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diff --git a/675-h/675-h.htm b/675-h/675-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0c0b06a --- /dev/null +++ b/675-h/675-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,11204 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" /> +<title>American Notes for General Circulation, by Charles Dickens</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + P.gutsumm { margin-left: 5%;} + P.poetry {margin-left: 3%; } + .GutSmall { font-size: 0.7em; } + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4, H5 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + table { border-collapse: collapse; } +table {margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;} + td { vertical-align: top; border: 1px solid black;} + td p { margin: 0.2em; } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-weight: normal; + color: gray; + } + img { border: none; } + img.dc { float: left; width: 50px; height: 50px; } + p.gutindent { margin-left: 2em; } + div.gapspace { height: 0.8em; } + div.gapline { height: 0.8em; width: 100%; border-top: 1px solid;} + div.gapmediumline { height: 0.3em; width: 40%; margin-left:30%; + border-top: 1px solid; } + div.gapmediumdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 40%; margin-left:30%; + border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} + div.gapshortdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; + margin-left: 40%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid; } + div.gapdoubleline { height: 0.3em; width: 50%; + margin-left: 25%; border-top: 1px solid; + border-bottom: 1px solid;} + div.gapshortline { height: 0.3em; width: 20%; margin-left:40%; + border-top: 1px solid; } + .citation {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none;} + img.floatleft { float: left; + margin-right: 1em; + margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.floatright { float: right; + margin-left: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + img.clearcenter {display: block; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 0.5em} + --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg eBook, American Notes for General Circulation, by +Charles Dickens, Illustrated by Marcus Stone + + +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: American Notes for General Circulation + + +Author: Charles Dickens + + + +Release Date: February 18, 2013 [eBook #675] +[This file was first posted on July 18, 1996] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN NOTES FOR GENERAL +CIRCULATION*** +</pre> +<p>Transcribed from the 1913 Chapman & Hall, Ltd. edition by +David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/fpb.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Emigrants" +title= +"Emigrants" +src="images/fps.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h1>AMERICAN NOTES<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">FOR</span><br /> +GENERAL CIRCULATION<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">AND</span><br /> +PICTURES FROM ITALY <a name="citation1"></a><a href="#footnote1" +class="citation">[1]</a></h1> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">BY</span><br +/> +CHARLES DICKENS</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">WITH 8 +ILLUSTRATIONS BY</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">MARCUS STONE, R.A.</span></p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span +class="GutSmall">LONDON</span><br /> +CHAPMAN & HALL, <span class="smcap">Ltd.</span><br /> +1913</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><a name="pagev"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. v</span>I DEDICATE THIS BOOK<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">TO</span><br /> +<b>THOSE FRIENDS OF MINE</b><br /> +<b>IN AMERICA</b><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">WHO, GIVING ME A WELCOME I MUST +EVER</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">GRATEFULLY AND PROUDLY REMEMBER,</span><br +/> +<span class="GutSmall">LEFT MY JUDGEMENT</span><br /> +FREE;<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">AND WHO, LOVING THEIR COUNTRY, CAN +BEAR</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE TRUTH, WHEN IT IS TOLD GOOD</span><br +/> +<span class="GutSmall">HUMOUREDLY, AND IN A</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">KIND SPIRIT.</span></p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<h2><a name="pagevii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +vii</span>PREFACE TO THE FIRST CHEAP EDITION OF “AMERICAN +NOTES”</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">It</span> is nearly eight years since this +book was first published. I present it, unaltered, in the +Cheap Edition; and such of my opinions as it expresses, are quite +unaltered too.</p> +<p>My readers have opportunities of judging for themselves +whether the influences and tendencies which I distrust in +America, have any existence not in my imagination. They can +examine for themselves whether there has been anything in the +public career of that country during these past eight years, or +whether there is anything in its present position, at home or +abroad, which suggests that those influences and tendencies +really do exist. As they find the fact, they will judge +me. If they discern any evidences of wrong-going in any +direction that I have indicated, they will acknowledge that I had +reason in what I wrote. If they discern no such thing, they +will consider me altogether mistaken.</p> +<p>Prejudiced, I never have been otherwise than in favour of the +United States. No visitor can ever have set foot on those +shores, with a stronger faith in the Republic than I had, when I +landed in America.</p> +<p>I purposely abstain from extending these observations to any +length. I have nothing to defend, or to explain away. +The truth is the truth; and neither childish absurdities, nor +unscrupulous contradictions, can make it otherwise. The +earth would still move round the sun, though the whole Catholic +Church said No.</p> +<p><a name="pageviii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. viii</span>I +have many friends in America, and feel a grateful interest in the +country. To represent me as viewing it with ill-nature, +animosity, or partisanship, is merely to do a very foolish thing, +which is always a very easy one; and which I have disregarded for +eight years, and could disregard for eighty more.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">London</span>, <i>June</i> 22, 1850.</p> +<h2><a name="pageix"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +ix</span>PREFACE TO THE “CHARLES DICKENS” EDITION OF +“AMERICAN NOTES”</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">My</span> readers have opportunities of +judging for themselves whether the influences and tendencies +which I distrusted in America, had, at that time, any existence +but in my imagination. They can examine for themselves +whether there has been anything in the public career of that +country since, at home or abroad, which suggests that those +influences and tendencies really did exist. As they find +the fact, they will judge me. If they discern any evidences +of wrong-going, in any direction that I have indicated, they will +acknowledge that I had reason in what I wrote. If they +discern no such indications, they will consider me altogether +mistaken—but not wilfully.</p> +<p>Prejudiced, I am not, and never have been, otherwise than in +favour of the United States. I have many friends in +America, I feel a grateful interest in the country, I hope and +believe it will successfully work out a problem of the highest +importance to the whole human race. To represent me as +viewing AMERICA with ill-nature, coldness, or animosity, is +merely to do a very foolish thing: which is always a very easy +one.</p> +<h2><a name="pagexi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xi</span>CONTENTS</h2> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Dedication of “American +Notes”</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagev">v</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Preface to the First Cheap Edition of +“American Notes”</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pagevii">vii</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Preface to the “Charles +Dickens” Edition of “American Notes”</span></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#pageix">ix</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">AMERICAN NOTES FOR +GENERAL CIRCULATION</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER I</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Going Away</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page3">3</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER II</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The Passage out</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page10">10</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER III</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Boston</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page22">22</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER IV</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>An American Railroad. Lowell and its Factory +System</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page52">52</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER V</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Worcester. The Connecticut River. +Hartford. New Haven. To New York</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page60">60</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VI</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>New York</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page67">67</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VII</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Philadelphia, and its Solitary Prison</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page81">81</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VIII</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Washington. The Legislature. And the +President’s House</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page94">94</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER IX</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>A Night Steamer on the Potomac River. Virginia Road, +and a Black Driver. Richmond. Baltimore. The +Harrisburg Mail, and a Glimpse of the City. A Canal +Boat</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page107">107</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER X</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Some further Account of the Canal Boat, its Domestic +Economy, and its Passengers. Journey to Pittsburg across +the Alleghany Mountains. Pittsburg</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page121">121</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XI</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>From Pittsburg to Cincinnati in a Western Steamboat. +Cincinnati</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page130">130</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XII</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>From Cincinnati to Louisville in another Western +Steamboat; and from Louisville to St. Louis in another. St. +Louis</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page137">137</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XIII</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>A Jaunt to the Looking-glass Prairie and back</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page147">147</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XIV</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Return to Cincinnati. A Stage-coach Ride from that +City to Columbus, and thence to Sandusky. So, by Lake Erie, +to the Falls of Niagara</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page153">153</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XV</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>In Canada; Toronto; Kingston; Montreal; Quebec; St. +John’s. In the United States again; Lebanon; The +Shaker Village; West Point</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page167">167</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XVI</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The Passage Home</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page182">182</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XVII</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Slavery</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page189">189</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XVIII</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Concluding Remarks</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page202">202</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Postscript</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page210">210</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<h2><a name="pagexv"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xv</span>LIST +OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span +class="GutSmall">PAGE</span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Emigrants</span></p> +</td> +<td><p><i>Marcus Stone</i>, <i>R.A.</i></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><i>Frontispiece</i></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Solitary Prisoner</span></p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page90">90</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Black and White</span></p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page112">112</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">The Little Wife</span></p> +</td> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page144">144</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<h2><a name="page3"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 3</span>CHAPTER +I<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">GOING AWAY</span></h2> +<p>I <span class="smcap">shall</span> never forget the one-fourth +serious and three-fourths comical astonishment, with which, on +the morning of the third of January +eighteen-hundred-and-forty-two, I opened the door of, and put my +head into, a ‘state-room’ on board the Britannia +steam-packet, twelve hundred tons burthen per register, bound for +Halifax and Boston, and carrying Her Majesty’s mails.</p> +<p>That this state-room had been specially engaged for +‘Charles Dickens, Esquire, and Lady,’ was rendered +sufficiently clear even to my scared intellect by a very small +manuscript, announcing the fact, which was pinned on a very flat +quilt, covering a very thin mattress, spread like a surgical +plaster on a most inaccessible shelf. But that this was the +state-room concerning which Charles Dickens, Esquire, and Lady, +had held daily and nightly conferences for at least four months +preceding: that this could by any possibility be that small snug +chamber of the imagination, which Charles Dickens, Esquire, with +the spirit of prophecy strong upon him, had always foretold would +contain at least one little sofa, and which his lady, with a +modest yet most magnificent sense of its limited dimensions, had +from the first opined would not hold more than two enormous +portmanteaus in some odd corner out of sight (portmanteaus which +could now no more be got in at the door, not to say stowed away, +than a giraffe could be persuaded or forced into a flower-pot): +that this utterly impracticable, thoroughly hopeless, and +profoundly preposterous box, had the remotest reference to, or +connection with, those chaste and pretty, not to say gorgeous +little bowers, sketched by a masterly hand, in the highly +varnished lithographic plan hanging up in the agent’s +counting-house in the city of London: that this room of state, in +short, could be anything but a pleasant fiction and cheerful jest +of the captain’s, invented and put in practice for the +better relish and enjoyment of the real state-room presently to +be disclosed:—these were truths which I really could not, +for the moment, bring my mind at all to bear upon or +comprehend. And I sat down upon a kind of horsehair slab, +or perch, of which there were two within; and looked, without any +expression of countenance whatever, at some friends who had come +on board with us, and who were crushing their faces into all +manner of shapes by endeavouring to squeeze them through the +small doorway.</p> +<p>We had experienced a pretty smart shock before coming below, +which, but that we were the most sanguine people living, might +have prepared us for the worst. The imaginative artist to +whom I have already made allusion, has depicted in the same great +work, a chamber of almost interminable perspective, furnished, as +Mr. Robins would say, in a style of more than Eastern splendour, +and filled (but not inconveniently so) with groups of ladies and +gentlemen, in the very highest state of enjoyment and +vivacity. Before descending into the bowels of the ship, we +had passed from the deck into a long narrow apartment, not unlike +a gigantic hearse with windows in the sides; having at the upper +end a melancholy stove, at which three or four chilly stewards +were warming their hands; while on either side, extending down +its whole dreary length, was a long, long table, over each of +which a rack, fixed to the low roof, and stuck full of +drinking-glasses and cruet-stands, hinted dismally at rolling +seas and heavy weather. I had not at that time seen the +ideal presentment of this chamber which has since gratified me so +much, but I observed that one of our friends who had made the +arrangements for our voyage, turned pale on entering, retreated +on the friend behind him, smote his forehead involuntarily, and +said below his breath, ‘Impossible! it cannot be!’ or +words to that effect. He recovered himself however by a +great effort, and after a preparatory cough or two, cried, with a +ghastly smile which is still before me, looking at the same time +round the walls, ‘Ha! the breakfast-room, +steward—eh?’ We all foresaw what the answer +must be: we knew the agony he suffered. He had often spoken +of <i>the saloon</i>; had taken in and lived upon the pictorial +idea; had usually given us to understand, at home, that to form a +just conception of it, it would be necessary to multiply the size +and furniture of an ordinary drawing-room by seven, and then fall +short of the reality. When the man in reply avowed the +truth; the blunt, remorseless, naked truth; ‘This is the +saloon, sir’—he actually reeled beneath the blow.</p> +<p>In persons who were so soon to part, and interpose between +their else daily communication the formidable barrier of many +thousand miles of stormy space, and who were for that reason +anxious to cast no other cloud, not even the passing shadow of a +moment’s disappointment or discomfiture, upon the short +interval of happy companionship that yet remained to +them—in persons so situated, the natural transition from +these first surprises was obviously into peals of hearty +laughter, and I can report that I, for one, being still seated +upon the slab or perch before mentioned, roared outright until +the vessel rang again. Thus, in less than two minutes after +coming upon it for the first time, we all by common consent +agreed that this state-room was the pleasantest and most +facetious and capital contrivance possible; and that to have had +it one inch larger, would have been quite a disagreeable and +deplorable state of things. And with this; and with showing +how,—by very nearly closing the door, and twining in and +out like serpents, and by counting the little washing slab as +standing-room,—we could manage to insinuate four people +into it, all at one time; and entreating each other to observe +how very airy it was (in dock), and how there was a beautiful +port-hole which could be kept open all day (weather permitting), +and how there was quite a large bull’s-eye just over the +looking-glass which would render shaving a perfectly easy and +delightful process (when the ship didn’t roll too much); we +arrived, at last, at the unanimous conclusion that it was rather +spacious than otherwise: though I do verily believe that, +deducting the two berths, one above the other, than which nothing +smaller for sleeping in was ever made except coffins, it was no +bigger than one of those hackney cabriolets which have the door +behind, and shoot their fares out, like sacks of coals, upon the +pavement.</p> +<p>Having settled this point to the perfect satisfaction of all +parties, concerned and unconcerned, we sat down round the fire in +the ladies’ cabin—just to try the effect. It +was rather dark, certainly; but somebody said, ‘of course +it would be light, at sea,’ a proposition to which we all +assented; echoing ‘of course, of course;’ though it +would be exceedingly difficult to say why we thought so. I +remember, too, when we had discovered and exhausted another topic +of consolation in the circumstance of this ladies’ cabin +adjoining our state-room, and the consequently immense +feasibility of sitting there at all times and seasons, and had +fallen into a momentary silence, leaning our faces on our hands +and looking at the fire, one of our party said, with the solemn +air of a man who had made a discovery, ‘What a relish +mulled claret will have down here!’ which appeared to +strike us all most forcibly; as though there were something spicy +and high-flavoured in cabins, which essentially improved that +composition, and rendered it quite incapable of perfection +anywhere else.</p> +<p>There was a stewardess, too, actively engaged in producing +clean sheets and table-cloths from the very entrails of the +sofas, and from unexpected lockers, of such artful mechanism, +that it made one’s head ache to see them opened one after +another, and rendered it quite a distracting circumstance to +follow her proceedings, and to find that every nook and corner +and individual piece of furniture was something else besides what +it pretended to be, and was a mere trap and deception and place +of secret stowage, whose ostensible purpose was its least useful +one.</p> +<p>God bless that stewardess for her piously fraudulent account +of January voyages! God bless her for her clear +recollection of the companion passage of last year, when nobody +was ill, and everybody dancing from morning to night, and it was +‘a run’ of twelve days, and a piece of the purest +frolic, and delight, and jollity! All happiness be with her +for her bright face and her pleasant Scotch tongue, which had +sounds of old Home in it for my fellow-traveller; and for her +predictions of fair winds and fine weather (all wrong, or I +shouldn’t be half so fond of her); and for the ten thousand +small fragments of genuine womanly tact, by which, without +piecing them elaborately together, and patching them up into +shape and form and case and pointed application, she nevertheless +did plainly show that all young mothers on one side of the +Atlantic were near and close at hand to their little children +left upon the other; and that what seemed to the uninitiated a +serious journey, was, to those who were in the secret, a mere +frolic, to be sung about and whistled at! Light be her +heart, and gay her merry eyes, for years!</p> +<p>The state-room had grown pretty fast; but by this time it had +expanded into something quite bulky, and almost boasted a +bay-window to view the sea from. So we went upon deck again +in high spirits; and there, everything was in such a state of +bustle and active preparation, that the blood quickened its pace, +and whirled through one’s veins on that clear frosty +morning with involuntary mirthfulness. For every gallant +ship was riding slowly up and down, and every little boat was +splashing noisily in the water; and knots of people stood upon +the wharf, gazing with a kind of ‘dread delight’ on +the far-famed fast American steamer; and one party of men were +‘taking in the milk,’ or, in other words, getting the +cow on board; and another were filling the icehouses to the very +throat with fresh provisions; with butchers’-meat and +garden-stuff, pale sucking-pigs, calves’ heads in scores, +beef, veal, and pork, and poultry out of all proportion; and +others were coiling ropes and busy with oakum yarns; and others +were lowering heavy packages into the hold; and the +purser’s head was barely visible as it loomed in a state, +of exquisite perplexity from the midst of a vast pile of +passengers’ luggage; and there seemed to be nothing going +on anywhere, or uppermost in the mind of anybody, but +preparations for this mighty voyage. This, with the bright +cold sun, the bracing air, the crisply-curling water, the thin +white crust of morning ice upon the decks which crackled with a +sharp and cheerful sound beneath the lightest tread, was +irresistible. And when, again upon the shore, we turned and +saw from the vessel’s mast her name signalled in flags of +joyous colours, and fluttering by their side the beautiful +American banner with its stars and stripes,—the long three +thousand miles and more, and, longer still, the six whole months +of absence, so dwindled and faded, that the ship had gone out and +come home again, and it was broad spring already in the Coburg +Dock at Liverpool.</p> +<p>I have not inquired among my medical acquaintance, whether +Turtle, and cold Punch, with Hock, Champagne, and Claret, and all +the slight et cetera usually included in an unlimited order for a +good dinner—especially when it is left to the liberal +construction of my faultless friend, Mr. Radley, of the Adelphi +Hotel—are peculiarly calculated to suffer a sea-change; or +whether a plain mutton-chop, and a glass or two of sherry, would +be less likely of conversion into foreign and disconcerting +material. My own opinion is, that whether one is discreet +or indiscreet in these particulars, on the eve of a sea-voyage, +is a matter of little consequence; and that, to use a common +phrase, ‘it comes to very much the same thing in the +end.’ Be this as it may, I know that the dinner +of that day was undeniably perfect; that it comprehended all +these items, and a great many more; and that we all did ample +justice to it. And I know too, that, bating a certain tacit +avoidance of any allusion to to-morrow; such as may be supposed +to prevail between delicate-minded turnkeys, and a sensitive +prisoner who is to be hanged next morning; we got on very well, +and, all things considered, were merry enough.</p> +<p>When the morning—<i>the</i> morning—came, and we +met at breakfast, it was curious to see how eager we all were to +prevent a moment’s pause in the conversation, and how +astoundingly gay everybody was: the forced spirits of each member +of the little party having as much likeness to his natural mirth, +as hot-house peas at five guineas the quart, resemble in flavour +the growth of the dews, and air, and rain of Heaven. But as +one o’clock, the hour for going aboard, drew near, this +volubility dwindled away by little and little, despite the most +persevering efforts to the contrary, until at last, the matter +being now quite desperate, we threw off all disguise; openly +speculated upon where we should be this time to-morrow, this time +next day, and so forth; and entrusted a vast number of messages +to those who intended returning to town that night, which were to +be delivered at home and elsewhere without fail, within the very +shortest possible space of time after the arrival of the railway +train at Euston Square. And commissions and remembrances do +so crowd upon one at such a time, that we were still busied with +this employment when we found ourselves fused, as it were, into a +dense conglomeration of passengers and passengers’ friends +and passengers’ luggage, all jumbled together on the deck +of a small steamboat, and panting and snorting off to the packet, +which had worked out of dock yesterday afternoon and was now +lying at her moorings in the river.</p> +<p>And there she is! all eyes are turned to where she lies, dimly +discernible through the gathering fog of the early winter +afternoon; every finger is pointed in the same direction; and +murmurs of interest and admiration—as ‘How beautiful +she looks!’ ‘How trim she is!’—are heard +on every side. Even the lazy gentleman with his hat on one +side and his hands in his pockets, who has dispensed so much +consolation by inquiring with a yawn of another gentleman whether +he is ‘going across’—as if it were a +ferry—even he condescends to look that way, and nod his +head, as who should say, ‘No mistake about +<i>that</i>:’ and not even the sage Lord Burleigh in his +nod, included half so much as this lazy gentleman of might who +has made the passage (as everybody on board has found out +already; it’s impossible to say how) thirteen times without +a single accident! There is another passenger very much +wrapped-up, who has been frowned down by the rest, and morally +trampled upon and crushed, for presuming to inquire with a timid +interest how long it is since the poor President went down. +He is standing close to the lazy gentleman, and says with a faint +smile that he believes She is a very strong Ship; to which the +lazy gentleman, looking first in his questioner’s eye and +then very hard in the wind’s, answers unexpectedly and +ominously, that She need be. Upon this the lazy gentleman +instantly falls very low in the popular estimation, and the +passengers, with looks of defiance, whisper to each other that he +is an ass, and an impostor, and clearly don’t know anything +at all about it.</p> +<p>But we are made fast alongside the packet, whose huge red +funnel is smoking bravely, giving rich promise of serious +intentions. Packing-cases, portmanteaus, carpet-bags, and +boxes, are already passed from hand to hand, and hauled on board +with breathless rapidity. The officers, smartly dressed, +are at the gangway handing the passengers up the side, and +hurrying the men. In five minutes’ time, the little +steamer is utterly deserted, and the packet is beset and over-run +by its late freight, who instantly pervade the whole ship, and +are to be met with by the dozen in every nook and corner: +swarming down below with their own baggage, and stumbling over +other people’s; disposing themselves comfortably in wrong +cabins, and creating a most horrible confusion by having to turn +out again; madly bent upon opening locked doors, and on forcing a +passage into all kinds of out-of-the-way places where there is no +thoroughfare; sending wild stewards, with elfin hair, to and fro +upon the breezy decks on unintelligible errands, impossible of +execution: and in short, creating the most extraordinary and +bewildering tumult. In the midst of all this, the lazy +gentleman, who seems to have no luggage of any kind—not so +much as a friend, even—lounges up and down the hurricane +deck, coolly puffing a cigar; and, as this unconcerned demeanour +again exalts him in the opinion of those who have leisure to +observe his proceedings, every time he looks up at the masts, or +down at the decks, or over the side, they look there too, as +wondering whether he sees anything wrong anywhere, and hoping +that, in case he should, he will have the goodness to mention +it.</p> +<p>What have we here? The captain’s boat! and yonder +the captain himself. Now, by all our hopes and wishes, the +very man he ought to be! A well-made, tight-built, dapper +little fellow; with a ruddy face, which is a letter of invitation +to shake him by both hands at once; and with a clear, blue honest +eye, that it does one good to see one’s sparkling image +in. ‘Ring the bell!’ ‘Ding, ding, +ding!’ the very bell is in a hurry. ‘Now for +the shore—who’s for the +shore?’—‘These gentlemen, I am sorry to +say.’ They are away, and never said, Good +b’ye. Ah now they wave it from the little boat. +‘Good b’ye! Good b’ye!’ Three +cheers from them; three more from us; three more from them: and +they are gone.</p> +<p>To and fro, to and fro, to and fro again a hundred +times! This waiting for the latest mail-bags is worse than +all. If we could have gone off in the midst of that last +burst, we should have started triumphantly: but to lie here, two +hours and more in the damp fog, neither staying at home nor going +abroad, is letting one gradually down into the very depths of +dulness and low spirits. A speck in the mist, at +last! That’s something. It is the boat we wait +for! That’s more to the purpose. The captain +appears on the paddle-box with his speaking trumpet; the officers +take their stations; all hands are on the alert; the flagging +hopes of the passengers revive; the cooks pause in their savoury +work, and look out with faces full of interest. The boat +comes alongside; the bags are dragged in anyhow, and flung down +for the moment anywhere. Three cheers more: and as the +first one rings upon our ears, the vessel throbs like a strong +giant that has just received the breath of life; the two great +wheels turn fiercely round for the first time; and the noble +ship, with wind and tide astern, breaks proudly through the +lashed and roaming water.</p> +<h2><a name="page10"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +10</span>CHAPTER II<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE PASSAGE OUT</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> all dined together that day; and +a rather formidable party we were: no fewer than eighty-six +strong. The vessel being pretty deep in the water, with all +her coals on board and so many passengers, and the weather being +calm and quiet, there was but little motion; so that before the +dinner was half over, even those passengers who were most +distrustful of themselves plucked up amazingly; and those who in +the morning had returned to the universal question, ‘Are +you a good sailor?’ a very decided negative, now either +parried the inquiry with the evasive reply, ‘Oh! I suppose +I’m no worse than anybody else;’ or, reckless of all +moral obligations, answered boldly ‘Yes:’ and with +some irritation too, as though they would add, ‘I should +like to know what you see in <i>me</i>, sir, particularly, to +justify suspicion!’</p> +<p>Notwithstanding this high tone of courage and confidence, I +could not but observe that very few remained long over their +wine; and that everybody had an unusual love of the open air; and +that the favourite and most coveted seats were invariably those +nearest to the door. The tea-table, too, was by no means as +well attended as the dinner-table; and there was less +whist-playing than might have been expected. Still, with +the exception of one lady, who had retired with some +precipitation at dinner-time, immediately after being assisted to +the finest cut of a very yellow boiled leg of mutton with very +green capers, there were no invalids as yet; and walking, and +smoking, and drinking of brandy-and-water (but always in the open +air), went on with unabated spirit, until eleven o’clock or +thereabouts, when ‘turning in’—no sailor of +seven hours’ experience talks of going to bed—became +the order of the night. The perpetual tramp of boot-heels +on the decks gave place to a heavy silence, and the whole human +freight was stowed away below, excepting a very few stragglers, +like myself, who were probably, like me, afraid to go there.</p> +<p>To one unaccustomed to such scenes, this is a very striking +time on shipboard. Afterwards, and when its novelty had +long worn off, it never ceased to have a peculiar interest and +charm for me. The gloom through which the great black mass +holds its direct and certain course; the rushing water, plainly +heard, but dimly seen; the broad, white, glistening track, that +follows in the vessel’s wake; the men on the look-out +forward, who would be scarcely visible against the dark sky, but +for their blotting out some score of glistening stars; the +helmsman at the wheel, with the illuminated card before him, +shining, a speck of light amidst the darkness, like something +sentient and of Divine intelligence; the melancholy sighing of +the wind through block, and rope, and chain; the gleaming forth +of light from every crevice, nook, and tiny piece of glass about +the decks, as though the ship were filled with fire in hiding, +ready to burst through any outlet, wild with its resistless power +of death and ruin. At first, too, and even when the hour, +and all the objects it exalts, have come to be familiar, it is +difficult, alone and thoughtful, to hold them to their proper +shapes and forms. They change with the wandering fancy; +assume the semblance of things left far away; put on the +well-remembered aspect of favourite places dearly loved; and even +people them with shadows. Streets, houses, rooms; figures +so like their usual occupants, that they have startled me by +their reality, which far exceeded, as it seemed to me, all power +of mine to conjure up the absent; have, many and many a time, at +such an hour, grown suddenly out of objects with whose real look, +and use, and purpose, I was as well acquainted as with my own two +hands.</p> +<p>My own two hands, and feet likewise, being very cold, however, +on this particular occasion, I crept below at midnight. It +was not exactly comfortable below. It was decidedly close; +and it was impossible to be unconscious of the presence of that +extraordinary compound of strange smells, which is to be found +nowhere but on board ship, and which is such a subtle perfume +that it seems to enter at every pore of the skin, and whisper of +the hold. Two passengers’ wives (one of them my own) +lay already in silent agonies on the sofa; and one lady’s +maid (<i>my</i> lady’s) was a mere bundle on the floor, +execrating her destiny, and pounding her curl-papers among the +stray boxes. Everything sloped the wrong way: which in +itself was an aggravation scarcely to be borne. I had left +the door open, a moment before, in the bosom of a gentle +declivity, and, when I turned to shut it, it was on the summit of +a lofty eminence. Now every plank and timber creaked, as if +the ship were made of wicker-work; and now crackled, like an +enormous fire of the driest possible twigs. There was +nothing for it but bed; so I went to bed.</p> +<p>It was pretty much the same for the next two days, with a +tolerably fair wind and dry weather. I read in bed (but to +this hour I don’t know what) a good deal; and reeled on +deck a little; drank cold brandy-and-water with an unspeakable +disgust, and ate hard biscuit perseveringly: not ill, but going +to be.</p> +<p>It is the third morning. I am awakened out of my sleep +by a dismal shriek from my wife, who demands to know whether +there’s any danger. I rouse myself, and look out of +bed. The water-jug is plunging and leaping like a lively +dolphin; all the smaller articles are afloat, except my shoes, +which are stranded on a carpet-bag, high and dry, like a couple +of coal-barges. Suddenly I see them spring into the air, +and behold the looking-glass, which is nailed to the wall, +sticking fast upon the ceiling. At the same time the door +entirely disappears, and a new one is opened in the floor. +Then I begin to comprehend that the state-room is standing on its +head.</p> +<p>Before it is possible to make any arrangement at all +compatible with this novel state of things, the ship +rights. Before one can say ‘Thank Heaven!’ she +wrongs again. Before one can cry she <i>is</i> wrong, she +seems to have started forward, and to be a creature actually +running of its own accord, with broken knees and failing legs, +through every variety of hole and pitfall, and stumbling +constantly. Before one can so much as wonder, she takes a +high leap into the air. Before she has well done that, she +takes a deep dive into the water. Before she has gained the +surface, she throws a summerset. The instant she is on her +legs, she rushes backward. And so she goes on staggering, +heaving, wrestling, leaping, diving, jumping, pitching, +throbbing, rolling, and rocking: and going through all these +movements, sometimes by turns, and sometimes altogether: until +one feels disposed to roar for mercy.</p> +<p>A steward passes. ‘Steward!’ +‘Sir?’ ‘What <i>is</i> the matter? what +<i>do</i> you call this?’ ‘Rather a heavy sea +on, sir, and a head-wind.’</p> +<p>A head-wind! Imagine a human face upon the +vessel’s prow, with fifteen thousand Samsons in one bent +upon driving her back, and hitting her exactly between the eyes +whenever she attempts to advance an inch. Imagine the ship +herself, with every pulse and artery of her huge body swollen and +bursting under this maltreatment, sworn to go on or die. +Imagine the wind howling, the sea roaring, the rain beating: all +in furious array against her. Picture the sky both dark and +wild, and the clouds, in fearful sympathy with the waves, making +another ocean in the air. Add to all this, the clattering +on deck and down below; the tread of hurried feet; the loud +hoarse shouts of seamen; the gurgling in and out of water through +the scuppers; with, every now and then, the striking of a heavy +sea upon the planks above, with the deep, dead, heavy sound of +thunder heard within a vault;—and there is the head-wind of +that January morning.</p> +<p>I say nothing of what may be called the domestic noises of the +ship: such as the breaking of glass and crockery, the tumbling +down of stewards, the gambols, overhead, of loose casks and +truant dozens of bottled porter, and the very remarkable and far +from exhilarating sounds raised in their various state-rooms by +the seventy passengers who were too ill to get up to +breakfast. I say nothing of them: for although I lay +listening to this concert for three or four days, I don’t +think I heard it for more than a quarter of a minute, at the +expiration of which term, I lay down again, excessively +sea-sick.</p> +<p>Not sea-sick, be it understood, in the ordinary acceptation of +the term: I wish I had been: but in a form which I have never +seen or heard described, though I have no doubt it is very +common. I lay there, all the day long, quite coolly and +contentedly; with no sense of weariness, with no desire to get +up, or get better, or take the air; with no curiosity, or care, +or regret, of any sort or degree, saving that I think I can +remember, in this universal indifference, having a kind of lazy +joy—of fiendish delight, if anything so lethargic can be +dignified with the title—in the fact of my wife being too +ill to talk to me. If I may be allowed to illustrate my +state of mind by such an example, I should say that I was exactly +in the condition of the elder Mr. Willet, after the incursion of +the rioters into his bar at Chigwell. Nothing would have +surprised me. If, in the momentary illumination of any ray +of intelligence that may have come upon me in the way of thoughts +of Home, a goblin postman, with a scarlet coat and bell, had come +into that little kennel before me, broad awake in broad day, and, +apologising for being damp through walking in the sea, had handed +me a letter directed to myself, in familiar characters, I am +certain I should not have felt one atom of astonishment: I should +have been perfectly satisfied. If Neptune himself had +walked in, with a toasted shark on his trident, I should have +looked upon the event as one of the very commonest everyday +occurrences.</p> +<p>Once—once—I found myself on deck. I +don’t know how I got there, or what possessed me to go +there, but there I was; and completely dressed too, with a huge +pea-coat on, and a pair of boots such as no weak man in his +senses could ever have got into. I found myself standing, +when a gleam of consciousness came upon me, holding on to +something. I don’t know what. I think it was +the boatswain: or it may have been the pump: or possibly the +cow. I can’t say how long I had been there; whether a +day or a minute. I recollect trying to think about +something (about anything in the whole wide world, I was not +particular) without the smallest effect. I could not even +make out which was the sea, and which the sky, for the horizon +seemed drunk, and was flying wildly about in all +directions. Even in that incapable state, however, I +recognised the lazy gentleman standing before me: nautically clad +in a suit of shaggy blue, with an oilskin hat. But I was +too imbecile, although I knew it to be he, to separate him from +his dress; and tried to call him, I remember, <i>Pilot</i>. +After another interval of total unconsciousness, I found he had +gone, and recognised another figure in its place. It seemed +to wave and fluctuate before me as though I saw it reflected in +an unsteady looking-glass; but I knew it for the captain; and +such was the cheerful influence of his face, that I tried to +smile: yes, even then I tried to smile. I saw by his +gestures that he addressed me; but it was a long time before I +could make out that he remonstrated against my standing up to my +knees in water—as I was; of course I don’t know +why. I tried to thank him, but couldn’t. I +could only point to my boots—or wherever I supposed my +boots to be—and say in a plaintive voice, ‘Cork +soles:’ at the same time endeavouring, I am told, to sit +down in the pool. Finding that I was quite insensible, and +for the time a maniac, he humanely conducted me below.</p> +<p>There I remained until I got better: suffering, whenever I was +recommended to eat anything, an amount of anguish only second to +that which is said to be endured by the apparently drowned, in +the process of restoration to life. One gentleman on board +had a letter of introduction to me from a mutual friend in +London. He sent it below with his card, on the morning of +the head-wind; and I was long troubled with the idea that he +might be up, and well, and a hundred times a day expecting me to +call upon him in the saloon. I imagined him one of those +cast-iron images—I will not call them men—who ask, +with red faces, and lusty voices, what sea-sickness means, and +whether it really is as bad as it is represented to be. +This was very torturing indeed; and I don’t think I ever +felt such perfect gratification and gratitude of heart, as I did +when I heard from the ship’s doctor that he had been +obliged to put a large mustard poultice on this very +gentleman’s stomach. I date my recovery from the +receipt of that intelligence.</p> +<p>It was materially assisted though, I have no doubt, by a heavy +gale of wind, which came slowly up at sunset, when we were about +ten days out, and raged with gradually increasing fury until +morning, saving that it lulled for an hour a little before +midnight. There was something in the unnatural repose of +that hour, and in the after gathering of the storm, so +inconceivably awful and tremendous, that its bursting into full +violence was almost a relief.</p> +<p>The labouring of the ship in the troubled sea on this night I +shall never forget. ‘Will it ever be worse than +this?’ was a question I had often heard asked, when +everything was sliding and bumping about, and when it certainly +did seem difficult to comprehend the possibility of anything +afloat being more disturbed, without toppling over and going +down. But what the agitation of a steam-vessel is, on a bad +winter’s night in the wild Atlantic, it is impossible for +the most vivid imagination to conceive. To say that she is +flung down on her side in the waves, with her masts dipping into +them, and that, springing up again, she rolls over on the other +side, until a heavy sea strikes her with the noise of a hundred +great guns, and hurls her back—that she stops, and +staggers, and shivers, as though stunned, and then, with a +violent throbbing at her heart, darts onward like a monster +goaded into madness, to be beaten down, and battered, and +crushed, and leaped on by the angry sea—that thunder, +lightning, hail, and rain, and wind, are all in fierce contention +for the mastery—that every plank has its groan, every nail +its shriek, and every drop of water in the great ocean its +howling voice—is nothing. To say that all is grand, +and all appalling and horrible in the last degree, is +nothing. Words cannot express it. Thoughts cannot +convey it. Only a dream can call it up again, in all its +fury, rage, and passion.</p> +<p>And yet, in the very midst of these terrors, I was placed in a +situation so exquisitely ridiculous, that even then I had as +strong a sense of its absurdity as I have now, and could no more +help laughing than I can at any other comical incident, happening +under circumstances the most favourable to its enjoyment. +About midnight we shipped a sea, which forced its way through the +skylights, burst open the doors above, and came raging and +roaring down into the ladies’ cabin, to the unspeakable +consternation of my wife and a little Scotch lady—who, by +the way, had previously sent a message to the captain by the +stewardess, requesting him, with her compliments, to have a steel +conductor immediately attached to the top of every mast, and to +the chimney, in order that the ship might not be struck by +lightning. They and the handmaid before mentioned, being in +such ecstasies of fear that I scarcely knew what to do with them, +I naturally bethought myself of some restorative or comfortable +cordial; and nothing better occurring to me, at the moment, than +hot brandy-and-water, I procured a tumbler full without +delay. It being impossible to stand or sit without holding +on, they were all heaped together in one corner of a long +sofa—a fixture extending entirely across the +cabin—where they clung to each other in momentary +expectation of being drowned. When I approached this place +with my specific, and was about to administer it with many +consolatory expressions to the nearest sufferer, what was my +dismay to see them all roll slowly down to the other end! +And when I staggered to that end, and held out the glass once +more, how immensely baffled were my good intentions by the ship +giving another lurch, and their all rolling back again! I +suppose I dodged them up and down this sofa for at least a +quarter of an hour, without reaching them once; and by the time I +did catch them, the brandy-and-water was diminished, by constant +spilling, to a teaspoonful. To complete the group, it is +necessary to recognise in this disconcerted dodger, an individual +very pale from sea-sickness, who had shaved his beard and brushed +his hair, last, at Liverpool: and whose only article of dress +(linen not included) were a pair of dreadnought trousers; a blue +jacket, formerly admired upon the Thames at Richmond; no +stockings; and one slipper.</p> +<p>Of the outrageous antics performed by that ship next morning; +which made bed a practical joke, and getting up, by any process +short of falling out, an impossibility; I say nothing. But +anything like the utter dreariness and desolation that met my +eyes when I literally ‘tumbled up’ on deck at noon, I +never saw. Ocean and sky were all of one dull, heavy, +uniform, lead colour. There was no extent of prospect even +over the dreary waste that lay around us, for the sea ran high, +and the horizon encompassed us like a large black hoop. +Viewed from the air, or some tall bluff on shore, it would have +been imposing and stupendous, no doubt; but seen from the wet and +rolling decks, it only impressed one giddily and painfully. +In the gale of last night the life-boat had been crushed by one +blow of the sea like a walnut-shell; and there it hung dangling +in the air: a mere faggot of crazy boards. The planking of +the paddle-boxes had been torn sheer away. The wheels were +exposed and bare; and they whirled and dashed their spray about +the decks at random. Chimney, white with crusted salt; +topmasts struck; storm-sails set; rigging all knotted, tangled, +wet, and drooping: a gloomier picture it would be hard to look +upon.</p> +<p>I was now comfortably established by courtesy in the +ladies’ cabin, where, besides ourselves, there were only +four other passengers. First, the little Scotch lady before +mentioned, on her way to join her husband at New York, who had +settled there three years before. Secondly and thirdly, an +honest young Yorkshireman, connected with some American house; +domiciled in that same city, and carrying thither his beautiful +young wife to whom he had been married but a fortnight, and who +was the fairest specimen of a comely English country girl I have +ever seen. Fourthly, fifthly, and lastly, another couple: +newly married too, if one might judge from the endearments they +frequently interchanged: of whom I know no more than that they +were rather a mysterious, run-away kind of couple; that the lady +had great personal attractions also; and that the gentleman +carried more guns with him than Robinson Crusoe, wore a +shooting-coat, and had two great dogs on board. On further +consideration, I remember that he tried hot roast pig and bottled +ale as a cure for sea-sickness; and that he took these remedies +(usually in bed) day after day, with astonishing +perseverance. I may add, for the information of the +curious, that they decidedly failed.</p> +<p>The weather continuing obstinately and almost unprecedentedly +bad, we usually straggled into this cabin, more or less faint and +miserable, about an hour before noon, and lay down on the sofas +to recover; during which interval, the captain would look in to +communicate the state of the wind, the moral certainty of its +changing to-morrow (the weather is always going to improve +to-morrow, at sea), the vessel’s rate of sailing, and so +forth. Observations there were none to tell us of, for +there was no sun to take them by. But a description of one +day will serve for all the rest. Here it is.</p> +<p>The captain being gone, we compose ourselves to read, if the +place be light enough; and if not, we doze and talk +alternately. At one, a bell rings, and the stewardess comes +down with a steaming dish of baked potatoes, and another of +roasted apples; and plates of pig’s face, cold ham, salt +beef; or perhaps a smoking mess of rare hot collops. We +fall to upon these dainties; eat as much as we can (we have great +appetites now); and are as long as possible about it. If +the fire will burn (it <i>will</i> sometimes) we are pretty +cheerful. If it won’t, we all remark to each other +that it’s very cold, rub our hands, cover ourselves with +coats and cloaks, and lie down again to doze, talk, and read +(provided as aforesaid), until dinner-time. At five, +another bell rings, and the stewardess reappears with another +dish of potatoes—boiled this time—and store of hot +meat of various kinds: not forgetting the roast pig, to be taken +medicinally. We sit down at table again (rather more +cheerfully than before); prolong the meal with a rather mouldy +dessert of apples, grapes, and oranges; and drink our wine and +brandy-and-water. The bottles and glasses are still upon +the table, and the oranges and so forth are rolling about +according to their fancy and the ship’s way, when the +doctor comes down, by special nightly invitation, to join our +evening rubber: immediately on whose arrival we make a party at +whist, and as it is a rough night and the cards will not lie on +the cloth, we put the tricks in our pockets as we take +them. At whist we remain with exemplary gravity (deducting +a short time for tea and toast) until eleven o’clock, or +thereabouts; when the captain comes down again, in a +sou’-wester hat tied under his chin, and a pilot-coat: +making the ground wet where he stands. By this time the +card-playing is over, and the bottles and glasses are again upon +the table; and after an hour’s pleasant conversation about +the ship, the passengers, and things in general, the captain (who +never goes to bed, and is never out of humour) turns up his coat +collar for the deck again; shakes hands all round; and goes +laughing out into the weather as merrily as to a birthday +party.</p> +<p>As to daily news, there is no dearth of that commodity. +This passenger is reported to have lost fourteen pounds at +Vingt-et-un in the saloon yesterday; and that passenger drinks +his bottle of champagne every day, and how he does it (being only +a clerk), nobody knows. The head engineer has distinctly +said that there never was such times—meaning +weather—and four good hands are ill, and have given in, +dead beat. Several berths are full of water, and all the +cabins are leaky. The ship’s cook, secretly swigging +damaged whiskey, has been found drunk; and has been played upon +by the fire-engine until quite sober. All the stewards have +fallen down-stairs at various dinner-times, and go about with +plasters in various places. The baker is ill, and so is the +pastry-cook. A new man, horribly indisposed, has been +required to fill the place of the latter officer; and has been +propped and jammed up with empty casks in a little house upon +deck, and commanded to roll out pie-crust, which he protests +(being highly bilious) it is death to him to look at. +News! A dozen murders on shore would lack the interest of +these slight incidents at sea.</p> +<p>Divided between our rubber and such topics as these, we were +running (as we thought) into Halifax Harbour, on the fifteenth +night, with little wind and a bright moon—indeed, we had +made the Light at its outer entrance, and put the pilot in +charge—when suddenly the ship struck upon a bank of +mud. An immediate rush on deck took place of course; the +sides were crowded in an instant; and for a few minutes we were +in as lively a state of confusion as the greatest lover of +disorder would desire to see. The passengers, and guns, and +water-casks, and other heavy matters, being all huddled together +aft, however, to lighten her in the head, she was soon got off; +and after some driving on towards an uncomfortable line of +objects (whose vicinity had been announced very early in the +disaster by a loud cry of ‘Breakers a-head!’) and +much backing of paddles, and heaving of the lead into a +constantly decreasing depth of water, we dropped anchor in a +strange outlandish-looking nook which nobody on board could +recognise, although there was land all about us, and so close +that we could plainly see the waving branches of the trees.</p> +<p>It was strange enough, in the silence of midnight, and the +dead stillness that seemed to be created by the sudden and +unexpected stoppage of the engine which had been clanking and +blasting in our ears incessantly for so many days, to watch the +look of blank astonishment expressed in every face: beginning +with the officers, tracing it through all the passengers, and +descending to the very stokers and furnacemen, who emerged from +below, one by one, and clustered together in a smoky group about +the hatchway of the engine-room, comparing notes in +whispers. After throwing up a few rockets and firing signal +guns in the hope of being hailed from the land, or at least of +seeing a light—but without any other sight or sound +presenting itself—it was determined to send a boat on +shore. It was amusing to observe how very kind some of the +passengers were, in volunteering to go ashore in this same boat: +for the general good, of course: not by any means because they +thought the ship in an unsafe position, or contemplated the +possibility of her heeling over in case the tide were running +out. Nor was it less amusing to remark how desperately +unpopular the poor pilot became in one short minute. He had +had his passage out from Liverpool, and during the whole voyage +had been quite a notorious character, as a teller of anecdotes +and cracker of jokes. Yet here were the very men who had +laughed the loudest at his jests, now flourishing their fists in +his face, loading him with imprecations, and defying him to his +teeth as a villain!</p> +<p>The boat soon shoved off, with a lantern and sundry blue +lights on board; and in less than an hour returned; the officer +in command bringing with him a tolerably tall young tree, which +he had plucked up by the roots, to satisfy certain distrustful +passengers whose minds misgave them that they were to be imposed +upon and shipwrecked, and who would on no other terms believe +that he had been ashore, or had done anything but fraudulently +row a little way into the mist, specially to deceive them and +compass their deaths. Our captain had foreseen from the +first that we must be in a place called the Eastern passage; and +so we were. It was about the last place in the world in +which we had any business or reason to be, but a sudden fog, and +some error on the pilot’s part, were the cause. We +were surrounded by banks, and rocks, and shoals of all kinds, but +had happily drifted, it seemed, upon the only safe speck that was +to be found thereabouts. Eased by this report, and by the +assurance that the tide was past the ebb, we turned in at three +o’clock in the morning.</p> +<p>I was dressing about half-past nine next day, when the noise +above hurried me on deck. When I had left it overnight, it +was dark, foggy, and damp, and there were bleak hills all round +us. Now, we were gliding down a smooth, broad stream, at +the rate of eleven miles an hour: our colours flying gaily; our +crew rigged out in their smartest clothes; our officers in +uniform again; the sun shining as on a brilliant April day in +England; the land stretched out on either side, streaked with +light patches of snow; white wooden houses; people at their +doors; telegraphs working; flags hoisted; wharfs appearing; +ships; quays crowded with people; distant noises; shouts; men and +boys running down steep places towards the pier: all more bright +and gay and fresh to our unused eyes than words can paint +them. We came to a wharf, paved with uplifted faces; got +alongside, and were made fast, after some shouting and straining +of cables; darted, a score of us along the gangway, almost as +soon as it was thrust out to meet us, and before it had reached +the ship—and leaped upon the firm glad earth again!</p> +<p>I suppose this Halifax would have appeared an Elysium, though +it had been a curiosity of ugly dulness. But I carried away +with me a most pleasant impression of the town and its +inhabitants, and have preserved it to this hour. Nor was it +without regret that I came home, without having found an +opportunity of returning thither, and once more shaking hands +with the friends I made that day.</p> +<p>It happened to be the opening of the Legislative Council and +General Assembly, at which ceremonial the forms observed on the +commencement of a new Session of Parliament in England were so +closely copied, and so gravely presented on a small scale, that +it was like looking at Westminster through the wrong end of a +telescope. The governor, as her Majesty’s +representative, delivered what may be called the Speech from the +Throne. He said what he had to say manfully and well. +The military band outside the building struck up “God save +the Queen” with great vigour before his Excellency had +quite finished; the people shouted; the in’s rubbed their +hands; the out’s shook their heads; the Government party +said there never was such a good speech; the Opposition declared +there never was such a bad one; the Speaker and members of the +House of Assembly withdrew from the bar to say a great deal among +themselves and do a little: and, in short, everything went on, +and promised to go on, just as it does at home upon the like +occasions.</p> +<p>The town is built on the side of a hill, the highest point +being commanded by a strong fortress, not yet quite +finished. Several streets of good breadth and appearance +extend from its summit to the water-side, and are intersected by +cross streets running parallel with the river. The houses +are chiefly of wood. The market is abundantly supplied; and +provisions are exceedingly cheap. The weather being +unusually mild at that time for the season of the year, there was +no sleighing: but there were plenty of those vehicles in yards +and by-places, and some of them, from the gorgeous quality of +their decorations, might have ‘gone on’ without +alteration as triumphal cars in a melodrama at +Astley’s. The day was uncommonly fine; the air +bracing and healthful; the whole aspect of the town cheerful, +thriving, and industrious.</p> +<p>We lay there seven hours, to deliver and exchange the +mails. At length, having collected all our bags and all our +passengers (including two or three choice spirits, who, having +indulged too freely in oysters and champagne, were found lying +insensible on their backs in unfrequented streets), the engines +were again put in motion, and we stood off for Boston.</p> +<p>Encountering squally weather again in the Bay of Fundy, we +tumbled and rolled about as usual all that night and all next +day. On the next afternoon, that is to say, on Saturday, +the twenty-second of January, an American pilot-boat came +alongside, and soon afterwards the Britannia steam-packet, from +Liverpool, eighteen days out, was telegraphed at Boston.</p> +<p>The indescribable interest with which I strained my eyes, as +the first patches of American soil peeped like molehills from the +green sea, and followed them, as they swelled, by slow and almost +imperceptible degrees, into a continuous line of coast, can +hardly be exaggerated. A sharp keen wind blew dead against +us; a hard frost prevailed on shore; and the cold was most +severe. Yet the air was so intensely clear, and dry, and +bright, that the temperature was not only endurable, but +delicious.</p> +<p>How I remained on deck, staring about me, until we came +alongside the dock, and how, though I had had as many eyes as +Argus, I should have had them all wide open, and all employed on +new objects—are topics which I will not prolong this +chapter to discuss. Neither will I more than hint at my +foreigner-like mistake in supposing that a party of most active +persons, who scrambled on board at the peril of their lives as we +approached the wharf, were newsmen, answering to that industrious +class at home; whereas, despite the leathern wallets of news +slung about the necks of some, and the broad sheets in the hands +of all, they were Editors, who boarded ships in person (as one +gentleman in a worsted comforter informed me), ‘because +they liked the excitement of it.’ Suffice it in +this place to say, that one of these invaders, with a ready +courtesy for which I thank him here most gratefully, went on +before to order rooms at the hotel; and that when I followed, as +I soon did, I found myself rolling through the long passages with +an involuntary imitation of the gait of Mr. T. P. Cooke, in a new +nautical melodrama.</p> +<p>‘Dinner, if you please,’ said I to the waiter.</p> +<p>‘When?’ said the waiter.</p> +<p>‘As quick as possible,’ said I.</p> +<p>‘Right away?’ said the waiter.</p> +<p>After a moment’s hesitation, I answered +‘No,’ at hazard.</p> +<p>‘<i>Not</i> right away?’ cried the waiter, with an +amount of surprise that made me start.</p> +<p>I looked at him doubtfully, and returned, ‘No; I would +rather have it in this private room. I like it very +much.’</p> +<p>At this, I really thought the waiter must have gone out of his +mind: as I believe he would have done, but for the interposition +of another man, who whispered in his ear, +‘Directly.’</p> +<p>‘Well! and that’s a fact!’ said the waiter, +looking helplessly at me: ‘Right away.’</p> +<p>I saw now that ‘Right away’ and +‘Directly’ were one and the same thing. So I +reversed my previous answer, and sat down to dinner in ten +minutes afterwards; and a capital dinner it was.</p> +<p>The hotel (a very excellent one) is called the Tremont +House. It has more galleries, colonnades, piazzas, and +passages than I can remember, or the reader would believe.</p> +<h2><a name="page22"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +22</span>CHAPTER III<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">BOSTON</span></h2> +<p><i>In</i> all the public establishments of America, the utmost +courtesy prevails. Most of our Departments are susceptible +of considerable improvement in this respect, but the Custom-house +above all others would do well to take example from the United +States and render itself somewhat less odious and offensive to +foreigners. The servile rapacity of the French officials is +sufficiently contemptible; but there is a surly boorish +incivility about our men, alike disgusting to all persons who +fall into their hands, and discreditable to the nation that keeps +such ill-conditioned curs snarling about its gates.</p> +<p>When I landed in America, I could not help being strongly +impressed with the contrast their Custom-house presented, and the +attention, politeness and good humour with which its officers +discharged their duty.</p> +<p>As we did not land at Boston, in consequence of some detention +at the wharf, until after dark, I received my first impressions +of the city in walking down to the Custom-house on the morning +after our arrival, which was Sunday. I am afraid to say, by +the way, how many offers of pews and seats in church for that +morning were made to us, by formal note of invitation, before we +had half finished our first dinner in America, but if I may be +allowed to make a moderate guess, without going into nicer +calculation, I should say that at least as many sittings were +proffered us, as would have accommodated a score or two of +grown-up families. The number of creeds and forms of +religion to which the pleasure of our company was requested, was +in very fair proportion.</p> +<p>Not being able, in the absence of any change of clothes, to go +to church that day, we were compelled to decline these +kindnesses, one and all; and I was reluctantly obliged to forego +the delight of hearing Dr. Channing, who happened to preach that +morning for the first time in a very long interval. I +mention the name of this distinguished and accomplished man (with +whom I soon afterwards had the pleasure of becoming personally +acquainted), that I may have the gratification of recording my +humble tribute of admiration and respect for his high abilities +and character; and for the bold philanthropy with which he has +ever opposed himself to that most hideous blot and foul +disgrace—Slavery.</p> +<p>To return to Boston. When I got into the streets upon +this Sunday morning, the air was so clear, the houses were so +bright and gay: the signboards were painted in such gaudy +colours; the gilded letters were so very golden; the bricks were +so very red, the stone was so very white, the blinds and area +railings were so very green, the knobs and plates upon the street +doors so marvellously bright and twinkling; and all so slight and +unsubstantial in appearance—that every thoroughfare in the +city looked exactly like a scene in a pantomime. It rarely +happens in the business streets that a tradesman, if I may +venture to call anybody a tradesman, where everybody is a +merchant, resides above his store; so that many occupations are +often carried on in one house, and the whole front is covered +with boards and inscriptions. As I walked along, I kept +glancing up at these boards, confidently expecting to see a few +of them change into something; and I never turned a corner +suddenly without looking out for the clown and pantaloon, who, I +had no doubt, were hiding in a doorway or behind some pillar +close at hand. As to Harlequin and Columbine, I discovered +immediately that they lodged (they are always looking after +lodgings in a pantomime) at a very small clockmaker’s one +story high, near the hotel; which, in addition to various symbols +and devices, almost covering the whole front, had a great dial +hanging out—to be jumped through, of course.</p> +<p>The suburbs are, if possible, even more unsubstantial-looking +than the city. The white wooden houses (so white that it +makes one wink to look at them), with their green jalousie +blinds, are so sprinkled and dropped about in all directions, +without seeming to have any root at all in the ground; and the +small churches and chapels are so prim, and bright, and highly +varnished; that I almost believed the whole affair could be taken +up piecemeal like a child’s toy, and crammed into a little +box.</p> +<p>The city is a beautiful one, and cannot fail, I should +imagine, to impress all strangers very favourably. The +private dwelling-houses are, for the most part, large and +elegant; the shops extremely good; and the public buildings +handsome. The State House is built upon the summit of a +hill, which rises gradually at first, and afterwards by a steep +ascent, almost from the water’s edge. In front is a +green enclosure, called the Common. The site is beautiful: +and from the top there is a charming panoramic view of the whole +town and neighbourhood. In addition to a variety of +commodious offices, it contains two handsome chambers; in one the +House of Representatives of the State hold their meetings: in the +other, the Senate. Such proceedings as I saw here, were +conducted with perfect gravity and decorum; and were certainly +calculated to inspire attention and respect.</p> +<p>There is no doubt that much of the intellectual refinement and +superiority of Boston, is referable to the quiet influence of the +University of Cambridge, which is within three or four miles of +the city. The resident professors at that university are +gentlemen of learning and varied attainments; and are, without +one exception that I can call to mind, men who would shed a grace +upon, and do honour to, any society in the civilised world. +Many of the resident gentry in Boston and its neighbourhood, and +I think I am not mistaken in adding, a large majority of those +who are attached to the liberal professions there, have been +educated at this same school. Whatever the defects of +American universities may be, they disseminate no prejudices; +rear no bigots; dig up the buried ashes of no old superstitions; +never interpose between the people and their improvement; exclude +no man because of his religious opinions; above all, in their +whole course of study and instruction, recognise a world, and a +broad one too, lying beyond the college walls.</p> +<p>It was a source of inexpressible pleasure to me to observe the +almost imperceptible, but not less certain effect, wrought by +this institution among the small community of Boston; and to note +at every turn the humanising tastes and desires it has +engendered; the affectionate friendships to which it has given +rise; the amount of vanity and prejudice it has dispelled. +The golden calf they worship at Boston is a pigmy compared with +the giant effigies set up in other parts of that vast +counting-house which lies beyond the Atlantic; and the almighty +dollar sinks into something comparatively insignificant, amidst a +whole Pantheon of better gods.</p> +<p>Above all, I sincerely believe that the public institutions +and charities of this capital of Massachusetts are as nearly +perfect, as the most considerate wisdom, benevolence, and +humanity, can make them. I never in my life was more +affected by the contemplation of happiness, under circumstances +of privation and bereavement, than in my visits to these +establishments.</p> +<p>It is a great and pleasant feature of all such institutions in +America, that they are either supported by the State or assisted +by the State; or (in the event of their not needing its helping +hand) that they act in concert with it, and are emphatically the +people’s. I cannot but think, with a view to the +principle and its tendency to elevate or depress the character of +the industrious classes, that a Public Charity is immeasurably +better than a Private Foundation, no matter how munificently the +latter may be endowed. In our own country, where it has +not, until within these later days, been a very popular fashion +with governments to display any extraordinary regard for the +great mass of the people or to recognise their existence as +improvable creatures, private charities, unexampled in the +history of the earth, have arisen, to do an incalculable amount +of good among the destitute and afflicted. But the +government of the country, having neither act nor part in them, +is not in the receipt of any portion of the gratitude they +inspire; and, offering very little shelter or relief beyond that +which is to be found in the workhouse and the jail, has come, not +unnaturally, to be looked upon by the poor rather as a stern +master, quick to correct and punish, than a kind protector, +merciful and vigilant in their hour of need.</p> +<p>The maxim that out of evil cometh good, is strongly +illustrated by these establishments at home; as the records of +the Prerogative Office in Doctors’ Commons can abundantly +prove. Some immensely rich old gentleman or lady, +surrounded by needy relatives, makes, upon a low average, a will +a-week. The old gentleman or lady, never very remarkable in +the best of times for good temper, is full of aches and pains +from head to foot; full of fancies and caprices; full of spleen, +distrust, suspicion, and dislike. To cancel old wills, and +invent new ones, is at last the sole business of such a +testator’s existence; and relations and friends (some of +whom have been bred up distinctly to inherit a large share of the +property, and have been, from their cradles, specially +disqualified from devoting themselves to any useful pursuit, on +that account) are so often and so unexpectedly and summarily cut +off, and reinstated, and cut off again, that the whole family, +down to the remotest cousin, is kept in a perpetual fever. +At length it becomes plain that the old lady or gentleman has not +long to live; and the plainer this becomes, the more clearly the +old lady or gentleman perceives that everybody is in a conspiracy +against their poor old dying relative; wherefore the old lady or +gentleman makes another last will—positively the last this +time—conceals the same in a china teapot, and expires next +day. Then it turns out, that the whole of the real and +personal estate is divided between half-a-dozen charities; and +that the dead and gone testator has in pure spite helped to do a +great deal of good, at the cost of an immense amount of evil +passion and misery.</p> +<p>The Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the +Blind, at Boston, is superintended by a body of trustees who make +an annual report to the corporation. The indigent blind of +that state are admitted gratuitously. Those from the +adjoining state of Connecticut, or from the states of Maine, +Vermont, or New Hampshire, are admitted by a warrant from the +state to which they respectively belong; or, failing that, must +find security among their friends, for the payment of about +twenty pounds English for their first year’s board and +instruction, and ten for the second. ‘After the first +year,’ say the trustees, ‘an account current will be +opened with each pupil; he will be charged with the actual cost +of his board, which will not exceed two dollars per week;’ +a trifle more than eight shillings English; ‘and he will be +credited with the amount paid for him by the state, or by his +friends; also with his earnings over and above the cost of the +stock which he uses; so that all his earnings over one dollar per +week will be his own. By the third year it will be known +whether his earnings will more than pay the actual cost of his +board; if they should, he will have it at his option to remain +and receive his earnings, or not. Those who prove unable to +earn their own livelihood will not be retained; as it is not +desirable to convert the establishment into an alms-house, or to +retain any but working bees in the hive. Those who by +physical or mental imbecility are disqualified from work, are +thereby disqualified from being members of an industrious +community; and they can be better provided for in establishments +fitted for the infirm.’</p> +<p>I went to see this place one very fine winter morning: an +Italian sky above, and the air so clear and bright on every side, +that even my eyes, which are none of the best, could follow the +minute lines and scraps of tracery in distant buildings. +Like most other public institutions in America, of the same +class, it stands a mile or two without the town, in a cheerful +healthy spot; and is an airy, spacious, handsome edifice. +It is built upon a height, commanding the harbour. When I +paused for a moment at the door, and marked how fresh and free +the whole scene was—what sparkling bubbles glanced upon the +waves, and welled up every moment to the surface, as though the +world below, like that above, were radiant with the bright day, +and gushing over in its fulness of light: when I gazed from sail +to sail away upon a ship at sea, a tiny speck of shining white, +the only cloud upon the still, deep, distant blue—and, +turning, saw a blind boy with his sightless face addressed that +way, as though he too had some sense within him of the glorious +distance: I felt a kind of sorrow that the place should be so +very light, and a strange wish that for his sake it were +darker. It was but momentary, of course, and a mere fancy, +but I felt it keenly for all that.</p> +<p>The children were at their daily tasks in different rooms, +except a few who were already dismissed, and were at play. +Here, as in many institutions, no uniform is worn; and I was very +glad of it, for two reasons. Firstly, because I am sure +that nothing but senseless custom and want of thought would +reconcile us to the liveries and badges we are so fond of at +home. Secondly, because the absence of these things +presents each child to the visitor in his or her own proper +character, with its individuality unimpaired; not lost in a dull, +ugly, monotonous repetition of the same unmeaning garb: which is +really an important consideration. The wisdom of +encouraging a little harmless pride in personal appearance even +among the blind, or the whimsical absurdity of considering +charity and leather breeches inseparable companions, as we do, +requires no comment.</p> +<p>Good order, cleanliness, and comfort, pervaded every corner of +the building. The various classes, who were gathered round +their teachers, answered the questions put to them with readiness +and intelligence, and in a spirit of cheerful contest for +precedence which pleased me very much. Those who were at +play, were gleesome and noisy as other children. More +spiritual and affectionate friendships appeared to exist among +them, than would be found among other young persons suffering +under no deprivation; but this I expected and was prepared to +find. It is a part of the great scheme of Heaven’s +merciful consideration for the afflicted.</p> +<p>In a portion of the building, set apart for that purpose, are +work-shops for blind persons whose education is finished, and who +have acquired a trade, but who cannot pursue it in an ordinary +manufactory because of their deprivation. Several people +were at work here; making brushes, mattresses, and so forth; and +the cheerfulness, industry, and good order discernible in every +other part of the building, extended to this department also.</p> +<p>On the ringing of a bell, the pupils all repaired, without any +guide or leader, to a spacious music-hall, where they took their +seats in an orchestra erected for that purpose, and listened with +manifest delight to a voluntary on the organ, played by one of +themselves. At its conclusion, the performer, a boy of +nineteen or twenty, gave place to a girl; and to her +accompaniment they all sang a hymn, and afterwards a sort of +chorus. It was very sad to look upon and hear them, happy +though their condition unquestionably was; and I saw that one +blind girl, who (being for the time deprived of the use of her +limbs, by illness) sat close beside me with her face towards +them, wept silently the while she listened.</p> +<p>It is strange to watch the faces of the blind, and see how +free they are from all concealment of what is passing in their +thoughts; observing which, a man with eyes may blush to +contemplate the mask he wears. Allowing for one shade of +anxious expression which is never absent from their countenances, +and the like of which we may readily detect in our own faces if +we try to feel our way in the dark, every idea, as it rises +within them, is expressed with the lightning’s speed and +nature’s truth. If the company at a rout, or +drawing-room at court, could only for one time be as unconscious +of the eyes upon them as blind men and women are, what secrets +would come out, and what a worker of hypocrisy this sight, the +loss of which we so much pity, would appear to be!</p> +<p>The thought occurred to me as I sat down in another room, +before a girl, blind, deaf, and dumb; destitute of smell; and +nearly so of taste: before a fair young creature with every human +faculty, and hope, and power of goodness and affection, inclosed +within her delicate frame, and but one outward sense—the +sense of touch. There she was, before me; built up, as it +were, in a marble cell, impervious to any ray of light, or +particle of sound; with her poor white hand peeping through a +chink in the wall, beckoning to some good man for help, that an +Immortal soul might be awakened.</p> +<p>Long before I looked upon her, the help had come. Her +face was radiant with intelligence and pleasure. Her hair, +braided by her own hands, was bound about a head, whose +intellectual capacity and development were beautifully expressed +in its graceful outline, and its broad open brow; her dress, +arranged by herself, was a pattern of neatness and simplicity; +the work she had knitted, lay beside her; her writing-book was on +the desk she leaned upon.—From the mournful ruin of such +bereavement, there had slowly risen up this gentle, tender, +guileless, grateful-hearted being.</p> +<p>Like other inmates of that house, she had a green ribbon bound +round her eyelids. A doll she had dressed lay near upon the +ground. I took it up, and saw that she had made a green +fillet such as she wore herself, and fastened it about its mimic +eyes.</p> +<p>She was seated in a little enclosure, made by school-desks and +forms, writing her daily journal. But soon finishing this +pursuit, she engaged in an animated conversation with a teacher +who sat beside her. This was a favourite mistress with the +poor pupil. If she could see the face of her fair +instructress, she would not love her less, I am sure.</p> +<p>I have extracted a few disjointed fragments of her history, +from an account, written by that one man who has made her what +she is. It is a very beautiful and touching narrative; and +I wish I could present it entire.</p> +<p>Her name is Laura Bridgman. ‘She was born in +Hanover, New Hampshire, on the twenty-first of December, +1829. She is described as having been a very sprightly and +pretty infant, with bright blue eyes. She was, however, so +puny and feeble until she was a year and a half old, that her +parents hardly hoped to rear her. She was subject to severe +fits, which seemed to rack her frame almost beyond her power of +endurance: and life was held by the feeblest tenure: but when a +year and a half old, she seemed to rally; the dangerous symptoms +subsided; and at twenty months old, she was perfectly well.</p> +<p>‘Then her mental powers, hitherto stinted in their +growth, rapidly developed themselves; and during the four months +of health which she enjoyed, she appears (making due allowance +for a fond mother’s account) to have displayed a +considerable degree of intelligence.</p> +<p>‘But suddenly she sickened again; her disease raged with +great violence during five weeks, when her eyes and ears were +inflamed, suppurated, and their contents were discharged. +But though sight and hearing were gone for ever, the poor +child’s sufferings were not ended. The fever raged +during seven weeks; for five months she was kept in bed in a +darkened room; it was a year before she could walk unsupported, +and two years before she could sit up all day. It was now +observed that her sense of smell was almost entirely destroyed; +and, consequently, that her taste was much blunted.</p> +<p>‘It was not until four years of age that the poor +child’s bodily health seemed restored, and she was able to +enter upon her apprenticeship of life and the world.</p> +<p>‘But what a situation was hers! The darkness and +the silence of the tomb were around her: no mother’s smile +called forth her answering smile, no father’s voice taught +her to imitate his sounds:—they, brothers and sisters, were +but forms of matter which resisted her touch, but which differed +not from the furniture of the house, save in warmth, and in the +power of locomotion; and not even in these respects from the dog +and the cat.</p> +<p>‘But the immortal spirit which had been implanted within +her could not die, nor be maimed nor mutilated; and though most +of its avenues of communication with the world were cut off, it +began to manifest itself through the others. As soon as she +could walk, she began to explore the room, and then the house; +she became familiar with the form, density, weight, and heat, of +every article she could lay her hands upon. She followed +her mother, and felt her hands and arms, as she was occupied +about the house; and her disposition to imitate, led her to +repeat everything herself. She even learned to sew a +little, and to knit.’</p> +<p>The reader will scarcely need to be told, however, that the +opportunities of communicating with her, were very, very limited; +and that the moral effects of her wretched state soon began to +appear. Those who cannot be enlightened by reason, can only +be controlled by force; and this, coupled with her great +privations, must soon have reduced her to a worse condition than +that of the beasts that perish, but for timely and unhoped-for +aid.</p> +<p>‘At this time, I was so fortunate as to hear of the +child, and immediately hastened to Hanover to see her. I +found her with a well-formed figure; a strongly-marked, +nervous-sanguine temperament; a large and beautifully-shaped +head; and the whole system in healthy action. The parents +were easily induced to consent to her coming to Boston, and on +the 4th of October, 1837, they brought her to the +Institution.</p> +<p>‘For a while, she was much bewildered; and after waiting +about two weeks, until she became acquainted with her new +locality, and somewhat familiar with the inmates, the attempt was +made to give her knowledge of arbitrary signs, by which she could +interchange thoughts with others.</p> +<p>‘There was one of two ways to be adopted: either to go +on to build up a language of signs on the basis of the natural +language which she had already commenced herself, or to teach her +the purely arbitrary language in common use: that is, to give her +a sign for every individual thing, or to give her a knowledge of +letters by combination of which she might express her idea of the +existence, and the mode and condition of existence, of any +thing. The former would have been easy, but very +ineffectual; the latter seemed very difficult, but, if +accomplished, very effectual. I determined therefore to try +the latter.</p> +<p>‘The first experiments were made by taking articles in +common use, such as knives, forks, spoons, keys, &c., and +pasting upon them labels with their names printed in raised +letters. These she felt very carefully, and soon, of +course, distinguished that the crooked lines <i>spoon</i>, +differed as much from the crooked lines <i>key</i>, as the spoon +differed from the key in form.</p> +<p>‘Then small detached labels, with the same words printed +upon them, were put into her hands; and she soon observed that +they were similar to the ones pasted on the +articles.’ She showed her perception of this +similarity by laying the label <i>key</i> upon the key, and the +label <i>spoon</i> upon the spoon. She was encouraged here +by the natural sign of approbation, patting on the head.</p> +<p>‘The same process was then repeated with all the +articles which she could handle; and she very easily learned to +place the proper labels upon them. It was evident, however, +that the only intellectual exercise was that of imitation and +memory. She recollected that the label <i>book</i> was +placed upon a book, and she repeated the process first from +imitation, next from memory, with only the motive of love of +approbation, but apparently without the intellectual perception +of any relation between the things.</p> +<p>‘After a while, instead of labels, the individual +letters were given to her on detached bits of paper: they were +arranged side by side so as to spell <i>book</i>, <i>key</i>, +&c.; then they were mixed up in a heap and a sign was made +for her to arrange them herself so as to express the words +<i>book</i>, <i>key</i>, &c.; and she did so.</p> +<p>‘Hitherto, the process had been mechanical, and the +success about as great as teaching a very knowing dog a variety +of tricks. The poor child had sat in mute amazement, and +patiently imitated everything her teacher did; but now the truth +began to flash upon her: her intellect began to work: she +perceived that here was a way by which she could herself make up +a sign of anything that was in her own mind, and show it to +another mind; and at once her countenance lighted up with a human +expression: it was no longer a dog, or parrot: it was an immortal +spirit, eagerly seizing upon a new link of union with other +spirits! I could almost fix upon the moment when this truth +dawned upon her mind, and spread its light to her countenance; I +saw that the great obstacle was overcome; and that henceforward +nothing but patient and persevering, but plain and +straightforward, efforts were to be used.</p> +<p>‘The result thus far, is quickly related, and easily +conceived; but not so was the process; for many weeks of +apparently unprofitable labour were passed before it was +effected.</p> +<p>‘When it was said above that a sign was made, it was +intended to say, that the action was performed by her teacher, +she feeling his hands, and then imitating the motion.</p> +<p>‘The next step was to procure a set of metal types, with +the different letters of the alphabet cast upon their ends; also +a board, in which were square holes, into which holes she could +set the types; so that the letters on their ends could alone be +felt above the surface.</p> +<p>‘Then, on any article being handed to her, for instance, +a pencil, or a watch, she would select the component letters, and +arrange them on her board, and read them with apparent +pleasure.</p> +<p>‘She was exercised for several weeks in this way, until +her vocabulary became extensive; and then the important step was +taken of teaching her how to represent the different letters by +the position of her fingers, instead of the cumbrous apparatus of +the board and types. She accomplished this speedily and +easily, for her intellect had begun to work in aid of her +teacher, and her progress was rapid.</p> +<p>‘This was the period, about three months after she had +commenced, that the first report of her case was made, in which +it was stated that “she has just learned the manual +alphabet, as used by the deaf mutes, and it is a subject of +delight and wonder to see how rapidly, correctly, and eagerly, +she goes on with her labours. Her teacher gives her a new +object, for instance, a pencil, first lets her examine it, and +get an idea of its use, then teaches her how to spell it by +making the signs for the letters with her own fingers: the child +grasps her hand, and feels her fingers, as the different letters +are formed; she turns her head a little on one side like a person +listening closely; her lips are apart; she seems scarcely to +breathe; and her countenance, at first anxious, gradually changes +to a smile, as she comprehends the lesson. She then holds +up her tiny fingers, and spells the word in the manual alphabet; +next, she takes her types and arranges her letters; and last, to +make sure that she is right, she takes the whole of the types +composing the word, and places them upon or in contact with the +pencil, or whatever the object may be.”</p> +<p>‘The whole of the succeeding year was passed in +gratifying her eager inquiries for the names of every object +which she could possibly handle; in exercising her in the use of +the manual alphabet; in extending in every possible way her +knowledge of the physical relations of things; and in proper care +of her health.</p> +<p>‘At the end of the year a report of her case was made, +from which the following is an extract.</p> +<p>‘“It has been ascertained beyond the possibility +of doubt, that she cannot see a ray of light, cannot hear the +least sound, and never exercises her sense of smell, if she have +any. Thus her mind dwells in darkness and stillness, as +profound as that of a closed tomb at midnight. Of beautiful +sights, and sweet sounds, and pleasant odours, she has no +conception; nevertheless, she seems as happy and playful as a +bird or a lamb; and the employment of her intellectual faculties, +or the acquirement of a new idea, gives her a vivid pleasure, +which is plainly marked in her expressive features. She +never seems to repine, but has all the buoyancy and gaiety of +childhood. She is fond of fun and frolic, and when playing +with the rest of the children, her shrill laugh sounds loudest of +the group.</p> +<p>‘“When left alone, she seems very happy if she +have her knitting or sewing, and will busy herself for hours; if +she have no occupation, she evidently amuses herself by imaginary +dialogues, or by recalling past impressions; she counts with her +fingers, or spells out names of things which she has recently +learned, in the manual alphabet of the deaf mutes. In this +lonely self-communion she seems to reason, reflect, and argue; if +she spell a word wrong with the fingers of her right hand, she +instantly strikes it with her left, as her teacher does, in sign +of disapprobation; if right, then she pats herself upon the head, +and looks pleased. She sometimes purposely spells a word +wrong with the left hand, looks roguish for a moment and laughs, +and then with the right hand strikes the left, as if to correct +it.</p> +<p>‘“During the year she has attained great dexterity +in the use of the manual alphabet of the deaf mutes; and she +spells out the words and sentences which she knows, so fast and +so deftly, that only those accustomed to this language can follow +with the eye the rapid motions of her fingers.</p> +<p>‘“But wonderful as is the rapidity with which she +writes her thoughts upon the air, still more so is the ease and +accuracy with which she reads the words thus written by another; +grasping their hands in hers, and following every movement of +their fingers, as letter after letter conveys their meaning to +her mind. It is in this way that she converses with her +blind playmates, and nothing can more forcibly show the power of +mind in forcing matter to its purpose than a meeting between +them. For if great talent and skill are necessary for two +pantomimes to paint their thoughts and feelings by the movements +of the body, and the expression of the countenance, how much +greater the difficulty when darkness shrouds them both, and the +one can hear no sound.</p> +<p>‘“When Laura is walking through a passage-way, +with her hands spread before her, she knows instantly every one +she meets, and passes them with a sign of recognition: but if it +be a girl of her own age, and especially if it be one of her +favourites, there is instantly a bright smile of recognition, a +twining of arms, a grasping of hands, and a swift telegraphing +upon the tiny fingers; whose rapid evolutions convey the thoughts +and feelings from the outposts of one mind to those of the +other. There are questions and answers, exchanges of joy or +sorrow, there are kissings and partings, just as between little +children with all their senses.”</p> +<p>‘During this year, and six months after she had left +home, her mother came to visit her, and the scene of their +meeting was an interesting one.</p> +<p>‘The mother stood some time, gazing with overflowing +eyes upon her unfortunate child, who, all unconscious of her +presence, was playing about the room. Presently Laura ran +against her, and at once began feeling her hands, examining her +dress, and trying to find out if she knew her; but not succeeding +in this, she turned away as from a stranger, and the poor woman +could not conceal the pang she felt, at finding that her beloved +child did not know her.</p> +<p>‘She then gave Laura a string of beads which she used to +wear at home, which were recognised by the child at once, who, +with much joy, put them around her neck, and sought me eagerly to +say she understood the string was from her home.</p> +<p>‘The mother now sought to caress her, but poor Laura +repelled her, preferring to be with her acquaintances.</p> +<p>‘Another article from home was now given her, and she +began to look much interested; she examined the stranger much +closer, and gave me to understand that she knew she came from +Hanover; she even endured her caresses, but would leave her with +indifference at the slightest signal. The distress of the +mother was now painful to behold; for, although she had feared +that she should not be recognised, the painful reality of being +treated with cold indifference by a darling child, was too much +for woman’s nature to bear.</p> +<p>‘After a while, on the mother taking hold of her again, +a vague idea seemed to flit across Laura’s mind, that this +could not be a stranger; she therefore felt her hands very +eagerly, while her countenance assumed an expression of intense +interest; she became very pale; and then suddenly red; hope +seemed struggling with doubt and anxiety, and never were +contending emotions more strongly painted upon the human face: at +this moment of painful uncertainty, the mother drew her close to +her side, and kissed her fondly, when at once the truth flashed +upon the child, and all mistrust and anxiety disappeared from her +face, as with an expression of exceeding joy she eagerly nestled +to the bosom of her parent, and yielded herself to her fond +embraces.</p> +<p>‘After this, the beads were all unheeded; the playthings +which were offered to her were utterly disregarded; her +playmates, for whom but a moment before she gladly left the +stranger, now vainly strove to pull her from her mother; and +though she yielded her usual instantaneous obedience to my signal +to follow me, it was evidently with painful reluctance. She +clung close to me, as if bewildered and fearful; and when, after +a moment, I took her to her mother, she sprang to her arms, and +clung to her with eager joy.</p> +<p>‘The subsequent parting between them, showed alike the +affection, the intelligence, and the resolution of the child.</p> +<p>‘Laura accompanied her mother to the door, clinging +close to her all the way, until they arrived at the threshold, +where she paused, and felt around, to ascertain who was near +her. Perceiving the matron, of whom she is very fond, she +grasped her with one hand, holding on convulsively to her mother +with the other; and thus she stood for a moment: then she dropped +her mother’s hand; put her handkerchief to her eyes; and +turning round, clung sobbing to the matron; while her mother +departed, with emotions as deep as those of her child.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">* * * * * *</p> +<p>‘It has been remarked in former reports, that she can +distinguish different degrees of intellect in others, and that +she soon regarded, almost with contempt, a new-comer, when, after +a few days, she discovered her weakness of mind. This +unamiable part of her character has been more strongly developed +during the past year.</p> +<p>‘She chooses for her friends and companions, those +children who are intelligent, and can talk best with her; and she +evidently dislikes to be with those who are deficient in +intellect, unless, indeed, she can make them serve her purposes, +which she is evidently inclined to do. She takes advantage +of them, and makes them wait upon her, in a manner that she knows +she could not exact of others; and in various ways shows her +Saxon blood.</p> +<p>‘She is fond of having other children noticed and +caressed by the teachers, and those whom she respects; but this +must not be carried too far, or she becomes jealous. She +wants to have her share, which, if not the lion’s, is the +greater part; and if she does not get it, she says, “<i>My +mother will love me</i>.”</p> +<p>‘Her tendency to imitation is so strong, that it leads +her to actions which must be entirely incomprehensible to her, +and which can give her no other pleasure than the gratification +of an internal faculty. She has been known to sit for half +an hour, holding a book before her sightless eyes, and moving her +lips, as she has observed seeing people do when reading.</p> +<p>‘She one day pretended that her doll was sick; and went +through all the motions of tending it, and giving it medicine; +she then put it carefully to bed, and placed a bottle of hot +water to its feet, laughing all the time most heartily. +When I came home, she insisted upon my going to see it, and feel +its pulse; and when I told her to put a blister on its back, she +seemed to enjoy it amazingly, and almost screamed with +delight.</p> +<p>‘Her social feelings, and her affections, are very +strong; and when she is sitting at work, or at her studies, by +the side of one of her little friends, she will break off from +her task every few moments, to hug and kiss them with an +earnestness and warmth that is touching to behold.</p> +<p>‘When left alone, she occupies and apparently amuses +herself, and seems quite contented; and so strong seems to be the +natural tendency of thought to put on the garb of language, that +she often soliloquizes in the <i>finger language</i>, slow and +tedious as it is. But it is only when alone, that she is +quiet: for if she becomes sensible of the presence of any one +near her, she is restless until she can sit close beside them, +hold their hand, and converse with them by signs.</p> +<p>‘In her intellectual character it is pleasing to observe +an insatiable thirst for knowledge, and a quick perception of the +relations of things. In her moral character, it is +beautiful to behold her continual gladness, her keen enjoyment of +existence, her expansive love, her unhesitating confidence, her +sympathy with suffering, her conscientiousness, truthfulness, and +hopefulness.’</p> +<p>Such are a few fragments from the simple but most interesting +and instructive history of Laura Bridgman. The name of her +great benefactor and friend, who writes it, is Dr. Howe. +There are not many persons, I hope and believe, who, after +reading these passages, can ever hear that name with +indifference.</p> +<p>A further account has been published by Dr. Howe, since the +report from which I have just quoted. It describes her +rapid mental growth and improvement during twelve months more, +and brings her little history down to the end of last year. +It is very remarkable, that as we dream in words, and carry on +imaginary conversations, in which we speak both for ourselves and +for the shadows who appear to us in those visions of the night, +so she, having no words, uses her finger alphabet in her +sleep. And it has been ascertained that when her slumber is +broken, and is much disturbed by dreams, she expresses her +thoughts in an irregular and confused manner on her fingers: just +as we should murmur and mutter them indistinctly, in the like +circumstances.</p> +<p>I turned over the leaves of her Diary, and found it written in +a fair legible square hand, and expressed in terms which were +quite intelligible without any explanation. On my saying +that I should like to see her write again, the teacher who sat +beside her, bade her, in their language, sign her name upon a +slip of paper, twice or thrice. In doing so, I observed +that she kept her left hand always touching, and following up, +her right, in which, of course, she held the pen. No line +was indicated by any contrivance, but she wrote straight and +freely.</p> +<p>She had, until now, been quite unconscious of the presence of +visitors; but, having her hand placed in that of the gentleman +who accompanied me, she immediately expressed his name upon her +teacher’s palm. Indeed her sense of touch is now so +exquisite, that having been acquainted with a person once, she +can recognise him or her after almost any interval. This +gentleman had been in her company, I believe, but very seldom, +and certainly had not seen her for many months. My hand she +rejected at once, as she does that of any man who is a stranger +to her. But she retained my wife’s with evident +pleasure, kissed her, and examined her dress with a girl’s +curiosity and interest.</p> +<p>She was merry and cheerful, and showed much innocent +playfulness in her intercourse with her teacher. Her +delight on recognising a favourite playfellow and +companion—herself a blind girl—who silently, and with +an equal enjoyment of the coming surprise, took a seat beside +her, was beautiful to witness. It elicited from her at +first, as other slight circumstances did twice or thrice during +my visit, an uncouth noise which was rather painful to +hear. But of her teacher touching her lips, she immediately +desisted, and embraced her laughingly and affectionately.</p> +<p>I had previously been into another chamber, where a number of +blind boys were swinging, and climbing, and engaged in various +sports. They all clamoured, as we entered, to the +assistant-master, who accompanied us, ‘Look at me, Mr. +Hart! Please, Mr. Hart, look at me!’ evincing, I +thought, even in this, an anxiety peculiar to their condition, +that their little feats of agility should be <i>seen</i>. +Among them was a small laughing fellow, who stood aloof, +entertaining himself with a gymnastic exercise for bringing the +arms and chest into play; which he enjoyed mightily; especially +when, in thrusting out his right arm, he brought it into contact +with another boy. Like Laura Bridgman, this young child was +deaf, and dumb, and blind.</p> +<p>Dr. Howe’s account of this pupil’s first +instruction is so very striking, and so intimately connected with +Laura herself, that I cannot refrain from a short extract. +I may premise that the poor boy’s name is Oliver Caswell; +that he is thirteen years of age; and that he was in full +possession of all his faculties, until three years and four +months old. He was then attacked by scarlet fever; in four +weeks became deaf; in a few weeks more, blind; in six months, +dumb. He showed his anxious sense of this last deprivation, +by often feeling the lips of other persons when they were +talking, and then putting his hand upon his own, as if to assure +himself that he had them in the right position.</p> +<p>‘His thirst for knowledge,’ says Dr. Howe, +‘proclaimed itself as soon as he entered the house, by his +eager examination of everything he could feel or smell in his new +location. For instance, treading upon the register of a +furnace, he instantly stooped down, and began to feel it, and +soon discovered the way in which the upper plate moved upon the +lower one; but this was not enough for him, so lying down upon +his face, he applied his tongue first to one, then to the other, +and seemed to discover that they were of different kinds of +metal.</p> +<p>‘His signs were expressive: and the strictly natural +language, laughing, crying, sighing, kissing, embracing, &c., +was perfect.</p> +<p>‘Some of the analogical signs which (guided by his +faculty of imitation) he had contrived, were comprehensible; such +as the waving motion of his hand for the motion of a boat, the +circular one for a wheel, &c.</p> +<p>‘The first object was to break up the use of these signs +and to substitute for them the use of purely arbitrary ones.</p> +<p>‘Profiting by the experience I had gained in the other +cases, I omitted several steps of the process before employed, +and commenced at once with the finger language. Taking, +therefore, several articles having short names, such as key, cup, +mug, &c., and with Laura for an auxiliary, I sat down, and +taking his hand, placed it upon one of them, and then with my +own, made the letters <i>key</i>. He felt my hands eagerly +with both of his, and on my repeating the process, he evidently +tried to imitate the motions of my fingers. In a few +minutes he contrived to feel the motions of my fingers with one +hand, and holding out the other he tried to imitate them, +laughing most heartily when he succeeded. Laura was by, +interested even to agitation; and the two presented a singular +sight: her face was flushed and anxious, and her fingers twining +in among ours so closely as to follow every motion, but so +slightly as not to embarrass them; while Oliver stood attentive, +his head a little aside, his face turned up, his left hand +grasping mine, and his right held out: at every motion of my +fingers his countenance betokened keen attention; there was an +expression of anxiety as he tried to imitate the motions; then a +smile came stealing out as he thought he could do so, and spread +into a joyous laugh the moment he succeeded, and felt me pat his +head, and Laura clap him heartily upon the back, and jump up and +down in her joy.</p> +<p>‘He learned more than a half-dozen letters in half an +hour, and seemed delighted with his success, at least in gaining +approbation. His attention then began to flag, and I +commenced playing with him. It was evident that in all this +he had merely been imitating the motions of my fingers, and +placing his hand upon the key, cup, &c., as part of the +process, without any perception of the relation between the sign +and the object.</p> +<p>‘When he was tired with play I took him back to the +table, and he was quite ready to begin again his process of +imitation. He soon learned to make the letters for +<i>key</i>, <i>pen</i>, <i>pin</i>; and by having the object +repeatedly placed in his hand, he at last perceived the relation +I wished to establish between them. This was evident, +because, when I made the letters <i>pin</i>, or <i>pen</i>, or +<i>cup</i>, he would select the article.</p> +<p>‘The perception of this relation was not accompanied by +that radiant flash of intelligence, and that glow of joy, which +marked the delightful moment when Laura first perceived it. +I then placed all the articles on the table, and going away a +little distance with the children, placed Oliver’s fingers +in the positions to spell <i>key</i>, on which Laura went and +brought the article: the little fellow seemed much amused by +this, and looked very attentive and smiling. I then caused +him to make the letters <i>bread</i>, and in an instant Laura +went and brought him a piece: he smelled at it; put it to his +lips; cocked up his head with a most knowing look; seemed to +reflect a moment; and then laughed outright, as much as to say, +“Aha! I understand now how something may be made out +of this.”</p> +<p>‘It was now clear that he had the capacity and +inclination to learn, that he was a proper subject for +instruction, and needed only persevering attention. I +therefore put him in the hands of an intelligent teacher, nothing +doubting of his rapid progress.’</p> +<p>Well may this gentleman call that a delightful moment, in +which some distant promise of her present state first gleamed +upon the darkened mind of Laura Bridgman. Throughout his +life, the recollection of that moment will be to him a source of +pure, unfading happiness; nor will it shine less brightly on the +evening of his days of Noble Usefulness.</p> +<p>The affection which exists between these two—the master +and the pupil—is as far removed from all ordinary care and +regard, as the circumstances in which it has had its growth, are +apart from the common occurrences of life. He is occupied +now, in devising means of imparting to her, higher knowledge; and +of conveying to her some adequate idea of the Great Creator of +that universe in which, dark and silent and scentless though it +be to her, she has such deep delight and glad enjoyment.</p> +<p>Ye who have eyes and see not, and have ears and hear not; ye +who are as the hypocrites of sad countenances, and disfigure your +faces that ye may seem unto men to fast; learn healthy +cheerfulness, and mild contentment, from the deaf, and dumb, and +blind! Self-elected saints with gloomy brows, this +sightless, earless, voiceless child may teach you lessons you +will do well to follow. Let that poor hand of hers lie +gently on your hearts; for there may be something in its healing +touch akin to that of the Great Master whose precepts you +misconstrue, whose lessons you pervert, of whose charity and +sympathy with all the world, not one among you in his daily +practice knows as much as many of the worst among those fallen +sinners, to whom you are liberal in nothing but the preachment of +perdition!</p> +<p>As I rose to quit the room, a pretty little child of one of +the attendants came running in to greet its father. For the +moment, a child with eyes, among the sightless crowd, impressed +me almost as painfully as the blind boy in the porch had done, +two hours ago. Ah! how much brighter and more deeply blue, +glowing and rich though it had been before, was the scene +without, contrasting with the darkness of so many youthful lives +within!</p> +<div class="gapshortline"> </div> +<p>At <span class="smcap">South Boston</span>, as it is called, +in a situation excellently adapted for the purpose, several +charitable institutions are clustered together. One of +these, is the State Hospital for the insane; admirably conducted +on those enlightened principles of conciliation and kindness, +which twenty years ago would have been worse than heretical, and +which have been acted upon with so much success in our own pauper +Asylum at Hanwell. ‘Evince a desire to show some +confidence, and repose some trust, even in mad people,’ +said the resident physician, as we walked along the galleries, +his patients flocking round us unrestrained. Of those who +deny or doubt the wisdom of this maxim after witnessing its +effects, if there be such people still alive, I can only say that +I hope I may never be summoned as a Juryman on a Commission of +Lunacy whereof they are the subjects; for I should certainly find +them out of their senses, on such evidence alone.</p> +<p>Each ward in this institution is shaped like a long gallery or +hall, with the dormitories of the patients opening from it on +either hand. Here they work, read, play at skittles, and +other games; and when the weather does not admit of their taking +exercise out of doors, pass the day together. In one of +these rooms, seated, calmly, and quite as a matter of course, +among a throng of mad-women, black and white, were the +physician’s wife and another lady, with a couple of +children. These ladies were graceful and handsome; and it +was not difficult to perceive at a glance that even their +presence there, had a highly beneficial influence on the patients +who were grouped about them.</p> +<p>Leaning her head against the chimney-piece, with a great +assumption of dignity and refinement of manner, sat an elderly +female, in as many scraps of finery as Madge Wildfire +herself. Her head in particular was so strewn with scraps +of gauze and cotton and bits of paper, and had so many queer odds +and ends stuck all about it, that it looked like a +bird’s-nest. She was radiant with imaginary jewels; +wore a rich pair of undoubted gold spectacles; and gracefully +dropped upon her lap, as we approached, a very old greasy +newspaper, in which I dare say she had been reading an account of +her own presentation at some Foreign Court.</p> +<p>I have been thus particular in describing her, because she +will serve to exemplify the physician’s manner of acquiring +and retaining the confidence of his patients.</p> +<p>‘This,’ he said aloud, taking me by the hand, and +advancing to the fantastic figure with great politeness—not +raising her suspicions by the slightest look or whisper, or any +kind of aside, to me: ‘This lady is the hostess of this +mansion, sir. It belongs to her. Nobody else has +anything whatever to do with it. It is a large +establishment, as you see, and requires a great number of +attendants. She lives, you observe, in the very first +style. She is kind enough to receive my visits, and to +permit my wife and family to reside here; for which it is hardly +necessary to say, we are much indebted to her. She is +exceedingly courteous, you perceive,’ on this hint she +bowed condescendingly, ‘and will permit me to have the +pleasure of introducing you: a gentleman from England, +Ma’am: newly arrived from England, after a very tempestuous +passage: Mr. Dickens,—the lady of the house!’</p> +<p>We exchanged the most dignified salutations with profound +gravity and respect, and so went on. The rest of the +madwomen seemed to understand the joke perfectly (not only in +this case, but in all the others, except their own), and be +highly amused by it. The nature of their several kinds of +insanity was made known to me in the same way, and we left each +of them in high good humour. Not only is a thorough +confidence established, by those means, between the physician and +patient, in respect of the nature and extent of their +hallucinations, but it is easy to understand that opportunities +are afforded for seizing any moment of reason, to startle them by +placing their own delusion before them in its most incongruous +and ridiculous light.</p> +<p>Every patient in this asylum sits down to dinner every day +with a knife and fork; and in the midst of them sits the +gentleman, whose manner of dealing with his charges, I have just +described. At every meal, moral influence alone restrains +the more violent among them from cutting the throats of the rest; +but the effect of that influence is reduced to an absolute +certainty, and is found, even as a means of restraint, to say +nothing of it as a means of cure, a hundred times more +efficacious than all the strait-waistcoats, fetters, and +handcuffs, that ignorance, prejudice, and cruelty have +manufactured since the creation of the world.</p> +<p>In the labour department, every patient is as freely trusted +with the tools of his trade as if he were a sane man. In +the garden, and on the farm, they work with spades, rakes, and +hoes. For amusement, they walk, run, fish, paint, read, and +ride out to take the air in carriages provided for the +purpose. They have among themselves a sewing society to +make clothes for the poor, which holds meetings, passes +resolutions, never comes to fisty-cuffs or bowie-knives as sane +assemblies have been known to do elsewhere; and conducts all its +proceedings with the greatest decorum. The irritability, +which would otherwise be expended on their own flesh, clothes, +and furniture, is dissipated in these pursuits. They are +cheerful, tranquil, and healthy.</p> +<p>Once a week they have a ball, in which the Doctor and his +family, with all the nurses and attendants, take an active +part. Dances and marches are performed alternately, to the +enlivening strains of a piano; and now and then some gentleman or +lady (whose proficiency has been previously ascertained) obliges +the company with a song: nor does it ever degenerate, at a tender +crisis, into a screech or howl; wherein, I must confess, I should +have thought the danger lay. At an early hour they all meet +together for these festive purposes; at eight o’clock +refreshments are served; and at nine they separate.</p> +<p>Immense politeness and good breeding are observed +throughout. They all take their tone from the Doctor; and +he moves a very Chesterfield among the company. Like other +assemblies, these entertainments afford a fruitful topic of +conversation among the ladies for some days; and the gentlemen +are so anxious to shine on these occasions, that they have been +sometimes found ‘practising their steps’ in private, +to cut a more distinguished figure in the dance.</p> +<p>It is obvious that one great feature of this system, is the +inculcation and encouragement, even among such unhappy persons, +of a decent self-respect. Something of the same spirit +pervades all the Institutions at South Boston.</p> +<p>There is the House of Industry. In that branch of it, +which is devoted to the reception of old or otherwise helpless +paupers, these words are painted on the walls: ‘<span +class="smcap">Worthy Of Notice</span>. <span +class="smcap">Self-Government</span>, <span +class="smcap">Quietude</span>, <span class="smcap">and +Peace</span>, <span class="smcap">are +Blessings</span>.’ It is not assumed and taken for +granted that being there they must be evil-disposed and wicked +people, before whose vicious eyes it is necessary to flourish +threats and harsh restraints. They are met at the very +threshold with this mild appeal. All within-doors is very +plain and simple, as it ought to be, but arranged with a view to +peace and comfort. It costs no more than any other plan of +arrangement, but it speaks an amount of consideration for those +who are reduced to seek a shelter there, which puts them at once +upon their gratitude and good behaviour. Instead of being +parcelled out in great, long, rambling wards, where a certain +amount of weazen life may mope, and pine, and shiver, all day +long, the building is divided into separate rooms, each with its +share of light and air. In these, the better kind of +paupers live. They have a motive for exertion and becoming +pride, in the desire to make these little chambers comfortable +and decent.</p> +<p>I do not remember one but it was clean and neat, and had its +plant or two upon the window-sill, or row of crockery upon the +shelf, or small display of coloured prints upon the whitewashed +wall, or, perhaps, its wooden clock behind the door.</p> +<p>The orphans and young children are in an adjoining building +separate from this, but a part of the same Institution. +Some are such little creatures, that the stairs are of +Lilliputian measurement, fitted to their tiny strides. The +same consideration for their years and weakness is expressed in +their very seats, which are perfect curiosities, and look like +articles of furniture for a pauper doll’s-house. I +can imagine the glee of our Poor Law Commissioners at the notion +of these seats having arms and backs; but small spines being of +older date than their occupation of the Board-room at Somerset +House, I thought even this provision very merciful and kind.</p> +<p>Here again, I was greatly pleased with the inscriptions on the +wall, which were scraps of plain morality, easily remembered and +understood: such as ‘Love one +another’—‘God remembers the smallest creature +in his creation:’ and straightforward advice of that +nature. The books and tasks of these smallest of scholars, +were adapted, in the same judicious manner, to their childish +powers. When we had examined these lessons, four morsels of +girls (of whom one was blind) sang a little song, about the merry +month of May, which I thought (being extremely dismal) would have +suited an English November better. That done, we went to +see their sleeping-rooms on the floor above, in which the +arrangements were no less excellent and gentle than those we had +seen below. And after observing that the teachers were of a +class and character well suited to the spirit of the place, I +took leave of the infants with a lighter heart than ever I have +taken leave of pauper infants yet.</p> +<p>Connected with the House of Industry, there is also an +Hospital, which was in the best order, and had, I am glad to say, +many beds unoccupied. It had one fault, however, which is +common to all American interiors: the presence of the eternal, +accursed, suffocating, red-hot demon of a stove, whose breath +would blight the purest air under Heaven.</p> +<p>There are two establishments for boys in this same +neighbourhood. One is called the Boylston school, and is an +asylum for neglected and indigent boys who have committed no +crime, but who in the ordinary course of things would very soon +be purged of that distinction if they were not taken from the +hungry streets and sent here. The other is a House of +Reformation for Juvenile Offenders. They are both under the +same roof, but the two classes of boys never come in contact.</p> +<p>The Boylston boys, as may be readily supposed, have very much +the advantage of the others in point of personal +appearance. They were in their school-room when I came upon +them, and answered correctly, without book, such questions as +where was England; how far was it; what was its population; its +capital city; its form of government; and so forth. They +sang a song too, about a farmer sowing his seed: with +corresponding action at such parts as ‘’tis thus he +sows,’ ‘he turns him round,’ ‘he claps +his hands;’ which gave it greater interest for them, and +accustomed them to act together, in an orderly manner. They +appeared exceedingly well-taught, and not better taught than fed; +for a more chubby-looking full-waistcoated set of boys, I never +saw.</p> +<p>The juvenile offenders had not such pleasant faces by a great +deal, and in this establishment there were many boys of +colour. I saw them first at their work (basket-making, and +the manufacture of palm-leaf hats), afterwards in their school, +where they sang a chorus in praise of Liberty: an odd, and, one +would think, rather aggravating, theme for prisoners. These +boys are divided into four classes, each denoted by a numeral, +worn on a badge upon the arm. On the arrival of a +new-comer, he is put into the fourth or lowest class, and left, +by good behaviour, to work his way up into the first. The +design and object of this Institution is to reclaim the youthful +criminal by firm but kind and judicious treatment; to make his +prison a place of purification and improvement, not of +demoralisation and corruption; to impress upon him that there is +but one path, and that one sober industry, which can ever lead +him to happiness; to teach him how it may be trodden, if his +footsteps have never yet been led that way; and to lure him back +to it if they have strayed: in a word, to snatch him from +destruction, and restore him to society a penitent and useful +member. The importance of such an establishment, in every +point of view, and with reference to every consideration of +humanity and social policy, requires no comment.</p> +<p>One other establishment closes the catalogue. It is the +House of Correction for the State, in which silence is strictly +maintained, but where the prisoners have the comfort and mental +relief of seeing each other, and of working together. This +is the improved system of Prison Discipline which we have +imported into England, and which has been in successful operation +among us for some years past.</p> +<p>America, as a new and not over-populated country, has in all +her prisons, the one great advantage, of being enabled to find +useful and profitable work for the inmates; whereas, with us, the +prejudice against prison labour is naturally very strong, and +almost insurmountable, when honest men who have not offended +against the laws are frequently doomed to seek employment in +vain. Even in the United States, the principle of bringing +convict labour and free labour into a competition which must +obviously be to the disadvantage of the latter, has already found +many opponents, whose number is not likely to diminish with +access of years.</p> +<p>For this very reason though, our best prisons would seem at +the first glance to be better conducted than those of +America. The treadmill is conducted with little or no +noise; five hundred men may pick oakum in the same room, without +a sound; and both kinds of labour admit of such keen and vigilant +superintendence, as will render even a word of personal +communication amongst the prisoners almost impossible. On +the other hand, the noise of the loom, the forge, the +carpenter’s hammer, or the stonemason’s saw, greatly +favour those opportunities of intercourse—hurried and brief +no doubt, but opportunities still—which these several kinds +of work, by rendering it necessary for men to be employed very +near to each other, and often side by side, without any barrier +or partition between them, in their very nature present. A +visitor, too, requires to reason and reflect a little, before the +sight of a number of men engaged in ordinary labour, such as he +is accustomed to out of doors, will impress him half as strongly +as the contemplation of the same persons in the same place and +garb would, if they were occupied in some task, marked and +degraded everywhere as belonging only to felons in jails. +In an American state prison or house of correction, I found it +difficult at first to persuade myself that I was really in a +jail: a place of ignominious punishment and endurance. And +to this hour I very much question whether the humane boast that +it is not like one, has its root in the true wisdom or philosophy +of the matter.</p> +<p>I hope I may not be misunderstood on this subject, for it is +one in which I take a strong and deep interest. I incline +as little to the sickly feeling which makes every canting lie or +maudlin speech of a notorious criminal a subject of newspaper +report and general sympathy, as I do to those good old customs of +the good old times which made England, even so recently as in the +reign of the Third King George, in respect of her criminal code +and her prison regulations, one of the most bloody-minded and +barbarous countries on the earth. If I thought it would do +any good to the rising generation, I would cheerfully give my +consent to the disinterment of the bones of any genteel +highwayman (the more genteel, the more cheerfully), and to their +exposure, piecemeal, on any sign-post, gate, or gibbet, that +might be deemed a good elevation for the purpose. My reason +is as well convinced that these gentry were as utterly worthless +and debauched villains, as it is that the laws and jails hardened +them in their evil courses, or that their wonderful escapes were +effected by the prison-turnkeys who, in those admirable days, had +always been felons themselves, and were, to the last, their +bosom-friends and pot-companions. At the same time I know, +as all men do or should, that the subject of Prison Discipline is +one of the highest importance to any community; and that in her +sweeping reform and bright example to other countries on this +head, America has shown great wisdom, great benevolence, and +exalted policy. In contrasting her system with that which +we have modelled upon it, I merely seek to show that with all its +drawbacks, ours has some advantages of its own.</p> +<p>The House of Correction which has led to these remarks, is not +walled, like other prisons, but is palisaded round about with +tall rough stakes, something after the manner of an enclosure for +keeping elephants in, as we see it represented in Eastern prints +and pictures. The prisoners wear a parti-coloured dress; +and those who are sentenced to hard labour, work at nail-making, +or stone-cutting. When I was there, the latter class of +labourers were employed upon the stone for a new custom-house in +course of erection at Boston. They appeared to shape it +skilfully and with expedition, though there were very few among +them (if any) who had not acquired the art within the prison +gates.</p> +<p>The women, all in one large room, were employed in making +light clothing, for New Orleans and the Southern States. +They did their work in silence like the men; and like them were +over-looked by the person contracting for their labour, or by +some agent of his appointment. In addition to this, they +are every moment liable to be visited by the prison officers +appointed for that purpose.</p> +<p>The arrangements for cooking, washing of clothes, and so +forth, are much upon the plan of those I have seen at home. +Their mode of bestowing the prisoners at night (which is of +general adoption) differs from ours, and is both simple and +effective. In the centre of a lofty area, lighted by +windows in the four walls, are five tiers of cells, one above the +other; each tier having before it a light iron gallery, +attainable by stairs of the same construction and material: +excepting the lower one, which is on the ground. Behind +these, back to back with them and facing the opposite wall, are +five corresponding rows of cells, accessible by similar means: so +that supposing the prisoners locked up in their cells, an officer +stationed on the ground, with his back to the wall, has half +their number under his eye at once; the remaining half being +equally under the observation of another officer on the opposite +side; and all in one great apartment. Unless this watch be +corrupted or sleeping on his post, it is impossible for a man to +escape; for even in the event of his forcing the iron door of his +cell without noise (which is exceedingly improbable), the moment +he appears outside, and steps into that one of the five galleries +on which it is situated, he must be plainly and fully visible to +the officer below. Each of these cells holds a small +truckle bed, in which one prisoner sleeps; never more. It +is small, of course; and the door being not solid, but grated, +and without blind or curtain, the prisoner within is at all times +exposed to the observation and inspection of any guard who may +pass along that tier at any hour or minute of the night. +Every day, the prisoners receive their dinner, singly, through a +trap in the kitchen wall; and each man carries his to his +sleeping cell to eat it, where he is locked up, alone, for that +purpose, one hour. The whole of this arrangement struck me +as being admirable; and I hope that the next new prison we erect +in England may be built on this plan.</p> +<p>I was given to understand that in this prison no swords or +fire-arms, or even cudgels, are kept; nor is it probable that, so +long as its present excellent management continues, any weapon, +offensive or defensive, will ever be required within its +bounds.</p> +<p>Such are the Institutions at South Boston! In all of +them, the unfortunate or degenerate citizens of the State are +carefully instructed in their duties both to God and man; are +surrounded by all reasonable means of comfort and happiness that +their condition will admit of; are appealed to, as members of the +great human family, however afflicted, indigent, or fallen; are +ruled by the strong Heart, and not by the strong (though +immeasurably weaker) Hand. I have described them at some +length; firstly, because their worth demanded it; and secondly, +because I mean to take them for a model, and to content myself +with saying of others we may come to, whose design and purpose +are the same, that in this or that respect they practically fail, +or differ.</p> +<p>I wish by this account of them, imperfect in its execution, +but in its just intention, honest, I could hope to convey to my +readers one-hundredth part of the gratification, the sights I +have described, afforded me.</p> +<div class="gapshortline"> </div> +<p>To an Englishman, accustomed to the paraphernalia of +Westminster Hall, an American Court of Law is as odd a sight as, +I suppose, an English Court of Law would be to an American. +Except in the Supreme Court at Washington (where the judges wear +a plain black robe), there is no such thing as a wig or gown +connected with the administration of justice. The gentlemen +of the bar being barristers and attorneys too (for there is no +division of those functions as in England) are no more removed +from their clients than attorneys in our Court for the Relief of +Insolvent Debtors are, from theirs. The jury are quite at +home, and make themselves as comfortable as circumstances will +permit. The witness is so little elevated above, or put +aloof from, the crowd in the court, that a stranger entering +during a pause in the proceedings would find it difficult to pick +him out from the rest. And if it chanced to be a criminal +trial, his eyes, in nine cases out of ten, would wander to the +dock in search of the prisoner, in vain; for that gentleman would +most likely be lounging among the most distinguished ornaments of +the legal profession, whispering suggestions in his +counsel’s ear, or making a toothpick out of an old quill +with his penknife.</p> +<p>I could not but notice these differences, when I visited the +courts at Boston. I was much surprised at first, too, to +observe that the counsel who interrogated the witness under +examination at the time, did so <i>sitting</i>. But seeing +that he was also occupied in writing down the answers, and +remembering that he was alone and had no ‘junior,’ I +quickly consoled myself with the reflection that law was not +quite so expensive an article here, as at home; and that the +absence of sundry formalities which we regard as indispensable, +had doubtless a very favourable influence upon the bill of +costs.</p> +<p>In every Court, ample and commodious provision is made for the +accommodation of the citizens. This is the case all through +America. In every Public Institution, the right of the +people to attend, and to have an interest in the proceedings, is +most fully and distinctly recognised. There are no grim +door-keepers to dole out their tardy civility by the +sixpenny-worth; nor is there, I sincerely believe, any insolence +of office of any kind. Nothing national is exhibited for +money; and no public officer is a showman. We have begun of +late years to imitate this good example. I hope we shall +continue to do so; and that in the fulness of time, even deans +and chapters may be converted.</p> +<p>In the civil court an action was trying, for damages sustained +in some accident upon a railway. The witnesses had been +examined, and counsel was addressing the jury. The learned +gentleman (like a few of his English brethren) was desperately +long-winded, and had a remarkable capacity of saying the same +thing over and over again. His great theme was +‘Warren the ěn<i>gine</i> driver,’ whom he +pressed into the service of every sentence he uttered. I +listened to him for about a quarter of an hour; and, coming out +of court at the expiration of that time, without the faintest ray +of enlightenment as to the merits of the case, felt as if I were +at home again.</p> +<p>In the prisoner’s cell, waiting to be examined by the +magistrate on a charge of theft, was a boy. This lad, +instead of being committed to a common jail, would be sent to the +asylum at South Boston, and there taught a trade; and in the +course of time he would be bound apprentice to some respectable +master. Thus, his detection in this offence, instead of +being the prelude to a life of infamy and a miserable death, +would lead, there was a reasonable hope, to his being reclaimed +from vice, and becoming a worthy member of society.</p> +<p>I am by no means a wholesale admirer of our legal solemnities, +many of which impress me as being exceedingly ludicrous. +Strange as it may seem too, there is undoubtedly a degree of +protection in the wig and gown—a dismissal of individual +responsibility in dressing for the part—which encourages +that insolent bearing and language, and that gross perversion of +the office of a pleader for The Truth, so frequent in our courts +of law. Still, I cannot help doubting whether America, in +her desire to shake off the absurdities and abuses of the old +system, may not have gone too far into the opposite extreme; and +whether it is not desirable, especially in the small community of +a city like this, where each man knows the other, to surround the +administration of justice with some artificial barriers against +the ‘Hail fellow, well met’ deportment of everyday +life. All the aid it can have in the very high character +and ability of the Bench, not only here but elsewhere, it has, +and well deserves to have; but it may need something more: not to +impress the thoughtful and the well-informed, but the ignorant +and heedless; a class which includes some prisoners and many +witnesses. These institutions were established, no doubt, +upon the principle that those who had so large a share in making +the laws, would certainly respect them. But experience has +proved this hope to be fallacious; for no men know better than +the judges of America, that on the occasion of any great popular +excitement the law is powerless, and cannot, for the time, assert +its own supremacy.</p> +<p>The tone of society in Boston is one of perfect politeness, +courtesy, and good breeding. The ladies are unquestionably +very beautiful—in face: but there I am compelled to +stop. Their education is much as with us; neither better +nor worse. I had heard some very marvellous stories in this +respect; but not believing them, was not disappointed. Blue +ladies there are, in Boston; but like philosophers of that colour +and sex in most other latitudes, they rather desire to be thought +superior than to be so. Evangelical ladies there are, +likewise, whose attachment to the forms of religion, and horror +of theatrical entertainments, are most exemplary. Ladies +who have a passion for attending lectures are to be found among +all classes and all conditions. In the kind of provincial +life which prevails in cities such as this, the Pulpit has great +influence. The peculiar province of the Pulpit in New +England (always excepting the Unitarian Ministry) would appear to +be the denouncement of all innocent and rational +amusements. The church, the chapel, and the lecture-room, +are the only means of excitement excepted; and to the church, the +chapel, and the lecture-room, the ladies resort in crowds.</p> +<p>Wherever religion is resorted to, as a strong drink, and as an +escape from the dull monotonous round of home, those of its +ministers who pepper the highest will be the surest to +please. They who strew the Eternal Path with the greatest +amount of brimstone, and who most ruthlessly tread down the +flowers and leaves that grow by the wayside, will be voted the +most righteous; and they who enlarge with the greatest +pertinacity on the difficulty of getting into heaven, will be +considered by all true believers certain of going there: though +it would be hard to say by what process of reasoning this +conclusion is arrived at. It is so at home, and it is so +abroad. With regard to the other means of excitement, the +Lecture, it has at least the merit of being always new. One +lecture treads so quickly on the heels of another, that none are +remembered; and the course of this month may be safely repeated +next, with its charm of novelty unbroken, and its interest +unabated.</p> +<p>The fruits of the earth have their growth in corruption. +Out of the rottenness of these things, there has sprung up in +Boston a sect of philosophers known as Transcendentalists. +On inquiring what this appellation might be supposed to signify, +I was given to understand that whatever was unintelligible would +be certainly transcendental. Not deriving much comfort from +this elucidation, I pursued the inquiry still further, and found +that the Transcendentalists are followers of my friend Mr. +Carlyle, or I should rather say, of a follower of his, Mr. Ralph +Waldo Emerson. This gentleman has written a volume of +Essays, in which, among much that is dreamy and fanciful (if he +will pardon me for saying so), there is much more that is true +and manly, honest and bold. Transcendentalism has its +occasional vagaries (what school has not?), but it has good +healthful qualities in spite of them; not least among the number +a hearty disgust of Cant, and an aptitude to detect her in all +the million varieties of her everlasting wardrobe. And +therefore if I were a Bostonian, I think I would be a +Transcendentalist.</p> +<p>The only preacher I heard in Boston was Mr. Taylor, who +addresses himself peculiarly to seamen, and who was once a +mariner himself. I found his chapel down among the +shipping, in one of the narrow, old, water-side streets, with a +gay blue flag waving freely from its roof. In the gallery +opposite to the pulpit were a little choir of male and female +singers, a violoncello, and a violin. The preacher already +sat in the pulpit, which was raised on pillars, and ornamented +behind him with painted drapery of a lively and somewhat +theatrical appearance. He looked a weather-beaten +hard-featured man, of about six or eight and fifty; with deep +lines graven as it were into his face, dark hair, and a stern, +keen eye. Yet the general character of his countenance was +pleasant and agreeable. The service commenced with a hymn, +to which succeeded an extemporary prayer. It had the fault +of frequent repetition, incidental to all such prayers; but it +was plain and comprehensive in its doctrines, and breathed a tone +of general sympathy and charity, which is not so commonly a +characteristic of this form of address to the Deity as it might +be. That done he opened his discourse, taking for his text +a passage from the Song of Solomon, laid upon the desk before the +commencement of the service by some unknown member of the +congregation: ‘Who is this coming up from the wilderness, +leaning on the arm of her beloved!’</p> +<p>He handled his text in all kinds of ways, and twisted it into +all manner of shapes; but always ingeniously, and with a rude +eloquence, well adapted to the comprehension of his +hearers. Indeed if I be not mistaken, he studied their +sympathies and understandings much more than the display of his +own powers. His imagery was all drawn from the sea, and +from the incidents of a seaman’s life; and was often +remarkably good. He spoke to them of ‘that glorious +man, Lord Nelson,’ and of Collingwood; and drew nothing in, +as the saying is, by the head and shoulders, but brought it to +bear upon his purpose, naturally, and with a sharp mind to its +effect. Sometimes, when much excited with his subject, he +had an odd way—compounded of John Bunyan, and Balfour of +Burley—of taking his great quarto Bible under his arm and +pacing up and down the pulpit with it; looking steadily down, +meantime, into the midst of the congregation. Thus, when he +applied his text to the first assemblage of his hearers, and +pictured the wonder of the church at their presumption in forming +a congregation among themselves, he stopped short with his Bible +under his arm in the manner I have described, and pursued his +discourse after this manner:</p> +<p>‘Who are these—who are they—who are these +fellows? where do they come from? Where are they going +to?—Come from! What’s the +answer?’—leaning out of the pulpit, and pointing +downward with his right hand: ‘From +below!’—starting back again, and looking at the +sailors before him: ‘From below, my brethren. From +under the hatches of sin, battened down above you by the evil +one. That’s where you came from!’—a walk +up and down the pulpit: ‘and where are you +going’—stopping abruptly: ‘where are you going? +Aloft!’—very softly, and pointing upward: +‘Aloft!’—louder: +‘aloft!’—louder still: ‘That’s +where you are going—with a fair wind,—all taut and +trim, steering direct for Heaven in its glory, where there are no +storms or foul weather, and where the wicked cease from +troubling, and the weary are at rest.’—Another walk: +‘That’s where you’re going to, my +friends. That’s it. That’s the +place. That’s the port. That’s the +haven. It’s a blessed harbour—still water +there, in all changes of the winds and tides; no driving ashore +upon the rocks, or slipping your cables and running out to sea, +there: Peace—Peace—Peace—all +peace!’—Another walk, and patting the Bible under his +left arm: ‘What! These fellows are coming from the +wilderness, are they? Yes. From the dreary, blighted +wilderness of Iniquity, whose only crop is Death. But do +they lean upon anything—do they lean upon nothing, these +poor seamen?’—Three raps upon the Bible: ‘Oh +yes.—Yes.—They lean upon the arm of their +Beloved’—three more raps: ‘upon the arm of +their Beloved’—three more, and a walk: ‘Pilot, +guiding-star, and compass, all in one, to all hands—here it +is’—three more: ‘Here it is. They can do +their seaman’s duty manfully, and be easy in their minds in +the utmost peril and danger, with this’—two more: +‘They can come, even these poor fellows can come, from the +wilderness leaning on the arm of their Beloved, and go +up—up—up!’—raising his hand higher, and +higher, at every repetition of the word, so that he stood with it +at last stretched above his head, regarding them in a strange, +rapt manner, and pressing the book triumphantly to his breast, +until he gradually subsided into some other portion of his +discourse.</p> +<p>I have cited this, rather as an instance of the +preacher’s eccentricities than his merits, though taken in +connection with his look and manner, and the character of his +audience, even this was striking. It is possible, however, +that my favourable impression of him may have been greatly +influenced and strengthened, firstly, by his impressing upon his +hearers that the true observance of religion was not inconsistent +with a cheerful deportment and an exact discharge of the duties +of their station, which, indeed, it scrupulously required of +them; and secondly, by his cautioning them not to set up any +monopoly in Paradise and its mercies. I never heard these +two points so wisely touched (if indeed I have ever heard them +touched at all), by any preacher of that kind before.</p> +<p>Having passed the time I spent in Boston, in making myself +acquainted with these things, in settling the course I should +take in my future travels, and in mixing constantly with its +society, I am not aware that I have any occasion to prolong this +chapter. Such of its social customs as I have not +mentioned, however, may be told in a very few words.</p> +<p>The usual dinner-hour is two o’clock. A dinner +party takes place at five; and at an evening party, they seldom +sup later than eleven; so that it goes hard but one gets home, +even from a rout, by midnight. I never could find out any +difference between a party at Boston and a party in London, +saving that at the former place all assemblies are held at more +rational hours; that the conversation may possibly be a little +louder and more cheerful; and a guest is usually expected to +ascend to the very top of the house to take his cloak off; that +he is certain to see, at every dinner, an unusual amount of +poultry on the table; and at every supper, at least two mighty +bowls of hot stewed oysters, in any one of which a half-grown +Duke of Clarence might be smothered easily.</p> +<p>There are two theatres in Boston, of good size and +construction, but sadly in want of patronage. The few +ladies who resort to them, sit, as of right, in the front rows of +the boxes.</p> +<p>The bar is a large room with a stone floor, and there people +stand and smoke, and lounge about, all the evening: dropping in +and out as the humour takes them. There too the stranger is +initiated into the mysteries of Gin-sling, Cock-tail, Sangaree, +Mint Julep, Sherry-cobbler, Timber Doodle, and other rare +drinks. The house is full of boarders, both married and +single, many of whom sleep upon the premises, and contract by the +week for their board and lodging: the charge for which diminishes +as they go nearer the sky to roost. A public table is laid +in a very handsome hall for breakfast, and for dinner, and for +supper. The party sitting down together to these meals will +vary in number from one to two hundred: sometimes more. The +advent of each of these epochs in the day is proclaimed by an +awful gong, which shakes the very window-frames as it +reverberates through the house, and horribly disturbs nervous +foreigners. There is an ordinary for ladies, and an +ordinary for gentlemen.</p> +<p>In our private room the cloth could not, for any earthly +consideration, have been laid for dinner without a huge glass +dish of cranberries in the middle of the table; and breakfast +would have been no breakfast unless the principal dish were a +deformed beef-steak with a great flat bone in the centre, +swimming in hot butter, and sprinkled with the very blackest of +all possible pepper. Our bedroom was spacious and airy, but +(like every bedroom on this side of the Atlantic) very bare of +furniture, having no curtains to the French bedstead or to the +window. It had one unusual luxury, however, in the shape of +a wardrobe of painted wood, something smaller than an English +watch-box; or if this comparison should be insufficient to convey +a just idea of its dimensions, they may be estimated from the +fact of my having lived for fourteen days and nights in the firm +belief that it was a shower-bath.</p> +<h2><a name="page52"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +52</span>CHAPTER IV<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">AN AMERICAN RAILROAD. LOWELL AND ITS +FACTORY SYSTEM</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">Before</span> leaving Boston, I devoted +one day to an excursion to Lowell. I assign a separate +chapter to this visit; not because I am about to describe it at +any great length, but because I remember it as a thing by itself, +and am desirous that my readers should do the same.</p> +<p>I made acquaintance with an American railroad, on this +occasion, for the first time. As these works are pretty +much alike all through the States, their general characteristics +are easily described.</p> +<p>There are no first and second class carriages as with us; but +there is a gentleman’s car and a ladies’ car: the +main distinction between which is that in the first, everybody +smokes; and in the second, nobody does. As a black man +never travels with a white one, there is also a negro car; which +is a great, blundering, clumsy chest, such as Gulliver put to sea +in, from the kingdom of Brobdingnag. There is a great deal +of jolting, a great deal of noise, a great deal of wall, not much +window, a locomotive engine, a shriek, and a bell.</p> +<p>The cars are like shabby omnibuses, but larger: holding +thirty, forty, fifty, people. The seats, instead of +stretching from end to end, are placed crosswise. Each seat +holds two persons. There is a long row of them on each side +of the caravan, a narrow passage up the middle, and a door at +both ends. In the centre of the carriage there is usually a +stove, fed with charcoal or anthracite coal; which is for the +most part red-hot. It is insufferably close; and you see +the hot air fluttering between yourself and any other object you +may happen to look at, like the ghost of smoke.</p> +<p>In the ladies’ car, there are a great many gentlemen who +have ladies with them. There are also a great many ladies +who have nobody with them: for any lady may travel alone, from +one end of the United States to the other, and be certain of the +most courteous and considerate treatment everywhere. The +conductor or check-taker, or guard, or whatever he may be, wears +no uniform. He walks up and down the car, and in and out of +it, as his fancy dictates; leans against the door with his hands +in his pockets and stares at you, if you chance to be a stranger; +or enters into conversation with the passengers about him. +A great many newspapers are pulled out, and a few of them are +read. Everybody talks to you, or to anybody else who hits +his fancy. If you are an Englishman, he expects that that +railroad is pretty much like an English railroad. If you +say ‘No,’ he says ‘Yes?’ +(interrogatively), and asks in what respect they differ. +You enumerate the heads of difference, one by one, and he says +‘Yes?’ (still interrogatively) to each. Then he +guesses that you don’t travel faster in England; and on +your replying that you do, says ‘Yes?’ again (still +interrogatively), and it is quite evident, don’t believe +it. After a long pause he remarks, partly to you, and +partly to the knob on the top of his stick, that ‘Yankees +are reckoned to be considerable of a go-ahead people too;’ +upon which <i>you</i> say ‘Yes,’ and then <i>he</i> +says ‘Yes’ again (affirmatively this time); and upon +your looking out of window, tells you that behind that hill, and +some three miles from the next station, there is a clever town in +a smart lo-ca-tion, where he expects you have concluded to +stop. Your answer in the negative naturally leads to more +questions in reference to your intended route (always pronounced +rout); and wherever you are going, you invariably learn that you +can’t get there without immense difficulty and danger, and +that all the great sights are somewhere else.</p> +<p>If a lady take a fancy to any male passenger’s seat, the +gentleman who accompanies her gives him notice of the fact, and +he immediately vacates it with great politeness. Politics +are much discussed, so are banks, so is cotton. Quiet +people avoid the question of the Presidency, for there will be a +new election in three years and a half, and party feeling runs +very high: the great constitutional feature of this institution +being, that directly the acrimony of the last election is over, +the acrimony of the next one begins; which is an unspeakable +comfort to all strong politicians and true lovers of their +country: that is to say, to ninety-nine men and boys out of every +ninety-nine and a quarter.</p> +<p>Except when a branch road joins the main one, there is seldom +more than one track of rails; so that the road is very narrow, +and the view, where there is a deep cutting, by no means +extensive. When there is not, the character of the scenery +is always the same. Mile after mile of stunted trees: some +hewn down by the axe, some blown down by the wind, some half +fallen and resting on their neighbours, many mere logs half +hidden in the swamp, others mouldered away to spongy chips. +The very soil of the earth is made up of minute fragments such as +these; each pool of stagnant water has its crust of vegetable +rottenness; on every side there are the boughs, and trunks, and +stumps of trees, in every possible stage of decay, decomposition, +and neglect. Now you emerge for a few brief minutes on an +open country, glittering with some bright lake or pool, broad as +many an English river, but so small here that it scarcely has a +name; now catch hasty glimpses of a distant town, with its clean +white houses and their cool piazzas, its prim New England church +and school-house; when whir-r-r-r! almost before you have seen +them, comes the same dark screen: the stunted trees, the stumps, +the logs, the stagnant water—all so like the last that you +seem to have been transported back again by magic.</p> +<p>The train calls at stations in the woods, where the wild +impossibility of anybody having the smallest reason to get out, +is only to be equalled by the apparently desperate hopelessness +of there being anybody to get in. It rushes across the +turnpike road, where there is no gate, no policeman, no signal: +nothing but a rough wooden arch, on which is painted ‘<span +class="smcap">When the bell rings, look out for the +Locomotive</span>.’ On it whirls headlong, dives +through the woods again, emerges in the light, clatters over +frail arches, rumbles upon the heavy ground, shoots beneath a +wooden bridge which intercepts the light for a second like a +wink, suddenly awakens all the slumbering echoes in the main +street of a large town, and dashes on haphazard, pell-mell, +neck-or-nothing, down the middle of the road. +There—with mechanics working at their trades, and people +leaning from their doors and windows, and boys flying kites and +playing marbles, and men smoking, and women talking, and children +crawling, and pigs burrowing, and unaccustomed horses plunging +and rearing, close to the very rails—there—on, on, +on—tears the mad dragon of an engine with its train of +cars; scattering in all directions a shower of burning sparks +from its wood fire; screeching, hissing, yelling, panting; until +at last the thirsty monster stops beneath a covered way to drink, +the people cluster round, and you have time to breathe again.</p> +<p>I was met at the station at Lowell by a gentleman intimately +connected with the management of the factories there; and gladly +putting myself under his guidance, drove off at once to that +quarter of the town in which the works, the object of my visit, +were situated. Although only just of age—for if my +recollection serve me, it has been a manufacturing town barely +one-and-twenty years—Lowell is a large, populous, thriving +place. Those indications of its youth which first attract +the eye, give it a quaintness and oddity of character which, to a +visitor from the old country, is amusing enough. It was a +very dirty winter’s day, and nothing in the whole town +looked old to me, except the mud, which in some parts was almost +knee-deep, and might have been deposited there, on the subsiding +of the waters after the Deluge. In one place, there was a +new wooden church, which, having no steeple, and being yet +unpainted, looked like an enormous packing-case without any +direction upon it. In another there was a large hotel, +whose walls and colonnades were so crisp, and thin, and slight, +that it had exactly the appearance of being built with +cards. I was careful not to draw my breath as we passed, +and trembled when I saw a workman come out upon the roof, lest +with one thoughtless stamp of his foot he should crush the +structure beneath him, and bring it rattling down. The very +river that moves the machinery in the mills (for they are all +worked by water power), seems to acquire a new character from the +fresh buildings of bright red brick and painted wood among which +it takes its course; and to be as light-headed, thoughtless, and +brisk a young river, in its murmurings and tumblings, as one +would desire to see. One would swear that every +‘Bakery,’ ‘Grocery,’ and +‘Bookbindery,’ and other kind of store, took its +shutters down for the first time, and started in business +yesterday. The golden pestles and mortars fixed as signs +upon the sun-blind frames outside the Druggists’, appear to +have been just turned out of the United States’ Mint; and +when I saw a baby of some week or ten days old in a woman’s +arms at a street corner, I found myself unconsciously wondering +where it came from: never supposing for an instant that it could +have been born in such a young town as that.</p> +<p>There are several factories in Lowell, each of which belongs +to what we should term a Company of Proprietors, but what they +call in America a Corporation. I went over several of +these; such as a woollen factory, a carpet factory, and a cotton +factory: examined them in every part; and saw them in their +ordinary working aspect, with no preparation of any kind, or +departure from their ordinary everyday proceedings. I may +add that I am well acquainted with our manufacturing towns in +England, and have visited many mills in Manchester and elsewhere +in the same manner.</p> +<p>I happened to arrive at the first factory just as the dinner +hour was over, and the girls were returning to their work; indeed +the stairs of the mill were thronged with them as I +ascended. They were all well dressed, but not to my +thinking above their condition; for I like to see the humbler +classes of society careful of their dress and appearance, and +even, if they please, decorated with such little trinkets as come +within the compass of their means. Supposing it confined +within reasonable limits, I would always encourage this kind of +pride, as a worthy element of self-respect, in any person I +employed; and should no more be deterred from doing so, because +some wretched female referred her fall to a love of dress, than I +would allow my construction of the real intent and meaning of the +Sabbath to be influenced by any warning to the well-disposed, +founded on his backslidings on that particular day, which might +emanate from the rather doubtful authority of a murderer in +Newgate.</p> +<p>These girls, as I have said, were all well dressed: and that +phrase necessarily includes extreme cleanliness. They had +serviceable bonnets, good warm cloaks, and shawls; and were not +above clogs and pattens. Moreover, there were places in the +mill in which they could deposit these things without injury; and +there were conveniences for washing. They were healthy in +appearance, many of them remarkably so, and had the manners and +deportment of young women: not of degraded brutes of +burden. If I had seen in one of those mills (but I did not, +though I looked for something of this kind with a sharp eye), the +most lisping, mincing, affected, and ridiculous young creature +that my imagination could suggest, I should have thought of the +careless, moping, slatternly, degraded, dull reverse (I +<i>have</i> seen that), and should have been still well pleased +to look upon her.</p> +<p>The rooms in which they worked, were as well ordered as +themselves. In the windows of some, there were green +plants, which were trained to shade the glass; in all, there was +as much fresh air, cleanliness, and comfort, as the nature of the +occupation would possibly admit of. Out of so large a +number of females, many of whom were only then just verging upon +womanhood, it may be reasonably supposed that some were delicate +and fragile in appearance: no doubt there were. But I +solemnly declare, that from all the crowd I saw in the different +factories that day, I cannot recall or separate one young face +that gave me a painful impression; not one young girl whom, +assuming it to be a matter of necessity that she should gain her +daily bread by the labour of her hands, I would have removed from +those works if I had had the power.</p> +<p>They reside in various boarding-houses near at hand. The +owners of the mills are particularly careful to allow no persons +to enter upon the possession of these houses, whose characters +have not undergone the most searching and thorough inquiry. +Any complaint that is made against them, by the boarders, or by +any one else, is fully investigated; and if good ground of +complaint be shown to exist against them, they are removed, and +their occupation is handed over to some more deserving +person. There are a few children employed in these +factories, but not many. The laws of the State forbid their +working more than nine months in the year, and require that they +be educated during the other three. For this purpose there +are schools in Lowell; and there are churches and chapels of +various persuasions, in which the young women may observe that +form of worship in which they have been educated.</p> +<p>At some distance from the factories, and on the highest and +pleasantest ground in the neighbourhood, stands their hospital, +or boarding-house for the sick: it is the best house in those +parts, and was built by an eminent merchant for his own +residence. Like that institution at Boston, which I have +before described, it is not parcelled out into wards, but is +divided into convenient chambers, each of which has all the +comforts of a very comfortable home. The principal medical +attendant resides under the same roof; and were the patients +members of his own family, they could not be better cared for, or +attended with greater gentleness and consideration. The +weekly charge in this establishment for each female patient is +three dollars, or twelve shillings English; but no girl employed +by any of the corporations is ever excluded for want of the means +of payment. That they do not very often want the means, may +be gathered from the fact, that in July, 1841, no fewer than nine +hundred and seventy-eight of these girls were depositors in the +Lowell Savings Bank: the amount of whose joint savings was +estimated at one hundred thousand dollars, or twenty thousand +English pounds.</p> +<p>I am now going to state three facts, which will startle a +large class of readers on this side of the Atlantic, very +much.</p> +<p>Firstly, there is a joint-stock piano in a great many of the +boarding-houses. Secondly, nearly all these young ladies +subscribe to circulating libraries. Thirdly, they have got +up among themselves a periodical called <span class="smcap">The +Lowell Offering</span>, ‘A repository of original articles, +written exclusively by females actively employed in the +mills,’—which is duly printed, published, and sold; +and whereof I brought away from Lowell four hundred good solid +pages, which I have read from beginning to end.</p> +<p>The large class of readers, startled by these facts, will +exclaim, with one voice, ‘How very +preposterous!’ On my deferentially inquiring why, +they will answer, ‘These things are above their +station.’ In reply to that objection, I would beg to +ask what their station is.</p> +<p>It is their station to work. And they <i>do</i> +work. They labour in these mills, upon an average, twelve +hours a day, which is unquestionably work, and pretty tight work +too. Perhaps it is above their station to indulge in such +amusements, on any terms. Are we quite sure that we in +England have not formed our ideas of the ‘station’ of +working people, from accustoming ourselves to the contemplation +of that class as they are, and not as they might be? I think that +if we examine our own feelings, we shall find that the pianos, +and the circulating libraries, and even the Lowell Offering, +startle us by their novelty, and not by their bearing upon any +abstract question of right or wrong.</p> +<p>For myself, I know no station in which, the occupation of +to-day cheerfully done and the occupation of to-morrow cheerfully +looked to, any one of these pursuits is not most humanising and +laudable. I know no station which is rendered more +endurable to the person in it, or more safe to the person out of +it, by having ignorance for its associate. I know no +station which has a right to monopolise the means of mutual +instruction, improvement, and rational entertainment; or which +has ever continued to be a station very long, after seeking to do +so.</p> +<p>Of the merits of the Lowell Offering as a literary production, +I will only observe, putting entirely out of sight the fact of +the articles having been written by these girls after the arduous +labours of the day, that it will compare advantageously with a +great many English Annuals. It is pleasant to find that +many of its Tales are of the Mills and of those who work in them; +that they inculcate habits of self-denial and contentment, and +teach good doctrines of enlarged benevolence. A strong +feeling for the beauties of nature, as displayed in the solitudes +the writers have left at home, breathes through its pages like +wholesome village air; and though a circulating library is a +favourable school for the study of such topics, it has very scant +allusion to fine clothes, fine marriages, fine houses, or fine +life. Some persons might object to the papers being signed +occasionally with rather fine names, but this is an American +fashion. One of the provinces of the state legislature of +Massachusetts is to alter ugly names into pretty ones, as the +children improve upon the tastes of their parents. These +changes costing little or nothing, scores of Mary Annes are +solemnly converted into Bevelinas every session.</p> +<p>It is said that on the occasion of a visit from General +Jackson or General Harrison to this town (I forget which, but it +is not to the purpose), he walked through three miles and a half +of these young ladies all dressed out with parasols and silk +stockings. But as I am not aware that any worse consequence +ensued, than a sudden looking-up of all the parasols and silk +stockings in the market; and perhaps the bankruptcy of some +speculative New Englander who bought them all up at any price, in +expectation of a demand that never came; I set no great store by +the circumstance.</p> +<p>In this brief account of Lowell, and inadequate expression of +the gratification it yielded me, and cannot fail to afford to any +foreigner to whom the condition of such people at home is a +subject of interest and anxious speculation, I have carefully +abstained from drawing a comparison between these factories and +those of our own land. Many of the circumstances whose +strong influence has been at work for years in our manufacturing +towns have not arisen here; and there is no manufacturing +population in Lowell, so to speak: for these girls (often the +daughters of small farmers) come from other States, remain a few +years in the mills, and then go home for good.</p> +<p>The contrast would be a strong one, for it would be between +the Good and Evil, the living light and deepest shadow. I +abstain from it, because I deem it just to do so. But I +only the more earnestly adjure all those whose eyes may rest on +these pages, to pause and reflect upon the difference between +this town and those great haunts of desperate misery: to call to +mind, if they can in the midst of party strife and squabble, the +efforts that must be made to purge them of their suffering and +danger: and last, and foremost, to remember how the precious Time +is rushing by.</p> +<p>I returned at night by the same railroad and in the same kind +of car. One of the passengers being exceedingly anxious to +expound at great length to my companion (not to me, of course) +the true principles on which books of travel in America should be +written by Englishmen, I feigned to fall asleep. But +glancing all the way out at window from the corners of my eyes, I +found abundance of entertainment for the rest of the ride in +watching the effects of the wood fire, which had been invisible +in the morning but were now brought out in full relief by the +darkness: for we were travelling in a whirlwind of bright sparks, +which showered about us like a storm of fiery snow.</p> +<h2><a name="page60"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +60</span>CHAPTER V<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">WORCESTER. THE CONNECTICUT +RIVER. HARTFORD. NEW HAVEN. TO NEW +YORK</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">Leaving</span> Boston on the afternoon of +Saturday the fifth of February, we proceeded by another railroad +to Worcester: a pretty New England town, where we had arranged to +remain under the hospitable roof of the Governor of the State, +until Monday morning.</p> +<p>These towns and cities of New England (many of which would be +villages in Old England), are as favourable specimens of rural +America, as their people are of rural Americans. The +well-trimmed lawns and green meadows of home are not there; and +the grass, compared with our ornamental plots and pastures, is +rank, and rough, and wild: but delicate slopes of land, +gently-swelling hills, wooded valleys, and slender streams, +abound. Every little colony of houses has its church and +school-house peeping from among the white roofs and shady trees; +every house is the whitest of the white; every Venetian blind the +greenest of the green; every fine day’s sky the bluest of +the blue. A sharp dry wind and a slight frost had so +hardened the roads when we alighted at Worcester, that their +furrowed tracks were like ridges of granite. There was the +usual aspect of newness on every object, of course. All the +buildings looked as if they had been built and painted that +morning, and could be taken down on Monday with very little +trouble. In the keen evening air, every sharp outline +looked a hundred times sharper than ever. The clean +cardboard colonnades had no more perspective than a Chinese +bridge on a tea-cup, and appeared equally well calculated for +use. The razor-like edges of the detached cottages seemed +to cut the very wind as it whistled against them, and to send it +smarting on its way with a shriller cry than before. Those +slightly-built wooden dwellings behind which the sun was setting +with a brilliant lustre, could be so looked through and through, +that the idea of any inhabitant being able to hide himself from +the public gaze, or to have any secrets from the public eye, was +not entertainable for a moment. Even where a blazing fire +shone through the uncurtained windows of some distant house, it +had the air of being newly lighted, and of lacking warmth; and +instead of awakening thoughts of a snug chamber, bright with +faces that first saw the light round that same hearth, and ruddy +with warm hangings, it came upon one suggestive of the smell of +new mortar and damp walls.</p> +<p>So I thought, at least, that evening. Next morning when +the sun was shining brightly, and the clear church bells were +ringing, and sedate people in their best clothes enlivened the +pathway near at hand and dotted the distant thread of road, there +was a pleasant Sabbath peacefulness on everything, which it was +good to feel. It would have been the better for an old +church; better still for some old graves; but as it was, a +wholesome repose and tranquillity pervaded the scene, which after +the restless ocean and the hurried city, had a doubly grateful +influence on the spirits.</p> +<p>We went on next morning, still by railroad, to +Springfield. From that place to Hartford, whither we were +bound, is a distance of only five-and-twenty miles, but at that +time of the year the roads were so bad that the journey would +probably have occupied ten or twelve hours. Fortunately, +however, the winter having been unusually mild, the Connecticut +River was ‘open,’ or, in other words, not +frozen. The captain of a small steamboat was going to make +his first trip for the season that day (the second February trip, +I believe, within the memory of man), and only waited for us to +go on board. Accordingly, we went on board, with as little +delay as might be. He was as good as his word, and started +directly.</p> +<p>It certainly was not called a small steamboat without +reason. I omitted to ask the question, but I should think +it must have been of about half a pony power. Mr. Paap, the +celebrated Dwarf, might have lived and died happily in the cabin, +which was fitted with common sash-windows like an ordinary +dwelling-house. These windows had bright-red curtains, too, +hung on slack strings across the lower panes; so that it looked +like the parlour of a Lilliputian public-house, which had got +afloat in a flood or some other water accident, and was drifting +nobody knew where. But even in this chamber there was a +rocking-chair. It would be impossible to get on anywhere, +in America, without a rocking-chair. I am afraid to tell +how many feet short this vessel was, or how many feet narrow: to +apply the words length and width to such measurement would be a +contradiction in terms. But I may state that we all kept +the middle of the deck, lest the boat should unexpectedly tip +over; and that the machinery, by some surprising process of +condensation, worked between it and the keel: the whole forming a +warm sandwich, about three feet thick.</p> +<p>It rained all day as I once thought it never did rain +anywhere, but in the Highlands of Scotland. The river was +full of floating blocks of ice, which were constantly crunching +and cracking under us; and the depth of water, in the course we +took to avoid the larger masses, carried down the middle of the +river by the current, did not exceed a few inches. +Nevertheless, we moved onward, dexterously; and being well +wrapped up, bade defiance to the weather, and enjoyed the +journey. The Connecticut River is a fine stream; and the +banks in summer-time are, I have no doubt, beautiful; at all +events, I was told so by a young lady in the cabin; and she +should be a judge of beauty, if the possession of a quality +include the appreciation of it, for a more beautiful creature I +never looked upon.</p> +<p>After two hours and a half of this odd travelling (including a +stoppage at a small town, where we were saluted by a gun +considerably bigger than our own chimney), we reached Hartford, +and straightway repaired to an extremely comfortable hotel: +except, as usual, in the article of bedrooms, which, in almost +every place we visited, were very conducive to early rising.</p> +<p>We tarried here, four days. The town is beautifully +situated in a basin of green hills; the soil is rich, +well-wooded, and carefully improved. It is the seat of the +local legislature of Connecticut, which sage body enacted, in +bygone times, the renowned code of ‘Blue Laws,’ in +virtue whereof, among other enlightened provisions, any citizen +who could be proved to have kissed his wife on Sunday, was +punishable, I believe, with the stocks. Too much of the old +Puritan spirit exists in these parts to the present hour; but its +influence has not tended, that I know, to make the people less +hard in their bargains, or more equal in their dealings. As +I never heard of its working that effect anywhere else, I infer +that it never will, here. Indeed, I am accustomed, with +reference to great professions and severe faces, to judge of the +goods of the other world pretty much as I judge of the goods of +this; and whenever I see a dealer in such commodities with too +great a display of them in his window, I doubt the quality of the +article within.</p> +<p>In Hartford stands the famous oak in which the charter of King +Charles was hidden. It is now inclosed in a +gentleman’s garden. In the State House is the charter +itself. I found the courts of law here, just the same as at +Boston; the public institutions almost as good. The Insane +Asylum is admirably conducted, and so is the Institution for the +Deaf and Dumb.</p> +<p>I very much questioned within myself, as I walked through the +Insane Asylum, whether I should have known the attendants from +the patients, but for the few words which passed between the +former, and the Doctor, in reference to the persons under their +charge. Of course I limit this remark merely to their +looks; for the conversation of the mad people was mad enough.</p> +<p>There was one little, prim old lady, of very smiling and +good-humoured appearance, who came sidling up to me from the end +of a long passage, and with a curtsey of inexpressible +condescension, propounded this unaccountable inquiry:</p> +<p>‘Does Pontefract still flourish, sir, upon the soil of +England?’</p> +<p>‘He does, ma’am,’ I rejoined.</p> +<p>‘When you last saw him, sir, he was—’</p> +<p>‘Well, ma’am,’ said I, ‘extremely +well. He begged me to present his compliments. I +never saw him looking better.’</p> +<p>At this, the old lady was very much delighted. After +glancing at me for a moment, as if to be quite sure that I was +serious in my respectful air, she sidled back some paces; sidled +forward again; made a sudden skip (at which I precipitately +retreated a step or two); and said:</p> +<p>‘<i>I</i> am an antediluvian, sir.’</p> +<p>I thought the best thing to say was, that I had suspected as +much from the first. Therefore I said so.</p> +<p>‘It is an extremely proud and pleasant thing, sir, to be +an antediluvian,’ said the old lady.</p> +<p>‘I should think it was, ma’am,’ I +rejoined.</p> +<p>The old lady kissed her hand, gave another skip, smirked and +sidled down the gallery in a most extraordinary manner, and +ambled gracefully into her own bed-chamber.</p> +<p>In another part of the building, there was a male patient in +bed; very much flushed and heated.</p> +<p>‘Well,’ said he, starting up, and pulling off his +night-cap: ‘It’s all settled at last. I have +arranged it with Queen Victoria.’</p> +<p>‘Arranged what?’ asked the Doctor.</p> +<p>‘Why, that business,’ passing his hand wearily +across his forehead, ‘about the siege of New +York.’</p> +<p>‘Oh!’ said I, like a man suddenly +enlightened. For he looked at me for an answer.</p> +<p>‘Yes. Every house without a signal will be fired +upon by the British troops. No harm will be done to the +others. No harm at all. Those that want to be safe, +must hoist flags. That’s all they’ll have to +do. They must hoist flags.’</p> +<p>Even while he was speaking he seemed, I thought, to have some +faint idea that his talk was incoherent. Directly he had +said these words, he lay down again; gave a kind of a groan; and +covered his hot head with the blankets.</p> +<p>There was another: a young man, whose madness was love and +music. After playing on the accordion a march he had +composed, he was very anxious that I should walk into his +chamber, which I immediately did.</p> +<p>By way of being very knowing, and humouring him to the top of +his bent, I went to the window, which commanded a beautiful +prospect, and remarked, with an address upon which I greatly +plumed myself:</p> +<p>‘What a delicious country you have about these lodgings +of yours!’</p> +<p>‘Poh!’ said he, moving his fingers carelessly over +the notes of his instrument: ‘<i>Well enough for such an +Institution as this</i>!’</p> +<p>I don’t think I was ever so taken aback in all my +life.</p> +<p>‘I come here just for a whim,’ he said +coolly. ‘That’s all.’</p> +<p>‘Oh! That’s all!’ said I.</p> +<p>‘Yes. That’s all. The Doctor’s a +smart man. He quite enters into it. It’s a joke +of mine. I like it for a time. You needn’t +mention it, but I think I shall go out next Tuesday!’</p> +<p>I assured him that I would consider our interview perfectly +confidential; and rejoined the Doctor. As we were passing +through a gallery on our way out, a well-dressed lady, of quiet +and composed manners, came up, and proffering a slip of paper and +a pen, begged that I would oblige her with an autograph, I +complied, and we parted.</p> +<p>‘I think I remember having had a few interviews like +that, with ladies out of doors. I hope <i>she</i> is not +mad?’</p> +<p>‘Yes.’</p> +<p>‘On what subject? Autographs?’</p> +<p>‘No. She hears voices in the air.’</p> +<p>‘Well!’ thought I, ‘it would be well if we +could shut up a few false prophets of these later times, who have +professed to do the same; and I should like to try the experiment +on a Mormonist or two to begin with.’</p> +<p>In this place, there is the best jail for untried offenders in +the world. There is also a very well-ordered State prison, +arranged upon the same plan as that at Boston, except that here, +there is always a sentry on the wall with a loaded gun. It +contained at that time about two hundred prisoners. A spot +was shown me in the sleeping ward, where a watchman was murdered +some years since in the dead of night, in a desperate attempt to +escape, made by a prisoner who had broken from his cell. A +woman, too, was pointed out to me, who, for the murder of her +husband, had been a close prisoner for sixteen years.</p> +<p>‘Do you think,’ I asked of my conductor, +‘that after so very long an imprisonment, she has any +thought or hope of ever regaining her liberty?’</p> +<p>‘Oh dear yes,’ he answered. ‘To be +sure she has.’</p> +<p>‘She has no chance of obtaining it, I +suppose?’</p> +<p>‘Well, I don’t know:’ which, by-the-bye, is +a national answer. ‘Her friends mistrust her.’</p> +<p>‘What have <i>they</i> to do with it?’ I naturally +inquired.</p> +<p>‘Well, they won’t petition.’</p> +<p>‘But if they did, they couldn’t get her out, I +suppose?’</p> +<p>‘Well, not the first time, perhaps, nor yet the second, +but tiring and wearying for a few years might do it.’</p> +<p>‘Does that ever do it?’</p> +<p>‘Why yes, that’ll do it sometimes. Political +friends’ll do it sometimes. It’s pretty often +done, one way or another.’</p> +<p>I shall always entertain a very pleasant and grateful +recollection of Hartford. It is a lovely place, and I had +many friends there, whom I can never remember with +indifference. We left it with no little regret on the +evening of Friday the 11th, and travelled that night by railroad +to New Haven. Upon the way, the guard and I were formally +introduced to each other (as we usually were on such occasions), +and exchanged a variety of small-talk. We reached New Haven +at about eight o’clock, after a journey of three hours, and +put up for the night at the best inn.</p> +<p>New Haven, known also as the City of Elms, is a fine +town. Many of its streets (as its <i>alias</i> sufficiently +imports) are planted with rows of grand old elm-trees; and the +same natural ornaments surround Yale College, an establishment of +considerable eminence and reputation. The various +departments of this Institution are erected in a kind of park or +common in the middle of the town, where they are dimly visible +among the shadowing trees. The effect is very like that of +an old cathedral yard in England; and when their branches are in +full leaf, must be extremely picturesque. Even in the +winter time, these groups of well-grown trees, clustering among +the busy streets and houses of a thriving city, have a very +quaint appearance: seeming to bring about a kind of compromise +between town and country; as if each had met the other half-way, +and shaken hands upon it; which is at once novel and +pleasant.</p> +<p>After a night’s rest, we rose early, and in good time +went down to the wharf, and on board the packet New York +<i>for</i> New York. This was the first American steamboat +of any size that I had seen; and certainly to an English eye it +was infinitely less like a steamboat than a huge floating +bath. I could hardly persuade myself, indeed, but that the +bathing establishment off Westminster Bridge, which I left a +baby, had suddenly grown to an enormous size; run away from home; +and set up in foreign parts as a steamer. Being in America, +too, which our vagabonds do so particularly favour, it seemed the +more probable.</p> +<p>The great difference in appearance between these packets and +ours, is, that there is so much of them out of the water: the +main-deck being enclosed on all sides, and filled with casks and +goods, like any second or third floor in a stack of warehouses; +and the promenade or hurricane-deck being a-top of that +again. A part of the machinery is always above this deck; +where the connecting-rod, in a strong and lofty frame, is seen +working away like an iron top-sawyer. There is seldom any +mast or tackle: nothing aloft but two tall black chimneys. +The man at the helm is shut up in a little house in the fore part +of the boat (the wheel being connected with the rudder by iron +chains, working the whole length of the deck); and the +passengers, unless the weather be very fine indeed, usually +congregate below. Directly you have left the wharf, all the +life, and stir, and bustle of a packet cease. You wonder +for a long time how she goes on, for there seems to be nobody in +charge of her; and when another of these dull machines comes +splashing by, you feel quite indignant with it, as a sullen +cumbrous, ungraceful, unshiplike leviathan: quite forgetting that +the vessel you are on board of, is its very counterpart.</p> +<p>There is always a clerk’s office on the lower deck, +where you pay your fare; a ladies’ cabin; baggage and +stowage rooms; engineer’s room; and in short a great +variety of perplexities which render the discovery of the +gentlemen’s cabin, a matter of some difficulty. It +often occupies the whole length of the boat (as it did in this +case), and has three or four tiers of berths on each side. +When I first descended into the cabin of the New York, it looked, +in my unaccustomed eyes, about as long as the Burlington +Arcade.</p> +<p>The Sound which has to be crossed on this passage, is not +always a very safe or pleasant navigation, and has been the scene +of some unfortunate accidents. It was a wet morning, and +very misty, and we soon lost sight of land. The day was +calm, however, and brightened towards noon. After +exhausting (with good help from a friend) the larder, and the +stock of bottled beer, I lay down to sleep; being very much tired +with the fatigues of yesterday. But I woke from my nap in +time to hurry up, and see Hell Gate, the Hog’s Back, the +Frying Pan, and other notorious localities, attractive to all +readers of famous Diedrich Knickerbocker’s History. +We were now in a narrow channel, with sloping banks on either +side, besprinkled with pleasant villas, and made refreshing to +the sight by turf and trees. Soon we shot in quick +succession, past a light-house; a madhouse (how the lunatics +flung up their caps and roared in sympathy with the headlong +engine and the driving tide!); a jail; and other buildings: and +so emerged into a noble bay, whose waters sparkled in the now +cloudless sunshine like Nature’s eyes turned up to +Heaven.</p> +<p>Then there lay stretched out before us, to the right, confused +heaps of buildings, with here and there a spire or steeple, +looking down upon the herd below; and here and there, again, a +cloud of lazy smoke; and in the foreground a forest of +ships’ masts, cheery with flapping sails and waving +flags. Crossing from among them to the opposite shore, were +steam ferry-boats laden with people, coaches, horses, waggons, +baskets, boxes: crossed and recrossed by other ferry-boats: all +travelling to and fro: and never idle. Stately among these +restless Insects, were two or three large ships, moving with slow +majestic pace, as creatures of a prouder kind, disdainful of +their puny journeys, and making for the broad sea. Beyond, +were shining heights, and islands in the glancing river, and a +distance scarcely less blue and bright than the sky it seemed to +meet. The city’s hum and buzz, the clinking of +capstans, the ringing of bells, the barking of dogs, the +clattering of wheels, tingled in the listening ear. All of +which life and stir, coming across the stirring water, caught new +life and animation from its free companionship; and, sympathising +with its buoyant spirits, glistened as it seemed in sport upon +its surface, and hemmed the vessel round, and plashed the water +high about her sides, and, floating her gallantly into the dock, +flew off again to welcome other comers, and speed before them to +the busy port.</p> +<h2><a name="page67"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +67</span>CHAPTER VI<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">NEW YORK</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> beautiful metropolis of America +is by no means so clean a city as Boston, but many of its streets +have the same characteristics; except that the houses are not +quite so fresh-coloured, the sign-boards are not quite so gaudy, +the gilded letters not quite so golden, the bricks not quite so +red, the stone not quite so white, the blinds and area railings +not quite so green, the knobs and plates upon the street doors +not quite so bright and twinkling. There are many +by-streets, almost as neutral in clean colours, and positive in +dirty ones, as by-streets in London; and there is one quarter, +commonly called the Five Points, which, in respect of filth and +wretchedness, may be safely backed against Seven Dials, or any +other part of famed St. Giles’s.</p> +<p>The great promenade and thoroughfare, as most people know, is +Broadway; a wide and bustling street, which, from the Battery +Gardens to its opposite termination in a country road, may be +four miles long. Shall we sit down in an upper floor of the +Carlton House Hotel (situated in the best part of this main +artery of New York), and when we are tired of looking down upon +the life below, sally forth arm-in-arm, and mingle with the +stream?</p> +<p>Warm weather! The sun strikes upon our heads at this +open window, as though its rays were concentrated through a +burning-glass; but the day is in its zenith, and the season an +unusual one. Was there ever such a sunny street as this +Broadway! The pavement stones are polished with the tread +of feet until they shine again; the red bricks of the houses +might be yet in the dry, hot kilns; and the roofs of those +omnibuses look as though, if water were poured on them, they +would hiss and smoke, and smell like half-quenched fires. +No stint of omnibuses here! Half-a-dozen have gone by +within as many minutes. Plenty of hackney cabs and coaches +too; gigs, phaetons, large-wheeled tilburies, and private +carriages—rather of a clumsy make, and not very different +from the public vehicles, but built for the heavy roads beyond +the city pavement. Negro coachmen and white; in straw hats, +black hats, white hats, glazed caps, fur caps; in coats of drab, +black, brown, green, blue, nankeen, striped jean and linen; and +there, in that one instance (look while it passes, or it will be +too late), in suits of livery. Some southern republican +that, who puts his blacks in uniform, and swells with Sultan pomp +and power. Yonder, where that phaeton with the well-clipped +pair of grays has stopped—standing at their heads +now—is a Yorkshire groom, who has not been very long in +these parts, and looks sorrowfully round for a companion pair of +top-boots, which he may traverse the city half a year without +meeting. Heaven save the ladies, how they dress! We +have seen more colours in these ten minutes, than we should have +seen elsewhere, in as many days. What various parasols! +what rainbow silks and satins! what pinking of thin stockings, +and pinching of thin shoes, and fluttering of ribbons and silk +tassels, and display of rich cloaks with gaudy hoods and +linings! The young gentlemen are fond, you see, of turning +down their shirt-collars and cultivating their whiskers, +especially under the chin; but they cannot approach the ladies in +their dress or bearing, being, to say the truth, humanity of +quite another sort. Byrons of the desk and counter, pass +on, and let us see what kind of men those are behind ye: those +two labourers in holiday clothes, of whom one carries in his hand +a crumpled scrap of paper from which he tries to spell out a hard +name, while the other looks about for it on all the doors and +windows.</p> +<p>Irishmen both! You might know them, if they were masked, +by their long-tailed blue coats and bright buttons, and their +drab trousers, which they wear like men well used to working +dresses, who are easy in no others. It would be hard to +keep your model republics going, without the countrymen and +countrywomen of those two labourers. For who else would +dig, and delve, and drudge, and do domestic work, and make canals +and roads, and execute great lines of Internal Improvement! +Irishmen both, and sorely puzzled too, to find out what they +seek. Let us go down, and help them, for the love of home, +and that spirit of liberty which admits of honest service to +honest men, and honest work for honest bread, no matter what it +be.</p> +<p>That’s well! We have got at the right address at +last, though it is written in strange characters truly, and might +have been scrawled with the blunt handle of the spade the writer +better knows the use of, than a pen. Their way lies yonder, +but what business takes them there? They carry savings: to +hoard up? No. They are brothers, those men. One +crossed the sea alone, and working very hard for one half year, +and living harder, saved funds enough to bring the other +out. That done, they worked together side by side, +contentedly sharing hard labour and hard living for another term, +and then their sisters came, and then another brother, and +lastly, their old mother. And what now? Why, the poor +old crone is restless in a strange land, and yearns to lay her +bones, she says, among her people in the old graveyard at home: +and so they go to pay her passage back: and God help her and +them, and every simple heart, and all who turn to the Jerusalem +of their younger days, and have an altar-fire upon the cold +hearth of their fathers.</p> +<p>This narrow thoroughfare, baking and blistering in the sun, is +Wall Street: the Stock Exchange and Lombard Street of New +York. Many a rapid fortune has been made in this street, +and many a no less rapid ruin. Some of these very merchants +whom you see hanging about here now, have locked up money in +their strong-boxes, like the man in the Arabian Nights, and +opening them again, have found but withered leaves. Below, +here by the water-side, where the bowsprits of ships stretch +across the footway, and almost thrust themselves into the +windows, lie the noble American vessels which have made their +Packet Service the finest in the world. They have brought +hither the foreigners who abound in all the streets: not, +perhaps, that there are more here, than in other commercial +cities; but elsewhere, they have particular haunts, and you must +find them out; here, they pervade the town.</p> +<p>We must cross Broadway again; gaining some refreshment from +the heat, in the sight of the great blocks of clean ice which are +being carried into shops and bar-rooms; and the pine-apples and +water-melons profusely displayed for sale. Fine streets of +spacious houses here, you see!—Wall Street has furnished +and dismantled many of them very often—and here a deep +green leafy square. Be sure that is a hospitable house with +inmates to be affectionately remembered always, where they have +the open door and pretty show of plants within, and where the +child with laughing eyes is peeping out of window at the little +dog below. You wonder what may be the use of this tall +flagstaff in the by-street, with something like Liberty’s +head-dress on its top: so do I. But there is a passion for +tall flagstaffs hereabout, and you may see its twin brother in +five minutes, if you have a mind.</p> +<p>Again across Broadway, and so—passing from the +many-coloured crowd and glittering shops—into another long +main street, the Bowery. A railroad yonder, see, where two +stout horses trot along, drawing a score or two of people and a +great wooden ark, with ease. The stores are poorer here; +the passengers less gay. Clothes ready-made, and meat +ready-cooked, are to be bought in these parts; and the lively +whirl of carriages is exchanged for the deep rumble of carts and +waggons. These signs which are so plentiful, in shape like +river buoys, or small balloons, hoisted by cords to poles, and +dangling there, announce, as you may see by looking up, +‘<span class="smcap">Oysters in every +Style</span>.’ They tempt the hungry most at night, +for then dull candles glimmering inside, illuminate these dainty +words, and make the mouths of idlers water, as they read and +linger.</p> +<p>What is this dismal-fronted pile of bastard Egyptian, like an +enchanter’s palace in a melodrama!—a famous prison, +called The Tombs. Shall we go in?</p> +<p>So. A long, narrow, lofty building, stove-heated as +usual, with four galleries, one above the other, going round it, +and communicating by stairs. Between the two sides of each +gallery, and in its centre, a bridge, for the greater convenience +of crossing. On each of these bridges sits a man: dozing or +reading, or talking to an idle companion. On each tier, are +two opposite rows of small iron doors. They look like +furnace-doors, but are cold and black, as though the fires within +had all gone out. Some two or three are open, and women, +with drooping heads bent down, are talking to the inmates. +The whole is lighted by a skylight, but it is fast closed; and +from the roof there dangle, limp and drooping, two useless +windsails.</p> +<p>A man with keys appears, to show us round. A +good-looking fellow, and, in his way, civil and obliging.</p> +<p>‘Are those black doors the cells?’</p> +<p>‘Yes.’</p> +<p>‘Are they all full?’</p> +<p>‘Well, they’re pretty nigh full, and that’s +a fact, and no two ways about it.’</p> +<p>‘Those at the bottom are unwholesome, surely?’</p> +<p>‘Why, we <i>do</i> only put coloured people in +’em. That’s the truth.’</p> +<p>‘When do the prisoners take exercise?’</p> +<p>‘Well, they do without it pretty much.’</p> +<p>‘Do they never walk in the yard?’</p> +<p>‘Considerable seldom.’</p> +<p>‘Sometimes, I suppose?’</p> +<p>‘Well, it’s rare they do. They keep pretty +bright without it.’</p> +<p>‘But suppose a man were here for a twelvemonth. I +know this is only a prison for criminals who are charged with +grave offences, while they are awaiting their trial, or under +remand, but the law here affords criminals many means of +delay. What with motions for new trials, and in arrest of +judgment, and what not, a prisoner might be here for twelve +months, I take it, might he not?’</p> +<p>‘Well, I guess he might.’</p> +<p>‘Do you mean to say that in all that time he would never +come out at that little iron door, for exercise?’</p> +<p>‘He might walk some, perhaps—not much.’</p> +<p>‘Will you open one of the doors?’</p> +<p>‘All, if you like.’</p> +<p>The fastenings jar and rattle, and one of the doors turns +slowly on its hinges. Let us look in. A small bare +cell, into which the light enters through a high chink in the +wall. There is a rude means of washing, a table, and a +bedstead. Upon the latter, sits a man of sixty; +reading. He looks up for a moment; gives an impatient +dogged shake; and fixes his eyes upon his book again. As we +withdraw our heads, the door closes on him, and is fastened as +before. This man has murdered his wife, and will probably +be hanged.</p> +<p>‘How long has he been here?’</p> +<p>‘A month.’</p> +<p>‘When will he be tried?’</p> +<p>‘Next term.’</p> +<p>‘When is that?’</p> +<p>‘Next month.’</p> +<p>‘In England, if a man be under sentence of death, even +he has air and exercise at certain periods of the day.’</p> +<p>‘Possible?’</p> +<p>With what stupendous and untranslatable coolness he says this, +and how loungingly he leads on to the women’s side: making, +as he goes, a kind of iron castanet of the key and the +stair-rail!</p> +<p>Each cell door on this side has a square aperture in it. +Some of the women peep anxiously through it at the sound of +footsteps; others shrink away in shame.—For what offence +can that lonely child, of ten or twelve years old, be shut up +here? Oh! that boy? He is the son of the prisoner we saw +just now; is a witness against his father; and is detained here +for safe keeping, until the trial; that’s all.</p> +<p>But it is a dreadful place for the child to pass the long days +and nights in. This is rather hard treatment for a young +witness, is it not?—What says our conductor?</p> +<p>‘Well, it an’t a very rowdy life, and +<i>that’s</i> a fact!’</p> +<p>Again he clinks his metal castanet, and leads us leisurely +away. I have a question to ask him as we go.</p> +<p>‘Pray, why do they call this place The Tombs?’</p> +<p>‘Well, it’s the cant name.’</p> +<p>‘I know it is. Why?’</p> +<p>‘Some suicides happened here, when it was first +built. I expect it come about from that.’</p> +<p>‘I saw just now, that that man’s clothes were +scattered about the floor of his cell. Don’t you +oblige the prisoners to be orderly, and put such things +away?’</p> +<p>‘Where should they put ’em?’</p> +<p>‘Not on the ground surely. What do you say to +hanging them up?’</p> +<p>He stops and looks round to emphasise his answer:</p> +<p>‘Why, I say that’s just it. When they had +hooks they <i>would</i> hang themselves, so they’re taken +out of every cell, and there’s only the marks left where +they used to be!’</p> +<p>The prison-yard in which he pauses now, has been the scene of +terrible performances. Into this narrow, grave-like place, +men are brought out to die. The wretched creature stands +beneath the gibbet on the ground; the rope about his neck; and +when the sign is given, a weight at its other end comes running +down, and swings him up into the air—a corpse.</p> +<p>The law requires that there be present at this dismal +spectacle, the judge, the jury, and citizens to the amount of +twenty-five. From the community it is hidden. To the +dissolute and bad, the thing remains a frightful mystery. +Between the criminal and them, the prison-wall is interposed as a +thick gloomy veil. It is the curtain to his bed of death, +his winding-sheet, and grave. From him it shuts out life, +and all the motives to unrepenting hardihood in that last hour, +which its mere sight and presence is often all-sufficient to +sustain. There are no bold eyes to make him bold; no +ruffians to uphold a ruffian’s name before. All +beyond the pitiless stone wall, is unknown space.</p> +<p>Let us go forth again into the cheerful streets.</p> +<p>Once more in Broadway! Here are the same ladies in +bright colours, walking to and fro, in pairs and singly; yonder +the very same light blue parasol which passed and repassed the +hotel-window twenty times while we were sitting there. We +are going to cross here. Take care of the pigs. Two +portly sows are trotting up behind this carriage, and a select +party of half-a-dozen gentlemen hogs have just now turned the +corner.</p> +<p>Here is a solitary swine lounging homeward by himself. +He has only one ear; having parted with the other to vagrant-dogs +in the course of his city rambles. But he gets on very well +without it; and leads a roving, gentlemanly, vagabond kind of +life, somewhat answering to that of our club-men at home. +He leaves his lodgings every morning at a certain hour, throws +himself upon the town, gets through his day in some manner quite +satisfactory to himself, and regularly appears at the door of his +own house again at night, like the mysterious master of Gil +Blas. He is a free-and-easy, careless, indifferent kind of +pig, having a very large acquaintance among other pigs of the +same character, whom he rather knows by sight than conversation, +as he seldom troubles himself to stop and exchange civilities, +but goes grunting down the kennel, turning up the news and +small-talk of the city in the shape of cabbage-stalks and offal, +and bearing no tails but his own: which is a very short one, for +his old enemies, the dogs, have been at that too, and have left +him hardly enough to swear by. He is in every respect a +republican pig, going wherever he pleases, and mingling with the +best society, on an equal, if not superior footing, for every one +makes way when he appears, and the haughtiest give him the wall, +if he prefer it. He is a great philosopher, and seldom +moved, unless by the dogs before mentioned. Sometimes, +indeed, you may see his small eye twinkling on a slaughtered +friend, whose carcase garnishes a butcher’s door-post, but +he grunts out ‘Such is life: all flesh is pork!’ +buries his nose in the mire again, and waddles down the gutter: +comforting himself with the reflection that there is one snout +the less to anticipate stray cabbage-stalks, at any rate.</p> +<p>They are the city scavengers, these pigs. Ugly brutes +they are; having, for the most part, scanty brown backs, like the +lids of old horsehair trunks: spotted with unwholesome black +blotches. They have long, gaunt legs, too, and such peaked +snouts, that if one of them could be persuaded to sit for his +profile, nobody would recognise it for a pig’s +likeness. They are never attended upon, or fed, or driven, +or caught, but are thrown upon their own resources in early life, +and become preternaturally knowing in consequence. Every +pig knows where he lives, much better than anybody could tell +him. At this hour, just as evening is closing in, you will +see them roaming towards bed by scores, eating their way to the +last. Occasionally, some youth among them who has +over-eaten himself, or has been worried by dogs, trots +shrinkingly homeward, like a prodigal son: but this is a rare +case: perfect self-possession and self-reliance, and immovable +composure, being their foremost attributes.</p> +<p>The streets and shops are lighted now; and as the eye travels +down the long thoroughfare, dotted with bright jets of gas, it is +reminded of Oxford Street, or Piccadilly. Here and there a +flight of broad stone cellar-steps appears, and a painted lamp +directs you to the Bowling Saloon, or Ten-Pin alley; Ten-Pins +being a game of mingled chance and skill, invented when the +legislature passed an act forbidding Nine-Pins. At other +downward flights of steps, are other lamps, marking the +whereabouts of oyster-cellars—pleasant retreats, say I: not +only by reason of their wonderful cookery of oysters, pretty nigh +as large as cheese-plates (or for thy dear sake, heartiest of +Greek Professors!), but because of all kinds of caters of fish, +or flesh, or fowl, in these latitudes, the swallowers of oysters +alone are not gregarious; but subduing themselves, as it were, to +the nature of what they work in, and copying the coyness of the +thing they eat, do sit apart in curtained boxes, and consort by +twos, not by two hundreds.</p> +<p>But how quiet the streets are! Are there no itinerant +bands; no wind or stringed instruments? No, not one. +By day, are there no Punches, Fantoccini, Dancing-dogs, Jugglers, +Conjurers, Orchestrinas, or even Barrel-organs? No, not +one. Yes, I remember one. One barrel-organ and a +dancing-monkey—sportive by nature, but fast fading into a +dull, lumpish monkey, of the Utilitarian school. Beyond +that, nothing lively; no, not so much as a white mouse in a +twirling cage.</p> +<p>Are there no amusements? Yes. There is a +lecture-room across the way, from which that glare of light +proceeds, and there may be evening service for the ladies thrice +a week, or oftener. For the young gentlemen, there is the +counting-house, the store, the bar-room: the latter, as you may +see through these windows, pretty full. Hark! to the +clinking sound of hammers breaking lumps of ice, and to the cool +gurgling of the pounded bits, as, in the process of mixing, they +are poured from glass to glass! No amusements? What +are these suckers of cigars and swallowers of strong drinks, +whose hats and legs we see in every possible variety of twist, +doing, but amusing themselves? What are the fifty +newspapers, which those precocious urchins are bawling down the +street, and which are kept filed within, what are they but +amusements? Not vapid, waterish amusements, but good strong +stuff; dealing in round abuse and blackguard names; pulling off +the roofs of private houses, as the Halting Devil did in Spain; +pimping and pandering for all degrees of vicious taste, and +gorging with coined lies the most voracious maw; imputing to +every man in public life the coarsest and the vilest motives; +scaring away from the stabbed and prostrate body-politic, every +Samaritan of clear conscience and good deeds; and setting on, +with yell and whistle and the clapping of foul hands, the vilest +vermin and worst birds of prey.—No amusements!</p> +<p>Let us go on again; and passing this wilderness of an hotel +with stores about its base, like some Continental theatre, or the +London Opera House shorn of its colonnade, plunge into the Five +Points. But it is needful, first, that we take as our +escort these two heads of the police, whom you would know for +sharp and well-trained officers if you met them in the Great +Desert. So true it is, that certain pursuits, wherever +carried on, will stamp men with the same character. These +two might have been begotten, born, and bred, in Bow Street.</p> +<p>We have seen no beggars in the streets by night or day; but of +other kinds of strollers, plenty. Poverty, wretchedness, +and vice, are rife enough where we are going now.</p> +<p>This is the place: these narrow ways, diverging to the right +and left, and reeking everywhere with dirt and filth. Such +lives as are led here, bear the same fruits here as +elsewhere. The coarse and bloated faces at the doors, have +counterparts at home, and all the wide world over. +Debauchery has made the very houses prematurely old. See +how the rotten beams are tumbling down, and how the patched and +broken windows seem to scowl dimly, like eyes that have been hurt +in drunken frays. Many of those pigs live here. Do +they ever wonder why their masters walk upright in lieu of going +on all-fours? and why they talk instead of grunting?</p> +<p>So far, nearly every house is a low tavern; and on the +bar-room walls, are coloured prints of Washington, and Queen +Victoria of England, and the American Eagle. Among the +pigeon-holes that hold the bottles, are pieces of plate-glass and +coloured paper, for there is, in some sort, a taste for +decoration, even here. And as seamen frequent these haunts, +there are maritime pictures by the dozen: of partings between +sailors and their lady-loves, portraits of William, of the +ballad, and his Black-Eyed Susan; of Will Watch, the Bold +Smuggler; of Paul Jones the Pirate, and the like: on which the +painted eyes of Queen Victoria, and of Washington to boot, rest +in as strange companionship, as on most of the scenes that are +enacted in their wondering presence.</p> +<p>What place is this, to which the squalid street conducts +us? A kind of square of leprous houses, some of which are +attainable only by crazy wooden stairs without. What lies +beyond this tottering flight of steps, that creak beneath our +tread?—a miserable room, lighted by one dim candle, and +destitute of all comfort, save that which may be hidden in a +wretched bed. Beside it, sits a man: his elbows on his +knees: his forehead hidden in his hands. ‘What ails +that man?’ asks the foremost officer. +‘Fever,’ he sullenly replies, without looking +up. Conceive the fancies of a feverish brain, in such a +place as this!</p> +<p>Ascend these pitch-dark stairs, heedful of a false footing on +the trembling boards, and grope your way with me into this +wolfish den, where neither ray of light nor breath of air, +appears to come. A negro lad, startled from his sleep by +the officer’s voice—he knows it well—but +comforted by his assurance that he has not come on business, +officiously bestirs himself to light a candle. The match +flickers for a moment, and shows great mounds of dusty rags upon +the ground; then dies away and leaves a denser darkness than +before, if there can be degrees in such extremes. He +stumbles down the stairs and presently comes back, shading a +flaring taper with his hand. Then the mounds of rags are +seen to be astir, and rise slowly up, and the floor is covered +with heaps of negro women, waking from their sleep: their white +teeth chattering, and their bright eyes glistening and winking on +all sides with surprise and fear, like the countless repetition +of one astonished African face in some strange mirror.</p> +<p>Mount up these other stairs with no less caution (there are +traps and pitfalls here, for those who are not so well escorted +as ourselves) into the housetop; where the bare beams and rafters +meet overhead, and calm night looks down through the crevices in +the roof. Open the door of one of these cramped hutches +full of sleeping negroes. Pah! They have a charcoal +fire within; there is a smell of singeing clothes, or flesh, so +close they gather round the brazier; and vapours issue forth that +blind and suffocate. From every corner, as you glance about +you in these dark retreats, some figure crawls half-awakened, as +if the judgment-hour were near at hand, and every obscene grave +were giving up its dead. Where dogs would howl to lie, +women, and men, and boys slink off to sleep, forcing the +dislodged rats to move away in quest of better lodgings.</p> +<p>Here too are lanes and alleys, paved with mud knee-deep, +underground chambers, where they dance and game; the walls +bedecked with rough designs of ships, and forts, and flags, and +American eagles out of number: ruined houses, open to the street, +whence, through wide gaps in the walls, other ruins loom upon the +eye, as though the world of vice and misery had nothing else to +show: hideous tenements which take their name from robbery and +murder: all that is loathsome, drooping, and decayed is here.</p> +<p>Our leader has his hand upon the latch of +‘Almack’s,’ and calls to us from the bottom of +the steps; for the assembly-room of the Five Point fashionables +is approached by a descent. Shall we go in? It is but +a moment.</p> +<p>Heyday! the landlady of Almack’s thrives! A buxom +fat mulatto woman, with sparkling eyes, whose head is daintily +ornamented with a handkerchief of many colours. Nor is the +landlord much behind her in his finery, being attired in a smart +blue jacket, like a ship’s steward, with a thick gold ring +upon his little finger, and round his neck a gleaming golden +watch-guard. How glad he is to see us! What will we +please to call for? A dance? It shall be done +directly, sir: ‘a regular break-down.’</p> +<p>The corpulent black fiddler, and his friend who plays the +tambourine, stamp upon the boarding of the small raised orchestra +in which they sit, and play a lively measure. Five or six +couple come upon the floor, marshalled by a lively young negro, +who is the wit of the assembly, and the greatest dancer +known. He never leaves off making queer faces, and is the +delight of all the rest, who grin from ear to ear +incessantly. Among the dancers are two young mulatto girls, +with large, black, drooping eyes, and head-gear after the fashion +of the hostess, who are as shy, or feign to be, as though they +never danced before, and so look down before the visitors, that +their partners can see nothing but the long fringed lashes.</p> +<p>But the dance commences. Every gentleman sets as long as +he likes to the opposite lady, and the opposite lady to him, and +all are so long about it that the sport begins to languish, when +suddenly the lively hero dashes in to the rescue. Instantly +the fiddler grins, and goes at it tooth and nail; there is new +energy in the tambourine; new laughter in the dancers; new smiles +in the landlady; new confidence in the landlord; new brightness +in the very candles.</p> +<p>Single shuffle, double shuffle, cut and cross-cut; snapping +his fingers, rolling his eyes, turning in his knees, presenting +the backs of his legs in front, spinning about on his toes and +heels like nothing but the man’s fingers on the tambourine; +dancing with two left legs, two right legs, two wooden legs, two +wire legs, two spring legs—all sorts of legs and no +legs—what is this to him? And in what walk of life, or +dance of life, does man ever get such stimulating applause as +thunders about him, when, having danced his partner off her feet, +and himself too, he finishes by leaping gloriously on the +bar-counter, and calling for something to drink, with the chuckle +of a million of counterfeit Jim Crows, in one inimitable +sound!</p> +<p>The air, even in these distempered parts, is fresh after the +stifling atmosphere of the houses; and now, as we emerge into a +broader street, it blows upon us with a purer breath, and the +stars look bright again. Here are The Tombs once +more. The city watch-house is a part of the building. +It follows naturally on the sights we have just left. Let +us see that, and then to bed.</p> +<p>What! do you thrust your common offenders against the police +discipline of the town, into such holes as these? Do men +and women, against whom no crime is proved, lie here all night in +perfect darkness, surrounded by the noisome vapours which +encircle that flagging lamp you light us with, and breathing this +filthy and offensive stench! Why, such indecent and +disgusting dungeons as these cells, would bring disgrace upon the +most despotic empire in the world! Look at them, +man—you, who see them every night, and keep the keys. +Do you see what they are? Do you know how drains are made +below the streets, and wherein these human sewers differ, except +in being always stagnant?</p> +<p>Well, he don’t know. He has had five-and-twenty +young women locked up in this very cell at one time, and +you’d hardly realise what handsome faces there were among +’em.</p> +<p>In God’s name! shut the door upon the wretched creature +who is in it now, and put its screen before a place, quite +unsurpassed in all the vice, neglect, and devilry, of the worst +old town in Europe.</p> +<p>Are people really left all night, untried, in those black +sties?—Every night. The watch is set at seven in the +evening. The magistrate opens his court at five in the +morning. That is the earliest hour at which the first +prisoner can be released; and if an officer appear against him, +he is not taken out till nine o’clock or ten.—But if +any one among them die in the interval, as one man did, not long +ago? Then he is half-eaten by the rats in an hour’s +time; as that man was; and there an end.</p> +<p>What is this intolerable tolling of great bells, and crashing +of wheels, and shouting in the distance? A fire. And +what that deep red light in the opposite direction? Another +fire. And what these charred and blackened walls we stand +before? A dwelling where a fire has been. It was more +than hinted, in an official report, not long ago, that some of +these conflagrations were not wholly accidental, and that +speculation and enterprise found a field of exertion, even in +flames: but be this as it may, there was a fire last night, there +are two to-night, and you may lay an even wager there will be at +least one, to-morrow. So, carrying that with us for our +comfort, let us say, Good night, and climb up-stairs to bed.</p> +<div class="gapshortline"> </div> +<p>One day, during my stay in New York, I paid a visit to the +different public institutions on Long Island, or Rhode Island: I +forget which. One of them is a Lunatic Asylum. The +building is handsome; and is remarkable for a spacious and +elegant staircase. The whole structure is not yet finished, +but it is already one of considerable size and extent, and is +capable of accommodating a very large number of patients.</p> +<p>I cannot say that I derived much comfort from the inspection +of this charity. The different wards might have been +cleaner and better ordered; I saw nothing of that salutary system +which had impressed me so favourably elsewhere; and everything +had a lounging, listless, madhouse air, which was very +painful. The moping idiot, cowering down with long +dishevelled hair; the gibbering maniac, with his hideous laugh +and pointed finger; the vacant eye, the fierce wild face, the +gloomy picking of the hands and lips, and munching of the nails: +there they were all, without disguise, in naked ugliness and +horror. In the dining-room, a bare, dull, dreary place, +with nothing for the eye to rest on but the empty walls, a woman +was locked up alone. She was bent, they told me, on +committing suicide. If anything could have strengthened her +in her resolution, it would certainly have been the insupportable +monotony of such an existence.</p> +<p>The terrible crowd with which these halls and galleries were +filled, so shocked me, that I abridged my stay within the +shortest limits, and declined to see that portion of the building +in which the refractory and violent were under closer +restraint. I have no doubt that the gentleman who presided +over this establishment at the time I write of, was competent to +manage it, and had done all in his power to promote its +usefulness: but will it be believed that the miserable strife of +Party feeling is carried even into this sad refuge of afflicted +and degraded humanity? Will it be believed that the eyes +which are to watch over and control the wanderings of minds on +which the most dreadful visitation to which our nature is exposed +has fallen, must wear the glasses of some wretched side in +Politics? Will it be believed that the governor of such a +house as this, is appointed, and deposed, and changed +perpetually, as Parties fluctuate and vary, and as their +despicable weathercocks are blown this way or that? A +hundred times in every week, some new most paltry exhibition of +that narrow-minded and injurious Party Spirit, which is the +Simoom of America, sickening and blighting everything of +wholesome life within its reach, was forced upon my notice; but I +never turned my back upon it with feelings of such deep disgust +and measureless contempt, as when I crossed the threshold of this +madhouse.</p> +<p>At a short distance from this building is another called the +Alms House, that is to say, the workhouse of New York. This +is a large Institution also: lodging, I believe, when I was +there, nearly a thousand poor. It was badly ventilated, and +badly lighted; was not too clean;—and impressed me, on the +whole, very uncomfortably. But it must be remembered that +New York, as a great emporium of commerce, and as a place of +general resort, not only from all parts of the States, but from +most parts of the world, has always a large pauper population to +provide for; and labours, therefore, under peculiar difficulties +in this respect. Nor must it be forgotten that New York is +a large town, and that in all large towns a vast amount of good +and evil is intermixed and jumbled up together.</p> +<p>In the same neighbourhood is the Farm, where young orphans are +nursed and bred. I did not see it, but I believe it is well +conducted; and I can the more easily credit it, from knowing how +mindful they usually are, in America, of that beautiful passage +in the Litany which remembers all sick persons and young +children.</p> +<p>I was taken to these Institutions by water, in a boat +belonging to the Island jail, and rowed by a crew of prisoners, +who were dressed in a striped uniform of black and buff, in which +they looked like faded tigers. They took me, by the same +conveyance, to the jail itself.</p> +<p>It is an old prison, and quite a pioneer establishment, on the +plan I have already described. I was glad to hear this, for +it is unquestionably a very indifferent one. The most is +made, however, of the means it possesses, and it is as well +regulated as such a place can be.</p> +<p>The women work in covered sheds, erected for that +purpose. If I remember right, there are no shops for the +men, but be that as it may, the greater part of them labour in +certain stone-quarries near at hand. The day being very wet +indeed, this labour was suspended, and the prisoners were in +their cells. Imagine these cells, some two or three hundred +in number, and in every one a man locked up; this one at his door +for air, with his hands thrust through the grate; this one in bed +(in the middle of the day, remember); and this one flung down in +a heap upon the ground, with his head against the bars, like a +wild beast. Make the rain pour down, outside, in +torrents. Put the everlasting stove in the midst; hot, and +suffocating, and vaporous, as a witch’s cauldron. Add +a collection of gentle odours, such as would arise from a +thousand mildewed umbrellas, wet through, and a thousand +buck-baskets, full of half-washed linen—and there is the +prison, as it was that day.</p> +<p>The prison for the State at Sing Sing is, on the other hand, a +model jail. That, and Auburn, are, I believe, the largest +and best examples of the silent system.</p> +<p>In another part of the city, is the Refuge for the Destitute: +an Institution whose object is to reclaim youthful offenders, +male and female, black and white, without distinction; to teach +them useful trades, apprentice them to respectable masters, and +make them worthy members of society. Its design, it will be +seen, is similar to that at Boston; and it is a no less +meritorious and admirable establishment. A suspicion +crossed my mind during my inspection of this noble charity, +whether the superintendent had quite sufficient knowledge of the +world and worldly characters; and whether he did not commit a +great mistake in treating some young girls, who were to all +intents and purposes, by their years and their past lives, women, +as though they were little children; which certainly had a +ludicrous effect in my eyes, and, or I am much mistaken, in +theirs also. As the Institution, however, is always under a +vigilant examination of a body of gentlemen of great intelligence +and experience, it cannot fail to be well conducted; and whether +I am right or wrong in this slight particular, is unimportant to +its deserts and character, which it would be difficult to +estimate too highly.</p> +<p>In addition to these establishments, there are in New York, +excellent hospitals and schools, literary institutions and +libraries; an admirable fire department (as indeed it should be, +having constant practice), and charities of every sort and +kind. In the suburbs there is a spacious cemetery: +unfinished yet, but every day improving. The saddest tomb I +saw there was ‘The Strangers’ Grave. Dedicated +to the different hotels in this city.’</p> +<p>There are three principal theatres. Two of them, the +Park and the Bowery, are large, elegant, and handsome buildings, +and are, I grieve to write it, generally deserted. The +third, the Olympic, is a tiny show-box for vaudevilles and +burlesques. It is singularly well conducted by Mr. +Mitchell, a comic actor of great quiet humour and originality, +who is well remembered and esteemed by London playgoers. I +am happy to report of this deserving gentleman, that his benches +are usually well filled, and that his theatre rings with +merriment every night. I had almost forgotten a small +summer theatre, called Niblo’s, with gardens and open air +amusements attached; but I believe it is not exempt from the +general depression under which Theatrical Property, or what is +humorously called by that name, unfortunately labours.</p> +<p>The country round New York is surpassingly and exquisitely +picturesque. The climate, as I have already intimated, is +somewhat of the warmest. What it would be, without the sea +breezes which come from its beautiful Bay in the evening time, I +will not throw myself or my readers into a fever by +inquiring.</p> +<p>The tone of the best society in this city, is like that of +Boston; here and there, it may be, with a greater infusion of the +mercantile spirit, but generally polished and refined, and always +most hospitable. The houses and tables are elegant; the +hours later and more rakish; and there is, perhaps, a greater +spirit of contention in reference to appearances, and the display +of wealth and costly living. The ladies are singularly +beautiful.</p> +<p>Before I left New York I made arrangements for securing a +passage home in the George Washington packet ship, which was +advertised to sail in June: that being the month in which I had +determined, if prevented by no accident in the course of my +ramblings, to leave America.</p> +<p>I never thought that going back to England, returning to all +who are dear to me, and to pursuits that have insensibly grown to +be a part of my nature, I could have felt so much sorrow as I +endured, when I parted at last, on board this ship, with the +friends who had accompanied me from this city. I never +thought the name of any place, so far away and so lately known, +could ever associate itself in my mind with the crowd of +affectionate remembrances that now cluster about it. There +are those in this city who would brighten, to me, the darkest +winter-day that ever glimmered and went out in Lapland; and +before whose presence even Home grew dim, when they and I +exchanged that painful word which mingles with our every thought +and deed; which haunts our cradle-heads in infancy, and closes up +the vista of our lives in age.</p> +<h2><a name="page81"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +81</span>CHAPTER VII<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">PHILADELPHIA, AND ITS SOLITARY +PRISON</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> journey from New York to +Philadelphia, is made by railroad, and two ferries; and usually +occupies between five and six hours. It was a fine evening +when we were passengers in the train: and watching the bright +sunset from a little window near the door by which we sat, my +attention was attracted to a remarkable appearance issuing from +the windows of the gentleman’s car immediately in front of +us, which I supposed for some time was occasioned by a number of +industrious persons inside, ripping open feather-beds, and giving +the feathers to the wind. At length it occurred to me that +they were only spitting, which was indeed the case; though how +any number of passengers which it was possible for that car to +contain, could have maintained such a playful and incessant +shower of expectoration, I am still at a loss to understand: +notwithstanding the experience in all salivatory phenomena which +I afterwards acquired.</p> +<p>I made acquaintance, on this journey, with a mild and modest +young quaker, who opened the discourse by informing me, in a +grave whisper, that his grandfather was the inventor of +cold-drawn castor oil. I mention the circumstance here, +thinking it probable that this is the first occasion on which the +valuable medicine in question was ever used as a conversational +aperient.</p> +<p>We reached the city, late that night. Looking out of my +chamber-window, before going to bed, I saw, on the opposite side +of the way, a handsome building of white marble, which had a +mournful ghost-like aspect, dreary to behold. I attributed +this to the sombre influence of the night, and on rising in the +morning looked out again, expecting to see its steps and portico +thronged with groups of people passing in and out. The door +was still tight shut, however; the same cold cheerless air +prevailed: and the building looked as if the marble statue of Don +Guzman could alone have any business to transact within its +gloomy walls. I hastened to inquire its name and purpose, +and then my surprise vanished. It was the Tomb of many +fortunes; the Great Catacomb of investment; the memorable United +States Bank.</p> +<p>The stoppage of this bank, with all its ruinous consequences, +had cast (as I was told on every side) a gloom on Philadelphia, +under the depressing effect of which it yet laboured. It +certainly did seem rather dull and out of spirits.</p> +<p>It is a handsome city, but distractingly regular. After +walking about it for an hour or two, I felt that I would have +given the world for a crooked street. The collar of my coat +appeared to stiffen, and the brim of my hat to expand, beneath +its quakery influence. My hair shrunk into a sleek short +crop, my hands folded themselves upon my breast of their own calm +accord, and thoughts of taking lodgings in Mark Lane over against +the Market Place, and of making a large fortune by speculations +in corn, came over me involuntarily.</p> +<p>Philadelphia is most bountifully provided with fresh water, +which is showered and jerked about, and turned on, and poured +off, everywhere. The Waterworks, which are on a height near +the city, are no less ornamental than useful, being tastefully +laid out as a public garden, and kept in the best and neatest +order. The river is dammed at this point, and forced by its +own power into certain high tanks or reservoirs, whence the whole +city, to the top stories of the houses, is supplied at a very +trifling expense.</p> +<p>There are various public institutions. Among them a most +excellent Hospital—a quaker establishment, but not +sectarian in the great benefits it confers; a quiet, quaint old +Library, named after Franklin; a handsome Exchange and Post +Office; and so forth. In connection with the quaker +Hospital, there is a picture by West, which is exhibited for the +benefit of the funds of the institution. The subject is, +our Saviour healing the sick, and it is, perhaps, as favourable a +specimen of the master as can be seen anywhere. Whether +this be high or low praise, depends upon the reader’s +taste.</p> +<p>In the same room, there is a very characteristic and life-like +portrait by Mr. Sully, a distinguished American artist.</p> +<p>My stay in Philadelphia was very short, but what I saw of its +society, I greatly liked. Treating of its general +characteristics, I should be disposed to say that it is more +provincial than Boston or New York, and that there is afloat in +the fair city, an assumption of taste and criticism, savouring +rather of those genteel discussions upon the same themes, in +connection with Shakspeare and the Musical Glasses, of which we +read in the Vicar of Wakefield. Near the city, is a most +splendid unfinished marble structure for the Girard College, +founded by a deceased gentleman of that name and of enormous +wealth, which, if completed according to the original design, +will be perhaps the richest edifice of modern times. But +the bequest is involved in legal disputes, and pending them the +work has stopped; so that like many other great undertakings in +America, even this is rather going to be done one of these days, +than doing now.</p> +<p>In the outskirts, stands a great prison, called the Eastern +Penitentiary: conducted on a plan peculiar to the state of +Pennsylvania. The system here, is rigid, strict, and +hopeless solitary confinement. I believe it, in its +effects, to be cruel and wrong.</p> +<p>In its intention, I am well convinced that it is kind, humane, +and meant for reformation; but I am persuaded that those who +devised this system of Prison Discipline, and those benevolent +gentlemen who carry it into execution, do not know what it is +that they are doing. I believe that very few men are +capable of estimating the immense amount of torture and agony +which this dreadful punishment, prolonged for years, inflicts +upon the sufferers; and in guessing at it myself, and in +reasoning from what I have seen written upon their faces, and +what to my certain knowledge they feel within, I am only the more +convinced that there is a depth of terrible endurance in it which +none but the sufferers themselves can fathom, and which no man +has a right to inflict upon his fellow-creature. I hold +this slow and daily tampering with the mysteries of the brain, to +be immeasurably worse than any torture of the body: and because +its ghastly signs and tokens are not so palpable to the eye and +sense of touch as scars upon the flesh; because its wounds are +not upon the surface, and it extorts few cries that human ears +can hear; therefore I the more denounce it, as a secret +punishment which slumbering humanity is not roused up to +stay. I hesitated once, debating with myself, whether, if I +had the power of saying ‘Yes’ or ‘No,’ I +would allow it to be tried in certain cases, where the terms of +imprisonment were short; but now, I solemnly declare, that with +no rewards or honours could I walk a happy man beneath the open +sky by day, or lie me down upon my bed at night, with the +consciousness that one human creature, for any length of time, no +matter what, lay suffering this unknown punishment in his silent +cell, and I the cause, or I consenting to it in the least +degree.</p> +<p>I was accompanied to this prison by two gentlemen officially +connected with its management, and passed the day in going from +cell to cell, and talking with the inmates. Every facility +was afforded me, that the utmost courtesy could suggest. +Nothing was concealed or hidden from my view, and every piece of +information that I sought, was openly and frankly given. +The perfect order of the building cannot be praised too highly, +and of the excellent motives of all who are immediately concerned +in the administration of the system, there can be no kind of +question.</p> +<p>Between the body of the prison and the outer wall, there is a +spacious garden. Entering it, by a wicket in the massive +gate, we pursued the path before us to its other termination, and +passed into a large chamber, from which seven long passages +radiate. On either side of each, is a long, long row of low +cell doors, with a certain number over every one. Above, a +gallery of cells like those below, except that they have no +narrow yard attached (as those in the ground tier have), and are +somewhat smaller. The possession of two of these, is +supposed to compensate for the absence of so much air and +exercise as can be had in the dull strip attached to each of the +others, in an hour’s time every day; and therefore every +prisoner in this upper story has two cells, adjoining and +communicating with, each other.</p> +<p>Standing at the central point, and looking down these dreary +passages, the dull repose and quiet that prevails, is +awful. Occasionally, there is a drowsy sound from some lone +weaver’s shuttle, or shoemaker’s last, but it is +stifled by the thick walls and heavy dungeon-door, and only +serves to make the general stillness more profound. Over +the head and face of every prisoner who comes into this +melancholy house, a black hood is drawn; and in this dark shroud, +an emblem of the curtain dropped between him and the living +world, he is led to the cell from which he never again comes +forth, until his whole term of imprisonment has expired. He +never hears of wife and children; home or friends; the life or +death of any single creature. He sees the prison-officers, +but with that exception he never looks upon a human countenance, +or hears a human voice. He is a man buried alive; to be dug +out in the slow round of years; and in the mean time dead to +everything but torturing anxieties and horrible despair.</p> +<p>His name, and crime, and term of suffering, are unknown, even +to the officer who delivers him his daily food. There is a +number over his cell-door, and in a book of which the governor of +the prison has one copy, and the moral instructor another: this +is the index of his history. Beyond these pages the prison +has no record of his existence: and though he live to be in the +same cell ten weary years, he has no means of knowing, down to +the very last hour, in which part of the building it is situated; +what kind of men there are about him; whether in the long winter +nights there are living people near, or he is in some lonely +corner of the great jail, with walls, and passages, and iron +doors between him and the nearest sharer in its solitary +horrors.</p> +<p>Every cell has double doors: the outer one of sturdy oak, the +other of grated iron, wherein there is a trap through which his +food is handed. He has a Bible, and a slate and pencil, +and, under certain restrictions, has sometimes other books, +provided for the purpose, and pen and ink and paper. His +razor, plate, and can, and basin, hang upon the wall, or shine +upon the little shelf. Fresh water is laid on in every +cell, and he can draw it at his pleasure. During the day, +his bedstead turns up against the wall, and leaves more space for +him to work in. His loom, or bench, or wheel, is there; and +there he labours, sleeps and wakes, and counts the seasons as +they change, and grows old.</p> +<p>The first man I saw, was seated at his loom, at work. He +had been there six years, and was to remain, I think, three +more. He had been convicted as a receiver of stolen goods, +but even after his long imprisonment, denied his guilt, and said +he had been hardly dealt by. It was his second offence.</p> +<p>He stopped his work when we went in, took off his spectacles, +and answered freely to everything that was said to him, but +always with a strange kind of pause first, and in a low, +thoughtful voice. He wore a paper hat of his own making, +and was pleased to have it noticed and commanded. He had +very ingeniously manufactured a sort of Dutch clock from some +disregarded odds and ends; and his vinegar-bottle served for the +pendulum. Seeing me interested in this contrivance, he +looked up at it with a great deal of pride, and said that he had +been thinking of improving it, and that he hoped the hammer and a +little piece of broken glass beside it ‘would play music +before long.’ He had extracted some colours from the +yarn with which he worked, and painted a few poor figures on the +wall. One, of a female, over the door, he called ‘The +Lady of the Lake.’</p> +<p>He smiled as I looked at these contrivances to while away the +time; but when I looked from them to him, I saw that his lip +trembled, and could have counted the beating of his heart. +I forget how it came about, but some allusion was made to his +having a wife. He shook his head at the word, turned aside, +and covered his face with his hands.</p> +<p>‘But you are resigned now!’ said one of the +gentlemen after a short pause, during which he had resumed his +former manner. He answered with a sigh that seemed quite +reckless in its hopelessness, ‘Oh yes, oh yes! I am +resigned to it.’ ‘And are a better man, you +think?’ ‘Well, I hope so: I’m sure I hope +I may be.’ ‘And time goes pretty +quickly?’ ‘Time is very long gentlemen, within +these four walls!’</p> +<p>He gazed about him—Heaven only knows how +wearily!—as he said these words; and in the act of doing +so, fell into a strange stare as if he had forgotten +something. A moment afterwards he sighed heavily, put on +his spectacles, and went about his work again.</p> +<p>In another cell, there was a German, sentenced to five +years’ imprisonment for larceny, two of which had just +expired. With colours procured in the same manner, he had +painted every inch of the walls and ceiling quite +beautifully. He had laid out the few feet of ground, +behind, with exquisite neatness, and had made a little bed in the +centre, that looked, by-the-bye, like a grave. The taste +and ingenuity he had displayed in everything were most +extraordinary; and yet a more dejected, heart-broken, wretched +creature, it would be difficult to imagine. I never saw +such a picture of forlorn affliction and distress of mind. +My heart bled for him; and when the tears ran down his cheeks, +and he took one of the visitors aside, to ask, with his trembling +hands nervously clutching at his coat to detain him, whether +there was no hope of his dismal sentence being commuted, the +spectacle was really too painful to witness. I never saw or +heard of any kind of misery that impressed me more than the +wretchedness of this man.</p> +<p>In a third cell, was a tall, strong black, a burglar, working +at his proper trade of making screws and the like. His time +was nearly out. He was not only a very dexterous thief, but +was notorious for his boldness and hardihood, and for the number +of his previous convictions. He entertained us with a long +account of his achievements, which he narrated with such infinite +relish, that he actually seemed to lick his lips as he told us +racy anecdotes of stolen plate, and of old ladies whom he had +watched as they sat at windows in silver spectacles (he had +plainly had an eye to their metal even from the other side of the +street) and had afterwards robbed. This fellow, upon the +slightest encouragement, would have mingled with his professional +recollections the most detestable cant; but I am very much +mistaken if he could have surpassed the unmitigated hypocrisy +with which he declared that he blessed the day on which he came +into that prison, and that he never would commit another robbery +as long as he lived.</p> +<p>There was one man who was allowed, as an indulgence, to keep +rabbits. His room having rather a close smell in +consequence, they called to him at the door to come out into the +passage. He complied of course, and stood shading his +haggard face in the unwonted sunlight of the great window, +looking as wan and unearthly as if he had been summoned from the +grave. He had a white rabbit in his breast; and when the +little creature, getting down upon the ground, stole back into +the cell, and he, being dismissed, crept timidly after it, I +thought it would have been very hard to say in what respect the +man was the nobler animal of the two.</p> +<p>There was an English thief, who had been there but a few days +out of seven years: a villainous, low-browed, thin-lipped fellow, +with a white face; who had as yet no relish for visitors, and +who, but for the additional penalty, would have gladly stabbed me +with his shoemaker’s knife. There was another German +who had entered the jail but yesterday, and who started from his +bed when we looked in, and pleaded, in his broken English, very +hard for work. There was a poet, who after doing two +days’ work in every four-and-twenty hours, one for himself +and one for the prison, wrote verses about ships (he was by trade +a mariner), and ‘the maddening wine-cup,’ and his +friends at home. There were very many of them. Some +reddened at the sight of visitors, and some turned very +pale. Some two or three had prisoner nurses with them, for +they were very sick; and one, a fat old negro whose leg had been +taken off within the jail, had for his attendant a classical +scholar and an accomplished surgeon, himself a prisoner +likewise. Sitting upon the stairs, engaged in some slight +work, was a pretty coloured boy. ‘Is there no refuge for +young criminals in Philadelphia, then?’ said I. +‘Yes, but only for white children.’ Noble +aristocracy in crime!</p> +<p>There was a sailor who had been there upwards of eleven years, +and who in a few months’ time would be free. Eleven +years of solitary confinement!</p> +<p>‘I am very glad to hear your time is nearly +out.’ What does he say? Nothing. Why does +he stare at his hands, and pick the flesh upon his fingers, and +raise his eyes for an instant, every now and then, to those bare +walls which have seen his head turn grey? It is a way he +has sometimes.</p> +<p>Does he never look men in the face, and does he always pluck +at those hands of his, as though he were bent on parting skin and +bone? It is his humour: nothing more.</p> +<p>It is his humour too, to say that he does not look forward to +going out; that he is not glad the time is drawing near; that he +did look forward to it once, but that was very long ago; that he +has lost all care for everything. It is his humour to be a +helpless, crushed, and broken man. And, Heaven be his +witness that he has his humour thoroughly gratified!</p> +<p>There were three young women in adjoining cells, all convicted +at the same time of a conspiracy to rob their prosecutor. +In the silence and solitude of their lives they had grown to be +quite beautiful. Their looks were very sad, and might have +moved the sternest visitor to tears, but not to that kind of +sorrow which the contemplation of the men awakens. One was +a young girl; not twenty, as I recollect; whose snow-white room +was hung with the work of some former prisoner, and upon whose +downcast face the sun in all its splendour shone down through the +high chink in the wall, where one narrow strip of bright blue sky +was visible. She was very penitent and quiet; had come to +be resigned, she said (and I believe her); and had a mind at +peace. ‘In a word, you are happy here?’ said +one of my companions. She struggled—she did struggle +very hard—to answer, Yes; but raising her eyes, and meeting +that glimpse of freedom overhead, she burst into tears, and said, +‘She tried to be; she uttered no complaint; but it was +natural that she should sometimes long to go out of that one +cell: she could not help <i>that</i>,’ she sobbed, poor +thing!</p> +<p>I went from cell to cell that day; and every face I saw, or +word I heard, or incident I noted, is present to my mind in all +its painfulness. But let me pass them by, for one, more +pleasant, glance of a prison on the same plan which I afterwards +saw at Pittsburg.</p> +<p>When I had gone over that, in the same manner, I asked the +governor if he had any person in his charge who was shortly going +out. He had one, he said, whose time was up next day; but +he had only been a prisoner two years.</p> +<p>Two years! I looked back through two years of my own +life—out of jail, prosperous, happy, surrounded by +blessings, comforts, good fortune—and thought how wide a +gap it was, and how long those two years passed in solitary +captivity would have been. I have the face of this man, who +was going to be released next day, before me now. It is +almost more memorable in its happiness than the other faces in +their misery. How easy and how natural it was for him to +say that the system was a good one; and that the time went +‘pretty quick—considering;’ and that when a man +once felt that he had offended the law, and must satisfy it, +‘he got along, somehow:’ and so forth!</p> +<p>‘What did he call you back to say to you, in that +strange flutter?’ I asked of my conductor, when he had +locked the door and joined me in the passage.</p> +<p>‘Oh! That he was afraid the soles of his boots +were not fit for walking, as they were a good deal worn when he +came in; and that he would thank me very much to have them +mended, ready.’</p> +<p>Those boots had been taken off his feet, and put away with the +rest of his clothes, two years before!</p> +<p>I took that opportunity of inquiring how they conducted +themselves immediately before going out; adding that I presumed +they trembled very much.</p> +<p>‘Well, it’s not so much a trembling,’ was +the answer—‘though they do quiver—as a complete +derangement of the nervous system. They can’t sign +their names to the book; sometimes can’t even hold the pen; +look about ’em without appearing to know why, or where they +are; and sometimes get up and sit down again, twenty times in a +minute. This is when they’re in the office, where +they are taken with the hood on, as they were brought in. +When they get outside the gate, they stop, and look first one way +and then the other; not knowing which to take. Sometimes +they stagger as if they were drunk, and sometimes are forced to +lean against the fence, they’re so bad:—but they +clear off in course of time.’</p> +<p>As I walked among these solitary cells, and looked at the +faces of the men within them, I tried to picture to myself the +thoughts and feelings natural to their condition. I +imagined the hood just taken off, and the scene of their +captivity disclosed to them in all its dismal monotony.</p> +<p>At first, the man is stunned. His confinement is a +hideous vision; and his old life a reality. He throws +himself upon his bed, and lies there abandoned to despair. +By degrees the insupportable solitude and barrenness of the place +rouses him from this stupor, and when the trap in his grated door +is opened, he humbly begs and prays for work. ‘Give +me some work to do, or I shall go raving mad!’</p> +<p>He has it; and by fits and starts applies himself to labour; +but every now and then there comes upon him a burning sense of +the years that must be wasted in that stone coffin, and an agony +so piercing in the recollection of those who are hidden from his +view and knowledge, that he starts from his seat, and striding up +and down the narrow room with both hands clasped on his uplifted +head, hears spirits tempting him to beat his brains out on the +wall.</p> +<p>Again he falls upon his bed, and lies there, moaning. +Suddenly he starts up, wondering whether any other man is near; +whether there is another cell like that on either side of him: +and listens keenly.</p> +<p>There is no sound, but other prisoners may be near for all +that. He remembers to have heard once, when he little +thought of coming here himself, that the cells were so +constructed that the prisoners could not hear each other, though +the officers could hear them. <a name="page90"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 90</span>Where is the nearest man—upon +the right, or on the left? or is there one in both +directions? Where is he sitting now—with his face to +the light? or is he walking to and fro? How is he dressed? +Has he been here long? Is he much worn away? Is he +very white and spectre-like? Does <i>he</i> think of his +neighbour too?</p> +<p>Scarcely venturing to breathe, and listening while he thinks, +he conjures up a figure with his back towards him, and imagines +it moving about in this next cell. He has no idea of the +face, but he is certain of the dark form of a stooping man. +In the cell upon the other side, he puts another figure, whose +face is hidden from him also. Day after day, and often when +he wakes up in the middle of the night, he thinks of these two +men until he is almost distracted. He never changes +them. There they are always as he first imagined +them—an old man on the right; a younger man upon the +left—whose hidden features torture him to death, and have a +mystery that makes him tremble.</p> +<p>The weary days pass on with solemn pace, like mourners at a +funeral; and slowly he begins to feel that the white walls of the +cell have something dreadful in them: that their colour is +horrible: that their smooth surface chills his blood: that there +is one hateful corner which torments him. Every morning +when he wakes, he hides his head beneath the coverlet, and +shudders to see the ghastly ceiling looking down upon him. +The blessed light of day itself peeps in, an ugly phantom face, +through the unchangeable crevice which is his prison window.</p> +<p>By slow but sure degrees, the terrors of that hateful corner +swell until they beset him at all times; invade his rest, make +his dreams hideous, and his nights dreadful. At first, he +took a strange dislike to it; feeling as though it gave birth in +his brain to something of corresponding shape, which ought not to +be there, and racked his head with pains. Then he began to +fear it, then to dream of it, and of men whispering its name and +pointing to it. Then he could not bear to look at it, nor +yet to turn his back upon it. Now, it is every night the +lurking-place of a ghost: a shadow:—a silent something, +horrible to see, but whether bird, or beast, or muffled human +shape, he cannot tell.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p90b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The Solitary Prisoner" +title= +"The Solitary Prisoner" +src="images/p90s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>When he is in his cell by day, he fears the little yard +without. When he is in the yard, he dreads to re-enter the +cell. When night comes, there stands the phantom in the +corner. If he have the courage to stand in its place, and +drive it out (he had once: being desperate), it broods upon his +bed. In the twilight, and always at the same hour, a voice +calls to him by name; as the darkness thickens, his Loom begins +to live; and even that, his comfort, is a hideous figure, +watching him till daybreak.</p> +<p>Again, by slow degrees, these horrible fancies depart from him +one by one: returning sometimes, unexpectedly, but at longer +intervals, and in less alarming shapes. He has talked upon +religious matters with the gentleman who visits him, and has read +his Bible, and has written a prayer upon his slate, and hung it +up as a kind of protection, and an assurance of Heavenly +companionship. He dreams now, sometimes, of his children or +his wife, but is sure that they are dead, or have deserted +him. He is easily moved to tears; is gentle, submissive, +and broken-spirited. Occasionally, the old agony comes +back: a very little thing will revive it; even a familiar sound, +or the scent of summer flowers in the air; but it does not last +long, now: for the world without, has come to be the vision, and +this solitary life, the sad reality.</p> +<p>If his term of imprisonment be short—I mean +comparatively, for short it cannot be—the last half year is +almost worse than all; for then he thinks the prison will take +fire and he be burnt in the ruins, or that he is doomed to die +within the walls, or that he will be detained on some false +charge and sentenced for another term: or that something, no +matter what, must happen to prevent his going at large. And +this is natural, and impossible to be reasoned against, because, +after his long separation from human life, and his great +suffering, any event will appear to him more probable in the +contemplation, than the being restored to liberty and his +fellow-creatures.</p> +<p>If his period of confinement have been very long, the prospect +of release bewilders and confuses him. His broken heart may +flutter for a moment, when he thinks of the world outside, and +what it might have been to him in all those lonely years, but +that is all. The cell-door has been closed too long on all +its hopes and cares. Better to have hanged him in the +beginning than bring him to this pass, and send him forth to +mingle with his kind, who are his kind no more.</p> +<p>On the haggard face of every man among these prisoners, the +same expression sat. I know not what to liken it to. +It had something of that strained attention which we see upon the +faces of the blind and deaf, mingled with a kind of horror, as +though they had all been secretly terrified. In every +little chamber that I entered, and at every grate through which I +looked, I seemed to see the same appalling countenance. It +lives in my memory, with the fascination of a remarkable +picture. Parade before my eyes, a hundred men, with one +among them newly released from this solitary suffering, and I +would point him out.</p> +<p>The faces of the women, as I have said, it humanises and +refines. Whether this be because of their better nature, +which is elicited in solitude, or because of their being gentler +creatures, of greater patience and longer suffering, I do not +know; but so it is. That the punishment is nevertheless, to +my thinking, fully as cruel and as wrong in their case, as in +that of the men, I need scarcely add.</p> +<p>My firm conviction is that, independent of the mental anguish +it occasions—an anguish so acute and so tremendous, that +all imagination of it must fall far short of the reality—it +wears the mind into a morbid state, which renders it unfit for +the rough contact and busy action of the world. It is my +fixed opinion that those who have undergone this punishment, +<span class="smcap">must</span> pass into society again morally +unhealthy and diseased. There are many instances on record, +of men who have chosen, or have been condemned, to lives of +perfect solitude, but I scarcely remember one, even among sages +of strong and vigorous intellect, where its effect has not become +apparent, in some disordered train of thought, or some gloomy +hallucination. What monstrous phantoms, bred of despondency +and doubt, and born and reared in solitude, have stalked upon the +earth, making creation ugly, and darkening the face of +Heaven!</p> +<p>Suicides are rare among these prisoners: are almost, indeed, +unknown. But no argument in favour of the system, can +reasonably be deduced from this circumstance, although it is very +often urged. All men who have made diseases of the mind +their study, know perfectly well that such extreme depression and +despair as will change the whole character, and beat down all its +powers of elasticity and self-resistance, may be at work within a +man, and yet stop short of self-destruction. This is a +common case.</p> +<p>That it makes the senses dull, and by degrees impairs the +bodily faculties, I am quite sure. I remarked to those who +were with me in this very establishment at Philadelphia, that the +criminals who had been there long, were deaf. They, who +were in the habit of seeing these men constantly, were perfectly +amazed at the idea, which they regarded as groundless and +fanciful. And yet the very first prisoner to whom they +appealed—one of their own selection confirmed my impression +(which was unknown to him) instantly, and said, with a genuine +air it was impossible to doubt, that he couldn’t think how +it happened, but he <i>was</i> growing very dull of hearing.</p> +<p>That it is a singularly unequal punishment, and affects the +worst man least, there is no doubt. In its superior +efficiency as a means of reformation, compared with that other +code of regulations which allows the prisoners to work in company +without communicating together, I have not the smallest +faith. All the instances of reformation that were mentioned +to me, were of a kind that might have been—and I have no +doubt whatever, in my own mind, would have been—equally +well brought about by the Silent System. With regard to +such men as the negro burglar and the English thief, even the +most enthusiastic have scarcely any hope of their conversion.</p> +<p>It seems to me that the objection that nothing wholesome or +good has ever had its growth in such unnatural solitude, and that +even a dog or any of the more intelligent among beasts, would +pine, and mope, and rust away, beneath its influence, would be in +itself a sufficient argument against this system. But when +we recollect, in addition, how very cruel and severe it is, and +that a solitary life is always liable to peculiar and distinct +objections of a most deplorable nature, which have arisen here, +and call to mind, moreover, that the choice is not between this +system, and a bad or ill-considered one, but between it and +another which has worked well, and is, in its whole design and +practice, excellent; there is surely more than sufficient reason +for abandoning a mode of punishment attended by so little hope or +promise, and fraught, beyond dispute, with such a host of +evils.</p> +<p>As a relief to its contemplation, I will close this chapter +with a curious story arising out of the same theme, which was +related to me, on the occasion of this visit, by some of the +gentlemen concerned.</p> +<p>At one of the periodical meetings of the inspectors of this +prison, a working man of Philadelphia presented himself before +the Board, and earnestly requested to be placed in solitary +confinement. On being asked what motive could possibly +prompt him to make this strange demand, he answered that he had +an irresistible propensity to get drunk; that he was constantly +indulging it, to his great misery and ruin; that he had no power +of resistance; that he wished to be put beyond the reach of +temptation; and that he could think of no better way than +this. It was pointed out to him, in reply, that the prison +was for criminals who had been tried and sentenced by the law, +and could not be made available for any such fanciful purposes; +he was exhorted to abstain from intoxicating drinks, as he surely +might if he would; and received other very good advice, with +which he retired, exceedingly dissatisfied with the result of his +application.</p> +<p>He came again, and again, and again, and was so very earnest +and importunate, that at last they took counsel together, and +said, ‘He will certainly qualify himself for admission, if +we reject him any more. Let us shut him up. He will +soon be glad to go away, and then we shall get rid of +him.’ So they made him sign a statement which would +prevent his ever sustaining an action for false imprisonment, to +the effect that his incarceration was voluntary, and of his own +seeking; they requested him to take notice that the officer in +attendance had orders to release him at any hour of the day or +night, when he might knock upon his door for that purpose; but +desired him to understand, that once going out, he would not be +admitted any more. These conditions agreed upon, and he +still remaining in the same mind, he was conducted to the prison, +and shut up in one of the cells.</p> +<p>In this cell, the man, who had not the firmness to leave a +glass of liquor standing untasted on a table before him—in +this cell, in solitary confinement, and working every day at his +trade of shoemaking, this man remained nearly two years. +His health beginning to fail at the expiration of that time, the +surgeon recommended that he should work occasionally in the +garden; and as he liked the notion very much, he went about this +new occupation with great cheerfulness.</p> +<p>He was digging here, one summer day, very industriously, when +the wicket in the outer gate chanced to be left open: showing, +beyond, the well-remembered dusty road and sunburnt fields. +The way was as free to him as to any man living, but he no sooner +raised his head and caught sight of it, all shining in the light, +than, with the involuntary instinct of a prisoner, he cast away +his spade, scampered off as fast as his legs would carry him, and +never once looked back.</p> +<h2><a name="page94"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +94</span>CHAPTER VIII<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">WASHINGTON. THE LEGISLATURE. +AND THE PRESIDENT’S HOUSE</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> left Philadelphia by steamboat, +at six o’clock one very cold morning, and turned our faces +towards Washington.</p> +<p>In the course of this day’s journey, as on subsequent +occasions, we encountered some Englishmen (small farmers, +perhaps, or country publicans at home) who were settled in +America, and were travelling on their own affairs. Of all +grades and kinds of men that jostle one in the public conveyances +of the States, these are often the most intolerable and the most +insufferable companions. United to every disagreeable +characteristic that the worst kind of American travellers +possess, these countrymen of ours display an amount of insolent +conceit and cool assumption of superiority, quite monstrous to +behold. In the coarse familiarity of their approach, and +the effrontery of their inquisitiveness (which they are in great +haste to assert, as if they panted to revenge themselves upon the +decent old restraints of home), they surpass any native specimens +that came within my range of observation: and I often grew so +patriotic when I saw and heard them, that I would cheerfully have +submitted to a reasonable fine, if I could have given any other +country in the whole world, the honour of claiming them for its +children.</p> +<p>As Washington may be called the head-quarters of +tobacco-tinctured saliva, the time is come when I must confess, +without any disguise, that the prevalence of those two odious +practices of chewing and expectorating began about this time to +be anything but agreeable, and soon became most offensive and +sickening. In all the public places of America, this filthy +custom is recognised. In the courts of law, the judge has +his spittoon, the crier his, the witness his, and the prisoner +his; while the jurymen and spectators are provided for, as so +many men who in the course of nature must desire to spit +incessantly. In the hospitals, the students of medicine are +requested, by notices upon the wall, to eject their tobacco juice +into the boxes provided for that purpose, and not to discolour +the stairs. In public buildings, visitors are implored, +through the same agency, to squirt the essence of their quids, or +‘plugs,’ as I have heard them called by gentlemen +learned in this kind of sweetmeat, into the national spittoons, +and not about the bases of the marble columns. But in some +parts, this custom is inseparably mixed up with every meal and +morning call, and with all the transactions of social life. +The stranger, who follows in the track I took myself, will find +it in its full bloom and glory, luxuriant in all its alarming +recklessness, at Washington. And let him not persuade +himself (as I once did, to my shame) that previous tourists have +exaggerated its extent. The thing itself is an exaggeration +of nastiness, which cannot be outdone.</p> +<p>On board this steamboat, there were two young gentlemen, with +shirt-collars reversed as usual, and armed with very big +walking-sticks; who planted two seats in the middle of the deck, +at a distance of some four paces apart; took out their +tobacco-boxes; and sat down opposite each other, to chew. +In less than a quarter of an hour’s time, these hopeful +youths had shed about them on the clean boards, a copious shower +of yellow rain; clearing, by that means, a kind of magic circle, +within whose limits no intruders dared to come, and which they +never failed to refresh and re-refresh before a spot was +dry. This being before breakfast, rather disposed me, I +confess, to nausea; but looking attentively at one of the +expectorators, I plainly saw that he was young in chewing, and +felt inwardly uneasy, himself. A glow of delight came over +me at this discovery; and as I marked his face turn paler and +paler, and saw the ball of tobacco in his left cheek, quiver with +his suppressed agony, while yet he spat, and chewed, and spat +again, in emulation of his older friend, I could have fallen on +his neck and implored him to go on for hours.</p> +<p>We all sat down to a comfortable breakfast in the cabin below, +where there was no more hurry or confusion than at such a meal in +England, and where there was certainly greater politeness +exhibited than at most of our stage-coach banquets. At +about nine o’clock we arrived at the railroad station, and +went on by the cars. At noon we turned out again, to cross +a wide river in another steamboat; landed at a continuation of +the railroad on the opposite shore; and went on by other cars; in +which, in the course of the next hour or so, we crossed by wooden +bridges, each a mile in length, two creeks, called respectively +Great and Little Gunpowder. The water in both was blackened +with flights of canvas-backed ducks, which are most delicious +eating, and abound hereabouts at that season of the year.</p> +<p>These bridges are of wood, have no parapet, and are only just +wide enough for the passage of the trains; which, in the event of +the smallest accident, wound inevitably be plunged into the +river. They are startling contrivances, and are most +agreeable when passed.</p> +<p>We stopped to dine at Baltimore, and being now in Maryland, +were waited on, for the first time, by slaves. The +sensation of exacting any service from human creatures who are +bought and sold, and being, for the time, a party as it were to +their condition, is not an enviable one. The institution +exists, perhaps, in its least repulsive and most mitigated form +in such a town as this; but it <i>is</i> slavery; and though I +was, with respect to it, an innocent man, its presence filled me +with a sense of shame and self-reproach.</p> +<p>After dinner, we went down to the railroad again, and took our +seats in the cars for Washington. Being rather early, those +men and boys who happened to have nothing particular to do, and +were curious in foreigners, came (according to custom) round the +carriage in which I sat; let down all the windows; thrust in +their heads and shoulders; hooked themselves on conveniently, by +their elbows; and fell to comparing notes on the subject of my +personal appearance, with as much indifference as if I were a +stuffed figure. I never gained so much uncompromising +information with reference to my own nose and eyes, and various +impressions wrought by my mouth and chin on different minds, and +how my head looks when it is viewed from behind, as on these +occasions. Some gentlemen were only satisfied by exercising +their sense of touch; and the boys (who are surprisingly +precocious in America) were seldom satisfied, even by that, but +would return to the charge over and over again. Many a +budding president has walked into my room with his cap on his +head and his hands in his pockets, and stared at me for two whole +hours: occasionally refreshing himself with a tweak of his nose, +or a draught from the water-jug; or by walking to the windows and +inviting other boys in the street below, to come up and do +likewise: crying, ‘Here he is!’ ‘Come +on!’ ‘Bring all your brothers!’ with +other hospitable entreaties of that nature.</p> +<p>We reached Washington at about half-past six that evening, and +had upon the way a beautiful view of the Capitol, which is a fine +building of the Corinthian order, placed upon a noble and +commanding eminence. Arrived at the hotel; I saw no more of +the place that night; being very tired, and glad to get to +bed.</p> +<p>Breakfast over next morning, I walk about the streets for an +hour or two, and, coming home, throw up the window in the front +and back, and look out. Here is Washington, fresh in my +mind and under my eye.</p> +<p>Take the worst parts of the City Road and Pentonville, or the +straggling outskirts of Paris, where the houses are smallest, +preserving all their oddities, but especially the small shops and +dwellings, occupied in Pentonville (but not in Washington) by +furniture-brokers, keepers of poor eating-houses, and fanciers of +birds. Burn the whole down; build it up again in wood and +plaster; widen it a little; throw in part of St. John’s +Wood; put green blinds outside all the private houses, with a red +curtain and a white one in every window; plough up all the roads; +plant a great deal of coarse turf in every place where it ought +<i>not</i> to be; erect three handsome buildings in stone and +marble, anywhere, but the more entirely out of everybody’s +way the better; call one the Post Office; one the Patent Office, +and one the Treasury; make it scorching hot in the morning, and +freezing cold in the afternoon, with an occasional tornado of +wind and dust; leave a brick-field without the bricks, in all +central places where a street may naturally be expected: and +that’s Washington.</p> +<p>The hotel in which we live, is a long row of small houses +fronting on the street, and opening at the back upon a common +yard, in which hangs a great triangle. Whenever a servant +is wanted, somebody beats on this triangle from one stroke up to +seven, according to the number of the house in which his presence +is required; and as all the servants are always being wanted, and +none of them ever come, this enlivening engine is in full +performance the whole day through. Clothes are drying in +the same yard; female slaves, with cotton handkerchiefs twisted +round their heads are running to and fro on the hotel business; +black waiters cross and recross with dishes in their hands; two +great dogs are playing upon a mound of loose bricks in the centre +of the little square; a pig is turning up his stomach to the sun, +and grunting ‘that’s comfortable!’; and neither +the men, nor the women, nor the dogs, nor the pig, nor any +created creature, takes the smallest notice of the triangle, +which is tingling madly all the time.</p> +<p>I walk to the front window, and look across the road upon a +long, straggling row of houses, one story high, terminating, +nearly opposite, but a little to the left, in a melancholy piece +of waste ground with frowzy grass, which looks like a small piece +of country that has taken to drinking, and has quite lost +itself. Standing anyhow and all wrong, upon this open +space, like something meteoric that has fallen down from the +moon, is an odd, lop-sided, one-eyed kind of wooden building, +that looks like a church, with a flag-staff as long as itself +sticking out of a steeple something larger than a +tea-chest. Under the window is a small stand of coaches, +whose slave-drivers are sunning themselves on the steps of our +door, and talking idly together. The three most obtrusive +houses near at hand are the three meanest. On one—a +shop, which never has anything in the window, and never has the +door open—is painted in large characters, ‘<span +class="smcap">The City Lunch</span>.’ At another, +which looks like a backway to somewhere else, but is an +independent building in itself, oysters are procurable in every +style. At the third, which is a very, very little +tailor’s shop, pants are fixed to order; or in other words, +pantaloons are made to measure. And that is our street in +Washington.</p> +<p>It is sometimes called the City of Magnificent Distances, but +it might with greater propriety be termed the City of Magnificent +Intentions; for it is only on taking a bird’s-eye view of +it from the top of the Capitol, that one can at all comprehend +the vast designs of its projector, an aspiring Frenchman. +Spacious avenues, that begin in nothing, and lead nowhere; +streets, mile-long, that only want houses, roads and inhabitants; +public buildings that need but a public to be complete; and +ornaments of great thoroughfares, which only lack great +thoroughfares to ornament—are its leading features. +One might fancy the season over, and most of the houses gone out +of town for ever with their masters. To the admirers of +cities it is a Barmecide Feast: a pleasant field for the +imagination to rove in; a monument raised to a deceased project, +with not even a legible inscription to record its departed +greatness.</p> +<p>Such as it is, it is likely to remain. It was originally +chosen for the seat of Government, as a means of averting the +conflicting jealousies and interests of the different States; and +very probably, too, as being remote from mobs: a consideration +not to be slighted, even in America. It has no trade or +commerce of its own: having little or no population beyond the +President and his establishment; the members of the legislature +who reside there during the session; the Government clerks and +officers employed in the various departments; the keepers of the +hotels and boarding-houses; and the tradesmen who supply their +tables. It is very unhealthy. Few people would live +in Washington, I take it, who were not obliged to reside there; +and the tides of emigration and speculation, those rapid and +regardless currents, are little likely to flow at any time +towards such dull and sluggish water.</p> +<p>The principal features of the Capitol, are, of course, the two +houses of Assembly. But there is, besides, in the centre of +the building, a fine rotunda, ninety-six feet in diameter, and +ninety-six high, whose circular wall is divided into +compartments, ornamented by historical pictures. Four of +these have for their subjects prominent events in the +revolutionary struggle. They were painted by Colonel +Trumbull, himself a member of Washington’s staff at the +time of their occurrence; from which circumstance they derive a +peculiar interest of their own. In this same hall Mr. +Greenough’s large statue of Washington has been lately +placed. It has great merits of course, but it struck me as +being rather strained and violent for its subject. I could +wish, however, to have seen it in a better light than it can ever +be viewed in, where it stands.</p> +<p>There is a very pleasant and commodious library in the +Capitol; and from a balcony in front, the bird’s-eye view, +of which I have just spoken, may be had, together with a +beautiful prospect of the adjacent country. In one of the +ornamented portions of the building, there is a figure of +Justice; whereunto the Guide Book says, ‘the artist at +first contemplated giving more of nudity, but he was warned that +the public sentiment in this country would not admit of it, and +in his caution he has gone, perhaps, into the opposite +extreme.’ Poor Justice! she has been made to wear +much stranger garments in America than those she pines in, in the +Capitol. Let us hope that she has changed her dress-maker +since they were fashioned, and that the public sentiment of the +country did not cut out the clothes she hides her lovely figure +in, just now.</p> +<p>The House of Representatives is a beautiful and spacious hall, +of semicircular shape, supported by handsome pillars. One +part of the gallery is appropriated to the ladies, and there they +sit in front rows, and come in, and go out, as at a play or +concert. The chair is canopied, and raised considerably +above the floor of the House; and every member has an easy chair +and a writing desk to himself: which is denounced by some people +out of doors as a most unfortunate and injudicious arrangement, +tending to long sittings and prosaic speeches. It is an +elegant chamber to look at, but a singularly bad one for all +purposes of hearing. The Senate, which is smaller, is free +from this objection, and is exceedingly well adapted to the uses +for which it is designed. The sittings, I need hardly add, +take place in the day; and the parliamentary forms are modelled +on those of the old country.</p> +<p>I was sometimes asked, in my progress through other places, +whether I had not been very much impressed by the <i>heads</i> of +the lawmakers at Washington; meaning not their chiefs and +leaders, but literally their individual and personal heads, +whereon their hair grew, and whereby the phrenological character +of each legislator was expressed: and I almost as often struck my +questioner dumb with indignant consternation by answering +‘No, that I didn’t remember being at all +overcome.’ As I must, at whatever hazard, repeat the +avowal here, I will follow it up by relating my impressions on +this subject in as few words as possible.</p> +<p>In the first place—it may be from some imperfect +development of my organ of veneration—I do not remember +having ever fainted away, or having even been moved to tears of +joyful pride, at sight of any legislative body. I have +borne the House of Commons like a man, and have yielded to no +weakness, but slumber, in the House of Lords. I have seen +elections for borough and county, and have never been impelled +(no matter which party won) to damage my hat by throwing it up +into the air in triumph, or to crack my voice by shouting forth +any reference to our Glorious Constitution, to the noble purity +of our independent voters, or, the unimpeachable integrity of our +independent members. Having withstood such strong attacks +upon my fortitude, it is possible that I may be of a cold and +insensible temperament, amounting to iciness, in such matters; +and therefore my impressions of the live pillars of the Capitol +at Washington must be received with such grains of allowance as +this free confession may seem to demand.</p> +<p>Did I see in this public body an assemblage of men, bound +together in the sacred names of Liberty and Freedom, and so +asserting the chaste dignity of those twin goddesses, in all +their discussions, as to exalt at once the Eternal Principles to +which their names are given, and their own character and the +character of their countrymen, in the admiring eyes of the whole +world?</p> +<p>It was but a week, since an aged, grey-haired man, a lasting +honour to the land that gave him birth, who has done good service +to his country, as his forefathers did, and who will be +remembered scores upon scores of years after the worms bred in +its corruption, are but so many grains of dust—it was but a +week, since this old man had stood for days upon his trial before +this very body, charged with having dared to assert the infamy of +that traffic, which has for its accursed merchandise men and +women, and their unborn children. Yes. And publicly +exhibited in the same city all the while; gilded, framed and +glazed hung up for general admiration; shown to strangers not +with shame, but pride; its face not turned towards the wall, +itself not taken down and burned; is the Unanimous Declaration of +the Thirteen United States of America, which solemnly declares +that All Men are created Equal; and are endowed by their Creator +with the Inalienable Rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of +Happiness!</p> +<p>It was not a month, since this same body had sat calmly by, +and heard a man, one of themselves, with oaths which beggars in +their drink reject, threaten to cut another’s throat from +ear to ear. There he sat, among them; not crushed by the +general feeling of the assembly, but as good a man as any.</p> +<p>There was but a week to come, and another of that body, for +doing his duty to those who sent him there; for claiming in a +Republic the Liberty and Freedom of expressing their sentiments, +and making known their prayer; would be tried, found guilty, and +have strong censure passed upon him by the rest. His was a +grave offence indeed; for years before, he had risen up and said, +‘A gang of male and female slaves for sale, warranted to +breed like cattle, linked to each other by iron fetters, are +passing now along the open street beneath the windows of your +Temple of Equality! Look!’ But there are many +kinds of hunters engaged in the Pursuit of Happiness, and they go +variously armed. It is the Inalienable Right of some among +them, to take the field after <i>their</i> Happiness equipped +with cat and cartwhip, stocks, and iron collar, and to shout +their view halloa! (always in praise of Liberty) to the music of +clanking chains and bloody stripes.</p> +<p>Where sat the many legislators of coarse threats; of words and +blows such as coalheavers deal upon each other, when they forget +their breeding? On every side. Every session had its +anecdotes of that kind, and the actors were all there.</p> +<p>Did I recognise in this assembly, a body of men, who, applying +themselves in a new world to correct some of the falsehoods and +vices of the old, purified the avenues to Public Life, paved the +dirty ways to Place and Power, debated and made laws for the +Common Good, and had no party but their Country?</p> +<p>I saw in them, the wheels that move the meanest perversion of +virtuous Political Machinery that the worst tools ever +wrought. Despicable trickery at elections; under-handed +tamperings with public officers; cowardly attacks upon opponents, +with scurrilous newspapers for shields, and hired pens for +daggers; shameful trucklings to mercenary knaves, whose claim to +be considered, is, that every day and week they sow new crops of +ruin with their venal types, which are the dragon’s teeth +of yore, in everything but sharpness; aidings and abettings of +every bad inclination in the popular mind, and artful +suppressions of all its good influences: such things as these, +and in a word, Dishonest Faction in its most depraved and most +unblushing form, stared out from every corner of the crowded +hall.</p> +<p>Did I see among them, the intelligence and refinement: the +true, honest, patriotic heart of America? Here and there, +were drops of its blood and life, but they scarcely coloured the +stream of desperate adventurers which sets that way for profit +and for pay. It is the game of these men, and of their +profligate organs, to make the strife of politics so fierce and +brutal, and so destructive of all self-respect in worthy men, +that sensitive and delicate-minded persons shall be kept aloof, +and they, and such as they, be left to battle out their selfish +views unchecked. And thus this lowest of all scrambling +fights goes on, and they who in other countries would, from their +intelligence and station, most aspire to make the laws, do here +recoil the farthest from that degradation.</p> +<p>That there are, among the representatives of the people in +both Houses, and among all parties, some men of high character +and great abilities, I need not say. The foremost among +those politicians who are known in Europe, have been already +described, and I see no reason to depart from the rule I have +laid down for my guidance, of abstaining from all mention of +individuals. It will be sufficient to add, that to the most +favourable accounts that have been written of them, I more than +fully and most heartily subscribe; and that personal intercourse +and free communication have bred within me, not the result +predicted in the very doubtful proverb, but increased admiration +and respect. They are striking men to look at, hard to +deceive, prompt to act, lions in energy, Crichtons in varied +accomplishments, Indians in fire of eye and gesture, Americans in +strong and generous impulse; and they as well represent the +honour and wisdom of their country at home, as the distinguished +gentleman who is now its Minister at the British Court sustains +its highest character abroad.</p> +<p>I visited both houses nearly every day, during my stay in +Washington. On my initiatory visit to the House of +Representatives, they divided against a decision of the chair; +but the chair won. The second time I went, the member who +was speaking, being interrupted by a laugh, mimicked it, as one +child would in quarrelling with another, and added, ‘that +he would make honourable gentlemen opposite, sing out a little +more on the other side of their mouths presently.’ +But interruptions are rare; the speaker being usually heard in +silence. There are more quarrels than with us, and more +threatenings than gentlemen are accustomed to exchange in any +civilised society of which we have record: but farm-yard +imitations have not as yet been imported from the Parliament of +the United Kingdom. The feature in oratory which appears to +be the most practised, and most relished, is the constant +repetition of the same idea or shadow of an idea in fresh words; +and the inquiry out of doors is not, ‘What did he +say?’ but, ‘How long did he speak?’ +These, however, are but enlargements of a principle which +prevails elsewhere.</p> +<p>The Senate is a dignified and decorous body, and its +proceedings are conducted with much gravity and order. Both +houses are handsomely carpeted; but the state to which these +carpets are reduced by the universal disregard of the spittoon +with which every honourable member is accommodated, and the +extraordinary improvements on the pattern which are squirted and +dabbled upon it in every direction, do not admit of being +described. I will merely observe, that I strongly recommend +all strangers not to look at the floor; and if they happen to +drop anything, though it be their purse, not to pick it up with +an ungloved hand on any account.</p> +<p>It is somewhat remarkable too, at first, to say the least, to +see so many honourable members with swelled faces; and it is +scarcely less remarkable to discover that this appearance is +caused by the quantity of tobacco they contrive to stow within +the hollow of the cheek. It is strange enough too, to see +an honourable gentleman leaning back in his tilted chair with his +legs on the desk before him, shaping a convenient +‘plug’ with his penknife, and when it is quite ready +for use, shooting the old one from his mouth, as from a pop-gun, +and clapping the new one in its place.</p> +<p>I was surprised to observe that even steady old chewers of +great experience, are not always good marksmen, which has rather +inclined me to doubt that general proficiency with the rifle, of +which we have heard so much in England. Several gentlemen +called upon me who, in the course of conversation, frequently +missed the spittoon at five paces; and one (but he was certainly +short-sighted) mistook the closed sash for the open window, at +three. On another occasion, when I dined out, and was +sitting with two ladies and some gentlemen round a fire before +dinner, one of the company fell short of the fireplace, six +distinct times. I am disposed to think, however, that this +was occasioned by his not aiming at that object; as there was a +white marble hearth before the fender, which was more convenient, +and may have suited his purpose better.</p> +<p>The Patent Office at Washington, furnishes an extraordinary +example of American enterprise and ingenuity; for the immense +number of models it contains are the accumulated inventions of +only five years; the whole of the previous collection having been +destroyed by fire. The elegant structure in which they are +arranged is one of design rather than execution, for there is but +one side erected out of four, though the works are stopped. +The Post Office is a very compact and very beautiful +building. In one of the departments, among a collection of +rare and curious articles, are deposited the presents which have +been made from time to time to the American ambassadors at +foreign courts by the various potentates to whom they were the +accredited agents of the Republic; gifts which by the law they +are not permitted to retain. I confess that I looked upon +this as a very painful exhibition, and one by no means flattering +to the national standard of honesty and honour. That can +scarcely be a high state of moral feeling which imagines a +gentleman of repute and station, likely to be corrupted, in the +discharge of his duty, by the present of a snuff-box, or a +richly-mounted sword, or an Eastern shawl; and surely the Nation +who reposes confidence in her appointed servants, is likely to be +better served, than she who makes them the subject of such very +mean and paltry suspicions.</p> +<p>At George Town, in the suburbs, there is a Jesuit College; +delightfully situated, and, so far as I had an opportunity of +seeing, well managed. Many persons who are not members of +the Romish Church, avail themselves, I believe, of these +institutions, and of the advantageous opportunities they afford +for the education of their children. The heights of this +neighbourhood, above the Potomac River, are very picturesque: and +are free, I should conceive, from some of the insalubrities of +Washington. The air, at that elevation, was quite cool and +refreshing, when in the city it was burning hot.</p> +<p>The President’s mansion is more like an English +club-house, both within and without, than any other kind of +establishment with which I can compare it. The ornamental +ground about it has been laid out in garden walks; they are +pretty, and agreeable to the eye; though they have that +uncomfortable air of having been made yesterday, which is far +from favourable to the display of such beauties.</p> +<p>My first visit to this house was on the morning after my +arrival, when I was carried thither by an official gentleman, who +was so kind as to charge himself with my presentation to the +President.</p> +<p>We entered a large hall, and having twice or thrice rung a +bell which nobody answered, walked without further ceremony +through the rooms on the ground floor, as divers other gentlemen +(mostly with their hats on, and their hands in their pockets) +were doing very leisurely. Some of these had ladies with +them, to whom they were showing the premises; others were +lounging on the chairs and sofas; others, in a perfect state of +exhaustion from listlessness, were yawning drearily. The +greater portion of this assemblage were rather asserting their +supremacy than doing anything else, as they had no particular +business there, that anybody knew of. A few were closely +eyeing the movables, as if to make quite sure that the President +(who was far from popular) had not made away with any of the +furniture, or sold the fixtures for his private benefit.</p> +<p>After glancing at these loungers; who were scattered over a +pretty drawing-room, opening upon a terrace which commanded a +beautiful prospect of the river and the adjacent country; and who +were sauntering, too, about a larger state-room called the +Eastern Drawing-room; we went up-stairs into another chamber, +where were certain visitors, waiting for audiences. At +sight of my conductor, a black in plain clothes and yellow +slippers who was gliding noiselessly about, and whispering +messages in the ears of the more impatient, made a sign of +recognition, and glided off to announce him.</p> +<p>We had previously looked into another chamber fitted all round +with a great, bare, wooden desk or counter, whereon lay files of +newspapers, to which sundry gentlemen were referring. But +there were no such means of beguiling the time in this apartment, +which was as unpromising and tiresome as any waiting-room in one +of our public establishments, or any physician’s +dining-room during his hours of consultation at home.</p> +<p>There were some fifteen or twenty persons in the room. +One, a tall, wiry, muscular old man, from the west; sunburnt and +swarthy; with a brown white hat on his knees, and a giant +umbrella resting between his legs; who sat bolt upright in his +chair, frowning steadily at the carpet, and twitching the hard +lines about his mouth, as if he had made up his mind ‘to +fix’ the President on what he had to say, and +wouldn’t bate him a grain. Another, a Kentucky +farmer, six-feet-six in height, with his hat on, and his hands +under his coat-tails, who leaned against the wall and kicked the +floor with his heel, as though he had Time’s head under his +shoe, and were literally ‘killing’ him. A +third, an oval-faced, bilious-looking man, with sleek black hair +cropped close, and whiskers and beard shaved down to blue dots, +who sucked the head of a thick stick, and from time to time took +it out of his mouth, to see how it was getting on. A fourth +did nothing but whistle. A fifth did nothing but +spit. And indeed all these gentlemen were so very +persevering and energetic in this latter particular, and bestowed +their favours so abundantly upon the carpet, that I take it for +granted the Presidential housemaids have high wages, or, to speak +more genteelly, an ample amount of ‘compensation:’ +which is the American word for salary, in the case of all public +servants.</p> +<p>We had not waited in this room many minutes, before the black +messenger returned, and conducted us into another of smaller +dimensions, where, at a business-like table covered with papers, +sat the President himself. He looked somewhat worn and +anxious, and well he might; being at war with everybody—but +the expression of his face was mild and pleasant, and his manner +was remarkably unaffected, gentlemanly, and agreeable. I +thought that in his whole carriage and demeanour, he became his +station singularly well.</p> +<p>Being advised that the sensible etiquette of the republican +court admitted of a traveller, like myself, declining, without +any impropriety, an invitation to dinner, which did not reach me +until I had concluded my arrangements for leaving Washington some +days before that to which it referred, I only returned to this +house once. It was on the occasion of one of those general +assemblies which are held on certain nights, between the hours of +nine and twelve o’clock, and are called, rather oddly, +Levees.</p> +<p>I went, with my wife, at about ten. There was a pretty +dense crowd of carriages and people in the court-yard, and so far +as I could make out, there were no very clear regulations for the +taking up or setting down of company. There were certainly +no policemen to soothe startled horses, either by sawing at their +bridles or flourishing truncheons in their eyes; and I am ready +to make oath that no inoffensive persons were knocked violently +on the head, or poked acutely in their backs or stomachs; or +brought to a standstill by any such gentle means, and then taken +into custody for not moving on. But there was no confusion +or disorder. Our carriage reached the porch in its turn, +without any blustering, swearing, shouting, backing, or other +disturbance: and we dismounted with as much ease and comfort as +though we had been escorted by the whole Metropolitan Force from +A to Z inclusive.</p> +<p>The suite of rooms on the ground-floor were lighted up, and a +military band was playing in the hall. In the smaller +drawing-room, the centre of a circle of company, were the +President and his daughter-in-law, who acted as the lady of the +mansion; and a very interesting, graceful, and accomplished lady +too. One gentleman who stood among this group, appeared to +take upon himself the functions of a master of the +ceremonies. I saw no other officers or attendants, and none +were needed.</p> +<p>The great drawing-room, which I have already mentioned, and +the other chambers on the ground-floor, were crowded to +excess. The company was not, in our sense of the term, +select, for it comprehended persons of very many grades and +classes; nor was there any great display of costly attire: +indeed, some of the costumes may have been, for aught I know, +grotesque enough. But the decorum and propriety of +behaviour which prevailed, were unbroken by any rude or +disagreeable incident; and every man, even among the +miscellaneous crowd in the hall who were admitted without any +orders or tickets to look on, appeared to feel that he was a part +of the Institution, and was responsible for its preserving a +becoming character, and appearing to the best advantage.</p> +<p>That these visitors, too, whatever their station, were not +without some refinement of taste and appreciation of intellectual +gifts, and gratitude to those men who, by the peaceful exercise +of great abilities, shed new charms and associations upon the +homes of their countrymen, and elevate their character in other +lands, was most earnestly testified by their reception of +Washington Irving, my dear friend, who had recently been +appointed Minister at the court of Spain, and who was among them +that night, in his new character, for the first and last time +before going abroad. I sincerely believe that in all the +madness of American politics, few public men would have been so +earnestly, devotedly, and affectionately caressed, as this most +charming writer: and I have seldom respected a public assembly +more, than I did this eager throng, when I saw them turning with +one mind from noisy orators and officers of state, and flocking +with a generous and honest impulse round the man of quiet +pursuits: proud in his promotion as reflecting back upon their +country: and grateful to him with their whole hearts for the +store of graceful fancies he had poured out among them. +Long may he dispense such treasures with unsparing hand; and long +may they remember him as worthily!</p> +<div class="gapshortline"> </div> +<p>The term we had assigned for the duration of our stay in +Washington was now at an end, and we were to begin to travel; for +the railroad distances we had traversed yet, in journeying among +these older towns, are on that great continent looked upon as +nothing.</p> +<p>I had at first intended going South—to Charleston. +But when I came to consider the length of time which this journey +would occupy, and the premature heat of the season, which even at +Washington had been often very trying; and weighed moreover, in +my own mind, the pain of living in the constant contemplation of +slavery, against the more than doubtful chances of my ever seeing +it, in the time I had to spare, stripped of the disguises in +which it would certainly be dressed, and so adding any item to +the host of facts already heaped together on the subject; I began +to listen to old whisperings which had often been present to me +at home in England, when I little thought of ever being here; and +to dream again of cities growing up, like palaces in fairy tales, +among the wilds and forests of the west.</p> +<p>The advice I received in most quarters when I began to yield +to my desire of travelling towards that point of the compass was, +according to custom, sufficiently cheerless: my companion being +threatened with more perils, dangers, and discomforts, than I can +remember or would catalogue if I could; but of which it will be +sufficient to remark that blowings-up in steamboats and +breakings-down in coaches were among the least. But, having +a western route sketched out for me by the best and kindest +authority to which I could have resorted, and putting no great +faith in these discouragements, I soon determined on my plan of +action.</p> +<p>This was to travel south, only to Richmond in Virginia; and +then to turn, and shape our course for the Far West; whither I +beseech the reader’s company, in a new chapter.</p> +<h2><a name="page107"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +107</span>CHAPTER IX<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">A NIGHT STEAMER ON THE POTOMAC +RIVER. VIRGINIA ROAD, AND A BLACK DRIVER. +RICHMOND. BALTIMORE. THE HARRISBURG MAIL, AND A +GLIMPSE OF THE CITY. A CANAL BOAT</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">We</span> were to proceed in the first +instance by steamboat; and as it is usual to sleep on board, in +consequence of the starting-hour being four o’clock in the +morning, we went down to where she lay, at that very +uncomfortable time for such expeditions when slippers are most +valuable, and a familiar bed, in the perspective of an hour or +two, looks uncommonly pleasant.</p> +<p>It is ten o’clock at night: say half-past ten: +moonlight, warm, and dull enough. The steamer (not unlike a +child’s Noah’s ark in form, with the machinery on the +top of the roof) is riding lazily up and down, and bumping +clumsily against the wooden pier, as the ripple of the river +trifles with its unwieldy carcase. The wharf is some +distance from the city. There is nobody down here; and one +or two dull lamps upon the steamer’s decks are the only +signs of life remaining, when our coach has driven away. As +soon as our footsteps are heard upon the planks, a fat negress, +particularly favoured by nature in respect of bustle, emerges +from some dark stairs, and marshals my wife towards the +ladies’ cabin, to which retreat she goes, followed by a +mighty bale of cloaks and great-coats. I valiantly resolve +not to go to bed at all, but to walk up and down the pier till +morning.</p> +<p>I begin my promenade—thinking of all kinds of distant +things and persons, and of nothing near—and pace up and +down for half-an-hour. Then I go on board again; and +getting into the light of one of the lamps, look at my watch and +think it must have stopped; and wonder what has become of the +faithful secretary whom I brought along with me from +Boston. He is supping with our late landlord (a Field +Marshal, at least, no doubt) in honour of our departure, and may +be two hours longer. I walk again, but it gets duller and +duller: the moon goes down: next June seems farther off in the +dark, and the echoes of my footsteps make me nervous. It +has turned cold too; and walking up and down without my companion +in such lonely circumstances, is but poor amusement. So I +break my staunch resolution, and think it may be, perhaps, as +well to go to bed.</p> +<p>I go on board again; open the door of the gentlemen’s +cabin and walk in. Somehow or other—from its being so +quiet, I suppose—I have taken it into my head that there is +nobody there. To my horror and amazement it is full of +sleepers in every stage, shape, attitude, and variety of slumber: +in the berths, on the chairs, on the floors, on the tables, and +particularly round the stove, my detested enemy. I take +another step forward, and slip on the shining face of a black +steward, who lies rolled in a blanket on the floor. He +jumps up, grins, half in pain and half in hospitality; whispers +my own name in my ear; and groping among the sleepers, leads me +to my berth. Standing beside it, I count these slumbering +passengers, and get past forty. There is no use in going +further, so I begin to undress. As the chairs are all +occupied, and there is nothing else to put my clothes on, I +deposit them upon the ground: not without soiling my hands, for +it is in the same condition as the carpets in the Capitol, and +from the same cause. Having but partially undressed, I +clamber on my shelf, and hold the curtain open for a few minutes +while I look round on all my fellow-travellers again. That +done, I let it fall on them, and on the world: turn round: and go +to sleep.</p> +<p>I wake, of course, when we get under weigh, for there is a +good deal of noise. The day is then just breaking. +Everybody wakes at the same time. Some are self-possessed +directly, and some are much perplexed to make out where they are +until they have rubbed their eyes, and leaning on one elbow, +looked about them. Some yawn, some groan, nearly all spit, +and a few get up. I am among the risers: for it is easy to +feel, without going into the fresh air, that the atmosphere of +the cabin is vile in the last degree. I huddle on my +clothes, go down into the fore-cabin, get shaved by the barber, +and wash myself. The washing and dressing apparatus for the +passengers generally, consists of two jack-towels, three small +wooden basins, a keg of water and a ladle to serve it out with, +six square inches of looking-glass, two ditto ditto of yellow +soap, a comb and brush for the head, and nothing for the +teeth. Everybody uses the comb and brush, except +myself. Everybody stares to see me using my own; and two or +three gentlemen are strongly disposed to banter me on my +prejudices, but don’t. When I have made my toilet, I +go upon the hurricane-deck, and set in for two hours of hard +walking up and down. The sun is rising brilliantly; we are +passing Mount Vernon, where Washington lies buried; the river is +wide and rapid; and its banks are beautiful. All the glory +and splendour of the day are coming on, and growing brighter +every minute.</p> +<p>At eight o’clock, we breakfast in the cabin where I +passed the night, but the windows and doors are all thrown open, +and now it is fresh enough. There is no hurry or greediness +apparent in the despatch of the meal. It is longer than a +travelling breakfast with us; more orderly, and more polite.</p> +<p>Soon after nine o’clock we come to Potomac Creek, where +we are to land; and then comes the oddest part of the +journey. Seven stage-coaches are preparing to carry us +on. Some of them are ready, some of them are not +ready. Some of the drivers are blacks, some whites. +There are four horses to each coach, and all the horses, +harnessed or unharnessed, are there. The passengers are +getting out of the steamboat, and into the coaches; the luggage +is being transferred in noisy wheelbarrows; the horses are +frightened, and impatient to start; the black drivers are +chattering to them like so many monkeys; and the white ones +whooping like so many drovers: for the main thing to be done in +all kinds of hostlering here, is to make as much noise as +possible. The coaches are something like the French +coaches, but not nearly so good. In lieu of springs, they +are hung on bands of the strongest leather. There is very +little choice or difference between them; and they may be likened +to the car portion of the swings at an English fair, roofed, put +upon axle-trees and wheels, and curtained with painted +canvas. They are covered with mud from the roof to the +wheel-tire, and have never been cleaned since they were first +built.</p> +<p>The tickets we have received on board the steamboat are marked +No. 1, so we belong to coach No. 1. I throw my coat on the +box, and hoist my wife and her maid into the inside. It has +only one step, and that being about a yard from the ground, is +usually approached by a chair: when there is no chair, ladies +trust in Providence. The coach holds nine inside, having a +seat across from door to door, where we in England put our legs: +so that there is only one feat more difficult in the performance +than getting in, and that is, getting out again. There is +only one outside passenger, and he sits upon the box. As I +am that one, I climb up; and while they are strapping the luggage +on the roof, and heaping it into a kind of tray behind, have a +good opportunity of looking at the driver.</p> +<p>He is a negro—very black indeed. He is dressed in +a coarse pepper-and-salt suit excessively patched and darned +(particularly at the knees), grey stockings, enormous unblacked +high-low shoes, and very short trousers. He has two odd +gloves: one of parti-coloured worsted, and one of leather. +He has a very short whip, broken in the middle and bandaged up +with string. And yet he wears a low-crowned, broad-brimmed, +black hat: faintly shadowing forth a kind of insane imitation of +an English coachman! But somebody in authority cries +‘Go ahead!’ as I am making these observations. +The mail takes the lead in a four-horse waggon, and all the +coaches follow in procession: headed by No. 1.</p> +<p>By the way, whenever an Englishman would cry ‘All +right!’ an American cries ‘Go ahead!’ which is +somewhat expressive of the national character of the two +countries.</p> +<p>The first half-mile of the road is over bridges made of loose +planks laid across two parallel poles, which tilt up as the +wheels roll over them; and <span class="smcap">in</span> the +river. The river has a clayey bottom and is full of holes, +so that half a horse is constantly disappearing unexpectedly, and +can’t be found again for some time.</p> +<p>But we get past even this, and come to the road itself, which +is a series of alternate swamps and gravel-pits. A +tremendous place is close before us, the black driver rolls his +eyes, screws his mouth up very round, and looks straight between +the two leaders, as if he were saying to himself, ‘We have +done this often before, but <i>now</i> I think we shall have a +crash.’ He takes a rein in each hand; jerks and pulls +at both; and dances on the splashboard with both feet (keeping +his seat, of course) like the late lamented Ducrow on two of his +fiery coursers. We come to the spot, sink down in the mire +nearly to the coach windows, tilt on one side at an angle of +forty-five degrees, and stick there. The insides scream +dismally; the coach stops; the horses flounder; all the other six +coaches stop; and their four-and-twenty horses flounder likewise: +but merely for company, and in sympathy with ours. Then the +following circumstances occur.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Black Driver</span> (to the horses). +‘Hi!’</p> +<p>Nothing happens. Insides scream again.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Black Driver</span> (to the horses). +‘Ho!’</p> +<p>Horses plunge, and splash the black driver.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Gentleman inside</span> (looking +out). ‘Why, what on airth—’</p> +<p>Gentleman receives a variety of splashes and draws his head in +again, without finishing his question or waiting for an +answer.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Black Driver</span> (still to the +horses). ‘Jiddy! Jiddy!’</p> +<p>Horses pull violently, drag the coach out of the hole, and +draw it up a bank; so steep, that the black driver’s legs +fly up into the air, and he goes back among the luggage on the +roof. But he immediately recovers himself, and cries (still +to the horses),</p> +<p>‘Pill!’</p> +<p>No effect. On the contrary, the coach begins to roll +back upon No. 2, which rolls back upon No. 3, which rolls back +upon No. 4, and so on, until No. 7 is heard to curse and swear, +nearly a quarter of a mile behind.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Black Driver</span> (louder than +before). ‘Pill!’</p> +<p>Horses make another struggle to get up the bank, and again the +coach rolls backward.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Black Driver</span> (louder than +before). ‘Pe-e-e-ill!’</p> +<p>Horses make a desperate struggle.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Black Driver</span> (recovering +spirits). ‘Hi, Jiddy, Jiddy, Pill!’</p> +<p>Horses make another effort.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Black Driver</span> (with great +vigour). ‘Ally Loo! Hi. Jiddy, +Jiddy. Pill. Ally Loo!’</p> +<p>Horses almost do it.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Black Driver</span> (with his eyes +starting out of his head). ‘Lee, den. Lee, +dere. Hi. Jiddy, Jiddy. Pill. Ally +Loo. Lee-e-e-e-e!’</p> +<p>They run up the bank, and go down again on the other side at a +fearful pace. It is impossible to stop them, and at the +bottom there is a deep hollow, full of water. The coach +rolls frightfully. The insides scream. The mud and +water fly about us. The black driver dances like a +madman. Suddenly we are all right by some extraordinary +means, and stop to breathe.</p> +<p>A black friend of the black driver is sitting on a +fence. The black driver recognises him by twirling his head +round and round like a harlequin, rolling his eyes, shrugging his +shoulders, and grinning from ear to ear. He stops short, +turns to me, and says:</p> +<p>‘We shall get you through sa, like a fiddle, and hope a +please you when we get you through sa. Old ‘ooman at +home sa:’ chuckling very much. ‘Outside +gentleman sa, he often remember old ‘ooman at home +sa,’ grinning again.</p> +<p><a name="page112"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +112</span>‘Ay ay, we’ll take care of the old +woman. Don’t be afraid.’</p> +<p>The black driver grins again, but there is another hole, and +beyond that, another bank, close before us. So he stops +short: cries (to the horses again) ‘Easy. Easy +den. Ease. Steady. Hi. Jiddy. +Pill. Ally. Loo,’ but never ‘Lee!’ +until we are reduced to the very last extremity, and are in the +midst of difficulties, extrication from which appears to be all +but impossible.</p> +<p>And so we do the ten miles or thereabouts in two hours and a +half; breaking no bones, though bruising a great many; and in +short getting through the distance, ‘like a +fiddle.’</p> +<p>This singular kind of coaching terminates at Fredericksburgh, +whence there is a railway to Richmond. The tract of country +through which it takes its course was once productive; but the +soil has been exhausted by the system of employing a great amount +of slave labour in forcing crops, without strengthening the land: +and it is now little better than a sandy desert overgrown with +trees. Dreary and uninteresting as its aspect is, I was +glad to the heart to find anything on which one of the curses of +this horrible institution has fallen; and had greater pleasure in +contemplating the withered ground, than the richest and most +thriving cultivation in the same place could possibly have +afforded me.</p> +<p>In this district, as in all others where slavery sits +brooding, (I have frequently heard this admitted, even by those +who are its warmest advocates:) there is an air of ruin and decay +abroad, which is inseparable from the system. The barns and +outhouses are mouldering away; the sheds are patched and half +roofless; the log cabins (built in Virginia with external +chimneys made of clay or wood) are squalid in the last +degree. There is no look of decent comfort anywhere. +The miserable stations by the railway side, the great wild +wood-yards, whence the engine is supplied with fuel; the negro +children rolling on the ground before the cabin doors, with dogs +and pigs; the biped beasts of burden slinking past: gloom and +dejection are upon them all.</p> +<p>In the negro car belonging to the train in which we made this +journey, were a mother and her children who had just been +purchased; the husband and father being left behind with their +old owner. The children cried the whole way, and the mother +was misery’s picture. The champion of Life, Liberty, +and the Pursuit of Happiness, who had bought them, rode in the +same train; and, every time we stopped, got down to see that they +were safe. The black in Sinbad’s Travels with one eye +in the middle of his forehead which shone like a burning coal, +was nature’s aristocrat compared with this white +gentleman.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p112b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Black and White" +title= +"Black and White" +src="images/p112s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>It was between six and seven o’clock in the evening, +when we drove to the hotel: in front of which, and on the top of +the broad flight of steps leading to the door, two or three +citizens were balancing themselves on rocking-chairs, and smoking +cigars. We found it a very large and elegant establishment, +and were as well entertained as travellers need desire to +be. The climate being a thirsty one, there was never, at +any hour of the day, a scarcity of loungers in the spacious bar, +or a cessation of the mixing of cool liquors: but they were a +merrier people here, and had musical instruments playing to them +o’ nights, which it was a treat to hear again.</p> +<p>The next day, and the next, we rode and walked about the town, +which is delightfully situated on eight hills, overhanging James +River; a sparkling stream, studded here and there with bright +islands, or brawling over broken rocks. Although it was yet +but the middle of March, the weather in this southern temperature +was extremely warm; the peech-trees and magnolias were in full +bloom; and the trees were green. In a low ground among the +hills, is a valley known as ‘Bloody Run,’ from a +terrible conflict with the Indians which once occurred +there. It is a good place for such a struggle, and, like +every other spot I saw associated with any legend of that wild +people now so rapidly fading from the earth, interested me very +much.</p> +<p>The city is the seat of the local parliament of Virginia; and +in its shady legislative halls, some orators were drowsily +holding forth to the hot noon day. By dint of constant +repetition, however, these constitutional sights had very little +more interest for me than so many parochial vestries; and I was +glad to exchange this one for a lounge in a well-arranged public +library of some ten thousand volumes, and a visit to a tobacco +manufactory, where the workmen are all slaves.</p> +<p>I saw in this place the whole process of picking, rolling, +pressing, drying, packing in casks, and branding. All the +tobacco thus dealt with, was in course of manufacture for +chewing; and one would have supposed there was enough in that one +storehouse to have filled even the comprehensive jaws of +America. In this form, the weed looks like the oil-cake on +which we fatten cattle; and even without reference to its +consequences, is sufficiently uninviting.</p> +<p>Many of the workmen appeared to be strong men, and it is +hardly necessary to add that they were all labouring quietly, +then. After two o’clock in the day, they are allowed +to sing, a certain number at a time. The hour striking +while I was there, some twenty sang a hymn in parts, and sang it +by no means ill; pursuing their work meanwhile. A bell rang +as I was about to leave, and they all poured forth into a +building on the opposite side of the street to dinner. I +said several times that I should like to see them at their meal; +but as the gentleman to whom I mentioned this desire appeared to +be suddenly taken rather deaf, I did not pursue the +request. Of their appearance I shall have something to say, +presently.</p> +<p>On the following day, I visited a plantation or farm, of about +twelve hundred acres, on the opposite bank of the river. +Here again, although I went down with the owner of the estate, to +‘the quarter,’ as that part of it in which the slaves +live is called, I was not invited to enter into any of their +huts. All I saw of them, was, that they were very crazy, +wretched cabins, near to which groups of half-naked children +basked in the sun, or wallowed on the dusty ground. But I +believe that this gentleman is a considerate and excellent +master, who inherited his fifty slaves, and is neither a buyer +nor a seller of human stock; and I am sure, from my own +observation and conviction, that he is a kind-hearted, worthy +man.</p> +<p>The planter’s house was an airy, rustic dwelling, that +brought Defoe’s description of such places strongly to my +recollection. The day was very warm, but the blinds being +all closed, and the windows and doors set wide open, a shady +coolness rustled through the rooms, which was exquisitely +refreshing after the glare and heat without. Before the +windows was an open piazza, where, in what they call the hot +weather—whatever that may be—they sling hammocks, and +drink and doze luxuriously. I do not know how their cool +rejections may taste within the hammocks, but, having experience, +I can report that, out of them, the mounds of ices and the bowls +of mint-julep and sherry-cobbler they make in these latitudes, +are refreshments never to be thought of afterwards, in summer, by +those who would preserve contented minds.</p> +<p>There are two bridges across the river: one belongs to the +railroad, and the other, which is a very crazy affair, is the +private property of some old lady in the neighbourhood, who +levies tolls upon the townspeople. Crossing this bridge, on +my way back, I saw a notice painted on the gate, cautioning all +persons to drive slowly: under a penalty, if the offender were a +white man, of five dollars; if a negro, fifteen stripes.</p> +<p>The same decay and gloom that overhang the way by which it is +approached, hover above the town of Richmond. There are +pretty villas and cheerful houses in its streets, and Nature +smiles upon the country round; but jostling its handsome +residences, like slavery itself going hand in hand with many +lofty virtues, are deplorable tenements, fences unrepaired, walls +crumbling into ruinous heaps. Hinting gloomily at things +below the surface, these, and many other tokens of the same +description, force themselves upon the notice, and are remembered +with depressing influence, when livelier features are +forgotten.</p> +<p>To those who are happily unaccustomed to them, the +countenances in the streets and labouring-places, too, are +shocking. All men who know that there are laws against +instructing slaves, of which the pains and penalties greatly +exceed in their amount the fines imposed on those who maim and +torture them, must be prepared to find their faces very low in +the scale of intellectual expression. But the +darkness—not of skin, but mind—which meets the +stranger’s eye at every turn; the brutalizing and blotting +out of all fairer characters traced by Nature’s hand; +immeasurably outdo his worst belief. That travelled +creation of the great satirist’s brain, who fresh from +living among horses, peered from a high casement down upon his +own kind with trembling horror, was scarcely more repelled and +daunted by the sight, than those who look upon some of these +faces for the first time must surely be.</p> +<p>I left the last of them behind me in the person of a wretched +drudge, who, after running to and fro all day till midnight, and +moping in his stealthy winks of sleep upon the stairs +betweenwhiles, was washing the dark passages at four +o’clock in the morning; and went upon my way with a +grateful heart that I was not doomed to live where slavery was, +and had never had my senses blunted to its wrongs and horrors in +a slave-rocked cradle.</p> +<p>It had been my intention to proceed by James River and +Chesapeake Bay to Baltimore; but one of the steamboats being +absent from her station through some accident, and the means of +conveyance being consequently rendered uncertain, we returned to +Washington by the way we had come (there were two constables on +board the steamboat, in pursuit of runaway slaves), and halting +there again for one night, went on to Baltimore next +afternoon.</p> +<p>The most comfortable of all the hotels of which I had any +experience in the United States, and they were not a few, is +Barnum’s, in that city: where the English traveller will +find curtains to his bed, for the first and probably the last +time in America (this is a disinterested remark, for I never use +them); and where he will be likely to have enough water for +washing himself, which is not at all a common case.</p> +<p>This capital of the state of Maryland is a bustling, busy +town, with a great deal of traffic of various kinds, and in +particular of water commerce. That portion of the town +which it most favours is none of the cleanest, it is true; but +the upper part is of a very different character, and has many +agreeable streets and public buildings. The Washington +Monument, which is a handsome pillar with a statue on its summit; +the Medical College; and the Battle Monument in memory of an +engagement with the British at North Point; are the most +conspicuous among them.</p> +<p>There is a very good prison in this city, and the State +Penitentiary is also among its institutions. In this latter +establishment there were two curious cases.</p> +<p>One was that of a young man, who had been tried for the murder +of his father. The evidence was entirely circumstantial, +and was very conflicting and doubtful; nor was it possible to +assign any motive which could have tempted him to the commission +of so tremendous a crime. He had been tried twice; and on +the second occasion the jury felt so much hesitation in +convicting him, that they found a verdict of manslaughter, or +murder in the second degree; which it could not possibly be, as +there had, beyond all doubt, been no quarrel or provocation, and +if he were guilty at all, he was unquestionably guilty of murder +in its broadest and worst signification.</p> +<p>The remarkable feature in the case was, that if the +unfortunate deceased were not really murdered by this own son of +his, he must have been murdered by his own brother. The +evidence lay in a most remarkable manner, between those +two. On all the suspicious points, the dead man’s +brother was the witness: all the explanations for the prisoner +(some of them extremely plausible) went, by construction and +inference, to inculcate him as plotting to fix the guilt upon his +nephew. It must have been one of them: and the jury had to +decide between two sets of suspicions, almost equally unnatural, +unaccountable, and strange.</p> +<p>The other case, was that of a man who once went to a certain +distiller’s and stole a copper measure containing a +quantity of liquor. He was pursued and taken with the +property in his possession, and was sentenced to two years’ +imprisonment. On coming out of the jail, at the expiration +of that term, he went back to the same distiller’s, and +stole the same copper measure containing the same quantity of +liquor. There was not the slightest reason to suppose that +the man wished to return to prison: indeed everything, but the +commission of the offence, made directly against that +assumption. There are only two ways of accounting for this +extraordinary proceeding. One is, that after undergoing so +much for this copper measure he conceived he had established a +sort of claim and right to it. The other that, by dint of +long thinking about, it had become a monomania with him, and had +acquired a fascination which he found it impossible to resist; +swelling from an Earthly Copper Gallon into an Ethereal Golden +Vat.</p> +<p>After remaining here a couple of days I bound myself to a +rigid adherence to the plan I had laid down so recently, and +resolved to set forward on our western journey without any more +delay. Accordingly, having reduced the luggage within the +smallest possible compass (by sending back to New York, to be +afterwards forwarded to us in Canada, so much of it as was not +absolutely wanted); and having procured the necessary credentials +to banking-houses on the way; and having moreover looked for two +evenings at the setting sun, with as well-defined an idea of the +country before us as if we had been going to travel into the very +centre of that planet; we left Baltimore by another railway at +half-past eight in the morning, and reached the town of York, +some sixty miles off, by the early dinner-time of the Hotel which +was the starting-place of the four-horse coach, wherein we were +to proceed to Harrisburg.</p> +<p>This conveyance, the box of which I was fortunate enough to +secure, had come down to meet us at the railroad station, and was +as muddy and cumbersome as usual. As more passengers were +waiting for us at the inn-door, the coachman observed under his +breath, in the usual self-communicative voice, looking the while +at his mouldy harness as if it were to that he was addressing +himself,</p> +<p>‘I expect we shall want <i>the big</i> coach.’</p> +<p>I could not help wondering within myself what the size of this +big coach might be, and how many persons it might be designed to +hold; for the vehicle which was too small for our purpose was +something larger than two English heavy night coaches, and might +have been the twin-brother of a French Diligence. My +speculations were speedily set at rest, however, for as soon as +we had dined, there came rumbling up the street, shaking its +sides like a corpulent giant, a kind of barge on wheels. +After much blundering and backing, it stopped at the door: +rolling heavily from side to side when its other motion had +ceased, as if it had taken cold in its damp stable, and between +that, and the having been required in its dropsical old age to +move at any faster pace than a walk, were distressed by shortness +of wind.</p> +<p>‘If here ain’t the Harrisburg mail at last, and +dreadful bright and smart to look at too,’ cried an elderly +gentleman in some excitement, ‘darn my mother!’</p> +<p>I don’t know what the sensation of being darned may be, +or whether a man’s mother has a keener relish or disrelish +of the process than anybody else; but if the endurance of this +mysterious ceremony by the old lady in question had depended on +the accuracy of her son’s vision in respect to the abstract +brightness and smartness of the Harrisburg mail, she would +certainly have undergone its infliction. However, they +booked twelve people inside; and the luggage (including such +trifles as a large rocking-chair, and a good-sized dining-table) +being at length made fast upon the roof, we started off in great +state.</p> +<p>At the door of another hotel, there was another passenger to +be taken up.</p> +<p>‘Any room, sir?’ cries the new passenger to the +coachman.</p> +<p>‘Well, there’s room enough,’ replies the +coachman, without getting down, or even looking at him.</p> +<p>‘There an’t no room at all, sir,’ bawls a +gentleman inside. Which another gentleman (also inside) +confirms, by predicting that the attempt to introduce any more +passengers ‘won’t fit nohow.’</p> +<p>The new passenger, without any expression of anxiety, looks +into the coach, and then looks up at the coachman: ‘Now, +how do you mean to fix it?’ says he, after a pause: +‘for I <i>must</i> go.’</p> +<p>The coachman employs himself in twisting the lash of his whip +into a knot, and takes no more notice of the question: clearly +signifying that it is anybody’s business but his, and that +the passengers would do well to fix it, among themselves. +In this state of things, matters seem to be approximating to a +fix of another kind, when another inside passenger in a corner, +who is nearly suffocated, cries faintly, ‘I’ll get +out.’</p> +<p>This is no matter of relief or self-congratulation to the +driver, for his immovable philosophy is perfectly undisturbed by +anything that happens in the coach. Of all things in the +world, the coach would seem to be the very last upon his +mind. The exchange is made, however, and then the passenger +who has given up his seat makes a third upon the box, seating +himself in what he calls the middle; that is, with half his +person on my legs, and the other half on the driver’s.</p> +<p>‘Go a-head, cap’en,’ cries the colonel, who +directs.</p> +<p>‘Gŏ-lāng!’ cries the cap’en to his +company, the horses, and away we go.</p> +<p>We took up at a rural bar-room, after we had gone a few miles, +an intoxicated gentleman who climbed upon the roof among the +luggage, and subsequently slipping off without hurting himself, +was seen in the distant perspective reeling back to the grog-shop +where we had found him. We also parted with more of our +freight at different times, so that when we came to change +horses, I was again alone outside.</p> +<p>The coachmen always change with the horses, and are usually as +dirty as the coach. The first was dressed like a very +shabby English baker; the second like a Russian peasant: for he +wore a loose purple camlet robe, with a fur collar, tied round +his waist with a parti-coloured worsted sash; grey trousers; +light blue gloves: and a cap of bearskin. It had by this +time come on to rain very heavily, and there was a cold damp mist +besides, which penetrated to the skin. I was glad to take +advantage of a stoppage and get down to stretch my legs, shake +the water off my great-coat, and swallow the usual +anti-temperance recipe for keeping out the cold.</p> +<p>When I mounted to my seat again, I observed a new parcel lying +on the coach roof, which I took to be a rather large fiddle in a +brown bag. In the course of a few miles, however, I +discovered that it had a glazed cap at one end and a pair of +muddy shoes at the other and further observation demonstrated it +to be a small boy in a snuff-coloured coat, with his arms quite +pinioned to his sides, by deep forcing into his pockets. He +was, I presume, a relative or friend of the coachman’s, as +he lay a-top of the luggage with his face towards the rain; and +except when a change of position brought his shoes in contact +with my hat, he appeared to be asleep. At last, on some +occasion of our stopping, this thing slowly upreared itself to +the height of three feet six, and fixing its eyes on me, observed +in piping accents, with a complaisant yawn, half quenched in an +obliging air of friendly patronage, ‘Well now, stranger, I +guess you find this a’most like an English arternoon, +hey?’</p> +<p>The scenery, which had been tame enough at first, was, for the +last ten or twelve miles, beautiful. Our road wound through +the pleasant valley of the Susquehanna; the river, dotted with +innumerable green islands, lay upon our right; and on the left, a +steep ascent, craggy with broken rock, and dark with pine +trees. The mist, wreathing itself into a hundred fantastic +shapes, moved solemnly upon the water; and the gloom of evening +gave to all an air of mystery and silence which greatly enhanced +its natural interest.</p> +<p>We crossed this river by a wooden bridge, roofed and covered +in on all sides, and nearly a mile in length. It was +profoundly dark; perplexed, with great beams, crossing and +recrossing it at every possible angle; and through the broad +chinks and crevices in the floor, the rapid river gleamed, far +down below, like a legion of eyes. We had no lamps; and as +the horses stumbled and floundered through this place, towards +the distant speck of dying light, it seemed interminable. I +really could not at first persuade myself as we rumbled heavily +on, filling the bridge with hollow noises, and I held down my +head to save it from the rafters above, but that I was in a +painful dream; for I have often dreamed of toiling through such +places, and as often argued, even at the time, ‘this cannot +be reality.’</p> +<p>At length, however, we emerged upon the streets of Harrisburg, +whose feeble lights, reflected dismally from the wet ground, did +not shine out upon a very cheerful city. We were soon +established in a snug hotel, which though smaller and far less +splendid than many we put up at, it raised above them all in my +remembrance, by having for its landlord the most obliging, +considerate, and gentlemanly person I ever had to deal with.</p> +<p>As we were not to proceed upon our journey until the +afternoon, I walked out, after breakfast the next morning, to +look about me; and was duly shown a model prison on the solitary +system, just erected, and as yet without an inmate; the trunk of +an old tree to which Harris, the first settler here (afterwards +buried under it), was tied by hostile Indians, with his funeral +pile about him, when he was saved by the timely appearance of a +friendly party on the opposite shore of the river; the local +legislature (for there was another of those bodies here again, in +full debate); and the other curiosities of the town.</p> +<p>I was very much interested in looking over a number of +treaties made from time to time with the poor Indians, signed by +the different chiefs at the period of their ratification, and +preserved in the office of the Secretary to the +Commonwealth. These signatures, traced of course by their +own hands, are rough drawings of the creatures or weapons they +were called after. Thus, the Great Turtle makes a crooked +pen-and-ink outline of a great turtle; the Buffalo sketches a +buffalo; the War Hatchet sets a rough image of that weapon for +his mark. So with the Arrow, the Fish, the Scalp, the Big +Canoe, and all of them.</p> +<p>I could not but think—as I looked at these feeble and +tremulous productions of hands which could draw the longest arrow +to the head in a stout elk-horn bow, or split a bead or feather +with a rifle-ball—of Crabbe’s musings over the Parish +Register, and the irregular scratches made with a pen, by men who +would plough a lengthy furrow straight from end to end. Nor +could I help bestowing many sorrowful thoughts upon the simple +warriors whose hands and hearts were set there, in all truth and +honesty; and who only learned in course of time from white men +how to break their faith, and quibble out of forms and +bonds. I wonder, too, how many times the credulous Big +Turtle, or trusting Little Hatchet, had put his mark to treaties +which were falsely read to him; and had signed away, he knew not +what, until it went and cast him loose upon the new possessors of +the land, a savage indeed.</p> +<p>Our host announced, before our early dinner, that some members +of the legislative body proposed to do us the honour of +calling. He had kindly yielded up to us his wife’s +own little parlour, and when I begged that he would show them in, +I saw him look with painful apprehension at its pretty carpet; +though, being otherwise occupied at the time, the cause of his +uneasiness did not occur to me.</p> +<p>It certainly would have been more pleasant to all parties +concerned, and would not, I think, have compromised their +independence in any material degree, if some of these gentlemen +had not only yielded to the prejudice in favour of spittoons, but +had abandoned themselves, for the moment, even to the +conventional absurdity of pocket-handkerchiefs.</p> +<p>It still continued to rain heavily, and when we went down to +the Canal Boat (for that was the mode of conveyance by which we +were to proceed) after dinner, the weather was as unpromising and +obstinately wet as one would desire to see. Nor was the +sight of this canal boat, in which we were to spend three or four +days, by any means a cheerful one; as it involved some uneasy +speculations concerning the disposal of the passengers at night, +and opened a wide field of inquiry touching the other domestic +arrangements of the establishment, which was sufficiently +disconcerting.</p> +<p>However, there it was—a barge with a little house in it, +viewed from the outside; and a caravan at a fair, viewed from +within: the gentlemen being accommodated, as the spectators +usually are, in one of those locomotive museums of penny wonders; +and the ladies being partitioned off by a red curtain, after the +manner of the dwarfs and giants in the same establishments, whose +private lives are passed in rather close exclusiveness.</p> +<p>We sat here, looking silently at the row of little tables, +which extended down both sides of the cabin, and listening to the +rain as it dripped and pattered on the boat, and plashed with a +dismal merriment in the water, until the arrival of the railway +train, for whose final contribution to our stock of passengers, +our departure was alone deferred. It brought a great many +boxes, which were bumped and tossed upon the roof, almost as +painfully as if they had been deposited on one’s own head, +without the intervention of a porter’s knot; and several +damp gentlemen, whose clothes, on their drawing round the stove, +began to steam again. No doubt it would have been a thought +more comfortable if the driving rain, which now poured down more +soakingly than ever, had admitted of a window being opened, or if +our number had been something less than thirty; but there was +scarcely time to think as much, when a train of three horses was +attached to the tow-rope, the boy upon the leader smacked his +whip, the rudder creaked and groaned complainingly, and we had +begun our journey.</p> +<h2><a name="page121"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +121</span>CHAPTER X<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">SOME FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE CANAL BOAT, +ITS DOMESTIC ECONOMY, AND ITS PASSENGERS. JOURNEY TO +PITTSBURG ACROSS THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS. +PITTSBURG</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">As</span> it continued to rain most +perseveringly, we all remained below: the damp gentlemen round +the stove, gradually becoming mildewed by the action of the fire; +and the dry gentlemen lying at full length upon the seats, or +slumbering uneasily with their faces on the tables, or walking up +and down the cabin, which it was barely possible for a man of the +middle height to do, without making bald places on his head by +scraping it against the roof. At about six o’clock, +all the small tables were put together to form one long table, +and everybody sat down to tea, coffee, bread, butter, salmon, +shad, liver, steaks, potatoes, pickles, ham, chops, +black-puddings, and sausages.</p> +<p>‘Will you try,’ said my opposite neighbour, +handing me a dish of potatoes, broken up in milk and butter, +‘will you try some of these fixings?’</p> +<p>There are few words which perform such various duties as this +word ‘fix.’ It is the Caleb Quotem of the +American vocabulary. You call upon a gentleman in a country +town, and his help informs you that he is ‘fixing +himself’ just now, but will be down directly: by which you +are to understand that he is dressing. You inquire, on +board a steamboat, of a fellow-passenger, whether breakfast will +be ready soon, and he tells you he should think so, for when he +was last below, they were ‘fixing the tables:’ in +other words, laying the cloth. You beg a porter to collect +your luggage, and he entreats you not to be uneasy, for +he’ll ‘fix it presently:’ and if you complain +of indisposition, you are advised to have recourse to Doctor +So-and-so, who will ‘fix you’ in no time.</p> +<p>One night, I ordered a bottle of mulled wine at an hotel where +I was staying, and waited a long time for it; at length it was +put upon the table with an apology from the landlord that he +feared it wasn’t ‘fixed properly.’ And I +recollect once, at a stage-coach dinner, overhearing a very stern +gentleman demand of a waiter who presented him with a plate of +underdone roast-beef, ‘whether he called <i>that</i>, +fixing God A’mighty’s vittles?’</p> +<p>There is no doubt that the meal, at which the invitation was +tendered to me which has occasioned this digression, was disposed +of somewhat ravenously; and that the gentlemen thrust the +broad-bladed knives and the two-pronged forks further down their +throats than I ever saw the same weapons go before, except in the +hands of a skilful juggler: but no man sat down until the ladies +were seated; or omitted any little act of politeness which could +contribute to their comfort. Nor did I ever once, on any +occasion, anywhere, during my rambles in America, see a woman +exposed to the slightest act of rudeness, incivility, or even +inattention.</p> +<p>By the time the meal was over, the rain, which seemed to have +worn itself out by coming down so fast, was nearly over too; and +it became feasible to go on deck: which was a great relief, +notwithstanding its being a very small deck, and being rendered +still smaller by the luggage, which was heaped together in the +middle under a tarpaulin covering; leaving, on either side, a +path so narrow, that it became a science to walk to and fro +without tumbling overboard into the canal. It was somewhat +embarrassing at first, too, to have to duck nimbly every five +minutes whenever the man at the helm cried ‘Bridge!’ +and sometimes, when the cry was ‘Low Bridge,’ to lie +down nearly flat. But custom familiarises one to anything, +and there were so many bridges that it took a very short time to +get used to this.</p> +<p>As night came on, and we drew in sight of the first range of +hills, which are the outposts of the Alleghany Mountains, the +scenery, which had been uninteresting hitherto, became more bold +and striking. The wet ground reeked and smoked, after the +heavy fall of rain, and the croaking of the frogs (whose noise in +these parts is almost incredible) sounded as though a million of +fairy teams with bells were travelling through the air, and +keeping pace with us. The night was cloudy yet, but +moonlight too: and when we crossed the Susquehanna +river—over which there is an extraordinary wooden bridge +with two galleries, one above the other, so that even there, two +boat teams meeting, may pass without confusion—it was wild +and grand.</p> +<p>I have mentioned my having been in some uncertainty and doubt, +at first, relative to the sleeping arrangements on board this +boat. I remained in the same vague state of mind until ten +o’clock or thereabouts, when going below, I found suspended +on either side of the cabin, three long tiers of hanging +bookshelves, designed apparently for volumes of the small octavo +size. Looking with greater attention at these contrivances +(wondering to find such literary preparations in such a place), I +descried on each shelf a sort of microscopic sheet and blanket; +then I began dimly to comprehend that the passengers were the +library, and that they were to be arranged, edge-wise, on these +shelves, till morning.</p> +<p>I was assisted to this conclusion by seeing some of them +gathered round the master of the boat, at one of the tables, +drawing lots with all the anxieties and passions of gamesters +depicted in their countenances; while others, with small pieces +of cardboard in their hands, were groping among the shelves in +search of numbers corresponding with those they had drawn. +As soon as any gentleman found his number, he took possession of +it by immediately undressing himself and crawling into bed. +The rapidity with which an agitated gambler subsided into a +snoring slumberer, was one of the most singular effects I have +ever witnessed. As to the ladies, they were already abed, +behind the red curtain, which was carefully drawn and pinned up +the centre; though as every cough, or sneeze, or whisper, behind +this curtain, was perfectly audible before it, we had still a +lively consciousness of their society.</p> +<p>The politeness of the person in authority had secured to me a +shelf in a nook near this red curtain, in some degree removed +from the great body of sleepers: to which place I retired, with +many acknowledgments to him for his attention. I found it, +on after-measurement, just the width of an ordinary sheet of Bath +post letter-paper; and I was at first in some uncertainty as to +the best means of getting into it. But the shelf being a +bottom one, I finally determined on lying upon the floor, rolling +gently in, stopping immediately I touched the mattress, and +remaining for the night with that side uppermost, whatever it +might be. Luckily, I came upon my back at exactly the right +moment. I was much alarmed on looking upward, to see, by +the shape of his half-yard of sacking (which his weight had bent +into an exceedingly tight bag), that there was a very heavy +gentleman above me, whom the slender cords seemed quite incapable +of holding; and I could not help reflecting upon the grief of my +wife and family in the event of his coming down in the +night. But as I could not have got up again without a +severe bodily struggle, which might have alarmed the ladies; and +as I had nowhere to go to, even if I had; I shut my eyes upon the +danger, and remained there.</p> +<p>One of two remarkable circumstances is indisputably a fact, +with reference to that class of society who travel in these +boats. Either they carry their restlessness to such a pitch +that they never sleep at all; or they expectorate in dreams, +which would be a remarkable mingling of the real and ideal. +All night long, and every night, on this canal, there was a +perfect storm and tempest of spitting; and once my coat, being in +the very centre of the hurricane sustained by five gentlemen +(which moved vertically, strictly carrying out Reid’s +Theory of the Law of Storms), I was fain the next morning to lay +it on the deck, and rub it down with fair water before it was in +a condition to be worn again.</p> +<p>Between five and six o’clock in the morning we got up, +and some of us went on deck, to give them an opportunity of +taking the shelves down; while others, the morning being very +cold, crowded round the rusty stove, cherishing the newly kindled +fire, and filling the grate with those voluntary contributions of +which they had been so liberal all night. The washing +accommodations were primitive. There was a tin ladle +chained to the deck, with which every gentleman who thought it +necessary to cleanse himself (many were superior to this +weakness), fished the dirty water out of the canal, and poured it +into a tin basin, secured in like manner. There was also a +jack-towel. And, hanging up before a little looking-glass +in the bar, in the immediate vicinity of the bread and cheese and +biscuits, were a public comb and hair-brush.</p> +<p>At eight o’clock, the shelves being taken down and put +away and the tables joined together, everybody sat down to the +tea, coffee, bread, butter, salmon, shad, liver, steak, potatoes, +pickles, ham, chops, black-puddings, and sausages, all over +again. Some were fond of compounding this variety, and +having it all on their plates at once. As each gentleman +got through his own personal amount of tea, coffee, bread, +butter, salmon, shad, liver, steak, potatoes, pickles, ham, +chops, black-puddings, and sausages, he rose up and walked +off. When everybody had done with everything, the fragments +were cleared away: and one of the waiters appearing anew in the +character of a barber, shaved such of the company as desired to +be shaved; while the remainder looked on, or yawned over their +newspapers. Dinner was breakfast again, without the tea and +coffee; and supper and breakfast were identical.</p> +<p>There was a man on board this boat, with a light +fresh-coloured face, and a pepper-and-salt suit of clothes, who +was the most inquisitive fellow that can possibly be +imagined. He never spoke otherwise than +interrogatively. He was an embodied inquiry. Sitting +down or standing up, still or moving, walking the deck or taking +his meals, there he was, with a great note of interrogation in +each eye, two in his cocked ears, two more in his turned-up nose +and chin, at least half a dozen more about the corners of his +mouth, and the largest one of all in his hair, which was brushed +pertly off his forehead in a flaxen clump. Every button in +his clothes said, ‘Eh? What’s that? Did +you speak? Say that again, will you?’ He was +always wide awake, like the enchanted bride who drove her husband +frantic; always restless; always thirsting for answers; +perpetually seeking and never finding. There never was such +a curious man.</p> +<p>I wore a fur great-coat at that time, and before we were well +clear of the wharf, he questioned me concerning it, and its +price, and where I bought it, and when, and what fur it was, and +what it weighed, and what it cost. Then he took notice of +my watch, and asked me what <i>that</i> cost, and whether it was +a French watch, and where I got it, and how I got it, and whether +I bought it or had it given me, and how it went, and where the +key-hole was, and when I wound it, every night or every morning, +and whether I ever forgot to wind it at all, and if I did, what +then? Where had I been to last, and where was I going next, +and where was I going after that, and had I seen the President, +and what did he say, and what did I say, and what did he say when +I had said that? Eh? Lor now! do tell!</p> +<p>Finding that nothing would satisfy him, I evaded his questions +after the first score or two, and in particular pleaded ignorance +respecting the name of the fur whereof the coat was made. I +am unable to say whether this was the reason, but that coat +fascinated him afterwards; he usually kept close behind me as I +walked, and moved as I moved, that he might look at it the +better; and he frequently dived into narrow places after me at +the risk of his life, that he might have the satisfaction of +passing his hand up the back, and rubbing it the wrong way.</p> +<p>We had another odd specimen on board, of a different +kind. This was a thin-faced, spare-figured man of middle +age and stature, dressed in a dusty drabbish-coloured suit, such +as I never saw before. He was perfectly quiet during the +first part of the journey: indeed I don’t remember having +so much as seen him until he was brought out by circumstances, as +great men often are. The conjunction of events which made +him famous, happened, briefly, thus.</p> +<p>The canal extends to the foot of the mountain, and there, of +course, it stops; the passengers being conveyed across it by land +carriage, and taken on afterwards by another canal boat, the +counterpart of the first, which awaits them on the other +side. There are two canal lines of passage-boats; one is +called The Express, and one (a cheaper one) The Pioneer. +The Pioneer gets first to the mountain, and waits for the Express +people to come up; both sets of passengers being conveyed across +it at the same time. We were the Express company; but when +we had crossed the mountain, and had come to the second boat, the +proprietors took it into their beads to draft all the Pioneers +into it likewise, so that we were five-and-forty at least, and +the accession of passengers was not at all of that kind which +improved the prospect of sleeping at night. Our people +grumbled at this, as people do in such cases; but suffered the +boat to be towed off with the whole freight aboard nevertheless; +and away we went down the canal. At home, I should have +protested lustily, but being a foreigner here, I held my +peace. Not so this passenger. He cleft a path among +the people on deck (we were nearly all on deck), and without +addressing anybody whomsoever, soliloquised as follows:</p> +<p>‘This may suit <i>you</i>, this may, but it don’t +suit <i>me</i>. This may be all very well with Down +Easters, and men of Boston raising, but it won’t suit my +figure nohow; and no two ways about <i>that</i>; and so I tell +you. Now! I’m from the brown forests of +Mississippi, <i>I</i> am, and when the sun shines on me, it does +shine—a little. It don’t glimmer where <i>I</i> +live, the sun don’t. No. I’m a brown +forester, I am. I an’t a Johnny Cake. There are +no smooth skins where I live. We’re rough men +there. Rather. If Down Easters and men of Boston +raising like this, I’m glad of it, but I’m none of +that raising nor of that breed. No. This company +wants a little fixing, <i>it</i> does. I’m the wrong +sort of man for ’em, <i>I</i> am. They won’t +like me, <i>they</i> won’t. This is piling of it up, +a little too mountainous, this is.’ At the end of +every one of these short sentences he turned upon his heel, and +walked the other way; checking himself abruptly when he had +finished another short sentence, and turning back again.</p> +<p>It is impossible for me to say what terrific meaning was +hidden in the words of this brown forester, but I know that the +other passengers looked on in a sort of admiring horror, and that +presently the boat was put back to the wharf, and as many of the +Pioneers as could be coaxed or bullied into going away, were got +rid of.</p> +<p>When we started again, some of the boldest spirits on board, +made bold to say to the obvious occasion of this improvement in +our prospects, ‘Much obliged to you, sir;’ whereunto +the brown forester (waving his hand, and still walking up and +down as before), replied, ‘No you an’t. +You’re none o’ my raising. You may act for +yourselves, <i>you</i> may. I have pinted out the +way. Down Easters and Johnny Cakes can follow if they +please. I an’t a Johnny Cake, I an’t. I +am from the brown forests of the Mississippi, I +am’—and so on, as before. He was unanimously +voted one of the tables for his bed at night—there is a +great contest for the tables—in consideration for his +public services: and he had the warmest corner by the stove +throughout the rest of the journey. But I never could find +out that he did anything except sit there; nor did I hear him +speak again until, in the midst of the bustle and turmoil of +getting the luggage ashore in the dark at Pittsburg, I stumbled +over him as he sat smoking a cigar on the cabin steps, and heard +him muttering to himself, with a short laugh of defiance, +‘I an’t a Johnny Cake,—I an’t. +I’m from the brown forests of the Mississippi, I am, +damme!’ I am inclined to argue from this, that he had +never left off saying so; but I could not make an affidavit of +that part of the story, if required to do so by my Queen and +Country.</p> +<p>As we have not reached Pittsburg yet, however, in the order of +our narrative, I may go on to remark that breakfast was perhaps +the least desirable meal of the day, as in addition to the many +savoury odours arising from the eatables already mentioned, there +were whiffs of gin, whiskey, brandy, and rum, from the little bar +hard by, and a decided seasoning of stale tobacco. Many of +the gentlemen passengers were far from particular in respect of +their linen, which was in some cases as yellow as the little +rivulets that had trickled from the corners of their mouths in +chewing, and dried there. Nor was the atmosphere quite free +from zephyr whisperings of the thirty beds which had just been +cleared away, and of which we were further and more pressingly +reminded by the occasional appearance on the table-cloth of a +kind of Game, not mentioned in the Bill of Fare.</p> +<p>And yet despite these oddities—and even they had, for me +at least, a humour of their own—there was much in this mode +of travelling which I heartily enjoyed at the time, and look back +upon with great pleasure. Even the running up, bare-necked, +at five o’clock in the morning, from the tainted cabin to +the dirty deck; scooping up the icy water, plunging one’s +head into it, and drawing it out, all fresh and glowing with the +cold; was a good thing. The fast, brisk walk upon the +towing-path, between that time and breakfast, when every vein and +artery seemed to tingle with health; the exquisite beauty of the +opening day, when light came gleaming off from everything; the +lazy motion of the boat, when one lay idly on the deck, looking +through, rather than at, the deep blue sky; the gliding on at +night, so noiselessly, past frowning hills, sullen with dark +trees, and sometimes angry in one red, burning spot high up, +where unseen men lay crouching round a fire; the shining out of +the bright stars undisturbed by noise of wheels or steam, or any +other sound than the limpid rippling of the water as the boat +went on: all these were pure delights.</p> +<p>Then there were new settlements and detached log-cabins and +frame-houses, full of interest for strangers from an old country: +cabins with simple ovens, outside, made of clay; and lodgings for +the pigs nearly as good as many of the human quarters; broken +windows, patched with worn-out hats, old clothes, old boards, +fragments of blankets and paper; and home-made dressers standing +in the open air without the door, whereon was ranged the +household store, not hard to count, of earthen jars and +pots. The eye was pained to see the stumps of great trees +thickly strewn in every field of wheat, and seldom to lose the +eternal swamp and dull morass, with hundreds of rotten trunks and +twisted branches steeped in its unwholesome water. It was +quite sad and oppressive, to come upon great tracts where +settlers had been burning down the trees, and where their wounded +bodies lay about, like those of murdered creatures, while here +and there some charred and blackened giant reared aloft two +withered arms, and seemed to call down curses on his foes. +Sometimes, at night, the way wound through some lonely gorge, +like a mountain pass in Scotland, shining and coldly glittering +in the light of the moon, and so closed in by high steep hills +all round, that there seemed to be no egress save through the +narrower path by which we had come, until one rugged hill-side +seemed to open, and shutting out the moonlight as we passed into +its gloomy throat, wrapped our new course in shade and +darkness.</p> +<p>We had left Harrisburg on Friday. On Sunday morning we +arrived at the foot of the mountain, which is crossed by +railroad. There are ten inclined planes; five ascending, +and five descending; the carriages are dragged up the former, and +let slowly down the latter, by means of stationary engines; the +comparatively level spaces between, being traversed, sometimes by +horse, and sometimes by engine power, as the case demands. +Occasionally the rails are laid upon the extreme verge of a giddy +precipice; and looking from the carriage window, the traveller +gazes sheer down, without a stone or scrap of fence between, into +the mountain depths below. The journey is very carefully +made, however; only two carriages travelling together; and while +proper precautions are taken, is not to be dreaded for its +dangers.</p> +<p>It was very pretty travelling thus, at a rapid pace along the +heights of the mountain in a keen wind, to look down into a +valley full of light and softness; catching glimpses, through the +tree-tops, of scattered cabins; children running to the doors; +dogs bursting out to bark, whom we could see without hearing: +terrified pigs scampering homewards; families sitting out in +their rude gardens; cows gazing upward with a stupid +indifference; men in their shirt-sleeves looking on at their +unfinished houses, planning out to-morrow’s work; and we +riding onward, high above them, like a whirlwind. It was +amusing, too, when we had dined, and rattled down a steep pass, +having no other moving power than the weight of the carriages +themselves, to see the engine released, long after us, come +buzzing down alone, like a great insect, its back of green and +gold so shining in the sun, that if it had spread a pair of wings +and soared away, no one would have had occasion, as I fancied, +for the least surprise. But it stopped short of us in a +very business-like manner when we reached the canal: and, before +we left the wharf, went panting up this hill again, with the +passengers who had waited our arrival for the means of traversing +the road by which we had come.</p> +<p>On the Monday evening, furnace fires and clanking hammers on +the banks of the canal, warned us that we approached the +termination of this part of our journey. After going +through another dreamy place—a long aqueduct across the +Alleghany River, which was stranger than the bridge at +Harrisburg, being a vast, low, wooden chamber full of +water—we emerged upon that ugly confusion of backs of +buildings and crazy galleries and stairs, which always abuts on +water, whether it be river, sea, canal, or ditch: and were at +Pittsburg.</p> +<p>Pittsburg is like Birmingham in England; at least its +townspeople say so. Setting aside the streets, the shops, +the houses, waggons, factories, public buildings, and population, +perhaps it may be. It certainly has a great quantity of +smoke hanging about it, and is famous for its iron-works. +Besides the prison to which I have already referred, this town +contains a pretty arsenal and other institutions. It is +very beautifully situated on the Alleghany River, over which +there are two bridges; and the villas of the wealthier citizens +sprinkled about the high grounds in the neighbourhood, are pretty +enough. We lodged at a most excellent hotel, and were +admirably served. As usual it was full of boarders, was +very large, and had a broad colonnade to every story of the +house.</p> +<p>We tarried here three days. Our next point was +Cincinnati: and as this was a steamboat journey, and western +steamboats usually blow up one or two a week in the season, it +was advisable to collect opinions in reference to the comparative +safety of the vessels bound that way, then lying in the +river. One called the Messenger was the best +recommended. She had been advertised to start positively, +every day for a fortnight or so, and had not gone yet, nor did +her captain seem to have any very fixed intention on the +subject. But this is the custom: for if the law were to +bind down a free and independent citizen to keep his word with +the public, what would become of the liberty of the +subject? Besides, it is in the way of trade. And if +passengers be decoyed in the way of trade, and people be +inconvenienced in the way of trade, what man, who is a sharp +tradesman himself, shall say, ‘We must put a stop to +this?’</p> +<p>Impressed by the deep solemnity of the public announcement, I +(being then ignorant of these usages) was for hurrying on board +in a breathless state, immediately; but receiving private and +confidential information that the boat would certainly not start +until Friday, April the First, we made ourselves very comfortable +in the mean while, and went on board at noon that day.</p> +<h2><a name="page130"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +130</span>CHAPTER XI<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">FROM PITTSBURG TO CINCINNATI IN A WESTERN +STEAMBOAT. CINCINNATI</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Messenger was one among a crowd +of high-pressure steamboats, clustered together by a wharf-side, +which, looked down upon from the rising ground that forms the +landing-place, and backed by the lofty bank on the opposite side +of the river, appeared no larger than so many floating +models. She had some forty passengers on board, exclusive +of the poorer persons on the lower deck; and in half an hour, or +less, proceeded on her way.</p> +<p>We had, for ourselves, a tiny state-room with two berths in +it, opening out of the ladies’ cabin. There was, +undoubtedly, something satisfactory in this +‘location,’ inasmuch as it was in the stern, and we +had been a great many times very gravely recommended to keep as +far aft as possible, ‘because the steamboats generally blew +up forward.’ Nor was this an unnecessary caution, as +the occurrence and circumstances of more than one such fatality +during our stay sufficiently testified. Apart from this +source of self-congratulation, it was an unspeakable relief to +have any place, no matter how confined, where one could be alone: +and as the row of little chambers of which this was one, had each +a second glass-door besides that in the ladies’ cabin, +which opened on a narrow gallery outside the vessel, where the +other passengers seldom came, and where one could sit in peace +and gaze upon the shifting prospect, we took possession of our +new quarters with much pleasure.</p> +<p>If the native packets I have already described be unlike +anything we are in the habit of seeing on water, these western +vessels are still more foreign to all the ideas we are accustomed +to entertain of boats. I hardly know what to liken them to, +or how to describe them.</p> +<p>In the first place, they have no mast, cordage, tackle, +rigging, or other such boat-like gear; nor have they anything in +their shape at all calculated to remind one of a boat’s +head, stem, sides, or keel. Except that they are in the +water, and display a couple of paddle-boxes, they might be +intended, for anything that appears to the contrary, to perform +some unknown service, high and dry, upon a mountain top. +There is no visible deck, even: nothing but a long, black, ugly +roof covered with burnt-out feathery sparks; above which tower +two iron chimneys, and a hoarse escape valve, and a glass +steerage-house. Then, in order as the eye descends towards +the water, are the sides, and doors, and windows of the +state-rooms, jumbled as oddly together as though they formed a +small street, built by the varying tastes of a dozen men: the +whole is supported on beams and pillars resting on a dirty barge, +but a few inches above the water’s edge: and in the narrow +space between this upper structure and this barge’s deck, +are the furnace fires and machinery, open at the sides to every +wind that blows, and every storm of rain it drives along its +path.</p> +<p>Passing one of these boats at night, and seeing the great body +of fire, exposed as I have just described, that rages and roars +beneath the frail pile of painted wood: the machinery, not warded +off or guarded in any way, but doing its work in the midst of the +crowd of idlers and emigrants and children, who throng the lower +deck: under the management, too, of reckless men whose +acquaintance with its mysteries may have been of six +months’ standing: one feels directly that the wonder is, +not that there should be so many fatal accidents, but that any +journey should be safely made.</p> +<p>Within, there is one long narrow cabin, the whole length of +the boat; from which the state-rooms open, on both sides. A +small portion of it at the stern is partitioned off for the +ladies; and the bar is at the opposite extreme. There is a +long table down the centre, and at either end a stove. The +washing apparatus is forward, on the deck. It is a little +better than on board the canal boat, but not much. In all +modes of travelling, the American customs, with reference to the +means of personal cleanliness and wholesome ablution, are +extremely negligent and filthy; and I strongly incline to the +belief that a considerable amount of illness is referable to this +cause.</p> +<p>We are to be on board the Messenger three days: arriving at +Cincinnati (barring accidents) on Monday morning. There are +three meals a day. Breakfast at seven, dinner at half-past +twelve, supper about six. At each, there are a great many +small dishes and plates upon the table, with very little in them; +so that although there is every appearance of a mighty +‘spread,’ there is seldom really more than a joint: +except for those who fancy slices of beet-root, shreds of dried +beef, complicated entanglements of yellow pickle; maize, Indian +corn, apple-sauce, and pumpkin.</p> +<p>Some people fancy all these little dainties together (and +sweet preserves beside), by way of relish to their roast +pig. They are generally those dyspeptic ladies and +gentlemen who eat unheard-of quantities of hot corn bread (almost +as good for the digestion as a kneaded pin-cushion), for +breakfast, and for supper. Those who do not observe this +custom, and who help themselves several times instead, usually +suck their knives and forks meditatively, until they have decided +what to take next: then pull them out of their mouths: put them +in the dish; help themselves; and fall to work again. At +dinner, there is nothing to drink upon the table, but great jugs +full of cold water. Nobody says anything, at any meal, to +anybody. All the passengers are very dismal, and seem to +have tremendous secrets weighing on their minds. There is +no conversation, no laughter, no cheerfulness, no sociality, +except in spitting; and that is done in silent fellowship round +the stove, when the meal is over. Every man sits down, dull +and languid; swallows his fare as if breakfasts, dinners, and +suppers, were necessities of nature never to be coupled with +recreation or enjoyment; and having bolted his food in a gloomy +silence, bolts himself, in the same state. But for these +animal observances, you might suppose the whole male portion of +the company to be the melancholy ghosts of departed book-keepers, +who had fallen dead at the desk: such is their weary air of +business and calculation. Undertakers on duty would be +sprightly beside them; and a collation of funeral-baked meats, in +comparison with these meals, would be a sparkling festivity.</p> +<p>The people are all alike, too. There is no diversity of +character. They travel about on the same errands, say and +do the same things in exactly the same manner, and follow in the +same dull cheerless round. All down the long table, there +is scarcely a man who is in anything different from his +neighbour. It is quite a relief to have, sitting opposite, +that little girl of fifteen with the loquacious chin: who, to do +her justice, acts up to it, and fully identifies nature’s +handwriting, for of all the small chatterboxes that ever invaded +the repose of drowsy ladies’ cabin, she is the first and +foremost. The beautiful girl, who sits a little beyond +her—farther down the table there—married the young +man with the dark whiskers, who sits beyond <i>her</i>, only last +month. They are going to settle in the very Far West, where +he has lived four years, but where she has never been. They +were both overturned in a stage-coach the other day (a bad omen +anywhere else, where overturns are not so common), and his head, +which bears the marks of a recent wound, is bound up still. +She was hurt too, at the same time, and lay insensible for some +days; bright as her eyes are, now.</p> +<p>Further down still, sits a man who is going some miles beyond +their place of destination, to ‘improve’ a +newly-discovered copper mine. He carries the +village—that is to be—with him: a few frame cottages, +and an apparatus for smelting the copper. He carries its +people too. They are partly American and partly Irish, and +herd together on the lower deck; where they amused themselves +last evening till the night was pretty far advanced, by +alternately firing off pistols and singing hymns.</p> +<p>They, and the very few who have been left at table twenty +minutes, rise, and go away. We do so too; and passing +through our little state-room, resume our seats in the quiet +gallery without.</p> +<p>A fine broad river always, but in some parts much wider than +in others: and then there is usually a green island, covered with +trees, dividing it into two streams. Occasionally, we stop +for a few minutes, maybe to take in wood, maybe for passengers, +at some small town or village (I ought to say city, every place +is a city here); but the banks are for the most part deep +solitudes, overgrown with trees, which, hereabouts, are already +in leaf and very green. For miles, and miles, and miles, +these solitudes are unbroken by any sign of human life or trace +of human footstep; nor is anything seen to move about them but +the blue jay, whose colour is so bright, and yet so delicate, +that it looks like a flying flower. At lengthened intervals +a log cabin, with its little space of cleared land about it, +nestles under a rising ground, and sends its thread of blue smoke +curling up into the sky. It stands in the corner of the +poor field of wheat, which is full of great unsightly stumps, +like earthy butchers’-blocks. Sometimes the ground is +only just now cleared: the felled trees lying yet upon the soil: +and the log-house only this morning begun. As we pass this +clearing, the settler leans upon his axe or hammer, and looks +wistfully at the people from the world. The children creep +out of the temporary hut, which is like a gipsy tent upon the +ground, and clap their hands and shout. The dog only +glances round at us, and then looks up into his master’s +face again, as if he were rendered uneasy by any suspension of +the common business, and had nothing more to do with +pleasurers. And still there is the same, eternal +foreground. The river has washed away its banks, and +stately trees have fallen down into the stream. Some have +been there so long, that they are mere dry, grizzly +skeletons. Some have just toppled over, and having earth +yet about their roots, are bathing their green heads in the +river, and putting forth new shoots and branches. Some are +almost sliding down, as you look at them. And some were +drowned so long ago, that their bleached arms start out from the +middle of the current, and seem to try to grasp the boat, and +drag it under water.</p> +<p>Through such a scene as this, the unwieldy machine takes its +hoarse, sullen way: venting, at every revolution of the paddles, +a loud high-pressure blast; enough, one would think, to waken up +the host of Indians who lie buried in a great mound yonder: so +old, that mighty oaks and other forest trees have struck their +roots into its earth; and so high, that it is a hill, even among +the hills that Nature planted round it. The very river, as +though it shared one’s feelings of compassion for the +extinct tribes who lived so pleasantly here, in their blessed +ignorance of white existence, hundreds of years ago, steals out +of its way to ripple near this mound: and there are few places +where the Ohio sparkles more brightly than in the Big Grave +Creek.</p> +<p>All this I see as I sit in the little stern-gallery mentioned +just now. Evening slowly steals upon the landscape and +changes it before me, when we stop to set some emigrants +ashore.</p> +<p>Five men, as many women, and a little girl. All their +worldly goods are a bag, a large chest and an old chair: one, +old, high-backed, rush-bottomed chair: a solitary settler in +itself. They are rowed ashore in the boat, while the vessel +stands a little off awaiting its return, the water being +shallow. They are landed at the foot of a high bank, on the +summit of which are a few log cabins, attainable only by a long +winding path. It is growing dusk; but the sun is very red, +and shines in the water and on some of the tree-tops, like +fire.</p> +<p>The men get out of the boat first; help out the women; take +out the bag, the chest, the chair; bid the rowers +‘good-bye;’ and shove the boat off for them. At +the first plash of the oars in the water, the oldest woman of the +party sits down in the old chair, close to the water’s +edge, without speaking a word. None of the others sit down, +though the chest is large enough for many seats. They all +stand where they landed, as if stricken into stone; and look +after the boat. So they remain, quite still and silent: the +old woman and her old chair, in the centre the bag and chest upon +the shore, without anybody heeding them all eyes fixed upon the +boat. It comes alongside, is made fast, the men jump on +board, the engine is put in motion, and we go hoarsely on +again. There they stand yet, without the motion of a +hand. I can see them through my glass, when, in the +distance and increasing darkness, they are mere specks to the +eye: lingering there still: the old woman in the old chair, and +all the rest about her: not stirring in the least degree. +And thus I slowly lose them.</p> +<p>The night is dark, and we proceed within the shadow of the +wooded bank, which makes it darker. After gliding past the +sombre maze of boughs for a long time, we come upon an open space +where the tall trees are burning. The shape of every branch +and twig is expressed in a deep red glow, and as the light wind +stirs and ruffles it, they seem to vegetate in fire. It is +such a sight as we read of in legends of enchanted forests: +saving that it is sad to see these noble works wasting away so +awfully, alone; and to think how many years must come and go +before the magic that created them will rear their like upon this +ground again. But the time will come; and when, in their +changed ashes, the growth of centuries unborn has struck its +roots, the restless men of distant ages will repair to these +again unpeopled solitudes; and their fellows, in cities far away, +that slumber now, perhaps, beneath the rolling sea, will read in +language strange to any ears in being now, but very old to them, +of primeval forests where the axe was never heard, and where the +jungled ground was never trodden by a human foot.</p> +<p>Midnight and sleep blot out these scenes and thoughts: and +when the morning shines again, it gilds the house-tops of a +lively city, before whose broad paved wharf the boat is moored; +with other boats, and flags, and moving wheels, and hum of men +around it; as though there were not a solitary or silent rood of +ground within the compass of a thousand miles.</p> +<p>Cincinnati is a beautiful city; cheerful, thriving, and +animated. I have not often seen a place that commends +itself so favourably and pleasantly to a stranger at the first +glance as this does: with its clean houses of red and white, its +well-paved roads, and foot-ways of bright tile. Nor does it +become less prepossessing on a closer acquaintance. The +streets are broad and airy, the shops extremely good, the private +residences remarkable for their elegance and neatness. +There is something of invention and fancy in the varying styles +of these latter erections, which, after the dull company of the +steamboat, is perfectly delightful, as conveying an assurance +that there are such qualities still in existence. The +disposition to ornament these pretty villas and render them +attractive, leads to the culture of trees and flowers, and the +laying out of well-kept gardens, the sight of which, to those who +walk along the streets, is inexpressibly refreshing and +agreeable. I was quite charmed with the appearance of the +town, and its adjoining suburb of Mount Auburn: from which the +city, lying in an amphitheatre of hills, forms a picture of +remarkable beauty, and is seen to great advantage.</p> +<p>There happened to be a great Temperance Convention held here +on the day after our arrival; and as the order of march brought +the procession under the windows of the hotel in which we lodged, +when they started in the morning, I had a good opportunity of +seeing it. It comprised several thousand men; the members +of various ‘Washington Auxiliary Temperance +Societies;’ and was marshalled by officers on horseback, +who cantered briskly up and down the line, with scarves and +ribbons of bright colours fluttering out behind them gaily. +There were bands of music too, and banners out of number: and it +was a fresh, holiday-looking concourse altogether.</p> +<p>I was particularly pleased to see the Irishmen, who formed a +distinct society among themselves, and mustered very strong with +their green scarves; carrying their national Harp and their +Portrait of Father Mathew, high above the people’s +heads. They looked as jolly and good-humoured as ever; and, +working (here) the hardest for their living and doing any kind of +sturdy labour that came in their way, were the most independent +fellows there, I thought.</p> +<p>The banners were very well painted, and flaunted down the +street famously. There was the smiting of the rock, and the +gushing forth of the waters; and there was a temperate man with +‘considerable of a hatchet’ (as the standard-bearer +would probably have said), aiming a deadly blow at a serpent +which was apparently about to spring upon him from the top of a +barrel of spirits. But the chief feature of this part of +the show was a huge allegorical device, borne among the +ship-carpenters, on one side whereof the steamboat Alcohol was +represented bursting her boiler and exploding with a great crash, +while upon the other, the good ship Temperance sailed away with a +fair wind, to the heart’s content of the captain, crew, and +passengers.</p> +<p>After going round the town, the procession repaired to a +certain appointed place, where, as the printed programme set +forth, it would be received by the children of the different free +schools, ‘singing Temperance Songs.’ I was +prevented from getting there, in time to hear these Little +Warblers, or to report upon this novel kind of vocal +entertainment: novel, at least, to me: but I found in a large +open space, each society gathered round its own banners, and +listening in silent attention to its own orator. The +speeches, judging from the little I could hear of them, were +certainly adapted to the occasion, as having that degree of +relationship to cold water which wet blankets may claim: but the +main thing was the conduct and appearance of the audience +throughout the day; and that was admirable and full of +promise.</p> +<p>Cincinnati is honourably famous for its free schools, of which +it has so many that no person’s child among its population +can, by possibility, want the means of education, which are +extended, upon an average, to four thousand pupils, +annually. I was only present in one of these establishments +during the hours of instruction. In the boys’ +department, which was full of little urchins (varying in their +ages, I should say, from six years old to ten or twelve), the +master offered to institute an extemporary examination of the +pupils in algebra; a proposal, which, as I was by no means +confident of my ability to detect mistakes in that science, I +declined with some alarm. In the girls’ school, +reading was proposed; and as I felt tolerably equal to that art, +I expressed my willingness to hear a class. Books were +distributed accordingly, and some half-dozen girls relieved each +other in reading paragraphs from English History. But it +seemed to be a dry compilation, infinitely above their powers; +and when they had blundered through three or four dreary passages +concerning the Treaty of Amiens, and other thrilling topics of +the same nature (obviously without comprehending ten words), I +expressed myself quite satisfied. It is very possible that +they only mounted to this exalted stave in the Ladder of Learning +for the astonishment of a visitor; and that at other times they +keep upon its lower rounds; but I should have been much better +pleased and satisfied if I had heard them exercised in simpler +lessons, which they understood.</p> +<p>As in every other place I visited, the judges here were +gentlemen of high character and attainments. I was in one +of the courts for a few minutes, and found it like those to which +I have already referred. A nuisance cause was trying; there +were not many spectators; and the witnesses, counsel, and jury, +formed a sort of family circle, sufficiently jocose and snug.</p> +<p>The society with which I mingled, was intelligent, courteous, +and agreeable. The inhabitants of Cincinnati are proud of +their city as one of the most interesting in America: and with +good reason: for beautiful and thriving as it is now, and +containing, as it does, a population of fifty thousand souls, but +two-and-fifty years have passed away since the ground on which it +stands (bought at that time for a few dollars) was a wild wood, +and its citizens were but a handful of dwellers in scattered log +huts upon the river’s shore.</p> +<h2><a name="page137"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +137</span>CHAPTER XII<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">FROM CINCINNATI TO LOUISVILLE IN ANOTHER +WESTERN STEAMBOAT; AND FROM LOUISVILLE TO ST. LOUIS IN +ANOTHER. ST. LOUIS</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">Leaving</span> Cincinnati at eleven +o’clock in the forenoon, we embarked for Louisville in the +Pike steamboat, which, carrying the mails, was a packet of a much +better class than that in which we had come from Pittsburg. +As this passage does not occupy more than twelve or thirteen +hours, we arranged to go ashore that night: not coveting the +distinction of sleeping in a state-room, when it was possible to +sleep anywhere else.</p> +<p>There chanced to be on board this boat, in addition to the +usual dreary crowd of passengers, one Pitchlynn, a chief of the +Choctaw tribe of Indians, who <i>sent in his card</i> to me, and +with whom I had the pleasure of a long conversation.</p> +<p>He spoke English perfectly well, though he had not begun to +learn the language, he told me, until he was a young man +grown. He had read many books; and Scott’s poetry +appeared to have left a strong impression on his mind: especially +the opening of The Lady of the Lake, and the great battle scene +in Marmion, in which, no doubt from the congeniality of the +subjects to his own pursuits and tastes, he had great interest +and delight. He appeared to understand correctly all he had +read; and whatever fiction had enlisted his sympathy in its +belief, had done so keenly and earnestly. I might almost +say fiercely. He was dressed in our ordinary everyday +costume, which hung about his fine figure loosely, and with +indifferent grace. On my telling him that I regretted not +to see him in his own attire, he threw up his right arm, for a +moment, as though he were brandishing some heavy weapon, and +answered, as he let it fall again, that his race were losing many +things besides their dress, and would soon be seen upon the earth +no more: but he wore it at home, he added proudly.</p> +<p>He told me that he had been away from his home, west of the +Mississippi, seventeen months: and was now returning. He +had been chiefly at Washington on some negotiations pending +between his Tribe and the Government: which were not settled yet +(he said in a melancholy way), and he feared never would be: for +what could a few poor Indians do, against such well-skilled men +of business as the whites? He had no love for Washington; +tired of towns and cities very soon; and longed for the Forest +and the Prairie.</p> +<p>I asked him what he thought of Congress? He answered, +with a smile, that it wanted dignity, in an Indian’s +eyes.</p> +<p>He would very much like, he said, to see England before he +died; and spoke with much interest about the great things to be +seen there. When I told him of that chamber in the British +Museum wherein are preserved household memorials of a race that +ceased to be, thousands of years ago, he was very attentive, and +it was not hard to see that he had a reference in his mind to the +gradual fading away of his own people.</p> +<p>This led us to speak of Mr. Catlin’s gallery, which he +praised highly: observing that his own portrait was among the +collection, and that all the likenesses were +‘elegant.’ Mr. Cooper, he said, had painted the +Red Man well; and so would I, he knew, if I would go home with +him and hunt buffaloes, which he was quite anxious I should +do. When I told him that supposing I went, I should not be +very likely to damage the buffaloes much, he took it as a great +joke and laughed heartily.</p> +<p>He was a remarkably handsome man; some years past forty, I +should judge; with long black hair, an aquiline nose, broad +cheek-bones, a sunburnt complexion, and a very bright, keen, +dark, and piercing eye. There were but twenty thousand of +the Choctaws left, he said, and their number was decreasing every +day. A few of his brother chiefs had been obliged to become +civilised, and to make themselves acquainted with what the whites +knew, for it was their only chance of existence. But they +were not many; and the rest were as they always had been. +He dwelt on this: and said several times that unless they tried +to assimilate themselves to their conquerors, they must be swept +away before the strides of civilised society.</p> +<p>When we shook hands at parting, I told him he must come to +England, as he longed to see the land so much: that I should hope +to see him there, one day: and that I could promise him he would +be well received and kindly treated. He was evidently +pleased by this assurance, though he rejoined with a +good-humoured smile and an arch shake of his head, that the +English used to be very fond of the Red Men when they wanted +their help, but had not cared much for them, since.</p> +<p>He took his leave; as stately and complete a gentleman of +Nature’s making, as ever I beheld; and moved among the +people in the boat, another kind of being. He sent me a +lithographed portrait of himself soon afterwards; very like, +though scarcely handsome enough; which I have carefully preserved +in memory of our brief acquaintance.</p> +<p>There was nothing very interesting in the scenery of this +day’s journey, which brought us at midnight to +Louisville. We slept at the Galt House; a splendid hotel; +and were as handsomely lodged as though we had been in Paris, +rather than hundreds of miles beyond the Alleghanies.</p> +<p>The city presenting no objects of sufficient interest to +detain us on our way, we resolved to proceed next day by another +steamboat, the Fulton, and to join it, about noon, at a suburb +called Portland, where it would be delayed some time in passing +through a canal.</p> +<p>The interval, after breakfast, we devoted to riding through +the town, which is regular and cheerful: the streets being laid +out at right angles, and planted with young trees. The +buildings are smoky and blackened, from the use of bituminous +coal, but an Englishman is well used to that appearance, and +indisposed to quarrel with it. There did not appear to be +much business stirring; and some unfinished buildings and +improvements seemed to intimate that the city had been overbuilt +in the ardour of ‘going-a-head,’ and was suffering +under the re-action consequent upon such feverish forcing of its +powers.</p> +<p>On our way to Portland, we passed a ‘Magistrate’s +office,’ which amused me, as looking far more like a dame +school than any police establishment: for this awful Institution +was nothing but a little lazy, good-for-nothing front parlour, +open to the street; wherein two or three figures (I presume the +magistrate and his myrmidons) were basking in the sunshine, the +very effigies of languor and repose. It was a perfect +picture of justice retired from business for want of customers; +her sword and scales sold off; napping comfortably with her legs +upon the table.</p> +<p>Here, as elsewhere in these parts, the road was perfectly +alive with pigs of all ages; lying about in every direction, fast +asleep.; or grunting along in quest of hidden dainties. I +had always a sneaking kindness for these odd animals, and found a +constant source of amusement, when all others failed, in watching +their proceedings. As we were riding along this morning, I +observed a little incident between two youthful pigs, which was +so very human as to be inexpressibly comical and grotesque at the +time, though I dare say, in telling, it is tame enough.</p> +<p>One young gentleman (a very delicate porker with several +straws sticking about his nose, betokening recent investigations +in a dung-hill) was walking deliberately on, profoundly thinking, +when suddenly his brother, who was lying in a miry hole unseen by +him, rose up immediately before his startled eyes, ghostly with +damp mud. Never was pig’s whole mass of blood so +turned. He started back at least three feet, gazed for a +moment, and then shot off as hard as he could go: his excessively +little tail vibrating with speed and terror like a distracted +pendulum. But before he had gone very far, he began to +reason with himself as to the nature of this frightful +appearance; and as he reasoned, he relaxed his speed by gradual +degrees; until at last he stopped, and faced about. There +was his brother, with the mud upon him glazing in the sun, yet +staring out of the very same hole, perfectly amazed at his +proceedings! He was no sooner assured of this; and he +assured himself so carefully that one may almost say he shaded +his eyes with his hand to see the better; than he came back at a +round trot, pounced upon him, and summarily took off a piece of +his tail; as a caution to him to be careful what he was about for +the future, and never to play tricks with his family any +more.</p> +<p>We found the steamboat in the canal, waiting for the slow +process of getting through the lock, and went on board, where we +shortly afterwards had a new kind of visitor in the person of a +certain Kentucky Giant whose name is Porter, and who is of the +moderate height of seven feet eight inches, in his stockings.</p> +<p>There never was a race of people who so completely gave the +lie to history as these giants, or whom all the chroniclers have +so cruelly libelled. Instead of roaring and ravaging about +the world, constantly catering for their cannibal larders, and +perpetually going to market in an unlawful manner, they are the +meekest people in any man’s acquaintance: rather inclining +to milk and vegetable diet, and bearing anything for a quiet +life. So decidedly are amiability and mildness their +characteristics, that I confess I look upon that youth who +distinguished himself by the slaughter of these inoffensive +persons, as a false-hearted brigand, who, pretending to +philanthropic motives, was secretly influenced only by the wealth +stored up within their castles, and the hope of plunder. +And I lean the more to this opinion from finding that even the +historian of those exploits, with all his partiality for his +hero, is fain to admit that the slaughtered monsters in question +were of a very innocent and simple turn; extremely guileless and +ready of belief; lending a credulous ear to the most improbable +tales; suffering themselves to be easily entrapped into pits; and +even (as in the case of the Welsh Giant) with an excess of the +hospitable politeness of a landlord, ripping themselves open, +rather than hint at the possibility of their guests being versed +in the vagabond arts of sleight-of-hand and hocus-pocus.</p> +<p>The Kentucky Giant was but another illustration of the truth +of this position. He had a weakness in the region of the +knees, and a trustfulness in his long face, which appealed even +to five-feet nine for encouragement and support. He was +only twenty-five years old, he said, and had grown recently, for +it had been found necessary to make an addition to the legs of +his inexpressibles. At fifteen he was a short boy, and in +those days his English father and his Irish mother had rather +snubbed him, as being too small of stature to sustain the credit +of the family. He added that his health had not been good, +though it was better now; but short people are not wanting who +whisper that he drinks too hard.</p> +<p>I understand he drives a hackney-coach, though how he does it, +unless he stands on the footboard behind, and lies along the roof +upon his chest, with his chin in the box, it would be difficult +to comprehend. He brought his gun with him, as a +curiosity.</p> +<p>Christened ‘The Little Rifle,’ and displayed +outside a shop-window, it would make the fortune of any retail +business in Holborn. When he had shown himself and talked a +little while, he withdrew with his pocket-instrument, and went +bobbing down the cabin, among men of six feet high and upwards, +like a light-house walking among lamp-posts.</p> +<p>Within a few minutes afterwards, we were out of the canal, and +in the Ohio river again.</p> +<p>The arrangements of the boat were like those of the Messenger, +and the passengers were of the same order of people. We fed +at the same times, on the same kind of viands, in the same dull +manner, and with the same observances. The company appeared +to be oppressed by the same tremendous concealments, and had as +little capacity of enjoyment or light-heartedness. I never +in my life did see such listless, heavy dulness as brooded over +these meals: the very recollection of it weighs me down, and +makes me, for the moment, wretched. Reading and writing on +my knee, in our little cabin, I really dreaded the coming of the +hour that summoned us to table; and was as glad to escape from it +again, as if it had been a penance or a punishment. Healthy +cheerfulness and good spirits forming a part of the banquet, I +could soak my crusts in the fountain with Le Sage’s +strolling player, and revel in their glad enjoyment: but sitting +down with so many fellow-animals to ward off thirst and hunger as +a business; to empty, each creature, his Yahoo’s trough as +quickly as he can, and then slink sullenly away; to have these +social sacraments stripped of everything but the mere greedy +satisfaction of the natural cravings; goes so against the grain +with me, that I seriously believe the recollection of these +funeral feasts will be a waking nightmare to me all my life.</p> +<p>There was some relief in this boat, too, which there had not +been in the other, for the captain (a blunt, good-natured fellow) +had his handsome wife with him, who was disposed to be lively and +agreeable, as were a few other lady-passengers who had their +seats about us at the same end of the table. But nothing +could have made head against the depressing influence of the +general body. There was a magnetism of dulness in them +which would have beaten down the most facetious companion that +the earth ever knew. A jest would have been a crime, and a +smile would have faded into a grinning horror. Such deadly, +leaden people; such systematic plodding, weary, insupportable +heaviness; such a mass of animated indigestion in respect of all +that was genial, jovial, frank, social, or hearty; never, sure, +was brought together elsewhere since the world began.</p> +<p>Nor was the scenery, as we approached the junction of the Ohio +and Mississippi rivers, at all inspiriting in its +influence. The trees were stunted in their growth; the +banks were low and flat; the settlements and log cabins fewer in +number: their inhabitants more wan and wretched than any we had +encountered yet. No songs of birds were in the air, no +pleasant scents, no moving lights and shadows from swift passing +clouds. Hour after hour, the changeless glare of the hot, +unwinking sky, shone upon the same monotonous objects. Hour +after hour, the river rolled along, as wearily and slowly as the +time itself.</p> +<p>At length, upon the morning of the third day, we arrived at a +spot so much more desolate than any we had yet beheld, that the +forlornest places we had passed, were, in comparison with it, +full of interest. At the junction of the two rivers, on +ground so flat and low and marshy, that at certain seasons of the +year it is inundated to the house-tops, lies a breeding-place of +fever, ague, and death; vaunted in England as a mine of Golden +Hope, and speculated in, on the faith of monstrous +representations, to many people’s ruin. A dismal +swamp, on which the half-built houses rot away: cleared here and +there for the space of a few yards; and teeming, then, with rank +unwholesome vegetation, in whose baleful shade the wretched +wanderers who are tempted hither, droop, and die, and lay their +bones; the hateful Mississippi circling and eddying before it, +and turning off upon its southern course a slimy monster hideous +to behold; a hotbed of disease, an ugly sepulchre, a grave +uncheered by any gleam of promise: a place without one single +quality, in earth or air or water, to commend it: such is this +dismal Cairo.</p> +<p>But what words shall describe the Mississippi, great father of +rivers, who (praise be to Heaven) has no young children like him! +An enormous ditch, sometimes two or three miles wide, running +liquid mud, six miles an hour: its strong and frothy current +choked and obstructed everywhere by huge logs and whole forest +trees: now twining themselves together in great rafts, from the +interstices of which a sedgy, lazy foam works up, to float upon +the water’s top; now rolling past like monstrous bodies, +their tangled roots showing like matted hair; now glancing singly +by like giant leeches; and now writhing round and round in the +vortex of some small whirlpool, like wounded snakes. The +banks low, the trees dwarfish, the marshes swarming with frogs, +the wretched cabins few and far apart, their inmates +hollow-cheeked and pale, the weather very hot, mosquitoes +penetrating into every crack and crevice of the boat, mud and +slime on everything: nothing pleasant in its aspect, but the +harmless lightning which flickers every night upon the dark +horizon.</p> +<p>For two days we toiled up this foul stream, striking +constantly against the floating timber, or stopping to avoid +those more dangerous obstacles, the snags, or sawyers, which are +the hidden trunks of trees that have their roots below the +tide. When the nights are very dark, the look-out stationed +in the head of the boat, knows by the ripple of the water if any +great impediment be near at hand, and rings a bell beside him, +which is the signal for the engine to be stopped: but always in +the night this bell has work to do, and after every ring, there +comes a blow which renders it no easy matter to remain in +bed.</p> +<p>The decline of day here was very gorgeous; tingeing the +firmament deeply with red and gold, up to the very keystone of +the arch above us. As the sun went down behind the bank, +the slightest blades of grass upon it seemed to become as +distinctly visible as the arteries in the skeleton of a leaf; and +when, as it slowly sank, the red and golden bars upon the water +grew dimmer, and dimmer yet, as if they were sinking too; and all +the glowing colours of departing day paled, inch by inch, before +the sombre night; the scene became a thousand times more lonesome +and more dreary than before, and all its influences darkened with +the sky.</p> +<p>We drank the muddy water of this river while we were upon +it. It is considered wholesome by the natives, and is +something more opaque than gruel. I have seen water like it +at the Filter-shops, but nowhere else.</p> +<p><a name="page144"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 144</span>On +the fourth night after leaving Louisville, we reached St. Louis, +and here I witnessed the conclusion of an incident, trifling +enough in itself, but very pleasant to see, which had interested +me during the whole journey.</p> +<p>There was a little woman on board, with a little baby; and +both little woman and little child were cheerful, good-looking, +bright-eyed, and fair to see. The little woman had been +passing a long time with her sick mother in New York, and had +left her home in St. Louis, in that condition in which ladies who +truly love their lords desire to be. The baby was born in +her mother’s house; and she had not seen her husband (to +whom she was now returning), for twelve months: having left him a +month or two after their marriage.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p144b.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The Little Wife" +title= +"The Little Wife" +src="images/p144s.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Well, to be sure, there never was a little woman so full of +hope, and tenderness, and love, and anxiety, as this little woman +was: and all day long she wondered whether ‘He’ would +be at the wharf; and whether ‘He’ had got her letter; +and whether, if she sent the baby ashore by somebody else, +‘He’ would know it, meeting it in the street: which, +seeing that he had never set eyes upon it in his life, was not +very likely in the abstract, but was probable enough, to the +young mother. She was such an artless little creature; and +was in such a sunny, beaming, hopeful state; and let out all this +matter clinging close about her heart, so freely; that all the +other lady passengers entered into the spirit of it as much as +she; and the captain (who heard all about it from his wife) was +wondrous sly, I promise you: inquiring, every time we met at +table, as in forgetfulness, whether she expected anybody to meet +her at St. Louis, and whether she would want to go ashore the +night we reached it (but he supposed she wouldn’t), and +cutting many other dry jokes of that nature. There was one +little weazen, dried-apple-faced old woman, who took occasion to +doubt the constancy of husbands in such circumstances of +bereavement; and there was another lady (with a lap-dog) old +enough to moralize on the lightness of human affections, and yet +not so old that she could help nursing the baby, now and then, or +laughing with the rest, when the little woman called it by its +father’s name, and asked it all manner of fantastic +questions concerning him in the joy of her heart.</p> +<p>It was something of a blow to the little woman, that when we +were within twenty miles of our destination, it became clearly +necessary to put this baby to bed. But she got over it with +the same good humour; tied a handkerchief round her head; and +came out into the little gallery with the rest. Then, such +an oracle as she became in reference to the localities! and such +facetiousness as was displayed by the married ladies! and such +sympathy as was shown by the single ones! and such peals of +laughter as the little woman herself (who would just as soon have +cried) greeted every jest with!</p> +<p>At last, there were the lights of St. Louis, and here was the +wharf, and those were the steps: and the little woman covering +her face with her hands, and laughing (or seeming to laugh) more +than ever, ran into her own cabin, and shut herself up. I +have no doubt that in the charming inconsistency of such +excitement, she stopped her ears, lest she should hear +‘Him’ asking for her: but I did not see her do +it.</p> +<p>Then, a great crowd of people rushed on board, though the boat +was not yet made fast, but was wandering about, among the other +boats, to find a landing-place: and everybody looked for the +husband: and nobody saw him: when, in the midst of us +all—Heaven knows how she ever got there—there was the +little woman clinging with both arms tight round the neck of a +fine, good-looking, sturdy young fellow! and in a moment +afterwards, there she was again, actually clapping her little +hands for joy, as she dragged him through the small door of her +small cabin, to look at the baby as he lay asleep!</p> +<p>We went to a large hotel, called the Planter’s House: +built like an English hospital, with long passages and bare +walls, and sky-lights above the room-doors for the free +circulation of air. There were a great many boarders in it; +and as many lights sparkled and glistened from the windows down +into the street below, when we drove up, as if it had been +illuminated on some occasion of rejoicing. It is an +excellent house, and the proprietors have most bountiful notions +of providing the creature comforts. Dining alone with my +wife in our own room, one day, I counted fourteen dishes on the +table at once.</p> +<p>In the old French portion of the town, the thoroughfares are +narrow and crooked, and some of the houses are very quaint and +picturesque: being built of wood, with tumble-down galleries +before the windows, approachable by stairs or rather ladders from +the street. There are queer little barbers’ shops and +drinking-houses too, in this quarter; and abundance of crazy old +tenements with blinking casements, such as may be seen in +Flanders. Some of these ancient habitations, with high +garret gable-windows perking into the roofs, have a kind of +French shrug about them; and being lop-sided with age, appear to +hold their heads askew, besides, as if they were grimacing in +astonishment at the American Improvements.</p> +<p>It is hardly necessary to say, that these consist of wharfs +and warehouses, and new buildings in all directions; and of a +great many vast plans which are still +‘progressing.’ Already, however, some very good +houses, broad streets, and marble-fronted shops, have gone so far +ahead as to be in a state of completion; and the town bids fair +in a few years to improve considerably: though it is not likely +ever to vie, in point of elegance or beauty, with Cincinnati.</p> +<p>The Roman Catholic religion, introduced here by the early +French settlers, prevails extensively. Among the public +institutions are a Jesuit college; a convent for ‘the +Ladies of the Sacred Heart;’ and a large chapel attached to +the college, which was in course of erection at the time of my +visit, and was intended to be consecrated on the second of +December in the next year. The architect of this building, +is one of the reverend fathers of the school, and the works +proceed under his sole direction. The organ will be sent +from Belgium.</p> +<p>In addition to these establishments, there is a Roman Catholic +cathedral, dedicated to Saint Francis Xavier; and a hospital, +founded by the munificence of a deceased resident, who was a +member of that church. It also sends missionaries from +hence among the Indian tribes.</p> +<p>The Unitarian church is represented, in this remote place, as +in most other parts of America, by a gentleman of great worth and +excellence. The poor have good reason to remember and bless +it; for it befriends them, and aids the cause of rational +education, without any sectarian or selfish views. It is +liberal in all its actions; of kind construction; and of wide +benevolence.</p> +<p>There are three free-schools already erected, and in full +operation in this city. A fourth is building, and will soon +be opened.</p> +<p>No man ever admits the unhealthiness of the place he dwells in +(unless he is going away from it), and I shall therefore, I have +no doubt, be at issue with the inhabitants of St. Louis, in +questioning the perfect salubrity of its climate, and in hinting +that I think it must rather dispose to fever, in the summer and +autumnal seasons. Just adding, that it is very hot, lies +among great rivers, and has vast tracts of undrained swampy land +around it, I leave the reader to form his own opinion.</p> +<p>As I had a great desire to see a Prairie before turning back +from the furthest point of my wanderings; and as some gentlemen +of the town had, in their hospitable consideration, an equal +desire to gratify me; a day was fixed, before my departure, for +an expedition to the Looking-Glass Prairie, which is within +thirty miles of the town. Deeming it possible that my +readers may not object to know what kind of thing such a gipsy +party may be at that distance from home, and among what sort of +objects it moves, I will describe the jaunt in another +chapter.</p> +<h2><a name="page147"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +147</span>CHAPTER XIII<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">A JAUNT TO THE LOOKING-GLASS PRAIRIE AND +BACK</span></h2> +<p>I <span class="smcap">may</span> premise that the word Prairie +is variously pronounced <i>paraaer</i>, <i>parearer</i>, +<i>paroarer</i>. The latter mode of pronunciation is +perhaps the most in favour.</p> +<p>We were fourteen in all, and all young men: indeed it is a +singular though very natural feature in the society of these +distant settlements, that it is mainly composed of adventurous +persons in the prime of life, and has very few grey heads among +it. There were no ladies: the trip being a fatiguing one: +and we were to start at five o’clock in the morning +punctually.</p> +<p>I was called at four, that I might be certain of keeping +nobody waiting; and having got some bread and milk for breakfast, +threw up the window and looked down into the street, expecting to +see the whole party busily astir, and great preparations going on +below. But as everything was very quiet, and the street +presented that hopeless aspect with which five o’clock in +the morning is familiar elsewhere, I deemed it as well to go to +bed again, and went accordingly.</p> +<p>I woke again at seven o’clock, and by that time the +party had assembled, and were gathered round, one light carriage, +with a very stout axletree; one something on wheels like an +amateur carrier’s cart; one double phaeton of great +antiquity and unearthly construction; one gig with a great hole +in its back and a broken head; and one rider on horseback who was +to go on before. I got into the first coach with three +companions; the rest bestowed themselves in the other vehicles; +two large baskets were made fast to the lightest; two large stone +jars in wicker cases, technically known as demi-johns, were +consigned to the ‘least rowdy’ of the party for +safe-keeping; and the procession moved off to the ferryboat, in +which it was to cross the river bodily, men, horses, carriages, +and all, as the manner in these parts is.</p> +<p>We got over the river in due course, and mustered again before +a little wooden box on wheels, hove down all aslant in a morass, +with ‘<span class="smcap">merchant tailor</span>’ +painted in very large letters over the door. Having settled +the order of proceeding, and the road to be taken, we started off +once more and began to make our way through an ill-favoured Black +Hollow, called, less expressively, the American Bottom.</p> +<p>The previous day had been—not to say hot, for the term +is weak and lukewarm in its power of conveying an idea of the +temperature. The town had been on fire; in a blaze. +But at night it had come on to rain in torrents, and all night +long it had rained without cessation. We had a pair of very +strong horses, but travelled at the rate of little more than a +couple of miles an hour, through one unbroken slough of black mud +and water. It had no variety but in depth. Now it was +only half over the wheels, now it hid the axletree, and now the +coach sank down in it almost to the windows. The air +resounded in all directions with the loud chirping of the frogs, +who, with the pigs (a coarse, ugly breed, as unwholesome-looking +as though they were the spontaneous growth of the country), had +the whole scene to themselves. Here and there we passed a +log hut: but the wretched cabins were wide apart and thinly +scattered, for though the soil is very rich in this place, few +people can exist in such a deadly atmosphere. On either +side of the track, if it deserve the name, was the thick +‘bush;’ and everywhere was stagnant, slimy, rotten, +filthy water.</p> +<p>As it is the custom in these parts to give a horse a gallon or +so of cold water whenever he is in a foam with heat, we halted +for that purpose, at a log inn in the wood, far removed from any +other residence. It consisted of one room, bare-roofed and +bare-walled of course, with a loft above. The ministering +priest was a swarthy young savage, in a shirt of cotton print +like bed-furniture, and a pair of ragged trousers. There +were a couple of young boys, too, nearly naked, lying idle by the +well; and they, and he, and <i>the</i> traveller at the inn, +turned out to look at us.</p> +<p>The traveller was an old man with a grey gristly beard two +inches long, a shaggy moustache of the same hue, and enormous +eyebrows; which almost obscured his lazy, semi-drunken glance, as +he stood regarding us with folded arms: poising himself +alternately upon his toes and heels. On being addressed by +one of the party, he drew nearer, and said, rubbing his chin +(which scraped under his horny hand like fresh gravel beneath a +nailed shoe), that he was from Delaware, and had lately bought a +farm ‘down there,’ pointing into one of the marshes +where the stunted trees were thickest. He was +‘going,’ he added, to St. Louis, to fetch his family, +whom he had left behind; but he seemed in no great hurry to bring +on these incumbrances, for when we moved away, he loitered back +into the cabin, and was plainly bent on stopping there so long as +his money lasted. He was a great politician of course, and +explained his opinions at some length to one of our company; but +I only remember that he concluded with two sentiments, one of +which was, Somebody for ever; and the other, Blast everybody +else! which is by no means a bad abstract of the general creed in +these matters.</p> +<p>When the horses were swollen out to about twice their natural +dimensions (there seems to be an idea here, that this kind of +inflation improves their going), we went forward again, through +mud and mire, and damp, and festering heat, and brake and bush, +attended always by the music of the frogs and pigs, until nearly +noon, when we halted at a place called Belleville.</p> +<p>Belleville was a small collection of wooden houses, huddled +together in the very heart of the bush and swamp. Many of +them had singularly bright doors of red and yellow; for the place +had been lately visited by a travelling painter, ‘who got +along,’ as I was told, ‘by eating his +way.’ The criminal court was sitting, and was at that +moment trying some criminals for horse-stealing: with whom it +would most likely go hard: for live stock of all kinds being +necessarily very much exposed in the woods, is held by the +community in rather higher value than human life; and for this +reason, juries generally make a point of finding all men indicted +for cattle-stealing, guilty, whether or no.</p> +<p>The horses belonging to the bar, the judge, and witnesses, +were tied to temporary racks set up roughly in the road; by which +is to be understood, a forest path, nearly knee-deep in mud and +slime.</p> +<p>There was an hotel in this place, which, like all hotels in +America, had its large dining-room for the public table. It +was an odd, shambling, low-roofed out-house, half-cowshed and +half-kitchen, with a coarse brown canvas table-cloth, and tin +sconces stuck against the walls, to hold candles at +supper-time. The horseman had gone forward to have coffee +and some eatables prepared, and they were by this time nearly +ready. He had ordered ‘wheat-bread and chicken +fixings,’ in preference to ‘corn-bread and common +doings.’ The latter kind of rejection includes only +pork and bacon. The former comprehends broiled ham, +sausages, veal cutlets, steaks, and such other viands of that +nature as may be supposed, by a tolerably wide poetical +construction, ‘to fix’ a chicken comfortably in the +digestive organs of any lady or gentleman.</p> +<p>On one of the door-posts at this inn, was a tin plate, whereon +was inscribed in characters of gold, ‘Doctor Crocus;’ +and on a sheet of paper, pasted up by the side of this plate, was +a written announcement that Dr. Crocus would that evening deliver +a lecture on Phrenology for the benefit of the Belleville public; +at a charge, for admission, of so much a head.</p> +<p>Straying up-stairs, during the preparation of the chicken +fixings, I happened to pass the doctor’s chamber; and as +the door stood wide open, and the room was empty, I made bold to +peep in.</p> +<p>It was a bare, unfurnished, comfortless room, with an unframed +portrait hanging up at the head of the bed; a likeness, I take +it, of the Doctor, for the forehead was fully displayed, and +great stress was laid by the artist upon its phrenological +developments. The bed itself was covered with an old +patch-work counterpane. The room was destitute of carpet or +of curtain. There was a damp fireplace without any stove, +full of wood ashes; a chair, and a very small table; and on the +last-named piece of furniture was displayed, in grand array, the +doctor’s library, consisting of some half-dozen greasy old +books.</p> +<p>Now, it certainly looked about the last apartment on the whole +earth out of which any man would be likely to get anything to do +him good. But the door, as I have said, stood coaxingly +open, and plainly said in conjunction with the chair, the +portrait, the table, and the books, ‘Walk in, gentlemen, +walk in! Don’t be ill, gentlemen, when you may be +well in no time. Doctor Crocus is here, gentlemen, the +celebrated Dr. Crocus! Dr. Crocus has come all this way to +cure you, gentlemen. If you haven’t heard of Dr. +Crocus, it’s your fault, gentlemen, who live a little way +out of the world here: not Dr. Crocus’s. Walk in, +gentlemen, walk in!’</p> +<p>In the passage below, when I went down-stairs again, was Dr. +Crocus himself. A crowd had flocked in from the Court +House, and a voice from among them called out to the landlord, +‘Colonel! introduce Doctor Crocus.’</p> +<p>‘Mr. Dickens,’ says the colonel, ‘Doctor +Crocus.’</p> +<p>Upon which Doctor Crocus, who is a tall, fine-looking +Scotchman, but rather fierce and warlike in appearance for a +professor of the peaceful art of healing, bursts out of the +concourse with his right arm extended, and his chest thrown out +as far as it will possibly come, and says:</p> +<p>‘Your countryman, sir!’</p> +<p>Whereupon Doctor Crocus and I shake hands; and Doctor Crocus +looks as if I didn’t by any means realise his expectations, +which, in a linen blouse, and a great straw hat, with a green +ribbon, and no gloves, and my face and nose profusely ornamented +with the stings of mosquitoes and the bites of bugs, it is very +likely I did not.</p> +<p>‘Long in these parts, sir?’ says I.</p> +<p>‘Three or four months, sir,’ says the Doctor.</p> +<p>‘Do you think of soon returning to the old +country?’ says I.</p> +<p>Doctor Crocus makes no verbal answer, but gives me an +imploring look, which says so plainly ‘Will you ask me that +again, a little louder, if you please?’ that I repeat the +question.</p> +<p>‘Think of soon returning to the old country, sir!’ +repeats the Doctor.</p> +<p>‘To the old country, sir,’ I rejoin.</p> +<p>Doctor Crocus looks round upon the crowd to observe the effect +he produces, rubs his hands, and says, in a very loud voice:</p> +<p>‘Not yet awhile, sir, not yet. You won’t +catch me at that just yet, sir. I am a little too fond of +freedom for <i>that</i>, sir. Ha, ha! It’s not +so easy for a man to tear himself from a free country such as +this is, sir. Ha, ha! No, no! Ha, ha! +None of that till one’s obliged to do it, sir. No, +no!’</p> +<p>As Doctor Crocus says these latter words, he shakes his head, +knowingly, and laughs again. Many of the bystanders shake +their heads in concert with the doctor, and laugh too, and look +at each other as much as to say, ‘A pretty bright and +first-rate sort of chap is Crocus!’ and unless I am very +much mistaken, a good many people went to the lecture that night, +who never thought about phrenology, or about Doctor Crocus +either, in all their lives before.</p> +<p>From Belleville, we went on, through the same desolate kind of +waste, and constantly attended, without the interval of a moment, +by the same music; until, at three o’clock in the +afternoon, we halted once more at a village called Lebanon to +inflate the horses again, and give them some corn besides: of +which they stood much in need. Pending this ceremony, I +walked into the village, where I met a full-sized dwelling-house +coming down-hill at a round trot, drawn by a score or more of +oxen.</p> +<p>The public-house was so very clean and good a one, that the +managers of the jaunt resolved to return to it and put up there +for the night, if possible. This course decided on, and the +horses being well refreshed, we again pushed forward, and came +upon the Prairie at sunset.</p> +<p>It would be difficult to say why, or how—though it was +possibly from having heard and read so much about it—but +the effect on me was disappointment. Looking towards the +setting sun, there lay, stretched out before my view, a vast +expanse of level ground; unbroken, save by one thin line of +trees, which scarcely amounted to a scratch upon the great blank; +until it met the glowing sky, wherein it seemed to dip: mingling +with its rich colours, and mellowing in its distant blue. +There it lay, a tranquil sea or lake without water, if such a +simile be admissible, with the day going down upon it: a few +birds wheeling here and there: and solitude and silence reigning +paramount around. But the grass was not yet high; there +were bare black patches on the ground; and the few wild flowers +that the eye could see, were poor and scanty. Great as the +picture was, its very flatness and extent, which left nothing to +the imagination, tamed it down and cramped its interest. I +felt little of that sense of freedom and exhilaration which a +Scottish heath inspires, or even our English downs awaken. +It was lonely and wild, but oppressive in its barren +monotony. I felt that in traversing the Prairies, I could +never abandon myself to the scene, forgetful of all else; as I +should do instinctively, were the heather underneath my feet, or +an iron-bound coast beyond; but should often glance towards the +distant and frequently-receding line of the horizon, and wish it +gained and passed. It is not a scene to be forgotten, but +it is scarcely one, I think (at all events, as I saw it), to +remember with much pleasure, or to covet the looking-on again, in +after-life.</p> +<p>We encamped near a solitary log-house, for the sake of its +water, and dined upon the plain. The baskets contained +roast fowls, buffalo’s tongue (an exquisite dainty, by the +way), ham, bread, cheese, and butter; biscuits, champagne, +sherry; lemons and sugar for punch; and abundance of rough +ice. The meal was delicious, and the entertainers were the +soul of kindness and good humour. I have often recalled +that cheerful party to my pleasant recollection since, and shall +not easily forget, in junketings nearer home with friends of +older date, my boon companions on the Prairie.</p> +<p>Returning to Lebanon that night, we lay at the little inn at +which we had halted in the afternoon. In point of +cleanliness and comfort it would have suffered by no comparison +with any English alehouse, of a homely kind, in England.</p> +<p>Rising at five o’clock next morning, I took a walk about +the village: none of the houses were strolling about to-day, but +it was early for them yet, perhaps: and then amused myself by +lounging in a kind of farm-yard behind the tavern, of which the +leading features were, a strange jumble of rough sheds for +stables; a rude colonnade, built as a cool place of summer +resort; a deep well; a great earthen mound for keeping vegetables +in, in winter time; and a pigeon-house, whose little apertures +looked, as they do in all pigeon-houses, very much too small for +the admission of the plump and swelling-breasted birds who were +strutting about it, though they tried to get in never so +hard. That interest exhausted, I took a survey of the +inn’s two parlours, which were decorated with coloured +prints of Washington, and President Madison, and of a white-faced +young lady (much speckled by the flies), who held up her gold +neck-chain for the admiration of the spectator, and informed all +admiring comers that she was ‘Just Seventeen:’ +although I should have thought her older. In the best room +were two oil portraits of the kit-cat size, representing the +landlord and his infant son; both looking as bold as lions, and +staring out of the canvas with an intensity that would have been +cheap at any price. They were painted, I think, by the +artist who had touched up the Belleville doors with red and gold; +for I seemed to recognise his style immediately.</p> +<p>After breakfast, we started to return by a different way from +that which we had taken yesterday, and coming up at ten +o’clock with an encampment of German emigrants carrying +their goods in carts, who had made a rousing fire which they were +just quitting, stopped there to refresh. And very pleasant +the fire was; for, hot though it had been yesterday, it was quite +cold to-day, and the wind blew keenly. Looming in the +distance, as we rode along, was another of the ancient Indian +burial-places, called The Monks’ Mound; in memory of a body +of fanatics of the order of La Trappe, who founded a desolate +convent there, many years ago, when there were no settlers within +a thousand miles, and were all swept off by the pernicious +climate: in which lamentable fatality, few rational people will +suppose, perhaps, that society experienced any very severe +deprivation.</p> +<p>The track of to-day had the same features as the track of +yesterday. There was the swamp, the bush, and the perpetual +chorus of frogs, the rank unseemly growth, the unwholesome +steaming earth. Here and there, and frequently too, we +encountered a solitary broken-down waggon, full of some new +settler’s goods. It was a pitiful sight to see one of +these vehicles deep in the mire; the axle-tree broken; the wheel +lying idly by its side; the man gone miles away, to look for +assistance; the woman seated among their wandering household gods +with a baby at her breast, a picture of forlorn, dejected +patience; the team of oxen crouching down mournfully in the mud, +and breathing forth such clouds of vapour from their mouths and +nostrils, that all the damp mist and fog around seemed to have +come direct from them.</p> +<p>In due time we mustered once again before the merchant +tailor’s, and having done so, crossed over to the city in +the ferry-boat: passing, on the way, a spot called Bloody Island, +the duelling-ground of St. Louis, and so designated in honour of +the last fatal combat fought there, which was with pistols, +breast to breast. Both combatants fell dead upon the +ground; and possibly some rational people may think of them, as +of the gloomy madmen on the Monks’ Mound, that they were no +great loss to the community.</p> +<h2><a name="page153"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +153</span>CHAPTER XIV<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">RETURN TO CINCINNATI. A STAGE-COACH +RIDE FROM THAT CITY TO COLUMBUS, AND THENCE TO SANDUSKY. +SO, BY LAKE ERIE, TO THE FALLS OF NIAGARA</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">As</span> I had a desire to travel through +the interior of the state of Ohio, and to ‘strike the +lakes,’ as the phrase is, at a small town called Sandusky, +to which that route would conduct us on our way to Niagara, we +had to return from St. Louis by the way we had come, and to +retrace our former track as far as Cincinnati.</p> +<p>The day on which we were to take leave of St. Louis being very +fine; and the steamboat, which was to have started I don’t +know how early in the morning, postponing, for the third or +fourth time, her departure until the afternoon; we rode forward +to an old French village on the river, called properly +Carondelet, and nicknamed Vide Poche, and arranged that the +packet should call for us there.</p> +<p>The place consisted of a few poor cottages, and two or three +public-houses; the state of whose larders certainly seemed to +justify the second designation of the village, for there was +nothing to eat in any of them. At length, however, by going +back some half a mile or so, we found a solitary house where ham +and coffee were procurable; and there we tarried to wait the +advent of the boat, which would come in sight from the green +before the door, a long way off.</p> +<p>It was a neat, unpretending village tavern, and we took our +repast in a quaint little room with a bed in it, decorated with +some old oil paintings, which in their time had probably done +duty in a Catholic chapel or monastery. The fare was very +good, and served with great cleanliness. The house was kept +by a characteristic old couple, with whom we had a long talk, and +who were perhaps a very good sample of that kind of people in the +West.</p> +<p>The landlord was a dry, tough, hard-faced old fellow (not so +very old either, for he was but just turned sixty, I should +think), who had been out with the militia in the last war with +England, and had seen all kinds of service,—except a +battle; and he had been very near seeing that, he added: very +near. He had all his life been restless and locomotive, +with an irresistible desire for change; and was still the son of +his old self: for if he had nothing to keep him at home, he said +(slightly jerking his hat and his thumb towards the window of the +room in which the old lady sat, as we stood talking in front of +the house), he would clean up his musket, and be off to Texas +to-morrow morning. He was one of the very many descendants +of Cain proper to this continent, who seem destined from their +birth to serve as pioneers in the great human army: who gladly go +on from year to year extending its outposts, and leaving home +after home behind them; and die at last, utterly regardless of +their graves being left thousands of miles behind, by the +wandering generation who succeed.</p> +<p>His wife was a domesticated, kind-hearted old soul, who had +come with him, ‘from the queen city of the world,’ +which, it seemed, was Philadelphia; but had no love for this +Western country, and indeed had little reason to bear it any; +having seen her children, one by one, die here of fever, in the +full prime and beauty of their youth. Her heart was sore, +she said, to think of them; and to talk on this theme, even to +strangers, in that blighted place, so far from her old home, +eased it somewhat, and became a melancholy pleasure.</p> +<p>The boat appearing towards evening, we bade adieu to the poor +old lady and her vagrant spouse, and making for the nearest +landing-place, were soon on board The Messenger again, in our old +cabin, and steaming down the Mississippi.</p> +<p>If the coming up this river, slowly making head against the +stream, be an irksome journey, the shooting down it with the +turbid current is almost worse; for then the boat, proceeding at +the rate of twelve or fifteen miles an hour, has to force its +passage through a labyrinth of floating logs, which, in the dark, +it is often impossible to see beforehand or avoid. All that +night, the bell was never silent for five minutes at a time; and +after every ring the vessel reeled again, sometimes beneath a +single blow, sometimes beneath a dozen dealt in quick succession, +the lightest of which seemed more than enough to beat in her +frail keel, as though it had been pie-crust. Looking down +upon the filthy river after dark, it seemed to be alive with +monsters, as these black masses rolled upon the surface, or came +starting up again, head first, when the boat, in ploughing her +way among a shoal of such obstructions, drove a few among them +for the moment under water. Sometimes the engine stopped +during a long interval, and then before her and behind, and +gathering close about her on all sides, were so many of these +ill-favoured obstacles that she was fairly hemmed in; the centre +of a floating island; and was constrained to pause until they +parted, somewhere, as dark clouds will do before the wind, and +opened by degrees a channel out.</p> +<p>In good time next morning, however, we came again in sight of +the detestable morass called Cairo; and stopping there to take in +wood, lay alongside a barge, whose starting timbers scarcely held +together. It was moored to the bank, and on its side was +painted ‘Coffee House;’ that being, I suppose, the +floating paradise to which the people fly for shelter when they +lose their houses for a month or two beneath the hideous waters +of the Mississippi. But looking southward from this point, +we had the satisfaction of seeing that intolerable river dragging +its slimy length and ugly freight abruptly off towards New +Orleans; and passing a yellow line which stretched across the +current, were again upon the clear Ohio, never, I trust, to see +the Mississippi more, saving in troubled dreams and +nightmares. Leaving it for the company of its sparkling +neighbour, was like the transition from pain to ease, or the +awakening from a horrible vision to cheerful realities.</p> +<p>We arrived at Louisville on the fourth night, and gladly +availed ourselves of its excellent hotel. Next day we went +on in the Ben Franklin, a beautiful mail steamboat, and reached +Cincinnati shortly after midnight. Being by this time +nearly tired of sleeping upon shelves, we had remained awake to +go ashore straightway; and groping a passage across the dark +decks of other boats, and among labyrinths of engine-machinery +and leaking casks of molasses, we reached the streets, knocked up +the porter at the hotel where we had stayed before, and were, to +our great joy, safely housed soon afterwards.</p> +<p>We rested but one day at Cincinnati, and then resumed our +journey to Sandusky. As it comprised two varieties of +stage-coach travelling, which, with those I have already glanced +at, comprehend the main characteristics of this mode of transit +in America, I will take the reader as our fellow-passenger, and +pledge myself to perform the distance with all possible +despatch.</p> +<p>Our place of destination in the first instance is +Columbus. It is distant about a hundred and twenty miles +from Cincinnati, but there is a macadamised road (rare blessing!) +the whole way, and the rate of travelling upon it is six miles an +hour.</p> +<p>We start at eight o’clock in the morning, in a great +mail-coach, whose huge cheeks are so very ruddy and plethoric, +that it appears to be troubled with a tendency of blood to the +head. Dropsical it certainly is, for it will hold a dozen +passengers inside. But, wonderful to add, it is very clean +and bright, being nearly new; and rattles through the streets of +Cincinnati gaily.</p> +<p>Our way lies through a beautiful country, richly cultivated, +and luxuriant in its promise of an abundant harvest. +Sometimes we pass a field where the strong bristling stalks of +Indian corn look like a crop of walking-sticks, and sometimes an +enclosure where the green wheat is springing up among a labyrinth +of stumps; the primitive worm-fence is universal, and an ugly +thing it is; but the farms are neatly kept, and, save for these +differences, one might be travelling just now in Kent.</p> +<p>We often stop to water at a roadside inn, which is always dull +and silent. The coachman dismounts and fills his bucket, +and holds it to the horses’ heads. There is scarcely +ever any one to help him; there are seldom any loungers standing +round; and never any stable-company with jokes to crack. +Sometimes, when we have changed our team, there is a difficulty +in starting again, arising out of the prevalent mode of breaking +a young horse: which is to catch him, harness him against his +will, and put him in a stage-coach without further notice: but we +get on somehow or other, after a great many kicks and a violent +struggle; and jog on as before again.</p> +<p>Occasionally, when we stop to change, some two or three +half-drunken loafers will come loitering out with their hands in +their pockets, or will be seen kicking their heels in +rocking-chairs, or lounging on the window-sill, or sitting on a +rail within the colonnade: they have not often anything to say +though, either to us or to each other, but sit there idly staring +at the coach and horses. The landlord of the inn is usually +among them, and seems, of all the party, to be the least +connected with the business of the house. Indeed he is with +reference to the tavern, what the driver is in relation to the +coach and passengers: whatever happens in his sphere of action, +he is quite indifferent, and perfectly easy in his mind.</p> +<p>The frequent change of coachmen works no change or variety in +the coachman’s character. He is always dirty, sullen, +and taciturn. If he be capable of smartness of any kind, +moral or physical, he has a faculty of concealing it which is +truly marvellous. He never speaks to you as you sit beside +him on the box, and if you speak to him, he answers (if at all) +in monosyllables. He points out nothing on the road, and +seldom looks at anything: being, to all appearance, thoroughly +weary of it and of existence generally. As to doing the +honours of his coach, his business, as I have said, is with the +horses. The coach follows because it is attached to them +and goes on wheels: not because you are in it. Sometimes, +towards the end of a long stage, he suddenly breaks out into a +discordant fragment of an election song, but his face never sings +along with him: it is only his voice, and not often that.</p> +<p>He always chews and always spits, and never encumbers himself +with a pocket-handkerchief. The consequences to the box +passenger, especially when the wind blows towards him, are not +agreeable.</p> +<p>Whenever the coach stops, and you can hear the voices of the +inside passengers; or whenever any bystander addresses them, or +any one among them; or they address each other; you will hear one +phrase repeated over and over and over again to the most +extraordinary extent. It is an ordinary and unpromising +phrase enough, being neither more nor less than ‘Yes, +sir;’ but it is adapted to every variety of circumstance, +and fills up every pause in the conversation. +Thus:—</p> +<p>The time is one o’clock at noon. The scene, a +place where we are to stay and dine, on this journey. The +coach drives up to the door of an inn. The day is warm, and +there are several idlers lingering about the tavern, and waiting +for the public dinner. Among them, is a stout gentleman in +a brown hat, swinging himself to and fro in a rocking-chair on +the pavement.</p> +<p>As the coach stops, a gentleman in a straw hat looks out of +the window:</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Straw Hat</span>. (To the stout +gentleman in the rocking-chair.) I reckon that’s +Judge Jefferson, an’t it?</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Brown Hat</span>. (Still swinging; +speaking very slowly; and without any emotion whatever.) +Yes, sir.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Straw Hat</span>. Warm weather, +Judge.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Brown Hat</span>. Yes, sir.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Straw Hat</span>. There was a snap +of cold, last week.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Brown Hat</span>. Yes, sir.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Straw Hat</span>. Yes, sir.</p> +<p>A pause. They look at each other, very seriously.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Straw Hat</span>. I calculate +you’ll have got through that case of the corporation, +Judge, by this time, now?</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Brown Hat</span>. Yes, sir.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Straw Hat</span>. How did the +verdict go, sir?</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Brown Hat</span>. For the defendant, +sir.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Straw Hat</span>. +(Interrogatively.) Yes, sir?</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Brown Hat</span>. (Affirmatively.) +Yes, sir.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Both</span>. (Musingly, as each +gazes down the street.) Yes, sir.</p> +<p>Another pause. They look at each other again, still more +seriously than before.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Brown Hat</span>. This coach is +rather behind its time to-day, I guess.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Straw Hat</span>. +(Doubtingly.) Yes, sir.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Brown Hat</span>. (Looking at his +watch.) Yes, sir; nigh upon two hours.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Straw Hat</span>. (Raising his +eyebrows in very great surprise.) Yes, sir!</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Brown Hat</span>. (Decisively, as he +puts up his watch.) Yes, sir.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">All the other inside +Passengers</span>. (Among themselves.) Yes, sir.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Coachman</span>. (In a very surly +tone.) No it an’t.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Straw Hat</span>. (To the +coachman.) Well, I don’t know, sir. We were a +pretty tall time coming that last fifteen mile. +That’s a fact.</p> +<p>The coachman making no reply, and plainly declining to enter +into any controversy on a subject so far removed from his +sympathies and feelings, another passenger says, ‘Yes, +sir;’ and the gentleman in the straw hat in acknowledgment +of his courtesy, says ‘Yes, sir,’ to him, in +return. The straw hat then inquires of the brown hat, +whether that coach in which he (the straw hat) then sits, is not +a new one? To which the brown hat again makes answer, +‘Yes, sir.’</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Straw Hat</span>. I thought +so. Pretty loud smell of varnish, sir?</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Brown Hat</span>. Yes, sir.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">All the other inside +Passengers</span>. Yes, sir.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Brown Hat</span>. (To the company in +general.) Yes, sir.</p> +<p>The conversational powers of the company having been by this +time pretty heavily taxed, the straw hat opens the door and gets +out; and all the rest alight also. We dine soon afterwards +with the boarders in the house, and have nothing to drink but tea +and coffee. As they are both very bad and the water is +worse, I ask for brandy; but it is a Temperance Hotel, and +spirits are not to be had for love or money. This +preposterous forcing of unpleasant drinks down the reluctant +throats of travellers is not at all uncommon in America, but I +never discovered that the scruples of such wincing landlords +induced them to preserve any unusually nice balance between the +quality of their fare, and their scale of charges: on the +contrary, I rather suspected them of diminishing the one and +exalting the other, by way of recompense for the loss of their +profit on the sale of spirituous liquors. After all, +perhaps, the plainest course for persons of such tender +consciences, would be, a total abstinence from +tavern-keeping.</p> +<p>Dinner over, we get into another vehicle which is ready at the +door (for the coach has been changed in the interval), and resume +our journey; which continues through the same kind of country +until evening, when we come to the town where we are to stop for +tea and supper; and having delivered the mail bags at the +Post-office, ride through the usual wide street, lined with the +usual stores and houses (the drapers always having hung up at +their door, by way of sign, a piece of bright red cloth), to the +hotel where this meal is prepared. There being many +boarders here, we sit down, a large party, and a very melancholy +one as usual. But there is a buxom hostess at the head of +the table, and opposite, a simple Welsh schoolmaster with his +wife and child; who came here, on a speculation of greater +promise than performance, to teach the classics: and they are +sufficient subjects of interest until the meal is over, and +another coach is ready. In it we go on once more, lighted +by a bright moon, until midnight; when we stop to change the +coach again, and remain for half an hour or so in a miserable +room, with a blurred lithograph of Washington over the smoky +fire-place, and a mighty jug of cold water on the table: to which +refreshment the moody passengers do so apply themselves that they +would seem to be, one and all, keen patients of Dr. +Sangrado. Among them is a very little boy, who chews +tobacco like a very big one; and a droning gentleman, who talks +arithmetically and statistically on all subjects, from poetry +downwards; and who always speaks in the same key, with exactly +the same emphasis, and with very grave deliberation. He +came outside just now, and told me how that the uncle of a +certain young lady who had been spirited away and married by a +certain captain, lived in these parts; and how this uncle was so +valiant and ferocious that he shouldn’t wonder if he were +to follow the said captain to England, ‘and shoot him down +in the street wherever he found him;’ in the feasibility of +which strong measure I, being for the moment rather prone to +contradiction, from feeling half asleep and very tired, declined +to acquiesce: assuring him that if the uncle did resort to it, or +gratified any other little whim of the like nature, he would find +himself one morning prematurely throttled at the Old Bailey: and +that he would do well to make his will before he went, as he +would certainly want it before he had been in Britain very +long.</p> +<p>On we go, all night, and by-and-by the day begins to break, +and presently the first cheerful rays of the warm sun come +slanting on us brightly. It sheds its light upon a +miserable waste of sodden grass, and dull trees, and squalid +huts, whose aspect is forlorn and grievous in the last +degree. A very desert in the wood, whose growth of green is +dank and noxious like that upon the top of standing water: where +poisonous fungus grows in the rare footprint on the oozy ground, +and sprouts like witches’ coral, from the crevices in the +cabin wall and floor; it is a hideous thing to lie upon the very +threshold of a city. But it was purchased years ago, and as +the owner cannot be discovered, the State has been unable to +reclaim it. So there it remains, in the midst of +cultivation and improvement, like ground accursed, and made +obscene and rank by some great crime.</p> +<p>We reached Columbus shortly before seven o’clock, and +stayed there, to refresh, that day and night: having excellent +apartments in a very large unfinished hotel called the Neill +House, which were richly fitted with the polished wood of the +black walnut, and opened on a handsome portico and stone +verandah, like rooms in some Italian mansion. The town is +clean and pretty, and of course is ‘going to be’ much +larger. It is the seat of the State legislature of Ohio, +and lays claim, in consequence, to some consideration and +importance.</p> +<p>There being no stage-coach next day, upon the road we wished +to take, I hired ‘an extra,’ at a reasonable charge +to carry us to Tiffin; a small town from whence there is a +railroad to Sandusky. This extra was an ordinary four-horse +stage-coach, such as I have described, changing horses and +drivers, as the stage-coach would, but was exclusively our own +for the journey. To ensure our having horses at the proper +stations, and being incommoded by no strangers, the proprietors +sent an agent on the box, who was to accompany us the whole way +through; and thus attended, and bearing with us, besides, a +hamper full of savoury cold meats, and fruit, and wine, we +started off again in high spirits, at half-past six o’clock +next morning, very much delighted to be by ourselves, and +disposed to enjoy even the roughest journey.</p> +<p>It was well for us, that we were in this humour, for the road +we went over that day, was certainly enough to have shaken +tempers that were not resolutely at Set Fair, down to some inches +below Stormy. At one time we were all flung together in a +heap at the bottom of the coach, and at another we were crushing +our heads against the roof. Now, one side was down deep in +the mire, and we were holding on to the other. Now, the +coach was lying on the tails of the two wheelers; and now it was +rearing up in the air, in a frantic state, with all four horses +standing on the top of an insurmountable eminence, looking coolly +back at it, as though they would say ‘Unharness us. +It can’t be done.’ The drivers on these roads, +who certainly get over the ground in a manner which is quite +miraculous, so twist and turn the team about in forcing a +passage, corkscrew fashion, through the bogs and swamps, that it +was quite a common circumstance on looking out of the window, to +see the coachman with the ends of a pair of reins in his hands, +apparently driving nothing, or playing at horses, and the leaders +staring at one unexpectedly from the back of the coach, as if +they had some idea of getting up behind. A great portion of +the way was over what is called a corduroy road, which is made by +throwing trunks of trees into a marsh, and leaving them to settle +there. The very slightest of the jolts with which the +ponderous carriage fell from log to log, was enough, it seemed, +to have dislocated all the bones in the human body. It +would be impossible to experience a similar set of sensations, in +any other circumstances, unless perhaps in attempting to go up to +the top of St. Paul’s in an omnibus. Never, never +once, that day, was the coach in any position, attitude, or kind +of motion to which we are accustomed in coaches. Never did +it make the smallest approach to one’s experience of the +proceedings of any sort of vehicle that goes on wheels.</p> +<p>Still, it was a fine day, and the temperature was delicious, +and though we had left Summer behind us in the west, and were +fast leaving Spring, we were moving towards Niagara and +home. We alighted in a pleasant wood towards the middle of +the day, dined on a fallen tree, and leaving our best fragments +with a cottager, and our worst with the pigs (who swarm in this +part of the country like grains of sand on the sea-shore, to the +great comfort of our commissariat in Canada), we went forward +again, gaily.</p> +<p>As night came on, the track grew narrower and narrower, until +at last it so lost itself among the trees, that the driver seemed +to find his way by instinct. We had the comfort of knowing, +at least, that there was no danger of his falling asleep, for +every now and then a wheel would strike against an unseen stump +with such a jerk, that he was fain to hold on pretty tight and +pretty quick, to keep himself upon the box. Nor was there +any reason to dread the least danger from furious driving, +inasmuch as over that broken ground the horses had enough to do +to walk; as to shying, there was no room for that; and a herd of +wild elephants could not have run away in such a wood, with such +a coach at their heels. So we stumbled along, quite +satisfied.</p> +<p>These stumps of trees are a curious feature in American +travelling. The varying illusions they present to the +unaccustomed eye as it grows dark, are quite astonishing in their +number and reality. Now, there is a Grecian urn erected in +the centre of a lonely field; now there is a woman weeping at a +tomb; now a very commonplace old gentleman in a white waistcoat, +with a thumb thrust into each arm-hole of his coat; now a student +poring on a book; now a crouching negro; now, a horse, a dog, a +cannon, an armed man; a hunch-back throwing off his cloak and +stepping forth into the light. They were often as +entertaining to me as so many glasses in a magic lantern, and +never took their shapes at my bidding, but seemed to force +themselves upon me, whether I would or no; and strange to say, I +sometimes recognised in them counterparts of figures once +familiar to me in pictures attached to childish books, forgotten +long ago.</p> +<p>It soon became too dark, however, even for this amusement, and +the trees were so close together that their dry branches rattled +against the coach on either side, and obliged us all to keep our +heads within. It lightened too, for three whole hours; each +flash being very bright, and blue, and long; and as the vivid +streaks came darting in among the crowded branches, and the +thunder rolled gloomily above the tree tops, one could scarcely +help thinking that there were better neighbourhoods at such a +time than thick woods afforded.</p> +<p>At length, between ten and eleven o’clock at night, a +few feeble lights appeared in the distance, and Upper Sandusky, +an Indian village, where we were to stay till morning, lay before +us.</p> +<p>They were gone to bed at the log Inn, which was the only house +of entertainment in the place, but soon answered to our knocking, +and got some tea for us in a sort of kitchen or common room, +tapestried with old newspapers, pasted against the wall. +The bed-chamber to which my wife and I were shown, was a large, +low, ghostly room; with a quantity of withered branches on the +hearth, and two doors without any fastening, opposite to each +other, both opening on the black night and wild country, and so +contrived, that one of them always blew the other open: a novelty +in domestic architecture, which I do not remember to have seen +before, and which I was somewhat disconcerted to have forced on +my attention after getting into bed, as I had a considerable sum +in gold for our travelling expenses, in my dressing-case. +Some of the luggage, however, piled against the panels, soon +settled this difficulty, and my sleep would not have been very +much affected that night, I believe, though it had failed to do +so.</p> +<p>My Boston friend climbed up to bed, somewhere in the roof, +where another guest was already snoring hugely. But being +bitten beyond his power of endurance, he turned out again, and +fled for shelter to the coach, which was airing itself in front +of the house. This was not a very politic step, as it +turned out; for the pigs scenting him, and looking upon the coach +as a kind of pie with some manner of meat inside, grunted round +it so hideously, that he was afraid to come out again, and lay +there shivering, till morning. Nor was it possible to warm +him, when he did come out, by means of a glass of brandy: for in +Indian villages, the legislature, with a very good and wise +intention, forbids the sale of spirits by tavern keepers. +The precaution, however, is quite inefficacious, for the Indians +never fail to procure liquor of a worse kind, at a dearer price, +from travelling pedlars.</p> +<p>It is a settlement of the Wyandot Indians who inhabit this +place. Among the company at breakfast was a mild old +gentleman, who had been for many years employed by the United +States Government in conducting negotiations with the Indians, +and who had just concluded a treaty with these people by which +they bound themselves, in consideration of a certain annual sum, +to remove next year to some land provided for them, west of the +Mississippi, and a little way beyond St. Louis. He gave me +a moving account of their strong attachment to the familiar +scenes of their infancy, and in particular to the burial-places +of their kindred; and of their great reluctance to leave +them. He had witnessed many such removals, and always with +pain, though he knew that they departed for their own good. +The question whether this tribe should go or stay, had been +discussed among them a day or two before, in a hut erected for +the purpose, the logs of which still lay upon the ground before +the inn. When the speaking was done, the ayes and noes were +ranged on opposite sides, and every male adult voted in his +turn. The moment the result was known, the minority (a +large one) cheerfully yielded to the rest, and withdrew all kind +of opposition.</p> +<p>We met some of these poor Indians afterwards, riding on shaggy +ponies. They were so like the meaner sort of gipsies, that +if I could have seen any of them in England, I should have +concluded, as a matter of course, that they belonged to that +wandering and restless people.</p> +<p>Leaving this town directly after breakfast, we pushed forward +again, over a rather worse road than yesterday, if possible, and +arrived about noon at Tiffin, where we parted with the +extra. At two o’clock we took the railroad; the +travelling on which was very slow, its construction being +indifferent, and the ground wet and marshy; and arrived at +Sandusky in time to dine that evening. We put up at a +comfortable little hotel on the brink of Lake Erie, lay there +that night, and had no choice but to wait there next day, until a +steamboat bound for Buffalo appeared. The town, which was +sluggish and uninteresting enough, was something like the back of +an English watering-place, out of the season.</p> +<p>Our host, who was very attentive and anxious to make us +comfortable, was a handsome middle-aged man, who had come to this +town from New England, in which part of the country he was +‘raised.’ When I say that he constantly walked +in and out of the room with his hat on; and stopped to converse +in the same free-and-easy state; and lay down on our sofa, and +pulled his newspaper out of his pocket, and read it at his ease; +I merely mention these traits as characteristic of the country: +not at all as being matter of complaint, or as having been +disagreeable to me. I should undoubtedly be offended by +such proceedings at home, because there they are not the custom, +and where they are not, they would be impertinencies; but in +America, the only desire of a good-natured fellow of this kind, +is to treat his guests hospitably and well; and I had no more +right, and I can truly say no more disposition, to measure his +conduct by our English rule and standard, than I had to quarrel +with him for not being of the exact stature which would qualify +him for admission into the Queen’s grenadier guards. +As little inclination had I to find fault with a funny old lady +who was an upper domestic in this establishment, and who, when +she came to wait upon us at any meal, sat herself down +comfortably in the most convenient chair, and producing a large +pin to pick her teeth with, remained performing that ceremony, +and steadfastly regarding us meanwhile with much gravity and +composure (now and then pressing us to eat a little more), until +it was time to clear away. It was enough for us, that +whatever we wished done was done with great civility and +readiness, and a desire to oblige, not only here, but everywhere +else; and that all our wants were, in general, zealously +anticipated.</p> +<p>We were taking an early dinner at this house, on the day after +our arrival, which was Sunday, when a steamboat came in sight, +and presently touched at the wharf. As she proved to be on +her way to Buffalo, we hurried on board with all speed, and soon +left Sandusky far behind us.</p> +<p>She was a large vessel of five hundred tons, and handsomely +fitted up, though with high-pressure engines; which always +conveyed that kind of feeling to me, which I should be likely to +experience, I think, if I had lodgings on the first-floor of a +powder-mill. She was laden with flour, some casks of which +commodity were stored upon the deck. The captain coming up +to have a little conversation, and to introduce a friend, seated +himself astride of one of these barrels, like a Bacchus of +private life; and pulling a great clasp-knife out of his pocket, +began to ‘whittle’ it as he talked, by paring thin +slices off the edges. And he whittled with such industry +and hearty good will, that but for his being called away very +soon, it must have disappeared bodily, and left nothing in its +place but grist and shavings.</p> +<p>After calling at one or two flat places, with low dams +stretching out into the lake, whereon were stumpy lighthouses, +like windmills without sails, the whole looking like a Dutch +vignette, we came at midnight to Cleveland, where we lay all +night, and until nine o’clock next morning.</p> +<p>I entertained quite a curiosity in reference to this place, +from having seen at Sandusky a specimen of its literature in the +shape of a newspaper, which was very strong indeed upon the +subject of Lord Ashburton’s recent arrival at Washington, +to adjust the points in dispute between the United States +Government and Great Britain: informing its readers that as +America had ‘whipped’ England in her infancy, and +whipped her again in her youth, so it was clearly necessary that +she must whip her once again in her maturity; and pledging its +credit to all True Americans, that if Mr. Webster did his duty in +the approaching negotiations, and sent the English Lord home +again in double quick time, they should, within two years, sing +‘Yankee Doodle in Hyde Park, and Hail Columbia in the +scarlet courts of Westminster!’ I found it a pretty +town, and had the satisfaction of beholding the outside of the +office of the journal from which I have just quoted. I did +not enjoy the delight of seeing the wit who indited the paragraph +in question, but I have no doubt he is a prodigious man in his +way, and held in high repute by a select circle.</p> +<p>There was a gentleman on board, to whom, as I unintentionally +learned through the thin partition which divided our state-room +from the cabin in which he and his wife conversed together, I was +unwittingly the occasion of very great uneasiness. I +don’t know why or wherefore, but I appeared to run in his +mind perpetually, and to dissatisfy him very much. First of +all I heard him say: and the most ludicrous part of the business +was, that he said it in my very ear, and could not have +communicated more directly with me, if he had leaned upon my +shoulder, and whispered me: ‘Boz is on board still, my +dear.’ After a considerable pause, he added, +complainingly, ‘Boz keeps himself very close;’ which +was true enough, for I was not very well, and was lying down, +with a book. I thought he had done with me after this, but +I was deceived; for a long interval having elapsed, during which +I imagine him to have been turning restlessly from side to side, +and trying to go to sleep; he broke out again, with ‘I +suppose <i>that</i> Boz will be writing a book by-and-by, and +putting all our names in it!’ at which imaginary +consequence of being on board a boat with Boz, he groaned, and +became silent.</p> +<p>We called at the town of Erie, at eight o’clock that +night, and lay there an hour. Between five and six next +morning, we arrived at Buffalo, where we breakfasted; and being +too near the Great Falls to wait patiently anywhere else, we set +off by the train, the same morning at nine o’clock, to +Niagara.</p> +<p>It was a miserable day; chilly and raw; a damp mist falling; +and the trees in that northern region quite bare and +wintry. Whenever the train halted, I listened for the roar; +and was constantly straining my eyes in the direction where I +knew the Falls must be, from seeing the river rolling on towards +them; every moment expecting to behold the spray. Within a +few minutes of our stopping, not before, I saw two great white +clouds rising up slowly and majestically from the depths of the +earth. That was all. At length we alighted: and then +for the first time, I heard the mighty rush of water, and felt +the ground tremble underneath my feet.</p> +<p>The bank is very steep, and was slippery with rain, and +half-melted ice. I hardly know how I got down, but I was +soon at the bottom, and climbing, with two English officers who +were crossing and had joined me, over some broken rocks, deafened +by the noise, half-blinded by the spray, and wet to the +skin. We were at the foot of the American Fall. I +could see an immense torrent of water tearing headlong down from +some great height, but had no idea of shape, or situation, or +anything but vague immensity.</p> +<p>When we were seated in the little ferry-boat, and were +crossing the swollen river immediately before both cataracts, I +began to feel what it was: but I was in a manner stunned, and +unable to comprehend the vastness of the scene. It was not +until I came on Table Rock, and looked—Great Heaven, on +what a fall of bright-green water!—that it came upon me in +its full might and majesty.</p> +<p>Then, when I felt how near to my Creator I was standing, the +first effect, and the enduring one—instant and +lasting—of the tremendous spectacle, was Peace. Peace +of Mind, tranquillity, calm recollections of the Dead, great +thoughts of Eternal Rest and Happiness: nothing of gloom or +terror. Niagara was at once stamped upon my heart, an Image +of Beauty; to remain there, changeless and indelible, until its +pulses cease to beat, for ever.</p> +<p>Oh, how the strife and trouble of daily life receded from my +view, and lessened in the distance, during the ten memorable days +we passed on that Enchanted Ground! What voices spoke from +out the thundering water; what faces, faded from the earth, +looked out upon me from its gleaming depths; what Heavenly +promise glistened in those angels’ tears, the drops of many +hues, that showered around, and twined themselves about the +gorgeous arches which the changing rainbows made!</p> +<p>I never stirred in all that time from the Canadian side, +whither I had gone at first. I never crossed the river +again; for I knew there were people on the other shore, and in +such a place it is natural to shun strange company. To +wander to and fro all day, and see the cataracts from all points +of view; to stand upon the edge of the great Horse-Shoe Fall, +marking the hurried water gathering strength as it approached the +verge, yet seeming, too, to pause before it shot into the gulf +below; to gaze from the river’s level up at the torrent as +it came streaming down; to climb the neighbouring heights and +watch it through the trees, and see the wreathing water in the +rapids hurrying on to take its fearful plunge; to linger in the +shadow of the solemn rocks three miles below; watching the river +as, stirred by no visible cause, it heaved and eddied and awoke +the echoes, being troubled yet, far down beneath the surface, by +its giant leap; to have Niagara before me, lighted by the sun and +by the moon, red in the day’s decline, and grey as evening +slowly fell upon it; to look upon it every day, and wake up in +the night and hear its ceaseless voice: this was enough.</p> +<p>I think in every quiet season now, still do those waters roll +and leap, and roar and tumble, all day long; still are the +rainbows spanning them, a hundred feet below. Still, when +the sun is on them, do they shine and glow like molten +gold. Still, when the day is gloomy, do they fall like +snow, or seem to crumble away like the front of a great chalk +cliff, or roll down the rock like dense white smoke. But +always does the mighty stream appear to die as it comes down, and +always from its unfathomable grave arises that tremendous ghost +of spray and mist which is never laid: which has haunted this +place with the same dread solemnity since Darkness brooded on the +deep, and that first flood before the +Deluge—Light—came rushing on Creation at the word of +God.</p> +<h2><a name="page167"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +167</span>CHAPTER XV<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">IN CANADA; TORONTO; KINGSTON; MONTREAL; +QUEBEC; ST. JOHN’S. IN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN; +LEBANON; THE SHAKER VILLAGE; WEST POINT</span></h2> +<p>I <span class="smcap">wish</span> to abstain from instituting +any comparison, or drawing any parallel whatever, between the +social features of the United States and those of the British +Possessions in Canada. For this reason, I shall confine +myself to a very brief account of our journeyings in the latter +territory.</p> +<p>But before I leave Niagara, I must advert to one disgusting +circumstance which can hardly have escaped the observation of any +decent traveller who has visited the Falls.</p> +<p>On Table Rock, there is a cottage belonging to a Guide, where +little relics of the place are sold, and where visitors register +their names in a book kept for the purpose. On the wall of +the room in which a great many of these volumes are preserved, +the following request is posted: ‘Visitors will please not +copy nor extract the remarks and poetical effusions from the +registers and albums kept here.’</p> +<p>But for this intimation, I should have let them lie upon the +tables on which they were strewn with careful negligence, like +books in a drawing-room: being quite satisfied with the +stupendous silliness of certain stanzas with an anti-climax at +the end of each, which were framed and hung up on the wall. +Curious, however, after reading this announcement, to see what +kind of morsels were so carefully preserved, I turned a few +leaves, and found them scrawled all over with the vilest and the +filthiest ribaldry that ever human hogs delighted in.</p> +<p>It is humiliating enough to know that there are among men +brutes so obscene and worthless, that they can delight in laying +their miserable profanations upon the very steps of +Nature’s greatest altar. But that these should be +hoarded up for the delight of their fellow-swine, and kept in a +public place where any eyes may see them, is a disgrace to the +English language in which they are written (though I hope few of +these entries have been made by Englishmen), and a reproach to +the English side, on which they are preserved.</p> +<p>The quarters of our soldiers at Niagara, are finely and airily +situated. Some of them are large detached houses on the +plain above the Falls, which were originally designed for hotels; +and in the evening time, when the women and children were leaning +over the balconies watching the men as they played at ball and +other games upon the grass before the door, they often presented +a little picture of cheerfulness and animation which made it +quite a pleasure to pass that way.</p> +<p>At any garrisoned point where the line of demarcation between +one country and another is so very narrow as at Niagara, +desertion from the ranks can scarcely fail to be of frequent +occurrence: and it may be reasonably supposed that when the +soldiers entertain the wildest and maddest hopes of the fortune +and independence that await them on the other side, the impulse +to play traitor, which such a place suggests to dishonest minds, +is not weakened. But it very rarely happens that the men +who do desert, are happy or contented afterwards; and many +instances have been known in which they have confessed their +grievous disappointment, and their earnest desire to return to +their old service if they could but be assured of pardon, or +lenient treatment. Many of their comrades, notwithstanding, +do the like, from time to time; and instances of loss of life in +the effort to cross the river with this object, are far from +being uncommon. Several men were drowned in the attempt to +swim across, not long ago; and one, who had the madness to trust +himself upon a table as a raft, was swept down to the whirlpool, +where his mangled body eddied round and round some days.</p> +<p>I am inclined to think that the noise of the Falls is very +much exaggerated; and this will appear the more probable when the +depth of the great basin in which the water is received, is taken +into account. At no time during our stay there, was the +wind at all high or boisterous, but we never heard them, three +miles off, even at the very quiet time of sunset, though we often +tried.</p> +<p>Queenston, at which place the steamboats start for Toronto (or +I should rather say at which place they call, for their wharf is +at Lewiston, on the opposite shore), is situated in a delicious +valley, through which the Niagara river, in colour a very deep +green, pursues its course. It is approached by a road that +takes its winding way among the heights by which the town is +sheltered; and seen from this point is extremely beautiful and +picturesque. On the most conspicuous of these heights stood +a monument erected by the Provincial Legislature in memory of +General Brock, who was slain in a battle with the American +forces, after having won the victory. Some vagabond, +supposed to be a fellow of the name of Lett, who is now, or who +lately was, in prison as a felon, blew up this monument two years +ago, and it is now a melancholy ruin, with a long fragment of +iron railing hanging dejectedly from its top, and waving to and +fro like a wild ivy branch or broken vine stem. It is of +much higher importance than it may seem, that this statue should +be repaired at the public cost, as it ought to have been long +ago. Firstly, because it is beneath the dignity of England +to allow a memorial raised in honour of one of her defenders, to +remain in this condition, on the very spot where he died. +Secondly, because the sight of it in its present state, and the +recollection of the unpunished outrage which brought it to this +pass, is not very likely to soothe down border feelings among +English subjects here, or compose their border quarrels and +dislikes.</p> +<p>I was standing on the wharf at this place, watching the +passengers embarking in a steamboat which preceded that whose +coming we awaited, and participating in the anxiety with which a +sergeant’s wife was collecting her few goods +together—keeping one distracted eye hard upon the porters, +who were hurrying them on board, and the other on a hoopless +washing-tub for which, as being the most utterly worthless of all +her movables, she seemed to entertain particular +affection—when three or four soldiers with a recruit came +up and went on board.</p> +<p>The recruit was a likely young fellow enough, strongly built +and well made, but by no means sober: indeed he had all the air +of a man who had been more or less drunk for some days. He +carried a small bundle over his shoulder, slung at the end of a +walking-stick, and had a short pipe in his mouth. He was as +dusty and dirty as recruits usually are, and his shoes betokened +that he had travelled on foot some distance, but he was in a very +jocose state, and shook hands with this soldier, and clapped that +one on the back, and talked and laughed continually, like a +roaring idle dog as he was.</p> +<p>The soldiers rather laughed at this blade than with him: +seeming to say, as they stood straightening their canes in their +hands, and looking coolly at him over their glazed stocks, +‘Go on, my boy, while you may! you’ll know better +by-and-by:’ when suddenly the novice, who had been backing +towards the gangway in his noisy merriment, fell overboard before +their eyes, and splashed heavily down into the river between the +vessel and the dock.</p> +<p>I never saw such a good thing as the change that came over +these soldiers in an instant. Almost before the man was +down, their professional manner, their stiffness and constraint, +were gone, and they were filled with the most violent +energy. In less time than is required to tell it, they had +him out again, feet first, with the tails of his coat flapping +over his eyes, everything about him hanging the wrong way, and +the water streaming off at every thread in his threadbare +dress. But the moment they set him upright and found that +he was none the worse, they were soldiers again, looking over +their glazed stocks more composedly than ever.</p> +<p>The half-sobered recruit glanced round for a moment, as if his +first impulse were to express some gratitude for his +preservation, but seeing them with this air of total unconcern, +and having his wet pipe presented to him with an oath by the +soldier who had been by far the most anxious of the party, he +stuck it in his mouth, thrust his hands into his moist pockets, +and without even shaking the water off his clothes, walked on +board whistling; not to say as if nothing had happened, but as if +he had meant to do it, and it had been a perfect success.</p> +<p>Our steamboat came up directly this had left the wharf, and +soon bore us to the mouth of the Niagara; where the stars and +stripes of America flutter on one side and the Union Jack of +England on the other: and so narrow is the space between them +that the sentinels in either fort can often hear the watchword of +the other country given. Thence we emerged on Lake Ontario, +an inland sea; and by half-past six o’clock were at +Toronto.</p> +<p>The country round this town being very flat, is bare of scenic +interest; but the town itself is full of life and motion, bustle, +business, and improvement. The streets are well paved, and +lighted with gas; the houses are large and good; the shops +excellent. Many of them have a display of goods in their +windows, such as may be seen in thriving county towns in England; +and there are some which would do no discredit to the metropolis +itself. There is a good stone prison here; and there are, +besides, a handsome church, a court-house, public offices, many +commodious private residences, and a government observatory for +noting and recording the magnetic variations. In the +College of Upper Canada, which is one of the public +establishments of the city, a sound education in every department +of polite learning can be had, at a very moderate expense: the +annual charge for the instruction of each pupil, not exceeding +nine pounds sterling. It has pretty good endowments in the +way of land, and is a valuable and useful institution.</p> +<p>The first stone of a new college had been laid but a few days +before, by the Governor General. It will be a handsome, +spacious edifice, approached by a long avenue, which is already +planted and made available as a public walk. The town is +well adapted for wholesome exercise at all seasons, for the +footways in the thoroughfares which lie beyond the principal +street, are planked like floors, and kept in very good and clean +repair.</p> +<p>It is a matter of deep regret that political differences +should have run high in this place, and led to most discreditable +and disgraceful results. It is not long since guns were +discharged from a window in this town at the successful +candidates in an election, and the coachman of one of them was +actually shot in the body, though not dangerously wounded. +But one man was killed on the same occasion; and from the very +window whence he received his death, the very flag which shielded +his murderer (not only in the commission of his crime, but from +its consequences), was displayed again on the occasion of the +public ceremony performed by the Governor General, to which I +have just adverted. Of all the colours in the rainbow, +there is but one which could be so employed: I need not say that +flag was orange.</p> +<p>The time of leaving Toronto for Kingston is noon. By +eight o’clock next morning, the traveller is at the end of +his journey, which is performed by steamboat upon Lake Ontario, +calling at Port Hope and Coburg, the latter a cheerful, thriving +little town. Vast quantities of flour form the chief item +in the freight of these vessels. We had no fewer than one +thousand and eighty barrels on board, between Coburg and +Kingston.</p> +<p>The latter place, which is now the seat of government in +Canada, is a very poor town, rendered still poorer in the +appearance of its market-place by the ravages of a recent +fire. Indeed, it may be said of Kingston, that one half of +it appears to be burnt down, and the other half not to be built +up. The Government House is neither elegant nor commodious, +yet it is almost the only house of any importance in the +neighbourhood.</p> +<p>There is an admirable jail here, well and wisely governed, and +excellently regulated, in every respect. The men were +employed as shoemakers, ropemakers, blacksmiths, tailors, +carpenters, and stonecutters; and in building a new prison, which +was pretty far advanced towards completion. The female +prisoners were occupied in needlework. Among them was a +beautiful girl of twenty, who had been there nearly three +years. She acted as bearer of secret despatches for the +self-styled Patriots on Navy Island, during the Canadian +Insurrection: sometimes dressing as a girl, and carrying them in +her stays; sometimes attiring herself as a boy, and secreting +them in the lining of her hat. In the latter character she +always rode as a boy would, which was nothing to her, for she +could govern any horse that any man could ride, and could drive +four-in-hand with the best whip in those parts. Setting +forth on one of her patriotic missions, she appropriated to +herself the first horse she could lay her hands on; and this +offence had brought her where I saw her. She had quite a +lovely face, though, as the reader may suppose from this sketch +of her history, there was a lurking devil in her bright eye, +which looked out pretty sharply from between her prison bars.</p> +<p>There is a bomb-proof fort here of great strength, which +occupies a bold position, and is capable, doubtless, of doing +good service; though the town is much too close upon the frontier +to be long held, I should imagine, for its present purpose in +troubled times. There is also a small navy-yard, where a +couple of Government steamboats were building, and getting on +vigorously.</p> +<p>We left Kingston for Montreal on the tenth of May, at +half-past nine in the morning, and proceeded in a steamboat down +the St. Lawrence river. The beauty of this noble stream at +almost any point, but especially in the commencement of this +journey when it winds its way among the thousand Islands, can +hardly be imagined. The number and constant successions of +these islands, all green and richly wooded; their fluctuating +sizes, some so large that for half an hour together one among +them will appear as the opposite bank of the river, and some so +small that they are mere dimples on its broad bosom; their +infinite variety of shapes; and the numberless combinations of +beautiful forms which the trees growing on them present: all form +a picture fraught with uncommon interest and pleasure.</p> +<p>In the afternoon we shot down some rapids where the river +boiled and bubbled strangely, and where the force and headlong +violence of the current were tremendous. At seven +o’clock we reached Dickenson’s Landing, whence +travellers proceed for two or three hours by stage-coach: the +navigation of the river being rendered so dangerous and difficult +in the interval, by rapids, that steamboats do not make the +passage. The number and length of those <i>portages</i>, +over which the roads are bad, and the travelling slow, render the +way between the towns of Montreal and Kingston, somewhat +tedious.</p> +<p>Our course lay over a wide, uninclosed tract of country at a +little distance from the river-side, whence the bright warning +lights on the dangerous parts of the St. Lawrence shone +vividly. The night was dark and raw, and the way dreary +enough. It was nearly ten o’clock when we reached the +wharf where the next steamboat lay; and went on board, and to +bed.</p> +<p>She lay there all night, and started as soon as it was +day. The morning was ushered in by a violent thunderstorm, +and was very wet, but gradually improved and brightened up. +Going on deck after breakfast, I was amazed to see floating down +with the stream, a most gigantic raft, with some thirty or forty +wooden houses upon it, and at least as many flag-masts, so that +it looked like a nautical street. I saw many of these rafts +afterwards, but never one so large. All the timber, or +‘lumber,’ as it is called in America, which is +brought down the St. Lawrence, is floated down in this +manner. When the raft reaches its place of destination, it +is broken up; the materials are sold; and the boatmen return for +more.</p> +<p>At eight we landed again, and travelled by a stage-coach for +four hours through a pleasant and well-cultivated country, +perfectly French in every respect: in the appearance of the +cottages; the air, language, and dress of the peasantry; the +sign-boards on the shops and taverns: and the Virgin’s +shrines, and crosses, by the wayside. Nearly every common +labourer and boy, though he had no shoes to his feet, wore round +his waist a sash of some bright colour: generally red: and the +women, who were working in the fields and gardens, and doing all +kinds of husbandry, wore, one and all, great flat straw hats with +most capacious brims. There were Catholic Priests and +Sisters of Charity in the village streets; and images of the +Saviour at the corners of cross-roads, and in other public +places.</p> +<p>At noon we went on board another steamboat, and reached the +village of Lachine, nine miles from Montreal, by three +o’clock. There, we left the river, and went on by +land.</p> +<p>Montreal is pleasantly situated on the margin of the St. +Lawrence, and is backed by some bold heights, about which there +are charming rides and drives. The streets are generally +narrow and irregular, as in most French towns of any age; but in +the more modern parts of the city, they are wide and airy. +They display a great variety of very good shops; and both in the +town and suburbs there are many excellent private +dwellings. The granite quays are remarkable for their +beauty, solidity, and extent.</p> +<p>There is a very large Catholic cathedral here, recently +erected with two tall spires, of which one is yet +unfinished. In the open space in front of this edifice, +stands a solitary, grim-looking, square brick tower, which has a +quaint and remarkable appearance, and which the wiseacres of the +place have consequently determined to pull down +immediately. The Government House is very superior to that +at Kingston, and the town is full of life and bustle. In +one of the suburbs is a plank road—not footpath—five +or six miles long, and a famous road it is too. All the +rides in the vicinity were made doubly interesting by the +bursting out of spring, which is here so rapid, that it is but a +day’s leap from barren winter, to the blooming youth of +summer.</p> +<p>The steamboats to Quebec perform the journey in the night; +that is to say, they leave Montreal at six in the evening, and +arrive at Quebec at six next morning. We made this +excursion during our stay in Montreal (which exceeded a +fortnight), and were charmed by its interest and beauty.</p> +<p>The impression made upon the visitor by this Gibraltar of +America: its giddy heights; its citadel suspended, as it were, in +the air; its picturesque steep streets and frowning gateways; and +the splendid views which burst upon the eye at every turn: is at +once unique and lasting.</p> +<p>It is a place not to be forgotten or mixed up in the mind with +other places, or altered for a moment in the crowd of scenes a +traveller can recall. Apart from the realities of this most +picturesque city, there are associations clustering about it +which would make a desert rich in interest. The dangerous +precipice along whose rocky front, Wolfe and his brave companions +climbed to glory; the Plains of Abraham, where he received his +mortal wound; the fortress so chivalrously defended by Montcalm; +and his soldier’s grave, dug for him while yet alive, by +the bursting of a shell; are not the least among them, or among +the gallant incidents of history. That is a noble Monument +too, and worthy of two great nations, which perpetuates the +memory of both brave generals, and on which their names are +jointly written.</p> +<p>The city is rich in public institutions and in Catholic +churches and charities, but it is mainly in the prospect from the +site of the Old Government House, and from the Citadel, that its +surpassing beauty lies. The exquisite expanse of country, +rich in field and forest, mountain-height and water, which lies +stretched out before the view, with miles of Canadian villages, +glancing in long white streaks, like veins along the landscape; +the motley crowd of gables, roofs, and chimney tops in the old +hilly town immediately at hand; the beautiful St. Lawrence +sparkling and flashing in the sunlight; and the tiny ships below +the rock from which you gaze, whose distant rigging looks like +spiders’ webs against the light, while casks and barrels on +their decks dwindle into toys, and busy mariners become so many +puppets; all this, framed by a sunken window in the fortress and +looked at from the shadowed room within, forms one of the +brightest and most enchanting pictures that the eye can rest +upon.</p> +<p>In the spring of the year, vast numbers of emigrants who have +newly arrived from England or from Ireland, pass between Quebec +and Montreal on their way to the backwoods and new settlements of +Canada. If it be an entertaining lounge (as I very often +found it) to take a morning stroll upon the quay at Montreal, and +see them grouped in hundreds on the public wharfs about their +chests and boxes, it is matter of deep interest to be their +fellow-passenger on one of these steamboats, and mingling with +the concourse, see and hear them unobserved.</p> +<p>The vessel in which we returned from Quebec to Montreal was +crowded with them, and at night they spread their beds between +decks (those who had beds, at least), and slept so close and +thick about our cabin door, that the passage to and fro was quite +blocked up. They were nearly all English; from +Gloucestershire the greater part; and had had a long +winter-passage out; but it was wonderful to see how clean the +children had been kept, and how untiring in their love and +self-denial all the poor parents were.</p> +<p>Cant as we may, and as we shall to the end of all things, it +is very much harder for the poor to be virtuous than it is for +the rich; and the good that is in them, shines the brighter for +it. In many a noble mansion lives a man, the best of +husbands and of fathers, whose private worth in both capacities +is justly lauded to the skies. But bring him here, upon +this crowded deck. Strip from his fair young wife her +silken dress and jewels, unbind her braided hair, stamp early +wrinkles on her brow, pinch her pale cheek with care and much +privation, array her faded form in coarsely patched attire, let +there be nothing but his love to set her forth or deck her out, +and you shall put it to the proof indeed. So change his +station in the world, that he shall see in those young things who +climb about his knee: not records of his wealth and name: but +little wrestlers with him for his daily bread; so many poachers +on his scanty meal; so many units to divide his every sum of +comfort, and farther to reduce its small amount. In lieu of +the endearments of childhood in its sweetest aspect, heap upon +him all its pains and wants, its sicknesses and ills, its +fretfulness, caprice, and querulous endurance: let its prattle +be, not of engaging infant fancies, but of cold, and thirst, and +hunger: and if his fatherly affection outlive all this, and he be +patient, watchful, tender; careful of his children’s lives, +and mindful always of their joys and sorrows; then send him back +to Parliament, and Pulpit, and to Quarter Sessions, and when he +hears fine talk of the depravity of those who live from hand to +mouth, and labour hard to do it, let him speak up, as one who +knows, and tell those holders forth that they, by parallel with +such a class, should be High Angels in their daily lives, and lay +but humble siege to Heaven at last.</p> +<p>Which of us shall say what he would be, if such realities, +with small relief or change all through his days, were his! +Looking round upon these people: far from home, houseless, +indigent, wandering, weary with travel and hard living: and +seeing how patiently they nursed and tended their young children: +how they consulted ever their wants first, then half supplied +their own; what gentle ministers of hope and faith the women +were; how the men profited by their example; and how very, very +seldom even a moment’s petulance or harsh complaint broke +out among them: I felt a stronger love and honour of my kind come +glowing on my heart, and wished to God there had been many +Atheists in the better part of human nature there, to read this +simple lesson in the book of Life.</p> +<div class="gapshortline"> </div> +<p>We left Montreal for New York again, on the thirtieth of May, +crossing to La Prairie, on the opposite shore of the St. +Lawrence, in a steamboat; we then took the railroad to St. +John’s, which is on the brink of Lake Champlain. Our +last greeting in Canada was from the English officers in the +pleasant barracks at that place (a class of gentlemen who had +made every hour of our visit memorable by their hospitality and +friendship); and with ‘Rule Britannia’ sounding in +our ears, soon left it far behind.</p> +<p>But Canada has held, and always will retain, a foremost place +in my remembrance. Few Englishmen are prepared to find it +what it is. Advancing quietly; old differences settling +down, and being fast forgotten; public feeling and private +enterprise alike in a sound and wholesome state; nothing of flush +or fever in its system, but health and vigour throbbing in its +steady pulse: it is full of hope and promise. To +me—who had been accustomed to think of it as something left +behind in the strides of advancing society, as something +neglected and forgotten, slumbering and wasting in its +sleep—the demand for labour and the rates of wages; the +busy quays of Montreal; the vessels taking in their cargoes, and +discharging them; the amount of shipping in the different ports; +the commerce, roads, and public works, all made <i>to last</i>; +the respectability and character of the public journals; and the +amount of rational comfort and happiness which honest industry +may earn: were very great surprises. The steamboats on the +lakes, in their conveniences, cleanliness, and safety; in the +gentlemanly character and bearing of their captains; and in the +politeness and perfect comfort of their social regulations; are +unsurpassed even by the famous Scotch vessels, deservedly so much +esteemed at home. The inns are usually bad; because the +custom of boarding at hotels is not so general here as in the +States, and the British officers, who form a large portion of the +society of every town, live chiefly at the regimental messes: but +in every other respect, the traveller in Canada will find as good +provision for his comfort as in any place I know.</p> +<p>There is one American boat—the vessel which carried us +on Lake Champlain, from St. John’s to Whitehall—which +I praise very highly, but no more than it deserves, when I say +that it is superior even to that in which we went from Queenston +to Toronto, or to that in which we travelled from the latter +place to Kingston, or I have no doubt I may add to any other in +the world. This steamboat, which is called the Burlington, +is a perfectly exquisite achievement of neatness, elegance, and +order. The decks are drawing-rooms; the cabins are +boudoirs, choicely furnished and adorned with prints, pictures, +and musical instruments; every nook and corner in the vessel is a +perfect curiosity of graceful comfort and beautiful +contrivance. Captain Sherman, her commander, to whose +ingenuity and excellent taste these results are solely +attributable, has bravely and worthily distinguished himself on +more than one trying occasion: not least among them, in having +the moral courage to carry British troops, at a time (during the +Canadian rebellion) when no other conveyance was open to +them. He and his vessel are held in universal respect, both +by his own countrymen and ours; and no man ever enjoyed the +popular esteem, who, in his sphere of action, won and wore it +better than this gentleman.</p> +<p>By means of this floating palace we were soon in the United +States again, and called that evening at Burlington; a pretty +town, where we lay an hour or so. We reached Whitehall, +where we were to disembark, at six next morning; and might have +done so earlier, but that these steamboats lie by for some hours +in the night, in consequence of the lake becoming very narrow at +that part of the journey, and difficult of navigation in the +dark. Its width is so contracted at one point, indeed, that +they are obliged to warp round by means of a rope.</p> +<p>After breakfasting at Whitehall, we took the stage-coach for +Albany: a large and busy town, where we arrived between five and +six o’clock that afternoon; after a very hot day’s +journey, for we were now in the height of summer again. At +seven we started for New York on board a great North River +steamboat, which was so crowded with passengers that the upper +deck was like the box lobby of a theatre between the pieces, and +the lower one like Tottenham Court Road on a Saturday +night. But we slept soundly, notwithstanding, and soon +after five o’clock next morning reached New York.</p> +<p>Tarrying here, only that day and night, to recruit after our +late fatigues, we started off once more upon our last journey in +America. We had yet five days to spare before embarking for +England, and I had a great desire to see ‘the Shaker +Village,’ which is peopled by a religious sect from whom it +takes its name.</p> +<p>To this end, we went up the North River again, as far as the +town of Hudson, and there hired an extra to carry us to Lebanon, +thirty miles distant: and of course another and a different +Lebanon from that village where I slept on the night of the +Prairie trip.</p> +<p>The country through which the road meandered, was rich and +beautiful; the weather very fine; and for many miles the +Kaatskill mountains, where Rip Van Winkle and the ghostly +Dutchmen played at ninepins one memorable gusty afternoon, +towered in the blue distance, like stately clouds. At one +point, as we ascended a steep hill, athwart whose base a +railroad, yet constructing, took its course, we came upon an +Irish colony. With means at hand of building decent cabins, +it was wonderful to see how clumsy, rough, and wretched, its +hovels were. The best were poor protection from the weather +the worst let in the wind and rain through wide breaches in the +roofs of sodden grass, and in the walls of mud; some had neither +door nor window; some had nearly fallen down, and were +imperfectly propped up by stakes and poles; all were ruinous and +filthy. Hideously ugly old women and very buxom young ones, +pigs, dogs, men, children, babies, pots, kettles, dung-hills, +vile refuse, rank straw, and standing water, all wallowing +together in an inseparable heap, composed the furniture of every +dark and dirty hut.</p> +<p>Between nine and ten o’clock at night, we arrived at +Lebanon which is renowned for its warm baths, and for a great +hotel, well adapted, I have no doubt, to the gregarious taste of +those seekers after health or pleasure who repair here, but +inexpressibly comfortless to me. We were shown into an +immense apartment, lighted by two dim candles, called the +drawing-room: from which there was a descent by a flight of +steps, to another vast desert, called the dining-room: our +bed-chambers were among certain long rows of little white-washed +cells, which opened from either side of a dreary passage; and +were so like rooms in a prison that I half expected to be locked +up when I went to bed, and listened involuntarily for the turning +of the key on the outside. There need be baths somewhere in +the neighbourhood, for the other washing arrangements were on as +limited a scale as I ever saw, even in America: indeed, these +bedrooms were so very bare of even such common luxuries as +chairs, that I should say they were not provided with enough of +anything, but that I bethink myself of our having been most +bountifully bitten all night.</p> +<p>The house is very pleasantly situated, however, and we had a +good breakfast. That done, we went to visit our place of +destination, which was some two miles off, and the way to which +was soon indicated by a finger-post, whereon was painted, +‘To the Shaker Village.’</p> +<p>As we rode along, we passed a party of Shakers, who were at +work upon the road; who wore the broadest of all broad-brimmed +hats; and were in all visible respects such very wooden men, that +I felt about as much sympathy for them, and as much interest in +them, as if they had been so many figure-heads of ships. +Presently we came to the beginning of the village, and alighting +at the door of a house where the Shaker manufactures are sold, +and which is the headquarters of the elders, requested permission +to see the Shaker worship.</p> +<p>Pending the conveyance of this request to some person in +authority, we walked into a grim room, where several grim hats +were hanging on grim pegs, and the time was grimly told by a grim +clock which uttered every tick with a kind of struggle, as if it +broke the grim silence reluctantly, and under protest. +Ranged against the wall were six or eight stiff, high-backed +chairs, and they partook so strongly of the general grimness that +one would much rather have sat on the floor than incurred the +smallest obligation to any of them.</p> +<p>Presently, there stalked into this apartment, a grim old +Shaker, with eyes as hard, and dull, and cold, as the great round +metal buttons on his coat and waistcoat; a sort of calm +goblin. Being informed of our desire, he produced a +newspaper wherein the body of elders, whereof he was a member, +had advertised but a few days before, that in consequence of +certain unseemly interruptions which their worship had received +from strangers, their chapel was closed to the public for the +space of one year.</p> +<p>As nothing was to be urged in opposition to this reasonable +arrangement, we requested leave to make some trifling purchases +of Shaker goods; which was grimly conceded. We accordingly +repaired to a store in the same house and on the opposite side of +the passage, where the stock was presided over by something alive +in a russet case, which the elder said was a woman; and which I +suppose <i>was</i> a woman, though I should not have suspected +it.</p> +<p>On the opposite side of the road was their place of worship: a +cool, clean edifice of wood, with large windows and green blinds: +like a spacious summer-house. As there was no getting into +this place, and nothing was to be done but walk up and down, and +look at it and the other buildings in the village (which were +chiefly of wood, painted a dark red like English barns, and +composed of many stories like English factories), I have nothing +to communicate to the reader, beyond the scanty results I gleaned +the while our purchases were making.</p> +<p>These people are called Shakers from their peculiar form of +adoration, which consists of a dance, performed by the men and +women of all ages, who arrange themselves for that purpose in +opposite parties: the men first divesting themselves of their +hats and coats, which they gravely hang against the wall before +they begin; and tying a ribbon round their shirt-sleeves, as +though they were going to be bled. They accompany +themselves with a droning, humming noise, and dance until they +are quite exhausted, alternately advancing and retiring in a +preposterous sort of trot. The effect is said to be +unspeakably absurd: and if I may judge from a print of this +ceremony which I have in my possession; and which I am informed +by those who have visited the chapel, is perfectly accurate; it +must be infinitely grotesque.</p> +<p>They are governed by a woman, and her rule is understood to be +absolute, though she has the assistance of a council of +elders. She lives, it is said, in strict seclusion, in +certain rooms above the chapel, and is never shown to profane +eyes. If she at all resemble the lady who presided over the +store, it is a great charity to keep her as close as possible, +and I cannot too strongly express my perfect concurrence in this +benevolent proceeding.</p> +<p>All the possessions and revenues of the settlement are thrown +into a common stock, which is managed by the elders. As +they have made converts among people who were well to do in the +world, and are frugal and thrifty, it is understood that this +fund prospers: the more especially as they have made large +purchases of land. Nor is this at Lebanon the only Shaker +settlement: there are, I think, at least, three others.</p> +<p>They are good farmers, and all their produce is eagerly +purchased and highly esteemed. ‘Shaker seeds,’ +‘Shaker herbs,’ and ‘Shaker distilled +waters,’ are commonly announced for sale in the shops of +towns and cities. They are good breeders of cattle, and are +kind and merciful to the brute creation. Consequently, +Shaker beasts seldom fail to find a ready market.</p> +<p>They eat and drink together, after the Spartan model, at a +great public table. There is no union of the sexes, and +every Shaker, male and female, is devoted to a life of +celibacy. Rumour has been busy upon this theme, but here +again I must refer to the lady of the store, and say, that if +many of the sister Shakers resemble her, I treat all such slander +as bearing on its face the strongest marks of wild +improbability. But that they take as proselytes, persons so +young that they cannot know their own minds, and cannot possess +much strength of resolution in this or any other respect, I can +assert from my own observation of the extreme juvenility of +certain youthful Shakers whom I saw at work among the party on +the road.</p> +<p>They are said to be good drivers of bargains, but to be honest +and just in their transactions, and even in horse-dealing to +resist those thievish tendencies which would seem, for some +undiscovered reason, to be almost inseparable from that branch of +traffic. In all matters they hold their own course quietly, +live in their gloomy, silent commonwealth, and show little desire +to interfere with other people.</p> +<p>This is well enough, but nevertheless I cannot, I confess, +incline towards the Shakers; view them with much favour, or +extend towards them any very lenient construction. I so +abhor, and from my soul detest that bad spirit, no matter by what +class or sect it may be entertained, which would strip life of +its healthful graces, rob youth of its innocent pleasures, pluck +from maturity and age their pleasant ornaments, and make +existence but a narrow path towards the grave: that odious spirit +which, if it could have had full scope and sway upon the earth, +must have blasted and made barren the imaginations of the +greatest men, and left them, in their power of raising up +enduring images before their fellow-creatures yet unborn, no +better than the beasts: that, in these very broad-brimmed hats +and very sombre coats—in stiff-necked, solemn-visaged +piety, in short, no matter what its garb, whether it have cropped +hair as in a Shaker village, or long nails as in a Hindoo +temple—I recognise the worst among the enemies of Heaven +and Earth, who turn the water at the marriage feasts of this poor +world, not into wine, but gall. And if there must be people +vowed to crush the harmless fancies and the love of innocent +delights and gaieties, which are a part of human nature: as much +a part of it as any other love or hope that is our common +portion: let them, for me, stand openly revealed among the ribald +and licentious; the very idiots know that <i>they</i> are not on +the Immortal road, and will despise them, and avoid them +readily.</p> +<p>Leaving the Shaker village with a hearty dislike of the old +Shakers, and a hearty pity for the young ones: tempered by the +strong probability of their running away as they grow older and +wiser, which they not uncommonly do: we returned to Lebanon, and +so to Hudson, by the way we had come upon the previous day. +There, we took the steamboat down the North River towards New +York, but stopped, some four hours’ journey short of it, at +West Point, where we remained that night, and all next day, and +next night too.</p> +<p>In this beautiful place: the fairest among the fair and lovely +Highlands of the North River: shut in by deep green heights and +ruined forts, and looking down upon the distant town of Newburgh, +along a glittering path of sunlit water, with here and there a +skiff, whose white sail often bends on some new tack as sudden +flaws of wind come down upon her from the gullies in the hills: +hemmed in, besides, all round with memories of Washington, and +events of the revolutionary war: is the Military School of +America.</p> +<p>It could not stand on more appropriate ground, and any ground +more beautiful can hardly be. The course of education is +severe, but well devised, and manly. Through June, July, +and August, the young men encamp upon the spacious plain whereon +the college stands; and all the year their military exercises are +performed there, daily. The term of study at this +institution, which the State requires from all cadets, is four +years; but, whether it be from the rigid nature of the +discipline, or the national impatience of restraint, or both +causes combined, not more than half the number who begin their +studies here, ever remain to finish them.</p> +<p>The number of cadets being about equal to that of the members +of Congress, one is sent here from every Congressional district: +its member influencing the selection. Commissions in the +service are distributed on the same principle. The +dwellings of the various Professors are beautifully situated; and +there is a most excellent hotel for strangers, though it has the +two drawbacks of being a total abstinence house (wines and +spirits being forbidden to the students), and of serving the +public meals at rather uncomfortable hours: to wit, breakfast at +seven, dinner at one, and supper at sunset.</p> +<p>The beauty and freshness of this calm retreat, in the very +dawn and greenness of summer—it was then the beginning of +June—were exquisite indeed. Leaving it upon the +sixth, and returning to New York, to embark for England on the +succeeding day, I was glad to think that among the last memorable +beauties which had glided past us, and softened in the bright +perspective, were those whose pictures, traced by no common hand, +are fresh in most men’s minds; not easily to grow old, or +fade beneath the dust of Time: the Kaatskill Mountains, Sleepy +Hollow, and the Tappaan Zee.</p> +<h2><a name="page182"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +182</span>CHAPTER XVI<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">THE PASSAGE HOME</span></h2> +<p>I <span class="smcap">never</span> had so much interest +before, and very likely I shall never have so much interest +again, in the state of the wind, as on the long-looked-for +morning of Tuesday the Seventh of June. Some nautical +authority had told me a day or two previous, ‘anything with +west in it, will do;’ so when I darted out of bed at +daylight, and throwing up the window, was saluted by a lively +breeze from the north-west which had sprung up in the night, it +came upon me so freshly, rustling with so many happy +associations, that I conceived upon the spot a special regard for +all airs blowing from that quarter of the compass, which I shall +cherish, I dare say, until my own wind has breathed its last +frail puff, and withdrawn itself for ever from the mortal +calendar.</p> +<p>The pilot had not been slow to take advantage of this +favourable weather, and the ship which yesterday had been in such +a crowded dock that she might have retired from trade for good +and all, for any chance she seemed to have of going to sea, was +now full sixteen miles away. A gallant sight she was, when +we, fast gaining on her in a steamboat, saw her in the distance +riding at anchor: her tall masts pointing up in graceful lines +against the sky, and every rope and spar expressed in delicate +and thread-like outline: gallant, too, when, we being all aboard, +the anchor came up to the sturdy chorus ‘Cheerily men, oh +cheerily!’ and she followed proudly in the towing +steamboat’s wake: but bravest and most gallant of all, when +the tow-rope being cast adrift, the canvas fluttered from her +masts, and spreading her white wings she soared away upon her +free and solitary course.</p> +<p>In the after cabin we were only fifteen passengers in all, and +the greater part were from Canada, where some of us had known +each other. The night was rough and squally, so were the +next two days, but they flew by quickly, and we were soon as +cheerful and snug a party, with an honest, manly-hearted captain +at our head, as ever came to the resolution of being mutually +agreeable, on land or water.</p> +<p>We breakfasted at eight, lunched at twelve, dined at three, +and took our tea at half-past seven. We had abundance of +amusements, and dinner was not the least among them: firstly, for +its own sake; secondly, because of its extraordinary length: its +duration, inclusive of all the long pauses between the courses, +being seldom less than two hours and a half; which was a subject +of never-failing entertainment. By way of beguiling the +tediousness of these banquets, a select association was formed at +the lower end of the table, below the mast, to whose +distinguished president modesty forbids me to make any further +allusion, which, being a very hilarious and jovial institution, +was (prejudice apart) in high favour with the rest of the +community, and particularly with a black steward, who lived for +three weeks in a broad grin at the marvellous humour of these +incorporated worthies.</p> +<p>Then, we had chess for those who played it, whist, cribbage, +books, backgammon, and shovelboard. In all weathers, fair +or foul, calm or windy, we were every one on deck, walking up and +down in pairs, lying in the boats, leaning over the side, or +chatting in a lazy group together. We had no lack of music, +for one played the accordion, another the violin, and another +(who usually began at six o’clock <span +class="GutSmall">A.M.</span>) the key-bugle: the combined effect +of which instruments, when they all played different tunes in +different parts of the ship, at the same time, and within hearing +of each other, as they sometimes did (everybody being intensely +satisfied with his own performance), was sublimely hideous.</p> +<p>When all these means of entertainment failed, a sail would +heave in sight: looming, perhaps, the very spirit of a ship, in +the misty distance, or passing us so close that through our +glasses we could see the people on her decks, and easily make out +her name, and whither she was bound. For hours together we +could watch the dolphins and porpoises as they rolled and leaped +and dived around the vessel; or those small creatures ever on the +wing, the Mother Carey’s chickens, which had borne us +company from New York bay, and for a whole fortnight fluttered +about the vessel’s stern. For some days we had a dead +calm, or very light winds, during which the crew amused +themselves with fishing, and hooked an unlucky dolphin, who +expired, in all his rainbow colours, on the deck: an event of +such importance in our barren calendar, that afterwards we dated +from the dolphin, and made the day on which he died, an era.</p> +<p>Besides all this, when we were five or six days out, there +began to be much talk of icebergs, of which wandering islands an +unusual number had been seen by the vessels that had come into +New York a day or two before we left that port, and of whose +dangerous neighbourhood we were warned by the sudden coldness of +the weather, and the sinking of the mercury in the +barometer. While these tokens lasted, a double look-out was +kept, and many dismal tales were whispered after dark, of ships +that had struck upon the ice and gone down in the night; but the +wind obliging us to hold a southward course, we saw none of them, +and the weather soon grew bright and warm again.</p> +<p>The observation every day at noon, and the subsequent working +of the vessel’s course, was, as may be supposed, a feature +in our lives of paramount importance; nor were there wanting (as +there never are) sagacious doubters of the captain’s +calculations, who, so soon as his back was turned, would, in the +absence of compasses, measure the chart with bits of string, and +ends of pocket-handkerchiefs, and points of snuffers, and clearly +prove him to be wrong by an odd thousand miles or so. It +was very edifying to see these unbelievers shake their heads and +frown, and hear them hold forth strongly upon navigation: not +that they knew anything about it, but that they always mistrusted +the captain in calm weather, or when the wind was adverse. +Indeed, the mercury itself is not so variable as this class of +passengers, whom you will see, when the ship is going nobly +through the water, quite pale with admiration, swearing that the +captain beats all captains ever known, and even hinting at +subscriptions for a piece of plate; and who, next morning, when +the breeze has lulled, and all the sails hang useless in the idle +air, shake their despondent heads again, and say, with screwed-up +lips, they hope that captain is a sailor—but they shrewdly +doubt him.</p> +<p>It even became an occupation in the calm, to wonder when the +wind <i>would</i> spring up in the favourable quarter, where, it +was clearly shown by all the rules and precedents, it ought to +have sprung up long ago. The first mate, who whistled for +it zealously, was much respected for his perseverance, and was +regarded even by the unbelievers as a first-rate sailor. +Many gloomy looks would be cast upward through the cabin +skylights at the flapping sails while dinner was in progress; and +some, growing bold in ruefulness, predicted that we should land +about the middle of July. There are always on board ship, a +Sanguine One, and a Despondent One. The latter character +carried it hollow at this period of the voyage, and triumphed +over the Sanguine One at every meal, by inquiring where he +supposed the Great Western (which left New York a week after us) +was <i>now</i>: and where he supposed the ‘Cunard’ +steam-packet was <i>now</i>: and what he thought of sailing +vessels, as compared with steamships <i>now</i>: and so beset his +life with pestilent attacks of that kind, that he too was obliged +to affect despondency, for very peace and quietude.</p> +<p>These were additions to the list of entertaining incidents, +but there was still another source of interest. We carried +in the steerage nearly a hundred passengers: a little world of +poverty: and as we came to know individuals among them by sight, +from looking down upon the deck where they took the air in the +daytime, and cooked their food, and very often ate it too, we +became curious to know their histories, and with what +expectations they had gone out to America, and on what errands +they were going home, and what their circumstances were. +The information we got on these heads from the carpenter, who had +charge of these people, was often of the strangest kind. +Some of them had been in America but three days, some but three +months, and some had gone out in the last voyage of that very +ship in which they were now returning home. Others had sold +their clothes to raise the passage-money, and had hardly rags to +cover them; others had no food, and lived upon the charity of the +rest: and one man, it was discovered nearly at the end of the +voyage, not before—for he kept his secret close, and did +not court compassion—had had no sustenance whatever but the +bones and scraps of fat he took from the plates used in the +after-cabin dinner, when they were put out to be washed.</p> +<p>The whole system of shipping and conveying these unfortunate +persons, is one that stands in need of thorough revision. +If any class deserve to be protected and assisted by the +Government, it is that class who are banished from their native +land in search of the bare means of subsistence. All that +could be done for these poor people by the great compassion and +humanity of the captain and officers was done, but they require +much more. The law is bound, at least upon the English +side, to see that too many of them are not put on board one ship: +and that their accommodations are decent: not demoralising, and +profligate. It is bound, too, in common humanity, to +declare that no man shall be taken on board without his stock of +provisions being previously inspected by some proper officer, and +pronounced moderately sufficient for his support upon the +voyage. It is bound to provide, or to require that there be +provided, a medical attendant; whereas in these ships there are +none, though sickness of adults, and deaths of children, on the +passage, are matters of the very commonest occurrence. +Above all it is the duty of any Government, be it monarchy or +republic, to interpose and put an end to that system by which a +firm of traders in emigrants purchase of the owners the whole +’tween-decks of a ship, and send on board as many wretched +people as they can lay hold of, on any terms they can get, +without the smallest reference to the conveniences of the +steerage, the number of berths, the slightest separation of the +sexes, or anything but their own immediate profit. Nor is +even this the worst of the vicious system: for, certain crimping +agents of these houses, who have a percentage on all the +passengers they inveigle, are constantly travelling about those +districts where poverty and discontent are rife, and tempting the +credulous into more misery, by holding out monstrous inducements +to emigration which can never be realised.</p> +<p>The history of every family we had on board was pretty much +the same. After hoarding up, and borrowing, and begging, +and selling everything to pay the passage, they had gone out to +New York, expecting to find its streets paved with gold; and had +found them paved with very hard and very real stones. +Enterprise was dull; labourers were not wanted; jobs of work were +to be got, but the payment was not. They were coming back, +even poorer than they went. One of them was carrying an +open letter from a young English artisan, who had been in New +York a fortnight, to a friend near Manchester, whom he strongly +urged to follow him. One of the officers brought it to me +as a curiosity. ‘This is the country, Jem,’ +said the writer. ‘I like America. There is no +despotism here; that’s the great thing. Employment of +all sorts is going a-begging, and wages are capital. You +have only to choose a trade, Jem, and be it. I +haven’t made choice of one yet, but I shall soon. +<i>At present I haven’t quite made up my mind whether to be +a carpenter—or a tailor</i>.’</p> +<p>There was yet another kind of passenger, and but one more, +who, in the calm and the light winds, was a constant theme of +conversation and observation among us. This was an English +sailor, a smart, thorough-built, English man-of-war’s-man +from his hat to his shoes, who was serving in the American navy, +and having got leave of absence was on his way home to see his +friends. When he presented himself to take and pay for his +passage, it had been suggested to him that being an able seaman +he might as well work it and save the money, but this piece of +advice he very indignantly rejected: saying, ‘He’d be +damned but for once he’d go aboard ship, as a +gentleman.’ Accordingly, they took his money, but he +no sooner came aboard, than he stowed his kit in the forecastle, +arranged to mess with the crew, and the very first time the hands +were turned up, went aloft like a cat, before anybody. And +all through the passage there he was, first at the braces, +outermost on the yards, perpetually lending a hand everywhere, +but always with a sober dignity in his manner, and a sober grin +on his face, which plainly said, ‘I do it as a +gentleman. For my own pleasure, mind you!’</p> +<p>At length and at last, the promised wind came up in right good +earnest, and away we went before it, with every stitch of canvas +set, slashing through the water nobly. There was a grandeur +in the motion of the splendid ship, as overshadowed by her mass +of sails, she rode at a furious pace upon the waves, which filled +one with an indescribable sense of pride and exultation. As +she plunged into a foaming valley, how I loved to see the green +waves, bordered deep with white, come rushing on astern, to buoy +her upward at their pleasure, and curl about her as she stooped +again, but always own her for their haughty mistress still! +On, on we flew, with changing lights upon the water, being now in +the blessed region of fleecy skies; a bright sun lighting us by +day, and a bright moon by night; the vane pointing directly +homeward, alike the truthful index to the favouring wind and to +our cheerful hearts; until at sunrise, one fair Monday +morning—the twenty-seventh of June, I shall not easily +forget the day—there lay before us, old Cape Clear, God +bless it, showing, in the mist of early morning, like a cloud: +the brightest and most welcome cloud, to us, that ever hid the +face of Heaven’s fallen sister—Home.</p> +<p>Dim speck as it was in the wide prospect, it made the sunrise +a more cheerful sight, and gave to it that sort of human interest +which it seems to want at sea. There, as elsewhere, the +return of day is inseparable from some sense of renewed hope and +gladness; but the light shining on the dreary waste of water, and +showing it in all its vast extent of loneliness, presents a +solemn spectacle, which even night, veiling it in darkness and +uncertainty, does not surpass. The rising of the moon is +more in keeping with the solitary ocean; and has an air of +melancholy grandeur, which in its soft and gentle influence, +seems to comfort while it saddens. I recollect when I was a +very young child having a fancy that the reflection of the moon +in water was a path to Heaven, trodden by the spirits of good +people on their way to God; and this old feeling often came over +me again, when I watched it on a tranquil night at sea.</p> +<p>The wind was very light on this same Monday morning, but it +was still in the right quarter, and so, by slow degrees, we left +Cape Clear behind, and sailed along within sight of the coast of +Ireland. And how merry we all were, and how loyal to the +George Washington, and how full of mutual congratulations, and +how venturesome in predicting the exact hour at which we should +arrive at Liverpool, may be easily imagined and readily +understood. Also, how heartily we drank the captain’s +health that day at dinner; and how restless we became about +packing up: and how two or three of the most sanguine spirits +rejected the idea of going to bed at all that night as something +it was not worth while to do, so near the shore, but went +nevertheless, and slept soundly; and how to be so near our +journey’s end, was like a pleasant dream, from which one +feared to wake.</p> +<p>The friendly breeze freshened again next day, and on we went +once more before it gallantly: descrying now and then an English +ship going homeward under shortened sail, while we, with every +inch of canvas crowded on, dashed gaily past, and left her far +behind. Towards evening, the weather turned hazy, with a +drizzling rain; and soon became so thick, that we sailed, as it +were, in a cloud. Still we swept onward like a phantom +ship, and many an eager eye glanced up to where the Look-out on +the mast kept watch for Holyhead.</p> +<p>At length his long-expected cry was heard, and at the same +moment there shone out from the haze and mist ahead, a gleaming +light, which presently was gone, and soon returned, and soon was +gone again. Whenever it came back, the eyes of all on +board, brightened and sparkled like itself: and there we all +stood, watching this revolving light upon the rock at Holyhead, +and praising it for its brightness and its friendly warning, and +lauding it, in short, above all other signal lights that ever +were displayed, until it once more glimmered faintly in the +distance, far behind us.</p> +<p>Then, it was time to fire a gun, for a pilot; and almost +before its smoke had cleared away, a little boat with a light at +her masthead came bearing down upon us, through the darkness, +swiftly. And presently, our sails being backed, she ran +alongside; and the hoarse pilot, wrapped and muffled in pea-coats +and shawls to the very bridge of his weather-ploughed-up nose, +stood bodily among us on the deck. And I think if that +pilot had wanted to borrow fifty pounds for an indefinite period +on no security, we should have engaged to lend it to him, among +us, before his boat had dropped astern, or (which is the same +thing) before every scrap of news in the paper he brought with +him had become the common property of all on board.</p> +<p>We turned in pretty late that night, and turned out pretty +early next morning. By six o’clock we clustered on +the deck, prepared to go ashore; and looked upon the spires, and +roofs, and smoke, of Liverpool. By eight we all sat down in +one of its Hotels, to eat and drink together for the last +time. And by nine we had shaken hands all round, and broken +up our social company for ever.</p> +<p>The country, by the railroad, seemed, as we rattled through +it, like a luxuriant garden. The beauty of the fields (so +small they looked!), the hedge-rows, and the trees; the pretty +cottages, the beds of flowers, the old churchyards, the antique +houses, and every well-known object; the exquisite delights of +that one journey, crowding in the short compass of a +summer’s day, the joy of many years, with the winding up +with Home and all that makes it dear; no tongue can tell, or pen +of mine describe.</p> +<h2><a name="page189"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +189</span>CHAPTER XVII<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">SLAVERY</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> upholders of slavery in +America—of the atrocities of which system, I shall not +write one word for which I have not had ample proof and +warrant—may be divided into three great classes.</p> +<p>The first, are those more moderate and rational owners of +human cattle, who have come into the possession of them as so +many coins in their trading capital, but who admit the frightful +nature of the Institution in the abstract, and perceive the +dangers to society with which it is fraught: dangers which +however distant they may be, or howsoever tardy in their coming +on, are as certain to fall upon its guilty head, as is the Day of +Judgment.</p> +<p>The second, consists of all those owners, breeders, users, +buyers and sellers of slaves, who will, until the bloody chapter +has a bloody end, own, breed, use, buy, and sell them at all +hazards: who doggedly deny the horrors of the system in the teeth +of such a mass of evidence as never was brought to bear on any +other subject, and to which the experience of every day +contributes its immense amount; who would at this or any other +moment, gladly involve America in a war, civil or foreign, +provided that it had for its sole end and object the assertion of +their right to perpetuate slavery, and to whip and work and +torture slaves, unquestioned by any human authority, and +unassailed by any human power; who, when they speak of Freedom, +mean the Freedom to oppress their kind, and to be savage, +merciless, and cruel; and of whom every man on his own ground, in +republican America, is a more exacting, and a sterner, and a less +responsible despot than the Caliph Haroun Alraschid in his angry +robe of scarlet.</p> +<p>The third, and not the least numerous or influential, is +composed of all that delicate gentility which cannot bear a +superior, and cannot brook an equal; of that class whose +Republicanism means, ‘I will not tolerate a man above me: +and of those below, none must approach too near;’ whose +pride, in a land where voluntary servitude is shunned as a +disgrace, must be ministered to by slaves; and whose inalienable +rights can only have their growth in negro wrongs.</p> +<p>It has been sometimes urged that, in the unavailing efforts +which have been made to advance the cause of Human Freedom in the +republic of America (strange cause for history to treat of!), +sufficient regard has not been had to the existence of the first +class of persons; and it has been contended that they are hardly +used, in being confounded with the second. This is, no +doubt, the case; noble instances of pecuniary and personal +sacrifice have already had their growth among them; and it is +much to be regretted that the gulf between them and the advocates +of emancipation should have been widened and deepened by any +means: the rather, as there are, beyond dispute, among these +slave-owners, many kind masters who are tender in the exercise of +their unnatural power. Still, it is to be feared that this +injustice is inseparable from the state of things with which +humanity and truth are called upon to deal. Slavery is not +a whit the more endurable because some hearts are to be found +which can partially resist its hardening influences; nor can the +indignant tide of honest wrath stand still, because in its onward +course it overwhelms a few who are comparatively innocent, among +a host of guilty.</p> +<p>The ground most commonly taken by these better men among the +advocates of slavery, is this: ‘It is a bad system; and for +myself I would willingly get rid of it, if I could; most +willingly. But it is not so bad, as you in England take it +to be. You are deceived by the representations of the +emancipationists. The greater part of my slaves are much +attached to me. You will say that I do not allow them to be +severely treated; but I will put it to you whether you believe +that it can be a general practice to treat them inhumanly, when +it would impair their value, and would be obviously against the +interests of their masters.’</p> +<p>Is it the interest of any man to steal, to game, to waste his +health and mental faculties by drunkenness, to lie, forswear +himself, indulge hatred, seek desperate revenge, or do +murder? No. All these are roads to ruin. And +why, then, do men tread them? Because such inclinations are among +the vicious qualities of mankind. Blot out, ye friends of +slavery, from the catalogue of human passions, brutal lust, +cruelty, and the abuse of irresponsible power (of all earthly +temptations the most difficult to be resisted), and when ye have +done so, and not before, we will inquire whether it be the +interest of a master to lash and maim the slaves, over whose +lives and limbs he has an absolute control!</p> +<p>But again: this class, together with that last one I have +named, the miserable aristocracy spawned of a false republic, +lift up their voices and exclaim ‘Public opinion is +all-sufficient to prevent such cruelty as you +denounce.’ Public opinion! Why, public opinion +in the slave States <i>is</i> slavery, is it not? Public +opinion, in the slave States, has delivered the slaves over, to +the gentle mercies of their masters. Public opinion has +made the laws, and denied the slaves legislative +protection. Public opinion has knotted the lash, heated the +branding-iron, loaded the rifle, and shielded the murderer. +Public opinion threatens the abolitionist with death, if he +venture to the South; and drags him with a rope about his middle, +in broad unblushing noon, through the first city in the +East. Public opinion has, within a few years, burned a +slave alive at a slow fire in the city of St. Louis; and public +opinion has to this day maintained upon the bench that estimable +judge who charged the jury, impanelled there to try his +murderers, that their most horrid deed was an act of public +opinion, and being so, must not be punished by the laws the +public sentiment had made. Public opinion hailed this +doctrine with a howl of wild applause, and set the prisoners +free, to walk the city, men of mark, and influence, and station, +as they had been before.</p> +<p>Public opinion! what class of men have an immense +preponderance over the rest of the community, in their power of +representing public opinion in the legislature? the +slave-owners. They send from their twelve States one +hundred members, while the fourteen free States, with a free +population nearly double, return but a hundred and +forty-two. Before whom do the presidential candidates bow +down the most humbly, on whom do they fawn the most fondly, and +for whose tastes do they cater the most assiduously in their +servile protestations? The slave-owners always.</p> +<p>Public opinion! hear the public opinion of the free South, as +expressed by its own members in the House of Representatives at +Washington. ‘I have a great respect for the +chair,’ quoth North Carolina, ‘I have a great respect +for the chair as an officer of the house, and a great respect for +him personally; nothing but that respect prevents me from rushing +to the table and tearing that petition which has just been +presented for the abolition of slavery in the district of +Columbia, to pieces.’—‘I warn the +abolitionists,’ says South Carolina, ‘ignorant, +infuriated barbarians as they are, that if chance shall throw any +of them into our hands, he may expect a felon’s +death.’—‘Let an abolitionist come within the +borders of South Carolina,’ cries a third; mild +Carolina’s colleague; ‘and if we can catch him, we +will try him, and notwithstanding the interference of all the +governments on earth, including the Federal government, we will +<span class="smcap">hang</span> him.’</p> +<p>Public opinion has made this law.—It has declared that +in Washington, in that city which takes its name from the father +of American liberty, any justice of the peace may bind with +fetters any negro passing down the street and thrust him into +jail: no offence on the black man’s part is +necessary. The justice says, ‘I choose to think this +man a runaway:’ and locks him up. Public opinion +impowers the man of law when this is done, to advertise the negro +in the newspapers, warning his owner to come and claim him, or he +will be sold to pay the jail fees. But supposing he is a +free black, and has no owner, it may naturally be presumed that +he is set at liberty. No: <span class="smcap">he is sold to +recompense his jailer</span>. This has been done again, and +again, and again. He has no means of proving his freedom; +has no adviser, messenger, or assistance of any sort or kind; no +investigation into his case is made, or inquiry instituted. +He, a free man, who may have served for years, and bought his +liberty, is thrown into jail on no process, for no crime, and on +no pretence of crime: and is sold to pay the jail fees. +This seems incredible, even of America, but it is the law.</p> +<p>Public opinion is deferred to, in such cases as the following: +which is headed in the newspapers:—</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">‘<i>Interesting +Law-Case</i>.</p> +<p>‘An interesting case is now on trial in the Supreme +Court, arising out of the following facts. A gentleman +residing in Maryland had allowed an aged pair of his slaves, +substantial though not legal freedom for several years. +While thus living, a daughter was born to them, who grew up in +the same liberty, until she married a free negro, and went with +him to reside in Pennsylvania. They had several children, +and lived unmolested until the original owner died, when his heir +attempted to regain them; but the magistrate before whom they +were brought, decided that he had no jurisdiction in the +case. <i>The owner seized the woman and her children in the +night</i>, <i>and carried them to Maryland</i>.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>‘Cash for negroes,’ ‘cash for +negroes,’ ‘cash for negroes,’ is the heading of +advertisements in great capitals down the long columns of the +crowded journals. Woodcuts of a runaway negro with manacled +hands, crouching beneath a bluff pursuer in top boots, who, +having caught him, grasps him by the throat, agreeably diversify +the pleasant text. The leading article protests against +‘that abominable and hellish doctrine of abolition, which +is repugnant alike to every law of God and nature.’ +The delicate mamma, who smiles her acquiescence in this sprightly +writing as she reads the paper in her cool piazza, quiets her +youngest child who clings about her skirts, by promising the boy +‘a whip to beat the little niggers with.’—But +the negroes, little and big, are protected by public opinion.</p> +<p>Let us try this public opinion by another test, which is +important in three points of view: first, as showing how +desperately timid of the public opinion slave-owners are, in +their delicate descriptions of fugitive slaves in widely +circulated newspapers; secondly, as showing how perfectly +contented the slaves are, and how very seldom they run away; +thirdly, as exhibiting their entire freedom from scar, or +blemish, or any mark of cruel infliction, as their pictures are +drawn, not by lying abolitionists, but by their own truthful +masters.</p> +<p>The following are a few specimens of the advertisements in the +public papers. It is only four years since the oldest among +them appeared; and others of the same nature continue to be +published every day, in shoals.</p> +<blockquote><p>‘Ran away, Negress Caroline. Had on a +collar with one prong turned down.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, a black woman, Betsy. Had an iron bar +on her right leg.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, the negro Manuel. Much marked with +irons.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, the negress Fanny. Had on an iron band +about her neck.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, a negro boy about twelve years old. Had +round his neck a chain dog-collar with “De Lampert” +engraved on it.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, the negro Hown. Has a ring of iron on +his left foot. Also, Grise, <i>his wife</i>, having a ring +and chain on the left leg.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, a negro boy named James. Said boy was +ironed when he left me.’</p> +<p>‘Committed to jail, a man who calls his name John. +He has a clog of iron on his right foot which will weigh four or +five pounds.’</p> +<p>‘Detained at the police jail, the negro wench, +Myra. Has several marks of <span +class="smcap">lashing</span>, and has irons on her +feet.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, a negro woman and two children. A few +days before she went off, I burnt her with a hot iron, on the +left side of her face. I tried to make the letter +M.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, a negro man named Henry; his left eye out, +some scars from a dirk on and under his left arm, and much +scarred with the whip.’</p> +<p>‘One hundred dollars reward, for a negro fellow, Pompey, +40 years old. He is branded on the left jaw.’</p> +<p>‘Committed to jail, a negro man. Has no toes on +the left foot.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, a negro woman named Rachel. Has lost +all her toes except the large one.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, Sam. He was shot a short time since +through the hand, and has several shots in his left arm and +side.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, my negro man Dennis. Said negro has +been shot in the left arm between the shoulder and elbow, which +has paralysed the left hand.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, my negro man named Simon. He has been +shot badly, in his back and right arm.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, a negro named Arthur. Has a +considerable scar across his breast and each arm, made by a +knife; loves to talk much of the goodness of God.’</p> +<p>‘Twenty-five dollars reward for my man Isaac. He +has a scar on his forehead, caused by a blow; and one on his +back, made by a shot from a pistol.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, a negro girl called Mary. Has a small +scar over her eye, a good many teeth missing, the letter A is +branded on her cheek and forehead.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, negro Ben. Has a scar on his right +hand; his thumb and forefinger being injured by being shot last +fall. A part of the bone came out. He has also one or +two large scars on his back and hips.’</p> +<p>‘Detained at the jail, a mulatto, named Tom. Has a +scar on the right cheek, and appears to have been burned with +powder on the face.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, a negro man named Ned. Three of his +fingers are drawn into the palm of his hand by a cut. Has a +scar on the back of his neck, nearly half round, done by a +knife.’</p> +<p>‘Was committed to jail, a negro man. Says his name +is Josiah. His back very much scarred by the whip; and +branded on the thigh and hips in three or four places, thus (J +M). The rim of his right ear has been bit or cut +off.’</p> +<p>‘Fifty dollars reward, for my fellow Edward. He +has a scar on the corner of his mouth, two cuts on and under his +arm, and the letter E on his arm.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, negro boy Ellie. Has a scar on one of +his arms from the bite of a dog.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, from the plantation of James Surgette, the +following negroes: Randal, has one ear cropped; Bob, has lost one +eye; Kentucky Tom, has one jaw broken.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, Anthony. One of his ears cut off, and +his left hand cut with an axe.’</p> +<p>‘Fifty dollars reward for the negro Jim Blake. Has +a piece cut out of each ear, and the middle finger of the left +hand cut off to the second joint.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, a negro woman named Maria. Has a scar +on one side of her cheek, by a cut. Some scars on her +back.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, the Mulatto wench Mary. Has a cut on +the left arm, a scar on the left shoulder, and two upper teeth +missing.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I should say, perhaps, in explanation of this latter piece of +description, that among the other blessings which public opinion +secures to the negroes, is the common practice of violently +punching out their teeth. To make them wear iron collars by +day and night, and to worry them with dogs, are practices almost +too ordinary to deserve mention.</p> +<blockquote><p>‘Ran away, my man Fountain. Has holes +in his ears, a scar on the right side of his forehead, has been +shot in the hind part of his legs, and is marked on the back with +the whip.’</p> +<p>‘Two hundred and fifty dollars reward for my negro man +Jim. He is much marked with shot in his right thigh. +The shot entered on the outside, halfway between the hip and knee +joints.’</p> +<p>‘Brought to jail, John. Left ear cropt.’</p> +<p>‘Taken up, a negro man. Is very much scarred about +the face and body, and has the left ear bit off.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, a black girl, named Mary. Has a scar on +her cheek, and the end of one of her toes cut off.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, my Mulatto woman, Judy. She has had her +right arm broke.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, my negro man, Levi. His left hand has +been burnt, and I think the end of his forefinger is +off.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, a negro man, <span class="smcap">named +Washington</span>. Has lost a part of his middle finger, +and the end of his little finger.’</p> +<p>‘Twenty-five dollars reward for my man John. The +tip of his nose is bit off.’</p> +<p>‘Twenty-five dollars reward for the negro slave, +Sally. Walks <i>as though</i> crippled in the +back.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, Joe Dennis. Has a small notch in one of +his ears.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, negro boy, Jack. Has a small crop out +of his left ear.’</p> +<p>‘Ran away, a negro man, named Ivory. Has a small +piece cut out of the top of each ear.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>While upon the subject of ears, I may observe that a +distinguished abolitionist in New York once received a +negro’s ear, which had been cut off close to the head, in a +general post letter. It was forwarded by the free and +independent gentleman who had caused it to be amputated, with a +polite request that he would place the specimen in his +‘collection.’</p> +<p>I could enlarge this catalogue with broken arms, and broken +legs, and gashed flesh, and missing teeth, and lacerated backs, +and bites of dogs, and brands of red-hot irons innumerable: but +as my readers will be sufficiently sickened and repelled already, +I will turn to another branch of the subject.</p> +<p>These advertisements, of which a similar collection might be +made for every year, and month, and week, and day; and which are +coolly read in families as things of course, and as a part of the +current news and small-talk; will serve to show how very much the +slaves profit by public opinion, and how tender it is in their +behalf. But it may be worth while to inquire how the +slave-owners, and the class of society to which great numbers of +them belong, defer to public opinion in their conduct, not to +their slaves but to each other; how they are accustomed to +restrain their passions; what their bearing is among themselves; +whether they are fierce or gentle; whether their social customs +be brutal, sanguinary, and violent, or bear the impress of +civilisation and refinement.</p> +<p>That we may have no partial evidence from abolitionists in +this inquiry, either, I will once more turn to their own +newspapers, and I will confine myself, this time, to a selection +from paragraphs which appeared from day to day, during my visit +to America, and which refer to occurrences happening while I was +there. The italics in these extracts, as in the foregoing, +are my own.</p> +<p>These cases did not <span class="smcap">all</span> occur, it +will be seen, in territory actually belonging to legalised Slave +States, though most, and those the very worst among them did, as +their counterparts constantly do; but the position of the scenes +of action in reference to places immediately at hand, where +slavery is the law; and the strong resemblance between that class +of outrages and the rest; lead to the just presumption that the +character of the parties concerned was formed in slave districts, +and brutalised by slave customs.</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">‘<i>Horrible +Tragedy</i>.</p> +<p>‘By a slip from <i>The Southport Telegraph</i>, +Wisconsin, we learn that the Hon. Charles C. P. Arndt, Member of +the Council for Brown county, was shot dead <i>on the floor of +the Council chamber</i>, by James R. Vinyard, Member from Grant +county. <i>The affair</i> grew out of a nomination for +Sheriff of Grant county. Mr. E. S. Baker was nominated and +supported by Mr. Arndt. This nomination was opposed by +Vinyard, who wanted the appointment to vest in his own +brother. In the course of debate, the deceased made some +statements which Vinyard pronounced false, and made use of +violent and insulting language, dealing largely in personalities, +to which Mr. A. made no reply. After the adjournment, Mr. +A. stepped up to Vinyard, and requested him to retract, which he +refused to do, repeating the offensive words. Mr. Arndt +then made a blow at Vinyard, who stepped back a pace, drew a +pistol, and shot him dead.</p> +<p>‘The issue appears to have been provoked on the part of +Vinyard, who was determined at all hazards to defeat the +appointment of Baker, and who, himself defeated, turned his ire +and revenge upon the unfortunate Arndt.’</p> +<p style="text-align: center">‘<i>The Wisconsin +Tragedy</i>.</p> +<p>Public indignation runs high in the territory of Wisconsin, in +relation to the murder of C. C. P. Arndt, in the Legislative Hall +of the Territory. Meetings have been held in different +counties of Wisconsin, denouncing <i>the practice of secretly +bearing arms in the Legislative chambers of the +country</i>. We have seen the account of the expulsion of +James R. Vinyard, the perpetrator of the bloody deed, and are +amazed to hear, that, after this expulsion by those who saw +Vinyard kill Mr. Arndt in the presence of his aged father, who +was on a visit to see his son, little dreaming that he was to +witness his murder, <i>Judge Dunn has discharged Vinyard on +bail</i>. The Miners’ Free Press speaks <i>in terms +of merited rebuke</i> at the outrage upon the feelings of the +people of Wisconsin. Vinyard was within arm’s length +of Mr. Arndt, when he took such deadly aim at him, that he never +spoke. Vinyard might at pleasure, being so near, have only +wounded him, but he chose to kill him.’</p> +<p style="text-align: center">‘<i>Murder</i>.</p> +<p>By a letter in a St. Louis paper of the ‘4th, we notice +a terrible outrage at Burlington, Iowa. A Mr. Bridgman +having had a difficulty with a citizen of the place, Mr. Ross; a +brother-in-law of the latter provided himself with one of +Colt’s revolving pistols, met Mr. B. in the street, <i>and +discharged the contents of five of the barrels at him</i>: +<i>each shot taking effect</i>. Mr. B., though horribly +wounded, and dying, returned the fire, and killed Ross on the +spot.’</p> +<p style="text-align: center">‘<i>Terrible Death of Robert +Potter</i>.</p> +<p>‘From the “Caddo Gazette,” of the 12th +inst., we learn the frightful death of Colonel Robert Potter. . . +. He was beset in his house by an enemy, named Rose. He +sprang from his couch, seized his gun, and, in his night-clothes, +rushed from the house. For about two hundred yards his +speed seemed to defy his pursuers; but, getting entangled in a +thicket, he was captured. Rose told him <i>that he intended +to act a generous part</i>, and give him a chance for his +life. He then told Potter he might run, and he should not +be interrupted till he reached a certain distance. Potter +started at the word of command, and before a gun was fired he had +reached the lake. His first impulse was to jump in the +water and dive for it, which he did. Rose was close behind +him, and formed his men on the bank ready to shoot him as he +rose. In a few seconds he came up to breathe; and scarce +had his head reached the surface of the water when it was +completely riddled with the shot of their guns, and he sunk, to +rise no more!’</p> +<p style="text-align: center">‘<i>Murder in +Arkansas</i>.</p> +<p>‘We understand <i>that a severe rencontre came off</i> a +few days since in the Seneca Nation, between Mr. Loose, the +sub-agent of the mixed band of the Senecas, Quapaw, and Shawnees, +and Mr. James Gillespie, of the mercantile firm of Thomas G. +Allison and Co., of Maysville, Benton, County Ark, in which the +latter was slain with a bowie-knife. Some difficulty had +for some time existed between the parties. It is said that +Major Gillespie brought on the attack with a cane. A severe +conflict ensued, during which two pistols were fired by Gillespie +and one by Loose. Loose then stabbed Gillespie with one of +those never-failing weapons, a bowie-knife. The death of +Major G. is much regretted, as he was a liberal-minded and +energetic man. Since the above was in type, we have learned +that Major Allison has stated to some of our citizens in town +that Mr. Loose gave the first blow. We forbear to give any +particulars, as <i>the matter will be the subject of judicial +investigation</i>.’</p> +<p style="text-align: center">‘<i>Foul Deed</i>.</p> +<p>The steamer Thames, just from Missouri river, brought us a +handbill, offering a reward of 500 dollars, for the person who +assassinated Lilburn W. Baggs, late Governor of this State, at +Independence, on the night of the 6th inst. Governor Baggs, +it is stated in a written memorandum, was not dead, but mortally +wounded.</p> +<p>‘Since the above was written, we received a note from +the clerk of the Thames, giving the following particulars. +Gov. Baggs was shot by some villain on Friday, 6th inst., in the +evening, while sitting in a room in his own house in +Independence. His son, a boy, hearing a report, ran into +the room, and found the Governor sitting in his chair, with his +jaw fallen down, and his head leaning back; on discovering the +injury done to his father, he gave the alarm. Foot tracks +were found in the garden below the window, and a pistol picked up +supposed to have been overloaded, and thrown from the hand of the +scoundrel who fired it. Three buck shots of a heavy load, +took effect; one going through his mouth, one into the brain, and +another probably in or near the brain; all going into the back +part of the neck and head. The Governor was still alive on +the morning of the 7th; but no hopes for his recovery by his +friends, and but slight hopes from his physicians.</p> +<p>‘A man was suspected, and the Sheriff most probably has +possession of him by this time.</p> +<p>‘The pistol was one of a pair stolen some days previous +from a baker in Independence, and the legal authorities have the +description of the other.’</p> +<p style="text-align: center">‘<i>Rencontre</i>.</p> +<p>‘An unfortunate <i>affair</i> took place on Friday +evening in Chatres Street, in which one of our most respectable +citizens received a dangerous wound, from a poignard, in the +abdomen. From the Bee (New Orleans) of yesterday, we learn +the following particulars. It appears that an article was +published in the French side of the paper on Monday last, +containing some strictures on the Artillery Battalion for firing +their guns on Sunday morning, in answer to those from the Ontario +and Woodbury, and thereby much alarm was caused to the families +of those persons who were out all night preserving the peace of +the city. Major C. Gally, Commander of the battalion, +resenting this, called at the office and demanded the +author’s name; that of Mr. P. Arpin was given to him, who +was absent at the time. Some angry words then passed with +one of the proprietors, and a challenge followed; the friends of +both parties tried to arrange the affair, but failed to do +so. On Friday evening, about seven o’clock, Major +Gally met Mr. P. Arpin in Chatres Street, and accosted him. +“Are you Mr. Arpin?”</p> +<p>‘“Yes, sir.”</p> +<p>‘“Then I have to tell you that you are +a—” (applying an appropriate epithet).</p> +<p>‘“I shall remind you of your words, +sir.”</p> +<p>‘“But I have said I would break my cane on your +shoulders.”</p> +<p>‘“I know it, but I have not yet received the +blow.”</p> +<p>‘At these words, Major Gally, having a cane in his +hands, struck Mr. Arpin across the face, and the latter drew a +poignard from his pocket and stabbed Major Gally in the +abdomen.</p> +<p>‘Fears are entertained that the wound will be +mortal. <i>We understand that Mr. Arpin has given security +for his appearance at the Criminal Court to answer the +charge</i>.’</p> +<p style="text-align: center">‘<i>Affray in +Mississippi</i>.</p> +<p>‘On the 27th ult., in an affray near Carthage, Leake +county, Mississippi, between James Cottingham and John Wilburn, +the latter was shot by the former, and so horribly wounded, that +there was no hope of his recovery. On the 2nd instant, +there was an affray at Carthage between A. C. Sharkey and George +Goff, in which the latter was shot, and thought mortally +wounded. Sharkey delivered himself up to the authorities, +<i>but changed his mind and escaped</i>!’</p> +<p style="text-align: center">‘<i>Personal +Encounter</i>.</p> +<p>‘An encounter took place in Sparta, a few days since, +between the barkeeper of an hotel, and a man named Bury. It +appears that Bury had become somewhat noisy, <i>and that the +barkeeper</i>, <i>determined to preserve order</i>, <i>had +threatened to shoot Bury</i>, whereupon Bury drew a pistol and +shot the barkeeper down. He was not dead at the last +accounts, but slight hopes were entertained of his +recovery.’</p> +<p style="text-align: center">‘<i>Duel</i>.</p> +<p>‘The clerk of the steamboat <i>Tribune</i> informs us +that another duel was fought on Tuesday last, by Mr. Robbins, a +bank officer in Vicksburg, and Mr. Fall, the editor of the +Vicksburg Sentinel. According to the arrangement, the +parties had six pistols each, which, after the word +“Fire!” <i>they were to discharge as fast as they +pleased</i>. Fall fired two pistols without effect. +Mr. Robbins’ first shot took effect in Fall’s thigh, +who fell, and was unable to continue the combat.’</p> +<p style="text-align: center">‘<i>Affray in Clarke +County</i>.</p> +<p>‘An <i>unfortunate affray</i> occurred in Clarke county +(<span class="smcap">Mo</span>.), near Waterloo, on Tuesday the +19th ult., which originated in settling the partnership concerns +of Messrs. M‘Kane and M‘Allister, who had been +engaged in the business of distilling, and resulted in the death +of the latter, who was shot down by Mr. M‘Kane, because of +his attempting to take possession of seven barrels of whiskey, +the property of M‘Kane, which had been knocked off to +M‘Allister at a sheriff’s sale at one dollar per +barrel. M‘Kane immediately fled <i>and at the latest +dates had not been taken</i>.</p> +<p>‘<i>This unfortunate affray</i> caused considerable +excitement in the neighbourhood, as both the parties were men +with large families depending upon them and stood well in the +community.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I will quote but one more paragraph, which, by reason of its +monstrous absurdity, may be a relief to these atrocious +deeds.</p> +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">‘<i>Affair of +Honour</i>.</p> +<p>‘We have just heard the particulars of a meeting which +took place on Six Mile Island, on Tuesday, between two young +bloods of our city: Samuel Thurston, <i>aged fifteen</i>, and +William Hine, <i>aged thirteen</i> years. They were +attended by young gentlemen of the same age. The weapons +used on the occasion, were a couple of Dickson’s best +rifles; the distance, thirty yards. They took one fire, +without any damage being sustained by either party, except the +ball of Thurston’s gun passing through the crown of +Hine’s hat. <i>Through the intercession of the Board +of Honour</i>, the challenge was withdrawn, and the difference +amicably adjusted.’</p> +</blockquote> +<p>If the reader will picture to himself the kind of Board of +Honour which amicably adjusted the difference between these two +little boys, who in any other part of the world would have been +amicably adjusted on two porters’ backs and soundly flogged +with birchen rods, he will be possessed, no doubt, with as strong +a sense of its ludicrous character, as that which sets me +laughing whenever its image rises up before me.</p> +<p>Now, I appeal to every human mind, imbued with the commonest +of common sense, and the commonest of common humanity; to all +dispassionate, reasoning creatures, of any shade of opinion; and +ask, with these revolting evidences of the state of society which +exists in and about the slave districts of America before them, +can they have a doubt of the real condition of the slave, or can +they for a moment make a compromise between the institution or +any of its flagrant, fearful features, and their own just +consciences? Will they say of any tale of cruelty and horror, +however aggravated in degree, that it is improbable, when they +can turn to the public prints, and, running, read such signs as +these, laid before them by the men who rule the slaves: in their +own acts and under their own hands?</p> +<p>Do we not know that the worst deformity and ugliness of +slavery are at once the cause and the effect of the reckless +license taken by these freeborn outlaws? Do we not know +that the man who has been born and bred among its wrongs; who has +seen in his childhood husbands obliged at the word of command to +flog their wives; women, indecently compelled to hold up their +own garments that men might lay the heavier stripes upon their +legs, driven and harried by brutal overseers in their time of +travail, and becoming mothers on the field of toil, under the +very lash itself; who has read in youth, and seen his virgin +sisters read, descriptions of runaway men and women, and their +disfigured persons, which could not be published elsewhere, of so +much stock upon a farm, or at a show of beasts:—do we not +know that that man, whenever his wrath is kindled up, will be a +brutal savage? Do we not know that as he is a coward in his +domestic life, stalking among his shrinking men and women slaves +armed with his heavy whip, so he will be a coward out of doors, +and carrying cowards’ weapons hidden in his breast, will +shoot men down and stab them when he quarrels? And if our +reason did not teach us this and much beyond; if we were such +idiots as to close our eyes to that fine mode of training which +rears up such men; should we not know that they who among their +equals stab and pistol in the legislative halls, and in the +counting-house, and on the marketplace, and in all the elsewhere +peaceful pursuits of life, must be to their dependants, even +though they were free servants, so many merciless and unrelenting +tyrants?</p> +<p>What! shall we declaim against the ignorant peasantry of +Ireland, and mince the matter when these American taskmasters are +in question? Shall we cry shame on the brutality of those +who hamstring cattle: and spare the lights of Freedom upon earth +who notch the ears of men and women, cut pleasant posies in the +shrinking flesh, learn to write with pens of red-hot iron on the +human face, rack their poetic fancies for liveries of mutilation +which their slaves shall wear for life and carry to the grave, +breaking living limbs as did the soldiery who mocked and slew the +Saviour of the world, and set defenceless creatures up for +targets! Shall we whimper over legends of the tortures practised +on each other by the Pagan Indians, and smile upon the cruelties +of Christian men! Shall we, so long as these things last, +exult above the scattered remnants of that race, and triumph in +the white enjoyment of their possessions? Rather, for me, +restore the forest and the Indian village; in lieu of stars and +stripes, let some poor feather flutter in the breeze; replace the +streets and squares by wigwams; and though the death-song of a +hundred haughty warriors fill the air, it will be music to the +shriek of one unhappy slave.</p> +<p>On one theme, which is commonly before our eyes, and in +respect of which our national character is changing fast, let the +plain Truth be spoken, and let us not, like dastards, beat about +the bush by hinting at the Spaniard and the fierce Italian. +When knives are drawn by Englishmen in conflict let it be said +and known: ‘We owe this change to Republican Slavery. +These are the weapons of Freedom. With sharp points and +edges such as these, Liberty in America hews and hacks her +slaves; or, failing that pursuit, her sons devote them to a +better use, and turn them on each other.’</p> +<h2><a name="page202"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +202</span>CHAPTER XVIII<br /> +<span class="GutSmall">CONCLUDING REMARKS</span></h2> +<p><span class="smcap">There</span> are many passages in this +book, where I have been at some pains to resist the temptation of +troubling my readers with my own deductions and conclusions: +preferring that they should judge for themselves, from such +premises as I have laid before them. My only object in the +outset, was, to carry them with me faithfully wheresoever I went: +and that task I have discharged.</p> +<p>But I may be pardoned, if on such a theme as the general +character of the American people, and the general character of +their social system, as presented to a stranger’s eyes, I +desire to express my own opinions in a few words, before I bring +these volumes to a close.</p> +<p>They are, by nature, frank, brave, cordial, hospitable, and +affectionate. Cultivation and refinement seem but to +enhance their warmth of heart and ardent enthusiasm; and it is +the possession of these latter qualities in a most remarkable +degree, which renders an educated American one of the most +endearing and most generous of friends. I never was so won +upon, as by this class; never yielded up my full confidence and +esteem so readily and pleasurably, as to them; never can make +again, in half a year, so many friends for whom I seem to +entertain the regard of half a life.</p> +<p>These qualities are natural, I implicitly believe, to the +whole people. That they are, however, sadly sapped and +blighted in their growth among the mass; and that there are +influences at work which endanger them still more, and give but +little present promise of their healthy restoration; is a truth +that ought to be told.</p> +<p>It is an essential part of every national character to pique +itself mightily upon its faults, and to deduce tokens of its +virtue or its wisdom from their very exaggeration. One +great blemish in the popular mind of America, and the prolific +parent of an innumerable brood of evils, is Universal +Distrust. Yet the American citizen plumes himself upon this +spirit, even when he is sufficiently dispassionate to perceive +the ruin it works; and will often adduce it, in spite of his own +reason, as an instance of the great sagacity and acuteness of the +people, and their superior shrewdness and independence.</p> +<p>‘You carry,’ says the stranger, ‘this +jealousy and distrust into every transaction of public +life. By repelling worthy men from your legislative +assemblies, it has bred up a class of candidates for the +suffrage, who, in their very act, disgrace your Institutions and +your people’s choice. It has rendered you so fickle, +and so given to change, that your inconstancy has passed into a +proverb; for you no sooner set up an idol firmly, than you are +sure to pull it down and dash it into fragments: and this, +because directly you reward a benefactor, or a public servant, +you distrust him, merely because he is rewarded; and immediately +apply yourselves to find out, either that you have been too +bountiful in your acknowledgments, or he remiss in his +deserts. Any man who attains a high place among you, from +the President downwards, may date his downfall from that moment; +for any printed lie that any notorious villain pens, although it +militate directly against the character and conduct of a life, +appeals at once to your distrust, and is believed. You will +strain at a gnat in the way of trustfulness and confidence, +however fairly won and well deserved; but you will swallow a +whole caravan of camels, if they be laden with unworthy doubts +and mean suspicions. Is this well, think you, or likely to +elevate the character of the governors or the governed, among +you?’</p> +<p>The answer is invariably the same: ‘There’s +freedom of opinion here, you know. Every man thinks for +himself, and we are not to be easily overreached. +That’s how our people come to be suspicious.’</p> +<p>Another prominent feature is the love of ‘smart’ +dealing: which gilds over many a swindle and gross breach of +trust; many a defalcation, public and private; and enables many a +knave to hold his head up with the best, who well deserves a +halter; though it has not been without its retributive operation, +for this smartness has done more in a few years to impair the +public credit, and to cripple the public resources, than dull +honesty, however rash, could have effected in a century. +The merits of a broken speculation, or a bankruptcy, or of a +successful scoundrel, are not gauged by its or his observance of +the golden rule, ‘Do as you would be done by,’ but +are considered with reference to their smartness. I +recollect, on both occasions of our passing that ill-fated Cairo +on the Mississippi, remarking on the bad effects such gross +deceits must have when they exploded, in generating a want of +confidence abroad, and discouraging foreign investment: but I was +given to understand that this was a very smart scheme by which a +deal of money had been made: and that its smartest feature was, +that they forgot these things abroad, in a very short time, and +speculated again, as freely as ever. The following dialogue +I have held a hundred times: ‘Is it not a very disgraceful +circumstance that such a man as So-and-so should be acquiring a +large property by the most infamous and odious means, and +notwithstanding all the crimes of which he has been guilty, +should be tolerated and abetted by your Citizens? He is a +public nuisance, is he not?’ ‘Yes, +sir.’ ‘A convicted liar?’ +‘Yes, sir.’ ‘He has been kicked, and +cuffed, and caned?’ ‘Yes, sir.’ +‘And he is utterly dishonourable, debased, and +profligate?’ ‘Yes, sir.’ ‘In +the name of wonder, then, what is his merit?’ +‘Well, sir, he is a smart man.’</p> +<p>In like manner, all kinds of deficient and impolitic usages +are referred to the national love of trade; though, oddly enough, +it would be a weighty charge against a foreigner that he regarded +the Americans as a trading people. The love of trade is +assigned as a reason for that comfortless custom, so very +prevalent in country towns, of married persons living in hotels, +having no fireside of their own, and seldom meeting from early +morning until late at night, but at the hasty public meals. +The love of trade is a reason why the literature of America is to +remain for ever unprotected ‘For we are a trading people, +and don’t care for poetry:’ though we <i>do</i>, by +the way, profess to be very proud of our poets: while healthful +amusements, cheerful means of recreation, and wholesome fancies, +must fade before the stern utilitarian joys of trade.</p> +<p>These three characteristics are strongly presented at every +turn, full in the stranger’s view. But, the foul +growth of America has a more tangled root than this; and it +strikes its fibres, deep in its licentious Press.</p> +<p>Schools may be erected, East, West, North, and South; pupils +be taught, and masters reared, by scores upon scores of +thousands; colleges may thrive, churches may be crammed, +temperance may be diffused, and advancing knowledge in all other +forms walk through the land with giant strides: but while the +newspaper press of America is in, or near, its present abject +state, high moral improvement in that country is hopeless. +Year by year, it must and will go back; year by year, the tone of +public feeling must sink lower down; year by year, the Congress +and the Senate must become of less account before all decent men; +and year by year, the memory of the Great Fathers of the +Revolution must be outraged more and more, in the bad life of +their degenerate child.</p> +<p>Among the herd of journals which are published in the States, +there are some, the reader scarcely need be told, of character +and credit. From personal intercourse with accomplished +gentlemen connected with publications of this class, I have +derived both pleasure and profit. But the name of these is +Few, and of the others Legion; and the influence of the good, is +powerless to counteract the moral poison of the bad.</p> +<p>Among the gentry of America; among the well-informed and +moderate: in the learned professions; at the bar and on the +bench: there is, as there can be, but one opinion, in reference +to the vicious character of these infamous journals. It is +sometimes contended—I will not say strangely, for it is +natural to seek excuses for such a disgrace—that their +influence is not so great as a visitor would suppose. I +must be pardoned for saying that there is no warrant for this +plea, and that every fact and circumstance tends directly to the +opposite conclusion.</p> +<p>When any man, of any grade of desert in intellect or +character, can climb to any public distinction, no matter what, +in America, without first grovelling down upon the earth, and +bending the knee before this monster of depravity; when any +private excellence is safe from its attacks; when any social +confidence is left unbroken by it, or any tie of social decency +and honour is held in the least regard; when any man in that free +country has freedom of opinion, and presumes to think for +himself, and speak for himself, without humble reference to a +censorship which, for its rampant ignorance and base dishonesty, +he utterly loathes and despises in his heart; when those who most +acutely feel its infamy and the reproach it casts upon the +nation, and who most denounce it to each other, dare to set their +heels upon, and crush it openly, in the sight of all men: then, I +will believe that its influence is lessening, and men are +returning to their manly senses. But while that Press has +its evil eye in every house, and its black hand in every +appointment in the state, from a president to a postman; while, +with ribald slander for its only stock in trade, it is the +standard literature of an enormous class, who must find their +reading in a newspaper, or they will not read at all; so long +must its odium be upon the country’s head, and so long must +the evil it works, be plainly visible in the Republic.</p> +<p>To those who are accustomed to the leading English journals, +or to the respectable journals of the Continent of Europe; to +those who are accustomed to anything else in print and paper; it +would be impossible, without an amount of extract for which I +have neither space nor inclination, to convey an adequate idea of +this frightful engine in America. But if any man desire +confirmation of my statement on this head, let him repair to any +place in this city of London, where scattered numbers of these +publications are to be found; and there, let him form his own +opinion. <a name="citation206"></a><a href="#footnote206" +class="citation">[206]</a></p> +<p>It would be well, there can be no doubt, for the American +people as a whole, if they loved the Real less, and the Ideal +somewhat more. It would be well, if there were greater +encouragement to lightness of heart and gaiety, and a wider +cultivation of what is beautiful, without being eminently and +directly useful. But here, I think the general +remonstrance, ‘we are a new country,’ which is so +often advanced as an excuse for defects which are quite +unjustifiable, as being, of right, only the slow growth of an old +one, may be very reasonably urged: and I yet hope to hear of +there being some other national amusement in the United States, +besides newspaper politics.</p> +<p>They certainly are not a humorous people, and their +temperament always impressed me is being of a dull and gloomy +character. In shrewdness of remark, and a certain cast-iron +quaintness, the Yankees, or people of New England, unquestionably +take the lead; as they do in most other evidences of +intelligence. But in travelling about, out of the large +cities—as I have remarked in former parts of these +volumes—I was quite oppressed by the prevailing seriousness +and melancholy air of business: which was so general and +unvarying, that at every new town I came to, I seemed to meet the +very same people whom I had left behind me, at the last. +Such defects as are perceptible in the national manners, seem, to +me, to be referable, in a great degree, to this cause: which has +generated a dull, sullen persistence in coarse usages, and +rejected the graces of life as undeserving of attention. +There is no doubt that Washington, who was always most scrupulous +and exact on points of ceremony, perceived the tendency towards +this mistake, even in his time, and did his utmost to correct +it.</p> +<p>I cannot hold with other writers on these subjects that the +prevalence of various forms of dissent in America, is in any way +attributable to the non-existence there of an established church: +indeed, I think the temper of the people, if it admitted of such +an Institution being founded amongst them, would lead them to +desert it, as a matter of course, merely because it <i>was</i> +established. But, supposing it to exist, I doubt its +probable efficacy in summoning the wandering sheep to one great +fold, simply because of the immense amount of dissent which +prevails at home; and because I do not find in America any one +form of religion with which we in Europe, or even in England, are +unacquainted. Dissenters resort thither in great numbers, +as other people do, simply because it is a land of resort; and +great settlements of them are founded, because ground can be +purchased, and towns and villages reared, where there were none +of the human creation before. But even the Shakers +emigrated from England; our country is not unknown to Mr. Joseph +Smith, the apostle of Mormonism, or to his benighted disciples; I +have beheld religious scenes myself in some of our populous towns +which can hardly be surpassed by an American camp-meeting; and I +am not aware that any instance of superstitious imposture on the +one hand, and superstitious credulity on the other, has had its +origin in the United States, which we cannot more than parallel +by the precedents of Mrs. Southcote, Mary Tofts the +rabbit-breeder, or even Mr. Thorn of Canterbury: which latter +case arose, some time after the dark ages had passed away.</p> +<p>The Republican Institutions of America undoubtedly lead the +people to assert their self-respect and their equality; but a +traveller is bound to bear those Institutions in his mind, and +not hastily to resent the near approach of a class of strangers, +who, at home, would keep aloof. This characteristic, when +it was tinctured with no foolish pride, and stopped short of no +honest service, never offended me; and I very seldom, if ever, +experienced its rude or unbecoming display. Once or twice +it was comically developed, as in the following case; but this +was an amusing incident, and not the rule, or near it.</p> +<p>I wanted a pair of boots at a certain town, for I had none to +travel in, but those with the memorable cork soles, which were +much too hot for the fiery decks of a steamboat. I +therefore sent a message to an artist in boots, importing, with +my compliments, that I should be happy to see him, if he would do +me the polite favour to call. He very kindly returned for +answer, that he would ‘look round’ at six +o’clock that evening.</p> +<p>I was lying on the sofa, with a book and a wine-glass, at +about that time, when the door opened, and a gentleman in a stiff +cravat, within a year or two on either side of thirty, entered, +in his hat and gloves; walked up to the looking-glass; arranged +his hair; took off his gloves; slowly produced a measure from the +uttermost depths of his coat-pocket; and requested me, in a +languid tone, to ‘unfix’ my straps. I complied, +but looked with some curiosity at his hat, which was still upon +his head. It might have been that, or it might have been +the heat—but he took it off. Then, he sat himself +down on a chair opposite to me; rested an arm on each knee; and, +leaning forward very much, took from the ground, by a great +effort, the specimen of metropolitan workmanship which I had just +pulled off: whistling, pleasantly, as he did so. He turned +it over and over; surveyed it with a contempt no language can +express; and inquired if I wished him to fix me a boot like +<i>that</i>? I courteously replied, that provided the boots +were large enough, I would leave the rest to him; that if +convenient and practicable, I should not object to their bearing +some resemblance to the model then before him; but that I would +be entirely guided by, and would beg to leave the whole subject +to, his judgment and discretion. ‘You an’t +partickler, about this scoop in the heel, I suppose then?’ +says he: ‘we don’t foller that, here.’ I +repeated my last observation. He looked at himself in the +glass again; went closer to it to dash a grain or two of dust out +of the corner of his eye; and settled his cravat. All this +time, my leg and foot were in the air. ‘Nearly ready, +sir?’ I inquired. ‘Well, pretty nigh,’ he +said; ‘keep steady.’ I kept as steady as I +could, both in foot and face; and having by this time got the +dust out, and found his pencil-case, he measured me, and made the +necessary notes. When he had finished, he fell into his old +attitude, and taking up the boot again, mused for some +time. ‘And this,’ he said, at last, ‘is +an English boot, is it? This is a London boot, +eh?’ ‘That, sir,’ I replied, ‘is a +London boot.’ He mused over it again, after the +manner of Hamlet with Yorick’s skull; nodded his head, as +who should say, ‘I pity the Institutions that led to the +production of this boot!’; rose; put up his pencil, notes, +and paper—glancing at himself in the glass, all the +time—put on his hat—drew on his gloves very slowly; +and finally walked out. When he had been gone about a +minute, the door reopened, and his hat and his head +reappeared. He looked round the room, and at the boot +again, which was still lying on the floor; appeared thoughtful +for a minute; and then said ‘Well, good +arternoon.’ ‘Good afternoon, sir,’ said +I: and that was the end of the interview.</p> +<p>There is but one other head on which I wish to offer a remark; +and that has reference to the public health. In so vast a +country, where there are thousands of millions of acres of land +yet unsettled and uncleared, and on every rood of which, +vegetable decomposition is annually taking place; where there are +so many great rivers, and such opposite varieties of climate; +there cannot fail to be a great amount of sickness at certain +seasons. But I may venture to say, after conversing with +many members of the medical profession in America, that I am not +singular in the opinion that much of the disease which does +prevail, might be avoided, if a few common precautions were +observed. Greater means of personal cleanliness, are +indispensable to this end; the custom of hastily swallowing large +quantities of animal food, three times a-day, and rushing back to +sedentary pursuits after each meal, must be changed; the gentler +sex must go more wisely clad, and take more healthful exercise; +and in the latter clause, the males must be included also. +Above all, in public institutions, and throughout the whole of +every town and city, the system of ventilation, and drainage, and +removal of impurities requires to be thoroughly revised. +There is no local Legislature in America which may not study Mr. +Chadwick’s excellent Report upon the Sanitary Condition of +our Labouring Classes, with immense advantage.</p> +<div class="gapshortline"> </div> +<p>I <span class="smcap">have</span> now arrived at the close of +this book. I have little reason to believe, from certain +warnings I have had since I returned to England, that it will be +tenderly or favourably received by the American people; and as I +have written the Truth in relation to the mass of those who form +their judgments and express their opinions, it will be seen that +I have no desire to court, by any adventitious means, the popular +applause.</p> +<p>It is enough for me, to know, that what I have set down in +these pages, cannot cost me a single friend on the other side of +the Atlantic, who is, in anything, deserving of the name. +For the rest, I put my trust, implicitly, in the spirit in which +they have been conceived and penned; and I can bide my time.</p> +<p>I have made no reference to my reception, nor have I suffered +it to influence me in what I have written; for, in either case, I +should have offered but a sorry acknowledgment, compared with +that I bear within my breast, towards those partial readers of my +former books, across the Water, who met me with an open hand, and +not with one that closed upon an iron muzzle.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">THE +END</span></p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<h2><a name="page210"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +210</span>POSTSCRIPT</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">At</span> a Public Dinner given to me on +Saturday the 18th of April, 1868, in the City of New York, by two +hundred representatives of the Press of the United States of +America, I made the following observations among others:</p> +<p>‘So much of my voice has lately been heard in the land, +that I might have been contented with troubling you no further +from my present standing-point, were it not a duty with which I +henceforth charge myself, not only here but on every suitable +occasion, whatsoever and wheresoever, to express my high and +grateful sense of my second reception in America, and to bear my +honest testimony to the national generosity and +magnanimity. Also, to declare how astounded I have been by +the amazing changes I have seen around me on every +side,—changes moral, changes physical, changes in the +amount of land subdued and peopled, changes in the rise of vast +new cities, changes in the growth of older cities almost out of +recognition, changes in the graces and amenities of life, changes +in the Press, without whose advancement no advancement can take +place anywhere. Nor am I, believe me, so arrogant as to +suppose that in five and twenty years there have been no changes +in me, and that I had nothing to learn and no extreme impressions +to correct when I was here first. And this brings me to a +point on which I have, ever since I landed in the United States +last November, observed a strict silence, though sometimes +tempted to break it, but in reference to which I will, with your +good leave, take you into my confidence now. Even the +Press, being human, may be sometimes mistaken or misinformed, and +I rather think that I have in one or two rare instances observed +its information to be not strictly accurate with reference to +myself. Indeed, I have, now and again, been more surprised +by printed news that I have read of myself, than by any printed +news that I have ever read in my present state of +existence. Thus, the vigour and perseverance with which I +have for some months past been collecting materials for, and +hammering away at, a new book on America has much astonished me; +seeing that all that time my declaration has been perfectly well +known to my publishers on both sides of the Atlantic, that no +consideration on earth would induce me to write one. But +what I have intended, what I have resolved upon (and this is the +confidence I seek to place in you) is, on my return to England, +in my own person, in my own journal, to bear, for the behoof of +my countrymen, such testimony to the gigantic changes in this +country as I have hinted at to-night. Also, to record that +wherever I have been, in the smallest places equally with the +largest, I have been received with unsurpassable politeness, +delicacy, sweet temper, hospitality, consideration, and with +unsurpassable respect for the privacy daily enforced upon me by +the nature of my avocation here and the state of my health. +This testimony, so long as I live, and so long as my descendants +have any legal right in my books, I shall cause to be +republished, as an appendix to every copy of those two books of +mine in which I have referred to America. And this I will +do and cause to be done, not in mere love and thankfulness, but +because I regard it as an act of plain justice and +honour.’</p> +<p>I said these words with the greatest earnestness that I could +lay upon them, and I repeat them in print here with equal +earnestness. So long as this book shall last, I hope that +they will form a part of it, and will be fairly read as +inseparable from my experiences and impressions of America.</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Charles +Dickens</span>.</p> +<p><i>May</i>, 1868.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="GutSmall">PRINTED +BY</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, +LIMITED,</span><br /> +<span class="GutSmall">LONDON AND BECCLES.</span></p> +<h2>FOOTNOTES</h2> +<p><a name="footnote1"></a><a href="#citation1" +class="footnote">[1]</a> This Project Gutenberg eText +contains just <i>American Notes</i>. <i>Pictures from +Italy</i> is also available from Project Gutenberg as a separate +eText.—DP.</p> +<p><a name="footnote206"></a><a href="#citation206" +class="footnote">[206]</a> <span class="smcap">Note to the +Original Edition</span>.—Or let him refer to an able, and +perfectly truthful article, in <i>The Foreign Quarterly +Review</i>, published in the present month of October; to which +my attention has been attracted, since these sheets have been +passing through the press. He will find some specimens +there, by no means remarkable to any man who has been in America, +but sufficiently striking to one who has not.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN NOTES FOR GENERAL +CIRCULATION***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 675-h.htm or 675-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/7/675 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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