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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Diary in America, Series One, by
+Frederick Marryat (AKA Captain Marryat)
+
+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: Diary in America, Series One
+
+Author: Frederick Marryat (AKA Captain Marryat)
+
+Release Date: October 21, 2007 [EBook #23137]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DIARY IN AMERICA, SERIES ONE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
+
+
+
+
+Diary in America--Series One, by Captain Marryat.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+In the late 1830s Captain Marryat, already a famous literary figure in
+North America, visited the United States and Canada, writing his
+observations in two Series of volumes, each containing three books.
+
+These were published in Britain as the six books, but were published in
+America as two books with small print and thin paper, thus enabling the
+Diary to be published as two books only. It is from first editions of
+the American version that we have worked, though we do possess three of
+the British first edition of six volumes.
+
+While some of the observations are trivial, and some even possibly
+misleading, there is a great deal of useful fact in these books, making
+them well worth looking at.  There are some tables that may not
+reproduce well in the PDA version of these books.
+
+Marryat used his knowledge of America to write a novel based in the
+more southerly part, especially California and Texas.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+DIARY IN AMERICA--SERIES ONE, BY CAPTAIN MARRYAT.
+
+
+Volume the First--Introduction.
+
+After many years of travel, during which I had seen men under almost
+every variety of government, religion, and climate, I looked round to
+discover if there were not still new combinations under which human
+nature was to be investigated.  I had traversed the old country until
+satisfied, if not satiated; and I had sailed many a weary thousand miles
+from west to east, and from north to south, until people, manners, and
+customs were looked upon by me with indifference.
+
+The press was constantly pouring out works upon the new world, so
+contradictory to each other, and pronounced so unjust by the Americans,
+that my curiosity was excited.  It appeared strange to me that
+travellers whose works showed evident marks of talent should view the
+same people through such very different mediums; and that their
+gleanings should, generally speaking, be of such meagre materials.  Was
+there so little to be remarked about America, its government, its
+institutions, and the effect which these had upon the people, that the
+pages of so many writers upon that country should be filled up with how
+the Americans dined or drank wine, and what description of spoons and
+forks were used at table?  Either the Americans remained purely and
+unchangedly English, as when they left their father-land; or the
+question required more investigation and deeper research than travellers
+in their hasty movements have been able to bestow upon it.  Whether I
+should be capable of throwing any new light upon the subject, I knew
+not, but at all events I made up my mind that I would visit the country
+and judge for myself.
+
+On my first arrival I perceived little difference between the city of
+New York and one of our principal provincial towns; and, for its people,
+not half so much as between the people of Devonshire or Cornwall and
+those of Middlesex.  I had been two or three weeks in that city, and I
+said: There is certainly not much to write about, nor much more than
+what has already been continually repeated.  No wonder that those who
+preceded me have indulged in puerilities to swell out their books.  But
+in a short time I altered my opinion: even at New York, the English
+appearance of the people gradually wore away; my perception of character
+became more keen, my observance consequently more nice and close, and I
+found that there was a great deal to reflect upon and investigate, and
+that America and the American people were indeed an enigma; and I was no
+longer surprised at the incongruities which were to be detected in those
+works which had attempted to describe the country.  I do not assert that
+I shall myself succeed, when so many have failed, but at any rate, this
+I am certain of, my remarks will be based upon a more sure foundation--
+an analysis of human nature.
+
+There are many causes why those who have written upon America have
+fallen into error: they have represented the Americans as a nation: now
+they are not yet, nor will they for many years be, in the true sense of
+the word, a nation--they are a mass of many people cemented together to
+a certain degree, by a general form of government; but they are in a
+state of transition, and (what may at first appear strange) no
+amalgamation as has yet taken place: the puritan of the east, the Dutch
+descent of the middle states, the cavalier of the south, are nearly as
+marked and distinct now, as at the first occupation of the country,
+softened down indeed, but still distinct.  Not only are the populations
+of the various states distinct, but even those of the cities: and it is
+hardly possible to make a remark which may be considered as general to a
+country, where the varieties of soil and of climate are so extensive.
+Even on that point upon which you might most safely venture to
+generalise, namely, the effect of a democratical form of government upon
+the mass, your observations must be taken with some exceptions, arising
+from the climate, manners, and customs, and the means of livelihood so
+differing in this extended country.
+
+Indeed the habit in which travellers indulge of repeating facts which
+have taken place, of having taken place in America, has, perhaps
+unintentionally on their part, very much misled the English reader.  It
+would hardly be considered fair, if the wilder parts of Ireland, and the
+disgraceful acts which are committed there, were represented as
+characteristic of England, or the British empire; yet between London and
+Connaught there is less difference than between the most civilised and
+intellectual portion of America, such as Boston and Philadelphia, and
+the wild regions, and wilder inhabitants of the west of the Mississippi,
+and Arkansas, where reckless beings compose a scattered population,
+residing too far for the law to reach; or where if it could reach, the
+power of the government would prove much too weak to enforce obedience
+to it.  To do justice to all parties, America should be examined and
+portrayed piecemeal, every state separately, for every state is
+different, running down the scale from refinement to a state of
+barbarism almost unprecedented; but each presenting matter for
+investigation and research, and curious examples of cause and effect.
+
+Many of those who have preceded me have not been able to devote
+sufficient time to their object, and therefore have failed.  If you have
+passed through a strange country, totally differing in manners, and
+customs, and language from your own, you may give your readers some idea
+of the contrast, and the impressions made upon you by what you saw, even
+if you have travelled in haste or sojourned there but a few days; but
+when the similarity in manners, customs, and language is so great, that
+you may imagine yourself to be in your own country, it requires more
+research, a greater degree of acumen, and a fuller investigation of
+cause and effect than can be given in a few months of rapid motion.
+Moreover, English travellers have apparently been more active in
+examining the interior of houses, than the public path from which they
+should have drawn their conclusions; they have searched with the
+curiosity of a woman, instead of examining and surveying with the eye of
+a philosopher.  Following up this wrong track has been the occasion of
+much indiscretion and injustice on their parts, and of justifiably
+indignant feeling on the part of the Americans.  By many of the writers
+on America, the little discrepancies, the mere trifles of custom have
+been dwelt upon, with a sarcastic, ill-natured severity to give their
+works that semblance of pith, in which, in reality, they were miserably
+deficient; and they violated the rights of hospitality that they might
+increase their interest as authors.
+
+The Americans are often themselves the cause of their being
+misrepresented; there is no country perhaps, in which the habit of
+deceiving for amusement, or what is termed hoaxing, is so common.
+Indeed this and the hyperbole constitute the major part of American
+humour.  If they have the slightest suspicion that a foreigner is about
+to write a book, nothing appears to give them so much pleasure as to try
+to mislead him; this has constantly been practised upon me, and for all
+I know, they may in some instances have been successful; if they have,
+all I can say of the story is that "_se non e vero, e si ben trovato_,"
+that it might have happened.  [Note 1.]
+
+When I was at Boston, a gentleman of my acquaintance brought me Miss
+Martineau's work, and was excessively delighted when he pointed out to
+me two pages of fallacies, which he had told her with a grave face, and
+which she had duly recorded and printed.  This practice, added to
+another, that of attempting to conceal (for the Americans are aware of
+many of their defects), has been with me productive of good results: it
+has led me to much close investigation, and has made me very cautious in
+asserting what has not been proved to my own satisfaction to be worthy
+of credibility.
+
+Another difficulty and cause of misrepresentation is, that travellers
+are not aware of the jealousy existing between the inhabitants of the
+different states and cities.  The eastern states pronounce the
+southerners to be choleric, reckless, regardless of law, and indifferent
+as to religion; while the southerners designate the eastern states as a
+nursery of overreaching pedlars, selling clocks and wooden nutmegs.
+This running into extremes is produced from the clashing of their
+interests as producers and manufacturers.  Again, Boston turns up her
+erudite nose at New York; Philadelphia, in her pride, looks down upon
+both New York and Boston; while New York, clinking her dollars, swears
+the Bostonians are a parcel of puritanical prigs, and the Philadelphians
+a would-be aristocracy.  A western man from Kentucky, when at the
+Tremont House in Boston, begged me particularly not to pay attention to
+what they said of his state in that quarter.  Both a Virginian and
+Tennessean, when I was at New York did the same.
+
+At Boston, I was drinking champaign at a supper.  "Are you drinking
+champaign?" said a young Bostonian.  "That's New York--take claret; or,
+if you will drink champaign, pour it into a _green_ glass, and they will
+think it _hock_; champaign is not right."  How are we to distinguish
+between right and wrong in this queer world?  At New York, they do drink
+a great deal of champaign; it is the small beer of the dinner-table.
+Champaign become associated with New York, and therefore is not _right_.
+I will do the New Yorkers the justice to say, that, as far as _drinks_
+are concerned, they are above prejudice: all's right with them, provided
+there's enough of it.
+
+The above remarks will testify, that travellers in America have great
+difficulties to contend with, and that their channels of information
+have been chiefly those of the drawing-room or dinner-table.  Had I
+worked through the same, I should have found them very difficult of
+access; for the Americans had determined that they would no longer
+extend their hospitality to those who returned it with ingratitude--nor
+can they be blamed.  Let us reverse the case.  Were not the doors of
+many houses in England shut against an American author, when from his
+want of knowledge of conventional _usage_, he published what never
+should have appeared in print!  And should another return to England,
+after his tetchy, absurd remarks upon the English, is there much chance
+of his receiving a kind welcome?  Most assuredly not; both these authors
+will be received with caution.  The Americans, therefore, are not only
+not to blame, but would prove themselves very deficient in a proper
+respect for themselves, if they again admitted into their domestic
+circles those who eventually requited them with abuse.
+
+Admitting this, of course I have no feelings of ill-will toward them for
+any want of hospitality toward me; on the contrary, I was pleased with
+the neglect, as it left me free, and unshackled from any real or fancied
+claims which the Americans might have made upon me on that score.
+Indeed, I had not been three weeks in the country before I decided upon
+accepting no more invitations, even charily as they were made.  I found
+that, although invited, my presence was a restraint upon the company;
+every one appeared afraid to speak; and when anything ludicrous
+occurred, the cry would be--"Oh, now.  Captain Marryat, don't put that
+into your book."  More than once, when I happened to be in large
+parties, a question such as follows would be put to me by some "free and
+enlightened individual":--
+
+"Now, Captain Marryat, I ask you before this company, and I trust you
+will give me a categorical answer, Are you, or are you not about to
+write a book upon this country?"  I hardly need observe to the English
+reader, that, under such circumstances, the restraint, became mutual; I
+declined all farther invitations, and adhered to this determination as
+far as I could without cause of offence, during my whole tour through
+the United States.
+
+But if I admit, that after the usage which they had received, the
+Americans are justified in not again tendering their hospitably to the
+English, I cannot, at the same time, but express my opinion as to their
+conduct toward me personally.  They had no right to insult and annoy me
+in the manner they did, from nearly one end of the Union to the other,
+either because my predecessors had expressed an unfavourable opinion of
+them before my arrival, or because they expected that I would do the
+same upon my return to my own country, I remark upon this conduct, not
+from any feeling of ill-will or desire of retaliation, but to compel the
+Americans to admit that I am under no obligations to them: that I
+received from them much more of insult and outrage than of kindness;
+and, consequently, that the charge of ingratitude cannot be laid to my
+door, however offensive to them some of the remarks in this work may
+happen to be.
+
+And here I must observe, that the Americans can no longer anticipate
+lenity from the English traveller, as latterly they have so deeply
+committed themselves.  Once, indeed, they could say, "We admit and are
+hospitable to the English, who, as soon as they leave our country, turn
+round and abuse and revile us.  We have our faults, it is true: but such
+conduct on their part is not kind or generous."  But they can say this
+no longer; they have retaliated, and in their attacks they have been
+regardless of justice.  The three last works upon the Americans, written
+by English authors, were, on the whole, favourable to them; Mr Power's
+and Mr Grund's most decidedly so; and Miss Martineau's, filled as it is
+with absurdities and fallacies, was _intended_, at all events to be
+favourable.
+
+In opposition to them, we have Mr Cooper's remarks upon England, in
+which my countrymen are certainly not spared; and, since that
+publication, we have another of much greater importance, written by Mr
+Carey, of Philadelphia, not, indeed, in a strain of vituperation or
+ill-feeling, but asserting, and no doubt to his own satisfaction and
+that of his countrymen, proving, that in every important point, that is
+to say, under the heads of "Security of Person and Property, of Morals,
+Education, Religion, Industry, Invention, Credit," (and consequently
+Honesty,) America is in advance of England and every other nation in
+Europe!!  The tables, then, are turned; it is no longer the English, but
+the Americans who are the assailants; and such being the case, I beg
+that it may be remembered, that many of the remarks which will
+subsequently appear in this work have been forced from me by the attacks
+made upon my nation by the American authors; and that, if I am compelled
+to draw comparisons, it is not with the slightest wish to annoy or
+humiliate the Americans, but in legitimate and justifiable defence of my
+own native land.
+
+America is a wonderful country, endowed by the Omnipotent with natural
+advantages which no other can boast of; and the mind can hardly
+calculate upon the degree of perfection and power to which, whether the
+states are eventually separated or not, it may in the course of two
+centuries arrive.  At present all is energy and enterprise; everything
+is in a state of transition, but of rapid improvement--so rapid, indeed,
+that those who would describe America now, would have to correct all in
+the short space of ten years; for ten years in America is almost equal
+to a century in the old continent.  Now, you may pass through a wild
+forest, where the elk browses and the panther howls; in ten years, that
+very forest, with its denizens, will, most likely, have disappeared, and
+in their place you will find towns with thousands of inhabitants; with
+arts, manufactures, and machinery, all in full activity.
+
+In reviewing America, we must look upon it as showing the development of
+the English character under a new aspect, arising from a new state of
+things.  If I were to draw a comparison between the English and the
+Americans, I should say that there is almost as much difference between
+the two nations at this present time, as there has long been between the
+English and the Dutch.  The latter are considered by us as phlegmatic
+and slow; and we may be considered the same, compared with our energetic
+descendants.  Time to an American is everything, [Note 2] and space he
+attempts to reduce to a mere nothing.  By the steamboats, rail-roads,
+and the wonderful facilities of water-carriage, a journey of five
+hundred miles is as little considered in America, as would be here a
+journey from London to Brighton.  "_Go ahead_" is the real motto of the
+country; and every man does push on, to gain in advance of his
+neighbour.  The American lives twice as long as others; for he does
+twice the work during the time that he lives.  He begins life sooner: at
+fifteen he is considered a man, plunges into the stream of enterprise,
+floats and struggles with his fellows.  In every trifle an American
+shows the value he puts upon time.  He rises early, eats his meals with
+the rapidity of a wolf, and is the whole day at his business.  If he be
+a merchant, his money, whatever it may amount to, is seldom invested; it
+is all floating--his accumulations remain active; and when he dies, his
+wealth has to be collected from the four quarters of the globe.
+
+Now, all this energy and activity is of English origin; and were England
+expanded into America, the same results would be produced.  To a certain
+degree, the English, were in former times, what the Americans are now;
+and this it is which has raised our country so high in the scale of
+nations; but since we have become so closely packed--so crowded, that
+there is hardly room for the population, our activity has been
+proportionably cramped and subdued.  But, in this vast and favoured
+country, the very associations and impressions of childhood foster and
+enlighten the intellect and precociously rouse the energies.  The wide
+expanse of territory already occupied--the vast and magnificent rivers--
+the boundless regions yet remaining to be peopled--the rapidity of
+communication--the dispatch with which everything is effected, are
+evident almost to the child.  To those who have rivers many thousand
+miles in length, the passage across the Atlantic (of 3,500 miles)
+appears but a trifle; and the American ladies talk of spending the
+winter at Paris with as much indifference as one of our landed
+proprietors would, of going up to London for the season.
+
+We must always bear in mind the peculiar and wonderful advantages of
+_country_, when we examine America and its form of government; for the
+country has had more to do with upholding this democracy than people
+might at first imagine.  Among the advantages of democracy, the greatest
+is, perhaps, that _all start fair_; and the boy who holds the
+traveller's horse, as Van Buren is said to have done, may become the
+president of the United States.  But it is the _country_, and not the
+government; which has been productive of such rapid strides as have been
+made by America.  Indeed it is a query whether the form of government
+would have existed down to this day, had it not been for the advantages
+derived from the vast extent and boundless resources of the territory in
+which it was established.  Let the American direct his career to any
+goal he pleases, his energies are unshackled; and, in the race, the best
+man must win.  There is room for all, and millions more.  Let him choose
+his profession--his career is not checked or foiled by the excess of
+those who have already embarked in it.  In every department there is an
+opening for talent; and for those inclined to work, work is always to be
+procured.  You have no complaint in this country, that every profession
+is so full that it is impossible to know what to do with your children.
+There is a vast field, and all may receive the reward due for their
+labour.
+
+In a country where the ambition and energies of man have been roused to
+such an extent, the great point is to find out worthy incitements for
+ambition to feed upon.  A virtue directed into a wrong channel may, by
+circumstances, prove little better than (even if it does not sink down
+into) actual vice.  Hence it is that a democratic form of government is
+productive of such demoralising effects.  Its rewards are few.  Honours
+of every description, which stir up the soul of man to noble deeds--
+worthy incitements, they have none.  The only compensation they can
+offer for services is money; and the only distinction--the only means of
+raising himself above his fellows left to the American--is wealth;
+consequently, the acquisition of wealth has become the great spring of
+action.  But it is not sought after with the avarice to hoard, but with
+the ostentation to expend.  It is the effect of ambition directed into a
+wrong channel.  Each man would surpass his neighbour; and the only great
+avenue open to all, and into which thousands may press without much
+jostling of each other, is that which leads to the shrine of Mammon.  It
+is our nature to attempt to raise ourselves above our fellow-men; it is
+the main-spring of existence--the incitement to all that is great and
+virtuous, or great and vicious.  In America, but a small portion can
+raise themselves, or find rewards for superior talent, but wealth is
+attainable by all; and having no aristocracy, no honours, no
+distinctions to look forward to, wealth has become the substitute, and,
+with very few exceptions, every man is great in proportion to his
+riches.  The consequence is, that to leave a sum of money when they die
+is of little importance to the majority of the Americans.  Their object
+is to amass it while young, and obtain the consideration which it gives
+them during their lifetime.
+
+The society in the United States is that which must naturally be
+expected in a new country where there are few men of leisure, and the
+majority are working hard to obtain that wealth which almost alone gives
+importance under a democratic form of government.  You will find
+intellectual and gentlemanlike people in America, but they are scattered
+here and there.  The circle of society is not complete: wherever you go,
+you will find an admixture, sudden wealth having admitted those who but
+a few years back were in humble circumstances; and in the constant state
+of transition which takes place in this country, it will be half a
+century, perhaps, before a select circle of society can be collected
+together in any one city or place.  The improvement is rapid, but the
+vast extent of country which has to be peopled prevents that improvement
+from being manifest.  The stream flows inland, and those who are here
+today are gone to-morrow, and their places in society filled up by
+others who ten years back had no prospect of ever being admitted.  All
+is transition, the waves follow one another to the far west, the froth
+and scum, boiling in the advance.
+
+America is, indeed, well worth the study of the philosopher.  A vast
+nation forming, society ever changing, all in motion and activity,
+nothing complete, the old continent pouring in her surplus to supply the
+loss of the eastern states, all busy as a hive, full of energy and
+activity.  Every year multitudes swarm off from the east, like bees: not
+the young only, but the old, quitting the close-built cities, society,
+and refinement, to settle down in some lone spot in the vast prairies,
+where the rich soil offers to them the certain prospect of their
+families and children being one day possessed of competency and wealth.
+
+To write upon America _as a nation_ would be absurd, for nation,
+properly speaking, it is not; but to consider it in its present chaotic
+state, is well worth the labour.  It would not only exhibit to the
+living a somewhat new picture of the human mind, but, as a curious page
+in the Philosophy of History, it would hereafter serve as a subject of
+review for the Americans themselves.
+
+It is not my intention to follow the individualising plans of the
+majority of those who have preceded me in this country.  I did not sail
+across the Atlantic to ascertain whether the Americans eat their dinners
+with two-prong iron, or three-prong silver forks, with chopsticks, or
+their fingers; it is quite sufficient for me to know that they do eat
+and drink; if they did not, it would be a curious anomaly which I should
+not pass over.  My object was, to examine and ascertain _what were the
+effects of a democratic form of government and climate upon a people
+which, with all its foreign admixture, may still be considered as
+English_.
+
+It is a fact that our virtues and our vices depend more upon
+circumstances than upon ourselves, and there are no circumstances which
+operate so powerfully upon us as government and climate.  Let it not be
+supposed that, in the above assertion, I mean to extenuate vice, or
+imply that we are not free agents.  Naturally prone to vices in general,
+circumstances will render us more prone to one description of vice than
+to another; but that is no reason why we should not be answerable for
+it, since it is our duty to guard against the besetting sin.  But as an
+agent in this point the form of government under which we live is,
+perhaps, the most powerful in its effects, and thus we constantly hear
+of vices peculiar to a country, when it ought rather to be said, of
+vices peculiar to a government.
+
+Never, perhaps, was the foundation of a nation laid under such
+peculiarly favourable auspices as that of America.  The capital they
+commenced with was industry, activity, and courage.  They had, moreover,
+the advantage of the working of genius and wisdom, and the records of
+history, as a beacon and a guide; the trial of ages, as to the
+respective merits of the various governments to which men have
+submitted; the power to select the merits from the demerits in each; a
+boundless extent of country, rich in everything that could be of
+advantage to man; and they were led by those who where really giants in
+those days, a body of men collected and acting together, forming an
+aggregate of wisdom and energy, such as probably will not for centuries
+be seen again.  Never was there such an opportunity of testing the
+merits of a republic, of ascertaining if such a form of government could
+be maintained--in fact, of proving whether an enlightened people could
+govern themselves.  And it must be acknowledged that the work was well
+begun; Washington, when his career had closed, left the country a pure
+republic.  He did all that man could do.  Miss Martineau asserts that
+"America has solved the great problem, that a republic can exist for
+fifty years;" but such is not the case.  America has proved that, under
+peculiar advantages, a people can govern themselves for fifty years; but
+if you put the question to an enlightened American, and ask him, "Were
+Washington to rise from his grave, would he recognise the present
+government of America as the one bequeathed to them?" and the American
+will himself answer in the negative.  These fifty years have afforded
+another proof, were it necessary, how short-sighted and fallible are
+men--how impossible it is to keep anything in a state of perfection here
+below.  Washington left America as an infant nation, a pure and, I may
+add, a virtuous republic; but the government of the country has
+undergone as much change as everything else, and it has now settled down
+into anything but a pure democracy.  Nor could it be otherwise; a
+republic may be formed and may continue in healthy existence when
+regulated by a small body of men, but as men increase and multiply so do
+they deteriorate; the closer they are packed the more vicious they
+become, and, consequently, the more vicious become their institutions.
+Washington and his coadjutors had no power to control the nature of man.
+
+It may be inquired by some, what difference there is between a republic
+and a democracy, as the terms have been, and are often, used
+indifferently.  I know not whether my distinction is right, but I
+consider that when those possessed of most talent and wisdom are
+selected to act for the benefit of a people, with full reliance upon
+their acting for the best, and without any shackle or pledge being
+enforced, we may consider that form of government as a republic ruled by
+the most enlightened and capable; but that if, on the contrary, those
+selected by the people to represent them are not only bound by the
+pledges previous to their election, but ordered by the mass how to vote
+after their election, then the country, is not ruled by the collected
+wisdom of the people, but by the majority, who are as often wrong as
+right, and then the governing principle sinks into a democracy, as it
+now is in America.  [Note 3.]
+
+It is singular to remark, notwithstanding her monarchical form of
+government, how much more republican England is in her institutions than
+America.  Ask an American what he considers the necessary qualifications
+of a president, and, after intellectual qualification, he will tell you
+firmness, decision, and undaunted courage; and it is really an enigma to
+him, although he will not acknowledge it, how the sceptre of a country
+like England, subject to the monarchical sway which he detests, can be
+held in the hand of a young female of eighteen years of age.
+
+But upon one point I have made up my mind, which is that, with all its
+imperfections, democracy is the form of government _best suited to the
+present condition of America_, in so far as it is the one under which
+the country has made, and will continue to make, the most rapid
+advances.  That it must eventually be changed is true, but the times of
+its change must be determined by so many events, hidden in futurity,
+which may accelerate or retard the convulsion, that it would be
+presumptuous for any one to attempt to name a period when the present
+form of government shall be broken up, and the multitude shall separate
+and re-embody themselves under new institutions.
+
+In the arrangement of this work, I have considered it advisable to
+present, first, to the reader those _portions_ of my diary which may be
+interesting, and in which are recorded traits and incidents which will
+bear strongly upon the commentaries I shall subsequently make upon the
+institutions of the United States, and the results of those institutions
+as developed in the American character.  Having been preceded by so many
+writers on America, I must occasionally tread in well-beaten tracts;
+but, although I shall avoid repetition as much as possible, this will
+not prevent me from describing what I saw or felt.  Different ideas, and
+different associations of ideas, will strike different travellers, as
+the same landscape may wear a new appearance, according as it is viewed
+in the morning, by noon, or at night; the outlines remain the same, but
+the lights, and shadows, and tints, are reflected from the varying
+idiosyncrasy of various minds.
+
+My readers will also find many quotations, either embodied in the work
+or supplied by notes.  This I have considered necessary, that my
+opinions may be corroborated; but these quotations will not be extracted
+so much from the works of English as from _American_ writers.  The
+opinions relative to the United States have been so conflicting in the
+many works which have been written, that I consider it most important
+that I should be able to quote American authorities against themselves,
+and strengthen my opinions and arguments by their own admissions.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Note 1.  _Paragraph from a New York paper_.  That old, deaf English
+maiden lady, Miss Martineau, who travelled through some of the states, a
+few years since, gives a full account of Mr Poindexter's death;
+unfortunately for her veracity, the gentleman still lives; but this is
+about as near the truth as the majority of her statements.  The
+_loafing_ English men and women who visit America, as penny-a-liners,
+are perfectly understood here, and Jonathan amuses himself whenever he
+meets them, by imposing upon their credulity the most absurd stories
+which he can invent, which they swallow whole, go home with their eyes
+sticking out of their heads with wonder, and print all they have heard
+for the benefit of John Bull's calves.
+
+Note 2.  The clocks in America--there rendered so famous by Sam Slick--
+instead of the moral lessons inculcated by the dials in this country,
+such as "Time flies," etcetera, teach one more suited to American
+feeling:--"Time is money!"
+
+Note 3.  And in this opinion I find that I am borne out by an American
+writer, who says--"It is true, indeed, that the American government,
+which, as first set up, was properly republican--that is, representation
+in a course of salutary degrees, and with salutary checks upon the
+popular will, on the powers of legislation, of the executive, and the
+judiciary,--was assailed at an early period of its history, and has been
+assailed continuously down to the present time, by a power called
+democracy, and that this power has been constantly acquiring influence
+and gaining ascendency in the republic during the term of its
+history."--(_A Voice from America to England_, by an American Gentleman,
+page 10.)
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER ONE.
+
+I like to begin at the beginning; it's a good old fashion, not
+sufficiently adhered to in these modern times.  I recollect a young
+gentleman who said he was thinking of going to America; on my asking
+him, "how he intended to go?" he replied, "I don't exactly know; but I
+think I shall take the fast coach."  I wished him a safe passage, and
+said, "I was afraid he would find it very dusty."  As I could not find
+the office to book myself by this young gentleman's conveyance, I walked
+down to St Katherine's Docks; went on board a packet; was shewn into a
+superb cabin, fitted up with bird's-eye maple, mahogany, and
+looking-glasses, and communicating with certain small cabins, where
+there was a sleeping berth for each passenger, about as big as that
+allowed to a pointer in a dog-kennel.  I thought that there was more
+finery than comfort; but it ended in my promising the captain to meet
+him at Portsmouth.  He was to sail from London on the 1st of April, and
+I did not choose to sail on that day--it was ominous; so I embarked at
+Portsmouth on the 3rd.  It is not my intention to give a description of
+crossing the Atlantic; but as the reader may be disappointed if I do not
+tell him how I got over, I shall first inform him that we were
+thirty-eight in the cabin, and 160 men, women, and children, literally
+stowed in bulk in the steerage.  I shall describe what took place from
+the time I first went up the side at Spithead, until the ship was under
+weigh, and then make a very short passage of it.
+
+At 9:30 a.m.--Embarked on board the good ship Quebec; and a good ship
+she proved to be, repeatedly going nine and a-half knots on a bowling,
+sails lifting.  Captain H---quite delighted to see me--all captains of
+packets are to see passengers: I believed him when he said so.
+
+At 9:50.--Sheriff's officer, as usual, came on board.  Observed several
+of the cabin passengers hasten down below, and one who requested the
+captain to stow him away.  But it was not a pen-and-ink affair; it was a
+case of burglary.  The officer has found his man in the steerage--the
+handcuffs are on his wrists, and they are rowing him ashore.  His wife
+and two children are on board; her lips quiver as she collects her
+baggage to follow her husband.  One half-hour more, and he would have
+escaped from justice, and probably have led a better life in a far
+country, where his crimes were unknown.  By the bye, Greenacre, the man
+who cut the woman up, was taken out of the ship as she went down the
+river: he had very nearly escaped.  What cargoes of crime, folly, and
+recklessness do we yearly ship off to America!  America ought to be very
+much obliged to us.
+
+The women of the steerage are persuading the wife of the burglar not to
+go on shore; their arguments are strong, but not strong enough against
+the devoted love of a woman.--"Your husband is certain to be hung;
+what's the use of following him?  Your passage is paid, and you will
+have no difficulty in supporting your children in America."  But she
+rejects the advice--goes down the side, and presses her children to her
+breast, as, overcome with the agony of her feelings, she drops into the
+boat; and, now that she is away from the ship, you hear the sobs, which
+can no longer be controlled.
+
+10 a.m.--"All hands up anchor."
+
+I was repeating to myself some of the stanzas of Mrs Norton's "Here's a
+Health to the Outward-bound," when I cast my eyes forward.
+
+I could not imagine what the seamen were about; they appeared to be
+_pumping_, instead of heaving, at the windlass.  I forced my way through
+the heterogeneous mixture of human beings, animals, and baggage which
+crowded the decks, and discovered that they were working a patent
+windlass, by Dobbinson--a very ingenious and superior invention.  The
+seamen, as usual, lightened their labour with the song and chorus,
+forbidden by the etiquette of a man-of-war.  The one they sung was
+peculiarly musical, although not refined; and the chorus of "Oh!  Sally
+Brown," was given with great emphasis by the whole crew between every
+line of the song, sung by an athletic young third mate.  I took my seat
+on the knight-heads--turned my face aft--looked and listened.
+
+"Heave away there, forward."
+
+"Aye, aye, sir."
+
+"`Sally Brown--oh! my dear Sally.'" (Single voice).
+
+"`Oh!  Sally Brown.'" (Chorus).
+
+"`Sally Brown, of Buble Al-ly.'" (Single voice).
+
+"`Oh!  Sal-ly Brown,'" (Chorus).
+
+"Avast heaving there; send all aft to clear the boat."
+
+"Aye, aye, sir.  Where are we to stow these casks, Mr Fisher?"
+
+"Stow them!  Heaven knows; get them in, at all events."
+
+"Captain H---!  Captain H---! there's my piano still on deck; it will be
+quite spoiled--indeed it will."
+
+"Don't be alarmed, ma'am; as soon as we're under weigh we'll hoist the
+cow up, and get the piano down."
+
+"What! under the cow?"
+
+"No, ma'am; but the cow's over the hatchway."
+
+"Now, then, my lads, forward to the windlass."
+
+"`I went to town to get some toddy.'"
+
+"`Oh!  Sally Brown.'"
+
+"`T'wasn't fit for any body.'"
+
+"`Oh!  Sally Brown.'"
+
+"Out there, and clear away the jib."
+
+"Aye, aye, sir."
+
+"Mr Fisher, how much cable is there out?"
+
+"Plenty yet, sir.--Heave away, my lads."
+
+"`Sally is a bright mulattar.'"
+
+"`Oh!  Sally Brown.'"
+
+"`Pretty girl, but can't get at her.'"
+
+"Avast heaving; send the men aft to whip the ladies in.--Now, miss, only
+sit down and don't be afraid, and you'll be in, in no time.--Whip away,
+my lads, handsomely; steady her with the guy; lower away.--There, miss,
+now you're safely _landed_."
+
+"Landed am I?  I thought I was _shipped_."
+
+"Very good, indeed--very good, miss; you'll make an excellent sailor, I
+see."
+
+"I should make a better sailor's _wife_, I expect, Captain H---."
+
+"Excellent!  Allow me to hand you aft; you'll excuse me.--Forward now,
+my men; heave away!"
+
+"`Seven years I courted Sally.'"
+
+"`Oh!  Sally Brown.'"
+
+"`Seven more of shilley-shally.'"
+
+"`Oh!  Sally Brown.'"
+
+"`She won't wed--'"
+
+"Avast heaving.  Up there, and loose the topsails; stretch along the
+topsail-sheets.--Upon my soul, half these children will be killed.--
+Whose child are you?"
+
+"I--don't--know."
+
+"Go and find out, that's a dear.--Let fall; sheet home; belay starboard
+sheet; clap on the larboard; belay all that.--Now, then, Mr Fisher."
+
+"Aye, aye, sir.--Heave away, my lads."
+
+"`She won't wed a Yankee sailor.'"
+
+"`Oh!  Sally Brown.'"
+
+"`For she's in love with the nigger tailor.'"
+
+"`Oh!  Sally Brown.'"
+
+"Heave away, my men; heave, and in sight.  Hurrah! my lads."
+
+"`Sally Brown--oh! my dear Sally!'"
+
+"`Oh!  Sally Brown!'"
+
+"`Sally Brown, of Buble Alley.'"
+
+"`Oh!  Sally Brown.'"
+
+"`Sally has a cross old granny.'"
+
+"`Oh--!'"
+
+"Heave and fall--jib-halyards--hoist away."
+
+"Oh! dear--oh! dear."
+
+"The clumsy brute has half-killed the girl!--Don't cry, my dear."
+
+"Pick up the child, Tom, and shove it out of the way."
+
+"Where shall I put her?"
+
+"Oh, any where just now; put her on the turkey-coop."
+
+"Starboard!"
+
+"I say, clap on, some of you _he_ chaps, or else get out of the way."
+
+"Sailor, mind my band-box."
+
+"Starboard!"
+
+"Starboard it is; steady so."
+
+Thus, with the trifling matter of maiming half-a-dozen children,
+upsetting two or three women, smashing the lids of a few trunks, and
+crushing some band-boxes as flat as a muffin, the good ship Quebec was
+at last fairly under weigh, and standing out for St Helen's.
+
+3 p.m.--Off St Helen's; ship steady; little wind; water smooth;
+passengers sure they won't be sick.
+
+3:20.--Apologies from the captain for a cold dinner on this day.
+
+4 o'clock.--Dinner over; every body pulls out a number of "Pickwick;"
+every body talks and reads Pickwick; weather getting up squally;
+passengers not quite so sure they won't be seasick.
+
+Who can tell what the morrow may bring forth?  It brought forth a heavy
+sea, and the passengers were quite sure that they were seasick.  Only
+six out of thirty-eight made their appearance at the breakfast-table;
+and, for many days afterwards, there were Pickwicks in plenty strewed
+all over the cabin, but passengers were very scarce.
+
+But we had more than sea-sickness to contend with--the influenza broke
+out and raged.  Does not this prove that it is contagious, and not
+dependant on the atmosphere?  It was hard, after having sniffled with it
+for six weeks on shore, that I should have another month of it on board.
+But who can control destiny?  The ship was like a hospital; an elderly
+woman was the first victim--then a boy of twelve years of age.
+Fortunately, there were no more deaths.
+
+But I have said enough of the passage.  On the 4th of May, in the year
+of our Lord 1837, I found myself walking up Broadway, among the free and
+enlightened citizens of New York.
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER TWO.
+
+A visit, to make it agreeable to both parties, should be well timed.  My
+appearance at New York was very much like bursting into a friend's house
+with a merry face when there is a death in it--with the sudden change
+from levity to condolence.  "Any other time most happy to see you.  You
+find us in a very unfortunate situation."
+
+"Indeed I'm very--very sorry."
+
+Two hundred and sixty houses have already failed, and no one knows where
+it is to end.  Suspicion, fear, and misfortune have taken possession of
+the city.  Had I not been aware of the cause, I should have imagined
+that the plague was raging, and I had the description of Defoe before
+me.
+
+Not a smile on one countenance among the crowd who pass and repass;
+hurried steps, careworn faces, rapid exchanges of salutation, or hasty
+communication of anticipated ruin before the sun goes down.  Here two or
+three are gathered on one side, whispering and watching that they are
+not overheard; there a solitary, with his arms folded and his hat
+slouched, brooding over departed affluence.  Mechanics, thrown out of
+employment, are pacing up and down with the air of famished wolves.  The
+violent shock has been communicated, like that of electricity, through
+the country to a distance of hundreds of miles.  Canals, railroads, and
+all public works, have been discontinued, and the Irish emigrant leans
+against his shanty, with his spade idle in his hand, and starves, as his
+thoughts wander back to his own Emerald Isle.
+
+The Americans delight in the hyperbole; in fact they hardly have a
+metaphor without it.  During this crash, when every day fifteen or
+twenty merchants' names appeared in the newspapers as bankrupts, one
+party, not in a very good humour, was hastening down Broadway, when he
+was run against by another whose temper was equally unamiable.  This
+collision roused the choler of both.
+
+"What the devil do you mean, sir?" cried one; "I've a great mind to
+knock you into _the middle of next week_."
+
+This occurring on a Saturday, the wrath of the other was checked by the
+recollection of how very favourable such a blow would be to his present
+circumstances.
+
+"Will you! by heavens, then pray do; it's just the thing I want, for how
+else I am to get over next Monday and the acceptances I must take up, is
+more than I can tell."
+
+All the banks have stopped payment in specie, and there is not a dollar
+to be had.  I walked down Wall Street, and had a convincing proof of the
+great demand for money, for somebody picked my pocket.
+
+The militia are under arms, as riots are expected.  The banks in the
+country and other towns have followed the example of New York, and thus
+has General Jackson's currency bill been repealed without the aid of
+Congress.  Affairs are now at their worst, and now that such is the
+case, the New Yorkers appear to recover their spirits.  One of the
+newspapers humorously observes--"All Broadway is like unto a new-made
+widow, and don't know whether to laugh or cry."  There certainly is a
+very remarkable energy in the American disposition; if they fall, they
+bound up again.  Somebody has observed that the New York merchants are
+of that _elastic_ nature, that, when fit for nothing else, they might be
+converted into _coach springs_, and such really appears to be their
+character.
+
+Nobody refuses to take the paper of the New York banks, although they
+virtually have stopped payment;--they never refuse anything in New
+York;--but nobody will give specie in change, and great distress is
+occasioned by this want of a circulating medium.  Some of the
+shopkeepers told me that they had been obliged to turn away a hundred
+dollars a-day, and many a Southerner, who has come up with a large
+supply of southern notes, has found himself a pauper, and has been
+indebted to a friend for a few dollars in specie to get home again.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+The radicals here, for there are radicals, it appears, in a democracy--
+
+  "In the lowest depth, a lower deep--"
+
+are very loud in their complaints.  I was watching the swarming
+multitude in Wall Street this morning, when one of these fellows was
+declaiming against the banks for stopping specie payments, and "robbing
+a poor man in such a _w_illanous manner," when one of the merchants, who
+appeared to know his customer, said to him--"Well, as you say, it is
+hard for a poor fellow like you not to be able to get dollars for his
+notes; hand them out, and I'll give you specie for them myself!"  The
+blackguard had not a cent in his pocket, and walked away looking very
+foolish.  He reminded me of a little chimney-sweeper at the Tower
+Hamlets election, asking--"Vot vos my hopinions about primaginitur?"--a
+very important point to him certainly, he having no parents, and having
+been brought up by the parish.
+
+I was in a store when a thorough-bred democrat walked in: he talked
+loud, and voluntarily gave it as his opinion that all this distress was
+the very best thing that could have happened to the country, as America
+would now keep all the specie and pay her English creditors with
+bankruptcies.  There always appears to me to be a great want of moral
+principle in all radicals; indeed, the levelling principles of
+radicalism are adverse to the sacred rights of _meum et tuum_.  At
+Philadelphia the ultra-democrats have held a large public meeting, at
+which one of the first resolutions brought forward and agreed to
+was--"That they did not owe one farthing to the English people."
+
+"They may say the times are bad," said a young American to me, "but I
+think that they are excellent.  A twenty dollar note used to last me but
+a week, but now it is as good as Fortunatus's purse, which was never
+empty.  I eat my dinner at the hotel, and show them my twenty dollar
+note.  The landlord turns away from it, as if it were the head of
+Medusa, and begs that I will pay another time.  I buy every thing that I
+want, and I have only to offer my twenty dollar note in payment, and my
+credit is unbounded--that is, for any sum under twenty dollars.  If they
+ever do give change again in New York it will make a very unfortunate
+change in my affairs."
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+A government circular, enforcing the act of Congress, which obliges all
+those who have to pay custom-house duties or postage to do so in specie,
+has created great dissatisfaction, and added much to the distress and
+difficulty.  At the same time that they (the government) refuse to take
+from their debtors the notes of the banks, upon the ground that they are
+no longer legal tenders, they compel their creditors to take those very
+notes--having had a large quantity in their possession at the time that
+the banks suspended specie payments--an act of despotism which the
+English Government would not venture upon.
+
+Miss Martineau's work is before me.  How dangerous it is to prophecy.
+Speaking of the merchants of New York, and their recovering after the
+heavy losses they sustained by the calamitous fire of 1835, she says,
+that although eighteen millions of property were destroyed, not one
+merchant failed; and she continues, "It seems now as if the commercial
+credit of New York could stand any shock short of an earthquake like
+that of Lisbon."  That was the prophecy of 1836.  Where is the
+commercial credit of New York now in 1837?!!!
+
+The distress for change has produced a curious remedy.  Every man is now
+his own banker.  Go to the theatres and places of public amusement, and,
+instead of change, you receive an IOU from the treasury.  At the hotels
+and oyster-cellars it is the same thing.  Call for a glass of brandy and
+water and the change is fifteen tickets, each "good for one glass of
+brandy and water."  At an oyster-shop, eat a plate of oysters, and you
+have in return seven tickets, good for one plate of oysters each.  It is
+the same every where.--The barbers give you tickets, good for so many
+shaves; and were there beggars in the streets, I presume they would give
+you tickets in change, good for so much philanthropy.  Dealers, in
+general, give out their own bank-notes, or as they are called here,
+_shin plasters_, which are good for one dollar, and from that down to
+two and a-half cents, all of which are redeemable, and redeemable only
+upon a general return to cash payments.
+
+Hence arises another variety of exchange in Wall Street.
+
+"Tom, do you want any oysters for lunch to-day?"
+
+"Yes!"
+
+"Then here's a ticket, and give me two _shaves_ in return."
+
+The most prominent causes of this convulsion have already been laid
+before the English public; but there is one--that of speculating in
+land--which has not been sufficiently dwelt upon, nor has the importance
+been given to it which it deserves; as, perhaps, next to the losses
+occasioned by the great fire, it led, more than any other species of
+over-speculation and over-trading, to the distress which has ensued.
+Not but that the event must have taken place in the natural course of
+things.  Cash payments produce sure but small returns; but no commerce
+can be carried on by this means on any extended scale.  Credit, as long
+as it is good, is so much extra capital, in itself nominal and
+non-existent, but producing real returns.  If any one will look back
+upon the commercial history of these last fifty years, he will perceive
+that the system of credit is always attended with a periodical _blow
+up_; in England, perhaps, once in twenty years; in America, once in from
+seven to ten.  This arises from their being no safety valve--no check
+which can be put to it by mutual consent of all parties.  One house
+extends its credit, and for a time, its profits; another follows the
+example.  The facility of credit induces those who obtain it to embark
+in other speculations, foreign to their business; for credit thus
+becomes extra capital which they do not know how to employ.  Such has
+been the case in the present instance: but this is no reason for the
+credit system not being continued.  These occasional explosions act as
+warnings, and, for the time, people are more cautious: they stop for a
+while to repair damages, and recover from their consternation; and when
+they go a-head again, it is not quite so fast.  The loss is severely
+felt, because people are not prepared to meet it; but if all the profits
+of the years of healthy credit were added up, and the balance sheet
+struck between that and the loss at the explosion, the advantage gained
+by the credit system would still be found to be great.  The advancement
+of America depends wholly upon it.  It is by credit alone that she has
+made such rapid strides, and it is by credit alone that she can continue
+to flourish, at the same time that she enriches those who trade with
+her.  In this latter crisis there was more blame to be attached to the
+English houses, who _forced_ their credit upon the Americans, than to
+the Americans, who, having such unlimited credit, thought that they
+might advantageously speculate with the capital of others.
+
+One of the most singular affections of the human mind is a proneness to
+excessive speculation; and it may here be noticed that the disease for
+(such it may be termed) is peculiarly English and American.  Men, in
+their race for gain, appear, like horses that have run away, to have
+been blinded by the rapidity of their own motion.  It almost amounts to
+an epidemic, and is infectious--the wise and the foolish being equally
+liable to the disease.  We had ample evidence of this in the bubble
+manias which took place in England in the years 1825 and 1826.  A mania
+of this kind had infected the people of America for two or three years
+previous to the crash: it was that of speculating in land; and to show
+the extent to which it had been carried on, we may take the following
+examples:--
+
+The city of New York, which is built upon a narrow island about ten
+miles in length, at present covers about three miles of that distance,
+and has a population of three hundred thousand inhabitants.  Building
+lots were marked out for the other seven miles; and, by calculation,
+these lots when built upon, would contain an additional population of
+one million and three-quarters.  They were first purchased at from one
+hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars each, but, as the epidemic
+raged, they rose to upwards of two thousand dollars.  At Brooklyn, on
+Long Island, opposite to New York, and about half a mile distant from
+it, lots were marked out to the extent of fourteen miles, which would
+contain an extra population of one million, and these were as eagerly
+speculated in.
+
+At Staten Island, at the entrance into the Sound, an estate was
+purchased by some speculators for ten thousand dollars, was divided into
+lots, and planned as a town to be called New Brighton; and had the whole
+of the lots been sold at the price for which many were, previous to the
+crash, the original speculators would have realised three million of
+dollars.  But the infatuation was not confined to the precincts of New
+York: every where it existed.  Government lands, which could only be
+paid for in specie, were eagerly sought after; plans of new towns were
+puffed up; drawings made, in which every street was laid down and named;
+churches, theatres, hospitals, rail-road communications, canals,
+steam-boats in the offing, all appeared on paper as if actually in
+existence, when, in fact, the very site was as yet a forest, with not a
+log hut within a mile of the pretended city.  Lots in these visionary
+cities were eagerly purchased, increased daily in value, and afforded a
+fine harvest to those who took advantage of the credulity of others.
+One man would buy a lot with extensive _water privileges_, and, upon
+going to examine it, would find those privileges rather too extensive,
+the whole lot being _under water_.  Even after the crisis, there was a
+man still going about who made a good livelihood by setting up his plan
+of a city, the lots of which he sold by public auction, on condition of
+one dollar being paid down to secure the purchase, if approved of.  The
+mania had not yet subsided, and many paid down their dollar upon their
+purchase of a lot.  This was all he required.  He went to the next town,
+and sold the same lots over and over again.
+
+To check this madness of speculation, was one reason why an act of
+Congress was passed, obliging all purchasers of government lands to pay
+in specie.  Nevertheless, government received nine or ten millions in
+specie after the bill passed.  Now, when it is considered what a large
+portion of the capital drawn from England was applied to these wild
+speculations--sums which, when they were required, could not be
+realised, as, when the crisis occurred, property thus purchased
+immediately fell to about one-tenth of what was paid for it--it will be
+clearly seen that, from this unfortunate mania, a great portion of the
+present distress must have arisen.
+
+The attempt of General Jackson and his successors, to introduce a specie
+currency into a country which exists upon credit, was an act of folly,
+and has ended in complete failure.  [See note 1.] A few weeks after he
+had issued from the Mint a large coinage of gold, there was hardly an
+eagle to be seen, and the metal might almost as well have remained in
+the mine from whence it had been extracted.  It was still in the
+country, but had all been absorbed by the agriculturists; and such will
+ever be the case in a widely extended agricultural country.  The
+farmers, principally Dutch, live upon a portion of their produce and
+sell the rest.  Formerly they were content with bank bills or Mexican
+dollars, which they laid by for a rainy day, and they remained locked up
+for years before they were required.  When the gold was issued, it was
+eagerly collected by these people, as more convenient, and laid by, by
+the farmers' wives, in the foot of an old worsted stocking, where the
+major part of it will remain.  And thus has the famous gold-currency
+bill been upset by the hoarding propensities of a parcel of old women.
+[See note 2.]
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Note 1.  One single proof may be given of the ruinous policy of the
+Jackson administration in temporising with the credit of the country.
+To check the export of bullion from our country, the Bank of England had
+but one remedy, that of rendering money scarce: they contracted their
+issues, and it became so.  The consequence was, that the price of cotton
+fell forty dollars per bale.  The crop of cotton amounted to 1,600,000
+bales, which, at forty dollars per bale, was a loss to the southern
+planters of 64,000,000 of dollars.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Note 2.  A curious proof of this system of hoarding, which immediately
+took place upon the bank stopping payment, was told me by a gentleman
+from Baltimore.  He went into a store to purchase, as he often had done,
+a canvas shot-bag, and to his surprise was asked three times the former
+price for it.  Upon his expostulating, the vendors told him, that the
+demand for them by the farmers and other people who brought their
+produce to market, and who used them to put their specie in, was so
+great, that they could hardly supply them.
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER THREE.
+
+Fifty years ago, New York was little more than a village; now, it is a
+fine city with three hundred thousand inhabitants.  I have never seen
+any city so admirably adapted for commerce.  It is built upon a narrow
+island, between Long Island Sound and the Hudson River, Broadway running
+up it like the vertebrae of some huge animal, and the other streets
+diverging from it at right angles, like the ribs; each street running to
+the river, and presenting to the view a forest of masts.
+
+There are some fine buildings in this city, but not many.  Astor House,
+although of simple architecture, is, perhaps, the grandest mass; and
+next to that, is the City Hall, though in architecture very indifferent.
+In the large room of the latter are some interesting pictures and busts
+of the presidents, mayors of the city, and naval and military officers,
+who have received the thanks of Congress and the freedom of the city.
+Some are very fair specimens of art: the most spirited is that of
+Commodore Perry, leaving his sinking vessel, in the combat on the Lakes,
+to hoist his flag on board of another ship.  Decatur's portrait is also
+very fine.  Pity that such a man should have been sacrificed in a
+foolish duel!
+
+At the corner of many of the squares, or _blocks_ of buildings, as they
+are termed here, is erected a very high mast, with a cap of liberty upon
+the top.  The only idea we have of the cap of liberty is, the _bonnet
+rouge_ of the French; but the Americans will not copy the French,
+although they will the English; so they have a cap of their own, which
+(begging their pardon), with its gaudy colours and gilding, looks more
+like a _fool's cap_ than any thing else.
+
+New York is not equal to London, nor Broadway to Regent Street, although
+the Americans would compare them.  Still, New York is very superior to
+most of our provincial towns, and, to a man who can exist out of London,
+Broadway will do very well for a lounge--being wide, three miles long,
+and the upper part composed of very handsome houses; besides which, it
+may almost challenge Regent Street for pretty faces, except on Sundays.
+[On Sundays the coloured population take possession of Broadway.] Many
+of the shops, or _stores_, as they are here called, (for in this land of
+equality nobody keeps a shop), have already been fitted up with large
+plate-glass fronts, similar to those in London, and but for the
+depression which has taken place, many more would have followed the
+example.
+
+Among the few discrepancies observable between this city and London, are
+the undertakers' _shops_.  In England they are all wooden windows below
+and scutcheons above; planks and shavings within--in fact, mere
+workshops.  Here they are different: they have large glass fronts, like
+a millinery or cut-glass shop with us, and the shop runs back thirty or
+forty feet, its sides being filled with coffins standing on end,
+mahogany and French polished.  Therein you may select as you please,
+from the seven feet to receive the well-grown adult, to the tiny
+receptacle of what Burns calls, "Wee unchristened babe."  I have,
+however, never heard of any one choosing their own coffin; they
+generally leave it to their relatives to perform that office.
+
+I may here remark, that the Americans are sensible enough not to throw
+away so much money in funerals as we do; still it appears strange to an
+Englishman to see the open hearse containing the body, drawn by only one
+horse, while the carriages which follow are drawn by two: to be sure,
+the carriages generally contain six individuals, while the hearse is a
+sulky, and carries but one.
+
+The New York tradesmen do all they can, as the English do, to attract
+the notice of the public by hand-bills, placards, advertisements,
+etcetera; but in one point they have gone a-head of us.  Placards,
+etcetera, may be read by those who look upwards or straight-forward, or
+to the right or to the left; but there are some people who walk with
+their eyes to the ground, and consequently see nothing.  The New Yorkers
+have provided for this contingency, by having large marble tablets, like
+horizontal tomb-stones, let into the flag pavements of the _trottoir_ in
+front of their shops, on which is engraven in duplicate, turning both
+ways, their names and business; so, whether you walk up or down
+Broadway, if you cast your eyes downwards so as not to see the placards
+above, you cannot help reading the inscriptions below.
+
+Every traveller who has visited this city has spoken of the numerous
+fires which take place in it, and the constant running, scampering,
+hallooing, and trumpeting of the firemen with their engines; but I do
+not observe that any one has attempted to investigate the causes which
+produce, generally speaking, three or four fires in the twenty-four
+hours.  New York has certainly great capabilities, and every chance of
+improvement as a city; for, about one house in twenty is burnt down
+every year, and is always rebuilt in a superior manner.  But, as to the
+causes, I have, after minute inquiry, discovered as follows.  These
+fires are occasioned--
+
+1st.  By the notorious carelessness of black servants, and the custom of
+smoking cigars all the day long.
+
+2nd.  By the knavery of men without capitol, who insure to double and
+treble the value of their stock, and realise an honest penny by setting
+fire to their stores.  (This is one reason why you can seldom recover
+from a fire-office without litigation.)
+
+3rd.  From the hasty and unsubstantial way in which houses are built up,
+the rafters and beams often communicating with the flues of the
+chimneys.
+
+4th.  Conflagrations of houses not insured, effected by agents employed
+by the _fire-insurance companies_, as a punishment to some, and a
+warning to others, who have neglected to take out policies.
+
+These were gravely stated to me as the causes of so many fires in New
+York.  I cannot vouch for the truth of the last, although I feel bound
+to mention it.  I happen to be lodged opposite to two fire-engine
+houses, so that I always know when there is a fire.  Indeed, so does
+every body; for the church nearest to it tolls its bell, and this
+tolling is repeated by all the others; and as there are more than three
+hundred churches in New York, if a fire takes place no one can say that
+he is not aware of it.
+
+The duty of firemen is admirably performed by the young men of the city,
+who have privileges for a servitude of seven years; but they pay too
+dearly for their privileges, which are an exemption from militia and
+jury summons.  Many of them are taken off by consumptions, fevers, and
+severe catarrhs, engendered by the severe trials to which they are
+exposed: the sudden transitions from extreme heat to extreme cold in
+winter, being summoned up from a warm bed, when the thermometer is below
+zero--then exposed to the scorching flames--and afterwards (as I have
+frequently seen them myself), with the water hanging in icicles upon
+their saturated clothes.  To recruit themselves after their fatigue and
+exhaustion they are compelled to drink, and thus it is no wonder that
+their constitutions are undermined.  It is nevertheless a favourite
+service, as the young men have an opportunity of shewing courage and
+determination, which raises them high in the opinion of their brother
+citizens.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+I made a purchase at a store; an intelligent looking little boy brought
+it home for me.  As he walked by my side, he amused me very much by
+putting the following questions:--
+
+"Pray, captain, has Mr Easy left the King of England's service?"
+
+"I think he has," replied I; "if you recollect, he married and went on
+shore."
+
+"Have you seen Mr Japhet lately?" was the next query.
+
+"Not very lately," replied I; "the last time I saw him was at the
+publisher's."
+
+The little fellow went away, perfectly satisfied that they were both
+alive and well.
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+The dogs are all tied up, and the mosquitos have broke loose--it is high
+time to leave New York.
+
+The American steam-boats have been often described.  When I first saw
+one of the largest sweep round the battery, with her two decks, the
+upper one screened with snow-white awnings--the gay dresses of the
+ladies--the variety of colours--it reminded me of a floating garden, and
+I fancied that Isola Bella, on the Lake of Como, had got under weigh,
+and made the first steam voyage to America.
+
+The Hudson is a noble stream, flowing rapidly through its bold and deep
+bed.  Already it has many associations connected with it--a great many
+for the time which has elapsed since Henrick Hudson first explored it.
+Where is the race of red men who hunted on its banks, or fished and
+paddled their canoes in its stream?  They have disappeared from the
+earth, and scarce a vestige remains of them, except in history.  No
+portion of this world was ever intended to remain for ages untenanted.
+Beasts of prey and noxious reptiles are permitted to exist in the wild
+and uninhabited regions until they are swept away by the broad stream of
+civilisation, which, as it pours along, drives them from hold to hold,
+until they finally disappear.  So it is with the more savage nations:
+they are but _tenants at will_, and never were intended to remain longer
+than till the time when Civilisation, with the Gospel, Arts, and
+Sciences, in her train, should appear, and claim as her own that portion
+of the universe which they occupy.
+
+About thirty miles above New York is Tarry Town, the abode of Washington
+Irving, who has here embosomed himself in his own region of romance; for
+Sleepy Hollow lies behind his domicile.  Nearly opposite to it, is the
+site of a mournful reality--the spot where poor Major Andre was hung up
+as a spy.
+
+You pass the State prison, built on a spot which still retains its
+Indian name--Sing Sing--rather an odd name for a prison, where people
+are condemned to perpetual silence.  It is a fine building of white
+marble, like a palace--very appropriate for that portion of the
+_sovereign_ people, who may qualify themselves for a residence in it.
+
+I had a genuine Yankee story from one of the party on deck.  I was
+enquiring if the Hudson was frozen up or not during the winter?  This
+led to a conversation as to the severity of the winter, when one man, by
+way of proving how cold it was, said--"Why; I had a cow on my lot up the
+river, and last winter she got in among the ice, and was carried down
+three miles before we could get her out again.  The consequence has been
+that she has milked nothing but _ice-creams_ ever since."
+
+When you have ascended about fifty miles, the bed of the river becomes
+contracted and deeper, and it pours its waters rapidly through the high
+lands on each side, having at some distant time forced its passage
+through a chain of rocky mountains.  It was quite dark long before we
+arrived at West Point, which I had embarked to visit.  A storm hung over
+us, and as we passed through the broad masses piled up on each side of
+the river, at one moment illuminated by the lightning as it burst from
+the opaque clouds, and the next towering in sullen gloom, the effect was
+sublime.
+
+Here I am at West Point.
+
+West Point is famous in the short history of this country.  It is the
+key of the Hudson river.  The traitor Arnold had agreed to deliver it up
+to the English, and it was on his return from arranging the terms with
+Arnold, that Andre was captured and hung.
+
+At present, a Military College is established here, which turns out
+about forty officers every year.  Although they receive commissions in
+any regiment of the American army when there may be vacancies, they are
+all educated as engineers.  The democrats have made several attempts to
+break up this establishment, as savouring too much of _monarchy_, but
+hitherto have been unsuccessful.  It would be a pity if they did
+succeed, for such has been the demand lately for engineers to
+superintend railroads and canals, that a large portion of them have
+resigned their commissions, and found employment in the different
+States.  This consideration alone is quite sufficient to warrant the
+keeping up of the college, for civil engineers are a _sine qua non_ in a
+country like America, and they are always ready to serve should their
+military services be required.  There was an inspection at the time that
+I was there, and it certainly was highly creditable to the students; as
+well as to those who superintend the various departments.
+
+When I awoke the next morning, I threw open the blinds of my windows,
+which looked out upon the river, and really was surprised and delighted.
+A more beautiful view I never gazed upon.  The Rhine was fresh in my
+memory; but, although the general features of the two rivers are not
+dissimilar, there is no one portion of the Rhine which can be compared
+to the Hudson at West Point.  It was what you may imagine the Rhine to
+have been in the days of Caesar, when the lofty mountains through which
+it sweeps were not bared and naked as they now are, but clothed with
+forests, and rich in all the variety and beauty of undisturbed nature.
+
+There is a sweet little spot not far from the college, where a tomb has
+been erected in honour of Kosciuscko--it is called Kosciuscko's Garden.
+I often sat there and talked over the events of the War of Independence.
+Many anecdotes were narrated to me, some of them very original.  I will
+mention one or two which have not escaped my memory.
+
+One of the officers who most distinguished himself in the struggle was a
+General Starke; and the following is the speech he is reported to have
+made to his men previous to an engagement:--
+
+"Now, my men,--you see them ere Belgians; every man of them bought by
+the king of England at 17s. 6d. a-head, and I've a notion he'd paid too
+dear for them.  Now, my men, we either beats them this day, or Molly
+Starke's a widow, by G---d."  He did beat them, and in his despatch to
+head-quarters he wrote--"We've had a dreadful hot day of it, General;
+and I've lost my horse, saddle and bridle and all."
+
+In those times, losing a _saddle_ and _bridle_ was as bad as losing a
+horse.
+
+At the same affair, the captain commanding the outposts was very lame,
+and he thought proper thus to address his men:--
+
+"Now, my lads, you see we're only an outpost, and we are not expected to
+beat the whole army in face of us.  The duty of an outpost, when the
+enemy comes on, is to go in, _tree_ing it, and keeping ourselves not
+exposed.  Now, you have my orders; and as I am a _little lame_, I'll go
+in first, and mind you do your duty and come in after me."
+
+I passed several days at this beautiful spot, which is much visited by
+the Americans.  Some future day, when America shall have become wealthy,
+and New York the abode of affluence and ease, what taste may not be
+lavished on the banks of this noble river! and what a lovely retreat
+will be West Point, if permitted to remain in all its present wildness
+and grandeur!
+
+I re-embarked at midnight in the steam-boat descending from Albany, and
+which is fitted out as a night boat.  When I descended into the cabin,
+it presented a whimsical sight: two rows of bed-places on each side of
+the immense cabin, running right fore and aft; three other rows in the
+centre, each of these five rows having three bed-places, one over the
+other.  There were upwards of five hundred people, lying in every
+variety of posture, and exhibiting every state and degree of repose--
+from the loud uneasy snorer lying on his back, to the deep sleeper
+tranquil as death.  I walked up and down, through these long ranges of
+unconsciousness, thinking how much care was for the time forgotten.  But
+as the air below was oppressive, and the moon was beautiful in the
+heavens, I went on deck, and watched the swift career of the vessel,
+which, with a favouring tide, was flying past the shores at the rate of
+twenty miles an hour--one or two people only, out of so many hundreds on
+board of her, silently watching over the great principle of locomotion.
+The moon sank down, and the sun rose and gilded the verdure of the banks
+and the spires of the city of New York, as I revelled in my own thoughts
+and enjoyed the luxury of being alone--a double luxury in America, where
+the people are gregarious, and would think themselves very ill-bred if
+they allowed you one moment for meditation or self-examination.
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+Stepped on board of the Narangansett steam-vessel for Providence.  Here
+is a fair specimen of American travelling:--From New York to Providence,
+by the Long Island Sound, is two hundred miles; and this is
+accomplished, under usual circumstances, in thirteen hours: from
+Providence to Boston, forty miles by railroad, in two hours--which
+makes, from New York to Boston, an average speed of sixteen miles an
+hour, stoppages included.
+
+I was, I must confess, rather surprised, when in the railroad cars, to
+find that we were passing through a _church-yard_, with tomb-stones on
+both sides of us.  In Rhode Island and Massachusetts, where the
+pilgrim-fathers first landed--the two States that take pride to
+themselves (and with justice) for superior morality and a strict
+exercise of religious observances--they look down upon the other States
+of the Union, especially New York, and cry out, "I thank thee, Lord,
+that I am not as that publican."  Yet here, in Rhode Island, are the
+sleepers of the railway laid over the sleepers in death; here do they
+grind down the bones of their ancestors for the sake of gain, and
+consecrated earth is desecrated by the iron wheels, loaded with
+Mammon-seeking mortals.  And this in the puritanical state of Rhode
+Island!  Would any engineer have ventured to propose such a line in
+England?  I think not.  After all, it is but human nature.  I have run
+over the world a long while, and have always observed that people are
+very religious so long as religion does not interfere with their
+pockets; but, with gold in one hand and godliness in the other, the
+tangible is always preferred to the immaterial.  In America everything
+is sacrificed to time--for time is money.  The New Yorkers would have
+dashed right through the church itself; but then, _they_ are publicans,
+and don't _pretend_ to be good.
+
+Boston is a fine city, and, as a commercial one, almost as well situated
+as New York.  It has, however, lost a large portion of its commerce,
+which the latter has gradually wrested from it, and it must eventually
+lose much more.  The population of Boston is about eighty thousand, and
+it has probably more people of leisure in it (that is, out of business
+and living on their own means) than even Philadelphia; taking into the
+estimate the difference between the populations.  They are more learned
+and scientific here than at New York, though not more so than at
+Philadelphia; but they are more English than in any other city in
+America.  The Massachusetts people are very fond of comparing their
+country with that of England.  The scenery is not unlike; but it is not
+like England in its high state of cultivation.  Stone walls are bad
+substitutes for green hedges.  Still, there are some lovely spots in the
+environs of Boston.  Mount Auburn, laid out as a Pere la Chaise, is, in
+natural beauties, far superior to any other place of the kind.  One
+would almost wish to be buried there; and the proprietors, anxious to
+have it peopled, offer, by their arrangements as to the price of places
+of interment, a handsome premium to those who will soonest die and be
+buried--which is certainly a consideration.
+
+Fresh Pond is also a very romantic spot.  It is a lake of about two
+hundred acres, whose water is so pure that the ice is transparent as
+glass.  Its proprietor clears many thousand dollars a year by the sale
+of it.  It is cut out in blocks of three feet square, and supplies most
+parts of America down to New Orleans; and every winter latterly two or
+three ships have been loaded and sent to Calcutta, by which a very
+handsome profit has been realised.
+
+Since I have been here, I have made every enquiry relative to the
+sea-serpent which frequents this coast alone.  There are many hundreds
+of most respectable people, who, on other points, would be considered as
+incapable of falsehood, who declare they have seen the animals, and
+vouch for their existence.  It is rather singular that in America there
+is but one copy of Bishop Pontoppidon's work on Norway, and in it the
+sea-serpent is described, and a rough wood-cut of its appearance given.
+In all the American newspapers a drawing was given of the animal as
+described by those who saw it, and it proved to be almost a _fac-simile_
+of the one described by the Bishop in his work.
+
+Now that we are on marine matters, I must notice the prodigious size of
+the lobsters off Boston Coast: they could stow a dozen common English
+lobsters under their coats of mail.  My very much respected friend Sir
+Isaac Coffin, when he was here, once laid a wager that he would produce
+a lobster weighing thirty pounds.  The bet was accepted, and the admiral
+despatched people to the proper quarter to procure one: but they were
+not then in season, and could not be had.  The admiral, not liking to
+lose his money, brought up, instead of the lobster, the affidavits of
+certain people that they had often seen lobsters of that size and
+weight.  The affidavits of the deponents he submitted to the other
+party, and pretended that he had won the wager.  The case was referred
+to arbitration, and the admiral was cast with the following pithy reply,
+"_Depositions are not lobsters_."
+
+Massachusetts is certainly very English in its scenery, and Boston
+essentially English as a city.  The Bostonians assert that they are more
+English than we are, that is, that they have strictly adhered to the old
+English customs and manners, as handed down to them previous to the
+Revolution.  That of sitting a very long while at their wine after
+dinner, is one which they certainly adhere to, and which, _I_ think,
+would be more honoured in the breach than the observance; but their
+hospitality is unbounded, and you do, as an Englishman, feel at home
+with them.  I agree with the Bostonians so far, that they certainly
+appear to have made no change in their manners and customs for these
+last hundred years.  You meet here with frequent specimens of the Old
+English Gentleman, descendants of the best old English families who
+settled here long before the Revolution, and are now living on their
+incomes, with a town house and a country seat to retire to during the
+summer season.  The society of Boston is very delightful; it wins upon
+you every day, and that is the greatest compliment that can be paid to
+it.
+
+Perhaps of all the Americans the Bostonians are the most sensitive to
+any illiberal remarks made upon the country, for they consider
+themselves, and pride themselves, as being peculiarly English; while, on
+the contrary, the majority of the Americans deny that they are English.
+There certainly is less intermixture of foreign blood in this city than
+in any other in America.  It will appear strange, but so wedded are they
+to old customs, even to John Bullism, that it is not more than seven or
+eight years that French wines have been put on the Boston tables, and
+become in general use in this city.
+
+It is a pity that this feeling towards England is not likely to
+continue; indeed, even at this moment it is gradually wearing away.
+Self-interest governs the world.  At the declaration of the last war
+with England, it was the Northern States which were so opposed to it,
+and the Southern who were in favour of it: but now circumstances have
+changed; the Northern States, since the advance in prosperity and
+increase of produce in the Southern and Western States, feel aware that
+it is only as manufacturing states that they can hold their rank with
+the others.  Their commerce has decreased since the completion of the
+Erie and Ohio canals, and during the war they discovered the advantage
+that would accrue to them, as manufacturers, to supply the Southern and
+Western markets.  The imports of English goods have nearly ruined them.
+They now manufacture nothing but coarse articles, and as you travel
+through the Eastern countries, you are surprised to witness splendid
+fabrics commenced, but, for want of encouragement, not finished.  This
+has changed the interests of the opponent States.  The Southern are very
+anxious to remain at peace with England, that their produce may find a
+market; while the Northern, on the contrary, would readily consent to a
+war, that they might shut out the English manufactures, and have the
+supply entirely in their own hands.  The Eastern States (I particularly
+refer to Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island) offer a proof of
+what can be effected by economy, prudence, and industry.  Except on the
+borders of the rivers, the lands are generally sterile, and the climate
+is severe, yet, perhaps, the population is more at its ease than in any
+other part of the Union; but the produce of the States is not sufficient
+for the increasing population, or rather what the population would have
+been had it not migrated every year to the West and South.  They set a
+higher value upon good connections in these poor States than they do in
+others; and if a daughter is to be married, they will ask what family
+the suitor is of, and if it bears a good name, they are quite
+indifferent as to whether he has a cent or not.  It is remarkable, that
+if a man has three or four sons in these States, one will be a lawyer,
+another a medical man, another a clergyman, and one will remain at home
+to take the property; and thus, out of the proceeds of a farm, perhaps
+not containing more than fifty acres, all these young men shall be
+properly educated, and in turn sent forth to the West and South, where
+they gain an honourable independence, and very often are sent to
+Congress as senators and representatives.  Industry and frugality are
+the only entailed estate bequeathed from father to son.  Yet this State
+alone manufactures to the value of 86,282,616 of dollars in the year.
+As a general axiom it may fairly be asserted, that the more sterile the
+soil, the more virtuous, industrious, and frugal are the inhabitants;
+and it may be added, that such a country sends out more clever and
+intelligent men than one that is nominally more blessed by Providence.
+The fact is, without frugality and industry the Eastern States could not
+exist; they become virtues of necessity, and are the basis of others;
+whilst, where there is abundance, vice springs up and idleness takes
+deep root.
+
+The population of Massachusetts is by the last returns 701,331 souls.  I
+rather think the proportion of women to men is very great.
+
+An energetic and enterprising people are naturally anxious for an
+investigation into cause and effect, a search into which is, after all,
+nothing but curiosity well directed, and the most curious of all men is
+the philosopher.  Curiosity, therefore, becomes a virtue or a small
+vice, according to the use made of it.  The Americans are excessively
+curious, especially the mob: they cannot bear anything like a secret,--
+that's _unconstitutional_.  It may be remembered, that the Catholic
+Convent near Boston, which had existed many years, was attacked by the
+mob and pulled down.  I was enquiring into the cause of this outrage in
+a country where all forms of religion are tolerated; and an American
+gentleman told me, that although other reasons had been adduced for it,
+he fully believed, in his own mind, that the majority of the mob were
+influenced more by _curiosity_ than any other feeling.  The Convent was
+_sealed_ to them, and they were determined to know what was in it.
+"Why, sir," continued he, "I will lay a wager that if the authorities
+were to nail together a dozen planks, and fix them up on the Common,
+with a caution to the public that they were not to go near or touch
+them, in twenty-four hours a mob would be raised to pull them down and
+ascertain what the planks contained."  I mention this conversation, to
+shew in what a dexterous manner this American gentleman attempted to
+palliate one of the grossest outrages ever committed by his countrymen.
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER SIX.
+
+Crossed over to New Jersey, and took the railroad, to view the falls of
+the Passaic River, about fifteen miles from New York.  This water-power
+has given birth to Patterson, a town with ten thousand inhabitants,
+where a variety of manufactures is carried on.  A more beautiful wild
+spot can hardly be conceived; and to an European who has been accustomed
+to travel far in search of the picturesque, it appears singular that at
+so short a distance from a large city, he should at once find himself in
+the midst of such a strange combination of nature and art.  Independent
+of their beauty, they are, perhaps, the most singular falls that are
+known to exist.  The whole country is of trappe formation, and the black
+rocks rise up strictly vertical.  The river, which at the Falls is about
+one hundred and twenty yards wide, pours over a bed of rock between
+hills covered with chestnut, walnut, pine, and sycamore, all mingled
+together, and descending to the edge of the bank; their bright and
+various foliage forming a lovely contrast to the clear rushing water.
+The bed of black rock over which the river runs, is, at the Fall,
+suddenly split in two, vertically, and across the whole width of the
+river.  The fissure is about seventy feet deep, and not more than twelve
+feet wide at any part.  Down into this chasm pour the whole waters of
+the river, escaping from it, at a right angle, into a deep basin,
+surrounded with perpendicular rocks from eighty to ninety feet high.
+You may therefore stand on the opposite side of the chasm, looking up
+the river, within a few feet of the Fall, and watch the roaring waters
+as they precipitate themselves below.  In this position, with the swift,
+clear, but not deep waters before you, forcing their passage through the
+rocky bed, with the waving trees on each side, their branches feathering
+to the water's edge, or dipping and rising in the stream, you might
+imagine yourself far removed from your fellow-men, and you feel that in
+such a beauteous spot you could well turn anchorite, and commune with
+Nature alone.  But turn round with your back to the Fall--look below,
+and all is changed: art in full activity--millions of reels whirling in
+their sockets--the bright polished cylinders incessantly turning, and
+never tiring.  What formerly was the occupation of thousands of
+industrious females, who sat with their distaff at the cottage door, is
+now effected in a hundredth part of the time, and in every variety, by
+those compressed machines which require but the attendance of one child
+to several hundreds.  But machinery cannot perform everything, and
+notwithstanding this reduction of labour, the romantic Falls of the
+Passaic find employment for the industry of thousands.
+
+We walked up the banks of the river above the Fall, and met with about
+twenty or thirty urchins who were bathing at the mouth of the cut, made
+for the supply of the water-power to the manufactories below.  The river
+is the property of an individual, and is very valuable: he receives six
+hundred dollars per annum for one square foot of water-power; ten years
+hence it will be rented at a much higher price.
+
+We amused ourselves by throwing small pieces of money into the water,
+where it was about a fathom deep, for the boys to dive after; they
+gained them too easily; we went to another part in the _cut_, where it
+was much deeper, and threw in a dollar.  The boys stood naked on the
+rocks, like so many cormorants, waiting to dart upon their prey; when
+the dollar had had time to sink to the bottom the word was given--they
+all dashed down like lightning and disappeared.  About a minute elapsed
+ere there was any sign of their re-appearance, when they came up, one by
+one, breathless and flushed (like racers who had pulled up), and at last
+the victor appeared with the dollar between his teeth.  We left these
+juvenile _Sam Patches_, and returned to the town.  [Sam Patch, an
+American peripatetic, who used to amuse himself and astonish his
+countrymen by leaping down the different falls in America.  He leaped
+down a portion of the Niagara without injury; but one fine day, having
+taken a drop too much, he took a leap too much.  He went down the
+Genassee Fall, and since that time he has not been seen or heard of.]
+
+There is no part of the world, perhaps, where you have more difficulty
+in obtaining permission to be alone, and indulge in a reverie, than in
+America.  The Americans are as gregarious as school-boys, and think it
+an incivility to leave you by yourself.  Every thing is done in crowds,
+and among a crowd.  They even prefer a double bed to a single one, and I
+have often had the offer to sleep with me made out of real kindness.
+You must go "east of sun-rise" (or west of sun-set) if you would have
+solitude.
+
+I never was in a more meditative humour, more anxious to be left to my
+own dreamings, than when I ascended the railroad car with my companion
+to return to Jersey city; we were the only two in that division of the
+car, and my friend, who understood me, had the complaisance to go fast
+asleep.  I made sure that, for an hour or two, I could indulge in my own
+castle-buildings, and allow my fleeting thoughts to pass over my brain,
+like the scud over the moon.  At our first stoppage a third party
+stepped in and seated himself between us.  He looked at my companion,
+who was fast asleep.  He turned to me, and I turned away my head.  Once
+more was I standing at the Falls of the Passaic; once more were the
+waters rolling down before me, the trees gracefully waving their boughs
+to the breeze, and the spray cooling my heated brain; my brain was, like
+the camera-obscura, filled with the pleasing images, which I watched as
+they passed before me so vividly portrayed, all in life and motion, when
+I was interrupted by--
+
+"I was born in the very heart of Cheshire, sir."
+
+Confound the fellow!  The river, falls, foliage, all vanished at once;
+and I found myself sitting in a railroad-car (which I had been
+unconscious of), with a heavy lump of humanity by my side.  I wished one
+of the largest Cheshire cheeses down his throat.
+
+"Indeed!" replied I, not looking at the man.
+
+"Yes, sir--in the very heart of Cheshire."
+
+"Would you had staid there!" thought I, turning away to the window
+without replying.
+
+"Will you oblige me with a pinch of your snuff, sir?  I left my box at
+New York."
+
+I gave him the box, and, when he had helped himself, laid it down on the
+vacant seat opposite to him, that he might not have to apply again, and
+fell back and shut my eyes, as a hint to him that I did not wish to
+enter into conversation.  A pause ensued, and I had hopes; but they were
+delusive.
+
+"I have been eighteen years in this country, sir."
+
+"You appear to be quite _Americanised_!" thought I; but I made him no
+answer.
+
+"I went up to Patterson, sir," continued he (now turning round to me,
+and speaking in my ear), "thinking that I could get to Philadelphia by
+that route, and found that I had made a mistake; so I have come back.  I
+am _told_ there are some pretty falls there, sir."
+
+"Would you were beneath them!" thought I; but I could not help laughing
+at the idea of a man going to Patterson, and returning without seeing
+the falls!  By this time he had awakened his companion, who, being
+American himself, and finding that there was to be no more sleep, took
+him up, in the American fashion, and put to him successively the
+following questions, all of which were answered without
+hesitation:--"What is your name? where are you from? where are you
+going? what is your profession? how many dollars have you made? have you
+a wife and children?"  All these being duly responded to, he asked my
+companion who I might be, and was told that I was an operative artist,
+and one of the first cotton spinners in the country.
+
+This communication procured for me considerable deference from our new
+acquaintance during the remainder of our journey.  He observed in the
+ear of my companion, that he thought I knew a thing or two.  In a
+country like America the Utilitarian will always command respect.
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER EIGHT.
+
+The 4th of July, the sixty-first anniversary of American independence!
+
+Pop--pop--bang--pop--pop--bang--bang bang!  Mercy on us! how fortunate
+it is that anniversaries come only once a year.  Well, the Americans may
+have great reason to be proud of this day, and of the deeds of their
+forefathers, but why do they get so confoundedly drunk? why, on this day
+of independence, should they become so _dependent_ upon posts and rails
+for support?  The day is at last over; my head aches, but there will be
+many more aching heads tomorrow morning!
+
+What a combination of vowels and consonants have been put together! what
+strings of tropes, metaphors, and allegories, have been used on this
+day! what varieties and gradations of eloquence!  There are at least
+fifty thousand cities, towns, villages, and hamlets, spread over the
+surface of America--in each the Declaration of Independence has been
+read; in all one, and in some two or three, orations have been
+delivered, with as much gunpowder in them as in the squibs and crackers.
+But let me describe what I actually saw.
+
+The commemoration commenced, if the day did not, on the evening of the
+3rd, by the municipal police going round and pasting up placards,
+informing the citizens of New York, that all persons letting off
+fireworks would be taken into custody, which notice was immediately
+followed up by the little boys proving their independence of the
+authorities, by letting off squibs, crackers, and bombs; and cannons,
+made out of shin bones, which flew in the face of every passenger, in
+the exact ratio that the little boys flew in the face of the
+authorities.  This continued the whole night, and thus was ushered in
+the great and glorious day, illumined by a bright and glaring sun (as if
+bespoken on purpose by the mayor and corporation), with the thermometer
+at 90 degrees in the shade.  The first sight which met the eye after
+sunrise, was the precipitate escape, from a city visited with the plague
+of gunpowder, of respectable or timorous people in coaches, carriages,
+waggons, and every variety of vehicle.  "My kingdom for a horse!" was
+the general cry of all those who could not stand fire.  In the mean
+while, the whole atmosphere was filled with independence.  Such was the
+quantity of American flags which were hoisted on board of the vessels,
+hung out of windows, or carried about by little boys, that you saw more
+stars at noon-day than ever could be counted on the brightest night.  On
+each side of the whole length of Broadway, were ranged booths and
+stands, similar to those at an English fair, and on which were displayed
+small plates of oysters, with a fork stuck in the board opposite to each
+plate; clams sweltering in the hot sun; pineapples, boiled hams, pies,
+puddings, barley-sugar, and many other indescribables.  But what was
+most remarkable, Broadway being three miles long, and the booths lining
+each side of it, in every booth there was a roast pig, large or small,
+as the centre attraction.  Six miles of roast pig! and that in New York
+city alone; and roast pig in every other city, town, hamlet, and
+village, in the Union.  What association can there be between roast pig
+and independence?  Let it not be supposed that there was any deficiency
+in the very necessary articles of potation on this auspicious day: no!
+the booths were loaded with porter, ale, cyder, mead, brandy, wine,
+ginger-beer, pop, soda-water, whiskey, rum, punch, gin slings,
+cocktails, mint julips, besides many other compounds, to name which
+nothing but the luxuriance of American-English could invent a word.
+Certainly the preparations in the refreshment way were most imposing,
+and gave you some idea of what had to be gone through on this auspicious
+day.  Martial music sounded from a dozen quarters at once; and as you
+turned your head, you tacked to the first bars of a march from one band,
+the concluding bars of Yankee Doodle from another.  At last the troops
+of militia and volunteers, who had been gathering in the park and other
+squares, made their appearance, well dressed and well equipped, and, in
+honour of the day, marching as independently as they well could.  I did
+not see them go through many manoeuvres, but there was one which they
+appeared to excel in, and that was grounding arms and eating pies.  I
+found that the current went towards Castle Garden, and away I went with
+it.  There the troops were all collected on the green, shaded by the
+trees, and the effect was very beautiful.  The artillery and infantry
+were drawn up in a line pointing to the water.  The officers in their
+regimental dresses and long white feathers, generals and aides-de-camp,
+colonels, commandants, majors, all galloping up and down in front of the
+line,--white horses and long tails appearing the most fashionable and
+correct.  The crowds assembled were, as American crowds usually are,
+quiet and well behaved.  I recognised many of my literary friends turned
+into generals, and flourishing their swords instead of their pens.  The
+scene was very animating; the shipping at the wharfs were loaded with
+star-spangled banners; steamers paddling in every direction, were
+covered with flags; the whole beautiful Sound was alive with boats and
+sailing vessels, all flaunting with pennants and streamers.  It was, as
+Ducrow would call it, "A Grand Military and Aquatic Spectacle."
+
+Then the troops marched up into town again, and so did I follow them as
+I used to do the reviews in England, when a boy.  All creation appeared
+to be independent on this day; some of the horses particularly so, for
+they would not keep "in no line not no how."  Some preferred going
+sideways like crabs, others went backwards, some would not go at all,
+others went a great deal too fast, and not a few parted company with
+their riders, whom they kicked off just to shew their independence; but
+let them go which way they would, they could not avoid the squibs and
+crackers.  And the women were in the same predicament: they might dance
+right, or dance left, it was only out of the frying-pan into the fire,
+for it was pop, pop; bang, bang; fiz, pop, bang, so that you literally
+trod upon gunpowder.
+
+When the troops marched up Broadway, louder even than the music were to
+be heard the screams of delight from the children at the crowded windows
+on each side.  "Ma! ma! there's pa!"  "Oh! there's John."  "Look at
+uncle on his big horse."
+
+The troops did not march in very good order, because, independently of
+their not knowing how, there was a great deal of independence to contend
+with.  At one time an omnibus and four would drive in and cut off the
+general and his staff from his division; at another, a cart would roll
+in and insist upon following close upon the band of music; so that it
+was a mixed procession--Generals, omnibus and four, music, cart-loads of
+bricks, troops, omnibus and pair, artillery, hackney-coach, etcetera.
+etcetera.  Notwithstanding all this, they at last arrived at the City
+Hall, when those who were old enough heard the Declaration of
+Independence read for the sixty-first time; and then it was--"Begone,
+brave army, and don't kick up a row."
+
+I was invited to dine with the mayor and corporation at the City Hall.
+We sat down in the Hall of Justice, and certainly, great justice was
+done to the dinner, which (as the wife says to her husband after a
+party, where the second course follows the first with unusual celerity)
+"went off remarkably well."  The crackers popped outside, and the
+champagne popped in.  The celerity of the Americans at a public dinner
+is very commendable; they speak only now and then; and the toasts follow
+so fast, that you have just time to empty your glass, before you are
+requested to fill again.  Thus the arranged toasts went off rapidly, and
+after them, any one might withdraw.  I waited till the thirteenth toast,
+the last on the paper, to wit, the ladies of America; and, having
+previously, in a speech from the recorder, bolted Bunker's Hill and New
+Orleans, I thought I might as well bolt myself, as I wished to see the
+fireworks, which were to be very splendid.
+
+Unless you are an amateur, there is no occasion to go to the various
+places of public amusement where the fireworks are let off, for they are
+sent up every where in such quantities that you hardly know which way to
+turn your eyes.  It is, however, advisable to go into some place of
+safety, for the little boys and the big boys have all got their supply
+of rockets, which they fire off in the streets--some running
+horizontally up the pavement, and sticking into the back of a passenger;
+and others mounting slantingdicularly and Paul-Prying into the bed-room
+windows on the third floor or attics, just to see how things are going
+on _there_.  Look in any point of the compass, and you will see a shower
+of rockets in the sky: turn from New York to Jersey City, from Jersey
+City to Brooklyn, and shower is answered by shower on either side of the
+water.  Hoboken repeats the signal: and thus it is carried on to the
+east, the west, the north, and the south, from Rhode Island to the
+Missouri, from the Canada frontier to the Gulf of Mexico.  At the
+various gardens the combinations were very beautiful, and exceeded
+anything that I had witnessed in London or Paris.  What with
+sea-serpents, giant rockets scaling heaven, Bengal lights, Chinese
+fires, Italian suns, fairy bowers, crowns of Jupiter, exeranthemums,
+Tartar temples, Vesta's diadems, magic circles, morning glories, stars
+of Colombia, and temples of liberty, all America was in a blaze; and, in
+addition to this mode of manifesting its joy, all America was tipsy.
+
+There is something grand in the idea of a national intoxication.  In
+this world, vices on a grand scale dilate into virtues; he who murders
+one man, is strung up with ignominy; but he who murders twenty thousand
+has a statue to his memory, and is handed down to posterity as a hero.
+A staggering individual is a laughable and, sometimes, a disgusting
+spectacle; but the whole of a vast continent reeling, offering a
+holocaust of its brains for mercies vouchsafed, is an appropriate
+tribute of gratitude for the rights of equality and the _levelling
+spirit_ of their institutions.
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER NINE.
+
+Once more flying up the noble Hudson.  After you have passed West Point,
+the highlands, through which the river has forced its passage, gradually
+diminish, and as the shore becomes level, so does the country become
+more fertile.
+
+We passed the manor of Albany, as it is called, being a Dutch grant of
+land, now in the possession of one person, a Mr Van Rensalaer, and
+equal to many a German principality, being twenty miles by forty-eight
+miles square.  Mr Van Rensalaer still retains the old title of Patroon.
+It is generally supposed in England that, in America, all property must
+be divided between the children at the decease of the parent.  This is
+not the case.  The entailing of estates was abolished by an act of
+Congress in 1788, but a man may will away his property entirely to his
+eldest son if he pleases.  This is, however, seldom done; public opinion
+is too strong against it, and the Americans fear public opinion beyond
+the grave.  Indeed, were a man so to act, the other claimants would
+probably appeal to have the will set aside upon the grounds of lunacy,
+and the sympathy of an American jury would decree in their favour.
+
+As you ascend to Albany City, the banks of the river are very fertile
+and beautiful, and the river is spotted with many very picturesque
+little islands.  The country seats, which fringe the whole line of
+shore, are all built in the same, and very bad, style.  Every house or
+tenement, be it a palace or a cottage, has its porticos and pillars--a
+string of petty Parthenons which tire you by their uniformity and
+pretence.
+
+I had intended to stop at Hudson, that I might proceed from thence to
+New Lebanon to visit the Shaking Quakers; but, as I discovered that
+there was a community of them not five miles from Troy, I, to avoid a
+fatiguing journey, left Albany, and continued on to that city.
+
+Albany is one of the oldest Dutch settlements, and among its inhabitants
+are to be found many of the descendants of the Dutch aristocracy.
+Indeed, it may even now be considered as a Dutch city.  It is the
+capital of the state of New York, with a population of nearly 30,000.
+Its commerce is very extensive, as it is here that the Erie canal
+communications with the Far West, as well as the Eastern States,
+debouche into the Hudson.
+
+We have here a singular proof, not only of the rapidity with which
+cities rise in America, but also how superior energy will overcome every
+disadvantage.  Little more than twenty years ago, Albany stood by
+itself, a large and populous city without a rival, but its population
+was chiefly Dutch.  The Yankees from the Eastern States came down and
+settled themselves at Troy, not five miles distant, in opposition to
+them.  It would be supposed that Albany could have crushed this city in
+its birth, but it could not, and Troy is now a beautiful city, with its
+mayor, its corporation, and a population of 20,000 souls, and divides
+the commerce with Albany, from which most of the eastern trade has been
+ravished.  The inhabitants of Albany are termed Albanians, those of
+Troy, Trojans!  In one feature these cities are very similar, being both
+crowded with lumber and pretty girls.
+
+I went out to see the Shakers at Niskayuna.  So much has already been
+said about their tenets that I shall not repeat them, further than to
+observe that all their goods are in common, and that, although the sexes
+mix together, they profess the vows of celibacy and chastity.  Their
+lands are in excellent order, and they are said to be very rich.  [I
+should be very sorry to take away the character of any community, but,
+as I was a little sceptical as to the possibility of the vow of chastity
+being observed under circumstances above alluded to, I made some
+inquiries, and having met with one who had seceded from the fraternity,
+I discovered that my opinion of human nature was correct, and the
+conduct of the Shakers not altogether so.  I must not enter into
+details, as they would be unfit for publication.]
+
+We were admitted into a long room on the ground-floors where the Shakers
+were seated on forms, the men opposite to the women, and apart from each
+other.  The men were in their waistcoats and shirt-sleeves, twiddling
+their thumbs, and looking awfully puritanical.  The women were attired
+in dresses of very light striped cotton, which hung about them like full
+dressing-gowns, and concealed all shape and proportions.  A plain mob
+cap on their heads, and a thick muslin handkerchief in many folds over
+their shoulders, completed their attire.  They each held in their hands
+a pocket-handkerchief as large as a towel, and of almost the same
+substance.  But the appearance of the women was melancholy and
+unnatural; I say unnatural because it required to be accounted for.
+They had all the advantages of exercise and labour in the open air, good
+food, and good clothing; they were not overworked, for they are not
+required to work more than they please; and yet there was something so
+pallid, so unearthly in their complexions, that it gave you the idea
+that they had been taken up from their coffins a few hours after their
+decease: not a hue of health, not a vestige of colour in any cheek or
+lip;--one cadaverous yellow tinge prevailed.  And yet there were to be
+seen many faces very beautiful, as far as regarded outline, but they
+were the features of the beautiful in death.  The men, on the contrary,
+were ruddy, strong, and vigorous.  Why, then, this difference between
+the sexes, where they each performed the same duties, where none were
+taxed beyond their strength, and all were well fed and clothed?
+
+After a silence of ten minutes, one of the men of the community,
+evidently a coarse illiterate person, rose and addressed a few words to
+the spectators, requesting them not to laugh at what they saw, but to
+behave themselves properly, etcetera, and then he sat down.
+
+One of the leaders then burst out into a hymn, to a jigging sort of
+tune, and all the others joined chorus.  After the hymn was sung they
+all rose, put away the forms on which they had been seated, and stood in
+lines, eight in a row, men and women separate, facing each other, and
+about ten feet apart--the ranks of men being flanked by the boys, and
+those of the women by the girls.  They commenced their dancing by
+advancing in rows, just about as far as profane people do in _L'ete_
+when they dance quadrilles, and then retreated the same distance, all
+keeping regular time, and turning back to back after every third
+advance.  The movement was rather quick, and they danced to their own
+singing of the following beautiful composition:--
+
+  Law, law, de lawdel law,
+  Law, law, de law,
+  Law, law, de lawdel law,
+  Lawdel, lawdel, law--
+
+keeping time also with the hands as well as feet, the former raised up
+to the chest, and hanging down like the fore-paws of a dancing bear.
+After a quarter of an hour they sat down again, and the women made use
+of their large towel pocket-handkerchiefs to wipe off the perspiration.
+Another hymn was sung, and then the same person addressed the
+spectators, requesting them not to laugh, and inquiring if any of them
+felt a wish to be saved--adding, "Not one of you, I don't think."  He
+looked round at all of us with the most ineffable contempt, and then sat
+down; and they sang another hymn, the burden of which was--
+
+  "Our souls are saved, and we are free
+  From vice and all in-i-qui-ty."
+
+which was a very comfortable delusion, at all events.
+
+They then rose again, put away the forms as before, and danced in
+another fashion.  Instead of _L'ete_, it was _Grande ronde_.  About ten
+men and women stood in two lines in the centre of the room, as a vocal
+band of music, while all the others, two and two, women first and men
+following, promenaded round, with a short quick step, to the tune
+chaunted in the centre.  As they went round and round, shaking their
+paws up and down before them, the scene was very absurd, and I could
+have laughed had I not felt disgusted at such a degradation of rational
+and immortal beings.  This dance lasted a long while, until the music
+turned to croaking, and the perspiration was abundant; they stopped at
+last, and then announced that their exercise was finished.  I waited a
+little while after the main body had dispersed, to speak with one of the
+elders.  "I will be with you directly," replied he, walking hastily
+away; but he never came back.
+
+I never heard the principle upon which they dance.  David danced before
+the ark; but it is to be presumed that David danced as well as he sung.
+At least he thought so; for when his wife Michal laughed at him, he made
+her conduct a ground of divorce.
+
+Every community which works in common, and is provided for in the mass,
+must become _rich_, especially when it has no children to maintain.  It
+is like receiving a person's labour in exchange for victuals and
+clothing only, and this is all I can perceive that can be said in favour
+of these people.  Suffice it to say, I have a very bad opinion of them:
+and were I disposed to dilate on the subject, I should feel no
+inclination to treat them with the lenity shewn to them by other
+travellers.
+
+From this mockery, I went to see what had a real tendency to make you
+feel religious--the Falls of the Mohawk, about three miles from Troy.
+Picturesque and beautiful as all falling water is, to describe it is
+extremely difficult, unless, indeed by a forced simile; the flow of
+language is too tame for the flow of water; but if the reader can
+imagine a ledge of black rocks, about sixty or seventy feet high, and
+that over this ledge was poured simultaneously the milk of some millions
+of cows, he will then have some idea of the beauty of the creaming Falls
+of the Mohawk, imbedded as they are in their wild and luxuriant scenery.
+
+Close to the Falls, I perceived a few small wooden shealings, appearing,
+under the majestic trees which overshadowed them, more like dog-kennels
+than the habitations of men: they were tenanted by Irish emigrants, who
+had taken work at the new locks forming on the Erie canal.  I went up to
+them.  In a tenement about fourteen feet by ten, lived an Irishman, his
+wife, and family, and seven boys as he called them, young men from
+twenty to thirty years of age, who boarded with him.  There was but one
+bed, on which slept the man, his wife, and family.  Above the bed were
+some planks, extending half way the length of the shealing, and there
+slept the seven boys, without any mattress, or even straw, to lie upon.
+I entered into conversation with them: they complained bitterly of the
+times, saying that their pay was not 2 shillings 6 pence of our money
+per day, and that they could not live upon it.  This was true, but the
+distress had been communicated to all parts, and they were fortunate in
+finding work at all, as most of the public works had been discontinued.
+I mentioned to them that the price of labour in Ohio, Illinois, and the
+West, was said to be two dollars a-day, and asked them, why they did not
+go there?  They replied, that such were the price quoted, to induce
+people to go, but that they never could find it when they arrived; that
+the clearing of new lands was attended with ague and fever; and that if
+once down with these diseases there was no one to help them to rise
+again.  I looked for the pig, and there he was, sure enough, under the
+bed.
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER TEN.
+
+Troy, like a modern academy, is classical, as well as commercial, having
+Mount Olympus on one side, and Mount Ida in its rear.  The panorama from
+the summit of the latter is splendid.  A few years back a portion of
+Mount Ida made a slip, and the avalanche destroyed several cottages and
+five or six individuals.  The avalanche took place on a dark night and
+in a heavy snow storm.  Two brick kilns were lighted at the time, and,
+as the mountain swept them away, the blaze of the disturbed fires called
+out the fire engines, otherwise more lives would have been lost.
+Houses, stables, and sheds, were all hurled away together.  Horses,
+children, and women, rolled together in confusion.  One child had a very
+strange escape.  It had been forced out of its bed, and was found on the
+top of a huge mass of clay, weighing forty or fifty tons; he was crying,
+and asking who had put him there.  Had all the inhabitants of the
+cottages been within, at least forty must have perished; but
+notwithstanding the severity of the weather, the day being Sunday, they
+had all gone to evening meeting, and thus, being good Christians, they
+were for once rewarded for it on this side of the grave.
+
+As I surveyed the busy scene below me, the gentleman who accompanied me
+to the summit of the mountain, informed me that forty-three years ago
+his father was the first settler, and that then there was but his one
+hut in the place where now stood the splendid town.
+
+But signs of the times were manifest here also.  Commerce had stopped
+for the present, and a long line of canal boats was laid up for want of
+employment.
+
+I remained two hours perched upon the top of the mountain.  I should not
+have staid so long, perhaps, had they not brought me a basket of
+cherries, so that I could gratify more senses than one.  I felt
+becomingly classical whilst sitting on the precise birth-place of
+Jupiter, attended by Pomona, with Troy at my feet, and Mount Olympus in
+the distance; but I was obliged to descend to lumber and gin-slings, and
+I set off for Albany, where I had an engagement, having been invited to
+attend at the examination of the young ladies at the seminary.
+
+Here again is a rivalry between Albany and Troy, each of them glorying
+in possessing the largest seminary for the education of young ladies,
+who are sent from every State of the Union, to be finished off at one or
+the other of them.  Here, and indeed in many other establishments, the
+young ladies now quitting it have diplomas given to them, if they pass
+their examinations satisfactorily.  They are educated upon a system
+which would satisfy even Miss Martineau, and prepared to exercise the
+rights of which she complains that women have been so unjustly deprived.
+Conceive three hundred modern Portias, who regularly take their
+degrees, and emerge from the portico of the seminary full of algebra,
+equality, and the theory of the constitution!  The quantity and variety
+crammed into them is beyond all calculation.  The examination takes
+place yearly, to prove to the parents that the preceptors have, done
+their duty, and is in itself very innocent, as it only causes the young
+ladies to blush a little.
+
+This afternoon they were examined in algebra, and their performance was
+very creditable.  Under a certain age girls are certainly much quicker
+than boys, and I presume would retain what they learnt if it were not
+for their subsequent duties in making puddings, and nursing babies.  Yet
+there are affairs which must be performed by one sex or the other, and
+of what use can algebra and other abstruse matters be to a woman in her
+present state of domestic thraldom.
+
+The theory of the American constitution was the next subject on which
+they were examined; by their replies, this appeared to be to them more
+abstruse than algebra: but the fact is, women are born tories, and admit
+no other than petticoat government as legitimate.
+
+The next day we again repaired to the hall, and French was the language
+in which they were to be examined, and the examination afforded us much
+amusement.
+
+The young ladies sat down in rows on one side of the room.  In the
+centre, towards the end, was an easel, on which was placed a large black
+board on which they worked with chalk the questions in algebra,
+etcetera,--a towel hanging to it, that they might wipe out and correct.
+The French preceptor, an old Emigre Count, sat down with the examiners
+before the board, the visitors (chiefly composed of anxious papas and
+mammas) being seated on benches behind them.  As it happened, I had
+taken my seat close to the examining board, and at some little distance
+from the other persons who were deputed or invited to attend.  I don't
+knew how I came there.  I believe I had come in too late; but there I
+was, within three feet of every young lady who came up to the board.
+
+"Now, messieurs, have the kindness to ask any question you please," said
+the old Count.  "Mademoiselle, you will have the goodness to step
+forward."  A question was proposed in English, which the young lady had
+to write down in French.  The very first went wrong: I perceived it, and
+without looking at her, pronounced the right word, so that she could
+hear it.  She caught it, rubbed out the wrong word with the towel, and
+rectified it.  This was carried on through the whole sentence, and then
+she retreated from the board that her work might be examined.  "Very
+well, very well, indeed, Miss, c'est parfaitement bien;" and the young
+lady sat down blushing.  Thus were they all called up, and one after
+another prompted by me; and the old Count was delighted at the success
+of his pupils.
+
+Now, what amused me in this was the little bit of human nature; the
+_tact_ displayed by the sex, which appears to be innate, and which never
+deserts them.  Had I prompted a boy, he would most likely have turned
+his head round towards me, and thus have revealed what I was about; but
+not one of the whole class was guilty of such indiscretion.  They heard
+me, rubbed out, corrected, waited for the word when they did not know
+it, but never by any look or sign made it appear that there was any
+understanding between us.  Their eyes were constantly fixed on the
+board, and they appeared not to know that I was in the room.  It was
+really beautiful.  When the examination was over, I received a look from
+them all, half comic, half serious, which amply repaid me for my
+assistance.
+
+As young ladies are assembled here from every State of the Union, it was
+a _fair_ criterion of American beauty, and it must be acknowledged that
+the American women are the _prettiest_ in the whole world.
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER ELEVEN.
+
+Saratoga Springs.--Watering places all over the world are much alike:
+they must be well filled with company, and full of bustle, and then they
+answer the purpose for which they are intended--a general muster, under
+the banner of folly, to drive care and common sense out of the field.
+Like assembly-rooms, unless lighted up and full of people, they look
+desolate and forlorn: so it was with Saratoga: a beautiful spot,
+beautiful hotels, and beautiful water; but all these beauties were
+thrown away, and the water ran away unheeded, because the place was
+empty.  People's pockets were empty, and Saratoga was to let.  The
+consequence was that I remained a week there, and should have remained
+much longer had I not been warned, by repeated arrivals, that the
+visitors were increasing, and that I should be no longer alone.
+
+The weariness of solitude, as described by Alexander Selkirk and the
+Anti-Zimmermanns, can surely not be equal to the misery of never being
+alone; of feeling that your thoughts and ideas, rapidly accumulating,
+are in a state of chaos and confusion, and that you have not a moment to
+put them into any lucid order; of finding yourself, against your will,
+continually in society, bandied from one person to the other, to make
+the same bows, extend the same hand to be grasped, and reply to the same
+eternal questions; until, like a man borne down by sleep after long
+vigils, and at each moment roused to reply, you either are not aware of
+what you do say, or are dead beat into an unmeaning smile.  Since I have
+been in this country, I have suffered this to such a degree as at last
+to become quite nervous on the subject; and I might reply in the words
+of the spirit summoned by Lochiel--
+
+  "Now my weary lips I close;
+  Leave, oh! leave me to repose."
+
+It would be a strange account, had it been possible to keep one, of the
+number of introductions which I have had since I came into this country.
+Mr A introduces Mr B and C, Mr B and C introduce Mr D, E, F, and G.
+Messrs. D, E, F, and G introduce Messrs. H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, and so
+it goes on, _ad infinitum_ during the whole of the day; and this to me
+who never could remember either a face or a name.
+
+At introduction it is invariably the custom to shake hands; and thus you
+go on shaking hands here, there, and everywhere, and with everybody; for
+it is impossible to know who is who, in this land of equality.
+
+But one shake of the hand will not do; if twenty times during the same
+day you meet a person to whom you have been introduced, the hand is
+every where extended with--"Well, captain, how do you find yourself by
+this time?" and, in their good-will, when they seize your hand, they
+follow the apothecary's advice--"When taken, to be well shaken."  As for
+the constant query--"How do you like our country?"--that is natural
+enough.  I should ask the same of an American in England, but to reply
+to it is not the less tedious.  It is all well meant, all kindness, but
+it really requires fortitude and patience to endure it.  Every one
+throws in his voluntary tribute of compliments and good-will, but the
+accumulated mass is too great for any one individual to bear.  How I
+long for the ocean prairies, or the wild forests.  Subsequently, I
+begged hard to be shut up for six months in the Penitentiary at
+Philadelphia, but Sammy Wood said it was against the regulations.  He
+comforted me with a _tete-a-tete_ dinner, which was so agreeable, that
+at the time I quite forgot I wished to be alone.
+
+When I left Saratoga, I found no one, as I thought, in the car, who knew
+me; and I determined, if possible, they should, in the Indian phrase,
+_lose my trail_.  I arrived at Schenectady, and was put down there.  I
+amused myself until the train started for Utica, which was to be in a
+few hours, in walking about the engine-house, and examining the
+locomotives; and having satisfied myself, set out for a solitary walk in
+the country.  There was no name on my luggage, and I had not given my
+name when I took my ticket for the railroad.  "At last," said I to
+myself, "_I am incog_."  I had walked out of the engine-house, looked
+round the compass, and resolved in which direction I would bend my
+steps, when a young man came up to me, and very politely taking off his
+hat, said, "I believe I have the pleasure of speaking to Captain M---."
+Had he known my indignation when he mentioned my name, poor fellow! but
+there was no help for it, and I replied in the affirmative.  After
+apologising, he introduced himself, and then requested the liberty of
+introducing his friend.  "Well, if ever," thought I; and, "no never,"
+followed afterwards as a matter of course, and as a matter of course his
+friend was introduced.  It reminded me of old times, when, midshipmen at
+balls, we used to introduce each other to ladies we had none of us seen
+before in our lives.  Well, there I was, between two overpowering
+civilities, but they meant it kindly, and I could not be angry.  These
+were students of Schenectady College: would I like to see it? a
+beautiful location, not half a mile off.  I requested to know if there
+was any thing to be seen there, as I did not like to take a hot walk for
+nothing, instead of the shady one I had proposed for myself.  "Yes,
+there was Professor Nott"--I had of course heard of Professor Nott.--
+Professor Nott, who governed by moral influence and paternal sway, and
+who had written so largely on stones and anthracite coal.  I had never
+before heard of moral influence, stones, or anthracite coal.  Then there
+were more professors, and a cabinet of minerals--the last was an
+inducement, and I went.
+
+I saw Professor Nott, but not the cabinet of minerals, for Professor
+Savage had the key.  With Professor Nott I had rather a hot argument
+about anthracite coal, and then escaped before he was cool again.  The
+students walked back with me to the hotel, and, with many apologies for
+leaving me, informed me that dinner was ready.  I would not tax their
+politeness any longer, and they departed.
+
+Schenectady College, like most of the buildings in America, was
+commenced on a grand scale, but has never been finished; the two wings
+are finished, and the centre is lithographed, which looks very imposing
+in the plate.  There is a peculiarity in this college: it is called the
+Botany Bay, from its receiving young men who have been expelled from
+other colleges, and who are kept in order by moral influence and
+paternal sway, the only means certainly by which wild young men are to
+be reclaimed.  Seriously speaking Professor Nott is a very clever man,
+and I suspect this college will turn out more clever men than any other
+in the Union.  It differs from the other colleges in another point.  It
+upholds no peculiar sect of religion, which almost all the rest do.  For
+instance, Yule [Yale], William's Town, and Amherst Colleges, are under
+presbyterian influence; Washington episcopal; Cambridge, in
+Massachusets, unitarian.
+
+There is one disadvantage generally attending railroads.  Travellers
+proceed more rapidly, but they lose all the beauty of the country.
+Railroads of course run through the most level portions of the States;
+and the levels, except they happen to be on the banks of a river, are
+invariably uninteresting.  The road from Schenectady to Utica is one of
+the exceptions to this rule: there is not perhaps a more beautiful
+variety of scenery to be found anywhere.  You run the whole way through
+the lovely valley of the Mohawk, on the banks of the Mohawk river.  It
+was really delightful, but the motion was so rapid that you lamented
+passing by so fast.  The Utica railroad is one of the best in America;
+the eighty miles are performed in four hours and a-half, stoppages for
+taking in water, passengers, and refreshments, included.  The locomotive
+was of great power, and as it snorted along with a train of carriages of
+half a mile long in tow, it threw out such showers of fire, that we were
+constantly in danger of conflagration.  The weather was too warm to
+admit of the windows being closed, and the ladies, assisted by the
+gentlemen, were constantly employed in putting out the sparks which
+settled on their clothes--the first time I ever heard ladies complain of
+having too many _sparks_ about them.  As the evening closed in we
+actually were whirled along through a stream of fiery threads--a
+beautiful, although humble imitation of the tail of a comet.
+
+I had not been recognised in the rail car, and I again flattered myself
+that I was unknown.  I proceeded, on my arrival at Utica, to the hotel,
+and asking at the bar for a bed, the book was handed to me, and I was
+requested to write my name.  Wherever you stop in America, they
+generally produce a book and demand your name, not on account of any
+police regulations, but merely because they will not allow secrets in
+America, and because they choose to know who you may be.  Of course, you
+may frustrate this espionage by putting down any name you please; and I
+had the pen in my hand, and was just thinking whether I should be Mr
+Snooks or Mr Smith, when I received a slap on the shoulder, accompanied
+with--"Well, captain, how are you by this time?"  In despair I let the
+pen drop out of my hand, and instead of my name I left on the book a
+large blot.  It was an old acquaintance from Albany, and before I had
+been ten minutes in the hotel, I was recognised by at least ten more.
+The Americans are such locomotives themselves, that it is useless to
+attempt the incognito in any part except the west side of the
+Missisippi, or the Rocky Mountains.  Once known at New York, and you are
+known every where, for in every place you will meet with some one whom
+you have met walking in Broadway.
+
+A tremendous thunder-storm, with torrents of rain, prevented my leaving
+Utica for Trenton Falls until late in the afternoon.  The roads,
+ploughed up by the rain, were any thing but democratic; there was no
+level in them; and we were jolted and shaken like peas in a rattle,
+until we were silent from absolute suffering.
+
+I rose the next morning at four o'clock.  There was a heavy fog in the
+air, and you could not distinguish more than one hundred yards before
+you.  I followed the path pointed out to me the night before, through a
+forest of majestic trees, and descending a long flight of steps found
+myself below the Falls.  The scene impressed you with awe--the waters
+roared through deep chasms, between two walls of rock, one hundred and
+fifty feet high, perpendicular on each side, and the width between the
+two varying from forty to fifty feet.  The high rocks were of black
+carbonate of lime in perfectly horizontal strata, so equally divided
+that they appeared like solid masonry.  For fifty or sixty feet above
+the rushing waters they were smooth and bare; above that line vegetation
+commenced with small bushes, until you arrived at their summits, which
+were crowned with splendid forest trees, some of them inclining over the
+chasm, as if they would peep into the abyss below and witness the wild
+tumult of the waters.
+
+From the narrowness of the pass, the height of the rocks, and the
+superadded towering of the trees above, but a small portion of the
+heavens was to be seen, and this was not blue, but of a misty murky
+grey.  The first sensation was that of dizziness and confusion, from the
+unusual absence of the sky above, and the dashing frantic speed of the
+angry boiling waters.  The rocks on each side have been blasted so as to
+form a path by which you may walk up to the first fall; but this path
+was at times very narrow and you have to cling to the chain which is let
+into the rock.  The heavy storm of the day before had swelled the
+torrent so that it rose nearly a foot above this path; and before I had
+proceeded far, I found that the flood swept between my legs with a force
+which would have taken some people off their feet.  The rapids below the
+Falls are much grander than the Falls themselves; there was one down in
+a chasm between two riven rocks which it was painful to look long upon,
+and watch with what a deep plunge--what irresistible force--the waters
+dashed down and then returned to their own surface, as if struggling and
+out of breath.  As I stood over them in their wild career, listening to
+their roaring as if in anger, and watching the madness of their speed, I
+felt a sensation of awe--an inward acknowledgment of the tremendous
+power of Nature; and, after a time, I departed with feelings of gladness
+to escape from thought which became painful when so near to danger.
+
+I gained the lower falls, which now covered the whole width of the rock,
+which they seldom do except during the freshets.  They were
+extraordinary from their variety.  On the side where I stood, poured
+down a rapid column of water about one-half of the width of the fall; on
+the other, it was running over a clear thin stream, as gentle and
+amiable as water could be.  That part of the fall reminded me of ladies'
+hair in flowing ringlets, and the one nearest me of the Lord Chancellor
+Eldon, in all the pomposity and frowning dignity of his full-bottomed
+wig.  And then I thought of the lion and the lamb, not lying down, but
+falling down together; and then I thought that I was wet through, which
+was a fact; so I climbed up a ladder, and came to a wooden bridge above
+the fall, which conveyed me to the other side.  The bridge posses over a
+staircase of little falls, sometimes diagonally, sometimes at right
+angles with the sites, and is very picturesque.  On the other side you
+climb up a ladder of one hundred feet, and arrive at a little building
+with a portico, where travellers are refreshed.  Here you have a view of
+all the upper falls, but these seem tame after witnessing the savage
+impetuosity of the rapids below.  You ascend another ladder of one
+hundred feet, and you arrive at a path pointed out to you by the broad
+chips of the woodman's axe.  Follow the chips and you will arrive four
+or five hundred feet above both the bridge and the level of the upper
+fall.  This scene is splendid.  The black perpendicular rocks on the
+other side; the succession of falls; the rapids roaring below; the
+forest trees rising to the clouds and spreading with their majestic
+boughs the vapour ascending from the falling waters; together with the
+occasional glimpses of the skies here and there--all this induces you to
+wander with your eyes from one point of view to another, never tiring
+with its beauty, wildness, and vastness: and, if you do not exclaim with
+the Mussulman, God is great! you _feel_ it through every sense, and at
+every pulsation of the heart.
+
+The mountain was still above me, and I continued my ascent; but the
+chips now disappeared, and, like Tom Thumb, I lost my way.  I attempted
+to retreat, but in vain; I was no longer amongst forest trees, but in a
+maze of young mountain ash, from which I could not extricate myself: so
+I stood still to think what I should do.  I recollected that the usual
+course of proceeding on such occasions, was either to sit down and cry,
+or attempt to get out of your scrape.  Tom Thumb did both; but I had no
+time to indulge in the former luxury, so I pushed and pushed, till I
+pushed myself out of my scrape, and found myself in a more respectable
+part of the woods.  I then stopped to take breath.  I heard a rustling
+behind me, and made sure it was a panther:--it was a beautiful little
+palm squirrel, who came close to me, as if to say "Who are you?"  I took
+off my hat and told him my name, when, very contemptuously, as I
+thought, he turned short round, cocked his tail over his back, and
+skipped away.  "Free, but not enlightened," thought I; "hasn't a soul
+above nuts."  I also beat a retreat, and on my arrival at the hotel,
+found that, although I had no guides to pay, Nature had made a very
+considerable levy upon my wardrobe: my boots were bursting, my trowsers
+torn to fragments, and my hat was spoilt; and, moreover, I sat shivering
+in the garments which remained.  So I, in my turn, levied upon a cow
+that was milking, and having improved her juice very much by the
+addition of some rum, I sat down under the portico, and smoked the cigar
+of meditation.
+
+The walls of the portico were, as usual, scribbled over by those who
+would obtain cheap celebrity.  I always read these productions; they are
+pages of human life.  The majority of the scribblers leave a name and
+nothing more: beyond that, some few of their productions are witty, some
+sententious, mostly gross.  My thoughts, as I read over the rubbish,
+were happily expressed by the following distich which I came to:--
+
+  Les Fenetres et les Murailles,
+  Sont le papier des Canailles.
+
+A little farther on, I found the lie given to this remark by some
+philosophic Spaniard:
+
+  Amigo quien quiera que seas, piensa que si acqui
+  Pones tu nombre, pronto il tiempo lo borrara
+  Escribe lo pues en il libro de Dio en donde.
+  Permancera eternamente--
+  In Amigo.
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER TWELVE.
+
+Returning to Utica, I fell in with a horse bridled and saddled, that was
+taking his way home without his master, every now and then cropping the
+grass at the road-side, and then walking on in a most independent
+manner.  His master had given him a certificate of leave, by chalking in
+large letters on the saddle-flaps on each side, "_Let him go_."  This
+was a very primitive proceeding; but I am not quite sure that it could
+be ventured upon in Yorkshire, or in Virginia either, where they know a
+good horse, and are particularly careful of it.  It is a fact, that
+wherever they breed horses they invariably learn to steal them.
+
+Set off for Oswego in a canal boat; it was called a packet-boat because
+it did not carry merchandise, but was a very small affair, about fifty
+feet long by eight wide.  The captain of her was, however, in his own
+opinion, no small affair; he puffed and swelled until he looked larger
+than his boat.  This personage, as soon as we were under weigh, sat down
+in the narrow cabin, before a small table; sent for this writing-desk,
+which was about the size of street organ, and, like himself, no small
+affair; ordered a bell to be rung in our ears to summon the passengers;
+and, then, taking down the names of four or five people, received the
+enormous sum of ten dollars passage-money.  He then locked his desk with
+a key large enough for a street-door, ordered his steward to remove it,
+and went on deck to walk just three feet and return again.  After all,
+there is nothing like being a captain.
+
+Although many of the boats are laid up, there is still considerable
+traffic on this canal.  We passed Rome, a village of two thousand
+inhabitants, at which number it has for many years been nearly
+stationary.  This branch of the canal is, of course, cut through the
+levels, and we passed through swamps and wild forests; here and there
+some few acres were cleared, and a log-house was erected, looking very
+solitary and forlorn, surrounded by the stumps of the trees which had
+been felled, and which now lay corded up on the banks of the canal,
+ready to be disposed of.  Wild and dreary as the country is, the mass of
+forest is gradually receding, and occasionally some solitary tree is
+left standing, throwing out its wide arms, and appearing as if in
+lamentation at its separation from its companions, with whom for
+centuries it had been in close fellowship.
+
+Extremes meet: as I looked down from the roof of the boat upon the
+giants of the forest, which had for so many centuries reared their heads
+undisturbed, but now lay prostrate before civilisation, the same
+feelings were conjured up in my mind as when I have, in my wanderings,
+surveyed such fragments of dismembered empires as the ruins of Carthage
+or of Rome.  There the reign of Art was over, and Nature had resumed her
+sway--here Nature was deposed, and about to resign her throne to the
+usurper Art.  By the bye, the mosquitoes of this district have reaped
+some benefit from the cutting of the canal here.  Before these
+impervious forest retreats were thus pierced, they could not have tasted
+human blood; for ages it must have been unknown to them, even by
+tradition; and if they taxed all other boats on the canal as they did,
+ours, a _canal share_ with them must be considerably above par, and
+highly profitable.
+
+At five o'clock we arrived at Syracuse.  I do detest these old names
+vamped up.  Why do not the Americans take the Indian names?  They need
+not be so very scrupulous about it; they have robbed the Indians of
+everything else.
+
+After you pass Syracuse, the country wears a more populous and inviting
+appearance.  Salina is a village built upon a salt spring, which has the
+greatest flow of water yet known, and this salt spring is the cause of
+the improved appearance of the country; the banks of the canal, for
+three miles, are lined with buildings for the boiling down of the salt
+water, which is supplied by a double row of wooden pipes.  Boats are
+constantly employed up and down the canal, transporting wood for the
+supply of the furnaces.  It is calculated that two hundred thousand cord
+of wood are required every year for the present produce; and as they
+estimate upon an average about sixty cord of wood per acre in these
+parts, those salt works are the means of yearly clearing away upwards of
+three thousand acres of land.  Two million of bushels of salt are boiled
+down every year: it is packed in barrels, and transported by the canals
+and lakes to Canada, Michigan, Chicago, and the far West.  When we
+reflect upon the number of people employed in the manufactories, and in
+cutting wood, and making barrels, and engaged on the lakes and canals in
+transporting the produce so many thousand miles, we must admire the
+spring to industry which has been created by this little, but bounteous,
+spring presented by nature.
+
+The first sixty miles of this canal (I get on very slow with my
+description, but canal travelling is very slow), which is through a flat
+swampy forest, is without a lock; but after you pass Syracuse, you have
+to descend by locks to the Oswego river, and the same at every rapid of
+the river; in all, there is a fall of one hundred and sixty feet.
+Simple as locks are, I could not help reverting to the wild rapids at
+Trenton Falls, and reflecting upon how the ingenuity of man had so
+easily been able to overcome and control Nature!  The locks did not
+detain us long--they never lose time in America.  When the boat had
+entered the lock, and the gate was closed upon her, the water was let
+off with a rapidity which considerably affected her level, and her bows
+pointed downwards.  I timed one lock with a fall of fifteen feet.  From
+the time the gate was closed behind us until the lower one was opened
+for our egress, was exactly one minute and a quarter; and the boat sank
+down in the lock so rapidly as to give you the idea that she was
+scuttled and sinking.
+
+The country round the Oswego is fertile and beautiful, and the river,
+with its islands, falls, and rapids, very picturesque.  At one p.m. we
+arrived at the town of Oswego, on Lake Ontario; I was pleased with the
+journey, although, what with ducking to bridges, bites from mosquitoes,
+and the constant blowing of their unearthly horn with only one note, and
+which one must have been borrowed from the gamut of the infernal
+regions, I had had enough of it.
+
+For the first time since my arrival in the country, no one--that is to
+say, on board the canal-boat--knew who I was.  As we tracked above the
+Oswego river, I fell into conversation with a very agreeable person, who
+had joined us at Syracuse.  We conversed the whole day, and I obtained
+much valuable information from him about the country: when we parted, he
+expressed a wish that we should meet again.  He gave me his name and
+address, and when I gave my card in return, he looked at it, and then
+said, "I am most happy to make your acquaintance, sir; but I will
+confess that had I known with whom I had been conversing, I should not
+have _spoken so freely_ upon certain points connected with the
+government and institutions of this country."  This was American all
+over; they would conceal the truth, and then blame us because we do not
+find it out.  I met him afterwards, but he never would enter into any
+detailed conversation with me.
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
+
+Niagara Falls.--Perhaps the wisest, if not the best description of the
+Falls of Niagara, is in the simple ejaculation of Mrs Butler; for it is
+almost useless to attempt to describe when you feel that language fails;
+but if the falls cannot be described, the ideas which are conjured up in
+the mind, when we contemplate this wonderful combination of grandeur and
+beauty, are often worth recording.  The lines of Mrs Sigourney, the
+American poetess, please me most.
+
+  Flow on for ever, in thy glorious robe
+  Of terror and of beauty; God hath set
+  His rainbow on thy forehead, and the cloud
+  Mantles around thy feet.  And he doth give
+  Thy voice of thunder power to speak of him
+  Eternally--bidding the lip of man
+  Keep silence, and upon thy rocky altar pour
+  Incense of awe-struck praise.
+
+When the Indian first looked upon the falls, he declared them to be the
+dwelling of the Great Spirit.  The savage could not imagine that the
+Great Spirit dwelt also in the leaf which he bruised in his hand; but
+here it appealed to his senses in thunder and awful majesty, and he was
+compelled to acknowledge it.
+
+The effects which the contemplation of these glorious waters produce,
+are of course very different, according to one's temperament and
+disposition.  As I stood on the brink above the falls, continuing for a
+considerable time to watch the great mass of water tumbling, dancing,
+capering, and rushing wildly along, as if in a hurry to take the leap
+and, delighted at it, I could not help wishing that I too had been made
+of such stuff as would have enabled me to have joined it; with it to
+have rushed innocuously down the precipice; to have rolled uninjured
+into the deep unfathomable gulf below, or to have gambolled in the
+atmosphere of spray, which rose again in a dense cloud from its
+recesses.  For about half an hour more I continued to watch the rolling
+waters, and then I felt a slight dizziness and a creeping sensation come
+over me--that sensation arising from strong excitement, and the same,
+probably, that occasions the bird to fall into the jaws of the snake.
+This is a feeling which, if too long indulged in, becomes irresistible,
+and occasions a craving desire to leap into the flood of rushing waters.
+It increased upon me every minute; and retreating from the brink, I
+turned my eyes to the surrounding foliage, until the effect of the
+excitement had passed away.  I looked upon the waters a second time, and
+then my thoughts were directed into a very different channel.  I wished
+myself a magician, that I might transport the falls to Italy, and pour
+their whole volume of waters into the crater of Mount Vesuvius; witness
+the terrible conflict between the contending elements, and create the
+largest steam-boiler that ever entered into the imagination of man.
+
+I have no doubt that the opinion that these falls have receded a
+distance of seven miles is correct; but what time must have passed
+before even this tremendous power could have sawed away such a mass of
+solid rock!  Within the memory of man it has receded but a few feet--
+changed but little.  How many thousand years must these waters have been
+flowing and falling, unvarying in their career, and throwing up their
+sheets of spray to heaven.
+
+It is impossible for either the eye or the mind to compass the whole
+mass of falling water; you cannot measure, cannot estimate its enormous
+volume; and this is the reason, perhaps, why travellers often express
+themselves disappointed by it.  But fix your eye upon one portion--one
+falling and heaving wave out of the millions, as they turn over the edge
+of the rocks; watch, I say, this fragment for a few minutes, its regular
+time-beating motion never varying or changing; pursuing the laws of
+nature with a regularity never ceasing and never tiring; minute after
+minute; hour after hour; day after day; year after year, until time
+recedes into creation: then cast your eyes over the whole multitudinous
+mass which is, and has been, performing the same and coeval duty, and
+you feel its vastness!  Still the majesty of the whole is far too great
+for the mind to compass--too stupendous for its limited powers of
+reception.
+
+Sunday.--I had intended to have passed the whole day at the Falls; but
+an old gentleman whose acquaintance I had made in the steam boat on Lake
+Ontario, asked me to go to church; and as I felt he would be annoyed if
+I did not, I accompanied him to a Presbyterian meeting not far from the
+Falls, which sounded like distant thunder.  The sermon was upon
+temperance--a favourite topic in America; and the minister rather
+quaintly observed, that "alcohol was not sealed by the hand of God."  It
+was astonishing to me that he did not allude to the Falls, point out
+that the seal of God was there, and shew how feeble was the voice of man
+when compared to the thunder of the Almighty so close at hand.  But the
+fact was, he had been accustomed to preach every Sunday with the Falls
+roaring in his ear, and (when the wind was in a certain quarter,) with
+the spray damping the leaves of his sermon: he therefore did not feel as
+we did, and, no doubt, thought his sermon better than that from the God
+of the elements.
+
+Yes, it is through the elements that the Almighty has ever deigned to
+commune with man, or to execute his supreme will, whether it has been by
+the wild waters to destroy an impious race--by the fire hurled upon the
+doomed cities--by seas divided, that the chosen might pass through
+them--by the thunders on Sinai's Mount when his laws were given to man--
+by the pillar of fire or the gushing rock, or by the rushing of mighty
+winds.  And it is still through the elements that the Almighty speaks to
+man, to warn, to terrify, to chasten; to raise him up to wonder, to
+praise, and adore.  The forked and blinding lightning which, with the
+rapidity of thought, dissolves the union between the body and the soul;
+the pealing thunder, announcing that the bolt has sped; the fierce
+tornado, sweeping away everything in its career, like a besom of wrath;
+the howling storm; the mountain waves; the earth quaking, and yawning
+wide, in a second overthrowing the work and pride of centuries, and
+burying thousands in a living tomb; the fierce vomiting of the crater,
+pouring out its flames of liquid fire, and changing fertility to the
+arid rock: it is through these that the Deity still speaks to man; yet
+what can inspire more awe of him, more reverence, and more love, than
+the contemplation of thy falling waters, great Niagara!
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
+
+Two gentlemen have left their cards, and will be happy to see me on my
+route; one lives at Batavia, the other at Pekin.  I recollect going over
+the ferry to Brooklyn to visit the Commodore at the Navy Yard; I walked
+to where the omnibuses started from, to see if one was going my way.
+There were but two on the stand: one was bound to _Babylon_, the other
+to _Jericho_.  Buffalo is one of the wonders of America.  It is hardly
+to be credited that such a beautiful city could have risen up in the
+wilderness in so short a period.  In the year 1814 it was burnt down,
+being then only a village; only one house was left standing, and now it
+is a city with twenty-five thousand inhabitants.  The Americans are very
+judicious in planning their new towns; the streets are laid out so wide
+that there will never be any occasion to pull down to widen and improve,
+as we do in England.  The city of Buffalo is remarkably well built; all
+the houses in the principal streets are lofty and substantial, and are
+either of brick or granite.  The main street is wider, and the stores
+handsomer, than the majority of those in New York.  It has five or six
+very fine churches, a handsome theatre, town-hall, and market, and three
+or four hotels, one of which is superior to most others in America; and
+to these we must add a fine stone pier, with a lighthouse, and a harbour
+full of shipping and magnificent steam-boats.  It is almost
+incomprehensible, that all this should have been accomplished since the
+year 1814.  And what has occasioned this springing up of a city in so
+short a time as to remind you of Aladdin's magic palace?--the Erie
+Canal, which here joins the Hudson River with the Lake, passing through
+the centre of the most populous and fertile States.
+
+At present, however, the business of Buffalo, as well as of every other
+city, is nearly at a stand-still; the machinery of America is under
+repair, and until that repair is completed, the country will remain
+paralysed.  America may just now be compared to one of her own
+steamboats, which, under too high pressure, has burst her boiler.  Some
+of her passengers have (in a commercial point of view) been killed
+outright, others severely injured, and her progress has for a time been
+stopped: but she will soon be enabled to go a-head again as fast as
+ever, and will then probably pay a little more attention to her
+safety-valve.
+
+I went out to the Indian reservation, granted to the remnant of the
+Seneca tribe of Indians, once a portion of the Mohawks, and all that now
+remains in the United States of the famed six nations.  The chief of
+them (Red Jacket), lately dead, might be considered as the last of the
+Mohicans.  I had some conversation with his daughter, who was very
+busily employed in the ornamenting of a pair of mocassins, and then
+visited the tomb, or rather the spot, where her father was buried,
+without name or record.  This omission has since been repaired, and a
+tablet is now raised over his grave.  It is creditable to the profession
+that the "poor player," as Shakespeare hath it, should be the foremost
+to pay tribute to worth.  Cooke, the tragedian, was lying without a
+stone to mark his resting-place, when Kean came to America, found out
+the spot, and raised a handsome cenotaph to his memory; and it is to Mr
+Placide, one of the very best of American actors, that Red Jacket is
+indebted for the tablet which has been raised to rescue his narrow home
+from oblivion.
+
+Red Jacket was a great chief and a great man, but, like most of the
+Indians, he could not resist the temptations of alcohol, and was during
+the latter part of his life very intemperate.  When Red Jacket was
+sober, he was the proudest chief that ever walked, and never would
+communicate even with the highest of the American authorities but
+through his interpreter; but when intoxicated, he would speak English
+and French fluently, and then the proud Indian warrior, the most
+eloquent of his race, the last chief of the six nations, would demean
+himself by begging for a sixpence to buy more rum.
+
+I must now revert to the singular causes by which, independent of
+others, such as locality, etcetera, Buffalo was so rapidly brought to a
+state of perfection--not like many other towns which, commencing with
+wooden houses, gradually supersede them by brick and stone.  The person
+who was the cause of this unusual rise was a Mr Rathbun, who now lies
+incarcerated in a gaol of his own building.  It was he who built all the
+hotels, churches, and other public edifices; in fact, every structure
+worthy of observation in the whole town was projected, contracted for,
+and executed by Mr Rathbun.  His history is singular.  Of quiet,
+unassuming manners, Quaker in his dress, moderate in all his expenses,
+(except in charity, wherein, assisted by an amiable wife, he was very
+liberal) he concealed under this apparent simplicity and goodness a mind
+capable of the vastest conceptions, united with the greatest powers of
+execution.  He undertook contracts, and embarked in building
+speculations, to an amount almost incredible.  Rathbun undertook every
+thing, and every thing undertaken by Rathbun was well done.  Not only at
+Buffalo, but at Niagara and other places, he was engaged in raising vast
+buildings, when the great crash occurred, and Rathbun, with others, was
+unable to meet his liabilities.  Then, for the first time, it was
+discovered that for more than five years he had been conniving at a
+system of forgery, to the amount of two millions of dollars: the forgery
+consisted in putting to his bills the names of responsible parties as
+indorsers, that they might be more current.  It does not appear that he
+ever intended to defraud, for he took up all his notes as fast as they
+became due; and it was this extreme regularity on his part which
+prevented the discovery of his fraud for so unusually long a period.  It
+is surmised, that had not the general failure taken place, he would have
+eventually withdrawn all these forged bills from the market, and have
+paid all his creditors, reserving for himself a handsome fortune.  It is
+a singular event in the annals of forgery, that this should have been
+carried on undiscovered for so unprecedented a time.  Mr Rathbun is to
+be tried as an accessory, as it was his brother who forged the names.
+As soon as it was discovered, the latter made his escape, and he is said
+to have died miserably in a hovel on the confines of Texas.
+
+Embarked on board of the Sandusky, for Detroit.  As we were steering
+clear of the pier, a small brig of about two hundred tons burthen was
+pointed out to me as having been the _flag-ship_ of Commodore Barclay,
+in the action upon Lake Erie.  The appearance of Buffalo from the Lake
+is very imposing.  Stopped at Dunkirk to put some emigrants on shore.
+As they were landing, I watched them carefully counting over their
+little property, from the iron tea-kettle to the heavy chest.  It was
+their whole fortune, and invaluable to them; the nest-egg by which, with
+industry, their children were to rise to affluence.  They remained on
+the wharf as we shoved off, and no wonder that they seemed embarrassed
+and at a loss.  There was the baby in the cradle, the young children
+holding fast to their mother's skirt, while the elder had seated
+themselves on a log, and watched the departure of the steam-vessel;--the
+bedding, cooking utensils, etcetera, all lying in confusion, and all to
+be housed before night.  Weary did they look, and weary indeed they
+were, and most joyful would they be when they at last should gain their
+resting-place.  It appears from the reports sent in, that upwards of
+100,000 emigrants pass to the west every year by the route of the Lakes,
+of which it is estimated that about 30,000 are from Europe, the
+remainder migrating from the eastern States of the Union.
+
+I may keep a log now.--5 AM Light breezes and clear weather, land
+trending from South to South South West.  Five sail in the offing.
+
+At 6 AM, ran into Grand River.  Within these last two years, three towns
+have sprung up here, containing between them about three thousand
+inhabitants.
+
+How little are they aware, in Europe, of the vastness and extent of
+commerce carried on in these inland seas whose coasts are now lined with
+flourishing towns and cities, and whose waters are ploughed by
+magnificent steam-boats, and hundreds of vessels laden with merchandise.
+Even the Americans themselves are not fully aware of the rising
+importance of these Lakes as connected with the West.  Since the
+completion of the Ohio Canal, which enters the Lake Erie at Cleveland,
+that town has risen almost as rapidly as Buffalo.  It is beautifully
+situated.  It is about six years back that it may be said to have
+commenced its start, and it now contains more than ten thousand
+inhabitants.  The buildings are upon the same scale as those of Buffalo,
+and it is conjectured with good reason, that it will become even a
+larger city than the other, as the ice breaks up here and the navigation
+is open in the spring, six weeks sooner than it is at Buffalo; abreast
+of which town the ice is driven down and collected, previous to its
+forcing its passage over the falls.
+
+Erie, which was the American naval depot during the war, has a fine bay,
+but it is now falling into insignificance: it has a population of about
+one thousand.
+
+Sandusky is a fast-rising town, beautifully situated upon the verge of a
+small prairie; it is between Sandusky and Huron that the prairie lands
+commence.  The bay of Sandusky is very picturesque, being studded with
+small verdant islands.  On one of these are buried in the same grave all
+those who fell in the hard-fought battle of the Lakes, between Perry and
+Barclay, both of whom have since followed their companions.
+
+Toledo is the next town of consequence on the Lake.  It is situated at
+the mouth of the Miami River; and as a railroad has already been
+commenced across the isthmus, so as to avoid going round the whole
+peninsula of Michigan, it is fast rising into importance.  Three years
+ago the land was purchased at a dollar and a-half per acre; now, it is
+selling for building lots at one hundred dollars per foot.  They handed
+me a paper printed in this town called "The Toledo Blade;" a not
+inappropriate title, though rather a bold one for an editor to write up
+to, as his writings ought to be very _sharp_, and, at the same time,
+extremely _well-tempered_.
+
+The American government have paid every attention to their inland
+waters.  The harbours, light-houses, piers, etcetera, have all been
+built at the expense of government, and every precaution has been taken
+to make the navigation of the Lakes as safe as possible.
+
+In speaking of the new towns rising so fast in America, I wish the
+reader to understand that, if he compares them with the country towns of
+the same population in England, he will not do them.  In the smaller
+towns of England you can procure but little, and you have to send to
+London for any thing good: in the larger towns, such as Norwich,
+etcetera, you may procure most things; but, still, luxuries must usually
+be obtained from the metropolis.  But in such places as Buffalo and
+Cleveland, every thing is to be had that you can procure at New York or
+Boston.  In those two towns on Lake Erie are stores better furnished,
+and handsomer, than any shops at Norwich, in England; and you will find,
+in either of them, articles for which, at Norwich, you would be obliged
+to send to London.  It is the same thing at almost every town in America
+with which communication is easy.  Would you furnish a house in one of
+them, you will find every article of furniture--carpets, stoves, grates,
+marble chimney-pieces, pier-glasses, pianos, lamps, candelabra, glass,
+china, etcetera, in twice the quantity, and in greater variety, than at
+any provincial town in England.
+
+This arises from the system of credit extended through every vein and
+artery of the country, and by which English goods are forced, as if with
+a force-pump, into every available depot in the Union; and thus, in a
+town so newly raised, that the stumps of the forest-trees are not only
+still surrounding the houses, but remain standing in the cellars, you
+will find every luxury that can be required.  It may be asked what
+becomes of all these goods.  It must be recollected that hundreds of new
+houses spring up every year in the towns, and that the surrounding
+country is populous and wealthy.  In the farmhouses--mean-looking and
+often built of logs--is to be found not only comfort, but very often
+luxury.
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
+
+The French never have succeeded as colonists, and their want of success
+can only be ascribed to an amiable want of energy.  When located at any
+spot, if a Frenchman has enough, he seeks no more; and, instead of
+working as the Englishman or the American does, he will pass his time
+away, and spend his little surplus in social amusements.  The town of
+Detroit was founded as early as the city of Philadelphia, but,
+favourably as it is situated, it never until lately rose to any thing
+more than, properly speaking, a large village.  There is not a paved
+street in it, or even a foot-path for a pedestrian.  In winter, in rainy
+weather, you are up to your knees in mud; in summer, invisible from
+dust: indeed, until lately, there was not a practicable road for thirty
+miles round Detroit.  The muddy and impassable state of the streets has
+given rise to a very curious system of making morning or evening calls.
+A small one-horse cart is backed against the door of a house; the ladies
+dressed get into it, and seat themselves upon a buffalo skin at the
+bottom of it; they are carried to the residence of the party upon whom
+they wish to call; the cart is backed in again, and they are landed dry
+and clean.  An old inhabitant of Detroit complained to me that people
+were now getting so proud, that many of them refused to visit in that
+way any longer.  But owing to the rise of the other towns on the lake,
+the great increase of commerce, and Michigan having been admitted as a
+State into the Union, with Detroit as its capital, a large Eastern
+population has now poured into it, and Detroit will soon present an
+appearance very different from its present, and become one of the most
+flourishing cities of America.  Within these last six years it has
+increased its population from two to ten thousand.  The climate here is
+the very best in America, although the State itself is unhealthy.  The
+land near the town is fertile.  A railroad from Detroit already extends
+thirty miles through the State; and now that the work has commenced, it
+will be carried on with the usual energy of the Americans.
+
+Left Detroit in the Michigan steam-vessel for Mackinaw; passed through
+the Lake St Clair, and entered Lake Huron; stopped at a solitary wharf
+to take in wood, and met there with a specimen of American politeness or
+(if you please) independence in the gentleman who cut down and sold it.
+Without any assignable motive, he called out to me, "You are a damned
+fool of an Englishman;" for which, I suppose, I ought to have been very
+much obliged to him.
+
+Miss Martineau has not been too lavish in her praises of Mackinaw.  It
+has the appearance of a fairy isle floating on the water, which is so
+pure and transparent that you may see down to almost any depth; and the
+air above is as pure as the water, so that you feel invigorated as you
+breathe it.  The first reminiscence brought to my mind after I had
+landed, was the description by Walter Scott of the island and residence
+of Magnus Troil and his daughters Minna and Brenda, in the novel of the
+"Pirate."
+
+The low buildings, long stores, and out-houses full of nets, barrels,
+masts, sails, and cordage; the abundance of fish lying about; the
+rafters of the houses laden with dried and smoked meat; and the full and
+jolly proportions of most of the inhabitants, who would have rivalled
+Scott's worthy in height and obesity, immediately struck my eye; and I
+might have imagined myself transported to the Shetland isle, had it not
+been for the lodges of the Indians on the beach, and the Indians
+themselves either running about, or lying stripped in the porches before
+the whisky stores.
+
+I inquired of one of the islanders, why all the white residents were
+generally such large portly men, which they are at a very early age; he
+replied, "We have good air, good water, and what we eat agrees with us."
+This was very conclusive.
+
+I enquired of another, if people lived to a good old age in the island;
+his reply was quite American--"I guess they do; if people want to die,
+they can't die here--they're obliged to go elsewhere."
+
+Wandering among the Indian lodges (wigwams is a term not used
+now-a-days), I heard a sort of flute played in one of them, and I
+entered.  The young Indian who was blowing on it, handed it to me.  It
+was an imperfect instrument, something between a flute and a clarionet,
+but the sound which it gave out was soft and musical.  An islander
+informed me that it was the only sort of musical instrument which the
+Northern tribes possessed, and that it was played upon by the young men
+only when they were _in love_.  I suspected at first that he was
+bantering me, but I afterwards found that what he said was true.  The
+young Indian must have been very deeply smitten, for he continued to
+play all day and all night, during the time that I was there.
+
+  "If music be the food of love, play on."
+
+Started in a birch canoe for Sault St Marie, a small town built under
+the rapids of that name, which pour out a portion of the waters of Lake
+Superior.  Two American gentlemen, one a member of Congress, and the
+other belonging to the American Fur Company, were of the party.  Our
+crew consisted of five Canadian half-breeds--a mixture between the
+Indian and the white, which spoils both.  It was a lovely morning; not a
+breath of air stirred the wide expanse of the Huron, as far as the eye
+could scan; and the canoe, as it floated along side of the
+landing-place, appeared as if it were poised in the air, so light did it
+float, and so clear and transparent are these northern waters.  We
+started, and in two hours arrived at Goose Island, unpoetical in its
+name, but in itself full of beauty.  As you stand on the beach, you can
+look down through the water on to the shelving bottom, bright with its
+variety of pebbles, and trace it almost as far off as if it had not been
+covered with water at all.  The island was small, but gay as the gayest
+of parterres, covered with the sweet wild rose in full bloom (certainly
+the most fragrant rose in the world), blue campanellos, yellow
+exeranthemums, and white ox-eyed daisies.  Underneath there was a
+perfect carpet of strawberries, ripe, and inviting you to eat them,
+which we did, while our Canadian brutes swallowed long strings of raw
+salt pork.  And yet, in two months hence, this lovely little spot will
+be but one mass of snow--a mound rising above to serve as a guide to the
+chilled traveller who would find his way over the frozen expanse of the
+wide Huron Lake.
+
+As soon as our Canadians had filled themselves to repletion with raw
+pork, we continued our route that we might cross the lake and gain the
+detour, or point which forms the entrance of the river St Marie, before
+it was dark.  We arrived a little before sunset, when we landed, put up
+our light boat, and bivouacked for the night.  As soon as we put our
+feet on shore, we were assailed by the mosquitoes in myriads.  They
+congregated from all quarters in such numbers, that you could only see
+as if through a black veil, and you could not speak without having your
+mouth filled with them.  But in ten minutes we had a large fire, made,
+not of logs or branches, but of a dozen small trees.  The wind eddied,
+and the flame and smoke, as they rose in masses, whirled about the
+mosquitoes right and left, and in every quarter of the compass, until
+they were fairly beaten off to a respectable distance.  We supped upon
+lake-trout and fried ham; and rolling ourselves up in our Mackinaw
+blankets, we were soon fast asleep.
+
+There was no occasion to call us the next morning.  The Canadians were
+still snoring, and had let the fires go down.  The mosquitoes, taking
+advantage of this neglect, had forced their way into the tent, and
+sounded the reveille in our ears with their petty trumpets; following up
+the summons with the pricking of pins, as the fairies of Queen Mab are
+reported to have done to lazy housemaids.  We kicked up our half-breeds,
+who gave us our breakfast, stowed away the usual quantity of raw pork,
+and once more did we float on the water in a piece of birch bark.  The
+heat of the sun was oppressive, and we were broiled; but we dipped our
+hands in the clear cool stream as we skimmed along, listening to the
+whistling of the solitary loon as it paddled away from us, or watching
+the serrated back of the sturgeon, as he rolled lazily over and showed
+above the water.  Now and then we stopped, and the silence of the desert
+was broken by the report of our fowling-pieces, and a pigeon or two was
+added to our larder.  At noon a breeze sprung up, and we hoisted our
+sail, and the Canadians who had paddled dropped asleep as we glided
+quietly along under the guidance of the "timonier."
+
+After you have passed through the river St Clair, and entered the Huron
+lake, the fertility of the country gradually disappears.  Here and there
+indeed, especially on the Canadian side, a spot more rich than the soil
+in general is shewn by the large growth of the timber; but the northern
+part of the Lake Huron shores is certainly little fit for cultivation.
+The spruce fir now begins to be plentiful; for, until you come to the
+upper end of the lake, they are scarce, although very abundant in Upper
+Canada.  The country wears the same appearance all the way up to the
+Sault St Marie, shewing maple and black poplar intermingled with fir:
+the oak but rarely appearing.  The whole lake from Mackinaw to the
+Detour is studded with islands.  A large one at the entrance of the
+river is called St Joseph's.  The Hudson Bay Company had a station
+there, which is now abandoned, and the island has been purchased, or
+granted, to an English officer, who has partly settled it.  It is said
+to be the best land in this region, but still hardly fit for
+cultivation.  It was late before our arrival at the Sault, and we were
+obliged to have recourse to our paddles, for the wind had died away.  As
+the sun went down, we observed a very curious effect from the refraction
+of tints, the water changing to a bright violet every time that it was
+disturbed by the paddles.  I have witnessed something like this just
+after sunset on the Lake of Geneva.
+
+We landed at dusk, much fatigued; but the Aurora Borealis flashed in the
+heavens, spreading out like a vast plume of ostrich feathers across the
+sky, every minute changing its beautiful and fanciful forms.  Tired as
+we were, we watched it for hours before we could make up our minds to go
+to bed.
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
+
+Sault St Marie--Our landlord is a very strange being.  It appears that
+he has been annoyed by some traveller, who has published a work in which
+he has found fault with the accommodations at Sault St Marie, and
+spoken very disrespectfully of our host's beds and bed-furniture.  I
+have never read the work, but I am so well aware how frequently
+travellers fill up their pages with fleas, and "such small gear," that I
+presume the one in question was short of matter to furnish out his book;
+yet it was neither just nor liberal on his part to expect at Sault St
+Marie, where, perhaps, not five travellers arrive in the course of a
+year, the same accommodations as at New York.  The bedsteads certainly
+were a little rickety, but every thing was very clean and comfortable.
+The house was not an inn, nor, indeed, did it pretend to be one, but the
+fare was good and well cooked, and you were waited upon by the host's
+two pretty modest daughters--not only pretty, but well-informed girls;
+and, considering that this village is the Ultima Thule of this portion
+of America, I think that a traveller might have been very well content
+with things as they were.  In two instances, I found in the log-houses
+of this village complete editions of Lord Byron's works.
+
+Sault St Marie contains, perhaps, fifty houses, mostly built of logs,
+and has a palisade put up to repel any attack of the Indians.
+
+There are two companies of soldiers quartered here.  The rapids from
+which the village takes its name are just above it; they are not strong
+or dangerous, and the canoes descend them twenty times a day.  At the
+foot of the rapids the men are constantly employed in taking the white
+fish in scoop nets, as they attempt to force their way up into Lake
+Superior.  The majority of the inhabitants here are half-breeds.  It is
+remarkable that the females generally improve, and the males degenerate,
+from the admixture of blood.  Indian wives are here preferred to white,
+and perhaps with reason--they make the best wives for poor men; they
+labour hard, never complain, and a day of severe toil is amply
+recompensed by a smile from their lord and master in the evening.  They
+are always faithful and devoted, and very sparing of their talk, all
+which qualities are considered as recommendations in this part of the
+world.
+
+It is remarkable, that although the Americans treat the negro with
+contumely, they have a respect for the red Indian: a well-educated
+half-bred Indian is not debarred from entering into society; indeed,
+they are generally received with great attention.  The daughter of a
+celebrated Indian chief brings heraldry into the family, for the Indians
+are as proud of their descent (and with good reason) as we, in Europe,
+are of ours.  The Randolph family in Virginia still boast of their
+descent from Pocahontas, the heroine of one of the most remarkable
+romances in real life which was ever heard of.
+
+The whole of this region appears to be incapable of cultivation, and
+must remain in its present state, perhaps, for centuries to come.  The
+chief produce is from the lakes; trout and white fish are caught in
+large quantities, salted down, and sent to the west and south.  At
+Mackinaw alone they cure about two thousand barrels, which sell for ten
+dollars the barrel; at the Sault, about the same quantity; and on Lake
+Superior, at the station of the American Fur Company, they have
+commenced the fishing, to lessen the expenses of the establishment, and
+they now salt down about four thousand barrels; but this traffic is
+still in its infancy, and will become more profitable as the west
+becomes more populous.  Be it here observed that, although the Canadians
+have the same rights and the same capabilities of fishing, I do not
+believe that one barrel is cured on the Canadian side.  As the American
+fish is prohibited in England, it might really become an article of
+exportation from the Canadas to a considerable amount.
+
+There is another source of profit, which is the collecting of the maple
+sugar; and this staple, if I may use the term, is rapidly increasing.
+At an average, the full grown maple-tree will yield about five pounds of
+sugar each tapping, and, if carefully treated, will last forty years.
+All the State of Michigan is supplied from this quarter with this sugar,
+which is good in quality, and refines well.  At Mackinaw they receive
+about three hundred thousand pounds every year.  It may be collected in
+any quantity from their vast wildernesses of forests, and although the
+notion may appear strange, it is not impossible that one day the
+Northern sugar may supersede that of the Tropics.  The island of St
+Joseph, which I have mentioned, is covered with large maple trees, and
+they make a great quantity upon that spot alone.
+
+I was amused by a reply given me by an American in office here.  I asked
+how much his office was worth, and his answer was six hundred dollars,
+besides _stealings_.  This was, at all events, frank and honest; in
+England the word would have been softened down to perquisites.  I
+afterwards found that it was a common expression in the States to say a
+place was worth so much besides cheatage.
+
+In all this country, from Mackinaw to the Sault, hay is very scarce;
+and, during the short summer season, the people go twenty or thirty
+miles in their canoes to any known patch of prairie or grass land to
+collect it.  Nevertheless, they are very often obliged, during the
+winter, to feed their cattle upon fish, and, strange to say, they
+acquire a taste for it.  You will see the horses and cows disputing for
+the offal; and our landlord told me that he has often witnessed a
+particular horse wait very quietly while they were landing the fish from
+the canoes, watch his opportunity, dart in, steal one, and _run away
+with it in his mouth_.
+
+A mutiny among our lazzaroni of half-breeds, they refuse to work today,
+because they are tired, they say, and we are obliged to procure others.
+Carried our canoe over the pasturage into the canal, and in five minutes
+were on the vast inland sea of Lake Superior.  The waters of this lake
+are, if possible, more transparent than those of the Huron, or rather
+the variety and bright colours of the pebbles and agates which lie at
+the bottom, make them appear so.  The appearance of the coast, and the
+growth of timber, are much the same as on Lake Huron, until you arrive
+at Gros Cape, a bold promontory, about three hundred feet high.  We
+ascended this cape, to have a full view of the expanse of water: this
+was a severe task, as it was nearly perpendicular, and we were forced to
+cling from tree to tree to make the ascent.  In addition to this
+difficulty, we were unremittingly pursued by the mosquitoes, which
+blinded us so as to impede our progress, being moreover assisted in
+their malevolent attacks by a sort of sand-fly, that made triangular
+incisions behind our ears, exactly like a small leech bite, from which
+the blood trickled down two or three inches as soon as the little wretch
+let go his hold.  This variety of stinging made us almost mad, and we
+descended quite exhausted, the blood trickling down our faces and necks.
+We threw off our clothes, and plunged into the lake; the water was too
+cold; the agates at the bottom cut our feet severely, and thus were we
+phlebotomised from head to foot.
+
+There is a singular geological feature at this cape; you do not perceive
+it until you have forced your way through a belt of firs, which grow at
+the bottom and screen it from sight.  It is a ravine in which the rocks
+are pouring down from the top to the bottom, all so equal in size, and
+so arranged, as to wear the appearance of a cascade of stones; and when,
+half blinded by the mosquitoes, you look upon them, they appear as if
+they are actually in motion, and falling down in one continued stream.
+We embarked again, and after an hour's paddling landed upon a small
+island, where was the tomb of an Indian chief or warrior.  It was in a
+beautiful spot, surrounded by the wild rose, blue peas, and campanellas.
+The kinnakinnee, or weed which the Indians smoke as tobacco, grew
+plentifully about it.  The mound of earth was surrounded by a low
+palisade, about four feet wide and seven feet long, and at the head of
+it was the warrior's pole, with eagle feathers, and notches denoting the
+number of scalps he had taken from the enemy.
+
+The Hudson Bay and American Fur Companies both have stations on Lake
+Superior, on their respective sides of the lake, and the Americans have
+a small schooner which navigates it.  There is one question which the
+traveller cannot help asking himself as he surveys the vast mass of
+water, into which so many rivers pour their contributions, which is--In
+what manner is all this accumulation of water carried off?  Except by a
+very small evaporation in the summer time, and the outlet at Sault St
+Marie, where the water which escapes is not much more than equal to two
+or three of the rivers which feed the lake, there is no apparent means
+by which the water is carried off.  The only conclusion that can be
+arrived at is, that when the lake rises above a certain height, as the
+soil around is sandy and porous, the surplus waters find their way
+through it; and such I believe to be the case.
+
+We saw no bears.  They do not come down to the shores, (or travel, as
+they term it here,) until the huckleberries are ripe.  We were told that
+a month later there would be plenty of them.  It is an ascertained fact,
+that the bears from this region migrate to the west every autumn, but it
+is not known when they return.  They come down to the eastern shores of
+the Lakes Superior and Huron, swim the lakes and rivers from island to
+island, never deviating from their course, till they pass through by
+Wisconsin to the Missisippi.  Nothing stops them; the sight of a canoe
+will not prevent their taking the water; and the Indians in the River
+St Marie have been known to kill fifteen in one day.  It is singular
+that the bears on the other side of the Missisippi are said to migrate
+to the east, exactly in the contrary direction.  Perhaps the Missisippi
+is their fashionable watering-place.
+
+A gathering storm induced us to return, instead of continuing our
+progress on the lake.  A birch canoe in a gale of wind on Lake Superior,
+would not be a very insurable risk.  On our return, we found our
+half-breeds very penitent, for had we not taken them back, they would
+have stood a good chance of wintering there.  But we had had advice as
+to the treatment of these lazy gluttonous scoundrels, who swallowed long
+pieces of raw pork the whole of the day, and towards evening were, from
+repletion, hanging their heads over the sides of the canoe and quite
+ill.  They had been regaled with pork and whisky going up; we gave them
+salt fish and a broomstick by way of variety on their return, and they
+behaved very well under the latter fare.
+
+We started again down with the stream, and the first night took up our
+quarters on a prairie spot, where they had been making hay, which was
+lying in cocks about us.  To have a soft bed we carried quantities into
+our tent, forgetting that we disturbed the mosquitoes who had gone to
+bed in the hay.  We smoked the tent to drive them out again; but in
+smoking the tent we set fire to the hay, and it ended in a
+conflagration.  We were burnt out, and had to re-pitch our tent.
+
+I was sauntering by the side of the river when I heard a rustling in the
+grass, and perceived a garter snake, an elegant and harmless little
+creature, about a foot and a half long.  It had a small toad in its
+mouth, which it had seized by the head: but it was much too large for
+the snake to swallow, without leisure and preparation.  I was amused at
+the precaution, I may say invention of the toad, to prevent its being
+swallowed: it had inflated itself, till it was as round as a bladder,
+and upon this, issue was joined--the snake would not let go, the toad
+would not be swallowed.  I lifted up the snake by the tail and threw
+them three or four yards into the river.  The snake rose to the surface,
+as majestic as the great sea serpent in miniature, carrying his head
+well out of the water, with the toad still in his mouth, reminding me of
+Caesar with his Commentaries.  He landed close to my feet; I threw him
+in again, and this time he let go the toad, which remained floating and
+inanimate an the water; but after a time he discharged his superfluous
+gas, and made for the shore; while the snake, to avoid me, swam away
+down with the current.
+
+The next morning it blew hard, and as we opened upon Lake Huron, we had
+to encounter a heavy sea; fortunately, the wind was fair for the island
+of Mackinaw, or we might have been delayed for some days.  As soon as we
+were in the Lake we made sail, having fifty-six miles to run before it
+was dark.  The gale increased, but the canoe flew over the water,
+skimming it like a sea bird.  It was beautiful, but not quite so
+pleasant, to watch it, as, upon the least carelessness on the part of
+the helmsman, it would immediately have filled.  As it was, we shipped
+some heavy seas, but the blankets at the bottom being saturated, gave us
+the extra ballast which we required.  Before we were clear of the
+islands, we were joined by a whole fleet of Indian canoes, with their
+dirty blankets spread to the storm, running, as we were, for Mackinaw,
+being on their return from Maniton Islands, where they had congregated
+to receive presents from the Governor of Upper Canada.  Their canoes
+were, most of them, smaller than ours, which had been built for speed,
+but they were much higher in the gunnel.  It was interesting to behold
+so many hundreds of beings trusting themselves to such fragile
+conveyances, in a heavy gale and running sea; but the harder it blew,
+the faster we went; and at last, much to my satisfaction, we found
+ourselves in smooth water again, alongside of the landing wharf at
+Mackinaw.  I had had some wish to see a freshwater gale of wind, but in
+a birch canoe I never wish to try the experiment again.
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
+
+Mackinaw.--I mentioned that, in my trip to Lake Superior, I was
+accompanied by a gentleman attached to the American Fur Company, who
+have a station at this island.  I was amusing myself in their
+establishment, superintending the unpacking and cleaning of about forty
+or fifty bales of skins, and during the time collected the following
+information.  It is an average computation of the furs obtained every
+year, and the value of each to the American Fur Company.  The Hudson Bay
+Company are supposed to average about the same quantity, or rather more;
+and they have a larger proportion of valuable furs, such as beaver and
+sable, but they have few deer and no buffalo.  When we consider how
+sterile and unfit for cultivation are these wild northern regions, it
+certainly appears better that they should remain as they are:--
+
++====================+=======+====================+
+YSkins.              Y       YAverage value.      Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YDeer, four varietiesY150,000Y45 cents per lb.    Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YBuffalo             Y 35,000Y5 dollars per skin  Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YElk                 Y    200Y                    Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YBeaver              Y 15,000Y4.5 dollars per lb. Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YMusk Rat            Y500,000Y12 cents per skin   Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YOtters              Y  5,000Y6.5 dollars per skinY
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+Y                    Y  2,500Y2 do.               Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YMartin or Sable     Y 12,000Y2 do. or more       Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YMink                Y 10,000Y                    Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YSilver and Black FoxY     15Y                    Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YCrop Fox            Y    100Y4 dollars per skin  Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YRed Fox             Y  3,000Y1 do.               Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YGrey Fox            Y  1,000Y1.5 do.             Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YPrairie Fox         Y  5,000Y.5 do.              Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YBears               Y  4,000Y4.5 do.             Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YLynx                Y    500Y2.5 do.             Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YWild Cat            Y  2,000Y2.5 do.             Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YRacoon              Y 70,000Y.5 do.              Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YWolves              Y 12,000Y.5 do.              Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YWolverein           Y     50Y2.5 do.             Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YPanthers            Y     50Y                    Y
++--------------------+-------+--------------------+
+YBadgers             Y    250Y.25 do.             Y
++====================+=======+====================+
+
+besides skunks, ground-hogs, hares, and many others.  These are priced
+at the lowest: in proportion as the skins are finer, so do they yield
+higher profit.  The two companies may be said to receive, between them,
+skins yearly to the amount of from two to three millions of dollars.
+
+FABLE APROPOS TO THE SUBJECT.
+
+A hare and a fox met one day on the vast prairie, and after a long
+conversation, they prepared to start upon their several routes.  The
+hare, pleased with the fox, lamented that they would in all probability
+separate for ever.  "No, no," replied the fox, "we shall meet again,
+never fear."  "Where?" inquired his companion.  "In the _hatter's shop_,
+to be sure," rejoined the fox, tripping lightly away.
+
+_Detroit_.--There are some pleasant people in this town, and the society
+is quite equal to that of the eastern cities.  From the constant change
+and transition which take place in this country, go where you will you
+are sure to fall in with a certain portion of intelligent, educated
+people.  This is not the case in the remoter portions of the Old
+Continent, where every thing is settled, and generation succeeds
+generation, as in some obscure country town.  But in America, where all
+is new, and the country has to be peopled from the other parts, there is
+a proportion of intelligence and education transplanted with the
+inferior classes, either from the Eastern States or from the Old World,
+in whatever quarter you may happen to find yourself.
+
+Left my friends at Detroit with regret, and returned to Buffalo.  There
+is a marked difference between the behaviour of the lower people of the
+eastern cities and those whom you fall in with in this town: they are
+much less civil in their behaviour here; indeed, they appear to think
+rudeness a proof of independence.  I went to the theatre, and the
+behaviour of the majority of the company just reminded me of the
+Portsmouth and Plymouth theatres.  I had forgotten that Buffalo was a
+fresh-water sea-port town.
+
+Returning to Niagara, I took possession of the roof of the rail-coach,
+that I might enjoy the prospect.  I had not travelled three miles before
+I perceived a strong smell of burning; at last the pocket of my coat,
+which was of cotton, burst out into flames, a spark having found its way
+into it: fortunately (not being insured) there was no property on the
+premises.
+
+When the celebrated Colonel David Crocket first saw a locomotive, with
+the train smoking along the rail-road, he exclaimed, as it flew past
+him, "Hell in harness, by the 'tarnel!"
+
+I may, in juxtaposition with this, mention an Indian idea.  Nothing
+surprised the Indians so much at first, as the percussion for guns: they
+thought them the _ne plus ultra_ of invention: when, therefore, an
+Indian was first shewn a locomotive, he reflected a little while, and
+then said, "I see--_percussion_."
+
+There is a beautiful island, dividing the Falls of Niagara, called Goat
+Island: they have thrown a bridge across the rapids, so that you can now
+go over.  A mill has already been erected there, which is a great pity;
+it is a contemptible disfigurement of nature's grandest work.
+
+At the head of the island, which is surrounded by the rapids, exactly
+where the waters divide to run on each side of it, there is a small
+triangular portion of still or slack water.  I perceived this, and went
+in to bathe.  The line of the current on each side of it is plainly
+marked, and runs at the speed of nine or ten miles an hour; if you put
+your hand or foot a little way outside this line, they are immediately
+borne away by its force; if you went into it yourself, nothing could
+prevent your going down the falls.  As I returned, I observed an ugly
+snake in my path, and I killed it.  An American, who came up, exclaimed,
+"I reckon that's a _copper-head_, stranger!  I never knew that they were
+in this island."  I found out that I had killed a snake quite as
+venomous, if not more so, than a rattlesnake.
+
+One never tires with these falls; indeed, it takes a week at least to
+find out all their varieties and beauties.  There are some sweet spots
+on Goat Island, where you can meditate and be alone.
+
+I witnessed, during my short stay here, that indifference to the
+destruction of life, so very remarkable in this country.  The rail-car
+crushed the head of a child of about seven years old, as it was going
+into the engine-house; the other children ran to the father, a
+blacksmith, who was at work at his forge close by, crying out, "Father,
+Billy killed."  The man put down his hammer, walked leisurely to where
+the boy lay, in a pool of his own blood, took up the body, and returned
+with it under his arm to his house.  In a short time, the hammer rang
+upon the anvil as before.
+
+The game of nine-pins is a favourite game in America, and very superior
+to what it is in England.  In America, the ground is always covered
+properly over, and the balls are rolled upon a wooden floor, as
+correctly levelled as a billiard table.  The ladies join in the game,
+which here becomes an agreeable and not too fatiguing [an] exercise.  I
+was very fond of frequenting their alleys, not only for the exercise,
+but because, among the various ways of estimating character, I had made
+up my mind that there was none more likely to be correct, than the
+estimate formed by the manner in which people roll the balls, especially
+the ladies.  There were some very delightful specimens of American
+females when I was this time at Niagara.  We sauntered about the falls
+and wood in the day time, or else played at nine-pins; in the evening we
+looked at the moon, spouted verses, and drank mint juleps.  But all that
+was too pleasant to last long: I felt that I had not come to America to
+play at nine-pins; so I tore myself away, and within the next
+twenty-four hours found myself at Toronto, in Upper Canada.
+
+Toronto, which is the present capital and seat of government of Upper
+Canada, is, from its want of spires and steeples, by no means an
+imposing town, as you view it on entering the harbour.  The harbour
+itself is landlocked, and when deepened will be very good.  A great deal
+of money has been expended by the English government upon the Canadian
+provinces, but not very wisely.  The Rideau and Willend canals are
+splendid works; they have nothing to compare with them in the United
+States; but they are too much in advance of the country, and will be of
+but little use for a long period, if the provinces do not go a-head
+faster than they do now.  One half the money spent in making good roads
+through the provinces would have done more good, and would have much
+increased the value of property.  The proposed rail-road from Hamilton
+to Detroit would be of greater importance; and if more money is to be
+expended on Upper Canada, it cannot be better disposed of than in this
+undertaking.
+
+The minute you put your foot on shore, you feel that you are no longer
+in the United States; you are at once struck with the difference between
+the English and the American population, systems, and ideas.  On the
+other side of the Lake you have much more apparent property, but much
+less real solidity and security.  The houses and stores at Toronto are
+not to be compared with those of the American towns opposite.  But the
+Englishman has built according to his means--the American, according to
+his expectations.  The hotels and inns at Toronto are very bad; at
+Buffalo they are splendid: for the Englishman travels little; the
+American is ever on the move.  The private houses of Toronto are built,
+according to the English taste and desire of exclusiveness, away from
+the road, and are embowered in trees; the American, let his house be
+ever so large, or his plot of ground however extensive, builds within a
+few feet of the road, that he may see and know what is going on.  You do
+not perceive the bustle, the energy, and activity at Toronto, that you
+do at Buffalo, nor the profusion of articles in the stores; but it
+should be remembered that the Americans procure their articles upon
+credit, whilst at Toronto they proceed more cautiously.  The Englishman
+builds his house and furnishes his store according to his means and fair
+expectations of being able to meet his acceptances.  If an American has
+money sufficient to build a two-story house, he will raise it up to four
+stories on speculation.  We must not, on one side, be dazzled with the
+effects of the credit system in America, nor yet be too hasty in
+condemning it.  It certainly is the occasion of much over-speculation;
+but if the parties who speculate are ruined, provided the money has been
+laid out, as it usually is in America, upon real property--such as
+wharfs, houses, etcetera.--a new country becomes a gainer, as the
+improvements are made and remain, although they fall into other hands.
+And it should be further pointed out, that the Americans are justified
+in their speculations from the fact, that property improved rises so
+fast in value, that they are soon able to meet all claims and realise a
+handsome profit.  They speculate on the future; but the future with them
+is not distant as it is with us, ten years in America being, as I have
+before observed, equal to a century in Europe: they are therefore
+warranted in so speculating.  The property in Buffalo is now worth one
+hundred times what it was when the first speculators commenced; for as
+the country and cities become peopled, and the communication becomes
+easy, so does the value of every thing increase.
+
+Why, then, does not Toronto vie with Buffalo?  Because the Canadas
+cannot obtain the credit which is given to the United States, and of
+which Buffalo has her portion.  America has returns to make to England
+in her cotton crops: Canada has nothing; for her timber would be
+nothing, if it were not protected.  She cannot, therefore, obtain credit
+as America does.  What, then, do the Canadas require, in order to become
+prosperous?  Capital!
+
+I must not, however, omit to inform my readers that at Toronto I
+received a letter from a "Brother Author," who was polite enough to send
+me several specimens of his poetry; stating the remarkable fact, that he
+had never written a verse until he was past forty-five years of age; and
+that, as to the unfair accusation of his having plagiarised from Byron,
+it was not true, for he never had read Byron in his life.  Having put
+the reader in possession of these facts, I shall now select one of his
+printed poems for his gratification:--
+
+  From the Regard the Author has for the
+  LADIES OF TORONTO,
+  He presents them with the following
+  ODE.
+  _To the Ladies of the City of Toronto_.
+
+  1.
+  How famed is our city
+  For the beauty and talents
+  Of our ladies, that's pretty
+  And _chaste_ in their _sentiments_.
+
+  2.
+  The ladies of Toronto
+  Are fine, noble, and charming,
+  And are a great memento
+  To all, most fascinating.
+
+  3.
+  Our ladies are the best kind,
+  Of all others the most fine;
+  In their manners and their minds
+  Most refined and _genuine_.
+
+  4.
+  We are proud of our ladies,
+  For they are superior
+  To all other beauties
+  And others are inferior.
+
+  5.
+  How favoured is our land
+  To be honoured with the fair,
+  That is so majestic grand!
+  And to please them is our care.
+
+  6.
+  Who would not choose them before
+  All others that's to be found,
+  And think of others no more?
+  Their like is not in the world round.
+
+  TS TORONTO, 21st Jan. 1837.
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
+
+Through Lake Ontario to Montreal, by rail road to Lake Champlain, and
+then by steamboat to Burlington.
+
+Burlington is a pretty county town on the border of the Lake Champlain;
+there is a large establishment for the education of boys kept here by
+the Bishop of Vermont, a clever man: it is said to be well conducted,
+and one of the best in the Union.  The bishop's salary, as bishop, is
+only five hundred dollars; as a preacher of the established church he
+receives seven hundred; whilst as a schoolmaster his revenue becomes
+very handsome.  The bishop is just now in bad odour with the _majority_,
+for having published some very sensible objections to the Revivals and
+Temperance Societies.
+
+Plattsburg.--This was the scene of an American triumph.  I was talking
+with a States officer, who was present during the whole affair, and was
+much amused with his description of it.  There appeared to be some
+fatality attending almost all our attacks upon America during the last
+war; and it should be remarked, that whenever the Americans entered upon
+our territory, they met with similar defeat.  Much allowance must at
+course be made for ignorance of the country, and of the strength and
+disposition of the enemy's force; but certainly there was no excuse for
+the indecision shewn by the British general, with such a force as he had
+under his command.
+
+Now that the real facts are known, one hardly knows whether to laugh or
+feel indignant.  The person from whom I had the information is of
+undoubted respectability.  At the time that our general advanced with an
+army of 7,000 Peninsular troops, there were but 1,000 militia at
+Plattsburg, those ordered out from the interior of the State not having
+arrived.  It is true that there were 2,000 of the Vermont militia at
+Burlington opposite to Plattsburg, but when they were sent for, they
+refused to go there; they were alarmed at the preponderating force of
+the British, and they stood upon their State rights--i.e., militia
+raised in a State are not bound to leave it, being raised for the
+defence of that State alone.  The small force at Plattsburg hardly knew
+whether to retreat or not; they expected large reinforcements under
+General McCoomb, but did not know when they would come.  At last it was
+proposed and agreed to that they should spread themselves and keep up an
+incessant firing, but out of distance, so as to make the British believe
+they had a much larger force than they really possessed; and on this
+judicious plan they acted, and succeeded.
+
+In the mean time, the British general was anxious for the assistance of
+the squadron on the lakes, under Commodore Downie, and pressed him to
+the attack of the American squadron then off Plattsburg.  Some sharp
+remarks from the General proved fatal to our cause by water.  Downie,
+stung by his insinuations, rushed inconsiderately into a _close_
+engagement.  Now, Commodore Downie's vessels had all long guns.
+McDonough's vessels had only carronades.  Had, therefore, Downie not
+thrown away this advantage, by engaging at close quarters, there is fair
+reason to suppose that the victory would have been ours, as he could
+have chosen his distance, and the fire of the American vessels would
+have been comparatively harmless; but he ran down close to McDonough's
+fleet, and engaged them broadside to broadside, and then the carronades
+of the Americans, being of heavy calibre, threw the advantage on their
+side.  Downie was killed by the wind of a shot a few minutes after the
+commencement of the action.  Still it was the hardest contested action
+of the war; Pring being well worthy to take Downie's place.
+
+It was impossible to have done more on either side; and the gentleman
+who gave me this information added, that McDonough told him that so
+nicely balanced were the chances, that he took out his watch just before
+the British colours were hauled down, and observed, "If they hold out
+ten minutes more, it will be more than, I am afraid, we can do."  As
+soon as the victory was decided on the part of the Americans, the
+British general commenced his retreat, and was followed by this handful
+of militia.  In a day or two afterwards, General McCoomb came up, and a
+large force was poured in from all quarters.
+
+There was something very similar and quite as ridiculous in the affair
+at Sackett's harbour.  Our forces advancing would have cut off some
+hundreds of the American militia, who were _really_ retreating, but by a
+road which led in such a direction as for a time to make the English
+commandant suppose that they were intending to take him in flank.  This
+made him imagine that they must be advancing in large numbers, when, the
+fact was, they were running away from his superior force.  He made a
+retreat; upon ascertaining which, the Americans turned back and followed
+him, harassing his rear.
+
+I was told, at Baltimore, that had the English advanced, the American
+militia was quite ready to run away, not having the idea of opposing
+themselves to trained soldiers.  It really was very absurd; but in many
+instances during the war, which have come to my knowledge, it was
+exactly this,--"If you don't run, I will; but if you will, I won't!"
+
+The name given by the French to Vermont, designates the features of the
+country, which is composed of small mountains, covered with verdure to
+their summits; but the land is by no means good.
+
+At the bottoms, on the banks of the rivers, the alluvial soil is rich,
+and, generally speaking, the land in this State admits of cultivation
+about half-way up the mountains; after which, it is fit for nothing but
+sheep-walks, or to grow small timber upon.  I have travelled much in the
+Eastern States, and have been surprised to find how very small a portion
+of all of them is under cultivation, considering how long they have been
+settled; nor will there be more of the land taken up, I presume, for a
+long period; that is to say, not until the West is so over-peopled that
+a reflux is compelled to fall back into the Eastern States, and the
+crowded masses, like the Gulf-stream, find vent to the northward and
+eastward.
+
+Set off by coach, long before day-light.  There is something very
+gratifying when once you _are up_, in finding yourself up before the
+sun; you can repeat to yourself, "How doth the little busy bee," with
+such satisfaction.  Some few stars still twinkled in the sky, winking
+like the eyelids of tired sentinels, but soon they were relieved, one
+after another, by the light of morning.
+
+It was still dark when we started, and off we went, up hill and down
+hill--short steep _pitches_, as they term them here--at a furious rate.
+There was no level ground; it was all undulating, and very trying to the
+springs.  But an American driver stops at nothing; he will flog away
+with six horses in hand; and it is wonderful how few accidents happen:
+but it is very fatiguing, and one hundred miles of American travelling
+by stage, is equal to four hundred in England.
+
+There is much amusement to be extracted from the drivers of these
+stages, if you will take your seat with them on the front, which few
+Americans do, as they prefer the inside.  One of the drivers, soon after
+we had changed our team, called out to the off-leader, as he flanked her
+with his whip.  "Go along, you _no-tongued_ crittur!"
+
+"Why _no-tongued_?" enquired I.
+
+"Well, I reckon she has no tongue, having bitten it off herself, I was
+going to say--but it wasn't exactly that, neither."
+
+"How was it, then?"
+
+"Well now, the fact is, that she is awful ugly," (ill-tempered); "she
+bites like a badger, and kicks up as high as the church-steeple.  She's
+an almighty crittur to handle.  I was trying to hitch her under-jaw
+like, with the halter, but she worretted so, that I could only hitch her
+tongue: she ran back, the end of the halter was fast to the ring, and so
+she left her tongue in the hitch--that's a _fact_!"
+
+"I wonder it did not kill her; didn't she bleed very much?  How does she
+contrive to eat her corn?"
+
+"Well, now, she bled pretty considerable--but not to speak off.  I did
+keep her _one day_ in the stable, because I thought she might feel
+_queer_; since that she has worked in the team every day; and she'll eat
+her peck of corn with any horse in the stable.  But her tongue is out,
+that's certain--so _she'll tell no more lies_!"
+
+Not the least doubting my friend's veracity I, nevertheless, took an
+opportunity, when we changed, of ascertaining the fact; and her tongue
+was _half_ of it out, that _is_ the fact.
+
+When we stopped, we had to shift the luggage to another coach.  The
+driver, who was a slight man, was, for some time, looking rather puzzled
+at the trunks which lay on the road, and which he had to put on the
+coach: he tried to lift one of the largest, let it down again, and then
+beckoned to me:--
+
+"I say, captain, them four large trunks be rather overmuch for me; but I
+guess you can master them, so just lift them up on the hind board for
+me."
+
+I complied; and as I had to lift them as high as my head, they required
+all my strength.
+
+"Thank ye, captain; don't trouble yourself any more, the rest be all
+right, and I can manage them myself."
+
+The Americans never refuse to assist each other in such difficulties as
+this.  In a young country they must assist each other, if they wish to
+be assisted themselves--and there always will be a mutual dependence.
+If a man is in a _fix_ in America, every one stops to assist him, and
+expects the same for himself.
+
+Bellows Falls, a beautiful, romantic spot on the Connecticut River,
+which separates the States of New Hampshire and Vermont.  The masses of
+rocks through which the river forces its way at the Falls, are very
+grand and imposing; and the surrounding hills, rich with the autumnal
+tints, rivet the eye.  On these masses of rocks are many faces, cut out
+by the tribe of Pequod Indians, who formerly used to fish in their
+waters.  Being informed that there was to be a militia muster, I
+resolved to attend it.
+
+The militia service is not in good odour with the Americans just now.
+Formerly, when they did try to do as well as they could, the scene was
+absurd enough; but now they do all they can to make it ridiculous.  In
+this muster there were three or four companies, well equipped; but the
+major part of the men were what they call here _flood-wood_, that is, of
+all sizes and heights--a term suggested by the pieces of wood borne down
+by the freshets of the river, and which are of all sorts, sizes, and
+lengths.  But not only were the men of all sorts and sizes, but the
+uniforms also, some of which were the most extraordinary I ever beheld,
+and not unlike the calico dresses worn by the tumblers and vaulters at
+an English fair.  As for the exercise, they either did not, or would
+not, know any thing about it; indeed, as they are now mustered but once
+a year, it cannot be expected that they should; but as they faced every
+way, and made mistakes on purpose, it is evident, from their consistent
+pertinacity in being wrong, that they did know something.  When they
+marched off single file, quick time, they were one half of them dancing
+in and out of the ranks to the lively tune which was played--the only
+instance I saw of their keeping time.  But the most amusing part of the
+ceremony was the speech made by the brigade major, whose patience had
+certainly been tried, and who wished to impress his countrymen with the
+importance of the militia.  He ordered them to form a hollow square.
+They formed a circle, proving that if they could not square the circle,
+at all events they could circle the square, which is coming very near to
+it.  The major found himself, on his white horse, in an arena about as
+large as that in which Mr Ducrow performs at Astley's.  He then
+commenced a sort of perambulating equestrian speech, riding round and
+round the circle, with his cocked hat in his hand.  As the arena was
+large, and he constantly turned his head as he spoke to those nearest to
+him in the circle, it was only when he came to within a few yards of
+you, that you could distinguish what he was saying; and of course the
+auditors at the other point were in the same predicament.  However, he
+divided his speech out in portions very equally, and those which came to
+my share were as follows:
+
+"Yes, gentlemen--the president, senate, and house of representatives,
+and all others ... you militia, the bones and muscle of the land, and by
+whom ...  Eagle of America shall ruffle her wings, will ever dart ...
+those days so glorious, when our gallant forefathers ... terrible effect
+of the use of ardent spirits, and shewing ...  Temperance societies, the
+full benefits of which, I am ...  Star-spangled banner, ever victorious,
+blazing like...."
+
+The last word I heard was _glory_; but his audience being very impatient
+for their dinner, cried out loudly for it--preferring it to the
+mouthfuls of eloquence which fell to their share, but did not stay their
+stomach.  Altogether it was a scene of much fun and good-humour.
+
+Stopped at the pretty village of Charlestown, celebrated for the defence
+it made during the French war.  There is here, running by the river
+side, a turnpike road, which gave great offence to the American citizens
+of this State: they declared that to pay toll was _monarchical_, as they
+always assert every thing to be which taxes their pockets.  So, one fine
+night, they assembled with a hawser and a team or two of horses, made
+the hawser fast to the house at the gate, dragged it down to the river,
+and sent it floating down the stream, with the gate and board of tolls
+in company with it.
+
+Progressing in the stage, I had a very amusing specimen of the ruling
+passion of the country--the spirit of barter, which is communicated to
+the females, as well as to the boys.  I will stop for a moment, however,
+to say, that I heard of an American, who had two sons, and he declared
+that they were so clever at barter, that he locked them both up together
+in a room, without a cent in their pockets, and that before they had
+_swopped_ for an hour, they had each gained two dollars a piece.  But
+now for my fellow-passengers--both young, both good-looking, and both
+ladies, and evidently were total strangers to each other.  One had a
+pretty pink silk bonnet, very fine for travelling; the other, an
+indifferent plush one.  The young lady in the plush, eyed the pink
+bonnet for some time: at last _Plush_ observed in a drawling
+half-indifferent way:
+
+"That's rather a pretty bonnet of your's, miss."
+
+"Why yes, I calculate it's rather smart," replied Pink.
+
+After a pause and closer survey.--"You wouldn't have any objection to
+part with it, miss?"
+
+"Well now, I don't know but I might; I have worn it but three days, I
+reckon."
+
+"Oh, my!  I should have reckoned that you carried it longer--perhaps it
+rained on them three days."
+
+"I've a notion it didn't rain, not one.--It's not the only bonnet I
+have, miss."
+
+"Well now, I should not mind an exchange, and paying you the _balance_."
+
+"That's an awful thing that you have on, miss!"
+
+"I rather think not, but that's as may be.--Come, miss, what will you
+take?"
+
+"Why I don't know,--what will you give?"
+
+"I reckon you'll know best when you answer my question."
+
+"Well then, I shouldn't like less than five dollars."
+
+"Five dollars and my bonnet!  I reckon two would be nearer the mark--but
+it's of no consequence."
+
+"None in the least, miss, only I know the value of my bonnet.--We'll say
+no more about it."
+
+"Just so, miss."
+
+A pause and silence for half a minute, when Miss Plush, looks out of the
+window, and says, as if talking to herself, "I shouldn't mind giving
+four dollars, but no more."  She then fell back in her seat, when Miss
+Pink, put her head out of the window, and said:--"I shouldn't refuse
+four dollars after all, if it was offered," and then she fell back to
+her former position.
+
+"Did you think of taking four dollars, miss?"
+
+"Well!  I don't care, I've plenty of bonnets at home."
+
+"Well," replied Plush, taking out her purse, and offering her the money.
+
+"What bank is this, miss?"
+
+"Oh, all's right there, Safety Fund, I calculate."
+
+The two ladies exchange bonnets, and Pink pockets the balance.
+
+I may here just as well mention the custom of _whittling_, which is so
+common in the Eastern States.  It is a habit, arising from the natural
+restlessness of the American when he is not employed, of cutting a piece
+of stick, or any thing else, with his knife.  Some are so wedded to it
+from long custom, that if they have not a piece of stick to cut, they
+will whittle the backs of the chairs, or any thing within their reach.
+A yankee shewn into a room to await the arrival of another, has been
+known to whittle away nearly the whole of the mantle-piece.  Lawyers in
+court whittle away at the table before them; and judges will cut through
+their own bench.  In some courts, they put sticks before noted whittlers
+to save the furniture.  The Down-Easters, as the yankees are termed
+generally, whittle when they are making a bargain, as it fills up the
+pauses, gives them time for reflection, and moreover, prevents any
+examination of the countenance--for in bargaining, like in the game of
+brag, the countenance is carefully watched, as an index to the wishes.
+I was once witness to a bargain made between two respectable yankees,
+who wished to agree about a farm, and in which whittling was resorted
+to.
+
+They sat down on a log of wood, about, three or four feet apart from
+each other, with their faces turned opposite ways--that is, one had his
+legs on one side of the log with his face to the East, and the other his
+legs on the other side with his face to the West.  One had a piece of
+soft wood, and was sawing it with his penknife; the other had an
+unbarked hiccory stick which he was peeling for a walking-stick.  The
+reader will perceive a strong analogy between this bargain and that in
+the stage between the two ladies.
+
+"Well, good morning--and about this farm?"
+
+"I don't know; what will you take?"
+
+"What will you give?"
+
+Silence, and whittle away.
+
+"Well, I should think two thousand dollars, a heap of money for this
+farm."
+
+"I've a notion it will never go for three thousand, any how."
+
+"There's a fine farm, and cheaper, on the North side."
+
+"But where's the sun to ripen the corn?"
+
+"Sun shines on all alike."
+
+"Not exactly through a Vermont hill, I reckon.  The driver offered me as
+much as I say, if I recollect right."
+
+"Money not always to be depended upon.  Money not always forthcoming!"
+
+"I reckon, I shall make an elegant 'backy stopper of this piece of
+sycamore."
+
+Silence for a few moments.  Knives hard at work.
+
+"I've a notion this is as pretty a hiccory stick as ever came out of a
+wood."
+
+"I shouldn't mind two thousand five hundred dollars, and time given."
+
+"It couldn't be more than six months then, if it goes at that price."
+
+(Pause.)
+
+"Well, that might suit me."
+
+"What do you say, then?"
+
+"Suppose it must be so."
+
+"It's a bargain then," rising up; "come let's liquor on it."
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER NINETEEN.
+
+The farmers on the banks of the Connecticut river are the richest in the
+Eastern States.  The majestic growth of the timber certified that the
+soil is generally good, although the crops were off the ground.  They
+grow here a large quantity of what is called the broom corn: the stalk
+and leaves are similar to the maize or Indian corn, but, instead of the
+ear, it throws out, at top and on the sides, spiky plumes on which seed
+is carried.  These plumes are cut off, and furnish the brooms and whisks
+of the country; it is said to be a very profitable crop.  At
+Brattleboro' we stopped at an inn kept by one of the State
+representatives, and, as may be supposed, had very bad fare in
+consequence, the man being above his business.  We changed horses at
+Bloody Brook, so termed in consequence of a massacre of the settlers by
+the Indians.  But there are twenty Bloody Brooks in America, all records
+of similar catastrophes.
+
+Whether the Blue laws of Connecticut are supposed to be still in force I
+know not, but I could not discover that they had ever been repealed.  At
+present there is no theatre in Connecticut, nor does anybody venture to
+propose one.  The proprietors of one of the equestrian studs made their
+appearance at the confines of the State, and intimated that they wished
+to perform, but were given to understand that their horses would be
+confiscated if they entered the State.  The consequence is that
+Connecticut is the dullest, most disagreeable State in the Union; and,
+if I am to believe the Americans themselves, so far from the morals of
+the community being kept uncontaminated by this rigour, the very reverse
+is the case--especially as respects the college students, who are in the
+secret practice of more vice than is to be found in any other
+establishment of the kind in the Union.  But even if I had not been so
+informed by creditable people, I should have decided in my own mind that
+such was the case.  Human nature is everywhere the same.
+
+It may be interesting to make a few extracts from a copy of the records
+and of the Blue laws which I have in my possession, as it will show that
+if these laws were still in force how hard they would now bear upon the
+American community.  In the extracts from the records which follow I
+have altered a word or two, so as to render them fitter for perusal, but
+the sense remains the same:
+
+"(13.)  If any childe or children above sixteene yeares old, and of
+suffitient understanding, shall curse or smite their naturall father or
+mother, hee or they shall bee _put to death_; unless it can be
+sufficiently testified that the parents have been very unchristianly
+negligent in the education of such children, or so provoke them by
+extreme and cruell correction that they have been forced thereunto to
+preserve themselves from death, maiming.--Exo., xxi., 17.  Levit., xx.
+Ex., xxi., 15.
+
+"(14.)  If any man have a stubborne and rebellious sonne of sufficient
+yeares and understanding, viz., sixteene yeares of age, which will not
+obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and that when
+they have chastened him will not hearken unto them, then may his father
+and mother, being his naturall parents, lay hold on him, and bring him
+to the magistrates assembled in courte, and testifie unto them that
+their sonne is stubborne and rebellious, and will not obey theire voice
+and chastisement, but lives in sundry notorious crimes--such a sonne
+shall bee _put to death_.--Deut., xxi, 20, 21.
+
+"(_Lyinge_.)  That every person of the age of discretion, which is
+accounted fourteene yeares, who shall wittingly and willingly make, or
+publish, any lye which may be pernicious to the publique weal, or
+tending to the dammage or injury of any perticular person, to deceive
+and abuse the people with false news or reportes, and the same duly
+prooved in any courte, or before any one magistrate, who hath hereby
+power granted to heare and determine all offences against this lawe,
+such person shall bee fyned--for the first offence, ten shillings, or if
+the party bee unable to pay the same, then to be sett in the stocks so
+long as the said courte or magistrate shall appointe, in some open
+place, not exceeding three houres; for the second offence in that kinde,
+whereof any shall bee legally convicted, the summe of twenty shillings,
+or be whipped uppon the naked body, not exceeding twenty stripes; and
+for the third offence that way, forty shillings, or if the party be
+unable to pay, then to be whipped with more stripes, not exceeding
+thirtye; and if yet any shall offend in like kinde, and be legally
+convicted thereof, such person, male or female, shall bee fyned ten
+shillings at a time more than formerly, or if the party so offending bee
+unable to pay, then to be whipped with five or six stripes more then
+formerly, not exceeding forty at any time.
+
+"(_Ministers' Meintenance_.)--Whereas the most considerable persons in
+the land came into these partes of America, that they might enjoye
+Christe in his ordinances without disturbance; and whereas, amongst many
+other pretious meanes, the ordinances have beene, and are, dispensed
+amongst us, with much purity and power, they tooke it into their serious
+consideration, that a due meintenance, according to God, might bee
+provided and settled, both for the present and future, for the
+encouragement of the ministers' work therein; and doe order, that those
+who are taught in the word, in the severall plantations, bee called
+together, that every man voluntarily sett downe what he is willing to
+allow to that end and use; and if any man refuse to pay a meete
+proportion, that then hee bee rated by authority in some just and equal
+way; and if after this, any man withhold or delay due payment, the
+civill power to be exercised as in other just debts.
+
+"(_Profane Swearing_.)--That if any person within this jurisdiction
+shall sweare rashly and vainely, either by the holy name of God, or any
+other oath, and shall sinfully and wickedly curse any, hee shall
+forfeitt to the common treasure, for every such severe offence, ten
+shillings: and it shall be in the power of any magistrate, by warrant to
+the constable, to call such persons before him, and uppon just proofe to
+pass a sentence, and levye the said penalty, according to the usual
+order of justice; and if such persons bee not able, or shall utterly
+refuse to pay the aforesaid fyne, hee shall bee committed to the stocks,
+there to continue, not exceeding three hours, and not less than one
+houre.
+
+"(_Tobacko_.)--That no person under the age of twenty-one years, nor any
+other that hath not already accustomed himselfe to the use therof, shall
+take any tobacko, untill hee hath brought a certificate under the hands
+of some who are approved for knowledge and skill in phisick, that it is
+usefull for him, and allso that he hath received a lycense from the
+courte, for the same.
+
+"_It is ordered_--That no man within this colonye, shall take any
+tobacko publiquely, in the streett, highwayes or any barne, yardes, or
+uppon training dayes, in any open places, under the penalty of sixpence
+for each offence against this order," etcetera, etcetera.
+
+Among the records we have some curious specimens:--
+
+"At a Court, held May 1, 1660.
+
+"Jacob M Murline and Sarah Tuttle being called, appeared, concerning
+whom the governor declared, that the business for which they were warned
+to this Court, he had heard in private at his house, which he related
+thus:--On the day that John Potter was married, Sarah Tuttle went to
+Mistress Murline's house for some thredd; Mistress Murline bid her go to
+her daughters in the other roome, where she felle into speeche of John
+Potter and his wife, that they were both lame; upon which Sarah Tuttle
+said, how very awkward it would be.  Whereupon Jacob came in, and tooke
+up, or tooke away her gloves.  Sarah desired him to give her the gloves,
+to which he answered, he would do so if she would give him a kysse; upon
+which they sat down together, his arme being about her waiste, and her
+arme upon his shoulder, or about his neck, and _he_ kissed her, and
+_she_ kissed him, or they kissed one another, continuing in this posture
+about half an hour, as Marian and Susan testified, which Marian, now in
+Court, affirmed to be so.
+
+"Mistress Murline, now in Court, said that she heard Sarah say, how very
+awkward it would be; but it was matter of sorrow and shame unto her.
+
+"Jacob was asked what he had to say to these things; to which he
+answered, that he was in the other roome, and when he heard Sarah speak
+those words, he went in, when shee having let fall her gloves, he tooke
+them up, and she asked him for them; he told her he would, if she would
+kisse him.  Further said, hee took her by the hand, and they both sat
+down upon a chest, but whether his arme were about her waiste, and her
+arme upon his shoulder, or about his neck, he knows not, for he never
+thought of it since, till Mr Raymond told him of it at Mannatos, for
+which he was blamed, and told he had not layde it to heart as he ought.
+But Sarah Tuttle replied, that shee did not kysse him.  Mr Tuttle
+replied, that Marian hath denied it, and he doth not looke upon her as a
+competent witness.  Thomas Tuttle said, that he asked Marian if his
+sister kyssed Jacob, and she said not.  Moses Mansfield testified, that
+he told Jacob Murline that he heard Sarah kyssed him, but he denied it.
+But Jacob graunted not what Moses testified.
+
+"Mr Tuttle pleaded that Jacob had endeavoured to steal away his
+daughter's affections.  But Sarah being asked, if Jacob had inveigled
+her, she said no.  Thomas Tuttle said, that he came to their house two
+or three times before he went to Holland, and they two were together,
+and to what end he came he knows not, unless it were to inveigle her:
+and their mother warned Sarah not to keep company with him: and to the
+same purpose spake Jonathan Tuttle.  But Jacob denied that he came to
+their house with any such intendment, nor did it appear so to the Court.
+
+"The governor told Sarah that her miscarriage is the greatest, that a
+virgin should be so bold in the presence of others, to carry it as she
+had done, and to speake suche corrupt words; most of the things charged
+against her being acknowledged by herself, though that about kyssing is
+denied, yet the _thing_ is proved.
+
+"Sarah professed that she was sorry that she had carried it so sinfully
+and foolishly, which she saw to be hateful: she hoped God would help her
+to carry it better for time to come.
+
+"The governor also told Jacob that his carriage hath been very evil and
+sinful, so to carry it towards her, and to make such a light matter of
+it as not to think of it, (as he exprest) doth greatly aggravate; and
+for Marian, who was a married woman, to suffer her brother and a man's
+daughter to sit almost half an hour in such a way as they have related,
+was a very great evil.  She was told that she should have showed her
+indignation against it, and have told her mother, that Sarah might have
+been shut out of doors.  Mrs Murline was told, that she, hearing such
+words, should not have suffered it.  Mrs Tuttle and Mrs Murline being
+asked if they had any more to say, they said, no.
+
+"Whereupon the Court declared, that we have heard in the publique
+ministry, that it is a thing to be lamented, that young people should
+have their meetings, to the corrupting of themselves and one another.
+As for Sarah Tuttle, her miscarriages are very great, that she should
+utter so corrupt a speeche as she did, concerning the persons to be
+married; and that she should carry it in such a wanton, uncivil,
+immodest, and lacivious manner as hath been proved.  And for Jacob, his
+carriage hath been very corrupt and sinful, such as brings reproach upon
+the family and place.
+
+"The sentence, therefore, concerning them is, that they shall pay either
+of them as a fine, twenty shillings to the treasurer."
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+"Isaiah, Captain Turner's man, fined 5 pounds for being drunk on the
+Lord's-day.
+
+"William Broomfield, Mr Malbon's man, was set in the stocks, for
+profaning the Lord's-day, and stealing wine from his master, which he
+drunk and gave to others.
+
+"John Fenner, accused for being drunke with strong waters, was
+acquitted, it appearing to be of infirmity, and occasioned by the
+extremity of the cold.
+
+"Mr Moulend, accused of being drunke, but not clearly proved, was
+respited."
+
+Here comes a very disorderly reprobate, called Will Harding.
+
+"1st of 1st month, 1643.
+
+"John Lawrence and Valentine, servants to Mr Malbon, for imbezilling
+their master's goods, and keeping disorderly night meetings with Will
+Harding, a lewd and disorderly person, plotting with him to carry their
+master's daughters to the farmes in the night, concealing divers
+dalliances; all which they confessed, and were whipped.
+
+"Ruth Acie, a covenant-servant to Mr Malbon, for stubornes, lyeing,
+stealing from her mistress, and yielding to dalliance with Will Harding,
+was _whipped_.
+
+"Martha Malbon, for consenting to goe in the night to the farmes, with
+Will Harding, to a venison feast; for stealing things from her parents,
+and dalliance with the said Harding, was _whipped_.
+
+"Goodman Hunt and his wife, for keeping the councells of the said Will
+Harding, _bakeing him a pastry and plum cakes_, and keeping company with
+him on the Lord's-day; and she suffering Harding to kisse her, they
+being only admitted to sojourn in this plantation upon their good
+behaviour, was ordered to be sent out of this towne within one month
+after the date hereof."
+
+Will Harding, however, appears to have met with his deserts.
+
+"Dec. 3rd, 1651.
+
+"Will Harding, being convicted of a great deal of base carriage with
+divers yonge girls, together with enticing and corrupting divers
+men-servants in this plantation, haunting with them at night meetings
+and junketings, etcetera, was sentenced to be _severely_ whipped, and
+fined 5 pounds to Mr Malbon, and 5 pounds to Will Andrews, whose
+famylyes and daughters he hath so much wronged; and presently to depart
+the plantation."
+
+Thus winds up the _disgraceful_ end of our Colonial Don Juan of 1643.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+The articles of the Blue laws, which I have extracted, are from a
+portion which appears to have been drawn up more in detail; but,
+generally, they are much more pithy and concise, as the following
+examples will show:--
+
+"No. 13.  No food and lodgings shall be allowed a Quaker, Adamite, or
+other heretic.
+
+"No. 14.  If any person turns Quaker, he shall be banished, and not
+suffered to return, on pain of death."
+
+I was walking in Philadelphia, when I perceived the name of Buffum,
+Hatter.  Wishing to ascertain whether it was an English name or not, I
+went in, and entered into conversation with Mr Buffum, who was dressed
+as what is termed a wet Quaker.  He told me that his was an English
+name, and that his ancestor had been banished from Salem for a heinous
+crime--which was, as the sentence worded it, for being a damned Quaker.
+The reason why Quakers were banished by the Puritans, was because they
+would not; go out to _shoot the Indians_!  To continue:--
+
+"No. 17.  No one shall _run_ of a Sabbath-day, or walk in his garden or
+elsewhere, except reverently to and from church.
+
+"No. 18.  No one shall travel, cook victuals, make beds, sweep houses,
+cut hair or shave on Sabbath-day.
+
+"No. 19.  No husband shall kiss his wife, and no mother shall kiss her
+child upon the Sabbath day.
+
+"No. 31.  No one shall read Common Prayer, keep Christmas or
+saints'-day, make mince-pies, dance, or play on any instrument of music,
+except the drum, the trumpet, and the jews-harp."
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+I do not know any thing that disgusts me so much as _cant_.  Even now we
+continually hear, in the American public orations, about the _stern
+virtues_ of the pilgrim fathers.  _Stern_, indeed!  The fact is, that
+these pilgrim fathers were fanatics and bigots, without charity or
+mercy, wanting in the very _essence_ of Christianity.  Witness their
+conduct to the Indians when they thirsted for their territory.  After
+the death (murder, we may well call it) of Alexander, the brother of the
+celebrated Philip, the latter prepared for war.  "And now," says a
+reverend historian of the times, "war was begun by a fierce nation of
+Indians upon an _honest, harmless_ Christian generation of English, who
+might very truly have said to the aggressors, as it was said of old unto
+the Ammonites, `I have not sinned against thee; but thou doest me wrong
+to war against me.'"  Fanaticism alone--deep, incurable fanaticism--
+could have induced such a remark.  Well may it be said, "We deceive
+ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
+
+And when the war was brought to a close by the death of the
+noble-minded, high-spirited Philip; when the _Christians_ had slaked
+their revenge in his blood, exposed his head in triumph on a pike, and
+captured his helpless innocent child of nine years old; would it be
+credited, that there was council held to put this child to death, and
+that the clergy were summoned to give their opinion?  And the clergy
+_quoted Scripture_, that the _child must die_!  Dr Increase Mather
+compared it with the child of Hadid, and recommended, with his brother
+apostles, that it be murdered.  But these pious men were overruled; and,
+with many others, it was sent to the Bermudas, and sold as a slave.
+_Stern virtues_!!  Call them rather diabolical vices.  God of Heaven!
+when shall we learn to call things by their right names?  The next time
+Governor Everett is called up for an oration at Bloody Brook, let him
+not talk quite so much of the virtues of the pilgrim fathers.
+
+This reminds me of a _duty_ towards this gentleman, which I have great
+pleasure in performing.  Every one who is acquainted with him must
+acknowledge his amiable manners, and his high classical attainments and
+power of eloquence.  His orations and speeches are printed, and are
+among the best specimens of American talent.  Miss Martineau, in her
+work upon America, states that she went up to hear the orator at Bloody
+Brook; and, in two pages of very coarse, unmeasured language, states
+"that all her _sympathies_ were baffled, and that she was deeply
+disgusted;" that the orator "offered them shreds of tawdry sentiment,
+without the intermixture of one sound thought or simple and natural
+feeling, simply and naturally expressed."  I have the Address of
+Governor Everett before me.  To insert the whole of it would be
+inconvenient; but I do most unequivocally deny this, as I must, I am
+afraid, to many of Miss Martineau's assertions.  To prove, in this one
+instance alone, the very contrary to what she states, I will merely
+quote the peroration of Governor Everett's Address:--
+
+"Yon simple monument shall rise a renewed memorial of their names on
+this sacred spot, where the young, the brave, the patriotic, poured out
+their life-blood in defence of that heritage which has descended to us.
+We this day solemnly bring our tribute of gratitude.  Ages shall pass
+away; the majestic tree which overshadows us shall wither and sink
+before the blast, and we who are now gathered beneath it shall mingle
+with the honoured dust we eulogise; but the `Flowers of Essex' shall
+bloom in undying remembrance; and, with every century, these rites of
+commemoration shall be repeated, as the lapse of time shall continually
+develope, in rich abundance, the fruits of what was done and suffered by
+our forefathers!"
+
+I can, however, give the reader a key to Miss Martineau's praise or
+condemnation of every person mentioned in her two works: you have but to
+ask the question, "Is he, or is he not, an abolitionist?"
+
+Governor Everett is _not_.
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER TWENTY.
+
+Montreal, next to Quebec, is the oldest looking and most aristocratic
+city in all North America.  Lofty houses, with narrow streets, prove
+antiquity.  After Quebec and Montreal, New Orleans is said to take the
+next rank, all three of them having been built by the French.  It is
+pleasant to look upon any structure in this new hemisphere which bears
+the mark of time upon it.  The ruins of Fort Putnam are one of the
+curiosities of America.
+
+Montreal is all alive--mustering here, drilling there, galloping every
+where; and, moreover, Montreal is knee-deep in snow, and the thermometer
+below zero.  Every hour brings fresh intelligence of the movements of
+the rebels, or patriots--the last term is doubtful, yet it may be
+correct.  When they first opened the theatre at Botany Bay, Barrington
+spoke the prologue, which ended with these two lines:--
+
+  "True _Patriots_ we, for be it understood,
+  We left our country, for our country's good."
+
+In this view of the case, some of them, it is hoped, will turn out
+patriots before they die, if they have not been made so already.
+
+Every hour comes in some poor wretch, who, for refusing to join the
+insurgents, has been made a beggar; his cattle, sheep, and pigs driven
+away; his fodder, his barns, his house, all that he possessed, now
+reduced to ashes.  The cold-blooded, heartless murder of Lieutenant Weir
+has, however, sufficiently raised the choler of the troops, without any
+further enormities on the part of the insurgents being requisite to that
+end: when an English soldier swears to shew no mercy, he generally keeps
+his word.  Of all wars, a civil war is the most cruel, the most
+unrelenting, and the most exterminating; and deep indeed must be the
+responsibility of those, who, by their words or their actions, have
+contrived to set countryman against countryman, neighbour against
+neighbour, and very often brother against brother, and father against
+child.
+
+On the morning of the -- the ice on the branch of the Ottawa river,
+which we had to cross, being considered sufficiently strong to bear the
+weight of the artillery, the whole force marched out, under the command
+of Sir John Colborne in person, to reduce the insurgents, who had
+fortified themselves at St Eustache and St Benoit, two towns of some
+magnitude in the district of Bois Brule.  The snow, as I before
+observed, lay very deep; but by the time we started, the road had been
+well beaten down by the multitudes which had preceded us.
+
+The effect of the whole line of troops, in their fur caps and
+great-coats, with the trains of artillery, ammunition, and
+baggage-waggons, as they wound along the snow-white road, was very
+beautiful.  It is astonishing how much more numerous the force, and how
+much larger the men and horses appeared to be, from the strong contrast
+of their colours with the wide expanse of snow.
+
+As we passed one of the branches of the Ottawa, one of the
+ammunition-waggons falling through the ice, the horses were immediately
+all but choaked by the drivers--a precaution which was novel to me, and
+a singular method of saving their lives: but such was the case: the air
+within them, rarified by heat, inflated their bodies like balloons, and
+they floated high on the water.  In this state they were easily
+disengaged from their traces, and hauled out upon the ice; the cords
+which had nearly strangled them were then removed, and, in a few
+minutes, they recovered sufficiently to be led to the shore.
+
+Let it not be supposed that I am about to write a regular dispatch.  I
+went out with the troops, but was of about as much use as the fifth
+wheel of a coach; with the exception, that as I rode one of Sir John
+Colborne's horses, I was, perhaps, so far supplying the place of a groom
+who was better employed.
+
+The town of St Eustache is very prettily situated on the high banks of
+the river, the most remarkable object being the Catholic church, a very
+large massive building, raised about two hundred yards from the river
+side, upon a commanding situation.  This church the insurgents had
+turned into a fortress, and perhaps, for a fortress "_d'occasion_,"
+there never was one so well calculated for a vigorous defence, it being
+flanked by two long stone-built houses, and protected in the rear by
+several lines of high and strong palisades, running down into the river.
+The troops halted about three hundred yards from the town, to
+reconnoitre; the artillery were drawn up and opened their fire, but
+chiefly with a view that the enemy, by returning the fire, might
+demonstrate their force and position.  These being ascertained, orders
+were given by Sir John Colborne, so that in a short time the whole town
+would be invested by the troops.  The insurgents perceiving this, many
+of them escaped, some through the town, others by the frozen river.
+Those who crossed on the ice were chased by the volunteer dragoons, and
+the slipping and tumbling of the pursued and the pursuers, afforded as
+much merriment as interest; so true it is, that any thing ludicrous will
+make one laugh, in opposition to the feelings of sympathy, anxiety, and
+fear.  Some of the runaways were cut down, and many more taken
+prisoners.
+
+As soon as that portion of the troops which had entered the town, and
+marched up the main street towards the church, arrived within
+half-musket shot, they were received with a smart volley, which was
+fired from the large windows of the church, and which wounded a few of
+the men.  The soldiers were then ordered to make their approaches under
+cover of the houses; and the artillery being brought up, commenced
+firing upon the church: but the walls of the building were much too
+solid for the shot to make any impression, and had the insurgents stood
+firm they certainly might have given a great deal of trouble, and
+probably have occasioned a severe loss of men; but they became alarmed,
+and fired one of the houses which abutted upon and flanked the church,--
+this they did with the view of escaping under cover of the smoke.  In a
+few minutes the church itself was obscured by the volumes of smoke
+thrown out; and at the same time that the insurgents were escaping, the
+troops marched up and surrounded the church.  The poor wretches
+attempted to get away, either singly or by twos and threes; but the
+moment they appeared a volley was discharged, and they fell.  Every
+attempt was made by the officers to make prisoners, but with indifferent
+success; indeed, such was the exasperation of the troops at the murder
+of Lieut.  Weir, that it was a service of danger to attempt to save the
+life of one of these poor deluded creatures.  The fire from the house
+soon communicated to the church.  Chenier, the leader, with ten others,
+the remnant of the insurgents who were in the church, rushed out; there
+was one tremendous volley, and all was over.
+
+By this time many other parts of the town were on fire, and there was
+every prospect of the whole of it being burnt down, leaving no quarters
+for the soldiers to protect them during the night.  The attention of
+everybody was therefore turned to prevent the progress of the flames.
+Some houses were pulled down, so as to cut off the communication with
+the houses in the centre of the town, and in these houses the troops
+were billeted off.  The insurgents had removed their families, and most
+of their valuables and furniture, before our arrival; but in one house
+were the commissariat stores, consisting of the carcases of all the
+cattle, sheep, pigs, etcetera, which they had taken from the loyal
+farmers; there was a very large supply, and the soldiers were soon
+cooking in all directions.  The roll was called, men mustered, and order
+established.
+
+The night was bitterly cold: the sky was clear, and the moon near to her
+full: houses were still burning in every direction, but they were as
+mere satellites to the lofty church, which was now one blaze of fire,
+and throwing out volumes of smoke, which passed over the face of the
+bright moon, and gave to her a lurid reddish tinge, as if she too had
+assisted in these deeds of blood.  The distant fires scattered over the
+whole landscape, which was one snow-wreath; the whirling of the smoke
+from the houses which were burning close to us, and which, from the
+melting of the snow, were surrounded by pools of water, reflecting the
+fierce yellow flames, mingled with the pale beams of the bright moon--
+this, altogether, presented a beautiful, novel, yet melancholy panorama.
+I thought it might represent, in miniature, the burning of Moscow.
+
+About midnight, when all was quiet, I walked up to the church, in
+company with one of Sir John Colborne's aides-de-camp: the roof had
+fallen, and the flames had subsided for want of further aliment.  As we
+passed by a house which had just taken fire we heard a cry, and, on
+going up, found a poor wounded Canadian, utterly incapable of moving,
+whom the flames had just reached; in a few minutes he would have been
+burned alive: we dragged him out, and gave him in charge of the
+soldiers, who carried him to the hospital.
+
+But what was this compared to the scene which presented itself in the
+church!  But a few weeks back, crowds were there, kneeling in adoration
+and prayer; I could fancy the Catholic priests in their splendid stoles,
+the altar, its candlesticks and ornaments, the solemn music, the
+incense, and all that, by appealing to the senses, is so favourable to
+the cause of religion with the ignorant and uneducated; and what did I
+now behold?--nothing but the bare and blackened walls, the glowing beams
+and rafters, and the window-frames which the flames still licked and
+flickered through.  The floor had been burnt to cinders, and upon and
+between the sleepers on which the floor had been laid, were scattered
+the remains of human creatures, injured in various degrees, or destroyed
+by the fire; some with merely the clothes burnt off, leaving the naked
+body; some burnt to a deep brown tinge; others so far consumed that the
+viscera were exposed; while here and there the blackened ribs and
+vertebra were all that the fierce flames had spared.
+
+Not only inside of the church, but without its walls, was the same
+revolting spectacle.  In the remains of the small building used as a
+receptacle for the coffins previous to interment, were several bodies,
+heaped one upon another, and still burning, the trestles which had once
+supported the coffins serving as fuel; and further off were bodies still
+unscathed by fire, but frozen hard by the severity of the weather.
+
+I could not help thinking, as I stood contemplating this melancholy
+scene of destruction, bloodshed, and sacrilege, that if Mr Hume or Mr
+Roebuck had been by my side, they might have repented their inflammatory
+and liberal opinions, as here they beheld the frightful effects of them.
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
+
+Crossing the river St Lawrence at this season of the year is not very
+pleasant, as you must force your passage through the large masses of
+ice, and are occasionally fixed among them; so that you are swept down
+the current along with them.  Such was our case for about a quarter of
+an hour, and, in consequence, we landed about three miles lower down
+than we had intended.  The next day the navigation of the river, such as
+it was, was stopped, and in eight and forty hours heavy waggons and
+carts were passing over where we had floated across.
+
+My course lay through what were termed the _excited_ districts; I had
+promised to pass through them, and supply the folks at Montreal with any
+information I could collect.  The weather was bitterly cold, and all
+communication was carried on by sleighs, a very pleasant mode of
+travelling when the roads are smooth, but rather fatiguing when they are
+uneven, as the sleigh then jumps from hill to hill, like an oyster-shell
+thrown by a boy to skim the surface of the water.  To defend myself from
+the cold, I had put on, over my coat, and under my cloak, a wadded black
+silk dressing-gown; I thought nothing of it at the time, but I
+afterwards discovered that I was supposed to be one of the rebel priests
+escaping from justice.
+
+Although still in the English dominions, I had not been over on the
+opposite side more than a quarter of an hour before I perceived that it
+would be just as well to hold my tongue; and my adherence to this
+resolution, together with my supposed canonicals, were the cause of not
+a word being addressed to me by my fellow-travellers.  They presumed
+that I spoke French only, which they did not, and I listened in silence
+to all that passed.
+
+It is strange how easily the American people are excited, and when
+excited, they will hesitate at nothing.  The coach (for it was the
+stage-coach although represented by an open sleigh), stopped at every
+town, large or small, every body eager to tell and to receive the news.
+I always got out to warm myself at the stove in the bar, and heard all
+the remarks made upon what I do really believe were the most absurd and
+extravagant lies ever circulated--lies which the very people who uttered
+them knew to be such, but which produced the momentary effect intended.
+They were even put into the newspapers, and circulated every where; and
+when the truth was discovered, they still remained uncontradicted,
+except by a general remark that such was the Tory version of the matter,
+and of course was false.  The majority of those who travelled with me
+were Americans who had crossed the St Lawrence in the same boat, and
+who must, therefore, have known well the whole circumstances attending
+the expedition against St Eustache; but, to my surprise, at every place
+where we stopped they declared that there had been a battle between the
+insurgents and the King's troops, in which the insurgents had been
+victorious; that Sir John Colborne had been compelled to retreat to
+Montreal; that they had themselves seen the troops come back (which was
+true), and that Montreal was barricaded (which was also true) to prevent
+the insurgents from marching in.  I never said one word; I listened to
+the exultations--to the declarations of some that they should go and
+join the patriots, etcetera.  One man amused me by saying--"I've a great
+mind to go, but what I want is a good general to take the command; I
+want a Julius Caesar, or a Bonaparte, or a Washington--then I'll go."
+
+I stopped for some hours at St Alban's.  I was recommended to go to an
+inn, the landlord of which was said not to be of the democratic party,
+for the other two inns were the resort of the Sympathisers,--and in
+these, consequently, scenes of great excitement took place.  The
+landlord put into my hand a newspaper, published that day, containing a
+series of resolutions, founded upon such falsehoods that I thought it
+might be advantageous to refute them.  I asked the landlord whether I
+could see the editor of the paper; he replied that the party lived next
+door; and I requested that he would send for him, telling him that I
+could give him information relative to the affair of St Eustache.
+
+I had been shewn into a large sitting-room on the ground-floor, which I
+presumed was a private room, when the editor of the newspaper, attracted
+by the message I had sent him, came in.  I then pointed to the
+resolutions passed at the meeting, and asked him whether he would allow
+me to answer them in his paper.  His reply was, "Certainly; that his
+paper was open to all."
+
+"Well, then, call in an hour, and I will by that time prove to you that
+they can only be excused or accounted for by the parties who framed them
+being totally ignorant of the whole affair."
+
+He went away, but did not return at the time requested.  It was not
+until late in the evening that he came; and, avoiding the question of
+the resolutions, begged that I would give him the information relative
+to St Eustache.  As I presumed that, like most other editors in the
+United States, he dared not put in anything which would displease his
+subscribers, I said no more on that subject, but commenced dictating to
+him, while he wrote the particulars attending the St Eustache affair.
+I was standing by the stove, giving the editor this information, when
+the door of the room opened, and in walked seven or eight people, who,
+without speaking, took chairs; in a minute, another party of about the
+same number was ushered into the room by the landlord, who, I thought,
+gave me a significant look.  I felt surprised at what I thought an
+intrusion, as I had considered my room to be private; however, I
+appeared to take no notice of it, and continued dictating to the editor.
+The door opened again and again, and more chairs were brought in for
+the accommodation of the parties who entered, until at last the room was
+so full that I had but just room to walk round the stove.  Not a person
+said a word; they listened to what I was dictating to the editor, and I
+observed that they all looked rather fierce; but whether this was a
+public meeting, or what was to be the end of it, I had no idea.  At
+last, when I had finished, the editor took up his papers and left the
+room, in which I suppose there might have been from one hundred to a
+hundred and fifty persons assembled.  As soon as the door closed, one of
+them struck his thick stick on the floor (they most of them had sticks),
+and gave a loud "Hem!"
+
+"I believe, sir, that you are Captain M---."
+
+"Yes," replied I, "that is my name."
+
+"We are informed, sir, by the gentleman who has just gone out, that you
+have asserted that our resolutions of yesterday could only be excused or
+accounted for from our total ignorance."  Here he struck his stick again
+upon the floor, and paused.
+
+"Oh!" thinks I to myself, "the editor has informed against me!"
+
+"Now, sir," continued the spokesman, "we are come to be enlightened; we
+wish you to prove to us that we are totally ignorant; you will oblige us
+by an explanation of your assertion."
+
+He was again silent.  (Thinks I to myself, I'm in for it now, and if I
+get away without a broken head, or something worse, I am fortunate;
+however, here goes.)  Whereupon, without troubling the reader with what
+I did say, I will only observe, that I thought the best plan was to gain
+time by going back as far as I could.  I therefore commenced my oration
+at the period; when the Canadas were surrendered to the English;
+remarking upon the system which had been acted upon by our government
+from that time up to the present; proving, as well as I could, that the
+Canadians had nothing to complain of, and that if England had treated
+her other American colonies as well, there never would have been a
+declaration of independence, etcetera. etcetera.  Having spoken for
+about an hour, and observing a little impatience on the part of some of
+my company, I stopped.  Upon which, one rose and said, that there were
+several points not fully explained, referring to them one after another,
+whereupon "the honourable member rose to explain,"--and was again
+silent.  Another then spoke, requesting information as to points not
+referred to by me.  I replied, and fortunately had an opportunity of
+paying the Americans a just compliment; in gratitude for which their
+features relaxed considerably.  Perceiving this, I ventured to introduce
+a story or two, which made them laugh.  After this, the day was my own;
+for I consider the Americans, when not excited (which they too often
+are), as a very good-tempered people: at all events, they won't break
+your head for making them laugh; at least, such I found was the case.
+We now entered freely into conversation; some went away, others
+remained, and the affair ended by many of them shaking hands with me,
+and our taking a drink at the bar.
+
+I must say, that the first appearances of this meeting were not at all
+pleasant; but I was rightly served for my own want of caution, in so
+publicly stating, that the free and enlightened citizens of St Alban's
+were very ignorant, and for opposing public opinion at a time when the
+greatest excitement prevailed.  I have mentioned this circumstance, as
+it threws a great deal of light upon the character of the Yankee or
+American of the Eastern States.  They would not suffer opposition to the
+majority to pass unnoticed (who, in England, would have cared what a
+stranger may have expressed as his opinion); but, at the same time, they
+gave me a patient hearing, to knew whether I could shew cause for what I
+said.  Had I refused this, I might have been very roughly handled; but
+as I defended my observations, although they were not complimentary to
+them, they gave me fair play.  They were evidently much excited when
+they came into the room, but they gradually cooled down until convinced
+of the truth of my assertions; and then all animosity was over.  The
+landlord said to me afterwards, "I reckon you got out of that uncommon
+well, captain."  I perfectly agreed with him, and made a resolution to
+hold my tongue until I arrived at New York.
+
+The next day, as I was proceeding on my journey, I fell in with General
+Brown, celebrated for running away so fast at the commencement of the
+fight at St Charles.  He had a very fine pair of mustachios.  We both
+warmed our toes at the same stove in solemn silence.
+
+Sunday, at Burlington.--The young ladies are dressing up the church with
+festoons, and garlands of evergreens for the celebration of Christmas,
+and have pressed me into the service.  Last Sunday I was meditating over
+the blackened walls of the church at St Eustache, and the roasted
+corpses lying within its precincts; now I am in another church, weaving
+laurel and cypress, in company with some of the prettiest creatures in
+creation.  As the copy-book says, _variety is charming_.
+
+
+
+VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
+
+Philadelphia is certainly, in appearance, the most wealthy and imposing
+city in the Union.  It is well built, and ornamented with magnificent
+public edifices of white marble; indeed there is a great show of this
+material throughout the whole of the town, all the flights of steps to
+the doors, door-lintels, and window-sills, being very generally composed
+of this material.  The exterior of the houses, as well as the side
+pavement, are kept remarkably clean; and there is no intermixture of
+commerce, as there is at New York, the bustle of business being confined
+to the Quays, and one or two streets adjoining the river side.
+
+The first idea which strikes you when you arrive at Philadelphia, is
+that it is Sunday: every thing is so quiet, and there are so few people
+stirring; but by the time that you have paraded half a dozen streets,
+you come to a conclusion that it must be Saturday, as that day is,
+generally speaking, a washing-day.  Philadelphia is so admirably
+supplied with water from the Schuykill water-works, that every house has
+it laid on from the attic to the basement; and all day long they wash
+windows, door, marble step, and pavements in front of the houses.
+Indeed, they have so much water, that they can afford to be very liberal
+to passers-by.  One minute you have a shower-bath from a negress, who is
+throwing water at the windows on the first floor; and the next you have
+to hop over a stream across the pavement, occasioned by some black
+fellow, who, rather than go for a broom to sweep away any small portion
+of dust collected before his master's door, brings out the leather hose,
+attached to the hydrants, as they term them here, and fizzes away with
+it till the stream has forced the dust into the gutter.
+
+Of course, fire has no chance in this city.  Indeed, the two elements
+appear to have arranged that matter between them; fire has the ascendant
+in New York, while water reigns in Philadelphia.  If a fire does break
+out here, the housekeepers have not the fear of being _burnt_ to death
+before them; for the water is poured on in such torrents, that the
+furniture is washed out of the windows, and all that they have to look
+out for, is to escape from being drowned.
+
+The public institutions, such as libraries, museums, and the private
+cabinets of Philadelphia, are certainly very superior to those of any
+other city or town in America, Boston not excepted.  Every thing that is
+undertaken in this city is well done; no expense is spared, although
+they are not so rapid in their movements as at New York: indeed the
+affluence and ease pervading the place, with the general cultivation
+which invariably attend them, are evident to a stranger.
+
+Philadelphia has claimed for herself the title of the most aristocratic
+city in the Union.  If she refers to the aristocracy of wealth, I think
+she is justified; but if she would say the aristocracy of family, which
+is much more thought of by the few who can claim it, she must be content
+to divide that with Boston, Baltimore, Charlestown, and the other cities
+which can date as far back as herself.  One thing is certain, that in no
+city is there so much fuss made about lineage and descent; in no city
+are there so many cliques and sets in society, who keep apart from each
+other; and it is very often difficult to ascertain the grounds of their
+distinctions.  One family will live at No. 1, and another at No. 2 in
+the same street, both have similar establishments, both keep their
+carriages, both be well educated, and both may talk of their
+grandfathers and grandmothers; and yet No. 1 will tell you that No. 2 is
+nobody, and you must not visit there; and when you enquire why? there is
+no other answer, but that they are not of the right sort.  As long as a
+portion are rich and a portion are poor, there is a line of demarcation
+easy to be drawn, even in a democracy; but in Philadelphia, where there
+are so many in affluent circumstances, that line has been effaced, and
+they now seek an imaginary one, like the equinoctial, which none can be
+permitted to pass without going through the ceremonies of perfect
+ablution.  This social contest, as may be supposed, is carried on among
+those who have no real pretensions; but there are many old and
+well-connected families in Philadelphia, whose claims are universally,
+although perhaps unwillingly, acknowledged.
+
+I doubt if the claims of Boston to be the most scientific city in the
+Union, can be now established.  I met a greater number of scientific men
+in Philadelphia than I did in Boston; and certainly the public and
+private collections in the former city are much superior.  The
+collection of shells and minerals belonging to Mr Lee, who is well
+known as an author and a naturalist, is certainly the most interesting I
+saw in the States, and I passed two days in examining it: it must have
+cost him much trouble and research.
+
+The Girard College, when finished, will be a most splendid building.  It
+is, however, as they have now planned it, incorrect, according to the
+rules of architecture, in the number of columns on the sides in
+proportion to those in front.  This is a great pity; perhaps the plan
+will be re-considered, as there is plenty of time to correct it, as well
+as money to defray the extra expense.
+
+The water-works at Schuykill are well worth a visit, not only for their
+beauty, but their simplicity.  The whole of the river Schuykill is
+dammed up, and forms a huge water-power, which forces up the supply of
+water for the use of the city.  As I presume that river has a god as
+well as others, I can imagine his indignation, not only at his waters
+being diverted from his channel, but at being himself obliged to do all
+the work for the benefit of his tyrannical masters.
+
+I have said that the museums of Philadelphia are far superior to most in
+the States; but I may just as well here observe, that, as in many other
+things, a great improvement is necessary before they are such as they
+ought to be.  There is not only in these museums, but in all that I have
+ever entered in the United States, a want of taste and discrimination,
+of that correct feeling which characterises the real lovers of science,
+and knowledge of what is worthy of being collected.  They are such
+collections as would be made by school-boys and school-girls, not those
+of erudite professors and scientific men.  Side by side with the most
+interesting and valuable specimens, such as the fossil mammoth,
+etcetera, you have the greatest puerilities and absurdities in the
+world--such as a cherry-stone formed into a basket, a fragment of the
+boiler of the Moselle steamer, and Heaven knows what besides.  Then you
+invariably have a large collection of daubs, called portraits, of
+eminent personages, one-half of whom a stranger never heard of--but that
+is national vanity; and lastly, I do not recollect to have seen a museum
+that had not a considerable portion of its space occupied by most
+execrable wax-work, in which the sleeping beauty (a sad misnomer)
+generally figures very conspicuously.  In some, they have models of
+celebrated criminals in the act of committing a murder, with the very
+hatchet or the very knife: or such trophies as the bonnet worn by Mrs
+-- when she was killed by her husband; or the shirt, with the blood of
+his wife on it, worn by Jack Sprat, or whoever he might be, when he
+committed the bloody deed.  The most favourite subject, after the
+sleeping beauty in the wax-work, is General Jackson, with the battle of
+New Orleans in the distance.  Now all these things are very well in
+their places: exhibit wax-work as much as you please--it amuses and
+interests children; but the present collections in the museums remind
+you of American society--a chaotic mass, in which you occasionally meet
+what is valuable and interesting, but of which the larger proportion is
+pretence.
+
+It was not until I had been some time in Philadelphia that I became
+convinced how very superior the free coloured people were in
+intelligence and education, to what, from my knowledge of them in our
+West-India Islands, I had ever imagined them capable of.  Not that I
+mean to imply that they will ever attain to the same powers of intellect
+as the white man, for I really believe that the race are not formed for
+it by the Almighty.  I do not mean to say that there _never_ will be
+great men among the African race, but that such instances will always be
+very _rare_, compared to the numbers produced among the white.  But this
+is certain, that in Philadelphia the free coloured people are a very
+respectable class, and, in my opinion, quite as intelligent as the more
+humble of the free whites.  I have been quite surprised to see them take
+out their pencils, write down and calculate with quickness and
+precision, and in every other point shew great intelligence and
+keenness.
+
+In this city they are both numerous and wealthy.  The most extravagant
+funeral I saw in Philadelphia was that of a black; the coaches were very
+numerous, as well as the pedestrians, who were all well dressed, and
+behaving with the utmost decorum.  They were preceded by a black
+clergyman, dressed in his full black silk canonicals.  He did look very
+odd, I must confess.
+
+Singular is the degree of contempt and dislike in which the free blacks
+are held in all the free States of America.  They are deprived of their
+rights as citizens; and the white pauper, who holds out his hand for
+charity (and there is no want of beggars in Philadelphia), will turn
+away from a negro, or coloured man, with disdain.  It is the same thing
+in the Eastern States, notwithstanding their religious professions.  In
+fact, in the United States, a negro, from his colour, and I believe his
+colour alone, is a degraded being.  Is not this extraordinary, in a land
+which professes universal liberty, equality, and the rights of man?  In
+England this is not the case.  In private society no one objects to sit
+in company with a man of colour, provided he has the necessary education
+and respectability.  Nor, indeed, is it the case in the Slave States,
+where I have frequently seen a lady in a public conveyance with her
+negress sitting by her, and no objection has been raised by the other
+parties in the coach; but in the Free States a man of colour is not
+admitted into a stage coach; and in all other public places, such as
+theatres, churches, etcetera, there is always a portion divided off for
+the negro population, that they may not be mixed up with the whites.
+When I first landed at New York, I had a specimen of this feeling.
+Fastened by a rope yarn to the rudder chains of a vessel next in the
+tier, at the wharf to which the packet had hauled in, I perceived the
+body of a black man, turning over and over with the ripple of the waves.
+I was looking at it, when a lad came up: probably his curiosity was
+excited by my eyes being fixed in that direction.  He looked, and
+perceiving the object, turned away with disdain, saying, "Oh, it's only
+a nigger."
+
+And all the Free States in America respond to the observation, "It's
+only a nigger."  [See note 1.] At the time that I was at Philadelphia a
+curious cause was decided.  A coloured man of the name of James Fortin,
+who was, I believe, a sailmaker by profession, but at all events a
+person not only of the highest respectability, but said to be worth
+150,000 dollars, appealed because he was not permitted to vote at
+elections, and claimed his right as a free citizen.  The cause was
+tried, and the verdict, a very lengthy one, was given by the judge
+against him, I have not that verdict in my possession; but I have the
+opinion of the Supreme Court on one which was given before, and I here
+insert it as a curiosity.  It is a remarkable feature in the tyranny and
+injustice of this case, that although James Fortin was not considered
+white enough (he is, I believe, a mulatto) to _vote_ as a citizen, he
+has always been quite white enough to be _taxed_ as one, and has to pay
+his proportion, (which, from the extent of his business, is no trifle)
+of all the rates and assessments considered requisite for the support of
+the poor, and improving and beautifying that city, of which he is
+declared not to be a citizen.
+
+Although the decision of the Supreme Court enters into a lengthened
+detail, yet as it is very acute and argumentative, and touches upon
+several other points equally anomalous to the boasted freedom of the
+American institutions, I wish the reader would peruse it carefully, as
+it will amply repay him for his trouble; and it is that he _may_ read
+it, that I have not inserted it in an Appendix.
+
+The question arose upon a writ of error to the judgment of the Common
+Pleas of Luzerne county, in an action by Wm. Fogg, a negro, against
+Hiram Hobbs, inspector, and Levi Baldwin and others, judges of the
+election, for refusing his vote.  In the Court below the plaintiff
+recovered.  The Supreme Court being of opinion that a negro has not a
+right to vote under the present constitution, reversed the judgment.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+"Respectfully, FRED.  WATTS.
+
+"Wm. Fogg _versus_ Hiram Hobbs and others.
+
+"The opinion of the Court was delivered by Gibson, CJ.
+
+"This record raises, a second time, the only question on a phrase in the
+Constitution which has occurred since its adoption; and, however
+partisans may have disputed the clearness and precision of phraseology,
+we have often been called upon to enforce its limitations of legislative
+power; but the business of interpretation was incidental, and the
+difficulty was not in the diction, but in the uncertainty of the act to
+which it was to be applied.  I have said a question on the meaning of a
+phrase has arisen a second time.  It would be more accurate to say the
+_same_ question has arisen the second time.  About the year 1795, as I
+have it from James Gibson, Esquire, of the Philadelphia bar, the very
+point before us was ruled by the High Court of Errors and Appeals
+against the right of negro suffrage.  Mr Gibson declined an invitation
+to be concerned in the argument, and therefore has no memorandum of the
+cause to direct us to the record.  I have had the office searched for
+it; but the papers had fallen into such disorder as to preclude a hope
+of its discovery.  Most of them were imperfect, and many were lost or
+misplaced.  But Mr Gibson's remembrance of the decision is perfect, and
+entitled to full confidence.  That the case was not reported, is
+probably owing to the fact that the judges gave no reasons; and the
+omission is the more to be regretted, as a report of it would have put
+the question at rest, and prevented much unpleasant excitement.  Still,
+the judgment is not the less authoritative as a precedent.  Standing as
+the court of last resort, that tribunal bore the name relation to this
+court that the Supreme Court does to the Common Pleas; and as its
+authority could not be questioned then, it cannot be questioned now.
+The point, therefore, is not open to discussion on original grounds.
+
+"But the omission of the judges renders it proper to show that their
+decision was founded in the true principles of the constitution.  In the
+first section of the third article it is declared, that `in elections by
+the citizens, every _freeman_ of the age of twenty-one years, having
+resided in the State two years before the election, and having within
+that time paid _a state or county tax_,' shall enjoy the rights of an
+elector.  Now, the argument of those who assert the claim of the
+coloured population is, that a negro is a _man_; and when not held to
+involuntary service, that he is free, consequently that he is a
+_freeman_; and if a freeman in the common acceptation of the term, then
+a freeman in every acceptation of it.  This pithy and syllogistic
+sentence comprises the whole argument, which, however elaborated,
+perpetually goes back to the point from which it started.  The fallacy
+of it is its assumption that the term `freedom' signifies nothing but
+exemption from involuntary service; and that it has not a legal
+signification more specific.  The freedom of a municipal corporation, or
+body politic, implies fellowship and participation, of corporate rights;
+but an inhabitant of an incorporated place, who is neither servant nor
+slave, though bound by its laws, may be no freeman in respect to its
+government.  It has indeed been affirmed by text writers, that
+habitance, paying scot and lot, give an incidental right to corporate
+freedom; but the courts have refused to acknowledge it, even when the
+charter seemed to imply it; and when not derived from prescription or
+grant, it has been deemed a qualification merely, and not a title.
+(_Wilcox_, chap. iii. p. 456.)  Let it not be said that the legal
+meaning of the word freeman is peculiar to British corporations, and
+that we have it not in the charters and constitutions of Pennsylvania.
+The laws agreed upon in England in May 1682, use the word in this
+specific sense, and even furnish a definition of it: `Every inhabitant
+of the said province that is, or shall be, a purchaser of one hundred
+acres of land or upwards, his heirs or assigns, and every person who
+shall have paid his passage, and shall have taken up one hundred acres
+of land, at a penny an acre, and have cultivated ten acres thereof; and
+every person that hath been a servant or bondsman, and is free by his
+service, that shall have taken up his fifty acres of land, and shall
+have cultivated twenty thereof; and every inhabitant, artificer, or
+other resident in the said province, that pays scot and lot to the
+government, _shall be deemed and accounted a *freeman* of the said
+province_; and every such person shall be capable of electing, or being
+elected, representatives of the people in provincial council, or general
+assembly of the said province.'  Now, why this minute and elaborate
+detail?  Had it been intended that all but servants and slaves should be
+freemen to every intent, it had been easier and more natural to say so.
+But it was not intended.  It was foreseen that there would be
+inhabitants, neither planters nor taxable, who, though free as the
+winds, might be unsafe depositories of popular power; and the design
+was, to admit no man to the freedom of the province who had not a stake
+in it.  That the clause which relates to freedom by service was not
+intended for manumitted slaves is evident, from the fact that there were
+none; and it regarded not slavery, but limited servitude expired by
+efflux of time.  At that time, certainly, the case of a manumitted
+slave, or of his free-born progeny, was not contemplated as one to be
+provided for in the founder's scheme of policy: I have quoted the
+passage, however, to show that the word freeman was applied in a
+peculiar sense to the political compact of our ancestors, resting like a
+corporation, on a charter from the crown; and exactly as it was applied
+to bodies politic at home.  In entire consonance, it was declared in the
+Act of Union, given at Chester in the same year, that strangers and
+foreigners holding land `according to the law of a freeman,' and
+promising obedience to the proprietary, as well as allegiance to the
+crown, `shall be held and reputed freemen of the province and counties
+aforesaid;' and it was further declared, that when a foreigner `shall
+make his request to the governor of the province _for the aforesaid
+freedom_, the same person shall be _admitted_ on the conditions herein
+expressed, paying twenty shillings sterling, and no more:'--modes of
+expression peculiarly appropriate to corporate fellowship.  The word in
+the same sense pervades the charter of privileges, the act of
+settlement, and the act of naturalisation, in the preamble to the last
+of which it was said, that some of the inhabitants were `foreigners and
+not freemen, according to the acceptation of the laws of England;' it
+held its place also in the legislative style of enactment down to the
+adoption of the present constitution; after which, the words `by and
+with the advice and consent of the freemen,' were left out, and the
+present style substituted.  Thus, till the instant when the phrase on
+which the question turns was penned, the term freeman had a peculiar and
+specific sense, being used like the term citizen, which supplanted it,
+to denote one who had a voice in public affairs.  The citizens were
+denominated freemen even in the constitution of 1776; and under the
+present constitution, the word, though dropped in the style, was used in
+legislative acts, convertible with electors, so late as the year 1798,
+when it grew into disuse.  In an act passed the 4th of April in that
+year for the establishment of certain election districts, it was, for
+the first time, used indiscriminately with that word; since when it has
+been entirely disused.  Now, it will not be pretended, that the
+legislature meant to have it inferred, that every one not a freeman
+within the purview, should be deemed a slave; and how can a convergent
+intent be collected from the same word in the constitution, that every
+one not a slave is to be accounted an elector?  Except for the word
+citizen, which stands in the context also as a term of qualification, an
+affirmance of these propositions would extend the right of suffrage to
+aliens; and to admit of any exception to the argument, its force being
+derived from the supposed universality of the term, would destroy it.
+Once concede that there may be a freeman in one sense of it, who is not
+so in another, and the whole ground is surrendered.  In what sense,
+then, must the convention of 1790 be supposed to have used the term?
+questionless in that which it had acquired by use in public acts and
+legal proceedings, for the reason that a dubious staite is to be
+expounded by usage.  `The meaning of things spoken and written, must be
+as hath been constantly received.'  (Vaugh. 169.)  On this principle, it
+is difficult to discover how the word freeman, as used in previous
+public acts, could have been meant to comprehend a coloured race: as
+well might it be supposed, that the declaration of universal and
+unalienable freedom in both our constitutions was meant to comprehend
+it.  Nothing was ever more comprehensively predicted, and a practical
+enforcement of it would have liberated every slave in the State; yet
+mitigated slavery long continued to exist among us, in derogation of it.
+Rules of interpretation demand a strictly verbal construction of
+nothing but a penal statute; and a constitution is to be construed still
+more liberally than even a remedial one, because a convention
+legislating for masses, can do little more than mark an outline of
+fundamental principles, leaving the interior gyrations and details to be
+filled up by ordinary legislation.  `Conventions intended to regulate
+the conduct of nations,' said Chief Justice Tilghman, in the Farmers'
+Bank versus Smith, 3 Sergt. and Rawl. 69, `are not to be construed like
+articles of agreement at the common law.  It is of little importance to
+the public, whether a tract of land belongs to A or B.  In deciding
+these titles, strict rules of construction may be adhered to; and it is
+best that they should be adhered to, though sometimes at the expense of
+justice.  But where multitudes are to be affected by the construction of
+an amendment, great regard is to be paid to the spirit and intention.'
+What better key to these, than the tone of antecedent legislation
+discoverable in the application of the disputed terms.
+
+"But in addition to interpretation from usage, this antecedent
+legislation furnishes other proofs that no coloured race was party to
+our social compact.  As was justly remarked by President Fox, in the
+matter of the late contested election, our ancestors settled the
+province as a community of white men, and the blacks were introduced
+into it as a race of slaves, whence an unconquerable prejudice of caste,
+which has come down to our day, insomuch that a suspicion of taint still
+has the unjust effect of sinking the subject of it below the common
+level.  Consistently with this prejudice, is it to be credited that
+parity of rank would be allowed to such a race?  Let the question be
+answered by the statute of 1726, which denominated it an idle and a
+slothful people; which directed the magistrates to bind out free negroes
+for laziness or vagrancy; which forbade them to harbour Indian or
+mulatto slaves, on pain of punishment by fine, or to deal with negro
+slaves, on pain of stripes; which annexed to the interdict of marriage
+with a white, the penalty of reduction to slavery; which punished them
+for tippling with stripes, and even a white person with servitude for
+intermarriage with a negro.  If freemen, in a political sense, were
+subjects of these cruel and degrading oppressions, what must have been
+the lot of their brethren in bondage?  It is also true, that degrading
+conditions were sometimes assigned to white men, but never as members of
+a caste.  Insolvent debtors, to indicate the worst of them, are
+compelled to make satisfaction by servitude; but that was borrowed from
+a kindred, and still less rational, principle of the common law.  This
+act of 1726, however, remained in force, till it was repealed by the
+Emancipating Act of 1789; and it is irrational to believe, that the
+progress of liberal sentiments was so rapid in the next ten years,--as
+to produce a determination in the convention of 1790 to raise this
+depressed race to the level of the white one.  If such were its purpose,
+it is strange that the word chosen to effect it should have been the
+very one chosen by the convention of 1776 to designate a white elector.
+`Every freeman,' it is said, (chap. 2, sect. 6,) `of the full age of
+twenty-one years, having resided in this State for the space of one
+whole year before the day of election, and paid taxes during that time,
+shall enjoy the rights of an elector.'  Now, if the word freeman were
+not potent enough to admit a free negro to suffrage under the first
+constitution, it is difficult to discern a degree of magic in the
+intervening plan of emancipation sufficient to give it potency, in the
+apprehension of the convention, under the second.
+
+"The only thing in the history of the convention which casts a doubt
+upon the intent, is the fact, that the word _white_ was prefixed to the
+word freeman in the report of the committee, and _subsequently struck_
+out--probably because it was thought superfluous, or still more
+probably, because it was feared that respectable men of dark complexion
+would often be insulted at the polls, by objections to their colour.  I
+have heard it said, that Mr Gallatin sustained his motion to strike out
+on the latter ground.  Whatever the motive, the disseverence is
+insufficient to wrap the interpretation of a word of such settled and
+determinate meaning as the one which remained.  A legislative body
+speaks to the judiciary, only through its final act, and expresses its
+will in the words of it; and though their meaning may be influenced by
+the sense in which they have usually been applied to extrinsic matters,
+we cannot receive an explanation of them from what has been moved or
+said in debate.  The place of a judge is his forum--not the legislative
+hall.  Were he even disposed to pry into the motives of the members, it
+would be impossible for him to ascertain them; and, in attempting to
+discover the ground on which the conclusion was obtained, it is not
+probable that a member of the majority could indicate any that was
+common to all; previous prepositions are merged in the act of
+consummation, and the interpreter of it must look to that alone.
+
+"I have thought it fair to treat the question as it stands affected by
+our own municipal regulations, without illustration from those of other
+States, where the condition of the race has been still less favoured.
+Yet it is proper to say, that the second section of the fourth article
+of the Federal Constitution presents an obstacle to the political
+freedom of the negro, which seems to be insuperable.  It is to be
+remembered that citizenship, as well as freedom, is a constitutional
+qualification; and how it could be conferred, so as to overbear the
+laws, imposing countless disabilities on him in other States, is a
+problem of difficult solution.  In this aspect, the question becomes
+one, not of intention, but of power; so doubtful, as to forbid the
+exercise of it.  Every man must lament the necessity of the
+disabilities; but slavery is to be dealt with by those whose existence
+depends on the skill with which it is treated.  Considerations of mere
+humanity, however, belong to a class with which, as judges, we have
+nothing to do; and, interpreting the constitution in the spirit of our
+own institutions, we are bound to pronounce that men of colour are
+destitute of title to the elective franchise: their blood, however, may
+become so diluted in successive descent, as to lose its distinctive
+character; and then both policy and justice require that previous
+disabilities should cease.  By the amended constitution of North
+Carolina, no free negro, mulatto, or free person of mixed blood,
+descended from negro ancestors to the fourth generation inclusive,
+_though one ancestor of each generation may have been a white person_,
+shall vote for the legislature.  I regret to say, no similar regulation,
+for practical purposes, has been attempted here; in consequence of
+which, every case of disputed colour must be determined by no particular
+rule, but by the discretion of the judges; and thus a great
+constitutional right, even under the proposed amendments of the
+constitution, will be left the sport of caprice.  In conclusion, we are
+of opinion the court erred in directing that the plaintiff could have
+his action against the defendant for the rejection of his vote.
+Judgment reversed."
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+It will be observed by those who have had patience to read through so
+long a legal document, that reference is made to the unjust prejudice
+against any taint of the African blood.  There is an existing proof of
+the truth of this remark, in the case of one of the most distinguished
+members of the House of Representatives.  This gentleman has some
+children who are not of pure blood; but, to his honour, he has done his
+duty by them, he has educated them, and received them into his house as
+his acknowledged daughters.  What is the consequence?  Why, it is
+considered that by so doing he has outraged society; and whenever they
+want to raise a cry against him, this is the charge, and very injurious
+it is to his popularity,--"that he has done his duty as a father and a
+Christian."
+
+"Captain Marryat, we are a very moral people!"
+
+The laws of the State relative to the intermarriage of the whites with
+the coloured population are also referred to.  A case of this kind took
+place at New York when I was there; and as soon as the ceremony was
+over, the husband, I believe it was, but either the husband or the wife,
+was seized by the mob, and put under the pump for half an hour.  At
+Boston, similar modes of expressing public opinion have been adopted,
+notwithstanding that that city is the stronghold of the abolitionists.
+
+It also refers to the white slavery, which was not abolished until the
+year 1789.  Previous to that period, a man who arrived out, from the old
+continent, and could not pay his passage, was put up to auction for the
+amount of his debt, and was compelled to serve until he had worked it
+out with the purchaser.  But not only for the debt of passage-money, but
+for other debts, a white man was put up to auction, and sold to the best
+bidder.  They tell a curious story, for the truth of which I cannot
+vouch, of a lawyer, a very clever but dissipated and extravagant man,
+who, having contracted large debts and escaped to New Jersey, was taken
+and put up to auction; a keen Yankee purchased him, and took him
+regularly round to all the circuits to plead causes, and made a very
+considerable sum out of him before his time expired.
+
+I have observed that Mr Fortin, the coloured man, was considered quite
+white enough to pay taxes.  It is usually considered in this country,
+that by going to America you avoid taxation, but such is not the case.
+The municipal taxes are not very light.  I could not obtain any very
+satisfactory estimates from the other cities, but I gained thus much
+from Philadelphia.
+
+The assessments are on property.
+
+City Tax, 70 cents upon the 100 dollars valuation.
+
+County Tax, 65 cents upon ditto.
+
+_Poor's_ Rate, 40 cents.
+
+Taxes on Horses, 1 dollar each.
+
+Taxes on Dogs, half a dollar each.
+
+_Poll_ Tax, from a quarter dollar to 4 dollars each person.
+
+It is singular that such a tax as the _poll_ tax, that which created the
+insurrection of Wat Tyler in England, should have forced its way into a
+democracy.  In the collection of their taxes, they are quite as summary
+as they are in England.  This is the notice:
+
+  "You are hereby informed, that your property is included in a list of
+  delinquents now preparing, and will be advertised and sold for the
+  assessments due thereon.  (This being the last call.)
+
+  "Your immediate attention will save the costs of advertising, sale,
+  etcetera.
+
+  "-- Collector.
+
+  "Collector's Office, Number 1, State of --."
+
+It is a strange fact, and one which must have attracted the reader's
+notice, that there should be a poor's rate in America, where there is
+work for every body; and still stranger that there should be one in the
+city of Philadelphia, in which, perhaps, there are more beneficent and
+charitable institutions than in any city in the world of the same
+population: notwithstanding this there are many mendicants in the
+street.  All this arises from the advantage taken of an unwise
+philanthropy in the first place, many people preferring to live upon
+alms in preference to labour; and next from the state of destitution to
+which many of the emigrants are reduced after their arrival, and before
+they can obtain employment.  Indeed, not only Philadelphia, but
+Baltimore and New York, are equally charged for the support of these
+people--the two first by legal enactment, the latter by voluntary
+subscription.  And it is much to the credit of the inhabitants of all
+these cities that the charge is paid cheerfully, and that an appeal is
+never made in vain.
+
+But let the Americans beware: the poor rate at present is trifling--40
+cents in the 100 dollars, or about 1.75 pence in the pound; but they
+must recollect, that they were not more in England about half a century
+back, and see to what they have risen now!  It is the principle which is
+bad.  There are now in Philadelphia more than 1,500 paupers, who live
+entirely upon the public, but who, if relief had not been continued to
+them, would, in all probability, by this time, have found their way to
+where their labour is required.  The Philadelphians are proverbially
+generous and charitable; but they should remember that in thus yielding
+to the dictates of their hearts, they are sowing the seeds of what will
+prove a bitter curse to their posterity.  See note 2.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Note 1.  "On the whole, I cannot help considering it a mistake to
+suppose that slavery has been abolished in the Northern States of the
+Union.  It is true, indeed, that in these States the power of compulsory
+labour no longer exists; and that one human being within their limits
+can no longer claim property in the thews and sinews of another.  But is
+this all that is implied in the boon of freedom? if the word mean
+anything, it must mean the enjoyment of equal rights, and the unfettered
+exercise in each individual of such powers and faculties as God has
+given.  In this true meaning of the word, it may be safely asserted that
+this poor degraded class are still slaves--they are subject to the most
+grinding and humiliating of all slaveries, that of universal and
+unconquerable prejudice.  The whip, indeed, has been removed from the
+back of the negro; but the chains are still upon his limbs, and he bears
+the brand of degradation on his forehead.  What is it but the mere abuse
+of language to call him _free_, who is tyrannically deprived of all the
+motives to exertion which animate other men?  The law, in truth, has
+left him in that most pitiable of all conditions--_a masterless
+slave_."--_Hamilton's Men and Manners in America_.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Note 2.  Miss Martineau, who is not always wrong, in her remarks upon
+pauperism in the United States, observes:--"The amount, altogether, is
+far from commensurate with the charity of the community; and it is to be
+hoped that the curse of a legal charity will be avoided in a country
+where it certainly cannot become necessary within any assignable time.
+I was grieved to see the magnificent Pauper Asylum near Philadelphia,
+made to accommodate, luxuriously, 1,200 persons; and to have its
+arrangements pointed out to me, as yielding more comforts to the inmates
+than the labourer could secure at home by any degree of industry and
+prudence."
+
+
+
+VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
+
+Washington.  Here are assembled from every State in the Union what ought
+to be the collected talent, intelligence, and high principle of a free
+and enlightened nation.  Of talent and intelligence there is a very fair
+supply, but principle is not so much in demand; and in everything, and
+everywhere, by the demand the supply is always regulated.
+
+Everybody knows that _Washington_ has a Capitol; but the misfortune is
+that the Capitol wants a city.  There it stands, reminding you of a
+general without an army, only surrounded and followed by a parcel of
+ragged little dirty boys, for such is the appearance of the dirty,
+straggling, ill-built houses which lie at the foot of it.
+
+Washington, notwithstanding, is an agreeable city, full of pleasant
+clever people, who come there to amuse and be amused; and you observe in
+the company (although you occasionally meet some very queer importations
+from the Western settlements) much more _usage du monde_ and continental
+ease than in any other parts of the State.  A large portion of those who
+come up for the meeting of Congress, as well as of the residents, having
+travelled, and thereby gained more respect for other nations, are
+consequently not so conceited about their own country as are the
+majority of other Americans.
+
+If anything were required to make Washington a more agreeable place than
+it is at all times, the arrival and subsequent conduct of Mr Fox as
+British Ambassador would be sufficient.  His marked attention to all
+Americans of respectability: his _empressement_ in returning the calls
+of English gentlemen who may happen to arrive, his open house; his
+munificent allowance dedicated wholly to the giving of fetes and dinner
+parties as his Sovereign's representative; and, above all, his excessive
+urbanity, can never be forgotten by those who have ever visited the
+Capitol.
+
+The Chamber of the House of Representatives is a fine room, and taking
+the average of the orations delivered there, it possesses this one great
+merit--_you cannot hear in it_.  Were I to make a comparison between the
+members of our House of Commons and those of the House of
+Representatives, I should say that the latter had certainly real
+advantages.  In the first place; the members of the American Senate and
+House of Representatives are paid, not only their travelling expenses to
+and fro, but eight dollars a day during the sitting of Congress.  Out of
+these allowances many save money, and those who do not, are at all
+events enabled to bring their families up to Washington for a little
+amusement.  In the next place, they are so comfortably accommodated in
+the house, every man having his own well-stuffed arm-chair, and before
+him his desk, with his papers and notes!  Then they are supplied with
+everything, even to pen-knives with their names engraved on them--each
+knife having two pen-blades, one whittling blade, and a fourth to clean
+their nails with, showing on the part of the government, a paternal
+regard for their cleanliness as well as convenience.  Moreover, they
+never work at night, and do very little during the day.
+
+It is astonishing how little work they get through in a session at
+Washington: this is owing to every member thinking himself obliged to
+make two or three speeches, not for the good of the nation, but for the
+benefit of his constituents.  These speeches are printed and sent to
+them, to prove that their member makes some noise in the house.  The
+subject upon which he speaks is of little consequence, compared to the
+sentiments expressed.  It must be full of eagles, star-spangled banners,
+sovereign people, clap-trap, flattery, and humbug.  I have said that
+very little business is done in these houses; but this is caused not
+only by their long-winded speeches about nothing, but by the fact that
+both parties (in this respect laudably following the example of the old
+country) are chiefly occupied, the one with the paramount and vital
+consideration of keeping in, and the other with that of getting in,--
+thus allowing the business of the nation, (which after all is not very
+important, unless such a trump as the Treasury Bill turns up,) to become
+a very secondary consideration.
+
+And yet there are principle and patriotism among the members of the
+legislature, and the more to be appreciated from their rarity.  Like the
+seeds of beautiful flowers, which, when cast upon a manure-heap, spring
+up in greater luxuriance and beauty, and yield a sweeter perfume from
+the rankness which surrounds them, so do these virtues show with more
+grace and attractiveness from the hot-bed of corruption in which they
+have been engendered.  But there has been a sad falling-off in America
+since the last war, which brought in the democratic party with General
+Jackson.  America, if she would wish her present institutions to
+continue, must avoid war; the best security for her present form of
+government existing another half century, is a state of tranquillity and
+peace; but of that hereafter.  As for the party at present in power, all
+I can say in its favour is, that there are three clever gentlemen in
+it--Mr Van Buren, Mr Poinsett, and Mr Forsyth.  There may be more,
+but I know so little of them, that I must be excused if I do not name
+them, which otherwise I should have had great pleasure in doing.
+
+Mr Van Buren is a very gentleman-like, intelligent man; very proud of
+talking over his visit to England, and the English with whom he was
+acquainted.  It is remarkable that, although at the head of the
+democratic party, Mr Van Buren has taken a step striking at the very
+roots of their boasted equality, and one on which General Jackson did
+not venture--i.e. he has prevented the mobocracy from intruding
+themselves at his levees.  The police are now stationed at the door, to
+prevent the intrusion of any improper person.  A few years ago, a fellow
+would drive his cart, or hackney coach, up to the door; walk into the
+saloon in all his dirt, and force his way to the president, that he
+might shake him by the one hand; whilst he flourished his whip in the
+other.  The revolting scenes which took place when refreshments were
+handed round, the injury done to the furniture, and the disgust of the
+ladies, may be well imagined.  Mr Van Buren deserves great credit for
+this step, for it was a bold one; but I must not praise him too much, or
+he may lose his next election.
+
+The best lounge at Washington is the library of the Capitol, but the
+books are certainly not very well treated.  I saw a copy of Audubon's
+Ornithology, and many other valuable works, in a very dilapidated state,
+but this must be the case when the library is open to all, and there are
+so many juvenile visitors.  Still it is much better than locking it up,
+for only the bindings to be looked at.  It is not a library for show,
+but for use, and is a great comfort and amusement.
+
+There are three things in great request amongst Americans of all
+classes,--male, I mean,--to wit, oysters, spirits, and tobacco.  The
+first and third are not prohibited by Act of Congress and may be sold in
+the Capitol, but spirituous liquors may not.  I wondered how the members
+could get on without them, but upon this point I was soon enlightened.
+Below the basement of the building is an oyster shop and refectory.  The
+refectory has been permitted by Congress upon the express stipulation
+that no spirituous liquors should be sold there, but law-makers are too
+often law-breakers all over the world.  You go there and ask for pale
+sherry, and they hand you gin; brown sherry, and it is brandy; madeira,
+whisky; and thus do these potent, grave, and reverend signors evade
+their own laws, beneath the very hall wherein they were passed in solemn
+conclave.
+
+It appears that tobacco is considered very properly as an article of
+fashion.  At a store close to the hotel, the board outside informs you
+that among fashionable requisites to be found there, are gentlemen's
+shirts, collars, gloves, silk handkerchiefs, and the best chewing
+tobacco.  But not only at Washington but at other large towns I have
+seen at silk-mercers and hosiers this notice stuck up in the
+window--"_Dulcissimus_ chewing tobacco."  So prevalent is the habit of
+chewing, and so little, from long custom, do the ladies care about it,
+that I have been told that many young ladies in the South carry, in
+their work-boxes, etcetera, pigtail, nicely ornamented with gold and
+coloured papers; and when their swains are at fault administer to their
+wants, thus meriting their affections by such endearing solicitude.
+
+I was rather amused in the Senate at hearing the claims of parties who
+had suffered during the last war, and had hitherto not received any
+redress, discussed for adjudication.  One man's claim, for instance, was
+for a cow, value thirty dollars, eaten up, of course, by the Britishers.
+It would naturally be supposed that such claims were unworthy of the
+attention of such a body as the Senate, or, when brought forward, would
+have been allowed without comment: but it was not so.  The member who
+saves the public money always finds favour in the eyes of the people,
+and therefore every member tries to save as much as he can, except when
+he is himself a party concerned.  And there was as much arguing and
+objecting, and discussion of the merits of this man's claim, as there
+would be in the English House of Commons at passing the Navy Estimates.
+Eventually he lost it.  The claims of the Fulton family were also
+brought forward, when I was present, in the House of Representatives.
+Fulton was certainly the father of steam-navigation in America, and to
+his exertions and intelligence America may consider herself in a great
+degree indebted for her present prosperity.  It once required six or
+seven months to ascend the Mississippi, a passage which is now performed
+in fifteen days.  Had it not been for Fulton's genius, the West would
+still have remained a wild desert, and the now flourishing
+cotton-growing States would not yet have yielded the crops which are the
+staple of the Union.  The claim of his surviving relatives was a mere
+nothing, in comparison with the debt of gratitude owing to that great
+man: yet member after member rose to oppose it with all the ingenuity of
+argument.  One asserted that the merit of the invention did not belong
+to Fulton; another, that even if it did, his relatives certainly could
+found no claim upon it; a third rose and declared that he would prove
+that, so far from the government owing money to Fulton, Fulton was in
+debt to the government.  And thus did they go on, showing to their
+constituents how great was their consideration for the public money, and
+to the world (if another proof were required) how little gratitude is to
+be found in a democracy.  The bill was thrown out, and the race of
+Fultons left to the chance of starving, for anything that the American
+nation seemed to care to the contrary.  Whitney, the inventor of the gin
+for clearing the cotton of its seeds (perhaps the next greatest boon
+ever given to America), was treated in the same way.  And yet, on
+talking over the question, there were few of the members who did not
+individually acknowledge the justice of their claims, and the duty of
+the State to attend to them: but the _majority_ would not have permitted
+it, and when they went back to their constituents to be re-elected, it
+would have been urged against them that they had voted away the public
+money, and they would have had the difficult task of proving that the
+interests of the _majority_, and of the majority alone, had regulated
+their conduct in Congress.
+
+There was one event of exciting interest which occurred during my short
+stay at Washington, and which engrossed the minds of every individual:
+the fatal duel between Mr Graves and Mr Cilley.  Not only the duel
+itself, but what took place after it, was to me, as a stranger, a
+subject for grave reflection.
+
+Notice of Mr Cilley's decease having been formally given to the House,
+it adjourned for a day or two, as a mark of respect, and a day was
+appointed for the funeral.
+
+The coffin containing the body was brought into the House of
+Representatives, and there lay in state, as it were.  The members of
+Senate and the Supreme Court were summoned to attend, whilst an eulogium
+was passed on the merits and virtues of the deceased by the surviving
+representative of the State of Maine: the funeral sermon was delivered
+by one clergyman, and an exhortation by another, after which the coffin
+was carried out to be placed in the hearse.  The following printed order
+of the procession was distributed, that it might be rigidly attended to
+by the members of the two Houses and the Supreme Court:--
+
+Order of Arrangements for the Funeral of The Hon.  Jonathan Cilley, Late
+a Representative in Congress, from the State of Maine.
+
+The Committee of Arrangement, Pall-bearers, and Mourners, will attend at
+the late residence of the deceased, at Mr Birth's, in third-street, at
+11 o'clock AM, Tuesday, February 27th; at which time the remains will be
+removed, in charge of the Committee of Arrangements, attended by the
+Serjeant-at-arms of the House of Representatives, to the hall of the
+House.
+
+At 12 o'clock, meridian, funeral service will be performed in the hall
+of the House of Representatives, and immediately after the procession
+will move to the place of interment, in the following order,--
+
+The Chaplains of both Houses.
+
+Committee of Arrangement, viz:
+
+Mr Evans, of Maine.
+
+Mr Atherton, of NH.  Mr Coles, of Va.
+
+Mr Conner, of NC.  Mr Johnson, of La.
+
+Mr Whittlesey, of Ohio, Mr Fillmore, of NV.
+
+Pall-bearers, viz:
+
+Mr Thomas, of Maryland.  Mr Campbell, of SC.
+
+Mr Williams, of NH.  Mr White, of Indiana.
+
+Mr Ogle, of Pennsylvania.  Mr Martin, of Ala.
+
+The Family and Friends of the deceased.
+
+The Members of the House of Representatives, and Senators from Maine, as
+Mourners.
+
+The Serjeant-at-Arms of the House of Representatives.
+
+The House of Representatives, preceded by their Speaker and Clerk.
+
+The Serjeant-at-Arms of the Senate.
+
+The Senate of the United States, preceded by the Vice President and
+their Secretary.
+
+The President of the United States.
+
+The Heads of Departments.
+
+Judges of the Supreme Court, and its Officers.
+
+Foreign Ministers.
+
+Citizens and Strangers.
+
+_February_, 26th, 1838.
+
+The burial-ground being at some distance, carriages were provided for
+the whole of the company, and the procession even then was more than
+half a mile long.  I walked there to witness the whole proceeding; but
+when the body had been deposited in the vault, I found, on my return, a
+vacant seat in one of the carriages, in which were two Americans, who
+went under the head of "Citizens."  They were very much inclined to be
+communicative.  One of them observed of the clergyman, who, in his
+exhortation, had expressed himself very forcibly against the practice of
+duelling:--
+
+"Well, I reckon that chaplain won't be 'lected next year, and sarve him
+right too; he did pitch it in rather too strong for the members; that
+last flourish of his was enough to raise all their danders."
+
+To the other, who was a more staid sort of personage, I put the
+question, how long did he think this tragical event, and the severe
+observations on duelling, would stop the practice.
+
+"Well, I reckon three days, or thereabouts," replied the man.
+
+I am afraid that the man is not far out in his calculation.  Virginia.
+Mississippi, Louisiana, and now Congress, as respects the district of
+Columbia, in which Washington is built, have all passed severe laws
+against the practice of duelling, which is universal; but they are no
+more than dead letters.  The spirit of their institutions is adverse to
+such laws; and duelling always has been, and always will be, one of the
+evils of democracy.  I have, I believe, before observed, that in many
+points a young nation is, in all its faults, very like to a young
+individual; and this is one in which the comparison holds good.  But
+there are other causes for, and other incentives to this practice,
+besides the false idea that it is a proof of courage.  Slander and
+detraction are the inseparable evils of a democracy; and as neither
+public nor private characters are spared, and the law is impotent to
+protect them, men have no other resource than to defend their
+reputations with their lives, or to deter the defamer by the risk which
+he must incur.
+
+And where political animosities are carried to such a length as they are
+in this exciting climate, there is no time given for coolness and
+reflection.  Indeed, for one American who would attempt to prevent a
+duel, there are ten who would urge the parties on to the conflict.  I
+recollect a gentleman introducing me to the son of another gentleman who
+was present.  The lad, who was about fourteen, I should think, shortly
+after left the room; and then the gentleman told me, before the boy's
+father, that the lad was one of the right sort, having already fought,
+and wounded his man; and the father smiled complacently at this tribute
+to the character of his son.  The majority of the editors of the
+newspapers in America are constantly practising with the pistol, that
+they may be ready when called upon, and are most of them very good
+shots.  In fact, they could not well refuse to fight, being all of them
+colonels, majors, or generals--"_tam Marte quam Mercurio_."  But the
+worst feature in the American system of duelling is, that they do not go
+out, as we do in this country, to satisfy honour, but with the
+determination to kill.  Independently of general practice, immediately
+after a challenge has been given and received, each party practises as
+much as he can.
+
+And now let us examine into the particulars of this duel between Mr
+Graves and Mr Cilley.  It was well known that Mr Graves had hardly
+ever fired a rifle in his life.  Mr Cilley, on the contrary, was an
+excellent rifle-shot, constantly in practice: it was well known, also,
+that he intended to fix a quarrel upon one of the southern members, as
+he had publicly said he would.  He brought his rifle down to Washington
+with him; he practised with it almost every day, and more regularly so
+after he had sent the challenge, and it had been accepted.  It so
+happened that, contrary to the expectations of all parties, Mr Cilley,
+instead of Mr Graves, was the party who fell; but surely, if ever there
+was a man who _premeditated murder_, it was Mr Cilley.  I state this,
+not with the wish to assail Mr Cilley's character, as I believe that
+almost any other American would have done the same thing; for whatever
+license society will give, that will every man take, and moreover, from
+habit, will not consider it as wrong.
+
+But my reason for pointing out all this is to show that society must be
+in a very loose state, and the standard of morality must be indeed low
+in a nation, when a man who has fallen in such a manner, a man who, had
+he killed Mr Graves, would, according to the laws of our country, have
+been condemned and executed for murder, (inasmuch as from his practising
+after the challenge was given, it would have proved _malice prepense_,
+on his part) should now, because he falls in the attempt, have _honours
+paid to his remains_, much _greater_ than we paid to those of _Nelson_,
+when he fell so nobly in his country's cause.  The chief magistrate of
+England, which is the king, did not follow Nelson to the grave; while
+the chief magistrate of the United States (attended by the Supreme Court
+and judges, the Senate, the Representatives) does honour to the remains
+of one who, if Providence had not checked him in his career, would have
+been considered as a cold-blooded murderer.
+
+And yet the Americans are continually dinning into my ears--Captain
+Marryat, we are a very moral people!  Again, I repeat, the Americans are
+the happiest people in the world in their own delusions.  If they wish
+to be a moral people, the government must show them some better example
+than that of paying those honours to vice and immorality which are only
+due to honour and to virtue.
+
+_Legislation on Duelling_.--The legislature of Mississippi has
+prohibited duelling, and the parties implicated, in any instance, are
+declared to be ineligible to office.  The act also imposes a fine of not
+less than three hundred dollars, and not more than one thousand, and an
+imprisonment of not less than six months: and in case of the death of
+one of the parties, the survivor is to be held chargeable with the
+payment of the debts of his antagonist.  The estate of the party who
+falls in the combat is to be exonerated from such debts until the
+surviving party be first prosecuted to insolvency.  The seconds are made
+subject to incapacity to hold office, fine, and imprisonment.
+
+ANTI-DUELLING BILL.
+
+The bill, as it passed the senate, is in the following words:--
+
+A Bill to prohibit the giving or accepting, within the District of
+Columbia, of a Challenge to fight a Duel, and for the punishment
+thereof.
+
+Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
+States of America, in Congress assembled, That if any person shall, in
+the district of Columbia, challenge another to fight a duel, or shall
+send or deliver any written or verbal message purporting or intending to
+be such challenge, or shall accept any such challenge or message, or
+shall knowingly carry or deliver any such challenge or message, or shall
+knowingly carry or deliver an acceptance of such challenge or message to
+fight a duel in or out of said district, and such duel shall be fought
+in or out of said district; and if either of the parties thereto shall
+be slain or mortally wounded in such duel, the surviving party to such
+duel, and every person carrying or delivering such challenge or message,
+or acceptance of such challenge or message as aforesaid, and all others
+aiding and abetting therein, shall be deemed guilty of felony, and upon
+conviction thereof; in any court competent to the trial thereof, in the
+said district, shall be punished by imprisonment and confinement to hard
+labour in the penitentiary for a term not exceeding ten years, nor less
+than five years, in the discretion of the court.
+
+Sec. 2.  And be it further enacted, that if any person shall give or
+send, or cause to be given or sent, to any person in the district of
+Columbia, any challenge to fight a duel, or to engage in single combat
+with any deadly or dangerous instrument or weapon whatever, or shall be
+the bearer of any such challenge, every person so giving or sending, or
+causing to be given or sent, or accepting such challenge, or being the
+bearer thereof, and every person aiding or abetting in the giving,
+sending, or accepting such challenge, shall be deemed guilty of a high
+crime and misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof in any court competent
+to try the same, in the said district, shall be punished by imprisonment
+and confinement to hard labour in the penitentiary, for a term not
+exceeding ten years, nor less than five years, in the discretion of the
+court.
+
+Sec. 3.  And be it further enacted, that if any person shall assault,
+strike, beat, or wound, or cause to be assaulted, stricken, beaten, or
+wounded, any person in the district of Columbia for declining or
+refusing to accept any challenge to fight a duel, or to engage in single
+combat with any deadly or dangerous instrument or weapon whatever, or
+shall, post or publish, or cause to be posted or published, any writing
+charging any such person so declining or refusing to accept any such
+challenge to be a coward, or using any other opprobrious or injurious
+language therein, tending to deride and disgrace such person, for so
+offending, on conviction thereof in any court competent to trial thereof
+in said district, shall be punished by confinement to hard labour in the
+penitentiary for a term not exceeding seven years, nor less than three
+years, in the discretion of the court.
+
+Sec. 4.  And be it further enacted, that in addition to the oath now to
+be prescribed by law to be administered to the grand jury in the
+district of Columbia, they shall be sworn faithfully and impartially to
+inquire into, and true presentment make of, all offences against this
+act.
+
+
+
+VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
+
+I have been for some time journeying through the province of Upper
+Canada, and, on the whole, I consider it the finest portion of all North
+America.  In America every degree of longitude which you proceed west,
+is equal to a degree of latitude to the southward in increasing the
+mildness of the temperature.  Upper Canada, which is not so far west as
+to sever you from the civilised world, has every possible advantage of
+navigation, and is at the same time, from being nearly surrounded by
+water, much milder than the American States to the southward of it.
+Every thing grows well and flourishes in Upper Canada; even tobacco,
+which requires a very warm atmosphere.  The land of this province is
+excellent, but it is a hard land to clear, the timber being very close
+and of a very large size.  A certain proof of the value of the land of
+Upper Canada is, that there are already so many Americans who have
+settled there.  Most of them had originally emigrated to establish
+themselves in the neighbouring state of Michigan; but the greater part
+of that state is at present so unhealthy from swamps, and the people
+suffer so much from fever and agues, that the emigrants have fallen back
+upon Upper Canada, which (a very small portion of it excepted) is the
+most healthy portion of North America.  I have before observed, that the
+Rideau and Welland canals, splendid works as they are, are too much in
+advance of the country: and had the Government spent one-half the money
+in opening communications and making good roads, the province would have
+been much more benefited.  In the United States you have a singular
+proof of the advantages of communication; in the old continent, towns
+and villages rise up first, and the communications, are made afterwards;
+in the United States, the roads are made first, and when made, towns and
+villages make their appearance on each side of them, just as the birds
+drop down for their aliment upon the fresh furrows made across the
+fallow by the plough.
+
+From Hamilton, on Lake Ontario, to Bradford, the country is very
+beautifully broken and undulating, occasionally precipitate and hilly.
+You pass through forests of splendid timber, chiefly fir, but of a size
+which is surprising.  Here are masts for "tall admirals," so lofty that
+you could not well perceive a squirrel, or even a large animal, if upon
+one of the topmast boughs.  The pine forests are diversified by the oak;
+you sometimes pass through six or seven miles of the first description
+of timber, which gradually changes, until you have six or seven miles of
+forest composed entirely of oak.  The road is repairing and levelling,
+preparatory to its being macadamised--certainly not before it was
+required, for it is at present execrable throughout the whole province.
+Every mile or so you descend into a hollow, at the bottom of which is
+what they term a _mud hole_, that is, a certain quantity of water and
+mud, which is of a depth unknown, but which you must fathom by passing
+through it.  To give an Englishman an idea of the roads is not easy; I
+can only say that it is very possible for a horse to be drowned in one
+of the _ruts_, and for a pair of them to disappear, waggon and all, in a
+_mud hole_.
+
+At Bradford, on Grand River, are located some remnants of the Mohawk
+tribe of Indians; they are more than demi-civilised; they till their
+farms, and have plenty of horses and cattle.  A smart looking Indian
+drove into town, when I was there, in a waggon with a pair of good
+horses; in the waggon were some daughters of one of their chiefs; they
+were very richly dressed after their own fashion, their petticoats and
+leggings being worked with beads to the height of two feet from the
+bottom, and in very good taste; and they wore beaver hats and feathers
+of a pattern which used formerly to be much in vogue with the ladies of
+the seamen at Plymouth and Portsmouth.
+
+From Bradford to London the roads are _comparatively_ good; the country
+rises, and the plain is nearly one hundred feet above the level of the
+river Thames, a beautifully wide stream, whose two branches join at the
+site of this town.  The land here is considered to be the finest in the
+whole province, and the country the most healthy.
+
+From London to Chatham the roads are really _awful_.  I had the pleasure
+of tumbling over head and ears into a mud hole, at about twelve o'clock
+at night; the horses were with difficulty saved, and the waggon remained
+_fixed_ for upwards of three hours, during which we laboured hard, and
+were refreshed with plentiful showers of rain.
+
+Chatham, on the river Thames, is at present a sad dirty hole; but, as
+the country rises, will be a place of great importance.  From Chatham I
+embarked in the steam-boat, and went down the Thames into Lake St
+Clair, and from thence to Sandwich, having passed through the finest
+country, the most beautiful land, and about the most infamous roads that
+are to be met with in all America.
+
+Within these last seven or eight years the lakes have risen; many
+hypotheses have been offered to account for this change.  I do not
+coincide with any of the opinions which I have heard, yet, at the same
+time, it is but fair to acknowledge that I can offer none of my own.  It
+is quite a mystery.  The consequence of this rising of the waters is,
+that some of the finest farms at the month of the river Thames and on
+Lake St Clair, occupied by the old Canadian settlers, are, and have
+been for two or three years under water.  These Canadians have not
+removed; they are waiting for the water to subside; their houses stand
+in the lake, the basements being under water, and they occupy the first
+floors with their families, communicating by boats.  As they cannot
+cultivate their land, they shoot and fish.  Several miles on each side
+of the mouth of the river Thames the water is studded with these houses,
+which have, as may be supposed, a very forlorn appearance, especially as
+the top rail of the fences is generally above water, marking out the
+fields which are now tenanted by fish instead of cattle.
+
+Went out with a party into the bush, as it is termed, to see some land
+which had been purchased.  Part of the road was up to the saddle-flaps
+under water, from the rise of the lakes.  We soon entered the woods, not
+so thickly growing but that our horses could pass through them, had it
+not been for the obstacles below our feet.  At every third step a tree
+lay across the path, forming, by its obstruction to the drainage, a pool
+of water; but the Canadian horses are so accustomed to this that they
+very coolly walked over them, although some were two feet in diameter.
+They never attempted to jump, but deliberately put one foot over and the
+other--with equal dexterity avoiding the stumps and sunken logs
+concealed under water.  An English horse would have been foundered
+before he had proceeded fifty yards.  Sometimes we would be for miles
+wading through swamps; at others the land rose, and then it was clear
+and dry, and we could gallop under the oak trees.
+
+We continued till noon before we could arrive at the land in question,
+forcing our way through the woods, and guided by the blazing of the
+trees.  _Blazing_ is cutting off a portion of the bark of the trees on
+both sides of the road with an axe, and these marks, which will remain
+for many years, serve as a guide.  If lost in the woods you have but to
+look out for a blaze, and by following it you are certain to arrive at
+some inhabited place.  We found the land at last, which was high, dry,
+and covered with large oak trees.  A herd of deer bounded past us as we
+approached the river, which ran through it; and we could perceive the
+flocks of wild turkeys at a distance, running almost as fast as the
+deer.  The river was choked by trees which had fallen across its bed,
+damming up its stream, and spreading it over the land; but the scene was
+very beautiful and wild, and I could not help fancying what a pretty
+spot it would one day be, when it should be cleared, and farm-houses
+built on the banks of the river.
+
+On our way we called upon a man who had been in the bush but a year or
+so; he had a wife and six children.  He was young and healthy, and
+although he had been used to a life of _literary_ idleness, he had made
+up his mind to the change, and taken up the axe--a thing very few people
+can do.  I never saw a person apparently more cheerful and contented.
+He had already cleared away about fifteen acres, and had procured a
+summer crop from off a portion of it the year before, having no other
+assistance than his two boys, one thirteen and the other fourteen years
+old, healthy, but not powerfully built lads.  When we called upon him,
+he was busied in burning the felled timber, and planting Indian corn.
+One of his boys was fencing-in the ground.  I went with the man into his
+log-hut, which was large and convenient, and found his wife working at
+her needle, and three little girls all as busy as bees; the eldest of
+these girls was not twelve years old, yet she cooked, baked, washed,
+and, with the assistance of her two little sisters, did all that was
+required for the household.  After a short repose, we went out again
+into the clearing, when one of my friends asked him how he got on with
+his axe?  "Pretty well," replied he, laughing; "I'll show you."  He led
+us to where a button-wood tree was lying; the trunk was at least ninety
+feet long, and the diameter where it had been cut through between five
+and six feet; it was an enormous tree.  "And did you cut that down
+yourself?" enquired my companion, who was an old settler.  "Not quite;
+but I cut through the north half while my two boys cut through the
+south; we did it between us."  This was really astonishing, for if these
+two lads could cut through half the tree, it is evident that they could
+have cut it down altogether.  We had here a proof of how useful children
+can be made at an early age.
+
+We promised to call upon him on our return; which we did.  We found him
+sitting with his wife in his log-house; it was five o'clock in the
+afternoon; he told us "work was over now, and that the children had gone
+into the bush to play."  They had all worked from five o'clock in the
+morning, and had since learnt their lessons.  We heard their laughter
+ringing in the woods at a distance.
+
+Now this is rather a remarkable instance among settlers, as I shall
+hereafter explain.  Had this man been a bachelor, he would have been, in
+all probability, a drunkard; but, with his family, he was a happy,
+contented, and thriving man.  We parted with him, and arrived at
+Windsor, opposite Detroit, very tired, having been, with little
+exception, fourteen hours in the saddle.
+
+I took cold, and was laid up with a fever.  I mention this, not as any
+thing interesting to the reader, but merely to show what you may expect
+when you travel in these countries.  I had been in bed three days, when
+my landlady came into the room.  "Well, captain, how do you find
+yourself by this time?"  "Oh, I am a little better, thank you," replied
+I.  "Well, I am glad of it, because I want to whitewash your room; for
+if the coloured man stops to do it to-morrow, he'll be for charging us
+another quarter of a dollar."  "But I am not able to leave my room."
+"Well, then, I'll speak to him; I dare say he won't mind your being in
+bed while he whitewashes."
+
+I have often remarked the strange effects of intoxication, and the
+different manner in which persons are affected with liquor.  When I was
+on the road from London to Chatham, a man who was very much intoxicated
+got into the waggon, and sat beside me.  As people in that state
+generally are, he was excessively familiar; and although jerked off with
+no small degree of violence, would continue, until we arrived at the inn
+where we were to sup, to attempt to lay his head upon my shoulder.
+
+As soon as we arrived, supper was announced.  At first he refused to
+take any, but on the artful landlady bawling in his ear, that all
+_gentlemen_ supped when they arrived, he hesitated to consider (which
+certainly was not at all necessary) whether he was not bound to take
+some.  Another very important remark of the hostess, which was, that he
+would have nothing to eat until the next morning, it being then eleven
+o'clock at night, decided him, and he staggered in, observing, "Nothing
+to eat till next morning! well, I never thought of that."  He sat down
+opposite to me, at the same table.  It appeared as if his _vision was
+inverted_ by the quantity of liquor which he had taken; everything close
+to him on the table he considered to be out of his reach, whilst
+everything at a distance he attempted to lay hold of.  He sat up as
+erect as he could, balancing himself so as not to appear _canned_, and
+fixing his eyes upon me, said, "Sir, I'll trouble you--for some fried
+ham."  Now the ham was in the dish next to him, and altogether out of my
+reach; I told him so.  "Sir," said he again, "as a gentleman, I ask you
+to give me some of that fried ham."  Amused with the curious demand, I
+rose from my chair, went round to him and helped him.  "Shall I give you
+a potato," said I, the potatoes being at my end of the table, and I not
+wishing to rise again.  "No, Sir," replied he, "I can help myself to
+them."  He made a dash at them, but did not reach them; then made
+another, and another, till he lost his balance, and lay down upon his
+plate; this time he gained the potatoes, helped himself, and commenced
+eating.  After a few minutes he again fixed his eyes upon me.  "Sir,
+I'll trouble you--for the pickles."  They were actually under his nose,
+and I pointed them out to him.  "I believe, Sir, I asked you for the
+pickles," repeated he, after a time.  "Well, there they are," replied I,
+wishing to see what he would do.  "Sir, are you a gentleman--as a
+gentleman--I ask you as a gentleman, for them 'ere pickles."  It was
+impossible to resist this appeal, so I rose and helped him.  I was now
+convinced that his vision was somehow or another inverted, and to prove
+it, when he asked me for the salt, which was within his reach, I removed
+it farther off.  "Thank ye, Sir," said he, sprawling over the table
+after it.  The circumstance, absurd as it was, was really a subject for
+the investigation of Dr Brewster.
+
+At Windsor, which is directly opposite to Detroit, where the river is
+about half a mile across, are stores of English goods, sent there
+entirely for the supply of the Americans, by smugglers.  There is also a
+row of tailor shops, for cloth is a very dear article in America, and
+costs nearly double the price it does in the English provinces.  The
+Americans go over there, and are measured for a suit of clothes which,
+when ready, they put on, and cross back to Detroit with their old
+clothes in a bundle.  The smuggling is already very extensive, and will,
+of course, increase as the Western country becomes more populous.
+
+Near Windsor and Sandwich are several villages of free blacks, probably
+the major portion of them having been assisted in their escape by the
+Abolitionists.  They are not very good neighbours from their propensity
+to thieving, which either is innate, or, as Miss Martineau would have
+it, is the effect of slavery.  I shall not dispute that point; but it is
+certain that they are most inveterately hostile to the Americans, and
+will fight to the last, from the dread of being again subjected to their
+former masters.  They are an excellent frontier population; and in the
+last troubles they proved how valuable they would become, in case their
+services were more seriously required.
+
+
+
+VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
+
+Once more on board of the Michigan, one of the best vessels on Lake
+Erie; as usual, full of emigrants, chiefly Irish.  It is impossible not
+to feel compassion for these poor people, wearied as they are with
+confinement and suffering, and yet they do compose occasionally about as
+laughable a group as can well be conceived.  In the first place, they
+bring out with them from Ireland, articles which no other people would
+consider worth the carriage.  I saw one Irish woman who had old tin tea
+pots; there was but one spout among the whole, and I believe not one
+bottom really sound and good.  And then their costumes, more
+particularly the fitting out of the children, who are not troubled with
+any extra supply of clothes at any time!  I have witnessed the seat of
+an old pair of corduroy trowsers transformed into a sort of bonnet for a
+laughing fair-haired girl.  But what amused me more was the very reverse
+of this arrangement; a boy's father had just put a patch upon the hinder
+part of his son's trousers; and cloth not being at hand, he had, as an
+expedient for stopping the gap, inserted a piece of an old straw bonnet;
+in so doing he had not taken the precaution to put the smooth side of
+the plait inwards, and, in consequence, young Teddy when he first sat
+down felt rather uncomfortable.  "What's the matter wid ye, Teddy; what
+makes ye wriggle about in that way?  Sit aisy, man; sure enough, havn't
+ye a strait-bottomed chair to sit down upon all the rest of your
+journey, which is more than your father ever had before you?"  And then
+their turning in for the night!  A single bed will contain one adult and
+four little ones at one end, and another adult and two half-grown at the
+other.  But they are all packed away so snug and close, and not one
+venturing to move, there appears to be room for all.
+
+We stopped half an hour at Mackinaw to take in wood, and then started
+for Green Bay, in the Wisconsin territory.  Green Bay is a military
+station; it is a pretty little place, with soil as rich as garden mould.
+The Fox river debouches here, but the navigation is checked a few miles
+above the town by the rapids, which have been dammed up into a water
+power; yet there is no doubt that as soon as the whole of the Wisconsin
+lands are offered for sale by the American Government, the river will be
+made navigable up to its meeting with the Wisconsin, which falls into
+the Mississippi.  There is only a portage of a mile and a half between
+the two, through which a canal will be cut, and then there will be
+another junction between the lakes and the Far West.  It was my original
+intention to have taken the usual route by Chicago and Galena to St
+Louis, but I fell in with Major F---, with whom I had been previously
+acquainted, who informed me that he was about to send a detachment of
+troops from Green Bay to Fort Winnebago, across Wisconsin territory.  As
+this afforded me an opportunity of seeing the country, which seldom
+occurs, I availed myself of an offer to join the party.  The detachment
+consisted of about one hundred recruits, nearly the whole of them Canada
+patriots, as they are usually called, who, having failed in taking the
+provinces from John Bull, were fain to accept the shilling from uncle
+Sam.
+
+Major F---accompanied us to pay the troops at the fort, and we therefore
+had five waggons with us, loaded with a considerable quantity of bread
+and pork, and not quite so large a proportion of specie, the latter not
+having as yet become plentiful again in the United States.  We set off,
+and marched fifteen miles in about half a day, passing through the
+settlement Des Peres, which is situated at the rapids of the Fox river.
+Formerly they were called the Rapids des Peres, from a Jesuit college
+which had been established there by the French.  Our course lay along
+the banks of the Fox river, a beautiful swift stream pouring down
+between high ridges, covered with fine oak timber.
+
+The American Government have disposed of all the land on the banks of
+this river and the Lake Winnebago, and consequently it is well settled;
+but the Winnebago territory in Wisconsin, lately purchased of the
+Winnebago Indians, and comprising all the prairie land and rich mineral
+country from Galena to Mineral Point, is not yet offered for sale: when
+it is, it will be eagerly purchased; and the American Government, as it
+only paid the Indians at the rate of one cent and a fraction per acre,
+will make an enormous profit by the speculation.  Well may the Indians
+be said, like Esau, to part with their birthright for a mess of pottage;
+but, in truth, they are _compelled_ to sell--the purchase-money being a
+mere subterfuge, by which it may _appear_ as if their lands were not
+wrested from them, although, in fact, it is.
+
+On the second day we continued our march along the banks of the Fox
+river, which, as we advanced, continued to be well settled, and would
+have been more so, if some of the best land had not fallen, as usual,
+into the hands of speculators, who, aware of its value, hold out that
+they may obtain a high price for it.  The country through which we
+passed was undulating, consisting of a succession of ridges, covered
+with oaks of a large size, but not growing close as in a forest; you
+could gallop your horse through any part of it.  The tracks of deer were
+frequent, but we saw but one herd of fifteen, and that was at a
+distance.  We now left the banks of the river, and cut across the
+country to Fond du Lac, at the bottom of Lake Winnebago, of which we had
+had already an occasional glimpse through the openings of the forest.
+The deer were too wild to allow of our getting near them; so I was
+obliged to content myself with shooting wood pigeons, which were very
+plentiful.
+
+On the night of the third day we encamped upon a very high ridge; as
+usual studded with oak trees.  The term used here to distinguish this
+variety of timber land from the impervious woods is _oak openings_.  I
+never saw a more beautiful view than that which was afforded us from our
+encampment.  From the high ground upon which our tents were pitched, we
+looked down to the left, upon a prairie flat and level as a
+billiard-table, extending, as far as the eye could scan, one rich
+surface of unrivalled green.  To the right the prairie gradually changed
+to oak openings, and then to a thick forest, the topmost boughs and
+heads of which were level with our tents.  Beyond them was the whole
+broad expanse of the Winnebago lake, smooth and reflecting like a mirror
+the brilliant tints of the setting sun, which disappeared, leaving a
+portion of his glory behind him; while the moon in her ascent, with the
+dark portion of her disk as clearly defined as that which was lighted,
+gradually increased in brilliancy, and the stars twinkled in the clear
+sky.  We watched the features of the landscape gradually fading from our
+sight, until nothing was left but broad masses partially lighted up by
+the young moon.
+
+Nor was the foreground less picturesque: the spreading oaks, the tents
+of the soldiers, the waggons drawn up with the horses tethered, all
+lighted up by the blaze of our large fires.  Now, when I say our large
+fires, I mean the _large_ fires of _America_, consisting of three or
+four oak trees, containing a load of wood each, besides many large
+boughs and branches, altogether forming a fire some twenty or thirty
+feet long, with flames flickering up twice as high as one's head.  At a
+certain distance from this blazing pile you may perceive what in another
+situation would be considered as a large coffee-pot (before this huge
+fire it makes a very diminutive appearance).  It is placed over some
+embers drawn out from the mass, which would have soon burnt up
+coffee-pot and coffee all together; and at a still more respectful
+distance you may perceive small rods, not above four or five feet long,
+bifurcated at the smaller end, and fixed by the larger in the ground, so
+as to hang towards the huge fire, at an angle of forty degrees, like so
+many tiny fishing-rods.  These rods have at their bifurcated ends a
+piece of pork or ham, or of bread, or perhaps of venison, for we bought
+some, not having shot any: they are all private property, as each party
+cooks for himself.  Seeing these rods at some distance, you might almost
+imagine that they were the fishing-rods of little imps bobbing for
+salamanders in the fiery furnace.
+
+In the mean time, while the meat is cooking and the coffee is boiling,
+the brandy and whisky are severely taxed, as we lie upon our cloaks and
+buffalo skins at the front of our tents.  There certainly is a charm in
+this wild sort of life, which wins upon people the more they practise
+it; nor can it be wondered at: our wants are in reality so few and so
+easily satisfied, without the restraint of form and ceremony.  How
+often, in my wanderings, have I felt the truth of Shakespeare's lines in
+"As You Like It."
+
+  "Now, my co-mates and partners in exile,
+  Hath not old custom made this life more sweet
+  Than that of painted pomp?  Are not these woods
+  More free from peril than the envious court?
+  Here feel we but the penalty of Adam--
+  The seasons' difference."
+
+On the fourth day we descended, crossed the wide prairie, and arrived at
+the Fond du Lac, where we again fell in with the Fox river, which runs
+through the Winnebago lake.  The roads through the forests had been very
+bad, and the men and horses showed signs of fatigue; but we had now
+passed through all the thickly wooded country, and had entered into the
+prairie country, extending to Fort Winnebago, and which was beautiful
+beyond conception.  Its features alone can be described; but its effects
+can only be felt by being seen.  The prairies here are not very large,
+seldom being above six or seven miles in length or breadth; generally
+speaking, they lie in gentle undulating flats, and the ridges and hills
+between them are composed of oak openings.  To form an idea of these oak
+openings, imagine an inland country covered with splendid trees, about
+as thickly planted as in our English parks; in fact, it is English park
+scenery, Nature having here spontaneously produced what it has been the
+care and labour of centuries in our own country to effect.  Sometimes
+the prairie will rise and extend along the hills, and assume an
+undulating appearance, like the long swell of the ocean; it is then
+called rolling prairie.
+
+Often, when I looked down upon some fifteen or twenty thousand acres of
+these prairies, full of rich grass, without one animal, tame or wild, to
+be seen, I would fancy what thousands of cattle will, in a few years, be
+luxuriating in those pastures, which, since the herds of buffalo have
+retreated from them, are now useless, and throwing up each year a fresh
+crop, to seed and to die unheeded.
+
+On our way we had fallen in with a young Frenchman, who had purchased
+some land at Fond du Lac, and was proceeding there in company with an
+American, whom he had hired to settle on it.  I now parted company with
+him; he had gone out with me in my shooting excursions, and talked of
+nothing but his purchase: it had water; it had a waterfall; it had, in
+fact, everything that he could desire; but he thought that, after two
+years, he would go home and get a wife: a Paradise without an Eve would
+be no Paradise at all.
+
+The price of labour is, as may be supposed, very high in this part of
+the country.  Hiring by the year, you find a man in food, board, and
+washing, and pay him three hundred dollars per annum (about 70 pounds
+English.)
+
+The last night that we bivouacked out was the only unfortunate one.  We
+had been all comfortably settled for the night, and fast asleep, when a
+sudden storm came on, accompanied with such torrents of rain as would
+have washed us out of our tents, if they had not been already blown down
+by the violence of the gale.  Had we had any warning, we should have
+provided against it; as it was, we made up huge fires, which defied the
+rain; and thus we remained till day-light, the rain pouring on us, while
+the heat of the fire drying us almost as fast as we got wet, each man
+threw up a column of steam from his still saturating and still heated
+garments.  Every night we encamped where there was a run of water, and
+plenty of dead timber for our fires; and thus did we go on, emptying our
+waggons daily of the bread and pork, and filling up the vacancies left
+by the removal of the empty casks with the sick and lame, until at last
+we arrived at Fort Winnebago.
+
+
+
+VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.
+
+We had not to arrive at the fort to receive a welcome, for when we were
+still distant about seven miles, the officers of the garrison, who had
+notice of our coming, made their appearance on horseback, bringing a
+britchska and grey horses for our accommodation.  Those who were not on
+duty (and I was one) accepted the invitation, and we drove in upon a
+road which, indeed, for the last thirty miles, had been as level as the
+best in England.  The carriage was followed by pointers, hounds, and a
+variety of dogs, who were off duty like ourselves, and who appeared
+quite as much delighted with their run as we were tired with ours.  The
+medical officer attached to the fort, an old friend and correspondent of
+Mr Lee of Philadelphia, received me with all kindness, and immediately
+installed me into one of the rooms in the hospital.
+
+Fort Winnebago is situated between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers at the
+portage, the two rivers being about a mile and a-half apart; the Fox
+river running east, and giving its waters to Lake Michigan at Green Bay,
+while the Wisconsin turns to the west, and runs into the Mississippi at
+Prairie du Chien.  The fort is merely a square of barracks, connected
+together with palisades, to protect it from the Indians; and it is
+hardly sufficiently strong for even that purpose.  It is beautifully
+situated, and when the country fills up will become a place of
+importance.  Most of the officers are unmarried, and live a very quiet,
+and secluded, but not unpleasant life.  I stayed there two days, much
+pleased with the society and the kindness shown to me; but an
+opportunity of descending the Wisconsin to Prairie du Chien, in a
+keel-boat, having presented itself, I availed myself of an invitation to
+join the party, instead of proceeding by land to Galena, as had been my
+original intention.
+
+The boat had been towed up the Wisconsin with a cargo of flour for the
+garrison; and a portion of the officers having been ordered down to
+Prairie du Chien, they had obtained this large boat to transport
+themselves, families, furniture, and horses, all at once, down to their
+destination.  The boat was about one hundred and twenty feet long,
+covered in to the height of six feet above the gunnel, and very much in
+appearance like the Noah's Ark given to children, excepting that the
+roof was flat.  It was an unwieldy craft, and, to manage it, it required
+at least twenty-five men with poles and long sweeps; but the army
+gentlemen had decided that, as we were to go down with the stream, six
+men with short oars would be sufficient--a very great mistake.  In every
+other respect she was badly found, as we term it at sea, having but one
+old piece of rope to hang on with, and one axe.  Our freight consisted
+of furniture stowed forward and aft, with a horse and cow.  In a cabin
+in the centre we had a lady and five children, one maid and two
+officers.  Our crew was composed of six soldiers, a servant, and a
+French _half bred_ to pilot us down the river.  All Winnebago came out
+to see us start; and as soon as the rope was cast off, away we went down
+with the strong current at the rate of five miles an hour.  The river
+passed through forests of oak, the large limbs of which hung from
+fifteen to twenty feet over the banks on each side; sometimes whole
+trees lay prostrate in the stream, held by their roots still partially
+remaining in the ground, while their trunks and branches offering
+resistance to the swift current, created a succession of small masses of
+froth, which floated away on the dark green water.
+
+We had not proceeded far, before we found that it was impossible to
+manage such a large and cumbrous vessel with our few hands; we were
+almost at the mercy of the current, which appeared to increase in
+rapidity every minute; however, by exertion and good management, we
+contrived to keep in the middle of the stream until the wind sprung up
+and drove us on to the southern bank of the river, and then all was
+cracking and tearing away of the wood-work, breaking of limbs from the
+projecting trees, the snapping, cracking, screaming, hallooing, and
+confusion.  As fast as we cleared ourselves of one tree, the current
+bore us down upon another; as soon as we were clear above water, we were
+foul and entangled below.  It was a pretty general average; but, what
+was worse than all a snag had intercepted and unshipped our rudder, and
+we were floating away from it, as it still remained fixed upon the
+sunken tree.  We had no boat with us, not even a _dug-out_--(a canoe
+made out of the trunk of a tree)--so one of the men climbed on shore by
+the limbs of an oak, and went back to disengage it.  He did so, but not
+being able to resist the force of the stream, down he and the rudder
+came together--his only chance of salvation being that of our catching
+him as he came past us.  This we fortunately succeeded in effecting; and
+then hanging on by our old piece of rope to the banks of the river,
+after an hour's delay we contrived to re-ship our rudder, and proceeded
+on our voyage, which was a continuation of the same eventful history.
+Every half hour we found ourselves wedged in between the spreading limbs
+of the oaks, and were obliged to have recourse to the axe to clear
+ourselves: and on every occasion we lost a further portion of the
+frame-work of our boat, either from the roof, the sides, or by the
+tearing away of the stancheons themselves.
+
+A little before sunset, we were again swept on to the bank with such
+force as to draw the pintles of our rudder.  This finished us for the
+day: before it could be replaced, it was time to make fast for the
+night; so there we lay, holding by our rotten piece of rope, which
+cracked and strained to such a degree, as inclined us to speculate upon
+where we might find ourselves in the morning.  However, we could not
+help ourselves, so we landed, made a large fire, and cooked our
+victuals; not, however, venturing to wander away far, on account of the
+rattle-snakes, which here abounded.  Perhaps there is no portion of
+America in which the rattle-snakes are so large and so numerous as in
+Wisconsin.  There are two varieties: the black rattle-snake, that
+frequents marshy spots, and renders it rather dangerous to shoot snipes
+and ducks; and the yellow, which takes up its abode in the rocks and dry
+places.  Dr F---told me that he had killed, inside of the fort
+Winnebago, one of the latter species, between seven and eight feet long.
+The rattle-snake, although its poison is so fatal, is in fact not a
+very dangerous animal, and people are seldom bitten by it.  This arises
+from two causes: first, that it invariably gives you notice of its
+presence by its rattle; and secondly, that it always coils itself up
+like a watch-spring before it strikes, and then darts forward only about
+its own length.  Where they are common, the people generally carry with
+them a vial of ammonia, which, if instantly applied to the bite, will at
+least prevent death.  The copper-head is a snake of a much more
+dangerous nature, from its giving no warning, and its poison being
+equally active.
+
+This river has been very appropriately named by the Indians the `Stream
+of the Thousand Isles,' as it is studded with them; indeed, every
+quarter of a mile you find one or two in its channel.  The scenery is
+fine, as the river runs through high ridges, covered with oak to their
+summits; sometimes these ridges are backed by higher cliffs and
+mountains, which halfway up are of a verdant green, and above that
+present horizontal strata of calcareous rock of rich grey tints, having,
+at a distance, very much the appearance of the dilapidated castles on
+the Rhine.
+
+The scenery, though not so grand as the highlands of the Hudson, is more
+diversified and beautiful.  The river was very full, and the current
+occasionally so rapid, as to leave a foam as it swept by any projecting
+point.  We had, now that the river widened, sand banks to contend with,
+which required all the exertions of our insufficient crew.
+
+On the second morning, I was very much annoyed at our having left
+without providing ourselves with a boat, for at the grey of dawn, we
+discovered that some deer had taken the river close to us, and were in
+midstream.  Had we had a boat, we might have procured a good supply of
+venison.  We cast off again and resumed our voyage; and without any
+serious accident we arrived at the shot-tower, where we remained for the
+night.  Finding a shot-tower in such a lone wilderness as this, gives
+you some idea of the enterprise of the Americans; but the Galena, or
+lead district, commences here, on the south bank of the Wisconsin.  The
+smelting is carried on about twelve miles inland, and the lead is
+brought here, made into shot, and then sent down the river to the
+Mississippi, by which, and its tributary streams, it is supplied to all
+America, west of the Alleghanies.  The people were all at work when we
+arrived.  The general distress had even affected the demand for shot,
+which was now considerably reduced.
+
+On the third day we had the good fortune to have no wind, and
+consequently made rapid progress, without much further damage.  We
+passed a small settlement called the English prairie--for the prairies
+were now occasionally mixed up with the mountain scenery.  Here there
+was a smelting-house and a steam saw-mill.
+
+The _diggings_, as they term the places where the lead is found (for
+they do not mine, but dig down from the surface,) were about sixteen
+miles distant.  We continued our course for about twenty miles lower
+down, when we wound up our day's work by getting into a more serious
+_fix_ among the trees, and eventually losing our only _axe_, which fell
+overboard into deep water.  All Noah's Ark was in dismay, for we did not
+know what might happen, or what the next day might bring forth.
+Fortunately, it was not necessary to cut wood for firing.  During the
+whole of this trip I was much amused with our pilot, who, fully aware of
+the dangers of the river, was also equally conscious that there were not
+sufficient means on board to avoid them; when, therefore, we were set
+upon a sand-bank, or pressed by the wind on the sunken trees, he always
+whistled; that was all he could do, and in proportion as the danger
+became more imminent, so did he whistle the louder, until the affair was
+decided by a bump or a crash, and then he was silent.
+
+On the ensuing day we had nothing but misfortunes.  We were continually
+twisted and twirled about, sometimes with our bows, sometimes with our
+stern foremost, and as often with our broadside to the stream.  We were
+whirled against one bank, and, as soon as we were clear of that we were
+thrown upon the other.  Having no axe to cut away, we were obliged to
+use our hands.  Again our rudder was unshipped, and with great
+difficulty replaced.  By this time we had lost nearly the half of the
+upper works of the boat, one portion after another having been torn off
+by the limbs of the trees as the impetuous current drove us along.  To
+add to our difficulties, a strong wind rose against the current, and the
+boat became quite unmanageable.  About noon, when we had gained only
+seven miles, the wind abated, and two Menonnomie Indians, in a
+_dug-out_, came alongside of us; and as it was doubtful whether we
+should arrive at the mouth of the river on that night, or be left upon a
+sand-bank, I got into the canoe with them, to go down to the
+landing-place, and from thence to cross over to Prairie du Chien, to
+inform the officers of the garrison of our condition, and obtain
+assistance.  The canoe would exactly hold three, and no more; but we
+paddled swiftly down the stream, and we soon lost sight of the Noah's
+Ark.  Independently of the canoe being so small, she had lost a large
+portion of her stem, so that at the least ripple of the water she took
+it in, and threatened us with a swim; and she was so very narrow, that
+the least motion would have destroyed her equilibrium and upset her.
+One Indian sat in the bow, the other in the stern, whilst I was doubled
+up in the middle.  We had given the Indians some bread and pork, and
+after paddling about half an hour, they stopped to eat.  Now, the Indian
+at the bow had the pork, while the one at the stern had the bread; any
+attempt to move, so as to hand the eatables to each other, must have
+upset us; so this was their plan of communication:--The one in the bow
+cut off a slice of pork, and putting it into the lid of a saucepan which
+he had with him, and floating it alongside of the canoe, gave it a
+sufficient momentum to make it swim to the stern, when the other took
+possession of it.  He in the stern then cut off a piece of bread, and
+sent it back in return by the same conveyance.  I had a flask of whisky,
+but they would not trust that by the same perilous little conveyance; so
+I had to lean forward very steadily, and hand it to the foremost, and,
+when he returned it to me, to lean backwards to give it the other, with
+whom it remained till we landed, for I could not regain it.  After about
+an hour's more paddling, we arrived safely at the landing-place.  I had
+some trouble to get a horse, and was obliged to go out to the fields
+where the men were ploughing.  In doing so, I passed two or three very
+large snakes.  At last I was mounted somehow, but without stirrups, and
+set off for Prairie du Chien.  After riding about four miles, I had
+passed the mountain, and I suddenly came upon the prairie (on which were
+feeding several herd of cattle and horses), with the fort in the
+distance, and the wide waters of the Upper Mississippi flowing beyond
+it.  I crossed the prairie, found my way into the fort, stated the
+situation of our party, and requested assistance.  This was immediately
+dispatched, but on their arrival at the landing-place, they found that
+the keel-boat had arrived at the ferry without further difficulty.
+Before sunset the carriages returned with the whole party, who were
+comfortably accommodated in the barracks--a sufficient number of men
+being left with the boat to bring it round to the Mississippi, a
+distance of about twelve miles.
+
+
+
+VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.
+
+Prairie du Chiens is a beautiful meadow, about eight miles long by two
+broad, situated at the confluence of the Wisconsin and the Mississippi;
+it is backed with high bluffs, such as I have before described, verdant
+two-thirds of the way up, and crowned with rocky summits.  The bluffs,
+as I must call them, for I know not what other name to give them, rise
+very abruptly, often in a sugar-loaf form, from the flat lands, and have
+a very striking appearance; as you look up to them, their peculiar
+formation and vivid green sides, contrasting with their blue and grey
+summits, give them the appearance of a succession of ramparts investing
+the prairie.  The fort at the prairie, which is named Fort Crawford, is,
+like most other American outposts, a mere inclosure, intended to repel
+the attacks of Indians; but it is large and commodious, and the quarters
+of the officers are excellent; it is, moreover, built of stone, which is
+not the case with Fort Winnebago, or Fort Howard at Green Bay.  The
+Upper Mississippi is here a beautiful clear blue stream, intersected
+with verdant islands, and very different in appearance from the Lower
+Mississippi, after it has been joined by the Missouri.  The opposite
+shore is composed of high cliffs, covered with timber, which, not only
+in form, but in tint and colour, remind you very much of Glover's
+landscapes of the mountainous parts of Scotland and Wales.
+
+I made one or two excursions to examine the ancient mounds which are
+scattered all over this district, and which have excited much
+speculation as to their origin; some supposing them to have been
+fortifications, others the burial-places of the Indians.  That they have
+lately been used by the Indians as burial-places there is no doubt; but
+I suspect they were not originally raised for that purpose.  A Mr
+Taylor has written an article in one of the periodicals, stating his
+opinion that they were the burial-places of chiefs; and to prove it, he
+asserts that some of them are thrown up in imitation of the figure of
+the animal which was the heraldic distinction of the chief whose remains
+they contain, such as the beaver, elk, etcetera.  He has given drawings
+of some of them.  That the Indians have their heraldic distinctions,
+their _totems_, as they call them, I know to be a fact; as I have seen
+the fur trader's books, containing the receipts of the chiefs, with
+their crests drawn by themselves, and very correctly too; but it
+required more imagination than I possess to make out the form of any
+animal in the mounds.  I should rather suppose the mounds to be the
+remains of tenements, sometimes fortified, sometimes not, which were
+formerly built of mud or earth, as is still the custom in the northern
+portion of the Sioux country.  Desertion and time have crumbled them
+into these mounds, which are generally to be found in a commanding
+situation, or in a string, as if constructed for mutual defence.  On
+Rock River there is a long line of wall, now below the surface, which
+extends for a considerable distance, and is supposed to be the remains
+of a city built by a former race, probably the Mexican, who long since
+retreated before the northern race of Indians.  I cannot recollect the
+name which has been given to it.  I had not time to visit this spot; but
+an officer showed me some pieces of what they called the brick which
+composes the wall.  Brick it is not--no right angles have been
+discovered, so far as I could learn; it appears rather as if a wall had
+been raised of clay, and then exposed to the action of fire, as portions
+of it are strongly vitrified, and others are merely hard clay.  But
+admitting my surmises to be correct, still there is evident proof that
+this country was formerly peopled by a nation whose habits were very
+different, and in all appearance more civilised, than those of the races
+which were found here: and this is all that can be satisfactorily
+sustained.  As, however, it is well substantiated that a race similar to
+the Mexican formerly existed on these prairie lands, the whole question
+may perhaps be solved by the following extract from Irving's Conquest of
+Florida:--
+
+"The village of Onachili resembles most of the Indian villages of
+Florida.  The natives always endeavoured to build upon high ground, not
+least to erect the house of their cacique, or chief, upon an eminence.
+As the country was very level and high places seldom to be found, they
+constructed artificial mounds of earth, capable of containing from ten
+to twenty houses; there resided the chief, his family, and attendants.
+At the foot of the hill was a square, according to the size of the
+village, round which were the houses of the leaders and most
+distinguished inhabitants."
+
+I consider the Wisconsin territory as the finest portion of North
+America, not only from its soil, but its climate.  The air is pure, and
+the winters, although severe, are dry and bracing; very different from,
+and more healthy than, those of the Eastern States.  At Prairie du Chien
+every one dwelt upon the beauty of the winter, indeed they appeared to
+prefer it to the other seasons.  The country is, as I have described it
+in my route from Green Bay, alternate prairie, oak openings, and forest;
+and the same may be said of the other side of the Mississippi, now
+distinguished as the district of Ioway.  Limestone quarries abound;
+indeed, the whole of this beautiful and fertile region appears as if
+nature had so arranged it that man should have all difficulties cleared
+from before him, and have but little to do but to take possession and
+enjoy.  There is no clearing of timber requisite; on the contrary, you
+have just as much as you can desire, whether for use or ornament.
+Prairies of fine rich grass, upon which cattle fatten in three or four
+months, lay spread in every direction.  The soil is so fertile that you
+have but to turn it up to make it yield grain to any extent; and the
+climate is healthy, at the same time that there is more than sufficient
+sun in the summer and autumn to bring every crop to perfection.  Land
+carriage is hardly required from the numerous rivers and streams which
+pour their waters from every direction into the Upper Mississippi.  Add
+to all this, that the Western lands possess an inexhaustible supply of
+minerals, only a few feet under the surface of their rich soil--a
+singular and wonderful provision, as, in general, where minerals are
+found below, the soil above is usually arid and ungrateful.  The mineral
+country is to the south of the Wisconsin river--at least nothing has at
+present been discovered north of it; but the northern part is still in
+the possession of the Winnebago Indians, who are waiting for the
+fulfilment of the treaty before they surrender it, and at present will
+permit no white settler to enter it.  It is said that the other portions
+of the Wisconsin territory will come into the market this year; at
+present, with the exception of the Fox river and Winnebago Lake
+settlements, and that of Prairie du Chien, at the confluence of the two
+rivers Wisconsin and Mississippi, there is hardly a log-house in the
+whole district.  The greatest annoyance at present in this western
+country is the quantity and variety of snakes; it is hardly safe to land
+upon some parts of the Wisconsin river banks, and they certainly offer a
+great impediment to the excursions of geologist and botanist; you are
+obliged to look right and left as you walk, and as for putting your hand
+into a hole, you would be almost certain to receive a very unwished-for
+and unpleasant shake to welcome you.
+
+I ought here to explain an American law relative to what is termed
+squatting, that is, taking possession of land belonging to government
+and cultivating it: such was the custom of the back-woodsmen, and, for
+want of this law, it often happened that after they had cultivated a
+farm, the land would be applied for and purchased by some speculator,
+who would forcibly eject the occupant, and take possession of the
+improved property.  A back-woodsman was not to be trifled with, and the
+consequences very commonly were that the new proprietor was found some
+fine morning with a rifle-bullet through his head.  To prevent this
+unjust spoliation on the one part, and summary revenge on the other, a
+law has been passed, by which any person having taken possession of land
+belonging to the States Government shall, as soon as the lands have been
+surveyed and come into the market, have the right of purchasing the
+quarter section, or one hundred and sixty acres round him.  Many
+thousands are settled in this way all over the new Western States, and
+this pre-emption right is one of the few laws in Western America
+strictly adhered to.  A singular proof of this occurred the other day at
+Galena.  The government had made regulations with the diggers and
+smelters on the government lands for a percentage on the lead raised, as
+a government tax; and they erected a large stone building to warehouse
+their portion, which was paid in lead.  As soon as the government had
+finished it, a man stepped forward and proved his right of pre-emption
+on the land upon which the building was erected, and it was decided
+against the government, although the land was actually government land!
+
+
+
+VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.
+
+(This chapter incomplete at end) I remained a week at Prairie du Chien,
+and left my kind entertainers with regret; but an opportunity offering
+of going up to St Peters in a steam-boat, with General Atkinson, who
+was on a tour of inspection, I could not neglect so favourable a chance.
+St Peters is situated at the confluence of the St Peters River with
+the Upper Mississippi, about seven miles below the Falls of St Anthony,
+where the River Mississippi becomes no longer navigable; and here,
+removed many hundred miles from civilisation, the Americans have an
+outpost called fort Snelling, and the American Fur Company an
+establishment.  The country to the north is occupied by the Chippeway
+tribe of Indians; that to the east by the Winnebagos, and that to the
+west by the powerful tribe of Sioux or Dacotahs, who range over the
+whole prairie territory between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.
+
+The river here is so constantly divided by numerous islands, that its
+great width is not discernible: it seldom has less than two or three
+channels, often more: it courses through a succession of bold bluffs,
+rising sometimes perpendicularly, and always abruptly from the banks or
+flat land, occasionally diversified by the prairies, which descend to
+the edge of the stream.  These bluffs are similar to those I have
+described in the Wisconsin river and Prairie du Chien, but are on a
+grander scale, and are surmounted by horizontal layers of limestone
+rock.  The islands are all covered with small timber and brushwood, and
+in the spring, before the leaves have burst out, and the freshets come
+down, the river rises so as to cover the whole of them, and then you
+behold the width and magnificence of this vast stream.  On the second
+day we arrived at Lake Pepin, which is little more than an expansion of
+the river, or rather a portion of it, without islands.  On the third, we
+made fast to the wharf, abreast of the American Fur Company's Factory, a
+short distance below the mouth of the River St Peters.  Fort Snelling
+is about a mile from the factory, and is situated on a steep promontory,
+in a commanding position; it is built of stone, and may be considered as
+impregnable to any attempt which the Indians might make, provided that
+it has a sufficient garrison.  Behind it is a splendid prairie, running
+back for many miles.
+
+The Falls of St Anthony are not very imposing, although not devoid of
+beauty.  You cannot see the whole of the falls at one view, as they are
+divided, like those of Niagara, by a large island, about one third of
+the distance from the eastern shore.  The river which, as we ascended,
+poured through a bed below the strata of calcareous rock, now rises
+above the limestone formation; and the large masses of this rock, which
+at the falls have been thrown down in wild confusion over a width of
+from two hundred to two hundred and fifty yards, have a very picturesque
+effect.  The falls themselves, I do not think, are more than from thirty
+to thirty-five feet high; but, with rapids above and below them, the
+descent of the river is said to be more than one hundred feet.  Like
+those of Niagara, these falls have constantly receded, and are still
+receding.
+
+Here for the first time, I consider that I have seen the Indians in
+their primitive state; for till now all that I had fallen in with have
+been debased by intercourse with the whites, and the use of spirituous
+liquors.  The Winnebagos at Prairie du Chien were almost always in a
+state of intoxication, as were the other tribes at Mackinaw, and on the
+Lakes.  The Winnebagos are considered the dirtiest race of Indians, and
+with the worst qualities: they were formerly designated by the French,
+_Puans_, a term sufficiently explanatory.  When I was at Prairie du
+Chien, a circumstance which had occurred there in the previous winter
+was narrated to me.  In many points of manners and customs the red men
+have a strong analogy with the Jewish tribes: among others, an eye for
+an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, is most strictly adhered to.  If an
+Indian of one tribe is killed by an Indian of another, the murderer is
+demanded, and must either be given up, or his life must be taken by his
+own tribe: if not, a feud between the two nations would be the
+inevitable result.  It appeared that a young Menonnomie, in a drunken
+fray, had killed a Winnebago, and the culprit was demanded by the head
+men of the Winnebago tribe.  A council was held; and instead of the
+Menonnomie, the chiefs of the tribe offered them whisky.  The Winnebagos
+could not resist the temptation; and it was agreed that ten gallons of
+whisky should be produced by the Menonnomies, to be drunk by all parties
+over the grave of the deceased.  The squaws of the Menonnomie tribe had
+to dig the grave, as is the custom,--a task of no little labour, as the
+ground was frozen hard several feet below the surface.
+
+The body was laid in the grave; the mother of the deceased, with the
+rest of the Winnebago squaws, howling over it, and denouncing vengeance
+against the murderer; but in a short time the whisky made its
+appearance, and they all set to, to drink.  In an hour they were all the
+best friends in the world, and all very drunk.  The old squaw mother was
+hugging the murderer of her son; and it was a scene of intoxication
+which, in the end, left the majority of the parties assembled, for a
+time, quite as dead as the man in the grave.  Such are the effects of
+whisky upon these people, who have been destroyed much more rapidly by
+spirituous liquors than by all the wars which they have engaged in
+against the whites.
+
+The Sioux are a large band, and are divided into six or seven different
+tribes; they are said to amount to from 27,000 to 30,000.  They are, or
+have been, constantly at war with the Chippeways to the north of them,
+and with Saucs and Foxes, a small but very warlike band, residing to the
+south of them, abreast of Des Moines River.  The Sioux have fixed
+habitations as well as tents; their tents are large and commodious, made
+of buffalo skins dressed without the hair, and very often handsomely
+painted on the outside.  I went out about nine miles to visit a Sioux
+village on the borders of a small lake.  Their lodges were built
+cottage-fashion, of small fir-poles, erected stockade-wise, and covered
+inside and out with bark; the roof also of bark with a hole in the
+centre for the smoke to escape through.  I entered one of these lodges:
+the interior was surrounded by a continued bed-place round three of the
+sides, about three feet from the floor, and on the platform was a
+quantity of buffalo skins and pillows; the fire was in the centre, and
+their luggage was stowed away under the bed-places.  It was very neat
+and clean; the Sioux generally are, indeed, particularly so, compared
+with the other tribes of Indians.  A missionary resides at this village
+and has paid great attention to the small band under his care.  Their
+patches of Indian corn were clean and well tilled; and although, from
+demi-civilisation, the people have lost much of their native grandeur,
+still they are a fine race, and well disposed.  But the majority of the
+Sioux tribe remain in their native state: they are _Horse_ Indians, as
+those who live on the prairies are termed; and although many of them
+have rifles, the majority still adhere to the use of the bow and arrows,
+both in their war parties and in the chase of the buffalo.
+
+During the time that I passed here, there were several games of ball
+played between different bands, and for considerable stakes; one was
+played, on the prairie close to the house of the Indian agent.  The
+Indian game of ball is somewhat similar to the game of golf in Scotland,
+with this difference, that the sticks used by the Indians have a small
+network racket at the end, in which they catch the ball and run away
+with it, as far as they are permitted, towards the goal, before they
+throw it in that direction.  It is one of the most exciting games in the
+world, and requires the greatest activity and address.  It is, moreover,
+rendered celebrated in American History from the circumstance that it
+was used as a stratagem by the renowned leader of the northern tribes,
+Pontiac, to surprise in one day all the English forts on and near to the
+lakes, a short time after the Canadas had been surrendered to the
+British.  At Mackinaw they succeeded, and put the whole garrison to the
+sword, as they did at one or two smaller posts; but at Detroit they were
+foiled by the plan having been revealed by one of the squaws.
+
+Pontiac's plan was as follows.  Pretending the greatest good-will and
+friendship, a game of ball was proposed to be played, on the same day,
+at all the different outposts, for the amusement of the garrisons.  The
+interest taken in the game would, of course, call out a proportion of
+the officers and men to witness it.  The squaws were stationed close to
+the gates of the fort, with the rifles of the Indians cut short,
+concealed under their blankets.  The ball was, as if by accident, thrown
+into the fort; the Indians, as usual, were to rush in crowds after it;
+by this means they were to enter the fort, receiving their rifles from
+their squaws as they hurried in, and then slaughter the weakened and
+unprepared garrisons.  Fortunately, Detroit, the most important post,
+and against which Pontiac headed the stratagem in person, was saved by
+the previous information given by the squaw; not that she had any
+intention to betray him, but the commanding officer having employed her
+to make him several pairs of moccasins out of an elk skin, desiring her
+to take the remainder of the skin for the same purpose; this she
+refused, saying it was of no use, as he would never see it again.  This
+remark excited his suspicions, and led to the discovery.
+
+The game played before the fort when I was present lasted nearly two
+hours, during which I had a good opportunity of estimating the agility
+of the Indians, who displayed a great deal of mirth and humour at the
+same time.  But the most curious effect produced was by the
+circumstance, that having divested themselves of all their garments
+except their middle clothing, they had all of them fastened behind them
+a horse's tail; and as they swept by, in their chase of the ball, with
+their tails streaming to the wind, I really almost made up my mind that
+such an appendage was rather an improvement to a man's figure than
+otherwise.
+
+While I was there a band of Sioux from the _Lac qui parle_, (so named
+from a remarkable echo there,) distant about two hundred and thirty
+miles from Port Snelling, headed by Monsieur Rainville, came down on a
+visit to the American Fur Company's factory.  Monsieur Rainville, (or
+_de_ Rainville, as he told me was his real name,) is, he asserts,
+descended from one of the best families is France, which formerly
+settled in Canada.  He is a half-breed, his father being a Frenchman,
+and his mother a Sioux; his wife is also a Sioux, so that his family are
+three-quarters red.  He had been residing many years with the Sioux
+tribes, trafficking with them for peltry, and has been very judicious in
+his treatment of them, not interfering with their pursuits of hunting;
+he has, moreover, to a certain degree civilised them, and obtained great
+power over them. He has induced the band who reside with him to
+cultivate a sufficiency of ground for their sustenance, but they still
+course the prairie on their fiery horses, and follow up the chase of the
+buffalo. They adhere also to their paint, their dresses, and their
+habits, and all who compose his band are first-rate warriors; but they
+are all converted to Christianity.
+
+Latterly two missionaries have been sent out to his assistance. The
+Dacotah language has been reduced to writing, and most of them, if not
+all, can write and read. I have now in my possession an elementary
+spelling-book and Watts's catechism, printed at Boston, in the Sioux
+tongue, and many letters and notes given to me by the missionaries,
+written to them by the painted warriors; of course, they do not touch
+spirituous liquors. The dress of the band which came down with Mr.
+Rainville was peculiarly martial and elegant. Their hair is divided in
+long plaits in front, and ornamented with rows of circular silver
+buckles; the ear is covered with ear-rings up to the top of it, and on
+the crown of the head they wear the war-eagle's feathers, to which they
+are entitled by their exploits. The war-eagle is a small one of the
+genus, but said to be so fierce that it will attack and destroy the
+largest of his kind; the feathers are black about three inches down from
+the tips, on each side of the stem, the remainder being white. These
+feathers are highly valued, as the bird is scarce and difficult to kill.
+I saw two very fine feathers carried by a Sioux warrior on the point of
+his spear, andI asked him if he would part with them. He refused, saying
+that they cost too dear. I asked him how much, and he replied that he
+had given a very fine horse for them. For every scalp taken from the
+enemy, or grisly bear killed, an Indian is entitled to wear one feather,
+and no more; and this rule is never deviated from. Were an Indian to put
+on more feathers than he is entitled to, he would be immediately
+disgraced. Indeed, you can among this primitive people know all their
+several merits as warriors. I have now the shield of Yank-ton Sioux, a
+chief of a tribe near the Missouri. In the centre is a black eagle,
+which is his totem, or heraldic distinction; on each side hang war-
+eagle's feathers and small locks of human hair, denoting the number of
+scalps which he has taken, and below are smaller feathers, equal to the
+number of wounds he has received. These warriors of Mr. Rainville's were
+constantly with me, for they knew I was an English warrior, as they
+called me, and they are very partial to the English. It was really a
+pleasing sight, and a subject for meditation, to see one of these fine
+fellows, dressed in all his wild magnificence, with his buffalo robe on
+his shoulders, and his tomahawk by his side, seated at a table, and
+writing out for me a Sioux translation of the Psalms of David.
+
+Mr. Rainville's children read and write English, French, and Sioux. They
+are modest and well-behaved, as the Indian women generally are. They had
+prayers every evening, and I used to attend them. The warriors sat on
+the floor round the room; the missionary, with Mr. Rainville and his
+family, in the centre; and they all sang remarkably well. This system
+with these Indians is, in my opinion, very good. All their fine
+qualities are retained; and if the system be pursued I have no doubt but
+that the sternness and less defensible portions of their characters will
+be gradually obliterated.
+
+A half-bred, of the name of Jack Fraser, came up with us in the steam-
+boat. He has been admitted into one of the bands of Sioux who live near
+the river, and is reckoned one of the bravest of their warriors. I
+counted twentyeight notches on the handle of his tomahawk, every one
+denoting a scalp taken, and when dressed he wears eagle's feathers to
+that amount. He was a fine intellectual-looking man. I conversed with
+him through the interpreter, and he told me that the only man he wished
+to kill was his father. On inquiring why, he replied that his father had
+broken his word with him; that he had promised to make a white man of
+him (that is to have educated him, and brought him up in a civilised
+manner), and that he had left him a Sioux. One could not help admiring
+the thirst for knowledge and the pride shown by this poor fellow,
+although mixed up with their inveterate passion for revenge.
+
+The following story is told of Jack Fraser:—When he was a lad of twelve
+years old he was with three other Sioux Indians, captured by the
+Chippeways. At that period these tribes were not at war, but they were
+preparing for it; the Chippeways, therefore, did not kill, but they
+insulted all the Sioux who fell into their hands.
+
+The greatest affront to a Sioux is to cut off his hair, which is worn
+very long before and behind, hanging down in plaits ornamented with
+silver brooches. The Chippeways cut off the hair of the three Sioux
+Indians, and were about to do the same office for Jack, when he threw
+them off, telling them that if they wanted his hair, they mnst take it
+with the scalp attached to it.
+
+This boldness on the part of a boy twelve years old astonished the
+Chippeways, and they all put their hands to their mouths, as the Indians
+always do when they are very much surprised. They determined, however,
+to ascertain if Jack was really as brave as he appeared to be, and
+whether he had fortitude to bear pain.
+
+One of the chiefs refilled his pipe, and put the hot bowl of it to
+Jack's nether quarters, and kept it there in close contact until he had
+burnt a hole in his flesh as wide as a dollar, and half an inch deep.
+Jack never flinched during the operation, and the Indians were so
+pleased with him that they not only allowed Jack to retain his hair, but
+they gave him his liberty.
+
+The Sioux are said to be very honest, except on the point of stealing
+horses; but this, it must be recollected, is a part of their system of
+warfare, and is no more to be considered as stealing than is our taking
+merchant-vessels on the high seas. Indeed, what are the vast rolling
+prairies but as the wide ocean, and their armed bands that scour them
+but men-of-war and privateers, and the horses which they capture but
+unarmed or defenceless convoys of merchant-vessels? But sometimes they
+steal when they are not at war, and this is from the force of habit, and
+their irresistible desire to possess a fine horse. Mr. Rainville
+informed me that three hundred dollars was a very common price for a
+good horse, and if the animal was very remarkable, swift, and well-
+trained for buffalo hunting, they would give any sum (or the equivalent
+for it) that they could command.
+
+In many customs the Sioux are closely allied to the Jewish nation;
+indeed, a work has been published in America to prove that the Indians
+were originally Jews. There is always a separate lodge for the woman to
+retire to before and after childbirth, observing a similar purification
+to that prescribed by Moses. Although there ever will be, in all
+societies, instances to the contrary, chastity is honoured among the
+Sioux. They hold what they term Virgin Feasts, and when these are held,
+should any young woman accept the invitation who has by her misconduct
+rendered herself unqualified for it, it is the duty of any man who is
+aware of her unfitness, to go into the circle and lead her out. A
+circumstance of this kind occurred the other day, when the daughter of a
+celebrated chief gave a Virgin Feast: a young man of the tribe walked
+into the circle and led her out; upon which the chief led his daughter
+to the lodge of the young Sioux, and told him that he gave her to him
+for his wife, but the young man refused to take her, as being unworthy.
+But what is more singular (and I have it from authority which is
+unquestionable), they also hold Virgin Feasts for the young men, and
+should any young man take his seat there who is unqualified, the woman
+who is aware of it must lead him out, although in so doing, she convicts
+herself; nevertheless it is considered a sacred duty and is done.
+
+The shells found in their western rivers are very interesting. I had
+promised to procure some for Mr. Lea, of Philadelphia, and an old squaw
+had been despatched to obtain them. She brought me a large quantity, and
+then squatted down by my side. I was seated on the stone steps before
+the door, and commenced opening and cleaning them previous to packing
+them up. She watched me very attentively for half an hour, and then got
+up, and continued, as she walked away, to chuckle and talk aloud. "Do
+you know what the old woman says?" said the old Canadian interpreter to
+me; "she says, the man's a fool; he keeps the shells, and throws the
+meat away.”
+
+The French Canadians, who are here employed by the Fur Company, are a
+strange set of people. There is no law here, or appeal to law; yet they
+submit to authority, and are managed with very little trouble. They bind
+themselves for three years, and during that time (little occasional
+deviations being overlooked) they work diligently and faithfully; ready
+at all seasons and at all hours, and never complaining, although the
+work is often extremely hard. Occasionally they return to Canada with
+their earnings, but the major part have connected themselves with Indian
+women, and have numerous families; for children in this fine climate are
+so numerous, that they almost appear to spring from the earth.
+
+While I remained at St. Peters, one or two of the settlers at Red River
+came down. Red River is a colony established by Lord Selkirk, and at
+present is said to be composed of a population of four thousand. This
+settlement, which is four degrees of latitude north of St. Peters, has
+proved very valuable to the Hudson Bay Company, who are established
+there; most of their servants remaining at it after their three years'
+service is completed, and those required to be hired in their stead
+being obtained from the settlement. Formerly they had to send to
+Montreal for their servants, and those discharged went to Canada and
+spent their money in the provinces; now that they remain at the
+settlement, the supplies coming almost wholly from the stores of the
+Company, the money returns to it, and they procure their servants
+without trouble. These settlers informed me that provisions were
+plentiful and cheap, beef being sold at about two-pence per lb.; but
+they complained, and very naturally, that there was no market for their
+produce, so that if the Company did not purchase it, they must consume
+it how they could; besides that the supply being much greater than the
+demand, of course favour was shown. This had disgusted many of the
+settlers, who talked of coming down further south. One of the greatest
+inducements for remaining at Red River, and which occasioned the
+population to be so numerous, was the intermixture by marriage with the
+Indian tribes surrounding them. They do not like to return to Canada
+with a family of half-breeds, who would not there be looked upon with
+the same consideration as their parents.
+
+I give the substance of this conversation, without being able to
+substantiate how far it is true: the parties who gave me the information
+were certainly to be classed among that portion of the settlers who were
+discontented.
+
+
+
+
+
+VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
+
+Fort Snelling is well built, and beautifully situated: as usual, I found
+the officers gentlemanlike, intelligent, and hospitable; and together
+with their wives and families, the society was the most agreeable that I
+became acquainted with in America. They are better supplied here than
+either at Fort Crawford or Fort Winnebago, having a fine stock of cattle
+on the prairie, and an extensive garden cultivated for the use of the
+garrison. The principal amusement of the officers is, as may be
+supposed, the chase; there is no want of game in the season, and they
+have some very good dogs of every variety. And I here had the pleasure
+of falling in with Captain Scott, one of the first Nimrods of the United
+States, and who, perhaps, has seen more of every variety of hunting than
+any other person. His reputation as a marksman is very great; and there
+is one feat which he has often performed that appears almost incredible.
+Two potatoes being thrown up in the air, he will watch his opportunity
+and pass his rifle ball through them both. I had long conversations with
+him; and as, from his celebrity, he may be accounted a public character,
+I use no ceremony in amusing my readers with two or three personal
+anecdotes which he related to me.
+
+First—Showing how it was that, in his after life, Captain Scott became
+so celebrated a hunter:—
+
+"I was hardly twelve years old, and had never been allowed to go out
+gunning, although I was permitted to rest my father's gun upon a rail
+when he returned home with it charged, and fire it off in that way; and
+that was the greatest pleasuie I then knew. We lived at Beddington, in
+the State of Vermont, where I was born. One morning they brought down
+the intelligence that three bears had been seen near the mill, about a
+mile from my father's house. The whole country turned out, some with
+rifles, and others with what weapons they could get; the blacksmith
+shouldered his sledge hammer, the labourer his pitch-fork; for all I
+know to the contrary, the barber carried his pole. There were two other
+boys, my companions, but older than me, whose names were Pratt; they
+went out and carried guns. The chase proved to be an old she bear, a
+gray-nose, as they are termed, with her two cubs. One of the boys had
+been stationed on a road near the mill, more to keep him out of harm's-
+way than for any thing else; but it so happened that one of the cubs
+came out in that direction, and was shot by him. The people fixed the
+bear's carcase on two poles, mounted him on it, and carried him home in
+triumph. I can hardly express what were my feelings on that occasion,
+although time has not obliterated them: I was dying of jealousy; young
+Pratt had killed a bear, and I had not.
+
+"I went to bed, but could not sleep a wink. The next day the chase was
+renewed, and it so happened that, much in the same way, the other cub
+was killed by the other brother, who, in the same manner, was carried
+home in triumph. I thought I should have died that night; it was on a
+Saturday evening when they returned from this second expedition, and
+they did not go out the next day, as it was the Sabbath. On Sunday
+evening I went over to a cross old man, who had a good dog, and after a
+deal of persuasion, I obtained the loan of it, pledging myself before
+another party, that if it was not returned safe, I would pay him ten
+dollars—rather a bold promise for a boy to make, who had never had more
+than twenty-five cents in his pocket at one time during his life. I took
+the dog to my bed room, tied him fast to my wrist that he might not
+escape during the night, and tried to go to sleep.  I rose before
+daylight on Monday morning, and found that my father had discovered that
+I had employed the Sabbath in looking for a dog; and in consequence, as
+he was a very strict man, I received a severe caning.  On these
+memorable occasions, he always used to hold me by the wrist with one
+hand, while he chastised me with the other.  I found the best plan was
+to run round him as fast as I could, which obliged my father to turn
+round after me with the stick, and then in a short time he left off; not
+because he thought I had enough, but because he became so giddy that he
+could not stand.  A greater punishment, however, was threatened--that of
+not being permitted to go to the bear-hunt, which was to take place on
+that day; but I pleaded hard, and asked my father how he would have
+liked it, if he had been prevented from going to the battle of
+B---(where he had very much distinguished himself).  This was taking the
+old man on his weak side, and I was, at last, permitted to be present.
+Then there arose another difficulty.  I was thought too little to carry
+a gun, which I had provided; but a neighbour, who had witnessed my
+anxiety, took my part, said that he would be answerable for me, and that
+I should not quit his side; so at last all was settled to my
+satisfaction.  As for the caning, I thought nothing at all of that.
+
+"We set off and before we reached the mill, we passed a hollow; the dog
+barked furiously, and I let him go.  After a time I heard a noise in a
+bush.  `Did you not hear?' said I to my neighbour.--`Yes,' replied he;
+`but I also heard a rustling on the bank this way.  Do you look out
+sharp in that direction, whilst I look out in this.'  He had hardly said
+so, and I had not turned my head, when out came the old she-bear, in the
+direction where my neighbour had been watching, and sat upon her hind
+legs in a clear place.  My friend levelled his gun; to my delight he had
+forgotten to cock it.  While he was cocking it, the bear dropped down on
+her fore legs, and I fired; the ball passed through her chest into her
+shoulder.  She was at that time on the brink of a shelving quarry of
+sharp stone, down which she retreated.  I halloo'd for the dog, and
+followed, slipping and tumbling after her, for I was mad at the idea of
+her escaping me.  Down we went together, the dog following; when we
+arrived at the bottom, the dog seized her.  She was so weak that she
+supported herself against a rock; at last she rolled on her back,
+hogging the dog in her fore paws.  This was a terrible source of alarm
+to me.  I caught the dog by the tail, pulling at it as hard as I could
+to release him, crying out, although no one was near me, `Save the dog--
+save the dog--or I'll have to pay ten dollars.'  But, fortunately, the
+bear, although she held the dog fast, had not sufficient strength left
+to kill it.  Other people now came up; my own musket was down the bear's
+throat, where, in my anxiety, I had thrust it; one of them handed me
+his, and I shot the bear through the head.  Even then, so fearful was I
+of losing my prey, that I seized a large stone and beat the animal on
+the head till I was exhausted.  Then I had my triumph.  The Pratts had
+only killed bear-cubs; I had killed a full-grown bear.  I was, as you
+may suppose, also carried home upon the animal's back; and from that
+day, was pointed out as a bear-hunter."
+
+Secondly.  "I was once buffalo hunting in Arkansas.  I was on a strong
+well-trained horse, pursuing a bull, when we arrived at a rent or crack
+in the prairie, so wide, that it was necessary for the animals to leap
+it.  The bull went over first, and I, on the horse, following it close,
+rose on my stirrups, craning a little, that I might perceive the width
+of the rent.  At that moment the bull turned round to charge; the horse,
+perceiving it, and knowing his work, immediately wheeled also.  This
+sudden change of motion threw me off my saddle, and I remained hanging
+by the side of the horse, with my leg over his neck: there I was,
+hanging on only by my leg, with my head downwards below the horse's
+belly.  The bull rushed on to the charge, ranging up to the flank of the
+horse on the side where I was dangling, and the horse was so encumbered
+by my weight in that awkward position, that each moment the bull gained
+upon him.  At last my strength failed me; I felt that I could hold on
+but a few seconds longer; the head of the bull was close to me, and the
+steam from his nostrils blew into my face.  I gave myself up for lost;
+all the prayer I could possibly call to mind at the time was, the first
+two lines of a hymn I used to repeat as a child:--`Lord now I lay me
+down to sleep,' and that I repeated two or three times, when,
+fortunately, the horse wheeled short round, evaded the bull, and leaped
+the gap.  The bull was at fault; the jolt of the leap, after nearly
+dropping me into the gap, threw me up so high, that I gained the neck of
+my horse, and eventually my saddle.  I then thought of my rifle, and
+found that I had held it grasped in my hand during the whole time.  I
+wheeled my horse and resumed the chase, and in a minute the bull was
+dead at my horse's feet."
+
+Thirdly.  "I was riding out one day in Arkansas, and it so happened I
+had not my rifle with me, nor indeed a weapon of any description, not
+even my jack-knife.  As I came upon the skirts of a prairie, near a
+small copse, a buck started out, and dashed away as if much alarmed.  I
+thought it was my sudden appearance which had alarmed him; I stopped my
+horse to look after him, and turning my eyes afterwards in the direction
+from whence it had started, I perceived, as I thought, on a small mound
+of earth raised by an animal called a gopher, just the head of the doe,
+her body concealed by the high grass.  I had no arms, but it occurred to
+me, that if I could contrive to crawl up very softly, the high grass
+might conceal my approach, and I should be able to spring upon her and
+secure her by main strength.  `If I can manage this,' said I to myself,
+`it will be something to talk about.'  I tied my horse to a tree, and
+commenced crawling very softly on my hands and knees towards the gopher
+hill; I arrived close to it, and the doe had not started; I rose gently
+with both hands ready for a grab, and prepared to spring, slowly raising
+my head that I might get a sight of the animal.  It appeared that the
+animal was equally inquisitive, and wished to gain a sight of me, and it
+slowly raised its head from the grass as I did mine.  Imagine what was
+my surprise and consternation, to find that, instead of a doe, I was
+face to face with a large male panther.  It was this brute which had so
+scared the buck, and now equally scared me.  There I was, at hardly one
+yard's distance from him, without arms of any description, and almost in
+the paws of the panther.  I knew that my only chance was keeping my eyes
+fixed steadfastly on his, and not moving hand or foot; the least motion
+to retreat would have been his signal to spring: so there I was, as
+white as a sheet, with my eyes fixed on him.  Luckily he did not know
+what was passing within me.  For some seconds the animal met my gaze,
+and I began to give myself up for lost.  'Tis time for you to go,
+thought I, or I am gone: will you never go?  At last, the animal
+blinked, and then his eyes opened like balls of fire; I remained
+fascinated as it were; he blinked again, turned his head a very little,
+then turned round and went away at a light canter.  Imagine the relief.
+I hastened back to my horse, and away also went I at a light canter, and
+with a lighter heart, grateful to Heaven for having preserved me."
+
+
+
+VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER THIRTY.
+
+The band of warriors attached to Monsieur Rainville have set up their
+war-tent close to the factory, and have entertained us with a variety of
+dances.  Their dresses are very beautiful, and the people, who have been
+accustomed to witness these exhibitions for years, say that they have
+never seen any thing equal to them before, I was very anxious to obtain
+one of them, and applied to Mr Rainville to effect my purpose; but it
+required all his influence to induce them to part with it, and they had
+many arguments and debates among themselves before they could make up
+their minds to consent to do so.  I was the more anxious about it, as I
+had seen Mr Catlin's splendid exhibition, and I knew that he had not
+one in his possession.  The dress in question consisted of a sort of
+kilt of fine skins, ornamented with beautiful porcupine quill-work, and
+eagle's feathers; garters of animals' tails, worn at their ankles,
+head-dress of eagle's feathers and ermine's tails, etcetera.  They made
+little objection to part with any portions of the dress except the kilt;
+at last they had a meeting of the whole band, as the dress was not the
+property of any one individual; and I was informed that the warriors
+would come and have a _talk_ with me.
+
+I received them at the factory's new house, in my room, which was large,
+and held them all.  One came and presented me with a pair of garters;
+another with a portion of the head-dress; another with moccasins; at
+last, the kilt or girdle was handed to me.  M.  Rainville sat by as
+interpreter.  He who had presented me with the kilt or girdle spoke for
+half a minute, and then stopped while what he said was being
+interpreted.
+
+"You are an Englishman, and a warrior in your own country.  You cross
+the great waters as fast as we can our prairies.  We recollect the
+English, and we like them; they used us well.  The rifles and blankets
+which they gave us, according to promise, were of good quality: not like
+the American goods; their rifles are bad, and their blankets are thin.
+The English keep their word, and they live in our memory."
+
+"Ho!" replied I; which is as much as to say, I understand what you have
+said, and you may proceed.
+
+"You have asked for the dress which we wear when we dance; we have never
+parted with one as yet; they belong to the band of warriors; when one
+who has worn a dress goes to the land of spirits, we hold a council, to
+see who is most worthy to put it on in his place.  We value them highly;
+and we tell you so not to enhance their value, but to prove what we will
+do for an English warrior."
+
+"Ho!" says I.
+
+"An American, in the fort, has tried hard to obtain this dress from us;
+he offered us two barrels of flour, and other things.  You know that we
+have no game, and we are hungry; but if he had offered twelve barrels of
+flour, we would not have parted with them.  (This was true.)  But our
+father, Rainville, has spoken; and we have pleasure in giving them to an
+English warrior.  I have spoken."
+
+"Ho!" says I; upon which the Indian took his seat with the other; and it
+was my turn to speak.  I was very near beginning, "Unaccustomed as I am
+to public speaking;" but I knew that such an acknowledgment would in
+their estimation, have very much lessened my value as a warrior; for,
+like the Duke of Wellington, one must be as valuable in the council as
+in the field, to come up to their notions of excellence.  So I rose, and
+said--
+
+"I receive with great pleasure the dress which you have given me.--I
+know that you do not like to part with it, and that you have refused the
+American at the fort, and I therefore value it the more.  I shall never
+look upon it, when I am on the other side of the great waters, without
+thinking of my friends the Sioux; and I will tell my nation that you
+gave them to me because I was an English warrior, and because you liked
+the English."
+
+"Ho!" grunted the whole conclave, after this was interpreted.
+
+"I am very glad that you do not forget the English, and that you say
+they kept their word, and that their rifles and blankets were good.  I
+know that the blankets of the Americans are thin and cold.  (I did not
+think it worth while to say that they were all made in England.)  We
+have buried the hatchet now; but should the tomahawk be raised again
+between the Americans and the English, you must not take part with the
+Americans."
+
+"Ho!" said they.
+
+"In the Fur Company's store you will find many things acceptable to you.
+I leave Mr Rainville to select for you what you wish; and beg you will
+receive them in return for the present which you have made me."
+
+"Ho!" said they; and thus ended my first Indian council.
+
+It is remarkable that the Sioux have no expression to signify, "I thank
+you," although other Indians have.  When they receive a present, they
+always say, _Wash tay_: it is good.
+
+Of all the tribes I believe the Sioux to be the most inimical to the
+Americans.  They have no hesitation in openly declaring so; and it must
+be acknowledged that it is not without just grounds.  During the time
+that I was at St Peters, a council was held at the Indian agent's.  It
+appears that the American Government, in its paternal care for the
+Indians, had decided that at any _strike_ taking place between tribes of
+Indians near to the confines, no war should take place in consequence:
+that is to say, that should any Indians of one tribe attack or kill any
+Indians belonging to another, that instead of the tribes going to war,
+they should apply for and receive redress from the American Government.
+Some time back, a party of Chippeways came down to a trader's house,
+about half a mile from Port Snelling.  Being almost hereditary enemies
+of the Sioux, they were fired at, at night, by some of the young men of
+the Sioux village close by, and two of the Chippeways were wounded.  In
+conformity with the intimation received, and the law laid down by the
+American Government, and promulgated by the Indian agent, the Chippeways
+applied for redress.  It was granted--four Sioux were taken and shot.
+This summary justice was expected to produce the best effects, and, had
+it been followed up, it might have prevented bloodshed: but, since the
+above occurrence, some Chippeways came down, and meeting a party of
+Sioux, were received kindly into their lodges; they returned this
+hospitality by treacherously murdering eleven of the Sioux, while they
+were asleep.  This time the Sioux brought forward their complaint.  "You
+tell us not to go to war; we will not; you shot four of our people for
+wounding two Chippeways; now do us justice against the Chippeways, who
+have murdered eleven of our Sioux."  As yet no justice has been done to
+the Sioux.  The fact is, that the Chippeways live a long way off; and
+there are not sufficient men to garrison the fort, still less to send a
+party out to capture the Chippeways; and the Sioux are, as may well be
+supposed, indignant at this partial proceeding.
+
+I was at the council, and heard all the speeches made by the Sioux
+chiefs on the occasion.  They were some of them very eloquent, and
+occasionally very severe; and the reply of the Indian agent must have
+rendered the American Government very contemptible in the eyes of the
+Indians--not that the agent was so much in fault as was the American
+Government, which, by not taking proper measures to put their promises
+and agreements into force, had left their officer in such a position.
+First, the Indian agent said, that the wounding of the two Chippeways
+took place close to the fort, and that it was on account of the insult
+offered to the _American flag_ that it was so promptly punished--a very
+different explanation, and quite at variance with the principle laid
+down by the American Government.  The Indians replied; and the agent
+then said, that they had not sufficient troops to defend the fort, and,
+therefore, could not send out a party; an admission very unwise to make,
+although strictly true.  The Indians again replied; and then the agent
+said wait a little till we hear from Washington, and then, if you have
+no redress, you are brave men, you have arms in your hands, and your
+enemies are before you.  This was worse than all, for it implied the
+inability or the indifference of the American Government to do them
+justice, and told them, after that government had distinctly declared
+that they should fight no longer, but receive redress from it, that they
+now might do what the government had forbidden them to do, and that they
+had no other chance of redress.  The result of this council was very
+unsatisfactory.  The Indian chiefs declared that they were ashamed to
+look their people in the face, and walked solemnly away.
+
+To make this matter still worse, after I left St Peters, I read in the
+St Louis Gazette a report of some Chippeways having come down, and
+that, in consequence of the advice given by the Indian agent, the Sioux
+had taken the law into their own hands and murdered some of the
+Chippeways; and that although they had never received redress for the
+murder of their own people, some of the Sioux were again taken and
+executed.
+
+The arms of the Sioux are the rifle, tomahawk, and bow; they carry
+spears more for parade than use.  Their bows are not more than three
+feet long, but their execution with them is surprising.  A Sioux, when
+on horseback chasing the buffalo, will drive his arrow which is about
+eighteen inches long, with such force that the barb shall appear on the
+opposite side of the animal.  And one of their greatest chiefs,
+_Wanataw_, has been known to kill two buffaloes with one arrow, it
+having passed through the first of the animals, and mortally wounded the
+second on the other side of it.  I was about two hundred yards from the
+fort, and asked a Sioux if he could send his arrow into one of the
+apertures for air, which were near the foundation, and about three
+inches wide.  It appeared more like a thread from where we stood.  He
+took his bow, and apparently with a most careless aim he threw the arrow
+right into it.
+
+The men are tall and straight, and very finely made, with the exception
+of their arms, which are too small.  The arms of the squaws, who do all
+the labour, are much more muscular.  One day, as I was on the prairie, I
+witnessed the effect of custom upon these people.  A Sioux was coming up
+without perceiving me; his squaw followed very heavily laden, and to
+assist her he had himself a large package on his shoulder.  As soon as
+they perceived me, he dropped his burden, and it was taken up by the
+squaw and added to what she had already.  If a woman wishes to upbraid
+another, the severest thing she can say is, "You let your husband carry
+burthens."
+
+
+
+VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.
+
+Left St Peters.  Taking the two varieties in the mass, the Indians must
+be acknowledged the most perfect gentlemen in America, particularly in
+their deportment.  It was with regret that I parted with my friends in
+the fort, my kind host, Mr Sibley, and my noble-minded warrior Sioux.
+I could have remained at St Peters for a year with pleasure, and could
+only regret that life was so short, and the Mississippi so long.
+
+There is, however, one serious drawback in all America to life in the
+woods, or life in cities, or every other kind of life; which is the
+manner, go where you will, in which you are pestered by the mosquitoes.
+Strangers are not the only sufferers; those who are born and die in the
+country are equally tormented, and it is slap, slap, slap, all day and
+all night long, for these animals bite through everything less thick
+than a buffalo's skin.  As we ascended the river they attacked us on the
+crown of the head--a very unusual thing,--and raised swellings as large
+as pigeons' eggs.  I must have immolated at least five hundred of them
+upon my bump of benevolence.  Whatever people may think, I feel that no
+one can be very imaginative where these animals are so eternally
+tormenting them.  You meditate under the shady boughs of some
+forest-king (slap knee, slap cheek), and farewell to anything like
+concentration of thought; you ponder on the sailing moon (slap again,
+right and left, above, below), always unpleasantly interrupted.  It
+won't do at all: you are teased and phlebotomised out of all poetry and
+patience.
+
+It is midnight, the darkness is intense, not even a star in the heavens
+above, and the steamboat appears as if it were gliding through a current
+of ink, with black masses rising just perceptible on either side of it;
+no sound except the reiterated note of the "Whip poor Will," answered by
+the loud coughing of the high-pressure engine.  Who, of those in
+existence fifty years ago, would have contemplated that these vast and
+still untenanted solitudes would have had their silence invaded by such
+an unearthly sound? a sound which ever gives you the idea of vitality.
+It is this appearance of breathing which makes the high-pressure engine
+the nearest approach to creation which was ever attained by the
+ingenuity of man.  It appears to have respiration, and that short, quick
+respiration occasioned by exertion; its internal operations are
+performed as correctly and as mechanically as are our own; it is as
+easily put out of order and rendered useless as we are; and like us, it
+can only continue its powers of motion by being well supplied with
+aliment.
+
+Ran up Fever River to Galena, the present emporium of the Mineral
+Country.  There is an unpleasant feeling connected with the name of this
+river; it is, in fact, one of the American translations.  It was
+originally called Feve, or Bean River, by the French, and this they have
+construed into Fever.  The Mineral district comprehends a tract of
+country running about one hundred miles North and South, and fifty miles
+East and West, from the River Wisconsin to about twenty miles south of
+Galena.  It was purchased by the American Government about fifteen years
+ago, the northern portion from the Winnebagos, and the southern from the
+Sioux and Fox Indians.  The Indians used to work the diggings to a small
+extent, bringing the lead which they obtained to exchange with the
+traders.  As may be supposed, they raised but little, the whole work of
+digging and smelting being carried on by the squaws.  After the land was
+surveyed a portion of it was sold, but when the minerals made their
+appearance the fact was notified by the surveyors to the government, and
+the remaining portions were withdrawn from the market.  A licence was
+granted to speculators to dig the ore and smelt it, upon condition of
+their paying to the government a percentage on the mineral obtained.
+Those who found a good vein had permission to work it for forty yards
+square on condition that they carried the ore to a licensed smelter.
+This occasioned a new class of people to spring up in this speculative
+country, namely, _finders_, who would search all over the country for
+what they called a good _prospect_, that is, every appearance on the
+surface of a good vein of metal.  This when found they would sell to
+others, who would turn _diggers_; and as soon as these finders had spent
+their money, they would range over the whole country to find another
+_prospect_ which they might dispose of.  But although it was at first
+supposed that the government had retained all the mineral portion of the
+district in its own hands, it was soon discovered that nearly the whole
+country was one continued lead mine, and that there was an equal supply
+of mineral to be obtained from those portions which had been disposed
+of.  Lead was found not only in the mountains and ravines, but under the
+surface of the wide prairies.  As the lands sold by government had not
+to pay a percentage for the lead raised from them, those who worked upon
+the government lands refused to pay any longer, asserting that it was
+not _legal_.  The superintendent of government soon found that his
+office was a sinecure, as all attempt at _coercion_ in that
+half-civilised country would have been not only useless but dangerous.
+The government have gone to law with their tenants, but that is of no
+avail, for a verdict against the latter would not induce them to pay.
+The cause was not attempted to be tried at Galena, for the government
+knew what the decision of the jury would have been, but it is contested
+at Vandalia.  It is three years since the mines have paid any
+percentage, and the government are now advised to sell all their
+reserved lands, and thus get rid of the business.  How weak must that
+government be when it is compelled to submit to such a gross violation
+of all justice.  The quantity of mineral found does not appear to affect
+the quality of the soil, which is as fine here, if not finer, than in
+those portions of Wisconsin where the mineral is not so plentiful.  The
+quantity of lead annually smelted is said to amount to from 18,000,000
+to 20,000,000 lbs.  Galena is a small town, picturesquely situated on
+the banks of the river, but very dirty.
+
+Ioway, the new district opposite to Wisconsin, on the western banks of
+the Mississippi, has, in all probability, a large proportion of metal
+under its surface.  When it was in the possession of the Sioux Indians,
+they used to obtain from it a considerable portion of lead, which they
+brought down to barter; and I am inclined to think, that to the north of
+the Wisconsin river, they will find no want of minerals, even as high up
+as Lake Superior, where they have already discovered masses of native
+copper weighing many _tons_: and on the west side of the river, as you
+proceed south, you arrive at the iron mines, or rather mountains of
+iron, in the Missouri.
+
+After you proceed south of Prairie du Chien, the features of the
+Mississippi river gradually change; the bluffs decrease in number and in
+height, until you descend to Rock Island, below which point they are
+rarely to be met with.  The country on each side now is chiefly composed
+of variegated rolling prairies, with a less proportion of timber.  To
+describe these prairies would be difficult; that is, to describe the
+effect of them upon a stranger: I have found myself lost, as it were;
+and indeed sometimes, although on horseback, have lost myself, having
+only the sun for my guide.  Look round in every quarter of the compass,
+and there you are as if on the ocean--not a landmark, not a vestige of
+any thing human but yourself.  Instead of sky and water, it is one vast
+field, bounded only by the horizon, its surface gently undulating like
+the waves of the ocean; and as the wind (which always blows fresh on the
+prairies) bows down the heads of the high grass, it gives you the idea
+of a running swell.  Every three or four weeks there is a succession of
+beautiful flowers, giving a variety of tints to the whole map, which die
+away and are succeeded by others equally beautiful; and in the spring,
+the strawberries are in such profusion, that you have but to sit down
+wherever you may happen to be, and eat as long as you please.
+
+We stopped at Alton, in the State of Missouri, to put on shore three
+thousand pigs of lead.  This town has been rendered notorious by the
+murder--for murder it was, although it was brought on by his own
+intemperate conduct--of Mr Lovejoy, who is now raised to the dignity of
+a martyr by the abolitionists.  Alton is a well-built town, of stone,
+and, from its locality, must increase; it is, however, spoilt by the
+erection of a penitentiary with huge walls, on a most central and
+commanding situation.  I read a sign put out by a small eating-house,
+and which was very characteristic of the country--
+
+"Stranger, here's your chicken fixings."
+
+Four miles below Alton, the Missouri joins its waters with the
+Mississippi; and the change which takes place at the mingling of the two
+streams is very remarkable--the clear pellucid current of the upper
+Mississippi being completely extinguished by the foul mud of the other
+turbid and impetuous river.  It was a great mistake of the first
+explorers, when they called the western branch, at the meeting of the
+two rivers, the Missouri, and the eastern the Mississippi: the western
+branch, or the Missouri, is really the Mississippi, and should have been
+so designated: it is the longest and farthest navigable of the two
+branches, and therefore is the main river.
+
+The Falls of St Anthony put an end to the navigation of the eastern
+branch, or present upper Missouri, about nine hundred miles above St
+Louis; while the western branch, or present Missouri, is navigable above
+St Louis for more than one thousand two hundred miles.
+
+The waters of the present upper Mississippi are clear and beautiful; it
+is a swift, but not an angry stream, full of beauty and freshness, and
+fertilising as it sweeps along; while the Missouri is the same
+impetuous, discoloured, devastating current as the Mississippi continues
+to be after its junction--like it, constantly sweeping down forests of
+trees in its wild course, overflowing, inundating, and destroying, and
+exciting awe and fear.
+
+As soon as you arrive at St Louis, you feel that you are on the great
+waters of Mississippi.  St Louis is a well-built town, now containing
+about twenty thousand inhabitants, and situated on a hill shelving down
+to the river.  The population increases daily; the river a-breast of the
+town is crowded with steamboats, lying in two or three tiers, and ready
+to start up or down, or to the many tributary navigable rivers which
+pour their waters into the Mississippi.
+
+In point of heat, St Louis certainly approaches the nearest to the
+Black Hole of Calcutta of any city that I have sojourned in.  The lower
+part of the town is badly drained, and very filthy.  The flies, on a
+moderate calculation, are in many parts fifty to the square inch.  I
+wonder that they have not a contagious disease here during the whole
+summer; it is, however, indebted to heavy rains for its occasional
+purification.  They have not the yellow-fever here; but during the
+autumn they have one which, under another name, is almost as fatal--the
+bilious congestive fever.  I found sleep almost impossible from the
+sultriness of the air, and used to remain at the open window for the
+greater part of the night.  I did not expect that the muddy Mississippi
+would be able to reflect the silver light of the moon; yet it did, and
+the effect was very beautiful.  Truly it may be said of this river, as
+it is of many ladies, that it is a candle-light beauty.  There is
+another serious evil to which strangers who sojourn here are subject--
+the violent effects of the waters of the Mississippi upon those who are
+not used to them.  The suburbs of the town are very pretty; and a few
+miles behind it you are again in a charming prairie country, full of
+game, large and small.  Large and small are only so by comparison.  An
+American was asked what game they had in his district? and his reply
+was, "Why, we've plenty of _baar_ (bear) and deer, but no _large_ game
+to count on."
+
+There is one great luxury in America, which is the quantity of clear
+pure ice which is to be obtained wherever you are, even in the hottest
+seasons, and ice-creams are universal and very cheap.  I went into an
+establishment where they vended this and other articles of refreshment,
+when about a dozen black swarthy fellows, employed at the iron-foundry
+close at hand, with their dirty shirt-sleeves tucked up, and without
+their coats and waistcoats, came in, and sitting down, called for
+ice-creams.  Miss Martineau says in her work, "Happy is the country
+where factory-girls can carry parasols, and pig-drivers wear
+spectacles."  She might have added, and the sons of Vulcan eat
+ice-creams.  I thought at the time what the ladies, who stop in their
+carriages at Gunter's, would have said, had they behold these Cyclops
+with their bare sinewy arms, blackened with heat and smoke, refreshing
+themselves with such luxuries; but it must be remembered that _porter_
+is much the dearer article.  Still the working classes all over America
+can command not only all necessary comforts, but many luxuries; for
+labour is dear and they are very well paid.  The Americans will point
+this out and say, behold the effects of our institutions; and they fully
+believe that such is the case.  Government has, however, nothing to do
+with it; it is the result of circumstances.  When two years' exertion
+will procure a clever mechanic an independence, the effects will be the
+same, whether they labour under a democratic or a monarchical form of
+government.
+
+Bear cubs (I mean the black bear) are caught and brought down to the
+cities on this side of the river, to be fattened for the table.  I saw
+one at Alton about a year old, which the owner told me was to be killed
+the next day, having been bespoken for the feast of the 4th of July.  I
+have eaten old bear, which I dislike; but they say that the cub is very
+good.  I also saw here a very fine specimen of the grizzly bear (Ursus
+Horridus of Linnaeus).  It was about two years old, and although not so
+tall, it must have weighed quite as much as a good-sized bullock.  Its
+width of shoulder and apparent strength were enormous, and they have
+never yet been tamed: Mr Van Amburgh would be puzzled to handle one of
+them.  The Indians reckon the slaying of one of these animals as a much
+greater feat than killing a man, and the proudest ornament they can wear
+is a necklace of the grizzly bear's claws.
+
+I for myself, must confess, that I had rather be attacked by, and take
+my chance with, three men than by one of these animals, as they are
+seldom killed by the first or even the second bullet.  It requires
+numbers to overcome them.  The largest lion, or Bengal tiger, would
+stand but a poor chance, if opposed to one of these animals full grown.
+One of the gentlemen employed by the Fur Company told me, that he once
+saw a grizzly bear attack a bull buffalo, and that, at the first
+seizure, he tore one of the ribs of the buffalo out of his side, and
+eventually carried away the whole carcass, without much apparent effort.
+They are only to be found in the rocky mountains, and valleys between
+them, when the game is plentiful.
+
+Visited the museum.  There were once five large alligators to be seen
+alive in this museum; but they are now all dead.  One demands our
+sympathy, as there was something Roman in his fate.  Unable to support
+such a life of confinement, and preferring death to the loss of liberty,
+he committed suicide by throwing himself out of a three-storey-high
+window.  He was taken up from the pavement the next morning; the vital
+spark had fled, as the papers say, and, I believe, his remains were
+decently interred.
+
+The other four, never having been taught in their youth the hymn, "Birds
+in their little nests agree," fought so desperately, that one by one
+they all died of their wounds.  They were very large, being from
+seventeen to twenty-one feet long.  One, as a memorial, remains
+preserved in the museum, and to make him look more poetical, he has a
+stuffed negro in his mouth.
+
+
+
+VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.
+
+Thank Heaven I have escaped from St Louis; during the time that I
+remained in that city, I was, day and night, so melting away, that I
+expected, like some of the immortal half-breeds of Jupiter, to become a
+tributary stream to the Mississippi.
+
+As you descend the river the land through which it flows becomes more
+level and flat, while the size of the forest trees increases; the log
+houses of the squatters, erected on the banks under their trunks,
+appear, in contrast with their size, more like dog-kennels than the
+habitations of men.  The lianes, or creeping plants, now become
+plentiful, and embrace almost every tree, rising often to the height of
+fifty or sixty feet, and encircling them with the apparent force of the
+boa-constrictor.  Most of them are poisonous; indeed, it is from these
+creeping parasites that the Indians, both in North and South America,
+obtain the most deadly venom.  Strange that these plants, in their
+appearances and their habits so similar to the serpent tribe, should be
+endowed with the same peculiar attributes, and thus become their
+parallels in the vegetable kingdom--each carrying sudden death in their
+respective juices.  I hate the Mississippi, and as I look down upon its
+wild and filthy waters, boiling and eddying, and reflect how uncertain
+is travelling in this region of high-pressure, and disregard of social
+rights, I cannot help feeling a disgust at the idea of perishing in such
+a vile sewer, to be buried in mud, and perhaps to be rooted out again by
+some pig-nosed alligator.
+
+Right glad was I when we turned into the stream of the Ohio, and I found
+myself on its purer waters.  The Ohio is a splendid river, running
+westward from the chain of Alleghany mountains into the Mississippi,
+dividing the States of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio on its northern bank
+from Kentucky, and Virginia on its south; the northern being free, and
+the southern slave States.  We stopped at the month of the Cumberland
+river, where we took in passengers.  Among others were a slave-dealer
+and a runaway negro whom he had captured.  He was secured by a heavy
+chain, and followed his master, who, as soon as he arrived on the upper
+deck, made him fast with a large padlock to one of the stancheons.
+
+Here he remained looking wistfully at the northern shore, where every
+one was free, but occasionally glancing his eye on the southern, which
+had condemned him to toil for others. I had never seen a slave-dealer,
+and scrutinised this one severely.  His most remarkable feature was his
+eye; it was large but not projecting, clear as crystal, and eternally in
+motion.  I could not help imagining, as he turned it right and left from
+one to the other of the passengers, that he was calculating what price
+he could obtain for them in the market.  The negro had run away about
+seven months before, and not having a pass, he had been secured in gaol
+until the return of his master, who had been on a journey with a string
+of slaves, to the State of Arkansas: he was about to be sold to pay
+expenses, when his master saw the advertisement and claimed him.  As may
+be supposed, a strong feeling exists on the opposite shores of the river
+as to slavery and freedom.  The Abolitionists used to assist the slaves
+to escape, and send them off to Canada; even now many do escape; but
+this has been rendered more difficult by a system which has latterly
+been put in practice by a set of miscreants living on the free side of
+the river.  These would go to the slave states opposite, and persuade
+the negroes to run away, promising to conceal them until they could send
+them off to Canada; for a free state is bound to give up a slave when
+claimed.  Instead of sending them away, they would wait until the reward
+was offered by the masters for the apprehension of the slaves, and then
+return them, receiving their infamous guerdon.  The slaves, aware of
+this practice, now seldom attempt to escape.
+
+Louisville is the largest city in Kentucky; the country about is very
+rich, and every thing vegetable springs up with a luxuriance which is
+surprising.  It is situated at the falls of the Ohio, which are only
+navigable during the freshets; there is no river in America which has
+such a rise and fall as the Ohio, sometimes rising to sixty feet in the
+spring; but this is very rare, the general average being about forty
+feet.  The French named it La Belle Riviere: it is a very grand stream,
+running through hills covered with fine timber and underwood; but a very
+small portion is as yet cleared by the settlers.  At the time that I was
+at Louisville the water was lower than it had been remembered for years,
+and you could walk for miles over the bed of the river, a calcareous
+deposit full of interesting fossils; but the mineralogist and geologist
+have as much to perform in America as the agriculturist.
+
+Arrived at Cincinnati.  How rapid has been the advance of this western
+country.  In 1803, deer-skin at the value of forty cents per pound, were
+a legal tender; and if offered instead of money could not be refused--
+even by a lawyer.  Not fifty years ago, the woods which towered where
+Cincinnati is now built, resounded only to the cry of the wild animals
+of the forest, or the rifle of the Shawnee Indian; now Cincinnati
+contains a population of 40,000 inhabitants.  It is a beautiful, well
+built, clean town, reminding you more of Philadelphia than any other
+city in the Union.  Situated on a hill on the banks of the Ohio, it is
+surrounded by a circular phalanx of other hills; so that look up and
+down the streets, whichever way you will, your eye reposes upon verdure
+and forest trees in the distance.  The streets have a row of trees on
+each side, near the curb-stone; and most of the houses have a small
+frontage, filled with luxuriant flowering shrubs, of which the Althea
+Frutex is the most abundant.  It is, properly speaking, a Yankee city,
+the majority of its inhabitants coming from the East; but they have
+intermarried, and blended with the Kentuckians of the opposite shore, a
+circumstance which is advantageous to the character of both.
+
+There are, however, a large number of Dutch and German settlers here;
+they say 10,000.  They are not much liked by the Americans but have
+great influence, as may be conceived when it is stated that, when a
+motion was brought forward, in the Municipal Court, for the city
+regulations to be printed in German as well as English, it was lost by
+one vote only.
+
+I was told a singular fact, which will prove how rapidly the value of
+land rises in this country as it becomes peopled.  Fifty-six years ago,
+the major part of the land upon which the city of Cincinnati stands, and
+which is now worth many millions of dollars, was _swapped_ away by the
+owner of it for a pony!!  The man who made this unfortunate bargain is
+now alive, and living in or near Cincinnati.
+
+Cincinnati is the pork-shop of the Union; and in the autumnal, and early
+winter months, the way they kill pigs here is, to use a Yankee phrase,
+_quite a caution_.  Almost all the hogs fed in the oak forests of Ohio,
+Kentucky, and Western Virginia, are driven into this city, and some
+establishments kill as many as fifteen hundred a day; at least so I am
+told.  They are despatched in a way quite surprising; and a pig is
+killed upon the same principle as a pin is made,--by division, or, more
+properly speaking, by combination of labour.  The hogs confined in a
+large pen are driven into a smaller one; one man knocks them on the head
+with a sledge hammer, and then cuts their throats; two more pull away
+the carcase, when it is raised by two others, who tumble it into a tub
+of scalding water.  His bristles are removed in about a minute and a
+half by another party; when the next duty is to fix a stretcher between
+his legs.  It is then hoisted up by two other people, cut open, and
+disembowelled; and in three minutes and a half from the time that the
+hog was grunting in his obesity, he has only to get cold before he is
+again packed up, and reunited in a barrel to travel all over the world.
+By the by, we laugh at the notion of pork and molasses.  In the first
+place, the American pork is far superior to any that we ever have salted
+down; and, in the next, it eats uncommonly well with molasses.  I have
+tasted it, and "_it is a fact_."  After all, why should we eat currant
+jelly with venison, and not allow the Americans the humble imitation of
+pork and molasses?
+
+Mrs Trollope's bazaar raises its head in a very imposing manner: it is
+composed of many varieties of architecture; but I think the order under
+which it must be classed is the _preposterous_.  They call it Trollope's
+folly; and it is remarkable how a shrewd woman like Mrs Trollope should
+have committed such an error.  A bazaar like an English bazaar is only
+to be supported in a city which has arrived at the acme of luxury; where
+there are hundreds of people willing to be employed for a trifle;
+hundreds who will work at trifles, for want of better employment; and
+thousands who will spend money on trifles, merely to pass away their
+time.  Now, in America, in the first place, there is no one who makes
+trifles; no one who will devote their time, as sellers of the articles
+unless well compensated; and no one who will be induced, either by
+fashion or idleness, to give a halfpenny more for a thing than it is
+worth.  In consequence, nothing was sent to Mrs Trollope's bazaar.  She
+had to furnish it from the shops, and had to pay very high salaries to
+the young women who attended; and the people of Cincinnati, aware that
+the same articles were to be purchased at the stores for less money,
+preferred going to the stores.  No wonder then that it was a failure.
+It is now used as a dancing academy, and occasionally as an
+assembly-room.
+
+Whatever the society of Cincinnati may have been at the time that Mrs
+Trollope resided there, I cannot pretend to say; probably some change
+may have taken place in it; but at present it is as good as any in the
+Union, and infinitely more agreeable than in some other cities, as in it
+there is a mixture of the southern frankness of character.  A lady, who
+had long resided at Cincinnati, told me that they were not angry with
+Mrs Trollope for having described the society which she saw, but for
+having asserted that that was the best society; and she further
+remarked,--"It is fair to us that it should be understood that when Mrs
+Trollope came here, she was quite unknown, except inasmuch as that she
+was a married woman, travelling without her husband.  In a small
+society, as ours was, it was not surprising, therefore, that we should
+be cautious about receiving a lady who, in our opinion was offending
+against _les bienseances_.  Observe, _we do not accuse Mrs Trollope of
+any impropriety_; but you must be aware how necessary it is, in this
+country, to be regardful of appearances, and how afraid every one is of
+their neighbour.  Mrs Trollope then took a cottage on the hill, and
+used to come down to the city to market, and attend to the erection of
+her bazaar.  I have now told you all that we know about her, and the
+reason why she did not receive those attentions, the omission of which
+caused her indignation."  I think it but fair that the lady's
+explanation should be given, as Mrs Trollope is considered to have been
+very severe and very unjust by the inhabitants of Cincinnati.
+
+The fact is, that Mrs Trollope's representation of the manners and
+custom of Cincinnati, at the period when she wrote, was probably more
+correct than the present inhabitants of the city will allow: that it
+would be a libel upon the Cincinnatians of the present day is certain;
+whether it was one at the time she wrote, and the city was,
+comparatively speaking, in its infancy, is quite another affair.
+However, one thing is certain, which is, that the Americans have quite
+forgiven Mrs Trollope, and if she were again to cross the water, I
+think she would be well received.  Her book made them laugh, though at
+their own expense; and the Americans, although appearances are certainly
+very much against it, are really, at the bottom, a very good tempered
+people.
+
+The heat has been this year very remarkable all over the Western
+country, and the drought equally uncommon, the thermometer standing from
+100 degrees to 106 degrees, in the shade, every where from St Peters to
+New Orleans.  It is very dangerous to drink iced water, and many have
+died from yielding to the temptation.  One young man came into the bar
+of the hotel where I resided, drank a glass of water, and fell down dead
+at the porch.  This reminds me of an ingenious plan put in practice by a
+fellow who had drunk every cent out of his pocket, and was as thirsty as
+ever.  The best remedy, in case of a person being taken ill from
+drinking cold water, is to pour brandy down his throat immediately.
+Aware of this, the fellow used to go to one of the pumps, pump away, and
+pretend to drink water in large quantities; he would then fall down by
+the pump, as if he had been taken suddenly ill; out would run people
+from every house, with brandy, and pour it down his throat till even he
+had had enough; he would then pretend gradually to recover, thank them
+for their kindness, and walk away.  When he required another dose, he
+would perform the same farce at another pump; and this he continued to
+do for some time, before his trick was discovered.
+
+I had two good specimens of democracy during my stay in this city.  I
+sent for a tailor to take my measure for a coat, and he returned for
+answer, that such a proceeding was not _republican_, and that I must _go
+to him_.
+
+A young lady, with whom I was acquainted, was married during the time I
+was there, and the marriage-party went a short tour.  On their return,
+when but a few miles from the city, they ordered the driver of the
+carriage to put his horses to, that they might proceed; he replied that
+he would take them no further.  On inquiring the cause of his refusal,
+he said that he had not been treated as a gentleman; that they had had
+private meals every day, and had not asked him to the table; that they
+had used him very ill, and that he would drive no more.  Things appear
+to be fast verging to the year 1920, or thereabouts, as described by
+Theodore Hook.  A duchess wishing for a drive, the old mare sends an
+answer from the stable, that "She'll be d---d if she'll go out today."
+
+Left Cincinnati, in a very small steam-boat, for Guyandotte, on my way
+to the Virginia Springs.  I have often heard the expression of "Hell
+afloat" applied to very uncomfortable ships in the service, but this
+metaphor ought to have been reserved for a small high-pressure steamboat
+in the summer months in America; the sun darting his fierce rays down
+upon the roof above you, which is only half-inch plank, and rendering it
+so hot that you quickly remove your hand if, by chance, you put it
+there; the deck beneath your feet so heated by the furnaces below that
+you cannot walk with slippers; you are panting and exhausted between
+these two fires, without a breath of air to cool your forehead.  Go
+forward, and the chimneys radiate a heat which is even more intolerable.
+Go--but there is no where to go, except overboard, and then you lose
+your passage.  It is, really, a fiery furnace, and, day or night, it is
+in vain to seek a cool retreat.  As we proceeded up the river, things
+became worse.  We had not proceeded more than twenty miles, when a
+larger steamboat, which had started an hour before us, was discovered
+aground on a bar, which, from the low state of the river, she could not
+pass.  After a parley between the captains, we went alongside and took
+out all her passengers, amounting to upward of a hundred, being more
+than we were on board of our own vessel.  But they behaved like pirates,
+and treated us just as if we had been a captured vessel.  Dinner was
+just ready; they sat down and took possession of it, leaving us to wait
+till the table was replenished.  A young Englishman had just taken his
+seat by me, when a very queer-looking man came up to him and begged that
+he would give up his place to a _lady_.  Aware of the custom of the
+country, he immediately resigned his seat, and went to look for another.
+When the lady took her seat by me I involuntarily drew my chair to a
+more respectful distance, there being something so particularly
+uninviting in her ladyship's appearance.  On our arrival at Maysville,
+this lady, with her gentleman, told the captain that they were sorry
+they had not a cent wherewith to defray the expenses of their passage.
+Their luggage had been landed before this declaration was made, but it
+was immediately ordered on board again by the captain; and as, of
+course, they would not part with their goods and chattels, they remained
+on board of the boat.  The captain took them to the river about twenty
+miles further, and then landed them on the bank, with their luggage, to
+find their way back to Maysville how they could.  This is the usual
+punishment for such mal-practices; but, after all, it is only the
+punishment of delay, as they would hail the first boat which came down
+the river, make out a piteous tale of ill-treatment, be received on
+board, and landed at their destination.
+
+This reminds me of a clever trick played by a Yankee pedlar upon one of
+the captains of the steamboats running from New York to Albany on the
+Hudson river.  The Yankee was fully aware of this custom of putting
+people on shore who attempted to gain a passage for nothing, and his
+destination was to a place called Poughkeepsie, about halfway between
+New York and Albany.  He, therefore, waited very quietly until he was
+within a mile or two of Poughkeepsie, and then went up to the
+captain.--"Well, now, Captain, I like to do things on the square, that's
+a fact;--I might have said nothing to you, and run up all the way to
+Albany--and to Albany I must go on most particular business--that's a
+fact; but I thought it more honourable-like to tell you at once--I
+hav'nt got a cent in my pocket; I've been unfortunate; but, by the
+'tarnal I'll pay you my passage-money as soon as I get it.  You see I
+tell you now, that you may'nt say that I cheat you; for pay you I will
+as soon as I can, that's a fact."  The captain, indignant, as usual, at
+being tricked, called him certain names, swore a small quantity, and as
+soon as he arrived at Poughkeepsie, as a punishment put him ashore at
+the very place the keen Yankee wished to be landed at.
+
+The Ohio river becomes much more rapid as you ascend.  Abreast of
+Guyandotte, where we landed, the current was so strong that it was very
+difficult for men to wade across it, and the steamboats running against
+the stream could not gain more than a mile in the course of half an
+hour.
+
+On board of this steamboat was a negro woman, very neatly dressed, with
+a very good-looking negro child, about nine months old, in her arms.  It
+was of the darkest ebony in colour, and its dress rather surprised me.
+It was a chali frock, of a neat fawn coloured pattern, with fine muslin
+trousers edged with Valenciennes lace at the bottom; and very pretty did
+its little tiny black feet look, relieved by these expensive
+unnecessaries.  I did not inquire who the young gentleman was; but I
+thought what pleasure the sight of him would have given Miss Martineau,
+who, as I have before observed, exclaims, "Happy is the country where
+factory-girls carry parasols, and pig-drivers wear spectacles."  How
+much more happy must be that country where a little black boy, of nine
+months old, wears Valenciennes lace at the bottom of his trousers!  It
+is, however a question of figures, and may be solved, not by the rule of
+three, but by the rule of five, which follows it in the arithmetic-book.
+
++===============+================+==================+
+YIf a pig-driverYproduces so muchYa little black boyY
++---------------+----------------+------------------+
+Ywith spectaclesYhappiness,      YValenciennes lace.Y
++===============+================+==================+
+
+I leave Miss Martineau to make the calculation.
+
+
+
+VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.
+
+There is extreme beauty in the Ohio river.  As may be supposed, where
+the rise and fall are so great the banks are very steep; and, now that
+the water is low, it appears deeply embedded in the wild forest scenery
+through which it flows.  The whole stream is alive with small
+fresh-water turtle, who play on the surface of its clear water; while
+the more beautiful varieties of the butterfly tribe cross over from one
+side to the other, from the slave States to the free--their liberty, at
+all events, not being interfered with as, on the free side, it would be
+thought absurd to catch what would not produce a cent; while, on the
+slaves', their idleness and their indifference to them are their
+security.
+
+Set off, one of nine, in a stage-coach, for the Blue Sulphur springs.
+The country, which is very picturesque, has been already described.  It
+is one continuation of rising ground, through mountains covered with
+trees and verdure.  Nature is excessively fond of drapery in America.  I
+have never yet fallen in with a naked rock.  She clothes every thing;
+and although you may occasionally meet with a slight nudity, it is no
+more than the exposure of the neck or the bare feet of the
+mountain-nymph.  This ridge of the Alleghanies is very steep; but you
+have no distinct view as you climb up, not even at the Hawk's Nest,
+where you merely peep down into the ravine below.  You are jammed up in
+the forests through which you pass nearly the whole of the way; and it
+was delightful to arrive at any level, and fall in with the houses and
+well-tilled fields of the Virginian farmers, exhibiting every proof of
+prosperity and ease.  The heat was dreadful; two horses fell dead, and I
+thought that many others would have died, for two of the wheels were
+defective, and the labour of the poor animals, in dragging us constantly
+up hill, was most severe.
+
+The indifference of the proprietors of public conveyances in America as
+to the safety of their passengers, can only be accounted for by the
+extreme indifference of the passengers themselves, and the independent
+feeling shewn by every class, who, whatever may be their profession,
+will never acknowledge themselves to be what we term the servants of the
+public.  Here was an instance.  The coach we were put into was defective
+in two of its wheels, and could only be repaired at Louisburg, about a
+hundred miles distant.  Instead of sending it on to that town empty, as
+would have been done by our coach proprietors, and providing another (as
+they had plenty), for the passengers; instead of this, in order to save
+the extra trouble and expense, they risked the lives of the passengers
+on a road with a precipice on one side of it for at least four-fifths of
+the way.  One of the wheels would not hold the grease, and creaked most
+ominously during the whole journey; and we were obliged to stop and pour
+water on it continually.  The box and irons of the other were loose, and
+before we were half way it came off, and we were obliged to stop and get
+out.  But the Americans are never at a loss when they are in a _fix_.
+The passengers borrowed an axe; in a short time wedges were cut from one
+of the trees at the road-side, and the wheel was so well repaired that
+it lasted us the remainder of our journey.
+
+Our road for some time lay through the valley of Kenawha, through which
+runs the river of that name--a strong, clear stream.  It is hemmed in by
+mountains on each side of it; and here, perhaps, is presented the most
+curious varieties of mineral produce that ever were combined in one
+locality.  The river runs over a bed of horizontal calcareous strata,
+and by perforating this strata about forty or fifty feet below the level
+of the river, you arrive at salt-springs, the waters of which are pumped
+up by small steam-engines, and boiled down into salt in buildings
+erected on the river's banks.  The mountains which hem in the river are
+one mass of coal; a gallery is opened at that part of the foot of the
+mountain most convenient to the buildings, and the coal is thrown down
+by shoots or small railways.  Here you have coal for your fuel; salt
+water under fresh; and as soon as the salt is put into the barrels
+(which are also made from the mountain timber), the river is all ready
+to transplant them down to Ohio.  But there is another great curiosity
+in this valley: these beds of coal have produced springs, as they are
+termed, of carburetted hydrogen gas, which run along the banks of the
+river close to the water's-edge.  The negroes take advantage of these
+springs when they come down at night to wash clothes; they set fire to
+the springs, which yield them sufficient light for their work.  The one
+which I examined was dry, and the gas bubbled up through the sand.  By
+kicking the sand about, so as to make communications after I had lighted
+the gas, I obtained a very large flame, which I left burning.
+
+The heat, as we ascended, was excessive, and the passengers availed
+themselves of every spring, with the exception of those just described,
+that they fell in with on the route.  We drank of every variety of water
+excepting pure water--sometimes iron, sometimes sulphur; and, indeed,
+every kind of chalybeate, for every rill was impregnated in some way or
+another.  At last, it occurred to me that there were such things as
+chemical affinities, and that there was no saying what changes might
+take place by the admixture of such a variety of metals and gases, so
+drank no more.  I did not like, however, to interfere with the happiness
+of others, so I did not communicate my ideas to my fellow-passengers,
+who continued drinking during the whole day; and as I afterwards found
+out, did not sleep very well that night; they were, moreover, very
+sparing in the use of them the next day.
+
+There are a great variety of springs already discovered on these
+mountains, and probably there will be a great many more.  Already they
+have the blue, the white, and the red sulphur springs; the sweet and the
+salt; the warm and the hot, all of which have their several virtues; but
+the greatest virtue of all these mineral springs is, as in England and
+every where else, that they occasion people to live regularly, to be
+moderate in the use of wine, and to dwell in a pure and wholesome air.
+They always remind me of the eastern story of the Dervish, who, being
+sent for by a king who had injured his health by continual indulgence,
+gave him a racket-ball, which he informed the king possessed wonderful
+medicinal virtues; with this ball his majesty was to play at racket two
+or three hours every day with his courtiers.  The exercise it induced,
+which was the only medicinal virtue the ball possessed, restored the
+king to health.  So it is with all watering places; it is not so much
+the use of the water, as the abstinence from what is pernicious,
+together with exercise and early hours, which effect the majority of
+cures.
+
+We arrived first at the blue sulphur springs, and I remained there for
+one day to get rid of the dust of travelling.  They have a very
+excellent hotel there, with a ball room, which is open till eleven
+o'clock every night; the scenery is very pretty, and the company was
+good--as indeed is the company at all these springs, for they are too
+distant, and the travelling too expensive for every body to get there.
+But the blue sulphur are not fashionable, and the consequence was, we
+were not crowded, and were very comfortable.  People who cannot get
+accommodated at the white sulphur, remain here until they can, the
+distance between those being only twenty-two miles.
+
+The only springs which are fashionable are the white sulphur, and as
+these springs are a feature in American society, I shall describe them
+more particularly.
+
+They are situated in a small valley, many hundred feet above the level
+of the sea, and are of about fifteen or twenty acres in area, surrounded
+by small hills, covered with foliage to their summits: at one end of the
+Valley is the hotel, with the large dining-room for all the visitors.
+Close to the hotel, but in another building, in the ballroom, and a
+little below the hotel on the other side, is the spring itself; but
+beautiful as is the whole scenery, the great charm of this watering
+place is, the way in which those live who visit it.  The rises of the
+hills which surround the valley are covered with little cottages,
+log-houses, and other picturesque buildings, sometimes in rows, and
+ornamented with verandahs, without a second storey above; or kitchen
+below.  Some are very elegant and more commodious than the rest, having
+been built by gentlemen who have the right given to them by the company
+to whom the springs belong, of occupying themselves when there, but not
+of preventing others from taking possession of them in their absence.
+The dinners and other meals are, generally speaking, bad; not that there
+is not a plentiful supply, but that it is so difficult to supply seven
+hundred people sitting down in one room.  In the morning, they all turn
+out from their little burrows, meet in the public walks, and go down to
+the spring before breakfast; during the forenoon, when it is too warm,
+they remain at home; after dinner, they ride out or pay visits, and then
+end the day, either at the ball-room or in little societies among one
+another.  There is no want of handsome equipages, many four in hand
+(Virginny long tails) and every accommodation for these equipages.  The
+crowd is very great, and it is astonishing what inconvenience people
+will submit to, rather than not be accommodated somehow or another.
+Every cabin is like a rabbit burrow.  In the one next to where I was
+lodged, in a room about fourteen feet square, and partitioned off as
+well as it could be, there slept a gentleman and his wife, his sister
+and brother, and a female servant.  I am not sure that the nigger was
+not under the bed--at all events, the young sister told me that it was
+not at all pleasant.
+
+There is a sort of major-domo here who regulates every department: his
+word is law, and his fiat immoveable, and he presumes not a little upon
+his power; a circumstance not to be surprised at, as he is as much
+courted and is as despotic as all the lady patronesses of Almacks rolled
+into one.  He is called the Metternich of the mountains.  No one is
+allowed accommodation at these springs who is not known, and generally
+speaking, only those favourites who travel in their private carriages.
+It is at this place that you feel how excessively aristocratical and
+exclusive the Americans would be, and indeed will be, in spite of their
+institutions.  Spa, in its palmiest days, when princes had to sleep in
+their carriages at the doors of the hotels, was not more in vogue than
+are these white sulphur springs with the _elite_ of the United States.
+And it is here, and here only, in the States, that you do meet with what
+may be fairly considered as select society, for at Washington there is a
+great mixture.  Of course, all the celebrated belles of the different
+States are to be met with here, as well as all the large fortunes, nor
+is there a scarcity of pretty and wealthy widows.  The president, Mrs
+Caton, the mother of Lady Wellesley, Lady Strafford, and Lady
+Caermarthen, the daughter of Carrol, of Carroltown, one of the real
+aristocracy of America, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence,
+and all the first old Virginian and Carolina families, many of them
+descendants of the old cavaliers, were at the springs when I arrived
+there; and I certainly must say that I never was at any watering-place
+in England where the company was so good and so select as at the
+Virginia springs in America.
+
+I passed many pleasant days at this beautiful spot, and was almost as
+unwilling to leave it as I was to part with the Sioux Indians at St
+Peters.  Refinement and simplicity are equally charming.  I was
+introduced to a very beautiful girl here, whom I should not have
+mentioned so particularly, had it not been that she was the first and
+only lady in America that I observed to _whittle_.  She was sitting one
+fine morning on a wooden bench, surrounded by admirers, and as she
+carved away her seat with her pen-knife, so did she cut deep into the
+hearts of those who listened to her lively conversation.
+
+There are, as may be supposed, a large number of negro servants here
+attending their masters and mistresses.  I have often been amused, not
+only here, but during my residence in Kentucky, at the high-sounding
+Christian names which have been given to them.  "Byron, tell Ada to come
+here directly."  "Now, _Telemachus_, if you don't leave _Calypso_ alone,
+you'll get a taste of the _cow-hide_."
+
+Among others, attracted to the springs professionally, was a very clever
+German painter, who, like all Germans, had a very correct ear for music.
+He had painted a kitchen-dance in Old Virginia, and in the picture he
+had introduced all the well-known coloured people in the place; among
+the rest were the band of musicians, but I observed that one man was
+missing.  "Why did you not put him in?" inquired I.  "Why, Sir, I could
+not put him in; it was impossible; he never _plays in tune_.  Why, if I
+put him in, Sir, he would spoil the _harmony_ of my whole picture!"
+
+I asked this artist how he got on in America.  He replied, "But so-so:
+the Americans in general do not estimate genius.  They come to me and
+ask what I want for my pictures, and I tell them.  Then they say, `How
+long did it take you to paint it?'  I answer, `So many days.'  Well,
+then they calculate and say, `If it took you only so many days, you ask
+so many dollars a day for your work; you ask a great deal too much; you
+ought to be content with so much per day, and I will give you that.'  So
+that, thought I, invention and years of study go for nothing with these
+people.  There is only one way to dispose of a picture in America, and
+that is, to raffle it; the Americans will then run the chance of getting
+it.  If you do not like to part with your pictures in that way, you must
+paint portraits; people will purchase their own faces all over the
+world: the worst of it is, that in this country, they will purchase
+nothing else."
+
+During my stay here, I was told of one of the most remarkable instances
+that perhaps ever occurred, of the discovery of a fact by the party from
+whom it was of the utmost importance to conceal it--a very pretty
+interesting young widow.  She had married a promising young man, to whom
+she was tenderly attached, and who, a few months after the marriage,
+unfortunately fell in a duel.  Aware that the knowledge of the cause of
+her husband's death would render the blow still more severe to her, (the
+ball having passed through the eye into his brain, and there being no
+evident gun-shot wound,) her relations informed her that he had been
+thrown from his horse, and killed by the fall.  She believed them.  She
+was living in the country, when, about nine months after her widowhood,
+her brother rode down to see her, and as soon as he arrived went into
+his room to shave and dress.  The window of his room, which was on the
+ground-floor, looked out upon the garden, and it being summer time, it
+was open.  He tore off a portion of an old newspaper to wipe his razor.
+The breeze caught it, and carried it away into the garden until it
+stopped at the feet of his sister, who happened to be walking.
+Mechanically she took up the fragment, and perceiving her husband's name
+upon it, she read it.  It contained a full account of the duel in which
+he lost his life!  The shock she received was so great that it unsettled
+her mind for nearly two years.  She had but just recovered, and for the
+first time re-appeared in public, when she was pointed out to me.
+
+Returning to Guyandotte, one of the travellers wished to see the view
+from the Hawk's Nest, or rather wished to be able to say that he had
+seen it.  We passed the spot when it was quite dark, but he persisted in
+going there, and, to help his vision, borrowed one of the coach-lamps
+from the driver.  He returned, and declared that with the assistance of
+the lamp he had had a very excellent view, down a precipice of several
+hundred feet.  His bird's-eye view by candle-light must have been very
+extensive.  After all, it is but to be able to say that they had been,
+to such a place, or have seen such a thing, that, more than any real
+taste for it, induces the majority of the world to incur the trouble and
+fatigue of travelling.
+
+
+
+VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.
+
+I was informed that a camp-meeting was to be held about seven miles from
+Cincinnati, and, anxious to verify the accounts I had heard of them, I
+availed myself of this opportunity of deciding for myself.  We proceeded
+about five miles on the high road, and then diverged by a cross-road
+until we arrived at a steep conical hill, crowned with splendid forest
+trees without underwood; the trees being sufficiently apart to admit of
+wagons and other vehicles to pass in every direction.  The camp was
+raised upon the summit of this hill, a piece of table-land comprising
+many acres.  About an acre and a half was surrounded on the four sides
+by cabins built up of rough boards; the whole area in the centre was
+fitted up with planks, laid about a foot from the ground, as seats.  At
+one end, but not close to the cabins, was a raised stand, which served
+as a pulpit for the preachers, one of them praying, while five or six
+others sat down behind him on benches.  There was ingress to the area by
+the four corners; the whole of it was shaded by vast forest trees, which
+ran up to the height of fifty or sixty feet without throwing out a
+branch; and to the trunks of these trees were fixed lamps in every
+direction, for the continuance of service by night.  Outside the area,
+which may be designated as the church, were hundreds of tents pitched in
+every quarter, their snowy whiteness contrasting beautifully with the
+deep verdure and gloom of the forest.  These were the temporary
+habitations of those who had come many miles to attend the meeting, and
+who remained there from the commencement until it concluded--usually, a
+period of from ten to twelve days, but often much longer.  The tents
+were furnished with every article necessary for cooking; mattresses to
+sleep upon, etcetera; some of them even had bedsteads and chests of
+drawers, which had been brought in the wagons in which the people in
+this country usually travel.  At a farther distance were all the wagons
+and other vehicles which had conveyed the people to the meeting, whilst
+hundreds of horses were tethered under the trees, and plentifully
+provided with forage.  Such were the general outlines of a most
+interesting and beautiful scene.
+
+Where, indeed, could so magnificent a temple to the Lord be raised as on
+this lofty hill, crowned as it was with such majestic verdure.  Compared
+with these giants of the forest, the cabins and tents of the multitude
+appeared as insignificant and contemptible as almost would man himself
+in the presence of the Deity.  Many generations of men must have been
+mowed down before the arrival of these enormous trees to their present
+state of maturity; and at the time they sent forth their first shoots,
+probably were not on the whole of this continent, now teeming with
+millions, as many white men as are now assembled on this field.  I
+walked about for some time surveying the panorama, when I returned to
+the area, and took my seat upon a bench.  In one quarter the coloured
+population had collected themselves; their tents appeared to be better
+furnished and better supplied with comforts than most of those belonging
+to the whites.  I put my head into one of the tents, and discovered a
+sable damsel lying on a bed and singing hymns in a loud voice.
+
+The major portion of those not in the area were cooking the dinners.
+Fires were burning in every direction, pots boiling, chickens roasting,
+hams seething; indeed there appeared to be no want of creature comforts.
+
+But the trumpet sounded, as in days of yore, as a signal that the
+service was about to recommence and I went into the area and took my
+seat.  One of the preachers rose and gave out a hymn, which was sung by
+the congregation, amounting to about seven or eight hundred.  After the
+singing of the hymn was concluded he commenced an extempore sermon: it
+was good, sound doctrine, and, although Methodism of the mildest tone,
+and divested of its bitterness of denunciation, as indeed is generally
+the case with Methodism in America.  I heard nothing which could be
+offensive to any other sect, or which could be considered objectionable
+by the most orthodox, and I began to doubt whether such scenes as had
+been described to me did really take place at these meetings.  A prayer
+followed, and after about two hours the congregation were dismissed to
+their dinners, being first informed that the service would recommence at
+two o'clock at the sound of the trumpet.  In front of the pulpit there
+was a space railed off; and strewed with straw, which I was told was the
+_Anxious seat_, and on which sat those who were touched by their
+consciences or the discourse of the preacher; but, although there were
+several sitting on it, I did not perceive any emotion on the part of the
+occupants: they were attentive, but nothing more.
+
+When I first examined the area, I saw a very large tent at one corner of
+it, probably fifty feet long, by twenty wide.  It was open at the end,
+and, being full of straw, I concluded it was used as a sleeping-place
+for those who had not provided themselves with separate accommodation.
+About an hour after the service was over, perceiving many people
+directing their steps toward it, I followed them.  On one side of the
+tent were about twenty females, mostly young, squatted down on the
+straw; on the other a few men; in the centre was a long form, against
+which were some other men kneeling, with their faces covered with their
+hands, as if occupied in prayer.  Gradually the numbers increased, girl
+after girl dropped down upon the straw on the one side, and men on the
+other.  At last an elderly man gave out a hymn, which was sung with
+peculiar energy; then another knelt down in the centre, and commenced a
+prayer, shutting his eyes (as I observed most clergymen in the United
+States do when they pray) and raising his hands above his head; then
+another burst out into a prayer, and another followed him; then their
+voices became all confused together; and then were heard the more
+silvery tones of woman's supplication.  As the din increased so did
+their enthusiasm; handkerchiefs were raised to bright eyes, and sobs
+were intermingled with prayers and ejaculations.  It became a scene of
+Babel; more than twenty men and women were crying out at the highest
+pitch of their voices, and trying apparently to be heard above the
+others.  Every minute the excitement increased; some wrung their hands
+and called for mercy; some tore their hair; boys laid down crying
+bitterly, with their heads buried in the straw; there was sobbing almost
+to suffocation, and hysterics and deep agony.  One young man clung to
+the form, crying, "Satan tears at me, but I would hold fast.  Help--
+help, he drags me down!"  It was a scene of horrible agony and despair;
+and, when it was at its height, one of the preachers came in, and
+raising his voice high above the tumult, intreated the Lord to receive
+into his fold those who now repented and would fain return.  Another of
+the ministers knelt down by some young men, whose faces were covered up,
+and who appeared to be almost in a state of frenzy; and putting his
+hands upon them, poured forth an energetic prayer, well calculated to
+work upon their over excited feelings.  Groans, ejaculations, broken
+sobs, frantic motions, and convulsions succeeded; some fell on their
+backs with their eyes closed, waving their hands with a slow motion, and
+crying out--"Glory, glory, glory!"  I quitted the spot, and hastened
+away into the forest, for the sight was too painful, too melancholy.
+Its sincerity could not be doubted, but it was the effect of
+over-excitement, not of sober reasoning.  Could such violence of feeling
+have been produced had each party retired to commune alone? most surely
+not.  It was a fever created by collision and contact, of the same
+nature as that which stimulates a mob to deeds of blood and horror.
+
+Gregarious animals are by nature inoffensive.  The cruel and the savage
+live apart, and in solitude; but the gregarious, upheld and stimulated
+by each other, become formidable.  So it is with man.
+
+I was told that the scene would be much more interesting and exciting
+after the lamps were lighted; but I had seen quite enough of it.  It was
+too serious to laugh at, and I felt that it was not for me to condemn.
+"Cry aloud, and spare not," was the exhortation of the preacher and
+certainly, if heaven was only to be taken by storm, he was a proper
+leader for his congregation.
+
+Whatever may be the opinion of the reader as to the meeting which I have
+described, it is certain that nothing could be more laudable than the
+intention by which these meetings were originated.  At the first
+settling of the country the people were widely scattered, and the truths
+of the Gospel, owing to the scarcity of preachers, but seldom heard.  It
+was to remedy this unavoidable evil that they agreed, like the
+Christians in earlier times, to collect together from all quarters, and
+pass many days in meditation and prayer, "exhorting one another--
+comforting one another."  Even now it is not uncommon for the settlers
+in Indians and Illinois to travel one hundred miles in their wagons to
+attend one of these meetings,--meetings which are now too often sullied
+by fanaticism on the one hand, and on the other by the levity and
+infidelity of those who go not to pray, but to scoff; or to indulge in
+the licentiousness which, it is said, but too often follows, when night
+has thrown her veil over the scene.
+
+
+
+VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE.
+
+Lexington, the capital of the State, is embosomed in the very heart of
+the vale of Kentucky.  This vale was the favourite hunting-ground of the
+Indians; and a fairer country for the chase could not well be imagined
+than this rolling, well-wooded, luxuriant valley, extending from hill to
+hill, from dale to dale, for so many long miles.  No wonder that the
+Indians fought so hard to retain, or the Virginians to acquire it; nor
+was it until much blood had saturated the ground, many reeking scalps
+had been torn from the head, and many a mother and her children murdered
+at their hearths, that the contest was relinquished.  So severe were the
+struggles, that the ground obtained the name of the "Bloody Ground."
+But the strife is over; the red man has been exterminated, and peace and
+plenty now reign over this smiling country.  It is indeed a beautiful
+and bounteous land; on the whole, the most eligible in the Union.  The
+valley is seven hundred and fifty feet above the level of the sea, and,
+therefore, not so subject to fevers as the States of Indiana and
+Illinois, and indeed that portion of its own state which borders on the
+Mississippi.  But all the rest of the Kentucky land is by no means equal
+in richness of soil to that of this valley.  There are about ninety
+counties in the State, of which about thirty are of rich land; but four
+of them, namely, Fayette, Bourbon, Scotts, and Woodford, are the finest.
+The whole of these four counties are held by large proprietors, who
+graze and breed stock to a very great extent, supplying the whole of the
+Western States with the best description of every kind of cattle.
+Cattle-shows are held every year, and high prizes awarded to the owners
+of the finest beasts which are there produced.  The State of Kentucky,
+as well as Virginia, is in fact an agricultural and grazing State; the
+pasture is very rich, and studded with oak and other timber, as in the
+manner I have described in Ioway and Wisconsin.  The staples of Kentucky
+are hemp and mules; the latter are in such demand for the south that
+they can hardly produce them fast enough for the market.  The minimum
+price of a three-year old mule is about eighty dollars; the maximum
+usually one hundred and sixty dollars, or thirty-five pounds, but they
+often fetch much higher prices.  I saw a pair in harness, well matched,
+and about seventeen hands high, for which they refused one thousand
+dollars--upwards of two hundred pounds.
+
+The cattle-show took place when I was at Lexington.  That of horned
+beasts I was too late for; but the second day I went to the exhibition
+of thorough-bred horses.  The premiums were for the best two-year old,
+yearlings, and colts, and many of them were very fine animals.  The
+third day was for the exhibition of mules; which, on account of size
+there being a great desideratum, are bred only from mares; the
+full-grown averaged from fifteen to sixteen hands high, but they have
+often been known to be seventeen hands high.  I had seen them quite as
+large in a nobleman's carriage in the south of Spain; but then they were
+considered rare, and of great value.  After all the other varieties of
+age had made their appearance, and the judges had given their decision,
+the mules foaled down this year were to be examined.  As they were still
+sucking, it was necessary that the brood mares should be led into the
+enclosed paddock, where the animals were inspected, that the foals might
+be induced to follow; as soon as they were all in the enclosure the
+mares were sent out, leaving all the foals by themselves.  At first they
+commenced a concert of wailing after their mothers, and then turned
+their lamentations into indignation and revenge upon each other.  Such a
+ridiculous scene of kicking took place as I never before witnessed,
+about thirty of them being most sedulously engaged in the occupation,
+all at the same time.  I never saw such ill-behaved mules; it was quite
+impossible for the judges to decide upon the prize, for you could see
+nothing but heels in the air; it was rap, rap, rap, incessantly against
+one another's sides, until they were all turned out, and the show was
+over.  I rather think the prize must, in this instance, have been
+awarded to the one that kicked highest.
+
+The fourth day was for the exhibition of jackasses, of two-year and
+one-year, and for foals, and jennies also; this sight was to me one of
+peculiar interest.  Accustomed as we are in England to value a jackass
+at thirty shillings, we look down upon them with contempt; but here the
+case is reversed: you look up at them with surprise and admiration.
+Several were shown standing fifteen hands high, with head and ears in
+proportion; the breed has been obtained from the Maltese jackass,
+crossed by those of Spain and the south of France.  Those imported
+seldom average more than fourteen hands high; but the Kentuckians, by
+great attention and care, have raised them up to fifteen hands, and
+sometimes even to sixteen.
+
+But the price paid for these splendid animals, for such they really
+were, will prove how much they are in request.  Warrior, a jackass of
+great celebrity, sold for 5,000 dollars, upwards of 1,000 pounds
+sterling.  Half of another jackass, Benjamin by name, was sold for 2,500
+dollars.  At the show I asked a gentleman what he wanted for a very
+beautiful female ass, only one year old; he said that he could have
+1,000 dollars, 250 pounds for her, but that he had refused that sum.
+For a two-year old jack, shown during the exhibition, they asked 3000
+dollars, more than 600 pounds.  I never felt such respect for donkeys
+before; but the fact is, that mule-breeding is so lucrative, that there
+is no price which a very large donkey will not command.
+
+I afterwards went to a cattle sale a few miles out of the town.  Don
+Juan, a two-year old bull, Durham breed, fetched 1,075 dollars; an
+imported Durham cow, with her calf, 985 dollars.  Before I arrived, a
+bull and cow fetched 1,300 dollars each of them, about 280 pounds.  The
+cause of this is, that the demand for good stock, now that the Western
+States are filling up, becomes so great that they cannot be produced
+fast enough.  Mr Clay, who resides near Lexington, is one of the best
+breeders in the State, which is much indebted to him for the fine stock
+which he has imported from England.
+
+Another sale took place, which I attended, and I quote the prices:--
+Yearling bull, 1,000 dollars; ditto heifer, 1,500.  Cows, of full Durham
+blood, but bred in Kentucky, 1,245 dollars; ditto, 1,235 dollars.
+Imported cow and calf, 2,100 dollars.
+
+It must be considered, that although a good Durham cow will not cost
+more than twenty guineas perhaps, in England, the expenses of transport
+are very great, and they generally stand it to the importers, about 600
+dollars, before they arrive at the State of Kentucky.
+
+But to prove that the Kentuckians are fully justified in giving the
+prices they do, I will shew what was the profit made upon an old cow
+before she was sold for 400 dollars.  I had a statement from her
+proprietor, who had her in his possession for nine years.  She was a
+full-bred cow, and during the time that he had held her in his
+possession, she had cleared him 15,000 dollars by the sale of her
+progeny: As follows:--
+
++======+======+==========+==========+==========+
+YYears.YCalvesYSecond    YThird     YFourth    Y
++------+------+----------+----------+----------+
+Y      Y      YGenerationYGenerationYGenerationY
++------+------+----------+----------+----------+
+Y     1Y     1Y          Y          Y          Y
++------+------+----------+----------+----------+
+Y     2Y     1Y          Y          Y          Y
++------+------+----------+----------+----------+
+Y     3Y     1Y         1Y          Y          Y
++------+------+----------+----------+----------+
+Y     4Y     1Y         1Y          Y          Y
++------+------+----------+----------+----------+
+Y     5Y     1Y         1Y         1Y          Y
++------+------+----------+----------+----------+
+Y     6Y     1Y         1Y         1Y          Y
++------+------+----------+----------+----------+
+Y     7Y     1Y         1Y         1Y         1Y
++------+------+----------+----------+----------+
+Y     8Y     1Y         1Y         1Y         1Y
++------+------+----------+----------+----------+
+Y     9Y     1Y         1Y         1Y         1Y
++------+------+----------+----------+----------+
+Y      Y     9Y         7Y         5Y         3Y
++======+======+==========+==========+==========+
+
+Total, 24
+
+averaging 625 dollars a head, which is by no means a large price, as the
+two cows, which sold at the sale for 1,245, and 1,235 dollars, were a
+part of her issue.
+
+Lexington is a very pretty town, with very pleasant society, and
+afforded me great relief after the unpleasant sojourn I had had at
+Louisville.  Conversing one day with Mr Clay, I had another instance
+given me of the mischief which the conduct of Miss Martineau has
+entailed upon all those English who may happen to visit America.  Mr
+Clay observed that Miss Martineau had remained with him for some time,
+and that during her stay, she had professed very different, or at least
+more modified opinions on the subject of slavery, than those she has
+expressed in her book: so much so, that one day, having read a letter
+from Boston cautioning her against being cajoled by the hospitality and
+pleasant society of the Western States, she handed it to him, saying,
+"They want to make a regular abolitionist of me."  "When her work came
+out," continued Mr Clay, "although I read but very little of it, I
+turned to this subject so important with us, and I must say I was a
+little surprised to find that she had so changed her opinions."  The
+fact is, Miss Martineau appears to have been what the Kentuckians call,
+"playing 'possum."  I have met with some of the Southern ladies whose
+conversations on slavery are said, or supposed, to have been those
+printed by Miss Martineau, and they deny that they are correct.  That
+the Southern ladies are very apt to express great horror at living too
+long a time at the plantations, is very certain; not, however, because
+they expect to be murdered in their beds by the slaves, as they tell
+their husbands, but because they are anxious to spend more of their time
+at the cities, where they can enjoy more luxury and amusement than can
+be procured at the plantations.
+
+Every body rides in Virginia and Kentucky, master, man, woman, and
+slave, and they all ride well: it is quite as common to meet a woman on
+horseback as a man, and it is a pretty sight in their States to walk by
+the Church doors and see them all arrive.  The Churches have stables, or
+rather sheds, built close to them, for the accommodation of the cattle.
+
+Elopements in these States are all made on horseback.  The goal to be
+obtained is to cross to the other side of the Ohio.  The consequence is
+that it is a regular steeple-chase; the young couple clearing
+everything, father and brothers following.  Whether it is that, having
+the choice, the young people are the best mounted, I know not, but the
+runaways are seldom overtaken.  One couple crossed the Ohio when I was
+at Cincinnati, and had just time to tie the noose before their pursuers
+arrived.
+
+At Lexington, on Sunday, there is not a carriage or horse to be obtained
+by a white man for any consideration, they having all been regularly
+engaged for that day by the negro slaves, who go out in every direction.
+Where they get the money I do not know; but certain it is, that it is
+always produced when required.  I was waiting at the counter of a sort
+of pastry-cook's, when three negro lads, about twelve or fourteen years
+old, came in, and, in a most authoritative tone, ordered three glasses
+of soda-water.
+
+Returned to Louisville.
+
+
+
+VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER THIRTY SIX.
+
+There is one great inconvenience in American travelling, arising from
+the uncertainty of river navigation.  Excepting the Lower Mississippi
+and the Hudson, and not always the latter, the communication by water is
+obstructed during a considerable portion of the year, by ice in the
+winter, or a deficiency of water in the dry season.  This has been a
+remarkable season for heat and drought; and thousands of people remain
+in the States of Ohio, Virginia, and Kentucky, who are most anxious to
+return home.  It must be understood, that during the unhealthy season in
+the southern States on the Mississippi, the planters, cotton-growers,
+slave holders, store-keepers, and indeed almost every class, excepting
+the slaves and overseers, migrate to the northward, to escape the yellow
+fever, and spend a portion of their gains in amusement.
+
+They go to Cincinnati and the towns of Ohio, to the Lakes occasionally,
+but principally to the cities and watering places of Virginia and
+Kentucky, more especially Louisville, where I now am; and Louisville,
+being also the sort of general rendezvous for departure south, is now
+crammed with southern people.  The steam boats cannot run, for the river
+is almost dry; and I (as well as others) have been detained much longer
+on the banks of the Ohio than was my intention.  There is land-carriage
+certainly, but the heat of the weather is so overpowering that even the
+Southerns dread it; and in consequence of this extreme heat the sickness
+in these western States has been much greater than usual.  Even
+Kentucky, especially that part which borders on the Mississippi, which,
+generally speaking, is healthy, is now suffering under malignant fevers.
+I may here remark, that the two States, Illinois and Indiana, and the
+western portions of Kentucky and Tennessee, are very unhealthy; not a
+year passes without a great mortality from the bilious congestive fever,
+a variety of the yellow fever, and the ague; more especially Illinois
+and Indiana, with the western portion of Ohio, which is equally flat
+with the other two States.  The two States of Indiana and Illinois lie,
+as it were, at the bottom of the western basin; the soil is wonderfully
+rich, but the drainage is insufficient, as may be seen from the
+sluggishness with which these rivers flow.  Many and many thousands of
+poor Irish emigrants, and settlers also, have been struck down by
+disease, never to rise again, in these rich but unhealthy States; to
+which, stimulated by the works published by land-speculators, thousands
+and thousands every year repair, and, notwithstanding the annual
+expenditure of life, rapidly increase the population.  I had made up my
+mind to travel by land-carriage to St Louis, Missouri, through the
+States of Indiana and Illinois, but two American gentlemen, who had just
+arrived by that route, succeeded in dissuading me.  They had come over
+on horseback.  They described the disease and mortality as dreadful.
+That sometimes, when they wished to put up their horses at seven or
+eight o'clock in the evening, they were compelled to travel on till
+twelve or one o'clock before they could gain admittance, some portion in
+every house suffering under the bilious fever, tertian ague, or flux.
+They described the scene as quite appalling.  At some houses there was
+not one person able to rise and attend upon the others; all were dying
+or dead and to increase the misery of their situations, the springs had
+dried up, and in many places they could not procure water except by
+sending many miles.  A friend of mine, who had been on a mission through
+the portion of Kentucky and Tennessee bordering on them Mississippi,
+made a very similar statement.  He was not refused to remain where he
+stopped, but he could procure no assistance, and everywhere ran the risk
+of contagion.  He said that some of the people were obliged to send
+their negroes with a waggon upwards of fifteen miles to wash their
+clothes.
+
+That this has been a very unhealthy season is certain, but still, from
+all the information I could obtain, there is a great mortality every
+year in the districts I have pointed out; and such indeed must be the
+case, from the miasma created every fall of the year in these rich
+alluvial soils, some portions of which have been worked for fifty years
+without the assistance of manure, and still yield abundant crops.  It
+will be a long while before the drainage necessary to render them
+healthy can be accomplished.  The sickly appearance of the inhabitants
+establishes but too well the facts related to me; and yet, strange to
+say, it would appear to be a provision of Providence, that a remarkable
+fecundity on the part of the women in the more healthy portions of their
+Western States, should meet the annual expenditure of life.  Three
+children at a birth are more common here than twins are in England; and
+they, generally speaking, are all reared up.  There have been many
+instances of even four.
+
+The western valley of America, of which the Mississippi may be
+considered as the common drain, must, from the surprising depth of the
+alluvial soil, have been (ages back) wholly under water, and, perhaps,
+by some convulsion raised up.  What insects are we in our own estimation
+when we meditate upon such stupendous changes.
+
+Since I have been in these States, I have been surprised at the stream
+of emigration which appears to flow from North Carolina to Indiana,
+Illinois, and Missouri.  Every hour you meet with a caravan of emigrants
+from that sterile but healthy state.  Every night the banks of the Ohio
+are lighted up with their fires, where they have bivouacked previously
+to crossing the river; but they are not like the poor German or Irish
+settlers: they are well prepared, and have nothing to do, apparently,
+but to sit down upon their land.  These caravans consist of two or three
+covered wagons, full of women and children, furniture, and other
+necessaries, each drawn by a team of horses; brood mares, with foals by
+their sides, following; half a dozen or more cows, flanked on each side
+by the men, with their long rifles on their shoulders; sometimes a boy
+or two, or a half-grown girl on horseback.  Occasionally they wear an
+appearance of more refinement and cultivation, as well as wealth, the
+principals travelling in a sort of worn-out old carriage, the remains of
+the competence of former days.
+
+I often surmised, as they travelled cheerfully along, saluting me as
+they passed by, whether they would not repent their decision, and sigh
+for their pine barrens and heath, after they had discovered that with
+fertility they had to encounter such disease and mortality.
+
+I have often heard it asserted by Englishmen, that America has no coal.
+There never was a greater mistake: she has an abundance, and of the very
+finest that ever was seen.  At Wheeling and Pittsburg, and on all the
+borders of the Ohio river above Guyandotte, they have an inexhaustible
+supply, equal to the very best offered to the London market.  All the
+spurs of the Alleghany range appear to be one mass of coal.  In the
+Eastern States the coal is of a different quality, although there is
+some very tolerable.  The anthracite is bad, throwing out a strong
+sulphureous gas.  The fact is that wood is at present cheaper than coal,
+and therefore the latter is not in demand.  An American told me one day,
+that a company had been working a coal mine in an Eastern State, which
+proved to be of a very bad quality; they had sent some to an influential
+person as a present, requesting him to give his opinion of it, as that
+would be important to them.  After a certain time he forwarded to them a
+certificate couched in such terms as these:--"I do hereby certify that I
+have tried the coal sent me by the company at --, and it is my decided
+opinion, that when the general conflagration of the world shall take
+place, any man who will take his position on that _coal-mine_ will
+certainly be the _last man_ who will be _burnt_."
+
+I had to travel by coach for six days and nights, to arrive at
+Baltimore.  As it may be supposed, I was not a little tired before my
+journey was half over; I therefore was glad when the coach stopped for a
+few hours, to throw off my coat, and lie down on a bed.  At one town,
+where I had stopped, I had been reposing more than two hours when my
+door was opened--but this was too common a circumstance for me to think
+any thing of it; the people would come into my room whether I was in bed
+or out of bed, dressed or not dressed, and if I expostulated, they would
+reply, "Never mind, _we_ don't care, Captain."  On this occasion I
+called out, "Well, what do you want?"
+
+"Are you Captain M---?" said the person walking up to the bed where I
+was lying.
+
+"Yes, I am," replied I.
+
+"Well, I reckon I wouldn't allow you to go through our town without
+seeing you any how.  Of all the humans, you're the one I most wish to
+see."
+
+I told him I was highly flattered.
+
+"Well now," said he, giving a jump, and coming down right upon the bed
+in his great coat, "I'll just tell you; I said to the chap at the bar,
+`Ain't the Captain in your house?'  `Yes,' says he.  `Then where is he?'
+says I.  `Oh,' says he, `he's gone into his own room, and locked himself
+up; he's a d---d aristocrat, and won't drink at the bar with other
+gentlemen.'  So, thought I, I've read M---'s works, and I'll be swamped
+if he is an aristocrat, and by the 'tarnal I'll go up and see; so here I
+am, and you're no aristocrat."
+
+"I should think not," replied I, moving my feet away, which he was half
+sitting on.
+
+"Oh, don't move; never mind me, Captain, I'm quite comfortable.  And how
+do you find yourself by this time?"
+
+"Very tired indeed," replied I.
+
+"I suspicion as much.  Now, d'ye see, I left four or five good fellows
+down below who wish to see you; I said I'd go up first, and come down to
+them.  The fact is, Captain, we don't like you should pass through our
+town without showing you a little American hospitality."
+
+So saying, he slid off the bed, and went out of the room.  In a minute
+he returned, bringing with him four or five others, all of whom he
+introduced by name, and reseated himself on my bed, while the others
+took chairs.
+
+"Now, gentlemen," said he, "as I was telling the Captain, we wish to
+show him a little American hospitality; what shall it be, gentlemen;
+what d'ye say--a bottle of Madeira?"
+
+An immediate answer not being returned, he continued:
+
+"Yes, gentlemen, a bottle of Madeira; at my expense, gentlemen,
+recollect that; now ring the bell."
+
+"I shall be most happy to take a glass of wine with you," observed I,
+"but in my own room the wine must be at _my_ expense."
+
+"At _your_ expense, Captain; well, if it must be, I don't care; at
+_your_ expense then, Captain, if you say so; only, you see, we must show
+you a little American hospitality, as I said to them all down below;
+didn't I, gentlemen?"
+
+The wine was ordered, and it ended in my hospitable friends drinking
+three bottles, and then they all shook hands with me, declaring how
+happy they should be if I came to the town again, allowed them to show
+me a little more American hospitality.
+
+There was something so very ridiculous in this event, that I cannot help
+narrating it; but let it not be supposed, for a moment, that I intend it
+as a sarcasm upon American hospitality in general.  There certainly are
+conditions usually attached to their hospitality, if you wish to profit
+by it to any extent; and one is, that you do not venture to find fault
+with themselves, their manners, or their institutions.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+_Note_--That a guest, partaking of their hospitality, should give his
+opinions unasked, and find fault, would be in very bad taste, to say the
+least of it.  But the fault in America is, that you are compelled to
+give an opinion, and you cannot escape by a doubtful reply: as the
+American said to me in Philadelphia, "I wish a _categorical_ answer."
+Thus, should you not agree with them, you are placed upon the horns of a
+dilemma: either you must affront the company, or sacrifice truth.
+
+END OF DIARY.
+
+
+
+VOLUME THREE, CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN.
+
+REMARKS--LANGUAGE.
+
+The Americans boldly assert that they speak better English than we do,
+and I was rather surprised not to find a statistical table to that
+effect in Mr Carey's publication.  What I believe the Americans would
+imply by the above assertion is that you may travel through all the
+United States and find less difficulty in understanding or being
+understood, than in some of the counties of England, such as Cornwall,
+Devonshire, Lancashire and Suffolk.  So far they are correct; but it is
+remarkable how very debased the language has become in a short period in
+America.  There are few provincial dialects in England much less
+intelligible than the following.  A Yankee girl, who wished to hire
+herself out, was asked if the had any followers or sweethearts?  After a
+little hesitation, she replied, "Well, now, can't exactly say; I bees a
+sorter courted and a sorter not; reckon more a sorter yes than a sorter
+no."  In many points the Americans have to a certain degree obtained
+that equality which they profess; and, as respects their language, it
+certainly is the case.  If their lower classes are more intelligible
+than ours, it is equally true that the higher classes do not speak the
+language so purely or so classically as it is spoken among the well
+educated English.  The peculiar dialect of the English counties is kept
+up because we are a settled country; the people who are born in a county
+live in it, and die in it, transmitting their sites of labour or of
+amusement to their descendants, generation after generation, without
+change: consequently, the provincialisms of the language become equally
+hereditary.  Now, in America, they have a dictionary containing many
+thousands of words, which, with us, are either obsolete or are
+provincialisms, or are words necessarily invented by the Americans.
+When the people of England emigrated to the states, they came from every
+county in England, and each county brought its provincialisms with it.
+These were admitted into the general stock; and were since all collected
+and bound up by one Mr Webster.  With the exception of a few words
+coined for local uses (such as _snags_ and _sawyers_, on the
+Mississippi,) I do not recollect a word which I have not traced to be
+either a provincialism of some English county, or else to be obsolete
+English.  There are a few from the Dutch, such as _stoup_, for the porch
+of a door, etcetera.  I was once talking with an American about
+Webster's dictionary, and he observed, "Well now, sir, I understand it's
+the only one used in the Court of St James, by the king, queen, and
+princesses, and that by royal order."
+
+The upper class of the Americans do not, however, speak or pronounce
+English according to our standard; they appear to have no exact rule to
+guide them, probably from the want of any intimate knowledge of Greek or
+Latin.  You seldom hear a derivation from the Greek pronounced
+correctly, the accent being generally laid upon the wrong syllable.  In
+fact, every one appears to be independent, and pronounces just as he
+pleases.
+
+But it is not for me to decide the very momentous question, as to which
+nation speaks the best English.  The Americans generally improve upon
+the inventions of others; probably they may have improved upon our
+language.
+
+I recollect some one observing how very superior the German language was
+to the English, from their possessing so many compound substantives and
+adjectives; whereupon his friend replied, that it was just as easy for
+us to possess them in England if we pleased, and gave us as an example
+an observation made by his old dame at Eaton, who declared that young
+Paulet was, without any exception, the most _good-for-nothing-est_, the
+most _provoking-people-est_, and the most _poke-about-every-corner-est_
+boy she had ever had charge of in her life.
+
+Assuming this principle of improvement to be correct, it must be
+acknowledged that the Americans have added considerably to our
+dictionary; but, as I have before observed, this being a point of too
+much delicacy for me to decide upon, I shall just submit to the reader
+the occasional variations, or improvements, as they may be, which met my
+ears during my residence in America, as also the idiomatic
+peculiarities, and having so done, I must leave him to decide for
+himself.
+
+I recollect once talking with one of the first men in America, who was
+narrating to me the advantages which might have accrued to him if he had
+followed up a certain speculation, when he said, "Sir, if I had done so,
+I should not only have _doubled_ and _trebled_, but I should have
+_fourbled_ and _fivebled_ my money."
+
+One of the members of congress once said, "What the honourable gentleman
+has just asserted I consider as _catamount_ to a denial;"--(catamount is
+the term given to a panther or lynx.)
+
+"I presume," replied his opponent, "that the honourable gentleman means
+_tantamount_."
+
+"No, sir, I do not mean _tantamount_; I am not so ignorant of our
+language, not to be aware that catamount and tantamount are anonymous."
+
+The Americans dwell upon their words when they speak--a custom arising,
+I presume, from their cautious, calculating habits; and they have always
+more or less of a nasal twang.  I once said to a lady, "Why do you drawl
+out your words in that way?"
+
+"Well," replied she, "I'd drawl all the way from Maine to Georgia,
+rather than _clip_ my words as you English people do."
+
+Many English words are used in a very different sense from that which we
+attach to them; for instance: a _clever_ person in America means an
+amiable, good-tempered person, and the Americans make the distinction by
+saying, I mean English clever.
+
+Our _clever_ is represented by the word _smart_.
+
+The verb _to admire_ is also used in the East, instead of the verb _to
+like_.
+
+"Have you ever been at Paris?"
+
+"No; but I should _admire_ to go."
+
+A Yankee description of a clever woman:--
+
+"Well, now, she'll walk right into you, and talk to you like a book;"
+or, as I have heard them say, "she'll talk you out of sight."
+
+The word ugly is used for cross, ill-tempered.  "I did feel so _ugly_
+when he said that."
+
+_Bad_ is used in an odd sense: it is employed for awkward,
+uncomfortable: sorry:--
+
+"I did feel so _bad_ when I read that"--awkward.
+
+"I have felt quite _bad_ about it ever since"--uncomfortable.
+
+"She was so _bad_, I thought she would cry"--sorry.
+
+And as bad is tantamount to not _good_, I have heard a lady say, "I
+don't feel _at all good_ this morning."
+
+Mean is occasionally used for ashamed.
+
+"I never felt so mean in my life."
+
+The word handsome is oddly used.
+
+"We reckon this very handsome scenery, sir," said an American to me,
+pointing to the landscape.
+
+"I consider him very truthful," is another expression.
+
+"He stimulates too much."
+
+"He dissipates awfully."
+
+And they are very fond of using the noun as a verb, as--"I _suspicion_
+that's a fact."
+
+"I _opinion_ quite the contrary."
+
+The word _considerable_ is in considerable demand in the United States.
+In a work in which the letters of the party had been given to the public
+as specimens of good style and polite literature, it is used as
+follows:--
+
+"My dear sister, I have taken up the pen early this morning, as I intend
+to write _considerable_."  (Life and Remains of Charles Pont.)
+
+The word great is oddly used for fine, splendid.
+
+"She's the _greatest_ gal in the whole Union."
+
+But there is one word which we must surrender up to the Americans as
+their _very own_, as the children say.  I will quote a passage from one
+of their papers:--
+
+"The editor of the _Philadelphia Gazette_ is wrong in calling
+absquatiated a Kentucky _phrase_ (he may well say phrase instead of
+_word_.)  It may prevail there, but its origin was in South Carolina,
+where it was a few years since regularly derived from the Latin, as we
+can prove from undoubted authority.  By the way, there is a little
+_corruption_ is the word as the _Gazette_ uses it, _absquatalized_ is
+the true reading."
+
+Certainly a word worth quarrelling about!
+
+"Are you cold, miss?" said I to a young lady, who pulled the shawl
+closer over her shoulders.
+
+"_Some_," was the reply.
+
+The English _what_? implying that you did not hear what was said to you,
+is changed in America to the word _how_?
+
+"I reckon", "I calculate", "I guess," are all used as the common English
+phrase, "I suppose."  Each term is said to be peculiar to different
+states, but I found them used everywhere, one as often as the other.  _I
+opine_, is not so common.
+
+A specimen of Yankee dialect and conversation:--
+
+"Well now, I'll tell you--you know Marble Head?"
+
+"Guess I do."
+
+"Well, then, you know Sally Hackett."
+
+"No, indeed."
+
+"Not know Sally Hackett?  Why she lives at Marble Head."
+
+"Guess I don't."
+
+"You don't mean to say that?"
+
+"Yes, indeed."
+
+"And you really don't know Sally Hackett?"
+
+"No, indeed."
+
+"I guess you've heard talk of her?"
+
+"No, indeed."
+
+"Well, that's considerable odd.  Now, I'll tell you--Ephraim Bagg, he
+that has the farm three miles from Marble Head--just as--but now, are
+you sure you don't know Sally Hackett?"
+
+"No, indeed."
+
+"Well, he's a pretty substantial man, and no mistake.  He has got a
+heart as big as an ox, and everything else in proportion, I've a notion.
+He loves Sal, the worst kind; and if she gets up there, she'll think
+she has got to Palestine (Paradise); ain't she a screamer?  I were
+thinking of Sal myself, for I feel lonesome, and when I am thrown into
+my store promiscuous alone, I can tell you I have the blues, the worst
+kind, no mistake--I can tell you that.  I always feel a kind o' queer
+when I sees Sal, but when I meet any of the other gals I am as calm and
+cool as the milky way," etcetera, etcetera.
+
+The verb "to fix" is universal.  It means to do anything.
+
+"Shall I _fix_ your coat or your breakfast first?"  That is--"Shall I
+brush your coat, or _get ready_ your breakfast first!"
+
+_Right away_, for immediately or at once, is very general.
+
+"Shall I fix it right away?"--i.e.  "Shall I do it immediately?"
+
+In the West, when you stop at an inn, they say--
+
+"What will you have?  Brown meal and common doings, or white wheat and
+chicken _fixings_;"--that is, "Will you have pork and brown bread, or
+white bread and fried chicken?"
+
+Also, "Will you have a _feed_ or a _check_?"--A dinner, or a luncheon?
+
+In _full blast_--something in the extreme.
+
+"When she came to meeting, with her yellow hat and feathers, wasn't she
+_in fall blast_?"
+
+But for more specimens of genuine Yankee, I must refer the reader to Sam
+Slick and Major Downing, and shall now proceed to some farther
+peculiarities.
+
+There are two syllables--um, hu--which are very generally used by the
+Americans as a sort of reply, intimating that they are attentive, and
+that the party may proceed with his narrative; but, by inflection and
+intonation, these two syllables are made to express dissent or assent,
+surprise, disdain, and (like Lord Burleigh's nod in the play) a great
+deal more.  The reason why these two syllables have been selected is,
+that they can be pronounced without the trouble of opening your mouth,
+and you may be in a state of listlessness and repose while others talk.
+I myself found them very convenient at times, and gradually got into the
+habit of using them.
+
+The Americans are very local in their phrases, and borrow their similes
+very much from the nature of their occupations and pursuits.  If you ask
+a Virginian or Kentuckian where he was born, he will invariably tell you
+that he was _raised_ in such a county--the term applied to horses, and,
+in breeding states, to men also.
+
+When a man is tipsy (spirits being made from grain), they generally say
+he is _corned_.
+
+In the West, where steam-navigation is so abundant, when they ask you to
+drink they say, "Stranger, will you take in wood?"--the vessels taking
+in wood as fuel to keep the steam up, and the person taking in spirits
+to keep _his_ steam up.
+
+The roads in the country being cut through woods, and the stumps of the
+trees left standing, the carriages are often brought up by them.  Hence
+the expression of, "Well, I am _stumped_ this time."
+
+I heard a young man, a farmer in Vermont, say, when talking about
+another having gained the heart of a pretty girl, "Well, how he
+contrived to _fork_ into her young affections, I can't tell; but I've a
+mind to _put my whole team on_, and see if I can't run him off the
+road."
+
+The old phrase of "straining at a gnat, and swallowing a camel," is, in
+the Eastern states, rendered "straining at a _gate_, and swallowing a
+_saw-mill_."
+
+To strike means to attack.  "The Indians have struck on the
+frontier,"--"A rattle-snake _struck_ at me."
+
+To make tracks--to walk away.  "Well, now, I shall make tracks;"--from
+foot-tracks in the snow.
+
+Clear out, quit, and put--all mean "be off."  "Captain, now, you _hush_
+or _put_"--that is, "Either hold your tongue, or be off."  Also, "Will
+you shut, mister?"--i.e. will you shut your mouth? i.e. hold your
+tongue?
+
+"Curl up"--to be angry--from the panther and other animals when angry
+raising their hair.  "Rise my dandee up," from the human hair; and a
+nasty idea.  "Wrathy" is another common expression.  Also, "Savage as a
+meat-axe."
+
+Here are two real American words:--
+
+"Sloping"--for slinking away.
+
+"Splunging," like a porpoise.
+
+The word "enthusiasm," in the south, is changed to "entuzzy-muzzy."
+
+In the Western states, where the racoon is plentiful, they use the
+abbreviation 'coon when speaking of people.  When at New York, I went
+into a hair-dresser's shop to have my hair cut; there were two young men
+front the west--one under the barber's hands, the other standing by him.
+
+"I say," said the one who was having his hair cut, "I hear Captain is in
+the country."
+
+"Yes;" replied the other, "so they say; I should like to see the 'coon."
+
+"I'm a _gone 'coon_" implies "I am distressed--_or_ ruined--_or_ lost."
+I once asked the origin of this expression, and was very gravely told as
+follows:--
+
+"There is a Captain Martin Scott (already mentioned in the Diary) in the
+United States Army who is a remarkable shot with a rifle.  He was
+raised, I believe, in Vermont.  His fame was so considerable through the
+state, that even the animals were aware of it.  He went out one morning
+with his rifle, and spying a racoon upon the upper branches of a high
+tree, brought his gun up to his shoulder; when the racoon perceiving it,
+raised his paw for a parley.  `I beg your pardon, mister,' said the
+racoon, very politely; `but may I ask you if your name is
+Scott?'--`Yes,' replied the captain.--`_Martin_ Scott?' continued the
+racoon--`Yes,' replied the captain--`_Captain_ Martin Scott?' still
+continued the animal.--`Yes,' replied the captain, `Captain Martin
+Scott?'--`Oh! then,' says the animal, `I may just as well come down, for
+I'm a _gone 'coon_.'"
+
+But one of the strangest perversions of the meaning of a word which I
+ever heard of is in Kentucky, where sometimes the word _nasty_ is used
+for _nice_.  For instance: at a rustic dance in that state a Kentuckian
+said to an acquaintance of mine, in reply to his asking the name of a
+very fine girl, "That's my sister, stranger; and I flatter myself that
+she shows the _nastiest_ ankle in all Kentuck"--_Unde derivatur_, from
+the constant rifle-practice in that state, a good shot or a pretty shot
+is termed also a nasty shot, because it would make a _nasty_ wound:
+_ergo_, a nice or pretty ankle becomes a _nasty_ one.
+
+The term for all baggage, especially in the south or west, is "plunder."
+This has been derived from the buccaneers, who for so long a time
+infested the bayores and creeks near the mouth of the Mississippi, and
+whose luggage was probably very correctly so designated.
+
+I must not omit a specimen of American criticism.
+
+"Well, Abel, what d'ye think of our native genus, Mister Forrest?"
+
+"Well, I don't go much to theatricals, that's a fact; but I do think _he
+piled the agony up a little too high_ in that last scene."
+
+The gamblers on the Mississippi use a very refined phrase for
+"cheating"--"playing the advantages over him."
+
+But, as may be supposed, the principal terms used are those which are
+borrowed from trade and commerce.
+
+The rest, or remainder, is usually termed the balance.
+
+"Put some of those apples into a dish, and the _balance_ into the
+storeroom."
+
+When a person has made a mistake, or is out in his calculation, they
+say, "You missed a figure that time."
+
+In a skirmish last war, the fire from the British was very severe, and
+the men in the American ranks were falling fast, when one of the
+soldiers stepped up to the commanding officer and said, "Colonel, don't
+you think that we might compromise this affair?"  "Well, I reckon I
+should have no objection to _submit it to arbitration_ myself," replied
+the colonel.
+
+Even the thieves must be commercial in their ideas.  One rogue meeting
+another, asked him what he had done that morning; "Not much," was the
+reply, "I've only _realised_ this umbrella."
+
+This reminds me of a conversation between a man and his wife, which was
+overheard by the party who repeated it to me.  It appears that the lady
+was economically inclined, and in cutting out some shirts for her
+husband, resolved that they should not descend much lower than his hip;
+as thereby so much linen would be saved.  The husband expostulated, but
+in vain.  She pointed out to him that it would improve his figure, and
+make his nether garments set much better; in a word, that long
+shirt-tails were quite unnecessary; and she wound up her arguments by
+observing that linen was a very expensive article, and that she could
+not see what on earth was the reason that people should stuff so much
+_capital_ into their pantaloons.
+
+There is sometimes in the American metaphors, an energy which is very
+remarkable.
+
+"Well, I reckon, that from his teeth to his toe-nail, there's not a
+human of a more conquering nature than General Jackson."
+
+One _gentleman_ said to me, "I wish I had all hell boiled down to a
+pint, just to pour down your throat."
+
+It is a great pity that the Americans have not adhered more to the
+Indian names, which are euphonous, and very often musical; but, so far
+from it, they appear to have had a pleasure in dismissing them
+altogether.  There is a river running into Lake Champlain, near
+Burlington, formerly called by the Indians the Winooski; but this name
+has been superseded by the settlers, who, by way of improvement, have
+designated it the Onion river.  The Americans have ransacked scripture,
+and ancient and modern history, to supply themselves with names, yet,
+notwithstanding, there appears to be a strange lack of taste in their
+selection.  On the route to Lake Ontario you pass towns with such names
+as Manlius, Sempronius, Titus, Cato, and then you come to _Butternuts_.
+Looking over the catalogue of cities, towns, villages, rivers, and
+creeks in the different states in the Union, I find the following
+repetitions:--
+
+Of towns, etcetera, named after distinguished individuals, there are:--
+
++===========+==+========+==+
+YWashingtonsY43YCarrollsY16Y
++-----------+--+--------+--+
+YJacksons   Y41YAdamses Y18Y
++-----------+--+--------+--+
+YJeffersons Y32YBolivarsY 8Y
++-----------+--+--------+--+
+YFranklins  Y41YClintonsY19Y
++-----------+--+--------+--+
+YMadisons   Y26YWaynes  Y14Y
++-----------+--+--------+--+
+YMonroes    Y25YCasses  Y 6Y
++-----------+--+--------+--+
+YPerrys     Y22YClays   Y 4Y
++-----------+--+--------+--+
+YFayettes   Y14YFultons Y17Y
++-----------+--+--------+--+
+YHamiltons  Y13Y        Y  Y
++===========+==+========+==+
+
+Of other towns, etcetera, there are:--
+
++=============+==+===========+==+
+YColumbus     Y27YLibertys   Y14Y
++-------------+--+-----------+--+
+YCentre VillesY14YSalems     Y24Y
++-------------+--+-----------+--+
+YFairfields   Y17YOnions     Y28Y
++-------------+--+-----------+--+
+YAthenses     Y10YMuds       Y 8Y
++-------------+--+-----------+--+
+YRomes        Y 4YLittle MudsY 1Y
++-------------+--+-----------+--+
+YCrookeds     Y22YMuddies    Y11Y
++-------------+--+-----------+--+
+YLittles      Y20YSandys     Y39Y
++-------------+--+-----------+--+
+YLongs        Y18Y           Y  Y
++=============+==+===========+==+
+
+In colours they have:--
+
++==========+==+=======+==+
+YClears    Y13YGreens Y16Y
++----------+--+-------+--+
+YBlacks    Y33YWhites Y15Y
++----------+--+-------+--+
+YBlues     Y 8YYellowsY10Y
++----------+--+-------+--+
+YVermilionsY14Y       Y  Y
++==========+==+=======+==+
+
+Named after trees:--
+
++=========+==+=======+==+
+YCedars   Y25YLaurelsY14Y
++---------+--+-------+--+
+YCypressesY12YPines  Y18Y
++=========+==+=======+==+
+
+After animals:--
+
++=========+==+===========+==+
+YBeavers  Y23YFoxes      Y12Y
++---------+--+-----------+--+
+YBuffaloesY21YOtters     Y13Y
++---------+--+-----------+--+
+YBulls    Y 9YRacoons    Y11Y
++---------+--+-----------+--+
+YDeers    Y13YWolfs      Y16Y
++---------+--+-----------+--+
+YDogs     Y 9YBears      Y12Y
++---------+--+-----------+--+
+YElks     Y11YBear's RumpY 1Y
++=========+==+===========+==+
+
+After birds, etcetera:--
+
++=======+==+=======+==+
+YGooses Y10YFishes Y 7Y
++-------+--+-------+--+
+YDucks  Y 8YTurkeysY12Y
++-------+--+-------+--+
+YEagles Y 8YSwans  Y15Y
++-------+--+-------+--+
+YPigeonsY10YPikes  Y20Y
++=======+==+=======+==+
+
+The consequence of these repetitions is, that if you do not put the name
+of the state, and often of the county in the state in which the town you
+refer to may be, your letter may journey all over the Union, and
+perhaps, after all, never arrive at its place of destination.
+
+The states have already accommodated each other with nicknames, as per
+example:--
+
++==========================+==================+
+YIllinois people are termedYSuckers           Y
++--------------------------+------------------+
+YMissouri                  YPukes             Y
++--------------------------+------------------+
+YMichigan                  YWolverines        Y
++--------------------------+------------------+
+YIndiana                   YHoosiers          Y
++--------------------------+------------------+
+YKentucky                  YCorn Crackers     Y
++--------------------------+------------------+
+YOhio                      YBuckeyes, etceteraY
++==========================+==================+
+
+The names of persons are also very strange; and some of them are, at all
+events, obsolete in England, even if they ever existed there.  Many of
+them are said to be French or Dutch names Americanised.  But they appear
+still more odd to us from the high sounding Christian names prefixed to
+them; as, for instance: Philo Doolittle, Populorum Hightower, Preserved
+Fish, Asa Peabody, Alonzo Lilly, Alceus Wolf, etcetera.  I was told by a
+gentleman that Doolittle was originally from the French Do l'hotel;
+Peabody from Pibaudiere; Bunker from Bon Coeur; that Mr Ezekial Bumpus
+is a descendant of Monsieur Bon Pas, etcetera, all which is very
+possible.
+
+Every one who is acquainted with Washington Irving must know that, being
+very sensitive himself, he is one of the last men in the world to do
+anything to annoy another.  In his selection of names for his writings,
+he was cautious in avoiding such as might be known; so that, when he
+called his old schoolmaster Ichabod Crane, he thought himself safe from
+the risk of giving offence.  Shortly afterward a friend of his called
+upon him, accompanied by a stranger whom he introduced as Major Crane;
+Irving started at the name; "Major Ichabod Crane," continued his friend,
+much to the horror of Washington Irving.
+
+I was told that a merchant went down to New Orleans with one Christian
+name, and came back, after a lapse of years, with another.  His name was
+John Flint.  The French at New Orleans translated his surname, and
+called him Pierre Fusee--on his return the Pierre stuck to him, and
+rendered into English as Peter, and he was called Peter Flint ever
+afterward.
+
+People may change their names in the United States by application to
+Congress.  They have a story hardly worth relating, although considered
+a good one in America, having been told me by a member of congress.  A
+Mr Whitepimple, having risen in the world, was persuaded by his wife to
+change his name, and applied for permission accordingly.  The clerk of
+the office inquired of him what other name he would have, and he being
+very indifferent about it himself, replied carelessly, as he walked
+away, "Oh, anything;" whereupon the clerk enrolled him as Mr _Thing_.
+Time passed on, and he had a numerous family, who found the new name not
+much more agreeable than the old one, for there was Miss Sally Thing,
+Miss Dolly Thing, the old Things, and all the little Things; and worst
+of all, the eldest son being christened Robert, went by the name of
+Thingum Bob.
+
+There were, and I believe still are, two lawyers in partnership in New
+York, with the peculiarly happy names of Catchem and Chetum.  People
+laughed at seeing these two names in juxtaposition over the door; so the
+lawyers thought it advisable to separate them by the insertion of their
+Christian names.  Mr Catchem's Christian name was Isaac, Mr Chetum's
+Uriah.  A new board was ordered, but when sent to the painter, it was
+found to be too short to admit the Christian names at full length.  The
+painter, therefore, put in only the initials before the surnames, which
+made the matter still worse than before, for there now appeared--
+
+"I Catchem and U Chetum."
+
+I cannot conclude this chapter without adverting to one or two points
+peculiar to the Americans.  They wish, in everything, to improve upon
+the Old Country, as they call us, and affect to be excessively refined
+in their language and ideas: but they forget that very often in the
+covering, and the covering only, consists the indecency; and that, to
+use the old aphorism--"Very nice people are people with very nasty
+ideas."
+
+They object to everything nude in statuary.  When I was at the house of
+Governor Everett, at Boston, I observed a fine cast of the Apollo
+Belvidere; but in compliance with general opinion, it was hung with
+drapery, although Governor Everett himself is a gentleman of refined
+mind and high classical attainments, and quite above such ridiculous
+sensitiveness.  In language it is the same thing.  There are certain
+words which are never used in America, but an absurd substitute is
+employed.  I cannot particularise them after this preface, lest I should
+be accused of indelicacy myself.  I may, however, state one little
+circumstance which will fully prove the correctness of what I say.
+
+When at Niagara Falls I was escorting a young lady with whom I was on
+friendly terms.  She had been standing on a piece of rock, the better to
+view the scene, when she slipped down, and was evidently hurt by the
+fall: she had, in fact, grazed her shin.  As she limped a little in
+walking home, I said, "Did you hurt your leg much?"  She turned from me,
+evidently much shocked, or much offended,--and not being aware that I
+had committed any very heinous offence, I begged to know what was the
+reason of her displeasure.  After some hesitation, she said that as she
+knew me well, she would tell me that the word _leg_ was never mentioned
+before ladies.  I apologised for my want of refinement, which was
+attributable to having been accustomed only to _English_ society; and
+added, that as such articles must occasionally be referred to, even in
+the most polite circles in America, perhaps she would inform me by what
+name I might mention them without shocking the company.  Her reply was,
+that the word _limb_ was used; "nay," continued she, "I am not so
+particular as some people are, for I know those who always say limb of a
+table, or limb of a piano-forte."
+
+There the conversation dropped; but a few months afterwards I was
+obliged to acknowledge that the young lady was correct when she asserted
+that some people were more particular than even she was.
+
+I was requested by a lady to escort her to a seminary for young ladies,
+and on being ushered into the reception-room, conceive my astonishment
+at beholding a square piano-forte with four _limbs_.  However, that the
+ladies who visited their daughters might feel in its full force the
+extreme delicacy [see note at end of chapter] of the mistress of the
+establishment, and her care to preserve in their utmost purity the ideas
+of the young ladies under her charge, she had dressed all these four
+limbs in modest little trousers, with frills at the bottom of them!
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+"An English lady, who had long kept a fashionable boarding-school in one
+of the Atlantic cities, told me that one of her earliest cares with
+every new-comer, was to endeavour to substitute real delicacy for that
+affected precision of manner.  Among many anecdotes, she told me of a
+young lady about fourteen, who, on entering the receiving-room, where
+she only expected to see a lady who had inquired for her, and finding a
+young man with her, put her hands before her eyes and ran out of the
+room again, screaming `A man, a man, a man!'  On another occasion, one
+of the young ladies in going up stairs to the drawing-room,
+unfortunately met a boy of fourteen coming down, and her feelings were
+so violently agitated, that she stopped, panting and sobbing, nor would
+she pass on till the boy had swung himself up on the upper bannisters,
+to leave the passage free."--_Mrs Trollope's Domestic Manners of the
+Americans_.
+
+
+
+VOLUME THREE, CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT.
+
+REMARKS--CREDIT.
+
+In the state of New York they have abolished imprisonment for debt; this
+abolition however, only holds good between the citizens of that state,
+as no one state in the Union can interfere with the rights of another.
+A stranger, therefore, can imprison a New Yorker, and a New Yorker can
+imprison a stranger, but the citizens of New York cannot incarcerate one
+another.  Now although the unprincipled may, and do occasionally take
+advantage of this enactment, yet the effects of it are generally good,
+as character becomes more valuable.  Without character, there will be no
+credit--and without credit no commercial man can rise in this city.  I
+was once in a store where the widow who kept it complained to me that a
+person who owed her a considerable sum of money would not pay her, and
+aware that she had no redress, I asked her how she would obtain her
+money.  Her reply was--"Oh, I shall eventually get my money, for I will
+_shame_ him out of it by exposure."
+
+The Americans, probably from being such great speculators, and aware of
+the uncertainty attending their commerce, are very lenient towards
+debtors.  If a man proves that he cannot pay, he is seldom interfered
+with, but allowed to recommence business.  This is not only Christians
+like, but wise.  A man thrown into prison is not likely to find the
+means of paying his debts; but if allowed his liberty and the means of
+earning a subsistence, he may eventually be more fortunate, and the
+creditors have a chance of being ultimately paid.  This, to my
+knowledge, has often been the case after the release had been signed,
+and the creditors had no farther legal claim upon the bankrupt.  England
+has not yet made up her mind to the abolition of imprisonment for debt,
+but from what I have learnt in this city, I have no hesitation in
+saying, that it would work well for the morals of the community, and
+that more debts would eventually be paid, than are paid under the
+present system.  Another circumstance which requires to be pointed out
+when we would examine into the character of the New York commercial
+community, is, the difference between their bankrupt-laws and those of
+England.  Here there is no law to compel a bankrupt to produce his
+books; every man may be his own assignee, and has the power of giving
+preference to one creditor over another; that is to say, he may repay
+those who have lent him money in the hope of preventing his becoming a
+bankrupt, and all other debts of a like description.  He may also turn
+over his affairs to an assignee of his own selection, who then pays the
+debts as he pleases.  A bankrupt is also permitted to collect his own
+debts.
+
+The English bankrupt laws were introduced, but after one year's trial
+they were discontinued, as it was found they were attended with so much
+difficulty, and, what is of more importance to Americans, with so much
+loss of time.  Again, in America, if a person wishes to become a special
+partner (a sleeping partner) in any concern, he may do so to any extent
+he pleases, upon advertising the same, and is responsible for no more
+than the sum he invests, although the house should fail for ten times
+the amount.
+
+Here is an advertisement of special partnership.
+
+"Co-partnership.  Notice is hereby given, that a limited partnership
+hath been entered into by Lambert Morange, DN Morange, and Samah
+Solomon, of the city of New York, merchants, in pursuance of the
+provisions of the revised statutes of the city of New York.  The general
+nature of the business of said co-partnership is the manufacturing and
+selling of fur and silk hats.  The said Lambert Morange is the special
+partner, and as such, hath contributed the sum of ten thousand dollars
+in cash to the common stock: the said DN Morange and Samah Solomon are
+the general partners; and the said business is to be conducted under the
+name and firm of DN Morange and Solomon; said co-partnership is to
+commence on the 14th day of March, 1837, and to expire on the 14th
+March, 1840.
+
+"March 14th, 1837.  L. Morange.  D.N. Morange.  Samah Solomon."
+
+That this loose state of the bankrupt law may be, and has been a cause
+of much dishonesty, is true, but at the same it is the cause of the
+flourishing state of the community.  The bee can always work; indeed the
+bankrupt-laws themselves provide for a man's not starving.  In the city
+the bankrupt's household furniture is sacred, that his family may not be
+beggars; and in case of the bankruptcy of a farmer, he is permitted, not
+only to retain the furniture of his cottage, but even his plough, with a
+proportion of his team, his kine and sheep, are reserved for him, that
+he may still be able to support his family.  Surely this is much
+preferable to the English system under which the furniture is dragged
+away, the hearth made desolate, and the children left to starve, because
+their father has been unfortunate.  Is it not better that a little
+villainy should escape punishment, than that such cruelty should be in
+daily practice?  I say a little villainy, for if a man becomes bankrupt
+in New York, it is pretty well known whether he has dealt fairly with
+his creditors, or has made a fraudulent bankruptcy: and if so, his
+character is gone, and with it his credit, and without credit he never
+can rise again in that city, but must remove to some other place.
+
+In England, character will procure to a bankrupt a certificate, but in
+New York it will leave him the means of re-commencing business.  In
+England, it is a disgrace to be a bankrupt; in America, it is only a
+misfortune; but this distinction arises from the boldness of the
+speculations carried on by the Americans in their commercial
+transactions, and owing to which the highest and most influential, as
+well as the smaller capitalists, are constantly in a state of jeopardy.
+I do not believe that there is anywhere a class of merchants more
+honourable than those of New York.  The notorious Colonel Chartres said
+that he would give 20,000 pounds for a character, because he would have
+made 100,000 pounds by it.  I shall not here enter into the question,
+whether it is by a similar conviction, or by moral rectitude of feeling,
+that the merchants of New York are actuated; it is sufficient that it is
+their interest to be honest, and that they are so.  I state the case in
+this way, because I do not intend to admit that the honesty of the
+merchants is any proof of the morality of a nation; and I think I am
+borne out in my opinion by their conduct in the late state of
+difficulty, and the strenuous exertions made by them to pay to the
+uttermost farthing, sacrificing at times twenty per cent--in order to be
+enabled to remit money to their London and Liverpool correspondents, and
+fulfil their engagements with them.
+
+That there is a great deal of roguery going on in this city is
+undeniable, much more, perhaps, than (taking into consideration the
+difference between the populations) in the good city of London.  But it
+should be borne in mind that New York has become, as it were, the
+Alsatia of the whole continent of Europe.  Every scoundrel who has
+swindled, forged, or robbed in England, or elsewhere, makes his escape
+to New York.  Every pickpocket, who is too well known to the English
+police, takes refuge here.  In this city they all concentrate; and it is
+a hard thing for the New York merchants, that the stream of society,
+which otherwise might gradually become more pure, should be thus
+poisoned by the continual inpourings of the continental dregs, and that
+they should be made to share in the obloquy of those who are outcasts
+from the society of the old world.
+
+America exists at present upon credit.  If the credit of her merchants
+were destroyed she would be checked in her rapid advance.  But this
+system of credit, which is necessarily reciprocal, is nevertheless acted
+upon with all possible caution.  Many are the plans which the large New
+York importers have been compelled to resort to, to ascertain whether
+their customers from the interior could be trusted or not.  Agents have
+been despatched to learn the characters, standing, and means of the
+country dealers who are their correspondents, and who purchase their
+goods; for the whole of the transactions are upon credit, and a book of
+reference as to people's responsibility is to be found in many of the
+mercantile houses of New York.
+
+Willing as I am to do justice to the New York merchants, I cannot,
+however, permit Mr Carey's remarks upon credit to pass unnoticed.  Had
+he said nothing I should have said no more; but, as he asserts that the
+security of property and credit in America is greater than in England, I
+must, in defence of my country, make a few observations.
+
+At the commencement of his article Mr Carey says,--
+
+"In England confidence is _almost_ universal.  The banker credits the
+manufacturer and the farmer.  They are willing to give credit to the
+merchant, because they have confidence that he will pay them.  He gives
+credit to the shopkeeper, who, in his turn, gives credit to the
+labourer.
+
+"Immense masses of property change owners without examination;
+confidence thus producing a great saving of labour.  Orders to a vast
+extent are given, with a certainty that they will be executed with
+perfect good faith; and this system is continued year after year,
+proving that the confidence was deserved."
+
+Now, after this admission what more can be required?  Confidence proves
+security of property, and should any change take place so as to render
+the security doubtful, confidence would immediately cease.  It is,
+therefore, rather bold of Mr Carey, after such an admission, to attempt
+to prove that the security of property is greater in America than in
+England; yet, nevertheless, such is his assertion.
+
+Mr Carey bases his calculation, first upon the losses sustained by the
+banks of England, in comparison with those sustained by the banks of
+Massachusetts.  Here, as in almost every other argument, Mr Carey
+selects one state--a state, _par excellence_, superior to all the others
+of the Union; a pattern state, in fact--as representing _all_ America
+against _all_ England.  He admits that, as you go south or west, the
+complexion of things is altered; but notwithstanding this admission, he
+still argues upon this one state only, and consequently upon false
+premises.  But allowing that he proved that the losses of all the banks
+in America were less than the losses of all the banks in England, he
+would still prove nothing, or if he did prove anything, it would be
+against himself.  Why are the losses of the American banks less?  Simply
+because they trust less.  There is not that confidence in America that
+there is in England, and the want of confidence proves the want of
+security of property.
+
+The next comparison which Mr Carey makes is between the failures of the
+banks of the two countries; and in this argument he takes most of the
+states in the Union into his calculation, and he winds up by observing
+(in italics) that--"From the first institution of banks in America to
+the year 1837, the failures have been less by about one-fourth, than
+those of England in the three years of 1814, 15, and 16; and the amount
+of loss sustained by the public bears, probably, a still smaller
+proportion to the amount of business transactions."
+
+Now, all this proves nothing, except that the banks of America are more
+careful in discounting than our own, and that by running less risk they
+lose less money.  But from it Mr Carey draws this strange conclusion:--
+
+"Individuals in Great Britain enjoy as high a degree of _credit_ as can
+possibly exist, but _confidence_ is more universal in the United
+States."
+
+_Credit_ is the result of _confidence_; and if, as appears to be the
+case, the American confidence in each other will not procure credit, it
+is a very useless compliment passed between them.  It is simply this--"I
+am certain that you are a very honest man, but notwithstanding I will
+not lend you a shilling."  Indeed.  Mr Carey contradicts himself, for,
+two pages farther on, he says:--"The existence of the credit system is
+evidence of mutual confidence."
+
+I should like Mr Carey to answer one question.
+
+What would have been the amount of the failures of the banks of America
+in 1836, if they had not suspended cash payments?  It is very easy to
+carry on the banking business when, in defiance of their charters, the
+banks will give you nothing but their paper, and refuse you specie.
+Banks which will not pay bullion for their own notes are not very likely
+to fail, except in their covenant with the public.  But it is of little
+use for Mr Carey to assert on the one hand, or for me to deny on the
+other.  Every nation makes its own character with the rest of the world,
+and it is by other nations that the question between us must be decided.
+The question is then, "Is the credit of America better than that of
+England, in the intercourse of the two countries with each other, and
+with foreign nations?"  Let the commercial world decide.
+
+
+
+VOLUME THREE, CHAPTER THIRTY NINE.
+
+REMARKS--PENITENTIARIES, ETCETERA.
+
+Although, during my residence in the cities of the United States, I
+visited most of the public institutions, I have not referred to them at
+the time in my Diary, as they have been so often described by preceding
+travellers?  I shall now, however, make a few remarks upon the
+penitentiary system.
+
+I think it was Wilkes who said, that the very worst use to which you
+could put a man was to hang him; and such appears to be the opinion in
+America.  That hanging does not prevent crime, where people are driven
+into it by misery and want, I believe; but it does prevent crime where
+people commit it merely from an unrestrained indulgence of their
+passions.  This has been satisfactorily proved in the United States.  At
+one time the murders in the city of New Orleans were just as frequent as
+in all the states contiguous to the Mississippi; but the population of
+the city determined to put an end to such scenes of outrage.  The
+population of New Orleans is very different from that of the southern
+states in general, being composed of Americans from the eastern states,
+English merchants, and French creoles.  Vigorous laws and an efficient
+police were established; and one of the southern planters, of good
+family and connexions, having committed a murder, was tried and
+condemned.  To avoid the gallows, he committed suicide in prison.  This
+system having been rigorously followed up, New Orleans has become
+perhaps the _safest_ city in the Union; and now, not even a brawl is
+heard in those streets where, a few years back, murders occurred every
+hour of the day.
+
+In another chapter I shall enter more fully into this question: at
+present I shall only say that there is a great unwillingness to take
+away life in America, and it is this aversion to capital punishment
+which has directed the attention of the American community to the
+penitentiary system.  Several varieties of this species of punishment
+have been resorted to, more or less severe.  The most rigid--that of
+solitary confinement in dark cells, and without labour--was found too
+great an infliction, as, in many cases, it unsettled the reason, and
+ended in confirmed lunacy.  Confinement, with the boon of light, but
+without employment, was productive of no good effect; the culprit sank
+into a state of apathy and indifference.  After a certain time, day and
+night passed away unheeded, from the want of a healthy tone to the mind.
+The prisoners were no longer lunatics, but they were little better than
+brute animals.
+
+Neither do I consider the present system, as practised at Sing Sing, the
+state prison of New York, as tending to _reform_ the offenders; it
+punishes them severely, but that is all.  Where corporal punishment is
+resorted to, there always will be feelings of vindictiveness; and all
+the bad passions must be allowed to repose before the better can gain
+the ascendant.
+
+The best system that is acted upon in the Penitentiary at Philadelphia,
+where there is solitary confinement, but with labour and exercise.  Mr
+Samuel Wood, who superintends this establishment, is a person admirably
+calculated for his task, and I do not think that any arrangements could
+be better, or the establishment in more excellent hands.  But my object
+was, not so much to view the prison and witness the economy of it, as to
+examine the prisoners themselves, and hear what their opinions were.
+The surgeon may explain the operation, but the patient who has undergone
+it is the proper person to apply to, if you wish to know the degree and
+nature of the pain inflicted.  I requested, therefore, and obtained
+permission, to visit a portion of the prisoners without a third party
+being present to prevent their being communicative; selecting some who
+had been in but a short time, others who had been there for years, and
+referring also to the books, as to the nature and degree of their
+offence.  I ought to state that I re-examined almost the whole of the
+parties about six months afterward, and the results of the two
+examinations are now given.  I did not take their names, but registered
+them in my notes as No. 1, 2, 3, etcetera.
+
+No. 1--a man who had been sentenced to twelve years' imprisonment for
+the murder of his wife.  He had been bred up as a butcher.  (I have
+observed that when the use of the knife is habitual, the flinching which
+men naturally feel at the idea of driving it into a fellow-creature, is
+overcome; and a man who is accustomed to dissect the still palpitating
+carcasses of animals, has very little compunction in resorting to the
+knife in the event of collision with his own race.)  This fellow looked
+a butcher; his face and head were all animal; he was by no means
+intelligent.  He was working at a loom, and had already been confined
+for seven years and a half.  He said that, after the first six months of
+his confinement, he had lost all reckoning of time, and had not cared to
+think about it until lately, when he inquired, and was told how long he
+had been locked up.  Now that he had discovered that more than half his
+time had passed away, it occupied his whole thoughts, and sometimes he
+felt very impatient.
+
+Mr Wood told me afterwards that this feeling, when the expiration of
+the sentence was very near at hand, sometimes amounted to agony.
+
+This man had denied the murder of his wife, and still persisted in the
+denial, although there was no doubt of his having committed the crime.
+Of course, in this instance there was no repentance; and the
+Penitentiary was thrown away upon him, farther than that, for twelve
+years, he could not contaminate society.
+
+No. 2--sentenced to four years' imprisonment for forgery; his time was
+nearly expired.  This was a very intelligent man; by profession he had
+been a schoolmaster.  He had been in prison before for the same offence.
+
+His opinion as to the Penitentiary was, that it could do no harm, and
+might do much good.  The fault of the system was one which could not
+well be remedied, which was, that there was degradation attached to it.
+Could punishment undergone for crime be viewed in the same way as
+repentance was by the Almighty, and a man, after suffering for his
+fault, re-appear in the world with clean hands, and be admitted into
+society as before, it would be attended with the very best effects; but
+there was no working out the degradation.  When he was released from his
+former imprisonment, he had been obliged to fly from the place where he
+was known.  He was pursued by the harshness of the world, not only in
+himself, but in his children.  No one would allow that his punishment
+had wiped away his crime, and this was the reason why people, inclined
+to be honest, were driven again into guilt.  Not only would the world
+not encourage them, but it would not permit them to become honest; the
+finger of scorn was pointed wherever they were known, or found out, and
+the punishment after release was infinitely greater than that of the
+prison itself.
+
+Miss Martineau observes, "I was favoured with the confidence of a great
+number of the prisoners in the Philadelphia Penitentiary, where absolute
+seclusion is the principle of punishment.  Every one of these prisoners
+(none of them being aware of the existence of any other) told me that he
+was under obligations to those who had charge of him for treating him
+`with respect.'"
+
+No 3--a very intelligent, but not educated man: imprisoned three years
+for stealing.  He had only been a few months in the penitentiary, but
+had been confined for ten years in Sing Sing prison for picking pockets.
+I asked him his opinion as to the difference of treatment in the two
+establishments.  He replied, "In Sing Sing the punishment is corporal--
+here it is more mental.  In Sing Sing there was little chance of a
+person's reformation, as the treatment was harsh and brutal, and the
+feelings of the prisoners were those of indignation and resentment."
+
+Their whole time was occupied in trying how they could deceive their
+keepers, and communicate with each other by every variety of stratagem.
+Here a man was left to his own reflections, and at the same time he was
+treated like a _man_.  Here he was his own tormentor; at Sing Sing he
+was tormented by others.  A man was sent to Sing Sing for doing wrong to
+others; when there, he was quite as much wronged himself.  Two wrongs
+never made a right.  Again, at Sing Sing they all worked in company, and
+knew each other; when they met again, after they were discharged, they
+enticed one another to do wrong again.  He was convinced that no man
+left Sing Sing a better man than he went in.  He here felt very often
+that he could become better--perhaps he might.  At all events his mind
+was calm, and he had no feelings of resentment for his treatment.  He
+had now leisure and quiet for self-examination, if he chose to avail
+himself of it.  At Sing Sing there was great injustice and no redress.
+The infirm man was put to equal labour with the robust, and punished if
+he did not perform as much.  The flogging was very severe at Sing Sing.
+He once ventured to express his opinion that such was the case, and (to
+prove the contrary he supposed) they awarded him eighty-seven lashes for
+the information.
+
+That many of this man's observations, in the parallel drawn between the
+two establishments, are correct, must be conceded; but still some of his
+assertions must be taken with due reservation, as it is evident that he
+had no very pleasant reminiscences of his ten years' geological studies
+in Sing Sing.
+
+No. 4--an Irishman; very acute.  He had been imprisoned seven years for
+burglary, and his time would expire in a month.  He had been confined
+also in Walnut-street prison, Philadelphia, for two years previous to
+his coming here.  He said that it was almost impossible for any man to
+reform in that prison, although some few did.  He had served many years
+in the United States navy.  He declared that his propensity to theft was
+only strong upon him when under the influence of liquor, or tobacco,
+which latter had the same effect upon him as spirits.  He thought that
+he was reformed now; the reason why he thought so was, that he now liked
+work, and had learnt a profession in the prison, which he never had
+before.  He considered himself a good workman, as he could make a pair
+of shoes in a day.  He cannot now bear the smell of liquor or tobacco.
+(This observation must have been from imagination, as he had no
+opportunity in the Penitentiary of testing his dislike.)  He ascribed
+all his crimes to ardent spirits.  He was fearful of only one thing: his
+time was just out, and where was he to go?  If known to have been in the
+prison, he would never find work.  He knew a fact which had occurred,
+which would prove that he had just grounds for his fear.  A tailor, who
+had been confined in Walnut-street prison with him, had been released as
+soon as his time was up.  He was an excellent workman, and resolved for
+the future to be honest.  He obtained employment from a master tailor in
+Philadelphia, and in three months was made foreman.  One of the
+inspectors of Walnut-street prison came in for clothes, and his friend
+was called down to take the measures.  The inspector recognised him, and
+as soon as he left the shop told his master that he had been in the
+Walnut-street prison.  The man was in consequence immediately
+discharged.  He could obtain no more work, and in a few months
+afterwards found his way back again to Walnut-street prison for a fresh
+offence.
+
+No. 5--a fine intelligent Yankee, very bold in bearing.  He was in the
+penitentiary under a false name, being well connected had been brought
+up as an architect and surveyor, and was imprisoned for having
+counterfeit bank notes in his possession.  This fellow was a regular
+lawyer, and very amusing; it appeared as if nothing could subdue his
+elasticity of spirit.  He said that he did not think that he should be
+better for his incarceration; on the contrary, that it would produce
+very bad effects.  "I am punished," said he, "not for having passed
+counterfeit notes, but for having them in my possession.  The facts are,
+I had lost all my money by gambling; and then the gamblers, to make me
+amends, gave me some of their counterfeit notes, which they always have
+by them.  I do not say that I should not have uttered them; I believe
+that in my distress I should have done so; but I had not exactly made up
+my mind.  At all events, _I had not_ passed them when, from information
+given, I was taken up.  This is certain, that not having passed them, it
+is very possible for a man to have forged notes in his possession
+without being aware of it; but this was not considered by my judges,
+although it ought to have been, as I had never been brought up before;
+and I have now been sentenced to exactly the same term of imprisonment
+as those who were convicted of passing them.  Now, this I consider as
+unfair; my punishment is too severe for my offence, and that always does
+harm--it creates a vindictive feeling, and a desire to revenge yourself
+for the injustice done to you.
+
+"Now, sir," continued he, "I should have no objection to compromise; if
+they would reduce my punishment one-half, I would acknowledge the
+justice of it, and turn honest when I go out again; but, if I am
+confined here for three years, why, it is my opinion, that I shall
+revenge myself upon society as soon as I am turned loose again."  This
+was said in a very cheerful, playful manner, as he stood up before his
+loom.  A more energetic expression, a keener grey eye, I never met with.
+There was evidently great daring of soul in this man.
+
+No 6--had only been confined six weeks; his offence was stealing pigs,
+and his companion in the crime had been sent here with him.  He declared
+that he was innocent, and that he had been committed by false swearing.
+There is no country in the world where there is so much perjury as in
+the United States, if I am to believe the Americans themselves; but Mr
+Wood told me that he was present at the trial, and that there was no
+doubt of their guilt.  This man was cheerful and contented; he was
+working at the loom, and had already become skilful.  All whom I had
+seen up to the present had employment of some sort or other, and should
+have passed over this man, as I had done some others, if it had not been
+for the contrast between him and his companion.
+
+No. 7--His companion or accomplice.  In consequence of the little demand
+for the penitentiary manufactures this man had no employment.  The first
+thing he told me was that he had nothing to do, and was very miserable.
+He earnestly requested me to ask for employment for him.  He cried
+bitterly while he spoke, was quite unmanned and depressed, and
+complained that he had not been permitted to hear from his wife and
+children.  The want of employment appeared to have completely prostrated
+this man; although confined but six weeks, he had already lost the time,
+and inquired of me the day of the week and the month.
+
+No. 8--was at large.  He had been appointed apothecary to the prison; of
+course he was not strictly confined, and was in a comfortable room.  He
+was a shrewd man, and evidently well educated; he had been reduced to
+beggary by his excesses, and being too proud to work, he had not been
+too proud to commit forgery.  I had a long conversation with him, and he
+made some sensible remarks upon the treatment of prisoners, and the
+importance of delegating the charge of prisoners to competent persons.
+His remarks also upon American juries were very severe, and, as I
+subsequently ascertained, but too true.
+
+No. 9--a young woman about nineteen, confined for larceny; in other
+respects a good character.  She was very quiet and subdued, and said
+that she infinitely preferred the solitude of the penitentiary to the
+company with which she must have associated had she been confined in a
+common gaol.  She did not appear at all anxious for the expiration of
+her term.  Her cell was very neat, and ornamented with her own hands in
+a variety of ways.  I observed that she had a lock of hair on her
+forehead which, from the care taken of it, appeared to be a favourite,
+and, as I left the cell, I said--"You appear to have taken great pains
+with that lock of hair, considering that you have no one to look at
+you?"--"Yes, sir," replied she; "and if you think that vanity will
+desert a woman, even in the solitude of a penitentiary, you are
+mistaken."
+
+When I visited this girl a second time, her term was nearly expired; she
+told me that she had not the least wish to leave her cell, and that, if
+they confined her for two years more, she was content to stay.  "I am
+quite peaceful and happy here," she said, and I believe she really spoke
+the truth.
+
+No. 10--a free mulatto girl, about eighteen years of age, one of the
+most forbidding of her race, and with a physiognomy perfectly brutal;
+but she evidently had no mean opinion of her own charms: her woolly hair
+was twisted into at least fifty short plaits, and she grinned from ear
+to ear as she advanced to meet me.  "Pray, may I inquire what you are
+imprisoned for?" said I.--"Why, sir," replied she, smirking, smiling,
+and coquetting, as she tossed her head right and left,--"If you please,
+sir, I was put in here for poisoning a _whole family_."  She really
+appeared to think that she had done a very praiseworthy act.  I inquired
+of her if she was aware of the heinousness of her offence.  "Yes, she
+knew it was wrong, but if her mistress beat her again as she had done,
+she thought she would do it again.  She had been in prison three years,
+and had four more to remain."  I asked her if the fear of punishment--if
+another incarceration for seven years would not prevent her from
+committing such a crime a second time.  "She didn't know; she didn't
+like being shut up--found it very tedious, but still she thought--was
+not quite sure--but she thought that, if ill-treated, she should
+certainly do it again."
+
+I paid a second visit to this amiable young lady, and asked her what her
+opinion was then.--"Why, she had been thinking, but had not exactly made
+up her mind--but she still thought--indeed, she was convinced--that she
+_should do it again_."
+
+I entered many other cells, and had conversations with the prisoners but
+I did not elicit from them any thing worth narrating.  There is,
+however, a great deal to be gained from the conversation which I have
+recorded.  It must be remembered, that observations made by one
+prisoner, which struck me as important, if not made by others, were put
+as questions by me; and I found that the opinions of the most
+intelligent, although differently expressed, led to the same result--
+that the present system of the Philadelphia penitentiary was the best
+that had been invented.  As the schoolmaster said, if it did no good, it
+could do no harm.  There is one decided advantage in this system, which
+is, that they all learn a trade, if they had not one before; and, when
+they leave the prison, have the means of obtaining an honest livelihood,
+if they wish so to do themselves, _and are permitted so to do by
+others_.  Here is the stumbling-block which neutralises almost all the
+good effects which might be produced by the penitentiary system.  The
+severity and harshness of the world; the unchristianlike feeling
+pervading society, which denies to the penitent what individually they
+will have to plead for themselves at the great tribunal, and which will
+not permit that punishment, awarded and suffered, can expiate the crime;
+on this point, there is no hope of a better feeling being engendered.
+Mankind have been, and will be, the same; and it is only to be hoped
+that we may receive more mercy in the next world than we are inclined to
+extend toward our fellow-creatures in this.
+
+As I have before observed, I care little for the observations or
+assertions of directors or of officers entrusted with the charge of the
+penitentiaries and houses of correction; they are unintentionally
+biased, and things that appear to them to be mere trifles are very often
+extreme hardships to the prisoners.  It is not only what the body
+suffers, but what the mind suffers, which must be considered; and it is
+from the want of this consideration that arise most of the defects in
+those establishments, not only in America, but everywhere else.
+
+During my residence in the United States, a little work made its
+appearance, which I immediately procured; it was the production of an
+American, a scholar, once in the best society, but who, by intemperance,
+had forfeited his claim to it.  He wrote the very best satirical poem I
+ever read by an American, full of force, and remarkable for energetic
+versification; but intemperance, the prevalent vice of America, had
+induced him to beggary and wretchedness, he was (by his own request I
+understand) shut up in the house of correction at South Boston, that he
+might, if possible, be reclaimed from intemperance; and, on his leaving
+it, he published a small work, called "The Rat-Trap, or Cogitations of a
+Convict in the House of Correction."  This work bears the mark of a
+reflective, although buoyant mind; and as he speaks in the highest terms
+of Mr Robbins, the master, and bestows praise generally when deserved,
+his remarks, although occasionally jocose, are well worthy of attention
+and I shall, therefore, introduce a few of them to the reader.
+
+His introduction commences thus:--
+
+"I take it for granted that one of every two individuals in this _most
+moral community in the world_ has been, will be, or deserves or fears to
+be, in the house of correction.  Give every man his deserts, and who
+shall escape whipping?  This book must, therefore, be interesting, and
+will have a good circulation--not, perhaps, in this state alone.  The
+state spends its money for the above institution, and, therefore, has a
+right to know what it is; a knowledge which can never be obtained from
+the reports of the authorities, the cursory observations of visitors, or
+the statements of ignorant and exasperated convicts.
+
+  "`What thief e'er felt the halter draw,
+  With good opinion of the law.'
+
+"It has been my aim to furnish such knowledge, and it cannot be denied
+that I have had the best opportunities to obtain it."
+
+To show the prevalence of intemperance in this country among the better
+classes, read the following:--
+
+"On entering the wool-shop, a man nodded to me, whom I immediately
+recognised as a lawyer of no mean talent, who had, at no very distant
+period, been an ornament of society, and a man well esteemed for many
+excellent qualities, all of which are now forgotten, while his only
+fault, intemperance, remains engraven on steel.  This was not his first
+term, or his second, or his third.  At this time of writing he is
+discharged, a sober man, anxious for employment, which he cannot get.
+His having been in the house of correction shuts every door against him,
+and he must have more than ordinary firmness if he does not relapse
+again.  From my inmost soul I pity him.  Another aged man I recognised
+as a doctor of medicine: his grey hairs would have been venerable in any
+other place."
+
+The labour in this house of correction which he describes is chiefly
+confined to wool-picking, stone-cutting, and blacksmiths' work.  The
+fare he states to be plentiful, but not of the very best quality.
+Speaking of ill-treatment, he says:--
+
+"The convicts all have the privilege of complaint against officers; but
+while I was there no one used it but myself.  I believe they dared not.
+The officer would probably deny or gloss over the cause of complaint,
+and his word would be believed rather than that of the convict; and his
+power of retaliation is so tremendous, that few would care to brave it.
+The chance is ten to one that a complaint to the directors would be
+falsified and proved fruitless; and the visit of the governor, council,
+and magistrates, for the purpose of inquiry, is mere matter of form.
+When they asked me if I had reason to complain of my treatment, I
+answered in the negative, because I really had none; but had they asked
+me if there was any defect in the institution, I would have pointed out
+a good many."
+
+The monotony of their existence is well described:--
+
+"Few incidents chequered the monotony of our existence.  `Who has got a
+piece of steel in his eye?'--`Who has gone to the hospital?'--`How many
+came to-day in the carry-all?' were almost the only questions we could
+ask.  A man falling from the new prison, and breaking his bones in a
+fashion not to be approved, was a conversational godsend.  One day the
+retiring tide left a small box on the sands at the bottom of the house
+of correction wharf, which was picked up by a convict, and found to
+contain the bequest of some woman who had `loved not wisely, but too
+well,' namely, a pair of new-born infants.  In my mind, their fate was
+happy.  If they never knew woman's tenderness, neither did they ever
+know woman's falsehood.  There is less pleasure than pain in this bad
+world, and the earlier we take leave of it the better."
+
+He complains of due regard not being paid to the cleanliness of the
+prisoners:--
+
+"A great defect in the police of the house was the want of baths.  We
+were shaved, or rather scraped, but once a week.  Washing one's face and
+hands in ice-cold water of a winter morning, is little better than no
+ablution at all.  The harbour water is interdicted, lest the convicts
+should swim away, and in the stone-shop there are no conveniences for
+bathing whatever: they would cost something!  In the wool-shop, forty
+men have one tubful of warm water once a-week.  When I say that shirts
+are worn a week in summer, and (as well as drawers) two or three weeks
+in winter, it will at once be conceded that some farther provision for
+personal cleanliness is imperatively demanded.  I hope neither this nor
+any other remark I may think fit to make will be taken as emanating from
+a fault-finding spirit, since, while I pronounce upon the disease, I
+suggest the remedy."
+
+Speaking of his companions, he says:--
+
+"I had expected to find myself linked with a band of most outrageous
+ruffians, but such did not prove to be the case.  Few of them were
+decidedly of a vicious temperament.  The great fault with them seemed to
+be a want of moral knowledge and principle.  Were I to commit a theft I
+should think myself unworthy to live an instant; but some of them spoke
+of the felonies for which they were adjudged to suffer with as much
+_nonchalance_ as if they were the every-day business of life, without
+scruple and without shame.  Few of them denied the justice of their
+sentences; and if they expressed any regret, it was not that they had
+sinned, but that they had been detected.  The duration of the sentence,
+the time or money lost, the physical suffering, was what filled their
+estimate of their condition.  Many had groans and oaths for a lost
+dinner, a night in the cells, or a tough piece of work, but none had a
+tear for the branding infamy of their conviction.  Yet some, even of the
+most hardened, faltered, and spoke with quivering lip and glistening
+eye, when they thought of their parents, wives, and children.  The
+flinty Horeb of their souls sometimes yielded gushing streams to the
+force of that appeal.  But there were very few who felt any shame on
+their own account.  Their apathy on the point of honour was amazing.  A
+young man, not twenty-five years old, in particular, made his felonies
+his glory, and boasted that he had been a tenant of half the prisons in
+the United States.  He was sentenced to four years' imprisonment for
+stealing a great number of pieces of broadcloth, which he unblushingly
+told me he had lodged in the hands of a receiver of stolen goods, and
+expected to receive the value at the expiration of his sentence.  He
+relied on the proverbial `honour among thieves.'  That fellow ought to
+be kept in safe custody the remainder of his natural life."
+
+Certainly those remarks do not argue much for the reformation of the
+culprit.
+
+By his account, a parsimony in every point appears to be the great
+desideratum aimed at.  Speaking of the chaplain to the institution, he
+says:--
+
+"Small blame to him; I honour and respect the man, though I laugh at the
+preacher.  And I say, that seven hundred and thirty sermons _per annum_,
+for three hundred dollars and a weekly dinner, are quite pork enough for
+a shilling.  No man goeth a warfare on his own charges, and the labourer
+is worthy of his hire.  I do not see how he can justify such wear and
+tear of his pulmonary leather, for so small a sum, to his conscience.
+What is a sixpenny razor or a nine-shilling sermon?  Neither can be
+expected to cut--not but his sermons would be very good for the use of
+glorified saints--but, alas! there are none such in the House of
+Correction.  What is the inspiration of a penny-a-liner?  I will suppose
+that one of the hearers is a sailor, who would relish and appreciate a
+sausage or a lobscouse.  Mr -- sets _blanc mange_ before him.--Messrs.
+of the city government give your chaplain two thousand dollars a-year,
+so that he may reside in the house of correction, without leaving his
+family to starvation; let him visit each individual, learn his
+circumstances and character, and sympathise with him in all his sorrows,
+and, my word for it, Mr -- will have the love and confidence of all.
+He will be an instrument of great good by his counsel and exhortations.
+But as for his public preaching, this truly good, pious, and learned man
+might as well sing psalms to a mad horse.  Fishes will not throng to St
+Anthony, or swine listen to the exorcism of an apostle, in these godless
+days.  If you think he will be overpaid for his services, you may braze
+the duty of a schoolmaster, who is very much needed, to that of a
+ghostly adviser.
+
+"Mr -- never fails to pray strenuously that the master and officers may
+be supported and sustained, which has given rise to the following
+tin-pot epigram:--
+
+  "Support the master and the overseers,
+  O Lord! so runs our chaplain's weekly ditty;
+  Unreasonable prayers God never hears,
+  He knows that they're supported by the city."
+
+He complains bitterly of the convicts not being permitted the use of any
+books but the Bible and temperance Almanac.  It is rather strange, but
+he says that he supposes that a full half of the inmates of the house of
+correction can neither _read_ nor _write_.
+
+"Is it pleasant to look back on follies, vices, crimes; presently on
+blasted hopes, iron bars, and unrequited labour; and forward upon
+misery, starvation, and a world's scorn?  In some degree the malice of
+this regulation, which ought only to be inscribed on the statute-book of
+hell, is impotent.  The small glimpse of earth, sea, and sky a convict
+can command, a spider crawling upon the wall, the very corners of his
+cell, will serve, by a strong effort, for occupation for his thoughts.
+Read the following tea-pot-graven monologue, written by some
+mentally-suffering convict, and reflect upon it:--
+
+  "Stone walls and iron bars my frame confine,
+  But the full liberty of thought is mine,
+  Sad privilege! the mental glance to cast
+  O'er crimes, o'er follies, and misconduct past.
+  Oh wretched tenant of a guarded cell,
+  Thy very freedom makes thy mind a hell.
+  Come, blessed death; thy grinded dart to me,
+  Shall the bless'd signal of deliverance be;
+  With thy worst agonies were cheaply bought,
+  A last release, a final rest from thought."
+
+"If the pains of a prison be not enough for you, I will teach you a
+lesson in the art of torture which I learned from our chaplain, or one
+of his substitutes.--`Make your cells round and smooth; let there be no
+prominent point for the eye to rest upon, so that it must necessarily
+turn inward, and I will warrant that you will soon have the pleasure of
+seeing your victim frantic.'  Look well to the temperance trash you
+physic us with, and you will find, in the Almanac for 1837, a serious
+attempt to make Napoleon Bonaparte out a drunkard, and to prove that a
+rum-bottle lost him the battle of Waterloo.  The author must himself
+have been drunk when he wrote it.  Are you not ashamed to set such
+pitiful cant, I will not say such wilful falsehood and slander, before
+any rational creature?  Did you not know that an overcharged gun would
+knock the musketeer over by its recoil?  I do not tell you to give the
+convicts all and any books they may desire; but pray what harm would an
+arithmetic do, unless it taught them to refute the statistics of your
+lying almanac, which gravely advises farmers to feed their hogs with
+apples, to prevent folks from getting drunk on cider?  Why not tell them
+to feed their cattle with barley and wheat for the same reason?  What
+mind was ever corrupted by Murray's Grammar, or Washington Irving's
+Columbus?  When was ever falsehood the successful pioneer of truth!"
+
+His remarks upon visitors being permitted to see the convicts are good.
+
+"Among the annoyances, which others as well as myself felt most galling,
+was the frequent intrusion of visitors, who had no object but the
+gratification of a morbid curiosity.  Know all persons, that the most
+debased convict has human feelings, and does not like to be seen in a
+parti-coloured jacket.  If you want to see any convict for any good
+reason, ask the master to let you meet him in his office; and even
+there, you may rely upon it, your visit will be painful enough; to be
+stared at by the ignorant and the mean with feelings of pity, as if one
+were some monster of Ind, was intolerable.  I hope a certain connexion
+of mine, who came to see me unasked and unwelcome, and brought a
+stranger with him to witness my disgrace, may never feel the pain he
+inflicted on me.  To a kind-hearted `Mac,' who came in a proper and
+delicate way to comfort when I thought all the world had forsaken me, I
+tender my most grateful thanks.  His kindness shall be remembered by me
+while memory holds her seat.  Let the throng of uninvited fools who
+swarmed about us, accept the following sally of the house of correction
+muse, from the pen, or rather the fork, of a fellow convict.  It may
+operate to edification.
+
+  "To Our Visitors.
+
+  "By gazing at us, sirs, pray what do you mean?
+  Are we the first rascals that ever were seen?
+  Look into your mirrors--perhaps you may find
+  All villains are not in South Boston confined.
+
+  "I'm not a wild beast, to be seen for a penny;
+  But a man, as well made and as proper as any;
+  And what we most differ in is, well I wot,
+  That I have my merits, and you have them not.
+
+  "I own I'm a drunkard, but much I incline
+  To think that your elbow crooks as often as mine;
+  Ay, breathe in my face, sir, as much as you will--
+  One blast of your breath is as good as a gill.
+
+  "How kind was our country to find us a home
+  Where duns cannot plague us, or enemies come!
+  And you from the cup of her kindness may drain
+  A _drop_ so sufficing, you'll not drink again.
+
+  "And now that by staring with mouth and eyes open,
+  We have bruised the reeds that already were broken;
+  Go home and, by dint of strict mental inspection,
+  Let each make his own house a house of correction.
+
+"This _morceau_ was signed `Indignans.'"
+
+The following muster-roll of crime, as he terms it, which he obtained
+from the master of the prison, is curious, as it exemplifies the excess
+of intemperance in the United States--bearing in mind that this is the
+_moral_ state of Massachusetts.
+
+"The whole number of males committed to the house of correction from the
+time it was opened--July 1st, 1833, to September 1st, 1837,--was 1477.
+Of this number there were common drunkards 783, or more than one-half.
+
+"The whole amount of females committed to this institution from the time
+it was opened to Sept 1837, was 869.  Of this number there were common
+drunkards 430, very nearly one-half.
+
+"And of the whole number committed there were--"
+
++========================+====+===============+====+
+YNatives of MassachusettsY 720YEngland        Y 104Y
++------------------------+----+---------------+----+
+YNew Hampshire           Y 175YScotland       Y  38Y
++------------------------+----+---------------+----+
+YMaine                   Y 130YIreland        Y 839Y
++------------------------+----+---------------+----+
+YVermont                 Y  17YProvinces      Y  69Y
++------------------------+----+---------------+----+
+YRhode Island            Y  35YFrance         Y  10Y
++------------------------+----+---------------+----+
+YConnecticut             Y  28YSpain          Y   2Y
++------------------------+----+---------------+----+
+YNew York                Y  50YGermany        Y   2Y
++------------------------+----+---------------+----+
+YNew Jersey              Y   3YHolland        Y   2Y
++------------------------+----+---------------+----+
+YPennsylvania            Y  28YPoland         Y   2Y
++------------------------+----+---------------+----+
+YDelaware                Y   6YDenmark        Y   2Y
++------------------------+----+---------------+----+
+YMaryland                Y  10YPrussia        Y   1Y
++------------------------+----+---------------+----+
+YVirginia                Y  20YSweden         Y   8Y
++------------------------+----+---------------+----+
+YNorth Carolina          Y  10YWest Indies    Y  12Y
++------------------------+----+---------------+----+
+YSouth Carolina          Y   1YCape de Verde  Y   1Y
++------------------------+----+---------------+----+
+YGeorgia                 Y   5YIsland of MaltaY   1Y
++------------------------+----+---------------+----+
+YDistrict of Columbia    Y   3YAt Sea         Y   7Y
++------------------------+----+---------------+----+
+Y                        Y    YForeigners     Y1100Y
++------------------------+----+---------------+----+
+YUnited States           Y1241YUnknown        Y   5Y
++------------------------+----+---------------+----+
+YMORAL States            Y1905Y               Y    Y
++------------------------+----+---------------+----+
+YOther States            Y 236YTotal          Y2346Y
++========================+====+===============+====+
+
+He sums up as follows:--
+
+"I have nearly finished, but I should not do justice to my subject did I
+omit to advert to the beggarly catch-penny system on which the whole
+concern is conducted.  The convicts raise pork and vegetables in plenty,
+but they must not eat thereof; these things must be sent to market to
+balance the debit side of the prison ledger.  The prisoners must catch
+cold and suffer in the hospital, and the wool and stone shops, because
+it would cost something to erect comfortable buildings.  They must not
+learn to read and write, lest a cent's worth of their precious time
+should be lost to the city.  They may die and go to hell, and be damned,
+for a resident physician and chaplain are expensive articles.  They may
+be dirty; baths would cost money, and so would books.  I believe the
+very Bibles and almanacks are the donation of the Bible and Temperance
+societies.  Every thing is managed with an eye to money-making--the
+comfort or reformation, or salvation, of the prisoners are minor
+considerations.  Whose fault is this?
+
+"The fault, most frugal public, is your own.  You like justice, but you
+do not like to pay for it.  You like to see a clean, orderly, well
+conducted prison, and, as far as your parsimony will permit, such is the
+house of correction.  With all its faults, it is still a valuable
+institution.  It holds all, it harms few, and reforms some.  It looks
+well, for the most has been made of matters.  If you would have it
+perfect you must untie your purse-strings, and you will lose nothing by
+it in the end."
+
+
+
+VOLUME THREE, CHAPTER FORTY.
+
+REMARKS--ARMY.
+
+Isolated as the officers are from the world, (for these forts are far
+removed from towns or cities,) they contrived to form a society within
+themselves, having most of them recourse to matrimony, which always
+gives a man something to do, and acts as a fillip upon his faculties,
+which might stagnate from such quiet monotony.  The society, therefore,
+at these outposts is small, but very pleasant.  All the officers being
+now educated at West Point, they are mostly very intelligent and well
+informed, and soldiers' wives are always agreeable women all over the
+world.  The barracks turned out also a very fair show of children upon
+the green sward.  The accommodations are, generally speaking, very good,
+and when supplies can be received, the living is equally so; when they
+cannot, it can't be helped, and there is so much money saved.  A
+suttler's store is attached to each outpost, and the prices of the
+articles are regulated by a committee of officers, and a tax is also
+levied upon the suttler in proportion to the number of men in the
+garrison, the proceeds of which are appropriated to the education of the
+children of the soldiers and the provision of a library and news-room.
+If the government were to permit officers to remain at any one station
+for a certain period, much more would be done; but the government is
+continually shifting them from post to post, and no one will take the
+trouble to sow when he has no chance of reaping the harvest.  Indeed,
+many of the officers complained that they hardly had time to furnish
+their apartments in one fort when they were ordered off to another--not
+only a great inconvenience to them, but a great expense also.
+
+The American army is not a favourite service, and this is not to be
+wondered at.  It is ill-treated in every way; the people have a great
+dislike to them, which is natural enough in a Democracy; but what is
+worse, to curry favour with the people, the government very often do not
+support the officers in the execution of their duty.  Their furloughs
+are very limited, and they have their choice of the outposts, where they
+live out of the world, or the Florida war, when they go out of it.  But
+the greatest injustice is, that they have no half-pay: if not wishing to
+be employed they must resign their commissions and live as they can.  In
+this point there is a great partiality shown to the navy, who have such
+excellent half-pay, although to prevent remarks at such glaring
+injustice to the other service, another term is given to the naval
+half-pay, and the naval officers are supposed to be always on service.
+
+The officers of the army are paid a certain sum, and allowed a certain
+number of rations per month; for instance, a major-general has two
+hundred dollars per month, and fifteen rations: According to the
+estimated value of the rations, as given to me by one of the officers,
+the annual pay of the different grades will be, in our money, nearly as
+follows:--
+
+Army.
+
++==================+======+=========+======+
+YArmy              YpoundsYNavy     YpoundsY
++------------------+------+---------+------+
+YMajor-General     Y   850Y         Y      Y
++------------------+------+---------+------+
+YBrigadier-General Y   570YSame rankY   960Y
++------------------+------+---------+------+
+YColonel           Y   340YDo.      Y   830Y
++------------------+------+---------+------+
+YLieutenant-ColonelY   280Y         Y      Y
++------------------+------+---------+------+
+YMajor             Y   225YDo.      Y   525Y
++------------------+------+---------+------+
+YCaptain           Y   200YDo.      Y   380Y
++------------------+------+---------+------+
+YFirst Lieutenant  Y   150Y         Y      Y
++------------------+------+---------+------+
+YSecond Lieutenant Y   140Y         Y      Y
++------------------+------+---------+------+
+YCadet             Y    90YDo.      Y   156Y
++==================+======+=========+======+
+
+The cavalry officers have a slight increase of pay.
+
+The privates of the American regular army are not the most creditable
+soldiers in the world; they are chiefly composed of Irish emigrants,
+Germans, and deserters from the English regiments in Canada.  Americans
+are very rare; only those who can find nothing else to do, and have to
+choose between enlistment and starvation, will enter into the American
+army.  They do not, however, enlist for longer than three years.  There
+is not much discipline, and occasionally a great deal of insolence, as
+might be expected from such a collection.  Corporal punishment has been
+abolished in the American army except for desertion; and if ever there
+was a proof of the necessity of punishment to enforce discipline, it is
+the many substitutes in lieu of it, to which the officers are compelled
+to resort--all of them more severe than flogging.  The most common is
+that of loading a man with thirty-six pounds of shot in his knapsack,
+and making him walk three hours out of four, day and night without
+intermission, with this weight on his shoulders, for six days and six
+nights; that is, he is compelled to walk three hours with the weight,
+and then is suffered to sit down _one_.  Towards the close this
+punishment becomes very severe; the feet of the men are so sore and
+swelled, that they cannot move for some days afterwards.  I inquired
+what would be the consequence if a man were to throw down his knapsack
+and refuse to walk.  The commanding-officer of one of the forts replied,
+that he would be hung up by the thumbs till he fainted--a variety of
+piquetting.  Surely these punishments savour quite as much of severity,
+and are quite as degrading as flogging.
+
+The pay of an American private is good--fourteen dollars a month, out of
+which his rations and regimentals take eight dollars, leaving him six
+dollars a month for pleasure.  Deserters are punished by being made to
+drag a heavy ball and chain after them, which is never removed day or
+night.  If discharged, they are flogged, their heads shaved, and they
+are drummed out at the point of the bayonet.
+
+From the conversations I have had with many deserters from our army, who
+were residing in the United States or were in the American service, I am
+convinced that it would be a very well-judged measure to offer a free
+pardon to all those who would return to Canada and re-enter the English
+service.  I think that a good effective regiment would soon be
+collected, and one that you might trust on the frontiers without any
+fear of their deserting again; and it would have another good effect,
+that is, that their statements would prevent the desertion of others.
+
+America, and its supposed freedom, is, to the British soldiers, an
+Utopia in every sense of the word.  They revel in the idea; they seek it
+and it is not to be found.  The greatest desertion from the English
+regiments is among the musicians composing the bands.  There are so many
+theatres in America, and so few musicians, except coloured people, that
+instrumental performers of all kinds are in great demand.  People are
+sent over to Canada, and the other British provinces to persuade these
+poor fellows to desert, promising them very large salaries, and pointing
+out to them the difference between being a gentleman in America and a
+slave in the English service.  The temptation is too strong; they
+desert; and when they strive, they soon learn the value of the promises
+made to them, and find how cruelly they have been deceived.
+
+The Florida war has been a source of dreadful vexation and expense to
+the United States, having already cost them between 20,000,000 and
+30,000,000 of dollars, without any apparent prospect of its coming to a
+satisfactory conclusion.  The American government has also very much
+injured its character, by the treachery and disregard of honour shown by
+it to the Indians, who have been, most of them, captured under a flag of
+truce.  I have heard so much indignation expressed by the Americans
+themselves at this conduct that I shall not comment farther upon it.  It
+is the Federal government, and not the officers employed, who must bear
+the _onus_.  But this war has been mortifying, and even dangerous to the
+Americans in another point.  It has now lasted three years and more.
+General after general has been superseded, because they have not been
+able to bring it to a conclusion; and the Indians have proved, to
+themselves and to the Americans, that they can defy them when they once
+get them among the swamps and morasses.  There has not been one hundred
+Indians killed, although many of them have been treacherously kidnapped,
+by a violation of honour; and it is supposed that the United States have
+already lost one thousand men, if not more, in this protracted conflict.
+
+The aggregate force under General Jessup, in Florida, in November, 1837,
+was stated to be as follows:--
+
++==========+=====+
+YRegulars  Y4,637Y
++----------+-----+
+YVolunteersY4,078Y
++----------+-----+
+YSeamen    Y  100Y
++----------+-----+
+YIndians   Y  178Y
++----------+-----+
+Y          Y8,893Y
++==========+=====+
+
+It is supposed that the number of Indians remaining in Florida do not
+amount, men, women, and children, to more than 1,500 and General Jessup
+has declared to the government that the war is _impracticable_.
+
+Militia.--The return of the militia of the United States, for the year
+1837, is as follows:--
+
+The number of _Militia_ in the several states and territories, according
+to the statement of George Bomford, Colonel of Ordnance, dated 20th
+November, 1837.
+
++======================+==============+=================+
+YStates and TerritoriesYDate of ReturnYNumber of MilitiaY
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YMaine                 Y          1836Y           42,468Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YNew Hampshire         Y          1836Y           27,473Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YMassachusetts         Y          1836Y           44,911Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YLouisiana             Y          1830Y           14,808Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YMississippi           Y          1830Y           13,724Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YTennessee             Y          1830Y           60,982Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YVermont               Y          1824Y           25,581Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YRhode Island          Y          1832Y            1,377Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YConnecticut           Y          1836Y           23,826Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YNew York              Y          1836Y          184,728Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YNew Jersey            Y          1829Y           39,171Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YPennsylvania          Y          1834Y          202,281Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YDelaware              Y          1827Y            9,229Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YMaryland              Y          1836Y           46,854Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YVirginia              Y          1836Y          101,838Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YNorth Carolina        Y          1835Y           64,415Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YSouth Carolina        Y          1833Y           51,112Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YGeorgia               Y          1834Y           48,461Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YAlabama               Y          1829Y           14,892Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YKentucky              Y          1836Y           71,483Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YOhio                  Y          1836Y          146,428Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YIndiana               Y          1833Y           53,913Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YIllinois              Y          1831Y           27,386Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YMissouri              Y          1835Y            6,170Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YArkansas              Y          1825Y            2,028Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YMichigan              Y          1831Y            5,478Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YFlorida Territory     Y          1831Y              827Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YWisconsin Territory   Y            --Y               --Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+YDistrict of Columbia  Y          1832Y            1,249Y
++----------------------+--------------+-----------------+
+Y                      Y              Y        1,333,091Y
++======================+==============+=================+
+
+This is an enormous force, but at the commencement of a war not a very
+effective one.  In fact, there is no country in the world so defenceless
+as the United States, but, once roused up, no country more formidable if
+any (attempt) is made to invade its territories.  At the outbreak of a
+war, the states have almost everything to provide; and although the
+Americans are well adapted as materials for soldiers, still they have to
+be levied and disciplined.  At the commencement of hostilities, it is
+not improbable that a well-organised force of 30,000 men might walk
+through the whole of the Union, from Maine to Georgia; but it is almost
+certain that not one man would ever get back again, as by that time the
+people would have been roused and excited, armed and sufficiently
+disciplined; and their numbers, independent of their bravery, would
+overwhelm three or four times the number I have mentioned.
+
+Another point must not pass unnoticed, which is, that in America, the
+major part of which is still an uncleared country, the system of warfare
+naturally partakes much of the Indian practices of surprise and
+ambuscade; and the invaders will always have to labour under the great
+disadvantage of the Americans having that perfect knowledge of the
+country which the former have not.
+
+Most of the defeats of the British troops have been occasioned by this
+advantage on the part of the Americans, added to the impracticability of
+the country rendering the superior discipline of the British of no
+avail.  Indeed the great advantages of knowing the country were proved
+by the American attempts to invade Canada during the last war, and which
+ended in the capitulation of General Hull.  In an uncleared country,
+even where large forces meet, each man, to a certain degree, acts
+independently, taking his position, perhaps, behind a tree (treeing it,
+as they term it in America), or any other defence which may offer.  Now,
+it is evident that, skilled as all the Americans are in fire-arms, and
+generally using rifles, a disciplined English soldier, with his clumsy
+musket, fights at a disadvantage; and, therefore, with due submission to
+his Grace, the Duke of Wellington was very wrong when he stated, the
+other day in the House of Lords, that the militia of Canada should be
+disbanded, and their place supplied by regular troops from England.  The
+militia of Upper Canada are quite as good men as the Americans, and can
+meet them after their own fashion.  A certain proportion of regulars are
+advantageous, as they are more steady, and in case of a check can be
+more depended upon; but it is not once in five times that they will,
+either in America or Canada, be able to bring their concentrated
+discipline into play.  But if the Americans have not the discipline of
+our troops, their courage is undoubted, and even upon a clear plain the
+palm of victory will always be severely disputed.  A Vermonter,
+surprised for a moment at finding himself in a charge of bayonets, with
+the English troops, eyed his opponents, and said, "Well I calculate my
+piece of iron is as good as _yourn_, anyhow," and then rushed to the
+attack.  People who "calculate" in that way are not to be trifled with,
+as the annals of history fully demonstrate.
+
+A war between America and England is always to be deprecated.
+Notwithstanding that the countries are severed, still the Americans are
+our descendants; they speak the same language, and (although they do not
+readily admit it) still look up to us as their mother country.  It is
+true that this feeling is fast wearing away, but still it is not yet
+effaced.  It is true also that, in their ambition and their
+covetousness, they would destroy the mutual advantages derived by both
+countries from our commercial relations, that they might, by
+manufacturing as well as producing, secure the whole profits to
+themselves.  But they are wrong; for great as America is becoming, the
+time is not yet arrived when she can compete with English capital, or
+work for herself without it.  But there is another reason why a war
+between the two countries is so much to be deprecated, which is, that is
+must ever be a cruel and an irritating war.  To attack the Americans by
+invasion will always be hazardous, and must ultimately prove disastrous.
+In what manner, then, is England to avenge any aggression that may be
+committed by the Americans?  All she can do is to ravage, burn, and
+destroy; to carry the horrors of war along their whole extended line of
+coast, distressing the non-combatants, and wreaking vengeance upon the
+defenceless.
+
+Dreadful to contemplate as this is, and, even more dreadful the system
+of stimulating the Indian tribes to join us, adding scalping, and the
+murdering of women and children, to other horrors, still it is the only
+method to which England could resort, and, indeed, a method to which she
+would be warranted to resort, in her own behoof.  Moreover, in case of a
+future war, England must not allow it to be of such short duration as
+was the last; the Americans must be made to feel it, by its being
+protracted until their commerce is totally annihilated, and their
+expenses are increased in proportion with the decrease of their means.
+
+Let it not be supposed that England would harass the coasts of America,
+or raise the Indian tribes against her, from any feeling of malevolence,
+or any pleasure in the sufferings which must ensue.  It would be from
+the knowledge of the fact that money is the sinews of war; and
+consequently that, by obliging the Americans to call out so large a
+force as she must do to defend her coast and to repel the Indians, she
+would be put to such an enormous expense, as would be severely felt
+throughout the Union, and soon incline all parties to a cessation of
+hostilities.  It is to touch their pockets that this plan must and
+_will_ be resorted to; and a war carried on upon that plan alone, would
+prove a salutary lesson to a young and too ambitious a people.  Let the
+Americans recollect the madness of joy with which the hats and caps were
+thrown up in the air at New York, when, even after so short a war with
+England, they heard that the treaty of peace had been concluded; and
+that too at a time when England was so occupied in a contest, it may be
+said, with the whole world, that she could hardly divert a portion of
+her strength to act against America: then let them reflect how
+sanguinary, how injurious, a protracted war with England would be, when
+she could direct her whole force against them.  It is, however, useless
+to ask a people to reflect who are governed and ruled by the portion who
+will _not_ reflect.  The forbearance must be on our part; and, for the
+sake of humanity, it is to be hoped that we shall be magnanimous enough
+to forbear, for so long as may be consistent with the maintenance of our
+national honour.
+
+
+
+VOLUME THREE, CHAPTER FORTY ONE.
+
+REMARKS--AMERICAN MARINE.
+
+It may be inferred that I naturally directed my attention to everything
+connected with the American marine, and circumstances eventually induced
+me to search much more minutely into particulars than at first I had
+intended to do.
+
+The present force of the American navy is rated as follows:--
+
+_Ships of the Line_
+
++===========+==+
+Yof 120 gunsY 1Y
++-----------+--+
+Y    80 gunsY 7Y
++-----------+--+
+Y    74 gunsY 3Y
++-----------+--+
+YTotal      Y11Y
++===========+==+
+
+_Frigates, 1st Class_.
+
++==========+==+
+YOf 54 gunsY 1Y
++----------+--+
+Y44 guns   Y14Y
++----------+--+
+YTotal     Y15Y
++==========+==+
+
+_Frigates, 2nd Class_
+
++==========+=+
+YOf 30 gunsY2Y
++==========+=+
+
+_Sloops_
+
++==========+==+
+YOf 20 gunsY12Y
++----------+--+
+Y18 guns   Y 3Y
++----------+--+
+YTotal     Y15Y
++==========+==+
+
+_Schooners_
+
++===========+==+
+YOf 10 guns Y 6Y
++-----------+--+
+YOthers     Y 7Y
++-----------+--+
+YTotal      Y13Y
++-----------+--+
+YGrand TotalY56Y
++===========+==+
+
+NAVY LIST.
+
+_Vessels of War of the United States Navy, September 1837_.
+
+_Ships of the Line_
+
++==============+====+===============+====+============================+
+YName          YRateYWhere built    YWhenYWhere employed              Y
++--------------+----+---------------+----+----------------------------+
+YFranklin      Y  74YPhiladelphia   Y1815YIn ordinary at New York     Y
++--------------+----+---------------+----+----------------------------+
+YWashington    Y  74YPortsmouth, NH.Y1816YDo. do.                     Y
++--------------+----+---------------+----+----------------------------+
+YColumbus      Y  74YWashington     Y1819YAt Boston (repaired)        Y
++--------------+----+---------------+----+----------------------------+
+YOhio          Y  80YNew York       Y1820YDo. do.                     Y
++--------------+----+---------------+----+----------------------------+
+YNorth CarolinaY  80YPhiladelphia   Y1820YIn commission (Pacific)     Y
++--------------+----+---------------+----+----------------------------+
+YDelaware      Y  80YGosport        Y1820YAt Norfolk (repaired)       Y
++--------------+----+---------------+----+----------------------------+
+YAlabama       Y  80Y               Y    YOn stocks at Portsmouth, NH.Y
++--------------+----+---------------+----+----------------------------+
+YVermont       Y  80Y               Y    YDo. at Boston               Y
++--------------+----+---------------+----+----------------------------+
+YVirginia      Y  80Y               Y    YDo. do.                     Y
++--------------+----+---------------+----+----------------------------+
+YNew York      Y  80Y               Y    YOn stocks, at Norfolk       Y
++--------------+----+---------------+----+----------------------------+
+YPennsylvania  Y 120YPhiladelphia   Y1837YAt Philadelphia             Y
++==============+====+===============+====+============================+
+
+_Frigates, 1st Class_
+
++=============+====+============+====+=============================+
+YName         YRateYWhere built YWhenYWhere employed               Y
++-------------+----+------------+----+-----------------------------+
+YIndependence Y  54YBoston      Y1814YOn the coast of Brazil       Y
++-------------+----+------------+----+-----------------------------+
+YUnited StatesY  44YPhiladelphiaY1797YIn commission (Mediterranean)Y
++-------------+----+------------+----+-----------------------------+
+YConstitution Y  44YBoston      Y1787YDo. do.                      Y
++-------------+----+------------+----+-----------------------------+
+YGuerriere    Y  44YPhiladelphiaY1814YIn ordinary at Norfolk       Y
++-------------+----+------------+----+-----------------------------+
+YJava         Y  44YBaltimore   Y1814YReceiving ship, do.          Y
++-------------+----+------------+----+-----------------------------+
+YPotomac      Y  44YWashington  Y1821YIn ordinary at do.           Y
++-------------+----+------------+----+-----------------------------+
+YBrandy Wine  Y  44YWashington  Y1825YDo. do.                      Y
++-------------+----+------------+----+-----------------------------+
+YHudson       Y  44YPurchased   Y1826YReceiving vessel at New York Y
++-------------+----+------------+----+-----------------------------+
+YColumbia     Y  44YWashington  Y1836YIn ordinary at Norfolk       Y
++-------------+----+------------+----+-----------------------------+
+YSantee       Y  44Y            Y    YOn stocks, at Portsmouth, NH.Y
++-------------+----+------------+----+-----------------------------+
+YCumberland   Y  44Y            Y    YDo. at Boston                Y
++-------------+----+------------+----+-----------------------------+
+YSabine       Y  44Y            Y    YDo. at New York              Y
++-------------+----+------------+----+-----------------------------+
+YSavannah     Y  44Y            Y    YDo. do.                      Y
++-------------+----+------------+----+-----------------------------+
+YRaritan      Y  44Y            Y    YDo. at Philadelphia          Y
++-------------+----+------------+----+-----------------------------+
+YSt Lawrence Y  44Y            Y    YDo. at Norfolk               Y
++=============+====+============+====+=============================+
+
+_Frigates, 2nd Class_
+
++=============+====+=================+====+===========================+
+YName         YRateYWhere built      YWhenYWhere employed             Y
++-------------+----+-----------------+----+---------------------------+
+YConstellationY  36YBaltimore        Y1797YIn commission (West Indies)Y
++-------------+----+-----------------+----+---------------------------+
+YMacedonian   Y  36YNorfolk (rebuilt)Y1836YReady for sea at Norfolk   Y
++=============+====+=================+====+===========================+
+
+_Sloops of War_
+
++==========+====+===================+====+===========================+
+YName      YRateYWhere built        YWhenYWhere employed             Y
++----------+----+-------------------+----+---------------------------+
+YJohn AdamsY  20YNorfolk (rebuilt)  Y1820YReady for sea at New York  Y
++----------+----+-------------------+----+---------------------------+
+YCyane     Y  20YBoston (rebuilding)Y    Y                           Y
++----------+----+-------------------+----+---------------------------+
+YBoston    Y  20YBoston             Y1825YAt sea                     Y
++----------+----+-------------------+----+---------------------------+
+YLexington Y  20YNew York           Y1825YAt sea                     Y
++----------+----+-------------------+----+---------------------------+
+YVincennes Y  20YNew York           Y1826YIn ordinary at Norfolk     Y
++----------+----+-------------------+----+---------------------------+
+YWarren    Y  20YBoston             Y1826YDo. do.                    Y
++----------+----+-------------------+----+---------------------------+
+YNatches   Y  20YNorfolk            Y1827YIn commission (West Indies)Y
++----------+----+-------------------+----+---------------------------+
+YFalmouth  Y  20YBoston             Y1827YAt sea                     Y
++----------+----+-------------------+----+---------------------------+
+YFairfield Y  20YNew York           Y1828YOn the coast of Brazil     Y
++----------+----+-------------------+----+---------------------------+
+YVandalia  Y  20YPhiladelphia       Y1828YIn commission (West Indies)Y
++----------+----+-------------------+----+---------------------------+
+YSt Louis Y  20YWashington         Y1828YDo. do.                    Y
++----------+----+-------------------+----+---------------------------+
+YConcord   Y  20YPortsmouth         Y1828YIn commission (West Indies)Y
++----------+----+-------------------+----+---------------------------+
+YErie      Y  18YNew York (rebuilt) Y1820YAt Boston                  Y
++----------+----+-------------------+----+---------------------------+
+YOntario   Y  18YBaltimore          Y1813YAt sea                     Y
++----------+----+-------------------+----+---------------------------+
+YPeacock   Y  18YNew York           Y1813YIn ordinary at Norfolk     Y
++==========+====+===================+====+===========================+
+
+_Schooners_
+
++==================+==+============+====+================================+
+YDolphin           Y10YPhiladelphiaY1821YOn the Coast of Brazil          Y
++------------------+--+------------+----+--------------------------------+
+YGrampus           Y10YWashington  Y1821YIn commission (West Indies)     Y
++------------------+--+------------+----+--------------------------------+
+YShark             Y10YWashington  Y1821YIn the Mediterranean            Y
++------------------+--+------------+----+--------------------------------+
+YEnterprise        Y10YNew York    Y1831YIn commission (East Indies)     Y
++------------------+--+------------+----+--------------------------------+
+YBoxer             Y10YBoston      Y1731YIn the Pacific                  Y
++------------------+--+------------+----+--------------------------------+
+YPorpoise          Y10YBoston      Y1836YAtlantic coast                  Y
++------------------+--+------------+----+--------------------------------+
+YExperiment        Y 4YWashington  Y1831YEmployed near New York          Y
++------------------+--+------------+----+--------------------------------+
+YFox (hulk)        Y 3YPurchased   Y1823YAt Baltimore (condemned)        Y
++------------------+--+------------+----+--------------------------------+
+YSea Gull (galliot)Y  YPurchased   Y1823YReceiving vessel at PhiladelphiaY
++==================+==+============+====+================================+
+
+_Exploring Vessels_
+
++===============+=+============+====+===============================+
+YRelief         Y YPhiladelphiaY1836Y                               Y
++---------------+-+------------+----+-------------------------------+
+YBarque Pioneer Y YBoston      Y1836YNew York (nearly ready for sea)Y
++---------------+-+------------+----+-------------------------------+
+YBarque Consort Y YBoston      Y1836Y                               Y
++---------------+-+------------+----+-------------------------------+
+YSchooner ActiveY YPurchased   Y1837Y                               Y
++===============+=+============+====+===============================+
+
+The ratings of these vessels will, however, very much mislead people as
+to the real strength of the armament.  The 74's and 80's are in weight
+of broadside equal to most three-decked ships; the first-class frigates
+are double-banked of the scantling, and carrying the complement of men
+of our 74's.  The sloops are equally powerful in proportion to their
+ratings, most of them carrying long guns.  Although flush vessels, they
+are little inferior to a 36-gun frigate in scantling, and are much too
+powerful far any that we have in our service, under the same
+denomination of rating.  All the line-of-battle ships are named after
+the several states, the frigates after the principal rivers, and the
+sloops of war after the towns, or _cities_, and the names are decided by
+lot.
+
+It is impossible not to be struck with the beautiful architecture in
+most of these vessels.  The Pennsylvania, rated 120 guns, on four decks,
+carrying 140, is not by any means so perfect as some of the
+line-of-battle ships.
+
+Note.  The following are the dimensions given me of the ship of the line
+Pennsylvania:--
+
++================================================+====+======+
+Y                                                YfeetYinchesY
++------------------------------------------------+----+------+
+YIn extreme length over all                      Y 237Y      Y
++------------------------------------------------+----+------+
+YBetween the perpendiculars on the lower gun-deckY 220Y      Y
++------------------------------------------------+----+------+
+YLength of keel for tonnage                      Y 190Y      Y
++------------------------------------------------+----+------+
+YMoulded breadth of beam                         Y  56Y     9Y
++------------------------------------------------+----+------+
+Ydo. do. from tonnage                            Y  57Y     6Y
++------------------------------------------------+----+------+
+YExtreme breadth of beam outside the wales       Y  59Y      Y
++------------------------------------------------+----+------+
+YDepth of lower hold                             Y  23Y      Y
++------------------------------------------------+----+------+
+YExtreme depth amidships                         Y  51Y      Y
++================================================+====+======+
+
+Burthen 3366 tons, and has ports for 140 guns, all long thirty-two
+pounders, throwing 2240 pounds of ball at each broadside, or 4480 pounds
+from the whole.
+
+The Ohio is, as far as I am a judge, the perfection of a ship of the
+line.  But in every class you cannot but admire the superiority of the
+models and workmanship.  The dock-yards in America are small, and not
+equal at present to what may eventually be required, but they have land
+to add to them if necessary.  There certainly is no necessity for such
+establishments or such store-houses as we have, as their timber and hemp
+are at hand when required; but they ate very deficient both in dry and
+wet docks.  Properly speaking, they have no great naval depot.  This
+arises from the jealous feeling existing between the several states.  A
+bill brought into Congress to expend so many thousand dollars upon the
+dock-yard at Boston, in Massachusetts, would be immediately opposed by
+the state of New York, and an amendment proposed to transfer the works
+intended to their dock-yard at Brooklyn.  The other states which possess
+dock-yards would also assert their right, and thus they will all fight
+for their respective establishments until the bill is lost, and the bone
+of contention falls to the ground.
+
++=======================================+====+
+YHer mainmast from the step to the truckY 278Y
++---------------------------------------+----+
+YMain yard                              Y 110Y
++---------------------------------------+----+
+YMain-topsail yard                      Y  82Y
++---------------------------------------+----+
+YMain-top-gallant yard                  Y  52Y
++---------------------------------------+----+
+YMain-royal yard                        Y  36Y
++---------------------------------------+----+
+YSize of lower shrouds                  Y0 11Y
++---------------------------------------+----+
+YDo. of mainstay                        Y0 19Y
++---------------------------------------+----+
+YDo. of sheet-cable                     Y0 25Y
++=======================================+====+
+
+The sheet-anchor, made at Washington, weighs 11,660 pounds
+
+Main-topsail contains 1,531 yards.
+
+The number of yards of canvass for one suit of sails is 18,341, and for
+bags, hammocks, boat-sails, awnings, etcetera, 14,624; total 32,965
+yards.
+
+The Americans considered that in the Pennsylvania they possessed the
+largest vessel in the world, but this is a great mistake; one of the
+Sultan's three-deckers is larger.  Below are the dimensions of the
+Queen, lately launched at Portsmouth
+
++===================================+====+======+
+Y                                   YfeetYinchesY
++-----------------------------------+----+------+
+YLength on the gun-deck             Y 204Y     0Y
++-----------------------------------+----+------+
+YDo. of keel for tonnage            Y 166Y  5.25Y
++-----------------------------------+----+------+
+YBreadth extreme                    Y  60Y     0Y
++-----------------------------------+----+------+
+YDo. for tonnage                    Y  59Y     2Y
++-----------------------------------+----+------+
+YDepth in hold                      Y  23Y     8Y
++-----------------------------------+----+------+
+YBurden in tons (No. 3,099)         Y    Y      Y
++-----------------------------------+----+------+
+YExtreme length aloft               Y 247Y     6Y
++-----------------------------------+----+------+
+YExtreme height forward             Y  56Y     4Y
++-----------------------------------+----+------+
+YDo. midships                       Y  50Y     8Y
++-----------------------------------+----+------+
+YDo. abaft                          Y  62Y     6Y
++-----------------------------------+----+------+
+YLaunching draught of water, forwardY  14Y     1Y
++-----------------------------------+----+------+
+YDo. abaft                          Y  19Y     0Y
++-----------------------------------+----+------+
+YHeight from deck to deck, gun-deck Y   7Y     3Y
++-----------------------------------+----+------+
+YDo. middle-deck                    Y   7Y     0Y
++-----------------------------------+----+------+
+YDo. main-deck                      Y   7Y     0Y
++===================================+====+======+
+
+Note.  There are seven navy yards belonging to, and occupied for the use
+of the United States, viz.--The navy yard at Portsmouth, NH, is situated
+on an island, contains fifty-eight acres, cost 5,500 dollars.
+
+The navy yard at Charlestown, near Boston, is situated on the north side
+of Charles river, contains thirty-four acres, and cost 32,214 dollars.
+
+The navy yard at New York is situated on Long Island, opposite New York,
+contains forty acres, and cost 40,000 dollars.
+
+The navy yard at Philadelphia is situated on the Delaware river, in the
+district of Southwark, contains eleven acres to low water mark, and cost
+27,000 dollars.
+
+It is remarkable that along the whole of the eastern coast of America,
+from Halifax in Nova Scotia down to Pensacola in the Gulf of Mexico,
+there is not one good open harbour.  The majority of the American
+harbours are barred at the entrance, so as to preclude a fleet running
+out and in to manoeuvre at pleasure; indeed, if the tide does not serve,
+there are few of them in which a line-of-battle ship, hard pressed,
+could take refuge.  A good spacious harbour, easy of access, like that
+of Halifax in Nova Scotia, is one of the few advantages, perhaps the
+only natural advantage, wanting in the United States.
+
+The American navy list is as follows:--
+
++=========================+===+=================+===+
+YCaptains or Commodores   Y 50YPassed MidshipmenY181Y
++-------------------------+---+-----------------+---+
+YMasters Commandant       Y 50YMidshipmen       Y227Y
++-------------------------+---+-----------------+---+
+YLieutenants              Y279YSailing-Masters  Y 27Y
++-------------------------+---+-----------------+---+
+YSurgeons                 Y 50YSail-makers      Y 25Y
++-------------------------+---+-----------------+---+
+YPassed Assistant SurgeonsY 24YBoatswains       Y 22Y
++-------------------------+---+-----------------+---+
+YAssistant Surgeons       Y 33YGunners          Y 27Y
++-------------------------+---+-----------------+---+
+YPursers                  Y 45YCarpenters       Y 26Y
++-------------------------+---+-----------------+---+
+YChaplains                Y  9Y                 Y   Y
++=========================+===+=================+===+
+
+The pay of these officers is on the following scale.  It must be
+observed, that they do not use the term "half pay;" but when unemployed
+the officers are either attached to the various dockyards or on leave.
+I have reduced the sums paid into English money, that they may be better
+understood by the reader:
+
++======================================================+===+
+YSenior captain, on service                            Y960Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YOn leave i.e. half-pay                                Y730Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YCaptains, squadron service                            Y830Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YNavy Yard and other duty, half pay                    Y730Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YOff duty, ditto                                       Y525Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YCommanders on service                                 Y525Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YNavy-yard and other duty, half pay                    Y440Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YOn leave, ditto                                       Y380Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YLieutenants commanding                                Y380Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YNavy-yard and other duty, half pay                    Y315Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YWaiting orders, ditto                                 Y250Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YSurgeons, according to their length of servitude, fromY210Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YTo                                                    Y500Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YAnd half pay in proportion                            Y   Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YAssistant Surgeons, from                              Y200Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YTo                                                    Y250Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YChaplains; sea service                                Y250Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YOn leave, half pay                                    Y170Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YPassed midshipmen, duty                               Y156Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YWaiting orders, half pay                              Y125Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YMidshipmen; sea service                               Y 33Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YNavy-yard and other duty, half pay!                   Y 72Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YLeave, ditto!                                         Y 63Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YSailing-masters; ships of the line                    Y228Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YOther duty, half pay                                  Y200Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YLeave, ditto                                          Y156Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YBoatswains, carpenters, sailmakers, and gunners       Y   Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YShips of the line                                     Y156Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YFrigate                                               Y125Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YOther duty, half pay                                  Y105Y
++------------------------------------------------------+---+
+YOn leave, ditto                                       Y 75Y
++======================================================+===+
+
+The navy yard at Washington, in the district of Columbia, is situated on
+the eastern branch of the Potomac, contains thirty-seven acres, and cost
+4,000 dollars.  In this yard are made all the anchors, cables, blocks,
+and almost all things requisite for the use of the navy of the United
+States.
+
+The navy-yard at Portsmouth, near Norfolk in Virginia, is situated on
+the south branch of Elizabeth river contains sixteen acres, and cost
+13,000 dollars.
+
+There is also a navy-yard at Pensacola in Florida, which is merely used
+for repairing ships on the West India station.
+
+It will be perceived by the above list how very much better all classes
+in the American service are paid in comparison with those in our
+service.  But let it not be supposed that this liberality is a matter of
+choice on the part of the American government; on the contrary, it is
+one of necessity.  There never was, nor never will be, anything like
+liberality under a democratic form of government.  The navy is a
+favourite service, it is true, but the officers of the American navy
+have not one cent more than they are entitled to, or than they
+absolutely require.  In a country like America, where any one may by
+industry, in a few years, become an independent, if not a wealthy man,
+it would be impossible for the government to procure officers if they
+were not tolerably paid; no parents would permit their children to enter
+the service unless they were enabled by their allowances to keep up a
+respectable appearance; and in America everything, to the annuitant or
+person not making money, but living upon his income, is much dearer than
+with us.  The government, therefore, are obliged to pay them, or young
+men would not embark in the profession; for it is not in America as it
+is with us, where every department is filled up, and no room is left for
+those who would crowd in; so that in the eagerness to obtain respectable
+employment, emolument becomes a secondary consideration.  It may,
+however, be worth while to put in juxtaposition the half-pay paid to
+officers of corresponding ranks in the two navies of England and
+America:
+
++=====================================================+=======+=======+
+YOfficers                                             YAmericaYEnglandY
++-----------------------------------------------------+-------+-------+
+YHalf-pay post-captains, senior, on leave             Y       Y       Y
++-----------------------------------------------------+-------+-------+
+Ycorresponding to commodore or rear-admiral in EnglandY    730Y    456Y
++-----------------------------------------------------+-------+-------+
+YPost captains off duty - that is duty on shore       Y    730Y       Y
++-----------------------------------------------------+-------+-------+
+YOn leave                                             Y    525Y    191Y
++-----------------------------------------------------+-------+-------+
+Ycommanders off sea duty                              Y    440Y       Y
++-----------------------------------------------------+-------+-------+
+YIn yards and on leave                                Y    380Y    155Y
++-----------------------------------------------------+-------+-------+
+YLieutenants, shore duty                              Y    315Y       Y
++-----------------------------------------------------+-------+-------+
+YWaiting orders or on leave                           Y    250Y     90Y
++-----------------------------------------------------+-------+-------+
+YPassed midshipmen, full pay                          Y    156Y     25Y
++-----------------------------------------------------+-------+-------+
+YHalf-pay                                             Y    125Y      0Y
++-----------------------------------------------------+-------+-------+
+YMidshipmen, full pay                                 Y     83Y     25Y
++-----------------------------------------------------+-------+-------+
+YHalf-pay                                             Y     63Y      0Y
++=====================================================+=======+=======+
+
+My object in making the comparison between the two services is not to
+gratify an invidious feeling.  More expensive as living in America
+certainly is, still the disproportion is such as must create surprise;
+and if it requires such a sum for an American officer to support himself
+in a creditable and gentlemanlike manner, what can be expected from the
+English officer with his miserable pittance, which is totally inadequate
+to his rank and station!  Notwithstanding which, our officers do keep up
+their appearance as gentlemen, and those who have no half pay are
+obliged to support themselves.  And I point this out, that when Mr Hume
+and other gentlemen clamour against the expense of our naval force, they
+may not be ignorant of one fact, which is, that not only on half-pay,
+but when on active service, a moiety at least of the expenses
+necessarily incurred by our officers to support themselves according to
+their rank, to entertain, and to keep their ships in proper order, is,
+three times out of four, paid out of their own pockets, or those of
+their relatives; and that is always done without complaint, as long as
+they are not checked in their legitimate claims to promotion.
+
+In the course of this employment in the Mediterranean, one of our
+captains was at Palermo.  The American commodore was there at the time,
+and the latter gave most sumptuous balls and entertainments.  Being very
+intimate with each other, our English captain said to him one day, "I
+cannot imagine how you can afford to give such parties; I only know that
+I cannot; my year's pay would be all exhausted in a fortnight."  "My
+dear fellow," replied the American commodore, "do you suppose, that I am
+so foolish as to go to such an expense, or to spend my pay in this
+manner; I have nothing to do with them except to give them.  My purser
+provides everything, and keeps a regular account, which I sign as
+correct, and send home to government, which defrays the whole expenses,
+under the head of _conciliation_ money."  I do not mean to say that this
+is requisite in our service: but still it is not fair to refuse to
+provide us with paint and other articles, such as leather, etcetera,
+necessary to fit out our ships; thus, either compelling us to pay for
+them out of our own pockets, or allowing the vessels under our command
+to look like anything but men-of-war, and to be styled, very truly, a
+disgrace to the service.  Yet such is the well-known fact.  And I am
+informed that the reason why our admiralty will not permit these
+necessary stores to be supplied is that, as one of the lords of the
+admiralty was known to say, "if we _do not_ provide them, the captains
+_most assuredly will_, therefore let us save the government the
+expense."
+
+During my sojourn in the United States I became acquainted with a large
+portion of the senior officers of the American navy, and I found them
+gifted, gentleman-like, and liberal.  With them I could converse freely
+upon all points relative to the last war, and always found them ready to
+admit all that could be expected.  The American naval officers certainly
+form a strong contrast to the majority of their countrymen, and prove,
+by their enlightened and liberal ideas, how much the Americans, in
+general, would be improved if they enjoyed the same means of comparison
+with other countries which the naval officers, by their profession, have
+obtained.  Their partial successes during the late war were often the
+theme of discourse, which was conducted with candour and frankness on
+both sides.  No unpleasant feeling was ever excited by any argument with
+them on the subject, whilst the question, raised amongst their "free and
+enlightened" brother citizens, who knew nothing of the matter, was
+certain to bring down upon me such a torrent of bombast, falsehood, and
+ignorance, as required all my philosophy to submit to with apparent
+indifference.  But I must now take my leave of the American navy, and
+notice their merchant marine.
+
+Before I went to the United States I was aware that a large proportion
+of our seamen were in their employ.  I knew that the whole line of
+packets, which is very extensive, was manned by British seamen; but it
+was not until I arrived in the states that I discovered the real state
+of the case.
+
+During my occasional residence at New York, I was surprised to find
+myself so constantly called upon by English seamen, who had served under
+me in the different ships I had commanded since the peace.  Every day
+seven or eight would come, touch their hats, and remind me in what
+ships, and in what capacity, they had done their duty.  I had frequent
+conversations with them, and soon discovered that their own expression,
+"We are all here, sir," was strictly true.  To the why and the
+wherefore, the answer was invariably the same.  "Eighteen dollars
+a-month, sir."  Some of them, I recollect, told me that they were going
+down to New Orleans, because the sickly season was coming on; and that
+during the time the yellow fever raged they always had a great advance
+of wages, receiving sometimes as much as thirty dollars per month.  I
+did not attempt to dissuade them from their purpose; they were just as
+right to risk their lives from contagion at thirty dollars a-month, as
+to stand and be fired at a shilling a day.  The circumstance of so many
+of my own men being in American ships, and their assertion that there
+were no other sailors than English at New York, induced me to enter very
+minutely into my investigation, of which the following are the
+results:--
+
+The United States, correctly speaking, have no common seamen, or seamen
+bred up as apprentices before the mast.  Indeed a little reflection will
+show how unlikely it is that they ever should have; for who would submit
+to such a dog's life (as at the best it is), or what parent would
+consent that his children should wear out an existence of hardship and
+dependence at sea, when he could so easily render them independent on
+shore?  The same period of time requisite for a man to learn his duty ay
+an able seaman, and be qualified for the pittance of eighteen dollars
+per month, would be sufficient to establish a young man as an
+independent, or even wealthy, land-owner, factor, or merchant.  That
+there are classes in America who do go to sea is certain, and who and
+what these are I shall hereafter point out; but it may be positively
+asserted that, unless by escaping from their parents at an early age,
+and before their education is complete, they become, as it were, lost,
+there is in the United States of America hardly an instance of a white
+boy being sent to sea, to be brought up as a foremast man.
+
+It may be here observed that there is a wide difference in the
+appearance of an English seaman and a portion of those styling
+themselves American seamen, who are to be seen at Liverpool and other
+seaports; tall, weedy, narrow-shouldered, slovenly, yet still athletic
+men, with their knives worn in a sheath outside of their clothes, and
+not with a lanyard round them, as is the usual custom of English seamen.
+There is, I grant, a great difference in their appearance, and it
+arises from the circumstance of those men having been continually in the
+trade to New Orleans and the South, where they have picked up the
+buccaneer airs and customs which are still in existence there; but the
+fact is, that, though altered also by climate, the majority of them were
+Englishmen born, who served their first apprenticeship in the coasting
+trade, but left it at an early age for America.  They may be considered
+as a portion of the emigrants to America, having become in feeling, as
+well as in other respects, _bona fide_ Americans.
+
+The whole amount of tonnage of the American mercantile manner may be
+taken, in round numbers, at 2,000,000 tons, which may be subdivided as
+follows:
+
++===============+==========+
+Y               YRegisteredY
++---------------+----------+
+Y               YTons      Y
++---------------+----------+
+YForeign trade  Y   700,000Y
++---------------+----------+
+YWhale fishery  Y   130,000Y
++---------------+----------+
+YEnrolled       Y          Y
++---------------+----------+
+YCoasting trade Y   920,000Y
++---------------+----------+
+YSteam          Y   150,000Y
++---------------+----------+
+YCoast FisheriesY   100,000Y
++---------------+----------+
+YTotal          Y 2,000,000Y
++===============+==========+
+
+The American merchant vessels are generally sailed with fewer men than
+the British calculate five men to one hundred tons, which I believe to
+be about the just proportion.  Mr Carey, in his work, estimates the
+proportion of seamen in American vessels to be 44 to every one hundred
+tons, and I shall assume his calculation as correct.  The number of men
+employed in the American mercantile navy will be as follows:--
+
++===============+======+
+Y               YMen   Y
++---------------+------+
+YForeign trade  Y30,333Y
++---------------+------+
+YWhale fishery  Y 5,000Y
++---------------+------+
+YCoasting trade Y39,000Y
++---------------+------+
+YSteam          Y 6,500Y
++---------------+------+
+YCoast fisheriesY 4,333Y
++---------------+------+
+YTotal          Y85,790Y
++===============+======+
+
+And now I will submit, from the examinations I have made, the
+proportions of American and British seamen which are contained in this
+aggregate of 85,799 men.
+
+In the foreign trade we have to deduct the masters of the ships, the
+mates, and the boys who are apprenticed to learn their duty, and rise to
+mates and masters (not to serve before the mast).  These I estimate
+at:--
+
++==============================================+=====+
+YMasters                                       Y1,500Y
++----------------------------------------------+-----+
+YMates                                         Y3,000Y
++----------------------------------------------+-----+
+YApprentices                                   Y1,500Y
++----------------------------------------------+-----+
+YDitto, co'ld men, as cooks, stewards, etceteraY2,000Y
++----------------------------------------------+-----+
+YTotal                                         Y8,000Y
++==============================================+=====+
+
+which, deducted from 30,333, will leave 22,333 seamen in the foreign
+trade; who, with a slight intermixture of Swedes, Danes, and, more
+rarely, Americans, may be asserted to be all British seamen.
+
+The next item is that of the men employed in the whale fishery; and, as
+near as I can ascertain the fact, the proportions are two-thirds
+Americans to one-third British.  The total is 5,633; out of which 3,756
+art Americans, and 1,877 British seamen.
+
+The coasting trade employs 39,000 men; but only a small proportion of
+them can be considered as seamen, as _it_ embraces all the internal
+river navigation.
+
+The steam navigation employs 6,500 men, of whom of course not one in ten
+is a seaman.
+
+The fisheries for cod and herring employ about 4,333 men; they are a
+mixture of Americans, Nova Scotians, and British, but the proportions
+cannot be ascertained; it is supposed that about one-half are British
+subjects, i.e. 2,166.
+
+When, therefore, I estimate that the Americans employ at least _thirty
+thousand of our seamen_ in their service, I do not think, as my
+subsequent remarks will prove, that I am at all overrating the case.
+
+The questions which are now to be considered are, the nature of the
+various branches in which the seamen employed in the American marine are
+engaged, and how far they will be available to America in case of a war.
+
+The coasting trade is chiefly composed of sloops, manned by two or three
+men and boys.  The captain is invariably part, if not whole, owner of
+the vessel, and those employed are generally his sons, who work for
+their father, or some emigrant Irishmen, who, after a few months
+practice, are fully equal to this sort of fresh-water sailing.  From the
+coasting trade, therefore, America would gain no assistance.  Indeed,
+the majority of the coasting trade is so confined to the interior, that
+it would not receive much check from a war with a foreign country.
+
+The coast fisheries might afford a few seamen, but very few; certainly
+not the number of men required to man her ships of war.  As in the
+coasting trade, they are mostly owners or partners.  In the whale
+fishery much the same system prevails; it is a common speculation; and
+the men embarking stipulate for such a proportion of the fish caught as
+their share of the profits.  They are generally well to do, are
+connected together, and are the least likely of all men to volunteer on
+board of the American navy.  They would speculate in privateers, if they
+did anything.
+
+From steam navigation, of course, no seamen could be obtained.
+
+Now, as all service is voluntary, it is evident that the only chance
+America has of manning her navy is from the thirty thousand British
+seamen in her employ, the other branches of navigation either not
+producing seamen, or those employed in them being too independent in
+situation to serve as foremast men.  When I was at the different
+seaports, I made repeated inquiries as to the fact, if ever a lad was
+sent to sea as foremast-man, and I never could ascertain that it ever
+was the case.  Those who are sent as apprentices, are learning their
+duty to receive the rating of mates, and ultimately fulfil the office of
+captains; and it may here be remarked, that many Americans, after
+serving as captains for a few years, return on shore and become opulent
+merchants; the knowledge which they have gained during their maritime
+career proving of the greatest advantage to them.  There are a number of
+free black and coloured lads who are sent to sea, and who, eventually,
+serve as stewards and cooks; but it must be observed, that the masters
+and mates are not people who will enter before the mast and submit to
+the rigorous discipline of a government vessel, and the cooks and
+stewards are not seamen; so that the whale dependence of the American
+navy, in case of war, is upon the British seamen who are in her foreign
+trade and whale fisheries, and in her men-of-war in commission during
+the peace.
+
+If America brings up none of her people to a seafaring life before the
+mast, now that her population is upwards of 13,000,000, still less
+likely was she to have done it when her population was less, and the
+openings to wealth by other channels were greater: from whence it may be
+fairly inferred, that, during our continued struggle with France, when
+America had the carrying trade in her hands, her vessels were chiefly
+manned by british seamen; and that when the war broke out between the
+two countries, the same British seamen who were in her employ manned her
+ships of war and privateers.  It may be surmised that British seamen
+would refuse to be employed against their country.  Some might; but
+there is no character so devoid of principle as the British sailor and
+soldier.  In Dibdin's songs, we certainly have another version, "True to
+his country and king," etcetera, but I am afraid they do not deserve it:
+soldiers and sailors are mercenaries; they risk their lives for money;
+if is their trade to do so; and if they can get higher wages they never
+consider the justice of the cause, or whom they fight for.  Now, America
+is a country peculiarly favourable for those who have little conscience
+or reflection; the same language is spoken there; the wages are much
+higher, spirits are much cheaper, and the fear of dejection or
+punishment is trifling: nay, there is none; for in five minutes a
+British seaman may be made a _bona fide_ American citizen, and of course
+an American seaman.  It is not surprising, therefore, that after sailing
+for years out of the American ports, in American vessels, the men, in
+case of war, should take the oath and serve.  It is necessary for any
+one wanting to become an American citizen, that he should give notice of
+his intention; this notice gives him, as soon as he has signed his
+declaration, all the rights of an American citizen, excepting that of
+voting at elections, which requires a longer time, as specified in each
+state.  The declaration is as follows:--
+
+"That it is his _bona fide_ intention to become a citizen of the United
+States, and to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to any
+foreign power, potentate, state, or sovereignty whatever, and
+particularly to Victoria, the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great
+Britain and Ireland, to whom he is now a subject."  Having signed this
+document, and it being publicly registered, he becomes a citizen, and
+may be sworn to as such by any captain of merchant vessel or man-of-war,
+if it be required that he should do so.
+
+During the last war with America, the Americans hit upon a very good
+plan as regarded the English seamen whom they had captured in our
+vessels.  In the daytime the prison doors were shot and the prisoners
+were harshly treated; but at night, the doors were left open: the
+consequence was, that the prisoners whom they had taken added to their
+strength, for the men walked out, and entered on board their men-of-war
+and privateers.
+
+This fact alone proves that I have not been too severe in my remarks
+upon the character of the English seamen; and since our seamen prove to
+be such "Dugald Dalgettys," it is to be hoped that, should we be so
+unfortunate as again to come in collision with America, the same plan
+may be adopted in this country.
+
+Now, from the above remarks, three points are clearly deducible:--
+
+1.  That America always has obtained, and for a long period to come will
+obtain, her seamen altogether from Great Britain.
+
+2.  That those seamen can be naturalised immediately, and become
+American seamen by law.
+
+3.  That, under present circumstances, England is under the necessity of
+raising seamen, not only for her own navy, but also for the Americans;
+and that, in proportion as the commerce and shipping of America shall
+increase, so will the demand upon us become more onerous; and that
+should we fail in producing the number of seamen necessary for both
+services, the Americans will always be full manned, whilst any
+defalcation must fall upon ourselves.
+
+And it may be added that, in all cases, the Americans have the choice
+and refusal of our men; and, therefore, they have invariably all the
+prime and best seamen which we have raised.
+
+The cause of this is as simple as it is notorious; it is the difference
+between the wages paid in the navies and merchant vessels of the two
+nations:
+
++=========================+=========================+
+Y                         Ypounds shils pounds shilsY
++-------------------------+-------------------------+
+YAmerican ships per month Y                     3 10Y
++-------------------------+-------------------------+
+YBritish ships ditto      Y2 2 to 2 10              Y
++-------------------------+-------------------------+
+YAmerican men-of-war dittoY                      2 0Y
++-------------------------+-------------------------+
+YBritish men-of-war ditto Y                     1 14Y
++=========================+=========================+
+
+It will be observed, that in the American men-of-war the able-seaman's
+pay is only 2 pounds; the consequence is that they remain for months in
+port without being able to obtain men.
+
+But we must now pass by this cause, and look to the origin of it; or, in
+other words, how is it that the Americans are able to give such high
+wages to our seamen as to secure the choice of any number of our best
+men for their service; and how is it that they can compete with, and
+even under-bid, our merchant vessels in freight, at the same time that
+they sail at a greater expense?
+
+This has arisen partly from circumstances, partly from a series of
+mismanagement on our part, and partly from the fear of impressment.  But
+it is principally to be ascribed to the former peculiarly unscientific
+mode of calculating the tonnage of our vessels; the error of which
+system induced the merchants to build their ships so as to evade the
+heavy channel and river duties; disregarding all the first principles of
+naval architecture, and considering the sailing properties of vessels as
+of no consequence.
+
+The fact is, that we over-taxed our shipping.
+
+In order to carry as much freight as possible, and, at the same time, to
+pay as few of the onerous duties, our mercantile shipping generally
+assumed more the form of floating bores of merchandise than sailing
+vessels; and by the false method of measuring the tonnage, they were
+enabled to carry 600 tons, when, by measurement, they were only taxed as
+being of the burden of 400 tons: but every increase of tonnage thus
+surreptitiously obtained, was accompanied with a decrease in the sailing
+properties of the vessels.  Circumstances, however, rendered this of
+less importance during the war, as few vessels ran without the
+protection of a convoy; and it must be also observed, that vessels being
+employed in one trade only, such as the West India, Canada,
+Mediterranean, etcetera, their voyages during the year were limited, and
+they were for a certain portion of the year unemployed.
+
+During the war the fear of impressment was certainly a strong inducement
+to our seamen to enter into the American vessels, and naturalise
+themselves as American subjects; but they were also stimulated even at
+that period, by the higher wages, as they still are now that the dread
+of impressment no longer operates upon them.
+
+It appears, then, that from various causes, our merchant vessels have
+lost their sailing properties, whilst the Americans are the fastest
+sailers in the world; and it is for that reason, and no other, that,
+although sailing at a much greater expense, the Americans can afford to
+outbid us, and take all our best seamen.
+
+An American vessel is in no particular trade, but ready and willing to
+take freight anywhere when offered.  She sails so fast that she can make
+three voyages whilst one of our vessels can make but two: consequently
+she has the preference, as being the better manned, and giving the
+quickest return to the merchant; and as she receives three freights
+whilst the English vessel receives only two, it is clear that the extra
+freight wilt more than compensate for the extra expense the vessel sails
+at in consequence of paying extra wages to the seamen.  Add to this,
+that the captains, generally speaking, being better paid, are better
+informed, and more active men; that, from having all the picked seamen,
+they get through their work with fewer hands; that the activity on board
+is followed up and supported by an equal activity on the part of the
+agents and factors on shore--and you have the true cause why America can
+afford to pay and secure for herself all our best seamen.
+
+One thing is evident, that it is a mere question of pounds, shillings,
+and pence, between us and America, and that the same men who are now in
+the American service would, if our wages were higher than those offered
+by America, immediately return to us and leave her destitute.
+
+That it would be worth the while of this country, in case of a war with
+the United States, to offer 4 pounds a-head to able seamen, is most
+certain.  It would swell the naval estimates, but it would shorten the
+duration of the war, and in the end would probably be the saving of many
+millions.  But the question is, cannot and ought not something to be
+done, now in time of peace, to relieve our mercantile shipping interest,
+and hold out a bounty for a return to those true principles of naval
+architecture, the deviation from which has proved to be attended with
+such serious consequences.
+
+Fast-sailing vessels will always be able to pay higher wages than
+others, as what they lose in increase of daily expense, they will gain
+by the short time in which the voyage is accomplished; but it is by
+encouragement alone that we can expect that the change will take place.
+Surely some of the onerous duties imposed by the Trinity House might be
+removed, not from the present class of vessels, but from those built
+hereafter with first-rate sailing properties.  These, however, are
+points which call for a much fuller investigation than I can here afford
+them; but they are of vital importance to our maritime superiority, and
+as such should be immediately considered by the government of Great
+Britain.
+
+
+
+VOLUME THREE, CHAPTER FORTY TWO.
+
+REMARKS--SLAVERY.
+
+It had always appeared to me as singular that the Americans, at the time
+of their Declaration of Independence, took no measures for the gradual,
+if not immediate, extinction of slavery; that at the very time they were
+offering up thanks for having successfully struggled for their own
+emancipation from what they considered foreign bondage, their gratitude
+for their liberation did not induce them to break the chains of those
+whom they themselves held in captivity.  It is useless for them to
+exclaim, as they now do, that it was England who left them slavery as a
+curse and reproach us as having originally introduced the system among
+them.  Admitting, as is the fact, that slavery did commence when the
+colonies were subject to the mother country admitting that the petitions
+for its discontinuance were disregarded, still there was nothing to
+prevent immediate manumission at the time of the acknowledgement of
+their independence by Great Britain.  They had then everything to
+recommence they had to select a new form of government, and to decide
+upon new laws; they pronounced, in their declaration, that "all men were
+equal;" and yet, in the face of this declaration, and their solemn
+invocation to the Deity, the negroes, in _their_ fetters, pleaded to
+them in vain.
+
+I had always thought that this sad omission, which has left such an
+anomaly in the Declaration of Independence as to have made it the taunt
+and reproach of the Americans by the whole civilised world, did really
+arise from forgetfulness; that, as is but too often the case, when we
+are ourselves made happy, the Americans in their joy at their own
+deliverance from the foreign yoke, and the repossessing themselves of
+their own rights, had been too much engrossed to occupy themselves with
+the undeniable claims of others.  But I was mistaken; such was not the
+case, as I shall presently show.
+
+In the course of one of my sojourns in Philadelphia, Mr Vaughan, of the
+Athenium of that city, stated to me that he had found the _original
+draft_ of the Declaration of Independence, in the hand-writing of Mr
+Jefferson, and that it was curious to remark the alterations which had
+been made previous to the adoption of the manifesto which was afterwards
+promulgated.  It was to Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin, that was
+entrusted the primary drawing up of this important document, which was
+then submitted to others, and ultimately to the Convention, for approval
+and it appears that the question of slavery had NOT been overlooked when
+the document was first framed, as the following clause, inserted in the
+original draft by Mr Jefferson, (but _expunged_ when it was laid before
+the Convention,) will sufficiently prove.  After enumerating the grounds
+upon which they threw off their allegiance to the king of England, the
+Declaration continued in Jefferson's nervous style:
+
+"He [the king] has waged cruel war against human nature itself,
+violating its most sacred rights of _life and liberty_, in the person of
+a distant people who never offended him; captivating and carrying them
+into slavery, in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in
+their transportation thither.  This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of
+infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian king of Great Britain,
+determined to keep open a market where men should be bought and sold; he
+has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt
+to prohibit or restrain this execrable commerce; and that this
+assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished dye, he is now
+exciting these very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase
+that liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering the people upon
+whom he also obtruded them; thus paying off former crimes committed
+against the liberties of one people, with crimes which he urges them to
+commit against the lives of another."
+
+Such was the paragraph which had been inserted by Jefferson, in the
+virulence of his democracy, and his desire to hold up to detestation the
+king of Great Britain.  Such was at that time, unfortunately, the truth;
+and had the paragraph remained, and at the same time emancipation been
+given to the slaves, it would have been a lasting stigma upon George the
+Third.  But the paragraph was expunged; and why I because they could not
+hold up to public indignation the sovereign whom they had abjured,
+without reminding the world that slavery still existed in a community
+which had declared that "all men were equal;" and that if, in a monarch,
+they had stigmatised it as "violating the most sacred rights of life and
+liberty," and "waging cruel war against human nature," they could not
+have afterward been so barefaced and unblushing as to continue a system
+which was at variance with every principle which they professed.
+
+Note.  Miss Martineau, in her admiration of democracy, says, that, in
+the formation of the government, "The rule by which they worked was no
+less than the golden one, which seems to have been, by some unlucky
+chance, omitted in the Bibles of other statesmen, `_Do unto others as ye
+would that they should do unto you_'" I am afraid the American Bible, by
+some unlucky chance, has also omitted that precept.
+
+It does, however, satisfactorily prove, that the question of slavery was
+not _overlooked_; on the contrary, their determination to take advantage
+of the system was deliberate, and, there can be no doubt, well
+considered--the very omission of the paragraph proves it.  I mention
+these facts to show that the Americans have no right to revile us on
+being the cause of slavery in America.  They had the means, and were
+bound, as honourable men, to act up to their declaration but they
+entered into the question, they decided otherwise, and decided that they
+would retain their ill-acquired property at the expense of their
+principles.
+
+The degrees of slavery in America are as various in their intensity as
+are the communities composing the Union.  They may, however, be divided
+with great propriety under two general heads--eastern and western
+slavery.  By eastern slavery, I refer to that in the slave states
+bordering on the Atlantic, and those slave states on the other side of
+the Alleghany mountains, which may be more directly considered as their
+colonies, viz, in the first instance, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia,
+North and South Carolina; and, secondly, Kentucky and Tennessee.  We
+have been accustomed lately to class the slaves as non-predial and
+predial,--that is, those who are domestic, and those who work on the
+plantations.  This classification is not correct, if it is intended to
+distinguish between those who are well, and those who are badly treated.
+The true line to be drawn is between those who work separately, and
+those who are worked in a gang and superintended by an overseer.  This
+is fully exemplified in the United States, where it will be found that
+in all states where they are worked in gangs the slaves are harshly
+treated, while in the others their labour is light.
+
+Now, with the exception of the rice grounds in South Carolina, the
+eastern states are growers of corn, hemp, and tobacco; but their chief
+staple is the breeding of horses, mules, horned cattle, and other stock:
+the largest portion of these states remain in wild luxuriant pasture,
+more especially in Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, either of which
+states is larger than the other four mentioned.
+
+The proportion of slaves required for the cultivation of the purely
+agricultural and chiefly grazing farms or plantations in these states is
+small, fifteen or twenty being sufficient for a farm of two hundred or
+three hundred acres; and their labour, which is mostly confined to
+tending stock, is not only very light, but of the quality most agreeable
+to the negro.  Half the day you will see him on horseback with his legs
+idly swinging--as he goes along, or seated on a shaft-horse driving his
+wagons.  He is quite in his glory; nothing delights a negro so much as
+riding or driving, particularly when he has a whole team under his
+control.  He takes his wagon for a load of corn to feed the hogs, sits
+on the edge of the shaft as he tosses the cobs to the grunting
+multitude, whom he addresses in the most intimate terms; in short,
+everything is done leisurely, after his own fashion.
+
+In these grazing states, as they may very properly be called, the
+negroes are well fed; they refuse beef and mutton, and will have nothing
+but pork; and are, without exception, the fattest and most saucy fellows
+I ever met with in a state of bondage; and such may be said generally to
+be the case with all the negroes in the eastern states which I have
+mentioned.  The rice grounds in South Carolina are unhealthy, but the
+slaves are very kindly treated.  But the facts speak for themselves.
+When the negro works in a gang with the whip over him, he may be
+overworked and ill-treated; but when he is not regularly watched, he
+will take very good care that the work he performs shall not injure his
+constitution.
+
+It has been asserted, and generally credited, that in the eastern states
+negroes are regularly bred up like the cattle for the western market.
+That the Virginians, and the inhabitants of the other eastern slave
+states, do sell negroes which are taken to the west, there is no doubt;
+but that the negroes are bred expressly for that purpose, is, as regards
+the majority of the proprietors, far from the fact: it is the effect of
+circumstances, over which they have had no control.  Virginia, when
+first settled, was one of the richest states, but, by continually
+cropping the land without manuring it, and that for nearly two hundred
+years, the major portion of many valuable estates has become barren, and
+the land is no longer under cultivation; in consequence of this, the
+negroes, (increasing so rapidly as they do in that country.) so far from
+being profitable, have become a serious task upon their masters, who
+have to rear and maintain, without having any employment to give them.
+The small portion of the estates under cultivation will subsist only a
+certain portion of the negroes; the remainder must, therefore, be
+disposed of, or they would eat their master out of his home.  That the
+slaves are not willingly disposed of by many of the proprietors I am
+certain, particularly when it is known, that they are purchased for the
+west.  I know of many instances of this, and wins informed of others;
+and by wills, especially, slaves have been directed to be sold for
+_two-thirds_ of the price which they would fetch for the western market,
+on condition that they were not to leave the state.  These facts
+establish two points, viz, that the slaves in the eastern states is well
+treated, and that in the western states slavery still exists with all
+its horrors.  The common threat to, and ultimate punishment of, a
+refractory and disobedient slave in the east, is to sell, him for the
+western market.  Many slave proprietors, whose estates have been worn
+out in the east, have preferred migrating to the west with their slaves
+rather than sell them, and thus is the severity of the western treatment
+occasionally and partially mitigated.
+
+But doing justice, as I always will, to those who have been unjustly
+calumniated, at the same time I must admit that there is a point
+connected with slavery in America which renders it more odious than in
+other countries; I refer to the system of amalgamation, which has, from
+promiscuous intercourse, been carried on to such an extent, that you
+very often meet with slaves whose skins are whiter than their master's.
+
+At Louisville, Kentucky, I saw a girl, about twelve years old, carrying
+a child; and, aware that in a slave state the circumstance of white
+people hiring themselves out to service is almost unknown, I inquired of
+her if she were a slave.  To my astonishment, she replied in the
+affirmative.  She was as fair as snow, and it was impossible to detect
+any admixture of blood from her appearance, which was that of a pretty
+English cottager's child.
+
+I afterward spoke to the master, who stated when he had purchased her,
+and the sum which he had paid.
+
+I took down the following advertisement for a runaway slave, which was
+posted up in every tavern I stopped at in Virginia on my way to the
+springs.  The expression of, "_in a manner white_" would imply that
+there was some shame felt it holding a white man in bondage:--
+
+"_Fifty Dollars Reward_.
+
+"Ran away from the subscriber, on Saturday, the 21st instant, a slave
+named George, between twenty and twenty-four years of age, five feet
+five or six inches high, slender made, stoops when standing, a little
+bow legged; generally wears right and left boots and shoes; had on him
+when he left a fur cap, a checked stock, and linen roundabout; had with
+him other clothing, a jean coat with black horn buttons, a pair of jean
+pantaloons, both coat and pantaloons of handsome grey mixed; no doubt
+other clothing not recollected.  He had with him a common silver watch;
+he wears his pantaloons generally very tight in the legs.  _Said boy_ is
+in a manner _white_, would be passed by _and taken for a white man_.
+His _hair_ is _long and straight_, like that of a _white_ person; looks
+very steady when spoken to, speaks slowly, and would not be likely to
+look a person full in the face when speaking to him.  It is believed he
+is making his way to Canada by way of Ohio.  I will give twenty dollars
+for the apprehension of said slave if taken in the county, or fifty
+dollars if taken out of the county, and secured so that I recover him
+again.
+
+"Andrew Beirne, junior,
+
+"Union Monroe City,
+
+"July 31st, 1838.  Virginia."
+
+The above is a curious document, independently of its proving the manner
+in which man preys upon his fellow-man in this land of liberty and
+equality.  It is a well-known fact, that a considerable portion of Mr
+Jefferson's slaves were his own children.  If any of them absconded, he
+would smile, thereby implying that he should not be very particular in
+looking after them; and yet this man, this great and _good_ man, as Miss
+Martineau calls him, this man who penned the paragraph I have quoted, as
+having been erased from the Declaration of Independence, who asserted
+that the slavery of the negro was a violation of the most sacred rights
+of life and liberty, permitted these his slaves and his children, the
+issue of his own loins, to be sold at auction after his demise, not even
+emancipating them, as he might have done, before his death.  And, but
+lately, a member of congress for Georgia, whose name I shall not
+mention, brought up a fine family of children, his own issue by a female
+slave; for many years acknowledged them us his own children; permitted
+them to call him by the endearing title of _papa_, and eventually the
+whole of them were sold by public auction, and that, too, during his own
+lifetime!
+
+But there is, I am sorry to say, a more horrible instance on record and
+one well authenticated.  A planter of good family (I shall not mention
+his name or the state in which it occurred, as he was not so much to
+blame as were the laws), connected himself with one of his own female
+slaves, who was nearly white; the fruits of this connexion were two
+daughters, very beautiful girls, who were sent to England to be
+educated.
+
+They were both grown up when their father died.  At his death his
+affairs were found in a state of great disorder; in fact, there was not
+sufficient left to pay his creditors.  Having brought up and educated
+these two girls and introduced them as his daughters, it quite slipped
+his memory that, having been born of a slave, and not manumitted, they
+were in reality slaves themselves.  This fact was established after his
+decease; they were torn away from the affluence and refinement to which
+they had been accustomed, sold and purchased as slaves, and with the
+avowed intention of the purchaser to reap his profits from their
+prostitution it must not, however, be supposed that the planters of
+Virginia and the other Eastern states, encourage this intercourse; on
+the contrary, the young men who visit at the plantations cannot affront
+them more than to take notice of their slaves, particularly the lighter
+coloured, who are retained in the house and attend upon their wives and
+daughters.  Independently of the moral feeling which really guides them
+(as they naturally do not wish that the attendants of their daughters
+should be degraded) it is against their interest in case they should
+wish to sell; as a mulatto or light male will not fetch so high a price
+as a full-blooded negro; the cross between the European and negro;
+especially the first cross, i.e. the mulatto, is of a sickly
+constitution, and quite unable to bear up against the fatigue of field
+labour in the West.  As the race becomes whiter, the stamina is said to
+improve.
+
+Examining into the question of emancipation in America, the first
+inquiry will be, how far this consummation is likely to be effected by
+means of the abolitionists.  Miss Martineau, in her book, says, "The
+good work has begun, and will proceed."  She is so far right; it has
+begun, and has been progressing very fast, as may be proved by the
+single fact of the abolitionists having decided the election in the
+state of Ohio in October last.  But let not Miss Martineau exult; for
+the stronger the abolition party may become, the more danger is there to
+be apprehended of a disastrous conflict between the states.
+
+The fact is that, by the constitution of the United States, the federal
+government have not only no power to _interfere_ or to _abolish_
+slavery, but they are bound to _maintain_ it; the abolition of slavery
+is expressly _withheld_.  The citizens of any state may abolish slavery
+in their own state but the federal government cannot do so without an
+express violation of the federal compact.  Should all the states in the
+Union abolish slavery, with the exception of one, and that one be
+Maryland, (the smallest of the whole of the states,) neither the federal
+government, or the other states could interfere with her.  The federal
+compact binds the general government, "first, not to _meddle_ with the
+slavery of the states where it exists, and next, to _protect_ it in the
+case of runaway slaves, and to _defend_ it in case of _invasion_ or
+_domestic violence_ on account of it."
+
+It appears, therefore, that slavery can only be abolished by the slave
+state itself in which it exists; and it is not very probable that any
+class of people will voluntarily make themselves beggars by surrendering
+up their whole property to satisfy the clamour of a party.  That this
+party is strong, and is daily becoming stronger, is very true: the
+stronger it becomes the worse will be the prospects of the United
+States.  In England the case was very different; the government had a
+right to make the sacrifice to public opinion by indemnification to the
+slave-holders; but in America the government have not that power; and
+the efforts of the abolitionists will only have the effects of plunging
+the country into difficulties and disunion.  As an American author truly
+observes, "The American abolitionists must trample on the constitution,
+and wade through the carnage of a civil war, before they can triumph--"
+
+Already the abolition party have done much mischief.  The same author
+observes, "The South has been compelled, in self-defence, to rivet the
+chains of slavery afresh, and to hold on to their political rights with
+a stronger hand.  The conduct of the abolitionists has arrested the
+improvements which were in progress in the slave states for the
+amelioration of the condition of the slave; it has broken up the system
+of intellectual and moral culture that was extensively in operation for
+the slave's benefit, lest the increase of his knowledge should lend him
+a dangerous power, in connection with these crusading efforts; it has
+rivetted the chains of slavery with a greatly increased power, and
+enforced a more rigorous discipline; it has excluded for the time being
+the happy moral influence which was previously operating on the South
+from the North, and from the rest of the world, by the lights of
+comparison, by the interchange of a friendly intercourse, and by a
+friendly discussion of the great subject, all tending to the bettering
+of the slave's condition, and, as was supposed, to his ultimate
+emancipation.  Before this agitation commenced, this subject, in all its
+aspects and bearings, might be discussed as freely at the South as
+anywhere; but now, not a word can be said.  It has kindled a sleepless
+jealousy in the South toward the North, and made the slave-holders feel
+as if all the rest of the world were their enemies, and that they must
+depend upon themselves for the maintenance of their political rights.
+We say rights, because they regard them as such; and so long as they do
+so, it is all the same in their feelings, whether the rest of the world
+acknowledge them or not.  And they are, in fact, _political_ rights,
+guaranteed to them by the constitution of the United States."
+
+It is not, however, impossible that the abolition party in the Eastern
+and Northern states may be gradually checked by the citizens of those
+very states.  Their zeal may be as warm as ever; but public opinion will
+compel them, at the risk of their lives, to hold their tongues.  This
+possibility can, however, only arise from the Northern and Eastern
+states becoming manufacturing states, as they are most anxious to be.
+Should this happen, the raw cotton grown by slave labour will employ the
+looms of Massachusetts; and then, as the Quarterly Review very correctly
+observes, "by a cycle of commercial benefits, the Northern and Eastern
+states will feel that there is some material compensation for the moral
+turpitude of the system of slavery."
+
+The slave proprietors in these states are as well aware as any political
+economist can be, that slavery is a loss instead of a gain, and that no
+state can arrive at that degree of prosperity under a state of slavery
+which it would under free labour.  The case is simple.  In free labour,
+where there is competition, you exact the greatest possible returns for
+the least possible expenditure; a man is worked as a machine; he is paid
+for what he produces, and nothing more.  By slave labour, you receive
+the least possible return for the greatest possible expense, for the
+slave is better fed and clothed than the freeman, and does as little
+work as he can.  The slave-holders in the eastern states are well aware
+of this, and are as anxious to be rid of slavery as are the
+abolitionists; but the time is not yet come, nor will it come until the
+country shall have so filled up as to render white labour attainable.
+Such, indeed, are not the expectations expressed in the language of the
+representatives of their states when in congress; but, it must be
+remembered, that this is a question which has convulsed the Union, and
+that, not only from a feeling of pride, added to indignation at the
+interference, but from if feeling of the necessity of not yielding up
+one tittle upon this question, the language of determined resistance is
+in congress invariably resorted to.  But these gentlemen have one
+opinion for congress, and another for their private table; in the first,
+they stand up unflinchingly for their slave rights; in the other, they
+reason calmly, and admit what they could not admit in public.  There is
+no labour in the eastern states, excepting that of the rice plantations
+in South Carolina, which cannot be performed by white men; indeed, a
+large proportion of the cotton in the Carolinas is now raised by a _free
+white_ population.  In the grazing portion of these states, white labour
+would be substituted advantageously, could white labour be procured at
+any reasonable price.
+
+The time will come, and I do not think it very distant, say perhaps
+twenty or thirty years, when, provided America receives no check, and
+these states are not injudiciously interfered with, that Virginia,
+Kentucky, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, (and, eventually, but
+probably somewhat later, Tennessee and South Carolina) will, of their
+own accord, enrol themselves among the free states.  As a proof that in
+the eastern slave states the negro is not held in such contempt, or
+justice toward him so much disregarded, I extract the following from an
+American work:--
+
+"An instance of the force of law in the southern states for the
+protection of the slave has just occurred, in the failure of a petition
+to his excellency, PM Butler, governor of South Carolina, for the pardon
+of Nazareth Allen, a white person, convicted of the murder of a slave,
+and sentenced to be hung.  The following is part of the answer of the
+governor to the petitioners:--
+
+"`The laws of South Carolina make no distinction in cases of deliberate
+murder, whether committed on a black man or a white man; neither can I.
+I am not a law-maker, but the executive officer of the laws already
+made; and I must not act on a distinction which the legislature might
+have made, but has not thought fit to make.'
+
+"That the crime of which the prisoner stands convicted was committed
+against one of an inferior grade in society, is a reason for being
+especially cautious in intercepting the just severity of the law.  This
+class of our population are subjected to us as well for their protection
+as our advantage.  Our rights, in regard to them, are not more
+imperative than their duties; and the institutions, which for wise and
+necessary ends have rendered them peculiarly dependent, at least pledge
+the law to be to them peculiarly a friend and a protector.
+
+"The prayer of the petition is not granted.
+
+"Pierce M Butler."
+
+In the western states, comprehending Missouri, Louisiana, Arkansas,
+Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama, the negroes are, with the exception
+perhaps of the two latter States, in a worse condition than they ever
+were in the West India islands.  This may be easily imagined, when the
+character of the white people who inhabit the larger portion of these
+states is considered a class of people, the majority of whom are without
+feelings of honour, reckless in their habits, intemperate, unprincipled,
+and lawless, many of them having fled from the eastern states, as
+fraudulent bankrupts, swindlers, or committers of other crimes, which
+have subjected them to the penitentiaries--miscreants defying the
+climate, so that they can defy the laws.  Still this representation of
+the character of the people inhabiting these states must, from the
+chaotic state of society in America, be received with many exceptions.
+In the city of New Orleans, for instance, and in Natchez and its
+vicinity, and also among the planters, there are many most honourable
+exceptions.  I have said the majority: for we must look to the _mass_--
+the exceptions do but prove the rule.  It is evident that slaves, under
+such masters, can have but little chance of good treatment, and stories
+are told of them at which humanity shudders.
+
+It appears, then, that the slaves, with the rest of the population of
+America, are _working their way west_, and the question may now be
+asked:--Allowing that slavery will be soon abolished in the eastern
+states, what prospect is there of its ultimate abolition and total
+extinction in America?
+
+I can see no prospect of exchanging slave labour for free in the western
+states, as, with the exception of Missouri, I do not think it possible
+that white labour could be substituted, the extreme heat and
+unhealthiness of the climate being a bar to any such attempt.  The
+cultivation of the land must be carried on by a negro population, if it
+is to be carried on at all.  The question, therefore, to be considered
+is, whether these states are to be inhabited and cultivated by a free or
+a slave negro population.  It must be remembered, that not one-twentieth
+part of the land in the southern states is under cultivation; every
+year, as the slates are brought in from the east, the number of acres
+taken into cultivation increases.  Not double or triple the number of
+the slaves at present in America would be sufficient for the cultivation
+of the whole of these vast territories.  Every year the cotton crops
+increase, and at the same time the price of cotton has not materially
+lowered; as an everywhere increasing population takes off the whole
+supply, this will probably continue to be the case for many years, since
+it must be remembered, that, independently of the increasing population
+increasing the demand, cotton, from its comparative cheapness,
+continually usurps the place of some other raw material; this, of
+course, adds to the consumption.  In various manufactures, cotton has
+already taken the place of linen and fur; but there must eventually be a
+limit to consumption: and this is certain, that as soon as the supply is
+so great as to exceed the demand, the price will be lowered by the
+competition; and, as soon as the price is by competition so lowered as
+to render the cost and keeping of the slave greater than the income
+returned by his labour, then, and not till then, is there any chance of
+slavery being abolished in the western states of America.  See Note 4.
+
+The probability of this consummation being brought about sooner is in
+the expectation that the Brazils, Mexico, and particularly the
+independent State of Texas, will in a few years produce a crop of cotton
+which may considerably lower its price.  At present, the United States
+grow nearly, if not more, than half of the cotton produced in the whole
+world, as the return down to 1831 will substantiate.
+
+Cotton grown all over the world in the years 1821 and 1831; showing the
+increase in each country in ten years.
+
++=========================+===========+===========+
+Y                         Y1821 lbs.  Y1831 lbs.  Y
++-------------------------+-----------+-----------+
+YUnited States            Y180,000,000Y385,000,000Y
++-------------------------+-----------+-----------+
+YBrazil                   Y 32,000,000Y 38,000,000Y
++-------------------------+-----------+-----------+
+YWest Indies              Y 10,000,000Y  9,000,000Y
++-------------------------+-----------+-----------+
+YEgypt                    Y  6,000,000Y 18,000,000Y
++-------------------------+-----------+-----------+
+YRest of Africa           Y 40,000,000Y 36,000,000Y
++-------------------------+-----------+-----------+
+YIndia                    Y176,000.000Y180,000,000Y
++-------------------------+-----------+-----------+
+YRest of Asia             Y185,000,000Y115,000,000Y
++-------------------------+-----------+-----------+
+YMexico and South America,Y 44,000,000Y 35,000,000Y
++-------------------------+-----------+-----------+
+Yexcept Brazil            Y           Y           Y
++-------------------------+-----------+-----------+
+YElsewhere                Y  8,000,000Y  4,000,000Y
++-------------------------+-----------+-----------+
+YIn the World             Y630,000,000Y820,000,000Y
++=========================+===========+===========+
+
+The increase of cotton grown all over the world in ten years is
+therefore 190,000,000 lbs.  Brazil has only increased 6,000,000; Egypt
+has increased 12,000,000; India, 5,000,000.  Africa, West indies, South
+America, Asia, have all fallen off; but the defalcation has been made
+good by the United States, which have increased their growth by
+205,000,000 of lbs.
+
+In the Southern portion of America there are millions of acres on which
+cotton can be successfully cultivated, particularly Texas, the soil of
+which is so congenial that they can produce 1,000 lb. to the 400 lb.
+raised by the Americans; and the quality of the Texian cotton is said to
+be equal to the finest sea island produce.  It is to Texas particularly
+that we must look for this produce, as it can there be raised by white
+labour; [see Note] and being so produced, will, as soon as its
+population in creases to a certain extent, be able to under sell that
+which is grown in America by the labour of the slave.
+
+Increase of cotton grown in the United States, from the year 1802 to
+1831.
+
++=====+===========+======+===========+
+YYearsYlbs.       YYears.Ylbs.       Y
++-----+-----------+------+-----------+
+Y 1802Y 55,000,000Y  1817Y130.000,000Y
++-----+-----------+------+-----------+
+Y 1803Y 60,001,000Y  1818Y125,000,000Y
++-----+-----------+------+-----------+
+Y 1804Y 65,000,000Y  1819Y167,000,000Y
++-----+-----------+------+-----------+
+Y 1805Y 70,000,000Y  1820Y160,000,000Y
++-----+-----------+------+-----------+
+Y 1806Y 80,000,000Y  1821Y180,000,000Y
++-----+-----------+------+-----------+
+Y 1807Y 80,000,000Y  1822Y210,000,000Y
++-----+-----------+------+-----------+
+Y 1808Y 75,000,003Y  1823Y185,000,000Y
++-----+-----------+------+-----------+
+Y 1809Y 82,000,000Y  1824Y215,000,000Y
++-----+-----------+------+-----------+
+Y 1810Y 86,000,000Y  1825Y256,000,000Y
++-----+-----------+------+-----------+
+Y 1811Y 80,000,000Y  1826Y300,000,000Y
++-----+-----------+------+-----------+
+Y 1812Y 75,000,006Y  1827Y270,000,000Y
++-----+-----------+------+-----------+
+Y 1813Y 75,000,000Y  1828Y325,000,000Y
++-----+-----------+------+-----------+
+Y 1814Y 70,000,000Y  1829Y365,000,000Y
++-----+-----------+------+-----------+
+Y 1815Y100,000,000Y  1830Y360,000,000Y
++-----+-----------+------+-----------+
+Y 1816Y124,000,000Y  1831Y385,000,000Y
++=====+===========+======+===========+
+
+It may be asked: how is it, as Texas is so far south, that a white
+population can labour there?  It is because Texas is a prairie country,
+and situated at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.  A sea-breeze always
+blows across the whole of the country, rendering it cool, and refreshing
+it notwithstanding the power of the sun's rays.  This breeze is
+apparently a continuation of the trade-winds following the course of the
+sun.
+
+From circumstances, therefore, Texas, which but a few years since was
+hardly known as a country, becomes a state of the greatest importance to
+the civilised and moral world.
+
+I am not in this chapter about to raise the question how Texas has been
+ravished from Mexico.  Miss Martineau, with all her admiration of
+democracy, admits it to have been "the most _high-handed_ theft of
+modern times;" and the letter of the celebrated Dr Charming to Mr Clay
+has laid bare to the world the whole nefarious transaction.  In this
+letter Dr Charming points out the cause of the seizure of Texas, and
+the wish to enrol it among the federal states.
+
+"Mexico, at the moment of throwing off the Spanish yoke, gave a noble
+testimony of her loyalty to free principles, by decreeing `That no
+person thereafter should be born a slave, or introduced as such into the
+Mexican states; that all slaves then held should receive stipulated
+wages, and be subject to no punishment but on trial and judgment by the
+magistrate.'  The subsequent acts of the government fully carried out
+these constitutional provisions.  It is matter of deep grief and
+humiliation, that the emigrants from this country, while boasting of
+superior civilisation, refused to second this honourable policy,
+intended to set limits to one of the greatest of social evils.  Slaves
+come into Texas with their masters from the neighbouring states of this
+country.  One mode of evading the laws was, to introduce slaves under
+formal indentures for long periods, in some cases, it is said, for
+ninety-nine years; but by a decree of the state legislature of Coahuila
+and Texas, all indentures for a longer period than ten years were
+annulled, and provision was made for the freedom of children during this
+apprenticeship.  This settled, invincible purpose of Mexico to exclude
+slavery from her limits, created as strong a purpose to annihilate her
+authority in Texas.  By this prohibition, Texas was virtually shut
+against emigration from the southern and western portions of this
+country; and it is well known that the eyes of the south and west had
+for some time been turned to this province as a new market for slaves,
+as a new field for slave labour, and as a vast accession of political
+power to the slave-holding states.  That such views were prevalent we
+know; for, nefarious as they are, they found their way into the public
+prints.  The project of dismembering a neighbouring republic, that
+slaveholders and slaves might overspread a region which had been
+consecrated to a free population, was discussed in newspapers as coolly
+as if it were a matter of obvious right and unquestionable humanity.  A
+powerful interest was thus created for severing from Mexico her distant
+province."
+
+The fact is this:--America, (for the government looked on and offered no
+interruption,) has seized upon Texas, with a view of extending the curse
+of slavery, and of finding a mart for the excess of her negro
+population: if Texas is admitted into the Union, all chance of the
+abolition of slavery must be thrown forward to such an indefinite
+period, as to be lost in the mist of futurity; if, on the contrary,
+Texas remains an independent province, or is restored to its legitimate
+owners, and in either case slavery is abolished, she then becomes, from
+the very circumstance of her fertility and aptitude for white labour,
+not only the great _check to slavery_, but eventually the means of its
+_abolition_.  Never, therefore, was there a portion of the globe upon
+which the moral world must look with such interest.
+
+England may, if she acts promptly and wisely, make such terms with this
+young state as to raise it up as a barrier against the profligate
+ambition of America.  Texas was a portion of Mexico, and Mexico
+abolished slavery; the Texians are bound (if they are _Texians_ and not
+Americans) to adhere to what might be considered a treaty with the whole
+Christian world; if not, they can make no demand upon its sympathy or
+protection, and it should be a _sine qua non_ with England and all other
+European powers previous to acknowledging or entering into commercial
+relations with Texas, that she should adhere to the law which was passed
+at the time that she was an integral portion of Mexico, and declare
+herself to be a Free State--if she does not, unless the chains are
+broken by the negro himself, the cause and hopes of _emancipation_ are
+lost.
+
+There certainly is one outlet for the slaves, which as they are removed
+thither and farther to the west will eventually be offered:--that of
+escaping to the Indian tribes which are spread over the western
+frontier, and amalgamating with them; such indeed, I think, will some
+future day be the result, whether they gain their liberty by desertion,
+insurrection, or manumission.
+
+Of insurrection there is at present but little fear.  In the eastern
+slave states, the negroes do not think of it, and if they did, the
+difficulty of combination and of procuring arms is so great, that it
+would be attended with very partial success.  The intervention of a
+foreign power might indeed bring it to pass, but it is to be hoped that
+England, at all events, will never be the party to foment a servile war.
+Let us not forget that for more than two centuries we have been
+_particeps criminis_, and should have been in as great a difficulty as
+the Americans now are, had we had the negro population on our own soil,
+and not on distant islands which could be legislated for without
+affecting the condition of the mother country.  Nay, at this very
+moment, by taking nearly the whole of the American cotton off their
+hands in exchange for our manufactures, we are ourselves virtually
+encouraging slavery by affording the Americans such a profitable mart
+for their slave labour.
+
+There is one point to which I have not yet adverted, which is, Whether
+the question of emancipation is likely to produce a separation between
+the Northern and Southern states?  The only reply that can be given is,
+that it entirely depends upon whether the abolition party can be held in
+check by the federal government.  That the federal government will do
+its utmost there can be no doubt, but the federal government is not so
+powerful as many of the societies formed in America, and especially the
+Abolition Society, which every day adds to its members.  The interests
+of the North are certainly at variance with the measures of the society,
+yet still it gains strength.  The last proceedings in congress show that
+the federal government is aware of its rapid extension, and are
+determined to do all in its power to suppress it.  The following are a
+portion of the resolutions which were passed last year by an
+overwhelming majority.
+
+The first resolution was; "That the government is of limited powers, and
+that by the constitution of the United States, congress has no
+jurisdiction whatever over the institution of slavery in the several
+states of the confederacy;" the last was as follows: "Resolved,
+therefore, that all attempts on the part of congress to _abolish
+slavery_ in the district of Columbia, or the territories, or to prohibit
+the removal of the slaves from state to state; or to discriminate
+between the constitution of one portions of the confederacy and another,
+with the views aforesaid, are in _violation_ of the constitutional
+principles on which the _union_ of these States rests, and beyond the
+jurisdiction of congress; and that every petition, memorial, resolution,
+proposition, or paper touching or relating in any way or to any extent
+whatever to slavery as aforesaid, or the abolition thereof, shall
+without any farther action thereon, be laid on the table, without
+_printing, reading, debate, or reference_."  Question put, "Shall the
+resolutions pass?"  Yeas, 198; Noes, 6--_Examiner_.
+
+These resolutions are very firm and decided, but in England people have
+no idea of the fanaticism displayed and excitement created in these
+societies, which are a peculiar feature in the states, and arising from
+the nature of their institutions.  Their strength and perseverance are
+such that they bear down all before them, and, regardless of all
+consequences, they may eventually control the government.
+
+As to the question which portion of the States will be the losers by a
+separation, I myself think that it will be the northern slates which
+will suffer.  But as I always refer to American authority when I can, I
+had better give the reader a portion of a letter written by one of the
+southern gentlemen on this subject.  In a letter to the editor of the
+_National Gazette_, Mr Cooper, after referring to a point at issue with
+the abolitionists, not necessary to introduce here, says--"I shall
+therefore briefly touch upon the subject once more; and if farther
+provocation is given, I may possibly enter into more details hereafter;
+for the present I desire to hint at some items of calculation of the
+value of the Union _to the North_.
+
+"1.  Mr Rhett, in his bold and honest address, has stated that the
+expenditures of the government for twenty years, ending 1836, have been
+four hundred and twenty millions of dollars; of which one hundred and
+thirty were dedicated to the payment of the national debt.  Of the
+remainder, two hundred and ten millions were expended in the northern,
+and eighty millions in the southern states.  Suppose this Union to be
+severed, I rather guess the government expenditure of what is now about
+fifteen millions a-year to the North, would be an item reluctantly
+spared.  No people know better what to do with the `cheese-parings and
+the candle-ends' than our good friends to the North.
+
+"2.  I beg permission to address New York especially.  In the year 1836
+our exports were one hundred and sixteen millions of dollars, and our
+imports one hundred and forty millions.  It is not too much to assign
+seventy-five millions of these imports to the state of New York.  The
+South furnishes on an average two-thirds of the whole value of the
+_exports_.  It is fair, therefore, to say, that two-thirds of the
+_imports_ are consumed in the South, that is, fifty millions.  The
+mercantile profit on fifty millions of merchandise, added to the agency
+and factorage of the Southern products transmitted to pay for them, will
+be at least twenty per cent.  That is, New York is gainer by the South,
+of at least ten millions of dollars annually; for the traffic is not
+likely to decrease after the present year.  No wonder `her merchants are
+like princes!'  Sever the Union, and what becomes of them!
+
+"3.  The army, the navy, the departments of government, are supported by
+a revenue obtained from the indirect taxation of custom-house entries,
+the most fraudulent and extravagant mode of taxation known.  Of this the
+South pays two-thirds.  What will become of the system if the South be
+driven away!
+
+"4.  The banking system of the Northern states is founded mainly on the
+traffic and custom of the South.  Withdraw that for one twelve-month,
+and the whole banking system of the North"
+
+  -- tumbles all precipitate
+  Down dash'd.
+
+"Suppose even one state withdrawn from the Union, would not the
+pecuniary intercourse with Europe be paralysed at once?
+
+"5.  The South even now are the great consumers of New England
+manufactures.  We take her cotton, her woollen goods, her boots and
+shoes.  These last form an item of upwards of fourteen millions
+annually, manufactured at the North.  Much also of her iron ware comes
+to the South; many other `notions' are sent among us, greatly to the
+advantage of that wise people, who know better the value of small gains
+and small savings than we do.
+
+"6.  What supports the shipping of the North but her commerce; and of
+her commerce two-thirds is Southern commerce.  Nor is her _commerce_ in
+any manner or degree _necessary_ to the South; _Europe_ manufactures
+what the _South wants_, and the _South_ raises what Europe _wants_.
+Between Europe and the South there is not and cannot be any competition,
+for there is no commercial or manufacturing, of territorial interference
+to excite jealousies between them.  We want not the North.  _We can do
+without the North_, if we separate to-morrow.  We can find carriers and
+purchasers of _all we have to sell_, and of _all we wish to buy_,
+without casting one glance to the North.
+
+"7.  The North seems to have a strange inclination to quarrel with
+England.  The late war of 1812 to 1814 was a war for Northern claims and
+Northern interests, now we are in jeopardy from the unjust interference
+in favour of the patriots of Canada; and a dispute is threatened on
+account of the north-eastern boundary.  The manufacturing and commercial
+interferences of the north with Europe will always remain a possible, if
+not a probable, source of disputes.  The _North_ raises what _Europe_
+raises; commercially they need not each other--they are two of a trade,
+they raise not what each other wants--they are _rivals_ and
+_competitors_ when they go to war.  Does not the South, who is not
+interested in it, pay most part of the expense, and is not the war
+expenditure applied to the benefit of the North?  Sever, if you please,
+the Union, and the North will have to pay the whole expense of her own
+quarrels.
+
+"8.  Our system of domestic servitude is a great eye-sore to the
+fanatics of the North.  But there are very many wise and honest men in
+the North; ay, even in Massachusetts.  I ask of these gentlemen, does
+not at least one-third of the labour produce of every Southern slave
+ultimately lodge in the purse of the North!  If the South works for
+itself it works also for the Northern merchant, and views his prosperity
+without grudging.
+
+"9.  Nor is it a trifling article of gain that arises from the
+expenditure of southern visitors and southern travellers, who spend
+their summers and their money in the north.  The quarrelsome rudeness of
+northern society is fast diminishing this source of expenditure among
+us.  Sever the Union, and we relinquish it altogether.  We can go to
+London, Paris, or Rome, as cheaply and as pleasantly as to Saratoga or
+Niagara.
+
+"Such are some of the advantages which the north derives from a
+continuance of that union which her fanatic population is so desirous to
+sever.  A population with whom peace, humanity, mercy, oaths, contracts,
+and compacts, pass for nothing--whose promises and engagements are as
+chaff before the wind--to whom bloodshed, robbery, assassination, and
+murder, are objects of placid contemplation--whose narrow creed of
+bigotry supersedes all the obligations, of morality, and all the
+commands of positive law.  With such men what valid compact can be made?
+The appeal must be to those who think that a deliberate compact is
+mutually binding on parties of any and every religious creed.  To such
+men I appeal, and ask, ought you not resolutely to restore peace, and
+give the south confidence and repose?
+
+"I have now lived twenty years in South Carolina, and have had much
+intercourse with her prominent and leading men; not a man among them is
+ignorant how decidedly in most respects, the south would gain by a
+severance from the north, and how much more advantageous is this union
+to the north than to the south.  But I am deeply, firmly persuaded that
+there is not one man in South Carolina that would move one step toward a
+separation, on account of the superior advantages the north derives from
+the union.  No southern is actuated by these pecuniary feelings; no
+southern begrudges the north her prosperity.  Enjoy your advantages,
+gentlemen of the north, and much good may they do ye, as they have
+hitherto.  But if these unconstitutional abolition attacks upon us, in
+utter defiance of the national compact, are to be continued, God forbid
+this union should last another year.
+
+"I am, sir, your obedient servant,
+
+"Thomas Cooper."
+
+"Many fine looking districts were pointed out to me in Virginia,
+formerly rich in tobacco and Indian corn, which had been completely
+exhausted by the production of crops for the maintenance of the slaves.
+In thickly peopled countries, where the great towns are at hand, the
+fertility of such soils may be recovered and even improved by manuring,
+but over the tracts of country I now speak of, no such advantages are
+within the farmer's reach."--_Captain Hall_.
+
+"Many, very many, with whom I met, would willingly have released their
+slaves, but the law requires that in such cases they should leave the
+state; and this would mostly be not to improve their condition, but to
+banish them from their home, and to make them miserable outcasts.  What
+they cannot at present remove, they are anxious to mitigate, and I have
+never seen kinder attention paid to any domestics than by such persons
+to their slaves.  In defiance of the infamous laws, making it criminal
+for the slave to be taught to read, and difficult to assemble for an act
+of worship, they are instructed, and they are assisted to worship
+God."--_Rev  Mr Reid_.
+
+"The law declares the children of slaves are to follow the fortunes of
+the mother.  Hence the practice of planters selling and bequeathing
+their own children."--_Miss Martineau_.
+
+The return at present is very great in these western states; the labour
+of a slave, after all his expenses are paid, producing on an average 300
+dollars (65 pounds) per annum to his master.
+
+
+
+VOLUME THREE, CHAPTER FORTY THREE.
+
+REMARKS--RELIGION IN AMERICA.
+
+In theory nothing appears more rational than that every one should
+worship the Deity according to his own ideas--form his own opinion as to
+his attributes, and draw his own conclusions as to hereafter.  An
+established Church _appears_ to be a species of coercion, not that you
+are obliged to believe in, or follow that form of worship, but that, if
+you do not, you lose your portion of certain advantages attending that
+form of religion, which has been accepted by the majority and adopted by
+the government.  In religion, to think for yourself wears the semblance
+of a luxury, and like other luxuries, it is proportionably taxed.
+
+And yet it would appear as if it never were intended that the mass
+should think for themselves, as everything goes on so quietly when other
+people think for them, and everything goes so wrong when they do think
+for themselves: in the first instance where a portion of the people
+think for the mass, all are of one opinion; whereas in the second, they
+divide and split into many molecules, that they resemble the globules of
+water when expanded by heat, and like them are in a state of
+restlessness and excitement.
+
+That the partiality shown to an established church creates some
+bitterness of feeling is most true, but being established by law, is it
+not the partiality shown for the legitimate over the illegitimate?  All
+who choose may enter into its portals, and if the people will remain out
+of doors of their own accord, ought they to complain that they have no
+house over their heads.  They certainly have a right to remain out of
+doors if they please, but whether they are justified in complaining
+afterward is another question.  Perhaps the unreasonableness of the
+demands of the dissenters in our own country will be better brought home
+to them by my pointing out the effects of the voluntary system in the
+United States.
+
+In America every one worships the Deity after his own fashion; not only
+the mode of worship, but even the Deity itself, varies.  Some worship
+God, some Mammon; some admit, some deny, Christ; some deny both God and
+Christ; some are saved by living prophets only; some go to heaven by
+water, while some dance their way upwards.  Numerous as are the sects,
+still are the sects much subdivided.  Unitarians are not in unity as to
+the portion of divinity they shall admit to our Saviour; flap-fists, as
+to the precise quantity of water necessary to salvation; even the
+Quakers have split into controversy, and the men of peace are at open
+war in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love.
+
+The following is the table of the religious denominations of the United
+States, from the American Almanac of 1838:
+
+TABLE OF THE RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES
+
++==================+=========+==========+========+=========+
+Y                  YCongreg- YMinisters YCommun- YPopul-   Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+Y                  Yations   Y          Yicants  Yation    Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YBaptists          Y    6,319Y     4,239Y452,000}Y         Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YFreewillers       Y      753Y       612Y38,876} Y4,300,000Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YSeventh Day       Y       42Y        46Y4,503}  Y         Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YSix Principle     Y       16Y        16Y2,117}  Y         Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YRoman Catholics   Y      433Y       389Y        Y  800,000Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YChristians        Y    1,000Y       800Y 150,000Y  300,000Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YCongregationalistsY    1,300Y     1,150Y 160,000Y1,400,000Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YDutch Reformed    Y      197Y       192Y  22,215Y  450,000Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YEpiscopalians     Y      850Y       899Y        Y  600,000Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YFriends           Y      500Y          Y        Y  100,000Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YGerman Reformed   Y      600Y       180Y  30,000Y         Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YJews              Y         Y          Y        Y   15,000Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YLutherans         Y      750Y       257Y  62,226Y  540,000Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YMennonites        Y      200Y          Y  30,000Y         Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YWesleyans         Y         Y     2,764Y650,103}Y         Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YProtestants       Y         Y       400Y50,000} Y2,000,000Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YMoravians         Y       24Y        33Y   5,745Y   12,000Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YMormonites        Y         Y          Y  12,000Y   12,000Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YN Jerusalem ChurchY       27Y        33Y        Y    5,000Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YPresbyterians     Y    2,807Y     2,225Y274,084}Y         Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YCumberland        Y      500Y       450Y50,000} Y         Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YAssociate         Y      183Y        87Y16,000} Y2,175,000Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YReformed          Y       40Y        20Y3,000}  Y         Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YAssociate ReformedY      214Y       116Y12,000} Y         Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YShakers           Y       15Y        45Y   6,000Y         Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YTunkers           Y       40Y        40Y   3,000Y   30,000Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YUnitarians        Y      200Y       174Y        Y  180,000Y
++------------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+
+YUniversalists     Y      653Y       317Y        Y  600,000Y
++==================+=========+==========+========+=========+
+
+In this list many varieties of sects are blended into one.  For
+instance, the Baptists, who are divided; also the Friends, who have been
+separated into Orthodox and Hicksite, the Camelites, etcetera, etcetera.
+But it is not worth while to enter into a detail of the numerous minor
+sects, or we might add Deists, Atheists, etcetera.--for even _no_
+religion is a species of _creed_.  It must be observed, that, according
+to this table, out of the whole population of the United States, there
+are only 1,983,905, (with the exception of the Catholics, who are
+Communicants,) that is, who have openly professed any creed; the numbers
+put down as the population of the different creeds are wholly
+suppositions.  How can it be otherwise, when people have not professed?
+It is computed, that in the census of 1840 the population of the States
+will have increased to 18,000,000, so that it may be said that only one
+ninth portion have professed and openly avowed themselves Christians.
+
+Religion may, as to its consequences, be considered under two heads: as
+it affects the future welfare of the individual when he is summoned to
+the presence of the Deity, and as it affects society in general, by
+acting upon the moral character of the community.  Now, admitting the
+right of every individual to decide whether he will follow the usual
+beaten track, or select for himself a by-path for his journey upward, it
+must be acknowledged that the results of this free-will are, in a moral
+point of view, as far as society is concerned, any thing but
+satisfactory.
+
+It would appear as if the majority were much too frail and weak to go
+alone upon their heavenly journey; as if they required the support, the
+assistance, the encouragement, the leaning upon others who are
+journeying with them, to enable them successfully to gain the goal.  The
+effects of an established church are to cement the mass, cement society
+and communities, and increase the force of those natural ties by which
+families and relations are bound together.  There is an attraction of
+cohesion in an uniform religious worship, acting favourably upon the
+morals of the mass, and binding still more closely those already united.
+Now, the voluntary system in America has produced the very opposite
+effects; it has broken one of the strongest links between man and man,
+for each goeth his own way: as a nation, there is no national feeling to
+be acted upon; in society, there is something wanting, and you ask
+yourself what is it? and in families it often creates disunion: I know
+one among many others, who, instead of going together to the same house
+of prayer, disperse as soon as they are out of the door: one daughter to
+an Unitarian chapel, another to a Baptist, the parents to the Episcopal,
+the sons, any where, or no where.  But worse effects are produced than
+even these: where any one is allowed to have his own peculiar way of
+thinking, his own peculiar creed, there neither is a watch, nor a right
+to watch over each other; there is no mutual communication, no
+encouragement, no parental control; and the consequence is, that by the
+majority, especially the young, religion becomes wholly and utterly
+disregarded.
+
+Another great evil, arising from the peculiarity of the voluntary system
+is, that in any of the principal sects the power has been wrested from
+the clergy and assumed by the laity, who exercise an inquisition most
+injurious to the cause of religion: and to such an excess of tyranny is
+this power exercised, that it depends upon the _laity_, and not upon the
+_clergy_, whether any individual shall or shall not be admitted as a
+_communicant_ at the table of our Lord.
+
+Miss Martineau may well inquire, "How does the existing state of
+religion accord with the promise of its birth?  In a country which
+professes to every man the pursuit of happiness in his own way, what is
+the state of his liberty in the most private and individual of all
+concerns?"
+
+Referring to religious instruction, Mr Carey in his work attempts to
+prove the great superiority of religious instruction and church
+accommodation in America, as compared with those matters in this
+country.  He draws his conclusions from the number of churches built and
+provided for the population in each.  Like most others of his
+conclusions, they are drawn from false premises: he might just as well
+argue upon the number of horses in each country, from the number of
+horse-ponds he might happen to count in each.  In the first place, the
+size of the churches must be considered, and their ability to
+accommodate the population; and on this point, the question is greatly
+in favour of England; for, with the exception of the cities and large
+towns, the churches scattered about the hamlets and large towns are
+small even to ridicule, built of clap-boards, and so light that, if on
+wheels, two pair of English post-horses would trot them away, to meet
+the minister.
+
+Mr Carey also finds fault with the sites of our churches as being
+unfortunate in consequence of the change of population.  There is some
+truth in this remark: but our churches being built of brick and stone
+cannot be so easily removed; and it happens that the sites of the
+majority of the American churches are equally unfortunate, not as in our
+case, from the population having _left_ them, but from the population
+not having _come_ to them.  You may pass in one day a dozen towns having
+not above twenty or thirty private houses, although you will invariably
+find in each an hotel, a bank, and churches of two or three
+denominations, built as a speculation, either by those who hold the
+ground lots or by those who have settled there, and as an inducement to
+others to come and settle.  The churches, as Mr Carey states, exist,
+but the congregations have not arrived; while you may, at other times,
+pass over many miles without finding a place of worship for the spare
+population.  I have no hesitation in asserting, not only that our 12,000
+churches and cathedrals will hold a larger number of people than the
+20,000 stated by Mr Carey to be erected in America, but that as many
+people, (taking into consideration the difference of the population,) go
+to our 12,000, as to the 20,000 in the United States.
+
+Neither is Mr Carey correct when he would insinuate that the attention
+given by the people in America to religious accommodation is greater
+than with us.  It is true, that more churches, such as they are, are
+built in America; but paying an average of 12,000 pounds for a church
+built of brick or stone in England, is a very different thing from
+paying 12,000 dollars for a clap-board and shingle affair in America,
+and which, compared with those of brick and mortar, are there in the
+proportion of ten to one.  And further, the comparative value of church
+building in America is very much lowered by the circumstance that they
+are compelled to multiply them, to provide for the immense variety of
+creeds which exist under the _voluntary_ system.  When people in a
+community are all of one creed, one church is sufficient; but if they
+are of different persuasions, they must, as they do in America, divide
+the one large church into four little ones.  It is not fair, therefore,
+for Mr Carey to count _churches_.
+
+[Note.  "We know also that large sums are expended annually for the
+building of churches or places of worship, which in cities cost from
+10,000 to 100,000 dollars each; and in the country from 500 to 5,000
+dollars."--_Voice from America, by an American Gentleman_.  [What must
+be the size of a church which costs 500 dollars?]]
+
+But, although I will not admit the conclusions drawn from Mr Carey's
+premises, nor that, as he would attempt to prove, the Americans are a
+more religious people than the English, I am not only ready, but anxious
+to do justice to the really religious portion of its inhabitants.  I
+believe that in no other country is there more zeal shown by its various
+ministers, zeal even to the sacrifice of life; that no country sends out
+more zealous missionaries; that no country has more societies for the
+diffusion of the gospel and that in no other country in the world are
+larger sums subscribed for the furtherance of those praise-worthy
+objects as in the Eastern States of America.  I admit all this, and
+admit it with pleasure; for I know it to be a fact: I only regret to add
+that in no other country are such strenuous exertions so incessantly
+required to stem the torrent of atheism and infidelity, which so
+universally exists in this.  Indeed this very zeal, so ardent on the
+part of the ministers, and so aided by the well-disposed of the laity,
+proves that what I have just now asserted is, unfortunately, but too
+true.
+
+It is not my intention to comment upon the numerous sects, and the
+varieties of worship practised in the United States.  The Episcopal
+church is small in proportion to the others, and as far as I can
+ascertain, although it may increase its members with the increase of
+population, it is not likely to make any vigorous or successful stand
+against the other sects.  The two churches most congenial to the
+American feelings and institutions are the Presbyterian and
+Congregationalist.
+
+"The Congregationalists answer to the Independents of England and are
+sympathetically, and to a great extent, lineally descendants of the
+Puritans."--_Voice from America_, p. 62.
+
+They may, indeed, in opposition to the hierarchy of the Episcopal, be
+considered as Republican churches; and admitting that many errors have
+crept into the established church from its too intimate union with the
+State, I think it will be proved that, in rejecting its errors and the
+domination of the mitre, the seceders have fallen into still greater
+evils; and have, for the latter, substituted a despotism to which every
+thing, even religion itself, must in America succumb.
+
+In a republic, or democracy, the people will rule in every thing: in the
+Congregational church they rule as deacons; in the Presbyterian as
+elders.  Affairs are litigated and decided in committees and councils,
+and thus is the pastoral office deprived of its primitive and legitimate
+influence, and the ministers are tyrannised over by the laity, in the
+most absurd and most unjustifiable manner.  If the minister does not
+submit to their decisions, if he asserts his right as a minister to
+preach the word according to his reading of it, he is arraigned and
+dismissed.  In short, although sent for to instruct the people, he must
+consent to be instructed by them, or surrender up his trust.  Thus do
+the ministers lose all their dignity and become the slaves of the
+congregation, who give them their choice, either to read the Scriptures
+according to _their_ reading, or to go and starve.  I was once
+canvassing this question with an American, who pronounced that the laity
+were quite right, and that it was the duty of the minister to preach as
+his congregation wished.  His argument was this:--"If I send to
+Manchester for any article to be manufactured, I expect it to be made
+exactly after the pattern given; if not, I will not take it: so it is
+with the minister: he must find goods exactly suited to his customers,
+or expect them to be left on his hands!"
+
+And it really would appear as if such were the general opinion in the
+United States.  Mr Colton, an American minister, who turned from the
+Presbyterian to the Episcopal church, in his "Reasons for Episcopacy,"
+makes the following remarks:--
+
+[I must request the reader's forbearance at the extreme length of the
+quotations, but I cannot well avoid making them.  Whatever weight my
+opinion, as the opinion of an observant traveller may have, it must
+naturally be much increased if supported, as it always is when
+opportunity offers, by _American_ authority.]
+
+Speaking of the deacons and elders of their churches, he says--"They may
+be honest and good men, and very pious: but in most churches they are
+men of little intellectual culture; and the less they have, the more
+confident and unbending are they in their opinions.  If a minister
+travels an inch beyond the circle of their vision in theology, or
+startles them with a new idea in his interpretation of Scripture, it is
+not unlikely that their suspicions of his orthodoxy will be awakened.
+If he does any thing out of the common course, he is an innovator.  If,
+from the multiplicity of his cares and engagements, he is now and then
+obliged to preach an old sermon, or does not visit so much as might be
+expected, he is lazy.  For these and for other delinquencies, as
+adjudged by these associates, it becomes their conscientious duty to
+admonish him.  He who is appointed to supervise the flock, is himself
+supervised.  `I have a charge to give you,' said a deacon to me once,
+the first time and the moment I was introduced to him, after I had
+preached one or two Sabbaths in the place, and, as it happened, it was
+the first word he said after we shook hands, adding, `I often give
+charges to ministers.'  I knew him to be an important man, and the first
+in the church; but as I had nothing at stake there that depended on his
+favour, I could not resist the temptation of replying to him in view of
+his consequential airs, `You may use your discretion, sir, in this
+particular instance; but I can tell you that ministers are sometimes
+overcharged.'  However, I did not escape.
+
+"The American clergy are the most backward and timid class in the
+society in which they live; self-exiled from the great moral question of
+the time; the least informed with true knowledge--the least efficient in
+virtuous action--the least conscious of that Christian and republican
+freedom which, as the native atmosphere of piety and holiness, it is
+their prime duty to cherish and diffuse,"--_Miss Martineau._ I quote
+this paragraph to _contradict it_.  The American clergy are, in the
+mass, equal, if not superior, to any in the world: they have to struggle
+with difficulties almost insurmountable, (as I shall substantiate) and
+worthily do they perform their tasks.
+
+"It seems to be a principle in Presbyterian and Congregational churches,
+that the minister must be overlooked by the elders and deacons; and if
+he does not quietly submit to their rule, his condition will be
+uncomfortable.  He may also expect visitations from _women_ to instruct
+him in his duty; at least, they will contrive to convey to him their
+opinions.  It is said of Dr Bellamy, of Bethlehem, Connecticut, who was
+eminently a peace-maker, and was always sent for by all the churches in
+the country around, or a great distance, to settle their difficulties,
+that having just returned from one of these errands, and put up his
+horse, another message of the same kind came from another quarter--`And
+what is the matter?' said the Doctor to the messenger.  `Why,' said he,
+`Deacon has--' `Has--that's enough--There never is a difficulty in a
+church, but some old deacon is at the bottom of it.'
+
+"Unquestionably, it is proper, wise, and prudent, for every minister to
+watch and consult the popular opinion around him, in relation to
+himself, his preaching, and his conduct.  But, if a minister is worthy
+to be the pastor of a people, he is also worthy of some confidence, and
+ought to receive deference.  In his own proper work he may be helped, he
+may be sustained, but he cannot be instructed by his people; he cannot
+in general be instructed by the wisest of them.  Respectful and kind
+hints from competent persons he may receive, and should court--he may
+profit by them.  But, if he is a man fit for his place, he should retain
+that honour that will leave him scope, and inspire him with courage to
+act a manly part.  A Christian pastor can never fulfil his office, and
+attain its highest ends, without being free to act among his people
+according to the light of his conscience and his best discretion.  To
+have elders and deacons to rule over him, is to be a slave--is not to be
+a man.  The responsibilities, cares, burdens, and labours of the
+pastoral office are enough, without being impeded and oppressed by such
+anxieties as these.  In the early history of New England, a
+non-conformist minister, from the old country, is represented to have
+said, after a little experience on this side of the water, `I left
+England to get rid of my lords the bishops; but here I find in their
+place my lords, the brethren and sisters; save me from the latter, and
+let me have the former.'
+
+"It has actually happened--within a few years--in New England, and I
+believe in other parts of the country, that there has been a system of
+lay visitation of the clergy for the purpose of counselling,
+admonishing, and urging them up to their duty; and that these
+self-commissioned apostles, two and two, have gone from town to town,
+and from district to district of the country, making inquisition at the
+mouth of common rumour, and by such methods as might be convenient, into
+the conduct and fidelity of clergymen whom they never saw; and, having
+exhausted their means of information, have made their way into the
+closets of their adopted proteges; to advise, admonish, pray with, and
+for them; according as they might need.  Having fulfilled their office,
+they have renewed their march, `staff and script,' in a straightforward
+way, to the next parish, in the assigned round of their visitations, to
+enact the same scene, and so on till their work was done.
+
+"Of course, they were variously received; though, for the most part, I
+believe they have been treated civilly, and their title to this
+enterprise not openly disputed.  There has been an unaccountable
+submission to things of this kind, proving indeed that the ministers
+thus visited were not quite manly enough; or that a public opinion,
+authorising these transactions, had obtained too extensive a sway in
+their own connexion, and among their people, to be resisted.  By many,
+doubtless, it was regarded as one of the hopeful symptoms of this age of
+religious experiment.
+
+"I have heard of one reception of these lay apostles, which may not be
+unworthy of record.  One pair of them--for they went forth `two and
+two,' and thus far were conformed to scripture--both of them mechanics,
+and one a shoemaker, having abandoned their calling to engage in this
+enterprise, came upon a subject who was not well disposed to recognise
+their commission.  They began to talk with him: `We have come to stir
+you up.'--`How is the shoe business in your city?' said the clergyman to
+the shoemaker, who was the speaker: for it was a city from which they
+came.  The shoemaker looked vacant, and stared at the question, as if he
+thought it not very pertinent to his errand; and, after a little pause,
+proceeded in the discharge of his office: `We have come to give your
+church a shaking.'--`Is the market for shoes good?' said the clergyman.
+Abashed at this apparent obliquity, the shoemaker paused again; and
+again went on in like manner.  To which the clergyman: `Your business is
+at a stand, sir, I presume; I suppose you have nothing to do.'  And so
+the dialogue went on; the shoemaker confining himself to his duty, and
+the clergyman talking only of shoes: in varied and constantly-shifting
+colloquy, till the perverse and wicked pertinacity of the latter
+discouraged the former; and the shoemaker and his brother took up their
+hats, `to shake off the dust of their feet,' and turn away to a more
+hopeful subject.  The clergyman bowed them very civilly out of doors,
+expressing his wish, as they departed, that the shoe business might soon
+revive.  Of course, these lay apostles, in this instance, were
+horror-struck; and it cannot be supposed they were much inclined to
+leave their blessing behind them.
+
+"I believe I do not mistake in expressing the conviction that there are
+hundreds, not to say thousands, of the Presbyterian and Congregational
+clergy, who will sympathise with me thoroughly in these strictures on
+the encroachments of the laity upon pastoral prerogative; who groan
+under it; who feel that it ought to be rebuked and corrected, but
+despair of it; and who know that their usefulness is abridged by it to
+an account that cannot be estimated."
+
+[The Reverend Mr Reid mentions a very whimsical instance of the
+interference of the laity in every possible way.  He says, that being at
+church one Sabbath, there was one reverend old man, certainly a leader
+among them, who literally, as the preacher went on with his sermon, kept
+up a sort of recitation with him as, for instance, the preacher
+continuing his sermon--
+
+The duty here inferred is, to deny ourselves--
+
+_Elder_.  And enable us to do it.
+
+_Preacher_.  It supposes that the carnal mind is enmity against God--
+
+_Elder_.  Ah, indeed, Lord, it is.
+
+_Preacher_.  The very reverse of what God would have us to be--
+
+_Elder_.  God Almighty knows it's true.
+
+_Preacher_.  How necessary, then, that God should call upon us to
+renounce everything--
+
+_Elder_.  God help us!
+
+_Preacher_.  Is it necessary for me to say more?
+
+_Elder_.  No--oh--no!
+
+_Preacher_.  Have I not said enough?
+
+_Elder_.  Oh, yes, quite enough.
+
+_Preacher_.  I rejoice that God calls me to give up every thing--
+
+_Elder_.  Yes, Lord, I would let it all go.
+
+_Preacher_.  You _must_ give up all--
+
+_Elder_.  Yes--all.
+
+_Preacher_.  Your pride--
+
+_Elder_.  My pride.
+
+_Preacher_.  Your envy.
+
+_Elder_.  My envy.
+
+_Preacher_.  Your covetousness--
+
+_Elder_.  My covetousness.
+
+_Preacher_.  Your anger.
+
+_Elder_.  Yes--my anger.
+
+_Preacher_.  Sinner, then; how awful is your condition!
+
+_Elder_.  How awful!
+
+_Preacher_.  What reason for all to examine themselves.
+
+_Elder_.  Lord, help us to search our hearts!
+
+_Preacher_.  Could you have more motives?  I have done.
+
+_Elder_.  Thank God.--Thank God for his holy word.  Amen.]
+
+"It can hardly be denied, I think, that the prevalence of this spirit
+has greatly increased within a few years, and become a great and
+alarming evil.  This increase is owing, no doubt, to the influence and
+new practices introduced into the religious world by a certain class of
+ministers, who have lately risen and taken upon themselves to rebuke,
+and set down as unfaithful, all other ministers who do not conform to
+their new ways, or sustain them in their extravagant career."
+
+The interference, I may say the tyranny, of the laity over the ministers
+of these democratic churches is, however, of still more serious
+consequences to those who accept such arduous and repulsive duty.  It is
+a well-known fact, that there is a species of _bronchitis_, or affection
+of the lungs, peculiar to the ministers in the United States, arising
+from their excessive labours in their vocation.  I have already
+observed, that the zeal of the minister is even unto death: the
+observations of Mr Colton fully bear me out in my assertion:--
+
+"There is another serious evil in the Presbyterian and Congregational
+denominations, which has attained to the consequence of an active and
+highly influential element in these communities.  I refer to the
+excessive amount of labour that is demanded of the clergy, which is
+undermining their health, and sending scores to their graves every year,
+long before they ought to go there.  It is a new state of things, it
+must be acknowledged, and might seem hopeful of good, that great labours
+and high devotion to the duties of the Christian ministry in our country
+will not only be tolerated, but are actually demanded and imperatively
+exacted.  At first glance, it is a most grateful feature.  But, when the
+particulars come to be inquired into, it will be found that the mind and
+health-destroying exactions now so extensively made on the energies of
+the American clergy, particularly on these two classes I am now
+considering, are attributable, almost entirely, to an appetite for
+certain novelties, which have been introduced within a few years, adding
+greatly to the amount of ministerial labour, without augmenting its
+efficiency, but rather detracting from it.  Sermons and meetings without
+end, and in almost endless variety, are expected and demanded; and a
+proportionate demand is made on the intellect, resources, and physical
+energies of the preacher.  He must be as much more interesting in his
+exercises, and exhibitions as the increased multiplicity of public
+religious occasions tend to pall on the appetite of hearers.  Protracted
+meetings from day to day, and often from week to week, are making
+demands upon ministers, which no human power can sustain and, where
+these are dispensed with, it is often necessary to introduce something
+tantamount, in other forms, to satisfy the suggestions and wishes of
+persons so influential as to render it imprudent not to attempt to
+gratify them.  In the soberest congregations, throughout nearly all
+parts of the land, these importunate, and, without unkindness, I am
+disposed to add, morbid minds are to be found, often in considerable
+numbers.  Almost everywhere, in order to maintain their ground and
+satisfy the taste of the times, labours are demanded of ministers in
+these two denominations enough to kill any man in a short period.  It is
+as if Satan had come into the world in the form of an angel of light,
+seeming to be urging on a good work, but pushing it so hard as to
+destroy the labourers by over exaction.
+
+"The wasting energies--the enfeebled, ruined health--the frequent
+premature deaths--the failing of ministers in the Presbyterian and
+Congregational connexions from these causes all over the country, almost
+as soon as they have begun to work--all which is too manifest not to be
+seen, which everybody feels that takes any interest in this subject, are
+principally, and with few exceptions, owing to the unnecessary
+exorbitant demands on their intellectual powers, their moral and
+physical energies.  And the worst of it is, we not only have no
+indemnification for this amazing, immense sacrifice, by a real
+improvement of the state of religion, but the public mind is vitiated:
+an unnatural appetite for spurious excitements, all tending to
+fanaticism, and not a little of it the essence of fanaticism, is created
+and nourished.  The interests of religion in the land are actually
+thrown backward.  It is a fever, a disease which nothing but time,
+pains, and a change of system can cure.  A great body of the most
+talented, best educated, most zealous, most pious, and purest Christian
+ministers in the country--not to disparage any others--a body which in
+all respects will bear an advantageous comparison with any of their
+class in the world, is threatened to be enervated, to become sickly, to
+have their minds wasted, and their lives sacrificed out of season, and
+with real loss to the public, by the very means which prostrates them,
+even though we should leave out of the reckoning the premature end to
+which they are brought.  This spectacle, at this moment before the eyes
+of the wide community, is enough to fill the mind of an enlightened
+Christian with dismay.  I have myself been thrown ten years out of the
+stated use of the ministry by this very course, and may, therefore, be
+entitled to feel and to speak on the subject.  And when I see my
+brethren fallen and falling around me, like the slain in battle, the
+plains of our land literally covered with these unfortunate victims, I
+am constrained to express a most earnest desire, that some adequate
+remedy may be applied."
+
+It is no matter of surprise, then, that I heard the ministers at the
+camp meeting complain of the excess of their labours, and the difficulty
+of obtaining young men to enter the church; [The Rev  Mr Reid
+observes, speaking of the Congregationalists, "When I rose to support
+his resolution, as requested, all were generously attentive.  At the
+close I alluded emphatically to one fact in the report, which was, That
+out of 4,500 churches there were 2,000 not only void of educated
+pastors, but void of pastors, and I insisted that, literally, they ought
+not to sleep on such a state of things."--_Reid and Matheson's Tour_]
+who, indeed, unless actuated by a holy zeal, would submit to such a life
+of degradation? what man of intellect and education could submit to be
+schooled by shoemakers and mechanics, to live poor, and at the mercy of
+tyrants, and drop down dead like the jaded and over laden beast from
+excess of fatigue and exertion?  Let me again quote the same author:
+
+"It is these excessive, multitudinous, and often long _protracted_
+religious occasions, together with the spirit that is in them, which
+have been for some years breaking up and breaking down the clergy of
+this land?  It has been breaking them _up_.  It is commonly observed,
+that a new era has lately come over the Christian congregations of our
+country in regard to the permanence of the pastoral relation.  Times
+was, in the memory of those now living, when the settlement of a
+minister was considered of course a settlement for life.  But now, as
+every body knows, this state of things is entirely broken up; and it is,
+perhaps, true that, on an average, the clergy of this country do not
+remain more than five years in the same place."  ["I was sorry to find
+that, in this part of the State, the ministers are so frequently
+changing the scene of their pastoral labours.  The fault may sometimes
+be in themselves: but from conversations I have heard on the subject, I
+am inclined to believe that the _people_ are fond of a change."--_Rev
+Mr Reid_] And it is impossible they should, in the present state of
+things.  They could not stand it.  So numerous are their engagements; so
+full of anxiety is their condition in a fevered state of the public mind
+acting upon them from all directions; so consuming are their labours in
+the study and in public, pressed and urged upon them by the demands of
+the time; and, withal, so fickle has the popular mind become under a
+system that is forever demanding some new and still more exciting
+measure--some new society--some new monthly or weekly meeting, which
+perhaps soon grows into a religious holiday--some special effort running
+through many days, sometimes lasting for weeks, calling for public
+labours of ministers, of the most exciting kind throughout each day,
+from the earliest hour of the morning to a late hour of night; for
+reasons and facts of this kind, so abundant, and now so obvious to the
+public, that they need only to be referred to, to be seen and
+appreciated, it is impossible that ministers should remain long in the
+same place.  Their mental and physical energies become exhausted, and
+they are compelled to change; first, because it is not in the power of
+man to satisfy the appetite for novelties which is continually and from
+all quarters making its insatiate demands upon them; and next; that, if
+possible, they may purchase a breathing time and a transient relief from
+the overwhelming pressure of their cares and labours.
+
+"But, alas! there is no relief: they are not only broken up, but they
+find themselves fast breaking down.  Wherever they go, there is the same
+demand for the same scene to be acted over.  There is--there can be--no
+stability in the pastoral relation, in such a state of the public mind:
+and, what is still more melancholy and affecting, the pastors themselves
+cannot endure it--they cannot live.  They are not only constantly
+fluctuating--literally afloat on the wide surface of the community--but
+their health is undermined--their spirits are sinking--and they are fast
+treading upon each others' heels to the grave, their only land of rest.
+
+"Never since the days of the apostles, was a country blessed with so
+enlightened, pious, orthodox, faithful, willing clergy, as the United
+States of America at this moment; and never did a ministry, so worthy of
+trust, have so little independence to act according to their conscience
+and best discretion.  They are literally the victims of a spiritual
+tyranny that has started up and burst upon the world in a new form--at
+least, with an extent of sway that has never been known.  It is an
+influence which comes up from the lowest conditions of life, which is
+vested in the most ignorant minds, and, therefore, the more unbending
+and uncontrollable.  It is an influence which has been fostered and
+blown into a wide-spread flame by a class of itinerating ministers, who
+have suddenly started up and overrun the land, decrying and denouncing
+all that have not yielded at once to their sway; by direct and open
+efforts shaking and destroying public confidence in the settled and more
+permanent ministry, leaving old paths and striking out new ones,
+demolishing old systems and substituting others, and disturbing and
+deranging the whole order of society as it had existed before.  And it
+is to this new state of things, so harassing, so destructive to health
+and life, that the regular ministry of this country (the best qualified,
+most pious, most faithful, and in all respects the most worthy Christian
+ministry that the church has ever enjoyed in any age) are made the
+victims.  They cannot resist it, they are overwhelmed by it."
+
+The fact is, that there is little or no healthy religion in their most
+numerous and influential churches; it is all excitement.  Twenty or
+thirty years back, the Methodists were considered as extravagantly
+frantic, but the Congregationalists and Presbyterians in the United
+States have gone far ahead of them; and the Methodist church in America
+has become to a degree Episcopal, and softened down into, perhaps, the
+most pure, most mild, and most simple of all the creeds professed.
+
+I have said that in these two churches the religious feeling was that of
+excitement: I believe it to be more or less the case in _all_ religion
+in America; for the Americans are a people who are prone to excitement,
+not only from their climate, but constitutionally, and it is the
+_caviare_ of their existence.  If it were not so, why is it necessary
+that revivals should be so continually called forth--a species of
+stimulus, common, I believe, to almost every sect and creed, promoted
+and practised in all their colleges, and considered as most important
+and salutary in their results.  Let it not be supposed that I am
+deprecating that which is to be understood by a revival, in the true
+sense of the word; not those revivals which were formerly held the
+benefit of all, and for the salvation of many: I am raising my voice
+against the modern system, which has been so universally substituted for
+the reality; such as has been so fully exposed by Bishop Hopkins, of
+Vermont, and, by Mr Colton, who says--
+
+"Religious excitements, called revivals of religion, have been a
+prominent feature in the history of this country from its earliest
+periods, more particularly within a hundred years and the agency of man
+has always had more or less to do in their management, or in their
+origination, or in both.  Formerly, in theory, (for man is naturally a
+philosopher, and will always have his theory for every event, and every
+fact,) they were regarded as Pentecostal seasons--as showers from
+heaven; with which this world below had nothing to do but to receive,
+and be refreshed by them as they came.  A whole community, or the great
+majority of them, absorbed in serious thoughts about eternal things,
+inquiring the way to heaven, and seeming intent on the attainment of
+that high and glorious condition, presents a spectacle as solemn as it
+is interesting to contemplate.  Such, doubtless, has been the condition
+of many communities in the early and later history of American revivals;
+and it is no less true that the fruits have been the turning of many to
+God and his ways.
+
+"The revivals of the present day are of a very different nature."  [The
+American clergymen are supported in their opinion on the present
+revivals and their consequences by Doctors Reid and Matheson, who,
+otherwise favourable to them, observe, "These revival preachers have
+denounced pastors with whom they could not compare, as dumb dogs,
+hypocrites, and formalists, leading their people to hell.  The
+consequences have been most disastrous.  Churches have become the sport
+of derision, distraction, and disorder.  Pastors have been made unhappy
+in their dearest connexions.  So extensive has been this evil, that, in
+one presbytery of nineteen churches, there were only three who had
+settled pastors; and in one synod, in 1832, of a hundred and three
+churches, only fifty-two had pastors."] "There are but two ways by which
+the mind of man can be brought to a proper sense of religion--one is by
+love, and the other by fear; and it is by the latter only that modern
+revivals become at all effective.  Bishop Hopkins says, very
+truly--`Have we any example in the preaching of Christ and his apostles,
+of the use of strong individual denunciation?  Is there one sentence in
+the word of inspiration to justify the attempt to excite the feelings of
+a public assembly, until every restraint of order is forgotten, and
+confusion becomes identified with the word of God."  ["The Primitive
+Church Compared," etcetera, by the Bishop of Vermont.] Yet such are the
+revivals of the present day, as practised in America.  Mr Colton calls
+them--"Those startling and astounding shocks which are constantly
+invented, artfully and habitually applied, under all the power of
+sympathy, and of a studied and enthusiastic elocution, by a large class
+of preachers among us.  To startle and to shock is their great secret--
+their power."
+
+The same author then proceeds:
+
+"Religion is a dread and awful theme in itself.  That is, as all must
+concede, there are revealed truths belonging to the category.  To invest
+these truths with terrors that do not belong to them, by bringing them
+out in distorted shapes and unnatural forms; to surprise a tender and
+unfortified mind by one of awful import, without exhibiting the
+corresponding relief which Christianity has provided; to frighten,
+shock, and paralyse the mind with alternations and scenes of horror,
+carefully concealing the ground of encouragement and hope, till reason
+is shaken and hurled from its throne, for the sake of gaining a convert,
+and in making a convert to make a maniac (as doubtless sometimes occurs
+under this mode of preaching, for we have the proof of it,) involves a
+fearful responsibility.  I have just heard of an interesting girl thus
+driven to distraction, in the city of New York, at the tender age of
+fourteen, by being approached by the preacher after a sermon of this
+kind, with a secretary by his side with a book and pen in his hand, to
+take down the names and answers of those who, by invitation, remained to
+be conversed with.  Having taken her name, the preacher asked, `Are you
+for God or the devil?'  Being overcome, her head depressed, and in
+tears, she made no reply.  `Put her down, then, in the devil's book,'
+said the preacher to his secretary.  From that time the poor girl became
+insane; and, in her simplicity and innocence, has been accustomed to
+tell the story of her misfortunes."
+
+And yet these revivals are looked up to and supported as the strong arm
+of religion.  It is not only the ignorant or the foolish, but the
+enlightened and the educated also, who support and encourage them,
+either from a consideration of their utility, or from that fear, so
+universal in the United States, of expressing an opinion contrary to the
+majority.  How otherwise could they be introduced once or twice a year
+into all the colleges, the professors of which are surely most of them
+men of education and strong mind?  Yet such is the fact.  It is
+announced that some minister, peculiarly gifted to work in revivals, is
+to come on a certain day.  Books are thrown on one side, study is
+abandoned, and ten days perhaps are spent in religious exercises of the
+most violent and exciting character.  It is a scene of strange
+confusion, some praying, some pretending to pray, some scoffing.  Day
+after day it is carried on, until the excitement is at its height, as
+the exhortations and the denunciations of the preacher are poured into
+their ears.  A young American who was at one of the colleges, and gave
+me a full detail of what had occurred, told me that on one occasion a
+poor lad, frightened out of his senses, and anxious to pray, as the
+vengeance and wrath of the Almighty was poured out by the minister, sunk
+down upon his knees and commenced his prayer with "Almighty and
+_diabolical_ God!"  No misnomer, if what the preacher had thundered out
+was the _truth_.
+
+As an example of the interference of the laity, and of the description
+of people who may be so authorised, the same gentleman told me that at
+one revival a deacon said to him previous to the meeting, "Now, Mr --,
+if you don't take advantage of this here revival and lay up a little
+salvation for your soul, all I can say is, that you ought to have your
+(something) confoundedly well kicked."
+
+What I have already said on this subject will, I think, establish two
+points, first, that the voluntary system does not work well for society;
+and secondly, that the ministers of the churches are treated with such
+tyranny and contumely, as to warrant the assertion, that in a country,
+like the United States, where a man may, in any other profession, become
+independent in a few years, the number of those who enter into the
+ministry must decrease at the very time that the population and demand
+for them will increase.
+
+We have now another question to be examined, and a very important one,
+which is:--Are those who worship under the voluntary system supplied at
+a cheaper rate than those of the established churches in this kingdom?
+
+I say this is an important question, as there is no doubt that one of
+the principal causes of dissenting has been the taxes upon religion in
+this country, and the wish, if it were attainable, of worshipping at
+free cost.  In entering into this question, there is no occasion to
+refer to any particular sect, as the system is much the same with them
+all, and is nearly as follows:
+
+Some pious and well disposed people of a certain persuasion, we will
+say, imagine that another church might, if it were built, be well filled
+with those of their own sect: and that, if it is not built, the
+consequences will be that many of their own persuasion will, from the
+habit of attending other churches, depart from those tenets which they
+are anxious should not only be retained by those who have embraced them,
+but as much as possible promulgated, so as to gather strength and make
+converts--for it should be borne in mind that the sectarian spirit is
+one great cause of the rapid church-building in America.  [Churches are
+also built upon speculation, as they sometimes are in England.] One is
+of Paul, another of Apollos.  They meet, and become the future deacons
+and elders, in all probability, to whom the minister has to bow; they
+agree to build a church at their own risque: they are not speculators,
+but religious people, who have not the least wish to make money, but who
+are prepared, if necessary, to lose it.
+
+Say then that a handsome church (I am referring to the cities) of brick
+or stone, is raised in a certain quarter of the city, and that it costs
+75,000 dollars.  When the interior is complete, and the pews are all
+built, they divide the whole cost of the church upon the pews, more or
+less value being put upon them according to their situations.  Allowing
+that there are two hundred pews, the one hundred most eligible being
+valued at five hundred dollars each; and the other one hundred inferior
+at two hundred and fifty dollars; these prices would pay the 75,000
+dollars, the whole expense of the church building.
+
+The pews are then put up to auction; some of the most eligible will
+fetch higher prices than the valuation, while some are sold below the
+valuation.  If all are not sold, the residue remains upon the hands of
+the parties who built the church, and who may for a time be out of
+pocket.  They have, however, to aid them, the extra price paid for the
+best pews, and the sale of the vaults for burial in the church-yard.
+Most of the pews being sold, the church is partly paid for.  The next
+point is to select a minister, and, after due trial, one is chosen.  If
+he be a man of eloquence and talent, and his doctrines acceptable to the
+many, the church fills, the remainder of the pews are sold, and so far
+the expenses of building the church are defrayed; but they have still to
+pay the salary of the minister, the heating and lighting of the church,
+the organist, and the vocalists: this is done by an assessment upon the
+pews, each pew being assessed according to the sum which it fetched when
+sold by auction.
+
+I will now give the exact expenses of an American gentleman in Boston,
+who has his pew in one of the largest churches.
+
+He purchased his pew at auction for seven hundred and fifty dollars, it
+being one of the best in the church.  The salaries of the most popular
+ministers vary from fifteen hundred to three or four thousand dollars.
+The organist receives about five hundred; the vocalists from two to
+three hundred dollars each.  To meet his share of these and the other
+expenses, the assessment of this gentleman is sixty-three dollars per
+annum.  Now, the interest of seven hundred and fifty dollars in America
+is forty-five dollars, and the assessment being sixty-three--one hundred
+and eight dollars per annum, or twenty-two pounds ten shillings sterling
+for his yearly expenses under the voluntary system.  This, of course,
+does not include the offerings of the plate, charity sermons, etcetera,
+all of which are to be added, and which will swell the sum, according to
+my friend's statement, to about thirty pounds per annum.  ["A great evil
+of our American churches is, their great respectability or
+exclusiveness.  Here, being of a large size and paid by Government, the
+church is open to all the citizens, with an equal right and equal chance
+of accommodation.  In ours, the dearness of pew-rent, especially in
+Episcopal and Presbyterian, turns poverty out of doors.  Poor people
+have a sense of shame, and I know many a one, who, because he cannot go
+to Heaven decently, will not go at all."--_Sketches of Paris by an
+American Gentleman_.]
+
+It does not appear by the above calculations that the voluntary system
+has cheapness to recommend it, when people worship in a respectable
+manner, as you might hire a house and farm of fifty acres in that State
+for the same rent which this gentleman pays for going to church; but it
+must also be recollected that it is quite optional and that those who do
+not go to church need not pay at all.
+
+It was not, however, until late years that such was the case.  In
+Massachusetts, and in most of the Eastern States, the system was not
+voluntary, and it is to this cause that may be ascribed the superior
+morality and reverence for religion still existing, although decaying,
+in these States.  By former enactments in Massachusetts, landowners in
+the country were compelled to contribute to the support of the church.
+
+Pews in cities or towns are mentioned in all deeds and wills as
+_personal_ property; but in the country, before the late Act, they were
+considered as _real_ estate.
+
+A pew was allotted each farm, and whether the proprietor occupied it or
+not, he was obliged to pay for it; but by an Act of the Massachusetts
+State legislature, passed within these few years, it was decided that no
+man should be compelled to pay for religion.  The consequence has been,
+that the farmers now refuse to pay for their pews, the churches are
+empty, and a portion of the clergy have been reduced to the greatest
+distress.  An itinerant ranter, who will preach in the open air, and
+send his hat round for cents, suits the farmers much better as it is
+much cheaper.  Certainly this does not argue much for the progressive
+advancement of religion, even in the moral State of Massachusetts.
+
+In other points the cause of morality has, till lately, been upheld in
+these Eastern States.  It was but the other day that a man was
+discharged from prison, who had been confined for disseminating
+atheistical doctrines.  It was, however, said at the time, that that was
+the last attempt that would ever be made by the authorities to imprison
+a man for liberty of conscience; and I believe that such will be the
+case.
+
+The _Boston Advocate_ says--"Abner Kneeland came out of prison
+yesterday, where he has been for sixty days, under the barbarous and
+bigoted law of Massachusetts, which imprisons men for freedom of
+opinions.  As was to have been expected, Kneeland's liberation was made
+a sort of triumph.  About three hundred persons assembled, and were
+addressed by him at the jail, and he was conveyed home in a barouche.
+During his persecution in prison, liberal sums of money have been sent
+to him.  How much has Christianity gained by this foul blot on the
+escutcheon of Massachusetts?"
+
+It is however worthy of remark, that those States that have _enforced_
+religion and morality, and have punished infidelity, [Miss Martineau
+complains of this as contrary to the unalienable rights of
+man:--"Instead of this we find laws framed against speculative atheists;
+opprobrium directed against such as embrace natural religion otherwise
+than through Christianity, and a yet more bitter oppression exercised by
+those who view Christianity in one way over those who regard it in
+another."] are now the most virtuous, the most refined, and the most
+intellectual, and are quoted as such by American authors, like Mr
+Carey, who by the help of Massachusetts alone can bring out his
+statistics to anything near the mark requisite to support his theories.
+
+It is my opinion that the voluntary system will never work well under
+any form of government, and still less so under a democracy.
+
+Those who live under a democracy have but one pursuit, but one object to
+gain, which is wealth.  No one can serve God and Mammon.  To suppose
+that a man who has been in such ardent pursuit of wealth, as is the
+American for six days in the week, can recall his attention and thoughts
+to serious points on the seventh, is absurd; you might as well expect
+him to forget his tobacco on Sunday.
+
+Under a democracy, therefore, you must look for religion among the
+women, not among the men, and such is found to be the case in the United
+States.  As Sam Slick very truly says, "It's only women who attend
+meeting: the men folks have their politics and trade to talk over and
+havn't _time_."  Even an established church would not make people as
+religious under a democratic form of government as it would under any
+other.  [Mrs Trollope observes, "A stranger taking up his residence in
+any city in America, must think the natives the most religious people
+upon earth."  This is very true; the _outward_ observances are very
+strict; why so will be better comprehended when the reader has finished
+my remarks upon the country.  The author of Mammon very truly observes,
+that the only vice which we can practise without being arraigned for it
+in this world, and at the same time go through the _forms_ of religion,
+is _covetousness_.]
+
+I have yet to point out how slander and defamation flourish under a
+democracy.  Now, this voluntary system, from the interference of the
+laity, who judge not only the minister, but the congregation, gives what
+appears to be a legitimate sanction to this tyrannical surveillance over
+the conduct and behaviour of others.  I really believe that the majority
+of men who go to church in America do so, not from zeal towards God, but
+from fear of their neighbours; and this very tyranny in the more
+established persuasions, is the cause of thousands turning away to other
+sects which are not subjected to scrutiny.  The Unitarian is in this
+point the most convenient, and is therefore fast gaining ground.  Mr
+Colton observes, "Nothing can be more clear, than that scripture
+authority against meddling, tattling, slander, scandal, or in any way
+interfering with the private concerns, conduct, and character of our
+neighbours, except as civil or ecclesiastical authority has clothed us
+with legitimate powers, is specific, abundant, decided, emphatic.  It is
+founded in human nature; it is essential to the peace of society a
+departure from it would be ruinous to social comfort.  If therefore it
+is proper to introduce any rule on this point into a mutual church
+covenant, it seems to me that the converse of that which is usually
+found in that place ought to be substituted.  Even the apostles, as we
+have seen, found it necessary to rebuke the disposition prevalent in
+their time to meddle with the affairs, and to make inquisition into the
+conduct of others.  But it should be recollected, that the condition of
+Christians and the state of society then were widely different from the
+same things with us.  Christianity was a new religion, and its disciples
+were generally obnoxious.  They were compelled by their circumstances to
+associate most intimately; they were bound together by those sympathies
+and ties, which a persecuted and suffering class always feel,
+independent of Christian affection.  Hence in part we account for the
+holy and exemplary candour [?an dour] of their attachments to their
+religion and to each other.  But even in these circumstances, and under
+these especial intimacies, or rather, perhaps, on account of them, the
+apostles found it necessary to admonish them against the abuse of that
+confidence so generally felt and reciprocated by those who confessed
+Christ in those unhappy times; an abuse so naturally developed in the
+form of meddling and private inquisition."
+
+I quote the above passage, as, in the United States, the variety of
+sects, the continual splitting and breaking up of those sects, and their
+occasional violent altercations, have all proved most injurious to
+society, and to the cause of religion itself.  Indeed religion in the
+States may be said to have been a source of continual discord and the
+unhinging of society, instead of that peace and good-will inculcated by
+our divine Legislator.  It is the division of the Protestant church
+which has occasioned its weakness in this country, and will probably
+eventually occasion, if not its total subversion, at all events its
+subversion in the western hemisphere of America.
+
+The subjugation of the ministry to the tyranny of their congregations is
+another most serious evil; for either they must surrender up their
+consciences or their bread.  In too many instances it is the same here
+in religion as in politics: before the people will permit any one to
+serve them in any office, he must first prove his unfitness, by
+submitting to what no man of honesty or conscientious rectitude would
+subscribe to.  This must of course, in both cases, be taken with
+exceptions, but it is but too often the fact.  And hence has arisen
+another evil, which is, that there are hundreds of self-constituted
+ministers, who wander over the western country, using the word of God as
+a cloak, working upon the feelings of the women to obtain money, and
+rendering religion a by-word among the men, who will, in all
+probability, some day rise up and lynch some dozen of them, as a hint
+for the rest to _clear out_.
+
+It would appear as if Locofoco-ism and infidelity had formed an union,
+and were fighting under the same banner.  They have recently celebrated
+the birth-day of Tom Paine, in Cincinnati, New York, and Boston.  In
+Cincinnati, Frances Wright Darusmont, better known as Fanny Wright, was
+present, and made a violent politico-atheistical speech on the occasion,
+in which she denounced banking, and almost every other established
+institution of the country.  The nature of the celebration in Boston
+will be understood from the following toast, given on the occasion:
+
+By George Chapman:--"_Christianity_ and the _banks_, tottering on their
+last legs: May their _downfall_ be speedy," etcetera, etcetera.
+
+Miss Martineau informs us that "The churches of Boston, and even the
+other public buildings, being guarded by the dragon of bigotry, so that
+even Faith, Hope, and Charity, are turned back from the doors, a large
+building is about to be erected for the use of all, Deists not excepted,
+who may desire to meet for free discussion."  She adds, "_This at least
+is in advance_!"  And in a few pages further:--"The eagerness in pursuit
+of speculative truth is shown by the _rapid sale of every heretical
+work_.  The clergy complain of the enormous spread of bold books, from
+the infidel tract to the latest handling of the miracle question, as
+sorrowfully as the most liberal members of society lament the unlimited
+circulation of the false morals issued by certain Religious Tract
+Societies.  Both testify to the interest taken by the public in
+religion.  The love of truth is also shown by the outbreak of heresy in
+all directions!"
+
+Having stated the most obvious objections to the voluntary system, I
+shall now proceed to show how far my opinions are corroborated by
+American authorities.  The author of "A Voice from America," observes
+very truly, that the voluntary system of supporting religion in America
+is inadequate to the purpose, and he closes his argument with the
+following observation:--
+
+"How far that part of the system of supporting religion in America,
+which appeals to the pride and public spirit of the citizens, in
+erecting and maintaining religious institutions on a respectable
+footing, in towns, cities, and villages, and among rival sects--and in
+this manner operating as a species of constraint--is worthy to be called
+voluntary, we pretend not to say.  But this comprehends by far the
+greatest sum that is raised and appropriated to these objects.  All the
+rest is a mere fraction in comparison.  And yet it is allowed, and made
+a topic of grievous lamentation, that the religious wants of the country
+are most inadequately supplied; and such, indeed, we believe to be the
+fact."
+
+The next point referred to by this author is, "that the American system
+of supporting religion has brought about great instability in the
+religious world, and induced a ruinous habit of change."
+
+This arises from the caprice of the congregation, for Americans are
+naturally capricious and fond of change: whether it be concerning a
+singer, or an actor, or a clergyman, it is the same thing.  This
+American author observes, "There are few clergymen that can support
+their early popularity for a considerable time; and as soon as it
+declines, they must begin to think of providing elsewhere for
+themselves.  They go--migrate--and for the same reason, in an equal term
+of time, they are liable to be forced to migrate again.  And thus there
+is no stability, but everlasting change, in the condition of the
+American clergy.  _They_ change, the _people_ change--all is a round of
+change--because all depends on the voluntary principle.  The clerical
+profession in America is, indeed, like that of a soldier; always under
+arms, frequently fighting, and always ready for a new campaign--a truly
+militant state.  A _Clergyman's Guide_ would be of little use, so far as
+the object might be to direct where to find him: he is not this year
+where he was last."  And, as must be the consequence, he justly
+observes, "Such a system makes the clergy servile, and the people
+tyrannical."  "When the enmity of a single individual is sufficient to
+destroy a resident pastor's peace, and to break him up, how can he be
+otherwise than servile, if he has a family about him, to whom perpetual
+change is inconvenient and disastrous?  There is not a man in his flock,
+however mean and unworthy of influence, whom he does not fear; and if he
+happens to displease a man of importance, or a busy woman, there is an
+end to his peace; and he may begin to pack up.  This perpetual bondage
+breaks down his mind, subdues his courage, and makes a timid nervous
+woman of one who is entitled, and who ought to be, a man.  He drags out
+a miserable existence, and dies a miserable slave.  There are exceptions
+to this rule, it is true; because there are clergymen with talent enough
+to rise above these disadvantages, enforce respect, and maintain their
+standing, in spite of enemies."
+
+But there is another very strong objection, and most important one, to
+the voluntary system, which I have delayed to bring forward: which is,
+that there is _no provision for the poor_ in the American voluntary
+church system.  Thus only those who are rich and able to afford religion
+can obtain it.  At present, it is true that the majority of the people
+in America have means sufficient to pay for seats in churches, if they
+choose to expend the money; but as America increases her population, so
+will she increase the number of her poor; and what will be the
+consequence hereafter, if this evil is to continue?  The author I am now
+quoting from observes, "At best the _poor are unprovided for_, and the
+talents of the clergy are always in the market to the highest bidder."
+[This is true.  When I was in the States one of the most popular
+preachers quitted his church at Boston to go to New York, where he was
+offered an increase of salary; telling his parishioners "that he found
+_he would be more useful elsewhere_"--the very language used by the
+Laity to the clergyman when _they_ dismiss _him_.] There have been many
+attempts to remedy this evil, in the dense population of cities, by
+setting up a still more voluntary system, called `free churches,' in
+which the pews are not rented, but free to all.  But they are uniformly
+_failures_.
+
+Two other remarks made by this author are equally correct; first, that
+the voluntary system tends to the multiplication of sects without end;
+and next, that the voluntary system is a mendicant system, and involves
+one of the worst features of the church of Rome, which is, that it tends
+to the production of pious frauds.  But I have already, in support of my
+arguments, quoted so much from this book that I must refer the reader to
+the work itself.
+
+At present, Massachusetts, and the smaller Eastern States, are the
+strong-hold of religion and morality; as you proceed from them farther
+south or west, so does the influence of the clergy decrease, until it is
+totally lost in the wild States of Missouri and Arkansas.  With the
+exception of certain cases to be found in Western Virginia, Kentucky,
+and Ohio, the whole of the States to the westward of the Alleghany
+Mountains, comprising more than two-thirds of America, may be said to be
+either in a state of neglect and darkness, or professing the Catholic
+religion.
+
+Although Virginia is a slave state, I think there is more religion there
+than in some of the more northern free states; but it must be
+recollected that Virginia has been long settled, and the non-_predial_
+state of the slaves is not attended with demoralising effects; and I may
+here observe that the _black_ population of American is decidedly the
+most religious, and sets an example to the white, particularly in the
+free states.
+
+[Mr Reid, in his Tour, describes a visit which he paid to a black
+church in Kentucky:--
+
+"By the laws of the state, no coloured persons are permitted to assemble
+for worship, unless a white person be present and preside.
+
+"One of the black preachers, addressing me as their `strange master,'
+begged that I would take charge of the service.  I declined doing so.
+He gave out Dr Watts' beautiful psalm, `Shew pity, Lord, oh!  Lord
+forgive.'  They all rose immediately.  They had no books, for they could
+not read; but it was printed on their memory, and they sung it off with
+freedom and feeling.
+
+"The senior black, who was a preacher among them, then offered prayer
+and preached; his prayer was humble and devotional.  In one portion, he
+made an affecting allusion to their wrongs.  `Thou knowest,' said the
+good man, with a broken voice, `our state--that it is the meanest--that
+we are as mean and low as man can be.  But we have sinned--we have
+forfeited all our rights to THEE, and we would submit before _Thee_, to
+these marks of thy displeasure.'"
+
+Mr Reid subsequently asserts, that the sermon delivered by the black
+was an "earnest and efficient appeal;" and, afterward, hearing a sermon
+on the same day from a white preacher, he observes that it was a "_very
+sorry affair_," in contrast with what he had before witnessed.]
+
+It may be fairly inquired, can this be true?  Not fifty years back, at
+the time of the Declaration of Independence, was not the American
+community one of the most virtuous in existence?  Such was indeed the
+case, as it is now equally certain that they are one of the most
+demoralised.  The question is, then, what can have created such a change
+in the short period of fifty years?
+
+The only reply that can be given, is, that as the Americans, in their
+eagerness to possess new lands, pushed away into the West, so did they
+leave civilisation behind, and return to ignorance and barbarism; they
+scattered their population, and the word of God was not to be heard in
+the wilderness.
+
+That as she increased her slave states, so did she give employment,
+land, and power to those who were indifferent to all law, human or
+divine.  And as, since the formation of the Union, the people have
+yearly gained advantages over the _government_ until they now control
+it, so have they controlled and fettered _religion_ until it produces no
+good fruits.
+
+Add to this the demoralising effects of a democracy which turns the
+thoughts of all to Mammon, and it will be acknowledged that this rapid
+fall is not so very surprising.
+
+But, if the Protestant cause is growing weaker every day from disunions
+and indifference, there is one creed which is as rapidly gaining
+strength; I refer to the Catholic church, which is silently, but surely
+advancing.  [Although it is not forty years since the first Roman
+Catholic see was created, there is now in the United States a Catholic
+population of 800,000 souls under the government of the Pope, or
+Archbishop, 12 Bishops, and 433 priests.  The number of churches is 401;
+mass houses, about 300; colleges, 10; seminaries for young men, 9;
+theological seminaries, 5; noviciates for Jesuits, monasteries, and
+converts, with academies attached, 31; seminaries for young ladies, 30;
+schools of the Sisters of Charity, 29; an academy for coloured girls at
+Baltimore; a female infant school, and 7 Catholic newspapers.] Its great
+field is in the West, where, in some states, almost all are Catholics,
+or from neglect and ignorance altogether indifferent as to religion.
+The Catholic priests are diligent, and make a large number of converts
+every year, and the Catholic population is added to by the number of
+Irish and German emigrants to the West, who are almost all of them of
+the Catholic persuasion.
+
+Mr Tocqueville says--
+
+"I think that the Catholic religion has erroneously been looked upon as
+the natural enemy of democracy.  Among the various sects of Christians,
+Catholicism seems to me, on the contrary to be one of those which are
+most favourable to equality of conditions.  In the Catholic church, the
+religious community is composed of only two elements--the priest and the
+people.  The priest alone rises above the rank of his flock, and all
+below him are equal.  On doctrinal points, the Catholic faith places all
+human capacities upon the same level.  It subjects the wise and the
+ignorant, the man of genius and the vulgar crowd, to the details of the
+same creed: it imposes the same observances upon the rich and the needy;
+it inflicts the same austerities upon the strong and the weak; it
+listens to no compromise with mortal man; but, reducing all the human
+race to the same standard, it confounds all the distinctions of society
+at the foot of the same altar, even as they are confounded in the sight
+of God.  If Catholicism predisposes the faithful to obedience, it
+certainly does not prepare them for inequality; but the contrary may be
+said of Protestantism, which generally tends to make men independent,
+more than to render them equal."
+
+And the author of a Voice from America observes--
+
+"The Roman Catholic church bids fair to rise to importance in America.
+Thoroughly democratic as her members are, being composed for the most
+part, of the lowest orders of European population, transplanted to the
+United States with a fixed and implacable aversion to everything bearing
+the name and in the shape of monarchy, the priesthood are accustomed
+_studiously to adapt themselves to this state of feeling_, being content
+with that authority that is awarded to their office by their own
+communicants and members."
+
+[The Rev  Dr Reid observes:--
+
+"I found the people at this time under some uneasiness in relation to
+the spread of Romanism.  The partisans of that system are greatly
+assisted from Europe by supplies of money and teachers.  The teachers
+have usually more acquired competency than the native instructors; and
+this is a temptation to parents who are seeking accomplishments for
+their children, and who have a high idea of European refinements.  It
+appeared, that out of four schools, provided for the wants of the town
+(Lexington, Kentucky) three were in the hands of Catholics."
+
+To which we may add Miss Martineau's observations:--
+
+"The Catholics of the country, thinking themselves now sufficiently
+numerous to be an American Catholic church, a great stimulus has been
+given to proselytism.  This has awakened fear and persecution; which
+last has again been favourable to the increase of the sect.  While the
+Presbyterians preach a harsh, ascetic, persecuting religion, the
+Catholics dispense a mild and indulgent one; and the prodigious increase
+of their numbers is a necessary consequence.  It has been so impossible
+to supply the demand for priests, that the term of education has been
+shortened by two years."]
+
+Now, I venture to disagree with both these gentlemen: It is true, as Mr
+Tocqueville observes, that the Catholic church reduces all the human
+race to the same standard, and confounds all distinctions--not, however,
+upon the principle of equality or democracy, but because it will ever
+equally exert its power over the high and the low, assuming its right to
+compel princes and kings to obedience, and their dominions to its
+subjection.  The equality professed by the Catholic church, is like the
+equality of death, all must fall before its power; whether it be to
+excommunicate an individual or an empire is to it indifferent; it
+assumes the power of the Godhead, giving and taking sway, and its
+members stand trembling before it, as they shall hereafter do in the
+presence of the Deity.
+
+The remark of the author of the _Voice from America_, "that aware of the
+implacable aversion of the people to monarchy, the priesthood are
+accustomed _studiously to adapt themselves to this state of feeling_,"
+proves rather to me the universal subtlety shown by the Catholic clergy,
+which, added to their zeal and perseverance, so increases the power of
+the church.  At present Catholicism is, comparatively speaking, weak in
+America, and the objects of that church is, to become strong; they do
+not, therefore, frighten or alarm their converts by any present show of
+the invariable results; but are content to bide their time, until they
+shall find themselves strong enough to exert their power with triumphant
+success.  The Protestant cause in America is weak, from the evil effects
+of the voluntary system, particularly from its division into so many
+sects.  A house divided against itself cannot long stand; and every year
+it will be found that the Catholic church will increase its power: and
+it is a question whether a hierarchy may not eventually be raised,
+which, so far from _advocating the principles of equality_, may serve as
+a _check_ to the spirit of democracy becoming more powerful than the
+government, curbing public opinion, and reducing to better order the
+present chaotic state of society.
+
+Judge Haliburten asserts, that all America will be a Catholic country.
+That all America west of the Alleghanies will eventually be a Catholic
+country, I have no doubt, as the Catholics are already in the majority,
+and there is nothing, as Mr Cooper observes, to prevent any state from
+establishing that, or any other religion, as the _Religion of the
+State_; ["There is nothing in the constitution of the United States to
+prevent all the states, or any particular state, from possessing an
+established religion."--_Cooper's Democrat_] and this is one of the dark
+clouds which hang over the destiny of the western hemisphere.
+
+The reverend Mr Reed says:--"It should really seem that the Pope, in
+the fear of expulsion from Europe, is anxious to find a reversion in
+this new world.  The crowned heads of the continent, having the same
+enmity to free political institutions which his holiness has to free
+religious institutions, willingly unite in the attempt to enthral this
+people.  They have heard of the necessities of the West; they have the
+foresight to see that the West will become the heart of the country, and
+ultimately determine the character of the whole; and they have resolved
+to establish themselves there.  Large, yea _princely, grants_ have been
+made from the Leopold society, and other sources, chiefly, though by no
+means exclusively, in favour of this portion of the empire that is to
+be.  These sums are expended in erecting showy churches and colleges,
+and in sustaining priests and emissaries.  Everything is done to
+captivate, and to liberalise in appearance, a system essentially
+despotic.  The sagacity of the effort is discovered, in avoiding to
+attack and shock the prejudices of the adult, that they may direct the
+education of the young.  They look to the future; and they really have
+great advantages in doing so.  They send out teachers excellently
+qualified; superior, certainly, to the run of native teachers.  [The
+Catholic priests who instruct are, to my knowledge, the best educated
+men in the states.  It was a pleasure to be in their company.] Some
+value the European modes of education as the more excellent, others
+value them as the mark of fashion; the demand for instruction, too, is
+always beyond the supply, so that they find little difficulty in
+obtaining the charge of protestant children.  This, in my judgment, is
+the point of policy which should be especially regarded with jealousy;
+but the actual alarm has arisen from the disclosure of a correspondence
+which avows designs on the West, beyond what I have here set down.  It
+is a curious affair, and is one other evidence, if evidence were needed,
+that popery and jesuitism are one."
+
+I think that the author of Sam Slick may not be wrong in his assertion,
+that _all_ America will be a Catholic country.  I myself never prophesy;
+but, I cannot help remarking, that even in the most anti-Catholic
+persuasions in America there is a strong Papistical _feeling_; that is,
+there is a vying with each other, not only to obtain the best preachers,
+but to have the best organs and the best singers.  It is the system of
+excitement which, without their being aware of it, they carry into their
+devotion.  It proves that, to them there is a weariness in the church
+service, a tedium in prayer, which requires to be relieved by the
+stimulus of good music and sweet voices.  Indeed, what with their
+_anxious seats_, their _revivals_, their _music_ and their _singing_,
+every class and sect in the states have even now so far fallen into
+Catholicism, that religion has become more of an appeal to the _senses_
+than to the calm and _sober judgment_.
+
+
+
+VOLUME THREE, CHAPTER FORTY FOUR.
+
+REMARKS--SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS.
+
+Although in a democracy the highest stations and preferments are open to
+all, more directly than they may be under any other form of government,
+still these prizes are but few and insufficient, compared with the
+number of total blanks which must be drawn by the ambitious multitude.
+It is, indeed, a stimulus to ambition (and a matter of justice, when all
+men are pronounced equal), that they all should have an equal chance of
+raising themselves by their talents and perseverance; but, when so many
+competitors are permitted to enter the field, few can arrive at the
+goal, and the mass are doomed to disappointment.  However fair,
+therefore, it may be to admit all to the competition, certain it is that
+the competition cannot add to the happiness of a people, when we
+consider the feelings of bitterness and ill-will naturally engendered
+among the disappointed multitude.
+
+In monarchical and aristocratical institutions, the middling and lower
+classes, whose chances of advancement are so small that they seldom lift
+their eyes or thoughts above their own sphere, are therefore much
+happier, and it may be added, much more virtuous than those who struggle
+continually for preferment in the tumultuous sea of democracy.  Wealth
+can give some importance, but wealth in a democracy gives an importance
+which is so common to many that it loses much of its value; and when it
+has been acquired, it is not sufficient for the restless ambition of the
+American temperament, which will always spurn wealth for power.  The
+effects, therefore, of a democracy are, first to raise an inordinate
+ambition among the people, and then to cramp the very ambition which it
+has raised; and, as I may comment upon hereafter, it appears as if this
+ambition of the people, _individually_ checked by the nature of their
+institutions, becomes, as it were, concentrated and collected into a
+focus in upholding and contemplating the success and increase of power
+in the federal government.  Thus has been produced a species of
+demoralising reaction; the disappointed _units_ to a certain degree
+satisfying themselves with any advance in the power and importance of
+the whole Union, wholly regardless of the means by which such increase
+may have been obtained.
+
+But this unsatisfied ambition has found another vent in the formation of
+many powerful religious and other associations.  In a country where
+there will ever be an attempt of the people to tyrannise over everybody
+and everything, power they will have; and if they cannot obtain it in
+the various departments of the States Governments, they will have it in
+opposition to the Government; for all these societies and associations
+connect themselves directly with politics.  [See Note 1.] It is of
+little consequence by what description of tie "these sticks in the
+fable" are bound up together; once bound together, they are, not to be
+broken.  In America religion severs the community, but these societies
+are the bonds which to a certain degree reunite it.
+
+To enumerate the whole of these societies actually existing, or which
+have been in existence, would be difficult.  The following are the most
+prominent:--
+
+_List of Benevolent Societies, with their Receipts in the Year 1834_.
+
++====================================================+============+
+Y                                                    YDolls Cts.  Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YAmerican Board of Commissioners for Foreign MissionsY  155,002 24Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YAmerican Baptist Board of Foreign Missions          Y   63,000 00Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YWestern Foreign Mission Society                     Y            Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+Yat Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania                         Y   16,296 46Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YMethodist Episcopal Missionary Society              Y   35,700 15Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YProtestant Episcopal Foreign                        Y            Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+Yand Domestic Missionary Society                     Y   26,007 97Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YAmerican Home Missionary Society                    Y   78,911 24Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YBaptist Home Missionary Society                     Y   11,448 28Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YBoard of Missions of the                            Y            Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YReformed Dutch Church (Domestic)                    Y    5,572 97Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YBoard of Missions of the General Assembly of the    Y            Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YPresbyterian Church (Domestic) estimated            Y   40,000 00Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YAmerican Education Society                          Y   57,122 20Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YBoard of Education of the General Assembly of the   Y            Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YPresbyterian churches                               Y   38,000 00Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YNorthern Baptist Education Society                  Y    4,681 11Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YBoard of Education of the Reformed Dutch Church     Y    1,270 20Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YAmerican Bible Society                              Y   88,600 82Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YAmerican Sunday School Union                        Y  136,855 58Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YGeneral Protestant Episcopal Sunday School Union    Y    6,641 00Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YBaptist General Tract Society                       Y    6,126 97Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YAmerican Tract Society                              Y   66,485 83Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YAmerican Colonisation Society                       Y   48,939 17Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YPrison Discipline Society                           Y    2,364 00Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YAmerican Seamen's Friend Society                    Y   16,064 00Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+YAmerican Temperance Society                         Y    5,871 12Y
++----------------------------------------------------+------------+
+Y                                                    Y8,910,961 31Y
++====================================================+============+
+
+Many of these societies had not been established more than ten years at
+the date given; they must have increased very much since that period.
+Of course many of them are very useful, and very well conducted.  There
+are many others: New England Non-resistance Society, Sabbath Observance
+Society, etcetera; in fact, the Americans are society mad.  I do not
+intend to speak with the least disrespect of the societies, but the zeal
+or fanaticism, if I may use the term, with which many, if not all, of
+them are carried on, is too remarkable a feature in the American
+character to be passed over without comment.  Many of these societies
+have done much good, particularly the religious societies; but many
+others, from being pushed too far, have done great mischief, and have
+very much assisted to demoralise the community.  I remember once hearing
+a story of an ostler who confessed to a Catholic priest; he enumerated a
+long catalogue of enormities peculiar to his profession, and when he had
+finished, the priest inquired of him "whether he had ever greased
+horses' teeth to prevent their eating their corn?" this peculiar offence
+not having been mentioned in his confession.  The ostler declared that
+he never had, absolution was given, and he departed.  About six months
+afterwards, the ostler went again to unload his conscience; the former
+crimes and peccadilloes were enumerated, but added to them were several
+acknowledgments of having at various times "_greased horses' teeth_" to
+prevent their eating their corn.  "Ho-ho!" cried the priest, "why, if I
+recollect aright, according to your former confession you had never been
+guilty of this practice.  How comes it that you have added this crime to
+your many others?"  "May it please you, Father," replied the ostler, "I
+had _never heard of it_, until you told me."
+
+Now this story is very _apropos_ to the conduct pursued by many of these
+societies in America: they must display to the public their statistics
+of immorality and vice; they must prove their usefulness by informing
+those who were quite ignorant, and therefore innocent, that there are
+crimes of which they had no idea; and thus, in their fanatic wish to
+improve, they demoralise.  Such have been the consequences among this
+excitable yet well-meaning people.  The author of "A voice from America"
+observes:--
+
+It has been thought suitable to call the attention of mothers and
+daughters over the wide country to the condition and evils of brothels
+and of common prostitution, in towns and cities; to send out agents--
+young men--to preach on the subject; and to organise subsidiary
+societies after the fashion of all reforms.  The annual report of "The
+New York Female Moral Reform Society" for 1838, (a very decent name
+certainly for the object), announces 361 auxiliaries and 20,000 members,
+with 16,500 subscribers (all females!) to the "_Advocate of Moral
+Reform_," a semi-monthly paper, published by the parent society, devoted
+to the text of the seventh commandment, and to the facts and results
+growing out of its violation.  "This same class of reformers have
+heretofore been accustomed to strike off prints of the most
+unmentionable scenes of these houses of pollution in their naked forms,
+and in the very acts of crime, for public display, that the public might
+know what they are: in other words, as may be imagined, to make sport
+for the initiated, to tempt the appetites and passions of the young, who
+otherwise would have known little or nothing about it, into the same
+vortex of ruin, and to cause the decent and virtuous to turn away with
+emotions of ineffable regret."
+
+I cannot help inquiring, how is it, if the Americans are, as they
+assert, both orally and in their printed public documents, a _very moral
+nation_, that they find it necessary to resort to all these societies
+for the improvement of their brother citizens; and how is it that their
+reports are full of such unexampled atrocities, as are printed and
+circulated in evidence of the necessity of their stemming the current of
+vice!  The Americans were constantly twitting me about the occasional
+cases of adultery and divorce which appear in our newspapers, assuring
+me at the same time, that there was hardly ever such a thing heard of in
+their own moral community.  Now, it appears that this subject has not
+only been taken up by the clergy, (for Dr Dwight, late president of
+Yale College, preached a sermon on the seventh commandment, which an
+American author asserts "was heard with pain and confusion of face, and
+which never can be read in a promiscuous circle without exciting the
+same feelings;") but by one of their societies also; and, although they
+have not assumed the name of the _Patent Anti-Adultery Society_, they
+are positively doing the work of such a one, and the details are entered
+into in promiscuous assemblies without the least reservation.
+
+The author before mentioned says:
+
+"The common feeling on the subject has been declared false delicacy;
+and, in order to break ground against its sway, females have been forced
+into the van of this enterprise; and persuaded to act as agents, not
+only among their own sex, but in circumstances where they must
+necessarily agitate the subject with men,--not wives with husbands,
+which would be bad enough, but _young and single women_ with _young and
+single men_!  And we have been credibly informed, that attempts have
+been made to form associations among _wives_ to regulate the privileges,
+and so attain the end of temperance, in the _conjugal relation_.  The
+next step, of course, will be teetotalism in this particular; and, as a
+consequence, the extinction of the human race, unless peradventure the
+failure of the main enterprise of the _Moral Reform Society_ should keep
+it up by a progeny not to be honoured."  ("A Voice from America.")
+
+Let it be remembered that this is not a statement of my own, but it is
+an _American_ who makes the assertion, which I could prove to be true,
+might I publish what I must not.
+
+From the infirmity of our natures, and our proneness to evil, there is
+nothing so corrupting as the statistics of vice.  Can young females
+remain pure in their ideas, who read with indifference details of the
+grossest nature?  Can the youth of a nation remain uncontaminated, who
+are continually poring over pages describing sensuality; and will they
+not, in their desire of "something new," as the Prophet says, run into
+the very vices of the existence of which they were before unconscious!
+It is this dangerous running into extremes which has occasioned so many
+of these societies to have been productive of much evil.  A Boston
+editor remarks: "The tendency of the leaders of the moral and benevolent
+reforms of the day to run into fanaticism, threatens to destroy the
+really beneficial effects of all associations for these objects.  The
+spirit of propagandism, when it becomes over zealous, is next of kin to
+the spirit of persecution.  The benevolent associations of the day are
+on the brink of a danger that will be fatal to their farther usefulness
+if not checked."
+
+Of the Abolition Society and its tendency, I have already spoken in the
+chapter on slavery.  I must not, however, pass over another which at
+present is rapidly extending its sway over the whole Union, and it is
+difficult to say whether it does most harm or most good--I refer to the
+Temperance Society.
+
+The Rev  Mr Reid says:
+
+"In the short space of its existence, upwards of seven thousand
+Temperance Societies have been formed, embracing more than one million
+two hundred and fifty thousand members.  More than three thousand
+distilleries have been stopped, and more than seven thousand persons who
+dealt in spirits have declined the trade.  Upwards of one thousand
+vessels have abandoned their use.  And, most marvellous of all! it is
+said that above ten thousand drunkards have been reclaimed from
+intoxication."  And he adds--"I really know of no one circumstance in
+the history of this people, or of any people, so exhilarating as this.
+It discovers that power of self-government, which is the leading element
+of all national greatness, in an unexampled degree.  Now here is a
+remarkable instance of a traveller taking for granted that what is
+reported to him is the truth."  The worthy clergyman, himself, evidently
+without guile, fully believed a statement which was absurd, from the
+simple fact, that only one side of the balance sheet had been presented.
+
+That 7,000 Temperance Societies have been formed is true.  That 3,000
+distilleries have stopped from principle may also be true; but the
+Temperance Society reports take no notice of the many which have been
+_set up in their stead_ by those who felt no compunction at selling
+spirits.  Equally true it may be that 7,030 dealers in spirits have
+ceased to sell them; but if they have declined the trade, _others have
+taken it up_.  That the crews of many vessels have abandoned the use of
+spirituous liquors is also the fact, and that is the greatest benefit
+which has resulted from the efforts of the Temperance Society; but I
+believe the number to be greatly magnified.  That 10,000 drunkards have
+been reclaimed--that is, that they have signed papers and taken the
+oath--may be true; but how many have fallen away from their good
+resolutions, and become more intemperate than before, is not recorded;
+nor how many who, previously careless of liquor, have, out of pure
+opposition, and in defiance of the Society, actually become drunkards,
+is also unknown.  In this Society, as in the Abolition Society, they
+have canvassed for legislative enactments, and have succeeded in
+obtaining them.  The legislature of Massachusetts, which state is the
+stronghold of the society, passed an act last year by which it
+prohibited the selling of spirits in a smaller quantity than fifteen
+gallons, intending thereby to do away with the means of dram-drinking,
+at the groceries, as they are termed; a clause, however, permitted
+apothecaries to retail smaller quantities, and the consequence was that
+all the grog-shops commenced taking out apothecaries' licences.  That
+being stopped, the _striped pig_ was resorted to: that is to say, a man
+charged people the value of a glass of liquor to see a _striped pig_,
+which peculiarity was exhibited as a sight, and, when in the house, the
+visitors were offered a glass of spirits for nothing.  But this act of
+the legislature has given great offence, and the state of Massachusetts
+is now divided into two very strange political parties, to wit, the
+_topers_ and the _teetotalers_.  It is asserted that, in the political
+contest which is to take place, the topers will be victorious; and if
+so, it will be satisfactorily proved that, in the very enlightened and
+moral state of Massachusetts the pattern of the Union, there are more
+intemperate than sober men.
+
+In this dispute between sobriety and inebriety the clergy have not been
+idle: some denouncing alcohol from the pulpit; some, on the other hand
+denouncing the Temperance Societies as not being Christians.  Among the
+latter the Bishop of Vermont has led the van.  In one of his works, "The
+Primitive Church," he asserts that:--
+
+"The Temperance Society is not based upon religious, but worldly
+principles.
+
+"That it opposes vice and attempts to establish virtue in a manner which
+is not in accordance with the word of God," etcetera, etcetera.
+
+His argument is briefly this:--The Scriptures forbid drunkenness.  If
+the people will not do right in obedience to the word of God, but only
+from the fear of public opinion, they show more respect to man than God.
+
+The counter argument is:--The Bible prohibits many other crimes, such as
+murder, theft, etcetera; but if there were not punishments for these
+offences agreed upon by society, the fear of God would not prevent these
+crimes from being committed.
+
+That in the United States public opinion has more influence than
+religion I believe to be the case; and that in all countries present
+punishment is more to be considered than future is, I fear, equally
+true.  But I do not pretend to decide the question, which has occasioned
+great animosities, and on some occasions, I am informed, the dismissal
+of clergymen from their churches.
+
+The teetotalers have carried their tenets to a length which threatens to
+invade the rites of the church, for a portion of them, calling
+themselves the Total Abstinence Society, will not use any wine which has
+alcohol in it, in taking the sacrament, and as there is no wine without
+a portion of alcohol; they have invented a harmless mixture which they
+call wine.  Unfortunately, many of these Temperance Societies in their
+zeal, will admit of no medium party--you must either abstain altogether,
+or be put down as a toper.
+
+It is astonishing how obstinate some people are, and how great is the
+diversity of opinion.  I have heard many anecdotes relative to this
+question.  A man who indulged freely was recommended to join the
+society.  "Now," said the minister, "you must allow that there is
+nothing so good, so valuable to man as water.  What is the first thing
+you call for in sickness but water?  What else can cool your parched
+tongue like water?  What did the rich man ask for when in fiery
+torments?  What does the wretch ask for when on the rack?  You cannot
+always drink spirits, but water you can.  Water costs nothing; and you
+save your money.  Water never intoxicates, or prevents you from going to
+your work.  There is nothing like water.  Come now, Peter, let me hear
+your opinion."
+
+"Well, then, sir, I think water is very good, very excellent indeed--for
+navigation."
+
+An old Dutchman, who kept an inn at Hoboken, had long resisted the
+attacks of the Temperance Societies, until one night he happened to get
+so very drunk, that he actually signed the paper and took the oath.  The
+next morning he was made acquainted with what he had unconsciously done,
+and, much to the surprise of his friends, he replied, "Well, if I have
+signed and have sworn, as you tell me I have, I must keep to my word;"
+and from that hour the old fellow abstained altogether from his
+favourite schnapps.  But the leaving off a habit which had become
+necessary had the usual result.  The old man took to his bed, and at
+last became seriously ill.  A medical man was called in, and when he was
+informed of what had occurred, perceived the necessity of some stimulus,
+and ordered that his patient should take one ounce of French brandy
+every day.
+
+"An ounce of French brandy," said the old Dutchman, looking at the
+prescription.  "Well, dat is goot; but how much is an ounce?"  Nobody
+who was present could inform him.  "I know what a quart, a pint, or a
+gill of brandy is," said the Dutchman, "but I never yet have had a
+customer call for an ounce.  Well, my son, go to the schoolmaster; he is
+a learned man, and tell him I wish to know how much is one ounce."
+
+The message was carried.  The schoolmaster, occupied with his pupils,
+and not liking the interruption, hastily, and without further inquiries
+of the messenger, turned over his Bonnycastle, and arriving at the table
+of avoirdupois weight, replied, "Tell your father that _sixteen drams_
+make an _ounce_."
+
+The boy took back the message correctly, and when the old Dutchman heard
+it, his countenance brightened up.  "A goot physician, a clever man--I
+only have drank twelve drams a-day, and he tells me to take sixteen.  I
+have taken one oath when I was drunk, and I keep it; now dat I am sober
+I take anoder, which is, I will be very sick for de remainder of my
+days, and never throw my physic out of window."
+
+There was a _cold water_ celebration at Boston, on which occasion the
+hilarity of the evening was increased by the singing of the following
+ode.  Nobody will venture to assert that there is any _spirit_ in the
+composition, and, judging from what I have seen of American manners and
+customs, I am afraid that the sentiments of the last four lines will not
+be responded to throughout the Union.
+
+  Ode.
+
+  In Eden's green retreats
+  A water-brook that played
+  Between soft, and mossy seats
+  Beneath a plane-tree's shade,
+  Whose rustling leaves
+  Danced o'er its brink,
+  Was Adam's drink,
+  And also Eve's.
+
+  Beside the parent spring
+  Of that young brook, the pair
+  Their morning chaunt would sing;
+  And Eve, to dress her hair,
+  Kneel on the grass
+  That fringed its side,
+  And made its tide
+  Her looking-glass.
+
+  And when the man of God
+  From Egypt led his flock,
+  They thirsted, and his rod
+  Smote the Arabian rock,
+  And forth a rill
+  Of water gushed,
+  And on they rushed,
+  And drank their fill.
+
+  Would Eden thus have smil'd
+  Had _wine_ to Eden come?
+  Would Horeb's parching wild
+  Have been refreshed with _rum_
+  And had Eve's hair
+  Been dressed in _gin_
+  Would she have been
+  Reflected fair?
+
+  Had Moses built a still
+  And dealt out to that host,
+  To every man his gill,
+  And pledged him in a toast,
+  How large a band
+  Of Israel's sons
+  Had laid their bones
+  In Canaan's land?
+
+  Sweet fields, beyond Death's flood,
+  Stand dressed in living green,
+  For, from the throne of God,
+  To freshen all the scene,
+  A river rolls,
+  Where all who will
+  May come and fill
+  Their crystal bowls.
+
+  If Eden's strength and bloom
+  _Cold water_ thus hath given--
+  If e'en beyond the tomb,
+  It is the drink of heaven--
+  Are not _good wells_,
+  And _crystal springs_,
+  _The very things_
+  For our hotels?
+
+As I shall return to the subject of intemperance in my examination of
+society, I shall conclude this chapter with an extract from Miss
+Martineau, whose work is a strange compound of the false and the
+true:--"My own convictions are, that associations, excellent as they are
+for mechanical objects, are not fit instruments for the achievement of
+moral aims; that there has been no proof that the principle of
+self-restraint has been exalted and strengthened in the United States by
+the Temperance movement while the already too great regard to _opinion_,
+and subservience to spiritual encroachment, have been much increased;
+and, therefore, great as may be the visible benefits of the institution,
+it may at length appear that they have been dearly purchased."
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Note 1.  Not long afterwards a prominent Presbyterian clergyman of
+Philadelphia thought fit to preach and publish a sermon, wherein it was
+set forth and conclusively proved, that on such and such contingencies
+of united religious effort of the religious public, the majority of the
+American people could be made _religious_; consequently they might carry
+their _religious influence_ to the _polls_; consequently the religious
+would be able to turn all the profane _out of office_; and consequently,
+the American people would become a _Christian nation!--Voice from
+America by an American Gentleman_.
+
+
+
+VOLUME THREE, CHAPTER FORTY FIVE.
+
+REMARKS--LAW.
+
+The lawyers are the real aristocracy of America; they comprehend nearly
+the whole of the gentility, talent, and liberal information of the
+Union.  Any one who has had the pleasure of being at one of their
+meetings, such as the Rent Club at New York, would be satisfied that
+there is no want of gentlemen with enlightened, liberal ideas in the
+United States; but it is to the law, the navy, and the army, that you
+must chiefly look for this class of people.  Such must ever be the case
+in a democracy, where the mass are to be led; the knowledge of the laws
+of the country, and the habit of public speaking being essential to
+those who would reside at the helm or assist in the evolutions: the
+consequence has been, that in every era of the Union, the lawyers have
+always been the most prominent actors; and it may be added that they
+ever will play the most distinguished parts.  Clay and Webster of the
+present day are, and all the leading men of the former generation were,
+lawyers.  Their presidents have almost all been lawyers, and any
+deviation from this custom has been attended with evil results; witness
+the elevation of General Jackson to the presidency, and the heavy price
+which the Americans have paid for their phantom glory.  The names of
+Judge Marshall and of Chancellor Kent are well known in this country,
+and most deservedly so: indeed, I am informed it has latterly been the
+custom in our own law courts, to cite as cases the decisions of many of
+the superior American judges--a just tribute to their discrimination and
+their worth.
+
+The general arrangement of that part of the American constitution
+relating to the judicature is extremely good, perhaps the best of all
+their legislative arrangements, yet it contains some great errors; one
+of which is, that of district and inferior judges being _elected_, as it
+leaves the judge at the mercy of an excitable and overbearing people,
+who will attempt to dictate to him as they do to their spiritual
+teacher.  Occasionally he must choose whether he will decide as they
+wish, or lose his situation on the ensuing election.  Justice as well as
+religion will be interfered with by the despotism of the democracy.
+
+The Americans are fond of law in one respect, that is, they are fond of
+going to law.  It is excitement to them, and not so expensive as in this
+country.  It is a pleasure which they can afford, and for which they
+cheerfully pay.
+
+But, on the other hand, the very first object of the Americans, after a
+law has been passed, is to find out how they can evade it; this
+exercises their ingenuity, and it is very amusing to observe how
+cleverly they sometimes manage it.  Every state enactment to uphold the
+morals, or for the better regulation of society, is immediately opposed
+by the sovereign people.
+
+An act was passed to prohibit the playing of _nine pins_, (a very
+foolish act, as the Americans have so few amusements): as soon as the
+law was put in force, it was notified every where, "_Ten_ pins played
+here," and they have been played every where, ever since.
+
+Another act was passed to put down billiard tables, and in this instance
+every precaution was taken by an accurate description of the billiard
+table, that the law might be enforced.  Whereupon an extra _pocket_ was
+added to the billiard table, and thus the law was evaded.
+
+When I was at Louisville, a bill which had been brought in by congress,
+to prevent the numerous accidents which occurred in steam navigation,
+came into force.  Inspectors were appointed to see that the steam-boats
+complied with the regulations; and those boats which were not provided
+according to law, did not receive the certificate from the inspectors,
+and were liable to a fine of five hundred dollars if they navigated
+without it.  A steam-boat was ready to start; the passengers clubbed
+together and subscribed half the sum, (two hundred and fifty dollars),
+and, as the informer was to have half the penalty, the captain of the
+boat went and informed against himself and received the other half; and
+thus was the fine paid.
+
+At Baltimore, in consequence of the prevalence of hydrophobia, the civic
+authorities passed a law, that all dogs should be muzzled, or, rather,
+the terms were, "that all dogs should wear a muzzle," or the owner of a
+dog not wearing a muzzle, should be brought up and fined; and the
+regulation farther stated that anybody convicted of having, "removed the
+muzzle from off a dog should also be severely fined."  A man, therefore,
+tied a muzzle to his dog's tail (the act not stating where the muzzle
+was to be placed).  One of the city officers, perceiving this dog with
+his muzzle at the wrong end, took possession of the dog and brought it
+to the town-hall; its master being well known, was summoned, and
+appeared.  He proved that he had complied with the act, in having fixed
+a muzzle on the dog; and, farther, the city officer having taken the
+_muzzle off_ the dog's tail, he insisted that he should be fined five
+dollars for so doing.
+
+The _striped_ pig, I have already mentioned; but were I to relate all I
+have been told upon this head, it would occupy too much of the reader's
+time and patience.
+
+The mass of the citizens of the United States have certainly a very
+great dislike to all law except their own, i.e., the decision of the
+majority; and it must be acknowledged that it is not only the principle
+of equality, but the parties who are elected as district judges, that,
+by their own conduct, contribute much to that want of respect with which
+they are treated in their courts.  When a judge on his bench sits
+half-asleep, with his hat on, and his coat and shoes off; his heels
+kicking upon the railing or table which is as high or higher than his
+head; his toes peeping through a pair of old worsted stockings, and with
+a huge quid of tobacco in his cheek, you cannot expect that much respect
+will be paid to him.  Yet such is even now the practice in the interior
+of the western states.  I was much amused at reading an English critique
+upon a work by Judge Hall (a district judge), in which the writer says,
+"We can imagine his honour in all the solemnity of his flowing wig,"
+etcetera, etcetera.  The last time I saw his _honour_ he was cashier to
+a bank at Cincinnati, thumbing American bank-notes--dirtier work than is
+ever practised in the lowest grade of the law, as any one would say if
+he had ever had any American bank-notes in his possession.
+
+As may be supposed, in a new country like America, many odd scenes take
+place.  In the towns in the interior, a lawyer's office is generally a
+small wooden house, of one room, twelve feet square, built of
+clapboards, and with the door wide open; and the little domicile with
+its tenant used to remind me of a spider in its web waiting for flies.
+
+Not forty years back, on the other side of the Alleghany mountains, deer
+skins at forty cents per pound, and the furs of other animals at a
+settled price, were _legal_ tender, and received both by judges and
+lawyers as fees.  The lawyers in the towns on the banks of the
+Susquehannah, where it appears the people, (notwithstanding Campbell's
+beautiful description,) were extremely litigious, used to receive all
+their fees in kind, such as skins, corn, whiskey, etcetera, etcetera,
+and, as soon as they had sufficient to load a raft, were to be seen
+gliding down the river to dispose of their cargo at the first favourable
+mart for produce.  Had they worn the wigs and gown of our own legal
+profession, the effect would have been more picturesque.
+
+There is a record of a very curious trial which occurred in the state of
+New York.  A man had lent a large iron, kettle, or boiler, to another,
+and it being returned _cracked_, an action was brought against the
+borrower for the value of the kettle.  After the plaintiff's case had
+been heard, the counsel for the defendant rose and said:--"Mister Judge,
+we defend this action upon three counts, all of which we shall most
+satisfactorily prove to you.
+
+"In the first place, we will prove, by undoubted evidence, that the
+kettle was cracked when we borrowed it.
+
+"In the second, that the kettle, when we returned it was whole and
+sound.
+
+"And in the third, we will prove that we never borrowed the kettle at
+all."
+
+There is such a thing as proving too much, but one thing is pretty
+fairly proved in this case, which is, that the defendant's counsel must
+have originally descended from the Milesian stock.
+
+I have heard many amusing stories of the peculiar eloquence of the
+lawyers in the newly settled western states, where metaphor is so
+abundant.  One lawyer was so extremely metaphorical upon an occasion,
+when the stealing of a pig was the case in point, that at last he got to
+"coruscating rays."  The judge (who appeared equally metaphorical--
+himself) thought proper to pull him up by saying:--"Mr --, I wish you
+would take the feathers from the wings of your imagination, and put them
+into the tail of your judgment."
+
+Extract from an American paper:--
+
+"Scene.--A Court-house not fifty miles from the city of Louisville.
+Judge presiding with great dignity.  A noise is heard before the door.
+He looks up, fired with indignation.--`Mr Sheriff, sir, bring them men
+in here; this in the temple of liberty--this in the sanctuary of
+justice, and it shall not be profaned by the cracking of nuts and the
+eating of gingerbread.'"--_Marblehead Register_.
+
+I have already observed that there is a great error in the office of the
+inferior and district judges being elective, but there are others
+equally serious.  In the first place the judges are not sufficiently
+paid.  Captain Hamilton remarks:--
+
+"The low salaries of the judges constitute matter of general complaint
+among the members of the bar, both at Philadelphia and New York.  These
+are so inadequate, when compared with the income of a well-employed
+barrister, that the state is deprived of the advantage of having the
+highest legal talent on the bench.  Men from the lower walks of the
+profession, therefore, are generally promoted to the office; and for the
+sake of a wretched saving of a few thousand dollars, the public are
+content to submit their lives and properties to the decision of men of
+inferior intelligence and learning.
+
+"In one respect, I am told, the very excess of democracy defeats itself.
+In some states the judges are so inordinately underpaid, that no lawyer
+who does not possess a considerable private fortune can afford to accept
+the office.  From this circumstance, something of aristocratic
+distinction has become connected with it, and a seat on the bench is now
+more greedily coveted than it would be were the salary more commensurate
+with the duties of the situation."
+
+The next error is, that political questions are permitted to interfere
+with the ends of justice.  It is a well-known fact that, not long ago,
+an Irishman, who had murdered his wife, was brought to trial upon the
+eve of an election; and, although his guilt was undoubted, he was
+acquitted, because the Irish party, which were so influential as to be
+able to turn the election, had declared that, if their countryman was
+convicted, they would vote on the other side.
+
+But worst of all is the difficulty of finding an _honest_ jury--a fact
+generally acknowledged.  Politics, private animosities, bribery, all
+have their influence to defeat the ends of justice, and it argues
+strongly against the moral standard of a nation that such should be the
+case; but that it is so is undoubted.  [See Note 1.] The truth is that
+the juries, have no respect for the judges, however respectable they may
+be, and as many of them really are.  The feeling "I'm as good as he"
+operates everywhere.  There is no shutting up a jury and starving them
+out as with us; no citizen, "free and enlightened, aged twenty-one,
+white," would submit to such an invasion of his rights.  Captain
+Hamilton observes:--
+
+"It was not without astonishment, I confess, that I remarked that
+three-fourths of the jury-men were engaged in eating bread and cheese,
+and that the foreman actually announced the verdict with his mouth full,
+ejecting the disjointed syllables during the intervals of mastication!
+In truth, an American seems to look on a judge exactly as he does on a
+carpenter or coppersmith; and it never occurs to him, that an
+administrator of justice is entitled to greater respect than a
+constructor of brass knockers, or the sheather of a ship's bottom.  The
+judge and the brazier are paid equally for their work; and Jonathan
+firmly believes that, while he has money in his pocket, there is no risk
+of suffering from the want either of law or warming pans."
+
+One most notorious case of bribery, I can vouch for, as I am acquainted
+with the two parties, one of whom purchased the snuff-box in which the
+other enclosed the notes and presented to the jurymen.  A gentleman at
+New York of the name of Stoughton, had a quarrel with another of the
+name of Goodwin: the latter followed the former down the street, and
+murdered him in open day by passing a small sword through his body.  The
+case was as clear as a case could be, but there is a great dislike to
+capital punishment in America, and particularly was there in this
+instance, as the criminal was of good family and extensive connections.
+It was ascertained that all the jury except two intended to acquit the
+prisoner upon some pretended want of evidence, but that these two had
+determined that the law should take its course, and were quite
+inexorable.  Before the jury retired to consult upon the verdict, it was
+determined by the friends of the prisoner that an attempt should be made
+by bribery to soften down the resolution of these two men.  As they were
+retiring, a snuff-box was put into the hands of one of them by a
+gentleman, with the observation that he and his friend would probably
+find a pinch of snuff agreeable after so long a trial.  The snuff-box
+contained bank notes to the amount of 2,500 dollars (500 pounds
+sterling).  The snuff-box and its contents were not returned, and the
+prisoner was acquitted.
+
+The unwillingness to take away life is a very remarkable feature in
+America, and were it not carried to such an extreme length, would be a
+very commendable one.  An instance of this occurred just before my
+arrival at New York.  A young man by the name of Robinson, who was a
+clerk in an importing house, had formed a connection with a young woman
+on the town, of the name of Ellen Jewitt.  Not having the means to meet
+her demands upon his purse, he had for many months embezzled from the
+store goods to a very large amount, which she had sold to supply her
+wants or wishes.  At last, Robinson, probably no longer caring for the
+girl, and aware that he was in her power, determined upon murdering her.
+Such accumulated crime can hardly be conceived!  He went to sleep with
+her, made her drunk with champagne before they retired to bed, and then
+as she lay in bed murdered her with an axe, which he had brought with
+him from his master's store.  The house of ill-fame in which he visited
+her was at that time full of other people of both sexes, who had retired
+to rest--it is said nearly one hundred were there on that night,
+thoughtless of the danger to which they were exposed, fearful that the
+murder of the young woman would be discovered and brought home to him,
+the miscreant resolved to set fire to the house, and by thus sending
+unprepared into the next world so many of his fellow creatures, escape
+the punishment which he deserved.  He set fire to the bed upon which his
+unfortunate victim laid, and having satisfied himself that his work was
+securely done, locked the door of the room, and quitted the premises.  A
+merciful Providence, however, directed otherwise; the fire was
+discovered, and the flames extinguished, and his crime made manifest.
+The evidence in an English court would have been more than sufficient to
+convict him; but in America, such is the feeling against taking life
+that, strange to say, Robinson was acquitted, and permitted to leave for
+Texas, where it is said, he still lives under a false name.  I have
+heard this subject canvassed over and over again in New York; and,
+although some, with a view of extenuating to a foreigner such a
+disgraceful disregard to security of life, have endeavoured to show that
+the evidence was not quite satisfactory, there really was not a shadow
+of doubt in the whole case.  See Note 2.
+
+But leniency towards crime is the grand characteristic of American
+legislation.  Whether it proceeds, (as I much suspect it does,) from the
+national vanity being unwilling to admit that such things can take place
+among "a very moral people," or from a more praiseworthy feeling, I am
+not justified in asserting: the reader must form his own opinion, when
+he has read all I have to say upon other points connected with the
+subject.
+
+I have been very much amused with the reports of the sentences given by
+my excellent friend the recorder of New York.  He is said to be one of
+the soundest lawyers in the Union, and a very worthy man; but I trust
+say, that as recorder, he does not add to the dignity of the bench by
+his facetious remarks, and the peculiar lenity he occasionally shows to
+the culprits.  See Note 3.
+
+I will give an extract from the newspapers of some of the proceedings an
+his court, as they will, I am convinced, be as amusing to the reader as
+they have been to me.
+
+The Recorder then called out--"Mr Crier, make the usual proclamation;"
+"Mr Clerk, call out the prisoners, and let us proceed to sentencing
+them!"
+
+_Clerk_.  Put Stephen Schofield to the bar.
+
+It was done.
+
+_Clerk_.  Prisoner, you may remember you have heretofore been indicted
+for a certain crime by you committed; upon your indictment you were
+arraigned; upon your arraignment you pleaded guilty, and threw yourself
+upon the mercy of the court.  What have you now to say, why judgment
+should not be passed upon you according to law.
+
+The prisoner, who was a bad-looking mulatto, was silent.
+
+_Recorder_.  Schofield, you have been convicted of a very bad crime; you
+attempted to take liberties with a young white girl--a most serious
+offence.  This is getting to be a very bad crime, and practised, I am
+sorry to say, to a great extent in this community: it must be put a stop
+to.  Had you been convicted of the whole crime, we should have sent you
+to the state-prison for life.  As it is, we sentence you to hard labour
+in the state-prison at Sing Sing for five years; and that's the judgment
+of the court; and when you come out, take no more liberties with white
+girls.
+
+_Prisoner_.  Thank your honour it ain't no worse.
+
+_Clerk_.  Bring out Mary Burns.
+
+It was done.
+
+_Clerk_.  Prisoner, you may remember, etcetera, etcetera, upon your
+arraignment you pleaded not guilty, and put yourself on your country for
+trial; which country hath found you guilty.  What have you now to say
+why judgment should not be pronounced upon you according to law?
+
+(Silent).
+
+_Recorder_.  Mary Burns, Mrs Forgay gave you her chemise to wash.
+
+_Prisoner_.  No, she didn't give it to me.
+
+_Recorder_.  But you got it somehow, and you stole the money.  Now, you
+see, our respectable fellow-citizens, the ladies, must have their
+chemises washed, and, to do so, they must put confidence in their
+servants; and they have a right to sew their money up in their chemise
+if they think proper, and servants must not steal it from them.  As
+you're a young woman, and not married, it would not be right to deprive
+you of the opportunity to get a husband for five years; so we shall only
+send you to Sing Sing for two years and six months; the keeper will work
+you in whatever way he may think proper.--Go to the next.
+
+Charles Liston was brought out and arraigned, _pro forma_.  He was a
+dark negro.
+
+_Clerk_.  Liston, what have you to say why judgment, etcetera?
+
+_Prisoner_.  All I got to say to his honour de honourable court is, dat
+I see de error of my ways, and I hope dey may soon see de error of
+deirs.  I broke de law of my free country, and I must lose my liberty,
+and go to Sing Sing.  But I trow myself on de mercy of de Recorder; and
+all I got to say to his honour, de honourable Richard Riker, is, dat I
+hope he'll live to be de next mayor of New York till I come out of Sing
+Sing.
+
+_Recorder (laughing)_.  A very good speech!  But, Liston, whether I'm
+mayor or not, you must suffer some.  This stealing from entries is a
+most pernicious crime, and one against which our respectable
+fellow-citizens can scarcely guard.  Two-thirds of our citizens hang
+their hats and coats in entries, and we must protect their hats and
+coats.  We, therefore, sentence you to Sing Sing for five years,--Go to
+the next.
+
+John Mcdonald and Godfrey Crawluck were put to the bar.
+
+_Recorder_.  Mcdonald and Crawluck, you stole two beeves.  Now, however
+much I like beef, I'd he very hungry before I'd steal any beef.  You are
+on the high road to ruin.  You went up the road to Harlem, and down the
+road to Yorkville, and you'll soon go to destruction.  We shall send you
+to Sing Sing for two years each; and when you come out, take your
+mother's maiden name, and lead a good life, and don't eat any more
+beef--I mean, don't steal any more beeves--Go to the next.
+
+Luke Staken was arraigned.
+
+_Recorder_.--Staken, you slept in a room with Lahay, and stole all his
+gold (1000 dollars).  This sleeping in rooms with other people, and
+stealing their things, is a serious offence, and practised to a great
+extent in this city; and what makes the matter worse, you stole one
+thousand dollars in specie, when specie is so scarce.  We send you to
+Sing Sing for five years.
+
+Jacob Williams was arraigned.  He looked as if he had not many days to
+live, though a young man.
+
+_Recorder_.  Williams, you stole a lot of kerseymere from a store, and
+ran off with it--a most pernicious crime!  But, as your health is not
+good, we shall only send you to Sing Sing for three years and six
+months.
+
+John H Murray was arraigned.
+
+_Recorder_.  Murray, you're a deep fellow.  You got a Green Mountain boy
+into an alley, and played at "shuffle and burn," and you burned him out
+of a hundred dollars.  You must go to Sing Sing for five years; and we
+hope the reputable reporters attending for the respectable public press
+will warn our respectable country friends, when they come into New York,
+not to go into Orange street, and play at "shuffle and burn" among bad
+girls and bad men, or they'll very likely get burnt, like this Green
+Mountain boy.--Go to the next.
+
+William Shay, charged with shying glasses at the head of a
+tavern-keeper.  Guilty.
+
+_Recorder_.  This rioting is a very bad crime, Shay, and deserves heavy
+punishment; but as we understand you have a wife and sundry little
+Shays, we'll let you off, provided you give your solemn promise never to
+do so any more.
+
+_Shay_.  I gives it--wery solemnly.
+
+_Recorder_.  Then we discharge you.
+
+_Shay_.  Thank your honour--your honour's a capital judge.
+
+John Bowen, charged with stealing a basket.  Guilty.
+
+_Recorder_.  Now, John, we've convicted you; and you'll have to get out
+stone for three months on Blackwell's Island--that's the judgment of the
+court.
+
+Buckley and Charles Rogers, charged with loafing, sleeping in the park,
+and leaving the gate open, were discharged, with a caution to take care
+how they interfered with corporation rights in future, or they would get
+their corporation into trouble.
+
+Ann Boyle, charged with being too _lively_ in the street.  Let off on
+condition of being quiet for the time to come.
+
+Thomas Dixon, charged with petty larceny.  Guilty.
+
+_Dixon_.  I wish to have judgment suspended.
+
+_Recorder_.  It's a bad time to talk about suspension; why do you
+request this?
+
+_Dixon_.  I've an uncle I want to see, and other relations.
+
+_Recorder_.  In that case we'll send you to Black well's island for six
+months, you'll be sure to find them all there.  Sentence accordingly.
+
+Charles Enroff, charged with petty larceny--coming Paddy over an Irish
+shoemaker, and thereby cheating him out of a pair of shoes.--Guilty.
+
+Sentenced to the penitentiary, Blackwell's island, for six months, to
+get out stone.
+
+Charles Thorn, charged with assaulting Miss Rachael Prigmore.
+
+_Recorder_.  Miss Prigmore, how came this man to strike you?
+
+_Rachael_.  Because I wouldn't have him.  (A laugh.)  He was always a
+teasing me, and spouting poetry about roses and thorns; so when I told
+him to be off he struck me.
+
+_Prisoner_ (theatrically).  Me strike you!  Oh, Rachael--
+
+  "Perhaps it was right to dissemble your love,
+  But why did you kick me down stairs?"
+
+_Prisoner's Counsel_.  That's it, your honour.  Why did she kick him
+down stairs?
+
+This the fair Rachael indignantly denied, and the prisoner was found
+guilty.
+
+_Recorder_.  This striking of women is a very bad crime, you must get
+out stone for two months.
+
+_Prisoner_.  She'll repent, your honour.  She loves me--I know she does.
+
+  "On the cold flinty rock, when I'm busy at work,
+  Oh, Rachael, I'll think of thee."
+
+Thomas Ward, charged with petty larceny.  Guilty.  Ward had nothing to
+offer to _ward_ off his sentence, therefore he was sent to the island
+for six months.
+
+Maria Brandon, charged with petty larceny.  Guilty.  Sentenced to pick
+oakum for six months.
+
+_Maria_.  Well, I've friends, that's comfort, they'll sing--
+
+  "Oh, come to this bower, my own stricken deer."
+
+_Recorder_.  You're right, Maria, it's an _oakum_ bower you're going to.
+
+The court then adjourned.  See Note 4.
+
+But all these are nothing compared with the following, which at first I
+did not credit.  I made the strictest inquiry, and was informed by a
+legal gentleman present that it was correct.  I give the extract as it
+stood in the newspapers.
+
+_Influence of a Pretty Girl_.--"Catherine Manly," said the Recorder
+yesterday, in the sessions, "you have been convicted of a very bad
+crime.  This stealing is a very serious offence; but, _as you are a
+pretty girl_! we'll suspend judgment, in hopes you will do better for
+the future."  We have often heard that justice was blind.  What a fib to
+say so!
+
+Mr Carey, in his publication on Wealth, asserts, that security of
+property and or person are greater in the United States than in England.
+How far he is correct I shall now proceed to examine.  Mr Carey says,
+in his observations on security of person:--"Comparing Massachusetts
+with England and Wales, we find in the former 1 in 86,871 sentenced to
+one year's imprisonment or more; whereas, in the latter 1 in 70,000 is
+sentenced to more than one year.  The number sentenced to one year or
+more in England is greater than in Pennsylvania.  It is obvious,
+therefore, that security is much greater in Massachusetts than in
+England, and consequently greater than in any other part of the world."
+
+Relative to crimes against security of property, he asserts:--
+
+Of crimes against property, involving punishments of one year's
+imprisonment, or more, we find:--
+
++================+==========+
+YIn Pennsylvania Y1 in 4,400Y
++----------------+----------+
+YIn New York     Y1 in 5,900Y
++----------------+----------+
+YIn MassachusettsY1 in 5,932Y
++================+==========+
+
+While in England, in the year 1834, their convictions for offences
+against property, involving punishments exceeding one year's
+imprisonment, was 1 in 3,120.
+
+Now, that these numbers are fairly given, as far as they go, I have no
+doubt; but the comparison is not just, because, first, in America crime
+is not so easily detected; and, secondly, when detected, conviction does
+not always follow.
+
+Mr Carey must be well aware that, in the American newspapers, you
+_continually_ meet with a paragraph like this:--"A body of a white man,
+or of a negro, was found floating near such and such a wharf, on
+Saturday last, with evident marks of violence upon it, etcetera.
+etcetera, and the coroner's inquest is returned either found drowned, or
+violence by person or persons unknown."  Now, let Mr Carey take a list
+from the coroner's books of the number of bodies found in this manner at
+New York, and the number of instances in which the perpetrators have
+been discovered; let him compare this list with a similar one made for
+England and Wales, and he will then ascertain the difference between the
+_crimes committed_ in proportion to the _convictions_ which take place
+through the activity of the police in our country, and, it may be said,
+the total want of police in the United States.
+
+As to the second point, namely, that when crimes are detected,
+conviction does not follow, [see Note 5] I have only to refer back to
+the cases of Robinson and Goodwin, two instances out of the many in
+which criminals in the United States are allowed to escape, who, if they
+had committed the same offence in England, would most certainly have
+been hanged.  But there is another point which renders Mr Carey's
+statement unfair, which is, that he has no right to select one, two, or
+even three states out of twenty-six, and compare them all with England
+and Wales.
+
+The question is, the comparative security of person and property in
+Great Britain and the United States.  I acknowledge that, if Ireland
+were taken into the account, it would very much reduce our proportional
+numbers; but, then, there crime is _fomented_ by traitors and
+demagogues--a circumstance which must not be overlooked.
+
+Still, the whole of Ireland would offer nothing equal in atrocity to
+what I can prove relative to one small town in America: that of Augusta,
+in Georgia, containing only a population of 3,000, in which, in one
+year, there were _fifty-nine assassinations_ committed in open day,
+without any notice being taken of them by the authorities.
+
+This, alone, will exceed all Ireland, and I therefore do not hesitate to
+assert, that if every crime committed in the United States were followed
+up by conviction, as it would be in Great Britain, the result would
+fully substantiate the fact, that, in security of person and property,
+the advantage is considerably in favour of my own country.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Note 1.  Miss Martineau, speaking of the jealousy between the Americans
+and the French creoles, says--"No American expects to get a verdict, on
+_any evidence_, from a jury of French creoles."
+
+Note 2.  America though little more than sixty years old as a nation,
+has already published an United States Criminal Calendar (Boston, 1835.)
+I have this book in my possession, and, although in number of criminals
+it is not quite equal to our Newgate Calendar, it far exceeds it in
+atrocity of crime.
+
+Note 3.  Some allowance must be made for the license of the reporters,
+but in the main it is a very fair specimen of the recorder's style and
+language.
+
+Note 4.  There is, as will appear by the quotations, as much fun in the
+police reports in New York as in the best of ours: the _style_ of the
+Recorder is admirably taken off.
+
+Note 5.  Miss Martineau, speaking of a trial for murder in the United
+States, says, "I observed that no one seemed to have a doubt of his
+guilt."  She replied, that there never was a clearer case: but that he
+would be acquitted; the examination and trial were a mere form, of which
+everyone knew the conclusion beforehand.  The people did not choose to
+see any more hanging, and till the law was so altered as to allow an
+alternative of punishment, no conviction for a capital offence would be
+obtainable.  I asked on what pretence the young man would be got off, if
+the evidence against him was as clear as it was represented.  She said
+some one would be found to swear an _alibi_.
+
+"A tradesman swore an _alibi_; the young man was acquitted, and the next
+morning he was on his way to the West."
+
+
+
+VOLUME THREE, CHAPTER FORTY SIX.
+
+REMARKS--LYNCH LAW.
+
+Englishmen express their surprise that in a moral community such a
+monstrosity as Lynch law should exist; but although the present system,
+which has been derived from the original Lynch law, cannot be too
+severely condemned, it must, in justice to the Americans, be considered
+that the original custom of Lynch law was forced upon them by
+circumstances.  Why the term of Lynch law has been made use of, I do not
+know; but in its origin the practice was no more blameable than were the
+laws established by the Pilgrim fathers on their first landing at
+Plymouth, or any law enacted amongst a community left to themselves,
+their own resources, and their own guidance and government.  Lynch law,
+as at first constituted, was nothing more than punishment awarded to
+offenders by a community who bed been injured, and who had no law to
+refer to, and could have no redress if they did not take the law into
+their own hands; the _present_ system of Lynch law is, on the contrary,
+an illegal exercise of the power of the majority in opposition to and
+defiance of the laws of the country, and the measure of justice
+administered and awarded by those laws.
+
+It must be remembered that fifty years ago, there were but a few white
+men to the westward of the Alleghany Mountains; that the states of
+Kentucky and Tennessee were at that time as scanty in population, as
+even now are the districts of Ioway and Columbia; that by the
+institutions of the Union a district required a certain number of
+inhabitants before it could be acknowledged as even a district; and that
+previous to such acknowledgment, the people who had _squatted_ on the
+land had no claim to protection or law.  It must also be borne in mind,
+that these distant territories offered an asylum to many who fled from
+the vengeance of the laws, men without principle, thieves, rogues, and
+vagabonds, who escaping there, would often interfere with the happiness
+and peace of some small yet well-conducted community, which had migrated
+and settled on these fertile regions.  These communities had no appeal
+against personal violence, no protection from rapacity and injustice.
+They were not yet within the pale of the Union; indeed there are many
+even now in this precise situation (that of the Mississippi for
+instance,) who have been necessitated to make laws of government for
+themselves, and who acting upon their own responsibilities, do very
+often condemn to death, and execute.  [Note 1.] It was, therefore, to
+remedy the defect of their being no established law, that Lynch law, as
+it is termed, was applied to; without it, all security, all social
+happiness would have been in a state of abeyance.  By degrees, all
+disturbers of the public peace, all offenders against justice met with
+their deserts; and as it is a query, whether on its first institution,
+any law from the bench was more honestly and impartially administered
+than this very Lynch law, which has now had its name prostituted by the
+most barbarous excesses and contemptuous violation of all law whatever.
+The examples I am able to bring forward of Lynch law, in its primitive
+state, will be found to have been based upon necessity, and a due regard
+to morals and to justice.  For instance, the harmony of a well-conducted
+community would be interfered with by some worthless scoundrel, who
+would entice the young men to gaming, or the young women to deviate from
+virtue.  He becomes a nuisance to the community, and in consequence the
+heads or elders would meet and vote his expulsion.  Their method was
+very simple and straight-forward; he was informed that his absence would
+be agreeable, and that if he did not "clear out" before a certain day,
+he would receive forty lashes with a cow-hide.  If the party thought
+proper to defy this notice, as soon as the day arrived he received the
+punishment, with a due notification that, if found there again after a
+certain time, the dose would be repeated.  By these means they rid the
+community of a bad subject, and the morals of the junior branches were
+not contaminated.  Such was in its origin the practice of Lynch law.
+
+A circumstance occurred within these few years in which Lynch law was
+duly administered.  At Dubuque, in the Ioway district, a murder was
+committed.  The people of Dubuque first applied to the authorities of
+the state of Michigan, but they discovered that the district of Ioway
+was not within the jurisdiction of that State; and, in fact, although on
+the opposite side of the river there was law and justice, they had
+neither to appeal to.  They would not allow the murderer to escape; they
+consequently met, selected among themselves a judge and a jury, tried
+the man, and, upon their own responsibility, hanged him.
+
+There was another instance which occurred a short time since at Snakes'
+Hollow, on the western side of the Mississippi, not far from the town of
+Dubuque.  A band of miscreants, with a view of obtaining possession of
+some valuable diggings (lead mines,) which were in the possession of a
+grocer who lived in that place, murdered him in the open day.  The
+parties were well known, but they held together and would none of them
+give evidence.  As there were no hopes of their conviction, the people
+of Snakes' Hollow armed themselves, seized the parties engaged in the
+transaction, and ordered them to quit the territory on pain of having a
+rifle-bullet through their heads immediately.  The scoundrels crossed
+the river in a canoe, and were never after heard of.
+
+I have collected these facts to show that Lynch law has been forced upon
+the American settlers in the western states by _circumstances_; that it
+has been acted upon in support of morality and virtue, and that its
+awards have been regulated by strict justice.  But I must now notice
+this practice with a view to show how dangerous it is that any law
+should be meted out by the majority, and that what was commenced from a
+sense of justice and necessity, has now changed into a defiance of law,
+where law and justice can be readily obtained.  The Lynch law of the
+present day, as practised in the states of the west and south, may be
+divided into two different heads: the first is, the administration of it
+in cases in which the laws of the states are considered by the majority
+as not having awarded a punishment adequate, in their opinion, to the
+offence committed; and the other, when from excitement the majority will
+not wait for the law to act, but inflict the punishment with their own
+hands.
+
+The following are instances under the first head.
+
+Every crime increases in magnitude in proportion as it affects the
+welfare and interest of the community.  Forgery and bigamy are certainly
+crimes, but they are not such heavy crimes as many others to which the
+same penalty is decreed in this country.  But in a commercial nation
+forgery, from its effects, becomes most injurious, as it destroys
+confidence and security of property, affecting the whole mass of
+society.  A man may have his pocket _picked_ of 1000 pounds or more, but
+this is not a capital offence, as it is only the individual who suffers;
+but if a man _forges_ a bill for 5 pounds he is (or rather, was)
+sentenced by our laws to be hanged.  Bigamy may be adduced as another
+instance: the heinousness of the offence is not in having more than one
+wife, but in the prospect of the children of the first marriage being
+left to be supported by the community.  Formerly, that was also
+pronounced a capital offence.  Of punishments, it will be observed that
+society has awarded the most severe for crimes committed against itself,
+rather than against those which most offend God.  Upon this principle,
+in the southern and western states, you may murder _ten_ white men and
+no one will arraign you or trouble himself about the matter; but _steal
+one nigger_, and the whole community are in arms, and express the most
+virtuous indignation against the sin of theft, although that of murder
+will be disregarded.
+
+One or two instances in which Lynch law was called in to _assist_
+justice on the bench, came to my knowledge.  A Yankee had stolen a
+slave, but as the indictment was not properly worded, he knew that he
+would be acquitted, and he boasted so, previous to the trial coming on.
+He was correct in his supposition; the flaw in the indictment was fatal,
+and he was acquitted.  "I told you so," said he, triumphantly smiling as
+he left the court, to the people who had been the issue of the trial.
+
+"Yes," replied they, "it is true that you have been acquitted by Judge
+Smith, but you have not yet been tried by _Judge_ Lynch."  The latter
+judge was very summary.  The Yankee was tied up, and cow-hided till he
+was nearly dead; they then put him into a _dug-out_ and sent him
+floating down the river.  Another instance occurred which is rather
+amusing, and, at the same time, throws some light upon the peculiar
+state of society in the west.
+
+There was a bar-keeper at some tavern in the state of Louisiana (if I
+recollect right) who was a great favourite; whether from his judicious
+mixture of the proportions of mint juleps and gin cocktails, or from
+other causes, I do not know; but what may appear strange to the English,
+he was elected to an office in the law courts of the state, similar to
+our _Attorney-General_, and I believe was very successful, for an
+American can turn his hand or his head to almost anything.  It so
+happened that a young man who was in prison for stealing a negro,
+applied to this attorney-general to defend him in the court.  This he
+did so successfully that the man was acquitted; but Judge Lynch was as
+usual waiting outside, and when the attorney came out with his client,
+the latter was demanded to be given up.  This the attorney refused,
+saying that the man was under his protection.  A tumult ensued, but the
+attorney was firm; he drew his Bowie-knife, and addressing the crowd,
+said, "My men, you all know me: no one takes this man, unless he passes
+over my body."  The populace were still dissatisfied, and the attorney
+not wishing to lose his popularity, and at the same time wanting to
+defend a man who had paid him well, requested the people to be quiet a
+moment until he could arrange the affair.  He took his client aside, and
+said to him, "These men will have you, and will Lynch you, in spite of
+all my efforts, only one chance remains for you, and you must accept it:
+you know that it is but a mile to the confines of the next state, which
+if you gain you will be secure.  You have been in prison for two months,
+you have lived on bread and water, and you must be in good wind,
+moreover, you are young and active.  These men who wish to get hold of
+you are half drunk, and they never can run as you can.  Now, I'll
+propose that you have one hundred and fifty yards law, and then if you
+exert yourself, you can easily escape."  The man consented, as he could
+not help himself: the populace also consented, as the attorney pointed
+out to them that any other arrangement would be injurious to his honour.
+The man, however, did not succeed; he was so frightened that he could
+not run, and in a short time he was taken, and had the usual allowance
+of cow-hide awarded by Judge Lynch.  Fortunately he regained his prison
+before he was quite exhausted, and was sent away during the night in a
+steamer.
+
+At Natchez, a young man married a young lady of fortune, and, in his
+passion, actually flogged her to death.  He was tried, but as there were
+no witnesses but negroes, and their evidence was not admissible against
+a white man, he was acquitted: but he did not escape; he was seized,
+tarred and feathered, _scalped_, and turned adrift in a canoe without
+paddles.
+
+Such are the instances of Lynch law being superadded, when it has been
+considered by the majority that the law has not been sufficiently
+severe.  The other variety of Lynch law is, when they will not wait for
+law, but, in a state of excitement, proceed to summary punishment.
+
+The case more than once referred to by Miss Martineau, of the burning
+alive of a coloured man at St Louis, is one of the gravest under this
+head.  I do not wish to defend it in any way, but I do, for the honour
+of humanity, wish to offer all that can be said in extenuation of this
+atrocity: and I think Miss Martineau, when she held up to public
+indignation the monstrous punishment, was bound to acquaint the public
+with the cause of an excitable people being led into such an error.
+This unfortunate victim of popular fury was a free coloured man, of a
+very quarrelsome and malignant disposition; he had already been engaged
+in a variety of disputes, and was a nuisance in the city.  For an
+attempt to murder another coloured man, he was seized, and was being
+conducted to prison in the custody of Mr Hammond, the Sheriff, and
+another white person who assisted him in the execution of his duty.  As
+he arrived at the door of the prison, he watched his opportunity,
+stabbed the person who was assisting the Sheriff, and, then passing his
+knife across the throat of Mr Hammond, the carotid artery was divided,
+and the latter fell dead upon the spot.  Now, here was a wretch who, in
+one day, had three times attempted murder, and had been successful in
+the instance of Mr Hammond, the sheriff, a person universally esteemed.
+Moreover, when it is considered that the culprit was of a race who are
+looked upon as inferior; that this successful attempt on the part of a
+black man was considered most dangerous as a precedent to the negro
+population; that, owing to the unwillingness to take away life in
+America, he might probably have escaped justice; and that this occurred
+just at the moment when the abolitionists were creating such mischief
+and irritation:--although it must be lamented that they should have so
+disgraced themselves, the summary and cruel punishment which was awarded
+by an incensed populace is not very surprising.  Miss Martineau has,
+however, thought proper to pass over the peculiar atrocity of the
+individual who was thus sacrificed: to read her account of the
+transaction, it would appear as if he were an unoffending party,
+sacrificed on account of his _colour_ alone.
+
+Another remarkable instance was the execution of five gamblers at the
+town of Vicksburgh, on the Mississippi.  It may appear strange that
+people should be lynched for the mere vice of gambling: but this will be
+better understood when, in my second portion of this work, I enter into
+a general view of society in the United States.  At present it will be
+sufficient to say, that as towns rise in the South and West, they
+gradually become peopled with a better class; and that, as soon as this
+better class is sufficiently strong to accomplish their ends, a
+purification takes place much to the advantage of society.  I hardly
+need observe; that these better classes come from the Eastward.  New
+Orleans, Natchez, and Vicksburgh are evidences of the truth of
+observations I have made.  In the present instance, it was resolved by
+the people of Vicksburgh that they would no longer permit their city to
+be the resort of a set of unprincipled characters, and that all gamblers
+by profession should be compelled to quit it.  But, as I have the
+American account of what occurred, I think it will be better to give it
+in detail, the rather as I was informed by a gentleman residing there
+that it is perfectly correct:--
+
+Our city has for some days past been the theatre of the most novel and
+startling scenes that we have ever witnessed.  While we regret that the
+necessary for such scenes should have existed, we are proud of the
+public spirit and indignation against offenders displayed by the
+citizens, and congratulate them on having at length banished a class of
+individuals, whose shameless vices and daring outrages have long
+poisoned the springs of morality, and interrupted the relations of
+society.  For years past, professional gamblers, destitute of all sense
+of moral obligation--unconnected with society by any of its ordinary
+ties, and intent only on the gratification of their avarice--have made
+Vicksburgh their place of rendezvous--and, in the very bosom of our
+society, boldly plotted their vile and lawless machinations.  Here, as
+everywhere else, the laws of the country were found wholly ineffectual
+for the punishment of these individuals; and, emboldened by impunity,
+their numbers and their crimes have daily continued to multiply.  Every
+species of transgression followed in their train.  They supported a
+large number of tippling-houses, to which they would decoy the youthful
+and unsuspecting, and, after stripping them of their possessions, send
+them forth into the world the ready and desperate instrument of vice.
+Our streets were ever resounding with the echoes of their drunken and
+obscene mirth, and no citizen was secure from their villainy.
+Frequently, in armed bodies, they have disturbed the good order of
+public assemblages, insulted our citizens, and defied our civil
+authorities.  Thus had they continued to grow bolder in their
+wickedness, and more formidable in their numbers, until Saturday, the
+4th of July (inst), when our citizens had assembled together, with the
+corps of Vicksburg volunteers, at a barbecue, to celebrate the day by
+the usual festivities.  After dinner, and during the delivery of the
+toasts, one of the officers attempted to enforce order and silence at
+the table, when one of these gamblers, whose name is Cabler, who had
+impudently thrust himself into the company, insulted the officer, and
+struck one of the citizens.  Indignation immediately rose high, and it
+was only by the interference of the commandant that he was saved from
+instant punishment.  He was, however, permitted to retire, and the
+company dispersed.  The military corps proceeded to the public square of
+the city, and were there engaged in their exercises, when information
+was received that Cabler was coming up, armed, and resolved to kill one
+of the volunteers, who had been most active in expelling him from the
+table.  Knowing his desperate character, two of the corps instantly
+stepped forward and arrested him.  A loaded pistol and a large knife and
+dagger were found upon his person, all of which he had procured since he
+separated from the company.  To liberate him would have been to devote
+several of the most respectable members of the company to his vengeance,
+and to proceed against him at law, would have been mere mockery,
+inasmuch as, not having had the opportunity of consummating his design,
+no adequate punishment could be inflicted on him.  Consequently, it was
+determined to take him into the woods and _Lynch_ him, which is a mode
+of punishment provided for such as become obnoxious in a manner which
+the law cannot reach.  He was immediately carried out under a guard,
+attended by a crowd of respectable citizens, tied to a tree, punished
+with stripes, tarred and feathered, and ordered to leave the city in
+forty-eight hours.  In the meantime, one of his comrades, the Lucifer of
+his gang, had been endeavouring to rally and arm his confederates for
+the purpose of rescuing him--which, however, he failed to accomplish.
+
+"Having thus aggravated the whole band of these desperadoes, and feeling
+no security against their vengeance, the citizens met at night in the
+Court-house, in a large number, and there passed the following
+resolutions:--
+
+"_Resolved_, That a notice be given to all professional gamblers, that
+the citizens of Vicksburg are _resolved_ to exclude them from this place
+and its vicinity; and that twenty-four hours' notice be given them to
+leave the place.
+
+"_Resolved_, That all persons permitting faro-dealing in their houses,
+he also notified that they will be prosecuted therefore.
+
+"_Resolved_, That one hundred copies of the foregoing resolutions be
+printed and stuck up at the corners of the streets--and that this
+publication be deemed a notice.
+
+"On Sunday morning, one of these notices was posted at the corners of
+each square of the city.  During that day (the 5th) a majority of the
+gang, terrified by the threats of the citizens, dispersed in different
+directions, without making any opposition.  It was sincerely hoped that
+the remainder would follow their example and thus prevent a bloody
+termination of the strife which had commenced.  On the morning of the
+6th, the military corps, followed by a file of several hundred citizens,
+marched to each suspected house, and sending in an examining committee,
+dragged out every faro-table and other gambling apparatus that could be
+found.  At length they approached a house which occupied by one of the
+most profligate of the gang, whose name was North, and in which it was
+understood that a garrison of armed men had been stationed.  All hoped
+that these wretches would be intimidated by the superior numbers of
+their assailants, and surrender themselves at discretion rather than
+attempt a desperate defence.  The house being surrounded, the back door
+was burst open, when four or five shots were fired from the interior,
+one of which instantly killed Dr Hugh S Bodley, a citizen universally
+beloved and respected.  The interior was so dark that the villains could
+not be seen; but several of the citizens, guided by the flash of their
+guns, returned their fire.  A yell from one of the party announced that
+one of the shots had been effectual, and by this time a crowd of
+citizens, their indignation overcoming all other feelings, burst open
+every door of the building, and dragged into the light those who had not
+been wounded.
+
+"North the ringleader, who had contrived this desperate plot, could not
+be found in the building, but was apprehended by a citizen, while
+attempting, in company with another, to make his escape at a place not
+fir distant.  Himself, with the rest of the prisoners, was then
+conducted _in silence_ to the scaffold.  One of them, not having been in
+the building before it was attacked, nor appearing to be concerned with
+the rest, except that he was the brother of one of them, was liberated.
+The remaining number of five, among whom was the individual who had been
+shut, but who still lived, were _immediately executed_ in presence of
+the assembled multitude.  All sympathy for the wretches was completely
+merged in detestation and horror of their crime.  The whole procession
+then returned to the city, collected all the faro-tables into a pile,
+and burnt them.  This being done, a troop of horsemen set out for a
+neighbouring house; the residence of J Hord the individual who had
+attempted to organise a force on the first day of the disturbance for
+the rescue of Cabler, who had since been threatening to fire the city.
+He had, however, made his escape on that day, and the next morning
+crossed the Big Black at Baldwin's Ferry, in a state of indescribable
+consternation.  We lament his escape, as his whole course of life for
+the last three years has exhibited the most shameless profligacy, and
+been a series of continual transgressions against the laws of God and
+man.
+
+"The names of the individuals who perished were as follow:--North,
+Hullams, Dutch Bill, Smith, and Mccall.
+
+"Their bodies were cut down on the morning after the execution, and
+buried in a ditch.
+
+"It is not expected that this act will pass without censure from those
+who had not an opportunity of knowing and feeling the dire necessity out
+of which it originated.  The laws, however severe in their provision,
+have never been sufficient to correct a vice which must be established
+by positive proof, and cannot, like others, be shown from circumstantial
+testimony.  It is practised, too, by individuals whose whole study is to
+violate the law in such a manner as to evade its punishment, and who
+never are in want of secret confederates to swear them out of their
+difficulties, whose oaths cannot be impeached for any specific cause.
+We had borne with their enormities until to suffer them any longer would
+not only have proved us to be destitute of every manly sentiment, but
+would also have implicated us in the guilt of necessaries to their
+crimes.  Society may be compared to the elements, which, although `order
+is their first law,' can sometimes be purified only by a storm.
+Whatever, therefore, sickly sensibility or mawkish philanthropy may say
+against the course pursued by us, we hope that our citizens will not
+relax the code of punishment which they have enacted against this
+infamous and baleful class of society; and we invite Natchez, Jackson,
+Columbus, Warrenton, and all our sister towns throughout the State, in
+the name of our insulted laws, of offended virtue, and of slaughtered
+innocence, to aid us in exterminating this deep-rooted vice from our
+land.  The revolution has been conducted here by the most respectable
+citizens, heads of families, members of all classes, professions, and
+pursuits.  None have been heard to utter a syllable of censure against
+either the act or the manner in which it was performed.
+
+"An Anti-Gambling Society has been formed, the members of which have
+pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honours for the suppression of
+gambling, and the punishment and expulsion of gamblers.
+
+"Startling as the above may seem to foreigners, it will ever reflect
+honour on the insulted citizens of Vicksburg, among those who best know
+how to appreciate the motives by which they were actuated.  Their city
+now stands redeemed and ventilated from all the vices and influence of
+gambling and assignation houses; two of the greatest curses that ever
+corrupted the morals of any community."
+
+That the society in the towns on the banks of the Mississippi can only,
+like the atmosphere, "be purified by storm," is, I am afraid, but too
+true.
+
+I have now entered fully, and I trust impartially, into the rise and
+progress of Lynch Law, and I must leave my readers to form their own
+conclusions.  That it has occasionally been beneficial, in the peculiar
+state of the communities in which it has been practised, must be
+admitted; but it is equally certain that it is in itself indefensible,
+and that but too often, not only the punishment is much too severe for
+the offence, but what is still more to be deprecated, the innocent do
+occasionally suffer with the guilty.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+"A similar case is to be found at the present day, west of the
+Mississippi.  Upon lands belonging to the United States, not yet
+surveyed or offered for sale, are numerous bodies of people who have
+occupied them, with the intention of purchasing them when they shall be
+brought into the market.  These persons are mailed _squatters_, and it
+is not to be supposed that they consist of the _elite_ of the emigrants
+to the West; yet we are informed that they have organised a government
+for themselves, and regularly elect magistrates to attend to the
+execution of the laws.  They appears in this respect, to be worthy
+descendants of the pilgrims."--_Carey on Wealth_.
+
+
+
+VOLUME THREE, CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN.
+
+REMARKS--CLIMATE.
+
+I wish the remarks in this chapter to receive peculiar attention, as in
+commenting upon the character of the Americans, it is but justice to
+them to point out that many of what may be considered their errors,
+arise from _circumstances_ over which they have no control; and one
+which has no small weight in this scale is the peculiar climate of the
+country; for various as is the climate, in such an extensive region,
+certain it is, that in one point, that of _excitement_, it has, in every
+portion of it, a very pernicious effect.
+
+When I first arrived at New York, the effect of the climate upon me was
+immediate.  On the 5th of May, the heat and closeness were oppressive.
+There was a sultriness in the air, even at that early period of the
+year, which to me seemed equal to that of Madras.  Almost every day
+there were, instead of our mild refreshing showers, sharp storms of
+thunder and lightning; but the air did not appear to me to be cooled by
+them.  And yet, strange to say, there were no incipient signs of
+vegetation: the trees waved their bare arms, and while I was throwing
+off every garment which I well could, the females were walking up and
+down Broadway wrapped up in warm shawls.  It appeared as if it required
+twice the heat we have in our own country, either to create a free
+circulation in the blood of the people, or to stimulate nature to rouse
+after the torpor of a protracted and severe winter.  In a week from the
+period I have mentioned, the trees were in full foliage, the _belles_ of
+Broadway walking about in summer dresses and thin satin shoes; the men
+calling for ice, and rejoicing in the beauty of the weather, the heat of
+which to me was most oppressive.  In one respect there appears to be
+very little difference throughout all the States of the Union; which is,
+in the extreme heat of the summer months, and the rapid changes of
+temperature which take place in the twenty-four hours.  When I was on
+Lake Superior the thermometer stood between 90 degrees and 100 degrees
+during the day, and at night was nearly down to the freezing point.
+When at St Peter's, which is nearly as far north, and farther west, the
+thermometer stood generally at 100 degrees to 106 degrees during the
+day, and I found it to be the case in all the northern States when the
+winter is most severe, as well as in the more southern.  When on the
+Mississippi and Ohio rivers, where the heat was most insufferable during
+the day, our navigation was almost every night suspended by the thick
+dank fogs, which covered not only the waters but the inland country, and
+which must be anything but healthy.  In fact, in every portion of the
+States which I visited, and in those portions also which I did not
+visit, the extreme heat and rapid changes in the weather were (according
+to the information received front other persons) the same.
+
+But I must proceed to particulars.  I consider the climate on the sea
+coasts of the eastern States, from Maine to Baltimore, as the most
+unhealthy of all parts of America; as, added to the sudden changes, they
+have cold and damp easterly winds, which occasion a great deal of
+consumption.  The inhabitants, more especially the women, shew this in
+their appearance, and it is by the inhabitants that the climate must be
+tested.  The women are very delicate, and very pretty; but they remind
+you of roses which have budded fairly, but which a check in the season
+has not permitted to blow.  Up to sixteen or seventeen, they promise
+perfection; at that age their advance appears to be checked.  Mr
+Sanderson, in a very clever and amusing work, which I recommend to every
+one, called "Sketches of Paris," says: "Our climate is noted for three
+eminent qualities--extreme heat and cold, and extreme suddenness of
+change.  If a lady has bad teeth, or a bad complexion, she lays them
+conveniently to the climate; if her beauty, like a tender flower, fades
+before noon, it is the climate; if she has a bad temper, or a snub nose;
+still it is the climate.  But our climate is active and intellectual,
+especially in winter, and in all seasons more pure and transparent than
+the inking skies of Europe.  It sustains the infancy of beauty--why not
+its maturity?  It spares the bud--why not the opened blossom, or the
+ripened fruit?  Our negroes are perfect in their teeth--why not the
+whites?  The chief preservation of beauty in any country is health, and
+there is no place in which this great interest is so little attended to
+as in America.  To be sensible of this, you must visit Europe--you must
+see the deep bosomed maids of England upon the Place Vendome and the Rue
+Castiglione."
+
+I have quoted this passage, because I think Mr Sanderson is not just in
+these slurs upon his fair countrywomen.  I acknowledge that a bad temper
+does not directly proceed from climate, although sickness and suffering,
+occasioned by climate, may directly produce it.  As for the snub nose, I
+agree with him, that climate has not so much to do with that.  Mr
+Sanderson is right in saying, that the chief preservative of beauty is
+health; but may I ask him, upon what does health depend but upon
+_exercise_? and if so, how many days are there in the American summer in
+which the heat will admit of exercise, or in the American winter in
+which it is possible for women to _walk_ out? for carriage driving is
+not exercise, and if it were, from the changes in the weather in
+America, it will always be dangerous.  The fact is, that the climate
+will not admit of the exercise necessary for health, unless by running
+great risks, and very often contracting cold and chills, which end in
+consumption and death.  To accuse his countrywomen of natural indolence,
+is unfair; it is an indolence forced upon them.  As for the complexions
+of the females, I consider they are much injured by the universal use of
+close stoves, so necessary in the extremity of the winters.  Mr S's
+implication, that because negroes have perfect teeth, therefore so
+should the whites, is another error.  The negroes were born for, and in,
+a torrid clime, and there is some difference between their strong ivory
+masticators and the transparent pearly teeth which so rapidly decay in
+the eastern states, from no other cause than the variability of the
+climate.  Besides, do the teeth of the women in the western states decay
+so fast?  Take a healthy situation, with an intermediate climate, such
+as Cincinnati, and you will there find not only good teeth, but as
+deep-bosomed maids as you will in England; so you will in Virginia,
+Kentucky, Missouri, and Wisconsin, which, with a portion of Ohio, are
+the most healthy states in the Union.  There is another proof, and a
+positive one, that the women are affected by the _climate_ and not
+through any fault of their own, which is, that if you transplant a
+delicate American girl to England, she will in a year or two become so
+robust and healthy as not to be recognised upon her return home; showing
+that the even temperature of our damp climate is from the capability of
+constant exercise, more conducive to health, than the sunny, yet
+variable atmosphere of America.
+
+The Americans are fond of their climate, and consider it, as they do
+every thing in America, as the very best in the world.  They are, as I
+have said before, most happy in their delusions.  But if the climate be
+not a healthy one, it is certainly a beautiful climate to the eye; the
+sky is so clear, the air so dry, the tints of the foliage so
+inexpressibly beautiful in the autumn and early winter months: and at
+night, the stars are so brilliant, hundreds being visible with the naked
+eye which are not to be seen by us, that I am not surprised at the
+Americans praising the _beauty_ of their climate.  The sun is terrific
+in his heat, it is true, but still one cannot help feeling the want of
+it, when in England, he will disdain to shine for weeks.  Since my
+return to this country, the English reader can hardly form an idea of
+how much I have longed for the sun.  After having sojourned for nearly
+two years in America, the sight of it has to me almost amounted to a
+necessity, and I am not therefore at all astonished at an American
+finding fault with the climate of England; nevertheless, our climate,
+although unprepossessing to the eye, and depressive to the animal
+spirits, is much more healthy than the exciting and changeable
+atmosphere, although beautiful in appearance, which they breathe in the
+United States.
+
+One of the first points to which I directed my attention on my arrival
+in America, was to the diseases most prevalent.  In the eastern States,
+as may be supposed, they have a great deal of consumption; in the
+western, the complaint is hardly known: but the general nature of the
+American diseases are _neuralgic_, or those which affect the nerves, and
+which are common to almost all the Union.  Ophthalmia, particularly the
+disease of the ophthalmic nerve, is very common in the eastern States.
+The medical men told me that there were annually more diseases of the
+eye in New York city alone, than perhaps all over Europe.  How far this
+may be correct I cannot say; but this I can assert, that I never had any
+complaint in my eyes until I arrived in America, and during a stay of
+eighteen months, I was three times very severely afflicted.  The oculist
+who attended me asserted that he had _seven hundred_ patients.
+
+The _tic doloureux_ is another common complaint throughout America,--
+indeed so common is it, that I should say that one out of ten suffers
+from it, more or less; the majority, however, are women.
+
+I saw more cases of _delirium tremens_ in America, than I ever _heard_
+of before.  In fact, the climate is one of _extreme excitement_.  I had
+not been a week in the country before I discovered how impossible it was
+for a foreigner to drink as much wine or spirits as he could in England,
+and I believe that thousands of emigrants have been carried off by
+making no alteration in their habits upon their arrival.  See Note 1.
+
+The winters in Wisconsin, Ioway, Missouri, and Upper Canada, are dry and
+healthy, enabling the inhabitants to take any quantity of exercise, and
+I found that the people looked forward to their winters with pleasure,
+longing for the heat of the summer to abate.
+
+Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and a portion of Ohio, are very unhealthy
+in the autumns from the want of drainage; the bilious congestive fever,
+ague, and dysentery, carrying off large numbers, Virginia, Kentucky,
+North Carolina, and the eastern portions of Tennessee, are comparatively
+healthy.  South Carolina, and all the other southern States, are, as it
+is well known, visited by the yellow fever, and the people migrate every
+fall to the northward, not only to avoid the contagion, but to renovate
+their general health, which suffers from the continual demand upon their
+energies, the western and southern country being even more exciting than
+the east.  There is a fiery disposition in the Southerners which is very
+remarkable; they are much more easily excited than even the Spaniard or
+Italian, and their feelings are more violent and unrestrainable, as I
+shall hereafter show.  That this is the effect of climate I shall now
+attempt to prove by one or two circumstances, out of the many which fell
+under my observation.  It is impossible to imagine a greater difference
+in character than exists between the hot-blooded Southerner, and the
+cold calculating Yankee of the eastern States.  I have already said that
+there is a continual stream of emigration from the eastern States to the
+southward and westward the farmers of the eastern States leaving their
+comparatively barren lands to settle down upon the more grateful soils
+of the interior.  Now, it is a singular, yet a well known fact, that in
+a very few years the character of the Eastern farmer is completely
+changed.  He arrives there a hard-working, careful, and sober man; for
+the first two or three years his ground is well tilled, and his crops
+are abundant; but by degrees he becomes a different character: he
+neglects his farm, so that from rich soil he obtains no better crops
+than he formerly did upon his poor land in Massachusetts; he becomes
+indolent, reckless, and often intemperate.  Before he has settled five
+years in the Western country, the climate has changed him into a Western
+man, with all the peculiar virtues and vices of the country.
+
+A Boston friend of mine told me that he was once on board of a steamboat
+on the Mississippi, and found that an old schoolfellow was first mate of
+the vessel.  They ran upon a snag, and were obliged to lay the vessel on
+shore until they could put the cargo on board of another steamboat, and
+repair the damage.  The passengers, as usual on such occasions, instead
+of grumbling at what could not be helped, as people do in England, made
+themselves merry; and because they could not proceed on their voyage
+they very wisely resolved to drink champagne.  They did so: a further
+supply being required, this first mate was sent down into the hold to
+procure it.  My Boston friend happened to be at the hatchway when he
+went down with a flaring candle in his hand, and he observed the mate
+creep over several small barrels until he found the champagne cases, and
+ordered them up.
+
+"What is in those barrels?" inquired he of the mate when he came up
+again.
+
+"Oh, _gunpowder_!" replied the mate.
+
+"Good Heavens!" exclaimed the Bostonian, "is it possible that you could
+be so careless? why I should have thought better of you; you used to be
+a prudent man."
+
+"Yes, and so I was, until I came into this part of the country," replied
+the mate, "but somehow or another, I don't care for things now, which,
+when I was in my own State, would have frightened me out of my wits."
+Here was a good proof of the Southern recklessness having been imbibed
+by a cautious Yankee.
+
+I have adduced the above instances, because I consider that the
+excitement so general throughout the Union, and forming so remarkable a
+feature in the American character, is occasioned much more by climate
+than by any other cause: that the peculiarity of their institutions
+affords constant aliment for this excitement to feed upon is true, and
+it is therefore seldom allowed to repose.  I think, moreover, that their
+climate is the occasion of two bad habits to which the Americans are
+prone, namely, the use of tobacco and of spirituous liquors.  An
+Englishman could not drink as the Americans do; it would destroy him
+here in a very short time, by the irritation it would produce upon his
+nerves.  But the effect of tobacco is narcotic and anti-nervous; it
+allays that irritation, and enables the American to indulge in
+stimulating habits without their being attended with such immediate ill
+consequences.
+
+To the rapid changes of the climate, and to the extreme heat, must be
+also to a great degree ascribed the excessive use of spirituous liquors;
+the system being depressed by the sudden changes demanding stimulus to
+equalise the pulse.  The extraordinary heat during the summer is also
+another cause of it.  The Rev  Mr Reid says, in his Tour through the
+States, "the disposition to drink now became intense; we had only to
+consider how we might safely gratify it; the thermometer rose to low,
+and the heat and perspiration were intolerable."  Now, if a Christian
+divine acknowledged this feeling, it is not to be supposed but that
+others must be equally affected.  To drink pure water during this
+extreme heat is very dangerous: it must be qualified with some wine or
+spirit; and thus is an American led into a habit of drinking, from which
+it is not very easy, indeed hardly possible, for him to abstain, except
+during the winter, and the winters in America are too cold for a man to
+leave off _any_ of his _habits_.  Let it not be supposed that I wish to
+excuse intemperance: far from it; but I wish to be just in my remarks
+upon the Americans, and show, that if they are intemperate (which they
+certainly are), there is more excuse for them than there is for other
+nations, from their temptation arising out of circumstances.
+
+There is but one other point to be considered in examining into the
+climate of America.  It will be admitted that the American stock is the
+very best in the world, being originally English, with a favourable
+admixture of German, Irish, French, and other northern countries.  It
+moreover has the great advantage of a continual importation of the same
+varieties of stock to cross and improve the breed.  The question then
+is, have the American race improved or degenerated since the first
+settlement?  If they have degenerated, the climate cannot be healthy.
+
+I was very particular in examining into this point, and I have no
+hesitation in saying, that the American people are not equal in strength
+or in form to the English.  I may displease the Americans by this
+assertion, and they may bring forward their backwoodsmen and their
+Kentuckians, who live at the spurs of the Alleghany Mountains, as
+evidence to the contrary; but although they are powerful and tall men
+they are not well made, nor so well made as the Virginians, who are the
+finest race in the Union.  There is one peculiar defect in the American
+figure common to both sexes, which is, _narrowness of the shoulders_,
+and it is a very great defect; there seems to be a check to the
+expansion of the chest in their climate, the physiological causes of
+which I leave to others.  On the whole, they certainly are a taller race
+than the natives of Europe, but not with proportionate muscular
+strength.  Their climate, therefore, I unhesitatingly pronounce to be
+bad, being injurious to them in the two important points, of healthy
+vigour in the body, and healthy action of the mind; enervating the one,
+and tending to demoralise the other.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Note 1.  Vermont, New Hampshire, the interior portion of the State of
+New York, and all the portions of the other States which abut on the
+great lakes, are healthy, owing to the dryness of the atmosphere being
+softened down by the proximity of such large bodies of water.
+
+
+
+VOLUME THREE, CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT.
+
+REMARKS--EDUCATION.
+
+Mr Carey, in his statistical work, falls into the great error of most
+American writers--that of lauding his own country and countrymen, and
+inducing them to believe that they are superior to all nations under
+heaven.  This is very injudicious, and highly injurious to the national
+character: it upholds that self-conceit to which the Americans are
+already so prone, and checks that improvement so necessary to place them
+on a level with the English nation.  The Americans have gained more by
+their faults having been pointed out by travellers than they will choose
+to allow; and, from his moral courage in fearlessly pointing out the
+truth, the best friend to America, among their own countrymen, has been
+Dr Charming.  I certainly was under the impression, previous to my
+visit to the United States, that education was much more universal there
+than in England; but every step I took, and every mile I travelled,
+lowered my estimate on that point.  To substantiate my opinion by
+statistical tables would be difficult; as, after much diligent search, I
+find that I can only obtain a correct return of a portion of our own
+establishments; but, even were I able to obtain a general return, it
+would not avail me much, as Mr Carey has no general return to oppose to
+it.  He gives us, as useful, Massachusetts and one or two other States,
+but no more; and, as I have before observed, Massachusetts is not
+America.  His remarks and quotations from English authors are not fair;
+they are loose and partial observations, made by those who have a case
+to substantiate.  Not that I blame Mr Carey for making use of those
+authorities, such as they are; but I wish to show that they have misled
+him.
+
+I must first observe that Mr Carey's estimate of education in England
+is much lower than it ought to be; and I may afterwards prove that his
+estimate of education in the United States is equally erroneous on the
+other side.
+
+To estimate the amount of education in England by the number of
+_national schools_ must ever be wrong.  In America, by so doing, a fair
+approximation may be arrived at, as the education of all classes is
+chiefly confined to them; but in England the case is different; not only
+the rich and those in the middling classes of life, but a large
+proportion of the poor, sending their children to private schools.
+Could I have obtained a return of the private seminaries in the United
+Kingdom, it would have astonished Mr Carey.  The small parish of
+Kensington and its vicinity has only two national schools, but it
+contains 292 (I believe this estimate is below the mark) private
+establishments for education; and I might produce fifty others, in which
+the proportion would be almost as remarkable.  I have said that a large
+portion of the poorer classes in England send their children to private
+teachers.  This arises from a feeling of pride; they prefer paying for
+the tuition of their children rather than having their children educated
+by the _parish_, as they term the national schools.  The consequence is,
+that in every town, or village, or hamlet, you will find that there are
+"dame schools," as they are termed, at which about one half of the
+children are educated.
+
+The subject of national education has not been warmly taken up in
+England until within these last twenty-five years, and has made great
+progress during that period.  The Church of England Society for National
+Education was established in 1813.  Two years after its formation there
+were only 230 schools, containing 40,484 children.  By the
+Twenty-seventh Report of this Society, ending the year 1838, these
+schools had increased to 17,341, and the number of scholars to
+1,003,087.  But this, it must be recollected, is but a small proportion
+of the public education in England; the Dissenters having been equally
+diligent, and their schools being quite as numerous in proportion to
+their numbers.  We have, moreover, the workhouse schools, and the dame
+schools before mentioned, for the poorer classes; and for the rich and
+middling classes, establishments for private tuition, which, could the
+returns of them and of the scholars be made, would, I am convinced,
+amount to more than five times the number of the national and public
+establishments.  But as Mr Carey does not bring forward his statistical
+proof; and I cannot produce mine, all that I can do is to venture my
+opinion from what I learnt and saw during my sojourn in the United
+States, or have obtained from American and other authorities.
+
+The State of Massachusetts is a _school_; it may be said that all there
+are educated, Mr Reid states in his work:--
+
+  "It was lately ascertained by returns from 131 towns in Massachusetts,
+  that the number of scholars was 12,393; that the number of persons in
+  the towns between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one who are unable
+  to write was fifty-eight; and in one town there were only three
+  persons who could not read or write, and those three were dumb."
+
+I readily assent to this, and I consider Connecticut equal to
+Massachusetts; but as you leave these two states, you find that
+education gradually diminishes.  [See Note 1.] New York is the next in
+rank, and thus the scale descends until you arrive at absolute
+ignorance.
+
+I will now give what I consider as a fair and impartial tabular analysis
+of the degrees of education in the different states in the Union.  It
+may be cavilled at, but it will nevertheless be a fair approximation.
+It must be remembered that it is not intended to imply that there are
+not a certain portion of well-educated people in those states put down
+in class 4, as ignorant states, but they are included in the Northern
+states, where they principally receive their education.
+
+_Degrees of Education in the different States in the Union_.
+
++===================+===========+
+Y1st Class.         YPopulation.Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YMassachusetts      Y    700,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YConnecticut        Y    298,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+Y                   Y    998,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+Y2nd Class.         Y           Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YNew York           Y  2,400,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YMaine              Y    555,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YNew Hampshire      Y    300,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YVermont            Y    330,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YRhode Island       Y    110,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YNew Jersey         Y    360,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YOhio               Y  1,300,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+Y                   Y  5,355,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+Y3rd Class          Y           Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YVirginia           Y  1,360,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YNorth Carolina     Y    800,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YSouth Carolina     Y    650,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YPennsylvania (note)Y  1,600,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YMaryland           Y    500,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YDelaware           Y     80,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YColumbia [district]Y     50,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YKentucky           Y    800,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+Y                   Y  5,840,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+Y4th Class          Y           Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YTennessee          Y    900,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YGeorgia            Y    620,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YIndians            Y    650,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YIllinois           Y    320,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YAlabama            Y    600,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YLouisiana          Y    350,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YMissouri           Y    350,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YMississippi        Y    150,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YMichigan           Y    120,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YArkansas           Y     70,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YWisconsin          Y     20,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+YFlorida [territory]Y     50,000Y
++-------------------+-----------+
+Y                   Y  5,000,000Y
++===================+===========+
+
+If I am correct, it appears then that we have:--
+
++======================+=========+
+YHighly educated       Y  998,000Y
++----------------------+---------+
+YEqual with Scotland   Y5,355,000Y
++----------------------+---------+
+YNot equal with EnglandY5,840,000Y
++----------------------+---------+
+YUneducated            Y6,000,000Y
++======================+=========+
+
+This census is an estimate of 1836, sufficiently near for the purpose.
+It is supposed that the population of the united States has since
+increased about two millions, and of that increase the great majority is
+in the Western states, where the people are wholly uneducated.  Taking,
+therefore, the first three classes, in which there is education in
+various degrees, we find that they amount to 12,193,000; against which
+we may fairly put the 5,000,000 uneducated, adding to it, the 2,000,000
+increased population, and 3,000,000 of slaves.
+
+I believe the above to be a fair estimate, although nothing positive can
+be collected from it.  In making a comparison of the degree of education
+in the United States and in England, one point should not be overlooked.
+In England, children may be sent to school, but they are taken away as
+soon as they are useful, and have little time to follow up their
+education afterwards.  Worked like machines, every hour is devoted to
+labour, and a large portion forget, from disuse, what they have learnt
+when young.  In America, they have the advantage not only of being
+educated, but of having plenty of time, if they choose, to profit by
+their education in after life.  The mass in America ought, therefore, to
+be better educated than the mass in England, where _circumstances_ are
+against it.  I must now examine the nature of education given in the
+United States.
+
+It is admitted as an axiom in the United States, that the only chance
+they have of upholding their present institutions is by the education of
+the mass; that is to say, a people who would govern themselves must be
+enlightened.  Convinced of this necessity, every pains has been taken by
+the Federal and State governments to provide the necessary means of
+_education_ [See Note 4.] This is granted; but we now have to inquire
+into the nature of the education, and the advantages derived from such
+education as is received in the United States.
+
+In the first place, what is education?  Is teaching a boy to read and
+write education?  If so, a large proportion of the American community
+may be said to be educated; but, if you supply a man with a chest of
+tools, does he therefore become a carpenter!  You certainly give him the
+means of working at the trade, but instead of learning it, he may only
+cut his fingers.  Reading and writing without the farther assistance
+necessary to guide people aright, is nothing more than a chest of tools.
+
+Then, what is education?  I consider that education commences before a
+child can walk: the first principle of education, the most important,
+and without which all subsequent are but as leather and prunella, is the
+lesson of _obedience_--of submitting to parental control--"_Honour thy
+father and thy mother_!"
+
+Now, any one who has been in the United States must have perceived that
+there is little or no parental control.  This has been remarked by most
+of the writers who have visited the country; indeed to an Englishman it
+is a most remarkable feature.  How is it possible for a child to be
+brought up in the way that it should go, when he is not obedient to the
+will of his parents?  I have often fallen into a melancholy sort of
+musing after witnessing such remarkable specimens of uncontrolled will
+in children; and as the father and mother both smiled at it, I have
+thought that they little knew what sorrow and vexation were probably in
+store for them, in consequence of their own injudicious treatment of
+their offspring.  Imagine a child of three years old in England behaving
+thus:--
+
+"Johnny, my dear, come here," says his mamma.
+
+"I won't," cries Johnny.
+
+"You must, my love, you are all wet, and you'll catch cold."
+
+"I won't," replies Johnny.
+
+"Come, my sweet, and I've something for you."
+
+"I won't."
+
+"Oh!  Mr --, do, pray make Johnny come in."
+
+"Come in, Johnny," says the father.
+
+"I won't."
+
+"I tell you, come in directly, sir--do you hear?"
+
+"I won't," replies the urchin taking to his heels.
+
+"A sturdy republican, sir," says his father to me, smiling at the boy's
+resolute disobedience.
+
+Be it recollected that I give this as one instance of a thousand which I
+witnessed during my sojourn in the country.
+
+It may be inquired, how is it that such is the case at present, when the
+obedience to parents was so rigorously inculcated by the puritan
+fathers, that by the blue laws, the punishment of disobedience was
+_death_?  Captain Hall ascribes it to the democracy, and the rights of
+equality therein acknowledged; but I think, allowing the spirit of their
+institutions to have some effect in producing this evil, that the
+principal cause of it is the total neglect of the children by the
+father, and his absence in his professional pursuits, and the natural
+weakness of most mothers, when their children are left altogether to
+their care and guidance.
+
+Mr Sanderson, in his Sketches of Paris, observes:--"The motherly
+virtues of our women, so eulogised by foreigners, is not entitled to
+unqualified praise.  There is no country in which maternal care is so
+assiduous; but also there is none in which examples of injudicious
+tenderness are so frequent."  This I believe to be true; not that the
+American women are really more injudicious than those of England, but
+because they are not supported as they should be by the authority of the
+father, of whom the child should always entertain a certain portion of
+fear mixed with affection, to counterbalance the indulgence accorded by
+natural yearnings of a mother's heart.
+
+The self-will arising from this fundamental error manifests itself
+throughout the whole career of the American's existence, and,
+consequently, it is a self-willed nation _par excellence_.
+
+At the age of six or seven you will hear both boys and girls
+contradicting their fathers and mothers, and advancing their own
+opinions with a firmness which is very striking.
+
+At fourteen or fifteen the boys will seldom remain longer at school.  At
+college, it is the same thing; (note 6) and they learn precisely what
+they please, and no more.  Corporal punishment is not permitted; indeed,
+if we are to judge from an extract I took from an American paper, the
+case is reversed.
+
+The following "Rules" are posted up in New Jersey school-house:--
+
+"No kissing girls in school-time; no _licking_ the _master_ during holy
+days."
+
+At fifteen or sixteen, if not at college, the boy assumes the man; he
+enters into business, as a clerk to some merchant, or in some store.
+His father's home is abandoned, except when it may suit his convenience,
+his salary being sufficient for most of his wants.  He frequents the
+bar, calls for gin cocktails, chews tobacco, and talks politics.  His
+theoretical education, whether he has profited much by it or not, is now
+superseded by a more practical one, in which he obtains a most rapid
+proficiency.  I have no hesitation in asserting that there is more
+practical knowledge among the Americans than among any other people
+under the sun.  (note 7).
+
+It is singular that in America, everything, whether it be of good of
+evil, appears to assist the country in _going a-head_.  This very want
+of parental control, however it may affect the morals of the community,
+is certainly advantageous to America, as far as her rapid advancement is
+concerned.  Boys are working like men for years before they would be in
+England; time is money, and they assist to bring in the harvest.
+
+But does this independence on the part of the youth of America end here?
+On the contrary, what at first was _independence_, assumes next the
+form of _opposition_, and eventually that of _control_.
+
+The young men before they are qualified by age to claim their rights as
+citizens, have their societies, their book-clubs, their political
+meetings, their resolutions, all of which are promulgated in the
+newspapers; and very often the young men's societies are called upon by
+the newspapers to come forward with their opinions.  Here is
+_opposition_.  Mr Cooper says, on page 152 of his "Democrat":--
+
+"The defects in American deportment are, notwithstanding, numerous and
+palpable.  Among the first may be ranked, _insubordination in children_,
+and a great want of respect for age.  The former vice may be ascribed to
+the business habits of the country, which leave so little time for
+parental instruction, and, perhaps, in some degree to the acts of
+political agents, who, with their own advantages in view, among the
+other expedients of their cunning, have resorted to the artifice of
+separating children from their natural advisers by calling meetings of
+the young to decide on the fortunes and policy of the country."
+
+But what is more remarkable, is the fact that society has been usurped
+by the young people, and the married and old people have been, to a
+certain degree, excluded from it.  A young lady will give a ball, and
+ask none but young men and young women of her acquaintance; not a
+_chaperon_ is permitted to enter, and her father and mother are
+requested to stay upstairs, that they may not interfere with the
+amusement.  This is constantly the case in Philadelphia and Baltimore,
+and I have heard bitter complaints made by the married people concerning
+it.  Here is _control_.  Mr Sanderson, in his "Sketches of Paris,"
+observes:--
+
+  "They who give a tone to society should have maturity of mind; they
+  should have refinement of taste, which is a quality of age.  As long
+  as _college beaux and boarding-school misses_ take the lead, it must
+  be an insipid society, in whatever community it may exist.  Is it not
+  villainous in your Quakerships of Philadelphia, to lay us, before we
+  have lived half our time out, upon the shelf!  Some of the native
+  tribes, more merciful, eat the old folks out of the way."
+
+However, retribution follows: in their turn they marry, and are ejected;
+they have children, and are disobeyed.  The pangs which they have
+occasioned to their own parents are now suffered by them in return,
+through the conduct of their own children; and thus it goes on, and will
+go on, until the system is changed.
+
+All this is undeniable; and thus it appears that the youth of America,
+being under no control, acquire just as much as they please, and no
+more, of what may be termed theoretical knowledge.  Thus is the first
+great error in American education, for how many boys are there who will
+learn without coercion, in proportion to the number who will not?
+Certainly not one in ten, and, therefore it may be assumed that not one
+in ten is properly instructed.  [See note 6.]
+
+Now, that the education of the youth of America is much injured by the
+want of control on the part of the parents, is easily established by the
+fact that in those states where the parental control is the greatest, as
+in Massachusetts, the education is proportionably superior.  But this
+great error is followed by consequences even more lamentable: it is the
+first dissolving power of the kindred attraction, so manifest throughout
+all American society.  Beyond the period of infancy there is no
+endearment between the parents and children; none of that sweet spirit
+of affection between brother and sisters; none of those links which
+unite one family; of that mutual confidence; that rejoicing in each
+other's success; that refuge, when they are depressed or afflicted, in
+the bosoms of those who love us--the sweetest portion of human
+existence, which supports us wider, and encourages us firmly to brave,
+the ills of life--nothing of this exists.  In short, there is hardly
+such a thing in America as "Home, sweet home."  That there are
+exceptions to this, I grant but I speak of the great majority of cases,
+and the results upon the character of the nation.  Mr Cooper, speaking
+of the weakness of the family tie in America, says--
+
+"Let the reason be what it will, the effect is to cut us off from a
+large portion of the happiness that is dependent on the affections."
+
+The next error of American education is, that in their anxiety to instil
+into the minds of youth a proper and ardent love of their own
+institutions, feelings and sentiments are fostered which ought to be
+most carefully checked.  It matters little whether these feelings (in
+themselves vices) are directed against the institutions of other
+countries; the vice once engendered remains, and _hatred_ once implanted
+in the breast of youth, will not be confined in its action.  Neither
+will national conceit remain only _national_ conceit, or _vanity_ be
+confined to admiration of a form of government; in the present mode of
+educating the youth of America, all sight is lost of humility,
+good-will, and the other Christian virtues, which are necessary to
+constitute a good man, whether he be an American, or of any other
+country.
+
+Let us examine the manner in which a child is taught.  Democracy,
+equality, the vastness of his own country, the glorious independence,
+the superiority, of the Americans in all conflicts by sea or land, are
+impressed upon his mind before he can well read.  All their elementary
+books contain garbled and false accounts of naval and land engagements,
+in which every credit is given to the Americans, and equal vituperation
+and disgrace thrown upon their opponents.  Monarchy is derided, the
+equal rights of man declared--all is invective, uncharitableness, and
+falsehood.
+
+That I may not in this be supposed to have asserted too much, I will
+quote a reading-lesson from a child's book, which I purchased in America
+as a curiosity, and is now in my possession.  It is called the "Primary
+Reader for Young Children," and contains many stories besides this,
+relative to the history of the country.
+
+"LESSON" 62.
+
+"STORY ABOUT THE 4TH OF JULY".
+
+6.  "I must tell you what the people of New York did.  In a certain spot
+in that city there stood a large statue, or representation of King
+George III.  It was made of lead.  In one hand he held a sceptre, or
+kind of sword, and on his head he wore a crown."
+
+7.  "When the news of the Declaration of Independence reached the city,
+a great multitude were seen running to the statue."
+
+8.  "The cry was heard, `Down with it--down with it!' and soon a rope
+was placed about its neck, and the leaden King George came tumbling
+down."
+
+9.  "This might fairly be interpreted as a striking prediction of the
+downfall of the monarchical form of government in these United States."
+
+10.  "If we look into history, we shall frequently find great events
+proceeding from as trifling causes as the fall of the _leaden_ statue,
+which not unaptly represents the character of a despotic prince."
+
+11.  "I shall only add, that when the statue was fairly down, it was cut
+to pieces, and converted into musket-balls to kill the soldiers whom his
+majesty had sent over to fight the Americans."
+
+This is quite sufficient for a specimen.  I have no doubt that it will
+be argued by the Americans--"We are justified in bringing up our youth
+to _love_ our institutions."  I admit it; but you bring them up to
+_hate_ other people, before they have sufficient intellect to understand
+the merits of the case.
+
+The author of "_A Voice from America_," observes:--
+
+  "Such, to a great extent is the unavoidable effect of that political
+  education which is _indispensable_ to all classes of a self-governed
+  people.  They must be trained to it from their cradle; it must go into
+  all schools; it must thoroughly leaven the national literature, it
+  must be `line upon line, and precept upon precept,' here a little and
+  there a little; it must be sung, discoursed, and thought upon
+  everywhere and by every body."
+
+And so it is; and as if this scholastic drilling were not sufficient,
+every year brings round the 4th of July, on which is read in every
+portion of the states the act of independence, in itself sufficiently
+vituperative, but invariably followed-up by one speech (if not more)
+from some great personage of the village, hamlet, town, or city, as it
+may be, in which the more violent he is against monarchy and the
+English, and the more he flatters his own countrymen, the more is his
+speech applauded.
+
+Every year is this drilled into the ears of the American boy, until he
+leaves school, when he takes a political part himself, connecting
+himself with young men's society, where he spouts about tyrants, crowned
+heads, shades of his forefathers, blood flowing like water,
+independence, and glory.
+
+The Rev  Mr Reid very truly observes, of the reading of the
+Declaration of Independence:--"There is one thing, however, that may
+justly claim the calm consideration of a great and generous people.  Now
+that half a century has passed away, is it necessary to the pleasures of
+this day to revive feelings in the children which, if they were found in
+the parent, were to be excused only by the extremities to which they
+were pressed?  Is it generous, now that they have achieved the victory,
+not to forgive the adversary?  Is it manly, now that they have nothing
+to fear from Britain, to indulge in expressions of hate amid
+vindictiveness, which are the proper language of fear?  Would there be
+less patriotism, because there was more charity?  America should feel
+that her destinies are high and peculiar.  She should scorn the
+patriotism which cherishes the love of one's own country, by the hatred
+of all others."
+
+I think, after what I have brought forward, the reader will agree with
+me, that the education of the youth in the United States is immoral, and
+the evidence that it is so, is in the demoralisation which has taken
+place in the United States since the era of the Declaration of
+Independence, and which fact is freely admitted by so many American
+writers:--
+
+  "Aetas parentum pejor avis tulit
+  Nos nequieres, mox daturos
+  Progeniem vitiosiorem."
+  _Horace_, _book_ iii, _ode_ 6.
+
+I shall by and by shew some of the effects produced by this injudicious
+system of education; of which, if it is necessary to uphold their
+democratical institutions, I can only say, with Dr Franklin, that the
+Americans "pay much too dear for their _whistle_."
+
+It is, however, a fact, that education (such as I have shown it to be)
+is in the United States more equally diffused.  They have very few
+citizens of the States (except a portion of those in the West) who may
+be considered as "hewers of wood and drawers of water," those duties
+being performed by the emigrant Irish and German, and the slave
+population.  The education of the higher classes is not by any means
+equal to that of the old countries or Europe.  You meet very rarely with
+a good classical scholar, or a very highly educated man, although some
+there certainly are, especially in the legal profession.  The Americans
+have not the leisure for such attainments: hereafter they may have; but
+at present they do right to look principally to Europe for literature,
+as they can obtain it thence cheaper and better.  In every liberal
+profession you will find that the ordeal necessary to be gone through is
+not such as it is with us; if it were, the difficulty of retaining the
+young men at college would be much increased.  To show that such is the
+case, I will now just give the difference of the acquirements demanded
+in the new and old country to qualify a young man as an MD.
+
++======================================================+============================+
+YEnglish Physician                                     YAmerican Physician          Y
++------------------------------------------------------+----------------------------+
+Y1. A regular classical education at college           Y1. Not required             Y
++------------------------------------------------------+----------------------------+
+Y2. Apprenticeship of not less than five years         Y2. One year's apprenticeshipY
++------------------------------------------------------+----------------------------+
+Y3. Preliminary examination in the classics, etcetera  Y3. Not required             Y
++------------------------------------------------------+----------------------------+
+Y4. Sixteen months' attendance at lectures in 2.5 yearsY4. Eight months in two yearsY
++------------------------------------------------------+----------------------------+
+Y5. Twelve months' hospital practice                   Y5. Not required             Y
++------------------------------------------------------+----------------------------+
+Y6. Lectures on botany, natural philosophy, etcetera   Y6. Not required             Y
++======================================================+============================+
+
+If the men in America enter so early into life that they have not time
+to obtain the acquirements supposed to be requisite with us, it is much
+the same thing with the females of the upper classes, who, from the
+precocious ripening by the climate and consequent early marriages, may
+be said to throw down their dolls that they may nurse their children.
+
+The Americans are very justly proud of their women, and appear tacitly
+to acknowledge the want of theoretical education in their own sex, by
+the care and attention which they pay to the instruction of the other.
+Their exertions are, however, to a certain degree, checked by the
+circumstance, that there is not sufficient time allowed previous to the
+marriage of the females to give that solidity to their knowledge which
+would ensure its permanency.  They attempt too much for so short a space
+of time.  Two or three years are usually the period during which the
+young women remain at the establishments, or colleges I may call them
+(for in reality they are female colleges.)  In the prospectus of the
+Albany Female Academy, I find that the classes run through the following
+branches:--French, book-keeping, ancient history, ecclesiastical
+history, history of literature, composition, political economy, American
+constitution, law, natural theology, mental philosophy, geometry,
+trigonometry, algebra, natural philosophy, astronomy, chemistry, botany,
+mineralogy, geology, natural history, and technology, besides drawing,
+penmanship, etcetera, etcetera.
+
+It is almost impossible for the mind to retain, for any length of time,
+such a variety of knowledge, forced into it before a female has arrived
+to the age of sixteen or seventeen, at which age, the study of these
+sciences, as is the case in England, should _commence_ not _finish_.  I
+have already mentioned that the examinations which I attended were
+highly creditable both to preceptors and pupils; but the duties of an
+American woman as I shall hereafter explain, soon find her other
+occupation, and the _ologies_ are lost in the realities of life.
+Diplomas are given at most of these establishments, on the young ladies
+completing their course of studies.  Indeed, it appears to be almost
+necessary that a young lady should produce this diploma as a certificate
+of being qualified to bring up young republicans.  I observed to an
+American gentlemen how youthful his wife appeared to be--"Yes," replied
+he, "I married her a month after she had _graduated_."  The following
+are the terms of a diploma, which was given to a young lady at
+Cincinnati, and which she permitted me to copy:--
+
+"In testimony of the zeal and industry with which Miss M---T---has
+prosecuted the prescribed course of studies in the Cincinnati Female
+Institution, and the honourable proficiency which she has attained in
+penmanship, arithmetic, English grammar, rhetoric, belles-lettres,
+composition, ancient and modern geography, ancient and modern history,
+chemistry, natural philosophy, astronomy, etcetera. etcetera. etcetera,
+of which she has given proofs by examination.
+
+"And also as a mark of her amiable deportment, intellectual
+acquirements, and our affectionate regard, we have granted her this
+letter--the _highest honour_ BESTOWED in this institution."
+
+[Seal.] "Given under our hands at Cincinnati, this 19th day of July,
+Anno Domini 1837."
+
+The ambition of the Americans to be a-head of other nations in every
+thing, produces, however, injurious effects, so far as the education of
+the women is concerned.  The Americans will not "_leave well alone_,"
+they must "gild refined gold," rather than not consider themselves in
+advance of other countries, particularly of England.  They _alter_ our
+language, and think that they have _improved_ upon it; as in the same
+way they would raise the standard of morals higher than with us, and
+consequently fall much below us, appearances supplying the place of the
+reality.  In these endeavours they sink into a sickly sentimentality,
+and, as I have observed before, attempts at refinement in language,
+really excite improper ideas.  As a proof of the ridiculous excess to
+which this is occasionally carried, I shall insert an address which I
+observed in print; had such a document appeared in the English
+newspapers, it would have been considered as a hoax.
+
+"Mrs Mandelle's Address:--
+
+"To the young ladies of the Lancaster Female Academy, at an examination
+on the 3rd March, 1838.
+
+"Affectionate Pupils:--With many of you this is our final meeting in the
+relative position of teacher and pupil, and we must part perhaps to meet
+no more.  That this reflection _filtrates from my mind to my heart_ with
+saddening influence, I need scarce assure you.  But _Hope_, in a voice
+sweet as `the wild strains of the Eolian harp,' whispers in dulcet
+accents, `_we may again meet_.'  In youth the impressions of sorrow are
+fleeting and evanescent as `_the vapery sail_,' that momentarily
+o'ershadows the _luciferous orb of even_, vanishes and leaves her disc
+untarnished in its lustre: so may it be with you--may the gloom of this
+moment, like the elemental prototype, be but the precursor of
+reappearing radiance undimmed by the transitory shadow.
+
+"Happy and bright indeed has been this small portion of your time
+occupied, not only in the interesting pursuit of science, but in a
+reciprocation of attentions and sympathies, endeared by that holiest
+_ligament_ of earthly sensibilities, _religion_, which so oft has united
+us in soul and sentiment, as the aspirations of our hearts
+simultaneously ascended to the mercy-seat of the great Jehovah!  The
+remembrance of emotions like these are ineffaceable by care or sorrow,
+and only blotted out by the immutable hand of death.  These _halcyon
+hours of budding existence_ are to memory as the _oasis_ of the desert,
+where we may recline beneath the soothing _influence_ of their umbrage,
+and quaff in _the goblet of retrospection_ the lucid draught that
+refreshes for the moment, and is again forgotten.  Permit me to solicit,
+that the immaculate principles of _virtue_, I have so often and so
+carefully inculcated, may not be forgotten, but perseveringly cherished
+and practised.  May the divine dictates of reason _murmur in harmonious
+cadence_, bewitching as the fabled melody of the musical bells on the
+trees of the Mahomedan Paradise.  She dwells not alone beneath the
+glittering star, nor is always encircled by the diamond cestus and the
+jewel'd tiara! indeed not! and the brilliancy _emulged_ from the
+spangling gems, but make more hideous the dark, black spot enshrined in
+the effulgence.  The traces of her peaceful footsteps are found alike in
+the dilapidated hovel of the beggared peasant, and the velveted saloon
+of the coroneted noble; who may then apportion her a home or assign her
+a clime?  In making my acknowledgments for the attentive interest with
+which you received my instructions; and the respectful regard you
+manifested in appreciating my advice, it is not as a compliment to your
+vanity, but a debt due to your politeness and good sense.  Long, my
+beloved pupils, may my precepts and admonitions live in your hearts; and
+hasten you, in the language of Addison, to commit yourself to the care
+of Omnipotence, and when the morning calls again to toil, cast all your
+cares upon him the author of your being, who has conducted you through
+one stage of existence, and who will always be present to guide and
+attend your progress through eternity."
+
+An advertisement of Mr Bonfil's Collegiate Institute for Young Ladies,
+after enumerating the various branches of literature to be taught, winds
+up with the following paragraph:--
+
+"And finally, it will be constantly inculcated, that their education
+will be completed when they have the power to extend unaided, a spirit
+of investigation, searching and appreciating truth, _without passing the
+bounds assigned to the human understanding_."
+
+I have now completed this volume, and although I omitted the major
+portion of my Diary, that I might not trespass too long upon the reader
+my task is still far from its termination.  The most important parts of
+it--an examination into the American society and their government, and
+the conclusions to be drawn from the observations already made upon
+several subjects; in short, the working out of the problem, as it were,
+is still to be executed.  I have not written one line of this work
+without deliberation and examination.  What I have already done has cost
+me much labour--what I have to do will cost me more.  I must, therefore,
+claim for myself the indulgence of the public, and request that, in
+justice to the Americans, they will not decide until they have perused
+the second portion, with which I shall, as speedily as I can, wind up my
+observations upon the United States and their Institutions.
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Note 1.  A church-yard with its mementos of mortality is sometimes a
+fair criterion by which to judge of the degree of the education of those
+who live near it.  In one of the church-yards in Vermont, there is a
+tomb stone with an inscription which commences as follows: "Paws,
+_reader_, Paws."
+
+Note 2.  New York is superior to the other states in this list; but Ohio
+is not quite equal.  I can draw the line no closer.
+
+Note 3.  Notwithstanding that Philadelphia is the capital, the state of
+Pennsylvania is a great _dunce_.
+
+Note 4.  Miss Martineau says: "Though, as a whole, the nation is
+probably better informed than any other entire nation, it cannot be
+denied, that their knowledge is far inferior to what their safety and
+their virtue require."
+
+Note 5.  The master of a school could not manage the gab, they being
+exceedingly contumacious.  Beat them, he dared not; so he hit upon an
+expedient.  He made a very strong decoction of wormwood, and for a
+slight offence, poured one spoonful down their throats: for a more
+serious one, he made them take two.
+
+Note 6.  Mrs Trollope says: "At sixteen, often much earlier, education
+ends and money making begins; the idea that more learning is necessary
+than can be acquired by that time, is generally ridiculed as absolute
+monkish bigotry to which, if the seniors willed a more prolonged
+discipline, the juniors would refuse submission.  When the money getting
+begins, leisure ceases, and all the lore which can be acquired
+afterwards is picked up from novels, magazines, and newspapers."
+
+Captain Hall also remarks upon this point:--"I speak now from the
+authority of the Americans themselves.  There is the greatest possible
+difficulty in fixing young men long enough at college.  Innumerable
+devices have been tried with considerable ingenuity to remedy this evil,
+and the best possible intentions by the professors and other
+public-spirited persons who are sincerely grieved to see so many
+incompetent, half-qualified men in almost every corner of the country."
+
+Captain Hamilton very truly observes:--"Though I have unquestionably met
+in New York with many most intelligent and accomplished gentlemen, still
+I think the fact cannot be denied,--that the average of acquirement
+resulting from education is a good deal lower in this country than in
+the better circles in England.  In all the knowledge which must be
+taught, and which requires laborious study for its attainment, I should
+say the Americans are considerably inferior to my countrymen.  In that
+knowledge, on the other hand, which the individual acquires for himself
+by actual observation, which bears an immediate marketable value and is
+directly available in the ordinary avocations of life, I do not imagine
+that the Americans are excelled by any people in the world."
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Diary in America, Series One, by
+Frederick Marryat (AKA Captain Marryat)
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