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diff --git a/old/amnts10.txt b/old/amnts10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..caa0a82 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/amnts10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10887 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of American Notes, by Charles Dickens +#9 in our series by Charles Dickens + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +American Notes for General Circulation by Charles Dickens +Scanned and proofed by David Price +email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + + +American Notes for General Circulation + + + + + + +PREFACE TO THE FIRST CHEAP EDITION OF "AMERICAN NOTES" + + + +IT 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +LONDON, JUNE 22, 1850. + + + + +PREFACE TO THE "CHARLES DICKENS" EDITION OF "AMERICAN NOTES" + + + +MY 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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER I - GOING AWAY + + + +I SHALL 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. + +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. + +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 THE SALOON; 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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. + +When the morning - THE 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. + +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 THAT:' 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER II - THE PASSAGE OUT + + + +WE 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 ME, sir, particularly, to justify suspicion!' + +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. + +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. + +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 (MY 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 IS +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. + +A steward passes. 'Steward!' 'Sir?' 'What IS the matter? what DO +you call this?' 'Rather a heavy sea on, sir, and a head-wind.' + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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, PILOT. 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 WILL 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. + +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. + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +'Dinner, if you please,' said I to the waiter. + +'When?' said the waiter. + +'As quick as possible,' said I. + +'Right away?' said the waiter. + +After a moment's hesitation, I answered 'No,' at hazard. + +'NOT right away?' cried the waiter, with an amount of surprise that +made me start. + +I looked at him doubtfully, and returned, 'No; I would rather have +it in this private room. I like it very much.' + +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.' + +'Well! and that's a fact!' said the waiter, looking helplessly at +me: 'Right away.' + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER III - BOSTON + + + +IN 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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.' + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +'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. + +'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. + +'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. + +'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. + +'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.' + +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. + +'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. + +'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. + +'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. + +'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 SPOON, differed as much from the crooked lines KEY, as the +spoon differed from the key in form. + +'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 KEY upon the key, +and the label SPOON upon the spoon. She was encouraged here by the +natural sign of approbation, patting on the head. + +'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 BOOK 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. + +'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 BOOK, KEY, &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 BOOK, KEY, &c.; and she did so. + +'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. + +'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. + +'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. + +'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. + +'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. + +'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. + +'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." + +'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. + +'At the end of the year a report of her case was made, from which +the following is an extract. + +'"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. + +'"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. + +'"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. + +'"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. + +'"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." + +'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. + +'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. + +'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. + +'The mother now sought to caress her, but poor Laura repelled her, +preferring to be with her acquaintances. + +'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. + +'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. + +'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. + +'The subsequent parting between them, showed alike the affection, +the intelligence, and the resolution of the child. + +'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. + +* * * * * * + +'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. + +'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. + +'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, "MY MOTHER WILL LOVE ME." + +'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. + +'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. + +'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. + +'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 FINGER LANGUAGE, 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. + +'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.' + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 SEEN. +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. + +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. + +'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. + +'His signs were expressive: and the strictly natural language, +laughing, crying, sighing, kissing, embracing, &c., was perfect. + +'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. + +'The first object was to break up the use of these signs and to +substitute for them the use of purely arbitrary ones. + +'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 KEY. 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. + +'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. + +'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 KEY, PEN, PIN; 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 PIN, or PEN, or CUP, he would +select the article. + +'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 KEY, 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 BREAD, 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." + +'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.' + +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. + +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. + +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! + +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! + +* * * * * * + +At SOUTH BOSTON, 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +'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!' + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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: 'WORTHY OF NOTICE. SELF- +GOVERNMENT, QUIETUDE, AND PEACE, ARE BLESSINGS.' 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +* * * * * * + +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. + +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 SITTING. 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. + +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. + +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 ENGINE 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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!' + +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: + +'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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER IV - AN AMERICAN RAILROAD. LOWELL AND ITS FACTORY SYSTEM + + + +BEFORE 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 +YOU say 'Yes,' and then HE 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 'WHEN THE BELL RINGS, LOOK +OUT FOR THE LOCOMOTIVE.' 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 HAVE seen that), and should have been still well +pleased to look upon her. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +I am now going to state three facts, which will startle a large +class of readers on this side of the Atlantic, very much. + +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 THE LOWELL OFFERING, '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. + +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. + +It is their station to work. And they DO 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER V - WORCESTER. THE CONNECTICUT RIVER. HARTFORD. NEW +HAVEN. TO NEW YORK + + + +LEAVING 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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: + +'Does Pontefract still flourish, sir, upon the soil of England?' + +'He does, ma'am,' I rejoined. + +'When you last saw him, sir, he was - ' + +'Well, ma'am,' said I, 'extremely well. He begged me to present +his compliments. I never saw him looking better.' + +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: + +'I am an antediluvian, sir.' + +I thought the best thing to say was, that I had suspected as much +from the first. Therefore I said so. + +'It is an extremely proud and pleasant thing, sir, to be an +antediluvian,' said the old lady. + +'I should think it was, ma'am,' I rejoined. + +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. + +In another part of the building, there was a male patient in bed; +very much flushed and heated. + +'Well,' said he, starting up, and pulling off his night-cap: 'It's +all settled at last. I have arranged it with Queen Victoria.' + +'Arranged what?' asked the Doctor. + +'Why, that business,' passing his hand wearily across his forehead, +'about the siege of New York.' + +'Oh!' said I, like a man suddenly enlightened. For he looked at me +for an answer. + +'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.' + +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. + +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. + +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: + +'What a delicious country you have about these lodgings of yours!' + +'Poh!' said he, moving his fingers carelessly over the notes of his +instrument: 'WELL ENOUGH FOR SUCH AN INSTITUTION AS THIS!' + +I don't think I was ever so taken aback in all my life. + +'I come here just for a whim,' he said coolly. 'That's all.' + +'Oh! That's all!' said I. + +'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!' + +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. + +'I think I remember having had a few interviews like that, with +ladies out of doors. I hope SHE is not mad?' + +'Yes.' + +'On what subject? Autographs?' + +'No. She hears voices in the air.' + +'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.' + +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. + +'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?' + +'Oh dear yes,' he answered. 'To be sure she has.' + +'She has no chance of obtaining it, I suppose?' + +'Well, I don't know:' which, by-the-bye, is a national answer. +'Her friends mistrust her.' + +'What have THEY to do with it?' I naturally inquired. + +'Well, they won't petition.' + +'But if they did, they couldn't get her out, I suppose?' + +'Well, not the first time, perhaps, nor yet the second, but tiring +and wearying for a few years might do it.' + +'Does that ever do it?' + +'Why yes, that'll do it sometimes. Political friends'll do it +sometimes. It's pretty often done, one way or another.' + +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. + +New Haven, known also as the City of Elms, is a fine town. Many of +its streets (as its ALIAS 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. + +After a night's rest, we rose early, and in good time went down to +the wharf, and on board the packet New York FOR 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +CHAPTER VI - NEW YORK + + + +THE 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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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, 'OYSTERS IN +EVERY STYLE.' 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. + +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? + +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. + +A man with keys appears, to show us round. A good-looking fellow, +and, in his way, civil and obliging. + +'Are those black doors the cells?' + +'Yes.' + +'Are they all full?' + +'Well, they're pretty nigh full, and that's a fact, and no two ways +about it.' + +'Those at the bottom are unwholesome, surely?' + +'Why, we DO only put coloured people in 'em. That's the truth.' + +'When do the prisoners take exercise?' + +'Well, they do without it pretty much.' + +'Do they never walk in the yard?' + +'Considerable seldom.' + +'Sometimes, I suppose?' + +'Well, it's rare they do. They keep pretty bright without it.' + +'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?' + +'Well, I guess he might.' + +'Do you mean to say that in all that time he would never come out +at that little iron door, for exercise?' + +'He might walk some, perhaps - not much.' + +'Will you open one of the doors?' + +'All, if you like.' + +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. + +'How long has he been here?' + +'A month.' + +'When will he be tried?' + +'Next term.' + +'When is that?' + +'Next month.' + +'In England, if a man be under sentence of death, even he has air +and exercise at certain periods of the day.' + +'Possible?' + +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! + +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. + +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? + +'Well, it an't a very rowdy life, and THAT'S a fact!' + +Again he clinks his metal castanet, and leads us leisurely away. I +have a question to ask him as we go. + +'Pray, why do they call this place The Tombs?' + +'Well, it's the cant name.' + +'I know it is. Why?' + +'Some suicides happened here, when it was first built. I expect it +come about from that.' + +'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?' + +'Where should they put 'em?' + +'Not on the ground surely. What do you say to hanging them up?' + +He stops and looks round to emphasise his answer: + +'Why, I say that's just it. When they had hooks they WOULD hang +themselves, so they're taken out of every cell, and there's only +the marks left where they used to be!' + +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. + +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. + +Let us go forth again into the cheerful streets. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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.' + +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. + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +* * * * * * + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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.' + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + + +CHAPTER VII - PHILADELPHIA, AND ITS SOLITARY PRISON + + + +THE 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +In the same room, there is a very characteristic and life-like +portrait by Mr. Sully, a distinguished American artist. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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.' + +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. + +'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!' + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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! + +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! + +'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. + +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. + +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! + +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 THAT,' she sobbed, poor thing! + +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. + +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. + +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! + +'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. + +'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.' + +Those boots had been taken off his feet, and put away with the rest +of his clothes, two years before! + +I took that opportunity of inquiring how they conducted themselves +immediately before going out; adding that I presumed they trembled +very much. + +'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.' + +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. + +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!' + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 HE think of his neighbour too? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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, MUST 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! + +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. + +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 WAS growing very dull of +hearing. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER VIII - WASHINGTON. THE LEGISLATURE. AND THE PRESIDENT'S +HOUSE + + + +WE left Philadelphia by steamboat, at six o'clock one very cold +morning, and turned our faces towards Washington. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 IS +slavery; and though I was, with respect to it, an innocent man, its +presence filled me with a sense of shame and self-reproach. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 NOT 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. + +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. + +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, 'THE CITY LUNCH.' 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +I was sometimes asked, in my progress through other places, whether +I had not been very much impressed by the HEADS 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. + +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. + +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? + +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! + +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. + +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 THEIR 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. + +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. + +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? + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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! + +* * * * * * + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER IX - 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 + + + +WE 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 IN 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. + +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 NOW 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. + +BLACK DRIVER (to the horses). 'Hi!' + +Nothing happens. Insides scream again. + +BLACK DRIVER (to the horses). 'Ho!' + +Horses plunge, and splash the black driver. + +GENTLEMAN INSIDE (looking out). 'Why, what on airth - + +Gentleman receives a variety of splashes and draws his head in +again, without finishing his question or waiting for an answer. + +BLACK DRIVER (still to the horses). 'Jiddy! Jiddy!' + +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), + +'Pill!' + +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. + +BLACK DRIVER (louder than before). 'Pill!' + +Horses make another struggle to get up the bank, and again the +coach rolls backward. + +BLACK DRIVER (louder than before). 'Pe-e-e-ill!' + +Horses make a desperate struggle. + +BLACK DRIVER (recovering spirits). 'Hi, Jiddy, Jiddy, Pill!' + +Horses make another effort. + +BLACK DRIVER (with great vigour). 'Ally Loo! Hi. Jiddy, Jiddy. +Pill. Ally Loo!' + +Horses almost do it. + +BLACK DRIVER (with his eyes starting out of his head). 'Lee, den. +Lee, dere. Hi. Jiddy, Jiddy. Pill. Ally Loo. Lee-e-e-e-e!' + +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. + +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: + +'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. + +'Ay ay, we'll take care of the old woman. Don't be afraid.' + +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. + +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.' + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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, + +'I expect we shall want THE BIG coach.' + +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. + +'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!' + +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. + +At the door of another hotel, there was another passenger to be +taken up. + +'Any room, sir?' cries the new passenger to the coachman. + +'Well, there's room enough,' replies the coachman, without getting +down, or even looking at him. + +'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.' + +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 MUST go.' + +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.' + +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. + +'Go a-head, cap'en,' cries the colonel, who directs. + +'Go-lang!' cries the cap'en to his company, the horses, and away we +go. + +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. + +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. + +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?' + +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. + +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.' + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER X - SOME FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE CANAL BOAT, ITS DOMESTIC +ECONOMY, AND ITS PASSENGERS. JOURNEY TO PITTSBURG ACROSS THE +ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS. PITTSBURG + + + +AS 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. + +'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?' + +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. + +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 THAT, fixing God A'mighty's vittles?' + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 THAT 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! + +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. + +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. + +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: + +'This may suit YOU, this may, but it don't suit ME. 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 THAT; and so I +tell you. Now! I'm from the brown forests of Mississippi, I am, +and when the sun shines on me, it does shine - a little. It don't +glimmer where 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, IT does. +I'm the wrong sort of man for 'em, I am. They won't like me, THEY +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. + +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. + +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, YOU 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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?' + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XI - FROM PITTSBURG TO CINCINNATI IN A WESTERN STEAMBOAT. +CINCINNATI + + + +THE 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 HER, 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XII - FROM CINCINNATI TO LOUISVILLE IN ANOTHER WESTERN +STEAMBOAT; AND FROM LOUISVILLE TO ST. LOUIS IN ANOTHER. ST. LOUIS + + + +LEAVING 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. + +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 SENT IN HIS CARD to me, and with whom I had +the pleasure of a long conversation. + +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. + +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. + +I asked him what he thought of Congress? He answered, with a +smile, that it wanted dignity, in an Indian's eyes. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Within a few minutes afterwards, we were out of the canal, and in +the Ohio river again. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +There are three free-schools already erected, and in full operation +in this city. A fourth is building, and will soon be opened. + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XIII - A JAUNT TO THE LOOKING-GLASS PRAIRIE AND BACK + + + +I MAY premise that the word Prairie is variously pronounced +PARAAER, PAREARER, PAROARER. The latter mode of pronunciation is +perhaps the most in favour. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 +'MERCHANT TAILOR' 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. + +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. + +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 THE +traveller at the inn, turned out to look at us. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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!' + +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.' + +'Mr. Dickens,' says the colonel, 'Doctor Crocus.' + +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: + +'Your countryman, sir!' + +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. + +'Long in these parts, sir?' says I. + +'Three or four months, sir,' says the Doctor. + +'Do you think of soon returning to the old country?' says I. + +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. + +'Think of soon returning to the old country, sir!' repeats the +Doctor. + +'To the old country, sir,' I rejoin. + +Doctor Crocus looks round upon the crowd to observe the effect he +produces, rubs his hands, and says, in a very loud voice: + +'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 THAT, 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!' + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XIV - 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 + + + +AS 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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:- + +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. + +As the coach stops, a gentleman in a straw hat looks out of the +window: + +STRAW HAT. (To the stout gentleman in the rocking-chair.) I +reckon that's Judge Jefferson, an't it? + +BROWN HAT. (Still swinging; speaking very slowly; and without any +emotion whatever.) Yes, sir. + +STRAW HAT. Warm weather, Judge. + +BROWN HAT. Yes, sir. + +STRAW HAT. There was a snap of cold, last week. + +BROWN HAT. Yes, sir. + +STRAW HAT. Yes, sir. + +A pause. They look at each other, very seriously. + +STRAW HAT. I calculate you'll have got through that case of the +corporation, Judge, by this time, now? + +BROWN HAT. Yes, sir. + +STRAW HAT. How did the verdict go, sir? + +BROWN HAT. For the defendant, sir. + +STRAW HAT. (Interrogatively.) Yes, sir? + +BROWN HAT. (Affirmatively.) Yes, sir. + +BOTH. (Musingly, as each gazes down the street.) Yes, sir. + +Another pause. They look at each other again, still more seriously +than before. + +BROWN HAT. This coach is rather behind its time to-day, I guess. + +STRAW HAT. (Doubtingly.) Yes, sir. + +BROWN HAT. (Looking at his watch.) Yes, sir; nigh upon two hours. + +STRAW HAT. (Raising his eyebrows in very great surprise.) Yes, +sir! + +BROWN HAT. (Decisively, as he puts up his watch.) Yes, sir. + +ALL THE OTHER INSIDE PASSENGERS. (Among themselves.) Yes, sir. + +COACHMAN. (In a very surly tone.) No it an't. + +STRAW HAT. (To the coachman.) Well, I don't know, sir. We were a +pretty tall time coming that last fifteen mile. That's a fact. + +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.' + +STRAW HAT. I thought so. Pretty loud smell of varnish, sir? + +BROWN HAT. Yes, sir. + +ALL THE OTHER INSIDE PASSENGERS. Yes, sir. + +BROWN HAT. (To the company in general.) Yes, sir. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 THAT 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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! + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XV - IN CANADA; TORONTO; KINGSTON; MONTREAL; QUEBEC; ST. +JOHN'S. IN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN; LEBANON; THE SHAKER VILLAGE; +WEST POINT + + + +I wish 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. + +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. + +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.' + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 +PORTAGES, over which the roads are bad, and the travelling slow, +render the way between the towns of Montreal and Kingston, somewhat +tedious. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +* * * * * * + +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. + +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 TO LAST; 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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.' + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 +WAS a woman, though I should not have suspected it. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 THEY are not on the Immortal road, and will +despise them, and avoid them readily. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XVI - THE PASSAGE HOME + + + +I NEVER 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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 A.M.) 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +It even became an occupation in the calm, to wonder when the wind +WOULD 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 NOW: and where he supposed the 'Cunard' steam-packet +was NOW: and what he thought of sailing vessels, as compared with +steamships NOW: and so beset his life with pestilent attacks of +that kind, that he too was obliged to affect despondency, for very +peace and quietude. + +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. + +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. + +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. AT PRESENT I HAVEN'T QUITE MADE UP MY MIND WHETHER TO BE A +CARPENTER - OR A TAILOR.' + +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!' + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + +CHAPTER XVII - SLAVERY + + + +THE 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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.' + +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! + +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 IS 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. + +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. + +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 HANG him.' + +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: HE IS SOLD TO RECOMPENSE HIS JAILER. 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. + +Public opinion is deferred to, in such cases as the following: +which is headed in the newspapers:- + + +'INTERESTING LAW-CASE. + +'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. THE OWNER SEIZED THE WOMAN AND HER CHILDREN IN THE +NIGHT, AND CARRIED THEM TO MARYLAND.' + + +'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. + +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. + +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. + +'Ran away, Negress Caroline. Had on a collar with one prong turned +down.' + +'Ran away, a black woman, Betsy. Had an iron bar on her right +leg.' + +'Ran away, the negro Manuel. Much marked with irons.' + +'Ran away, the negress Fanny. Had on an iron band about her neck.' + +'Ran away, a negro boy about twelve years old. Had round his neck +a chain dog-collar with "De Lampert" engraved on it.' + +'Ran away, the negro Hown. Has a ring of iron on his left foot. +Also, Grise, HIS WIFE, having a ring and chain on the left leg.' + +'Ran away, a negro boy named James. Said boy was ironed when he +left me.' + +'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.' + +'Detained at the police jail, the negro wench, Myra. Has several +marks of LASHING, and has irons on her feet.' + +'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.' + +'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.' + +'One hundred dollars reward, for a negro fellow, Pompey, 40 years +old. He is branded on the left jaw.' + +'Committed to jail, a negro man. Has no toes on the left foot.' + +'Ran away, a negro woman named Rachel. Has lost all her toes +except the large one.' + +'Ran away, Sam. He was shot a short time since through the hand, +and has several shots in his left arm and side.' + +'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.' + +'Ran away, my negro man named Simon. He has been shot badly, in +his back and right arm.' + +'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.' + +'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.' + +'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.' + +'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.' + +'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.' + +'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.' + +'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.' + +'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.' + +'Ran away, negro boy Ellie. Has a scar on one of his arms from the +bite of a dog.' + +'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.' + +'Ran away, Anthony. One of his ears cut off, and his left hand cut +with an axe.' + +'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.' + +'Ran away, a negro woman named Maria. Has a scar on one side of +her cheek, by a cut. Some scars on her back.' + +'Ran away, the Mulatto wench Mary. Has a cut on the left arm, a +scar on the left shoulder, and two upper teeth missing.' + +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. + +'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.' + +'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.' + +'Brought to jail, John. Left ear cropt.' + +'Taken up, a negro man. Is very much scarred about the face and +body, and has the left ear bit off.' + +'Ran away, a black girl, named Mary. Has a scar on her cheek, and +the end of one of her toes cut off.' + +'Ran away, my Mulatto woman, Judy. She has had her right arm +broke.' + +'Ran away, my negro man, Levi. His left hand has been burnt, and I +think the end of his forefinger is off.' + +'Ran away, a negro man, NAMED WASHINGTON. Has lost a part of his +middle finger, and the end of his little finger.' + +'Twenty-five dollars reward for my man John. The tip of his nose +is bit off.' + +'Twenty-five dollars reward for the negro slave, Sally. Walks AS +THOUGH crippled in the back.' + +'Ran away, Joe Dennis. Has a small notch in one of his ears.' + +'Ran away, negro boy, Jack. Has a small crop out of his left ear.' + +'Ran away, a negro man, named Ivory. Has a small piece cut out of +the top of each ear.' + +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.' + +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. + +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. + +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. + +These cases did not ALL 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. + + +'HORRIBLE TRAGEDY. + + +'By a slip from THE SOUTHPORT TELEGRAPH, Wisconsin, we learn that +the Hon. Charles C. P. Arndt, Member of the Council for Brown +county, was shot dead ON THE FLOOR OF THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, by James +R. Vinyard, Member from Grant county. THE AFFAIR 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. + +'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.' + + +'THE WISCONSIN TRAGEDY. + + +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 THE PRACTICE OF SECRETLY BEARING ARMS IN THE +LEGISLATIVE CHAMBERS OF THE COUNTRY. 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, JUDGE DUNN HAS DISCHARGED VINYARD ON BAIL. The +Miners' Free Press speaks IN TERMS OF MERITED REBUKE 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.' + + +'MURDER. + + +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, AND DISCHARGED THE CONTENTS OF +FIVE OF THE BARRELS AT HIM: EACH SHOT TAKING EFFECT. Mr. B., +though horribly wounded, and dying, returned the fire, and killed +Ross on the spot.' + + +'TERRIBLE DEATH OF ROBERT POTTER. + + +'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 +THAT HE INTENDED TO ACT A GENEROUS PART, 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!' + + +'MURDER IN ARKANSAS. + + +'We understand THAT A SEVERE RENCONTRE CAME OFF 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 THE MATTER WILL BE THE SUBJECT OF JUDICIAL INVESTIGATION.' + + +'FOUL DEED. + + +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. + +'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. + +'A man was suspected, and the Sheriff most probably has possession +of him by this time. + +'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.' + + +'RENCONTRE. + + +'An unfortunate AFFAIR 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?" + +'"Yes, sir." + +'"Then I have to tell you that you are a - " (applying an +appropriate epithet). + +'"I shall remind you of your words, sir." + +'"But I have said I would break my cane on your shoulders." + +'"I know it, but I have not yet received the blow." + +'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. + +'Fears are entertained that the wound will be mortal. WE +UNDERSTAND THAT MR. ARPIN HAS GIVEN SECURITY FOR HIS APPEARANCE AT +THE CRIMINAL COURT TO ANSWER THE CHARGE.' + + +'AFFRAY IN MISSISSIPPI. + + +'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, BUT CHANGED HIS MIND AND ESCAPED!' + + +'PERSONAL ENCOUNTER. + + +'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, AND THAT THE BARKEEPER, DETERMINED TO +PRESERVE ORDER, HAD THREATENED TO SHOOT BURY, 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.' + + +'DUEL. + + +'The clerk of the steamboat TRIBUNE 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!" THEY WERE TO DISCHARGE AS FAST AS +THEY PLEASED. 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.' + + +'AFFRAY IN CLARKE COUNTY. + + +'An UNFORTUNATE AFFRAY occurred in Clarke county (MO.), 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 +AND AT THE LATEST DATES HAD NOT BEEN TAKEN. + +'THIS UNFORTUNATE AFFRAY caused considerable excitement in the +neighbourhood, as both the parties were men with large families +depending upon them and stood well in the community.' + + +I will quote but one more paragraph, which, by reason of its +monstrous absurdity, may be a relief to these atrocious deeds. + + +'AFFAIR OF HONOUR. + + +'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, AGED FIFTEEN, and William Hine, AGED +THIRTEEN 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. THROUGH +THE INTERCESSION OF THE BOARD OF HONOUR, the challenge was +withdrawn, and the difference amicably adjusted.' + +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. + +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? + +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? + +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. + +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.' + + + +CHAPTER XVIII - CONCLUDING REMARKS + + + +THERE 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +'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?' + +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.' + +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.' + +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 DO, 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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. (1) + +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. + +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. + +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 WAS 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. + +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. + +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. + +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 THAT? 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. + +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. + +* * * * * * + +I HAVE 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. + +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. + +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. + + +THE END + + + +POSTSCRIPT + + + +AT 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: + +'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.' + +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. + +CHARLES DICKENS. + +MAY, 1868. + + + +Footnotes: + +(1) NOTE TO THE ORIGINAL EDITION. - Or let him refer to an able, +and perfectly truthful article, in THE FOREIGN QUARTERLY REVIEW, +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. + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg Etext of American Notes, by Charles Dickens + diff --git a/old/amnts10.zip b/old/amnts10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7dec22d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/amnts10.zip |