle condition.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p><p>After a moment's questioning, Mr. C&mdash;&mdash; asked the hungered and weary
+traveller to enter his house; and, with the hospitable promptitude of
+country life, a comfortable meal was set before him.</p>
+
+<p>Before another hour had elapsed, so strongly did the stranger's story of
+himself interest the kind nature of his host, this act of common charity
+was succeeded by an invitation to him to remain for a few days as the
+guest of the house, which was thankfully accepted.</p>
+
+<p>Senhor Mina, for this was the guest's name, was, as he said, a political
+exile, and having strong claims of a pecuniary kind upon the American
+government, he was on his way to the capital to prosecute them; when,
+through a total failure of his resources, he became exposed to the
+misery and want from which this providential chance had so happily
+rescued him. His appearance at this point arose from his inability to
+pay his fare on board the steam-boat; where some altercation taking
+place between him and the captain, who charged him with a design to
+cheat, it ended in his being summarily set ashore to make the best of
+his way to the end of his journey.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p><p>The senhor was a scholar, was intelligent, and, what was better,
+interesting, having visited many lands, and encountered many of the
+adventurous perils of war and travel. He was here a penniless soldier in
+"the land of the brave"&mdash;a friendless exile for liberty in the "home of
+the free." He talked well; and by his enthusiastic discourses in favour
+of equality and independence,&mdash;topics which possess a charm for most
+American ears,&mdash;he quickly gained an interest in the best feelings of
+his honest host. He sang as all Spaniards sing, and touched the guitar
+as only Spaniards can; and with this artillery won yet more suddenly the
+love of his host's frail wife.</p>
+
+<p>Time passed rapidly in a little circle so happily constituted to banish
+tedium: nor was business wanting to occupy a due share, for the senhor
+despatched many letters; and, having established a correspondence with
+the foreign-office, the necessity for his own presence at the seat of
+government next became manifest. This was no sooner made known to Mr.
+C&mdash;&mdash; than ample means were placed at Senhor Mina's disposal; when, with
+the best wishes of the whole family, he took a short farewell of
+Pennsylvania.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p><p>The absence of the interesting stranger was signalized by a change in
+the habits and condition of this household as sudden as that which had
+attended his first introduction to it. Mrs. C&mdash;&mdash; grew gradually
+fretful, restless, and anxious; which might well be, for her husband was
+on a sudden laid up with sickness, and their only child studiously
+shunned their society, locking herself within her chamber, or moping
+about the grounds she had so lately bounded over in the buoyancy of
+health and happy youth.</p>
+
+<p>The sequel was not long in arriving: the sick man daily grew worse and
+weaker; and his wife, as was perfectly natural, daily grew more wretched
+and impatient. She was assiduous to a jealous degree in the performance
+of her duties and close attendance on her husband's bed; she mixed his
+medicines, prepared his food and such diluents as were considered best
+calculated to allay the fever that for ever burned him up. With his hand
+within her's, she watched his last agonies, which were protracted and
+extreme; and received from his lips grateful acknowledgments of her
+unwearied kindness, and his dying blessing.</p>
+
+<p>So far all went unsuspectedly and well: for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> one month the widow lived
+unseen and retired, as became a sorrowing woman; but about the end of
+that period, to the great surprise of the neighbourhood, she was made
+again a bride by the grateful stranger, Senhor Mina.</p>
+
+<p>And now it was that men began to shake their heads and find their
+tongues; comments upon the shameless precipitancy of this wedding were
+everywhere heard, mixed up with strange surmises, and suspicions too
+horrible to remain long suppressed.</p>
+
+<p>Curious inquiries were next made amongst the domestics, and one servant
+girl quickly called to mind having noticed a sediment in the remains of
+a basin of soup prepared by her mistress for the sick man, which having
+been thrown to the poultry, together with some of the rice, these had
+all since withered and died; nay, a hardy hog even, whose portion had
+been small, with difficulty weathered an attack of sickness which had
+quickly followed.</p>
+
+<p>A legal inquiry was next demanded by the roused public, upon which such
+strong evidence appeared as to render the exhumation of the body
+necessary: the contents of the stomach were yet in a condition to admit
+of chemical analyzation,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> and the exhibition of a large portion of
+arsenic was by these means proven past doubt.</p>
+
+<p>The unconscious senhor&mdash;with whom, during this part of the process, they
+had prevented the miserable woman holding any communication&mdash;was
+meantime busily prosecuting his affairs, whatever they were, amidst the
+gaieties of Washington. One night, upon his return from a public ball,
+he was arrested by an officer who had just reached his quarters with a
+criminal warrant, taken back to the scene of his ingratitude, and,
+together with the partner of his crime, put upon trial for the murder of
+his benefactor.</p>
+
+<p>The guilt of both parties was established, I believe, beyond a doubt;
+but some legal loophole was found by which the woman was permitted to
+elude the capital punishment, and condemned to live. The ungrateful
+guest was sentenced to be hanged: shortly before the time of execution
+he made full confession of his having planned and instigated the
+poisoning of his unsuspecting host, and died the death of an assassin.</p>
+
+<p>Here is a suite of horrors, plainly and briefly set down, sufficient to
+supply stuff for any <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>murder-loving three-volume novelist; yet is there
+one other, and that not least, to be added; for it appeared in the
+progress of the trial, and time in the ordinary course confirmed this
+evidence, that the poor child, the daughter of the murderess, had fallen
+a victim to the lust of this devil, Mina.</p>
+
+<p>The fate of the girl and her infant I could not rightly learn; all that
+was known, indeed, being her removal to some distant part of the
+continent. The mother, it was believed, yet resided within the walls her
+guilt has made for ever infamous.</p>
+
+<p>The house is always pointed out to the passing stranger, and was, when I
+saw it, no unfit monument of its owner's crime, and the curse which so
+quickly followed on it. Its fences were thrown down, its outhouses in
+ruin, the paths about it overgrown with filthy weeds; and the latticed
+window-shutters, once gay as green paint could make them, now dirty and
+broken, were left to swing loose from every wall. Still, evidences of
+its being inhabited were exhibited about the yard, where a dog and a few
+fowls lay basking; and suspended from the branch of a blighted tree,
+standing near the fallen entrance-gate,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> hung an ill-inscribed sign,
+bearing the inscription "<i>Temperance House</i>" in large characters.</p>
+
+<p>A singular change,&mdash;the abode of the grossest lust, and the scene of the
+foulest murder, perhaps, ever combined in the full catalogue of crime,
+changed into a temple to Temperance.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="JOURNALB" id="JOURNALB"></a>JOURNAL.</h3>
+
+<p><i>Sunday, December 1st.</i>&mdash;A little cloudy, but mild and pleasant. We have
+up to this date no severe weather; and, indeed, with the exception of
+now and then a day not colder than some which we experienced in
+September, have had no remembrancer of the approach of frost: but I
+fancy old father Winter "'bides his time," and will not spare us when
+his icy wings are once loosed upon the north-east wind.</p>
+
+<p>Rode to German Town, and down the ravine of the Wisihissing. A stranger,
+looking over the continuous level which is presented to his view on a
+first glance at the country surrounding Philadelphia, has many pleasant
+surprises in store, if he be of an errant habit and much given to
+exploration; since there are several ravines of singular wildness in
+this vicinity, having bridle-paths connecting them with the different
+roads, and a great deal of broken country, whose variety well repays the
+adventurous equestrian.</p>
+
+<p>This is a mode of proceeding I would counsel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> every traveller to follow
+who desires to become well acquainted with the general character of a
+country, as but little of this can be known from a hasty drive along the
+common line of road. Never let the idea of being badly mounted deter a
+man from this experiment; but let him send for the best hack that the
+place may afford, or, what is a better plan, go and see after one.</p>
+
+<p>In America, although all the nags thus procured may not prove the
+smoothest goers in the world, they will uniformly be found strong and
+well up to their work. Only let the stranger acquire the habit of
+getting into saddle with promptitude on arriving at a strange place, and
+more may be seen of its neighbourhood, and known of its condition, by
+this means, in a morning foray or two, than a month of idling will
+compass.</p>
+
+<p><i>Saturday, 14th.</i>&mdash;Back again to Baltimore to act in Front-street the
+same night.</p>
+
+<p>A clear cold morning until about midday, when it became overcast, with
+some rain and wind, which, just as we cleared the Elk river, was
+exchanged for snow. Not an inch of our way did we see after this: the
+boat was frequently stopped, and soundings carefully made;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> our speed
+was reduced to the slowest possible pace, and every precaution taken
+that prudence could suggest to the experience of our captain. Night came
+on, however, and we had the pleasant prospect of passing it in the bay
+of the Chesapeake, or on one of the shoals, or shores, about us, when
+happily our look-out got a momentary glimpse of Fort M'Henry, which we
+were about to pass to the southward. Had we done so, we must in a short
+time have grounded in the Patapsco, there to rest for the coming clear
+weather: as it was, a short time saw us snug in harbour, although we
+could hardly see ourselves when we got there.</p>
+
+<p>I was too late for Front-street, a circumstance which I did not regret,
+remembering its situation and the state of the weather, but consoled
+myself readily over a canvass-back duck and a tumbler of
+Monongahela,&mdash;when old, equal, if mixed with hot water, even to
+Innishtowen; at least I remember I thought so on this occasion.</p>
+
+<p>Retired early to my room, intending to read for an hour, having observed
+a cheery-looking fire in it whilst changing my wet things. It was
+exceedingly cold without; the snow fell thick, and the sight of a grate
+full of cinders, glowing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> like lumps of iron at red heat, was especially
+enlivening. I sat down to read, but in a few minutes found my eyes
+become strangely dim: after a vain attempt to clear them by ablution, I
+resigned my book, gave way to the headache and weariness, which grew
+worse every minute, and got into my bed, concluding these unpleasant
+symptoms were occasioned by previous cold and exposure to the weather.</p>
+
+<p>I lay down, but to rest was impossible; my temples throbbed, the veins
+became swollen and tense, whilst my breathing grew short and difficult:
+getting at last a little alarmed, and, indeed, fearing a fainting fit, I
+rose to ring for my servant; but not finding the bell, opened my
+chamber-door with the intention of seeking some assistance.</p>
+
+<p>I had not proceeded many steps down the passage before I felt my illness
+abate, in a manner quite as sudden and strange as its advance had been;
+my sight became clear, my pulse grew regular, my breathing natural; and
+after a momentary pause, almost of doubt at this rapid restoration to
+health and ease, I retraced my steps to my chamber, feeling glad that I
+had not communicated a false alarm in a house where<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> two or three sudden
+deaths, from what was called cholera, had already predisposed the
+inmates to be nervous.</p>
+
+<p>On re-entering my room, the cause of my late symptoms became manifest in
+the first breath I inhaled of the atmosphere; even as it now was,
+comparatively purified by a current of fresh air, the gaseous smell
+continued disagreeable and distressing.</p>
+
+<p>I sent for the fireman of the hotel,&mdash;that is, the person so called who
+lights and looks after the hundred fires going in one of these
+establishments: he was a countryman and a staunch personal friend; and,
+after hearing my story and removing the anthracite coal, he pledged
+himself never to burn anything but wood in my chamber for the time to
+come.</p>
+
+<p>I next questioned my friend as to whether he had ever before known any
+person as severely affected from the same cause. He said he had heard
+gentlemen complain now and again, "But the cowld soon makes them get
+used to it," said Pat; adding, that most persons left a little of the
+window open if the weather permitted.</p>
+
+<p>This was my first and last experiment with this coal, which is
+nevertheless burned almost<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> universally in the north, though they have
+abundance of fine Nova Scotia coal, that appears little inferior to the
+best Lancashire. Liverpool coal is a good deal used in New York; but the
+ladies give the preference uniformly to the anthracite, which does not
+yield much dust or black smoke, and consequently preserves for a longer
+period both furniture and dress: it also renders a room quickly and
+equally warm without requiring attendance, when once lighted, burning
+constantly with a red heat, and fiercely or otherwise in proportion to
+the draft, which all the stoves here permit to be regulated at will.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, I think all its advantages are nothing when weighed
+against the injurious effect the atmosphere it generates must have upon
+the health of those constantly within its influence.</p>
+
+<p>It may, with great advantage, be used for hall-stoves, for heating
+air-pipes, or in situations where there is a ready circulation of air;
+but ought not, I think, to be continued in the drawing-rooms of families
+or in the chambers of the studious.</p>
+
+<p><i>Sunday, 15th.</i>&mdash;The snow lying about a foot deep in the streets, but in
+places drifted to a great height: numbers of make-shift sleighs <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>already
+jingling about the town, Baltimore having precedence of the northern
+cities this year in an amusement not often enjoyed here.</p>
+
+<p>I had a trial of the sleigh for a couple of hours; and in company with a
+fat friend was bumped over the gutters through the soft snow,&mdash;for on it
+we could not be said to ride,&mdash;whilst every inequality of the streets
+was made evident to our bones.</p>
+
+<p>This is a species of amusement into which the Northerns enter with a
+spirit of positive enthusiasm: man, woman, and child all talk of, and
+look forward to, the arrival of sleighing-time as a season of the
+highest festivity. In New York, I am told, the first heavy fall of snow
+brings even business to a stand-still, and the whole population is seen
+whirling over the streets in every description of vehicle that can be
+lifted off its wheels and lodged upon runners.</p>
+
+<p>The regular fancy sleighs I have frequently examined: they are
+tastefully and comfortably built, and fitted up with all sorts of
+furs,&mdash;skins of bear and buffalo, and various other beasts; are lined
+and betasseled in a way that renders them quite beautiful; and might
+defy the recognition of their nearest of kin.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p><p><i>18th.</i>&mdash;The snow has vanished wholly, and the weather is again mild as
+spring: the Southerners yet lingering here upon the confines of the
+north are, however, alarmed by this early demonstration of the absence
+of winter so far south, and daily set off for their yet sunny abodes in
+Georgia, the Carolinas, Alabama, or Louisiana.</p>
+
+<p>Our excellent table is gradually thinning off; and King David's labour,
+as grand carver, is daily abridged. We this day had a haunch of Virginia
+venison, with fat an inch and half deep, the flavour equal to anything I
+ever ate: it is the first fat venison I have seen in the country.
+Canvass-back still in abundance, and not to be wearied of. This, I find,
+is the true place to eat these rare birds: their case is well understood
+here, and they are treated to a nicety.</p>
+
+<p><i>Saturday, 21st.</i>&mdash;Back to Philadelphia, on my way to New York&mdash;will
+pass this night in the City of Squares, and Sunday&mdash;the day positively
+warm; observed, however, a thin flaking of ice stealing over the shaded
+surface of the Elk river.</p>
+
+<p><i>Monday, 23rd.</i>&mdash;Once more in New York, <i>vi&acirc;</i> the Delaware and Raritan.
+Although on Sunday it was feared that these rivers would be closed with
+ice, we had only a little coating of Jack<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> Frost to break through,
+suffering no detention, and found the bay perfectly free; arriving here
+about three o'clock.</p>
+
+<p><i>27th.</i>&mdash;Walked to the top of Broadway, which has lost much of its
+crowd, but is yet quite bustling enough to be a very lively and pleasant
+lounge.</p>
+
+<p>Went into the Episcopalian church near the Park, the graves of
+Montgomery and Emmett being the chief attraction: the monuments erected
+to their memories stand outside, close upon the street. Just as I turned
+out of the gate, after having read the inscription upon the monument of
+the latter, I was joined by R&mdash;&mdash;t, who gave me an interesting account
+of the last meeting of the devoted brothers.</p>
+
+<p>Thomas Emmett being at Rotterdam, after his release from Fort George, on
+his way to the United States, chanced to be in waiting for his letters
+at the post-office, when a man stepping from the crowd threw himself
+into his arms with exclamations of glad recognition: it was his brother
+Robert, just arrived from Paris, and attending here on a like errand.</p>
+
+<p>"And from whence come you?" demanded Robert, the first congratulations
+being past.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p><p>"Just escaped from poor Ireland," replied the senior brother; adding,
+"and whither are you now bound?"</p>
+
+<p>"Just escaping to poor Ireland," was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>The meeting was a short one; Robert would listen to no word of
+accompanying his family in their exile. He declared his only desire was
+either to procure for his country even justice, and freedom from neglect
+and oppression, or for himself a grave, and oblivion of her people's
+sufferings and degradation.</p>
+
+<p>The brothers parted here, never again to meet. Robert quickly found the
+fate he courted, and sleeps beneath the soil he died for,&mdash;mistakingly
+it may be, but neither unwept, unpitied, nor unsung.</p>
+
+<p>The senior pursued his more prudent course, and landed with his wife and
+children in this city, unknown, and having slight recommendation beyond
+his misfortunes and his country; these, however, proved all-sufficient
+to procure for him the sympathy and respect of the citizens from whom he
+sought adoption. He rested amongst them, became one of them, and lived
+to see his children standing with the best and most esteemed of the
+country.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p><p>In the fulness of his honours Thomas Addis Emmett died, and on the most
+conspicuous part of Broadway stands the obelisk of marble reared in
+honour of his memory, and bearing testimony to the high talent and the
+many virtues of the Irish exile, the banished rebel, or the unsuccessful
+patriot; for the terms are yet unhappily considered by some as
+synonymous, and may be selected by each according to his political
+creed. By his family and associates, however, he appears to have been
+truly beloved, and by all men to have been viewed as an upright citizen
+and a most able counsel; his eloquence at the bar being still the theme
+of frequent enthusiastic eulogium.</p>
+
+<p>This night went to a dance at the hospitable house of Mr. C&mdash;&mdash;ne, the
+first occasion which afforded me a view of the New York belles in
+society. The party was not large, but there were several very pretty
+women, and waltzing and music alternated in charming succession: there
+were two ladies who sang with infinite taste and sweetness, and we kept
+it up until rather a late hour for a sober country. My impression of the
+New York women is, that they are frank, lively, and intelligent, with
+much gentleness in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> their manners and address: in short, that these were
+very amiable and attractive specimens of their sex and country.</p>
+
+<p><i>20th.</i>&mdash;Went to look over the Opera-house, which has been built here
+very suddenly by subscription. It is about the size of the Lyceum;
+arranged after the French fashion, having stalls, a <i>parterre</i>, and
+<i>balcon</i> below; and above, two circles of private boxes, the property of
+subscribers. Some of these are fitted up in a style of extravagance I
+never saw attempted elsewhere. There has been a sort of rivalry
+exercised on this head, and it has been pursued with that regardlessness
+of cost which distinguishes a trading community where their <i>amour
+propre</i> is in question.</p>
+
+<p>Silk velvets, damask, and gilt furniture form the material within many;
+and, as the parties consult only their own taste, the colours of these
+are various as their proprietors' fancies. I do not find the <i>ensemble</i>
+bad, however; whilst the shape and mounting of the <i>salle</i> are both
+unexceptionable.</p>
+
+<p>This effort, however creditable to the good taste of the city, is
+premature, and must be doomed to more failures than one before it
+permanently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> succeeds. A refined taste for the best kind of music is not
+consequent upon the erection of an opera-house, nor is it a feeling to
+be created at will. Even in the metropolis of England, with a capital so
+disproportionate, and possessing such superior facilities for the
+attainment of novelty, did the continuance of this refined amusement
+depend solely upon the love of good music, it would quickly die, if not
+be forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>From time to time, a small, but efficient and really good Italian troop,
+will, beyond doubt, find liberal encouragement in the great northern
+cities, and also in New Orleans, provided they make a short stay in
+each; but, rapidly as events progress here, I will undertake to predict
+that a century must elapse before even New York can sustain a permanent
+operatic establishment.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3>JOURNAL CONTINUED.</h3>
+
+<h3><a name="NEW_YEARS_DAY_IN_NEW_YORK" id="NEW_YEARS_DAY_IN_NEW_YORK"></a>NEW YEAR'S DAY IN NEW YORK.</h3>
+
+<p>With an unclouded sky, and a sun as bright and genial as we would desire
+on a May morning, the first day of January 1834 makes its bow to the New
+York public; and in no place does this same day meet heartier welcome,
+or witness better cheer.</p>
+
+<p>On this day, from an early hour, every door in New York is open, and all
+the good things possessed by the inmates paraded in lavish profusion.
+The shops and banks alone are closed: Mammon for this day sees his
+altars in one spot on earth deserted. Meantime every sort of vehicle is
+put in requisition; and if a man owns but a single acquaintance in the
+wide city, he on this day sets forth in kind heart to seek and shake him
+by the hand.</p>
+
+<p>On this day all family bickerings are made up; fancied or real wrongs
+admitted, explained, and forgiven. The first twenty-four hours of the
+new year in New York is a right <i>Tr&egrave;ve de Dieu</i>,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> during which foes
+cease from strife, the long divided are re-united, and friendly compacts
+renewed and drawn closer: even Avarice, more wary of approach than the
+hare, on this day forgets to bolt his door, or calculate the cost of
+bidding welcome to his visitor.</p>
+
+<p>The stranger is also made sensible of the benevolent influence of this
+kindly day, if I may draw any inference from my own case. At an early
+hour a gentleman of whom I had a slight knowledge entered my room,
+accompanied by an elderly person I had never before seen, and who, on
+being named, excused himself for adopting such a frank mode of making my
+acquaintance, which he was pleased to add he much desired, and at once
+requested me to fall in with the custom of the day, whose privilege he
+had thus availed himself of, and accompany him on a visit to his family.</p>
+
+<p>I was the last man on earth likely to decline an offer made in such a
+spirit; so, entering his carriage which was in waiting, we drove to his
+house in Broadway, where, after being presented to a very amiable lady,
+his wife, and a pretty, gentle-looking young girl, his daughter, I
+partook of a sumptuous luncheon, drank a glass of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> champagne, and, on
+the arrival of other visitors, made my bow, well pleased with my visit.</p>
+
+<p>My host now begged me to make a few calls with him, explaining, as we
+drove along, the strict observances paid to this day throughout the
+State, and tracing the excellent custom to the early Dutch colonists.</p>
+
+<p>I paid several calls in company with my new friend, at each place met a
+hearty welcome, and witnessed the same abundant preparation; but to
+lunch at each was, with the best intentions possible, quite out of the
+question. After a considerable round, my companion suggested that I
+might possibly have some compliments to make on my own account, and so
+leaving me, begged me to consider his carriage perfectly at my disposal.</p>
+
+<p>This was very kind, but I at the time knew only two or three families;
+and indeed, on being left to myself in solitary state, where every
+carriage that whirled by was filled with merry stranger faces, my
+courage oozed away. So, leaving a card or two, and making a couple of
+hurried visits, I returned to my hotel, to think over the many
+beneficial effects likely to grow out of such a charitable custom, and
+to wish for its continued observance.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p><p>We have days enough of division in each year, and should indeed welcome
+and cherish one which inculcates peace and good-will to all; a day on
+which little coolnesses are explained away, past kindnesses confirmed,
+and injuries consigned to oblivion.</p>
+
+<p>At night, the theatre was filled to suffocation by a joyous throng,
+although this portion of the season is not propitious to theatricals;
+but on to-day, as though no house must be left unvisited by any of its
+ordinary frequenters, the Park came in for a full participation in the
+benefit of this honoured custom.</p>
+
+<p><i>Friday, 3rd.</i>&mdash;The prevailing topics of the new year are the President
+and his <i>quondam</i> chum, Major Jack Downing;<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> the agitation of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> the
+community on the Bank question becoming daily more violent, as the
+limitation placed on credit embarrasses trade by narrowing its
+resources. I observe, however, that, in the midst of much wordy
+violence, the bulk of the people appear confident that matters will, to
+use a coinage of their own, "<i>eventuate</i> for their ultimate benefit."
+Meanwhile, the government and the laws appear equally omnipotent; and
+although much embarrassment is unquestionably felt in the money-market,
+and all stock become unseasonably low for the sellers, yet is the
+country generally admitted to be very prosperous, and perfectly able to
+meet this shock without any permanent or ruinous difficulty. We shall
+see.</p>
+
+<p>Went to Mrs. H&mdash;&mdash;'s box at the opera,&mdash;the "Donna del Lago," for
+Bordogni's benefit: a very pretty woman, very well instructed; but with
+a little pipe, in which sweetness cannot make up for want of force.
+Fanti, a really good actress, and, although with a veiled voice, a
+capital singer, is not so much considered, I discover, as Bordogni.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p><p>The house was quite filled, the boxes rejoicing in a display of pretty
+faces few <i>salles d'op&eacute;ra</i> might be admitted to rival. The prevailing
+head-dress exceedingly showy and fanciful, a little too much so
+perhaps:&mdash;but these are doings which, after all, change with each
+season; therefore fashion can alone be arbiter. On the subject of beauty
+I speak fearlessly, all men, having clear eyesight, being, upon this
+point, admitted as competent witnesses. The <i>parterre</i>, too, was
+occupied by a few parties of well-dressed women; but its prevailing
+character, stalls included, was sombre and great-coatish,&mdash;not quite up
+to the pit of the King's Theatre;&mdash;there was more applause though,
+therefore I presume more enjoyment, which is the main object after all.
+At the close of the performance several delicate bouquets, together with
+a pretty coronal or two of choice flowers, were showered on the stage in
+compliment to the fair <i>b&eacute;n&eacute;fici&egrave;re</i>.</p>
+
+<p><i>Wednesday, 12th.</i>&mdash;Winter has at length arrived in person, and his
+active bridge-maker is laying for him a firm icy path across the waters.
+It was reported yesterday that the passage between Staten Island and New
+Jersey was no longer open, Amboy Creek being thickly frozen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> from Newark
+Bay to the Raritan. On reaching the steamboat this morning, I found that
+the report was a correct one, and that our only practicable passage lay
+through the Narrows and round the south end of Staten Island. The
+occasion thus presented of a winter view of the bay quite reconciled me
+to this more exposed and circuitous route, as it, in truth, amply
+compensated for it.</p>
+
+<p>It was just seven <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> when I reached the dock where the boat lay, to
+all appearance firmly imbedded in thick ice; the river, I perceived, was
+still pretty clear. Punctual as usual, the bell ceased to clang; the
+paddle-wheels were vigorously applied; and in a few moments we burst our
+bonds, thrusting the thick flakes of ice aside, and darting into the
+clear river free from all farther impediment.</p>
+
+<p>There were very few passengers, and I had the promenade deck to my
+exclusive use. Although day had not long broke, the clearness and purity
+of the atmosphere gave to the most distant parts of the landscape an
+outline cold and distinct, and brought all objects apparently much
+nearer to each other, and to the looker-on, than they had ever before
+appeared. The city of Jersey,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> the woods of Hoboken, and the far-off
+bluffs of the Palisadoes, were each seen to stand separated and alone;
+not blended together into one harmonizing mass, as, through the medium
+of a rich warm atmosphere, I had hitherto viewed them. The effect was
+for a moment to render this scene, which frequent observation had made
+familiar, quite strange to me; and at the same time to invest its now
+separate portions with new and peculiar attractions.</p>
+
+<p>The yet quiet city soon dropped astern; and on a good plan of its
+streets one might have traced the earliest and most notable of its
+sections, if not the particular houses, by the thin spiral lines of
+smoke which curled distinctly high above the chimneys from which they
+escaped.</p>
+
+<p>We held our course close along the east side of Staten Island; and as we
+shot by the quarantine establishment, with its hospital and many
+offices, the sun rose, without one attendant cloud, over the forest
+heights of Brooklyn, burnishing, as with gold, every window and
+weathercock opposed to its radiance.</p>
+
+<p>The drooping boughs of the graceful willow tribes, and all the
+neighbouring shrubs, which only a moment before I had shivered to look<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>
+upon, bent down, as they appeared, beneath a load of ungenial icicles,
+were now, as though touched by some enchanter's wand, sparkling and
+brilliant, reminding one of the diamond-growing trees of young Aladdin's
+cave.</p>
+
+<p>The Narrows were next passed, but the view seaward was bleak and
+cheerless: the Neversink hills for the first time appearing to me worthy
+such a high-sounding distinction. Not a symptom of frost was here,
+although the wind had ceased to stir the waters of the bay, and to the
+sun alone was left the task of opposing the advance of the ice-king.
+Sol, though with diminished powers, had made a glorious rally on this
+day; for not a thicket or creek within sight but rejoiced in his
+cheering rays, and gladly owned his supremacy.</p>
+
+<p>The smoothness of the sea enabled our boat to make rapid way; and by a
+little after ten o'clock we were landed at Amboy, where we found the
+train awaiting our arrival. As we left our first stage, Hights-town, an
+accident occurred similar to the one I had, on my last trip southward,
+seen attended by such fearful consequences. We were proceeding, luckily
+at a moderate rate, when the axle of the engine-tender<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> broke in two:
+the car occupied by myself and three others led the van, yet the first
+intimation we got of the break-down of our tender was our running foul
+of it with a bump that fairly unshipped us all, pitching the occupiers
+of the hind-seats head-on into the laps of those <i>vis-&agrave;-vis</i> to them.
+Happily, this was the worst of the present mischance: the engine was
+speedily arrested, a sound axle drawn from the near car to replace the
+one fractured, myself and the others belonging to the carriage thus
+hauled out of the line were stowed in, as supernumeraries, elsewhere,
+and, after a delay, of some forty minutes, off we bowled again.</p>
+
+<p>Halting for a few moments at Bordentown, where the Delaware steamer
+waits when the river is practicable, it now spread away below us in a
+solid mass; and we pursued our journey by the railroad provided for such
+seasons so far as it was at this time completed, that is, for some eight
+or nine miles farther on. This point achieved, we discovered a group of
+the clumsy-looking stage-coaches of the country, to the number of
+twelve, each having a team of four horses, ready harnessed, standing
+amongst the trees below.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p><p>The cold was by this time extreme; bustle was the word, therefore,
+amongst all parties,&mdash;drivers, porters, and passengers; and in a quarter
+of an hour the transfer was completed, the luggage packed, the people
+arranged, and the caravan in motion. The place had quite a wild, lone,
+forest air; and it was a curious scene to view the bustle, and hear the
+noise, so uncongenial to the spot, and no less so to observe the coaches
+wheeling about amongst the trees as each Jehu sought to make the best of
+his way into the lane at a little distance.</p>
+
+<p>Miserably uncomfortable as the driver's seat is before these machines,
+I, as usual where the course was strange to me, requested leave to share
+it with him. I had cast about to select a team; and was soon seated,
+well rolled in broadcloth and bear-skin, behind four dark bays that
+might have done credit to a better judgment.</p>
+
+<p>We soon got into a very narrow lane, through which lay the first few
+miles. In this the ruts, or track, as it is here called, was over a foot
+deep: on either side grew trees, thick and low-branched; therefore my
+companion and I had as much as we could do to avoid broken heads and
+keep the track. I looked impatiently, after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> practising this dodging
+exercise some time, for the great road which the driver told me was "a
+bit further ahead;" and at last we broke from our leafy shelter into it,
+but with little advantage that I could discover; for, though our heads
+were in less peril, our necks, I considered, required more especial
+looking after than ever. We certainly had here wider space, and a free
+choice of ruts or tracks, for there were several; but not one of them
+less profound than those we had hitherto ploughed through. In one or two
+places, the road was deeply trenched in every direction, and the edges
+of these cuts so glazed with new-formed ice that I expected my friend
+who was pilot would pass the box and back out. But no such thing, faith!
+he steered round all impediments as coolly as the wind that whistled
+through the half-frozen reins he held.</p>
+
+<p>Finding one place in the road quite impassable, he cast his eyes about
+him for a moment, and chose the best part of the right bank; when,
+gathering up his leaders, he first vexed them a little with the whip,
+and then, putting them fairly at it, gained its summit, drove along for
+a hundred yards, crashing through a thick cover of shrubs growing
+breast-high, when <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>having thus turned the impracticable bit of highway,
+he coolly dropped down into it again. On looking back, I saw each team
+taking in succession the line we had thus led over.</p>
+
+<p>This was all performed clumsily enough, as far as appearance went, I
+allow; but cleverly and confidently, though with leaders hardly within
+calling distance: and four snaffle-bits, and a pig-whip, being the only
+means of dictation and control possessed by the coachman. The more I see
+of these queer Whips the better I like them: it assuredly is impossible
+to conceive anything more uncoachmanlike than their outward man; but
+they grapple with the constantly occurring difficulties of their strange
+work hardily and with superior intelligence.</p>
+
+<p>I have seen a pass on the high-road between Albany and New York, where a
+descending driver perceiving that collision with a coming carriage was
+from the slippery condition of the hill unavoidable, and also being
+aware that such an event would be fatal to both parties, on the instant
+turned his horses to the near bank, and dashed down into the bed of the
+Mohawk, a descent of more than a hundred feet, as nearly perpendicular
+as may well be. His presence of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> mind and courage saved both his own
+passengers and those in the other vehicle, with the loss of his coach
+and one of his horses only. The man was publicly thanked and rewarded,
+and, I believe, yet waggons the same road.</p>
+
+<p>One might almost back one of these crack hands to hunt a picked team of
+their own, a cross country, with the Melton hounds, coach and all; and
+if it was not for the <i>pace</i>, it would not be such a very bad bet
+either.</p>
+
+<p>At Camden we quitted our vehicular mode of progressing, and took once
+more to the water, or rather to the ice, since it certainly ruled over
+the broad Delaware. In many places this was strong enough to sustain the
+weight of our little steamer's bow, and only gave way beneath repeated
+heavy blows of the iron-sheathed paddles.</p>
+
+<p>After a hard fight we forced a path through all obstacles, and as the
+clock struck four were alongside the Chestnut-street wharf; having,
+notwithstanding the delays occasioned by our mishap and various changes,
+accomplished the hundred miles in exactly ten hours.</p>
+
+<p>I was expected, found a dinner prepared for five o'clock, and, going at
+once to my chamber to dress, thought I had never seen the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> Mansion-house
+look to greater advantage. A well-warmed and carpeted corridor led to my
+snug little room, the window of which looking into the inner court,
+afforded one of the most attractive winter prospects imaginable, in the
+form of entire carcasses of several fat bucks all hanging in a comely
+row, and linked together by a festooning composed of turkey, woodcock,
+snipe, grouse, and ducks of several denominations. Although quartered
+here for a month to come, I felt fortified against any fear of famine by
+this single glance without; nor did my interior appear less inviting,
+cheered as this was by a brisk fire of hickory, several logs of which
+lay athwart my hearth, sustained by a couple of antique-looking brass
+dogs, blazing and crackling most uproariously: this is a fire I prefer
+even to one of Liverpool coal; and how it can ever be superseded by that
+quiet, unsocial, unearthly-looking and smelling, anthracite, I am at a
+loss to <i>guess</i>!</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Described as the officer commanding the Downingsville
+militia, a New-Englander, and a stanch adherent of the "Gineral's, so
+far as 'a decent hunk of the animal wint,' but entirely agin' the
+whole-hog system." Under this perfect assumption there appeared a series
+of really familiar epistles, either remonstrating with or speaking of
+the "Gineral," or, as the Major latterly styled the President, "the
+Govermint;" no less admirable for the political acumen they display than
+for a caustic drollery, which is enforced with shrewd Yankee humour, and
+in the singular phraseology current amongst 'Uncle Sam's' kindred. These
+letters have been collected, and are published both in America and in
+England; and although neither the purity of the politics or the dialect
+of the honest Major can be fully appreciated by strangers, his intrinsic
+wit and native humour will well repay the task of a perusal by all who
+admire originality of thought and expression.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="THE_DUTCH_AND_IRISH_COLONIES_OF_PENNSYLVANIA" id="THE_DUTCH_AND_IRISH_COLONIES_OF_PENNSYLVANIA"></a>THE DUTCH AND IRISH COLONIES OF PENNSYLVANIA.</h3>
+
+<p>Here are two colonies yet existing within this State,&mdash;samples of both
+indeed may be found within a few miles of Philadelphia,&mdash;and these
+constitute with me a never-failing source of interest and amusement.
+They are composed of Dutch and Irish, often located on adjoining
+townships, but keeping their borders as clearly defined as though the
+wall of China were drawn between them. No two bodies exist in nature
+more repellent; neither time, nor the necessities of traffic, which
+daily arise amongst a growing population, can induce a repeal of their
+tacit non-intercourse system, or render them even tolerant of each
+other. I have understood that Pat has on occasions of high festivity
+been known to extend his courtesy so far as to pay his German neighbours
+a call to inquire kindly whether "any gintlemen in the place might be
+inclined for a fight;" but this evidence of good-nature appears to have
+been neither understood nor reciprocated, and, proof against the
+blandishment, Mynheer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> was not even to be hammered into contact with
+"dem wilder Irisher."</p>
+
+<p>It is a curious matter to observe the purity with which both people have
+conserved the dialect of their respective countries, and the integrity
+of their manners, costume, prejudices, nay, their very air, all of which
+they yet present fresh and characteristic as imported by their
+ancestors, although some of them are the third in descent from the first
+colonists. Differing in all other particulars, on this point of
+character their similarity is striking.</p>
+
+<p>Amongst the Germans I have had families pointed out to me, whose fathers
+beheld the commencement of the war of Independence in Pennsylvania, yet
+who are at this day as ignorant of its language, extent, policy, or
+population, as was the worthy pastor of whom it is related, that, having
+been requested to communicate to his flock the want of supplies which
+existed in the American camp, he assured the authorities that he had
+done so, as well as described to them the exact state of affairs:</p>
+
+<p>"I said to dem," he repeated in English, "Get op, min broders und mine
+zisters, und put dem paerd by die vagen, mit brood und corn; mit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>
+schaap's flesh und flesh of die groote bigs, und os flesh; und alles be
+brepare to go op de vay, mit oder goed mens, to sooply General
+Vashinton, who was fighting die Englishe Konig vor our peoples, und der
+lifes, und der liberdies, op-on dem banks of de Schuylkill, diese side
+of die Vestern Indies."</p>
+
+<p>In his piggery of a residence and his palace of a barn, in his waggon,
+his oxen, his pipe, his person and physiognomy, the third in descent,
+from the worthies exhorted as above, remains unchanged. The cases upon
+which, as a juryman, he decides, he hears through the medium of an
+official interpreter; he has his own journal, which serves out his
+portion of politics to him in Low Dutch, and in the same language is
+printed such portions of the acts of the State legislature as may in any
+way relate to the section he inhabits; the only portion of the
+community, indeed, which he knows, or cares to know, anything about.</p>
+
+<p>My honest countrymen of the same class, I can answer for being as
+slightly sophisticated as their colder neighbours: it is true, their
+tattered robes have been superseded by sufficient clothing, and a bit of
+good broadcloth for Sunday or Saint's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> day, and their protracted lenten
+fare exchanged for abundance of good meat, and bread, and "tay, galore,
+for the priest and the mistress;" but when politics or any stirring
+cause is offered to them, their feelings are found to be as excitable,
+and their temperament as fiery, as though still standing on the banks of
+the Suir or the Shannon.</p>
+
+<p>On all occasions of rustic holiday they may yet be readily recognised by
+their slinging gait, the bit of a stick borne in the hollow of the hand,
+the inimitable shape and set of the hat, the love of top-coats in the
+men, and the abiding taste for red ribands and silk gowns amongst the
+women.</p>
+
+<p>The inherent difference between the two people is never more strikingly
+perceived than when you have occasion to make any inquiry whilst passing
+through their villages. Pull up your horse by a group of little
+Dutchmen, in order to learn your way or ask any information, and the
+chance is they either run away, "upon instinct," or are screamed at to
+come within doors by their prudent mothers; upon which cry they scatter,
+like scared rabbits, for the warren, leaving you to "<i>Try Turner</i>" or
+any other shop within hail.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p><p>For myself, after a slight experience, I succeeded with my friends to
+admiration: the few sentences of indifferent Dutch which I yet conserved
+from my education amongst the Vee boors, at the Cape, served as a
+passport to their civility. Without this accomplishment, all strangers
+are suspected of being Irishers; and, as such, partake of the dislike
+and dread in which their more mercurial neighbours are held by this
+sober-sided and close-handed generation.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, enter an Irish village, and by any chance see the
+young villains precipitated out of the common school: call to one of
+these, and a dozen will be under your horse's feet in a moment; prompt
+in their replies, even if ignorant of that you seek to learn; and ready
+and willing to show you any place or road they know anything, or
+nothing, about. I have frequently on these occasions, when asked to walk
+into their cabin by the old people, on hearing their accent, and seeing
+myself thus surrounded, almost doubted my being in the valley of
+Pennsylvania.</p>
+
+<p>So little indeed does the accent of the Irish American,&mdash;who lives
+exclusively amongst his own people in the country parts,&mdash;differ from
+that of the settler of a year, that on occasions of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> closely-contested
+elections this leads to imposition on one hand and vexation on the
+other; and it is by no means uncommon for a man, whose father was born
+in the States, to be questioned as to his right of citizenship, and
+requested to bring proofs of a three years' residence.</p>
+
+<p>I now passed another month in this city most agreeably, during which the
+weather was never unendurably cold: sharp frosts, but not a single fall
+of snow that continued over an hour or two, or lay longer on the ground.
+The majority of days I find noted in my journal as frosty but fine, many
+as mild, and some even are described as warm: there were few, indeed,
+during which exercise on horseback might not have been pleasantly taken.
+When February set in, and no snow had yet fallen, I heard much despair
+evinced on the diminished chances of a good sleighing-time; and,
+although an enemy to severe cold, I confess I had my own regrets at not
+being permitted to assist at a sleighing frolic, of which I received on
+all hands such glowing descriptions.</p>
+
+<p>On the eighth of this month I looked with some anxiety for the
+continuance of mild weather, as the Delaware was, happily, once more
+open,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> and the line by way of that river and French-town resumed; a very
+important event, as far as both comfort and expedition were concerned.
+Indeed, a journey by land to Baltimore was an adventure by no means to
+be desired; the time of travel having varied during the last month from
+three to nine days, the distance being under a hundred miles. But the
+waters were up, the bridges down; one road was washed away, and another
+filled in with rocks, and roots of trees on their travels from the
+Alleghanies to the Atlantic, which rested there, abiding the next flood,
+without any fear of receiving a visit <i>ad interim</i> from M'Adam.</p>
+
+<p>All, however, went well; the steamer was advertised to sail on the
+morning of the 9th: there were here several weather-bound Southerners,
+who, like myself, were anxious to proceed as easily as possible to the
+capital; and we congratulated each other on the prospect we had of
+accomplishing this by aid of steamboat and railroad, now once more
+available.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="THE_STEAMBOAT" id="THE_STEAMBOAT"></a>THE STEAMBOAT.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="DELAWARE_NEWCASTLEmdashRAILROADmdashFRENCH-TOWNmdashELK_RIVERmdashNORTH" id="DELAWARE_NEWCASTLEmdashRAILROADmdashFRENCH-TOWNmdashELK_RIVERmdashNORTH"></a>DELAWARE.&mdash;NEWCASTLE.&mdash;RAILROAD.&mdash;FRENCH-TOWN.&mdash;ELK RIVER.&mdash;NORTH POINT.&mdash;BAY OF CHESAPEAKE.&mdash;BALTIMORE.</h3>
+
+<p>Quitting one of these great seaports by the ordinary conveyance of
+steamboat, early on a fine winter morning, is at once an amusing and
+interesting event.</p>
+
+<p>Hastily summoned by your servant, who, himself not over early, bustles
+up to your bedside with "Just five minutes after six o'clock, sir," you
+start from a slumber that has been for some time back uneasy enough,
+broken up by visions of steamboats, locomotives, canvass-back ducks,
+Nott's stoves, and crowded cabin-tables.</p>
+
+<p>At the first shake out you jump, well aware how peremptory is the
+steamer's bell above all other <i>belles</i>,&mdash;make hasty toilet, and bustle
+into the hall, where a few half-burned candles yet outface the daylight;
+and here you find a dozen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> newly-awakened miserables like yourself,
+equipped for some steamer.</p>
+
+<p>The waiter inquires if you would like a cup of coffee, which as a matter
+of course you accept; and, hurrying after him into the next room, you
+are yet in the act of blowing and sipping your Mocha, which for once you
+find sufficiently hot, when a friend pops his head in to say that the
+baggage-cart is off, and your latest second of time come. Remedy there
+is none; a delay of one minute is fatal, since no timekeeper is so
+punctual as an American steamer anywhere north of the Potomac.</p>
+
+<p>Out you trudge, great-coated, muffled up in fur and shawl, to find the
+street silent and untrodden, except by a straggler or twain bending
+their steps hurriedly towards Chestnut. As you turn out of South-third
+into this great thoroughfare you observe an immediate change; the
+stragglers preceding you have mingled with the main current, and are
+quickly confounded amidst a confused jumble of men, women, and children,
+carts, coaches, and wheelbarrows, pressing in long columns of march down
+towards the Delaware.</p>
+
+<p>In the distance may be seen, curling from below, wavy pillars of dense
+black smoke, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>intermingled with vicious-looking lines of thin whitish
+vapour, which rush through and tower high over the more sluggish smoke
+with a savage, hissing sound that almost drowns the bell, now tolling a
+last summons.</p>
+
+<p>The wharf is gained: here lie the boats side by side, one going north,
+the other south: they are surrounded by a crowd,&mdash;friends making hasty
+adieus; porters, of all shades of colour, hurrying to and fro, aiding,
+scrambling, and squabbling, with the important air and ceaseless
+loquacity everywhere characteristic of the African race.</p>
+
+<p>Amidst this motley throng the unoccupied and observant man will easily
+pick out many individuals of gaunt outline, a bilious aspect and a staid
+sober demeanour, each carrying a small valise, a carpet-bag, a long
+Boston coat or cloak, and steadily and deliberately making a straight
+course for the common bourne, unaided and unaiding, self-sustained,
+independent, and, each for himself alone.</p>
+
+<p>At length, after a few last hasty bangs, the heavy bell clappers cease
+to move; the porters quit the luggage-cars and spring nimbly ashore; the
+independent gentlemen dispose of their <i>kits</i>,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> each after the fashion
+and on the spot he "judges" most convenient; the hissing sound of
+escaping steam suddenly stops, and this momentary silence is succeeded
+by the quick motion of the paddle-wheels.</p>
+
+<p>The vicious-looking columns of white vapour melt away; wheeling
+majestically about, the huge boats steadily head towards their opposite
+courses, and, in the next moment, are rushing, like unslipped
+greyhounds, through the smooth waters of the Delaware.</p>
+
+<p>And now occasionally arrive discoveries, at once whimsical and amusing
+to all save the sufferers. A lady with her children going South, for
+instance, finds out that her husband, or her carriage and horses, one or
+both, have gotten by mistake aboard the New York boat, and are off back
+again to the North: perhaps you get a glimpse of the miserable biped in
+question, like a waterman, looking one way and going the other. Without
+great care, these little accidents will occur, as I can vouch for; as
+the lines depart full drive at the same instant, stopping is out of the
+question; and the disunion of a day, at least, is the consequence of one
+moment's delay or mistake.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p><p>Our way lies downward, and the long line of quays is dashed by like
+lightning. You have just time to mark, well pleased, the early activity
+of the numerous little steamers plying to and fro between Camden and the
+city ferries. You cast perchance a rambling glance over those pretty
+villages, above which the ruddy hue of morning is serenely spreading,
+and, even as you gaze, behold them melt away in the river's haze.</p>
+
+<p>The Navy-yard, with the huge wooden mansions built to shelter the
+"Pennsylvania" and a neighbour frigate, glide, as it were, hastily by;
+and nothing remains to break the monotony of the long level lines
+skirting the river, and hardly rising above it.</p>
+
+<p>Of this prospect the eye soon becomes weary, and now is the time to look
+upon your fellow-passengers. You descend from the upper or promenade
+deck, which, if the morning be chilly, you have most likely held in sole
+occupation. On the next deck beneath, seated back to back upon long
+ranges of settees, you behold the female portion of the living freight;
+for, I take it for granted, this is the first direction of your regards,
+and a pleasant task it often turns out to be; for, as I have already
+said, and shall <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>probably yet more strongly confirm hereafter, the
+average of female beauty in America is high, and but few women are
+without those always striking points, fine expressive brows and eyes,
+which, shaded by a tasteful bonnet, and accompanied by a certain
+coquettish air, leave little wanting to ensure the admiration of the
+passing stranger.</p>
+
+<p>Having lounged about here for a turn or two, you find yourself reminded
+of a certain indispensable ceremony by a Stentor-lunged black, who most
+perseveringly vociferates, "Gentlemen who have not yet <i>paid</i>, will
+please step to the captain's office and settle their <i>passage</i>."</p>
+
+<p>At your convenience you obey this gentle hint; securing at the same time
+a ticket for breakfast, now becoming a very important consideration,
+assailed by a good natural appetite, sharpened in the shrewd air of a
+clear, cold morning. At last, ring goes the bell; and the deck, already
+thinned of the more anxious, or more provident, of the party, becomes,
+at that magic tinkle, a desert.</p>
+
+<p>On descending the stair, you perceive two long ranges of table thickly
+bestrewn with dishes containing beefsteak, ham, fish, chicken, game,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>
+<i>omelettes</i>,&mdash;together with hot rolls, cakes, and bread of every other
+form and denomination, with tea and coffee, borne about as called for;
+the whole arranged with an attention to neatness and propriety quite
+surprising when you consider the place, and the difficulties which are
+inseparable from having to cater and cook for such a multitude.</p>
+
+<p>If you are not of an active habit, or if you object to remain stewing in
+the cabin for a time waiting on the event, you observe at a glance that,
+ample as the tables appear, every seat is occupied. Here is no
+reservation of places&mdash;possession is your only admitted right, and, were
+the President himself too late, he must sit out, or be admitted of the
+party on courtesy: of this, however, let me add, it never was my chance
+to perceive any lack. One of the black waiters, recognising you for a
+frequent passenger, is touched by your appealing glance, motions you to
+follow him, advancing at the same time a stool with an insinuating air
+between two goodhumoured-looking men, with "Please, make a little room
+for this gentleman."</p>
+
+<p>A niche is readily conceded; and, casting an eye right, left, or
+straightforward, you can<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> hardly fail to find something to your liking.
+The board is soon clear of the "Rapids,"&mdash;a large family in most such
+places; and now you acquire ample space to prove your prowess in.</p>
+
+<p>Having breakfasted, you once more mount the upper deck and breathe the
+pure air of heaven, unpolluted by that unpleasant gas which escapes from
+the iron coal burnt in the cabin stoves. Such at least was my constant
+habit: the natives, I observed, although accustomed to a climate whose
+vicissitudes are extreme, never appear voluntarily to face the cold, but
+for the most part, abide below, congregated in concentric circles, of
+which a red-hot stove, filled with that to me deadly abomination,
+anthracite coal, forms the centre.</p>
+
+<p>Wrapping well up, I found, even in the severest season, no difficulty in
+facing the open air, and have more than once paced the upper deck for a
+passage of three or four hours without having my territory invaded, or
+at most only for a few minutes by some adventurous spirit, who
+invariably dived down after a shiver or two.</p>
+
+<p>Here then, between your meals, you may promenade upon a noble deck fifty
+feet long, smoking your cigar, and eyeing the flitting forest or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>
+meadow, amidst dreamy reveries of William Penn's description of the
+populous tribes of the Delaware, and that first simple treaty which
+consigned to the unwarlike strangers a country and a home, a treaty
+which was a deed of disinheritance to the posterity of the donors, and
+of destruction to their nation, of whom, in their own land, their name
+has long been the sole memorial left.</p>
+
+<p>In travelling, as I did much and alone, this was always the current set
+of my day-dreaming. I never could draw on fancy to the exclusion of the
+Red-man; but, on the contrary, constantly detected myself re-peopling
+every wood with the wild forms of the aborigines, and in each distant
+skiff that darted over the broad stream picturing the fragile canoe, and
+its plumed and painted occupant.</p>
+
+<p>The town of Wilmington, the chief place of the little State of Delaware,
+shows very attractively from the river, with which it communicates by a
+navigable creek, and, together with the neighbouring springs of the
+Brandywine, is in high repute for the beauty of its scenery as well as
+for its general salubrity.</p>
+
+<p>Arrived at Newcastle, an ancient but not very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> populous city,&mdash;which
+nevertheless possessed an interest in my eyes, from the circumstance of
+my having chosen to write about it long before I ever dreamed of seeing
+it,&mdash;you quit the steamer, and, seating yourself in one of the long line
+of railway cars awaiting you, are whisked over the intervening neck to
+French-town,&mdash;by courtesy so called, since the <i>town</i> is yet to be,&mdash;a
+distance of sixteen miles in about fifty minutes; and are there
+reshipped on the Elk river, down which you rush, at the usual rapid
+rate, amidst scenery that is really charming.</p>
+
+<p>At the junction of the Susquehannah, the view up the two fine rivers,
+with the dividing headland, the numerous winding creeks, deep shady
+coves, and spacious bays, all well wooded and backed by a range of bold
+mountainous ridges, calls for unqualified admiration, and cannot be too
+often seen.</p>
+
+<p>The vast bay of the Chesapeake now opens gradually out before you. On
+the right lie the Gunpowder and other rivers, famous as the favourite
+feeding-ground of the canvass-back; and here you find amusement in
+watching the innumerable flocks, or rather clouds, of every denomination
+of the duck tribe, which, disturbed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> by the noisy steamer, rise from the
+water in numbers that hide the sun.</p>
+
+<p>Boats too, of a beautiful model and most <i>varmint</i> rig, now begin to
+thicken on the track, working up, close-hauled, into the eye of the
+wind, or going, right before it, with the foresail guy'd out on one side
+and mainsail on the other, showing an uncommon spread of canvass. Here
+and there, too, the masts of tall ships rise, as more gravely they seek
+their port, or win their way to the yet distant ocean, performing a
+voyage before they reach the sea.</p>
+
+<p>North Point is next passed by; and the fate of poor Ross is yet
+occupying the mind, when the city-crowned hill begins to open on the
+view, and Baltimore, with all its domes, spires, and columns, stands
+forth in bold relief against the evening sky.</p>
+
+<p>A bustle soon after commences on deck: the ladies draw closer their
+hoods and cloaks, and the men move to and fro, warned by the sable
+Mentor of the place, who paces the decks below and above with a
+ceaseless cry of "Ladies and gentle-<i>men</i> will be pleased to step
+forward, and point out their bag-<i>gage</i>."</p>
+
+<p>A general loading of wheelbarrows is now the order of the hour; most of
+the waiters exercising<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> the office of porters, and carrying with them
+their barrows. The landing-place gained, you are hailed by many voices
+ringing in a rich brogue, "Coach, your honour! Long life to ye! want a
+carriage?" and eager looks and ready uplifted fingers woo you for an
+assenting nod. Nowhere on this continent is the presence of Pat so
+immediately recognizable as in this good catholic city, where the office
+of Jarvey is nearly a monopoly amongst my poor countrymen, who appear to
+have left no tittle of their good-humour, eager importunity, and
+readiness of wit behind them.</p>
+
+<p>Being once known, I felt at all my future landings quite at home here,
+as these honest fellows were to me particularly attentive. Driving to
+Barnum's hotel, the stranger may count on a hearty welcome from King
+David (whom Heaven long preserve!) and from his household much civility;
+and here, with capital fare, over a fire of wood,&mdash;never use anthracite
+in a close room,&mdash;will find, if he has been as observant as he ought,
+much to amuse and gratify him in a retrospective glance over a journey
+of some hundred miles, performed with little fatigue or inconvenience,
+between the chief cities of quaker Pennsylvania and catholic Maryland.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="WASHINGTON" id="WASHINGTON"></a>WASHINGTON.</h2>
+
+<p>On arriving at Baltimore, I found that so woful was the condition of the
+road between this city and the capital, that, although the distance is
+but thirty-seven miles, and that there remained full three hours of
+daylight, still no regular stage would encounter, until morning, the
+perils of the road.</p>
+
+<p>I thereon made an agreement with two gentlemen,&mdash;one of whom was an
+excellent and learned judge, on some State business; and the other a
+Philadelphia merchant, escorting his daughter, and a pretty young lady
+her friend, on a visit of pleasure to Washington,&mdash;that we would
+together engage an extra coach for our party; and, instead of starting
+at the monstrous hour of five in the morning, set out at half-past
+eight, when, with the advantage of a light load and good horses, we
+might reasonably hope to reach our destination before dark.</p>
+
+<p>This was done accordingly: an extra, or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>exclusive carriage, to hold six
+inside, was contracted for with the proper authorities, and chartered to
+Washington city, to start between eight and nine next morning, for the
+sum of twenty-five dollars, or about six pounds sterling.</p>
+
+<p>With the punctuality for which these people are distinguished throughout
+the States, our carriage drove up to Barnum's door at a few minutes
+after eight; and, breakfast being despatched, our party was seated
+fairly, with all the luggage built up on the permanent platform which
+graces the rear of these machines, within the time appointed: a very
+creditable event, when it is considered there were two young ladies of
+the party.</p>
+
+<p>The air was mild as in May, and there being a goodly promise of
+sunshine, I resigned my share of the inside to my servant Sam,&mdash;the very
+pink of brown gentlemen in appearance, besides being a pattern of
+good-breeding; and seeing something unusually knowing in the look of our
+waggoner, mounted the box by his side, uneasy though it was; for never
+was anything worse contrived for comfort than the outside of a Yankee
+stage-coach,&mdash;except, perhaps, the inside of an English mail.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></p><p>Mr. Tolly, whose acquaintance I now made, let me record, was the only
+driver I ever met in America who took up his leather, and packed his
+cattle together, with that artist-like air, the perfection of which is
+only to be seen in England.</p>
+
+<p>The coachmen are not here, as with us, a distinct class, distinguished
+by peculiar costume, and by characteristics the result of careful
+education and exclusive habits; but might be taken for porters, drovers,
+or anything else indeed,&mdash;being men who have followed, and are ready
+again to follow, a dozen other vocations, as circumstances might
+require: they are nevertheless, generally, good drivers, and, uniformly,
+sober steady fellows.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tolly, however, one might see at a glance&mdash;despite the disadvantages
+of his toggery, plant, and all his other appointments&mdash;was born to look
+over four pair of lively ears; and had Fortune only dropped him in any
+stable-loft between London and York, there would not have been a cooler
+hand or a neater whip on the North road.</p>
+
+<p>About a mile from the city we came upon the country turnpike; and of
+this, as I now viewed it for the first time, any comprehensible
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>description is out of the question, since I am possessed of no means of
+illustrating its condition to English senses;&mdash;a Cumberland fell,
+ploughed up at the end of a very wet November, would be the Bath road
+compared with this the only turnpike leading from one of the chief
+sea-board cities to the capital of the Union.</p>
+
+<p>I looked along the river of mud with despair. Mr. Tolly will pronounce
+this impracticable after the night's rain, thinks I; but I was mightily
+mistaken in my man: without pausing to pick or choose, he cheered his
+leaders, planted his feet firmly, and charged gallantly into it.</p>
+
+<p>The team was a capital one, and stuck to their dirty work like terriers.
+Some of the holes we scrambled safely by would, I seriously think, have
+swallowed coach and all up: the wheels were frequently buried up to the
+centre; and more than once we had three of our cattle down together all
+of-a-heap, but with whip and voice Mr. Tolly always managed to pick them
+out and put them on their legs again; indeed, as he said, if he could
+only see his leaders' heads well up, he felt "pretty certain the coach
+must come through, slick as soap."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tolly and myself very soon grew <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>exceedingly intimate; a false
+reading of his having at starting inspired him with a high opinion of my
+judgment, and stirred his blood and mettle, both of which were decidedly
+game.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst smoking my cigar, and holding on by his side with as unconcerned
+an air as I could assume, I, in one of our pauses for breath, after a
+series of unusually heavy lurches, chanced to observe, by way of
+expressing my admiration, "This is a real <i>varmint</i> team you've got hold
+on, Mr. Tolly."</p>
+
+<p>"How did you find that out, sir?" cries Tolly, biting off about a couple
+of ounces of 'baccy.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, it's not hard to tell so much, after taking a good look at them, I
+guess," replied I.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that's rum any how! but, I guess, you're not far out for once,"
+answers Mr. Tolly, with a knowing grin of satisfaction: "sure enough,
+they are all from Varmont;<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> and I am Varmont myself as holds 'em. All
+mountain boys, horses and driver&mdash;real Yankee flesh and blood; and they
+can't better them, I know,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> neither one nor t'other, this side the
+Potomac."<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p>
+
+<p>I found my <i>hirgo</i> was thrown away, but did not attempt an explanation,
+and became in a little time satisfied that this odd interpretation of my
+compliment had answered an excellent purpose; for my companion became
+exceedingly communicative, and most indefatigable in his exertions. More
+plucky or more judicious coachmanship, or better material under leather,
+I never came across in all my journeyings. About half way we bade adieu
+to my Varmont friend, to my great regret.</p>
+
+<p>Wearied with my rough seat, which the companionship of Mr. Tolly had
+alone rendered endurable so long, I now got inside; the Philadelphia
+gentleman succeeding to the vacancy on the box.</p>
+
+<p>I did my best to draw my fair companions into a little chat, but found
+my <i>vis-&agrave;-vis</i>&mdash;the daughter of my successor outside&mdash;most
+impracticable; a monosyllable was the extent of her exertion: whilst her
+companion, who was a lively, intelligent-looking girl, and very pretty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>
+withal, was necessarily chilled by the taciturnity of her senior. I note
+this as being an unusual case, since, when once properly introduced, the
+ladies of America are uncommonly frank and chatty, and evince an evident
+desire to please and be amiable; which is creditable to themselves, and
+to strangers is both flattering and agreeable.</p>
+
+<p>In the good old judge, whom I had the honour of meeting often after, I
+found one of the most amusing and intelligent companions a man could
+desire to rumble over a villanous road with, and for a couple of hours
+we made time light, when our day's journey had well-nigh terminated in
+an adventure that might have been attended with ugly consequences.</p>
+
+<p>Although the road for this stage was something less bad, our driver was
+not a Tolly; in avoiding some Charybdis or other, he let his leaders
+slip down a bank about eight feet deep, whither, but for the good temper
+and steady backing of the wheel-horses, we should have followed: as it
+was, we managed to pick out our cattle, and got off with a couple of
+broken traces. These being duly cobbled, away we scrambled again, I
+resuming my seat on the box; the last<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> occupant having become most
+heartily sick of his elevation.</p>
+
+<p>About the end of nine hours' hard driving, the high dome of the Capitol
+showed near; and the city toll-gate, situated about a mile from this
+magnificent building, was opened. The prospect was, notwithstanding, yet
+sufficiently uncheery; a steep hill lay in front, having a road that
+looked like a river of black mud meandering about one side of it&mdash;the
+other side was seamed with various tracks made by the vehicles of bold
+explorers, who, like ourselves, had been doubtful about facing the
+regular road&mdash;the counsel of a well-mounted countryman, who reported
+that he had just passed the wrecks of two coaches on the turnpike,
+decided us to eschew it, and boldly try across country.</p>
+
+<p>We all alighted, except the ladies; and acting as pioneers, pushed up
+the hill, breasting it stoutly. It was very well we took this route;
+for, having at last safely crowned it, we beheld on our right the two
+coaches that left Baltimore three hours before us, hopelessly pounded in
+the highway, regularly swamped within sight of port; for the Capitol was
+not over three or four hundred yards from them.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p><p>The passengers were all out, most of them assisting to unharness and
+unload, that, by combining both teams, they might extricate their
+vehicles one at a time.</p>
+
+<p>Here, within the shadow of the Capitol, I was struck with the gloomy and
+unimproved condition of the surrounding country. Except our caravan, not
+a living thing moved within sight&mdash;all was desert, silent, and solitary
+as the prairies of Arkansas.</p>
+
+<p>The great avenue once entered upon, the scene changed, and we rattled
+along briskly over a well Macadamized road. The judge we set down at the
+top of the Capitolinean hill, where his honourable brothers held their
+head-quarters; my other companions had rooms secured at Gadsby's, where
+we next halted; but to my inquiries here, I was answered, "All quite
+full." They advised me, at the same time, to try <i>Fuller</i>, which I
+thought waggish enough: however, after driving about a mile farther down
+the avenue, I found at Mr. Fuller's hotel rooms taken for me by a
+considerate friend, and had to congratulate myself now and henceforward
+on being the best-lodged errant <i>homo</i> in the capital of the United
+States.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p><p>The windows of my sitting-room, I perceived, commanded a view the whole
+extent of the avenue; but, for the present, I limited my speculation to
+the dinner that was soon placed before me, and which a fast of eleven
+hours had rendered a particularly desirable prospect.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Varmont is a State famous for its wild mountain scenery,
+and having a breed of horses unequalled for hardihood, fine temper, and
+bottom: they are found all over the States, and are everywhere in high
+esteem.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> The river Potomac is held to be the dividing line between
+the northern and southern States.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="THEATRE_WASHINGTON" id="THEATRE_WASHINGTON"></a>THEATRE, WASHINGTON.</h3>
+
+<p>I made my <i>d&eacute;but</i> professionally in the capital upon the 12th of
+February. The theatre here was a most miserable-looking place, the worst
+I met with in the country, ill-situated and difficult of access; but it
+was filled nightly by a very delightful audience; and nothing could be
+more pleasant than to witness the perfect <i>abandon</i> with which the
+gravest of the senate laughed over the diplomacy of the "Irish
+Ambassador." They found allusions and adopted sayings applicable to a
+crisis when party feelings were carried to extremity. The elaborate
+display of eloquence with which Sir Patrick seeks to <i>bother</i> the
+Spanish envoy was quoted as the very model of a speech for a
+non-committal orator, and recommended for the study of several gentlemen
+who were considered as aiming at this convenient position, very much to
+their amusement.</p>
+
+<p>The pieces were ill mounted, and the company unworthy the capital, with
+the exception of two very pretty and very clever native actresses,
+Mesdames Willis and Chapman. The latter I had the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> satisfaction of
+seeing soon after transferred to New York, in which city she became a
+monstrous favourite, both in tragedy and comedy: a very great triumph
+for Mrs. Chapman&mdash;for she succeeded Miss F. Kemble in some of her best
+parts, and an excellent comic actress, a Mrs. Sharpe&mdash;acting on the same
+night Julia in "The Hunchback," and the Queen of Hearts in "High, Low,
+Jack, and Game," with a cleverness which rarely accompanies such
+versatility.</p>
+
+<p>I have much pleasure in offering this just tribute to a very amiable
+person, who has, since my departure from the States, quitted the stage,
+on which, had she been fortunately situated, she would have had very few
+superiors.</p>
+
+<p>I wonder there are not many more native actresses, since, I am sure,
+there is a great deal of latent talent in society here both for opera
+and the drama: the girls, too, are generally well educated; are pretty,
+have much expression, a naturally easy carriage, and great imitative
+powers. The latter talent is singularly common amongst them; and I have
+met, not one, but many young women, who would imitate the peculiarities
+of any actress or actor just then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> before the public with an accuracy
+and humour quite remarkable.</p>
+
+<p>I acted here seven nights on this occasion, and visited the city again
+in May, when I passed three or four weeks most agreeably. I had the
+pleasure, too, during this last visit, of seeing the plans for a theatre
+worthy the audience, and which, I trust, has by this time been happily
+erected, as the greatest part of the fund needed was readily subscribed
+for; and the attempt can hardly fail amongst a people so decidedly
+theatrical, and who are, besides, really in absolute want of public
+amusements for the number of stray men turned loose here during the
+session, many of whom are without other home than the bar-room of an
+inn, or better means of keeping off <i>ennui</i> than gin-sling or the
+gaming-table.</p>
+
+<p>I shall now throw together in this place the result of my "Impressions"
+as received during my separate visits.</p>
+
+<p>The scenery in the neighbourhood is naturally as beautiful and varied as
+woods, rocks, and rivers, in all their most charming features, can
+combinedly render it. One of the finest of many noble prospects is, in
+my mind, that from the heights just over George Town. From this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> point
+the vast amphitheatre of city, valley, and river may be embraced at a
+glance, or followed out in detail, as time or inclination prompts.</p>
+
+<p>Following the windings of the majestic Potomac below the bridge,&mdash;which,
+viewed from this elevation, looks like a couple of cables drawn across
+its channel,&mdash;the town of Alexandria is clearly seen: away, on the other
+side, Fort Washington may be made out; and, opposite to this, the
+ever-hallowed, Mount Vernon is visible; a glimpse in itself worthy a
+pilgrimage to every lover of that rare combination&mdash;virtue and true
+patriotism!</p>
+
+<p>Turning from this direction, and setting your face towards the Capitol,
+you perceive extended in dotted lines, the thinly-furnished streets of
+the city: viewed from here, the meagre supply of buildings in proportion
+to its extent is made obvious; each separate house may be traced out;
+and, in their irregular and detached appearance, all design becomes
+confounded. It seemed to me as though some frolicsome fairy architect,
+whilst taking a flight with a sieveful of pretty houses, had suddenly
+betaken her to riddling them over this attractive site as she circled
+over the valley in her airy car.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p><p>One of my most favourite rides was to a secluded spot in this
+neighbourhood, of which I shall attempt some description, since I would,
+in the very fulness of my heart's charity, induce all succeeding
+wayfarers to visit it.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="PIERCES_GARDEN" id="PIERCES_GARDEN"></a>PIERCE'S GARDEN.</h3>
+
+<p>At about four miles from the city, a gardener named Pierce has taken up
+his abode on the summit of a high and on all sides nearly precipitous
+hill, immediately surrounded by similar elevations, but separated from
+them by very deep ravines. Through one of these, encompassing two sides
+of the hill, rushes a clear, active little river, such as a trout-fisher
+would glory in, only that its banks in this neighbourhood are everywhere
+sentinelled by trees of willow, dog-wood, laburnum, &amp;c. whose flowery
+arms entwined within each other shadow the clear water, and protect from
+the lure of the angler its finny inmates.</p>
+
+<p>Across this ravine lies the ordinary path by which the future stranger,
+who is an amateur of Nature's painting, will seek to gain one of those
+fair scenes she has lavished much care upon.</p>
+
+<p>No bridge connects the little domain with the busy world, from sight or
+sound of which it is isolated as absolutely as was the valley of
+Rasselas; but, slowly winding down an abrupt, thickly-shaded forest
+path, you at once break<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> through this "leafy skreen" upon the ford, on
+the opposite side of which, a little to the right, lies the gate leading
+into the garden.</p>
+
+<p>Pushing your horse boldly through the stream,&mdash;for, though noisy, the
+bottom has been cleared, and is not usually over knee-deep,&mdash;you
+dismount, and open the only barrier. Right above you stands a rude stone
+dwelling, stern and square of outline, and in no way suited or in
+keeping with the graceful trees and shrubs whose rich verdure shadow its
+rough walls. Towards this you press onward and upward, until the natural
+platform on which the dwelling is placed be gained; when the view of and
+from this spot will well reward you for a ride through a secluded forest
+country, the freshness and wildness of which have already pleased you,
+especially if you are, as I happily was on most of my visits here,
+accompanied by companions at once fair and intelligent.</p>
+
+<p>Upon this little platform the grass is always of rare verdure for this
+country. Immediately in front of the dwelling four or five forest trees
+of the finest kind fling their branches athwart the entrance; and, a few
+yards removed, around the foot of a venerable elm, is spread a
+variegated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> carpet of daisies and other pretty flowers, whose colours
+the Persian loom might be proud to imitate for a prince's divan.</p>
+
+<p>A few garden-seats are placed here and there for the ease of visitors;
+and here have I often sat whilst Mr. Pierce was arranging a bouquet,&mdash;an
+art, by the way, and no mean one, in which he excels,&mdash;and looking about
+on the well-sheltered spot, have thought of my poor old friend Michael
+Kelly's ballad, until I have fancied him "alive again," and breathing
+over the folds of his ample cravat,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div>"And I said, if there's peace to be found in this world,</div>
+<div>A heart that is humble might look for it here!"</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>But there is no peace to be found in this world; so, after indulging a
+few wild fancies, that come quickly in such places, I quitted this, as I
+have done a hundred other like oases in life's desert, to wander again
+about the busy world and jostle with the worldly:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div class="i10">"We feel pangs at parting</div>
+<div>From many a spot, where yet we may not loiter."</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>I did not bid adieu to this, however, before its tranquil and
+peace-giving features were impressed for ever upon my memory.</p>
+
+<p>The wooded and well-rounded hills which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>encircle the garden, are placed
+at distances varying from half a mile to half a bow-shot right Sherwood
+measure: within this range two buildings only are to be seen; one a
+pretty, classic-looking dwelling, nestled under the brow of the hill to
+the eastward; the other, sunk low in the extreme western distance, a
+rude-looking stone-built water-mill, surrounded by all its healthful and
+picturesque appointments; adding to the rustic beauty of the scene, yet
+so far removed as in no way to disturb a feeling of absolute seclusion,
+if such should be the desire of the possessor of this little domain,
+which a moderate sum of money, laid out with good taste, might render
+surpassingly beautiful.</p>
+
+<p>I observed that Mr. Pierce kept a few men constantly employed; and as he
+is a person of evident intelligence, neither unaware of the value of his
+possession, nor deaf to the admiration of his visitors, I trust it may
+become worth his while to complete by art what nature has so happily
+designed.</p>
+
+<p>Flowers were to be procured here at a season very far advanced, and a
+high price was given for bouquets, the procuring which for ladies on the
+evening of a ball or party is a common act<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> of gallantry; consequently
+there is much rivalry amongst the beaux in gleaning the rarest and most
+beautiful flowers.</p>
+
+<p>This is a graceful and pretty fashion, and one not likely to grow out of
+use amongst women, which opens a market well worth the florist's notice.</p>
+
+<p>If my voice could reach Mr. Pierce, two things I would seek to press
+upon his consideration: the first should be never to suffer himself to
+be persuaded to throw a bridge&mdash;above all, a wooden one&mdash;across that
+prettiest of fords; the other, that he would, out of humanity to the
+cattle, and out of consideration for the necks of his fair visitors,
+make the drive, so called, leading through the wood into the George-town
+road, just passable.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime, until this be accomplished, let me caution all future
+explorers against venturing the approach by that route. The one by the
+race-course, and across the ford, is as good as need be; somewhat steep,
+a little difficult here and there, but in no way perilous.</p>
+
+<p>I might have selected spots for detail in this neighbourhood, which in
+other eyes may have attractions, though different, quite as powerful;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>
+but this, somehow or other, won strangely upon my fancy, and grew to be
+my favourite resort when pursuing my accustomed rides. I paid to it many
+visits alone, and in company it became associated with some of the
+pleasantest hours I passed here; and thus comes it that the reader is
+afforded such an opportunity as a meagre sketch can give, of becoming
+acquainted with this secluded spot, once perhaps the summer bower of
+some native princely Sagamore, and now the location of Mr. Pierce,
+gardener and seedsman!</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="THE_GARDEN_POETICAL_AND_POLITICAL" id="THE_GARDEN_POETICAL_AND_POLITICAL"></a>THE GARDEN, POETICAL AND POLITICAL.</h3>
+
+<p>I one day had the honour of accompanying a lady on a drive to make some
+calls in the environs, and a most agreeable drive it was. One of our
+visits turned out to me quite an adventure; and procured me the
+acquaintance of a character rarely encountered in these rule-of-three
+days, wherein humanity is clipped and trained upon the principles of old
+Dutch gardening,&mdash;no exuberances permitted, but all offshoots duly
+trimmed to the conventional cut, until individuality is destroyed, and
+one half of the world, like Pope's parterre, is made to reflect, as
+nearly as possible, the other.</p>
+
+<p>We drove for some distance through an ill-tended but naturally pretty
+domain, alighting unnoticed at a house having an air of antiquity quite
+refreshing; three sides of the building were encompassed by a broad
+raised stoop, covered with a wide-spread veranda, whilst the walls were
+thickly coated with ivy, like the tower of an English village church.</p>
+
+<p>We mounted the stoop, which commanded a vast extent of valley bounded by
+distant hills,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> only needing water to make a perfect prospect. A few
+moments after we had rested here, the mistress of the place made her
+approach, hoe in hand, for she had been tending her flowers in person.
+Such a dear old shepherdess of a woman I have not seen for many a day,
+with all the poetry and enthusiasm of nineteen, and a pastoral, simple,
+unworldlike air, worthy the golden age of the flower-wreathed
+sheep-crook.</p>
+
+<p>She had an anecdote connected with every flower-bed;&mdash;her story of the
+ivy, so abundant, quite pleased me, as being interesting in itself, and
+made doubly so by her <i>na&iuml;ve</i> mode of telling it.</p>
+
+<p>It appeared that the plants were originally cultivated by Mr. Roscoe, on
+his place near Liverpool; that the shoots were gathered by the hands of
+that amiable and illustrious man, and sent, in fulfilment of a promise
+made, to Mr. Jefferson, for the adornment of Monticello.</p>
+
+<p>The bearer of the plants, on arriving at Washington, could find no
+immediate means of forwarding them safely into Virginia; so placed them
+in the keeping of their present enthusiastic possessor, beneath whose
+careful tending,&mdash;for the trust has not been reclaimed,&mdash;the gift of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>
+friendship has flourished and increased, and will, I hope, remain fresh
+as her own spirit, and fadeless as is the fame of the first donor!</p>
+
+<p>Her parterre afforded quite a summary of the history and habits of the
+departed great: here were stocks that had been cultivated by the hands
+of George Washington, and lilies growing from bulbs dug up by those of
+Thomas Jefferson, after each had cast aside the ungrateful cares of
+government and resumed those simpler and happier pursuits in which both
+delighted; and these flowers of theirs flourish yet in peace and beauty,
+side by side, and, fragile as they look, are perhaps more durably linked
+than the mighty Union over which these illustrious florists presided
+with views so widely different.</p>
+
+<p>The fruit-trees were thick with blossoms, and the air was absolutely
+perfumed. I felt exceedingly loath to obey the summons of my fair guide
+when informed that the time of departure was arrived, and have seldom
+found a visit to appear so very short. The carriage being laden with the
+sweet-scented spoils,&mdash;or, rather let me say, gifts of our kind hostess,
+for nothing could exceed the free hand with which every shrub was rifled
+for us,&mdash;we made our adieus, and set<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> forth to return to the city by a
+different road, paying a call at another cottage residence by the way.</p>
+
+<p>Of these unpretending, but attractive-looking places, there are numbers
+in this neighbourhood; and if ever Washington rises to the importance
+fondly anticipated by its founders, no city ought to boast more charming
+environs.</p>
+
+<p>Here is no end of sites for country dwellings,&mdash;valley and hill, river
+and rivulet, towering rocks and dark ravines abound in as wild a variety
+as heart could wish; with land and living both exceedingly cheap.</p>
+
+<p>I saw one of the prettiest houses possible, with nearly a hundred acres
+of land, that had been purchased, a few months before, for five thousand
+dollars; and, during my stay here, a first-rate house, with stabling,
+&amp;c. complete, as well situated as any in Washington, and as well built,
+sold for the same sum. At present, indeed, I should say land about here
+is of very little value: though admirably calculated for the residence
+of an independent class of gentry, here is no temptation for the planter
+or merchant; and but few in this country seek to live a life of leisure
+or retirement.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="THE_FALLS_OF_THE_POTOMAC" id="THE_FALLS_OF_THE_POTOMAC"></a>THE FALLS OF THE POTOMAC.</h3>
+
+<p>On St. George's day, in company with Captain T&mdash;&mdash;ll, an engineer
+officer of high standing, and Mr. K&mdash;&mdash;r, I set out on horseback, at an
+early hour, to view the much talked of, but too rarely visited, Falls of
+the Potomac.</p>
+
+<p>Our way lay along the tow-path of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, planned
+to unite the Potomac river with the Ohio below Pittsburg,&mdash;one of the
+greatest works yet contemplated. Its length will be three hundred and
+forty miles: the locks are of stone, one hundred feet by fifteen; and
+the amount of lockage designed for the whole line is three thousand two
+hundred and fifteen feet. Piercing the Alleghany mountains, where the
+canal attains its highest level, a tunnel is planned, four miles and
+some yards in length.</p>
+
+<p>For upwards of a hundred miles the line is already available; and in
+this distance are reckoned forty-four locks, and several noble
+aqueducts, in an ascent of a quarter of a mile.</p>
+
+<p>For sixteen miles we followed this magnificent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> work, which as far as
+one of the uninitiated may judge, presents a promise of endurance worthy
+the best days of Rome: the width of the canal here varied, as my
+companion informed me, from eighty to seventy feet, and the depth from
+six to seven feet.</p>
+
+<p>Independent of this work, in itself so interesting, the scenery is
+varied and striking. Upon our right lay the canal, to whose course all
+nature had been subdued,&mdash;the forest rooted up, the Potomac bestridden
+by an aqueduct eighteen hundred feet in length, beds of solid gneiss
+hewn out fathoms deep, valleys filled up and ramparted with granite
+against the assaults of the near river; everything on this hand was
+trimmed and levelled in a workmanlike manner: the labour of man was
+evident throughout, and the well-trained water stood still, or moved
+onward or backward, as directed by its master.</p>
+
+<p>Close upon our left ran the Potomac, but so changed in character, that
+the stranger, who from the Capitol had traced the mazy windings of this
+mighty stream, whose deep indents and sluggish current show like a
+series of lakes stretching away till lost in distance, suddenly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> removed
+to this point, short of two miles, would hardly credit that the narrow,
+noisy mountain stream beside him was the same, the very fountain and
+feeder of the inland sea spreading below.</p>
+
+<p>It was now dry, fine weather; no rain had fallen for some time; and the
+stream, pent within narrow limits, cowered beneath the wooded heights of
+the Virginia shore: but the condition of every unprotected level on our
+side spoke awfully of its force, when, backed by supplies from the
+mountains, it extends itself abroad, overthrowing trees and banks, and
+leaving their huge ruins to mark in undoubted characters the true limit
+of its sovereignty.</p>
+
+<p>At this time it was in its most peaceful mood, and went on, now
+expanding placidly over an even bed, and now divided before some
+stubborn rock-founded islet, chafing as it were at being compelled to
+yield to an obstruction it had as yet failed to overcome.</p>
+
+<p>Viewed at all points, the stream conducted by Nature outfaced, in my
+eyes, the neighbour work of her children; coursing onward, as it went,
+defying the hand of man, and rejoicing in its rude freedom.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p><p>About the most savage part of our ride, where the path was a wide
+rampart of stone without any parapet, bounded on one hand by the canal
+and the overhanging rocks through which it was cut, and on the other, at
+a precipitous depth of eighty feet, by the rocky bed of the river, we
+were threatened with a hurricane, or other outbreak of the elements, of
+the wildest kind.</p>
+
+<p>It had become on a sudden unnaturally sultry: before us a cloud fell
+like a huge black curtain, until resting upon the lofty bluffs between
+which the river now ran, it was draped in folds down to the water; over
+this curtain broke a lurid silvery sort of light, making all things
+hideous; a heavy moaning sound as of wind was heard throughout the
+forest; the leaves shook rattling upon the surrounding shrubs, yet no
+air was perceptible even whilst going at a gallop. For a moment this
+strange sound would cease wholly, and then roar forth again, as though
+the pent tempest was striving close at hand for space and freedom of
+action.</p>
+
+<p>Occasionally a vivid flash of lightning would stream from the impending
+cloud downward upon the river; and, in momentary expectation of a
+regular tornado, on we spurred to reach some shelter.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span></p><p>But after all, our fears were fruitless, or let me rather say our
+hopes, since we agreed that a hurricane chancing here would be a
+consummation singularly happy. It is certain no fitter scene could well
+have been selected for such an event, and indeed this was all that was
+needed to make the savage grandeur of the picture perfect.</p>
+
+<p>Expectation had attained its height, when, after a few big splashes of
+rain, the sombre curtain drew gradually up, the sun looked forth once
+more, shining vividly, and the so lately gloomy waters below, again
+laughed and sparkled as they went bounding, gladly, over their rugged
+bed.</p>
+
+<p>About midday we arrived at a house occupied by a person who attends one
+of the many locks on the canal; and by the ready aid of this worthy and
+his pretty young helpmate, our horses and ourselves were well supplied
+with <i>vivres</i>, and otherwise cared for.</p>
+
+<p>After we had discussed sundry rashers of ham, broiled chicken, and
+new-laid eggs, we were informed by our friend the lock-keeper, who had
+been examining the ford, that the frail bridge which had recently served
+to cross a branch of the stream to an island from whose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> southern side
+alone the Falls might be surveyed, was no longer in being.</p>
+
+<p>What was to be done? was the whole purpose of our hard ride to be
+defeated by the dislocation of a few loose planks? Our cool pioneer even
+admitted that it seemed "mighty hard," and called his spouse to council;
+but from her we received small hope, as she at once decided that to
+cross so as to get anywhere within sight of the Falls was impossible.</p>
+
+<p>We as stoutly declared our resolution to attempt fording the dividing
+current, and requested our host to point out the best probable place for
+this purpose.</p>
+
+<p>This he at last agreed to do; adding that "he guessed, with more or less
+of a ducking, we might gratify our curiosity, though he could not help
+thinking it was mighty foolish."</p>
+
+<p>The lady of the lock, more timid, or, as it turned out, more sage,
+remonstrated in vain. In the teeth of her advice and predictions,
+sufficiently alarming, we mounted our nags, and, under the good man's
+guidance, descended to the ford, by a very rough path; the din of the
+unseen torrent sounding in our ears.</p>
+
+<p>On reaching the stream in question, we found<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> it not over twenty yards
+across, with an apparently tolerable landing on the opposite side; so
+that, albeit it had a threatening sort of look, and bullied and
+blustered somewhat loudly, myself and Mr. K&mdash;&mdash;r decided <i>instanter</i>
+upon crossing. Our companion, a very tall and heavy man, mounted on a
+little thorough-bred steed none the stronger for the severe bucketting
+it had already gone through, we very wisely prevailed upon to await our
+return, and serve as our guide to the right landing when we should have
+to re-cross.</p>
+
+<p>With all that eagerness with which men rush on novelty, especially when
+any obstacle is thrown in the way, we pushed forward, listening
+impatiently to the distant thunder of the Falls. Like all obstacles, we
+found these before us less in reality than in report, our chief
+difficulty lying in the strength of the current, flowing over an unequal
+bottom; but in no part was the water up to the horses' shoulders. We
+kept their noses well up stream, and, after a little floundering about,
+reached and mounted the sandy bank in no time, whence a short rough ride
+over the thickly-wooded islet, gave the wished-for sight to our eyes in
+all its gloomy grandeur; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> never before do I remember having looked
+upon so wildly sublime a scene.</p>
+
+<p>We dismounted; and, tying our horses to a tree, descended into the vast
+basin within whose rugged depths the river finds at all seasons ample
+space for its fury. Opposite to our stand the face of the black rock
+rose perpendicular for a hundred and fifty feet; and over its brow waved
+a grove of lofty trees and graceful flowering shrubs, forming together a
+plume befitting such a crest, and worthy to float above such a <i>m&ecirc;l&eacute;e</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Along in front of our position, and only a few yards off, the river was
+precipitated from a ledge of rock, three huge masses of which towered
+high over it, lying athwart the line of the torrent at apparently equal
+distances, as though Nature had designed to bridge this fearful caldron,
+but, having raised these piers had rested, content with this evidence of
+her power, and so left the work unfinished.</p>
+
+<p>Through the intervals of these piers then, if they may be so
+denominated, the water was impelled in three distinct columns of foam
+with inconceivable impetuosity; then, after forming many vortices,
+frightful to contemplate steadily,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> whirled boiling away beneath the
+boldly jutting table-rock, which afforded us sound footing amidst a din
+that of necessity made admiration dumb, since to hear your own voice or
+any other person's was quite out of the question.</p>
+
+<p>Oh what a pit of Acheron was here! I would have given a million a-year
+to have had Martin with me, pencil in hand, looking upwards upon the
+centre one of those three terrible piers. What a throne would it have
+made in his hands for the arch enemy of man! How his fancy would have
+imaged the lost angel forth, standing there in his might armed for
+hopeless combat, shadowed grandly out amidst the silvery vapours curling
+round him, whilst up through the raging whirlpools drove the countless
+columns of hell in battle array; what tossing of co-mingled plumes and
+waves above the thick squadrons of horse, who, with flowing manes and
+fiery nostrils, would be seen breaking through and riding over the
+foaming torrent, all shadowed forth in a dim reality he knows so well to
+deal with, and which, in his creations, leaves the fancy, already
+startled by that it can define, afraid to guess at all which yet remains
+only half told!</p>
+
+<p>We wandered here, from point to point, unable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> to express our
+bewilderment and delight otherwise than by pantomimic gestures more
+amusing than intelligible; and then, in consideration of the lone
+condition of our excellent comrade, began to crawl and climb our way
+back to the shade where we had left the horses.</p>
+
+<p>The table-rocks were everywhere worn into circular basins of greater or
+less dimensions; when the floods of spring and autumn subside, these
+pools are left well stocked with pike, trout, and other sorts of fish;
+the water was at this time exceedingly low, and a long continuance of
+premature heat had shortened the allowance of the denizens of these
+pools; our near neighbourhood, therefore, deprived as they were of the
+means of retreat or concealment, caused a great sensation amongst them,
+and much rushing, and floundering, and darting to and fro.</p>
+
+<p>We joined cordially in commiserating the fate of these unlucky
+<i>d&eacute;tenus</i>, who, as the summer advances, must, to say the least of it,
+become most uncomfortably warm about the middle of the day. K&mdash;&mdash;r
+wasted, as I considered, much time in sentimentalizing over their
+probable fate, for I found that he loitered behind by every basin which
+contained a larger specimen than usual.</p>
+
+<p>After a rather prolonged halt, I was preparing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> to <i>row</i> my friend for
+his vexatious display of philanthropy, when he came to me with his right
+arm soaked up to the shoulder, grievously lamenting his having failed,
+by an untimous slip, in securing a fellow of at least nine or ten
+pounds' weight.</p>
+
+<p>"What the devil!" exclaimed I, "is it possible that you contemplated
+scrambling your way back to give this finny gentleman the freedom of the
+river?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all, my dear fellow," replied my sensitive friend; "I merely
+contemplated carrying him to Washington, and giving him the freedom of
+the boiler. The Baron would have rejoiced in him; he was a fish for the
+Czar himself! Besides, it would have been an act of charity to the poor
+devil of a fish, the consummation of whose horrid fate is alarmingly
+nigh, since there is not over six inches of water on the rock, and that
+already as close as may be upon ninety-four degrees. That one dip has
+parboiled my right arm; I must plunge it in the first running water to
+cool it."</p>
+
+<p>I enjoyed a good laugh at K&mdash;&mdash;'s hot-bath fishing, but did not dream of
+the thorough cooling in store for my charitable piscator.</p>
+
+<p>On we dashed, full of excitement and high<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> spirits, and hit the stream
+at a point very little below where we had before landed. Captain T&mdash;&mdash;ll
+was still on his post; and with less of precaution than we had used at
+crossing, in dashed K&mdash;&mdash;r some yards in advance of me, although I being
+mounted on a more powerful horse, had before taken the first of the
+current whilst my friend rode on my quarter, thus mutually sustaining
+each other.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst I was yet upon the bank, K&mdash;&mdash;'s nag lost his footing, and turned
+fairly head over heels in the very middle of the passage, at the
+shortest possible notice. The first intimation I got of the event was
+missing my man, and in his stead perceiving four bright shoes glancing
+in the sun above the broken water. In a moment, however, he emerged to
+day once more; and after a second dive or so, gained good bottom, losing
+only a few ounces of blood from a broken nose. I led his horse safely
+ashore; and the brute, though the least hurt, was by far the most
+frightened, for he shook like a negro in an ague fit.</p>
+
+<p>As for K&mdash;&mdash;r, he bore his mishap with a <i>sangfroid</i> and good-humour
+that were admirable: the only regret I heard from him was, that Sir<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>
+Charles Vaughan's ball should come off on this night, since his
+appearance was marred past present help; and indeed, notwithstanding
+applications of whisky, cold water, vinegar, &amp;c. which our friends of
+the lock supplied, the nose was growing of a most unseemly size.</p>
+
+<p>The lock-man expressed much regret; whilst his good lady, I fancied, was
+not very sorry to have her predictions fulfilled at so cheap a rate. I
+ventured to hint to my friend something about retributive justice,
+alluding to his fishy longings amongst the pools; but he rejected the
+application with indignation, insisting upon it that his desire to
+secure that fine fish was founded in the purest charity.</p>
+
+<p>We lost no time in setting out for home by a shorter route; and after a
+hard, hot ride, got back to the city in good time to dress for dinner,
+at which I was sorry to find my philanthropic fisherman did not make his
+appearance. This was the only drawback upon the pleasure with which I
+contemplated our day's work; indeed I had special cause to regret the
+mishap, since it was for my gratification alone K&mdash;&mdash;r was led to push
+over this unlucky stream, he having before visited the Falls. However, I
+do not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>forget his amiability upon this and many other similar
+occasions, and hereby pledge myself to swim across a broader current,
+either with him, or for him, on any day between this and the year of our
+Lord 1850.</p>
+
+<p>Early hours being the mode here, about nine o'clock drove to Sir Charles
+Vaughan's, who, in honour of St. George's-day, gave a ball, to which all
+the beauties in the capital were bidden. I found the guests on this
+occasion less numerous than at one I had attended early in the season,
+during my first visit here. The scene was already brilliant as light,
+and life, and youth could make it; the music, consisting of a harp and
+four other instruments, was exceedingly good; the women were
+well-dressed and pretty, and danced with infinite grace and spirit.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>tournure</i> of an American girl is generally very good; she excels in
+the dance, and one sees that she enjoys it with all her heart. In
+England I have rarely felt moved to dance; on the other hand, in France
+and America, so electric is evident unrestrained enjoyment, I have found
+it sometimes difficult to repress the inclination within becoming
+bounds.</p>
+
+<p>About midnight supper was announced; and let it not be forgotten, since
+it was of an order<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> worthy the country represented, and our excellent
+minister's character for hospitality. After this the party thinned
+rapidly, and by half-past one o'clock the ball-room was silent. I
+lighted my cigar, and took my accustomed walk up the great avenue to the
+Capitol hill, thence surveyed for a moment the silent city, and back to
+my quarters at Fuller's, making a distance of full three miles; and so
+concluded a busy and right pleasant four-and-twenty hours.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="IMPRESSIONS_OF_WASHINGTON_SOCIETY_PUBLIC_AND_PRIVATE" id="IMPRESSIONS_OF_WASHINGTON_SOCIETY_PUBLIC_AND_PRIVATE"></a>IMPRESSIONS OF WASHINGTON SOCIETY, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE.</h3>
+
+<p>I attended several large assemblies at Washington, and must here, after
+a second visit, and so much experience as my opportunities afforded,
+enter my protest against the sweeping ridicule it has pleased some
+writers to cast upon these doings here; since I saw none of those
+outrageously unpresentable women, or coarsely habited and ungainly men,
+so amusingly arrayed by some of my more observant predecessors. I can
+only account for it by referring to the rapid changes ever taking place
+here, and to which I have alluded in my introduction to these
+"Impressions."</p>
+
+<p>The ordinary observances of good society are, I should say, fully
+understood and fully practised at these public gatherings, and not more
+of the ridiculous presented than might be observed at any similar
+assemblage in England, if half so much; since here I have commonly found
+that persons who have no other claims to advance save money or a seat in
+the legislature, very wisely avoid <i>reunions</i>, where they could neither
+look to receive nor bestow pleasure.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p><p>It is quite true that many of these members, all of whom are by rank
+eligible to society, may be met with, who are more rusty of bearing than
+most of those within St. Stephen's; but I will answer for this latter
+assembly outfacing them in samples of rudeness, ill-breeding, and true
+vulgarity: for it is a striking characteristic of the American, that, if
+not conventionally polished perhaps, you will rarely find him either
+rude or discourteous; whilst amongst those who, in the nature of the
+government, are elevated from a comparatively obscure condition to place
+and power, although refinement cannot be inserted as an addendum to the
+official diploma, the aspirant usually adopts with his appointment a
+quiet formal strain of ceremony, which protects himself, and can never
+give offence to any.</p>
+
+<p>In the absence of that ease and self-possession which can only be
+acquired by long habitual intercourse with well-bred persons, this
+surely is the wisest course that could be adopted, and a hundred degrees
+above that fidgety, jackdaw-like assumption of <i>nonchalance</i> with which
+the ill-bred amongst ourselves seek to cover their innate vulgarity.</p>
+
+<p>At all these assemblies, as elsewhere, great<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> real attention is paid to
+women; and I vow I have, in this respect, seen more ill-breeding, and
+selfish rudeness, at a fashionable rout in England, than could be met
+with, at any decent crush, from Natchetoches to Marble-head. Beyond
+these points within the States I speak not, since without them the land
+is strange to me.</p>
+
+<p>No levee of the President's has occurred during my sojourn here; but I
+learn that in the true spirit of democracy, the doors on these occasions
+are open to every citizen without distinction of rank or costume;
+consequently the assemblage at such times may be oddly compounded
+enough.</p>
+
+<p>As for private society in Washington, although limited, it can in no
+place be conducted in a manner more agreeable, or extended to the
+stranger with more unostentatious freedom. Once presented to a family,
+and the house is thenceforward open to you. From twelve o'clock until
+two, the inmates either visit or receive visitors: between these hours,
+the question, "Are the ladies at home?" being answered in the
+affirmative, you walk into the drawing-room without farther form; and,
+joining the circle, or enjoying<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> a <i>t&ecirc;te-&agrave;-t&ecirc;te</i>, as it may happen,
+remain just so long as you receive or can impart amusement.</p>
+
+<p>Again, after six, if you are so disposed, you sally forth to visit. If
+the family you seek be at home, you find its members forming a little
+group or groups, according to the number present, each after their age
+and inclination; and politics, dress, or scandal are discussed: or, if
+the night be serene,&mdash;and what lovely nights have I witnessed here, even
+at this early season! (May)&mdash;you make a little party to the covered
+stoup, or balcony, extended along the back-front of most houses; and
+here a song, a romp, a waltz, or a quiet still talk, while away hours of
+life, unheeded until passed, but never to be recalled without pleasure.
+About eleven the guests generally depart, and by midnight the great
+avenue of this city is hardly disturbed by a foot-fall; not a sound
+comes on the ear except the short, fierce wrangle of packs of vagrant
+curs crossing each other's hunting-ground, which they are as tenacious
+of as the Indians are of their prairies.</p>
+
+<p>At this hour I used often, after returning from a party, such as is
+described above, to put on my morning-gown and slippers, and light my
+pipe,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> then sallying forth, have strolled from Fuller's to the Capitol;
+and climbing its bold hill, have looked down along the sleeping city,
+speculating upon its possible destinies until my fancies waxed
+threadbare, and then quietly returned, making a distance of nearly three
+miles, without encountering an individual or hearing the sound of a
+human voice.</p>
+
+<p>At set balls even, the first hour of morning generally sees ample space
+on the, till then, crowded floor; and the most ardent pleasure-lovers
+rarely overleap the second by many minutes.</p>
+
+<p>The consequence of this excellent plan is, that, although the ladies are
+weak in numbers, they are always, to use an expressive sporting phrase,
+ready to come again; rising, the morning after a dance, unwearied and
+elastic in mind and body. I hope, for the sake of my American friends,
+it will be very long before these healthful hours are changed to those
+which custom has made fashionable in England; hours that soon fade the
+roses even on their most genial soil, the cheeks of the fair girls of
+Britain, blighting the healthful and the young, and withering the aged
+and the weak.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p><p>Much of the population of Washington is migratory; and, during a long
+session, samples may be found here of all classes, from every part of
+the Union, whether represented or not. There are, however, generally
+resident a few old Southern families, who, together with the foreign
+ministers and their suites, form the nucleus of a permanent society,
+where the polish of Europe is grafted upon the simple and frank courtesy
+of the best of America. Were it not in violation of a rule I have
+imposed upon myself as imperative, I could name families here whose
+simple yet refined manners would do honour to any community, and from an
+intercourse with whom the most fastidious conventionalist would return
+satisfied.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="IMPRESSIONS_OF_ALEXANDRIA" id="IMPRESSIONS_OF_ALEXANDRIA"></a>IMPRESSIONS OF ALEXANDRIA.</h3>
+
+<h3>A BLANK DAY.</h3>
+
+<p>My worthy manager had often pressed me to accompany him on one of our
+off-nights to Alexandria, which he assured me boasted a very pretty
+theatre, and a population, if not generally theatrical, still capable of
+filling the house for two or three nights upon an extraordinary
+occasion. Such he was pleased to consider the present; and although I
+suggested the probability that most of the play-loving Alexandrians had
+most likely, during the late very lovely nights, visited the Washington
+theatre, Mr. Jefferson argued, there yet existed a sufficient body, of
+the unsatisfied curious, to repay us for our short trip. A steam-boat,
+he said, would take down him and his troop, bag and baggage, in a couple
+of hours; and, as I was fond of riding, it was for me but a pleasant
+canter.</p>
+
+<p>As it was my intention to pass a few hours at this city, whose spires
+might be seen any fine day from George-town heights, and close to which
+lived a gentleman whom I had promised to visit, I decided with the
+manager upon making trial of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> our popularity by convening on a certain
+evening a public meeting of its inhabitants; our object being similar to
+that of most conveners of public meetings, viz. to amuse the lieges and
+benefit ourselves.</p>
+
+<p>The town was advertised of our intended purpose, the night appointed,
+and all the usual blowing of trumpets duly done, when on the forenoon of
+a lovely day, accompanied by Captain R&mdash;&mdash;y of the navy, I traversed the
+interminable-looking bridge uniting the district of Columbia with
+Virginia, and entered the <i>Old Dominion</i>, as the natives love to
+distinguish their State.</p>
+
+<p>The road was excellent, bordered with turf nearly the whole way, and
+commanding extensive and varied views of the Potomac, together with
+George-town and the Capitol. I often halted and turned my horse's head
+to look upon this picture, for such it truly was. Nothing, in fact, can
+be more panoramic than the aspect of these cities, lying in one of the
+best-defined and most beautiful of natural amphitheatres, and flanked by
+the grandest of rivers. At the distance of five or six miles all the
+meannesses of the city are lost sight of, and the extreme ends, so
+widely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> apart, and so worthily bounded, by the Capitol on the north and
+the President's mansion, with the surrounding offices belonging to the
+state department, on the south, combined with the dock-yard and a few
+other large public buildings in the middle distance, give to the
+metropolis of America an aspect no way unworthy of its high destiny.</p>
+
+<p>Arrived at Shooter's Hill, the seat of Mr. D&mdash;&mdash;y, we were encountered
+with a welcome characteristic of a Virginian gentleman on his own soil,
+and worthy the descendant of an Irishman.</p>
+
+<p>Here then we dined, took our <i>tisan de champagne glac&eacute;e</i> upon the
+well-shaded gallery fronting the river, and in due time I mounted, and
+rode down to the city, to make my toilet and receive the Alexandrians.
+The first I soon effected, and the last I should have rejoiced to have
+also done; but they would not be received&mdash;"the more we waited, the more
+they would not come."</p>
+
+<p>I took possession of the stage, the only portion of the house occupied,
+where, eyed by half a dozen curious negroes, who were evidently
+amateurs, and by their good-humoured air ready<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> to become admirers, I
+awaited the appearance of the audience. In lieu of these, some half-hour
+after the time of beginning, Mr. Jefferson made his appearance <i>solus</i>,
+with an expression half comic, half vexed.</p>
+
+<p>"It's no go, my good friend," said I.</p>
+
+<p>"They're not come <i>yet</i>" said Mr. J.</p>
+
+<p>"Nor are they on the road, Mr. Jefferson."</p>
+
+<p>"They're a long way off, I guess, if they are," said he.</p>
+
+<p>"And won't arrive in time, that's clear. Hadn't you better postpone the
+business <i>sine die</i>?"</p>
+
+<p>"We've nothing else left for it, I fear," said Mr. J., taking a last
+careful survey of the well-lighted solitary <i>salle</i>: adding, "We must
+dismiss."</p>
+
+<p>"That ceremony will be quite superfluous," observed I, "unless as far as
+we ourselves are concerned, and our sable friends here."</p>
+
+<p>I had observed that the two or three little knots occupying the
+intervals of the side-scenes were evidently interested observers of our
+debate, and grieved and disappointed by the result. I should have liked
+to have put them all into the front, and then have acted to them, could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>
+one have insured their not being intruded on by any stray white-man. As
+it was, Mr. Jefferson begged me to consider myself at perfect liberty.</p>
+
+<p>"It's provoking too," added my good-humoured manager, who was quite a
+philosopher in his vocation; "for it's a pretty theatre, isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is a very pretty theatre," responded I. And so it was, exceedingly
+so. It had been built when the place flourished, and the community was
+prosperous and could afford to be merry. Now, trade having decayed, and
+money ceased to circulate, the blood has also grown stagnant amongst
+this once gay people: the fire is out and the drama's spirit fled.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Jefferson, however, had a much more summary mode of accounting for
+our desolate state; for, on my suggesting that his bills might have been
+ill distributed or his notice insufficient,&mdash;being rather desirous thus
+to find a loophole for my vanity to creep out of,&mdash;he convinced me that
+all points of 'vantage had been most provokingly well cared for.</p>
+
+<p>"What the plague can be the reason they won't come for <i>once</i>, at least,
+Mr. J.? One would be less surprised at their not answering to a second
+summons."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p><p>Jefferson shook his head, in a fashion that expressed more than even
+Puff designed Lord Burleigh's shake to convey:<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> adding, by way of
+commentary,</p>
+
+<p>"The Bank question, sir! all the Bank question!"</p>
+
+<p>I waited for no more, feeling that this was indeed an explanation
+sufficiently satisfactory; since, for some time, it served to account
+fully for every possible event, moral and physical,&mdash;the depression of
+the markets, the failure of the fruit-crop, the non-arrival of the
+packets, the sinking of stock, and the flooding of the Ohio.</p>
+
+<p>Joining my friends at the hotel,&mdash;an exceedingly good one, by the
+way,&mdash;we were soon once more in saddle; and, lighted by as beautiful a
+moon as ever silvered the smooth surface of the Potomac, off I dashed
+with them, for Washington at a slapping pace, in no way regretting my
+having visited Alexandria or my premature return, since my day had been
+most delightfully passed: and my not having a <i>soir&eacute;e</i> of my own,
+enabled me to assist at one given by a very charming and intelligent
+person, to which I was bidden, but in consequence of my engagement to
+Mr. J. had no hopes of attending.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> See "The Critic."</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p>
+
+<h3><a name="THE_FANCY_BALL" id="THE_FANCY_BALL"></a>THE FANCY BALL.</h3>
+
+<p>This species of entertainment, so common in Europe, is in a great
+measure a novelty in the States; for although in New York and
+Philadelphia <i>materiel</i> may be procured in abundance,&mdash;and there is no
+lack of either wealth or spirit to put it in requisition,&mdash;yet the
+society is too much divided to admit of numbers, and variety, sufficient
+to relieve the groups from sameness and consequent insipidity. At
+Washington, I believe, there had never been more than two or three
+attempts made; when, therefore, Senator W&mdash;&mdash;e, of Florida, issued cards
+for a "Fancy Ball," with little more than a week's notice, the whole of
+the visiting community was thrown into confusion, and, indeed, despair.
+A rush was at once made upon the <i>materiel</i>; the candidates were many,
+the supplies few; and all were eager to monopolise as far as was
+possible.</p>
+
+<p>In twenty-four hours after the summons had gone forth, not a plume of
+feathers, a wreath of flowers, or a scarf or ribbon <i>couleur de rose</i> or
+<i>flamme d'enfer</i>, could have been purchased in the city of Washington.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p><p>It was most amusing to assist at the consultations of the ladies: not a
+portfolio but what was rummaged, not a pencil but what was in
+requisition copying or inventing authorities for all sorts of real and
+imaginary costume.</p>
+
+<p>Every man who either possessed, or was supposed possessed of, an iota of
+taste, suddenly found himself greatly increased in importance. The
+position of these virtuosi became enviable in the extreme: they ran or
+walked about the streets with an air of well-pleased mystery, their
+hands filled with delicate-looking triangular billets; they entered the
+residences of the most admired belles without knocking; they were
+consulted, caressed, listened to anxiously, smiled upon gratefully: in
+short, for three or four days, their influence seemed only limited by
+their discretion; they moved "air-borne, exalted above vulgar men."</p>
+
+<p>But all human happiness is transient at best, and even the sovereignty
+of taste could not endure for ever. As the costume became settled, the
+fair clients fell off; the portfolios were returned with "thanks;" the
+drawings, so lately pronounced "perfect loves," and gazed upon as though
+worthy the creation of a Rubens, were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> now to be found doubled up in the
+card-rack, or transfixed by two or three pins on the cushion of a
+work-table; the three-cornered missives circulated in other channels;
+and the man of Taste found ample leisure once more to speak to a friend
+in the avenue, or fall quietly into the ranks at a dinner-party.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, up to the last hour, the ladies continued, if words might
+have been trusted, in absolute despair; and in truth, when one examined
+into the resources at their command, the case seemed desperate enough.
+To be sure, Baltimore was near, and was soon under contribution; even
+Philadelphia and New York were lightly visited, more than one belle
+having sent thus far for a dress. Some of these, by the way, were, like
+the Chevalier de Grammont's, swamped on the road, to the mortification
+of the fair expectants.</p>
+
+<p>Three or four gentlemen joined company in getting up a diplomatic group,
+which my friend Kenny's little comedy of "The Irish Ambassador" had here
+made very popular. Of this group I formed a part; and being honoured by
+the company of an embassy from a new quarter, in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> portly person of
+"His Excellency minister extraordinary, and Plenipotentiary, from the
+Dry Tortugas," together with his Secretary of legation and suite, our
+equipages, as we left Fuller's, made rather a formidable show.</p>
+
+<p>Many other well-dressed groups of men were known to us as being
+prepared, and it was for the ladies only I felt any fear of a lame
+conclusion. But what will not the ingenuity of woman effect when
+inclination prompts and pleasure leads the way!</p>
+
+<p>I entered the reception-room, quite sorrowing for one or two of my
+personal friends, whose regret at being so miserably unprovided up to
+the last hour had met sympathy from my credulous simplicity, when, lo!
+here I found these fair sly things set forth in character, all plumed
+"like estridges."</p>
+
+<p>We made our bows to the lady patroness, a very charming person, habited
+as Isabel de Croye, and attended by a suite of well-chosen characters,
+very tastefully gotten up. Here were girls so unquestionably Greek, that
+any good Christian would willingly have ransomed them without suspicion
+of their country or quality; together with Turkish maidens, whose
+appearance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> would have dazzled and deceived even the argus-eyed
+guardians of the Imperial serai.</p>
+
+<p>I was struck with the great variety of Asiatic costume present, of the
+richest and most perfect kind, both male and female: a couple of women,
+with fine black eyes and features of remarkable classic beauty, wore the
+costume of Tripolitan ladies of the highest rank, and it would be
+difficult to conceive anything richer or more strikingly picturesque.
+The Mediterranean is the favourite cruising ground of the American navy;
+and from this abundant wardrobe, of the most becoming costumes, every
+ship imports specimens for their friends at home. On this occasion these
+had been laid under requisition to excellent purpose.</p>
+
+<p>There were two attempts only, as far as I remember, to embody character,
+as is more usual in masquerade; but these were both remarkable for their
+excellence. The most striking in appearance was a young officer of the
+United States' army, habited as an Osage warrior, painted and plumed
+with startling truth. Surrounded by all that was presumed to be strange
+and bewildering, never for a moment did the well-trained young warrior
+forget what was due to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> himself or his tribe: he looked on with the most
+imperturbable <i>sangfroid</i>, moved about with the ease and self-possession
+of one to whom all he mingled with had been a matter of common usage;
+heard jests, questions, or friendly explanations with the most unmoved
+gravity, replying by an occasional "Ou, ou!" or a slow bend of his head:
+his patience was indeed worthy the most tried of the race he
+represented, for never did he lose it or forget himself for a moment. He
+was a very fine young man, and the features of his face appeared to have
+been moulded to his present purpose.</p>
+
+<p>The other was a Yankee young man, as he described himself, "jist come
+away south, to see about;" and who, "noticin' that all kinds o' queer
+men was comin' in here without payin' nothin', thought he'd best jist
+step in tu, and make one among the lot."</p>
+
+<p>And of a certainty he did make the queerest specimen I ever met in this
+or any other lot. The supporter of this character was young Mr. W&mdash;&mdash;r.
+The total change in his appearance was effected by a certain set of the
+hat and a mode of placing it on the head quite characteristic, together
+with an odd hanging on of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> coat and vest, which gave them the look
+of having belonged to some one else, and as likely to fit any one as the
+present wearer.</p>
+
+<p>I had seen the original of this picture in the north, I had also
+witnessed it admirably represented by Messrs. Hill and Hacket, the rival
+Yankees of the American stage; but neither of them, I think, were so
+minutely perfect or so whimsical as this new actor. The abstraction was
+complete; and the odd questions, guesses, complicated relations, full of
+drollery and wholly applicable to the present scene and the actors
+engaged in it, were replete with humour, exhibiting a compound of vulgar
+assurance, simplicity, and native shrewdness, not surpassed by any
+assumption I have ever witnessed.</p>
+
+<p>Although quite intimate with this gentleman, I stood for a while
+listening to him where he stood grinning amidst a group who were
+quizzing and questioning him, and for a short time imagined it was some
+veritable rustic they held immeshed. It was not until after I had
+learned who it was, that I succeeded in recognising a person who had
+been sitting with me that very morning.</p>
+
+<p>A few of the gravest of the senators alone had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> been privileged by the
+host to appear <i>en habit de ville</i>, and these paid for their privilege
+before they got clear off. Their potent seignorships, in truth, soon
+found themselves exceedingly ill at ease here: jostled by lawless
+pirates, lassoed by wild Guachos, and plundered of their loose cash by
+irresistible broom and orange girls, they were fain to make an early
+retreat, with as good a grace as might be assumed, under circumstances
+so subversive of all due gravity.</p>
+
+<p>If enjoyment be the object of such meetings, nothing could be more
+absolutely attained than it was at this little fancy ball; for a scene
+of higher festivity and good-humour no man could desire to assist at. It
+had, however, the sin to account for of keeping its fair patronesses
+together some two hours later than any other <i>f&ecirc;te</i> I witnessed in this
+most wisely merry capital.</p>
+
+<p>On reaching Fuller's, accompanied by a joyous knot of diplomatists, it
+was discovered to be over three hours past midnight; a novelty in
+etiquette which it was decided <i>nem. con.</i> would have "plenty of
+precedents <i>after</i>."</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="LIONS_OF_WASHINGTON" id="LIONS_OF_WASHINGTON"></a>LIONS OF WASHINGTON.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="THE_INDIAN_CABINET_HOUSE_OF" id="THE_INDIAN_CABINET_HOUSE_OF"></a>THE INDIAN CABINET.&mdash;HOUSE OF LEGISLATURE.&mdash;SENATE.&mdash;LADIES.&mdash;SENATORS.&mdash;PRESIDENT.</h3>
+
+<p>The principal lions of Washington, after the legislative chambers, are
+the Navy-yard, the President's mansion, the National Exhibition,
+connected with the patent-office, containing specimens of mechanical
+inventions either original or considered such by their industrious
+projectors, and lastly the offices for the department of State.</p>
+
+<p>In the latter was a chamber which to me offered more attractions than
+all the other objects put together: it contained a collection of
+original portraits of the most distinguished amongst the aborigines,
+allied with or opposed to the States.</p>
+
+<p>This is an object well worthy the care of government, and, it is to be
+hoped, one that will be persevered in, for yet but a few years, and here
+will be the only memento left of the Red-man within the land. Something
+is due to the memory of these savage warriors and legislators; this
+tribute serves to render them a sort of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>poetical justice, and wins a
+sympathy for their fate, through their portraits, which might have been
+withheld from themselves,&mdash;at least, judging of those I have seen,
+drunken, dirty, and debased.</p>
+
+<p>Here, indeed, they show gallantly out, the untameable children of the
+forest, the lords of the lake and of the river, some of them absolutely
+handsome, their costume being in the highest degree chivalric; many,
+unluckily, are clad in a mixed fashion, half Indian, half
+American,&mdash;grotesque, but unbecoming when compared with the gaudily
+turbaned and kilted Creek, or the plumed and painted Winnebago, who,
+leaning on his rifle beneath a forest tree, and listening with a keen,
+unwearying aspect for the coming tread of his foe or his prey, looks
+like a being never born to wear harness or own a master.</p>
+
+<p>A few of the chiefs are painted in the full-dress uniform of the
+American army, but are not for an instant to be mistaken; although Red
+Jacket, the great orator and warrior, and one or two others have
+features exceedingly resembling some of the Proven&ccedil;al <i>noblesse</i> of
+France: the common expression is, however, almost uniformly
+characteristic of their nature, cold, crafty, and cruel; I hardly found
+one face<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> in which I could have looked for either mercy or
+compunction&mdash;always excepting the women, of whom here are a few
+specimens. It would be but gallant to add to the number, if there are
+many such amongst the tribes; for the features of these are pretty,
+their expression truly feminine and gentle, with the most dove-like,
+loveable eyes in nature.</p>
+
+<p>I, some time after this, found a very fine work in course of publication
+at Philadelphia, containing coloured prints, large folio size, made from
+these and other original sources; with accurate biographical notices of
+the most important amongst the chiefs, and a detailed account of their
+history and habits. The author is Colonel M'Kenny, for many years
+resident Indian agent, living amongst and with the people he describes;
+and combining with these opportunities education, intelligence, and much
+enthusiasm on the subject. In this work will be given correct
+translations of their highly expressive but unpronounceable
+appellations; and as much justice done to their characters, as, I can
+answer for it, has been already rendered to their outward form and
+features.</p>
+
+<p>The courtesy which distinguishes officials of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> every rank in this
+country makes a visit to this, or any public place, not only a matter of
+pleasure but of profit to the stranger; since one rarely returns without
+some anecdote or information connected with the object visited, given in
+an off-hand agreeable manner, which is in itself a gratification. I have
+never been a sight-hunter in Europe, and this not from indolence or lack
+of laudable curiosity, I believe; but simply through considering the
+forms and difficulties that hedge in most places and persons worthy
+observance, more than equivalent to the gratification to be won from a
+sight of them. The case is different here: there is no unnecessary fuss
+or form; the highest public servants are left to protect themselves from
+impertinent intrusion; and to the stranger, all places that may be
+considered public property are perfectly accessible, without any tax
+being levied on his pride, his patience, or his purse,&mdash;matters which
+might be amended in England, greatly to the advancement of our national
+character, and in these reforming days not unworthy consideration.</p>
+
+<p>I was a good deal amused looking over the various costly gifts which
+have been, from time<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> to time, presented by foreign potentates to the
+distinguished public servants of America, all of which are here
+collected; the law not permitting those on whom they were bestowed to
+retain them, although yielding to the custom which has rendered such
+marks of courtly approbation customary amongst the great ones of Europe.</p>
+
+<p>I could not help smiling as I fancied the disgorgement of all the
+<i>cadeaux</i> exchanged between ministers and generals, and treaty-makers
+and breakers, since 1812, an epoch fruitful of such courtesies. Why, it
+would pay off the national debt of the general government of this
+country, and leave a surplus for watering the streets of the capital, if
+the legislature did not find fault with the appropriation, and continue
+to prefer being blinded, as they are at present, rather than purchase a
+few water-carts for the corporation, which it seems is too impoverished
+to afford any outlay on its own account.</p>
+
+<p>There was nothing that puzzled me more, on a first view of the matter,
+than the utter indifference with which the Americans look upon the
+exceedingly unworthy condition of their capital, when considered in
+relation with the magnitude, the greatness, and prosperous condition of
+their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> common country. During months of every session, the roads leading
+through the district of Columbia are all but impassable: independent of
+the discomfort and delay consequent upon their condition, hardly a
+season passes without some member or other being injured more or less by
+overturns, which are things of common occurrence; yet, only let
+government insert one extra item in the budget to be applied to the
+service of this their common property, and all parties from all quarters
+of the Union unite to reject the supply.</p>
+
+<p>I heard of a curious instance of this jealousy of poor Columbia whilst
+on my last visit here. The great avenue, or principal street, leading
+from the President's house to the Capitol, had recently been redeemed
+from mud according to the plans of M'Adam; but the exposure of the
+situation, and the nature of the material employed, rendered the
+improvement rather questionable: every breeze that now blew filled the
+atmosphere with thick clouds of dust charged with particles of mica,
+which really made it a hazardous matter to venture forth on a gusty day,
+unless in a closed carriage, when tired of sitting at home, suffocated
+with heat, or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>smothered with dust by the wind, which ought to have
+borne health and comfort on its wings instead of this eighth plague.</p>
+
+<p>Every one complained, all suffered; members, senators, the President,
+and the cabinet, all were having dust flung in their eyes, at a period
+when the commonwealth required that they should all be most especially
+keen and clearsighted. The Potomac, meantime, swept by them, clear and
+cool, and the classic Tiber could with difficulty be kept out of their
+houses. The Romans would have made their Tiber useful on such an
+occasion, and the ready remedy at length suggested itself to the
+half-smothered senators. The sum of a few hundred dollars was promptly
+voted to abate the evil, in conjunction with the Tiber, whose
+contribution was here on demand. The bill was, however, rejected on its
+farther course: the dust continued to rise, the people saved their
+dollars, their representatives continued blind, and the banks of the
+Tiber remained undrawn on.</p>
+
+<p>If you venture an observation upon this obvious absence of all decent
+pride in their capital, as being somewhat singular in a people who seem
+wrapt in their country, and solicitous that it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> should show worthily in
+the world's eyes, the case is admitted, and accounted for readily
+enough, but by no means creditably, in my mind.</p>
+
+<p>The members from Louisiana or Maine will tell you that they cannot
+satisfactorily account to their constituents for voting sums of money to
+adorn or render convenient a city these may never see, and for whose
+very existence they have no care.</p>
+
+<p>The man from the great western valley will shrug up his shoulders at
+your observation, admit its truth, but add, that the idea of the
+continuance of Washington, as the metropolis of the Union, and seat of
+the general government, is a ridicule, since this ought clearly to wait
+upon the tide of population, and be situated west of the Alleghanies.</p>
+
+<p>Neither of these answers are worthy the country or the American people:
+the citizen voters of these distant states should be reminded that the
+district of Columbia is their common property, and Washington the
+capital of their great Union, representing them in the eyes of
+strangers, and from whose present condition the least prejudiced
+European will find it difficult to avoid drawing injurious conclusions.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span></p><p>Without internal resources, and entirely dependent upon the government,
+it would be worthy their national grandeur to make this district a type
+of that grandeur; and its city, as far as all public buildings and
+general conveniences might be concerned, second to none in the world.</p>
+
+<p>Presuming even its occupation to be temporary, and that, at no distant
+period, it will be deserted, left again to the dominion of nature, to be
+once more incorporated with the forest,&mdash;why, a Russian boyard has
+raised as fine a city, to lodge his royal mistress in for one night, and
+set it on fire to light her home on the next after!</p>
+
+<p>Were it of a certainty to be deserted in ten years, I would, were I a
+representative about to be sent to it, say to my clients: "As for
+Washington, let us build, beautify, and render it habitable and
+convenient, so that, when hereafter the European traveller seeks its
+ruins in the forest, he shall never doubt but that he looks upon the
+site once honoured as the capital of the American people."</p>
+
+<p>I have, when in conversation with intelligent friends here, delivered
+similar sentiments, and they have smiled at them without admitting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>
+their justice or applicability: I now set them down for their further
+amusement, not because I imagine they will be a tittle the more
+regarded, but simply because such were my "Impressions" of Washington.</p>
+
+<p>I went several times to the senate-chamber and the hall of the
+representatives; but was not fortunate enough to hear a debate in the
+latter, or find any very important topic under discussion. Speeches I
+never found much attraction in anywhere, unless deeply interested in the
+subject of them; and those of the American assembly are rather made to
+be read than to be listened to. The arguments, thus delivered in
+Washington, are in fact directed to, and intended for, the constituents
+of the party, to whom they are directly forwarded in the shape of most
+formidable-looking pamphlets, no matter to what distance, post-free,
+serving as an exposition of the author's sentiments, and an evidence of
+his industry.</p>
+
+<p>In the senate I had the happiness to hear a slight matter debated, in
+which Messrs. Clay and Forsyth took part; and I was struck with the
+force and fluency of the one, and the gentlemanlike tone and quiet
+self-possession of the other. Mr. Henry Clay reminded me strongly of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>
+Brougham, when the latter happens to be in one of his mildest
+moods;&mdash;the same facility of words and happy adaptation of them; the
+same bold, confident air, as though assured of his auditory and of
+himself; and withal, a touch of sly caustic humour, conveyed in look and
+in manner, that an adversary might well feel heedful of awakening.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Webster, another of the thunderers of the senate, was in his place
+on the occasion I allude to, but did not rise, which I was exceedingly
+anxious he should do, for I had already heard him speak at Boston, and
+never remember to have been more impressed. The cast, and setting on, of
+his head is grand, quite antique, his features massive and regular, yet
+in their expression, and in the calm repose of his deep-set black eyes,
+there is a strong resemblance to the native Indian, with whose blood, I
+believe, the great orator claims close affinity.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Van Buren's manner I thought highly characteristic of his political
+character,&mdash;cool, courteous; with a tone quiet but persuasive, a voice
+low-pitched, but singularly effective from the clearness of his
+enunciation and well-chosen emphasis. He bestows an undivided attention<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>
+to the matter before the house becoming his situation.</p>
+
+<p>As vice-president, this gentleman is chairman of the senate; a situation
+at this time of peculiar delicacy, considering his position as the
+proclaimed director of the measures of General Jackson's cabinet, and
+heir to his party and his power. His filling this chair with so little
+reproach under assaults and provocations which it required the greatest
+good temper and good sense to encounter or turn aside, I consider no
+slight evidence of that wisdom and political sagacity for which his
+party give him credit, and which have acquired for him amongst his
+admirers the familiar cognomen of the Little Magician.</p>
+
+<p>The ladies, however, formed the chief attraction of the senate-chamber.
+Occupying a sort of passage or gallery on a level with and circling
+round two-thirds of the floor, here they sit, listening to their
+favourite speaker wherever he may be engaged, either before the
+President's chair boldly advancing the common interest, or behind some
+fair politician's, timidly seeking to advance his own, and hence, deal
+forth their award in well-pleased smiles, in due proportion to the
+eloquence of the speaker, public or private.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span></p><p>This is a custom the advantages of which I am sorry to find are about
+to be tested in England. Shame that a man should ever have to express
+regret that one other muster-place had been invented for a <i>reunion</i> of
+pretty faces! But such is my honest impression, and with me honesty is
+paramount;&mdash;a quality which must serve to balance my discourteous
+opinion, and restore me to the sex's favour. Then again, I am not of the
+Commons' House, or likely to be; and do not choose, perhaps, that the
+members should divide with me that part of my audience I value most, and
+would desire if possible to monopolize.</p>
+
+<p>Why then, it may be asked, are these your only reasons? In reply permit
+me to say, I have a reserve of minor importance, but which may be added
+as a make-weight to my graver argument,&mdash;I do not think the place will
+become them, or that the habit of hearing debates will improve them. I
+had as soon see a woman a dragoon as a politician: not a Hussar; for I
+have seen a lady of our land make a very dashing hussar, without
+forfeiting one charm as a woman. No: I mean a "Heavy," with jackboots
+and cuirass, helmet and horse-hair; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> to this condition will the
+novelty of the thing, if it becomes a fashion, possibly degrade our
+gentle, retiring, womanly women.</p>
+
+<p>Let me here, however, declare, that it does not appear to have had this
+fatal effect upon the American ladies, since I never found one amongst
+them who thought about talking politics, unless it was with some snob
+who was too stupid to talk any nonsense less dull. But then they are
+born to the manner, and very few of them resident in the capital. It is
+only a novelty, therefore, enjoyed once or twice; then yawned over,
+voted tiresome, and forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, our ladies, who would be most likely to monopolize
+the house, are in town for the whole session, eager for new excitement,
+and prepared to die martyrs to anything that may become the rage: then
+again, although I will answer for their capability of remaining silent
+during a debate, unless they are differently constituted from their fair
+kinswomen, t'other side the Atlantic, yet is there a coming and going, a
+rustling of silk and pulling off of gloves, a glancing of sparkling
+rings and yet more sparkling eyes, anything but promoters of attention
+or order in the house; besides the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>danger of a faint or two during a
+crush or a row amongst the members,&mdash;the latter, if one may rely upon
+the journals, a thing of nightly recurrence now.</p>
+
+<p>I have many other good reasons to advance, but as they chiefly apply to
+the younger members, I think it useless to add them; indeed, my object
+in saying so much is rather to justify my expressed opinion, than from
+either the desire or hope of seeing an order so likely to prove
+agreeable to the Commons' House rescinded.</p>
+
+<p>Politics have rarely run higher, or assumed an aspect more startling to
+a European, than during my residence in the States; and though it is not
+my intention to deal largely with a subject which every brother
+scribbler, who spends his six months here, arranges to his great ease
+and perfect satisfaction, yet, whenever I think my object of making the
+people known may be advanced by giving a smack of their politics, I
+shall do so with perfect freedom, considering this as ground on which
+the best friends may differ without any impeachment of good feeling or
+sound judgment.</p>
+
+<p>The assumption of a new power by the President in the removal of the
+national fund, upon his own responsibility, from the United States<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>
+Bank, and in violation of the terms of their unexpired charter, deranged
+for a time the credit of the community, and convulsed the land from one
+extremity to the other. During this panic, remonstrances and prayers for
+redress poured in from one party; whilst addresses, laudatory and
+congratulatory, were duly gotten up by the other.</p>
+
+<p>The sea-board cities, together with every trading community, crowded the
+capital with deputations, praying the President to restore the monies
+and heal the national credit, until their importunities became so
+frequent, so personal, and led to such undignified altercations between
+these delegates and the chief of the government, that the gates of the
+palace were fairly closed against them; and, as the Whig journals
+expressed it, "for the first time, the Republic beheld the doors of the
+chief magistrate barred upon delegates charged to pour out the
+sufferings of the people, to remonstrate against their causes, and to
+awaken their author to a sense of his tyranny and injustice."</p>
+
+<p>In senate and congress the tone assumed by this party against
+government, and the violence of the language used, become really
+startling to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> the ears of the subject of a monarchy: for instance, Mr.
+Webster, in a recent speech, drew a parallel between Sylla and the
+President, or <i>Dictator</i>, as he styled him, of the States, by no means
+disadvantageous to the Roman; showing how the tyrant of old first
+excited the populace, by the basest flattery, to overturn the
+restrictive power of the senate; which done, and his lawless will being
+left without a check, he turned upon his restless, ignorant allies, and
+slaughtering them by thousands, succeeded in prostrating their liberties
+and the freedom of his country: the speaker adding,</p>
+
+<p>"I fear the worst fate of Rome is hanging over us; whether that of Sylla
+be in store for our despot, I know not. Should he, however, abdicate at
+the end of three years (Sylla's term), he will be hunted by the cries of
+a guilty conscience and by the curses of an outraged people, more
+intolerable than the pangs which tortured in his last moment the Roman
+tyrant!"</p>
+
+<p>In anticipation of another speaker's assault, a journalist says,</p>
+
+<p>"We may, when he delivers his sentiments,&mdash;which will be indeed the
+reflex of public opinion,&mdash;look to behold the fur fly off the back of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>
+the treacherous old usurper, our implacable tyrant," &amp;c. &amp;c.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, the adulation of the administration exhausts
+panegyric in the President's praise: his qualities are proclaimed to be
+superhuman, his intuitive wisdom and farsightedness approaching to
+omniscience; by this party he, indeed, is all but deified. The
+vice-president proclaims that he shall consider it honour enough to have
+it known that he held a place in his counsels. Members of the
+legislature, of sound age and high character, dispute in their places
+within the house their seniority of standing as "true <i>soldiers</i> of the
+General's administration;" an odd title, by the way, independent of the
+strangeness of the avowal, for a representative of the people.</p>
+
+<p>The assumption of the act of responsibility, and its exercise, it is
+argued by this party, have been decisive as to the conservation of the
+<i>morale</i> of the country, without which their liberties were held by a
+tenure liable to be quickly subverted, and the blood, and toil, and
+treasure of their predecessors spent in vain; that the integrity of
+their institutions was by this act assured, and the continuance of the
+people's happiness and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> prosperity based upon marble, unimpeachable and
+to endure for ever!</p>
+
+<p>In every society, in all places, and at all times, this subject is
+all-absorbent amongst the men. Observing with pity a very intelligent
+friend arrested in the lobby of a drawing-room which was occupied by a
+whole bevy of beauty, and there undergo a buttoning of half an hour
+before he could shake off his worrier, I inquired with a compassionate
+air, just as he made his escape, "whether he would not be glad when the
+present ferment was over, and this eternal spectre laid in the sea of
+oblivion?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, indeed," replied my friend coolly; "since it would only vanish to
+be succeeded by some other, in reality not quite so important perhaps,
+but which, for lack of a better, would be made to the full as absorbing
+of one's time and patience."</p>
+
+<p>And this is strictly true: whatever subject may turn up is laid hold on,
+tooth and nail, by the <i>Ins</i> and <i>Outs</i> of the day, who, dividing upon
+it, lift banners, and under the chosen war-cry, be it "Masonry," "Indian
+treaties," or "Bank charter," fairly fight it out; a condition of
+turmoil, which, viewed on the surface, may appear anything but desirable
+to a man who loves his ease and quiet,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> and troubles himself with
+nothing less than with affairs of state, but which constitutes one of
+the personal taxes men must pay who look to govern themselves, or who
+desire to fancy that they do so.</p>
+
+<p>It is a matter of great regret to me that there occurred no levee whilst
+I was in Washington; because, had one taken place, I should have enjoyed
+the honour of a closer view of the venerable chief of the States than I
+could snatch from seeing him pass two or three times on the avenue. Not
+but that there are facilities enough afforded for a presentation to one
+who is never denied when disengaged from his public duties; facilities
+which it may be very right and proper for the American citizen to avail
+himself of, but which good taste might suggest to the stranger,
+especially the Englishman, it would be more becoming in him to forego:
+as it is, I have frequently, in travelling, heard Europeans talking with
+the most offensive familiarity of having called upon the President, who
+at home would have stood hat-in-hand in their county magistrate's
+office, waiting for an interview with the great man.</p>
+
+<p>As viewed on horseback, the General is a fine soldierly, well-preserved
+old gentleman, with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> pale wrinkled countenance, and a keen clear eye,
+restless and searching. His seat is an uncommonly good one, his hand
+apparently light, and his carriage easy and horseman-like;
+circumstances, though trifling in themselves, not so general here as to
+escape observation.</p>
+
+<p>His personal friends, of whom I know many most intimately, speak of him
+with great regard, and describe him politically as one whose singleness
+of purpose and integrity of mind, in all that relates to his country,
+can never be fairly impeached upon any tenable ground. With these
+friends, without regard to rank or station, he lives at all times on the
+most familiar terms. When in his neighbourhood, they visit him as they
+have ever done, without finding the slightest increase of form; and,
+over his cigar, the President canvasses the events and receives the
+opinions of the day with all the frankness of an indifferent party,
+neither affecting nor enforcing mystery or restraint.</p>
+
+<p>His address is described as being naturally fluent, pleasing, and
+gentlemanlike: this I have from a source on which I can confidently
+rely; for both the wife and sister of an English officer of high rank,
+themselves women of remarkable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> refinement of mind and manners, observed
+to me, in speaking of the President, that they had seldom met a person
+possessed of more native courtesy or a more dignified deportment.</p>
+
+<p>To another of the great ones of the land I had an introduction, which,
+as it is characteristic of the man, I will here relate. One afternoon,
+about dusk, being on my way to a family party at the house occupied by
+the late Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Southard, I thought I had run down
+my distance, and began an inspection of the outward appearance of the
+houses, all puzzlingly alike, when a couple of men, lounging round a
+corner, single file, smoking their cigars, chanced to cross my track.
+Addressing the rearmost, I inquired, "Pray, sir, do you chance to know
+which of the houses opposite is Mr. Southard's, the senator from New
+Jersey?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do know where Mr. Southard's house is," replied the stranger, eyeing
+me as I fancied somewhat curiously; "though it is not exactly opposite.
+But surely you and I have met before now,&mdash;more than once too, or I am
+greatly mistaken?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is more than probable, sir," replied I, "if you are fond of a
+play. My name is Power, Mr. Power of the theatre."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span></p><p>"I thought so," cried the stranger, holding out his hand; adding
+cordially, "My name, sir, is Clay, Henry Clay, of the senate; and I am
+glad, Mr. Power, that we are now personally acquainted."</p>
+
+<p>I need hardly say, I joined in expressing the pleasure I derived from
+any chance which had procured me this honour, begging that I might not
+detain him longer.</p>
+
+<p>"But stop, Mr. Power," said the orator;&mdash;"touching Mr. Southard's;&mdash;you
+observe yonder long-sided fellow propping up the post-office down below;
+only that he is waiting for me, I'd accompany you to the house; which,
+however, you can't miss if you'll observe that it's the very last of the
+next square but one."</p>
+
+<p>With many thanks for his politeness, I here parted from Mr. Clay, to
+pursue my way according to his instructions, whilst he passed forward to
+join the tall gentleman, who waited for him at some distance near the
+public building which he had humorously described him as propping.</p>
+
+<p>An accidental interview of this kind, however brief, will do more to
+prejudice the judgment for or against a man, than a much longer and more
+ceremonious intercourse. I confess<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> my impressions on this occasion were
+all in Mr. Clay's favour; they were confirmatory of the <i>bonhommie</i> and
+playful humour ascribed to him by his friends and admirers, who are to
+be found throughout every part of the country.</p>
+
+<p>The very day following this little incident I bade adieu to Washington,
+after a second prolonged visit. I had here encountered and mixed with
+persons from every State of the Union, and became thus in possession of
+the means of making comparisons, and drawing conclusions, such as no
+other single city, or perhaps any period less generally exciting, could
+have supplied.</p>
+
+<p>I quitted it gratefully impressed in favour both of its private society
+and of the kind and hospitable character of its citizens generally. I
+had, whilst here, without delivering a letter, received unlooked-for
+attentions and kindnesses from persons the most distinguished for
+character and talent: attentions which I am as hopeless of ever being
+able to return, as I am incapable of ever being desirous to forget.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="BOSTONB" id="BOSTONB"></a>BOSTON.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="JOURNEY_ACROSS_THE_ALLEGHANY_MOUNTAINS_PITTSBURG" id="JOURNEY_ACROSS_THE_ALLEGHANY_MOUNTAINS_PITTSBURG"></a>JOURNEY ACROSS THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS.&mdash;PITTSBURG.</h3>
+
+<p>The season continued to wear away without any severe demonstration; and
+by the 19th of February, the day on which I reached New York on my way
+from Washington to Boston, I found the first boat advertised for the
+passage, just open, to Providence,&mdash;a piece of good luck, by hitting
+which I was saved a land journey of two hundred miles.</p>
+
+<p>We were detained by a fog in the Sound for a few hours, but reached
+Providence by three o'clock <span class="smaller">P.M.</span> next day, and were just ten hours going
+the forty miles between that place and Boston; one extra bad bit of
+about three miles took an excellent team exactly two hours to pull
+through it. I could not conceive the possibility of this road, which I
+had seen three months before in a very fair condition, being so utterly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>
+washed out; but the heavy snows of these Northern States would penetrate
+ways of adamant, and will for ever exclude them from attaining the
+perfection of a well-kept turnpike.</p>
+
+<p>A little after one o'clock <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> I was rattled up to the door of the
+Tremont; where, late as the hour was, I found friends waiting up for me,
+and experienced what at all times is a pleasure, but more especially
+after such a cold jolting,&mdash;a warm welcome.</p>
+
+<p>I was now a resident of this city for a month, during which time I
+enjoyed a continued series of the most friendly attentions. I found
+three or four men, who, like myself, were fond of riding, and together
+we rambled over the whole of the surrounding country; and a beautiful
+country it is, with its island-gemmed bay and gaily-painted country
+seats. One of these, the house of Colonel Thomas Perkins, is seated
+within grounds well kept and tastefully laid out, with a very extensive
+range of noble hot-houses, within which, at this season and in this
+latitude, the fruit and flowers of the tropics were to be found in their
+freshest bloom and beauty. I think these grounds are more agreeably
+broken, offer a greater variety of soil, and command a finer prospect of
+land and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> sea, than any place I ever visited of equal dimensions.</p>
+
+<p>We wanted nothing, on many of the fine open mornings we now had, but a
+pack of good foxhounds: the land is better cleared than it is farther
+south, the covers smaller, with fewer swamps, and no fencing that might
+not be crept round or got over by even a moderate-going man.</p>
+
+<p>I had heard a good many amusing anecdotes of the infinite respect with
+which the country people of New England view and address persons of
+their own grade, and the utter disregard of decent ceremony which they
+evince towards all others: there appeared something so whimsically
+exaggerated in these stories, that I never had received them as
+veritable history; and when the Duke of Saxe Weimar told of the
+coachman's inquiring "Are you the man going to Portland? because, if you
+are, I'm the gentleman that's a going to drive you," I set it down for a
+good joke, illustrative, perchance, of a <i>brusquerie</i> of manner which
+did exist, but not in itself strictly true. I have, however, during my
+present sojourn here, received good corroborative evidence of its being
+a veracious report.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span></p><p>I went out on one occasion to partake of a fine black bear, that had
+been killed at a house famous for the plenty, the quality, and cooking
+of game. There were eight or nine men of the party, some of whom had
+ridden out on horseback: in going over a rail-fence close to the house
+we were to dine at, the horse I rode struck both hind feet and cast his
+shoes: as soon as I got into the yard, where some of the party had
+already dismounted, I inquired for the ostler. A good-humoured,
+active-looking fellow immediately made his appearance, with whom, being
+desirous to have my nag's feet looked after before we set out on our
+return, I was led into the following dialogue.</p>
+
+<p>"Pray, have you a smithy in this neighbourhood?"</p>
+
+<p>"We've gotten a blacksmith or two, I guess."</p>
+
+<p>"At what distance is the nearest blacksmith's forge?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I don't 'no; there is a shop about half a mile maybe, or
+ther'bouts."</p>
+
+<p>"Can you have this horse taken down there to get the two hind shoes put
+on?"</p>
+
+<p>"Guess not, 'cept I car' him down myself."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, will you carry him down yourself?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span></p><p>"Well, you see, I can't tell about that nohow at present. Guess I will,
+if I can tho', by an' by."</p>
+
+<p>"But why can't you say whether you will or will not? I'll pay you for
+your trouble. Have you any objection to taking the horse down?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh no! not at all, by no means. I've no objection nohow to obleege you,
+if, you see, I can find some other gentleman to look after my horses
+whiles I go."</p>
+
+<p>My companions, who had been enjoying this cross-examination of my
+equivocal friend, now laughed outright, and heartily did I join in the
+guffaw: they were to "the manner born," and it was my puzzled expression
+that so tickled them; to me, after the first surprise was over, the
+whole thing was indescribably droll. I caught instantly "another
+gentleman," an idler about the public-house door, who, for a shilling,
+found the cast shoes, and undertook to do for the horses whilst the
+first gentleman, of the stable, led my nag away to the forge.</p>
+
+<p>This was a very fair specimen, but we were to be favoured with another
+and a better. Mr. T. P&mdash;&mdash;s, a son of the Colonel's, one of the foremost
+citizens of this State, was driven out in his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> English landau, with
+certain delicacies not to be expected where we dined. As the coachman,
+who was a servant of the old Colonel's, drew up by the inn-door, he was
+immediately recognised, and saluted most cordially by the landlord; who,
+addressing him by his name,&mdash;Jenkins, or whatever it was,&mdash;hoped he was
+quite well, and was "uncommon glad to see him." During this ceremony,
+Mr. P&mdash;&mdash;s had alighted; and, in order to be particularly civil,
+observed with great good-humour to the landlord,</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, my friend, what you remember Jenkins, do you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why yes, I guess I ought," replied our host of the game; "I've know'd
+Muster Jenkins long enough, seein' he's the <i>gentleman</i> as used to drive
+old Tom P&mdash;&mdash;'s coach."</p>
+
+<p>The fact was, the man knew the Colonel&mdash;or old Tom P&mdash;&mdash;s, as he styled
+him&mdash;quite well, but had forgotten Mr. P&mdash;&mdash;s, who had been much in
+Europe, and was, moreover, put quite out of his latitude by the English
+landau Mr. Jenkins was driving: he guessed, I suppose, that this
+<i>gentleman</i> had hired a new master, and had consequently turned off the
+family of his old one.</p>
+
+<p>Odd as all this sounds, the strangest part of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> the matter is, that there
+appears no disrespect, nor churlishness of manner, conveyed or implied
+by this reversal of conventional distinctions. I can at least answer for
+the ostler, who required some other <i>gentleman</i> as <i>aide</i>, turning out
+on this, and on other occasions, a most assiduously civil fellow; and as
+for our host, he served up the steaks of his bear as though it might
+never have danced to any but the "genteelest o' tunes," and himself have
+been its instructor.</p>
+
+<p>He certainly gave us, in a plain but comfortable way, the best game
+dinner possible, including trout and codling of the finest flavour. Let
+me add, that I liked the bear vastly; and, after assisting to pick his
+ribs, carried away the skin which had once covered them,&mdash;not the least
+delicate portion of this bruin, by the way, for it was the blackest and
+richest fur, of the kind, I ever saw.</p>
+
+<p>I quitted this hospitable city on the 10th of March, and remained in New
+York until the 20th, when I departed for Pittsburg <i>vi&acirc;</i> Philadelphia;
+although, from the little I had seen of stageing, I would have given a
+trifle to have been off the engagement, which I had made without
+contemplating the difficulties to be expected in a stage journey of
+three hundred miles over the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> Alleghanies at this early season. I had
+latterly, however, heard enough of the condition of this route, or line
+as it is called; but the intelligence was of a colour anything but
+cheering.</p>
+
+<p>At Philadelphia I took my place for Pittsburg, in the "Good Intent
+line," professing to carry only six inside; but this excellent intention
+of the worthy proprietors must be consigned to the commissioners of
+pavement in a certain unmentionable place, since it was never fulfilled.
+We commenced our journey with seven, the book-keeper making it a favour
+that we should take in one gentleman who was greatly pressed for time. I
+perceived, as we started, another person get outside, which made us
+eight.</p>
+
+<p>We were very soon transferred to the Columbia rail-road, which was in
+progress and now travelled upon for about twenty-one miles: along this I
+was rolled over the viaduct whose commencement I had noted, and, I
+believe, regretted. According to Mitchell's description, it crosses the
+Schuylkill at a place called Peter's Island; is one thousand and
+forty-five feet long and forty-one wide, being thirty feet above
+water-mark. Of the elevation, when I crossed on this occasion, we had an
+excellent opportunity of forming an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> opinion; for, except a pathway in
+the centre, the spaces between the beams had not yet been filled in, so
+that we looked through on to the water running beneath: the workmen were
+hard at it covering over and filling up; but it was passable in its
+present state, and therefore, "Go a-head was the word:"&mdash;there's no time
+lost here, i'faith! Immediately on crossing this viaduct, you come on an
+inclined plane two thousand eight hundred and five feet long: this
+struck me as being admirably contrived.</p>
+
+<p>I was very sorry when we were once again to be re-packed in our stage.
+Though one gets accustomed to anything in time, I never exactly brought
+myself to view these frequent transfers as a part of travelling to be
+rejoiced in. Our system of running a coach through a journey is not yet
+adopted here; they still stick to the old plan,&mdash;every proprietor his
+own vehicle; consequently you are for ever trundling from one to
+another, to your own great discomfiture, and to the destruction of any
+but the toughest sort of trunks.</p>
+
+<p>I forget how often we changed coach on this journey; indeed, I fancy
+that, during the third night out, I might have effected a transfer or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>
+two in my sleep; but I recollect that they were vexatiously frequent,
+and would have been more grievous had the weather been less generally
+fair.</p>
+
+<p>My fellow passengers were, luckily, with one exception, thin spare
+fellows, all citizens of the frontier State of Illinois; the fat subject
+was a countryman of my own, who had been for many years a resident at
+Pittsburg, and was a merry, contented son of Erin as ever jolted over
+these rough roads, which he informed me he did once at least in every
+season.</p>
+
+<p>We soon shook into shape: the condition of the turnpike, after the woful
+accounts I had received, appeared to me exceedingly passable; indeed, it
+was infinitely better than any part of the one between Washington and
+Baltimore, or than the Boston and Providence turnpike, as I had last
+experienced it. The country through which we rode was under excellent
+cultivation; the barns attached to the roadside houses were all large,
+brick-built, and in the very neatest condition. The approach to
+Lancaster, a fine town about forty miles from Philadelphia, was very
+beautiful, and bespoke the people rich in agricultural wealth. I have
+seldom seen a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> finer valley, or one under more careful cultivation.</p>
+
+<p>The next large place we arrived at was Harrisburg, the capital of the
+State of Pennsylvania: it was midnight when we reached it; but I
+immediately walked to look at the State-house, where the legislature
+assembles, and about which are ranged the public offices.</p>
+
+<p>The mass appeared large; and the effect of the buildings with their
+lofty classic porticos, viewed under the influence of a fine starlight
+night, was imposing enough: the situation is well chosen, appearing like
+a natural elevation in the midst of a plain, and overlooking the waters
+of the Susquehannah, above whose banks the city is built.</p>
+
+<p>One always feels something like disappointment on entering one of these
+capitals, although previously aware that the site is selected with
+regard only to the general convenience of the community, and without
+reference to the probabilities of its ever becoming important for its
+trade or of monstrous size. A European accustomed to seek in the capital
+of a country the highest specimens of its excellence in art, and the
+utmost of its refinement in literature, and indeed, in all which relates
+to society, is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span>necessarily hard to reconcile to these small rustic
+cities, whose population is doubled by villages he has only heard named
+for the first time whilst journeying on his way to the Liliputian
+mistress of them all. As places of meeting for the legislature, I am of
+those who think the smallness of the population an advantage. Firstly,
+the members are freed from the expense consequent upon living in large
+cities; and next, the chambers are removed from having their
+deliberations overawed or impeded by any of those sudden outbreaks of
+popular madness to which all people are prone, and to which the nature
+of this government more immediately exposes it, without possessing any
+power quickly to arrest or even control such licence.</p>
+
+<p>Harrisburg is highly spoken of for the salubrity as well as the beauty
+of its site, and gives promise of becoming important in point of
+population; at present its inhabitants are about four thousand.</p>
+
+<p>From this we steered away to the southward, until at Chambersburg we
+struck the direct road leading from Baltimore to Pittsburg. We had a
+rough night of it; but a halt of an hour at Chambersburg in the morning,
+enabled me to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> make a comfortable toilet and get an excellent breakfast.
+Here we took the first spur of the mountains, and from this were on a
+continual ascent.</p>
+
+<p>Up the longer and steeper hills I constantly walked, and was often an
+hour in advance of the stage. This mountain region is certainly a very
+fine one, and I do not think its grandeur has ever been done justice to
+in description. Its attributes are all gigantic: it has the picturesque
+ruggedness of the Appenines, without their barrenness; since the valleys
+lying between the ridges, wherever they have been cleared, give
+evidences of the richest soil. A view from any hill top, however, shows
+these clearings to be mere specks in the surrounding forest, which yet
+clothes richly the sides of each interminable ridge you cross, fringes
+their most rugged summits, and waves over the loftiest peaks.</p>
+
+<p>At Bedford Springs there is a most excellent inn; but the one at a
+miserable village called Macconnelville, presented an aspect anything
+but inviting: the precaution of Mr. Head, however, had made me
+independent of supplies. On quitting the Mansion-house he had fitted up
+a small basket with sundry comforts, which were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> of infinite use to
+myself and comrades, they served as a speedy introduction and a durable
+cement to our friendship.</p>
+
+<p>I like these Western men; their off-hand manner makes you at once at
+your ease with them: they abound in anecdote growing out of the state in
+which they live, full of wild frolic and hardy adventure, and they
+recount these adventures with an exaggeration of figure quite Oriental,
+in a phraseology peculiar to themselves, and with a manner most
+humorous.</p>
+
+<p>Much amongst strangers, they have a quick appreciation of character;
+and, where they take a dislike, are, I have no doubt, mighty troublesome
+customers; they are, however, naturally courteous, and capable of
+genuine and inbred kindness, as a little anecdote of my present trip
+will serve to illustrate.</p>
+
+<p>On the morning of our second night out, I observed the Major and his
+friends holding a council just as we were stepping into the coach. We
+were eight persons, which gave three sitters to two of the seats and two
+to the third; by way of relief, my servant or myself frequently mounted
+the box, enabling the parties to separate,&mdash;a luxury of no mean
+importance. On this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span>occasion I noticed, on being about to take my seat,
+which was the front one, that it was unoccupied, Sam being on the box,
+and three persons on each of the other seats. On requesting that one of
+the sitters by my fat friend would share the vacant front with me, the
+Major informed me that the arrangement was preconcerted, as they knew I
+was not quite so well used to rough roads as they were, and had work
+before me on getting to my journey's end; begging me to fix myself
+comfortably on the seat, and try and sleep for an hour or two.</p>
+
+<p>This being a piece of unpurchasable, unthought-for consideration and
+civility, I conceived it as well worth notice as the many instances of
+brutality which ill-used travellers put on record; but it is by no means
+the only example I have seen of these rough subjects' innate kindness,
+and, I may add, good-breeding. There is, with them, a give-and-take
+system whilst thus roughing it in company, they seek no exclusive
+advantage, and evince no selfishness; but they are quick-sighted and
+shrewd observers, and I would recommend any who desire to travel
+comfortably with them, to carefully suppress any exhibition of
+over-regard for self.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span></p><p>With this precaution, let a stranger, and a British subject, be only
+known as such, and if a preference should occur, I will answer for his
+standing a good chance of getting it.</p>
+
+<p>Here I enjoyed my first lesson in what is familiarly termed riding a
+rail; and from all such railways I hope to be spared henceforward. The
+term is derived from a fence-rail being occasionally used to supply the
+place of a broken thoro'-brace, by which all these stages are hung; and
+these are, in fact, the only sort of spring that would endure the load
+and the "rough breaks" their virtue must go through.</p>
+
+<p>We broke down by a sudden plump, into a hole, that would have shaken a
+broad-wheeled waggon into shavings. Our driver did not approve of any of
+the fence-rails in the vicinity, so plunged into the wood, accompanied
+by one of my Western companions; and in ten minutes they returned,
+bearing a young hickory pole, that the driver assured us was "as tough
+as Andrew Jackson himself,<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> and as hard to break, though it might
+give a leetle under a heavy load." This was shoved under the body of the
+carriage,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> and rested upon the fore and hind axles: it was lashed fast,
+and the spare part of the spar was left sticking out behind, like the
+end of the main boom of a smack. The coach body, when rested upon this,
+was found to have a considerable list to port; but to have brought it to
+an even keel would have been a work of time,&mdash;not that such a thing was
+contemplated for a moment. The driver was enabled by this ingenious
+substitute for a carriage-spring to "go ahead:" the rest was luxury,
+which the "Good-intent line" did not bargain for; so we were left to
+trim ship to our liking. Contrary to all my experience, I insisted that
+the heaviest part of our cargo should be stowed at the bottom, for to
+have had my countryman's eighteen stone of solid stuff to prop up, for
+twenty miles, would have required the shoulders of Atlas.</p>
+
+<p>Whilst walking up the mountains, I frequently overtook settlers moving
+with all their worldly goods over to the great Western valley. I
+generally exchanged a few words with them, and with the more
+communicative now and then had a considerable long talk. Most of them
+were small farmers and mechanics from the Northern States, who followed
+here in the wake of kindred or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> neighbours, their plan arranged and
+their location determined upon. One or two heads of families, however,
+told me they were just going to look about, and did not know rightly
+where they might set up.</p>
+
+<p>I overtook one old couple attending a single-horse waggon up
+Laurel-hill; and surely, if any laurels awaited them at the summit, they
+were hardly enough won. The appearance of this pair attracted me as I
+approached the rocky platform where for a moment they had halted to
+breathe: the woman was a little creature, dressed in an old-fashioned
+flowered gown, with sleeves tight to the elbows, met by black mittens of
+faded silk, and a very small close bonnet of the same colour. She had
+small brass buckles in her shoes; a cane, like those borne by running
+footmen, in one hand, and upon the other arm a small basket, rolled up
+within which lay a tabby cat, with which she held a conversation in what
+sounded to me like broken French and English.</p>
+
+<p>The man was a son of Anak in altitude, somewhat bent by years, but
+having a soldierlike air. His white hair was combed back, and gathered
+behind into a thick club: he wore a long greatcoat, which, if made for
+him, gave testimony to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> a considerable falling-off in his proportions,
+for it hung but loosely about him; had a very broad-leaved hat set
+jauntily on one side of his head; and supported his steps upon a sturdy
+stick.</p>
+
+<p>I saluted this singular-looking pair, and was by the lady honoured with
+an especially gracious curtsey, whilst the gaunt old man bade me good
+day in an accent decidedly foreign. I patted the cat of the basket,
+addressing it in French, and was in a moment overwhelmed by the delights
+of its mistress, who <i>ciel</i>'d, and <i>mon-Dieu</i>'d, and <i>quel-plaisir</i>'d,
+until, if her tall <i>mari</i> had not stepped in to the rescue, I do not
+know to what lengths her delight might not have carried her.</p>
+
+<p>The horse was sufficiently rested; the man who drove it was ready to
+proceed; and the ancient Parisienne, for such she was, had once more to
+ensconce herself beneath the canvass covering of the waggon, into which
+I had the honour of assisting herself and her cat, amidst thanks and
+excuses blended with all the graceful volubility of a well-bred
+Frenchwoman,&mdash;for well-bred she was, beyond a doubt.</p>
+
+<p>"My poor little woman!" said the old giant, as, after the twentieth
+adieu, I joined him where<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> he waited a little in advance of the waggon,
+and quickened my pace to keep up with his strides,&mdash;"she is made too
+happy for to-day to hear a gentleman address her in her own language,
+and by whom she can be understood;" adding, "You are not a Frenchman,
+sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am not," said I, smiling; "but should imagine you are, by the
+compliment you so adroitly infer."</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir," rejoined mine ancient, "I am a Biscayan; bred a ship-builder,
+but at present a house-carpenter."</p>
+
+<p>"But you speak English like a native: how is that?" inquired I, desirous
+of continuing the dialogue thus begun.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been forty years in this good country, and have made better
+progress than my poor little woman, though she is well educated and I
+have no learning to help me."</p>
+
+<p>"Madame, then, is not Spanish?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir, she is of Paris; and, what is very odd, that is nearly all she
+ever told me of herself. It was in the winter of 1792 that I first met
+my poor little woman: I had slept within a few miles of Havre, and was
+just turned away from the cabaret, when a little boy joined me,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span>requesting that I would let him walk with me to the town. We fell into
+chat, when I discovered that my new friend had no passport, but that he
+had money, and was desirous to escape from France, no matter to what
+place. He was in great trouble; cried much; said he had lost all his
+friends, and begged me not to desert him.</p>
+
+<p>"It would be too long a story to tell you all the trouble I had to get
+him on board ship with me; but, sir, that little boy is now in the
+waggon where you handed him."</p>
+
+<p>"Your wife!" exclaimed I, affecting surprise, and really greatly
+interested. "But when did she disclose her sex to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, sir, there was no great need of disclosure after we once got to
+sea; her cowardice told her story, but I kept her secret till we arrived
+at Philadelphia, where we married; and in the lower part of this State
+we have lived ever since quietly enough, until lately."</p>
+
+<p>"And what, at your age, could induce you to cross the mountains, my
+friend?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, sir, work was scarce in our country place, and I'm told there's a
+heap of building raising about Pittsburg, that's one reason; but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> the
+truth is that our politics have changed a good deal in Pennsylvania of
+late. In a scuffle at the bar of our hotel, this last election, I got
+knocked down and trodden on; my arm was broken, and I a good deal hurt;
+and my poor woman took such a horror of the little bit of mobbing we had
+that she would make me pull up stakes, and here we are on our last
+move."</p>
+
+<p>We walked on side by side, until the waggon was left far behind and the
+coach came up. We had a long talk on the subject of politics; and,
+although a stanch American and a republican, I found my friend was
+opposed to "the removal of the deposits,"&mdash;the universal test of the
+day,&mdash;and by no means a whole-hog man. But he said, "It is a fine
+country and a fine people; I am a citizen, have lived here forty years,
+and hope to die here."</p>
+
+<p>Wishing that his desire might have a late fulfilment, I shook the honest
+veteran's hand; and we parted for ever, after an intercourse of three
+hours had created a sort of fellowship between us. Here was an humble
+chapter from the romance of real life, gleaned, where such an adventure
+was least expected, in one of the passes of the Alleghanies.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span></p><p>The walk up this hill was, independent of the good companionship I
+enjoyed, in itself fine: the road circling about dark ravines, from
+whose thickly-wooded deeps rose the hollow murmur of closely-pent
+currents, whose waters had rarely reflected the rays of the sun; and in
+other places clinging to the steep precipice, from whose side it had
+been cut, and which was yet burthened with the half-burnt trunks of
+hundreds of noble trees that had fallen to make place for it. The view,
+too, from the summit was glorious; and I thought as I looked below,
+northward and eastward, where two wide openings gave a boundless stretch
+of valley to the eye, that my journey was well repaid: but it was not
+over yet; and, before we reached Pittsburg, I do not know but that there
+were moments when I would have retracted this burst of enthusiasm.</p>
+
+<p>The third afternoon and night it rained incessantly; the road from
+Youngstown, or Greensburg, being nearly as bad as that memorable
+Washington turnpike. The delays, too, were unnecessary and frequent; at
+some of the changing-places the servants had to be roused, and this was
+no easy task. Now and then, an extra<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> independent hand refused to get
+up, or denied us help when he was up; in which case the poor devil of a
+driver was left to his own resources, with, now and then, the aid of a
+half-naked, wretched negro.</p>
+
+<p>The travelling of the "Good Intent," taking the roads into
+consideration, was a capital pace, the horses excellent; but I have set
+down, that, on a pretty fair estimate, making allowance for the
+exaggerations of discomfort and ill-humour, about nine hours on the
+whole line were lost for want of the commonest attention, and the
+passengers greatly inconvenienced without any advantage accruing to the
+proprietors.</p>
+
+<p>At length we emerged from the slough, and about daylight on the third
+morning were rumbled over the <i>pav&eacute;</i> of Pittsburg.</p>
+
+<p>The inn was closed; but the rough assault of my Western friends soon
+roused the bar-keeper, who got his door open just in time to save his
+lock from a huge paving-stone, with which the angry Major purposed to
+test its power of resistance.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, you're in an uncommon hurry," exclaimed the half-awakened
+bar-keeper.</p>
+
+<p>"That's more than we can say of you,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> stranger," retorted the Major.
+"What was you about that you didn't hear the coach? Maybe it was the
+rain made such a noise you couldn't?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; does it rain that hard, though?" gaped the matter-of-fact mixer of
+liquids.</p>
+
+<p>"I guess it does; and if it wasn't that you've got the key of the
+liquor, it would be only right to put you out into it for an hour; for
+you are the hardest-hearted white-man I ever come across, this side the
+mountains, or you'd a' moved quicker to let in a dog on such a night."</p>
+
+<p>A rousing fire and some hot whisky and water soon restored our
+good-humour: a bed was quickly arranged for me by a good-natured negro,
+who had, I verily believe, just crawled out of it; a fire was lighted in
+the little hole it occupied; and in half an hour I was fast asleep on
+the banks of <i>la belle rivi&egrave;re</i>.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> "Old Hickory" is one of the familiar names by which his
+lovers delight to designate the venerable President.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="PITTSBURG" id="PITTSBURG"></a>PITTSBURG.</h2>
+
+<p>My first visit, at an early hour on Monday morning, was to the banks of
+the Monongahela, which ran by the bottom of the main street, wherein I
+was lodged. The water was at this time low, being fifteen feet under its
+highest level: the point of junction with the Alleghany lay, as I
+discovered, some way below. The opposite heights, which rise boldly from
+the water's edge, looked dark and drear enough, covered as they are with
+a stubble of blackened stumps, and a few blasted trees, the ghosts of
+the ruined forest. The political economist, however, would find ready
+consolation in the mounds of coal-dust, the dingy low-roofed buildings,
+together with the swinging of a hundred cranks, worked by the engines
+whose smoke is seen curling along the face of the steep hill. It is to
+give place to these iron giants that the forest has been felled; and to
+supply these with fire, the mountain is in this direction pierced to its
+centre.</p>
+
+<p>Nature has supplied this place with wharves;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> and the people appear
+quite contented with her handiwork, for they are left as she made them.
+I counted fourteen steamboats all busied in taking in or discharging
+freight; and the river was here and there dotted by keels of a rude,
+picturesque construction: everything, indeed, gave evidence of active
+and prosperous trade.</p>
+
+<p>I from hence made a circuit of the principal part of the town, which is
+soon accomplished, for it offers nothing externally to arrest the
+passer-by for a moment: the streets are narrow, irregular, and
+ill-paved; the houses as dirty as the smoke of bituminous coal can make
+them, and, though substantially built, are in general wholly destitute
+of neatness or ornament.</p>
+
+<p>Upon Grant's Hill, a spur of one of the surrounding heights, that
+thrusts itself boldly into the heart of the delta on which the town is
+built, I found a Gothic edifice almost completed, the magnitude and
+tasteful design of which attracted me: I entered it, and perceived at
+once that it was a place of Catholic worship. From a communicative
+little man, whom I observed for some time eyeing me with a sociable
+look, I learnt that this was the cathedral; and it stands a pleasing
+memorial of the liberality of the sects<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> of this town, having been
+raised by voluntary subscriptions made among the numerous congregations
+of the place.</p>
+
+<p>It is a grateful task to record such evidences of the existence of true
+Christian charity; they reconcile one to one's fellows, and serve to
+balance the barbarous acts of bigotry and blindness which yet
+occasionally disgrace the age and degrade humanity. This edifice, when
+completed, will be an attractive object, both from its commanding site
+and the character of its architecture, which is of the florid Gothic,
+tastefully sustained throughout.</p>
+
+<p>Descending the steep bluff of Grant's Hill, I entered the theatre, which
+lies within its shadow. This building was not yet a year old, and
+offered one of the neatest-formed interiors possible, calculated to
+contain about one thousand persons. It had all the offices and
+appointments of such an establishment, well and conveniently arranged;
+and in this respect might serve as a model to more important-looking
+houses. The ornamental parts of the interior were already disfigured by
+the smoke which fills this atmosphere day and night, and fully
+exonerates the people from the charge of being <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span>wilfully regardless of
+neatness and <i>propret&eacute;</i> in the arrangement of their dwellings.</p>
+
+<p>I found the manager, Mr. Wemyss, at his post, and all things in
+tolerable order. At night the house was filled; though how the people
+made their way home again I do not know: even the short distance I had
+to explore on the line of the principal street, I found beset with
+perils; loose pavement, scaffold-poles, rubbish, and building materials
+of all kinds blocked up the <i>trottoir</i> in several places, which were to
+be avoided by instinct, for light here was none, natural or artificial.
+At length, after a few stumbles, I was securely housed in a small room,
+which I was promised the exclusive use of, and wherein the cheerful
+light of the bituminous coal, that blazed like pitch-pine, in my mind
+made ample amends for the dust it created, and of this, the amount was
+by no means trifling.</p>
+
+<p>The next day I was joined by Lieutenant I&mdash;&mdash;d, of the cavalry corps
+about to advance on an expedition through the prairies, and across the
+hunting-grounds of the Nomade tribes, ranging over the still
+slightly-explored regions lying between the Mississippi and the Rocky
+Mountains. We were ancient comrades of the spur and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> snaffle, having
+harried the low country in company far and wide; and, the morning being
+fine, we were quickly mounted for a raid through this new land.</p>
+
+<p>Crossing the long bridge over the Monongahela, a muddy, turbid-looking
+river, we commenced the ascent of Coal Hill, so called from the great
+quantities of this material it supplies; along its base lies a range of
+busy manufactories, and the roar of the steam-engine resounds on all
+sides. Here, too, is a growing town, called Birmingham; but it must
+overleap the mountain, or, following the galleries by which the miners
+have already penetrated to its centre, become a subterranean city,
+before it can hope to rival even a suburb of its gigantic sponsor.</p>
+
+<p>We had much difficulty in scaling the hill; the track was knee-deep in
+heavy mud, and in trying to follow a narrow ledge, by which we
+calculated to avoid this impediment for a hundred yards, I&mdash;&mdash;'s horse
+made a false step, and fairly rolled down a precipitous descent of some
+fifty feet into the road beneath, to the infinite amusement of a group
+of miners, who had probably been "guessing" that such a termination to
+our scramble was likely: they now swore that a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> better Racker<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> down
+hill they had never seen. I&mdash;&mdash;d had thrown himself adroitly out of his
+seat on the upper side of the ledge the very instant of the brute's
+slip, and, being unhurt, soon caught the astonished nag, which remained
+quietly looking about by the bottom of the precipice, half buried in an
+avalanche of shingle and small coal he had loosened in his course.</p>
+
+<p>Once on the summit of this coal-hill, the plan of the growing city of
+manufacture lay displayed as on a chart beneath our feet, together with
+a great extent of country, and the course and character of the two fine
+rivers which, combined at this spot, take henceforward the name and
+style of the Ohio, or River of Beauty.</p>
+
+<p>The course of the muddy Monongahela is north-west; and, from about
+north-east, the clear, lively Alleghany comes bounding into it,
+breasting its turbid waters, and bearing their heavy mass back by its
+brisk charge close against the western bank, whence, side by side, they
+take their downward course, but each preserving its distinctive
+character and colour for a considerable distance; divided by a pretty
+verdant island, about a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> couple of miles below their junction, they each
+embrace a moiety of it, renewing their churlish fellowship once more
+when this obstacle is passed.</p>
+
+<p>The town stands upon a small alluvial delta, of a triangular form, at
+the exact point of union between the rivers,&mdash;a spot so lovely, that, as
+I looked upon it, much as I respect manufactures, I found myself
+involuntarily wishing that fate had reserved it for some less dirty
+purpose. As the city grows, it must of necessity climb the steep bluffs
+by which it is encompassed; and on these it is not too much to imagine,
+at no far period, the squares, terraces, and crescents of a wealthy and
+public-spirited community; whilst, within the crowded triangle beneath,
+the clang of the noisy steam-engine and the black smoke will lie
+drowned, and along the narrow strips of level soil skirting its rivers
+will rise the warehouses and wharves of its commerce.</p>
+
+<p>To the north of the Alleghany you see the little town of that name, with
+one or two buildings conspicuous, at this distance, for their size:
+this, too, is united to Pittsburg by a bridge of great apparent
+lightness and strength.</p>
+
+<p>From the abutting hill whence we took our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> first long survey of this
+congeries of future cities, we took a western course, following the line
+of the Ohio; but holding to the high lands, till coming back, when we
+made a <i>d&eacute;tour</i> to the north, and thus got frequent and fine views of
+the neighbourhood.</p>
+
+<p>The country appears generally hilly, with rich glens and valleys lying
+between, having numerous streams of clear living water, and presenting
+every proof of exhaustless mineral wealth; hence its adoption by the
+industrious swarm whose fires darken the sky by night and day.</p>
+
+<p>The day after this, I&mdash;&mdash;d embarked on board a steamer for Louisville,
+on his way to join the head-quarters of his corps, somewhere upon the
+Missouri. The Republic allows no sinecure pay to its soldiers: most of
+these gallant men pass the best half of their lives upon the frontier,
+wasted by sickness, removed far from society or sympathy, poorly paid
+and worse thanked, enjoying very little present consideration, and
+without hope of future fame. It must require an ardent imagination, and
+all the romance with which poetry has invested sword and feather, to
+keep an American soldier to his colours in this time of peace; as, on a
+sober worldly view,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> his appears the least enviable condition to be
+found in the community.</p>
+
+<p>I on this day took a solitary ride up the Monongahela, and visited the
+scene of Bradock's defeat and death. I found it all snugly fenced in,
+and under good cultivation. An intelligent farmer, who was on the spot,
+good-naturedly undertook, in answer to an inquiry I made, to act as
+<i>cicerone</i>. The localities appeared like a book to him: he told where
+the French lay <i>perdu</i>; pointed out the cover from whence the British
+advanced, to be repulsed headlong; where they, according to his legend,
+were re-formed, and once more thrust forward, to be again, and finally,
+overthrown.</p>
+
+<p>I understood the minutest details of the whole affair, as well as the
+positions occupied by French, English, Indians, and Virginians, before
+my good-natured guide appeared quite satisfied; at least, I was forced,
+out of consideration for my own time and his patience, to say so much,
+and with many thanks to leave him: not, however, until he had urged me
+strongly to come home and take tea with his wife, or at least take a
+drink with him; one or both of which I pledged myself to do on a future
+occasion.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span></p><p>It was not a little amusing, at this distant day, to observe the ardour
+with which my guide canvassed the lost fight, of which he had read, as
+he informed me, twenty different accounts.</p>
+
+<p>"It was a shame," he said, "a right-down sin, and a throwin' away of
+men's lives, ever to have put them under Bradock's command," whom he
+accused of having "no more military gumption than a goose."&mdash;"Why," he
+said, "two companies of British grenadiers would have eat every
+<i>crapaud</i> on the ground, if they'd bin let to go round and in at one end
+o' the ditch, instead of walking right straight up hill agin' the loaded
+muzzles of guns they couldn't see, only by the smoke out o' the long
+grass."</p>
+
+<p>Then he would take off his hat, wipe his brow, and fairly knock it
+against his knee with vexation at the British defeat.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, sir," he said, at the same time grasping my thigh, where I sat in
+my saddle, with an energy that brought tears into my eyes,&mdash;"why,
+mister, just do you look up at that little knoll to the right; the place
+warn't cleared then, and there was a heap o' dead timber lying
+there-bout. Well, sir, Washington sent, out of his own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> head,&mdash;for he
+warn't a deal thought on then, you see,&mdash;a company of Virginians to try
+the trees for it. Well, now just look where they were fixed by that
+move, right over the <i>crapauds</i>,&mdash;every mother's son o' them Virginians
+good for a squirrel at fifty yards. I'm d&mdash;&mdash;d if they wouldn't have
+used up every human of a Frenchman behind the drain, if it had been left
+to a settlement between them, and if the English would only quietly ha'
+looked on, and kept Johnny from breaking cover and treeing it."</p>
+
+<p>"And why the devil didn't they use them up?" I here demanded, to give my
+vexed informant time to breathe.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you why, if you don't know. Why, because that d&mdash;&mdash;d Bradock
+was blind as well as deaf, and took the Virginians for inimies; so, not
+bein' able to get at Johnny, he slamm'd it right smash into them, and
+killed the biggest half on 'em as they were tryin' to run back to their
+own side. Sir, it was nothin' better than an eternal murder, and Bradock
+ought to have swung for it; but he was shot down, somehow or other, and
+died amongst better men, only shootin' was a sight too good for him."</p>
+
+<p>Taking the statement of my friend for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> ground of my opinion, I left
+him, at once amused by his enthusiasm and informed by his intelligence.</p>
+
+<p>I did purpose keeping tryst with my new acquaintance, and having the
+battle fought over again, when I might have been able to do some justice
+to the force and spirit of his narration; but other routes were to be
+visited, and my time was limited to a few days: so we met no more.</p>
+
+<p>On another day I rode by the United States' Arsenal, a fine building,
+inclosing some acres. It is well situated, near the banks of the
+Alleghany, about two miles out of the town. This is one of the most
+considerable <i>dep&ocirc;ts</i> for arms and ordnance stores to be found in the
+Western country.</p>
+
+<p>From this I pursued my way up the river for a mile or two, to where, at
+a pretty quiet spot, I observed a boat just leaving the bank for the
+north side. I hailed the ferryman, and he returned immediately, when,
+adding myself and nag to his freight, he again commenced pulling up the
+stream, assisted by a couple of curly-headed urchins, his sons, two out
+of twelve, as he laughingly told me; adding, that they were capital
+helps.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span></p><p>We had a couple of market-waggons aboard the flat, each drawn by a pair
+of horses. The river, I fancied, was here about as wide as the Thames at
+Southwark, running clear and strong; the banks tolerably bold, very
+regular, and fringed by a luxuriant growth of various trees and
+water-loving shrubs. On the other side I fell on the Pennsylvania canal,
+and I for a mile followed the line by which it approaches the town of
+Alleghany, till, coming to a rough high hill, I was tempted to try the
+ascent, which, after a good deal of ducking and scrambling, I
+accomplished.</p>
+
+<p>The prospect from the summit amply repaid me: at my feet lay the growing
+town of Alleghany, which stands on a fine alluvial plain affording ample
+space for a city as large as Pekin; with two ports, one on the
+Alleghany, the other on the Ohio. I here traced the course of the canal
+to the aqueduct on which it crosses the river. Two fine steamers, with
+their galleried decks tier over tier, were stemming the current, each
+looking like the old wood-cut of Noah's Ark,&mdash;houses built upon rafts,
+of three stories high, with balconies running round them, the whole
+being covered by inclined roofs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> Many of the picturesque-looking keels
+found here were also working up for the quays; and the waters just
+before the busy town presented a strange contrast to the view either up
+or down the rivers, where all was tranquil and solitary as when the
+light <i>pirogue</i> of the adventurous <i>voyageur</i> first timidly skimmed
+along by their rich shores, sending the startled deer to the mountain
+and drawing the watchful savage down.</p>
+
+<p>How to get back was now a consideration without retracing my steps, to
+do which I had neither the instinct nor the inclination. I pushed for a
+near wood, from which I perceived smoke stealthily curling over the tree
+tops; and, after a long threading of the thicket, stumbled upon a little
+colony of charcoal-burners, the blackest and the merriest devils I ever
+met: they might have been Iroquois, or negroes, from their colour; but
+the first reply I got to my hail rendered any inquiry as to country
+unnecessary.</p>
+
+<p>"Hola! my friend," shouted I at the top of my voice, as a tall,
+half-naked being stalked out of one of the huts, from which I was
+separated by a deep ravine; "pray step this way for one moment."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span></p><p>The man did as I desired, without a word; a couple of attendant imps
+hanging on to the strings of his knees.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sorry to trouble you," I added, as he drew within easy
+speaking-distance; "but the fact is, I have lost my road, and fear to
+lose my dinner."</p>
+
+<p>"I'faith, thin, sir, if you'll tell me where-abouts you lost the road
+I'll find you the dinner, and go and look for the road while you're
+atein' it: with the blessing o' God, it will be the first road I seen
+since I've bin this side o' Pittsburg, to say the laste."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe you've seen a fine aisy-goin' road betune Cork and Cove?" I
+replied, in the same accent.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe I hav'nt," grinned the pleased charcoal-burner, laughing from ear
+to ear. "Och murder! you're the devil, sure! wasn't it the last ten
+miles I ever toed of Irish ground? Long life to you, sir! wait till I
+call the wife. Molly ashtore, come out av id, for here's a witch of a
+gintleman here. Jem, you robber, go and bid your mammy stir herself and
+come here."</p>
+
+<p>Away ran Jem and his brother, or rather flew, for their feathers were
+fluttering in the air. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> laughed immoderately whilst my countryman,
+with the most puzzled air, exclaimed,</p>
+
+<p>"Och murder! but it's the quarest thing alive. Sure you must have know'd
+us?"</p>
+
+<p>He was now joined by his wife and two or three others of the little
+family, who all appeared nearly of an age. Poor Molly, the Mistress,
+looked weak and haggard, and told me she "had the shakes on her for the
+last six months." She was affected to tears when her husband told her of
+my witchcraft, in knowing where they were from, and joined in begging
+that "I'd come round and take a bite o' cake and a sup o' spirits and
+water, to keep me from feelin' faint till I got to my dinner."</p>
+
+<p>I requested, however, as my time was short, that one of the little ones
+might at once put me on the nearest track by which I would reach the
+bridge; and finding I would not accept their hospitality, the father of
+the family, attended by Jem, walked along with me to where a bridle-path
+led on to a waggon-track, which he desired me to pursue. Here I left my
+friendly countryman, and with a "God send you safe home, sir!" he turned
+to his own humble dwelling, to think with a full heart of that distant
+home my chance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> visit had recalled in all its freshness, and which,
+although he may never look to revisit, no son of poor Ireland ever
+forgets.</p>
+
+<p>A circuitous route led me on to the main road, pursuing which I soon
+reached the bridge; but on my way through the street was struck with the
+growing air of this place, which I cannot help thinking is one day
+destined to be the great city of the river of beauty.</p>
+
+<p>I entered the smoky Pittsburg, more than ever charmed with the scenery
+amidst which it is seated, still beautiful despite the ravages of the
+miner and the pollution of steam, smoke, charcoal, and all the other
+useful abominations attendant upon the manufacture of iron, glass,
+pottery, &amp;c. The wealth and various attractions of this rich heiress of
+Nature have proved her undoing.</p>
+
+<p>The greatest ravage which I had to mourn, because it appeared carried to
+a wanton and heedless extent, was the havoc everywhere making with
+barbarous and indiscriminate zeal amongst the neighbouring timber. I
+looked about upon the nearest hills, many of which are already bare,
+denuded of every shrub; and sorrowed to think that even such others as
+yet rejoiced in their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> rich forest garb were but enjoying a brief
+respite from the axe and flame, being assuredly condemned and marked for
+destruction.</p>
+
+<p>Every man here, in fact, is at work "for his own hand;" and as each
+proprietor is desirous to make the most he can of his acres, these burn
+and destroy on all sides, never feeling satisfied that their land is
+cleared whilst a single tree lives to tell where once the forest waved.</p>
+
+<p>In noticing the well-fenced fields, the comfortable dwellings,
+substantial offices, and generally excellent condition of these farms,
+one can hardly credit the history of the settlement of this Western
+country, when it is considered that, amongst these well-cleared and
+well-cultivated fields, within the memory of living men, the Indian
+ranged and the uncouth buffalo herded, and that the first "white-man"
+born west of the Alleghany is still living: by the way, a whimsical
+anecdote relating to this gentleman is current in Pittsburg, and which I
+here relate as I myself received it.</p>
+
+<p>At a public dinner, Mr. R&mdash;&mdash;, the person alluded to, being present, had
+his health proposed and cordially drunk, as "the first white man born
+west of the Alleghany." Now Mr. R&mdash;&mdash; happening to be very
+dark-complexioned, a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span>waggish countryman of mine, who was seated next to
+him, could not help adding, with a sly air, having repeated the toast,
+"and not particularly white either."</p>
+
+<p>"Why that's very true," returned the subject of this jest, with much
+good-humour; "and the reason assigned for the exceeding redness of my
+skin is in itself not a little illustrative of the late condition of our
+country, which is, in fact, the true subject of this toast.</p>
+
+<p>"Shortly after my father had located his family on the Ohio, my mother
+was, whilst in the act of fetching water from the stream a little way
+outside the stockade within which our dwelling stood, startled by the
+near whoop of an Indian warrior, and, on raising her head, perceived
+close beside her a chief of the neighbouring tribe; she instantly fled
+like a deer; and, being young and active, gained the shelter of the
+stockade, within which, however, she fell exhausted, but was so
+preserved. Some time after I was ushered into life; and the darkness of
+my complexion was always referred to the chance of my mother having been
+thus frightened and followed by the young Indian."</p>
+
+<p>"And a mighty natural mode of accounting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> for the same," replied Pat;
+adding with a most provoking air of simplicity, "but may I ask did you
+ever hear your poor mother say whether the Indian overtook her or not?"</p>
+
+<p>The last night I acted here was made memorable by the jovial condition
+of a couple of the leading members of the corps dramatic, and as it
+chanced, diplomatic. The play was "The Irish Ambassador," and the first
+news I had of my principal colleague, his Excellency the representative
+of his most Catholic Majesty, was, that he had arrived, but in a state
+unfit for our purposed conference, having been rendered utterly
+incapable by an imprudent application of gin cock-tail, prescribed, as
+his Excellency himself assured me with tears in his eyes, as a sovereign
+remedy for a disorganized state of nerves, to which he was unhappily
+subject.</p>
+
+<p>An excuse was made for the unavoidable absence of the Spanish minister,
+on the score of ill-health; and the indulgence of the meeting requested
+for one of the <i>attach&eacute;s</i>, who had boldly undertaken to read the absent
+diplomatist's instructions at first sight. This point got over, we
+proceeded smoothly, as might be expected, until the period when his
+Highness the Grand-duke<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> was required in person, when it became evident
+that, through sympathy or some cause less sentimental, the Prince too
+was royally rocky: availing himself of his rank however, he made shift
+to reach a chair, and, aided by the support it afforded, maintained his
+place at the conference.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing could exceed the charitable forbearance with which this
+republican assemblage looked upon the fallen condition of royalty:
+whether they judged that it was no way out of character for a German
+sovereign and the possessor of a hock-cellar to be fuddled, or whether
+they considered that this was no bad specimen of royalty to exhibit to
+their children's contempt, I know not; but, happily, the signs of their
+displeasure fell lightly on his Highness, and our negotiation was at
+length, though lamely, brought to a conclusion.</p>
+
+<p>On Tuesday the 8th of April, at eight o'clock <span class="smaller">P.M.</span> I once more took my
+place in the Good Intent, to re-cross the Alleghanies; when, turning our
+backs upon the River of Beauty, we slowly traversed the dark streets of
+its sooty neighbour; for, strange to tell, although the material for gas
+lies at their doors in exhaustless abundance, and although they use a
+great quantity of coal-coke for manufacturing purposes, the streets
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span>remain as dark as the extremity of their deepest mine on a holiday.</p>
+
+<p>This too, I found upon inquiry, was by the good citizens laid to the
+account of the "removal of the deposits." "It is enough," they say, "for
+one side to originate a question, however obviously excellent and
+desirable, to have the antagonist party oppose it, and make the measure
+a new watchword to try battle on."</p>
+
+<p>I was informed of one spirited individual having offered to light the
+place with gas on his own risk, but, as a matter of course, he was
+immediately opposed by both parties; and so matters will rest, until the
+good people, wearied of being kept in the dark, open the eyes of their
+divided corporation; and in those days will the Pittsburgians cease to
+walk in darkness, and become what, considering the quantity of coal they
+possess, they are well entitled to be,&mdash;a gas-enlightened community.</p>
+
+<p>It was raining when we departed, and continued to rain all night, as we
+weltered through the mud. Next morning, although a shower yet fell, I
+became so weary of the close confinement of the stage, that I alighted
+at the foot of Laurel Hill, and, putting stoutly forth, pushed on ahead<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span>
+of the heavy vehicle. The road winds about the steep side of the
+mountain, and from several points affords grand views of the forest,
+valleys, and humbler hills below. The early shrubs were already putting
+forth abundant leaf and blossom, for the winter had been singularly
+mild, and the quiet air was impregnated with sweetness.</p>
+
+<p>When very near the top of the mountain,&mdash;for the ascent is full four
+miles,&mdash;I encountered one of those groups which appear in constant
+progress along the great Western line. The extent, however, of the
+present caravan made it peculiarly interesting. It consisted of five
+long, well-covered waggons, each drawn by eight or six horses, was
+attended by three or four led nags, and a number of dogs of various
+denominations. The occupants of the waggons were women and children: the
+faces of the chubby rogues were all crowded in front to look upon the
+passing stranger, with here and there a shining ebony phiz thrust
+between; the chief freight appeared to consist of household furniture
+and agricultural implements.</p>
+
+<p>By the side of these waggons first rode four or five horsemen, well
+mounted, who might be the principals of the party, for they were men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span>
+past the meridian of life; straggling in the rear, or scattered along
+the edges of the forest, walked eight or nine younger men,
+rough-and-ready-looking fellows, each with his rifle in his hand. Wild
+pigeons abounded along the cover-edge, and the sharp crack which every
+now and then rang through the thin air of morning told that the hunters
+were dealing upon them.</p>
+
+<p>From the construction of the waggons, as well as because their owners
+evinced no inclination either to hold communion or exchange civilities
+with a passing wayfarer, which no Southern ever fails to do, I concluded
+this to be a party of New England men, who, abandoning their worn-out
+native fields, were pushing on for the "far West" with the lightness of
+heart consequent on the surety of reaping a brave harvest from a soil
+which withholds abundance from none who possess hearts and arms to task
+it.</p>
+
+<p>With what apparent indifference, if not positive pleasure, do the people
+of this country quit their ancient homes, and wander forth in search of
+new ones, to be again, in turn, deserted, if not by themselves, by their
+restless and enterprising children! The Tartar habit of movement and
+frequent change, which is, I fancy, natural to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> man, finds in no country
+at the present age such inviting facilities as are offered in this, nor
+could a people be found who more fully enjoy them.</p>
+
+<p>I looked upon this well-ordered, sober party with much pleasure; and as
+I stood upon the mountain top, and thence watched their downward track,
+I found my mind actively employed picturing their after progress and
+accompanying the line of their long travel. First, came their repose and
+rest, as in their plentifully-furnished flat they slowly drifted down
+the smooth course of the near Ohio; then, their after-journeying through
+the wilderness in search of a pleasant spot on which to rear their huts
+and make to themselves a home; now followed their early and
+long-enduring toil, accompanied perhaps by the sickness of their
+children and the pining of their women, whose sensibilities, more acute
+than those of men, ever revert in seasons of sadness to the far-off
+places their young days made pleasant; and, lastly, when, after years
+had passed away, and that their well-fenced fields were teeming with a
+plenteous harvest, I beheld their sons gathering together their
+inheritance and setting forth in search of another new country, within
+which they might resume the toil of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> their fathers. Man may change the
+scene of his labour, but the evil of his condition is not to be evaded;
+and alike, from the most fertile as from the most barren soil, by the
+sweat of his brow must his bread be won.</p>
+
+<p>I here waited, sheltered by a rocky projection, until the stage came up.
+The continuance of the rain effectually prevented me from indulging in
+any more walks this day; the tedium of the journey however, whilst light
+lasted, was greatly relieved by the constant changes of mountain
+scenery, as viewed through an atmosphere now wildly clear and again
+thick and gloomy.</p>
+
+<p>I found considerable amusement also in calculating the fair odds against
+our being pitched into some one of the many deep ravines along whose
+edge we were, when going down hill, whirled with startling speed. It was
+at these descents that the driver sought to pull up his lost time; and
+this he did with a recklessness of consequences that led me, after
+mature consideration, aided by the experience of much rough travel, to
+come to the following conclusion,&mdash;that, in crossing the Alleghany
+mountains, when the roads are rotten and slippery, the chances for and
+against a broken neck are so nearly equal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> that no sporting man, of any
+liberality, need desire to seek odds, should he feel inclined to make a
+bet before commencing the journey.</p>
+
+<p>We at times encountered a string of waggons at some narrow sharp turn of
+the corkscrew path, and were whirled by them, with our off-wheels
+curiously circling the unguarded ledge of a precipice some four or five
+hundred feet deep, where a wheel-horse suddenly jibbing, or a leader
+shying or falling, would, in all human probability, have provided the
+wolves and bears with a banquet, and the journalists with a neat
+paragraph, headed, "Melancholy result of fast driving, attended with
+serious loss of valuable lives."</p>
+
+<p>The practice is for the team to be put on a run the moment they gain the
+summit of a hill; and, if all things hold out, this is kept up until the
+bottom be reached: the horses are excellent, and rarely fail. On my
+asking the coachman,&mdash;by whom I rode as much as possible,&mdash;what he did
+in the event of a wheel-horse coming down in a steep pass, he replied,
+"Why, I keep driving ahead, and drag him along;"&mdash;an accident which he
+assured me had occurred more than once to himself when the roads were
+encrusted with ice and snow: the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> passengers at such times are placed in
+sleighs, which are perhaps less dangerous.</p>
+
+<p>On the morning of Thursday we once more arrived at the frontier town of
+the low-lands of Pennsylvania,&mdash;Chambersburg; and here I quitted the
+"Good Intent" line, transferring myself, servant, and kit to the
+Baltimore stage; and at three o'clock <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> on Friday, I was set down,
+cold and weary and wet, at the door of Barnum's hotel. A few thundering
+knocks brought down the porter, and I was admitted within shelter of the
+well-warmed hall, with</p>
+
+<p>"Och murther alive! Mr. Power, is it yerself, sir? Why, thin, you're
+welcome!"</p>
+
+<p>And in five minutes after, I was in a comfortable chamber, and a blazing
+fire of wood rising under the inspection of my Irish porter. Anxious to
+conclude my journey, I desired him to rouse me in time for the eight
+o'clock stage to Washington, though, Heaven knows, I could have slept
+for twelve hours at the least; and so tumbled into bed whilst the man
+was yet regretting the "mighty haste" I was in.</p>
+
+<p>By nine <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> I was once more rolling off the pavement of the monumental
+city. But what a change was I experiencing! The sun shone<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> cheerily, as
+though rejoicing in his conquest over the cold mass which had so long
+imprisoned him, and all around appeared to hail his presence with
+gladness: the wind was light and mild, the road, which I had seen two
+months before all but impassable, was now, by comparison, excellent, and
+the surrounding country, then so bleak and bare, was now rejoicing in
+the beauty of early spring. My fatigue was all forgotten, and I enjoyed
+my present ride as though I had not before known what a bone-breaking
+jolt was.</p>
+
+<p>At two o'clock <span class="smaller">P.M.</span> Washington once more lay beneath me, with the broad
+Potomac beyond, looking like a currentless transparent lake, clipped
+about by finely wooded irregular heights, and navigated by fa&euml;ry barks.
+Such was the aspect this noble river presented, and just such the little
+fleet of fishing-boats scattered over its bosom, busied in pursuit of
+the shad and the herring, now coming into season.</p>
+
+<p>To my great joy, I found my excellent friend, Captain B&mdash;&mdash;n, was still
+resident at Fuller's: my old rooms had that day been vacated for me, a
+few hours beheld me comfortably installed, and the rough-work of the
+past trip across the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span>backbone of the continent only served to enhance
+my present enjoyments.</p>
+
+<p>The Impressions left by my present residence I have already given in an
+embodied form to the reader. I shall therefore beg him to accompany me
+back to Philadelphia, and thence <i>vi&acirc;</i> Princeton to New York.</p>
+
+<p><i>May 26th.</i>&mdash;A lovely morning: landed from the Delaware steamer at
+Bordenton, and rode thence to Princeton on horseback, sixteen miles;
+passing two royal residences by the way, first, that of Joseph
+Buonaparte, and next a queer-looking, low, quadrangular building,
+inhabited by one of the sons of Joachim Murat, ex-king of Naples. On
+reaching the hospitable house to which I was bound at Princeton, I
+encountered the prince, paying a visit to my friend Mr. T&mdash;&mdash;n. He is a
+tall, robust-looking personage, very fat, and fond of race-horses; but
+has not, as I learn, been over-lucky on the turf.</p>
+
+<p>One can never meet and contemplate any of these far-flung fragments of
+Napoleon's mighty empire without reverting with renewed interest to the
+founder of so much unlooked-for though brief greatness. Sheltered
+beneath his Titan &aelig;gis these new-made monarchs flourished, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> ruffled
+it with the best of Europe's princes; until, grown vain of their fancied
+power, they deserted their shield and shelter, leaving it to abide
+unsustained the assault of an outraged world, and, whilst, forgetful of
+their origin, seeking to stand alone, were shattered into atoms by its
+fall!</p>
+
+<p>What a capricious climate is this! On Tuesday the 27th of May, I rode
+from Princeton to Brunswick, on a day as sultry as a July afternoon ever
+is in England; the heavy showers of the 25th had so saturated the sandy
+soil that no particle of dust could float, and the verdure of wood and
+valley was bright and refreshing to look upon. Yet here we are in New
+York, on the 28th, with large fires burning within, a north-east wind
+blowing without, attended by alternate sleet and showers, with fog and
+every other atmospheric misery most grievous to humanity. This sample of
+"the spring-time of the year" continued tolerably regular until</p>
+
+<p><i>June 6th.</i>&mdash;This day the sun is fairly on duty again. Rode to the
+course on Long Island, the third day of the present meeting, to witness
+a race which had called up North and South to arms. Trifle&mdash;a little
+mare of Colonel Johnson's, the Nestor of the American turf&mdash;had come on
+from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> Virginia to be entered against Shark, the property of Captain
+Robert Stockton, about to run his first four-mile race, a horse much was
+expected from. Alice Grey, the mare which I had seen beaten easily by
+Trifle at the fall meeting, was the only other entry expected to be made
+good; so that the thing was considered as a match between the two horses
+first named. For the only time I saw ladies present in considerable
+numbers, and was sorry that the gallantry of my sporting friends had not
+provided them with a more becoming stand.</p>
+
+<p>All was tiptoe expectation; but the anticipated sport fell through,
+owing to the ill condition of Shark. He was, from some cause or other,
+as completely out of order as an animal could well be, and ought
+properly to have been drawn. His spirited owner was, however, absent in
+Europe, and the friends who acted for him decided that he should do his
+best. Two heats, run in very indifferent time, decided the affair; and
+the little pet of the Southerners was once more hailed <i>victrix</i>.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Racking is a sort of shuffling gait, easy, I believe, to
+both horse and rider, when both are broken to it, and much followed
+throughout the West.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="THE_HUDSON" id="THE_HUDSON"></a>THE HUDSON.</h2>
+
+<p>With expectations highly raised, and for a long time cultivated and
+encouraged by an eager inspection of all the prints I could collect, and
+a perusal of glowing descriptions in both prose and poetry, did I at
+length wake on the morning which was to introduce me to the beauties of
+this vaunted river.</p>
+
+<p>My first act was to rush to my window, and throw open shutter and sash.
+It was six o'clock, the sun was up, and the sky cloudless; thanking my
+lucky star, which had prevailed to my wish, I hurried through my toilet,
+and away to the foot of Courtland-street, from whose wharf the steamboat
+Champion was advertised to start at seven <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> Punctual to the hour, we
+slipped our moorings, and in a minute were gallantly heading up the
+Hudson, breasting its current at the rate of fifteen miles per hour.</p>
+
+<p>Hoboken and its Elysian fields were passed like lightning. Casting one
+backward glance, I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> perceived Jersey city floating indistinctly in the
+golden haze of morning; whilst the yet more distant heights of Long and
+Staten Islands, with the dividing Narrows, showed like two dusky clouds
+with a pathway of silver drawn between.</p>
+
+<p>I was first struck by a near view of that singular range of cliff, the
+Palisadoes, so named from the face of the rock bearing a resemblance to
+a gigantic stockade rising from the bank of the river, along whose
+southern side it is continued for a considerable distance. Lee's Fort is
+pointed out; the Tappan Zee is next entered, upon whose border lies the
+scene of poor Andr&eacute;'s capture; and farther on is the point from which
+the traitor Arnold made his timely flight.</p>
+
+<p>All these, with other memorable sites, are in turn pointed out, glanced
+at, and rapidly left behind. But I am free to confess historical
+associations were lost upon me; they awakened no sympathy in my mind; it
+was absorbed, filled, bewildered, in the admiration which each
+rapidly-opening point awakened, for never before this fair morning had
+such a succession of matchless river views passed before my delighted
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Write down your first impressions of scenery<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> when fairly viewed, and
+your descriptions will at least have correctness to recommend them."
+Somebody, I know, says something very like this; and I have hitherto
+quoted it as an axiom: but alas! what rule, however sage, but meets
+exceptions; for what man endowed with any ordinary share of devotion to
+Nature, and admiration of her handiwork, dare venture to set down his
+first impressions of this enchanting Hudson whilst the overwhelming
+influence it creates is yet dazzling his imagination! I say
+overwhelming, because such, in sober truth, was its first effect on me.</p>
+
+<p>I was at times unable to venture the expression of all I felt even to
+myself: I sought to avoid the intelligent friends who accompanied me,
+and am not ashamed to add, that, albeit "unused to the melting mood," I
+here was affected almost to weakness. There might, perhaps, have been
+chords awakened that helped this fancy; but in no mood could an
+enthusiast of Nature, I think, feel otherwise than "rapt" when free for
+the first time to view, on such a day, such glorious magic pass before
+his sight; for, in our rapid flight, I could compare the effect of all I
+saw to glamour only.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span></p><p>The grape-covered steeps of the old Rhine, the mountain-enshrined lochs
+of our Hielans, with their clear blue waters, and the sweet valleys in
+which the little lakes of Killarney are set like gems,&mdash;all are lovely,
+and all of these appear to me to have contributed models for this
+masterpiece, each to be equalled, if not surpassed.</p>
+
+<p>But I must check my pen, since disjointed eulogium will do little
+towards satisfying the curious or silencing the sceptical; and for
+description in reasonable detail, worthy the subject, only one hand in
+our age has existed endowed by nature to grapple with such a task, and
+that wizard hand lies mouldering now beneath the ruins of Dryburg Abbey!</p>
+
+<p>Above West Point and the pass of the highlands the river expands
+grandly, forming the Bay of Newburg. The town of this name lies prettily
+spread along the face of a gently rising hill; and in a meadow at the
+foot of the town stands a venerable-looking stone-built house, rendered
+memorable from having been the residence of Washington when at this
+place; which, bordering upon his stronghold, the highlands, was often
+his head-quarters.</p>
+
+<p>On the opposite side of the river, deep within<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> the bight of the bay,
+lies the stirring town of Fish-kill, occupied by a colony originally
+from the island of Nantucket, who carry on from this place their
+adventurous trade of whale-fishing; and appear, indeed, to have roused
+their neighbours of Newburg and Hudson to imitate their enterprise; many
+ships, the joint property of the most spirited of the community, being
+now yearly fitted out in these places, and sent to hunt the sperm-whale
+about the world.</p>
+
+<p>Above this bay the river again narrows, and the scenery upon its banks
+assumes a softer character: spacious meadows with well-cultivated lands
+stretch widely to the distant wooded heights; the bold outline of the
+highlands is drawn about the rear; and in front the loftier Catskills
+push their rugged peaks amongst the clouds.</p>
+
+<p>From Poughkeepsie, numerous country seats occupy the now park-like banks
+of the river to the north, which, although lying from eighty to one
+hundred miles distant from New York, may be yet considered reasonably
+near; for six or seven hours brings the boat up, and in the course of
+the day there do not pass fewer than five or six. On this morning I met
+on board the Champion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> Messrs. W&mdash;&mdash;'s and L&mdash;&mdash;e, on their way to the
+summer abode of their families: they were landed at Hyde Park, ninety
+miles distant from New York, before one o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>By half past five we were laid alongside the wharf of Albany, having
+steamed one hundred and sixty miles in ten hours and a half, including
+many stoppages of perhaps a couple of minutes each; and nothing can be
+more readily executed than one of these pulls-up, with the discharge or
+reception of luggage or passengers.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="ALBANY" id="ALBANY"></a>ALBANY.</h2>
+
+<p>This is the capital of the powerful state of New York, and promises at
+no very distant period to wear an aspect worthy its rank. No situation
+was ever chosen better adapted to display; for the town is built over
+the face of a lofty and steep hill, which only affords space for one or
+two streets about its foot, and this is chiefly occupied by docks and
+the several canal basins connected with the Hudson.</p>
+
+<p>The principal avenue, a regularly built, grandly proportioned street,
+with a railway running through its centre, climbs directly up the hill,
+and is terminated by a well-kept public square, or <i>Grande Place</i>, as
+the French would call it, about which the State House, City Hall, and
+other public buildings are ranged. These striking objects, from the
+nature of the ground, stand boldly out, and have all an appearance
+sufficiently imposing; whilst here are some buildings that possess
+strong claims to architectural beauty.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span></p><p>Nearly all the more important public offices have lofty and
+well-proportioned domes; and these being uniformly covered with tin or
+other bright metal, impart a gay and picturesque effect to the general
+mass; and, indeed, the city, viewed from a little distance, with all
+these cupolas and towering domes reflected in the setting sun, assumes
+quite an Oriental appearance: one is immediately reminded of the mosque
+and minaret of some Turkish capital: the fine marble too used in the
+construction of all public buildings, and indeed of many private ones,
+increases the effect which they derive from their style and from the
+bold eminence they occupy.</p>
+
+<p>Albany was long almost exclusively Dutch, and may be said up to this
+time to have hardly kept pace with the rapid advance of the country
+generally: it must have marvelled at the spread of the numerous
+flourishing towns which have grown up around within a few years, and
+which threatened to eclipse, if not extinguish it wholly. A movement,
+however, has of late taken place: the inhabitants have awoke, new
+colonists have superseded the family from Sleepy-hollow, or imparted to
+them a share of their energy; and Albany begins to assert her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> claims on
+the productive country by which she is backed, and to turn into her own
+channel a portion of its commerce. Building is everywhere going forward;
+land has doubled and trebled in value; improvements are in steady
+progress; and, should the present prosperous course of things meet with
+no untoward check to paralyse the industry of the people, Albany will in
+a few years assume an importance more profitable to its citizens than
+the empty honour it derives from being styled the capital of the State.</p>
+
+<p>There are several excellent inns here: one kept by an Englishman, a Mr.
+Thomas, in which I dined once or twice with friends, and which bears a
+high reputation; another, wherein I always resided on my several visits
+here, kept by Mr. Crutenden; and if henceforward any stranger who
+relishes good fare, loves Shakspeare, and would choose to make the
+acquaintance of a Transatlantic Falstaff, passes through Albany without
+calling at the Eagle, and cracking a bottle with "mine host," he will
+have missed one of those days he would not have failed to mark with a
+white stone.</p>
+
+<p>Soberly, I do not remember ever to have met with a face and figure
+which, were I a painter,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span> I would so readily adopt for a <i>beau-id&eacute;al</i> of
+the profligate son of mirth and mischief as those of mine host o' th'
+Eagle. He has a fellow feeling too with "lean Jack," is as well read in
+Shakspeare as most good men, quotes him fluently and happily, honours
+and loves him as he should be loved and honoured, and in himself
+possesses much of the humour, much of the native wit, but not a single
+trait of the less admirable portions of the fat knight's character.</p>
+
+<p>Indebted to Mr. Crutenden for many pleasant hours, I will offer no
+excuse for making this indifferent sketch of him here, since it in no
+way trenches upon the rule I hold sacred of eschewing comment on private
+persons, or details of social intercourse, where indeed, men speak
+oftener from the heart than from the head. Mr. C. I look upon as a
+public character, and thus I am enabled to say how much I esteem him.
+Should he be wroth, I vow, if I ever should visit Albany again, never to
+make one at the "Feast of Shells." On the contrary, I'll fly the Eagle;
+forswear "the villanous company" of mine host; I'll disclaim him,
+renounce him, "and d&mdash;n me if ever I call him Jack again."</p>
+
+<p>The theatre here is a handsome building, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span> well adapted to the
+purpose for which it was designed; but is, I believe, worse supported
+than any other on this continent. I had been advised not to visit the
+city professionally; but being strongly solicited by the worthy manager,
+"mischief lay in my way, and I found it."</p>
+
+<p>I feel compelled in honesty to state the facts of this trip, though no
+way flattering to my powers of attraction: however, if there be anything
+unpleasant to relate, I ever find it better to tell of oneself, than
+leave it to the charity of good-natured friends. The only disagreement I
+ever had with an audience, in fact, occurred here, and roundly, thus it
+happened.</p>
+
+<p>On the evening when I was advertised to make my <i>d&eacute;but</i> to an Albany
+audience, I at my usual hour walked to the house, dressed, and was
+ready; but when, half an hour after the time of beginning, I went on to
+the stage, there were not ten persons in the house. The stage-director
+and myself now held a consultation on the unpromising aspect of our
+affairs. He ascribed the unusually deserted condition of the <i>salle</i> to
+the sultry and threatening state of the atmosphere, which had deterred
+the neighbouring towns of Troy and Waterford from furnishing their
+quota,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span>&mdash;those indeed being his chief dependencies. I was opposed, on
+policy, to throwing away our ammunition so unprofitably; and so after
+due deliberation, the manager agreed to state to the few persons in
+front, that "with their permission" the performances intended for this
+night would be postponed until the evening after the next following; as,
+in consequence of the exceeding smallness of the audience, it was to be
+feared the play would prove dull to them, as it must be irksome to the
+actors.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing could be received with better feeling on the part of the persons
+assembled; not a breath of disapprobation was heard. They instantly went
+away; but soon after I reached home, I found, by the report of one or
+two gentlemen who had since been at the theatre seeking admittance, that
+a considerable excitement prevailed, and that at the public bars of the
+neighbourhood the affair was detailed in a way likely to produce
+unpleasant effects on my first appearance.</p>
+
+<p>The appointed night came, the house was filled with men, and everything
+foreboded a violent outbreak; the manager appeared terrified out of his
+wits; but, as far as I can judge, behaved with infinite honesty;
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span>disavowed the truth of the imputations connected with the dismissal,
+and which it was sought to fasten upon me; and affirmed that he was
+fully prepared to place the facts simply before the audience, in the
+event of my suffering any interruption.</p>
+
+<p>It was now found that an actor or two needed in the piece were absent.
+These worthies, the chief agitators in this affair, were, in fact, in
+front of the house to assist in the expected assault upon a stranger and
+one of their own profession. On this being explained to the manager, he
+said he was aware of it, and had threatened to discharge the
+individuals; but relying upon the affair terminating in my discomfiture,
+they did not fear being sustained by the same intelligence which they
+now directed against me.</p>
+
+<p>On my appearance the din was mighty deafening; the volunteer champions
+of the public had come well prepared, and every invention for making the
+voice of humanity bestial was present and in full use. The boxes I
+observed to be occupied by well-dressed men, who generally either
+remained neutral, or by signs sought that I should be heard. This,
+however, was out of the question; and after long and patient abiding,
+"for patience is the badge of all our tribe,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span> I made my bow and
+retired, when the manager, who had on the night in question dismissed
+the house, made his bow, and, after silence was obtained, begged that
+the audience would give me a hearing, assuring them on his own knowledge
+that I had not contemplated insulting them.</p>
+
+<p>I again came forward, and after some time was permitted to say that I
+could in no way account for a simple matter of business being so
+misrepresented as to occasion this violent exhibition of their anger;
+that, before the audience in question was dismissed, its permission had
+been obtained; that, had I really contemplated insult, it is hardly
+probable I should wait two days to encounter the anger of those I had
+sought to offend. I farther said, that on the common principle which
+they professed, I was entitled to a hearing, since the sense of the
+majority was evidently with me; and that, if the disorder continued, I
+should, for the sake of that respectable majority, sincerely regret
+this, since the character of their city for justice and hospitality
+would be more impeached than my prospects be injured.</p>
+
+<p>After this the row was resumed with added fierceness: not a word of
+either play or farce was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> heard; but I persisted in going through with
+the performance, being determined not to dismiss a second time.</p>
+
+<p>At the fall of the curtain I begged the manager would not again announce
+me; as although, for the sake of the many who I could see were opposed
+to this misjudged outrage, I had gone through the business once, I could
+not again subject them to the annoyance of such a collision, or myself
+to continued insult.</p>
+
+<p>I was, however, happily induced to change this determination at the
+request of many gentlemen of the place, who assured me that the whole
+thing arose from stories most industriously circulated by one or two
+ill-conditioned actors, backed by inflammatory handbills and a
+scurrilous print.</p>
+
+<p>Out of this affair, which threatened me serious annoyance, I really
+gathered a new proof of the kindness of the people of this country, for
+I found persons on all sides interesting themselves for me, although I
+entered the place without an acquaintance; and, had I not stood in need
+of help, so in all probability should I have quitted it: but in this
+hour of annoyance, men not of theatrical habits put themselves actively<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span>
+forward to shield a calumniated stranger from insult or injury; in
+consequence of this interposition, on my next appearance, nothing could
+be more orderly than the conduct of the audience.</p>
+
+<p>I concluded my engagement, which was only for four nights, and left the
+theatre with a promise to return, which pledge, at some inconvenience, I
+redeemed; and I have never been able to regret a momentary vexation
+which obtained for me many friends, and made known to me the sterling
+good feeling existing in Albany, of which I might otherwise have
+remained ignorant.</p>
+
+<p>The rides about Albany are numerous, the roads the best in the country;
+and the little city of Troy, with its Mount Ida, worthy even the
+celestial visitants who honoured its less beautiful predecessor with
+their presence. Higher up lies Waterford, a thriving place, also
+charmingly situated; and, near this, the Fall of the Cohoos, one of the
+finest natural objects in the country. Indeed, a morning's ride in this
+direction offers a succession of views that can nowhere be surpassed,
+and which I do not remember to have often seen equalled.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span></p><p>Approaching Albany from the west, and looking across the Hudson over
+the finely-wooded slopes and verdant meadows on which it fronts, it
+appears a city bordered by an ornamental park; to the south tower the
+cloud-capped Catskills; on the north are the blue mountains of Vermont;
+and about the verge of the landscape on all sides runs a line of boldly
+undulating hills, whose rugged outline forms no inappropriate framing to
+this very beautiful picture.</p>
+
+<p>It had been my intention from Albany to proceed directly for Niagara,
+and thence returning to Buffalo, join a steam-boat, which was advertised
+to make the tour of the great lakes, Superior and Erie, touching at
+Detroit and one or two other points of interest, then after visiting the
+new entrep&ocirc;t for the territory of Michigan, Chicago, was to return with
+her passengers to Buffalo; the trip being one of pastime, and calculated
+to occupy about twenty days.</p>
+
+<p>This plan was, however, frustrated, through an application being made
+from the Polish committee of Philadelphia that I should act a night for
+the benefit of the fund raised for these exiles for liberty: back,
+therefore, I hurried to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span>Philadelphia; arrived in the morning, acted at
+night, with the thermometer at ninety-seven, and was off again for New
+York by the mail-boat next day.</p>
+
+<p>I was anxious to get away west, to make the most of my holidays, and,
+being Sunday, this mail was the only public conveyance permitted through
+the State of Jersey. I however caution all thin-skinned travellers
+against using it any time between the first day of June and the last of
+October; for to run the gauntlet at night through the legions of
+musquitoes quartered between the Delaware and the Raritan is no laughing
+matter, as I found to my cost.</p>
+
+<p>The worst of this journey was, that, on arriving by the railroad car at
+Amboy, which we did at midnight, we were compelled to wait unhoused here
+until three or four in the morning, the steamer not departing until that
+hour for New York. The example those insatiable vermin made of me with
+four hours' leisure in which to work their wicked will, I even now sweat
+to think on; one of my eyes was hermetically sealed up, and my upper lip
+would have matched that of any Guinea negro, whilst my hands were so
+swollen that I could not close them without<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span> pain and difficulty: in
+short, as Roque says, there was not "a sounder-bitten bully in all
+Andalusia."</p>
+
+<p>Halting for one day at New York, I proceeded by the morning boat to
+West-point with the intention of resting here a few days: but not having
+taken the precaution of writing on to secure a chamber, I was
+indifferently provided for; this charming spot only possessing one
+hotel, which is a concession made by government to the public, as it is
+properly only a military post, and the seat of the national Military
+College.</p>
+
+<p>Much has been said and sung, well and ill, of the beauty of the place,
+but certainly not one word too much, for language can hardly convey any
+just notion of the variety of attributes Nature has laid under
+contribution, and here combined, for the embellishment of this most
+perfect spot.</p>
+
+<p>In the cool hour of twilight I strolled a little way up the western
+hill, and thence looked back upon the hotel and the lines of tents
+beyond, for at this season the cadets were in camp; excepting the hum of
+myriads of busy insects, not a sound was to be heard; the fire-fly was
+filling the lower<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span> grounds with his dazzling light, and seemed the only
+thing that lived or moved there; when suddenly the sharp roll of a drum,
+followed by a bugle-call, broke in on this tranquillity, and
+disenchanted the scene which I had just decided must have been designed
+by Nature as a temple to Solitude.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning I quitted West-point, and in the afternoon landed once
+again in Albany, where I took a couple of days' repose, and employed
+myself in making inquiries and settling my route to Niagara, the idea of
+visiting which wonder became all-absorbing; the long cherished desire
+was about to be gratified, the dream of years to be realized. All
+obstacles of business being removed, I grew restless and impatient of
+further delay; I had, however, pledged myself to make a visit by the
+way, and was only waiting for a couple of friends who were to be my
+travelling companions.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="JOURNEY_TO_COOPERS_TOWN" id="JOURNEY_TO_COOPERS_TOWN"></a>JOURNEY TO COOPER'S TOWN.</h2>
+
+<h2>OTSEGO LAKE.</h2>
+
+<p>At three o'clock <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> on a cloudy and somewhat chilly morning, left the
+door of the Eagle in a very comfortable extra coach, which was chartered
+to convey a freight of four persons to the mansion of Mr. C&mdash;&mdash;e, lying
+upon Otsego Lake, distant from Albany some sixty miles.</p>
+
+<p>My companions were Mr. H&mdash;&mdash;e, whom I had with me at starting, and Mr.
+I. V. B&mdash;&mdash;n, for whom we had agreed to halt at his hotel on the top of
+the State House hill, and a long halt we had of it; for, having no great
+confidence in our punctuality, he had very wisely, as far as his own
+comfort was concerned, left orders to be called whenever we should
+appear: and not a moment earlier was he in the least danger of being
+roused, for we had to awaken one of the Irish waiters before he could be
+come at; a task of no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span> small difficulty. After some half-hour's delay at
+the top of the hill, we set forward.</p>
+
+<p><i>Mem.</i>&mdash;In future, always arrange on all early expeditions to have my
+quarters beat up last.</p>
+
+<p>Although the morning broke gloomily, the sun rose brave and bright, and
+managed throughout the day to keep the field against both wind and
+cloud, that sought to overcast him. For the most part, this line of
+country is very tame, and offers little to compensate for the bad road
+leading through it. The amusement, therefore, which a series of fine
+landscapes affords the traveller not being found here, we had to draw
+upon our own personal resources to banish weariness; happily these were
+not wanting: the youngest of my friends was the son of a leading Whig,
+or Oppositionist, and newly inoculated with the right degree of
+political fervour becoming the time and his age; the senior was a Tory,
+or of the Government party, possessed of much natural humour, and having
+a thorough knowledge of the people.</p>
+
+<p>Previous to starting, the young politician was bold in his assertion
+that in Schoharie county,&mdash;that through which our route lay,&mdash;the Whig
+interest was in the ascendant; this assertion his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span> better instructed
+opponent as stoutly contradicted, insisting on the contrary, that
+Jacksonism was the political creed cherished as orthodox amongst the
+country people.</p>
+
+<p>The mode of coming at the true state of the parties was simple enough;
+we had only, whilst halting to change horses or bait, to touch upon the
+absorbing topic of the day, and the village loungers, landlord,
+bar-keeper, and guests, might have been placed upon a canvassing roll
+without a chance of error, so decidedly did they make "their love
+known."</p>
+
+<p>I soon discovered that the "ould Gineral" had a hollow thing of it on
+this line of march, as, indeed, I have uniformly observed to be the case
+in all the agricultural districts; and although it may be argued that
+the confidence of these sons of the soil may neither be wisely nor well
+placed, it must, I conceive, be on all hands admitted that it is at
+least the result of honest conviction; for, if a stranger may be
+permitted to judge, I should say, a more virtuous and right-meaning
+class does not exist than the agriculturists generally of these States;
+indeed it appears clear to me that it is to this great body of truly
+independent electors the political seer must turn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span> when he would desire
+fairly to calculate the probable changes likely to be worked out in this
+vast region. They are the owners of the land which their votes govern;
+they are invulnerable to the anarchist and the mad agrarian; they are
+observant and intelligent; and although liable, as are all men, to be
+for a time hoodwinked, or led astray, by interested brawlers, only let
+the veil be once lifted, and a glimpse afforded which shall inform them
+that their property or the country's freedom are endangered, and they
+will be found a rampart behind which all true patriots, the lovers of
+order and country, may rally, and which they may hold impregnable
+against the furious assault of the leveller, or the insidious sap of the
+disguised despot.</p>
+
+<p>But enough of this: <i>chacun &agrave; son m&eacute;tier</i>; yet here I am betrayed into a
+homily where I only contemplated a jest. The truth is, my allusion to
+this topic at all arose from the vivid recollection I still have of the
+great fun I derived from this canvassing of my companions in support of
+their opinions previously expressed.</p>
+
+<p>At each new stopping-place, my Whig friend would jump out with eager
+anticipations that here his majority would be made too palpable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span> for
+denial; after him would quickly stride his long-legged, long-headed
+rival; and in a moment both were hard at it with the inmates of the
+house.</p>
+
+<p>At places where a weak minority gave signs of hardihood, I usually
+adopted their side in argument; and, as I was fully <i>au fait</i> to all the
+slang of party at least, it became my business in promotion of fun, to
+fan the flame, which in one instance had nearly ended in getting myself
+and my allies turned out of an honest Jacksonian's house, who swore no
+such libellous Whigs should drink at his bar. In fact, my ears being
+kept on strict duty during our noisy debates, in order to determine the
+exact moment for prudently backing out, I, in this case, concluded it
+wise to anticipate the expulsion which was decreed by a large majority,
+having caught certain ominous disjointed words, which, by the aid of a
+copulative conjunction or two, would have read, "Take 'em down and duck
+them in the river."</p>
+
+<p>About two o'clock we reached the neat little village called Cherry
+Valley, and, in a couple of hours after, entered upon the well-kept
+domain of Mr. C&mdash;&mdash;e. The view of the lake and mansion, as it is
+approached from the main road, is exceedingly good; and, when the
+spirited <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span>proprietor's tasteful designs shall be completed, will have no
+equal in this country.</p>
+
+<p>Our reception at Hyde-hall was as hospitable as heart could wish. It was
+the birthday of our host's son; and we found a large party assembled,
+amongst whom were three or four remarkably handsome women.</p>
+
+<p>Otsego, or, as it is commonly called, Cooper's-Town Lake, has been best
+described by the novelist of that name, in, I think, his admirable
+American book, "The Last of the Mohicans." He looked upon it with the
+eye of a poet and the love of a son; for he was born and passed his
+boyhood upon its banks, and in the pretty town reflected in its clear
+water the name of his father is perpetuated. The son has founded his
+name upon a yet surer basis: towns may fall as they have risen, and
+their founders be forgotten; but the pleasure we derive from genius
+enshrines its possessor within our hearts, and transmits his name to be
+a household word amongst our children. Ages may pass away, and empires
+may flourish and may fade, but the hand of a Cicero will ever be found
+to pluck the weeds from the tomb of an Archimedes!</p>
+
+<p>This mansion, at which I continued for three<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span> or four days, is built
+upon a natural terrace, part of a fine hill that juts out into the lake,
+and creates a little bay that laves its south side, and forms a safe
+harbour for the boats of the family, in one of which I remember to have
+had the pleasure of making an exploring cruise under the infliction of
+as pitiless a shower as ever a party of fair voyagers was pelted by.</p>
+
+<p>On either hand range the bold finely-timbered hills by which the lake is
+bordered, until, gradually rounding at the southern extremity, it
+affords space for one of the neatest little towns I ever visited, and
+whose white buildings and glittering vanes give a charming termination
+to the view from Hyde, from which it is distant some eight or nine
+miles; but the character of the vista, and there being only water
+between, makes it look nearer by half this space.</p>
+
+<p>On Monday, June 30th, after abiding three cold, wet days, quitted Mr.
+C&mdash;&mdash;e's family, drove along the bank of the lake to Cooper's Town, and
+thence took stage for Utica, accompanied by my young Whig companion, who
+now had the field of politics to himself; for our Tory friend had turned
+upon his steps for Albany.</p>
+
+<p>We did not reach Utica till late in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span>afternoon, the distance being
+forty miles, and our rate of going not exceeding six miles per hour: we
+made no halt here, but, hiring a carriage, immediately pushed for the
+Retreat at Trenton Falls, which we did not arrive at until after ten
+o'clock <span class="smaller">P.M.</span> The people, however, were yet up, and with much civility
+set to work to provide us with a broiled chicken and a fresh trout, over
+which we quickly forgot a very rough day's ride.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="TRENTON_FALLS" id="TRENTON_FALLS"></a>TRENTON FALLS.</h2>
+
+<p>On awaking here in the morning, I rejoiced to hail the beams of a fine
+warm sun breaking into my little chamber; it had been a stranger for the
+last few days; and the weather, after having been prematurely hot, had
+at once jumped back into March, and become wet, boisterous, and cold to
+a most provoking degree.</p>
+
+<p>After an early breakfast we set out, with the din of the waters sounding
+an alarum in our ears, and directing our steps.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately on quitting the hall of the Retreat, we entered upon a grove
+of fine trees overhanging the bed of the torrent, and thence descended
+by several flights of ladders planted <i>en &eacute;chelon</i>, for some hundred and
+sixty feet, until we at last stood on a level with the swift dark
+stream, and, looking upwards, beheld the forest high overhead bending
+from either side, with a narrow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span> strip of clear blue sky drawn between.
+The first fall was visible about five hundred yards to our left; its
+waters tumbling, as it seemed, over the tops of the intervening trees,
+to whose foliage the late heavy rains had restored the freshness of
+early spring.</p>
+
+<p>Looking about from this first point, I could have readily imagined
+myself standing upon the floor timbers of a first-rate ship buried in a
+wooded ravine, so evenly were the sides of the rock scooped out; and
+this impression was assisted by narrow layers of different strata, which
+ran in slightly curved lines placed at equal distances, giving the
+effect of the ship's sheer and planking, whilst through her entrance or
+cloven bow the white foam rushed.</p>
+
+<p>Walking upward, along a narrow strand of bare rock, with the forest
+pressing on you, as, bent almost double in some places, you stoop
+beneath the overhanging cliff on which it grows; then for a time closely
+shouldering the precipice, walk upon a ledge or projecting shelf of from
+one to three feet wide, the current below boiling and whirling along the
+while, of dazzling brilliance; I at one moment counted five rainbow
+arches, perfect and imperfect. What a succession of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span> "Maidens of the
+Mist" might a lover of romance conjure up from these vexed waters on a
+fine moonlight night!</p>
+
+<p>Proceeding onwards, you, on quitting this point, descend once more into
+the river's bed; and here the resistless power of the torrent when at
+its full is made manifest by the ruin which on all sides marks its
+headlong course. Trees of the largest growth lie twenty feet above its
+ordinary level; some with their roots uppermost, others sustained
+athwart the arms of their sturdier fellows, here decay and rot amidst
+their living leaves.</p>
+
+<p>Passing the second fall, we mounted a few steps to a resting-place,
+named the "Rural Retreat;" and here, from a little box perched on the
+point of a huge rock which abuts right upon the great abyss, we had a
+scene before us and about us of great wildness and grandeur; whilst high
+over all waved the original forest, contemporary with the continent
+itself,&mdash;trees beneath whose shade the sachems of the warlike Mohawks
+had feasted and legislated.</p>
+
+<p>The last fall lies about a quarter of a mile above this point; and
+immediately below is a dangerous pass, where the vast mass of falling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span>
+water is hurled in its course against a deeply-serrated rock, over which
+rock the curious visitor is obliged to tread, making a step across an
+angle formed by the boiling whirlpool, clinging to a stout chain, and
+closely shouldering the rock; the river passing below, with a motion
+anything but composing for a nervous man to cast a sidelong glance upon.
+At all points of peril, however, lines of chain are securely riveted,
+affording a dependable holdfast; which after rains is indeed absolutely
+necessary, where a single <i>faux pas</i> would be fatal.</p>
+
+<p>A little to our left the water of the river was collected into a basin
+of about one hundred yards' diameter; overflowing which, it found a
+narrow outlet between two rocks, and thence precipitating itself in a
+flood of the colour of amber, was bridged by rainbows dazzling to look
+upon, although a person of ordinary nerve has nothing to encounter
+really dangerous; yet, at this point, a very few years back, an accident
+of a fatal nature did occur, and under circumstances which give to it a
+melancholy interest and will ever keep it as a legend of the place.</p>
+
+<p>A family party, consisting of father, mother, son, two daughters, and
+the betrothed of one of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span> the latter, a fine girl of seventeen, arrived
+in company at the "Retreat," where the parents decided upon remaining
+whilst the rest of the company explored the more adventurous route
+succeeding.</p>
+
+<p>On went the young people in high glee,&mdash;the last fall was at length
+achieved; here, after standing for a moment upon the table rock against
+which the strength of the fall bursts, one by one the attentive lover
+handed the merry girls up the dizzy step: he turned to offer to his
+young betrothed the last and dearest act of gallantry, but the rock was
+naked; the object of his care, who but the instant before smiled in his
+face, was here no longer.</p>
+
+<p>Not a soul of the party had witnessed any movement of their vanished
+companion. Absorbed by the scene, they were struggling onward beneath
+the overhanging cliff, when the arrival of the distracted lover, his mad
+gesticulations and horror-stricken looks, recalled them to hear his loss
+and aid his search.</p>
+
+<p>For a few minutes the hope that she had turned back, or concealed
+herself to cause a false alarm, held the worst conclusion at bay: but,
+on reaching a little cove a few yards lower<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span> down, this hope was
+crushed, and conviction of her fate placed before them; for here,
+quietly floating on the smooth eddy, lay a gaily-trimmed bonnet. It was
+at once recognised: the lover sprang into the river, snatched it up, and
+found within its hollow the comb of her they sought.</p>
+
+<p>She had, in truth, slipped from off that giddy ledge, and, sinking at
+once below the influence of the whirlpool, lay calmly upon its rocky
+bed.</p>
+
+<p>Next day, after much perseverance, the body was found, and rescued from
+beneath the very point off which she must have fallen; not a feature was
+discomposed, as it is said, or a garment ruffled: to use the words of my
+informant, who for thirty years has listened to the roar of this
+torrent, "She looked just as though she had lain down to sleep in the
+rain, where I saw her, stretched out upon the ledge here."</p>
+
+<p>The details of this story were given to me with added interest by the
+narrator, from the circumstance that, the very day previous, two of the
+party alluded to had revisited the spot for the first time since the
+chance which made it to them so memorable.</p>
+
+<p>Our guide, I believe, related the particulars of one or two other
+accidents; but after this I had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span> ears for no more. That the young and
+happy maid should in one moment be snatched from a world to her so
+bright and beautiful, and engulphed down deep in that cold pool, her
+brothers in her sight, her lover by her side, yet no hand held forth to
+save her, was a picture too sorrowful to be shifted for any other. I
+could not indeed forget it during the remainder of the day, and the rush
+of the water no longer roused me to exertion. From this spot we turned,
+and retraced our steps to the hotel.</p>
+
+<p>Our next morning was devoted to an excursion down the stream, to a spot
+where a saw-mill was at work and a strong rude bridge in progress; we
+crossed upon it, unfinished as it was, and in a meadow upon the west
+side, Herkimer county, I believe, saw two youngsters herding a couple of
+fine cows. I called them to me, but the girl, at the sight of my
+companion and myself, ran off like a lapwing; the boy, a redheaded
+chubby rogue, about twelve years of age, was however soon persuaded to
+approach. When we questioned as to where his mammy lived, he pointed
+over the meadow to a thicket from out of which a little column of light
+smoke was rising; but in reply to one or two other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span> queries, after a
+scratch or two at his head, our little squire boldly bolted out "No
+English!"</p>
+
+<p>And sure enough not another word could we coax out of him: he was,
+however, quite willing and able to make it up in good Irish, and much
+did I regret not being able to have a "goster" with him. From one of the
+carpenters at work on the bridge I learned that the mother spoke only
+Irish, but that she managed her dairy and farm admirably; and that the
+father, who was just able, as they expressed it, "to tell what he
+wanted," worked at the mill, and got "a heap o' money jobbin' about at
+one thing or t'other."</p>
+
+<p>These poor people had been in this neighbourhood about three years: they
+had arrived here destitute, friendless, ignorant even of the language of
+the country; but they were industrious and persevering, and at this time
+may have been said to possess independence; for they were owners of
+sixty acres of excellent land, a cow or two, a few sheep, with poultry,
+pigs, and other evidences of pastoral wealth. The situation of their
+little cottage might be envied by many a wealthy builder in search of a
+beautiful site, and the country about them is perfectly healthy.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span></p><p>We this day met at the hotel a new arrival or two, and sat down in
+company to a very neat dinner: the trout here is excellent, and the
+butter the best out of Philadelphia.</p>
+
+<p>On the 2nd of July we left this comfortable house; and it was not
+without reluctance I so soon bade farewell to the Falls of Trenton,
+which, beautiful in themselves, are surrounded by a country possessing
+so much attraction that I felt a strong desire to become more intimate
+with it.</p>
+
+<p>My companion, Mr. H&mdash;&mdash;, having met with a couple of friends here who
+were journeying our way, it was proposed that we should join company as
+far as Niagara, taking to our own use an extra. This we readily procured
+at Utica; the postmaster agreeing to forward the party to Buffalo by a
+route we laid down, for the sum of seventy-five dollars, the distance
+being nearly two hundred miles. We were by our agreement entitled to
+halt as long as we chose at any place on our route, and, moreover, were
+to be driven at the rate of seven miles per hour at the least.</p>
+
+<p>All these points being duly arranged, we left the thriving city of Utica
+in as heavy a storm of rain as could well fall, the weather having once<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span>
+more become cold and cheerless: a more dismal night I never would desire
+to encounter. The rate of travelling soon fell below the minimum of our
+stipulated pace: to do the drivers justice, this was owing to no fault
+of theirs, but the roads were cut into gullies broad and deep, and the
+tumbling we got would have been of vast service to a dyspeptic subject.
+The state of the weather was the more to be regretted as we were passing
+through some of the best cultivated farms in this State; and,
+notwithstanding the disadvantageous nature of the medium through which I
+saw the land, this character appeared to me well deserved.</p>
+
+<p>The farmhouses were very numerous, generally built of good brick, and
+putting forth strong claims on admiration in the shape of various
+ornamental flourishes; an ambition which distinguishes the rural
+architecture indeed of all this State, giving evidence of the ease and
+growing wealth, if not of the purest taste, existing amongst the
+proprietary.</p>
+
+<p>Syracuse we passed through in the middle of the storm and the darkness
+of night; and about six <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> were safely landed under the ample portico
+of the hotel at Auburn, celebrated for its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span> prison, regulated upon what
+is called the "silent system."</p>
+
+<p>Whilst my companions were making toilet I set forth to visit this penal
+abode, the character of which is made sufficiently evident as you
+approach the lofty walls that encompass so much of misery and guilt. At
+regular distances upon these battlements I perceived sentry-boxes, with
+men keeping watch, musket in hand.</p>
+
+<p>A small sum is here paid for admittance. On my arrival at the lodge, I
+was informed that the prisoners were at breakfast, during which time
+visitors were prohibited: I therefore had to wait some minutes in this
+place; and, except the occasional fall of a heavy bolt, did not hear a
+sound; the very turnkeys seemed infected by the system which it was
+their duty to enforce, and they moved in and out in silence, or spoke in
+monosyllables hardly above a whisper.</p>
+
+<p>Following the gaoler, I was passed within the square at the very moment
+when the prisoners were moving out from their breakfast-hall on the way
+to renew their several labours; and the sight was to me one of sickening
+melancholy.</p>
+
+<p>They were marched from the building in squads, using what is called the
+"lock-step," and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span> were jammed together as close as they could possibly
+tread: they moved in quick-time, and fell out singly, or in pairs, as
+they arrived at the point nearest to the scene of their employment.</p>
+
+<p>I observed that, notwithstanding the regularity of labour, and the
+unquestionably wholesome diet provided here, the faces of the
+individuals composing these ruffian squads were uniformly pale and
+haggard; yet, on saying so much to my guide, I was assured that disease
+is comparatively rare amongst them, and that many who enter here with
+broken constitutions recover their bodily vigour and are made whole men
+again.</p>
+
+<p>The cleanliness of this prison-house, the convenient distribution of its
+various offices, and, indeed, the evident excellence of its general
+arrangement, must strike every stranger with admiration, and doubtless
+presented to the commissioners of inquiry recently appointed from
+England many hints worthy of adoption for home use. Of the merits of the
+system itself it does not become me to speak; it has been well
+considered by wise and worthy men, who continue to watch over its
+working with a philanthropic spirit; but I confess that the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span>impressions
+I received from my visits to these prisons were anything but in its
+favour.</p>
+
+<p>At eight <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> we quitted Auburn, the weather clear and mild: we crossed
+the head-water of the Seneca Lake upon a well-built bridge, a mile and a
+quarter in length, and, with this exception, observed no point of
+interest until we approached the Lake of Geneva.</p>
+
+<p>This is one of the lions of this route, and in no way disappointed our
+raised expectations. Gradually winding about the eastern bend of the
+lake, the road affords to the traveller a continuous view of the
+location of the little city; and certainly nothing was ever more happily
+chosen than the fine hill over whose side it is built, its streets
+rising gradually from the edge of the clear water in which they are
+reflected.</p>
+
+<p>Entering the main street, I observed that the stores were large and
+substantially built; there was a great bustle, and an air of business
+too, about most of them, which it was pleasant to look upon. The hotel
+at which we drew up was a large, well-appointed house: the landlord,
+finding that we were strangers, civilly invited us to ascend to the
+gallery upon the roof; and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span>certainly the view it afforded was one I
+should have been sorry to miss.</p>
+
+<p>The environs appear to possess an unusual number of tasteful villas; on
+all sides these might be distinguished, giving and receiving adornment
+from the situation. The lake itself looked like a huge mirror; and from
+its polished surface was clearly reflected every turn of its shores, and
+each cloud that floated over it. Its characteristics are softness and
+repose; of a certainty it must have been a feminine spirit that presided
+at the creation of this spot, for its features are all of gentleness and
+beauty.</p>
+
+<p>At Canandaigua we stopped to dine at a very large, and, I should
+imagine, good hotel: the landlord was exceedingly obliging. The regular
+dinner of the house was long past, but he managed to get us a very
+tolerable meal; and what was wanting in this he made up by giving us an
+excellent bottle of wine.</p>
+
+<p>In the environs of this place, as at Geneva, I observed a number of
+well-built and neatly-appointed villas; indeed, this sort of country
+residence is better kept, and built in better taste, in this western
+country than I have elsewhere observed in the States.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span></p><p>About nine <span class="smaller">P.M.</span> we arrived at Avon Springs; and here we called a halt
+for the night, not a little pleased with the prospect of a comfortable
+bed, which the appearance of the inn gave promise of.</p>
+
+<p>This place is a good deal frequented of late years by invalids, its
+mineral waters being found of great service in dyspepsia,&mdash;the most
+crying complaint of the country next to the removal of the deposits, and
+certainly more universal.</p>
+
+<p>I here found my excellent friend R&mdash;&mdash;d, who, together with his young
+bride, had accompanied his father-in-law, who was desirous of testing
+the salubrity of these springs. He described the surrounding country as
+beautiful, and the little place itself as agreeable enough for a short
+sojourn.</p>
+
+<p>The fourth of July, the anniversary of American Independence, was to be
+duly celebrated by a ball, for which my friend had received an invite
+printed upon the back of the nine of hearts; a medium now obsolete in
+England, but conserved here in its integrity.</p>
+
+<p>A less amusing remembrancer of the glorious event began to parade the
+avenue at an early hour in the shape of a patriotic drummer, having an
+instrument, to judge by its sound, coeval<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span> with the first fight for that
+freedom it was beaten to celebrate. If anything could have kept me
+awake, this cracked drum would; and, in truth, I had my fears, when, on
+entering my room, I heard my hero ruffing it away immediately in front
+of the window; but they were groundless apprehensions, though his
+efforts were varied and unceasing, for I undressed to the tune of the
+"Grenadiers' March," stepped into bed to the "Reveille," and dropped
+fast asleep to the first part of "Yankee Doodle!"</p>
+
+<p>At six <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> of the 4th we were once more in motion; the vapours of night
+were yet hanging thick and low; but through the dense atmosphere, as we
+rolled down the avenue, I heard the indefatigable functionary, who
+composed the military band of Avon, determinately beating "Hail
+Columbia!"</p>
+
+<p>At the village of Caledonia we found that a ball was afoot, and we
+pushed on eagerly for Buffalo, anticipating, from the importance of the
+place and the wealth of its citizens, something in the way of display
+worthy of their loyalty and of the occasion.</p>
+
+<p>Between Le Roy, a town of remarkable neatness, and Batavia, I
+encountered my first sample<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span> of a corduroy-road, or, as it is sometimes
+facetiously termed, a Canadian railway.</p>
+
+<p>Our driver, a merry fellow, called out that we must look out "not to get
+mixed up of a heap," and rattled at it. I did not require much
+experience to decide that travelling over a road of corduroy was by no
+means going on velvet; but the effect was not so bad as I had expected
+to prove it: by holding fast, one could keep one's seat tolerably well,
+without much fear of dislocation; but I would strongly recommend any man
+having loose teeth, to walk over this stage, unless he desires to have
+them shaken out of his head.</p>
+
+<p>From Batavia the road is execrable, and the country without a feature to
+interest or amuse, uncultivated, wild, and dismal. It was about half an
+hour before sunset when we entered Buffalo, the City of the Lakes, the
+entrep&ocirc;t for these inland oceans.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="BUFFALO" id="BUFFALO"></a>BUFFALO.</h2>
+
+<p>America is, perhaps, in our day, the only country wherein these infant
+capitals, these embryo cities, may be seen, and their growth noted, as
+they are gradually developed before living eyes.</p>
+
+<p>A very few years back, this frontier, now so populous and thriving, was
+only known as "the Wilderness;" and upon the edge of this, washed by the
+waters of Lake Erie, has Buffalo sprung up. The great source of that
+gratification which is felt on a near view of this, and other places of
+similar origin, is to be found in the feeling that they derive their
+being from the prosperous industry of our fellow-men, and that in their
+increase we behold its happy continuance. They are the vouchers which
+America may fairly produce to show that the fruition of liberty has been
+with her productive of increased energy and spreading enterprise.</p>
+
+<p>These places have not, like St. Petersburg,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span> been raised up in obedience
+to the policy or the caprice of a despot; the work of bondsmen, founded
+amidst pestilence, and cemented with blood and tears. The unfinished
+palace of the half-savage prince already the tomb of hundreds of its
+miserable builders; a city of marble founded upon a marsh.</p>
+
+<p>Here, it is true, was a wonder having no parallel, of which the living
+of the last century might have observed the progress,&mdash;one may add, the
+completion, as, should its lord so will, the present generation may look
+upon its abandonment and depopulation;&mdash;but the cause of the existence
+of St. Petersburg calls up no generous sympathy with its progress,
+because we know that the labour was constrained; and from its story,
+when fairly told, we rise, not with pride in the power of our kind,
+which had overcome so many obstacles, but with pity for the suffering
+and debasement of humanity constrained to such exertion. On the
+contrary, these yet humble cities of America, so humble as sometimes to
+draw from the far-travelled a sneer upon the application of the word,
+are surrounded by a healthful, moral atmosphere: their infancy is
+vigorous, giving promise of a long endurance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span> and ultimate greatness,
+only to be limited by the will of the King of kings.</p>
+
+<p>From the roof of the Eagle, a very large hotel, I took a general view of
+the wide-spread frame of Buffalo, whose many as yet barely definable
+streets are in the keeping of houses so thinly scattered, that they
+reminded me of lines of sentries placed to denote occupation. I traced
+the course of the great Erie canal from the Niagara river to the lake,
+whose busy harbour was filled with steamers, schooners, and other
+trading craft.</p>
+
+<p>After sunset we descended from our lofty observatory, and followed the
+line of the main street, witnessing the rejoicings called forth by this
+anniversary of American Independence. The feeling of the community at
+large could only be guessed at, since it made no sign; but if the body
+politic of Buffalo might be considered fairly represented by some
+hundred or so of active urchins who were congregated in a square near
+the centre of the main street, nothing could be more ardent than this
+city's gratitude, for these delegates beat drums, blew fifes, fired
+crackers, and huzzaed until the welkin rang with their shrill small
+yells. We found, upon inquiry, that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span> there was no ball, dinner, or other
+public demonstration; the reason was ascribed to the extreme violence of
+party politics, which at this period completely divided the community,
+and were carried out to an extent without precedent in their brief
+annals.</p>
+
+<p>The street was chiefly occupied by a number of Indians of the Seneca
+tribe, dressed in a costume part native and part European: these
+holiday-keepers lounged lazily about in all the delight of utter
+intoxication, the men invariably in groups by themselves, and the ladies
+of the tribe trapesing after them at a long interval with stoical
+indifference.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing can be more subversive of the poetry one's early recollections
+connect with this race, than a first rencontre with the outcasts by whom
+it is represented on these frontiers, who daily degenerate where all
+else seems to thrive, and who perish in the midst of an abundance,
+which, for all but them, increases with each year.</p>
+
+<p>I am not sure whether it would not be more humane to deal upon the
+natives as summarily as with their forests; for the fall of the former
+before the advance of civilization is not, though slower, less certain.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span></p><p>They may at present be likened to girdled trees, about whose vigorous
+trunk the axe of the woodman is but lightly drawn, yet whose fall is
+assured past remedy; the springs of health and life are stopped, upon
+their fading leaves the sun rises and heaven's dews descend in vain; for
+a little while they continue to wave their naked crests in the gale, and
+hold forth their gaunt limbs as if life were in them, objects exciting
+at once commiseration and disgust; until, crumbled into decay, the
+unseemly skeletons lie prostrate athwart the roots of their once
+fellows, who were stricken down in their bloom, and so perished by a
+quicker and more merciful sentence.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="NIAGARA" id="NIAGARA"></a>NIAGARA.</h2>
+
+<p>I felt interested with Buffalo, and had promised myself much pleasure
+from a visit to the country occupied by a branch of the Seneca tribe in
+its neighbourhood; but Niagara was now within a few hours,&mdash;the great
+object of the journey was almost in sight. I was for ever fancying that
+I heard the sound of the "Thunder-water"<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> booming on the breeze; so,
+with a restlessness and anxiety not to be suppressed, I got into the
+coach on the day after my arrival at the capital of the lakes, and was
+in a short time set down on the bank of the swift river Niagara, at the
+ferry, which is some four miles from Buffalo.</p>
+
+<p>We found the little rapids about the shore occupied by fishers of all
+ages, who required but a small share of the patience which is deemed so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span>
+essential a qualification to the followers of this melancholy sport, for
+they were pulling the simple wretches out as fast as the lines could be
+baited and offered.</p>
+
+<p>The shipment was quickly effected, and in a few minutes our faces were
+turned from the dominion of the States. The vessel was a large
+horse-boat; that is, a flat propelled by paddle-wheels similar to those
+of a steam-boat, only wrought by horse-power,&mdash;an animal tread-mill in
+fact. Whether the horses working this were here on good behaviour, or
+not, I could not rightly ascertain, but certainly they were
+scampish-looking steeds, their physiognomical expression was low and
+dogged, such as one might expect from the degrading nature of their
+unvarying task.</p>
+
+<p>On the larboard gangway of our flat the American jack floated, and over
+the starboard side waved the Union flag of Old England; they fluttered
+proudly side by side, a worthy brotherhood, and so united may they long
+be found!</p>
+
+<p>The ride along the Canada shore was very fine, the noble stream being
+constantly in sight: the country appeared thickly populated; but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span> the
+land poor, the cultivation of it, I believe, is not found very
+profitable.</p>
+
+<p>We halted to water the team at a public-house that stands upon the
+ground where was fought the battle of Chippewa, which, as the Yankees
+say, "eventuated just no how." This was the twentieth anniversary; and,
+on alighting from the box, I was exceedingly amused to find the host and
+a smart wayfaring young man, with mutual vehemence well worthy the
+cause, fighting the battle over again.</p>
+
+<p>From this house the eternal mist caused by the great fall may be plainly
+seen curling like a vast body of light smoke, and shooting occasionally
+in spiral columns high above the tree-tops; but not a sound told of its
+neighbourhood, although we were not five miles distant from it, and the
+day was calm and clear. At about three miles from this, as the vehicle
+slowly ascended a rise, I heard for the first time the voice of the
+waters, and called the attention of my friends within the carriage to
+the sound.</p>
+
+<p>Never let any impatient man set out for Niagara in one of these coaches;
+a railroad would hardly keep pace with one's eagerness, and here were we
+crawling at the rate of four miles per<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span> hour. I fancied that the last
+three miles never would be accomplished; and often wished internally, as
+I beat the devil's tattoo upon the footboard of the coach-box, that I
+had bought or borrowed or stolen a horse at Chippewa, and galloped to
+the wonder alone and silently.</p>
+
+<p>At length the hotel came in view, and I knew that the rapid was close at
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, sir, look out!" quietly said the driver.</p>
+
+<p>I almost determined upon shutting my eyes or turning away my head; but I
+do not think it would have been within the compass of my will so to have
+governed them; for even at this distant moment, as I write, I find my
+pen move too slow to keep pace with the recollections of the impatience
+which I seek to record.</p>
+
+<p>It was at the moment we struck the foot of the hill leading up to the
+hotel that the rapid and the great horse-shoe fall became visible over
+the sunken trees to our right, almost on a level with us. I have heard
+people talk of having felt disappointed on a first view of this
+stupendous scene: by what process they arrived at this conclusion I
+profess myself utterly incapable of divining, since, even now that two
+years have almost gone by, I find on this point my <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span>feelings are not yet
+to be analyzed; I dare not trust myself to their guidance, and only know
+that my wildest imaginings were forgotten in contemplating this awful
+reality.</p>
+
+<p>A very few minutes after we were released from the confinement of the
+coach saw myself and companions upon the Table-rock; and soon after we
+were submitting to the equipment provided by a man resident upon the
+spot for persons who chose to penetrate beneath the great fall, and
+whose advertisement assured us that the gratification of curiosity was
+unattended with either inconvenience or danger, as water-proof dresses
+were kept in readiness, together with an experienced guide. The
+water-proof dress given to me I found still wet through; and, on the
+arrival of the experienced guide, I was not a little surprised to see
+the fellow, after a long stare in my face, exclaim,</p>
+
+<p>"Och, blur an' 'oons! Mr. Power, sure it's not yer honour that's come
+all this way from home!"</p>
+
+<p>An explanation took place; when I found that our guide, whom I had seen
+some two years before as a helper in the stable of my hospitable friend
+Smith Barry, at Foaty, was this summer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span> promoted to the office of
+"Conductor," as he styled himself, under the waterfall.</p>
+
+<p>And a most whimsical "conductor" he proved. His cautions, and "divil a
+fears!" and "not a hap'orth o' danger!" must have been mighty assuring
+to the timid or nervous, if any such ever make this experiment, which,
+although perfectly safe, is not a little startling.</p>
+
+<p>His directions,&mdash;when we arrived at the point where the mist, pent in
+beneath the overhanging rock, makes it impossible to distinguish
+anything, and where the rush of air is so violent as to render
+respiration for a few seconds almost impracticable,&mdash;were inimitable.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, yer honour!" he shouted in my ear&mdash;for we moved in Indian
+file,&mdash;"whisper the next gintleman to follow you smart; and, for the
+love o' God! shoulder the rock close, stoop yer heads, and shut fast yer
+eyes, or you won't be able to see an inch!"</p>
+
+<p>I repeated my orders verbatim, though the cutting wind made it difficult
+to open one's mouth.</p>
+
+<p>"Now thin, yer honour," he cried, cowering down as he spoke, "do as ye
+see me do; hould yer breath, and scurry after like divils!"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span></p><p>With the last word away he bolted, and was lost to view in an instant.
+I repeated his instructions however to the next in file, and, as
+directed, scurried after.</p>
+
+<p>This rather difficult point passed, I came upon my countryman waiting
+for us within the edge of the curve described by this falling ocean; he
+grasped my wrist firmly as I emerged from the dense drift, and shouted
+in my ear,</p>
+
+<p>"Luk up, sir, at the green sea that's rowlin' over uz! Murder! bud iv it
+only was to take a shlope in on uz!"</p>
+
+<p>Here we could see and breathe with perfect ease; and even the ludicrous
+gestures and odd remarks of my poetical countryman could not wholly rob
+the scene of its striking grandeur.</p>
+
+<p>I next passed beyond my guide as he stood on tiptoe against the rock
+upon a ledge of which we trod, and under his direction attained that
+limit beyond which the foot of man never pressed. I sat for one moment
+on the Termination Rock, and then followed my guide back to my
+companions, when together we once more "scurried" into day.</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't it illegant, sir?" began the "Conductor," as soon as we were well
+clear of the mist.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</a></span></p><p>"Isn't it a noble sight intirely? Caps the world for grandness any way,
+that's sartain!"</p>
+
+<p>I need hardly say that in this opinion we all joined loudly; but Mr.
+Conductor was not yet done with us,&mdash;he had now to give us a taste of
+his "larnin."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish ye'd take notice, sir," said he, pointing across the river with
+an air of authority and a look of infinite wisdom. "Only take a luk at
+the falls, an' you'll see that Shakspeare is out altogether about the
+discription."</p>
+
+<p>"How's that, Pat?" inquired I, although not a little taken aback by the
+authority so gravely quoted by my critical friend.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, sir, Shakspeare first of all says that there's two falls; now, ye
+may see wid yer own eyes that it's one river sure, and one fall, only
+for the shtrip o' rock that makes two af id."</p>
+
+<p>This I admitted was evident; whilst Pat gravely went on:</p>
+
+<p>"Thin agin, only luk here, sir; Shakspeare says, 'The cloud-cap tower;'
+why, if he'd ever taken the trouble to luk at it, he'd seen better than
+that; an' if he wasn't a fool,&mdash;which I'm sure he wasn't, bein' a grand
+poet,&mdash;he'd know that the clouds never can rise to cap the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</a></span> tower, by
+reason that it stands up above the fall, and that the current for ever
+sets down."</p>
+
+<p>Again I agreed with him, excusing Shakspeare's discrepancies on the
+score of his never having had a proper guide to explain these matters.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know who at all showed him the place," gravely responded Pat;
+"but it's my belief he never was in id at all at all, though the
+gintleman that tould me a heap more about it swears for sartin that he
+was."</p>
+
+<p>This last remark, and the important air with which the doubt was
+conveyed, proved too much for my risible faculties, already suffering
+some constraint, and I fairly roared out in concert with my companion,
+who had been for some time convulsed with laughter.</p>
+
+<p>Whoever first instructed the "Conductor" on this point of critical
+history deserves well of the visitors so long as the present subject
+remains here to communicate the knowledge; indeed, I trust, before he is
+drowned in the Niagara, or burnt up with the whisky required, as he
+says, "to keep the could out of the shtomach," the present possessor of
+this curiosity in literature will bequeath it to his successor, so that
+it may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</a></span> be handed down in its integrity to all future visitors.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning at an early hour I revisited the "Termination Rock," but
+excused myself from being accompanied by "the Conductor." I next
+wandered down the stream, and had a delightful bathe in it. Accompanied
+by a friend, I was pulled in a skiff as close to the fall as possible,
+and in short performed duly all the observances that have been suggested
+and practised by curiosity or idleness; but in all these I found no
+sensation equal to a long quiet contemplation of the mass entire, not as
+viewed from the balconies of the hotel, but from some rocky point or
+wooded shade, where house and fence and man and all his petty doings
+were shut out, and the eye left calmly to gaze upon the awful scene, and
+the rapt mind to raise its thoughts to Him who loosed this eternal flood
+and guides it harmless as the petty brook.</p>
+
+<p>There never should have been a house permitted within sight of the fall
+at least. How I have envied those who first sought Niagara, through the
+scarce trod wilderness, with the Indian for a guide; and who slept upon
+its banks with the summer trees for their only shelter,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</a></span> with the sound
+of its waters for their only <i>r&eacute;veille</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Now, one is awakened here by a bell, which I never can liken to any
+other than a dustman's, and can hardly find a spot whereto parasols and
+smart forage-caps intrude not.</p>
+
+<p>I would even include in my denunciation the tower which is now erected
+upon the piece of rock that abuts upon the great fall, and standing in
+whose gallery you actually hang suspended over the abyss; not but that
+the tower is in itself rudely simple, and in good taste perhaps, but
+that one feels this place needs no such accessories, and, instead of
+deriving advantage from them, is degraded into a mere show by their
+presence; and, in saying this much, I feel as though the application of
+the term was a profanation.</p>
+
+<p>I only saw three natives near the fall during my stay; but these formed
+a little group I would like much to have had Landseer look upon.</p>
+
+<p>I was walking one morning before breakfast about a quarter of a mile
+below the fall, when I suddenly came upon a squaw leaning against a
+tree: as many of the Tuscaroras understand a few words of English, I
+addressed her with "Good morning, good morning!"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</a></span></p><p>With a calm bend of the head she placed her fingers over her lips by
+way of return to my salutation, turning herself at the same time a
+little away as if to avoid further notice or intercourse: curiosity,
+however, overcame good-breeding in me, and mounting the little bank to a
+level with the shady tree against which she passively leaned, I
+immediately became aware of her object.</p>
+
+<p>Coiled up, on the earth, by her feet lay an Indian, his head and
+shoulders wrapped close in his blanket; upon this motionless mass her
+eyes were calmly fixed: against the opposite side of the tree sat a very
+handsome lad, about eight or nine years old, who never lifted his head
+to look on the intruder: near the boy crouched a half-starved hound of
+the lurcher kind, a red-coloured, wire-haired brute, with a keen cold
+Indian look, and as apparently incurious as the best-taught warrior of
+the tribe: there was no wagging of the tail in friendly recognition, as
+might be expected from a kindly European dog; neither was there the
+warning growl and spiteful show of bristled crest and angry teeth, nor
+any suspicious circling round the stranger, with tail tucked close and
+thievish scrutiny, so <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</a></span>common amongst low-bred white curs; this hound of
+the Red-man, on the contrary, deported himself in a manner creditable to
+his race, and to the tribe of his adoption: I do not believe his eye was
+ever once raised to survey me; or, if it was, the movement was so well
+managed that I did not detect it.</p>
+
+<p>Supported against the tree stood a long rifle, over whose muzzle was
+hung a scarlet shoulder-belt and pouch, richly worked with an embroidery
+of blue and white beads; by a thong of hide was also suspended from the
+rifle a sheath of leather, through which protruded a couple of inches of
+the bright broad blade of a knife: these I readily conceived to be the
+appointments of the sleeping man; and the trio thus patiently watching
+his slumbers,&mdash;his wife, child, and dog.</p>
+
+<p>I looked upon this savage group for some minutes, and no happier scene
+could have been found for such a rencontre:&mdash;the grassy knoll which the
+family occupied; the rich foliage of the butter-nut tree that shaded
+them; the wooded heights above, and the deep-channeled river flowing by;
+together with a stillness made more thrilling by the sound of the
+cataract, for a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</a></span>moment rumbling like near-coming thunder, and then
+dying away into a continuous moan, soft and absolutely musical, whilst
+afar off its light vapoury masses gently rose and fell, converted by the
+morning sun into clouds of silver tissue. I have often, amongst other
+vain wishes, sighed for the possession of the painter's power, but never
+more than at this moment; and as I silently looked upon the unchanging
+group, and called to mind the artists whom such a chance would have
+repaid for longer travel, I grieved to think it should have been given
+to one whose attempts by description to image it must prove so tame a
+record.</p>
+
+<p>After a long pause, pointing to the coiled-up sleeper, I ventured on a
+second inquiry, saying, "Man,&mdash;he sick?"</p>
+
+<p>The squaw fixed her fine eyes upon me, and comprehending my inquiry,
+nodded once or twice, articulating in a low musical voice, "Man
+sick,&mdash;whisky too much&mdash;make bad!"</p>
+
+<p>Again her head drooped, and her eyes rested upon the motionless mass
+before her; the little imp and the hound meanwhile never by a sign
+indicating their knowledge of the presence of an intruder. I now turned
+back towards the hotel,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</a></span> which I had left to watch the sun rise on the
+fall from the bed of the river. My early stirring was every way
+fortunate, for the morning was fresh and unseasonably cool, consequently
+the misty abyss into which the river tumbled was bridged by beautiful
+rainbows in every direction; whilst, to crown all, with the exception of
+the group I have mentioned, no unhallowed foot broke on the holy place.</p>
+
+<p>The family had not appeared on my return to the house; so seeking my
+little chamber, whose window commanded the rapids and the great fall, I
+flung myself upon my bed, and gratefully reviewed all the beauty of
+earth and sky which I had been so happily permitted to behold and to
+enjoy.</p>
+
+<p>The days I passed here must always be recalled by me as days of
+unalloyed enjoyment; I felt an indescribable calm steal, as it were,
+over my spirit. Generally active, impatient, and inquiring, I have
+seldom found any neighbourhood which I did not compass in a few days;
+but from the vicinity of this spot I had no desire to stir. Finding that
+the dinner-hour was two o'clock, which would have destroyed the day, I
+requested the proprietor of the hotel, one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</a></span> of the most obliging persons
+I ever met,&mdash;an Englishman,&mdash;to give our little party dinner at five;
+and from breakfast to this time I believe our time was usually passed
+lounging dreamily about Goat Island, to reach which you cross the river
+below the falls to the American side, and then pass over the rapids on a
+bridge, which is in itself a wonder.</p>
+
+<p>The turf of this island, its trees and flowers, retaining in summer the
+freshness of spring, the delicious purity of its atmosphere, and the
+brightness of its waters, render it most charming. The solitude here has
+no drawback; the strong currents of air by which it is encircled defy
+the powers of the musquito,&mdash;that bane to all thin-skinned people with
+pastoral inclinations, and not an insect in the least venomous or
+annoying is to be found here.</p>
+
+<p>This Island of the Rainbow, as it has been poetically and not
+inappropriately named, is situated exactly between the falls;
+surrounded, and intersected in part, by rapids frightful to look on.
+Before American enterprise and ingenuity spanned these with the bridge
+that now connects the Iris isle with the main land, the approach to it
+must have been attended with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</a></span> great difficulty and much danger; indeed,
+I believe it was very rarely attempted; at present it is occupied by one
+or two poor families, who tend a garden now in progress, under the care
+of the proprietor of the place.</p>
+
+<p>Within these few years, a young man of good appearance was known to have
+taken up his abode here; he shunned all observance, only holding
+communion with a poor family who procured him what necessaries he
+needed. After a residence of two years he died, without leaving the
+slightest clue to his name or country. That his condition was gentle may
+be inferred from his accomplishments: a flute and a guitar, on both of
+which he is said to have played much and well, with a drawing or two,
+are all that remain of the recluse, although the man who attended upon
+him says he sketched and wrote much.</p>
+
+<p>Certainly no anchorite ever selected a pleasanter summer solitude: how
+he got through the severity of a five or six months' winter in a place
+so exposed can only be imagined, since the hermit died and "made no
+sign."</p>
+
+<p>I visited the other lions of the place, but took little heed of them.
+The sulphur springs were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</a></span> exhibited, and the gas ignited, by a
+remarkably fine old man, who was full of anecdote of the late war: one
+or two of his stories I took good note of, and purpose availing myself
+of them at some future time.</p>
+
+<p>On one afternoon I forced myself away to visit the Devil's Hole and the
+Whirlpool, situated about five miles below the falls; and a wilder scene
+it is impossible for imagination to conceive than the deep rocky basin
+into which the river is precipitated, and from which it issues at right
+angles from its previous course, bearing with it portions of the wrack
+accumulated within the black vortex of this fearful pool, into whose
+gulf it is impossible to look without a shudder. The drive through the
+forest was delightful; and, if any sight could have repaid me for
+leaving the neighbourhood of the falls, this fitting <i>pendant</i> would be
+that sight.</p>
+
+<p>The bad weather which occurred so late in the month of June, and,
+indeed, continued through the first days of July, had retarded the
+advance of visitors. At the period of our stay there were but two or
+three strangers here besides ourselves; and, not dining at the public
+table, these I never saw except at a distance. The weather<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</a></span> during the
+day was warm without being oppressive, the evenings and nights
+deliciously cool.</p>
+
+<p>I had brought my companion, Mr. H&mdash;&mdash;e, thus far on a promise of
+returning with him in a few days, and never did I feel more urged to
+break faith: but knowing that he was compelled to return in a certain
+time, and had accompanied me out of sheer good-nature, I could not
+reconcile it to myself to let him journey back alone; for our companions
+were bound on a wide tour through the Canadas.</p>
+
+<p>After a halt here of only three short days then, I finally crossed the
+Niagara for the American shore, and immediately took a coach for
+Tonnewanta, to intercept the boat on its way from Buffalo by the Erie
+canal, intending to journey by this route as far as Rochester.</p>
+
+<p>At Tonnewanta, a pretty little village, we were detained two or three
+hours; and here I once more encountered my family of Tuscarora Indians.
+The man was at this time wide awake, but still half drunk; and, although
+a fine-made fellow, had that horrid brutal look which accompanies
+continued debauch. He was attended as I at first saw him, only that now,
+as he stood by the public-house door talking with a couple of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[Pg 410]</a></span> negroes,
+the boy and the hound only were beside him. I looked about for my lady
+of the tribe, and perceived her squatted on her heels against the wall,
+about fifty paces lower down, "burd alane."</p>
+
+<p>From a slight furtive glance of the urchin, I perceived that he
+recognised me; he spoke a couple of words to his father, who, turning
+his head in the direction where I stood, muttered an interjectional
+"Ugh!" and resumed his previous calm attitude, contrasting oddly with
+the <i>insouciant</i> look and merry grimaces of his negro companions.</p>
+
+<p>I next walked on to the solitary squaw, in hopes of claiming
+acquaintance; but she kept her eyes fixed upon a necklace she was
+playing with as gravely as a devotee might tell her beads, and by no
+sign of recognition deigned to flatter me.</p>
+
+<p>Miserable and degraded race! on whose condition much care has been
+vainly bestowed, much generous sympathy idly wasted! I say wasted, since
+the aborigines of this continent are either above or below sympathy. I
+confess my feeling for them has been much changed by a near view of
+their condition and a better <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</a></span>knowledge of their history and habits; and
+whatever complaints they may advance against the rapacity of the white
+man, he must at least be admitted a generous historian.</p>
+
+<p>I shall have occasion hereafter to revert to the unpopular view of this
+question, which I have adopted against my inclination in obedience to my
+judgment, and meantime must quit my family of the Tuscaroras&mdash;what a
+name to adorn a tale!&mdash;for the canal boat arrived, and in a moment we
+were hurried to embark.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> The Indian name "Niagara" signifies Thunder-water.</p></div>
+</div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[Pg 412]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="ERIE_CANAL" id="ERIE_CANAL"></a>ERIE CANAL.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="PACKET-BOAT_HEATmdashCEDAR_SWAMP_LONG_SWAMP_AND_MUSQUITO" id="PACKET-BOAT_HEATmdashCEDAR_SWAMP_LONG_SWAMP_AND_MUSQUITO"></a>PACKET-BOAT.&mdash;HEAT.&mdash;CEDAR SWAMP, LONG SWAMP, AND MUSQUITO SWAMP.&mdash;UTICA.</h3>
+
+<p>This day, up to the meridian, had been temperately warm, but not in the
+least sultry or unbearable. The boat was exceedingly clean, not
+over-crowded; and I sat down within its neat cabin, anticipating a
+couple of days' quiet travel, which, if a little monotonous, would be at
+least unattended by the fatigue and dust of a stage journey between this
+and Utica.</p>
+
+<p>The boat for a few hours went on merrily; the eternal forest closed
+about us, and the sound of our horses' feet alone broke upon its
+silence. Towards evening the heat became great, and after sunset the
+southern sky began to give forth continuous sheets of flame, along whose
+pale surface would occasionally dart lines of red forked lightning,
+whilst the breeze gradually died away. My first idea was, that we were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[Pg 413]</a></span>
+about to be favoured with a refreshing storm of rain and thunder; but
+vain were my hopes: I watched and listened, but no drop fell, no sound
+was heard.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime, the heat increased as the night closed in: the little cots,
+however, were duly hung one below another along the sides of the cabin.
+I had procured an upper berth, with a window by my side; and having
+exhausted my patience, and wearied my sight watching the fiery sky, I at
+last ventured to creep below. Although a hotter atmosphere can hardly be
+imagined, I slept tolerably sound; but, on waking, found myself anything
+but refreshed. The sun was not yet above the horizon when I crept forth
+on to the deck: it was that hour of morning which, of all others, one
+expects to be invigorating and cool, as indeed it usually is in all
+climates; but here, enclosed within the banks of the canal, and
+surrounded by swamp and forest, there was no morning air for us. My mind
+was made up to leave the boat at the first place where a stage might be
+procured.</p>
+
+<p>All this day the air absolutely stood still. At our places of halt we
+were joined by men who had left the stages in consequence of those<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[Pg 414]</a></span>
+vehicles not being able to travel. Our pace was reduced considerably;
+and the cattle, although in excellent condition, were terribly
+distressed. At Lockport we found business nearly at a stand-still; the
+thermometer was at 110 degrees of Fahrenheit. We passed several horses
+dead upon the banks of the canal, and were compelled to leave one or two
+of our own in a dying state. Here more persons joined than we could well
+accommodate, and I found positively that all movement by the stage route
+was at an end, forty horses having fallen on the line the day previous.
+To attempt abiding in any of the places along the canal, I was assured
+would be an exchange for the worse; so the only course was to endure the
+"ills we had," and certainly these did not become the lighter through
+practice. Towards the second night our progress became tediously slow,
+for it appeared to grow hot in proportion as the evening advanced.</p>
+
+<p>The south-western sky was again banked up by black clouds, from which
+the sheet lightning never ceased to burst. Under other circumstances the
+scene would have been viewed as one of infinite grandeur; but, at
+present, every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[Pg 415]</a></span> consideration became absorbed by our sufferings, for to
+this the affair really amounted.</p>
+
+<p>This night I found it impossible to look in upon the cabin; I therefore
+made a request to the captain that I might be permitted to have a
+mattress on deck: but this, he told me, could not be; there was an
+existing regulation which positively forbade sleeping upon the deck of a
+canal packet; indeed, he assured me that this could only be done at the
+peril of life, with the certainty of catching fever and ague. I appeared
+to submit to his well-meant arguments; but inwardly resolved, <i>co&ucirc;te qui
+co&ucirc;te</i>, not to sleep within the den below, which exhibited a scene of
+suffocation and its consequences that defies description.</p>
+
+<p>I got my cloak up, filled my hat with cigars, and, planting myself about
+the centre of the deck, here resolved, <i>malgr&eacute;</i> dews and musquitoes, to
+weather it through the night.</p>
+
+<p>"What is this name of the country we are now passing?" I inquired of one
+of the boatmen who joined me about the first hour of morning.</p>
+
+<p>"Why sir, this is called the Cedar Swamp," answered the man, to whom I
+handed a cigar, in order to retain his society and create more smoke,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[Pg 416]</a></span>
+weak as was the defence against the hungry swarms surrounding us on all
+sides.</p>
+
+<p>"We have not much more of this Cedar Swamp to get through, I hope?"
+inquired I, seeking for some consolatory information.</p>
+
+<p>"About fifty miles more, I guess," was the reply of my companion,
+accompanying each word with a sharp slap on the back of his hand, or on
+his cheek or forehead.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank Heaven!" I involuntarily exclaimed, drawing my cloak closer about
+me, although the heat was killing; "we shall after that escape in some
+sort, I hope, from these legions of musquitoes?"</p>
+
+<p>"I guess not quite," replied the man; "they are as thick, if not
+thicker, in the Long Swamp."</p>
+
+<p>"The Long Swamp!" I repeated: "what a horrible name for a country! Does
+the canal run far through it?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, not so very far, only about eighty miles."</p>
+
+<p>"We've then done with swamps, I hope, my friend?" I inquired, as he kept
+puffing and slapping on with unwearied constancy.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, yes, there's not a heap more swamp, that is to say, not close to
+the line, till we come to within about forty miles of Utica."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[Pg 417]</a></span></p><p>"And is that one as much infested with these infernal insects as are
+the Cedar and Long Swamps."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess <i>that</i> is <i>the</i> place above all for musquitoes," replied the
+man grinning. "Thim's the real gallinippers, emigrating north for the
+summer all the way from the Balize and Red River. Let a man go to sleep
+with his head in a cast-iron kettle among thim chaps, and if their bills
+don't make a watering-pot of it before morning, I'm d&mdash;&mdash;d. They're
+strong enough to lift the boat out of the canal, if they could only get
+underneath her."</p>
+
+<p>I found these swamps endless as Banquo's line: would they had been
+shadows only; but alas! they were yet to be encountered, horrible
+realities not to be evaded. I closed my eyes in absolute fear, and
+forbore further inquiry.</p>
+
+<p>Here I remained throughout the whole night, dozing a little between
+whiles, but never foregoing my cigar for a minute. Towards daylight the
+dew descended like rain, but brought with it no coolness to earth or
+man: it felt exactly as though it had been boiled the day before, and
+had not been left long enough to get cool.</p>
+
+<p>During this day many of our men frequently threw themselves overboard,
+clothes and all on,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[Pg 418]</a></span> that is, in shirt and trousers, these being all of
+habiliment that could be worn; I really feared that some of them who had
+been a little too free in their cold applications, that is, of iced
+water and brandy, would have gone mad.</p>
+
+<p>This blessing of ice we were seldom many hours without, the poorest
+hovel on the canal being commonly provided with it in sufficient
+abundance to give us a supply. The inhabitants, I found, were suffering
+from the unusual continuance of heat as much as strangers: at night they
+built huge fires of pine before their doors, so that the thick smoke
+might penetrate the dwelling, and scour the infernal musquitoes out of
+it. At these fires we would find the poor women sitting in the smoke at
+the risk of suffocation; pale, haggard, with their hair neglected and
+dishevelled, looking like worn-out ghosts rather than living beings. The
+oldest inhabitants on the line of the canal assured us they never
+remembered any heat of three days' continuance which could compare to
+this; and I believe them, since no man could long endure such a
+visitation.</p>
+
+<p>This evening our condition was in no way improved, except that we heard
+the sound and felt the presence of a strong current of northerly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</a></span> wind;
+but it blew as though issuing from a furnace, and afforded no present
+relief. The sky continued to show "fiery off," and the musquitoes of
+that ilk did credit to the genealogy my informant ascribed to them: but
+there is a period beyond which even suffering ceases; this happy
+insensibility I had attained; and when after midnight we were landed at
+Utica, I felt as though I could have slept soundly and well even beneath
+the heated deck of our canal packet.</p>
+
+<p>I got an excellent bed at the hotel, however; and at daylight awoke to
+feel once more the delightful sensation of coolness. In the night heavy
+rain had fallen; a light but pleasant breeze was blowing; and the past
+was already a subject for merriment, although it was such matter for
+jest as I never willingly will undertake to collect again.</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="LITTLE_FALLS" id="LITTLE_FALLS"></a>LITTLE FALLS.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="SARATOGA_BALLSTONmdashALBANYmdashMOUNTAIN-HOUSEmdashCATSKILLmdashHYDE" id="SARATOGA_BALLSTONmdashALBANYmdashMOUNTAIN-HOUSEmdashCATSKILLmdashHYDE"></a>SARATOGA.&mdash;BALLSTON.&mdash;ALBANY.&mdash;MOUNTAIN-HOUSE.&mdash;CATSKILL.&mdash;HYDE PARK.&mdash;LYNN.</h3>
+
+<p>The early hour of six <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> saw us once more in motion for Schnectady, by
+way of Little Falls. We pursued what is termed the ridge road, running
+along the valley of the Mohawk.</p>
+
+<p>The day was bright, and not over-warm. The sun's rays being tempered by
+a delicious north-east breeze, the condition of the atmosphere
+completely re-invigorated the almost prostrate body, whilst the
+loveliness of the prospect delighted and cheered the mind. No valley in
+the world can present charms more varied or more beautiful; even making
+every allowance for the happy change from musquitoes, swamps, close
+confinement, and suffocation, to freedom, exercise, and healthful
+breezes, with the satisfaction consequent upon the re-enjoyment of all
+these.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</a></span></p><p>We frequently ran along the line of cuttings for the railroad now in
+progress between Utica and Schnectady. The rocky nature of the ridge
+whose line they pursue, offers formidable impediments; but the work was
+proceeding with great rapidity notwithstanding. This railway, when
+complete, together with the canal by whose side it runs, will afford a
+facility of communication between New York and Utica, which, for speed
+and convenience, can have no rival.</p>
+
+<p>We breakfasted at Little Falls, a small town built on what was, at some
+period or other, the very bed of a torrent, amidst the huge piles of
+rock riven from the mountains in its course. Although overshadowed by
+the steep heights that wall the ravine in which it lies, it is kept cool
+and healthful by the constant current of air following the rapid fall of
+the river, which is here precipitated over a series of rocky ledges in a
+wild and hurried course, giving to the ravine and town the name of
+Little Falls. A more picturesque, romantic site no painter could desire.
+I felt vexed to be compelled to leave it after about an hour's halt; and
+should yet more regret this, did I not hope to revisit it.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</a></span></p><p>Arriving at Schnectady, we found the railroad train about to start for
+Saratoga springs; and, taking our places, we arrived at this Malvern of
+America about ten at night, after a delightful day's ride.</p>
+
+<p>Next morning I got up early, and took a lounge about Saratoga. The
+nominal attraction to this place is its water, which is much in vogue,
+and may be procured all over the States, being bottled and sold under
+the name of Congress water; as in all such places however, pleasure, not
+health, is the end pursued by the majority of visitors.</p>
+
+<p>The day was again close and hot: the street was a foot deep in light
+dust, so that every carriage moved in a cloud, and not a breath of air
+could rise without bearing this nuisance on its wing. I could not but
+think, considering the abundance of water, that there was a lack of
+charity in thus withholding a sprinkling from the road, especially as
+the resident invalids would, I am sure, have as much benefited by this
+mode of application as by any other; since to breathe for any length of
+time an atmosphere constantly impregnated with impalpable powder, must
+be anything but salutary.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[Pg 423]</a></span></p><p>The chief attraction presented to my eyes was the piazza of the hotel
+where myself and friend had our quarters. This was of immense extent,
+full twenty feet wide, boarded throughout, and covered by the roof of
+the house, which was supported by lofty pillars of pine. About these
+columns grew, in the greatest luxuriance, the wild vine of the country,
+or some other Clematis, covering them from ground to roof, and forming a
+continuous rich drapery throughout the whole extent of the long piazza.</p>
+
+<p>This forms a promenade for the residents of the house and their
+visitors; and, were it out of reach of the dust, it would be difficult
+to create one more elegant and agreeable. There are several hotels here,
+whose exteriors present all the attractions of cleanliness and great
+size, both exceeding good points in so hot a climate as this now was. Of
+their internal arrangements I know nothing; for after partaking of a
+breakfast, in common with some hundred and fifty elaborately
+well-dressed ladies and gentlemen, in a room every way proportioned to
+the number of the <i>convives</i>, with the thermometer at about 88 degrees,
+I declared off, and made up my mind to decamp by the next train to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[Pg 424]</a></span> seek
+quiet and coolness on the summit of the Catskill mountains.</p>
+
+<p>On our way we halted for a few hours at Ballston, the quality of whose
+water is, I believe, similar to that of the Saratoga springs: the place
+itself I liked better, simply, I suppose, because it had less of bustle
+and pretension. At the hotel, whose pillared piazza, was, like that I
+had just quitted, clothed with the freshest and most luxuriant clematis,
+I met a gay young belle of New York, who was resident here with her
+family, recruiting a sufficient stock of health to carry her through the
+fatigues of a winter campaign. By this lady I had my prepossessions in
+favour of Ballston confirmed; she assured me that the society here,
+though exceedingly small by comparison, was infinitely more pleasant;
+that there was less of dress or ceremony, and consequently more real
+comfort and sociability. I left this place with a strong inclination to
+remain for a few days at least: but my time of <i>rel&acirc;che</i> was short; and
+my misery was that I had much to see, and many points to visit lying far
+asunder, therefore was bound to hasten on, leaving agreeable realities
+as soon as found, to seek for something better, which too often proved a
+shadow when overtaken.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[Pg 425]</a></span></p><p>Arrived at Albany, however, I found a right substantial welcome
+awaiting me from "mine host o' th' Eagle," in the shape of a six o'clock
+dinner of trout and woodcock, which would have recommended itself even
+without the aid of a hot day's journey and a ten hours' fast.</p>
+
+<p>Passed the evening with the K&mdash;&mdash;s, one of those families of women
+which, if I did not value their delicacy more than my own inclination, I
+should like to describe, in contradiction to those who, viewing only the
+surface of American society, have so flippantly passed judgment upon its
+members.</p>
+
+<p>And how many of these little circles have I encountered, and been
+admitted into, in various parts of these States, composed of women who
+have seen little of what is called the world; but whose information,
+intelligence, and spirit would have made them the ornaments of any
+country; and whose manners, refined, feminine, and naturally graceful,
+might with infinite advantage be studied by some of the ungentle censors
+whose tone of criticism is so <i>prononc&eacute;</i>.</p>
+
+<p>It has often, when visiting in the country, been a matter of surprise to
+me to meet with so many women every way presentable, yet who have had
+such slight opportunity, as it is called, of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[Pg 426]</a></span> acquiring that perfect
+ease and repose of manner by which truly well-bred women are readily
+distinguishable.</p>
+
+<p>The fact is, in the cities, where numbers congregate, society is apt
+rather to catch its tone from that which is most showy and prominent
+than from what, though more refined, is less obvious. In cities, also,
+strangers are often presented, and, from a deference to European
+fashion, observed and imitated, whose manner might with more profit be
+viewed as an example of what ought to be eschewed than held out as a
+model for adoption.</p>
+
+<p>But this is a digression I must close here, and which, indeed, the
+recollection of my fair friends at Albany alone could have betrayed me
+into. Acquainted with so much that is attractive and admirable in
+private life in this country, I should be less than honest did I not
+feel a desire to do it such poor justice as the expression of my feeling
+may render: I have only to regret that a rigid sense of propriety
+condemns me to deal in generalities only upon a point where I could
+individualise with such absolute truth.</p>
+
+<p>At seven o'clock <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> went on board the Erie steamer, and a little after
+ten my companion and myself were landed at Catskill.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[Pg 427]</a></span></p><p>A stage was in waiting at the landing-place, which quickly took us up
+to the town; and here we hired a carriage to proceed directly to the
+Mountain-house, which we had marked from the river as the morning sun
+lighted it up, looking like a white dovecot raised against the dark
+hill-side.</p>
+
+<p>In consequence of some bridge having been recently washed away by a
+flood, we were compelled to make a considerable circuit in order to ford
+the river; this, however, we accomplished, and continued our ascent
+under the happiest auspices.</p>
+
+<p>I will say nothing of our winding rocky road, or of the glimpses we now
+and then had of the nether world, which "momentarily grew less," as,
+whilst, halting for breath, we curiously peeped through the leafy
+skreen, flying from the faded leaf and drooping flower of scorching
+summer, and finding ourselves once more surrounded by all the lovely
+evidences of early spring.</p>
+
+<p>We took nearly five hours to win the house aptly called of the Mountain.
+I walked more than half way, and never felt less weary than when I
+rested on the natural platform, which, thrust from the hill-side, forms
+a stand whence may be worshipped one of the most glorious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[Pg 428]</a></span> prospects
+ever given by the Creator to man's admiration.</p>
+
+<p>In the cool shade we stood here, and from this eyrie looked upon the
+silver line drawn through the vast rich valley far below, doubtful of
+its being the broad Hudson, upon whose bosom we had so lately floated in
+a huge vessel crowded with passengers: for this vessel we searched in
+vain; but, by the aid of a telescope, made out one of the same kind,
+which appeared to flit along like some fairy skiff over a pantomimic
+lake made all radiant with gold and pearl.</p>
+
+<p>How delightful were the sensations attendant upon a first repose in this
+changed climate, enhanced as these were by the remembrance of the
+broiling we had so recently endured! I never remember to have risen with
+feelings more elastic, or in higher spirits, than I did after my first
+night's rest upon this mountain: the rooms were small but very clean,
+and the house with but few inmates; a circumstance I rejoiced in
+exceedingly, although it was perfectly incomprehensible to me,
+considering the state of the atmosphere below.</p>
+
+<p>I found next day that here even there was a lion, in the shape of a
+waterfall, to be visited before one could be permitted to take absolute<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[Pg 429]</a></span>
+rest; so away I went to visit it,&mdash;a sort of waggon-omnibus being in
+preparation to take the inmates through the wood to the fall.</p>
+
+<p>A ride of some three miles brought us as close as might be to the spot,
+and a walk of as many hundred yards presented to view a scene as well
+suited for a witches' festival as any spot in the old Hartz.</p>
+
+<p>In the season of melting snow this must doubtless be a grand affair, for
+the fall is full three hundred feet deep; at present a mere rill crept
+over the centre of the rocky amphitheatre, and, long before it reached
+the basin beneath, it was changed into a silvery shower of light spray.
+We found a mill-dam had appropriated all the surplus of the weakened
+torrent, close by the head of the fall: as here was a day and night to
+recruit in, a trifling bribe induced the sawyers to raise their
+floodgates for our especial benefit.</p>
+
+<p>The bargain being completed, we descended into the bed of the river near
+the basin, and, giving the appointed signal, were indulged with a
+momentary glimpse of the scene under better form; but still, I am
+certain, received no idea of the effect produced here when the machinery
+is complete.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[Pg 430]</a></span></p><p>After wandering a little way down the rugged bed of this misused
+river,&mdash;for surely Nature never designed that its waters should be
+arrested in their course to turn a saw-mill,&mdash;the party collected to
+return: with two others, I decided upon walking back, and pleasant it is
+to walk through these quiet wild wood-paths, where the chirp of the
+birds and the rustle of the leaves alone break in upon the repose.</p>
+
+<p>These mountains are everywhere thickly clothed with wood, saving only
+the platform whereon the house is built; deer abound on the lower
+ridges, and the bear yet finds ample cover here. A number of these
+animals are killed every season by an indefatigable old Nimrod who lives
+in the valley beneath, and who breeds some very fine dogs to this sport.</p>
+
+<p>I did promise unto myself that during the coming November I would return
+up here, and sojourn with the stout bear-hunter for a few days, for the
+purpose of seeing Bruin baited in his proper lair; but regret to say my
+plan was frustrated. It must be an exciting chase to rouse the lord of
+this wild mountain forest on a sunny morning, with the first hoar frost
+yet crisping the feathery pines; and to hear the deep-mouthed hounds
+giving tongue where a hundred echoes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[Pg 431]</a></span> wait to bay the fierce challenge
+back, and to hear the sharp crack of the rifle rattle through the thin
+air.</p>
+
+<p>Or, whilst resting upon some crag under the blue sunny sky, to watch the
+sea of cold clouds tumbling about far below, and think that they
+o'er-canopy a region lower still, about which one's fellows are at the
+moment creeping with red noses and watery eyes, or rubbing their frozen
+fingers over anthracite stoves, utterly unconscious, poor devils! that</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<div>"The sun, when obscured by the clouds, yet above</div>
+<div>"Shines not the less bright, though unseen."</div>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>On Tuesday at five <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> was roused to breakfast, and descended into the
+lower world to meet the Albany steamer.</p>
+
+<p>I opened my casement and looked forth upon the ocean of mist, whose huge
+waves rose and fell as they kept rolling by. It seemed as though river,
+valley, and mountain had been overwhelmed by this restless deluge, whose
+course was yet unstayed. The sun as yet wanted the power to shine
+through the mist; all was dark, chilling, and almost fearful.</p>
+
+<p>Before breakfast I had a last palaver with our guide; he said that the
+extreme denseness of the fog gave assured token of "an awful hot day."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[Pg 432]</a></span></p><p>At six <span class="smaller">A.M.</span> our muster was completed, and the party for the lower
+regions duly told off. As the carriage slowly crept down some of the
+steepest portions of the tortuous way, time and opportunities were
+afforded to steal a look under the cloudy canopy which the sun was
+quickly drawing upwards, and thus good assurance was afforded that the
+guide had prognosticated rightly.</p>
+
+<p>It did look "awful hot," to be sure; a golden-coloured haze seemed to
+float over the whole land like the subdued reflection of a bright flame.
+It made one feel uncomfortable to look upon the glowing landscape: the
+long snaky river gave no idea of coolness; it had a dead shiny look,
+only to be likened to a stream of molten lead.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime we mournfully beheld the green moist leaves, the yet half-open
+buds, together with all the other pleasant signs of spring, vanish with
+our too hasty fall, and to these succeeded parched grass, dry yellow
+leaves, and sickly flowers drooping and over-blown.</p>
+
+<p>At half-past ten we quitted Catskill in the steamer, and by half-after
+twelve were landed at Hyde Park. Mr. W&mdash;&mdash;ks was awaiting our arrival,
+and a pair of his trotters soon set us<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[Pg 433]</a></span> down at his very pretty
+country-house, which is one of a cluster of charming residences
+scattered along this portion of the north bank of the river.</p>
+
+<p>A pleasant house and an agreeable party, with the sweetest possible
+scenery to ride or walk through, with a river and boats, and every
+accessory the frankest hospitality could furnish, might reasonably be
+presumed attractive enough to arrest a wayfarer in search of comfort:
+one drawback alone was to me insurmountable, mine ancient and implacable
+foes the musquito tribe were in full possession. These verdant shades
+form a portion of their hunting-ground on the Hudson; with them the
+war-hatchet is never buried; I had no sooner taken up my position
+therefore, than hostilities were re-commenced; my defence was creditable
+enough as I flatter myself; but Hercules himself might have shunned such
+fearful odds; I saw no reason therefore why I should abide to have every
+vein in my carcase breathed by these Cossacks, in obedience to a mere
+point of honour; so, shortly after dinner, I fairly cried peccavi, and
+decided to decamp.</p>
+
+<p>I was almost ashamed to declare my motives of flight to my hostess,
+whose hospitality I had accepted for a few days; especially as I saw
+others, and women too, heroically abiding the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[Pg 434]</a></span> assault: but the truth
+is, my residence on the mountain had made me effeminate; Catskill proved
+my Cann&aelig;. Freed from every accustomed annoyance in that "shady, blest
+retreat," I had absolutely begun to doubt whether there could be any
+longer found in the world below either heat or musquitoes; with the
+confident presumption of restored vigour, I stooped from my security,
+and reaped the harvest of my folly.</p>
+
+<p>My first idea was to return to the hills, but I had made an appointment
+to sail from Nahant down the east coast for a day or two with a friend,
+who I knew would expect me; and thither I resolved to push, the more
+especially as I was informed musquitoes were not strong enough on the
+wing to abide the rough breezes blowing in the bay of Massachusetts.</p>
+
+<p>It was nigh midnight when the night-boat touched, in its way down, at
+the pier of Hyde Park: bidding adieu to my friends, I stepped on board,
+and was again cutting through the dark river.</p>
+
+<p>The boat was crowded; and what a scene did the cabins present! But to
+describe it is impossible: indeed, the glance of curiosity I was tempted
+to take was an exceedingly brief one.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[Pg 435]</a></span> Let the reader only imagine some
+two hundred men stowed away in double tiers of berths, or lying in rows
+upon stretchers placed close together, between the decks of a steamer,
+on one of the hottest, closest nights of a North American summer, and he
+may imagine a picture it would be very difficult to describe correctly.</p>
+
+<p>The night was very beautiful however, and almost reconciled me to
+passing it sleepless. Many persons kept the decks, which were yet ample
+enough to afford solitude to those who desired it. Myself and H&mdash;&mdash;e
+quietly lighted our cigars, and philosophically roughed it out till six
+o'clock <span class="smaller">A.M.</span>, at which time we were landed in New York.</p>
+
+<p>We knocked up the lazy varlets of the hot baths, and with this luxury
+balanced the loss of sleep.</p>
+
+<p>I found myself back in New York sooner than I had anticipated on
+starting for the west; but, in the course of the day, discovered that
+the good city was yet too hot to hold me. W&mdash;&mdash;n, who by good fortune
+was yet holding out here, invited me to dine with B&mdash;&mdash;r and himself at
+the club; and, could we only have contrived to ice the atmosphere,
+nothing would have been wanting to our comfort. I found these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[Pg 436]</a></span> last of
+the Romans were off in a day or two for the Springs, after the rest of
+the world; so, nothing being left to hold me, I took my passage next
+evening for Boston.</p>
+
+<p>Roomy as is the "Benjamin Franklin," I found on this occasion every
+berth already taken: the captain, however, resigned his room to me with
+much good-will; so my mischance proved fortunate, as I found myself
+installed in a neat cabin having a window opening on the water, which
+indeed the heat of the night made most necessary.</p>
+
+<p>There were two or three southern families on board, bound for Rhode
+Island: they appeared worn out by heat and long travel. The women
+especially pay dearly, I fear, for their sunny possessions; and what
+return can compensate for loss of health? Many of these are natives of
+the north; but, marrying southern gentlemen, they follow the fortunes of
+their husbands; the distances are great to which they are removed
+perhaps; and the necessity for a continuous residence on the plantation
+through two or three succeeding summers, saps, for ever, the
+constitution of a delicate female.</p>
+
+<p>The appearance of two or three of these young<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[Pg 437]</a></span> matrons now on board the
+packet excited my more than commiseration; attenuated in form,
+sallow-visaged, and fragile as the aspen, they appeared to shrink from
+the very breeze, to seek whose freshness they had journeyed so far. Two
+of them possessed the remains of positive beauty; their dark hair was of
+gossamer fineness, and their handsome eyes sparkled with that unnatural
+light which shines as it were from the tomb. No man could have looked
+upon them without pity; so attractive, so young, yet so evidently past
+all earthly cure.</p>
+
+<p>Landing at Providence, five hours' ride over a most dusty road brought
+us within sight of the State-house of Boston, when a thunder-storm,
+which had been for some time threatening, fell upon us with merciless
+fury. The overburdened cloud appeared as though it fairly rested upon
+the house-tops, and out of it ran a torrent of rain such as I should
+only have looked for under the line, or on some tropical island.</p>
+
+<p>I was outside, and had I even desired to seek shelter, the assault was
+of so sudden a nature, and so vigorous, that the worst one could expect
+from a complete ducking was effected in a moment: I sat it out
+therefore, and arrived at the Tremont uncommonly uncomfortable.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[Pg 438]</a></span></p><p><i>July 22nd.</i>&mdash;Still on the move, seeking some cool spot where I may
+fold my tired wings and take "mine ease." One night's halt convinced me
+Boston was no quarter such as I desired just now; the house was crowded,
+the thermometer high, and my room as high as the glass, for it was one
+hundred and something up four flights of stairs. My good friend, Mr.
+T&mdash;&mdash;r, took compassion on my condition, and volunteered to drive me
+down to Nahant; so off I was again. We passed across the harbour by one
+of the little steamers; and from hence to the pretty town of Lynn, there
+is nothing in the landscape particularly attractive. Over the destinies
+of this said town of Lynn St. Crispin holds absolute dominion; for the
+entire population, man, woman, and child, father, son, and brother,
+appear devoted to the calling in whose practice the princely saint was
+brought up.</p>
+
+<p>Vast quantities of shoes are here manufactured for the Indian markets;
+the amount exported annually is something enormous. The place wears an
+air of great prosperity; the dwellings being of remarkable neatness, and
+the public edifices of a size and character highly creditable to the
+ambition of these worthy citizens.</p>
+
+<p>This caste-like monopoly of certain callings<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[Pg 439]</a></span> is a singular feature in
+the economy of the New England republic, there being many of its towns
+where trades are exclusively exercised, and the practice of them handed
+down as an inheritance from one industrious generation to the next in
+succession; and notwithstanding the many arguments lately raised at home
+against hereditary honours, I do not find that in Massachusetts a souter
+is considered likely to make a shoe, a cooper a cask, or a farmer grow
+onions, with less ability, simply because their fathers did the same
+before them.</p>
+
+<p>The drive along the sandy beach from this place to Nahant was a most
+agreeable change from the dusty road on a warm July morning, especially
+with the prospect of a fresh breeze and a fish breakfast crowning the
+rocky peninsula rising boldly in the distance.</p>
+
+<p>The first happily encountered us before we reached the hotel, much to
+our relief; and the second was very quickly provided on our arrival. The
+precise day of the month when this place becomes fashionable had not yet
+arrived; although the heat, which alone could render such a residence
+desirable, had; consequently, there were few visitors, and my fears
+about want of room proved groundless. A choice of chambers was
+proffered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[Pg 440]</a></span> me, and I selected one having an eastern aspect, with a
+window that commanded the north-east coast of the vast bay of
+Massachusetts; whilst just within reach lay the snugly-sheltered cove
+and rocky islet about which, according to the most authentic reports,
+the "great sea sarpint" delights to disport him when in a merry mood.
+"Who knows," said I to myself, when all the advantages of my location
+became known to me,&mdash;"who knows but that on some morning, bright and
+early, I may behold the monster combing his venerable beard amongst the
+rocks below, or see him lift his head to the level of my window&mdash;the
+height not being over a hundred feet&mdash;in civil search of a bit of old
+brown Windsor to shave withal?"</p>
+
+<p>Here, then, will I fix my head-quarters until the prompter's whistle
+shall once more summon me to commence a new campaign at New York;&mdash;six
+weeks nearly, with nothing to do,&mdash;it will require some management to
+complete this task without weariness!</p>
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="center">END OF VOL. I.</p>
+
+<p class="tbrk">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="center">LONDON:<br />PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,<br />Dorset Street, Fleet Street.</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Impressions of America, by Tyrone Power
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Impressions of America, by Tyrone Power
+
+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: Impressions of America
+       During the years 1833, 1834 and 1835. In Two Volumes, Volume I.
+
+Author: Tyrone Power
+
+Release Date: September 28, 2007 [EBook #22796]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA.
+
+VOL. I.
+
+LONDON:
+
+PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,
+
+Dorset Street, Fleet Street.
+
+[Illustration: SCENE BEFORE THE THEATRE AT NATCHEZ.
+Drawn & Etched by A. Hervieu]
+
+
+
+
+IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA,
+
+DURING THE YEARS 1833, 1834, AND 1835.
+
+
+BY TYRONE POWER, ESQ.
+
+IN TWO VOLUMES.
+
+VOL. I.
+
+LONDON:
+RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
+Publisher in Ordinary to His Majesty.
+
+1836.
+
+
+
+
+DEDICATION
+
+TO THE BRITISH PUBLIC.
+
+
+Most persons have a Patron, from whose power and influence they have
+derived support, and of whose favour they feel proud.
+
+I cannot claim to be of the few who are above this adventitious sort of
+aid, self-raised and self-sustained; on the contrary, I have a Patron,
+the only one I ever sought, but whose favour has well repaid my pains of
+solicitation.
+
+The Patron I allude to is yourself, my Public, much courted, much
+abused, and commonly accused of either being coldly neglectful or
+capriciously forgetful of all sorts of merit. To me, at least, you have
+proved most kind, and hitherto most constant.
+
+Yes, my Public, throughout my humble career, I have at all times of
+doubt or despondency invariably turned to you, and never have I been
+coldly regarded. I have leaned heavily upon you, yet have never found
+your aid withdrawn.
+
+As an Actor, when managers have appeared indifferent, or critics unkind,
+and my hopes have sunk within me, I have turned to your cheering
+plaudits, and found in them support for the present and encouragement
+for the future.
+
+As an Author, this appeal is founded solely upon my desire, not only to
+amuse, but to make you better acquainted with an important part and
+parcel of yourself, to which, although widely sundered, you are
+naturally and morally allied, and of which, as emanating from yourself,
+and in no way degenerate, you ought to feel very proud.
+
+If happily I succeed in effecting this--if I dissipate one common
+error, eradicate one vulgar prejudice, or kindle one kindly feeling
+between you and the people of whom I write, I shall feel that, by so
+doing, I have at length made you some return for the high favour with
+which you have repaid my efforts to please you.
+
+In presenting this offering to you, I am aware, at this the ninth hour,
+that it abounds in errors; and I would furnish a copious list of errata
+from each sheet, if I thought you would find patience to compare them.
+But you also know how my time has been employed since my return to you.
+Whilst you have nightly laughed with me at the playhouse, I have nightly
+had the devil[1] waiting for a contribution at home, and he is an imp
+importunate and insatiable. To soothe him, I have worked whilst you have
+slept.
+
+I do not tell this to deprecate the censure my crude publication merits,
+but only to excuse the impertinence of dedicating it to you.
+Nevertheless, being the best commodity I have to lay at your feet, I beg
+you to accept it, with the very sincere declaration that I am, my only
+Patron and gentle Public,
+
+                           Your devoted,
+                                  Humble servant,
+                                           TYRONE POWER.
+
+_Bolton Street, May Fair,_
+  _Dec. 23rd, 1835._
+
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[1] _i.e._ Printer's devil!
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+Although I have hitherto forborne all preface or dedication on
+exhibiting my small ware to the public, concluding that the less I said
+about the matter the better, and from having some scruples about tacking
+any lady's or gentleman's name to bantlings from which I had withheld my
+own; yet, in the present case, do I consider myself bound, in a like
+spirit of honesty, to provide this book with a few words descriptive of
+its quality, lest my Readers, being disappointed, may charge me with
+having deluded them under false "Impressions."
+
+I seek, then, to describe America as I saw it,--a mighty country, in the
+enjoyment of youth and health, and possessing ample room and time for
+the growth, which a few escapades incident to inexperience and high
+blood may retard, but cannot prevent. Heaven has written its destinies
+in the gigantic dimensions allotted to it, and it is not in the power of
+earth to change the record.
+
+I seek to describe its people as I saw them,--clear-headed, energetic,
+frank, and hospitable; a community suited to, and labouring for, their
+country's advancement, rather than for their own present comfort. This
+is and will be their lot for probably another generation.
+
+To those, then, who seek scandalous innuendos against, or imaginary
+conversations with, the fair, the brave, and the wise amongst the
+daughters and sons of America, I say, Read not at all; since herein,
+though something of mankind, there is little of any man, woman, or
+child, of the thousands with whom I have reciprocated hospitality and
+held kind communion.
+
+On the other hand, it can be objected that I set out by giving
+evidences of a partiality which may cause my judgment to be questioned.
+
+Frankly do I avow this fault, and in my justification have but to add,
+that the person who, for two years, could be in constant intercourse
+with a people, to the increase of his fortune, the improvement of his
+health, and the enlargement of all that is good in his mind, yet feel no
+partiality in their favour, I pity for coldness more than envy for
+philosophy.
+
+But whilst I am by nature incapable of repaying kindness by aspersion, I
+feel that I am no less above the meanness of attempting a return in that
+base coin--flattery; that which I saw I say, and as _I_ saw it. I blame
+none of my predecessors for their general views, but claim the right of
+differing from them wherever I think fit; and if my account of things
+most on the surface even, should sometimes appear opposite to theirs, I
+would not, by this, desire to impeach their veracity, since the changes
+working in society are as rapid, though not quite so apparent, as those
+operating on the face of these vast countries, whose probable destinies
+do in truth render almost ridiculous the opinions and speculations of
+even the sagest of the pigmies that have bustled over their varied
+surface.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+OF
+
+THE FIRST VOLUME.
+
+                                                       Page
+EUROPE                                                    1
+The Eve of Sailing                                     _ib._
+Sailing Day                                               4
+The Europe Packet                                         7
+The Europe continued.--Change of Affairs.                21
+Journal at Sea                                           28
+Land, ho!                                                34
+Port                                                     39
+NEW YORK                                                 47
+First Impressions of the City                          _ib._
+A Bivouac                                                49
+Cato's!                                                  58
+Theatre                                                  60
+PHILADELPHIA                                             74
+The Theatres.--Walnut and Chestnut.                      87
+JOURNEY TO BOSTON                                        90
+The East River.--Hurl-Gate.--The Sound.--Point
+  Judith.--Newport Harbour.--Providence.               _ib._
+BOSTON                                                  101
+State Prison                                            114
+Tremont Hotel                                           117
+The Tremont Theatre                                     123
+JOURNAL                                                 127
+BALTIMORE                                               135
+Baltimore.--Journal continued.                          140
+The Temperance House                                    145
+Journal                                                 153
+Journal continued.--New Year's Day in New York.         166
+The Dutch and Irish Colonies of Pennsylvania.           181
+THE STEAM-BOAT                                          188
+Delaware.--Newcastle.--Railroad.--French-Town.--Elk
+  River.--North Point.--Bay of Chesapeake.--Baltimore. _ib._
+WASHINGTON                                              200
+Theatre, Washington                                     210
+Pierce's Garden                                         215
+The Garden, Poetical and Political                      221
+The Falls of the Potomac                                225
+Impressions of Washington Society, public and private   240
+Impressions of Alexandria.--A blank day.                246
+The Fancy Ball                                          252
+LIONS OF WASHINGTON                                     260
+The Indian Cabinet.--House of Legislature.--Senate.--
+  Ladies.--Senators.--President.                       _ib._
+BOSTON                                                  284
+Journey across the Alleghany Mountains.--Pittsburg.    _ib._
+PITTSBURG                                               309
+THE HUDSON                                              341
+ALBANY                                                  347
+JOURNEY TO COOPER'S TOWN.--OTSEGO LAKE                  361
+TRENTON FALLS                                           369
+BUFFALO                                                 386
+NIAGARA                                                 391
+ERIE CANAL                                              412
+Packet-boat.--Heat.--Cedar Swamp, Long Swamp,
+and Musquito Swamp.--Utica.                            _ib._
+LITTLE FALLS                                            420
+Saratoga.--Ballston.--Albany.--Mountain-House.--
+  Catskill.--Hyde Park.--Lynn.                         _ib._
+
+
+
+
+IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA.
+
+
+
+
+EUROPE.
+
+
+THE EVE OF SAILING.
+
+
+     In youth's wild days, it cannot but be pleasant
+     This idle roaming round and round the world,
+     With wildfire spirits and heart disengaged.
+                                         _Anster's Faustus._
+
+
+When one first contemplates a voyage of many thousand miles, attended
+with long absence, loss of old associates, together with all the charms
+of home, country, and friends, often too lightly estimated whilst
+possessed, but always sorely missed when no longer within call; one is
+yet, and this through no lack of sensibility, apt to regard the
+sacrifice about to be made to duty as sufficiently light, and, with the
+aid of manhood and a little philosophy, easy of endurance. The very
+task, which a resolution of this grave nature necessarily imposes, of
+making as little of the matter as possible to those dear ones who yield
+up their fears, and subdue their strong affections, in obedience to your
+judgment, serves for a time the double purpose of hoodwinking oneself as
+well as blinding those on whom we seek to practise this kind imposition.
+Next comes the bustle of getting ready, assisted and cheered by the
+redoubled attentions of all who love, or feel an interest in one's
+fortunes. Amidst the excitement, then, of these various feelings, the
+deep-seated throb of natural apprehension, or home regret, if even felt,
+struggling for expression, is checked or smothered in the loud note of
+preparation. The day of departure is fixed at length, it is true; but
+then it is not yet come: even when contemplating its near approach, one
+feels wondrous firm and most stoically resolved: at last, however, come
+it does; and now our chief friend Philosophy, like many other friends,
+is found most weak when most needed. In vain do we invoke his approved
+maxims, hitherto so glibly dealt out to silence all gainsayers; yet now,
+they are either found inapt or are forgotten wholly, until, after a
+paltry show of defence, braggart Philosophy fairly takes to his heels,
+and leaves us abandoned to the will of old mother Nature. Now, indeed,
+arrives the tug; and I, for my part, pity the man who, however savagely
+resolute, does not feel and own her power. The adieus of those one loves
+are, at best,--that is, for the shortest absence,--sufficiently
+unpleasant; but when there lie years, and, to the eye of affection,
+dangers, in the way of the next meeting, as the old Scotch ballad has
+it, "O but it is sair to part!" I should, I confess, were I free to
+choose, prefer the ignominy of cowardly flight, to the greatest triumph
+firmness ever yet achieved, and be constrained to hear and respond to
+that last long "good-b'ye!"
+
+As I honestly own that, for various good reasons, I set out with the
+intention of keeping such a close record of my feelings and doings as my
+errant habits might permit, with the premeditated design also of giving
+them to that public which from the beginning had decided that I should
+do so, I concluded there was nothing like an early start; and finding
+these thoughts preface, or rather commence, my journal, so do I give
+them like precedence here.
+
+
+
+
+SAILING DAY.
+
+
+     Liverpool, Tuesday, July 16th, 1833.
+
+
+I am not usually very particular about dates; but, as there is an odd
+coincidence connected with the 16th, I desire to note it. On this day,
+then, about 3 P.M. I was rumbled from Bold-street down to St. George's
+Dock, accompanied by a few friends, who were resolute to extend their
+kindness to the latest limit time and tide, those unyielding agents,
+might allow.
+
+Arrived at the ship's side, I found a number of my own poor countrymen,
+_agricultural speculators_, filling up a leisure moment before seeking
+harvest, in seeing "Who in the world was going to America, all that
+way," with which country there are now few of the humbler class of Irish
+but have some intimate associations. Disposing amongst _the boys_ the
+few shillings I had left in my pocket, I jumped on board the packet-ship
+Europe, without cross or coin, saving only a couple of luck-pennies, the
+one an American gold eagle, the present of an amiable gentlewoman; the
+other a crooked sixpence, suspended by a crimson ribbon, the offering of
+a fair "maid of the inn," given to me on the very eve of sailing-day
+with many kind wishes, all of which have been realized.
+
+The wind had been all the morning, and was still, away from the
+south-west; that is, right into the harbour; and I had heard many doubts
+expressed whether or not we should sail at all before night tide; doubts
+which, I am almost ashamed to confess, did not offend my ears so very
+much, considering my avowed impatience to be gone; nay, I do further
+admit having observed carelessly that I would as soon we did not sail
+until night tide, though wherefore I should thus have sought to keep
+chords on the stretch already too painfully braced, I leave to the wise
+to resolve.
+
+Once on board, however, doubt was at an end; since the task of warping
+out from the tier was already commenced, and the noisy steamer might be
+heard bellowing and fuming, impatient of delay, from where she awaited
+us without the pier. We were moored inside several other ships; and the
+dock being quite full of craft, to the unpractised eye there appeared no
+possibility of winning a passage without doing or sustaining damage.
+However, what with warps and checks, careful and well-timed hauling, and
+ready backing, the gallant-looking Europe was quickly and safely handed
+over to the turbid waters of the Mersey without suffering a rub on her
+bright sides.
+
+The steamer now took us in tow, and in a few minutes the busy docks and
+crowded pier-heads had passed away. Our companion vessels at parting
+were three only--a large private Indiaman, (the Albion,) a smaller ship
+for the coast of Africa, and a little gaily-painted Irish schooner
+called the Shamrock. These, it appeared, were dependent upon their own
+resources, and were soon left behind contending hardily with a strong
+beating wind; whilst the Europe, with yards pointed and sails closely
+furled, steadily and swiftly followed in the wake of the George the
+Fourth, looking like a noble giant led captive by some sooty dwarf. The
+Black Rock was soon gained, Crosby and its pretty cottages showed dimly
+distant; the mountains of Wales opened grandly forth before us; and,
+after one last long look, I dived to my state-room, partly to busy
+myself with seeing all my traps arranged and set in trim for sea, and
+partly to be alone.
+
+
+
+
+THE EUROPE PACKET.
+
+
+     "This goodly ship our palace is,
+     Our heritage the sea."
+
+
+It will doubtless appear to many who shall win their way thus far into
+this book, a work of impertinent supererogation to describe at large an
+American packet-ship, together with the mode of living on board a
+regular _Liner_, considering that there are some three or four of these
+departing every week from Liverpool, London, and Havre, and at this same
+point I can fancy some hot fellow, who has performed his twentieth trip,
+here toss by my unoffending volume, with "Devil take the chap! does he
+think he knows about all this better than _us_?"
+
+But, hold hard, my fiery friend, whilst I remind your worship that there
+are some thousands of the lieges out of the countless numbers who will
+be our readers, who, insular though they be, and well used to ships,
+have yet no conception of these wonders of the water; that is, provided
+the "Europe" is to be taken as a true sample of the service she belongs
+to: not to mention that what was new and notable to me, who have
+voyaged much, can hardly fail to interest some gentlemen "who live at
+home at ease."
+
+Let, then, the reader who knows what a "between-decks" is, step below
+with me, and there picture to himself a room forty feet long, not taking
+in the deep transom, by sixteen in breadth, having on either hand a
+range of inclosed state-rooms about eight feet square, each with its own
+door and window, of bird's-eye maple curiously inlaid with variously
+grained wood, polished as glass. The upper part of the door and the
+whole of the side window are latticed; so that on both being closed, the
+occupant is hidden, yet the air admitted freely.
+
+Each of these state-rooms is furnished with a washhand stand, containing
+a double service, a chest of drawers, with handles of cut glass, a shelf
+or two for books, &c. and a brace of berths or bed-places of ample
+dimensions, well appointed with mattress and linen, white as ever lassie
+lifted off the sunny side of a brae, at whose foot brawled the burn to
+which her labour owed its freshness.
+
+Now, although each room is fitted up for two insides, you may
+nevertheless conserve your individuality,--the which I recommend,--at
+the cost of an additional half-fare, or, in all, about fifty-five pounds
+sterling.
+
+Being here installed, then, _solus_, you will be roused from your sound
+night's sleep in the morning at eight bells, or eight o'clock A.M., by
+the tinkling of a shrewish-sounding hand-bell, which says, as plainly as
+ever the chimes of Bow hailed Whittington lord mayor of London, "Arise,
+and shave, and make your toilet, and prepare to come forth; for the cow
+is milking, and the kettle is screeching, and the hot rolls beginning to
+get over-brown."
+
+Upon this welcome summons, if you are not sea-sick, which Heaven forbid!
+or insensible to the goods here by the gods provided for you, you will
+bounce or creep out of your crib, according as the waves and your
+agility may determine; and popping your head out of window, loudly bawl
+"Thomas!" or plain "Tom!" or "Steward!" according to the terms of
+friendship and familiarity on which you may stand with this dignitary,
+who, by the way, has a vote on board worth canvassing for;--I say bawl
+out, because, firstly, your mincing and Clarendon-like lisp of "Waiter!"
+would not be heard by one used to listen to the rush of the tempest and
+the shriek of the scourged Atlantic; also, for that your stirring call
+may remind some wretched skulker of a circumstance which he is miserably
+dozing out of remembrance, viz. that breakfast is under weigh. "Yes,
+sir!" is the prompt response from the larboard corner of the cabin,
+where the steward and his gang are installed with all their appointment
+of glass and crockery ranged neatly within reach. Your next call will
+be, "Bring me a bottle of Saratoga water"--a chalybeate, cool and brisk
+on the palate as soda water, a commendable morning draught, and such a
+trumpet to appetite!--well, having swallowed of this, your pint or so,
+dress, mount the deck, and inquire "how she heads," and what she has
+done during the long hours of night whilst you lay sleeping like a
+sea-bird in your wave-borne nest.
+
+You next take a look over the weather quarter, sweep the horizon
+knowingly with your best eye, and after, walk forward towards the galley
+or kitchen, pricking your ears at certain sputtering and hissing sounds,
+the which, backed up by sundry savoury sniffs caught under the tack of
+the main-sail, give you foretaste of broiled ham, spitch-cock, eggs,
+frizzled bacon, and mutton cutlets.
+
+One by one your messmates tumble up the companion, or cabin-stair; some
+hungry and blooming as sound stomachs and clear consciences can make
+them, others showing a _leetle_ blue and bilious-like; but each and all
+resolute to essay the onslaught, which the train of polished covers,
+making rapid transit from the caboose down the steward's hatchway,
+proclaim about to begin.
+
+Tinkle, tinkle, ting! again sounds the steward's bell; and, without any
+pauses of ceremony, down dive the _convives_, turning _en que_ the foot
+of the stair, some to windward, others to leeward, but all facing right
+aft--a double game of "follow my leader."
+
+"Oh! 'tis a goodly sight to see," the show which here presents
+itself;--covers of all sizes glisten under the flickering rays of the
+morning sun, stealing in through the open deck-light, and dancing about
+to the heave of the ship over a well-laid cloth flanked by ready plates
+and the weapons of attack.
+
+The signal is made, the covers drawn; and, appetite or no appetite, here
+is temptation for all. If the incipient voyager will benefit by my
+experience, as he might well have done by my example had we been happy
+enough to have possessed his amiable society on board the Europe, he
+will develope his main battle against the mutton chops _au naturel_;
+then gossip over a slice of broiled _Virginy_ ham, with an egg or twain,
+whilst his souchong is getting pleasantly cool; then, having emptied his
+cup, flirt with a couple of delicate morsels raised from the thin part
+of a salted shad-fish, the which shad, for richness and flavour is
+surpassing.
+
+To his second cup he will dedicate the upper crust of a well-baked roll
+with cold butter; and, after having duly paused a while, choose between
+Cognac and Schiedam for a _chasse_. If he will yet walk with me, I say
+unhesitatingly, try Schiedam, in the absence, reverently be it spoken,
+of Isla or Innishowen.
+
+Now, my pupil, if this breakfast would, which it could not fail to do,
+raise the bastard appetite of your close-curtained, feather-bedded
+coal-smoked, snivelling in-dweller of the city, judge of the influence
+it must exercise over a child of ocean, who inhales the breath of heaven
+freshly as generated beneath the blue sky that vaults his watery world,
+pure, uncorrupted, untainted by touch of anything more earthly.
+
+Why, man, it is worth a life of ordinary vegetation to be stirred but
+for once by the sensations, such a morning as I draw from, in such a
+place, create; and to those who sagely shake the head and doubt, if any
+such cavillers there be, I say, "Pay your just debts; make your tenants
+easy, that their prayers may be in your sails; forgive your enemies,
+kiss your wife, draw up and add in her favour a codicil to your
+testament; and your duties being thus fulfilled, with a clean heart,
+backed by forty-eight clean shirts, go and try; and if you 'fall not' of
+my advice before you again embrace your mother country, curse Fortune
+for a perverse wench, and set your humble servant down for false
+counsel."
+
+Leaving you now, my pupil, to write, to read, to practise shooting with
+ball at a bottle swinging from some outstanding spar, or to follow
+whatever pursuit most engages your fancy, for the space of some four
+hours, we will just name an intermediate and somewhat tempting meal,
+ycleped luncheon, chiefly indeed for the purpose of advising you to
+eschew it as you value unimpaired digestion, and would appreciate a
+four o'clock dinner. If, however, you are obstinately self-willed, and
+choose to obey a villanous unappeasable appetite, in place of following
+my wholesome advice, I pray you, at least, not to sit down knife in
+hand, as I have noted "some shameless creatures do;" but lift a piece of
+pilot biscuit, request some kind soul to shave the under side of the
+corned round for you, then desiring the steward to follow with a tumbler
+of Guiness's porter, fly the place and seek the deck.
+
+Shuffle-board, chess, and backgammon, with exercise and pleasant
+converse, will while away the intervening hours so quickly, that, if you
+do not keep a bright look-out, you will be surprised by the dinner-bell
+before you think of your toilet, which, if a luxury to you on shore,
+will be thrice welcome at sea, besides being a pleasant way of disposing
+of twenty minutes; not to mention the ladies, who, at all times sensibly
+alive to any neglect in us, become doubly so here, where there is so
+much to remind them that they are not ruling in their own pretty
+drawing-rooms, though, as the old song has it,
+
+
+     "Queens they be
+     On the boundless sea,"
+
+
+as indeed they are, and ought to be, everywhere.
+
+_Mem._--Do not trust your appetite to forewarn you of approaching
+dinner, since I have been more than once deceived by over-confidence in
+that quarter: truth is, you have the cry of "wolf" from that insatiable
+look-out so early and so often, that you learn after a time to treat the
+call as impertinent and troublesome, and so strive to cut it until the
+cutting moment really and unexpectedly comes upon you.
+
+I have been so elaborate upon the head of breakfast, which meal, I
+freely confess to be my foible, that I feel as though any description of
+dinner would now come comparatively weak; besides, to speak verily, one
+might, with time and prudent choice, get as good a dinner, perhaps,
+a-shore in favoured countries: but for a breakfast, pho! the thing is
+beyond reach, away from the stores of a well-regulated Yankee packet. I
+challenge Europe, including Scotland, with all her _Finnanhaddies_,
+_herrin's_, cakes, and preserves, to back her.
+
+Suffice it then to say, that here is a dinner of three courses, with
+pastry and various _confitures_ which would not shame Gunter; and, for
+_boisson_, sherry, madeira, hock, and claret, with port for those who
+indulge in strong potations, and three or four times a week well-iced
+champagne.
+
+A variety of dried fruits compose the dessert, since, although they
+sometimes raise small salad, I feel bound to admit that they have not
+yet attained to the comfort of a pinery on board: nor, let me add, did I
+see finger-glasses in use; and how persons get on who have never dined
+without them, I cannot guess, this not being my case, since luckily,
+even in England, I had sometimes roughed it in very good society without
+these necessaries. Once seated to dinner, there you remain, and imbibe
+until discretion bids you hold your hand, for other check have you none,
+cellar and servants remaining at your disposal.
+
+After a walk on deck, and a cup of tea or coffee, you form your party
+for whist or some round game, or join the ladies in their _boudoir_,
+which I ought to have mentioned before as leading out of the great room
+forward, being a pretty square apartment, fitted up with sofas, mirrors,
+loo-table, and other little elegancies which ladies love to look upon
+and be surrounded by. _Entre nous_, between the lights this snuggery
+affords tolerable convenience for a little flirtation, if you are lucky
+enough to get one up;--this broken off, you play your play, and at the
+conclusion of your rubber of whist, or _parti d'ecarte_, you prepare for
+bed,--early hours forming here one of those sanitary laws which the wise
+feel little inclined to impinge.
+
+Now I am quite well aware that on the head of night-caps every biped has
+his own fancy, and most of the genus I also know to be infernally
+pig-pated on this seemingly simple point; such incurables I abandon, to
+supper, porter, night-mare, and all the other nameless horrors that
+rouse them to avenge an ill-used stomach; but to the willing ear and
+ductile mind I whisper again, "try mine." _Imprimis_--one cigar, one
+tumbler of weak Hollands' grog, better named swizzle, all to be disposed
+of in pleasant company during some half-hour's walk on deck; when, if
+you should sometimes, as I hope you often may, fall in with a soft downy
+south-west breeze, a clear deep-blue sky over head, gemmed full with
+little stars, and fringed about, down into the watery round, by a broad
+border of jet-black cloud, against which each curling wave appears to
+break, and the goodly ship seems as though delving through a lake of
+quick-silver--when the track of the swift porpoises show like long
+furrows of dazzling flame, and over the whirling eddies of the keel's
+deep wake is seen to hover a strange unearthly light,--a thin bluish,
+devilish, vaporous haze, which, in the silent watch of night, maketh the
+lonely gazer's flesh to creep, and conjures through the brain every wild
+legend whispered of the "vasty deep," fascinating the eyes, and holding
+them with spell-like power, until--until what?--why, until a sharp
+twitch on the lip from the fire of the close-burned cigar we recommended
+awakens you to a due sense of such a "lame and most impotent
+conclusion."
+
+Jump off the spare spar on which you have been perched whilst gazing so
+dreamily over the ship's quarter, give the last half of your grog to the
+old lad at the wheel, peep in on the compass, find she heads about
+west-north-west, and, well satisfied, descend the stair. The steward
+lights the waxen taper which fixes on a branch before your glass; when,
+having performed such ceremonies as you delight in, thank God and sleep:
+and thus ends the chapter of a day.
+
+And, gentle pupil, if you would learn yet more especially to enjoy all
+this, which I have for your benefit somewhat _lengthily_ detailed, give
+directions to the steward to rouse you at deck-washing; that is, about
+six A.M.; put on drawers and jacket of fine cotton, and, sunshine or
+cloud, calm or squall, run on deck, leave your _robe de chambre_ in the
+round-house, and slide down into the lee gangway, where, according to
+previous contract, you see a grim-looking seven-foot seaman--pick out
+the tallest--waiting for you with a couple of buckets of sea-water, one
+held ready in his claw, with a half-grin upon his puckered phiz as he
+inwardly blesses the simplicity of the landsman who turns out of his
+hammock in the morning-watch to be soused like the captain's turtle in
+cold salt water; and i' faith! startlingly cold it gets when on the
+Banks, even in July, especially if within the influence of an ice-berg
+or twain: think not, however, of this, the infliction is light in
+comparison with the after enjoyment.
+
+Being seated in the lee-scuppers, give the word; up goes the bucket, and
+wush! down pours the deluge on your oil-capped crown. "Hah!" you cry
+involuntarily, for the flesh will quiver, &c. You then compress your
+lips a little closer, whilst Jack's giggle expands into a broad grin,
+and in a steadier stream descends the second shower; which, having
+abided to the last drop, away you scurry along the wet deck, that is,
+always provided you avoid a fall or two by the way, into the
+round-house, on gown, and down to your little den; where a coarse towel,
+and a couple of flesh-brushes smartly applied for five minutes, will
+produce such a circulation throughout your inward man, that, like bold
+Waterton, you feel as though you could back an alligator, take the
+sea-serpent by the beard, or kick a noisy steamboat fairly out of water.
+
+I have, since I am at confession, sometimes in very bad weather been
+tempted into bed after this ablution, when such an hour's nap awaits
+one! But this is a luxury Xerxes would have given a Satrapie to have
+tasted, and not to be indulged in over-often, lest it lead to
+effeminacy, which is as far removed from comfort as is sensuality from
+pleasure.
+
+I have often heard objected to these fine ships the discomfort and
+difficulty attending toilet; but, for my own part, I did not discover
+these. Having a state-room, and possessed of the same appliances, with
+perhaps a little more trouble, a man may be as scrupulously nice as in
+any other dressing-room; provided always he be not prostrated by that
+unsparing nausea, sea-sickness; from the which I wish you, gentle
+reader, the full exemption I enjoy, and so commend you to repose.
+
+
+
+
+THE EUROPE CONTINUED.--CHANGE OF AFFAIRS.
+
+
+     "Life's like a ship in constant motion:
+     Sometimes smooth, and sometimes rough."--_Song._
+
+
+"Oh! the pleasures of a summer trip across the Atlantic!" Thus sung and
+chorused my good friends one and all; some from experience, most from
+hearsay, but ever in unison.
+
+"You'll have quite a party of pleasure," says one. "The only thing to be
+dreaded will be the _ennui_ arising out of long calms, gentle breezes,
+eternal sunshine by day and moonlight by night," says another.
+
+One would have fancied, according to their account, that sun and moon
+alternated like buckets in a well, one up, the other down, with the
+exception that both were to be always at full.
+
+So constant, however, were these remarks about heat, and sun, and summer
+air, that I packed up every article of clothing heavier than duck or
+cachmere; nay, had not some worthy matter-of-fact soul let slip a stray
+hint about ice and sleighing parties in December, I verily believe,
+hating as I do all superfluous baggage, I should have left my greatcoats
+to the moth and fog of Old England.
+
+But whew! from such _airs_ the Lord preserve me!--whilst at the tail of
+our honest, grimy, grumbling steamer, cutting through the Mersey or
+along the coast of Wales, we were, I admit, tolerably sunned and warm
+enough, though not even here bedazzled or over-heated; but on the second
+morning out, what a change!
+
+I came on deck just before six A.M. to take my shower-bath; the wind was
+about west by south, blowing a brisk gale, the ship under double-reefed
+topsails, with top-gallant sails set over them, making all smoke
+again--on one hand lay the Isle of Rathlin, with the north coast of
+Ireland, bleak and bare; on the other, the Mull of Kyntyre, with a tide
+of its own rushing by like a mill-race, and over it the cloudy crest of
+Isla, looming through the flitting vapours, cold, dark, and
+hard-visaged, as though no drop of whisky had ever been brewed therein.
+One could not recognise the misty monster, thus grimly shadowed forth,
+to be the parent of that glorious sunny spirit.
+
+We had full time afforded to become well acquainted with the changing
+aspects of these and the other localities hereabouts, for we had to
+battle it with their ally the wind, and with their waters, for full
+sixty hours; and although we at length fought our course seaward, it was
+to feel that such another victory would be anything but serviceable to
+the gallant ship.
+
+Oh that infernal Rathlin! I shall not soon forget it; it is a spot I
+always held in ill odour ever since Miss Porter's "Scottish Chiefs"
+taught my unsophisticated youth to weep over the wrongs of Wallace
+wight. Now, although I abominate the place more, I have learned to
+compassionate her ill-starred hero less, since to have been carried
+southward through "merrie England" from such a place of exile, albeit
+the journey ended in hanging, was yet a deliverance especially to be
+rejoiced in.
+
+We had a near view of the natives too, one day, trying to catch us in a
+whale-boat, whilst we were hugging the land sculking from the strength
+of the tide of flood: but, thank Heaven! they missed taking us as we
+went about on the opposite tack, the which I shall ever consider a
+providential escape, although at the time, a heedless confidence in our
+numbers led Captain Maxwell to throw them the end of a rope. They failed
+to lay hold on it, however, and away we dashed by them like a whirlwind;
+whilst the disappointed men gesticulating fiercely, with their red
+"fell o' hair" blowing to the four corners of the earth, and their wild
+eyes and ogre mouths agape, yelled forth a volley of strange sounds,
+soon drowned by the louder roar of these summer waves. This was happily
+the only danger we incurred from the natives; we saw no more of them,[2]
+and right glad were all-hands when the last glimpse of the Hebrides, or
+Western Isles, as they are called in their charts, faded away in their
+mist.
+
+After this date one heavy blow succeeded another until the first of
+August, with seldom sun enough to afford an observation: yet it mattered
+not; like sea-birds we "rode and slept," for the excellence of the boat,
+and the way in which she was handled, was evident enough to inspire even
+the nervousness of inexperience with confidence; and the efficiency of
+our domestic arrangements bade defiance to the anger of the
+elements;--uninfluenced by their frowns as by their smiles, on went the
+work, and meal succeeded meal with faultless regularity.
+
+On the second of August we passed within the immediate atmosphere of a
+huge iceberg. We had for some time previous been enveloped in fog, which
+suddenly lifting, showed us this isle of ice, and two other smaller
+ones.
+
+The main island, by which we were most attracted, lay about a quarter of
+a mile to leeward, of dazzling whiteness, and picturesque of form,
+having at one end a lofty cone-shaped mountain, and at the other an
+angular bold mound, crowned by what we decided to be an extensive Gothic
+fortalice or castle, not unworthy the Ice-king himself if bent on a
+summer trip round the gulf stream: between these promontories lay a deep
+valley thickly tenanted by tribes of the white gull.
+
+Three sides of Castle-hill were regularly scarped, the fourth
+communicated by a neatly kept slope with the valley, and along this
+radiated a number of well-trodden paths, all uniting at the castle gate,
+at once giving evidence of considerable population, and great
+hospitality on the part of the worthy castellan.
+
+The position of these islands was unusual, and their appearance
+occasioned a little surprise, although the fall of the thermometer, and
+the change in the temperature of the water, had led Captain Maxwell,
+some hours before we met them, to decide upon their vicinity.
+
+On the banks of Newfoundland they are common at this season of the year,
+and form, indeed, the danger most to be dreaded of the voyage; since, if
+the weather should prove thick, and the ice swim deep, scarce showing
+above the surface, as is commonly the case, a ship going quickly through
+the water may strike before any measures can be taken to avoid the
+encounter.
+
+A fine packet, the Liverpool, but nine days out, on her first trip was
+totally lost on one of these in the summer of 1822; and this very year
+our captain coasted to the southward for seventy miles along the edge of
+a field of ice, in which he had previously been locked-up for fifty
+hours, till released by a lucky shift of wind. On this occasion he had
+one on board whose experience among ice had been well tested, and was
+about to be yet again tried; for Lieutenant Back was here on his
+perilous adventure in quest of the long lost Captain Ross and his crew.
+
+For the succeeding sixteen or seventeen days of our voyage the weather
+was generally fine. Upon the western edge of the Banks we had a few
+days' calm, which taking advantage of, I turned my morning shower-bath
+into a plunge from the bowsprit, and had a delicious swim round the
+ship. The passengers, however, got wind of my fun, and in obedience to
+the kindly meant remonstrances of one or two of them, I forbore a
+pleasure which never occurred to me to be perilous, for I have practised
+it in many parts of the ocean, always taking care that there was no way
+upon the ship.
+
+We had no casualties except amongst the pigs, sheep, and poultry; and as
+yet no great loss of spars, indeed in all our blows, we only sprung a
+main-topsail yard, carried away a fore-topmast, and made a few
+stu'n-sail booms,--for the latter, we had very little use, not having
+the wind abaft the beam over five days, all counted, out of a passage of
+thirty-five; and how it was accomplished in the time under the
+circumstances, is yet to me a matter of some wonderment.
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[2] To homeward-bound ships these visits of the _Rathlineans_, often
+prove sufficiently welcome, as they generally provide themselves with a
+cargo of ancient, fish-like milk, and fine potatoes. The Europe having
+an excellent dairy and a poultry-yard of her own, stood in no need of
+their supplies.
+
+
+
+
+JOURNAL AT SEA.
+
+
+This is usually a very monotonous task to the journalist, and can hardly
+fail of soon becoming tiresome to the reader, since a voyage away from
+the land affords but little to record; still, as it is my intention
+occasionally to refer to this current report of my _Impressions_ and
+every-day-doings, I may as well transcribe literally a page or two
+illustrative of every-day life in this, our "Europe."
+
+_July 31st._--Sixteen days out this afternoon; during which time, with
+but forty-four hours that we could fairly lay our course, the good ship
+has knocked off forty degrees of westing, a prodigious slant under the
+circumstances. The last two days up to meridian, we have run ten degrees
+of longitude and two of latitude.
+
+_Thursday, August 1st._--Going about seven knots, heading west by north;
+all well and mighty agreeable. Rifle-shooting and backgammon the great
+antagonists of time before dinner--whist after. Various wagers are daily
+made against time, as to the length of our passage, as well as for or
+against certain ships that preceded or were to follow us. Most persons
+have named some date for our arrival at New York, and backed it for more
+or less; finding that these days were selected more in accordance with
+the desires of the betters than their judgment, I selected an outsider,
+and took the longest date named for my day, August 20th. The odds
+fluctuate daily in the market, according to the view the knowing ones
+take of the weather: these bets form a subject of interest and banter
+which daily rises in importance.
+
+_Wednesday, 7th._--About meridian carried away our main-topsail yard,
+whilst two hands were employed rigging in the studding-sail boom; one
+fell into the top, and the other caught hold of the rigging, receiving
+much fright but small damage. Had they fallen on the deck or over-board,
+why their chance would have been exceeding small. There surely is "a
+sweet little cherub that sits up aloft," &c. or these careless rogues
+could not escape so often scot-free.
+
+To-day we have a rattling north-easter with sunshine: and the sea, which
+yesterday was wild, dreary, and dark, is now beaming and light as a
+beauty at a birth-day ball; and as radiant, for it sparkles in diamonds
+of its own.
+
+All hands in high spirits, the ship the favourite for odds; Time gone
+back sadly; the 13th inst. named for very long odds; I offered eight to
+one against it, and was taken up at a word. Made two or three entries in
+my book after dinner; against the 20th, my day; take all that offers,
+but have made a _leetle_ hedge on the 18th by way of a break-water.
+
+_Saturday, 9th._--A very heavy gale from north-west, a rare occurrence
+at this season; it stuck to us for fifty hours, hauling gradually round
+to the south'ard. No business done to-day; 'change deserted; not a
+time-bargain to be had for love or money; most of the bulls in bed.
+
+_Tuesday, 13th._--One of the most lovely days possible: all the morning
+we have been observing a large ship right a-head, on which we draw
+rapidly, though a stern chase is proverbially a long chase. The alley
+all alive, books and pencils in great demand: odds offered freely that
+this ship is the Tallahassie, Captain Glover, which sailed from
+Liverpool on the morning of the day we left; but owing to our taking the
+north channel, whilst she pursued the south, had thus gotten a decided
+pull upon us, besides being a very fine ship. Consultations frequent, as
+we neared, between the mate and the backers of the Tallahassie,
+adjournments to the top-gallant forecastle constant; every spy-glass in
+requisition.
+
+We drew near; the odds rose in favour of this being the ship in
+question--she was a large ship, square-built and long, so was
+Tallahassie--she was flush deck, so was Tallahassie--had stump-royal
+masts, and a storm-house abaft, so had Tallahassie, hurrah! Nearer we
+came, less ardour amongst the backers of Tal.--nearer still, they are
+all silent; the alley is deserted for the forecastle--a straggler now
+comes aft, with a sneaking offer of a hedge: no takers.
+
+One of the opposite side's scouts next comes aft. "This can't be the
+Tallahassie--this ship has no copper, Tallahassie had; she has a white
+line over her bright side, Tallahassie had not--her top-rail is white,
+and the yards tipped with the same colour, the Tallahassie's were
+black.--In short, it could not be the Tallahassie, as any one with half
+an eye might have seen from the first, and might see now."
+
+The latter part of the proposition was already demonstrated, for we were
+by this time right a-beam; the former might have been disputed,
+although it certainly was not the Tallahassie.
+
+Trifles like this were all-sufficient occupation for the day, and served
+as subjects of conversation after. On this occasion we had for nearly
+the first time a complete muster of our crew, the exceeding fineness of
+the day brought out even our sick, and there they lounged about in the
+sun, like weary birds plumeing their ruffled feathers.
+
+_Sunday, 18th._--Wind north-west; weather fine. We are now within one
+hundred and sixty miles of our port. Betting-market a little anxious,
+but a good deal of business doing in a quiet way; my odds looking well,
+but to-morrow, the 19th, by far the favourite, Captain Maxwell himself
+indeed, considering it a hollow thing. Got a notion in my head, however,
+in favour of my day, and accordingly took the odds; resolute to abide by
+the 20th, and either "mak' a spune or spoil a horn."
+
+All hands well and in motion; the crew busily employed getting the
+sea-service off the rigging, and setting it all up in holiday order. The
+mate is peering about jealously on all sides, eyeing his ship as a
+mother would a beauty dressing for her first drawing-room, and to the
+full as anxious about her appearance.
+
+_Monday, 19th._--In the middle watch had a heavy squall, and carried
+away our foretop-gallant mast. At nine o'clock, A.M. made the American
+shore off Jersey, to the southward of Barney Gat. Wind light, no
+betting, but anxious speculations on the probability of our getting
+within Sandy Hook this day. Tuesday a hollow thing, feel "cock
+sure:"--about noon, wind died away; and, right enough, it was not until
+
+_Tuesday, August 20th_, that at three o'clock, A.M. I was called on deck
+to look upon the Hook lights, and count my wagers won. I received the
+omen as a good one, and so it proved.
+
+
+
+
+LAND, HO!
+
+
+I had often, and with much pleasure, heard intelligent Americans
+describe the restless anxiety with which they approached the shores of
+Britain; the almost painful degree of excitement created by the various
+associations crowding on the imagination, and jostling each other for
+supremacy, as they looked for the first time on their father-land.
+
+The veneration with which they pictured her ivy-clad towers, and the
+throb with which they caught the names of places long familiar to memory
+and hallowed by historical events, to all of which they felt their claim
+inherited from their ancestors, whether from Thames, or Tweed, or
+Shannon.
+
+To all of this I have, I say, listened with great pleasure, and with a
+full sympathy in feelings at once natural and generous, yet can I hardly
+admit them to possess more force, or their nature to be more exciting,
+or richer in the material whence Fancy frames her chequered web, than
+the recollections awakened in a well-stored imagination by a near
+approach to the shores of America. Although differing widely, these are
+to every philosophic mind, especially to a subject of Britain, at least
+equally stirring.
+
+When it is first remembered, that on all the long line of coast
+extending from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico there was not, in
+the beginning of the sixteenth century, one European family settled, or
+a Christian voice that woke the forest with the name of God,--not a
+civilized man from Canada to Florida, who placed his foot upon the soil
+to call it home. Yet now, within this immense range may be reckoned the
+mightiest States of the Union; and over its wide circumference are
+scattered great cities, towns aspiring to be cities, and villages fast
+growing into busy towns--possessing a population which for wealth hardly
+need yield to the oldest countries of Europe, and in the general
+diffusion of intelligence and education offering indeed to most of these
+an example worthy of their imitation.
+
+When it is called to mind that the waters of her vast line of coast, now
+daily ploughed by thousands of busy prows, were at this same not very
+distant day as desert as her swamps and as unfurrowed, except where the
+canoe of the scared Indian left its light track behind, when driven from
+the shelter of some near river:--silent and shadowless, except when the
+sail of the adventurous explorer flitted slowly over the waves, as he
+steered his doubtful course filled with the many wonders seen and
+fancied by his watchful, credulous crew,--some band of daring spirits
+tempted hither in search of gold, or wild adventure, perhaps to perish
+suddenly by the arrow of the savage, or slowly to wither beneath the
+influence of the climate--God! what wonderful changes have been wrought
+here, and what a living marvel is this land! Changes, which it has
+required the labour of ages to accomplish elsewhere, have here been
+effected by the energy of a few busy generations, whose toil was begun
+and carried on amid want, and sickness, and a struggle against ignorance
+and neglect without, as well as a war of extermination within; a war
+which may be said to exist even to this day, for yet is the ever-growing
+frontier from time to time awakened by the night whoop of the savage and
+the answering shot of the hardy pioneer.
+
+Then come the recollections connected with the war of the
+Revolution,--the noble declaration of independence, for truly noble it
+was: no dark compact of a crew of ruffian conspirators, but a generous
+bond that their aggrieved country should be freed, given by a band of
+citizen gentlemen, husbands, fathers, and brothers, to the fulfilment of
+the which they pledged unto each other their lives, their fortunes, and
+their sacred honour; and having placed their hands to this bold deed,
+they gave it to their people and the world.
+
+Their bond is cancelled, and they are dismissed beyond the hearing of
+praise or censure; yet shall these, the names of their country's
+fathers, be read and blessed by ages yet to come, and shall stand for
+ever, each a synonyme for patriot honour.
+
+Washington, and the long wars he conducted through defeat and disaster
+to such a glorious end for his country, together with that large list of
+famous names connected with those and later events formed no mean
+subject for reverie, and these were the fancies conjured through my
+brain by a near approach to the shores of America. I confess I
+contemplated her triumphs with a participation in her glory where
+England was not a party, with no other feeling than regret when she
+was,--with regret that the hands of brothers should ever have been
+opposed in deadly enmity.
+
+I give back in love of country to no man, and to no foe under heaven
+would I yield up one jot due to Britain's well-won supremacy, but to the
+United States we may surely spare without envy the leaf she so hardily
+plucked from our thick laurels. The glory of having given her birth,
+language, and laws, she cannot rob us of; this will endure until her
+mountains crumble: and all else she has acquired at the expense of
+Britain, Britain can well spare, and still stand foremost on the roll of
+Fame.
+
+
+
+
+PORT.
+
+
+On the morning of Tuesday, August 20th, I was roused, according to a
+request I had left to that effect with Captain Maxwell, to look on the
+Hook Lights, the entrance to the outer bay and harbour of New York. It
+was three o'clock in the morning, a fresh yet bland breeze was just
+giving motion to the smooth sea, and above, the firmament showed thickly
+studded with heaven's lights; but the dazzling pharos of the Hook, to my
+mind, were brighter at this hour than the best twinklers on the floor of
+heaven,--so welcome were they.
+
+While waiting on deck, a couple of sky-rockets were discharged from the
+storm-house by way of signal for a pilot. The effect of the sudden blaze
+was fine; and the rush of each fiery messenger on its upward mission, as
+it burst away from the Europe's deck, seemed a glad sound of welcome,
+for it spoke of safe arrival, and consequent freedom from our present
+thrall; for, however pleasant a ship may be, and however poetical our
+notions about the "deep sea," after having been in the one and on the
+other for five or six weeks, there are few bipeds who do not hail the
+shore as a type of recovered liberty, and, however barren it may be,
+right joyfully embrace it.
+
+About 7 A.M.--for here it appears pilots do not hurry themselves--we
+made out a couple of schooner-rigged boats standing right for us, which
+were at first taken for pilots, but proved to be news-boats. Several
+such are, as it appears, kept in commission by the New York journals,
+and the struggle for early intelligence between the rivals occasions a
+display of considerable adventure not unattended with risk, since these
+news-boats are out in all weathers, and from a great distance often
+bring to the city a ship's letters, &c. many days before she makes her
+own appearance.
+
+The news-collectors were welcomed civilly by our captain, bagged their
+papers, made out a list of the passengers, and in a few moments were
+again on the wing for shore, looking right into the wind, and with
+smooth water and a light breeze, they drew rapidly away from the heavier
+ship. I must observe that our Mercury's correctness was by no means
+commensurate with his activity; for such ingenious changes did this
+worthy contrive in the names of the passengers, that the mothers of some
+would have failed to have discovered the arrival of their sons, except
+upon instinct.
+
+At length, after long watching, a couple of pilot-schooners were
+discovered standing out from under the high land, and in due time their
+boats boarded us nearly together; and hence arose a dispute as to whose
+particular prey the good Europe was to be considered.
+
+Each Pilot was voluble, and accused the other of violating the laws made
+and provided in such cases for their better government: who was wrong in
+this case it was difficult to say, but I very clearly made out that both
+parties had cheated on former occasions, were willing to cheat in this,
+and resolute to continue a like commendable practice in all others that
+might offer, as far as in them lay. What arrant rogues are we in all
+climes and under whatever rule, quoth I, internally, as I listened to
+these wordy disputants; for, to do messieurs the pilots justice, the
+matter was conducted in a manner more worthy the courts, better argued,
+and in language less offensively figurative, than similar disputes at
+which it has been my chance to assist between angry members of our own
+_bars_.
+
+At length the elder pilot left the deck, and returned to his attendant
+yawl, in evident dudgeon and disgust; when the junior, being hailed by
+his comrades in the schooner on the opposite quarter, was advised to
+give up the Europe, since they had made out a second ship quite as large
+in the offing.
+
+Whether this information, or a latent sense of justice prevailed, it is
+hard to say; but on the tidings our man hailed his irate senior--who was
+borne away amidst deeply-muttered vows of vengeance--desired him to
+return, and told him he would give up the ship. Thereon, back rowed our
+ancient mariner; and after a few explanatory sentences, mutually offered
+as salvos to their hurt honour, the rivals parted, to all outward
+seeming as good friends as ever.
+
+Which had right I know not, but one of them had fish, and we of the
+Europe had no cause to mourn the departure of that one, since, having
+gained his deck, he sent us back a basket of newly-taken porgies, and
+various other fishes with unpoetical names but of marvellous sweetness,
+and sumptuous was our _dejeuner_ in consequence of this unlooked-for
+addition.
+
+Henceforward, all between-decks presented a scene of bustle and
+preparation; the most sluggish natures amongst us appeared now inspired,
+whilst on all sides were heard good-humoured congratulations and glad
+anticipations. I confess, although a very experienced voyager, I felt a
+little touch of softness striving to sneak into and coil about my heart,
+as the words,--home--friends, with other household sounds, fell thick
+upon my hearing; for, all our passengers being American, I stood alone
+here on this day of happy greeting, a stranger amongst strangers.
+
+Let me add, that this was the last day on which I felt so during my long
+sojourn in the hospitable land; and even on this I possessed buoyancy
+enough of spirit to keep down these selfish reflections, and, I thank
+Heaven, sympathy enough to rejoice in the gladness of my comrades.
+
+I did not lack amusement, either after the first hurry was past; an
+intelligent friend or two busied themselves pointing out to me the
+various localities in detail, with whose general character Carey's
+excellent atlas had already made me tolerably conversant.
+
+The day was clear and cloudless; and when to this advantage is added a
+light head wind, which compelled us to work our way inward, no harbour
+could be approached under auspices more favourable, or better calculated
+to afford a complete and varying view of its beauties.
+
+Just as we had opened the Narrows, the entrance to the inner bay so
+called, the wind grew so unpromising that a party of us decided to
+engage the pilot vessel to take us as far as Staten Island, which they
+"calculated" they could reach before the departure of the steamer for
+New York.
+
+Bidding adieu to the Europe, away we dashed in the little witch of a
+pilot, a craft of some eighty tons' burthen, but, viewed from a short
+distance, not looking more than half that size, so snug was her build,
+as well as from the absence of every kind of hamper; her shrouds were
+without ratlins, and her deck without even the protection of a
+rough-tree--a nakedness I should by no means like in bad weather. The
+afterpart, however, or stern-sheets, is sunk about four feet; and as the
+bowsprit is a mere stump, and the sheets of both foresail and jib lead
+aft, all the work may be done here when under snug sail.
+
+The necessity, during our trip in the schooner, of working up between
+the shores of Long and Staten Islands, was a chance that added to the
+charm of our approach.
+
+Standing into the Narrows, under the guns of a formidable fort, the
+pretty-looking village of Staten, where quarantine is performed, first
+presented itself: the smoke of the steamer assured us she had not yet
+departed, and two or three tacks brought us within signaling distance,
+just as she broke away from the shore: our desire was readily
+understood, and, slightly changing her course, she soon after received
+us in addition to her already crowded freight.
+
+I found the upper deck of the Bolivar, the name of our steamer,
+uncommonly hot, but it afforded a good place from which to view the
+harbour and city as they were now rapidly unfolded: here, therefore, I
+planted myself, all eyes; and certainly have rarely been better repaid
+for a broiling.
+
+As we neared the Battery, we were afforded a passing glance up the East
+and North Rivers,--the great waters which give wealth to Manhattan, and
+jealously clip her beauty about, in equal participation. The _coup
+d'oeil_ thus taken is very imposing, and at once awakens the stranger
+to a sense of the commercial importance of the _entrepot_ whose walls he
+perceives shaded by such a forest of lofty masts.
+
+
+
+
+NEW YORK.
+
+
+FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE CITY.
+
+
+On landing at the Battery, our first visit was to an office of the
+customs here; and, instead of the dogged, sulky, bribe-demanding scowl,
+too commonly encountered from our own low-class officials, who seem to
+consider the custom-house as a means rather of annoyance to the lieges
+than a protection to trade, we were met by civility, respect, and prompt
+despatch. The luggage we had brought with us on shore was not subjected
+to the least examination, and we went on our way highly pleased. First
+impressions give their colour to succeeding matters; and surely those
+derived from my encounter with the officials of a service at best
+annoying, were much in favour of the land.
+
+On entering the quiet Bowling Green, where many of the houses have
+coloured fronts, and all gaily painted jalousies, with trees shadowing
+the _stoups_, I was reminded of Cape Town: but the impression was
+momentary; a few yards on, and the long line of Broadway, with its
+crowded side walks, showy shops, and numerous hotels, at once transports
+you back to Europe; and, were it not for the sprinkling of black faces
+with which the mass is chequered, one might swear oneself in Paris on
+some portion of the Boulevards not altogether familiar to the eye, but
+offering most of the points needful to prove identity, from the monkey
+and hurdy-gurdy of the Savoyard, the _blouse_ of the carman and
+_Conducteur_, to the swagger of the citizen-soldier, and the mincing
+step and "_tournure charmante_" of the _belles_. The fronts of the
+_cafes_ and hotels, too, as you pass along, you perceive to be covered
+by chairs occupied by similar loungers to those on the Boulevards.
+
+Such were my impressions whilst moving on a hot day from the Battery to
+the City Hotel, and so give I them place here; since I have often, after
+a long residence in a place, found myself referring back to these first
+glimpses, when desirous to present it at once fresh and comprehensive to
+the eye of the stranger, and for such these sketches are chiefly
+designed.
+
+
+
+
+A BIVOUAC.
+
+
+The day after my arrival, I was both interested and amused by
+accidentally falling on the bivouac of a Swiss family of emigrants.
+
+I had risen early for the purpose of bathing, and was making my way to
+the fort through the grounds of the Battery as the rising sun was just
+adding new light and life to the most beautiful of harbours, when I came
+suddenly upon the barriers of a little encampment perfectly Teutonic in
+its arrangement; it was, however, no surprisal to the hive within, for
+their morning operations had already begun.
+
+Within a circular rampart, formed out of various articles of household
+gear,--three or four antique-looking spinning-wheels, a pair of churns,
+a few clumsy chairs, a large chest, together with a couple of small
+heavy waggons not yet placed upon the wheels,--were a few as lively
+recruits as any land desirous of population could wish to welcome.
+
+The party consisted, first, of a right venerable-looking old man, the
+patriarch of the tribe, as he told me, seventy-four years old; six men,
+his sons and grandsons; seven lively boys, his great-grandchildren, and
+about an equal number of girls, the patriarch's wife, nearly as aged as
+himself, but with a shrill piercing voice and the activity of a girl of
+nineteen, with four other women, the wives of the ancient's sons.
+
+At the moment I came upon them the whole camp was rousing into full
+activity. The grandmother, assisted by a couple of her young women,
+found ample occupation in first catching and next washing the junior
+branches of the colonists: these appeared already aware of their being
+in a country where every individual thinks for himself, or at least
+thinks he does, which comes to the same thing, for they stoutly
+resisted, to the last extremity, the soapless saline ablutions profusely
+administered by their great grandam.
+
+Meantime a couple of the more staid of the youngsters, who had been
+passed outside the lines, were busied beneath the trees collecting
+fallen sticks, leaves, &c. for keeping up the fire already lighted and
+presided over by one of the females, whose task it evidently was to
+prepare breakfast.
+
+A couple of the men yet slept soundly; another pair were composedly
+leaning against a waggon smoking their pipes; whilst a third, the
+youngest of the grown men, and evidently the _beau-garcon_ of the party,
+was busied about the completion of a careful toilet before six square
+inches of looking-glass, held up to him by a young lass, rather
+good-looking, who, kneeling before this Adonis in evident admiration,
+most patiently abided the completion of his equipment previous to
+commencing her own.
+
+My course was at once arrested by a scene so new and unexpected; and I
+stood for a long time contemplating the repose of this little group,
+camping here in the midst of a busy population on the banks of the
+Hudson, in the same manner and after the same fashion their ancestors
+are described to have followed by the Rhone and the Danube in the time
+of Caesar.
+
+There was an air of confident security about the whole arrangement, that
+spoke equally in favour of the hardy simplicity of these strangers and
+the courtesy and honesty of their adopted country; for I know no
+European capital wherein such a group could have sat them down and
+passed a summer night, unhoused and unwatched, without receiving
+annoyance, if not suffering loss.
+
+I learned that the family had been landed late on the preceding
+afternoon from a French ship; so that, not being able, as is the wont of
+this people, to depart for their destination immediately, they had in
+the most prompt and orderly manner pitched their tents here for the
+night, and were now preparing for their march into the wilderness.
+
+This sight, striking in itself, was no less illustrative of the country
+and the time: these arrivals are of daily occurrence here during the
+season; every one of the northern nations of Europe is contributing her
+quota out of the most enterprising of her children to swell the numbers,
+and give additional pith and vigour to the population, of this land of
+wonder.
+
+About three hours after this first rencounter, whilst seated in our
+parlour at breakfast, I pointed out to my friend P---- the whole family
+passing the city hotel _en route_.
+
+They had now gotten one of their clumsy waggons mounted, and rudely
+harnessed to a stout-looking horse, and on this vehicle was piled all
+their worldly store. The males, pipe in hand and marching four abreast,
+strode boldly on before; next came the waggon, surrounded and followed
+by the women and children: the heads of one or two of the youngest of
+these, by the bye, might just be seen poking out from the lumber amongst
+which they were ensconced upon the car.
+
+I observed that the old dame now carried in her hand a wicker-cage,
+containing a little captive of the goldfinch tribe, some home-bred
+favourite, whose simple notes will often call up the memory of
+father-land, when this family of humble adventurers shall be located,
+happily I trust, on some wild stream of the far west, for thither were
+they bound, and, with the appliances I have sketched, were cheerfully
+setting forth to perform a journey of some two thousand miles. These,
+however, are the sort of persons who may look most to benefit by such a
+change; after a few to them trifling privations, and an industrious
+struggle, they have the certain satisfaction of beholding their
+offspring surrounded by comfort, and their means yearly increasing. They
+presently exchange want for plenty, and cease to look upon the coming
+time with fear or doubt for even their children's children; since
+generations must rise and pass away before enterprise and honest
+industry will feel any lack of elbow-room here.
+
+The weather was awfully hot during the last week of this month; and
+great was my delight, on entering the parlour of a morning, to look upon
+the butter luxuriating beneath a large wedge of clear ice: only for the
+cutting up, I should have gloried in being a _Pat_ of butter myself.
+This article of ice is presented here in a purity of form, and is withal
+so plentiful, that it almost makes amends for the dog-days.
+
+Our breakfasts were excellent--fish, fruit in abundance, chickens,
+omelette, &c. with good coffee, and the best black tea I ever drank. The
+parlour was a very large well-furnished room, level with and fronting on
+the busiest part of Broadway; and a more amusing stand than one of the
+windows, for a stranger, it would be difficult to select. The whole busy
+population, I should imagine, passed in review here once, at least, in
+six hours; together with samples of all the nondescript vehicles city or
+country rejoices in.
+
+To one worthy I owe many a hearty laugh,--who knows but I may have
+repaid the good soul in kind?--I hope I have, for my gratitude is his.
+Let the reader imagine a long street, very crowded, and about noon
+shadeless, with the thermometer at 98 deg. in the sun. In the very middle
+of this broiling thoroughfare, fancy a low carriage on four wheels,
+ycleped a Jersey waggon, having a seat with a high back hung by straps
+athwart-ships; over this seat a buffalo robe of vast dimensions, the
+thick fur outside and a red lining within, falling in heavy folds to the
+waggon floor; upon this buffalo skin, seated right in the centre, with
+knees and elbows spread as far apart as possible, a huge mass of
+humanity clothed in a dark jacket of home-spun cloth, with vest and
+trousers of blue cotton; his pumpkin-like head covered by a broad-leafed
+straw hat, a Dutch pipe on his lip, and before him a hard-mouthed
+awkward little horse pulled about by both hands, now right, now left,
+but rarely going out of a walk. Above a high shirt-collar his full-blown
+cheeks might be seen, as he sucked in the hot air and rejected it again
+like a blowing porpoise: cravat he had none, because he had no neck to
+tie it about; but in lieu of this article he carried, knotted over his
+broad shoulders, a little red handkerchief. Daily did I ask myself for a
+whole week "Will it walk again?" and, so surely as the shadeless hour of
+noon arrived, did my Dutch fire-king arrive with it, steering his waggon
+through the sweltering mass with a composure--coolness I could not call
+it--most enviable.
+
+I would have given anything to have known him and his history; but
+though I had opportunities of pointing him out to my friends
+occasionally, no one knew him. Son of a thousand burgomasters, may your
+shadow never grow less! for I owe to you the beguilement of many a hot
+hour: but I fear me my friend must be "larding six feet of lean earth,"
+somewhere in the vicinity of Manhattan, since for the last year I have,
+on every day that the sun shone intensely with the glass over 90 deg.,
+watched in vain for his coming.
+
+In the cool of the afternoon, if there chance to be any cool, it is a
+common custom for the young men of all classes to drive or ride some
+five or six miles along the north avenue,--an excellent road leading to
+the pretty village of Harlaem; and on this line, about sunset, the
+amateur of horse-flesh may see done, the fastest pace in the trotting
+world; double-horse waggons of the neatest and lightest construction,
+gig, sulky, and saddle, all are alike borne along by trotters or pacers
+at a speed varying from the pair that are doing their mile in three
+minutes, to the sulky or saddle nag flying at the rate of a mile in two
+minutes, thirty seconds.
+
+The first time I was whirled along this road at the heels of one of the
+crack goers of the city, amidst clouds of dust through which the rushing
+of other vehicles might be dimly made out, and startled by the wild
+cries used by the rival drivers, at once to encourage their horses and
+prove the impossibility of scaring them into breaking up, I thought it
+one of the most exciting things I had ever met; and on getting down at
+Cato's, involuntarily found myself drawing a long breath.
+
+
+
+
+CATO'S!
+
+
+And what is Cato's? and who is Cato? Shade of Rome's patriot and sage,
+anger not! for Cato is a great man, foremost amongst cullers of mint,
+whether for _julep_ or _hail-storm_; second to no man as a compounder of
+_cock-tail_, and such a hand at a _gin-sling_!
+
+Cato is a gentleman of colour who presides at a little tavern, named
+after its proprietor, lying just off the dust of the road between two
+sharp hills, and situated some four miles from New York--a good
+breathing distance for a fast burst--and here consequently most men halt
+to give their horses breath, and wash the dust out of their own throats
+with some one of Cato's many excellent compounds. The convenience of the
+place is enhanced by the manner of its master, who for courtesy and
+_bienseance_ might serve as a model to most of his young friends. His
+society indeed is of the very best, including all the first sporting
+youths of the city; and his liquors are equal to his breeding.
+
+Cato will give a few select friends breakfast too on a hot morning, if
+it be especially ordered; and, certes, a woodcock and toast as served up
+by him on these occasions is a thing not to be forgotten. It was my
+fortune, under the auspices of my friend, Mr. M'L--d, an especial
+favourite of "mine host," to pay several visits to Cato's, and to come
+away at each with added respect for the great man, and increased regard
+for his excellent entertainment.
+
+
+
+
+THEATRE.
+
+     _Great heat--doubts, dubitations, and debut._
+
+
+I do not intend to bore my readers with a series of play-bills, or a
+journal of my theatrical career; but I feel that on this head there may
+be some little curiosity, and that it would on my part be an affectation
+to eschew the subject, as well as an injustice to my American comrades
+of the buskin, to whom I owe some kind mention, since it was my lot to
+add considerably to their labours. I will therefore just notice my
+appearance in each city as it occurred, and that as briefly as may be
+consistent; when any fun turns up, I promise the reader the benefit of
+it. I shall also give my impressions of the various audiences I
+encountered; because I think there is no place where the characteristics
+of a people are more clearly shown than at a theatre, where all mix upon
+a footing more purely democratic than in any other whatever, and each
+man having a right to evince his taste after his own fashion, opinion
+becomes the only conservation of propriety.
+
+To my first night at New York, then, I looked with much anxiety, and
+not without reason. I had, contrary to the advice of many friends, given
+up a large income, the continuance of which the increasing favour of the
+public gave me reasonable promise of. I had vacated my seat and quitted
+my country on no other engagement than one for twelve nights at New
+York, the profits of which were wholly dependent upon my success, as
+were my engagements in other cities dependent upon my reception in this.
+
+One kind soul assured me that every drama I possessed had been already
+anticipated; another, that they had no taste for Irish character, or
+that accustomed, as they had long been, to associate with the
+representative of my poor countrymen a ruffian with a black eye, and
+straw in his shoes, the public taste was too vitiated to relish a quiet
+portrait of nature undebased.
+
+This was flattering, but not pleasant: the only man whose views appeared
+sanguine was Mr. P----, who had been my companion on the voyage, and
+whose cheering reply to all doubters was, "I tell you, sir, it must do."
+
+The theatre was announced to be re-opened on the 28th of August, with
+the "Irish Ambassador" and "Teddy the Tiler." The day was one of the
+hottest we had known, and towards night it became oppressively close.
+
+No strange actor of the least note could open in New York, to anything
+short of a full house; it seems to be a hospitable principle to give the
+aspirant for fame a cordial welcome and a fair hearing; let it not be
+considered egotistical, therefore, when I say that the house was
+crowded; from pit to roof rose tier on tier one dark unbroken mass; I do
+not think there were twenty females in the dress circle; all men, and
+enduring, I should imagine, the heat of the black hole at Calcutta. I at
+the time regretted the absence of the ladies, when, had I been less
+selfish, I should have rejoiced at it.
+
+The moment came when "Sir Patrick" was announced; and amidst greetings
+as hearty as ever I received in my life, I made my first bow to the Park
+audience. I saw no coats off, no heels up, no legs over boxes--these
+times have passed away; a more cheerful, or apparently a more English
+audience, I would not desire to act before.
+
+I was called for at the end of the play, and thanked the house for its
+welcome. If the performance had not gone off with that electric and
+constant laughter and applause to which I had grown accustomed at home,
+I had received positive assurance that my new clients were intelligent
+and very attentive, and I therefore no longer entertained fears for the
+result.
+
+Not so, however, one or two of my friends, whose anxiety and kind wishes
+it would have been hard indeed for any measure of applause to have
+satisfied: amidst the congratulations they brought me were therefore
+mixed up little cautionary drawbacks.
+
+"It was capital," said one; "but you must not be so quiet: give them
+more bustle."
+
+"In some other piece," replied I; "here it is not in the bond."
+
+"You must paint a little broader, my dear fellow," says
+another:--"you're too natural for them; they don't feel it."
+
+"If it's natural they must feel it," said I, adding, "each of my
+characters are, according to my ability, painted from nature; they are
+individual abstractions with which _I_ have nothing to do; the colouring
+is a part of each, and I can't change it as I change my audience:--'tis
+only for me to present the picture as it is; for them to like or dislike
+it."
+
+For the six following evenings the houses, though not great, were equal
+and good; each night I found my audience understanding me better, and
+felt that I was grappling them closer to me. The arrival of Mrs. and Mr.
+Wood earlier than the manager counted upon, created a difficulty; to
+obviate which I waived my claim to six of my nights, as my acting must
+have kept them idle.
+
+A day or two before my departure for Philadelphia, I witnessed the first
+appearance of this lady and her husband. Her reception was enthusiastic,
+but Malibran had left impressions it was difficult to compete with; and,
+although her brilliant talent was on all hands admitted, I am not sure
+whether her husband's manly style of singing a ballad was not to the
+full as much considered as her execution of the most brilliant scena.
+
+The Park Theatre is, as well as I could judge, about the size of the old
+Lyceum, of the horse-shoe form; has three tiers of boxes; is handsome,
+and in all respects as well appointed as any theatre out of London.
+
+The orchestra is at present excellent, and under the direction of a
+very clever man--Penson, formerly leader at Dublin. The company I found
+for my purpose a very fair one, my pieces requiring little save
+correctness from most of those concerned, except where old men, like
+"Aspen," "Frederick II." &c. occur, and all such parts found an
+excellent representative in an American actor, called Placide. Descended
+of a long line of talented players, he possesses a natural talent I have
+rarely seen surpassed, together with a chastity and simplicity of style
+that would do credit to the best school of comedy; yet he has never been
+away from his own country. I trust the model may not be lost on those
+who have to follow him.
+
+There is a representative of old women here, too, a native, Mrs.
+Wheatley, an inartificial charming actress, with a perfect conception of
+all she does, and a humorous _espieglerie_ of manner that is admirable.
+This lady has a daughter, a girl of fourteen, one of the cleverest
+mimics I ever saw: she would imitate Miss Fanny Kemble throughout a
+whole character, or think, talk, and walk, like her in private,--all
+with a slight dash of caricature, but in a spirit of truth and acute
+observation worthy of the inimitable Matthews himself.
+
+With these exceptions, the company is, I think, made up of English
+actors, many of whom have held respectable situations in the London
+houses.
+
+I had heard a good deal of the disorder of the American stage, and the
+intractability of American actors; with this specimen I had therefore
+every reason to be pleased. I am rather a hard drill, too; but I also
+know how painful is the task of studying and practising long parts for
+the star of the day, to be thrust out by some fresh stuff got up for his
+successor: I am aware of this, and therefore strive to make the pill
+less bitter by doing my "spiriting gently," where I see a desire to be
+attentive on the part of my friends.
+
+As I may not have occasion to revert to New York theatrically again, let
+me here say that, after repeated renewal of my engagements during two
+years, my last were amongst the greatest I made in this city: how, after
+this, the American public can be called cold or fickle, I at least have
+no means of judging.
+
+After a stay of three weeks in New York, rendered as agreeable as fine
+weather, kind friends, warm welcome, and success could make it, I took
+my departure for Philadelphia by the Camden and Amboy line of steam-boat
+and rail-road. Punctual to the minute advertised, we left the wharf;
+and, although the day was cold for the season, I was charmed with our
+trip across the harbour towards Raritan Creek.
+
+From about half-way over this channel, which separates Staten Island
+from the city, I should say, after some experience, the best general
+view of New York and its most prominent environs may be obtained.
+
+Behind you rise the heights of Brooklyn, undulating along your left to
+the passage of the Narrows, through which you catch a glimmer of the sea
+beyond; close on your right lies the picturesque-looking old city of
+Jersey; and immediately beyond, the village of Hoboken, famous for
+turtle and pistol-matches: its neighbourhood to the Elysian fields
+renders it a singularly lucky site for the fire-eaters, since, if shot,
+they have no Charon to pay; the turtle-eaters here find, no doubt, equal
+facilities. Far to the north, the dark promontory of the Palisadoes
+beetles broadly forth, marking the course of the Hudson.
+
+In the middle distance lies the city, looking as though it floated deep
+upon the bosom of the ready waters that encompass it about. It is
+happier in its place of rest than most Dutch towns, and well merited the
+name of New Amsterdam, given it by its founders. The ground it covers
+was at one time divided into hill and dale; but with eyes wide open to
+business, and close sealed against taste, the conscript fathers of our
+infant Rome shaved smooth every ant-hill that rose in their path, and to
+their inheritors have bequeathed a love of their trim lines of beauty,
+for they are proceeding on the levelling system with a worthy
+pains-taking that will in due time render the whole island as flat as a
+tulip-bed.
+
+The passage up the Raritan or Amboy Creek, between Staten Island and the
+main, is uninteresting enough; the channel reminding one very much of
+the left bank of the Thames about Erith,--swampy levels, with flat
+barges, and river-side public houses. The village of Perth Amboy is the
+first attractive object; it is built upon the face of a hill rising
+gently from the water, and is well shaded, looking healthy, fresh, and
+neat. Here the steamer stops for a minute to land or receive passengers,
+and then makes for Amboy landing, about a couple of miles distant. Here
+we left our boat, and were immediately transferred to the cars of the
+new railroad connecting the Raritan with the Delaware, and pursued our
+way to Bordentown, through a dreary, barren-looking country, whose only
+attractions were occasional orchards of a most fruitful kind, if one
+might judge by the plenteous gathering already in progress. In many
+places were piled up little mountains of apples, destined chiefly for
+the cider press.
+
+The loco-motives not being in condition to do duty, the horses occupied
+as yet their legitimate station, going at the rate of about eight miles
+per hour.
+
+Near the entrance to Bordentown, the present mansion of the ex-king of
+Spain was pointed out: it does not appear to be very happily located,
+but commands, I understand, an extensive view of the broad Delaware, and
+affords room enough to bustle in, even for one whose domain was once
+royal.
+
+Here we once more embarked; and hence to Philadelphia the Delaware is a
+broad placid stream, with low banks of alternate wood and meadow, having
+sprinkled along them numbers of well-built houses of all sizes, from
+the shingle cottage to the imposing-looking mansion with its lofty
+portico of painted pine.
+
+The boat touches on its way at two very charming-looking villages,
+Bristol and Burlington, situated at opposite angles of a fine bend of
+the river. On the quay of the latter I noticed, as we halted, a group of
+fairy-looking lassies watching for the landing of some friend; and their
+animated expression, delicate proportions, and graceful _tournure_, did
+much to bespeak favour for the girls of Pennsylvania.
+
+It was night before we gained the Quaker city, and exceeding dark
+withal; so that the long dotted lines of lights, regularly intersecting
+each other until lost in distance, had the effect of a general
+illumination, whilst it gave evidence of a widely-spread and populous
+city.
+
+We drove to Mr. Head's hotel, the Mansion House, where we were welcomed
+by the worthy host in person; although he had not bed-rooms for us that
+night, for we were three in company. We were, however, soon furnished
+with a most excellent supper; and after, two of us got, not "three
+chairs and a bolster," but a couple of camp bedsteads with good
+mattresses, and sheets white as snow. Our senior companion, Mr. P----,
+was provided with a bed-chamber; and what could the heart of weary
+traveller wish for more?
+
+On the morrow I also was installed in a capital chamber; and if those
+incarnate demons the musquitoes would have made peace with me, I should
+have scorned comparisons with the Nabob of the Carnatic. But, oh!
+immortal gods, how they did hum and bom, and bite and buzz! and how I
+did fume, and slap, and snatch, and swear, partly in fear, and partly
+through sheer vexation of spirit, at having no means of vengeance
+against a foe whose audacity was open and outrageous, whose trumpets
+were for ever sounding a charge, yet who were withal, as impassable as
+Etna.
+
+I would rather hear the roar of lions about my resting-place than the
+vicious hum of these infernal wee beasts; and I may be allowed to
+decide, having listened to both: the latter never failed to keep me
+wakeful through fair fright; but when well worn with fatigue, after a
+shiver and a start or two, I have slept sound, in safe company, although
+the crunch and roar of the nobler _varmint_ sounded near enough to make
+our terrified horses press to the watch-fire with breathings thick and
+loud,--a neighbourhood anything but agreeable, but, I swear, infinitely
+preferable to an incursion of hungry musquitoes.
+
+The next morning, Sept. 12th, rose early, took a hot bath, and dressed
+for a hot day; but the day was resolute not to be hot: a north-east wind
+had set in after breakfast, and down went the thermometer from
+seventy-nine to forty-five. "Zooks, what a tumble!" as Mister Poll says:
+all the time too the sky was cloudless, and the sun shining most
+treacherously. I wasn't to be done, however; so, after an hour, jumped
+again into my broad-cloth for comfort.
+
+During my first week here I occupied private apartments,--which may be
+had at every hotel, by the way,--and being in company with a friend, we
+had our meals at our own hours, all of which were excellent and well
+served, with wines most unexceptionable. My friend leaving me, however,
+I took the advice of my good host, Mr. Head, and, quitting my sulky
+solitude, joined the public table,--a change I had every reason to be
+satisfied with, since, however, unpleasant the bustle occasioned by a
+hundred or a hundred and fifty persons dining _ensemble_, no such
+objection can apply here, where the guests rarely exceed twenty-five or
+thirty, including from time to time men of the first rank and
+intelligence in the States. This dinner-table indeed is as well
+appointed in every way as any gentleman could desire; the attendants
+numerous and well ordered; the service, including every luxury the
+season can furnish, is of three courses; and the cloth is never drawn
+under an hour. I am thus particular, because, as much has been said of
+the badness of hotels in America, it is but fair to give place to a
+notice of those which are good; and so essentially good a _table d'hote_
+as that of the Mansion House at Philadelphia, whether for variety,
+cooking, wine, or all these things combined, I never yet met in any
+country of Europe.
+
+
+
+
+PHILADELPHIA.
+
+
+I pity the man who, on a fine morning, can walk through the shady and
+clean streets of Philadelphia and cry, "all is barren!" In my eyes, it
+appeared, even at first sight,--and no place improves more upon
+acquaintance,--one of the most attractive-looking towns I had ever
+beheld.
+
+Coming immediately out of the noise, bustle, and variety of Broadway,
+its general aspect appears quiet, almost _triste_; but the cleanliness,
+the neatness, the air of comfort, propriety, and health, that reigns on
+all sides, bespeaks immediate favour.
+
+The progress of improvement, and enlargement too, are sufficiently
+evident, for at either extremity of the city, the fall of hammer and
+chisel give unceasing note of preparation. The circle designed and
+marked out as the limit of its future greatness by the sanguine mind of
+its sagacious founder has long since been overleaped; the wide Delaware
+on one side, and on the other the Schuylkill, seem incapable of bounding
+the ambitious city. Already does Market-street rest upon these two
+points, which cannot be less than three miles apart.
+
+Touching Market-street I ought to know something, since, on two
+occasions, I got out of my bed to visit it at four A.M. I am curious in
+looking upon these interesting _entrepots_ whence we cull the dainties
+of a well-furnished larder, and a view over this was truly worth the
+pains; for in no place have I ever seen more lavish display of the good
+things most esteemed by this eating generation, nor could any market
+offer them to the amateur in form more tempting. Neatness and care were
+evident in the perfect arrangement of the poultry, vegetables, fruit,
+butter, &c.; and the display of well-fed beef, with the artist-like way
+in which it was dressed, might have excited our Giblets' spleen even in
+the Christmas week.
+
+Poultry of all kinds here is equal to that of any country, and the
+butter almost as good as the best Irish, which I think the sweetest in
+the world. The market, at the early time I mentioned, offered a busy and
+amusing scene, and I passed away a couple of hours here very much to my
+satisfaction, besides cheating those souls of d----d critics, the
+musquitoes, out of a breakfast; for each day, about the first light, I
+used to be awakened by their assembling for a little _dejeuner dansant_,
+whereat I was victim.
+
+One of the pleasantest visits a man can pay in Philadelphia on a hot
+day, is to the water-works at Fair-mount, on the Schuylkill: the very
+name is refreshing with the mercury at 96 deg. in the shade; and, if there
+be a breeze in Pennsylvania, you will find it here. No city can be
+better supplied with water than this; and I never looked upon the pure
+liquid, welling through the pipes and deluging the thirsty streets,
+without a feeling of gratitude to these water-works, and of respect for
+the pride with which the Philadelphians regard their spirited public
+labour. They have evinced much taste, too, in the quiet, simple
+disposition of the ground and reservoirs connected with the machinery;
+the trees and plants are well selected for the situation, and will soon
+add to the natural beauty of this very fine reach of the river.
+
+Mounting the east bank of the stream, from this to the village of
+Manayunk, you have a very pretty ride; and crossing the bridge at the
+"Falls of the Schuylkill,"--falls no longer, thanks to the dam at
+Fair-mount,--the way back winds along by, or hangs above, the canal and
+river, here marching side by side; offering, in about four miles, as
+charming a succession of river views as painter or poet could desire. It
+is a lovely ramble by all lights, and I have viewed it by all,--in the
+blaze of noon, and by the sober grey of summer twilight; I have ridden
+beneath its wooded heights, and through its overhanging masses of rare
+foliage, in the alternate bright cold light and deep shade of a
+cloudless moon; and again, when tree, and field, and flower were yet
+fresh and humid with the heavy dew, and sparkling in the glow of early
+morning.
+
+At the period of my first visit, the huge piers of a new bridge,
+projected by the Columbian Railroad Company, were just appearing in
+different degrees above the gentle river's surface. The smoke of the
+workmen's fires rising from the wood above, and the numerous attendant
+barges moored beneath the tall cliff from which the road was to be
+thrown, added no little to the effect. I have since seen this viaduct
+completed, and have been whirled over it in the train of a locomotive;
+and, although it is a fine work, I cannot but think every lover of the
+picturesque will mourn the violation of the solitude so lately to be
+found here.
+
+I could not refrain from picturing to myself the light canoes of the
+Delaware Indians as at no very remote period they lay rocking beneath
+the shelter of that very bluff where now were moored a fleet of
+deep-laden barges: indeed these ideas were constantly forcing
+themselves, as it were, into my mind as I wandered over the changeful
+face of this singular land, where the fresh print of the moccasin is
+followed by the tread of the engineer and his attendants, and the light
+trail of the red man is effaced by the road of iron: hardly have the
+echoes ceased to repeat through the woods the Indian's hunter-cry before
+this is followed by the angry rush of the ponderous steam-engine, urged
+forward! still forward! by the restless pursuer of his fated race.
+
+Wander whither you will,--take any direction, the most frequented or the
+most secluded,--at every and at all points do these lines of railway
+intercept your path. Each state, north, south, and west, is eagerly
+thrusting forth these iron arms, to knit, as it were, in a straiter
+embrace her neighbours; and I have not a doubt but, in a very short
+time, a man may journey from the St. Lawrence to the gulf of Mexico
+coastwise with as much facility as he now does from Boston to
+Washington, a distance of four hundred and fifty miles, which may be at
+this day performed within forty hours, out of which you pass a night in
+New York.
+
+But to leave anticipations and imaginings,--which, by the way, is a
+forbearance hard of practice in a region where all things are on the
+whirl of speculative change, and where practical results outrun the
+projections of even the most visionary theorist,--and return to make
+such rapid survey of this interesting city as may be ventured on during
+a first visit of some twenty days. I feel, indeed, that but little can
+be really known in so short a time of a place containing two hundred and
+twenty thousand souls, and having in a rapid state of advancement
+various alterations and improvements, including nearly five thousand new
+buildings all immediately required: although there are persons gifted
+with such power of intuition, that, as I learn from their own showing,
+they are enabled in half the period to decide upon the condition of the
+whole state of Pennsylvania; to discover the wants of its capital, the
+defects of its institutions, the value of its commerce, the drift of its
+policy; to gauge its morals, become intimate with its society, and make
+out a correct estimate of its relative condition and prospects compared
+with the other great divisions of the Union, surveyed, I presume, with
+equal rapidity, judged with equal candour, and estimated with equal
+correctness.
+
+Each in his degree: and so, in my way, good reader, I will endeavour to
+give you some notion of this capital of old Penn's Sylvania; but if your
+own imagination come not to the help of my outline, I fear, after all my
+painstaking, your notion of the subject will be only a faintish one.
+
+Philadelphia is built upon a peninsula formed by two rivers, the
+Delaware and the Schuylkill, having a long graduated rise from each, the
+highest point being about the centre of the city. It is laid out in
+squares, and the streets run in parallel lines of two and three miles in
+length, retaining the same names throughout, only divided by
+Market-street into north, and south: with the exception of this dividing
+street, those running east and west are named after trees, flowers, and
+fruits,--as chestnut, walnut, peach, &c.; and those parallel with the
+rivers, first, Front-street, or that facing the water; next,
+Second-street, third, fourth, fifth, &c. distinguished as, divided by
+Market-street, into South-second, North-second, &c.; a simplicity of
+arrangement which is unique, and renders the stranger's course an
+exceeding easy one: all he has to do is, first, to run down the latitude
+of his street by any of the great avenues, and, having fairly struck it,
+steer north or south, as may be, till he hits upon the friendly number.
+
+The side-walks throughout are broad and well-ordered, neatly paved with
+brick, and generally bordered by rows of healthful trees of different
+kinds, affording in hot weather a most welcome shade, and giving to the
+houses an air of freshness and repose rarely to be met with in a
+populous city.
+
+The dwellings are chiefly of brick, of a good colour, very neatly
+pointed; and nothing can be more tasteful than their fitting-up
+externally. The windows are furnished with latticed shutters; these,
+when not closed, fold back on either hand against the wall, and being
+painted green, and kept with much care and freshness, would invest
+humbler dwellings with an attractive air, especially in the eyes of an
+Englishman, accustomed to the dingy aspect of our city residences, which
+look as though the owners had resolved on making them as forbidding as
+possible without, in order to enhance the excelling comforts within.
+
+Now the houses of Philadelphia are as clean and neat in all the detail
+of the exterior, as they are well-ordered and admirably furnished. The
+mountings of the rails and doors are either of polished silver plating
+or brass, and kept as bright as care can make them. The solid hall-door,
+in hot weather, is superseded by one of green lattice-work, similar to
+the window-shutters, which answers the purpose of keeping out every
+intrusive stranger, except the air,--air being at such seasons, as most
+strangers are at all times, especially welcome to Philadelphia, which is
+about the hottest place I know of in the autumn; the halls are commonly
+flagged with fine white marble, are spacious, lofty, and well fitted-up.
+
+The houses average three stories, but in the best streets, those of the
+first class are run up to five, and even six, and are of great depth:
+indeed, I should say, the inhabitants of this city generally enjoy
+greater space in their lodgings than is afforded to those of any other
+large capital. Where population increases rapidly rents are necessarily
+high; and a good house in Philadelphia costs about as much, independent
+of taxation, as a dwelling of the same class in London.
+
+Besides the great market, which gives its name to the dividing line of
+the city, and runs through its whole breadth, there are several others,
+less extensive perhaps, but all alike under cover, well adapted to the
+purpose, and boasting a due proportion of the abundance of good things,
+which, profusely displayed on all sides, give ready evidence of the
+agricultural wealth of the neighbourhood.
+
+Numbers of the best market-farmers for vegetables, poultry, butter, &c.
+are Germans, who, although most earnest in enriching the country by
+their labour, yet cling with strange tenacity to the customs and
+language of "Fader-land." Their costume and manner yet continues as
+distinct and recognizable as was the appearance of their progenitors on
+landing here some eighty years back, for the colony from which they are
+chiefly derived had existence about the middle of the eighteenth
+century; and many of these men, yet speaking no word of English, are of
+the third generation. They have German magistrates, an interpreter in
+courts when they act as jurors, German newspapers, &c.; and are the
+stoutest, if not the promptest, asserters of democracy.
+
+They are usually found a little in arrear on the subject of all passing
+events; and at election times, or on occasions of extraordinary stir,
+when a man is striving to render them _au courant_ with late
+occurrences, they will now and then interrupt their informant with, "Bud
+why de teufel doesn't Vashington come down to de Nord and bud it all to
+rights?"
+
+The public buildings are here of a more ambitious style of architecture
+than any of the other cities can boast, and some of them are built in
+exceeding good taste; but the one which had most interest in my eyes was
+the old State-house, wherein the "Declaration of Independence" was
+signed. The Senate-chamber is, I fancy, little changed since that
+period; and contained, when I was last within it, models for various
+public works: amongst others, several for a heroic statue of Washington,
+about to be erected, somewhat late in the day to be sure, by the city;
+others for the new college, now building, according to the will of the
+late S. Girard, and intended to assist in perpetuating his name and
+wealth to all posterity.
+
+Such appears to have been the great object of the will of this worthy
+citizen, and there is every prospect of its fully answering the purpose,
+since it has already set the whole community by the ears, and promises
+to prove as prolific of evils as the strong box of Miss Pandora, without
+having even Hope at the bottom.
+
+This man, who has been so much eulogized dead, seems, as well as I could
+glean amongst his contemporaries, to have been anything but estimable in
+his living character. He is universally described as having been tricky,
+overreaching, and litigious in his dealings as a merchant; an unfeeling
+relation, an exacting, ungrateful, and forgetful master; and a selfish,
+cold-hearted man: unoccupied with any generous sympathy, public or
+private, throughout a long life, devoted to one purpose with sleepless
+energy, and to one purpose only--making and hoarding money; which,
+living, he contrived, as far as in him lay, to render as little
+beneficial to any as possible, and, dying, disposed of to his own
+personal glorification, but to the vexation of the community, amongst
+which he appeared to have lived unhonoured, and certainly died
+unregretted!
+
+I am aware that "de mortuis nil nisi bonum" has usually been applied to
+cases similar to the above; "nil nisi _justem_" I think a sounder
+reading where a man is held up as a public example, and deem that the
+selection of a church or a college for a monument should not be
+permitted to shield the base from animadversion, or call for honours to
+the worthless.
+
+
+
+
+THE THEATRES--WALNUT AND CHESTNUT:
+
+
+So called were the houses at which I first acted here, situated in the
+two fine streets bearing the same names.
+
+The Walnut is a summer theatre, and the least fashionable; and here it
+was my fortune to make my _debut_ to the Philadelphians with good
+success: a French company occupied at the same time the Chestnut, where,
+after a seven nights' engagement at the other house, I succeeded them;
+the proprietors being the same at both.
+
+These houses are large, handsome buildings, marble-fronted, having ample
+and well-arranged vomitories; and are not stuck into some obscure alley,
+as most of our theatres are, but standing in the finest streets of the
+city, and every way easy of approach: within, they are fitted up
+plainly, but conveniently, and very cleanly and well kept. I prefer the
+Chestnut, as smaller, and having a pit--as I think all pits ought to
+be--nearly on a level with the front of the stage, instead of being sunk
+deep below, looking, when filled, like a huge dark pool, covered with
+upturned faces.
+
+A crowded audience here presents as large a proportion of pretty,
+attractive women as are anywhere to be seen; and the male part is
+singularly respectable and attentive. Here again I must protest against
+the charge of insensibility being laid at their doors; that is, as far
+as my own feeling and experience goes.
+
+If by applause, a constant clapping of palms or hammering of sticks is
+only meant, interspersed with cries of "Bravo!" I admit they are
+deficient; but if an evident anxiety to lose no word or look of the
+artist, an evident abstraction from everything but the scene, with
+demonstrations of admiration discriminating and well applied, may be
+accepted as sufficient marks of approval, then has the actor no cause of
+complaint.
+
+With the tragedian, who strains after what in stage parlance are called
+_points_, and calculates on being interrupted by loud clapping before
+the sense of the sentence be complete, or else wants breath to finish
+it, a Philadelphian audience might prove a slippery dependence, since
+they come evidently to hear the author as well as see the actor, and are
+"attentive, that they may hear."
+
+For myself, the unreserved laughter in which they indulged I found
+abundant applause, and in well-filled houses the best assurance that
+they were pleased. The company here was a very good one, and the pieces
+as well gotten up as anywhere in the States.
+
+I paid frequent visits to this charming city, and shall have occasion
+again to refer to it. My first impressions are here set down, and
+favourable as these were, a more intimate knowledge only served to
+confirm them.
+
+
+
+
+JOURNEY TO BOSTON.
+
+
+THE EAST RIVER.--HURL-GATE.--THE SOUND.--POINT JUDITH.--NEWPORT
+HARBOUR.--PROVIDENCE.
+
+
+On Saturday morning, at 7 A.M. Sept. 28th, quitted Philadelphia; arrived
+in New York at 2 P.M.; and transferring my baggage from the steamer on
+the North River to the one about to depart for Providence, and whose
+wharf lay upon the East River, I had a couple of hours' leisure, which I
+employed in writing home, for the packet of the 1st of October; and at
+five o'clock P.M. left the city, in the noblest steam-vessel I had yet
+seen.
+
+The view of Brooklyn, the Navy Yard, and this part of the harbour, is
+very attractive from the point of departure; and the numerous little
+steamers, actively plying to and fro at the various ferries, give an
+unceasing air of bustle to the scene. I was greatly charmed by our sail
+up this passage into the Sound dividing Long Island from the continent,
+which it flanks and protects for a distance of one hundred miles.
+
+The banks on either side do not vary a great deal in elevation, but are
+of a slightly undulating character, beautifully wooded, and sprinkled
+with the attractive-looking villas of the country. Mr. Cooper's graphic
+description of Hurl-gate, in his novel of the "Red Rover," led me to
+look out for it with an interest which the reality did not repay,
+although the tide was in a favourable state. I confess, however, I think
+that my imagination rather outran discretion than that the whirlpool
+lacked grandeur: that it was not to be encountered without some peril we
+had very good evidence; for, on a rocky islet to the southward of the
+worst part of the fall, a large schooner lay hove up on her beam-ends,
+with all her spars aloft and her sails half furled, as she had been
+abandoned by her crew. Our pilot informed me that the accident had
+occurred the day previous, and was by no means a rare example, the
+downward passage at the last of the ebb requiring great care and
+experience.
+
+Our powerful engines forced the vessel through the dark eddies,
+apparently without difficulty; and in a little while this long
+looked-for wonder was forgotten.
+
+I remained on deck until after midnight; for there was a bright moon and
+a calm clear sky, and the Sound was sprinkled with craft of all kinds.
+
+I must not omit to notice supper, or tea,--for it was both, and an
+excellent meal it was,--served about eight o'clock upon two parallel
+tables, which ran the whole length of the cabin, at least one hundred
+and eighty feet; and to which sat down about one hundred persons of all
+ranks,--the richest merchants, the most eminent statesmen, and the
+humblest mechanic who chose to pay for a cabin fare, as most of these
+persons who travel do. I was seated with an exceeding lady-like and
+well-bred woman on my left hand, and on my right sat a man who, although
+decently dressed, was evidently a working operative of the humblest
+class; yet was there nothing in either his manner or appearance to annoy
+the most refined female: he asked for what he wanted respectfully,
+performed any little attention he could courteously, and evinced better
+breeding and less selfishness than I have witnessed at some public
+dinners at home, where the admission of such a person would have been
+deemed derogatory.
+
+I do not mean by this description to infer that a crowded table of this
+kind is as agreeable as a party whose habits, education, and sympathies,
+being on a level, render intercourse a matter of mutual pleasure: what I
+would show is, that in this mingling of classes, which is inevitable in
+travelling here, there is nothing to disgust or debase man or woman,
+however exclusive; for it would really be impossible to feed a like
+multitude, of any rank or country, with slighter breaches of decency or
+decorum, or throw persons so wholly dissimilar together with less
+personal inconvenience either to one class or another.
+
+I had been accustomed to see this set down as one of the chief nuisances
+of travelling in this country, and the consequences greatly exaggerated:
+things must have improved rapidly; since, as far as I have hitherto
+gone, I protest I prefer the steam-boat arrangements here to our own,
+and would back them to be considered less objectionable by any candid
+traveller who had fairly tested both.
+
+During the night it blew fresh, and the vessel pitched a little, the
+consequence of which movement was evident in the desertion of the upper
+deck in the morning. I had noticed it, the evening previous, occupied by
+sundry little groups reading or chatting, and with more than one couple
+of merry promenaders: I now made its circuit, meeting with but one
+adventurer, a lively-looking old gentleman, of whom I inquired where all
+our passengers were vanished to.
+
+"Most of them in bed yet," said the old gentleman, "or keeping out of
+the way in one hole or another. If there's any wind or sea, you always
+find the deck pretty clear till we get round Point Judith. Once let us
+get to the other side that hill yonder, and you'll see the swarm begin
+to muster pretty smart."
+
+I had often heard "Point Judith" mentioned by the New-Yorkers, as the
+Cockney voyager talks of Sea-reach, or the buoy at the Nore; and here it
+was close under our lee,--a long, low point of land, with a lighthouse
+upon it.
+
+We soon after opened the entrance to the fine harbour of Newport, and,
+as my informant predicted, the deck gradually recovered its population:
+some came up because they felt, and others because they were told, we
+had passed Point Judith.
+
+It was about seven o'clock A.M. that we ran alongside the wharf at
+Newport to land passengers. The appearance of the town, rising boldly
+from the water's edge, was imposing enough; but trade, judging from the
+deserted state of the wharves, is now inconsiderable, although formerly
+of much importance.
+
+After a delay of a quarter of an hour, we once more got under weigh; and
+one of the chief advantages of a steamer is the ease and facility with
+which this important movement is effected: nowhere is the management of
+these immense bodies, in my thinking, so perfect: the commanding
+position of the wheel, clear of all obstruction, and under the hand of
+the pilot, whose finger also directs the machinery below, through the
+medium of a few well-arranged bells,--the absence of all bawling and
+shouting, and the being independent of transmitted directions, gives
+these craft facilities which make their movements appear like
+inspiration.
+
+This system I found prevailing all through the States; and, as far as
+possible, it would be well to adopt it here. The arrangement of the
+wheel, or steering apparatus, if I remember rightly, was fully and
+technically described by Captain Hall. I do not know whether it has in
+any case been adopted; but if it were enforced upon our crowded rivers,
+there would, I feel assured, be fewer accidents.
+
+The fogs of the Sound, in this passage,--a highway as much travelled as
+the Clyde,--and indeed on all the great American rivers, are only to be
+paralleled by a London specimen about Christmas, in addition to the
+former being more frequent; yet accidents arising from running foul are
+of very rare occurrence, although the desire to drive along is yet
+stronger than with ourselves.
+
+The river up to Providence is of a breadth and character to command the
+voyager's attention, but offers little in detail to repay him for it.
+With the exception of the time devoted to breakfast, which a supply of
+newly-caught fish, taken on board at Newport, rendered a positive treat
+to me, I paced the upper deck, according to my custom, until we arrived
+at Providence, a very thriving place, seated on a commanding ridge, and
+already having, as viewed from the river, an air and aspect quite
+city-like.
+
+Here we found a line of coaches drawn up upon the wharf, awaiting our
+arrival. I had already secured a ticket for the Mail Pilot: and in a
+few minutes the luggage was packed on; the passengers, four in number,
+were packed in; and away we went, rolling and pitching, at the heels of
+as likely a team of four dark bays as I would wish to sit behind. At our
+first halt, I left the inside to the occupation of my companions,--a
+handsome girl, with, "I guess," her lover, and a rough specimen of a
+Western hunter or trader, who had already dubbed my younger companion
+Captain and myself Major, and invited us both to "liquor with him." I
+declined, but _the Captain_, to his evident satisfaction, frankly
+accepted his offer; and whilst I mounted the box, and the horses were
+changing, they entered the house together.
+
+This is a courtesy the traveller to the South will find constantly
+proffered to him by a class of honest souls, whose good-fellowship
+sometimes exceeds their discretion; and I had been told it was not at
+all times possible to decline the offer without risking insult. I
+discovered by experience this to be one of the numerous imaginary
+grievances conjured up to affright the innocent. In this, as in all
+other points, I have never departed from my own habits; and although
+often in remote parts of the Union strongly urged "to liquor," have
+always found my declaration that it was a custom which disagreed with
+me, an excuse admitted without hesitation or ill-humour.
+
+In this, my first experiment, indeed, I had to deal with the most
+punctilious specimen I ever afterwards encountered; for when, some two
+hours after I had declined his request, I called for a glass of
+lemonade, my friend popped his head out of the coach-window, calling out
+with a most beseeching air--
+
+"Well but, Major, I say; stop till I get out: you'll drink _that_ with
+me any how, won't you?"
+
+He was in the bar-room at my heels in a twinkling, and I need hardly say
+we emptied our glasses together very cordially, although their contents
+would, I fancy, in my friend's opinion, have assimilated best in a mixed
+state; for, giving his _sling_ a knowing twist as I swallowed my
+excellent lemonade, he observed:
+
+"Now that's a liquor I never could bring myself to try nohow, though I'm
+sometimes rather speculatin' in drink, when I'm travellin' or out on a
+frolic. Poorish stuff, I calculate: but _you_ hav'nt got the dyspepsy,
+have you, Major?"
+
+I assured my friend that I was perfectly free from dyspepsia, and that
+it was because I desired to continue so that I avoided any stronger
+drink before dinner.
+
+We were now summoned to our places, my companion declaring--
+
+"It is past my logic how lemon and water can prevent dyspepsy better
+than brandy and water;" adding, with a look half comic, half serious--
+
+"But I suppose everybody will go for the Temperance-ticket soon, and I
+shall be forced to clear out of all my spirits; for I never can drink by
+myself, if I'm forced to take to the milk and water line for company."
+
+Our road was a tolerably good one as roads go here, and the horses
+excellent. We arrived in Boston about half-past three, having performed
+forty miles in five hours, all stoppages included; and the whole
+distance from Philadelphia, being three hundred and twenty miles, in
+thirty-two hours and a half, including about three hours passed in New
+York. Quick as this travelling is, they contemplate, when the railroad
+to Providence shall be opened, by the aid of that and an improved
+steam-boat, to deduct eight or nine hours from the time between this
+and New York.
+
+Alighting at the Tremont hotel, I found dinner over, as on Sunday they
+accommodate the hour of dining to the time of church service: I was,
+however, quickly provided with a good meal, which a keen breeze, a long
+ride, and a long fast enabled me to do good justice to. In the
+afternoon, _malgre_ a cutting east wind, which was anything but
+agreeable after the hot weather I had been living in, I took a long walk
+about the town, accompanied by an old friend of mine and a
+constitutional grumbler, who yet joined with me in declaring that a
+first impression of Boston could hardly fail pleasing any man who could
+be pleased by a near view of a city, well and substantially built, as it
+is undoubtedly nobly situated.
+
+
+
+
+BOSTON.
+
+
+The approach to Boston, either by sea or land, gives to it an extremely
+bold and picturesque character. It is spread over a series of lofty
+heights, nearly insulated, and is surrounded by a marshy level running
+from the highlands on the main, to which the city is united by a very
+narrow isthmus to the southward.
+
+The lofty dome of its State-house, and the numerous spires and towers of
+its churches, rising between two and three hundred feet above the
+surrounding level of either land or sea, combine to produce a _coup
+d'oeil_ more imposing than is presented by either New York or
+Philadelphia.
+
+The streets of the city generally are narrow and irregular, following
+the windings of the lofty hills over which it is spread, and having more
+the air of an old English county-town than any place I have yet seen in
+the country.
+
+Its wharfs are spacious and well constructed, and it is not without
+surprise that one views the evidently rapid growth of these best
+evidences of prosperous commerce. I observed in my walks lines of
+substantial granite-built warehouses and quays, newly redeemed from the
+water: all were in occupation; tiers of vessels of every kind thronged
+them; and the inner harbour was thick with masts.
+
+The most modern quarter of the city lies to the west, surrounding the
+park, or common, as it is termed,--an ancient reserve of some sixty
+acres, the property of the citizens, beautifully situated and tastefully
+laid out. It is bordered on the lower side by a mall of
+venerable-looking elms; has a pretty pond of water under a rising ground
+near its centre, the remains of an English fort; and open to the front
+is the Charles River.
+
+On three sides, this common is flanked by very fine streets, having
+houses of the largest class, well built, and kept with a right English
+spirit as far as regards the scrupulous cleanliness of the entrances,
+areas, and windows. The English are a window-cleaning race, and nowhere
+have I observed this habit so closely inherited as here. Overlooking
+this common, too, is the State-house; and, on a line with it, the
+mansion of its patriot founder, Mr. Hancock, a venerable stone-built
+edifice, raised upon a terrace withdrawn a few yards from the line of
+the present street. The generous character of its first owner has made
+this house an object of great interest, and it is to be hoped the
+citizens will look carefully to its preservation as a worthy fellow to
+Fanieul Hall, for by no one was the "cradle of Liberty"[3] more
+carefully tended than by the owner of "Hancock House."
+
+Here, as in the other great cities of the Union, upon a close survey, I
+found the prevailing impression on my mind to be surprise at the
+apparent rapidity of increase made manifest in the great number of
+buildings either just completed or in progress. If the possession of
+inexhaustible supplies of the finest granite, marble, and all other
+material, be accompanied with taste and spirit in their use, the future
+buildings of this city will have an air of grandeur and stability
+superior to those of any other in the States.
+
+To reach the surrounding country in any direction from the peninsula
+the city occupies, one of its great bridges must be crossed. Of these
+there are six, besides the Western Avenue as it is called, a dam of vast
+extent; and they form the peculiarities of this place, to a stranger,
+most curious, and, in truth, most pleasing. By day, they form agreeable
+walks or rides, offering a variety of charming views; and, if crossed on
+a dark night, when their interminable lines of lamps are beheld
+radiating, as it were, from one centre, and multiplied by reflection on
+the surrounding waters, the effect is perfectly magical. The stars show
+dimly in comparison: and casting your eyes downward, it appears as
+though you beheld another and a brighter sky glittering beneath your
+feet.
+
+The great dam rises about five feet above the tide, is provided with
+enormous flood-gates, and in length is something over a mile and a half.
+The length of the other bridges varies from two thousand five hundred to
+one thousand four hundred feet.
+
+Crossing at any one of these points, you gain the open heights upon the
+main. Here you are first struck by the aspect of the soil, everywhere
+having huge masses of dark rock protruded above its surface. The
+country is said to be poor: of this I cannot judge, but I know it to be
+beautiful. It is everywhere undulating, and often broken in the wildest
+and most tropical manner. Like the interior of Herefordshire, it is cut
+up in all directions by rural lanes, bordered by stone walls and high
+hedges, and dotted thickly with handsome houses, whose verandahs of
+bright green, and whitened walls, show well amidst the luxuriant foliage
+by which they are commonly surrounded.
+
+About five miles from the city are a couple of delightful pieces of
+water, called Jamaica and Fresh-ponds; each bordered by wood, lawn, and
+meadow, naturally disposed in the most attractive manner. At the
+last-named pond,--which sounds unworthily on my ear when applied to a
+piece of water covering a surface of two hundred and fifty acres,--I
+passed an afternoon during the period of my first visit here.
+
+We sailed about, exploring every harbour of the little sea, caught our
+fish for dinner, and by the hotel were furnished with a well-broiled
+chicken and a good glass of champagne, with ice worthy of being
+dissolved in such liquor. I fell premeditatedly in love with the place;
+and D----, who was on the look-out for a location, and something hard
+to please withal, had already selected a site for building: but, alas!
+even Paradise, before the mission of St. Patrick, had serpents; and the
+delightful copses and rich meadows of Fresh-pond are, it appears, the
+haunts especially favoured by the incarnation of all Egyptian plagues,
+musquitoes.
+
+During the winter this is a great resort of the lovers of _bandy_ and
+_skating_; and from this ample reservoir is taken that transparent ice
+which gladdens the eyes and cools the throat of the dust-dried traveller
+throughout this part of the State. Nor is its grateful service confined
+to these limits; for cargoes of it are, during the spring, regularly
+shipped to the Havannah, New Orleans, Mobile, &c.; and,--for where will
+enterprise find limits?--this very season has a shipment of three
+hundred tons of the congealed waters of this pond of Massachusetts been
+consigned to Calcutta. Ice floating on the Ganges! How old Gunga will
+shiver and shake his ears when the first crystal offering is dropped on
+his hot bosom!
+
+Wild as the idea may at first appear of keeping such a commodity for a
+voyage of probably a hundred days in such latitudes, I am informed the
+speculator is assured, that with an ordinary run, enough of his cargo
+may be landed to pay a good freight.[4]
+
+Near to this pond lies another favourite spot of mine, "Mount Auburn;" a
+tract of woodland, bordering on Charles River, appropriated and
+consecrated as a cemetery, on the plan of "Pere la Chaise," but having
+natural attributes for such a purpose infinitely superior. It is covered
+by a thick growth of the finest forest-trees, of singular variety; and
+presents a surface, now gently undulating in hill and dale, now broken
+into deep ravines, or towered over by bold rocky elevations; and,
+intersecting the whole space from north to south, runs a natural
+terrace, having a surface so well and evenly levelled that one almost
+doubts its being other than the work of art.
+
+It takes its name from a lofty eminence, which, rising high over the
+surrounding level, commands as fine a view as any spot in the vicinity.
+Winding and well-kept avenues intersect the ground in all directions,
+giving it an appearance of much greater extent than it in reality
+possesses, and rendering the most secluded spot easy of access to those
+who desire to
+
+
+     "Choose their ground,
+     And take their rest."
+
+
+The ostentatious mausoleum may be placed by a broad carriage avenue,
+where its hollow walls will reverberate to every passing triumph of the
+tomb; the quiet and the lowly can build their humbler dwelling in some
+secluded nook, bordered by a narrow path the foot of affection alone
+will seek to tread, and where no heavier sound will ever echo!
+
+The perpetual right of sepulture may be purchased of the company whose
+property the place is; and already a number of monuments, in marble and
+granite, betoken the favour with which this place of "everlasting rest"
+is viewed. Most of these monuments are of a simple, unassuming
+character, and some of them gracefully appropriate.
+
+A wooden fence encircles the cemetery, and a lofty gateway leads into
+it, of Egyptian fashion, but of the like American material, which, it is
+to be presumed, will speedily be superseded by suitable erections of
+the fine dark granite found here in abundance.
+
+This spot, if presided over by anything like taste, must become, in a
+very few years, one of the places one might reasonably make a pilgrimage
+to look upon; so lavish has Nature been in its adornment, and so
+admirably are its accessories fitted to its present purpose.
+
+Boston and its neighbourhood possess, in the eyes of a British subject,
+a number of sites of singular historical interest.
+
+On Hancock's Wharf that tea-party was held which cost Britain ten
+millions of gold, and reft from the empire one quarter of the globe. The
+lines of the American army at Cambridge are still to be readily traced
+throughout their whole extent; the forts at the extremities, north and
+south, are yet perfect in form as when designed by the engineer.
+
+Across the peninsula, to the west of the isthmus, may be traced the
+British lines and the broad deep fosse which, filled by the tide,
+insulated the city these were projected to defend: their remains testify
+to the care and labour bestowed upon their completion.
+
+Bunker's Hill and the Breeds, where the first determined stand was made
+against the British army, is commanded from the steeples and many
+house-tops of the city.
+
+If the defenders of these miserable lines knew that they were observed
+by their kindred on this day, they took, at least, especial care that
+the lookers-on should have no cause to blush for their lack of manhood.
+Under cover of a hastily thrown-up breastwork, of which no trace
+remains, did those hardy yeomen abide and repulse several assaults of a
+regular and well-officered force; nor was it until their last charge of
+ammunition was delivered that they turned from the defences their
+courage alone had made good. The result proved how few charges of theirs
+were flung away; these men knew the value of their ammunition, they were
+excellent shots, and the word was constantly passed amongst them to
+"take sure aim."
+
+On Bunker's Hill a national monument is in progress, which, when
+completed, will form an obelisk of fine granite, according to the
+published plan, thirty feet square at the base, two hundred and twenty
+feet high, and fifteen feet square at the summit. After considerable
+progress had been made in this most durable memorial, the funds ran out
+and the work stood still; however, the reproach of its remaining
+unfinished is now likely to be speedily removed, for during this last
+year, I believe, the necessary sum has been raised, and the national
+monument of Massachusetts put _en train_ for completion.
+
+Below this celebrated hill lies one of the most complete and extensive
+navy-yards in the States. At the period of my visit its dry dock was
+occupied by a pet ship of the American navy, "the Constitution," or, as
+this fine frigate is familiarly called, "Old Ironsides." She was
+stripped down to her kelson outside and in, for the purpose of
+undergoing a repair that will make her, to all intents, a new ship.
+
+She is what would now be called a small frigate, but one of the
+prettiest models possible as high as the bends; above, she tumbles in a
+little too much to please the eye. Nor did her gun-deck appear to me
+particularly roomy for her burthen.
+
+She was logged nearly eleven feet during the whole of the period she was
+last afloat, yet is said to have sailed faster than anything she met;
+this defect the builders have now remedied, and expect that, on a
+straight keel, she will prove the fastest ship afloat.
+
+I also went on board a seventy-four, employed as a receiving ship; "a
+whapper! of her size," low between decks, but with a floor like a barn,
+and the greatest beam I ever saw in a two-decker. Here were also on the
+stocks a three and a two decker, both to be rated as seventy-fours; the
+latter a model of beauty.
+
+From the roof of the house covering this ship I enjoyed the finest
+panoramic view imaginable. Boston, its long bridges, and the great dam
+connecting the blue hills of the main with the peninsulas of Boston, and
+that on which the populous village of Charleston stands, all lay beneath
+the eye on the land side; whilst looking seaward, the inner and outer
+harbours, together with their numerous islands, stretched away far
+beyond the ken; and, were these islands only wooded, no harbour in the
+world would excel this in beauty: at present, though grand, from its
+great extent it looks bleak and naked, so completely have the islands
+and the surrounding heights been denuded of wood.
+
+I like this view better than either the one from the dome of the
+State-house or that from the summit of Mount Auburn: a few glances from
+this point affords one a good practical notion both of the city and the
+populous environs, which may be said to form a part of it, besides being
+in itself a varied and beautiful picture, viewed, as I first saw it, on
+the afternoon of a calm clear day.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[3] Fanieul Hall, so called, the old Town Hall,--a spot dedicated by the
+Bostonians to the recollections of their country's first struggle for
+independence, and greatly venerated.
+
+[4] This calculation was more than realised, the loss not exceeding
+one-fourth on the whole cargo shipped. The grateful epicures of Calcutta
+made an offering of a splendid cup to the merchant, in return for his
+spirited speculation, which I believe he has this year (1835) repeated.
+
+
+
+
+STATE PRISON.
+
+
+Whilst here, I visited the state-prison, the first I had seen where the
+Auburn system is pursued; that is, solitary night-cells, silence, and
+labour in gangs. The building itself is a fine one, having nearly four
+hundred cells, enclosed within external walls, round which run galleries
+that command a view of the interior of every cell without disturbing or
+annoying the confined; the whole covered by a common roof of the
+strongest kind, lighted and ventilated in the best manner.
+
+The merits of this plan will be fairly set forth long before this trifle
+meets the public eye, a commission being now in progress throughout
+these States for the purpose of relieving England from the stigma of
+having no means of employment in her prisons less brutalizing than the
+tread-mill.
+
+I here saw about two hundred convicts actively employed at various
+trades, preparing granite for building, doing smiths' work, making
+shoes, brushes, &c.; all very clean, but certainly not looking very
+healthy.
+
+A single overseer went the rounds of each building or department, and
+kept the hive in motion, without a word spoken, unless in reference to
+the task in hand. Whilst passing through the masons' shed, I noticed two
+persons make inquiries of the superintendent: their questions were to
+the point, given in few words, but with an air perfectly free and
+unrestrained, and were replied to in the like manner.
+
+Upon the value of this system as a preventive of crime, according to my
+view of human nature, I may be allowed to express a doubt, as well as of
+its applicability to the condition of Great Britain; but viewing it in
+the abstract, without such reference, I confess no philanthropic object
+ever struck me as so completely illustrative of the principles of true
+benevolence. This was, in fact, returning good for evil, in the most
+Christian sense of the word; "chastening as a father chasteneth." It
+would appear that a convict must be unnaturally hardened not to quit
+this abode a better man. Let him arrive here, however outcast, vile,
+ignorant, knowing no honest calling, broken in health and savage in
+spirit, here he will find teachers, masters, physicians, all provided
+for him by the community whose laws he has violated. His spirit is
+soothed, his health is recruited, his ignorance enlightened: he is made
+master of a sufficient calling; and, when restored to society, is able
+to contrast the value of the meal earned by the honest sweat of his brow
+with the bitter fruit of idleness and crime.
+
+Such is the result contemplated by the benevolent promoters of the
+prison system of this country, which everywhere has societies of
+voluntary philanthropists who watch over and study to improve it. One is
+ashamed, after this, to avow a doubt of its success in practice, since
+it almost amounts to an admission that man is indeed the brute our
+European legislators appear to think him.
+
+The subject is, at least, one that demands from England a rigid inquiry,
+when we call to mind what a den of debasement, what a sink of soul and
+body, a prison yet is amongst the most civilized and humane people in
+the world.
+
+
+
+
+TREMONT HOTEL.
+
+
+My last, though not least, lion of Boston is the "Tremont House," which
+being, in my opinion, the very best of the best class of large hotels in
+the Union, I shall select as a specimen.
+
+With externals I have little to do, although the architecture of this
+fine building might well claim a particular description: its frontage is
+nearly two hundred feet, with two wings about one hundred each in depth:
+it is three stories high in front above the basement, and the wings are
+each of four stories: the number of rooms, its proprietor informed me,
+amount to two hundred, independent of kitchens, cellars, and other
+offices: it contains hot and cold baths, and is, in fact, wanting in
+nothing essential to the character of a well-contrived hotel.
+
+The curious part of the affair, however, to a European, and more
+especially to an Englishman, is the internal arrangement of such a huge
+institution, the machinery by which it is so well and so quietly
+regulated.
+
+Let the reader reflect, that here are two public tables daily, one for
+men resident in the house, together with many gentlemen of the city, who
+regularly dine here; the other for ladies, or families who have not
+private apartments: of the latter there are a dozen, consisting of two
+or more chambers attached to each parlour; these are seldom unoccupied,
+and have also to be provided for: add to all this an occasional dinner
+or supper to large public parties, and he will then be enabled to
+appreciate the difficulties and do justice to the system which works as
+I shall presently describe.
+
+At half-past seven A.M. the crash of a gong rattles through the remotest
+galleries, to rouse the sleepers: this you may hear or not, just as you
+choose; but sound it does, and loudly. Again, at eight, it proclaims
+breakfast on the public tables: as I never made my appearance at this
+meal, I cannot be expected to tell how it may be attended. The lover of
+a late _dejeuner_ may either order his servant to provide one in his own
+room, or at any hour, up to noon, direct it to be served in the common
+hall: it will, in either case, consist of whatever he may desire that is
+in the house.
+
+At three o'clock, dinner is served in a well-proportioned, well-lighted
+room, seventy feet long by thirty-one wide, occupied by two parallel
+tables, perfectly appointed, and provided with every delicacy of the
+season, well dressed and in great abundance,--the French cooking the
+best in the country,--this _par parenthese_. Meantime, the attendance is
+very sufficient for a man not in a "devouring rage," and the wines of
+every kind really unexceptionable to any reasonable _gourmet_.
+
+At this same hour, let it be borne in mind, the same play is playing in
+what is called the ladies' dining-room, where they sit surrounded by
+their husbands, fathers, brothers, or lovers, as may be; and surely
+having no meaner table-service. As for the possessors of an apartment,
+these persons order dinner for as many as they please, at what hour they
+please, and in what style they please, the which is duly provided in
+their respective parlours.
+
+In the public rooms tea is served at six, and supper at nine o'clock; it
+being yet a marvel to me, first, how all these elaborate meals are so
+admirably got up, and next, how the plague these good people find
+appetite to come to time with a regularity no less surprising.
+
+It was a constant subject of no little amusement to me to observe a few
+of the knowing hands hanging about, as feeding-time drew near, their
+ears on the prick and their eyes on the door, which is thrown open at
+the first bellow of the gong.
+
+As to the indecent pushing and driving, so amusingly described by some
+travellers, I never saw a symptom of it in any hotel I visited
+throughout the country: on the contrary, the absence of extraordinary
+bustle and confusion, where such numbers have to be provided for, is not
+the least striking part of the affair; and only to be accounted for by
+supposing that the habit of living thus together, and being in some sort
+accountable to one another, renders individuals more considerate and
+courteous than they can afford to be when congregated to feed amongst
+us.
+
+I confess that, at first, a dinner of a hundred, or a hundred and fifty
+persons, on a hot day, alarmed me; but, the strangeness got over, I
+rather liked this mode of living, and, as a stranger in a new country,
+would certainly prefer it to the solitary mum-chance dinner of a
+coffee-room.
+
+By eleven o'clock at night the hive is hushed, and the house as quiet as
+any well-ordered citizen's proper dwelling. The servants in this
+establishment were all Irish lads; and a civiller or better-conducted
+set of boys, as far as the guests were concerned, I never saw, or would
+desire to be waited on by. The bar was also well conducted, under the
+care of an obliging and very active person; and the proprietor, Mr.
+Boydon, or his father, constantly on the spot, both most active in all
+matters conducive to the ease and comfort of the visitors.
+
+This city abounds in charitable institutions, and nowhere have more
+princely contributions been made for philanthropic purposes,--witness
+the recent gift of Colonel Perkins of a mansion, valued at thirty
+thousand dollars, as a permanent asylum for the blind; one of those
+institutions most interesting in themselves, and which confer dignity
+and honour upon the age and upon human nature.
+
+The Bostonians are said to be proud of their literary character, and
+boast a number of societies whose object it is to justify their claim to
+this honourable distinction. The only one I can speak of from personal
+observation is the Athenaeum, an excellently-supplied reading-room;
+having attached to it a library of thirty thousand volumes, a valuable
+collection of coins and medals, a gallery for the exhibition of
+pictures, and lecture-rooms well furnished with the necessary apparatus
+for philosophical and practical illustration.
+
+This institution is provided for by subscription: the principal portion
+of the mansion it occupies being the free gift of the same open hand
+which so munificently endowed the asylum for the blind.
+
+The private literary society here is said to be very superior to that of
+any other city of the States, and by no means small. Of society so
+called I nothing know, never having had the honour of being admitted of
+the community, or indeed having made any attempts upon their proper
+realm beyond an occasional rude foray on the border, uncontinued, and
+consequently little noted.
+
+Private intercourse is gay and agreeable, and less restrained by the
+exclusive pretension to dress and fashion which prevails in society both
+at New York and Philadelphia; whilst, if attractive women are less
+numerous here than in those cities, beauty is by no means rare; indeed
+Boston boasts of one family whose personal attractions might serve to
+sustain the pretensions of a larger population.
+
+
+
+
+THE TREMONT THEATRE.
+
+
+In the same street, and immediately opposite the great hotel, is the
+Tremont Theatre, certainly the most elegant exterior in the country, and
+with a very well-proportioned, but not well-arranged _salle_, or
+audience part.
+
+I commenced here on Monday the 30th of September, three days after
+closing at Philadelphia, to a well-filled house, composed, however,
+chiefly of men, as on my _debut_ at New York. My welcome was cordial and
+kind in the extreme; but the audience, although attentive, appeared
+exceedingly cold. On a first night I did not heed this much, especially
+as report assured me they were very well pleased; but throughout the
+week this coldness appeared to me to increase rather than diminish, and
+so much was I affected by it, that, notwithstanding the houses were very
+good, I, on the last day of my first engagement of six nights, declined
+positively to renew it, as was the custom in such cases, and as, in
+fact, the manager and myself had contemplated: on this night, however,
+the aspect of affairs brightened up amazingly; the house was crowded; a
+brilliant show of ladies graced the boxes; the performances were a
+repetition of two pieces which had been previously acted, and from first
+to last the mirth was electric; the good people appeared, by common
+consent, to abandon themselves to the fun of the scene, and laughed _a
+gorge deployee_. At the fall of the curtain, after, in obedience to the
+call of the house, I had made my bow, the manager announced my
+re-engagement; and from this night forth I never met a merrier or a
+pleasanter audience.
+
+It was quite in accordance with the character ascribed to the
+New-Englanders that they should coolly and thoroughly examine and
+understand the novelty presented for their judgment, and that, being
+satisfied and pleased, they should no longer set limits to the
+demonstration of their feelings.
+
+In matters of graver import they have always evinced the like deliberate
+judgment and apparent coldness of bearing; but beneath this prudential
+outward veil they have feelings capable of the highest degree of
+excitement and the most enduring enthusiasm.
+
+I do not agree with those who describe the Yankee as a naturally
+cold-blooded, selfish being. From both the creed and the sumptuary
+regulations of the rigid moral censors from whom they sprung, they have
+inherited the practice of a close self-observance and a strict attention
+to conventional form, which gives a frigid restraint to their air that
+nevertheless does not sink far beneath the surface.
+
+A densely-populated and ungrateful soil has kept alive and quickened
+their natural gifts of intelligence and enterprise, whilst the shifts
+poverty imposes upon young adventure may possibly at times have impelled
+prudence to degenerate into cunning. But look at their history as a
+community; they have been found ever ready to make the most generous
+sacrifices for the commonwealth. In their domestic relations they are
+proverbial as the kindest husbands and most indulgent fathers; whilst as
+friends they are found to be, if reasonably wary, at least steadfast,
+and to be relied on to the uttermost of their professions.
+
+I can readily understand a stranger, having any share of sensibility,
+not liking a people whose observances are so peculiar and so decidedly
+marked; but I do think it impossible for an impartial person to spend
+any time in the country, or have any close intercourse with the
+community, without learning to respect and admire them, _malgre_ their
+calculating prudence, and the many prejudices inseparable from a system
+of education even to this day sufficiently narrow and sectarian.
+
+As far as my personal experience is worthy of consideration, I must
+declare that some of the kindest, gentlest, and most hospitable friends
+I had, and, I trust I may add, have, in the Union, were natives of
+New-England, or, as they say here, "real Yankee, born and raised within
+sight of the State-house of Bosting."
+
+
+
+
+JOURNAL.
+
+
+_Oct. 20th, New York._--Began my second engagement here,--the weather
+divine. Procured a very good hack at Tattersal's, and daily "skir the
+country round." The environs of this city possess more variety of
+scenery than one would suppose from a cursory glance at the country,
+which appears tame and unbroken. The river views are most attractive to
+me.
+
+Rode to the race-course on Long Island, this being the period of the
+"Fall Meeting," as it is termed. The assemblage thin on the first
+day--Appointments of the negro jockeys more picturesque than
+race-like,--ill-fitted jackets, trousers dirty, and loose, or
+stocking-net pantaloons ditto, but tight, with Wellingtons over or
+under, according to the taste of the rider; or shoes without stockings,
+or stockings without shoes, as weight may be required or rejected. They
+sit well forward on to the withers of the horses; do not seem over
+steady in their saddles, but cling like monkeys, their whole
+sleight-of-hand appears to consist of a dead pull; and their mode of
+running, with their time for lying back or making play, seems to be
+entirely governed by their masters, who, on a mile-course, they must
+frequently pass in heats, and who appear ever on the alert to direct
+them.
+
+After the running, which was indifferent, went to see "Paul Pry," a
+trotting-horse of Mr. M'Leod's, now in training to do a match of
+eighteen miles in the hour.[5] With the exception of a few scratches on
+one of his legs, he looked in slapping order; a powerful grey horse,
+just sixteen hands, with a fine countenance, and appearing to be nearly,
+if not quite, thorough-bred.
+
+_Second day._--Witnessed a good race, which a little mare, called
+Trifle, won in two four-mile heats. She had, on a former occasion, run
+four heats, or twenty miles, over the central course at Baltimore, and
+was beaten by one of her present competitors, a fine mare called Black
+Maria. Trifle is very little, but powerfully put together, and
+exceedingly handsome; her only drawback being a pair of mulish-looking
+ears. She has uncommon speed, and is one of the steadiest and smoothest
+gallopers I ever saw go over turf.
+
+I, at the start, took a great fancy to the little pet, and backed her
+even against the other two horses for a dozen of gloves with my friend
+Mr. C----n. By the close of the second heat our bet had increased
+ninefold,--Next morning received a box containing nine dozen of French
+gloves. It will be my duty henceforth to back Trifle.
+
+_October 29th._--The city yet crowded with strangers; every hotel full.
+
+Find out that I am No. 1. in this enormous house; the first time I ever
+could boast such an honour, and now am by no means certain that it is
+worth the labour it imposes, since it leads me a dance to the third
+story: however, it is an excellent room, very large, and removed from
+the bustle below; the sound of the dustman-like bell, which calls the
+house to meals, barely reaches my ear. I often catch myself parodying
+poor Maturin's lines, which I have applied to this unpoetical grievance,
+and concluded most impotently--
+
+
+     ----"Bell echoes bell,
+     Meal follows meal,
+     Till the ear aches for the last welcome summons
+     That tolls an end to the day's cookery."
+
+
+At this time there cannot be far short of one hundred and fifty persons
+dining daily in the public room: did I desire to dine at it, however,
+the hospitality of my friends I find would render this impracticable.
+
+_November 3rd._--Dined at Harlaem, a pretty village eight miles from the
+city, but daily drawing closer to it. Here a certain Mrs. Bradshaw fries
+chickens in a _sauce tartarre_, to the which could pen of mine do
+justice, "I guess" I know folk "our side" the water who would be
+stealing across to Harlaem some fine day to dine. We had tarapins too,
+of whose excellence most unfortunates in Europe, happily for their poor
+wives and innocent children, are ignorant.
+
+On our way home halted at Cato's, and discussed the comparative merits
+of hail-storm and julep, demonstrating our arguments by the practical
+experiments of this distinguished spirituous professor.
+
+The day deliciously genial, and the night like a fine harvest-moon at
+home. Of a verity this American autumn, or fall, as they call it, is a
+most delicate season.
+
+_Friday, 8th._--Up with the lark, and, accompanied by Captain D----n,
+got on board the steamer for Philadelphia, _via_ Amboy.
+
+The morning was clear, with a warm sun just tempered by a breeze balmy
+and soft: the packet was crowded, and our passage across the harbour a
+pleasure to remember. We were soon, however, to have all the happy
+recollections of this journey miserably blotted out by one of the most
+fearful accidents I ever beheld.
+
+At Amboy we took the railroad; and every one was delighted to find that
+the locomotives were now in operation, anticipating a quick and pleasant
+ride to Bordentown. For a time all went well: various surmises were made
+as to our rate; some calculated it at twenty miles in the hour; D----n
+and the Belgian minister, Baron de B----r, were disputing the point,
+watch in hand, when an alarm was given from the rear: our attention was
+quickly arrested by loud cries to "stop the engine," coming from the
+windows of every carriage in the train.
+
+On the halt being accomplished, the carriages were deserted in a moment;
+for it was discovered that one of those in the rear had been overturned
+in consequence of the axle breaking,--its occupants' fate as yet
+unknown.
+
+I was soon on the spot, and what a scene was here to witness! Out of
+twenty-four persons only one had escaped unhurt. One man was dead,
+another dying, and five others had fractures, more or less serious; a
+couple of ladies (sisters) dreadfully wounded; the children of one of
+them, two little girls, with broken limbs.
+
+Never were sufferers more patient; one of them was a surgeon, a fine
+young fellow, who immediately set about doing the best his skill could
+accomplish for those most desperately hurt. D----n and I volunteered as
+his assistants; and with such splints as the shattered panels of the
+carriage supplied, the fractured limbs were bound up.
+
+It was a melancholy task; but this gallant fellow stuck to it until he
+saw such of his patients as it was possible to remove disposed of in one
+of the baggage-cars, emptied for this purpose. I had, in the course of
+his task, frequently observed him pause, as though either faint, or
+finding some difficulty in the act of stooping, which was constantly
+required; but it was not until he had seen the last of his
+fellow-sufferers disposed of to his best ability that he examined his
+own condition, when it was discovered that two of his ribs were broken.
+
+It was full three hours before the wounded could be removed from the
+sandy bank on which they had been stretched; and it was an afflicting
+thing to see them lying here, bloody and disfigured, exposed to the
+glare of a hot sun, without the possibility of procuring them shelter;
+for we were some miles from the nearest village when the accident
+occurred.
+
+The ex-president, Mr. Quincy Adams, was in the carriage immediately
+attached to the one overturned: by his direction an inquest was held
+upon the deceased before we departed; and, this being concluded, the
+train once more moved forward, but with a character mournfully altered
+since our first departure.
+
+We found the steam-boat yet in waiting at Bordentown; and, bearing with
+us those of the wounded who could proceed so far, we reached
+Philadelphia at a late hour in the afternoon, with such a freight as I
+trust may never again visit its wharves.
+
+_Saturday._--Called to inquire after such of our wounded
+fellow-passengers as we could trace. The lady so severely hurt
+pronounced out of all danger; and her dear baby still living, with hopes
+of saving it. A man with numerous fractures, who had been left behind,
+report says, is relieved by death from all farther suffering.
+
+This is the first serious accident that has occurred upon this line,
+which appears to be most carefully conducted; one of the active
+proprietors or more--the Messrs. Stevens, men of great prudence and
+practical skill--being constantly upon the road, and personally
+supervising every department connected with both boats and railway.
+
+_Sunday, 10th._--At six A.M. departed for Baltimore, _via_ the Delaware
+and Newcastle railroad: the day was cloudless, and as warm as it is in
+England in June. I often, on these bright days, think of my good folk in
+Kent,--clouds and fog without, and sea-coal fire within: no bad
+substitute for a sun, by the way, after all; especially after one has
+had a sniff of the anthracite coal used in the close stoves here, an
+atmosphere which dread of freezing only could reconcile me to.
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[5] Which he shortly after won with ease, and was backed on the ground
+to perform nineteen, and twenty. No takers.
+
+
+
+
+BALTIMORE.
+
+
+The day upon which I first approached this city would have given a charm
+even to desolation. It was on the tenth of November; the air elastic,
+but bland as on a fine June morning at home; the temperature was about
+the same too, but attended with a clearness of atmosphere in all
+quarters that seldom falls out within our islands.
+
+The passage down the Elk river is quite beautiful: the shores on either
+hand are bold and undulating; the country finely wooded; the banks
+indented by numerous bays and inlets, whose jutting capes so intersect
+each other that in several reaches the voyager is, as it were,
+completely land-locked, and might imagine himself coasting about some
+pretty lake.
+
+We neared the well-closed harbour amidst a fleet of some hundred and
+fifty sail, of all sizes and of every variety of rig, from the simple
+two-sailed heavy sloop to that perfection of naval architecture, the
+Clipper schooner of Baltimore, with her long tapering masts raking over
+her taffrail, and her symmetrical hull fairly leaping out of water, as
+though she moved from wave to wave by a succession of graceful bounds
+rather than held her course by cleaving a pathway through them, as did
+her more cumbrous fellows.
+
+The eye was charmed and the heart elevated by these unequivocal
+evidences of thriving commerce sweeping towards the city; which rises
+gradually, as it spreads over the face of the irregular hill it
+occupies. Several domes of considerable magnitude, a tall column or two,
+with various towers and spires, rendered conspicuous from the nature of
+the site, invest it with an air of much importance, and have gained for
+it the title of the City of Monuments.
+
+The main street, like that of Boston, has very much the look of an
+English county-town; and the air of the shops is wholly English. I
+wandered about here guided by curiosity and caprice,--the only cicerone
+I ever desire,--and saw most things worthy note. I attended service at
+the cathedral, where I heard mass admirably performed, for in this
+choir are several voices of a very high order.
+
+The interior of the church is good; the altar most worthily fitted up;
+and the general effect would be imposing were it not marred by the
+introduction of regular lines of exceedingly comfortable but most
+uncatholic-looking pews, with the which, I confess, I felt so vexed,
+that I could have found in my heart, Heaven pardon me! to have wished
+them fairly floating in the bay, only for the delicate creatures who sat
+within them, on whose transparent brows and soft dark eyes it was
+impossible to look and breathe a wish or harbour a thought of evil.
+
+I next mounted the Washington column, as it is called, and beheld a
+sunset from its top that would have well recompensed a poet or painter
+for a journey over "the broa-a-d At-alantic," as poor Incledon used to
+emphasize it.
+
+This is a noble column and splendidly put together, of workmanship and
+material calculated to endure,--lasting, unimpeachable by time or
+change, as is the fame of the patriot to whose virtues it is well
+inscribed; but the statue itself is bad, ineffective, and in no
+situation or distance I could discover at all like the great original,
+whose personal characteristics were nevertheless striking, and well
+adapted for the artist.
+
+The inverted bee-hive too, which is overturned on the head of the
+capital, for the purpose, as it were, of hoisting the figure a little
+higher, is in bad taste, and detracts from the plainness of the column,
+which, if divested of both bee-hive and figure, would be an object
+worthy to commemorate the citizen Washington, in whose character
+simplicity gave lustre to the grandeur with which it was happily
+blended; softening and chastening it, and making him, even in the
+sternest times, more loved than feared.
+
+I rode hard for a few hours to the north and west of the city,
+accompanied by a Scotch friend; in the course of which ride we dived
+down some wooded glens, and crossed some rock-strewn brooks, that called
+to his memory the brawling waters of his own rugged land,--so
+constantly, at all times and in all places, is the wanderer's mind
+prepared to veer homeward.
+
+I have sometimes smiled at the total absence of similarity between the
+distant original and the subject that has served to challenge
+comparison. In this case, however, there was, in my mind, good ground
+enough for the recollection: at one spot, in particular, we broke from
+a thickly-wooded hill side that we had for some time been blindly
+threading, and found ourselves just over a clear pebbled stream, skirted
+on the opposite bank by a fair fresh meadow, itself bounded again by a
+wooded height yet more stony and steep than that by which we sought to
+descend: on our right, in an angle of the meadow, stood a farmhouse,
+roughly built of grey-stone and lime, surrounded by numerous offices;
+and, lower down the brook, a mill of similar character.
+
+After a long look upon this pretty sequestered spot, we descended to the
+bed of the stream, and found a railroad already skirting its course.
+
+Passing the mill by a bridle-path, we here saw the bed of our little
+brook, fallen far beneath, tossing, raging, and whirling its way amongst
+great masses, and tumbling over the rocky ledges dividing smooth beds of
+close black gneiss. Yet a little lower, we struck a road leading over a
+bridge, by which we re-crossed the now important current; and hence the
+upward view was as glen-like, gloomy, and wild as Scottish imagination
+could desire.
+
+
+BALTIMORE.
+
+
+JOURNAL CONTINUED.
+
+
+_Monday, 11th._--Find other Richmonds in the field, the Kembles being
+announced also, for to-night, at the Holiday Theatre, under the
+management of Mr. De Camp: I occupying "Front Street," with what is
+termed the regular Baltimore company. My front will prove in the rear, I
+fear.
+
+This _untoward_ meeting was purely accidental; a thing not desired or
+premeditated by either party: my interest and inclination making it
+desirable that I should give these attractive objects to the rest of the
+world, what sailors term, "a wide berth." Shame that I should say so,
+and a lady concerned too!
+
+_The Front Street._--A huge theatre, nearly as large as Covent-Garden.
+At night, I found there was indeed ample space "and verge enough." My
+clients, however, were uproariously merry, and made up for half an
+audience by bestowing upon the performance a double allowance of
+applause.
+
+_Tuesday, 12th_--At 'em again!--"the Holiday" against "the Front!" I
+have discovered that the _people_ are with _us_; "the Holiday" being
+considered the aristocratic house, and "the Front," being, indeed, the
+work of an opposition composed of the sturdy democracy of the good city.
+
+The manager says that last night our side was taken by surprise, but
+that now our forces are afoot. The worst of my case is, that I am
+compelled, _mal-gre bon-gre_, to laugh at my "beggarly account of empty
+boxes:" my tragic rivals may, at least, have the satisfaction of
+lowering upon their empty pit. But the _people_ are for us, consequently
+the right is with us; _ergo_, we must prevail.
+
+_Eight o'clock_ P.M.--A narrower selvage round the vast area of our
+_parterre_. "Front Street" for ever!
+
+_Wednesday, 12th._--I, this night at least, had the satisfaction of
+seeing my antagonists; for in the side-box I spied Messrs. Kemble and De
+Camp laughing to my teeth. I would have forgiven this, and joined with
+the wags, had my forces been assembled; but the musters on our side I
+find are not yet quite complete.
+
+_Tuesday, 18th._--The struggle continued until yesterday without either
+party being able to claim an absolute victory; nor is it for me now to
+record a triumph, since I left the allies yet camping on the field,
+whilst on their part they must at least admit that I marched off with
+all the honours of war.
+
+This day returned to Philadelphia--weather yet unbroken. Reached Mr.
+Head's in time to come in with the dinner.
+
+_Wednesday, Nov. 20th._--Took a long walk round the city; the weather
+fine. About midday Chestnut-street assumed quite a lively and very
+attractive appearance, for it was filled with shopping-parties of
+well-dressed women, and presented a sprinkling of carriages neatly
+appointed and exceedingly well horsed.
+
+Satisfied that I am correct in my judgment, when I assert that this
+population has the happiness to possess an unusual share of handsome
+girls. They walk with a freer air and more elastic step than their fair
+rivals of New York; have clear brunette complexions, and eyes of great
+beauty.
+
+The theatre very full, and the dress-boxes containing a large
+proportion of ladies.
+
+_21st._--On horseback early; crossed the Schuylkill, over the Manayunk
+bridge, and back by the right bank of the river. The piers of a viaduct,
+about to be thrown from the opposite heights by the Lancaster Rail-road
+Company, already much elevated since my first visit here in September.
+Highly beneficial to the community, no doubt; but destructive of the
+repose and seclusion of this charming scene. The sweetest spots, and
+such as one would most desire to conserve, seem to be always the places
+peculiarly selected for these useful but most unpicturesque invasions.
+
+_23rd._--Visited the dock-yard in company with Lieutenant I----d. A
+three-decker, classed according to law as a seventy-four, almost ready
+to be sent off the stocks--a noble ship. A frigate is housed close by
+her, but looks a mere toy when one views it immediately after having
+contemplated the proportions of the Pennsylvania. This dockyard is
+smaller, and in appearance inferior every way to that of Boston.
+
+_27th._--Having exhausted all the rides in the immediate neighbourhood,
+I this day determined upon widening my circle; so went, accompanied by
+K----r, about fifteen miles up the Delaware by the Bristol road.
+
+On the way-side we halted to look upon a mansion, made memorable for
+ever by one of those wild atrocities, the details of which indeed
+appear, upon review, fitter for the pages of romance than for a journal
+of every-day life, yet too striking to be heard and forgotten, or passed
+by without comment. I must only premise, that the affair I am about to
+describe is of recent occurrence, and strictly true in all its horrible
+details.
+
+
+
+
+THE TEMPERANCE HOUSE.
+
+
+Within these three years the house in question was inhabited by its
+builder, a respectable citizen, together with his wife, a woman of much
+intelligence, and possessed of considerable beauty, though no longer
+young. They had for many years kept a creditable academy; but had, a
+short time before the commencement of this relation, retired with ample
+means from the exercise of their honourable profession, built this
+house, and with an only child, a handsome girl of sixteen, here dwelt,
+as far as their neighbours could judge, contented and happy. It is
+certain that they were well considered and respected by all who knew
+anything of them.
+
+One afternoon, whilst the master was busied in his garden before the
+house, a passing wayfarer halted by his fence, and besought some
+refreshment. The accent of the stranger was foreign, and his aspect and
+whole appearance, although haggard and miserably needy, still bore
+evidence of better days, as his address did of gentle condition.
+
+After a moment's questioning, Mr. C---- asked the hungered and weary
+traveller to enter his house; and, with the hospitable promptitude of
+country life, a comfortable meal was set before him.
+
+Before another hour had elapsed, so strongly did the stranger's story of
+himself interest the kind nature of his host, this act of common charity
+was succeeded by an invitation to him to remain for a few days as the
+guest of the house, which was thankfully accepted.
+
+Senhor Mina, for this was the guest's name, was, as he said, a political
+exile, and having strong claims of a pecuniary kind upon the American
+government, he was on his way to the capital to prosecute them; when,
+through a total failure of his resources, he became exposed to the
+misery and want from which this providential chance had so happily
+rescued him. His appearance at this point arose from his inability to
+pay his fare on board the steam-boat; where some altercation taking
+place between him and the captain, who charged him with a design to
+cheat, it ended in his being summarily set ashore to make the best of
+his way to the end of his journey.
+
+The senhor was a scholar, was intelligent, and, what was better,
+interesting, having visited many lands, and encountered many of the
+adventurous perils of war and travel. He was here a penniless soldier in
+"the land of the brave"--a friendless exile for liberty in the "home of
+the free." He talked well; and by his enthusiastic discourses in favour
+of equality and independence,--topics which possess a charm for most
+American ears,--he quickly gained an interest in the best feelings of
+his honest host. He sang as all Spaniards sing, and touched the guitar
+as only Spaniards can; and with this artillery won yet more suddenly the
+love of his host's frail wife.
+
+Time passed rapidly in a little circle so happily constituted to banish
+tedium: nor was business wanting to occupy a due share, for the senhor
+despatched many letters; and, having established a correspondence with
+the foreign-office, the necessity for his own presence at the seat of
+government next became manifest. This was no sooner made known to Mr.
+C---- than ample means were placed at Senhor Mina's disposal; when, with
+the best wishes of the whole family, he took a short farewell of
+Pennsylvania.
+
+The absence of the interesting stranger was signalized by a change in
+the habits and condition of this household as sudden as that which had
+attended his first introduction to it. Mrs. C---- grew gradually
+fretful, restless, and anxious; which might well be, for her husband was
+on a sudden laid up with sickness, and their only child studiously
+shunned their society, locking herself within her chamber, or moping
+about the grounds she had so lately bounded over in the buoyancy of
+health and happy youth.
+
+The sequel was not long in arriving: the sick man daily grew worse and
+weaker; and his wife, as was perfectly natural, daily grew more wretched
+and impatient. She was assiduous to a jealous degree in the performance
+of her duties and close attendance on her husband's bed; she mixed his
+medicines, prepared his food and such diluents as were considered best
+calculated to allay the fever that for ever burned him up. With his hand
+within her's, she watched his last agonies, which were protracted and
+extreme; and received from his lips grateful acknowledgments of her
+unwearied kindness, and his dying blessing.
+
+So far all went unsuspectedly and well: for one month the widow lived
+unseen and retired, as became a sorrowing woman; but about the end of
+that period, to the great surprise of the neighbourhood, she was made
+again a bride by the grateful stranger, Senhor Mina.
+
+And now it was that men began to shake their heads and find their
+tongues; comments upon the shameless precipitancy of this wedding were
+everywhere heard, mixed up with strange surmises, and suspicions too
+horrible to remain long suppressed.
+
+Curious inquiries were next made amongst the domestics, and one servant
+girl quickly called to mind having noticed a sediment in the remains of
+a basin of soup prepared by her mistress for the sick man, which having
+been thrown to the poultry, together with some of the rice, these had
+all since withered and died; nay, a hardy hog even, whose portion had
+been small, with difficulty weathered an attack of sickness which had
+quickly followed.
+
+A legal inquiry was next demanded by the roused public, upon which such
+strong evidence appeared as to render the exhumation of the body
+necessary: the contents of the stomach were yet in a condition to admit
+of chemical analyzation, and the exhibition of a large portion of
+arsenic was by these means proven past doubt.
+
+The unconscious senhor--with whom, during this part of the process, they
+had prevented the miserable woman holding any communication--was
+meantime busily prosecuting his affairs, whatever they were, amidst the
+gaieties of Washington. One night, upon his return from a public ball,
+he was arrested by an officer who had just reached his quarters with a
+criminal warrant, taken back to the scene of his ingratitude, and,
+together with the partner of his crime, put upon trial for the murder of
+his benefactor.
+
+The guilt of both parties was established, I believe, beyond a doubt;
+but some legal loophole was found by which the woman was permitted to
+elude the capital punishment, and condemned to live. The ungrateful
+guest was sentenced to be hanged: shortly before the time of execution
+he made full confession of his having planned and instigated the
+poisoning of his unsuspecting host, and died the death of an assassin.
+
+Here is a suite of horrors, plainly and briefly set down, sufficient to
+supply stuff for any murder-loving three-volume novelist; yet is there
+one other, and that not least, to be added; for it appeared in the
+progress of the trial, and time in the ordinary course confirmed this
+evidence, that the poor child, the daughter of the murderess, had fallen
+a victim to the lust of this devil, Mina.
+
+The fate of the girl and her infant I could not rightly learn; all that
+was known, indeed, being her removal to some distant part of the
+continent. The mother, it was believed, yet resided within the walls her
+guilt has made for ever infamous.
+
+The house is always pointed out to the passing stranger, and was, when I
+saw it, no unfit monument of its owner's crime, and the curse which so
+quickly followed on it. Its fences were thrown down, its outhouses in
+ruin, the paths about it overgrown with filthy weeds; and the latticed
+window-shutters, once gay as green paint could make them, now dirty and
+broken, were left to swing loose from every wall. Still, evidences of
+its being inhabited were exhibited about the yard, where a dog and a few
+fowls lay basking; and suspended from the branch of a blighted tree,
+standing near the fallen entrance-gate, hung an ill-inscribed sign,
+bearing the inscription "_Temperance House_" in large characters.
+
+A singular change,--the abode of the grossest lust, and the scene of the
+foulest murder, perhaps, ever combined in the full catalogue of crime,
+changed into a temple to Temperance.
+
+
+
+
+JOURNAL.
+
+
+_Sunday, December 1st._--A little cloudy, but mild and pleasant. We have
+up to this date no severe weather; and, indeed, with the exception of
+now and then a day not colder than some which we experienced in
+September, have had no remembrancer of the approach of frost: but I
+fancy old father Winter "'bides his time," and will not spare us when
+his icy wings are once loosed upon the north-east wind.
+
+Rode to German Town, and down the ravine of the Wisihissing. A stranger,
+looking over the continuous level which is presented to his view on a
+first glance at the country surrounding Philadelphia, has many pleasant
+surprises in store, if he be of an errant habit and much given to
+exploration; since there are several ravines of singular wildness in
+this vicinity, having bridle-paths connecting them with the different
+roads, and a great deal of broken country, whose variety well repays the
+adventurous equestrian.
+
+This is a mode of proceeding I would counsel every traveller to follow
+who desires to become well acquainted with the general character of a
+country, as but little of this can be known from a hasty drive along the
+common line of road. Never let the idea of being badly mounted deter a
+man from this experiment; but let him send for the best hack that the
+place may afford, or, what is a better plan, go and see after one.
+
+In America, although all the nags thus procured may not prove the
+smoothest goers in the world, they will uniformly be found strong and
+well up to their work. Only let the stranger acquire the habit of
+getting into saddle with promptitude on arriving at a strange place, and
+more may be seen of its neighbourhood, and known of its condition, by
+this means, in a morning foray or two, than a month of idling will
+compass.
+
+_Saturday, 14th._--Back again to Baltimore to act in Front-street the
+same night.
+
+A clear cold morning until about midday, when it became overcast, with
+some rain and wind, which, just as we cleared the Elk river, was
+exchanged for snow. Not an inch of our way did we see after this: the
+boat was frequently stopped, and soundings carefully made; our speed
+was reduced to the slowest possible pace, and every precaution taken
+that prudence could suggest to the experience of our captain. Night came
+on, however, and we had the pleasant prospect of passing it in the bay
+of the Chesapeake, or on one of the shoals, or shores, about us, when
+happily our look-out got a momentary glimpse of Fort M'Henry, which we
+were about to pass to the southward. Had we done so, we must in a short
+time have grounded in the Patapsco, there to rest for the coming clear
+weather: as it was, a short time saw us snug in harbour, although we
+could hardly see ourselves when we got there.
+
+I was too late for Front-street, a circumstance which I did not regret,
+remembering its situation and the state of the weather, but consoled
+myself readily over a canvass-back duck and a tumbler of
+Monongahela,--when old, equal, if mixed with hot water, even to
+Innishtowen; at least I remember I thought so on this occasion.
+
+Retired early to my room, intending to read for an hour, having observed
+a cheery-looking fire in it whilst changing my wet things. It was
+exceedingly cold without; the snow fell thick, and the sight of a grate
+full of cinders, glowing like lumps of iron at red heat, was especially
+enlivening. I sat down to read, but in a few minutes found my eyes
+become strangely dim: after a vain attempt to clear them by ablution, I
+resigned my book, gave way to the headache and weariness, which grew
+worse every minute, and got into my bed, concluding these unpleasant
+symptoms were occasioned by previous cold and exposure to the weather.
+
+I lay down, but to rest was impossible; my temples throbbed, the veins
+became swollen and tense, whilst my breathing grew short and difficult:
+getting at last a little alarmed, and, indeed, fearing a fainting fit, I
+rose to ring for my servant; but not finding the bell, opened my
+chamber-door with the intention of seeking some assistance.
+
+I had not proceeded many steps down the passage before I felt my illness
+abate, in a manner quite as sudden and strange as its advance had been;
+my sight became clear, my pulse grew regular, my breathing natural; and
+after a momentary pause, almost of doubt at this rapid restoration to
+health and ease, I retraced my steps to my chamber, feeling glad that I
+had not communicated a false alarm in a house where two or three sudden
+deaths, from what was called cholera, had already predisposed the
+inmates to be nervous.
+
+On re-entering my room, the cause of my late symptoms became manifest in
+the first breath I inhaled of the atmosphere; even as it now was,
+comparatively purified by a current of fresh air, the gaseous smell
+continued disagreeable and distressing.
+
+I sent for the fireman of the hotel,--that is, the person so called who
+lights and looks after the hundred fires going in one of these
+establishments: he was a countryman and a staunch personal friend; and,
+after hearing my story and removing the anthracite coal, he pledged
+himself never to burn anything but wood in my chamber for the time to
+come.
+
+I next questioned my friend as to whether he had ever before known any
+person as severely affected from the same cause. He said he had heard
+gentlemen complain now and again, "But the cowld soon makes them get
+used to it," said Pat; adding, that most persons left a little of the
+window open if the weather permitted.
+
+This was my first and last experiment with this coal, which is
+nevertheless burned almost universally in the north, though they have
+abundance of fine Nova Scotia coal, that appears little inferior to the
+best Lancashire. Liverpool coal is a good deal used in New York; but the
+ladies give the preference uniformly to the anthracite, which does not
+yield much dust or black smoke, and consequently preserves for a longer
+period both furniture and dress: it also renders a room quickly and
+equally warm without requiring attendance, when once lighted, burning
+constantly with a red heat, and fiercely or otherwise in proportion to
+the draft, which all the stoves here permit to be regulated at will.
+
+Nevertheless, I think all its advantages are nothing when weighed
+against the injurious effect the atmosphere it generates must have upon
+the health of those constantly within its influence.
+
+It may, with great advantage, be used for hall-stoves, for heating
+air-pipes, or in situations where there is a ready circulation of air;
+but ought not, I think, to be continued in the drawing-rooms of families
+or in the chambers of the studious.
+
+_Sunday, 15th._--The snow lying about a foot deep in the streets, but in
+places drifted to a great height: numbers of make-shift sleighs already
+jingling about the town, Baltimore having precedence of the northern
+cities this year in an amusement not often enjoyed here.
+
+I had a trial of the sleigh for a couple of hours; and in company with a
+fat friend was bumped over the gutters through the soft snow,--for on it
+we could not be said to ride,--whilst every inequality of the streets
+was made evident to our bones.
+
+This is a species of amusement into which the Northerns enter with a
+spirit of positive enthusiasm: man, woman, and child all talk of, and
+look forward to, the arrival of sleighing-time as a season of the
+highest festivity. In New York, I am told, the first heavy fall of snow
+brings even business to a stand-still, and the whole population is seen
+whirling over the streets in every description of vehicle that can be
+lifted off its wheels and lodged upon runners.
+
+The regular fancy sleighs I have frequently examined: they are
+tastefully and comfortably built, and fitted up with all sorts of
+furs,--skins of bear and buffalo, and various other beasts; are lined
+and betasseled in a way that renders them quite beautiful; and might
+defy the recognition of their nearest of kin.
+
+_18th._--The snow has vanished wholly, and the weather is again mild as
+spring: the Southerners yet lingering here upon the confines of the
+north are, however, alarmed by this early demonstration of the absence
+of winter so far south, and daily set off for their yet sunny abodes in
+Georgia, the Carolinas, Alabama, or Louisiana.
+
+Our excellent table is gradually thinning off; and King David's labour,
+as grand carver, is daily abridged. We this day had a haunch of Virginia
+venison, with fat an inch and half deep, the flavour equal to anything I
+ever ate: it is the first fat venison I have seen in the country.
+Canvass-back still in abundance, and not to be wearied of. This, I find,
+is the true place to eat these rare birds: their case is well understood
+here, and they are treated to a nicety.
+
+_Saturday, 21st._--Back to Philadelphia, on my way to New York--will
+pass this night in the City of Squares, and Sunday--the day positively
+warm; observed, however, a thin flaking of ice stealing over the shaded
+surface of the Elk river.
+
+_Monday, 23rd._--Once more in New York, _via_ the Delaware and Raritan.
+Although on Sunday it was feared that these rivers would be closed with
+ice, we had only a little coating of Jack Frost to break through,
+suffering no detention, and found the bay perfectly free; arriving here
+about three o'clock.
+
+_27th._--Walked to the top of Broadway, which has lost much of its
+crowd, but is yet quite bustling enough to be a very lively and pleasant
+lounge.
+
+Went into the Episcopalian church near the Park, the graves of
+Montgomery and Emmett being the chief attraction: the monuments erected
+to their memories stand outside, close upon the street. Just as I turned
+out of the gate, after having read the inscription upon the monument of
+the latter, I was joined by R----t, who gave me an interesting account
+of the last meeting of the devoted brothers.
+
+Thomas Emmett being at Rotterdam, after his release from Fort George, on
+his way to the United States, chanced to be in waiting for his letters
+at the post-office, when a man stepping from the crowd threw himself
+into his arms with exclamations of glad recognition: it was his brother
+Robert, just arrived from Paris, and attending here on a like errand.
+
+"And from whence come you?" demanded Robert, the first congratulations
+being past.
+
+"Just escaped from poor Ireland," replied the senior brother; adding,
+"and whither are you now bound?"
+
+"Just escaping to poor Ireland," was the reply.
+
+The meeting was a short one; Robert would listen to no word of
+accompanying his family in their exile. He declared his only desire was
+either to procure for his country even justice, and freedom from neglect
+and oppression, or for himself a grave, and oblivion of her people's
+sufferings and degradation.
+
+The brothers parted here, never again to meet. Robert quickly found the
+fate he courted, and sleeps beneath the soil he died for,--mistakingly
+it may be, but neither unwept, unpitied, nor unsung.
+
+The senior pursued his more prudent course, and landed with his wife and
+children in this city, unknown, and having slight recommendation beyond
+his misfortunes and his country; these, however, proved all-sufficient
+to procure for him the sympathy and respect of the citizens from whom he
+sought adoption. He rested amongst them, became one of them, and lived
+to see his children standing with the best and most esteemed of the
+country.
+
+In the fulness of his honours Thomas Addis Emmett died, and on the most
+conspicuous part of Broadway stands the obelisk of marble reared in
+honour of his memory, and bearing testimony to the high talent and the
+many virtues of the Irish exile, the banished rebel, or the unsuccessful
+patriot; for the terms are yet unhappily considered by some as
+synonymous, and may be selected by each according to his political
+creed. By his family and associates, however, he appears to have been
+truly beloved, and by all men to have been viewed as an upright citizen
+and a most able counsel; his eloquence at the bar being still the theme
+of frequent enthusiastic eulogium.
+
+This night went to a dance at the hospitable house of Mr. C----ne, the
+first occasion which afforded me a view of the New York belles in
+society. The party was not large, but there were several very pretty
+women, and waltzing and music alternated in charming succession: there
+were two ladies who sang with infinite taste and sweetness, and we kept
+it up until rather a late hour for a sober country. My impression of the
+New York women is, that they are frank, lively, and intelligent, with
+much gentleness in their manners and address: in short, that these were
+very amiable and attractive specimens of their sex and country.
+
+_20th._--Went to look over the Opera-house, which has been built here
+very suddenly by subscription. It is about the size of the Lyceum;
+arranged after the French fashion, having stalls, a _parterre_, and
+_balcon_ below; and above, two circles of private boxes, the property of
+subscribers. Some of these are fitted up in a style of extravagance I
+never saw attempted elsewhere. There has been a sort of rivalry
+exercised on this head, and it has been pursued with that regardlessness
+of cost which distinguishes a trading community where their _amour
+propre_ is in question.
+
+Silk velvets, damask, and gilt furniture form the material within many;
+and, as the parties consult only their own taste, the colours of these
+are various as their proprietors' fancies. I do not find the _ensemble_
+bad, however; whilst the shape and mounting of the _salle_ are both
+unexceptionable.
+
+This effort, however creditable to the good taste of the city, is
+premature, and must be doomed to more failures than one before it
+permanently succeeds. A refined taste for the best kind of music is not
+consequent upon the erection of an opera-house, nor is it a feeling to
+be created at will. Even in the metropolis of England, with a capital so
+disproportionate, and possessing such superior facilities for the
+attainment of novelty, did the continuance of this refined amusement
+depend solely upon the love of good music, it would quickly die, if not
+be forgotten.
+
+From time to time, a small, but efficient and really good Italian troop,
+will, beyond doubt, find liberal encouragement in the great northern
+cities, and also in New Orleans, provided they make a short stay in
+each; but, rapidly as events progress here, I will undertake to predict
+that a century must elapse before even New York can sustain a permanent
+operatic establishment.
+
+
+JOURNAL CONTINUED.
+
+
+NEW YEAR'S DAY IN NEW YORK.
+
+
+With an unclouded sky, and a sun as bright and genial as we would desire
+on a May morning, the first day of January 1834 makes its bow to the New
+York public; and in no place does this same day meet heartier welcome,
+or witness better cheer.
+
+On this day, from an early hour, every door in New York is open, and all
+the good things possessed by the inmates paraded in lavish profusion.
+The shops and banks alone are closed: Mammon for this day sees his
+altars in one spot on earth deserted. Meantime every sort of vehicle is
+put in requisition; and if a man owns but a single acquaintance in the
+wide city, he on this day sets forth in kind heart to seek and shake him
+by the hand.
+
+On this day all family bickerings are made up; fancied or real wrongs
+admitted, explained, and forgiven. The first twenty-four hours of the
+new year in New York is a right _Treve de Dieu_, during which foes
+cease from strife, the long divided are re-united, and friendly compacts
+renewed and drawn closer: even Avarice, more wary of approach than the
+hare, on this day forgets to bolt his door, or calculate the cost of
+bidding welcome to his visitor.
+
+The stranger is also made sensible of the benevolent influence of this
+kindly day, if I may draw any inference from my own case. At an early
+hour a gentleman of whom I had a slight knowledge entered my room,
+accompanied by an elderly person I had never before seen, and who, on
+being named, excused himself for adopting such a frank mode of making my
+acquaintance, which he was pleased to add he much desired, and at once
+requested me to fall in with the custom of the day, whose privilege he
+had thus availed himself of, and accompany him on a visit to his family.
+
+I was the last man on earth likely to decline an offer made in such a
+spirit; so, entering his carriage which was in waiting, we drove to his
+house in Broadway, where, after being presented to a very amiable lady,
+his wife, and a pretty, gentle-looking young girl, his daughter, I
+partook of a sumptuous luncheon, drank a glass of champagne, and, on
+the arrival of other visitors, made my bow, well pleased with my visit.
+
+My host now begged me to make a few calls with him, explaining, as we
+drove along, the strict observances paid to this day throughout the
+State, and tracing the excellent custom to the early Dutch colonists.
+
+I paid several calls in company with my new friend, at each place met a
+hearty welcome, and witnessed the same abundant preparation; but to
+lunch at each was, with the best intentions possible, quite out of the
+question. After a considerable round, my companion suggested that I
+might possibly have some compliments to make on my own account, and so
+leaving me, begged me to consider his carriage perfectly at my disposal.
+
+This was very kind, but I at the time knew only two or three families;
+and indeed, on being left to myself in solitary state, where every
+carriage that whirled by was filled with merry stranger faces, my
+courage oozed away. So, leaving a card or two, and making a couple of
+hurried visits, I returned to my hotel, to think over the many
+beneficial effects likely to grow out of such a charitable custom, and
+to wish for its continued observance.
+
+We have days enough of division in each year, and should indeed welcome
+and cherish one which inculcates peace and good-will to all; a day on
+which little coolnesses are explained away, past kindnesses confirmed,
+and injuries consigned to oblivion.
+
+At night, the theatre was filled to suffocation by a joyous throng,
+although this portion of the season is not propitious to theatricals;
+but on to-day, as though no house must be left unvisited by any of its
+ordinary frequenters, the Park came in for a full participation in the
+benefit of this honoured custom.
+
+_Friday, 3rd._--The prevailing topics of the new year are the President
+and his _quondam_ chum, Major Jack Downing;[6] the agitation of the
+community on the Bank question becoming daily more violent, as the
+limitation placed on credit embarrasses trade by narrowing its
+resources. I observe, however, that, in the midst of much wordy
+violence, the bulk of the people appear confident that matters will, to
+use a coinage of their own, "_eventuate_ for their ultimate benefit."
+Meanwhile, the government and the laws appear equally omnipotent; and
+although much embarrassment is unquestionably felt in the money-market,
+and all stock become unseasonably low for the sellers, yet is the
+country generally admitted to be very prosperous, and perfectly able to
+meet this shock without any permanent or ruinous difficulty. We shall
+see.
+
+Went to Mrs. H----'s box at the opera,--the "Donna del Lago," for
+Bordogni's benefit: a very pretty woman, very well instructed; but with
+a little pipe, in which sweetness cannot make up for want of force.
+Fanti, a really good actress, and, although with a veiled voice, a
+capital singer, is not so much considered, I discover, as Bordogni.
+
+The house was quite filled, the boxes rejoicing in a display of pretty
+faces few _salles d'opera_ might be admitted to rival. The prevailing
+head-dress exceedingly showy and fanciful, a little too much so
+perhaps:--but these are doings which, after all, change with each
+season; therefore fashion can alone be arbiter. On the subject of beauty
+I speak fearlessly, all men, having clear eyesight, being, upon this
+point, admitted as competent witnesses. The _parterre_, too, was
+occupied by a few parties of well-dressed women; but its prevailing
+character, stalls included, was sombre and great-coatish,--not quite up
+to the pit of the King's Theatre;--there was more applause though,
+therefore I presume more enjoyment, which is the main object after all.
+At the close of the performance several delicate bouquets, together with
+a pretty coronal or two of choice flowers, were showered on the stage in
+compliment to the fair _beneficiere_.
+
+_Wednesday, 12th._--Winter has at length arrived in person, and his
+active bridge-maker is laying for him a firm icy path across the waters.
+It was reported yesterday that the passage between Staten Island and New
+Jersey was no longer open, Amboy Creek being thickly frozen from Newark
+Bay to the Raritan. On reaching the steamboat this morning, I found that
+the report was a correct one, and that our only practicable passage lay
+through the Narrows and round the south end of Staten Island. The
+occasion thus presented of a winter view of the bay quite reconciled me
+to this more exposed and circuitous route, as it, in truth, amply
+compensated for it.
+
+It was just seven A.M. when I reached the dock where the boat lay, to
+all appearance firmly imbedded in thick ice; the river, I perceived, was
+still pretty clear. Punctual as usual, the bell ceased to clang; the
+paddle-wheels were vigorously applied; and in a few moments we burst our
+bonds, thrusting the thick flakes of ice aside, and darting into the
+clear river free from all farther impediment.
+
+There were very few passengers, and I had the promenade deck to my
+exclusive use. Although day had not long broke, the clearness and purity
+of the atmosphere gave to the most distant parts of the landscape an
+outline cold and distinct, and brought all objects apparently much
+nearer to each other, and to the looker-on, than they had ever before
+appeared. The city of Jersey, the woods of Hoboken, and the far-off
+bluffs of the Palisadoes, were each seen to stand separated and alone;
+not blended together into one harmonizing mass, as, through the medium
+of a rich warm atmosphere, I had hitherto viewed them. The effect was
+for a moment to render this scene, which frequent observation had made
+familiar, quite strange to me; and at the same time to invest its now
+separate portions with new and peculiar attractions.
+
+The yet quiet city soon dropped astern; and on a good plan of its
+streets one might have traced the earliest and most notable of its
+sections, if not the particular houses, by the thin spiral lines of
+smoke which curled distinctly high above the chimneys from which they
+escaped.
+
+We held our course close along the east side of Staten Island; and as we
+shot by the quarantine establishment, with its hospital and many
+offices, the sun rose, without one attendant cloud, over the forest
+heights of Brooklyn, burnishing, as with gold, every window and
+weathercock opposed to its radiance.
+
+The drooping boughs of the graceful willow tribes, and all the
+neighbouring shrubs, which only a moment before I had shivered to look
+upon, bent down, as they appeared, beneath a load of ungenial icicles,
+were now, as though touched by some enchanter's wand, sparkling and
+brilliant, reminding one of the diamond-growing trees of young Aladdin's
+cave.
+
+The Narrows were next passed, but the view seaward was bleak and
+cheerless: the Neversink hills for the first time appearing to me worthy
+such a high-sounding distinction. Not a symptom of frost was here,
+although the wind had ceased to stir the waters of the bay, and to the
+sun alone was left the task of opposing the advance of the ice-king.
+Sol, though with diminished powers, had made a glorious rally on this
+day; for not a thicket or creek within sight but rejoiced in his
+cheering rays, and gladly owned his supremacy.
+
+The smoothness of the sea enabled our boat to make rapid way; and by a
+little after ten o'clock we were landed at Amboy, where we found the
+train awaiting our arrival. As we left our first stage, Hights-town, an
+accident occurred similar to the one I had, on my last trip southward,
+seen attended by such fearful consequences. We were proceeding, luckily
+at a moderate rate, when the axle of the engine-tender broke in two:
+the car occupied by myself and three others led the van, yet the first
+intimation we got of the break-down of our tender was our running foul
+of it with a bump that fairly unshipped us all, pitching the occupiers
+of the hind-seats head-on into the laps of those _vis-a-vis_ to them.
+Happily, this was the worst of the present mischance: the engine was
+speedily arrested, a sound axle drawn from the near car to replace the
+one fractured, myself and the others belonging to the carriage thus
+hauled out of the line were stowed in, as supernumeraries, elsewhere,
+and, after a delay, of some forty minutes, off we bowled again.
+
+Halting for a few moments at Bordentown, where the Delaware steamer
+waits when the river is practicable, it now spread away below us in a
+solid mass; and we pursued our journey by the railroad provided for such
+seasons so far as it was at this time completed, that is, for some eight
+or nine miles farther on. This point achieved, we discovered a group of
+the clumsy-looking stage-coaches of the country, to the number of
+twelve, each having a team of four horses, ready harnessed, standing
+amongst the trees below.
+
+The cold was by this time extreme; bustle was the word, therefore,
+amongst all parties,--drivers, porters, and passengers; and in a quarter
+of an hour the transfer was completed, the luggage packed, the people
+arranged, and the caravan in motion. The place had quite a wild, lone,
+forest air; and it was a curious scene to view the bustle, and hear the
+noise, so uncongenial to the spot, and no less so to observe the coaches
+wheeling about amongst the trees as each Jehu sought to make the best of
+his way into the lane at a little distance.
+
+Miserably uncomfortable as the driver's seat is before these machines,
+I, as usual where the course was strange to me, requested leave to share
+it with him. I had cast about to select a team; and was soon seated,
+well rolled in broadcloth and bear-skin, behind four dark bays that
+might have done credit to a better judgment.
+
+We soon got into a very narrow lane, through which lay the first few
+miles. In this the ruts, or track, as it is here called, was over a foot
+deep: on either side grew trees, thick and low-branched; therefore my
+companion and I had as much as we could do to avoid broken heads and
+keep the track. I looked impatiently, after practising this dodging
+exercise some time, for the great road which the driver told me was "a
+bit further ahead;" and at last we broke from our leafy shelter into it,
+but with little advantage that I could discover; for, though our heads
+were in less peril, our necks, I considered, required more especial
+looking after than ever. We certainly had here wider space, and a free
+choice of ruts or tracks, for there were several; but not one of them
+less profound than those we had hitherto ploughed through. In one or two
+places, the road was deeply trenched in every direction, and the edges
+of these cuts so glazed with new-formed ice that I expected my friend
+who was pilot would pass the box and back out. But no such thing, faith!
+he steered round all impediments as coolly as the wind that whistled
+through the half-frozen reins he held.
+
+Finding one place in the road quite impassable, he cast his eyes about
+him for a moment, and chose the best part of the right bank; when,
+gathering up his leaders, he first vexed them a little with the whip,
+and then, putting them fairly at it, gained its summit, drove along for
+a hundred yards, crashing through a thick cover of shrubs growing
+breast-high, when having thus turned the impracticable bit of highway,
+he coolly dropped down into it again. On looking back, I saw each team
+taking in succession the line we had thus led over.
+
+This was all performed clumsily enough, as far as appearance went, I
+allow; but cleverly and confidently, though with leaders hardly within
+calling distance: and four snaffle-bits, and a pig-whip, being the only
+means of dictation and control possessed by the coachman. The more I see
+of these queer Whips the better I like them: it assuredly is impossible
+to conceive anything more uncoachmanlike than their outward man; but
+they grapple with the constantly occurring difficulties of their strange
+work hardily and with superior intelligence.
+
+I have seen a pass on the high-road between Albany and New York, where a
+descending driver perceiving that collision with a coming carriage was
+from the slippery condition of the hill unavoidable, and also being
+aware that such an event would be fatal to both parties, on the instant
+turned his horses to the near bank, and dashed down into the bed of the
+Mohawk, a descent of more than a hundred feet, as nearly perpendicular
+as may well be. His presence of mind and courage saved both his own
+passengers and those in the other vehicle, with the loss of his coach
+and one of his horses only. The man was publicly thanked and rewarded,
+and, I believe, yet waggons the same road.
+
+One might almost back one of these crack hands to hunt a picked team of
+their own, a cross country, with the Melton hounds, coach and all; and
+if it was not for the _pace_, it would not be such a very bad bet
+either.
+
+At Camden we quitted our vehicular mode of progressing, and took once
+more to the water, or rather to the ice, since it certainly ruled over
+the broad Delaware. In many places this was strong enough to sustain the
+weight of our little steamer's bow, and only gave way beneath repeated
+heavy blows of the iron-sheathed paddles.
+
+After a hard fight we forced a path through all obstacles, and as the
+clock struck four were alongside the Chestnut-street wharf; having,
+notwithstanding the delays occasioned by our mishap and various changes,
+accomplished the hundred miles in exactly ten hours.
+
+I was expected, found a dinner prepared for five o'clock, and, going at
+once to my chamber to dress, thought I had never seen the Mansion-house
+look to greater advantage. A well-warmed and carpeted corridor led to my
+snug little room, the window of which looking into the inner court,
+afforded one of the most attractive winter prospects imaginable, in the
+form of entire carcasses of several fat bucks all hanging in a comely
+row, and linked together by a festooning composed of turkey, woodcock,
+snipe, grouse, and ducks of several denominations. Although quartered
+here for a month to come, I felt fortified against any fear of famine by
+this single glance without; nor did my interior appear less inviting,
+cheered as this was by a brisk fire of hickory, several logs of which
+lay athwart my hearth, sustained by a couple of antique-looking brass
+dogs, blazing and crackling most uproariously: this is a fire I prefer
+even to one of Liverpool coal; and how it can ever be superseded by that
+quiet, unsocial, unearthly-looking and smelling, anthracite, I am at a
+loss to _guess_!
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[6] Described as the officer commanding the Downingsville militia, a
+New-Englander, and a stanch adherent of the "Gineral's, so far as 'a
+decent hunk of the animal wint,' but entirely agin' the whole-hog
+system." Under this perfect assumption there appeared a series of really
+familiar epistles, either remonstrating with or speaking of the
+"Gineral," or, as the Major latterly styled the President, "the
+Govermint;" no less admirable for the political acumen they display than
+for a caustic drollery, which is enforced with shrewd Yankee humour, and
+in the singular phraseology current amongst 'Uncle Sam's' kindred. These
+letters have been collected, and are published both in America and in
+England; and although neither the purity of the politics or the dialect
+of the honest Major can be fully appreciated by strangers, his intrinsic
+wit and native humour will well repay the task of a perusal by all who
+admire originality of thought and expression.
+
+
+
+
+THE DUTCH AND IRISH COLONIES OF PENNSYLVANIA.
+
+
+Here are two colonies yet existing within this State,--samples of both
+indeed may be found within a few miles of Philadelphia,--and these
+constitute with me a never-failing source of interest and amusement.
+They are composed of Dutch and Irish, often located on adjoining
+townships, but keeping their borders as clearly defined as though the
+wall of China were drawn between them. No two bodies exist in nature
+more repellent; neither time, nor the necessities of traffic, which
+daily arise amongst a growing population, can induce a repeal of their
+tacit non-intercourse system, or render them even tolerant of each
+other. I have understood that Pat has on occasions of high festivity
+been known to extend his courtesy so far as to pay his German neighbours
+a call to inquire kindly whether "any gintlemen in the place might be
+inclined for a fight;" but this evidence of good-nature appears to have
+been neither understood nor reciprocated, and, proof against the
+blandishment, Mynheer was not even to be hammered into contact with
+"dem wilder Irisher."
+
+It is a curious matter to observe the purity with which both people have
+conserved the dialect of their respective countries, and the integrity
+of their manners, costume, prejudices, nay, their very air, all of which
+they yet present fresh and characteristic as imported by their
+ancestors, although some of them are the third in descent from the first
+colonists. Differing in all other particulars, on this point of
+character their similarity is striking.
+
+Amongst the Germans I have had families pointed out to me, whose fathers
+beheld the commencement of the war of Independence in Pennsylvania, yet
+who are at this day as ignorant of its language, extent, policy, or
+population, as was the worthy pastor of whom it is related, that, having
+been requested to communicate to his flock the want of supplies which
+existed in the American camp, he assured the authorities that he had
+done so, as well as described to them the exact state of affairs:
+
+"I said to dem," he repeated in English, "Get op, min broders und mine
+zisters, und put dem paerd by die vagen, mit brood und corn; mit
+schaap's flesh und flesh of die groote bigs, und os flesh; und alles be
+brepare to go op de vay, mit oder goed mens, to sooply General
+Vashinton, who was fighting die Englishe Konig vor our peoples, und der
+lifes, und der liberdies, op-on dem banks of de Schuylkill, diese side
+of die Vestern Indies."
+
+In his piggery of a residence and his palace of a barn, in his waggon,
+his oxen, his pipe, his person and physiognomy, the third in descent,
+from the worthies exhorted as above, remains unchanged. The cases upon
+which, as a juryman, he decides, he hears through the medium of an
+official interpreter; he has his own journal, which serves out his
+portion of politics to him in Low Dutch, and in the same language is
+printed such portions of the acts of the State legislature as may in any
+way relate to the section he inhabits; the only portion of the
+community, indeed, which he knows, or cares to know, anything about.
+
+My honest countrymen of the same class, I can answer for being as
+slightly sophisticated as their colder neighbours: it is true, their
+tattered robes have been superseded by sufficient clothing, and a bit of
+good broadcloth for Sunday or Saint's day, and their protracted lenten
+fare exchanged for abundance of good meat, and bread, and "tay, galore,
+for the priest and the mistress;" but when politics or any stirring
+cause is offered to them, their feelings are found to be as excitable,
+and their temperament as fiery, as though still standing on the banks of
+the Suir or the Shannon.
+
+On all occasions of rustic holiday they may yet be readily recognised by
+their slinging gait, the bit of a stick borne in the hollow of the hand,
+the inimitable shape and set of the hat, the love of top-coats in the
+men, and the abiding taste for red ribands and silk gowns amongst the
+women.
+
+The inherent difference between the two people is never more strikingly
+perceived than when you have occasion to make any inquiry whilst passing
+through their villages. Pull up your horse by a group of little
+Dutchmen, in order to learn your way or ask any information, and the
+chance is they either run away, "upon instinct," or are screamed at to
+come within doors by their prudent mothers; upon which cry they scatter,
+like scared rabbits, for the warren, leaving you to "_Try Turner_" or
+any other shop within hail.
+
+For myself, after a slight experience, I succeeded with my friends to
+admiration: the few sentences of indifferent Dutch which I yet conserved
+from my education amongst the Vee boors, at the Cape, served as a
+passport to their civility. Without this accomplishment, all strangers
+are suspected of being Irishers; and, as such, partake of the dislike
+and dread in which their more mercurial neighbours are held by this
+sober-sided and close-handed generation.
+
+On the other hand, enter an Irish village, and by any chance see the
+young villains precipitated out of the common school: call to one of
+these, and a dozen will be under your horse's feet in a moment; prompt
+in their replies, even if ignorant of that you seek to learn; and ready
+and willing to show you any place or road they know anything, or
+nothing, about. I have frequently on these occasions, when asked to walk
+into their cabin by the old people, on hearing their accent, and seeing
+myself thus surrounded, almost doubted my being in the valley of
+Pennsylvania.
+
+So little indeed does the accent of the Irish American,--who lives
+exclusively amongst his own people in the country parts,--differ from
+that of the settler of a year, that on occasions of closely-contested
+elections this leads to imposition on one hand and vexation on the
+other; and it is by no means uncommon for a man, whose father was born
+in the States, to be questioned as to his right of citizenship, and
+requested to bring proofs of a three years' residence.
+
+I now passed another month in this city most agreeably, during which the
+weather was never unendurably cold: sharp frosts, but not a single fall
+of snow that continued over an hour or two, or lay longer on the ground.
+The majority of days I find noted in my journal as frosty but fine, many
+as mild, and some even are described as warm: there were few, indeed,
+during which exercise on horseback might not have been pleasantly taken.
+When February set in, and no snow had yet fallen, I heard much despair
+evinced on the diminished chances of a good sleighing-time; and,
+although an enemy to severe cold, I confess I had my own regrets at not
+being permitted to assist at a sleighing frolic, of which I received on
+all hands such glowing descriptions.
+
+On the eighth of this month I looked with some anxiety for the
+continuance of mild weather, as the Delaware was, happily, once more
+open, and the line by way of that river and French-town resumed; a very
+important event, as far as both comfort and expedition were concerned.
+Indeed, a journey by land to Baltimore was an adventure by no means to
+be desired; the time of travel having varied during the last month from
+three to nine days, the distance being under a hundred miles. But the
+waters were up, the bridges down; one road was washed away, and another
+filled in with rocks, and roots of trees on their travels from the
+Alleghanies to the Atlantic, which rested there, abiding the next flood,
+without any fear of receiving a visit _ad interim_ from M'Adam.
+
+All, however, went well; the steamer was advertised to sail on the
+morning of the 9th: there were here several weather-bound Southerners,
+who, like myself, were anxious to proceed as easily as possible to the
+capital; and we congratulated each other on the prospect we had of
+accomplishing this by aid of steamboat and railroad, now once more
+available.
+
+
+
+
+THE STEAMBOAT.
+
+
+DELAWARE.--NEWCASTLE.--RAILROAD.--FRENCH-TOWN.--ELK RIVER.--NORTH
+POINT.--BAY OF CHESAPEAKE.--BALTIMORE.
+
+
+Quitting one of these great seaports by the ordinary conveyance of
+steamboat, early on a fine winter morning, is at once an amusing and
+interesting event.
+
+Hastily summoned by your servant, who, himself not over early, bustles
+up to your bedside with "Just five minutes after six o'clock, sir," you
+start from a slumber that has been for some time back uneasy enough,
+broken up by visions of steamboats, locomotives, canvass-back ducks,
+Nott's stoves, and crowded cabin-tables.
+
+At the first shake out you jump, well aware how peremptory is the
+steamer's bell above all other _belles_,--make hasty toilet, and bustle
+into the hall, where a few half-burned candles yet outface the daylight;
+and here you find a dozen newly-awakened miserables like yourself,
+equipped for some steamer.
+
+The waiter inquires if you would like a cup of coffee, which as a matter
+of course you accept; and, hurrying after him into the next room, you
+are yet in the act of blowing and sipping your Mocha, which for once you
+find sufficiently hot, when a friend pops his head in to say that the
+baggage-cart is off, and your latest second of time come. Remedy there
+is none; a delay of one minute is fatal, since no timekeeper is so
+punctual as an American steamer anywhere north of the Potomac.
+
+Out you trudge, great-coated, muffled up in fur and shawl, to find the
+street silent and untrodden, except by a straggler or twain bending
+their steps hurriedly towards Chestnut. As you turn out of South-third
+into this great thoroughfare you observe an immediate change; the
+stragglers preceding you have mingled with the main current, and are
+quickly confounded amidst a confused jumble of men, women, and children,
+carts, coaches, and wheelbarrows, pressing in long columns of march down
+towards the Delaware.
+
+In the distance may be seen, curling from below, wavy pillars of dense
+black smoke, intermingled with vicious-looking lines of thin whitish
+vapour, which rush through and tower high over the more sluggish smoke
+with a savage, hissing sound that almost drowns the bell, now tolling a
+last summons.
+
+The wharf is gained: here lie the boats side by side, one going north,
+the other south: they are surrounded by a crowd,--friends making hasty
+adieus; porters, of all shades of colour, hurrying to and fro, aiding,
+scrambling, and squabbling, with the important air and ceaseless
+loquacity everywhere characteristic of the African race.
+
+Amidst this motley throng the unoccupied and observant man will easily
+pick out many individuals of gaunt outline, a bilious aspect and a staid
+sober demeanour, each carrying a small valise, a carpet-bag, a long
+Boston coat or cloak, and steadily and deliberately making a straight
+course for the common bourne, unaided and unaiding, self-sustained,
+independent, and, each for himself alone.
+
+At length, after a few last hasty bangs, the heavy bell clappers cease
+to move; the porters quit the luggage-cars and spring nimbly ashore; the
+independent gentlemen dispose of their _kits_, each after the fashion
+and on the spot he "judges" most convenient; the hissing sound of
+escaping steam suddenly stops, and this momentary silence is succeeded
+by the quick motion of the paddle-wheels.
+
+The vicious-looking columns of white vapour melt away; wheeling
+majestically about, the huge boats steadily head towards their opposite
+courses, and, in the next moment, are rushing, like unslipped
+greyhounds, through the smooth waters of the Delaware.
+
+And now occasionally arrive discoveries, at once whimsical and amusing
+to all save the sufferers. A lady with her children going South, for
+instance, finds out that her husband, or her carriage and horses, one or
+both, have gotten by mistake aboard the New York boat, and are off back
+again to the North: perhaps you get a glimpse of the miserable biped in
+question, like a waterman, looking one way and going the other. Without
+great care, these little accidents will occur, as I can vouch for; as
+the lines depart full drive at the same instant, stopping is out of the
+question; and the disunion of a day, at least, is the consequence of one
+moment's delay or mistake.
+
+Our way lies downward, and the long line of quays is dashed by like
+lightning. You have just time to mark, well pleased, the early activity
+of the numerous little steamers plying to and fro between Camden and the
+city ferries. You cast perchance a rambling glance over those pretty
+villages, above which the ruddy hue of morning is serenely spreading,
+and, even as you gaze, behold them melt away in the river's haze.
+
+The Navy-yard, with the huge wooden mansions built to shelter the
+"Pennsylvania" and a neighbour frigate, glide, as it were, hastily by;
+and nothing remains to break the monotony of the long level lines
+skirting the river, and hardly rising above it.
+
+Of this prospect the eye soon becomes weary, and now is the time to look
+upon your fellow-passengers. You descend from the upper or promenade
+deck, which, if the morning be chilly, you have most likely held in sole
+occupation. On the next deck beneath, seated back to back upon long
+ranges of settees, you behold the female portion of the living freight;
+for, I take it for granted, this is the first direction of your regards,
+and a pleasant task it often turns out to be; for, as I have already
+said, and shall probably yet more strongly confirm hereafter, the
+average of female beauty in America is high, and but few women are
+without those always striking points, fine expressive brows and eyes,
+which, shaded by a tasteful bonnet, and accompanied by a certain
+coquettish air, leave little wanting to ensure the admiration of the
+passing stranger.
+
+Having lounged about here for a turn or two, you find yourself reminded
+of a certain indispensable ceremony by a Stentor-lunged black, who most
+perseveringly vociferates, "Gentlemen who have not yet _paid_, will
+please step to the captain's office and settle their _passage_."
+
+At your convenience you obey this gentle hint; securing at the same time
+a ticket for breakfast, now becoming a very important consideration,
+assailed by a good natural appetite, sharpened in the shrewd air of a
+clear, cold morning. At last, ring goes the bell; and the deck, already
+thinned of the more anxious, or more provident, of the party, becomes,
+at that magic tinkle, a desert.
+
+On descending the stair, you perceive two long ranges of table thickly
+bestrewn with dishes containing beefsteak, ham, fish, chicken, game,
+_omelettes_,--together with hot rolls, cakes, and bread of every other
+form and denomination, with tea and coffee, borne about as called for;
+the whole arranged with an attention to neatness and propriety quite
+surprising when you consider the place, and the difficulties which are
+inseparable from having to cater and cook for such a multitude.
+
+If you are not of an active habit, or if you object to remain stewing in
+the cabin for a time waiting on the event, you observe at a glance that,
+ample as the tables appear, every seat is occupied. Here is no
+reservation of places--possession is your only admitted right, and, were
+the President himself too late, he must sit out, or be admitted of the
+party on courtesy: of this, however, let me add, it never was my chance
+to perceive any lack. One of the black waiters, recognising you for a
+frequent passenger, is touched by your appealing glance, motions you to
+follow him, advancing at the same time a stool with an insinuating air
+between two goodhumoured-looking men, with "Please, make a little room
+for this gentleman."
+
+A niche is readily conceded; and, casting an eye right, left, or
+straightforward, you can hardly fail to find something to your liking.
+The board is soon clear of the "Rapids,"--a large family in most such
+places; and now you acquire ample space to prove your prowess in.
+
+Having breakfasted, you once more mount the upper deck and breathe the
+pure air of heaven, unpolluted by that unpleasant gas which escapes from
+the iron coal burnt in the cabin stoves. Such at least was my constant
+habit: the natives, I observed, although accustomed to a climate whose
+vicissitudes are extreme, never appear voluntarily to face the cold, but
+for the most part, abide below, congregated in concentric circles, of
+which a red-hot stove, filled with that to me deadly abomination,
+anthracite coal, forms the centre.
+
+Wrapping well up, I found, even in the severest season, no difficulty in
+facing the open air, and have more than once paced the upper deck for a
+passage of three or four hours without having my territory invaded, or
+at most only for a few minutes by some adventurous spirit, who
+invariably dived down after a shiver or two.
+
+Here then, between your meals, you may promenade upon a noble deck fifty
+feet long, smoking your cigar, and eyeing the flitting forest or
+meadow, amidst dreamy reveries of William Penn's description of the
+populous tribes of the Delaware, and that first simple treaty which
+consigned to the unwarlike strangers a country and a home, a treaty
+which was a deed of disinheritance to the posterity of the donors, and
+of destruction to their nation, of whom, in their own land, their name
+has long been the sole memorial left.
+
+In travelling, as I did much and alone, this was always the current set
+of my day-dreaming. I never could draw on fancy to the exclusion of the
+Red-man; but, on the contrary, constantly detected myself re-peopling
+every wood with the wild forms of the aborigines, and in each distant
+skiff that darted over the broad stream picturing the fragile canoe, and
+its plumed and painted occupant.
+
+The town of Wilmington, the chief place of the little State of Delaware,
+shows very attractively from the river, with which it communicates by a
+navigable creek, and, together with the neighbouring springs of the
+Brandywine, is in high repute for the beauty of its scenery as well as
+for its general salubrity.
+
+Arrived at Newcastle, an ancient but not very populous city,--which
+nevertheless possessed an interest in my eyes, from the circumstance of
+my having chosen to write about it long before I ever dreamed of seeing
+it,--you quit the steamer, and, seating yourself in one of the long line
+of railway cars awaiting you, are whisked over the intervening neck to
+French-town,--by courtesy so called, since the _town_ is yet to be,--a
+distance of sixteen miles in about fifty minutes; and are there
+reshipped on the Elk river, down which you rush, at the usual rapid
+rate, amidst scenery that is really charming.
+
+At the junction of the Susquehannah, the view up the two fine rivers,
+with the dividing headland, the numerous winding creeks, deep shady
+coves, and spacious bays, all well wooded and backed by a range of bold
+mountainous ridges, calls for unqualified admiration, and cannot be too
+often seen.
+
+The vast bay of the Chesapeake now opens gradually out before you. On
+the right lie the Gunpowder and other rivers, famous as the favourite
+feeding-ground of the canvass-back; and here you find amusement in
+watching the innumerable flocks, or rather clouds, of every denomination
+of the duck tribe, which, disturbed by the noisy steamer, rise from the
+water in numbers that hide the sun.
+
+Boats too, of a beautiful model and most _varmint_ rig, now begin to
+thicken on the track, working up, close-hauled, into the eye of the
+wind, or going, right before it, with the foresail guy'd out on one side
+and mainsail on the other, showing an uncommon spread of canvass. Here
+and there, too, the masts of tall ships rise, as more gravely they seek
+their port, or win their way to the yet distant ocean, performing a
+voyage before they reach the sea.
+
+North Point is next passed by; and the fate of poor Ross is yet
+occupying the mind, when the city-crowned hill begins to open on the
+view, and Baltimore, with all its domes, spires, and columns, stands
+forth in bold relief against the evening sky.
+
+A bustle soon after commences on deck: the ladies draw closer their
+hoods and cloaks, and the men move to and fro, warned by the sable
+Mentor of the place, who paces the decks below and above with a
+ceaseless cry of "Ladies and gentle-_men_ will be pleased to step
+forward, and point out their bag-_gage_."
+
+A general loading of wheelbarrows is now the order of the hour; most of
+the waiters exercising the office of porters, and carrying with them
+their barrows. The landing-place gained, you are hailed by many voices
+ringing in a rich brogue, "Coach, your honour! Long life to ye! want a
+carriage?" and eager looks and ready uplifted fingers woo you for an
+assenting nod. Nowhere on this continent is the presence of Pat so
+immediately recognizable as in this good catholic city, where the office
+of Jarvey is nearly a monopoly amongst my poor countrymen, who appear to
+have left no tittle of their good-humour, eager importunity, and
+readiness of wit behind them.
+
+Being once known, I felt at all my future landings quite at home here,
+as these honest fellows were to me particularly attentive. Driving to
+Barnum's hotel, the stranger may count on a hearty welcome from King
+David (whom Heaven long preserve!) and from his household much civility;
+and here, with capital fare, over a fire of wood,--never use anthracite
+in a close room,--will find, if he has been as observant as he ought,
+much to amuse and gratify him in a retrospective glance over a journey
+of some hundred miles, performed with little fatigue or inconvenience,
+between the chief cities of quaker Pennsylvania and catholic Maryland.
+
+
+
+
+WASHINGTON.
+
+
+On arriving at Baltimore, I found that so woful was the condition of the
+road between this city and the capital, that, although the distance is
+but thirty-seven miles, and that there remained full three hours of
+daylight, still no regular stage would encounter, until morning, the
+perils of the road.
+
+I thereon made an agreement with two gentlemen,--one of whom was an
+excellent and learned judge, on some State business; and the other a
+Philadelphia merchant, escorting his daughter, and a pretty young lady
+her friend, on a visit of pleasure to Washington,--that we would
+together engage an extra coach for our party; and, instead of starting
+at the monstrous hour of five in the morning, set out at half-past
+eight, when, with the advantage of a light load and good horses, we
+might reasonably hope to reach our destination before dark.
+
+This was done accordingly: an extra, or exclusive carriage, to hold six
+inside, was contracted for with the proper authorities, and chartered to
+Washington city, to start between eight and nine next morning, for the
+sum of twenty-five dollars, or about six pounds sterling.
+
+With the punctuality for which these people are distinguished throughout
+the States, our carriage drove up to Barnum's door at a few minutes
+after eight; and, breakfast being despatched, our party was seated
+fairly, with all the luggage built up on the permanent platform which
+graces the rear of these machines, within the time appointed: a very
+creditable event, when it is considered there were two young ladies of
+the party.
+
+The air was mild as in May, and there being a goodly promise of
+sunshine, I resigned my share of the inside to my servant Sam,--the very
+pink of brown gentlemen in appearance, besides being a pattern of
+good-breeding; and seeing something unusually knowing in the look of our
+waggoner, mounted the box by his side, uneasy though it was; for never
+was anything worse contrived for comfort than the outside of a Yankee
+stage-coach,--except, perhaps, the inside of an English mail.
+
+Mr. Tolly, whose acquaintance I now made, let me record, was the only
+driver I ever met in America who took up his leather, and packed his
+cattle together, with that artist-like air, the perfection of which is
+only to be seen in England.
+
+The coachmen are not here, as with us, a distinct class, distinguished
+by peculiar costume, and by characteristics the result of careful
+education and exclusive habits; but might be taken for porters, drovers,
+or anything else indeed,--being men who have followed, and are ready
+again to follow, a dozen other vocations, as circumstances might
+require: they are nevertheless, generally, good drivers, and, uniformly,
+sober steady fellows.
+
+Mr. Tolly, however, one might see at a glance--despite the disadvantages
+of his toggery, plant, and all his other appointments--was born to look
+over four pair of lively ears; and had Fortune only dropped him in any
+stable-loft between London and York, there would not have been a cooler
+hand or a neater whip on the North road.
+
+About a mile from the city we came upon the country turnpike; and of
+this, as I now viewed it for the first time, any comprehensible
+description is out of the question, since I am possessed of no means of
+illustrating its condition to English senses;--a Cumberland fell,
+ploughed up at the end of a very wet November, would be the Bath road
+compared with this the only turnpike leading from one of the chief
+sea-board cities to the capital of the Union.
+
+I looked along the river of mud with despair. Mr. Tolly will pronounce
+this impracticable after the night's rain, thinks I; but I was mightily
+mistaken in my man: without pausing to pick or choose, he cheered his
+leaders, planted his feet firmly, and charged gallantly into it.
+
+The team was a capital one, and stuck to their dirty work like terriers.
+Some of the holes we scrambled safely by would, I seriously think, have
+swallowed coach and all up: the wheels were frequently buried up to the
+centre; and more than once we had three of our cattle down together all
+of-a-heap, but with whip and voice Mr. Tolly always managed to pick them
+out and put them on their legs again; indeed, as he said, if he could
+only see his leaders' heads well up, he felt "pretty certain the coach
+must come through, slick as soap."
+
+Mr. Tolly and myself very soon grew exceedingly intimate; a false
+reading of his having at starting inspired him with a high opinion of my
+judgment, and stirred his blood and mettle, both of which were decidedly
+game.
+
+Whilst smoking my cigar, and holding on by his side with as unconcerned
+an air as I could assume, I, in one of our pauses for breath, after a
+series of unusually heavy lurches, chanced to observe, by way of
+expressing my admiration, "This is a real _varmint_ team you've got hold
+on, Mr. Tolly."
+
+"How did you find that out, sir?" cries Tolly, biting off about a couple
+of ounces of 'baccy.
+
+"Why, it's not hard to tell so much, after taking a good look at them, I
+guess," replied I.
+
+"Well, that's rum any how! but, I guess, you're not far out for once,"
+answers Mr. Tolly, with a knowing grin of satisfaction: "sure enough,
+they are all from Varmont;[7] and I am Varmont myself as holds 'em. All
+mountain boys, horses and driver--real Yankee flesh and blood; and they
+can't better them, I know, neither one nor t'other, this side the
+Potomac."[8]
+
+I found my _hirgo_ was thrown away, but did not attempt an explanation,
+and became in a little time satisfied that this odd interpretation of my
+compliment had answered an excellent purpose; for my companion became
+exceedingly communicative, and most indefatigable in his exertions. More
+plucky or more judicious coachmanship, or better material under leather,
+I never came across in all my journeyings. About half way we bade adieu
+to my Varmont friend, to my great regret.
+
+Wearied with my rough seat, which the companionship of Mr. Tolly had
+alone rendered endurable so long, I now got inside; the Philadelphia
+gentleman succeeding to the vacancy on the box.
+
+I did my best to draw my fair companions into a little chat, but found
+my _vis-a-vis_--the daughter of my successor outside--most
+impracticable; a monosyllable was the extent of her exertion: whilst her
+companion, who was a lively, intelligent-looking girl, and very pretty
+withal, was necessarily chilled by the taciturnity of her senior. I note
+this as being an unusual case, since, when once properly introduced, the
+ladies of America are uncommonly frank and chatty, and evince an evident
+desire to please and be amiable; which is creditable to themselves, and
+to strangers is both flattering and agreeable.
+
+In the good old judge, whom I had the honour of meeting often after, I
+found one of the most amusing and intelligent companions a man could
+desire to rumble over a villanous road with, and for a couple of hours
+we made time light, when our day's journey had well-nigh terminated in
+an adventure that might have been attended with ugly consequences.
+
+Although the road for this stage was something less bad, our driver was
+not a Tolly; in avoiding some Charybdis or other, he let his leaders
+slip down a bank about eight feet deep, whither, but for the good temper
+and steady backing of the wheel-horses, we should have followed: as it
+was, we managed to pick out our cattle, and got off with a couple of
+broken traces. These being duly cobbled, away we scrambled again, I
+resuming my seat on the box; the last occupant having become most
+heartily sick of his elevation.
+
+About the end of nine hours' hard driving, the high dome of the Capitol
+showed near; and the city toll-gate, situated about a mile from this
+magnificent building, was opened. The prospect was, notwithstanding, yet
+sufficiently uncheery; a steep hill lay in front, having a road that
+looked like a river of black mud meandering about one side of it--the
+other side was seamed with various tracks made by the vehicles of bold
+explorers, who, like ourselves, had been doubtful about facing the
+regular road--the counsel of a well-mounted countryman, who reported
+that he had just passed the wrecks of two coaches on the turnpike,
+decided us to eschew it, and boldly try across country.
+
+We all alighted, except the ladies; and acting as pioneers, pushed up
+the hill, breasting it stoutly. It was very well we took this route;
+for, having at last safely crowned it, we beheld on our right the two
+coaches that left Baltimore three hours before us, hopelessly pounded in
+the highway, regularly swamped within sight of port; for the Capitol was
+not over three or four hundred yards from them.
+
+The passengers were all out, most of them assisting to unharness and
+unload, that, by combining both teams, they might extricate their
+vehicles one at a time.
+
+Here, within the shadow of the Capitol, I was struck with the gloomy and
+unimproved condition of the surrounding country. Except our caravan, not
+a living thing moved within sight--all was desert, silent, and solitary
+as the prairies of Arkansas.
+
+The great avenue once entered upon, the scene changed, and we rattled
+along briskly over a well Macadamized road. The judge we set down at the
+top of the Capitolinean hill, where his honourable brothers held their
+head-quarters; my other companions had rooms secured at Gadsby's, where
+we next halted; but to my inquiries here, I was answered, "All quite
+full." They advised me, at the same time, to try _Fuller_, which I
+thought waggish enough: however, after driving about a mile farther down
+the avenue, I found at Mr. Fuller's hotel rooms taken for me by a
+considerate friend, and had to congratulate myself now and henceforward
+on being the best-lodged errant _homo_ in the capital of the United
+States.
+
+The windows of my sitting-room, I perceived, commanded a view the whole
+extent of the avenue; but, for the present, I limited my speculation to
+the dinner that was soon placed before me, and which a fast of eleven
+hours had rendered a particularly desirable prospect.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[7] Varmont is a State famous for its wild mountain scenery, and having
+a breed of horses unequalled for hardihood, fine temper, and bottom:
+they are found all over the States, and are everywhere in high esteem.
+
+[8] The river Potomac is held to be the dividing line between the
+northern and southern States.
+
+
+
+
+THEATRE, WASHINGTON.
+
+
+I made my _debut_ professionally in the capital upon the 12th of
+February. The theatre here was a most miserable-looking place, the worst
+I met with in the country, ill-situated and difficult of access; but it
+was filled nightly by a very delightful audience; and nothing could be
+more pleasant than to witness the perfect _abandon_ with which the
+gravest of the senate laughed over the diplomacy of the "Irish
+Ambassador." They found allusions and adopted sayings applicable to a
+crisis when party feelings were carried to extremity. The elaborate
+display of eloquence with which Sir Patrick seeks to _bother_ the
+Spanish envoy was quoted as the very model of a speech for a
+non-committal orator, and recommended for the study of several gentlemen
+who were considered as aiming at this convenient position, very much to
+their amusement.
+
+The pieces were ill mounted, and the company unworthy the capital, with
+the exception of two very pretty and very clever native actresses,
+Mesdames Willis and Chapman. The latter I had the satisfaction of
+seeing soon after transferred to New York, in which city she became a
+monstrous favourite, both in tragedy and comedy: a very great triumph
+for Mrs. Chapman--for she succeeded Miss F. Kemble in some of her best
+parts, and an excellent comic actress, a Mrs. Sharpe--acting on the same
+night Julia in "The Hunchback," and the Queen of Hearts in "High, Low,
+Jack, and Game," with a cleverness which rarely accompanies such
+versatility.
+
+I have much pleasure in offering this just tribute to a very amiable
+person, who has, since my departure from the States, quitted the stage,
+on which, had she been fortunately situated, she would have had very few
+superiors.
+
+I wonder there are not many more native actresses, since, I am sure,
+there is a great deal of latent talent in society here both for opera
+and the drama: the girls, too, are generally well educated; are pretty,
+have much expression, a naturally easy carriage, and great imitative
+powers. The latter talent is singularly common amongst them; and I have
+met, not one, but many young women, who would imitate the peculiarities
+of any actress or actor just then before the public with an accuracy
+and humour quite remarkable.
+
+I acted here seven nights on this occasion, and visited the city again
+in May, when I passed three or four weeks most agreeably. I had the
+pleasure, too, during this last visit, of seeing the plans for a theatre
+worthy the audience, and which, I trust, has by this time been happily
+erected, as the greatest part of the fund needed was readily subscribed
+for; and the attempt can hardly fail amongst a people so decidedly
+theatrical, and who are, besides, really in absolute want of public
+amusements for the number of stray men turned loose here during the
+session, many of whom are without other home than the bar-room of an
+inn, or better means of keeping off _ennui_ than gin-sling or the
+gaming-table.
+
+I shall now throw together in this place the result of my "Impressions"
+as received during my separate visits.
+
+The scenery in the neighbourhood is naturally as beautiful and varied as
+woods, rocks, and rivers, in all their most charming features, can
+combinedly render it. One of the finest of many noble prospects is, in
+my mind, that from the heights just over George Town. From this point
+the vast amphitheatre of city, valley, and river may be embraced at a
+glance, or followed out in detail, as time or inclination prompts.
+
+Following the windings of the majestic Potomac below the bridge,--which,
+viewed from this elevation, looks like a couple of cables drawn across
+its channel,--the town of Alexandria is clearly seen: away, on the other
+side, Fort Washington may be made out; and, opposite to this, the
+ever-hallowed, Mount Vernon is visible; a glimpse in itself worthy a
+pilgrimage to every lover of that rare combination--virtue and true
+patriotism!
+
+Turning from this direction, and setting your face towards the Capitol,
+you perceive extended in dotted lines, the thinly-furnished streets of
+the city: viewed from here, the meagre supply of buildings in proportion
+to its extent is made obvious; each separate house may be traced out;
+and, in their irregular and detached appearance, all design becomes
+confounded. It seemed to me as though some frolicsome fairy architect,
+whilst taking a flight with a sieveful of pretty houses, had suddenly
+betaken her to riddling them over this attractive site as she circled
+over the valley in her airy car.
+
+One of my most favourite rides was to a secluded spot in this
+neighbourhood, of which I shall attempt some description, since I would,
+in the very fulness of my heart's charity, induce all succeeding
+wayfarers to visit it.
+
+
+
+
+PIERCE'S GARDEN.
+
+
+At about four miles from the city, a gardener named Pierce has taken up
+his abode on the summit of a high and on all sides nearly precipitous
+hill, immediately surrounded by similar elevations, but separated from
+them by very deep ravines. Through one of these, encompassing two sides
+of the hill, rushes a clear, active little river, such as a trout-fisher
+would glory in, only that its banks in this neighbourhood are everywhere
+sentinelled by trees of willow, dog-wood, laburnum, &c. whose flowery
+arms entwined within each other shadow the clear water, and protect from
+the lure of the angler its finny inmates.
+
+Across this ravine lies the ordinary path by which the future stranger,
+who is an amateur of Nature's painting, will seek to gain one of those
+fair scenes she has lavished much care upon.
+
+No bridge connects the little domain with the busy world, from sight or
+sound of which it is isolated as absolutely as was the valley of
+Rasselas; but, slowly winding down an abrupt, thickly-shaded forest
+path, you at once break through this "leafy skreen" upon the ford, on
+the opposite side of which, a little to the right, lies the gate leading
+into the garden.
+
+Pushing your horse boldly through the stream,--for, though noisy, the
+bottom has been cleared, and is not usually over knee-deep,--you
+dismount, and open the only barrier. Right above you stands a rude stone
+dwelling, stern and square of outline, and in no way suited or in
+keeping with the graceful trees and shrubs whose rich verdure shadow its
+rough walls. Towards this you press onward and upward, until the natural
+platform on which the dwelling is placed be gained; when the view of and
+from this spot will well reward you for a ride through a secluded forest
+country, the freshness and wildness of which have already pleased you,
+especially if you are, as I happily was on most of my visits here,
+accompanied by companions at once fair and intelligent.
+
+Upon this little platform the grass is always of rare verdure for this
+country. Immediately in front of the dwelling four or five forest trees
+of the finest kind fling their branches athwart the entrance; and, a few
+yards removed, around the foot of a venerable elm, is spread a
+variegated carpet of daisies and other pretty flowers, whose colours
+the Persian loom might be proud to imitate for a prince's divan.
+
+A few garden-seats are placed here and there for the ease of visitors;
+and here have I often sat whilst Mr. Pierce was arranging a bouquet,--an
+art, by the way, and no mean one, in which he excels,--and looking about
+on the well-sheltered spot, have thought of my poor old friend Michael
+Kelly's ballad, until I have fancied him "alive again," and breathing
+over the folds of his ample cravat,
+
+
+     "And I said, if there's peace to be found in this world,
+     A heart that is humble might look for it here!"
+
+
+But there is no peace to be found in this world; so, after indulging a
+few wild fancies, that come quickly in such places, I quitted this, as I
+have done a hundred other like oases in life's desert, to wander again
+about the busy world and jostle with the worldly:
+
+
+                      "We feel pangs at parting
+     From many a spot, where yet we may not loiter."
+
+
+I did not bid adieu to this, however, before its tranquil and
+peace-giving features were impressed for ever upon my memory.
+
+The wooded and well-rounded hills which encircle the garden, are placed
+at distances varying from half a mile to half a bow-shot right Sherwood
+measure: within this range two buildings only are to be seen; one a
+pretty, classic-looking dwelling, nestled under the brow of the hill to
+the eastward; the other, sunk low in the extreme western distance, a
+rude-looking stone-built water-mill, surrounded by all its healthful and
+picturesque appointments; adding to the rustic beauty of the scene, yet
+so far removed as in no way to disturb a feeling of absolute seclusion,
+if such should be the desire of the possessor of this little domain,
+which a moderate sum of money, laid out with good taste, might render
+surpassingly beautiful.
+
+I observed that Mr. Pierce kept a few men constantly employed; and as he
+is a person of evident intelligence, neither unaware of the value of his
+possession, nor deaf to the admiration of his visitors, I trust it may
+become worth his while to complete by art what nature has so happily
+designed.
+
+Flowers were to be procured here at a season very far advanced, and a
+high price was given for bouquets, the procuring which for ladies on the
+evening of a ball or party is a common act of gallantry; consequently
+there is much rivalry amongst the beaux in gleaning the rarest and most
+beautiful flowers.
+
+This is a graceful and pretty fashion, and one not likely to grow out of
+use amongst women, which opens a market well worth the florist's notice.
+
+If my voice could reach Mr. Pierce, two things I would seek to press
+upon his consideration: the first should be never to suffer himself to
+be persuaded to throw a bridge--above all, a wooden one--across that
+prettiest of fords; the other, that he would, out of humanity to the
+cattle, and out of consideration for the necks of his fair visitors,
+make the drive, so called, leading through the wood into the George-town
+road, just passable.
+
+Meantime, until this be accomplished, let me caution all future
+explorers against venturing the approach by that route. The one by the
+race-course, and across the ford, is as good as need be; somewhat steep,
+a little difficult here and there, but in no way perilous.
+
+I might have selected spots for detail in this neighbourhood, which in
+other eyes may have attractions, though different, quite as powerful;
+but this, somehow or other, won strangely upon my fancy, and grew to be
+my favourite resort when pursuing my accustomed rides. I paid to it many
+visits alone, and in company it became associated with some of the
+pleasantest hours I passed here; and thus comes it that the reader is
+afforded such an opportunity as a meagre sketch can give, of becoming
+acquainted with this secluded spot, once perhaps the summer bower of
+some native princely Sagamore, and now the location of Mr. Pierce,
+gardener and seedsman!
+
+
+
+
+THE GARDEN, POETICAL AND POLITICAL.
+
+
+I one day had the honour of accompanying a lady on a drive to make some
+calls in the environs, and a most agreeable drive it was. One of our
+visits turned out to me quite an adventure; and procured me the
+acquaintance of a character rarely encountered in these rule-of-three
+days, wherein humanity is clipped and trained upon the principles of old
+Dutch gardening,--no exuberances permitted, but all offshoots duly
+trimmed to the conventional cut, until individuality is destroyed, and
+one half of the world, like Pope's parterre, is made to reflect, as
+nearly as possible, the other.
+
+We drove for some distance through an ill-tended but naturally pretty
+domain, alighting unnoticed at a house having an air of antiquity quite
+refreshing; three sides of the building were encompassed by a broad
+raised stoop, covered with a wide-spread veranda, whilst the walls were
+thickly coated with ivy, like the tower of an English village church.
+
+We mounted the stoop, which commanded a vast extent of valley bounded by
+distant hills, only needing water to make a perfect prospect. A few
+moments after we had rested here, the mistress of the place made her
+approach, hoe in hand, for she had been tending her flowers in person.
+Such a dear old shepherdess of a woman I have not seen for many a day,
+with all the poetry and enthusiasm of nineteen, and a pastoral, simple,
+unworldlike air, worthy the golden age of the flower-wreathed
+sheep-crook.
+
+She had an anecdote connected with every flower-bed;--her story of the
+ivy, so abundant, quite pleased me, as being interesting in itself, and
+made doubly so by her _naive_ mode of telling it.
+
+It appeared that the plants were originally cultivated by Mr. Roscoe, on
+his place near Liverpool; that the shoots were gathered by the hands of
+that amiable and illustrious man, and sent, in fulfilment of a promise
+made, to Mr. Jefferson, for the adornment of Monticello.
+
+The bearer of the plants, on arriving at Washington, could find no
+immediate means of forwarding them safely into Virginia; so placed them
+in the keeping of their present enthusiastic possessor, beneath whose
+careful tending,--for the trust has not been reclaimed,--the gift of
+friendship has flourished and increased, and will, I hope, remain fresh
+as her own spirit, and fadeless as is the fame of the first donor!
+
+Her parterre afforded quite a summary of the history and habits of the
+departed great: here were stocks that had been cultivated by the hands
+of George Washington, and lilies growing from bulbs dug up by those of
+Thomas Jefferson, after each had cast aside the ungrateful cares of
+government and resumed those simpler and happier pursuits in which both
+delighted; and these flowers of theirs flourish yet in peace and beauty,
+side by side, and, fragile as they look, are perhaps more durably linked
+than the mighty Union over which these illustrious florists presided
+with views so widely different.
+
+The fruit-trees were thick with blossoms, and the air was absolutely
+perfumed. I felt exceedingly loath to obey the summons of my fair guide
+when informed that the time of departure was arrived, and have seldom
+found a visit to appear so very short. The carriage being laden with the
+sweet-scented spoils,--or, rather let me say, gifts of our kind hostess,
+for nothing could exceed the free hand with which every shrub was rifled
+for us,--we made our adieus, and set forth to return to the city by a
+different road, paying a call at another cottage residence by the way.
+
+Of these unpretending, but attractive-looking places, there are numbers
+in this neighbourhood; and if ever Washington rises to the importance
+fondly anticipated by its founders, no city ought to boast more charming
+environs.
+
+Here is no end of sites for country dwellings,--valley and hill, river
+and rivulet, towering rocks and dark ravines abound in as wild a variety
+as heart could wish; with land and living both exceedingly cheap.
+
+I saw one of the prettiest houses possible, with nearly a hundred acres
+of land, that had been purchased, a few months before, for five thousand
+dollars; and, during my stay here, a first-rate house, with stabling,
+&c. complete, as well situated as any in Washington, and as well built,
+sold for the same sum. At present, indeed, I should say land about here
+is of very little value: though admirably calculated for the residence
+of an independent class of gentry, here is no temptation for the planter
+or merchant; and but few in this country seek to live a life of leisure
+or retirement.
+
+
+
+
+THE FALLS OF THE POTOMAC.
+
+
+On St. George's day, in company with Captain T----ll, an engineer
+officer of high standing, and Mr. K----r, I set out on horseback, at an
+early hour, to view the much talked of, but too rarely visited, Falls of
+the Potomac.
+
+Our way lay along the tow-path of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, planned
+to unite the Potomac river with the Ohio below Pittsburg,--one of the
+greatest works yet contemplated. Its length will be three hundred and
+forty miles: the locks are of stone, one hundred feet by fifteen; and
+the amount of lockage designed for the whole line is three thousand two
+hundred and fifteen feet. Piercing the Alleghany mountains, where the
+canal attains its highest level, a tunnel is planned, four miles and
+some yards in length.
+
+For upwards of a hundred miles the line is already available; and in
+this distance are reckoned forty-four locks, and several noble
+aqueducts, in an ascent of a quarter of a mile.
+
+For sixteen miles we followed this magnificent work, which as far as
+one of the uninitiated may judge, presents a promise of endurance worthy
+the best days of Rome: the width of the canal here varied, as my
+companion informed me, from eighty to seventy feet, and the depth from
+six to seven feet.
+
+Independent of this work, in itself so interesting, the scenery is
+varied and striking. Upon our right lay the canal, to whose course all
+nature had been subdued,--the forest rooted up, the Potomac bestridden
+by an aqueduct eighteen hundred feet in length, beds of solid gneiss
+hewn out fathoms deep, valleys filled up and ramparted with granite
+against the assaults of the near river; everything on this hand was
+trimmed and levelled in a workmanlike manner: the labour of man was
+evident throughout, and the well-trained water stood still, or moved
+onward or backward, as directed by its master.
+
+Close upon our left ran the Potomac, but so changed in character, that
+the stranger, who from the Capitol had traced the mazy windings of this
+mighty stream, whose deep indents and sluggish current show like a
+series of lakes stretching away till lost in distance, suddenly removed
+to this point, short of two miles, would hardly credit that the narrow,
+noisy mountain stream beside him was the same, the very fountain and
+feeder of the inland sea spreading below.
+
+It was now dry, fine weather; no rain had fallen for some time; and the
+stream, pent within narrow limits, cowered beneath the wooded heights of
+the Virginia shore: but the condition of every unprotected level on our
+side spoke awfully of its force, when, backed by supplies from the
+mountains, it extends itself abroad, overthrowing trees and banks, and
+leaving their huge ruins to mark in undoubted characters the true limit
+of its sovereignty.
+
+At this time it was in its most peaceful mood, and went on, now
+expanding placidly over an even bed, and now divided before some
+stubborn rock-founded islet, chafing as it were at being compelled to
+yield to an obstruction it had as yet failed to overcome.
+
+Viewed at all points, the stream conducted by Nature outfaced, in my
+eyes, the neighbour work of her children; coursing onward, as it went,
+defying the hand of man, and rejoicing in its rude freedom.
+
+About the most savage part of our ride, where the path was a wide
+rampart of stone without any parapet, bounded on one hand by the canal
+and the overhanging rocks through which it was cut, and on the other, at
+a precipitous depth of eighty feet, by the rocky bed of the river, we
+were threatened with a hurricane, or other outbreak of the elements, of
+the wildest kind.
+
+It had become on a sudden unnaturally sultry: before us a cloud fell
+like a huge black curtain, until resting upon the lofty bluffs between
+which the river now ran, it was draped in folds down to the water; over
+this curtain broke a lurid silvery sort of light, making all things
+hideous; a heavy moaning sound as of wind was heard throughout the
+forest; the leaves shook rattling upon the surrounding shrubs, yet no
+air was perceptible even whilst going at a gallop. For a moment this
+strange sound would cease wholly, and then roar forth again, as though
+the pent tempest was striving close at hand for space and freedom of
+action.
+
+Occasionally a vivid flash of lightning would stream from the impending
+cloud downward upon the river; and, in momentary expectation of a
+regular tornado, on we spurred to reach some shelter.
+
+But after all, our fears were fruitless, or let me rather say our
+hopes, since we agreed that a hurricane chancing here would be a
+consummation singularly happy. It is certain no fitter scene could well
+have been selected for such an event, and indeed this was all that was
+needed to make the savage grandeur of the picture perfect.
+
+Expectation had attained its height, when, after a few big splashes of
+rain, the sombre curtain drew gradually up, the sun looked forth once
+more, shining vividly, and the so lately gloomy waters below, again
+laughed and sparkled as they went bounding, gladly, over their rugged
+bed.
+
+About midday we arrived at a house occupied by a person who attends one
+of the many locks on the canal; and by the ready aid of this worthy and
+his pretty young helpmate, our horses and ourselves were well supplied
+with _vivres_, and otherwise cared for.
+
+After we had discussed sundry rashers of ham, broiled chicken, and
+new-laid eggs, we were informed by our friend the lock-keeper, who had
+been examining the ford, that the frail bridge which had recently served
+to cross a branch of the stream to an island from whose southern side
+alone the Falls might be surveyed, was no longer in being.
+
+What was to be done? was the whole purpose of our hard ride to be
+defeated by the dislocation of a few loose planks? Our cool pioneer even
+admitted that it seemed "mighty hard," and called his spouse to council;
+but from her we received small hope, as she at once decided that to
+cross so as to get anywhere within sight of the Falls was impossible.
+
+We as stoutly declared our resolution to attempt fording the dividing
+current, and requested our host to point out the best probable place for
+this purpose.
+
+This he at last agreed to do; adding that "he guessed, with more or less
+of a ducking, we might gratify our curiosity, though he could not help
+thinking it was mighty foolish."
+
+The lady of the lock, more timid, or, as it turned out, more sage,
+remonstrated in vain. In the teeth of her advice and predictions,
+sufficiently alarming, we mounted our nags, and, under the good man's
+guidance, descended to the ford, by a very rough path; the din of the
+unseen torrent sounding in our ears.
+
+On reaching the stream in question, we found it not over twenty yards
+across, with an apparently tolerable landing on the opposite side; so
+that, albeit it had a threatening sort of look, and bullied and
+blustered somewhat loudly, myself and Mr. K----r decided _instanter_
+upon crossing. Our companion, a very tall and heavy man, mounted on a
+little thorough-bred steed none the stronger for the severe bucketting
+it had already gone through, we very wisely prevailed upon to await our
+return, and serve as our guide to the right landing when we should have
+to re-cross.
+
+With all that eagerness with which men rush on novelty, especially when
+any obstacle is thrown in the way, we pushed forward, listening
+impatiently to the distant thunder of the Falls. Like all obstacles, we
+found these before us less in reality than in report, our chief
+difficulty lying in the strength of the current, flowing over an unequal
+bottom; but in no part was the water up to the horses' shoulders. We
+kept their noses well up stream, and, after a little floundering about,
+reached and mounted the sandy bank in no time, whence a short rough ride
+over the thickly-wooded islet, gave the wished-for sight to our eyes in
+all its gloomy grandeur; and never before do I remember having looked
+upon so wildly sublime a scene.
+
+We dismounted; and, tying our horses to a tree, descended into the vast
+basin within whose rugged depths the river finds at all seasons ample
+space for its fury. Opposite to our stand the face of the black rock
+rose perpendicular for a hundred and fifty feet; and over its brow waved
+a grove of lofty trees and graceful flowering shrubs, forming together a
+plume befitting such a crest, and worthy to float above such a _melee_.
+
+Along in front of our position, and only a few yards off, the river was
+precipitated from a ledge of rock, three huge masses of which towered
+high over it, lying athwart the line of the torrent at apparently equal
+distances, as though Nature had designed to bridge this fearful caldron,
+but, having raised these piers had rested, content with this evidence of
+her power, and so left the work unfinished.
+
+Through the intervals of these piers then, if they may be so
+denominated, the water was impelled in three distinct columns of foam
+with inconceivable impetuosity; then, after forming many vortices,
+frightful to contemplate steadily, whirled boiling away beneath the
+boldly jutting table-rock, which afforded us sound footing amidst a din
+that of necessity made admiration dumb, since to hear your own voice or
+any other person's was quite out of the question.
+
+Oh what a pit of Acheron was here! I would have given a million a-year
+to have had Martin with me, pencil in hand, looking upwards upon the
+centre one of those three terrible piers. What a throne would it have
+made in his hands for the arch enemy of man! How his fancy would have
+imaged the lost angel forth, standing there in his might armed for
+hopeless combat, shadowed grandly out amidst the silvery vapours curling
+round him, whilst up through the raging whirlpools drove the countless
+columns of hell in battle array; what tossing of co-mingled plumes and
+waves above the thick squadrons of horse, who, with flowing manes and
+fiery nostrils, would be seen breaking through and riding over the
+foaming torrent, all shadowed forth in a dim reality he knows so well to
+deal with, and which, in his creations, leaves the fancy, already
+startled by that it can define, afraid to guess at all which yet remains
+only half told!
+
+We wandered here, from point to point, unable to express our
+bewilderment and delight otherwise than by pantomimic gestures more
+amusing than intelligible; and then, in consideration of the lone
+condition of our excellent comrade, began to crawl and climb our way
+back to the shade where we had left the horses.
+
+The table-rocks were everywhere worn into circular basins of greater or
+less dimensions; when the floods of spring and autumn subside, these
+pools are left well stocked with pike, trout, and other sorts of fish;
+the water was at this time exceedingly low, and a long continuance of
+premature heat had shortened the allowance of the denizens of these
+pools; our near neighbourhood, therefore, deprived as they were of the
+means of retreat or concealment, caused a great sensation amongst them,
+and much rushing, and floundering, and darting to and fro.
+
+We joined cordially in commiserating the fate of these unlucky
+_detenus_, who, as the summer advances, must, to say the least of it,
+become most uncomfortably warm about the middle of the day. K----r
+wasted, as I considered, much time in sentimentalizing over their
+probable fate, for I found that he loitered behind by every basin which
+contained a larger specimen than usual.
+
+After a rather prolonged halt, I was preparing to _row_ my friend for
+his vexatious display of philanthropy, when he came to me with his right
+arm soaked up to the shoulder, grievously lamenting his having failed,
+by an untimous slip, in securing a fellow of at least nine or ten
+pounds' weight.
+
+"What the devil!" exclaimed I, "is it possible that you contemplated
+scrambling your way back to give this finny gentleman the freedom of the
+river?"
+
+"Not at all, my dear fellow," replied my sensitive friend; "I merely
+contemplated carrying him to Washington, and giving him the freedom of
+the boiler. The Baron would have rejoiced in him; he was a fish for the
+Czar himself! Besides, it would have been an act of charity to the poor
+devil of a fish, the consummation of whose horrid fate is alarmingly
+nigh, since there is not over six inches of water on the rock, and that
+already as close as may be upon ninety-four degrees. That one dip has
+parboiled my right arm; I must plunge it in the first running water to
+cool it."
+
+I enjoyed a good laugh at K----'s hot-bath fishing, but did not dream of
+the thorough cooling in store for my charitable piscator.
+
+On we dashed, full of excitement and high spirits, and hit the stream
+at a point very little below where we had before landed. Captain T----ll
+was still on his post; and with less of precaution than we had used at
+crossing, in dashed K----r some yards in advance of me, although I being
+mounted on a more powerful horse, had before taken the first of the
+current whilst my friend rode on my quarter, thus mutually sustaining
+each other.
+
+Whilst I was yet upon the bank, K----'s nag lost his footing, and turned
+fairly head over heels in the very middle of the passage, at the
+shortest possible notice. The first intimation I got of the event was
+missing my man, and in his stead perceiving four bright shoes glancing
+in the sun above the broken water. In a moment, however, he emerged to
+day once more; and after a second dive or so, gained good bottom, losing
+only a few ounces of blood from a broken nose. I led his horse safely
+ashore; and the brute, though the least hurt, was by far the most
+frightened, for he shook like a negro in an ague fit.
+
+As for K----r, he bore his mishap with a _sangfroid_ and good-humour
+that were admirable: the only regret I heard from him was, that Sir
+Charles Vaughan's ball should come off on this night, since his
+appearance was marred past present help; and indeed, notwithstanding
+applications of whisky, cold water, vinegar, &c. which our friends of
+the lock supplied, the nose was growing of a most unseemly size.
+
+The lock-man expressed much regret; whilst his good lady, I fancied, was
+not very sorry to have her predictions fulfilled at so cheap a rate. I
+ventured to hint to my friend something about retributive justice,
+alluding to his fishy longings amongst the pools; but he rejected the
+application with indignation, insisting upon it that his desire to
+secure that fine fish was founded in the purest charity.
+
+We lost no time in setting out for home by a shorter route; and after a
+hard, hot ride, got back to the city in good time to dress for dinner,
+at which I was sorry to find my philanthropic fisherman did not make his
+appearance. This was the only drawback upon the pleasure with which I
+contemplated our day's work; indeed I had special cause to regret the
+mishap, since it was for my gratification alone K----r was led to push
+over this unlucky stream, he having before visited the Falls. However, I
+do not forget his amiability upon this and many other similar
+occasions, and hereby pledge myself to swim across a broader current,
+either with him, or for him, on any day between this and the year of our
+Lord 1850.
+
+Early hours being the mode here, about nine o'clock drove to Sir Charles
+Vaughan's, who, in honour of St. George's-day, gave a ball, to which all
+the beauties in the capital were bidden. I found the guests on this
+occasion less numerous than at one I had attended early in the season,
+during my first visit here. The scene was already brilliant as light,
+and life, and youth could make it; the music, consisting of a harp and
+four other instruments, was exceedingly good; the women were
+well-dressed and pretty, and danced with infinite grace and spirit.
+
+The _tournure_ of an American girl is generally very good; she excels in
+the dance, and one sees that she enjoys it with all her heart. In
+England I have rarely felt moved to dance; on the other hand, in France
+and America, so electric is evident unrestrained enjoyment, I have found
+it sometimes difficult to repress the inclination within becoming
+bounds.
+
+About midnight supper was announced; and let it not be forgotten, since
+it was of an order worthy the country represented, and our excellent
+minister's character for hospitality. After this the party thinned
+rapidly, and by half-past one o'clock the ball-room was silent. I
+lighted my cigar, and took my accustomed walk up the great avenue to the
+Capitol hill, thence surveyed for a moment the silent city, and back to
+my quarters at Fuller's, making a distance of full three miles; and so
+concluded a busy and right pleasant four-and-twenty hours.
+
+
+
+
+IMPRESSIONS OF WASHINGTON SOCIETY, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE.
+
+
+I attended several large assemblies at Washington, and must here, after
+a second visit, and so much experience as my opportunities afforded,
+enter my protest against the sweeping ridicule it has pleased some
+writers to cast upon these doings here; since I saw none of those
+outrageously unpresentable women, or coarsely habited and ungainly men,
+so amusingly arrayed by some of my more observant predecessors. I can
+only account for it by referring to the rapid changes ever taking place
+here, and to which I have alluded in my introduction to these
+"Impressions."
+
+The ordinary observances of good society are, I should say, fully
+understood and fully practised at these public gatherings, and not more
+of the ridiculous presented than might be observed at any similar
+assemblage in England, if half so much; since here I have commonly found
+that persons who have no other claims to advance save money or a seat in
+the legislature, very wisely avoid _reunions_, where they could neither
+look to receive nor bestow pleasure.
+
+It is quite true that many of these members, all of whom are by rank
+eligible to society, may be met with, who are more rusty of bearing than
+most of those within St. Stephen's; but I will answer for this latter
+assembly outfacing them in samples of rudeness, ill-breeding, and true
+vulgarity: for it is a striking characteristic of the American, that, if
+not conventionally polished perhaps, you will rarely find him either
+rude or discourteous; whilst amongst those who, in the nature of the
+government, are elevated from a comparatively obscure condition to place
+and power, although refinement cannot be inserted as an addendum to the
+official diploma, the aspirant usually adopts with his appointment a
+quiet formal strain of ceremony, which protects himself, and can never
+give offence to any.
+
+In the absence of that ease and self-possession which can only be
+acquired by long habitual intercourse with well-bred persons, this
+surely is the wisest course that could be adopted, and a hundred degrees
+above that fidgety, jackdaw-like assumption of _nonchalance_ with which
+the ill-bred amongst ourselves seek to cover their innate vulgarity.
+
+At all these assemblies, as elsewhere, great real attention is paid to
+women; and I vow I have, in this respect, seen more ill-breeding, and
+selfish rudeness, at a fashionable rout in England, than could be met
+with, at any decent crush, from Natchetoches to Marble-head. Beyond
+these points within the States I speak not, since without them the land
+is strange to me.
+
+No levee of the President's has occurred during my sojourn here; but I
+learn that in the true spirit of democracy, the doors on these occasions
+are open to every citizen without distinction of rank or costume;
+consequently the assemblage at such times may be oddly compounded
+enough.
+
+As for private society in Washington, although limited, it can in no
+place be conducted in a manner more agreeable, or extended to the
+stranger with more unostentatious freedom. Once presented to a family,
+and the house is thenceforward open to you. From twelve o'clock until
+two, the inmates either visit or receive visitors: between these hours,
+the question, "Are the ladies at home?" being answered in the
+affirmative, you walk into the drawing-room without farther form; and,
+joining the circle, or enjoying a _tete-a-tete_, as it may happen,
+remain just so long as you receive or can impart amusement.
+
+Again, after six, if you are so disposed, you sally forth to visit. If
+the family you seek be at home, you find its members forming a little
+group or groups, according to the number present, each after their age
+and inclination; and politics, dress, or scandal are discussed: or, if
+the night be serene,--and what lovely nights have I witnessed here, even
+at this early season! (May)--you make a little party to the covered
+stoup, or balcony, extended along the back-front of most houses; and
+here a song, a romp, a waltz, or a quiet still talk, while away hours of
+life, unheeded until passed, but never to be recalled without pleasure.
+About eleven the guests generally depart, and by midnight the great
+avenue of this city is hardly disturbed by a foot-fall; not a sound
+comes on the ear except the short, fierce wrangle of packs of vagrant
+curs crossing each other's hunting-ground, which they are as tenacious
+of as the Indians are of their prairies.
+
+At this hour I used often, after returning from a party, such as is
+described above, to put on my morning-gown and slippers, and light my
+pipe, then sallying forth, have strolled from Fuller's to the Capitol;
+and climbing its bold hill, have looked down along the sleeping city,
+speculating upon its possible destinies until my fancies waxed
+threadbare, and then quietly returned, making a distance of nearly three
+miles, without encountering an individual or hearing the sound of a
+human voice.
+
+At set balls even, the first hour of morning generally sees ample space
+on the, till then, crowded floor; and the most ardent pleasure-lovers
+rarely overleap the second by many minutes.
+
+The consequence of this excellent plan is, that, although the ladies are
+weak in numbers, they are always, to use an expressive sporting phrase,
+ready to come again; rising, the morning after a dance, unwearied and
+elastic in mind and body. I hope, for the sake of my American friends,
+it will be very long before these healthful hours are changed to those
+which custom has made fashionable in England; hours that soon fade the
+roses even on their most genial soil, the cheeks of the fair girls of
+Britain, blighting the healthful and the young, and withering the aged
+and the weak.
+
+Much of the population of Washington is migratory; and, during a long
+session, samples may be found here of all classes, from every part of
+the Union, whether represented or not. There are, however, generally
+resident a few old Southern families, who, together with the foreign
+ministers and their suites, form the nucleus of a permanent society,
+where the polish of Europe is grafted upon the simple and frank courtesy
+of the best of America. Were it not in violation of a rule I have
+imposed upon myself as imperative, I could name families here whose
+simple yet refined manners would do honour to any community, and from an
+intercourse with whom the most fastidious conventionalist would return
+satisfied.
+
+
+
+
+IMPRESSIONS OF ALEXANDRIA.
+
+
+A BLANK DAY.
+
+
+My worthy manager had often pressed me to accompany him on one of our
+off-nights to Alexandria, which he assured me boasted a very pretty
+theatre, and a population, if not generally theatrical, still capable of
+filling the house for two or three nights upon an extraordinary
+occasion. Such he was pleased to consider the present; and although I
+suggested the probability that most of the play-loving Alexandrians had
+most likely, during the late very lovely nights, visited the Washington
+theatre, Mr. Jefferson argued, there yet existed a sufficient body, of
+the unsatisfied curious, to repay us for our short trip. A steam-boat,
+he said, would take down him and his troop, bag and baggage, in a couple
+of hours; and, as I was fond of riding, it was for me but a pleasant
+canter.
+
+As it was my intention to pass a few hours at this city, whose spires
+might be seen any fine day from George-town heights, and close to which
+lived a gentleman whom I had promised to visit, I decided with the
+manager upon making trial of our popularity by convening on a certain
+evening a public meeting of its inhabitants; our object being similar to
+that of most conveners of public meetings, viz. to amuse the lieges and
+benefit ourselves.
+
+The town was advertised of our intended purpose, the night appointed,
+and all the usual blowing of trumpets duly done, when on the forenoon of
+a lovely day, accompanied by Captain R----y of the navy, I traversed the
+interminable-looking bridge uniting the district of Columbia with
+Virginia, and entered the _Old Dominion_, as the natives love to
+distinguish their State.
+
+The road was excellent, bordered with turf nearly the whole way, and
+commanding extensive and varied views of the Potomac, together with
+George-town and the Capitol. I often halted and turned my horse's head
+to look upon this picture, for such it truly was. Nothing, in fact, can
+be more panoramic than the aspect of these cities, lying in one of the
+best-defined and most beautiful of natural amphitheatres, and flanked by
+the grandest of rivers. At the distance of five or six miles all the
+meannesses of the city are lost sight of, and the extreme ends, so
+widely apart, and so worthily bounded, by the Capitol on the north and
+the President's mansion, with the surrounding offices belonging to the
+state department, on the south, combined with the dock-yard and a few
+other large public buildings in the middle distance, give to the
+metropolis of America an aspect no way unworthy of its high destiny.
+
+Arrived at Shooter's Hill, the seat of Mr. D----y, we were encountered
+with a welcome characteristic of a Virginian gentleman on his own soil,
+and worthy the descendant of an Irishman.
+
+Here then we dined, took our _tisan de champagne glacee_ upon the
+well-shaded gallery fronting the river, and in due time I mounted, and
+rode down to the city, to make my toilet and receive the Alexandrians.
+The first I soon effected, and the last I should have rejoiced to have
+also done; but they would not be received--"the more we waited, the more
+they would not come."
+
+I took possession of the stage, the only portion of the house occupied,
+where, eyed by half a dozen curious negroes, who were evidently
+amateurs, and by their good-humoured air ready to become admirers, I
+awaited the appearance of the audience. In lieu of these, some half-hour
+after the time of beginning, Mr. Jefferson made his appearance _solus_,
+with an expression half comic, half vexed.
+
+"It's no go, my good friend," said I.
+
+"They're not come _yet_" said Mr. J.
+
+"Nor are they on the road, Mr. Jefferson."
+
+"They're a long way off, I guess, if they are," said he.
+
+"And won't arrive in time, that's clear. Hadn't you better postpone the
+business _sine die_?"
+
+"We've nothing else left for it, I fear," said Mr. J., taking a last
+careful survey of the well-lighted solitary _salle_: adding, "We must
+dismiss."
+
+"That ceremony will be quite superfluous," observed I, "unless as far as
+we ourselves are concerned, and our sable friends here."
+
+I had observed that the two or three little knots occupying the
+intervals of the side-scenes were evidently interested observers of our
+debate, and grieved and disappointed by the result. I should have liked
+to have put them all into the front, and then have acted to them, could
+one have insured their not being intruded on by any stray white-man. As
+it was, Mr. Jefferson begged me to consider myself at perfect liberty.
+
+"It's provoking too," added my good-humoured manager, who was quite a
+philosopher in his vocation; "for it's a pretty theatre, isn't it?"
+
+"It is a very pretty theatre," responded I. And so it was, exceedingly
+so. It had been built when the place flourished, and the community was
+prosperous and could afford to be merry. Now, trade having decayed, and
+money ceased to circulate, the blood has also grown stagnant amongst
+this once gay people: the fire is out and the drama's spirit fled.
+
+Mr. Jefferson, however, had a much more summary mode of accounting for
+our desolate state; for, on my suggesting that his bills might have been
+ill distributed or his notice insufficient,--being rather desirous thus
+to find a loophole for my vanity to creep out of,--he convinced me that
+all points of 'vantage had been most provokingly well cared for.
+
+"What the plague can be the reason they won't come for _once_, at least,
+Mr. J.? One would be less surprised at their not answering to a second
+summons."
+
+Jefferson shook his head, in a fashion that expressed more than even
+Puff designed Lord Burleigh's shake to convey:[9] adding, by way of
+commentary,
+
+"The Bank question, sir! all the Bank question!"
+
+I waited for no more, feeling that this was indeed an explanation
+sufficiently satisfactory; since, for some time, it served to account
+fully for every possible event, moral and physical,--the depression of
+the markets, the failure of the fruit-crop, the non-arrival of the
+packets, the sinking of stock, and the flooding of the Ohio.
+
+Joining my friends at the hotel,--an exceedingly good one, by the
+way,--we were soon once more in saddle; and, lighted by as beautiful a
+moon as ever silvered the smooth surface of the Potomac, off I dashed
+with them, for Washington at a slapping pace, in no way regretting my
+having visited Alexandria or my premature return, since my day had been
+most delightfully passed: and my not having a _soiree_ of my own,
+enabled me to assist at one given by a very charming and intelligent
+person, to which I was bidden, but in consequence of my engagement to
+Mr. J. had no hopes of attending.
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[9] See "The Critic."
+
+
+
+
+THE FANCY BALL.
+
+
+This species of entertainment, so common in Europe, is in a great
+measure a novelty in the States; for although in New York and
+Philadelphia _materiel_ may be procured in abundance,--and there is no
+lack of either wealth or spirit to put it in requisition,--yet the
+society is too much divided to admit of numbers, and variety, sufficient
+to relieve the groups from sameness and consequent insipidity. At
+Washington, I believe, there had never been more than two or three
+attempts made; when, therefore, Senator W----e, of Florida, issued cards
+for a "Fancy Ball," with little more than a week's notice, the whole of
+the visiting community was thrown into confusion, and, indeed, despair.
+A rush was at once made upon the _materiel_; the candidates were many,
+the supplies few; and all were eager to monopolise as far as was
+possible.
+
+In twenty-four hours after the summons had gone forth, not a plume of
+feathers, a wreath of flowers, or a scarf or ribbon _couleur de rose_ or
+_flamme d'enfer_, could have been purchased in the city of Washington.
+
+It was most amusing to assist at the consultations of the ladies: not a
+portfolio but what was rummaged, not a pencil but what was in
+requisition copying or inventing authorities for all sorts of real and
+imaginary costume.
+
+Every man who either possessed, or was supposed possessed of, an iota of
+taste, suddenly found himself greatly increased in importance. The
+position of these virtuosi became enviable in the extreme: they ran or
+walked about the streets with an air of well-pleased mystery, their
+hands filled with delicate-looking triangular billets; they entered the
+residences of the most admired belles without knocking; they were
+consulted, caressed, listened to anxiously, smiled upon gratefully: in
+short, for three or four days, their influence seemed only limited by
+their discretion; they moved "air-borne, exalted above vulgar men."
+
+But all human happiness is transient at best, and even the sovereignty
+of taste could not endure for ever. As the costume became settled, the
+fair clients fell off; the portfolios were returned with "thanks;" the
+drawings, so lately pronounced "perfect loves," and gazed upon as though
+worthy the creation of a Rubens, were now to be found doubled up in the
+card-rack, or transfixed by two or three pins on the cushion of a
+work-table; the three-cornered missives circulated in other channels;
+and the man of Taste found ample leisure once more to speak to a friend
+in the avenue, or fall quietly into the ranks at a dinner-party.
+
+Nevertheless, up to the last hour, the ladies continued, if words might
+have been trusted, in absolute despair; and in truth, when one examined
+into the resources at their command, the case seemed desperate enough.
+To be sure, Baltimore was near, and was soon under contribution; even
+Philadelphia and New York were lightly visited, more than one belle
+having sent thus far for a dress. Some of these, by the way, were, like
+the Chevalier de Grammont's, swamped on the road, to the mortification
+of the fair expectants.
+
+Three or four gentlemen joined company in getting up a diplomatic group,
+which my friend Kenny's little comedy of "The Irish Ambassador" had here
+made very popular. Of this group I formed a part; and being honoured by
+the company of an embassy from a new quarter, in the portly person of
+"His Excellency minister extraordinary, and Plenipotentiary, from the
+Dry Tortugas," together with his Secretary of legation and suite, our
+equipages, as we left Fuller's, made rather a formidable show.
+
+Many other well-dressed groups of men were known to us as being
+prepared, and it was for the ladies only I felt any fear of a lame
+conclusion. But what will not the ingenuity of woman effect when
+inclination prompts and pleasure leads the way!
+
+I entered the reception-room, quite sorrowing for one or two of my
+personal friends, whose regret at being so miserably unprovided up to
+the last hour had met sympathy from my credulous simplicity, when, lo!
+here I found these fair sly things set forth in character, all plumed
+"like estridges."
+
+We made our bows to the lady patroness, a very charming person, habited
+as Isabel de Croye, and attended by a suite of well-chosen characters,
+very tastefully gotten up. Here were girls so unquestionably Greek, that
+any good Christian would willingly have ransomed them without suspicion
+of their country or quality; together with Turkish maidens, whose
+appearance would have dazzled and deceived even the argus-eyed
+guardians of the Imperial serai.
+
+I was struck with the great variety of Asiatic costume present, of the
+richest and most perfect kind, both male and female: a couple of women,
+with fine black eyes and features of remarkable classic beauty, wore the
+costume of Tripolitan ladies of the highest rank, and it would be
+difficult to conceive anything richer or more strikingly picturesque.
+The Mediterranean is the favourite cruising ground of the American navy;
+and from this abundant wardrobe, of the most becoming costumes, every
+ship imports specimens for their friends at home. On this occasion these
+had been laid under requisition to excellent purpose.
+
+There were two attempts only, as far as I remember, to embody character,
+as is more usual in masquerade; but these were both remarkable for their
+excellence. The most striking in appearance was a young officer of the
+United States' army, habited as an Osage warrior, painted and plumed
+with startling truth. Surrounded by all that was presumed to be strange
+and bewildering, never for a moment did the well-trained young warrior
+forget what was due to himself or his tribe: he looked on with the most
+imperturbable _sangfroid_, moved about with the ease and self-possession
+of one to whom all he mingled with had been a matter of common usage;
+heard jests, questions, or friendly explanations with the most unmoved
+gravity, replying by an occasional "Ou, ou!" or a slow bend of his head:
+his patience was indeed worthy the most tried of the race he
+represented, for never did he lose it or forget himself for a moment. He
+was a very fine young man, and the features of his face appeared to have
+been moulded to his present purpose.
+
+The other was a Yankee young man, as he described himself, "jist come
+away south, to see about;" and who, "noticin' that all kinds o' queer
+men was comin' in here without payin' nothin', thought he'd best jist
+step in tu, and make one among the lot."
+
+And of a certainty he did make the queerest specimen I ever met in this
+or any other lot. The supporter of this character was young Mr. W----r.
+The total change in his appearance was effected by a certain set of the
+hat and a mode of placing it on the head quite characteristic, together
+with an odd hanging on of the coat and vest, which gave them the look
+of having belonged to some one else, and as likely to fit any one as the
+present wearer.
+
+I had seen the original of this picture in the north, I had also
+witnessed it admirably represented by Messrs. Hill and Hacket, the rival
+Yankees of the American stage; but neither of them, I think, were so
+minutely perfect or so whimsical as this new actor. The abstraction was
+complete; and the odd questions, guesses, complicated relations, full of
+drollery and wholly applicable to the present scene and the actors
+engaged in it, were replete with humour, exhibiting a compound of vulgar
+assurance, simplicity, and native shrewdness, not surpassed by any
+assumption I have ever witnessed.
+
+Although quite intimate with this gentleman, I stood for a while
+listening to him where he stood grinning amidst a group who were
+quizzing and questioning him, and for a short time imagined it was some
+veritable rustic they held immeshed. It was not until after I had
+learned who it was, that I succeeded in recognising a person who had
+been sitting with me that very morning.
+
+A few of the gravest of the senators alone had been privileged by the
+host to appear _en habit de ville_, and these paid for their privilege
+before they got clear off. Their potent seignorships, in truth, soon
+found themselves exceedingly ill at ease here: jostled by lawless
+pirates, lassoed by wild Guachos, and plundered of their loose cash by
+irresistible broom and orange girls, they were fain to make an early
+retreat, with as good a grace as might be assumed, under circumstances
+so subversive of all due gravity.
+
+If enjoyment be the object of such meetings, nothing could be more
+absolutely attained than it was at this little fancy ball; for a scene
+of higher festivity and good-humour no man could desire to assist at. It
+had, however, the sin to account for of keeping its fair patronesses
+together some two hours later than any other _fete_ I witnessed in this
+most wisely merry capital.
+
+On reaching Fuller's, accompanied by a joyous knot of diplomatists, it
+was discovered to be over three hours past midnight; a novelty in
+etiquette which it was decided _nem. con._ would have "plenty of
+precedents _after_."
+
+
+
+
+LIONS OF WASHINGTON.
+
+
+THE INDIAN CABINET.--HOUSE OF
+LEGISLATURE.--SENATE.--LADIES.--SENATORS.--PRESIDENT.
+
+
+The principal lions of Washington, after the legislative chambers, are
+the Navy-yard, the President's mansion, the National Exhibition,
+connected with the patent-office, containing specimens of mechanical
+inventions either original or considered such by their industrious
+projectors, and lastly the offices for the department of State.
+
+In the latter was a chamber which to me offered more attractions than
+all the other objects put together: it contained a collection of
+original portraits of the most distinguished amongst the aborigines,
+allied with or opposed to the States.
+
+This is an object well worthy the care of government, and, it is to be
+hoped, one that will be persevered in, for yet but a few years, and here
+will be the only memento left of the Red-man within the land. Something
+is due to the memory of these savage warriors and legislators; this
+tribute serves to render them a sort of poetical justice, and wins a
+sympathy for their fate, through their portraits, which might have been
+withheld from themselves,--at least, judging of those I have seen,
+drunken, dirty, and debased.
+
+Here, indeed, they show gallantly out, the untameable children of the
+forest, the lords of the lake and of the river, some of them absolutely
+handsome, their costume being in the highest degree chivalric; many,
+unluckily, are clad in a mixed fashion, half Indian, half
+American,--grotesque, but unbecoming when compared with the gaudily
+turbaned and kilted Creek, or the plumed and painted Winnebago, who,
+leaning on his rifle beneath a forest tree, and listening with a keen,
+unwearying aspect for the coming tread of his foe or his prey, looks
+like a being never born to wear harness or own a master.
+
+A few of the chiefs are painted in the full-dress uniform of the
+American army, but are not for an instant to be mistaken; although Red
+Jacket, the great orator and warrior, and one or two others have
+features exceedingly resembling some of the Provencal _noblesse_ of
+France: the common expression is, however, almost uniformly
+characteristic of their nature, cold, crafty, and cruel; I hardly found
+one face in which I could have looked for either mercy or
+compunction--always excepting the women, of whom here are a few
+specimens. It would be but gallant to add to the number, if there are
+many such amongst the tribes; for the features of these are pretty,
+their expression truly feminine and gentle, with the most dove-like,
+loveable eyes in nature.
+
+I, some time after this, found a very fine work in course of publication
+at Philadelphia, containing coloured prints, large folio size, made from
+these and other original sources; with accurate biographical notices of
+the most important amongst the chiefs, and a detailed account of their
+history and habits. The author is Colonel M'Kenny, for many years
+resident Indian agent, living amongst and with the people he describes;
+and combining with these opportunities education, intelligence, and much
+enthusiasm on the subject. In this work will be given correct
+translations of their highly expressive but unpronounceable
+appellations; and as much justice done to their characters, as, I can
+answer for it, has been already rendered to their outward form and
+features.
+
+The courtesy which distinguishes officials of every rank in this
+country makes a visit to this, or any public place, not only a matter of
+pleasure but of profit to the stranger; since one rarely returns without
+some anecdote or information connected with the object visited, given in
+an off-hand agreeable manner, which is in itself a gratification. I have
+never been a sight-hunter in Europe, and this not from indolence or lack
+of laudable curiosity, I believe; but simply through considering the
+forms and difficulties that hedge in most places and persons worthy
+observance, more than equivalent to the gratification to be won from a
+sight of them. The case is different here: there is no unnecessary fuss
+or form; the highest public servants are left to protect themselves from
+impertinent intrusion; and to the stranger, all places that may be
+considered public property are perfectly accessible, without any tax
+being levied on his pride, his patience, or his purse,--matters which
+might be amended in England, greatly to the advancement of our national
+character, and in these reforming days not unworthy consideration.
+
+I was a good deal amused looking over the various costly gifts which
+have been, from time to time, presented by foreign potentates to the
+distinguished public servants of America, all of which are here
+collected; the law not permitting those on whom they were bestowed to
+retain them, although yielding to the custom which has rendered such
+marks of courtly approbation customary amongst the great ones of Europe.
+
+I could not help smiling as I fancied the disgorgement of all the
+_cadeaux_ exchanged between ministers and generals, and treaty-makers
+and breakers, since 1812, an epoch fruitful of such courtesies. Why, it
+would pay off the national debt of the general government of this
+country, and leave a surplus for watering the streets of the capital, if
+the legislature did not find fault with the appropriation, and continue
+to prefer being blinded, as they are at present, rather than purchase a
+few water-carts for the corporation, which it seems is too impoverished
+to afford any outlay on its own account.
+
+There was nothing that puzzled me more, on a first view of the matter,
+than the utter indifference with which the Americans look upon the
+exceedingly unworthy condition of their capital, when considered in
+relation with the magnitude, the greatness, and prosperous condition of
+their common country. During months of every session, the roads leading
+through the district of Columbia are all but impassable: independent of
+the discomfort and delay consequent upon their condition, hardly a
+season passes without some member or other being injured more or less by
+overturns, which are things of common occurrence; yet, only let
+government insert one extra item in the budget to be applied to the
+service of this their common property, and all parties from all quarters
+of the Union unite to reject the supply.
+
+I heard of a curious instance of this jealousy of poor Columbia whilst
+on my last visit here. The great avenue, or principal street, leading
+from the President's house to the Capitol, had recently been redeemed
+from mud according to the plans of M'Adam; but the exposure of the
+situation, and the nature of the material employed, rendered the
+improvement rather questionable: every breeze that now blew filled the
+atmosphere with thick clouds of dust charged with particles of mica,
+which really made it a hazardous matter to venture forth on a gusty day,
+unless in a closed carriage, when tired of sitting at home, suffocated
+with heat, or smothered with dust by the wind, which ought to have
+borne health and comfort on its wings instead of this eighth plague.
+
+Every one complained, all suffered; members, senators, the President,
+and the cabinet, all were having dust flung in their eyes, at a period
+when the commonwealth required that they should all be most especially
+keen and clearsighted. The Potomac, meantime, swept by them, clear and
+cool, and the classic Tiber could with difficulty be kept out of their
+houses. The Romans would have made their Tiber useful on such an
+occasion, and the ready remedy at length suggested itself to the
+half-smothered senators. The sum of a few hundred dollars was promptly
+voted to abate the evil, in conjunction with the Tiber, whose
+contribution was here on demand. The bill was, however, rejected on its
+farther course: the dust continued to rise, the people saved their
+dollars, their representatives continued blind, and the banks of the
+Tiber remained undrawn on.
+
+If you venture an observation upon this obvious absence of all decent
+pride in their capital, as being somewhat singular in a people who seem
+wrapt in their country, and solicitous that it should show worthily in
+the world's eyes, the case is admitted, and accounted for readily
+enough, but by no means creditably, in my mind.
+
+The members from Louisiana or Maine will tell you that they cannot
+satisfactorily account to their constituents for voting sums of money to
+adorn or render convenient a city these may never see, and for whose
+very existence they have no care.
+
+The man from the great western valley will shrug up his shoulders at
+your observation, admit its truth, but add, that the idea of the
+continuance of Washington, as the metropolis of the Union, and seat of
+the general government, is a ridicule, since this ought clearly to wait
+upon the tide of population, and be situated west of the Alleghanies.
+
+Neither of these answers are worthy the country or the American people:
+the citizen voters of these distant states should be reminded that the
+district of Columbia is their common property, and Washington the
+capital of their great Union, representing them in the eyes of
+strangers, and from whose present condition the least prejudiced
+European will find it difficult to avoid drawing injurious conclusions.
+
+Without internal resources, and entirely dependent upon the government,
+it would be worthy their national grandeur to make this district a type
+of that grandeur; and its city, as far as all public buildings and
+general conveniences might be concerned, second to none in the world.
+
+Presuming even its occupation to be temporary, and that, at no distant
+period, it will be deserted, left again to the dominion of nature, to be
+once more incorporated with the forest,--why, a Russian boyard has
+raised as fine a city, to lodge his royal mistress in for one night, and
+set it on fire to light her home on the next after!
+
+Were it of a certainty to be deserted in ten years, I would, were I a
+representative about to be sent to it, say to my clients: "As for
+Washington, let us build, beautify, and render it habitable and
+convenient, so that, when hereafter the European traveller seeks its
+ruins in the forest, he shall never doubt but that he looks upon the
+site once honoured as the capital of the American people."
+
+I have, when in conversation with intelligent friends here, delivered
+similar sentiments, and they have smiled at them without admitting
+their justice or applicability: I now set them down for their further
+amusement, not because I imagine they will be a tittle the more
+regarded, but simply because such were my "Impressions" of Washington.
+
+I went several times to the senate-chamber and the hall of the
+representatives; but was not fortunate enough to hear a debate in the
+latter, or find any very important topic under discussion. Speeches I
+never found much attraction in anywhere, unless deeply interested in the
+subject of them; and those of the American assembly are rather made to
+be read than to be listened to. The arguments, thus delivered in
+Washington, are in fact directed to, and intended for, the constituents
+of the party, to whom they are directly forwarded in the shape of most
+formidable-looking pamphlets, no matter to what distance, post-free,
+serving as an exposition of the author's sentiments, and an evidence of
+his industry.
+
+In the senate I had the happiness to hear a slight matter debated, in
+which Messrs. Clay and Forsyth took part; and I was struck with the
+force and fluency of the one, and the gentlemanlike tone and quiet
+self-possession of the other. Mr. Henry Clay reminded me strongly of
+Brougham, when the latter happens to be in one of his mildest
+moods;--the same facility of words and happy adaptation of them; the
+same bold, confident air, as though assured of his auditory and of
+himself; and withal, a touch of sly caustic humour, conveyed in look and
+in manner, that an adversary might well feel heedful of awakening.
+
+Mr. Webster, another of the thunderers of the senate, was in his place
+on the occasion I allude to, but did not rise, which I was exceedingly
+anxious he should do, for I had already heard him speak at Boston, and
+never remember to have been more impressed. The cast, and setting on, of
+his head is grand, quite antique, his features massive and regular, yet
+in their expression, and in the calm repose of his deep-set black eyes,
+there is a strong resemblance to the native Indian, with whose blood, I
+believe, the great orator claims close affinity.
+
+Mr. Van Buren's manner I thought highly characteristic of his political
+character,--cool, courteous; with a tone quiet but persuasive, a voice
+low-pitched, but singularly effective from the clearness of his
+enunciation and well-chosen emphasis. He bestows an undivided attention
+to the matter before the house becoming his situation.
+
+As vice-president, this gentleman is chairman of the senate; a situation
+at this time of peculiar delicacy, considering his position as the
+proclaimed director of the measures of General Jackson's cabinet, and
+heir to his party and his power. His filling this chair with so little
+reproach under assaults and provocations which it required the greatest
+good temper and good sense to encounter or turn aside, I consider no
+slight evidence of that wisdom and political sagacity for which his
+party give him credit, and which have acquired for him amongst his
+admirers the familiar cognomen of the Little Magician.
+
+The ladies, however, formed the chief attraction of the senate-chamber.
+Occupying a sort of passage or gallery on a level with and circling
+round two-thirds of the floor, here they sit, listening to their
+favourite speaker wherever he may be engaged, either before the
+President's chair boldly advancing the common interest, or behind some
+fair politician's, timidly seeking to advance his own, and hence, deal
+forth their award in well-pleased smiles, in due proportion to the
+eloquence of the speaker, public or private.
+
+This is a custom the advantages of which I am sorry to find are about
+to be tested in England. Shame that a man should ever have to express
+regret that one other muster-place had been invented for a _reunion_ of
+pretty faces! But such is my honest impression, and with me honesty is
+paramount;--a quality which must serve to balance my discourteous
+opinion, and restore me to the sex's favour. Then again, I am not of the
+Commons' House, or likely to be; and do not choose, perhaps, that the
+members should divide with me that part of my audience I value most, and
+would desire if possible to monopolize.
+
+Why then, it may be asked, are these your only reasons? In reply permit
+me to say, I have a reserve of minor importance, but which may be added
+as a make-weight to my graver argument,--I do not think the place will
+become them, or that the habit of hearing debates will improve them. I
+had as soon see a woman a dragoon as a politician: not a Hussar; for I
+have seen a lady of our land make a very dashing hussar, without
+forfeiting one charm as a woman. No: I mean a "Heavy," with jackboots
+and cuirass, helmet and horse-hair; and to this condition will the
+novelty of the thing, if it becomes a fashion, possibly degrade our
+gentle, retiring, womanly women.
+
+Let me here, however, declare, that it does not appear to have had this
+fatal effect upon the American ladies, since I never found one amongst
+them who thought about talking politics, unless it was with some snob
+who was too stupid to talk any nonsense less dull. But then they are
+born to the manner, and very few of them resident in the capital. It is
+only a novelty, therefore, enjoyed once or twice; then yawned over,
+voted tiresome, and forgotten.
+
+On the other hand, our ladies, who would be most likely to monopolize
+the house, are in town for the whole session, eager for new excitement,
+and prepared to die martyrs to anything that may become the rage: then
+again, although I will answer for their capability of remaining silent
+during a debate, unless they are differently constituted from their fair
+kinswomen, t'other side the Atlantic, yet is there a coming and going, a
+rustling of silk and pulling off of gloves, a glancing of sparkling
+rings and yet more sparkling eyes, anything but promoters of attention
+or order in the house; besides the danger of a faint or two during a
+crush or a row amongst the members,--the latter, if one may rely upon
+the journals, a thing of nightly recurrence now.
+
+I have many other good reasons to advance, but as they chiefly apply to
+the younger members, I think it useless to add them; indeed, my object
+in saying so much is rather to justify my expressed opinion, than from
+either the desire or hope of seeing an order so likely to prove
+agreeable to the Commons' House rescinded.
+
+Politics have rarely run higher, or assumed an aspect more startling to
+a European, than during my residence in the States; and though it is not
+my intention to deal largely with a subject which every brother
+scribbler, who spends his six months here, arranges to his great ease
+and perfect satisfaction, yet, whenever I think my object of making the
+people known may be advanced by giving a smack of their politics, I
+shall do so with perfect freedom, considering this as ground on which
+the best friends may differ without any impeachment of good feeling or
+sound judgment.
+
+The assumption of a new power by the President in the removal of the
+national fund, upon his own responsibility, from the United States
+Bank, and in violation of the terms of their unexpired charter, deranged
+for a time the credit of the community, and convulsed the land from one
+extremity to the other. During this panic, remonstrances and prayers for
+redress poured in from one party; whilst addresses, laudatory and
+congratulatory, were duly gotten up by the other.
+
+The sea-board cities, together with every trading community, crowded the
+capital with deputations, praying the President to restore the monies
+and heal the national credit, until their importunities became so
+frequent, so personal, and led to such undignified altercations between
+these delegates and the chief of the government, that the gates of the
+palace were fairly closed against them; and, as the Whig journals
+expressed it, "for the first time, the Republic beheld the doors of the
+chief magistrate barred upon delegates charged to pour out the
+sufferings of the people, to remonstrate against their causes, and to
+awaken their author to a sense of his tyranny and injustice."
+
+In senate and congress the tone assumed by this party against
+government, and the violence of the language used, become really
+startling to the ears of the subject of a monarchy: for instance, Mr.
+Webster, in a recent speech, drew a parallel between Sylla and the
+President, or _Dictator_, as he styled him, of the States, by no means
+disadvantageous to the Roman; showing how the tyrant of old first
+excited the populace, by the basest flattery, to overturn the
+restrictive power of the senate; which done, and his lawless will being
+left without a check, he turned upon his restless, ignorant allies, and
+slaughtering them by thousands, succeeded in prostrating their liberties
+and the freedom of his country: the speaker adding,
+
+"I fear the worst fate of Rome is hanging over us; whether that of Sylla
+be in store for our despot, I know not. Should he, however, abdicate at
+the end of three years (Sylla's term), he will be hunted by the cries of
+a guilty conscience and by the curses of an outraged people, more
+intolerable than the pangs which tortured in his last moment the Roman
+tyrant!"
+
+In anticipation of another speaker's assault, a journalist says,
+
+"We may, when he delivers his sentiments,--which will be indeed the
+reflex of public opinion,--look to behold the fur fly off the back of
+the treacherous old usurper, our implacable tyrant," &c. &c.
+
+On the other hand, the adulation of the administration exhausts
+panegyric in the President's praise: his qualities are proclaimed to be
+superhuman, his intuitive wisdom and farsightedness approaching to
+omniscience; by this party he, indeed, is all but deified. The
+vice-president proclaims that he shall consider it honour enough to have
+it known that he held a place in his counsels. Members of the
+legislature, of sound age and high character, dispute in their places
+within the house their seniority of standing as "true _soldiers_ of the
+General's administration;" an odd title, by the way, independent of the
+strangeness of the avowal, for a representative of the people.
+
+The assumption of the act of responsibility, and its exercise, it is
+argued by this party, have been decisive as to the conservation of the
+_morale_ of the country, without which their liberties were held by a
+tenure liable to be quickly subverted, and the blood, and toil, and
+treasure of their predecessors spent in vain; that the integrity of
+their institutions was by this act assured, and the continuance of the
+people's happiness and prosperity based upon marble, unimpeachable and
+to endure for ever!
+
+In every society, in all places, and at all times, this subject is
+all-absorbent amongst the men. Observing with pity a very intelligent
+friend arrested in the lobby of a drawing-room which was occupied by a
+whole bevy of beauty, and there undergo a buttoning of half an hour
+before he could shake off his worrier, I inquired with a compassionate
+air, just as he made his escape, "whether he would not be glad when the
+present ferment was over, and this eternal spectre laid in the sea of
+oblivion?"
+
+"No, indeed," replied my friend coolly; "since it would only vanish to
+be succeeded by some other, in reality not quite so important perhaps,
+but which, for lack of a better, would be made to the full as absorbing
+of one's time and patience."
+
+And this is strictly true: whatever subject may turn up is laid hold on,
+tooth and nail, by the _Ins_ and _Outs_ of the day, who, dividing upon
+it, lift banners, and under the chosen war-cry, be it "Masonry," "Indian
+treaties," or "Bank charter," fairly fight it out; a condition of
+turmoil, which, viewed on the surface, may appear anything but desirable
+to a man who loves his ease and quiet, and troubles himself with
+nothing less than with affairs of state, but which constitutes one of
+the personal taxes men must pay who look to govern themselves, or who
+desire to fancy that they do so.
+
+It is a matter of great regret to me that there occurred no levee whilst
+I was in Washington; because, had one taken place, I should have enjoyed
+the honour of a closer view of the venerable chief of the States than I
+could snatch from seeing him pass two or three times on the avenue. Not
+but that there are facilities enough afforded for a presentation to one
+who is never denied when disengaged from his public duties; facilities
+which it may be very right and proper for the American citizen to avail
+himself of, but which good taste might suggest to the stranger,
+especially the Englishman, it would be more becoming in him to forego:
+as it is, I have frequently, in travelling, heard Europeans talking with
+the most offensive familiarity of having called upon the President, who
+at home would have stood hat-in-hand in their county magistrate's
+office, waiting for an interview with the great man.
+
+As viewed on horseback, the General is a fine soldierly, well-preserved
+old gentleman, with a pale wrinkled countenance, and a keen clear eye,
+restless and searching. His seat is an uncommonly good one, his hand
+apparently light, and his carriage easy and horseman-like;
+circumstances, though trifling in themselves, not so general here as to
+escape observation.
+
+His personal friends, of whom I know many most intimately, speak of him
+with great regard, and describe him politically as one whose singleness
+of purpose and integrity of mind, in all that relates to his country,
+can never be fairly impeached upon any tenable ground. With these
+friends, without regard to rank or station, he lives at all times on the
+most familiar terms. When in his neighbourhood, they visit him as they
+have ever done, without finding the slightest increase of form; and,
+over his cigar, the President canvasses the events and receives the
+opinions of the day with all the frankness of an indifferent party,
+neither affecting nor enforcing mystery or restraint.
+
+His address is described as being naturally fluent, pleasing, and
+gentlemanlike: this I have from a source on which I can confidently
+rely; for both the wife and sister of an English officer of high rank,
+themselves women of remarkable refinement of mind and manners, observed
+to me, in speaking of the President, that they had seldom met a person
+possessed of more native courtesy or a more dignified deportment.
+
+To another of the great ones of the land I had an introduction, which,
+as it is characteristic of the man, I will here relate. One afternoon,
+about dusk, being on my way to a family party at the house occupied by
+the late Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Southard, I thought I had run down
+my distance, and began an inspection of the outward appearance of the
+houses, all puzzlingly alike, when a couple of men, lounging round a
+corner, single file, smoking their cigars, chanced to cross my track.
+Addressing the rearmost, I inquired, "Pray, sir, do you chance to know
+which of the houses opposite is Mr. Southard's, the senator from New
+Jersey?"
+
+"I do know where Mr. Southard's house is," replied the stranger, eyeing
+me as I fancied somewhat curiously; "though it is not exactly opposite.
+But surely you and I have met before now,--more than once too, or I am
+greatly mistaken?"
+
+"That is more than probable, sir," replied I, "if you are fond of a
+play. My name is Power, Mr. Power of the theatre."
+
+"I thought so," cried the stranger, holding out his hand; adding
+cordially, "My name, sir, is Clay, Henry Clay, of the senate; and I am
+glad, Mr. Power, that we are now personally acquainted."
+
+I need hardly say, I joined in expressing the pleasure I derived from
+any chance which had procured me this honour, begging that I might not
+detain him longer.
+
+"But stop, Mr. Power," said the orator;--"touching Mr. Southard's;--you
+observe yonder long-sided fellow propping up the post-office down below;
+only that he is waiting for me, I'd accompany you to the house; which,
+however, you can't miss if you'll observe that it's the very last of the
+next square but one."
+
+With many thanks for his politeness, I here parted from Mr. Clay, to
+pursue my way according to his instructions, whilst he passed forward to
+join the tall gentleman, who waited for him at some distance near the
+public building which he had humorously described him as propping.
+
+An accidental interview of this kind, however brief, will do more to
+prejudice the judgment for or against a man, than a much longer and more
+ceremonious intercourse. I confess my impressions on this occasion were
+all in Mr. Clay's favour; they were confirmatory of the _bonhommie_ and
+playful humour ascribed to him by his friends and admirers, who are to
+be found throughout every part of the country.
+
+The very day following this little incident I bade adieu to Washington,
+after a second prolonged visit. I had here encountered and mixed with
+persons from every State of the Union, and became thus in possession of
+the means of making comparisons, and drawing conclusions, such as no
+other single city, or perhaps any period less generally exciting, could
+have supplied.
+
+I quitted it gratefully impressed in favour both of its private society
+and of the kind and hospitable character of its citizens generally. I
+had, whilst here, without delivering a letter, received unlooked-for
+attentions and kindnesses from persons the most distinguished for
+character and talent: attentions which I am as hopeless of ever being
+able to return, as I am incapable of ever being desirous to forget.
+
+
+
+
+BOSTON.
+
+
+JOURNEY ACROSS THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS.--PITTSBURG.
+
+
+The season continued to wear away without any severe demonstration; and
+by the 19th of February, the day on which I reached New York on my way
+from Washington to Boston, I found the first boat advertised for the
+passage, just open, to Providence,--a piece of good luck, by hitting
+which I was saved a land journey of two hundred miles.
+
+We were detained by a fog in the Sound for a few hours, but reached
+Providence by three o'clock P.M. next day, and were just ten hours going
+the forty miles between that place and Boston; one extra bad bit of
+about three miles took an excellent team exactly two hours to pull
+through it. I could not conceive the possibility of this road, which I
+had seen three months before in a very fair condition, being so utterly
+washed out; but the heavy snows of these Northern States would penetrate
+ways of adamant, and will for ever exclude them from attaining the
+perfection of a well-kept turnpike.
+
+A little after one o'clock A.M. I was rattled up to the door of the
+Tremont; where, late as the hour was, I found friends waiting up for me,
+and experienced what at all times is a pleasure, but more especially
+after such a cold jolting,--a warm welcome.
+
+I was now a resident of this city for a month, during which time I
+enjoyed a continued series of the most friendly attentions. I found
+three or four men, who, like myself, were fond of riding, and together
+we rambled over the whole of the surrounding country; and a beautiful
+country it is, with its island-gemmed bay and gaily-painted country
+seats. One of these, the house of Colonel Thomas Perkins, is seated
+within grounds well kept and tastefully laid out, with a very extensive
+range of noble hot-houses, within which, at this season and in this
+latitude, the fruit and flowers of the tropics were to be found in their
+freshest bloom and beauty. I think these grounds are more agreeably
+broken, offer a greater variety of soil, and command a finer prospect of
+land and sea, than any place I ever visited of equal dimensions.
+
+We wanted nothing, on many of the fine open mornings we now had, but a
+pack of good foxhounds: the land is better cleared than it is farther
+south, the covers smaller, with fewer swamps, and no fencing that might
+not be crept round or got over by even a moderate-going man.
+
+I had heard a good many amusing anecdotes of the infinite respect with
+which the country people of New England view and address persons of
+their own grade, and the utter disregard of decent ceremony which they
+evince towards all others: there appeared something so whimsically
+exaggerated in these stories, that I never had received them as
+veritable history; and when the Duke of Saxe Weimar told of the
+coachman's inquiring "Are you the man going to Portland? because, if you
+are, I'm the gentleman that's a going to drive you," I set it down for a
+good joke, illustrative, perchance, of a _brusquerie_ of manner which
+did exist, but not in itself strictly true. I have, however, during my
+present sojourn here, received good corroborative evidence of its being
+a veracious report.
+
+I went out on one occasion to partake of a fine black bear, that had
+been killed at a house famous for the plenty, the quality, and cooking
+of game. There were eight or nine men of the party, some of whom had
+ridden out on horseback: in going over a rail-fence close to the house
+we were to dine at, the horse I rode struck both hind feet and cast his
+shoes: as soon as I got into the yard, where some of the party had
+already dismounted, I inquired for the ostler. A good-humoured,
+active-looking fellow immediately made his appearance, with whom, being
+desirous to have my nag's feet looked after before we set out on our
+return, I was led into the following dialogue.
+
+"Pray, have you a smithy in this neighbourhood?"
+
+"We've gotten a blacksmith or two, I guess."
+
+"At what distance is the nearest blacksmith's forge?"
+
+"Well, I don't 'no; there is a shop about half a mile maybe, or
+ther'bouts."
+
+"Can you have this horse taken down there to get the two hind shoes put
+on?"
+
+"Guess not, 'cept I car' him down myself."
+
+"Well, will you carry him down yourself?"
+
+"Well, you see, I can't tell about that nohow at present. Guess I will,
+if I can tho', by an' by."
+
+"But why can't you say whether you will or will not? I'll pay you for
+your trouble. Have you any objection to taking the horse down?"
+
+"Oh no! not at all, by no means. I've no objection nohow to obleege you,
+if, you see, I can find some other gentleman to look after my horses
+whiles I go."
+
+My companions, who had been enjoying this cross-examination of my
+equivocal friend, now laughed outright, and heartily did I join in the
+guffaw: they were to "the manner born," and it was my puzzled expression
+that so tickled them; to me, after the first surprise was over, the
+whole thing was indescribably droll. I caught instantly "another
+gentleman," an idler about the public-house door, who, for a shilling,
+found the cast shoes, and undertook to do for the horses whilst the
+first gentleman, of the stable, led my nag away to the forge.
+
+This was a very fair specimen, but we were to be favoured with another
+and a better. Mr. T. P----s, a son of the Colonel's, one of the foremost
+citizens of this State, was driven out in his English landau, with
+certain delicacies not to be expected where we dined. As the coachman,
+who was a servant of the old Colonel's, drew up by the inn-door, he was
+immediately recognised, and saluted most cordially by the landlord; who,
+addressing him by his name,--Jenkins, or whatever it was,--hoped he was
+quite well, and was "uncommon glad to see him." During this ceremony,
+Mr. P----s had alighted; and, in order to be particularly civil,
+observed with great good-humour to the landlord,
+
+"Ah, my friend, what you remember Jenkins, do you?"
+
+"Why yes, I guess I ought," replied our host of the game; "I've know'd
+Muster Jenkins long enough, seein' he's the _gentleman_ as used to drive
+old Tom P----'s coach."
+
+The fact was, the man knew the Colonel--or old Tom P----s, as he styled
+him--quite well, but had forgotten Mr. P----s, who had been much in
+Europe, and was, moreover, put quite out of his latitude by the English
+landau Mr. Jenkins was driving: he guessed, I suppose, that this
+_gentleman_ had hired a new master, and had consequently turned off the
+family of his old one.
+
+Odd as all this sounds, the strangest part of the matter is, that there
+appears no disrespect, nor churlishness of manner, conveyed or implied
+by this reversal of conventional distinctions. I can at least answer for
+the ostler, who required some other _gentleman_ as _aide_, turning out
+on this, and on other occasions, a most assiduously civil fellow; and as
+for our host, he served up the steaks of his bear as though it might
+never have danced to any but the "genteelest o' tunes," and himself have
+been its instructor.
+
+He certainly gave us, in a plain but comfortable way, the best game
+dinner possible, including trout and codling of the finest flavour. Let
+me add, that I liked the bear vastly; and, after assisting to pick his
+ribs, carried away the skin which had once covered them,--not the least
+delicate portion of this bruin, by the way, for it was the blackest and
+richest fur, of the kind, I ever saw.
+
+I quitted this hospitable city on the 10th of March, and remained in New
+York until the 20th, when I departed for Pittsburg _via_ Philadelphia;
+although, from the little I had seen of stageing, I would have given a
+trifle to have been off the engagement, which I had made without
+contemplating the difficulties to be expected in a stage journey of
+three hundred miles over the Alleghanies at this early season. I had
+latterly, however, heard enough of the condition of this route, or line
+as it is called; but the intelligence was of a colour anything but
+cheering.
+
+At Philadelphia I took my place for Pittsburg, in the "Good Intent
+line," professing to carry only six inside; but this excellent intention
+of the worthy proprietors must be consigned to the commissioners of
+pavement in a certain unmentionable place, since it was never fulfilled.
+We commenced our journey with seven, the book-keeper making it a favour
+that we should take in one gentleman who was greatly pressed for time. I
+perceived, as we started, another person get outside, which made us
+eight.
+
+We were very soon transferred to the Columbia rail-road, which was in
+progress and now travelled upon for about twenty-one miles: along this I
+was rolled over the viaduct whose commencement I had noted, and, I
+believe, regretted. According to Mitchell's description, it crosses the
+Schuylkill at a place called Peter's Island; is one thousand and
+forty-five feet long and forty-one wide, being thirty feet above
+water-mark. Of the elevation, when I crossed on this occasion, we had an
+excellent opportunity of forming an opinion; for, except a pathway in
+the centre, the spaces between the beams had not yet been filled in, so
+that we looked through on to the water running beneath: the workmen were
+hard at it covering over and filling up; but it was passable in its
+present state, and therefore, "Go a-head was the word:"--there's no time
+lost here, i'faith! Immediately on crossing this viaduct, you come on an
+inclined plane two thousand eight hundred and five feet long: this
+struck me as being admirably contrived.
+
+I was very sorry when we were once again to be re-packed in our stage.
+Though one gets accustomed to anything in time, I never exactly brought
+myself to view these frequent transfers as a part of travelling to be
+rejoiced in. Our system of running a coach through a journey is not yet
+adopted here; they still stick to the old plan,--every proprietor his
+own vehicle; consequently you are for ever trundling from one to
+another, to your own great discomfiture, and to the destruction of any
+but the toughest sort of trunks.
+
+I forget how often we changed coach on this journey; indeed, I fancy
+that, during the third night out, I might have effected a transfer or
+two in my sleep; but I recollect that they were vexatiously frequent,
+and would have been more grievous had the weather been less generally
+fair.
+
+My fellow passengers were, luckily, with one exception, thin spare
+fellows, all citizens of the frontier State of Illinois; the fat subject
+was a countryman of my own, who had been for many years a resident at
+Pittsburg, and was a merry, contented son of Erin as ever jolted over
+these rough roads, which he informed me he did once at least in every
+season.
+
+We soon shook into shape: the condition of the turnpike, after the woful
+accounts I had received, appeared to me exceedingly passable; indeed, it
+was infinitely better than any part of the one between Washington and
+Baltimore, or than the Boston and Providence turnpike, as I had last
+experienced it. The country through which we rode was under excellent
+cultivation; the barns attached to the roadside houses were all large,
+brick-built, and in the very neatest condition. The approach to
+Lancaster, a fine town about forty miles from Philadelphia, was very
+beautiful, and bespoke the people rich in agricultural wealth. I have
+seldom seen a finer valley, or one under more careful cultivation.
+
+The next large place we arrived at was Harrisburg, the capital of the
+State of Pennsylvania: it was midnight when we reached it; but I
+immediately walked to look at the State-house, where the legislature
+assembles, and about which are ranged the public offices.
+
+The mass appeared large; and the effect of the buildings with their
+lofty classic porticos, viewed under the influence of a fine starlight
+night, was imposing enough: the situation is well chosen, appearing like
+a natural elevation in the midst of a plain, and overlooking the waters
+of the Susquehannah, above whose banks the city is built.
+
+One always feels something like disappointment on entering one of these
+capitals, although previously aware that the site is selected with
+regard only to the general convenience of the community, and without
+reference to the probabilities of its ever becoming important for its
+trade or of monstrous size. A European accustomed to seek in the capital
+of a country the highest specimens of its excellence in art, and the
+utmost of its refinement in literature, and indeed, in all which relates
+to society, is necessarily hard to reconcile to these small rustic
+cities, whose population is doubled by villages he has only heard named
+for the first time whilst journeying on his way to the Liliputian
+mistress of them all. As places of meeting for the legislature, I am of
+those who think the smallness of the population an advantage. Firstly,
+the members are freed from the expense consequent upon living in large
+cities; and next, the chambers are removed from having their
+deliberations overawed or impeded by any of those sudden outbreaks of
+popular madness to which all people are prone, and to which the nature
+of this government more immediately exposes it, without possessing any
+power quickly to arrest or even control such licence.
+
+Harrisburg is highly spoken of for the salubrity as well as the beauty
+of its site, and gives promise of becoming important in point of
+population; at present its inhabitants are about four thousand.
+
+From this we steered away to the southward, until at Chambersburg we
+struck the direct road leading from Baltimore to Pittsburg. We had a
+rough night of it; but a halt of an hour at Chambersburg in the morning,
+enabled me to make a comfortable toilet and get an excellent breakfast.
+Here we took the first spur of the mountains, and from this were on a
+continual ascent.
+
+Up the longer and steeper hills I constantly walked, and was often an
+hour in advance of the stage. This mountain region is certainly a very
+fine one, and I do not think its grandeur has ever been done justice to
+in description. Its attributes are all gigantic: it has the picturesque
+ruggedness of the Appenines, without their barrenness; since the valleys
+lying between the ridges, wherever they have been cleared, give
+evidences of the richest soil. A view from any hill top, however, shows
+these clearings to be mere specks in the surrounding forest, which yet
+clothes richly the sides of each interminable ridge you cross, fringes
+their most rugged summits, and waves over the loftiest peaks.
+
+At Bedford Springs there is a most excellent inn; but the one at a
+miserable village called Macconnelville, presented an aspect anything
+but inviting: the precaution of Mr. Head, however, had made me
+independent of supplies. On quitting the Mansion-house he had fitted up
+a small basket with sundry comforts, which were of infinite use to
+myself and comrades, they served as a speedy introduction and a durable
+cement to our friendship.
+
+I like these Western men; their off-hand manner makes you at once at
+your ease with them: they abound in anecdote growing out of the state in
+which they live, full of wild frolic and hardy adventure, and they
+recount these adventures with an exaggeration of figure quite Oriental,
+in a phraseology peculiar to themselves, and with a manner most
+humorous.
+
+Much amongst strangers, they have a quick appreciation of character;
+and, where they take a dislike, are, I have no doubt, mighty troublesome
+customers; they are, however, naturally courteous, and capable of
+genuine and inbred kindness, as a little anecdote of my present trip
+will serve to illustrate.
+
+On the morning of our second night out, I observed the Major and his
+friends holding a council just as we were stepping into the coach. We
+were eight persons, which gave three sitters to two of the seats and two
+to the third; by way of relief, my servant or myself frequently mounted
+the box, enabling the parties to separate,--a luxury of no mean
+importance. On this occasion I noticed, on being about to take my seat,
+which was the front one, that it was unoccupied, Sam being on the box,
+and three persons on each of the other seats. On requesting that one of
+the sitters by my fat friend would share the vacant front with me, the
+Major informed me that the arrangement was preconcerted, as they knew I
+was not quite so well used to rough roads as they were, and had work
+before me on getting to my journey's end; begging me to fix myself
+comfortably on the seat, and try and sleep for an hour or two.
+
+This being a piece of unpurchasable, unthought-for consideration and
+civility, I conceived it as well worth notice as the many instances of
+brutality which ill-used travellers put on record; but it is by no means
+the only example I have seen of these rough subjects' innate kindness,
+and, I may add, good-breeding. There is, with them, a give-and-take
+system whilst thus roughing it in company, they seek no exclusive
+advantage, and evince no selfishness; but they are quick-sighted and
+shrewd observers, and I would recommend any who desire to travel
+comfortably with them, to carefully suppress any exhibition of
+over-regard for self.
+
+With this precaution, let a stranger, and a British subject, be only
+known as such, and if a preference should occur, I will answer for his
+standing a good chance of getting it.
+
+Here I enjoyed my first lesson in what is familiarly termed riding a
+rail; and from all such railways I hope to be spared henceforward. The
+term is derived from a fence-rail being occasionally used to supply the
+place of a broken thoro'-brace, by which all these stages are hung; and
+these are, in fact, the only sort of spring that would endure the load
+and the "rough breaks" their virtue must go through.
+
+We broke down by a sudden plump, into a hole, that would have shaken a
+broad-wheeled waggon into shavings. Our driver did not approve of any of
+the fence-rails in the vicinity, so plunged into the wood, accompanied
+by one of my Western companions; and in ten minutes they returned,
+bearing a young hickory pole, that the driver assured us was "as tough
+as Andrew Jackson himself,[10] and as hard to break, though it might
+give a leetle under a heavy load." This was shoved under the body of the
+carriage, and rested upon the fore and hind axles: it was lashed fast,
+and the spare part of the spar was left sticking out behind, like the
+end of the main boom of a smack. The coach body, when rested upon this,
+was found to have a considerable list to port; but to have brought it to
+an even keel would have been a work of time,--not that such a thing was
+contemplated for a moment. The driver was enabled by this ingenious
+substitute for a carriage-spring to "go ahead:" the rest was luxury,
+which the "Good-intent line" did not bargain for; so we were left to
+trim ship to our liking. Contrary to all my experience, I insisted that
+the heaviest part of our cargo should be stowed at the bottom, for to
+have had my countryman's eighteen stone of solid stuff to prop up, for
+twenty miles, would have required the shoulders of Atlas.
+
+Whilst walking up the mountains, I frequently overtook settlers moving
+with all their worldly goods over to the great Western valley. I
+generally exchanged a few words with them, and with the more
+communicative now and then had a considerable long talk. Most of them
+were small farmers and mechanics from the Northern States, who followed
+here in the wake of kindred or neighbours, their plan arranged and
+their location determined upon. One or two heads of families, however,
+told me they were just going to look about, and did not know rightly
+where they might set up.
+
+I overtook one old couple attending a single-horse waggon up
+Laurel-hill; and surely, if any laurels awaited them at the summit, they
+were hardly enough won. The appearance of this pair attracted me as I
+approached the rocky platform where for a moment they had halted to
+breathe: the woman was a little creature, dressed in an old-fashioned
+flowered gown, with sleeves tight to the elbows, met by black mittens of
+faded silk, and a very small close bonnet of the same colour. She had
+small brass buckles in her shoes; a cane, like those borne by running
+footmen, in one hand, and upon the other arm a small basket, rolled up
+within which lay a tabby cat, with which she held a conversation in what
+sounded to me like broken French and English.
+
+The man was a son of Anak in altitude, somewhat bent by years, but
+having a soldierlike air. His white hair was combed back, and gathered
+behind into a thick club: he wore a long greatcoat, which, if made for
+him, gave testimony to a considerable falling-off in his proportions,
+for it hung but loosely about him; had a very broad-leaved hat set
+jauntily on one side of his head; and supported his steps upon a sturdy
+stick.
+
+I saluted this singular-looking pair, and was by the lady honoured with
+an especially gracious curtsey, whilst the gaunt old man bade me good
+day in an accent decidedly foreign. I patted the cat of the basket,
+addressing it in French, and was in a moment overwhelmed by the delights
+of its mistress, who _ciel_'d, and _mon-Dieu_'d, and _quel-plaisir_'d,
+until, if her tall _mari_ had not stepped in to the rescue, I do not
+know to what lengths her delight might not have carried her.
+
+The horse was sufficiently rested; the man who drove it was ready to
+proceed; and the ancient Parisienne, for such she was, had once more to
+ensconce herself beneath the canvass covering of the waggon, into which
+I had the honour of assisting herself and her cat, amidst thanks and
+excuses blended with all the graceful volubility of a well-bred
+Frenchwoman,--for well-bred she was, beyond a doubt.
+
+"My poor little woman!" said the old giant, as, after the twentieth
+adieu, I joined him where he waited a little in advance of the waggon,
+and quickened my pace to keep up with his strides,--"she is made too
+happy for to-day to hear a gentleman address her in her own language,
+and by whom she can be understood;" adding, "You are not a Frenchman,
+sir?"
+
+"I am not," said I, smiling; "but should imagine you are, by the
+compliment you so adroitly infer."
+
+"No, sir," rejoined mine ancient, "I am a Biscayan; bred a ship-builder,
+but at present a house-carpenter."
+
+"But you speak English like a native: how is that?" inquired I, desirous
+of continuing the dialogue thus begun.
+
+"I have been forty years in this good country, and have made better
+progress than my poor little woman, though she is well educated and I
+have no learning to help me."
+
+"Madame, then, is not Spanish?"
+
+"No, sir, she is of Paris; and, what is very odd, that is nearly all she
+ever told me of herself. It was in the winter of 1792 that I first met
+my poor little woman: I had slept within a few miles of Havre, and was
+just turned away from the cabaret, when a little boy joined me,
+requesting that I would let him walk with me to the town. We fell into
+chat, when I discovered that my new friend had no passport, but that he
+had money, and was desirous to escape from France, no matter to what
+place. He was in great trouble; cried much; said he had lost all his
+friends, and begged me not to desert him.
+
+"It would be too long a story to tell you all the trouble I had to get
+him on board ship with me; but, sir, that little boy is now in the
+waggon where you handed him."
+
+"Your wife!" exclaimed I, affecting surprise, and really greatly
+interested. "But when did she disclose her sex to you?"
+
+"Why, sir, there was no great need of disclosure after we once got to
+sea; her cowardice told her story, but I kept her secret till we arrived
+at Philadelphia, where we married; and in the lower part of this State
+we have lived ever since quietly enough, until lately."
+
+"And what, at your age, could induce you to cross the mountains, my
+friend?"
+
+"Why, sir, work was scarce in our country place, and I'm told there's a
+heap of building raising about Pittsburg, that's one reason; but the
+truth is that our politics have changed a good deal in Pennsylvania of
+late. In a scuffle at the bar of our hotel, this last election, I got
+knocked down and trodden on; my arm was broken, and I a good deal hurt;
+and my poor woman took such a horror of the little bit of mobbing we had
+that she would make me pull up stakes, and here we are on our last
+move."
+
+We walked on side by side, until the waggon was left far behind and the
+coach came up. We had a long talk on the subject of politics; and,
+although a stanch American and a republican, I found my friend was
+opposed to "the removal of the deposits,"--the universal test of the
+day,--and by no means a whole-hog man. But he said, "It is a fine
+country and a fine people; I am a citizen, have lived here forty years,
+and hope to die here."
+
+Wishing that his desire might have a late fulfilment, I shook the honest
+veteran's hand; and we parted for ever, after an intercourse of three
+hours had created a sort of fellowship between us. Here was an humble
+chapter from the romance of real life, gleaned, where such an adventure
+was least expected, in one of the passes of the Alleghanies.
+
+The walk up this hill was, independent of the good companionship I
+enjoyed, in itself fine: the road circling about dark ravines, from
+whose thickly-wooded deeps rose the hollow murmur of closely-pent
+currents, whose waters had rarely reflected the rays of the sun; and in
+other places clinging to the steep precipice, from whose side it had
+been cut, and which was yet burthened with the half-burnt trunks of
+hundreds of noble trees that had fallen to make place for it. The view,
+too, from the summit was glorious; and I thought as I looked below,
+northward and eastward, where two wide openings gave a boundless stretch
+of valley to the eye, that my journey was well repaid: but it was not
+over yet; and, before we reached Pittsburg, I do not know but that there
+were moments when I would have retracted this burst of enthusiasm.
+
+The third afternoon and night it rained incessantly; the road from
+Youngstown, or Greensburg, being nearly as bad as that memorable
+Washington turnpike. The delays, too, were unnecessary and frequent; at
+some of the changing-places the servants had to be roused, and this was
+no easy task. Now and then, an extra independent hand refused to get
+up, or denied us help when he was up; in which case the poor devil of a
+driver was left to his own resources, with, now and then, the aid of a
+half-naked, wretched negro.
+
+The travelling of the "Good Intent," taking the roads into
+consideration, was a capital pace, the horses excellent; but I have set
+down, that, on a pretty fair estimate, making allowance for the
+exaggerations of discomfort and ill-humour, about nine hours on the
+whole line were lost for want of the commonest attention, and the
+passengers greatly inconvenienced without any advantage accruing to the
+proprietors.
+
+At length we emerged from the slough, and about daylight on the third
+morning were rumbled over the _pave_ of Pittsburg.
+
+The inn was closed; but the rough assault of my Western friends soon
+roused the bar-keeper, who got his door open just in time to save his
+lock from a huge paving-stone, with which the angry Major purposed to
+test its power of resistance.
+
+"Why, you're in an uncommon hurry," exclaimed the half-awakened
+bar-keeper.
+
+"That's more than we can say of you, stranger," retorted the Major.
+"What was you about that you didn't hear the coach? Maybe it was the
+rain made such a noise you couldn't?"
+
+"No; does it rain that hard, though?" gaped the matter-of-fact mixer of
+liquids.
+
+"I guess it does; and if it wasn't that you've got the key of the
+liquor, it would be only right to put you out into it for an hour; for
+you are the hardest-hearted white-man I ever come across, this side the
+mountains, or you'd a' moved quicker to let in a dog on such a night."
+
+A rousing fire and some hot whisky and water soon restored our
+good-humour: a bed was quickly arranged for me by a good-natured negro,
+who had, I verily believe, just crawled out of it; a fire was lighted in
+the little hole it occupied; and in half an hour I was fast asleep on
+the banks of _la belle riviere_.
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[10] "Old Hickory" is one of the familiar names by which his lovers
+delight to designate the venerable President.
+
+
+
+
+PITTSBURG.
+
+
+My first visit, at an early hour on Monday morning, was to the banks of
+the Monongahela, which ran by the bottom of the main street, wherein I
+was lodged. The water was at this time low, being fifteen feet under its
+highest level: the point of junction with the Alleghany lay, as I
+discovered, some way below. The opposite heights, which rise boldly from
+the water's edge, looked dark and drear enough, covered as they are with
+a stubble of blackened stumps, and a few blasted trees, the ghosts of
+the ruined forest. The political economist, however, would find ready
+consolation in the mounds of coal-dust, the dingy low-roofed buildings,
+together with the swinging of a hundred cranks, worked by the engines
+whose smoke is seen curling along the face of the steep hill. It is to
+give place to these iron giants that the forest has been felled; and to
+supply these with fire, the mountain is in this direction pierced to its
+centre.
+
+Nature has supplied this place with wharves; and the people appear
+quite contented with her handiwork, for they are left as she made them.
+I counted fourteen steamboats all busied in taking in or discharging
+freight; and the river was here and there dotted by keels of a rude,
+picturesque construction: everything, indeed, gave evidence of active
+and prosperous trade.
+
+I from hence made a circuit of the principal part of the town, which is
+soon accomplished, for it offers nothing externally to arrest the
+passer-by for a moment: the streets are narrow, irregular, and
+ill-paved; the houses as dirty as the smoke of bituminous coal can make
+them, and, though substantially built, are in general wholly destitute
+of neatness or ornament.
+
+Upon Grant's Hill, a spur of one of the surrounding heights, that
+thrusts itself boldly into the heart of the delta on which the town is
+built, I found a Gothic edifice almost completed, the magnitude and
+tasteful design of which attracted me: I entered it, and perceived at
+once that it was a place of Catholic worship. From a communicative
+little man, whom I observed for some time eyeing me with a sociable
+look, I learnt that this was the cathedral; and it stands a pleasing
+memorial of the liberality of the sects of this town, having been
+raised by voluntary subscriptions made among the numerous congregations
+of the place.
+
+It is a grateful task to record such evidences of the existence of true
+Christian charity; they reconcile one to one's fellows, and serve to
+balance the barbarous acts of bigotry and blindness which yet
+occasionally disgrace the age and degrade humanity. This edifice, when
+completed, will be an attractive object, both from its commanding site
+and the character of its architecture, which is of the florid Gothic,
+tastefully sustained throughout.
+
+Descending the steep bluff of Grant's Hill, I entered the theatre, which
+lies within its shadow. This building was not yet a year old, and
+offered one of the neatest-formed interiors possible, calculated to
+contain about one thousand persons. It had all the offices and
+appointments of such an establishment, well and conveniently arranged;
+and in this respect might serve as a model to more important-looking
+houses. The ornamental parts of the interior were already disfigured by
+the smoke which fills this atmosphere day and night, and fully
+exonerates the people from the charge of being wilfully regardless of
+neatness and _proprete_ in the arrangement of their dwellings.
+
+I found the manager, Mr. Wemyss, at his post, and all things in
+tolerable order. At night the house was filled; though how the people
+made their way home again I do not know: even the short distance I had
+to explore on the line of the principal street, I found beset with
+perils; loose pavement, scaffold-poles, rubbish, and building materials
+of all kinds blocked up the _trottoir_ in several places, which were to
+be avoided by instinct, for light here was none, natural or artificial.
+At length, after a few stumbles, I was securely housed in a small room,
+which I was promised the exclusive use of, and wherein the cheerful
+light of the bituminous coal, that blazed like pitch-pine, in my mind
+made ample amends for the dust it created, and of this, the amount was
+by no means trifling.
+
+The next day I was joined by Lieutenant I----d, of the cavalry corps
+about to advance on an expedition through the prairies, and across the
+hunting-grounds of the Nomade tribes, ranging over the still
+slightly-explored regions lying between the Mississippi and the Rocky
+Mountains. We were ancient comrades of the spur and snaffle, having
+harried the low country in company far and wide; and, the morning being
+fine, we were quickly mounted for a raid through this new land.
+
+Crossing the long bridge over the Monongahela, a muddy, turbid-looking
+river, we commenced the ascent of Coal Hill, so called from the great
+quantities of this material it supplies; along its base lies a range of
+busy manufactories, and the roar of the steam-engine resounds on all
+sides. Here, too, is a growing town, called Birmingham; but it must
+overleap the mountain, or, following the galleries by which the miners
+have already penetrated to its centre, become a subterranean city,
+before it can hope to rival even a suburb of its gigantic sponsor.
+
+We had much difficulty in scaling the hill; the track was knee-deep in
+heavy mud, and in trying to follow a narrow ledge, by which we
+calculated to avoid this impediment for a hundred yards, I----'s horse
+made a false step, and fairly rolled down a precipitous descent of some
+fifty feet into the road beneath, to the infinite amusement of a group
+of miners, who had probably been "guessing" that such a termination to
+our scramble was likely: they now swore that a better Racker[11] down
+hill they had never seen. I----d had thrown himself adroitly out of his
+seat on the upper side of the ledge the very instant of the brute's
+slip, and, being unhurt, soon caught the astonished nag, which remained
+quietly looking about by the bottom of the precipice, half buried in an
+avalanche of shingle and small coal he had loosened in his course.
+
+Once on the summit of this coal-hill, the plan of the growing city of
+manufacture lay displayed as on a chart beneath our feet, together with
+a great extent of country, and the course and character of the two fine
+rivers which, combined at this spot, take henceforward the name and
+style of the Ohio, or River of Beauty.
+
+The course of the muddy Monongahela is north-west; and, from about
+north-east, the clear, lively Alleghany comes bounding into it,
+breasting its turbid waters, and bearing their heavy mass back by its
+brisk charge close against the western bank, whence, side by side, they
+take their downward course, but each preserving its distinctive
+character and colour for a considerable distance; divided by a pretty
+verdant island, about a couple of miles below their junction, they each
+embrace a moiety of it, renewing their churlish fellowship once more
+when this obstacle is passed.
+
+The town stands upon a small alluvial delta, of a triangular form, at
+the exact point of union between the rivers,--a spot so lovely, that, as
+I looked upon it, much as I respect manufactures, I found myself
+involuntarily wishing that fate had reserved it for some less dirty
+purpose. As the city grows, it must of necessity climb the steep bluffs
+by which it is encompassed; and on these it is not too much to imagine,
+at no far period, the squares, terraces, and crescents of a wealthy and
+public-spirited community; whilst, within the crowded triangle beneath,
+the clang of the noisy steam-engine and the black smoke will lie
+drowned, and along the narrow strips of level soil skirting its rivers
+will rise the warehouses and wharves of its commerce.
+
+To the north of the Alleghany you see the little town of that name, with
+one or two buildings conspicuous, at this distance, for their size:
+this, too, is united to Pittsburg by a bridge of great apparent
+lightness and strength.
+
+From the abutting hill whence we took our first long survey of this
+congeries of future cities, we took a western course, following the line
+of the Ohio; but holding to the high lands, till coming back, when we
+made a _detour_ to the north, and thus got frequent and fine views of
+the neighbourhood.
+
+The country appears generally hilly, with rich glens and valleys lying
+between, having numerous streams of clear living water, and presenting
+every proof of exhaustless mineral wealth; hence its adoption by the
+industrious swarm whose fires darken the sky by night and day.
+
+The day after this, I----d embarked on board a steamer for Louisville,
+on his way to join the head-quarters of his corps, somewhere upon the
+Missouri. The Republic allows no sinecure pay to its soldiers: most of
+these gallant men pass the best half of their lives upon the frontier,
+wasted by sickness, removed far from society or sympathy, poorly paid
+and worse thanked, enjoying very little present consideration, and
+without hope of future fame. It must require an ardent imagination, and
+all the romance with which poetry has invested sword and feather, to
+keep an American soldier to his colours in this time of peace; as, on a
+sober worldly view, his appears the least enviable condition to be
+found in the community.
+
+I on this day took a solitary ride up the Monongahela, and visited the
+scene of Bradock's defeat and death. I found it all snugly fenced in,
+and under good cultivation. An intelligent farmer, who was on the spot,
+good-naturedly undertook, in answer to an inquiry I made, to act as
+_cicerone_. The localities appeared like a book to him: he told where
+the French lay _perdu_; pointed out the cover from whence the British
+advanced, to be repulsed headlong; where they, according to his legend,
+were re-formed, and once more thrust forward, to be again, and finally,
+overthrown.
+
+I understood the minutest details of the whole affair, as well as the
+positions occupied by French, English, Indians, and Virginians, before
+my good-natured guide appeared quite satisfied; at least, I was forced,
+out of consideration for my own time and his patience, to say so much,
+and with many thanks to leave him: not, however, until he had urged me
+strongly to come home and take tea with his wife, or at least take a
+drink with him; one or both of which I pledged myself to do on a future
+occasion.
+
+It was not a little amusing, at this distant day, to observe the ardour
+with which my guide canvassed the lost fight, of which he had read, as
+he informed me, twenty different accounts.
+
+"It was a shame," he said, "a right-down sin, and a throwin' away of
+men's lives, ever to have put them under Bradock's command," whom he
+accused of having "no more military gumption than a goose."--"Why," he
+said, "two companies of British grenadiers would have eat every
+_crapaud_ on the ground, if they'd bin let to go round and in at one end
+o' the ditch, instead of walking right straight up hill agin' the loaded
+muzzles of guns they couldn't see, only by the smoke out o' the long
+grass."
+
+Then he would take off his hat, wipe his brow, and fairly knock it
+against his knee with vexation at the British defeat.
+
+"Why, sir," he said, at the same time grasping my thigh, where I sat in
+my saddle, with an energy that brought tears into my eyes,--"why,
+mister, just do you look up at that little knoll to the right; the place
+warn't cleared then, and there was a heap o' dead timber lying
+there-bout. Well, sir, Washington sent, out of his own head,--for he
+warn't a deal thought on then, you see,--a company of Virginians to try
+the trees for it. Well, now just look where they were fixed by that
+move, right over the _crapauds_,--every mother's son o' them Virginians
+good for a squirrel at fifty yards. I'm d----d if they wouldn't have
+used up every human of a Frenchman behind the drain, if it had been left
+to a settlement between them, and if the English would only quietly ha'
+looked on, and kept Johnny from breaking cover and treeing it."
+
+"And why the devil didn't they use them up?" I here demanded, to give my
+vexed informant time to breathe.
+
+"I'll tell you why, if you don't know. Why, because that d----d Bradock
+was blind as well as deaf, and took the Virginians for inimies; so, not
+bein' able to get at Johnny, he slamm'd it right smash into them, and
+killed the biggest half on 'em as they were tryin' to run back to their
+own side. Sir, it was nothin' better than an eternal murder, and Bradock
+ought to have swung for it; but he was shot down, somehow or other, and
+died amongst better men, only shootin' was a sight too good for him."
+
+Taking the statement of my friend for the ground of my opinion, I left
+him, at once amused by his enthusiasm and informed by his intelligence.
+
+I did purpose keeping tryst with my new acquaintance, and having the
+battle fought over again, when I might have been able to do some justice
+to the force and spirit of his narration; but other routes were to be
+visited, and my time was limited to a few days: so we met no more.
+
+On another day I rode by the United States' Arsenal, a fine building,
+inclosing some acres. It is well situated, near the banks of the
+Alleghany, about two miles out of the town. This is one of the most
+considerable _depots_ for arms and ordnance stores to be found in the
+Western country.
+
+From this I pursued my way up the river for a mile or two, to where, at
+a pretty quiet spot, I observed a boat just leaving the bank for the
+north side. I hailed the ferryman, and he returned immediately, when,
+adding myself and nag to his freight, he again commenced pulling up the
+stream, assisted by a couple of curly-headed urchins, his sons, two out
+of twelve, as he laughingly told me; adding, that they were capital
+helps.
+
+We had a couple of market-waggons aboard the flat, each drawn by a pair
+of horses. The river, I fancied, was here about as wide as the Thames at
+Southwark, running clear and strong; the banks tolerably bold, very
+regular, and fringed by a luxuriant growth of various trees and
+water-loving shrubs. On the other side I fell on the Pennsylvania canal,
+and I for a mile followed the line by which it approaches the town of
+Alleghany, till, coming to a rough high hill, I was tempted to try the
+ascent, which, after a good deal of ducking and scrambling, I
+accomplished.
+
+The prospect from the summit amply repaid me: at my feet lay the growing
+town of Alleghany, which stands on a fine alluvial plain affording ample
+space for a city as large as Pekin; with two ports, one on the
+Alleghany, the other on the Ohio. I here traced the course of the canal
+to the aqueduct on which it crosses the river. Two fine steamers, with
+their galleried decks tier over tier, were stemming the current, each
+looking like the old wood-cut of Noah's Ark,--houses built upon rafts,
+of three stories high, with balconies running round them, the whole
+being covered by inclined roofs. Many of the picturesque-looking keels
+found here were also working up for the quays; and the waters just
+before the busy town presented a strange contrast to the view either up
+or down the rivers, where all was tranquil and solitary as when the
+light _pirogue_ of the adventurous _voyageur_ first timidly skimmed
+along by their rich shores, sending the startled deer to the mountain
+and drawing the watchful savage down.
+
+How to get back was now a consideration without retracing my steps, to
+do which I had neither the instinct nor the inclination. I pushed for a
+near wood, from which I perceived smoke stealthily curling over the tree
+tops; and, after a long threading of the thicket, stumbled upon a little
+colony of charcoal-burners, the blackest and the merriest devils I ever
+met: they might have been Iroquois, or negroes, from their colour; but
+the first reply I got to my hail rendered any inquiry as to country
+unnecessary.
+
+"Hola! my friend," shouted I at the top of my voice, as a tall,
+half-naked being stalked out of one of the huts, from which I was
+separated by a deep ravine; "pray step this way for one moment."
+
+The man did as I desired, without a word; a couple of attendant imps
+hanging on to the strings of his knees.
+
+"I'm sorry to trouble you," I added, as he drew within easy
+speaking-distance; "but the fact is, I have lost my road, and fear to
+lose my dinner."
+
+"I'faith, thin, sir, if you'll tell me where-abouts you lost the road
+I'll find you the dinner, and go and look for the road while you're
+atein' it: with the blessing o' God, it will be the first road I seen
+since I've bin this side o' Pittsburg, to say the laste."
+
+"Maybe you've seen a fine aisy-goin' road betune Cork and Cove?" I
+replied, in the same accent.
+
+"Maybe I hav'nt," grinned the pleased charcoal-burner, laughing from ear
+to ear. "Och murder! you're the devil, sure! wasn't it the last ten
+miles I ever toed of Irish ground? Long life to you, sir! wait till I
+call the wife. Molly ashtore, come out av id, for here's a witch of a
+gintleman here. Jem, you robber, go and bid your mammy stir herself and
+come here."
+
+Away ran Jem and his brother, or rather flew, for their feathers were
+fluttering in the air. I laughed immoderately whilst my countryman,
+with the most puzzled air, exclaimed,
+
+"Och murder! but it's the quarest thing alive. Sure you must have know'd
+us?"
+
+He was now joined by his wife and two or three others of the little
+family, who all appeared nearly of an age. Poor Molly, the Mistress,
+looked weak and haggard, and told me she "had the shakes on her for the
+last six months." She was affected to tears when her husband told her of
+my witchcraft, in knowing where they were from, and joined in begging
+that "I'd come round and take a bite o' cake and a sup o' spirits and
+water, to keep me from feelin' faint till I got to my dinner."
+
+I requested, however, as my time was short, that one of the little ones
+might at once put me on the nearest track by which I would reach the
+bridge; and finding I would not accept their hospitality, the father of
+the family, attended by Jem, walked along with me to where a bridle-path
+led on to a waggon-track, which he desired me to pursue. Here I left my
+friendly countryman, and with a "God send you safe home, sir!" he turned
+to his own humble dwelling, to think with a full heart of that distant
+home my chance visit had recalled in all its freshness, and which,
+although he may never look to revisit, no son of poor Ireland ever
+forgets.
+
+A circuitous route led me on to the main road, pursuing which I soon
+reached the bridge; but on my way through the street was struck with the
+growing air of this place, which I cannot help thinking is one day
+destined to be the great city of the river of beauty.
+
+I entered the smoky Pittsburg, more than ever charmed with the scenery
+amidst which it is seated, still beautiful despite the ravages of the
+miner and the pollution of steam, smoke, charcoal, and all the other
+useful abominations attendant upon the manufacture of iron, glass,
+pottery, &c. The wealth and various attractions of this rich heiress of
+Nature have proved her undoing.
+
+The greatest ravage which I had to mourn, because it appeared carried to
+a wanton and heedless extent, was the havoc everywhere making with
+barbarous and indiscriminate zeal amongst the neighbouring timber. I
+looked about upon the nearest hills, many of which are already bare,
+denuded of every shrub; and sorrowed to think that even such others as
+yet rejoiced in their rich forest garb were but enjoying a brief
+respite from the axe and flame, being assuredly condemned and marked for
+destruction.
+
+Every man here, in fact, is at work "for his own hand;" and as each
+proprietor is desirous to make the most he can of his acres, these burn
+and destroy on all sides, never feeling satisfied that their land is
+cleared whilst a single tree lives to tell where once the forest waved.
+
+In noticing the well-fenced fields, the comfortable dwellings,
+substantial offices, and generally excellent condition of these farms,
+one can hardly credit the history of the settlement of this Western
+country, when it is considered that, amongst these well-cleared and
+well-cultivated fields, within the memory of living men, the Indian
+ranged and the uncouth buffalo herded, and that the first "white-man"
+born west of the Alleghany is still living: by the way, a whimsical
+anecdote relating to this gentleman is current in Pittsburg, and which I
+here relate as I myself received it.
+
+At a public dinner, Mr. R----, the person alluded to, being present, had
+his health proposed and cordially drunk, as "the first white man born
+west of the Alleghany." Now Mr. R---- happening to be very
+dark-complexioned, a waggish countryman of mine, who was seated next to
+him, could not help adding, with a sly air, having repeated the toast,
+"and not particularly white either."
+
+"Why that's very true," returned the subject of this jest, with much
+good-humour; "and the reason assigned for the exceeding redness of my
+skin is in itself not a little illustrative of the late condition of our
+country, which is, in fact, the true subject of this toast.
+
+"Shortly after my father had located his family on the Ohio, my mother
+was, whilst in the act of fetching water from the stream a little way
+outside the stockade within which our dwelling stood, startled by the
+near whoop of an Indian warrior, and, on raising her head, perceived
+close beside her a chief of the neighbouring tribe; she instantly fled
+like a deer; and, being young and active, gained the shelter of the
+stockade, within which, however, she fell exhausted, but was so
+preserved. Some time after I was ushered into life; and the darkness of
+my complexion was always referred to the chance of my mother having been
+thus frightened and followed by the young Indian."
+
+"And a mighty natural mode of accounting for the same," replied Pat;
+adding with a most provoking air of simplicity, "but may I ask did you
+ever hear your poor mother say whether the Indian overtook her or not?"
+
+The last night I acted here was made memorable by the jovial condition
+of a couple of the leading members of the corps dramatic, and as it
+chanced, diplomatic. The play was "The Irish Ambassador," and the first
+news I had of my principal colleague, his Excellency the representative
+of his most Catholic Majesty, was, that he had arrived, but in a state
+unfit for our purposed conference, having been rendered utterly
+incapable by an imprudent application of gin cock-tail, prescribed, as
+his Excellency himself assured me with tears in his eyes, as a sovereign
+remedy for a disorganized state of nerves, to which he was unhappily
+subject.
+
+An excuse was made for the unavoidable absence of the Spanish minister,
+on the score of ill-health; and the indulgence of the meeting requested
+for one of the _attaches_, who had boldly undertaken to read the absent
+diplomatist's instructions at first sight. This point got over, we
+proceeded smoothly, as might be expected, until the period when his
+Highness the Grand-duke was required in person, when it became evident
+that, through sympathy or some cause less sentimental, the Prince too
+was royally rocky: availing himself of his rank however, he made shift
+to reach a chair, and, aided by the support it afforded, maintained his
+place at the conference.
+
+Nothing could exceed the charitable forbearance with which this
+republican assemblage looked upon the fallen condition of royalty:
+whether they judged that it was no way out of character for a German
+sovereign and the possessor of a hock-cellar to be fuddled, or whether
+they considered that this was no bad specimen of royalty to exhibit to
+their children's contempt, I know not; but, happily, the signs of their
+displeasure fell lightly on his Highness, and our negotiation was at
+length, though lamely, brought to a conclusion.
+
+On Tuesday the 8th of April, at eight o'clock P.M. I once more took my
+place in the Good Intent, to re-cross the Alleghanies; when, turning our
+backs upon the River of Beauty, we slowly traversed the dark streets of
+its sooty neighbour; for, strange to tell, although the material for gas
+lies at their doors in exhaustless abundance, and although they use a
+great quantity of coal-coke for manufacturing purposes, the streets
+remain as dark as the extremity of their deepest mine on a holiday.
+
+This too, I found upon inquiry, was by the good citizens laid to the
+account of the "removal of the deposits." "It is enough," they say, "for
+one side to originate a question, however obviously excellent and
+desirable, to have the antagonist party oppose it, and make the measure
+a new watchword to try battle on."
+
+I was informed of one spirited individual having offered to light the
+place with gas on his own risk, but, as a matter of course, he was
+immediately opposed by both parties; and so matters will rest, until the
+good people, wearied of being kept in the dark, open the eyes of their
+divided corporation; and in those days will the Pittsburgians cease to
+walk in darkness, and become what, considering the quantity of coal they
+possess, they are well entitled to be,--a gas-enlightened community.
+
+It was raining when we departed, and continued to rain all night, as we
+weltered through the mud. Next morning, although a shower yet fell, I
+became so weary of the close confinement of the stage, that I alighted
+at the foot of Laurel Hill, and, putting stoutly forth, pushed on ahead
+of the heavy vehicle. The road winds about the steep side of the
+mountain, and from several points affords grand views of the forest,
+valleys, and humbler hills below. The early shrubs were already putting
+forth abundant leaf and blossom, for the winter had been singularly
+mild, and the quiet air was impregnated with sweetness.
+
+When very near the top of the mountain,--for the ascent is full four
+miles,--I encountered one of those groups which appear in constant
+progress along the great Western line. The extent, however, of the
+present caravan made it peculiarly interesting. It consisted of five
+long, well-covered waggons, each drawn by eight or six horses, was
+attended by three or four led nags, and a number of dogs of various
+denominations. The occupants of the waggons were women and children: the
+faces of the chubby rogues were all crowded in front to look upon the
+passing stranger, with here and there a shining ebony phiz thrust
+between; the chief freight appeared to consist of household furniture
+and agricultural implements.
+
+By the side of these waggons first rode four or five horsemen, well
+mounted, who might be the principals of the party, for they were men
+past the meridian of life; straggling in the rear, or scattered along
+the edges of the forest, walked eight or nine younger men,
+rough-and-ready-looking fellows, each with his rifle in his hand. Wild
+pigeons abounded along the cover-edge, and the sharp crack which every
+now and then rang through the thin air of morning told that the hunters
+were dealing upon them.
+
+From the construction of the waggons, as well as because their owners
+evinced no inclination either to hold communion or exchange civilities
+with a passing wayfarer, which no Southern ever fails to do, I concluded
+this to be a party of New England men, who, abandoning their worn-out
+native fields, were pushing on for the "far West" with the lightness of
+heart consequent on the surety of reaping a brave harvest from a soil
+which withholds abundance from none who possess hearts and arms to task
+it.
+
+With what apparent indifference, if not positive pleasure, do the people
+of this country quit their ancient homes, and wander forth in search of
+new ones, to be again, in turn, deserted, if not by themselves, by their
+restless and enterprising children! The Tartar habit of movement and
+frequent change, which is, I fancy, natural to man, finds in no country
+at the present age such inviting facilities as are offered in this, nor
+could a people be found who more fully enjoy them.
+
+I looked upon this well-ordered, sober party with much pleasure; and as
+I stood upon the mountain top, and thence watched their downward track,
+I found my mind actively employed picturing their after progress and
+accompanying the line of their long travel. First, came their repose and
+rest, as in their plentifully-furnished flat they slowly drifted down
+the smooth course of the near Ohio; then, their after-journeying through
+the wilderness in search of a pleasant spot on which to rear their huts
+and make to themselves a home; now followed their early and
+long-enduring toil, accompanied perhaps by the sickness of their
+children and the pining of their women, whose sensibilities, more acute
+than those of men, ever revert in seasons of sadness to the far-off
+places their young days made pleasant; and, lastly, when, after years
+had passed away, and that their well-fenced fields were teeming with a
+plenteous harvest, I beheld their sons gathering together their
+inheritance and setting forth in search of another new country, within
+which they might resume the toil of their fathers. Man may change the
+scene of his labour, but the evil of his condition is not to be evaded;
+and alike, from the most fertile as from the most barren soil, by the
+sweat of his brow must his bread be won.
+
+I here waited, sheltered by a rocky projection, until the stage came up.
+The continuance of the rain effectually prevented me from indulging in
+any more walks this day; the tedium of the journey however, whilst light
+lasted, was greatly relieved by the constant changes of mountain
+scenery, as viewed through an atmosphere now wildly clear and again
+thick and gloomy.
+
+I found considerable amusement also in calculating the fair odds against
+our being pitched into some one of the many deep ravines along whose
+edge we were, when going down hill, whirled with startling speed. It was
+at these descents that the driver sought to pull up his lost time; and
+this he did with a recklessness of consequences that led me, after
+mature consideration, aided by the experience of much rough travel, to
+come to the following conclusion,--that, in crossing the Alleghany
+mountains, when the roads are rotten and slippery, the chances for and
+against a broken neck are so nearly equal that no sporting man, of any
+liberality, need desire to seek odds, should he feel inclined to make a
+bet before commencing the journey.
+
+We at times encountered a string of waggons at some narrow sharp turn of
+the corkscrew path, and were whirled by them, with our off-wheels
+curiously circling the unguarded ledge of a precipice some four or five
+hundred feet deep, where a wheel-horse suddenly jibbing, or a leader
+shying or falling, would, in all human probability, have provided the
+wolves and bears with a banquet, and the journalists with a neat
+paragraph, headed, "Melancholy result of fast driving, attended with
+serious loss of valuable lives."
+
+The practice is for the team to be put on a run the moment they gain the
+summit of a hill; and, if all things hold out, this is kept up until the
+bottom be reached: the horses are excellent, and rarely fail. On my
+asking the coachman,--by whom I rode as much as possible,--what he did
+in the event of a wheel-horse coming down in a steep pass, he replied,
+"Why, I keep driving ahead, and drag him along;"--an accident which he
+assured me had occurred more than once to himself when the roads were
+encrusted with ice and snow: the passengers at such times are placed in
+sleighs, which are perhaps less dangerous.
+
+On the morning of Thursday we once more arrived at the frontier town of
+the low-lands of Pennsylvania,--Chambersburg; and here I quitted the
+"Good Intent" line, transferring myself, servant, and kit to the
+Baltimore stage; and at three o'clock A.M. on Friday, I was set down,
+cold and weary and wet, at the door of Barnum's hotel. A few thundering
+knocks brought down the porter, and I was admitted within shelter of the
+well-warmed hall, with
+
+"Och murther alive! Mr. Power, is it yerself, sir? Why, thin, you're
+welcome!"
+
+And in five minutes after, I was in a comfortable chamber, and a blazing
+fire of wood rising under the inspection of my Irish porter. Anxious to
+conclude my journey, I desired him to rouse me in time for the eight
+o'clock stage to Washington, though, Heaven knows, I could have slept
+for twelve hours at the least; and so tumbled into bed whilst the man
+was yet regretting the "mighty haste" I was in.
+
+By nine A.M. I was once more rolling off the pavement of the monumental
+city. But what a change was I experiencing! The sun shone cheerily, as
+though rejoicing in his conquest over the cold mass which had so long
+imprisoned him, and all around appeared to hail his presence with
+gladness: the wind was light and mild, the road, which I had seen two
+months before all but impassable, was now, by comparison, excellent, and
+the surrounding country, then so bleak and bare, was now rejoicing in
+the beauty of early spring. My fatigue was all forgotten, and I enjoyed
+my present ride as though I had not before known what a bone-breaking
+jolt was.
+
+At two o'clock P.M. Washington once more lay beneath me, with the broad
+Potomac beyond, looking like a currentless transparent lake, clipped
+about by finely wooded irregular heights, and navigated by faery barks.
+Such was the aspect this noble river presented, and just such the little
+fleet of fishing-boats scattered over its bosom, busied in pursuit of
+the shad and the herring, now coming into season.
+
+To my great joy, I found my excellent friend, Captain B----n, was still
+resident at Fuller's: my old rooms had that day been vacated for me, a
+few hours beheld me comfortably installed, and the rough-work of the
+past trip across the backbone of the continent only served to enhance
+my present enjoyments.
+
+The Impressions left by my present residence I have already given in an
+embodied form to the reader. I shall therefore beg him to accompany me
+back to Philadelphia, and thence _via_ Princeton to New York.
+
+_May 26th._--A lovely morning: landed from the Delaware steamer at
+Bordenton, and rode thence to Princeton on horseback, sixteen miles;
+passing two royal residences by the way, first, that of Joseph
+Buonaparte, and next a queer-looking, low, quadrangular building,
+inhabited by one of the sons of Joachim Murat, ex-king of Naples. On
+reaching the hospitable house to which I was bound at Princeton, I
+encountered the prince, paying a visit to my friend Mr. T----n. He is a
+tall, robust-looking personage, very fat, and fond of race-horses; but
+has not, as I learn, been over-lucky on the turf.
+
+One can never meet and contemplate any of these far-flung fragments of
+Napoleon's mighty empire without reverting with renewed interest to the
+founder of so much unlooked-for though brief greatness. Sheltered
+beneath his Titan aegis these new-made monarchs flourished, and ruffled
+it with the best of Europe's princes; until, grown vain of their fancied
+power, they deserted their shield and shelter, leaving it to abide
+unsustained the assault of an outraged world, and, whilst, forgetful of
+their origin, seeking to stand alone, were shattered into atoms by its
+fall!
+
+What a capricious climate is this! On Tuesday the 27th of May, I rode
+from Princeton to Brunswick, on a day as sultry as a July afternoon ever
+is in England; the heavy showers of the 25th had so saturated the sandy
+soil that no particle of dust could float, and the verdure of wood and
+valley was bright and refreshing to look upon. Yet here we are in New
+York, on the 28th, with large fires burning within, a north-east wind
+blowing without, attended by alternate sleet and showers, with fog and
+every other atmospheric misery most grievous to humanity. This sample of
+"the spring-time of the year" continued tolerably regular until
+
+_June 6th._--This day the sun is fairly on duty again. Rode to the
+course on Long Island, the third day of the present meeting, to witness
+a race which had called up North and South to arms. Trifle--a little
+mare of Colonel Johnson's, the Nestor of the American turf--had come on
+from Virginia to be entered against Shark, the property of Captain
+Robert Stockton, about to run his first four-mile race, a horse much was
+expected from. Alice Grey, the mare which I had seen beaten easily by
+Trifle at the fall meeting, was the only other entry expected to be made
+good; so that the thing was considered as a match between the two horses
+first named. For the only time I saw ladies present in considerable
+numbers, and was sorry that the gallantry of my sporting friends had not
+provided them with a more becoming stand.
+
+All was tiptoe expectation; but the anticipated sport fell through,
+owing to the ill condition of Shark. He was, from some cause or other,
+as completely out of order as an animal could well be, and ought
+properly to have been drawn. His spirited owner was, however, absent in
+Europe, and the friends who acted for him decided that he should do his
+best. Two heats, run in very indifferent time, decided the affair; and
+the little pet of the Southerners was once more hailed _victrix_.
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[11] Racking is a sort of shuffling gait, easy, I believe, to both horse
+and rider, when both are broken to it, and much followed throughout the
+West.
+
+
+
+
+THE HUDSON.
+
+
+With expectations highly raised, and for a long time cultivated and
+encouraged by an eager inspection of all the prints I could collect, and
+a perusal of glowing descriptions in both prose and poetry, did I at
+length wake on the morning which was to introduce me to the beauties of
+this vaunted river.
+
+My first act was to rush to my window, and throw open shutter and sash.
+It was six o'clock, the sun was up, and the sky cloudless; thanking my
+lucky star, which had prevailed to my wish, I hurried through my toilet,
+and away to the foot of Courtland-street, from whose wharf the steamboat
+Champion was advertised to start at seven A.M. Punctual to the hour, we
+slipped our moorings, and in a minute were gallantly heading up the
+Hudson, breasting its current at the rate of fifteen miles per hour.
+
+Hoboken and its Elysian fields were passed like lightning. Casting one
+backward glance, I perceived Jersey city floating indistinctly in the
+golden haze of morning; whilst the yet more distant heights of Long and
+Staten Islands, with the dividing Narrows, showed like two dusky clouds
+with a pathway of silver drawn between.
+
+I was first struck by a near view of that singular range of cliff, the
+Palisadoes, so named from the face of the rock bearing a resemblance to
+a gigantic stockade rising from the bank of the river, along whose
+southern side it is continued for a considerable distance. Lee's Fort is
+pointed out; the Tappan Zee is next entered, upon whose border lies the
+scene of poor Andre's capture; and farther on is the point from which
+the traitor Arnold made his timely flight.
+
+All these, with other memorable sites, are in turn pointed out, glanced
+at, and rapidly left behind. But I am free to confess historical
+associations were lost upon me; they awakened no sympathy in my mind; it
+was absorbed, filled, bewildered, in the admiration which each
+rapidly-opening point awakened, for never before this fair morning had
+such a succession of matchless river views passed before my delighted
+eyes.
+
+"Write down your first impressions of scenery when fairly viewed, and
+your descriptions will at least have correctness to recommend them."
+Somebody, I know, says something very like this; and I have hitherto
+quoted it as an axiom: but alas! what rule, however sage, but meets
+exceptions; for what man endowed with any ordinary share of devotion to
+Nature, and admiration of her handiwork, dare venture to set down his
+first impressions of this enchanting Hudson whilst the overwhelming
+influence it creates is yet dazzling his imagination! I say
+overwhelming, because such, in sober truth, was its first effect on me.
+
+I was at times unable to venture the expression of all I felt even to
+myself: I sought to avoid the intelligent friends who accompanied me,
+and am not ashamed to add, that, albeit "unused to the melting mood," I
+here was affected almost to weakness. There might, perhaps, have been
+chords awakened that helped this fancy; but in no mood could an
+enthusiast of Nature, I think, feel otherwise than "rapt" when free for
+the first time to view, on such a day, such glorious magic pass before
+his sight; for, in our rapid flight, I could compare the effect of all I
+saw to glamour only.
+
+The grape-covered steeps of the old Rhine, the mountain-enshrined lochs
+of our Hielans, with their clear blue waters, and the sweet valleys in
+which the little lakes of Killarney are set like gems,--all are lovely,
+and all of these appear to me to have contributed models for this
+masterpiece, each to be equalled, if not surpassed.
+
+But I must check my pen, since disjointed eulogium will do little
+towards satisfying the curious or silencing the sceptical; and for
+description in reasonable detail, worthy the subject, only one hand in
+our age has existed endowed by nature to grapple with such a task, and
+that wizard hand lies mouldering now beneath the ruins of Dryburg Abbey!
+
+Above West Point and the pass of the highlands the river expands
+grandly, forming the Bay of Newburg. The town of this name lies prettily
+spread along the face of a gently rising hill; and in a meadow at the
+foot of the town stands a venerable-looking stone-built house, rendered
+memorable from having been the residence of Washington when at this
+place; which, bordering upon his stronghold, the highlands, was often
+his head-quarters.
+
+On the opposite side of the river, deep within the bight of the bay,
+lies the stirring town of Fish-kill, occupied by a colony originally
+from the island of Nantucket, who carry on from this place their
+adventurous trade of whale-fishing; and appear, indeed, to have roused
+their neighbours of Newburg and Hudson to imitate their enterprise; many
+ships, the joint property of the most spirited of the community, being
+now yearly fitted out in these places, and sent to hunt the sperm-whale
+about the world.
+
+Above this bay the river again narrows, and the scenery upon its banks
+assumes a softer character: spacious meadows with well-cultivated lands
+stretch widely to the distant wooded heights; the bold outline of the
+highlands is drawn about the rear; and in front the loftier Catskills
+push their rugged peaks amongst the clouds.
+
+From Poughkeepsie, numerous country seats occupy the now park-like banks
+of the river to the north, which, although lying from eighty to one
+hundred miles distant from New York, may be yet considered reasonably
+near; for six or seven hours brings the boat up, and in the course of
+the day there do not pass fewer than five or six. On this morning I met
+on board the Champion Messrs. W----'s and L----e, on their way to the
+summer abode of their families: they were landed at Hyde Park, ninety
+miles distant from New York, before one o'clock.
+
+By half past five we were laid alongside the wharf of Albany, having
+steamed one hundred and sixty miles in ten hours and a half, including
+many stoppages of perhaps a couple of minutes each; and nothing can be
+more readily executed than one of these pulls-up, with the discharge or
+reception of luggage or passengers.
+
+
+
+
+ALBANY.
+
+
+This is the capital of the powerful state of New York, and promises at
+no very distant period to wear an aspect worthy its rank. No situation
+was ever chosen better adapted to display; for the town is built over
+the face of a lofty and steep hill, which only affords space for one or
+two streets about its foot, and this is chiefly occupied by docks and
+the several canal basins connected with the Hudson.
+
+The principal avenue, a regularly built, grandly proportioned street,
+with a railway running through its centre, climbs directly up the hill,
+and is terminated by a well-kept public square, or _Grande Place_, as
+the French would call it, about which the State House, City Hall, and
+other public buildings are ranged. These striking objects, from the
+nature of the ground, stand boldly out, and have all an appearance
+sufficiently imposing; whilst here are some buildings that possess
+strong claims to architectural beauty.
+
+Nearly all the more important public offices have lofty and
+well-proportioned domes; and these being uniformly covered with tin or
+other bright metal, impart a gay and picturesque effect to the general
+mass; and, indeed, the city, viewed from a little distance, with all
+these cupolas and towering domes reflected in the setting sun, assumes
+quite an Oriental appearance: one is immediately reminded of the mosque
+and minaret of some Turkish capital: the fine marble too used in the
+construction of all public buildings, and indeed of many private ones,
+increases the effect which they derive from their style and from the
+bold eminence they occupy.
+
+Albany was long almost exclusively Dutch, and may be said up to this
+time to have hardly kept pace with the rapid advance of the country
+generally: it must have marvelled at the spread of the numerous
+flourishing towns which have grown up around within a few years, and
+which threatened to eclipse, if not extinguish it wholly. A movement,
+however, has of late taken place: the inhabitants have awoke, new
+colonists have superseded the family from Sleepy-hollow, or imparted to
+them a share of their energy; and Albany begins to assert her claims on
+the productive country by which she is backed, and to turn into her own
+channel a portion of its commerce. Building is everywhere going forward;
+land has doubled and trebled in value; improvements are in steady
+progress; and, should the present prosperous course of things meet with
+no untoward check to paralyse the industry of the people, Albany will in
+a few years assume an importance more profitable to its citizens than
+the empty honour it derives from being styled the capital of the State.
+
+There are several excellent inns here: one kept by an Englishman, a Mr.
+Thomas, in which I dined once or twice with friends, and which bears a
+high reputation; another, wherein I always resided on my several visits
+here, kept by Mr. Crutenden; and if henceforward any stranger who
+relishes good fare, loves Shakspeare, and would choose to make the
+acquaintance of a Transatlantic Falstaff, passes through Albany without
+calling at the Eagle, and cracking a bottle with "mine host," he will
+have missed one of those days he would not have failed to mark with a
+white stone.
+
+Soberly, I do not remember ever to have met with a face and figure
+which, were I a painter, I would so readily adopt for a _beau-ideal_ of
+the profligate son of mirth and mischief as those of mine host o' th'
+Eagle. He has a fellow feeling too with "lean Jack," is as well read in
+Shakspeare as most good men, quotes him fluently and happily, honours
+and loves him as he should be loved and honoured, and in himself
+possesses much of the humour, much of the native wit, but not a single
+trait of the less admirable portions of the fat knight's character.
+
+Indebted to Mr. Crutenden for many pleasant hours, I will offer no
+excuse for making this indifferent sketch of him here, since it in no
+way trenches upon the rule I hold sacred of eschewing comment on private
+persons, or details of social intercourse, where indeed, men speak
+oftener from the heart than from the head. Mr. C. I look upon as a
+public character, and thus I am enabled to say how much I esteem him.
+Should he be wroth, I vow, if I ever should visit Albany again, never to
+make one at the "Feast of Shells." On the contrary, I'll fly the Eagle;
+forswear "the villanous company" of mine host; I'll disclaim him,
+renounce him, "and d--n me if ever I call him Jack again."
+
+The theatre here is a handsome building, and well adapted to the
+purpose for which it was designed; but is, I believe, worse supported
+than any other on this continent. I had been advised not to visit the
+city professionally; but being strongly solicited by the worthy manager,
+"mischief lay in my way, and I found it."
+
+I feel compelled in honesty to state the facts of this trip, though no
+way flattering to my powers of attraction: however, if there be anything
+unpleasant to relate, I ever find it better to tell of oneself, than
+leave it to the charity of good-natured friends. The only disagreement I
+ever had with an audience, in fact, occurred here, and roundly, thus it
+happened.
+
+On the evening when I was advertised to make my _debut_ to an Albany
+audience, I at my usual hour walked to the house, dressed, and was
+ready; but when, half an hour after the time of beginning, I went on to
+the stage, there were not ten persons in the house. The stage-director
+and myself now held a consultation on the unpromising aspect of our
+affairs. He ascribed the unusually deserted condition of the _salle_ to
+the sultry and threatening state of the atmosphere, which had deterred
+the neighbouring towns of Troy and Waterford from furnishing their
+quota,--those indeed being his chief dependencies. I was opposed, on
+policy, to throwing away our ammunition so unprofitably; and so after
+due deliberation, the manager agreed to state to the few persons in
+front, that "with their permission" the performances intended for this
+night would be postponed until the evening after the next following; as,
+in consequence of the exceeding smallness of the audience, it was to be
+feared the play would prove dull to them, as it must be irksome to the
+actors.
+
+Nothing could be received with better feeling on the part of the persons
+assembled; not a breath of disapprobation was heard. They instantly went
+away; but soon after I reached home, I found, by the report of one or
+two gentlemen who had since been at the theatre seeking admittance, that
+a considerable excitement prevailed, and that at the public bars of the
+neighbourhood the affair was detailed in a way likely to produce
+unpleasant effects on my first appearance.
+
+The appointed night came, the house was filled with men, and everything
+foreboded a violent outbreak; the manager appeared terrified out of his
+wits; but, as far as I can judge, behaved with infinite honesty;
+disavowed the truth of the imputations connected with the dismissal,
+and which it was sought to fasten upon me; and affirmed that he was
+fully prepared to place the facts simply before the audience, in the
+event of my suffering any interruption.
+
+It was now found that an actor or two needed in the piece were absent.
+These worthies, the chief agitators in this affair, were, in fact, in
+front of the house to assist in the expected assault upon a stranger and
+one of their own profession. On this being explained to the manager, he
+said he was aware of it, and had threatened to discharge the
+individuals; but relying upon the affair terminating in my discomfiture,
+they did not fear being sustained by the same intelligence which they
+now directed against me.
+
+On my appearance the din was mighty deafening; the volunteer champions
+of the public had come well prepared, and every invention for making the
+voice of humanity bestial was present and in full use. The boxes I
+observed to be occupied by well-dressed men, who generally either
+remained neutral, or by signs sought that I should be heard. This,
+however, was out of the question; and after long and patient abiding,
+"for patience is the badge of all our tribe," I made my bow and
+retired, when the manager, who had on the night in question dismissed
+the house, made his bow, and, after silence was obtained, begged that
+the audience would give me a hearing, assuring them on his own knowledge
+that I had not contemplated insulting them.
+
+I again came forward, and after some time was permitted to say that I
+could in no way account for a simple matter of business being so
+misrepresented as to occasion this violent exhibition of their anger;
+that, before the audience in question was dismissed, its permission had
+been obtained; that, had I really contemplated insult, it is hardly
+probable I should wait two days to encounter the anger of those I had
+sought to offend. I farther said, that on the common principle which
+they professed, I was entitled to a hearing, since the sense of the
+majority was evidently with me; and that, if the disorder continued, I
+should, for the sake of that respectable majority, sincerely regret
+this, since the character of their city for justice and hospitality
+would be more impeached than my prospects be injured.
+
+After this the row was resumed with added fierceness: not a word of
+either play or farce was heard; but I persisted in going through with
+the performance, being determined not to dismiss a second time.
+
+At the fall of the curtain I begged the manager would not again announce
+me; as although, for the sake of the many who I could see were opposed
+to this misjudged outrage, I had gone through the business once, I could
+not again subject them to the annoyance of such a collision, or myself
+to continued insult.
+
+I was, however, happily induced to change this determination at the
+request of many gentlemen of the place, who assured me that the whole
+thing arose from stories most industriously circulated by one or two
+ill-conditioned actors, backed by inflammatory handbills and a
+scurrilous print.
+
+Out of this affair, which threatened me serious annoyance, I really
+gathered a new proof of the kindness of the people of this country, for
+I found persons on all sides interesting themselves for me, although I
+entered the place without an acquaintance; and, had I not stood in need
+of help, so in all probability should I have quitted it: but in this
+hour of annoyance, men not of theatrical habits put themselves actively
+forward to shield a calumniated stranger from insult or injury; in
+consequence of this interposition, on my next appearance, nothing could
+be more orderly than the conduct of the audience.
+
+I concluded my engagement, which was only for four nights, and left the
+theatre with a promise to return, which pledge, at some inconvenience, I
+redeemed; and I have never been able to regret a momentary vexation
+which obtained for me many friends, and made known to me the sterling
+good feeling existing in Albany, of which I might otherwise have
+remained ignorant.
+
+The rides about Albany are numerous, the roads the best in the country;
+and the little city of Troy, with its Mount Ida, worthy even the
+celestial visitants who honoured its less beautiful predecessor with
+their presence. Higher up lies Waterford, a thriving place, also
+charmingly situated; and, near this, the Fall of the Cohoos, one of the
+finest natural objects in the country. Indeed, a morning's ride in this
+direction offers a succession of views that can nowhere be surpassed,
+and which I do not remember to have often seen equalled.
+
+Approaching Albany from the west, and looking across the Hudson over
+the finely-wooded slopes and verdant meadows on which it fronts, it
+appears a city bordered by an ornamental park; to the south tower the
+cloud-capped Catskills; on the north are the blue mountains of Vermont;
+and about the verge of the landscape on all sides runs a line of boldly
+undulating hills, whose rugged outline forms no inappropriate framing to
+this very beautiful picture.
+
+It had been my intention from Albany to proceed directly for Niagara,
+and thence returning to Buffalo, join a steam-boat, which was advertised
+to make the tour of the great lakes, Superior and Erie, touching at
+Detroit and one or two other points of interest, then after visiting the
+new entrepot for the territory of Michigan, Chicago, was to return with
+her passengers to Buffalo; the trip being one of pastime, and calculated
+to occupy about twenty days.
+
+This plan was, however, frustrated, through an application being made
+from the Polish committee of Philadelphia that I should act a night for
+the benefit of the fund raised for these exiles for liberty: back,
+therefore, I hurried to Philadelphia; arrived in the morning, acted at
+night, with the thermometer at ninety-seven, and was off again for New
+York by the mail-boat next day.
+
+I was anxious to get away west, to make the most of my holidays, and,
+being Sunday, this mail was the only public conveyance permitted through
+the State of Jersey. I however caution all thin-skinned travellers
+against using it any time between the first day of June and the last of
+October; for to run the gauntlet at night through the legions of
+musquitoes quartered between the Delaware and the Raritan is no laughing
+matter, as I found to my cost.
+
+The worst of this journey was, that, on arriving by the railroad car at
+Amboy, which we did at midnight, we were compelled to wait unhoused here
+until three or four in the morning, the steamer not departing until that
+hour for New York. The example those insatiable vermin made of me with
+four hours' leisure in which to work their wicked will, I even now sweat
+to think on; one of my eyes was hermetically sealed up, and my upper lip
+would have matched that of any Guinea negro, whilst my hands were so
+swollen that I could not close them without pain and difficulty: in
+short, as Roque says, there was not "a sounder-bitten bully in all
+Andalusia."
+
+Halting for one day at New York, I proceeded by the morning boat to
+West-point with the intention of resting here a few days: but not having
+taken the precaution of writing on to secure a chamber, I was
+indifferently provided for; this charming spot only possessing one
+hotel, which is a concession made by government to the public, as it is
+properly only a military post, and the seat of the national Military
+College.
+
+Much has been said and sung, well and ill, of the beauty of the place,
+but certainly not one word too much, for language can hardly convey any
+just notion of the variety of attributes Nature has laid under
+contribution, and here combined, for the embellishment of this most
+perfect spot.
+
+In the cool hour of twilight I strolled a little way up the western
+hill, and thence looked back upon the hotel and the lines of tents
+beyond, for at this season the cadets were in camp; excepting the hum of
+myriads of busy insects, not a sound was to be heard; the fire-fly was
+filling the lower grounds with his dazzling light, and seemed the only
+thing that lived or moved there; when suddenly the sharp roll of a drum,
+followed by a bugle-call, broke in on this tranquillity, and
+disenchanted the scene which I had just decided must have been designed
+by Nature as a temple to Solitude.
+
+The next morning I quitted West-point, and in the afternoon landed once
+again in Albany, where I took a couple of days' repose, and employed
+myself in making inquiries and settling my route to Niagara, the idea of
+visiting which wonder became all-absorbing; the long cherished desire
+was about to be gratified, the dream of years to be realized. All
+obstacles of business being removed, I grew restless and impatient of
+further delay; I had, however, pledged myself to make a visit by the
+way, and was only waiting for a couple of friends who were to be my
+travelling companions.
+
+
+
+
+JOURNEY TO COOPER'S TOWN.
+
+
+OTSEGO LAKE.
+
+
+At three o'clock A.M. on a cloudy and somewhat chilly morning, left the
+door of the Eagle in a very comfortable extra coach, which was chartered
+to convey a freight of four persons to the mansion of Mr. C----e, lying
+upon Otsego Lake, distant from Albany some sixty miles.
+
+My companions were Mr. H----e, whom I had with me at starting, and Mr.
+I. V. B----n, for whom we had agreed to halt at his hotel on the top of
+the State House hill, and a long halt we had of it; for, having no great
+confidence in our punctuality, he had very wisely, as far as his own
+comfort was concerned, left orders to be called whenever we should
+appear: and not a moment earlier was he in the least danger of being
+roused, for we had to awaken one of the Irish waiters before he could be
+come at; a task of no small difficulty. After some half-hour's delay at
+the top of the hill, we set forward.
+
+_Mem._--In future, always arrange on all early expeditions to have my
+quarters beat up last.
+
+Although the morning broke gloomily, the sun rose brave and bright, and
+managed throughout the day to keep the field against both wind and
+cloud, that sought to overcast him. For the most part, this line of
+country is very tame, and offers little to compensate for the bad road
+leading through it. The amusement, therefore, which a series of fine
+landscapes affords the traveller not being found here, we had to draw
+upon our own personal resources to banish weariness; happily these were
+not wanting: the youngest of my friends was the son of a leading Whig,
+or Oppositionist, and newly inoculated with the right degree of
+political fervour becoming the time and his age; the senior was a Tory,
+or of the Government party, possessed of much natural humour, and having
+a thorough knowledge of the people.
+
+Previous to starting, the young politician was bold in his assertion
+that in Schoharie county,--that through which our route lay,--the Whig
+interest was in the ascendant; this assertion his better instructed
+opponent as stoutly contradicted, insisting on the contrary, that
+Jacksonism was the political creed cherished as orthodox amongst the
+country people.
+
+The mode of coming at the true state of the parties was simple enough;
+we had only, whilst halting to change horses or bait, to touch upon the
+absorbing topic of the day, and the village loungers, landlord,
+bar-keeper, and guests, might have been placed upon a canvassing roll
+without a chance of error, so decidedly did they make "their love
+known."
+
+I soon discovered that the "ould Gineral" had a hollow thing of it on
+this line of march, as, indeed, I have uniformly observed to be the case
+in all the agricultural districts; and although it may be argued that
+the confidence of these sons of the soil may neither be wisely nor well
+placed, it must, I conceive, be on all hands admitted that it is at
+least the result of honest conviction; for, if a stranger may be
+permitted to judge, I should say, a more virtuous and right-meaning
+class does not exist than the agriculturists generally of these States;
+indeed it appears clear to me that it is to this great body of truly
+independent electors the political seer must turn when he would desire
+fairly to calculate the probable changes likely to be worked out in this
+vast region. They are the owners of the land which their votes govern;
+they are invulnerable to the anarchist and the mad agrarian; they are
+observant and intelligent; and although liable, as are all men, to be
+for a time hoodwinked, or led astray, by interested brawlers, only let
+the veil be once lifted, and a glimpse afforded which shall inform them
+that their property or the country's freedom are endangered, and they
+will be found a rampart behind which all true patriots, the lovers of
+order and country, may rally, and which they may hold impregnable
+against the furious assault of the leveller, or the insidious sap of the
+disguised despot.
+
+But enough of this: _chacun a son metier_; yet here I am betrayed into a
+homily where I only contemplated a jest. The truth is, my allusion to
+this topic at all arose from the vivid recollection I still have of the
+great fun I derived from this canvassing of my companions in support of
+their opinions previously expressed.
+
+At each new stopping-place, my Whig friend would jump out with eager
+anticipations that here his majority would be made too palpable for
+denial; after him would quickly stride his long-legged, long-headed
+rival; and in a moment both were hard at it with the inmates of the
+house.
+
+At places where a weak minority gave signs of hardihood, I usually
+adopted their side in argument; and, as I was fully _au fait_ to all the
+slang of party at least, it became my business in promotion of fun, to
+fan the flame, which in one instance had nearly ended in getting myself
+and my allies turned out of an honest Jacksonian's house, who swore no
+such libellous Whigs should drink at his bar. In fact, my ears being
+kept on strict duty during our noisy debates, in order to determine the
+exact moment for prudently backing out, I, in this case, concluded it
+wise to anticipate the expulsion which was decreed by a large majority,
+having caught certain ominous disjointed words, which, by the aid of a
+copulative conjunction or two, would have read, "Take 'em down and duck
+them in the river."
+
+About two o'clock we reached the neat little village called Cherry
+Valley, and, in a couple of hours after, entered upon the well-kept
+domain of Mr. C----e. The view of the lake and mansion, as it is
+approached from the main road, is exceedingly good; and, when the
+spirited proprietor's tasteful designs shall be completed, will have no
+equal in this country.
+
+Our reception at Hyde-hall was as hospitable as heart could wish. It was
+the birthday of our host's son; and we found a large party assembled,
+amongst whom were three or four remarkably handsome women.
+
+Otsego, or, as it is commonly called, Cooper's-Town Lake, has been best
+described by the novelist of that name, in, I think, his admirable
+American book, "The Last of the Mohicans." He looked upon it with the
+eye of a poet and the love of a son; for he was born and passed his
+boyhood upon its banks, and in the pretty town reflected in its clear
+water the name of his father is perpetuated. The son has founded his
+name upon a yet surer basis: towns may fall as they have risen, and
+their founders be forgotten; but the pleasure we derive from genius
+enshrines its possessor within our hearts, and transmits his name to be
+a household word amongst our children. Ages may pass away, and empires
+may flourish and may fade, but the hand of a Cicero will ever be found
+to pluck the weeds from the tomb of an Archimedes!
+
+This mansion, at which I continued for three or four days, is built
+upon a natural terrace, part of a fine hill that juts out into the lake,
+and creates a little bay that laves its south side, and forms a safe
+harbour for the boats of the family, in one of which I remember to have
+had the pleasure of making an exploring cruise under the infliction of
+as pitiless a shower as ever a party of fair voyagers was pelted by.
+
+On either hand range the bold finely-timbered hills by which the lake is
+bordered, until, gradually rounding at the southern extremity, it
+affords space for one of the neatest little towns I ever visited, and
+whose white buildings and glittering vanes give a charming termination
+to the view from Hyde, from which it is distant some eight or nine
+miles; but the character of the vista, and there being only water
+between, makes it look nearer by half this space.
+
+On Monday, June 30th, after abiding three cold, wet days, quitted Mr.
+C----e's family, drove along the bank of the lake to Cooper's Town, and
+thence took stage for Utica, accompanied by my young Whig companion, who
+now had the field of politics to himself; for our Tory friend had turned
+upon his steps for Albany.
+
+We did not reach Utica till late in the afternoon, the distance being
+forty miles, and our rate of going not exceeding six miles per hour: we
+made no halt here, but, hiring a carriage, immediately pushed for the
+Retreat at Trenton Falls, which we did not arrive at until after ten
+o'clock P.M. The people, however, were yet up, and with much civility
+set to work to provide us with a broiled chicken and a fresh trout, over
+which we quickly forgot a very rough day's ride.
+
+
+
+
+TRENTON FALLS.
+
+
+On awaking here in the morning, I rejoiced to hail the beams of a fine
+warm sun breaking into my little chamber; it had been a stranger for the
+last few days; and the weather, after having been prematurely hot, had
+at once jumped back into March, and become wet, boisterous, and cold to
+a most provoking degree.
+
+After an early breakfast we set out, with the din of the waters sounding
+an alarum in our ears, and directing our steps.
+
+Immediately on quitting the hall of the Retreat, we entered upon a grove
+of fine trees overhanging the bed of the torrent, and thence descended
+by several flights of ladders planted _en echelon_, for some hundred and
+sixty feet, until we at last stood on a level with the swift dark
+stream, and, looking upwards, beheld the forest high overhead bending
+from either side, with a narrow strip of clear blue sky drawn between.
+The first fall was visible about five hundred yards to our left; its
+waters tumbling, as it seemed, over the tops of the intervening trees,
+to whose foliage the late heavy rains had restored the freshness of
+early spring.
+
+Looking about from this first point, I could have readily imagined
+myself standing upon the floor timbers of a first-rate ship buried in a
+wooded ravine, so evenly were the sides of the rock scooped out; and
+this impression was assisted by narrow layers of different strata, which
+ran in slightly curved lines placed at equal distances, giving the
+effect of the ship's sheer and planking, whilst through her entrance or
+cloven bow the white foam rushed.
+
+Walking upward, along a narrow strand of bare rock, with the forest
+pressing on you, as, bent almost double in some places, you stoop
+beneath the overhanging cliff on which it grows; then for a time closely
+shouldering the precipice, walk upon a ledge or projecting shelf of from
+one to three feet wide, the current below boiling and whirling along the
+while, of dazzling brilliance; I at one moment counted five rainbow
+arches, perfect and imperfect. What a succession of "Maidens of the
+Mist" might a lover of romance conjure up from these vexed waters on a
+fine moonlight night!
+
+Proceeding onwards, you, on quitting this point, descend once more into
+the river's bed; and here the resistless power of the torrent when at
+its full is made manifest by the ruin which on all sides marks its
+headlong course. Trees of the largest growth lie twenty feet above its
+ordinary level; some with their roots uppermost, others sustained
+athwart the arms of their sturdier fellows, here decay and rot amidst
+their living leaves.
+
+Passing the second fall, we mounted a few steps to a resting-place,
+named the "Rural Retreat;" and here, from a little box perched on the
+point of a huge rock which abuts right upon the great abyss, we had a
+scene before us and about us of great wildness and grandeur; whilst high
+over all waved the original forest, contemporary with the continent
+itself,--trees beneath whose shade the sachems of the warlike Mohawks
+had feasted and legislated.
+
+The last fall lies about a quarter of a mile above this point; and
+immediately below is a dangerous pass, where the vast mass of falling
+water is hurled in its course against a deeply-serrated rock, over which
+rock the curious visitor is obliged to tread, making a step across an
+angle formed by the boiling whirlpool, clinging to a stout chain, and
+closely shouldering the rock; the river passing below, with a motion
+anything but composing for a nervous man to cast a sidelong glance upon.
+At all points of peril, however, lines of chain are securely riveted,
+affording a dependable holdfast; which after rains is indeed absolutely
+necessary, where a single _faux pas_ would be fatal.
+
+A little to our left the water of the river was collected into a basin
+of about one hundred yards' diameter; overflowing which, it found a
+narrow outlet between two rocks, and thence precipitating itself in a
+flood of the colour of amber, was bridged by rainbows dazzling to look
+upon, although a person of ordinary nerve has nothing to encounter
+really dangerous; yet, at this point, a very few years back, an accident
+of a fatal nature did occur, and under circumstances which give to it a
+melancholy interest and will ever keep it as a legend of the place.
+
+A family party, consisting of father, mother, son, two daughters, and
+the betrothed of one of the latter, a fine girl of seventeen, arrived
+in company at the "Retreat," where the parents decided upon remaining
+whilst the rest of the company explored the more adventurous route
+succeeding.
+
+On went the young people in high glee,--the last fall was at length
+achieved; here, after standing for a moment upon the table rock against
+which the strength of the fall bursts, one by one the attentive lover
+handed the merry girls up the dizzy step: he turned to offer to his
+young betrothed the last and dearest act of gallantry, but the rock was
+naked; the object of his care, who but the instant before smiled in his
+face, was here no longer.
+
+Not a soul of the party had witnessed any movement of their vanished
+companion. Absorbed by the scene, they were struggling onward beneath
+the overhanging cliff, when the arrival of the distracted lover, his mad
+gesticulations and horror-stricken looks, recalled them to hear his loss
+and aid his search.
+
+For a few minutes the hope that she had turned back, or concealed
+herself to cause a false alarm, held the worst conclusion at bay: but,
+on reaching a little cove a few yards lower down, this hope was
+crushed, and conviction of her fate placed before them; for here,
+quietly floating on the smooth eddy, lay a gaily-trimmed bonnet. It was
+at once recognised: the lover sprang into the river, snatched it up, and
+found within its hollow the comb of her they sought.
+
+She had, in truth, slipped from off that giddy ledge, and, sinking at
+once below the influence of the whirlpool, lay calmly upon its rocky
+bed.
+
+Next day, after much perseverance, the body was found, and rescued from
+beneath the very point off which she must have fallen; not a feature was
+discomposed, as it is said, or a garment ruffled: to use the words of my
+informant, who for thirty years has listened to the roar of this
+torrent, "She looked just as though she had lain down to sleep in the
+rain, where I saw her, stretched out upon the ledge here."
+
+The details of this story were given to me with added interest by the
+narrator, from the circumstance that, the very day previous, two of the
+party alluded to had revisited the spot for the first time since the
+chance which made it to them so memorable.
+
+Our guide, I believe, related the particulars of one or two other
+accidents; but after this I had ears for no more. That the young and
+happy maid should in one moment be snatched from a world to her so
+bright and beautiful, and engulphed down deep in that cold pool, her
+brothers in her sight, her lover by her side, yet no hand held forth to
+save her, was a picture too sorrowful to be shifted for any other. I
+could not indeed forget it during the remainder of the day, and the rush
+of the water no longer roused me to exertion. From this spot we turned,
+and retraced our steps to the hotel.
+
+Our next morning was devoted to an excursion down the stream, to a spot
+where a saw-mill was at work and a strong rude bridge in progress; we
+crossed upon it, unfinished as it was, and in a meadow upon the west
+side, Herkimer county, I believe, saw two youngsters herding a couple of
+fine cows. I called them to me, but the girl, at the sight of my
+companion and myself, ran off like a lapwing; the boy, a redheaded
+chubby rogue, about twelve years of age, was however soon persuaded to
+approach. When we questioned as to where his mammy lived, he pointed
+over the meadow to a thicket from out of which a little column of light
+smoke was rising; but in reply to one or two other queries, after a
+scratch or two at his head, our little squire boldly bolted out "No
+English!"
+
+And sure enough not another word could we coax out of him: he was,
+however, quite willing and able to make it up in good Irish, and much
+did I regret not being able to have a "goster" with him. From one of the
+carpenters at work on the bridge I learned that the mother spoke only
+Irish, but that she managed her dairy and farm admirably; and that the
+father, who was just able, as they expressed it, "to tell what he
+wanted," worked at the mill, and got "a heap o' money jobbin' about at
+one thing or t'other."
+
+These poor people had been in this neighbourhood about three years: they
+had arrived here destitute, friendless, ignorant even of the language of
+the country; but they were industrious and persevering, and at this time
+may have been said to possess independence; for they were owners of
+sixty acres of excellent land, a cow or two, a few sheep, with poultry,
+pigs, and other evidences of pastoral wealth. The situation of their
+little cottage might be envied by many a wealthy builder in search of a
+beautiful site, and the country about them is perfectly healthy.
+
+We this day met at the hotel a new arrival or two, and sat down in
+company to a very neat dinner: the trout here is excellent, and the
+butter the best out of Philadelphia.
+
+On the 2nd of July we left this comfortable house; and it was not
+without reluctance I so soon bade farewell to the Falls of Trenton,
+which, beautiful in themselves, are surrounded by a country possessing
+so much attraction that I felt a strong desire to become more intimate
+with it.
+
+My companion, Mr. H----, having met with a couple of friends here who
+were journeying our way, it was proposed that we should join company as
+far as Niagara, taking to our own use an extra. This we readily procured
+at Utica; the postmaster agreeing to forward the party to Buffalo by a
+route we laid down, for the sum of seventy-five dollars, the distance
+being nearly two hundred miles. We were by our agreement entitled to
+halt as long as we chose at any place on our route, and, moreover, were
+to be driven at the rate of seven miles per hour at the least.
+
+All these points being duly arranged, we left the thriving city of Utica
+in as heavy a storm of rain as could well fall, the weather having once
+more become cold and cheerless: a more dismal night I never would desire
+to encounter. The rate of travelling soon fell below the minimum of our
+stipulated pace: to do the drivers justice, this was owing to no fault
+of theirs, but the roads were cut into gullies broad and deep, and the
+tumbling we got would have been of vast service to a dyspeptic subject.
+The state of the weather was the more to be regretted as we were passing
+through some of the best cultivated farms in this State; and,
+notwithstanding the disadvantageous nature of the medium through which I
+saw the land, this character appeared to me well deserved.
+
+The farmhouses were very numerous, generally built of good brick, and
+putting forth strong claims on admiration in the shape of various
+ornamental flourishes; an ambition which distinguishes the rural
+architecture indeed of all this State, giving evidence of the ease and
+growing wealth, if not of the purest taste, existing amongst the
+proprietary.
+
+Syracuse we passed through in the middle of the storm and the darkness
+of night; and about six A.M. were safely landed under the ample portico
+of the hotel at Auburn, celebrated for its prison, regulated upon what
+is called the "silent system."
+
+Whilst my companions were making toilet I set forth to visit this penal
+abode, the character of which is made sufficiently evident as you
+approach the lofty walls that encompass so much of misery and guilt. At
+regular distances upon these battlements I perceived sentry-boxes, with
+men keeping watch, musket in hand.
+
+A small sum is here paid for admittance. On my arrival at the lodge, I
+was informed that the prisoners were at breakfast, during which time
+visitors were prohibited: I therefore had to wait some minutes in this
+place; and, except the occasional fall of a heavy bolt, did not hear a
+sound; the very turnkeys seemed infected by the system which it was
+their duty to enforce, and they moved in and out in silence, or spoke in
+monosyllables hardly above a whisper.
+
+Following the gaoler, I was passed within the square at the very moment
+when the prisoners were moving out from their breakfast-hall on the way
+to renew their several labours; and the sight was to me one of sickening
+melancholy.
+
+They were marched from the building in squads, using what is called the
+"lock-step," and were jammed together as close as they could possibly
+tread: they moved in quick-time, and fell out singly, or in pairs, as
+they arrived at the point nearest to the scene of their employment.
+
+I observed that, notwithstanding the regularity of labour, and the
+unquestionably wholesome diet provided here, the faces of the
+individuals composing these ruffian squads were uniformly pale and
+haggard; yet, on saying so much to my guide, I was assured that disease
+is comparatively rare amongst them, and that many who enter here with
+broken constitutions recover their bodily vigour and are made whole men
+again.
+
+The cleanliness of this prison-house, the convenient distribution of its
+various offices, and, indeed, the evident excellence of its general
+arrangement, must strike every stranger with admiration, and doubtless
+presented to the commissioners of inquiry recently appointed from
+England many hints worthy of adoption for home use. Of the merits of the
+system itself it does not become me to speak; it has been well
+considered by wise and worthy men, who continue to watch over its
+working with a philanthropic spirit; but I confess that the impressions
+I received from my visits to these prisons were anything but in its
+favour.
+
+At eight A.M. we quitted Auburn, the weather clear and mild: we crossed
+the head-water of the Seneca Lake upon a well-built bridge, a mile and a
+quarter in length, and, with this exception, observed no point of
+interest until we approached the Lake of Geneva.
+
+This is one of the lions of this route, and in no way disappointed our
+raised expectations. Gradually winding about the eastern bend of the
+lake, the road affords to the traveller a continuous view of the
+location of the little city; and certainly nothing was ever more happily
+chosen than the fine hill over whose side it is built, its streets
+rising gradually from the edge of the clear water in which they are
+reflected.
+
+Entering the main street, I observed that the stores were large and
+substantially built; there was a great bustle, and an air of business
+too, about most of them, which it was pleasant to look upon. The hotel
+at which we drew up was a large, well-appointed house: the landlord,
+finding that we were strangers, civilly invited us to ascend to the
+gallery upon the roof; and certainly the view it afforded was one I
+should have been sorry to miss.
+
+The environs appear to possess an unusual number of tasteful villas; on
+all sides these might be distinguished, giving and receiving adornment
+from the situation. The lake itself looked like a huge mirror; and from
+its polished surface was clearly reflected every turn of its shores, and
+each cloud that floated over it. Its characteristics are softness and
+repose; of a certainty it must have been a feminine spirit that presided
+at the creation of this spot, for its features are all of gentleness and
+beauty.
+
+At Canandaigua we stopped to dine at a very large, and, I should
+imagine, good hotel: the landlord was exceedingly obliging. The regular
+dinner of the house was long past, but he managed to get us a very
+tolerable meal; and what was wanting in this he made up by giving us an
+excellent bottle of wine.
+
+In the environs of this place, as at Geneva, I observed a number of
+well-built and neatly-appointed villas; indeed, this sort of country
+residence is better kept, and built in better taste, in this western
+country than I have elsewhere observed in the States.
+
+About nine P.M. we arrived at Avon Springs; and here we called a halt
+for the night, not a little pleased with the prospect of a comfortable
+bed, which the appearance of the inn gave promise of.
+
+This place is a good deal frequented of late years by invalids, its
+mineral waters being found of great service in dyspepsia,--the most
+crying complaint of the country next to the removal of the deposits, and
+certainly more universal.
+
+I here found my excellent friend R----d, who, together with his young
+bride, had accompanied his father-in-law, who was desirous of testing
+the salubrity of these springs. He described the surrounding country as
+beautiful, and the little place itself as agreeable enough for a short
+sojourn.
+
+The fourth of July, the anniversary of American Independence, was to be
+duly celebrated by a ball, for which my friend had received an invite
+printed upon the back of the nine of hearts; a medium now obsolete in
+England, but conserved here in its integrity.
+
+A less amusing remembrancer of the glorious event began to parade the
+avenue at an early hour in the shape of a patriotic drummer, having an
+instrument, to judge by its sound, coeval with the first fight for that
+freedom it was beaten to celebrate. If anything could have kept me
+awake, this cracked drum would; and, in truth, I had my fears, when, on
+entering my room, I heard my hero ruffing it away immediately in front
+of the window; but they were groundless apprehensions, though his
+efforts were varied and unceasing, for I undressed to the tune of the
+"Grenadiers' March," stepped into bed to the "Reveille," and dropped
+fast asleep to the first part of "Yankee Doodle!"
+
+At six A.M. of the 4th we were once more in motion; the vapours of night
+were yet hanging thick and low; but through the dense atmosphere, as we
+rolled down the avenue, I heard the indefatigable functionary, who
+composed the military band of Avon, determinately beating "Hail
+Columbia!"
+
+At the village of Caledonia we found that a ball was afoot, and we
+pushed on eagerly for Buffalo, anticipating, from the importance of the
+place and the wealth of its citizens, something in the way of display
+worthy of their loyalty and of the occasion.
+
+Between Le Roy, a town of remarkable neatness, and Batavia, I
+encountered my first sample of a corduroy-road, or, as it is sometimes
+facetiously termed, a Canadian railway.
+
+Our driver, a merry fellow, called out that we must look out "not to get
+mixed up of a heap," and rattled at it. I did not require much
+experience to decide that travelling over a road of corduroy was by no
+means going on velvet; but the effect was not so bad as I had expected
+to prove it: by holding fast, one could keep one's seat tolerably well,
+without much fear of dislocation; but I would strongly recommend any man
+having loose teeth, to walk over this stage, unless he desires to have
+them shaken out of his head.
+
+From Batavia the road is execrable, and the country without a feature to
+interest or amuse, uncultivated, wild, and dismal. It was about half an
+hour before sunset when we entered Buffalo, the City of the Lakes, the
+entrepot for these inland oceans.
+
+
+
+
+BUFFALO.
+
+
+America is, perhaps, in our day, the only country wherein these infant
+capitals, these embryo cities, may be seen, and their growth noted, as
+they are gradually developed before living eyes.
+
+A very few years back, this frontier, now so populous and thriving, was
+only known as "the Wilderness;" and upon the edge of this, washed by the
+waters of Lake Erie, has Buffalo sprung up. The great source of that
+gratification which is felt on a near view of this, and other places of
+similar origin, is to be found in the feeling that they derive their
+being from the prosperous industry of our fellow-men, and that in their
+increase we behold its happy continuance. They are the vouchers which
+America may fairly produce to show that the fruition of liberty has been
+with her productive of increased energy and spreading enterprise.
+
+These places have not, like St. Petersburg, been raised up in obedience
+to the policy or the caprice of a despot; the work of bondsmen, founded
+amidst pestilence, and cemented with blood and tears. The unfinished
+palace of the half-savage prince already the tomb of hundreds of its
+miserable builders; a city of marble founded upon a marsh.
+
+Here, it is true, was a wonder having no parallel, of which the living
+of the last century might have observed the progress,--one may add, the
+completion, as, should its lord so will, the present generation may look
+upon its abandonment and depopulation;--but the cause of the existence
+of St. Petersburg calls up no generous sympathy with its progress,
+because we know that the labour was constrained; and from its story,
+when fairly told, we rise, not with pride in the power of our kind,
+which had overcome so many obstacles, but with pity for the suffering
+and debasement of humanity constrained to such exertion. On the
+contrary, these yet humble cities of America, so humble as sometimes to
+draw from the far-travelled a sneer upon the application of the word,
+are surrounded by a healthful, moral atmosphere: their infancy is
+vigorous, giving promise of a long endurance and ultimate greatness,
+only to be limited by the will of the King of kings.
+
+From the roof of the Eagle, a very large hotel, I took a general view of
+the wide-spread frame of Buffalo, whose many as yet barely definable
+streets are in the keeping of houses so thinly scattered, that they
+reminded me of lines of sentries placed to denote occupation. I traced
+the course of the great Erie canal from the Niagara river to the lake,
+whose busy harbour was filled with steamers, schooners, and other
+trading craft.
+
+After sunset we descended from our lofty observatory, and followed the
+line of the main street, witnessing the rejoicings called forth by this
+anniversary of American Independence. The feeling of the community at
+large could only be guessed at, since it made no sign; but if the body
+politic of Buffalo might be considered fairly represented by some
+hundred or so of active urchins who were congregated in a square near
+the centre of the main street, nothing could be more ardent than this
+city's gratitude, for these delegates beat drums, blew fifes, fired
+crackers, and huzzaed until the welkin rang with their shrill small
+yells. We found, upon inquiry, that there was no ball, dinner, or other
+public demonstration; the reason was ascribed to the extreme violence of
+party politics, which at this period completely divided the community,
+and were carried out to an extent without precedent in their brief
+annals.
+
+The street was chiefly occupied by a number of Indians of the Seneca
+tribe, dressed in a costume part native and part European: these
+holiday-keepers lounged lazily about in all the delight of utter
+intoxication, the men invariably in groups by themselves, and the ladies
+of the tribe trapesing after them at a long interval with stoical
+indifference.
+
+Nothing can be more subversive of the poetry one's early recollections
+connect with this race, than a first rencontre with the outcasts by whom
+it is represented on these frontiers, who daily degenerate where all
+else seems to thrive, and who perish in the midst of an abundance,
+which, for all but them, increases with each year.
+
+I am not sure whether it would not be more humane to deal upon the
+natives as summarily as with their forests; for the fall of the former
+before the advance of civilization is not, though slower, less certain.
+
+They may at present be likened to girdled trees, about whose vigorous
+trunk the axe of the woodman is but lightly drawn, yet whose fall is
+assured past remedy; the springs of health and life are stopped, upon
+their fading leaves the sun rises and heaven's dews descend in vain; for
+a little while they continue to wave their naked crests in the gale, and
+hold forth their gaunt limbs as if life were in them, objects exciting
+at once commiseration and disgust; until, crumbled into decay, the
+unseemly skeletons lie prostrate athwart the roots of their once
+fellows, who were stricken down in their bloom, and so perished by a
+quicker and more merciful sentence.
+
+
+
+
+NIAGARA.
+
+
+I felt interested with Buffalo, and had promised myself much pleasure
+from a visit to the country occupied by a branch of the Seneca tribe in
+its neighbourhood; but Niagara was now within a few hours,--the great
+object of the journey was almost in sight. I was for ever fancying that
+I heard the sound of the "Thunder-water"[12] booming on the breeze; so,
+with a restlessness and anxiety not to be suppressed, I got into the
+coach on the day after my arrival at the capital of the lakes, and was
+in a short time set down on the bank of the swift river Niagara, at the
+ferry, which is some four miles from Buffalo.
+
+We found the little rapids about the shore occupied by fishers of all
+ages, who required but a small share of the patience which is deemed so
+essential a qualification to the followers of this melancholy sport, for
+they were pulling the simple wretches out as fast as the lines could be
+baited and offered.
+
+The shipment was quickly effected, and in a few minutes our faces were
+turned from the dominion of the States. The vessel was a large
+horse-boat; that is, a flat propelled by paddle-wheels similar to those
+of a steam-boat, only wrought by horse-power,--an animal tread-mill in
+fact. Whether the horses working this were here on good behaviour, or
+not, I could not rightly ascertain, but certainly they were
+scampish-looking steeds, their physiognomical expression was low and
+dogged, such as one might expect from the degrading nature of their
+unvarying task.
+
+On the larboard gangway of our flat the American jack floated, and over
+the starboard side waved the Union flag of Old England; they fluttered
+proudly side by side, a worthy brotherhood, and so united may they long
+be found!
+
+The ride along the Canada shore was very fine, the noble stream being
+constantly in sight: the country appeared thickly populated; but the
+land poor, the cultivation of it, I believe, is not found very
+profitable.
+
+We halted to water the team at a public-house that stands upon the
+ground where was fought the battle of Chippewa, which, as the Yankees
+say, "eventuated just no how." This was the twentieth anniversary; and,
+on alighting from the box, I was exceedingly amused to find the host and
+a smart wayfaring young man, with mutual vehemence well worthy the
+cause, fighting the battle over again.
+
+From this house the eternal mist caused by the great fall may be plainly
+seen curling like a vast body of light smoke, and shooting occasionally
+in spiral columns high above the tree-tops; but not a sound told of its
+neighbourhood, although we were not five miles distant from it, and the
+day was calm and clear. At about three miles from this, as the vehicle
+slowly ascended a rise, I heard for the first time the voice of the
+waters, and called the attention of my friends within the carriage to
+the sound.
+
+Never let any impatient man set out for Niagara in one of these coaches;
+a railroad would hardly keep pace with one's eagerness, and here were we
+crawling at the rate of four miles per hour. I fancied that the last
+three miles never would be accomplished; and often wished internally, as
+I beat the devil's tattoo upon the footboard of the coach-box, that I
+had bought or borrowed or stolen a horse at Chippewa, and galloped to
+the wonder alone and silently.
+
+At length the hotel came in view, and I knew that the rapid was close at
+hand.
+
+"Now, sir, look out!" quietly said the driver.
+
+I almost determined upon shutting my eyes or turning away my head; but I
+do not think it would have been within the compass of my will so to have
+governed them; for even at this distant moment, as I write, I find my
+pen move too slow to keep pace with the recollections of the impatience
+which I seek to record.
+
+It was at the moment we struck the foot of the hill leading up to the
+hotel that the rapid and the great horse-shoe fall became visible over
+the sunken trees to our right, almost on a level with us. I have heard
+people talk of having felt disappointed on a first view of this
+stupendous scene: by what process they arrived at this conclusion I
+profess myself utterly incapable of divining, since, even now that two
+years have almost gone by, I find on this point my feelings are not yet
+to be analyzed; I dare not trust myself to their guidance, and only know
+that my wildest imaginings were forgotten in contemplating this awful
+reality.
+
+A very few minutes after we were released from the confinement of the
+coach saw myself and companions upon the Table-rock; and soon after we
+were submitting to the equipment provided by a man resident upon the
+spot for persons who chose to penetrate beneath the great fall, and
+whose advertisement assured us that the gratification of curiosity was
+unattended with either inconvenience or danger, as water-proof dresses
+were kept in readiness, together with an experienced guide. The
+water-proof dress given to me I found still wet through; and, on the
+arrival of the experienced guide, I was not a little surprised to see
+the fellow, after a long stare in my face, exclaim,
+
+"Och, blur an' 'oons! Mr. Power, sure it's not yer honour that's come
+all this way from home!"
+
+An explanation took place; when I found that our guide, whom I had seen
+some two years before as a helper in the stable of my hospitable friend
+Smith Barry, at Foaty, was this summer promoted to the office of
+"Conductor," as he styled himself, under the waterfall.
+
+And a most whimsical "conductor" he proved. His cautions, and "divil a
+fears!" and "not a hap'orth o' danger!" must have been mighty assuring
+to the timid or nervous, if any such ever make this experiment, which,
+although perfectly safe, is not a little startling.
+
+His directions,--when we arrived at the point where the mist, pent in
+beneath the overhanging rock, makes it impossible to distinguish
+anything, and where the rush of air is so violent as to render
+respiration for a few seconds almost impracticable,--were inimitable.
+
+"Now, yer honour!" he shouted in my ear--for we moved in Indian
+file,--"whisper the next gintleman to follow you smart; and, for the
+love o' God! shoulder the rock close, stoop yer heads, and shut fast yer
+eyes, or you won't be able to see an inch!"
+
+I repeated my orders verbatim, though the cutting wind made it difficult
+to open one's mouth.
+
+"Now thin, yer honour," he cried, cowering down as he spoke, "do as ye
+see me do; hould yer breath, and scurry after like divils!"
+
+With the last word away he bolted, and was lost to view in an instant.
+I repeated his instructions however to the next in file, and, as
+directed, scurried after.
+
+This rather difficult point passed, I came upon my countryman waiting
+for us within the edge of the curve described by this falling ocean; he
+grasped my wrist firmly as I emerged from the dense drift, and shouted
+in my ear,
+
+"Luk up, sir, at the green sea that's rowlin' over uz! Murder! bud iv it
+only was to take a shlope in on uz!"
+
+Here we could see and breathe with perfect ease; and even the ludicrous
+gestures and odd remarks of my poetical countryman could not wholly rob
+the scene of its striking grandeur.
+
+I next passed beyond my guide as he stood on tiptoe against the rock
+upon a ledge of which we trod, and under his direction attained that
+limit beyond which the foot of man never pressed. I sat for one moment
+on the Termination Rock, and then followed my guide back to my
+companions, when together we once more "scurried" into day.
+
+"Isn't it illegant, sir?" began the "Conductor," as soon as we were well
+clear of the mist.
+
+"Isn't it a noble sight intirely? Caps the world for grandness any way,
+that's sartain!"
+
+I need hardly say that in this opinion we all joined loudly; but Mr.
+Conductor was not yet done with us,--he had now to give us a taste of
+his "larnin."
+
+"I wish ye'd take notice, sir," said he, pointing across the river with
+an air of authority and a look of infinite wisdom. "Only take a luk at
+the falls, an' you'll see that Shakspeare is out altogether about the
+discription."
+
+"How's that, Pat?" inquired I, although not a little taken aback by the
+authority so gravely quoted by my critical friend.
+
+"Why, sir, Shakspeare first of all says that there's two falls; now, ye
+may see wid yer own eyes that it's one river sure, and one fall, only
+for the shtrip o' rock that makes two af id."
+
+This I admitted was evident; whilst Pat gravely went on:
+
+"Thin agin, only luk here, sir; Shakspeare says, 'The cloud-cap tower;'
+why, if he'd ever taken the trouble to luk at it, he'd seen better than
+that; an' if he wasn't a fool,--which I'm sure he wasn't, bein' a grand
+poet,--he'd know that the clouds never can rise to cap the tower, by
+reason that it stands up above the fall, and that the current for ever
+sets down."
+
+Again I agreed with him, excusing Shakspeare's discrepancies on the
+score of his never having had a proper guide to explain these matters.
+
+"I don't know who at all showed him the place," gravely responded Pat;
+"but it's my belief he never was in id at all at all, though the
+gintleman that tould me a heap more about it swears for sartin that he
+was."
+
+This last remark, and the important air with which the doubt was
+conveyed, proved too much for my risible faculties, already suffering
+some constraint, and I fairly roared out in concert with my companion,
+who had been for some time convulsed with laughter.
+
+Whoever first instructed the "Conductor" on this point of critical
+history deserves well of the visitors so long as the present subject
+remains here to communicate the knowledge; indeed, I trust, before he is
+drowned in the Niagara, or burnt up with the whisky required, as he
+says, "to keep the could out of the shtomach," the present possessor of
+this curiosity in literature will bequeath it to his successor, so that
+it may be handed down in its integrity to all future visitors.
+
+Next morning at an early hour I revisited the "Termination Rock," but
+excused myself from being accompanied by "the Conductor." I next
+wandered down the stream, and had a delightful bathe in it. Accompanied
+by a friend, I was pulled in a skiff as close to the fall as possible,
+and in short performed duly all the observances that have been suggested
+and practised by curiosity or idleness; but in all these I found no
+sensation equal to a long quiet contemplation of the mass entire, not as
+viewed from the balconies of the hotel, but from some rocky point or
+wooded shade, where house and fence and man and all his petty doings
+were shut out, and the eye left calmly to gaze upon the awful scene, and
+the rapt mind to raise its thoughts to Him who loosed this eternal flood
+and guides it harmless as the petty brook.
+
+There never should have been a house permitted within sight of the fall
+at least. How I have envied those who first sought Niagara, through the
+scarce trod wilderness, with the Indian for a guide; and who slept upon
+its banks with the summer trees for their only shelter, with the sound
+of its waters for their only _reveille_.
+
+Now, one is awakened here by a bell, which I never can liken to any
+other than a dustman's, and can hardly find a spot whereto parasols and
+smart forage-caps intrude not.
+
+I would even include in my denunciation the tower which is now erected
+upon the piece of rock that abuts upon the great fall, and standing in
+whose gallery you actually hang suspended over the abyss; not but that
+the tower is in itself rudely simple, and in good taste perhaps, but
+that one feels this place needs no such accessories, and, instead of
+deriving advantage from them, is degraded into a mere show by their
+presence; and, in saying this much, I feel as though the application of
+the term was a profanation.
+
+I only saw three natives near the fall during my stay; but these formed
+a little group I would like much to have had Landseer look upon.
+
+I was walking one morning before breakfast about a quarter of a mile
+below the fall, when I suddenly came upon a squaw leaning against a
+tree: as many of the Tuscaroras understand a few words of English, I
+addressed her with "Good morning, good morning!"
+
+With a calm bend of the head she placed her fingers over her lips by
+way of return to my salutation, turning herself at the same time a
+little away as if to avoid further notice or intercourse: curiosity,
+however, overcame good-breeding in me, and mounting the little bank to a
+level with the shady tree against which she passively leaned, I
+immediately became aware of her object.
+
+Coiled up, on the earth, by her feet lay an Indian, his head and
+shoulders wrapped close in his blanket; upon this motionless mass her
+eyes were calmly fixed: against the opposite side of the tree sat a very
+handsome lad, about eight or nine years old, who never lifted his head
+to look on the intruder: near the boy crouched a half-starved hound of
+the lurcher kind, a red-coloured, wire-haired brute, with a keen cold
+Indian look, and as apparently incurious as the best-taught warrior of
+the tribe: there was no wagging of the tail in friendly recognition, as
+might be expected from a kindly European dog; neither was there the
+warning growl and spiteful show of bristled crest and angry teeth, nor
+any suspicious circling round the stranger, with tail tucked close and
+thievish scrutiny, so common amongst low-bred white curs; this hound of
+the Red-man, on the contrary, deported himself in a manner creditable to
+his race, and to the tribe of his adoption: I do not believe his eye was
+ever once raised to survey me; or, if it was, the movement was so well
+managed that I did not detect it.
+
+Supported against the tree stood a long rifle, over whose muzzle was
+hung a scarlet shoulder-belt and pouch, richly worked with an embroidery
+of blue and white beads; by a thong of hide was also suspended from the
+rifle a sheath of leather, through which protruded a couple of inches of
+the bright broad blade of a knife: these I readily conceived to be the
+appointments of the sleeping man; and the trio thus patiently watching
+his slumbers,--his wife, child, and dog.
+
+I looked upon this savage group for some minutes, and no happier scene
+could have been found for such a rencontre:--the grassy knoll which the
+family occupied; the rich foliage of the butter-nut tree that shaded
+them; the wooded heights above, and the deep-channeled river flowing by;
+together with a stillness made more thrilling by the sound of the
+cataract, for a moment rumbling like near-coming thunder, and then
+dying away into a continuous moan, soft and absolutely musical, whilst
+afar off its light vapoury masses gently rose and fell, converted by the
+morning sun into clouds of silver tissue. I have often, amongst other
+vain wishes, sighed for the possession of the painter's power, but never
+more than at this moment; and as I silently looked upon the unchanging
+group, and called to mind the artists whom such a chance would have
+repaid for longer travel, I grieved to think it should have been given
+to one whose attempts by description to image it must prove so tame a
+record.
+
+After a long pause, pointing to the coiled-up sleeper, I ventured on a
+second inquiry, saying, "Man,--he sick?"
+
+The squaw fixed her fine eyes upon me, and comprehending my inquiry,
+nodded once or twice, articulating in a low musical voice, "Man
+sick,--whisky too much--make bad!"
+
+Again her head drooped, and her eyes rested upon the motionless mass
+before her; the little imp and the hound meanwhile never by a sign
+indicating their knowledge of the presence of an intruder. I now turned
+back towards the hotel, which I had left to watch the sun rise on the
+fall from the bed of the river. My early stirring was every way
+fortunate, for the morning was fresh and unseasonably cool, consequently
+the misty abyss into which the river tumbled was bridged by beautiful
+rainbows in every direction; whilst, to crown all, with the exception of
+the group I have mentioned, no unhallowed foot broke on the holy place.
+
+The family had not appeared on my return to the house; so seeking my
+little chamber, whose window commanded the rapids and the great fall, I
+flung myself upon my bed, and gratefully reviewed all the beauty of
+earth and sky which I had been so happily permitted to behold and to
+enjoy.
+
+The days I passed here must always be recalled by me as days of
+unalloyed enjoyment; I felt an indescribable calm steal, as it were,
+over my spirit. Generally active, impatient, and inquiring, I have
+seldom found any neighbourhood which I did not compass in a few days;
+but from the vicinity of this spot I had no desire to stir. Finding that
+the dinner-hour was two o'clock, which would have destroyed the day, I
+requested the proprietor of the hotel, one of the most obliging persons
+I ever met,--an Englishman,--to give our little party dinner at five;
+and from breakfast to this time I believe our time was usually passed
+lounging dreamily about Goat Island, to reach which you cross the river
+below the falls to the American side, and then pass over the rapids on a
+bridge, which is in itself a wonder.
+
+The turf of this island, its trees and flowers, retaining in summer the
+freshness of spring, the delicious purity of its atmosphere, and the
+brightness of its waters, render it most charming. The solitude here has
+no drawback; the strong currents of air by which it is encircled defy
+the powers of the musquito,--that bane to all thin-skinned people with
+pastoral inclinations, and not an insect in the least venomous or
+annoying is to be found here.
+
+This Island of the Rainbow, as it has been poetically and not
+inappropriately named, is situated exactly between the falls;
+surrounded, and intersected in part, by rapids frightful to look on.
+Before American enterprise and ingenuity spanned these with the bridge
+that now connects the Iris isle with the main land, the approach to it
+must have been attended with great difficulty and much danger; indeed,
+I believe it was very rarely attempted; at present it is occupied by one
+or two poor families, who tend a garden now in progress, under the care
+of the proprietor of the place.
+
+Within these few years, a young man of good appearance was known to have
+taken up his abode here; he shunned all observance, only holding
+communion with a poor family who procured him what necessaries he
+needed. After a residence of two years he died, without leaving the
+slightest clue to his name or country. That his condition was gentle may
+be inferred from his accomplishments: a flute and a guitar, on both of
+which he is said to have played much and well, with a drawing or two,
+are all that remain of the recluse, although the man who attended upon
+him says he sketched and wrote much.
+
+Certainly no anchorite ever selected a pleasanter summer solitude: how
+he got through the severity of a five or six months' winter in a place
+so exposed can only be imagined, since the hermit died and "made no
+sign."
+
+I visited the other lions of the place, but took little heed of them.
+The sulphur springs were exhibited, and the gas ignited, by a
+remarkably fine old man, who was full of anecdote of the late war: one
+or two of his stories I took good note of, and purpose availing myself
+of them at some future time.
+
+On one afternoon I forced myself away to visit the Devil's Hole and the
+Whirlpool, situated about five miles below the falls; and a wilder scene
+it is impossible for imagination to conceive than the deep rocky basin
+into which the river is precipitated, and from which it issues at right
+angles from its previous course, bearing with it portions of the wrack
+accumulated within the black vortex of this fearful pool, into whose
+gulf it is impossible to look without a shudder. The drive through the
+forest was delightful; and, if any sight could have repaid me for
+leaving the neighbourhood of the falls, this fitting _pendant_ would be
+that sight.
+
+The bad weather which occurred so late in the month of June, and,
+indeed, continued through the first days of July, had retarded the
+advance of visitors. At the period of our stay there were but two or
+three strangers here besides ourselves; and, not dining at the public
+table, these I never saw except at a distance. The weather during the
+day was warm without being oppressive, the evenings and nights
+deliciously cool.
+
+I had brought my companion, Mr. H----e, thus far on a promise of
+returning with him in a few days, and never did I feel more urged to
+break faith: but knowing that he was compelled to return in a certain
+time, and had accompanied me out of sheer good-nature, I could not
+reconcile it to myself to let him journey back alone; for our companions
+were bound on a wide tour through the Canadas.
+
+After a halt here of only three short days then, I finally crossed the
+Niagara for the American shore, and immediately took a coach for
+Tonnewanta, to intercept the boat on its way from Buffalo by the Erie
+canal, intending to journey by this route as far as Rochester.
+
+At Tonnewanta, a pretty little village, we were detained two or three
+hours; and here I once more encountered my family of Tuscarora Indians.
+The man was at this time wide awake, but still half drunk; and, although
+a fine-made fellow, had that horrid brutal look which accompanies
+continued debauch. He was attended as I at first saw him, only that now,
+as he stood by the public-house door talking with a couple of negroes,
+the boy and the hound only were beside him. I looked about for my lady
+of the tribe, and perceived her squatted on her heels against the wall,
+about fifty paces lower down, "burd alane."
+
+From a slight furtive glance of the urchin, I perceived that he
+recognised me; he spoke a couple of words to his father, who, turning
+his head in the direction where I stood, muttered an interjectional
+"Ugh!" and resumed his previous calm attitude, contrasting oddly with
+the _insouciant_ look and merry grimaces of his negro companions.
+
+I next walked on to the solitary squaw, in hopes of claiming
+acquaintance; but she kept her eyes fixed upon a necklace she was
+playing with as gravely as a devotee might tell her beads, and by no
+sign of recognition deigned to flatter me.
+
+Miserable and degraded race! on whose condition much care has been
+vainly bestowed, much generous sympathy idly wasted! I say wasted, since
+the aborigines of this continent are either above or below sympathy. I
+confess my feeling for them has been much changed by a near view of
+their condition and a better knowledge of their history and habits; and
+whatever complaints they may advance against the rapacity of the white
+man, he must at least be admitted a generous historian.
+
+I shall have occasion hereafter to revert to the unpopular view of this
+question, which I have adopted against my inclination in obedience to my
+judgment, and meantime must quit my family of the Tuscaroras--what a
+name to adorn a tale!--for the canal boat arrived, and in a moment we
+were hurried to embark.
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[12] The Indian name "Niagara" signifies Thunder-water.
+
+
+
+
+ERIE CANAL.
+
+
+PACKET-BOAT.--HEAT.--CEDAR SWAMP, LONG SWAMP, AND MUSQUITO
+SWAMP.--UTICA.
+
+
+This day, up to the meridian, had been temperately warm, but not in the
+least sultry or unbearable. The boat was exceedingly clean, not
+over-crowded; and I sat down within its neat cabin, anticipating a
+couple of days' quiet travel, which, if a little monotonous, would be at
+least unattended by the fatigue and dust of a stage journey between this
+and Utica.
+
+The boat for a few hours went on merrily; the eternal forest closed
+about us, and the sound of our horses' feet alone broke upon its
+silence. Towards evening the heat became great, and after sunset the
+southern sky began to give forth continuous sheets of flame, along whose
+pale surface would occasionally dart lines of red forked lightning,
+whilst the breeze gradually died away. My first idea was, that we were
+about to be favoured with a refreshing storm of rain and thunder; but
+vain were my hopes: I watched and listened, but no drop fell, no sound
+was heard.
+
+Meantime, the heat increased as the night closed in: the little cots,
+however, were duly hung one below another along the sides of the cabin.
+I had procured an upper berth, with a window by my side; and having
+exhausted my patience, and wearied my sight watching the fiery sky, I at
+last ventured to creep below. Although a hotter atmosphere can hardly be
+imagined, I slept tolerably sound; but, on waking, found myself anything
+but refreshed. The sun was not yet above the horizon when I crept forth
+on to the deck: it was that hour of morning which, of all others, one
+expects to be invigorating and cool, as indeed it usually is in all
+climates; but here, enclosed within the banks of the canal, and
+surrounded by swamp and forest, there was no morning air for us. My mind
+was made up to leave the boat at the first place where a stage might be
+procured.
+
+All this day the air absolutely stood still. At our places of halt we
+were joined by men who had left the stages in consequence of those
+vehicles not being able to travel. Our pace was reduced considerably;
+and the cattle, although in excellent condition, were terribly
+distressed. At Lockport we found business nearly at a stand-still; the
+thermometer was at 110 degrees of Fahrenheit. We passed several horses
+dead upon the banks of the canal, and were compelled to leave one or two
+of our own in a dying state. Here more persons joined than we could well
+accommodate, and I found positively that all movement by the stage route
+was at an end, forty horses having fallen on the line the day previous.
+To attempt abiding in any of the places along the canal, I was assured
+would be an exchange for the worse; so the only course was to endure the
+"ills we had," and certainly these did not become the lighter through
+practice. Towards the second night our progress became tediously slow,
+for it appeared to grow hot in proportion as the evening advanced.
+
+The south-western sky was again banked up by black clouds, from which
+the sheet lightning never ceased to burst. Under other circumstances the
+scene would have been viewed as one of infinite grandeur; but, at
+present, every consideration became absorbed by our sufferings, for to
+this the affair really amounted.
+
+This night I found it impossible to look in upon the cabin; I therefore
+made a request to the captain that I might be permitted to have a
+mattress on deck: but this, he told me, could not be; there was an
+existing regulation which positively forbade sleeping upon the deck of a
+canal packet; indeed, he assured me that this could only be done at the
+peril of life, with the certainty of catching fever and ague. I appeared
+to submit to his well-meant arguments; but inwardly resolved, _coute qui
+coute_, not to sleep within the den below, which exhibited a scene of
+suffocation and its consequences that defies description.
+
+I got my cloak up, filled my hat with cigars, and, planting myself about
+the centre of the deck, here resolved, _malgre_ dews and musquitoes, to
+weather it through the night.
+
+"What is this name of the country we are now passing?" I inquired of one
+of the boatmen who joined me about the first hour of morning.
+
+"Why sir, this is called the Cedar Swamp," answered the man, to whom I
+handed a cigar, in order to retain his society and create more smoke,
+weak as was the defence against the hungry swarms surrounding us on all
+sides.
+
+"We have not much more of this Cedar Swamp to get through, I hope?"
+inquired I, seeking for some consolatory information.
+
+"About fifty miles more, I guess," was the reply of my companion,
+accompanying each word with a sharp slap on the back of his hand, or on
+his cheek or forehead.
+
+"Thank Heaven!" I involuntarily exclaimed, drawing my cloak closer about
+me, although the heat was killing; "we shall after that escape in some
+sort, I hope, from these legions of musquitoes?"
+
+"I guess not quite," replied the man; "they are as thick, if not
+thicker, in the Long Swamp."
+
+"The Long Swamp!" I repeated: "what a horrible name for a country! Does
+the canal run far through it?"
+
+"No, not so very far, only about eighty miles."
+
+"We've then done with swamps, I hope, my friend?" I inquired, as he kept
+puffing and slapping on with unwearied constancy.
+
+"Why, yes, there's not a heap more swamp, that is to say, not close to
+the line, till we come to within about forty miles of Utica."
+
+"And is that one as much infested with these infernal insects as are
+the Cedar and Long Swamps."
+
+"I guess _that_ is _the_ place above all for musquitoes," replied the
+man grinning. "Thim's the real gallinippers, emigrating north for the
+summer all the way from the Balize and Red River. Let a man go to sleep
+with his head in a cast-iron kettle among thim chaps, and if their bills
+don't make a watering-pot of it before morning, I'm d----d. They're
+strong enough to lift the boat out of the canal, if they could only get
+underneath her."
+
+I found these swamps endless as Banquo's line: would they had been
+shadows only; but alas! they were yet to be encountered, horrible
+realities not to be evaded. I closed my eyes in absolute fear, and
+forbore further inquiry.
+
+Here I remained throughout the whole night, dozing a little between
+whiles, but never foregoing my cigar for a minute. Towards daylight the
+dew descended like rain, but brought with it no coolness to earth or
+man: it felt exactly as though it had been boiled the day before, and
+had not been left long enough to get cool.
+
+During this day many of our men frequently threw themselves overboard,
+clothes and all on, that is, in shirt and trousers, these being all of
+habiliment that could be worn; I really feared that some of them who had
+been a little too free in their cold applications, that is, of iced
+water and brandy, would have gone mad.
+
+This blessing of ice we were seldom many hours without, the poorest
+hovel on the canal being commonly provided with it in sufficient
+abundance to give us a supply. The inhabitants, I found, were suffering
+from the unusual continuance of heat as much as strangers: at night they
+built huge fires of pine before their doors, so that the thick smoke
+might penetrate the dwelling, and scour the infernal musquitoes out of
+it. At these fires we would find the poor women sitting in the smoke at
+the risk of suffocation; pale, haggard, with their hair neglected and
+dishevelled, looking like worn-out ghosts rather than living beings. The
+oldest inhabitants on the line of the canal assured us they never
+remembered any heat of three days' continuance which could compare to
+this; and I believe them, since no man could long endure such a
+visitation.
+
+This evening our condition was in no way improved, except that we heard
+the sound and felt the presence of a strong current of northerly wind;
+but it blew as though issuing from a furnace, and afforded no present
+relief. The sky continued to show "fiery off," and the musquitoes of
+that ilk did credit to the genealogy my informant ascribed to them: but
+there is a period beyond which even suffering ceases; this happy
+insensibility I had attained; and when after midnight we were landed at
+Utica, I felt as though I could have slept soundly and well even beneath
+the heated deck of our canal packet.
+
+I got an excellent bed at the hotel, however; and at daylight awoke to
+feel once more the delightful sensation of coolness. In the night heavy
+rain had fallen; a light but pleasant breeze was blowing; and the past
+was already a subject for merriment, although it was such matter for
+jest as I never willingly will undertake to collect again.
+
+
+
+
+LITTLE FALLS.
+
+
+SARATOGA.--BALLSTON.--ALBANY.--MOUNTAIN-HOUSE.--CATSKILL.--HYDE
+PARK.--LYNN.
+
+
+The early hour of six A.M. saw us once more in motion for Schnectady, by
+way of Little Falls. We pursued what is termed the ridge road, running
+along the valley of the Mohawk.
+
+The day was bright, and not over-warm. The sun's rays being tempered by
+a delicious north-east breeze, the condition of the atmosphere
+completely re-invigorated the almost prostrate body, whilst the
+loveliness of the prospect delighted and cheered the mind. No valley in
+the world can present charms more varied or more beautiful; even making
+every allowance for the happy change from musquitoes, swamps, close
+confinement, and suffocation, to freedom, exercise, and healthful
+breezes, with the satisfaction consequent upon the re-enjoyment of all
+these.
+
+We frequently ran along the line of cuttings for the railroad now in
+progress between Utica and Schnectady. The rocky nature of the ridge
+whose line they pursue, offers formidable impediments; but the work was
+proceeding with great rapidity notwithstanding. This railway, when
+complete, together with the canal by whose side it runs, will afford a
+facility of communication between New York and Utica, which, for speed
+and convenience, can have no rival.
+
+We breakfasted at Little Falls, a small town built on what was, at some
+period or other, the very bed of a torrent, amidst the huge piles of
+rock riven from the mountains in its course. Although overshadowed by
+the steep heights that wall the ravine in which it lies, it is kept cool
+and healthful by the constant current of air following the rapid fall of
+the river, which is here precipitated over a series of rocky ledges in a
+wild and hurried course, giving to the ravine and town the name of
+Little Falls. A more picturesque, romantic site no painter could desire.
+I felt vexed to be compelled to leave it after about an hour's halt; and
+should yet more regret this, did I not hope to revisit it.
+
+Arriving at Schnectady, we found the railroad train about to start for
+Saratoga springs; and, taking our places, we arrived at this Malvern of
+America about ten at night, after a delightful day's ride.
+
+Next morning I got up early, and took a lounge about Saratoga. The
+nominal attraction to this place is its water, which is much in vogue,
+and may be procured all over the States, being bottled and sold under
+the name of Congress water; as in all such places however, pleasure, not
+health, is the end pursued by the majority of visitors.
+
+The day was again close and hot: the street was a foot deep in light
+dust, so that every carriage moved in a cloud, and not a breath of air
+could rise without bearing this nuisance on its wing. I could not but
+think, considering the abundance of water, that there was a lack of
+charity in thus withholding a sprinkling from the road, especially as
+the resident invalids would, I am sure, have as much benefited by this
+mode of application as by any other; since to breathe for any length of
+time an atmosphere constantly impregnated with impalpable powder, must
+be anything but salutary.
+
+The chief attraction presented to my eyes was the piazza of the hotel
+where myself and friend had our quarters. This was of immense extent,
+full twenty feet wide, boarded throughout, and covered by the roof of
+the house, which was supported by lofty pillars of pine. About these
+columns grew, in the greatest luxuriance, the wild vine of the country,
+or some other Clematis, covering them from ground to roof, and forming a
+continuous rich drapery throughout the whole extent of the long piazza.
+
+This forms a promenade for the residents of the house and their
+visitors; and, were it out of reach of the dust, it would be difficult
+to create one more elegant and agreeable. There are several hotels here,
+whose exteriors present all the attractions of cleanliness and great
+size, both exceeding good points in so hot a climate as this now was. Of
+their internal arrangements I know nothing; for after partaking of a
+breakfast, in common with some hundred and fifty elaborately
+well-dressed ladies and gentlemen, in a room every way proportioned to
+the number of the _convives_, with the thermometer at about 88 degrees,
+I declared off, and made up my mind to decamp by the next train to seek
+quiet and coolness on the summit of the Catskill mountains.
+
+On our way we halted for a few hours at Ballston, the quality of whose
+water is, I believe, similar to that of the Saratoga springs: the place
+itself I liked better, simply, I suppose, because it had less of bustle
+and pretension. At the hotel, whose pillared piazza, was, like that I
+had just quitted, clothed with the freshest and most luxuriant clematis,
+I met a gay young belle of New York, who was resident here with her
+family, recruiting a sufficient stock of health to carry her through the
+fatigues of a winter campaign. By this lady I had my prepossessions in
+favour of Ballston confirmed; she assured me that the society here,
+though exceedingly small by comparison, was infinitely more pleasant;
+that there was less of dress or ceremony, and consequently more real
+comfort and sociability. I left this place with a strong inclination to
+remain for a few days at least: but my time of _relache_ was short; and
+my misery was that I had much to see, and many points to visit lying far
+asunder, therefore was bound to hasten on, leaving agreeable realities
+as soon as found, to seek for something better, which too often proved a
+shadow when overtaken.
+
+Arrived at Albany, however, I found a right substantial welcome
+awaiting me from "mine host o' th' Eagle," in the shape of a six o'clock
+dinner of trout and woodcock, which would have recommended itself even
+without the aid of a hot day's journey and a ten hours' fast.
+
+Passed the evening with the K----s, one of those families of women
+which, if I did not value their delicacy more than my own inclination, I
+should like to describe, in contradiction to those who, viewing only the
+surface of American society, have so flippantly passed judgment upon its
+members.
+
+And how many of these little circles have I encountered, and been
+admitted into, in various parts of these States, composed of women who
+have seen little of what is called the world; but whose information,
+intelligence, and spirit would have made them the ornaments of any
+country; and whose manners, refined, feminine, and naturally graceful,
+might with infinite advantage be studied by some of the ungentle censors
+whose tone of criticism is so _prononce_.
+
+It has often, when visiting in the country, been a matter of surprise to
+me to meet with so many women every way presentable, yet who have had
+such slight opportunity, as it is called, of acquiring that perfect
+ease and repose of manner by which truly well-bred women are readily
+distinguishable.
+
+The fact is, in the cities, where numbers congregate, society is apt
+rather to catch its tone from that which is most showy and prominent
+than from what, though more refined, is less obvious. In cities, also,
+strangers are often presented, and, from a deference to European
+fashion, observed and imitated, whose manner might with more profit be
+viewed as an example of what ought to be eschewed than held out as a
+model for adoption.
+
+But this is a digression I must close here, and which, indeed, the
+recollection of my fair friends at Albany alone could have betrayed me
+into. Acquainted with so much that is attractive and admirable in
+private life in this country, I should be less than honest did I not
+feel a desire to do it such poor justice as the expression of my feeling
+may render: I have only to regret that a rigid sense of propriety
+condemns me to deal in generalities only upon a point where I could
+individualise with such absolute truth.
+
+At seven o'clock A.M. went on board the Erie steamer, and a little after
+ten my companion and myself were landed at Catskill.
+
+A stage was in waiting at the landing-place, which quickly took us up
+to the town; and here we hired a carriage to proceed directly to the
+Mountain-house, which we had marked from the river as the morning sun
+lighted it up, looking like a white dovecot raised against the dark
+hill-side.
+
+In consequence of some bridge having been recently washed away by a
+flood, we were compelled to make a considerable circuit in order to ford
+the river; this, however, we accomplished, and continued our ascent
+under the happiest auspices.
+
+I will say nothing of our winding rocky road, or of the glimpses we now
+and then had of the nether world, which "momentarily grew less," as,
+whilst, halting for breath, we curiously peeped through the leafy
+skreen, flying from the faded leaf and drooping flower of scorching
+summer, and finding ourselves once more surrounded by all the lovely
+evidences of early spring.
+
+We took nearly five hours to win the house aptly called of the Mountain.
+I walked more than half way, and never felt less weary than when I
+rested on the natural platform, which, thrust from the hill-side, forms
+a stand whence may be worshipped one of the most glorious prospects
+ever given by the Creator to man's admiration.
+
+In the cool shade we stood here, and from this eyrie looked upon the
+silver line drawn through the vast rich valley far below, doubtful of
+its being the broad Hudson, upon whose bosom we had so lately floated in
+a huge vessel crowded with passengers: for this vessel we searched in
+vain; but, by the aid of a telescope, made out one of the same kind,
+which appeared to flit along like some fairy skiff over a pantomimic
+lake made all radiant with gold and pearl.
+
+How delightful were the sensations attendant upon a first repose in this
+changed climate, enhanced as these were by the remembrance of the
+broiling we had so recently endured! I never remember to have risen with
+feelings more elastic, or in higher spirits, than I did after my first
+night's rest upon this mountain: the rooms were small but very clean,
+and the house with but few inmates; a circumstance I rejoiced in
+exceedingly, although it was perfectly incomprehensible to me,
+considering the state of the atmosphere below.
+
+I found next day that here even there was a lion, in the shape of a
+waterfall, to be visited before one could be permitted to take absolute
+rest; so away I went to visit it,--a sort of waggon-omnibus being in
+preparation to take the inmates through the wood to the fall.
+
+A ride of some three miles brought us as close as might be to the spot,
+and a walk of as many hundred yards presented to view a scene as well
+suited for a witches' festival as any spot in the old Hartz.
+
+In the season of melting snow this must doubtless be a grand affair, for
+the fall is full three hundred feet deep; at present a mere rill crept
+over the centre of the rocky amphitheatre, and, long before it reached
+the basin beneath, it was changed into a silvery shower of light spray.
+We found a mill-dam had appropriated all the surplus of the weakened
+torrent, close by the head of the fall: as here was a day and night to
+recruit in, a trifling bribe induced the sawyers to raise their
+floodgates for our especial benefit.
+
+The bargain being completed, we descended into the bed of the river near
+the basin, and, giving the appointed signal, were indulged with a
+momentary glimpse of the scene under better form; but still, I am
+certain, received no idea of the effect produced here when the machinery
+is complete.
+
+After wandering a little way down the rugged bed of this misused
+river,--for surely Nature never designed that its waters should be
+arrested in their course to turn a saw-mill,--the party collected to
+return: with two others, I decided upon walking back, and pleasant it is
+to walk through these quiet wild wood-paths, where the chirp of the
+birds and the rustle of the leaves alone break in upon the repose.
+
+These mountains are everywhere thickly clothed with wood, saving only
+the platform whereon the house is built; deer abound on the lower
+ridges, and the bear yet finds ample cover here. A number of these
+animals are killed every season by an indefatigable old Nimrod who lives
+in the valley beneath, and who breeds some very fine dogs to this sport.
+
+I did promise unto myself that during the coming November I would return
+up here, and sojourn with the stout bear-hunter for a few days, for the
+purpose of seeing Bruin baited in his proper lair; but regret to say my
+plan was frustrated. It must be an exciting chase to rouse the lord of
+this wild mountain forest on a sunny morning, with the first hoar frost
+yet crisping the feathery pines; and to hear the deep-mouthed hounds
+giving tongue where a hundred echoes wait to bay the fierce challenge
+back, and to hear the sharp crack of the rifle rattle through the thin
+air.
+
+Or, whilst resting upon some crag under the blue sunny sky, to watch the
+sea of cold clouds tumbling about far below, and think that they
+o'er-canopy a region lower still, about which one's fellows are at the
+moment creeping with red noses and watery eyes, or rubbing their frozen
+fingers over anthracite stoves, utterly unconscious, poor devils! that
+
+
+     "The sun, when obscured by the clouds, yet above
+     "Shines not the less bright, though unseen."
+
+
+On Tuesday at five A.M. was roused to breakfast, and descended into the
+lower world to meet the Albany steamer.
+
+I opened my casement and looked forth upon the ocean of mist, whose huge
+waves rose and fell as they kept rolling by. It seemed as though river,
+valley, and mountain had been overwhelmed by this restless deluge, whose
+course was yet unstayed. The sun as yet wanted the power to shine
+through the mist; all was dark, chilling, and almost fearful.
+
+Before breakfast I had a last palaver with our guide; he said that the
+extreme denseness of the fog gave assured token of "an awful hot day."
+
+At six A.M. our muster was completed, and the party for the lower
+regions duly told off. As the carriage slowly crept down some of the
+steepest portions of the tortuous way, time and opportunities were
+afforded to steal a look under the cloudy canopy which the sun was
+quickly drawing upwards, and thus good assurance was afforded that the
+guide had prognosticated rightly.
+
+It did look "awful hot," to be sure; a golden-coloured haze seemed to
+float over the whole land like the subdued reflection of a bright flame.
+It made one feel uncomfortable to look upon the glowing landscape: the
+long snaky river gave no idea of coolness; it had a dead shiny look,
+only to be likened to a stream of molten lead.
+
+Meantime we mournfully beheld the green moist leaves, the yet half-open
+buds, together with all the other pleasant signs of spring, vanish with
+our too hasty fall, and to these succeeded parched grass, dry yellow
+leaves, and sickly flowers drooping and over-blown.
+
+At half-past ten we quitted Catskill in the steamer, and by half-after
+twelve were landed at Hyde Park. Mr. W----ks was awaiting our arrival,
+and a pair of his trotters soon set us down at his very pretty
+country-house, which is one of a cluster of charming residences
+scattered along this portion of the north bank of the river.
+
+A pleasant house and an agreeable party, with the sweetest possible
+scenery to ride or walk through, with a river and boats, and every
+accessory the frankest hospitality could furnish, might reasonably be
+presumed attractive enough to arrest a wayfarer in search of comfort:
+one drawback alone was to me insurmountable, mine ancient and implacable
+foes the musquito tribe were in full possession. These verdant shades
+form a portion of their hunting-ground on the Hudson; with them the
+war-hatchet is never buried; I had no sooner taken up my position
+therefore, than hostilities were re-commenced; my defence was creditable
+enough as I flatter myself; but Hercules himself might have shunned such
+fearful odds; I saw no reason therefore why I should abide to have every
+vein in my carcase breathed by these Cossacks, in obedience to a mere
+point of honour; so, shortly after dinner, I fairly cried peccavi, and
+decided to decamp.
+
+I was almost ashamed to declare my motives of flight to my hostess,
+whose hospitality I had accepted for a few days; especially as I saw
+others, and women too, heroically abiding the assault: but the truth
+is, my residence on the mountain had made me effeminate; Catskill proved
+my Cannae. Freed from every accustomed annoyance in that "shady, blest
+retreat," I had absolutely begun to doubt whether there could be any
+longer found in the world below either heat or musquitoes; with the
+confident presumption of restored vigour, I stooped from my security,
+and reaped the harvest of my folly.
+
+My first idea was to return to the hills, but I had made an appointment
+to sail from Nahant down the east coast for a day or two with a friend,
+who I knew would expect me; and thither I resolved to push, the more
+especially as I was informed musquitoes were not strong enough on the
+wing to abide the rough breezes blowing in the bay of Massachusetts.
+
+It was nigh midnight when the night-boat touched, in its way down, at
+the pier of Hyde Park: bidding adieu to my friends, I stepped on board,
+and was again cutting through the dark river.
+
+The boat was crowded; and what a scene did the cabins present! But to
+describe it is impossible: indeed, the glance of curiosity I was tempted
+to take was an exceedingly brief one. Let the reader only imagine some
+two hundred men stowed away in double tiers of berths, or lying in rows
+upon stretchers placed close together, between the decks of a steamer,
+on one of the hottest, closest nights of a North American summer, and he
+may imagine a picture it would be very difficult to describe correctly.
+
+The night was very beautiful however, and almost reconciled me to
+passing it sleepless. Many persons kept the decks, which were yet ample
+enough to afford solitude to those who desired it. Myself and H----e
+quietly lighted our cigars, and philosophically roughed it out till six
+o'clock A.M., at which time we were landed in New York.
+
+We knocked up the lazy varlets of the hot baths, and with this luxury
+balanced the loss of sleep.
+
+I found myself back in New York sooner than I had anticipated on
+starting for the west; but, in the course of the day, discovered that
+the good city was yet too hot to hold me. W----n, who by good fortune
+was yet holding out here, invited me to dine with B----r and himself at
+the club; and, could we only have contrived to ice the atmosphere,
+nothing would have been wanting to our comfort. I found these last of
+the Romans were off in a day or two for the Springs, after the rest of
+the world; so, nothing being left to hold me, I took my passage next
+evening for Boston.
+
+Roomy as is the "Benjamin Franklin," I found on this occasion every
+berth already taken: the captain, however, resigned his room to me with
+much good-will; so my mischance proved fortunate, as I found myself
+installed in a neat cabin having a window opening on the water, which
+indeed the heat of the night made most necessary.
+
+There were two or three southern families on board, bound for Rhode
+Island: they appeared worn out by heat and long travel. The women
+especially pay dearly, I fear, for their sunny possessions; and what
+return can compensate for loss of health? Many of these are natives of
+the north; but, marrying southern gentlemen, they follow the fortunes of
+their husbands; the distances are great to which they are removed
+perhaps; and the necessity for a continuous residence on the plantation
+through two or three succeeding summers, saps, for ever, the
+constitution of a delicate female.
+
+The appearance of two or three of these young matrons now on board the
+packet excited my more than commiseration; attenuated in form,
+sallow-visaged, and fragile as the aspen, they appeared to shrink from
+the very breeze, to seek whose freshness they had journeyed so far. Two
+of them possessed the remains of positive beauty; their dark hair was of
+gossamer fineness, and their handsome eyes sparkled with that unnatural
+light which shines as it were from the tomb. No man could have looked
+upon them without pity; so attractive, so young, yet so evidently past
+all earthly cure.
+
+Landing at Providence, five hours' ride over a most dusty road brought
+us within sight of the State-house of Boston, when a thunder-storm,
+which had been for some time threatening, fell upon us with merciless
+fury. The overburdened cloud appeared as though it fairly rested upon
+the house-tops, and out of it ran a torrent of rain such as I should
+only have looked for under the line, or on some tropical island.
+
+I was outside, and had I even desired to seek shelter, the assault was
+of so sudden a nature, and so vigorous, that the worst one could expect
+from a complete ducking was effected in a moment: I sat it out
+therefore, and arrived at the Tremont uncommonly uncomfortable.
+
+_July 22nd._--Still on the move, seeking some cool spot where I may
+fold my tired wings and take "mine ease." One night's halt convinced me
+Boston was no quarter such as I desired just now; the house was crowded,
+the thermometer high, and my room as high as the glass, for it was one
+hundred and something up four flights of stairs. My good friend, Mr.
+T----r, took compassion on my condition, and volunteered to drive me
+down to Nahant; so off I was again. We passed across the harbour by one
+of the little steamers; and from hence to the pretty town of Lynn, there
+is nothing in the landscape particularly attractive. Over the destinies
+of this said town of Lynn St. Crispin holds absolute dominion; for the
+entire population, man, woman, and child, father, son, and brother,
+appear devoted to the calling in whose practice the princely saint was
+brought up.
+
+Vast quantities of shoes are here manufactured for the Indian markets;
+the amount exported annually is something enormous. The place wears an
+air of great prosperity; the dwellings being of remarkable neatness, and
+the public edifices of a size and character highly creditable to the
+ambition of these worthy citizens.
+
+This caste-like monopoly of certain callings is a singular feature in
+the economy of the New England republic, there being many of its towns
+where trades are exclusively exercised, and the practice of them handed
+down as an inheritance from one industrious generation to the next in
+succession; and notwithstanding the many arguments lately raised at home
+against hereditary honours, I do not find that in Massachusetts a souter
+is considered likely to make a shoe, a cooper a cask, or a farmer grow
+onions, with less ability, simply because their fathers did the same
+before them.
+
+The drive along the sandy beach from this place to Nahant was a most
+agreeable change from the dusty road on a warm July morning, especially
+with the prospect of a fresh breeze and a fish breakfast crowning the
+rocky peninsula rising boldly in the distance.
+
+The first happily encountered us before we reached the hotel, much to
+our relief; and the second was very quickly provided on our arrival. The
+precise day of the month when this place becomes fashionable had not yet
+arrived; although the heat, which alone could render such a residence
+desirable, had; consequently, there were few visitors, and my fears
+about want of room proved groundless. A choice of chambers was
+proffered me, and I selected one having an eastern aspect, with a
+window that commanded the north-east coast of the vast bay of
+Massachusetts; whilst just within reach lay the snugly-sheltered cove
+and rocky islet about which, according to the most authentic reports,
+the "great sea sarpint" delights to disport him when in a merry mood.
+"Who knows," said I to myself, when all the advantages of my location
+became known to me,--"who knows but that on some morning, bright and
+early, I may behold the monster combing his venerable beard amongst the
+rocks below, or see him lift his head to the level of my window--the
+height not being over a hundred feet--in civil search of a bit of old
+brown Windsor to shave withal?"
+
+Here, then, will I fix my head-quarters until the prompter's whistle
+shall once more summon me to commence a new campaign at New York;--six
+weeks nearly, with nothing to do,--it will require some management to
+complete this task without weariness!
+
+
+END OF VOL. I.
+
+
+LONDON:
+PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,
+Dorset Street, Fleet Street.
+
+
+
+
+
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