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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/7526-8.txt b/7526-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3169648 --- /dev/null +++ b/7526-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12267 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Englishwoman in America, by Isabella Lucy Bird +#6 in our series by Isabella Lucy Bird + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Englishwoman in America + +Author: Isabella Lucy Bird + +Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7526] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on May 13, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ENGLISHWOMAN IN AMERICA *** + + + + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Tiffany Vergon, Joshua Hutchinson +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +THE ENGLISHWOMAN IN AMERICA + +BY +ISABELLA LUCY BIRD + +FOREWORD AND NOTES BY ANDREW HILL CLARK + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +Prefatory and explanatory--The voyage out--The sentimental--The actual +--The oblivious--The medley--Practical joking--An unwelcome companion-- +American patriotism--The first view--The departure. + + +CHAPTER II. + +An inhospitable reception--Halifax and the Blue Noses--The heat-- +Disappointed expectations--The great departed--What the Blue Noses might +be--What the coach was not--Nova Scotia and its capabilities--The roads +and their annoyances--A tea dinner--A night journey and a Highland cabin +--A nautical catastrophe--A joyful reunion. + + +CHAPTER III. + +Popular ignorance--The garden island--Summer and winter contrasted--A +wooden capital--Island politics, and their consequences--Gossip--"Blowin- +time"--Religion and the clergy--The servant nuisance--Colonial society--An +evening party--An island premier--Agrarian outrage--A visit to the +Indians--The pipe of peace--An Indian coquette--Country hospitality--A +missionary--A novel mode of lobster-fishing--Uncivilised life--Far away in +the woods--Starvation and dishonesty--An old Highlander and a Highland +welcome--Hopes for the future. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +From St. George's Cross to the Stars and Stripes--Unpunctuality-- +Incompetence--A wretched night--Colonial curiosity--The fashions--A +night in a buffalo robe--A stage journey--A queer character--Politics-- +Chemistry--Mathematics--Rotten bridges--A midnight arrival--Colonial +ignorance--Yankee conceit--What ten-horse power chaps can do--The +pestilence--The city on the rock--New Brunswick--Steamboat peculiarities +--Going ahead in the eating line--A storm--Stepping ashore. + + +CHAPTER V. + +First experiences of American freedom--The "striped pig" and "Dusty Ben" +--A country mouse--What the cars are like--Beauties of New England--The +land of apples--A Mammoth hotel--The rusty inkstand exiled--Eloquent eyes +--Alone in a crowd. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +A suspected bill--A friend in need--All aboard for the Western cars-- +The wings of the wind--American politeness--A loquacious conductor-- +Three minutes for refreshments--A conversation on politics--A +confession--The emigrant car--Beauties of the woods--A forest on fire-- +Dangers of the cars--The Queen City of the West. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +The Queen City continued--Its beauties--Its inhabitants, human and +equine--An American church--Where chairs and bedsteads come from--Pigs +and pork--A peep into Kentucky--Popular opinions respecting slavery-- +The curse of America. + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +The hickory stick--Chawing up ruins--A forest scene--A curious questioner +--Hard and soft shells--Dangers of a ferry--The western prairies-- +Nocturnal detention--The Wild West and the Father of Rivers--Breakfast in +a shed--What is an alligator?--Physiognomy, and its uses--The ladies' +parlour--A Chicago hotel, its inmates and its horrors--A water-drinking +people--The Prairie City--Progress of the West. + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A vexatious incident--John Bull enraged--Woman's rights--Alligators +become hosses--A popular host--Military display--A mirth-provoking gun +--Grave reminiscences--Attractions of the fair--Past and present--A +floating palace--Black companions--A black baby--Externals of Buffalo-- +The flag of England. + + +CHAPTER X. + +The Place of Council--Its progress and its people--English hearts-- +"Sebastopol is taken"--Squibs and crackers--A ship on her beam-ends-- +Selfishness--A mongrel city--A Scot--Constancy rewarded--Monetary +difficulties--Detention on a bridge--A Canadian homestead--Life in the +clearings--The bush on fire--A word on farming--The "bee" and its produce +--Eccentricities of Mr. Haldimands--A ride on a troop-horse--Scotch +patriotism--An English church--The servant nuisance--Richard Cobden. + + +CHAPTER XI. + +"I've seen nothing"--A disappointment--Incongruities--Hotel gaieties and +"doing Niagara"--Irish drosky-drivers--"The Hell of Waters"--Beauties of +Niagara--The picnic party--The white canoe--A cold shower-bath--"The +Thunder of Waters"--A magic word--"The Whirlpool"--Story of "Bloody Run"-- +Yankee opinions of English ladies--A metamorphosis--The nigger guide--A +terrible situation--Termination Rock--Impressions of Niagara--Juvenile +precocity--A midnight journey--Street adventures in Hamilton. + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A scene at starting--That dear little Harry--The old lady and the race +--Running the Rapids--An aside--Snow and discomfort--A new country--An +extemporised ball--Adventure with a madman--Shooting the cataract-- +First appearance of Montreal--Its characteristics--Quebec in a fog-- +"Muffins"--Quebec gaieties--The pestilence--Restlessness--St. Louis and +St. Roch--The shady side--Dark dens--External characteristics--Lord +Elgin--Mistaking a senator. + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +The House of Commons--Canadian gallantry--The constitution--Mr. Hincks-- +The ex-rebel--Parties and leaders--A street row--Repeated disappointments +--The "habitans"--Their houses and their virtues--A stationary people-- +Progress and its effects--Montmorenci--The natural staircase--The Indian +summer--Lorette--The old people--Beauties of Quebec--The _John Munn_--Fear +and its consequences--A gloomy journey. + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Concluding remarks on Canada--Territory--Climate--Capabilities--Railways +and canals--Advantages for emigrants--Notices of emigration--Government-- +The franchise--Revenue--Population--Religion--Education--The press-- +Literature--Observations in conclusion. + + +CHAPTER XV. + +Preliminary remarks on re-entering the States--Americanisms--A little +slang--Liquoring up--Eccentricities in dress--A 'cute chap down east-- +Conversation on eating--A Kentucky gal--Lake Champlain--Delaval's--A +noisy serenade--Albany--Beauties of the Hudson--The Empire City. + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +Position of New York--Externals of the city--Conveyances-- +Maladministration--The stores--The hotels--Curiosities of the hospital-- +Ragged schools--The bad book--Monster schools--Amusements and oyster +saloons--Monstrosities----A restaurant--Dwelling-houses--Equipages-- +Palaces--Dress--Figures--Manners--Education--Domestic habits--The ladies-- +The gentlemen--Society--Receptions--Anti-English feeling--Autographs--The +buckram Englishman. + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +The cemetery--Its beauties--The "Potter's Field"--The graves of children-- +Monumental eccentricities--Arrival of emigrants--Their reception--Poor +dwellings--The dangerous class--The elections--The riots--Characteristics +of the streets--Journey to Boston--The sights of Boston--Longfellow-- +Cambridge University. + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +Origin of the Constitution--The Executive--Congress--Local Legislatures-- +The army and navy--Justice--Slavery--Political corruption--The foreign +element--Absence of principle--Associations--The Know-nothings--The press +and its power--Religion--The church--The clergy. + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +General remarks continued--The common schools--Their defect--Difficulties +--Management of the schools--The free academy--Hallways--Telegraphs-- +Poverty--Literature--Advantages for emigrants--Difficulties of emigrants-- +Peace or war--Concluding observations. + + +CHAPTER XX. + +The _America_--A gloomy departure--An ugly night--Morning at Halifax--Our +new passengers--Babies--Captain Leitch--A day at sea--Clippers and +steamers--A storm--An Atlantic moonlight--Unpleasant sensations--A gale-- +Inkermann--Conclusion. + + + + +THE ENGLISHWOMAN IN AMERICA. [Footnote: It is necessary to state that this +volume is not by the Authoress of the '_Englishwoman in Russia_.'] + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +Prefatory and explanatory--The voyage out--The sentimental--The actual-- +The oblivious--The medley--Practical joking--An unwelcome companion-- +American patriotism--The first view--The departure. + + +As a general dislike of prefaces is unmistakeably evidenced by their uncut +leaves, and as unknown readers could scarcely be induced to read a book by +the most cogent representations of an unknown author, and as apologies for +"rushing into print" are too trite and insincere to have any effect, I +will merely prefix a few explanatory remarks to my first chapter. + +Circumstances which it is unnecessary to dwell upon led me across the +Atlantic with some relatives; and on my return, I was requested by +numerous friends to give an account of my travels. As this volume has been +written with a view to their gratification, there is far more of personal +narrative than is likely to interest the general reader. + +With respect to the people of the United States, I have given those +impressions which as a traveller I formed; if they are more favourable +than those of some of my predecessors, the difference may arise from my +having taken out many excellent introductions, which afforded me greater +facilities of seeing the best society in the States than are usually +possessed by those who travel merely to see the country. + +Where I have offered any opinions upon the effect produced by the +institutions of America, or upon any great national question, I have done +so with extreme diffidence, giving _impressions_ rather than +_conclusions_, feeling the great injustice of drawing general inferences +from partial premises, as well as the impossibility of rightly estimating +cause and effect during a brief residence in the United States. I have +endeavoured to give a faithful picture of what I saw and heard, avoiding +the beaten track as much as possible, and dwelling principally on those +things in which I knew that my friends were most interested. + +Previously to visiting the United States, I had read most of the American +travels which had been published; yet from experience I can say that even +those who read most on the Americans know little of them, from the +disposition which leads travellers to seize and dwell upon the ludicrous +points which continually present themselves. + +We know that there is a vast continent across the Atlantic, first +discovered by a Genoese sailing under the Spanish flag, and that for many +years past it has swallowed up thousands of the hardiest of our +population. Although our feelings are not particularly fraternal, we give +the people inhabiting this continent the national cognomen of "_Brother +Jonathan_," while we name individuals "_Yankees_." We know that they are +famous for smoking, spitting, "gouging," and bowie-knives--for monster +hotels, steamboat explosions, railway collisions, and repudiated debts. It +is believed also that this nation is renowned for keeping three millions +of Africans in slavery--for wooden nutmegs, paper money, and "fillibuster" +expeditions--for carrying out nationally and individually the maxim + + "That they may take who have the power, + And they may keep who can." + +I went to the States with that amount of prejudice which seems the +birthright of every English person, but I found that, under the knowledge +of the Americans which can be attained by a traveller mixing in society in +every grade, these prejudices gradually melted away. I found much which is +worthy of commendation, even of imitation: that there is much which is +very reprehensible, is not to be wondered at in a country which for years +has been made a "cave of Adullam"--a refuge for those who have "left their +country for their country's good"--a receptacle for the barbarous, the +degraded, and the vicious of all other nations. It must never be forgotten +that the noble, the learned, and the wealthy have shrunk from the United +States; her broad lands have been peopled to a great extent by those whose +stalwart arms have been their only possession. + +Is it surprising, considering these antecedents, that much of arrogance, +coarseness, and vulgarity should be met with? Is it not rather surprising, +that a traveller should meet with so little to annoy--so few obvious +departures from the rules of propriety? + +An Englishman bears with patience any ridicule which foreigners cast upon +him. John Bull never laughs so loudly as when he laughs at himself; but +the Americans are nationally sensitive, and cannot endure that good- +humoured raillery which jests at their weaknesses and foibles. Hence +candid and even favourable statements of the _truth_ by English travellers +are received with a perfect outcry by the Americans; and the phrases, +"shameful misstatements," "violation of the rights of hospitality," &c., +are on every lip. + +Most assuredly that spirit of envious rivalry and depreciating criticism +in which many English travellers have written, is greatly to be +deprecated, no less than the tone of servile adulation which some writers +have adopted; but our American neighbours must recollect that they +provoked both the virulent spirit and the hostile caricature by the way in +which some of their most popular writers of travels have led an ungenerous +onslaught against our institutions and people, and the bitter tone in +which their newspaper press, headed by the _Tribune_, indulges towards the +British nation. + +Having made these few remarks, I must state that at the time of my visit +to the States I had no intention of recording my "experiences" in print; +and as my notes taken at the time were few and meagre, and have been +elaborated from memory, some inaccuracies have occurred which it will not +take a keen eye to detect. These must be set down to want of correct +information rather than to wilful misrepresentation. The statistical +information given is taken from works compiled by the Americans +themselves. The few matters on which I write which did not come under my +own observation, I learned from trustworthy persons who have been long +resident in the country. + +Of Canada it is scarcely necessary to speak here. Perhaps an English +writer may be inclined to adopt too eulogistic a tone in speaking of that +noble and loyal colony, in which British institutions are undergoing a +Transatlantic trial, and where a free people is protected by British laws. +There are, doubtless, some English readers who will be interested in the +brief notices which I have given of its people, its society, and its +astonishing capabilities. [Footnote: I must here record my grateful +acknowledgments to a gentleman in a prominent public position in Canada, +who has furnished me with much valuable information which I should not +otherwise have obtained.] + +The notes from which this volume is taken were written in the lands of +which it treats: they have been amplified and corrected in the genial +atmosphere of an English home. I will not offer hackneyed apologies for +its very numerous faults and deficiencies; but will conclude these tedious +but necessary introductory remarks with the sincere hope that my readers +may receive one hundredth part of the pleasure from the perusal of this +volume which I experienced among the scenes and people of which it is too +imperfect a record. + + * * * * * + +Although bi-weekly steamers ply between England and the States, and many +mercantile men cross the Atlantic twice annually on business, and think +nothing of it, the voyage seems an important event when undertaken for the +first time. Friends living in inland counties, and those who have been +sea-sick in crossing the straits of Dover, exaggerate the dangers and +discomforts of ocean travelling, and shake their heads knowingly about +fogs and icebergs. + +Then there are a certain number of boxes to be packed, and a very +uncertain number of things to fill them, while clothing has to be provided +suitable to a tropical summer, and a winter within the arctic circle. But +a variety of minor arrangements, and even an indefinite number of leave- +takings, cannot be indefinitely prolonged; and at eight o'clock on a +Saturday morning in 1854, I found myself with my friends on the landing- +stage at Liverpool. + +Whatever sentimental feelings one might be inclined to indulge in on +leaving the shores of England were usefully and instantaneously +annihilated by the discomfort and crush in the _Satellite_ steam-tender, +in which the passengers were conveyed, helplessly huddled together like a +flock of sheep, to the _Canada_, an 1850-ton paddle-wheel steamer of the +Cunard line, which was moored in the centre of the Mersey. + +An investigation into the state-rooms, and the recital of disappointed +expectations consequent on the discovery of their very small dimensions, +the rescue of "regulation" portmanteaus from sailors who were running off +with them, and the indulgence of that errant curiosity which glances at +everything and rests on nothing, occupied the time before the arrival of +the mail-boat with about two tons of letters and newspapers, which were +consigned to the mail-room with incredible rapidity. + +Then friends were abruptly dismissed--two guns were fired--the lashings +were cast off--the stars and stripes flaunted gaily from the 'fore--the +captain and pilot took their places on the paddle-boxes--the bell rang-- +our huge paddle-wheels revolved, and, to use the words in which the same +event was chronicled by the daily press, "The Cunard royal mail steamer +_Canada_, Captain Stone, left the Mersey this morning for Boston and +Halifax, conveying the usual mails; with one hundred and sixty-eight +passengers, and a large cargo on freight." + +It was an auspiciously commenced voyage as far as appearances went. The +summer sun shone brightly--the waves of the Mersey were crisp and foam- +capped--and the fields of England had never worn a brighter green. The +fleet of merchant-ships through which we passed was not without an +interest. There were timber-ships, huge and square-sided, unmistakeably +from Quebec or Miramichi--green high-sterned Dutch galliots--American +ships with long black hulls and tall raking masts--and those far-famed +"Black Ball" clippers, the _Marco Polo_ and the _Champion of the Seas_,-- +in short, the ships of all nations, with their marked and distinguishing +peculiarities. But the most interesting object of all was the screw troop- +ship _Himalaya_, which was embarking the Scots Greys for the Crimea--that +regiment which has since earned so glorious but fatal a celebrity on the +bloody field of Balaklava. + +It is to be supposed that to those who were crossing the Atlantic for the +first time to the western hemisphere there was some degree of excitement, +and that regret was among the feelings with which they saw the coast of +England become a faint cloud on the horizon; but soon oblivion stole over +the intellects of most of the passengers, leaving one absorbing feeling of +disgust, first to the viands, next to those who could partake of them, and +lastly to everything connected with the sea. Fortunately this state of +things only lasted for two days, as the weather was very calm, and we ran +with studding-sails set before a fair wind as far as the Nova Scotian +coast. + +The genius of Idleness presided over us all. There were five ample meals +every day, and people ate, and walked till they could eat again; while +some, extended on sofas, slept over odd volumes of novels from the ship's +library, and others played at chess, cards, or backgammon from morning to +night. Some of the more active spirits played "shuffle-boards," which kept +the deck in an uproar; while others enjoyed the _dolce far niente_ in +their berths, except when the bell summoned to meals. There were weather- +wise people, who smoked round the funnel all day, and prophesied foul +winds every night; and pertinacious querists, who asked the captain every +hour or two when we should reach Halifax. Some betted on the "run," and +others on the time of reaching port; in short, every expedient was +resorted to by which time could be killed. + +We had about twenty English passengers; the rest were Canadians, +Americans, Jews, Germans, Dutch, French, Californians, Spaniards, and +Bavarians. Strict equality was preserved in this heterogeneous assembly. +An Irish pork-merchant was seated at dinner next a Jew, who regarded the +pig _in toto_ as an abomination--a lady, a scion of a ducal family, found +herself next to a French cook going out to a San Franciscan eating-house-- +an officer, going out to high command at Halifax, was seated next a rough +Californian, who wore "nuggets" of gold for buttons; and there were +contrasts even stronger than these. The most conspicuous of our fellow- +voyagers was the editor of an American paper, who was writing a series of +clever but scurrilous articles on England, from materials gleaned in a +three weeks' tour! + +Some of the Americans were very fond of practical jokes, but these were +rather of a stupid description. There was a Spanish gentleman who used to +promenade the deck with a dignity worthy of the Cid Rodrigo, addressing +everybody he met with the question, "_Parlez-vous Français, Monsieur?_" +and at the end of the voyage his stock of English only amounted to "Dice? +Sixpence." One day at dinner this gentleman requested a French-speaking +Californian to tell him how to ask for _du pain_ in English. "My donkeys," +was the prompt reply, and the joke was winked down the table, while the +Spaniard was hammering away at "My donkeys" till he got the pronunciation +perfect. The waiter came round, and the unhappy man, in confident but +mellifluous tones, pointing to the bread, asked for "My donkeys." + +Comic drinking-songs, and satires on the English, the latter to the tune +of 'Yankee Doodle,' were sung in the saloon in the evenings round large +bowls of punch, and had the effect of keeping many of the ladies on deck, +when a refuge from the cold and spray would have been desirable; but with +this exception the conduct of the passengers on the whole was marked by +far more propriety than could have been expected from so mixed a company. +If the captain had been more of a disciplinarian, even this annoyance +might have been avoided. + +I had the misfortune of having for my companion in my state-room an +Englishwoman who had resided for some years at New York, and who combined +in herself the disagreeable qualities of both nations. She was in a +frequent state of intoxication, and kept gin, brandy, and beer in her +berth. Whether sober or not, she was equally voluble; and as her language +was not only inelegant, but replete with coarseness and profanity, the +annoyance was almost insupportable. She was a professed atheist, and as +such justly an object of commiseration, the weakness of her unbelief being +clearly manifested by the frequency with which she denied the existence of +a God. + +On one day, as I was reading my Bible, she exclaimed with a profane +expression, "I wish you'd pitch that book overboard, it's enough to sink +the ship;" the contradiction implied in the words showing the weakness of +her atheism, which, while it promises a man the impunity of non-existence, +and degrades him to desire it, very frequently seduces him to live as an +infidel, but to die a terrified and despairing believer. + +It was a very uneventful voyage. The foul winds prophesied never blew, the +icebergs kept far away to the northward, the excitement of flight from +Russian privateers was exchanged for the sight of one harmless +merchantman; even the fogs off Newfoundland turned out complete _myths_. + +On the seventh day out the bets on the hour of our arrival at Halifax +increased in number and magnitude, and a lottery was started; on the +eighth we passed Cape Race, and spoke the steamer _Asia_; our rigging was +tightened, and our railings polished; and in nine days and five hours from +Liverpool we landed on the shores of the New World. The day previous to +our landing was a Sunday, and I was pleased to observe the decorum which +pervaded the ship. Service was conducted with propriety in the morning; a +large proportion of the passengers read their Bibles or other religious +books; punch, chess, and cards were banished from the saloon; and though +we had almost as many creeds as nationalities, and some had no creed at +all, yet those who might ridicule the observance of the Sabbath +themselves, avoided any proceedings calculated to shock what they might +term the prejudices of others. + +On the next day we had a slight head wind for the first time; most of the +passengers were sea-sick, and those who were not so were promenading the +wet, sooty deck in the rain, in a uniform of oilskin coats and caps. The +sea and sky were both of a leaden colour; and as there was nothing to +enliven the prospect but the gambols of some very uncouth-looking +porpoises, I was lying half asleep on a settee, when I was roused by the +voice of a kind-hearted Yankee skipper, saying, "Come, get up; there's a +glorious country and no mistake; a great country, a progressive country, +the greatest country under the sun." The honest sailor was rubbing his +hands with delight as he spoke, his broad, open countenance beaming with a +perfect glow of satisfaction. I looked in the direction indicated by his +finger, and beheld, not the lofty pinnacled cliffs of the "Pilgrim +Fathers," but a low gloomy coast, looming through a mist. + +I already began to appreciate the hearty enthusiasm with which Americans +always speak of their country, designated as it is by us by the names +"National vanity," and "Boastfulness." This _esprit du pays_, although it +is sometimes carried to a ridiculous extent, is greatly to be preferred to +the abusive manner in which an Englishman accustoms himself to speak of +the glorious country to which he appears to feel it a disgrace to belong. +It does one good to hear an American discourse on America, his panegyric +generally concluding with the words, "We're the greatest people on the +face of the earth." + +At dusk, after steaming during the whole day along the low green coast of +Nova Scotia, we were just outside the heads of Halifax harbour, and the +setting sun was bathing the low, pine-clad hills of America in floods of +purple light. A pilot came off to offer his services, but was rejected, +and to my delight he hailed in a pure English accent, which sounded like a +friendly welcome. The captain took his place on the paddle-box, and our +speed was slackened. Two guns were fired, and their echoes rolled for many +a mile among the low, purple hills, from which a soft, fragrant scent of +pines was borne to us on the evening breeze, reminding me of the far- +distant mountains of Scotland. The tiny waves rippled towards us like +diamonds, the moon and stars shone brilliantly from a summer sky, and the +white smoke from our guns floated away in silver clouds. + +People were tumbling over each other in their haste, and making impossible +demands, each one being anxious to have his luggage produced first, though +the said luggage might be at the bottom of the hold; babies, as babies +always do, persisted in crying just at the wrong time; articles essential +to the toilet were missing, and sixpences or half-sovereigns had found +their way into impossible crevices. Invitations were given, cards +exchanged, elderly ladies unthinkingly promised to make errant expeditions +to visit agreeable acquaintances in California, and by the time the last +words had been spoken we were safely moored at Cunard's wharf. + +The evening gun boomed from the citadel. I heard the well-known British +bugle; I saw the familiar scarlet of our troops; the voices which +vociferated were English; the physiognomies had the Anglo-Saxon cast and +complexion; and on the shores of the western hemisphere I felt myself at +home. Yet, as I sprang from the boat, and set my foot for the first time +on American soil, I was vexed that these familiar sights and sounds should +deprive me of the pleasurable feeling of excitement which I had expected +to experience under such novel circumstances. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +An inhospitable reception--Halifax and the Blue Noses--The heat-- +Disappointed expectations--The great departed--What the Blue Noses might +be--What the coach was not--Nova Scotia and its capabilities--The roads +and their annoyances--A tea dinner--A night journey and a Highland cabin-- +A nautical catastrophe--A joyful reunion. + + +The Cunard steamers are powerful, punctual, and safe, their _cuisine_ +excellent, their arrangements admirable, till they reach Halifax, which is +usually the destination of many of the passengers. I will suppose that the +voyage has been propitious, and our guns have thundered forth the +announcement that the news of the Old World has reached the New; that the +stewards have been _fee'd_ and the captain complimented; and that we have +parted on the best possible terms with the Company, the ship, and our +fellow-passengers. The steamer generally remains for two or three hours at +Halifax to coal, and unship a portion of her cargo, and there is a very +natural desire on the part of the passengers to leave what to many is at +best a floating prison, and set foot on firm ground, even for an hour. +Those who, like ourselves, land at Halifax for the interior, are anxious +to obtain rooms at the hotel, and all who have nothing else to do hurry to +the ice-shop, where the luxury of a tumbler of raspberry-cream ice can be +obtained for threepence. Besides the hurried rush of those who with these +varied objects in view leave the steamer, there are crowds of incomers in +the shape of porters, visitors, and coalheavers, and passengers for the +States, who prefer the comfort and known punctuality of the Royal Mail +steamers to the delay, danger, and uncertainty of the intercolonial route, +though the expense of the former is nearly double. There are the friends +of the passengers, and numbers of persons who seem particularly well +acquainted with the purser, who bring fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, +and lobsters. + +From this description it may be imagined that there is a motley and +considerable crowd; but it will scarcely be imagined that there is only +one regulation, which is, that no persons may enter or depart till the +mail-bags have been landed. The wharf is small and at night unlighted, and +the scene which ensued on our landing about eight o'clock in the evening +reminded me, not by contrast, but resemblance, of descriptions which +travellers give of the disembarkation at Alexandria. Directly that the +board was laid from the _Canada_ to the wharf a rush both in and out took +place, in which I was separated from my relations, and should have fallen +had not a friend, used to the scene of disorder, come to my assistance. + +The wharf was dirty, unlighted, and under repair, covered with heaps and +full of holes. My friend was carrying three parcels, when three or four +men made a rush at us, seized them from him, and were only compelled to +relinquish them by some sharp physical arguments. A large gateway, lighted +by one feeble oil-lamp at the head of the wharf, was then opened, and the +crowd pent up behind it came pouring down the sloping road. There was a +simultaneous rush of trucks, hand-carts, waggons, and cars, their horses +at full trot or canter, two of them rushing against the gravel-heap on +which I was standing, where they were upset. Struggling, shouting, +beating, and scuffling, the drivers all forced their way upon the wharf, +regardless of cries from the ladies and threats from the gentlemen, for +all the passengers had landed and were fighting their way to an ice-shop. +Porters were scuffling with each other for the possession of portmanteaus, +wheels were locked, and drivers were vehemently expostulating in the rich +brogue of Erin; people were jostling each other in their haste, or diving +into the dimly-lighted custom-house, and it must have been fully half an +hour before we had extricated ourselves from this chaos of mismanagement +and disorder, by scrambling over gravel-heaps and piles of timber, into +the dirty, unlighted streets of Halifax. + +Dirty they were then, though the weather was very dry, for oyster-shells, +fish heads and bones, potato-skins, and cabbage-stalks littered the roads; +but dirty was a word which does not give the faintest description of the +almost impassable state in which I found them, when I waded through them +ankle-deep in mud some months afterwards. + +We took apartments for two days at the Waverley House, a most comfortless +place, yet the best inn at Halifax. Three hours after we landed, the +_Canada_ fired her guns, and steamed off to Boston; and as I saw her +coloured lights disappear round the heads of the harbour, I did not feel +the slightest regret at having taken leave of her for ever. We remained +for two days at Halifax, and saw the little which was worth seeing in the +Nova-Scotian capital. I was disappointed to find the description of the +lassitude and want of enterprise of the Nova-Scotians, given by Judge +Halliburton, so painfully correct. Halifax possesses one of the deepest +and most commodious harbours in the world, and is so safe that ships need +no other guide into it than their charts. There are several small +fortified islands at its mouth, which assist in its defence without +impeding the navigation. These formidable forts protect the entrance, and +defend the largest naval depot which we possess in North America. The town +itself, which contains about 25,000 people, is on a small peninsula, and +stands on a slope rising from the water's edge to the citadel, which is +heavily armed, and amply sufficient for every purpose of defence. There +are very great natural advantages in the neighbourhood, lime, coal, slate, +and minerals being abundant, added to which Halifax is the nearest port to +Europe. + +Yet it must be confessed that the Nova-Scotians are far behind, not only +their neighbours in the States, but their fellow-subjects in Canada and +New Brunswick. There are capacious wharfs and roomy warehouses, yet one +laments over the absence of everything like trade and business. With the +finest harbour in North America, with a country abounding in minerals, and +coasts swarming with fish, the Nova-Scotians appear to have expunged the +word _progress_ from their dictionary--still live in shingle houses, in +streets without side walks, rear long-legged ponies, and talk largely +about railroads, which they seem as if they would never complete, because +they trust more to the House of Assembly than to their own energies. +Consequently their astute and enterprising neighbours the Yankees, the +acute speculators of Massachusetts and Connecticut, have seized upon the +traffic which they have allowed to escape them, and have diverted it to +the thriving town of Portland in Maine. The day after we landed was one of +intense heat, the thermometer stood at 93° in the shade. The rays of a +summer sun scorched the shingle roof of our hotel, and, penetrating the +thin plank walls, made the interior of the house perfectly unbearable. +There were neither sunshades nor Venetian blinds, and not a tree to shade +the square white wooden house from an almost tropical heat. When I came +into the parlour I found Colonel H---- stretched on the sofa, almost +expiring with heat, my cousin standing panting before the window in his +shirtsleeves, and his little boy lying moaning on the hearthrug, with his +shoes off, and his complexion like that of a Red Indian. One of our party +had been promenading the broiling streets of Halifax without his coat! A +gentleman from one of the Channel Islands, of unsophisticated manners and +excellent disposition, who had landed with us _en route_ to a town on the +Gulf of St. Lawrence, had fancied our North American colonies for ever +"locked in regions of thick-ribbed ice," and consequently was abundantly +provided with warm clothing of every description. With this he was +prepared to face a thermometer at twenty degrees below zero. + +But when he found a torrid sun, and the thermometer at 93° in the shade, +his courage failed him, and, with all his preconceived ideas overthrown by +the burning experience of one day, despair seized on him, and his +expressions of horror and astonishment were coupled with lamentations over +the green fertility of Jersey. The colonel was obliged to report himself +at head-quarters in his full uniform, which was evidently tight and hot; +and after changing his apparel three times in the day, apparently without +being a gainer, he went out to make certain meteorological inquiries, +among others if 93° were a common temperature. + +The conclusion he arrived at was, that the "climate alternates between the +heat of India and the cold of Lapland." + +We braved the heat at noonday in a stroll through the town, for, from the +perfect dryness of the atmosphere, it is not of an oppressive nature. I +saw few whites in the streets at this hour. There were a great many +Indians lying by the door-steps, having disposed of their baskets, besoms, +and raspberries, by the sale of which they make a scanty livelihood. The +men, with their jet-black hair, rich complexions, and dark liquid brown +eyes, were almost invariably handsome; and the women, whose beauty departs +before they are twenty, were something in the "_Meg Merrilies_" style. + +When the French first colonised this country, they called it "_Acadie_." +The tribes of the Mic-Mac Indians peopled its forests, and, among the dark +woods which then surrounded Halifax, they worshipped the Great Spirit, and +hunted the moose-deer. Their birch-bark wigwams peeped from among the +trees, their squaws urged their light canoes over the broad deep harbour, +and their wise men spoke to them of the "happy hunting grounds." The +French destroyed them not, and gave them a corrupted form of Christianity, +inciting their passions against the English by telling them that they were +the people who had crucified the Saviour. Better had it been for them if +battle or pestilence had swept them at once away. + +The Mic-Macs were a fierce and warlike people, too proud to mingle with an +alien race--too restless and active to conform to the settled habits of +civilization. Too proud to avail themselves of its advantages, they +learned its vices, and, as the snow-wreaths in spring, they melted away +before the poisonous "fire-water," and the deadly curse of the white man's +wars. They had welcomed the "pale faces" to the "land of the setting sun," +and withered up before them, smitten by their crimes. + +Almost destitute of tradition, their history involved in obscurity, their +broad lands filled with their unknown and nameless graves, these mighty +races have passed away; they could not pass into slavery, therefore they +must die. + +At some future day a mighty voice may ask of those who have thus wronged +the Indian, "Where is now thy brother?" It is true that frequently we +arrived too late to save them as a race from degradation and dispersion; +but as they heavily tottered along to their last home, under the burden of +the woes which contact with civilization ever entails upon the aborigines, +we might have spoken to them the tidings of "peace on earth and good will +to men"--of a Saviour "who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and +immortality to light through his gospel." Far away amid the thunders of +Niagara, surrounded by a perpetual rainbow, Iris Island contains almost +the only known burying-place of the race of red men. Probably the simple +Indians who buried their dead in a place of such difficult access, and +sacred to the Great Spirit, did so from a wish that none might ever +disturb their ashes. None can tell how long those interred there have +slept their last long sleep, but the ruthless hands of the white men have +profaned the last resting-place of the departed race. + +There were also numerous blacks in the streets, and, if I might judge from +the brilliant colours and good quality of their clothing, they must gain a +pretty good living by their industry. A large number of these blacks and +their parents were carried away from the States by one of our admirals in +the war of 1812, and landed at Halifax. + +The capital of Nova Scotia looks like a town of cards, nearly all the +buildings being of wood. There are wooden houses, wooden churches, wooden +wharfs, wooden slates, and, if there are side walks, they are of wood +also. I was pleased at a distance with the appearance of two churches, one +of them a Gothic edifice, but on nearer inspection I found them to be of +wood, and took refuge in the substantial masonry of the really handsome +Province Building and Government House. We went up to the citadel, which +crowns the hill, and is composed of an agglomeration of granite walls, +fosses, and casemates, mounds, ditches, barracks, and water-tanks. + +If I was pleased with the familiar uniforms of the artillerymen who +lounged about the barracks, I was far more so with the view from the +citadel. It was a soft summer evening, and, seen through the transparent +atmosphere, everything looked unnaturally near. The large town of Halifax +sloped down to a lake-like harbour, about two miles wide, dotted with +islands; and ranges of picturesque country spangled with white cottages +lay on the other side. The lake or firth reminded me of the Gareloch, and +boats were sailing about in all directions before the evening breeze. From +tangled coppices of birch and fir proceeded the tinkle of the bells of +numerous cows, and, mingled with the hum of the city, the strains of a +military band rose from the streets to our ears. + +With so many natural advantages, and such capabilities for improvement, I +cannot but regret the unhappy quarrels and maladministration which +threaten to leave the noble colony of Nova Scotia an incubus and +excrescence on her flourishing and progressive neighbours, Canada and New +Brunswick. From the _talk_ about railways, steamers, and the House of +Assembly, it is pleasant to turn to the one thing which has been really +done, namely, the establishment of an electric telegraph line to St. John, +and thence to the States. By means of this system of wires, which is rough +and inexpensive to a degree which in England we should scarcely believe, +the news brought by the English mail steamer is known at Boston, New York, +New Orleans, Cincinnati, and all the great American cities, before it has +had time to reach the environs of Halifax itself. + +The telegraph costs about 20_l._ per mile, and the wires are generally +supported on the undressed stems of pines, but are often carried from tree +to tree along miserable roads, or through the deep recesses of the +forests. + +The stores in Halifax are pretty good, all manufactured articles being +sold at an advance on English prices. Books alone are cheap and abundant, +being the American editions of pirated English works. + +On the morning when we left Halifax I was awakened by the roll of the +British drum and the stirring strains of the Highland bagpipe. Ready +equipped for the tedious journey before us, from Halifax to Pictou in the +north of the colony, I was at the inn-door at six, watching the fruitless +attempts of the men to pile our mountain of luggage on the coach. + +Do not let the word _coach_ conjure up a vision of "_the good old times_," +a dashing mail with a well-groomed team of active bays, harness all "spick +and span," a gentlemanly-looking coachman, and a guard in military +scarlet, the whole affair rattling along the road at a pace of ten miles +an hour. + +The vehicle in which we performed a journey of 120 miles in 20 hours +deserves a description. It consisted of a huge coach-body, slung upon two +thick leather straps; the sides were open, and the places where windows +ought to have been were screened by heavy curtains of tarnished moose-deer +hide. Inside were four cross-seats, intended to accommodate twelve +persons, who were very imperfectly sheltered from the weather. Behind was +a large rack for luggage, and at the back of the driving-seat was a bench +which held three persons. The stage was painted scarlet, but looked as if +it had not been washed for a year. The team of six strong white horses was +driven by a Yankee, remarkable only for his silence. About a ton of +luggage was packed on and behind the stage, and two open portmanteaus were +left behind without the slightest risk to their contents. + +Twelve people and a baby were with some difficulty stowed in the stage, +and the few interstices were filled up with baskets, bundles, and +packages. The coachman whipped his horses, and we rattled down the uneven +streets of Halifax to a steam ferry-boat, which conveyed the stage across +to Dartmouth, and was so well arranged that the six horses had not to +alter their positions. + +Our road lay for many miles over a barren, rocky, undulating country, +covered with var and spruce trees, with an undergrowth of raspberry, wild +rhododendron, and alder. We passed a chain of lakes extending for sixteen +miles, their length varying from one to three miles, and their shores +covered with forests of gloomy pine. People are very apt to say that Nova +Scotia is sterile and barren, because they have not penetrated into the +interior. It is certainly rather difficult of access, but I was by no +means sorry that my route lay through it. The coast of Nova Scotia is +barren, and bears a very distinct resemblance to the east of Scotland. The +climate, though severe in winter and very foggy, is favourable both to +health and vegetation. The peach and grape ripen in the open air, and the +cultivation of corn and potatoes amply repays the cultivator. A great part +of the country is still covered with wood, evidently a second growth, for, +wherever the trees of the fir tribe are cut down or destroyed by fire, +hard-wood trees spring up. + +So among the maple, the American elm, and the purple-blossomed sumach, the +huge scorched and leafless stems of pines would throw up their giant arms +as if to tell of some former conflagration. In clearings among these +woods, slopes of ground are to be seen covered with crops of oats and +maize, varied with potatoes and pumpkins. Wherever the ground is unusually +poor on the surface, mineral treasures abound. There are beds of coal of +vast thickness; iron in various forms is in profusion, and the supply of +gypsum is inexhaustible. Many parts of the country are very suitable for +cattle-rearing, and there are "water privileges" without end in the shape +of numerous rivers. I have seldom seen finer country in the colonies than +the large tract of cleared undulating land about Truro, and I am told that +it is far exceeded by that in the neighbourhood of Windsor. Wherever +apple-trees were planted they seemed to flourish, and the size and flavour +of their fruit evidences a short, hot summer. While the interior of the +country is so fertile, and is susceptible of a high degree of improvement, +it is scarcely fair in the Nova-Scotians to account for their backwardness +by pointing strangers to their sterile and iron-bound coast. But they are +a moral, hardy, and loyal people; none of our colonial fellow-subjects are +more attached to the British crown, or more ready to take up arms in its +defence. + +I was greatly pleased with much that I heard, and with the little I saw of +the Nova-Scotians. They seemed temperate, sturdy, and independent, and the +specimens we had of them in the stage were civil, agreeable, and +intelligent. + +After passing the pretty little village of Dartmouth, we came upon some +wigwams of birch-bark among the trees. Some squaws, with papooses strapped +upon their backs, stared vacantly at us as we passed, and one little +barefooted Indian, with a lack of apparel which showed his finely moulded +form to the best advantage, ran by the side of the coach for two or three +miles, bribed by coppers which were occasionally thrown to him. + +A dreary stage of eighteen miles brought us to Shultze's, a road-side inn +by a very pretty lake, where we were told the "_coach breakfasted_." +Whether Transatlantic coaches can perform this, to us, unknown feat, I +cannot pretend to say, but we breakfasted. A very coarse repast was +prepared for us, consisting of stewed salt veal, country cheese, rancid +salt butter, fried eggs, and barley bread; but we were too hungry to find +fault either with it, or with the charge made for it, which equalled that +at a London hotel. Our Yankee coachman, a man of monosyllables, sat next +to me, and I was pleased to see that he regaled himself on tea instead of +spirits. + +We packed ourselves into the stage again with great difficulty, and how +the forty-eight limbs fared was shown by the painful sensations +experienced for several succeeding days. All the passengers, however, were +in perfectly good humour, and amused each other during the eleven hours +spent in this painful way. At an average speed of six miles an hour we +travelled over roads of various descriptions, plank, corduroy, and sand; +up long heavy hills, and through swamps swarming with mosquitoes. + +Every one has heard of corduroy roads, but how few have experienced their +miseries! They are generally used for traversing swampy ground, and are +formed of small pine-trees deprived of their branches, which are laid +across the track alongside each other. The wear and tear of travelling +soon separates these, leaving gaps between; and when, added to this, one +trunk rots away, and another sinks down into the swamp, and another tilts +up, you may imagine such a jolting as only leather springs could bear. On +the very worst roads, filled with deep holes, or covered with small +granite boulders, the stage only swings on the straps. Ordinary springs, +besides dislocating the joints of the passengers, would be wrenched and +broken after a few miles travelling. + +Even as we were, faces sometimes came into rather close proximity to each +other and to the side railings, and heads sustained very unpleasant +collisions. The amiable man who was so disappointed with the American +climate suffered very much from the journey. He said he had thought a +French diligence the climax of discomfort, but a "stage was misery, oh +torture!" Each time that we had rather a worse jolt than usual the poor +man groaned, which always drew forth a chorus of laughter, to which he +submitted most good-humouredly. Occasionally he would ask the time, when +some one would point maliciously to his watch, remarking, "Twelve hours +more," or "Fifteen hours more," when he would look up with an expression +of despair. The bridges wore a very un-English feature. Over the small +streams or brooks they consisted of three pines covered with planks, +without any parapet--with sometimes a plank out, and sometimes a hole in +the middle. Over large streams they were wooden erections of a most +peculiar kind, with high parapets; their insecurity being evidenced by the +notice, "Walk your horses, according to law,"--a notice generally +disregarded by our coachman, as he trotted his horses over the shaking and +rattling fabric. + +We passed several small streams, and one of a large size, the +Shubenacadie, a wide, slow, muddy river, flowing through willows and +hedges, like the rivers in the fen districts of England. At the mouth of +the Shubenacadie the tides rise and fall forty feet. + +In Nova Scotia the animals seemed to be more carefully lodged than the +people. Wherever we changed horses, we drove into a lofty shed, opening +into a large stable with a boarded floor scrupulously clean, generally +containing twenty horses. The rigour of the climate in winter necessitates +such careful provision for the support of animal life. The coachman went +into the stable and chose his team, which was brought out, and then a +scene of kicking, biting, and screaming ensued, ended by the most furious +kickers being put to the wheel; and after a certain amount of talking, and +settling the mail-bags, the ponderous vehicle moved off again, the leaders +always rearing for the first few yards. + +For sixty miles we were passing through woods, the trees sometimes burned +and charred for several miles, and the ground all blackened round them. We +saw very few clearings, and those there were consisted merely of a few +acres of land, separated from the forest by rude "snake-fences." Stumps of +trees blackened by fire stood up among the oat-crops; but though they look +extremely untidy, they are an unavoidable evil for two or three years, +till the large roots decay. + +Eleven hours passed by not at all wearisomely to me, though my cousins and +their children suffered much from cramp and fatigue, and at five, after an +ascent of three hours, we began to descend towards a large tract of +cultivated undulating country, in the centre of which is situated a large +settlement called Truro. There, at a wretched hostelry, we stopped to +dine, but the meal by no means answered to our English ideas of dinner. A +cup of tea was placed by each plate; and after the company, principally +consisting of agricultural settlers, had made a substantial meal of +mutton, and the potatoes for which the country is famous, they solaced +themselves with this beverage. No intoxicating liquor was placed upon the +table, [Footnote: I write merely of what fell under my own observation, +for there has been so much spirit-drinking in Nova Scotia, that the +legislature has deemed it expedient to introduce the "Maine Law," with its +stringent and somewhat arbitrary provisions.] and I observed the same +temperate habits at the inns in New Brunswick, the city of St. John not +excepted. It was a great pleasure to me to find that the intemperance so +notoriously prevalent among a similar class in England was so completely +discouraged in Nova Scotia. The tea was not tempting to an English palate; +it was stewed, and sweetened with molasses. + +While we were waiting for a fresh stage and horses, several waggons came +up, laden with lawyers, storekeepers, and ship-carpenters, who with their +families were flying from the cholera at St. John, New Brunswick. + +I enjoyed the next fifty miles exceedingly, as I travelled outside on the +driving-seat, with plenty of room to expatiate. The coachman was a very +intelligent settler, pressed into the service, because Jengro, the French +Canadian driver, had indulged in a fit of intoxication in opposition to a +temperance meeting held at Truro the evening before. + +_Our_ driver had not tasted spirits for thirty years, and finds that a cup +of hot tea at the end of a cold journey is a better stimulant than a glass +of grog. + +It was just six o'clock when we left Truro; the shades of evening were +closing round us, and our road lay over fifty miles of nearly uninhabited +country; but there was so much to learn and hear, that we kept up an +animated and unflagging conversation hour after hour. The last cleared +land was passed by seven, and we entered the forest, beginning a long and +tedious ascent of eight miles. At a post-house in the wood we changed +horses, and put on some lanterns, not for the purpose of assisting +ourselves, but to guide the boy-driver of a waggon or "extra," who, having +the responsibility of conducting four horses, came clattering close behind +us. The road was hilly, and often ran along the very edge of steep +declivities, and our driver, who did not know it well, and was besides a +cautious man, drove at a most moderate pace. + +Not so the youthful Jehu of the light vehicle behind. He came desperately +on, cracking his whip, shouting "G'lang, Gee'p," rattling down hill, and +galloping up, and whirling round corners, in spite of the warning "Steady, +whoa!" addressed to him by our careful escort. Once the rattling behind +entirely ceased, and we stopped, our driver being anxious for the safety +of his own team, as well as for the nine passengers who were committed on +a dark night to the care of a boy of thirteen. The waggon soon came +clattering on again, and remained in disagreeably close proximity to us +till we arrived at Pictou. + +At ten o'clock, after another long ascent, we stopped to water the horses, +and get some refreshment, at a shanty kept by an old Highland woman, well +known as "_Nancy Stuart of the Mountain._" Here two or three of us got +off, and a comfortable meal was soon provided, consisting of tea, milk, +oat-cake, butter, and cranberry and raspberry jam. This meal we shared +with some handsome, gloomy-looking, bonneted Highlanders, and some large +ugly dogs. The room was picturesque enough, with blackened rafters, deer +and cow horns hung round it, and a cheerful log fire. After tea I spoke to +Nancy in her native tongue, which so delighted her, that I could not +induce her to accept anything for my meal. On finding that I knew her +birthplace in the Highlands, she became quite talkative, and on wishing +her good bye with the words "_Oiche mhaith dhuibh; Beannachd luibh!" +[Footnote: Good night; blessings be with you.] she gave my hand a true +Highland grasp with both of hers; a grasp bringing back visions of home +and friends, and "the bonnie North countrie." + +A wild drive we had from this place to Pictou. The road lay through +forests which might have been sown at the beginning of time. Huge hemlocks +threw high their giant arms, and from between their dark stems gleamed the +bark of the silver birch. Elm, beech, and maple flourished; I missed alone +the oak of England. + +The solemn silence of these pathless roads was broken only by the note of +the distant bull-frog; meteors fell in streams of fire, the crescent moon +occasionally gleamed behind clouds from which the lightning flashed almost +continually, and the absence of any familiar faces made me realize at +length that I was a stranger in a strange land. + +After the subject of the colony had been exhausted, I amused the coachman +with anecdotes of the supernatural--stories of ghosts, wraiths, +apparitions, and second sight; but he professed himself a disbeliever, and +I thought I had failed to make any impression on him, till at last he +started at the crackling of a twig, and the gleaming whiteness of a silver +birch. He would have liked the stories better, he confessed at length, if +the night had not been quite so dark. + +The silence of the forest was so solemn, that, remembering the last of the +Mohicans, we should not have been the least surprised if an Indian war- +whoop had burst upon our startled ears. + +We were travelling over the possessions of the Red men. Nothing more +formidable occurred than the finding of three tipsy men laid upon the +road; and our coachman had to alight and remove them before the vehicle +could proceed. + +We reached Pictou at a quarter past two on a very chilly starlight +morning, and by means of the rude telegraph, which runs along the road, +comfortable rooms had been taken for us at an inn of average cleanliness. + +Here we met with a storekeeper from Prince Edward Island, and he told us +that the parents of my cousins, whom we were about to visit, knew nothing +whatever of our intended arrival, and supposed their children to be in +Germany. + +As a colonial dinner is an aggregate of dinner and tea, so a colonial +breakfast is a curious complication of breakfast and dinner, combining, I +think, the advantages of both. It is only an extension of the Highland +breakfast; fish of several sorts, meat, eggs, and potatoes, buckwheat +fritters and Johnny cake, being served with the tea and coffee. + +Pictou may be a flourishing town some day: it has extensive coal-mines; +one seam of coal is said to be thirty feet thick. At present it is a most +insignificant place, and the water of the harbour is very shallow. The +distance from Pictou to Charlotte Town, Prince Edward Island, is sixty +miles, and by this route, through Nova Scotia and across Northumberland +Strait, the English mail is transmitted once a fortnight. + +A fearful catastrophe happened to the _Fairy Queen, a small mail steamer +plying between these ports, not long ago. By some carelessness, she sprang +a leak and sank; the captain and crew escaping to Pictou in the ship's +boats, which were large enough to have saved all the passengers. Here they +arrived, and related the story of the wreck, in the hope that no human +voice would ever tell of their barbarity and cowardice. Several perished +with the ill-fated vessel, among whom were Dr. Mackenzie, a promising +young officer, and two young ladies, one of whom was coming to England to +be married. A few of the passengers floated off on the upper deck and +reached the land in safety, to bear a terrible testimony to the inhumanity +which had left their companions to perish. A voice from the dead could not +have struck greater horror into the heart of the craven captain than did +that of those whom he never expected to meet till the sea should give up +her dead. The captain was committed for manslaughter, but escaped the +punishment due to his offence, though popular indignation was strongly +excited against him. We were told to be on board the _Lady le Marchant_ by +twelve o'clock, and endured four hours' detention on her broiling deck, +without any more substantial sustenance than was afforded to us by some +pine-apples. We were five hours in crossing Northumberland Strait--five +hours of the greatest possible discomfort. We had a head-wind and a rough +chopping sea, which caused the little steamer to pitch unmercifully. After +gaining a distant view of Cape Breton Island, I lay down on a mattress on +deck, in spite of the persecutions of an animated friend, who kindly +endeavoured to rouse me to take a first view of Prince Edward Island. + +When at last, in the comparative calmness of the entrance to Charlotte +Town harbour, I stood up to look about me, I could not help admiring the +peaceful beauty of the scene. Far in the distance were the sterile cliffs +of Nova Scotia and the tumbling surges of the Atlantic, while on three +sides we were surrounded by land so low that the trees upon it seemed +almost growing out of the water. The soil was the rich red of Devonshire, +the trees were of a brilliant green, and sylvan lawns ran up amongst them. +The light canoes of the aborigines glided gracefully on the water, or lay +high and dry on the beach; and two or three miles ahead the spires and +houses of the capital of the island lent additional cheerfulness to the +prospect. + +We were speedily moored at the wharf, and my cousins, after an absence of +eight years, were anxiously looking round for some familiar faces among +the throng on the shore. They had purposely avoided giving any intimation +to their parents of their intended arrival, lest anything should occur to +prevent the visit; therefore they were entirely unexpected. But, led by +the true instinct of natural affection, they were speedily recognised by +those of their relatives who were on the wharf, and many a joyful meeting +followed which must amply have compensated for the dreary separation of +years. + +It was in an old-English looking, red brick mansion, encircled by +plantations of thriving firs--warmly welcomed by relations whom I had +never seen, for the sake of those who had been my long-tried friends-- +surrounded by hearts rejoicing in the blessings of unexpected re-union, +and by faces radiant with affection and happiness--that I spent my first +evening in the "Garden of British America." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +Popular ignorance--The garden island--Summer and winter contrasted--A +wooden capital--Island politics, and their consequences--Gossip--"Blowin- +time"--Religion and the clergy--The servant nuisance--Colonial society--An +evening party--An island premier--Agrarian outrage--A visit to the +Indians--The pipe of peace--An Indian coquette--Country hospitality--A +missionary--A novel mode of lobster-fishing--Uncivilised life--Far away in +the woods--Starvation and dishonesty--An old Highlander and a Highland +welcome--Hopes for the future. + + +I was showing a collection of autographs to a gentleman at a party in a +well-known Canadian city, when the volume opened upon the majestic +signature of Cromwell. I paused as I pointed to it, expecting a burst of +enthusiasm. "_Who is Cromwell?_" he asked; an ignorance which I should +have believed counterfeit had it not been too painfully and obviously +genuine. + +A yeoman friend in England, on being told that I had arrived safely at +Boston, after encountering great danger in a gale, "_reckoned that it was +somewhere down in Lincolnshire_." + +With these instances of ignorance, and many more which I could name, fresh +in my recollection, I am not at all surprised that few persons should be +acquainted with the locality of a spot of earth so comparatively obscure +as Prince Edward Island. When I named my destination to my friends prior +to my departure from England, it was supposed by some that I was going to +the Pacific, and by others that I was going to the north-west coast of +America, while one or two, on consulting their maps, found no such island +indicated in the part of the ocean where I described it to be placed. + +Now, Prince Edward Island is the abode of seventy thousand human beings. +It _had a garrison, though now the loyalty of its inhabitants is +considered a sufficient protection. It _has a Governor, a House of +Assembly, a Legislative Council, and a Constitution. It has a wooden +Government House, and a stone Province Building. It has a town of six +thousand people, and an extensive shipbuilding trade, and, lastly, it has +a prime minister. As it has not been tourist-ridden, like Canada or the +States, and is a _terra incognita_ to many who are tolerably familiar with +the rest of our North American possessions, I must briefly describe it, +though I am neither writing a guide-book nor an emigrant's directory. + +This island was discovered by Sebastian Cabot in 1497, and more than two +centuries afterwards received the name of St. John, by which it is still +designated in old maps. It received the name of Prince Edward Island in +compliment to the illustrious father of our Queen, who bestowed great +attention upon it. It has been the arena of numerous conflicts during the +endless wars between the French and English. Its aboriginal inhabitants +have here, as in other places, melted away before the whites. About three +hundred remain, earning a scanty living by shooting and fishing, and +profess the Romish faith. + +This island is 140 miles in length, and at its widest part 34 in breadth. +It is intersected by creeks; every part of its coast is indented by the +fierce flood of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and no part of it is more than +nine miles distant from some arm of the sea. It bears the name throughout +the British provinces of the "Garden of British America." That this title +has been justly bestowed, none who have ever visited it in summer will +deny. + +While Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the banks of the St. Lawrence are +brown, even where most fertile, this island is clothed in brilliant green. +I suppose that the most elevated land in it is less than 400 feet above +the level of the sea; there is not a rock in any part of it, and the +stones which may be very occasionally picked up in the recesses of the +forest cause much speculation in the minds of the curious and scientific. +The features of this country are as soft as the soil. The land is +everywhere gently undulating, and, while anything like a hill is unknown, +it has been difficult to find a piece of ground sufficiently level for a +cricket-field. The north shore is extremely pretty; it has small villages, +green clearings, fine harbours, with the trees growing down to the water's +edge, and shady streams. + +The land is very suitable for agricultural purposes, as also for the +rearing of sheep; but the island is totally destitute of mineral wealth. +It is highly favoured in climate. The intense heat of a North American +summer is here tempered by a cool sea-breeze; fogs are almost unknown, and +the air is dry and bracing. Instances of longevity are very common; fever +and consumption are seldom met with, and the cholera has never visited its +shores. Wages are high, and employment abundant; land is cheap and +tolerably productive; but though a competence may always be obtained, I +never heard of any one becoming rich through agricultural pursuits. +Shipbuilding is the great trade of the island, and the most profitable +one. Everywhere, even twenty miles inland, and up among the woods, ships +may be seen in course of construction. These vessels are sold in England +and in the neighbouring colonies; but year by year, as its trade +increases, the island requires a greater number for its own use. + +In summer, the island is a very agreeable residence; the sandy roads are +passable, and it has a bi-weekly communication with the neighbouring +continent. Shooting and fishing may be enjoyed in abundance, and the +Indians are always ready to lend assistance in these sports. Bears, which +used to be a great attraction to the more adventurous class of sportsmen, +are, however, rapidly disappearing. + +In winter, I cannot conceive a more dull, cheerless, and desolate place +than Prince Edward Island. About the beginning of December steam +communication with the continent ceases, and those who are leaving the +island hurry their departure. Large stocks of fuel are laid in, the +harbour is deserted by the shipping, and all out-door occupations +gradually cease. Before Christmas the frost commences, the snow frequently +lies six feet deep, and soon the harbours and the adjacent ocean freeze, +and the island is literally "locked in regions of thick-ribbed ice" for +six long months. Once a fortnight during the winter an ice-boat crosses +Northumberland Strait, at great hazard, where it is only nine miles wide, +conveying the English mail; but sometimes all the circumstances are not +favourable, and the letters are delayed for a month--the poor islanders +being locked meanwhile in their icebound prison, ignorant of the events +which may be convulsing the world. Charlotte Town, the capital of the +island and the seat of government, is very prettily situated on a +capacious harbour, which was defended by several heavy guns. It is a town +of shingles, but looks very well from the sea. With the exception of +Quebec, it is considered the prettiest town in British America; but while +Quebec is a city built on a rock, Charlotte Town closely borders upon a +marsh, and its drainage has been very much neglected. + +There are several commons in the town, the grass of which is of a +peculiarly brilliant green, and, as these are surrounded by houses, they +give it a cheerful appearance. The houses are small, and the stores by no +means pretentious. The streets are unlighted, and destitute of side walks; +there is not an attempt at paving, and the grips across them are something +fearful. "Hold on" is a caution as frequently given as absolutely +necessary. I have travelled over miles of corduroy road in a springless +waggon, and in a lumber waggon, drawn by oxen, where there was no road at +all, but I never experienced anything like the merciless joint-dislocating +jolting which I met with in Charlotte Town. This island metropolis has two +or three weekly papers of opposite sides in politics, which vie with each +other in gross personalities and scurrilous abuse. + +The colony has "responsible government," a Governor, a Legislative +Council, and a House of Assembly, and storms in politics are not at all +unfrequent. The members of the Lower House are elected by nearly universal +suffrage, and it is considered necessary that the "Premier" should have a +majority in it. This House is said to be on a par with Irish poor-law +guardian meetings for low personalities and vehement vituperation. + +The genius of Discord must look complacently on this land. Politics have +been a fruitful source of quarrels, misrepresentation, alienation, and +division. The opposition parties are locally designated "_snatchers_" and +"_snarlers_," and no love is lost between the two. It is broadly affirmed +that half the people on the island do not speak to the other half. And, +worse than all, religious differences have been brought up as engines +wherewith to wreak political animosities. I never saw a community in which +people appeared to hate each other so cordially. The flimsy veil of +etiquette does not conceal the pointed sneer, the malicious innuendo, the +malignant backbiting, and the unfounded slander. Some of the forms of +society are observed in the island--that extreme of civilisation vulgarly +called "_cutting_" is common; morning calls are punctiliously paid and +returned, and there are occasional balls and tea-parties. Quebec is +described as being the hottest and coldest town in the world, Paris the +gayest, London the richest; but I should think that Charlotte Town may +bear away the palm for being the most gossiping. + +There is a general and daily flitting about of its inhabitants after news +of their neighbours--all that is said and done within a three-mile circle +is reported, and, of course, a great deal of what has neither been said +nor done. There are certain people whose business it is to make mischief, +and mischief-making is a calling in which it does not require much wit to +be successful. + +The inhabitants are a sturdy race, more than one-half of them being of +Scotch descent. They are prevented from attaining settled business-like +habits by the long winter, which puts a stop to all out-door employment. +This period, when amusement is the only thing thought of, is called in the +colonies "blowin-time." All the country is covered with snow, and the +inhabitants have nothing to do but sleigh about, play ball on the ice, +drive the young ladies to quilting frolics and snow picnics, drink brandy- +and-water, and play at whist for sixpenny points. + +The further you go from Charlotte Town, the more primitive and hospitable +the people become; they warmly welcome a stranger, and seem happy, moral, +and contented. This island is the only place in the New World where I met +with any who believed in the supernatural. One evening I had been telling +some very harmless ghost stories to a party by moonlight, and one of my +auditors, a very clever girl, fancied during the night that she saw +something stirring in her bed-room. In the idea that the ghost would +attack her head rather than her feet, she tied up her feet in her _bonnet- +de-nuit_, put them upon the pillow, and her head under the quilt--a novel +way of cheating a spiritual visitant. + +There are numerous religious denominations in the colony, all enjoying the +same privileges, or the absence of any. I am not acquainted with the +number belonging to each, but would suppose the Roman Catholics to be the +most dominant, from the way in which their church towers over the whole +town. There are about eleven Episcopalian clergymen, overworked and +underpaid. Most of these are under the entire control of the Bishop of +Nova Scotia, and are removable at his will and pleasure. This _will_ +Bishop Binney exercises in a very capricious and arbitrary manner. + +Some of these clergymen are very excellent and laborious men. I may +particularise Dr. Jenkins, for many years chief minister of Charlotte +Town, whose piety, learning, and Christian spirit would render him an +ornament to the Church of England in any locality. Even among the clergy, +some things might seem rather peculiar to a person fresh from England. A +clergyman coming to a pause in his sermon, one of his auditors from the +floor called up "Propitiation;" the preacher thanked him, took the word, +and went on with his discourse. + +The difficulty of procuring servants, which is felt from the Government +House downwards, is one of the great objections to this colony. The few +there are know nothing of any individual department of work,--for +instance, there are neither cooks nor housemaids, they are strictly +"_helps_"--the mistress being expected to take more than her fair share of +the work. They come in and go out when they please, and, if anything +dissatisfies them, they ask for their wages, and depart the same day, in +the certainty that their labour will command a higher price in the United +States. It is not an uncommon thing for a gentleman to be obliged to do +the work of gardener, errand-boy, and groom. A servant left at an hour's +notice, saying, "she had never been so insulted before," because her +master requested her to put on shoes when she waited at table; and a +gentleman was obliged to lie in bed because his servant had taken all his +shirts to the wash, and had left them while she went to a "frolic" with +her lover. + +The upper class of society in the island is rather exclusive, but it is +difficult to say what qualification entitles a man to be received into +"society." The _entree_ at Government House is not sufficient; but a +uniform is powerful, and wealth is omnipotent. The present governor, Mr. +Dominick Daly, is a man of great suavity of manner. He has a large amount +of _finesse_, which is needful in a colony where people like the +supposition that they govern themselves, but where it is absolutely +necessary that a firm hand should hold the reins. The island is prospering +under its new form of "responsible government;" its revenue is increasing; +it is out of debt; and Mr. Daly, whose tenure of power has been very +short, will without doubt considerably develop its resources. Mrs. Daly is +an invalid, but her kindness makes her deservedly popular, together with +her amiable and affable daughters, the elder of whom is one of the most +beautiful girls whom I saw in the colonies. + +I remained six weeks in this island, being detained by the cholera, which +was ravaging Canada and the States. I spent the greater part of this time +at the house of Captain Swabey, a near relation of my father's, at whose +house I received every hospitality and kindness. Captain Swabey is one of +the most influential inhabitants of the island, as, since the withdrawal +of the troops, the direction of its defences has been intrusted to him, in +consideration of his long experience in active service. He served in the +land forces which assisted Nelson at the siege of Copenhagen. He +afterwards served with distinction through the Peninsular war, and, after +receiving a ball in the knee at Vittoria, closed his military career at +the battle of Waterloo. It is not a little singular that Mr. Hensley, +another of the principal inhabitants, and a near neighbour of Captain +Swabey's, fought at Copenhagen under Lord Nelson, where part of his cheek- +bone was shot away. + +While I was there, the governor gave his first party, to which, as a +necessary matter of etiquette, all who had left cards at Government House +were invited. I was told that I should not see such a curious mixture +anywhere else, either in the States or in the colonies. There were about a +hundred and fifty persons present, including all the officers of the +garrison and customs, and the members of the government. The "prime +minister," the Hon. George Coles, whose name is already well known in the +colonies, was there in all the novel glories of office and "red-tapeism." + +I cannot say that this gentleman looked at all careworn; indeed the cares +of office, even in England, have ceased to be onerous, if one may judge +from the ease with which a premier of seventy performs upon the +parliamentary stage; but Mr. Coles looked particularly the reverse. He is +justified in his complacent appearance, for he has a majority in the +house, a requisite scarcely deemed essential in England, and the finances +of the colony are flourishing under his administration. He is a self-made +and self-educated man, and by his own energy, industry, and perseverance, +has raised himself to the position which he now holds; and if his manners +have not all the finish of polite society, and if he does sometimes say +"Me and the governor," his energy is not less to be admired. + +Another member of the government appeared in a yellow waistcoat and brown +frock-coat; but where there were a great many persons of an inferior class +it was only surprising that there should be so few inaccuracies either in +dress or deportment. There were some very pretty women, and almost all +were dressed with simplicity and good taste. The island does not afford a +band, but a pianist and violinist played most perseveringly, and the +amusements were kept up with untiring spirit till four in the morning. + +The governor and his family behaved most affably to their guests, and I +was glad to observe that in such a very mixed company not the slightest +vulgarity of manner was perceptible. + +It may be remarked, however, that society is not on so safe a footing as +in England. Such things as duels, but of a very bloodless nature, have +been known: people occasionally horsewhip and kick each other; and if a +gentleman indulges in the pastime of breaking the windows of another +gentleman, he receives a bullet for his pains. Some time ago, a gentleman +connected with a noble family in Scotland, emigrated to the island with a +large number of his countrymen, to whom he promised advantageous +arrangements with regard to land. He was known by the name of Tracadie. +After his tenants had made a large outlay upon their farms, Tracadie did +not fulfil his agreements, and the dissatisfaction soon broke forth into +open outrage. Conspiracies were formed against him, his cows and carts +were destroyed, and night after night the country was lighted by the +flames of his barns and mills. At length he gave loaded muskets to some of +his farm-boys, telling them to shoot any one they saw upon his premises +after dusk. The same evening he went into his orchard, and was standing +with his watch in his hand waiting to set it by the evening gun, when the +boys fired, and he fell severely wounded. When he recovered from this, he +was riding out one evening, when he was shot through the hat and hip by +men on each side of the road, and fell weltering in blood. So detested was +he, that several persons passed by without rendering him any assistance. +At length one of his own tenantry, coming by, took him into Charlotte Town +in a cart, but was obliged shortly afterwards to leave the island, to +escape from the vengeance which would have overtaken the succourer of a +tyrant. Tracadie was shot at five or six different times. Shortly after my +arrival in the island, he went to place his daughter in a convent at +Quebec, and died there of the cholera. + +One day, with a party of youthful friends, I crossed the Hillsboro' Creek, +to visit the Indians. We had a large heavy boat, with cumbrous oars, very +ill balanced, and a most inefficient crew, two of them being boys either +very idle or very ignorant, and, as they kept tumbling backwards over the +thwarts, one gentleman and I were left to do all the work. On our way we +came upon an Indian in a bark canoe, and spent much of our strength in an +ineffectual race with him, succeeding in nothing but in getting aground. +We had very great difficulty in landing, and two pretty squaws indulged in +hearty laughter at our numerous failures. + +After scrambling through a wood, we came upon an Indian village, +consisting of fifteen wigwams. These are made of poles, tied together at +the upper end, and are thatched with large pieces of birch-bark. A hole is +always left at the top to let out the smoke, and the whole space occupied +by this primitive dwelling is not larger than a large circular dining- +table. Large fierce dogs, and uncouth, terrified-looking, lank-haired +children, very scantily clothed, abounded by these abodes. We went into +one, crawling through an aperture in the bark. A fire was burning in the +middle, over which was suspended a kettle of fish. The wigwam was full of +men and squaws, and babies, or "papooses," tightly strapped into little +trays of wood. Some were waking, others sleeping, but none were employed, +though in several of the camps I saw the materials for baskets and bead- +work. The eyes of all were magnificent, and the young women very handsome, +their dark complexions and splendid hair being in many instances set off +by a scarlet handkerchief thrown loosely round the head. + +We braved the ferocity of numerous dogs, and looked into eight of these +abodes; Mr. Kenjins, from the kind use he makes of his medical knowledge, +being a great favourite with the Indians, particularly with the young +squaws, who seemed thoroughly to understand all the arts of coquetry. We +were going into one wigwam when a surly old man opposed our entrance, +holding out a calabash, vociferous voices from the interior calling out, +"Ninepence, ninepence!" The memory of _Uncas_ and _Magua_ rose before me, +and I sighed over the degeneracy of the race. These people are mendicant +and loquacious. When you go in, they begin a list of things which they +want--blankets, powder, tobacco, &c.; always concluding with, "Tea, for +God's sake!" for they have renounced the worship of the Great Spirit for a +corrupted form of Christianity. + +We were received in one _camp_ by two very handsome squaws, mother and +daughter, who spoke broken English, and were very neat and clean. The +floor was thickly strewn with the young shoots of the var, and we sat down +with them for half an hour. The younger squaw, a girl of sixteen, was very +handsome and coquettish. She had a beautiful cap, worked in beads, which +she would not put on at the request of any of the ladies; but directly Mr. +Kenjins hinted a wish to that effect, she placed it coquettishly on her +head, and certainly looked most bewitching. Though only sixteen, she had +been married two years, and had recently lost her twins. Mr. Kenjins asked +her the meaning of an Indian phrase. She replied in broken English, "What +one little boy say to one little girl: I love you." "I suppose your +husband said so to you before you were married?" "Yes, and he say so now," +she replied, and both she and her mother laughed long and uncontrollably. +These Indians retain few of their ancient characteristics, except their +dark complexions and their comfortless nomade way of living. They are not +represented in the Legislative Assembly. + +Very different are the Indians of Central America, the fierce Sioux, +Comanches, and Blackfeet. In Canada West I saw a race differing in +appearance from the Mohawks and Mic-Macs, and retaining to a certain +extent their ancient customs. Among these tribes I entered a wigwam, and +was received in sullen silence. I seated myself on the floor with about +eight Indians; still not a word was spoken. A short pipe was then lighted +and offered to me. I took, as previously directed, a few whiffs of the +fragrant weed, and then the pipe was passed round the circle, after which +the oldest man present began to speak. [Footnote: "Why has our white +sister visited the wigwams of her red brethren?" was the salutation with +which they broke silence--a question rather difficult to answer.] This +pipe is the celebrated calumet, or pipe of peace, and it is considered +even among the fiercest tribes as a sacred obligation. A week before I +left Prince Edward Island I went for a tour of five days in the north-west +of the island with Mr. and Miss Kenjins. This was a delightful change, an +uninterrupted stream of novelty and enjoyment. It was a relief from +Charlotte Town, with its gossiping morning calls, its malicious stories, +its political puerilities, its endless discussions on servants, turnips, +and plovers; it was a bound into a region of genuine kindness and +primitive hospitality. + +We left Charlotte Town early on a brilliant morning, in a light waggon, +suitably attired for "roughing it in the bush." Our wardrobes, a draught- +board, and a number of books (which we never read), were packed into a +carpetbag of most diminutive proportions. We took large buffalo robes with +us, in case we should not be able to procure a better shelter for the +night than a barn. We were for the time being perfectly congenial, and +determined on thoroughly enjoying ourselves. We sang, and rowed, and +fished, and laughed, and made others laugh, and were perfectly happy, +never knowing and scarcely caring where we should obtain shelter for the +night. Our first day's dinner was some cold meat and bread, eaten in a +wood, our horse eating his oats by our side; and we made drinking-cups, in +Indian fashion, of birch-tree bark--cups of Tantalus, properly speaking, +for very little of the water reached our lips. While engaged in drawing +some from a stream, the branch on which I leaned gave way, and I fell into +the water, a mishap which amused my companions so much that they could not +help me out. + +After a journey of thirty miles our further course was stopped by a wide +river, with low wooded hills and promontories, but there was no ferry- +boat, so, putting up our horse in a settler's barn, we sat on the beach +till a cranky, leaky boat, covered with fish-scales, was with some +difficulty launched, and a man took us across the beautiful stream. This +kindly individual came for us again the next morning, and would accept +nothing but our thanks for his trouble. The settler in whose barn we had +left our horse fed him well with oats, and was equally generous. The +people in this part of the island are principally emigrants from the north +of Scotland, who thus carry Highland hospitality with them to their +distant homes. After a long walk through a wood, we came upon a little +church, with a small house near it, and craved a night's hospitality. The +church was one of those strongholds of religion and loyalty which I +rejoice to see in the colonies. There, Sabbath after Sabbath, the +inhabitants of this peaceful locality worship in the pure faith of their +forefathers: here, when "life's fitful fever" is over, they sleep in the +hallowed ground around these sacred walls. Nor could a more peaceful +resting-place be desired: from the graveyard one could catch distant +glimpses of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and tall pine-trees flung their dark +shadows over the low green graves. + +Leaving our friends in the house, we went down to a small creek running up +into the woods, the most formidable "_longer fences_" not intercepting our +progress. After some ineffectual attempts to gain possession of a log- +canoe, we launched a leaky boat, and went out towards the sea. The purple +beams of the setting sun fell upon the dark pine woods, and lay in long +lines upon the calm waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It was a glorious +evening, and the scene was among the fairest which I saw in the New World. +On our return we found our host, the missionary, returned from his walk of +twenty-two miles, and a repast of tea, wheaten scones, raspberries, and +cream, awaited us. This good man left England twenty-five years ago, and +lived for twenty in one of the most desolate parts of Newfoundland. Yet he +has retained his vivid interest in England, and kept us up till a late +hour talking over its church and people. Contented in his isolated +position, which is not without its severe hardships, this good missionary +pursues his useful course unnoticed by the world as it bustles along; his +sole earthly wish seems to be that he may return to England to die. + +The next morning at seven we left his humble home, where such hospitality +had awaited us, and he accompanied us to the river. He returned to his +honourable work--I shortly afterwards went to the United States--another +of the party is with the Turkish army in the Crimea--and the youngest is +married in a distant land. For several hours we passed through lovely +scenery, on one of the loveliest mornings I ever saw. We stopped at the +hut of an old Highland woman, who was "_terribly glad_" to see us, and +gave us some milk; and we came up with a sturdy little barefooted urchin +of eight years old, carrying a basket. "What's your name?" we asked. "_Mr. +Crazier_," was the bold and complacent reply. + +At noon we reached St. Eleanor's, rather a large village, where we met +with great hospitality for two days at the house of a keeper of a small +store, who had married the lively and accomplished daughter of an English +clergyman. The two Irish servant-girls were ill, but she said she should +be delighted to receive us if we would help her to do the household work. +The same afternoon we drove to the house of a shipbuilder at a little +hamlet called Greenshore, and went out lobster-fishing in his beautiful +boat. The way of fishing for these creatures was a novel one to me, but so +easy that a mere novice may be very successful. We tied _sinks_ to +mackerel, and let them down in six fathoms water. We gently raised them +now and then, and, if we felt anything pulling the bait, raised it slowly +up. Gently, gently, or the fish suspects foul play; but soon, just under +the surface, I saw an immense lobster, and one of the gentlemen caught it +by the tail and threw it into the boat. We fished for an hour, and caught +fifteen of these esteemed creatures, which we took to the house in a +wheelbarrow. At night we drove to St. Eleanor's, taking some of our spoil +with us, and immediately adjourned to the kitchen, a large, unfinished +place built of logs, with a clay floor and huge smoke-stained rafters. We +sat by a large stove in the centre, and looked as if we had never known +civilised life. Miss Kenjins and I sat on either side of the fireplace in +broad-brimmed straw hats, Mrs. Maccallummore in front, warming the feet of +the unhappy baby, who bad been a passive spectator of the fishing; the +three gentlemen stood round in easy attitudes, these, be it remembered, +holding glasses of brandy and water; and the two invalid servants stood +behind, occasionally uttering suppressed shrieks as Mr. Oppe took one out +of a heap of lobsters and threw it into a caldron of boiling water on the +stove. This strange scene was illuminated by a blazing pine-knot. Mr. +Kenjins laughingly reminded me of the elegant drawing-room in which he +last saw me in England--"Look on this picture and on that." + +On the Sunday we crossed the Grand River, on a day so stormy that the +ferryman would not take the "_scow_" across. We rowed ourselves over in a +crazy boat, which seemed about to fill and sink when we got to the middle +of the river, and attended service at Port Hill, one of the most desolate- +looking places I ever saw. We saw Lenox Island, where on St. Ann's day all +the island Indians meet and go through ceremonies with the Romish priests. + +We remained for part of the next day with our hospitable friends at St. +Eleanor's, and set out on an exploring expedition in search of a spring +which Mr. K. remembered in his childish days. We went down to a lonely +cabin to make inquiries, and were told that "none but the old people knew +of it--it was far away in the woods." Here was mystery; so, leaving the +waggon, into the woods we went to seek for it, and far away in the woods +we found it, and now others besides the "old people" know of it. + +We struck into the forest, an old, untrodden forest, where generations of +trees had rotted away, and strange flowers and lichens grew, and bats flew +past us in the artificial darkness; and there were snakes too, ugly +spotted things, which hissed at us, and put out their double tongues, and +then coiled themselves away in the dim recesses of the forest. But on we +went, climbing with difficulty over prostrate firs, or breaking through +matted juniper, and still the spring was not, though we were "far away in +the woods." But still we climbed on, through swamp and jungle, till we +tore our dresses to pieces, and our hats got pulled off in a tree and some +of our hair with them; but at last we reached the spring. It was such a +scene as one might have dreamed of in some forest in a fabulous Elysium. +It was a large, deep basin of pure white sand, covered with clear water, +and seven powerful springs, each about a foot high, rose from it; and +trees had fallen over it, and were covered with bright green moss, and +others bent over it ready to fall; and above them the tall hemlocks shut +out the light, except where a few stray beams glittered on the pure +transparent water. + +And here it lay in lonely beauty, as it had done for centuries, probably +known only to the old people and to the wandering Indians. In enterprising +England a town would have been built round it, and we should have had +cheap excursions to the "Baths of St. Eleanor's." + +In the evening we went to the house of Mr. Oppe at Bedeque, but not +finding him at home we presumed on colonial hospitality so far as to put +our horse in the stable and unpack our clothes; and when Mr. Oppe returned +he found us playing at draughts, and joined us in a hearty laugh at our +coolness. Our fifth and last day's journey was a long one of forty miles, +yet near Cape Traverse our horse ran away down a steep hill, and across a +long wooden bridge without a parapet, thereby placing our lives in +imminent jeopardy. After travelling for several hours we came to a lone +house, where we hoped to get some refreshment both for ourselves and the +horse, but found the house _locked_, a remarkable fact, as in this island +robbery is almost unknown. We were quite exhausted with hunger, and our +hearts sank when we found every door and window closed. We then, as an act +of mercy, stole a sheaf of oats from a neighbouring field, and cut the +ears off for the horse with our penknives, after which we, in absolute +hunger, ate as many grains as we could clean from the husks, and some +fern, which we found very bitter. We looked very much like a group of +vagrants sitting by the road-side, the possession of the oats being +disputed with us by five lean pigs. When after another hour we really +succeeded in getting something more suitable for human beings, we ate like +famished creatures. + +While I was walking up a long hill, I passed a neat cabin in a garden of +pumpkins, placed in a situation apparently chosen from its extreme +picturesqueness. Seeing an old man, in a suit of grey frieze and a blue +bonnet, standing at the gate, I addressed him with the words, "_Cia mar +thasibh an diugh." "Slan gu robh math agaibh. Cia mar thasibh an fein," +[Footnote: "How are you to-day?" "Very well, thank you. I hope you are +well."] was the delighted reply, accompanied with a hearty shake of both +hands. He was from Snizort, in the Isle of Skye, and, though he had +attained competence in the land of his adoption, he mourned the absence of +his native heather. He asked me the usual Highland question, "Tell me the +news;" and I told him all that I could recollect of those with whom he was +familiar. He spoke of the Cuchullin Hills, and the stern beauty of Loch +Corruisk, with tears in his eyes. "Ah," he said, "I have no wish but to +see them once again. Who is the lady with you--the lily?" he asked, for he +spoke English imperfectly, and preferred his own poetical tongue. "May +your path be always bright, lady!" he said, as he shook my hand warmly at +parting; "and ye'll come and see me when ye come again, and bring me tales +from the old country." The simple wish of Donnuil Dhu has often recurred +to me in the midst of gayer scenes and companions. It brought to mind +memories of many a hearty welcome received in the old man's Highland home, +and of those whose eyes were then looking upon the Cuchullin Hills. + +After this expedition, where so much kindness had been experienced, +Charlotte Town did not appear more delightful than before, and, though +sorry to take leave of many kind relatives and friends, I was glad that +only one more day remained to me in the island. + +I cordially wish its people every prosperity. They are loyal, moral, and +independent, and their sympathies with England have lately been evidenced +by their liberal contributions to the Patriotic Fund. When their trade and +commerce shall have been extended, and when a more suitable plan has been +adopted for the support of religion; when large portions of waste land +have been brought under cultivation, and local resources have been farther +developed, people will be too much occupied with their own affairs to busy +themselves, as now, either with the affairs of others, or with the puerile +politics of so small a community; and then the island will deserve the +title which has been bestowed on it, "_The Garden of British America._" + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +From St. George's Cross to the Stars and Stripes--Unpunctuality-- +Incompetence----A wretched night--Colonial curiosity--The fashions--A +night in a buffalo robe--A stage journey--A queer character--Politics-- +Chemistry--Mathematics--Rotten bridges--A midnight arrival--Colonial +ignorance--Yankee conceit--What ten-horse power chaps can do--The +pestilence--The city on the rock--New Brunswick--Steamboat peculiarities-- +Going ahead in the eating line--A storm--Stepping ashore. + + +The ravages of the cholera having in some degree ceased, I left Prince +Edward Island for the United States, and decided to endure the delays and +inconveniences of the intercolonial route for the purpose of seeing +something of New Brunswick on my way to Boston. + +The journey from the island to the States is in itself by no means an easy +one, and is rendered still more difficult by the want of arrangement on +the part of those who conduct the transit of travellers. The inhabitants +of our eastern colonies do not understand the value of time, consequently +the uncertain arrivals and departures of the _Lady Le Marchant_ furnish +matter for numerous speculations. From some circumstances which had +occurred within my knowledge--one being that the captain of this steamer +had _forgotten_ to call for the continental mails--I did not attach much +importance to the various times which were fixed definitely for her +sailing between the hours of four and ten. + +A cloudy, gloomy night had succeeded to the bright blaze of an August day, +and midnight was fast approaching before the signal-bell rang. Two friends +accompanied me as far as Bedeque, and, besides the gentleman under whose +escort I was to travel, there were twelve island gentlemen and two ladies, +all supposed to be bound, like myself, for Boston. All separate +individualities were, however, lost amid the confusion of bear-skin and +waterproof coats and the impenetrable darkness which brooded both on wharf +and steamer. + +An amusing scene of bungling marked our departure from Charlotte Town. The +captain, a sturdy old Northumbrian seaman, thoroughly understood his +business; but the owners of the ship compelled him to share its management +with a very pertinacious pilot, and the conflicting orders given, and the +want of harmony in the actions produced, gave rise to many reflections on +the evils of divided responsibility. On the night in question some +mysterious spell seemed to bind us to the shores of Prince Edward Island. +In an attempt to get the steamer off she ran stern foremost upon the +bowsprit of a schooner, then broke one of the piles of the wharf to +pieces, crushing her fender to atoms at the same time. Some persons on the +pier, compassionating our helplessness, attempted to _stave_ the ship off +with long poles, but this well-meant attempt failed, as did several +others, until some one suggested to the captain the very simple expedient +of working the engines, when the steamer moved slowly away, smashing the +bulwarks of a new brig, and soon in the dark and murky atmosphere the few +lights of Charlotte Town ceased to be visible. + +The compass was then required, but the matches in the ship hung fire; and +when a passenger at length produced a light, it was discovered that the +lamp in the binnacle was without that essential article, oil. Meanwhile no +one had ascertained what had caused the heavy smash at the outset, and +certain timid persons, in the idea that a hole had been knocked in the +ship's side, were in continual apprehension that she would fill and sink. +To drown all such gloomy anticipations we sang several songs, among others +the appropriate one, "Isle of Beauty, fare thee well." The voices rapidly +grew more faint and spiritless as we stood farther out to sea, a failure +which might have been attributed to grief at leaving old friends on the +chance of making new ones, had not hints and questions been speedily +interchanged, such as "Do you like the sea?" "Are you feeling +comfortable?" "Would you prefer being downstairs?"--and the like. + +Cloaks and pillows became more thought of than either songs or friends; +indefinable sensations of melancholy rendered the merriest of the party +silent, and a perfect deluge of rain rendered a retreat into the lower +regions a precautionary measure which even the boldest were content to +adopt. Below, in addition to the close overpowering odour of cabins +without any ventilation, the smell of the bilge-water was sufficient in +itself to produce nausea. The dark den called the ladies' cabin, which was +by no means clean, was the sleeping abode of twelve people in various +stages of discomfort, and two babies. + +I spent a very comfortless four hours, and went on deck at dawn to find a +thick fog, a heavy rain, the boards swimming with soot and water, and one +man cowering at the wheel. Most of the gentlemen, induced by the +discomfort to be early risers, came up before we reached Bedeque, in +oilskin caps, coats, and leggings, wearing that expression on their +physiognomies peculiar to Anglo-Saxons in the rain. + +The K----s wished me to go ashore here, but the skipper, who seemed to +have been born with an objection on the tip of his tongue, dissuaded me, +as the rain was falling heavily, and the boat was a quarter full of water; +but as my clothes could not be more thoroughly saturated than they were, I +landed; and even at the early hour of six we found a blazing log-fire in +the shipbuilder's hospitable house, and "Biddy," more the "Biddy" of an +Irish novelist than a servant in real life, with her merry face, rich +brogue, and potato-cakes, welcomed us with many expressions of +commiseration for our drowned plight. + +Who that has ever experienced the miseries of a voyage in a dirty, +crowded, and ill-ventilated little steamer, has not also appreciated the +pleasure of getting upon the land even for a few minutes? The +consciousness of the absence of suffocating sensations, and of the comfort +of a floor which does not move under the feet--of space, and cleanliness, +and warmth--soon produce an oblivion of all past miseries; but if the +voyage has not terminated, and the relief is only temporary, it enhances +the dread of future ones to such an extent that, when the captain came to +the door to fetch me, I had to rouse all my energies before I could leave +a blazing fire to battle with cold and rain again. The offer of a cup of +tea, which I would have supposed irresistible, would not induce him to +permit me to finish my breakfast, but at length his better nature +prevailed, and he consented to send the boat a second time. + +After allowing my pocket to be filled with "notions" by the generous +"Biddy," I took leave of Miss Kenjins, who is good, clever, and agreeable +enough to redeem the young-ladyhood of the island--nor was there enough of +pleasant promise for the future to compensate for the regret I felt at +leaving those who had received a stranger with such kindness and +hospitality. + +I jumped into the boat, where I stood with my feet in the water, in +company with several gentlemen with dripping umbrellas, whose marked want +of nasal development rendered Disraeli's description of "flat-nosed +Franks" peculiarly appropriate. The rain poured down as rain never pours +in England; and under these very dispiriting circumstances I began my +travels over the North American continent. + +I went down to my miserable berth, and vainly tried to sleep, the +discomfort and mismanagement which prevailed leading my thoughts by force +of contrast to the order, cleanliness, and regularity of the inimitable +line of steamers on the West Highland coast. Wherever the means of +locomotion are concerned, these colonies are very far behind either the +"old country" or their enterprising neighbours in Canada; and at present +they do not appear conscious of the deficiencies which are sternly forced +upon a traveller's observation. + +The prospect which appeared through the door was not calculated to please, +as it consisted of a low, dark, and suffocating cabin, filled with men in +suits of oilskin, existing in a steamy atmosphere, loaded with the odours +of india-rubber, tobacco, and spirits. The stewardess was ill, and my +companions were groaning; unheeded babies were crying; and the only +pleasing feature in the scene was the gruff old pilot, ubiquitous in +kindness, ever performing some act of humanity. At one moment he was +holding smelling-salts to some exhausted lady--at another carrying down a +poor Irishwoman, who, though a steerage passenger, should not, he said, be +left to perish from cold and hunger--and again, feeding some crying baby +with bread and milk. My clothes were completely saturated, and his good +offices probably saved me from a severe illness by covering me up with a +blanket. + +At twelve we reached Shediac in New Brunswick, a place from which an +enormous quantity of timber is annually exported. It is a village in a +marsh, on a large bay surrounded by low wooded hills, and presents every +appearance of unhealthiness. Huge square-sided ships, English, Dutch, and +Austrian, were swallowing up rafts of pine which kept arriving from the +shore. The water on this coast is shallow, and, though our steamer was not +of more than 150 tons burthen, we were obliged to anchor nearly two miles +from shore. + +Shediac bad recently been visited by the cholera, and there was an +infectious melancholy about its aspect, which, coupled with the fact that +I was wet, cold, and weary, and with the discovery that my escort and I +had not two ideas in common, had a tendency to produce anything but a +lively frame of mind. + +We and our luggage were unceremoniously trundled into two large boats, +some of the gentlemen, I am sorry to say, forcing their way into the +first, in order to secure for themselves inside places in the stage. An +American gentleman offered our rowers a dollar if they could gain the +shore first, but they failed in doing so, and these very ungallant +individuals hired the first waggon, and drove off at full speed to the +Bend on the Petticodiac river, confident in the success of their scheme. +What was their surprise and mortification to find that a gentleman of our +party, who said he was "an old stager, and up to a dodge or two," had +leisurely telegraphed from Shediac for nine places! Thus, on their arrival +at the Bend, the delinquents found that, besides being both censured and +laughed at for their selfishness, they had lost their places, their +dinners, and their tempers. + +As we were rowing to shore, the captain told us that our worst difficulty +was yet to come--an insuperable one, he added, to corpulent persons. There +was no landing-place for boats, or indeed for anything, at low water, and +we had to climb up a wharf ten feet high, formed of huge round logs placed +a foot apart from each other, and slippery with sea-grass. It is really +incredible that, at a place through which a considerable traffic passes, +as being on the high road from Prince Edward Island to the United States, +there should be a more inconvenient landing-place than I ever saw at a +Highland village. + +Large, high, springless waggons were waiting for us on this wharf, which, +after jolting us along a bad road for some distance, deposited us at the +door of the inn at Shediac, where we came for the first time upon the +track of the cholera, which had recently devastated all the places along +our route. Here we had a substantial dinner of a very homely description, +and, as in Nova Scotia, a cup of tea sweetened with molasses was placed by +each plate, instead of any intoxicating beverage. + +After this meal I went into the "house-room," or parlour, a general +"rendezvous" of lady visitors, babies, unmannerly children, Irish servant- +girls with tangled hair and bare feet, colonial gossips, "cute" urchins, +and not unfrequently of those curious-looking beings, pauper-emigrant lads +from Erin, who do a little of everything and nothing well, denominated +stable-helps. + +Here I was assailed with a host of questions as to my country, objects in +travelling, &c., and I speedily found that being from the "old country" +gave me a _status_ in the eyes of the colonial ladies. I was requested to +take off my cloak to display the pattern of my dress, and the performance +of a very inefficient country _modiste_ passed off as the latest Parisian +fashion. My bonnet and cloak were subjected to a like scrutiny, and the +pattern of the dress was taken, after which I was allowed to resume my +seat. + +Interrogatories about England followed, and I was asked if I had seen the +queen? The hostess "guessed" that she must be a "tall grand lady," and one +pretty damsel that "she must dress beautiful, and always wear the crown +out of doors." I am afraid that I rather lessened the estimation in which +our gracious liege lady was held by her subjects when I replied that she +dressed very simply on ordinary occasions; had never, I believed, worn the +crown since her coronation, and was very little above my height. They +inquired about the royal children, but evinced more curiosity about the +princess-royal than with respect to the heir to the throne. One of the +querists had been at Boston, but guessed that "London must be a pretty +considerable touch higher." Most, however, could only compare it in idea +with St. John, N. B., and listened with the greatest appearance of +interest to the wonders which I narrated of the extent, wealth, and +magnificence of the British metropolis. Altogether I was favourably +impressed by their intelligence, and during my short journey through New +Brunswick I formed a higher opinion of the uneducated settlers in this +province than of those in Nova Scotia. They are very desirous to possess a +reputation for being, to use their borrowed phraseology, "Knowing 'coons, +with their eye-teeth well cut." It would be well if they borrowed from +their neighbours, the Yankees, something more useful than their slang, +which renders the vernacular of the province rather repulsive. The spirit +of enterprise, which has done so much for the adjacent state of Maine, has +not yet displayed itself in New Brunswick in the completion of any works +of practical utility; and though the soil in many places has great natural +capabilities, these have not been taken due advantage of. + +There are two modes of reaching St. John from Shediac, one by stage, the +other by steamer; and the ladies and children, fearful of the fatigue of a +land journey, remained to take the steamer from the Bend. I resolved to +stay under Mr. Sandford's escort, and go by land, one of my objects being +to see as much of the country as possible; also my late experiences of +colonial steamboat travelling had not been so agreeable as to induce me to +brave the storms of the Bay of Fundy in a crazy vessel, which had been +injured only two nights before by a collision in a race. On the night on +which some of my companions sailed the _Creole's_ engines were disabled, +and she remained in a helpless condition for four hours, so I had a very +fortunate escape. + +Taking leave of the amusingly miscellaneous party in the "house-room," I +left Shediac for the Bend, in company with seven persons from Prince +Edward Island, in a waggon drawn by two ponies, and driven by the +landlord, a shrewd specimen of a colonist. + +This mode of transit deserves a passing notice. The waggon consisted of an +oblong shallow wooden tray on four wheels; on this were placed three +boards resting on high unsteady props, and the machine was destitute of +springs. The ponies were thin, shaggy, broken-kneed beings, under fourteen +hands high, with harness of a most meagre description, and its cohesive +qualities seemed very small, if I might judge from the frequency with +which the driver alighted to repair its parts with pieces of twine, with +which his pockets were stored, I suppose in anticipation of such +occasions. + +These poor little animals took nearly four hours to go fourteen miles, and +even this rate of progression was only kept up by the help of continual +admonitions from a stout leather thong. + +It was a dismal evening, very like one in England at the end of November-- +the air cold and damp--and I found the chill from wet clothes and an east +wind anything but agreeable. The country also was extremely uninviting, +and I thought its aspect more gloomy than that of Nova Scotia. Sometimes +we traversed swamps swarming with bullfrogs, on corduroy roads which +nearly jolted us out of the vehicle, then dreary levels abounding in +spindly hacmetac, hemlock, and birch-trees; next we would go down into a +cedar-swamp alive with mosquitoes. Dense forests, impassable morasses, and +sedgy streams always bounded the immediate prospect, and the clearings +were few and far between. Nor was the conversation of my companions +calculated to beguile a tedious journey; it was on "_snatching_," +"_snarlings_" and other puerilities of island politics, corn, sugar, and +molasses. + +About dusk we reached the Bend, a dismal piece of alluvial swampy-looking +land, drained by a wide, muddy river, called the Petticodiac, along the +shore of which a considerable shipbuilding village is located. The tide +here rises and falls twenty-four feet, and sixty at the mouth of the +river, in the Bay of Fundy. It was a dispiriting view--acres of mud bare +at low water, and miles of swamp covered with rank coarse grass, +intersected by tide-streams, which are continually crossed on rotten +wooden bridges without parapets. This place had recently been haunted by +fever and cholera. + +As there was a slight incline into the village, our miserable ponies +commenced a shambling trot, the noise of which brought numerous idlers to +the inn-door to inquire the news. This inn was a rambling, unpainted +erection of wood, opposite to a "cash, credit, and barter store," kept by +an enterprising Caledonian--an additional proof of the saying which +ascribes ubiquity to "Scots, Newcastle grindstones, and Birmingham +buttons." A tidy, bustling landlady, very American in her phraseology, but +kind in her way, took me under her especial protection, as forty men were +staying in the house, and there was an astonishing paucity of the softer +sex; indeed, in all my subsequent travels I met with an undue and rather +disagreeable preponderance of the "lords of the creation." + +Not being inclined to sit in the "parlour" with a very motley company, I +accompanied the hostess into the kitchen, and sat by the fire upon a +chopping-block, the most luxurious seat in the apartment. Two shoeless +Irish girls were my other companions, and one of them, hearing that I was +from England, inquired if I were acquainted with "one Mike Donovan, of +Skibbereen!" The landlady's daughter was also there, a little, sharp- +visaged, precocious torment of three years old, who spilt my ink and lost +my thimble; and then, coming up to me, said, "Well, stranger, I guess +you're kinder tired." She very unceremoniously detached my watch from my +chain, and, looking at it quite with the eye of a _connoisseur_, "guessed +it must have cost a pretty high figure"! After she had filled my purse +with ink, for which misdemeanour her mother offered no apology, I looked +into the tea-room, which presented the curious spectacle of forty men, +including a number of ship-carpenters of highly respectable appearance, +taking tea in the silent, business-like way in which Transatlantic meals +are generally despatched. My own meal, which the landlady evidently +intended should be a very luxurious one, consisted of stewed tea, +sweetened with molasses, soft cheese instead of butter, and dark rye- +bread. + +The inn was so full that my hostess said she could not give me a bed-- +rather an unwelcome announcement to a wayworn traveller--and with +considerable complacency she took me into a large, whitewashed, carpetless +room, furnished with one chair, a small table, and my valise. She gave me +two buffalo robes, and left me, hoping I should be comfortable! Rather +disposed to quarrel with a hardship which shortly afterwards I should have +laughed at, I rolled up my cloak for a pillow, wrapped myself in a +buffalo-skin, and slept as soundly as on the most luxurious couch. I was +roused early by a general thumping and clattering, and, making the hasty +toilette which one is compelled to do when destitute of appliances, I +found the stage at the early hour of six ready at the door; and, to my +surprise, the coachman was muffled up in furs, and the morning was +intensely cold. + +This vehicle was of the same construction as that which I have already +described in Nova Scotia; but, being narrower, was infinitely more +uncomfortable. Seven gentlemen and two ladies went inside, in a space +where six would have been disagreeably crowded. Mr. Sandford preferred the +outside, where he could smoke his cigar without molestation. The road was +very hilly, and several times our progress was turned into retrogression, +for the horses invariably refused to go up hill, probably, poor things! +because they felt their inability to drag the loaded wain up the steep +declivities which we continually met with. The passengers were therefore +frequently called upon to get out and walk--a very agreeable recreation, +for the ice was the thickness of a penny; the thermometer stood at 35°; +there was a piercing north-east wind; and though the sun shone from a +cloudless sky, his rays had scarcely any power. We breakfasted at eight, +at a little wayside inn, and then travelled till midnight with scarcely +any cessation. + +The way would have been very tedious had it not been enlivened by the +eccentricities of Mr. Latham, an English passenger. After breakfast the +conversation in the stage was pretty general, led by the individual +aforesaid, who _lectured_ and _preached_, rather than conversed. Few +subjects were untouched by his eloquence; he spoke with equal ease on a +difficult point in theology, and on the conformation of the sun. He +lectured on politics, astronomy, chemistry, and anatomy with great fluency +and equal incorrectness. In describing the circulation of the blood, he +said, "It's a purely metaphysical subject;" and the answering remark, "It +is the most purely physical," made him vehemently angry. He spoke of the +sun by saying, "I've studied the sun; I know it as well as I do this +field; it's a dark body with a luminous atmosphere, and a climate more +agreeable than that of the earth"--thus announcing as a fact what has been +timidly put forward as a theory only by our greatest astronomers. + +Politics soon came on the _tapis_, when he attacked British institutions +violently, with an equal amount of ignorance and presumption, making such +glaring misstatements that I felt bound to contradict them; when he, not +liking to be lowered in the estimation of his companions, contested the +points in a way which closely bordered upon rudeness. + +He made likewise a very pedantic display of scientific knowledge, in +virtue of an occasional attendance at meetings of mechanics' institutes, +and asked the gentlemen for "We're all gentlemen here"--numerous +questions, to which they could not reply, when one of the party took +courage to ask him why fire burned. "Oh, because of the hydrogen in the +air, of course," was the complacent answer. "I beg your pardon, but there +is no hydrogen in atmospheric air."--"There is; I know the air well: it is +composed one-half of hydrogen, the other half of nitrogen and oxygen." +"You're surely confounding it with water."--"No, I am as well acquainted +with the composition of water as with that of air; it is composed of the +same gases, only in different proportions." This was too monstrous, and +his opponent, while contradicting the statement, could not avoid a hearty +laugh at its absurdity, in which the others joined without knowing why, +which so raised the choler of this irascible gentleman, that it was most +difficult to smooth matters. He contended that he was right and the other +wrong; that his propositions were held by all chemists of eminence on both +sides of the water; that, though he had not verified the elements of these +fluids by analysis, he was perfectly acquainted with their nature; that +the composition of air was a mere theory, but that his opponent's view was +not held by any _savans_ of note. The latter merely replied, "When you +next light a candle you may be thankful that there is no hydrogen in the +air;" after which there was a temporary cessation of hostilities. + +But towards night, being still unwarned by the discomfitures of the +morning, he propounded some questions which his companions could not +answer; among which was, "Why are there black sheep?" How he would have +solved this difficult problem in natural history, I do not know. +Mystification sat on all faces, when the individual who had before +attacked Mr. Latham's misstatements, took up the defence of the puzzled +colonists by volunteering to answer the question if he would explain how +"impossible roots enter equations." No reply was given to this, when, on +some of the gentlemen urging him, perhaps rather mischievously, to answer, +he retorted angrily,--"I'm master of mathematics as well as of other +sciences; but I see there's an intention to make fun of me. I don't choose +to be made a butt of, and I'll show you that I can be as savage as other +people." This threat had the effect of producing a total silence for the +remainder of the journey; but Mr. Latham took an opportunity of explaining +to me that in this speech he intended no personal allusion, but had found +it necessary to check the ill-timed mirth in the stage. In spite of his +presumption and pedantry, he never lost an opportunity of showing +kindness. I saw him last in the very extremity of terror, during a violent +gale off the coast of Maine. + +For the first fifty miles after leaving the Bend, our road lay through +country as solitary and wild as could be conceived--high hills, covered +with endless forests of small growth. I looked in vain for the gigantic +trees so celebrated by travellers in America. If they ever grew in this +region, they now, in the shape of ships, are to be found on every sea +where England's flag waves. Occasionally the smoke of an Indian wigwam +would rise in a thin blue cloud from among the dark foliage of the +hemlock; and by the primitive habitation one of the aboriginal possessors +of the soil might be seen, in tattered habiliments, cleaning a gun or +repairing a bark canoe, scarcely deigning an apathetic glance at those +whom the appliances of civilisation and science had placed so immeasurably +above him. Then a squaw, with a papoose strapped upon her back, would peep +at us from behind a tree; or a half-clothed urchin would pursue us for +coppers, contrasting strangely with the majesty of _Uncas_, or the +sublimity of _Chingachgook_; portraits which it is very doubtful if Cooper +ever took from life. + +In the few places where the land had been cleared the cultivation was +tolerable and the houses comfortable, surrounded generally by cattle-sheds +and rich crops of Tartarian oats. The potatoes appeared to be free from +disease, and the pumpkin crop was evidently abundant and in good +condition. Sussex Valley, along which we passed for thirty miles, is +green, wooded, and smilingly fertile, being watered by a clear rapid +river. The numerous hay-meadows, and the neat appearance of the arable +land, reminded me of England. It is surprising, considering the advantages +possessed by New Brunswick, that it has not been a more favourite resort +of emigrants. It seems to me that one great reason of this must be the +difficulty and expense of land-travelling, as the province is destitute of +the means of internal communication in the shape of railways and canals. +It contains several navigable rivers, and the tracts of country near the +St. John, the Petticodiac, and the Miramichi rivers are very fertile, and +adapted for cultivation. The lakes and minor streams in the interior of +the province are also surrounded by rich land, and the capacious bays +along the coast abound with fish. New Brunswick possesses "responsible +government," and has a Governor, an Executive Council, a Legislative +Council, and a House of Assembly. Except that certain expenses of defence, +&c., are borne by the home government, which would protect the colony in +the event of any predatory incursions on the part of the Americans, it has +all the advantages of being an independent nation; and it is believed that +the Reciprocity Treaty, recently concluded with the United States, will +prove of great commercial benefit. + +Yet the number of emigrants who have sought its shores is comparatively +small, and these arrivals were almost exclusively of the labouring +classes, attracted by the extraordinarily high rates of wages, and were +chiefly absorbed by mechanical employments. The numbers landed in 1853 +were 3762, and, in 1854, 3618. With respect to the general affairs of New +Brunswick, it is very satisfactory to observe that the provincial revenue +has increased to upwards of 200,000_l._ per annum. + +Fredericton, a town of about 9000 inhabitants, on the St. John river, by +which it has a daily communication with the city of St. John, 90 miles +distant, by steamer, is the capital and seat of government. New Brunswick +has considerable mineral wealth; coal and iron are abundant, and the +climate is less foggy than that of Nova Scotia; but these great natural +advantages are suffered to lie nearly dormant. The colonists are very +hardy and extremely loyal; but the vice of drinking, so prevalent in +northern climates, has recently called for legislative interference. + +We stopped at the end of every stage of eighteen miles to change horses, +and at one of the little inns an old man brought to the door of the stage +a very pretty, interesting-looking girl of fifteen years old, and placed +her under my care, requesting me to "see her safely to her home in St. +John, and not allow any of the gentlemen to be rude to her." The latter +part of the instructions was very easy to fulfil, as, whatever faults the +colonists possess, they are extremely respectful in their manners to +ladies. But a difficulty arose, or rather what would have been a +difficulty in England, for the stage was full both inside and out, and all +the passengers were desirous to reach Boston as speedily as possible. +However, a gentleman from New England, seeing the anxiety of the young +girl to reach St. John, got out of the stage, and actually remained at the +little roadside inn for one whole day and two nights, in order to +accommodate a stranger. This act of kindness was performed at great +personal inconvenience, and the gentleman who showed it did not appear to +attach the slightest merit to it The novelty of it made a strong +impression upon me, and it fully bore out all that I had read or heard of +the almost exaggerated deference to ladies which custom requires from +American gentlemen. + +After darkness came on, the tedium of a journey of twenty hours, performed +while sitting in a very cramped posture, was almost insupportable, and the +monotony of it was only broken by the number of wooden bridges which we +crossed, and the driver's admonition, "Bridge dangerous; passengers get +out and walk." The night was very cold and frosty, and so productive of +aguish chills, that I was not at all sorry for the compelled pedestrianism +entailed upon me by the insecure state of these bridges. + +My young charge seemed extremely timid while crossing them, and uttered a +few suppressed shrieks when curious splitting noises, apparently +proceeding from the woodwork, broke the stillness; nor was I altogether +surprised at her emotions when, as we were walking over a bridge nearly +half a mile in length, I was told that a coach and six horses had +disappeared through it a fortnight before, at the cost of several broken +limbs. + +While crossing the St. John, near the pretty town of Hampton, one of our +leaders put both his fore feet into a hole, and was with difficulty +extricated. + +Precisely at midnight the stage clattered down the steep streets of the +city of St. John, to which the ravages of the cholera had recently given +such a terrible celebrity. After a fruitless pilgrimage to three hotels, +we were at length received at Waverley House, having accomplished a +journey of one hundred miles in twenty hours! On ringing my bell, it was +answered by a rough porter, and I soon found that _waiting_ chambermaids +are not essential at Transatlantic hotels; and the female servants, or +rather _helps_, are of a very superior class. A friend of mine, on leaving +an hotel at Niagara, offered a _douceur_ in the shape of half a dollar to +one of these, but she drew herself up, and proudly replied, "American +ladies do not receive money from gentlemen." Having left my keys at the +Bend, I found my valise a useless incumbrance, rather annoying after a +week of travelling. + +We spent the Sunday at St. John, and, the opportune arrival of my keys +enabling me to don some habiliments suited to the day, I went to the +church, where the service, with the exception of the sermon, was very well +performed. A solemn thanksgiving for the removal of the cholera was read, +and was rendered very impressive by the fact that most of the congregation +were in new mourning. The Angel of Death had long hovered over the doomed +city, which lost rather more than a tenth of its population from a disease +which in the hot summer of America is nearly as fatal and terrible as the +plague. All who could leave the town fled; but many carried the disease +with them, and died upon the road. The hotels, shipyards, and stores were +closed, bodies rudely nailed up in boards were hurried about the streets, +and met with hasty burial outside the city, before vital warmth had fled; +the holy ties of natural affection were disregarded, and the dying were +left alone to meet the King of Terrors, none remaining to close their +eyes; the ominous clang of the death-bell was heard both night and day, +and a dense brown fog was supposed to brood over the city, which for five +weeks was the abode of the dying and the dead. + +A temporary regard for religion was produced among the inhabitants of St. +John by the visit of the pestilence; it was scarcely possible for the most +sceptical not to recognise the overruling providence of God: and I have +seldom seen more external respect for the Sabbath and the ordinances of +religion than in this city. + +The preponderance of the rougher sex was very strongly marked at Waverley +House. Fifty gentlemen sat down to dinner, and only three ladies, +inclusive of the landlady. Fifty-three cups of tea graced the table, which +was likewise ornamented with six boiled legs of mutton, numerous dishes of +splendid potatoes, and corn-cobs, squash, and pumpkin-pie, in true +colonial abundance. + +I cannot forbear giving a conversation which took place at a meal at this +inn, as it is very characteristic of the style of persons whom one +continually meets with in travelling in these colonies: "I guess you're +from the Old Country?" commenced my _vis-à-vis_; to which recognition of +my nationality I humbly bowed. "What do you think of us here d own east?" +"I have been so short a time in these provinces, that I cannot form any +just opinion." "Oh, but you must have formed some; we like to know what +Old Country folks think of us." Thus asked, I could not avoid making some +reply, and said, "I think there is a great want of systematic enterprise +in these colonies; you do not avail yourselves of the great natural +advantages which you possess." "Well, the fact is, old father Jackey Bull +ought to help us, or let us go off on our own hook right entirely." "You +have responsible government, and, to use your own phrase, you are on 'your +own hook' in all but the name." "Well, I guess as we are; _we're a long +chalk above the Yankees_, though them is fellers as thinks nobody's got +their eye teeth cut but themselves." + +The self-complacent ignorance with which this remark was made was +ludicrous in the extreme. He began again: "What do you think of Nova +Scotia and the 'Blue Noses'? Halifax is a grand place, sure_ly_!" "At +Halifax I found the best inn such a one as no respectable American would +condescend to sleep at, and a town of shingles, with scarcely any +sidewalks. The people were talking largely of railways and steamers, yet I +travelled by the mail to Truro and Pictou in a conveyance that would +scarcely have been tolerated in England two centuries ago. The people of +Halifax possess the finest harbour in North America, yet they have no +docks, and scarcely any shipping. The Nova-Scotians, it is known, have +iron, coal, slate, limestone, and freestone, and their shores swarm with +fish, yet they spend their time in talking about railways, docks, and the +House of Assembly, and end by walking about doing nothing." + +"Yes," chimed in a Boston sea-captain, who had been our fellow-passenger +from Europe, and prided himself upon being a "thorough-going down-easter," +"it takes as long for a Blue Nose to put on his hat as for one of our free +and enlightened citizens to go from Bosting to New _Orleens_. If we don't +whip all creation it's a pity! Why, stranger, if you were to go to +Connecticut, and tell 'em what you've been telling this ere child, they'd +guess you'd been with _Colonel Crockett_." + +"Well, I proceeded, in answer to another question from the New- +Brunswicker," if you wish to go to the north of your own province, you +require to go round Nova Scotia by sea. I understand that a railway to the +Bay of Chaleur has been talked about, but I suppose it has ended where it +began; and, for want of a railway to Halifax, even the Canadian traffic +has been diverted to Portland." + +"We want to invest some of our surplus revenue," said the captain. "It'll +be a good spec when Congress buys these colonies; some of our ten-horse +power chaps will come down, and, before you could whistle 'Yankee Doodle,' +we'll have a canal to Bay Varte, with a town as big as Newhaven at each +end. The Blue Noses will look kinder streaked then, I guess." The New- +Brunswicker retorted, with some fierceness, that the handful of British +troops at Fredericton could "chaw up" the whole American army; and the +conversation continued for some time longer in the same boastful and +exaggerated strain on each side, but the above is a specimen of colonial +arrogance and American conceit. + +The population of New Brunswick in 1851 was 193,800; but it is now over +210,000, and will likely increase rapidly, should the contemplated +extension of the railway system to the province ever take place; as in +that case the route to both the Canadas by the port of St. John will +probably supersede every other. The spacious harbour of St. John has a +sufficient depth of water for vessels of the largest class, and its tide- +fall of about 25 feet effectually prevents it from being frozen in the +winter. + +The timber trade is a most important source of wealth to the colony--the +timber floated down the St. John alone, in the season of 1852, was of the +value of 405,208_l._ sterling. The saw-mills, of which by the last census +there were 584, gave employment to 4302 hands. By the same census there +were 87 ships, with an average burthen of 400 tons each, built in the year +in which it was taken, and the number has been on the increase since. +These colonial-built vessels are gradually acquiring a very high +reputation; some of our finest clippers, including one or two belonging to +the celebrated "White Star" line, are by the St. John builders. Perhaps, +with the single exception of Canada West, no colony offers such varied +inducements to emigrants. + +I saw as much of St. John as possible, and on a fine day was favourably +impressed with it. It well deserves its cognomen, "The City of the Rock," +being situated on a high, bluff, rocky peninsula, backed on the land-side +by steep barren hills. The harbour is well sheltered and capacious, and +the suspension-bridge above the falls very picturesque. The streets are +steep, wide, and well paved, and the stores are more pretentious than +those of Halifax. There is also a very handsome square, with a more +respectable fountain in it than those which excite the ridicule of +foreigners in front of our National Gallery. It is a place where a large +amount of business is done, and the shipyards alone give employment to +several thousand persons. + +Yet the lower parts of the town are dirty in the extreme. I visited some +of the streets near the water before the cholera had quite disappeared +from them, nor did I wonder that the pestilence should linger in places so +appropriate to itself; for the roadways were strewn to a depth of several +inches with sawdust, emitting a foul decomposing smell, and in which lean +pigs were _routing_ and fighting. + +Yet St. John wears a lively aspect. You see a thousand boatmen, raftmen, +and millmen, some warping dingy scows, others loading huge square-sided +ships; busy gangs of men in fustian jackets, engaged in running off the +newly sawed timber; and the streets bustling with storekeepers, lumber- +merchants, and market-men; all combining to produce a chaos of activity +very uncommon in the towns of our North American colonies. But too often, +murky-looking wharfs, storehouses, and half-dismantled ships, are +enveloped in drizzling fog--the fog rendered yet more impenetrable by the +fumes of coal-tar and sawdust; and the lower streets swarm with a +demoralised population. Yet the people of St. John are so far beyond the +people of Halifax, that I heartily wish them success and a railroad. + +The air was ringing with the clang of a thousand saws and hammers, when, +at seven on the morning of a brilliant August day, we walked through the +swarming streets bordering upon the harbour to the _Ornevorg_ steamer, +belonging to the United States, built for Long Island Sound, but now used +as a coasting steamer. All my preconceived notions of a steamer were here +at fault. If it were like anything in nature, it was like Noah's ark, or, +to come to something post-diluvian, one of those covered hulks, or "ships +in ordinary," which are to be seen at Portsmouth and Devonport. + +She was totally unlike an English ship, painted entirely white, without +masts, with two small black funnels alongside each other; and several +erections one above another for decks, containing multitudes of windows +about two feet square. The fabric seemed kept together by two large beams, +which added to the top-heavy appearance of the whole affair. We entered by +the paddle-box (which was within the outer casing of the ship), in company +with a great crowd, into a large square uncarpeted apartment, called the +"Hall," with offices at the sides for the sale of railway and dinner +tickets. Separated from this by a curtain is the ladies' saloon, a large +and almost _too_ airy apartment extending from the Hall to the stem of the +ship, well furnished with sofas, rocking-chairs, and marble tables. A row +of berths runs along the side, hung with festooned drapery of satin +damask, the curtains being of muslin, embroidered with rose-coloured +braid. + +Above this is the general saloon, a large, handsomely furnished room, with +state rooms running down each side, and opening upon a small deck fourteen +feet long, also covered; the roof of this and of the saloon, forming the +real or hurricane deck of the ship, closed to passengers, and twelve feet +above which works the beam of the engine. Below the Hall, running the +whole length of the ship, is the gentlemen's cabin, containing 170 berths. +This is lighted by artificial light, and is used for meals. An enclosure +for the engine occupies the centre, but is very small, as the machinery of +a, high-pressure engine is without the encumbrances of condenser and air- +pump. The engines drove the unwieldy fabric through the calm water at the +rate of fifteen miles an hour. I have been thus minute in my description, +because this one will serve for all the steamers in which I subsequently +travelled in the United States and Canada. + +The city of St. John looked magnificent on its lofty steep; and for some +time we had some very fine coast scenery; lofty granite cliffs rising +abruptly from the water, clothed with forests, the sea adjoining them so +deep, that we passed them, as proved by actual demonstration, within a +stone's throw. At one we arrived at Eastport, in Maine, a thriving-looking +place, and dinner was served while we were quiescent at the wharf. The +stewardess hunted up all the females in the ship, and, preceding them down +stairs, placed them at the head of the table; then, and not an instant +before, were the gentlemen allowed to appear, who made a most obstreperous +rush at the viands. There were about 200 people seated in a fetid and +dimly-lighted apartment, at a table covered over with odoriferous viands-- +pork stuffed with onions, boiled legs of mutton, boiled chickens and +turkeys, roast geese, beef-steaks, yams, tomatoes, squash, mush, corn- +cobs, johnny cake, and those endless dishes of pastry to which the +American palate is so partial. I was just finishing a plate of soup when a +waiter touched me on the shoulder--"Dinner ticket, or fifty cents"; and +almost before I had comprehended the mysteries of American money +sufficiently to pay, other people were eating their dessert. So simple, +however, is the coinage of the United States, that in two days I +understood it as well as our own. Five dollars equal an English sovereign, +and one hundred cents make a dollar, and with this very moderate amount of +knowledge one can conduct one's pecuniary affairs all over the Union. The +simplicity of the calculation was quite a relief to me after the relative +values of the English sovereign in the colonies, which had greatly +perplexed me: 25_s._ 6_d._ in New Brunswick, 25_s._ in Nova Scotia, and +30_s._ in Prince Edward Island. I sat on deck till five, when I went down +to my berth. As the evening closed in gloomily, the sea grew coarser, and +I heard the captain say, "We are likely to have a very fresh night of it." +At seven a wave went down the companion-way, and washed half the tea- +things off the table, and before I fell asleep, the mate put his head +through the curtain to say, "It's a rough night, ladies, but there's no +danger"; a left-handed way of giving courage, which of course frightened +the timid. About eleven I was awoke by confused cries, and in my dawning +consciousness everything seemed going to pieces. The curtain was undrawn, +and I could see the hall continually swept by the waves. + +Everything in our saloon was loose; rocking-chairs were careering about +the floor and coming into collision; the stewardess, half-dressed, was +crawling about from berth to berth, answering the inquiries of terrified +ladies, and the ship was groaning and straining heavily; but I slept +again, till awoke at midnight by a man's voice shouting "Get up, ladies, +and dress, but don't come out till you're called; the gale's very heavy." +Then followed a scene. People, helpless in illness a moment before, sprang +out of their berths and hastily huddled on their clothes; mothers caught +hold of their infants with a convulsive grasp; some screamed, others sat +down in apathy, while not a few addressed agonised supplications to that +God, too often neglected in times of health and safety, to save them in +their supposed extremity. + +Crash went the lamp, which was suspended from the ceiling, as a huge wave +struck the ship, making her reel and stagger, and shrieks of terror +followed this event, which left us in almost total darkness. Rush came +another heavy wave, sweeping up the saloon, carrying chairs and stools +before it, and as rapidly retiring. The hall was full of men, clinging to +the supports, each catching the infectious fear from his neighbour. Wave +after wave now struck the ship. I heard the captain say the sea was making +a clean breach over her, and order the deck-load overboard. Shortly after, +the water, sweeping in from above, put out the engine-fires, and, as she +settled down continually in the trough of the sea, and lay trembling there +as though she would never rise again, even in my ignorance I knew that she +had "no way on her" and was at the mercy of the waters. I now understood +the meaning of "blowing great guns." The wind sounded like continual +discharges of heavy artillery, and the waves, as they struck the ship, +felt like cannon-balls. I could not get up and dress, for, being in the +top berth, I was unable to get out in consequence of the rolling of the +ship, and so, being unable to mend matters, I lay quietly, the whole +passing before me as a scene. I had several times been called on to +anticipate death from illness; but here, as I heard the men outside say, +"She's going down, she's water-logged, she can't hold together," there was +a different prospect of sinking down among the long trailing weeds in the +cold, deep waters of the Atlantic. Towards three o'clock, a wave, striking +the ship, threw me against a projecting beam of the side, cutting my head +severely and stunning me, and I remained insensible for three hours. We +continued in great danger for ten hours, many expecting each moment to be +their last, but in the morning the gale moderated, and by most strenuous +exertions at the pumps the water was kept down till assistance was +rendered, which enabled us about one o'clock to reach the friendly harbour +of Portland in Maine, with considerable damage and both our boats stove. +Deep thankfulness was expressed by many at such an unlooked-for +termination of the night's terrors and adventures; many the resolutions +expressed not to trust the sea again. + +We were speedily moored to the wharf at Portland, amid a forest of masts; +the stars and stripes flaunted gaily overhead in concert with the American +eagle; and as I stepped upon those shores on which the sanguine suppose +that the Anglo-Saxon race is to renew the vigour of its youth, I felt that +a new era of my existence had begun. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +First experiences of American freedom--The "striped pig" and "Dusty Ben"-- +A country mouse--What the cars are like--Beauties of New England--The land +of apples--A Mammoth hotel--The rusty inkstand exiled--Eloquent eyes-- +Alone in a crowd. + + +The city of Portland, with its busy streets, and crowded wharfs, and +handsome buildings, and railway depots, rising as it does on the barren +coast of the sterile State of Maine, fully bears out the first part of an +assertion which I had already heard made by Americans, "We're a great +people, the greatest nation on the face of the earth." A polite custom- +house officer asked me if I had anything contraband in my trunks, and on +my reply in the negative they were permitted to pass without even the +formality of being uncorded. "Enlightened citizens" they are truly, I +thought, and, with the pleasant consciousness of being in a perfectly free +country, where every one can do as he pleases, I entered an hotel near the +water and sat down in the ladies' parlour. I had not tasted food for +twenty-five hours, my clothes were cold and wet, a severe cut was on my +temple, and I felt thoroughly exhausted. These circumstances, I thought, +justified me in ringing the bell and asking for a glass of wine. Visions +of the agreeable refreshment which would be produced by the juice of the +grape appeared simultaneously with the waiter. I made the request, and he +brusquely replied, "You can't have it, _it's contrary to law_." In my +half-drowned and faint condition the refusal appeared tantamount to +positive cruelty, and I remembered that I had come in contact with the +celebrated "_Maine Law_." That the inhabitants of the State of Maine are +not "_free_" was thus placed practically before me at once. Whether they +are "_enlightened_" I doubted at the time, but leave the question of the +prohibition of fermented liquors to be decided by abler social economists +than myself. + +I was hereafter informed that to those who go down stairs, and ask to see +the "_striped pig_" wine and spirits are produced; that a request to speak +with "_Dusty Ben_" has a like effect, and that, on asking for +"_sarsaparilla_" at certain stores in the town, the desired stimulant can +be obtained. Indeed it is said that the consumption of this drug is +greater in Maine than in all the other States put together. But in justice +to this highly respectable State, I must add that the drunkenness which +forced this stringent measure upon the legislature was among the thousands +of English and Irish emigrants who annually land at Portland. My only +companion here was a rosy-cheeked, simple country girl, who was going to +Kennebunk, and, never having been from home before, had not the slightest +idea what to do. Presuming on my antiquated appearance, she asked me "to +take care of her, to get her ticket for her, for she dare'nt ask those men +for it, and to let her sit by me in the car." She said she was so +frightened with something she'd seen that she didn't know how she should +go in the cars. I asked her what it was. "Oh," she said, "it was a great +thing, bright red, with I don't know how many wheels, and a large black +top, and bright shining things moving about all over it, and smoke and +steam coming out of it, and it made such an awful noise it seemed to shake +the earth." + +At half-past three we entered the cars in a long shed, where there were no +officials in uniform as in England, and we found our way in as we could. +"All aboard!" is the signal for taking places, but on this occasion a loud +shout of "Tumble in for your lives!" greeted my amused ears, succeeded by +"Go a-head!" and off we went, the engineer tolling a heavy bell to notify +our approach to the passengers in _the streets along which we passed_. +America has certainly flourished under her motto "Go a-head!" but the +cautious "All right!" of an English guard, who waits to start till he is +sure of his ground being clear, gives one more confidence. I never +experienced the same amount of fear which is expressed by _Bunn_ and other +writers, for, on comparing the number of accidents with the number of +miles of railway open in America, I did not find the disadvantage in point +of safety on her side. The cars are a complete novelty to an English eye. +They are twenty-five feet long, and hold about sixty persons; they have +twelve windows on either side, and two and a door at each end; a passage +runs down the middle, with chairs to hold two each on either side. There +is a small saloon for ladies with babies at one end, and a filter +containing a constant supply of iced water. There are rings along the roof +for a rope which passes through each car to the engine, so that anything +wrong can be communicated instantly to the engineer. Every car has eight +solid wheels, four being placed close together at each end, all of which +can be locked by two powerful breaks. At each end of every car is a +platform, and passengers are "prohibited from standing upon it at their +peril," as also from passing from car to car while the train is in motion; +but as no penalty attaches to this law, it is incessantly and continuously +violated, "free and enlightened citizens" being at perfect liberty to +imperil their own necks; and "poor, ignorant, benighted Britishers" soon +learn to follow their example. Persons are for ever passing backwards and +forwards, exclusive of the conductor whose business it is, and water- +carriers, book, bonbon, and peach venders. No person connected with these +railways wears a distinguishing dress, and the stations, or "depots" as +they are called, are generally of the meanest description, mere wooden +sheds, with a ticket-office very difficult to discover. If you are so +fortunate as to find a man standing at the door of the baggage-car, he +attaches copper plates to your trunks, with a number and the name of the +place you are going to upon them, giving you labels with corresponding +numbers. By this excellent arrangement, in going a very long journey, in +which you are obliged to change cars several times, and cross rivers and +lakes in steamers, you are relieved of all responsibility, and only +require at the end to give your checks to the hotel-porter, who regains +your baggage without any trouble on your part. + +This plan would be worthily imitated at our termini in England, where I +have frequently seen "unprotected females" in the last stage of frenzy at +being pushed out of the way, while some persons unknown are running off +with their possessions. When you reach a _depôt_, as there are no railway +porters, numerous men clamour to take your effects to an hotel, but, as +many of these are thieves, it is necessary to be very careful in only +selecting those who have hotel-badges on their hats. + +An emigrant-car is attached to each train, but there is only one class: +thus it may happen that you have on one side the President of the Great +Republic, and on the other the _gentleman_ who blacked your shoes in the +morning. The Americans, however, have too much respect for themselves and +their companions to travel except in good clothes, and this mingling of +all ranks is far from being disagreeable, particularly to a stranger like +myself, one of whose objects was to see things in their everyday dress. We +must be well aware that in many parts of England it would be difficult for +a lady to travel unattended in a second-class, impossible in a third-class +carriage; yet I travelled several thousand miles in America, frequently +alone, from the house of one friend to another's, and never met with +anything approaching to incivility; and I have often heard it stated that +a lady, no matter what her youth or attractions might be, could travel +alone through every State in the Union, and never meet with anything but +attention and respect. + +I have had considerable experience of the cars, having travelled from the +Atlantic to the Mississippi, and from the Mississippi to the St. Lawrence, +and found the company so agreeable in its way, and the cars themselves so +easy, well ventilated, and comfortable, that, were it not for the +disgusting practice of spitting upon the floors in which the lower classes +of Americans indulge, I should greatly prefer them to our own exclusive +carriages, denominated in the States "_'coon sentry-boxes_." Well, we are +seated in the cars; a man shouts "Go a-head!" and we are off, the engine +ringing its heavy bell, and thus begin my experiences of American travel. + +I found myself in company with eleven gentlemen and a lady from Prince +Edward Island, whom a strange gregarious instinct had thus drawn together. +The engine gave a hollow groan, very unlike our cheerful whistle, and, +soon moving through the town, we reached the open country. + +Fair was the country that we passed through in the States of Maine, New +Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Oh very fair! smiling, cultivated, and +green, like England, but far happier; for slavery which disgraces the New +World, and poverty which desolates the Old, are nowhere to be seen. + +There were many farmhouses surrounded by the nearly finished harvest, with +verandahs covered with vines and roses; and patriarchal-looking family +groups seated under them, engaged in different employments, and enjoying +the sunset, for here it was gorgeous summer. And there were smaller houses +of wood painted white, with bright green jalousies, in gardens of +pumpkins, and surrounded by orchards. Apples seemed almost to grow wild; +there were as many orchards as corn-fields, and apple and pear trees grew +in the very hedgerows. + +And such apples! not like our small, sour, flavourless _things_, but like +some southern fruit; huge balls, red and yellow, such as are caricatured +in wood, weighing down the fine large trees. There were heaps of apples on +the ground, and horses and cows were eating them in the fields, and rows +of freight-cars at all the stations were laden with them, and little boys +were selling them in the cars; in short, where were they not? There were +smiling fields with verdant hedgerows between them, unlike the untidy +snake-fences of the colonies, and meadows like parks, dotted over with +trees, and woods filled with sumach and scarlet maple, and rapid streams +hurrying over white pebbles, and villages of green-jalousied houses, with +churches and spires, for here all places of worship have spires; and the +mellow light of a declining sun streamed over this varied scene of +happiness, prosperity, and comfort; and for a moment I thought--O +traitorous thought!--that the New England was fairer than the Old. + +Nor were the more material evidences of prosperity wanting, for we passed +through several large towns near the coast--Newbury Port, Salem, and +Portsmouth--with populations varying from 30,000 to 50,000 souls. They +seemed bustling, thriving places, with handsome stores, which we had an +opportunity of observing, as in the States the cars run right into the +streets along the carriage-way, traffic being merely diverted from the +track while the cars are upon it. + +Most of the railways in the States have only one track or line of rails, +with occasional sidings at the stations for the cars to pass each other. A +fence is by no means a matter of necessity, and two or three animals are +destroyed every day from straying on the line. The engines, which are +nearly twice the size of ours, with a covered enclosure for the engineer +and stoker, carry large _fenders_ or guards in front, to lift incumbrances +from the track. At eight o'clock we found ourselves passing over water, +and between long rows of gas-lights, and shortly afterwards the cars +stopped at Boston, the Athens of America. Giving our baggage-checks to the +porter of the American House, we drove to that immense hotel, where I +remained for one night. It was crammed from the very basement to the most +undesirable locality nearest the moon; I believe it had seven hundred +inmates. I had arranged to travel to Cincinnati, and from thence to +Toronto, with Mr. and Mrs. Walrence, but on reaching Boston I found that +they feared fever and cholera, and, leaving me to travel alone from +Albany, would meet me at Chicago. Under these circumstances I remained +with my island friends for one night at this establishment, a stranger in +a land where I had few acquaintances, though I was well armed with letters +of introduction. One of these was to Mr. Amy, a highly respected merchant +of Boston, who had previously informed me by letter of the best route to +the States, and I immediately despatched a note to him, but he was absent +at his country-house, and I was left to analyse the feeling of isolation +inseparable from being alone in a crowd. Having received the key of my +room, I took my supper in an immense hall, calculated for dining 400 +persons. I next went into the ladies' parlour, and felt rather out of +place among so many richly dressed females; for as I was proceeding to +write a letter, a porter came in and told me that writing was not allowed +in that saloon. "Freedom again," thought I. On looking round I did feel +that my antiquated goose-quill and rusty-looking inkstand were rather out +of place. The carpet of the room was of richly flowered Victoria pile, +rendering the heaviest footstep noiseless; the tables were marble on +gilded pedestals, the couches covered with gold brocade. At a piano of +rich workmanship an elegantly dressed lady was seated, singing "And will +you love me always?"--a question apparently satisfactorily answered by the +speaking eyes of a bearded Southerner, who was turning over the pages for +her. A fountain of antique workmanship threw up a _jet d'eau_ of iced +water, scented with _eau de Cologne_; and the whole was lighted by four +splendid chandeliers interminably reflected, for the walls were mirrors +divided by marble pillars. The room seemed appropriate to the purposes to +which it was devoted--music, needlework, conversation, and flirting. With +the single exception of the rule against writing in the ladies' saloon, a +visitor at these immense establishments is at perfect liberty to do as he +pleases, provided he pays the moderate charge of two dollars, or 8_s._ a +day. This includes, even at the best hotels, a splendid _table-d'hóte_, a +comfortable bedroom, lights, attendance, and society in abundance. From +the servants one meets with great attention, not combined with deference +of manner, still less with that obsequiousness which informs you by a +suggestive bow, at the end of your visit, that it has been meted out with +reference to the probable amount of half-sovereigns, shillings, and +sixpences at your disposal. + +It will not be out of place here to give a sketch of the peculiarities of +the American hotel system, which constitutes such a distinctive feature of +life in the States, and is a requirement arising out of the enormous +extent of their territory, and the nomade life led by vast numbers of the +most restless and energetic people under the sun. + +"People will turn hastily over the pages when they corne to this" was the +remark of a lively critic on reading this announcement; but while I +promise my readers that hotels shall only be described _once_, I could not +reconcile it to myself not to give them information on "Things as they are +in America," when I had an opportunity of acquiring it. + +The American House at Boston, which is a fair specimen of the best class +of hotels in the States, though more frequented by mercantile men than by +tourists, is built of grey granite, with a frontage to the street of 100 +feet. The ground floor to the front is occupied by retail stores, in the +centre of which a lofty double doorway denotes the entrance, marked in a +more characteristic manner by groups of gentlemen smoking before it. This +opens into a lofty and very spacious hall, with a chequered floor of black +and white marble; there are lounges against the wall, covered over with +buffalo-skins; and, except at meal-times, this capacious apartment is a +scene of endless busy life, from two to three hundred gentlemen constantly +thronging it, smoking at the door, lounging on the settees, reading the +newspapers, standing in animated groups discussing commercial matters, +arriving, or departing. Piles of luggage, in which one sees with dismay +one's light travelling valise crushed under a gigantic trunk, occupy the +centre; porters seated on a form wait for orders; peripatetic individuals +walk to and fro; a confused Babel of voices is ever ascending to the +galleries above; and at the door, hacks, like the "_eilwagon_" of Germany, +are ever depositing fresh arrivals. There is besides this a private +entrance for ladies. Opposite the entrance is a counter, where four or +five clerks constantly attend, under the superintendence of a cashier, to +whom all applications for rooms are personally made. I went up to this +functionary, wrote my name in a book, he placed a number against it, and, +giving me a key with a corresponding number attached, I followed a porter +down a long corridor, and up to a small clean room on the third story, +where to all intents and purposes my identity was lost--merged in a mere +numeral. At another side of the hall is the bar, a handsomely decorated +apartment, where lovers of such beverages can procure "toddy," "night- +caps," "mint julep," "gin sling," &c. On the door of my very neat and +comfortable bed-room was a printed statement of the rules, times of meals, +and charge per diem. I believe there are nearly 300 rooms in this house, +some of them being bed-rooms as large and commodious as in a private +mansion in England. + +On the level of the entrance is a magnificent eating saloon, principally +devoted to male guests, and which is 80 feet long. Upstairs is a large +room furnished with a rare combination of splendour and taste, called "The +Ladies' Ordinary," where families, ladies, and their invited guests take +their meals. Breakfast is at the early hour of seven, and remains on the +table till nine; dinner is at one, and tea at six. At these meals "every +delicacy of the season" is served in profusion; the daily bill of fare +would do credit to a banquet at the Mansion House; the _chef de cuisine_ +is generally French, and an epicure would find ample scope for the +gratification of his palate. If people persist in taking their meals in a +separate apartment, they are obliged to pay dearly for the indulgence of +their exclusiveness. There are more than 100 waiters, and the ladies at +table are always served first, and to the best pieces. + +Though it is not part of the hotel system, I cannot forbear mentioning the +rapidity with which the Americans despatch their meals. My next neighbour +has frequently risen from his seat after a substantial and varied dinner +while I was sending away my soup-plate. The effect of this at a _table- +d'hôte_, where 400 or 600 sit down to dine, is unpleasant, for the swing- +door is incessantly in motion. Indeed, the utter absence of repose is +almost the first thing which strikes a stranger. The incessant sound of +bells and gongs, the rolling of hacks to and from the door, the arrivals +and departures every minute, the trampling of innumerable feet, the +flirting and talking in every corridor, make these immense hotels more +like a human beehive than anything else. + +The drawing-rooms are always kept very hot by huge fires of anthracite + coal, and the doors are left open to neutralise the effect. The +temperance at table filled me with surprise. I very seldom saw any +beverage but pure iced-water. There are conveniences of all descriptions +for the use of the guests. The wires of the electric telegraph, constantly +attended by a clerk, run into the hotel; porters are ever ready to take +your messages into the town; pens, paper, and ink await you in recesses in +the lobbies; a man is ever at hand to clean and brush soiled boots--in +short, there is every contrivance for abridging your labour in mounting up +stairs. But the method of avoiding the confusion and din of two or three +hundred bells must not be omitted. All the wires from the different rooms +centre at one bell, which is located in a case in the lobby, with the +mechanism seen on one side through a sheet of plate-glass. The other side +of the case is covered with numbers in rows. By each number is a small +straight piece of brass, which drops and hangs down when the bell is +sounded, displaying the number to the attention of the clerk, who sends a +waiter to the apartment, and places the piece of brass in its former +position. + +Steam laundries are connected with all the large hotels. At American House +the laundry is under the management of a clerk, who records all the minor +details. The linen is cleansed in a churn-like machine moved by steam, and +wrung by a novel application of the principle of centrifugal force; after +which the articles are dried by being passed through currents of hot air, +so that they are washed and ironed in the space of a few minutes. The +charge varies from six to ten shillings a dozen. There are also suites of +hot and cold baths, and barbers' shops. + +Before I understood the mysteries of these hotels, I used to be surprised +to see gentlemen travelling without even carpet-bags, but it soon appeared +that razors and hair-brushes were superfluous, and that the possessor of +one shirt might always pass as the owner of half a dozen, for, while +taking a bath, the magic laundry would reproduce the article in its +pristine glories of whiteness and starch. Every attention to the comfort +and luxury of the guest is paid at American House, and its spirited +proprietor, Mr. Rice, deserves the patronage which the travelling public +so liberally bestow upon him. On ringing my bell it was answered by a +garcon, and it is rather curious seldom or never to see a chambermaid. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +A suspected bill--A friend in need--All aboard for the Western cars--The +wings of the wind-American politeness--A loquacious conductor--Three +minutes for refreshments--A conversation on politics--A confession--The +emigrant car--Beauties of the woods--A forest on fire--Dangers of the +cars--The Queen City of the West. + + +I rose the morning after my arrival at five, hoping to leave Boston for +Cincinnati by the _Lightning Express_, which left at eight. But on +summoning the cashier (or rather _requesting_ his attendance, for one +never _summons_ any one in the States), and showing him my hill of +exchange drawn on Barclay and Company of London, he looked at _me_, then +at _it_, suspiciously, as if doubting whether the possessor of such a +little wayworn portmanteau could he the _bonâ fide_ owner of such a sum as +the figures represented. "There's so much bad paper going about, we can't +possibly accommodate you," was the discouraging reply; so I was compelled +patiently to submit to the detention. + +I breakfasted at seven in the ladies' ordinary, without exchanging a +syllable with any one, and soon after my kind friend, Mr. Amy, called upon +me. He proved himself a friend indeed, and his kindness gave me at once a +favourable impression of the Americans. First impressions are not always +correct, but I am happy to say they were fully borne out in this instance +by the uniform kindness and hospitality which I experienced during my +whole tour. Mr. Amy soon procured me the money for my bill, all in five- +dollar notes, and I was glad to find the exchange greatly in favour of +England. He gave me much information about my route, and various cautions +which I found very useful, and then drove me in a light "waggon" round the +antiquated streets of Boston, crowded with the material evidences of +prosperity, to his pretty villa three miles distant, in one of those +villages of ornamental dwelling-houses which render the appearance of the +environs of Boston peculiarly attractive. I saw a good deal of the town in +my drive, but, as I returned to it before leaving the States, I shall +defer my description of it, and request my readers to dash away at once +with me to the "far west," the goal alike of the traveller and the +adventurer, and the El Dorado of the emigrant's misty ideas. + +Leaving American House with its hall swarming like a hive of bees, I drove +to the _depôt_ in a hack with several fellow-passengers, Mr. Amy, who was +executing a commission for me in the town, having promised to meet me +there, but, he being detained, I arrived alone, and was deposited among +piles of luggage, in a perfect Babel of men vociferating, "Where are you +for?" "Lightning Express!" "All aboard for the Western cars," &c. Some one +pounced upon my trunks, and was proceeding to weigh them, when the stage- +driver stepped forward and said, "It's a lady's luggage," upon which he +relinquished his intention. He also took my ticket for me, handed me to +the cars, and then withdrew, wishing me a pleasant journey, his prompt +civility having assisted me greatly in the chaotic confusion which attends +the departure of a train in America. The cars by which I left were +guaranteed to take people to Cincinnati, a distance of 1000 miles, in 40 +hours, allowing time for refreshments! I was to travel by five different +lines of railway, but this part of the railway system is so well arranged +that I only took a ticket once, rather a curious document--a strip of +paper half a yard long, with passes for five different roads upon it; +thus, whenever I came upon a fresh line, the conductor tore off a piece, +giving me a ticket in exchange. Tickets are not only to be procured at the +stations, but at several offices in every town, in all the steamboats, and +in the cars themselves. For the latter _luxury_, for such it must +certainly be considered, as it enables one to step into the cars at the +last moment without any preliminaries, one only pays five cents extra. + +The engine tolled its heavy bell, and soon we were amid the beauties of +New England; rocky hills, small lakes, rapid streams, and trees distorted +into every variety of the picturesque. At the next station from Boston the +Walrences joined me. We were to travel together, with our ulterior +destination a settlement in Canada West, but they would not go to +Cincinnati; there were lions in the street; cholera and yellow fever, they +said, were raging; in short, they left me at Springfield, to find my way +in a strange country as best I might; our _rendezvous_ to be Chicago. + +At Springfield I obtained the first seat in the car, generally the object +of most undignified elbowing, and had space to admire the beauties among +which we passed. For many miles we travelled through a narrow gorge, +between very high precipitous hills, clothed with wood up to their +summits; those still higher rising behind them, while the track ran along +the very edge of a clear rushing river. The darkness which soon came on +was only enlivened by the sparks from the wood fire of the engine, so +numerous and continuous as to look like a display of fireworks. Just +before we reached Albany a very respectable-looking man got into the car, +and, as his manners were very quiet and civil, we entered into +conversation about the trade and manufactures of the neighbourhood. When +we got out of the cars on the east side of the river, he said he was going +no farther, but, as I was alone, he would go across with me, and see me +safe into the cars on the other side. He also offered to carry my reticule +and umbrella, and look after my luggage. His civility so excited my +suspicions of his honesty, that I did not trust my luggage or reticule out +of my sight, mindful of a notice posted up at all the stations, "Beware of +swindlers, pickpockets, and luggage-thieves." + +We emerged from the cars upon the side of the Hudson river, in a sea of +mud, where, had not my friend offered me his arm, as Americans of every +class invariably do to an "unprotected female" in a crowd, I should have +been borne down and crushed by the shoals of knapsack-carrying pedestrians +and truck-pushing porters who swarmed down upon the dirty wharf. The +transit across occupied fully ten minutes, in consequence of the numerous +times the engine had to be reversed, to avoid running over the small craft +which infest this stream. My volunteer escort took me through a crowd +through which I could not have found my way alone, and put me into the +cars which started from the side of a street in Albany, requesting the +conductor, whose countenance instantly prepossessed me in his favour, to +pay me every attention on the route. He remained with me until the cars +started, and told me that when he saw ladies travelling alone he always +made a point of assisting them. I shook hands with him at parting, feeling +real regret at losing so kind and intelligent a companion. This man was a +working engineer. + +Some time afterwards, while travelling for two successive days and nights +in an unsettled district in the west, on the second night, fairly overcome +with fatigue, and unable, from the crowded state of the car, to rest my +feet on the seat in front, I tried unsuccessfully to make a pillow for my +head by rolling up my cloak, which attempts being perceived by a working +mechanic, he accosted me thus: "Stranger, I guess you're almost used up? +Maybe you'd be more comfortable if you could rest your head." Without +further parley he spoke to his companion, a man in a similar grade in +society; they both gave up their seats, and rolled a coat round the arm of +the chair, which formed a very comfortable sofa; and these two men stood +for an hour and a half, to give me the advantage of it, apparently without +any idea that they were performing a deed of kindness. I met continually +with these acts of hearty unostentatious good nature. I mention these in +justice to the lower classes of the United States, whose rugged exteriors +and uncouth vernacular render them peculiarly liable to be misunderstood. + +The conductor quite verified the good opinion which I had formed of him. +He turned a chair into a sofa, and lent me a buffalo robe (for, hot though +the day had been, the night was intensely cold), and several times brought +me a cup of tea. We were talking on the peculiarities and amount of the +breakage power on the American lines as compared with ours, and the +interest of the subject made him forget to signal the engine-driver to +stop at a station. The conversation concluded, he looked out of the +window. "Dear me," he said, "we ought to have stopped three miles back; +likely there was no one to get out!" + +At midnight I awoke shivering with cold, having taken nothing for twelve +hours; but at two we stopped at something called by courtesy a station, +and the announcement was made, "Cars stop three minutes for refreshments." +I got out; it was pitch dark; but I, with a young lady, followed a lantern +into a frame-shed floored by the bare earth. Visions of Swindon and +Wolverton rose before me, as I saw a long table supported on rude +trestles, bearing several cups of steaming tea, while a dirty boy was +opening and frizzling oysters by a wood fire on the floor. I swallowed a +cup of scalding tea; some oysters were put upon my plate; "Six cents" was +shouted by a nasal voice in my ear, and, while hunting for the required +sum, "All aboard" warned me to be quick; and, jumping into the cars just +as they were in motion, I left my untasted supper on my plate. After "Show +your tickets," frequently accompanied by a shake, had roused me several +times from a sound sleep, we arrived at Rochester, an important town on +the Gennessee Falls, surrounded by extensive clearings, then covered with +hoar frost. + +Here we were told to get out, as there were twenty minutes for breakfast. +But whither should we go when we had got out? We were at the junction of +several streets, and five engines, with cars attached, were snorting and +moving about. After we had run the gauntlet of all these, I found men +ringing bells, and negroes rushing about, tumbling over each other, +striking gongs, and all shouting "The cheapest house in all the world-- +house for all nations--a splenderiferous breakfast for 20 cents!" and the +like. At length, seeing an unassuming placard, "Hot breakfast, 25 cents," +I ventured in, but an infusion of mint was served instead of the China +leaf; and I should be afraid to pronounce upon the antecedents of the +steaks. The next place of importance we reached was Buffalo, a large +thriving town on the south shore of Lake Erie. There had been an election +for Congress at some neighbouring place the day before, and my _vis-à- +vis_, the editor of a Buffalo paper, was arguing vociferously with a man +on my right. + +At length he began to talk to me very vivaciously on politics, and +concluded by asking me what I thought of the late elections. Wishing to +put an end to the conversation, which had become tedious, I replied that I +was from England. "English! you surprise me!" he said; "you've not the +_English accent_ at all." "What do you think of our government?" was his +next question. "Considering that you started free, and had to form your +institutions in an enlightened age, that you had the estimable parts of +our constitution to copy from, while its faults were before you to serve +as beacons, I think your constitution ought to be nearer perfection than +it is." "I think our constitution is as near perfection as anything human +can be; we are the most free, enlightened, and progressive people under +the sun," he answered, rather hotly; but in a few minutes resuming the +conversation with his former companion, I overheard him say, "I think I +shall give up politics altogether; _I don't believe we have a single +public man who is not corrupt_." "A melancholy result of a perfect +constitution, and a humiliating confession for an American," I observed. + +The conversations in the cars are well worth a traveller's attention. They +are very frequently on politics, but often one hears stories such as the +world has become familiarised with from the early pages of Barnum's +Autobiography, abounding in racy anecdote, broad humour, and cunning +imposition. At Erie we changed cars, and I saw numerous emigrants sitting +on large blue boxes, looking disconsolately about them; the Irish +physiognomy being the most predominant. They are generally so dirty that +they travel by themselves in a partially lighted van, called the +Emigrants' car, for a most trifling payment. I once got into one by +mistake, and was almost sickened by the smell of tobacco, spirits, dirty +fustian, and old leather, which assailed my olfactory organs. Leaving +Erie, beyond which the lake of the same name stretched to the distant +horizon, blue and calm like a tideless sea, we entered the huge forests on +the south shore, through which we passed, I suppose, for more than 100 +miles. + +My next neighbour was a stalwart, bronzed Kentucky farmer, in a palm-leaf +hat, who, strange to say, never made any demonstrations with his bowie- +knife, and, having been a lumberer in these forests, pointed out all the +objects of interest. + +The monotonous sublimity of these primeval woods far exceeded my +preconceived ideas. We were locked in among gigantic trees of all +descriptions, their huge stems frequently rising without a branch for a +hundred feet; then breaking into a crown of the most luxuriant foliage. +There were walnut, hickory, elm, maple, beech, oak, pine, and hemlock +trees, with many others which I did not know, and the only undergrowth, a +tropical-looking plant, with huge leaves, and berries like bunches of +purple grapes. Though it was the noon of an unclouded sun, all was dark, +and still, and lonely; no birds twittered from the branches; no animals +enlivened the gloomy shades; no trace of man or of his works was there, +except the two iron rails on which we flew along, unfenced from the +forest, and those trembling electric wires, which will only cease to speak +with the extinction of man himself. + +Very occasionally we would come upon a log shanty, that most picturesque +of human habitations; the walls formed of large logs, with the interstices +filled up with clay, and the roof of rudely sawn boards, projecting one or +two feet, and kept in their places by logs placed upon them. Windows and +doors there were none, but, where a door was _not_, I generally saw four +or five shoeless, ragged urchins, whose light tangled hair and general +aspect were sufficient to denote their nationality. Sometimes these cabins +would be surrounded by a little patch of cleared land, prolific in Indian +corn and pumpkins; the brilliant orange of the latter contrasting with the +charred stumps among which they grew; but more frequently the lumberer +supported himself solely by his axe. These dwellings are suggestive, for +they are erected by the pioneers of civilization; and if the future +progress of America be equal in rapidity to its past, in another fifty +years the forests will have been converted into lumber and firewood--rich +and populous cities will have replaced the cabins and shanties--and the +children of the urchins who gazed vacantly upon the cars will have +asserted their claims to a voice in the councils of the nation. + +The rays of the sun never penetrate the forest, and evening was deepening +the gloom of the artificial twilight, when gradually we became enveloped +in a glare, redder, fiercer, than that of moonlight; and looking a head I +saw the forest on fire, and that we were rushing into the flames. "Close +the windows, there's a fire a-head," said the conductor; and after obeying +this _commonplace_ direction, many of the passengers returned to the +slumbers which had been so unseasonably disturbed. On, on we rushed--the +flames encircled us round--we were enveloped in clouds of stifling smoke-- +crack, crash went the trees--a blazing stem fell across the line--the +fender of the engine pushed it aside--the flames hissed like tongues of +fire, and then, leaping like serpents, would rush up to the top of the +largest tree, and it would blaze like a pine-knot, There seemed no egress; +but in a few minutes the raging, roaring conflagration was left behind. A +forest on fire from a distance looks very much like 'Punch's' picture of a +naval review; a near view is the height of sublimity. + +The dangers of the cars, to my inexperience, seemed by no means over with +the escape from being roasted alive. A few miles from Cleveland they +rushed down a steep incline, apparently into Lake Erie; but in _reality_ +upon a platform supported on piles, so narrow that the edges of the cars +hung over it, so that I saw nothing but water. A gale was blowing, and +drove the surf upon the platform, and the spray against the windows, +giving such a feeling of insecurity, that for a moment I wished myself in +one of our "'coon sentry-boxes." The cars were very full after leaving +Cleveland, but I contrived to sleep soundly till awakened by the intense +cold which attends dawn. + +It was a glorious morning. The rosy light streamed over hills covered with +gigantic trees, and park-like glades watered by the fair Ohio. There were +bowers of myrtle, and vineyards ready for the vintage, and the rich +aromatic scent wafted from groves of blossoming magnolias told me that we +were in a different clime, and had reached the sunny south. And before us, +placed within a perfect amphitheatre of swelling hills, reposed a huge +city, whose countless spires reflected the beams of the morning sun--the +creation of yesterday--Cincinnati, the "_Queen City of the West_." I drove +straight to Burnet House, almost the finest edifice in the town, and after +travelling a thousand miles in forty-two hours, without either water or a +hair-brush, it was the greatest possible luxury to be able to remove the +accumulations of soot, dust, and cinders of two days and nights. I spent +three days at Clifton, a romantic village three miles from Cincinnati, at +the hospitable house of Dr. Millvaine, the Bishop of Ohio; but it would be +an ill return for the kindness which I there experienced to give details +of my visit, or gratify curiosity by describing family life in one of the +"homes of the New World." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +The Queen City continued--Its beauties--Its inhabitants human and equine-- +An American church--Where chairs and bedsteads come from--Pigs and pork--A +peep into Kentucky--Popular opinions respecting slavery--The curse of +America. + + +The important towns in the United States bear designations of a more +poetical nature than might be expected from so commercial a people. New +York is the Empire City--Philadelphia the City of Brotherly Love-- +Cleveland the Forest City--Chicago the Prairie City--and Cincinnati the +Queen City of the West. These names are no less appropriate than poetical, +and none more so than that applied to Cincinnati. The view from any of the +terraced heights round the town is magnificent. I saw it first bathed in +the mellow light of a declining sun. Hill beyond hill, clothed with the +rich verdure of an almost tropical clime, slopes of vineyards just ready +for the wine-press, [Footnote: Grapes are grown in such profusion in the +Southern and Western States, that I have seen damaged bunches thrown to +the pigs. Americans find it difficult to understand how highly this fruit +is prized in England. An American lady, when dining at Apsley House, +observed that the Duke of Wellington was cutting up a cluster of grapes +into small bunches, and she wondered that this illustrious man should give +himself such unnecessary trouble. When the servant handed round the plate +containing these, she took them all, and could not account for the amused +and even censuring looks of some of the other guests, till she heard that +it was expected that she should have helped herself to one bunch only of +the hothouse treasure.] magnolias with their fragrant blossoms, and that +queen of trees the beautiful ilanthus, the "tree of heaven" as it is +called; and everywhere foliage so luxuriant that it looked as if autumn +and decay could never come. And in a hollow near us lay the huge city, so +full of life, its busy hum rising to the height where I stood; and 200 +feet below, the beautiful cemetery, where its dead await the morning of +the resurrection. Yet, while contrasting the trees and atmosphere here +with the comparatively stunted, puny foliage of England, and the chilly +skies of a northern clime, I thought with Cowper respecting my own dear, +but far distant land-- + + "England, with all thy faults I love thee still--My country!-- + I would not yet exchange thy sullen skies, + And fields without a flower, for warmer France + With all her vines, nor for Ausonia's groves, + Her golden fruitage, or her myrtle bowers." + +The change in the climate was great from that in which I had shivered a +week before, with a thermometer at 33° in the sun; yet I did not find it +oppressive here at 105° in the shade, owing to the excessive dryness of +the air. The sallow complexions of the New Englanders were also exchanged +for the fat ruddy faces of the people of Ohio, the "_Buckeyes_," as their +neighbours designate them. The town of Cincinnati, situated on the +navigable stream of the Ohio, 1600 miles from the sea, is one of the most +remarkable monuments of the progress of the West. A second Glasgow in +appearance, the houses built substantially of red brick, six stories high +--huge sign-boards outside each floor denoting the occupation of its owner +or lessee--heavily-laden drays rumbling along the streets--quays at which +steamboats of fairy architecture are ever lying--massive warehouses and +rich stores--the side walks a perfect throng of foot-passengers--the +roadways crowded with light carriages, horsemen with palmetto hats and +high-peaked saddles, galloping about on the magnificent horses of +Kentucky--an air of life, wealth, hustle, and progress--are some of the +characteristics of a city which stands upon ground where sixty years ago +an unarmed white man would have been tomahawked as he stood. The human +aspect is also curious. Palmetto hats, light blouses, and white trowsers +form the prevailing costume, even of the clergy, while Germans smoke +chibouks and luxuriate in their shirt-sleeves--southerners, with the +enervated look arising from residence in a hot climate, lounge about the +streets--dark-browed Mexicans, in _sombreras_ and high slashed boots, dash +about on small active horses with Mamelouk bits--rovers and adventurers +from California and the Far West, with massive rings in their ears, +swagger about in a manner which shows their country and calling, and +females richly dressed are seen driving and walking about, from the fair- +complexioned European to the negress or mulatto. The windows of the stores +are arranged with articles of gaudy attire and heavy jewellery, suited to +the barbaric taste of many of their customers; but inside I was surprised +to find the richest and most elegant manufactures of Paris and London. A +bookseller's store, an aggregate of two or three of our largest, indicated +that the culture of the mind was not neglected. + +The number of carriages, invariably drawn by two horses, astonished me. +They were the "_red horses_" of Kentucky and the jet black of Ohio, +splendid, proud looking animals, looking as if they could never tire or +die. Except the "trotting baskets" and light waggons, principally driven +by "swells" or "Young Americans," all the vehicles were covered, to +preserve their inmates from the intense heat of the sun. In the evening +hundreds, if not thousands, of carriages are to be seen in the cemetery +and along the roads, some of the German ladies driving in low dresses and +short sleeves. As everybody who has one hundred yards to go drives or +rides, rings are fastened to all the side walks in the town to tether the +horses to. Many of the streets are planted with the ilanthus-tree, and +frequently one comes upon churches of tasteful architecture, with fretted +spires pointing to heaven. + +I went upon the Ohio, lessened by long drought into a narrow stream, in a +most commodious high-pressure steamboat, and deemed myself happy in +returning uninjured; for beautiful and fairy-like as these vessels are, +between their own explosive qualities and the "snags and sawyers" of the +rivers, their average existence is only five years! + +Cincinnati in 1800 was a wooden village of 750 inhabitants; it is now a +substantially-built brick town, containing 200,000 people, and thousands +of fresh settlers are added every year. There are nearly 50,000 Germans, +and I believe 40,000 Irish, who distinctly keep up their national +characteristics. The Germans almost monopolise the handicraft trades, +where they find a fruitful field for their genius and industry; the Irish +are here, as everywhere, hewers of wood and drawers of water; they can do +nothing but dig, and seldom rise in the social scale; the Germans, as at +home, are a thinking, sceptical, theorising people: in politics, +Socialists--in religion, Atheists. The Irish are still the willing and +ignorant tools of an ambitious and despotic priesthood. And in a land +where no man is called to account for his principles, unless they proceed +to physical development, these errors grow and luxuriate. The Germans, in +that part of the town almost devoted to themselves, have succeeded in +practically abolishing the Sabbath, as they utterly ignore that divine +institution even as a day of rest, keeping their stores open the whole +day. The creeds which they profess are "Socialism" and "Universalism," and +at stated periods they assemble to hear political harangues, and address +invocations to universal deity. Skilled, educated, and intellectual, they +are daily increasing in numbers, wealth, and political importance, and +constitute an influence of which the Americans themselves are afraid. + +The Irish are a turbulent class, for ever appealing to physical force, +influencing the elections, and carrying out their "clan feuds" and +"faction fights." The Germans, finding it a land like their own, of corn +and vineyards, have named the streets in their locality in Cincinnati +after their towns in the Old World, to which in idea one is frequently +carried back. + +On Sunday, after passing through this continental portion of the town, I +found all was order and decorum in the strictly American part, where the +whole population seemed to attend worship of one form or another. The +church which I attended was the most beautiful place of worship I ever +saw; it had neither the hallowed but comfortless antiquity of our village +churches, nor the glare and crush of our urban temples; it was of light +Norman architecture, and lighted by windows of rich stained glass. The +pews were wide, the backs low, and the doors and mouldings were of +polished oak; the cushions and linings were of crimson damask, and light +fans for _real use_ were hung in each pew. The pulpit and reading-desk, +both of carved oak and of a tulip shape, were placed in front of the +communion-rails, on a spacious platform ascended by three steps--this, the +steps, and the aisles of the church were carpeted with beautiful +Kidderminster carpeting. The singing and chanting were of a very superior +description, being managed, as also a very fine-toned organ, by the young +ladies and gentlemen of the congregation. The ladies were more richly +dressed and in brighter colours than the English, and many of them in +their features and complexions bore evident traces of African and Spanish +blood. The gentlemen universally wore the moustache and beard, and +generally blue or green frock-coats, the collars turned over with velvet. +The responses were repeated without the assistance of a clerk, and the +whole service was conducted with decorum and effect. + +The same favourable description may apply generally to the churches of +different denominations in the United States; coldness and discomfort are +not considered as incentives to devotion; and the houses of worship are +ever crowded with regular and decorous worshippers. + +Cincinnati is the outpost of manufacturing civilization, though large, +important, but at present unfinished cities are rapidly springing up +several hundred miles farther to the west. It has regular freight steamers +to New Orleans, St. Louis, and other places on the Missouri and +Mississippi; to Wheeling and Pittsburgh, and thence by railway to the +great Atlantic cities, Philadelphia and Baltimore, while it is connected +with the Canadian lakes by railway and canal to Cleveland. Till I +thoroughly understood that Cincinnati is the centre of a circle embracing +the populous towns of the south, and the increasing populations of the +lake countries and the western territories, with their ever-growing demand +for the fruits of manufacturing industry, I could not understand the +utility of the vast establishments for the production of household goods +which arrest the attention of the visitor to the Queen City. There is a +furniture establishment in Baker Street, London, which employs perhaps +eighty hands, and we are rather inclined to boast of it, but we must keep +silence when we hear of a factory as large as a Manchester cotton-mill, +five stones high, where 260 hands are constantly employed in making +chairs, tables, and bedsteads. + +At the factory of Mitchell and Rammelsberg common chairs are the principal +manufacture, and are turned out at the rate of 2500 a week, worth from +1_l._ to 5_l._ a dozen. Rocking-chairs, which are only made in perfection +in the States, are fabricated here, also chests of drawers, of which 2000 +are made annually. Baby-rocking cribs, in which the brains of the youth of +America are early habituated to perpetual restlessness, are manufactured +here in surprising quantities. The workmen at this factory (most of whom +are native Americans and Germans, the English and Scotch being rejected on +account of their intemperance) earn from 12 to 14 dollars a week. At +another factory 1000 bedsteads, worth from 1_l._ to 5_l._ each, are +completed every week. There are vast boot and shoe factories, which would +have shod our whole Crimean army in a week, at one of which the owner pays +60,000 dollars or 12,000_l._ in wages annually! It consumes 5000 pounds +weight of boot-nails per annum! The manufactories of locks and guns, +tools, and carriages, with countless other appliances of civilized life, +are on a similarly large scale. Their products are to be found among the +sugar plantations of the south, the diggers of California, the settlers in +Oregon, in the infant cities of the far West, the tent of the hunter, and +the shanty of the emigrant; in one word, wherever demand and supply can be +placed in conjunction. + +And while the demand is ever increasing as the tide of emigration rolls +westward, so the inventive brains of the Americans are ever discovering +some mechanical means of abridging manual labour, which seldom or ever +meets the demand. The saws, axes, and indeed all cutting tools made at +respectable establishments in the States, are said to be superior to ours. +On going into a hardware store at Hamilton in Upper Canada, I saw some +English spades and axes, and I suppose my face expressed some of the +admiration which my British pride led me to feel; for the owner, taking up +some spades and cutting-tools of Cincinnati manufacture, said, "We can +only sell these; the others are bad workmanship, and won't stand two days' +hard work." + +Articles of English manufacture are not seen in considerable quantities in +the wholesale stores, and even the import of foreign wines has been +considerably diminished by the increasingly successful culture of the +grape in Ohio, 130,000 gallons of wine having been produced in the course +of the year. Wines resembling hock, claret, and champagne are made, and +good judges speak very highly of them. + +Cincinnati is famous for its public libraries and reading-rooms. The Young +Men's Mercantile Library Association has a very handsome suite of rooms +opened as libraries and reading-rooms, the number of books amounting to +16,000, these, with upwards of 100 newspapers, being well selected by a +managing committee; none of our English works of good repute being a- +wanting. The facility with which English books are reprinted in America, +and the immense circulation which they attain in consequence of their +cheapness, greatly increases the responsibility which rests upon our +authors as to the direction which they give, whether for good or evil, to +the intelligent and inquiring minds of the youth of America--minds +ceaselessly occupied, both in religion and politics, in investigation and +inquiry--in overturning old systems before they have devised new ones. + +I believe that the most important religious denominations in Cincinnati +are the Episcopalian, the Baptist, and the Wesleyan. The first is under +the superintendence of the learned and pious Bishop M'Ilvaine, whose +apostolic and untiring labours have greatly advanced the cause of religion +in the State of Ohio. There is a remarkable absence of sectarian spirit, +and the ministers of all orthodox denominations act in harmonious +combination for the general good. But after describing the beauty of her +streets, her astonishing progress, and the splendour of her shops, I must +not close this chapter without stating that the Queen City bears the less +elegant name of Porkopolis; that swine, lean, gaunt, and vicious-looking, +riot through her streets; and that, on coming out of the most splendid +stores, one stumbles over these disgusting intruders. Cincinnati is the +city of pigs. As there is a railway system and a hotel system, so there is +also a _pig system_, by which this place is marked out from any other. +Huge quantities of these useful animals are reared after harvest in the +corn-fields of Ohio, and on the beech-mast and acorns of its gigantic +forests. At a particular time of year they arrive by thousands--brought in +droves and steamers to the number of 500,000--to meet their doom, when it +is said that the Ohio runs red with blood! There are huge slaughterhouses +behind the town, something on the plan of the _abattoirs_ of Paris--large +wooden buildings, with numerous pens, from whence the pigs march in single +file along a narrow passage, to an apartment where each, on his entrance, +receives a blow with a hammer, which deprives him of consciousness, and in +a short time, by means of numerous hands, and a well-managed caldron +system, he is cut up ready for pickling. The day on which a pig is killed +in England constitutes an era in the family history of the year, and +squeals of a terrific description announce the event to the neighbourhood. +There is not time or opportunity for such a process at Porkopolis, and the +first notification which the inhabitants receive of the massacre is the +thousand barrels of pork on the quays, ready to be conveyed to the +Atlantic cities, for exportation to the European markets. At one +establishment 12,000 pigs are killed, pickled, and packed every fall; and +in the whole neighbourhood, as I have heard in the cars, the "hog crop" is +as much a subject of discussion and speculation as the cotton crop of +Alabama, the hop-picking of Kent, or the harvest in England. + +Kentucky, the land, by reputation, of "red horses, bowie-knives, and +gouging," is only separated from Ohio by the river Ohio; and on a day when +the thermometer stood at 103° in the shade I went to the town of +Covington. Marked, wide, and almost inestimable, is the difference between +the free state of Ohio and the slave-state of Kentucky. They have the same +soil, the same climate, and precisely the same natural advantages; yet the +total absence of progress, if not the appearance of retrogression and +decay, the loungers in the streets, and the peculiar appearance of the +slaves, afford a contrast to the bustle on the opposite side of the river, +which would strike the most unobservant. I was credibly informed that +property of the same real value was worth 300 dollars in Kentucky and 3000 +in Ohio! Free emigrants and workmen will not settle in Kentucky, where +they would be brought into contact with compulsory slave-labour; thus the +development of industry is retarded, and the difference will become more +apparent every year, till possibly some great changes will be forced upon +the legislature. Few English people will forget the impression made upon +them by the first sight of a slave--a being created in the image of God, +yet the _boná fide_ property of his fellow-man. The first I saw was an +African female, the slave of a lady from Florida, with a complexion black +as the law which held her in captivity. The subject of slavery is one +which has lately been brought so prominently before the British people by +Mrs. Beecher Stowe, that I shall be pardoned for making a few remarks upon +it. Powerfully written as the book is, and much as I admire the benevolent +intentions of the writer, I am told that the effect of the volume has been +prejudical, and this assertion is borne out by persons well acquainted +with the subject in the free states. A gentleman very eminent in his +country, as having devoted himself from his youth to the cause of +abolition, as a steadfast pursuer of one grand principle, together with +other persons, say that "'Uncle Tom's Cabin' had thrown the cause back for +many years!" [Footnote: It must be observed that I do not offer any +opinion of my own upon 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' or upon the estimation in +which it is held in the United States; but in order to answer questions +which have frequently been put to me upon the subject, I have just given +the substance of the remarks which have been made upon it by abolitionists +in the Northern States.] The excitement on the subject still continues in +England, though it found a safety-valve in the Stafford House manifesto, +and the received impression, which no force of fact can alter, is, that +slave-owners are divided into but two classes--brutalised depraved +"_Legrees_," or enthusiastic, visionary "_St. Clairs_"--the former, of +course, predominating. + +Slavery, though under modifications which rendered it little more than the +apprenticeship of our day, was _permitted_ under the Mosaic dispensation; +but it is contrary to the whole tenor of Christianity; and a system which +lowers man as an intellectual and responsible being is no less morally +than politically wrong. That it is a political mistake is plainly +evidenced by the retarded development and apparent decay of the Southern +States, as compared with the ceaseless material progress of the North and +West. It cannot be doubted that in Alabama, Florida, and Louisiana, +"_Legrees_" are to be found, for cruelty is inherent in base natures; we +have "_Legrees_" in our factories and coal-pits; but in England their most +terrible excesses are restrained by the strong arm of law, which, _when +appealed to_, extends its protection to the feeblest and most helpless. +What then must such men become in the isolated cotton or sugar plantations +of the South, distant from the restraints which public opinion exercises, +and where the evidence of a slave is inadmissible in a court of justice? +The full extent of the cruelties practised will never be known, until +revealed at the solemn tribunal of the last day. But we dare not hope that +such men are rare, though circumstances of self-interest combine to form a +class of slave-owners of a higher grade. These are men who look upon their +slaves as we do upon our cows and horses--as mere animal property, of +greater or less value according to the care which is taken of them. The +slaves of these persons are well clothed, lodged, and fed; they are not +overworked, and dancing, singing, and other amusements, which increase +health and cheerfulness, are actively promoted. But the system is one +which has for its object the transformation of reason into instinct the +lowering of a rational being into a machine scarcely more intelligent in +appearance than some of our own ingeniously-contrived steam-engines. +Religious teaching is withheld, reading is forbidden, and the instruction +of a slave in it punished as a crime, lest he should learn that freedom is +his birthright. + +A third and very large class of slave-owners is to be found, who, having +inherited their property in slaves, want the means of judiciously +emancipating them. The negroes are not in a condition to receive freedom +in the reckless way in which some abolitionists propose to bestow it upon +them. They must be prepared for it by instruction in the precepts of +religion, by education, and by the reception of those principles of self- +reliance, without which they have not the moral perception requisite to +enable them to appreciate the blessings of freedom; and this very +ignorance and obtuseness is one of the most telling arguments against the +system which produces it. The want of this previous preparation has been +frequently shown, particularly in Kentucky, where whole bodies of +emancipated slaves, after a few days' experience of their new condition, +have entreated for a return to servitude. These slave-owners of whom I now +speak deeply deplore the circumstances under which they are placed, and, +while wanting the spirit of self-sacrifice, and the moral courage, which +would lead them, by manumitting their slaves, to enter into a novel +competition with slave-labour on other estates, do their best to +ameliorate the condition in which the Africans are placed, encouraging +them, by the sale of little articles of their own manufacture, to purchase +their freedom, which is granted at a very reduced rate. I had +opportunities of conversing with several of these freed negroes, and they +all expressed attachment to their late owners, and spoke of the mildness +with which they were treated, saying that the great threat made use of was +to send them "_down south_." + +The slaves in the northern slave States are a thoughtless, happy set, +spending their evenings in dancing or singing to the banjo; and 'Oh, carry +me back to Old Virginny,' or 'Susannah, don't you cry for me,' may be +heard on summer evenings rising from the maize and tobacco grounds of +Kentucky. Yet, whether naturally humane instincts may lead to merciful +treatment of the slave, or the same result be accomplished by the rigorous +censorship of public opinion in the border States, apart from the abstract +question of slavery, that system is greatly to be reprobated which gives +_power without responsibility_, and permits the temporal, yes, the eternal +well-being of another to depend upon the will and caprice of a man, when +the victim of his injustice is deprived of the power of appeal to an +earthly tribunal. Instances of severe treatment on one side, and of +kindness on the other, cannot fairly be brought as arguments for or +against the system; it must be justified or condemned by the undeviating +law of moral right as laid down in divine revelation. Slavery existed in +1850 in 15 out of 31 States, the number of slaves being 3,204,345, +connected by sympathy and blood with 433,643 coloured persons, nominally +free, but who occupy a social position of the lowest grade. It is probable +that this number will increase, as it has hitherto done, in a geometrical +ratio, which will give 6,000,000, in 1875, of a people dangerous from +numbers merely, but doubly, trebly so in their consciousness of +oppression, and in the passions which may incite them to a terrible +revenge. America boasts of freedom, and of such a progress as the world +has never seen before; but while the tide of the Anglo-Saxon race rolls +across her continent, and while we contemplate with pleasure a vast nation +governed by free institutions, and professing a pure faith, a hand, +faintly seen at present, but destined ere long to force itself upon the +attention of all, points to the empires of a by-gone civilisation, and +shows that they had their periods in which to rise, flourish, and decay, +and that slavery was the main cause of that decay. The exasperating +reproaches addressed to the Americans, in ignorance of the real +difficulties of dealing with the case, have done much harm in inciting +that popular clamour which hurries on reckless legislation. The problem is +one which occupies the attention of thinking and Christian men on both +sides of the Atlantic, but still remains a gigantic evil for +philanthropists to mourn over, and for politicians to correct. + +An unexceptional censure ought not to be pronounced without a more +complete knowledge of the subject than can be gained from novels and +newspapers; still less ought this censure to extend to America as a whole, +for the people of the Northern States are more ardent abolitionists than +ourselves--more consistent, in fact, for they have no white slaves, no +oppressed factory children, the cry of whose wrongs ascends daily into the +ears of an avenging Judge. Still, blame must attach to _them_ for the way +in which they place the coloured people in an inferior social position, a +rigid system of exclusiveness shutting them out from the usual places of +amusement and education. It must not be forgotten that England bequeathed +this system to her colonies, though she has nobly blotted it out from +those which still own her sway; that it is encouraged by the cotton lords +of Preston and Manchester; and that the great measure of negro +emancipation was carried, not by the violent declamation and ignorant +railings of men who sought popularity by exciting the passions of the +multitude, but by the persevering exertions and practical Christian +philanthropy of Mr. Wilberforce and his coadjutors. It is naturally to be +expected that a person writing a book on America would offer some remarks +upon this subject, and raise a voice, however feeble, against so gigantic +an evil. The conclusions which I have stated in the foregoing pages are +derived from a careful comparison and study of facts which I have learned +from eminent speakers and writers both in favour of and against the slave- +system. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +The hickory stick--Chawing up ruins--A forest scene--A curious questioner +--Hard and soft shells--Dangers of a ferry--The western prairies-- +Nocturnal detention--The Wild West and the Father of Rivers--Breakfast in +a shed--What is an alligator?--Physiognomy, and its uses--The ladies' +parlour--A Chicago hotel, its inmates and its horrors--A water-drinking +people--The Prairie City--Progress of the West. + + +A bright September sun glittered upon the spires of Cincinnati as I +reluctantly bade it adieu, and set out in the early morning by the cars to +join my travelling companions, meaning to make as long a _détour_ as +possible, or, as a "down-east" lady might say, to "make a pretty +considerable circumlocution." Fortunately I had met with some friends, +well acquainted with the country, who offered to take me round a much +larger circle than I had contemplated; and with a feeling of excitement +such as I had not before experienced, we started for the Mississippi and +the western prairies _en route_ to Detroit. + +Bishop M'Ilvaine, anxious that a very valued friend of his in England +should possess something from Ohio, had cut down a small sapling, which, +when divested of its branches and otherwise trimmed, made a very +formidable-looking bludgeon or cudgel, nearly four feet long. This being +too lengthy for my trunks was tied to my umbrella, and on this day in the +cars excited no little curiosity, several persons eyeing it, then me, as +if wondering in what relation we stood to each other. Finally they took it +up, minutely examining it, and tapping it as if to see whether anything +were therein concealed. It caused me much amusement, and, from its size, +some annoyance, till at length, wishing to leave it in my room at a +Toronto hotel while I went for a visit of a few days, the waiter brought +it down to the door, asking me "if I wished to take the _cudgel?_" After +this I had it shortened, and it travelled in my trunk to New York, where +it was given to a carver to be fashioned into a walking-stick; and, unless +the tradesman played a Yankee trick, and substituted another, it is now, +after surviving many dangers by sea and land, in the possession of the +gentleman for whom it was intended. + +Some amusing remarks were made upon England by some of the "Buckeyes," as +the inhabitants of Ohio are called. On trying to persuade a lady to go +with me to St. Louis, I observed that it was _only_ five hundred miles. +"Five hundred miles!" she replied; "why, you'd tumble off your paltry +island into the sea before you got so far!" Another lady, who got into the +cars at some distance from Cincinnati, could not understand the value +which we set upon ruins. "We should chaw them up," she said, "make roads +or bridges of them, unless Barnum transported them to his museum: we would +never keep them on our own hook as you do." "You value them yourselves," +I answered; "any one would be '_lynched_' who removed a stone of +Ticonderoga." It was an unfortunate speech, for she archly replied, "Our +only ruins are British fortifications, and we go to see them because they +remind us that we whipped the nation which whips all the world." The +Americans, however, though they may talk so, would give anything if they +could appropriate a Kenilworth Castle, or a Melrose or a Tintern Abbey, +with its covering of ivy, and make it sustain some episode of their +history. But though they can make railways, ivy is beyond them, and the +purple heather disdains the soil of the New World. A very amusing ticket +was given me on the Mad River line. It bore the command, "Stick this check +in your ----," the blank being filled up with a little engraving of a hat; +consequently I saw all the gentlemen with small pink embellishments to the +covering of their heads. + +We passed through a large and very beautiful portion of the State of Ohio; +the soil, wherever cultivated, teeming with crops, and elsewhere with a +vegetation no less beautiful than luxuriant; a mixture of small weed +prairies, and forests of splendid timber. Extensive districts of Ohio are +still without inhabitants, yet its energetic people have constructed +within a period of five years half as many miles of railroad as the whole +of Great Britain contains; they are a "_great people_" they do "_go a- +head_," these Yankees. The newly cleared soil is too rich for wheat for +many years; it grows Indian corn for thirty in succession, without any +manure. Its present population is under three millions, and it is +estimated that it would support a population of ten millions, almost +entirely in agricultural pursuits. We were going a-head, and in a few +hours arrived at Forest, the junction of the Clyde, Mad River, and Indiana +lines. + +Away with all English ideas which may be conjured up by the word +_junction_--the labyrinth of iron rails, the smart policeman at the +points, the handsome station, and elegant refreshment-rooms. Here was a +dense forest, with merely a clearing round the rails, a small shanty for +the man who cuts wood for the engine, and two sidings for the trains +coming in different directions. There was not even a platform for +passengers, who, to the number of two or three hundred, were standing on +the clearing, resting against the stumps of trees. And yet for a few +minutes every day the bustle of life pervades this lonely spot, for here +meet travellers from east, west, and south; the careworn merchant from the +Atlantic cities, and the hardy trapper from the western prairies. We here +changed cars for those of the Indianapolis line, and, nearly at the same +time with three other trains, plunged into the depths of the forest. + +"You're from down east, I guess?" said a sharp nasal voice behind me.-- +This was a supposition first made in the Portland cars, when I was at a +loss to know what distinguishing and palpable peculiarity marked me as a +"down-easter." Better informed now, I replied, "I am." "Going west?"-- +"Yes." "Travelling alone?"--"No." "Was you raised down east?"--"No, in the +Old Country." "In the little old island? well, you are kinder glad to +leave it, I guess? Are you a widow?"--"No." "Are you travelling on +business?"--"No." "What business do you follow?"--"None." "Well, now, what +are you travelling for?"--"Health and pleasure." "Well, now, I guess +you're pretty considerable rich. Coming to settle out west, I suppose?"-- +"No, I'm going back at the end of the fall." "Well, now, if that's not a +pretty tough hickory-nut! I guess you Britishers are the queerest critturs +as ever was raised!" I considered myself quite fortunate to have fallen in +with such a querist, for the Americans are usually too much taken up with +their own business to trouble themselves about yours, beyond such +questions as, "Are you bound west, stranger?" or, "You're from down east, +I guess." "Why do you take me for a down-easier?" I asked once. "Because +you speak like one," was the reply; the frequent supposition that I was a +New Englander being nearly as bad as being told that I "had not the +English accent at all." I was glad to be taken for an American, as it gave +me a better opportunity of seeing things as they really are. An English +person going about staring and questioning, with a note-book in his hand, +is considered "fair game," and consequently is "_crammed_" on all +subjects; stories of petticoated table-legs, and fabulous horrors of the +bowie-knife, being among the smallest of the absurdities swallowed. + +Our party consisted of five persons besides myself, two elderly gentlemen, +the niece of one of them, and a young married couple. They knew the +governor of Indiana, and a candidate for the proud position of Senator, +also our fellow travellers; and the conversation assumed a political +character; in fact, they held a long parliament, for I think the +discussion lasted for three hours. Extraordinary, and to me unintelligible +names, were bandied backwards and forwards; I heard of "Silver Grays," but +my companions were not discussing a breed of fowls; and of "Hard Shells," +and "Soft Shells," but the merits of eggs were not the topic. "Whigs and +Democrats" seemed to be analogous to our Radicals, and "Know-Nothings" to +be a respectable and constitutional party. Whatever minor differences my +companions had, they all seemed agreed in hating the "Nebraska men" (the +advocates of an extension of slavery), who one would have thought, from +the epithets applied to them, were a set of thieves and cut-throats. A +gentleman whose whole life had been spent in opposition to the principles +which they are bringing forward was very violent, and the pretty young +lady, Mrs. Wood, equally so. + +After stopping for two hours at a wayside shed, we set out again at dark +for La Fayette, [Footnote: From the frequent recurrence of the same names, +the great distance travelled over, the short halt we made at any place, +and the absence of a railway guide, I have been unable to give, our route +from Cincinnati to Chicago with more than an approximation to +correctness.] which we reached at nine. These Western cars are crammed to +overflowing, and, having to cross a wide stream in a ferryboat, the crush +was so terrible, that I was nearly knocked down; but as American gentlemen +freely use their canes where a lady is in the case, I fared better than +some of my fellow-passengers, who had their coat-tails torn and their toes +barbarously crushed in the crowd. The steam ferry-boat had no parapet, and +the weakest were pushed to the side; the centre was filled up with +baggage, carts, and horses; and vessels were moored along the river, with +the warps crossing each other, to which we had to bow continually to avoid +decapitation. When we reached the wharf, quantities of people were waiting +to go to the other side; and directly the gangway-board was laid, there +was a simultaneous rush of two opposing currents, and, the insecure board +slipping, they were all precipitated into the water. Fortunately it was +not deep, so they merely underwent its cooling influences, which they bore +with admirable equanimity, only one making a bitter complaint, that he had +spoiled his "_go-to-meetins_." The farther west we went, the more +dangerous the neighbourhood became. At all the American stations there are +placards warning people to beware of pickpockets; but from Indiana +westward they bore the caution, "Beware of pickpockets, swindlers, and +luggage-thieves." At many of the depots there is a general rush for the +last car, for the same reason that there is a scramble for the stern +cabins in a steamer,--viz. the explosive qualities of the boilers. + +We travelled the whole of that night, our fellow-passengers becoming more +extravagant in appearance at every station, and morning found us on the +prairies. Cooper influences our youthful imaginations by telling us of the +prairies--Mayne Reid makes us long to cross them; botanists tell us of +their flowers, sportsmen of their buffaloes [Footnote: At the present time +no wild animals are to be found east of the Mississippi; so effectually +has civilization changed the character of the ancient hunting-grounds of +the Indians.]--but without seeing them few people can form a correct idea +of what they are really like. + +The sun rose over a monotonous plain covered with grass, rank, high, and +silky-looking, blown before the breeze into long, shiny waves. The sky was +blue above, and the grass a brownish green beneath; wild pigeons and +turkeys flew over our heads; the horizontal line had not a single +inequality; all was hot, unsuggestive, silent, and monotonous. This was +the grass prairie. + +A belt of low timber would bound the expanse, and on the other side of it +a green sea would open before us, stretching as far as the eye could +reach--stationary billows of earth, covered with short green grass, which, +waving beneath the wind, completed the oceanic illusion. This was the +rolling prairie. + +Again a belt of timber, and a flat surface covered with flowers, brilliant +even at this season of the year; though, of the most gorgeous, nothing +remained but the withered stalks. The ground was enamelled with lilies, +the helianthus and cineraria flourished, and the deep-green leaves and +blue blossom of the lupin contrasted with the prickly stem and scarlet +flower of the euphorbia. For what purpose was "the wilderness made so gay +where for years no eye sees it," but to show forth his goodness who does +what he will with his own? This was the weed prairie, more fitly termed +"the Garden of God." + +These three kinds of prairie were continually alternating with belts of +timber and small lakes; but few signs of population were apparent during +that long day's journey. We occasionally stopped for water at shanties on +the prairies, and took in two or three men; but this vast expanse of +fertile soil still must remain for many years a field for the enterprise +of the European races. + +Towards evening we changed cars again, and took in stores of refreshment +for our night's journey, as little could be procured along the route. What +strange people now crammed the cars! Traders, merchants, hunters, diggers, +trappers, and adventurers from every land, most of them armed to the +teeth, and not without good reason; for within the last few months, +Indians, enraged at the aggressions of the white men, have taken a +terrible revenge upon western travellers. Some of their rifles were of +most costly workmanship, and were nursed with paternal care by their +possessors. On the seat in front of me were two "prairie-men," such as are +described in the 'Scalp-Hunters,' though of an inferior grade to St. +Vrain. Fine specimens of men they were; tall, handsome, broad-chested, and +athletic, with aquiline noses, piercing grey eyes, and brown curling hair +and beards. They wore leathern jackets, slashed and embroidered, leather +smallclothes, large boots with embroidered tops, silver spurs, and caps of +scarlet cloth, worked with somewhat tarnished gold thread, doubtless the +gifts of some fair ones enamoured of the handsome physiognomies and +reckless bearing of the hunters. Dulness fled from their presence; they +could tell stories, whistle melodies, and sing comic songs without +weariness or cessation: fortunate were those near enough to be enlivened +by their drolleries during the tedium of a night detention. Each of them +wore a leathern belt--with two pistols stuck into it--gold earrings, and +costly rings. Blithe, cheerful souls they were, telling racy stories of +Western life, chivalrous in their manners, and free as the winds. + +There were Californians dressed for the diggings, with leather pouches for +the gold-dust; Mormons on their way to Utah; and restless spirits seeking +for that excitement and variety which they had sought for in vain in +civilized life! And conveying this motley assortment of human beings, the +cars dashed along, none of their inmates heeding each other, or perhaps +Him + + "----who heeds and holds them all + In his large love and boundless thought." + +At eleven we came to an abrupt pause upon the prairie. After waiting +quietly for some time without seeing any vestiges of a station, my friends +got out to inquire the cause of the detention, when we found that a +freight-train had broken down in front, and that we might be detenus for +some time, a mark for Indian bullets! Refreshments were produced and +clubbed together; the "prairie-men" told stories; the hunters looked to +their rifles, and polished their already resplendent chasing; some +Mexicans sang Spanish songs, a New Englander 'Yankee Doodle;' some +_guessed_, others _calculated_, till at last all grew sleepy: the trappers +exhausted their stories, the singers their songs, and a Mormon, who had +been setting forth the peculiar advantages of his creed, the patience of +his auditors--till at length sonorous sounds, emitted by numerous nasal +organs, proving infectious, I fell asleep to dream confusedly of 'Yankee +Doodle,' pistols, and pickpockets. + +In due time I awoke; we were stopping still, and there was a light on our +right. "We're at Rock Island, I suppose?" I asked sleepily. A laugh from +my friends and the hunters followed the question; after which they +informed me in the most polite tones that we were where we had been for +the last five hours, namely stationary on the prairie. The intense cold +and heavy dew which accompany an American dawn made me yet more amazed at +the characteristic patience with which the Americans submit to an +unavoidable necessity, however disagreeable. It is true that there were +complaints of cold, and heavy sighs, but no blame was imputed to any one, +and the quiescence of my companions made me quite ashamed of my English +impatience. In England we should have had a perfect chorus of complaints, +varied by "rowing" the conductor, abuse of the company, and resolutions to +write to the _Times_, or bring up the subject of railway mismanagement in +the House of Commons. These people sat quietly, ate, slept, and smoked, +and were thankful when the cars at last moved off to their destination. + +On we flew to the West, the land of Wild Indians and buffaloes, on the +narrow rims of metal with which this "great people" is girdling the earth. +Evening succeeded noon, and twilight to the blaze of a summer day; the +yellow sun sank cloudless behind the waves of the rolling prairie, yet +still we hurried on, only stopping our headlong course to take in wood and +water at some nameless stations. When the sun set, it set behind the +prairie waves. I was oblivious of any changes during the night, and at +rosy dawn an ocean of long green grass encircled us round. Still on--belts +of timber diversify the prospect--we rush into a thick wood, and, emerging +from it, arrive at Rock Island, an unfinished-looking settlement, which +might bear the name of the Desert City, situated at the confluence of the +Rock River and Mississippi. We stop at a little wharf, where waits a +little steamer of uncouth construction; we step in, a steam-whistle breaks +the silence of that dewy dawn, and at a very rapid rate we run between +high wooded bluff's, down a turbid stream, whirling in rapid eddies. We +steam for three miles, and land at a clearing containing the small +settlement of Davenport. We had come down the Mississippi, mightiest of +rivers! half a mile wide seventeen hundred miles from its mouth, and were +in the _far West_. Waggons with white tilts, thick-hided oxen with heavy +yokes, mettlesome steeds with high peaked saddles, picketed to stumps of +trees, lashing away the flies with their tails; emigrants on blue boxes, +wondering if this were the El Dorado of their dreams; arms, accoutrements, +and baggage surrounded the house or shed where we were to breakfast. Most +of our companions were bound for Nebraska, Oregon, and Utah, the most +distant districts of which they would scarcely reach with their slow-paced +animals for four months: exposed in the mean time to the attacks of the +Sioux, Comanches, and Blackfeet. + +There, in a long wooden shed with blackened rafters and an earthen floor, +we breakfasted, at seven o'clock, on johnny-cake, squirrels, buffalo-hump, +dampers, and buckwheat, tea and corn spirit, with a crowd of emigrants, +hunters, and adventurers; and soon after re-embarked for Rock Island, our +little steamer with difficulty stemming the mighty tide of the Father of +Rivers. The machinery, such as it was, was very visible, the boiler +patched in several places, and steam escaped in different directions. I +asked the captain if he were not in the habit of "sitting upon the safety- +valve," but he stoutly denied the charge. The vernacular of this +neighbourhood was rather startling to an English ear. "Who's the alligator +to hum?" asked a broad-shouldered Kentuckian of his neighbour, pointing to +a frame shanty on the shore, which did not look to me like the abode of +that amphibious and carnivorous creature. "Well, old alligator, what's the +time o' day?" asked another man, bringing down a brawny paw, with a +resounding thump, upon the Herculean shoulders of the first querist, +thereby giving me the information that in the West _alligator_ is a +designation of the _genus homo_; in fact, that it is customary for a man +to address his fellow-man as "old alligator," instead of "old fellow." At +eight we left Rock Island, and, turning my unwilling steps eastward from +the land of adventure and romance, we entered the cars for Chicago. + +They were extremely crowded, and my friends, securing me the only +comfortable seat in one of them, were obliged to go into the next, much to +their indignation; but protestations were of no use. The engine-bell rang, +a fearful rush followed, which resulted in the passage down the centre +being filled with standing men; the conductor shouted "Go a-head," and we +were off for Lake Michigan in the "Lightning Express," warranted to go +sixty-seven miles an hour! I had found it necessary to study physiognomy +since leaving England, and was horrified by the appearance of my next +neighbour. His forehead was low, his deep-set and restless eyes +significant of cunning, and I at once set him down as a swindler or +pickpocket. My convictions of the truth of my inferences were so strong, +that I removed my purse, in which, however, acting by advice, I never +carried more than five dollars, from my pocket, leaving in it only my +handkerchief and the checks for my baggage, knowing that I could not +possibly keep awake the whole morning. In spite of my endeavours to the +contrary, I soon sank into an oblivious state, from which I awoke to the +consciousness that my companion was withdrawing his hand from my pocket. +My first impulse was to make an exclamation, my second, which I carried +into execution, to ascertain my loss; which I found to be the very +alarming one of my baggage-checks; my whole property being thereby placed +at this vagabond's disposal, for I knew perfectly well, that if I claimed +my trunks without my checks, the acute baggage-master would have set me +down as a bold swindler. The keen-eyed conductor was not in the car, and, +had he been there, the necessity for habitual suspicion, incidental to his +position, would so far have removed his original sentiments of generosity +as to make him turn a deaf ear to my request, and there was not one of my +fellow-travellers whose physiognomy would have warranted me in appealing +to him. So, recollecting that my checks were marked Chicago, and seeing +that the thief's ticket bore the same name, I resolved to wait the chapter +of accidents, or the re-appearance of my friends. I was scarcely able to +decide whether this proof of the reliance to be placed upon physiognomy +was not an adequate compensation for the annoyance I was experiencing, at +the probability of my hoarded treasures falling into the hands of an +adventurer. + +During the morning we crossed some prairie-country, and stopped at several +stations, patches of successful cultivation showing that there must be +cultivators, though I rarely saw their habitations. The cars still +continued so full that my friends could not join me, and I began to be +seriously anxious about the fate of my luggage. At mid-day, spires and +trees, and lofty blocks of building, rising from a grass-prairie on one +side, and from the blue waters of Lake Michigan on the other, showed that +we were approaching Chicago. Along beaten tracks through the grass, +waggons with white tilts drawn by oxen were proceeding west, sometimes +accompanied by armed horsemen. + +With a whoop like an Indian war-whoop the cars ran into a shed--they +stopped--the pickpocket got up--I got up too--the baggage-master came to +the door: "This gentleman has the checks for my baggage," said I, pointing +to the thief. Bewildered, he took them from his waistcoat-pocket, gave +them to the baggage-master, and went hastily away. I had no inclination to +cry "Stop thief!" and had barely time to congratulate myself on the +fortunate impulse which had led me to say what I did, when my friends +appeared from the next car. They were too highly amused with my recital to +sympathise at all with my feelings of annoyance, and one of them, a +gentleman filling a high situation in the East, laughed heartily, saying, +in a thoroughly American tone, "The English ladies must be 'cute +customers, if they can outwit Yankee pickpockets." + +Meaning to stay all night at Chicago, we drove to the two best hotels, +but, finding them full, were induced to betake ourselves to an advertising +house, the name of which it is unnecessary to give, though it will never +be effaced from my memory. The charge advertised was a dollar a day, and +for this every comfort and advantage were promised. + +The inn was a large brick building at the corner of a street, with nothing +very unprepossessing in its external appearance. The wooden stairs were +dirty enough, and, on ascending them to the so-called "ladies' parlour," I +found a large, meanly-furnished apartment, garnished with six spittoons, +which, however, to my disgust, did not prevent the floor from receiving a +large quantity of tobacco-juice. + +There were two rifles, a pistol, and a powder-flask on the table; two +Irish emigrant women were seated on the floor (which swarmed with black +beetles and ants), undressing a screaming child; a woman evidently in a +fever was tossing restlessly on the sofa; two females in tarnished Bloomer +habiliments were looking out of the window; and other extraordinary- +looking human beings filled the room. I asked for accommodation for the +night, hoping that I should find a room where I could sit quietly. A dirty +chambermaid took me to a room or dormitory containing four beds. In one +part of it three women were affectionately and assiduously nursing a sick +child; in another, two were combing tangled black hair; upon which I +declared that I must have a room to myself. + +The chambermaid then took me down a long, darkish passage, and showed me a +small room without a fireplace, and only lighted by a pane of glass in the +door; consequently, it was nearly dark. There was a small bed with a dirty +buffalo-skin upon it; I took it up, and swarms of living creatures fell +out of it, and the floor was literally alive with them. The sight of such +a room made me feel quite ill, and it was with the greatest reluctance +that I deposited my bonnet and shawl in it. + +Outside the door were some medicine-bottles and other suspicious signs of +illness, and, after making some cautious inquiries, we found that there +was a case of typhus fever in the house, also one of Asiatic cholera, and +three of ague! My friends were extremely shocked with the aspect of +affairs. I believe that they were annoyed that I should see such a +specimen of an hotel in their country, and they decided, that, as I could +not possibly remain there for the night, I should go on to Detroit alone, +as they were detained at Chicago on business. Though I certainly felt +rather out of my element in this place, I was not at all sorry for the +opportunity, thus accidentally given me, of seeing something of American +society in its lowest grade. + +We went down to dinner, and only the fact of not having tasted food for +many hours could have made me touch it in such a room. We were in a long +apartment, with one table down the middle, with plates laid for one +hundred people. Every seat was occupied, these seats being benches of +somewhat uncouth workmanship. The floor had recently been washed, and +emitted a damp fetid odour. At one side was a large fireplace, where, in +spite of the heat of the day, sundry manipulations were going on, coming +under the general name of cookery. At the end of the room was a long +leaden trough or sink, where three greasy scullery-boys without shoes, +were perpetually engaged in washing plates, which they wiped upon their +aprons. The plates, however, were not washed, only superficially rinsed. +There were four brigand-looking waiters with prodigious beards and +moustachios. + +There was no great variety at table. There were eight boiled legs of +mutton, nearly raw; six antiquated fowls, whose legs were of the +consistence of guitar-strings; baked pork with "onion fixings," the meat +swimming in grease; and for vegetables, yams, corn-cobs, and squash. A cup +of stewed tea, sweetened with molasses, stood by each plate, and no +fermented liquor of any description was consumed by the company. There +were no carving-knives, so each person _hacked_ the joints with his own, +and some of those present carved them dexterously with bowie-knives taken +out of their belts. Neither were there salt-spoons, so everybody dipped +his greasy knife into the little pewter pot containing salt. Dinner began, +and after satisfying my own hunger with the least objectionable dish, +namely "pork with onion fixings," I had leisure to look round me. + +Every quarter of the globe had contributed to swell that motley array, +even China. Motives of interest or adventure had drawn them all together +to this extraordinary outpost of civilisation, and soon would disperse +them among lands where civilisation is unknown. + +As far as I could judge, we were the only representatives of England. +There were Scots, for Scots are always to be found where there is any hope +of honest gain--there were Irish emigrants, speaking with a rich brogue-- +French traders from St. Louis--Mexicans from Santa Fe--Californians +fitting out, and Californians coming home with fortunes made--keen-eyed +speculators from New England--packmen from Canada--"Prairie-men," +trappers, hunters, and adventurers of all descriptions. Many of these wore +bowie-knives or pistols in their belts. The costumes were very varied and +picturesque. Two Bloomers in very poor green habiliments sat opposite to +me, and did not appear to attract any attention, though Bloomerism is +happily defunct in the States. + +There had been three duels at Chicago in the morning, and one of the +duellists, a swarthy, dark-browed villain, sat next but one to me. The +quarrel originated in a gambling-house, and this Mexican's opponent was +mortally wounded, and there he sat, with the guilt of human blood upon his +hands, describing to his _vis-à-vis_ the way in which he had taken aim at +his adversary, and no one seemed to think anything about it. From what I +heard, I fear duelling must have become very common in the West, and no +wonder, from the number of lawless spirits who congregate where they can +be comparatively unfettered. + +The second course consisted exclusively of pumpkin-pies; but when the +waiters changed the plates, their way of cleaning the knives and forks was +so peculiarly disgusting, that I did not attempt to eat anything. But I +must remark that in this motley assembly there was nothing of coarseness, +and not a word of bad language--indeed, nothing which could offend the +most fastidious ears. I must in this respect bear very favourable +testimony to the Americans; for, in the course of my somewhat extensive +travels in the United States, and mixing as I did very frequently with the +lower classes, I never heard any of that language which so frequently +offends the ear in England. [Footnote: I must not be misunderstood here. +Profane language is only too notoriously common in the States, but custom, +which in America is frequently stronger than law, totally prohibits its +use before ladies.] + +I suppose that there is no country in the world where the presence of a +lady is such a restraint upon manners and conversation. A female, whatever +her age or rank may be, is invariably treated with deferential respect; +and if this deference may occasionally trespass upon the limits of +absurdity, or if the extinct chivalry of the past ages of Europe meets +with a partial revival upon the shores of America, this extreme is vastly +preferable to the _brusquerie_, if not incivility, which ladies, as I have +heard, too often meet with in England. + +The apparently temperate habits in the United States form another very +pleasing feature to dwell upon. It is to be feared that there is a +considerable amount of drunkenness among the English, Irish, and Germans, +who form a large portion of the American population; but the temperate, +tea-drinking, water-drinking habits of the native Americans are most +remarkable. In fact, I only saw one intoxicated person in the States, and +he was a Scotch fiddler. At the hotels, even when sitting down to dinner +in a room with four hundred persons, I never on any occasion saw more than +two bottles of wine on the table, and I know from experience that in many +private dwelling-houses there is no fermented liquor at all. In the West, +more especially at the rude hotels where I stopped, I never saw wine, +beer, or spirits upon the table; and the spectacle gratified me +exceedingly, of seeing fierce-looking, armed, and bearded men, drinking +frequently in the day of that cup "which cheers, but not inebriates." +Water is a beverage which I never enjoyed in purity and perfection before +I visited America. It is provided in abundance in the cars, the hotels, +the waiting-rooms, the steamers, and even the stores, in crystal jugs or +stone filters, and it is always iced. This may be either the result or the +cause of the temperance of the people. + +Ancient history tells us of a people who used to intoxicate their slaves, +and, while they were in that condition, display them to their sons, to +disgust them early with the degrading vice of drunkenness. + +The emigrants who have left our shores, more particularly the Irish, have +voluntarily enacted the part formerly assigned to the slaves of the +Spartans. Certain it is that their intemperance, with the evils of which +the Americans are only too well acquainted, has produced a beneficial +result, by causing a strong re-action in favour of temperance principles. + +The national oath of the English, which has earned for them abroad a +horrible _sobriquet_, and the execrations which belong to the French, +Italian, and Spanish nations, are unfortunately but too well known, +because they are too often heard. Indeed, I have scarcely ever travelled +in England by coach or railway--I have seldom driven through a crowded +street, or ridden on horseback through quiet agricultural villages-- +without hearing language in direct defiance of the third commandment. +Profanity and drunkenness are among the crying sins of the English lower +orders. Much has been said upon the subject of swearing in the United +States. I can only say that, travelling in them as I have travelled in +England, and mixing with people of a much lower class than I ever was +thrown among in England--mixing with these people too on terms of perfect +equality--I never heard an oath till after I crossed the Canadian +frontier. With regard to both these things, of course I only speak of what +fell under my own observation. + +After dinner, being only too glad to escape from a house where pestilence +was rife, we went out into Chicago. It is a wonderful place, and tells +more forcibly of the astonishing energy and progress of the Americans than +anything I saw. Forty years ago the whole ground on which the town stands +could have been bought for six hundred dollars; now, a person would give +ten thousand for the site of a single store. It is built on a level +prairie, only slightly elevated above the lake surface. It lies on both +sides of the Chicago river, about a mile above its entrance into Lake +Michigan. By the construction of piers, a large artificial harbour has +been made at the mouth of this river. + +The city has sprung up rapidly, and is supplied with all the accessories +of a high state of civilisation. Chicago, in everything that contributes +to _real use and comfort_, will compare favourably with any city in the +world. In 1830 it was a mere trading-post, situated in the theatre of the +Black Hawk war. In 1850 its population was only 28,000 people; it has now +not less than 60,000. [Footnote: By the last census, taken in June, 1855, +the population of Chicago was given at 87,000 souls, thus showing the +extraordinary increase of 27,000 within a year.] It had not a mile of +railway in 1850; now fourteen lines radiate from it, bringing to it the +trade of an area of country equalling 150,000 square miles. One hundred +heavy trains arrive and depart from it daily. It has a commerce +commensurate with its magnitude. It employs about 70,000 tons of shipping, +nearly one-half being steamers and propellers. The lumber-trade, which is +chiefly carried on with Buffalo, is becoming very profitable. The exports +of Chicago, to the East, of bread-stuffs for the past year, exceeded +13,000,000 bushels; and a city which, in 1840, numbered only 4000 +inhabitants, is now one of the largest exporting grain-markets in the +world. + +Chicago is connected with the western rivers by a sloop canal--one of the +most magnificent works ever undertaken. It is also connected with the +Mississippi at several points by railroad. It is regularly laid out with +wide airy streets, much more cleanly than those of Cincinnati. The wooden +houses are fast giving place to lofty substantial structures of brick, or +a stone similar in appearance to white marble, and are often six stories +high. These houses, as in all business streets in the American cities, are +disfigured, up to the third story, by large glaring sign-boards containing +the names and occupations of their residents. The side walks are of wood, +and, wherever they are made of this unsubstantial material, one frequently +finds oneself stepping into a hole, or upon the end of a board which tilts +up under one's feet. The houses are always let in flats, so that there are +generally three stores one above another. These stores are very handsome, +those of the outfitters particularly so, though the quantity of goods +displayed in the streets gives them rather a barbaric appearance. The side +walks are literally encumbered with bales of scarlet flannel, and every +other article of an emigrant's outfit. At the outfitters' stores you can +buy anything, from a cart-nail to a revolver; from a suit of oilskin to a +paper of needles. The streets present an extraordinary spectacle. +Everything reminds that one is standing on the very verge of western +civilisation. + +The roads are crowded to an inconvenient extent with carriages of curious +construction, waggons, carts, and men on horseback, and the side-walks +with eager foot-passengers. By the side of a carriage drawn by two or +three handsome horses, a creaking waggon with a white tilt, drawn by four +heavy oxen, may be seen--Mexicans and hunters dash down the crowded +streets at full gallop on mettlesome steeds, with bits so powerful as to +throw their horses on their haunches when they meet with any obstacle. +They ride animals that look too proud to touch the earth, on high-peaked +saddles, with pistols in the holsters, short stirrups, and long, cruel- +looking Spanish spurs. They wear scarlet caps or palmetto hats, and high +jack-boots. Knives are stuck into their belts, and light rifles are slung +behind them. These picturesque beings--the bullock-waggons setting out for +the Far West--the medley of different nations and costumes in the streets +--make the city a spectacle of great interest. + +The deep hollow roar of the locomotive, and the shrill scream from the +steamboat, are heard here all day; a continuous stream of life ever +bustles through the city, and, standing as it does on the very verge of +western civilisation, Chicago is a vast emporium of the trade of the +districts east and west of the Mississippi. + +At an office in one of the streets Mr. C---- took my ticket for Toronto by +railway, steamer, railway, and steamer, only paying eight dollars and a +half, or about thirty-four shillings, for a journey of seven hundred +miles! + +We returned to tea at the hotel, and found our viands and companions just +the same as at dinner. It is impossible to give an idea of the "western +men" to any one who has not seen one at least as a specimen. They are the +men before whom the Indians melt away as grass before the scythe. They +shoot them down on the smallest provocation, and speak of "head of +Indian," as we do in England of head of game. Their bearing is bold, +reckless, and independent in the extreme; they are as ready to fight a foe +as to wait upon women and children with tender assiduity; their very +appearance says to you, "Stranger, I belong to the greatest, most +enlightened, and most progressive nation on earth; I may be the President +or a _millionaire_ next year; I don't care a straw for you or any one +else." + +Illinois is a State which has sprung up, as if by magic, to be one of the +most fruitful in the West. It was settled by men from the New England +States--men who carried with them those characteristics which have made +the New Englander's career one of active enterprise, and successful +progress, wherever he has been. Not many years ago the name of Illinois +was nearly unknown, and on her soil the hardy settler battled with the +forest-trees for space in which to sow his first crops. Her roads were +merely rude and often impassable tracks through forest or prairie; now she +has in operation and course of construction two thousand and seventy miles +of those iron sinews of commercial progress--railroads, running like a +network over the State. + +At seven o'clock, with a feeling of great relief, mingled with +thankfulness at having escaped untouched by the terrible pestilence which +had ravaged Chicago, I left the hotel, more appropriately termed a +"_caravanserai_" and my friends placed me in the "Lightning Express," +warranted to go sixty-seven miles an hour. Unless it may be St. Louis, I +fancy that Chicago is more worth a visit than any other of the western +cities. Even one day at it was worth a voyage across the Atlantic, and a +land-journey of eighteen hundred miles. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +A vexatious incident--John Bull enraged--Woman's rights--Alligators become +hosses--A popular host--Military display--A mirth-provoking gun--Grave +reminiscences--Attractions of the fair--Past and present--A floating +palace--Black companions--A black baby--Externals of Buffalo--The flag of +England. + + + +The night-cars are always crowded both in Canada and the States, because +people in business are anxious to save a day if they have any expedition +to make, and, as many of the cars are fitted up with seats of a most +comfortable kind for night-travelling, a person accustomed to them can +sleep in them as well as on a sofa. After leaving Chicago, they seemed +about to rush with a whoop into the moonlit waters of Lake Michigan, and +in reality it was not much better. For four miles we ran along a plank- +road supported only on piles. There was a single track, and the carriages +projecting over the whole, there was no bridge to be seen, and we really +seemed to be going along on the water. These insecure railways are not +uncommon in the States; the dangers of the one on the Hudson river have +been experienced by many travellers to their cost. + +We ran three hundred miles through central Michigan in ten hours, +including stoppages. We dashed through woods, across prairies, and over +bridges without parapets, at a uniform rate of progress. A boy making +continual peregrinations with iced water alleviated the thirst of the +passengers, for the night was intensely hot, and I managed to sleep very +comfortably till awoke by the intense cold of dawn. During the evening an +incident most vexatious to me occurred. + +The cars were very full, and were not able to seat all the passengers. +Consequently, according to the usages of American etiquette, the gentlemen +vacated the seats in favour of the ladies, who took possession of them in +a very ungracious manner as I thought. The gentlemen stood in the passage +down the centre. At last all but one had given up their seats, and while +stopping at a station another lady entered. + +"A seat for a lady," said the conductor, when he saw the crowded state of +the car. The one gentleman did not stir. "A seat for a lady," repeated the +man in a more imperious tone. Still no movement on the part of the +gentleman appealed to. "A seat for a lady; don't you see there's a lady +wanting one?" now vociferated several voices at once, but without +producing any effect. "Get up for this lady," said one bolder than the +rest, giving the stranger a sharp admonition on the shoulder. He pulled +his travelling cap over his eyes, and doggedly refused to stir. There was +now a regular hubbub in the car; American blood was up, and several +gentlemen tried to induce the offender to move. + +"I'm an Englishman, and I tell you I won't be brow-beat by you beastly +Yankees. I've paid for my seat, and I mean to keep it," savagely shouted +the offender, thus verifying my worst suspicions. + +"I thought so!--I knew it!--A regular John Bull trick! just like them!" +were some of the observations made, and very mild they were, considering +the aggravated circumstances. + +Two men took the culprit by his shoulders, and the others, pressing +behind, impelled him to the door, amid a chorus of groans and hisses, +disposing of him finally by placing him in the emigrant-car, installing +the lady in the vacated seat. I could almost fancy that the shade of the +departed Judge Lynch stood by with an approving smile. + +I was so thoroughly ashamed of my countryman, and so afraid of my +nationality being discovered, that, if any one spoke to me, I adopted +every Americanism which I could think of in reply. The country within +fifty miles of Detroit is a pretty alternation of prairie, wood, corn- +fields, peach and apple orchards. The maize is the staple of the country; +you see it in the fields; you have corn-cobs for breakfast; corncobs, +mush, and hominy for dinner; johnny-cake for tea; and the very bread +contains a third part of Indian meal! + +I thought the little I saw of Michigan very fertile and pretty. It is +another of the newly constituted States, and was known until recently +under the name of the "Michigan Territory." This State is a peninsula +between the Huron and Michigan Lakes, and borders in one part closely on +Canada. It has a salubrious climate and a fertile soil, and is rapidly +becoming a very productive State. Of late years the influx of emigrants of +a better class has been very great. The State has great capabilities for +saw and flour mills; the Grand Rapids alone have a fall of fifteen feet in +a mile, and afford immense water-power. + +In Michigan, human beings have ceased to be "_alligators_" they are +"_hosses_." Thus one man says to another, "How do you do, old hoss?" or, +"What's the time o' day, old hoss?" When I reached Detroit I was amused +when a conductor said to me, "One o' them 'ere hosses will take your +trunks," pointing as he spoke to a group of porters. + +On arriving at Detroit I met for the first time with tokens of British +enterprise and energy, and of the growing importance of Canada West. +Several persons in the cars were going to New York, and they took the +ferry at Detroit, and went down to Niagara Bridge by the Canada Great +Western Railway, as the most expeditious route. I drove through the very +pleasant streets of Detroit to the National Hotel, where I was to join the +Walrences. Having indulged the hope of rejoining my former travelling +companions here, I was greatly disappointed at finding a note from them, +containing the intelligence that they had been summoned by telegraph to +Toronto, to a sick relative. They requested me to join them there, and +hoped I should find no difficulty on the journey! + +It was the time of the State fair, and every room in the inn was occupied; +but Mr. Benjamin, the very popular host of the National, on hearing my +circumstances, would on no account suffer me to seek another abode, and +requested a gentleman to give up his room to me, which with true American +politeness he instantly did. I cannot speak too highly of the National +Hotel, or of its deservedly popular landlord. I found that I could not +leave Detroit before the next night, and at most hotels a lady alone would +have been very uncomfortably placed. Breakfast was over, but, as soon as I +retired to my room, the waiter appeared with an abundant repast, for which +no additional charge was made. I sat in my room the whole day, and Mr. +Benjamin came twice to my door to know if I wanted anything. He introduced +me to a widow lady, whose room I afterwards shared; and when I went down +at night to the steamer, he sent one of his clerks with me, to save me any +trouble about my luggage. He also gave me a note to an hotel-keeper at +Buffalo, requesting him to pay me every attention, in case I should be +detained for a night on the road. The hotel was a perfect pattern of +cleanliness, elegance, and comfort; and the waiters, about fifty of whom +were Dutch, attended scrupulously to every wish, actual or supposed, of +the guests. If these pages should ever meet Mr. Benjamin's eye, it may be +a slight gratification to him to know that his kindness to a stranger has +been both remembered and appreciated. + +I had some letters of introduction to residents at Detroit, and here, as +in all other places which I visited, I had but to sow them to reap a rich +harvest of kindness and hospitality. I spent two days most agreeably at +Detroit, in a very refined and intellectual circle, perfectly free from +those mannerisms which I had expected to find in a place so distant from +the coast. The concurrent testimony of many impartial persons goes to +prove that in every American town highly polished and intellectual society +is to be met with. + +My bed-room window at the National Hotel looked into one of the widest and +most bustling streets of Detroit. It was the day of the State fair, +consequently I saw the town under a very favourable aspect. The contents +of several special trains, and hundreds of waggons, crowded the streets, +the "waggons" frequently drawn by very handsome horses. The private +carriages were of a superior class to any I had previously seen in the +States; the harness was handsome and richly plated, and elegantly dressed +ladies filled the interiors. But in amusing contrast, the coachmen all +looked like wild Irishmen enlisted for the occasion, and drove in a +standing posture. Young farmers, many of them dressed in the extreme of +the fashion of Young America, were dashing about in their light waggons, +driving tandem or span; heavily laden drays were proceeding at a slower +speed; and all this traffic was carried on under the shade of fine trees. + +Military bands playing 'The Star-spangled Banner,' and 'Hail Columbia,' +were constantly passing and re-passing, and the whole population seemed on +the _qui vive_. Squadrons of cavalry continually passed my window, the men +in gorgeous uniforms, with high waving plumes. Their horses were very +handsome, but were not at all willing to display themselves by walking +slowly, or in rank, and the riders would seem to have been selected for +their corpulence, probably under the supposition that the weight of both +men and horses would tell in a charge. + +The air 'Hail Columbia' is a very fine one, and doubtless thrills American +hearts, as ours are thrilled by the National Anthem. Two regiments of foot +followed the cavalry, one with peaceful-looking green and white plumes, +the other with horsetails dyed scarlet. The privates had a more +independent air than our own regulars, and were principally the sons of +respectable citizens. They appeared to have been well drilled, and were +superior in appearance to our militia; but it must be remembered that the +militia of America constitutes the real military force of the country, and +is paid and cared for accordingly; the regular army only amounting to ten +thousand men. + +A gun of the artillery followed, and the spectacle made me laugh +immoderately, though I had no one with whom to share my amusement. It was +a new-looking gun of shining brass, perfectly innocent of the taste of +gunpowder, and mounted on a carriage suspiciously like a timber-truck, +which had _once_ been painted. Six very respectable-looking artillerymen +were clustering upon this vehicle, but they had to hold hard, for it +jolted unmercifully. It was drawn by four horses of different colours and +sizes, and they appeared animated by the principle of mutual repulsion. +One of these was ridden by a soldier, seated on a saddle placed so far +upon the horse's neck, that it gave him the appearance of clinging to the +mane. The harness was shabby and travel-soiled, and the traces were of +rope, which seemed to require continual "fixing," to judge from the +frequency with which the rider jumped off to adjust them. The artillerymen +were also continually stopping the vehicle, to rearrange the limber of the +gun. + +While I was instituting an invidious comparison between this gun and our +well-appointed, well-horsed, well-manned artillery at Woolwich, the +thought suddenly flashed across my mind that the militia forces of America +beat us at Lexington, Saratoga, and Ticonderoga. "A change came o'er the +spirit of my dream,"--from the ridiculous to the sublime was but a step; +and the grotesque gun-carriage was instantly invested with sublimity. + +Various attractions were presented at the fair. There were horse-races and +trotting-matches; a trotting bull warranted to beat the fastest horse in +Michigan; and bands of music. Phineas Taylor Barnum presented the +spectacle of his very superior menagerie; in one place a wizard offered to +show the smallness of the difference between _meum_ and _tuum_; the +Siamese Twins in another displayed their monstrous and inseparable union; +and vocalists were awaiting the commands of the lovers of song. + +There was a large piece of ground devoted to an agricultural exhibition; +and here, as at home, Cochin China fowls were "the observed of all +observers," and realised fabulous prices. In a long range of booths, +devoted to the products of manufacturing industry, some of the costliest +productions of the looms of Europe were exhibited for sale. There were +peep-shows, and swings, and merry-go-rounds, and hobby-horses, and, with +so many inducements offered, it will not be supposed that holiday people +were wanting. + +Suddenly, while the diversions were at their height, and in the midst of +the intense heat, a deluge burst over Detroit, like the breaking of a +waterspout, in a few minutes turning the streets into rivers, deep enough +in many places to cover the fetlocks of the horses. It rained as it only +rains in a hot climate, and the storm was accompanied by thunder and +lightning. Waggons and carriages hurried furiously along; stages intended +to carry twelve persons at six cents were conveying twenty through the +flood at a dollar each; and ladies drenched to the skin, with white +dresses and silk stockings the colour of mud, were hurrying along over the +slippery side walks. An infantry regiment of militia took to their heels +and ran off at full pelt,--and a large body of _heavy_ cavalry dashed by +in a perfect hurricane of moustaches, draggled plumes, cross-bands, +gigantic white gloves, and clattering sabres, clearing the streets +effectually. + +A hundred years ago Detroit was a little French village of wooden houses, +a mere post for carrying on the fur-trade with the Indians. Some of these +houses still remain, dingy, many-windowed, many-gabled buildings, of +antique construction. Canoes laden with peltry were perhaps the only craft +which disturbed the waters of the Detroit river. + +The old times are changed, and a thriving commercial town of 40,000 +inhabitants stands on the site of the French trading-post. Handsome quays +and extensive wharfs now line the shores of the Detroit river, and to look +at the throng of magnificent steamers and small sailing-vessels lying +along them, sometimes two or three deep, one would suppose oneself at an +English seaport. The streets, which contain very handsome stores, are +planted with trees, and are alive with business; and hotels, banks, and +offices appear in every direction. Altogether Detroit is a very pleasing +place, and, from its position, bids fair to be a very important one. + +I had to leave the friends whose acquaintance and kindness rendered +Detroit so agreeable to me, in the middle of a very interesting +conversation. Before ten at night I found myself on an apparently +interminable wharf, creeping between cart-wheels and over bales of wool to +the _Mayflower_ steamer, which was just leaving for Buffalo. + +Passing through the hall of the _Mayflower_, which was rather a confused +and dimly-lighted scene, I went up to the saloon by a very handsome +staircase with elaborate bronze balustrades. My bewildered eyes surveyed a +fairy scene, an eastern palace, a vision of the Arabian Nights. I could +not have believed that such magnificence existed in a ship; it impressed +me much more than anything I have seen in the palaces of England. + +The _Mayflower_ was a steam-ship of 2200 tons burthen, her length 336 +feet, and her extreme breadth 60. She was of 1000 horse-power, with 81- +inch cylinders, and a stroke of 12 feet. I speak of her in the past tense, +because she has since been totally cast away in a storm on Lake Erie. This +lake bears a very bad character, and persons are warned not to venture +upon it at so stormy a season of the year as September, but, had the +weather been very rough, I should not have regretted my voyage in so +splendid a steamer. + +The saloon was 300 feet long; it had an arched roof and Gothic cornice, +with a moulding below of gilded grapes and vine-leaves. It was 10 feet +high, and the projections of the ceiling, the mouldings, and the panels of +the doors of the state-rooms were all richly gilded. About the middle +there was an enclosure for the engine, scarcely obstructing the view. This +enclosure was Gothic, to match the roof, and at each end had a window of +plate-glass, 6 feet square, through which the mechanism of the engine +could be seen. The engine itself, being a high-pressure one, and +consequently without the incumbrances of condenser and air-pump, occupied +much less room than one of ours in a ship of the same tonnage. Every +stationary part of the machinery was of polished steel, or bronze, with +elaborate castings; a crank indicator and a clock faced each other, and +the whole was lighted by two large coloured lamps. These windows were a +favourite lounge of the curious and scientific. The carpet was of rich +velvet pile, in groups of brilliant flowers, and dotted over with chairs, +sofas, and _tête-à-têtes_ of carved walnut-wood, cushioned with the +richest green velvet: the tables were of marble with gilded pedestals. +There was a very handsome piano, and both it and the tables supported +massive vases of beautiful Sevres or Dresden china, filled with exotic +flowers. On one table was a richly-chased silver tray, with a silver ewer +of iced water upon it. The saloon was brilliantly lighted by eight +chandeliers with dependent glass lustres; and at each end two mirrors, the +height of the room, prolonged interminably the magnificent scene. + +In such an apartment one would naturally expect to see elegantly-dressed +gentlemen and ladies; but no--western men, in palmetto hats and great +boots, lounged upon the superb sofas, and negroes and negresses chattered +and promenaded. Porcelain spittoons in considerable numbers garnished the +floor, and their office was by no means a sinecure one, even in the saloon +exclusively devoted to ladies. + +I saw only one person whom I liked to speak to, among my three hundred +fellow-voyagers. This was a tall, pale, and very ladylike person in deep +mourning, with a perfectly uninterested look, and such deep lines of +sorrow on her face, that I saw at a glance that the world had no power to +interest or please her. She sat on the same sofa with me, and was +helplessly puzzling over the _route_ from Buffalo to Albany with a gruff, +uncouth son, who seemed by no means disposed to aid her in her +difficulties. As I was able to give her the information she wanted, we +entered into conversation for two hours. She soon told me her history, +merely an ordinary one, of love, bereavement, and sorrow. She had been a +widow for a year, and she said that her desolation was so great that her +sole wish was to die. Her sons were taking her a tour, in the hope of +raising her spirits, but she said she was just moved about and dressed +like a doll, that she had not one ray of comfort, and that all shrunk from +her hopeless and repining grief. She asked me to tell her if any widow of +my acquaintance had been able to bear her loss with resignation; and when +I told her of some instances among my own relations, she burst into tears +and said, "I am ever arraigning the wisdom of God, and how can I hope for +his consolations?" The task of a comforter is ever a hard one, and in her +instance it was particularly so, to point to the "Balm of Gilead," as +revealed in sacred Scripture; for a stranger to show her in all kindness +that comfort could never be experienced while, as she herself owned, she +was living in the neglect of every duty both to God and man. + +She seemed roused for the moment, and thanked me for the sympathy which I +most sincerely felt, hoping at the same time to renew the conversation in +the morning. We had a stormy night, from which she suffered so much as to +be unable to leave her berth the next day, and I saw nothing further of +her beyond a brief glimpse which I caught of her at Buffalo, as she was +carried ashore, looking more despairing even than the night before. + +Below this saloon is the ladies' cabin, also very handsome, but disfigured +by numerous spittoons, and beneath this again is a small cabin with berths +two deep round the sides; and in this abode, as the ship was full, I took +a berth for the night with a southern lady, her two female slaves, four +negresses, and a mulatto woman, who had just purchased their freedom in +Tennessee. These blacks were really lady-like and intelligent, and so +agreeable and _naïve_ that, although they chattered to me till two in the +morning, I was not the least tired of them. + +They wanted me to bring them all home to England, to which they have been +taught to look as to a land of liberty and happiness; and it was with much +difficulty that I made them understand that I should not be able to find +employment for them. I asked one of them, a very fine-looking mulatto, how +long she had been married, and her age. She replied that she was thirty- +four, and had been married twenty-one years! Their black faces and woolly +hair contrasted most ludicrously with the white pillow-case. After +sleeping for a time, I was awoke by a dissonance of sounds--groaning, +straining, creaking, and the crash of waves and roar of winds. I dressed +with difficulty, and, crawling to the window, beheld a cloudless sky, a +thin, blue, stormy-looking mist, and waves higher than I had ever seen +those on the ocean; indeed, Lake Erie was one sheet of raging, furious +billows, which dashed about our leviathan but top-heavy steamer as if she +had been a plaything. + +I saw two schooners scudding with only their foresails set, and shortly +after a vessel making signals of distress, having lost her masts, +bulwarks, and boats in the gale. We were enabled to render her very +seasonable assistance. I was not now surprised at the caution given by the +stewardess the previous night, namely, that the less I undressed the +better, in case of an accident. + +While the gale lasted, being too much inured to rough weather to feel +alarmed, I amused myself with watching the different effects produced by +it on the feelings of different persons. The Southern lady was frantic +with terror. First she requested me, in no very gentle tones, to call the +stewardess. I went to the abode of that functionary, and found her lying +on the floor sea-sick; her beautiful auburn hair tangled and dishevelled. +"Oh! madam, how could you sleep?" she said; "we've had such an awful +night! I've never been so ill before." + +I returned from my useless errand, and the lady then _commanded_ me to go +instantly to the captain and ask him to come. "He's attending to the +ship," I urged. "Go then, if you've any pity, and ask him if we shall be +lost." "There's no danger, as far as I can judge; the engines work +regularly, and the ship obeys her helm." The _Mayflower_ gave a heavier +roll than usual. "Oh my God! Oh Heaven!" shrieked the unhappy lady; +"forgive me! Mercy! mercy!" A lull followed, in which she called to one of +her slaves for a glass of water; but the poor creature was too ill to +move, and, seeing that her mistress was about to grow angry, I went up to +the saloon for it. On my way to the table I nearly tumbled over a +prostrate man, whom I had noticed the night before as conspicuous for his +audacious and hardy bearing. "I guess we're going to Davy Jones," he said; +"I've been saying my prayers all night--little good, I guess. I've been a +sinner too long. I've seen many a"--a groan followed. I looked at the +reckless speaker. He was lying on the floor, with his hat and shoes off, +and his rifle beside him. His face was ghastly, but, I verily believe, +more from the effects of sea-sickness than fear. He begged me, in feeble +tones, to get him some brandy; but I could not find anybody to give it to +him, and went down with the water. + +The two slaves were as frightened as people almost stupified by sickness +could be; but when I asked one of the freed negresses if she were alarmed, +she said, "Me no fear; if me die, me go to Jesus Christ; if me live, me +serve him here--_better to die!_" + +It has been said that "poverty, sickness, all the ills of life, are +Paradise to what we fear of death"--that "it is not that life is sweet, +but that death is bitter." Here the poet and the philosopher might have +learned a lesson. This poor, untutored negress probably knew nothing more +"than her Bible true;" but she had that knowledge of a future state which +reason, unassisted by the light of revelation, could never have learned; +she knew yet more--she knew God as revealed in Christ, and in that +knowledge, under its highest and truest name of _Faith_, she feared not +the summons which would call her into the presence of the Judge of all. +The infidel may hug his heartless creed, which, by ignoring alike futurity +and the Divine government, makes an aimless chaos of the past, and a +gloomy obscurity of the future; but, in the "hour of death and in the day +of judgment," the boldest atheist in existence would thankfully exchange +his failing theories for the poor African's simple creed. + +Providence, which has not endowed the negro with intellectual powers of +the highest order, has given him an amount of _heart_ and enthusiasm to +which we are strangers. He is warm and ardent in his attachments, fierce +in his resentfulness, terrible in his revenge. The black troops of our +West Indian colonies, when let loose, fight with more fury and +bloodthirstiness than those of any white race. This temperament is carried +into religion, and nowhere on earth does our Lord find a more loving and +zealous disciple than in the converted and Christianized negro. It is +indeed true that, in America only, more than three million free-born +Africans wear the chains of servitude; but it is no less true that in many +instances the Gospel has penetrated the shades of their Egyptian darkness, +giving them + + "A clear escape from tyrannizing lust, + A full immunity from penal woe," + +Many persons who have crossed the Atlantic without annoyance are +discomposed by the short chopping surges of these inland seas, and the +poor negresses suffered dreadfully from sea-sickness. + +As the stewardess was upstairs, and too ill herself to attend upon any +one, I did what I could for them, getting them pillows, camphor, &c., only +too happy that I was in a condition to be useful. One of them, a young +married woman with a baby of three months old, was alarmingly ill, and, as +the poor infant was in danger of being seriously injured by the rolling of +the ship, I took it on my lap for an hour till the gale moderated, thereby +gaining the lasting kindly remembrance of its poor mother. I am sure that +a white infant would have screamed in a most appalling way, for, as I had +never taken a baby in my arms before, I held it in a very awkward manner; +but the poor little black thing, wearied with its struggles on the floor, +lay very passively, every now and then turning its little monkey-face up +to mine, with a look of understanding and confidence which quite +conciliated my good will. It was so awfully ugly, so much like a black +ape, and so little like the young of the human species, that I was obliged +while I held it to avert my eyes from it, lest in a sudden fit of foolish +prejudice and disgust I should let it fall. Meanwhile, the Southern lady +was very ill, but not too ill, I am sorry to say, to box the ears of her +slaves. + +The gale moderated about nine in the morning, leaving a very rough, foamy +sea, which reflected in a peculiarly dazzling and disagreeable way the +cloudless and piercing blue of the sky. The saloon looked as magnificent +as by candle-light, with the sunshine streaming through a running window +of stained glass. + +Dinner on a plentiful scale was served at one, but out of 300 passengers +only about 30 were able to avail themselves of it. Large glass tubs of +vanilla cream-ice were served. The voyage was peculiarly uninteresting, as +we were out of sight of land nearly the whole day; my friend the widow did +not appear, and, when I attempted to write, the inkstand rolled off the +table. It was just sunset, when we reached Buffalo, and moored at a wharf +crowded with large steamers receiving and discharging cargo. Owing to the +gale, we were two hours too late for the Niagara cars, and I slept at the +Western Hotel, where I received every attention. + +Buffalo is one of the best samples of American progress. It is a regularly +laid out and substantially built city of 65,000 inhabitants. It is still +in the vigour of youth, for the present town only dates from 1813. It +stands at the foot of Lake Erie, at the opening of the Hudson canal, where +the commerce of the great chain of inland lakes is condensed. It is very +"going ahead;" its inhabitants are ever changing; its population is +composed of all nations, with a very large proportion of Germans, French, +and Irish. But their national characteristics, though not lost, are seen +through a medium of pure Americanism. They all rush about--the lethargic +German keeps pace with the energetic Yankee; and the Irishman, no longer +in rags, "guesses" and "spekilates" in the brogue of Erin. Western +travellers pass through Buffalo; tourists bound for Canada pass through +Buffalo; the traffic of lakes, canals, and several lines of rail centres +at Buffalo; so engines scream, and steamers puff, all day long. It has a +great shipbuilding trade, and to all appearance is one of the most +progressive and go-ahead cities in the Union. + +I left Buffalo on a clear, frosty morning, by a line which ran between +lumber-yards [Footnote: Lumber is sawn timber.] on a prodigious scale and +the hard white beach of Lake Erie. Soon after leaving the city, the lake +becomes narrow and rapid, and finally hurries along with fearful velocity. +I knew that I was looking at the commencement of the rapids of Niagara, +but the cars ran into some clearings, and presently stopped at a very +bustling station, where a very officious man shouted, "Niagara Falls +Station!" The name grated unpleasantly upon my ears. A man appeared at the +door of the car in which I was the only passenger--"You for Lewiston, +quick, this way!" and hurried me into a stage of uncouth construction, +drawn by four horses. We jolted along the very worst road I ever travelled +on--corduroy was Elysium to it. No level was observed; it seemed to be a +mere track along waste land, running through holes, over hillocks and +stumps of trees. We were one hour and three-quarters in going a short +seven miles. If I had been better acquainted with the neighbourhood, I +might, as I only found out when it was too late, have crossed the bridge +at Niagara Falls, spent three hours in sight of Niagara, proceeding to +Queenston in time for the steamer by the Canada cars! + +On our way to Lewiston we met forty of these four-horse stages. I caught a +distant view of the falls, and a nearer one of the yet incomplete +suspension bridge, which, when finished, will be one of the greatest +triumphs of engineering art. + +Beyond this the scenery is very beautiful. The road runs among forest +trees of luxuriant growth, and peach and apple orchards, upon the American +bank of the Niagara river. This bank is a cliff 300 feet high, and from +the edge of the road you may throw a stone into the boiling torrent below; +yet the only parapet is a rotten fence, in many places completely +destroyed. When you begin to descend the steep hill to Lewiston the drive +is absolutely frightful. The cumbrous vehicle creaks, jolts, and swings, +and, in spite of friction-breaks and other appliances, gradually acquires +an impetus which sends it at full speed down the tremendous hill, and +round the sharp corner, to the hotel at Lewiston. While I was waiting +there watching the stages, and buying peaches, of which I got six for a +penny, a stage came at full speed down the hill, with only two men on the +driving-seat. The back straps had evidently given way, and the whole +machine had a tendency to jump forward, when, in coming down the steepest +part of the declivity, it got a jolt, and in the most ridiculous way +turned "topsy-turvy," the roof coming down upon the horses' backs. The men +were thrown off unhurt, but the poor animals were very much cut and +bruised. + +I crossed Lake Ontario to Toronto in the _Peerless_, a very smart, safe, +iron steamer, with the saloon and chief weight below. The fittings of this +beautiful little vessel are in perfect taste. We stopped for two hours at +the wharf at Niagara, a town on the British side, protected once by a now +disused and dismantled fort. The cars at length came up, two hours after +their time, and the excuse given for the delay was, that they had run over +a cow! + +In grim contrast to the dismantled English Fort Massassaqua, Fort Niagara +stands on the American side, and is a place of considerable strength. +There I saw sentinels in grey uniforms, and the flag of the stars and +stripes. + +Captain D---- of the _Peerless_ brought his beautiful little vessel from +the Clyde in 6000 pieces, and is justly proud of her. I sat next him at +dinner, and found that we knew some of the same people in Scotland. Gaelic +was a further introduction; and though so many thousand miles away, for a +moment I felt myself at home when we spoke of the majestic Cuchullins and +the heathery braes of Balquidder. In the _Peerless_ every one took wine or +liqueurs. There was no bill of fare, but a long list of wines and spirits +was placed by each plate. Instead of being disturbed in the middle of +dinner by a poke on the shoulder, and the demand, "Dinner ticket, or fifty +cents," I was allowed to remain as long as I pleased, and at the +conclusion of the voyage a gentlemanly Highland purser asked me for my +passage and dinner money together. + +We passed a number of brigs and schooners under full sail, their canvass +remarkable for its whiteness; their hulls also were snowy white. They +looked as though "they were drifting with the dead, to shores where all +was dumb." + +Late in the evening we entered the harbour of Toronto, which is a very +capacious one, and is protected by a natural mole of sand some miles in +extent. Though this breakwater has some houses and a few trees, it is the +picture of dreary desolation. + +The city of Toronto, the stronghold of Canadian learning and loyalty, +presents an imposing appearance, as seen from the water. It stands on +ground sloping upwards from the lake, and manufactories, colleges, +asylums, church spires, and public buildings, the whole faced by a +handsome line of quays, present themselves at once to the eye. + +A soft and familiar sound came off from the shore; it was the well-known +note of the British bugle, and the flag whose silken folds were rising and +falling on the breeze was the meteor flag of England. Long may it brave +"the battle and the breeze"! English uniforms were glancing among the +crowd on the quay, English faces surrounded me, English voices rang in my +ears; the _négligé_ costumes which met my eyes were in the best style of +England. A thrill of pleasure went through my heart on finding, more than +4000 miles from home, the characteristics of my own loved land. + +But I must add that there were unpleasant characteristics peculiarly +English also. I could never have landed, the confusion was so great, had +not Captain D---- assisted me. One porter ran off with one trunk, another +with another, while three were fighting for the possession of my valise, +till silenced by the cane of a custom-house officer. Then there was a +clamorous demand for "wharfage," and the hackman charged half a dollar for +taking me a quarter of a mile. All this somewhat damped my ecstacies, and +contrasted unfavourably with the orderly and easy way in which I landed on +the shore of the United States. + +At Russell's Hotel I rejoined Mr. and Mrs. Walrence, who said "they would +have been extremely surprised if a lady in _their_ country had met with +the slightest difficulty or annoyance" in travelling alone for 700 miles! + +My ecstacies were still further toned down when I woke the next morning +with my neck, hands, and face stinging and swollen from the bites of +innumerable mosquitoes. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +The Place of Council--Its progress and its people--English hearts-- +"Sebastopol is taken"--Squibs and crackers--A ship on her beam-ends-- +Selfishness--A mongrel city--A Scot--Constancy rewarded--Monetary +difficulties--Detention on a bridge--A Canadian homestead--Life in the +clearings--The bush on fire--A word on farming--The "bee" and its produce +--Eccentricities of Mr. Haldimands--A ride on a troop-horse--Scotch +patriotism--An English church--The servant nuisance--Richard Cobden. + + +The people of Toronto informed me, immediately on my arrival in their +city, that "Toronto is the most English place to be met with out of +England." At first I was at a loss to understand their meaning. Wooden +houses, long streets crossing each other at right angles, and wooden side- +walks, looked very un-English to my eye. But when I had been for a few +days at Toronto, and had become accustomed to the necessarily-unfinished +appearance of a town which has only enjoyed sixty years of existence, I +fully agreed with the laudatory remarks passed upon it. The wooden houses +have altogether disappeared from the principal streets, and have been +replaced by substantial erections of brick and stone. The churches are +numerous, and of tasteful architecture. The public edifices are well +situated and very handsome. King Street, the principal thoroughfare, is +two miles in length, and the side-walks are lined with handsome shops. The +outskirts of Toronto abound in villa residences, standing in gardens or +shrubberies. The people do not run "_hurry skurry_" along the streets, but +there are no idlers to be observed. Hirsute eccentricities have also +disappeared; the beard is rarely seen, and the moustache is not considered +a necessary ornament. The faded careworn look of the American ladies has +given place to the bright complexion, the dimpled smile, and the active +elastic tread, so peculiarly English. Indeed, in walking along the +streets, there is nothing to tell that one is not in England; and if +anything were needed to complete the illusion, those sure tokens of +British civilisation, a jail and a lunatic asylum, are not wanting. + +Toronto possesses in a remarkable degree the appearances of stability and +progress. No town on the Western Continent has progressed more rapidly; +certainly none more surely. I conversed with an old gentleman who +remembered its site when it was covered with a forest, when the smoke of +Indian wigwams ascended through the trees, and when wild fowl crowded the +waters of the harbour. The place then bore the name of Toronto--the Place +of Council. The name was changed by the first settlers to Little York, but +in 1814 its euphonious name of Toronto was again bestowed upon it. Its +population in 1801 was 336; it is now nearly 50,000. + +Toronto is not the fungus growth, staring and wooden, of a temporary +necessity; it is the result of persevering industry, well-applied capital, +and healthy and progressive commercial prosperity. Various railroads are +in course of construction, which will make it the exporting market for the +increasing produce of the interior; and as the migratory Canadian +Legislature is now stationary at Toronto for four years, its future +progress will probably be more rapid than its past. Its wharfs are always +crowded with freight and passenger steamers, by which it communicates two +or three times a day with the great cities of the United States, and +Quebec and Montreal. It is the seat of Canadian learning, and, besides +excellent schools, possesses a university, and several theological and +general seminaries. The society is said to be highly superior. I give +willing testimony in favour of this assertion, from the little which I saw +of it, but an attack of ague prevented me from presenting my letters of +introduction. It is a very musical place, and at Toronto Jenny Lind gave +the only concerts with which she honoured Canada. A large number of the +inhabitants are Scotch, which may account for the admirable way in which +the Sabbath is observed. + +If I was pleased to find that the streets, the stores, the accent, the +manners were English, I was rejoiced to see that from the highest to the +lowest the hearts of the people were English also. I was at Toronto when +the false despatch was received announcing the capture of Sebastopol and +of the Russian army. I was spending the evening at the house of a friend, +when a gentleman ran in to say that the church bells were ringing for a +great victory! It was but the work of a few minutes for us to jump into a +hack, and drive at full speed to the office of the _Globe_ newspaper, +where the report was apparently confirmed. A great crowd in a state of +eager excitement besieged the doors, and presently a man mounted on a +lamp-post read the words, "_Sebastopol is taken! The Russian fleet burnt! +Eighteen thousand killed and wounded. Loss of the Allies, two thousand +five hundred._" This news had been telegraphed from Boston, and surely the +trembling tongue of steel had never before told such a bloody tale. One +shout of "Hurrah for Old England" burst from the crowd, and hearty English +cheers were given, which were caught up and repeated down the crowded +streets of Toronto. The shout thrilled through my heart; it told that the +flag of England waved over the loyal, true-hearted, and brave; it told of +attachment to the constitution and the throne; it told that in our times +of difficulty and danger "St. George and merry England" would prove a +gathering cry even on the prosperous shores of Lake Ontario. Greater +enthusiasm could not have been exhibited on the receipt of this false but +glorious news in any city at home. The bells, which a few days before had +tolled for the catastrophe of the _Arctic_, now pealed forth in triumph +for the victory of the Alma. Toronto knew no rest on that night. Those who +rejoiced over a victory gained over the northern despot were those who had +successfully resisted the despotism of a band of rebels. The streets were +almost impassable from the crowds who thronged them. Hand-rockets exploded +almost into people's eyes--serpents and squibs were hissing and cracking +over the pavements--and people were rushing in all directions for fuel for +the different bonfires. The largest of these was opposite the St. Lawrence +Hall. It was a monster one of tar-barrels, and lighted up the whole +street, paling the sickly flame of the gas-lamps. There was a large and +accumulating crowd round it, shouting, "Hurrah for Old England! Down with +the Rooshians! Three cheers for the Queen!" and the like. Sky-rockets were +blazing high in air, men were rushing about firing muskets, the small +swivels of the steamers at the wharfs were firing incessantly, and carts +with combustibles were going at full speed along the streets, each fresh +arrival being hailed with enthusiastic cheering. There were firemen, too, +in their picturesque dresses, who had turned out at the first sound of the +bells, and their services were soon put in requisition, for enthusiasm +produced recklessness, and two or three shingle-roofs were set on fire by +the descent of rockets upon them. This display of attachment to England +was not confined to the loyal and aristocratic city of Toronto; at +Hamilton, a thriving commercial place, of suspected American tendencies, +the town-council was assembled at the time the despatch was received, and +instantly voted a sum for an illumination. + +From my praise of Toronto I must except the hotels, which are of a very +inferior class. They are a poor imitation of those in the States. +Russell's Hotel, at which I stayed for eight days, was a disagreeable +contrast to the National Hotel at Detroit, and another of some +pretensions, the North American, was said to be even more comfortless. The +bedrooms at Russell's swarmed with mosquitoes; and the waiters, who were +runaway slaves, were inattentive and uncivil. + +After staying some little time with my friends at Toronto, I went to pay a +visit to some friends at Hamilton. The afternoon was very windy and +stormy. The lake looked very unpromising from the wharf; the island +protected the harbour, but beyond this the waves were breaking with fury. +Several persons who came down, intending to take their passage for +Hamilton, were deterred by the threatening aspect of the weather, but, not +having heard anything against the character of Lake Ontario, I had +sufficient confidence in it to persevere in my intention. I said to the +captain, "I suppose it won't be rough?" to which he replied that he could +not flatter me by saying so, adding that he had never seen so many persons +sick as in the morning. Dinner was served immediately on our leaving the +harbour, but the number of those who sat down, at first about thirty, soon +diminished to five, the others having rushed in a most mysterious manner +to state rooms or windows. For my own part, I cannot say that the allowed +excellence of the _cuisine_ tempted me to make a very substantial meal, +and I was glad of an excuse for retiring to a state-room, which I shared +with a lady who had just taken leave of her three children. This cabin was +very prettily arranged, but the movements of things were rather erratic, +and my valise gave most disagreeable manifestations of spiritual agency. + +The ship was making little way, and rolling and pitching fearfully, and, +knowing how very top-heavy she was, I did not at all like the glimpses of +raging water which I with difficulty obtained through the cabin windows. +To understand what followed it will be necessary for the reader to +recollect that the saloon and state-rooms in this vessel formed an +erection or deck-house about eight feet high upon the deck, and that the +part of the saloon where most of the passengers were congregated, as well +as the state-room where I was sitting, were within a few feet of the bow +of the ship, and consequently exposed to the fury of the waves. I had sat +in my state-room for half an hour, feeling very apathetic, and wishing +myself anywhere but where I was, when something struck the ship, and the +wretched fabric fell over on her side. Another and another--then silence +for a second, broken only by the crash and roar of winds and waters. The +inner door burst open, letting in an inundation of water. My companion +jumped up, shrieking, "Oh, my children! we're lost--we're lost!" and +crawled, pale and trembling, into the saloon. The vessel was lying on her +side, therefore locomotion was most difficult; but sea-sick people were +emerging from their state-rooms, shrieking, some that they were lost-- +others for their children--others for mercy; while a group of gentlemen, +less noisy, but not less frightened, and drenched to the skin, were +standing together, with pale and ashy faces. "What is the matter?" +inquired my companion, taking hold of one of these men. "Say your prayers, +for we are going down," was the brutal reply. For the first and only time +during my American travels I was really petrified with fear. Suddenly a +wave struck the hapless vessel, and with a stunning crash broke through +the thin woodwork of the side of the saloon. I caught hold of a life-buoy +which was near me--a gentleman clutched it from me, for fright makes some +men selfish--and, breathless, I was thrown down into the gurgling water. I +learned then how quickly thoughts can pass through the mind, for in those +few seconds I thought less of the anticipated death-struggle amid the +boiling surges of the lake, and of the quiet sleep beneath its gloomy +waters, than of the unsatisfactory manner in which those at home would +glean the terrible tidings from the accident columns of a newspaper. +Another minute, and I was swept through the open door into a state-room-- +another one of suspense, and the ship righted as if by a superhuman +effort. There seemed a respite--there was a silence, broken only by the +roar of winds and waves, and with the respite came hope. Shortly after, +the master of the ship appeared, with his hat off, and completely +drenched. "Thank God, we're safe!" he said, and returned to his duty. We +had all supposed that we had struck on a rock or wreck. I never knew the +precise nature of our danger beyond this, that the vessel had been thrown +on her beam-ends in a squall, and that, the wind immediately veering +round, the fury of the waves had been spent upon her. + +Many of the passengers now wished the captain to return, but he said that +he should incur greater danger in an attempt to make the harbour of +Toronto than by proceeding down the open lake. For some time nothing was +to be seen but a dense fog, a storm of sleet which quite darkened the air, +and raging waves, on which we mounted sometimes, while at others we were +buried between them. In another hour the gale had completely subsided, +and, after we had changed our drenched habiliments, no token remained of +the previous storm but the drowned and dismantled appearance of the +saloon, and the resolution on my own mind never to trust myself again on +one of these fearful lakes. I was amused to observe that those people who +had displayed the greatest symptoms of fear during the storm were the +first to protest that, "as for them, they never thought there was any +danger." The afternoon, though cold, was extremely beautiful, but, owing +to the storm in the early part of our voyage, we did not reach Hamilton +till nightfall, or three hours after our appointed time. + +I do not like these inland lakes, or tideless fresh-water seas, as they +may more appropriately be termed. I know Lake Ontario well; I have crossed +it twice, and have been up and down it five times. I have sojourned upon +its shores, and have seen them under the hot light of an autumn sun, and +underneath a mantle of wintry snow; but there is to me something +peculiarly oppressive about this vast expanse of water. If the lake is +rough, there are no harbours of refuge in which to take shelter--if calm, +the waters, though blue, pure, and clear, look monotonous and dead. The +very ships look lonely things; their hulls and sails are white, and some +of them have been known in time of cholera to drift over the lake from day +to day, with none to guide the helm. The shores, too, are flat and +uninteresting; my eyes wearied of following that interminable boundary of +trees stretching away to the distant horizon. + +Yet Lake Ontario affords great advantages to both Canada and the United +States. The former has the large towns of Hamilton, Toronto, and Kingston +on its shores, with the exporting places of Oakville, Credit, and Cobourg. +The important towns of Oswego and Rochester, with smaller ones too +numerous to name, are on the American side. This lake is five hundred +miles round, and, owing to its very great depth, never freezes, except +just along the shores. An immense trade is carried on upon it, both in +steamers and sailing vessels. A ship-canal connects Lake Ontario with Lake +Erie, thereby overcoming the obstacle to navigation produced by the Falls +of Niagara. This stupendous work is called the Welland Canal. + +At Hamilton I received a most cordial welcome from the friends whom I went +to visit, and saw something of the surrounding country. It is, I think, +the most bustling place in Canada. It is a very juvenile city, yet already +has a population of twenty-five thousand people. The stores and hotels are +handsome, and the streets are brilliantly lighted with gas. Hamilton has a +peculiarly unfinished appearance. Indications of progress meet one on +every side--there are houses being built, and houses being pulled down to +make room for larger and more substantial ones--streets are being +extended, and new ones are being staked out, and every external feature +seems to be acquiring fresh and rapid development. People hurry about as +if their lives depended on their speed. "I guess" and "I calculate" are +frequently heard, together with "Well posted up," and "A long chalk;" and +locomotives and steamers whistle all day long. Hamilton is a very +Americanised place. I heard of "grievances, independence, and annexation," +and, altogether, should have supposed it to be on the other side of the +boundary-line. + +It is situated on a little lake, called Burlington Bay, separated from +Lake Ontario by a narrow strip of sandy shingle. This has been cut +through, and, as two steamers leave the pier at Hamilton at the same hour +every morning, there is a daily and very exciting race for the first +entrance into the narrow passage. This racing is sometimes productive of +very serious collisions. + +The town is built upon very low and aguish ground, at the foot of a +peculiar and steep eminence, which the inhabitants dignify with the name +of the Mountain. I ascended this mountain, which might better be called a +molehill, by a flight of a hundred and thirty steps. The view from the top +was very magnificent, but, as an elevated building offered us one still +more extensive, we ascended to the roof by six flights of steps, to see a +_camera obscura_ which was ostentatiously advertised. A very good _camera +obscura_ might have been worth so long an ascent in a house redolent of +spirits and onions; but after we had reached the top, with a great +expenditure of toil and breath, a ragged, shoeless little boy very +pompously opened the door of a small wooden erection, and introduced us to +four panes of coloured glass, through which we viewed the town of +Hamilton, under the different aspects of spring, summer, autumn, and +winter! + +Dundurn Castle, a handsome, castellated, baronial-looking building, the +residence of the present Premier, Sir Allan M'Nab, is near Hamilton, and +it has besides some very handsome stone villa residences. There I saw, for +the first and only time in the New World, beautifully kept grass lawns, +with flower-beds in the English style. One very fine morning, when the +maple-leaves were tinted with the first scarlet of the fall, my friends +took me to see Ancaster and Dundas; the former, an old place, very like +some of our grey, quiet Lancashire villages--the latter a good type of the +rapid development and enterprising spirit which are making Canada West to +rival the States in rapidity of progress. There were bridges in course of +construction--railway embankments swarming with labourers--macadamised +roads succeeding those of corduroy and plank--snake-fences giving place to +those of posts and rails, and stone walls--and saw and grist mills were +springing up wherever a "water privilege" could be found. Laden waggons +proceeded heavily along the roads, and the encouraging announcements of +"Cash for wheat," and "Cash for wool," were frequently to be seen. The +views were very fine as we skirted the Mountain, but Canadian scenery is +monotonous and rather gloomy; though the glorious tints of the American +fall give the leaves of some of the trees the appearance rather of +tropical flowers than of foliage. + +Ancaster is an old place, outstripped by towns of ten years' existence, as +it has neither a port nor a river. There was an agricultural show, and +monster pumpkins and overgrown cabbages were displayed to admiring crowds, +under the shadow of a prodigious union jack. + +Dundas, a near neighbour of Ancaster, has completely eclipsed it. This +appears to be one of the busiest little places in Canada West. It is a +collection of woollen-mills, grist-mills, and iron-foundries; and though, +in my preformed notions of political economy, I had supposed manufactures +suited exclusively to an old country, in which capital and labour are +alike redundant, the aspect of this place was most thriving. In one of the +flour-mills the machinery seemed as perfect as in the biscuit factory at +Portsmouth--by some ingenious mechanism the flour was cooled, barrelled, +and branded with great celerity. At an iron-foundry I was surprised to +find that steam-engines and flour-mill machinery could not be manufactured +fast enough to meet the demand. In this neighbourhood I heard rather an +interesting anecdote of what steady perseverance can do, in the history of +a Scot from the shores of the Forth. + +This young man was a pauper boy, and was apprenticed to the master of an +iron-foundry in Scotland, but ran away before the expiration of his +apprenticeship, and, entering a ship at Glasgow, worked his passage across +to Quebec. Here he gained employment for some months as a porter, and, +having saved a little money, went up to the neighbourhood of Lake Simcoe, +where he became a day labourer. Here he fell in love with his master's +daughter, who returned his affection, but her father scornfully rejected +the humble Scotchman's suit. Love but added an incentive to ambition; and +obtaining work in a neighbouring township, he increased his income by +teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic in the evenings. He lived +penuriously, denied himself even necessaries, and carefully treasured his +hoarded savings. Late one evening, clothed almost in rags, he sought the +house of his lady-love, and told her that within two years he would come +to claim her hand of her father, with a waggon and pair of horses. + +Still in his ragged clothing, for it does not appear that he had any +other, he trudged to Toronto, and sought employment, his accumulated +savings sewn up in the lining of his waistcoat. He went about from person +to person, but could not obtain employment, and his waggon and horses +receded further and further in the dim perspective. One day, while walking +along at the unfinished end of King Street West, he saw something +glittering in the mud, and, on taking it up, found it to be the steel snap +of a pocket-book. This pocket-book contained notes to the amount of one +hundred and fifty dollars; and the next day a reward of five-and-twenty +was offered to the finder of them. The Scotchman waited on the owner, who +was a tool manufacturer, and, declining the reward, asked only for work, +for "leave to toil," as Burns has expressed it. This was granted him; and +in less than four months he became a clerk in the establishment. His +salary was gradually raised--in the evenings he obtained employment in +writing for a lawyer, and his savings, judiciously managed, increased to +such an extent, that at the end of eighteen months he purchased a thriving +farm in the neighbourhood of London, and, as there was water-power upon +it, he built a grist-mill. His industry still continued successful, and +just before the two years expired he drove in a light waggon, with two +hardy Canadian horses, to the dwelling of his former master, to claim his +daughter's hand; though, be it remembered, he had never held any +communication with her since he parted from her in rags two years before. +At first they did not recognise the vagrant, ragged Scotch labourer, in +the well-dressed driver and possessor of the "knowing-looking" equipage. +His altered circumstances removed all difficulty on the father's part--the +maiden had been constant--and soon afterwards they were married. He still +continued to prosper, and add land to land; and three years after his +marriage sent twenty pounds to his former master in Scotland, as a +compensation for the loss of his services. Strange to say, the son of that +very master is now employed in the mill of the runaway apprentice. Such +instances as this, while they afford encouragement to honest industry, +show at the same time the great capabilities of Canada West. + +At Hamilton, where the stores are excellent, I made several purchases, but +I was extremely puzzled with the Canadian currency. The States money is +very convenient. I soon understood dollars, cents, and dimes; but in the +colonies I never knew what my money was worth. In Prince Edward Island the +sovereign is worth thirty shillings; in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia +twenty-five; while in Canada, at the time of my visit, it was worth +twenty-four and four pence. There your shilling is fifteen pence, or a +quarter-dollar; while your quarter-dollar is a shilling. Your sixpence is +seven pence-half-penny, or a "York shilling;" while your penny is a +"copper" of indeterminate value apparently. Comparatively speaking, very +little metallic money is in circulation. You receive bills marked five +shillings, when, to your surprise, you can only change them for four +metallic shillings. Altogether in Canada I had to rely upon people's +honesty, or probably on their ignorance of my ignorance; for any attempts +at explanation only made "confusion worse confounded," and I seldom +comprehended anything of a higher grade than a "York shilling." From my +stupidity about the currency, and my frequent query, "How many dollars or +cents is it?" together with my offering dirty crumpled pieces of paper +bearing such names as Troy, Palmyra, and Geneva, which were in fact notes +of American banks which might have suspended payment, I was constantly +taken, not for an ignoramus from the "Old Country," but for a "genuine +Down-Easter." Canadian credit is excellent; but the banking system of the +States is on a very insecure footing; some bank or other "breaks" every +day, and lists of the defaulters are posted up in the steamboats and +hotels. + +Within a few days after my resolution never again to trust myself on Lake +Ontario, I sailed down it, on a very beautiful morning, to Toronto. The +royal mail steamer _Arabian_ raced with us for the narrow entrance to the +canal which connects Burlington Bay with the main lake, and both captains +"piled on" to their utmost ability, but the _Arabian_ passed us in +triumph. The morning was so very fine, that I half forgot my dislike to +Lake Ontario. On the land side there was a succession of slightly elevated +promontories, covered with forests abounding in recent clearings, their +sombre colouring being relieved by the brilliant blue of the lake. I saw, +for the only time, that beautiful phenomenon called the "water-mirage," by +which trees, ships, and houses are placed in the most extraordinary and +sometimes inverted positions. Yet still these endless promontories +stretched away, till their distant outlines were lost in the soft blue +haze of the Indian summer. Yet there was an oppressiveness about the +tideless water and pestilential shore, and the white-hulled ships looked +like deserted punished things, whose doom for ages was to be ceaseless +sailing over these gloomy waters. + +At Toronto my kind friend Mr. Forrest met me. He and his wife had invited +me some months before to visit them in their distant home in the Canadian +_bush_; therefore I was not a little surprised at the equipage which +awaited me at the hotel, as I had expected to jolt for twenty-two miles, +over corduroy roads, in a lumber-waggon. It was the most dashing vehicle +which I saw in Canada. It was a most _unbush-like_, sporting-looking, +high, mail phaëton, mounted by four steps; it had three seats, a hood in +front, and a rack for luggage behind. It would hold eight persons. The +body and wheels were painted bright scarlet and black; and it was drawn by +a pair of very showy-looking horses, about sixteen "hands" high, with +elegant and well-blacked harness. Mr. Forrest looked more like a sporting +English squire than an emigrant. + +We drove out of Toronto by the Lake shore road, and I could scarcely +believe we were not by the sea, for a heavy surf was rolling and crashing +upon the beach, and no land was in sight on the opposite side. After some +time we came to a stream, with a most clumsy swing bridge, which was open +for the passage of two huge rafts laden with flour. This proceeding had +already occupied more than an hour, as we were informed by some +unfortunate _détenus_. We waited for half an hour while the raftmen +dawdled about it, but the rafts could not get through the surf, so they +were obliged to desist. I now reasonably supposed that they would have +shut the bridge as fast as possible, as about twenty vehicles, with +numerous foot-passengers, were waiting on either side; but no, they moved +it for a little distance, then smoked a bit, then moved it a few inches +and smoked again, and so on for another half-hour, while we were exposed +to a pitiless north-east wind. They evidently enjoyed our discomfiture, +and were trying how much of annoyance we would bear patiently. Fiery +tempers have to be curbed in Canada West, for the same spirit which at +home leads men not to "touch their hats" to those above them in station, +here would vent itself in open insolence and arrogance, if one requested +them to be a little quicker in their motions. The fabric would hardly come +together at all, and then only three joists appeared without anything to +cover them. This the men seemed to consider _un fait accompli_, and sat +down to smoke. At length, when it seemed impossible to bear a longer +detention with any semblance of patience, they covered these joists with +some planks, over which our horses, used to pick their way, passed in +safety, not, however, without overturning one of the boards, and leaving a +most dangerous gap. This was a favourable specimen of a Canadian bridge. + +The manners of the emigrants who settle in Canada are far from +prepossessing. Wherever I heard torrents of slang and abuse of England; +wherever I noticed brutality of manner, unaccompanied by respect to +ladies, I always found upon inquiry that the delinquent had newly arrived +from the old country. Some time before I visited America, I saw a letter +from a young man who had emigrated, containing these words: "Here I +haven't to _bow and cringe_ to gentlemen of the aristocracy--that is, to a +man who has a better coat on than myself." I was not prepared to find this +feeling so very prevalent among the lower classes in our own possessions. +The children are an improvement on their parents, and develop loyal and +constitutional sentiments. The Irish are the noisiest of the enemies of +England, and carry with them to Canada the most inveterate enmity to +"Sassenach" rule. The term "_slang-whangers_" must have been invented for +these. + +After some miles of very bad road, which once had been corduroy, we got +upon a plank-road, upon which the draught is nearly as light as upon a +railroad. When these roads are good, the driving upon them is very easy; +when they are out of repair it is just the reverse. We came to an Indian +village of clap-board houses, built some years ago by Government for some +families of the Six Nations who resided here with their chief; but they +disliked the advances of the white man, and their remnants have removed +farther to the west. We drove for many miles through woods of the American +oak, little more than brushwood, but gorgeous in all shades of colouring, +from the scarlet of the geranium to deep crimson and Tyrian purple. Oh! +our poor faded tints of autumn, about which we write sentimental poetry! +Turning sharply round a bank of moss, and descending a long hill, we +entered the bush. There all my dreams of Canadian scenery were more than +realised. Trees grew in every variety of the picturesque. The forest was +dark and oppressively still, and such a deadly chill came on, that I drew +my cloak closer around me. A fragrant but heavy smell arose, and Mr. +Forrest said that we were going down into a cedar swamp, where there was a +chill even in the hottest weather. It was very beautiful. Emerging from +this, we came upon a little whitewashed English church, standing upon a +steep knoll, with its little spire rising through the trees; and leaving +this behind, we turned off upon a road through very wild country. The +ground had once been cleared, but no use had been made of it, and it was +covered with charred stumps about two feet high. Beyond this appeared an +interminable bush. Mr. Forrest told me that his house was near, and, from +the appearance of the country, I expected to come upon a log cabin; but we +turned into a field, and drove under some very fine apple-trees to a house +the very perfection of elegance and comfort. It looked as if a pretty +villa from Norwood or Hampstead had been transported to this Canadian +clearing. The dwelling was a substantially built brick one-storied house, +with a deep green verandah surrounding it, as a protection from the snow +in winter and the heat in summer. Apple-trees, laden with richly-coloured +fruit, were planted round, and sumach-trees, in all the glorious colouring +of the fall, were opposite the front door. The very house seemed to smile +a welcome; and seldom have I met a more cordial one than I received from +Mrs. Forrest, the kindly and graceful hostess, who met me at the door, her +pretty simple dress of pink and white muslin contrasting strangely with +the charred stumps which were in sight, and the long lines of gloomy bush +which stood out dark and sharp against the evening sky. + +"Will you go into the drawing-room?" asked Mrs. Forrest. I was surprised, +for I had not associated a _drawing-room_ with emigrant life in Canada; +but I followed her along a pretty entrance-lobby, floored with polished +oak, into a lofty room, furnished with all the elegances and luxuries of +the mansion of an affluent Englishman at home, a beautiful piano not being +wanting. It was in this house, containing every comfort, and welcomed with +the kindest hospitality, that I received my first impressions of "life in +the clearings." My hosts were only recovering from the fatigues of a +"thrashing-bee" of the day before, and, while we were playing at +bagatelle, one of the _gentlemen_ assistants came to the door, and asked +if the "_Boss_" were at home. A lady told me that, when she first came +out, a servant asked her "How the boss liked his shirts done?" As Mrs. +Moodie had not then enlightened the world on the subject of settlers' +slang, the lady did not understand her, and asked what she meant by the +"boss,"--to which she replied, "Why, lawk, missus, your hubby, to be +sure." + +I spent some time with these kind and most agreeable friends, and returned +to them after a visit to the Falls of Niagara. My sojourn with them is +among my sunniest memories of Canada. Though my expectations were in one +sense entirely disappointed on awaking to the pleasant consciousness of +reposing on the softest of feathers, I did not feel romance enough to wish +myself on a buffalo robe on the floor of a log-cabin. Nearly every day I +saw some operation of Canadian farming, with its difficulties and +pleasures. Among the former is that of obtaining men to do the work. The +wages given are five shillings per diem, and in many cases "rations" +besides. While I was at Mr. Forrest's, two men were sinking a well, and +one coolly took up his tools and walked away because _only_ half a pound +of butter had been allowed for breakfast. Mr. Forrest possesses sixty +acres of land, fifteen of which are still in bush. The barns are very +large and substantial, more so than at home; for no produce can be left +out of doors in the winter. There were two hundred and fifty bushels of +wheat, the produce of a "thrashing bee," and various other edibles. Oxen, +huge and powerful, do all the draught-work on this farm, and their stable +looked the very perfection of comfort. Round the house "snake-fences" had +given place to those of post and rail; but a few hundred yards away was +the uncleared bush. The land thus railed round had been cleared for some +years; the grass is good, and the stumps few in number. Leaving this, we +came to the stubble of last year, where the stumps were more numerous, and +then to the land only cleared in the spring, covered thickly with charred +stumps, the soil rich and black, and wheat springing up in all directions. +Beyond this there was nothing but bush. A scramble through a bush, though +very interesting in its way, produces disagreeable consequences. + +When the excitement of the novelty was over, and I returned to the house, +I contemplated with very woeful feelings the inroad which had been made +upon my wardrobe--the garments torn in all directions beyond any +possibility of repair, and the shoes reduced to the consistency of soaked +brown paper with wading through a bog. It was a serious consideration to +me, who at that time was travelling through the West with a very small and +very wayworn portmanteau, with Glasgow, Torquay, Boston, Rock Island, and +I know not what besides upon it. The bush, however, for the time being, +was very enjoyable, in spite of numerous bruises and scratches. Huge pines +raised their heads to heaven, others lay prostrate and rotting away, +probably thrown down in some tornado. In the distance numbers of trees +were lying on the ground, and men were cutting off their branches and +burning them in heaps, which slowly smouldered away, and sent up clouds of +curling blue smoke, which diffused itself as a thin blue veil over the +dark pines. + +This bush is in dangerous proximity to Mr. Forrest's house. The fire ran +through it in the spring, and many of the trees, which are still standing, +are blackened by its effects. One night in April, after a prolonged +drought, just as the household were retiring to rest, Mr. Forrest looked +out of the window, and saw a light in the bush scarcely bigger or brighter +than a glow-worm. Presently it rushed up a tall pine, entwining its fiery +arms round the very highest branches. The fire burned on for a fortnight; +they knew it must burn till rain came, and Mr. Forrest and his man never +left it day or night, all their food being carried to the bush. One night, +during a breeze, it made a sudden rush towards the house. In a twinkling +they got out the oxen and plough, and, some of the neighbours coming to +their assistance, they ploughed up so much soil between the fire and the +stubble round the house, that it stopped; but not before Mr. Forrest's +straw hat was burnt, and the hair of the oxen singed. Mrs. Forrest +meanwhile, though trembling for her husband's safety, was occupied in +wetting blankets, and carrying them to the roof of the house, for the dry +shingles would have been ignited by a spark. On our return, it was +necessary to climb over some "snake" or zigzag fences about six feet high. +These are fences peculiar to new countries, and though very cheap, +requiring neither tools nor nails, have a peculiarly untidy appearance. It +is not thought wise to buy a farm which has not enough bush or growing +timber for both rails and firewood. + +In clearing, of which I saw all the processes, the first is to cut down +the trees, in which difficult operation axes of British manufacture are +rendered useless after a few hours' work. The trees are cut about two feet +above the root, and often bring others down with them in their fall. +Sometimes these trees are split up at the time into rails or firewood; +sometimes dragged to the saw-mills to be made into lumber; but are often +piled into heaps and burnt--a necessary but prodigal waste of wood, to +which I never became reconciled. When the wood has been cleared off, wheat +is sown among the stumps, and then grass, which appears only to last about +four years. Fire is put on the tops of these unsightly stumps to burn them +down as much as possible, and when it is supposed, after two or three +years, that the roots have rotted in the ground, several oxen are attached +by a chain to each, and pull it out. Generally this is done by means of a +"logging bee." I must explain this term, as it refers neither to the +industrious insect nor the imperial bee of Napoleon. The very name reminds +me of early rising, healthy activity, merriment, and a well-spread board. + +A "bee" is a necessity arising from the great scarcity of labour in the +New World. When a person wishes to thrash his corn, he gives notice to +eight or ten of his neighbours, and a day is appointed on which they are +to meet at his house. For two or three days before, grand culinary +preparations are made by the hostess, and on the preceding evening a table +is loaded with provisions. The morning comes, and eight or ten stalwart +Saxons make their appearance, and work hard till noon, while the lady of +the house is engaged in hotter work before the fire, in the preparation of +hot meat, puddings, and pies; for well she knows that the good humour of +her guests depends on the quantity and quality of her viands. They come in +to dinner, black (from the dust of a peculiar Canadian weed), hot, tired, +hungry, and thirsty. They eat as no other people eat, and set all our +notions of the separability of different viands at defiance. At the end of +the day they have a very substantial supper, with plenty of whisky, and, +if everything has been satisfactory, the convivial proceedings are +prolonged till past midnight. The giver of a "bee" is bound to attend the +"bees" of all his neighbours. A "thrashing bee" is considered a very "slow +affair" by the younger portion of the community. There are "quilting +bees," where the thick quilts, so necessary in Canada, are fabricated; +"apple bees," where this fruit is sliced and strung for the winter; +"shelling bees," where peas in bushels are shelled and barrelled; and +"logging bees," where the decayed stumps in the clearings are rooted up by +oxen. At the quilting, apple, and shelling bees there are numbers of the +fair sex, and games, dancing, and merrymaking are invariably kept up till +the morning. + +In the winter, as in the eastern colonies, all outdoor employments are +stopped, and dancing and evening parties of different kinds are +continually given. The whole country is like one vast road, and the fine, +cold, aurora-lighted nights are cheery with the lively sound of the +sleigh-bells, as merry parties, enveloped in furs, drive briskly over the +crisp surface of the snow. The way of life at Mr. Forrest's was peculiarly +agreeable. The breakfast-hour was nominally seven, and afterwards Mr. +Forrest went out to his farm. The one Irish servant, who never seemed +happy with her shoes on, was capable of little else than boiling potatoes, +so all the preparations for dinner devolved upon Mrs. Forrest, who till +she came to Canada had never attempted anything in the culinary line. I +used to accompany her into the kitchen, and learned how to solve the +problem which puzzled an English king, viz. "How apples get into a +dumpling." We dined at the mediaeval hour of twelve, and everything was of +home raising. Fresh meat is a rarity; but a calf had been killed, and +furnished dinners for seven days, and the most marvellous thing was, that +each day it was dressed in a different manner, Mrs. Forrest's skill in +this respect rivalling that of _Alexis Soyer_. A home-fed pig, one of +eleven slaughtered on one fell day, produced the excellent ham; the squash +and potatoes were from the garden; and the bread and beer were from home- +grown wheat and hops. After dinner Mr. Forrest and I used to take lengthy +rides, along wild roads, on horses of extraordinary capabilities, and in +the evening we used to have bagatelle and reading aloud. Such was life in +the clearings. On one or two evenings some very agreeable neighbours came +in; and in addition to bagatelle we had puzzles, conundrums, and conjuring +tricks. One of these "neighbours" was a young married lady, the prettiest +person I had seen in America. She was a French Canadian, and added to the +graces of person and manner for which they are famed a cleverness and +sprightliness peculiarly her own. I was very much pleased with the +friendly, agreeable society of the neighbourhood. There are a great many +gentlemen residing there, with fixed incomes, who have adopted Canada as +their home because of the comforts which they can enjoy in an untaxed +country, and one in which it is not necessary to keep up appearances. For +instance, a gentleman does not lose caste by grooming his own horse, or +driving his own produce to market in a lumber-waggon; and a lady is not +less a lady, though she may wear a dress and bonnet of a fashion three +years old. + +I was surprised one morning by the phenomenon of some morning-callers-- +yes, morning-callers in a Canadian clearing. I sighed to think that such a +pest and accompaniment of civilisation should have crossed the Atlantic. +The "callers" of that morning, the Haldimands, amused me very much. They +give themselves great airs--Canada with them is a "wretched hole;" the +society is composed of "boors." In a few minutes they had asked me who I +was--where I came from--what I was doing there--how I got to know my +friends--and if I had come to live with them. Mr. Haldimands, finding I +came from England, asked me if I knew a certain beautiful young lady, and +recounted his flirtations with her. Dukes, earls, and viscounts flowed +from his nimble tongue--"When I was hunting with Lord this," or "When I +was waltzing with Lady that." His regrets were after the Opera and +Almack's, and his height of felicity seemed to be driving a four-in-hand +drag. After expatiating to me in the most vociferous manner on the +delights of titled society, he turned to Mrs. Forrest and said, "After the +society in which we used to move, you may imagine how distasteful all this +is to us"--barely a civil speech, I thought. This eccentric individual was +taking a lady, whom he considered a person of consequence, for a drive in +a carriage, when a man driving a lumber-waggon kept crossing the road in +front of him, hindering his progress. Mr. Haldimands gradually got into a +towering passion, which resulted in his springing out, throwing the reins +to the lady, and rushing furiously at the teamster with his fists squared, +shouting in a perfect scream, "Flesh and blood can't bear this. One of us +must die!" The man whipped up his horses and made off, and Mr. Haldimands +tried in vain to hush up a story which made him appear so superlatively +ridiculous. + +We actually paid some morning visits, and I thought the society very +agreeable and free from gossip. One of our visits was paid to the family +of one of the oldest settlers in Canada. His place was the very perfection +of beauty; it was built in a park formed out of a civilised wood, the +grounds extending to the verge of a precipice, looking from which I saw +the river, sometimes glittering in the sunshine, sometimes foaming along +in a wood--just realising Mrs. Moodie's charming description of the +Otonabee. Far below, the water glittered like diamond sparks among the +dark woods; pines had fallen into and across it, in the way in which trees +only fall in America, and no two trees were of the same tint; the wild +vine hung over the precipice, and smothered the trees with its clusters +and tendrils; and hurriedly in some places, gently in others, the cold +rivulet flowed down to the lake,--no bold speculator having as yet dared +to turn the water privilege to account. + +My first ride was an amusing one, for various reasons. My riding-habit was +left at Toronto, but this seemed not to be a difficulty. Mrs. Forrest's +fashionable habit and white gauntlet-gloves fitted me beautifully; and the +difficulty about a hat was at once overcome by sending to an obliging +neighbour, who politely sent a very stylish-looking plumed riding-hat. +There was a side-saddle and a most elegant bridle; indeed, the whole +equipment would not have disgraced _Rotten Row_. But, the horse! My +courage had to be "screwed to the sticking point" before I could mount +him. He was a very fine animal--a magnificent coal-black charger sixteen +hands high, with a most determined will of his own, not broken for the +saddle. Mr. Forrest rode a splendid bay, which seldom went over six +consecutive yards of ground without performing some erratic movement. My +horse's paces were, a tremendous trot, breaking sometimes into a furious +gallop, in both which he acted in a perfectly independent manner, any +attempts of mine to control him with my whole strength and weight being +alike useless. We came to the top of a precipice overlooking the river, +where his gyrations were so fearful that I turned him into the bush. It +appeared to me a ride of imminent dangers and hair-breadth escapes. By +this beauteous river we came to a place where rain and flood had worn the +precipice into a steep declivity, shelving towards another precipice, and +my horse, accustomed to it, took me down where an English donkey would +scarcely have ventured. Beauty might be written upon everything in this +dell. I never saw a fairer compound of rock, wood, and water. Above was +flat and comparatively uninteresting country; then these precipices, with +trees growing out wherever they could find a footing, arrayed in all the +gorgeous colouring of the American fall. At the foot of these was a +narrow, bright-green savannah, with fine trees growing upon it, as though +planted by some one anxious to produce a park-like effect. Above this, the +dell contracted to the width of Dovedale, and through it all, the river, +sometimes a foaming, brawling stream, at others fringed with flowers, and +quiescent in deep, clear pools, pours down to the lake. After galloping +upon this savannah we plunged into the river, and, after our horses had +broken through a plank-bridge at the great risk of their legs, we rode for +many miles through bush and clearing, down sandy tracks and scratching +thickets, to the pebbly beach of Lake Ontario. + +The contrast between the horses and their equipments, and the country we +rode through, was somewhat singular. The former were suitable for Hyde +Park; the latter was mere bush-riding--climbing down precipices, fording +rapid rivers, scrambling through fences and over timber, floundering in +mud, going through the bush with hands before us to push the branches from +our faces, and, finally, watering our horses in the blue, deep waters of +Lake Ontario--yet I never enjoyed a ride along the green lanes of England +so much as this one in the wild scenery of Canada. + +The Sundays that I spent at Mr. Forrest's were very enjoyable, though the +heat of the first was nearly insupportable, and the cold of the last like +that of an English Christmas in bygone years. There are multitudes of +Presbyterians in Western Canada, who worship in their pure and simple +faith with as much fervency and sincerity as did their covenanting +forefathers in the days of the persecuting Dundee; and the quaint old +Psalms, to which they are so much attached, sung to the strange old tunes, +sound to them as sweet among the backwoods of Canada as in the peaceful +villages of the Lowlands, or in the remote Highland glens, where I have +often listened to their slow and plaintive strains borne upon the mountain +breezes. "Are ye frae the braes of Gleneffar?" said an old Scotchwoman to +me; "were ye at our kirk o' Sabbath last, ye would na' ken the +difference." + +The Irishman declaims against the land he has forsaken--the Englishman too +often suffers the remembrance of his poverty to sever the tie which binds +him to the land of his birth--but where shall we find the Scotchman in +whose breast love of his country is not a prominent feeling? Whether it be +the light-haired Saxon from the South, or the dark-haired, sallow-visaged +Celt from the Highlands, driven forth by the gaunt hand of famine, all +look back to Scotland as to "_their country_"--the mention of its name +kindles animation in the dim eye of age, and causes the bounding heart of +youth to leap with enthusiasm. It may be that the Scotch emigrant's only +remembrance is of the cold hut on the lone hill-side, where years wore +away in poverty and hunger, but to him it is the dearest spot of earth. It +may be that he has attained a competence in Canada, and that its fertile +soil produces crops which the heathery braes of Scotland would never +yield--no matter, it is yet his _home!_--it is the land where his fathers +sleep--it is the land of his birth; his dreams are of the "mountain and +the flood"--of lonely lochs and mountain-girded firths; and when the +purple light on a summer evening streams over the forest, he fancies that +the same beams are falling on Morven and the Cuchullins, and that the soft +sound pervading the air is the echo of the shepherd's pipe. To the latest +hour of his life he cherishes the idea of returning to some homestead by a +tumbling burnie. He never can bring himself to utter to his mountain land, +from the depths of his heart, the melancholy words, "_Che til na tuille._" +[Footnote: "We return no more."] + +The Episcopal church was only two miles from us, but we were most +mercilessly jolted over a plank-road, where many of the planks had made a +descent into a sea of mud, on the depth of which I did not attempt to +speculate. Even in beautiful England I never saw a prettier sight than the +assembling of the congregation. The church is built upon a very steep +little knoll, the base of which is nearly encircled by a river. Close to +it is a long shed, in which the horses are tethered during service, and +little belligerent sounds, such as screaming and kicking, occasionally +find their way into church. The building is light and pretty inside, very +simple, but in excellent taste; and though there is no organ, the singing +and chanting, conducted by the younger portion of the congregation, is on +a par with some of the best in our town churches at home. There were no +persons poorly clad, and all looked happy, sturdy, and independent. The +bright scarlet leaves of the oak and maple pressed against the windows, +giving them in the sunlight something of the appearance of stained glass; +the rippling of the river was heard below, and round us, far, far away, +stretched the forest. Here, where the great Manitou was once worshipped, a +purer faith now reigns, and the allegiance of the people is more firmly +established by "the sound of the church-going bells" than by the bayonets +of our troops. These heaven-pointing spires are links between Canada and +England; they remind the emigrant of the ivy-mantled church in which he +was first taught to bend his knees to his Creator, and of the hallowed +dust around its walls, where the sacred ashes of his fathers sleep. + +There is great attachment to England among those who are protected by her +laws, and live under the shadow of her standard of freedom. In many +instances, no remembrances of wrongs received, of injuries sustained, of +hopeless poverty and ill-requited toil, can sever that holiest, most +sacred of ties, which binds, until his latest breath, the heart of the +exile to his native land. + +The great annoyance of which people complain in this pleasant land is the +difficulty of obtaining domestic servants, and the extraordinary specimens +of humanity who go out in this capacity. It is difficult to obtain any, +and those that are procured are solely Irish Roman Catholics, who think it +a great hardship to wear shoes, and speak of their master as the "_boss_." +At one house where I visited, the servant or "help," after condescending +to bring in the dinner, took a book from the _chiffonier_, and sat down on +the sofa to read it. On being remonstrated with for her conduct, she +replied that she "would not remain an hour in a house where those she +helped had an objection to a young lady's improving her mind!" At an hotel +at Toronto, one chambermaid, pointing to another, said, "That _young lady_ +will show you your room." I left Mr. Forrest's even for three days with +great regret, and after a nine miles drive on a very wet morning, and a +water transit of two hours, found myself at Toronto, where as usual on the +wharf I was greeted by the clamorous demand for "wharfage." I found the +Walrences and other agreeable acquaintances at Russell's hotel, but was +surprised with what I thought rather a want of discrimination on the part +of all; I was showing a valuable collection of autographs, beginning with +Cromwell, and containing, in addition to those of several deceased and +living royal personages, valuable letters of Scott, Byron, Wellington, +Russell, Palmerston, Wilberforce, Dickens, &c. The shades of kings, +statesmen, and poets, might almost have been incited to appear, when the +signature of Richard Cobden was preferred before all. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +"I've seen nothing"--A disappointment--Incongruities--Hotel gaieties and +"doing Niagara"--Irish drosky-drivers--"The Hell of Waters"--Beauties of +Niagara--The picnic party--The White Canoe--A cold shower-bath--"The +Thunder of Waters"--A magic word--"The Whirlpool"--Story of "Bloody Run"-- +Yankee opinions of English ladies--A metamorphosis--The nigger guide--A +terrible situation--Termination Rock--Impressions of Niagara--Juvenile +precocity--A midnight journey--Street adventures in Hamilton. + + +"Have you seen the Falls?"--"No." "Then you've seen nothing of America." I +might have seen Trenton Falls, Gennessee Falls, the Falls of Montmorenci +and Lorette; but I had seen nothing if I had not seen the Falls (_par +excellence_) of Niagara. There were divers reasons why my friends in the +States were anxious that I should see Niagara. One was, as I was +frequently told, that all I had seen, even to the "_Prayer Eyes_," would +go for nothing on my return; for in England, America was supposed to be a +vast tract of country containing _one_ town--New York; and one astonishing +natural phenomenon, called Niagara. "See New York, Quebec, and Niagara," +was the direction I received when I started upon my travels. I never could +make out how, but somehow or other, from my earliest infancy, I had been +familiar with the name of Niagara, and, from the numerous pictures I had +seen of it, I could, I suppose, have sketched a very accurate likeness of +the Horse-shoe Fall. Since I landed at Portland, I had continually met +with people who went into ecstatic raptures with Niagara; and after +passing within sight of its spray, and within hearing of its roar--after +seeing it the great centre of attraction to all persons of every class--my +desire to see it for myself became absorbing. Numerous difficulties had +arisen, and at one time I had reluctantly given up all hope of seeing it, +when Mr. and Mrs. Walrence kindly said, that, if I would go with them, +they would return to the east by way of Niagara. + +Between the anticipation of this event, and the din of the rejoicings for +the "capture of Sebastopol," I slept very little on the night before +leaving Toronto, and was by no means sorry when the cold grey of dawn +quenched the light of tar-barrels and gas-lamps. I crossed Lake Ontario in +the iron steamer Peerless; the lake was rough as usual, and, after a +promenade of two hours on the spray-drenched deck, I retired to the cabin, +and spent some time in dreamily wondering whether Niagara itself would +compensate for the discomforts of the journey thither. Captain D---- +gravely informed me that there were "a good many cases" below, and I never +saw people so deplorably sea-sick as in this steamer. An Indian officer +who had crossed the Line seventeen times was sea-sick for the first time +on Lake Ontario. The short, cross, chopping seas affect most people. The +only persons in the saloon who were not discomposed by them were two tall +school-girls, who seemed to have innumerable whispered confidences and +secrets to confide to each other. + +We touched the wharf at Niagara, a town on the British side of the Niagara +river--"cars for Buffalo, all aboard,"--and just crossing a platform, we +entered the Canada cars, and on the top of some frightful precipices, and +round some terrific curves, we were whirled to the Clifton House at +Niagara. I left the cars, and walked down the slope to the verge of the +cliff; I forgot my friends, who had called me to the hotel to lunch--I +forgot everything--for I was looking at the Falls of Niagara. + + "No more than this!--what seem'd it now + By that far flood to stand? + A thousand streams of lovelier flow + Bathe my own mountain land, + And thence o'er waste and ocean track + Their wild sweet voices call'd me back. + + They call'd me back to many a glade, + My childhood's haunt of play, + Where brightly 'mid the birchen shade + Their waters glanced away: + They call'd me with their thousand waves + Back to my fathers' hills and graves." + +The feelings which Mrs. Hemans had attributed to Bruce at the source of +the Nile, were mine as I took my first view of Niagara. The Horse-shoe +Fall at some distance to my right was partially hidden, but directly in +front of me were the American and Crescent Falls. The former is perfectly +straight, and looked like a gigantic mill-weir. This resemblance is +further heightened by an enormous wooden many-windowed fabric, said to be +the largest paper-mill in the United States. A whole collection of mills +disfigures this romantic spot, which has received the name of Manchester, +and bids fair to become a thriving manufacturing town! Even on the British +side, where one would have hoped for a better state of things, there is a +great fungus growth of museums, curiosity-shops, taverns, and pagodas with +shining tin cupolas. Not far from where I stood, the members of a picnic +party were flirting and laughing hilariously, throwing chicken-bones and +peach-stones over the cliff, drinking champagne and soda-water. Just as I +had succeeded in attaining the proper degree of mental abstraction with +which it is necessary to contemplate Niagara, a ragged drosky-driver came +up, "Yer honour, may be ye're in want of a carriage? I'll take ye the +whole round--Goat Island, Whirlpool, and Deil's Hole--for the matter of +four dollars." Niagara made a matter of "a round," dollars, and cents, was +too much for my equanimity; and in the hope of losing my feelings of +disappointment, I went into the Clifton House, enduring a whole volley of +requests from the half-tipsy drosky-drivers who thronged the doorway. + +This celebrated hotel, which is kept on the American plan, is a huge white +block of building, with three green verandahs round it, and can +accommodate about four hundred people. In the summer season it is the +abode of almost unparalleled gaiety. Here congregate tourists, merchants, +lawyers, officers, senators, wealthy southerners, and sallow down-easters, +all flying alike from business and heat. Here meet all ranks, those of the +highest character, and those who have no character to lose; those who by +some fortunate accident have become possessed of a few dollars, and those +whose mine of wealth lies in the gambling-house--all for the time being on +terms of perfect equality. Balls, in doors and out of doors, nightly +succeed to parties and picnics; the most novel of which are those in the +beautiful garden in front of the hotel. This garden has spacious lawns +lighted by lamps; and here, as in the 'Midsummer Night's Dream,' the +visitors dance on summer evenings to the strains of invisible music. But +at the time of my second visit to the Falls all the gaiety was over; the +men of business had returned to the cities, the southerners had fled to +their sunny homes--part of the house was shut up, and in the great dining- +room, with tables for three hundred, we sat down to lunch with about +twenty-five persons, most of them Americans and Germans of the most +repulsive description. After this meal, eaten in the "five minutes all +aboard" style, we started on a sight-seeing expedition. Instead of being +allowed to sit quietly on Table Rock, gazing upon the cataract, the +visitor, yielding to the demands of a supposed necessity, is dragged a +weary round--he must see the Falls from the front, from above, and from +below; he must go behind them, and be drenched by them; he must descend +spiral staircases at the risk of his limbs, and cross ferries at that of +his life; he must visit Bloody Run, the Burning Springs, and Indian +curiosity-shops, which have nothing to do with them at all; and when the +poor wretch is thoroughly bewildered and wearied by "doing Niagara," he is +allowed to steal quietly off to what he really came to see--the mighty +Horse-shoe Fall, with all its accompaniments of majesty, sublimity, and +terror. + +Round the door of the Clifton House were about twenty ragged, vociferous +drosky-drivers, of most demoralised appearance, all clamorous for "a +fare." "We want to go to Goat Island; how much is it?" "Five dollars." +"I'll take you for four dollars and a half." "No, sir, he's a cheat and a +blackguard; I'll take you for four." "I'll take you as cheap as any one," +shouts a man in rags; "I'll take you for three." "Very well." "I'll take +you as cheap as he; he's drunk, and his carriage isn't fit for a lady to +step into," shouted the man who at first asked five dollars. After this +they commenced a regular _mêlée_, when blows were given and received, and +frequent allusions were made to "the bones of St. Patrick." At last our +friend in rags succeeded in driving up to the door, and we found his +carriage really unfit for ladies, as the stuffing in most places was quite +bare, and the step and splash-boards were only kept in their places by +pieces of rope. The shouting and squabbling were accompanied by Niagara, +whose deep awful thundering bass drowns all other sounds. + +We drove for two miles along the precipice bank of the Niagara river: this +precipice is 250 feet high, without a parapet, and the green, deep flood +rages below. At the Suspension Bridge they demanded a toll of sixty cents, +and contemptuously refused two five-dollar notes offered them by Mr. +Walrence, saying they were only waste paper. This extraordinary bridge, +over which a train of cars weighing 440 tons has recently passed, has a +span of 800 feet, and a double roadway, the upper one being used by the +railway. The floor of the bridge is 230 feet above the river, and the +depth of the river immediately under it is 250 feet! The view from it is +magnificent; to the left the furious river, confined in a narrow space, +rushes in rapids to the Whirlpool; and to the right the Horse-shoe Fall +pours its torrent of waters into the dark and ever invisible abyss. When +we reached the American side we had to declare to a custom-house officer +that we were no smugglers; and then by an _awful_ road, partly covered +with stumps, and partly full of holes, over the one, and through the +other, our half-tipsy driver jolted us, till we wished ourselves a +thousand miles from Niagara Falls. "There now, faith, and wasn't I nearly +done for myself?" he exclaimed, as a jolt threw him from his seat, nearly +over the dash-board. + +We passed through the town bearing the names of Niagara Falls and +Manchester, an agglomeration of tea-gardens, curiosity-shops, and monster +hotels, with domes of shining tin. We drove down a steep hill, and crossed +a very insecure-looking wooden bridge to a small wooded island, where a +man with a strong nasal twang demanded a toll of twenty-five cents, and +anon we crossed a long bridge over the lesser rapids. + +The cloudy morning had given place to a glorious day, abounding in +varieties of light and shade; a slight shower had fallen, and the +sparkling rain-drops hung from every leaf and twig; a rainbow spanned the +Niagara river, and the leaves wore the glorious scarlet and crimson tints +of the American autumn. Sun and sky were propitious; it was the season and +the day in which to see Niagara. Quarrelsome drosky drivers, incongruous +mills, and the thousand trumperies of the place, were all forgotten in the +perfect beauty of the scene--in the full, the joyous realisation of my +ideas of Niagara. Beauty and terror here formed a perfect combination. +Around islets covered with fair foliage of trees and vines, and carpeted +with moss untrodden by the foot of man, the waters, in wild turmoil, rage +and foam: rushing on recklessly beneath the trembling bridge on which we +stood to their doomed fall. This place is called "The Hell of Waters," and +has been the scene of more than one terrible tragedy. + +This bridge took us to Iris Island, so named from the rainbows which +perpetually hover round its base. Everything of terrestrial beauty may be +found in Iris Island. It stands amid the eternal din of the waters, a +barrier between the Canadian and American Falls. It is not more than +sixty-two acres in extent, yet it has groves of huge forest trees, and +secluded roads underneath them in the deepest shade, far apparently from +the busy world, yet thousands from every part of the globe yearly tread +its walks of beauty. We stopped at the top of a dizzy pathway, and, +leaving the Walrences to purchase some curiosities, I descended it, +crossed a trembling foot-bridge, and stood alone on Luna Island, between +the Crescent and American Falls. This beauteous and richly-embowered +little spot, which is said to tremble, and looks as if any wave might +sweep it away, has a view of matchless magnificence. From it can be seen +the whole expanse of the American rapids, rolling and struggling down, +chafing the sunny islets, as if jealous of their beauty. The Canadian Fall +was on my left; away in front stretched the scarlet woods; the +incongruities of the place were out of sight; and at my feet the broad +sheet of the American Fall tumbled down in terrible majesty. The violence +of the rapids cannot be imagined by one who has not seen their resistless +force. The turbulent waters are flung upwards, as if infuriated against +the sky. The rocks, whose jagged points are seen among them, fling off the +hurried and foamy waves, as if with supernatural strength. Nearer and +nearer they come to the Fall, becoming every instant more agitated; they +seem to recoil as they approach its verge; a momentary calm follows, and +then, like all their predecessors, they go down the abyss together. There +is something very exciting in this view; one cannot help investing Niagara +with feelings of human agony and apprehension; one feels a new sensation, +something neither terror, wonder, nor admiration, as one looks at the +phenomena which it displays. I have been surprised to see how a visit to +the Falls galvanises the most matter-of-fact person into a brief exercise +of the imaginative powers. + +As the sound of the muffled drum too often accompanies the trumpet, so the +beauty of Luna Island must ever remain associated in my mind with a +terrible catastrophe which recently occurred there. Niagara was at its +gayest, and the summer at its hottest, when a joyous party went to spend +the day on Luna Island. It consisted of a Mr. and Mrs. De Forest, their +beautiful child "Nettie," a young man of great talent and promise, Mr. +Addington, and a few other persons. It was a fair evening in June, when +moonlight was struggling for ascendancy with the declining beams of the +setting sun. The elders of the party, being tired, repaired to the seats +on Iris Island to rest, Mr. De Forest calling to Nettie, "Come here, my +child; don't go near the water." "Never mind--let her alone--I'll watch +her," said Mr. Addington, for the child was very beautiful and a great +favourite, and the youthful members of the party started for Luna Island. +Nettie pulled Addington's coat in her glee. "Ah! you rogue, you're +caught," said he, catching hold of her; "shall I throw you in?" She sprang +forward from his arms, one step too far, and fell into the roaring rapid. +"Oh, mercy! save--she's gone!" the young man cried, and sprang into the +water. He caught hold of Nettie, and, by one or two vigorous strokes, +aided by an eddy, was brought close to the Island; one instant more, and +his terrified companions would have been able to lay hold of him; but no-- +the hour of both was come; the waves of the rapid hurried them past; one +piercing cry came from Mr. Addington's lips, "For Jesus' sake, O save our +souls!" and, locked in each other's arms, both were carried over the fatal +Falls. The dashing torrent rolled onward, unheeding that bitter despairing +cry of human agony, and the bodies of these two, hurried into eternity in +the bloom of youth, were not found for some days. Mrs. De Forest did not +long survive the fate of her child. + +The guide related to me another story in which my readers may be +interested, as it is one of the poetical legends of the Indians. It took +place in years now long gone by, when the Indians worshipped the Great +Spirit where they beheld such a manifestation of his power. Here, where +the presence of Deity made the forest ring, and the ground tremble, the +Indians offered a living sacrifice once a year, to be conveyed by the +water spirit to the unknown gulf. Annually, in the month of August, the +sachem gave the word, and fruits and flowers were stowed in a white canoe, +to be paddled by the fairest maiden among the tribes. + +The tribe thought itself highly honoured when its turn came to float the +blooming offering to the shrine of the Great Spirit, and still more +honoured was the maid who was a fitting sacrifice. + +Oronto, the proudest chief of the Senecas, had an only child named Lena. +This chief was a noted and dreaded warrior; over many a bloody fight his +single eagle plume had waved, and ever in battle he left the red track of +his hatchet and tomahawk. Years rolled by, and every one sent its summer +offering to the thunder god of the then unexplored Niagara. Oronto danced +at many a feast which followed the sacrificial gift, which his tribe had +rejoicingly given in their turn. He felt not for the fathers whose +children were thus taken from their wigwams, and committed to the grave of +the roaring waters. Calma, his wife, had fallen by a foeman's arrow, and +in the blood of his enemies he had terribly avenged his bereavement. +Fifteen years had passed since then, and the infant which Calma left had +matured into a beautiful maiden. The day of sacrifice came; it was the +year of the Senecas, and Lena was acknowledged to be the fairest maiden of +the tribe. The moonlit hour has come, the rejoicing dance goes on; Oronto +has, without a tear, parted from his child, to meet her in the happy +hunting-grounds where the Great Spirit reigns. The yell of triumph rises +from the assembled Indians. The white canoe, loosed by the sachems, has +shot from the bank, but ere it has sped from the shore another dancing +craft has gone forth upon the whirling water, and both have set out on a +voyage to eternity. + +The first bears the offering, Lena, seated amidst fruits and flowers; the +second contains Oronto, the proud chief of the Senecas. Both seem to pause +on the verge of the descent, then together rise on the whirling rapids. +One mingled look of apprehension and affection is exchanged, and, while +the woods ring with the yells of the savages, Oronto and Lena plunge into +the abyss in their white canoes. [Footnote: I have given both these +anecdotes, as nearly as possible, in the bombastic language in which they +were related to me by the guide.] + +This wild legend was told me by the guide in full view of the cataract, +and seemed so real and life-like that I was somewhat startled by being +accosted thus, by a voice speaking in a sharp nasal down-east twang: +"Well, stranger, I guess that's the finest water-power you've ever set +eyes on." My thoughts were likewise recalled to the fact that it was +necessary to put on an oilskin dress, and scramble down a very dilapidated +staircase to the Cave of the Winds, in order to "do" Niagara in the +"regulation manner." This cave is partly behind the American Fall, and is +the abode of howling winds and ceaseless eddies of spray. It is an +extremely good shower-bath, but the day was rather too cold to make that +luxury enjoyable. I went down another steep path, and, after crossing a +shaky foot-bridge over part of the Grand Rapids, ascended Prospect Tower, +a stone erection 45 feet high, built on the very verge of the Horse-shoe +Fall. It is said that people feel involuntary suicidal intentions while +standing on the balcony round this tower. I did not experience them +myself, possibly because my only companion was the half-tipsy Irish +drosky-driver. The view from this tower is awful: the edifice has been +twice swept away, and probably no strength of masonry could permanently +endure the wear of the rushing water at its base. + +Down come those beauteous billows, as if eager for their terrible leap. +Along the ledge over which they fall they are still for one moment in a +sheet of clear, brilliant green; another, and down they fall like +cataracts of driven snow, chasing each other, till, roaring and hissing, +they reach the abyss, sending up a column of spray 100 feet in height. No +existing words can describe it, no painter can give the remotest idea of +it; it is the voice of the Great Creator, its name signifying, in the +beautiful language of the Iroquois, "The Thunder of Waters." Looking from +this tower, above you see the Grand Rapids, one dizzy sheet of leaping +foamy billows, and below you look, _if you can_, into the very caldron +itself, and see how the bright-green waves are lost in foam and mist; and +behind you look to shore, and shudder to think how the frail bridge by +which you came in another moment may be washed away. I felt as I came down +the trembling staircase that one wish of my life had been gratified in +seeing Niagara. + +Some graves were recently discovered in Iris Island, with skeletons in a +sitting posture inside them, probably the remains of those aboriginal +races who here in their ignorance worshipped the Great Spirit, within the +sound of his almighty voice. We paused on the bridge, and looked once more +at the islets in the rapids, and stopped on Bath Island, lovely in itself, +but desecrated by the presence of a remarkably hirsute American, who keeps +a toll-house, with the words "Ice-creams" and "Indian Curiosities" painted +in large letters upon it. Again another bridge, by which we crossed to the +main land; and while overwhelmed at once by the beauty and the sublimity +of the scene, all at once the idea struck me that the Yankee who called +Niagara "an almighty fine water privilege" was tolerably correct in his +definition, for the water is led off in several directions for the use of +large saw and paper mills. + +We made several purchases at an Indian curiosity-shop, where we paid for +the articles about six times their value, and meanwhile our driver took +the opportunity of getting "summat warm," which very nearly resulted in +our getting something _cold_, for twice, in driving over a stump, he all +but upset us into ponds. Crossing the suspension-bridge we arrived at the +_V. R._ custom-house, where a tiresome detention usually occurs; but a few +words spoken in Gaelic to the Scotch officer produced a magical effect, +which might have been the same had we possessed anything contraband. A +drive of three miles brought us to the whirlpool. The giant cliffs, which +rise to the height of nearly 300 feet, wall in the waters and confine +their impetuous rush, so that their force raises them in the middle, and +hurls them up some feet in the air. Their fury is resistless, and the +bodies of those who are carried over the falls are whirled round here in a +horrible dance, frequently till decomposition takes place. There is +nothing to excite admiration about the whirlpool; the impression which it +leaves on the mind is highly unpleasing. + +Another disagreeable necessity was to visit a dark, deep chasm in the +bank, a very gloomy spot. This demon-titled cavity has never felt the +influence of a ray of light. A massive cliff rises above it, and a narrow +stream, bearing the horrible name of Bloody Run, pours over this cliff +into the chasm. To most minds there is a strange fascination about the +terrible and mysterious, and, in spite of warning looks and beseeching +gestures on the part of Mr. Walrence, who feared the effect of the story +on the weak nerves of his wife, I sat down by the chasm and asked the +origin of the name Bloody Run. I will confess that, as I looked down into +the yawning hole, imagination lent an added horror to the tale, which was +bad enough in itself. + +In 1759, while the French, who had in their pay the Seneca Indians, +hovered round the British, a large supply of provisions was forwarded from +Fort Niagara to Fort Schlosser by the latter, under the escort of a +hundred regulars. The savage chief of the Senecas, anxious to obtain the +promised reward for scalps, formed an ambuscade of chosen warriors, +several hundred in number. The Devil's Hole was the spot chosen--it seemed +made on purpose for the bloody project. It was a hot, sultry day in +August, and the British, scattered and sauntered on their toilsome way, +till, overcome by fatigue or curiosity, they sat down near the margin of +the precipice. A fearful yell arose, accompanied by a volley of bullets, +and the Indians, breaking from their cover, under the combined influences +of ferocity and "fire-water," rushed upon their unhappy victims before +they had time to stand to their arms, and tomahawked them on the spot. +Waggons, horses, soldiers, and drivers were then hurled over the +precipice, and the little stream ran into the Niagara river a torrent +purple with human gore. Only two escaped to tell the terrible tale. Some +years ago, bones, arms, and broken wheels were found among the rocks, +mementos of the barbarity which has given the little streamlet the terror- +inspiring name of Bloody Run. + +After depositing our purchases at the Clifton House, where the waiter +warned us to put them under lock and key, I hoped that sight-seeing was +over, and that at last I should be able to gaze upon what I had really +come to visit--the Falls of Niagara. But no; I was to be victimised still +further; I must "go behind the great sheet," Mr. and Mrs. Walrence would +not go; they said their heads would not stand it, but that, as an +Englishwoman, go I must. In America the capabilities of English ladies are +very much overrated. It is supposed that they go out in all weathers, +invariably walk ten miles a day, and leap five-barred fences on horseback. +Yielding to "the inexorable law of a stern necessity," I went to the Rock +House, and a very pleasing girl produced a suit of oiled calico. I took +off my cloak, bonnet, and dress. "Oh," she said, "you must change +everything, _it's so very wet_." As, to save time, I kept demurring to +taking off various articles of apparel, I always received the same reply, +and finally abandoned myself to a complete change of attire. I looked in +the mirror, and beheld as complete a tatterdemallion as one could see +begging upon an Irish highway, though there was nothing about the dress +which the most lively imagination could have tortured into the +picturesque. The externals of this strange equipment consisted of an oiled +calico hood, a garment like a carter's frock, a pair of blue worsted +stockings, and a pair of India-rubber shoes much too large for me. My +appearance was so comic as to excite the laughter of my grave friends, and +I had to reflect that numbers of persons had gone out in the same attire +before I could make up my mind to run the gauntlet of the loiterers round +the door. Here a negro guide of most repulsive appearance awaited me, and +I waded through a perfect sea of mud to the shaft by which people go under +Table Rock. My friends were evidently ashamed of my appearance, but they +met me here to wish me a safe return, and, following the guide, I dived +down a spiral staircase, very dark and very much out of repair. + +Leaving this staircase, I followed the guide along a narrow path covered +with fragments of shale, with Table Rock above and the deep abyss below. A +cold, damp wind blew against me, succeeded by a sharp pelting rain, and +the path became more slippery and difficult. Still I was not near the +sheet of water, and felt not the slightest dizziness. I speedily arrived +at the difficult point of my progress: heavy gusts almost blew me away; +showers of spray nearly blinded me; I was quite deafened and half-drowned; +I wished to retreat, and essayed to use my voice to stop the progress of +my guide. I raised it to a scream, but it was lost in the thunder of the +cataract. The negro saw my incertitude and extended his hand. I shuddered +even there as I took hold of it, not quite free from the juvenile idea +that "the black comes off." He seemed at that moment to wear the aspect of +a black imp leading me to destruction. + +The path is a narrow, slippery ledge of rock. I am blinded with spray, the +darkening sheet of water is before me. Shall I go on? The spray beats +against my face, driven by the contending gusts of wind which rush into +the eyes, nostrils, and mouth, and almost prevent my progress; the +narrowing ledge is not more than a foot wide, and the boiling gulf is +seventy feet below. Yet thousands have pursued this way before, so why +should not I? I grasp tighter hold of the guide's hand, and proceed step +by step holding down my head. The water beats against me, the path +narrows, and will only hold my two feet abreast. I ask the guide to stop, +but my voice is drowned by the "Thunder of Waters." He guesses what I +would say, and shrieks in my ear, "_It's worse going back._" I make a +desperate attempt: four steps more and I am at the end of the ledge; my +breath is taken away, and I can only just stand against the gusts of wind +which are driving the water against me. The gulf is but a few inches from +me, and, gasping for breath, and drenched to the skin, I become conscious +that I have reached _Termination Rock_. + +Once arrived at this place, the clouds of driving spray are a little +thinner, and, though it is still very difficult either to see or breathe, +the magnificence of the temple, which is here formed by the natural bend +of the cataract and the backward shelve of the precipice, makes a lasting +impression on the mind. The temple seems a fit and awful shrine for Him +who "rides on the wings of mighty winds," and, completely shut out from +man's puny works, the mind rises naturally in adoring contemplation to Him +whose voice is heard in the "thunder of waters." The path was so very +narrow that I had to shuffle backwards for a few feet, and then, drenched, +shivering, and breathless, my goloshes full of water and slipping off at +every step, I fought my way through the blinding clouds of spray, and, +climbing up the darkened staircase, again stood on Table Rock, with water +dripping from my hair and garments. It is usual for those persons who +survive the expedition to take hot brandy and water after changing their +dresses; and it was probably from neglecting this precaution that I took +such a severe chill as afterwards produced the ague. On the whole, this +achievement is pleasanter in the remembrance than in the act. There is +nothing whatever to boast of in having accomplished it, and nothing to +regret in leaving it undone. I knew the danger and disagreeableness of the +exploit before I went, and, had I known that "going behind the sheet" was +synonymous with "going to Termination Rock," I should never have gone. No +person who has not a very strong head ought to go at all, and it is by +every one far better omitted, as the remaining portion of Table Rock may +fall at any moment, for which reason some of the most respectable guides +decline to take visitors underneath it. I believe that no amateur ever +thinks of going a second time. After all, the front view is the only one +for Niagara--going behind the sheet is like going behind a picture-frame. + +After this we went to the top of a tower, where I had a very good bird's- +eye view of the Falls, the Rapids, and the general aspect of the country, +and then, refusing to be victimised by burning springs, museums, prisoned +eagles, and mangy buffaloes, I left the Walrences, who were tired, to go +to the hotel, and walked down to the ferry, and, scrambling out to the +rock farthest in the water and nearest to the cataract, I sat down +completely undisturbed in view of the mighty fall. I was not distracted by +parasitic guides or sandwich-eating visitors; the vile museums, pagodas, +and tea-gardens were out of sight: the sublimity of the Falls far exceeded +my expectations, and I appreciated them the more perhaps from having been +disappointed with the first view. As I sat watching them, a complete +oblivion of everything but the falls themselves stole over me. A person +may be very learned in statistics--he may tell you that the falls are 160 +feet high--that their whole width is nearly four-fifths of a mile--that, +according to estimate, ninety million tons of water pass over them every +hour--that they are the outlet of several bodies of water covering one +hundred and fifty thousand square miles; but unless he has seen Niagara, +he cannot form the faintest conception of it. It was so very like what I +had expected, and yet so totally different. I sat there watching that sea- +green curve against the sky till sunset, and then the crimson rays just +fell upon the column of spray above the Canadian Fall, turning it a most +beautiful rose-colour. The sun set; a young moon arose, and brilliant +stars shone through the light veil of mist, and in the darkness the +cataract looked like drifted snow. I rose at length, perfectly unconscious +that I had been watching the Falls for nearly four hours, and that my +clothes were saturated with the damp and mist. + +It would be out of place to enter upon the numerous geological +speculations which have arisen upon the structure and recession of +Niagara. It seems as if the faint light which science has shed upon the +abyss of bygone ages were but to show that its depths must remain for ever +unlighted by human reason and research. + +There was such an air of gloom about the Clifton House that we sat in the +balcony till the cold became intense; and as it was too dark to see +anything but a white object in front, I could not help regretting the +waste (as it seems) of this wonderful display going on, when no eyes can +feast upon its sublimity. In the saloon there was a little fair-haired boy +of seven years old, with the intellectual faculties largely developed-- +indeed, so much so as to be painfully suggestive of water on the brain. +His father called him into the middle of the room, and he repeated a long +oration of Daniel Webster's without once halting for a word, giving to it +the action and emphasis of the orator. This was a fair specimen of the +frequent undue development of the minds of American children. + +At Niagara I finally took leave of the Walrences, as I had many visits to +pay, and near midnight left for Hamilton, under the escort of a very kind, +but very Grandisonian Scotch gentleman. I was intensely tired and sleepy, +and it was a very cheerless thing to leave a warm room at midnight for an +omnibus-drive of two miles along a bad, unlighted road. There did not +appear to be any waiting-room at the bustling station at the suspension +bridge, for, alas! the hollow scream of the locomotive is heard even above +the thunder of Niagara. I slept in the cars for an hour before we started, +and never woke till the conductor demanded payment of my fare in no very +gentle tones. We reached Hamilton shortly after two in the morning, in the +midst of a high wind and pouring rain; and in company with a dozen very +dirty emigrants we entered a lumber waggon with a canvas top, drawn by one +miserable horse. The curtains very imperfectly kept out the rain, and we +were in continual fear of an upset. At last the vehicle went down on one +side, and all the Irish emigrants tumbled over each other and us, with a +profusion of "Ochs," "murders," and "spalpeens." The driver composedly +shouted to us to alight; the hole was only deep enough to sink the vehicle +to the axletree. We got out into a very capacious lake of mud, and in +again, in very ill humour. At last the horse fell down in a hole, and my +Scotch friend and I got out and walked in the rain for some distance to a +very comfortable hotel, the City Arms. The sun had scarcely warmed the +world into waking life before I was startled from my sleep by the cry, +"Six o'clock; all aboard for the 'bus at half-past, them as goes by the +_Passport_ and _Highlander_:" but it was half-past, and I had barely time +to dress before the disagreeable shout of "All aboard!" echoed through the +house, and I hurried down stairs into an omnibus, which held twenty-two +persons inside, commodiously seated in arm-chairs. I went down Lake +Ontario in the _Highlander_; Mr. Forrest met me on the wharf, and in a few +hours I was again warmly welcomed at his hospitable house. + +My relics of my visit to Niagara consisted of a few Indian curiosities, +and a printed certificate filled up with my name, [Footnote: "Niagara +Falls, C. W.: Register Office, Table Rock.--This is to certify, that Miss +---- has passed behind the Great Falling Sheet of Water to Termination +Rook, being 230 feet behind the Great Horse-shoe Fall.--Given under my +hand this 13th day of ----, 1854.--THOMAS BARNETT."] stating that I had +walked for 230 feet behind the great fall, which statement, I was assured +by an American fellow-traveller, was "a sell right entirely, an almighty +all-fired big flam." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A scene at starting--That dear little Harry--The old lady and the race-- +Running the Rapids--An aside--Snow and discomfort-A new country--An +extemporised ball--Adventure with a madman--Shooting the cataract--First +appearance of Montreal--Its characteristics--Quebec in a fog--"Muffins"-- +Quebec gaieties----The pestilence--Restlessness--St. Louis and St. Roch-- +The shady side--Dark dens--External characteristics--Lord Elgin--Mistaking +a senator. + + +The _Arabian_, by which I left Toronto, was inferior to any American +steamer I had travelled in. It was crowded with both saloon and steerage +passengers, bound for Cobourg, Port Hope, and Montreal. It was very +bustling and dirty, and the carpet was plentifully sprinkled with tobacco- +juice. The captain was very much flustered with his unusually large living +cargo, but he was a good-hearted man, and very careful, having, to use his +own phrase, "climbed in at the hawse-holes, and worked his way aft, +instead of creeping in at the cabin window with his gloves on." The +stewards were dirty, and the stewardess too smart to attend to the +comforts of the passengers. + +As passengers, crates, and boxes poured in at both the fore and aft +entrances, I went out on the little slip of deck to look at the prevalent +confusion, having previously ascertained that all my effects were secure. +The scene was a very amusing one, for, acting out the maxim that "time is +money," comparatively few of the passengers came down to the wharf more +than five minutes before the hour of sailing. People, among whom were a +number of "unprotected females," and juveniles who would not _move on_, +were entangled among trucks and carts discharging cargo--hacks, horses, +crates, and barrels. These passengers, who would find it difficult to +elbow their way unencumbered, find it next to impossible when their hands +are burdened with uncut books, baskets of provender, and diminutive +carpet-bags. Horses back carts against helpless females, barrels roll upon +people's toes, newspaper hawkers puff their wares, bonbon venders push +their plaster of Paris abominations almost at people's eyes, yet, strange +to say, it is very seldom that any accident occurs. Family groups +invariably are separated, and distracted mammas are running after children +whom everybody wishes out of the way, giving utterance to hopes that they +are not on shore. Then the obedient papa is sent on shore to look after +"that dear little Harry," who is probably all the time in the ladies' +saloon on some child-fancier's lap eating bonbons. The board is drawn in-- +the moorings are cast off--the wheels revolve--the bell rings--the engine +squeals, and away speeds the steamer down the calm waters of Lake Ontario. +Little children and inquisitive young ladies are knocked down or blackened +in coiling the hawser, by "hands" who, being nothing but _hands_, +evidently cannot say, "I beg your pardon, miss." There were children, who +always will go where they ought not to go, running against people, and +taking hold of their clothes with sticky, smeared hands, asking commercial +gentlemen to spin their tops, and corpulent ladies to play at hide and +seek. I saw one stern-visaged gentleman tormented in this way till he +looked ready to give the child its "final quietus." [Footnote: American +juveniles are, generally speaking, completely destitute of that agreeable +shyness which prevents English and Scotch children from annoying +strangers.] There were angry people who had lost their portmanteaus, and +were ransacking the state-rooms in quest of them, and indolent people who +lay on the sofas reading novels and chewing tobacco. Some gentleman, +taking no heed of a printed notice, goes to the ladies' cabin to see if +his wife is safe on board, and meets with a rebuff from the stewardess, +who tells him that "gentlemen are not admitted," and, knowing that the +_sense_, or, as he would say, the _nonsense_ of the community is against +him, he beats a reluctant retreat. Everybody seems to have lost somebody +or something, but in an hour or two the ladies are deep in novels, the +gentlemen in the morning papers, the children have quarrelled themselves +to sleep, and the captain has gone to smoke by the funnel. + +I sat on the slip of deck with a lady from Lake Superior, niece of the +accomplished poetess Mrs. Hemans, and she tried to arouse me into +admiration of the shore of Lake Ontario; but I confess that I was too much +occupied with a race which we were running with the American steamer +_Maple-leaf_, to look at the flat, gloomy, forest-fringed coast. There is +an inherent love of the excitement of a race in all human beings--even old +ladies are not exempt from it, if we may believe a story which I heard on +the Mississippi. An old lady was going down the river for the first time, +and expressed to the captain her earnest hope that there would be no +racing. Presently another boat neared them, and half the passengers urged +the captain to "_pile on_." The old lady shrieked and protested, but to no +purpose; the skipper "piled on;" and as the race was a very long and +doubtful one, she soon became excited. The rival boat shot ahead; the old +lady gave a side of bacon, her sole possession, to feed the boiler fires-- +the boat was left behind--she clapped her hands--it ran ahead again, and, +frantic, she seated herself upon the safety-valve! It was again doubtful, +but, lo! the antagonist boat was _snagged_, and the lady gave a yell of +perfect delight when she saw it discomfited, and a hundred human beings +struggling in the water. Our race, however, was destitute of excitement, +for the _Maple-leaf_ was a much better sailer than ourselves. + +Dinner constituted an important event in the day, and was despatched very +voraciously, though some things were raw, others overdone, and all greasy. +But the three hundred people who sat down to dinner were, as some one +observed, three hundred reasons against eating anything. I had to endure a +severe attack of ague, and about nine o'clock the stewardess gave up her +room to me, and, as she faithfully promised to call me half an hour before +we changed the boats, I slept very soundly. At five she came in--"Get up, +miss, we're at Guananoque; you've only five minutes to dress." I did dress +in five minutes, and, leaving my watch, with some very valuable lockets, +under my pillow, hastened across a narrow plank, half blinded by snow, +into the clean, light, handsome steamer _New Era_. I did not allow myself +to fall asleep in the very comfortable state-room which was provided for +me by the friend with whom I was travelling, but hurried upstairs with the +first grey of the chilly wintry dawn of the morning of the 18th of +October. The saloon-windows were dimmed with snow, so I went out on deck +and braved the driving wind and snow on that inhospitable morning, for we +were in the Lake of the Thousand Islands. Travellers have written and +spoken so much of the beauty of this celebrated piece of water, that I +expected to be disappointed; but, _au contraire_, I am almost inclined to +write a rhapsody myself. + +For three hours we were sailing among these beautiful irregularly-formed +islands. There are 1692 of them, and they vary in size from mere rocks to +several acres in extent. Some of them are perfect paradises of beauty. +They form a complete labyrinth, through which the pilot finds his way, +guided by numerous beacons. Sometimes it appeared as if there were no +egress, and as if we were running straight upon a rock, and the water is +everywhere so deep, that from the deck of the steamer people can pull the +leaves from the trees. A hundred varieties of trees and shrubs grow out of +the grey lichen-covered rocks--it seems barbarous that the paddles of a +steamer should disturb their delicate shadows. If I found this lake so +beautiful on a day in the middle of October, when the bright autumn tints +had changed into a russet brown, and when a chill north-east wind was +blowing about the withered leaves, and the snow against the ship--and +when, more than all, I was only just recovering from ague--what would it +be on a bright summer-day, when the blue of heaven would be reflected in +the clear waters of the St. Lawrence! + +By nine a furious snow-storm rendered all objects indistinct, and the fog +had thickened to such an extent that we could not see five feet ahead, so +we came to anchor for an hour. A very excellent breakfast was despatched +during this time, and at ten we steamed off again, steering by compass on +a river barely a mile wide! The _New Era_ was a boat of a remarkably light +draught of water. The saloon, or deck-house, came to within fifteen feet +of the bow, and on the hurricane-deck above there was a tower containing a +double wheel, with which the ship is steered by chains one hundred feet +long. There is a look-out place in front of this tower, generally occupied +by the pilot, a handsome, ruffian-looking French _voyageur_, with earrings +in his ears. Captain Chrysler, whose caution, urbanity, and kindness +render him deservedly popular, seldom leaves this post of observation, and +personally pays very great attention to his ship; for the river St. +Lawrence has as bad a reputation for destroying the vessels which navigate +it as the Mississippi. + +The snow was now several inches deep on deck, and, melting near the deck- +house, trickled under the doors into the saloon. The moisture inside, +also, condensed upon the ceiling, and produced a constant shower-bath for +the whole day. Sofas and carpets were alike wet, everybody sat in +goloshes--the ladies in cloaks, the gentlemen in oilskins; the smell of +the latter, and of so many wet woollen clothes, in an apartment heated by +stove-heat, being almost unbearable. At twelve the fog and snow cleared +away, and revealed to view the mighty St. Lawrence--a rapid stream +whirling along in small eddies between slightly elevated banks dotted with +white homesteads. We passed a gigantic raft, with five log shanties upon +it, near Prescott. These rafts go slowly and safely down the St. Lawrence +and the Ottawa, till they come to La Chine, where frequent catastrophes +happen, if one may judge from the timber which strews the rocks. A +gentleman read from a newspaper these terrible statistics, "horrible if +true,"--"Forty-four murders and seven hundred murderous assaults have been +committed at New York within the last six months." (_Sensation_.) We +stopped at Prescott, one of the oldest towns in Canada, and shortly +afterwards passed the blackened ruins of a windmill, and some houses held +by a band of American "sympathisers" during the rebellion in 1838, but +from which they were dislodged by the cannon of the royal troops. Five +hundred American sympathisers, with several pieces of cannon, under cover +of darkness, on a lovely night in May, landed at this place. Soon after, +they were attacked by a party of English regulars and militiamen, who +drove them into a windmill and two strong stone houses, which they +loopholed, and defended themselves with a pertinacity which one would have +called heroism, had it been in a better cause. They finally surrendered, +and were carried prisoners to Kingston, where six of them were hanged. +Their leader, a military adventurer, a Pole of the name of Von Schoultz, +was the first to be executed. He fought with a skill and bravery worthy of +the nation from whence he sprung, and died without complaint, except of +those who had enticed him to fight for a godless cause, under the name of +liberty. Brighter days have since dawned upon Canada, and at this time the +most discontented can scarcely find the shadow of a grievance to lay hold +of. + +As an instance of the way in which the utilitarian essentials of a high +state of civilisation are diffused throughout Canada, I may mention that +when we arrived at Cornwall I was able to telegraph to Kingston for my +lost watch, and received a satisfactory answer in half an hour. + +After sailing down this mighty river at a rapid rate for some hours, we +ran the Galouse Rapids. Running the rapids is a favourite, and, I must +add, a charming diversion of adventurous travellers. There is just that +slight sense of danger which lends a zest to novelty, and it is furnished +by the facts that some timid persons land before coming to the rapids, and +that many vessels have come to an untimely end in descending them. There +is a favourite story of General Amherst, who during the war was sent down +by the river to attack Montreal, with three hundred and fifty men, and the +first intimation which the inhabitants received of the intended surprise +was through the bodies of the ill-fated detachment, clothed in the well- +known scarlet, floating by their city, the victims of the ignorance or +treachery of the pilot. + +One of the great pleasures which I promised myself in my visit to Canada +was from running these rapids, and I was not disappointed. At the Galouse, +the river expands into a wide shallow stream, containing beautiful +islands, among which the water rushes furiously, being broken into large +waves, boiling, foaming, and whirling round. The steamer neared the +rapids--half her steam was shut off--six men appeared at the wheel--we +glided noiselessly along in smooth, green, deep water--the furious waves +were before us--the steamer gave one perceptible downward plunge--the +spray dashed over the bows--and at a speed of twenty-five miles an hour we +hurried down the turbulent hill of waters, running so near the islands +often that escape seemed hopeless--then guided safely away by the skill of +the pilot. + +The next rapid was the Longue Sault, above a mile in length. The St. +Lawrence is here divided into two channels. The one we took is called the +Lost Passage; the Indian pilot who knew it died, and it has only been +recovered within the last five years. It is a very fine rapid, the islands +being extremely picturesque. We went down it at dizzy speed, with all our +steam on. I suppose that soon after this we entered the Lower Province, +for the aspect of things totally changed. The villages bore French names; +there were high wooden crosses by the water-side; the houses were many- +gabled and many-windowed, with tiers of balconies; and the setting sun +flashed upon Romish churches with spires of glittering tin. Everything was +marked by stagnation and retrogression: the people are _habitans_, the +clergy _curés_. + +We ran the Cedars, a magnificent rapid, superior in beauty to the Grand +Rapids at Niagara, and afterwards those of the Côteau du Lac and the Split +Rock, but were obliged to anchor at La Chine, as its celebrated cataract +can only be shot by daylight. It was cold and dark, and nearly all the +passengers left La Chine by the cars for Montreal, to avoid what some +people consider the perilous descent of this rapid. As both means of +reaching Montreal were probably equally safe, I decided on remaining on +board, having secured a state-room. My companions in the saloon were the +captain's wife and a lady who seemed decidedly _flighty_, and totally +occupied in waiting upon a poodle lapdog. After the captain left, the +stokers and pokers, and stewards and cooks, extemporised a ball, with the +assistance of a blind Scotch fiddler, and invited numerous lassies, who +appeared as if by magic from a wharf to which we were moored. I cannot say +that they tripped it "on the _light_ fantastic toe," for brogues and +highlows stumped heavily on the floor; but what was wanting in elegance +was amply compensated for by merriment and vivacity. The conversation was +rather of a polyglot character, being carried on in French, Gaelic, and +English. + +Throughout the night I was occupied in incessant attempts to keep up vital +warmth, and when the steward called me at five o'clock, I found that I had +been sleeping with the window open, and that the water in the jug was +frozen. Wintry-looking stars were twinkling through a frosty fog; the wet +hawsers were frozen stiff on deck; six came, the hour of starting, but +still there were no signs of moving. Railroads have not yet taught +punctuality to the Canadians, but better things are in store for them. +Cold to the very bone, I walked up and down the saloon to warm myself. The +floor was wet, and covered with saturated rugs; there were no fires in the +stoves, and my only resource was to lean against the engine-enclosure, and +warm my frozen hands on the hot wood. I was joined by a very old +gentleman, who, amid many complaints, informed me that he had had an +attack of apoplexy during the night, and some one, finding him insensible, +had opened the jugular vein. His lank white hair flowed over his +shoulders, and his neckcloth and shirt-front were smeared with blood. He +said he had cut his wife's throat, and that her ghost was after him. +"There, there!" he said, pointing to a corner. I looked at his eyes, and +saw at once that I was in the company of a madman. He then said that he +was king of the island of Montreal, and that he had murdered his wife +because she was going to betray him to the Queen of England. He was now, +he declared, going down to make a public entrance into Montreal. After +this avowal I treated him with the respect due to his fancied rank, till I +could call the stewards without exciting his suspicions. They said that he +was a confirmed lunatic, and had several times attempted to lay violent +hands upon himself. They thought he must have escaped from his keeper at +Brockville, and, with true madman's cunning, he had secreted himself in +the steamer. They kept him under strict surveillance till we arrived at +Montreal, and frustrated an attempt which he made to throw himself into +the rapid as we were descending it. + +At seven we unmoored from the pier at La Chine, and steamed over the calm +waters of the Lac St. Louis, under the care of a Canadian _voyageur_, who +acted as a subordinate to an Indian pilot, who is said to be the only +person acquainted with the passage, and whom the boats are obliged under +penalty to take. The lake narrows at La Chine, and becomes again the St. +Lawrence, which presents a most extraordinary appearance, being a hill of +shallow rushing water about a mile wide, chafing a few islands which look +ready to be carried away by it. The large river Ottawa joins the St. +Lawrence a short distance from this, and mingles its turbid waters with +that mighty flood. The river became more and more rapid till we entered +what might be termed a sea of large, cross, leaping waves, and raging +waters, enough to engulf a small boat. The idea of descending it in a +steamer was an extraordinary one. It is said that from the shore a vessel +looks as if it were hurrying to certain destruction. Still we hurry on, +with eight men at the wheel--rocks appear like snags in the middle of the +stream--we dash straight down upon rocky islets, strewn with the wrecks of +rafts; but a turn of the wheel, and we rush by them in safety at a speed +('tis said) of thirty miles an hour, till a ragged ledge of rock stretches +across the whirling stream. Still on we go--louder roars the flood-- +steeper appears the descent--earth, sky, and water seem mingled together. +I involuntarily took hold of the rail--the madman attempted to jump over-- +the _flighty_ lady screamed and embraced more closely her poodle-dog; we +reached the ledge--one narrow space free from rocks appeared--down with +one plunge went the bow into a turmoil of foam--and we had "shot the +cataract" of La Chine. + +The exploit is one of the most agreeable which the traveller can perform, +and the thick morning mist added to the apparent danger. We steamed for +four or five miles farther down the river, when suddenly the great curtain +of mist was rolled up as by an invisible hand, and the scene which it +revealed was _Montreal_. I never saw a city which looked so magnificent +from the water. It covers a very large extent of ground, which gently +slopes upwards from the lake-like river, and is backed by the Mountain, a +precipitous hill, 700 feet in height. It is decidedly foreign in +appearance, even from a distance. When the fog cleared away it revealed +this mountain, with the forest which covers it, all scarlet and purple; +the blue waters of the river hurried joyously along; the Green and +Belleisle mountains wore the rosy tints of dawn; the distances were bathed +in a purple glow; and the tin roofs, lofty spires, and cupolas of Montreal +flashed back the beams of the rising sun. + +A lofty Gothic edifice, something from a distance like Westminster Abbey, +and handsome public buildings, with a superb wharf a mile long, of hewn +stone, present a very imposing appearance from the water. We landed from +the first lock of a ship-canal, and I immediately drove to the residence +of the Bishop of Montreal, a house near the mountain, in a very elevated +situation, and commanding a magnificent view. From the Bishop and his +family I received the greatest kindness, and have very agreeable +recollections of Montreal. + +It was a most curious and startling change from the wooden erections, wide +streets, and the impress of novelty which pervaded everything I had seen +in the New World, to the old stone edifices, lofty houses, narrow streets, +and tin roofs of the city of Montreal. There are iron window-shutters, +convents with grated windows and long dead walls; there are narrow +thoroughfares, crowded with strangely-dressed _habitans_, and long +processions of priests. Then the French origin of the town contrasts +everywhere with the English occupation of it. There are streets--the Rue +St. Geneviève, the Rue St. Antoine, and the Rue St. François Xavier; there +are ancient customs and feudal privileges; Jesuit seminaries, and convents +of the _Soeurs Gris_ and the Sulpicians; priests in long black dresses; +native carters in coats with hoods, woollen nightcaps, and coloured +sashes; and barristers pleading in the French language. Then there are +Manchester goods, in stores kept by bustling Yankees; soldiers lounge +about in the scarlet and rifle uniforms of England; Presbyterian tunes +sound from plain bald churches; the institutions are drawn alike from +Paris and Westminster; and the public vehicles partake of the fashions of +Lisbon and Long Acre. You hear "_Place aux dames_" on one side of the +street, and "_g'lang_" on the other; and the United States have +contributed their hotel system and their slang. + +Montreal is an extraordinary place. It is alive with business and +enterprising traders, with soldiers, carters, and equipages. Through the +kindness of the Bishop, I saw everything of any interest in the town. The +first thing which attracted my attention was the magnificent view from the +windows of the See-house, over the wide St. Lawrence and the green +mountains of Vermont; the next, an immense pair of elaborately-worked +bronze gates, at a villa opposite, large enough for a royal residence. The +side-walks in the outskirts of the town were still of the villanous wood, +but in the streets they were very substantial, and, like the massive stone +houses, look as if they had lasted for two hundred years, and might last +for a thousand more. We visited, among other things, some schools--one, +the Normal School, an extremely interesting one, where it is intended to +train teachers, on Church-of-England principles. I was very much surprised +and pleased with the amount of solid information and high attainments of +the children, as evidenced by their composition, and answers to the Bishop +of Montreal's very difficult questions. They looked sallow and emaciated, +and, contrary to what I have observed in England, the girls seemed the +most intelligent. The Bishop has also established a library, where, for +the small sum of four shillings a year, people can regale themselves upon +a variety of works, from the volumes of Alison, not more ponderous in +appearance than matter, to the newspaper literature of the day. + +The furriers' shops are by no means to be overlooked. There were sleigh- +robes of buffalo, bear, fox, wolf, and racoon, varying in price from six +to thirty guineas; and coats, leggings, gloves, and caps, rendered +necessary by the severity of a winter in which the thermometer often +stands at thirty degrees below zero. People vie with each other in the +costliness of their furs and sleigh equipments; a complete set sometimes +costing as much as a hundred guineas. + +I went into the Romish cathedral, which is the largest Gothic building in +the New World. It was intended to be very imposing--it has succeeded in +being very extravagant; and if the architects intended that their work +should live in the admiration of succeeding generations, like York +Minster, Cologne, or Rouen, they have signally failed. Internally, the +effect of its vast size is totally destroyed by pews and galleries which +accommodate ten thousand people. There are some very large and very +hideous paintings in it, in a very inferior style of sign-painting. The +ceiling is painted bright blue, and the high altar was one mass of gaudy +tinsel decoration. In one corner there was a picture of babies being +devoured by pigs, and trampled upon by horses, and underneath it was a box +for offerings, with "This is the fate of the children of China" upon it. +By it was a wooden box, hung with faded pink calico, containing small +wooden representations, in the Noah's-ark style, of dogs, horses, and +pigs, and a tall man holding up a little dog by its hind legs. This peep- +show (for I can call it nothing else) was at the same time so inexplicable +and so ludicrous, that, to avoid shocking the feelings of a devout-looking +woman who was praying near it by an "_éclat de rire_," we hurried from the +church. + +I met with many sincere and devout Romanists among the upper classes in +Canada; I know that there are thousands among the simple _habitans_; and +though, in a thoughtless moment, the fooleries and puerilities of their +churches may excite a smile, it is a matter for the deepest regret that so +many of our fellow-subjects should be the dupes of a despotic priesthood, +and of a religion which cannot save. + +Close to the cathedral is the convent of the Grey Sisters, who, with the +most untiring zeal and kindness, fulfil the vocations of the Sisters of +Charity. There are several other convents, some of them very strict; and +their high walls and grated windows give Montreal a very Continental +appearance. On a lady remarking to a sister in one of these, that the view +from the windows was very beautiful, she replied, with a suppressed sigh, +that she had never seen it. There are some very fine public buildings and +banks; but as I am not writing a guide-book, I will not dilate upon their +merits. + +We walked round _Le Champ de Mars_, formerly the great resort of the +Montreal young ladies, and along the Rue Notre Dame, to the market-place, +which is said to be the second finest in the world, and, with its handsome +_façade_ and bright tin dome, forms one of the most prominent objects from +the water. As those disgusting disfigurements of our English streets, +butchers' shops, are not to be seen in the Canadian towns, nor, I believe +I may say, in those in the States, there is an enormous display of meat in +the Montreal market, of an appearance by no means tempting. The scene +outside was extremely picturesque; there were hundreds of carts with +shaggy, patient little horses in rows, with very miscellaneous tents-- +cabbages and butter jostling pork and hides. You may see here hundreds of +_habitans_, who look as if they ought to have lived a century ago--shaggy +men in fur caps and loose blue frieze coats with hoods, and with bright +sashes of coloured wool round their waists; women also, with hard features +and bronzed complexions, in large straw hats, high white caps, and noisy +_sabots_. On all sides a jargon of Irish, English, and French is to be +heard, the latter generally the broadest patois. + +We went into the Council Chamber, the richly cushioned seats of which +looked more fitted for sleep than deliberation; and I caught a glimpse of +the ex-mayor, whose timidity during a time of popular ferment occasioned a +great loss of human life. That popular Italian orator, "_Father Gavazzi_" +was engaged in denouncing the superstitions and impositions of Rome; and +on a mob evincing symptoms of turbulence, this mayor gave the order to +fire to the troops who were drawn up in the streets. Scarcely had the +words passed his lips, when by one volley seventeen peaceful citizens (if +I recollect rightly), coming out of the Unitarian chapel, were laid low. + +Montreal is a turbulent place. It is not very many years since a mob +assembled and burned down the Parliament House, for which exercise of the +popular will the city is disqualified from being the seat of government. I +saw something of Montreal society, which seemed to me to be quite on a par +with that in our English provincial towns. + +I left this ancient city at seven o'clock on a very dark, foggy evening +for Quebec, the boats between the two cities running by night, in order +that the merchants, by a happy combination of travelling with sleep, may +not lose that time which to them is money. This mode of proceeding is very +annoying to tourists, who thereby lose the far-famed beauties of the St. +Lawrence. It is very obnoxious likewise to timid travellers, of whom there +are a large number both male and female: for collisions and striking on +rocks or shoals are accidents of such frequent occurrence, that, out of +eight steamers which began the season, two only concluded it, two being +disabled during my visit to Quebec. + +Scarcely had we left the wharf at Montreal when we came into collision +with a brig, and hooked her anchor into our woodwork, which event caused a +chorus of screams from some ladies whose voices were rather stronger than +their nerves, and its remedy a great deal of bad language in French, +German, and English, from the crews of both vessels. After this we ran +down to Quebec at the rate of seventeen miles an hour, and the +_contretemps_ did not prevent even those who had screamed the loudest from +partaking of a most substantial supper, which was served at eight o'clock +in the lowest story of the ship. The _John Munn_ was a very fine boat, not +at all the worse for having sunk in the river in the summer. + +I considered Quebec quite the goal of my journey, for books, tongues, and +poetry alike celebrate its beauty. Indeed, there seems to be only one +opinion about it. From the lavish praise bestowed upon it by the eloquent +and gifted author of 'Hochelaga' down to the homely encomiums pronounced +by bluff sea captains, there seems a unanimity of admiration which is +rarely met with. Even commercial travellers, absorbed in intricate +calculations of dollars and cents, have been known to look up from their +books to give it an enthusiastic expression of approval. I expected to be +more pleased with it than with anything I had seen or was to see, and was +insensate enough to rise at five o'clock and proceed into the saloon, when +of course it was too dark for another hour to see anything. Daylight came, +and from my corner by the fire I asked the stewardess when we should be in +sight of Quebec? She replied that we were close to it. I went to the +window, expecting that a vision of beauty would burst upon my eyes. All +that I saw might be summed up in very few words--a few sticks placed +vertically, which might be masts, and some tin spires looming through a +very yellow, opaque medium. This was my _first_ view of Quebec; happily, +on my _last_ the elements did full justice to its beauty. Other objects +developed themselves as we steamed down to the wharf. There were huge +rafts, some three or four acres in extent, which, having survived the +perils which had beset them on their journey from the forests of the +Ottawa, were now moored along the base of the lofty cliffs which, under +the name of the Heights of Abraham, have a world-wide celebrity. There +were huge, square-sided, bluff-bowed, low-masted ships, lying at anchor in +interminable lines, and little, dirty, vicious-looking steam-tugs twirling +in and out among them; and there were grim-looking muzzles of guns +protruding through embrasures, and peripatetic fur caps and bayonets +behind parapets of very solid masonry. + +Above all, shadowing all, and steeping all, was the thickest fog ever seen +beyond the sound of Bow-bells. It lay thick and heavy on Point Diamond, +dimming the lustre of the bayonets of the sentinels as they paced the +lofty bastions, and looked down into the abyss of fog below. It lay yet +heavier on the rapid St. Lawrence, and dripped from the spars and rigging +of ships. It hung over and enveloped the town, where, combined with smoke, +it formed a yellow canopy; and damp and chill it penetrated the flag of +England, weighing it down in heavy folds, as though ominous of impending +calamity. + +Slowly winding our tortuous way among multitudinous ships, all vamped in +drizzling mist, we were warped to the wharf, which was covered with a +mixture of mud and coal-dust, permeated by the universal fog. Here +vehicles of a most extraordinary nature awaited us, and, to my great +surprise, they were all _open_. They were called _calashes_, and looked +something like very high gigs with hoods and C springs. Where the dash- +board was not, there was a little seat or perch for the driver, who with a +foot on each shaft looked in a very precarious position. These conveyances +have the most absurd appearance; there are, however, a few closed +vehicles, both at Montreal and Quebec, which I believe are not to be found +in the civilized world elsewhere, except in a few back streets of Lisbon. +These consist of a square box on two wheels. This box has a top, back, and +front, but where the sides ought to be there are curtains of deer-hide, +which are a very imperfect protection from wind and rain. The driver sits +on the roof, and the conveyance has a constant tendency backwards, which +is partially counteracted by a band under the horse's body, but _only_ +partially, and the inexperienced denizen of the box fancies himself in a +state of constant jeopardy. + +In an open calash I drove to Russell's Hotel, along streets steeper, +narrower, and dirtier than any I had ever seen. Arrived within two hundred +yards of the hotel, we were set down in the mud. On alighting, a gentleman +who had been my fellow-traveller politely offered to guide me, and soon +after addressed me by name. "Who can you possibly be?" I asked--so +completely had a beard metamorphosed an acquaintance of five years' +standing. + +Once within the hotel, I had the greatest difficulty in finding my way +about. It is composed of three of the oldest houses in Quebec, and has no +end of long passages, dark winding staircases, and queer little rooms. It +is haunted to a fearful extent by rats; and direful stories, "horrible, if +true," were related in the parlour of personal mutilations sustained by +visitors. My room was by no means in the oldest part of the house, yet I +used to hear nightly sorties made in a very systematic manner by these +quadruped intruders. The waiters at Russell's are complained of for their +incivility, but we thought them most profuse both in their civility and +attentions. Nevertheless, with all its disagreeables, Russell's is the +best hotel in Quebec; and, as a number of the members of the Legislative +Assembly live there while Parliament meets in that city, it is very lively +and amusing. + +When my English friends Mr. and Mrs. Alderson arrived, we saw a good deal +of the town; but it has been so often described, that I may as well pass +on to other subjects. The glowing descriptions given of it by the author +of '_Hochelaga_' must be familiar to many of my readers. They leave +nothing to be desired, except the genial glow of enthusiasm and kindliness +of heart which threw a _couleur de rose_ over everything he saw. + +There are some notions which must be unlearned in Canada, or temporarily +laid aside. At the beginning of winter, which is the gay season in this +Paris of the New World, every unmarried gentleman, who chooses to do so, +selects a young lady to be his companion in the numerous amusements of the +time. It does not seem that anything more is needed than the consent of +the maiden, who, when she acquiesces in the arrangement, is called a +"_muffin_"--for the mammas were "muffins" themselves in their day, and +cannot refuse their daughters the same privilege. The gentleman is +privileged to take the young lady about in his sleigh, to ride with her, +to walk with her, to dance with her a whole evening without any remark, to +escort her to parties, and be her attendant on all occasions. When the +spring arrives, the arrangement is at an end, and I did not hear that an +engagement is frequently the result, or that the same couple enter into +this agreement for two successive winters. Probably the reason may be, +that they see too much of each other. + +This practice is almost universal at Montreal and Quebec. On the fine, +frosty, moonlight nights, when the sleigh-bells ring merrily and the crisp +snow crackles under the horse's feet, the gentlemen call to take their +"muffins" to meetings of the sleighing-clubs, or to snow-shoe picnics, or +to champagne-suppers on the ice, from which they do not return till two in +the morning; yet, with all this apparent freedom of manner, the Canadian +ladies are perfectly modest, feminine, and ladylike; their simplicity of +manners is great, and probably there is no country in the world where +there is a larger amount of domestic felicity. + +The beauty of the young ladies of Canada is celebrated, and, though on +going into a large party one may not see more than two or three who are +strikingly or regularly beautiful, the _tout ensemble_ is most attractive; +the eyes are invariably large and lustrous, dark and pensive, or blue and +sparkling with vivacity. Their manners and movements are unaffected and +elegant; they dress in exquisite taste; and with a grace peculiarly their +own, their manners have a fascination and witchery which is perfectly +irresistible. They generally receive their education at the convents, and +go into society at a very early age, very frequently before they have seen +sixteen summers, and after this time the whirl of amusement precludes them +from giving much time to literary employments. They are by no means deeply +read, and few of them play anything more than modern dance music. They +dance beautifully, and so great is their passion for this amusement, +probably derived from their French ancestors, that married ladies +frequently attend the same dancing classes with their children, in order +to keep themselves in constant practice. + +At the time of my visit to Quebec there were large parties every night, +most of which were honoured with the presence of Lord Elgin and his suite. +One of his _aides-de-camp_ was Lord Bury, Lord Albemarle's son, who, on a +tour through North America, became enamoured of Quebec. Lord Elgin's +secretary was Mr. Oliphant, the talented author of the 'Russian Shores of +the Black Sea,' who had also yielded to the fascinations of this northern +capital. And no wonder! for there is not a friendlier place in the whole +world. I went armed with but two letters of introduction, and received +hospitality and kindness for which I can never be sufficiently grateful. + +The cholera, which in America assumes nearly the fatality and rapidity of +the plague, had during the summer ravaged Quebec. It had entered and +desolated happy homes, and, not confining itself to the abodes of the poor +and miserable, had attacked the rich, the gifted, and the beautiful. For +long the Destroying Angel hovered over the devoted city--neither age nor +infancy was spared, and numbers were daily hurried from the vigour of +living manhood into the silence and oblivion of the grave. Vigorous +people, walking along the streets, were suddenly seized with shiverings +and cramp, and sank down on the pavement to rise no more, sometimes +actually expiring on the cold, hard stones. Pleasure was forgotten, +business was partially suspended; all who could, fled; the gloom upon the +souls of the inhabitants was heavier than the brown cloud which was +supposed to brood over the city; and the steamers which conveyed those who +fled from the terrible pestilence arrived at Toronto freighted with the +living and the _dead_. Among the terror-stricken, the dying, and the dead, +the ministers of religion pursued their holy calling, undaunted by the +terrible sights which met them everywhere--the clergy of the different +denominations vied with each other in their kindness and devotedness. The +priests of Rome then gained a double influence. Armed with what appeared +in the eyes of the people supernatural powers, they knew no rest either by +night or day; they held the cross before many a darkening eye, and spoke +to the bereaved, in the plenitude of their anguish, of a world where +sorrow and separation are alike unknown. The heavy clang of tolling bells +was hourly heard, as the pestilence-stricken were carried to their last +homes. Medical skill availed nothing; the "pestilence which walketh in +darkness" was only removed by Him in whose hand are the issues of life and +death. + +Quebec had been free from disease for about six weeks before I visited it; +the victims of the pestilence were cold in their untimely graves; the sun +of prosperity smiled upon the fortress-city, and its light-hearted +inhabitants had just begun their nightly round of pleasure and gaiety. The +viceroyalty of Lord Elgin was drawing rapidly to a close, and two parties, +given every week at Government House, afforded an example which the good +people of Quebec were not slow to follow. There were musical parties, +_conversaziones_, and picnics to the Chaudière and Lorette; and people who +were dancing till four or five o'clock in the morning were vigorous enough +after ten for a gallop to Montmorenci. + +The absolute restlessness of the city astonished me very much. The morning +seemed to begin, with fashionable people, with a desultory breakfast at +nine o'clock, after which some received callers, others paid visits, or +walked into the town to make trifling purchases at the stores; while not a +few of the young ladies promenaded St. Louis Street or the ramparts, where +they were generally joined by the officers. Several officers said to me +that no quarters in the world were so delightful as those at Quebec. A +scarlet coat finds great favour with the fair sex at Quebec--civilians, +however great their mental qualifications, are decidedly in the +background; and I was amused to see young ensigns, with budding +moustaches, who had just joined their regiments, preferred before men of +high literary attainments. With balls, and moose-hunting, and sleigh- +driving, and "tarboggining," and, last but not least, "muffins," the time +passes rapidly by to them. A gentleman, who had just arrived from England, +declared that "Quebec was a horrid place, not fit to live in." A few days +after he met the same individual to whom he had made this uncomplimentary +observation, and confided to him that he thought Quebec "the most +delightful place in the whole world; for, do you know," he said, "I have +got a muffin." + +With the afternoon numerous riding parties are formed, for you cannot go +three miles out of Quebec without coming to something beautiful; and calls +of a more formal nature are paid; a military band performs on Durham +Terrace or the Garden, which then assume the appearance of most +fashionable promenades. The evening is spent in the ball-room, or at small +social dancing parties, or during the winter, before ten at night, in the +galleries of the House of Assembly; and the morning is well advanced +before the world of Quebec is hushed in sleep. + +Society is contained in very small limits at Quebec. Its _élite_ are +grouped round the ramparts and in the suburb of St. Louis. The city until +recently has occupied a very isolated position, and has depended upon +itself for society. It is therefore sociable, friendly, and hospitable; +and though there is gossip--for where is it not to be found?--I never knew +any in which there was so little of ill-nature. The little world in the +upper part of the city is probably the most brilliant to be found anywhere +in so small a compass. But there is a world below, another nation, seldom +mentioned in the aristocratic quarter of St. Louis, where vice, crime, +poverty, and misery jostle each other, as pleasure and politics do in the +upper town. This is the suburb of St. Roch, in whose tall dark houses and +fetid alleys those are to be found whose birthright is toil, who spend +life in supplying the necessities of to-day, while indulging in gloomy +apprehensions for to-morrow--who have not one comfort in the past to cling +to, or one hope for the future to cheer. + +St. Roch is as crowded as the upper town, but with a very different +population--the poor, the degraded, and the vicious. Here fever destroys +its tens, and cholera its hundreds. Here people stab each other, and think +little of it. Here are narrow alleys, with high, black-looking, stone +houses, with broken windows pasted over with paper in the lower stories, +and stuffed with rags in the upper--gradations of wretchedness which I +have observed in the Cowgate and West Port at Edinburgh. Here are shoeless +women, who quiet their children with ardent spirits, and brutal men, who +would kill both wives and children if they dared. Here are dust-heaps in +which pigs with long snouts are ever routing--here are lean curs, +wrangling with each other for leaner bones--here are ditches and puddles, +and heaps of oyster-shells, and broken crockery, and cabbage-stalks, and +fragments of hats and shoes. Here are torn notices on the walls offering +rewards for the apprehension of thieves and murderers, painfully +suggestive of dark deeds. A little further are lumber-yards and wharfs, +and mud and sawdust, and dealers in old nails and rags and bones, and +rotten posts and rails, and attempts at grass. Here are old barrel-hoops, +and patches of old sails, and dead bushes and dead dogs, and old +saucepans, and little plots of ground where cabbages and pumpkins drag on +a pining existence. And then there is the river Charles, no longer clear +and bright, as when trees and hills and flowers were mirrored on its +surface, but foul, turbid, and polluted, with ship-yards and steam-engines +and cranes and windlasses on its margin; and here Quebec ends. + +From the rich, the fashionable, and the pleasure-seeking suburb of St. +Louis few venture down into the quarter of St. Roch, save those who, at +the risk of drawing in pestilence with every breath, mindful of their duty +to God and man, enter those hideous dwellings, ministering to minds and +bodies alike diseased. My first visit to St. Roch was on a Sunday +afternoon. I had attended our own simple and beautiful service in the +morning, and had seen the celebration of vespers in the Romish cathedral +in the afternoon. Each church was thronged with well-dressed persons. It +was a glorious day. The fashionable promenades were all crowded; gay +uniforms and brilliant parasols thronged the ramparts; horsemen were +cantering along St. Louis Street; priestly processions passed to and from +the different churches; numbers of calashes containing pleasure-parties +were dashing about; picnic parties were returning from Montmorenci and +Lake Charles; groups of vivacious talkers, speaking in the language of +France, were at every street-corner; Quebec had all the appearance, so +painful to an English or Scottish eye, of a Continental sabbath. + +Mr. and Mrs. Alderson and myself left this gay scene, and the constant +toll of Romish bells, for St. Roch. They had lived peacefully in a rural +part of Devonshire, and more recently in one of the prettiest and most +thriving of the American cities; and when they first breathed the polluted +air, they were desirous to return from what promised to be so peculiarly +unpleasant, but kindly yielded to my desire to see something of the shady +as well as the sunny side of Quebec. + +No Sabbath-day with its hallowed accompaniments seemed to have dawned upon +the inhabitants of St. Roch. We saw women with tangled hair standing in +the streets, and men with pallid countenances and bloodshot eyes were +reeling about, or sitting with their heads resting on their hands, looking +out from windows stuffed with rags. There were children too, children in +nothing but the name and stature--infancy without innocence, learning to +take God's name in vain with its first lisping accents, preparing for a +maturity of suffering and shame. I looked at these hideous houses, and +hideous men and women too, and at their still more repulsive progeny, with +sallow faces, dwarfed forms, and countenances precocious in the +intelligence of villany; and contrasted them with the blue-eyed, rosy- +cheeked infants of my English home, who chase butterflies and weave May +garlands, and gather cowslips and buttercups; or the sallow children of a +Highland shantie, who devour instruction in mud-floored huts, and con +their tasks on the heathery sides of hills. + +Yet, when you breathe the poisoned air, laden with everything noxious to +health, and have the physical and moral senses alike met with everything +that can disgust and offend, it ceases to be a matter of wonder that the +fair tender plant of beautiful childhood refuses to grow in such a +vitiated atmosphere. Here all distinctions between good and evil are +speedily lost, if they were ever known; and men, women, and children +become unnatural in vice, in irreligion, in manners and appearance. Such +spots as these act like cankers, yearly spreading further and further +their vitiating influences, preparing for all those fearful retributions +in the shape of fever and pestilence which continually come down. Yet, +lamentable as the state of such a population is, considered merely with +regard to this world, it becomes fearful when we recollect that the wheels +of Time are ceaselessly rolling on, bearing how few, alas! to heaven--what +myriads to hell; and that, when "this trembling consciousness of being, +which clings enamoured to its anguish," not because life is sweet, but +because death is bitter, is over, there remains, for those who have known +nothing on earth but misery and vice, "a fearful looking for of judgment +and fiery indignation," when they that have done evil "shall rise to the +resurrection of damnation." + +It was not that the miserable degraded appearance of St. Roch was anything +new to me; unfortunately the same state of things exists in a far greater +degree in our large towns at home; what did surprise me was, to find it in +the New World, and that such a gigantic evil should have required only two +hundred years for its growth. It seemed to me also that at Quebec the gulf +which separates the two worlds is greater even than that which lies +between Belgravia and Bethnal Green or St. Giles's. The people who live in +the lower town are principally employed on the wharfs, and in the lumber +trade. But my readers will, not thank me for detaining them in a +pestiferous atmosphere, among such unpleasing scenes; we will therefore +ascend into the High-street of the city, resplendent with gorgeous +mercers' stores, and articles of luxury of every description. This street +and several others were at this period impassable for carriages, the +roadways being tunnelled, and heaped, and barricaded; which curious and +highly disagreeable state of things was stated to arise from the laying +down of water-pipes. At night, when fires were lighted in the narrow +streets, and groups of roughly dressed Frenchmen were standing round them, +Quebec presented the appearance of the Faubourg St. Antoine after a +revolution. + +Quebec is a most picturesque city externally and internally. From the +citadel, which stands on a rock more than three hundred feet high, down to +the crowded water-side, bustling with merchants, porters, and lumbermen, +all is novel and original. Massive fortifications, with guns grinning from +the embrasures, form a very prominent feature; a broad glacis looks +peaceful in its greenness; ramparts line the Plains of Abraham; guards and +sentries appear in all directions; nightfall brings with it the challenge +--"_Who goes there?_" and narrow gateways form inconvenient entrances to +streets so steep that I wondered how mortal horses could ever toil up +them. The streets are ever thronged with vehicles, particularly with rude +carts drawn by rough horses, driven by French peasants, who move stolidly +along, indifferent to the continual cry "_Place aux dames_." The stores +generally have French designations above them, the shop men often speak +very imperfect English; the names of the streets are French; Romish +churches and convents abound, and Sisters of Charity, unwearied in their +benevolence, are to be seen visiting the afflicted. + +Notices and cautions are posted up both in French and English; the light +vivacious tones of the French Canadians are everywhere heard, and from the +pillar sacred to the memory of Wolfe upon the Plains of Abraham, down to +the red-coated sentry who challenges you upon the ramparts, everything +tells of a conquered province, and of the time, not so very far distant +either, when the lilies of France occupied the place from which the flag +of England now so proudly waves. + +I spent a few days at Russell's Hotel, which was very full, in spite of +the rats. In Canadian hotels people are very sociable, and, as many during +the season make Russell's their abode, the conversation was tolerably +general at dinner. Many of the members of parliament lived there, and they +used to tell very racy and amusing stories against each other. I heard one +which was considered a proof of the truth of the saying, that "the tailor +makes the gentleman." A gentleman called on a Mr. M----, who had been +appointed to a place in the government, and in due time he went to return +the visit. Meeting an Irishman in the street, he asked, "Where does Mr. +'Smith' live?"--"It's no use your going there." "I want to know where he +lives, do you know?"--"Faith, I do; but it's no use your going there." Mr. +M----, now getting angry, said, "I don't ask you for your advice, I simply +want to know where Mr. 'Smith' lives."--"Well, spalpeen, he lives down +that court; but I tell ye it's no use your going there, for I've just been +there myself, and _he's got a man_." It is said that the discomfited +senator returned home and bought a _new hat!_ + +Passing out by the citadel, the Plains of Abraham, now a race-course, are +entered upon; the battle-field being denoted by a simple monument bearing +the inscription "_Here died Wolfe victorious_." Beyond this, three miles +from the city, is Spencer-Wood, the residence of the Governor-General. It +is beautifully situated, though the house is not spacious, and is rather +old-fashioned. The ball-room, however, built by Lord Elgin, is a beautiful +room, very large, admirably proportioned, and chastely decorated. Here a +kind of vice-regal court is held; and during the latter months of Lord +Elgin's tenure of office, Spencer-Wood was the scene of a continued round +of gaiety and hospitality. Lord Elgin was considered extremely popular; +the Reciprocity Treaty, supposed to confer great benefits on the country, +was passed during his administration, and the resources of Canada were +prodigiously developed, and its revenue greatly increased. Of his +popularity at Quebec there could be no question. He was attached to the +Canadians, with whom he mixed with the greatest kindness and affability. +Far from his presence being considered a restraint at an evening party, +the entrance of the Governor and his suite was always the signal for +increased animation and liveliness. + +The stiffness which was said to pervade in former times the parties at +Spencer-Wood was entirely removed by him; and in addition to large balls +and dinner-parties, at the time I was at Quebec he gave evening parties to +eighty or a hundred persons twice a-week, when the greatest sociability +prevailed; and in addition to dancing, which was kept up on these +occasions till two or three in the morning, games such as French +blindman's-buff were introduced, to the great delight of both old and +young. The pleasure with which this innovation was received by the lively +and mirth-loving Canadians showed the difference in character between +themselves and the American ladies. I was afterwards at a party at New +York, where a gentleman who had been at Spencer-Wood attempted to +introduce one of these games, but it was received with gravity, and proved +a signal failure. Lord Elgin certainly attained that end which is too +frequently lost sight of in society--making people enjoy themselves. +Personally, I may speak with much gratitude of his kindness during a short +but very severe illness with which I was attacked while at Spencer-Wood. +Glittering epaulettes, scarlet uniforms, and muslin dresses whirled before +my dizzy eyes--I lost for a moment the power to articulate--a deathly +chill came over me--I shivered, staggered, and would have fallen had I not +been supported. I was carried upstairs, feeling sure that the terrible +pestilence which I had so carefully avoided had at length seized me. The +medical man arrived at two in the morning, and ordered the remedies which +were usually employed at Quebec, a complete envelope of mustard plasters, +a profusion of blankets, and as much ice as I could possibly eat. The +physician told me that cholera had again appeared in St. Roch, where I, +strangely enough, had been on two successive afternoons. So great was the +panic caused by the cholera, that, wherever it was necessary to account +for my disappearance, Lord Elgin did so by saying that I was attacked with +ague. The means used were blessed by a kind Providence to the removal of +the malady, and in two or three days I was able to go about again, though +I suffered severely for several subsequent weeks. + +From Spencer-Wood I went to the house of the Hon. John Ross, from whom and +from Mrs. Ross I received the greatest kindness--kindness which should +make my recollections of Quebec lastingly agreeable. Mr. Ross's public +situation as President of the Legislative Council gave me an opportunity +of seeing many persons whose acquaintance I should not have made under +other circumstances; and as parties were given every evening but one while +I was at Quebec, to which I was invited with my hosts, I saw as much of +its society as under ordinary circumstances I should have seen in a year. +No position is pleasanter than that of an English stranger in Canada, with +good introductions. + +I received much kindness also from Dr. Mountain, the venerable Protestant +Bishop of Quebec. He is well known as having, when Bishop of Montreal, +undertaken an adventurous journey to the Red River settlements, for the +purposes of ordination and confirmation. He performed the journey in an +open canoe managed by French _voyageurs_ and Indians. They went up the +Ottawa, then by wild lakes and rivers into Lake Huron, through the +labyrinth of islands in the Georgian Bay, and by the Sault Sainte Marie +into Lake Superior, then an almost untraversed sheet of deep, dreary +water. Thence they went up the Rainy River, and by almost unknown streams +and lakes to their journey's end. They generally rested at night, lighting +large fires by their tents, and were tormented by venomous insects. At the +Mission settlements on the Red River the Bishop was received with great +delight by the Christianized Indians, who, in neat clothing and with books +in their hands, assembled at the little church. The number of persons +confirmed was 846, and there were likewise two ordinations. The stay of +the Bishop at the Red River was only three weeks, and he accomplished his +enterprising journey of two thousand miles in six weeks. He is one of the +most unostentatious persons possible; it was not until he presented me +with a volume containing an account of his visitation that I was aware +that he was the prelate with the account of whose zeal and Christian +devotedness I had long been familiar. He is now an aged man, and his +countenance tells of the "love which looks kindly, and the wisdom which +looks soberly, on all things." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +The House of Commons--Canadian gallantry--The constitution--Mr. Hincks-- +The ex-rebel--Parties and leaders--A street-row--Repeated disappointments +--The "habitans"--Their houses and their virtues--A stationary people-- +Progress and its effects--Montmorenci--The natural staircase--The Indian +summer--Lorette--The old people--Beauties of Quebec--The _John Munn_--Fear +and its consequences--A gloomy journey. + + +One of the sights of Quebec--to me decidedly the most interesting one--was +the House of Assembly. The Legislature were burned out of their house at +Montreal, and more recently out of a very handsome one at Quebec--it is to +be hoped this august body will be more fortunate at Toronto, the present +place of meeting. The temporary place of sitting at Quebec seemed to me +perfectly adapted for the purposes of hearing, seeing, and speaking. + +It is a spacious apartment, with deep galleries, which hold about five +hundred, round it, which were to Quebec what the Opera and the club-houses +are to London. In fact, these galleries were crowded every night; and +certainly, when I was there, fully one half of their occupants were +ladies, who could see and be seen. The presence of ladies may have an +effect in preventing the use of very intemperate language; and though it +is maliciously said that some of the younger members speak more for the +galleries than the house, and though some gallant individual may +occasionally step up stairs to restore a truant handkerchief or boa to the +fair owner, the distractions caused by their presence are very +inconsiderable, and the arrangements for their comfort are a great +reflection upon the miserable latticed hole to which lady listeners are +condemned in the English House of Commons. I must remark, also, that the +house was well warmed and ventilated, without the aid of alternating +siroccos and north winds. The Speaker's chair, on a dais and covered with +a canopy, was facing us, in which reclined the Speaker in his robes. In +front of him was a table, at which sat two black-robed clerks, and on +which a huge mace reposed; and behind him was the reporters' gallery, +where the gentlemen of the press seemed to be most comfortably +accommodated. There was a large open space in front of this table, +extending to the bar, at which were seated the messengers of the house, +and the Sergeant-at-arms with his sword. On either side of this open space +were four rows of handsome desks, and morocco seats, to accommodate two +members each, who sat as most amiable Gemini. The floor was richly +carpeted, and the desks covered with crimson cloth, and, with the well- +managed flood of light, the room was very complete. + +The Canadian Constitution is as nearly a transcript of our own as anything +colonial can be. The Governor can do no wrong--he must have a responsible +cabinet taken from the members of the Legislature--his administration must +have a working majority, as in England--and he must bow to public opinion +by changing his advisers, when the representatives of the people lose +confidence in the Government. The Legislative Council represents our House +of Peers, and the Legislative Assembly, or Provincial Parliament, our +House of Commons. The Upper House is appointed by the Crown, under the +advice of the ministry of the day; but as a clamour has been raised +against it as yielding too readily to the demands of the Lower House, a +measure has been brought in for making its members elective for a term of +years. If this change were carried, coupled with others on which it would +not interest the English reader to dwell, it would bring about an +approximation of the Canadian Constitution to that of the United States. + +On one night on which I had the pleasure of attending the House, the +subject under discussion was the Romish holidays, as connected with +certain mercantile transactions. It sounds dry enough, but, as the debate +was turned into an extremely interesting religious discussion, it was well +worth hearing, and the crowded galleries remained in a state of +quiescence. + +Mr. Hincks, the late Premier, was speaking when we went in. He is by no +means eloquent, but very pointed in his observations, and there is an +amount of logical sequence in his speaking which is worthy of imitation +elsewhere. He is a remarkable man, and will probably play a prominent part +in the future political history of Canada. [Footnote: This prognostication +is not likely to be realised, as the late Sir W. Molesworth has appointed +Mr. Hincks to the governorship of Barbadoes. If the new governor possesses +_ principle_ as well as _talent_, this acknowledgement of colonial merit +is a step in the right direction.] He is the son of a Presbyterian +minister at Cork, and emigrated to Toronto in 1832. During Lord Durham's +administration he became editor of the _Examiner_ newspaper, and entered +the Parliament of the United Provinces in 1841. He afterwards filled the +important position of Inspector-General of Finances, and finally became +Prime Minister. His administration was, however, overturned early in 1854, +and sundry grave charges were brought against him. He spoke in favour of +the abolition of the privileges conceded to Romish holidays, and was +followed by several French Canadians, two of them of the Rouge party, who +spoke against the measure, one of them so eloquently as to remind me of +the historical days of the Girondists. + +Mr. Lyon Mackenzie, who led the rebellion which was so happily checked at +Toronto, and narrowly escaped condign punishment, followed, and diverged +from the question of promissory notes to the Russian war and other +subjects; and when loud cries of "Question, question, order, order!" +arose, he tore up his notes, and sat down abruptly in a most theatrical +manner, amid bursts of laughter from both floor and galleries; for he +appears to be the privileged buffoon of the House. + +The appearance of the House is rather imposing; the members behave with +extraordinary decorum; and to people accustomed to the noises and unseemly +interruptions which characterise the British House of Commons, the silence +and order of the Canadian House are very agreeable. [Footnote: In justice +to the Canadian Parliament, I must insert the following extract from the +'_Toronto Globe_,' from which it will appear that there are very +disgraceful exceptions to this ordinarily decorous conduct:-- + +"Mr. Mackenzie attempted to speak, and held the floor for two or three +minutes, although his voice was inaudible from the kicking of desks, +caterwaulings, and snatches of songs from various parts of the house."] +The members seemed to give full attention to the debate; very few were +writing, and none were reading anything except Parliamentary papers, and +no speaker was interrupted except on one occasion. There was extremely +little walking about; but I observed one gentleman, a notorious exquisite, +cross the floor several times, apparently with no other object than that +of displaying his fine person in bowing profoundly to the Speaker. The +gentlemanly appearance of the members, taken altogether, did not escape my +notice. + +Sir Allan M'Nab, the present Premier, is the head of a coalition ministry; +fortunately, it is not necessary to offer any remarks upon its policy; and +Canada, following the example of the mother-country, submits quietly to a +coalition. The opposition, which is formed of the Liberal party, is seated +opposite the Government, fronted by Mr. Lyon Mackenzie, who gives a +wavering adherence to every party in succession, and is often indignantly +disavowed by all. The Liberals of Upper Canada are ably led by Mr. George +Brown, who excels in a highly lucid, powerful, and perspicuous course of +reasoning, which cannot fail to produce an effect. + +Then there is the Rouge party, led by the member for Montreal, which is +principally composed of very versatile and enthusiastic Frenchmen of +rather indefinite opinions and aims, professing a creed which appears a +curious compound of Republicanism and Rationalism. The word +Latitudinarianism defines it best. There are 130 members, divided into +numerous "ists" and "ites." Most of the members for Lower Canada are +French, and, consequently, the Romish party is a very powerful one in the +House. Taken as a whole, the members are loyal, and have proved their +attachment to England by a vote of 20,000_l._ for the Patriotic Fund. + +I think that all who are in the habit of reading the debates will allow +that the speaking in the House will bear comparison with that in our House +of Commons; and if some of the younger members in attempting the sublime +occasionally attain the ridiculous, and mistake extravagance of expression +for greatness of thought, these are faults which time and criticism will +remedy. Canada is a great and prosperous country, and its Legislative +Assembly is very creditable to so young a community. Bribery, corruption, +and place-hunting are alleged against this body; but as these vices are +largely developed in England, it would be bad taste to remark upon them, +particularly as the most ardent correctors of abuses now reluctantly allow +that they are inseparable from popular assemblies. It is needless to speak +of the Upper House, which, as has been sarcastically remarked of our House +of Peers, is merely a "_High Court of Registry_"--it remains to be seen +whether an elective chamber would possess greater vitality and +independence. + +The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is a Frenchman, and French and +English are used indiscriminately in debate. Parliamentary notices and +papers are also printed in both languages. + +It was a cold, gloomy October morning, a cold east wind rustled the russet +leaves, and a heavy, dry fog enveloped Point Diamond, when I left the +bustle of Quebec for a quiet drive to Montmorenci in a light waggon with a +very spirited little horse, a young lady acting as charioteer. The little +animal was very impetuous, and rattled down the steep, crowded streets of +Quebec at a pace which threatened to entangle our wheels with those of +numerous carts driven by apathetic _habitans_, who were perfectly +indifferent to the admonitions "_Prenez garde_" and "_Place aux dames_," +delivered in beseeching tones. We passed down a steep street, and through +Palace-gate, into the district of St. Roch, teeming with Irish and dirt, +for I fear it is a fact that, wherever you have the first, you invariably +have the last. Beyond this there was a space covered with mud and sawdust, +where two _habitans_ were furiously quarrelling. One sprang upon the other +like a hyena, knocked him down, and then attempted to bite and strangle +him, amid the applause of numerous spectators. + +Leaving Quebec behind, we drove for seven miles along a road in sight of +the lesser branch of the St. Lawrence, which has on the other side the +green and fertile island of Orleans. The houses along this road are so +numerous as to present the appearance of a village the whole way. +Frenchmen who arrive here in summer can scarcely believe that they are not +in their own sunny land; the external characteristics of the country are +so exactly similar. These dwellings are large, whitewashed, and many- +windowed, and are always surrounded with balconies. The doors are reached +by flights of steps, in order that they may be above the level of the snow +in winter. The rooms are clean, but large and desolate-looking, and are +generally ornamented with caricatures of the Virgin and uncouth +representations of miracles. The women dress in the French style, and wear +large straw hats out of doors, which were the source of constant +disappointments to me, for I always expected to see a young, if not a +pretty, face under a broad brim, and these females were remarkably ill- +favoured; their complexions hardened, wrinkled, and bronzed, from the +effects of hard toil, and the extremes of heat and cold. I heard the hum +of spinning-wheels from many of the houses, for these industrious women +spin their household linen, and the gray homespun in which the men are +clothed. The furniture is antique, and made of oak, and looks as if it had +been handed down from generation to generation. The men, largely assisted +by the females, cultivate small plots of ground, and totally disregard all +modern improvements. These French towns and villages improve but little. +Popery, that great antidote to social progress, is the creed universally +professed, and generally the only building of any pretensions is a large +Romish church with two lofty spires of polished tin. Education is not much +prized; the desires of the simple _habitans_ are limited to the attainment +of a competence for life, and this their rudely-tilled farms supply them +with. Few emigrants make this part of Canada even a temporary resting- +place; the severity of the climate, the language, the religion, and the +laws, are all against them; hence, though a professor of a purer faith may +well blush to confess it, the vices which emigrants bring with them are +unknown. These peasants are among the most harmless people under the sun; +they are moral, sober, and contented, and zealous in the observances of +their erroneous creed. Their children divide the land, and, as each +prefers a piece of soil adjoining the road or river, strips of soil may +occasionally be seen only a few yards in width. They strive after +happiness rather than advancement, and who shall say that they are +unsuccessful in their aim? As their fathers lived, so they live; each +generation has the simplicity and superstition of the preceding one. In +the autumn they gather in their scanty harvest, and in the long winter +they spin and dance round their stove-sides. On Sundays and saints' days +they assemble in crowds in their churches, dressed in the style of a +hundred years since. Their wants and wishes are few, their manners are +courteous and unsuspicious, they hold their faith with a blind and +implicit credulity, and on summer evenings sing the songs of France as +their fathers sang them in bygone days on the smiling banks of the rushing +Rhone. + +The road along which the dwellings of these small farmers lie is +macadamised, and occasionally a cross stands by the roadside, at which +devotees may be seen to prostrate themselves. There is a quiet, lethargic, +old-world air about the country, contrasting strangely with the bustling, +hurrying, restless progress of Upper Canada. Though the condition of the +_habitans_ is extremely unprofitable to themselves, it affords a short +rest to the thinking and observing faculties of the stranger, overstrained +as they are with taking in and contemplating the railroad progress of +things in the New World. + +While we admire and wonder at the vast material progress of Western Canada +and the North-western States of the Union, considerations fraught with +alarm will force themselves upon us. We think that great progress is being +made in England, but, without having travelled in America, it is scarcely +possible to believe what the Anglo-Saxon race is performing upon a new +soil. In America we do not meet with factory operatives, seamstresses, or +clerks overworked and underpaid, toiling their lives away in order to keep +body and soul together; but we have people of all classes who could obtain +competence and often affluence by moderate exertions, working harder than +slaves--sacrificing home enjoyments, pleasure, and health itself to the +one desire of the acquisition of wealth. Daring speculations fail; the +struggle in unnatural competition with men of large capital, or +dishonourable dealings, wears out at last the overtasked frame--life is +spent in a whirl--death summons them, and finds them unprepared. Everybody +who has any settled business is overworked. Voices of men crying for +relaxation are heard from every quarter, yet none dare to pause in this +race which they so madly run, in which happiness and mental and bodily +health are among the least of their considerations. All are spurred on by +the real or imaginary necessities of their position, driven along their +headlong course by avarice, ambition, or eager competition. + +The Falls of Montmorenci, which we reached after a drive of eight miles, +are beautiful in the extreme, and, as the day was too cold for picnic +parties, we had them all to ourselves. There is no great body of water, +but the river takes an unbroken leap of 280 feet from a black narrow +gorge. The scathed black cliffs descend in one sweep to the St. Lawrence, +in fine contrast to the snowy whiteness of the fall. Montmorenci gave me +greater sensations of pleasure than Niagara. There are no mills, museums, +guides, or curiosity-shops. Whatever there is of beauty bears the fair +impress of its Creator's hand; and if these Falls are beautiful on a late +October day, when a chill east wind was howling through leafless trees +looming through a cold, grey fog, what must they be in the burst of spring +or the glowing luxuriance of summer? + +We drove back for some distance, and entered a small _cabaret_, where some +women were diligently engaged in spinning, and some men were +superintending with intense interest the preparation of some _soupe +maigre_. Their _patois_ was scarcely intelligible, and a boy whom we took +as our guide spoke no English. After encountering some high fences and +swampy ground, we came to a narrow rocky pathway in a wood, with bright +green, moss-covered trees, stones, and earth. On descending a rocky bank +we came to the "natural staircase," where the rapid Montmorenci forces its +way through a bed of limestone, the broken but extremely regular +appearance of the layers being very much like wide steps. The scene at +this place is wildly beautiful. The river, frequently only a few feet in +width, sometimes foams furiously along between precipices covered with +trees, and bearing the marks of years of attrition; then buries itself in +dark gulfs, or rests quiescent for a moment in still black pools, before +it reaches its final leap. + +The day before I left Quebec I went to the romantic falls of Lorette, +about thirteen miles from the city. It was a beauteous day. I should have +called it oppressively warm, but that the air was fanned by a cool west +wind. The Indian summer had come at last; "the Sagamores of the tribes had +lighted their council-fires" on the western prairies. What would we not +give for such a season! It is the rekindling of summer, but without its +heat--it is autumn in its glories, but without its gloom. The air is soft +like the breath of May; everything is veiled in a soft pure haze, and the +sky is of a faint and misty blue. + +A mysterious fascination seemed to bind us to St. Roch, for we kept +missing our way and getting into "streams as black as Styx." But at length +the city of Quebec, with its green glacis and frowning battlements, was +left behind, and we drove through flat country abounding in old stone +dwelling-houses, old farms, and large fields of stubble. We neared the +blue hills, and put up our horses in the Indian village of Lorette. +Beautiful Lorette! I _must_ not describe, for I _cannot_, how its river +escapes from under the romantic bridge in a broad sheet of milk-white +foam, and then, contracted between sullen barriers of rock, seeks the deep +shade of the pine-clad precipices, and hastens to lose itself there. It is +perfection, and beauty, and peace; and the rocky walks upon its forest- +covered crags might be in Switzerland. + +Being deserted by the gentlemen of the party, my fair young companion and +I found our way to Lorette, which is a large village built by government +for the Indians; but by intermarrying with the French they have lost +nearly all their distinctive characteristics, and the next generation will +not even speak the Indian language. Here, as in every village in Lower +Canada, there is a large Romish church, ornamented with gaudy paintings. +We visited some of the squaws, who wear the Indian dress, and we made a +few purchases. We were afterwards beset by Indian boys with bows and +arrows of clumsy construction; but they took excellent aim, incited by the +reward of coppers which we offered to them. It is grievous to see the +remnants of an ancient race in such a degraded state; the more so as I +believe that there is no intellectual inferiority as an obstacle to their +improvement. I saw some drawings by an Indian youth which evinced +considerable talent: one in particular, a likeness of Lord Elgin, was +admirably executed. + +I have understood that there is scarcely a greater difference between +these half-breeds and the warlike tribes of Central America, than between +them and the Christian Indians of the Red River settlements. There are +about fourteen thousand Indians in Canada, few of them in a state of great +poverty, for they possess annuities arising from the sale of their lands. +They have no incentives to exertion, and spend their time in shooting, +fishing, and drinking spirits in taverns, where they speedily acquire the +vices of the white men without their habits of industry and enterprise. +They have no idols, and seldom enter into hostile opposition to +Christianity, readily exchanging the worship of the Great Spirit for its +tenets, as far as convenient. It is very difficult, however, to arouse +them to a sense of sin, or to any idea of the importance of the world to +come; but at the same time, in no part of the world have missionary +labours been more blessed than at the Red River settlements. Great changes +have passed before their eyes. Year, as it succeeds year, sees them driven +farther west, as their hunting-grounds are absorbed by the insatiate white +races. The twang of the Indian bow, and the sharp report of the Indian +rifle, are exchanged for the clink of the lumberer's axe and the "g'lang" +of the sturdy settler. The corn waves in luxuriant crops over land once +covered with the forest haunts of the moose, and the waters of the lakes +over which the red man paddled in his bark canoe are now ploughed by +crowded steamers. Where the bark dwellings of his fathers stood, the +locomotive darts away on its iron road, and the helpless Indian looks on +aghast at the power and resources of the pale-faced invaders of his soil. + +The boat by which I was to leave Quebec was to sail on the afternoon of +the day on which I visited Lorette, but was detained till the evening by +the postmaster-general, when a heavy fog came on, which prevented its +departure till the next morning. The small-pox had broken out in the city, +and rumours of cholera had reached and alarmed the gay inhabitants of St. +Louis. I never saw terror so unrestrainedly developed as among some ladies +on hearing of the return of the pestilence. One of them went into +hysterics, and became so seriously ill that it was considered necessary +for her to leave Quebec the same evening. In consequence of the delay of +the boat, it was on a Sunday morning that I bade adieu to Quebec. I had +never travelled on a Sunday before, and should not have done so on this +occasion had it not been a matter of necessity. I am happy to state that +no boats run on the St. Lawrence on the Sabbath, and the enforced sailing +of the _John Munn_ caused a great deal of grumbling among the stewards and +crew. The streets were thronged with people going to early mass, and to a +special service held to avert the heavy judgments which it was feared were +impending over the city. The boat was full, and many persons who were +flying from the cholera had slept on board. + +I took a regretful farewell of my friends, and with them of beautiful +Quebec. I had met with much of kindness and hospitality, but still I must +confess that the excessive gaiety and bustle of the city exercise a +depressing influence. People appear absorbed by the fleeting pleasures of +the hour; the attractions of this life seem to overbalance the importance +of the life to come; and among the poor there is a large amount of sin and +sorrow--too many who enter the world without a blessing, and depart from +it without a hope. The bright sun of the Indian summer poured down its +flood of light upon the castled steep, and a faint blue mist was diffused +over the scene of beauty. Long undulating lines showed where the blue +hills rose above the green island of Orleans, and slept in the haze of +that gorgeous season. Not a breath of wind stirred the heavy folds of the +flag of England on the citadel, or ruffled the sleeping St. Lawrence, or +the shadows of the countless ships on its surface; and the chimes of the +bells of the Romish churches floated gently over the water. Such a morning +I have seldom seen, and Quebec lay basking in beauty. Surely that +morning's sun shone upon no fairer city! The genial rays of that autumn +sun were typical of the warm kind hearts I was leaving behind, who had +welcomed a stranger to their hospitable homes; and, as the bell rang, and +the paddles revolved in the still deep water, a feeling of sorrow came +over my heart when I reflected that the friendly voices might never again +sound in my ear, and that the sunshine which was then glittering upon the +fortress-city might, to my eyes, glitter upon it no more. + +The _John Munn_ was a very handsome boat, fitted up with that prodigality +which I have elsewhere described as characteristic of the American +steamers; but in the course of investigation I came upon the steerage, or +that part of the middle floor which is devoted to the poorer class of +emigrants, of whom five hundred had landed at Quebec only the day before. +The spectacle here was extremely annoying, for men, women, and children +were crowded together in an ill-ventilated space, with kettles, saucepans, +blankets, bedding, and large blue boxes. There was a bar for the sale of +spirits, which, I fear, was very much frequented, for towards night there +were sounds of swearing, fighting, and scuffling, proceeding from this +objectionable locality. + +A day-boat was such a rare occurrence that some of the citizens of Quebec +took the journey merely to make acquaintance with the beauties of their +own river. We passed the Heights of Abraham, and Wolfe's Cove, famous in +history; wooded slopes and beautiful villas; the Chaudière river, and its +pine-hung banks; but I was so ill that even the beauty of the St. Lawrence +could not detain me in the saloon, and I went down into the ladies' cabin, +where I spent the rest of the day on a sofa wrapped in blankets. A good +many of the ladies came down stairs to avoid some quadrilles which a +French Canadian lady was playing, and a friend of mine, Colonel P----, +having told some one that I had had the cholera, there was a good deal of +mysterious buzzing in consequence, of which I only heard a few +observations, such as--"How very imprudent!" "How very wrong to come into +a public conveyance!" "Just as we were trying to leave it behind too!" But +I was too ill to be amused, even when one lady went so far as to remove +the blanket to look at my face. There was a very pale and nervous-looking +young lady lying on a sofa opposite, staring fixedly at me. Suddenly she +got up, and asked me if I were very ill? I replied that I had been so. +"She's had the cholera, poor thing!" the stewardess unfortunately +observed. "The cholera!" she said, with an affrighted look; and, hastily +putting on her bonnet, vanished from the cabin, and never came down again. +She had left Quebec because of the cholera, having previously made +inquiries as to whether any one had died of it in the _John Munn_; and +now, being brought, as she fancied, into contact with it, her imagination +was so strongly affected that she was soon taken seriously ill, and brandy +and laudanum were in requisition. So great was the fear of contagion, +that, though the boat was so full that many people had to sleep on sofas, +no one would share a state-room with me. + +We were delayed by fog, and did not reach Montreal till one in the +morning. I found Montreal as warm and damp as it had been cold and bracing +on my first visit; but the air was not warmer than the welcome which I +received. Kind and tempting was the invitation to prolong my stay at the +See House; enticing was the prospect offered me of a visit to a seigneurie +on the Ottawa; and it was with very great reluctance that, after a sojourn +of only one day, I left this abode of refinement and hospitality, and the +valued friends who had received me with so much kindness, for a tedious +journey to New York. I left the See House at five o'clock on the last day +of October, so ill that I could scarcely speak or stand. It was pitch- +dark, and the rain was pouring in torrents. The high wind blew out the +lamp which was held at the door; an unpropitious commencement of a +journey. Something was wrong with the harness; the uncouth vehicle was +nearly upset backwards; the steam ferryboat was the height of gloom, +heated to a stifling extent, and full of people with oil-skin coats and +dripping umbrellas. We crossed the rushing St. Lawrence just as the yellow +gas-lights of Montreal were struggling with the pale, murky dawn of an +autumn morning, and reached the cars on the other side before it was light +enough to see objects distinctly. Here the servant who had been kindly +sent with me left me, and the few hours which were to elapse before I +should join my friends seemed to present insurmountable difficulties. The +people in the cars were French, the names of the stations were French, and +"_Prenez-garde de la locomotive_!" denoted the crossings. How the +_laissez-faire_ habits of the _habitans_ must he outraged by the clatter +of a steam-engine passing their dwellings at a speed of thirty-five miles +an hour! Yet these very _habitans_ were talking in the most unconcerned +manner in French about a railway accident in Upper Canada, by which forty- +eight persons were killed! After a journey of two hours I reached Rouse's +Point, and, entering a handsome steamer on Lake Champlain, took leave of +the British dominions. + +Before re-entering the territory of the stars and stripes, I will offer a +few concluding remarks on Canada. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Concluding remarks on Canada--Territory--Climate--Capabilities--Railways +and canals--Advantages for emigrants--Notices of emigration--Government-- +The franchise--Revenue--Population--Religion--Education--The press-- +Literature--Observations in conclusion. + + +The increasing interest which attaches to this noble colony fully +justifies me in devoting a chapter to a fuller account of its state and +capabilities than has yet been given here. + +Canada extends from Gaspe, on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, to Lake Superior. +Its shores are washed by the lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario, and by the +river St. Lawrence as far as the 45th parallel of latitude; from thence +the river flows through the centre of the province to the sea. Canada is +bounded on the west and south by the Great Lakes and the United States; to +the east by New Brunswick and the ocean; and to the north by the Hudson's +Bay territory, though its limits in this direction are by no means +accurately defined. Canada is but a small portion of the vast tract of +country known under the name of British America, the area of which is a +ninth part of the globe, and is considerably larger than that of the +United States, being 2,630,163,200 acres. + +Canada contains 17,939,000 occupied acres of land, only 7,300,000 of which +are cultivated; and about 137,000,000 acres are still unoccupied. Nearly +the whole of this vast territory was originally covered with forests, and +from the more distant districts timber still forms a most profitable +article of export; but wherever the land is cleared it is found to be +fertile in an uncommon degree. It is very deficient in coal, but in the +neighbourhood of Lake Superior mineral treasures of great value have been +discovered to abound. + +Very erroneous ideas prevail in England on the subject of the Canadian +climate. By many persons it is supposed that the country is for ever +"locked in regions of thick-ribbed ice," and that skating and sleighing +are favourite summer diversions of the inhabitants. Yet, on the contrary, +Lower Canada, or that part of the country nearest to the mouth of the St. +Lawrence, has a summer nearly equalling in heat those of tropical +climates. Its winter is long and severe, frequently lasting from the +beginning of December until April; but, if the thermometer stands at 35° +below zero in January, it marks 90° in the shade in June. In the +neighbourhood of Quebec the cold is not much exceeded by that within the +polar circle, but the dryness of the air is so great that it is now +strongly recommended for those of consumptive tendencies. I have seen a +wonderful effect produced in the early stages of pulmonary disorders by a +removal from the damp, variable climate of Europe to the dry, bracing +atmosphere of Lower Canada. Spring is scarcely known; the transition from +winter to summer is very rapid; but the autumn or _fall_ is a long and +very delightful season. It is not necessary to dwell further upon the +Lower Canadian climate, as, owing to circumstances hereafter to be +explained, few emigrants in any class of life make the Lower Province more +than a temporary resting-place. + +From the eastern coast to the western boundary the variations in climate +are very considerable. The peninsula of Canada West enjoys a climate as +mild as that of the state of New York. The mean temperature, taken from +ten years' observation, was 44°, and the thermometer rarely falls lower +than 11° below zero, while the heat in summer is not oppressive. The peach +and vine mature their fruit in the neighbourhood of Lake Ontario, and +tobacco is very successfully cultivated on the peninsula between Lake Erie +and Lake Huron. It seems that Upper Canada, free from the extremes of heat +and cold, is intended to receive a European population. Emigrants require +to become acclimatised, which they generally are by an attack of ague, +more or less severe; but the country is extraordinarily healthy; with the +exception of occasional visitations of cholera, epidemic diseases are +unknown, and the climate is very favourable to the duration of human life. + +The capabilities of Canada are only now beginning to be appreciated. It +has been principally known for its vast exports of timber, but these +constitute a very small part of its wealth. Both by soil and climate Upper +Canada is calculated to afford a vast and annually-increasing field for +agricultural and pastoral pursuits. Wheat, barley, potatoes, turnips, +maize, hops, and tobacco, can all be grown in perfection. Canada already +exports large quantities of wheat and flour of a very superior +description; and it is stated that in no country of the world is there so +much wheat grown, in proportion to the population and the area under +cultivation, as in that part of the country west of Kingston. The grain- +growing district is almost without limit, extending as it does along the +St. Lawrence, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario, to Windsor, with a vast expanse +of country to the north and west. The hops, which are an article of recent +cultivation, are of very superior quality, and have hitherto been +perfectly free from blight. + +Vast as are the capabilities of Canada for agricultural pursuits, she also +offers great facilities for the employment of capital in manufacturing +industry, though it is questionable whether it is desirable to divert +labour into these channels in a young country where it is dear and scarce. +The streams which intersect the land afford an unlimited and very +economical source of power, and have already been used to a considerable +extent. Lower Canada and the shores of the Ottawa afford enormous supplies +of white pine, and the districts about Lake Superior contain apparently +inexhaustible quantities of ore, which yields a very large percentage of +copper. We have thus in Canada about 1400 miles of territory, perhaps the +most fertile and productive ever brought under the hands of the +cultivator; and as though Providence had especially marked out this +portion of the New World as a field for the enterprise of the European +races, its natural facilities for transit and communication are nearly +unequalled. The Upper Lakes, the St. Lawrence, the Ottawa, and the +Saguenay, besides many rivers of lesser note, are so many natural highways +for the conveyance of produce of every description from the most distant +parts of the interior to the Atlantic Ocean. Without these natural +facilities Canada could never have progressed to the extraordinary extent +which she has already done. + +Great as these adventitious advantages are, they have been further +increased by British energy and enterprise. By means of ship-canals, +formed to avoid the obstructions to navigation caused by the rapids of the +St. Lawrence, Niagara, and the Sault Sainte Marie, small vessels can load +at Liverpool and discharge their cargoes on the most distant shores of +Lake Superior. On the Welland canal alone, which connects Lake Erie with +Lake Ontario, the tolls taken in 1853 amounted to more than 65,000_l._ In +the same year 19,631 passengers and 1,075,218 tons of shipping passed +through it: the traffic on the other canals is in like proportion, and is +monthly on the increase. But an extensive railway system, to facilitate +direct communication with the Atlantic at all seasons of the year, is +paving the way for a further and rapid development of the resources of +Canada, and for a vast increase in her material prosperity. Already the +Great Western Company has formed a line from Windsor, opposite Detroit, U. +S., to Toronto, passing through the important towns of Hamilton, London, +and Woodstock: a branch also connects Toronto with Lake Simcoe, opening up +the very fertile tract of land in that direction. Another railway extends +from Fort Erie, opposite Buffalo, to Goderich on Lake Huron, a distance of +158 miles. A portion of the Grand Trunk Railway has recently been opened, +and trains now regularly run between Quebec and Montreal, a distance of +186 miles. When this magnificent railway is completed it will connect the +cities of Quebec, Montreal, and Toronto, where, joining the Great Western +scheme, the whole of Upper and Lower Canada will be connected with the +great lakes and the western States of the neighbouring republic. The main +line will cross the St. Lawrence at Montreal by a tubular bridge two miles +in length. The Grand Trunk Railway will have its eastern terminus at +Portland, in the State of Maine, between which city and Liverpool there +will be regular weekly communication. This railway is, however, +embarrassed by certain financial difficulties, which may retard for a time +the completion of the gigantic undertaking. + +Another railway connects the important city of Ottawa with Prescott, on +the river St. Lawrence, and has its terminus opposite to the Ogdensburgh +station of the Boston railway. Besides these there are numerous branches, +completed or in course of construction, which will open up the industry of +the whole of the interior. Some of these lines, particularly the Great +Western, have a large traffic already, and promise to be very successful +speculations. + +The facilities for communication, and for the transit of produce, are +among the most important of the advantages which Canada holds out to +emigrants, but there are others which must not be overlooked. The +healthiness of the climate has been already remarked upon, but it is an +important consideration, as the bracing atmosphere and freedom from +diseases allow to the hardy adventurer the free exercise of his vigour and +strength. + +Communication with England is becoming increasingly regular. During the +summer months screw-steamers and sailing vessels ply between Liverpool and +Quebec, from whence there is cheap and easy water communication with the +districts bordering on the great lakes. From Quebec to Windsor, a distance +of nearly 1000 miles, passengers are conveyed for the sum of 31_s._, and +have the advantage of having their baggage under their eyes during the +whole journey. The demand for labour in all parts of Canada West is great +and increasing. The wages of farm-servants are 4_l._ per month with board: +day-labourers earn from 4_s._ to 5_s._ per diem, and in harvest 10_s._, +without board. The wages of carpenters and other skilled workmen vary +according to their abilities; but they range between 7_s._ and 12_s._ +6_d._ per diem, taking these as the highest and lowest prices. + +The cost of living is considerably below that in this country; for +crockery, cutlery, &c., 50 per cent. advance on home retail prices is +paid, and for clothing 50 to 75 per cent. addition on old country prices, +if the articles are not of Canadian manufacture. The cost of a comfortable +log-house with two floors, 16 feet by 24, is about 18_l._; but it must be +borne in mind that very little expenditure is needed on the part of the +settler; his house and barns are generally built by himself, with the +assistance of his neighbours; and a man with the slightest ingenuity or +powers of imitation can also fabricate at a most trifling expense the few +articles of household furniture needed at first. I have been in several +log-houses where the bedsteads, tables, and chairs were all the work of +the settlers themselves, at a cost probably of a few shillings; and though +the workmanship was rough, yet the articles answer perfectly well for all +practical purposes. Persons of sober, industrious habits, going out as +workmen to Canada, speedily acquire comfort and independence. I have seen +settlers who went out within the last eight years as day-labourers, now +the owners of substantial homesteads, with the requisite quantity of +farming-stock. + +Canada West is also a most desirable locality for persons of intelligence +who are possessed of a small capital. Along the great lakes and in the +interior there are large tracts of land yet unoccupied. The price of wild +land varies from 10_s._ to 10_l._ per acre, according to the locality. +Cleared farms, with good buildings, in the best townships, are worth from +10_l._ to 15_l._ an acre: these prices refer to the lands belonging to the +Canada Land Company; the crown lands sell at prices varying from 4_s._ to +7_s._ 6_d._ per acre, but the localities of these lands are not so +desirable in most instances. The price of clearing wild lands is about +4_l._ 5_s._ per acre, but in many locations, particularly near the +railways, the sale of the timber covers the expenses of clearing. As has +been previously observed, the soil and climate of Upper Canada are +favourable to a great variety of crops. Wheat, however, is probably the +most certain and profitable, and, with respect to cereals and other crops, +the produce of the land per acre is not less than in England. In addition +to tobacco, flax and hemp are occupying the attention of the settlers; and +as an annually increasing amount of capital is employed in factories, +these last are likely to prove very profitable. + +In addition to the capabilities of the soil, Lake Huron and the Georgian +Bay present extensive resources in the way of fish, and their borders are +peculiarly desirable locations for the emigrant population of the west of +Ireland and the west Highlands of Scotland. + +With such very great advantages, it is not surprising that the tide of +emigration should set increasingly towards this part of the British +dominions. The following is a statement of the number of persons who +landed at Quebec during the last five years. The emigration returns for +1855 will probably show a very considerable increase:-- + + 1850 32,292 + 1851 41,076 + 1852 39,176 + 1853 36,699 + 1854 53,183 + +It may be believed that the greater number of these persons are now +enjoying a plenty, many an affluence, which their utmost exertions could +not have obtained for them at home. Wherever a farmstead, surrounded by +its well-cleared acres, is seen, it is more than probable that the +occupant is also the owner. The value of land increases so rapidly, that +persons who originally bought their land in its wild state for 4_s._ per +acre, have made handsome fortunes by disposing of it. In Canada, the +farmer holds a steady and certain position; if he saves money, a hundred +opportunities will occur for him to make a profitable investment; but if, +as is more frequently the case, he is not rich as far as money is +concerned, he has all the comforts and luxuries which it could procure. +His land is ever increasing in value; and in the very worst seasons, or +under accidental circumstances of an unfavourable nature, he can never +know real poverty, which is a deficiency in the necessaries of life. + +But in Canada, as in the Old World, people who wish to attain competence +or wealth must toil hard for it. In Canada, with all its capabilities and +advantages, there is no royal road to riches--no Midas touch to turn +everything into gold. The primal curse still holds good, "though softened +into mercy;" and those who emigrate, expecting to work less hard for 5_s._ +a day than at home for 1_s._ 6_d._, will be miserably disappointed, for, +where high wages are given, hard work is required; those must also be +disappointed who expect to live in style from off the produce of a small +Canadian farm, and those whose imaginary dignity revolts from plough, and +spade, and hoe, and those who invest borrowed capital in farming +operations. The fields of the slothful in Canada bring forth thorns and +thistles, as his fields brought them forth in England. Idleness is +absolute ruin, and drunkenness carries with it worse evils than at home, +for the practice of it entails a social ostracism, as well as total ruin, +upon the emigrant and his family. The same conditions of success are +required as in England--honesty, sobriety, and industry; with these, +assisted by all the advantages which Canada possesses, there is no man who +need despair of acquiring independence and affluence, although there is +always enough of difficulty to moderate the extravagance of exaggerated +expectations. + +The Government of Canada demands a few remarks. Within the last few years +the position of this colony, with respect to England, has been greatly +changed, by measures which have received the sanction of the Imperial +Parliament. In 1847 the Imperial Government abandoned all control over the +Canadian tariff, and the colonial legislature now exercises supreme power +over customs duties, and all matters of general and local taxation. This +was a very important step, and gave a vast impulse to the prosperity of +Canada. The colony now has all the advantages--free from a few of the +inconveniences--of being an independent country. England retains the right +of nominating the Governor-General, and the Queen has the power, rarely if +ever exercised, of putting a veto upon certain of the acts of the colonial +legislature. England conducts all matters of war and diplomacy, and +provides a regular military establishment for the defence of Canada; and +though she is neither required to espouse our quarrels, or bear any +portion of our burdens, we should be compelled to espouse _hers_ in any +question relating to her honour or integrity, at a lavish expenditure of +blood and treasure. It appears that the present relations in which Canada +stands to England are greatly to her advantage, and there is happily no +desire on her part to sever them. + +The Governor-General is appointed by the Crown, generally for a term of +five years, but is paid by the province; he acts as viceroy, and his +assent to the measures of the Legislature is required, in order to render +them valid. His executive council, composed of the ministers of the day, +is analogous to our English Cabinet. The governor, like our own Sovereign, +must bow to the will of a majority in the Legislature, and dismiss his +ministers when they lose the confidence of that body. The "second estate" +is the Legislative Council. The governor, with the advice of his ministry, +appoints the members of this body. They are chosen for life, and their +number is unrestricted. At present there are about forty members. + +The functions of this council are very similar to those of our House of +Peers, and consist, to a great extent, in registering the decrees of the +Lower House. The "third estate" is denominated the House of Assembly, and +consists of 130 members, 65 for each province. [Footnote: The members of +the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly receive six dollars +(24_s._ sterling) a day for their attendance. The members of the Executive +Council are paid at the rate of 1260_l._ per annum.] The qualification for +the franchise has been placed tolerably high, and no doubt wisely, as, in +the absence of a better guarantee for the right use of it, a property +qualification, however trifling in amount, has a tendency to elevate the +tone of electioneering, and to enhance the value which is attached to a +vote. The qualification for electors is a 50_l._ freehold, or an annual +rent of 7_l._ 10_s._ Contrary to the practice in the States, where large +numbers of the more respectable portion of the community abstain from +voting, in Canada the votes are nearly all recorded at every election, and +the fact that the franchise is within the reach of every sober man gives +an added stimulus to industry. + +The attempt to establish British constitutional government on the soil of +the New World is an interesting experiment, and has yet to be tested. +There are various disturbing elements in Canada, of which we have little +experience in England; the principal one being the difficulty of +legislating between what, in spite of the union, are two distinct, +nations, of different races and religions. The impossibility of +reconciling the rival, and frequently adverse claims, of the Upper and +Lower Provinces, has become a very embarrassing question. The strong +social restraints, and the generally high tone of public feeling in +England, which exercise a powerful control over the minister of the day, +do not at present exist in Canada; neither has the public mind that nice +perception of moral truth which might be desired. The population of Upper +Canada, more especially, has been gathered from many parts of the earth, +and is composed of men, generally speaking, without education, whose sole +aim is the acquisition of wealth, and who are not cemented by any common +ties of nationality. Under these circumstances, and bearing in mind the +immense political machinery which the Papacy can set to work in Canada, +the transfer of British institutions to the colony must at present remain +a matter of problematical success. It is admitted that the failure of +representative institutions arises from the unworthiness of +constituencies; and if the efforts which are made by means of education to +elevate the character of the next generation of electors should prove +fruitless, it is probable that, with the independence of the colony, +American institutions, with their objectionable features, would follow. At +present the great difficulties to be surmounted lie in the undue power +possessed by the French Roman Catholic population, and the Romanist +influences brought to bear successfully on the Government. + +There is in Canada no direct taxation for national purposes, except a mere +trifle for the support of the provincial lunatic asylums, and for some +other public buildings. The provincial revenue is derived from customs +duties, public works, crown lands, excise, and bank impost. The customs +duties last year came to 1,100,000_l._, the revenue from public works to +123,000_l._, from lands about the same sum, from excise about 40,000_l._, +and from the tax on the current notes of the banks 30,000_l._ Every +county, township, town, or incorporated village, elects its own council; +and all local objects are provided for by direct taxation through these +bodies. In these municipalities the levying of the local taxes is vested, +and they administer the monies collected for roads, bridges, schools, and +improvements, and the local administration of public justice. + +According to the census taken in 1851, the population of Upper Canada was +952,000 souls, being an increase since 1842 of 465,945. That of Lower +Canada amounted to 890,000, making a total of 1,842,000; but if to this we +add the number of persons who have immigrated within the last four years, +we have a population of 2,012,134. + +Of the population of Lower Canada, 669,000 are of French origin. These +people speak the French language, and profess the Romish faith. The land +is divided into _seigneuries_; there are feudal customs and antiquated +privileges, and the laws are based upon the model of those of old France. +The progress of Lower Canada is very tardy. The French have never made +good colonists, and the Romish religion acts as a drag upon social and +national progress. The _habitans_ of the Lower Province, though moral and +amiable, are not ambitious, and hold their ancient customs with a tenacity +which opposes itself to their advancement. The various changes in the +tariff made by the Imperial Government affected Lower Canada very +seriously. On comparing the rate of increase in the population of the two +provinces in the same period of twelve years, we find that for Upper +Canada it was 130 per cent., for Lower Canada only 34 per cent. The +disparity between the population and the wealth of the two provinces is +annually on the increase. + +The progress of Upper Canada is something perfectly astonishing, and bids +fair to rival, if not exceed, that of her gigantic neighbour. Her +communication between the Lake district and the Atlantic is practically +more economical, taking the whole of the year, and, as British emigration +has tended chiefly to the Upper Province, the population is of a more +homogeneous character than that of the States. The climate also is more +favourable than that of Lower Canada. These circumstances, combined with +the inherent energy of the Anglo-Saxon races which have principally +colonised it, account in great measure for the vast increase in the +material prosperity of the Upper Province as compared with the Lower. + +In 1830 the population of Upper Canada was 210,437 souls; in 1842, +486,055; and in 1851 it had reached 952,004. Its population is now +supposed to exceed that of Lower Canada by 300,000 souls. It increased in +nine years about 100 per cent. In addition to the large number of +emigrants who have arrived by way of Quebec, it has received a +considerable accession of population from the United States; 7000 persons +crossed the frontier in 1854. The increase of its wealth is far more than +commensurate with that of its population. The first returns of the +assessable property of Upper Canada were taken in 1825, and its amount was +estimated at 1,854,965_l._ In 1845 it was estimated at 6,393,630_l_; but +in seven years after this, in 1852, it presents the astonishing amount of +37,695,931_l._! The wheat crop of Upper Canada in 1841 was 3,221,991 +bushels, and in 1851 it was 12,692,852; but the present year, 1855, will +show a startling and almost incredible increase. In addition to the wealth +gained in the cultivation of the soil, the settlers are seizing upon the +vast water-power which the country affords, and are turning it to the most +profitable purposes. Saw-mills, grist-mills, and woollen-mills start up in +every direction, in addition to tool and machinery factories, iron- +foundries, asheries, and tanneries. + +Towns are everywhere springing up as if by magic along the new lines of +railway and canal, and the very villages of Upper Canada are connected by +the electric telegraph. The value of land is everywhere increasing as new +lines of communication are formed. The town of London, in Upper Canada, +presents a very remarkable instance of rapid growth. It is surrounded by a +very rich agricultural district, and the Great Western Railway passes +through it. Seven years ago this place was a miserable-looking village of +between two and three thousand inhabitants; now it is a flourishing town, +alive with business, and has a population of 13,000 souls. The increase in +the value of property in its vicinity will appear almost incredible to +English readers, but it is stated on the best authority: a building-site +sold in September, 1855, for 150_l._ per foot, which ten years ago could +have been bought for that price per acre, and ten years earlier for as +many pence. + +In Upper Canada there appears to be at the present time very little of +that state of society which is marked by hard struggles and lawless +excesses. In every part of my travels west of Toronto I found a high +degree of social comfort, security to life and property, the means for +education and religious worship, and all the accessories of a high state +of civilization, which are advantages brought into every locality almost +simultaneously with the clearing of the land. Yet it is very apparent, +even to the casual visitor, that the progress of Canada West has only just +begun. No limits can be assigned to its future prosperity, and, as its +capabilities become more known, increasing numbers of stout hearts and +strong arms will be attracted towards it. + +The immense resources of the soil under cultivation have not yet been +developed; the settlers are prodigal of land, and a great portion of the +occupied territory, destined to bear the most luxuriant crops, is still in +bush. The magnificent districts adjoining Lake Huron, the Georgian Bay, +and Lake Simcoe, are only just being brought into notice; and of the +fertile valley of the Ottawa, which it is estimated would support a +population of nine millions, very little is known. Every circumstance that +can be brought forward combines to show that Upper Canada is destined to +become a great, a wealthy, and a prosperous country. + +The census gives some interesting tables relating to the origins of the +inhabitants of Canada. I wish that I had space to present my readers with +the whole, instead of with this brief extract:-- + + _Canadians_, French origin 695,000 + _Canadians_, English origin 651,000 + England and Wales 93,000 + Scotland 90,000 + Ireland 227,000 + United States 56,000 + Germany 10,000 + +Besides these there are 8000 coloured persons and 14,000 Indians in +Canada, and emigrants from every civilised country in the world. + +As far as regards the Church of England, Canada is divided into three +dioceses--Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec--with a prospect of the creation +of a fourth, that of Kingston. The clergy, whose duties are very arduous +and ill-requited, have been paid by the Society for Propagating the +Gospel, and out of the proceeds of the clergy reserves. The Society has, +in great measure, withdrawn its support, and recent legislative enactments +have a tendency to place the Church of England in Canada, to some extent, +on the voluntary system. The inhabitants of Canada are fully able to +support any form of worship to which they may choose to attach themselves. +Trinity College, at Toronto, is in close connexion with the Church of +England. + +The Roman Catholics have enormous endowments, including a great part of +the island of Montreal, and several valuable seigneuries. Very large sums +are also received by them from those who enter the convents, and for +baptisms, burials, and masses for the dead. The enslaving, enervating, and +retarding effects of Roman Catholicism are nowhere better seen than in +Lower Canada, where the priests exercise despotic authority. They have +numerous and wealthy conventual establishments, both at Quebec and +Montreal, and several Jesuit and other seminaries. The Irish emigrants +constitute the great body of Romanists in Upper Canada; in the Lower +Province there are more than 746,000 adherents to this faith. + +The Presbyterians are a very respectable, influential, and important body +in Canada, bound firmly together by their uniformity of worship and +doctrine. Though an Episcopalian form of church government and a form of +worship are as obnoxious to them as at home, their opposition seldom +amounts to hostility. Generally speaking, they are very friendly in their +intercourse with the zealous and hard-working clergy of the Church of +England; and, indeed, the comparative absence of sectarian feeling, and +the way in which the ministers of all denominations act in harmonious +combination for the general good, is one of the most pleasing features +connected with religion in Canada. + +In Upper Canada there are 1559 churches, for 952,000 adherents, being one +place of worship for every 612 inhabitants. Of these houses of worship, +226 belong to the Church of England, 135 to the Roman Catholics, 148 to +the Presbyterians, and 471 to the Methodists. In Lower Canada there are +610 churches, for 890,261 adherents, 746,000 of whom are Roman Catholics. +There is therefore in the Lower Province one place of worship for every +1459 inhabitants. These religious statistics furnish additional proof of +the progress of Upper Canada. The numbers adhering to the five most +important denominations are as follows, in round numbers:-- + + Roman Catholics 914,000 + Episcopalians 268,000 + Presbyterians 237,000 + Methodists 183,000 + Baptists 49,000 + +Beside these there are more than 20 sects, some of them holding the most +extravagant and fanatical tenets. In the Lower Province there are 45,000 +persons belonging to the Church of England, 33,000 are Presbyterians, and +746,000 are Roman Catholics. With this vast number of Romanists in Canada, +it is not surprising that under the present system of representation, +which gives an equal number of representatives to each province, +irrespective of population, the Roman Catholics should exercise a very +powerful influence on the colonial Parliament. This influence is greatly +to be deplored, not less socially and politically than religiously. Popery +paralyses those countries under its dominion; and the stationary condition +of Lower Canada is mainly to be attributed to the successful efforts of +the priests to keep up that system of ignorance and terrorism, without +which their power could not continue to exist. + +More importance is attached generally to education in Upper Canada than +might have been supposed from the extreme deficiencies of the first +settlers. A national system of education, on a most liberal scale, has +been organised by the Legislature, which presents in unfavourable contrast +the feeble and isolated efforts made for this object by private +benevolence in England. Acting on the principle that the first duty of +government is to provide for the education of its subjects, a uniform and +universal educational system has been put into force in Canada. + +This system of public instruction is founded on the co-operation of the +Executive Government with the local municipalities. The members of these +corporations are elected by the freeholders and householders. The system, +therefore, is strictly popular and national, as the people voluntarily tax +themselves for its support, and, through their elected trustees, manage +the schools themselves. It is probable that the working of this plan may +exercise a beneficial influence on the minds of the people, in training +them to thought for their offspring, as regards their best interests. No +compulsion whatever is exercised by the Legislature over the proceedings +of the local municipalities; it merely offers a pecuniary grant, on the +condition of local exertion. The children of every class of the population +have equal access to these schools, and there is no compulsion upon the +religious faith of any. Religious minorities in school municipalities have +the alternative of separate schools, and attach considerable importance to +this provision. Although what we should term religious instruction is not +a part of the common school system, it is gratifying to know that both the +Bible and Testament are read in a very large majority of these schools, +and that the number where they are used is annually on the increase. They +are in Upper Canada 3127 common schools, about 1800 of which are free, or +partially free. The total amount available for school purposes in 1853 +amounted to 199,674_l._, and magnificent sum, considering the youth and +comparatively thin population of the country. The total number of pupils +in the same year was 194,136. But though this number appears large, the +painful fact must also be stated, that there were 79,000 children +destitute of the blessings of education of any kind. The whole number of +teachers at the same period was 3539, of whom 885 were Methodists, 850 +were Presbyterians, 629 were Episcopalians, 351 were Roman Catholics, and +194 belonged to the Baptist persuasion. The inspection of schools, which +is severe and systematic, is conducted by local superintendents appointed +by the different municipalities. There is a Board of Public Instruction in +each county for the examination and licensing of teachers; the standard of +their qualifications is fixed by provincial authority. At the head of the +whole are a Council of Public Instruction and a Chief Commissioner of +Schools, both appointed by the Crown. There are several colleges, very +much on the system of the Scotch Universities, including Trinity College +at Toronto, in connection with the Church of England, and Knox's College, +a Presbyterian theological seminary. There are also medical colleges, both +in Upper and Lower Canada, and a chair of agriculture has been established +in University College, Toronto. From these statements it will be seen +that, from the ample provision made, a good education can be obtained at a +very small cost. There are in Lower Canada upwards of 1100 schools. + +Every town, and I believe I may with truth write every village, has its +daily and weekly papers, advocating all shades of political opinion. The +press in Canada is the medium through which the people receive, first by +telegraphic despatch, and later in full, every item of English +intelligence brought by the bi-weekly mails. Taking the newspapers as a +whole, they are far more gentlemanly in their tone than those of the +neighbouring republic, and perhaps are not more abusive and personal than +_some_ of our English provincial papers. There is, however, very great +room for improvement, and no doubt, as the national palate becomes +improved by education, the morsels presented to it will be more choice. +Quebec, Montreal, and Toronto have each of them several daily papers, but, +as far as I am aware, no paper openly professes republican or +annexationist views, and some of the journals advocate in the strongest +manner an attachment to British institutions. The prices of these papers +vary from a penny to threepence each, and a workman would as soon think of +depriving himself of his breakfast as of his morning journal. It is stated +that thousands of the subscribers to the newspapers are so illiterate as +to depend upon their children for a knowledge of their contents. At +present few people, comparatively speaking, are more than half educated. +The knowledge of this fact lowers the tone of the press, and circumscribes +both authors and speakers, as any allusions to history or general +literature would be very imperfectly, if at all, understood. + +The merchants and lawyers of Canada have, if of British extraction, +generally received a sound and useful education, which, together with the +admirable way in which they keep pace with the politics and literature of +Europe, enables them to pass very creditably in any society. There are +very good book-stores in Canada, particularly at Toronto, where the best +English works are to be purchased for little more than half the price +which is paid for them at home, and these are largely read by the educated +Canadians, who frequently possess excellent libraries. Cheap American +novels, often of a very objectionable tendency, are largely circulated +among the lower classes; but to provide them with literature of a better +character, large libraries have been formed by local efforts, assisted by +government grants. Canada as yet possesses no literature of her own, and +the literary man is surrounded by difficulties. Independently of the heavy +task of addressing himself to uneducated minds, unable to appreciate depth +of thought and beauty of language, it is not likely that, where the +absorbing passion is the acquisition of wealth, much encouragement would +be given to the struggles of native talent. + +Canada, young as she is, has made great progress in the mechanical arts, +and some of her machinery and productions make a very creditable show at +the Paris Exhibition; but it must be borne in mind that this is due to the +government, rather than to the enterprise of private exhibitors. + +Taken altogether, there is perhaps no country in the world so prosperous +or so favoured as Canada, after giving full weight to the disadvantages +which she possesses, in a large Roman Catholic population, an unsettled +state of society, and a mixed and imperfectly educated people. It is the +freest land under the sun, acknowledging neither a despotic sovereign nor +a tyrant populace; life and property are alike secure--liberty has not yet +degenerated into lawlessness--the constitution combines the advantages of +the monarchical and republican forms of government--the Legislative +Assembly, to a great extent, represents the people--religious toleration +is enjoyed in the fullest degree--taxation and debt, which cripple the +energies and excite the disaffection of older communities, are unfelt--the +slave flying from bondage in the south knows no sense of liberty or +security till he finds both on the banks of the St. Lawrence, under the +shadow of the British flag. Free from the curse of slavery, Canada has +started untrammelled in the race of nations, and her progress already bids +fair to outstrip in rapidity that of her older and gigantic neighbour. + +Labour is what she requires, and as if to meet that requirement, +circumstances have directed the attention of emigrants towards her--the +young, the enterprising, and the vigorous, are daily leaving the wasted +shores of Scotland and Ireland for her fertile soil, where the laws of +England shall still protect them, and her flag shall still wave over them. +Large numbers of persons are now leaving the north-east of Scotland for +Canada, and these are among the most valuable of the emigrants who seek +her shores. They carry with them the high moral sense, the integrity, and +the loyalty which characterise them at home; and in many cases more than +this--the religious principle, and the "godliness which has promise of the +life which now is, and of that which is to come." + +Taken as a _whole_, the inhabitants of both provinces are attached to +England and England's rule; they receive the news of our reverses with +sorrow, and our victories create a burst of enthusiasm from the shores of +the St. Lawrence to those of Lake Superior. As might be expected, the +Anglo-French alliance is extremely popular: to show the sympathy of +Canada, the Legislature made the munificent grant of 20,000_l._ to be +divided between the Patriotic Funds of both nations, and every township +and village has contributed to swell a further sum of 30,000_l._ to be +applied to the same object. The imperial garrisons in Canada have recently +been considerably diminished, and with perfect safety; the efforts of +agitators to produce disaffection have signally failed; and it is stated +by those best acquainted with the temper of the people, that Canada will +not become a separate country, except by England's voluntary act. + +At present every obstacle to her further development seems to be removed-- +her constitution has been remodelled within the last few years on an +enlarged and liberal basis--her religious endowments have just been placed +on a permanent footing--all the points likely to cause a rupture with the +United States have been amicably settled--and important commercial +advantages have been obtained: the sun of prosperity shines upon her from +the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the distant shores of the Ottawa and the +Western Lakes. She requires only for the future the blessing of God, so +freely accorded to the nations which honour Him, to make her great and +powerful. The future of nations, as of individuals, is mercifully veiled +in mystery; we can trace the rise and progress of empires, but we know not +the time when they shall droop and decay--when the wealthy and populous +cities of the Present shall be numbered with the Nineveh and Babylon of +the Past. It may be that in future years our mighty nation shall go the +way of all that have been before it; but whether the wise decrees of +Providence doom it to flourish or decline, we can still look with +confident hope to this noble colony in the New World, believing that on +her enlightened and happy shores, under the influence of beneficent +institutions and of a scriptural faith, the Anglo-Saxon race may renew the +vigour of its youth, and realise in time to come the brightest hopes which +have ever been formed of England in the New World. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +Preliminary remarks on re-entering the States--Americanisms--A little +slang--Liquoring up--Eccentricities in dress--A 'cute chap down east-- +Conversation on eating--A Kentucky gal--Lake Champlain--Delaval's--A noisy +serenade--Albany--Beauties of the Hudson--The Empire City. + + +It has been truly observed that a reliable book on the United States yet +remains to be written. The writer of such a volume must neither be a +tourist nor a temporary resident. He must spend years, in the different +States, nicely estimating the different characteristics of each, as well +as the broadly-marked shades of difference between East, West, and South. +He must trace the effect of Republican principles upon the various races +which form this vast community; and, while analysing the prosperity of the +country, he must carefully distinguish between the real, the fictitious, +and the speculative. In England we speak of America as "_Brother +Jonathan_" in the singular number, without any fraternal feeling however, +and consider it as one nation, possessing uniform distinguishing +characteristics. I saw _less_ difference between Edinburgh and Boston, +than between Boston and Chicago; the dark-haired Celts of the west of +Scotland, and the stirring artisans of our manufacturing cities, have more +in common than the descendants of the Puritans in New England, and the +reckless, lawless inhabitants of the newly-settled territories west of the +Mississippi. It must not be forgotten that the thirty-two States of which +the Union is composed, may be considered in some degree as separate +countries, each possessing its governor and assembly, and framing, to a +considerable extent, its own laws. Beyond the voice which each State +possesses in the Congress and Senate at Washington, there is apparently +little to bind this vast community together; there is no national form of +religion, or state endowed church; Unitarianism may be the prevailing +faith in one State. Presbyterianism in another, and Universalism in a +third; while between the Northern and Southern States there is as wide a +difference as between England and Russia--a difference stamped on the very +soil itself, and which, in the opinion of some, threatens a disseverance +of the Union. + +Other causes also produce highly distinctive features in the inhabitants. +In the long-settled districts bordering upon the Atlantic, all the +accompaniments and appliances of civilisation may be met with, and a +comparatively stationary, refined, and intellectual condition of society. +Travel for forty hours to the westward, and everything is in a transition +state: there are rough roads and unfinished railroads; foundations of +cities laid in soil scarcely cleared from the forest; splendid hotels +within sound of the hunter's rifle and the lumberer's axe; while the +elements of society are more chaotic than the features of the country. +Every year a tide of emigration rolls westward, not from Europe only, but +from the crowded eastern cities, forming a tangled web of races, manners, +and religions which the hasty observer cannot attempt to disentangle. Yet +there are many external features of uniformity which the traveller cannot +fail to lay hold of, and which go under the general name of Americanisms. +These are peculiarities of dress, manners, and phraseology, and, to some +extent, of opinion, and may be partly produced by the locomotive life +which the American leads, and the way in which all classes are brought +into contact in travelling. These peculiarities are not to be found among +the highest or the highly-educated classes, but they force themselves upon +the tourist to a remarkable, and frequently to a repulsive, extent; and it +is safer for him to narrate facts and comment upon externals, though in +doing so he presents a very partial and superficial view of the people, +than to present his readers with general inferences drawn from partial +premises, or with conclusions based upon imperfect, and often erroneous, +data. + +An entire revolution had been effected in my way of looking at things +since I landed on the shores of the New World. I had ceased to look for +vestiges of the past, or for relics of ancient magnificence, and, in place +of these, I now contemplated vast resources in a state of progressive and +almost feverish development, and, having become accustomed to a general +absence of the picturesque, had learned to look at the practical and the +utilitarian with a high degree of interest and pleasure. The change from +the lethargy and feudalism of Lower Canada and the gaiety of Quebec, to +the activity of the New England population, was very startling. It was not +less so from the _reposeful_ manners and gentlemanly appearance of the +English Canadians, and the vivacity and politeness of the French, to +Yankee dress, twang, and peculiarities. + +These appeared, as the Americans say, in "full blast," during the few +hours which I spent on Lake Champlain. There were about a hundred +passengers, including a sprinkling of the fair sex. The amusements were +story-telling, whittling, and smoking. Fully half the stories told began +with, "There was a 'cute 'coon down east," and the burden of nearly all +was some clever act of cheating, "sucking a greenhorn," as the phrase is. +There were occasional anecdotes of "bustings-up" on the southern rivers, +"making tracks" from importunate creditors, of practical jokes, and +glaring impositions. There was a great deal of "liquoring-up" going on the +whole time. The best story-teller was repeatedly called upon to "liquor +some," which was accordingly done by copious draughts of "gin-sling," but +at last he declared he was a "gone 'coon, fairly stumped," by which he +meant to express that he was tired and could do no more. This assertion +was met by encouragements to "pile on," upon which the individual declared +that he "couldn't get his steam up, he was tired some." This word _some_ +is synonymous in its use with our word _rather_, or its Yankee equivalent +"_kinder_." On this occasion some one applied it to the boat, which he +declared was "almighty dirty, and shaky some"--a great libel, by the way. +The dress of these individuals somewhat amused me. The prevailing costumes +of the gentlemen were straw hats, black dress coats remarkably shiny, +tight pantaloons, and pumps. These were worn by the sallow narrators of +the tales of successful roguery. There were a very few hardy western men, +habited in scarlet flannel shirts, and trowsers tucked into high boots, +their garments supported by stout leathern belts, with dependent bowie- +knives; these told "yarns" of adventures, and dangers from Indians, +something in the style of Colonel Crockett. + +The ladies wore their satin or kid shoes of various colours, of which the +mud had made woeful havoc. The stories, which called forth the applause of +the company in exact proportion to the barefaced roguery and utter want of +principle displayed in each, would not have been worth listening to, had +it not been from the extraordinary vernacular in which they were clothed, +and the racy and emphatic manner of the narrators. Some of these voted +three legs of their chairs superfluous, and balanced themselves on the +fourth; while others hooked their feet on the top of the windows, and +balanced themselves on the back legs of their chairs, in a position +strongly suggestive of hanging by the heels. One of the stories which +excited the most amusement reads very tamely divested of the slang and +manner of the story-teller. + +A "'cute chap down east" had a "2-50" black mare (one which could perform +a mile in two minutes fifty seconds), and, being about to "make tracks," +he sold her to a gentleman for 350 dollars. In the night he stole her, cut +her tail, painted her legs white, gave her a "blaze" on her face, sold her +for 100 dollars, and decamped, sending a note to the first purchaser +acquainting him with the particulars of the transaction. "'Cute chap +that;" "A wide-awake feller;" "That coon had cut his eye-teeth;" "A smart +sell that;" were the comments made on this roguish transaction, all the +sympathy of the listeners being on the side of the rogue. + +The stories related by Barnum of the tricks and impositions practised by +himself and others are a fair sample, so far as roguery goes, of those +which are to be heard in hotels, steamboats, and cars. I have heard men +openly boast, before a miscellaneous company, of acts of dishonesty which +in England would have procured transportation for them. Mammon is the idol +which the people worship; the one desire is the acquisition of money; the +most nefarious trickery and bold dishonesty are invested with a spurious +dignity if they act as aids to the attainment of this object. Children +from their earliest years imbibe the idea that sin is sin--_only when +found out_. + +The breakfast bell rang, and a general rush took place, and I was left +alone with two young ladies who had just become acquainted, and were +resolutely bent upon finding out each other's likes and dislikes, with the +intention of vowing an eternal friendship. A gentleman who looked as if he +had come out of a ball-room came up, and with a profusion of bows +addressed them, or the prettiest of them, thus:--"Miss, it's feeding time, +I guess; what will you eat?" "You're very polite; what's the ticket?" +"Chicken and corn-fixings, and pork with onion-fixings." "Well, I'm hungry +some; I'll have some pig and fixings." The swain retired, and brought a +profusion of viands, which elicited the remark, "Well, I guess that's +substantial, anyhow." The young ladies' appetites seemed to be very good, +for I heard the observation, "Well, you eat considerable; you're in full +blast, I guess." "Guess I am: its all-fired cold, and I have been an +everlastin long time off my feed." A long undertoned conversation followed +this interchange of civilities, when I heard the lady say in rather +elevated tones, "You're trying to rile me some; you're piling it on a +trifle too high." "Well, I did want to put up your dander. Do tell now, +where was you raised?" "In Kentucky." "I could have guessed that; whenever +I sees a splenderiferous gal, a kinder gentle goer, and high stepper, I +says to myself, That gal's from old Kentuck, and no mistake." + +This couple carried on a long conversation in the same style of graceful +badinage; but I have given enough of it. + +Lake Champlain is extremely pretty, though it is on rather too large a +scale to please an English eye, being about 150 miles long. The shores are +gentle slopes, wooded and cultivated, with the Green Mountains of Vermont +in the background. There was not a ripple on the water, and the morning +was so warm and showery, that I could have believed it to be an April day +had not the leafless trees told another tale. Whatever the boasted +beauties of Lake Champlain were, they veiled themselves from English eyes +in a thick fog, through which we steamed at half-speed, with a dismal fog- +bell incessantly tolling. + +I landed at Burlington, a thriving modern town, prettily situated below +some wooded hills, on a bay, the margin of which is pure white sand, Here, +as at nearly every town, great and small, in the United States, there was +an excellent hotel. No people have such confidence in the future as the +Americans. You frequently find a splendid hotel surrounded by a few +clapboard houses, and may feel inclined to smile at the incongruity. The +builder looks into futurity, and sees that in two years a thriving city +will need hotel accommodation; and seldom is he wrong. The American is a +gregarious animal, and it is not impossible that an hotel, with a _table- +d'hôte_, may act as a magnet. Here I joined Mr. and Mrs. Alderson, and +travelled with them to Albany, through Vermont and New York. The country +was hilly, and more suited for sheep-farming than for corn. Water- +privileges were abundant in the shape of picturesque torrents, and +numerous mills turned their capabilities to profitable account. Our +companions were rather of a low description, many of them Germans, and +desperate tobacco-chewers. The whole floor of the car was covered with +streams of tobacco-juice, apple-cores, grape-skins, and chestnut-husks. + +We crossed the Hudson River, and spent the night at Delaval's, at Albany. +The great peculiarity of this most comfortable hotel is, that the fifty +waiters are Irish girls, neatly and simply dressed. They are under a +coloured manager, and their civility and alacrity made me wonder that the +highly-paid services of male waiters were not more frequently dispensed +with. The railway ran along the street in which the hotel is situated. +From my bedroom window I looked down into the funnel of a locomotive, and +all night long was serenaded with screams, ringing of bells, and cries of +"All aboard" and "Go ahead." + +Albany, the capital of the State of New York, is one of the prettiest +towns in the Union. The slope on which it is built faces the Hudson, and +is crowned by a large state-house, the place of meeting for the +legislature of the Empire State. The Americans repudiate the +"centralization" principle, and for wise reasons, of which the Irish form +a considerable number, they almost invariably locate the government of +each state, not at the most important or populous town, but at some +inconsiderable place, where the learned legislators are not in danger of +having their embarrassments increased by deliberating under the coercion +of a turbulent urban population. Albany has several public buildings, and +a number of conspicuous churches, and is a very thriving place. The +traffic on the river between it and New York is enormous. There is a +perpetual stream of small vessels up and down. The Empire City receives +its daily supplies of vegetables, meat, butter, and eggs from its +neighbourhood. The Erie and Champlain canals here meet the Hudson, and +through the former the produce of the teeming West pours to the Atlantic. +The traffic is carried on in small sailing sloops and steamers. Sometimes +a little screw-vessel of fifteen or twenty tons may be seen to hurry, +puffing and panting, up to a large vessel and drag it down to the sea; but +generally one paddle-tug takes six vessels down, four being towed behind +and one or two lashed on either side. As both steamers and sloops are +painted white, and the sails are perfectly dazzling in their purity, and +twenty, thirty, and forty of these flotillas may be seen in the course of +a morning, the Hudson river presents a very animated and unique +appearance. It is said that everybody loses a portmanteau at Albany: I was +more fortunate, and left it without having experienced the slightest +annoyance. + +On the other side of the ferry a very undignified scramble takes place for +the seats on the right side of the cars, as the scenery for 130 miles is +perfectly magnificent. "Go ahead" rapidly succeeded "All aboard," and we +whizzed along this most extraordinary line of railway, so prolific in +accidents that, when people leave New York by it, their friends frequently +request them to notify their safe arrival at their destination. It runs +along the very verge of the river, below a steep cliff, but often is +supported just above the surface of the water upon a wooden platform. +Guide-books inform us that the trains which run on this line, and the +steamers which ply on the Hudson, are equally unsafe, the former from +collisions and "upsets," the latter from "bustings-up;" but most people +prefer the boats, from the advantage of seeing both sides of the river. + +The sun of a November morning had just risen as I left Albany, and in a +short time beamed upon swelling hills, green savannahs, and waving woods +fringing the margin of the Hudson. At Coxsackie the river expands into a +small lake, and the majestic Catsgill Mountains rise abruptly from the +western side. The scenery among these mountains is very grand and varied. +Its silence and rugged sublimity recall the Old World: it has rocky +pinnacles and desert passes, inaccessible eminences and yawning chasms. +The world might grow populous at the feet of the Catsgills, but it would +leave them untouched and unprofaned in their stern majesty. From this +point for a hundred miles the eyes of the traveller are perfectly steeped +in beauty, which, gathering and increasing, culminates at West Point, a +lofty eminence jutting upon a lake apparently without any outlet. The +spurs of mountain ranges which meet here project in precipices from five +to fifteen hundred feet in height; trees find a place for their roots in +every rift among the rocks; festoons of clematis and wild-vine hang in +graceful drapery from base to summit, and the dark mountain shadows loom +over the lake-like expanse below. The hand wearies of writing of the +loveliness of this river. I saw it on a perfect day. The Indian summer +lingered, as though unwilling that the chilly blasts of winter should +blight the loveliness of this beauteous scene. The gloom of autumn was not +there, but its glories were on every leaf and twig. The bright scarlet of +the maple vied with the brilliant berries of the rowan, and from among the +tendrils of the creepers, which were waving in the sighs of the west wind, +peeped forth the deep crimson of the sumach. There were very few signs of +cultivation; the banks of the Hudson are barren in all but beauty. The +river is a succession of small wild lakes, connected by narrow reaches, +bound for ever between abrupt precipices. There are lakes more beauteous +than Loch Katrine, softer in their features than Loch Achray, though like +both, or like the waters which glitter beneath the blue sky of Italy. +Along their margins the woods hung in scarlet and gold--high above towered +the purple peaks--the blue waters flashed back the rays of a sun shining +from an unclouded sky--the air was warm like June--and I think the +sunbeams of that day scarcely shone upon a fairer scene. At mid-day the +Highlands of Hudson were left behind--the mountains melted into hills--the +river expanded into a noble stream about a mile in width--the scarlet +woods, the silvery lakes, and the majestic Catsgills faded away in the +distance; and with a whoop, and a roar, and a clatter, the cars entered +into, and proceeded at slackened speed down, a long street called Tenth +Avenue, among carts, children, and pigs. + +True enough, we were in New York, the western receptacle not only of the +traveller and the energetic merchant, but of the destitute, the +friendless, the vagabond, and in short of all the outpourings of Europe, +who here form a conglomerate mass of evil, making America responsible for +their vices and their crimes. Yet the usual signs of approach to an +enormous city were awanting--dwarfed trees, market-gardens, cockney +arbours, in which citizens smoke their pipes in the evening, and imagine +themselves in Arcadia, rows of small houses, and a murky canopy of smoke. +We had steamed down Tenth Avenue for two or three miles, when we came to a +standstill where several streets met. The train was taken to pieces, and +to each car four horses or mules were attached, which took us for some +distance into the very heart of the town, racing apparently with omnibuses +and carriages, till at last we were deposited in Chambers Street, not in a +station, or even under cover, be it observed. My baggage, or "plunder" as +it is termed, had been previously disposed of, but, while waiting with my +head disagreeably near to a horse's nose, I saw people making distracted +attempts, and futile ones as it appeared, to preserve their effects from +the clutches of numerous porters, many of them probably thieves. To judge +from appearances, many people would mourn the loss of their portmanteaus +that night. + +New York deserves the name applied to Washington, "the city of magnificent +distances." I drove in a hack for three miles to my destination, along +crowded, handsome streets, but I believe that I only traversed a third +part of the city. + +It possesses the features of many different lands, but it has +characteristics peculiarly its own; and as with its suburbs it may almost +bear the name of the "million-peopled city," and as its growing influence +and importance have earned it the name of the Empire City, I need not +apologise for dwelling at some length upon it in the succeeding chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +Position of New York--Externals of the city--Conveyances-- +Maladministration--The stores--The hotels--Curiosities of the hospital-- +Ragged schools--The bad book--Monster schools--Amusements and oyster +saloons--Monstrosities--A restaurant--Dwelling-houses--Equipages--Palaces +--Dress--Figures--Manners--Education--Domestic habits--The ladies--The +gentlemen--Society--Receptions--Anti-English feeling--Autographs--The +"Buckram Englishman." + + +New York, from its position, population, influence, and commerce, is +worthy to be considered the metropolis of the New World. The situation of +it is very advantageous. It is built upon Manhattan Island, which is about +thirteen miles in length by two in breadth. It has the narrowest portion +of Long Island Sound, called East River, on its east side; the Hudson, +called the North River, environs it in another direction; while these two +are connected by a narrow strait, principally artificial, denominated the +Harlem River. This insular position of the city is by no means +intelligible to the stranger, but it is obvious from the top of any +elevated building. The dense part of New York already covers a large +portion of the island; and as it _daily_ extends northward, the whole +extent of insulated ground is divided into lots, and mapped out into +streets. + +But, not content with covering the island, which, when Hendrick Hudson +first discovered it, abounded with red men, who fished along its banks and +guided their bark canoes over the surrounding waters, New York, under the +names of Brooklyn, Williamsburgh, and four or five others, has spread +itself on Long Island, Staten Island, and the banks of the Hudson. +Brooklyn, on Long Island, which occupies the same position with regard to +New York that Lambeth and Southwark do to London, contains a population of +100,000 souls. Brooklyn, Williamsburgh, Hoboken, and Jersey City are the +residences of a very large portion of the merchants of New York, who have +deserted the old or Dutch part of the town, which is consequently merely +an aggregate of offices. Floating platforms, moved by steam, with space in +the middle part for twelve or fourteen carriages and horses, and luxurious +covered apartments, heated with steam-pipes on either side, ply to and fro +every five minutes at the small charge of one halfpenny a passenger, and +the time occupied in crossing the ferries is often less than that of the +detention on Westminster Bridge. Besides these large places, Staten Island +and Long Island are covered with villa residences. Including these towns, +which are in reality part of this vast city, New York contains a +population of very nearly a million! Broadway, which is one of the most +remarkable streets in the world, being at once the Corso, Toledo, Regent +Street, and Princes Street of New York, runs along the centre of the city, +and is crossed at right angles by innumerable streets, which run down to +the water at each side. It would appear as if the inventive genius of the +people had been exhausted, for, after borrowing designations for their +streets from every part of the world, among which some of the old Dutch +names figure most refreshingly, they have adopted the novel plan of +numbering them. Thus there are ten "Avenues," which run from north to +south, and these are crossed by streets numbered First Street, Second +Street, and so on. I believe that the skeletons of one hundred and fifty +numbered streets are in existence. The southern part of the town still +contains a few of the old Dutch houses, and there are some substantial +red-brick villas in the vicinity, inhabited by the descendants of the old +Dutch families, who are remarkably exclusive in their habits. + +New York is decidedly a very handsome city. The wooden houses have nearly +all disappeared, together with those of an antiquated or incongruous +appearance; and the new streets are very regularly and substantially built +of brown stone or dark brick. The brick building in New York is remarkably +beautiful. The windows are large, and of plate-glass, and the whole +external finish of the houses is in a splendid but chaste style, never to +be met with in street-architecture in England. As the houses in the city +are almost universally heated by air warmed by a subterranean stove, very +few chimneys are required, and these are seldom visible above the stone +parapets which conceal the roofs. Anthracite coal is almost universally +used, so there is an absence of that murky, yellow canopy which disfigures +English towns. The atmosphere is remarkably dry, so that even white marble +edifices, of which there are several in the town, suffer but little from +the effects of climate. + +Broadway is well paved, and many of the numbered streets are not to be +complained of in this respect, but a great part of the city is +indescribably dirty, though it is stated that the expense of cleaning it +exceeds 250,000 dollars per annum. Its immense length necessitates an +enormous number of conveyances; and in order to obviate the obstruction to +traffic which would have been caused by providing omnibus accommodation +equal to the demand, the authorities have consented to a most alarming +inroad upon several of the principal streets. The stranger sees with +surprise that double lines of rails are laid along the roadways; and while +driving quietly in a carriage, he hears the sound of a warning bell, and +presently a railway-car, holding thirty persons, and drawn by two or four +horses, comes thundering down the street. These rail-cars run every few +minutes, and the fares are very low. For very sufficient reasons, Broadway +is not thus encroached upon; and a journey from one end to the other of +this marvellous street is a work of time and difficulty. Pack the traffic +of the Strand and Cheapside into Oxford Street, and still you will not +have an idea of the crush in Broadway. There are streams of scarlet and +yellow omnibuses racing in the more open parts, and locking each other's +wheels in the narrower--there are helpless females deposited in the middle +of a sea of slippery mud, condemned to run a gauntlet between cart-wheels +and horses' hoofs--there are loaded stages hastening to and from the huge +hotels--carts and waggons laden with merchandise--and "Young Americans" +driving fast-trotting horses, edging in and out among the crowd--wheels +are locked, horses tumble down, and persons pressed for time are +distracted. Occasionally, the whole traffic of the street comes to a dead- +lock, in consequence of some obstruction or crowd, there being no +policeman at hand with his incessant command, "_Move on_!" + +The hackney-carriages of New York are very handsome, and, being drawn by +two horses, have the appearance of private equipages; but woe to the +stranger who trusts to the inviting announcement that the fare is a dollar +within a certain circle. Bad as London cabmen are, one would welcome the +sight of one of them. The New York hackmen are licensed plunderers, +against whose extortions there is neither remedy nor appeal. They are +generally Irish, and cheat people with unblushing audacity. The omnibus or +stage accommodation is plentiful and excellent. A person soon becomes +accustomed to, and enjoys, the occasional excitement of locked wheels or a +race, and these vehicles are roomy and clean. They are sixteen inches +wider than our own omnibuses, and carry a number of passengers certainly +within their capabilities, and the fares are fixed and very low, 6-1/2 +cents for any distance. They have windows to the sides and front, and the +spaces between are painted with very tolerably-executed landscapes. There +is no conductor; the driver opens and closes the door with a strap, and +the money is handed to him through a little hole in the roof. The lady +passengers invariably give the money to a gentleman for this purpose, and +no rule of etiquette is more rigidly enforced than for him to obey the +request to do so, generally consisting in a haughty wave of the hand. The +thousand acts of attention which gentlemen, by rigid usage, are compelled +to tender to ladies, are received by them without the slightest +acknowledgment, either by word or gesture. To so great an extent is this +_nonchalance_ carried on the part of the females, that two or three +newspapers have seriously taken up the subject, and advise the gentlemen +to withdraw from the performance of such unrequited attentions. + +Strangers frequently doubt whether New York possesses a police; the doubt +is very justifiable, for these guardians of the public peace are seldom +forthcoming when they are wanted. They are accessible to bribes, and will +investigate into crime when liberally rewarded; but probably in no city in +the civilised world is life so fearfully insecure. The practice of +carrying concealed arms, in the shape of stilettoes for attack, and +swordsticks for defence, if illegal, is perfectly common; desperate +reprobates, called "Rowdies," infest the lower part of the town; and +terrible outrages and murderous assaults are matters of such nightly +occurrence as to be thought hardly worthy of notice, even in those prints +which minister to man's depraved taste for the horrible. [Footnote: The +state of New York has improved. Mr. Fernando Wood, who was elected Mayor +in November, 1854, has issued stringent regulations for the maintenance of +order. A better police-force has been organised, and many of the notorious +"Rowdies" and other bad characters have been shut up on Blackwell's +Island. His tenure of office has just expired, and it is much to be feared +that the mob, which exercises an undue influence upon the municipal +elections, has not chosen a successor who will interfere with its +privileges.] + +No language can be too strongly expressive of censure upon the disgraceful +condition of New York. The evil may be distinctly traced to the wretched +system of politics which prevails at the election of the municipal +officers, who are often literally chosen from the lowest of the people, +and are venal and corrupt in the highest degree. + +During my visit to New York a candidate for one of these offices stabbed a +policeman, who died of the wound. If I might judge from the tone of the +public prints, and from conversations on the subject, public feeling was +not much outraged by the act itself, but it was a convenient stalking- +horse for the other side, and the policeman's funeral procession, which +went down Broadway, was nearly a mile in length. + +The principal stores are situated in Broadway; and although they attempt +very little in the way of window display, the interiors are spacious, and +arranged with the greatest taste. An American store is generally a very +extensive apartment, handsomely decorated, the roof frequently supported +on marble pillars. The owner or clerk is seen seated by his goods, +absorbed in the morning paper--probably balancing himself on one leg of +his chair, with a spittoon by his side. He deigns to answer your +inquiries, but, in place of the pertinacious perseverance with which an +English shop man displays his wares, it seems a matter of perfect +indifference to the American whether you purchase or no. The drapers' and +mercers' shops, which go by the name of "dry goods" stores, are filled +with the costliest productions of the world. The silks from the looms of +France are to be seen side by side with the productions of Persia and +India, and all at an advance of fully two-thirds on English prices. The +"fancy goods" stores are among the most attractive lounges of the city. +Here Paris figures to such an extent, that it was said at the time when +difficulties with France were apprehended, in consequence of the Soulé +affair, that "Louis Napoleon might as well fire cannon-balls into the +Palais Royal as declare war with America." Some of the bronzes in these +stores are of exquisite workmanship, and costly china from Sèvres and +Dresden feasts the eyes of the lovers of beauty in this branch of art. + +The American ladies wear very costly jewellery, but I was perfectly amazed +at the prices of some of the articles displayed. I saw a diamond bracelet +containing one brilliant of prodigious size and lustre. The price was +25,000 dollars, or 5000_l._ On inquiring who would purchase such a thing, +the clerk replied, "I guess some southerner will buy it for his wife." + +One of the sights with which the New York people astonish English visitors +is Stewart's dry-goods store in Broadway, an immense square building of +white marble, six stories high, with a frontage of 300 feet. The business +done in it is stated to be above 1,500,000_l._ per annum. There are 400 +people employed at this establishment, which has even a telegraph office +on the premises, where a clerk is for ever flashing dollars and cents +along the trembling wires. There were lace collars 40 guineas each, and +flounces of Valenciennes lace, half a yard deep, at 120 guineas a flounce. +The damasks and brocades for curtains and chairs were at almost fabulous +prices. Few gentlemen, the clerk observed, give less than 3_l._ per yard +for these articles. The most costly are purchased by the hotels. I saw +some brocade embroidered in gold to the thickness of half an inch, some of +which had been supplied to the St. Nicholas Hotel at 9_l._ per yard! There +were stockings from a penny to a guinea a pair, and carpetings from 1_s._ +8_d._ to 22_s._ a yard. Besides six stories above ground, there were large +light rooms under the building, and under Broadway itself, echoing with +the roll of its 10,000 vehicles. + +The hotels are among the sights of New York. The principal are the Astor +House (which has a world-wide reputation), the Metropolitan, and the St. +Nicholas, all in Broadway. Prescott House and Irving House also afford +accommodation on a very large scale. The entrances to these hotels +invariably attract the eye of the stranger. Groups of extraordinary- +looking human beings are always lounging on the door-steps, smoking, +whittling, and reading newspapers. There are southerners sighing for their +sunny homes, smoking Havana cigars; western men, with that dashing free- +and-easy air which renders them unmistakeable; Englishmen, shrouded in +exclusiveness, who look on all their neighbours as so many barbarian +intruders on their privacy; and people of all nations, whom business has +drawn to the American metropolis. + +The Metropolitan Hotel is the most imposing in appearance. It is a block +of building with a frontage of 300 feet, and is six stories high. I +believe that it can accommodate 1300 people. The St. Nicholas is the most +superb in its decorations; it is a magnificent building of white marble, +and can accommodate 1000 visitors. Everything in this edifice is on a +style of princely magnificence. The grand entrance opens into a very fine +hall with a marble floor, and this is surrounded with settees covered with +the skins of wild animals. The parlours are gorgeous in the extreme, and +there are two superb dining-rooms to contain 600 people each. The curtains +and sofa-covers in some of the parlours cost 5_l._ per yard, and, as has +been previously named, one room is furnished with gold brocade purchased +at 9_l._ per yard. About 100 married couples reside permanently at the St. +Nicholas; it does not, however, bear the very best reputation, as it is +said to be the resort of a large number of professed gamblers. Large as +these hotels are, they are nothing to a monster establishment at Cape May, +a fashionable summer resort in New Jersey. The capacities of this +building, the Mount Vernon Hotel, though stated on the best authority, can +scarcely be credited--it is said to make up 3000 beds! + +Owing to the high rates of house-rent and the difficulty of procuring +servants, together with the exorbitant wages which they require, many +married couples, and even families, reside permanently at the hotels. +Living constantly in public, without opportunity for holding family +intercourse, and being without either home cares or home pleasures, +nomade, restless, pleasure-seeking habits are induced, which have led +strangers to charge the Americans with being destitute of home life. That +such is the case to some extent is not to be denied; but this want is by +no means generally observed. I have met with family circles in the New +World as united and affectionate as those in the Old, not only in country +districts, but in the metropolis itself; and in New England there is +probably as much of what may be termed patriarchal life as anywhere in +Europe. + +The public charities of New York are on a gigantic scale. The New York +Hospital, a fine stone building with some large trees in front, situated +in Broadway, was one which pleased me as much as any. Two of the +physicians kindly took me over the whole building, and explained all the +arrangements. I believe that the hospital contains 650 beds, and it is +generally full, being not only the receptacle for the numerous accident +cases which are of daily occurrence in New York, but for those of a large +district besides, which are conveniently brought in by railroad. We first +went into the recent-accident room, where the unhappy beings who were +recently hurt or operated upon were lying. Some of them were the most +piteous objects I ever witnessed, and the medical men, under the +impression that I was deeply interested in surgery, took pains to exhibit +all the horrors. There were a good many of the usual classes of +accidents,--broken limbs and mangled frames. There was one poor little boy +of twelve years old, whose arms had been torn to pieces by machinery; one +of them had been amputated on the previous day, and, while the medical men +displayed the stump, they remarked that the other must be taken off on the +next day. The poor boy groaned with a more than childish expression of +agony on his pale features, probably at the thought of the life of +helplessness before him. A young Irishman had been crushed by a railway +car, and one of his legs had been amputated a few hours previously. As the +surgeon altered the bandages he was laughing and joking, and had been +singing ever since the operation--a remarkable instance of Paddy's +unfailing lightheartedness. + +But, besides these ordinary accidents, there were some very characteristic +of New York and of a New York election. In one ward there were several men +who had been stabbed the night before, two of whom were mortally wounded. +There were two men, scarcely retaining the appearance of human beings, who +had been fearfully burned and injured by the explosion of an infernal +machine. All trace of human features had departed; it seemed hardly +credible that such blackened, distorted, and mangled frames could contain +human souls. There were others who had received musket-shot wounds during +the election, and numbers of broken heads, and wounds from knives. It was +sad to know that so much of the suffering to be seen in that hospital was +the result of furious religious animosities, and of the unrestrained +lawlessness of human violence. + +There was one man who had been so nearly crushed to pieces, that it seemed +marvellous that the mangled frame could still retain its vitality. One leg +was broken in three places, and the flesh torn off from the knee to the +foot; both arms and several ribs were also broken. We went into one of the +female wards, where sixteen broken legs were being successfully treated, +and I could not but admire a very simple contrivance which remedies the +contraction which often succeeds broken limbs, and produces permanent +lameness. Two long straps of plaister were glued from above the knee to +the ankle, and were then fixed to a wooden bar, with a screw and handle, +so that the tension could be regulated at pleasure. The medical men, in +remarking upon this, observed that in England we were very slow to adopt +any American improvements in surgery or medicine. + +There were many things in this hospital which might be imitated in England +with great advantage to the patients. Each ward was clean, sweet, and +airy; and the system of heating and ventilation is very superior. The +heating and ventilating apparatus, instead of sending forth alternate +blasts of hot and cold air, keeps up a uniform and easily regulated +temperature. A draught of cold air is continually forced through a large +apparatus of steam-pipes, and, as it becomes vitiated in the rooms above, +passes out through ventilators placed just below the ceiling. Our next +visit was to the laundry, where two men, three women, and, last but not +least, a steam-engine of 45-horse power, were perpetually engaged in +washing the soiled linen of the hospital. The large and rapidly-moving +cylinder which churns the linen is a common part of a steam laundry, but +the wringing machine is one of the most beautiful practical applications +of a principle in natural philosophy that I ever saw. It consists of a +large perforated cylinder, open at the top, with a case in the centre. +This cylinder performs from 400 to 700 revolutions in a minute, and, by +the power of the centrifugal force thus produced, the linen is impelled so +violently against the sides, that the moisture is forced through the +perforations, when the linen is left nearly dry. + +Strange as it may appear to those who associate America with plenty and +comfort, there is a very large class of persons at New York living in a +state of squalid and abject poverty; and in order that the children +belonging to it may receive some education, it has been found necessary by +the benevolent to supplement the common school system with ragged or +industrial schools. In order not to wound the pride of parents who are not +too proud to receive a gratuitous education for their offspring, these +establishments are not called Ragged Schools, but "Boys' Meetings," and +"Girls' Meetings." I visited two of these, the first in Tompkin Square. +There were about 100 children in the school, and nearly all of them were +Irish Roman Catholics. They receive a good elementary education, and +answered the questions addressed to them with correctness and alacrity. +The Bible, of course, is not read, but the pupils learn a Scripture +catechism, and paraphrased versions of Scripture incidents. One day, +during the absence of the teacher, one of the pupils was looking into an +English Bible, and another addressed her with the words, "You wicked girl, +you know the priest says that you are never to open that bad book; I will +never walk with you again." The child, on going home, told her mother, and +she said that she did not think it could be such a bad book, as the ladies +who were so kind to them read it. The child said that it was a beautiful +book, and persuaded her mother to borrow a Bible from a neighbour; she +read it, and became a Protestant. These children earn their clothing by a +certain number of good marks, but most of them were shoeless. Each child +is obliged to take a bath on the establishment once a-week. Their answers +in geography and history were extremely good. In the afternoon the elder +girls are employed in tailoring and dressmaking, and receive so much work +that this branch of the school is self-supporting. + +I visited another industrial school, in a very bad part of the town, +adjoining the Bowery, where the parents are of the very worst description, +and their offspring are vicious and unmanageable. I think that I never saw +vice and crime so legibly stamped upon the countenances of children as +upon those in this school. The teachers find it extremely difficult to +preserve discipline at all; and the pilfering habits of the pupils are +almost incorrigible. They each receive a pint of excellent soup and an +unlimited quantity of bread for dinner; but they are discontented and +unthankful. + +The common school system will be enlarged upon in a succeeding chapter; +but I cannot forbear noticing one school which I visited, It was a lofty, +four-storied building of red brick, with considerable architectural +pretensions. It was faced with brown stone, and had a very handsome +entrance-hall and staircase. The people of New York vie with each other in +their hospitality to strangers, and in showing them the objects of +interest within their city in the very best manner; and it was under the +auspices of Dr. Wells, one of the commissioners of education, that I saw +this admirable school, or rather educational institution. On inquiring the +reason of the extraordinary height of the balustrades, I was told that +some weeks previously, as the boys were hurriedly leaving school, forty of +them had been pushed over the staircase, out of which number nearly the +whole were killed! + +In the girls' room about 900 girls between the ages of eight and eighteen +were assembled. They were the children of persons in every class in the +city except the very wealthiest and the poorest. All these girls were well +dressed, some of them tasteful, others fantastic, in their appearance. +There was a great deal of beauty among the elder pupils; I only regretted +that the bright bloom which many possessed should be so evanescent. The +rich luxuriant hair, often of a beautiful auburn hue, was a peculiarity +which could not be overlooked. There were about ten female teachers, the +principal of whom played some lively airs upon the piano, during which +time the pupils marched steadily in from various class-rooms, and took +their seats at handsome mahogany desks, which accommodated two each. No +expense had been spared in the fittings of the apartment; the +commissioners of education are evidently of opinion that the young do not +acquire knowledge the more speedily from being placed on comfortless +benches, without any means of resting their weak and tired frames. + +Each desk contained a drawer or cupboard; and to encourage those habits of +order and self-reliance to which so much weight is attached in the States, +each pupil is made responsible for the preservation and security of her +books and all implements of education. The business of the day commenced +by the whole number of girls reverently repeating the Lord's Prayer, +which, in addressing God as "Our Father," proclaims the common bond of +brotherhood which unites the whole human race. The sound of 900 youthful +voices solemnly addressing their Creator was very beautiful and +impressive. A chapter from the Bible, read aloud by the teacher, followed, +and a hymn beautifully sung, when the pupils filed off as before to the +sound of music. We next went to the elementary room, appropriated to +infants, who are not sent to the higher school till their proficiency +reaches the standard required. + +The infant system does not appear to differ materially from ours, except +that it is of a more intellectual nature. In this room 1300 children +joined in singing a hymn. In the boys' rooms about 1000 boys were +receiving instruction under about 12 specimens of "Young America." The +restless, the almost fearful energy of the teachers surprised me, and the +alacrity of the boys in answering questions. In the algebra-room questions +involving the most difficult calculation on the part of the pupils were +answered sometimes even before the teacher had worked them out himself. + +Altogether, I was delighted with this school and with the earnestness +displayed by both teachers and pupils. I was not so well pleased with the +manners of the instructors, particularly in the boys' school. There was a +boastfulness, an exaggeration, and a pedantry, which are by no means +necessary accompaniments of superior attainments. The pupils have a +disrespectful, familiar, and independent air, though I understood that the +punishments are more severe than are generally approved of in English +schools. The course of instruction is very complete. History is especially +attended to, with its bearing upon modern politics. The teachers receive +from 80_l._ to 300_l._ a year, and very high attainments are required. +Besides the common and industrial schools, there are means of education +provided for the juvenile portion of the very large foreign population of +New York, principally German. There are several schools held under the +basements of the churches, without any paid teachers. The ladies of New +York, to their honour be it said, undertake, unassisted, the education of +these children, a certain number being attached to every school. Each of +these ladies takes some hours of a day, and youth and beauty may be seen +perseveringly engaged in this arduous but useful task. + +The spirit of practical benevolence which appears to permeate New York +society is one of its most pleasing features. It is not only that the +wealthy contribute large sums of money to charitable objects, but they +personally superintend their right distribution. No class is left +untouched by their benevolent efforts; wherever suffering and poverty are +found, the hand of Christianity or philanthropy is stretched out to +relieve them. The gulf which in most cities separates the rich from the +poor has been to some extent lessened in New York; for numbers of ladies +and gentlemen of education and affluence visit among the poor and vicious, +seeking to raise them to a better position. + +If there are schools, emigrant hospitals, orphan asylums, and nursing +institutions, to mark the good sense and philanthropy of the people of New +York, so their love of amusement and recreation is strongly evidenced by +the numerous places where both may be procured. There is perhaps as much +pleasure-seeking as in Paris; the search after amusement is characterised +by the same restless energy which marks the pursuit after wealth; and if +the Americans have little time for enjoying themselves, they are resolved +that the opportunities for doing so shall be neither distant nor few. +Thus, Broadway and its neighbourhood contain more places of amusement than +perhaps any district of equal size in the world. These present variety +sufficient to embrace the tastes of the very heterogeneous population of +New York. + +There are three large theatres; an opera-house of gigantic proportions, +which is annually graced by the highest vocal talent of Europe; Wood's +minstrels, and Christy's minstrels, where blacks perform in +unexceptionable style to unwearied audiences; and comic operas. There are +_al fresco_ entertainments, masquerades, concerts, restaurants, and oyster +saloons. Besides all these, and many more, New York contained in 1853 the +amazing number of 5980 taverns. The number of places where amusement is +combined with intellectual improvement is small, when compared with other +cities of the same population. There are however some very magnificent +reading-rooms and libraries. + +The amount of oysters eaten in New York surprised me, although there was +an idea at the time of my visit that they produced the cholera, which +rather checked any extraordinary excesses in this curious fish. In the +business streets of New York the eyes are greeted continually with the +words "Oyster Saloon," painted in large letters on the basement story. If +the stranger's curiosity is sufficient to induce him to dive down a flight +of steps into a subterranean abode, at the first glance rather suggestive +of robbery, one favourite amusement of the people may be seen in +perfection. There is a counter at one side, where two or three persons, +frequently blacks, are busily engaged in opening oysters for their +customers, who swallow them with astonishing relish and rapidity. In a +room beyond, brightly lighted by gas, family groups are to be seen, seated +at round tables, and larger parties of friends, enjoying basins of stewed +oysters; while from some mysterious recess the process of cookery makes +itself distinctly audible. Some of these saloons are highly respectable, +while many are just the reverse. But the consumption of oysters is by no +means confined to the saloons; in private families an oyster supper is +frequently a nightly occurrence; the oysters are dressed in the parlour by +an ingenious and not inelegant apparatus. So great is the passion for this +luxury, that the consumption of it during the season is estimated at +3500_l._ a-day. + +There are several restaurants in the city, on the model of those in the +Palais Royal. The most superb of these, _but not by any means the most +respectable_, is Taylor's, in Broadway. It combines Eastern magnificence +with Parisian taste, and strangers are always expected to visit it. It is +a room about 100 ft. in length, by 22 in height; the roof and cornices +richly carved and gilded, the walls ornamented by superb mirrors, +separated by white marble. The floor is of marble, and a row of fluted and +polished marble pillars runs down each side. It is a perfect blaze of +decoration. There is an alcove at one end of the apartment, filled with +orange-trees, and the air is kept refreshingly cool by a crystal fountain. +Any meal can be obtained here at any hour. On the day on which I visited +it, the one hundred marble tables which it contains were nearly all +occupied; a double row of equipages lined the street at the door; and two +or three hundred people, many of them without bonnets and fantastically +dressed, were regaling themselves upon ices and other elegancies in an +atmosphere redolent with the perfume of orange-flowers, and musical with +the sound of trickling water, and the melody of musical snuff-boxes. There +was a complete maze of fresco, mirrors, carving, gilding, and marble. A +dinner can be procured here at any hour of day or night, from one shilling +and sixpence up to half-a-guinea, and other meals in like proportion. As +we merely went to see the restaurant, we ordered ices, which were served +from large reservoirs, shining like polished silver. These were paid for +at the time, and we received tickets in return, which were taken by the +doorkeeper on coming out. It might be supposed that Republican simplicity +would scorn so much external display; but the places of public +entertainment vie in their splendour with the palaces of kings. + +It was almost impossible for a stranger to leave New York without visiting +the American museum, the property of _Phineas Taylor Barnum_. The history +of this very remarkable man is now well known, even in England, where the +publication of his 'Autobiography' has been a nine days' wonder. It is +said that 60,000 copies were sold at New York in one day, so successful +has he been in keeping himself for ever before the public eye. It is +painful to see how far a man whose life has been spent in total disregard +of the principles of truth and integrity should have earned for himself +popularity and fame. His museum is situated in Broadway, near to the City +Hall, and is a gaudy building, denoted by huge paintings, multitudes of +flags, and a very noisy band. The museum contains many objects of real +interest, particularly to the naturalist and geologist, intermingled with +a great deal that is spurious and contemptible. But this museum is by no +means the attraction to this "Palace of Humbug." + +There is a collection of horrors or monstrosities attached, which appears +to fascinate the vulgar gaze. The principal objects of attraction at this +time were, a dog with two legs, a cow with four horns, and a calf with six +legs--disgusting specimens of deformity, which ought to have been +destroyed, rather than preserved to gratify a morbid taste for the +horrible and erratic in nature. But while persons of the highest station +and education in England patronised an artful and miserable dwarf, +cleverly exhibited by a showman totally destitute of principle, it is not +surprising that the American people should delight in yet more hideous +exhibitions, under the same auspices. + +The magnificence of the private dwellings of New York must not escape +mention, though I am compelled to withhold many details that would be +interesting, from a fear of "violating the rights of hospitality." The +squares, and many of the numbered streets, contain very superb houses of a +most pleasing uniformity of style. They are built either of brown stone, +or of dark red brick, durably pointed, and faced with stone. This style of +brick masonry is extremely tasteful and beautiful. Every house has an +entrance-porch with windows of stained glass, and double doors; the outer +one being only closed at night. The upper part of the inner door is made +of stained glass; the door-handles and bell-pulls are made of highly- +polished electro-plate; and a handsome flight of stone steps, with elegant +bronze balustrades, leads up to the porch. The entrance-halls are seldom +large, but the staircases, which are of stone, are invariably very +handsome. These houses are six stories high, and usually contain three +reception-rooms; a dining-room, small, and not striking in appearance in +any way, as dinner-parties are seldom given in New York; a small, +elegantly-furnished drawing-room, used as a family sitting-room, and for +the reception of morning visitors; and a magnificent reception-room, +furnished in the height of taste and elegance, for dancing, music, and +evening parties. + +In London the bedrooms are generally inconvenient and uncomfortable, being +sacrificed to the reception-rooms; in New York this is not the case. The +bedrooms are large, lofty, and airy; and are furnished with all the +appurtenances which modern luxury has been able to devise. The profusion +of marble gives a very handsome and chaste appearance to these apartments. +There are bath-rooms generally on three floors, and hot and cold water are +laid on in every story. The houses are warmed by air heated from a furnace +at the basement; and though in addition open fires are sometimes adopted, +they are made of anthracite coal, which emits no smoke, and has rather the +appearance of heated metal than of fuel. Ornamental articles of Parisian +taste and Italian workmanship abound in these houses; and the mouldings, +cornices, and woodwork, are all beautifully executed. The doorways and +windows are very frequently of an arched form, which contributes to the +tasteful appearance of the houses. Every species of gaudy decoration is +strictly avoided; the paint is generally white, with gilt mouldings; and +the lofty rooms are either painted in panels, or hung with paper of a very +simple pattern. + +The curtains and chair-covers are always of very rich damask, frequently +worth from two to three guineas a yard; but the richness of this, and of +the gold embroidery, is toned down by the dark hue of the walnut-wood +furniture. The carpets of the reception-rooms are generally of rich +Kidderminster, or velvet pile; an air of elegance and cleanliness pervades +these superb dwellings; they look the height of comfort. It must be +remembered that the foregoing is not a description of a dwelling here and +there, but of fifty or sixty streets, or of 4000 or 5000 houses, those +inhabited by merchants of average incomes, storekeepers not of the +wealthiest class, and lawyers. The number of servants kept in such +mansions as these would sound disproportionately small to an English ear. +Two or three female servants only are required. Breakfast is very early, +frequently at seven, seldom later than eight. The families of merchants in +business in the lower part of the city often dine at one, and the +gentlemen return to a combination of dinner with tea at six. It does not +appear that at home luxury in eating is much studied. It is not customary, +even among some of the wealthier inhabitants of New York, to indulge in +sumptuous equipages. "Hacks," with respectable-looking drivers and pairs +of horses, fill the place of private carriages, and look equally well. +Coachmen require high wages, and carriages are frequently injured by +collision with omnibuses; these are among the reasons given for the very +general use of hired vehicles. + +The private equipages to be seen in New York, though roomy and +comfortable, are not elegant. They are almost invariably closed, with +glass sides and front, and are constructed with a view to keep out the +intense heat of the summer sun. The coachmen are generally blacks, and the +horses are stout animals, with cropped tails. The majority have broken +knees, owing to the great slipperiness of the pavements. + +Altogether, the occupants of stages are the most secure of the numerous +travellers down Broadway. The driver, on his lofty box, has more control +over his horses, and, in case of collision, the weight of his vehicle +gives him an advantage; and there is a general inclination, on the part of +the conductors of carriages, to give these swiftly-moving vehicles "ample +room and verge enough." While threading the way through the intricate +labyrinth of waggons, stages, falling horses, and locked wheels, it is +highly unpleasant for the denizens of private carriages to find the end of +a pole through the back of the equipage, or to be addressed by the +coachman, "Massa, dat big waggon is pulling off my wheel." + +Having given a brief description of the style of the ordinary dwellings of +the affluent, I will just glance at those of the very wealthy, of which +there are several in Fifth Avenue, and some of the squares, surpassing +anything I had hitherto witnessed in royal or ducal palaces at home. The +externals of some of these mansions in Fifth Avenue are like Apsley House, +and Stafford House, St. James's; being substantially built of brown stone. +At one house which I visited in----street, about the largest private +residence in the city, and one which is considered to combine the greatest +splendour with the greatest taste, we entered a spacious marble hall, +leading to a circular stone staircase of great width, the balustrades +being figures elaborately cast in bronze. Above this staircase was a lofty +dome, decorated with paintings in fresco of eastern scenes. There were +niches in the walls, some containing Italian statuary, and others small +jets of water pouring over artificial moss, + +There were six or eight magnificent reception-rooms, furnished in various +styles--the Mediaeval, the Elizabethan, the Italian, the Persian, the +modern English, &c. There were fountains of fairy workmanship, pictures +from the old masters, statues from Italy, "_chefs-d'oeuvre_" of art; +porcelain from China and Sèvres; damasks, cloth of gold, and bijoux from +the East; Gobelin tapestry, tables of malachite and agate, and "knick- +knacks" of every description. In the Mediaeval and Elizabethan apartments, +it did not appear to me that any anachronisms had been committed with +respect to the furniture and decorations. The light was subdued by passing +through windows of rich stained glass. I saw one table the value of which +might be about 2000 guineas. The ground was black marble, with a wreath of +flowers inlaid with very costly gems upon it. There were flowers or +bunches of fruit, of turquoise, carbuncles, rubies, topazes, and emeralds, +while the leaves were of malachite, cornelian, or agate. The effect +produced by this lavish employment of wealth was not very good. The +bedrooms were scarcely less magnificently furnished than the reception- +rooms; with chairs formed of stag-horns, tables inlaid with agates, and +hangings of Damascus cashmere, richly embossed with gold. There was +nothing gaudy, profuse, or prominent in the decorations or furniture; +everything had evidently been selected and arranged by a person of very +refined taste. Among the very beautiful works of art was a collection of +cameos, including some of Cellini's from the antique, which were really +entrancing to look upon. + +Another mansion, which N. P. Willis justly describes as "a fairy palace of +taste and art," though not so extensive, was equally beautiful, and +possessed a large winter-garden. This was approached by passing through a +succession of very beautiful rooms, the walls of which were hung with +paintings which would have delighted a _connoisseur_. It was a glass +building with a high dome: a fine fountain was playing in the centre, and +round its marble basin were orange, palm, and myrtle trees, with others +from the tropics, some of them of considerable growth. Every part of the +floor that was not of polished white marble was thickly carpeted with +small green ferns. The _gleam_ of white marble statues, from among the +clumps of orange-trees and other shrubs, was particularly pretty; indeed, +the whole had a fairy-like appearance about it. Such mansions as these +were rather at variance with my ideas of republican simplicity; they +contained apartments which would have thrown into the shade the finest +rooms in Windsor Castle or Buckingham Palace. It is not the custom for +Americans to leave large fortunes to their children; their wealth is spent +in great measure in surrounding themselves with the beautiful and the +elegant in their splendid mansions; and it is probable that the adornments +which have been collected with so much expense and trouble will be +dispersed at the death of their present possessors. + +I have often been asked, "How do the American ladies dress? Have they nice +figures? Do they wear much ornament? What are their manners like? Are they +highly educated? Are they domestic?" I will answer these questions as far +as I am capable of doing so. + +In bygone times, the "good old times" of America perhaps, large patterns, +brilliant colours, exaggerated fashions, and redundant ornament, were all +adopted by the American ladies; and without just regard to the severity of +their climate, they patronised thin dresses, and yet thinner shoes; both +being, as has been since discovered, very prolific sources of ill health. +Frequent intercourse with Europe, and the gradual progress of good taste, +have altered this absurd style, and America, like England, is now content +to submit to the dictation of Paris in all matters of fashion. But though +Paris might dictate, it was found that American milliners had stubborn +wills of their own, so Parisian _modistes_ were imported along with +Parisian silks, ribands, and gloves. No dressmaker is now considered +orthodox who cannot show a prefix of _Madame_, and the rage for foreign +materials and workmanship of every kind is as ludicrous as in England. + +Although the deception practised is very blameable, there is some comfort +in knowing that large numbers of the caps, bonnets, mantles, and other +articles of dress, which are marked ostentatiously with the name of some +_Rue_ in Paris, have never incurred the risks of an Atlantic voyage. But +however unworthy a devotion to fashion may be, it is very certain that the +ladies of New York dress beautifully, and in very good taste. Although it +is rather repugnant to one's feelings to behold costly silks and rich +brocades sweeping the pavements of Broadway, with more effect than is +produced by the dustmen, it is very certain that more beautiful +_toilettes_ are to be seen in this celebrated thoroughfare, in one +afternoon, than in Hyde Park in a week. As it is impossible to display the +productions of the millinery art in a close carriage in a crowd, Broadway +is the fashionable promenade; and the lightest French bonnets, the +handsomest mantles, and the richest flounced silk dresses, with _jupons_, +ribands, and laces to correspond, are there to be seen in the afternoon. +Evening attire is very much the same as in England, only that richer +materials are worn by the young. The harmony of colours appears to be a +subject studied to some purpose, and the style of dress is generally +adapted to the height, complexion, and figure of the wearer. + +The figures of the American ladies in youth are very sylph-like and +elegant; and this appearance is obtained without the use of those +artificial constraints so justly to be condemned. They are almost too +slight for beauty, though this does not signify while they retain the +luxuriant wavy hair, brilliant complexion, elastic step, and gracefulness +of very early youth. But unfortunately a girl of twenty is too apt to look +faded and haggard; and a woman who with us would be in her bloom at +thirty, looks _passée_, wrinkled, and old. It is then that the sylph-like +form assumes an unpleasant angularity, suggestive of weariness and care. +It is remarkable, however, that ladies of recent English extraction, under +exactly the same circumstances, retain their good looks into middle life, +and advancing years produce _embonpoint_, instead of angularity. I was +very agreeably surprised with the beauty of the young ladies of New York; +there is something peculiarly graceful and fascinating in their personal +appearance. + +To judge from the costly articles of jewellery displayed in the stores, I +should have supposed that there was a great rage for ornament; but from +the reply I once received from a jeweller, on asking him who would +purchase a five-thousand-guinea diamond bracelet, "I guess some Southerner +will buy it for his wife," I believe that most of these articles find +their way to the South and West, where a less-cultivated taste may be +supposed to prevail. I saw very little jewellery worn, and that was +generally of a valuable but plain description. The young ladies appear to +have adopted the maxim, "Beauty when unadorned is adorned the most." They +study variety in ornament rather than profusion. "What are their manners +like?" is a difficult question to answer. That there is a great difference +between the manners of English and American ladies may be inferred from +some remarks made to me by the most superior woman whom I met in America, +and one who had been in English society in London. In naming a lady with +whom she was acquainted, and one who could scarcely be expected to be +deficient in affection towards herself, she said, "Her manners were +perfectly ladylike, but she seemed to talk merely because conversation was +a conventional requirement of society, and I cannot believe that she had +any heart." She added, "I did not blame her for this; it was merely the +result of an English education, which studiously banishes every appearance +of interest or emotion. Emotion is condemned as romantic and vulgar +sensibility, interest as enthusiasm." + +The system which she reprehended is not followed at New York, and the +result is, not that the ladies "wear their hearts on their sleeves for +daws to peck at," but that they are unaffected, lively, and agreeable. The +_repose_ so studiously cultivated in England, and which is considered +perfect when it has become listlessness, apathy, and indifference, finds +no favour with our lively Transatlantic neighbours; consequently the +ladies are very _naïve_ and lively, and their manners have the vivacity +without the frivolity of the French. They say themselves that they are not +so highly educated as the ladies of England. Admirable as the common +schools are, the seminaries for ladies, with one or two exceptions, are +very inferior to ours, and the early age at which the young ladies go into +society precludes them from completing a superior education; for it is +scarcely to be expected that, when their minds are filled with the desire +for conquest and the love of admiration, they will apply systematically to +remedy their deficiencies. And again, some of their own sex in the States +have so far stepped out of woman's proper sphere, that high attainments +are rather avoided by many from the ridicule which has been attached to +the unsuitable display of them in public. The young ladies are too apt to +consider their education completed when they are emancipated from school +restraints, while in fact only the basis of it has been laid. Music and +drawing are not much cultivated in the higher branches; and though many +speak the modern languages with fluency, natural philosophy and +arithmetic, which strengthen the mental powers, are rather neglected. Yet +who has ever missed the higher education which English ladies receive, +while in the society of the lively, attractive ladies of New York? Of +course there are exceptions, where active and superior minds become highly +cultivated by their own persevering exertions; but the aids offered by +ladies' schools are comparatively insignificant. + +The ladies in the United States appeared to me to be extremely domestic. +However fond they may be of admiration as girls, after their early +marriages they become dutiful wives, and affectionate, devoted mothers. +And in a country where there are few faithful attached servants, far more +devolves upon the mother than English ladies have any idea of. Those +amusements which would withdraw her from home must be abandoned; however +fond she may be of travelling, she must abide in the nursery; and all +those little attentions which in England are turned over to the nurse must +be performed by herself, or under her superintending eye. She must be the +nurse of her children alike by day and by night, in sickness and in +health; and with the attention which American ladies pay to their +husbands, their married life is by no means an idle one. Under these +circumstances, the early fading of their bloom is not to be wondered at, +and I cannot but admire the manner in which many of them cheerfully +conform to years of anxiety and comparative seclusion, after the homage +and gaiety which seemed their natural atmosphere in their early youth. + +Of the gentlemen it is less easy to speak. They are immersed in a whirl of +business, often of that speculative kind which demands a constant exercise +of intense thought. The short period which they can spend in the bosom of +their families must be an enjoyment and relaxation to them; therefore, in +the absence of any statements to the contrary, it is but right to suppose +that they are affectionate husbands and fathers. However actively the +gentlemen of New York are engaged in business pursuits, they travel, read +the papers, and often devote some time to general literature. They look +rather more pale and careworn than the English, as the uncertainties of +business are greater in a country where speculative transactions are +carried to such an exaggerated extent. They also indulge in eccentricities +of appearance in the shape of beards and imperials, not to speak of the +"goatee" and moustaches of various forms. With these exceptions, there is +nothing in appearance, manner, or phraseology to distinguish them from +gentlemen in the best English society, except perhaps that they evince +more interest and animation in their conversation. + +The peculiar expressions which go under the name of Americanisms are never +heard in good society, and those disagreeable habits connected with +tobacco are equally unknown. I thought that the gentlemen were remarkably +free from mannerisms of any kind. I have frequently heard Americans speak +of the descriptions given by Dickens and Mrs. Trollope of the slang and +disagreeable practices to be met with in the States; and they never, on a +single occasion, denied their truthfulness, but said that these writers +mistook the perpetrators of these vulgarities for _gentlemen_. The +gentlemen are extremely deferential and attentive in their manners to +ladies, and are hardly, I think, treated with sufficient graciousness in +return. At New York a great many are actively engaged in philanthropic +pursuits. The quiescence of manner attained by English gentlemen, which +frequently approaches inanity, is seldom to be met with in America. The +exhilarating influences of the climate and the excitement of business have +a tendency to produce animation of manner, and force and earnestness of +expression. A great difference in these respects is apparent in gentlemen +from the southern States, who live in an enervating climate, and whose +pursuits are of a more tranquil nature. The dry, elastic atmosphere of the +northern States produces a restlessness which must either expend itself in +bodily or mental exertion or force of expression; from this probably arise +the frequent use of superlatives, and the exaggeration of language, which +the more phlegmatic English attribute to the Americans. + +Since my return to England I have frequently been asked the question, +"What is society like in America?" This word _society_ is one of very +ambiguous meaning. It is used in England by the titled aristocracy to +distinguish themselves, their connexions, and those whose wealth or genius +has gained them admission into their circles. But every circle, every +city, and even every country neighbourhood, has what it pleases to term +"society;" and when the members of it say of an individual, "I never met +him in society," it ostracises him, no matter how estimable or agreeable +he may be. In England, to "society," in each of its grades, wealth is a +sure passport, as has been evidenced of late years by several very +notorious instances. Thus it is extremely difficult to answer the +question, "What is New York society like?" It certainly is not like that +which is associated in our minds with the localities May Fair and +Belgravia; neither can it be compared to the circles which form +parasitically round the millionaire; still less is it like the dulness of +country neighbourhoods. New York has its charmed circles also; a republic +admits of the greatest exclusiveness; and, in the highest circles of the +city, to say that a man is not in society, is to ostracise him as in +England. It must be stated that some of the most agreeable _salons_ of New +York are almost closed against foreigners. French, Germans, and Italians, +with imposing titles, have proved how unworthily they bear them; and this +feeling against strangers--I will not call it prejudice, for there are +sufficient grounds for it--is extended to the English, some of whom, I +regret to say, have violated the rights of hospitality in many different +ways. I have heard of such conduct on the part of my countrymen as left me +no room for surprise that many families, whose acquaintance would be most +agreeable, strictly guard their drawing-room from English intrusion. And, +besides this, there are those who have entered houses merely to caricature +their inmates, and have received hospitality only to ridicule the manner +in which it was exercised, while they have indulged in unamiable +personalities, and have not respected the sanctity of private life. + +It was through an introduction given me by a valued English friend that I, +as an English stranger, was received with the kindest hospitality by some +of those who have been rendered thus exclusive by the bad taste and worse +conduct of foreigners. I feel, as I write, that any remarks I make on New +York society cannot be perfectly free from bias, owing to the overwhelming +kindness and glowing hospitality which I met with in that city. I found so +much to enjoy in society, and so much to interest and please everywhere, +that when I left New York it was with the wish that the few weeks which I +was able to spend there could have been prolonged into as many months. + +But, to answer the question. The best society in New York would not suffer +by comparison in any way with the best society in England. It is not in +the upper classes of any nation that we must look for national +characteristics or peculiarities. Society throughout the civilized world +is, to a certain extent, cast in the same mould; the same laws of +etiquette prevail, and the same conventionalisms restrict in great measure +the display of any individual characteristics. Balls are doubtless the +same in "society" all over the world; a certain amount of black cloth, kid +gloves, white muslin, epaulettes if they can be procured, dancing, music, +and ices. Every one acknowledges that dinner-parties are equally dull in +London and Paris, in Calcutta and in New York, unless the next neighbour +happens to be peculiarly agreeable. Therefore, it is most probable that +balls and dinner-parties are in New York exactly the same as in other +places, except that the latter are less numerous, and are principally +confined to gentlemen. It is not, in fact, convenient to give dinner +parties in New York; there are not sufficient domestics to bear the +pressure of an emergency, and the pleasure is not considered worth the +trouble. If two or three people have sufficient value for the society of +the host and hostess to come in to an ordinary dinner, at an ordinary +hour, they are welcome. If turtle and venison were offered on such an +occasion, it would have the effect of repelling, rather than attracting, +the guests, and it would not have the effect of making them believe that +their host and hostess always lived on such luxurious viands. + +As dinner-parties are neither deemed agreeable nor convenient, and as many +sensible people object to the late hours and general dissipation of mind +produced by balls and large dancing parties, a happy innovation upon old +customs has been made, and early evening receptions have been introduced. +Some of the most splendid mansions of New York, as well as the most +agreeable, are now thrown open weekly for the reception of visitors in a +social manner. These receptions differ from what are known by the same +name in London. The crowd in which people become wedged, in a vain attempt +to speak to the hostess, is as much as possible avoided; late hours are +abandoned; the guests, who usually arrive about eight, are careful to +disappear shortly after eleven, lest, Cinderella-like, the hostess should +vanish. Then, again, all the guests feel themselves on a perfect equality, +as people always ought to do who meet in the same room, on the invitation +of the same hostess. [Footnote: The Americans justly ridicule that species +of bad breeding which leads people at parties to draw back from others, +from a fear that their condescension should fall upon ground unconsecrated +by the dictatorial fiat of "society." An amusing instance of the effect of +this pride, which occurred in England, was related. Some years ago the +illustrious Baron Humboldt was invited to play the part of lion at the +house of a nobleman. A select circle of fashionables appeared, and among +the company a man very plainly dressed and not noticeable in appearance. +He spoke first to one person, and then to another: some drew themselves up +with a haughty stare; others answered in monosyllables; but all repulsed +the Baron; and it was not until late in the evening, after he had departed +early, disgusted with this ungracious reception, that these people knew +that by their conduct they had lost the advantage of the conversation of +one of the greatest men of the age.] + +The lady of the house adopts the old but very sensible fashion of +introducing people to each other, which helps to prevent a good deal of +stiffness. As the rooms in the New York houses are generally large, people +sit, stand, or walk about as they feel inclined, or group themselves round +some one gifted with peculiar conversational powers. At all of these re- +unions there was a great deal of conversation worth listening to or +joining in, and, as a stranger, I had the advantage of being introduced to +every one who was considered worth knowing. Poets, historians, and men of +science are to be met with frequently at these receptions; but they do not +go as lions, but to please and be pleased; and such men as Longfellow, +Prescott, or Washington Irving may be seen mixing with the general throng +with so much _bonhommie_ and simplicity, that none would fancy that in +their own land they are the envy of their age, and sustain world-wide +reputations. The way in which literary lions are exhibited in England, as +essential to the _éclat_ of fashionable parties, is considered by the +Americans highly repugnant to good taste. I was very agreeably surprised +with the unaffected manners and extreme simplicity of men eminent in the +scientific and literary world. + +These evening receptions are a very happy idea; for people, whose business +or inclinations would not permit them to meet in any other way, are thus +brought together without formality or expense. The conversation generally +turned on Europe, general literature, art, science, or the events of the +day. I must say that I never heard one remark that could be painful to an +English ear made, even in jest. There was none of that vulgar boastfulness +and detraction which is to be met with in less educated society. Most of +the gentlemen whom I met, and many of the ladies, had travelled in Europe, +and had brought back highly cultivated tastes in art, and cosmopolitan +ideas, which insensibly affect the circles in which they move. + +All appeared to take a deep interest in the war, and in our success. I +heard our military movements in the Crimea criticised with some severity +by military men, some of whom have since left for the seat of war, to +watch our operations. The conclusion of the Vienna negociations appeared +to excite some surprise. "I had no idea," an officer observed to me, "that +public opinion was so strong in England as to be able to compel a minister +of such strong Russian proclivities as Lord Aberdeen to go to war with his +old friend Nicholas." The arrangements at Balaklava excited very general +condemnation; people were fond of quoting the saying attributed to a +Russian officer, "You have an army of _lions_ led by _asses_." + +The Americans are always anxious to know what opinion a stranger has +formed of their country, and I would be asked thirty times on one evening, +"How do you like America?" Fortunately, the kindness which I met with +rendered it impossible for me to give any but a satisfactory reply. +English literature was a very general topic of conversation, and it is +most gratifying to find how our best English works are "familiar in their +mouths as household words." Some of the conversation on literature was of +a very brilliant order. I heard very little approximation to either wit or +humour, and _badinage_ is not cultivated, or excelled in, to the same +extent as in England. + +On one occasion I was asked to exhibit a collection of autographs, and the +knowledge of English literature possessed by the Americans was shown by +the information they had respecting not only our well-known authors, but +those whose names have not an extended reputation even with us. Thus the +works of Maitland, Ritchie, Sewell, Browning, Howitt, and others seemed +perfectly familiar to them. The trembling signature of George III. excited +general interest from his connection with their own history, and I was not +a little amused to see how these republicans dwelt with respectful +attention on the decided characters of Queen Victoria. A very +characteristic letter of Lord Byron's was read aloud, and, in return for +the pleasure they had experienced, several kind individuals gave me +valuable autographs of their own _literati_ and statesmen. Letters written +by Washington descend as precious heirlooms in families, and so great is +the estimation in which this venerated patriot is held, that, with all the +desire to oblige a stranger which the Americans evince, I believe that I +could not have purchased a few lines in his handwriting with my whole +collection. + +It would be difficult to give any idea of the extremely agreeable +character of these receptions. They seemed to me to be the most sensible +way of seeing society that I ever met with, and might be well worthy of +general imitation in England. When I saw how sixty or a hundred people +could be brought together without the inducements of dancing, music, +refreshments, or display of any kind; when I saw also how thoroughly they +enjoyed themselves, how some were introduced, and those who were not +entered into sprightly conversation without fear of lessening an imaginary +dignity, I more than ever regretted the icy coldness in which we wrap +ourselves. And yet, though we take such trouble to clothe ourselves in +this glacial dignity, nothing pleases us better than to go to other +countries and throw it off, and mix with our fellow men and women as +rational beings should, not as if we feared either to compromise ourselves +or to be repulsed by them. This national stiffness renders us the +laughing-stock of foreigners; and in a certain city in America no play was +ever more successful than the '_Buckram Englishman_,' which ridiculed and +caricatured our social peculiarities. + +The usages of etiquette are much the same as in England, but people +appeared to be assisted in the enjoyment of society by them rather than +trammeled. Morning visiting is carried to a great extent, but people call +literally in the morning, before two o'clock oftener than after. On New +Year's Day, in observance of an old Dutch custom, the ladies remain at +home, and all the gentlemen of their acquaintance make a point of calling +upon them. Of course time will only allow of the interchange of the +compliments of the season, where so much social duty has to be performed +in one brief day, but this pleasant custom tends to keep up old +acquaintanceships and annihilate old feuds. It is gratifying to observe +that any known deviation from the rules of morality is punished with +exclusion from the houses of those who are considered the leaders of New +York society; it is also very pleasing to see that to the best circles in +New York wealth alone is not a passport. I have heard cards of invitation +to these receptions refused to foreigners bearing illustrious titles, and +to persons who have the reputation of being _millionaires_. At the same +time, I have met those of humble position and scanty means, who are +treated with distinction because of their talents or intellectual powers. +Yet I have never seen such a one patronised or treated as a lion; he is +not expected to do any homage, or pay any penalty, for his admission into +society. In these circles in New York we are spared the humiliating +spectacle of men of genius or intellect cringing and uneasy in the +presence of their patronising inferiors, whom birth or wealth may have +placed socially above them. Of course there is society in New York where +the vulgar influence of money is omnipotent, and extravagant display is +fashionable; it is of the best that I have been speaking. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +The cemetery--Its beauties--The "Potter's Field"--The graves of children-- +Monumental eccentricities--Arrival of emigrants--Their reception--Poor +dwellings--The dangerous class--The elections--The riots--Characteristics +of the streets--Journey to Boston--The sights of Boston--Longfellow-- +Cambridge university. + + +It may seem a sudden transition from society to a cemetery, and yet it is +not an unnatural one, for many of the citizens of New York carry their +magnificence as far as possible to the grave with them, and pile their +wealth above their heads in superb mausoleums or costly statues. The _Père +la Chaise_ of the city is the Greenwood Cemetery, near Brooklyn on Long +Island. I saw it on the finest and coldest of November days, when a +piercing east wind was denuding the trees of their last scarlet honours. +After encountering more than the usual crush in Broadway, for we were +rather more than an hour in driving three miles in a stage, we crossed the +Brooklyn Ferry in one of those palace ferry-boats, where the spacious +rooms for passengers are heated by steam-pipes, and the charge is only one +cent, or a fraction less than a halfpenny. It was a beautiful day; there +was not a cloud upon the sky; the waves of the Sound and of the North +River were crisped and foam-tipped, and dashed noisily upon the white +pebbly beach. Brooklyn, Jersey, and Hoboken rose from the water, with +their green fields and avenues of villas; white, smokeless steamers were +passing and repassing; large anchored ships tossed upon the waves; and New +York, that compound of trees, buildings, masts, and spires, rose in the +rear, without so much as a single cloud of smoke hovering over it. + +A railway runs from Brooklyn to the cemetery, with the cars drawn by +horses, and the dead of New York are conveniently carried to this last +resting-place. The entrance is handsome, and the numerous walls and +carriage-drives are laid with fine gravel, and beautifully swept. We drove +to see the most interesting objects, and the coachman seemed to take a +peculiar pride in pointing them out. This noble burying-ground has some +prettily diversified hill and dale scenery, and is six miles round. The +timber is very fine, and throughout art has only been required as an +assistance to nature. To this cemetery most of the dead of New York are +carried, and after "life's fitful fever," in its most exaggerated form, +sleep in appropriate silence. Already several thousand dead have been +placed here in places of sepulture varying in appearance from the most +splendid and ornate to the simplest and most obscure. There are family +mausoleums, gloomy and sepulchral looking, in the Grecian style; family +burying-grounds neatly enclosed by iron or bronze railings, where white +marble crosses mark the graves; there are tombs with epitaphs, and tombs +with statues; there are simple cenotaphs and monumental slabs, and +nameless graves marked by numbers only. + +One very remarkable feature of this cemetery is the "Potter's Field," a +plot containing several acres of ground, where strangers are buried. This +is already occupied to a great extent. The graves are placed in rows close +together, with numbers on a small iron plate to denote each. Here the +shipwrecked, the pestilence-stricken, the penniless, and friendless are +buried; and though such a spot cannot fail to provoke sad musings, the +people of New York do not suffer any appearances of neglect to accumulate +round the last resting-place of those who died unfriended and alone. +Another feature, not to be met with in England, strikes the stranger at +first with ludicrous images, though in reality it has more of the +pathetic. In one part of this cemetery there are several hundred graves of +children, and these, with most others of children of the poorer class, +have toys in glass cases placed upon them. There are playthings of many +kinds, woolly dogs and lambs, and little wooden houses, toys which must be +associated in the parents' minds with those who made their homes glad, but +who have gone into the grave before them. One cannot but think of the +bright eyes dim, the merry laugh and infantine prattle silent, the little +hands, once so active in playful mischief, stiff and cold; all brought so +to mind by the sight of those toys. There is a fearful amount of mortality +among children at New York, and in several instances four or five buried +in one grave told with mournful suggestiveness of the silence and +desolation of once happy hearths. + +There are a few very remarkable and somewhat fantastic monuments. There is +a beautiful one in white marble to the memory of a sea-captain's wife, +with an exact likeness of himself, in the attitude of taking an +observation, on the top. An inscription to himself is likewise upon it, +leaving only the date of his death to be added. It is said that, when this +poor man returns from a voyage, he spends one whole day in the tomb, +lamenting his bereavement. + +There is a superb monument, erected by a fireman's company to the memory +of one of their brethren, who lost his life while nobly rescuing an infant +from a burning dwelling. His statue is on the top, with an infant in his +arms, and the implements of his profession lie below. But by far the most +extraordinary, and certainly one of the lions of New York, is to a young +lady who was killed in coming home from a ball. The carriage-horses ran +away, she jumped out, and was crushed under the wheels. She stands under a +marble canopy supported by angels, and is represented in her ball-dress, +with a mantle thrown over it. This monument has numerous pillars and +representations of celestial beings, and is said to have cost about +6000_l._ Several of the marble mausoleums cost from 4000_l._ to 5000_l._ +Yet all the powerful, the wealthy, and the poor have descended to the dust +from whence they sprung; and here, as everywhere else, nothing can +disguise the fact that man, the feeble sport of passion and infirmity, can +only claim for his inheritance at last the gloom of a silent grave, where +he must sleep with the dust of his fathers. I observed only one verse of +Scripture on a tombstone, and it contained the appropriate prayer, "_So +teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom_." + +Having seen the emigrants bid adieu to the Old World, in the flurry of +grief, hope, and excitement, I was curious to see what difference a five- +weeks' voyage would have produced in them, and in what condition they +would land upon the shores of America. In a city where emigrants land at +the rate of a thousand a-day, I was not long of finding an opportunity. I +witnessed the debarkation upon the shore of the New World of between 600 +and 700 English emigrants, who had just arrived from Liverpool. If they +looked tearful, flurried, and anxious when they left Liverpool, they +looked tearful, pallid, dirty, and squalid when they reached New York. The +necessary discomforts which such a number of persons must experience when +huddled together in a close, damp, and ill-ventilated steerage, with very +little change of clothing, and an allowance of water insufficient for the +purposes of cleanliness, had been increased in this instance by the +presence of cholera on board of the ship. + +The wharfs at New York are necessarily dirty, and are a scene of +indescribable bustle from morning to night, with ships arriving and +sailing, ships loading and unloading, and emigrants pouring into the town +in an almost incessant stream. They look as if no existing power could +bring order out of such a chaos. In this crowd, on the shores of a strange +land, the emigrants found themselves. Many were deplorably emaciated, +others looked vacant and stupified. Some were ill, and some were +penniless; but poverty and sickness are among the best recommendations +which an emigrant can bring with him, for they place him under the +immediate notice of those estimable and overworked men, the Emigration +Commissioners, whose humanity is above all praise. These find him an +asylum in the Emigrants' Hospital, on Ward's Island, and despatch him from +thence in health, with advice and assistance for his future career. If he +be in health, and have a few dollars in his pocket, he becomes the +instantaneous prey of emigrant runners, sharpers, and keepers of +groggeries; but of this more will be said hereafter. + +A great many of these immigrants were evidently from country districts, +and some from Ireland; there were a few Germans among them, and these +appeared the least affected by the discomforts of the voyage, and by the +novel and rather bewildering position in which they found themselves. They +probably would feel more at home on first landing at New York than any of +the others, for the lower part of the city is to a great extent inhabited +by Germans, and at that time there were about 2000 houses where their +favourite beverage, _lager-beer_, could be procured. + +The goods and chattels of the Irish appeared to consist principally of +numerous red-haired, unruly children, and ragged-looking bundles tied +round with rope. The Germans were generally ruddy and stout, and took as +much care of their substantial-looking, well-corded, heavy chests as +though they contained gold. The English appeared pale and debilitated, and +sat helpless and weary-looking on their large blue boxes. Here they found +themselves in the chaotic confusion of this million-peopled city, not +knowing whither to betake themselves, and bewildered by cries of "Cheap +hacks!" "All aboard!" "Come to the cheapest house in all the world!" and +invitations of a similar description. There were lodging-touters of every +grade of dishonesty, and men with large placards were hurrying among the +crowd, offering "palace" steamboats and "lightning express" trains, to +whirl them at nominal rates to the Elysian Fields of the Far West. It is +stated that six-tenths of these emigrants are attacked by fever soon after +their arrival in the New World, but the provision for the sick is +commensurate with the wealth and benevolence of New York. + +Before leaving the city I was desirous to see some of the dwellings of the +poor; I was therefore taken to what was termed a poor quarter. One house +which I visited was approached from an entry, and contained ten rooms, +which were let to different individuals and families. On the lowest floor +was an old Irish widow, who had a cataract in one eye, and, being without +any means of supporting herself, subsisted upon a small allowance made to +her by her son, who was a carter. She was clean, but poorly dressed, and +the room was scantily furnished. Except those who are rendered poor by +their idleness and vices, it might have been difficult to find a poorer +person in the city, I was told. Much sympathy was expressed for her, and +for those who, like her, lived in this poor quarter. Yet the room was +tolerably large, lofty, and airy, and had a window of the ordinary size of +those in English dwelling-houses. For this room she paid four dollars or +16_s._ per month, a very high rent. It was such a room as in London many a +respectable clerk, with an income of 150_l._ a year, would think himself +fortunate in possessing. + +I could not enter into the feelings of the benevolent people of New York +when they sympathised with the denizens of this locality. I only wished +that these generous people could have seen the dens in which thousands of +our English poor live, with little light and less water, huddled together, +without respect to sex or numbers, in small, ill-ventilated rooms. Yet New +York has a district called the Five Points, fertile in crime, fever, and +misery, which would scarcely yield the palm for vice and squalor to St. +Giles's in London, or the Saltmarket in Glasgow. A collection of dwellings +called the Mud Huts, where many coloured people reside, is also an +unpleasing feature connected with the city. But with abundant employment, +high wages, and charities on a princely scale for those who from +accidental circumstances may occasionally require assistance, there is no +excuse for the squalid wretchedness in which a considerable number of +persons have chosen to sink themselves. + +It is a fact that no Golden Age exists on the other side of the water; +that vice and crime have their penalties in America as well as in Europe; +and that some of the worst features of the Old World are reproduced in the +New. With all the desire that we may possess to take a sanguine view of +things, there is something peculiarly hopeless about the condition of this +class at New York, which in such a favourable state of society, and at +such an early period of American history, has sunk so very low. The +existence of a "dangerous class" at New York is now no longer denied. One +person in seven of the whole population came under the notice of the +authorities, either in the ranks of criminals or paupers, in 1852; and it +is stated that last year the numbers reached an alarming magnitude, +threatening danger to the peace of society. This is scarcely surprising +when we take into consideration the numbers of persons who land in this +city who have been expatriated for their vices, who are flying from the +vengeance of outraged law, or who expect in the New World to be able to do +evil without fear of punishment. + +There are the idle and the visionary, who expect to eat without working; +penniless demagogues, unprincipled adventurers, and the renegade +outpourings of all Christendom; together with those who are enervated and +demoralised by sickness and evil associates on board ship. I could not +help thinking, as I saw many of the newly-arrived emigrants saunter +helplessly into the groggeries, that, after spending their money, they +would remain at New York, and help to swell the numbers of this class. +These people live by their wits, and lose the little they have in drink. +This life is worth very little to them; and in spite of Bible and Tract +societies, and church missions, they know very little of the life to come; +consequently they are ready for any mischief, and will imperil their +existence for a small bribe. Many or most of them are Irish Roman +Catholics, who, having obtained the franchise in many instances by making +false affidavits, consider themselves at liberty to use the club also. + +I was at New York at the time of the elections, and those of 1854 were +attended with unusual excitement, owing to the red-hot strife between the +Irish Roman Catholics and the "Know-nothings." This society, established +with the object of changing the naturalisation laws, and curbing the power +of popery, had at this period obtained a very large share of the public +attention, as much from the mystery which attended it as from the +principles which it avowed. To the minds of all there was something +attractive in a secret organisation, unknown oaths, and nocturnal +meetings; and the success which had attended the efforts of the Know- +nothings in Massachusetts, and others of the States, led many to watch +with deep interest the result of the elections for the Empire State. Their +candidates were not elected, but the avowed contest between Protestantism +and Popery led to considerable loss of life. Very little notice of the +riots on this occasion has been taken by the English journalists, though +the local papers varied in their accounts of the numbers of killed and +wounded from 45 to 700! It was known that an _émeute_ was expected, +therefore I was not surprised, one evening early in November, to hear the +alarm-bells ringing in all directions throughout the city. It was stated +that a Know-nothing assemblage of about 10,000 persons had been held in +the Park, and that, in dispersing, they had been fired upon by some +Irishmen called the Brigade. This was the commencement of a sanguinary +struggle for the preservation of order. For three days a dropping fire of +musketry was continually to be heard in New York and Williamsburgh, and +reports of great loss of life on both sides were circulated. It was stated +that the hospital received 170 wounded men, and that many more were +carried off by their friends. The military were called out, and, as it was +five days before quiet was restored, it is to be supposed that many lives +were lost. I saw two dead bodies myself; and in one street or alley by the +Five Points, both the side walks and the roadway were slippery with blood. +Yet very little sensation was excited in the upper part of the town; +people went out and came in as usual; business was not interrupted; and to +questions upon the subject the reply was frequently made, "Oh, it's only +an election riot," showing how painfully common such disturbances had +become. + +There are many objects of interest in New York and its neighbourhood, +among others, the Croton aqueduct, a work worthy of a great people. It +cost about 5,000,000_l._ sterling, and by it about 60,000,000 gallons of +water are daily conveyed into the city. Then there are the prisons on +Blackwell's Island, the lunatic asylums, the orphan asylums, the docks, +and many other things; but I willingly leave these untouched, as they have +been described by other writers. In concluding this brief and incomplete +account of New York, I may be allowed to refer to the preface of this +work, and repeat that any descriptions which I have given of things or +society are merely "sketches," and, as such, are liable to the errors +which always attend upon hasty observation. + +New York, with its novel, varied, and ever-changing features, is +calculated to leave a very marked impression on a stranger's mind. In one +part one can suppose it to be a negro town; in another, a German city; +while a strange dreamy resemblance to Liverpool pervades the whole. In it +there is little repose for the mind, and less for the eye, except on the +Sabbath-day, which is very well observed, considering the widely-differing +creeds and nationalities of the inhabitants. The streets are alive with +business, retail and wholesale, and present an aspect of universal bustle. +Flags are to be seen in every direction, the tall masts of ships appear +above the houses; large square pieces of calico, with names in scarlet or +black letters upon them, hang across the streets, to denote the +whereabouts of some popular candidate or "puffing" storekeeper; and hosts +of omnibuses, hacks, drays, and railway cars at full speed, ringing bells, +terrify unaccustomed foot-passengers. There are stores of the magnitude of +bazaars, "daguerrean galleries" by hundreds, crowded groggeries and +subterranean oyster-saloons, huge hotels, coffee-houses, and places of +amusement; while the pavements present men of every land and colour, red, +black, yellow, and white, in every variety of costume and beard, and +ladies, beautiful and ugly, richly dressed. Then there are mud huts, and +palatial residences, and streets of stately dwelling-houses, shaded by +avenues of ilanthus-trees; waggons discharging goods across the pavements; +shops above and cellars below; railway whistles and steamboat bells, +telegraph-wires, eight and ten to a post, all converging towards Wall +Street--the Lombard Street of New York; militia regiments in many-coloured +uniforms, marching in and out of the city all day; groups of emigrants +bewildered and amazed, emaciated with dysentery and sea-sickness, looking +in at the shop-windows; representatives of every nation under heaven, +speaking in all earth's Babel languages; and as if to render this +ceaseless pageant of business, gaiety, and change, as far removed from +monotony as possible, the quick toll of the fire alarm-bells may be daily +heard, and the huge engines, with their burnished equipments and well- +trained companies, may be seen to dash at full speed along the streets to +the scene of some brilliant conflagration. New York is calculated to +present as imposing an appearance to an Englishman as its antiquated +namesake does to an American, with its age, silence, stateliness, and +decay. + +The Indian summer had come and gone, and bright frosty weather had +succeeded it, when I left this city, in which I had received kindness and +hospitality which I can never forget. Mr. Amy, the kind friend who had +first welcomed me to the States, was my travelling companion, and at his +house near Boston, in the midst of a happy family-circle, I spent the +short remnant of my time before returning to England. + +We left New York just as the sun was setting, frosty and red, and ere we +had reached Newhaven it was one of the finest winter evenings that I had +ever seen. The moisture upon the windows of the cars froze into +innumerable fairy shapes; the crescent moon and a thousand stars shone +brilliantly from a deep blue sky; auroras flashed and meteors flamed, and, +as the fitful light glittered on many rushing gurgling streams, I had but +to remember how very beautiful New England was, to give form and +distinctness to the numerous shapes which we were hurrying past. I was +recalling the sunny south to mind, with its vineyards and magnolia groves, +and the many scenes of beauty that I had witnessed in America, with all +the genial kindness which I had experienced from many who but a few months +ago were strangers, when a tipsy Scotch fiddler broke in upon my reveries +by an attempt to play 'Yankee Doodle.' It is curious how such a thing can +instantly change the nature of the thoughts. I remembered speculations, +'cute notions, guesses, and calculations; "All aboard," and "Go ahead," +and "Pile on, skipper;" sharp eager faces, diversities of beards, +duellists, pickpockets, and every species of adventurer. + +Such recollections were not out of place in Connecticut, the centre and +soul of what we denominate _Yankeeism_. This state has one of the most +celebrated educational establishments in the States, Yale College at +Newhaven, or the City of Elms, famous for its toleration of an annual +fight between the citizens and the students, at a nocturnal _fête_ in +celebration of the burial of Euclid. The phraseology and some of the moral +characteristics of Connecticut are quite peculiar. It is remarkable for +learning, the useful arts, successful and energetic merchants and farmers; +the mythical Sam Slick, the prince of pedlars; and his living equal, +Barnum, the prince of showmen. A love of good order and a pervading +religious sentiment appear to accompany great simplicity of manners in its +rural population, though the Southerners, jealous of the virtues of these +New Englanders, charge upon them the manufacture of wooden nutmegs. This +state supplies the world with wooden clocks, for which the inhabitants of +our colonies appear to have a peculiar fancy, though at home they are +called "Yankee clocks what won't go." I have seen pedlars with curiously +constructed waggons toiling along even among the Canadian clearings, who +are stated to belong to a race "raised" in Connecticut. They are extremely +amusing individuals, and it is impossible to resist making an investment +in their goods, as their importunities are urged in such ludicrous +phraseology. The pedlar can accommodate you with everything, from a clock +or bible to a pennyworth of pins, and takes rags, rabbit and squirrel +skins, at two cents each, in payment. His knowledge of "soft sawder and +human natur" is as great as that of Sam Slick, his inimitable +representative; and many a shoeless Irish girl is induced to change a +dollar for some trumpery ornament, by his artful compliments to her +personal attractions. He seems at home everywhere; talks politics, guesses +your needs, cracks a joke, or condoles with you on your misfortunes with +an elongated face. He always contrives to drop in at dinner or tea time, +for which he always apologises, but in distant settlements the apologetic +formulary might be left alone, for the visit of the cosmopolitan pedlar is +ever welcome, even though he leaves you a few dollars poorer. There is +some fear of the extinction of the race, as railways are now bringing the +most distant localities within reach of resplendent stores with plate- +glass windows. + +It wanted six hours to dawn when we reached Boston; and the ashes of an +extinguished fire in the cheerless waiting-room at the _depôt_ gave an +idea of even greater cold than really existed. We drove through the silent +streets of Boston, and out into the country, in an open carriage, with the +thermometer many degrees below the freezing-point, yet the dryness of the +atmosphere prevented any feeling of cold. The air was pure, still, and +perfectly elastic; a fitful aurora lighted our way, and the iron hoofs of +the fast-trotting ponies rattled cheerily along the frozen ground. I +almost regretted the termination of the drive, even though the pleasant +villa of ----, and a room lighted by a blazing wood fire, awaited me. + +The weather was perfectly delightful. Cloudless and golden the sun set at +night; cloudless and rosy he rose in the morning; sharp and defined in +outline the leafless trees rose against the piercing blue of the sky; the +frozen ground rang to every footstep; thin patches of snow diversified the +landscape; and the healthful air braced even invalid nerves. Boston is a +very fine city, and the whole of it, spread out as a panorama, can be seen +from several neighbouring eminences. The rosy flush of a winter dawn had +scarcely left the sky when I saw the town from Dorchester Heights. Below +lay the city, an aggregate of handsome streets lined with trees, stately +public buildings, and church-spires, with the lofty State House crowning +the whole. Bright blue water and forests of masts appeared to intersect +the town; green, wooded, swelling elevations, dotted over with white villa +residences, environed it in every direction; blue hills rose far in the +distance; while to the right the bright waters of Massachusett's bay, +enlivened by the white sails of ships and pilot-boats, completed this +attractive panorama. + +Boston is built on a collection of peninsulas; and as certain shipowners +possess wharfs far up in the town, to which their ships must find their +way, the virtue of patience is frequently inculcated by a long detention +at drawbridges, while heavily-laden vessels are slowly warped through the +openings. The equanimity of the American character surprised me here, as +it often had before; for, while I was devising various means of saving +time, by taking various circuitous routes, about 100 _détenus_ submitted +to the delay without evincing any symptoms of impatience. Part of Boston +is built on ground reclaimed from the sea, and the active inhabitants +continually keep encroaching on the water for building purposes. + +This fine city appeared to greater advantage on my second visit, after + seeing New York, Cincinnati, Chicago, and other of the American towns. In +them their progress is evidenced by a ceaseless building up and pulling +down, the consequences of which are heaps of rubbish and unsightly +hoardings covered with bills and advertisements, giving to the towns thus +circumstanced an unfinished, mobile, or temporary look. This is still +further increased where many of the houses are of wood, and can be moved +without being taken to pieces. I was riding through an American town one +afternoon, when, to my surprise, I had to turn off upon the side walk, to +avoid a house which was coming down the street, drawn by ten horses, and +assisted by as many men with levers. My horse was so perfectly unconcerned +at what was such a novel spectacle to me, that I supposed he was used to +these migratory dwellings. + +Boston has nothing of all this. Stately, substantial, and handsome, it +looks as if it had been begun and completed in a day. There is a most +pleasing air of respectability about the large stone and brick houses; the +stores are spacious and very handsome; and the public buildings are +durably and tastefully built. Scientific institutions, music halls, and +the splendid stores possessed by the booksellers and philosophical +instrument makers, proclaim the literary and refined tastes of the +inhabitants, which have earned for their city the name of the "American +Athens." There is an air of repose about Boston; here, if anywhere, one +would suppose that large fortunes were realised and enjoyed. The sleek +horses do not appear to be hurried over the pavements; there are few +placards, and fewer puffs; the very carts are built rather to carry weight +than for speed. Yet no place which I visited looked more thriving than +Boston. Its streets are literally crammed with vehicles, and the side +walks are thronged with passengers, but these latter are principally New +Englanders, of respectable appearance. These walks are bordered by acacia +and elm trees, which seem to flourish in the most crowded thoroughfares, +and, besides protecting both men and horses from the intense heat, their +greenness, which they retain till the fall, is most refreshing to the eye. +There are a great many private carriages to be seen, as well as people on +horseback. The dwelling-houses have plate-glass windows and bright green +jalousies; the side walks are of granite, and the whole has an English +air. The common, or rather the park, at Boston, is the finest public +promenade that I ever saw, about fifty acres in extent, and ornamented +with avenues of very fine trees. This slopes to the south, and the highest +part of the slope is crowned by the State House and the handsomest private +residences in the city. Boston is very clean and orderly, and smoking is +not permitted in the streets. There is a highly aristocratic air about it, +and those who look for objects of historical interest will not be +disappointed. There is the old Faneuil Hall, which once echoed to the +stormy arguments and spirit-stirring harangues of the leaders of the +Revolution. A few antiquated, many-gabled houses, remain in its +neighbourhood, each associated with some tradition dear to the Americans. +Then there is a dark-coloured stone church, which still in common parlance +bears the name of King's Chapel. It is fitted with high pews of dark +varnished oak, and the English liturgy, slightly altered, is still used as +the form of worship. Then there is the Old South Meeting house, where the +inhabitants remonstrated with the governor for bringing in the king's +troops; and, lastly, Griffin's Wharf, where, under the impulse of the +stern concentrated will of the New England character, the "Sons of +Liberty" boarded the English ships, and slowly and deliberately threw the +tea which they contained into the water of the harbour. + +I visited the Bunker's Hill monument, and was content to take on trust the +statement of the beauty of the view from the summit, as the monument, +which is 221 feet in height, is ascended by a very steep staircase. +Neither did I deny the statement made by the patriotic Americans who were +with me, that the British forces were defeated in that place, not feeling +at all sure that the national pride of our historians had not led them to +tell a tale more flattering than true; for + + "Some say that we won, + And some say that they won, + And some say that none won at a', man." + +We visited the naval yard at Charlestown, and the _Ohio_, an old seventy- +four, now used as a receiving-ship. There was a very manifest difference +between the two sides of the main-deck of this vessel; one was +scrupulously clean, the other by no means so; and, on inquiring the +reason, I was told that the clean side was reserved for strangers! +Although this yard scarcely deserves the name of an arsenal, being the +smallest of all which America possesses, the numerous guns and the piles +of cannon-balls show that she is not unprepared for aggressive or +defensive war. + +The Merchants' Exchange, where every change in the weather at New Orleans +is known in a few minutes; the Post-Office, with its innumerable letter- +boxes and endless bustle; the Tremont Hall, one of the finest music-halls +in the world; the water-works, the Athenaeum, and the libraries, are all +worthy of a visit. + +There is a museum, which we visited in the evening, but it is not +creditable to the taste of the inhabitants of this fine city. There are +multitudes of casts and fossils, and stuffed beasts and birds, and +monsters, and a steam-engine modelled in glass, which works beautifully; +but all these things are to hide the real character of this institution, +and appeared to be passed unnoticed by a large number of respectable- +looking people who were thronging into a theatre at the back--a very +gloomy-looking edifice, with high pews. A placard announced that Dickens' +'_Hard Times_,' which it appears from this has been dramatised, was about +to be acted. The plays are said to be highly moral, but in the melodrama +religion and buffoonery are often intermingled; and I confess that I did +not approve of this mode of solacing the consciences of those who object +to ordinary theatricals, for the principle involved remains the same. + +The National Theatre is considered so admirably adapted for seeing, +hearing, and accommodation, that it is frequently visited by European +architects. An American friend took me to see it in the evening, when none +are admitted but those who are going to remain for the performance. This +being the rule, the doorkeeper politely opposed our entrance; but on my +companion stating that I was a stranger, he instantly admitted us, and +pointed out the best position for seeing the edifice. The theatre, which +has four tiers of boxes, was handsome in the extreme, and brilliantly +lighted; but I thought it calculated to produce the same effect of +dizziness and headache, as those who frequent our House of Peers +experience from the glare and redundant decoration. + +This was one among the many instances where the name of stranger produced +a magic effect. It appeared as if doors which would not open to anything +else, yielded at once to a request urged in that sacred name. This was the +case at the Mount Auburn Cemetery, where the gatekeeper permitted us as +strangers to drive round in a carriage, which is contrary to rule, and on +no occasion would those who so courteously obliged us accept of any +gratuity. + +There is some rivalry on the part of the people of Boston and New York +with regard to the beauty of their cemeteries. Many travellers have +pronounced the cemetery of Mount Auburn to be the loveliest in the world; +but both it and that of Greenwood are so beautiful, that it is needless to +"hint a fault or hesitate a dislike" with regard to either. Mount Auburn +has verdant slopes, and deep wild dells, and lakes shaded by forest-trees +of great size and beauty; and so silent is it, far removed from the din of +cities, that it seems as if a single footstep would disturb the sleep of +the dead. Here the neglectfulness and dreariness of the outer aspect of +the grave are completely done away with, and the dead lie peacefully under +ground carpeted with flowers, and shaded by trees. The simplicity of the +monuments is very beautiful; that to Spurzheim has merely his name upon +the tablet. Fulton, Channing, and other eminent men are buried here. + +New York is celebrated for frequent and mysterious conflagrations; so are +all the American cities in a less degree. This is very surprising to +English people, many of whom scarcely know a fire-engine by sight. Boston, +though its substantial erections of brick and stone present great +obstacles to the progress of the devouring element, frequently displays +these unwished-for illuminations, and has some very well organized fire +companies. These companies, which are voluntary associations, are one of +the important features of the States. The Quakers had the credit of +originating them. Being men of peace, they could not bear arms in defence +of their country, and exchanged militia service for the task of +extinguishing all the fires caused by the wilfulness or carelessness of +their fellow-citizens. This has been no easy task in cities built of wood, +which in that dry climate, when ignited, burns like pine-knots. Even now, +fires occur in a very unaccountable manner. At New York my slumbers were, +frequently disturbed by the quick-tolling bell, announcing the number of +the district where a fire had broken out. These fire companies have +regular organizations, and their members enjoy several immunities, one of +which I think is, that they are not compelled to serve as jurymen. + +They are principally composed of young men, some of them the wilder +members of the first families in the cities. + +Their dresses are suitable and picturesque, and, with the brilliant +painting and highly-polished brasses of their large engines, they form one +of the most imposing parts of the annual pageant of the "_Glorious +Fourth_." The fireman who first reaches the scene of action is captain for +the night, and this honour is so much coveted, as to lead them often to +wait, ready equipped, during the winter nights, that they may be able to +start forth at the first sound of the bell. There is sufficient dangerous +adventure, and enough of thrilling incident, to give the occupation a +charm in the eyes of the eager youth of the cities. They like it far +better than playing at soldiers, and are popular in every city. As their +gay and glittering processions pass along the streets, acclamations greet +their progress, and enthusiastic ladies shower flowers upon their heads. +They are generous, courageous, and ever ready in the hour of danger. But +there is a dark side to this picture. They are said to be the _foci_ of +political encroachment and intrigue, and to be the centre of the restless +and turbulent spirits of all classes. So powerful and dangerous have they +become in many instances, that it has been recently stated in an American +paper, that one of the largest and most respectable cities in the Union +has found it necessary to suppress them. + +The Blind Asylum is one of the noblest charitable institutions of Boston. +It is in a magnificent situation, overlooking all the beauties of +Massachusett's Bay. It is principally interesting as being the residence +of Laura Bridgman, the deaf and blind mute, whose history has interested +so many in England. I had not an opportunity of visiting this asylum till +the morning of the day on which I sailed for Europe, and had no +opportunity of conversing with this interesting girl, as she was just +leaving for the country. I saw her preceptor, Dr. Howe, whose untiring +exertions on her behalf she has so wonderfully rewarded. He is a very +lively, energetic man, and is now devoting himself to the improvement of +the condition of idiots, in which already he has been extremely +successful. + +Laura is an elegant-looking girl, and her features, formerly so vacant, +are now animated and full of varying expression. She dresses herself with +great care and neatness, and her fair hair is also braided by herself. +There is nothing but what is pleasing in her appearance, as her eyes are +covered with small green shades. She is about twenty-three, and is not so +cheerful as she formerly was, perhaps because her health is not good, or +possibly that she feels more keenly the deprivations under which she +labours. She is very active in her movements, and fabricates numerous +useful and ornamental articles, which she disposes of for her mother's +benefit. She is very useful among the other pupils, and is well informed +with regard to various branches of useful knowledge. She is completely +matter-of-fact in all her ideas, as Dr. Howe studiously avoids all imagery +and illustration in his instructions, in order not to embarrass her mind +by complex images. It is to be regretted that she has very few ideas on +the subject of religion. + +One of the most interesting places to me in the vicinity of Boston was the +abode of General Washington. It became his residence in 1775, and here he +lived while the struggle for freedom was going on in the neighbourhood. + +It is one of the largest villas in the vicinity of Boston, and has side +verandahs resting on wooden pillars, and a large garden in front. Some +very venerable elms adjoin the house, and the grounds are laid out in the +fashion which prevailed at that period. The room where Washington penned +his famous despatches is still held sacred by the Americans. Their +veneration for this renowned champion of independence has something almost +idolatrous about it. It is very fortunate that the greatest character in +American history should be also the best. Christian, patriot, legislator, +and soldier, he deserved his mother's proud boast, "I know that wherever +George Washington is, he is doing his duty." His character needed no lapse +of years to shed a glory round it; the envy of contemporary writers left +it stainless, and succeeding historians, with their pens dipped in gall, +have not been able to sully the lustre of a name which is one of the +greatest which that or any age has produced. + +This mansion has, however, an added interest, from being the residence of +the poet Longfellow. In addition to his celebrity as a poet, he is one of +the most elegant scholars which America has produced, and, until recently, +held the professorship of modern languages at the neighbouring university +of Cambridge. It would be out of place here to criticise his poetry. +Although it is very unequal and occasionally fantastic, and though in one +of his greatest poems the English language appears to dance in chains in +the hexameter, many of his shorter pieces well upwards from the heart, in +a manner which is likely to ensure durable fame for their author. The +truth, energy, and earnestness of his 'Psalm of Life' and 'Goblet of +Life,' have urged many forward in the fight, to whom the ponderous +sublimity of Milton is a dead language, and the metaphysical lyrics of +Tennyson are unintelligible. It appeared to me, from what I heard, that +his fame is even greater in England than in his own country, where it is +in some danger of being eclipsed by that of Bryant and Lowell. He is +extremely courteous to strangers, and having kindly offered, through a +friend, to show me Cambridge University, I had an opportunity of making +his acquaintance. + +I have been frequently asked to describe his personal appearance, and +disappointment has frequently been expressed at the portrait which truth +compels me to give of him. He is neither tall, black-haired, nor pale; he +neither raises his eyes habitually to heaven, nor turns down his shirt- +collar. He does not wear a look of melancholy resignation, neither does he +live in love-gilded poverty, in a cottage embosomed in roses. On the +contrary, he is about the middle height, and is by no means thin. He has +handsome features, merry blue eyes, and a ruddy complexion; he lives in a +large mansion, luxuriously furnished; and, besides having a large fortune, +is the father of six blooming children. In short, his appearance might be +considered jovial, were it not so extremely gentlemanly. + +Mr. Longfellow met us at the door, with that urbanity which is so +agreeable a feature in his character, and, on being shown into a very +handsome library, we were introduced to Mrs. Longfellow, a lady of +dignified appearance and graceful manner. She is well known as the _Mary +of Hyperion_; and after a due degree of indignation with the author of +that graceful and poetical book, she rewarded his constancy and devotion +with her hand. The library was panelled in the old style, and a large +collection of books was arranged in recesses in the wall: but the +apartment evidently served the purposes of library and boudoir, for there +were numerous evidences of female taste and occupation. Those who think +that American children are all precocious little men and women would have +been surprised to see the door boisterously thrown open by a little +blooming boy, who scrambled mirthfully upon his father's knee, as though +used to be there, and asked him to whittle a stick for him. + +It is not often that the conversation of an author is equal in its way to +his writings, therefore I expected in Mr. Longfellow's case the +disappointment which I did not meet with. He touched lightly on various +subjects, and embellished each with the ease and grace of an accomplished +scholar, and, doubtless in kindly compliment to an English visitor, +related several agreeable reminiscences of acquaintanceships formed with +some of our _literati_ during a brief visit to England. He spoke with much +taste and feeling of European antiquities, and of the absence of them in +the New World, together with the effect produced by the latter upon the +American character. He said that nothing could give him greater pleasure +than a second visit to Europe, but that there were "six obstacles in the +way of its taking place." + +With him as a very able _cicerone_ I had the pleasure of visiting +Cambridge University, which reminded me more of England than anything I +saw in America; indeed there are features in which it is not unlike its +English name sake. It has no Newtonian or Miltonian shades, but in another +century the names of those who fill a living age with lustre will have +their memorials among its academic groves. There are several halls of dark +stone or red brick, of venerable appearance, and there are avenues of +stately elms. The library is a fine Gothic edifice, and contains some +valuable manuscripts and illuminated editions of old works. There was a +small copy of the four evangelists, written in characters resembling +print, but so small that it cannot be read without a magnifying glass. +This volume was the labour of a lifetime, and the transcriber completed +his useless task upon his deathbed. While Mr. Longfellow was showing me +some autographs of American patriots, I remarked that as I was showing +some in a Canadian city, a gentleman standing by, on seeing the signature +of the Protector, asked, in the most innocent ignorance, who Oliver +Cromwell was? A lady answered that he was a successful rebel in the olden +time! "If you are asked the question a second time," observed the poet, +who doubtless fully appreciates the greatness of Cromwell, "say that he +was an eminent brewer." + +Altogether there is very much both of interest and beauty in Boston and +its environs; and I was repeatedly told that I should have found the +society more agreeable than that of New York. With the exception of visits +paid to the houses of Longfellow and the late Mr. Abbott Lawrence, I did +not see any of the inhabitants of Boston, as I only spent three days in +the neighbourhood; but at Mr. Amy's house I saw what is agreeable in any +country, more especially in a land of transition and change--a happy +American home. The people of this western Athens pride themselves upon the +intellectual society and the number of eminent men which they possess, +among whom may be named Longfellow, Emerson, Lowell, Dana, and Summer. One +of these at least is of the transcendental school. I very much regretted +that I had not more time to devote to a city so rich in various objects of +interest; but the northern winter had already begun, and howling winds and +angry seas warned me that it was time to join my friends at Halifax, who +were desirous to cross the "vexed Atlantic" before the weather became yet +more boisterous. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +Origin of the Constitution--The Executive--Congress--Local Legislatures-- +The army and navy--Justice--Slavery--Political corruption--The foreign +element--Absence of principle--Associations--The Know-nothings--The Press +and its power--Religion--The Church--The Clergy. + + +Before concluding this volume it will be proper to offer a few remarks +upon American institutions, and such of their effects as are obvious to a +temporary resident in the States. In apology for my own incompetence, I +must again remind the reader that these are merely surface observations, +offered in accordance with the preface to this work. + +The Constitution demands the first notice. When our American colonies +succeeded in throwing off the yoke of England, it became necessary for +them to choose a form of government. No country ever started under such +happy auspices. It had just concluded a successful struggle with one of +the greatest empires in the world; its attitude of independence was +sympathised with by the enthusiastic spirits of Europe, and had even +gained the respect of that upright monarch, who, on receiving the first +ambassador from his revolted colonies, addressed him with these memorable +words:--"I was the last man in England to acknowledge the independence of +America; but, being secured, I shall be the last man in England to violate +it." Thus circumstanced, each of the thirteen States, with the exception +of Rhode Island, sent delegates to Philadelphia to deliberate on the form +of government which should be adopted. This deliberative assembly of a +free people presented a sublime spectacle in the eyes of nations. After +two years of consideration, and considerable differences of opinion, it +was decided that the monarchical traditions of the Old World were effete +and obsolete; and accordingly a purely Republican Constitution was +promulgated, under which the United States have become a rich and powerful +nation. It is gratifying to an English person to know that the +Constitution of the States was derived in great measure from that of +England, enlarged, and divested of those which were deemed its +objectionable features. The different States had previously possessed +local assemblies, and governors, and the institutions connected with +slavery; the last remain to this day in pretty much the same state as when +they were bequeathed by England to America. Washington entered upon the +office of President in 1789, and discharged its duties, as he did those of +every other station, with that high-souled and disinterested patriotism +which render him as worthy to be imitated as admired. + +There are three authorities, the President, the Senate, and the House of +Representatives, all elected by the people; thus their acts are to a +certain extent expressive of the popular will. + +The President is elected by universal suffrage, once in four years. He +receives a salary of 5000_l._ per annum, and is assisted by five +secretaries, who, with two other executive officers, are paid at the rate +of 1600_l._ a-year. + +This officer has considerable power and enormous patronage. He makes +treaties, which merely require the ratification of the Senate; he grants +pardons, and may place his veto on the acts of the two other estates, +provided that they have not been returned by two-thirds of the members of +the respective houses. + +There are sixty-two Senators, or two from each State. These are elected by +the local legislatures for a term of six years, and one-third of the +number retire every two years. Each Senator must be thirty years of age; +he must be a resident of the State which he represents, and he must have +been naturalised for nine years. + +The Lower House, or House of Representatives, is perhaps the most purely +popular body in the world. The members are elected for two years by +universal suffrage, that is, by the votes of all the free male citizens of +America who have attained the age of 21. Each member of the Lower House +must have been naturalised for seven years, and he must have passed the +age of 25. Population has been taken as the basis of representation, in +the following very simple manner. The number of Representatives was fixed +by Act of Congress at 233, although a new one has recently been added for +California. The aggregate representative population (by the last decennial +enumeration, 21,767,673) is taken, and divided by 233; and the quotient, +rejecting fractions, is the ratio of apportionment among the several +States. The representative population of each State is then ascertained, +and is divided by the above named ratio, and the quotient gives the number +of representatives to each State. The State of New York, being the most +populous, possesses 33 representatives; two of the States, namely, +Delaware and Florida, require no more than one each. On a rough +calculation, each member represents about 90,000 persons. The two houses +together are named Congress, and the members of both receive 32_s._ per +diem for their attendance, without deduction in case of sickness, in +addition to travelling expenses. All measures of legislation and taxation +must receive the approval of the President and the Congress, the majority +in Congress representing the popular will. Every State has its assembly +and governor, and to a certain extent has power to make its own laws. The +members of these assemblies, the governors of the States, and the mayors +and municipal officers of the cities, are all elected by universal +suffrage. + +No system of direct taxation is adopted in the States, except for local +purposes. The national revenue is derived from customs duties, on many +articles so high as to amount to protective duties; from the sale of wild +lands; and from one or two other sources. The annual revenue of the +country is about 12,000,000_l._, and the expenditure is under the income. +The state officials are rather poorly paid. The chief ambassadors do not +receive more than 1800_l._ per annum, and the chief justice, whose duties +are certainly both arduous and responsible, only receives a salary of +1000_l._ a year. The principal items of expenditure are connected with the +army and navy, and the officers in both these services are amply +remunerated. The United States navy is not so powerful as might be +expected from such a maritime people. There are only twelve ships of the +line and twelve first class frigates, including receiving-ships and those +on the stocks. + +The standing army consists of 10,000 men, and is regarded with some +jealousy by the mass of the people. The pay in this branch of the service +varies from that of a major-general, which is 1000_l._ a year, to that of +a private, which is about 1_s._ 6_d._ a day. This last is larger than it +appears, as it is not subject to the great deductions which are made from +that of an English soldier. The real military strength of America consists +of an admirably trained militia force of about 2,200,000 men, supported at +an enormous expense. This large body is likely to prove invincible for +defensive purposes, as it is composed of citizens trained to great skill +as marksmen, and animated by the strongest patriotism; but it is to be +hoped that it also furnishes a security against an offensive war on a +large scale, as it is scarcely likely that any great number of men would +abandon their business and homes for any length of time for aggressive +purposes. + +The highest court of law in the United States is the Supreme Court, which +holds one annual session at Washington. It is composed of a chief justice +and eight associate justices, and is the only power not subjected directly +or indirectly to the will of the people. The United States are divided +into nine judicial circuits, in each of which a Circuit Court is held +twice a year by a justice of the Supreme Court, assisted by the district +judge of the State in which the court sits. There is, however, a great +weakness both about the Executive and the administration of justice, the +consequence of which is, that, when a measure is placed upon the statute- +book which is supposed to be obnoxious to any powerful class, a _league_ +is formed by private individuals for the purpose of enforcing it, or in +some cases it would become a dead letter. The powerful societies which are +formed to secure the working of the "_Maine Law_" will occur at once to +English readers. + +Each State possesses a distinct governmental machinery of its own, +consisting of a Governor, a Senate, and a House of Representatives. The +Governor is elected by a majority of the votes of the male citizens for a +term of years, varying in different States from one to four. The Senators +are elected for like periods, and the Representatives are chosen for one +or two years. The largest number of Representatives for any one State is +356. + +Nearly all power in the United States is held to a great extent on popular +sufferance; it emanates from the will of the majority, no matter how +vicious or how ignorant that majority may be. In some cases this leads to +a slight alteration of the Latin axiom, _Salus populi est suprema lex_, +which may be read, "the _will_ of the people is the supreme law." The +American constitution is admirable in theory; it enunciates the +incontrovertible principle, "All men are free and equal." But +unfortunately, a serious disturbing element, and one which by its indirect +effects threatens to bring the machinery of the Republic to a "dead lock," +appears not to have entered into the calculations of these political +theorists. + +This element is slavery, which exists in fifteen out of thirty-one states, +and it is to be feared that by a recent act of the legislature the power +to extend it is placed in the hands of the majority, should that majority +declare for it, in the new States. The struggle between the advocates of +freedom and slavery is now convulsing America; it has already led to +outrage and bloodshed in the State of Kansas, and appearances seem to +indicate a prolonged and disastrous conflict between the North and South. +The question is one which cannot be passed over by any political party in +the States. Perhaps it may not be universally known in England that +slavery is a part of the ratified Constitution of the States, and that the +Government is bound to maintain it in its integrity. Its abolition must be +procured by an important change in the constitution, which _would_ shake, +and _might_ dislocate, the vast and unwieldy Republic. Each State, I +believe, has it in its power to abolish slavery within its own limits, but +the Federal Government has no power to introduce a modification of the +system in any. The federal compact binds the Government "not to meddle +with slavery in the States where it exists, to protect the owners in the +case of runaway slaves, and to defend them in the event of invasion or +domestic violence on account of it." _Thus the rights and property in +slaves of the slaveholders are legally guaranteed to them by the +Constitution of the United States._ At the last census the slaves amounted +to more than 3,000,000, or about an eighth of the population, and +constitute an alien body, neither exercising the privileges nor animated +by the sentiments of the rest of the commonwealth. Slavery at this moment, +as it is the curse and the shame, is also the canker of the Union. By it, +by the very constitution of a country which proudly boasts of freedom, +three millions of intelligent and responsible beings are reduced to the +level of mere property--property legally reclaimable, too, in the Free +States by an act called the Fugitive Slave Act. That there are +slaveholders amiable, just, and humane, there is not a doubt; but slavery +in its practice as a system deprives these millions of knowledge, takes +away from them the Bible, keeps a race in heathen ignorance in a Christian +land, denies to the slaves compensation for their labour, the rights of +marriage and of the parental relation, which are respected even among the +most savage nations; it sustains an iniquitous internal slave-trade--it +corrupts the owners, and casts a slur upon the dignity of labour. It acts +as an incubus on public improvement, and vitiates public morals; and it +proves a very formidable obstacle to religion, advancement, and national +unity; and so long as it shall remain a part of the American constitution, +it gives a living lie to the imposing declaration, "All men are free and +equal." + +Where the whole machinery of government is capable of being changed or +modified by the will of the people while the written constitution remains, +and where hereditary and territorial differences of opinion exist on very +important subjects, it is not surprising that party spirit should run very +high. Where the highest offices in the State are neither lucrative enough +nor permanent enough to tempt ambition--where, in addition, their +occupants are appointed by the President merely for a short term--and +where the highest dignity frequently precedes a lifelong obscurity, the +notoriety of party leadership offers a great inducement to the aspiring. +Party spirit pervades the middle and lower ranks; every man, almost every +woman, belongs to some party or other, and aspires to some political +influence. + +Any person who takes a prominent part either in local or general politics +is attacked on the platform and by the press, with a fierceness, a +scurrility, and a vulgarity which spare not even the sanctity of private +life. The men of wealth, education, and talent, who have little either to +gain or lose, and who would not yield up any carefully adopted principle +to the insensate clamour of an unbridled populace, stand aloof from public +affairs, with very few exceptions. The men of letters, the wealthy +merchants, the successful in any profession, are not to be met with in the +political arena, and frequently abstain even from voting at the elections. +This indisposition to mix in politics probably arises both from the coarse +abuse which assails public men, and from the admitted inability, under +present circumstances, to stem the tide of corrupt practices, mob-law, and +intimidation, which are placing the United States under a tyranny as +severe as that of any privileged class--the despotism of a turbulent and +unenlightened majority. Numbers are represented _exclusively_, and partly +in consequence, property, character, and stake in the country are the last +things which would be deemed desirable in a candidate for popular favour. + +Owing to the extraordinary influx of foreigners, an element has been +introduced which could scarcely have entered into the views of the framers +of the Constitution, and is at this time the great hindrance to its +beneficial working. The large numbers of Irish Romanists who have +emigrated to the States, and whose feelings are too often disaffected and +anti-American, evade the naturalisation laws, and, by surreptitiously +obtaining votes, exercise a most mischievous influence upon the elections. +Education has not yet so permeated the heterogeneous mass of the people as +to tell effectually upon their choice of representatives. The electors are +caught by claptrap, noisy declamation, and specious promises, coupled with +laudatory comments upon the sovereign people. As the times for the +elections approach, the candidates of the weaker party endeavour to obtain +favour and notoriety by leading a popular cry. The declamatory vehemence +with which certain members of the democratic party endeavoured to fasten a +quarrel upon England at the close of 1855 is a specimen of the political +capital which is too often relied upon in the States. + +The enormous numbers of immigrants who annually acquire the rights of +citizenship, without any other qualification for the franchise than their +inability to use it aright, by their ignorance, turbulence, and often by +their viciousness, tend still further to degrade the popular assemblies. +It is useless to speculate upon the position in which America would be +without the introduction of this terrible foreign element; it may be +admitted that the republican form of government has not had a fair trial; +its present state gives rise to serious doubts in the minds of many +thinking men in the States, whether it can long continue in its present +form. + +The want of the elements of permanency in the Government keeps many +persons from entering into public life; and it would appear that merit and +distinguished talent, when accompanied by such a competence as renders a +man independent of the emoluments of office, are by no means a passport to +success. The stranger visiting the United States is surprised with the +entire absence of gentlemanly feeling in political affairs. They are +pervaded by a coarse and repulsive vulgarity; they are seldom alluded to +in the conversation of the upper classes; and the ruling power in this +vast community is in danger of being abandoned to corrupt agitators and +noisy charlatans. The President, the Members of Congress, and to a still +greater extent the members of the State Legislatures, are the _delegates_ +of a tyrannical majority rather than the _representatives_ of the people. +The million succeeds in exacting an amount of cringing political +subserviency, in attempting to obtain which, in a like degree, few despots +have been successful. + +The absence of a property qualification, the short term for which the +representatives are chosen, and the want, in many instances, of a +pecuniary independence among them, combined with a variety of other +circumstances, place the members of the Legislatures under the direct +control of the populace; they are its servile tools, and are subject to +its wayward impulses and its proverbial fickleness; hence the remarkable +absence of any fixed line of policy. The public acts of America are +isolated; they appear to be framed for the necessities of the moment, +under the influence of popular clamour or pressure; and sometimes seem +neither to recognise engagements entered into in the past, or the probable +course of events in the future. America does not possess a traditional +policy, and she does not recognise any broad and well-defined principle as +the rule for her conduct. The national acts of spoliation or meanness +which have been sanctioned by the Legislature may be distinctly traced to +the manner in which the primary elections are conducted. It is difficult, +if not impossible, for the European governments to do more than guess at +the part which America will take on any great question--whether, in the +event of a collision between nations, she will observe an impartial +neutrality, or throw the weight of her influence into the scale of liberty +or despotism. + +It is to be feared that political morality is in a very low state. The +ballot secures the electors from even the breath of censure by making them +irresponsible; few men dare to be independent. The plea of expediency is +often used in extenuation of the grossest political dishonesty. To obtain +political favour or position a man must stoop very low; he must cultivate +the good will of the ignorant and the vicious; he must excite and minister +to the passions of the people; he must flatter the bad, and assail the +honourable with unmerited opprobrium. While he makes the assertion that +his country has a monopoly of liberty, the very plan which he is pursuing +shows that it is fettered by mob rule. No honourable man can use these +arts, which are, however, a high-road to political eminence. It is +scarcely necessary to remark upon the effect which is produced in society +generally by this political corruption. + +The want of a general and high standard of morality is very apparent. That +dishonesty which is so notoriously and often successfully practised in +political life is not excluded from the dealings of man with man. + +It is jested about under the name of "smartness," and commended under that +of "cuteness," till the rule becomes of frequent and practical +application, that the disgrace attending a dishonourable transaction lies +only in its detection,--that a line of conduct which custom has sanctioned +in public life cannot be very blameable in individual action. + +While the avenues to distinction in public life are in great measure +closed against men of honour, wealth offers a sure road to eminence, and +the acquisition of it is the great object followed. It is often sought and +obtained by means from which considerations of honesty and morality are +omitted; but there is not, as with us, that righteous censorship of public +opinion which brands dishonesty with infamy, and places the offender +apart, in a splendid leprosy, from the society to which he hoped wealth +would be a passport. If you listen to the conversation in cars, +steamboats, and hotels, you become painfully impressed with the absence of +moral truth which pervades the country. The success of Barnum, the immense +popularity of his infamous autobiography, and the pride which large +numbers feel in his success, instance the perverted moral sense which is +very much the result of the absence of principle in public life; for the +example of men in the highest positions in a state must influence the +masses powerfully either for good or evil. A species of moral obliquity +pervades a large class of the community, by which the individuals +composing it are prevented from discerning between truth and falsehood, +except as either tends to their own personal aggrandisement. Thus truth is +at a fearful discount, and men exult in successful roguery, as though a +new revelation had authorised them to rank it among the cardinal virtues. + +These remarks apply to a class, unfortunately a very numerous one, of the +existence of which none are more painfully conscious than the good among +the Americans themselves. Of the upper class of merchants, + manufacturers, shipbuilders, &c., it would be difficult to speak too +highly. They have acquired a world-wide reputation for their uprightness, +punctuality, and honourable dealings in all mercantile transactions. + +The oppression which is exercised by a tyrant majority is one leading +cause of the numerous political associations which exist in the States. +They are the weapons with which the weaker side combats the numerically +superior party. When a number of persons hit upon a grievance, real or +supposed, they unite themselves into a society, and invite delegates from +other districts. With a celerity which can scarcely be imagined, +declarations are issued and papers established advocating party views; +public meetings are held, and a complete organization is secured, with +ramifications extending all over the country. A formidable and compact +body thus arises, and it occasionally happens that such a society, +originating in the weakness of a minority, becomes strong enough to +dictate a course of action to the Executive. + +Of all the associations ever formed, none promised to exercise so +important an influence as that of the Know-nothings, or the American +party. It arose out of the terrific spread of a recognised evil--namely, +the power exercised upon the Legislature by foreigners, more especially by +the Irish Romanists. The great influx of aliens, chiefly Irish and +Germans, who speedily or unscrupulously obtain the franchise, had caused +much alarm throughout the country. It was seen that the former, being +under the temporal and spiritual domination of their priests, and through +them under an Italian prince, were exerting a most baneful influence upon +the republican institutions of the States. Already in two or more States +the Romanists had organised themselves to interfere with the management of +the public schools. This alarm paved the way for the rapid extension of +the new party, which first made its appearance before men's eyes with a +secret organization and enormous political machinery. Its success was +unprecedented. Favoured by the secresy of the ballot, it succeeded in +placing its nominees in all the responsible offices in several of the +States. Other parties appeared paralysed, and men yielded before a +mysterious power of whose real strength they were in complete ignorance. +The avowed objects of the Know-nothings were to establish new +naturalization laws, prohibiting any from acquiring the franchise without +a residence of twenty-one years in the States--to procure the exclusion of +Romanists from all public offices--to restore the working of the +constitution to its original purity--and to guarantee to the nation +religious freedom, a free Bible, and free schools; in fact, to secure to +_Americans_ the right which they are in danger of ceasing to possess-- +namely, that of governing themselves. + +The objects avowed in the preliminary address were high and holy; they +stirred the patriotism of those who writhed under the tyranny of an +heterogeneous majority, while the mystery of nocturnal meetings, and a +secret organization, conciliated the support of the young and ardent. For +a time a hope was afforded of the revival of a pure form of republican +government, but unfortunately the Know-nothing party contained the +elements of dissolution within itself. Some of its principles savoured of +intolerance, and of persecution for religious opinions, and it ignored the +subject of slavery. This can never be long excluded from any party +consideration, and, though politicians strive to evade it, the question +still recurs, and will force itself into notice. Little more than a year +after the Know-nothings were first heard of, they came into collision with +the subject, in the summer of 1855, and, after stormy dissensions at their +great convention, broke up into several branches, some of which totally +altered or abandoned the original objects of their association. + +Their triumph was brief: some of the States in which they were the most +successful have witnessed their signal overthrow, [Footnote: At several of +the state elections at the close of 1855 the Know-nothings succeeded in +placing their nominees in public offices, partly by an abandonment of some +of their original aims.] and it is to be feared that no practical good +will result from their future operations. But the good cause of +constitutional government in America is not lost with their failure-- +public opinion, whenever it shall be fairly appealed to, will declare +itself in favour of truth and order; the conservative principle, though +dormant, is yet powerful; and, though we may smile at republican +inconsistencies, and regret the state into which republican government has +fallen, it is likely that America contains the elements of renovation +within herself, and will yet present to the world the sublime spectacle of +a free people governing itself by just laws, and rejoicing in the purity +of its original republican institutions. + +The newspaper press is one of the most extraordinary features in the +United States. Its influence is omnipresent. Every party in religion, +politics, or morals, speaks, not by one, but by fifty organs; and every +nicely defined shade of opinion has its voices also. Every town of large +size has from ten to twenty daily papers; every village has its three or +four; and even a collection of huts produces its one "daily," or two or +three "weeklies." These prints start into existence without any fiscal +restrictions: there is neither stamp nor paper duty. Newspapers are not a +luxury, as with us, but a necessary of life. They vary in price from one +halfpenny to threepence, and no workman who could afford his daily bread +would think of being without his paper. Hundreds of them are sold in the +hotels at breakfast-time; and in every steamer and railway car, from the +Atlantic ocean to the western prairies, the traveller is assailed by +newsboys with dozens of them for sale. They are bought in hundreds +everywhere, and are greedily devoured by men, women, and children. Almost +as soon as the locality of a town is chosen, a paper starts into life, +which always has the effect of creating an antagonist. + +The newspapers in the large cities spare no expense in obtaining, either +by telegraph or otherwise, the earliest intelligence of all that goes on +in the world. Every item of English news appears in the journals, from the +movements of the court to those of the _literati_; and a weekly summary of +parliamentary intelligence is always given. Any remarkable law proceedings +are also succinctly detailed. It follows, that a dweller at Cincinnati or +New Orleans is nearly as well versed in English affairs as a resident of +Birmingham, and English politics and movements in general are very +frequent subjects of conversation. Since the commencement of the Russian +war the anxiety for English intelligence has increased, and every item of +Crimean or Baltic news, as recorded in the letters of the "special +correspondents," is reprinted in the American papers without abridgment, +and is devoured by all classes of readers. The great fault of most of +these journals is their gross personality; even the privacy of domestic +life is invaded by their Argus-eyed scrutiny. The papers discern +everything, and, as everybody reads, no current events, whether in +politics, religion, or the world at large, are unknown to the masses. The +contents of an American paper are very miscellaneous. Besides the news of +the day, it contains congressional and legal reports, exciting fiction, +and reports of sermons, religious discussions, and religious +anniversaries. It prys into every department of society, and informs its +readers as to the doings and condition of all. + +Thus every party and sect has a daily register of the most minute sayings +and doings, and proceedings and progress of every other sect; and as truth +and error are continually brought before the masses, they have the +opportunity to know and compare. There are political parties under the +names of Whigs, Democrats, Know-nothings, Freesoilers, Fusionists, +Hunkers, Woolly-heads, Dough-faces, Hard-shells, Soft-shells, Silver- +greys, and I know not what besides; all of them extremely puzzling to the +stranger, but of great local significance. There are about a hundred so- +called religious denominations, from the orthodox bodies and their +subdivisions to those professing the lawless fanaticism of Mormonism, or +the chilling dogmas of Atheism. All these parties have their papers, and +each "movement" has its organ. The "Woman's Right Movement" and the +"Spiritual Manifestation Movement" have several. + +There is a continual multiplication of papers, corresponding, not only to +the increase of population, but to that of parties and vagaries. The +increasing call for editors and writers brings persons into their ranks +who have neither the education nor the intelligence to fit them for so +important an office as the _irresponsible guidance_ of the people. They +make up for their deficiencies in knowledge and talent by fiery and +unprincipled partisanship, and augment the passions and prejudices of +their readers instead of placing the truth before them. The war carried on +between papers of opposite principles is something perfectly terrific. The +existence of many of these prints depends on the violent passions which +they may excite in their supporters, and frequently the editors are men of +the most unprincipled character. The papers advocating the opinions of the +different religious denominations are not exempt from the charge of +personalities and abusive writing. No discord is so dread as that carried +on under the cloak of religion, and religious journalism in the States is +on a superlatively bitter footing. + +But evil as is, to a great extent, the influence exercised by the press, +terrible as is its scrutiny, and unlimited as is its power, destitute of +principle as it is in great measure, it has its bright as well as its dark +side. Theories, opinions, men, and things, are examined into and sifted +until all can understand their truth and error. The argument of antiquity +or authority is exploded and ridiculed, and the men who seek to sustain +antiquated error on the foundation of effete tradition are compelled to +prove it by scripture or reason. Yet such are the multitudinous and +tortuous ways in which everything is discussed, that multitudes of persons +who have neither the leisure nor ability to reflect for themselves know +not what to believe, and there is a very obvious absence of attachment to +clear and strongly defined principles. The great circulation which the +newspapers enjoy may be gathered, without giving copious statistics, from +the fact that one out of the many New York journals has a circulation of +187,000 copies. [Footnote: There are now about 400 daily newspapers in the +States: their aggregate circulation is over 800,000 copies. There are 2217 +weekly papers, with an aggregate circulation of 3,100,057 copies; and the +total aggregate circulation of all the prints is about 5,400,000 copies. +In one year about 423,000,000 copies of newspapers were printed and +circulated.] The _New York Tribune_ may be considered the "leading +journal" of America, but it adheres to one set of principles, and Mr. +Horace Greely, the editor, has the credit of being a powerful advocate of +the claims of morality and humanity. + +It is impossible for a stranger to form any estimate of the influence +really possessed by religion in America. I saw nothing which led me to +doubt the assertion made by persons who have opportunities of forming an +opinion, that "America and Scotland are the two most religious countries +in the world." + +The Sabbath is well observed, not only, as might be expected, in the New +England States, but in the large cities of the Union; and even on the +coasts of the Pacific the Legislature of California has passed an act for +its better observance in that State. It is probable that, in a country +where business pursuits and keen competition are carried to such an +unheard-of extent, all classes feel the need of rest on the seventh day, +and regard the Sabbath as a physical necessity. The churches of all +denominations are filled to overflowing; the proportion of communicants to +attendants is very large; and the foreign missions, and other religious +societies, are supported on a scale of remarkable liberality. + +There is no established church or dominant religious persuasion in the +States. There are no national endowments; all are on the same footing, and +live or die as they obtain the suffrages of the people. While the State +does not recognise any one form of religion, it might be expected that she +would assist the ministers of all. Such is not the case; and, though +Government has wisely thought it necessary to provide for the education of +the people, it has not thought it advisable to make any provision for the +maintenance of religion. Every one worships after his own fashion; the +sects are numerous and subdivided; and all enjoy the blessings of a +complete religious toleration. + +Strange sects have arisen, the very names of which are scarcely known in +England, and each has numerous adherents. It may be expected that +fanaticism would run to a great height in the States. Among the 100 +different denominations which are returned in the census tables, the +following designations occur: Mormonites, Antiburgers, Believers in God, +Children of Peace, Disunionists; Danian, Democratic Gospel, and Ebenezer +Socialists; Free Inquirers, Inspired Church, Millerites, Menonites, New +Lights, Perfectionists, Pathonites, Pantheists, Tunkards, Restorationists, +Superalists, Cosmopolites, and hosts of others. + +The clergy depend for their salaries upon the congregations for whom they +officiate, and upon private endowments. The total value of church property +in the United States is estimated at 86,416,639 dollars, of which one-half +is owned in the States of Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. The +number of churches, exclusive of those in the newly-organised territories, +is about 38,000. There is one church for every 646 of the population. The +voluntary system is acted upon by each denomination, though it is slightly +modified in the Episcopalian church. In it, however, the bishops are +elected, the clergy are chosen by the people, and its affairs are +regulated by a convention. It is the oldest of the denominations, and is +therefore entitled to the first notice. + +It has 38 bishops, 1714 ministers, and 105,350 communicants. It has 1422 +churches, and its church property is estimated at 11,261,970 dollars. A +large number of the educated and wealthy are members of this body. Its +formularies, with the exception of some omissions and alterations, are the +same as those of the Church of England. Some of its bishops are men of +very high attainments. Dr. McIlvaine, the Bishop of Ohio, is a man of +great learning and piety, and is well known in England by his theological +writings. + +The Methodists are the largest religious body in America. As at home, they +have their strong sectional differences, but they are very useful, and are +particularly acceptable to the lower orders of society, and among the +coloured population. They possess 12,467 churches, 8389 ministers, and +1,672,519 communicants, and the value of their church property exceeds +14,000,000 dollars. + +The Presbyterians are perhaps the most important of the religious bodies, +as regards influence, education, and wealth. Their stronghold is in New +England. They have 7752 congregations, 5807 ministers, and 680,021 +communicants. Their church property is of the value of 14,000,000 dollars. + +The Baptists are very numerous. They have 8181 churches, 8525 ministers, +1,058,754 communicants, and church property to the amount of 10,931,382 +dollars. + +The Congregationalists possess 1674 churches, 1848 ministers, and 207,609 +communicants. Their property is of the value of 7,973,962 dollars. + +The Roman Catholics possessed at the date of the last census 1112 +churches, and church property to the amount of 9,000,000 dollars. + +There is church accommodation for about 14,000,000 persons, or +considerably more than half the population. There are 35,000 Sabbath +schools, with 250,000 teachers, and 2,500,000 scholars. Besides the large +number of churches, religious services are held in many schools and +courthouses, and even in forests and fields. The dissemination of the +Bible is on the increase. In last year the Bible Society distributed +upwards of 11,000,000 copies. The Society for Religious Publications +employed 1300 colporteurs, and effected sales during the year to the +amount of 526,000 dollars. The principal of the religious societies are +for the observance of the sabbath, for temperance, anti-slavery objects, +home missions, foreign missions, &c. The last general receipts of all +these societies were 3,053,535 dollars. + +In the State of Massachusetts the Unitarians are a very influential body, +numbering many of the most intellectual and highly educated of the +population. These, however, are divided upon the amount of divinity with +which they shall invest our Lord. + +The hostile spirit which animates some of the religious journals has been +already noticed. There is frequently a good deal of rivalry between the +members of the different sects; but the way in which the ministers of the +orthodox denominations act harmoniously together for the general good is +one of the most pleasing features in America. The charitable religious +associations are on a gigantic scale, and are conducted with a liberality +to which we in England are strangers. The foreign missions are on a +peculiarly excellent system, and the self-denying labours and zeal of +their missionaries are fully recognised by all who have come in contact +with them. No difficulty is experienced in obtaining money for these +objects; it is only necessary to state that a certain sum is required, +and, without setting any begging machinery to work, donations exceeding +the amount flow in from all quarters. + +Altogether it would appear from the _data_ which are given that the +religious state of America is far more satisfactory than could be expected +from so heterogeneous a population. The New England States possess to a +great extent the externals of religion, and inherit in a modified degree +the principles of their Puritan ancestors; and the New Englanders have +emigrated westward in large numbers, carrying with them to the newly +settled States the leaven of religion and morality. The churches of every +denomination are crowded, and within my observation by as many gentlemen +as ladies; but that class of aspiring spirits, known under the name of +"_Young America_," boasts a perfect freedom from religious observances of +every kind. + +There is a creed known by the name of Universalism, which is a compound of +Antinomianism with several other forms of error, and embraces tens of +thousands within its pale. It often verges upon the most complete +Pantheism, and is very popular with large numbers of the youth of America. + +There is a considerable amount of excitement kept up by the religious +bodies in the shape of public re-unions, congregational _soirées_, and the +like, producing a species of religious dissipation, very unfavourable, I +should suppose, to the growth of true piety. This system, besides aiding +the natural restlessness of the American character, gives rise to a good +deal of spurious religion, and shortens the lives and impairs the +usefulness of the ministers by straining and exhausting their physical +energies. + +To the honour of the clergy of the United States it must be observed that +they keep remarkably clear from party-politics, contrasting in this +respect very favourably with the priests of the Church of Rome, who throw +the weight of their influence into the scale of extreme democracy and +fanatical excesses. The unity of action which their ecclesiastical system +ensures to them makes their progressive increase much to be deprecated. + +It is owing in great measure to the efforts of the ministers of religion +that the unbending principles of truth and right have any hold upon the +masses; they are ever to be found on the side of rational and +constitutional liberty in its extreme form, as opposed to licence and +anarchy; and they give the form of practical action to the better feelings +of the human mind. Amid the great difficulties with which they are +surrounded, owing to the want of any fixed principles of right among the +masses, they are ever seeking to impress upon the public mind that the +undeviating laws of morality and truth cannot be violated with impunity +any more by millions than by individuals, and that to nations, as to +individuals, the day of reckoning must sooner or later arrive. + +The voluntary system in religion, as it exists in its unmodified form in +America, has one serious attendant evil. Where a minister depends for his +income, not upon the contributions to a common fund, as is the case in the +Free Church of Scotland, but upon the congregation unto which he +ministers, his conscience is to a dangerous extent under the power of his +hearers. In many instances his uncertain pecuniary relations with them +must lead him to slur over popular sins, and keep the unpalatable +doctrines of the Bible in the background, practically neglecting to convey +to fallen and wicked man his Creator's message, "Repent, and believe the +Gospel." It has been found impossible in the States to find a just medium +between state-support, and the apathy which in the opinion of many it has +a tendency to engender, and an unmodified voluntary system, with the +subservience and "high-pressure" which are incidental to it. + +Be this as it may, the clergy of the United States deserve the highest +honour for their high standard of morality, the fervour of their +ministrations, the zeal of their practice, and their abstinence from +politics. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +General remarks continued--The common schools--Their defect--Difficulties +--Management of the schools--The free academy--Railways--Telegraphs-- +Poverty--Literature--Advantages for emigrants--Difficulties of emigrants-- +Peace or war--Concluding observations. + + +At a time when the deficiencies of our own educational system are so +strongly felt, it may be well to give an outline of that pursued in the +States. The following statistics, taken from the last census, show that +our Transatlantic brethren have made great progress in moral and +intellectual interests. + +At the period when the enumeration was made there were 80,958 public +schools, with 91,966 teachers, and 2,890,507 scholars; 119 colleges, with +11,903 students; 44 schools of theology; 36 schools of medicine; and 16 +schools of law. Fifty millions of dollars were annually spent for +education, and the proportion of scholars to the community was as 1 to 5. + +But it is to the common-school system that the attention should be +particularly directed. I may premise that it has one unavoidable defect, +namely, the absence of religious instruction. It would be neither possible +nor right to educate the children in any denominational creed, or to +instruct them in any particular doctrinal system, but would it not, to +take the lowest ground, be both prudent and politic to give them a +knowledge of the Bible, as the only undeviating rule and standard of truth +and right? May not the obliquity of moral vision, which is allowed to +exist among a large class of Americans, be in some degree chargeable to +those who have the care of their education--who do not place before them, +as a part of their instruction, those principles of truth and morality, +which, as revealed in Holy Scripture, lay the whole universe under +obligations to obedience? History and observation alike show the little +influence practically possessed by principles destitute of superior +authority, how small the restraint exercised by conscience is, and how far +those may wander into error who once desert "Life's polar star, the fear +of God." In regretting the exclusion of religious instruction from the +common-school system, the difficulties which beset the subject must not be +forgotten, the multiplicity of the sects, and the very large number of +Roman Catholics. In schools supported by a rate levied indiscriminately on +all, to form a course of instruction which could bear the name of a +religious one, and yet meet the views of all, and clash with the +consciences and prejudices of none, was manifestly impossible. The +religious public in the United States has felt that there was no tenable +ground between thorough religious instruction and the broadest toleration. +Driven by the circumstances of their country to accept the latter course, +they have exerted themselves to meet this omission in the public schools +by a most comprehensive Sabbath-school system. But only a portion of the +children under secular instruction in the week attend these schools; and +it must be admitted that to bestow intellectual culture upon the pupils, +without giving them religious instruction, is to draw forth and add to the +powers of the mind, without giving it any helm to guide it; in other +words, it is to increase the capacity, without diminishing the propensity, +to do evil. + +Apart from this important consideration, the educational system pursued in +the States is worthy of the highest praise, and of an enlightened people +in the nineteenth century. The education is conducted at the public +expense, and the pupils consequently pay no fees. Parents feel that a free +education is as much a part of the birthright of their children as the +protection which the law affords to their life and property. + +The schools called common schools are supported by an education rate, and +in each State are under the administration of a general board of +education, with local boards, elected by all who pay the rate. In the +State of Massachusetts alone the sum of 921,532 dollars was raised within +the year, being at the rate of very nearly a dollar for every inhabitant. +Under the supervision of the General Board of Education in the State, +schools are erected in districts according to the educational necessities +of the population, which are periodically ascertained by a census. + +To give some idea of the system adopted, I will just give a sketch of the +condition of education in the State of New York, as being the most +populous and important. + +There is a "state tax," or "appropriation," of 800,000 dollars, and this +is supplemented by a rate levied on real and personal property. Taking as +an authority the return made to the Legislature for the year ending in +1854, the total sum expended for school purposes within the State amounted +to 2,469,248 dollars. The total number of children in the organised +districts of the State was 1,150,532, of whom 862,935 were registered as +being under instruction. The general management of education within the +State is vested in a central board, with local boards in each of the +organised districts, to which the immediate government and official +supervision of the schools are intrusted. + +The system comprises the common schools, with their primary and upper +departments, a normal school for the preparation of teachers, and a free +academy. In the city of New York there are 224 schools in the receipt of +public money, of which 25 are for coloured children, and the number of +pupils registered is given at 133,813. These common or ward schools are +extremely handsome, and are fitted up at great expense, with every modern +improvement in heating and ventilation. Children of every class, residing +within the limits of the city, are admissible without payment, as the +parents of all are supposed to be rated in proportion to their means. + +There is a principal to each school, assisted by a numerous and efficient +staff of teachers, who in their turn are expected to go through a course +of studies at the Normal School. The number of teachers required for these +schools is very great, as the daily attendance in two of them exceeds +2000. The education given is so very superior, and habits of order and +propriety are so admirably inculcated, that it is not uncommon to see the +children of wealthy storekeepers side by side with those of working +mechanics. In each school there is one large assembly-room, capable of +accommodating from 500 to 1000 children, and ten or twelve capacious +class-rooms. Order is one important rule, and, that it may be acted upon, +there is no overcrowding--the pupils being seated at substantial mahogany +desks only holding two. + +The instruction given comprises all the branches of a liberal education, +with the exception of languages. There is no municipal community out of +America in which the boon of a first-rate education is so freely offered +to all as in the city of New York. There is no child of want who may not +freely receive an education which will fit him for any office in his +country. The common school is one of the glories of America, and every +citizen may be justly proud of it. It brings together while in a pliant +condition the children of people of different origins; and besides +diffusing knowledge among them, it softens the prejudices of race and +party, and carries on a continual process of assimilation. + +The Board of Education of New York has lately thrown open several of these +schools in the evening, and with very beneficial results. The number of +pupils registered last year was 9313. Of these, 3400 were above the age of +16 and under 21, and 1100 were above the age of 21. These evening-schools +entailed an additional expense of 17,563 dollars; the whole expenditure +for school purposes in the city being 430,982 dollars. In the ward and +evening schools of New York, 133,000 individuals received instruction. +Each ward, or educational district, elects 2 commissioners, 2 inspectors, +and 8 trustees. The duties of the inspectors are very arduous, as the +examinations are frequent and severe. + +The crowning educational advantage offered by this admirable system is the +Free Academy. This academy receives its pupils solely from the common +schools. Every person presenting himself as a candidate must be more than +13 years of age, and, having attended a common school for 12 months, he +must produce a certificate from the principal that he has passed a good +examination in spelling, reading, writing, English grammar, arithmetic, +geography, elementary book-keeping, history of the United States, and +algebra. This institution extends to the pupils in the common schools the +advantage of a free education in those higher departments of learning +which cannot be acquired without considerable expense in any other +college. The yearly examination of candidates for admission takes place +immediately after the common school examinations in July. There are at +present nearly 600 students under the tuition of 14 professors, and as +many tutors as may be required. The course of study extends over a period +of 5 years, and is very complete and severe. Owing to the principle +adopted in their selection, the pupils, representing every social and +pecuniary grade in society, present a very high degree of scholarship and +ability. In this academy the vestiges of antagonism between the higher and +lower classes are swept away. Indeed, the poor man will feel that he has a +greater interest in sustaining this educational system than the rich, +because he can only obtain through it those advantages for his children +which the money of the wealthy can procure from other sources. He will be +content with his daily toil, happy in the thought that, by the wise +provision of his government, the avenues to fame, preferment, and wealth, +are opened as freely to his children as to those of the richest citizen in +the land. + +In order to secure a supply of properly qualified teachers, the Board of +Education has established a normal school, which numbers about 400 pupils. +Most of these are assistant-teachers in the common schools, and attend the +normal school on Saturdays, to enable themselves to obtain further +attainments, and higher qualifications for their profession. + +Under this system of popular education, the average cost per scholar for 5 +years, including books, stationery, fuel, and all other expenses, is 7 +dollars 2 cents per annum. This system of education is followed in nearly +all the States; and while it reflects the highest credit on America, it +contrasts strangely with the niggard plan pursued in England, where so +important a thing as the education of the people depends almost entirely +on precarious subscriptions and private benevolence. + +With a gratuitous and comprehensive educational system, it may excite some +surprise that the citizens of New York and other of the populous cities +are compelled to supplement the common schools with those for the +shoeless, the ragged, and the vicious, very much on the plan of our Scotch +and English ragged-schools. Already the large cities of the New World are +approximating to the condition of those in the Old, in producing a +subsidence or deposit of the drunken, the dissolute, the vicious, and the +wretched. With parents of this class, education for their offspring is +considered of no importance, and the benevolent founders of these schools +are compelled to offer material inducements to the children to attend, in +the shape of food and clothing. At these schools, in place of the cleanly, +neat, and superior appearance of the children in the common schools, dirt, +rags, shoeless feet, and pallid, vicious, precocious countenances are to +be seen. Nothing destroys so effectually the external distinguishing +peculiarities of race as the habit of evil. There is a uniformity of +expression invariably produced, which is most painful. These children are +early taught to look upon virtue only as a cloak to be worn by the rich. +This dangerous and increasing class in New York is composed almost +entirely of foreign immigrants. The instruction in these schools is given +principally by ladies of high station and education. It is a noble feature +in New York "high life," and in process of time may diminish the gulf +which is widening between the different classes, and may lessen the +hideous contrasts which are presented between princely fortunes on the one +hand, and vicious poverty on the other. + +Taking the various schools throughout the Union, it is estimated that +between 4,000,000 and 5,000,000 individuals are at this time receiving +education. + +To turn from the social to the material features of the United States: +their system of internal communication deserves a brief notice, for by it +their resources have been developed to a prodigious extent. The system of +railways, telegraphs, and canal and river navigation presents an +indication of the wealth and advancement of the United States, as +wonderful as any other feature of her progress. She contains more miles of +railway than all the rest of the world put together. + +In a comparatively new country like America many of the items of expense +which attend the construction of railways in England are avoided; the +initiatory expenses are very small. In most of the States, all that is +necessary is, for the company to prove that it is provided with means to +carry out its scheme, when it obtains a charter from the Legislature at a +very small cost. In several States, including the populous ones of New +York and Ohio, no special charter is required, as a general railway law +prescribes the rules to be observed by joint-stock companies. Materials, +iron alone excepted, are cheap, and the right of way is usually freely +granted. In the older States land would not cost more than 20_l._ an acre. +Wood frequently costs nothing more than the labour of cutting it, and the +very level surface of the country renders tunnels, cuttings, and +embankments generally unnecessary. The average cost per mile is about +38,000 dollars, or 7600_l._ + +In States where land has become exceedingly valuable, land damages form a +heavy item in the construction of new lines, but in the South and West the +case is reversed, and the proprietors are willing to give as much land as +may be required, in return for having the resources of their localities +opened up by railway communication. It is estimated that the cost of +railways in the new States will not exceed 4000_l._ per mile. The termini +are plain, and have been erected at a very small expense, and many of the +wayside stations are only wooden sheds. Few of the lines have a double +line of rails, and the bridges or viaducts are composed of logs of wood, +with little ironwork and less paint, except in a few instances. Except +where the lines intersect cultivated districts, fences are seldom seen, +and the paucity of porters and other officials materially reduces the +working expenses. The common rate of speed is from 22 to 30 miles an hour, +but there are express trains which are warranted to perform 60 in a like +period. The fuel is very cheap, being billets of wood. The passenger and +goods traffic on nearly all the lines is enormous, and it is stated that +most of them pay a dividend of from 8 to 15 per cent. + +The primary design has been to connect the sea-coast with all parts of the +interior, the ulterior is to unite the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. At the +present time there are about 25,000 miles of railway in operation and +course of construction, and the average rate of fare is seldom more than +1_d._ per mile. Already the chief cities of the Atlantic have been +connected with the vast valley of the Mississippi, and before long the +regions bordering on Lake Huron and Lake Superior will be united with +Mobile and New Orleans. In addition to this enormous system of railway +communication, the canal and river navigation extends over 10,000 miles, +and rather more than 3000 steamboats float on American waters alone. + +The facilities for telegraphic communication in the States are a further +evidence of the enterprise of this remarkable people. They have now 22,000 +miles of telegraph in operation, and the cost of transmitting messages is +less than a halfpenny a word for any distance under 200 miles. The cost of +construction, including every outlay, is about 30_l._ per mile. The wires +are carried along the rail ways, through forests, and across cities, +rivers, and prairies. Messages passing from one very distant point to +another have usually to be re-written at an intermediate station; though +by an improved plan they have been transmitted direct from New York to +Mobile, a distance of 1800 miles. By the Cincinnati telegraphic route to +New Orleans, a distance from New York of 2000 miles, the news brought by +the British steamer to Sandy Hook at 8 in the morning has been telegraphed +to New Orleans, and before 11 o'clock the effects produced by it upon +speculations there have been returned to New York--the message +accomplishing a distance of 4000 miles in three hours. The receipts are +enormous, for, in consequence of the very small sum charged for +transmitting messages, as many as 600 are occasionally sent along the +principal lines in one day. The seven principal morning papers in New York +paid in one year 50,000 dollars for despatches, and 14,000 for special +messages. Messages connected with markets, public news, the weather, and +the rise and fall of stocks, are incessantly passing between the great +cities. Any change in the weather likely to affect the cotton-crop is +known immediately in the northern cities. While in the Exchange at Boston, +I witnessed the receipt of a telegraphic despatch announcing that a heavy +shower was falling at New Orleans! + +It must not be supposed that there is no poverty in the New World. During +one year 134,972 paupers were in the receipt of relief, of whom 59,000 +were in the State of New York; but to show the evil influence of the +foreign, more especially the Irish, element in America, it is stated that +75 per cent. of the criminals and paupers are foreigners. + +The larger portion of the crime committed is done under the influence of +spirits; and to impose a check upon their sale, that celebrated enactment, +known under the name of the "_Maine Law_" has been placed upon the +statute-books of several of the States, including the important ones of +New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Nebraska. This law +prohibits, under heavy penalties, the manufacture or sale of alcoholic +liquors. It has been passed in obedience to the will of the people, as +declared at the elections; and though to us its provisions seem somewhat +arbitrary, its working has produced very salutary effects. + +When so much importance is attached to education, and such a liberal +provision is made for it, it is to be expected that a taste for reading +would be universally diffused. And such is the case: America teems with +books. Every English work worth reading is reprinted in a cheap form in +the States as soon as the first copy crosses the Atlantic. Our reviews and +magazines appear regularly at half price, and Dickens' 'Household Words' +and 'Chambers' Journal' enjoy an enormous circulation without any +pecuniary benefit being obtained by the authors. Every one reads the +newspapers and 'Harper's Magazine,' and every one buys bad novels, on +worse paper, in the cars and steamboats. The States, although amply +supplied with English literature, have many popular authors of their own, +among whom may be named Prescott, Bancroft, Washington Irving, Stowe, +Stephens, Wetherall, Emerson, Longfellow, Lowell, and Bryant. Books are +very cheap wherever the editions of English works are concerned, and a +library is considered an essential part of the fitting up of a house. In +many of the States there are public libraries supported by a rate. In the +State of New York, in the year ending 1854, the Commissioners of Education +received 90,579 dollars for libraries. + +Perhaps the greatest advantage offered to emigrants is the opportunity +everywhere afforded of investing small sums of money advantageously. In +England, in most branches of trade, the low rate of wages renders it +impossible for the operative to save any portion of his earnings; and even +when he is able to do so, he can rarely obtain a higher rate of interest +for his money than that which the savings-banks offer. Economise as he +may, his hard-won savings seldom are sufficient to afford him a provision +in old age. In America, on the contrary, the man who possesses 5_l._ or +10_l._ has every hope of securing a competence. He may buy land in newly- +settled districts, which sometimes can be obtained at 7_s._ an acre, and +hold it till it becomes valuable, or he may obtain a few shares in any +thriving corporate concern. A hundred ways present themselves to the man +of intelligence and industry by which he may improve and increase his +little fortune. The necessaries of life are abundant and cheap, and, aided +by a free education, he has the satisfaction of a well-grounded hope that +his children will rise to positions of respectability and affluence, while +his old age will be far removed from the pressure of want. The knowledge +that each shilling saved may produce ten or twenty by judicious investment +is a constant stimulus to his industry. + +Yet, from all that I have seen and heard, I should think that Canada West +offers a more advantageous field for emigrants. Equally free and +unburdened by taxation, with the same social and educational advantages, +with an increasing demand for labour of every kind, with a rich soil, +extraordinary facilities of communication, and a healthy climate, +pauperism is unknown; fluctuations in commercial affairs are comparatively +small, and, above all, the emigrant is not exposed to the loss of +everything which he possesses as soon as he lands. + +An infamous class of swindlers, called "emigrant-runners," meet the poor +adventurer on his arrival at New York. They sell him second-class tickets +at the price of first-class, forged passes, and tickets to take him 1000 +miles, which are only available at the outside for 200 or 300. If he holds +out against their extortions, he is beaten, abused, loses his luggage for +a time, or is transferred to the tender mercies of the boarding-house +keeper, who speedily deprives him of his hard-earned savings. These +runners retard the westward progress of the emigrant in every way; they +charge enormous rates for the removal of his luggage from the wharf; they +plunder him in railway-cars, in steamboats, in lodging-houses; and if +Providence saves him from sinking into drunkenness and despair, and he can +be no longer detained, they sell him a lot in some non-existent locality, +or send him off to the west in search of some pretended employment. Too +frequently, after the emigrant has lost his money and property, sickened +by disappointment and deserted by hope, he is content to remain at New +York, where he contributes to increase that "dangerous class" already so +much feared in the Empire City. + +One point remains to be noticed, and that is, the feeling which exists in +America towards England. Much has been done to inflame animosity on each +side; national rivalries have been encouraged, and national jealousies +fomented. In travelling through the United States I expected to find a +very strong anti-English feeling. In this I was disappointed. It is true +that I scarcely ever entered a car, steamboat, or hotel, without hearing +England made a topic of discussion in connexion with the war; but, except +on a few occasions in the West, I never heard any other than kindly +feelings expressed towards our country. A few individuals would +prognosticate failure and disaster, and glory in the anticipation of a +"busting-up;" but these were generally "Kurnels" of militia, or newly- +arrived Irish emigrants. These last certainly are very noisy enemies, and +are quite ready to subscribe to the maxim, "That wherever England +possesses an interest, there an American wrong exists." Some of the papers +likewise write against England in no very measured terms; but it must be +borne in mind that declamatory speaking and writing are the safety-valves +of a free community, and the papers from which our opinion of American +feeling is generally taken do not represent even a respectable minority in +the nation. American commercial interests are closely interwoven with- +ours, and "Brother Jonathan" would not lightly go against his own +interests by rushing into war on slight pretences. + +While I was dining at an hotel in one of the great American cities a +gentleman proposed to an English friend of his to drink "Success to Old +England." Nearly two hundred students of a well-known college were +present, and one of them begged to join in drinking the toast on behalf of +his fellow-students. "For," he added, "we, in common with the educated +youth of America, look upon England as upon a venerated mother." I have +frequently heard this sentiment expressed in public places, and have often +heard it remarked that kindly feeling towards England is on the increase +in society. + +The news of the victory of the Alma was received with rejoicing; the +heroic self-sacrifice of the cavalry at Balaklava excited enthusiastic +admiration; and the glorious stand at Inkermann taught the Americans that +their aged parent could still defend the cause of freedom with the vigour +of youth. The disasters of the winter, and the gloomy months of inaction +which succeeded it, had the effect of damping their sympathies; the +prophets of defeat were for a time triumphant, and our fading prestige, +and reputed incapacity, were made the subjects of ill-natured discussion +by the press. But when the news of the fall of Sebastopol arrived, the +tone of the papers changed, and, relying on the oblivious memories of +their readers, they declared that they had always prophesied the +demolition of Russia. The telegraphic report of the victory was received +with rejoicing, and the ship which conveyed it to Boston was saluted with +thirty-one guns by the States artillery. + +The glory of the republic is based upon its advanced social principles and +its successful prosecution of the arts of peace. As the old military +despotisms cannot compete with it in wealth and enlightenment, so it +attempts no competition with them in standing armies and the arts of war. +National vanity is a failing of the Americans, and, if their military +prowess had never been proved before, they might seek to display it on +European soil; but their successful struggle with England in the War of +Independence renders any such display unnecessary. The institutions of the +States do not date from the military ages of the world, and the Federal +Constitution has made no provision for offensive war. The feeling of the +educated classes, and of an immense majority in the Free States, is +believed to be essentially English. Despotism and freedom can never unite; +and whatever may be the declamations of the democratic party, the opinion +of those who are acquainted with the state of popular feeling is that, if +the question were seriously mooted, a war with England or a Russian +alliance would secure to the promoters of either the indignation and +contempt which they would deserve. It is earnestly to be hoped, and I +trust that it may be believed, that none of us will live to see the day +when two nations, so closely allied by blood, religion, and the love of +freedom, shall engage in a horrible and fratricidal war. + +Such of the foregoing remarks as apply to the results of the vitiation of +the pure form of republican government delivered to America by Washington, +I have hazarded with very great diffidence. In England we know very little +of the United States, and, however candid the intentions of a tourist may +be, it is difficult in a short residence in the country so completely to +throw off certain prejudices and misapprehensions as to proceed to the +delineation of its social characteristics with any degree of fairness and +accuracy. The similarity of language, and to a great extent of customs and +manners, renders one prone rather to enter into continual comparisons of +America with England than to look at her from the point from which she +really ought to be viewed--namely, _herself_. There are, however, certain +salient points which present themselves to the interested observer, and I +have endeavoured to approach these in as candid a spirit as possible, not +exaggerating obvious faults, where there is so much to commend and admire. + +The following remarks were lately made to me by a liberal and enlightened +American on the misapprehensions of British observers:--"The great fault +of English travellers in this land very often is that they see all things +through spectacles which have been graduated to the age and narrow local +dimensions of things in England; and because things here are new, and all +that is good, instead of being concentrated into a narrow space so as to +be seen at one glance, is widely diffused so as not to be easily gauged-- +because, in other words, it is the spring here and not the autumn, and our +advance has the step of youth instead of the measured walk of age; and +because our refinements have not the precise customs to which they have +been accustomed at home, they turn away in mighty dissatisfaction. There +are excellences in varieties, and things which differ may both be good." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +The _America_--A gloomy departure--An ugly night--Morning at Halifax--Our +new passengers--Babies--Captain Leitch--A day at sea--Clippers and +steamers--A storm--An Atlantic moonlight--Unpleasant sensations--A gale-- +Inkermann--Conclusion. + + +On reaching Boston I found that my passage had been taken in the Cunard +steamer _America_, reputed to be the slowest and wettest of the whole +line. Some of my kind American friends, anxious to induce me to remain for +the winter with them, had exaggerated the dangers and discomforts of a +winter-passage; the December storms, the three days spent in crossing the +Newfoundland Banks, steaming at half-speed with fog-bells ringing and +foghorns blowing, the impossibility of going on deck, and the +disagreeableness of being shut up in a close heated saloon. It was with +all these slanders against the ship fresh in my recollection that I saw +her in dock on the morning of my leaving America, her large, shapeless, +wall-sided hull looming darkly through a shower of rain. The friends who +had first welcomed me to the States accompanied me to the vessel, +rendering my departure from them the more regretful, and scarcely had I +taken leave of them when a gun was fired, the lashings were cast off, and +our huge wheels began their ceaseless revolutions. + +It was in some respects a cheerless embarkation. The Indian summer had +passed away; the ground was bound by frost; driving showers of sleet were +descending; and a cold, howling, wintry wind was sweeping over the waters +of Massachusetts Bay. We were considerably retarded between Boston and +Halifax by contrary winds. I had retired early to my berth to sleep away +the fatigues of several preceding months, and was awoke about midnight by +the most deafening accumulation of sounds which ever stunned my ears. I +felt that I was bruised, and that the berth was unusually hard and cold; +and, after groping about in the pitch-darkness, I found that I had been +thrown out of it upon the floor, a fact soon made self-evident by my being +rolled across the cabin, a peculiarly disagreeable course of locomotion. +It was impossible to stand or walk, and in crawling across to my berth I +was assailed by my portmanteau, which was projected violently against me. +Further sleep for some hours was impossible. Bang! bang! would come a +heavy wave against the ship's side, close to my ears, as if trying the +strength of her timbers. Crash! crash! as we occasionally shipped heavy +seas, would the waves burst over the lofty bulwarks, and with a fall of +seven feet at once come thundering down on the deck above. Then one sound +asserted its claim to be heard over all the others--a sound as if our +decks were being stove--a gun or some other heavy body had broken loose, +and could not be secured. The incessant groaning, splitting, and heaving, +and the roar of the water through the scuppers, as it found a tardy egress +from the deluged deck, was the result of merely a "head-wind" and "an ugly +night." + +Late on the second evening of our voyage, I walked on deck. It was the +"fag-end" of a gale, and the rain was pouring down upon the slippery +planks. Brightly a skyrocket whizzed upwards from a distant ship, and +burst in a shower of flame, followed by two others, signalling our old +acquaintance the _Canada_, bound from Liverpool to Boston. We sent up some +fireworks in return, and soon lost sight of the friendly light on her +paddle-box. She was the only ship that we saw till we reached the Irish +coast. + +With some of the other passengers, I was on deck at five in the morning, +to see the lights on the heads of Halifax harbour. It was dark and +intensely cold and wet. A shower of rain had frozen on deck during the +night, and as it began to melt the water ran off in little sooty rills. +Slowly, shivering figures came on deck, men in envelopes of fur, and +oilskin capes and coats, with teeth chattering with cold, with wrinkled +brows, and blue cold noses. And slowly lightened the clear eastern sky, +and the crescent moon and stars disappeared one by one, and gradually the +low pine-clad hills of Nova Scotia stood out in dark relief against the +light, when, all of a sudden, "like a glory, the broad sun" rose behind +the purple moorlands, and soon hill and town and lake-like bay were bathed +in the cold glow of a winter sunrise. It was now half-past seven--the +morning-gun had boomed from the citadel, and, in honour of such an +important event as the arrival of the European steamer, it might have been +supposed that the inhabitants of the quiet town of Halifax would have been +astir. In this idea a Scotch friend and I stepped ashore with the +intention of visiting an Indian curiosity-shop. In dismal contrast to the +early habits which prevail in the American cities, where sleep is yielded +to as a necessity, instead of being indulged in as a luxury, we found the +shops closed, and, except the people immediately connected with the +steamer, none were stirring in the streets but ragged negroes and squalid- +looking Indians. A few 'cute enterprising Yankees would soon metamorphose +the aspect of this city. As an arrogant American once observed to me, "It +would take a 'Blue Nose' (a Nova-Scotian) as long to put on his hat as for +one of our free and enlightened citizens to go from Bosting to New +_Orleens_." The appearance of the town was very repulsive. A fall of snow +had thawed, and mixing with the dust, store-sweepings, cabbage-stalks, +oyster-shells, and other rubbish, had formed a soft and peculiarly +penetrating mixture from three to seven inches deep. + +Eighteen passengers joined the _America_ at Halifax, and among them I was +delighted to welcome my cousins, a party of seven, _en route_ from Prince +Edward Island to England. The two babies which accompanied them were +rather dreaded in prospect, but I believe that their behaviour gained them +general approbation. As dogs are not allowed on the poop or in the saloon, +a well-conditioned baby is rather a favourite in a ship; gentlemen of +amiable dispositions give it plenty of nursing and tossing, and stewards +regard it with benignant smiles, and occasionally offer it "titbits" +purloined from dinner. + +Among the passengers who joined us at Halifax were Captain Leitch, and +three of the wrecked officers of the steamship _City of Philadelphia_, +which was lost on Cape Race three months before. Captain Leitch is a +remarkable-looking man, very like the portraits of the Count of Monte +Christo. His heroism and presence of mind on the occasion of that terrible +disaster were the means of saving the lives of six hundred people, many of +whom were women and children. When the ship struck, the panic among this +large number of persons was of course awful; but so perfect was the +discipline of the crew, and so great their attachment to their commander, +that not a cabin-boy left the ship in that season of apprehension without +his permission. Captain Leitch said that he would be the last man to quit +the ship, and he kept his word; but the excitement, anxiety, and +subsequent exposure to cold and fatigue, more especially in his search +after the survivors of the ill-fated Arctic, brought on a malady from +which he was severely suffering. + +We had only sixty passengers on board, and the party was a remarkably +quiet one. There was a gentleman going to Paris as American consul, a +daily, animated, and untiring advocate of slavery; a Jesuit missionary, of +agreeable manners and cultivated mind, on his way to Rome to receive an +episcopal hat; two Jesuit brethren; five lively French people; and the +usual number of commercial travellers, agents, and storekeepers, +principally from Canada. There were very few ladies, and only three +besides our own party appeared in the saloon. For a few days after leaving +Halifax we had a calm sea and fair winds, accompanied with rain; and with +the exception of six unhappy passengers who never came upstairs during the +whole voyage, all seemed well enough to make the best of things. + +A brief description of the daily routine on board these ships may serve to +amuse those who have never crossed the Atlantic, and may recall agreeable +or disagreeable recollections, as the case may be, to those who have. + +During the first day or two those who are sea-sick generally remain +downstairs, and those who are well look sentimentally at the receding +land, and make acquaintances with whom they walk five or six in a row, +bearing down isolated individuals of anti-social habits. After two or +three days have elapsed, people generally lose all interest in the +novelty, and settle down to such pursuits as suit them best. At eight in +the morning the dressing-bell rings, and a very few admirable people get +up, take a walk on deck, and appear at breakfast at half-past eight. But +to most this meal is rendered a superfluity by the supper of the night +before--that condemned meal, which everybody declaims against, and +everybody partakes of. However, if only two or three people appear, the +long tables are adorned profusely with cold tongue, ham, Irish stew, +mutton-chops, broiled salmon, crimped cod, eggs, tea, coffee, chocolate, +toast, hot rolls, &c. &c.! These viands remain on the table till half-past +nine. After breakfast some of the idle ones come up and take a promenade +on deck, watch the wind, suggest that it has changed a little, look at the +course, ask the captain for the fiftieth time when he expects to be in +port, and watch the heaving of the log, when the officer of the watch +invariably tells them that the ship is running a knot or two faster than +her real speed, giving a glance of intelligence at the same time to some +knowing person near. Many persons who are in the habit of crossing twice +a-year begin cards directly after breakfast, and, with only the +interruption of meals, play till eleven at night. Others are equally +devoted to chess; and the commercial travellers produce small square books +with columns for dollars and cents, cast up their accounts, and bite the +ends of their pens. A bell at twelve calls the passengers to lunch from +their various lurking-places, and, though dinner shortly succeeds this +meal, few disobey the summons. There is a large consumption of pale ale, +hotch-potch, cold beef, potatoes, and pickles. These pickles are of a +peculiarly brilliant green, but, as the forks used are of electro-plate, +the daily consumption of copper cannot be ascertained. + +At four all the tables are spread; a bell rings--that "tocsin of the +soul," as Byron has sarcastically but truthfully termed the dinner-bell; +and all the passengers rush in from every quarter of the ship, and seat +themselves with an air of expectation till the covers are raised. Grievous +disappointments are often disclosed by the uplifted dish-covers, for it +must be confessed that to many people dinner is the great event of the +day, to be speculated upon before, and criticised afterwards. There is a +tureen of soup at the head of each table, and, as soon as the captain +takes his seat, twelve waiters in blue jackets, who have been previously +standing in a row, dart upon the covers, and after a few minutes of +intense clatter the serious business of eating begins. The stewards serve +with civility and alacrity, and seem to divine your wishes, their good +offices no doubt being slightly stimulated by the vision of a _douceur_ at +the end of the voyage. Long bills of fare are laid on the tables, and good +water, plentifully iced, is served with each meal. Wine, spirits, +liqueurs, and ale are consumed in large quantities, as also soups, fish, +game, venison, meat, and poultry of all kinds, with French side-dishes, a +profusion of jellies, puddings, and pastry, and a plentiful dessert of +fresh and preserved fruits. Many people complain of a want of appetite at +sea, and the number of bottles of "Perrin's Sauce" used in the Cunard +steamers must almost make the fortune of the maker. At seven o'clock the +tea-bell rings, but the tables are comparatively deserted, for from half- +past nine to half-past ten people can order whatever they please in the +way of supper. + +In the _America_, as it was a winter-passage, few persons chose to walk on +deck after dinner, consequently the saloon from eight till eleven +presented the appearance of a room at a fashionable hotel. There were two +regularly organised whist-parties, which played rubbers _ad infinitum_. +Cards indeed were played at most of the tables--some played backgammon--a +few would doze over odd volumes of old novels--while three chess-boards +would be employed at a time, for there were ten persons perfectly devoted +to this noble game. The varied employments of the occupants of the saloon +produced a strange mixture of conversations. One evening, while waiting +the slow movements of an opponent at chess, the following remarks in +slightly raised tones were audible above the rest:--"Do you really think +me pretty?--Oh flattering man!--Deuce, ace--Treble, double, and rub-- +That's a good hand--Check--It's your play--You've gammoned me--Ay, ay, +sir--Parbleu!--Holloa! steward, whisky-toddy for four--I totally despise +conventionalisms--Checkmate--Brandy-punch for six--You've thrown away all +your hearts"--and a hundred others, many of them demands for something +from the culinary department. Occasionally a forlorn wight, who neither +played chess nor cards, would venture on deck to kill time, and return +into the saloon panting and shivering, in rough surtout and fur cap, +bringing a chilly atmosphere with him, voted a bore for leaving the door +open, and totally unable to induce people to sympathise with him in his +complaints of rain, cold, or the "ugly night." By eleven the saloon used +to become almost unbearable, from the combined odours of roast onions, +pickles, and punch, and at half-past the lights were put out, and the +company dispersed, most to their berths, but some to smoke cigars on deck. + +Though the Cunard steamers are said by English people to be as near +perfection as steamers can be, I was sorry not to return in a clipper. +There is something so exhilarating in the motion of a sailing-vessel, +always provided she is neither rolling about in a calm, lying to in a +gale, or beating against a head-wind. She seems to belong to the sea, with +her tall tapering masts, her cloud of moving canvas, and her buoyant +motion over the rolling waves. Her movements are all comprehensible, and +_above-board_ she is invariably clean, and her crew are connected in one's +mind with nautical stories which charmed one in the long-past days of +youth. A steamer is very much the reverse. "Sam Slick," with his usual +force and aptitude of illustration, says that "she goes through the water +like a subsoil-plough with an eight-horse team." There is so much noise +and groaning, and smoke and dirt, so much mystery also, and the ship +leaves so much commotion in the water behind her. There do not seem to be +any regular sailors, and in their stead a collection of individuals +remarkably greasy in their appearance, who may be cooks or stokers, or +possibly both. Then you cannot go on the poop without being saluted by a +whiff of hot air from the grim furnaces below; men are always shovelling +in coal, or throwing cinders overboard; and the rig does not seem to +belong to any ship in particular. The masts are low and small, and the +canvas, which is always spread in fair weather, looks as if it had been +trailed along Cheapside on a wet day. In the _America_ it was not such a +very material assistance either; for on one occasion, when we were running +before a splendid breeze under a crowd of sail, the engines were stopped +and the log heaved, which only gave our speed at three miles an hour. One +lady passenger had been feeding her mind with stories of steamboat +explosions in the States, and spent her time in a morbid state of terror +by no means lessened by the close proximity of her state-room to the +dreaded engine. + +On the sixth day after leaving Halifax the wind, which everybody had been +hoping for or fearing, came upon us at last, and continued increasing for +three days, when, if we had been beating against it, we should have called +it a hurricane. It was, however, almost directly aft, and we ran before it +under sail. The sky during the two days which it lasted was perfectly +cloudless, and the sea had that peculiar deep, clear, greenish-blue tint +only to be met with far from land. There was a majesty, a sublimity about +the prospect from the poop exceeding everything which I had ever seen. +_There_ was the mighty ocean showing his power, and _here_ were we poor +insignificant creatures overcoming him by virtue of those heaven sent arts +by which man + + "Has made fire, flood, and earth, + The vassals of his will." + +I had often read of mountain waves, but believed the comparison to be a +mere figure of speech till I saw them here, all glorious in their beauty, +under the clear blue of a December sky. Two or three long high hills of +water seemed to fill up the whole horizon, themselves an aggregate of a +countless number of leaping, foam-capped waves, each apparently large +enough to overwhelm a ship. Huge green waves seemed to chase us, when, +just as they reached the stern, the ship would lift, and they would pass +under her. She showed especial capabilities for rolling. She would roll +down on one side, the billows seeming ready to burst in foam over her, +while the opposite bulwark was fifteen or eighteen feet above the water, +displaying her bright green copper. The nights were more glorious than the +days, when the broad full moon would shed her light upon the water with a +brilliancy unknown in our foggy clime. It did not look like a wan flat +surface, placed flat upon a watery sky, but like a large radiant sphere +hanging in space. The view from the wheel-house was magnificent. The +towering waves which came up behind us heaped together by mighty winds, +looked like hills of green glass, and the phosphorescent light like fiery +lamps within--the moonlight glittered upon our broad foamy wake--our masts +and spars and rigging stood out in sharp relief against the sky, while for +once our canvas looked white. Far in the distance the sharp bow would +plunge down into the foam, and then our good ship, rising, would shake her +shiny sides, as if in joy at her own buoyancy. The busy hum of men marred +not the solitary sacredness of midnight on the Atlantic. The moon "walked +in brightness," auroras flashed, and meteors flamed, and a sensible +presence of Deity seemed to pervade the transparent atmosphere in which we +were viewing "the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep." + +I could scarcely understand how this conjunction of circumstances could +produce any but agreeable sensations; but it is a melancholy fact that the +saloon emptied and the state-rooms filled, and the number of promenaders +daily diminished. People began to find the sea "an unpleasant fact." I +heard no more Byronic quotations about its "glad waters," or comments on +the "splendid run"--these were changed into anxious questions as to when +we should reach Liverpool? and, if we were in danger? People querulously +complained of the ale, hitherto their delight; abused the meat; thought +the mulligatawny "horrid stuff;" and wondered how they could ever have +thought plum-puddings fit for anything but pigs. Mysterious disappearances +were very common; diligent peripatetics were seen extended on sofas, or +feebly promenading under shelter of the bulwarks; while persons who prided +themselves on their dignity sustained ignominious falls, or clung to +railings in a state of tottering decrepitude, in an attempted progress +down the saloon. Though we had four ledges on the tables, cruets, bottles +of claret, and pickles became locomotive, and jumped upon people's laps; +almost everything higher than a plate was upset--pickles, wine, ale, and +oil forming a most odoriferous mixture; but these occurrences became too +common to be considered amusing. Two days before reaching England the gale +died away, and we sighted Cape Clear at eight o'clock on the evening of +the eleventh day out. A cold chill came off from the land, we were +enveloped in a damp fog, and the inclemency of the air reminded us of what +we had nearly forgotten, namely, that we were close upon Christmas. + +The greater part of Sunday we were steaming along in calm water, within +sight of the coast of Ireland, and extensive preparations were being made +for going ashore--some people of sanguine dispositions had even decided +what they would order for dinner at the _Adelphi_. Morning service was +very fully attended, and it was interesting to hear the voices of people +of so many different creeds and countries joining in that divinely-taught +prayer which proclaims the universal brotherhood of the human race, +knowing that in a few hours those who then met in adoration would be +separated, to meet no more till summoned by the sound of the last trumpet. + +Those who expected to spend Sunday night on shore were disappointed. A +gale came suddenly on us about four o'clock, sails were hastily taken in, +orders were hurriedly given and executed, and the stewards were in +despair, when a heavy lurch of the ship threw most of the things off the +table before dinner, mingling cutlery, pickles, and broken glass and +china, in one chaotic heap on the floor. As darkness came on, the gale +rose higher, the moon was obscured, the rack in heavy masses was driving +across the stormy sky, and scuds of sleet and spray made the few venturous +persons on deck cower under the nearest shelter to cogitate the lines-- + + "Nights like these, + When the rough winds wake western seas, + Brook not of glee." + +I might dwell upon the fury of that night--upon the awful blasts which +seemed about to sweep the seas of every human work--upon our unanswered +signals--upon the length of time while we were + + "Drifting, drifting, drifting, + On the shifting + Currents of the restless main"-- + +upon the difficulty of getting the pilot on board--and the heavy seas +through which our storm-tossed bark entered the calmer waters of the +Mersey: but I must hasten on. + +Night after night had the French and English passengers joined in drinking +with enthusiasm the toast "_La prise de Sebastopol_"--night after night +had the national pride of the representatives of the allied nations +increased, till we almost thought in our ignorant arrogance that at the +first thunder of our guns the defences of Sebastopol would fall, as did +those of Jericho at the sound of the trumpets of Joshua. Consequently, +when the pilot came on board with the newspaper, most of the gentlemen +crowded to the gangway, prepared to give three cheers for the fall of +Sebastopol! + +The pilot brought the news of victory--but it was of the barren victory of +Inkermann. A gloom fell over the souls of many, as they read of our +serried ranks mown down by the Russian fire, of heroic valour and heroic +death. The saloon was crowded with eager auditors as the bloody tidings +were made audible above the roar of winds and waters. I could scarcely +realise the gloomy fact that many of those whom I had seen sail forth in +hope and pride only ten months before were now sleeping under the cold +clay of the Crimea. Three cheers for the victors of Inkermann, and three +for our allies, were then heartily given, though many doubted whether the +heroic and successful resistance of our troops deserved the name of +victory. + +Soon after midnight we anchored in the Mersey, but could not land till +morning, and were compelled frequently to steam up to our anchors, in +consequence of the fury of the gale. I felt some regret at leaving the +good old steamship _America_, which had borne us so safely across the +"vexed Atlantic," although she rolls terribly, and is, in her admirable +captain's own words, "an old tub, but slow and sure." She has since +undergone extensive repairs, and I hope that the numerous passengers who +made many voyages in her in the shape of rats have been permanently +dislodged. + +Those were sacred feelings with which I landed upon the shores of England. +Although there appeared little of confidence in the present, and much of +apprehension for the future, I loved her better when a shadow was upon her +than in the palmy days of her peace and prosperity. I had seen in other +lands much to admire, and much to imitate; but it must not be forgotten +that England is the source from which those streams of liberty and +enlightenment have flowed which have fertilised the Western Continent. +Other lands may have their charms, and the sunny skies of other climes may +be regretted, but it is with pride and gladness that the wanderer sets +foot again on British soil, thanking God for the religion and the liberty +which have made this weather-beaten island in a northern sea to be the +light and glory of the world. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Englishwoman in America, by Isabella Lucy Bird + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ENGLISHWOMAN IN AMERICA *** + +This file should be named 7526-8.txt or 7526-8.zip + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Tiffany Vergon, Joshua Hutchinson +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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