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VIEWS

I '

SOCIETY AND MAxVNERS

AINIERICA ;

, i

A SERIES OE LETTERS FROM THAT COUNTRY

TO A FRIEND IN ENGLAND,
DURING THE YEARS 1818, 1819, AND 1820.

By FRANCES WRIGHT.

But mark the judgment of experienced Time,
Tutor of Nations. ! A ken side.

^econD Cttmon.

\ V

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR

LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN,

C-w.

PATERNOSTER-ROW.

1822.

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London :

Printed by A. & R. Spottiswoode,
Ne\T- Street- Square.

i
t

CHARLES WILKES, Esg.

OF NEW YORK.

My dear Sir,

Although I am uncertain how far the senti-
ments contained in this little volume may be
in unison with yours, I cannot resist that im-
pulse of the heart which leads me to inscribe
its pages to you.

1 1

Viewing, as I did, your adopted country
with the eyes of a foreigner, I may have been
sometimes hasty, and, therefore, mistaken in
my judgments. Though I do not apprehend
that my inaccuracies can extend to facts of
any importance, it is possible that a citizen of
America may detect slight errors which the
foreign reader cannot be aware of, and which
the Author herself could not wholly guard
against, however authentic the sources whence
she drew her information.

A 3

w '

r-a

!.f

Wlicrc, in the following letters, I may have
expressed opinions at variance with yours, I
am persuaded that you will view them with
candour; and that, notwithstanding the defects
you may find in this little work, you will
pardon my seizing this opportunity of openly
expressing the high respect I feel for your
character, and my grateful remembrance of
the many proofs of friendship with which you
have honoured me.

Permit me to subscribe myself,
My dear Sir,

Most respectfully and

Aftectionately, yours,

THE AUTHOR.

London^ 20th April, 1821.

ADVERTISEMENT.

i: J '.3

' j

The following letters form only a part of a more
extensive and desultory correspondence : occa.
smnal allusions will, therefore, be found to letters
that have been suppressed, as interesting only to
the friend to whom they were written.

: t f

CONTENTS.

LETTER I.

Voyage. — Iceberg. — Ship's crew. — Bay of New York. —
Arrival in the city. - - .- Page 1

LETTER IL

Boartling-house in New York. — General appearance of the
city and its environs. - - . - 14«

LETTER in.

Manners oi' the working classes. — Anecdotes, &c.

LETTER IV.

Appearance and manners of the young women. — Style of
society. — Reception of foreigners. — General Bernard. —
Foreign writers. — Mr. Fearon. - - - 28

LETTER V.

Visit to the city of Philadelphia. — Remarks on the Friends. —
Laws and Institutions of William Penn. — Penal Code. —
Dr. Rush. — Abolition of the slave-trade. — Emancipation of
the slaves in the Northern States. — Condition of the negro
in the Northern States. - - - - -iS

LETTER VL

Reference to Lieutenant Hall. — Advice to tourists. — Appear-
ance of the city of Philadelphia. — Style of architecture, —
State-house. — Remarks on the conduct of the first American
Congress. — Anecdotes relating to that period. — Peculi-
arities in the political character of the people of Pennysyl-
vania. — Internal government of the States. - 71

LETTER Vn.

American character. — Anecdote of a Prussian officer. —

^■:

I »

I s*

! 11 #

I I

Vlll

CONTENTS.

Societ}' of Pluliidelphia. — Chevalier Correa dc Serra. — Mr.
Garnett. - . - . Page 107

LETTER VIII.

Visit to Joseph Buonaparte. — General observations. — Ame-
rican country-gentleman. _ . . i^l

LETTER IX.

Passage up the River Hudson — Account of the academy at
West Point. — Pass of the Highlands. — Arnolds' treachery.
— Albany and its environs. - - - 132

LETTER. X.

Departure for the Falls of Niagara. — Mode of Travelling. —
Description of the country. — Canadaigua. - 153

LETTER XL

Genessee. — Visit to Mr. Wadsworth. — American farmer. —
Settling of the new territory. — Forest scenery. 164?

LETTER XH.

Indian village. — Observations on the Indians. — Conduct of
the American Gvernment towards them. - 181

LETTER XIIL

Departure from Genessee. — Falls of the Genessee river. —
Singular bridge. — American inns. — Opening of the Post-
bag. — Journey to Lewiston. — Cataract of Niagara. 197

LETTER XIV.

Lake Erie. — Water scenery of America. — Massacre on the
river Raisin. — Naval Engagement on Lake Erie. — Mr.
Birkbeck. ----- 223

LETTER XV.

Upper Canada. — Mr. Gourlay. — Poor emigrants — Lake
Ontario. — Descent of the St. Lawrence. — Montreal and
Lower Canada. ----- 24-2

I i

CONTENTS.

LETTER XVI.

Lake Cliamplain. — Battle of Plattsburg.
Phcenix steam-boat.

Burning of the
Page 258

LETTER XVIL

Town of Burlington. — Character and history of the State of
Vermont. ----- 272

.' »:

Lake
ll and

242

LETTER XVIIL

Direction of American genius. — Founders of the American re-
publics. — Establishment of the Federal government. 282

LETTER XIX.

On the Federal administrations. — Mr. Jefferson. — Causes of
the last war. — Regulations of the navy and merchantmen. —
Effects of these on the sailor's character. — Anecdote. —
Defence of the country. — How conducted by the rtople. —

Army of the West Policy of the New-Englanc' States. —

Effect of the war on the national character. - 301

LETTER XX.

Unanimity of sentiment throughout the nation,
government. — Federal constitution.

LETTER XXL

National
328

Character and interests of the different sections of the con-
federacy, and their influence on the floor of Congress. —
New England. — Final extinction of the Federal party. —
Central states. — New- York and Pennsylvania. — Southern
States. — Policy and 'nfluence of Virginia. — Western "'ites.
Manufactures. — Powers of Congress respecting ck
slavery. — Formation and government of territories. —
Generous policy of the western States. — Character of the
first settlers. — Shepherds and hunters of the Border. —
Anecdote of Lafitte. — Various ties which cement the union
of the States. - - - - - 343

1 '■

'i-J

I ■ ; a

CONTENTS.

LETTER XXII.

Unrestrained liberty of the press.— Eioctions Effect of po-
litical writings. — ■ Newspapers — Congressional debates. —
Deportment of the members in Congre

?ss.

Page?,':\

LETTER XXIIL

Education. — New- England. — Public seni.naries. — Discipline
ofscliools. — Condition of women. - - 1381

I 'i

LETTER XXIV.

Religion. — Temper of the difterent sects. — Anecdotes. 396

LETTER XXV.

Account of Colonel Huger. — Observations on the climate,
&c. .... - - 405

I 1

i \

LETTER XXVL

Philadelphia Market. — Deportment of the citizens. — Mode
of guiding and breaking horses. — Hints to an emigrant. —
Consequences of bringing foreign servants to America. —
Character of servants in America. — German redemptioners.
— Manner in which the importation of the peasants of the
European continent is conducted. — Reply to the Quarterly
Review. — Descent of the Delaware. — Letter of Count de
Survillier (Joseph Buonaparte). — Rencontre with English
travellers. - - - - - 419

LETTER XXVIL

Baltimore. — Yellow fever at Fells Point,
city. — Miscellaneous.

LETTER XXVIIL

Appearance of the
438

Washington. — The capitol. — Hall of the representatives. —
Senate chamber. — The president. — Virginia slavery. —
Conclusion. - . - . . .1.59

I I

VIEWS OF AMERICA.

LETTER I.

V()YA(iT;. — ICEBERG. — SHIP S CHEW. nA\ OF NEW YORK.

ARRIVAL IN THE CITY.

)f the
438

res. —

[y- —

1-59

(

New York, September, 1818.
MY DEAR FRIEND,

iHE report of our safety, as well as of the kind
welcome with which we were greeted on landing, by
several families in this city, is now, 1 trust, far on its
way towards you. 1 wrote too rapidly, and with a
head too giddy, (you know what sort of a head one
brings out of a ship), to enter into much detail
upon the few and dull events of our voyage. We
saw spouting whales, and sharks, and porpoises,
and all sea-monsters in plenty ; i'or the breezes
were mild, and the ocean and heaven so fair and
smiling, as might well woo all the hideous tribes
of Tethys from their dark caverns. But the only
sight worth noticing was a large iceberg, in lati-
tude 43°, towards the most southern extremity of
the Newfoundland bank. This, for the month of
August, was an unusual object in such a latitude j
nor shall I easily forget the moment of singular

1 ,i|

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VOYAfiF..

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fxcitcMnont whicli it occusioncMl lo tlio captain ol'tlic
vessel, anollier j)asscii^er, and myself. Lip,lit nortli-
easterly winds had prexailed thronghout the day ;
so light, indeed, that the island which had first been
descried in the direct line of our course an hour
after noon, lay but some ten miles astern of us an
hour after sunset. We were leaning over one
of the hatchways in careless conversation, and
the eyes of the captain were cast accidentally
upon the iceberg, which now (the short twilight
having died away) appeared a black three-pointed
rock, upon the clear blue of tlic liorizon. A
sudden exclamation from Captain Staunton caused
my fellow-passenger and me, to start on our feet
and gaze as he directed. A bright flame blazed
u})on the highest point of the distant rock. None
of us spoke ; we all held our breath, and each
wrought out for himself, after his own manner,
some tale of hideous suffering. " A few beings,
or it might be, one solitary wretch, had here sur-
vived his companions, and clung to this isle of
frost, to expire more slowly under the united hor-
rors of cold, hunger, and despair. A pile had
been here collected from the disjointed planks of
the foundered vessel, which was now kindled,
when the first shades of evening afforded a hope
that some eye from the receding vessel would
catch the signal." All this passed through our
minds at one glance of tliought. The captain
had turned cpiickly to give orders for tacking about,
and lowering a boat that should put of!' to the
rock J when suddenly a bright star peered above
the crystal, and hung distinct, and clear, over the

VOYAUi:.

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had

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led,

lope

M\d

our

(tain

out,

the

30ve

• the

ilistant pinnach^ which still, for a while, (piivered
heneath its receding rays. It was some minutes
heforc we could smile at this sudden and simple
explanation of an appearance, which had, a moment
hcfore, so highly wioiight up our interest and cu-
riosity.

It is usual to complain nuich of the discomforts
of a ship, and I grant that they are numerous j
hut to those who are not disahled by sicki ess or
nervous fears, I think a voyage is not without its
pleasures, and certainly not without interest. Our
fellow -passengers, mostly Americans, were cheer-
ful, obliging, and conversable ; the ship excellent,
her captain a weather-beaten veteran, a kind-
hearted as well as experienced sailor, who looked
not merely after the safety of his ship, but the
comfort of every living being on board of her. A
moralizer might have apostro})hized capricious
fortune, when he heard this old seaman recount
the many times he had ploughed the Atlantic,
and thank God that he had weathered every gale,
without ever losing (to use the sailor's phrase)
a single spar. I have conversed with sailors not
half the age of this good captain of the Amity,
who had never made a voyage without losing a spar,
and holding their lives in jeopardy into the bargain.
But is it not thus on the varied sea of life ? Some
adventurers set forth in youth and hope, and
brave gales and storms, and scud by rocks and
shallows with light and easy hearts, and moor at
last peacefully in the haven of old age, wrinkled
indeed by time, but unscathed by misfortune j
while others, blown about at the mercy of the

B '2

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Hf:!' 1

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1' VOYAGE.

clpnients, their helm broken and then rig^lnu
lorn, run foul of every qiiieksjuul, and die a thou-
sand deaths ere they die tlie hist.

I observed much and often upon the (|uietness
as well as the matchless activity of the crew. No
scolding on the part of the captain, or sulky looks
on that of the men. By the former, authority was
exercised with kindness, and, (a sure conseqnence
of this,) obedience was by the latter yielded with
good-humour and alertness. The ship indeed was
well named The Amilijy for 1 never heard a dis-
])ute on board her; except one night, when I was
the unwilling auditor of a dispute in the adjoining
cabin, which gradually waxed to a wrangle, be-
tween a young Scotchman, firm in the belief of
grace and predestination, an older Englishman, as
h'rm in the non-belief of both articles, and an Ame-
rican, who, without agreeing with either, seemed to
keep the peace between both. In this good office
he probably succeeded, as in the middle of a nicely
drawn distinction on the part of the Englishman
between foreknowing and foredecreeing I fell
asleep, and waked to no other noise than the
creaking of timber and lashing of the waves.

It is worthy of remark that every man of the
crew, from the old veteran to the young sailor-boy,
could read and write, and, I believe, I might al-
most say everij man could converse with you upon
the history of his country, its laws, its present
condition, and its future prospects. When our
ship lay sleei)ing on the waters in a lazy calm,
1 often whiled away an hour in conversing with one
or other of these sons of Neptune, as he sat piecing

iJ^'
unJ

voYAor:.

a tori) .sail, oi mciuliiii*' a ropi', and I am smo that
J i',cvcr came from the conversation vvitliout liaving
gained some useful information, or without having
conceived a higher idea of the coinitry to vvliich
the man whom 1 had converseil with, beh)ngcd.

To one who has only viewed the great deej) in
contemphitive case and security from its shores,
there is something pleasingly exciting in being
borne triumphantly over its bosom, and in
witnessing how the wonderful creature man
struggles with the elements, holding on his ad-
\'entiu'cu'=i course for days and weeks without
doubt or fear, marking his progress over the track-
less waste with unerring certainty, and i)ointing
his eye yet more steadily to the far-distant port
than does his guiding needle to the pole ! For^
give me the idle observation, that I never fully
appreciated the perseverance as well as the adven-
ture of the daring Columbus, until I found myself
watchinir the sun sink and rise, in and from the
eternal waters, day after day, and week after week.
How extraordinary was the mind which could cal-
culate with such certainty upon the existence of
an unknown world ! How daring the spirit which
could throw itself upon the mercy of a furious
and unexplored ocean, hitherto deemed impassable
and interminable ! How perfect the self-possession
which remained unshaken, not merely amid the
strife of the elements, but the warring passions —
the alternate rage, and fear, and despair of the
ignorant and superstitious crew, who stood a
united host against one man ! But what a man i

I) 3

VOYAOi:.

Alone supported by his own powerful mind amiilst
the perils of the deep, the horrors of ji mutiny,
and the heart-sickness wrought by hope delayeil,
when sun after sun discovered the same watery
waste — the same unchanging horizon of sky and
sea; when night afler night bred thoughts, more
and more anxious, and danger still more eminent,
the apprehension of which it had been defeat or
death to betray ! How much the human race is
indebted to this great mind is still perhaps un-
known. The world which a hero discovered, and
which bigots and robbers for a season polluted
with crimes, has also been the refuge of the poor
and the persecuted of every tongue and every
clime ; and now exhibits, in its northern section,
a well-organized nation in all the vigour and pride
of youth and freedom J in its southern, a spirited
people awaking from ignorance and resenting
oppression, asserting their rights as men and
citizens, and laying the foundation of common-
wealths, which the next generation may see
established in power, rich in resources, enlightened
with knowledge, and fenced by the bulwarks of
just laws, wise institutions, and generous patrio-
tism, against tlie efforts of foreign enemies or the
machinations of domestic traitors.

It was not without emotion that, on the even-
ing of the 30th day from that on which we had
cleared out of the Mersey, we heard the cry of
" Land V* and, straining our eyes in the direction
of the setting sun, saw the heights of Never-sink

U.W OF N'KW VOItK,

liad

ion

ink

f>lovvly rise Iroin the waters <)|)})osiii^ a l)lack screen
to the crimson fjflories of the evening sky.

Vou will but too well remember the stiikinii?
position of New York to require that I shoulil
describe it. The magnificent bay, whose broad
and silver waters, sprinkled with islands, are so
(inely closed by the heights of the Narrows, which,
jutting forward with a fine sweeping bend, give a
circular form to the immense basin which receives
the waters of the Hudson — this magnificent bay is
grand and beautiful as when you aihiiired it some
twenty years since ; only that it is perhaps more
thickly studded with silver-winged vessels, from
the light sharp-keeled boat through all the va-
rieties of shai)e and size, to the j)rouil thiee-
masted ship, setting and lowering its sails to or
from the thousand ports of distant Europe, or yet
more distant Asia.

Every thing in the neighbourhood of this city
exhibits the appearance of life and cheerfulness.
The purity of the air, the brilliancy of the un-
spotted heavens, the crowd of moving vessels,
shooting in various directions, up a>id down, and
across the bay and the far-st retching Hudson, and
the forest of masts crowded round tin; cpiays anil
wharfs at the entrance of the East-River. There is
something in all this, — in the very air you breathe,
and the fair and moving scene that you rest your
eye upon, which exhilarates the sj)irits, and makes
you in good-humour with life and your fellow-
creatures. We approached these shores under a
fervid sun ; but the air, though of a higher tein-

13 1

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.t I

HAY or NKW YOIIK.

j)cratnre than I liatl ever bofbro cxpcricnceil, was
so entirely free of vaponr, that I thought it was for
the first ti'iie in my life that I liatl drawn a clear
breath. I was no longer sensible of any weakness
of the lungs, nor have I as yet been reniiiuieil of
this infirmity.

Probably a great proportion of the neat white
liouses that every where peep out from clumps of
young trees along the picturesque shores of the
surrouniliiig waters, have started up since you left
this country. As we first slowly entered the New
York bay, with a breeze so light as just to save a
calm, it was with ])leasure that I observed the num-
ber of smiling dwellings that studded the shores of
Staten and Long Islands. No great proprietoi",
his mighty domains stretching in silent and soli-
tary grandeur for uninterrupted miles, but thou-
sands of little villas or thriving farms, bespeaking
the residence of the easy citizen or tiller of the
soil. I should not omit another circumstance which
1 noticed as evincing the easy condition of the
people of this young country. While our ship
slowly moved througii the still waters, pointing her
course to the city, which just appeared upon the
distant (^dii;(i of tiie bright sheet of silver which
opened before us as we cleared the pass of the
Narrows, numberless little boats, well manned with
active rowers, darted from the different shores, and
severally mooring along-side of our lazy vessel
with the cry oi' All-well ? a dialogue ensued, com-
mencing with friendly congratulations, between the
crews of the boats and the various inhabitants of
the ship. On one side queries respecting the length

I )

HAY or Ni:W YORK.

he
lip
ler
he
icli
tlie
ilh

-Ih

ol the voyafTc, the weathor, thi* winds, aiul the
latest news from Kurope ; on the other, tlie liealth
oCthe eity, the natine of the season, ol'tlie liarvest,
the arrival and departure of vessels, and a thou-
sand nameless triHes interestifiu; to men returnin*;-
iioni a distance to their native shores. At the elose
of the dialopjue, one ur other of the boatmen wouhl
carelessly ask if any of the passengers wifshetl to
be landed, but the recpiest was always made in a
manner which ex})ressed a willingness to render
a civility rather than a desire to obtain employ-
ment. These boats had something picturesque as
well as foreign in their appearance. IJuilt unusu-
ally long and sliarp in the keel, they shot through
the bright waters with a celerity that almost startled
the eye. Their rowers, tall, slender, but of un-
common nerve and agility, were all cleanly dressed
in the light clothing suited to a warm climate :
their large white shirt-collars unbuttoned and
thrown back on their shoulders, and light hats of
straw or cane, with broad brims, shading their sun-
burnt faces. These faces were unconnnonly intel-
ligent. Piercing grey eyes glancing from beneath
even and i)rojecting brows, features generally re-
gular, and complexions which, burnt to a deep
broNvn, were somewhat strangely contrasted with the
delicate whiteness of the clothing. I made vet an-
other observation upon these natives. hey all
s])oke good English with a good voice and accent ;
I had before observed the same of the crew of the
Amity.

Approaching the city at sunset, I shall not soon
forget the impression which its gay a})pearanee

I • .

NEW YORK.

made upon mc. Pas.sini»; slowly round its southern
])oint, (formed by the confluence of the Hudson
with what is called the East River, though it seems
more j)roperly an arm of the sea,) we admired at
our leisure the striking panorama which encircled
us. Immediately in our front, the battery, with its
little fort and its public walks, diversified with
trees, impending over the water, numberless well-
dressed figures gliding through the foliage, or
standing to admire our nearing vessel. In the
back ground, the neatly-painted houses receding
into distance ; the spiry tops of poplars peering
above the roofs, and marking the line of the
streets. The city, gradually enlarging from the
battery as from the apex of a triangle, the eye
followed on one side the broad channel of the
Hudson, and the picturesque coast of Jersey, at
first sprinkled with villages and little villas, whose
white walls just glanced in the distance through
thick beds of trees, and afterwards rising into
abrupt precipices, now crowned with wood, and
now jutting forward in bare w^alls of rock. To the
light, the more winding waters of the East River,
bounded on one side by the wooded heights of
Brooklyn and the varied shores of Long Island,
and on the other by quays and warehouses, scarce
discernible through the forest of masts that were
crowded as far as tlie eye could reach. Behind
us stretched the broad expanse of the bay, whose
islets, crowned with turreted forts, their colours
streaming from their flag-staflfs, slept on the still
and glowing waters, in dark or sunny spots, as
they variously caught or shunned the gaze of the

th(

the
the
eye
the
at

into

and
the

iver,
of

and,

arce
ere

lind

lose

urs

still

„ as
the

NEW YORK.

sinking sun. It was a glorious scene ; and we
almost caught the enthusiasm of our companions,
who, as they hailed their native city, pronounced
it the fairest in the world.

When our ; up neared the quays, there w;ip,
some bustle occasioned by the moving crowd of
vessels that intervened between us and the shore,
and many active tars sprang from the yards and
rigging of the surrounding ships to assist in clear-
ing our passage. But neither then, nor when we
finally touched the land, were we boarded by any '
needy supplicants imploring work for the love of
charity, or charity for the love of Heaven. There
was, however, no lack of good offices from the
busy citizens on the quay. One laid planks to
assist the passengers in their descent from the
vessel ; another lent a hand to stay their unsteady
feet, while some busied themselves in taking charge
of their bundles and portmanteaus, and many
strange tongues and faces spoke and smiled a good
welcome to the city. There was in the look and
air of these men, though clad in working-jackets
something which told that tliey were rendering
civilities, not services ? and that a kind thank ye
was all that should be tendered in return.

Arriving at a boarding-house which had been
recommended to us, we were very kindly wel-
comed by a sprightly intelligent young woman,
the sister of the more staid and elderly matron of
the house. The heat continued with little abate-
ment after sunset, and every window and door of
the house was open. While seated, refreshing

if I.

! i

NEW YORK.

ourselves with tea and I'niit, and conversing with
our Jively hostess, a sound, which had filled our
cars from the first moment that we left behind us
the bustle of the wharfs, now completely fixed our
attention. I remembered your account of the din
'of the frogs, and of your consequent surprise there-
at, in descending the Delaware. But the sound we
heard did not at all answer to our preconceived no-
tions of a frog concert. Tic-a-te-tic, tic-a-te-tac, was
ciied as it were by a thousand unseen voices. At
first we half suspected the sound had its existence
in our fancy — a kind memorial, perhaps, be-
stowed at parting by the giddy ship. Gradually,
however, 1 began to esteem these chatterers
breathing realities, and, losing the thread of our
gay-hearted entertainer's discourse, I found myself
repeating tic-a-te-ticy tic-a-te-tac, " I suppose they
must be frogs." The word caught the lady's ear.
** Frogs ! Where ?" " Nay ; indeed I know not,
but somewhere assuredly." ** Not here," said the
lady. " No !" said I. " Pray then what is the
noise ?" ** Noise ! I hear none." If my companion
had not here come to my assistance, I should
have had serious apprehensions for the sanity of
my organs. Backed, however, by her support, I
insisted that there certainly was a noise, and to my
ears a most uncommon one. Our good-humoured
hostess listened again. *' I hear nothing, unless
it be the catty-dids." ** The catty-dids ! and who
or what are they ?" ** You will probably recognize
them for old acquaintances, though I do not re-
member your mentioning them among the thou-

I
I

ri.r^.

NEW YORK.

our

saniV-tongiied insects of this land. * This whimsi-
cal cry, with the shorter note of the little tree frog,
the chirp of crickets, and the whiz and boom of a
thousand other flying creatures, creates, at this
season, to the ear of a stranger, a noise truly
astounding. We are now, however, tolerably
familiarized to the sound, and I doubt not may
soon be able to say to a wondering stranger, like
the young American, / hear nothing.

':■«

* I have since had one of these insects in my hand. In size
it is larger than the ordinary grasshopper, and in colour of a
much more vivid green. It is perfectly harmless, and is
altogether a most ** delicate creature,"

f ,

I \

f ■■

! f;

iff

11.

LiriTFJi II.

BOARDING-HOUSE IN NKWYOUK GENERAL Al'l'EARANCE

OF THE CITY AND ITS ENVIRONS.

New York, October, 1818.
:\IY DEAR FRIEND,

We have removed from our former residence, to
a more private boarding-lioiise at the head of
Broad-way ; a gay street that you v^ill remember,
though it has now stretched itself over twice the
length of eartli that it occu})ied when you traversed
it. This house has been filled with a rapid suc-
cession of inmates since we first entered it, and
whenever we are not engaged abroad, we find a
very pleasing society at the public table. The
social mode of living here adopted in the hotels
and boarding-houses, offers great advantages to
foreigners, who may be desirous of mixing easily
with the natives, and of observing the tone of the
national manners. During the few days that we
have lived in this house, we have met with a
greater variety of individuals from all parts of the
Union, than we could have done in as many months
by visiting in half the private houses of the city.
Families from the Eastern States, and gentlemen
from the south and west, have successively ap-
peared, and departed, and left with us many invit-
ations to their various dwellings — so warmly ut-
tered, that the heart could not doubt their sincerity.

I i

NEW YORK.

to
. of
ber,

tlie
rsed

SLIC-

antl
id a
The
Dtels
3 to
asily
the
t we
h a
the
nths
:ity.
men
ap-
vit-
ut-
rity.

We were pccuHarly struck by the polislicd nmnncrs
of one or two natives of Carohnn, and hy the
independent air, .softened by rcpubHcan sim-
])licity, of some of the adventurous settlers from
the infant west. We gleaned from these intelli-
gent strangers many curious facts, tending to illus-
trate the amazing advance of this country, which
imparts to it the character of a player's stage,
where both the actors and tlie scenery are shifted
M as fast as you can turn your eye. One gentle-
man, in the prime of manhood, told me, that he
knew the vast tract which now forms the flourish-
inu: state of Ohio, when it contained no inhabitant
save the wild hunter and his prey. Making lately
tiie same journey, through which he had toiled 20
I years ago through one vast, unbroken forest, he
found smiling landscapes, sprinkled with thriving
settlements, villages, and even towns, and a people
living under an organized government, and well
administered laws. •* J. had heard of all this,*'
I said my inlbrmer, '• and knew that it all was so ;
but when I saw it with my own eyes, I felt as a
man might be supposed to feel, who should wake
from a sleep of some centuries* duration, arid find
the earth onvered with states and empires of which
he had never heard the name.*'

Many changes have taken place in this city and
island since you knew them. Streets upon streets
have been added to the former, and much draining
and levelling (of this last I incline to think too
much) has been, and is still carrying on in, and
about it. The citizens of Paris were wont to call
the narrow streets of their ohl capital rues aris-

•1

! M (

V- •

I * !

' ii

; a

\ X

I /

NKW YORK.

tocrateSj and very justly, since pedestrians had to
make their way through them at tlic hazard of
their Hves. In opposition to this, tlie streets here
might with justice be termed rues democrates.
Not content witli broad pavements, carefully pro-
tected from the encroachment of wheels by a sill
of considerable elevation, the Httle inequalities of
the ground arc removing with much trouble and
expense. I have frequently admired the inge-
nuity with which a new, or rather an additional
foundation is introduced beneath a brick house of
very tolerable solidity, so as to preserve to it the
superiority it had hitherto asserted over the passing
causeway ; but I have not yet had the opportunity
of observing a house upon its travels. I am told,
however, that the curiosity is still to be seen,
though probably very rarely, as the now universal
use of brick, in almost all the chief cities of the
States, as well as the improved style of architecture
in the wooden tenements, still prevalent in the
country, must have rendered the method of travel-
ling in domoy and shifting the neighbourhood, with-
out disturbing the household goods, considerably
less feasible. My confidence in the veracity of
a friend has been occasionally put to the proof,
when he has pointed out to me, in the outskirts of
the city, a house that had undergone a transport-
ation of a quarter of a mile to arrange itself in the
line of the street, and which stood a very secure
looking tenement of two floors, with brick chimneys,
and walls of very substantial frame work.

Notwithstanding the pleasant, opulent, and airy
appearance of the city, a European might be led

NEW YORK.

to remark, that, if nature has done every thing for
it, art, in the way of ornament, has as yet done
little. Except the City Hall, there is not a public
building worth noticing ; but it presents what is
far better — streets of private dwellings, often
elegant, and always comfortable. Turn where
you will, successful industry seems to have fixed
her abode. No dark alleys, whose confined and
noisome atmosphere marks the presence of a dense
and suffering population ; no hovels, in whose
ruined garrets, or dark and gloomy cellars, crowd
the wretched victims of vice and disease, whom
penury drives to despair ere she opens to them
the grave.

I shall not fatigue you with particular accounts
of the excursions we have made into the surround-
ing country. We surveyed with pleasure the
thriving farms of Long Island, and those of the
neighbouring state of Jersey. The country is
every where pleasingly diversified ; gentle hills,
sinking into extensive valleys, watered by clear
rivers, their banks sprinkled with neat white dwel-
lings, usually low and broad-roofed, shaded by
projecting piazzas, and very generally by enormous
weeping willows. These exotics seem to take
wonderfully to the soil and climate, and are much
cultivated, in the more immediate neighbourhood
of houses, as well on account of their rapid
growth, as from the massiveness of their foliage,
and from their being the earliest trees to bud,
and the latest to cast their leaves. I could not
so well approve of the equally universal culture
of the Lombardy poplar, a tree that has no one

1^.^

' jn

i1':

I I

NEW VORK.

pjood quality to recommend it, for the rapidity oi
its growth can hardly be accounted one, since
we can only observe upon it, in the words of the
old proverb, that ill xveeds grow apace. One is the
more disposed to quarrel with this vile stranger,
from the uncommon beauty of all the native trees.
Nor might the neglect of the more noble sons of
the forest find apology in the sluggishness of
their growth. In this soil and climate, vegetation
is so powerful, that a very few years may find
you seated under the oak that your hands have
planted.

There are some very lovely, though few very
lordly dwellings scattered along the shores of this
island. You will remember how picturesque
these shores are ; the one washed by the magni-
ficent waters of the Hudson, and the other by
that arm of the sea styled the East River, which
runs round the head of Long Island. I know not
if you ever navigated this curious channel. The
whirlpools of Hell-gate are, at high water, with good
pilotage, passed by sailing vessels without much
hazard, and by steam-boats without any hazard, in
almost all states of the tide ; those huge leviathans
pointing their way steadily through the narrow
channels which wind among the whirling eddies
that boil on either hand, styled respectively the
greater and lesser pots. During the revolutionary
war, a large British frigate, richly laden with
specie, seeking to attain the city unobserved by
the American force, attempted thi« intricate
passage without the guidance of an experienced
pilot ; suddenly assailed by one of the many

NEW YORK.

ATOW

Iddics
the
»nary
with
Id by
icate
meed
[imiiy

powerful currents which run, with irresistible force,
in all directions, it was sucked into the largest of
tliesc caldrons, and, in all its pride and gallant
trim, engulfed in a moment.

The summer residences of some gentlemen of
the city command a fine prospect of these convulsed
and resounding waters, and form pleasing objects
when seen from the channel. It is singular, in wan-
dering through this island, to reflect that there is
scarce a tree in it older than the independence of
the country. A friend pointed out to me some half-
dozen veterans that, by some strange chance, had
escaped the axe of the British soldier, and now
overlook the land which freedom has regenerated.*
When you look on the young thickets, and thriving
trees and saplings not yet grown to maturity, which
shade the neigh ^^ouring villas, and fringe the shores,
and think that, young as they are, they are old as
the country — old as the date of its national ex-
istence, you find yourself strangely wondering at
the wealth and energy that surround you ; and,
recalling the rapid strides which these States have
made, in less than half a century, from unknown
colonies to a vast and powerful empire, you cannot
help invoking the name of Liberty, under whose
auspices all has been effected.

* The British, hemmed in by the Americans in their last
fastness, the city and ishmd of New York, suffered much dis-
tress from want of fuel. They had so completely cleared the
island from one end to the other, that, at the time of its evacu-
ation, there was not a stick to be found upon it, except the
few trees mentioned in the text.

c ^2

!?'■

! I

LETTER III.

MANNERS OF THE WORKING CLASSES. — Ai^ECDOTES.

New York, November, 1818.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

You will marvel, perhaps, that I have not observed
upon the rudeness and incivility of what are termed
with us the lower or j)oorer classes, but which I
know not very well how to designate here, since
there seem to be neither poor nor uneducated.
As yet, my experience would dispose me to dissent
from those travellers in the United States who com-
plain, in our newspapers and journals, of being
elbowed in the streets, and scowled at in the houses,
and made uncomfortable every where. 1 have not
as yet found even the ser^^ants, a race of beings
peculiarly quarrelled with by our orumbletonians,
either morose or impertinent. They do not indeed
read your wishes in your eyes, but I have never
found them unwilling to answer them, and that in
an obliging manner, when expressed byyour tongue.
The only exception to this which has as yet come,
not within my observation, but to my knowledge,
is the following : — A young British officer, in his
way to or from Canada, was lately lodged in a
boarding-house, in this city. The first morning
after his arrival, he came from his apartment
with a face considerably discomfited and wrathftd;
and seeking the lady of the house, informed her

i )

^•I:^v vouk.

lining
tment
ihful;
her

tliiit her serviuit was a very insolent tellow. TIk «um
of the story that could be gleaned from the iin; ant
gentleman was, that, when roused in the morning,
the servant had not brought him warm water. '* I
called the fellow, and asked him, how he thought
1 was to shave myself; upon which he turned on
his heel, and never afterwards made his appear-
ance." The lady expressed much concern at the
intelligence, adding that she had never found the
man insolent, nor received complaints of him before,
but that certainly, if he had changed his manners,
she would part with him instantly ; and thereupon
called the delinquent before her. In the presence
of his accuser, she then began the lecture you may
suppose. The man listened in solemn silence, and
to tlie lady's final emphatic enquiry, " John, why
did you not bring warm water to the gentleman ?"
replied, " Because I am not accustomed to answer
to the name of d — nd rascal ;'* and then with
philosophic composure John left the room. I
need not state, that it appeared, upon enquiry,
that the demand of the military gentleman had
been prefaced by this sonorous title, in style thus,
'* You d — nd rascal ! how do you think 1 am to
shave myself?"

A few days after my arrival in the city, T had
recourse to rather a whimsical mode of trying the
temper of the citizens. I was bound alone and on
foot to the house of a friend in a distant part of
the city, and I must confess that 1 was in no diffi-
culty as to the line of my route. Meeting however
a man whom, from his appearance, I judged to be
a mason, I accosted hiin with " Friend ! can you

c 3

' I I

4 « »'

', < ■

,1^

' Ni:w VOIIK.

direct mc to such a street ?" He paiiseil, luul
facing about, patiently explained the advance, in the
straight line that I was to make, with all the turn-
ings that I was to follow afterwards. ** But I guess
you are strange to the city. 1 have nothing very
pressing on hand, and can see you on your way."
With all due acknowledgments, I declined the
offer as unnecessary. Pursuing my walk a little
further, I overtook a woman who was about to
cross the street. She had the air, I thought, of
a servant, and the apparently well-stocked basket
of provisions that she carried, seemed to say, that
fhe was returning from the market. I addressed
her with the same query I had before put to the
mason, and she, turning round, with words and
signs, replied as he had done ; then checking
herself, ** But perhaps you are a stranger !'* *« And
a foreigner too," said 1. " Why then — wait a
moment." And crossing the pavement, and placing
her basket upon the broad stone step leading into a
shop, " I will walk with you to the head of the next
street, where I can better point your way. *' But
the basket ?" said I, eyeing it over my shoulder,
where it stood on the step. " What harm should
come to it? It will stand there." " Will it ?" said
I ; ** 'tis an honest city then." " Honest enough
lor that," said she. 1 suffered the good woman to
accompany me to the spot she proposed, for I own
that I was curious to prove whether the basket
tcoulcl stand as quietly as its owner reckoned upon.
We proceeded accordingly, and, reaching the an-
gle of the street, my kind informer repeated her
directions, and exchanged wiui no a **good morn-

m;\v youk.

'2.'3

ii'K-

I vvjiitrd to trace licr back with my eye
tlimiigh the crow tl of moving passengers, and soon
saw her in the distance crossing tlie street with
her basket on her arm. You will tliink that I had
practised sufliciently on tlie good nature of tlie
public, but I made yet another trial of it. 1 stept
into II small but decent-looking shop. A man, the
only person in it, was seated at his ease behind the
counter, reading the newspaper. To my query of
*♦ Can you direct me?" &c. he rose, and coming to
the door, ran through the necessary instructions.
** But, stop ! I have somewhere a map of the city."
lie sought and found it, and spreading it on the
counter, traced upon it my route. I thanked him,
and departed ; and was disposed, from the experi-
ments of the morning, to pronounce the city quite
as civil as any city in England, and perhaps a little
more honest j for, pondering upon the basket, I
could not but suspect that it would scarcely have
stood as quietly upon an English pavement, or,
what I judged was luidoubted, a woman with her
five senses would never have thought of placing it
there.

It is truly interesting to listen to an intelligent
American when he speaks of the condition and re-
sources of his country ; and this, not merely when
you find him in the more polished circles of society,
but when toiling for his subsistence with the saw
or spade in his hand. I have never yet conversed
with the man who could not inform you upon any
fact regarding the past history and existing insti-
tutions of his nation, with all the readiness and
accuracy with which a school-boy, fresh from his

c I

" ih<

NEW YORK.

studies, might reply to your queries upon the laws
of Lycurgus or the twenty-seven years* war of the
Peloponnesus.

Putting some questions a few days since to a
farmer whom I met in a steam-boat, I could not
help remarking to him, when, in reply to my ques-
tions, he had run through the geography, soil, cli-
mate, &c. of his vast country, just as if its map had
been stretched before him, with the catalogue of
all its exports and imports, that he seemed as inti-
mately acquainted with the produce and practica-
bilities of the United States, as he could be with
those of his own farm.

The manner in which an American husbandman
or mechanic connects himself with his chief magis-
trates and legislators, and seems in his discourse
to take part in all their measures, and decide on
their wisdom or error, is apt at first to make a
stranger smile. He soon, however, learns to
smile at his own ignorance, which could see any
presumption in a man's pronouncing upon the fit-
ness of legislators whose character he has studied,
or in taking to himself the credit or discredit of
their measures, when he has exercised a free voice
in their election, or in judging of a question which
he perfectly understands, or, at least, which he has
leisurely considered. I have observed, that it is
usual for an American, in speaking of political
matters, to say our president does so and so ; we
passed, or shall bring forward, such a bill in Con-
gress; xve took such and such measures with a view,
&c. To speak, in short, from my present confined
observations, I should say that it were impossible

\FAV VOUK.

^25

for a people to be more completely identirted with
their government, than are the Americans. In
considering it, they seem to feel, it is ours : JVc
created it, and tt'<? support it ; it e:cists for our pro-
tection and service ; it lives hij the breath of our
7nouths, and, while it answers the ends for which we
decreed it, so long shall it stand, and nought shall
j)revail against it. If I may trust the report of all
my American friends and acquaintances, confirmed
by my own limited observation, there appear to be
few remains of those party animosities which di-
vided the community at the close of the revolu-
tionary struggle, and the effects of which you found
so unpleasing during your short residence in this
country. It says much for the good sense of the
people, and the wisdom of their institutions, that
one generation should have outlived all tlie tempest
of passion and bitterness of party, occasioned by
the clash of interests and opinions in a great na-
tional revolution.

Some weeks since, crossing the North river in
one of the fast-sailing sloops which crowd in such
multitudes upon these waters, I observed a man
at one end of the little vessel who first attracted
my attention by his interesting appearance. He
was well dressed in the plain garb of a working
farmer. His silvered hairs and deeply-lined coun-
tenance told that he was approaching the last
resting-place of all human travellers, while his un-
bent figure and mild aspect told, also, that he was
approaching it without anxiety. Entering into
conversation with him, I learnt that he was a Jer-
sey farmer, who remembered the declaration of

i ii

'26

NEW YORK.

Inclcpcnclencc, and had drawn a sword in its sup-
l)ort. lie recollected the first appearance of
" Common Sense," and the electric shock that it
produced throughout the country. He could recall
the various circumstances of the war, and all the
hopes, and fears, and rejoicings of the people. —
" All," to use his own words, ** as if it were yes-
terday." ** I have lived," he continued, ** to sec
my country estuL.iished in her rights ; to see her
trebled in population, and quit of party jealousies
and factions; and I think," said the old man smiling,
** that I have now lived enough." I felt some-
what affected by his parting salutation. His dis-
course had very naturally fixed my attention, which
he, perhaps as naturally, had observed with plea-
sure. When the boat touched the shore, " You
seem," he said, " to be a foreigner ; I wish you
may soon become a citizen, for I think that you
are worthy to be a citizen of our country." The
old patriot meant this for a compliment ; as such
1 received it, and as such, 1 assure you, I^/elt it.

It was with much interest that I visited, some
evenings since, the little villa of which you once
were an inmate. We turned down the little Jane,
wild and rocky as when you traversed it, and
reached the gate just as the sun was sinking
behind the heights of the Jersey shore. I thought
that you had gazed on the same object from the
same spot — I cannot describe how dreary and
sad — how fraught with painful recollections the
scene was to me ; and, had I been alone, I could
have sat down' notwithstanding the keen searching
air of a November eveninj

'&»

NEW YOUK.

<27

>nce

-=*»••

Jacques for good an hour and a quarter. You
know the spot ; but it doubtless lives in your
memory as inliabited by kind friends, and
breathing, within and without, warmth, comfort,
beauty, and liospitality. We found it desolate
and deserted ; the house without a tenant,
gradually falling into disrepair ; the fences
broken down, the trees and shrubs all growing
wild, while the thick-falling leaves that strewed
the ground, and rustled beneath our feet — the
season and even the hour, all wooed one on to
sickly thoughts, and pr( ^ed on the heart the
conviction of the slenJerness of that link whicli
holds us to this changing world, to its good or ill,
its joys or sorrows.

I would finish this letter with a more cheerful
paragraph, were not the ship that is to bear it to
you about to sail. Autumn still lingers with us,
or rather we are at present thrown back into July
by the Indian summer. Farewell.

I i

:uig

the
and

the

)uld

[ling

^ith

i|(

.1 ■ i '

'28

LF/lTEll IV.

APPEARANCE AND MANNERS OE THE YOUNG WOMEN.

STYLE OF SOCIETY. RECEPTION OF FOREIGNERS.

GENERAL BERNARD. FOREIGN WRITERS. MR, FEARON.

New York, Febrmiry, 1819.
MY DEAR FRIEND,

My letters have as yet chiefly spoken of our more
intimate friends ; and have said Httle of the general
style of society in this city. I feel that a stranger
ought to be slow in pronouncing an opinion upon
these matters, and indeed the rigors of the winter
(thongh unusually mild this year) have for some
time past made me rather a close prisoner.

Though the objects around me have now lost the
freshness of novelty, they have by no means lost
that air of cheerfulness and gaiety which I noticed
in my first letters. The skies, though they have
exchanged their fervors ibr biting frosts have not
lost their splendors, nor are the pavements trod by
figures less airy, now that they are ghttering with
snows. Broadway, the chosen resort of the young
and the gay, in these cold bright mornings, seems
one moving crowd of painted butterflies. I some-
times tremble for the pretty creatures (and very
pretty they are) as they flutter along through the
biting air in dress more suited to an Italian winter
than to one which, notwithstanding the favorable
season, approaches nearer to that of Norway. In

APPEARANCE AND MANNERS, kc.

)ung
iems
)me-
reiy
the
Inter
lable
In

spite of this thoughtlessness, tlic catch-cold does
not seem to be the same national disease that the
Frenchman found it in England. This is the more
remarkable, as consumption is very frequent, and
may be generally traced to some foolish frolic, such
as returning from a ball iii an open sleigh, or
walking upon snow in thin slippers.

I believe I have before remarked upon the
beauty of the young women j I might almost say
girls, for their beauty is commonly on the wane at
five and twenty. Before that age, their com-
plexions are generally lovely j the red and white
so delicately tempered on their cheeks, as if no
rude wind had ever fanned them ; their features
small and regular, as if moulded by fairy lingers ;
and countenances so gay and smihng, as if no
anxious thoughts had ever clouded the young soul
within. It is a pity that the envious sun should so
soon steal the rose and lilly from their cheeks, and
perhaps it is also a pity that the cares of a family
should so soon check the thoughtless gaiety of
their hearts, and teach them that mortal life is
no dream of changing pleasures, but one of
anxieties and cheating hopes. The advantages
attending early marriages are so substantial, and
the country in which they are practicable, is in a
condition of such enviable prosperity, whether we
regard its morals or its happiness, that I almost
blush to notice the objections which, as an idle
observer, one might find in a circumstance re-
sulting from so happy an order of things. The
American youth of both sexes are, for the most
part, married ere they are two and twenty j and in-

i:.;,i

,: «

ill I

1 I. M

'K)

APPEARANCE AND MANNERS

I i

d':cd it is usual to sec a giii of ciglitccn a wife and
a mother, It might doubtless, ere this, be possible,
if not to fix them in habits of study, at least to
store their minds with useful and general know-
ledge, and to fit them to be not merely the parents,
but the judicious guides of their children. Men
have necessarily, in all countries, greater facilities
than women for the acquirement of knowledge,
and particularly for its acquirement in that best of
all schools, the world. I mean not the world of
fasliion, but the world of varied society, where
youth loses its presumption, and prejudice its
obstinacy, and where self-knowledge is best ac-
quired fro).i the mind being forced to measure
itself with other minds, and thus to discover the
shallowness of its knowledge, and the groundless-
ness of its opinions. In this country, where every
man is called to study the^ national institutions,
and to examine, not merely into the measures but
the principles of government, the very laws become
his teachers ; and in the exercise of his rights and
duties as a citizen, he becomes more or less a
politician and a philosopher. His education,
therefore, goes on through life ; and though he
should never become familiar with abstract
science or ornamental literature, his stock of use-
ful knowledge increases daily, his judgment is con-
tinually exercised, and his mind gradually fixed in
habits of observation and reflection. Hitherto the
education of women has been but slightly attended
to ; married without knowing any thing of life but
its amusements, and then quickly immersed in
household affairs and the rearing of children, they

OF THE YOUNG WGMF.M.

command but few of those o])portunities by wliich
their husbands are daily improving in sound sense
and varied information. The wonderful advance
wliich this nation has made, not only in wealth and
strength, but in mental cultivation, within the last
twenty years, may yet be doubly accelerated when
the education of the women shall be equally a
national concern with that of the other sex ; and
when they shall thus learn, not merely to enjoy,
but to appreciate those peculiar blessings which
seem already to mark their country for th^ hap-
piest in the world. The number of the schools
and colleges established throughout the Union for
the education of boys, is truly surprising.

Your late distinguished friend, Dr. Rush of
Philadelphia, remarks, in his paper. On Ihe Mode
of Education prop)er in a Republic, " I am sensible
that our women must concur in all our plans of
education for young men, or no laws will ever
render them effectual. To qualify our women for
this purpose, they should not only be instructed in
the usual branches of female education, but should
be taught the principles of government and liberty ;
and the obligations of patriotisux should be incul-
cated upon them." At present it appears to me
that the American women are as deficient upon
some of these heads as the men are practised.
They love their country, and are proud of it be-
cause it is their country ; their husbands love and
are proud of it, because it is free and well-governed.
Perhaps when the patriotism of both shall rest on
motives equally enlightened, the national character
will be yet more marked than it is at present. A

I ;,

I Ml

1 > '!

'»

1 1^

Ut'

i -I

■J'
11

illll
'\\ ill

APPEARANCE AND MANNERS

! I

new race, nurtured under the watchful eye of
judicious mothers, and from them imbibing, in
tendei' youth, the feelings of generous liberty and
ardent patriotism, may evince in their maturity
an elevation of sentiment, which now to prognos-
ticate of any nation on the earth might be ac-
counted the dream of an idle theorist or vain
believer in the perfectibility of his species. It
ought to apologize for this digression j but before
I leave the subject into which I have wandered, 1
should observe, that much attention is now paid
to advance the education of women to that of tlie
men, and for this end public schools are rapidly
establishing in various parts of the Union, on the
most liberal terms.

The manners of the women strike me as peculi-
arly marked by sweetness, artlessness, and liveli-
ness : there is about them, at least in my eyes, a
certain untaught grace and gaiety of the heart,
equally removed from the studied English coldness
and indifference, and the no less studied French
vivacity and mannerism. They enter very early into
society 5 far too early, indeed, to be consistent with
a becoming attention to the cultivation of their
minds. I am, however, acquainted with striking
exceptions to this general practice. There are
some mothers in this city, who anxiously preside
over the education of their daughters, and are yet
more desirous of storing their minds with solid in-
formation, than of decking them with personal
accomplishments. I hope, and am induced to be-
lieve, that in the next generation such individuals
will be no longer conspicuous among the mass of

•I

OF THE YOUNG WOMEN.

e of
r, in
' and
urity
gnos-
3 ac-

vain
1. It
lefore
■ed, 1

paid
•f tlie
ipidly
n the

leculi-
liveli-
yes, a
heart,
dness
rcnch
y into
t with
their
riking
re are
ireside
|re yet
id in-
sonal
to be-
iduals
ass of

their fellow-citizens. This miu'ht be too nuich to
hope in oUl, slow-moving Europe, but one gener-
ation here sees marvellous revolutions. The
society, I mean by this, tliut which is collected
into large evening assei^^'^hes, is.almost exclusively
composed of the unmarried young. A crowded
loom is in this way a pretty scene for a quiet ob-
server to look into for half an hour ; but if he have
survived the buoyant spirits of first youth, he
will then find it better to walk home again. 1
ought not to omit a remark, not merely upon
the elegance of the dress of these young gay
creatures, but what is far better, on its modesty.
It may be sometimes more showy and costly than
is wise or befitting in the daughters of a republic,
but it never mocks at decency, as does that of our
English ladies, who truly have often put me to the
blush for their sex and their nation. The fashions
here are copied from the French j but I am told by
those that are knowing in such matters, that they
are not very changeable, and that it is judged, if
not more wise, (for this, I fear, seldom sways with
youth,) at least more becoming to wear the waist
and shoulders where nature placed them, than to
raise them this month to the ears, and sink them
the next to the length of our grandmothers. The
dances, too, (and these young women, as far as my
judgment may go with you for any thing, dance
with much Hghtness, grace, and gay-heartedness,)
the dances, are also French, chiefly quadrilles ;
certainly prettier to look at than the interminable
country-dance, whose appalling column seems ti»
picture out some vague image of space and time

,!l

!■.

I-

i ■
I

t! -,(,•■'

' p lb

IHL AMKUICAN VOdTIf.

which the imagination cannot see the end of. The
young men do not, in general, appear to nie to
equal in grace their fair companions j nor, indeetl,
in general ease of manner and address. In accost-
ing a stranger, they often assume a solemnity of
countenance that is at first rather appalling. They
seem to look as if waiting until you should '* open
your mouth in wisdom,*' or as if gathering their
strength to open theirs in the same manner. I
have more than once, upon such an occasion, has-
tened to collect my startled wit», expecting to be
posed and shamed by some profound enquiry into
the history of the past, or the probable events of
tJie future. I could ill convey to you the sudden
relief I have then experienced on hearing some
query upon the news of the day, or as to my ge*ie-
ral opinion of Lord Byron's poetry. It is not from
the young men in an idle drawing-room that a
stranger should draw his picture of an American.
He nnist look at these youths when stamped with
manhood, when they have been called upon to ex-
ercise their rights as citizens, and have not merely
studied the history and condition of their country,
but are thoroughly imbued witli the principles of
its government, and with that philosophy which
their liberal institutions are so well calculated to
inspire.

The youth of both sexes here enjoy a freedom
of intercourse unknown in the older and more
formal nations of Europe. They dance, sing, walk,
and ** run in sleighs" together, by sunshine and
moonshine, without the occurrence or even the
apprehension of any impropriety. In this bounti-

TlIK AMEUU'AN YOUTH,

:^.;

from

lat a

ican.
with

o ex-
erely
ntry,
es of
hich
d to

ledom

Iwalk,

and

the

)iinti-

iul country, marriages are seldom dreadetl iii im-
prudent, and therefore no care is taken to prevent,
llie contracting of early engagements. It is curiou ;
to see how soon these laughing maidens are mela-
morphosed into fond wives and attentive mothers ;
and these giddy youths into industrious citizens
and thinking politicians.

Marriages are usually solemnized in the paternal
mansion of the bride, in which the young couple
continue to reside for six or twelve months. It is
seldom that the young woman brings with her any
dowry, or that the husband has much .to begin the
world with, save a gay heart and good hopes ; whicii
even should he fail in his profession as lawyer, or
physician, or merchant, arc not extinguished ; for
he has still the wide iield of bounteous nature
open before him, and can set forth with the wife
of his bosom and the children of his love, to seek
treasures in the wilderness !

It is very customary in this, and I am told in
other cities, to breed up young men to the bar, not
always with an idea of their following the profes-
sion for a livelihood, but because, if they discover
talents and ambition, it is considered as the best
introduction to political life.

Mr. Wells, and Mr. Emmctt, whose history is
in his name, are considered at the head of tlie
New- York bar. In the mild manners, in the ur-
banity and benevolence of Mr. Emmett's character,
one might be at a loss to conceive where oppres-
sion found its victim. Is it in his powerful talents
mid generous sentiments that we must sock the

I) 2

I.I

•M

;:i ,

:,;, II

f,\

; I i

3t>

uixtrTioN or lonKicNLiis-,

explanation ? There are other well known IiNh
names in this city.

Were it worth while to vindicate this nation
from a charj^e, the absnrdity of which I am ahnost
tempted to think nuist be apparent to those who
have advanced it, that there is an illiberal preju
dice against the employment of foreign talent, I
could from my own observation positively attest
the contrary. The well employed honrs of Mr.
Emmett, and his highly-respected abilities and
character, might alone set the charge at defiance.
The success of Dr. M'Neven as a physician, and
his situation as Professor in the College, and the
eagerness with which his society is sought by
travellers from all parts of the Union, might be
quoted as another rcfntation. But, indeed, it vere
idle to run. through the various instances in which
a naturalized citizen has risen to eminence i'l hi^i
profession, and commanded consideration from the
people of his adopted country. Perhaps where
this complaint has been made, it has originated in
disappointed vanity. It is true that this people
have a provoking soundness of judgment, and
rate men and things according to their net value.
They have a straight-forward conuuon sense about
them, that will set nothing down to name or con-
dition : they weigh the man against the trappings
of his vanity ; and, if they find him wanting, will
leave him to walk on his way. I am proud to rank
among my friends and acquaintances many indi-
viduals, who generously ascribe to the liberality
of their adopted country the liouourable success
which has here followed the exercise of their talents,

thj
J'eu
ren

tJKN'KKAL BCltN'Ani).

on
ost

C I

test
Mr.

and
nco.

and
, the
t by
\t be

vere
vbiciv

1
bn

Many of those I have named to you in my earlief
letters, and vou know how mnch 1 um iiulcbted
to their f'rientlship, and how warmly I return it.

There is yet another foreigner that 1 am tempted
to introduce to you — General IJernard ; a native
ot' France, and one of the earliest and most distin-
guished scholars of the polytechnic school. His
manners, simple and modest as those of a sage,
frank and independent as tiiose of a soldier ; his
principles, talents, varied knowletlge, and profound
science, such as do honor to his school and his
.lation. After the battle of AVaterloo, (in wliich
he received six wounds at Napoleon's side,) and
the return of Louis, he resigned his connnission,
and retired to private lite with his family, Tlie
king twice solicited his service, but he replied,
that having been aide-de-camp to the Ex-emperor,
and honored with his intimacv, he could not enter
into the service of the reigning family without
drawing upon himself the suspicion tiiat, in conduct
as well as opinion, he was guided by interest. His
conduct as an officer, and skill as an engineer,
were so well known and acknowledged throughout
Europe, that he received invitations from two other
courts, Bavaria and Holland, both of which he
buccessively declined, urging the same reasons
that he had pleaded to the French monarch. He
jcmained retired in his chateau, and would have
remained there still, but for the vexation and
inconvenience which the underlings of the court
knew how to bring to the fire-sides of the sus-
pected foes of legitimacy. " If they would have
Jet me sit in my chimney-corner sans me dire mot,

GENERAL i>i:KNAKD.

I should have been content to sit tlicre still.'*
** Foildy me.s amis ; vous etes les maitrcs ; c'cst voire
tour. Eh hien ! jouez^ danseZf triomphez, et laissez-
mot dormir ; mats Us lie voulurent pas.^* Even
England will occasionally afford us examples of
petty knaves and busy bodies, who, to attract
the attention of those in power, will inform
themselves of the actions, or, if there be
nothing tangible there, of the opinions of their
neighbours, and evince their own zeal by de-
nouncing the supposed disaffection of others.
General Bernard could not submit to the official
visits of the petty magistrates and cui^es of a village,
or to those of the under gentlemen of the police
of Paris ; and though, upon application, the high
tuithorities disavowed any " art or part" in such
vexatious proceedings, a disciple of Carnot, and
aide-de-camp of the ci-devant emperor, was too fair
game to receive the shield of their protection. He
was teased and teased till his patience became ex-
hausted, when he addressed himself to the govern-
ment of the United States, and made a tender of his
services. They were accej)ted with every expres-
sion of respect and satisfaction, and he was placed
immediately in the corps of engineers with the
same rank that he held in the army of France.
The United States, are believed to have received
in him an inestimable treasure. Since the last
war, it has been a great object with the Congress
to fortify the American coasts and lines, to be
prepared, in the event of any future hostilities
with foreign powers, against such surprises as once
lost the infant capital, and threatened the destruc-

GENERAL BERNARD.

lion ot* New Orleans. General Bernard has re-
ceived instructions to take a survey of the country,
and draw up a report of what he shall consider requi-
site to complete the plan of precautionary defence,
either on the coasts, or on the Canadian, Indian,
and Spanish frontiers. He has already examined
the southern lines, and proceeds this year to the
lakes. The cheerfulness with which this soldier,
broken down as he is by military service, undergoes
the fatigues of such hard duty, — travelling in all
ways and in all climates, through all the varieties of
forest, swanjp, or savanna ; and the pleasure and
pride which he expresses in being permitted to
employ his time and talents in the service of the
republic, is truly gratifying to contemplate. It is
not from General Bernard that you will hear com-
plaints of the illiberality of this government, or the
inhospitality of this people ; nor is it of sucli
foreigners, as this soldier and gentleman, that the
Americans will express themselves with coldness
or disrespect. I often hear them name him with
admiration, and acknowledge themselves as proud
that their country should be the chosen abode of
such a character, as he on his part acknowledges
liimself in being devoted to its service.

Considering the spleen that for the most part
besets men in foreign countries, not merely his own
nation, but mankind at large is indebted to the
individual who has curiosity and good humour
enough to travel among strangers with his eyes in
his head, and his heart in his hand ; but how much
more highly are they indebted to him who, to cu-
riosity and good humour, unites every gift of the

D 4

. I-

I i"

I V

GENERAL, BERNARD.

(

understanding, possesses all the wide range of
knowledge, and inspires a foreign nation not only
with respect for his own high merits, but for the
country which gave him birth ! Would a few more
such individuals as General Bernard visit this re-
public, more would be done towards setting the
seal of amity between the two hemispheres, than
was effected by the treaty of Ghent, or than could
be effected by any treaty by official authorities.
It is governments that make war, and the same
governments that make peace ; but the peace they
make is only a cessation of hostilities by fleets and
armies ; they do not make friends^ and I know not
liow it is that they contrive that the people under
them shall never make friends either. In this
country, however, you will remember that the
government is identified with the people, — it is
their free voice and their efficient will ; and to
offend the one is to outrage the other. In the
minds of no European people, therefore, can the
abuses of malignity, or the misrepresentations of
ignorance, rankle more deeply than in those of the
Americans. They cannot say the misrepresen-
tations made of our character and our laws have
been drawn upon us by the acts of a government
in which we had no share ; on the contrary, they
are ready to exclaim, " The vast Atlantic separates
" us from Europe — from its clashing interests,
" its strifes, and its ambitions. In peace, we have
" established our laws ; in the spirit of liberty and
" good will to man, we have framed our constitu-
** tion. The arms of our country have been open
♦* to the unfortunate of every nation on the earth.

[pen
Irtlu

rORKICN WRITERS.

'^ The stranger comes to us, and we receive him,
»* not as a stranger, but a brother. He sits down
'< among us a fellow-citizen, and in peace and se-
" curity gathers the fruits of his industry, professes
" his opinions, and leaves a free inheritance to his
•' children.'* If the American thus speaks, who
sihall gainsay him ? If he thus speaks, where is the
generous European, the fair, the honourable man
that will not acknowledge that he speaks justly,
and that will not blush, if any of his countrymen
have been found among the traducers of his
nation ?

These observations have been drawn from me
by a passage in your last letter. Had you not
iilluded to the little volume that lately found its
way hither, neither should I. The credit that your
letter, and the letters of other trans- Atlantic friends,
leal re to think that Mr. P'earon has found in
Eng .d, could alone have induced me to advert to
him.

When a friend put this little book in my hand,
and told me with a smile to study his nation, I
glanced at a few pages here and there, and smiled
too. " It is to be regretted," said my friewd, " that
our country is visited by so many travellers of this
description, and so few of any other kind. We are
a young people, and therefore perhaps despised ;
we are a people fast growing in strength and pro-
sperity, and therefore perhaps envied. We have
doubtless errors ; I never yet saw the nation that
had them not ; but it is equally certain that we
have many virtues. An enemy will see only the
Ibrmer j the friend who would wisely point out

5
■A

1^1

i! ?

4i^

rORElGN WRITERS.

both, " nothing edienuating, nor settiiig doxcn aught
in malice" would do as kindly by us, as honour-
ably by himself. Will no such man ever come
from your country ?" *' I often lament," he again
observed, " that we should be visited only by the
poor or the busy, the prejudiced or the illiterate of
tlie English nation. Their reports are received for
lack of better, and form the texts from which the
European journalists draw their reports of our
character and our institutions.

" All this were very ridiculous, if it were not
very mischievous. Cutting words cut deep ; and
I fear that we are human enough to feel ourselves
gradually estranged from a nation that was once
our own, and for which we so long cherished an
affection, that I am sure w^ould have grown with
our growth, and strengthened with our strength,
had not \\\Q^'pen yet more than the sword destroyed
it."

I have given you my friend's observations rather
more in the form of an harangue than they were
delivered, but I saw no reason for breaking them
to introduce my own, which were not half so well
worded, or so much to the purpose.

LETTER V.

VISIT TO THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA. REMARKS ON THE

FRIENDS. — LAWS AND INSTITUTIONS OF WILLIAM PENN.

PENAL CODE. DU. RUSH. ABOLITION OF THE SLAVE

TRADE. EMANCIPATION OF THE SLAVES IN THE NOR-
THERN STATES. CONDITION OF THE NEGRO IN THE

NORTHERN STATES.

Philadelphia, May, 1819.
MY DEAR FRIEND,

1 HE rapidity ol' our motions previous to our arrival
in this city, and here the kind attentions of those
famiUes to whom our New- York and Jersey friends
had supplied us witli letters, and of others who,
without the receipt of such credentials, sought us
in our character of strangers and foreigners, has
left me little leisure, — not for remembermg my
friends in the old world, but for affording them
written proofs of remembrance.

I had been led to expect that the citizens of
Philadelphia were less practised in courtesy to
strangers than those of New- York. Our expe-
rience does not confirm the remark. We have
only to bear testimony to their civility. There is
at first something cold and precise in the general
air and manner of the people, particularly so when
compared to the cheerfulness and open-heartedness
of the natives of New- York ; perhaps too we un-
fairly contrasted them with those of the amiable
circle we had left on the shores of the Rariton or
at * * * * Pennsylvania. This coldness of ex-

'. il

■1|

til 'pj

THE rillENDri.

tcrior, however, wears off in a great measure upon
further acquaintance, and, what may still remain,
you set down to the ruling spirit, and philanthropic
father of the city, and respect it accordingly.

Though we have found some quietism in the
society, we have found less absolute qiiakerism
than we expected ; and I own that I at first felt
something like disappointment, when, on looking
round a room, I saw not one drab-colored son of
Penn in it. It is very true that a man is none the
better for wearing a brown coat, but I have a
notion that he is sometimes the better for being a
Friend. There is no ridicule that has ever given
more offence to my better feelings, than that which
is oflen so thoughtlessly directed against the society
of the Friends. I object to the term quakerSt a
name which they do not acknowledge themselves,
and which was affixed to them in derision by those
who could perceive their peculiarities of phrase and
demeanor, but were unable to appreciate the unpre-
suining virtues which distinguished them yet more
i'rom every Christian sect and society of men on
the face of tlie earth.

The children of the peaceful and benignant
William Penn have not only inherited the fashion
of their patriarch's garments, but his simple man-
ners, his active philanthropy, his mild forbearance,
his pure and persevering charity, thinking no evil
and taking no praise.

The annals of the human race present us with
no name more dear, at once to humanity and to
liberty, than that of Penn. He united every great
and every gentle virtue. His intrepidity withstood

TIIK FUIENDS'.

with
id to
great
stood

the frowns of power ; his Christian philosophy was
superior to the lures of ambition ; and while his
tbrtitude resisted persecution, his candour and
gentle benevolence never sentenced the opinions
of others. His religion was without dogmatism,
his virtue without austerity ; he was tolerant among
bigots, inflexible before tyrants, patient with the
factious, humane towards the criminal, fair and
just with the savage as with the civilized man.
Proud indeed may tl '^ republic be which had such
a man for its ' auiu and whose u- >ry has so
generally done honour to his name ; and justly
venerable, justly entitled to the respect and love
of mankind, is the fraternity of which that man
was a member, (one may almost say the founder,)
and which has followed up his deeds of mercy by
others not less beautiful, tempering the rigors of
justice to the offender, relieving the sick and the
destitute, and even the criminal in the prison-
house ; teaching virtue to the j)rofligate, practis-
ing humanity to the hard-hearted, cherishing the
unconscious lunatic, bearing with his impatience,
soothing his despair, and calming his frenzy.

We may idly speculate indeed upon the silence
and quietism that might pervade this now bustling
world, were all its varied tribes and sects resolved
into one society of Friends. The pulse of human
life might then, it is true, beat feebly, and we might
all live and die without greatly sinning or suffer-
ing, but without exercising half those energies,
bodily and mental, which the conflict of human
passions now calls into existence. Whether this
were well or ill for us, it matters not to dream

,«

* 'I

I 1 *

-i

( j )• it

!■ ,;'

'IF

THE FRIENDS.

upon J there is as little chance of our all turnin<i
Ft'iends, as of our all turning angels; but filled, as
this earth is, with noise and contention, it is sweet
to contemplate those sons and daughters of peace
walking unruffled through the " maddened crowd,*'
their thoughts turned to mercy and unostentatious
charity.

It was with nuich pleasure that I found upon
enquiry, that many whose dress and phraseology
are unmarked by any peculiarity, are yet attached
to the society, and are ])roud to rank themselves
among its members, and to trace back their short
line of ancestry to the first peacei'ul settlers of the
soil.

I have been led to conclude that the societv
has here very wisely relaxed some of its rules. It
seems no longer necessary for its members to
forego innocent amusements, or any honest j)ro-
fession ; nor considered as an important form to
use the second person singular rather than the
j)lural, or to prefer drab-cloth or pearl-colored
silk. The same regard to their morals and fair
dealings is still preserved ; they must be honest
members of the community, and then may wear
what garments they please. There is, however,
much indulgence practised towards the follies, and
even the errors of youth. A wild young man is
privately reprimanded, and much time allowed
him to gain wisdom and reclaim his habits, before
he is expelled the society. Expulsion, therefore, is
regarded as a serious blot upon a man's character,
even by those of other persuasions, as it is known
to be resorted to in cases of obstinate vice, or con-

THE FUIKNDM.

•^

re, IS
bter,
[own
con-

victed fraiidiilency. It is no doubt wise, tluit, as
the community advances in wealtli, and in that
retinement which follows wealth, this truly virtuous
society should dispense with some of its less im-
portant regulations, which, in a simple age, with-
out being unsuited to the condition of its members,
tended to confirm them in sober habits, and to
keep their thoughts estranged from ostentatious
display and idle diversions. Did it not in some
degree shape itself to the times, its sons would
gradually cease to shape thenselves to it, and this
school of genuine Christian philosophy would be
forsaken, as was that of the unbending S.toicswhen
increasing knowledge rendered its rules irksome
and even ridiculous. Applauding the good sense
and liberality of this society, so superior in this to
many other religious associations, in whose mem-
bers a jealous attachment to the external forms
has too often survived that of the internal prin,
ciples, I cannot help observing,, that not only has
it secured to itself permanency by this wise temper,
but has made a better stand against the advance of
luxury than it could have done by a more obstinate
resistance. Upon closer inspection, you discover
in this moral and well-ordered city, a still nicer
attention to neatness and simplicity of dress, and
quietness of demeanor, in the members of this con-
gregation, than in those of any other. The young
girls, indeed, are often in feathers and flowers, and
this absolutely in the meeting-house ; but it is not
unusual to throw them off, as years kill vanity by
killing b jauty ; and even in spite of them, you
some how or other, by the air of the more posee

i ;

t » I

1 V,

■■•>■>'

:,;i; .:'

THL FRIENDS.

matron of the house, or tlie more reserved address
of the whole family, and sometimes by the addi-
tional help of portraits on the walls, in round-eared
caps and starched handkerchiefs, can distinguish
the abode of the children of peace and good works
from those of other men.

I have no peculiar fancy for the fashions of our
ancestors ; absurd indeed as our own often are,
they are on the whole in better taste. I should
not wish to see a whole people in the garb of the
Friends, but I have sometimes thought, that I
should like to see the daughters of these republics
clad in that simplicity which is so appropriate a
beauty in all that meets the eye and the ear in a
young democracy. Let me, however, observe of
the young women here, as I before observed of
those of New-York, that, though they may be-
decked in the flaunting silks of France and the
Indies, their dress is always arranged with womanly
modesty ; the boson never forgets its screen, nor
are the ankles afid arms exposed to court every idU-
ii'aze and bring into discredit the morals of the nation.
You will think me perhaps old-fashioned before
my time, but I cannot help judging in part of na-
tional, as well as of individual character, by the
general fashion of the garments. It is difficult to
take cold manners and haughty reserve as suretic*
for pure minds ; but when the dress is arranged
with decency and simplicity, we feel disposed to
give women credit for modesty and good sense.
I cannot as yet accord the latter quality to the
young Americans, but I do give them full credit
for native innocence oi heart, which prevents their

The

\ i .

WILLIAM IM:NN\

I the
lanly
, nor
/ idU-
ation.
efbrc
f na-
y the
lit to
retic*
iiged
d to
ense.
the
redil
their

gaiety fiom ever overstepping decency ; and thongh
we slioukl sometimes smile at tlieir v:>nitv, leaves
US no room to hhish f'oi^ their immodestv.

It were needless to recoinit to yon the hiany
wise laws and humane institutions for which this
i( country is indebted to the Friends. Peiin was one
of those rare spirits who learned mercy in the
courts of oppression. At a time when the (\itiio-
lic persecuted the Protestant, or the Protestant
the Catliolic, as one or the other party obtained
^ the ascendant, — when the reformed Churcii, after
having fought the battle i'ov couscience sakcy denied
tliat conscience to others for which she had bled
herself, and enforced cruel statutes against every
dissenter from her doctrines or her forms, the
mild, but entre])id Penn, not only asserted his own
right to freedom of opinion, but r-laimed it also
for mankind. Having joined himself to an obscure
and persecuted sect, who professed peace, and fol-
lowed good works in a world of strife and hard-
hearted bigotry, he confronted, with the energy of
insulted virtue and outraged freedom, the tribunal
of injustice*; having borne imprisonments, tines,

* The spirited address of William Pom? to a London Jury
can never l)e forgotten by Englishmen. Being brought to trial
at the Old Bailey, for having spoken in public according to the
rules of his sect, the Jury, after listening to his own magna-
nimous defence, gave .n a verdict, Gn'diy only of .yycnkittg in
Grace Church Street. This was pronounced to be no verdict,
and the jury, with threats from the Bench, were commanded to
evise the sentence ; when Penn cried aloud to them, Ye are
Englishmen! mind t/our privileges ! give not axmy your right '
The Jury, equally Ingh-minded with the prisoner, having cn-
<lured confinement during the night, without food or tirr. pro-

) ♦

■ I

- "t

lit"

F 1

I ■

:j(j

WILLIAM riiNN.

and insults, and enduicd all that could rouse in-
dignant or revengeful i'eelings in the breast ot'nian»
tiiis benevolent, and truly Christian philosopher,
devoted his time and hia fortune to procure a haven
of rest, not merely for his persecuted brethren,
but for the persecuted of every sect and clime. A
colony of these unfortunates were planted by liis
hand in the wilderness of the new world, and here
did he frame a governmentyt;/' //ic support of' power,
thai should be in reverence with the people, and to
secure the pL'0[)le from the abuse of power, and de-
clare that none ackyiowledging one God, and living
peaceahlij in society, should be molested Jbr his opi-
?iions, cr i:ompelled to frequent or juamtain any
ministry ivhatsoever, 'J'his doctrine of religious, as
well as civil liberty was never abjured by the colo-
nists, and formed a striking contrast to the bigotry
of the Puritans of New England, and the Lutherans
of Virginia. Pcnn had not, it is true, the merit of
being the first to establish the right of religious
equality. This honour is due to Leonard Calvert,
the Roman Catholic, who, in 1031, near half a cen-
tury before the establishment of Penn's settlement
on the Delaware, had proclaimed the same princi-
ples in his infant province of Maryland. But the
wise decree of this father of Maryland was broken
down by the authority of the mother country, first,
during the triumph of Puritanism under Cromwell,
and again, after that of Lutheranism under William,
when Protestant episcopacy was established by law in

nounced in Court next morning a verdict of Not guilty. Upon
this they were fined forty marks each, and commanded to prison
with the accuBcd,

PENAL CODE.

I vert,

1 cen-

jmcnt

rinci-

t the

oken

first,

well,

liatn,

aw in

Upon

IP^'

ison

a province whose principal inhahitants were C:\-
thoiics. Tluis the infant Pennsylvania stootl con-
spiciions anioiiiT thec()h)nies as the haven of rest for
the persecuted for conscience sake. The Calvinist,
couhl flv to New En<ijl;irul, the Lutheran to Vir<»'i-
nia, hut to the woods of Pennsylvania, men of every
sect could fly ; and, at the time of the revolution,
this state was one of the few which, in new-modelling
her code, had not to ahrogate former intolerant
decrees against religious liherty, or to ainiihilatc
tlie privileges of some pre-eminent churcii.

To William Penn also humanity is indehted for
the first enactment of that beautiful penal code
which is now the admiration of all enlightened po-
litical economists throughout the world, in re-
taining the punishment of death even lor the mur-
derer, his mild spirit seems rather to have :: ,3 led
the sentence of *' blood for blood'* in conf jrniity
to the divine law, as given in the Old Testament,
than from the argued conviction of its propriety.
The code of this humane legislator was cancelled
by the authority of government, as were the tole-
rant enactments of the liberal-minded Calvert.
After the revolution, by the strenuous exertions of
many philanthropic citizens, among whom were
chiefly conspicuous the venerable Frroi lin, William
Bradford, Caleb Lowndes, and Dr. Rush, the
abrogated code of the father of Pennsylvania again
superseded the bloody statutes of England. You
are doubtless well acquainted with the pamphlets
of Dr. Rush upon this subject. I remember to
have seen one in which he ably canvasses the jus-
tice and policy of punishing even murder by death.

E 2

I ii 1

': h .

1lM

r)U

PENAL CODE.

He cndeuvonrs, I tlunk, to explain awny the scrip-
tural texts, in obedience to which Penn had adopted
his sentence. I low far this may be possible, I know
not, but it does not appear important. The law ot
Moses is not the law of Ciiristians, nor the law of
nations ; and it" we dispense with it in other cases
Ave may be allowed to do so in tiiis.

Thus in her penal code, as before in her re-
ligious liberty, the republic of Pennsylvania set an
example of hmnanity and wisdom to her sistei
states; nor were they slow in following it. Tlii-^
mild code has now abolished the punishment of
death throughout the Union for all crimes, the
highest degree of murder excej)ted (that is, whert'
it is proved to have been premeditated a!id malig-
nantly wilful), and also all public and corporal
punishments, otherwise than by imprisonments
and labour justly apportioned to the habits and
strength of the |)risoner. * The wishes of your
honoured friend Di\ Rush and of other philan-
throj)ists, have not yet been carried into efiect as
regards the abolition of the punishment of death
in this last case of malignant nuu'der. In consi-
dering the atrocity of the crime, we feel that no

* This code must be undeistood as modified in some of the
Soutliern States with regard to slaves. Piracy, which comcv
under tlie jurisdiction of the United States, has hitherto been
subjected to the punishment of death. A law of Congress has
now remitted the sentence to confinement in the penitentiary,
except in cases of peculiar flagrancy. An overt act of treason
(for which no man has ever suffered), and the being taken ou
the high seas in the smuggled traffic of slaves, are the otlu '.
offences capitally penal by 111., of the United Stnte.«,

I
,1

mgs

I I -f

h of the

\\ comes

to been

Ircss lias

;entiar}.

treason

iken oil

lie otlu '.

TENAL CODE.

punishment can reach its deserts ; but even with
this view, it may be questioned whetlier that of
death be wisely chosen. Solitary imprionnient is
I ])roveil by experience to be a sentence more dread-
i'ul and more dreaded than death. In tlie prisons
of tiiese States, it has subdued the most hardened
)>roflii>ates, and inflicted mental agonies which they
would gladly have exchanged tor the transitory
iiorro's of the scaflbUl. It is not therefore in
mercy to the criminal, but to the community that
the change can be proposed. The chief purpose
of juilicial punishments is said to be example. I
know not how far the legislator should .be guided
by this ))rinciple ; but is it not undoubted, that he
must be carefid that the example, that is, the efiect
produced by the sentence of the judge and sut-
icring of the oH'enderon the mind of tlie spectator,
shall be pure and decided ? Must he not be watch-
lul that no pity for the criminal shall be roused to
weaken our horror of the crime? — that our
moral indignation shall not be turned aside by an
appeal to our ucfvous sensibility? Executions,
where they are frequent, have been found to
ler the mind callous to the last mortal sutier-
s of the oifender: and thus to leave with it no

rent

eri'ect but what is decidedly vicious. To familiarize
the human eye to blood is to render savage the
human heart. An English multitude of men,
women, and children crowd round the scafrold of
the murderer or the thief with gaping curiosity, as
did the French, during the bloody tragedies of
llobec^pierre, round that of the innocent citizen, or

have their

the intrepid sage, eager only

syni-

E 3

^•;

I ^1

i! \3

.• i

PENAL CODE.

pathy awakened, or perhaps eager only to see how
the hapless wretcli will meet his fate. On the
other haiul, where executions are rare, they as
naturally excite unmixed horror ; the atrocity
of the crime and of the criminal are lost in this
one overpowering sensation ; he wiiom the heart
cursed, and at whose sight the blood ran cold, is
changed in a moment to an object of compassion ;
his deeds of darkness are forgotten when his life's
blood is poured at our feet ; — the murderer in our
eyes is no longer the lifeless wretch, it is the hired
executioner. Can the law be wise which thus
trifles with our moral feelings ? and that it does so,
we need not look to the speculations of philan-
thropists. I have the testimony of many citizens
of these republics for asserting, that when exe-
cutions, rare and far between, as they are in
this happy country, occur, they have no other
effect than to excite amazement and horror at the
suffering, and commiseration for the sufferer. Nay,
so much is this the case, that tiie execution of a
pirate, convicted of the most atrocious crimes, has,
upon one or two occasions, assumed the appear-
ance of a martyrdom : multitudes crowding to
gaze upon him, as led from the prison with all
the respect that the citizens of Rome might have
seen a victorious general enter their gates under
the honours of an ovation. The criminal himself
has caught die enthusiasm of the hour, and
ascended the scaffold with the majesty of Kemble
in Coriolanus, seeking the hearth of his enemy;
the scene closing with a funeral procession, and all
the solemnities of Christian interment. A judicial

PENAL CODE.

5.5

ible

all
licial

execution thus transformed into an heroic tragedy,
IS something Hke a farce ; but can it be other-
vise in a country where the human eye is unused
■0 the sight of human suffering? The fault is not
ill the people but in the law — 1 correct myself j
The law being here made by the people, the fault
/.9 with them. It is time it should be corrected.

1 nuist observe, that it does not seem to be the
terror of example that is here sought by the in-
Hiction of this worst sentence of law : and I am led
to believe, that it is permitted to remain on the
statute-book from the persuasion, that justice, con-
sidered in the abstract, demands for the highest
degree of malignant murder " blood for blood."
But this principle of retribution cannot however
demand, that an injurious effect should be pro-
duced on the feelings of the community; nor can
it require, that to any human being should be
ilelegatcd the office of executioner, — an office
which no human being should ever be called
upon, which no man should ever be alloxced, to
exercise. Rarely, indeed, is this officer of death
in requisition in these benevolent republics; the
importance of human life is here acknowledged ;
ihe dignity of man felt and understood. Law may
not lightly molest him, nor justice, except for
the last outrage, demand the sacrifice of life.
It is not for the sake of the criminal, but of the
community, that I mingle my wishes with those
of the American philanthropists who would blot
from their code the penalty of death.

To the society of Friends also is humanity in-
debted for a continued opposition to the odious

E 4

■h\

SLAVK TRADK.

traffic in the African race ; for unwearying eflbrts
to etlect its abolition, which no chimour, no ridicule,
no licart-sickening delays and disappointments
could relax, until they were crowned witii success.
It is pleasing to see these simple and unpresuming
iriends of man raisintc their voice in either hemi-
sj)here against the most atrocious of all the sins
that deface the annals of modern history. All
the American colonies may lay claim to the honor,
not merely of having yielded with marked un-
willingness and tardiness, to the example of
Euro])eans who sought the coasts of wretched
Africa for human objects of barter, but to the
constraining edicts of the mother country, which
made the new hemisphere the mart for the wretched
victims of her avarice. The early laws of the
New England colonists upon this subject, reflect
a glory upon those infant people of which their
descendants may well be proud. The struggle of
their intrepid Houses of Assembly against the
supreme authority of England, to prevent, in the
very infancy of this odious trafiic, the importation
of slaves into their provinces, appears with no less
honor in their annals, than does their subsequent
struggle for national independence.

In Pennsylvania, the society of Friends were
united in opposition to the African trade from
their first settlement in the province ; and, had
they constituted the majority of the population,
(which their own liberal institutions tended to
prevent,) it is probable that the European traders
would have found the implanting black slavery
on the banks of the Delaware impracticable. It

SLAVE TllADE.

must be reniembered, liowevcr, tliat the will of
the mother country was iipon this matter iinper-
ative ; and that a positive prohibitory statute, on
the part of Pennsylvania, would have been treated
in like manner witii those of Massachussets. Her
restrictive regulations, however, were numerous ;
nor coultl the eager cuj)idity of the foreign traders
ever create a certain market for the enslaved
Africans to the north of Maryland. It is a striking-
fact, and one greatly in favor of religious as well
as civil liberty, (if in this age of the world either
needed the support of argument,) that in those
])rovinces where the home authority was insufficient
to establish one privileged church, this traffic was
held in odium from its very commencement.
Religion, there ingrafted in the heart, instantly
bred scruples as to its legality, humanity, and
policy, while, in the distant Ijuopcan empires,
living under proud hierarchies, and in the
neighbouring colonics in which tlie church of
England had been by law established, the iuiman
mind was more slow to acknowledge the crime.
It is not to be doubted, that tlie difference of
climate, between the southern and northern pro-
vinces of British America, contributed yet more
than the differing standard of conscientious scruple
among the colonists, to produce a more marked
reluctance to the trade in the one than the other ;
yet we cannot peruse the colonial histories of these
states without counting for something the varying
influence of religion in those districts where its
principles were engrafted in rcilUng minds j and

V: !

Jl-

1 I

i I f

.^8

ABOLITION OF THE

those where its forms were estabhsheil by com-
pulsory edicts.

'ilie low and marshy lands stretching along the
coasts and great rivers of the south, tainting the
warm atmosphere, and generating diseases fatal to
a white population, held out too al'uring a tempt-
ation for the employment of tiie African, to whose
constitution the climate was less fatal, for the
offers of the trader to be resisted by the young
settlers * ; but let it not be forgotten, that the
slave-holding Virginia, while yet a colony, revolted
at the crime to which she had been allured.
Her energetic appeal to the throne, to release her
from the inundation of domestic slavery, which
was forced upon her, is grateful to the human
heart to recal ; and the deaf ear which was turned
to her prayer is what the friends of that throne
will not wish to remember. The history of
African slavery is at once the disgrace and honor
of America ; the disgrace she shares in common
with the whole civilized world — the honor is all
her own. Surrounded by every temptation which
could seduce her to tiie crime, at first courted and
then awed into compliance, she openfy reprobated
it when all the nations of the earth were silent, and
dared, even in her weak infancy, to brave the anger
of a powerful empire in behalf of the wretched
slave who was thrown upon her shores. She was
the first country to abolish the trade j first, by the

* It is highly creditable to the infant Georgia, that she, I'or
several years, successfully resisted, by an imperative law, the
introduction of slaves into her province.

SLAVE TRADE.

laws of her separate states, among which Virginia
led tlie way, and, secondly, hy the hiw of her
federal government. More than a dozen years
before the abolition of the trade by the British
parliament, it was abohshed in America by act of
Congress. There is surely soinetliing to ail mire —
something grand, as well as beautiful, in the effect
of liberty on the human heart. This Congress
was composed, in great part, of representatives
from slave-hokling states, themselves slave-holders.
Had the British abolition waited until the West
Indian planters should have voted for the measure,
when would it have passed ? 1 intend no invidious
comparison. There were found among the West
Indian planters, some few illustrious exceptions to
the crowd of opposers to the abolition. If the
exceptions among Americans were found in the
opposition, and the crowd on the side of mercy
and wise policy, we must ascribe it to the more
liberal institutions under which they lived.

Canvassed as the question of the African trade
has now been, until it is not only set at rest for
ever, but that men wonder how its legality and
humanity could ever be a question, it may be diffi-
cult for us fully to appreciate the merits of the
infant American colonies, who, more than a century
before the attention of Europe was seriously turned
to the consideration of this crying outrage, were
engaged in passing statutes to prohibit it. To
obtain the sanction of the government to any law
of abolition, was, however, found impossible by
any of the provinces, until the era of the revolution,
when their governments spoke the will of their

'li

■!■ I

I I

i i

BLACK SLAVERY.

: 'l

j)ooj)lc. Then, one utter another, the assemblies
rendered penal a crime which they had so long
dtMionnced ; atid w here circnmstances permitted
the speedy application of the remedy, fixed the
year of emancipation for their negro bondsmen.
Where, as was the case to tlie north of the
Susquehanna, the slave population was inconsider-
able, this was etlected with Jittle, or at least
with temporary, inconvenience. 'J'o the south,
where it is numerous, and as it were engruited
in the soil, the evil yet needs years of p:\tience,
the more perfect understanding of t. ; mischief
to the master, or the more universal feeling of
the injustice to the slave; the more absolute con-
viction of the necessity of a remedy, or th<^ more
clear insight into the mode in whicii it should
be aj)plied, ere this foul blot can be eti'aced from
tliat portion of this great union, and the whole of
these confederated republics asj)ire, in their po-
litical, antl consequently in their moral, character,
to a glorious ecpiality.

It is not ibra young and inexperienced foreigner
to suggest remedies for an evil which has en-
gaged the attention of native philanthropists and
statesmen, and hitherto baffled their eflfbrts, though
not relaxed their exertions. Those who, removed
in distant countries, know only of these southern
republics, that they are disgraced with black sla-
very, without reflecting upon the manner, and the
era in which that curse was introduced, without
inquiring into the exertions that may have been
made towards alleviating the misery of the negro
finally achieving his emancipation, without

•i

p. LACK SLAVHRV.

led

Mil

lla-
Ihe

•en
|ro

Hit

consiJciiniij the difKcuIties that must Iinpetle so
great ii measure in its progress — the doubts and
I'ears that must l)e endured, the interests that must
be sacrificed, tlie consequences that must be braved
— tiiose who do not know, and cahnly \v(Mgh these
circumstances, are, I ap])rehend, not im[)artial
judges of the merits or demerits of the American
planters ; nor, though they should be among the
most generous deplorers of the evil, would they
perhaps be the wisest devisers of its remedy.
There is, indeed, in tlie history of African slavery,
something so revolting, that we may well {)artlon
any intemperance of feeling, which in breathing
the energy of virtuous indignation, forgets the
measure of justice, and visits too heavily the crime
upon those who may suffer its continuance both
with regret and alarm. That this is more peculiarly
the case with the majority of the white population
of Virojinia, cannot be doubted by any candid mind.
We need not trust to their opinion, as expressed
in private conversation ; we have but to peruse the
history of their country, the various statutes
enacted by their colonial legislators, their un-
availing petitions to the throne, their enumeration
of the forced continuance of the African trade,
among the list of grievances which warranted
their dismemberment from the British empire ; and
we shall see how very early they deplored the evil,
and how ardently they sought to crush it in the
germ. The first assembly of t'jeir independent
republic, amid all the distraction of war and re-
volution, prohibited the traffic for ever, and almost
every session of their subsequent assemblies aftbrds

6«

PL\S OF COLONIZATIOV.

some proof, that the pul)lic mind is ever tiunetl
towards the calamity with a view to its alleviation
or removal. The most enlightened part of the
community appear, indeed, to think these terms
synonymous, and that no half measures can ame-
liorate the condition of the slave or of the master.
Every publication that 1 have seen on the sub-
ject, and even the very laws, first trying, and
then repealing as inefficient or misciiievous, regu-
lations which went not to the root of the evil,
seem to point to emancipation as the final, and
only remedy.

A plan of colonization has, for many years, been
prosecuted with vigor. The friends and supporters
of the societies organized for this purpose, even
carry their views so far, as to propose the removal
of such a proportion of the slave population, as
shall render practicable the emancipation of the
remai.'der ; it is obvious, however, that, before such
a system can b'^ productive of any national benefit,
it niusi be made a national concern. The report
of the committee, aj)pointed by the first Virginia
assembly after the revolution, to revise the laws of
the commonwealth, contains an amendment by
which it was proposed to educate the whole black
population at the public expense ; and then to send
them forth in vessels equipped with arms, imple-
ments of husbandry, &c., to the coast of Africa or
elsewhere, extending to them the protection of the
republic, until they should be established as a na-
tion. After much discussion this was abandoned,
either from want of funds, or a deficiency of per-
severing benevolence. Some at present have de-

CONDITION OF TIIK VRIT. W.CtnO.

vised the sclioini' oi' iippropiiatiiig to this pmposo
tlie nionev arising from tlie sale of the national
lands. Kroni various circumstances, I am led to
think that this measure is neither visionary nor im-
practicable, especially as it finds supporters among
the slave-holders of the south.*

I have not as yet replied to your inquiry, and
that of your friend, concerning the appearance of
the black population in those districts of these
northern republics which we have hitherto visited.
I hope you did not suspect me ot iiaving thrown
your questions asiilo ; 1 have been slow to answer,
only because 1 was unwilling to pronounce hastily.

It has appeared to me, so tar as my observations
and inquiries may authorize an opinion, that, in
no one particular has the American character
been more unfairly represented, than as regartls
the treatment and condition of the nei^ro. The
feelings of an European, when he lands in one of
these northern cities, are, I have observed, of a
mixed and somewhat contradictory nature. When
he sees a crowd of black faces assembled at the
corner of a street, or descries the sable cheeks and
clumsy features of a negro girl under a pink silk
bonnet, the sight ottends him from its ugliness,
and an immediate distaste at the country, defaced
by a mixture of so novel and unseemly a population,

* A motion for this purpose was made in Congress, during
the last session, by Mr. Meigs, of New York. It was proposed
to purchase the slaves from their owners at a regulated price,
to fit them out for the colony established on the coast of Africa,
.and to extend to them the protection of the republic in the
manner formerly proposed by Virginia.

% '

t t

CO.VDMIO.V OP

takes possession of his luiml. It is from foreigners,
tliemselvos professing an nn\\illini?ness, or <:• en ar.
absolntc (lis<rust at l)eini]f served by blac^ 'iinds.
tliat 1 have heard coinphiints of the prcjna<cc en-
tertained towards them on the part of Amerieans. '
'So little of this prejudice have 1 observed amonp^
this people, tliat recollecting how very lately it was
that the black citizens were their slaves, I was for
some time absolutely at a loss to understaml how
there was not more. T believe, however, that the
very cause which I had ex[)ected to operate in an
opposite manner, explains the getitleness of their
i'eelings towards these their freed bondsmen. So
much had been said and written in favor of the
unhappy African, he had been so long held up to
their view as the object of compassion, the slave-
trade had been for so many years carried on in
absolute defiance of the laws of their colonial as-
semblies, that the majority may be supposed to
have been grailually disposed to befriend them in
the spirit of political opposition, as well as from
the gentler dictates of human pity. There is yel
another cause which, in the northern republics, in-
terests the public feeling in behalf of the African ;
— it is his condition in the old republics of the
south. The compassion felt in England for the
degradation of the black population in her islands,
cannot necessarily equal that which is here felt for
those who are kept in bondage within the bosom
of their own America. The strict bond of union

♦ It was with surprise, that I heard this ilHberal disgust ex-
pressed, by word and gesture, witli peculiar vehemence, by
foreign ^omen, and ihese often ladia.

Tiii: rui:E NECfio.

ri5

leir

the

) to

uc-

as-

oni

yel

in-

an ;
the
the
ds,
for
oni
ion

ex-

Ahich unites the interests of the numerous slates,
seems as it were to approximate the most distant
mhahitants of this vast empire to each otiier. The
blot whicli defaces a portion of tiie union is felt as
reflectin«^ dis<rrace upon the whole. Tlie shame
and tlie sorrow whicli the consideration of the
southern slavery keeps alive throughout the great
northern and free western states, in quickening
their desire to hurry forward the day of its termi-
nation, awaken often a bitterness of feeling, |)erliaps
unjust and unwise, towards the unfortunate masters
of more unfortunate slaves. oMuch do the southern
planters merit of their country for their energetic
patriotism in the hour of danger. Well have they
often fought the battle in the senate and the field,
when transatlantic power has threatened the rights
and lives of America's citizens! If they are yet
cursed with an institution, at once a misfortune
and a disgrace, from which their more fortunate
brethren are relieved, let these trace it less to su-
perior humanity or justice, than to those happier
circumstances which encouraged them at first to
resist the evil, and enabled them afterwards to cor-
rect it. The counsel, and perhaps ultimately the
assistance, of the great and numerous northern and
I'ree western states, may in time be useful in re-
lieving their sister states from this crime and cala-
mity ; — if the former be given with temper, and
the latter yielded with unpretending generosity.

I apprehend that the friend of humanity may
consider with much satisfaction the condition of
the negro in the great northern portion of this
'uiion. E>'ery where are schools open for his

CONDITION OF

i (

instruction. In small towns, he will find him
taught by the same master, and attending the same
church with the white population. Would it not
be more wise to rejoice in this visible decay of pre-
judiccj than to dwell on what remains, and which
still ranges the black and white children on dificrent
forms in the school room, or the place of worship?
In cities, the Africans have churches as well as
preachers of their own, a fact from which we can
only draw a satisfactory proof of their rapid advance
in situation and knowledge. A European has
Jearned, perhaps before he lands on these shores,
tliat black and white servants sit down to meat at
different tables ; and shoiiLl he find the fact sub-
stantiated in the first hotel in which he takes up
his lodging, ht marks it in his memorandum-book
with a note of admiration, and follows it up with
some reflection upon the liberal opinions that pre-
vail under a democracy. Ditl he reflect upon the
history of this country, and the history of the
African in every country, and did he consult his
own feelings, which, I believe, seldom acknow-
ledge — I do not say an equality y hut a similaritt^
of race between the negro and himseiti he would
perhaps find little in the circumstance to argue the
existence of any 'peculiar illiberality in the senti-
iTients of this people. That wise institutions will
do much towards improving both the physical con-
dition and moral feelings of men, I am ready to
admit, but I do not believe that they can perfect
either. It seems to me, however, that such an
expectation mast have been formed by those who
are surprised to find in this community an unwilling-

rcpi

tlioi

Afj-

Am(

worl

i)ret

no s

the

tJieir

ings

and

know

Uiat

THE PREE NEGllO.

l»g-

ness to associate with the negro as with an equal.
Nature has stamped a mark upon the unhappy
African, which, though the more cultivated and
liberal will account an accidental distinction, the
vulgar will regard as a symbol of inferiority. Had
not the European of a less humane age degraded
the African below the human standard, and laid
the benumbing hand of oppression on his intellect,
it is doubtful whether the least enlightened of
us should ever have seen any thing in a sable skin
but a whim of nature, or attributed the ignorance
and siavisliness of the African tribes on their own
soil to any other causes than those which variously
operate on the human race in all the differing
climates and countries of the globe. As it is,
an invidious comparison has often been drawn
])ctwecn the black man and the white, which, con-
sidering the actual condition of the former, is per-
liaps neither wise nor humane. In these northern
republics, where alone such a comparison could
be instituted with any seeming phuisibility, a
tiiousaud hidden causes conspire to retain tlie
African in a lower scale of being than that of the
American. The latter looks around him upon a
world of his creation, upon a race of men, his
brethren and equals, who, like him, acktiowledge
no superior but the one great Being who blessed
the exertions of their heroic ancestors, and to w iom
their hearts rise in grateful adoration for the bless-
ings showered upon their country. What great
and invigorating thoughts 'are here which are un-
known to the sons of slaves! It was but yesterday,
that they were *• hewers of wood and drawers of

l-.!

mI si

r U

()8

CONDITION OF

i I

water" in the land which yields ihem their subsist-
ence ; i'or the very rights with whicii they are now
endowed, (and of which their minds can, as yet,
scarcely feel the value or understand the meaning,)
ibr these very rights, for all they know, and all that
they enjoy, they are indebted to the repenting
justice of masters. This repentance, however com-
plete, cannot obliterate in a moment the wrongs of
years ; cannot transform an abject slave into a
virtuous citizen;- cannot banish from his mind that
he lately trembled at the frown of those who are
now his equals, nor banish from the minds of these,
that it was only by the law of their own lips that
he ceased to be the tool of their will. It requires
no dee]) insight into the secrets of human nature
to read the consequences of this state of things.
There must inevitably exist a barrier between the
American and the negro, similar to that which
separates the higher from the poorer and less po-
lished classes of society in Europe. The black
and the white man are a distinct race ; and the dis-
tinction is, as yet, no less marked in the internal
than tiie external man. How far a nearer approach
in thougiit, feeling, and moral character, in future
generations, may tend to remove the barrier, it
it is not easy to judge. I must observe that, con-
sidering the inferior grade in society that the
African as yet holds; and considering also the
fraction that he constitutes in the sum of the popu-
lation, it speaks honourably for the morals of the
American community, that the two races continue
so distinctly marked.

Tiir; frfj: neguo.

Notwithstanding the inferior estimation in wliich
the blades are held, not so mucli on account o("
complexion and feature, as from the greater laxity
of tlieir morals, they may be more properly said to
constitute a distinct than a dejjjraded race. Thev
are equally vnuler the protection of mild and im-
partial laws ; possess, in general, the sanie political
rights with the mass of the community ; are more
peculiarly the objects of humane consideration with
the benevolent and the religious, and are enabled,
from the very condition of the country, to procure
a subsistence, in spite ol" tlieir indolence and
thoughtless fbrgetfulness of the morrow. Though
neither a frugal, nor, compared with the American
population, a moral people, they are singularly
cheerful and good-humoured, and are bound in
close ties of social intercourse with each other.
They are every where immoderately fond of danc-
ing, and, when assembled for that purpose in the
room of a country tavern, or in the hall or kitchen
of some one of their employers, exhibit a show of
finery whicii might amaze Harlequ'n himself. It
is always thus that man, emerging i'-.om the savage
or the slavish state, seizes on tha' indulgeiicies and
the tinsel of luxury, before he discovers the value
of those higher enjoyments, derived from the ac-
quirement of knowledge and the cultivation of
refined and elevated sentiment. In spite of the
many disadvantages under which tlie African has
hitherto laboured, instances are not wanting where
he has risen to considerable wealth and resj)ecta-
bility, particularly, I believe, in the New England
ijtates. Nothing indeed is here necessary biiv liis

F 3

I f

! I

. ! I il

ill

CONDITION OF TIJE FREE NEGRO.

1 '>

own exertions to raise him in tlie scale of being;.
His political rights must in time awaken in him
political ambition, in which he has as yet been
usually found deficient. In some of the states, the
blacks now freciuently exercise their rit^ht of suf-
frage ; and it is a curious fact, that in Massachus-
sets some black votes were given so long back as
the election for the general (Convention, appointed
to digest the plan of the Federal Government. In
some of the northern states, the right of suffrage is
still withh'jld from the negro j and with seeming
reason, for he is evidently, as }ei, but ill fitted to
exercise it. *

I have wandered into more general observations
than I had intended at the commencement of this
letter, but, as they rose naturally out of a subject
upon which you have expressed some curiosity, I
hope they will not appear altogether misplaced.

I /

! I

* Where the negro holds the right of suffrage, I do not
believe the law excludes him from any publi <fice of the state :
the qualifications demanded are, of course, such as he is not
likely to be found possessed of. This and custom operate
sufficiently to ensure hii exclusion.

LETTER VI.

HEFEFIENCE TO LIEUTENANT HALL. ADVICE TO TOURISTS.

APPEARANCE OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA. STYLE

OF ARCHITECTURE. STATE-HOUSE. REMARKS ON THE

CONDUCT OF THE FIRST AMERICAN CONGRESS. ANEC-
DOTES RELATING TO THAT PERIOD. Prr-iTLiAllITIES IN

THE POLITICAL CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE OF PENNSYL-
VANIA. INTERNAL GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES.

Pliiladelphia, May, 1819.
MY DEAR FRIliND,

I SHALL not fatigue you with tlie enumeration and
description of the pubHc edifices and institutions oi'
this city. Innumerable travellers, however unwil-
ling to see beauty and good order in the moral and
political frame of American society, bear ample
testimony to the peaceable virtues and active bene-
volence of the people of Philadelphia. *

* Mr, Fearon indeed say~, " Altliougli the eyes and oars of
a stranger are not insidted in tiie openness oi' noon-day with
evidence of iiardened profligacy, I have nevertheless reason to
believe in its existence to a v«i:y great extent.'* Whoever this
Mr. Fearon may be, or wliatever may have been his niotivc i'or
travelling through the United Stu*cs, it is not by such vague
insinuations that the character of the moral and truly Chris-
tian city of Pliiladelphia can be brought into discredit either in
America or Europe. It had been wise, however, if this writtr
had always kept to these general terms, and not ventured uppii
fn\6cj(icts.

F I-

1 ' ' I !

'I I

■mi

r I r

7'2

I .EUTENANT HALL.

I refer you <o Lieutenant Hall * lor an accurate
and interest iuii, description of tlie state-])rison, an
object wliicli nuist attract the attention of everv
foreii;ner. Let me, by-the-bve, distinguish iron^.
the mass of travellers who have disngured thi>
country, that intelligent officer ; not that I an^
always disposed to tlnnk or feel with him in hi'^
observations upon this nation. I incline to think
that he has !)ot always done justice either to their
character or their manners. 'I'he same object;*
often appear so differently to two diflerent pair of
eyes, though both should be equally intent upof
seeing them as they are, that one might readily be
tempted to turn Pyrrhonist, and call in doubt, not
only the sanity of one's judgment, but the evidence
of one's senses. The fact is, that though we should
even be disburdened of national and individual pre-
judice, tliere will yet remain, in our constitutional
temper, or certain fortuitous circumstances of wind
or weather, a dull companion, exhausted spirits,
wearied limbs, or some one of the thousand name-
less accidents to whose influence we frail mortals
are so miserably subjected, enough to jaundice oui
eye-sight and pervert our feelings. A traveller is,
of all men, most at the mercy of these namelesi>
trifles J it is a pity however, that .i-'tions should be
laid at their mercy too, oi: rather at the mercy of a
jaded traveller's distempered mind. Would it not
be a good rule, ihat when a tourist sits down with
pen and paper before him to pass judgment upon

* Travels in Canada and the United States, by Lieutenant
Hal), litli Light Dragoons.

ADVICK TO TOUUISTS.

Inarit

tlie world around him, lie s'uoiiKl first ask himself
II few questions : " Am 1 in good health and
good iumiourl-' in a comfortable room and an easy
chair? at peace with myself and all men about me?"
1 have a notion tiiat some such short catechism
would save volumes of mis-stated facts and misre-
presented characters, and keep the peace not only
between man and man, but nation and nation, in a
manner undesired by statesmen, and undreamed of
by philosophers. I mean not exactly to apply this
to Lieutenant Hall, whose remarks in general do
as much honour to his heart as his head ; it strikes
me only that he has sometimes judged- hastily, or
perhaps I think so because I incline to judge
difierentlv.

1 have mentioned with how much pleasure 1
found your name remembered in some houses of
this city ; of course, more particularly in that of
the family of the late Dr. Rush. I much regret
that this venerable philanthropist should have sunk
beneath the weight of years before our visit to
this country. It makes even the young pause to
ruminate on the swift wings of time, when they
find the path of life forsaken by those whom 'he
heart has been taught to venerate. There would,
indeed, be much in this city to mark the lapse of
years, were not this somewhat checked by the re-
flection that years, in their effects, count for ages
in this young and vigorous world. Washington,
Hamilton, Gates, and all the older veterans of the
Revolution, who yet trod the stage when you sur-
veyed it, are all gathered to their fathers ; jud,
though their names are still fresh in men's mouths.

»'

I ■

I:
I'

I •

I' i

: -m

PHILADELPHIA.

could they now look up from their graves, they
might scarcely know their own America.

It is curious to picture the Philadelphia intc
which the young Franklin threw himself^ friend-
less and j)ennyless, to seek his fortune, and the
Philadelphia that now is — we may say, too, the
Philadelphia that he left it, when he sunk, full of
years and honor, into the grave. From a small
provincial town, without public libraries or insti-
tutions of any kind, he lived to see it not only
the thriving, populous, and well-endowed capital
of an independent state, but tlie seat of a govern-
ment, the novelty of whose ])rinciples fixed the
eyes of the whole civilized world. It has now all
the appearance of a wealthy and beautiful metro-
polis, though it has lost the interest which it pos-
sessed to you as the seat and centre of political
life. Not merely has it ceased to be the seat of
the great central government, as it was when you
knew it, but even of that of the Pennsylvania re-
public. The legislature now meets in Lancaster,
about 60 miles west from hence, but this also
has already grown out of the centre of the fast-
spreading circle of population ; and, by an act of
the Assembly, the capital is ordained to travel yet
farther west to Harrisburgh, on the east branch of
the Susquehanna. This town, the definitive seat
of the Pennsylvania state-government, is, I am in-
formed, laid out with great care, much on the
same plan as Philadelphia, arid promises, in the
grandeur of its public buildings, to outstrip the
parent city.

I never walked through the streets of any city

i,i.i

rilll.ADr.I.PHTA.

'with so much satisfaction as those of rinladelphia.
The neatness and cleanMiicss of all animate and
inanimate things, houses, j)avements, and citizens,
is not to he surpassed. It has not, indeed, the
commanding position of New York, whicii gives
to that city an air of heauty and grandeur very
imposing to a stranger, hiit it is lias more the ap-
pearance of a finished and long-establislied metro-
polis. I am not sure that tiie streets have not too
many right angles and straight lines to be alto-
gether pleasing to the eye, but they have so much
the air of cheerfulness, cleanliness, a- id comfort,
that it would be quite absmd to find fault with
them. The side pavements are regularly washed
every morning by the domestics of each house, a
piece of out-door housewifery, by the way, which
must be somewhat mischievous to the ladies*
thin slippers, but which adds much to the fair
appearance, and I doubt not, to the good health
of the city. The brick walls, as well as frame-
work of the houses, are painted yearly. I'he doors
are usually white, and kept delicately clean, which,
together with the broad slabs of white marble
spread before them, and the trees, now gay with
their first leaves, which, with some intervals,
line the pavem.ents, give an air of cheerfulness
and elegance to the principle streets quiij un-
known to the black and crowded cities of Europe.
The plan laid out by William Penn, which has
been generally followed, was very early swerved
from in one important particular. Instead of
leaving a sloping bank of verdure rising gradually
from the river, whicli would have left the city

r
i >

I ; t «T 1 1

fii

i :i:;

• I

rnu.ADFJJ'HiA.

'1 1

open to tilt vie'.v of its magnifitcn: waters, as
well as to wlioltisome and refreshing breezes, it is
choked up with wharfs and ugly niinoiis-lookinti
buiklings, the nest of infection during the heats
of sunnner. Fortunately these are of wood, and
must soon run their time; when, tho<i\;h it shoulc'
be found impossible to restore the origiiial plan ot
the beneficent founder, it is to be presumed that
some improvements will be effected. To do with-
out wiiarfs and warehouses Penn him If might, in
these da^ s, allow to be out of the question ; but 1
think that he would recommend tlieir being built
of a more pure as wellas more durable material
than wood. Any thing which favors the collectioi;
of filth and NCgetable matter, which the interstices
between the rafts and frames of the projecting
quays nuist now certainly do, should carefully bt
avoided beneath so fervid a sun as here chines
during the summer months. The crowd of ugly
buildin^'/'j an(' altogether the negligence of this
'."onfiised corner of the citv, forms a stran^i^e con-
trast to the regular beauty which opens to the
eye the moment you emerge from it. The orderly
and cleanly citizens of Philadelphia must, indeed,
look to it and amend it altogether, or assuredly
the demon of yellow fever will occasionally knock
at their doors.

The public buildings are all remarkable for neat-
ness, and some for pure and classic elegance. An-
other bank is about to be built on as simple a model
as the Pennsylvania. I trust the citizens will never
swerve from the pure styleof architecture to which
they stem at present to have attached themselves ;

FIIILADKLPIIIA.

r>,

it IS
[)kin^
heats
, umi
lu)ukl
Ian ot
\ that

with-
;ht, 111

but 1

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[vterial
ectior.
rstices
ecting
illy bt
shines
[' ugly
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e cou-

the
rclerly
idoed,
uredlv
knock

neat-
An-

1 model
never
which

[elves j

•ibovc all, r trust they will never attempt the (jotliic,
a failure in which being a failure in the sublime, is
of all failures the worst. The Academy of Arts
contains a small, but weli-chosen collection of
])ictiires, among which I ha\e regartleil with most
pleasiue too modern })ieces — an exquisite Niobe
by liehberg, and a masterly scriptural piece by
the American artist Allston. It is tridy surj)rising
how prolific this young country has already been
in painters. We^t, Leslie, Coppely, 'I'rumbull,
and Allston, are names known uid respected in
both hemispheres. The last-men -ned artist seems
destined to rise to peculiar emii .ee. There is a
genius in his conception, an ease in his execution,
md a truth in his coloiuing, which stamp hiin for
a master in his art. He is now in Boston, and it
is said, has patriotically pledged himself to try his
fortune in his own country.

The State-house, state-house no lon^^er in am
thing but name, is an interesting object to a
stranger, and, doubtless, a sacred shrine in the
eves of Americans. I know not but that I was a
little oft'ended to fiml stuffed birds, and beasts, and
mammoth skeletons filling the place of senators
and sages. It had been in better taste, perhaps,
to turn the upper rooms of this empty sanctuarv
into a library, instead of a museum of natural
curiosities, or a mausoleum of dead monsters. *
I might have judged that the citizens felt less
respect for this venerable building than had been

* The lower rooms are more appropriately occupied by
>he courts of law.

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23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, NY. 14580

(716) 872-4503

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HLMAUKS ON THE

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pleasing to me, bad not every friend or acquaint-
ance that ever passed it with me, paused before it
to make some observation. " Those are the
windows of the room in which our first Congress
sat." " There was signed the declaration of our
independence." " From those steps the declar-
ation of independence was read in the ears of
the people." Ay 1 and deeply must it have thrilled
to their hearts. *Tis a fine moment to recall ; one
that swells the bosom, and makes us proud of our
nature.

Who can consider, without deep and aff'ecting
sympathy, that little assembled senate, who in the
name of a young and unskilled people, there set
at defiance the power of a mighty empire^ — not
rashly and ignorantly, but advisedly and calmly, —
having weighed their own weakness as well as their
adversary's strength, — feeling the heavy respon-
sibility that rested on their decision, — calculating
the consequences of attempt and failure, and then
with a full conviction of all the mighty odds
against them, " having counted the cost of the con-
testy and finding nothing so dreadful as voluntary
slavery,^* solemnly appealing to the supreme Judge
of the world for the rectitude o/'their intentions, and
pledging to each other " their lives, their fortunes,
and their sacred honour," ranging themselves and
their infant nation under the banners of liberty,
denouncing their oppressors enemies in war, in
peace friends ! 1 know not, in the whole page of
human history, any thing more truly grand and
morally sublime than the conduct of the American
Congress throughout that unequal contest, upon

ill'

FIRST AMERICAN CONGRESS.

,, I

and
nes,
and

in
of
and
ican
poll

which hung not the liberties of* one people but
those of mankind. How admirable was the
moderation which marked their earlier deliber-
ations ; the calmness which they opposed to
ministerial haughtiness, the firmness they opposed
to ministerial obstinacy, tempering vigor with
prudence, and inflexible principle with respectful
submission ! How admirable their dignity when
called upon finally to decide between unconditional
submissio7iy or resistance by force! With what
Stoical composure they made the noble choice, and
having made it, with what unshrinking fortitude
they met all the vicissitudes of fortune, — the ebb
and flow of the tide of war, the discontent of the
factious, the fears of the timid, the despondency
even of the high-minded, never cast down by re-
peated misfortunes, nor too much elated by mo-
mentary success ! When the houseless people were
scattered before their invaders, when the army
unpaid, unclothed, vainly sought assistance from
the commander, and he vainly sought it in the
exhausted treasury, when the sword fell from their
tainting hands, and the blank of despair seemed
falling on their hearts, still did these patriots
weather the storm, still did they find confidence
in their just cause, and, with their eyes upon the
pole-star of liberty, did they steady the helm of
the reeling vessel of the infant state, ride out tri-
umphantly the storm of war and revolution, and
gain the glorious haven from which their thoughts
had never swerved.

The annals of every nation can supply us with
some brilliant characters who stand superior to

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the sordid passions which sway the minds of
ordinary men, and hut too often dictate the feel-
ings of national communities. But how seldom is
it, that, in the most energetic pages ot' history, we
find a bodij of men uniting all the qualities of
sages and heroes, — cautious in their deliberations,
firm and united in their measures, pure in their
feelings, beyond suspicion in their conduct!

To the unbending spirit and perfect rectitude
of the Congress, was mainly owing the salvation
of the American people, not merely from foreign
conquest, but from intestine broils. To their little
senate-room, amid ail the changes of war, did the
eyes of the people ever turn in hope and confi-
dence. Were their little armies defeated, were
their heroic generals fighting in retreat, were their
cities taken, were their houses in flames, was their
commerce destroyed, were their gold and their
credit gone ; they still looked to that high-minded
assembly, whose counsels, they were satisfied, were
ever framed with good intention, and whose ener-
gies were ever employed to relieve the sufferings
which tiiey could not prevent.

It is interesting to imagine, what must have been
the earnest thoughts of those modern Romans
throughout that trying contest ; — what their anxi-
eties, and, finally, what the flood of joy that must
have poured on their hearts, when the tidings
reached them, that the last great victory was
achieved. There is a little anecdote, recorded in
the history of that period, which seems, in a man-
ner, to set this before us. The old door-keeper
of the house of Congress, when the news suddenly

iii:l*

liliiis

i'lRSr AMERICAN CONGRESS.

lings
was

[d in
lan-

leper

lenly

reached him of the surrender of Cornwallis, dropt
on the instant dead. The feelings of this poor
veteran, too intense for his feeble age, seem to
image well those oi' the members of that assembly,
upon which he had been so faithful an attendant.
In the history of the American Revolution, I
know not which is most admirable, — the integrity
of the Congress, or the confidence of the people
in their integrity. The first was so pure, that
throughout that distracted period, which might so
well have furnished temptation to the selfish or the
ambitious, we find not one member of that magna-
nimous assembly even suspected of peculation, or
of a desire of personal aggrandizement ; and the
latter was so entire, that during the worst days of
that stormy period, the public suffering was never
charged to any wilful mismanagement on the part
of the government ; not even when its faith was
violated, by the gradual depreciation and final
extinction of a paper-currency, whicli had been
issued without funds, and which ceased to circulate,
with scarce the shadow of a prospect being held
out for its future redemption, *• The demise of
one king, (says Ramsay, in his succinct, but clas-
sical history of his country,) and the coronation of
a lawful successor, have often excited greater com-
motions in royal governments than took place in
the United States on the sudden extinction of the
whole current money. The people saw the neces-
sity which compelled their rulers to act jn the
manner they had done j and being well convinced
that the good of their country was their object,
quietly submitted to measures, which, under other

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REMARKS ON TllL

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circumstances, would scarcely have been expiatc(^
by the lives and fortunes of'their authors."

That a government, framed in all tlie distraction
of revolution, — a powerful enemy on the very
shores, the emissaries oi' that enemy in tlie very
heart of the country, the Indians on one side their
allies, and the ocean on the other possessed by
their fleets^ that, at such a time, a government so
Iiastily organised, unpractised in those powers it
was called upon to exercise, with armies untrained,
unfed, unclothed, and without a treasury to meet
tlie demands that assailed them on every side, the
commerce of the country suddenly destroyed, the
harvests laid waste, not a guinea in the whole
country, except in the hands of the enemy, — that,
at such a time, and under such circumstances, the
public confidence should have been preserved,
argues a degree of moderation, on the part of
the government, and of good sense, and devoted
feeling on that of the people, as perhaps in
the history of ancient or modern times was never
equalled, and certainly has never been surpassed.

In the history of the dispute which first involved
the liberty, and latterly the very existence of the
young America, it is worthy of remark, that the
prudence of her Congress was always equal to
their intrepidity, and their intrepidity to their pru-
dence. Like a cautious general, they advanced
slowly, but never yielded an inch of the ground
they had once assumed. At first called together
by the voice of their fellow-citizens, without con-
sent, or rather in very despite of existing authorities,
the legality of wliose title remained unquestioned,

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FIRST AMERICAN CONGRRSS.

they calmly took in review the colonial grievances,
and petitioned their redress upon those consti-
tutional grounds, acknowledged by the distant,
monarchy of which they professed themselves, as
they, in truth, then appear to have been loyal and
affectionate subjects. Without assuming power to
enact laws., they passed resolutions, to the sacred ob-
servance of which, until redress of the enumerated
grievances should be obtained, they bound them-
selves by the ties of honour and patriotism. That
iliese simple ties should have proved sufficient to
hold together the people of numerous and distant
provinces, who had heretofore been often divided
by jealousies and clashing interests, and to give an
efiect to the recommendations of private individuals
as absolute as could have followed upon the fiat of
an established despot, affords a beautiful evidence
of the readiness with which national obedience is
yielded when the hearts of a people are with their
rulers. These laws, but too often found imaginary,
were then sufficient at once to supersede the
authority of existing law, and to triumph over the
vulgar passions of humanity. They were stronger
than man's avarice and woman's vanity ; set at
nought poverty and suflfering, and transformed a
nation of industrious citizens into one of patriot
soldiers and higli-minded heroes. The state of
the public feeling is well expressed by the unpre-
tending historian I have before quoted. " From
whatever cause it proceeded, it is certain that a
disposition to do, to suffer, and to accommodate,
spread from breast to breast, and from colony to

colony, beyond the reach of human calculation.

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It lieemed as though one mind inspu'ed tlie whole.
The merchants put far behind them the gains of
trade, and cheerfully submitted to a total stoppage
of business, in obedience to the recommendations
of men invested with no legislative powers. The
cultivators of the soil with unanimity assented to
the determination that the hard-earned produce of
their farms should remain unshipped, although, in
case of a free exportation, many would have been
eager to have })urchased it from them at advanced
prices. The sons and daughters of ease renounced
imj)orted conveniences, and voluntarily engaged to
eat, diink, and wear only such articles as their
country aflbrcied. These sacrifices were made, not
from the pressure of present distress, but on the
generous principle of sympathy with an invaded
sister colony, and the prudent policy of guarding
against a precedent which might, on a future day,
operate against their liberties."

" Tin's season of universal distrevSs exhibited a
striking proof how practicable it is for mankind to
sacrifice ease, pleasure, and interest, when the mind
13 strongly excited by its passions. In the midst
of their sufferings, cheerfulness appeared in the
face of all the people. They counted every thing
cheap in comparison with liberty, and readily gave
up whatever tended to endanger it. A noble strain
of generosity and mutual support was generally
excited. A great and powerful diffusion of public
spirit took place. The animation of the times
raised the actors in these scenes above themselves,
and excited them to deeds of self-denial, which the

jngs,
(lorn
reques
ent wi
throwi
the c(
venera
of the
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FIRST AMF:niCAN CONGRESS.

interested prudence of calmer seasons can scarcely
credit."

But thougli empowered by their fellow-citizens
to think and to act for tiiem, at a time, too, when
the public feeling was wrought to the highest pitch
of enthusiasm, the members of this virtuous assem-
bly never exceeded the necessity of the occasion.
They kept in view the interests and honor of the
community, but held their passions in check. 80
long as the most distant prospect remained to them
of obtaining the acknowledgment of their country's
rights, they preserved the language and character
of British subjects.

In their second meeting, while they issued their
counsels to their fellow-citizens to persevere in
repelling force by force, and entered with them into
active preparations for defensive war, they re-
spectfully petitioned the distant throne, that these
preparations might be rendered unnecessary. The
manly style in which they apostrophized the mo-
ther-country was calculated as well to soothe her
pride as to convince her reason. Having stated
the grievances which provoked their resistance,
they declared " that, notwithstanding their ^ufier-
ings, they retained too high a regard for th ; iiing-
dom from which they derived their origin, to
request such a reconciliation as might be inconsist-
ent with her dignity and welfare." The contempt
thrown upon these remonstrances, and, it is said,
the contemptuous language addressed to their
venerable Franklin, did yet more to turn the minds
of the people from their parent-country than did
even the sword which she pointed at their throats.

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REMARKS ON THE

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However this may be, these united griefs rapidly
prepared the public mind for the reception of the
numerous energetic pamphlets which began to
advocate the national disunion of the colonies from
the British empire. The circulation and effect of
the well-known ** Common Sense" were instan-
taneous as those of the electric fluid. Thousands
were convinced by its homely reasoning, but more
were carried away by the passion of feeling, which
it wrought to the highest pitch of human enthu-
siasm. Then followed the declaration of indepen-
dence. The wishes of the people had preceded
the act of their rulers, and the style of that act
affixed yet a new seal of confirmation to their
wishes. The simple exposition of moral and poli-
tical truths vNith which it opens, elevat.:rd still higher
the already-sublimed tone of the public sentiment;
the energetic enumeration of the national wrongs,
opposed as in contrast to these great laws of nature,
kindled anew the national indignation ; the solemn
appeal to the great Author of Being, and the sacred
pledge of "lives," "fortunes,** "and honor," with
which it closes, roused all the devotion of human
hearts and manly minds ; and, assuredly, never was
it roused in a better or a nobler cause. It was not
the cause of Americans only, it was the cause of
the very people whose injustice they opposed ; it
was the cause of every people on the earth ; of the
whole great family of human-kind. Well might
that high-minded patriot and statesman, the English
Chatham, exclaim in the British parliament, in the
face of the British minister, " I rejoice that
America has resisted!** Well might he observe.

^1 }

FIftST AMERICAN CONGUESS.

light
lish
the

that

servcj

lliat '* three millions of fellow-creatures, so lost to

every sense of virtue, as tamely to give up their

liberties, would be Jit instruments to make slaves of

the rest.*' Had America basely submitted to the

encroachments of ministerial parliaments, soon

would that same parliament have tried encroach.

ments upon the liberties of England ; or had the

infant America been overwhelmed by the armies

poured upon her shores, with the buried liberties

of her people, without farther efforts on the part

of their rulers, her victors had buried tor ever their

own national virtue, and honor, and character.

Then, indeed, had we read this moral upon

England's

'* faded brow,
Nations, like men who others' rights invade,
Shall doubly rue the havoc they have made,
And, in a brother's liberties o'erthrown,
iShall weep to find that they have wreck'd their own.''

Thoughts of a Bed use*

Considering the common frailties of human
nature, we might well be at a loss to account for
the uniform rectitude of the first rulers of these
infant republics ; but the secret is thus simply
explained by Ramsay. *' The pubhc voice ele-
vated none to a seat in that august assembly but
such as, in addition to considerable abilities, pos-
sessed that ascendency over the minds of their
fellow-citizens which can neither be acquired by
jjirth, nor purchased by wealth.*'

The occasional weakness of the central govern-
ment during the revolutionary struggle, was as
much owing to the unwillingness of its members to

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IlEMARKS ON THE

nssiimc too mucli, as to the difficulty of exacting
obedience, or of ])rocurin^ tliat unanimity of
measures (which can alone render the greatest
national struggles effective) throughout the extent
of the vast and thinly-peopled territory w hiih was
every where assailed by invading legions. The
vigilant patriotism of the Congress was as i uniformly
exerted to protect the civil as the national liberties
of their country ; for the former they began the
struggle, and, when necessity compelled them to
prosecute it for the latter, they never for a moment
lost sight of the one or the other. They seem to
have ever held before them that page of the history
of their English ancestors, when having risi^n
against the tyranny of a monarch, the people fell
beneath that of a soldiery. These indeed are the
Scylla and Charybdis between which it is so dif-
ficult for a nation to steer during the storm of
political commotions : it was here that the vessel
of the state was wrecked in England at the era of
the commonwealth ; it was here that it was
wrecked in France at that of the Revolution. If
it be not impossible, it is at least incalculably dif-
ficult to establish the liberties of a country on a
solid foundation by means of a vigorous army ;
it is, indeed, the most efficient weapon wherewith
to combat tyranny, but it is a two-edged one ; it
forces open the temple to liberty, but stabs her as
she ascends her throne. The earlier Congress may
perhaps be judged to have carried their scrupulous
precaution too far ; to have exerted, if I may so
express my self i too paternal a dominion for a
season of such exigency ; to have calculated too

I im

FIRST AMi:ilICAN CONGRESS.

8f)

lith
it
\r as
lay
llous

>r a
too

nuicli upon that moral force which they saw so
powerCulIy exerted around them; to have deenied,
in short, tl\e seH'-impelled energy of the country to
have been sufficient to spurn the invaders from her
shores. That their first calcuhition was erroneous
is undoubted, and the experience of a second cam-
paign induced them to adopt more vigorous
measures ; but their vigor was ever so tempered
with ])rudence, their ardor for speedy relief from
foreign violence so balanced by the dread of
nerving too strongly the iuuuls of inteinal power,
that they have frequently been censured for too
excessive a moderation, for dreaming, in short,
upon abstract rights, wliile the very existence of
the nation was at stake. The more reflecting,
especially among Americans, who may be allowed
to be the best judges of a scene in which they or
their fathers were the actors, are wont to ascribe to
the revolutionary congress a wisdom as practical
as it was beautiful. I'hey were not dreaming upon
abstract principles ; they were guarding the actual
rights and preserving the morals of the community.
They judged it a lesser evil that the war should be
somewhat protracted, than that the seeds of po-
litical evil should be engrafted on the soil. They
accounted it impossible to make slaves of a people
who were determined to be free, and the result
proved that they judged wisely. The Fabian shield
employed by their wise general in his military
conduct was spread by themselves over the civil
government. Their aim was to do nothing that
might afterwards require to be undone ; a rule, the
steady adherence to which imparts more lasting

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Strength to a government than any which has ever
been devised. It must farther be observed, that
the powers of Congress were at this season by no
means clearly defined ; and had they incautiously
stretched them too far, they might have roused
opposition, and so divided the community. As it
was, they held it united ; indeed the unanimity
of sentiment which prevailed throughout this scat-
tered community during that grievous and pro-
tracted warfare, is perhaps not the least striking
feature in the characterof the times. No jealousy
of the government, none of the commander, ever
mingled its leaven with the patriotism of the
people ; both indeed were so pure, it was impos-
sible to doubt them ; and this it was that blunted
the swords of the enemy, and before which their
xperienced and well-provisioned armies fell one
after another, as the ripe leaves of the forest before
tiie invisible breezes of heaven. *

* It has been observed to the Author by a veteran hero of
the American Revolution, that, in rendering her tribute to the
virtues of the senate, she has thrown into shade those of the
army. Perhaps she was betrayed into this seeming neglect of
those patriot soldiers (than whom Greece or Rome never afforded
any more devoted) by a belief that the history of their achieve-
ments and suffierings was universally known and justly appre-
,^>ated. Had it been otherwise, she would have found it impos-
sible in these desultory pages to render justice to the patient
heroism, and disinterested patriotism of the soldiers of the
revolution. Their virtue was not expended in one field of
Marathon : Saratoga and York-town saw the least of their
achievements. It is when their ranks are thinned in the Jerseys
by vigils, insufficient sustenance, and the ravages of the small-
pox ; — it is when suffering every hardship and privation in the
barracks of Valley-forge ; it is in Virginia during the harassing

PENNSYLVANIA LINE.

led

the
ling

I must here recall to you that singular evidence
of the devotion of the national feeling, afforded, I
think, in the seventh year of the war, after the
revolt of tlie Pennsylvania line. You will re-
member the hard sufferings which produced the
mutiny. Fainting under the united hardsliips of
military duty, and deficient food and clothing, they
withdrew from the body of the army, deuianding
that which their officers had not to give, the im-
mediate supply of their necessities. To awe them
into obedience. Gen. Wayne presented his pistols ;
they pointed their bayonets at his breast. " We
love and respect you, but if you fire, you are a
dead man. We are not going to th6 enemy j but
are determined on obtaining our just rights.*'
They withdrew in good order, with their arms and
field-pieces, to a neighbouring town, committed no
devastations, but obstinately persisted in their
demands. Congress dispatched some of its mem-
bers to the mutineers, but before these arrived,
emissaries from the enemy appeared among them.
Unconditional terms were offered ; gold, prefer-
ment, and the immediate cover and assistance

but decisive campaign of 1781; — it is when fainting under
fatigue, and famine, and nakedness, in the swamps and wilder-
nesses of the Carolinas ; it is when, encountering all the dangers
and calamities which can subdue the body and spirit of man,
they despise every threat and spurn every bribe of the rich and
powerful enemy, and suffer in common for the noble cause with
the affection of brothers and the patience of martyrs ; — it is
only by foiKiwing through all its details the history of their suf-
ferings, their perseverance, their heroic gallantry, and their
brotherly union, that we can estimate the virtue of the little
armiei of the Republic.

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.11

of a body of royal troops, already on their march
towards them. Their reply was the instant seizure
of their evil tempters, whom they sent imme-
diately under a guard from their own body to
the same general who had pointed his pistols
at their lives. At the appearance of the Congress*
commissioners, their grievances were stated and
redressed j but when President Reed offered them
a hundred guineas from his private purse, as
a reward for their fidelity in having surrendered
the spies, the sturdy patriots refused them. " We
have done a duty we owed our country, and
neither desire nor will receive any reward, but the
approbation of that country for which we have so
often bled.'* * A country peopled by such men
might be over-run, but could not be subdued.
This conviction supported the Congress in the
most trying emergencies ; tliey ever preserved
equal hopes, and asserted the same claims, whether
their fellow-citizens were victorious or defeated.
They seem to have foreseen this consequence
from defeat, a new ardour in the cause of liberty ;
and most truly were their expectations answered.
The national spirit ever rose highest in the moment
of adversity ; the greater the pressure, the more
vigorous the rebound ; the longer the blessings of
peace and independence were withheld, the
fiercer was the desire for their possession.

* Among these soldiers were some naturalized citizens,
natives of Ireland, a country which has sent forth many an able
hand and head to the American wilderness : many, too, of high
birth, but whom political or religious persecution has made aliens
and foreigners.

GENERAL REFLECTIONS.

I shall perhaps weary you with these reflections
upon })ast events. They are so glorious, how-
ever, that the mind has pleasure in recurring to
them. Such actions inculcate lessons beyond all
that the schools can teach ; which charm the
dull monotony of ordinary life, refute the misan-
thrope, and encourage the hopes of good men.
It is true, that great excitement, that is, per-
haps, great crimes, are necessary to call into
being great virtues. The world is happier, there-
fore, when these are left in embryo ; but it is good
to have proof that the seeds are there, lest we
should sometimes doubt it. You will say, perhaps,
that, according to this calculation, ' the balance
is even ; but it is not. As the shadow of a giant
will hide the littleness of a multitude of dwarfs, so
will the dignity of a hero outweigh the meanness
of a host of common men. What child, in reading
of the torments of Regulus, does not so triumph
in the proud constancy of the Roman, as to for-
get with him the coward cruelty of his enemies ?
In reading the answer of the men>ber of Congress,
when tempted to betray his country, ** Tell the
King of England, I am not worth buying ; but
that, such as I am, he is not rich enough to
do it," who does not, in the indignant scorn of
the patriot, forget the littleness of those irits
who doubted his virtue? In contemplating „he
sufferings of those who endured in a noble
cause, we have a secret assurance that the mag-
nanimous mind had that within itself which the
oppressor never dreamed of. In considering
Henry Laurens in his prison, when we hear him

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HENRY LAURENS.

spurning the offers of liberty and ministerial
favour, and braving the hist thieats of power
rathe^ than demand of his son a moment's
relaxation from his duty, we forget that we are
reading of a man bowed down with infirmities,
and feel that his spirit rose then yet more proudly
in his narrow prison than it did when, in tlie
strange revolution of human affairs, he was call-
ed forth to mediate a peace between his ene-
mies and his victorious countrymen. You may
not be acquainted with the anecdote to which
I allude ; it is one among a thousand recorded
of the intrepid assertors of American independ-
ence.

Henr\ Laurens, a gentleman of property and
high consideration in this his native country, was
deputed by Congress, in the latter years of the war,
to negotiate a treaty between the United States of
America and those of Holland. He was captured
on his passage, and thrown into a close and grievous
imprisonment in the Tower of London. Many
propositions were there made to him, which were
repelled with indignation. At length, news being
received that his eldest son (a youth of such un-
common talents, exalted sentiments, and prepos-
sessing manners and appearance, that a romantic
interest is still attached to his name) had been
appointed the special minister of Congress to the
French court, and was there urging the suit of
his country with winning eloquence, the father
was requested to write to his son, and persuade
his return to America; it being farther hinted,
that as he was held prisoner in the light of a

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PEOPLE OF PFA'NSYLVANIA.

9.-5

rebel, his life should depend upon compliance.
" My son is of a^e," replied the heroic father of
an heroic son, •' and has a will of his own. I know
him to be a man of honor. He loves me dearly,
and would lay down his life to save mine, but 1 am
sure that he would not sacrifice his lionor to save
ray life, and I applaud him." This veteran wa»
not many months after released, with a request
from Lord Shelburne that he would pass to the
continent, and assist in negotiating a peace be-
tween Great Britain, and the free UtnLed States
of America and France their ally. *

It is a singular, and perhaps a somewhat in-
explicable circumstance, that the state of Pennsyl-
vania, colonized by the most peaceable set of men
that the earth could ^ell furnish, has been the
seat of more political contention than any other
of the Union. It is true, that the primitive
Society of Friends made, but for a short term of
years, a majority in the province, yet the explan-
ation of the fact cannot well be found in any
peculiar turbulence of disposition in the people.
Whether it was that their earlier legislators were
less skilled in the science of government than those
of the other provinces, or whether it was owing
to accidental causes not now easy to trace, we
find them disputing in the first page of their
colonial history with their governors and deputy-

* Colonel Laurens, his interesting son, having executed his
commission in France, returned to resume his place in the
army. He was killed in the very last days of the war, in an
insignificant skirmish, just when the liberties of his country
wore decided.

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PEOPLE OF PENNSYLVANIA.

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governors, even with their friend and parent
William Penn himself. A people seldom, perhaps
never, complain without good cause, and the
candid mind of Penn seems to have admitted this
truth. He frequently new-modelled the constitu-
tion which the colonists had first received from his
hands, and the alterations appear to have been
amendments ; but whenever he delegated the
power he had preserved to himself, as proprietor
of the infant province, it appears to have been
abused. So true is it that irresponsible authority
can never be lodged in the hands of an individual,
however good or wise, without risk to the peace of
a community. It is possible, indeed, that a people
may govern themselves ill (though it is always pro-
bable that they will understand their own interests
better than others can for them) ; but the having
themselves to blame for the misfortunes that befall
them, and possessing the power to work their
remedy at pleasure, will at least save much public
tumult, by shortening the term of their ill humour.
The political dispiitants, however, until the era of
the Revolution, employed no keener weapons than
the tongue and the pen, and with the exception
of occasional wrangles with a neighbouring pro-
vince touching the boundary line, in which the
proprietors were more concerned than the people,
their quarrel seems always to have regarded the
vital liberties of the community.

I have alluded to the political history of this
commonwealth, because there are in it some pecu-
liarities. Its people appear to have been singu-
larly jealous of their liberties, and at the same time

GOVERNMENT CF THE STATES.

to have been slower to discover the best mode oi'
securing them, than those of their sister states.
Though the intention of their first legislator was
to " frame a government for the support of power,
that should be in reverence with the people, and
to secure the people from the abuse of power,**
neither he nor his immediate successors could effect
this most desirable object. The convention called
by the people at the time of the Revolution, could
not fail of better success, since there was no longer
any compromise to make with the interests of any
one man, or set of men, or with the enactments of
a distant government. As the people were now
their own lawgivers, whatever they decreed amiss
could be forthwith amended, and from that time
we find no political disputes in this or the other
republics, but those of a day.

Several of the states have called subsequent
conventions to amend the constitutions then
adopted, and in many these alterations have been
important.

The old thirteen states, with the exception of
two, acknowledged, in their original constitutions,
two branches of legislature, a house of represent-
atives and a senate. Pennsylvania and Georgia
decreed but one. It appeared to them that, as no
distinction of ranks had existence in the American
commonwealths, it would not be easy to create
two houses of representatives who should differ in
any thing the one from the other, and conse-
quently, that they would only be parts of the same
body legislating in different rooms. I have been
informed that Franklin was at f^rst among the ad-

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visers of this more simple mode of legislation, but
that he was, after a short experiment, convinced
that it had its disadvantages. The people were
convinced of the same ; and, in a few years, Penn-
sylvania and Georgia adopted a senate in the
manner of their sister states. Although the two
houses are chosen by the same electors, and may
be thus said to be the same body divided into two
parts, yet as the discussions on any bill take place
successively, more time is allowed for deliberation. *
Experience has taught communities, that though,
upon some rare emergencies, decision and dispatch
may further measures important to the public weal,
as a general rule it is better to make laws too slo*wli/
than too hastily. Pennsylvania seems, indeed, to
have been aware of this ; and, in order to provide
against any precipitancy in her legislative proceed-
ings, she adopted an expedient quite peculiar to
herself, and which was more in the spirit of the
old democracies of Greece than those of modern
times. In place of a senate, she first enacted that
the opinion of the people at large should be taken
upon every question brought forward by their
representatives. To effect this, every bill was
published after its second reading in the house,
and time allowed for the body politic of the state
to submit their opinions to their servants in council.

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* An attempt is made in some few of the states to constitute
a difference between the two houses, by requiring a higher rat^
of property to qualify a senator than a representative ; many
also require the senators to be older than the members of tlif
other house.

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OF THE STATES.

One can barely imagine a mode of* legislation more
t v'ublesonie than this. It was, of course, soon
abandoned, together with a council of censors,
whose duty it had been to sit in periodical judg-
ment upon the whole government of the state,
legislative and executive, and to report accordingly.
After the Revolution, the lapse of a few years, and
the trial of a few experiments, calmed the spirit of
controversy which liad so long beset this people.
Their rights being now fairly established, and
guarded beyond the possibility of invasion, party
animosities have subsided, and the wheel of govern-
ment, mo7ed by the united impetus of the whole
people, turns noiseless, and unimpeded, watched
by all, and suspected by none.

The constitutions of all these different confe-
derated republics differ in little the one from the
other. Tiie legislative power is vested in a gene-
ral assembly, consisting of a senate and house of
representatives * ; the executive in a governor,
or in a governor with the assistance, or perhaps
it were more correct to say, the impediment of a
council. This impediment, at first adopted by all
the original thirteen states, has been abolished by
several, and has not been adopted by those which
have been subsequently added to the Union, t A
majority, however, of the old thirteen states re-
tain this check upon the will of their chief

* With the single exception of Vermont, she has hitherlo
held to the system first adopted by Pennsylvania and Geoigiu,
and legislates without a senate.

f Also with the exception of Vermont.

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INTERNAL GOVERNMENT

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magistrate. Considering the short term of his
authority, and the slender powers with which he
is vested, many regard this check as unnecessary,
some think it mischievous, as tending to retard the
operations of government, while others think it
salutary on that very account. Perhaps the truth
is, that it is very unimportant. This will more
clearly appear, if we consider the supreme au-
thority of the legislative branch of the government,
which is, in fact, the people speaking and acting
distinctly and definitively in the person of their
representatives. The governor does, indeed, pos-
sess a veto upon the decision of the two houses ;
but his veto is not decisive ; he must within a
given time return the bill, stating the grounds of
his dissent, when the question is debated anew,
and two-thirds of both houses are then required to
give the effect of a law ; but as this majority can
impart to it that effect without the signature of the
governor, it is, of course, rarely refused. I know
not, indeed, that the case ever occurs. It is clear
that it can only occur where the voices of the
legislators are pretty equally divided, and, conse-
quently, when the wisdom of the proposed law
may be supposed to be more than usually doubtful.
That the door should then be left open for its recon-
sideration must surely be accounted wise j and we
must farther suppose that the executive could
never adopt the extraordinary measure of with-
holding its consent, but on a question of vital im-
portance, as well as of doubtful merits. By the
English constitution, a veto is granted to the mo-
narph, and this without a second appeal to the

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.101

legislative authority. If this veto is never exerted,
it is evidently because the royal influence can pre-
viously affect the legislative decision, and thus vir-
tually speak the will ofthe monarch, without the too
apparent and irritating opposition of his voice to
that of the nation. Whatever power the executive
here possesses, it is direct j its influence is nothing;
it must simply approve or dissent. The governor is
as powerless to affect the voices of the assembly as
any other individual in the commonwealth ; they are
all powerful on the other hand to affect his, or, as we
have seen, can render it r.ugatory. The powers of
the governor vary somewhat in the different states ;
and it is, perhaps, singular, that in Pennsylvania,
where there has ever existed an excessive jealousy
ofthe executive, its powers are greater than in
other states. The governor is unshackled by a
council, holds his office for three years, and is
trusted with the disposal of many public offices,
which, according to the constitution of most of
the other republics, are voted by the joint ballot of
both houses of assembly.

One might amuse one's self by imagining that the
citizens of this state were so constitutionally dis-
putatious as to be unwilling to forego all oppor-
tunity for wrangling. By throwing upon their
chief magistrates the choice of judges, mayors, re-
corders, &c. they reserve to themselves the pos-
sibility of quarrelling with him. This seems to be
a fashionable amusement, as it is also in the state
of New York, where the appointment to some of
the chief public offices is also vested in the
though with the concurrence of a
H 3

governor,

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INTERNAL OOVJERNMENT

counciL The bickering that this gives rise to in
the public prints may be very entertaining to
those eng-'t^ed in it, but lookers-on may be
allowed to think it very ridiculous, and altogether
unworthy of the dignity of these two important
republics.

All public offices, whether in the disposal of the
governor, or the legislature, or the people, are held
only on good behaviour, and are, not excepting
the governor, liable to impeachment in the house
of assembly. The concurrence of two-thirds of
the representatives is necessary to pass sentence,
which extends only to removal from office and dis-
qualification to hold thereafter " any place of
honor, trust, or profit, under the state."

It is always provided, that no person holding any
office under the state, or the United States, shall
be a member of either house of assembly ; a
regulation of vital importance, and without which
it is impossible to rely upon the purity of the
representative system. The servant of the people
must be in the pay of no other man, or set of men,
or his interests may be at issue with his duty.
Pluralities, indeed, are prohibited in every branch
of American government, and all the authorities
under it. This, of course, imparts to it a vigor
and clean handedness which no other regulations
could ensure. *

* A curious instance of political vigilance occurred lately in
New York : A post-master in that city was removed from
office, because he was found to be a mail'Contractor. The
post-master general in Washington, assigning as a reason for
bis dismissal, that the post-master was the check over the

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OP THE STATES.

103

he
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lies
for
ms

The house of representatives may generally
be said to be the more popular branch of the
legislature: its irif^mbers are chosen annually*,
by the whole free male citizens of the state.
This may be said to be the < ise throughout the
Union, except in two or three of the old repub-
lics of the south. The mode of election employed
in the choice of senators varies a little in the
different states ; in many the term of service
extends but to one year, in others to three, four,
or, as in Maryland, to five years ; but we cannot
exactly calculate the varying popularity of the
senatorial elections by the greater or less fre-
quency of their occurrence j this is effected
by the greater or less extension of the right of
suffrage ; greater qualifications by some consti-
tutions being required to entitle a citizen to
vote for a senator than a representative ; by others
these are declared to be equal, though the period
of election should occur more frequently in the
one case than the other. In Virginia, the gover-
nor, representatives, and senators, are chosen
annually, and yet her constitution is the least de-
mocratic of any state in the Union. In the eastern,
central, and western states, all the elections are
thoroughly popular. In Virginia and the Carolinas,
the suffrage needs farther extension before tl»')y can
be said to legislate truly upon American p^.nciples.

irregularity of the contractor, and that, if the same man held
both situations, no security could be considered as given to the
public for the proper fulfilment of the duties of either.

* Excepting in South Carolina, Tenessee, and Illinois, where
the elections occur every second year.

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The most admirable contrivance in the frame
of these governments is, the provision made
in all for their alteration and amendment. The
convention is at once the foundation and corner-
stone in the beautiful structure of American go-
vernment ; by its means the constitution of the
state is shaped to the wishes of the people as
easily and silently as its laws ; it is at once the
safe-guard of the public rights, and the keeper of
the public peace. The rights of this community
rest not on charters or ancient usages, but on
immutable principles, which every head and heart
is taught to understand and to feel. There is here
no refining upon the meaning of words, no oppos-
ing of records to reason, no appealing from the
wisdom of the present to that of the past. The wis-
dom of to-day is often the ignorance of to-morrow ;
what in one age is truth, in another is prejudice ;
what is humanity becomes cruelty ; what justice, in-
justice j whatliberty,slavery; and almost what virtue,
wickedness, and happiness, misery. All things are
by comparison ; the man of this generation, with
views and feelings unknown to earlier ages, is
cramped in a sphere of action which those before
him found commensurate to their powers and their
ambition. If law oppose barriers, his spirit is
checked, but not quelled. The flood of knowledge
gathers strength, and the mound is swept away
with a sudden fury, which shakes the very foun-
dations of society, and spreads a momentary ruin
over the wide field of civilized life. Power and
liberty, existing in the same state, must be at
Qternal war j it is only where one or other rules

OF THE STATES.

105

singly and undisputed, tliat the public peace can
be preserved ; in the one case by the free exercise
of all the human energies ; in the other by their
extinction.

It has oftei been asserted by the advocates o^
despotism, that the elements of liberty are wild and
intractable. The position is most true, where they
are found in an atmosphere uncongenial to their
nature, where they have to contend with other
elements, with which they can never amalgamate,
and which wage with them unceasing warfare.
It is common to point our attention to the repub-
lics of ancient time, and to tell us that free Rome
was split into factions and civil wars ; without
enumerating the many causes found in the dis-
tinction of ranks, the jealousy existing between
the various orders of society, the powerful armies
with their ambitious leaders, which combined to
throw society into chaos, we have only to refer to
the ignorance of the doctrine of representation ;
this doctrine, so simple when once revealed, forms
the whole science of a free government j this it is
which gives to modern liberty a character foreign
to that which she wore in ancient times j this it is
which has made freedom and peace shake hands,
and which renders the reign of the one coeval with
that of the other.

The representative system, invented, or rather by
a train of fortuitous circumstances brought into
practice in England, has been carried to perfection
in America j by it the body of the people rule in
every thing ; by it they establish their constitu-
tions i by it they legislate according to the con-

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INTERNAL GOVERNMENT, &C.

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stitutions established ; and by it again they amend
their constitutions, according to the gradual ad-
vance of the public mind in political wisdom.
Thus, though the form of government should in
some cases be found deficient, yet as the door is
ever left open to improvement, in system it may
always be pronounced to be perfect. " Quelle re-
publiche che, se le non hanno Tordine perfetto
hanno preso il principio buono e atto a diventare
migliore, possono, per la occorrenza delli accidenti
diventare perfette." *

Considering how greatly the human mind is
ennobled by liberty, and how rapidly it becomes
humanized when the book of knowledge is thrown
open to its inspection, there is no calculating the
progress of a people, in virtue as well as power,
whose successive generations shall be bred up
under benign laws and liberal institutions. Who
does not sympathize with the playful wish of the
benign sage and devoted patriot Franklin, who,
when he saw a little fly escape from a bottle in
which it had been imprisoned, exclaimed, " / wish
I could be corked up as you have been, and let out
a hundred years hence, just to see how my dear
America is goiiig on /"

^' Machiavelli sopra la prima Deca di Tito Livio,

107

LETTER VIL

AMERICAN CHAKACTER. — ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES. —

SOCIETY OF PHILADELPHIA. CHEVALIER CORREA DE

8ERRA. — MR. GARNETT.

Philadelphia, May, 1819.
MY DEAR FRIEND,

I MUST not leave this city without observing some-
what more distinctly than T have as yet done, upon
the general character of the society.

It is difficult to make observation's upon the
inhabitants of a particular district that shall not
more or less apply to the nation at large. This is
the case in all countries, but more particularly in
these democracies. The universal spread of useful
and practical knowledge, the exercise of great
political rights, the ease, and, comparatively, the
equality of condition, give to this people a cha-
racter peculiar to themselves. The man of leisure,
who is usually for the most part the man of plea-
sure, may, indeed, find himself somewhat alone in
this country. Every hand is occupied, and every
liead is thinking, not only of the active business of
human life (which usually sits lighter upon this
people than many others,) but of matters touching
the general weal of a vast empire. Each man
being one of a sovereign people, is not only a poli-
tician, but a legislator — a partner, in short, in the
grand concern of the state ; and this not a sleeping'
partner, but one engaged in narrowly inspecting its

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AMERICAN CHARACTER.

Operations, balancing its accounts, guarding its
authority, and judging of its interests. A people
so engaged, are not those with whom a lounger
might find it agreeable to associate : he seeks
amusement, and he finds business ; careless wit,
and he finds sense ; plain, straight-forward, sober
sense. The Americans are very good talkers, and
admirable listeners ; understand perfectly the ex-
change of knowledge, for which they employ con-
versation, and employ it solely. They have a
surprising stock of information, but this runs little
into the precincts of imagination ; facts form the
ground-work of their discourse. They are accus-
tomed to rest their opinions on the results of ex-
perience, rather than on ingenious theories and
abstract reasonings ; and are always wont to over-
turn the one, by a simple appeal to the other.
They have much general knowledge, but are best
read in philosophy, history, political economy, and
the general science of government. The world,
however, is the book which they consider most at-
tentively, and make a general practice of turning
over the page of every man's mind that comes
across them ; they do this very quietly, and very
civilly, and with the understanding that you are at
perfect liberty to do the same by theirs. They are
entirely without manvaise honte, and are equally
free from eflrontery and officiousness. The con-
stant exercise of the reasoning powers gives to their
character and manners a mildness, plainness, and
unchanging suavity, such as are often remarked iu
Europe in men devoted to the abstract sciences.
Wonderfully patient and candid in argument, close

t '

AMERICAN CHARACTER.

109

reasoners, acute observers, and original tliinkers.
They understand little the play of words, or, as the
French more distinctly express it, badinage. When
an American, indeed, is pressed into this by some
more trifling European, or by some lively woman
of his own nation, I have sometimes thought of a
quaker striking into a Highland reel. This people
have nothing of the poet in them, nor of the bel
espritf and I think are apt to be tiresome, if they
attempt to be either. It is but fair, however, to
observe, that they very seldom do attempt this, at
least after they are five-and-twenty. On the other
hand, they are well-informed and liberal philoso-
phers, who can give you, in half an hour, more
solid instruction and enlightened views, than you
could receive from the first corps Uttdraire or diplo^
matique of Europe by listening to them for a whole
evening. It is said that every man" has his forte^
and so, perhaps, has every nation j that of the
American is clearly good sense: this sterling
quality is the current coin of the country, and it is
curious to see how immediatf»ly it tries the metal of
other minds. In truth, I know no people who
sooner make you sensible of your own ignorance.
In conversing even with a plain farmer, it has
seemed lo me, that I had been nothing but a
foolish trifler all my life, running after painted
butterflies, while he, like the ant, had been laying
up winter stores of solid mental food, useful at all
times, and in all exigencies.

I must also remark of this people, that they pos-
sess ati uninterrupted cheerfulness of mind, and
an imperturbable evenness of temper, and, more-

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ANECDOTES.

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over, a great share of dry humour, which is the
weapon they usually employ when assailed by im-
pertinence or troublesome folly of any kind. I
have witnessed many amusing instances of this j
and you will find some true specimens in the writ-
ings of Franklin, whose humour was truly of native
growth.

A story occurs to me at the moment, which,
though it perhaps owed something to the manner
in which I heard it, may at least serve as an ex-
ample of the national trait to which I have here
alluded. A Prussian officer, who some while since
landed in New York, in his way to Venezuela,
having taken up his lodgings at an hotel in Broad-
way, found himself in company with two British
officers, and an American gentleman, who was
quietly seated in the recess of a window, reading
the Washington Gazette. The Prussian under-
stood not a word of English, but observed that
the two foreigners, in conversing with each other,
eternally used the word Yankee, As they leaned
out of an open window which looked into Broad-
V. ay, he heard them repeat it again and again, and
seemingly apply it to every citizen that passed be-
fore them. " Yankee ! Yankee !" at length exclaim-
ed the Prussian ; " Que vent dire ce Yankee ?" and
turned, wondering, to the gentleman who sat ap-
parently inattentive to what was passing. " Je
vous dirai. Monsieur," said the American, gravely
looking up from his paper ; " cela veut dire, un
homme d'une sagesse parfaite, d'un talent extreme,
jouissant des biens de la fortune, et de la consMer-
ation publique." " En un mot, un sage et un

ANECDOTES.

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homme distingue." " Precis^ment." ** Mais, Mon-
sieur, que la republique est riche en sages et en
honimes distingues 1" *' Ces Messieurs nous font
riionneur de le croire," bowing to the officers.

You may smile to hear that the Prussian took
the explanation in sober seriousness, (though you
will readily believe that our two countrymen were
too petrified to offer it a contradiction,) and failed
not in employing the word to comment upon the
superabundance of hommes distingue's to be found
in the city, as well as upon the force of the lan-
guage, which knew how to convey so many ideas
in one word. It was long before I could under-
stand the drift of the Prussian's discourse ; when at
length I had drawn the above story from him,
and that the mystery stood explained, the joke
seemed almost too good to put an end to. As I
saw, however, that it was his fixed intention to
apply the word in its new meaning to every
citizen to whom he meant to do honour, and that,
in case of an interview with the President himself/
he would infallibly, in some flourish of politeness,
denominate him Chef des Yankees^ I thought it
better to restore the word to its old reading. *

* Perhaps the original derivati* i of the word Yankee is not
generally known in England. It . the Indian corruption of
English, Yenglees, Yangles, Yankles, and finally Yankee. In
the United States, the nick-name is only jocularly applied to
the citizens of New England, whose early settlers were thus
denominated by the savages. .The Pennsylvanians are known
among the Indians by the name of Quekels, being a corruption
of Quaker ; the Virginians by that of Long Knives, I believe
frorn the bloody wars in which they were continually engaged
witTi the firh adventurous settlers of that mother of the Union.

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I have already observed upon the quietism still
discernible in this city ; there is, however, much
gaiety among the young people, and much social
intercourse among those of maturer age. Here,
as elsewhere, I obsei've a distinct line drawn be-
tween the young and the old ; nothing, indeed,
can be more opposite than their characters ; the
former all life and animation, carolling like young
larks in the spring j the latter mild, composed,
and devoted, — the women to domestic duties,
and the men to affairs domestic and public. Some
foreigner has said, that in Europe there is pleasure
without happiness, and in America happiness
without pleasure. Something here is doubtless
sacrificed to the point of the sentence ; I rather
incline to think, that pleasure is equally found in
the two hemispheres, but that in the one she resides
with youth, and in the other with mature age. In
France, for instance, a woman has scarcely an
acknowledged existence until some Monsieur has
placed a ring on her finger ; here, with her, the
joy of life is in its spring. Truly it is a pretty
sight to see these laughing creatures moving and
speaking with a grace that art never taught, and
might in vain seek to imitate. I know not if
pleasure be a divinity that should be greatly
worshipped ; perhaps her spirit intoxicates for a
moment to leave the mind vacant afterwards, and
the legislator might do wisely who should leave hei'
out of the national pantheon ; but if the goddess
is to be sought at all, it seems more in the order
of nature that it should be when youth and health
are mantling on the cheek ^ frolic may then find

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113

a
nd

ess

excuse in the quick blood, and Heraclitus himself
be won to laugh at it with good humour. The
thoughtless girl throws away precious moments,
but the thoughtless woman neglects impo^'^ant
duties ; and she too pursues only the shadow o» a
shade ; witness the faded cheeks and jaded spirits
of a London female rake of thirty or forty. The
American girl, evanescent as her joy jnay be, yet
finds joy, pure and heart-felt, which older wisdom
might almost envy.

** Bless'd hour of childhood ! then, and then alone,
Dance we the revels close round Pleasure's throne,
Quaff the bright nectar from her fountain springs,
And laugh beneath the rainbow of her wings.
Oh ! time of promise, hope and innocence,
Of trust, and love, and happy ignorance !
Whose every dr'-im is Heaven, in whose fair joy
Experience yet has thrown no black alloy ;
Whose pain, when fiercest, lacks the venom'd pang
Which to maturer ill doth oft belong, ^
When, mute and cold, we weep departed bliss.
And hope expires on broken Happiness."

Thoughts of a Recluse.

This last catastrophe, however, seems seldom to
happen here ; love at an early age gives place to
domestic affection, and pleasure to domestic
comfort ; the sober happiness of married life is
here found in perfection. Let the idler smile at
this J it is assuredly the best of Heaven's gifts
to man.

But talking of youth and youth's folly, I must
not forget to report to you a sight, which I doubt
if you will believe I saw ; 1 did, however, and that

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SOCIRTY OF rillLADELPHIA,

in broad daylight, and in Clicsnut-street, Pliila-
delphia. This is the fashionable promenade, as
Broad-way is in New York ; and the figures are
equally gay and elegant in both. Walking one
morning with a friend, a knot of young men ap-
proached, whose air and dress were so strangely
foreign to those of the citizens of the country,
that I at first doubted if I was not transported, by
some fairy's incantation, into New Bond-street or
the boulevards. No lounger there, no gay
Parisian beau, fresh from the fencing-master, could
have worn waists more slender, or looked more
like fashion's non-descripts. " Who are those
foreigners ?'* I asked. " They are natives,"
replied my companion laughing; " but the fools
are rare ; and I hope, for the sake of the chariicter
of our city, will remain so."

There are here some circles of very choice
society. There is one lady particularly, who
appears to assemble all the talent of the city in
her drawing-room; and of this, by the bye, no
inconsiderable portion is in herself. I have seldom
met a lady who possessed more high gifts, or
employed them more unostentatiously; and yet,
while the life of the evening circle, her mornings
are exclusively devoted to the education of a
numerous family, who cannot fail to grow up,
under such tuition, worthy of their country and
their name.

We met yesterday at her house a character well
known and highly respected throughout this
country ; the Portuguese minister, Correa de Serra.
Mr. Brackenridge of Baltimore, in dedicating to

ClIRVALIF.n CORRIiA DE SEURA.

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him his little work on Louisiana, has prono nceJ
him to be " one of the most cnhghtened t'oit uers
that has ever visited the United States." The
observations with which he follows up this compli-
ment are so similar to what I nave universally
heard applied to this amiable philosopher by the
citizens of this country, that I am tempted to quote
them. " Your amiable simplicity of manners re-
store to us our Franklin. In every part of our
country which you have visited, (and you have
nearly seen it all) your society has been as accept-
able to the unlettered farmer as to the learned
philosopher. The liberal and friendly manner in
which you are accustomed to view every thing in
these states, the partiality which you feel for their
welfare, the profound maxims upon every subject
which, like the disciples of Socrates, we treasure
up from your lips, entitle us to claim you as one of
the fathers of our country." After such testimo-
nies from those who can boast an intimate pei*sonal
acquaintance with this distinguished European,
the observations of a stranger were a very imper-
tinent addition. I can only say, that, as a stranger,
I was much struck by the unpretending simplicity
and modesty of one to whom unvarying report as-
cribes so many high gifts, vast acquirements, and
profound sciences. The kindness with which he
spoke of this nation, the admiration that he ex-
pressed of its character, and of those institutions
which he observed had formed that character, and
were still forming it, inspired me, in a short con-
versation, with an equal admiration of the enlight-
ened foreigner who felt so generously. As he

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walked home with inc I'lom tlic party, (lor your
character is not here fastened to a coaci), as Ury-
donc found his was in Sicily,) I clianced to observe
upon the brilliancy of the skies, which, 1 said, as
a native of a moist and northern climate, had not
yet lost to me the charm of novelty. He nu'ldly
replied, ** And on what country should the sun
and stars shine brightly, if not on this ? Light is
every where, and is each day growing brighter
and spreading farther." ** Are you not afraid,"
1 asked, encouraged by the suavity of the vener-
able sage to forget the vast distance between his
mind and years and my own, " Are you not afraid,
as the representative of royalty, of loving these
republics too well ?'* He retorted playfully. ♦* As
the courtly Melville adjudged Elizabeth the fairest
woman in England, and Mary the fairest in Scot-
land, so I deem this the fairest republic, and
Portugal, of course, the fairest monarchy." It
was impossible to hold an hour's conversation with
this philosopher, and not revert to the condition
and future prospects of the country which gave
him birth. When I pondered on these, it was
with pain that [ marked the furrows on his brow.
Has such a man been born in vain for his country ?
Is he there too far before his generation, and must
he sleep with his fathers, before the light which
has burst in full eflulgence upon his mind, shall
gleam one faint ray upon those of his fellow-
countrymen.*

* When, after my return to Europe, the tidings of the Revo-
lution in Portugal first reached ui'\ my thoughts reverted to
the Chevalier Correa. Should these nsignificant pages ever

: V. *

MR. gah\i;tt.

117

try

levo-

ted to

ever

It is surely :i proud reflection for this people,
that, ii] the very infancy of their existence as a
nation, they should attract the attention of foreign
statesmen and sages, and that their country should
not only be the refuge of the persecuted, but often
freely chosen as the abode of the philosopher.
America nc ul not complain ; if she is condemned
by the ignorant and the prejudiced, she is ap-
plauded by those whose applause is honor ; by
those too who have closely considered her charac-
ter, and whose matured and candid judgment
enables them to decide upon its merits. A people
who have the voices of a Corrca, a Kprnard, and
a Garnett, may laugh in good-humour at an Ashe
or a Fearon.

The name of Garnett has often appeared in my
letters. I hesitate to depict a character which
would defy an abler hand than mine ; those who
have seen the original, would find any transcript
of it an unmeaning daub ; those who iiavc seen
it not, would deem that the pi'inter drew from an
over-wrought imagination. I may have already
mentioned, that he was a native of England, and
known in early life in that country, as he has since
been known in this, for every gift and every ac-
quirement that can ennoble or adorn the human

accidentally attract his eye, he will never recall, that he once
deigned to throw away an idle hour in conversing with their
writer ; but she is proud to remember it ; nor was it without
deep emotion, that at one moment she pictured the thoughts
and feelings of that benevolei.l and enlightened friend of
human-kind.

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MR, GARNETT.

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mind. To the world he is best known as a man
of science ; but the more deep researches which
have engrossed him as a mathematician, astrono-
mer, and mechanic, form but a fraction in the sum
of his rich and varied knowledge. It were idle to
recount the mental powers and accomplishments
of this venerable sage ; the difficulty would be to
imagine one that he does not possess. Never
was a mind more rich in treasures ; never a heart
more overflowing with benevolence ; never a soul
more ardent in the love of liberty, and of all that
is great and excellent. Were it possible to enu-
merate the noble endowments of this philosopher,
there would still be that in his manners and ap-
pearance which would mock description ; a sim-
plicity, and withal, a winning grace, that charms
alike childhood, youth, and age ; which makes
ignorance at ease in his presence, and gives him
the air of a disciple, while uttering the word:? of
wisdom. The countenance whose beauty in its
younger days fixed the eyes of Lavater, and was
the image from which he drew the portrait of
benevolence, might yet picture the same virtue
to the same master. Never, indeed, were jewels
shrined in a nobler casket; never did goodness
beam more beautifully from the eye, or thought
sit in more majesty on the forehead ; never did
wisdom breathe more mildly and playfully from
the lips ; never were such transcendant powers —
such vast and universal acquirements worn with
such modesty and sweetness. How poor are words
to speak the charm that hangs about this son of

MR. GARNETT.

119

science and of nature ! To tell how each accent
sinks from the ear upon the heart ; how his know-
ledge instructs, his fancy charms, his playful,
sparkling, careless wit enlivens! The moments
passed in his presence are counted by sands of gold,
and are treasured up in the memory for the mind
and the heart to recur to, whenever their better
powers and feelings may need refresliing. Should
the contemplation of human weakness and wicked-
ness ever make us call in doubt, for a moment,
the high destinies of our nature, it is by recalling
the image of such a sage as this — of such a
philosopher of the world and friend of man, that
our confidence in human virti'ie may be restored,
our philanthropy quickened, and every generous
hope and aim be revived and exerted with new
ardour. *

♦ This venerable philosopher and philanthropist is now
numbered with the dead ; but eight and forty hours after the
writer of these pages parted from him, and almost before she
was out of sight of the American shores, he was a corpse. He
suddenly fell asleep, full of years, and in full possession of all
his great powers, without a struggle or a groan, on the night
of the 1 1th of May, 1820, at his farm, in New Jersey. To have
known this amiable sage, and to have been honored with
some share in his esteem, will ever be among the proudest
recollections of my life, though it is now also one of the most
painful. I beg to apologize to those in either hemisphere
who knew this amiable and highly-gifted man, for this poor
tribute to his memory. In no way am I worthy to be the re-
corder of his virtues, unless the reverence, and almost filial
affection that I bore to him, may seem to afford me a title.

Lest I should appear, in this instance, to hare swerved from
the rule which every writer of any delicacy will observe —

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3IU. GARNETT.

that of abstaining from any remarks, which may tend to attract
the public attention to his private friends, I must observe, that
the distinguished and acknowledged place that Mr. Garnett
held in the world of science, had rendered him, in some mea-
sure, a public character. He is now, too, lost to that world
and to his friends : had it not been so, this humble testimony
of one who feels herself better for having known him, would
never have appeared to pain his modesty.

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IV.

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LETTER VIII.

VISIT TO JOSEPH BUONAPARTE. — GENERAL OBSERVATIONb.
— AMERICAN COUNTRY-GENTLEMAN.

Pennsylvania, June, 1819.
MY DEAR FRIEND,

I HAVE not much leisure to recount the particulars
of our peregrinations j nor perhaps would they
greatly interest you. In travelling I find it con-
venient to bear in mind that the ground has been
trodden before, and that, in detailing the appear-
ance and population of towns and districts, I should
only write what others have already written, to
whose journals, should you be curious on these
matters, you can refer.

It may amuse you somewhat more to receive the
account of our visit to Joseph Buonaparte.

Some days since, joined by the friends in whose
house we are now inmates, we filled a carriage
and light waggon, called a Dearborn *, struck
across to the Delaware, and then took boat to
Bordentown, on the Jersey shore. A friend of
our polite Philadelphia acquaintance
here joined our party, and we walked forwards to
the residence of the Ex-King. It is a pretty

* From the American General of that name ; to whom the
farmer and country gentleman are under infinite obligations
for its invention.

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VISIT TO

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villa, commanding a liue prospect of* the river;
the soil around it is unproductive ; but a step
removed from the pine-barren ; the pines how-
ever, worthless as they may be, clothe the banks
pleasantly enough, and altogether, the place is
cheerful and pretty. Entering upon the lawn,
we found the choice shrubs of the American
forest, magnolias, kalmias, &c. planted tastefully
under the higher trees which skirted, and here
and there shadowed the green carpet upon which
the white mansion stood. Advancing, we were
now faced at all corners by gods and goddesses in
naked, — I cannot say majesty, for they were, for
the most part, clumsy enough. The late General
Moreau, (a few years since, according to the
strange revolutions of war-stricken Europe, a
peaceful resident in this very neighbourhood,)
left behind him, in the same Parisian taste, a host
of Pagan deities of a similar description, with a
whole tribe of dogs and lions to boot, some of
which I have seen scattered up and down through
the surrounding farms. Two of these dumb Cer-
beruses are sitting at this moment on either side
of a neighbouring gentleman's door, and the chil-
dren of the family use them as hobby-horses.
Truly, the amusement of the child has often less
folly in it than chat of the man ; the child rides
the hobby, while the hobby too often rides the
man ; and then if ambition be the hobby he
chooses, the man rides down his fellow-creatures.
Happy the country where, without iron laws, all
men are a check upon each other ! I thought this

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JOSEPH BUONAPAllTK.

1^23

when I entered the house of the brother of
Napoleon.

Until the entrance of the count who was super-
intending the additions yet making to the house,
we employed ourselves in considering the paint-
ings, and Canovas, of which last we found a small
but interesting collection. It consists chiefly of
busts of the different members of the Buonaparte
family. The similar and classic outline prevailing
in all is striking, and has truly something imperial
in it. As these were the first works of this Italian
Phidias that I had met with, I regarded them
with much curiosity. There are two small pieces
of most exquisicd workmanship — a naked infant
(the little King ofRome), lying on a cushion, which
yields to the pressure of one of the feet with a
truth that mocks the marble. I remember a child
in the same attitude in a much-prized Rubens,
from which my first thought was that the sculptor
had caught his idea ; but, studying the same
nature, genius is often original when vulgar cri-
ticism suspects the contrary ; the same thought
has been elicited from minds that never had com-
munication, and this not once, but repeated times.
There was another yet more lovely figure of a girl
caressing a greyhound. What softness and de-
licacy wrought out of such rude materials ! It is
presumptuous for one so little skilled to venture
upon the remark, yet I have always felt my eye
offended by the too glaring whiteness of modern
sculpture; perhaps the mellowing hand of time
is as necessary for the marble as the canvas.
Turning to look at David's portrait of Naj)oleon

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VISIT TO

crossing the Alps, 1 was greatly disappointed witli
the expression of the young soldier; the horse
has far more spirit than the rider, who sits care-
lessly on his steed, a handsome beardless boy,
pointing his legions up the beetling crags as
though they were some easy steps into a drawing-
room. Such, at least, was my impression. Count
Survillier (he wears this title, perhaps to save the
awkwardness of Mr, Buonaparte), soon came to
us from his workmen, in an old coat, from which
he had barely shaken off' the mortar, and, — a sign
of the true gentleman, — made no apologies. His
air, figure, and address, have the character of the
English country-gentleman — open, unaffected, and
independent, ^ut perhaps combining more mildness
and suavity. Were it not that his figure is too
thick-set, I should perhaps say, that he had still
more the character of an American, in whom I
think the last-enumerated qualities of mildness
and suavity are oftener found than in our country-
men. His face is fine, and bears so close a resem-
blance to that of his more distinguished brother,
that it was difficult at the first glance to decide
which of the busts in the apartment were of him,
and which of Napoleon. The expression of the
one, however, is much more benignant ; it is in-
deed exceedingly pleasing, and prepares you for
the amiable sentiments which appear in his dis-
course. The plainness and urbanity of his man-
ners for the first few moments suspended pleasure
in surprise ; and even afterwards, when smiling at
myself, 1 thought. And xvliat did I expect to see ?
1 could not still help ever and anon, acknowledg-

JOSKPII BUONAPARTE.

V25

ing that I had not looked to see exactly the man I
saw. I felt most strangely the contrast between
the thoughts that were fast travelling through my
brain, of battles and chances, ambition and in-
trigues, crowns and sceptres, — the whole great
drama of the brother's life passing before me, —
I felt most strangely the contrast between these
thoughts and the man I was conversing with. He
discoursed easily on various topics, but always
with much quietness and modesty. He did and
said little in the French manner, though he always
spoke the language, understanding English, he said,
but imperfectly, and not speaking it at all. He
expressed a curiosity to become acquainted with
our living poets j but complained tliat he found
them difficult, and enquired if there was not often
a greater obscurity of style than in that of our
older authors : 1 found he meant those of Queen
Anne's reign. In speaking of the members of
his family, he carefully avoided titles; it was
mon frere Napoleon^ ma sceur Hor tense. Sec, He
walked us round his improvements in-doors and
out. When I observed upon the amusement he
seemed to find in beautifying his little villa, he
replied, that he was happier ;n it than he had
ever found himself in more bustling scenes. He
gathered a wild flower, and, in presenting it to
me, carelessly drew a comparison between its
minute beauties, and the pleasures of private life ;
contrasting those of ambition and power with the
more gaudy flowers of tli€ parterre, which look
better at a distance than upon a nearer approach.
He said this so naturally, with a manner so simple,

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VISIT TO

and accent so mild, that it was impossible to see in
it attempt at display of* any kind. Understanding
that I was a foreigner, he hoped that I was as
much pleased with the country as he was ; ob-
served that it was a country for the many, and
not for the few ; which gave freedom to all and
power to none, in which happiness might better
be found than any other, and in which he was
well pleased that his lot was now cast.

The character of this exile seems to be much
marked for humanity and benevolence. He is
peculiarly attentive to sufferers of his own nation
— I mean of France j is careful to provide work
for the poorer emigrants ; and to others, affords
lodging, and often money to a considerable amount.
His kindness has, of course, been imposed upon,
in some cases so flagrantly, that he is now learning
circumspection, though he does not suffer his
humanity to be chilled. This 1 learned from his
American neighbours. I left Count Survillier,
satisfied that nature had formed him for the cha-
racter he now wears, and that fortune had rather
spited him in making him the brother of the am-
bitious Napoleon.

In reviewing the singular destinies of this family,
there is one acknowledgment that is forced from
our candor ; it is that, considering the power that
circumstance threw into their hands, they wrested
it to less monstrous purposes than has often been
done by similaily spoiled children of fortune. We
may indeed exclaim, in considering the mad career
of Europe's conqueror,

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" Ah ! how did'st thou o'crlcap the goal of Fame !
Ilad'st thou but propp'd expiring Freedom's head,
And to her feet again the nations led ;
Had'st thou, in lieu of War's blood-dropping sword,
Seiz'd her white wand, and given forth her word ;
Bid the mad tumult of the nations cease,
And love from realm to realm cried Liberty and Peace P'

Thoughts of a Recluse,

But it is easier to be a philosopher in the closet
than in the tented field ; and, in reality, the real
philosopher shrinks even from the trial of his virtue.
Had Napoleon been such, the destinies of Europe
would never have been laid at his mercy. As a
soldier of fortune, he fought his way to distinction.
That the young ambition which first fixed on him
the eyes of men, should have died at the most
brilliant moment of his career, had been little less
than miraculous ; as it was, all was in the common
order of vulgar humanity ; he dared all things for
a throne ; he gained it, and then dared all things
to throw splendor around it. It was false splen-
dor, you will say. True ; but it was false glory
that allured him to the throne. The mind that
coveted the one must necessarily have desired the
other. Instead of quarrelling with successful am-
bition, it might be more rational, as well as more
useful, to upbraid the nations that stoop to its in-
solence. If despots sometimes make slaves, it is
no less true that slaves make despots ; if men value
not their own liberties, are they to expect that
others will for them ? they may find those that will
fight their battles, but not those that will guard
their rights. Heroes are more rare than warriors ;
thousands are born who can master others, but

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GKNEKAL OBSERVATIONS.

] scarce one in a generation who can master himself.
The fallen tyrant has been a good schoolmaster to
the nations of Europe ; may they profit by the
lesson.

You will, perhaps, at first be scarcely disposed to
admit the surmise, that it is easier to speculate
upon the future destinies of Europe in this hemi-
sphere than the other. It is not only that vehe-
ment jealousies and vacillating parties distract the
attention of the more near observer, and prevent
him from calmly considering the ultimate tendency
of those great principles which, though now more
or less every where acknowledged, are found to
clash with the prevalent interests of the moment ;
it is not only that the noise of the combatants is
lost in the distance, whilst the petty actors in the
shifting scene dwindle into air, leaving only ap-
parent the colossal stage itself, and the general
purport of the great drama which it exhibits ; it is
not only this, but that the various revolutions which
have convulsed the European continent, have
thrown into America a motley crowd of statesmen,
soldiers, and politicians, who can here repeat the
result of their experience without risk, and con-
sequently without reserve. This continent seems
at present to be the great side-scene into which the
chief actors of Europe make their exits, and from
which, in the revolutions of human destiny, they
may perhaps again be called to make their en-
trances.

It was observed, I think, in the English House
of Commons, by a generous opposer of the Alien
Act, that the present league sul)sisting between the

c;iiNKIlAL OnSKUVATlDNs.

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;reat Km'opeaii potentates, luul realized the ap-
palling picture drawn by the masterly })en of
Gibbon, when the proscribed sought to ^y the
power of Rome, and found her every where. The
parallel, however, is not perfect ; since there are
now two hemispheres, while formerly there was
i)ut one. Beyond the waters of the Atlantic, the
proscribed of every nation, whatever be. their merits
or demerits, now find a /<?//re', wherein, though they
should bring that with them which may poison hap-
piness, they may at least enjoy security. Perhaps I
am sanguine; but judging from the sentiments ol*
the foreigners with whom I have chanced to engage
in conversation, I feel disposed to augur well ol"
many nations which are now little considered. Tlie
march of the himian mind is rapid as silent, and
many circumstances conspire to accelerate its pro-
gress. The very existence of this country teaches
volumos; even those who have never considered
its history, and. who seek it from necessity, merely
as a haven of rest, or as a field of mercantile specu-
lation, when they look around them upon a cheer-
ful, intelligent, peaceful, well-ordered community,
are led to examine the secret spring which impels
and regulates its political machinery. Men are
here brought to think who never thought before,
and who then bear with them to distant climes the \
residt of their observations. A spark dropt from
the torch of liberty will always spread, and spread
until it bursts into flame.

It is a useful curiosity which impels us to engage
in conversation with a foreigner ; however circum-
j^xnibed his mind, however scanty his stock oi in-

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GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

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formation, he is sure to know many things wliich
we cannot know. It is curious also to hear his
observations upon tlie men and things that sur.
round him ; even shoidd he see them through the
medium of local or national prejudices, his remarks
maybe at least amusing, if not instructive ; though
it is probable, indeed, that they will be the latter
also ; for, in detecting the prejudices of others, we
are often led to detect our own. It is always with
peculiar curiosity that I listen to the remarks of
Europeans upon the institutions of this country,
and the appearance of its population, often so
strangely, and sometimes so painfully, contrasted
with those of their native soil. An Irishman ex-
claims, " Ah ! it is a fine country !" and sighs as
he thinks of his own island. A Frenchman ob-
serves, " Mais cornme tout va doucement et sage-
moit r* And a Swede, whom I chanced to c/oss
some weeks since, closed some fervent ejaculaUons
with ** Ah I xce cannot conshieve de vantages of dish
peeplishes ;** or, as he afterwards more intelligibly
expressed it in French, " Nous autres Europeens
nous ne saurions concevoir le honheur de ce peupk
sans en etre temoins.**

I have already, in a former letter, introduced you
to the family, to whose kindness and hospitality
we are here so much indebted. I know not that 1
have as yet met with a more amiable specimen of
the American country-gentleman than we have
found in this house ; his children and infant grand-
children look up to him with that respect and affec-
tion which ever bear the most beautiful testimony
to a parent's character. In his earlier, I can hardly

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AMKHICAN COUNTRY-OENTLKMAN.

say more vigorous years, lie carries liis accumulat-
ing lustres with so much case anil dignity, he took
a part in political life. On retiring from the senate,
he was employed in diplomacy on the continent of
Europe, from whence he returned to pass the re-
mainder of his days on his farm in Pennsylvania.
I should like those, whose fancy pictures to them
the American farmer as a half-civilized savage, to
see this veteran's mild aspect, but unbent and
majestic carriage ; to see him rendering attentions
of the kindest and most finished pohteness to all
around him ; in manner and sentiment invariably
the gentleman, the kind and considerate father,
companion, and friend.

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LETTER IX.

PASSAGE UP THE RIVER HUDSON. ACCOUNT OF THE

ACADEMY AT WEST POINT. PASS OF THE HIGHLANDS.

ARNOLD S TREACHERY.

ALBANY AND ITS ENVIRONS.

Albany, July, 1819.
MY DEAR FRIEND,

The hasty letter I addressed to you from Con-
necticut, will have explained to you my unusual
silence, and relieved you from any apprehension
that it might be occasioned by a broken neck j
but in truth you are rather unconscionable in
epistolary demands. You had no manner of title
to look for a letter by the Martha, and yet I thank
you that you did look for it. It tells me that
your thoughts are as often on this side the ocean
as mine are on yours.

We have just made the passage up the magni-
ficent Hudson (l60 miles) from New- York to this
city, which has indeed but one, though that no
unimportant title to so grand a name, in being the
capital of the state. It is probable, however, that
the government will soon have to travel in search
of the centre of the republic, in like manner with
that of Pennsylvania. Albany indeed seems to
stand as in expectation of her fallen honors, for
though there are some well-finished streets and
many commodious and elegant private dwellings,

ACADEMY AT WEST POINT.

1.33

ith

for

Ind

the general appearance of the town is old and
shabby.

You will not care to trace with me the beautiful
course of this river. The features of nature, so
unspeakably lovely to contemplate, are often tire-
some in description. A few observations upon the
military academy at West Point will perhaps in-
terest you more than a sketch of the rocks and
woody precipices upon which it stands. This in-
teresting academy, which flourishes under the
eye of the Central Government, was established in
1802. Its first organization was devolved by
Congress upon the late General Williams, whose
alents and unremitting industry did honor to
himself and his country which employed them.
The average number of youths educated at
West Point varies from 230 to "250 ; 336 dollars
are expended yearly upon each cadet, and the
support of the establishment is rated by the
government at the sum of 115,000 dollars per
annum. The branches of education taught at the
academy are similar to those taught at Woolwich
and the Polytechnic school of Paris. About
one thousand youths from all the sections of the
Union have here received a liberal and scientific
education. A few of these now fill respectable
posts in the corps of engineers, artillery, and otlier
branches of the little army, amounting to a few
thousands, which, scattered through this vast em-
pire, are actively employed in the erection and
conservation of forts, the protection of the Indian
frontier, drawing of boundary lines, roads, &c. By
far the greater number, however, retire from this

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ACADEMY AT WEST POINT.

little military fortress to the shade of private life,
as peaceful cultivators of the soil, from whence
some have been called by the voices of their fellow-
citizens to fill important civil offices ; and all
would be found ready at the first call of the
Republic, to rush foremost for her defence.

It is judged by this government, ever liberal in
all that touches the real welfare and dignity of the
nation, that military knowledge can never be idly
bestowed upon a citizen, who, whatever be his
condition or calling, must always form one of the
chic militia; and, looking to the event, always
possible, and therefore always to be provided
against, of attack trom foreign powers, it is per-
haps the wisest of all conceivable precautions to
scatter thus the seeds of military science among
the peaceful population. It is true, that these
may never be required to put forth their fruits.
These infant soldiers may live and die as peaceful
tillers of the soil ; but it is well to know, that the
trump of defensive war could summon skilled
heads as well as devoted hearts to the field. This
establishment has yet in it the seeds of more good.
These youths, natives of different states, gathered
from the north, south, east, and west of this
vast confederacy, and here trained together for
the defence of the great whole, under the fostering
aixd liberal cai'e of the governmetit of that whole,
necessarily forget all those paltry jealousies and
selfish interests which once went nigh to split
these great republics, and to break down the last
and noblest bulwark of freedom erected on this
earth. Scattered again to the four winds of

ACADKMV AT WKST POINT,

135

heaven, these sons of the repubHc bear with
them the generous principles here imbibed, to
breathe them perhaps in the senate, if not to sup-
port them in the field ; and to hand them down to
future generations tlirough the minds of their
children. '* The most interesting and important
consequences," (1 quote the words addressed to me
by an enliglitened American officer. General Swift,
to whom I have often been obliged for many par-
ticulars regarding the condition of this country,
and to whose politeness I am chiefly indebted for
my information respecting this establishment,)
" the most interesting and important conse-
quences which I have noticed as resulting from an
education at West Point, are a zealous attachment
to the political institutions of the nation, a de-
vot''>n to country, an ardent love of liberty.*'
Tii^^ >r, indeed, I have observed in the mind of
an /.. ' wkican to be synonymous with the love of
the other two. In this country, the government
is the very palladium of liberty j her throne is at
Washington ; upheld there by the united force
of the whole people, she throws back light and
heat upon her children and defenders. Generally
speaking, all those connected with, or forming a
part of the Central Government, engaged in its
service, or in any manner placed under its more
immediate direction or protection, are peculiarly
distinguished for elevated sentiment, a high tone
of national feeling, an ardent enthusiasm, not
merely for American liberties, but for the liberties
of mankind.

The officers attached to the establishment being

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ACADEMV AT Wf.ST POINT.

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distiiigiiislieci both as men of* sciencj and ardent
patriots, and combining also the mihhiess and
frankness of manner peculiar to the American
.i^entleman, are well fitted to tutor the opinions and
feelings of youth. Under their tuition they can
acquire no sentiments that are not patriotic and
generous; their minds in early infancy imbibe
simple, but sublime truths, invigorating principles,
and all the pride and the energy which go to form
free men. It is fine to see how soon the boy learns
within the walls of this academy, a knowledge
of his own high destinies as the child of a re-
j)ublic. Our venerable friend ***** lately
procured admission for his little grand-son. « I
thought myself;** said he, "among a crowd of
young Spartans, and found my own little fellow,
after a few weeks, looking and speaking as proudly
as any one of them."

Among the most promising scholars, there are
at present two Indians, the sons of chiefs. In the
second class, at a late examination, they carried
away several of the prizes. There was an instance
of the same kind some years since, but, ere the
boy reached his sixteenth year, he left his dia-
grams, (as a young geometrician he had been one
of great promise,) ran to the woods, and forewent
all other ambition for that of excelling in the
chase. An officer of the establishment, from whom
I had this, added, that he had little doubt the two
now with them would follow the same example.
The account that I have received of the uncon-
querable wildness of the young savages, who, at
different times, have been educated in the various

AC.\lJi:.MY AT WEUr I'Ol NT.

137

colleges of these states, have sometimes brought
to my recolleotion the experiments of a philosophic
old housekeeper, in Devonshire, vk^ho was bent
upon domesticating a brood of partridges. I re-
member well how she took me, then a child, into
her poultry-yard, and dilated upon the untameable
dispositions of these wild-fowl, of which she had
possessed herself of a brood for the third or fourth
time. " I have reared them now from the egg,
and yet two ran away yesterday ; and if 1 had not
puc the other rogues under a hen-coop, they would
have been oft' this morning." I know not how
the partridges learned, in the old dame's poultry-
yard, to connect happiness with hedges and corn-
fields; but it is easy to see how the young Indian
should, in all places, and under all circumstances,
learn to connect it with the wilderness and the
wild deer.

You will understand, from what I have said
upon this military academy, that the object of the
government, under whose eye, and at whose ex-
pense it is conducted and maintained, is not to
rear a band of regulars. The youth are in no way
under obligations to enter into the service of the
Republic, nor indeed, supposing them so disposed,
would it often be in the power of the government
to gratify the desire. The slender force which is
maintained at the national expense, and which is
barely sufficient for the hard duties in which it is
engaged, (consisting, as I have stated, in the in-
spection and erection of public works,) admits but
of few openings to such as might be ambitious of
so arduous a service. It is intended, indeed, tv

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provide u body of men, wliose education shall fit
them ably to fill the chief posts in this little band,
and which has thus a surety of being directed by
ability ; but, as I have stated, a further and more
important object is kept in view, namely, that of
scattering throughout the union men, imbued not
merely with liberal principles, but attached to
scientific pursuits. The course of study in West
Point chiefly difiers from that of other colleges, in
so far as it leans rather more to the sciences, and
follows up those essential to the soldier in command,
more particularly the engineer.

There is little fear, in these pacific states, of any
portion of the citizens acquiring a taste for military
glory. The strength of the country can never be
put forth but in defence. The very institutions
make against any other warfare ; the sentiments of
the people, inspired by these institutions, make
against the same ; all here breathes of peace, as well
as freedom. American freedom, founded upon the
broad basis of the rights of man, is friendly to the
freedom of all nations ; it looks not with jealousy
upon the improving condition of foreign states ;
it will — it never can attack but when attacked,
or grossly insulted ; but even in the last case,
excepting indeed on the ocean, war here must stiil
be defensive. The armi/ is the people, and the
people must be at home. The enemy must invade,
before it can be engaged, and then no American
need fear the issue. A town may be pillaged, a
farm may be burnt, a few acres of cultivated land
be laid waste, and then the aggressors must find
their ships, or be overwhelmed by accumulating

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13!J

multitudes. Foreign politicians, who, speculating
upon the prospects of this nation, augur for it a
career similar to that of other empires, — inoffen-
sive, because feeble in infancy, aspiring and violent
in maturing strength, and then hurried into ruin
by the reaction which ever returns upon aggres-
sion, have, I apprehend, but little considered its
position and character. No nation, in the whole
history of the known world, ever stood in a situation
at all similar to this ; none ever started in the ca-
reer so equips o A . it well. It hr^ ""^ ambitious
rulers, no distinguisued classes, who might find it
their interest to turn aside the public attention,
by means of foreign wars, from the too narrow
inspection of their aims or privileges ; no colonies,
no foreign possessions, requiring the guard of armed
forces, or nourishing unjust ambition.

What country before was ever rid of so many
evils? Without adverting to monarchies, let us
consider the old republics. What points of com-
parison may we find between Rome and the United
States ? Rome had an arrogant and artful nobility,
whose policy it was to foster the military mania of
the people ; to employ them in conquests abroad,
lest they should aspire to dominion at home. The
consequence was inevitable : the army gradually
became the paramount order in the state, fell back
upon their employers, and swallowed the privileges
of the nobility, with every right of the people that
the nobility had not swallowed before them.

In considering the history of modern Europe,
we ever find the rulers- rather than the people
lighting up the first flame of war, and madly pro-

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OKNKUAL UKiMAUKS.

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secuting it beyond what the strength of the nation
can support. It may be urged, that an unreason-
able war lias often been a national one. The fact
is undoubted j but we must take into the account
the arts first employed by the rulers to rouse the
popular feeh'ng ; or, supposing it roused without
their assistance, the arts invariably employed to
keep it alive. Pride and passion may hurry a peo-
ple into momentary error, but, if left to themselves,
time will bring reflection, and reflection reason.
The people here are left to themselves ; they are
their own rulers, their own defenders, their own
champions j should they judge hastily, they can
retract their decision j sliould they act unwisely,
they can desist from error. But there is yet a
more important consideration — they are their own
teachers ; not only can none shut the book of
knowledge against them, but, by an imperative
law, is it laid open before them. Every child is
as fairly entitled to a plain, but efficient education,
as is every man to a voice in the choice of his
rulers. Knowledge, which is the bugbear of ty-
ranny, is, to liberty, the sustaining staff of life.
To enlighten the mind of the American citizen is,
therefore, a matter of national importance. In
his minority he is, in a manner, the ward of the
ruling generation ; his education is not left to
chance ; schools are every where open for him at
the public expense, where he may learn to study
those rights which he is afterwards called upon to
exercise. In this union of knowledge, with liberty,
lies the strength of America. The rights that she
possesses, she perfectly understands. Her bless-

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iiif^s she not only enjoys, !)nt knows to trace to
their true soiu'ces. To suppose, therefore, tliat slje
can ever idly fling them away, is to suppose her
smitten with sudden madtiess. Whatever may
be the career of this nation, it must at least be
singular ; it cannot be calculated by the experience
of the past.

It is impossible to enter, for the first time, the
romantic pass of the Highlands, and to rest the eye
upon the interesting academy of West Point,
perched upon one of the highest and most rugged
pinnacles, without recalling the traditionary and
historical remembrances of the place. In earlier
ages, this was the region of superstitious terror to
the Indian, and even the European hunter. The
groans of imaginary spirits changed in time into
the shrill pipe of war, and now it is only the mimic
drum of the academy that rings among the caverns
and precipices, through which the Hudson rolls
his deep and confined waters.

It was in the fastness of West Point that, in the
moment of his country's worst distress, the traitor
Arnold planned his scheme of treachery. There
is a moral that breathes from the tale, and that is
thus pointed out by the historian ; " it enforces
the policy of C07iferring high trusts upon men of'
clean hands^ and of withholding all public confidence
from those who are subjected to the dominion of plea-
sure.** It is common to separate a man's public
from his private character ; the distinction is more
than dangerous, it is morally atrocious. It is
possible, indeed, that a rapacious soldier, or an
unprincipled minister, may display, in domestic

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lii'e, some pleasing qualities ; ami it is also possible
that u man, notoriously licentious and unprincipled
in private, may preserve a tolerably fair and con-
sistent political character ; but this is a chance
that none have a right to reckon upon ; and on
the whole it is to be regretted when this chance
occurs. It tends to corrupt the public morals ; to
lead men of weak heads and strong passions to
wear their unblushing vices openly, and even to
make them a passport to distinction. It is probable
that the example of Arnold served as a useful
warning to the people of these states, and tended
to encourage them in the practice of scrutinizing
the secret conduct of those citizens whom they
promote to offices of public trust.

It is somewhat remarkable, that the licentious
and unprincipled Arnold should have been a native
of Connecticut, a state, as Ramsay observes,
" remarkable for the purity of its morals, for its
republican principles and patriotism.** This might
be wrested into an evidence that earlv education
does little towards forming the character of the
man ; but there is a species of restraint, which,
if suddenly removed, may leave the passions to run
more riot than if no bridle at all had ever been laid
upon them. It is not unlikely that the young
Arnold was bred up by virtuous, but narrow-
minded puritans, whose doctrines were hammered
into the head, rather than breathed into the heart,
and which afterwards uprooted during a stormy
intercourse with the world, left no moral feelings
to stem the flood of temptation. It was well
written by a philosopher, On ne dispute jamais stw la

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rertUf puree quelle tie fit de Dieu ; o)i se qiicrelle sur
/es opinions qui viefinent des honnnes. The Ameri-
cans are, for the most part, aware of tliis truth ;
even the citizens of (.Connecticut are gradually
coming round to the opinion.

It is a proud and gratifying reflection, that an
arduous revolutionary str-iggle of eight years*
duration brought to light but one such character
as Arnold. This single exception was indeed a
most atrocious one. Born and bred among a
simple and moral race, embarking the first and
the boldest in the noblest cause in vvhicli a pa-
triot could engage, pouring his blood for years
freely, and, to appearance, ungrudgingly, for a
country who acknowledged his services with a
gratitude and generosity such as might have
melted the heart of a savage, and repaid them
with a confidence which might have flattered
the most selfish ambition ; that a man so situ-
ated, so held by every tie that might seem
calculated, not only to induce, but to constrain
fidelity, should, in the very last years of the war,
have sold himself for a bribe, and plotted the
destruction of the patriotic army which he had so
often led to victory ; and that, after his treason
had been baffled, he should have served under the
standard which he had so often and so boldly de-
fied, have laid waste the country of his nativity,
and plundered and butchered the people who had so
often, forgiven his offences, and repaid his services
with gold, hardly and yet willingly wrung from
their exhausted fortunes ; truly there is in this a
hardened depravity, an atrocious licentiousness*

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which, to muse upon, .nakos the blood run cohl.
The spot on the beach was pointed out to me,
where the traitor met the untbrtunutc young
Andre, so unfit to be a party in the scheme of
wickedness. It seems as if fortune had found
a pleasure in opposing every contrast that couhl
set off to worst advantage the villany ofArnokl.
The very spy, dispatched by the enemy, proved
too artless to sustain tlie cliaracter that was
thrust upon him. To j)ourtray the feelings of
these two men, of characters so opposite, met
together in treasonous conference, in the dead
of night, upon the wild and desolate siiores of
this vast :iver, might furnish a subject for the
painter or the dramatist. The little shallop,
moored upon the beach, which has landeil tlie
young Andre ; the sloop of war waiting to assist
his retreat, sleeping in the distance on the waters ;
the out-posts of the American army just visible ou
the tops of the frowning precipices; from which,
with hasty and unequal steps, listening to every
breeze, and startling at his own shadow, the traitor
steals to his appointment. The soldiers meet; and
each looks round as apprehending listeners in the
savage solitude ; one trembling with the sense of
his own iniquity, fearing lest the winds should bear
to the little band of patriots, then confiding in his
honor, the purpose of their treacherous com-
mander ; the other ashamed of the part in which
he is engaged — his honorable feelings as a man
revolting against the obedience he yields as a
soldier to the instructions of his general. How
repugnant to a gfinerous nature, a conference held

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AllNOM) S TKKACirr.UY.

145

in darkness and disguise, with a cold ami calcu-
lating villain, who stipulates the price for which
he will sell his unsuspecting countrymen and
companions in arms, the voice of whose sentinels
perhaps swells at intervals on his ear !

The interview was prolonged until the dawn
threatened them with detection. The young Eng-
lishman was forced to remain in concealment until
the shades of another night should favor his escape.
Arnold, having secreted his companion, returned
to his post, to face, without a blush, the heroes he
had sold.

The romantic position held by this detachment
of the patriot army, increases, if possible, the
interest of the moment : it was posted in a
fastness, if not impregnable, yet such as gave to p
handful of men a superiority over thousands ; it
stretched along the tops of two ridges, Ivro'cen
into abrupt precipices, sinking on one side into
woods and morasses, and on the other shelving
precipitously into the deep Hudson, whose chan-
nel it here securely shut against the enemy.
Perched like an eagle in his eyrie, the little army
looked down securely on its foes. It had many
distresses to bear, — hunger and nakedness, with
all their train of evils j but these it V >re cheerfully,
unconscious of the fiend who had iound his way
into this little Thermopylae of America, and who,
in marking out to its assailants its strength and
weakness, forgot not the miseiies of its defenders,
which, perhaps in his calculation, reduced their
number to a cypher. There is something greatly
affecting, if we suffer ourselves to picture the

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security of this little band, seeking fbrgetfulness
of their sufferings in sleep, while their commander
was stealing forth to barter them for gold. The
confidence reposed by the pure-minded Wash-
ington in the honor of this veteran soldier,
is not less affecting. When he solicited the com-
mand of this important post (as it soon appeared,
for the express purpose of selling it to the enemy),
some ventured to whisper doubts of his fidelity^
probably from the knowledge of his debts, as well
as the strong suspicion of his having embezzled the
public money, and entered into disgraceful con-
tracts and speculations ; but the American com-
mander, recollecting the long list of services ren-
dered by Arnold to his country, and feeling in
himself all the honor of a soldier and a man,
generously resented the suspicions cast on one
whose valor and truth seemed to have been so
tried, and fi-ankly accorded the request preferred
to him. Had this treasonable scheme succeeded,
it is painful to calculate the consequences to tlie
country and the cause. West Point was, perhaps,
the post of most importance throughout the whole
of the union. It commanded the navigation of
the Hudson, secured the communication of all the
states, one with another, and protected the whole
interior of the country. The enemy already in
possession of New York, would have commanded
this great river from its mouth to its head, have
pierced directly to the lakes, and established
a line or communication with Canada. The
eastern states, thus cut oft* from the southern and
assailed on one side ^rom the sea, and on the other

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by hind woiihl have been completely fciinoundiul,
and must inevitably have been overrun, as the
Camlinas had lately been by the army under Corn-
wallis. Not the least calamitous of the effects that
would have accrued from the loss of West Point, had
been the blow given to the public confidence by
so nefarious a treachery. The people might liave
seen in every officer another Arnold, and the soldier
have attributed every subsequent disaster to the
tr ason of their commanders. Nor must we over-
look in the account, the despair and rage of the
little army, unsuspiciously devoted to slaughter by
their own leader, and mingling with their dying
groans the curses of righteous, but impotent in-
dignation. From these calamities America was
s))iired : and tlie traveller, in visiting this romantic
pass, recurs to the tale of Arnold as to that of
some demoniac hero of a wild drama.

You remember the circumstances of the closing
scene. Andre found his retreat by water cut off',
and, in disguise, took his way to New York by
land. Challenged, within a few miles of his own
army, by three Americans of the New York militia,
he, unpractised in deceit, incautiously betrayed
himself Discovering his error, he offered gold,
with any terms they might farther insist upon ;
but he had no longer to treat with an Arnold j he,
and the papers found upon him, detailing all
the particulars of the intended treachery, were
delivered by his captors to their colonel ; and the
life of this young officer was forfeited to the law.
After his seizure, the first object of the disintei*-
ested Andre was to convey a warning to Arnold j

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Arnold's treachery.

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this the latter unfortunately received in time to
effect his escape. Having joined the British, the
traitor well filled up the measure of his iniquity ;
intimately acquainted with all the distresses of
those he had forsaken, he exposed their weakness
to the enemy he had joined, and imagined that he
knew how to practise on it, by holding out offers,
calculated at once to tempt their ambition and
cupidity, and to subdue their spirit, already broken
down by famine, sickness, and every suffering
which can afflict humanity ; but there is a strength
in man which an Arnold cannot dream of j there
is that virtue which the Romans, in their language,
finely made synonymous with force ; and, truly,
that courage which has its seat only in the nerves,
and which the man shares but in common with the
brutCwS, is no more to be compared in lasting heat
and energy with the heroism of mind, than is the
parhelion to the sun. The promises of Arnold
were impotent as his threats. The fainting sol-
diers, whom he had sought to betray, were nerved
by indignation with new valor. The country,
every where reduced to the lowest ebb of calamity,
gathered confidence from the very circumstance
which seemed calculated to annihilate it ; not a
man deserted his post ; his very sufferings became
a source of pride, and often of jest ; to be half
naked arid half starving were spoken of as marks
by which to know a patriot. Thus is it that man,
inspired by the noble spirit of independence, rises
above himself, stands superior to fortune, and dis-
covers the divine image beneath all the weakness
and pains of mortality.

fess

ALBANY AND ITS EVVIUONS.

149

We linger here from day to day, unwilling to
leave the kind and cheerful circle who administer
so pleasingly to us the laws of hospitality ; it is
time, however, to remember, tliat we have yet a
long journey to make, and must determine to set
forward so soon as the skies shall resume their
wonted serenity. This has been a season of un-
common heat, and along the whole line of the

coast, one of uncommon drought. At , in

Jersey, during the latter days of July, the mercury
twice rose, in a northern exposure, to a hundred ;
and ibr many days successively, when the sun was
at his meridian, varied from 90 to 90. Some local
causes might there have influenced the atmosphere,
as I found its temperature had been some degrees
lower in other places, but every where it had been
unusually high. In many parts, where the soil was
light, the heritage had totally disappeared, and
plants, of considerable size and strength, were
drooping, and occasionally quite bereft of leaves.
In ascending the Hudson, we had no sooner passed
the Highlands, than our eyes fell upon carpets of
massy verdure, and woods, whose foliage was fresh
as if daily washed by showers. We could have
imagined ourselves in a second spring, but for the
tropical heat which followed us ; and which was
only broken two days since by the grandest and
longest thunder-storm that I ever witnessed. The
sun has not yet pierced the clouds ; his doing so
will be the signal for our departure. I have found
this extreme heat much less oppressive than I
could have believed possible ; indeed, I will con-
fess, under hazard of yoiu' ihinkint!; mc fit to li\p

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AJJJANY AND ITS KNVlRONS.

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with the <»iiiiits under Mount il^^tna, that I have
enjoyed it exceedingly. I find a purity and elas-
ticity in the air that exhilarates my spirits, even
while I am half melted by its fervor. It may strike
you as singular, if you never made or heard the
observation, that the constitution is, in general,
not immediately sensible to the extremes of climate.
It is often remarked here, that a strangei-, fron: a
more southern latitude, feels the severity of a first
winter less than the natives, though he should feel
the second more ; and, in like manner, that one
from a temperate climate is, for some years, less
relaxed by the summer heats, than those who have
regularly been exposed to them. This last seems
to admit of an easy explanation ; but I know not
how wise physicians will account for the former j
if they cannot explain the fact, they will, perhaps,
dispnte it, and far be it from me to provoke their
wrath by insisting upon it.

In this neighbourhood nature presents many
beautiful, and some grand features ; chief among
these, is the well-known cataract of the Mohawk ;
whose waters precipitate themselves over a fine wall
ot rock just before they unite with those of the
Hudson. Its height is stated variously ; perhaps
sixty feet is nearest the mark ; its immense breadth
is by some accounted a disadvantage ; I imagine
this to be the true source of its grandeur, particu-
larly as there is nothing in the surrounding scenery
to assist the efliect. For us, however, circum-
stances combined to throw charms around the spot,
when, beneath an Italian sky, and on a carpet of
verdure which fairy feet might have sought to print

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ALBANY AND ITS ENVIRONS.

151

Ith
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;ry
im-
|ot,
of
lint

their magic rings, we stretched ourselves with
• # # # under the sliade of a spreading tree, and

cast our eyes upon the foaming Cohoez, whose

dash and roar seemed to cool the fervid air. A

group of smiling handmaids mean time spread a

repast which an epicure might have envied. The

scene, the air, the laughing heavens, and the

cheerful companions, have graven the place on

my memory as one of tliose " sunny spots" which

chequer witii gold tiic shadowy path of human

life.

There are several very pleasing falls of water to

be found in the hills of the surrounding country,

and though in grandeur that of the Mohawk stands

pre-eminent, in beauty some may do more than

rival it. I have frequently been surprised, in the

small section of this vast country that I have

visited, to find, upon a more close examination,

wild and romantic features in a landscape whose

out-line wore a character of mild beauty or dull

uniformity ; rocky glens, clothed with shaggy

wood, and traversed by brawling streams, broken

into cascades, are not unfrequently found in hills,

rising gently out of vast and swampy plains, or

skirting valleys, watered by placid rivers, whose

banks of alluvial soil are rich with golden harvests.

The broken course of America's rivulets and rivers

has, I believe, among other appearances, led the

scientific to suppose this a world of later formation

than the other. 1 was once much startled by the

eager refutation which this hypothesis received

from an American naturalist, no less remarkable

for the simplicity of his character, than for his

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ALBANY AND ITS ENVIRONS.

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enthusiasm in his chosen pursuits. Chancing to
put a modest query to the philosopher upon the
results of his researches into the age of his native
continent, I quickly perceived, that to question her
antiquity, were as though you should question her
excellence, and you will believe, that I bowed
out of the subject, (for 1 had never presumed to
make it an argument,) with all possible politeness
and deference.

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LETTER X.

DEPARTURE FOR THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. MODE OF

TRAVELLING. DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY.

CANADAIGUA.

Canadaigua, August, 1819.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

W^HAT is there in life more pleasing than to set
ibrvvard on a journey with a light heiirt, a fine sun
in the heavens above you, and the earth breathing
freshness and fragrance after summer rain ? Let
us take into the account the parting good wishes
of friendship, recommending you to a kind for-
tune, and auguring pleasant roads, pleasant skies,
and pleasant every thing, A preux Chevalier, in
olden time, setting forth in a new suit of armor,
buckled on by the hand of a princess, to seek
adventure through the wide world, might be a
more important personage than the peaceful tra-
veller of these generations, who goes to seek
waterfalls instead of giants, and to look at men in-
stead of killing them ; but I doubt if he was in any
way happier, or felt one jot more exquisitely the
pride and enjoyment of life, health, vigor, and
liberty. These are the moments, perhaps, which,
in the evening of life, when seated in an easy arm-
chair, we may rouse our drowsy senses by recurring
to 'y and, like old veterans counting their honorable

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sciatclies, and all their " hair-breadth 'scapes in
the imminent deadly breach," pour into the ears of
some curly-pated urchin our marvellous adventures
upon the back of a mule, or in the heart of a stage-
waggon, with a summary of all the bruises and
the broken bones, either received, or that might
have been received, by riding in or tumbling out
of it. Should I live to grow garrulous in this way,
our journey hither may afford a tolerable account
of bruises, though it is now a subject of congra-
tulation with me, whatever it may be then, that
there must remain a total deficit under the I^ead of
fractures.

If our journey was rough, it was at least very
cheerful ; the weather beautiful, and our com-
panions good-humored, intelligent, and accommo-
dating. I know not wiiether to recommend the
stage-coach or waggon, (for you are sometimes
put into the one and sometimes into the other,) as
the best mode of travelling. This must depend
upon the temper of the traveller. If he want to
see people as well as things — to hear intelligent
remarks upon the country and its inhabitants, and
to understand the rapid changes that each year
brings forth, and if he be of an easy temper, not
incommoded with trifles, nor caring to take, nor
understanding to give offence, liking the inter-
change of little civilities with strangers, and pleased
to make an acquaintance, though it should be but
one of an hour, with a kind-hearted fellow-crea-
ture, and if too he can bear a few jolts — 7iot
a few, and can suffer to be driven sometimes
too quickly over a rough road, and sometimes too

inti:lli(Ji:mt tiiavi:llkks.

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slowly over a smooth one, — then let him, by all
means, fill a corner in the post-coach or stage- wag-
gon, according to the varying grade in civilization
held by the American diligence. But if the tra-
veller be a lounger, running away from time, or a
landscape-painting tourist with a sketch-book and
portable crayons, or any thing of a soi-disant
philosopher bringing with him a previous knowledge
of the unseen country he is about to traverse,
having itemed in his closet the character, with the
sum of its population, and in his knowledge of how
every thing ought to be, knowing exactly how
every thing is, — or, if he be of an unsociable
humor, easily put out of his way, or, as the phrase
is, a very particular gentleman — then he will hire
or purchase his own dearborn or light waggon,
and travel solus cum solo with his own horse, or, as
it may be, with some old associate who has no
humors of his own, or whose humors are known
by repeated experience to be of the exact same
fashion with his companion's. In some countries
you may, as it is called, travel post, but in these
states it is seldom that you have this at your op-
tion, unless you travel with a phalanx capable of
peopling a whole caravan ; eight persons will be
sufficient for this, the driver always making the
ninth ; seated three in a row.

In this journey, as I have often found before,
the better half of our entertainment was afforded
by the intelligence of our companions. It was our
good fortune on leaving Albany .o find ourselves
seated immediately by a gentleman and his lady
returning from Washington to this their residence.

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INTKLMOKNT TU.WKLMCItS.

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He was a native of iScotland, but came to this
country in his early youth, followed the profession
of the law, settled himself many years since in
affluence on his farm (which seems rather to fur-
nish his amusement than his business), married in-
to a family that had emigrated from New-England,
and settled down in the neighbourhood, and lives
surrounded not only by all the comforts, but the
luxuries of life. We were successively joined and
abandoned by citizens of differing appearance and
j)rofessions, country gentlemen, lawyers, members
of congress, naval officers, farmers, mechanics, &c.
There were two characteristics in which these our
fellow-traveliers generally, mere or less, resem-
bled each other, — good humor and intelligence.
Wherever chance has yet thrown me into a public
conveyance in this country, I have met with more
of these, the best articles of exchange that I am
acqusrnted with, than I ever remember to have
found elsewhere.

Our second day's journey was long and fatiguing,
but withal very interesting ; the weather delightful,
and the scenery pleasing. The road bore every
where heavy marks of the Jlagellatioiis inflicted by
the recent storms. It seemed often as if not only
the rain but the lightning had torn up the ground,
and scooped out the soil, now on this side, and
now on that ; into which holes, first the right wheel
of our vehicle, and anon the left making a sudden
plump, did all but turn us out on the highway.
To do justice to ourselves, we bore the bruises
that were in this manner most plentifully inflicted,

DKsciupTioN oi- riir: countuv.

157

!d,

with very tolerable stoicism and uiibiokcn good-
Imnior.

(iainintf the banks of the Mohawk, we traced
its course for sixty miles, whicli, between tlje
lower catcract of the Cohoez and the upper J'alls^
Hows placidly through a country finely varied, rich
with cultivation, and sprinkled with neat and broad-
roofed cottages and villas, shadowed with trees,
and backed with an undulating line of hills, now
advancing and narrowing the strath, and then re-
ceding and leaving vistas into onening glades,
down which the tributaries of the Mohawk pour
their waters. Massy woods every where crown
and usually clothe these ridges ; but indeed, as yet,
there are few districts throughout this vast country
where the forest, or some remnants of it, stand not
within the horizon.

The valley of the Mohawk is chiefly peopled by
old Dutch settlers ; a primitive race, who retain
for generations the character, customs, and often
the language of their ancient country. Of all
European emigrants, the Dutch and the German
invariably thrive the best, locate themselves, as the
phrase is here, with wonderful sagacity, and this
being once done is done for ever. Great must
be the penury from which this harmless people
fly, who are thus attacheti to the ways of their
fathers, and who, once removed to a land yielding
sustenance to the swart hand of industry, plant so
peacefully their penates, and root themselves so
fixedly in the soil. As a settler next best to the
German, thrives the Scot j the Fi enchman is given
to turn hunter ; the Irishman, drunkard, and the

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» KlJUOrKAN KMKiUANTS.

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I'iHglishman, speculator. AmiisLMneiil nilis tlu'
first, pleasure ruins tlie second, aiul self-su^'icient
obstinacy drives lieadlong the third. T<k .:c arc
many exceptions, doubtless, to this rule ; ad tlie
number of these increases daily, — and for this
reason it is a higher class that is at present emigrat-
ing. I speak now more particularly of England.
It is men of substance, possessed in clear property
of from five hunched to five thousand pounds, who
now attempt the passage of the Atlantic. I know
of thirteen families wlio lately arrived in these states
from the Thames, not one of which is possessed of
less than the former sum, and some of more than
the latter. 1 fear that the policy of England's rulers
is cutting away the sinews of tlie state. Why are
iier yeomen disappearing from the soil, dwindling
into paupers, or flying as exiles ? Tythes, taxes,
and poor-rates — these things must be looked into,
or her population will gradually approach to that
of Spain, beggars and princes ; the shaft of the fair
column reft away. *

Something less than twenty miles below Utica,
the river makes a sharp angle, in the manner of
the Hudson at West Point, running into a cleft or
gapt forced in primeval times, with dreadful con-
vulsion, through the ridge along the base of which
it afterwards so i)eacefully winds. The Mohawk
assumes liere much the character of Loch Katrine
at the Trosachs j the beetling crags, and rocks in
ruin hurled, and shaggy wood, grooved in the dark
crevices, and little coves, where the still clear

* This remark no longer applies to revolutionized Spain.

dkscuifhon of tmi; coumky.

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water stirs not the leafiliat has droppetl upon its
bosom. But there is no IJen-Vemie aiul IJen-Aiin
to fTiianl the magic pass; nor lady witli her fairy
skiftj nor is the fancy entitled to image her; it
may, however, if it be sportively inclined, pic-
tnre out the wild Indian paddling his canoe, or
springing from rock to rock, swift as the deer he
j)ursncs. It is evident, that the water once occu-
pied the whole breadth of the ravine, when it must
have boiled and edded with somewhat more
tumultuous passions than it shows lU present. The
hugh mis-shapen blocks that now rise peacefully
out of the flood, beetle over the head of the pas-
senger, or, standing in the line of hii^ rough path,
force him variously to wheel to rigiit or left, bear
on their sides tlie marks of the ancient fury of the
subdued element, which, now having sunk its
channel, leaves room for the road to scramble an
intricate way by its side. When about to issue
from the chasm, you open upon the Lesser FaliSf
so called in contrast to the greater cataract at
the mouth of the river. It is a wild scene, and
helps the fancy to image out the uproar that must
in former ages have raged in the depths of the
pass below. How astounding it is to trace in the
vast works of nature the operations of time ; so
mighty, and yet so slow, silent, and unseen ! The
whole known history of man reaches not back to
the date of some crevice in a mountain ; each
fathom, worn by a river in his rocky bed, speaks of
untold generations, swept from the earth, and lost
from her records. How grand is the solemn
march of nature still advancing without check, or

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DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY.

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I Stop, or threat of hinderancc ! Ages arc to her as
! moments, and all the known course of time a span.
We reached Utica very tolerably fagged, and
bruised as I could not wish an enemy. A day's
rest well recruited us, however, and gave us time
to examine this wonderful little town, scarce
twenty years old. An inn-keeper here, at whose
door fifteen stages stop daily, carried, eighteen
years since, the solitary and weekly mail in his
coat pocket, from hence to Albany. This new-
born Utica already aspires to be the capital of the
state, and in a few years it probably will be so,
though Albany is by no means willing to yield her
honors, nor New- York the convenience of having
the seat of government in her neighbourhood ;
but the young western counties are sucii stout
and imperious ciiildren, that it will soon be foiuid
necessary to consult their interests.

The importance of Utica will soon be increased
by the opening of the great canal, destined here to
join the Mohawk. We swerved the next day from
our direct route for the purpose of looking at this
work, now in considerable progress, and which, in
its consequences, is truly grand, affording a water
high-way from the heart of this great continent to
the ocean ; commencing at Lake Erie, it finds a
level, with but little circuit, to the Mohawk j
at tile Lesser Falls are some considerable locks j
others will be required at the mouth of the river,
where the Hudson opens his broad way to the
Atlantic. It is thought that four or five years
will now fully complete this work. The most
troublesome opposition it has encountered, is in the
vast Onondaga swamp, and not a few of the work-

CANAUAKJUA.

l()l

men have fallen a sacrilicc to its pestilential atmos-
phere.

Leaving Utica, the country begins to assume a
rough appearance ; stumps and girdled trees en-
cumbering the inclosures ; log-houses scatteretl
here and there ; the cultivation rarely extending
more than half'a mile, nor usually so much, on either
hand ; when the forest, whose face is usually ren-
dered hideous to the eye of the traveller by a skirt-
ing line oi' girdled trees, half standing, half falling,
stretches its vast, unbroken shade over plain, and
hill, and dale ; disappearing only with the horizon.
Frequently, however, gaining a rising ground (and
the face of the country is always moie or less un-
dulating,) you can distinguish gaps, sometimes
long and broad, in the deep verdure, which tell
that the axe and the plough are waging war with
the wilderness. Owing to some disputed claims
in the tenure of the lands, cultivation has made
less progress here than it has farther west, as we
found on approaching the Skneneatalas, Cayuga,
Seneka, Onondaga, and Canadaigua lakes. Having
passed the flourishing town of Auburn, we found
the country much more open ; well-finished houses,
and thriving villages, appearing continually. The
fifth day from that of our departure from Albany
brought us to this village, where our kind fellow-
travellers insisted on becoming our hosts. The
villages at the head of the different lakes I nave
enumerated above, are all thriving, cheerful, and
generally beautiful ; but Canadaigua, I think, bears
away the palm. The land has been disposed of
in lots of forty acres each, one being the breadth,

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ninning in lines diverging on eitlicM' liand from
the main road. Tlie houses arc all dehcately
painted ; their windows with green Venetian
blinds, peeping gaily through fine young trees,
or standing forward more exposed on their httle
lawns, green and fresh as those of England.
Smiling gardens, orchards laden with fruit —
quinces, apples, plums, peaches, &c. and fields,
rich in golden grain, stretch behind each of
these lovely villas ; the church, with its white
steeple rising in the midst, overlooking this land
of enchantment.

The increase of population, the encroachment
of cultivation on the wilderness, the birth of
settlements, and their growth into towns, surpasses
belief, till one has been an eye-witness of the
miracle, or conversed on the spot with those who
have been so. It is wonderfully cheering to find
yourself in a country which tells only of improve-
ment. What other land is there that points not
the imagination back to better days, contrasting
present decay with departed strength, or that,
even in its struggles to hold a forward career, is
not checked at every step by some physical or
political hinderance ?

I think it was one of the sons of Constantine, I
am sure that it was one of his successors, who,
returning from a visit to Rome, said, that he Iiad
learned one thing there, " that m en died in that
queen of cities as they did elsewhere." It might
require more, perhaps, to remind a stranger of the
mortality of his species in these states, than it did
in old Rome. All here wears so much tiie gloss

CANADATGUA.

163

of novelty — all around you breathes so much of
the life and energy of youth, that a wanderer
from the antique habitations of time-worn Europe
might look around, and deem that man here
held a new charter of existence ; that time had
folded his wings, and the sister thrown away the
sliears.

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LETTER XI.

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GENESSEE. — VISIT TO Mil. WADSWORTH. — AMERICAN FAR-
MER. SETTLING OF THE NEW TERRITORY. FOREST

SCENERY.

Genessco, August, 1819.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

Taking a kind farewell of our hospitable friends
in Canadaigiia, we struck into the forest, and by a
cross road, heller skelter over sumps and logs,
rattled in a clumsy conveyance to this thriving
settlement on the banks of the Genessee. The
road, though rough, was not wholly without its
interest J at first, opening prospects of ^HIs and
valleys, where sometimes the white walls of a
young settlement glanced in the sun, relieving
the boundless ** continuity of shade ;" and then
bordered occasionally with corn-fields and young
orchards of peach and apple, groaning beneath
their weight of riches. The withered trees of the
forest stood indeed among them : but though
these should mar beauty, they give a character to
the scene that speaks to the heart, if not to
the eye.

We were received with a warm welcome
by Mr. and Mrs. Wadsworth, a name you are
already acquainted vvitli. The Amei'.can gentle-
man receives lus guest In the true style of old

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VISIT TO !MU. ".VADS". ORTH-

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patriaicliul hospitality — with oper hand at the
gate J antl leads you over the threshold with
smiling greetings, that say more than a thousand
words. There is about him an urbanity and a
politeness, breathing from the heart, which courts
and cities never teach. Nothing seems to be
♦lisarranged by your })resence, and yet all is ordered
lor your convenience and amusement ; you find
yourself in a few minutes one of the family j
frankness and friendliness draw forth the same
feelings from you ; you are domesticated al the
hearth and at the board, and depart at last with
heart overflowing, as from some Jiomc, endeared
by habit and sacred association.

This house stands pleasantly on the gentle
declivity of a hill, commanding a fine pros[)ect of
the Genessee flats (beautiful prairie land bordering
the river,) and the rising grounds, covered with
dark forests, bounding them. Some scattered
groups of young locust-trees spread their chequered
shade upon the lawn j down which, as seated
beneath the porch, or in the hall, with its v/ide
open doors, the eye glances first over a champaign
country, speckled with flocks and herds, and
golden harvests ; and then over primeval woods,
wheru the Indian chases the wild deer. To the
right stretches a scattered village of neat white
houses, that have just started into being; from the
bosom of which rises the spire of a little chapel,
flashing against the sun ; behind, barns, stables,
and outhouses ; and to the left a spacious and
well-replenished garden, with orchard after orchard,
laden with all the varieties of apple, pear, and peach.

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Mr. Wadsworth is the patriarch of the Genessee
district. He is a native of New England, in whose
earliest history the name appears frequently and
honorably. It is scarcely nineteen years since
this gentleman, with his brother, Col. Wadsworth,
pierced into these forests, then inhabited only
by the savage and his prey. The rich and open
lands here stretching along the river, fixed their
attention, and having purchased a considerable
tract of land from the Indian proprietors, they
settled themselves down among them. The first
six years were years of fearful hardship ; every
autumn brought fevers, intermitting and bilious,
and this too in a wilderness where no comforts or
conveniences could be procured. Their constitu-
tions, however, hardened by early temperance,

eathered this trying season. Other settlers gra-
dually joined them, and now a smiling village is
at their door, rich farms rising every where out of
the forest, and a pure and healthy atmosphere ever
surrounding them. Mrs. Wadsworth tells me,
that her numerous family have never been afflicted
with sickness of any kind, nor do we hear of any
in the surrounding neighbourhood.

I have not yet seen more thriving or beautiful

young settlements than those now surrounding me.

Mr. Wadsworth is considered as one of the richest

proprietors in th^ state j and well has he acquired

his wealth, and generously does he employ it.

Like one oi' the i^ttyiarclis of old, he looks round

upon his flocks and herds, luxurious pastures, and

rich fields of grain, bounteous heaven ever addino*

■to his store, and feels that, under its blessing, all

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AMKIilCAN FARMKU.

107

is the revvanl of his own iiulustry, the work, as
it were, of his creation. Jt is truly a grateful
sight to see the wilderness thus transformed into
beauty ; to see the human species absolved from
oppression, and, with it, absolved from misery,
extending their dominion, not unjustly over their
fiel low-creatures, but over the peaceful earth, and
leaving to their posterity the well-earned fruits of
their industry, and, what is better, the pure ex-
ample of time well employed. In truth, it cheers
the spirits, and does the heart good to see these
things.

Sometimes, indeed, I cannot help contrasting the
condition of the American with that of the Eng-
lish farmer ; no tythes, no grinding taxes, no
bribes received or offered by electioneering candi-
dates or their agents ; no anxious fears as to the
destiny of his children, and their future establish-
ment in life. Plenty at the board ; good horses in
the stable ; an open door, a friendly welcome,
light spirits, and easy toil ; such is what you
find with the American farmer. In England —

*• There is a tale the traveller can reiul
Who, on old Tyber's banks, hath check'd his steed,
And paus'd, and mus'd, and wept upon the wreck
Of what tvas Rome."

Thoughts of a Recline.

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You will tell me, perhaps, that I now see the
old world in contrast with the new ; that this
is comparing age to youth, a comparison that is
either unfair or childish. But is it with nations as
with individuals ? Have they no second youth ?

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AMFRICAN FARIVJEIl.

We have seldom seen that they have ; but few in
their old age have shewi) such vigor as England.
Has she not enough to work her own regeneration ?
I wish it too well not to believe it.

" Oh England ! well I love thcc ; oft recall
Tliy pleasant fields ; thy hills' soft sloping fall ;
Thy woods of massy shade and cool retreat ;
Thy rivers in their sedges murmuring sweet.
Where once with tender feet I wont to stray,
Muttering my childish rhymings by the way ;
And pouring plenteous sighs, I knew not why,
And dropping soft tears from my musing eye. —
Yes ! much I love thee ; — turn not then away
As tho' thou heard'st a heartless alien's lay.
Childhood and dreaming youth flew o'er this head
Ere from thy pleasant lawns the wanderer fled ;
And tho* maturer years have mark'd her brow,
. And somewhat chill'd perchance her feelings now,
Still docs her stricken heartbeat warm for thee.
Much docs it wish thcc great, — much does it wish thecy;r<?.

Thoughts of a Recluse.

Forgive me this quotation. It expresses my
ieelings at the moment. I need not say moment 'y
ibr they force themselves upon me very often.

It were difficult, perhaps, to conceive man
placed in a more enviable position than he is as a
cultivator of the soil in these states. Agriculture
hare assumes her most cheerful aspect, and (some
Europeans might smile doubtingly, but it is true)
all her ancient classic dignity, as when Rome
summoned her consuls from the plough. 1 have
seen those who have raised their voice in the
senate of their country, and whose hands have
ibught her battles, walking beside the team, and

AMr:UI( AN lAHMER.

minutely directing every operation of Iiusbandry,
with the soil upon their garments, and their coim-
tenances bronzed bv the meridian sun. And
how proudly docs such a man tread his paternal
fields ! his ample domains improving under his
hand; his garners full to overflowing ; his table
replenished with guests, and with a numerous
offspring, whose nerves are braced by exercise,
and their minds invigorat»jd by liberty. It was
finely answered by an American citizen to a Eu-
ropean who looking around him, exclaimed, " Yes ;
this is all well. You have all the \ulgarand the
substantial, but I look in vain for tl* ^ ornamental.
Where are your ruins and your poetry ?" " There
are our ruins" replied the republican, pointing to
a revolutionary soldier who was turning up the
glebe ; and then, extending his hand over the
plain that stretched before them, smiling with lux-
uriant farms and little villas, peeping out from
beds of trees, ** there is our poetry**

It is not always, indeed, that the farmer may
aspire to affluence, as some of our more ignorant
emigrants suppose. I have seen small proprietors
in this country, whose life was one continued scene
of unbroken toil, and who&e exertions procured
little more to themselves and their families, than
common necessaries and indispensable comforts ^
these, however, they may always procure, and
sometimes, by shifting the scene of their industry,
may ensure more abundant returns. But here
again there are often positive evils that must be
placed in the balance against positive good. The
hardy citizen, who migrates from the more steiilt

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SETT LI Nr, OF

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districts of New Knglaiul to the vir^^in !iiuls ot
the West, lias to encounter fatigues, and but too
frcquojitly unwholesome vapors, to which even
liis vigorous constitution may liill a sacrifice. It
is wonderful to see how cheerfully these physical
evils are braved, and often how well and speedily
they are surmounted j but still, with many, a hard-
earned competence with health will balance against
the chance of greater abundance, purchased by
years of sickness, or perhaps by a brol mi consti-
tution.

We shouid, however, bul ill appreciate the causes
which poiii* the tide of emigration from the east to
the west, if we considered avarice as giving the
sole impetus. It is not a mere calculation of
dollars and cents, or a thousand busliels of corn
placed against a hundred, which alone sways the
mind of the adventurous settler.

The position of this country, its boundless terri-
tory, its vrricd soils and climates, its free institu-
tions and* favored by these circumstances, the
rapid increase of its population, — all combine to
generate in this people a spirit of daring enter-
prise, as well as of proud independence. They
spurn at little hinderances in narrow room, and
prefer great difficulties in a wide horizon. In
flying to the wilderness, they fly a thousand con-
straints which society must always impose, even
under the fairest laws. They have here no longer
to justle with the crowd; their war is only with
nature ; their evils, therefore, are chiefly physical,
and the comforts they may forego, are amply com-
pensated by the frets and cares from which they

THK NLU Tr.UKirORT.

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may be released. It is curious to consider the
oflect which this release fVoui moral ills seems to
have upon the constitution. Those who safely
weather out the first hard seasoning, or who, from
choosing their ground more judiciously, escape
with but very little, are often found to live to an
unusual age. It is a singular fact, that the citizens
oi' the new states are often i emarkable for uncom-
mon longevity, and universally lor uncommon
stature. This cannot be accounted for by suppos-
ing that tlieyare more exposed to air and exercise;
the American farmer is this univ rsally j and though
universally the average of his '^ , ire is above that
of Europeans, it were, perhaps, more just to ascribe
this varying standard of bodily vigor to the less or
greater pressure of mental solicitude. •

Were the human mind less sensible to the
charms of novelty and liberty, the settlement of
the new country might be left only to the neces-
sitous. As it is, men of property, and gentlemen
accustomed to all the refinements of society, are

* I perceive that Lieutenant Hall has admitted, among the
causes to which he ascribes the gigantic stature of tlie mem-
bers from tlie western states, wliom he observed in Washington,
" tlie absence of mental hritatiou." The other causes wliich he
enumerates, " plentiful, but simple food, a healthij climate, con-
slant exercise in the open air," might better account for the
differing stature between Europeans and Americans generally,
than between the Americans of the old and new territory. The
climate of the eastern and central states, though it should not
vie in beauty, must, for some years to come, in salubrity, with
that of the western districts. The people of these states
generally are well but simply fed, and continually exercised.
The difference, if any, can scarcely be sufKcieut to alfcct the
l)odily organs.

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23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, NY. 14580

(716) 872-4503

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Mil. HOPKINS.

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found among the first occupiers of the wilderness.
When Mr. Wadsworth settled in this district, he
formed the advanced guard of civilization ; a vast
tract of forest stretched behind him, through which
he cleared a passage for the necessary implements
of husbandry, with considerable toil and difficulty.
The tide of human life has now flowed up to him,
and is rapidly sweeping onwards in all directions.

In the deep verdure of the forest, stretching
beyond the open lands that border the river, the
eye discerns specks of a browner hue, which mark
where the new settler has commenced his work of
peaceful industry. It was with much surprise,
that, in a late excursion, we suddenly opened upon
a flourishing little village that has started up in a
couple of years, or little more, in the bosom of the
forest, a few miles higher up the river.

It was towards evening when we reached the
settlement; and then, turning again among the
trees, and making a short ascent by a road roughly
paved with logs, suddenly found ourselves on a
lawn in front of a spacious and elegant dwelling.
We had already made acquaintance with its hos-
pitable owner, who, with his wife and daughter,
had during the day joined our cavalcade in the
forest.

Mr. Hopkins followed successfully for many
years the profession of law in the city of New
York. His enterprise and good taste seem equal
to his opulence. The neighbouring village has
grown up under his eye ; his house, both within
and without, wears the character of convenience
and elegance. The manner in which ne has

()nNA:MKNTAL CLKARINC.

173

cleared the forest in tlie immediate neighbourhood
of liis dwelling, is peculiarly admirable. In
general, the settler cuts to right and left with un-
sparing fury, anxious only to clear the giant weeds
which obstruct the light, and choke his respiration.
It is a natural impulse, perhaps, which leads him
thus unthinkingly to lay bare his cabin to the
heavens ; but some may doubt if it be very wise,
and all will agree, that it is in very bad taste. I
know not if the observation has been made by
others, but it has often occurred to me, that the
gap made by the settler in the dense mass of the
forest, must serve as a sort of funnel, by which
the hot rays of the sun must draw up the noxious
vapors from the surrounding shades. Were he to
place his cabin under shelter, and commence his
chief operations at a little distance, I have a
notion that his family would both enjoy more
comfort and better health. I have sometimes put
a query upon this subject to a farmer, who has
invariably assured me, that any single tree, if
deprived of the support of its neighbours, would
infallibly be blown down. This seemed probable
enough, but as the assurance was generally accom-
panied by some reflections upon the uselessness of
the long weeds, 1 felt by no means satisfied that
they had ever had fair play. I was convinced of
this, when, in the neighbourhood of Canadaigua,
we found a New England farmer, whose house
was surrounded by a fine grove of young hickory,
which had been cleared out with care, and stood in
perfect health and security.

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ORNAMKNTAL CLKAUING

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Mr. Hopkins has tried the experiinent on a hirgcr
scale, and cleared the forest around his dwelling in
such a manner as to give to it the air of* a magnifi-
cent park. It is surprising to see how soon these
giants have thrown down tlieir branches, rejoicing
in the air and light suddenly opened to them.
When first exposed, they have the appearance of
enormous ship-masts, their smooth, silvery stems,
towering to the skies, sustaining on their heads a
circular canopy of verdure, like the umbrella of a
Brogdignag. There is one peculiarity that cha-
racterizes the American forest, which is wonder-
fully favorable to the ornamental clearer ; it is the
general absence of brush, and the fine smooth
carpet of verdure spread by the hand of nature
over the surface of the soil. * It is doubtless
necessary, in this operation, to proceed with much
caution, and to consult the nature of the soil as
well as of the tree you intend to preserve. A fence
from the north-west must usually be indispensable.
Every thing seems to have favored Mr. Hopkins's
improvements ; and we should have been well
pleased, had time permitted us to have surveyed
them more at leisure.

Entering the house, the shade of its broad
piazzas and Venetian blinds, through which the

* May not this be the cause, which, by affording facilities to
the hunter, served to arrest the aborigines of North America in
the savage state ? The woods of the southern continent are
represented as impeded by luxuriant and impervious veget-
ation. Man, thus shut out from the covert, and driven to seek
the open plains and valleys, was there naturally allured to the
pastoral and agricultural life.

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OF THE rOIlEST.

\75

evening breeze played sweetly, refreshed us much
after the fatigiier, and heat of the day. From the
windows the eye glanced down the hill, through
vistas tastefully opened in the dense shade, upon
the rich valley, watered by the river, and the
undulating lands which lay beyond ; the last rays
of the sinking sun flashed upon the white walls of
the little town of Genesseo, ])erched upon the
distant horizon, and shed a flood of glory upon
the wide world of primeval forest that stretched
around.

While refreshing ourselves with a variety of
delicious fruit, and, for myselfi looking round in
wondering admiration at this house of enchant-
ment, for truly, containing, as it did, every con-
venience and luxury that art could aflford, and
planted down thus in the bosom of the wilderness,
it seemed like nothing else than some palace of
the genii, — while thus gazing and admiring, a
pleasing young woman entered, the wife of a
neighbouring settler. She prolonged her stay
until the sun had bade good night, and then,
requesting us to look in upon her in her log-
house before our departure, remounted her horse,
disappeared in the forest, and gained her home,
seven miles distant, more by the sagacity of the
steed than any twinkling of the stars.

We made her a visit next day. The dwelling,
though small, and every way inconvenient, as one
might have imagined, to those accustomed to all
the comforts of a city life, (for this gentleman is
an emigrant from Boston, Massachussets,) was
rather of larger dimensions than the ordinary log-

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house, being divided into a room and kitchen,
and having a sleeping apartment above. With all
these extras, however, the dwelling was comfort-
less enough for a five years* residence ; yet its
owners seemed contented in it, putting ofi* from
year to year the building of a better, and finding
in this narrow and ill-finished tenement in tlie
wilderness, that contentment which many live and
die without finding in a palace.

Returning from this excursion, we again tra-
versed the open prairie that here stretches along
the water-course, and formfi tlie richest portion of
Mr. Wadsworth's magnificent property. We often
paused to admire the giant trees, scattered taste-
fully here and there by the hand of nature ; their
enormous trunks, rooted in alluvial soil, pointing
up their stems into mid air, like the columns of
some Gothic minster, and then flinging abroad
their mighty arms, from which the gracefid foliage
dropping downwards, opposed, in beautiful con-
trast, the rich verdure with the clean and polished
bark. The finest trees that I had ever before
seen, had been dwarfs, if placed beside these
mighty giants.

The art of ornamental planting has, as yet, been
little cultivated in these states. The native forest
is generally in sight; and as the human eye is
prone to rest with pleasure on what is uncommon,
an American usually considers an open plain as
nature's most beautiful feature. The settler's first
desire is to have a clear view of the heavens ;
when his patch of ground is completely naked, he
tells you, that it looks handsome. As the dense

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AMERICAN TREES.

177

shade of the forest recedes, a tree, in his mind,
becomes less associated with wolves and bears,
swamps and agues; and gradually he conceives
the desire that some sheltering boughs were spread
between his roof and the scorching rays of July's
sun. His object now is to plant the tree that will
grow the fastest ; and consequcMitly, the finest
sons of the forest are seldom those that he patro-
nizes. In the older districts of the Union that 1
have visited, especially in Pennsylvania, I have
admired trees of a very noble character, surround-
ing the dwelling of the farmer, or dropped through
his fields as a shelter for the cattle.

Of the American oak, there are. upwards of
thirty varieties ; almost as many of the walnut ;
several of the elm, which is a tree of very un-
common majesty. The sycamore of the Ohio,
which can receive half a regiment of soldiers
within its trunk, seems to realize the wildest fables
of marvel-loving travellers. The maple and the
hickory are also remarkable ; the former for its
elegance, and the latter for the rich color of its
foliage ; the ash ; the white pine, rising in pre-
eminent grandeur ; the scent-breathing cedar ; the
graceful acacia ; the wild cherry, with its beautiful
fruit clustered on the stalk like currants; and,
among the flowering trees, tiie sweet locust, breath-
ing the breath of violets ; the catalpa, with its
umbrageous leaves, and luxi:iiant blossoms; the
majestic tulip, pointing up hh clean and unen-
cumbered shaft, and throwing down his branches,
heavy with polished foliage and millions of flowers.
Indeed the varieties of the native trees are almost

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178

AMERICAN TREES.

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endless ; and when cultivated with care, and ar-
rangeil with taste, may even surpass in nuijesty
the woodland tribe of England.

It has struck nie that the American trees (V
speak of" them when reared for ornament, or
dropped by the hand of nature with more taste
perhaps than art could rival,) have a character
whicli migiit be termed one of sinjple majesty,
while those of England are remarkable for a
romantic or even savage grandeur. 'J'he gnarled
oak, his boughs covered with lichens, thrust forth
horizontally but grotesquely, stands beneath the
watery skies of England, a hardy veteran, nerved
to brave the elements, and opposing his broad
and shaggy forehead to the storm, as reckless of
its fury, and indifferent alike to the smiles and
frowns of heaven. Vegetation here being much
more rapid, the American tree puts forth longer
shoots, springing upwards to the sun, with a stem
straight, smooth, and silvery, and flinging forth
his sweeping branches to wave with e\ery gust.
This perhaps applies more peculiarly to the elm,
a tree of singular grace and beauty, but answers,
more or less, to all the nobler sons of the forest.
In general the wood of this country is of superior
stature to tliat of our island, but is charged with
fewer branches, or, more properly speaking, twigs.
Under an oak in England, you can barely see the
winter's heaven ; here, when stripped of its foliage,
the most rugged tree would afford no shelter.
There is, in short, less wood, or rather it shoots
upwards more in straight lines; the foliage is
magnificent and wonderfully varied in its shades.

FOREST SCENERY.

179

Yon will remember the irlories of the ant urn mil
tints: their riclniess cielies the pen or th'.* ))encil.

The cliaracter of the American forest, yon are,
})er]iaj)s, familiar witli : springing oin of ii virgin
soil, and struggling njiwards to catch the sun's
glance, the stems are irecjuently of enormous
stature ; and, from the dryness of the atmosphere,
wholly free from moss antl lichen. I have already
noticed the absence of brush and the carpet of
verdure that covers the soil ; where this is firm
and dry, nothing can be more pleasing than to
wander among these primeval shades j — at least
those will think so whose eyes are not i)alled with
their eternal contemplation. When thp first gloom
of evening ♦' deepens the horror of the woods," it
is finely impressive to tread their dark mazes,
and ureatlv interesting when the night closes in
to catch the glimmer of some settler's fire, and,
as you approach, to see its rays streaming across
your ])ath from his cabin door.

During the smnmer nights, a log-hut often pre-
sents a very singular aj)pearance. It is not tui-
iisual, when the hot months set in, to clear away
the mud which stops the interstices between the
logs, as they are raised horizontally ui)ou each
other, so as to allow a free passage to the external
air. In the darkness of the forest, the light stream-
ing through these crevices, gives to the cabin the
appearance of being either illuminated or on fire.
A painter might then often pause to consider the
family group assembled in the little dwelling :
the father resting after the day's fatigues — his
prattling urchins round him, while the busy matron

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180

FOREST SCENERY,

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prepares the evening meal. Insensible were tlie
heart that could pass without emotion this little
scene of human industry and human happiness.
The cotter's evening light is interesting every
where ; but doubly so when it shines in a world
of solitude such as this.

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LETfER XII.

tNDlAN VILLAGE. OBSEIIVATIONS ON THE INDIANS.-—

CONDUCT' OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT TOWARDS
TUCM,

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i.Tencsseo, August, 1819.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

boME days since we made two of a large party to
the high banks of tlie Genessee, and in our return
visited an Indian viihige. The huts were scattered
wildly over a little hill jutting forward from the
forest, and commanding a magnificent prospect
down tlie course of the river.

Tliese Indians had more of the character of the
lords of the wilderness than any I had yet seen ;
but even these are a wasting remnant that must
soon disappear with the receding forest. Notwith-
standing their frequent and friendly intercoutse
with their white neighbours, they keep their lan-
guage pure, and their manners and habits with
but little variation. The richness of the soil, or
the beauty of the spot, seems to have attached
them to the neighbourhood, as they refuse to sell
their patrimony, though every year renders the
game more shy, and, consequently, the business of
the hunter more doubtful and toilsome.

The falling greatness of this people, disappear-
ing from the fiace of their native soil, at first strikes
mournfully on the imagination j but such regrets

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182

OIJSEIIVATIONS ON

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nre scarcely rational. The savage, with all his
virtues, and lie has some virtues, is still a savage,
nobler, douhtless, than nuinv who boast themselves
civilized beings; nobler far than any race of slaves
who hug their chains while they sit in proud con-
templation of days of glory that have set in night j
but still holiling a lower pliice in creation than men
who, to the ])rond spirit of independence, unite
the softer i'eelings that sj)ring only within the
pale of civilized life. The increase and spread of
the white population at the expense of the red, is,
as it were, the triumph of peace over violence ;
it is Minerva's olive bearing the palm from Nep-
tune's steed.

Not that the aborigines of this fine coiuitry have
never had to complain of wrong and violence,
offered by the invaders of the soil. The Indian,
as he looks mournfully upon the scattered remnant
of his once powerful tribe, recounts a long list
of injuries, received by his ancestors from those
strangers, whom they were at first willing to re-
ceive as friends and brothers. Though he should
acknowledge, that the right by which the early
settlers were willing to hold a portion of their
territory, was that of purchase, he may justly com-
plain, that the sale had little in it of fair reciprocity,
which was often rather compelled than proposed.
The first contracts, indeed, were peaceful ; entered
into witli tolerable fairness on the one side, and
with willingness on the other ; but it was not in
human nature, that the native inhabitants should
long view without jealousy the growing strength
of new comers, whose knowledge, and cultivation

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TIIK INDIANS.

183

ot* the peaceful arts, sociiied a ratio of increase to
their popuhitioii so far lieyoiul tliat of tlie wild
aborigines; and whose hardihood, scarce inferior
to that of tiie sava<j;e, marked tliem as sncli dange-
rous antagonists. Actuated by this jeah)usy, tlie
massacre of the varions colonies, thinly scattered
along the shores of the Atlantic, was often at-
temj)ted ; and, had these savage measures been
taken in concert by the different tribes and nations,
the extermination of the obnoxious intruders nuist
have been effected. Hostile feelings, so naturally
aroused on the one side, Nsere soon as naturally
aroused on the other. In these earlier acts of ag-
gression, were we to allow nothing to the jealous
passions, common to the Indians as inen, and to
the wild passions, peculiar to them as savages, we
might, perhaps, find more cause to charge the na-
tives with cruelty and treachery, than the European
settlers with injustice.

In considering the sufierings of those hardy
adventurers, we are filled with astonishment, a^;
well as pity and admiration. How poAcrfid the
charm of independence to reconcile man to such
a course of hardshi[) J to lead him forth from the
pale of civilized life, to seek his subsistence among
wolves, and bears, and savages ; now exposed to
Siberian rigors, and then to African heats ; endur-
ing famine, and breathing unwholesome exhala-
tions ; lighting his nightly fire to ward ofi' the attack
of the wild beast, and appreheiiding from eveiy
thicket the winged arrow of the Indian 1 Well
may we look to find a proud and vigorous nation in
the descendants of such hardy progenitors,

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OBSERVATIONS ON

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The attacks of the Indians usually ended to
their disadvantage j weakened their numbers, and
forced them to make concessions. By each suc-
ceeding treaty, the boundaries receded ; and, as
the new people gained in strength what the natives
lost, the latter became as much exposed to Euro-
pean rapacity, as the former had ever been to
Indian cruelty. The contention for mastery be-
tween the French and English, which, had the na-
tives been united in their councils, might possibly
liave afforded them the opportunity of crushing
both, only hurried forward their own ruin. The
subsequent policy of the British government, so
magnificently denounced by the generous Chat-
ham, which, during her struggle with the revolted
colonies, raised the war-whoop of their savage
neighbours, was the cause of additional ruin to the
native tribes ; whose numbers were always thinned,
whatever might be the issue of their incursions.

After the establishment of American independ-
ence, the Indians soon felt the effect of the wise
and humane system of policy, adopted by the
federal government. The treaties entered into
with the natives, have never been violated with her
sanction or connivance, while she has frequently
exerted her influence to preserve, or to make peace
between contending tribes. She has sought to
protect them from the impositions of traders and
land-jobbers, and to lure them to the cultivation
of the peaceful arts. Among the most useful of
the government regulations, are those which de-
prive individuals of the power of entering into
land contracts with the Indians, and which exclude

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THE INDIANS.

1S5

spirituous liquors and fire-arms from the barterin<^
trade prosecuted on the western borders. It is
to be wished, tliat the Canada government would
equally enforce the latter regulation. Intoxication
has proved a yet worse scourge to the wild natives,
than the small-pox. It not only whets their fero-
city, but hurries tliem into the worst vices, and
consequently the worst diseases. While blankets,
wearing-apparel, implements of husbandry, pel-
try, &c., are the American articles of barter for
the game and furs of the Indian hunters, those of
the traders of the north-west are chiefly spirituous
liquors, and fire-arms. This secures to them the
preference in the Indian market, where more furs
will be given for a keg of whiskey,* or a musket,
than for a whole bale of woollen goods. But this
is a short-sighted policy. The northern tribes,
armed with muskets, and intoxicated with liquor,
go to war with each other, or else with the more
southern tribes ; which last they have, in many
cases, almost, if not altogether, exterminated.
The intrigues of European traders, and the species
of goods exchanged by them with the savages,
have, of late years, done more towards the exter-
mination of the aborigines, by war and disease,
than has even the rapid spread and increase of the
white population, by the felling of the forest, and
destruction of the game. The last cause operates
only on the borders ; but the others are felt to the
Pacific, and the icy barrier of the north. The
Indians are now disappearing from the face of the
earth, by the silent, but sure operation of corrup-
tion and misery: wherever the Canadian trader

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pierces, he carries poison witfi him, and thus is at
once working the destruction of the native
hunters, and of the rich trade which he prosecutes
with them.

The Americans are the only people who can
ultimately benefit by the destruction of the tribes,
and therefore it is highly to the credit of their
government to have placed the trade under such
regulations as are calculated to promote the inter-
ests of the aborigines. The restrictive laws upon
the Indian trade are carefully enforced. Govern-
ment agents, with fixed salaries, are stationed
in the line of forts protecting the western fron-
tier, to whom appeals can always be made by
the Indians. Under the eye of these agents,
trading establishments are conducted, in which a
fair and stated price is laid upon the American
- articles of barter. This has the efl'ect of constrain-
ing the private traders to honesty ; who, of course,
will find no market, if they do not sell on equal
terms with the government establishments. The
price fixed by the government, places on the prime
cost what is sufficient to defray the expences of
the establishment, which is conducted on the
strictest principles of American economy.

The hiuTiane policy of the American government
in this matter, may be supposed to have had in
view the protection of the white settlements on the
frontier, as well as of the native tribes. The fact
is, howeve", that the introduction of distilled spirits
and fire arms among the latter, occasions them
rather to make war upon each other, than upon the
distant whites. A quarrel in their feasts produces

THE INDIANS.

187

murder, and this is seldom expiated, but by the
blood of the aggressor and of his tribe. Some of
the savage incursions on the western frontier iuive
originated in disputes between a white and a red
hunter; but such quarrels have easily been healed
by the intervention of the federal government. Ihe
cruel Indian wars, which have occasionally deso-
lated the frontier, massacring whole families of
women, children, and infants at the breast, have
been invariably produced by the machinations of
Florida, or Canadian traders, or of European emis-
saries. The policy of America upon these occa-
sions has proved rather humane than interested.
Her friendly Indians, more peaceful, and less
trained in the use of the musket, have proved fee-
ble allies; and often, by drawing upon her for
protection from their ferocious neighbours, have
turned the tide of their enemy's fury upon her
borders.

There arc, in many of the states, some sorry
remnants of the aborigines, settled down as cul-
tivators of the soil ; and yet this character can
hardly be applied to them ; so little skill, or, what
is the same thing, so little interest, do they exhibit
in pursuits so opposed to the habits of their
ancestors.

In the sale of territory, made at different times
by the native tribes to the States, and now to
the national Congress, some reservations of par-
ticular tracts have been stipulated for b he
original proprietors. As the white population
flows up to these districts, the game of course
takes flight, and the wilder hunters take flight

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with it. The Indians are then frequently disposed
to move off in a phalanx, and to make a final
sale of their landed property. Frequently, how-
ever, by the humane intervention of the legisla-
ture, or of philanthropic individuals, the more
peaceful, which with the savage usually signifies
the more lazy, are induced to remain, and gradu-
ally to forego the occupation of the chase for that
of husbandry. Thus it is, that, in the vast field
of the white population, now stretched from the
Atlantic to the Missouri, we find some little specks
of the red Indian, scattered like the splinters of a
wreck upon the surface of the ocean.

The issue of these experiments has invariably
been such as to stamp them with benevolence, rather
than wisdom. It is indeed truly melancholy to
see what slender success has hitherto attended all
the attempts, whether on the part of the legis-
lature, societies or individuals, to improve the
condition of these half-civilized natives. Filth and
sloth are in their cabins ; sometimes superstition,
but very rarely knowledge in their minds. With
scarcely an exception, the Indian, on emerging
from the savage state, sinks, instead of rising in
the scale of beings. There are two principal causes
to which, perhaps, this may be attributed ; first,
that the nobler the spirit, the more attached is it
to its race, and to what it conceives to be the
dignity of that race. Such fly the approach of
civilization, and bury themselves deeper in the
forest, identifying happiness with liberty, and
liberty with the wide earth's range. Thus it is
only the more tame and worthless who are sub-

THE INDIANS.

18f)

mitted to the experiments of the humane or the
curious.

But there is another cause M'hich has operated
generally to prevent the approach of the Indian
habits to those of the whites ■ they have been each
too violently opposed to the other. Had the red
man been less savage, or the white man less
civilized, each would have yielded a little to the
other, and the habits of the two people, and gra-
dually the two people themselves have in some
measure assimilated and amalgamated.* In the
southern continent we see that the haughty and
cruel Spaniard often condescended to mix his
blood with that of his conqueretl vassals ; and it is
probable that many of the early adventurers con-
sulted their pride as well as their interest, in
uniting themselves to the daughters of tributary
or slaughtered Incas. It is this mixed race, re-
markable no less for their intelligence than their
high spirit, who are now working out the deliver-

* It may seem strange after this to conjecture, that, Iiad the
North American continent been colonized entirely by French,
this would have happened. That people, though in a relish for
many of the ornamental arts, seemingly further advanced in
mental cultivation than their English neighbours, yet from their
inferior acquaintance with the science of government, and
from their being less practised in the exercise of steady in-
dustry, there has always been a less gap between them, and the
wild hunter, than between the latter and the English. The
French have always lived on more friendly terms with the
natives than either the English or the Anglo-American. Many
wild Indians have a mixture of French blood in their veins ;
and, in tue miserable remains of the old French settlements
in the western territory, is found a mongrel population, but
little removed from the half-civilized savage.

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ance of tlifir coiintrv from the oilious thraldom of
Spain, iuul who arc destined, perhaps, in t\\e
course of a few <jieneratioiis, to rival in strength
and civilization, the prondest empires of tlie old
hemisphere.

The man iaue of llolfe, a companion of the
heroic father of Virginia, with the amiable Po-
cahontas, is almost tlie only instance on record of a
legal engagement contracted by the early settlers
witii the women of this continent. From the im-
moral habits and religious principles of the former,
it is probable, that illicit intercourse was very
rarely indulged in ; where this might occur, tiie
offspring would, of necessity (as well as by the
Indian customs) remain with the mother, and be-
come incorporated with her tribe. The aborigines
having remained in statu quo, or if any thing, re-
trograded in the scale of being, while the new
population has been making further advances in
civilization, it is little surprising that an instance
is hardly to be found of a mixture between the
two races.

To account for the untameable spirit of the wild
Indian, or the seemingly unimprovable dispositions
of the half-domesticated Indian, it is not necessary
that we should imagine any distinctions implanted
by nature between the red man and the white.
The savage is not brought within the pale of
civilized life in a day, nor a year, nor a generation :
ages are required to mould him by imperceptiWe
degrees, as the water smoothes tlie rock over which
it flows J the hand of nature nmst w ork, not that
of art ^ it is circumstance, not precept, that must

THE INDIANS.

191

operate on his mind, and lead him, unknown to
himself, to siibmit to constraints, and to yield to
the swav of feelini's which his ancestors would have
spurned. There is acliaim in the himtcr's life to
which even the civilized man is not insensible : it
speaks at once to the imagination, is felt in the
nerves and the spirits, sets fate at defiance, cancels
the list of moral ills, and, in the very increase
of the physical, braces the frame to hear, and
the spirit to mock at them. It would need wiser
teachers than were easily fbiuid to uproot the
associations that arc fixed in his mind, to break
the habits that form a })art of his existence, and
that have given the bent to his character; but
even if such teachers could be found, they must
go to the savage, not bring the savage to them ;
they must not place him in a world whose feelings
and habits are as far removed from his, as the cast
from the .>'est ; whose virtues he cannot under-
stand, but whose vices he will certainly imitate.

It has been remarket!, that there is no instance
of any Indian youth, who has been educated in the
colleges of these states, having risen to distinction,
or assumed a place in civilized society. We must
bear in mind, first, that not one in a thousand of
any race whatsoever is gifted by nature so as to
become distinguished. Experiments of this kind
have hitherto been few, and we must draw many
blanks in a lottery before we can draw a prize.
Secondly, it may be supposed that the prouder
spirits, who are usually the stronger intellects, have
been those who spurned the restraint imposed by
habits and laws foreign to those of their race, and

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OBSERVATIONS ON

who fled (Voiu tlie refinements of strangers to tlie
savage woods, and the savage ways of" their fathers.
Where is tlie young mind of vigor and enthu-
siasm that is not curious to trace the cliaracter of
tiiose who gave it being, and is not prone to
ascribe to it something noble and singuUuly ex-
cellent ? They wlio have known the feelings of
an orphan, when in a house and country foreign to
his race ; how he yearns to hear of those who
nursed his infancy, but whose voice and features
are lost to his memory ; how he muses on them in
solitude, calls upon their names in moments of
distress, and idly fancies that fortune could never
have wrung from him a tear, had they lived
to cherish and protect him ; they whose fate it has
been to know such feelings, will easily conceive
how the young Indian, alone among strangers, must
look wistfully to the wilderness, where his tribe
tread the haunts of their fathers, free as the winds,
and wild as the game they pursue. 1 know not if
the circumstances of my own early life have
tended to make me sympathise peculiarly with
such a situation ; but the position of the Indian
youth, as an alien and an orplian among his
American guardians and play-mates, strikes me as
singularly affecting.

If we look to those feeble remnants of the
aborigines, who, here and there, have settled down
in the states, under protection of their laws, and
marvel to see them dwindling away from the face
of the soil, a prey to the pestilence of intemper-
ance and sloth, in spite of all the efforts to reclaim

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THE INDIANS.

193

er-
im

them, we may, perhaps, without calling in doubt
the judiciousness of these efforts, perceive that they
ixre counteracted by circumstances beyond tlie
control either of the legislature, or of individual?.
It is invariably seen that the savage, when removed
into the centre of a civilized world, acquires a taste
for the coarser indulgences that he finds within his
reach, before he can be taught to engage in irk-
some employments that promise only moderate and
future good. Industry and temperance are virtues
ef calculation, and the savage is unused to calculate.
When removed from the forest, the Indian has lost
his accustomed incentives to exertion ; those more
hidden ones that surround him he does not see, or,
if pointed out to him, does not feei. His old
virtues are no longer in demand, and a length of
years were requisite to lead him to adopt new ones.
Ere this season comes, his slender and decreasing
numbers will probably be reduced to a cypher.
In passing lately through the Oneida settlement,
we saw many cabins deserted, and tiie inhabitants,
who still haunted the remainder, dragging on a
drowsy existence, painfully contrasted with the life
and vigor of the white population that is flowing
past them. In many parts of the old states, such
settlements have totally disappeared, so gradually
and silently, that none can tell when or how.

I cannot help remarking, however, upon a cir-
cumstance, which may be supposed to have consi-
derably impeded the exertions of the humanizers
of the Indian. Religion has been too generally
employed as the first agent. A practical philoso-
pher were the best tutor in this case. The more

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beautiful, not to say the more al)struse the religion,
the more should the nu'rul be prepared to receive
it. The untutored ears of the Indians are assailed
by teachers of all kinds. The Friends and
Moravians are undoubtedly the best, and tlieir
exertions are sometimes partially repaid, and even
wlien unsuccessful, humanity is still their debtor.
But there are sects which this world shares in com-
mon with the old, who, considered by themselves,
are harmless, and so far as intention goes, virtuous,
but attending to the effect they work upon others,
the weak and the ignorant, are as mischievous
members as a community can well be troubled
with.

It is strange, in this nation of practical philo-
sophers, to find, here and there, a society of the
most insane fanatics, and a perambulating teacher,
compared to whom the wildest followers of Wesley
or Whitfield were rational. These strange ex-
pounders of the simple lessons of Christ are ever
most zealously employed in doubly confounding
understandings already bewildered j in making the
ignorant foolish, and the foolish insane. Their
more frequent victims are the poor blacks, who are
sometimes seen assembled in crowds round one of
these teachers, groaning and gesticulating like
Pythia on the tripod. Their success on the whole
is but indifferent among the Indians ; where they
fail to persuade, they probably disgust, or perhaps
only astonish ; and though these last are the best
of the three consequences, it would be doubtless as
Kvell if they were secured from all.

I suspect that the doctrines, or, more properly.

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absurdities of these wild fanatics, are what chiefly
arrest the mental advance of the nei^ro in tlieso
northern states, and form one of the minor causes
which prevent that of the savaii^e. Among tlie
ignorant, one fool can work more harm tiian twenty
wise men can work good ; thongli indeed with the
Indian, it is doubtful whether the wise men, if left
to themselves, could work much. It seems that
the fate of the aborigines of this magnificent country
is governed by immutable laws, which no efforts of
man can turn aside. They appear destined to
dwindle away with the forests that shelter them,
and soon to exist only in traditionary lore, or in
the wild tale of some wild genius.

Though it is of necessity singularly difficult to
obtain any accurate knowledge of a people wholly
unacquainted with the arts, and possessed of no
other means of retailing the most important na-
tional revolutions than that of oral tradition, yet
the persevering labors of some American citizens
and literary societies, as well as of some eminent
European travellers, have done much towards elu-
cidating the past as well as present condition of
the native tribes. The philosophical society of
Philadelphia has more particularly collected much
valuable information. *

* The observations of the amiable missionary John Hecke-
welder upon the history, manners, and customs of the six na-
tions, Delawares, Mohicans, &c., lately published at the request
of that society, are peculiarly interesting. Perhaps he may be
accounted somewhat partial to his wild associates, but his state-
ments are made with so much simplicity, that it is impossible
not to receive them as accurate. This venerable missionary is

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THE INDIANS.

It is certainly greatly desirable that some just
knowledge of the aborigines, so fast disappearing
from the earth, should rapidly be obtained. Euro-
peai.j, in general, may peruse with little curiosity
the legends of a people with whom they or their
ancestors were never placed in contact ; but with
Americans they must ever possess a national in-
terest, the romance of which will gradually increase
with their increasing antiquity.

I hope I do not send you in this letter too serious
a dissertation. 1 sometimes fear lest I answer
your questions, and those of * * * * with too
much detail, and at other times with too little.
You must allow something occasionally to my more
slender stock of information upon one subject than
another, and something also to the humor of the
moment. Farewell.

attached to the Moravian establishment of Bethlehem in Penn*
syWania. The Moravians have peculiarly distinguished them-
selves, not merely by their zeal in the religious conversion of
the savages, but by their patient and judicious exertions to lead
them to the cultivation of the peaceful arts.

V..w^.

197

LETTER XIII.

DEPAUTUHE FHOM 'FNESSEO. FALLS OF THE (JENESSF.R

RIVER. SINGULAR MRIDGE. AMEUU'AN INNS. — OPEN-
ING OF THE POST BAG. JOURNEY TO LEtVINTON,

CATARACT OF NIAGARA.

Niagara, September, 1819.

MY DEAR FlilEND,

AVe left Genesseo on a lovely morning, that
breathed the first freshness of Autumn ; our con-
veyance one of the light waggons universal in
these states ; many a kind parting glance we threw
back upon the fair valley, and on the roofs winch
sheltered so much worth, and seemingly so much
happiness.

Our route, after some miles, crossed the great
western road, and traced the course of the Ge-
nessee to within four miles of its discharge into
Ontario. Here the river makes three considerable
falls. At the head of the first stands the flourish-
ing young town of Rochester, and at the head of
the third one of minor fame, hight Carthage.

A singular fate seems to pursue the latter colony,
A farmer with whom 1 fell into convc ,ation, in-
formed me that it had first assumed the more
modest appellation of Clyde, from the resemblance
that some travelled settler had discovered between

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the neighbouring fall of the Gcnessee and that of
the Clyde at Stone Byres ; which resemblance, by
the bye, allowing for the superior dimensions of the
American river, is striking enough. After some
time, the new occupants received information that
there existed an older settlement of that name in
the same county ; and to rectify the confusion
that this occasioned in the post-office, the Scots
changed themselves into Punicians ; but now,
delenda est Carthago ; it is discovered that there
are two more infant Carthages, claiming the right
of primogeniture.

There is, it must be confessed, the strangest
confusion of names in the western counties of this
state that ingenuity could well imagine. In one
district, you have all the poets from Homer to Pope,
nay, for aught I know, they may come down to
Byron ; in another, you have a collection of Roman
heroes ; in a third, all the mighty cities of the
world, from the great Assyrian empire downwards ;
and, scattered among this classic confusion, relics
of the Indian vocabulary, which, I must observe,
are often not the least elegant, and are indisputably
always the most appropriate.

For the Roman heroes, bad, good, and indifferent;,
who in one district are scattered so plentifully,
the new population is indebted to a Jand-surveyor,
and a classical dictionary. Being requested, in
parcelling out the lots, to affix a name to them,
the worthy citizen, more practised in mensuration
than baptism, shortly found his ingenuity baffled,
and in despair had recourse to the pages of
Lempriere.

CONFUSION OF NAMES.

19i)

There is something rather amusing in finding
Cato or Regulus typified by a cluster of wooden
houses ; nor, perhaps, are the old worthies so
much disgraced as some indignant scholars might

imagme.

I met with one name on my route which somv ■
what surprised me, and which struck me as yet
more inappropriate than the sonorous titles of
antiquity, nor was I ill pleased to learn that it had
occasioned some demur among tiie settlers. I
thought that I had left JVaterloo^ on the other
side of the Atlantic, in the streets, bridges,
waltzes, ribands, hotels, and Hy-coaches of Great
Britain and Ireland. When objections were made
to the founder of the little town flourishing under
this appellation, the story goes, that he called to
his aid the stream of water which turned the
wheel of his mill, gravely alKrming, that he had
that in his eye, and not the battle in his thougiits,
when he christened the settlement. ♦' The name
speaks for itself,'* said he, with a humourous
gravity peculiar to his native district of New
England — ** JFater-loo,** If the name did not
speak for itself, it was impossible not to let him
speak for it ; and so his neighbours turned away
laughing, and the title of Waterloo stands more
undisputed than that of poor Carthage.

The falls of the Genessee are well worth going
fifty miles out of your way to look at. The first is
a noble cascade of ninety feet. Seen from the
bottom, (to get to which we had to traverse a
marsh and a score of mill-streams,) I have since
thought is a sort of minaturc of Niagar^tj ---but

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lALLS OF THE

this is woefully comparing small things to great.
It is, however, a lovely sheet of water, and truly
grand when you have not seen the wonder of
nature that is now roaring in my ears. I believe
we should have enjoyed the scene more, if the
swamp, and the slime, and the mud, had not sug-
gested rattle-snakes to the fancy of my companion.

The apprehension was every way groundless ; at
least we saw no rattle-snakes ; and these reptiles,
when seen, I believe are seldom seen in mud, but
among rocks moist with clear water.

The second fall is inconsiderable compared to
that either above or below. The third, though
not upwards of eighty feet, is the most picturesque
of the whole. The effect is, at present, singularly
heightened by a stupendous bridge, thrown across
the chasm, just below the basin of the fall, in
the manner of that over the Wear at Sunder-
land. The chord of the arch, as I was informed,
is upwards of 300 feet ; the perpendicular, from
the centre to the river, ^50. We were desirous of
viewing it from the bottom of the chasm ; but to
do this it seemed necessary to go two miles farther
down the river to seek a boat, which even then,
we were assured, it would be but a chance if we
found. To descend to this spot and wait this
chance, day-light would hardly have served us. To
see what we could, we scrambled a fourth of the
way down, first by means of the wood- work of the
bridge, and then by advancing cautiously along
the shelving edge of the precipice, resting our
weight on one hand, until we reached an acute
angle, formed by the roots of a blasted pine, which

GENESSEE RIVER.

201

afforded us a narrow footing, while the broken stem
yielded us support.

Having assumed this position, which, had we
duly considered we should perhaps not have ven-
tured upon, we gazed up and down with a sens-
ation of terror, that I do not remember to have
felt in an equal degree more than once in my life.
Beneath us, on either hand, the precipice now
shelved perpendicularly, or rather we were pro-
jected over it, so that a pebble would have dropped
into the gulf of water below. To the left, we
looked upon the falling river ; beneath us, was the
basin, broad, deep, and finely circular ; opposite,
the precipice answering to that we stood upon, on
our right, was the bridge, suspended as it were in
mid-air. We were on a level with the spring of
the arch, and I shuddered to observe that, on the
opposite side projecting over the precipice, the
beams which sustained it seemed to rest on a
hair's breadth. Tracing also the semicircle with
my eye, I perceived that it was considerably
strained, about 20 feet on the same side from the
centre. Afterwards, on crossing the bridge, we
found several heavy logs placed over the spot to
prevent the springing of the arch. You cannot
conceive the horror with which we gazed upwards
on its tremendous span. After a while, it appeared
as if in motion j and the impulse was irresistible,
which led us to shut our eyes, and shrink as in
expectation of being crushed beneath its weight. I
cannot yet recall this moment without shuddering.
Our sight swimming ; our ears filled with the
stunning roar of the river, the smoke of whose

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waters arose even to this dizzy height ; while the
thin coating of soil which covered the rock, and
had once aftbrded a scanty nourishment to the
blasted tree which sustained us, seemed to sliake
beneath our feet. At the time I judged this to be
the work of busy fancy. To restore our confused
senses, and save ourselves from losing balance,
which had been the loss of life, we grasped the
old pine with considerable energy, and it was at
last, with trembling knees, and eyes steadily fixed
upon our footsteps, neither daring to look up nor
down, that we regained the height from which we
had descended. Having regained it, 1 thought
we never looked more like fools in our lives.

Crossing the bridge, (which brought us down
not quite to the level we had sought by a more
perilous descent on the other side,) we walked
round upon a fine carpet of verdure, kept always
fresh by the spray from the basin beneath, till we
stood above the brink of the fall, and nearly facing
the arch. While making this circuit, we again
shuddered, perceiving, for the first time, that the
point we had descended to on the opposite side,
had a concealed peril more eminent than those
which had so forcibly affected our imagination.
The earth beneath the old pine, being completely
excavated and apparently only held together by
one of its roots. A young man, who the next day
became our fellow-traveller, told me that he had
seen us take this {x>sition with such alarm, that his
blood ran cold for many minutes after we left it j
adding, that he had observed the earth crumble
beneath our weight, and strike in the water below.

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GENESSEE RIVER.

203

I know not if his fancy had been as busy as ours
in exaggerating our perils, but I will confess that
they were sufficient to startle me from sleep twenty
times during the ensuing niglit in all the horrors
of tumbling down precipices, and falling through
bridges in the manner of the sons of men, as seen
in tlie vision of Mirza. I have heard it said that
the art of swimming has lost more lives than it
has saved ; perhaps the art of clambering has
done the same.

The flourishing town of Rochester, thus strik-
ingly situated, is seven years old, — that is to say,
seven years ago, the planks of which its neat white
houses are built, were growing in an unbroken
forest. It now contains upwards of two hundred
houses, well laid out in broad streets ; shops,
furnished with all the necessaries, and with many
that may be accounted the luxuries of life ; several
good inns, or taverns, as they are universally
stylcil in these states. We were very well, and
very civilly treated in one of them ; but, indeed,
I have never yet met with any incivility, though
occasionally with that sort of indifference which
foreigners, accustomed to the obsequiousness of
European service, sometimes mistake for it.

In the country, especially, service, however well
paid for, is a favor received. Every man is a
farmer and a proprietor j few, therefore, can be
procured to work for hire, and these must generally
be brought from a distance. Country gentlemen
complain much of this difficulty. Most things^
however, have their good and their evil. I have
remarked that the American gentry are possessed^

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AiMEHlCAN INNS.

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of much more personal activity than is common in
other countries. They acquire, as children, the
habit of doing for themselves what others require
to be done for them ; and are, besides, saved from
the sin of insolence, which is often so early fixed
in the young mind. Some foreigners will tell
you, that insolence here is with the poor. Each
must speak from his own experience. I have
never met with any ; though I will confess, that,
if I did, it would oftend me less than the insolence
offered by the rich to the poor has done elsewhere.
But insolence forms no characteristic of the
American, whatever be his condition in life. I
verily believe that you might travel from the
Canada frontier to the Gulf of Mexico, or from the
Atlantic to the Missouri, and never receive from
a native-born citizen a rude word, it being under-
stood always that you never give one.

On arriving at a tavern in this country, you
excite no kind of sensatio7i, come how you will.
The master of the house bids you good day, and
you walk in j breakfast, dinner, and supper, are
prepared at stated times, to which you must gene-
rally contrive to accommodate. There are sel-
dom more hands than enough to dispatch the
necessary work ; you are not, therefore, beset by
half-adozen menials, imagining your wants, before
you know them yourself; make them known,
however, and, if they be rational, they are gene^
rally answered with tolerable readiness, and I have
invariably found with perfect civility. One thing
I must notice, that you are never any where
charged for attendance. The servant is not yours

! 1. I

THE POST BAG.

205

but the inn-keeper*s ; no demands are made upon
you except by the latter ; tliis saves much trouble,
and indeed is absolutely necessary in a house where
the servant's labour is commonly too valuable to
be laid at the mercy of every whimsical traveller ;
but this arrangement originates in another cause,
the republican habits and feelings of the com-
munity. I honor the pride which makes a man
unwilling to sell his personal service to a fellow-
creature ; to come and go at the beck of another,
— is it not natural that there should be some un-
willingness to do this ? It is the last trade to which
an American, man or woman, has recourse ; still
some must be driven to it, particularly of the latter
sex ; but she always assumes with you the manner
of an equal. I have never, in this country, hired
the attendance of any but native Americans, and
never have met with an uncivil word ; but I
could perceive that neither would one have been
taken ; honest, trusty, and proud, such is the
American in service ; there is a character here
which all who can appreciate it, will respect.

At llochester we dismissed our waggon ; and
the following morning, between three and four
o'clock, once again seated in the regular stage,
struck westward to the Niagara river. It was not, I
assure you, without some silent alarm, that, on
leaving Rochester, we crossed by starlight the
tremendous bridge, for the purpose of opening
the mail at Carthage.

The mode in which the contents of the post-bag
are usually distributed through the less populous
districts, had often before amused me. I remem-

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tiiE POST TJArr.

l)er, when taking a cross cnt in .1 queer sort
of a caravan, bound for some settlement on the
southern shore of Lake Erie, observing, with no
small surprise, the operations of our charioteer ;
a paper flung to the right hand, and, anon, a
paper flung to the left, where no sight or sound
bespoke the presence of human beings. I asked
if the bears were curious of news ; upon which I
was informed that there was a settler in the neigh-
bourhood, wiio ought to have been on the look-
out, or some of iiis children for him. '* But when
I don't find them ready, I throw the paper under
a tree ; and 1 warrant you they'll look sharp
enough to find it j they're always curious of news
in these wild parts j" and curious enough they
seemed, for not a cabin did we pass that a news-
paper was not flung from the hand of this enlight-
ener of the wilderness. Occasionally making a
halt at some solitary dwelling, the post-bag and
its guardian descended together, when, if the
assistance of the farmer, who here acted as post-
master, could be obtained, the whole contents of
the mail were discharged upon the ground, and all
bands and eyes being put in requisition, such
letters as might be addressed to the surrounding
district were scrambled out from the heap ; which,
being then again scrambled together, was once
ttiore shaken into the leathern receptacle, and
thrown into the waggon ; but it sometimes hap-
pened, that the settler was from home. On one
occasion, I remember, neither man, woman, nor
child was to be found ; the stage-'^river whistled
and hallooed, walked into the dwelling, and

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THE POST BAG.

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tlirougli tlie dwelling, sj)rang the fence, traversed
the field of maise, itnd shouted into the wood ;
but all to IK) purpose. Having resumed his station,
and set his horses in motion, I enquired how the
letters were to find their destination, sceinj^ hat
we were carrying them along with us, heaven knew
where ? " Oh they'll keep in the country any
how ; it is likely, indeed, they may go down the
Ohio, and make a short tour of the states ; this
has happened sometimes ; but it is a chance but
they get to Washington at last ; and then they'll
commence a straight course a-new, and be safe
here again this day twelvemonths may be, or two
years at farthest."

At Carthage we found the post-master, very
naturally fast asleep ; after much clatter against
his door and wooden walls, he made his appear-
ance with r candle, and, according to custom, the
whole contents of the mail were discharged upon
the floor. The poor Carthaginian rubbed his eyes,
as he took up one letter after another from the
heap before him ; but his dreams seemed still upon
him. ** Not a letter can I see,** he exclaimed, as
he again rubbed his eyes, and snufted his candle.
" Friend, lend me your eyes, or you may just take
the whole load away with you.** " I am none of
the best at decyphering hand-writing,** replied the
driver, *♦ Why then I must call my wife, for she
is as sharp as a needle.** The wife Was called, and,
in gown and cap, soon made her appearance ; the
candle and the papers placed in the middle, wife,
husband, and driver, set about decyphering the
hieroglyphics ; but that the wife had the charact n'
of being as sharp as a needle, I should have

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JOURNEY TO LEWl'sTON.

augured ill of the labours of this triumvirate.
Whether ri<i;ht or wrong, however, the selection
was soon made, and the budget once again com-
mitted to the waggon.

The road between this and Lewiston is chiefly
remarkable from its being, such as it is, the work
of nature j a bed of gravel was discovered to run
almost in a direct line, its breadth seldom greater
than that of the road to the Niagara river, com-
mencing four miles from the Genessee. Between
Utica and the lesser Falls of the Mohawk, the
great western road strikes into a shorter ridge of
the same description, but which there crosses a
deep valley, while here it is scarce raised above
the vegetable soil it traverses : for forty miles
this natural highway, formerly the .:jnfining
boundary of the waters of Ontario, remains un-
broken, save now and then where it gives passage
to some muddy creek, the sluggish drain of the vast
swamps whose noxious exhalations breed fevers,
intermitting and bilious, during the autumnal
months, in the new and scant;' population. Five
years since there was but one log-house between
Rochester and Lewiston. A citizen who got into
the stage during the morning for a dozen miles,
and who un'ted the professions of doctor and
farmer, and painter also, if I understood right,
told me that he had five-and-thirty patients within
the stretch of one mile. This may convey to you
some idea at once of the rapid settling of the
country, and the physical evils that the first oc-
cupiers of the soil have to encounter. We did not
enter a house in which there were less than two

■ r

JOUUNKY TO LEWISTON.

you

the

oi' the family cither in hcd, or looking as il' iibey
onght to be there. The autumn is alvva\ he try-
ing season, and the prolonged and extreme lieats
of the summer months have this year doubled its
usual fatality. These evils, readful while they
last, are, however, but temporary ; as the axe and
the drain advance into the forest, the maVaria
recedes. It would recede more rapidly, as well as
more certainly, if the new settlers would contrive
to do without, or at least with, fewer mills. The
collection of the waters from the creeks and the
swamps, soon brought by the action of a powerful
sun to a state of putrefaction, increases tenfold the
deadly air already spread by nature. I could not
pass one of these reservoirs of disease without a
sickness at the heart ; and this was not a little in-
creased when a young farmer was assisted by his
father into the waggon, seemingly in the last stage
of decline. As I placed the poor creature in the
seat least uneasy of the comfortless vehicle, and
arranged a buftaloe skin with the addition of a
great coat behind his back, he told me he was
recovering from the intermitting fever, and going
to seek change of air at the house of a neighbour,
twenty miles distant. The family had migrated
from New England some two years since, and had
been perfectly healthy until the late erc^^'on of a
mill in the close neighbourhood of their dwelling.
After a stage of fifteen miles, he left us to be rattled
over a causeway of logs that struck oflt* into the
forest at a right angle from the road, and which
might have shattered limbs less feeble than those
of this living spectre. " God help thee over itl'*

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JOURNKY TO LKWISTON.

said 1, inwanlly, as the poor youtli was lilted luilf
iiiinting into a waggon.

lorty miles from Lcwiston, tlie ridge is broken
(or a considerable extent ; and the log causeway,
through a deep swamp that fills up the deficiency,
is only to be crossed on foot. Fatigued and
bruised as we by this time were, it was no easy
matter to clamber over these cruel miles, which
though few, seemed eternal. We might have
broken this heavy journey, for there were numer-
ous dwellings which a sign, swinging u])on a
))ole before the doors, designated as taverns ; and
occasionally, in the young settlements, which, in
the earlier section of our route, already flourished
under the name of towns, and the appearance of
villages, these tr(iveller*s rests were, all things
considered, of \'ery tolerable appearance. But we
were anxious to relieve our eyes from the sight of
squalid faces, and our ears from the eternal sound
of ague and fever, which we trusted to do on
emerging from these shades.

For the first forty miles, the road was, with some
intermissions, bordered by a line of cultivation j
or, where the plough had not absolutely turned up
the soil, the axe was waging war with the trees.
To this succeeded a stretch of forest ; relieved at
long intervals by the settler's rugged patch, smok-
ing with burning timber, and encumbered with
blackened logs.

A log road, or causeway, as it is denominated,
is very grievous to the limbs j and when it tra-
verses a dense and swampy forest, is not very
cheering to the eyes j nor always is the travelling

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JOURNEY TO LRWISTON.

^11

tteil,
tra-
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lling

greatly more agreeable, when, in lieu of tlic trunks
of trees, you arc dragged over their roots, and a
soil scoopeil into lioles. Storms liad been busy
here also ; immense trees had been torn up from
their beds, and the road, never in its best days
over-smooth and delieatc, cut and cliannelled into
seven. fold ruggedness and deformity. And yet,
had it l^een a healthier season, these heavy miles
wouKl not have been altogether without their in-
terest. There was, indeed, neither rock, nor dale,
nor hill, nor pleasant valley ; nothing but the
settler's cabin, and now and then a growing village,
backed by the ragged forest. But liad health here
dwelt with industry, the eye might have found
beauty even in this monotonous huulscape j as it
was, all seemed sad and cheerless in this young
world ; the stroke of the axe fell mournfully on the
ear, when the hand that lifted it seemed unnerved
by past or approaching sickness ; the cabin told
nothing of the stir of human life j one solitary
figure was sometimes the only moving creature
within its walls. I shall not soon forget the aspect
of a young family who were scattered over a little
knoll, jutting forward from the forest into the
waters of a creek that came sluggishly winding
through the shades. A group of urchins, some
sitting, some standing, were gatliered, possibly to
observe our approaching vehicle ; the gaze of their
lustreless eyes, and the hue of their sallow cheeks,
haunted me for many hours afterwards.

The settlers* fires have now scared away the
wolves and bears, who, not five years since, held
undisputed dominion in these unbroken shades;

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ARRIVAL AT LEWISTONT.

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as many more, and the noxious vapours may be
dispersed also. It is possible, however, that the
low tracts in the neighbourhood of tlie great
north-western waters may never be wholly free
from autumnal sickness. We started twice or
thrice in the forest a solitary deer ; and once put
a whole herd in motion. The wild creatures
glanced at us from the covert ; and, bounding over
a little rivulet, were soon lost in the depths of the
forest.

The moon was up ere the dull level which we
had so long traversed, was varied by the appear-
ance of the ridge which is afterwards torn open by
the Niagara. AVe ran along its base for some
miles, on a smooth and firm road, which would
have relieved aur tired limbs, had they not now
been too tired to be relieved by any thing. The
chills of an autumnal night succeeding to a day
of summer heat, had yet farther increased our
discomfort, when we entered the frontier village
of Lewiston.

Alighting at a little tavern, we found the only
public apartment sufficiently occupied, and ac-
cordingly made bold to enter a small room ; which,
by the cheering blaze of an oak fire, we discovered
to be the kitchen, and, for the time being, the
peculiar residence of the family of the house. An
unusual inundation of travellers had thrown all
into confusion. The busy matron, nursing an
infant with one arm, and cooking with the other,
seemed worked out of strength, and almost out of
temper. A tribe of young urchins, kept from their
rest by the unusual stir, were lying half asleep ;

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CATAIIACT or NIAGARA.

'2\S

some oil the floor, and some upon a bed, which
filled a third of the apartment. We were sufiered
to establish ourselves by the fire; and having re-
lieved the troubled hostess from her chief incum-
brance, she reco\ ered good humour, and presently
prepared our supper. While rocking the infant, it
was with pleasure that I observed its healthy
cheeks, and those of the drowsy imps scattered
around. It was unnecessary to be told tliat we
were now on healthy ground. There had, the
mother said, been some fever in the neighbour-
hood ; but the cases were few. The season pro-
bably will be a trying one every where.

In the night, when all was still, I heard the first
rumbling of the cataract. Wakeful from over fa-
tigue, rather than from any discomfort in the lodg-
ing, I rose more than once to listen to a sound
which the dullest ears could not catch for the first
time without emotion. Opening the window, the
low, hoarse thunder distinctly broke the silence
ofthenightj when, at intervals, it swelled more
full and deep, you will believe, that I held my
breath to listen ; they were solemn moments.

This mighty cataract is no longer one of nature's
secret mysteries ; thousands now make their pil-
grimage to it, not through

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" Lakes, fens, bogs, dens, and caves of death,''

but over a broad highway j none of the smoothest,
it is true, but quite bereft of all difficulty or danger.
This in time may somewhat lessen the awe with
which this scene of grandeur is approacheil j aiul

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CATAllACT OF NIAGARA.

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even now we were not sorry to have opened upon
it by a road rather more savage and less frequented
than that usually chosen.

Next morning we set off in a little waggon, under
a glorious sun, and a refreshing breeze. Seven
miles of a pleasant road which ran up the ridge we
Iiad observed the preceding night, brought us to
the cataract. In the way we alighted to look down
from a broad platform of rock, on the edge of the
precipice, a., ;i fine bend of the river. From hence
the blue expanse of Ontario bounded a third of
the horizon j fort Niagara on the American shore ;
fort George on the Canadian, guarding the mouth
of the river, where it opens into the lake ; the
banks, rising as they approached us, finely wooded,
and winding, now hiding and now revealing the
majestic waters of the channel. Never shall I
forget the moment when, throwing down my eyes,
I first beheld the deep, slow, solemn tide, clear as
crystal, and green as the ocean, sweeping through
its channel of rocks with a sullen dignity of mo-
tion and sound, far beyond all that I had heard,
or could ever have conceived. You saw and Jelt
immediately that it was no river you beheld, but
an imprisoned sea ; for such indeed are the lakes
of these regions. The velocity of the waters, after
the leap, until they issue from the chasm at
Queenston, floyving over a rough and shelving bed,
must actually be great ; but, from their vast depth,
they move with an apparent majesty, that seems to
temper their vehemence, rolling onwards in heavy
volumes, and with a hollow sound, as if labouring
and groaning with their own v/eight. I can convey

TATAIIACT OF NIAGARA.

'213

to you no idea of the solemnity of this moving
ocean. Our eyes followed its waves until they
ached with gazing ; and had not our little guide
and waggoner startled us, by hurling a iragment of
rock from the precipice, I know not when we should
have awakened from our dream.

A mile iarther, we caught a first and partial"
glimpse of the cataract, on which the opposing
sun flashed for a moment, as on a silvery screen
that hung suspended in the sky. It disappeared
again behind the forest, all save the white cloud
that rose far up into the air, and marked the spot
from whence the thunder came. We now pressed
forward with increasii , impatience, and after a
few miles reaching a small inn, we left our rude
equipage, and hastened in the direction that was
pointed to us.

Two foot-bridges have latterly been thrown, \
by daring and dexterous hands, from island to
island, across the American side of the channel,
some hundred feet above the brink of the fall ;
gaining in this manner the great island which
divides the cataract into two unequal parts, we made
its circuit at our leisure. From its lower point, we
obtained partial and imperfect views of the falling
river j from the higher, we commanded a fine pro-
spect of the upper channel. Nothing here denotes
the dreadful commotion so soon about to take
place ; the thunder, indeed, is behind you, and
the rapids are rolling and dashing on either hand ;
but before, the vast river comes sweeping down its
broad and smooth waters between banks low and
gentle as those of the Thames, ileturning, we

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CATARACT OF NIAGARA.

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stood long c'l tlie bridges, gazing on the
rapids that rolled above and beneath us; the
waters of the deepest sea-green, crested with silver,
shooting under our feet with the velocity of
lightning, till, reaching the brink, the vast waves
seemed to pause, as if gathering their strength for
the tremendous plunge. Formerly it was not
unusual for the more adventurous traveller to drop
down to the island in a well manned and well
guided boat. This was done by keeping between
the currents, as they rush on either side of the
island, thus leaving a narrow stream, which flows
gently to its point, and has to the eye, contrasted
with the rapidity of the tide, where to right and
left the water is sucked to the Falls, the appearance
of a strong back current.

It is but an inconsiderable portion of this im-
prisoned Fea which flows on the American side ;
but even this were suflicient to fix the eye in
admiration. Descending the ladder (now easy
steps), and approaching to the foot of this lesser
Fall, we were driven away blinded, breathless, and
smarting, the wind being high and blowing right
against us. A young gentleman, who incautiously
ventured a few steps farther, was thrown upon his
back, and I had some apprehension, from the
nature of the ground upon which he fell, was
seriously hurt ; he escaped, however, from the
blast upon hands and knees, with a few slight
bruises. Turning a corner of the rock (where,
descending less precipitously, it is wooded to the
bottom) to recover our breath, and wring the'
water from our hair and clothes, we saw, on

CATARACT OF NIAGARA.

i217

lifting our eyes, a corner of the summit of this
graceful division of the cataract hanging above
the projecting mass of trees, as it were in mid
air, like the snowy top of a mountain. Above,
the dazzling white of the shivered water was
thrown into contrast with the deep blue of the
unspotted heavens ; below, with the living green
of the summer foliage, fresh and sparkling in the
eternal shower of the rising and falling s])ray.
The wind, which, for the space of an hour, blew
with some fury rushing down with the river,
flung showers of spray from the crest of tlie fall.
The sun's rays glancing on these big drops, and
sometimes on feathery streams thrown fantastically
from the main body of the water, transformed
them into silvery stars, or beams of light j while
the graceful rainbow, now arching over our
heads, and now circling in the vapor at our
feet, still flew before us as we moved. The
greater division of the cataract was here con-
cealed from our sight by the dense volumes of
vapor which the wind drove with fury across the
immense basin directly towards us ; sometimes,
indeed, a veering gust parted for a moment the
thick clouds, and partially revealed the heavy
columns, that seemed more like fixed pillars of
moving emerald than living sheets of water.
Here, seating ourselves at the brink of this troubled
ocean, beneath the gaze of the sun, we had the
full advantage of a vapor bath ; the fervid rays
drying our garments one moment, and a blast
from the basin drenching them the next. The
wind at length having somewhat abated, and the

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CATARACT OF NIAGARA.

15, I

■

ferryman being willing to atlemi)t tlie passage, we
here crossed in a little boat to the Canada side.
The nervous arm of a single rower stemmed this
heavy current, just below the basin of the Falls,
and yet in the whirl occasioned by them j the
stormy north-west at this moment chafing the
waters yet more. Blinded as we were by the co-
lumns of vapor which were driven upon us, Me lost
the panoramic view of the cataract, which, in
cahiier hours, or with other winds, may be seen in
this passage. The angry waters, and the angry
winds together, drove us farther down the channel
than was quite agreeable, seeing that a few roods
more, and our shallop must have been whirled
into br akers, from which ten such arms as those
of its skilful conductor could not have redeemed it.

Being landed two-thirds of a mile below the
cataract, a scramble, at first very intricate, through,
and over, and under huge masses of "ock, which
occasionally seemed to deny all passage, and among
which our guide often disappeared from our
wandering eyes, placed us at the foot of the ladder
by which the traveller descends on the Canada
side. From hence a rough walk along a shelving
ledge of loose stones brought us to the cavern
formed by the projection of the ledge over which
the water rolls, and which is known by the name
of the Table Rock.

The gloom of this vast cavern, the whirlwinil
that ever plays in it, the deafening roar, the vast
abyss of convulsed waters beneath you, the falling
columns that hang over your head, all strike, not
upon the ears and eyes only, but upon the heart.

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CATARACT OF NIACiAllA.

219

For the first few moments, tlic sublime is wrought
to the terrible. Tiiis position, indisputably the
finest, is no longer one of safety. A part of the
Table Rock fell last year, and in that still remaining*-,
the eye traces an alarming fissure, from the very
summit of the projecting ledge over which the
water rolls ; so that the ceiling of this dark cavern
seems rent from the precipice, and whatever be its
hold, it is evidently fast yielding to the pressure of
the water. You cannot look up to this crevice,
and down upon the enormous masses which lately
fell, with a shock mistaken by the neighoouring
inhabitants for that of an earthquake, without
shrinking at the dreadful possibility which might
crush you beneath ruins, yet more enormous than
those which lie at your feet.

The cavern formed by the projection of this
rock, extends some feet behind the water, and,
could you breathe, to stand behind the edge of the
sheet were perfectly easy. T have seen those who
have told me they have done so ; for myself, when
I descended within a few paces of this dark recess,
1 was obliged to hurry back some yards to draw
breath. Mine to be sure are not the best of lungs,
but theirs must be little short of miraculous, that
can play in the wind and foam that gush from the
hidden depths of this watery cave. It is probable,
however, that the late fracture of the rock has con-
siderably narrowed this recess ; and thus increased
the force of the blast that meets the intruder.

From this spot, (beneath the Table Rock), you

feelt more than from any other, the height of the

cataract, and the weight of its waters. It seems a

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CATARACT OF NIAGARA.

tumbling ocean ; and you yourself what a helpless
atom amid these vast and eternal workings of
gigantic nature ! The wind had now abated, and
what was better, we were now under the lee, and
could admire its sport with the vapor, instead of
being blinded by it. From tlw enormous basin
into which the waters precipitate themselves in a
clear leap of 140 feet, the clouds of smoke rose in
white volumes, like the round-headed clouds you
have sometimes seen in the evening horizon of a
summer sky, and then shot up in pointed pinnacles,
like the ice of mountain glacieres. Caught by the
wind, it was now borne down the channel, tlien,
re-collecting its strength, the tremulous vapor again
sought the upper air, till, broken and dispersed in
the blue serene, it spread against it the only silvery
veil which spotted the pure azure. In the centre
of the Fall, where the water is the heaviest, it takes
the leap in an unbroken mass of the deepest green,
and in many places reaches the bottom in crystal
columns of the same hue, till they meet the snow-
white foam that heaves and rolls convulsedly in
the enormous basin. But for the deafening roar,
the darkness and the stormy whirlwind in which we
stood, I could have fancied these massy volumes
the walls of some fairy palace — living emeralds
chased in silver. Never surely did nature throw
together so fantastically so much beauty with such
terrific grandeur. Nor let me pass without notice
the lovely rainbow that, at this moment, hung over
the opposing division of the cataract as parted by
the island, embracing the whole breadth in its span.
Midway of this silvery screen of shivered water,

' v_.

CATARACT OF NIAGARA.

stretched a broad belt of blazing gold and crimson,
into which the rainbow dropped its hues, and
seemed to have based its arch. Diflerent from all
other scenes of nature tliat have come under my
observation, the cataract of Niagara is seen to most
advantage under a powerful and opposing sun ; the
hues assumed by tiie vapor are then by far the
most varied and brilliant ; and of the beauty of
these hues, I can give you no idea. The gloom of
the cavern (for I speak always as if under the Table
Rock) needs no assistance from the shade of even-
ing J and the terrible grandeur of the whole is not
felt the less for being distinctly seen. We now
ascended the precipice on the Canada side, and
having taken a long gaze from the Table Rock,
sought dry clothes and refreshment at a neighbour-

ing inn.

We have again visited this wonder of nature in
our return from Lake Erie j and have now gazed
upon it in all lights, and at all hours, — under the
rising, meridian, and setting sun, and under the
pale moon when

" Riding in her liighest noon."

The edge of the Table Rock is not approached
without terror at the latter hour. The fairy hues
are now all gone ; excepting indeed, the rainbow,
which, the ghost of what it was, now spans a dark
impervious abyss. The rays of the sweet planet
but feebly pierce the chill dense vapor that clogs
the atmosphere ; they only kiss, and coldly kiss,
the waters at the brink, and faintly show the upper
half of the columns, now black as ebony, plunging

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CATAIIACT OF NIAGARA.

into a storm-tossed sea of murky clouds, wliosc
depth and boundaries are alike unseen. It is the
storm of the elements in chaos. The shivering
mortal stands on the brink, like the startled fiend

" On the bare outside of this world,
" Uncertain which, in ocean or in uir."

" La buja campagna
" Trcmo SI forte, che dello spavento
" La mentc di sudore ancor mi bagna."

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2-23

LETTER XIV.

LAKE EniR. — WATER SCENERY OF AMERICA, — MASSACRE

ON THE RIVER UAISIN. NAVAL EN(JA«EMENT ON LAKE

ERIE. MR. BIRKRECK.

Eric, September, 1819.
MY DEAR FRIEND,

It is a pleasant drive from Ontario to Lake Eric
along the banks of the magnificent Niagara. There
is something truly sublime in the water scenery of
America ; her lakes, spreading into inland seas,
their vast, deep, and pure waters, reflecting back
the azure of heavens, untainted with a cloud ; her
rivers, collecting the waters of hills and plains in-
terminable, rolling their massy volumes for thou-
sands of miles, now broken into cataracts to which
tht^ noblest cascades of the old hemisphere are
those of rivulets, and then sweeping down their
broad channels to the far-off ocean the treasures of
a world. The lakes and rivers of this continent
seem to despise all foreign auxiliaries of nature or
art, and trust to their own unassisted majesty to
produce effect upon the eye and the mind j without
alpine mountains or moss-grown ruins, they strike
the spectator with awe. Extent, weight, depth —
it is by these intrinsic qualities that they affect
him ; their character is one of simple grandeur ;
you stand upon their brink, or traverse their bosom,
or gaze upon their rolling rapids and tumbling
cataracts, and acknowledge at once their power

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WATER SCKNEIIY OF AMERICA.

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and immensity, and your own insignificance and
imbecility. Occasionully you meet with excep-
tions to tliis rule. I recall at this moment the
beautiful shor(?s of* the Passaic ; its graceful cas-
cades, its walls of rock, shelving into a glassy
peaceful flood, its wooded hills, and rich and varied
landscapes, all spread beneath a sky of glowing
sapphires ; a scene for Claude to gaze upon. These
north-western waters, however, have nothing of
this character ; you find them bedded in vast level
plains, bordered only by sable forests, from which
the stroke of the axe has but just startled the
panther and the savage.

The Niagara and north-western frontier still
exhibit some faint traces of the war ; the villages
and towns have indeed sprung up like the Phanix
from her ashes ; yet it is to be wished, for the sake
of humanity, that their vigor and elasticity had not
been g. proved.

The burning of Newark, on the part of the
Americans, was the act of an individual, disclaimed
instantly on the part of the government, and re-
probated by the American public. The Governor
of Canada expressed himself satisfied with the
explanation given, and it had been well if the
system of warfare had been then changed.

It might have been conjectured that, in the
burning of Newark, some blind vengeance was in-
tended for the massacre at Frenchtown, had it not
appeared that it originated in a mistake of orders,
and had it not been so honorably disclaimed by the
government. General M*Clure was dismissed in-
stantly from the service, and covered with oppro-

THE UIVEU UAISIN.

QQ5

briiim by his (cllow-cilizcns, wlio refused to admit
a mistake of" orders as an apology for an act of in-
humanity.

The lionor of a government may often be com-
mitted by officers acting under its name, yet con-
trary to its wishes and instructions. Enquiry and
condemnation may then avert disgrace ; but if, in
lieu of these, favor and reward be accorded to the
onendei*s, their employers are justly chargeable
with all their crimes. Tiiese observations naturally
occur to the traveller as he approaches the north-
western frontier.

We must turn our eyes from the river Raisin.
Would to Heaven that we could find, not an ex-
cuse, for that were impossible, but son^e palliation
of the horrors perpetrated on this spot 1 It would be
well to commit the tale to oblivion, were it not for
the warning that breathes from it, and which must
never be forgotten by the British people. Many
of their most generous statesmen had reprobated
the practice of associating the Indian tribes with
the British soldiers. If there be yet in England
an apologist for a military league between savage
hordes and civilized nations, let him visit the
shores of this river ; the blood that here cries up
from the earth, not of soldiers slain in battle, but
of wounded prisoners surrendered upon terms^ and
trusting in British faith, will convince him, though
he should have heard unmoved the thunders of a
Chatham.

A small detachment, composed of the choicest
sons of Kentucky, many of them allied to the
most distinguished families in the state, had ad-

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MASSACRE ON

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vanced to the little villafje of" Frenchtown, situated
between the rapids and Detroit, on the strait which
pours the waters of the great north-western lakes
into Erie. The object to be effected was to
guard the inhabitants from an advanced party of
the enemy, peculiarly dreaded because half com-
posed of Indians ; the attempt was one of dif-
ficulty and hazard. This little band of volunteers
however, with infinite bravery, had dislodged and
driven back the enemy ; and being joined by
General Winchester, from whose main body they
had been detached, threw up a rude breast-work
and entrenched, seven hundred and fifty strong,
against fifteen hundred or upwards, headed by
Colonel Proctor and two Indian warriors. After
some furious sallies, in which General Winchester
was made prisoner, the Americans were exhorted
to surrender. They had lost nearly a third of
their little number, when the flag of truce, which
had been twice returned, was received with a
message from Colonel Proctor, that, unless they
immediately surrendered, they and the village
must be delivered to the fury of the savages.
They at length capitulated upon honorable terms,
securing the safety of the village, the care of the
wounded, the burying of the dead, and the pro-
tection of the prisoners. How were these en-
gagements fulfilled? — The British commander
marclied off his troops, gave his prisoners in charge
to tlie savages, and left them with the wounded
and the dying, to be tomahawked and roasted at
the stake. * Did not the thunders of the English

* I do not repeat all the atrocities of tlie scene to which I
have alluded in the text, as they would be too shocking to the

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government Strike this Enghsli oilicer ? Was he
thanked at home as he \vas in Montreal for his
bravery and humanity ? I trust that the Englisli
government was not ibund so callous to the honor
of a nation that has ever laid claim to the character
of generosity, as to let pass without investigation
the horrors of that day, still less to reward with
promotion the officer under whose eye they were

feelings both of the reader and the writer : but there is one
circums.t'incc which I will not omit. The American General
Winchefiter, who had been taken prisoner in the sally, was made
the betrayer of his own men. Being told by Colonel, now, I
believe, General Proctor, that instant surrender could alone
secure them from being given up to the srwages, and the village
to the flames, he was induced to send himself a flag of truce,
urging them to accede to the terms proposed. Who shall
paint the feelings of that officer when he found himself rendered
an accomplice in the complicated treachery and cruelty ! There
were some British officers who on this occasion, felt and acted as
they ought in the cause of humanity and the honor of their
country; Major Muir, Captains Curtis and Aikens, the Rev-
erend Mr. Parrow, and Dr. Bowen, though they may not liave
received any mark of public approbation from their govern-
ment, are secure of the esteem of the English as they possess
tliat of the American people. The virtuous M'Intosh will
ever live in the remembrance of the latter; this gentldman
spared no exertions to redeem the lives of the unfortunate and
deserted captives ; he tracked the Indians for miles through the
forests ; and purchased, at a high price, such of the naked and
fainting Americans as the savages, weary of slaughter, had
spared, to inflict on them more lingering tortures.

When this gentleman, some time afterwards, visited tlie United
States, his benevolence was amply repaid ; his entrance into
Baltimore and New Orleans had the appearance of atriumph :
the whole population crowded to gazq upon him, and every
honor was rendered to him that enthusiasm could devise.

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MASSACRE ON

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perpetrated! * However tliis may be, they did
not altogether pass without punishment. The
fate of war, at the opening of the next cam-
paign, threw into the hands of the friends
and relatives of these unfortunate men, the very
enemies who had betrayed them. With a refine-
ment of cruelty that must have tortured the
inmost souls of their prisoners, they forebore even
to upbraid them by a look, and lodged them in
their towns and private dwellings with the mi-
nutest and most fastidious attention to their con-
venience, t Lord Castlereagh, you may remember,
in answer to some remarks made in the House
of Commons upon the humanity of the Americans
to their prisoners, ascribed it to Jear. It would
be little surprising, if that Irish nobleman felt
himself interested in confounding the words
courage and cruelty. The English people, how-
ever, are not accustomed to account them

* A large portion of the Canadian community retrieved the
honor of the colonial character, and expressed their amaze-
ment and indignation at the thanks bestowed by their governor,
and the rewards conferred by the home authorities, upon the
officer wlio had thus dared to disgrace his profession and his
nation.

f Among those who expired at Frenchtown, were gentlemen
and senators of Kentucky, members of congress, &c., for of
such citizens were the volunteers of the western army composed.
One individual was a near relative of the celebrated orator and
statesman, Mr. Clay, and almost all were allied to the most dis-
tinguished families in this state, or in that of Ohio. The whole
population of Kentucky went into mourning, and their weeds
were scarcely thrown aside when they received their captive
enemies into their houses.

THE RIVER RAISIN.

229

the

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Inor,

the

his

synonymous ; and should it be decreed tluit they
and the Anglo-Americans, so formed by nature to
be friends and brothers, are ever again to meet as
enemies, may their voice be loudly heard, and
may it prevent the Indian tomahawk from being
farther associated with the British sword. In
Europe little is known of the horrors of Indian
warfare. To hunt down a people with blood-
hounds would be nothing to it. His war-whoop
is the yell of fiends ; age, sex, infirmity, — the
savage knows no distinction ; nor is it death
alone, but death, aggravated by tortures and in-
fernal horrors, that madden the wretched victim
before dispatching him. The only excuse ever
forged for Colonel Proctor, was, that he had it not
in his power to interfere ; that to have checked the
ferocity of his savage allies, had been to risk the
'oss of their friendship and future co-operation.
, (1 an argument, without screening himt wellex-
j,oaes the atrocity of employing in civilized warfare,
such co-adjutors. Were it possible to enumerate
the number of helpless individuals, of women and
infants, who have expired in tortures under the
hands of savages in league with European govern-
ments, it is not impossible but that their employers
might shudder. Let us hope that the last of these
outrages has been committed, and that America,
henceforward, is to find in her English brethren
warm-hearted friends, or high-minded foes.

I turn with pleasure from the dreadful recollec-
tions awakened by the name of Frenchtown. The
broad inland sea, now spread before me, recalls au
action of a very different character. Tiic naval

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230

NAVAL ENGAGEMENT

battle fought upon these fine wa.ers, was equally
honorable to the combatants of either nation. It
was the generous, figliting the generous. The
praise accorded by the Englisli officer to the hero-
ism of* his adversary, had as much of greatness in
it, as had his adversary's victory. War, when thus
conducted, is stripped of half its horrors ; nay, it
has in it something noble when we find it calling
forth the greatest energies with the best feelings
of our nature.

Those who estimate the importance of a naval
combat by the size of the ships engaged, may pass
over with little interest that of lake Erie. And
yet the fleet that here met in desperate rencounter,
must be accounted of considerable force and size,
when we remember that it floated upon a fresh-
water sea. The ships on lake Ontario were equal,
and latterly superior, in size to the proudest frigates
that ever floated on the Atlantic. The bed of
those magnificent waters deepening gradually to
the centre, like the crater of some exhausted vol-
cano, admits of the freest navigation ; that of
lake Erie, on the contrary, is broken by shallows,
presenting an intricate chart, even to the fine steam-
boat which now navigates these waters.

Nine vessels, mounting together fifty-four guns,
were here opposed by the Americans to six larger
vessels mounting in all sixty-three guns. You are
possibly not acquainted with the circumstance
which decided the engagement.

Commodore Perry (then Captain) having con-
tended for two hours with two vessels of equal
force, and the wind preventing any of his squailron'
from making to his assistance, he determined to

ON LAKE ERIE.

231

abandon the vessel whicli he could

manage.

no longer
Rolling her flag round his arm, he

sprang into her boat, and thus standing upright,
and waving his sword triumphantly, while the balls
rattled in showers round his head, passed through
the midst of the enemy. The English commander
is said to have uttered a shout of admiration as
his young and proud adversary passed unhurt
through his fire. Having gained the largest vessel
of his little fleet, he bore down again upon the
enemy, and cutting through their line, for some
minutes engaged four of their flotilla alone and
simultaneously. The wind gradually enabling the
rest of the squadron to sup})ort their commander,
the struggle was decided; when to this desperate
contest succeeded those kind and generous greet-
ings which the brave know to exchange with the
brave. The noble-minded Captain Barclay, a
veteran sailor who had lost an arm in the battle of
Trafalgar, took pride in declaring publicly, " that
the conduct of Commodore Perry towards himself,
the other captive officers and men, had been alone
sufficient to have immortalized him.** I dwell on
this splendid engagement with pleasure. It tended
not to widen, but to heal the breach between two
nations who should never be at war, or if at war
should contend for mastery, not by the mere ex-
ertion of brute force, but by the display of all
those more generous virtues which, as they can
alone immortalize conquest, so can they also impart
honor to defeat. *

* Commodore Perry, who appears to have united every
quality that goes to the forming of a hero — bravery, mag-

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232

THE BOUDEIl WAK.

In recalling the events of the border war between
Canada and the United States, there is one singular
fact which forces itself on the mind, and which is
fraught with an important lesson. When on the
offensive, the Americans were usually defeated ;
when on the defensive, as usually successful.
Herein lies the virtue of the militia as opposed to
regular troops ; and it is this too, which gives so
peculiar an interest to both the wars in which the
young America has been engaged. I know that
in England, generally speaking, little attention was
paid to the events of a contest which, to her, was a
sort of bye-play while occupied in a deeper game,
upon which she had staked her all. It is probable
indeed, that one half of the nation scarce remem-
bered that they were at war with their young ri-
vals in the new world, until they found their ships,
one by one, swept from the seas by a people they
had scarce deigned to consider as holding the place
of an independent nation. They then looked round
and grew angry. This, if not very wise, was per-
haps very natural ; and those who mortified the
pride of the most powerful of the then existing
European empires, may well excuse if they excited

nanimity, ardent patriotism, disinterested generosity, unas-
suming modesty and gentleness, died at Angostura ryf the
yellow fever, about the period of the date of this letter.
He had sailed on a mission from his government to that of
the Patriots. When the tidings of his premature death
reached Washington, the members of the two houses of con-
gress went into mourning ; an honor that is never paid but to
the most respected and distinguished sons of the republic A
provision also was voted to his widow, and his children taken
under the national guardianship.

INLAND NAVIGATION.

233

her indignation. But it is time that this jealousy
should subside. The more thinking and the more
generous will now consider with much interest, the
little history of that struggle which established Ame-
rica's independence, fixed and elevated her national
character and gave her an opportunity of displaying
those energies and virtues which liberty had se-
cretly nourished in the breasts of her people. She
may justly be proud of the late contest j it did honor
to her head and her heart ; she fought a second
time for nd.^ idence and ex'^^'^'^c^, and, as all
must do \viiofigiit for these, she conquered.

Settlements are fast springing up on the forested
shores of lake Erie. The situation is wonderfully
advantageous to the farmer. I have already spoken
of the canal, so far in progress, which is about to
open a free water-carriage from these waters to tlie
Eastern Atlantic. Another, of only a few miles
extent, is in contemplation, which, by connecting
them with the Alleghany, one of the main sources
of the Ohio, will perfect the line of communication
with the gulf of Mexico, an extent of 3400 miles.
It is impossible to consider without admiration
the inland navigation of this magnificent country.
From this fine basin, north and west, you open into
lakes and rivers which, not many years hence, will
pour into it the produce of human labor from
states now in embryo j to the north-east, these
accumulated waters seek their way to the Atlantic,
through the broad channel of the St. Lawrence j to
the south-east, they are about to communicate with
the same ocean by the magnificent Hudson ; to
the south and west stretch the vast waters of the

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THE INDIAN.

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Mississippi with his million of tributaries. There
is something unspeakably sublime in the vast ex-
tent of earthly domain that here opens to the
mind's eye : and truly sublime is its contempla-
tion, when we consider the life and energy with
which it is fast teeming. An industrious and en-
lightened people, laying in the wilderness the foun-
dations of commonwealth after commonwealth,
based on justice and the immutable rights of man !
AVhat heart so cold as to contemplate this unmoved !
The other morning, wandering from the little
village which afforded us lodging, I had gained,
by a swampy thicket, the beach of the lake. Ad-
miring the first blaze of the sun, which flashed
over the waters, and tinged the crest of the waves
that rippled its azure surface, and broke on the
pebbled beach, fresh and sounding as those of the
ocean, I came suddenly upon a solitary figure,
seated on a little rock tliat lay at the edge of
water; — It was an Indian : his tomahawk rested
upon his shoulder ; his moccasins ornamented with
the stained quills of the porcupine, and his hat
grotesquely and taudrily decked with feathers and
strips of tin j the countenance had much in it
of dignity and savage grandeur ; the cheek-bones
were not so high nor the face so flat as is usual
with the Indian physiognomy ; not that it was
handsome; wind and weather beaten, its copper
hue, deepened by the gaze of some forty suns, a
scar under the left eye, its character might rather
have been denominated hideous. He suffered my
gaze, as is usual with his race, without turning his
head, I know not whether he was musing upon the

■M

MR. BIHKBECK.

Q35

fiillcn strength of his tribe, and on the tlays when
his fathers pursued their game through unbroken
forests and desert prairies, where now are smiling
hamlets and waving fields of grain ; I could at
the moment have mused on these for him ; and
sighed that even this conquest of the peaceful over
the savage arts should have been made at the ex-
pence of his wild race. But, in fact, how singular,
and for the well-being of man, how glorious the
change, which has turned these vast haunts of
panthers, wolves, and savages, into the abode of
industry, and th.e sure asylum of the oppressed !
What a noble edifice has here been raised for hunted
Liberty to dwell in securely ! It is impossible to
tread the soil of America, and not to bless it; impos-
sible to consider her growing wealth and strength
without rejoicing.

We felt no small desire to strike south from
Erie to Pittsburg, and view with our own eyes the
growing wonders of the western territory; but
our plans having been previously arranged for the
descent of the St. Lawrence, we retrace our course
to Ontario.

You have expressed, in your late letters, some
curiosity regarding the condition of Mr. Birkbeck's
settlement in the Illinois ; adding that the report
has prevailed, that those spirited emigrants had
been at first too sanguine, and had too little fore-
seen the difficulties which the most fortunate settler
must encounter. This report I believe to have
originated with Mr. Cobbet, who thought proper
to pronounce upon the condition of the farmer in
the Illinois in his own dwelling upon Long island.

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Mil. niRKBECK.

. I

Feeling an interest in tlie success of our country-
men in the west, I have been at some pains to
inform myself as to their actual condition. The
following statement is chiefly taken from the letters
of two American gentlemen of our acquaintance,
who have just visited the settlement : they inform
me that its situation possesses all those positive
advantages stated by Mr. Birkbeck j that the
worst difficulties have been surmounted, and that
these have always been fewer than what arc fre-
quently encountered in a new country.

The village of Albion, the centre of the settle-
ment, contains at present thirty habitations, in
which are found a bricklayer, a carpenter, a wheel-
wright, a cooper, and a blacksmith ; awell-supplied
shop, a little library, an inn, a chapel, and a post-
office, where the mail regularly arrives twice u
week. Being situated on a ridge, between the
greater and little Wabash, it is, from its elevated
position, and from its being some miles removed
from the rivers, peculiarly dry and healthy. The
prairie in which it stands, is described as exqui-
sitely beautiful ; lawns of unchanging verdure,
spreading over hills and dales, scattered with
islands of luxuriant trees, dropj)ed by the hand of
nature with a taste that art could not rival — all
this spread beneath a sky of glowing and unspotted
sapphires. *• The most beautiful parks of Eng-
land," my friend observes, ** would afford a most
imperfect comparison." The soil is abundantly
fruitful, and, of course, has an advantage over
the heavy-timbered lands, which can scarcely be

Mtt. niRKHECK.

Q37

cleared for less than from twelve to fifteen dollars
per acre ; while the Illinois farmer may in general
clear his for less than five, and then enter upon
a mnch more convenient mode of tillage. The ob-
jection that is too frequently found to the beautiful
})rairies of the Illinois, is the deficiency of springs
and streams for mill-seais. This is attended with
inconvenience to the settler, thougli his health will
find in it advantage. The nearest navigable river
to Albion is the Wabash, eight miles distant ; the
nearest running stream, that is not liable to fail at
midsummer, the Bonpaw, four miles distant. The
stock water in ponds for cattle, our correspondent
judged, was liable to run dry in a few weeks ; and
the settlement apprehended some temporary in-
convenience from the circumstance. The finest
water is every where to be raised from twenty to
twenty-five, or thirty feet from Jie surface ; these
wells never fail, but arc of course troublesome to
work in a new settlement.*

The settlement of Albion must undoubtedly
possess some peculiar attractions for an English
emigrant, promising him, as it does, the society of
his own countrymen, an actual or ideal advantage
to which he is seldom insensible. Generally speak-

• Si

♦ The same objection, ** the want of fountains and running
streams," is stated by Mr. Brackenridge as existing in the
prairies of the Missouri ; and, I have been informed, is gene-
rally applicable to all the prairie lands of the western territory,
when removed from the immediate neighbourhood of the great
waters. Mr. Brackcnridge states the depth of the wells in the
Missouri at the same rate as that stated above for those of the
Illinois.

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238

MU. nTUKUrXK.

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mff, however, it may ultimately be as well (br Iiiiii
as for tlie community to which he attaches himself',
that he should become speeilily incorporated with
the people of* the soil. h. is not every man who is
gifted witii the vigorous intellect and liberal sen-
timents of Mr. Birkbeck ; many emigrants bring
with them prejudices and predilections which can
only be rubbed away by a free intercourse with
the natives of the country. By sitting ilown at
once among them, they will more readily acquire
an accurate knowledge of their political institu-
tions, and learn to estimate the high privileges
which these impart to them ; and thus, attaching
then)'iclves to their adopted country, not from mere
sordid motives of interest, but also from feeling
and i)rinciple, become not only iiaturaUzedt but
nationalized. 1 have met with but too many in
this country who have not advanced beyond the
former. I must observe also, that the European
farmer and mechanic are usually far behinil the
American in general and practical knowledge, as
well as enterprise. You find in the working farmer
of these states, a store^of information, a dexterity
in all the manual arts, and often a high tone of
national feeling, to wliich you will hardly find a
parallel among the same class elsewhere. His
advice and assistance, always freely given to those
who seek it, will be found of infinite service to a
stranger ; it will often save him from many rash
speculations, at the same time that it will dispose
him to see things in their true light, and to open
his eyes and heart to all the substantial advantages
that surround him.

KUUOPEAN' EMIC RANTS.

239

It is amnsinf* to observe tlie solC-Importance with
which the European emigrant often arrives in these
states. The Frencinnan imagines that lie is to
new-model the civic militia, or, at the least, the
wiiole war department in tlie city of Washington ;
the Knglishman, tiiat he is to cftect a revohition in
agricnltnre bv Introducing tlie cultivation of the
lurnip and the planting of hedge-rows ; the Scotch-
man, that he is to double the national produce by
turning out the women to work in the fields ; anil
t ven the poor German conceives, that he is to give
new sinews to the state, heighten the flavour of
the Kentucky tobacco, and exj)rnd the soul? of
the citizens who smoke it. *

France and Ireland, the former from h'r poli-
tical revolutions, and the latter from he misfcv'

* The German self-importance has lately been most amus igiy
sot forth in the work of a M. Von Fiirstenwiirthcr, r .tied, The
German in America. His observations, writtcr afuT three
months' residence in the United States, with scarcely a smat-
tering of the English language, are truly entertaining. I
cannot forbear quoting a sentence. " If the Americans are
justly proud of their civil freedom, and of their freedom in
thinking, printing, and speaking, and in the social life, they
still know not that higher freedom of the soul which is to be
found only in Europe ; — and, I say it boldly, most abundantly
in Germany*' I am indebted for all the acquaintance that I
possess with this curious production to a paper in the North
American Review. This work, conduv, :'l by Professor Everett,
of the University of Cambridge, Bc^' ii, maybe read with
almost equal interest in either hemisphere. I pretend not to
be able to appreciate all its merits ; but those who are not
qualified to do justice to its profound learning, must still
admire its just and candid ciitioism, delivered with gentlemanly
forbearance ; its elegant diction, liberal views, and sound phi-
losophy.

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REMARKS ON THE

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tunes, have sent, among the crowd of poorer
emigrants, many accompHshed and liberal-minded
gentlemen, who have assumed a high place in this
community ; but, till very lately. Federal America
has seen few of our countrymen except the vulgar
and the illiterate. The exceptions to this rule,
however, are now multiplying yearly j this will
consequently make this nation better known, and
therefore more esteemed in our island. A friend
to the latter can perhaps hardly rejoice in this;
to see England drained of her best citizens may
justly excite the grief of her patriots, and the
jealousy of her rulers j and yet what would the
latter have j should these Hampdens stay, it might
be to ** push" them " from their stools," as their
fathers did their predecessors : they depart, and
the mighty are left to sit in state until their
" stools" shall break down beneath them. It is
idle for travellers to deface this Ilesperia ; they
may deceive the many ignorant, and a iew wise,
but what then ? Are the poor made richer, and the
dissatisfied more content ? The farmer complains
that he sows and reaps for others ; that the clergy,
the state, and the parish, carry off* the produce, and
leave him the gleanings. " It is not thus," he ob-
serves, "in America." He is answered that, in Ame-
rica, " he will not meet with even an approach to sini'
plicity and honesty of mind;" that *• a non-iiitercourse
act seems to have passed against the scienceSy morals f
and literature ;" that " in Philadelphia the colour of
the ijou.ig females is produced hij art; and that
" every man in the United Slates thinks himself ar-

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C1.1

rived at perfectmi" * Now, were all this nonsense
true, what answer were it to the observation of the
farmer? He objects to tythes, taxes, and poor-rates ;
and he is told of sciences and morals, and paint upon
ladies* faces. I laugh, but truly there is more cause
to sigh. Are the Englisli yeomen kept to their
sacred hearths only by such gossiping as this?
Must they be frightened to stay at home with
scare-crows that a child might laugh at ? Truly
the people who are thus cozened, are more insulted
than the people who are thus libelled. Could
the graves yield up their dead, how would the
sturdy patriots of England's better days look upon
these things ?

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* Sec Fearon's Sketches of America.

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UPI'EU CANADA. — MIX, (JOUKLAY. POOR EMIGRANTS.

DESCENT OF THE ST. LAWRENCE. MONTREAL AND LOWER

CANADA.

Montreal, September, 1819.
MY DEAR FRIEND,

I SHALL send you few details respecting our route
along the Canada frontier; both because I find
little leisure for making notes, and because I can
impart little that is new.

I was surprised to find much discontent prevail-
ing among the poorer settlers in Upper Canada :
1 could not always understand the grounds of their
complaint, but they seemed to consider Mr.Gourlay
as having well explained them. Mr. Gourlay, you
would see, was prosecuted, and his pamphlets de-
clared libels : not having read them, I cannot pro-
nounce upon either their merits or demerits ; but
they certainly appear to have spoken the sentiments
of the poorer settlers, whose cause he had abetted
against the more powerful land-holders, land-sur-
veyors, and government agents» One ground of
complaint, if just, should certainly be attended to,
and might, one would think, without much difl
ficulty, - - that the emigrants are often sent so far
into the interior, and at so great a distance one
from another, as to be exposed to insurmountable
difficulties and labour. The case of one poor, but

UPPER CANADA.

2i3

intelligent settler, as stated to me by himself,
moved in no small degree my compassion.

The sufferings from which these poor creatures
fly — I will take for instance the starving paupers
of Ireland, who throng here without a farthing in
their hands, and scarce a rag upon their backs, —
the sufferings of these poor creatures, humanity
might hope were ended when thrown upon these
shores ; but too often they are increased tenfold :
First come the horrors of the voyage ; ill-fed, ill-
clothed, and not unfrequently crowded together,
as if on board a prison-ship, it is not uncoi/imon
for a fourth, and even a third of the live cargo to
be swept off' by disease during this mid-passage. I
have sometimes thought, if the societies ibr the sup-
pression of vice would employ some part of their
funds in fitting out these poor creatures in clean
and well regulated ships, under the charge of
honest and humane captains, and in furnishing
them with the means of subsistence in these dis-
tant colonies, until they can be settled upon the
lands, — 1 have thought that they would render
more substantial service to their fellow-creatures,
than the best they may have rendered at present.
You will conceive the sufferings of a troop of half-
clad paupers, turned adrift in this Siberia, as it
often happens, at the close of autumn ; the delays,
perhaps unavoidable, which occur after their land-
ing, before they are sent to their station in the
howling wilderness, kills some, and breaks the
spirit of others. Many are humanely sheltered by
Canadian proprietors, not a few find their way to
the United States, and are thrown upon the cliarity

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of the city of New York. After fearful hardships,
some rear at last their cabin of logs in the savage
ibrest; polar winds and snows, dreary solitudes,
agues, and all the train of evils and privations
which must be found in a Canadian desert, —
surely it needs not the art of man to increase the
settler's troubles.

It is curious to see how patient men are of
physical sufferings when endured voluntaiily, and
when they have it not in their power to charge
them upon their rulers. On the southern shores
of lake Ontario, heaven knows, we found sickness
sufficient to have broken down the stoutest spirits;
and yet there we never heard a complaint. On its
northern shores, we found discontent every where j
perhaps it was oflen unjust ; but it is in human
nature to charge our calamities upon others when-
ever a pretext is afforded us. The only sure way
to keep the peace, therefore, is to remove all
i)retext. This being done in the United States, a
man shivers in the ague, swallows his remedies,
recovers or dies, ,vithout having quarrelled with
any one, save perhaps with his apothecary.

How strangely do statesmen employ money !
Hundreds of thousands lodged in frigates larger
than ever fought at Trafalgj^r, — in naval and mili-
tary stores, batteries, martello towers. — Where?
Upon the shores of the Canadian Siberia. To do
what ? To protect wolves and bears from a more
speedy dislodgment from frozen deserts, which
would little repay the trouble of invading j and
some few thousands of a people, scattered along
an endless line of forest, from the infection of re-

UP1M:K CANADA.

215

ley !
U'ger
mili-
ere?
o do
iiore
hich
and
ilong
f re-

publican princi|)les. What a magnificent idea does
this convey of tlie wealth of that country which
could thus ship treasures across the Atlantic to be
flung into the wilderness ! How flourishing must
be her condition ! how full, to overflowing, her
cofl^ers ! Surely her people must be princes ; her
merchants, kings ; and her kings, tlie Incas of
Peru ! * But whereto tends all this ? Will it
answer the purpose, without asking whether the
purpose be worth answering ? *' An army of
opinions can pierce where an army of soldiers
cannot." A people learn to grund)le, and then
what becomes of troops, frigates, batteries, and
martello towers ? The })etty squabbles which
agitate a colony, are like those which split the
ears in a country town. Let those who listen,
understand ; there arc those, however, whose
business it is to listen ; and such might pcsijbly
find the prevention of abuses a surer, as well as u
cheaper, way of securing their authority, than the
erection and maintenance of garrisons and all the
et ceteras attached to them. If the Canadas are
not the most expensive of the British colonies, are
they not the most useless ? One would think so to
look at them.

* Lieutenant Hall states the disbursements at Kingston
during the war at " 10(X)1. per dien< ;'' the expense ot" the
I'rigate St. Lawrence at 3(K),0(K)I. I was informeil by a gentle-
man long resident in Canada, that the ships of war sent from
England in frame to be employed on lake Ontario were all sup-
plied with stills. " Do the people of London take this lake for
a strip of the ocean," exclaimed the Canadians, " that they send
us a machine to freshen its waters 'r" *

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Two immense steam-boats, from four to five
hundred tons* burden, now navigate Ontario, in
lieu of the mighty ships of war that sleep peace-
fully in their harbours on either shore. The
American has every possible convenience, as is
common with all these floating hotels, found on
the waters of the United States j the Canadian
(probably from having been established for the
transportation of soldiers, stores and goods of
various kinds, rather than for the service of pas-
sengers) is dirty and ill attended. There is now
also a fine steam-boat, of a smaller size, plying be-
tween Kingston and Prescott, a flourishing village
in the neighbourhood of the rapids ; and another
will soon be launched upon Lake St. Francis, when
the navigation of the river will be yet farther
facilitated.

We preferred to take our way with more leisure
and less convenience than would have been afforded
by a stcam-boat passage ; a curiosity, perhaps, ill
repaid at the expence of much fatigue, and, for
myselfi with a slight fever, that, however, did not
prove the maladie du pays. We found the inter-
mitting or lake fever, as it is styled in the country,
prevailing very generally, especially along the
shores of the St. Lawrence. I cannot advise a
traveller to choose the autumn for the descent of
this river. The wintry chills and heavy fogs of the
night, succeeding to the scorching heats of the
day, and this in an open batteau, are what few con-
stitutions can undergo with impunity. The varie-
ties of climate endured in the space of twenty-four
hours on these northern waters, and in the un-

CANADA.

217

cleiued districts in tlieir neighboiirliooil, during
this season, surpass all yon can have an idea of,
and are what I certainly should not choose to ex-
perience a second time.

At Kingston we took to the water in a weli-
niainied batteau, which brought us in four days
and the better part of tin'ee nights, (for we were
seldom tempted by the nature of our accommoda-
tions to rest more than a few hours,) to La Chine,
seven miles above Montreal.

There is something impressive in the savage
monotony of the Canadian frontier. The vast
river, the black cedars which line its shores, and
crown its rocky islands ; .he settler's cabin peering
out of the shades, and here and .there a little
village, and a line of cultivation breaking upon
the desert ; add to this the profound silence,
broken only by the discordant voices of your
Canadian boatmen, as they hail some distant
solitary canoe, or rise and fall in harsh cadence to
the paddle and the oar. There is little in such
scenery to talk or write about ; yet it has its effect
on the mind. Salvator might sometimes find a
subject, when the night closes upon these black
solitudes, and the Canadian boatman kindles his
tire on the bare granite, while, below, the waters
sleep in sullen calm, and above, the dark boughs
of a scathed cedar flicker with the flame.

The rapids present a singular scene, especially
when you are in the midst of them. The breakers
dashing to right and left, the l)ig green billows
crested with foam tossing your bark at their mercy.

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and driving it onwards with the speed of light.
You here find the Niagara in all its grandeur.

It is a beautiful little drive from La Chine to
Montreal, though you make it not in the most
elegant, but that were a small matter, were it a
more secure vehicle : the tackling (for it could not
be called harness) of our steed gave way once, and
a fellow-traveller absolutely came to the ground
twice, " mats ce n*est pas toujours ainsi" as our
charioteer assured us. But though it should be
always the same, the traveller's neck is but little
endangered ; for though the tottering calcche is
mounted sufficiently high, the Caiir^dian steed
moves sufficiently slow, so that if ^ ju fall far, you
will fall gently.

It is a pleasant relief to the eye, tired with the
contemplation of dreary forests, and wide watery
wastes, when the fair seignory of Montreal sud-
denly opens before you. Rich and undulating
lands, sprinkled with villas, and bounded on one
hand by wooded heights, and on the other by the
grey city ; its tin roofs and spires then blazing in
the setting sun : the vast river, chafed by hidden
rocks into sounding and foaming rapids, and anon
spreading his waters into a broad sheet of molten
gold, speckled with islands, batteaux and shipping :
the distant shore, with its dark line of forest, broken
by little villages, penciled on the glowing sky, and
far off two solitary mountains, raising their blue
heads in the vermil glories of the horizon, like
sapphires chased in rubies. Along the road,
French faces, with all the harshness of feature and
good-humor of expression peculiar to the national

CANADA.

'2 1.f)

physiognomy, lookcil and gossiped I'roni door and
window, orchard and meadow ; a passing salutatiosi
easily winning a smile and courteous obeisance.
We were tor some miles escorted on our way by
the good-humored and loquacious pilot, whose
songs had for so many days measured time to the
stroke of his paddle. 1 yet hear his reiterated
parting benedictions, and sec the wild grimaces
with which they were accompanied.

The population of Lower is strangely contrasted
with that of Upper Canada ; nor ilo they appear to
know much concerning each other. In one thing
only are they said to be agreed, — in a tiiorough
detestation of their republican neighbours. In
Upper Canada, however, so far as my observations
went, I did not find that this hostile feeling was
much shared by the poorer settlers. Jn either
colony where the hostility exists, it is very easily
accounted for : in one by the jealousy of the
power and wealth of the republic j and in the
other by the influence of the priests.

In ignorance and infatuated superstition, the
Canadian remains in statu quo, as when he first
migrated from his native France. Guarded from
the earthquake by British protection, the shock of
the revolution was in no degree, however small, felt
here ; the priest continues to hood-wink and fleece
the people, and the people to pamper and worship
the priest, just as in the good old times. You may
learn some curious particulars here concerning the
policy of the London cabinet, as connected with
that of Rome. Among other things, a request has
lately been preferred to the Pore, that he will raise

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CANADA.

']^

the l)islioj)rii' of (Quebec into an archbishopric;
and the prehite of tliis Canadian (b'occsc is now
about to embark for Italy, to receive from the hands
of his Hohness this addition to his Iionors. The
people, meanwiiile, are exhorted to remember, in
their [)rayers, the j)ioiis prince, wlio, though ruh'ng
in a huid of heretics, bears thus in remembrance
tlje servants of the Most High. The priests have
in tlieir liandssome of the best huids in the country,
and claim, of cour-^e, some fruit-ofierings from their
spiritual children. Conceiving the security of the
tenure to lie in the ignorance of the people, they
enforce every prohibition calculated to preserve it
entire ; such as marrying with heretics, reading
any boci without the permission of the confessor,
and learning the English language. The proxi-
mity of the States and their growing power, and,
worse than all, their institutions, ci\ il and religious,
are naturally looked upon by these shepherds of
the flock with suspicion and terror. As the union
of Canada to the republic would of necessity
j)ave the 'vay to their downfall, interest binds fast
their loyalty to the ruling powers ; these again,
equally jealous of the States, and aware of the pre-
cariousness of the tenure by wiiich they hold these
colonies, pay much deference to the men who hold
the keys of the people's minds. Thus goes the
world ! and yet with the Canadian peasant it would
seem to go very happily : he eats his crust, or
shares it with the passenger right cheerily ; his
loyalty, transferred from King Louis to King
George, sits equally light on his light spirits. As
to the government, if he shares it not, as little

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25 {

iKk's he I'eol if. Too poor to be o])|)ressed, too
ignorant to be discoiiteiuccl, he invokes liis saint,
obeys his priest, smokes iiis pipe, ami oings an old
balhul ; while shrewder heads and (hdler spirits
enaet hiws wliich he never hears of, and toil after
gains vvhicii he contrives to do without.

There is said generally to be no very friendly
understanding between the old French and the
new English population ; the latter being given to
laugh at the superstition of the iornier, and re-
senting the supremacy of Catholic over Lutheran
episcopacy. The govern men f however, leaves
" protestant ascendency'* to make its way here as
it can, which, unbacked by law, makes its way very
slowly. These national and religi6us jealousies
have occasionally produced bickerings, and even
political disturbances.

Before the breaking out of the late war, an at-
tack was made in an English Quebec journal upon
the political and religious tenets, habits, and man-
ners of the Canadian population, which provoked
hostility, not merely in a French opposition paper,
under the name of Le Canadient but a party under
the name of Democrat : this last name was probably
bestowed without being merited, as it has often
been elsewhere. The parties, however, warmed in
the dispute, imtil the Governor and the House of
Assembly made war on eich other, as well as on
the newspaper editors ; vexatious measures were
had recourse to ; the opposition press was forcibly
put down, arbitrary acts passed, iind imprison-
ments, without reason assigned, or trial following,
infli -ted by the executive on the more contu-

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II!!

macioiis mcinbois of the Assembly, and others of
the disailectcd. Tfic wealthier and more educated
Canadians, who conducted tliis oppr vioii, were
guided, apparently, by poMtical views :■••} pr+riotic
motives ; but it never appeared tliat they were
otherwise hostile to the EngHsh interest tlian as
they conceived it to be unjustly opposed to that ol'
their own people. This ferment was at its height
under the administration of Sir James Craig, be-
tween the years 1808 and 1811. Upon the arrival
of Sir George Pre vost, a bill extraordinary, For the
better 2)reservation of His Majest)j\s Government,
being defeated by the obstinate resistance of the
House of Assembly, a milder course of admini-
stration was adopted. The public mind being thus
somewhat soothed, upon the opening of hostilities,
in the year following, between the United States
and Great Britain, no unwillingness appeared on
the part of the legislature to meet the wishes of
the executive j and as for the peasantry, the nation,
represented by their spiritual fathers as the
enemies of God, were the enemies of the Cana-
dians. Perhaps the Governor was more cautious
of putting to the proof the fidelity of the colonists
than was necessary. The peasants had never un-
derstood the quarrel of their representatives j and
the latter, even supposing their views to have gone
farther than appeared, were too conscious of their
weakness to venture upon a disclosure of them.
The war evidently soon became national, and the
militia would willingly have done more than was
demanded. Antipathy towards the heretical
Americans was as powerful an incentive to loyalty

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CANADA.

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as couKI have l)con a love to tho IJritlsh : this last
it will never be easy to excite. Iiulependent ol
national and reli«^ioiis prejudices, tlic presence of a
hangljty soldiery is not calculated to lull jealousies
to sleep.

As respects the ignorance of the Canadians,
with the peasantry it is probably with justice
called absolute ; but that the House of Assembly
should, as is generally asserted by the Anti-Cana-
dian English, be composeil of men who know
neither to read nor write, can hardly be received
as a fair statement. Some such instances may
occm* ; but a body of men who have frequently
made a stand for important rights, and in the per-
sons of some of its members, endured arbitrary
imprisonments, for conscientious and constitutional
opposition to the dictum of the Governor, and
Legislative Council, — that such men should in-
variably be a crowd of illiterate peasants, is not
easy of belief.

The government of the Canadas consists of a
Governor appointed by the crown ; a Legislative
Council, composed in Upper Canada of seven
members, and in the Lower or French Canada of
fifteen ; these are appointed by the Governor, and
nominated for life ; a Lower House of Assembly
whose members arc chosen by the freeholders
in either province, the elections occurring every
four years. In Lower Canada the French forming
the majority of the population, are able to combat,
in the House of Assembly, the power of the Englisji
Executive and Legislative Council, which virtually
are one and the same. It is easy to see with what

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CANADA.

!. i;

candor this House will be jiulged of by tlie party
it opposes. It is doubtf'iil whether it would be more
praised were it more enlightened.

You will ask, perhaps, whether some pains is not
taken to amalgamate the old with the new popula-
tion, or to break down the strongest national dis-
tinction by the establishment of lilnglish schools,
I have stated that the priests are in no way desirous
of enlightening their conuiiunicants. To resist
the authority of these spiritual pastors were not
very politic on the part of the temporal powers,
and perhaps it is considered as equally the interest
of both to leave the Canadian to sing his song, and
tell his Ave Mary in the language of his fathers.
It is curious to compare the stationary position of
the Fren( h Canada with the progress of the l^Vench
Louisiana. Not sixteen years since this vast terri-
tory was ceded to the United States, and already
its people are nationalized. Not held as a military
possession, but taken into the confederated re-
publics as an independent state, it feels its exist-
ence, and has learned to prize the importance that
it enjoys. A population as simple and ignorant as
that of French Canada, has been transformed, in
the course of one generation, into a people com-
paratively enlightened. Superstition is fast losing'
its hold on .heir minds ; the rising youth are edu-
cated in village-schools established throughout the
country, even in the least populous districts; dis-
tinctions of manners, feelings, and language, be-
tween the old and new population, are gradually
disappearing ; and, in the course of a few genera-
tions, tlu'v will be mingled into one. Instead of

CANADA.

<>xpeiisive colonics, tlio acquisition.s of America are
thus turned into wealthy states, additions to her
power and her riches. Siie quarters no soldiers to
awe them into obedience, but imparts to them the
right of" self-government, and admits them to her
alliance. How strangely contrasted to this is the
position of these provinces ; expensive appendages
to a distant empire ; military depots, in short, into
which Enghmd throws iier armed legions, to
awe the peaceful population of the neighbouring
republic.

Is there not some erroneous calculation here ?
By opposing an armed frontier to America, is she
not constrained to nourish more or less of a military
spirit ? Remove it, and were she not deprived of
all incentives to martial ardor ? Would not her in-
stitutions, essentially peaceful, then operate more
perfectly than at present, to prevent the exertion
of her strength to the injury of other nations?
Leave her alone, and she might go to sleep ; as it
is, she is forced to keep her eyes open, and though
her sword be sheathed, to wear it always at her
side. Some say she is ambitious of conquest ; and
that her invasion of Canada, both during the re-
volutionary and the late war, proves it. She was
certainly ambitious of dislodging an armed enemy,
and of turning hostile fortifications into inoflensi'
villages. Had she obtainetl possession of th
Canadas, — what then ? She would have -aid to
them, as she saiil to Louisiana, — Govern ijour-
sclves. Her own fortifications liad then been re-
moved, instead of being strengthened as they now

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CANADA.

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are, to keep pace with those of her neighbours.
For /let't it may probably be as well that she has
an enemy skirmishing at her doors. Peaceful as
she is, it serves to keep alive her spirit, which
might otherwise relax too much. It makes her
weigh her strength and feel it : this may be useful,
seeing that her institutions, and the policy neces-
sarily resulting from them, prevent her exerting it
without provocation. But this effect, it may be
presumed, is not that intended by her enemies.
Tliey surely do not expend their treasures with an
eye to her advantage. If their object were to en-
crease her energy, and to keep alive her national
feeling, could they take surer means than by
pointing cannon at her gates. ** Delendn est Car-
ihago** should not be the motto of the Republic.
The rivalship of hers with European power, on
this Siberian frontier, is a wholesome and spiritual-
izing stimulus, corrective of the soporific other-
wise administered by her security and prosperity.
To interrupt these were now probably impossible,
though the whole of Europe should league
against them ; but it io as well, perhaps, that Ame-
rica should not feel this, for, were she to feel it,
might not her security and prosperity be tlien once
more endangered ?

I fear that 1 have written a dull letter ; but per-
haps I do this always. Should you, however, find
me yet more dull than usual, consider the hard
travelling that, I have undergone, and the drow-
siness of convalescence, which still hangs about
me J consider this, and be mercifid in your judg-

CANADA. 257

ment. A few excursions into the snrroundinir
country have finislied our Canadian (ravels. The
icy winds of* the equinox, and some remaining
weakness, scolding me into prudence, we sa-
crifice our visit to Quebec, and strike south for
the States.

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LETTER XVI.

LAKE CIIAMPLAIN. BATTLE OF PLATTSBURG. — BURNING

OF THE riHENIX STEAM-BOAT.

Plattsburg, Lake Cliamplain, Sept. 1819.
MY DEAR Fill END.

The shores of this beautiful lake are classic ground
to the American, and perhaps to all those who
love liberty and triumph in the struggles for it.
For myselfi I iiave listened with much interest to
the various stories attached to the different villages
and ruined forts tliat line these waters.

The Americans, rich and pooi '^entlemen and
mechanics, have all the particulars of their short,
but eventlid liistory treasured in their minds, with
an accuracy which, at first, cannot fail to sur.
prise a foreigner. A citizen, chosen at random,
may generally serve you for a Cicerone any where
and every where throughout these states ; nor is
he ever better pleased than when satisfying the
curiosity of a stranger upon the subject of his
country. He does this, too, with so much intel-
ligence and good nature, and knows so well to dis-
criminate between what is interesting, and what is
tiresome, that you usually come from the confer-
ence more awake than when you engaged in it.

The little town and pleasant bay of Plattsburg

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IJATTLi; OF I'LATTr-iBUUr;.

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is pointed out witli peculiar satislaction to those
who shew a willingness to sympathise in the brave
defence of an invaded people, fighting lor all that
life has of host and dearest — honour and liberty,
property, and the domestic hearth.

At the commencement of hostilities, in the year
1812, the American policy had been to seek the
enemy in his own garrisons. It was believed that
the Canadas would have been willing to raise the
flag of independence, and join the federal union,
and rashly judged, that raw militia or voiun-
teer troops might be sufficient to drive veteraji
regulars from their posts. The attempt was dar-
ing, and, if successfid, would doubtress have best
secured the country from invasion ; and, by cutting
oH' the enemy from communication with the In-
dians, have screened the scattered settlements on
the western frontier from the cruel war with
which they were threatened. That success, hov/-
cver, should have been calculated uj>on, proves
only that ignorance is always rash ; and most
profoundly ignorant of the -science of war must
the republic have been, after tiiirty years of
profound peace, without owning either an army or
a navy, or knowing more of military discipline than
could be found in the organization and harmless
exercise of a peaceful militia. The unsiiccessfid
caini)aign in the Canadas, was not altogether un-
productive of advantage to the Republic. It served
to make apparent her weakness, while the sub-
sequent campaigns equally made apparent her
strength. In offensive land-operations she first saw
her citizens repulsed j — when facing, on their owu

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HATTLE OF rLATTSBURG.

soil, the best-trained soldiers in the world, she
afterwards saw them successful. There is a useful
lesson here to her and to all other nations.

The stand made at Plattsburg was as spirited as
it was important. An army of veterans, from the
school of the Duke of Wellington, having entered
the St. Lawrence, was suddenly marched by Sir
Cieorge Prevost into the state of New- York. Had
this army succeeded in obtaining command of
Lake Champlain, and the line of forts running
southward, a simultaneous attack was to be made
from the sea on the city of New- York, when, the
command of the Hudson being secured, the eastern
States would have been cut ofl'fiom tlie rest of the
union. You will perceive the plan to be the same
as that traced for (lenera^Burgoyne ; l)ut, per-
haps, then with more chance of success than in
the prescMit instance ; much, however, seemeil to
f'uvor the undertaking. In the first })lace, an
attack from this (piarter was at the time luiex-
j)ected : lor many miles beyond the frontier, the
population was thinly scattered through forests
and hills; the army was busily engaged in remote
parts of the union ; and an attack upon the city of
New-Yoik being a})prehL'niled, the militia of the
State had been chiefly drawn towanls the coast.
Fifteen hundred regulars, piiucipally composed of
raw recruits and invalids, was the oidy force in
readiness, when tiic British troops took possession
of the liuo tu,vn of Champlain within the An\c-
ricao frontier.

The scattered militia of the vicinity was instantly
summoned, uiid all iiands set to work to throw up

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BATTLi: OF PLATTSnURG.

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of
tlie
•oast.
hI of
:e ill
ssioii
Viwc-

antly
w up

fortifications, and to prepare a fleet to engage that
of the enemy. Tlie exertions made during tliese
anxious days are almost incredible : night and
day tlie axe and the hammer were at work.

Let me remark here the peculiar fitness of the
American population for such exertions. Every
man, or nearly every man, in these States, knows
to handle the axe, the hammer, the plane, all the
mechanic's tools, in short ; besides the musket, to
the use of which he is not only regularly trained as
a man, but practised as a boy.

The enemy soon advanced up the shores of the
lake to the little river Saranac, at the mouth of
which stands the village of Plattsburg, backed and
flanked by the forest, whose dark interminable line
it sweetly breaks with its neat and cheerful dwell-
ings, overlooking the silver bosom of a circular
bay which receives the waters of the river. Con-
tinual skirmishes now took place between the
enemy and flying parties of militia, seven hundred
of which soon collected from the surrounding
forests. The state of Vermont, which lines the
opposite shores of the lake, then poured forth her
mountaineers. Scattered through a mountainous
country, it might have been thought diflicult to
collect the scanty population ; but the cry of inva-
sion echoed from hill to hill, from village to vil-
lage ; some caught their horses from tlie plough,
others ran ofi' on foot, leaving their herds in the
pastures, and scarce exchanging a parting blessing
with their wives and mothers as they handed to
them their muskets.

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" From tlie grey sire, whose trembling hand
Could Iiardly l)uekle on liis brand,
To the raw boy, whose shaft and bow
Were yet searee terror to the erou ,
Eaeh valley, eaeh sequestcr'd glen,
Miister'd his little horde of men,
That met, as torrents from the height,
In liighland dale, their streams unite ;
Still gathering as they pour along,
A voice more loud, a tide more strong."

Their guns on their slioiihlcrs, a j)owder-flash at
their sides, sometimes a ration in tlieir pockets,
crowd alter crowd poured into Biirhngton, anil all,
as a friend who had witnessed the scene, describeil
it to me, " came at a run wliether on their own
legs or their horses."

The beautiful little town of Bunijigloii covers
the breast of a hill on the opposite shore, and some-
wiiat higher up the lake than Plattsburg. Here
every boat and canoe was in requisition ; trooj)
after troop hurried to the shore, and as the scat-
tered crowds poured into Plattsburg, they collected
in lines on the Saranac to resist the passage ol' the
enemy, or struck into the woods, with orders to
harrass their rear.

The fleet was now equipped ; and, when that of
the enemy appeared in sight, moored in line across
the entrance of the bay. With such breathless
alacrity had the Americans prepared to meet this
encounter, that one of the vessels which then en-
tered into action, had been built and equipped in
the space of a fortnight j eighteen days previous
to the engagement, the timber of which it was

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nATTLK OF PLATTSBUUG.

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coiislructed, had been actually growing in the
forest upon the shores of the lake.

The British flotilla, under the command of
Captain Dovvnie, mounted ninety-five guns, and
upwards of a thousand men ; the Amei'ican under
Commodore M'Donongh, eighty-six guns, and
nearly eight hundred men. The first exchange of
cannon between the fleets, was the signal of the
armies on land. A desperate contest ensued.
The British, with daring bravery, twice attempted
to force the bridges, and twice were driven back ;
then, filing up the river, a detachment attempted
to ford ; but here a volley of nii sketry suddenly
assailed them from the woods, anu forced them to
retreat with loss.

The issue of the day was felt by both parties to
depend upon the naval engagement then raging
in the sight of both armies. Many an anxious
glance was cast upon the waters by those stationed
near the shore. For two hours the conflict re-
mained doubtful J the vessels on either side were
stript of their sails and rigging ; staggering and
reeling hulks, they still gave and received tlie
shocks which threatened to submerge them. The
vessel of the American Commodore was twice on
fire ; her cannon dismounted, and her sides leaking;
the enemy was in the same condition. The battle
for a moment seemed a drawn one, when both
attempted a manceuvre which was to decide the
day. With infinite difficulty, the American ship
veered about ; the enemy attempted the same in
vain ; a fresh fire poured upon her, and she struck.
A shout then awoke upon the shore j and ringing

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BATTLE OF I'LATTSBUHO.

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ulong the Amoricnn lines, swelled f'>i a moment
above the roar of the battle. For a siiort space, the
British efforts relaxed ; but then, as if nerved
rather than dismayed by misi'ortune, the expe-
rienced veterans stood their ground, and continued
tlie fight until darkness constrained 'ts suspension.

The little town of Burlington, durir^^ these busy
hours, displayed a far different, but not less inter-
esting scene; all occupation was interrupted;
the anxious inhabitants, lining the heights, and
straining their eyes and ears to catch some signal
that 'night speak the fate of a combat upon which
so much depended. The distant firing and smoke
told when the fleets were en^afjcd. The minutes
and fhe hours dragged on heavily ; hopes and fears
alternately prevailing ; when, at length, the can-
nonading suddenly ceased; but still, with the help
of the telescope, nothing could be distinguished
across the vast waters, save that the last wreath of
smoke had died away, and that life, honor, and
propc! ty, wf}re lost or r.aved.

Not a sound was heard, the citizens looked at
eacii other without speaking; women and children
wandered along the beach, with many of the men
of Vermont, who had continued to drop in during
the day, but found no means of crossing the lake.
Every boat was on the other shore, and all were
still too busy there to ferry over tidings of the
luival combat. The evening fell, and still no
moving speck appeared upon the waters. A dark
night, heavy with fogs, closed in, and some with
saddened hearts slowly sought their homes ; while
others still lingereil, hearkening to e\ery breath.

H.\TTLK ()!■ I'l-ATTSIU lie.

'Jfi.'l

pacing to aiul IVo distractedly, and wildly imagin-
ing all the probable and possible causes whicli
might occasion this suspense. Were I hey defeat eil —
some would have taken to the boats j were they
successful — some would have burned to bring the
tidings. — At eleven at night, a shout broke in the
darkness from the waters. It was one of triumj)h.
— Was it ii om friends or enemies ? Again it broke
louder J it was recognized and re-echoed by the
listeners on the beach, swelled u]) the hill, and
"Victory! \ictory!'* rang through the village.
I could not describe the scene as it was described
to me; but you will suppos ')W the blood eddieil
fioni the heart; how you.,g^ and old ran about
frantic ; how they laughed, vvej)t, and sang, and
wept again. — In half an liour, tlic little toun was
in a blaze of light.

The brunt of the battle was now over ; but it
still remained doubtful whether the invaders would
attempt to push forward, in despite of the loss of
their ileet, and of the opposing ranks of mihtia,
now doubly inspirited by patriotism and good for-
tune. At day-break the next morning, W2re fbuml
only the sick, the wounded, and the dead, with the
military stores and munitions of war. The siege
had been raised during the night ; and the baggage
and artillery having been sent back, the army were
alieady some miles on their way towards the fron-
tier. The skirmishing that harassed their retreat
thinned their numbers less than the sudden desertion
of five hundred men, who threw down their musket:,
and sprang into the woods. A few of these sons
of Mars are now thrivini;' farmers in the stale of

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IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

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Photographic

Sciences
Corporation

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, NY. 14580

(716) 872-4503

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CATTLi: OF I'LATTSHUIIG.

Vermont ; others iiircd, vvitli more or less success,
according to their industry and morals.

Sir George Prevost was much blamed, both in
Canada and at home, for tiiis precipitate retreat.
That he might iuivc forced the American works is
admitted by the Americans themselves ; indeed,
from their hasty and imperfect construction, it is
wonderful how they were made to stand the siege
as they did. But what advantage would have
been gained by strewing the earth with dead to
break down a breast-work of planks, to retire or
surrender afterwards? Witliout the co-operation
of a fleet, with exhausted and dispirited troops, to
have forced a passage through woods and over
roads of logs, contending for every step with thick-
ening crowds — not of soldiers, but of fathers,
husbands, citizens, standing on their own soil, and
inspired with every feeling that can raise men
above themselves, — surely the commander judged
wisely and humanely who preferred retreat to
certain destruction. " It might have been a day
later," was the observation of an American oflicer ;
" but the enemy must have retreated, or surren-
dered, or been cut to pieces by degrees."

There is in militia a moral force, which, in mo-
ments of great exigency, is more than a match for
trained skill and hardy experience. Defeat, which
! dispirits the best veteran regulars fighting in a
foreign land for the point of honour, or the prospect
of booty, invigorates national militia contending on
their own soil for all that is dearest to the human
heart. Contrast for a moment the exterior of tl»e
hostile bands who here engaged. A line of pL;iu

BATTLE or I'LATTSr.UUG.

'li'r/

citizens, their dusky garments breathing of home,
opposed to llaring uniforms speaking only of the
trade of war ; — tlie heart acknowledges the dif-
ference between sucli armies.

It is customary in tlie more wealthy cities, and
occasionally even elsewhere, for some of the militia
companies to provide themselves with uniforms ;
and though this proves a generous spirit on the
part of the citizens, I have never looked upon
these well-clad regiments in exercise with the
same interest with which I invariably regard those
clad in tlie every-day garments of domestic life.
You need to be told that the other are militia ;
uothiniv remains to be said here. I remember well
observing, for the first time, a troop of citizens
going through military exercise ; the blacksmith
from his forge ; the mechanic, his coat marked witii
saw-dust ; the farmer with the soil yet upon his
hands. *' Wiiat think you of our soldiers ?" said a
friend smilinii:. Think! — I know not what I
thought; but I know that I secretly brushed a
tear from my eye.

I feel tempted to par.s another idle half-hour in
detailing to you a story of a difl^'erent character,
and which, thougli it will never be placed on re-
cord, is not less worthy of being so than the victory
of M'Donough.

One of the finest steam-boats ever built in the
United States lately ran upon this inland sea, and
was destroyed, ten days smce, by fire, in a man-
ner truly terrible. The captain of the vessel had
fallen sick, and entrusted its management to his
soUj a young man just turned of one anil twenty.

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Making for St. John's with upwards ol" forty pas-
sengers, they encountered tlie equinoctial gale,
\ hich blew with violence right a-head. The Hue
vessel, however, encouiitered it bravely, and dashed
onwards through the storm until, an hour alter
midnight, she had gained the broadest part of the
lake. Some careless mortal, who had been to seek
his supper in the pantry, left a candle burning on
a shelf, which, after some time, caught another
which was ranged above.

The passengers were asleep, or at least quiet in
their births, when a man at the engine perceived,
in some dark recess of the vessel, an unusual light.
Approaching the spot, he h(!ard the crackling of
fire, and found the door of the pantry a glowing
and tremulous wall of embers. He had scarcely
time to turnhimselfi ere he was enveloped in flames ;
rushing past them, he attempted to burst into the
ladies' apartment by a small door which opened
into the interior of the vessel : it was locked on
the inside, and the noise of the storm seemed to
drown all his cries and blows. Hurrying upon the
deck, he gave the alarm to the captain, and flew
to the women's cabin. Ere he leaped down the
stairs, the flames had burst through the inner door,
and had already seized upon the curtains of the
bed next to it. You may conceive the scene
which followed.

In the mean time the young captain roused his
crew and his male passengers, warning the pilot to
make for the nearest island. Summoning his men
around him, and stating to them that all the lives
on board could not be saved in the boats, he asked

PII(T,\'TX r>TrAM-BOAT.

QG()

their consent to save tlie passciiffers, and to take
death with him. All acquiesced unanimously ; and
hastened to let down the boats. While thus en-
gaged, tlie flames burst through the decks, and
shrouded the pilot, the mast, and the chimney, in a
column of flames. The helmsman, however, lield
to the wheel, until his limbs were scorched and his
clothes half'consumed upon his back. The unusual
heat round the boiler gave a redoubled impetus to
the engine. The vessel dashed madly through the
waters until she was within a few roods of land.
The boats were down, and the captain and his men
held the shrieking women and children in their
arms, when the helm gave way, and the vessel, turn-
ing from the wind, flew backwards, whirling round
and round from the shore. None could approach
to stop the engine ; its fury, ho u ever, soon spent
itself, and left the flaming wreck to the mercy only
of the winds and waves. With dreadful struggles
the naked passengers got into the boats, and re-
ceived the women and children from the hands of
the captain and the crew, who, while the flames
whirled over their heads, refused the solicitations to
enter the overburthened barks, and pushed them
off from the fire which had nearly caught their sides.
It was now discovered that one woman and a
youth of sixteen had been forgotten. Hurrying
them to the windward of the flames, the youth was
bound to a plank, and a skilful swimmer of the crew
leapt with him into the lake. The captain, holding
the frantic woman in his arms, stood upon the edge
of the scorching and crackling wreck, until he saw
the last of his companions provided with a spar,

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DIJRMNG OF THE

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and committed to the waters ; then, throwing
from him with one arm a table wliicli he had be-
fore secured lor the purpose, and with the otlier
grasping liis charge, lie sprang into the waves.
The poor woman, mad with terroi', seized his
throat as he placed and held her upon the table ;
forced to disengage himself, she >vas borne away
by the waves ; he tried to follow, and saw her, for
the last time, clinging to a burning mass of the
vessel. One last shriek, and the poor creature was
whelmed in flood and fire. Swimming round the
blazing hulk, and calling aloud to such of his com-
panions as might be within hearing, to keep near
it, he watched for the falling of a spar. He seized
one while yet on fire, and, quenching it, continued
to float round the wreck, deeming that the light
might be a signal, should the boats be able to re-
turn J but these had to row, heavily laden, six
miles through a mountainous sea. It was long be-
fore they could make the land, and that, leaving
their helpless freight naked on the shore of a desert
island, in the dark and tempestuous night, they
turned to seek the drowning heroes.

The day broke while they were laboring against
the roaring elements, seeking in vain the extin-
guished beacon that was to guide their search j
at length a blackened atom appeared upon the
top of a wave j stretched upon it was a human
figure. It was the young captain — senseless, but
the generous soul not quite departed . He is alive
and doing well. One other of these devoted men
was picked up late in the morning, and wonder-
ously restored to life, after having been eight hours

PIICENTX STEAM-BOAT.

27 1

swimmiiifr and Hoatinjr on tho water. 8cvcn
perished.

The citizens of Bordentovvn hastened with
clotliing and provisions to the suflerers on the
island; took them to their homes; and nursed
them with affectionate solicitude.

The blackened wreck of the Phoenix is now
lying, in the midst of the lake, upon a reef of
rocks, to which it was drifted by the storm.

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LETTER XVII.

TOWN OF IJURLINCITON. CIIAllACTEIl AND HISTORY OF THF

STATE OF VERMONT.

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liurliiigton, State of Vermont,
October, 1819.

MY DEAR FRII:ND,

Ascending the waters of Lake Champlain, the
shores assume a wilder and more mountainous
character. The site of the flourishing town of
Burlington is one of singular beauty ; tlie neat-
ness and elegance of the white houses ascending
rapidly from the shore, interspersed with trees,
and arranged with that symmetry which charac-
terizes the young villages of these states, the sweet
bay, and, beyond, the open waters of the lake,
bounded by a range of mountains, behind which,
when our eyes first rested on them, the sun was
sinking in golden splendor ; it was a fairy scen^,
when his flaming disk, which might have dazzled
eagles, dropt behind the purple screen, blazing on
the still broad lake, on the windows and the
white walls of the lovely village, and on the silver
.sails of the sloops and shipping, gliding noiselessly
through the gleaming waters.

Not forty years since, and the ground now oc-
cupied by this beautiful town and a population of
two thousand souls, was a desert, frequented only

TOWN OF UUULIN'GTON.

T/3

l)y bears and panthers. The American verb io pro-
i^rcss (though some of my friends in this country
deny tiuit it is an Americanism,) is certainly not
without its apology ; even u foreigner must acknow-
ledge, that the new kiml of advancement which
greets his eye in this country, seems to demand a
new word to pourtray it.

The young town of Burlington is graced witii ii
college which was founded in the year 1791, and
has lately received considerable additions. Tlie
state of Vermont, in whicii it stands, wiiose po[)uU
ation may be somewiiat less than 300,000, con-
trives to support two establishments ot this de-
scription ; and, perhaps, in no part of the union is
greater attention paid to the education of youth.

The territory [)assing under the name of Ver-
mont is intersected, from nortli to south, by a range
of mountains covered with ever-green forest, from
which the name of the country. Tliis Alpine
ridge, rising occasionally to tliree and four thou-
sand lieet, nearly fills up the breadth of the state ;
but is every where scooped into glens and valleys,
plentifully intersected with streams and rivers,
flowing, to the eastward, into the beautiful Con-
necticut; and, to the west, into the ma^^i ificent
Champlain. The gigantic forests of white pine,
spruce, cedar, and other evergreens, which clothe
to the top the billowy sides of the mountains,
mingle occasionally their deep verdure with the
oak elm, beech, maple, &c. that shadow the val-
leys. This world of forest is intersected by tracts
of open pasture, while the luxuriant lands that
border the water-courses, aie fast exchanging their

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^271'

STATE OF VKKMOXT.

j)rinieval woods ibr the ticiisurcs of {i;L?riculUirc.
'llic most j)opLilon.s town in tlic state contains less
than three thousand souls ; the inliabitants, agri-
cultural or grazing iarmers, being scattered
througii the valleys and hills, or collected in small
villages on the banks of the lakes and rivers.

In scrupulous regard to the education of her
citizens, in the thoroun-h democracv of her insti-
tutions, in her simple morals and hardy industry,
Vermont is a characteristic daughter of New Eng-
Jand. She stands conspicuous, however, among
lier sister states for her patriotic spirit j her ser-
vices have always been rendered to the nation
unsparingly, nor could she ever be charged with
scj)arating her interests from those of the con-
federacy.

During the revolutionary struggle, her scanty
j)opulation, thinly scattered along the borders of
rivers and streams, in mountains and forests, were
signally generous and disinterested. The short
liistory of this s])irited republic is not without a
peculiar interest, and is very highly honorable to
the character of he;- people.

During her colonial existence, she was engaged
in a dispute with the neiglibouring provinces, in-
volving all those great princij)les wdiich afterwards
formed the basis of the cpiarrel between the colonies
and the mother country. Under the administra-
tion of Great Britain, in consequence of various
contradictory acts, passed at different periods, antl
under different reigns, the Vermont lands were
claimed by the two adjoining provinces of New
Hampshire and New York. Most of the early

STATi: or VKllMONT.

1375

settlers Iieltl ilicir possessions inulcr the patent
granted to tl»e former, when the hitter asserted a
j)rior chiini, and essayed to constrain the ejection
of the proprietors. Tlie ))roch\tnati()n of the royal
Governor of New York was answered by a proclam-
ation of the royal Oovernor of New Hampsliire ;
tiic matter being referred to the home authority, a
verdict was pronounced in favour of New York
against the wishes and claims of the Vermontese ;
but this imperial verdict was as little respected by
the hardy mountaineers as had been the pro-
clamation of the governor. *< The gods of the
valleys," cried the spirited Ethan Allen, •' are not
gods of the hills." An opposition was instantly
organized, and the New York claims and jurisdic-
tion so set at defiance, that a civil war had very
nearly ensued. The ground assumed by this in-
fant colony was the right of a people to self-
government, and accordingly she establisheil her
own in defiance of the threats of New York and
her governor. But a greater cause soon fixed tiie
attention of this high-minded people. In the
very heat of their contention with the New York
claimants and legislature, the quarrel broke out
between the British government and the American
people. From this quarrel the mountaineers of
Vermont might easily have excused themselves.
Far removed from the sea, without commerce,
untaxed and ungoverned, the arbitrary measures
of the English ministry clashed with no immediate
interests of theirs, and, heated as they were in
other disputes, might have been supposed little
calculated to excite their opposition by wounding

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STATF, or VF.RMONT.

! I. : I

i'.

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^v.

their priilo ; but, superior to all selrish consiiler-
iitioMs, their own (piarrel was lost in that of the
community. Tiie news of the battle ol Lexington
had no sooner reached them, tlian we lind Kthan
Allen, at the head of a troop of Vermont moun-
taineers, surprising the important post of Tycon-
ileroga. Summoning the surrender of the fort in
the dead of night, *' In xdiosc name /"' said the
astonished and irritated commander. •' In the
name of the great Jehovah and the continental con-
gress" replied tlie patriot. 'J'his continental con-
gress contained no representatives of the people
of Vermont ; it had not pronounced upon the
justice or injustice of the claims preferred against
them, nor acknowledged the independent jurisdic-
tion which tiiey had established j but it was an
assembly gathered under the wings of freedom ;
it asserted for others those rights which the Ver-
montese liad asserted for themselves ; — without
hesitation, therefore, without waiting to be so-
licited, or essaying to make stipulations, volun-
tarily and unconditionally, these champions of the
rights of man forsook their plough-shares and their
j)runing-hooks, recommended their women and
their children to the protection of heaven, and

went forth to fight the battles of their brethren.

After the declaration of independence, the Ver-
niontese appealed to the congress as to the supreme
government, demanding to be admitted into the
confederacy as an independent state. They
grounded their plea upon the same great prin-
ciples by which the other states had justified their
resistance to Great Britain ; — the right of a people

STATE OF VKRMONT.

^-^77

to institute their own government, and tlic in-
validity of all contracts unceniented by a mutual
agreement between the parties. New York, on
the oUier hand, could appeal only lo royal grants
and ilceds legally rather than justly executed.
The feelings of the congress were well disposed
towards the Vernjont cause ; Hut New York was
too important an ally to be decided against rashly;
judgment, therefore, was deferred until the two
states should come to agreement between them-
selves, or until more peaceful days should bring
leisure to the congress to examine into all the
bearings of the question. Thus thrown out of the
pale of the union, it was imagined by the enemy,
that Vermont might easily be won from the com-
mon cause. She was now promised high [)rivileges,
and an individual existence as a royal province ;
but this generous republic was not to be so bought
iVom honour : firm in her resistance to New York,
she was as true to the cause of America ; hor
liandful of freemen asserted their own rights, and
sustained those of their brethren throughout that
Irvinij contest. At its close, anil when the national
independence was finally established, the dispute
witb her sister state was amicably adjusted ; and
she then voluntarily joined herself as a fourteenth
state to the thirteen original confederated republics
whose cause she had so zealously and magnani-
mously made her own.

In consequence of her resistance to the juris-
diction of New York, Vermont had asserted and
enjoyed an independent existence several years
before the dismemberment of the C(4oniaI provinces

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278

STATE OF VERMONT.

If 'l'

if I

from Great Britain ; but the constitution, as it now
stands, was not finally arranged until the year
1793.

The plan of government is among the most
simple of any to be found in the union. The
legislative department is com})Osed of one house,
whose members are chosen by the whole male
population of the state. In this mountainous dis-
trict, peopled by a race of simple agriculturists, the
science of legislation may be supposed to present
few questions of difficulty; nor has it been found
necessary to impede the process of law-making by
forcing a projected statute to pass through two
ordeals. You find in the constitution of Vermont
another peculiarity which marks a people Argus-
eyed to their liberties. In the other republics,
the people have thought it sufficient to j)rescrve
to themselves the power of summoning a conven-
tion, to alter or amend their plan of government
whenever they may judge it expedient; but the
Vermontese, as if unwilling to trust to their
own vigilance, have decreed the stated election
of a Council of Censors, to be convened for one
year at the end of every seven years, whose busi-
ness it is to examine whether the constitution
has been preserved inviolate j *• 'wJielher Ihc Icgis-
lat'ive or execidive branches of government have
peijormcd their duty as guardians of the i)e(ii)le^ or
assumed to themselveSy or ed'ercised other or greater
jjowers than they are entitled to l)y the constitution ;"
to take in review, in short, every public act, with
the whole course of administration j)ursued since
the last meeting of the censors. If any acts

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STATE OF VERMONT.

279

appear to them to have been unconstitutional, their
business is to refer them to the legislative assembly
then sitting, stating the grounds of their objection,
and recommending a revisal of the same. They
are farther empowered to judge of the propriety
of revising the existing constitution ; and should
any article appear defective, or not clearly defined,
to promulgate the articles objected to, and the
amendments proposed, which, being considered
and approved by the people, other delegates are
appointed to decree the same in convention, ac- \
cording to the instructions received from their
constituents.

The assembly now meets in the little town of*
Montpelier, situated in a secluded valley in the
centre of the state. Having gained the centre,
tlie seat of government is now probably iixed. It
is a strange novelty in the eyes of an European to
find legislators assembled in a humble and lonely
village to discuss afiairs of state. How strangely
has liberty been libelled ! Behold her in the
mountains of Vermont, animating a people, who,
at the first sound of opj)ression, would rise like
lions from their lair, but \yho, in the i'lee exercise
of undisputed rights, and, walking erect among
their hills with a spirit untamed, and thought un-
shackled, live on a life of peace and industry,
unharming and unharmed, proud as the noble in
his feudal seignory, and peaceful as the flocks
which graze upon their mountains !

The men of Vermont are familiarly known by
the name of GreeiMnountahi boys \ a name which
they themselves are proud of, and which, I have

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280

STATE OF VERMONT.

remarked, is spoken witli much complacency, and
not unf'reqiicntly with a tone of admiration or
affection, by the citizens of the neighbouring
states.

Before leaving Vermont, I would observe, that
the Scotch emigrant would probably find it pecu-
liarly suited to his habits and const'tution. A
healthy climate, a hilly country, affording either
pasture or arable land, — the frugal, hardy, and
industrious Scotch farmer might here find himself
at home, or rather in a home somewhat improved.
There are many valuable tracts unreclaimed in the
lower valleys, and much land of moderate value on
the sides of the mountains. Our sons of the mist
might here see their Grampians and Cheviots
swelling out of a better soil, and smiling under a
purer heaven. They would find too a race, of
industry and intelligence equal or superior to their
own, and animated with a spirit of independence
that they might imbibe with advantage. *

European emigrants are, perhaps, given to roam
too far into the interior of this continent. The
older states have still sufficient of vacant lands to
settle down multitudes, and, as I have before
remarked, men have usually many things to learn
when they arrive in this country. The American
enters the western wilderness skilled to vanquish
all ditlicultics ; and understanding to train his
children in the love of their country, founded upon
a knowledge of its history, and an appreciation of

* Tliere is one Scotch settlement in Vermont in a very
flourishing condition, and, I believe, stragglers continue occa-
oionallv to join it.

STATE OF VERMONT.

281

its institutions, lie is fitted to form tlie advanced
guard of civilization ; the foreigner, in general,
will be better placed in the main body, where he
may himself receive instructions, and imbibe feel-
ings suited to his newly-assumed character as a
citizen of a republic.

j* ^■

fit
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Hii

G82

LETTER XVTII.

I ^:

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DIRECTION OF AMERICAN GENIUS. rOUNDERH OF TUl?

AJIERICAN RKPUDLICS. ESTAULUUIMENT OF THE FE-
DERAL GOVERNMENT.

Wliitcliousc, New- Jersey, Dec. 1819.
MY DEAR FRIEND,

I REGRET that tlie circumstances which constrained
us to cut short our journey througli the eastern
states, have also ])revente(l me, ibr some time j)ast,
from writing with my usual punctuahty. * *

With this short sunuuary, you must allow me to
pass over the remainder of our tour, and come at
once to the suhject of your letter, now before me.
1 will do my best to reply to * * *'s enquiries, not
pretending, however, to give a better solution of
them than I a])prehend otheis may have given
before.

It hct: \:qcu common of late years to summon the
literature of America to the Eurojiean bar, anil to
pass a verdict against American wit and American
science. More liberal foreigners, in alluding to
the paucity of standing American works in prose
or rhyme, are wont to ascribe it to the infant state
of society in this country; others read this explan-
ation, I incline to think at least, without affixing a
just meaning to the words. Is it not commonly

■ m

DIRECTION OF AMERICAN GENIUS.

!28y

received in England, that the American nation is
in a <nvi of middle state between barbarism and
refinement ? I remember, that, on coming to tliis
country, I liad myself but a very confused notion
of the people that [ was to find in it; sometimes
they had been depicted to me as a tribe of wilil
colts, chewing the bit just })ut into their mouths,
and fretting under the curb of law, carelessly ad-
ministered, and yet too strict withal for their
untamed spirits ; at other times I understood them
to be a race of shrewd artificers, speculating mer-
chants, and plodding farmers, with just enough
of manners to growl an answer when questioned,
and enough of learning to read a newspaper, drive
a hard bargain, keep accounts, and reason phleg-
matically upon the advantages of free trade and
popular government. These portraits appeared to
me to have few features of resemblance ; the one
seemed nearly to image out a Dutchman, and the
other a wild Arab. To conceive the two cha-
racters combined were not very possible; I looked
at both, and could make nothing of either.

The history of this people seemed to declare that
they were brave, high-minded, and animated with
the soul of Hberty ; their institutions, that they
were enlightened ; tiieir laws, that they were
humane; and their policy, that they were peaceful,
and kept good faith; but I was told that they were
none of these. Judge a man by his icor/cs, it is
said ; but to judge a nation by its works was no
adage, and, I was taught, was quite ridiculous.
To judge a nation by tiie reports of its enemies,
how'^ver, seemed equally ridiculous j so I deter-

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DIIIECTION OF AMERICAN GENIUS.

iff

I] ,'

I ,

mined not to jiitlge at all, but to land in the
country without kno\vin<r any thing about it, and
wait until it should speak for itself. The impres-
sions that I have received, I have occasionally at-
tempted to impart to you ; they were such at first
as greatly to surprise me, for it is scarcely possible
to keep the mind unbiassed by current reports,
however contradictory their nature, and however
intent we may be to let them pass unheeded.

There is little here that bespeaks the infancy of
society in the sense that foreigners usually suppose
it applicable ; the simple morals, more equalized
fortunes, and more domestic habits and attach-
ments, generally found in this country, as com-
pared with Europe, doubtless bespeak a nation
young in luxuiy; but do they bespeak a nation
young in knowledge? It would say little for know-
ledge were this the case.

It is true that authorship is not yet a trade in
this country ; perhaps for the poor it is a poor
trade every where j and could men do better, they
might seldom take to it as a profession j but, how-
ever this may be, many causes have operated
liitherto, and some perhaps may always continue to
operate, to prevent American genius from showing
itself in works of imagination, or of arduous liter-
ary labor. As yet, we must remember, that the
country itself is not half a century old. The
generation is barely passed away whose energies
were engrossed by a struggle for existence. To
the harassing \var of tlie revolution, succeeded the
labors of establisliing the national government, and
of rc-organizing that of the several states j and it

II |:

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DHIECTION 01' AMi:iUCAN (iLNIUS.

L'S.;

must be reinenihered that, in America, neither wiir
nor legislation is the occupation of a body of men,
but of the whole conun unity ; it occupies every
liead and every heart, rouses the whole energy, anil
absorbs the whole genius of the nation.

The establishment of" the Federal Government
was not the work of a tlay ; even after its con-
ception and adoption, a thousand clashing opinions
were to be combated. The war of the j)en suc-
ceeded to that of the sword, and the shock of
political parties to that of hostile armies j the
struggle continued through the whole of that admi-
nistration denominated Federal. After the election
of Mr. Jefferson, it revived for a moment with re-
doubled violence ; and though this was but the
flickering of the flame in the socket, it engaged
the attention of the whole people, and contiimed
to do so until Uie breaking out of the second war ;
which, in its progress, cemented all parties, and, in
its issue, establi.-.hed the national independence,
and perfected the civil union. It is but four years,
therefore, that the public mind has been at rest ;
nay, it is only so long that the United States can
be said to have enjoyed an acknowledged national
existence.

It was the last war, so little regarded in Europe,
but so all-important to America, that fixed the
character of this country, and raised it to the place
which it now holds among the nations of the
world. Am I mistaken in the belief that Euro-
peans (and I speak here of the best informed)
have hitherto paid but little attention to the in-
ternal history of the United States? When en-
gaged in the revolutionary struggle, they were

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DjRECTioN or a:\ieuican ^jenius.

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rogariled with n momentary sympathy ; tlic fate
of mankind hung uj)on the contest; it was tyranny's
armed legions opposed to liberty's untrained, but
consecrated band ; and the cnhghtened j)atriot of
every clime felt that the issue was to decide the
future destinies oi' the world. The battle being-
fought, this young and distant nation again seemed
to shrink into insignificance ; the whirlwind bad
now turned upon Europe, and all her thinking
heads were employed in poising state against state,
empire against empire, or one tyrant against
another tyrant; while America, removed from the
uproar, was binding up her wounds, and arranging
lier distuibed household. The people of Europe
liad soon well nigh forgotten her existence ; and
their governors only occasionally remembered her,
to tell her that she was not worth regarding. Her
ships were robbed upon the seas, and insulted
in the ports, and from these at length shut out.
She remonstrated to be laughed at ; she resented
the insults, and at last challenged the aggressors,
and was stared at. The ministry which had dared
her to the quarrel, drew carelessly a million from
their treasury, dispatched some detachments from
their fleets and armies, and sat down in quiet ex-
j)ectation, that the American republics were once
again to be transformed into British colonies. A
few more generous politicians occasionally threw
a glance across the ocean, curious to see how
the Herculean infant would once again cope with
the matured strength of a full-grown empire, and
were perhaps scarcely less surprised than the ca-
binet of St. James's by the issue of the rencontre.
If* * * * will study the history of this country

1 1

DIUKCTION' OF AMKIIICAX Ol'NlUS.

'287

'■if

irope
and
. her,
Her
Ued
out.
nted
sors,
ared
roni
rum
cx-
once
A
new
how
with
and
ca-
tre.
[itrv

ho will find it lecm'in:^: xdtJi husiucss. America was
no* asleep during the thirty years that Europe had
forgotten lier ; she was actively emj)!oyc J in her
education ; — in framing and trying systems of go-
vernment ; in eradicating prejudices ; in van-
quishing internal enemies j in re|)lenishing her
treasury; in liqiu'dating her debts; in amending
her laws; in correcting her })oIicy ; in fitting her-
self to enjoy that iilKity which she had purchasctl
with her blood ; — in founding seminaries of learn-
ing ; in facilitating the ^.pread of knowledge ; — to
say nothing of the revival of connnei'ce ; the re-
claiming of wilderness after wilderness ; the faci-
htating of internal navigation ; the doubling and
tri})ling of a poj)ulation trained to exLi.. :..c the
rights of freemen, and to respect institutions
adopted by the voice of their country. Such have
bceli the occu})atioi1s of America. She bears the
works of her genius about her ; we must not seek
them in volumes piled on the shelves of a library.
All her knowledge is put forth in .action ; lives in
her institutions, in her laws ; speaks in l;cr senate ;
acts in her cabinet ; breathes even from the walls
of her cities, and the sides of her ships. Look on
all she has done, on that which she is; .count the
sum of her years ; and then i)ronounce sentence on
her genius. Her politicians arc not ingenious
theorists, but practical statesmen ; her soldiers
have not been conquerors, but jiatriots ; her phi-
]oso})hers not wise reasoners, but wise legislators.
Their country has been and is their field of action ;
every able head and nervous arm is j)ressed into
its service. The foreign world hears nothing of

I f '

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DlllKCTlON OF AMKHICAN' GENIUS.

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llieir exploits, anil reacls none of their lucubrations ;
but their country reaps tlie I'ruits of tlieir wisdom,
and feels the aid of their service ; and it is in the
wealth, the strength, the ])eace, the prosperity, the
j^ood government, and the well-administered laws
of that country that wc must discover and admire
their energy and genius.

In Europe we are a[)t to estimate the general
cultivation of a ])eople by the greater or less
number of their literary characters. Even in that
hemisphere, it is, perhaps, an unfair way ofjudging.
No one would dis[)ute that France is greatly
advanced in knowledge since the era of the
revolution, and yet her literary fame from that
period has been at a stand. The reason is obvious —
that her genius was called from the closet into the
senate and the field ; her historians and poets
were suddenly changed into soldiers and poli-
ticians J her peaceful men of letters became active
citizens, known in their generation by their virtues
or their crimes. Instead of tragedies, sonnets and
tomes of philosophy, they manufactured laws, or
marshalled armies j opposed tyrants, or fell their
victims, or played the tyrant themselves. Engaged
in the war of politics, a nation is little likely to be
visited by the muses ; they are loungers, who
love quiet, and sing in the shade j they come not
upon the field until the battle is long over ; and,
before they celebrate the actions of the dead, the
moss has grown upon their graves. The battle
is now over in America, but it is no more
than over j and it is doubtful, perhaps, whether
her popular government must not always have

DIRECTION OP AiMERICAN GENIUS.

i>89

s, or

their

jaged

I to be

who
not

and,
the

►attle

more
iether

luive

something too bustling in it for the «' gentle nine.**
A youth, conscious of talents, here, sees the broad
way to distinction open before him ; the highest
honors of the republic seem to tempt his ambition,
and the first wish of his heart is to be a statesman.
This secures able servants to the commonwealth,
and quickens the energy and intelligence of the
whole people ; but it causes all their talent to be
put forth in the business of the day, and thus rather
tends to impart dignity to the country, than to
procure immortality to individuals. Those Ameri-
cans who have been known in Europe as authors,
have been better known in their own country as
active citizens of the republic ; nor docs my
memory at this moment furnish me with more
than two exceptions to this rule. * The able
political writers of the revolution, and of the busy
years succeeding it, were all soldiers or statesmen,
who with difficulty snatched a moment from the
active duties which their country devolved upon
them, to enlighten their fellow-citizens upon
points of vital national importance. Barlow,
known only in England as the author of the Co-
lumbiad, was a diplomatist, and an able political
writer. The venerable Dwight was here held in
honor, not as the author of " The Conquest of
Canaan,** but as the patron of learning; the

♦ Brown, the author of the well-known novels, Arthur
Mervyn, Wieland, &c. and Mr. Washington Irvine. When the
latter left his country to visit Europe, he was too young to have
been known in any other character than that of an author.
The elegant work of this gentleman, entitled " The Sketch-
Book,'' is equally admired on both sides of the Atlantic,

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IOUM)Ln.> OF THE

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assiiluoiis m>triu:toi of youtli, anil a popular anil
CMirgetic writer of" the ilay. I coiilil in tlie same
way des.Tnate many living' characteis vvliose
masterly abilities have been telt in the cabinets ol
Kuro[)e, and which here are felt in e\ cry department
of the civil government, and in all the civic j)ro-
fcssions. These men, who, in other conntries,
would have cnlaiged the lieltl of the national
literature, here quicken the pulse of the national
pros[)erity ; eloquent in the senate, able in the
cabinet, they (ill the highest offices of the republic,
and are repaid for their arduous and unceasing
labors by the esteem of their fellow-citizens, and
the growing strength of their country.

No nation has, perhaps, ever produced, in the
same term of years, more high-minded patriots
and able statesmen than the American. Who
laid the foundation of these republics ? Not robbers
and bandits, as some of our ministerial journals
would persuade their readers, but the wisest
citizens of the wisest country then existing on the
globe. The father of Virginia was an English
liero, w ho might adorn a tale of chivalry ; a knight
errant, who hunted honour through the world, and
came at last, in the pure love of liberty and daring
adventure, to found a colony in the American
wilderness. * The fathers of Maryland were
sages and philanthropists, who placed freedom of
conscience before the privileges of birth, or the
enjoyments of luxury, ■ — English noblemen, whose
birth was their poorest distinction, who taught

'* Captain John Smith.

AMLRICAN HKrUllI.IC.

'J\)l

UK'
,()SC

sot
lent
pro-
rios,
lonal
ional
the
iblic,
asing
, and

religious unci political equality iii an aj^e wlien hotli
were imknowu, ami raised an asylum in this
distant world for tlu persecutetl of every sect and
every clime. * The fathers of New En«>land were
the Hamjjdens of Biitain, who came to enjoy
liberty, ami serve tl"Mr austere (jod, amon*:^ savage
beasts, and yet more savage men, bearing all
things ratiier than the frowns of tyranny, and the
jurisdiction of hierarchs. Among them were men
of erudition and of opinions before their age.
The venerable Roger Williams, (an advocate of
religious as well as civil liberty,) promulgated
princi})les whicii were afterwards abetted by Milton
and Locke, t Oglethorpe, the fiither of Georgia,
united the characters of a soldier, a legislator, a
statesman, and a philanthropist. In bis youth, he

ngi

* George aiul Cecilius Culvert, the Lords lialtiniorc, and
Leonard Calvert, brother of Cecilius. This distinguished
family "as attached to the church of llotne. While all the
European nations, and, more or less, the other American colo-
nists, were harassing each other for their differing opinions,
a Koman Catholic promulgated the doctrine, not of religious
toleration but, religious equality. The Puritans, under the reign
of Cromwell, first disturbed the peace of the infant Maryland,
but it was not till after the English revolution, that her wise and
philanthropic institutions were broken down by a royal decree.
William the Third finally annihilated Catholic ascenden'-y in
England, and established Protestant ascendency in Irel A and
Maryland : 1688 was a happy year for only one portion of the
British Empire.

f A comparison between the Rhode Island Charter and the
Constitution presented to Carolina by Locke, would lead us to
pronounce Roger Williams a more sapient legislator than his
more distinguished disciple

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292

FOUNDERS OF THE

ri^

learned the art of war from prince Eugene ; in his
niaturer years, he supported in the British parlia-
ment the interests of his country, and the claims of
humanity. He was the leader of

" the generous band
Who, touch'd with human woe, redressive search'd
Into the horrors of the gloomy jail." *

Thomson's Winter, line 350.

Pennsylvania wears the name of her sage. In fact
there is not one of the states whose foundations
were not laid by the hands of freemen, and men
wise in their generations. The political revolutions
of England continued to throw into them many of
her best and bravest citizens ; many too of gentle
birth and refined manners. The revocation of the
edict of Nantz sent to them some of the most en-
lightened and virtuous sons of France ; similar
pohcy, many of the noblest sons of Ireland. From

* In th€ forty-fifth year of his age, General Oglethorpe
placed himself at the head of a crowd of poor sufferers, and
embarked for the American wilderness. Having, by his wisdom
and valor, secured the first settlers from intestine commotions
and foreign enemies, he returned to England. At the break-
ing out of the revolutionary war, the command of the British
army was tendered to him, as to the oldest officer in the service.
** I will undertake the business without a man or ship of war,''
was the reply of the veteran to the minister, " provided you
will authorize me to assure the colonists on my arrival among
them, " that you will do them justice." The infant Georgia was
animated with the soul of her founder ; her handful of patriots
(the whole population was within fifty thousand) joined the
league and unfurled the standard of independence. The
venerable Oglethorpe saw the colony that he had planted
raised into a free republic, heard the independence of America
acknowledged, and died at the advanced age of ninety-six.

AMERICAN REPUBLIC.

293

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the loins of snch exiles proceeded the heroes of the
revolution. Until the very period of the quarrel
which raised America to the rank of an independ-
ent nation, many of England's most distinguished
families camr to establish their penates in the New
World, either from a spirit of adventure, or it-
tracted by the superior beauty of the climate and
the frank and hospitable character of the people.
We find among others, the representative of the
noble house of Fairfax foregoing the baronial ho-
nors of his native land for the liberty and simpli-
city of America j laying down his title, and estab-
lishing himself in patriarchal magnificence in Vir-
ginia ; abetting, in his old age, the caUse of liberty ;
and wearing the simple and freely bestowed digni-
ties of a republic, in lieu of the proud titles of an
aristocracy. *

But while America was thus sought by en-
lightened individuals, the parliamentary speeches
and pamphlets of the time show how little was
known by the English community of the character

and condition of the colonists. Because the go-
vernment had chosen at one time to make Virginia
a Botany-Bay, an insult which tended not a little

* See Wood's Scotch Peerage for a short but interesting
account of Thomas the sixth Lord Fairfax, The present
representative of this noble house also prefers the character oC
an American citizen to that of an English nobleman. There
might be as much calculation in this as philosophy, for after
all, it is preferring a sceptre to a coronet. The American
citizen has no superior, and is one of a race of sovereigns ; the
European Baron has many superiors, and is one of a race of
subjects.

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291

FOUNDERS OF THE

' *

J..

to prepare her for the revolution, tlie country of
Franklin, Washington, Patrick Henry, Jefferson,
Sciniyler, Gates, Greene, Allen, Dickenson, Lau-
rens, Livingston, Hamilton, Jay, Rush, Adams,
Ritten house, Madison, Monroe, and a thousand
other high-minded gentlemen, sohliers, orators,
sages, and statesmen, was accounted a hive of pick-
pockets and illiterate hinds ! Never was a national
revolution conducted by greater men ; by men
more magnanimous, more self-devoted, and more
maturely wise : and these men, too, were not selt-
elected, nor raised by chance to pilo]; the vessel of
the state ; they were called by the free voices of
their fellow-citizens to fill the various posts most
suited to their genius. The people were as dis-
criminating as their servants were able ; not an
illiterate multitude, hurried by a few popular
orators or generous heroes into actions abeve them-
selves ; they were a well-informed and well- organ-
ized community, animated with the feeling of
liberty, but understanding the duties of citizens,
and the nature and end of civil government.

As colonies, the American states had, for the
most part, lived under constitutions as essentially
democratic as those of the present day ; the chief
difference was, that they were engaged in conti-
nual struggles to support them. In their first
infancy, their future destiny was little foreseen :
the patents carelessly granted to the early settlers
of New England, involved rights which the ar-
bitrary monarchs who signed them had never
dreamed of; but of this remissness they very
speedily repented.

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AMERICAN REPUBLIC.

295

The colonial history of America would be alone
sufficient to stamp the cliaracter of the Stuart
kings : not content with torturing the consciences
and outraging the rights of tlie English people in
their own island, we find them hunting the patriots
whom thefr tyranny had made exiles even in the
howling wilderness of the new world ; as if deter-
mined that a freeman should not live on the whole
surface of the globe. One might pause to smile at
the contradictory acts of Charles II., at once a
thoughtless voluptuary and a rapacious tyrant, had
they sported with matters of less value than tiie
rights and happiness of mankind. This s|)oilcd
child of power carelessly set his hand to the noblest
charters ever accorded by a king to a people, and
then waged an eternal war with a peaceful and
far-distant handful of freemen who determined to
abide by -them. * The hard contest in which the
young colonies were unceasingly Engaged with the
successive raonarchs and varying administrations
of the mother-country, sharpened the wits of their
people. Occasionally their charters were broken
down by force ; but never was a I'ractioa of their
liberties yielded up by themselves, or stolen from
them without their knowledge ; they struggled
and bled for every right which fell ; to die by tJtc
hands of others rather than by their oectz was the
early motto of this people ; nor, perhaps, could

* The present of a curious ring from Winthrop, the enlight-
ened father of Massachussets, is said to have won the royal
signature to the democratic charter of Connecticut.

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ESTABLISHMENT OF THE

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one have been imagined more calculated to render
them invincible.

What is most worthy of admiration in the his-
tory of America, is not merely the spirit of liberty
which has ever animated her people, but their
perfect acquaintance with the science of govern-
ment, which has ever saved that spirit from prey-
ing on itself. The sages who laid the foundation
of her greatness, possessed at once the pride of
freemen, and the knowledge of English freemen ;
in building the edifice, they knew how to lay the
foundation ; in preserving untouched the rights of
each individual, they knew how to prevent his
attacking those of his neighbour : they brought
with them the experience of the best governed
nation then existing; and, having felt in their own
persons the errors inherent in that constitution,
which had enlightened, but only partly protected
them, they knew what to shun as well as what to
imitate in the new models which they here cast,
leisurely and sagely, in a new and remote world.
Thus possessed from the beginning of free institu-
tions, or else continually occupied in procuring or
defending them, the colonies were well prepared
to assume the character of independent states.
There was less of an experiment in this than their
enemies supposed. * Nothing, indeed, can explain

• Mr. Burke, who seems to have possessed a more thorough
acquaintance with the institutions and character of the colonists
than any other British statesman, insisted much on " the form
of their provincial legislative assemblies," when tracing the
consequences likely to result from the oppressive acts of the
parliament. " Their governments," observed this orator^ " are

rough
onists
form
g the
)f the

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

297

are

the obstinacy of the English ministry at the com-
mencement of the revohitionary struggle, but the
supposition, that they were wholly ignorant of the
history of the people to whom they were opposed.
May I be forgiven the observation, that the en-
quiries of * * * * have led me into the belief,
that some candid and well-informed English gen-
tlemen of the present day, have almost as little
acquaintance with it as had Lord North.

Respecting the revolution itself^ the interest of
its military history is such as to fix the attention of
the most thoughtless readers ; but in this, foreign-
ers sometimes appear to imagine, was expended the
whole virtue of America. That a ' country who
could put forth so much energy, magnanimity, and
wisdom, as appeared in that struggle, should sud-
denly lose a claim to all these qualities, would be
no less surprising than humiliating. If we glance
at the civil history of these republics since the era
of their independence, do we find no traces of the
same character ? Were we to consider only the
national institutions, the mild and impartial laws,
the full establishment of the rights of conscience,
the multiplication of schools and colleges to an
extent unknown in any other country of the
world, and all those improvements in every branch

popular in a high degree ; some are merely popular ; in all,
the popular representative is the most weighty ; and this share
of the people, in their ordinary government, never fails to in-
spire them with lofty sentiments, and with a strong aversion
from whatever tends to deprive them of their chief importance."

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ESTABLISHMKNT OF THE

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of internal policy which have placed this people
in their present state of" peace and unrivalled pros-
perity, we must allow tliem to be not only wise
to their interests, but alive to the pleas of hu-
manity : but there are not wanting instances of a
yet more liberal policy.

How seldom is it that history affords us the ex-
ample of a voluntary sacrifice on the part of sepa-
rate communities to further the com^non good ! It
appears to me that the short history of America fur-
nishes us with more examples of this kind, than that
of any other nation, ancient or modern. Through-
out the war of the revolution, and for some years
preceding it, the public feeling may be said to have
been unusually excited. At such times, men, and
societies of men, are equal to actions beyond the
strength of their virtue at cooler moments. Pass-
ing on, therefore, to the peace of 11S3, we find a
number of independent republics gradually recon-
ciling their separate and clashing interests ; each
yielding something to promote thetidvantage of all,
and sinking the pride of individual sovereignty in
th' t of the united whole. The remarks made by
Ramsay on the adoption of the federal constitution
are so apposite that I cannot resist quoting them.

** The adoption of this constitution was a triumph
*« of virtue and good sense over the vices and
" follies of human nature ; in some respects, the
** merit of it is greater than that of the declare
" ation of independence. The worst of men can
" be urged on to make a spirited resistance to
" invasions of their rights j but higher grades

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FEDERAL GOVEllNMENT.

290

** of virtue are requisite to iucluce freemeu, in the
** possession of a limited sovereignty, voluntarily
" to surrender a portion of their natural liherties;
" to impose on themselves those restraints of good
" government which bridle the ferocity of man,
" compel him to respect the claims of others, and
" to submit his rights and his wiongs to.be decided
" upon by the voices of his fellov/citizens. The
** instances of nations which have vindicated their
*• liberty by the sword, are many ; of those which
" have made a good use of their liberty wlieu ac-
" quired, are comparatively few."

Nor did the liberality of these republics evince
itself only in the adoption of the general govern-
ment; we find some making voluntary concessions
of vast territories, that they might be devoted to
national purposes : others releasing part of their
own people from existing engagements, and leaving
them to consult their wishes and convenience by
forming themselves into new communities.

Should we contrast this policy with that em-
ployed by other nations, we might hastily |)ronounce
this people to be singularly fr.ee from the ordinarv
passions of humanity ; but, no; they are only sin-
gularly enlightened in the art of government .
they have learned that the i is no strength without
union ; no union without good fellowship ; and no
good fellowship without fair dealing : and having
learned this, they are only singularly fortunate in
being able to reduce their knowledge to practice.

With these loose observations, I must conclude
this letter. When leisure permits me, I will endeavor

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300

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

to reply to your enquiries upon the present state of
parties and tone of the public feeling. To make
this intelligible, it may be necessary to take a
hasty review of the national administration since
the establishment of the federal government.

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301

k:'0-')

LETTER XIX.

.. .1

ON THE FEDERAL ADMINISTRATIONS. — MR. JEFKERSON. -—

CAUSES OF THE LAST WAR. REGULATIONS OF THE

NAVY AND MERCHANTMEN, EFFECTS OF THESE ON

THE sailor's CHARACTER. ANECDOTE. DEFENCE OF

THE COUNTRY. HOW CONDUCTED BY THE PEOPLE.

ARMY OF THE WEST. POLICY OF THE NEW-ENGLAND

STATES. — EFFECT OF THE WAR ON THE NATIONAL CHA-
RACTER.

New York, January, 1820.
MY DEAR FRIEND,

The liistory of the Federal party, which, after a
short reign and a struggle of some years, drew its
last breath in the Hartford convention, is now
chiefly worth recalling as an evidence of the ease
with which the machinery of this government is
moved. A complete revolution of parties, ef-
fected by the quiet exertion of a free elective
franchise, is a novelty in the history of nations.
That extreme of liberty from which so much mis-
chief had been foretold by those who, in argument,
were wont to confound the American with the
Greek democracies, (two forms of government, hav-
ing as much in common as those of China and
England,) was here proved to be the safe-guard of
the public peace. What temptation have men to
employ the sword who can effect what they want
by a word ? There must be a power to resist ^re
violence can be attempted j this power is wanting
in America.

Party names are seldom significant of party priii-

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302

rOMIK AL I'AllTIF.S.

ciples; l)iif, peiliaps, no names were ever less so than
those i)i' Fcclcraiiwnl Anti-Jcflcrah as once known in
this country ; the absurdity of the hitter vyas soon
tacitly acknowledged eyen by their opponents; and
with this tacit acknowledgement ended their own
power. When the Federal stooil oj)j)osed to the
Democrat J it was the government opposed to the
people — the shadow against the substance.

It is not my intention to enter into a dull ex-
position of parties now extinct j I would only
remark that, in the gradual decay of the Federal
opposition, we may trace the gradual formation of
a national character. I remember an observation
you once repeated to me as having been made l)y
one of the enlightened veterans of the revolution.
** I want our people to be neither French nor
English, Federals nor Democrats ; — / want them
to be Americans.** And Americans they now are.
The present generation have grown up under their
own national institutions ; these are now sacred
in their e3^es, not from the mere bea-jty of those
principles of abstract justice upon which they are
founded, but from the tried experience of their
wisdom ; they now understand all the movements
o^ the sublime but simple machinery of their
government ; they have learned not to fear either
its strength or its weakness ; both have been
proved. If danger threatens the state, it can
rouse the whole energy of the nation ; if it en-
croaches on the liberties of that nation, it is
stopped with a touch.

The establishment of the Federal Constitution
was an era in the history of man. It was an expe-
riment never before made 5 and one upon which

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WASHINOTOX AND HAMILTON*

:}li

llie til)crti(\s of a nation, perhaps of a woiKi, le
pendod. Jt was natural, therefore, that al ' miM
rc^iin\ it with anxiety, and some be doubtful of its
resuhs. While the people vve--^ yet apprehensive
lest they might have delegated loo much power to
the new government, it was most singularly for-
timate that tlie man existed whose integrity was no
less tried than his name was j)0pular. How various
soever the clashing interests and opinions of the
day, the name of the first president was always a
rallying point of union ; even those most inimical
to the administration, bore testimony to the virtues
of Washington ; and perhaps nothing speaks better
for the hearts and heads of the American people,
than the unanimous re-election ot" (hat venerable
patriot, at the same time that the ranks of the op-
position to the measures of the government were
daily thickening.

This opposition, as you may remember, was
mainly pointed at the system of finance introduced
by the secretary Hamilton. The measures of that
able statesman restored the credit of the nation,
revived commerce, invigorated agriculture, and
created a revenue. Some thought, however, that
they did too much ; tending so to strengthen the
government, as to make it approximate ni some
measure to that of England. However idle these
fears may now seem, they were natural at the timej
having just set the engine of government at work,
the people were startled at its power, and could
scarcely believe that their breath, which had set it
in motion, could check it as instantaneously.

It is possible that some desire existed on the part
of the earlier administrations to strain to ':Iie ut-

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FKDI.IUJ. STATKSMKN.

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most the powers ilclcgated to them ; there seemetl
even to be a necessity for this ; the pohtical nia-
cin ne had been so sliakcn during tlie protracted
war of the revohition, that it demanded nervous as
well as skilful hands to arrange all its parts, and
set all its wheels in play. The vigor of Hamilton
and the prudence of Washington seemed well to
balance each other ; they established an efficient
government at home, and commanded respect from
abroad. Whatever might be the political opinions
of the former, whether purely republican, or lean-
ing, as was suspected, towards aristocracy, it was
soon universally acknowledged, that ids measures
had promoted the prosperity and lasting interests
of his country. We may observe, indeed, that
there is one peculiar excellence in the American
constitution — that while an able statesman has it
in his power to promote the public good, he must
ever find it difficult to work public mischief; he
cannot work for himself, or for a part of the com-
munity, he must work for the whole, or give up
working at all» This was made apparent at the
ejection of the federal party under the admini-
stration of Mr. Adams.

The federal, or, to speak more properly, the high
government party, comprised many pure patriots
and able statesmen. Their errors were those of
judgment, we may say of education. They were
born under a different system of things from that
which arose out of the revolution which they had
assisted to guide. Some lingering prejudices might
naturally cling to the minds, ai.d influence the
feelings of men who, in their youth, had looked
with admiration to the political experien'^'' as well

v,^^,

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AMF.niCAN TOniRS.

'^05

Imini-

high
itriots
>se of

were
that
ky had
jmight
'e the
looked
IS well

as the science, of Kurope. It needed to be a
plnlosoplier as well as a statesman, to foresee how,
out of the simple elements of a fair representative
government, oriler migiit grow out of chaos, anil a
people guide themselves, evenly and calmly, with-
out the check of any controlling power, other than
that admiui tcred by the collision of their own in-
terests balanced against each other. *

To these leading statesmen, whose public ser-
vices had been such as to ensure the respect, and
consequently the voices, of their fellow-citizens,
even while their opinions were understood to be in
some things at variance with those of the majority,
a party gradually attached themselves, by no means
inconsiderable in numbers, and possessing the in-
fluence of superior wealth. This influence, how-
ever, was more ap})arent than real, and probably
eftected the ruin of the party which admitted its
support.

The American revolution, though conducted
with an unanimity unexampled in the history ol"
nations, was not wholly without enemies, declared
as well as secret. The state of New York, parti-
cularly, was encumbered with a powerful band of
Tories; who, enjoying under the British govern -

* Among the apologies for the strong government principles
of some of the early American statesn)en, we ought principally
to remark the inconveniences which, during the revolutionary
^truggIe, had so often arisen from the weakness of the central
government. When the articles of confederation were suc-
ceeded by the Jederal constitution, those who had experienced
the defeats of the former system m ght naturally incline to the
error of making the new government sin on the other side.

Note to the second edition.

300

.MR. JEFFEIISON.

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ment high patronage, and places of trust and
enjohiment, and, in many cases, possessing Ijere-
(htary pro})erty, were little disposed to transfer
their loyalty from George III. to their fellow-
citizens, until circumstances should render it
necessary. These circumstances occurred ; and
to make the best of a bad case, they forthwith
attached themselves to the existing powers, and
rauo'inij: themselves on the side of the new adminis-
tratmi, declared themselves sworn friends of tlienew
coiistttutmu This reminds me of the game played
in England, and indeed of the game played by the
Tories everywhere : they are at all times, and in
all places, the exclusively loyal ; and their opposers,
enemies, not to the measures of government, but
to government itself! The game here, however,
was innocent enough ; it was the rattling of the
dice while no stake could be betted on the throw.
In the quiet exercise of their powers, the sovereign
people set all things to rights. The majority
^without doors is here always the majority xciUiin,
The democratic party gained the ascendant, and
Mr. Jeflerson, the framer of the declaration of in-
dependence, the friend and disciple of Franklin, the
able statesman and warm patriot, the enlightened
philosoi)her, and generous friend of the human
race, stood the chief magistrate of the republic.

Mr. Jefferson afJbrds a spleiidiil elucidation of a
remark contained in my last letter, — that the
literary strength of America is absorbed in the
business of the state. Jn early lifie, we find this
distingiushed philosopher and elegant scholar called
from his library into the senate, and from that mo-
ment engaged in the service, and finally charged

'out

lority
Hthin,
and
lot' in-
|n, the
itened
uman
ic.

of a
it the
in the
Id this
[called
It mo-
jarged

MR. JEFFERSON.

307

with the highest offices of the commonwealth.
Had he been born in Europe, he would have
added new treasures to the store of science, and
bequeathed to posterity the researches and gene-
rous conceptions of his well-stored and original
mind, not in hasty " notes," but in tomes compiled
at ease, and framed with that nerve and classic
simplicity which mark tlie ** Declaration" of his
country's ** independence." Born in America,

" The post of honour is a public station ;"

to this therefore was he called ; and from it he
retires, covered with years and honours, to reflect
upon a life well spent, and on the happiness of a
people whose prosperity he did so much to pro-
mote. The fruits of his wisdom are in the laws
of his country, and that country itself will be his
monument.

The elections which raised Mr. Jefterson to the
chief magistracy, brought with them a change
both of men and measures. The most rigid eco-
nomy was carried into every department of govern-
ment ; some useless offices were done away ; the
slender armv was farther reduced ; obnoxious acts,
passed by the former congress, repealed, and the
American constitution administered in all its sim-
plicity and purity.

Of course so complete a revolution of parties
could not take place without some commotion ;
the anger of the fallen minority vented itself in a
paper war; some sounded the tocsin to the re-
ligious, declaring the president a deist ; others, to
the friends of good government, declaring him an

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MR. JEFFERSON AND MR. MADISON-

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anarchist. This truly wise statesman turned a
deaf ear to tlie clamor ; aware that a govern nienl,
whose every act is done in the light of day, whosi-
members dwell among their fellow-citizens, in
whose cars all tiieir words are spoken, and in whose
sight all their measures are conducted, i)as nothing
to fear, save from its own misconduct.

It is curious to see the governments of Europe
encircled with aia\ed legions, and yet trembling
at every squib cast upon them by an unarmed
multitude, while that of America, standing naked
in the midst of an armed nation, counts the breath
of slander like the whisper of the wind, and seeks
no other way of refuting it than by steadily pur-
suing the path of duty, and consulting, in all its
measures, the vital interests of the community.

The policy of Mr. Jefferson, and that of his
venerable successor, Mr. Madison, was so trulv
enlightened and magnanimous, as to form an era
in the history of their country. The violence of
the fallen i)arty vented itself in the most scinrilous
abuse that ever disgraced the free press of a free
countrv : it did more, — it essayed even to raise
the standard of open rebellion to that government
of which it had professed itself the peculiar friend
and stay.* The former administration had Ivad

* Can any thing expose better the absurdity of party names
than the hostiUty of tlie Federalists to Mr. Madison, and tlie
nation who declared him its president ? Mr. Madison, \\\h,
had been the chief assistant in the establishment of the Federal
constitution, who first moved for tlie convention which digested
it, and vmis himself one of the sages who labored in its forma-
tion ! Thus is it in England: the whigs, who procured thu

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POLICY OF EUROPE.

300

\ a

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in

liOSt'

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rope
)Ung
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aked
reath
seeks
pur-
all its

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trulv
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ice oi
riloiis
free
raise
liment
friend
1 Iwd

name*
ind the
in, wild
iFederal
ligestecl
forma-
ired the

recourse to libel laws and legal prosecutions to
repress tlie vehemence of political hostility ; l)ut
these cliief magistrates, with a dignity becoming
their character and station, passed unheeded every
opprobrium cast upon them ; leaving it to the
good sense of the nation, whose unbought voices
had placed them at its head, to blunt the steel of
calumny, and defeat the machinations of disap-
pointed politicians and ambitious incendiaries.
This policy was in the true spirit of the American
constitution, and the result proved that it was in
the true spirit of philosoph} uid good sense.

The unrestrained clan.ois of tlie slen.der minority,
which waxed louder in proportion as it waxed
weaker, betrayed the 'breign enemy into a belief
that the pillars of the union were shaken. If tlicy
were so, it undoubtedly took the best method of
refixing them in their places, when it offered as-
sistance in the work of pulling them asunder. Tiie
foreign enemies of America have often done more
than her internal friends to school her into reason.
The obstinacy of one English ministry forced her
into independence ; the intrigues of anotiier forced
her into union : one taught her to look to her
rights ; another to her interests, and her wounded
honour : both together have made her a nation.

This republic has also been fortunate in having
excited the hostility of all the European govern-
ments generally. Had France continued to favor
her as steadily as England to maltreat her, she

constitution of their country, and whose whole efforts have been
put forth for its protection, are branded as its enemies.

X 3

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310

FRANCE AND ENGLAND.

lU h'

n^ri

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might Iiave admitted idle predilections into lier
councils, and perhaps have taken part in the mad
warfare that has so lately ceased to devastate
Europe from one end to the other.

The neutrality, so wisely maininined by Wash-
ington, with the contending powers of Europe, had
at first met with a vehement opposition in every
part of the union. France, Fayette, and Liberty,
were names that spoke to the heart of every Ame-
rican ; and liad not the Gallican republic been so
soon disgraced by crimes and lollies, even the in-
fluence of Washington might have proved insuf-
ficent to prevent his country from taking part
with a people who had so lately bled in their
cause. The subsequent policy of France rendered
her nearly as obnoxious as her adversary. Be-
tween the British orders in council and the French
imperial decrees, there was little to choose :
America was bandied to and fro, like a shuttle-
cock, between the contending empires ; and if one
struck less hard than the other, it was not that her
intentions were less hostile, but that her hand was
less vigorous.

There was however an insult offered by one of
the parties, which turned the balance against her
yet more decidedly than the forcible interruption
of American trade ; it was the impressment of
American seamen. In considering the long for-
bearance of this government, we scarcely know
whether to admire or to smile at it ; to admire, if
•we look at its good faith, its good cause, and its
just and firm arguments ; and to smile, if we con-
sider these as pleaded in European cabinets. May

V. ■

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CAUSES OF THE WAR.

311

this republic never barter her simplicity for the
cunning policy of older states !

It were painful to review the circumstance
which provoked the young America to throw
down the gauntlet a second time to the most
powerful empire in the world. When she did so,
the odds seemed scarcely less against her than when
she first ranged herself under the standard of Li-
berty : if she had increased in strength, so had
her enemy ; her progress, too, had been all in
the arts of peace, while that of her enemy had
been all in the science of war. The veterans of the
revolution slept with their fathers, or were disabled
by years ; an immense territory, its former extent
more than doubled, its coasts and lines unfortified,
and liarbouring in its populution some secret ene-
mies, and many lukewarm friends*, was suddenly
laid open to the incursions of veteran troo[)s, and
tribes of savage Indians, and the descent of fleets
which had hitherto ruled the ocean without a rival j
all that she could oppose to these was an infant
navy, whose bravery and skill had been proved in
a short but desperate conflict with the pirates of
the Mediterranean, a good cause, and a good
spirit ; *' free trade and sailors' rights.** It was a
war of defence, not of aggression ; a war entered
into by a nation whose citizens had been torn from
under their flag, and that flag insulted on every
sea and in every port.

* During the war, the liberality of the republic seemed to
recoil upon herself; strangers, and, in some cases, naturalized
citizens, received the enemy's gold, and spied out the weakness
of the land that sheltered them.

X 4

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31^2

REGULATIONS OF THE

The aggressions wliich roused the repubhc were
such as singularly to fire the spirit of her seamen.
1 have the authority of mriny of her distinguished
citizens for stating, that th'^re was scarcely a ves-
sel in her navy which did not contain one or more
men who had escaped to their country with infinite
perils, after constrained service of two, four, and
even seven years' duration on board British ships
of war. To this union of personal, or professionil,
with national wrongs, I have commonly heard
ascribed the superhuman bravery which animated
their crew^.*

There are, however, other causes to be found
in the regula^ons of American vessels, alone suf-
ficient to account for the spirit of the navy. Not
a man walks the decks but with a free-will. The
sailor's here is a voluntary engagement, which
binds him only for three years ; and which, in re-
moving him from the shores of his country, does
not remove him from the shield of its laws. On
board a United States' ship, no offender can be
punished at the mere option of a superior officer ;
for small offences, the sailor may be subjected to a
slight punishment by the watch present at the
time of the offence; for greater misdemeanors,
he cannot be so much as tried on board the vessel

* A friend of the author's saw, not long since, the American
Scaevola in his own country, who, after the declaration of war
on the part of the republic, struck off his hand with a hatchet,
and presenting it to the British commander, into whose vessel
he had been pressed some months before, told him, that, if that
was deemed insufficient to disable him from the service of his
country's enemies, and to purchase his liberty, he had a hand
still to strike off afoot*

■^'

AMERICAN NAVY.

SIS

in which thev are committed ; his trial must stand
over until an impartial court can be found, either
in the United States' territories, or a United States'
ship. His commander can then only put him upon
trial, and his companions become witnesses for or
against him. It requires little acquaintance with
our nature to see how the exemption from ar-
bitrary law and corporal punishments, which, in
this country, are in no case allowed, whether in
the army, navy, or elsewhere, must tend to elevate
the character. Assertion, which so often \jsurps
the place of argument, tells us in Europe, that
brutal coercion is necessary to produce naval dis-
cipline. The navy of America affords to this a
simple confutation. A case of mutiny in it is un-
known, desertion as little. The ships evince the
perfection of cleanliness, discipline, activity, and
valor. Their crews, it is true, are formed of a
higher class than are found in the vessels of any
other nation ; men of decent parentage and edu-
cation, free and proud citizens of a country, at
whose expence, if poor, they have been taught to
read her history and understand her laws, with all
the rights that these impart to tuem. These crews,
also, are furnished by volunteers from merchant-
men placed under regulations unknown, I believe,
to the merchantmen of any other nation, and
which afford an easy explanation of that intelli-
gence, dexterity, and good order, which astonish
all foreigners who tread, for the first time, the
deck of an American trader.

Before a vessel can clear out of port, a list is
taken by certain officers, salaried for the purpose,

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311<

KEG UL AT IONS OF THE

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of every livin<^ creature on board of her, pas-
sengers and men. The name, age, &c. of the
latter are preserved, and the captain is held re-
sponsible for every life thus registered. However
long the vessel may be absent, at whatever coun-
try or countries she may touch, her caj)tain is
bound for the support of his men on sea and land,
and, on his return, must either produce them, or
bring with him vouchers, attested by the American
consul, stationed in the foreign port to which he
has traded, that those not produced are dead or
absent by their own will. Should the captain
break his engagements, or treat any man with ca-
pricious severity, he can be placed on trial by the
aggrieved party, in tlie first American port the
vessel enters ; all those on board of the vessel,
being summoned as witnesses.* These reguhi-
tions, enforced with the utmost strictness, place
the men, as it were, under the tutelage of the
captain, obliging him at the same time to be
a fair and gentle guardian. While in foreign
ports, an American captain hedges in his crew,
like a schoolmaster entrusted with the charire
of other men*s children ; well knowing, that if
any secret mischief should befall them, the re-
public will not rest satisfied, unless it be made
apparent how and when it occurred, t In tiiis

* Among the minor regulations are those which provide the
quantity and quality of the ship stores, and apportion tlie
rations of the men. The captain is farther required to have on
board a box of approved medicines, and to understand, in
ordinary cases, to administer them.

•f- An American captain, well known to the author as a man
of singular intelligence, integrity, and humanity, once lost, off

! I

AMERICAN MEUCIIANTMLN.

31.>

manner an unusual security is j^iven for the lives
and morals of tlie sailor, and a dignity imparted

the shores of Lima, his black cook, who suddenly fell down
dead while handing to his - ..jitr a cup of coffee, when alone
writing in the cabin. A young sailor boy, who had entered
with the cook, and then passed into an adjoining cabin, heard
the fall, and ran to the spot, at the call of his master. The
latter summoning his men, after trying, in vain, all the remedies
that occurred to him, noted the death on the log-book, with a
clear statement of the manner in which it had occurred, giving
the same statement to his men, corroborated, so far as was
possible, by the testimony of the boy. There was, at the time,
no trade between the Republic and Lima, and the vessel in
question had only put in to water. There being, therefore, no
consul to appeal to, the captain, with some trouble and expence,
procured and brought on board a Spanish doctor. Showing him
the dead, the American requested him, in the best Spanish
he could command (a language he had learned in his youth, dur-
ing a short residence in South America), to open the body, and
note down in the log-book, in the presence of the ship's crew,
of what the negro had died. Sangrado stared, shook his head,
and gravely pronounced, that the body before him was dead.
No explanations or entreaties could draw forth any other
answer. Had the Spaniard possessed more surgery and pen-
manship, it is doubtful whether he could have been made to
understand the case before him, or brought to comply with the
requisitions. As it was, he ran away. The captain then had
recourse to a convent of priests, and, by a bribe of fifty dollars,
got them to bury his cook, after the Romish fashion, in his
presence, and to attest, in writing, that they had done so. Re-
urning to New York, he stated the matter, and produced his
log-book, and attestations of the Spanish priest. But, though
a known and respected citizen, with good connexions in the
city, his word was not taken as sufficient. All the ship's crew
were examined separately, and the depositions compared with
eacl» other, before the captain was absolved. The captain, in
conversation with the author, gave her part of this story to

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310

EFFECTS or rm-; navai, discu'LInIl.

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to the profession wliicli often allures the sons of
the most respeclahle citizens to serve before the
mast. It is not uncommon even for naval officers
to make their first apprenticeship as sailor-hoys in
merchantmen ; and, from what I liave stated, you
will perceive, that this may here be done without
degradation.

This discipline, practised on board the merchant-
men, and not, as was supposed in England, the
desertion of British sailors, was the magic spell
which called into being the spirited navy of the
republic. A British deserter was never (know
ingly at least) employed throughout the war. It
was absolutely forbidden by law, as well from mo-
tives of humanity, as to avoid disputes with the
enemv. An anecdote occurs to me which well
evinces the strict and even fastidious regard tha*^
was had to this rule.

The frigate Adams (commodore Morris) had
received damage in clearing out of port, and was
in a leaking state, when she captured one of the
enemy's squadron. The capture was left a wreck,
and the prisoners taken on board the Adams, not
in a much better condition. The enemy's squad-
ron in pursuit, and the ship foundering, one of
two evils was in the option of the Americans ; of
course they ])referred the drowning, and deter-
mined to make what sail they could for their

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elucidate the ignorance of the old Spaniards in South America ;
but, as it struck her as curious on other accounts, she drew
from him the particulars here given.

-u CI

ANEcnoii;.

(U7

country ; it seemetl luuil, liovvever, to contlemti
llioac whose lioTioiii" was not engaged in the att'air
to drown with tlicni ; delay was dangerous, but
British around not beinu tar otil the commodore
determined first to make for it, and [)ut out the
prisoners.

Tiiere chanced among the strangers to be an
Irishman, a thorough Puddjj in every tiling. The
captain, liearing a noise before the mast, went to
enquire into tiie cause, and (bund the Irishman
drunk', and quarrelling with iiis companions. The
captain took him by the shoulders, and locked
him up below. An hour or two afterwards he
went to seek his prisoner, and, finding him sobered,
restored him to liberty, warning him, in future, to
abstain from wliiskey and swearing. The good
promises of Paddy were not put to a long trial.
The ship neared the shore of Nova Scotia, and
the prisoners were put of]' in the boats, witli pro-
visions, and directions to make their way along the
beach to a neighbouring town. The captain,
perambulating the deck while the boats were
making for the land, descried a figure sliunning his
eye, and dodging him behind the masts. " Why,
Paddy !'* cried the captain, ** is that you ?" " Ay,
if it 2)lase your honour^ just to let me drown with
you," The captain explained, that this termin-
ation was more inevitable than he was, perhaps,
aware of, and ordered him kindly into the return-
boat. The Irishman was obstinate; if the ship
was leaky, he argued, more need of hands to work
the pumps ; and if the enemy should overtake
them, still the more hands the better ; and, as lot

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JIS

DEFFA'Ci: OF TIIF llFrUHLIC,

liimsoir, l\e pledged his woril to fight hke the ilc\ il.
** Yes, and then be haunted to the yard-arm, Paddy,
when }oirre tiken prisoner; no, my good fellow,
you must e'en to the shore." lie was forced by
the men into the boat ; a few minutes afterwards,
a shout from the water attracted the attention of
theca|)tain. l*addy was in the sea, swimming
to the ship, and the boat rowing after him. ** My
heart never so smote me in my life,*' said the
intelligent seaman, who told me the story, " as it
did when I refused him atimittance, and saw him
forcibly carried to the shore ; 1, for one, would have
let him drown with us ; but the enemy was in our
rear, his tongue would have declared him a de-
serter, and, at any rate, we should have broken
through our laws."

To return from these digressions. A vigorous
navy was soon formed ; an army was not so eaf.y.
The first difiicnlty was the sudden defalcation of
the revenue, which, for many years past, had been
wholly dependent upon a prosperous commerce.
Internal taxation is seldom popular any where, but
least of all in a democracy ; and here its rulers
appear to have been unwilling to have had re-
course to measures which might have checked the
enthusiasm of the nation. They have been blamed
for this, but, perhaps, unwisely. In considering
the constituent elements of this singular republic,
one is led to think, that there was more foresight
than rashness in leaving her to rouse herself
pretty much ?fter her own manner.

When hostilities commenced, the American navy

IIDW CiJ.VUDCIl I).

•Mi*

Ciniiprisi'tl ten lli^ates aiKl a Imiulicil and odd j^tii-
boats, atui the army tluit}-li\t^ tlk)ii.iand intn, lias-
tily ori^anized, ami oMiccTod, wit!) few exceptions,
by men knowing- about as miicij ol' military science
as tliose tliey were appointed toconimand. It was
natural, that careless observers should smile or
tremble, aocordini;; to their lunnor, at such an out-
set. Hut those acquainted with the character and
hidden resources of tlie republic, coidd well fore-
see how one wouhl ilraw forth the other. A few
months, and the trees of her forests Hoatetl on the
ocean, manned with hearts of flame worthy of their
cause and their English ancestry. 'I'he exertions
of the great maritime cities, as well as of indi-
viduals, greatly assisted those of the government.
As the war advanced, privateers, matchless as
sailors, and manned with spirited citizens, who
tbrsook their usual occupations and civic profes-
sions, swarmed in every sea. These privateers,
though private property, were ranked in the na-
tional navy, and placed under the same regulations.
In the land service, the people had to serve a
longer apprenticeship. To fill the ranks of a regu-
lar army was found impracticable. Although the
citizen was asked only to enlist for tv/o years, and
this with high pay, it was scarcely possible to fill
up a regiment. Volunteers were to be had in mul-
titudes, and militia was ready every where ; but to
fight for hire is here held in a contempt and abhor-
rence, which no inducements can vanquish. The
government doubled the pay — still with no better
success. It was necessary, therefore, to trust the

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520

DEFENCE OF IIIE REPUBLIC,

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defence of tlie country pretty much to the citizens
themselves. They conducted it, as might be ex-
pected, with a great deal of folly, a great deal of
rashness, and a great deal of heroism.

A raw militia makes a curious army; — sometimes
brave to desperation, sometimes timid as a flock
of geese, and in both cases wilful as a troop of"
school-boys. It is impossible to help smiling at
• some of the occurrences in the first campaign.
An unpleasing order from the general, a popular
officer superseded in the command, a march of
unusual fatigue, and — everi/ man to his tents, Oh^
Israel! At one time we find the general going
one way, and the troops, or more properly the
multitude, absolutely going the other. Orders,
entreaties — all alike in vain ; the horsemen wheel-
ing right-about in the wilderness, and trotting away
home, with their angry officer, no longer at their
head, but their heels, bringing up the rear. * At
another time, we find troops and general at a sudden
stand for want of the common munitions of
war; their swords and pistols being still in Phila-
delphia, while they themselves were at the northern
frontier.

But with all this deficiency of discipline, conduct,
and skill, even the first opening of the war affords
instances of spirited and successful bravery. In-

* During a harassing warfare witli the Indians, in the Indiana
and Illinois wilderness, General Harrison could presume no
i'oxihcr i\nm io make prnpositions to his Kentucky volunteers ;
and closed the cxpedi ion with a polite request, that he might
be permitted to dictate their course to them ^M^^ybr one day.

SPIRIT OF THE WEST.

.3^21

deed tlic fault usually lay more in want of skill, than
want of valor; and it is truly wonderful to consider,
liow rapidly the high-spirited and wilful multitude
were tamed, or rather tamed themselves, into sub-
ordination.

Throughout the contest, the young states of the
west furnished the most generous assistance to the
confederacy. Nursed under the wings of repub-
lican liberty, removed from the luxuries of cities,
and exposed to continual harassment from their
savage neighbors, the aborigines, their character is
very peculiarly marked for ardor, disinterested pa-
triotism, determined courage, and a certain chi-
valric spirit of enterprise and generosity, which
perhaps has not its equal on the globe. The in.
dignities offered to the nation had roused the pride
of this people for some years previous to the de-
claration of war. Kentucky particularly had or-
ganized ten regiments of volunteers, comprising
upwards of five thousand men, and at the first
opening of hostilities, the enthusiasm of this com-
monwealth was wrought so high, that the autho-
rity of the executive seemed necessary to prevent
the whole male population of the state from turning
out as soldiers. The women shared the patriotism
of the men, vying with each other in repressing
their tears, and actually buckling on the swords
and cartridges, and arming the hands of their sons
and husbands. The neighboring state of Ohio,
the infant territory (now state) of Indiana, and
indeed the whole western region, was animated
with the same spirit. To the more organized re-
giments, fiunished by these states, the wanderers

111

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322

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ARMY OF THE WEST.

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of tlie frontier joined themselves almost to a man.
Trained from their infancy to the use of the riHe,
and all the perils of a hunter's life ; — marksmen
who, in hitting a bird on the wing, can say with
the adventurous bowman to Philip of Macedon,
To the right eye ; horsemen who can ride untircd
through swamp and forest swimming rivers and
leaping bogs, like the old moss-troopers of the
Scotch borders ; the inhabitants of the western
frontier were peculiarly fitted to carry through with
spirit the harassing war with which their country
was threatened.

To the west of the Alleghanies, to draft the
militia had been a work of supererogation ; all the
demands of the Republic were answered, and more
than answered by volunteers. In fearlessness and
enterprise this army of patriots was unrivalled, but
discipline was only to be learned in the school of
adversity. It is doubtful, indeed, whether they
ever completely acquired it, in the sense understood
by military men. It was rather a sympathy of
feeling than submission to authority, that produced
concert of action ; it was enthusiasm supplying the
place of skill; or intuitive genius that of ex-
perience. We find a handful of youths, whose
leader had numbered but twenty years, putting to
flight a band of veteran troops and practised
Indian warriors, flushed with victory, and tenfold
the number of their stripling adversaries. But
they had pledged their lives to redeem the honor
of the Republic, tarnished in the preceding cam-
paign ; and moreover to avenge the death of their
friends and relatives, slaughtered by the savage

SPIRIT OF THR SOUTH AND CENTRE.

111.

rte.
levi
ith
on,
irccl
and
the
tern
with
ntry

, the

il the

i and

}. bnt
ol of
they
itood
ly of
duced
jg the
)t* • ex-
whose
hig to
ctised
enfold
But
honor
cam-
If their
lavage

allies of their opponents.* It is worthy of notice,
that the employment of Indians in the British ser-
vice has always had a different effect from that
intended. It does not strike terror, but rather
whets the valor of those opposed to such relentless
adversaries. After the massacre' at the river Raisin,
noticed in a former letter, the tide of victory turned
in favor of the Americans.

The spirit of the soutliern and middle states
was little less ardent than that of the west ; but
had it been otherwise, the descents made on their
shores by the enemies' ships, the sack of villages,
which, scattered along a coast of two thousand
miles extent, it was often impossible to guard, and
finally the burning of tlie infimt capital, had been

* This young hero, no less distinguished for Iiis tender )iu-
man!*y th?in his romantic valor, had been entrusted with tlio
dei'enr of a fort, commanding one of the rivers that fall into
lake . '' His general, receiving intimation that a strong
party of the enemy was about to invest it, despatched orders
to the little garrison to destroy the works, and make good a
retreat. Young Croghan, knowing the importance of the post
he occupied, and, recalling with his companions their sacred
engagement, determined to disobey orders, and wait the enemy.
A more desperate stand was, perhaps, never made. The solemn
obligation which bound these devoted youths, and the steady
composure with which they took their measures, preserves
them from the charge of rashness. Provided as they were
with no other weapons than their muskets and one piece of
ordnance, and surrounded on all sides by gun-boats, veteran
soldiei's, and yelling savages, their victory seems little less than
miraculous ; it was, however, complete ; and led the way in
that train of successes which followed on the western and
northern frontier ending in the battle of Plattsburg.

Y 'Z

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OF THE EAST. MASSACHUSSETS.

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sufficient to rouse tiie energy displayed at Balti-
more and New Orleans.

However mortifying at the moment, the confla-
gration of the seat of government was, perhaps,
productive of more lasting benefit to the republic
than any one of its most splendid victories. Tiiere
was one quarter of this great confederacy which
had hitherto exhibited a lamentable deficiency of
patriotism.

The conduct of some of the New England states,
at the opening of the contest, is not very easy to
explain. That Massachussets, who, thirty years
before, had led the van in the army of patriots,
whose cause, too, it was that her sister-states so
generously advocated, that she should suddenly so
forget her former self, as to stand by a sullen spec-
tator of a conflict which involved the honor and
national existence of the great Republic, of which
till now she had formed so distinguished a member,
seems at once the most extraordinary and lament-
able dereliction of principle to be found in the
annals of nations ! She appears to have been made
the dupe of a party whose name, until this time,
had been respected even by the nation from whom
it stood aloof, and then to have been angry because
others saw this, and laughed at her cullibility.

The anarchv and carna<?e which succeeded the
bright opening of the French Revolution produced
throughout Europe a temporary re-action in favor
of legitimate despotism and feudal aristocracy ; in
America, they checked the tide of nationPil feeling,
which hitherto had flowed in exulting sympathy
with that of the French people, and seemed for a

hich
mber,
ment-
the

made

time,
whom

cause

y; m

ieling,

pathy

for a

EIFECTS OF THE FHEXCII REVOLUTION. 325

moment to drown the remembrance of recent in-
juries, and to dispose the minds of the young nation
in favor of their ancient mother. The soldiers of
the American Revolution might justly turn their
eyes with abhorrence from the France which had
j)roscribed La Fayette, and witnessed the assassin-
ation of La Rochefoucauld ; and had not the incar-
ceration of the proscribed patriot in the Bastilles
of the coaHtion revealed to the world the poHcy
of those leagued powers, no generous mind could
have blamed the predilection of any portion of the
American community for that country, which, how-
ever inimical to the liberties and prosperity of their
own republic, stood opposed to the ferocious anarchy
of revolutionary tribunals and the insatiable ambi-
tion of a Napoleon. Perhaps the democratic party
were for a short period as mistaken in their ob-
stimite attachment to France, as their opponents
were afterwards in their adhesion to England ;
the former, however, awoke from their dream, and
consented to acknowledge it ; the latter, in some
cases, allowed party-spirit to blind them to theic
duty as citizens and men.

Among the first Federals, there were men no'
less respectable for their virtues than their talents;
but these had gradually fallen off from the minority
to mingle themselves with the bulk of the nation,,
leaving only the old Tories and some disappointed
politicians, to disgrace a title which patriots had
worn, and under its specious mask to attempt the
ruin of their country. In this, fortunately, they
failed J but may the lesson prove a warninc: not

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tt'FFX'TS OF Tin: WAIl.

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i\ I

" V.

to Masstichussets only, but to each and all of these
confederated states !

I have already had occasion to observe upon the
change wrought by the last war in tlie condition
of the republic; it not only settled its place among
the nations, but cemented its internal union ; even
those who from party ill-humour, had refused their
concurrence with the measures of government, and
their sympathy in the feelings of their fellow-
citi'^^ens, were gradually warmed by the enthusiasm
that surrounded them, or by the pressure of com-
mon danger forced to make common cause. At
the close of the contest, one general feeling per-
vaded the whole nation. The name of a party,
once respectable, but now disgraced by itself^
became universally odious ; and its members, to
rise from the contempt into which they had fallen,
found it advisable to declare their own conversion
to the principles of popular government and federal
union.

It may now be said, that the party once mis-
named Federal has ceased to exist. There is in-
deed a difference of political character, or, what
will express it better, a varying intensity of re-
publican feeling discernible in the different com-
ponent parts of this great union ; but all are now
equally devoted to the national institutions, and in
all difference of opinion, admit the necessity of the
minority yielding to the majority. And, what is
yet more important, these differences of opinion do
not hinge upon the merits or demerits of foreign
nations, French or English, Dutch or Portuguese.
The wish of your venerable friend is now realized ;

EXTINCTION OF PAIITV.

327

— liis countrymen are Americans, Genet may
now make the tour of the states, and llcmy, of
Nc\v-En;^rlaiul, with infinite safety to tlie peace of
their citizens; and even Massachnssets herself
would now blush at the name of the Hartford con-
vention. *

* Genet is, or was at least when the Author was last in
Albany, a peaceable and obscure citizen of tlie state of New-
York. It is curious in a democracy, to see how soon the
tactions sink into insignificance. Aaron liurr was pointed out
to me in the Ma:'orV :rt at N, w-York, an old man whom
none cast an c: upon cept an idle stru ... Jn Europe,
the busthng demagogue is sent to prison, o^ to the scaffold,
and metamorphosed into a martyr; in America, he is left to
walk at large, and soon no one thinks about him.

\ 1 '■>

1 -*' !

•I

Y I

?il

•\)y

LETTER XX.

■,t .

^■ff

.,^1

iii

'" .;*

.' h

UNANIMITY OF SENTIMENT THllOUfiHOUT THE NATION. —
NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. — FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.

New- York, January, 1820.
MY DEAR FRIEND,

J. HERE is at present no appearance of any regular
and standing minority in the nation, or conse-
quently in the house of congress; it is no longer a
dispute how the nation is to be governed j the
sovereignty is avowedly and practically with the
people, who have agreed to exercise that sove-
reignty in no other way than by representatives,
bound to obey the instructions of their electors.
If they do not obey their instructions, they are
thrown aside and others put in their place. An
opposition on the part of the governors to the
governed, would here only be absurd ; they are
the servants of the people, not their masters;
vested with just as much power as their employers
see good to charge them with, and constrained to
exercise that power, not after their own fancy, but
after that of the nation. *

* The representative will, of course, sometimes find a struggle
within him betweeen his own conviction and the expressed
wishes of his electors, and sometimes conscientiously abide by
the former. I remember the case of a distinguished member
from the west of Pennsylvania, (Mr. Baldwin,) who once voted
in decided opposition to his received instructions. At his rc-

I I i ' t

NATIONAL (JOVKUN:\n:NT.

•JJJ)

^'- ^ 1

The government of tlie United States has been
denominated weak ; bnt that only by those who
are accustomed to consider a government as ar-
rayed against a people. It is quite another tiling
here ; the government acts with the people ; If,
part of* the people j is in short the people them-
selves. It is easy to see, that such a government
must be the strongest in the world for all the pur-
poses for which governments are ostensibly orga-
nized. The advocates of arbitrary power tell us
that men are bad, and. therefore unfit to govern
themselves ; but if they ais^ bad, it is clear that they
are still more unfit to govern each other. When
rulers are gifted with the perfection of goodness
ami infallibility of judgment, it may be rational
to leave the interests of men at their mercy.
Here it is supposed that rulers are swayed by all

turn home, he was summoned to give an explanation or apology,
under risk of being thrown out. The member replied, that, at
the time of his vote, he had expressed his regret that his opinion
differed from that of his electors ; but that he should be un-
worthy of the distinguished oiiice he iield, and of tl>e public con-
fidence which he had for so many years enjoyed, if he could
apologize for having voted according to the decision of his
judgment ; that his fellow-citizens were perfectly right to
transfer their voices to the man who might more thoroughly
agree with them in sentiment than in this case he had done ;
that for himself, he could only promise to consider every
question attentively and candidly, to weigh duly the wishes of
his constituents, but never to vote in decided opposition to his
own opinion. His fellow-citizens received his declaration with
applause, and, as his whole political life had been in unison
with their sentiments, they took this one instance of dissent as
an additional proof of his integrity, and unanimously rc-'^icctcd
liiiu.

•f^l

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;J3()

NATION A L G O \' 1 : U \ .M I : \ T.

/ .

ki..

the vulgar passions of huniaiiity ; care is tlierefbrc
taken to bridle tlicm, or rather it is contrived, that
tliey sliall be made to work I'or tiie advantage
instead of the nuscliief' of the community. If a
nuin be ani!)itioiis, he can only rise to im})ortance
by advocating tiie interests of others ; the moment
that he ostensibly opposes his own to those of his
fellow-citizens, he must throw^ up the game.

It is not very apparent that public viilue is
peculiarly requisite for the prescrwuion of political
equality ; envy might suffice for this ; Yoit sJiall
not be greater than I, Political equality is, per-
haps, yet more indispensable to preserve ])ublic
viituc, than public virtue to preserve it ; where-
ever an exclusive principle is admitted, baleful
passions are excited ; divide a community into
classes, antl insolence is entailed upon the higher,
servility or q\\\\\ and often both united, upon the
lower.

In all other republics, ancient or modern, there
has been a leaven of aristocracy. America for-
tunately had, in her first youth, virtue sufficient to
repel the introduction of hereditary honors. This
was virtue as well as knowledge, when she had to
resist not only the example of all the nations of
the earth, but the persuasions, and even the au-
thority of her acknowledged sovereigns. Had she
received this taint in her infancy, it is probable
that no subsequent exertions could have wiped
it away ; her republics would at this moment
have been provinces of the British empire, or if
not this, her citizens would Jiave been caballing
among themselves like the patricians and plebeians

NATIONAL f;0\EU\Mi:NT.

L^n

of ancient Rome, or those of more niotleni
I'lorence. *

" Lc gravi e naturali inimizie die sono tra gli*
iiomini popolaii c nobili, caiisate dal voler ([iiesti
comandare, e quelli noii iibbidire, sono cagioni di
tutti i nnali chc nascono nelle citta.'* If the dis-
turbances of the Florentine republic warranted
this assertion of its philosophic historian, the ])eace
of the American republic tends to confirm il.
Liberty is here secure, because it is equally the
portion of all. The state is liable to no convul-
sions, because there is no where any usurpations to
maintain, while every individual has an equal sove-
reignty to lose, t No king will voluntarily lay
down his sceptre, and in a democracy all men are
kings.

It is singular to look round upon a country
where the dreams of sages, smiled at as Utopian,

* The Stuart kings were peculiarly anxious to break down
the democratic spirit of New-England, by the creation of a
nobility ; temptations were held out to the wealthier proprie-
tors by the royal governors, to assume to themselves the style
oi' Barons. The grants of land in tail male, frequent in the
southern colonies, and in New- York, had probably the same
end in view. These hereditary proprietors were the Tories of
the revolution ; among them, of course, there were signal and
magnanimous exceptions.

f A grievous exception to this rule is found in the black
shivery of the commonwealths of the south. May the wisdom
of the masters preserve them from that " revolution of the
wheel of fortune" contemplated by their venerable philan-
thropist Mr. Jefferson, as " among possible events," or " pro-
bable by supernatural interference !" The heart of the by-
stander will acknowledge with him, that *' the Almighty has no
attribute that can take side with them in such a contest."

M-

33^2

.NATIONAL GOVKIINMKN T.

I:,.

f'.

i !

seoni distinctly realized ; a j)eo|)le voluntarily sid)-
inittin^ to laws of tlieir own imposing, witli arms
in their liands, respecting the voice of a govern-
ment which their breath created^ and which their
breath could in a moment destroy ! There is some-
thing truly grand in this moral restraint, freely
hnposed by a community on itself.

I do not wonder that Europeans refuse credence
to those who report truly of the condition of these
commonwealths. That a nation of independent
sovereigns should be a nation of all others the
most orderly, and the most united, may well pass
the understandings of men accustomed to the rule
of the sword. It may be questioned, whether the
institutions of America could with propriety be
transplanted to Europe. The attempt failed in
France,, and, the same causes may produce the
same failure elsewhere ; but surely it is proposed
to force the same atlempt elsewhere. I laid dow n
my pen to look through a file of London papers.
1 fieed not say with what feelings I threw them
aside, when 1 state that their columns record the
history of the sixteenth of August. The English
people trampled and cut down by a soldiery !
Saville, Whitbread, and Romilly, are well in their
graves.

Back a government with an army, and the
liberties left with a people are no longer held of
right, but held as a matter of grace and favor.
Here this is not only understood in theory, but in
practice. The people keep the sword in their
own hands, and leave their rulers without any ;

AiriFfM.S or COMM.DLIIATIOV.

SfMi

\hoy are thus tlu; •^uanliaiis of their own riglits,
aiui the enforcers of their own hiws. *

I suppose you tolerably familiar with the con-
stitution of the United States, and • • ♦ * also,
though he seems somewhat to miscalculate the
strength of the bond it imposes upon the union.
l^ie Articles qfCoti/ederation, hastily adopted at the
revolution, did in truth o?ily act upon the States,
not upon individuals. Under those, the general
congress (which then consisted of only one house)
could neither raise men nor levy taxes but through
the medium of the legislatures of the difteres t
republics. The people of each st \te regulate!
their trade by their own government instead of
that of the united confederacy ; collected tiieir
quota of the army or the revenue in wlkutever
manner they thought proper, and pronounce* I
even upon the propriety of the quota denmded.
This was productive of much confusion in tin^e of
war, and yet more in time of peace. When the
Federal Constitution superseded these articles, the
people parted with no new powers, but transferred
some of those before delegated to their repre-

* There was once (I do not recollect the time) xin attempt of
the felons in the Philadelphia gaol to break prison. They
Iiad succeeded in gaining the outer cour»^ before the alarm wfis
given. The citizens of the neighbourhood' ; zed their muskets,
and ran to the spot ; some dexterously gained the top of the
wall, surrounding the court in which the conspirators were at
war with their gaolers and their prison gates. The muskets
pointed at their lives, of course the first summons produced
order and sent back the obstreperous convicts to their cells-
Are not su«h citizens as good keepers of the peace as a troop
of horse ?

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334

FEDERAL CONSTITUTION.

h -

sentatlvcs in their own houses of assembly, to
their representatives in the general congress.

The general government was now without ap-
peal, and was exercised, not upon the legislatures
of the different states, but upon the people
themselves, who were then first gathered into one
great family, legislating in congress without regard
to their sectional position, at the same time that
the landmarks of their different republics remained
unmoved. The central or na,tional government
regulates commerce, imposes and levies taxes, coins
money, establishes j)ost-oftices, and post-roads,
declares war, may raise armies, maintain a navy,
call forth the militia, direct its discipline, and ex-
ercise authority over it when called into the
service of the United States. Its powers in short
extend to all matters connected with the common
defence and general welfare of the confederacy ;
and these powers being clearly defined, it may
make laws necessary and proper tor rendering thein
effective. For the just administration of these
powers, it is directly responsible to the people, so
that while it is incalculably stronger than it was
formerly, it may be said in some ways also to be
weaker. The articles of confederation seemed to
leave a possibility to the government 'tissembled
under them, oi' exerting undue influence over the
nation through the legislatures of the different
states. It is now possessctl singly of direct
power ; to exert influence is impracticable.

The two houses of legislature in which these
great powers are vested, represent, in one, the
])opu!atiou of t'nc wliol:^ union ; in the other, the

i -^^

MODE OF llEPRESENTATIOX.

r,.j5

was

(liferent republics into wliich t!ie union is tlivideJ.
Perhaps tiie hall of the representatives may be
said to speak the feelings of the nation, and the
senate to balance the local interests of the dif-
ferent sections of its vast territory ; a member
In the former house represents forty thousand
souls, two members in the latter represent a state,
whatever be its size or population ; it follows
therefore, that no law can be enacted without a
major'ty of the states, as well as of the people,
whicli must alwjys secure a very large majority of
the nation to every measure. In a country where
the people govern themselves, this is highly im-
portant.

But this representation of the people by their
local position as well as their number, has yet
other salutary eflfects. It balances duly the dif-
ferent interests into which all civilized commun-
ities must more or less be divided; but which, in
a territory so vast as that of America, may per-
haps be arranged more geographically, if I may
use the expression, than can be the case in less
extensive countries. The western states, fast
growing in wealth and strength, will soon have an
exclusive and powerful interest to support in
agriculture and manufactures. Should the sum of
their popidation outweigh that of the Atlantic
states, the commercial interest might be overlooked
in the national assembly ; and at present the popu-
lation of these states, exceeding that of the
younger section of the union, its interests might
be forgotten, so as to generate ill-will in those
rising Ilepublics. The mode of representation

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33G

AMERICAN EXnCUTIVn.

I' )

adopted in the senate, seems to obviate this danger ;
and the advantage resulting from it will probably
be more and more apparent, according as the
inland states become more and more vigorous.

Perhaps the English and the Anglo-Americans
are the only nations who know how to draw an ac-
curate line between the legislative, executive, and
judicial departments of government. In the for-
mer the distinctions are thoroughly understood ;
in the latter, perfectly reduced to practice. In
England, the legislative and executive are nomi-
nally separate, but actually conjoined, when a
majority of the house of legislature is within
purchase of the crown, and the cabinet ministers
have a direct voice upon every question in debate.
Here, not only is the president himself positively
excluded from both houses of congress, but
every person holding an office, or in any manner
employed under the authority of the government.*
I had occasion to observe in a former letter, that
this distinction between the different departments

• The president of the United States is lever seen within
the walls of the capital, except on the day of his inau(;uration.
Should he ever be present at any debate, it could only be as a
citizen among the audience ; but even this would be considered
an impropriety, and of course never occurs. I do not remem-
ber to have been questioned by any individual, since my return
to Eiijijland, upon the subject of the American constitution,
and officers of government, who has not confounded the pre-
sident of the Un. ted States, with the president of the senate.
This has sometimes recalled to me the mistake of a well-known
political economist in London, who (as I was told in Washing-
ton,) once addressed a letter apparently intended for Mr. Madi-
son, To the President of Congress,

KLECTION OF THF' rui:smENT.

337

nger ;
jbably
IS the

IS.

jricans
an ac-
e, ami
he for-
stood ;
:e. In
nonii-
/lien a
within
inisters
debate,
sitively
^s, but
anner
ment.*
r, that
I'tments

?n within

juration.

ly be as a

)nsidered

rcmem-

ly return

jstitution,

the pre-

ie senate.

Ill-known

LVashing-

Madi-

of government is equally j)reserved by the con-
stitutions of the states, as by that of the United
States ; " to the oidy'* as it is expressed in the
Massachussets' declaration of rights, '' i/ial it majj
he a government of laxos and not of men.'*

The election of the president is managed with
some ingenuity, so as to unite the two modes of
representation found i 1 the senate and the repre-
sentatives, it was necessarv to jruard, first auainst
the too great influence of a stale more populous
tlian her neighbours, who might luue commandL'd
the choice of the chief magistrate, had his norii-
nation been left solely to the mass of the population
without regard to its position ; anil secondly,
against a junction of states more peculiarly united
by interests, or near neighbourhootl ; which might
liave enabled one ])ortion of the union to com-
mand an equally luifair advantage, were the point
decided by. the vote of the states. How i'ar the
union of these two modes of representation is
effected, or how far it is possible to eMect it, I am
nat adequate t > juilge. *

* Some amendments in the presidential elections have been
made by subsequent conventions since the (irst establishment
of the Federal Constitution, but directed (I believe solclij) to
enforce the necessity of voting distinctly for a vice-president
as well as a president. The inferior office fell originally to the
second candidate on the list. Upon one occasion, the votes
being equal, it was thought proper to avoid all confusion in
future, by specifying the person voted for as vice-president
from the person voted for as president.

Some more important amendments have lately been pro-
posed, and I believe submitted to the people.

((

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33S

rovvERa OF thk nirsiDENT.

The powers of the President arc grea^, but are
alv/ays uniler the clieck of tlie legislature. He
appoints ambassadois, consuls, judges of the
supreme court, and other olticers of the United
States ; but this only with the approbation of
tlie senate, unless both houses of congress shall
see good, in times which may demand peculiar
despatch and decision, to vest him with discre-
tionary power. He can make treaties, but only
with the advice and concurrence of /tro-////rr/.v of
the senate. His signature renders valid an act of
the legislature ; but, if refused, a majorit}^ of
txvo-thirds of both Houses gives to it the effect of
a law without his concurrence. He may convene
the congress during its adjournment, upon extra-
ordinary emergencies, but cannot disperse it any
time: only, should the two houses dispute as to
the time of adjournment, he is the arbiter between
them. He is commander-in-chief of the army
and navy, and of the nilitia, when called into the
service of the nation by law of congress ; in
which case the authority of the President super-
sedes that of the governors of the different States,
who are commanders-in-chief of their militia.

The powers lodged with the President have
been by some jiuiged too great, and by some too
little ; but at present, I believe, few think them
either one or the other. A chief magistrate, whose
reign is only for four years, and who stands liable to
impeachment for malversation, might, perhaps, be
trusted with the gift of public offices held only
upon good behaviour, without much risk of the
prerogati\e being abused. By making his will,

J(
P

ii '

COURT OF NATIONAL LAW.

3S9

are
He
the

lited

1 of

shall

uliar

iscre-
only

(Is of

.ct of

ity of

ect of

>nvene

extra-
it any

! as to

itvvcen
army

nlo the
ss •, iu
super-
States,

t have
ime too
them
, whose
iable to
aps, be
|ld only
of the
is will,

however, subservient to a branch of the legislature,
a double security is given for the impartiality of
appointments, much petty wrangling for public
offices prevented, and the President relieved from
painful responsibility.

'J1ie judicial power of the United States is vested
in a supreme court held at Washington. This
court of law is, perhaps, not the least beautiful
contrivance in the singular frame of this govern-
ment. It holds together the links of the federal
union, keeps the peace between republic and
republic, and again between all these different
component parts, and the great centre to which
they are all bound. It settles all controversies
between the different states, or between the citi-
zens of one state and the government or citizens
of another ; also all controversies between indivi-
duals and the general government, and between the
citizens of the United States, and ** foreign states,
citizens, or subjects." In fine, its powers " extend
to all cases in law and equity** arising under the
federal constitution, or the laws passed by the
government acting under that constitution ; to all
treaties made by the national government ; " to
all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction;**
and " to all cases affecting amb.:ssadors, other
public ministers, and consuls.**

We find, in the writings and speeches of some
of the early federrl statesmen, frequent parallels
drawn between the American and the English
government. The parallels are necessarily very
loose. What the one is in practice, the other is
partly in theory ; and here ends the comparison.

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310

NATIONAL GOVERNMENT.

The constitution of the United States is formed
upon tlie model of tliose of the different States of
which the United States is composed, but fur-
nishes its administrators with other and more ex-
tended powers ; not clashing with or superseding
those exercised by the state-governments, but
directed to different ends. Like the motions of
the planetary system, each republic revolves upon
lier own axis, but moves in unison witii the others ;
exerting her own centrifugal force, and yielding
to the power whicii holds her in her magic circle
of the confederacy.

The singular position of this government as the
centre of a mass of republics, strengthening and
midtiplying every lustre that rolls by, gives to it a
character of its own, and one as wonderful as it is
grand. I cannot speak the effect that its minute
consideration produces on the mind : it is such as
the spectator feels when lie contemplates for the
first time a steam-engine of the great Watt ; its
powers, as simple as they are sublime, playing
evenly, and noiselessly, and irresistibly ; and then,
when the mind is startled at the consideration of
its energy, antl the vast world which it regulates
and pervades, comes tiie reflection that the hand
of the workman can check it in a moment of
time !

1 must again direct your attention to that feature
in American government, whicli distinguishes it
so peculiarly i'rom that of all other countries : it
can neither add nor take away from its own powers,
and yet it can always be so moulded as to reflect
the imiu;e of the public minil. In Europe, a con-

NATIONAL GOVEUN'MKNT.

311

ncil
s of
fur-
; CX-

cling
but
ns of
upon
hers ;
UliuL';
circle

as the

(v anil

to it a

18 it is

Tiunute

uch as

or the
I,, its
laying
then,
tion of
jiulatcs
hand
lent of

feature
islies it
ries : it
powers,
reflect
a con-

stitution is often ii vimue word: one says it is
tills; another says it is that ; and a tliird searches
ior it, and declares it is nowhere. A constitution
means sometimes ancient customs ; sometimes
ancient charters ; sometimes the acts of govern-
ment themselves, framed in accordance, or in open
contradiction to those charters ; sometimes it
means things as they are, at another time things as
tliey were : every man talks of it, understaiuls it
in his own manner, and perhaps can exj)lain it m
no mamier at all. Here tlie constitution is in the
hands of all the people : th y give it to their re-
presentatives, and say. There is jjour guide : xce
judge oJ'itsJit)icss to direct your proceedings^ as xce
do of ijourjitness to legislate hij it : if upon trial j/au
conceive it to be di fee tire, state your ohjectionSi and
xve shall decide upon their reasonal)lcness. The
representative here can neither alter the manner
of his election nor enlarge his powers when elected.
The people do not petition for riglits, but bestow
authority upon their rulers: experience shows how
much authority will suffice; if more than suflicient
has been im])arted, the overj)lus is retracted ; if
less than sufficient, what the exigency demands is
bestowed. Proposals for alterations or additions
to the constitution originate in congress ; a vote
of two-thirds of both houses being requisite for the
same. The amendments thus proposed are sub-
mitted to the people, who, if they approve, sum-
mon conventions in their different States ; the
assent of ihrecfourths of these conventions then
carries the projiosition, and affixes it as a new
article of the constitution.

t I

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342

NATIONAL GOVERNMENT.

i ■

■>' I

I.:

I have, at your request, touched upon a subject
much beyond my powers to do justice to. The
most ordinary mind is attracted to the consideration
of tile pohtical machine that is here in play ; the
simplicity and sublimity of its movements impress
it solemnly : it reverts with admiration to the
genius that conceived it ; and considers with de-
light the peace that it secures, and the happiness
that it distributes*

1.1

LKTTKU XXr.

CHAIlACI'Kli AM) INTEItKSTS OF Till: 1)1 IT li Hi; NT SKCTIONS
OF Till: CONFKDEIIACY, AND TUlWll I Nl- LIJENCE ON THK
FLOOR OF CONCJKKSS. Ni:\V KNULANI). FINAL EX-
TINCTION OF THE FEDEIIAL I'AIlTy. CENTRAL STATEfi,

POLICY AND INFLUENCE OF VIKOINIA. WESTERN

STATES. POWERS OF CONGRESS RESPECTINC; HLACK.

SLAVEUY. FORMATION AND GOVERNMENT OF TERRI-
TORIES. OENEROUS POLICY OF THE WESTERN vSTATES.

CHARACTER OF THE FIIJST SETTLERS. SHEPHERDS

AND HUNTERS OF THE liOltDER. ANECDOTE OF LA-

FITTE. — VARIOUS TIES WHICH CEMENT THE UNION OF
THE SI'ATES.

New York, February, 1820.
MY DEAIl FRIKNI),

1-jooking to the general plan of the central go-
vernment, it will be seen with what extreme nieety
the difierent interests ot'the niultiliiilinuiis parts of*
this great confederacy are balanced, or employed
as checks one upon the other. In the course of
years, these interests may be somewhat more dis-
tinctly marked than they are at present ; some
have even thought that they may be more strongly
opposed. This aj)pears more than doubtful : but
even admitting the supposition, we cannot calculate
the probable effects of tiiis without counting for
something the gradual strengthening of the national
union by the mixture of the people, the marriages
anil friendships contracted between the inhabitants

z 4'

:■.>'*

}-'i

I. •!

1 i

'il

CIIAIIACTF.II or Tin: CONFi:i)LIiACY.

lit ■■l

'"•. -.1

of the different States, the tide of emigration,
which sliiCts tlic population ol one to the other,
the course of pro.s))erity enjoyed under a govern-
ment more and more endeared as time more and
more tries its wisdom, and imparts sanctity to its
name. The time was, when none, or but a few of
these saciod bonds existed, and still a friendly
sympathy was not wanting among the different and
uncementod communities scattered alonq; the shores
of the Atlantic.

During their colonial existence, the inhabitants
of these States had but little intercourse with each
other. Vast forests separated often the scanty
population of ihe infant provinces. Varying cli-
mate and religion inffuenced also their custonjs
and character ; but still, however, i)nrted by
trackless wastes, how little connected soever by
the ties of private friendship, they had always two
thing!' in common, — language and a fierce spirit of
liberty ; which sufficed to bintl with a sure though
invisible chain all the members of the scattered
American family. The strength of this chain has
seldom been fully appreciated by the enemies of
America : they expected to break it even during
the war of the Revolution ; and were certain that it
would of itself give way when the high-toned sen-
timent kept alive by a struggle for independence
should subside, or when the })ressure of common
danger being removed, the necessity of cordial
co-operation should not be equally apparent : ex-
perience has hitherto happily disproved these cal-
culations. The advantages of a vigororis, and the
blessings of a beneiicent government, direciin,L; the

i , l-'t,

NKW i;n(;la\i>.

old

cncii^ics ami ])rcsicliiig over the wclCiue of iIk* ^'loat
whole, iuis beeti more and more felt and understood,
while tiie inMuence of just laws, ami still more the
improved intercourse of the states one with an-
othei", have broken down j)rejudices, ami, in a great
measure, obliterated distinctions of character among
the diflerent quarters of the republic.

The portion of the union that has most generally
preserved her ancient moral distinctions is New
England. The reason may be found in the rigidity
of her early religious creed, ai ] in the greater
separation of her people from the rest of the nation.
Strictly moral, well-educated, industrious, and
intelligent, but shrewd, cautious, ' and, as their
neighbours say, at least, peculiarly long-sighted to
their interests, the citizens of New England are
the Scotch of America. Like them, they are inha-
bitants of a comparatively poor count)!y, and send
forth legions of hardy adventurers to push their
fortunes in richer climes : there is this difference,
however, that the Scotchman traverses the world,
and gathers stores to spend them afterwards \\i
his own barren hills, while the New-Englander
carries his penates with him, anii plants a colony
on the shores of the Ohio, with no less satisfaction
than he would have done on those of the Connec-
ticut.

The nursery of back- woodsmen, New England,
sends forth thousands, and of course takes in lew,
so that her citizens are less exj)osed to the visi-
tation of foreigners, and even to mixture with the
people of other states, than is usual witii tlieir more
southern neighbours. This has, perhaps, its ad.

■V !

! ^1 <

t 4 t

ai(i

Ni;w i;\(;i,AM).

r I

vanta^'t's and disadvantages : it preserves to llieiii
all the virtues of a simple staU^ of soeietv, hut
uith these also some of its prejudiees : it .^e e?* to
cntreueh them against luxury, hut imparts tc .iv.mii
something of a provincial character. Zealously
attached to their own institutions, they have some-
times coldly espoused those of the nation. The
iederal opposition chiefly proceeded from this
quarter of the Union.

The political conduct of New England subse-
quent to the establishment of the federal govern-
ment sunk her a little for some years in the
esteem of the nation. The narrowness of her
j)olicy was charged to some ))ecidiar selfishness of
character in her people ; but their conduct dining
the revolutionary struggle redeems them from this
chartije, and leads us to ascribe their errors to
defect of judgment rather than to obliquity of
principle. Since the war the liberal party, ever
numerous, has gained the asceiulant ; and con-
sequently the eastern states are resuming that
place in the national councils which they originally
held. It is difficidt now to find a Federalist,
absolutely so called. A certain soreness upon
some political topics, a coldness of manner in
pronouncing the name of Jeflerson, and, I have
observed, of Franldin, is what may sometimes
enable you to detect a ci-devant member of the
i'allen party. *

* Tlie secret liostil'ty borne by some of tlie redcral partv
towards tlic tlciiurtcd Franklin is rather anuisinu. This benign
sage, who-se la&t etlbrtij were s-pent in iixing the wheels of tlu*

Ni:W YOUK AND I'r.NNSYI.N AN I A.

•il7

New York aiul IViinsylvania may perhaps be
consiclcreil as tlie most hi/hfcntial states oi tlie
Union. The elegant expression hitely employed
by Mr. Clay, in rendering liis tribnte to the im-
portant services of* the hitter, may with propriety
be appHed to both. Tliey arc ** the hcij-stoncs of
the federal arch.** Their rich and extensive ter-
ritories seem to comprise all the interests into
which the Union is divided. Commerce, agri-
culture, and manufactures, are all powerfully re-
presented by them on the floor of congress. Their
western division has much in conuuon with the
Mississippi states, anil their eastern with those of
the Atlantic. Their population stands conspicuous
for national enterprise and enlightened policy,
whetiier as regards the interna] arrangement of
their own republics, or their share in the federal
councils. These powerful states return no less
than fifty members to congress, being more than a
fourth of the whole body. * In j)roportion as the
western states increase, this preponderance will be
taken from them ; in the mean time, however, it is

federal govcrnmont, and wlio sunk beneath the weight of years
and honors before tlie struggle of the two parties commenced,
might be supposed to have iuul it little in his power to give
umbrage to cither. 'J'he reverence in which his name was ever
lield by the democratic party, who were the children of his
school, explains the enigma.

* There are at present in the hull of the r(.i)resentativeR
195 members, and three or four delegates. The delegates arc
sent by territories, and have no vote.

I >

1 1

318

Ni:\V YORK AND PKNNST LVANIA.

' i\

,>■ ■

I'
»

• t

in no case exerted to the prejudice of the general
interests of the Union.

Whether it he from tlieir wealth, or their more
central position, alfording them the advantage of
a free intercourse vvitli the citizens of all the states
of the Union, as well as foreigners from all parts of
the world, the people of Pennsylvania and New
York, but more particularly of the latter, have
acquired a liberality of sentiment which imparts
dignity to their public measures. They raise ex-
tensive funils, not only for the general education
of their citizens, (which is equally tiie case else-
where,) the founding of libraries, and seminaries
of learning, but in the clearing of rivers, making
roads and canals, and })romoting other works of
extensive utility^ which might do honor to the
richest empires or Euro})e. The progress of the
New York State during the last tiiirty years is
truly astonishing. V/ithin this period, her j)opu-
lation has more than quadrupled, and the value
of pro))erty more than doubled : she has subdued
the forest from Hudson to Erie and the Canadian
frontier, and is now perfecting the navigation of
all her great vvalcrs, and connecting them with
each other.

The national revenue being chiefly drawn from
the customs, is greatly dependant upon the com-
mercial spirit of New York. Her great sea-port
has sometimes furnished one-fourth of the revenue
of the United States. The late war of necessity
fell very heavily upon her maritime capital. But
while her commerce was ruined, she showed no
disposition to injure the common cause by separ-

VIRGINIA.

SiO

ating her interests from those of tlie confederacy.
Her oppo=;ition in congress was i;reutly in the
minority to her national support ; and, war being
once declared, the opposition passed over to the
side of the majority. I'he conduct of Mr. llufus
King, tlie venerable leader of the federal party in
the senate, is worthy of being recorded in the
annals of his country. He had o])posed the de-
claration of war simply from an apprehension that
the Republic was unequal to cope with her adver-
sary ; but finding her determined to brave all
hazards rather than submit to degrcdatioii, he
instantly seceded from liis party, pronouncing it to
be the duty of every patriot to assist his country
witli heart and hand in weathering the storm, and
volunteered to throw ijito the treasury part of his
private fortune, which he stated to be greater than
his necessities.*

No state in the Union can point to a longer line
of public services than Virginia: she rung the first
alarum of tiie Revolution by tlie mouth of her

; H-

* I had this anecdote from a senator of coni^resa; one, too,
I must observe, usually opposed to Mr. King in politics, who is
still ranked among the least democratic party in the senate.
Such a patriot is a true relic of the veteran federal band of the
llcvolution, and may well conunand the respect of those wb .
differ, as well as of those who agree w"th him in opinion. .
no less striking instance of candor ami patriotism was atfordet-.
in New-England by the venerable Ex-President Join, \dams,
who, faithful to the princip.o of confederation and the cause of
his country, publicly decl.ired his decided disapprobation of the
measures of his own party, which aimed to counteract the
efforts of the national government ; and thus gave his voice to
an administration which had been the successful rival of his own.

I 1

3rA)

VIRGINfA.

5 ' iii^

k I'l

Patrick Henry; slie led the army of patriots in tlic
person of iier Washington ; slie issued tlie declar-
ation of independence from the pen of her JoiU-r-
son ; she bound the first link of the federal chain
by the hand of her Madison ; — she has given to
the republic four of the purest patriots and wisest
statcbmen that ever steered the vessel of a state.

The policy of this mother of the Union has al-
ways been peculiarly magnanimous. She set the
example to her sister-states in those cessions of
territory which have so richly endowed the general
government, and out of whicii have arisen such a
host of young republics. The cession made by
Virginia comprises the present states of Ohio, In-
diana, and Illinois, with the territory of Michigan.
For the thousandth ))art of such an empire as was
liere bestowed in free gift, men have deluged
the earth with blood. We find the liberality of
Virginia yet farther evinced in her conduct to-
wards a neighbouring state, first peopled by her
citizens, and subject to her laws. The manner in
which she released Kentucky from her jiuisdic-
tion, pointing out the inconveniencies arising to
her people from their remoteness from the Virginia
capital, and encouraging her to erect an inde-
pendent government, affords a beautiful example
of national generosity.

The public spirit of Virginia lias invariably been
felt in the national councils, and consequently has
procured to her a weight of influence more than
pro})ortionate to the niunerical strength of her re-
presentation in congress. There has latterly been
a j)artial hue and cry in the northern division of

vinciN

!.>•

351

•gin III

been
ly lias

the Union, on the subject of f/n' Vii\ii:'ni'i(i itijluowr.
1 can only say, in the words of a Vermont farmer,
wlio accidentalty closed in conversation witli me
upon qlf'airs qfsl(itt\ " Whatever be the influence
of Virginia, she ^eems to use it well, for we surely
go on very thrivingly ; besides that, I see no way
in which she could exercise it but by coinciding
with the feelings of the majority." The words
Virginia in/luetwCy you will perceive to mean (so
far as they mean any thing) the accident wiiich has
drawn from her commonwealth four out of the
five presidents who have guided the councils of
i'ederal America. *

I know nothing which places the national cha-
racter in a fairer point of view than the issue of the
presidential elections. We find local prejudices
and even party feelings laid aside, and the people
of this multitude of commonwealths fixinii; their
eyes on the most distinguished servant of the state,
and rendering the noblest tribute to his virtues
that a patriot can receive, or a country can bestow.
All the chief magistrates of the republic ha\e been
veterans of the Revolution, antl distinguished no
less for their private virtues than tiio;r public ser-
vices. It was thouglit that, as ^'irgiria had
already given three presidents to ll j Republic, a
strong op})osition would have beei: made to Colo-
nel Monroe. So far from this lahug the case, no
j)resident (Washington excepted) was ever more

'|;

ion of

♦ Tlic late unanimous re-election of Colonel Monroe proves
that the good tanner of \'erniont, quoted in the text, spoke the
sentiments of his nntion.

I 1

3rj<2

VIRGINIA.

> ' !i<

imaniiiioiisly chosen ; and his name is spoken
with respect, and even ati'ection, lioni Maine to
Missouri.

The dignified position taken by Virginia in tlie
national councils, has placed her at the head of'tlie
republics of the south ; whose policy, it may be
remarked, has uniformly been liberal and |)a-
triotic ; and, on all essential points, in accordance
with that of the central and western states. What-
ever be the eflect of bhick slavery upon the moral
character of the southern population, and tiiat
upon t/te mass it must be deadly mischievous, there
can be no question, it has never been felt in the
national senate. Perhaps the arrangement has been
prudent, or at least fortunate, which has some-
what tern Jeered the democracy \)i' American go-
vernment in the south Atlantic states. By the
cxistinu: constitution of Virii'inia, and the states
south of her, the qualifications required of a re-
presentative throw the legislative })ovver iu the
hands of the more wealthy j)lanters ; a race of men
no less distinguished for the polish of their man-
ners and education than for liberal sentiments and
general jihilanthropy. Tiiey are usually well-
travelled in their own country and in Europe, pos-
sess enough wealth to be hos})itable, aiul seldom
suflicient to be luxurious, and arc thus, by edu-
cation and condition, raised above the degrading
influence which the possession of arbitrary power
has on the human mind and the human heart, lo
the slight leaven of aristocracy, tiierefbre, thrown
into the institutions of Virginia and the Carolinas,

wr; sTi: RN ti : ii ii i to n y.

a.Ki

»kcn
c to

f llio
ly be
. pa-
lance
V'hat-
[iioral
tlu\t
there
n the
s been
some-
in go-

wc may, perhaps, attribute, in part, their gene-
rous and amiable bearing in the national councils ;
we must not omit, however, the ameliorating
effect produced by the spread of education, and
the effect of liberal institutions on the white popu-
lation generally. Even before the close of the
revolutionary war, Mr. Jefferson thought ** a
change already perceptible ;'* and we have a sub-
stantial proof that the change traced by that phi-
losopher in the character of his fellow-citizens was
not imaginary, the first act of tiie Virginia legi.->-
lature being the abolition of the slave-trade. May
she now set an example to her neighbouring states,
as she then did to the world, by combating stead-
fastly the difficulties which her own fears or
selfish interests may throw in the way of eman-
cipation !

But the quarter of the Republic to which the eye
of a stranger turns with most curiosity, is the vast
legion to the west of the Ailegiianies. "J'he cha-
racter of these republics is necessarily us unique
as their position, and their influence is already
powerful upon the floor of congress.

In glancing at their geographical position, the
foreigner might hastily be led to consider them as
growinn: rivals rather than friendly supporters of
the Atlantic states. It will be found, however,
that they are at present powerful cementers of the
union, and that the feelings and interests are such
as to draw togetner the north and south divisions
of the confederacy.

The new canals will probably draw off' the pro-

A A

•'I

'■ ?

35ii

WKSTEnN TERIUTORY.

^ ..

i f

r ' »

diice of the western counties of New York to the
Atlantic ; still, however, a portion will find its
way down the western waters, as their navigation
shall be perfected from Erie to New Orleans. At
all events, this route will continue to be preferred
by the western counties of Pennsylvania, shortly
destined to be the seat, if they are not so already,
of flourishing manufactures. The advance made
in this branch of industry, during the last war, and
for some years previously, has received some
checks since the peace, but appears likely soon to
proceed with redoubled energy.

It may be worth observing, that there is some-
thing in the character of the America!) population,
as well as in the diverse products of the soil, whicli
seems favorable to the growth of manufactures.
I do not allude merely to their mechanical inge-
nuity, which has sliowii itself in so many im-
portant inventions and improvements in ship-
building, bridges, steam-boat navigation, imple-
ments of husbandry, and machinery of all kinds,
but to tha^ proud feeling of independence, which
disinclines them from many species of labor re-
sorted to by Li'vopeans. There are some farther
peculiarities in the condition and character of the
scattered population of the west, whicli rendered
the birth of manufactures simultaneous with that
of agriculture. In planting himself in the bosom
of the wilderne s> t! settler is often entirely de-
pendant upon his own industry for every article of
food and raime^U. While he wields the axe, and
turns up the soil, his wife plies the needle and the

:MANUFACTUUf:s.

'255

the

its
Lion

At
rrcd
n-tly
iuly,
nadc
, and
some
on to

somc-

ation,

which

:tures.
inge-

ly im-
ship-
imple-
kinds,
which
or re-
farther
of the
ndered
h that
bosom
ely de-
ticle of
e, and
land the

spinning-wheel, and his children draw sugar from
the maple, and work at the loom. The finely-
watered state of Oiiio a(l[{)rds so easy an egress for
its internal produce, that could a sure market have
been found, it seems little likely that it would have
attempted for many years any great establishments
of domestic mauufactures. But the policy of
foreign countries threw so many checks in the
way of the agriculturist, and so completely sus-
pended commerce, that the new stimulus given to
human industry was felt in the most remote
corners of the union.

The instantaneous effect produced by the com-
mercial regulations of Europe, it seems almost
impossible to credit ; cotton-mills and fulling-mills,
distilleries, and manufactories of every descrip-
tion, sprung, as it were, out of the earth ; in city,
town, village, and even on the forested shores
of the western waters. The young Ohio, for
instance, which had existed but eight years, in
1811 poured down the western waters woollen,
flaxen, and cotton goods, of admirable but coarse
texture, spirituous liquors, sugars, &c., to the value
of two millions of dollars.

The wonderful aptitude of the Americans for
labour of every species, however removed, seem-
ingly, from their accustomed habits, is easily ex-
plained, if vvc consider, first, the mental energy
inspired by their free institutions, and, secondly,
their general and practical education. An Ame-
rican youth is usually trained to hit a mark with
the certainty of an old English cross-bowman ; to

A A 'J

\ :

3r>o

MANUFACTUIIKS.

; \h\

swim with that dexterity which procured lor the
young Friinkhii, in London, the name of tlie /hue-
rican aquatic; to handle a musivet like a soldier,
the mechanic's tools like a carpenter, the hushand-
man's like a farmer, and, not very unfreciently, the
needle and scissars like a village tailor. I have
taken Ohio as an instance ; but the people of tiie
western region universally were in the habit of
making in their own families the cotton and woollen
garments in whicii they were chul. This prc})ared
them for that new direction of national industry
which the policy of foreign countries rendered
indispensable,

The ports being again thrown open by the
peace, many of tiie young manufactures began
to decline ; many, however, have kept their place
from their intrinsic excellence, (more especially
the coarse cotton and woollen fabrics,) in spite of
the imprudent trade which has glutte(l the market
with foreign goods, and ended by ruining half the
fortunes of the great commercial cities. Things
seem now to be finding their level ; and the citizens
are discovering that mercantile speculation is a
ruinous game, when the raw produce of the coun-
try is not taken in kind for the wrought fabrics of
Europe : perhaps Europe may find this a losing
game, too j but of this I am not learned enough
to speak.

The inhabitants of the west have seen with pecu-
liar dissatisfaction the decay of their manufacturing
establishments. It is not only that they have
been driven back upon agriculture, without finding

!,5

riTTSCUUG.

357

the

tizens
is ?*

Conn-
ies of

losing
lough

pecu-
Itnring
have
hnding

a snfiicicnt market for tlieir produce ; but (what
you may perhaps smile at) those simple but proud
republicans are by no means pleased to see their
good homespun forsaken by their daughters for
the muslin and silks of France and the Indies.
Many make a positive resistance to so unbecoming
a dereliction of principle and good taste, and hold
staunchly to the practice of clothing every member
of their family in articles of domestic manufac-
ture. Many gentlemen of property are in the
habit of making, on their own estates, every single
article of clothing and household furniture : young
women of cultivated education, aP'j elegant accom-.
plishments, are found dressed in ])lu"n cotton gar-
ments ; and men presiding in the senate-house of
their country, in woollen clothes, woven and
lashioned by the hands of their own domestics, or
even by those of their children.

The reviving ascendancy of the manufacturing
over the commercial interest creates a strong com-
nuuiity of feeling between the northern and west-
ern sections of the union.* Pittsburg, the young
Manchester of the United S-tates, must always have
the character of a western citv, and its maritime
port be New Orleans. Corinth was not more
truly the eye of Greece than is Pittsburg of Ame-
rica. Pennsylvania, in which it stands, uniting
perfectly the characters of an Atlantic and a west-

* The author, some weeks subsequent to the date of this
letter, heart! the iv/iole representation of New York as well as
of Pennsylvania and Jersey, advocate upon the floor of con^
gress the manufacturing as opposed to the trading interest,

A A O

•l^

\ 11

.'i58

POWERS OF CONGRESS.

ifit

•l'^

ern state, is truly the keij-stone of the federal arch.
But if the new states are thus linked witii the
north they have also some feelings in common
with the south, and thus, drawing two ways, seem
to consolidate that confederacy which Europe ins
liave sometimes prophecied tiiey would break. In
the first place Kentucky and Tenessee, the; oldest
members of this young family, have not only been
peopletl from Virginia and tlie Carolinas, biTt )ri-
ginally made part of those states. Generously
released from their jiu'isdiction, they still rttain a
marked afiect ju for their parents; and have, too,
a community of evil witii llieni, as well as of origin,
in the form of black slavery. It is not unlikely,
that the mixture of slave-holding and non-slave-
holdiiig states to the west of the Alleghanies, helps
to balance tlh' interests between the northern and
southern sections of the Union on the floor of
congress,

I must here refute a strange assertion, which I
have seen in i know not how many foreign joiunals,
namely, ihat tlie United ^,'tates* government is
chargeable with the difTusion of black slavery.*

* One of the most extravagant blunders oftliis kind I lately
found in M'Kensie's History of America ; a woik comprising
much valuable topographical and statistical information upon
the subject of the United States ; but containing a compilation
of the most contradictory and positively ludicrous portraits of
their moral character (to those at least who have any personal
acquaintance with it) that has yet come under my eye. The
passage I allude to is the following : " Negro slavery has
spread its baleful effects over a great part of the Union. Some
writers, particularly Englishmen, who would wish to represent

i I

Hji,::.

■t!

ULI^ATIVi: TO SLAVEUV.

S.'J!)

Kvcry act that this jroveinmcnt has over passetl
regariliiig it, has tended to its suppression ; but
the extent and nature of its jurisdiction are pro-
bably misunderstood l)y those who charge upon it
the Blackshivery of Kentucky or Louisiana ; and
they must be ignorant of its acts who omit to
ascribe to it the merit of having saved from this
curse every repubh'c which has grown up under
its jurisdiction.

When first torn fiom the Britisli empire, wc
have seen that every corner of the then peopled
America was smitten with thi- phjgue. Now not
one half is, although by the 'iijsition of Louis-
iana an immense foreign addi* has been made
to the evil. It was not until the mloption of the
federal constitution, that the congress possessed
any power to legislate upon the subject of the
slave-tr ide. The abolition laws passed belbre that
period were passed by the states in their indi-
vidual capacity, and coidd not be enforced beyond

the states as a second Arcadia, have offered an apology for
this detestibic practice, by contending, thsit it formed a part
of the policy of the colonial sydem ; but this excuse does not
apply to the new states ; for the congress has resigned the
inhabitants of these vast regions to its demoralizing effects."
Now were this all that stood between the United States and a
second Arcadia, they would be much nearer a terrestrial para-
dise than I had imagined. Not a single one of the new states
that has grown up under the jurisdiction of the <ongress but
has been positively and absolutely saved by its laws from slavery
in any shape or form whatsoever. It would save some mistakes
if authors would read the laws of foreign countrii> before they
write about them.

A A 4*

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WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580

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their own respective territories. The powers
vested by the new constitution in the general
government enabled it to enforce the cessation
of the trade throughout the Union, but gave it no
control over the domestic slavery wherever exist-
ing. The emancipation aheady eflected in eight
of the thirteen original states has been effected
in each by tiie acts of its own legislature.

There are at present twenty-two republics in
the confederacy ; of these, twelve have been
rendered free to black and white ; the remaining
ten continue to be more or less defaced by negro-
slavery. Of these five are old states, and the
other five either parted from these or formed out
of the acquired territory of French Louisiana.
Thus, — Kentucky was raised into an independent
state by mutual agreement between lierself and
Virginia, of which she originally formed a part ;
Tenessee, by mutual agreement between herself
and Carolina, to which she was originally attach-
ed. Mississippi was surrendered to the general
government by Georgia, to be raised when old
enough into an independent state ; but with a
stipulation that, to the citizens of Georgia, should
be continued the privilege of migrating into it
with their slaves. Louisiana proper, formed out
of a small portion of the vast territory ceded
under that name, came into the possession of
the United States with the united evils of black
slavery in its most hideous form, and the slave-
trade prosecuted with relentless barbarity. The
latter crime was instantly arrested ; and, under the
improving influence of mild laws and mental iu-

SLAVE-HOLDING WESTKIIN STATES.

301

if'
■ 11'

ovvers
eneral
ssatiou
e it no

f exist-
1 eiglit
effected

blics in

c been

maining

y negro-

und the

med out

.ouisiana.

ependent

jrself* and

i a part ;

in herself

lly attach-

le general
when old

lit with a

ia, should

icr into it

formed out

lory ceded

Issesaion of

]s of black
tlie slave-
irity. The
I, under the
mental in-

struclion, the liorrors of slavery have been greatly
alleviated.*

In all these cases the federal government lias
been powerless to effect the eradication of slavery.
It has, however, bt-en all powerful to prevent its
introduction in such territories as have been placed
under its control.

Ohio was the first state formed from the com-
mencement upon American princij)les. It was
plantetl by the hand of congress in the vast
region ceded by Virginia to the north-west of the
river Ohio. In the formation of a new state out
of the national waste lands, its government is en-

'■ Travellers afflicted with the anti-American mania are fond
ol." drawing their portrait of the national character in New
Orleans. This is much the same as if we should draw that of
the English in Guadaloupe or St. Lucie. Such tourists may
now liave an opportunity of sketching the American character
among the Spaniards of Florida.

The Missouri question, which so greatly agitated the nation
and the senate last winter, turned solely upon what were the
powers of congress to legislate for the territory in question.
Missouri was colonized by slave-holding French when the ter-
ritory was ceded to the United Sates by a treaty securing fo
the inhabitants their property, including slaves. Emancipation,
tlierefore, was not within the power of congress. The question
was, whether it possessed the right of preventing the citizens
of other states from migrating into Missouri toiih their slaves.
The error seems to have been the having omitted to pass this
prohibitory law before the period when Missouri assumed the
place of a state. Congress, after months of anxious deliber-
ation, came to a compromise which seemed the only one in their
power. A law was passed preventing the possibility of the
formation of any other slave-holding state in the French Loui-
sanian territory, and the slavery of Missouri was placed under
every restriction which the previous treaty and the constitution
would permit.

I
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362

LAV.S OF CONGRESS

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trusted to the congress of the United States, who
mark its boundaries, nominate its pubb'c officers,
and defray the expenses of its government, until
its population amounts to sixty thousand souls ;
when it is entitled to summon a convention, estab-
lish its own constitution, enter upon the adminis-
tration and expences of its own government, and
take its place in the confederacy as an independent
republic. *

In 1787> the congress passed an act, establishing
a temporary government for the infant popul-
ation settled on the lands of Ohio ; and the govern-
ment then established has served as the model
of that of all the territories that have since been
formed in the vacant wilderness. The act then
j)assed contained a clause which operated upon
the whole national territory to the north-west of
the Ohio. By this, " slavery and involuntary
servitude" was positively excluded from this
region, by a law of the general government. Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, have already
sprung up in the bosom of this desert ; the three
first independent states, and the latter about to
pass from her days of tutelage to assume the same
character.

It is deserving of observation, that for the
passing of this law a unanimous vote of the states

'ii

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* Several territories liavc passed to the condition of states
before they comprised the population demanded by law. Illi-
nois, for instance, having- preferred a request to congress that
she might be permitted to assume tlie reins of her own
government, was allowed to join the confederacy with u popu-
lation of lest; than 10,0W.

RELATIVE TO SLAVERY.

3(33

who
icers,
until
3uls *,
jstiib-
ninis-
, and
ntlent

ishing

popul-

overn-

motlel

e been

t then

i upon

vest ot

kintary

m this
Ohio,
aheady
three
bout to
le same

tor the
e states

of states
aw. llli-
(rress that

her own
h a popu-

vvas necessary, according to the old articles of
confederation then in force. By a unanimous
vote it was passed ; not a dissentient voice being-
raised by Virginia, who had ceded the territory in
question, nor by the other states of the south, who
thus voluntarily deprived their slave-holding citi-
zens of the right of migrating into it. *

Thus saved from the disgraceful and ruinous
contagion of African servitude, this young family
of republics have started in their career with a
vigor and a purity of character that has not an
equid in the history of the world. Ohio, which
twenty-five years since was a vacant wilderness,
now contains half a million of inhabitants, and
returns six representatives to the national congress.
In the other and younger members of the western
family, the ratio of increase is similar. It is curi-
ous to consider, that the adventurous settler is yet
alive who felled the lust tree to the west of the
AUeghanies. The log-hut of Daniel Boon is now
on the wild shores of the Missouri, a host of firmly

* In observing upon the policy of the southern states gene-
rally, it would be ungenerous to pass without notice, that their
representatives in congress have been among the most strenuous
enforcers of the last penalties of the law, against those convicted
of the surreptitious introduction of slaves into the southern
ports. The close neighbourhood of Cuba and the Spanish Flo-
ridas affords great facilities for this atrocious smuggling. The
navy of the United States is actively employed in intercepting
this stolen traffic, not only on the American but the African
coasts ; and agents are stationed in Africa to receive the stolen
negroes, returned in the safe keeping of the Republic to their
native country. In all these measures, the members from the
south have not only invariably concurred, but some of the most
important have originated with them.

^'ii

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3Gt

CKNEUOUS POLICY OF TUE

I ■ I

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I .if

ft t

p . 1

estiiblislied republics stretching betwixt liim and
the habitation of his boyhood.

It is plain that, in the course of a few generations,
the most populous and powerful divison of the
American family will be watered by the Mississipi,
not the Atlantic. From the character of their
infancy we may prophesy, that the growing pre-
j)onderance of the western republics will redound
to the national honor, and will draw more closely
tlie social league, which binds together the great
Amcrian family.

Bred up uniler the eye, and fostered by the care
of the federal goyernment, they have attached
themselyes to the national institutions with a de-
yotion of feeling unknown in the older parts of the
llepublic. Their patriotism has all the ardor, and
their policy all the ingenuousness of youth. 1
haye already had occasion to observe upon the
enthusiasm with which they asserted the liberties
and honor of th« ir country during the last war.
Their spirit throughout that contest was truly
chivalrous. The anecdotes recorded not only of
the valor, but of the romantic generosity of the
western army of volunteers, might grace the
noblest page of the revolutionary history. Nor
have the people of the west shown themselves less
generous in the senate than the field. In the hall
of the representatives, they are invariably on the
side of what is most honourable and high-minded.
Even should they evVf you feel that you would
rather err with them than be wise with more long-
headed or more cold-hearted politicians.

In considering America generally, one fiudb a

i , •'

WESTERN STATES.

80.:

character in her foreign to Europe, — something-
wliich there would be accounted visionary ; a libe-
rahty of sentiment, and a nationality of feeling,
not founded upon the mere accident of birth, but
upon the appreciation of that civil liberty to which
she owes all her greatness and happiness. It is to
be expected, however, that in the democracies of
the west, these distinctions will be yet more i)e-
culiarly marked.

It seems to be a vulgar belief in Europe, that
the American wilderness is usur.lly settled by the
worst members of the community. The friend I
write to is well aware that it is generally by the
best. The love of liberty, which the. emigrant
bears with him from the shores of the Connecticut,
the Hudson, or Potomac, is exalted and refined in
the calm and seclusion of nature's primeval woods
and boundless prairies. Some reckless spirits,
spurning all law and social order, must doubtless
mingle with the more virtuous crowd ; but these
rarely settle down as farmers. They start a-head
of the advanced guard of civilisation, and form a
wandering troop of hunters, approximating in lifie,
and sometimes in character, to the Indians, their
associates. At other times they assume the occu-
pation of shepherds, driving on their cattle from
pasture to pasture, according as fancy leads them
on from one fair prairie to another still fairer, or
accoiding as the approaching tide of population
threatens to encroach upon their solitude and their
wild tiominion.

You may, however, find among these borderers
many rare characters, who, like their veteran leader.

•i

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3GC)

CHAIIACTEII OF THE

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Daniel Boon, depose none of the social virtues
in tlieir Arab life. " The frontier," observes
Mr. Brackenridge, a gentleman who has an in-
timate acquaintance with the people of whom he
writes ; " the frontier is certainly the refuge of
many worthless and abandoned characters, but it
is also the choice of many of the noblest souls.
It seems wisely ordered, that in the i)art which is
weakest, where the force of laws is scarcely felt,
there should be found the greatest sum of real
courage, and of disinterested virtue. Few young
men who have migrated to the frontier are with-
out merit. From the firm conviction of its future
importance, generous and enterprising youth, the
virtuous, unfortunate, and those of moderate
patrimony, repair to it, that they may grow up
with the country, and form establishments for
themselves and families. Hence, in this territory,
there are many sterling characters. Among others
I mention, with pleasure, that brave and ad-
venturous North Carolinian, who makes so dis-
tinguished a figure in the history of Kentucky, the
venerable Col. Boon. This respectable old man,
in the eighty-fifth year of his age, resides on Salt
river, up the Missouri. He is surrounded by about
forty families, who respect him as a father, and
who live under a kind of patriarchal government,
ruled by his advice and example. They are not
necessitous persons, who have fled for their crimes
or misfortunes, like those that gathered unto David
in the cave of AduUum : they all live well, and
possess the necessaries and comforts of life as they
could wish. They retired through choice. Perhaps
they acted wisely in placing themselves at a dis-

^.j

FIRST SETTLERS,

U)7

virtues
l)scrves
an in-
lom he
["uge of
, but it
t souls,
kvhich is
ely I'elt,
of real
,v young
Lie with-
ts future
utb, the
moderate
Ti'ow up
lents for
erritory,
ig others
and ad-
so dis-
icky, the
old man,
!9 on Salt
by about
her, and
ernment,
y are not
ir crimes
ito David
well, and
:e as they
Perhaps
lat a dis-

tance from the deceit and turbulence of the world.
They enjoy an uninterrupted quiet and a real
comfort in their little society, beyond the sphere
of that larger society where government is neces-
sary. Here they are truly iree ; exempt from the
vexing duties and impositions even of the best
governments, they are neither assailed by the
madness of ambition, nor tortured by the poison
of party-spirit. Is not this one of the most powerful
incentives which impels the Anglo-American to
bury himself in the midst of the wilderness?" *

The borderers universally took an active part in
the war, and were eminently useful in repelling
the incursions of the Indians. Not even the most
lawless but was found ready to pour his life-blood
for the Republic.

A curious instance of the strange mixture of
magnanimity and ferocity, often found even among
the demi-savages of the borders, was afforded during
that contest by the Louisianian Lafitte. Some years
previous to the war, this desperado had placed him-

* The lord of the wilderness, Daniel Boon, though his eye
is now somewhat dimmed, and his limbs enfeebled by a long
life of adventure, can still hit the wild fowl on ' i". wing with
that dexterity which, in his earlier years, exciltd t' e en 'y of
Indian hunters; and he now looks upon tlie *• famous river"
Missouri with feelings scarce less ardent than when he surveyed
with clearer vision '• the famous river Ohio." The grave of
this worshipper of nature, wild adventure, and unrestrained
liberty, will be visited by the feebler children of future
generations with such awe as the Greeks might regard those of
their earlier demi-gods. The mind of this singular man seems
best pourtrayed by his own simple words. '• No populous city,
with all the varieties of commerce and stately structure, could
afford so much pleasure to my mind as the beauties of nature
that I find here."

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ANHCUOTH OF LAKITTi:.

;'■'.

self* at the head oi" a band of outhuvs, f'l om all nations
under heaven, and fixed his abode upon the top
of an impregnable rock, to the south-west of the
mouth of the Mississij)pi. Under the colours of the
South American patriots, they pirated at pleasure
every vessel that came in tiieir way, and smuggled
their booty up the secret creeks of the Mississippi
with a dexterity that baflfled all the limbs of the law.
The depredations of these outlaws, or, as they
styled themselves, Barritar'KUiSy (from Barrita theii
island,) becoming at lengtii intolerable, the Uniteil
States* government dispatched an armed force
against their little Tripoli. The establishment
was broken uj), and the pirates dispersed. No
sooner, however, had the fleet fairly disappeared,
than Lafitte again collected his outlaws, and took
possession of his rock. The attention of the
congress being now diverted by the war, he
scoured the gulf at his })leasure, and so tormented
the coasting traders, that Governor Clairborne
of Louisiana set a price on his head.

This daring outlaw, thus confronted with the
American government appeared likely to promote
the designs of its enemies. He was known to
possess the clue to all the secret windings and
entrances of the many-mouthed Mississippi ; and
in the projected attack upon New Orleans, it was
deemed expedient to secure his assistance.

The British officer then heading the foices
landed at Pensacola for the invasion of Louisiana,
opened a treaty with the Barritarian, to whom he
offered such rewards as were best calculated to
tempt his cupidity, and flatter his ambition. The
outlaw afiected to relish the proposal j but having

ANECDOTR OF LAFITTE.

iUUions
lie top
o f the
; ol' the
ilcusuro
niggled
^sissippi
tlieUiw.
as they
ita tljeii
United
d force
ishnient
2d. No
ppeared,
nd took
of the
var, he
irmented
airborne

^'itli the
promote
novvn to
Ings and
mi J and
s, it was

artfully drawn fro'n Colonel N-

le foices
louisiana,

dioni he
Hated to
The

It having

3G9

the phni of

his intended attack, lie spurned his oHLms with
the most contemptuous disdain, and instantly
dispatchcil one of iiis most trusty corsairs to the
governor who had proscribed his life, advising him
of the intentions of the enemy, and vohmteeringthe
aid of his little band, on the single condition that an
amnesty should be granted for their past offences.
Governor Clairborne, though touched by this
proof of magnanimity, hesitated to close with the
oflTer. The corsair kept himself in readiness for
the expected summons, and continued to spy and
report the motions of the enemy. As danger be-
came more urgent, and the steady generosity of
the outlaw more assured. Governor Clairborne
granted to him and his followers life and pardon,
and called them to the defence of the city. They
obeyed with alacrity, and served with a valour,
fidelity, and good conduct, not surpassed by the
best volunteers of the Republic. *

I have given but a rude sketch of the great
divisions of this republic : a subject of this kind
admits not of much precision ; or, at an rate, my
pencil is not skilled enough to handle it ably. I
wish you to observe, iiowever, that the birth of the
new states has tended to consolidate the union ;
and that their growing importance is likely to be
felt in the same manner ; contrary to the calcula-
tions of long-sighted politicians, who foretold that

* The restless Lafitte again hoisted the flag of Carthagena ;
to follow, however, a more regular mode of warfare than that
with which he commenced his career. I believe he has ren-
dered some signal services to the patriot cause.

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UNION OF THE STATES.

II,
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as the intef^ral parts of this great political
structure should strengthen and multiply, the
cement which held them together would crumble
away ; and that, as the interests of the extended
community should become more various, it would
lie distracted with more party animosities.

The fact is, that every sapient prophecy with
regard to America has been disproved. We were
forewarned that she was too free, and her liberty
has proved her security : too ])eaceable, and she
has been found sufficient for her defence ; too
large, and her size has insured her union. These
numerous republics, scattered through so wide a
range of territory, embracing all the climates
and containing all the various products of the
earth, seemed destined, in the course of years, to
form a world within themselves, independent alike
of the treasures and the industry of ail the other
sections of the globe. Each year they are learn-
ing, more and more, to look to each other for
all the various articles of food and raiment ;
while the third great human necessity — defence,
they have been from infancy practised to furnish
in common. The bonds of imion, indeed, are
more numerous and intimate than can be easily
conceived by foreigners. A people who have bled
together for liberty, who equally appreciate and
equally enjoy that liberty which their own blood or
tiiat of their fathers has purchased ; who feel, too,
that the liberty which they love has found her last
asylum on their shores ; such a people are bound
together by ties of amity and citizenship far beyond
what is usual in national communities.

, I

'•sV

371

[)litical
y, the
rumble
tended
, would

:y with
Je were
liberty
and she
ce *, too
These
wide a
climates
5 of the
years, to
ent alike
he other
re learn-
3ther for
raiment ;
-defence,
o furnish
leed, are
be easily
lave bled
ciate and
blood or
feel, too,
d her last
re bound
ar beyond

LETTER XXII.

t'NtlESTRAINED LIBERTY OP THE PRESS. — ELECTfONS. —
EFFECT OF POMTIC.VL WRITINGS. — NEWSPAPERS. CON-
GRESSIONAL DEBATES.

New York, February, 1820.
MY DEAR FRIEND,

1 HE Americans are certainly a calm, rational,
civil, and well-behaved people ; not given to quarrel
or to call each other names j and yet if you were
to look at their newspapers you would think them
a parcel of Hessian soldiers. An unrestricted
press appears to be the safety-valve of their free
constitution j and they seem to understand this ;
for they no more regard all the noise and sputter
that it occasions, than the roaring of the vapor on
board their steam-boats.

Were a foreigner, immediately upon landing, to
take up a newspaper, (especially * if he should
chance to land just before an election,) he. might
suppose that the whole political machine was about
to fall to pieces, and that he had just come in time
to be crushed in its ruins. But if he should 7iot
look at a newspaper, he might walk through the
streets on the very day of election, and never find
out that it was going on, unless, indeed, it should
happen to him as it happened to me, to see a crowd
collected round a pole surmounted by a cap of
liberty, and men walking in at one door of a house,

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37'2

LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.

lit

and walking out at another. Should he tlien ask
a friend hurrying j)ast him, " What is going on
there ?'* he may receive for answer, " The election
of representatives : walk on : 1 am just going to
give in my vote, and I will overtake you."

It might seem strange, that the sovereign people
should judge proper to exercise the right of abus-
ing the rulers of their choice ; a right which they
certainly do exercise without mercy ; but when
we consider, that in this democracy there is gene-
rally a yielding of a minority to a majority, the
case seems quite easy of explanation. Besides,
after a man has assisted in the choice of his repre-
sentative, he may take oftence at him. It of
course then follows, that he will tell him so ; and
that he will tell his fellow-citizens the same, and
tliat he will endeavour to eke out his philippic
with the aid of all the epithets in the dictionary.
Now, though this practice of vilifying the freely
chosen officers of the Republic is not very reputable
to the community, it evidently brings its own cure
with it. Public opinion, after all, is the best and,
indeed, the only efficient censor of the press : in
this country it is found all-sufficient ; while in other
countries fines, imprisonments, and executions,
are had recourse to in vain.

The public prints were never more outrageous
llian after the discomfiture of the federal party in
1805 ; and never did the shafts of slander fall more
harmless than on those wise rulers to whom the
people had transferred their confidence. The
speech of Mr. Jefferson, after his second inaugura-
tion, contains some observations of so general an

' W'

LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.

373

i ■

en asU
ing on
ilection
oing to

I people
>f abus-
ich they
it when
is gene-
ity, the
Besides,
is repre-
. It of
so *, and
me, and
philippic
ctionary.
he freely
eputable
wn cure
test and,
ress : in
in other
ecutions,

^itrageous
party in
Ifall more
I horn the

[e. The
[naugura-
meral an

application, that 1 am tempted to direct your at-
tention to them.

" During this course of administration, and in
order to ilisturb it, the artillery o^' the press has
been levelled against us, charged with whatever
** its licentiousness could devise or daie. These
abuses of an institution, so important to freedom
and science, are deeply to be regretted, inas-
nmch as they tend to lessen its usefulness, and
to sap its safety. They might, perhaps, have
been corrected by the wholesome punishments
** reserved to and provided by the laws of the
" several states against falsehood and defamation ;
** but public duties more urgent press on. the time
" of the servants of the public, and the offenders
have therefore been left to find their punishment
in the public indignation.

** Nor was it uninteresting to the world, that an
experiment should be fairly and fully made
" whether freedom of discussion, unaided by power,
" is not sufficient for the propagation and protec-
'* tion of truth; whether a government, conducting
itself in the true spirit of its constitution, with
zeal and purity, and doing no act which it would
** be unwilling the whole world should witness,
can be written down by falsehood and defama-
tion. The experiment has been made : you have
" witnessed the result. Our fellow-citizens have
" looked on cool and collected. They saw the la-
** tent source from which these outrages proceeded.
** They gathered around their public functionaries ;
" and when the constitution called them to the de-
" cision by suffrage, they pronounced tlieir verdict,

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374

LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.

" honourable to those who had served them, and
" consolatory to the friends ofman, who believe thut
•* he may and ought to be trusted with the control
** of his own affairs. No inference is here intended
** that the laws provided by the states, against
" false and defamatory publications, should not
" be enforced. He who has leisure renders ser-
vice to the public morals, and public tranquillity,
in reforming these abuses by the salutary coer-
cions of the law. But the experiment is noted
to prove, that, since truth and reason have
maintained their ground, against false opinions
in league with false facts, the press calls for few
legal restraints. The public judgment will cor-
rect false reasoning and opinion, upon a full
hearing of all parties, and no other definite line
can be drawn between the inestimable liberty of
the press, and its demoralizing licentiousness.**
Never was there a country in which a dema-
gogue had less in his power than in this. The
citizen here learns to think for himself. His very
pride as a sovereign revolts from a blind surrender
of his judgment to those who may be willing to
set up as his teachers. He looks to facts ; con-
siders the conduct of his public functionaries, and
pronounces accordingly. Sedition here may safely
ring her larum ; no man regards it. The eyes of
the people are fixed upon the wheel of govern-
ment ; and so long as it moves fairly and steadily,
the servants that guide it are supported by the na-
tional suffrage.

But if the declamation of the press passes unre-
garded, its sound reasoning, supported by facts,
exerts a sway beyond all that is known in Europe.

((

FRANKLIN.

57.7

m, and
eve tliut
control
ntended
against
)uld not
lers ser-
iquilHty,
iiy coer-
is noted
on have
opinions
s for few
will cor-
m a full
finite line
liberty of
usness.**
a dema-
lis. The
His very
surrender
ivilling to
ctsj con-
aries, and
nay safely
e eyes of
f govern-
steadily,
»y the na-

Isses unre-
by facts,
Europe.

Here there is no mob. An orator or a writer must
make his way to the feelings of the American peo-
ple through their reason. They must think with
him before they will feel with him ; but, when once
they do both, there is nothing to prevent their
acting with him. It was thus that the effect of
•* Common Sense** on the public mind produced
an effect upon the public councils. It unfurled
the standard of independence. Prior to this the
eloquent Patrick Henry had roused the soul of Vir-
ginia, and put arms in her hand ; Dickenson, by
the most admirable train of reasoning, had led the
people to calculate the inevitable results of the acts
of the British parliament, and strengthened them
in that spirit of resistance which redeemed the li-
berties of mankind. Throughout the revolution-
ary struggle not a pamphlet, not a fable, not a
ballad, but had its influence on the feelings, and
thus on the affairs of the nation.

The writings of the great and good Franklin, the
Socrates of modern times, the father of independ-
ent America, and the oracle of those philosophic
statesmen whom the public voice has fixed at the
helm, since the first election of Mr Jefferson, exert
to this day their holy influence on the national
character, aud, consequently, on the national
councils. You cannot enter the house of a farmer,
or the log hut of i^ settler, that you will no "^'nd
the writings of this sage upon the shelf. His
apophthegms and parables are graven upon the
memory of childhood ; " his life written by himselP*
is the pocket manual of the youth when he enters
into the world j his divine precepts (for such they

B B 4

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rOLITICAL WRITINGS.

1 i

1 ' I

truly are) of justice, humanity, forbearance, indus-
try, economy, simplicity, pliilantbrophy, and liberty,
regulate the administration of many a patriotic
statesman, and the life of many a virtuous citizen.
The nervous and classical papers of " The Fe-
deralist" greatly furthered the adoption and peace-
able establishment of the federal con^^titution ;
many other writings had a similar tendency. The
resolutions passed by the legislature of Virginia,
in 1799, framed by Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madison,
declaring the congress to have exceeded the
powers delegated to it, fixed the attention of the
whole nation j and for this reason, tliat the de-
claration was supported by facts which had ah'eady
occupied the public mind, and which proved the
truth of the charge. " The Olive Branch j or
Faults on both Sides," the work of Mr. Carey, a
respectable bookseller, and patriotic citizen
in Philadelphia, is said to have produced the
greatest sensation of any political treatise since the
appearance of " Common Sense." Its ostensible
object was to cement the two old parties, demo-
cratic and federal ; but its enumeration of their
mutual faults made out so much heavier a catalogue
against the latter, as was little calculated to subdue
it by kindness. The work rather assisted the de-
struction of the malcontents by covering them
with confusion ; perhaps, too, by provoking them
to acts of greater intemperance, and thus
forcing them to work out their own ruin. How-
ever this may be, the ability and utility of " The
Olive Branch" were acknowledged and felt by the
nation : it ran through thirteen large editions with

i.'ii

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NEWSPAPERS.

377

idus-
)erty,
riotic
tizen.
le Fe-
)eace-
ition ;
The
rginia,
idison,
d the
of the
lie de-
d ready
ed the
ch; or
arey, a
citizen
ed the
nee the
ensible
demo-
f their
talogue
subdue
he de-
them
l<r them
thus
How-
« The
by the
ins with

the speed of light, and was in the hands of every
citizen of the Republic.

It would be impossible for a country to be more
completely deluged with newspapers than is this ;
they are to be had not only i i the English but in
the French and Dutch languages, and some will
probably soon appear in the Spanish. It is here
not the amusement but the duty of every man to
know what his public functionaries are doing : he
has first to look after tlie conduct of the general
government, and, secondly, after tha< of his own
state legislature. But besides this, he must also
know what is passing in all the different states of
the Union : as the number of these states has now
multiplied to twenty-two, besides others in embryo,
there is abundance of home-politics to swell the
pages of a newspaper ; then come the politics of
Eirrope, which, by-the-bye, are, I think, often better
understood here than on your side of the Atlantic.
Another and a more interesting subject to Ame-
ricans, is found in the affairs of their brethren of
the south. Many generous citizens of this re-
public have embarked their lives and fortunes in a
cause which bears so strong a parallel to that for
which they or their fathers bled on their own soil.
Several friendly missions have been despatched
from this government to those of the southern re-
publics, the account of which you will, I think,
read with much interest. *

* The English reader will find a most able and interesting
account of the Bueynos-Ayres republic in a work entitled
Voyage to South America, performed hy Order of the American
Government, in the years 1817 and 1818, in the Frigate Congres

"v. f

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37 8

NEWSPAPERS.

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Rut, independent of politics, these multitudinous
gazettes and journals are made to contain a won-
derous miscellany of information ; there is not a
conceivable topic in tlie whole range of human
knowledge that they do not treat of in some way
or other j not unfrequently, I must observe, with
considerable abiUty, while the facts that they con-
tain and the general principles that they advocate,
are often highly serviceable to the community.
The party rancor which occasionally defaces their
columns, appears, as 1 have said, to be more
ludicrous than mischievous ; at any rate, it is
clearly an evil which comes in the train of liberty,
and which, for the sake of the good company it
keeps, the Republic may well be content to bear
with.

As you will have remarked in the congressional
debates, this scurrility never finds its way into the
senate. The language of the representatives of the
nation, however warm be the argument, is in-
variably decorous and gentlemanly. Even during
the hottest period of that political strife which
agitated the nation and the senate during the
struggles of the democratic and federal parties,
there is but one instance on record where the
decorum of the house was openly violated. It
was, to be sure, an outrageous exception : one

JDi/ H. M. Brackenridge, Esq., Secretary to the Mission, An
interesting though painful account of the affairs of Mexico will
be found in the work of Wilham Davis Robinson of Philadelphia,
entitled Memoirs of the Mexican Revolution^ including a Nar^
rative of the Expedition of General Xavier Mitia,

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CON'GRESSIONAL DEBATES.

S79

linous
, won-
11 ot a
luman
le way
!, with
y con-
^ocate,
lunity.
!S their
5 more
!, it is
liberty,
;)any it
to bear

Bssional
nto the
i of the
is in-
during
which
ng the
parties,
ere the
ed. It
r : one

Bion. An
exico will
adelphia,
jg a Nar-

member gave anotlier the lie ; upon which he was
felled by his adversary to the ground, and both
were expelled.

The tone assumed in the debates of congress
has for many years been worthy of the Roman
senate in its best days ; nor is the oratory and
sound reasoning displayed in them less remarkable
than the temper which is invariably preserved. 1
believe this moderation, so different fron what is
found in the English house of commons, may be
explained by considering that here there are no
regular majorities and minorities. It is a fair
combat of opinions j not principle standing opposed
to power. As those who differ from ejich otiier to-
day may be found in the same majority to-morrow, it
is seldom that personal animosity is mingled with
political opposition ; the broad principles, too, of
justice and the rights of man, which are so eter-
nally appealed to in the hall of the representatives,
are calculated to impart dignity to the national
politics. The vessel of the state has to be navigated
through the broad ocean of liberty, not through
the tortuous canal of political expediency. The
soul of the statesman expands over the vast pros-
pect before him ; the generous principles which
form his weapons of attack or defence dispose
him to wage an honorable and chivalrous combat
with his adversary j he presses him home, Indeed,
attacks him on all sides, and occasionally thunders
down his blows with all the fever of impatient
enthusiasm ; but he does not permit himself to
seek any unfair advantage, by attempting to vilify

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380

CONGRESSIONAL DEBATES.

his adversary, which could only injure his own
cause, or mar the honor of his triumph.

We may further observe, that personal invective
is not likely to be tolerated in an assembly com-
posed of men all equally proud and equally free.
The political institutions doubtless give the key
to this peculiarity, which so often excites the sur-
prise of foreigners, accustomed in Europe to look
for noise and confusion in the courts of liberty.

J.'JII!!'

381

LETTER XXIII.

EDUCATION. PUBLIC SEMINAIIIES. DISCIPLINE

SCHOOLS. CONDITION OF WOMEN.

New York, March, 18'20.

MY DEAR FRILND,

l HE education of youth, which may be said to
form the basis of American government, is in
every :-tate of the Union made a national concern.
Upon this subject, therefore, the observations that
apply to one may be considered as, more or less,
applying to all. The portion of this wide-spread
community, that paid the earliest and most anxious
attention to the instruction of its citizens, was
New England. This probably originated in tlie
greater democracy of her colonial institutions.
Liberty and knowledge ever go hand in hawd.

If the national policy of some of the New-Eng-
land states has been occasionally censurable, th^
internal arrangement of all amply redeems her
character. There is not a more truly virtuous
community in the world than that found in the
democracies of the east. The beauty of their
villages, the neatness and cleanliness of their
houses, the simplicity of their manners, the sincerity
of their religion, despoiled in a great measure of
its former Calvinistic austerity, their domestic ha-
bits, pure morals, and well-administered laws, must
command the admiration and respect of every

I '

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382

EDUCATION.

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Stranger. I was forcibly struck in Connecticut
with the appearance of'the children, neatly dressed,
with their satchels on their arms, and their faces
blooming with health and cheerfulness, dropping
their courtesy to the passenger as they trooped to
school. The obeisance thus made is not rendered
to station but to age. Like the young Spartans,
the youth are taught to salute respectfully their
superiors in years ; and the artlessness and modesty
with which the intelligent young creatures reply
to the stranger's queries, might give pleasure to
Lycurgus himself.

The state of Connecticut has appropriated a
fund of a million and a half of dollars to the sup-
port of public schools. In Vermont, a certain por-
tion of land has been laid off* in every township,
whose proceeds are devoted to the same purpose.
In the other states, every township taxes itself to
such amount as is necessary to defray the expense
of schools, which teach reading, writing, and arith-
metic, to the whole population. In larger towns,
these schools teach geography and the rudiments
of Latin. These establishments, supported at the
common expense, are open to the whole youth,
male and female, of the country. Other seminaries
of a higher order are also maintained in the more
populous districts ; half the expense being dis-
charged by appropriated funds, and the remain-
der by a small charge laid on the scholar. The
instruction here given fits the youth for the state
colleges ; of which there is one or more in every
state. The university of Cambridge, in Massa-
chussets, is the oldest, and, I believe, the most

;ti

EDUCATION.

383

:ticut
essed,
faces
pping
)ed to
idered
irtans,
' their
odesty
\ reply
ure to

ated a
lie sup-
lin por-
^nsliip,
urpose.
tself to
expense
arith-
towns,
iments
at "the
youth,
linaries
,e more
ig dis-
emain-
The
e state
every
Massa-
e most

distinguished estahlisliment of the kind existing in
the Union.

Perhaps the number of colleges, founded in tins
wide-spread family of republics, may not, in gene-
ral, be favorable to the growth of distinguished
universities. It best answers, however, the object
intended, which is not to raise a few very learned
citizens, but a well-informed and liberal-minded
community.

The number of universities in the United States
now amounts to forty-eight. The most consider-
able of these are Harvard university, at Cam-
bridge, near Boston, founded in the year 1(398 ;
Yale college, at Nevvhaven, Connecticut, founded
in 1701 ; Nassau- Hall, at Princeton, New-Jersey,
founded in I7S8 ; Dartmouth college, in New-
Hampshire, founded in 17^9; and William and
Mary college, in Virginia, founded in 1791* Many
of the colleges in the Union are amply endowed
by the legislatures of the states to which they be-
long. Those of the new states are munificently
provided for by the laws of congress, which devote
extensive tracts of the national lands for their sup-
port. In Ohio, for instance, about the one-thirty-
sixth part of the whole territory of that rich state
is granted for this purpose, and so distributed as
to produce the greatest effect. In some of the
new states, as in that of Illinois, the donations are
still more liberal. Numerous and well-endowed as
are all the establishments for the education o^'
youth in the Atlantic states, they will, in less than
a century from this time, appear diminutive, when
compared with those of the West. I have al-
ready, in a former letter, had occasion to advert to

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1 1

381.

EDUCATION.

the academy at West Point, instituted for the pur-
pose of difliising correct iniMtary information
throughout the country.

It is innecessary that I should enter into a par-
ticular detail of the internal regulations of all the
different states relative to the national instruction.
The child of every citizen, male or female, white
or black, is entitled, by right, to a plain education ;
and funds sufficient to defray the expense of his
instruction are raised either from public lands
appropriated to the purpose, or by taxes sometimes
imposed by the legislature, and sometimes by the
different townships. But, notwithstanding the
universality of these regulations, it must sometimes
happen, from the more scattered population of
some districts, and in others from the occasional
patches of a foreign population, that knowledge
is more unequally spread. The Germans of Pen-
sylvania and the Dutch of New York are, here
and there, in full possession of the temple of ig-
norance ; and three or four generations have, in
some cases, proved insufficient to root out their
predilection for the leaden deity so long worshipped
within its walls. German schools have, however,
done much towards the overthrow of the idol ;
and it may be anticipated, that even German ob-
stinacy will at last be brought to exchange the
Dutch alphabet for that of the country. There is
something inexplicable in national character, every
where so distinctly marked. A dozen years, and
the French of Lousiana are cementing themselves
with their new fellow-citizens, and rearing up their
children, more or less, in the language of the nation ;
while the Dutch of Communie-paw, on the shores

EDUCATION.

385

e pur-
[nation

a par-
all the
action.
, white
cation ;
e of his
; lands
netimes
5 by the
ng the
netimes
ition of
casional
owledge
of Pen-
ne, here
e of ig-
lave, in

of ihc New-York Hay» have taken a century to
loani h;ilf-a-dozeii I'liiirlisli words, and to acquire
the (ifth j)art of a new idea.

II' wc must seek the exphuiation of national
manners in national institutions and early edu-
cation, all the characteristic s of the American
admit oi* an easy explari ition. The foreigner is
at first surprized to find in the ordinary citizen
that inteihgence and those sentiments which he
had been accustotned to seek in the writings of
philosophers, and the conversation of the most en-
lightened. Tiic better half of our education in
the old world consists of unlearning : we have to
nnlearn wiicn we come from the nursery^ to unlearn
again when we come from the school, and often
to continue unlearning through life, and to quit
the scene at last without having rid ourselves of
half the false notions which had been implanted in
our young minds. All this trouble is saved here.
The impressions received in childhood are few and
simple, as are all the elements of just knowledge.
Whatever ideas may be acquired are learned from
the page of truth, and embrace principles often
unknown to the finished scholar of Europe. Nor
is the manner in which education is here conducted
without its influence in forming the character. I
feel disposed at least to ascribe to it that mild
friendliness of demeanor which distiPiT'v'ihes the
American. It is violence that begeto violence,
and gentleness, gentleness. I have frequently
heard it stated by West Indians, that a slave
invariably makes the hardest slave-driver.
English schools, it is wellkn own that the worst

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.380

PUBLIC SEMINARIES.

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used yfl«* becomes, in his turn, the most cruel
tyrant ; and in a British ship of war it will often
be found tliat the merciless discipHnarian lias
learned his harshness in tlie school of suffering.
The American, in his infancy, manhood, or age,
never feels the hand of oppression. Violence is
positively forbidden in the schools, in the prisons,
on ship-board, in the army ; — every where, in short,
where authority is exercised, it must be exercised
without appeal to the argument of a blow.

Not long since a master was dismissed from a
public school, in a neighbouring state, for having
struck a boy. The little fellow was transformed
in a moment from a culprit to an accuser. " Do
you dare to strike me ? you are my teacher, but
not my tyrant." The school-room made common
cause in a moment : the fact was enquired into,
and the master dismissed. No apology for the
punishment was sought in the nature of the offence
which might have provoked it. As my informer
observed, " It was thought, that the man who
could not master his own passions w^as unfit to
control the passions of others ; besides, that he
had infringed the rules of the school, and forfeited
the respect of his scholars.*' By this early exemp-
tion from arbitrary power, the boy acquires fieelings
and habits which abide with him through life. He
feels his own importance as a human and a think-
ing being ; and learns to regard violence as equally
degrading to him who exercises it, and to him who
submits to it. You will perceive how the seeds of
pride and gentleness are thus likely to spring up
together in the same mind. In the proper union

i .

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CONDITION or \V():\](RN.

387

and tempering of these two qualities were, perliaps,
found the perfection of national as well as of in-
dividual character.

In the education of women, New England seems
hitherto to have been peculiarly liberal. The
ladies of th^ eastern states are frequently pos.-ossed
of the most solid acquirements, the modern and
even the dead languages, and a wide scope of
reading ; the consequence is, that their manners
have the character of being more composed than
those of my gay young friends in this quarter. I
have already stated, in one of my earlier letters,
that the public attention is now every where
turned to the improvement of female education.
In some states, colleges for girls are established
under the eye of the legislature, in which are
taught all those important branches of knowledge
that your friend Dr. Rush conceived to be so
requisite.

In other countries it may seem of little conse-
quence to inculcate upon the female mind ** the
principles of government, and the obligations of
patriotism ;*' but it was wisely foreseen by that
venerable apostle of liberty, that in a country
where a mother is charged with the formation of
an infant mind that is to be called in future to
judge of the laws and support the liberties of a
republic, the mother herself should well under-
stand those laws, and estimate those liberties.
Personal accomplishments and the more orna-
mental branches of knowledge should certainly in
America be made subordinate to solid information.
This is perfectly the case with respect to the

c c 2

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S88

rUHLIC SEMINARIES.

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men ; as yet the women have been educated too
much after the European manner. French, Italian,
dancing, chawing, engage the hours of the one sex,
(and this but too commonly in a lax and careless
way,) while the more appropriate studies of the
other are pliilosophy, history, political economy, and
the exact sciences ; it follows, consequently, that
after the spirits of youth have somewhat subsided,
the two sexes have less in common in their pursuits
and turn of tliinking than is desirable ; a woman
of a powerful intellect will of course seize
upon the new topics presented to her by tlie con-
versation of her husband. Tlie less vigorous, or
tlic more thoughtless mind, is not easily brought
to forego trifling pursuits for those which occupy
the stronger reason of its companion.

I must remark, that in no particular is the liberal
philosophy of the Americans more honorably evinc-
ed tlian in the place which is awarded to women.
The prejudices still to be found in Europe, though
now indeed somewhat antiquated, which would
confine the female library to romances, poetry,
and belles lettres, and female conversation to the
last new publication, new bonnet, and pas seuU are
entirely unknown here. The women are assuming
their place as thinkirig beings, not in despite of the
men, but chiefly in consequence of their enlarged
views and exertions as fathers and legislators.

I may seem to be swerving a little from my
subject ; but as I have adverted to the place ac-
corded to women in one particular, I may as well
now reply to your question regarding their general
condition. It strikes me that it would be impos-

,|:,

1 too
iliaii,
gsex,
reless
f the
y,and
, tlvat
isided,
irsLiits
voman
seize
le con-
His, or
lought

occupy

; liberal

J evinc-

,vomen.
hough
would
poetry,
to the
euU are
suining
of the
nlarged

rs.

oin my

lace ac-

as well

general

impos-

CONDITION or WOMEN.

389

sible for women to stand in higher estimation than
they do here. The deference that is paid to tlicm
at all times and in all places has often occasioned
me as much surprise as pleasure.

In domestic life there is a tenderness on the
part of the husband to his weaker helpmate, and
this in all situations of life, that I believe in no
country is surpassed, and in few equalled. No
cavalier servaiit of a lady of fashion, no sighing
lover, who has just permed a sonnet to his ** mis-
tress' eyebrow," ever rendered more delicate at-
tentions to the idol of his fancy than I have seen
rendered by an American farmer or mechanic, not
to say gentleman, to the companion, of his life.
The wife and daughters of the laboring citizen
are always found neatly dressed and occupied at
home in household concerns : no field labour is
ever imposed upon a woman ; and I believe that it
would outrage the feelings of an American, what-
ever be his station, should he see her engaged in
any toil seemingly unsuited to her strength. In
travelling, I have myself often met with a refine-
ment of civility from men whose exterior promised
only the roughness of the mechanic, or working
farmer, that I should only have looked for from
the polished gentleman.

Perhaps the condition of women affords, in all
countries, the best criterion by which to judge of
the character of men. Where we find the weaker
sex burdened with hard labour, we may ascribe to
the stronger something of the savage ; and where
we see the former deprived of free agency, we shall
find in the latter much of the sensualist. I know

c c 3

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390

CUNDlTiON OI WOMEN.

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not a circumstance which more clearly marks in
England the retrograde movement of the national
morals than tlie shackles now forged for the rising
generation of women. Perhaps these are as yet
more exclusively laid upon, what are termed, the
highest class ; but I apprehend that thousands of
our countrywomen in the middle ranks, whose
mothers, or certainly whose grandmothers, could
ride unattended from the Land's End to the
border, and walk abroad alone, or with an un-
married friend of the otlier sex, armed with all the
unsuspecting virtue of Eve before her fall ; — I
apprehend that the children and grandchildren of
these matrons are now condemned to walk in
leading-strings from the cradle to the altar, if not
to the grave, — taught to see in the other sex a
race of seducers rather than protectors, and of
masters rather than companions. Alas ! for the
morals of a country when female dignity is con-
founded with helplessness, and the guardianship
of a woman's virtue transferred from herself to
others! If any should doubt the effect produced by
the infringement of female liberty upon the female
mind, let them consider the dress of the present
generation of English women. This will suffi-
ciently settle the question without a reference
to the pages of the daily journals. Of the two
extremes, it is better to see a woman, as in Scot-
land, bent over the glebe, mingling the sweat of
her brow with that of her churlish husband or
more churlish son, than to see her gradually sinking
into the childish de})endence of a Spanish donna.

i'liii

CONDITION OF \V0M1:n.

391

i !

*ks in
tional
rising
IS yet
d, the
fids of
whose
could
:o the
in un-
all the

hen of
^alk in
if not
r sex a
and of
for the
is con-
ianship
self to
ced by
female
present
1 suffi-
ference
he two
n Scot-
weat of
and or
sinking
\)nna*

The hberty here enjoyed by the yoiiii!^ women
often occasions some surprise to foreigners ; \vho»
contrasting it with tlie constraint imposed on the
female youth of Paris or London, are at a loss to
reconcile the freedom of tlie national manners with
the purity of the national morals : but confidence
and innocence are twin-sisters ; and should the
American women ever resign the guardianship of
their own virtue, the lawyers of these democracies
will probably find as good occupation in prosecut-
ing suits for divorce as those of any of the mo-
narchies of Euro])e. *

I often lament, that in the rearing of w^omen,
so little attention should be commonly- })aid to the
exercise of the bodily organs ; to invigorate the
body is to invigorate the mind, and Heaven knows
that the w'eaker sex have much cause to be ren-
dered strong in both. In the happiest country,
their condition is sufficiently hard. Have they

* The law of divorce is one so little referred to in America
that it never occurred to me to hear or enquire how it stood.
In the state of Rhode Island, however, there is a very singular
regulation. As it was explained to me : — if a married couple
shall give in to the civil magistrate a mutual declaration, that
they are desirous of separating, from (as the French would ex-
press it) ^r.cDmpatibilite, and shall then live entirely apart, but
within the precincts of the state, for two full years, conducting
themselves with propriety during that period, they may obtain,
upon application, a disannulment of the marriage contract. I
was surprised to hear that few had ever sought the benefit of the
act ; and that of those who had applied for it, some had broken
the exacted stipulations before the expiration of the two years.
Might it not tend to cement rather than weaken the marriage
tie throughout the world, if every country had a Rhode Island ?

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CONDITION OF VV03IEN'.

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talents? It is difficult to turn them to account.
Ambition ? The road to honourable distinction
is shut against them. A vigorous intellect? It
is broken down by sufferings, bodily and mental.
The lords of creation receive innumerable, incal-
culable advantages from the hand of nature ; and
it must be admitted, that they every where take
sufficient care to foster the advantages with whicli
they are endowed. There is something so flatter-
ing to human vanity in the consciousness of supe-
riority, that it is little surprising if men husband
with jealousy that which nature has enabled them
to usurp over the daughters of Eve. Love o("
power more frequently originates in vanity than
pride, (two qualities, by the way, which are often
confounded,) and is, consequently, yet more
peculiarly the sin of little than of great minds.
Now, an overwhelming proportion of human
minds appertain to the former class, and must be
content to soothe their self-love by considering
the weakness of others rather than their own
strength. You will say, this is severe ; is it not
true ? In what consists the greatness of a despot ?
la his own intrinsic merits ? No ; in the degra-
dation of the multitude who surround him. What
feeds the vanity of a patrician ? The consciousness
of any virtue that he inherits with his blood ?
The list of his senseless progenitors would proba-
bly soon cease to command his respect, if it did not
enable him to command that of his fellow-creatures.
" But what," I hear you ask, '* has this to do with
the condition of women ? Do you mean to com*
pare men collectively to the despot and tlic patri-

'l\ IH.!

'^v

' ff

CONDITION 01- W0MI:N.

jy3

ount.
ictiou
? It
ental.
incal-
; and
J take
which
iatter-
siipe-
isband
I them
ove oi'
y than
: often
more
minds,
human
ust be
dering
U' own
it not
espot ?
degra-
Wliat
usness
blood ?
proba-
did not
atures.
o with
J com-
ic patri-

cian ? Why not ? Tlic vanity of the despot and
the patrician is fed by the folly of tiieir fellow-men,
and so is that of their sex collectively soothed by
the dependence of women : it pleases them better
to find in their companion a fragile vine, clinging
to their firm trunk for support, than a vigorous
tree with whose branches they may mingle theirs,
I believe they sometimes repent of their choice
when the vine has weighed the oak to the grounil.
It is difficult, in walking througii the world, not to
laugh at the consequences whicli, sooner or later,
overtake men's follies ; but when these are visited
upon women, I feel more disposed to sigh. Born
to endure the worst afflictions of fortune, they are
enervated in soul and body lest the storm should
not visit them sufficiently rudely. Instead of
essaying to counteract the unequal law of nature,
it seems the object of man to visit it upon his
weaker helpmate more harshly ; it is well, how-
ever, that his folly recoils upon his own head ; and
that the fate of the sexes is so entwined, that the
dignity of the one must rise or fall with that of the
other.

In America much certainly is done to ameliorate
the condition of women j and as their education
shall become, more and more, the concern of the
state, their character may aspire in each succeeding
generation to a higher standard. The Republic,
I am persuaded, will be amply repaid for any
trouble or expense that may be thus bestowed.
In her struggles for liberty, much of her virtue
emanated from the wives and daughters of her

M|^

30i

CONDITION OF WOJIEN.

K I

H ' '•

\ '51;

senators and soldiers, and to preserve to her sons
the energy of freemen and patriots, she must
strengtiien that energy in her daughters. *

To invigorate the character, however, it is not
sufficient to cultivate the mind. The body also
must be trained to wholesome exercise, and the
nerves braced to bear those extremes of climate
which here threaten to enervate the more weakly
frame. It is the union of bodily and mental
vigor in the male population of America which
imparts to it that peculiar energy of character
which in its first infancy drew forth so splendid a
panegyric from the Irish orator: " What in the
world is equal to it?" exclaimed Mr. Burke,
" whilst we follow them (the colonists) among
the tumbling mountains of ice, and behold them
penetrating into the deepest frozen recesses of
Hudson's Bay and Davis' Streights, whilst we are
looking for them beneath the arctic circle, we
hear that they have pierced into the opposite
region of polar cold, that they are at the antipodes,
and engaged under the frozen serpent of the south.
Falkland Island, which semed too remote and
romantic an object for the grasp of national ambi-
tion, is but a stage and resting-place in the pro-
gress of their victorious industry : nor is the equi-
noctial heat more discouraging to them than the
accumulated winter of both the poles. We know
that while some of them draw the line and strike

* In the Revolutionary war, the enthusiasm of the women is
acknowledged to have greatly assisted that ot the men. In all
successful struggles for liberty, I believe the same co-operation
of the sexes will be found to have existed.

|!.^t'

i j'i

CONDITION 01' WOMEN.

30.5

the harpoon on the coast of Africa, others run the
longitude, and pursue their gigantic game along
the coast of Braiiil. No sea but what is vexed by
then- fisheries : no climate that is not witness to
their toils.*' *

Now, though it is by no means requisite that
the American women should emulate the men
in the pursuit of the whale, the felling of the
forest, or the shooting of wild turkeys, they might,
with advantage, be taught in early youth to excel
in the race, to hit a mark, to swim, and in short to
use every exercise which could impart vigor to
their frames and independence to their minds.
But I have dwelt enough upon this subject, and
you will, perhaps, apprehend that I am about to
subjoin a Utopian plan of national education •
no ; I leave this to the Republic herself; and,*
wishing all success to her endeavours, I bid you
farewell. ^

* Speech on conciliation with America.

ilf''

! t

i^j.

ayo

■1^

LETTER XXIV.

nr.LlOION. TEMPER OF THE DIlFEllENT SECTS.

ANECDOTES.

New- York, Marcli, 1820.

MV DEAR FIUEND,

iij

» :

f! .'If'

\ ES, it is somewhat curious to see how travellers
contradict each other. One says things are white,
and another tliat they are bUick ; some write that
the Americans have no rehgion, and othtjs tliat
they are a race of fanatics. One traveller tolls us,
that they are so immersed in tlie affairs of the
llepublic as not to have a word to throw at a
stranger, and another that they never think about
politics at all, and talk nonsense eternally.*

* Compare Mr. Fearon and Lieutenant Hall upon this sub-
ject. It appears to me, however, that both are equally far from
the truth. That the Americans never trouble themselves
about the affairs of the nation, which is the assertion of the
former, seems scarcely to merit refutation.— That they are so
immersed in them as to be " habitually serious and silent,"
surely found its way into the pages of the latter after an even-
ing passed with some citizen, of whom nature had made an
original. But if this observation, as applied to the men, appears
strange, when applied to the women, it appears absolutely in-
comprehensible. I think this intelligent officer was looking at
the Marquis de Chastellux, instead of the young women of
New York and Philadelphia, when he drew his portrait of
them ; — or, perhaps, it was that they mistook him Jar the Mar-

! I

RELIGION.

307

lECTS. —

ch, 1820.

•avellers
e white,
■ite that
itis that
tells us,
[s of the
ovv at a
ik about
rnally.*

|n this sub-
ly far from
Ithemselves
lion of the
they are so
Hid silent,"
ir an even-
made an
2n, appears
jlutely in-
looking at
women of
portrait of
the Mar-

• • • • may well ask what he is to belie e j Imt he
flatters nic too much, if he be willing tc roier tl •
matter to my decision. He may argue .s, hov .
ever, for himself: if the Americans have no religion,
it is to be presumed tha*^ they would have no
churches; and if they were it race of fanatics, it is
equally to be presumed that they would force
people to go into ihem.. We know that they have
churches, and do not force people to go iuto them,
nor force people to ^;^^ Jbr t/icm, and yet they arc

paid for, and filled.

It is impossible to apply any general rule to so
wide spread a community as this. Perhaps Sel-

yww. Without adopting the constructions of Brissot de War-
ville, on a work well intentioned towards America, it must be
owned that the thoughtless levity and injustice of some passages
in his Travels, remind us rather of the young nobleman escaped
from the fashionable circles of the old French capital, than of
the respectable and benevolent author of the Felicite Pnblique ;
it is but too common for travellers of all nations to forget that
they are not seated at the domestic hearth of a stranger to
betray its secrets or expose its foibles ; and that if a caricature-
portrait, or hearsay scandal, may amuse an idle public, it may
more surely wound an unoffending lieart. The Marquis de
Chastellux, like many other travellers, ignorant of the state of
society in the country he visited, and referring: the national
manners to the standard of a Parisian drawing-room, thought-
lessly traduced those who gave way to the innocent gaiety of
their hearts in his presence, and ridiculed those who awed him
by their reserve. — Perhaps the young women of America are
now too suspicious of European cavaliers. I have often per-
ceived, that the entrance of a foreign traveller into a party has
damped the hilarity of the evening.

{ i

vA -^

y i

ill ,

39H

IIKLIOION,

'■J

t I

> I

;; !

(len*s were the best: ** Religion is like tlic fasliion.
One man wears his doublet slashed, another laced,
another plain ; but every man has a doublet. So
every man has his religion. 'J'hey difler about
trimming." But we cannot subjoin another axiom
of the same j)hiloso[)her : ** Every religion is get-
ting religion.*' It gets nothing ; and so, whatever
it be, it is sincere and harndess.

Some contend that liberality is only indiflerence;
perhaps, as a general rule, it may be so. Perse-
cution undoubtedly fans zeal, but such zeal as it
is usually better to be without. I do not per-
ceive any want of religion in America. There
are sections of the country where some might
think there is too much, at least that its temper is
too stern and dogmatical. This has long been
said of New-England, and, undoubtedly, the
Puritan ancestry of her citizens is still discernible
as well in the coldness of their manners as in the
rigidity of their creed. But it is wonderfid how
fast these distinctions are disappearing. An officer
of the American navy, a native of New-England,
told me, that when a boy he had sooner dared to
pick a neighbour's pocket on a Saturday, than to
have smiled on a Sunday. *' 1 have since travelled
through all parts of the union, and over a great
part of the world, and have learned consequently,
that there are all ways of thinking j and I find now
that my fellow countrymen are learning the same."

You will conceive how great is the change
wrought in the religious temper of the Eastern
States, when I mention that the Unitarian faith
has been latterly introduceet, and, in some parts.

■^v

:Ul

1 w

RELIGION.

3[)(J

!!■

isluon.

:t. So

• iibout

• axiot^J
is get-
hatcvcr

Icrcnce -,
Vcrse-
cal as it
not per-
Therc
e miglit
.emper is
)ng been
jelly, the
sccrnible
as in the
fill how
\.x\ officer
ilnglancl,
dared to
than to
travelled
er a great
gquently,
find now
""lie same."
change
Eastern
■ian faith
,me parts,

has made such rapid progress as promises, ere
long, to supersede the doctrines of (?alvin. There
were, of course, some veiiement pulpit fulininations
in Massachussets when these mild teaciiers of
morals and simple Christianity first made their
appearance. Hut, fortunately, C'alvin could no
longer burn Servetus, however much he might
scold a' him ; so, having scolded till he was tired,
he laid down the " drum ecclesiastic,** and left
his gentle adversary to lead his fiock to heaven
after his own way. This afibrds, I believe, the
only instance of war waged by American theolo-
gians since the days of the revolution. Polemics,
indeed, is not a science at all in fashion ; nor ever
likely to be so. Where no law says what is ortho-
doxy, no man is entitled to say what is heresy ;
or, if he should assume to himself the right, it is
clear that he will only be laughed at. It required,
however, som'-^ years to satisfy the whole American
community of this fact. Although few cared to
contend for the doctrine of the Trinity with the
vehemence of the Calvinisis of Massachusets, the
Unitarians had still some prejudices to encounter
iu other parts of the Union. Philadelphia, and
even New- York, had their zealots, as well as
Boston. In the latter city, they were few, but
perhaps more noisy on that very account. It is
some years since, a Calvinistic preacher here ex-
claimed to the non-elect of his congregation,
** Ha ! ha ! you think to get through the gates
of heaven, by laying hold of my coat ; but PU
take care to hold up tlie skirts.** Such an inti-
mation, we may suppose, not much calculated to

1 1

' \

400

llELIGIOK.

■l • ' •

I •1?.'

conciliate the vacilatinff heretics. The teacher
wlio points the way to heaven through patlis of
peace, and by the candor and gentleness of his
judgments, leads us to worship with him a God of
love and mercy, may easily draw into his fold the
children of such a merciless fanatic.

American religion, of whatever sect, (and it
includes all the sects under heaven,) is of a quiet
and unassuming character ; no way disputatious,
even when more doctrinal than the majority may
think wise. I do not include the strolling
methodists and shaking quakers, and sects with
unutterable names and deranged imaginations, who
are found in some odd corners of this wide world,
beating time to the hymns of Mother Ann, and
working out the millenium by abstaining from
marriage. •

The perfect cordiality of all the various religious
fraternities might sometimes lead a stranger to
consider their members as more indifferent to the
faith they so quietly profess than they really are.
There is undoubtedly a considerable body scattered
through the community, who are attached to no
establishment ; but as they never trouble their
neighbors with their opinions, neither do their
neighbors trouble them with theirs. The extent

* The Shakers, as they are called, emigrated to America
about forty years ago. Ann Lee, or Mother Ann, their spiritual
leader, was a niece of the celebrated General Lee, who took so
active a part in the war of the revolution. She became de-
ranged, as it is said, from family misfortunes ; fancied herself
a second Virgin Mary, and found followers, as Joanna South-
cote and Jemima Wilkinson did after her.

jijiiiii

\ \r

RELIGION.

401

to which this liberality is carried, even by the most
dogmatical of the churches, is now well evinced in
New England, In one or two of her theological
colleges, the practice continued, till within some
years, of inculcating one creed exclusively under
the protection of tlie legislature ; but the legislature
have now left teachers and students to themselves,
and even Connecticut has finally done away the
last shadow of the privileges of her congrega-
tionalists. It really does seem possible for fa-
naticism, or something very like it, and liberality
to go together. It is not long since, in some
of the New England states, there was an edict
in force, that no man should travel on a Sun-
day ; and this, while all men were eligible to
the highest honors of the state, let them believe
or disbelieve as little or as much as they might. *

Alluding to this edict recalls to me the adven-
ture of a Pennsylvania farmer, which, as it may
elucidate the good humour with which this people
yield to the whims of each other, I will repeat to
you.

The good farmer was bound on his way to
Boston, and found himself within the precincts of
Connecticut on a Sunday morning. Aware of the

( i

* The constitutions of two or three of the states reqiiire,
that the chief officers shall be Christians, or, at least, believe
in a God ; but, as no religious test is enforced, the law is, in
fact, a dead letter. By the constitution of every state in the
Union, an affirmation is equal to an oath ; it is at the option of
the asseverator either to invoke the name of God, or to affirm,
under the pains and penalties of the law, in cases of breach of
ai th.

D D

40^

RELIGION.

■■ i

';it
■f

■Iff 'if

131.

law of Calvin, but still being in haste to proceed,
our traveller thought of shifting himself from the
back of his steed into the mail which chanced to
overtake him, and which, appertaining to the
United States, was not under the law of Connecti-
cut. The driver advised him to attach his steed
to the back of the vehicle, tliinkiiig that when
they should have passed through a certain town
which lay beiuie them, the honest farmer might
remount in safety; but, as ill luck would have it,
the citizens were just stepping forth from their
doors, on their way to church, when the graceless
horse, with a saddle on his back, passed before
them. Stopping at the inn, a citizen made up to
the side of the vehicle, and civilly demanded if the
horse was his ; and if he was aware that the sab-
bath was a day of rest, not only by the law of God,
but by the law of Connecticut. The Pennsyl-
vanian as civilly replied, that the horse teas his ;
begged to return thanks in his name for the care
shown to his ease and his morals ; and offered to
surrender the keeping of both, until his return, to
the individual who addressed him. " I will most
willingly lodge the horse in my stable, and his
master in my house,'* returned the other ; " but
the people will not see with pleasure the beast
keeping the commandments, and the man break-
ing them." ** Well, friend ; then beast and man
shall keep them together. I will eat your dinner,
and he shall eat your hay ; and, to begin things
properly, you shall show him to the stable, and
his master to the church." The compact was
fulfilled to the satisfaction of all parties ; the

(i I

HELIGION.

40.3

oceetl,

om the

iced to
to the

niiiecti-

is steed

it when

in town

ir might

have it,

)ui their

graceless

l\ before

ide up to

led if the

t the sab-
s' of God,
Pennsyl-
xvas his *,
the care

offered to
eturn, to
will most
and his
; " but
I the beast
\an break-
and man
ir dinner,
Igin things
table, and
lipact was
I ties ; the

Pennsylvanian only allowing himself, through the
day, gently to anii ladvert upon this abridgment
of the liherties of the citizens of the United States,
by the decree of the citizens of Coniiecticut, which
might not always be as agreeable to them as, in
tliis case, it was to him ; and departed the next
morning, assuring his liost that he should be happy
to repay his hospitality to him or his friends,
whenever either might choose to travel his way
on a Sunday, or a Saturday, or any day of the
seven.

Some years afterwaruo, standing one Sunday
morning at the gate ot his own farm, in Pennsyl-
vania, he perceived a man riding along the road,
and driving before him a small flock of sheep. As
he approached, our farmer recognized him for a
neighbour of his fi-devant host in Connecticut.
" Ah, friend ! that's an odd occupation you are
following on a Sunday !" *' True," replied the
man of New^ England, " and so I have chosen a by-
road, that I may not offend the scrupulous."
" Yes, friend ; but supposing you offend me ? and
supposing, too, that the Pennsylvania legislature
should liave passed a law which comes in force this
dav, that neither man nor beast shall travel on a
Sunday ?" " Oh !" replied the other, " I have no
intention to disobey your laws ; if that be the
case, I will put up at the next town." " No,
no ; you may just put up here. I will show
your sheep to the stable, and, if you be willing,
yourself to the church." This was done accord-
ingly ; and the next morning the Pennsylvanian,
shaking hands with his Connecticut friend, bogged

J3 D 2

♦

«ip

1 ,

404-

RELIGION.

^^j

him to inform his old acquaintance, when he should
return home, that the traveller and his horse
had not forgotten their sabbath-day's rest in his
dwelling, and that, unbacked by a law of the
legislature, they had equally enforced the law of
God upon his neighbour and his neighbour's
sheep."

There is a curious spirit of opposition in the
human mind. I see your papers full of anathe-
mas against blasphemous pamphlets. We have no
such things here ; and why ? Because every man
is free to write them; and because every man en-
joys his own opinion, without any arguing about
the matter. Where religion never arms the hand
of power, she is never obnoxious ; where she is
seated modestly at the domestic hearth, whispering-
peace and immortal hope to infancy and age,
she is always respected, even by those who may
not themselves feel the force of her arguments.
This is truly the case here ; and the world has my
wish, and, I am sure, yours also, that it may be the
case every where.

I in

should

horse

in bis
of tlie

law ol
hboiu's

in the
anathe-
have no
ery man
man en-
ng about
the hand
re she is
hispering
land age,
who may
■guments.
id has my
lay be the

405

LETTER XXV.

ACCOUNT OF COLONEL HUGER, — OBSERVATIONS ON

THE CLIMATE, &C.

New Jersey, April, 1820.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

I AM happy to have it in my power to reply to the
question contained in the letter now before me,
and this without any trouble, as I am' so fortunate
as to be intimately acquainted with some near re-
latives of the individual about whom you inquire.
Colonel Huger is a native of South Carolina,
and the member of a family remarkable (so far at
least as my acquaintance with it extends) for ardor
of character and distinguished talents. He passed
to London in his youth to complete his medical
studies, and was thus engaged when the news
reached him of the seizure and imprisonment of
General La Fayette, whom he had learned from
his infancy to respect as the companion in arms of
his father, and the champion of his country's liber-
ties. It was at Vienna that accident introduced
him to the acquaintance of Dr. Bollman, who had
been appointed by the friends of the illustrious
captive, to effect his rescue from the prisons of the
coalition. He entered with enthusiasm into the
generous scheme, and shared w^ith the devoted
Bollman the hopes and fears of his enter-

>{:

■» V

,'i

''I

: a-

;l 1

•loG

COLON 1:L IlLOKU.

i'i '

kV i

■tl

k .:

prise, the anguish of his faihire, and the honor of
liis punishment. I suppose you are acquainted
with the incidents which defeated the scheme, and
gave back the rescued La Fayette to his prison, and
made his generous dehverers also inhabitants of
the gloomy dungeons of Ohiuitz. The sufferings
of the young American, after the failure of the
attempt, were cruelly severe ; alone, in a dank and
stony cell, apprehensive for the safety, even for the
life of La P'ayette, uncertain as to the fate of his
friend ; now cursing their rashness, which had
perhans doubled the sufterings of him they came to
rescue, and now the untoward chances which had
defeated their attempt when so near success j —
this feve? of the spirit soon fell on the blood, and,
for three weeks, delirium rendered him insensible
to the horrors of his dungeon. Without assistance
of any kind that he can recollect, how the fever
left him, he knows not ; the damps und confine-
ment ill forwarded the recovery of his strength ;
stretched on the stones, he sought to divert his
mind by laying plans for his future life, if his pri-
son-doors should ever be opened but for his corpse.
What is singular, he has followed out the mode of
life he then amused himself with scheming.

The first human sound that reached him was the
cry of a child (for the keeper who supplied him
with bread and water, made neither query nor
reply). *' A child ! then there must be a woman,
and where there is a woman, there may be com-
passion." So saying, he crawled towards the wall,
at the top of which was the grate that admitted
light, air, and all the inclemencies of the seasons j

^§:

i'lhu

COLONEL nUGER.

407

ollen he listened, watched, and called, till at last
a woman's face was stooped towards the grate ; he
tried French, which fortunately ehe could reply to.
" You are a mother ;" such was the manner of his
address, to remove her scruples ; " I have a mo-
ther, for her sake have pity on her son V* After
a good deal of })athetic entreaty, she promised to
bring him back an answer to his inquiries, and to
procure lor him a Cierman grammar. He learned
that his friend was in a duniicon in the same
fortress, and that La Fayette was in tolerable
health, but in stricter confinement than ever. The
grammar was squeezed through the bars, another
book was afterwards procured, and- thus he ac-
quired a tolerable knowledge of German. After
some time, he told his visitor, that his grammar
had afibrded him so much amusement, that if she
could discover the grate of his friend's prison, he
wished she would convey it to him. Having in
vain tried to make intelligible marks upon the
paper, he made some with a piece of mortar,
scraped from the wall, upon a black silk handker-
chief that he took from his neck, and in which he
folded the grammar ; this, with a good deal of
trouble, was squeezed again through the bars, and
in a few days was returned, some words of English
in reply having been scraped by his friend upon
the cover, satisfying Huger as to his health. The
grammar was his Quly amusement through the re-
maining months of his imprisonment, which were
in all eight. The representations of Washington
procured his release, after a trial where he pleaded
his own cause in French : it was short, and simply,

D D 4

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I

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•n- u

408

COLONEL IIUGLli.

I'i*l!

but eloquently stated, tliat he and his friend had
no accomplices, and no motives but those sup-
plied by their own enthusiasm ; that he had not
sought to rescue a state-prisoner, but tlie friend of
his father, of his country, and of mankind ; to pro-
cure whose release, he would then willingly return
to his dungeon, and to save whose life he would
joyfully give his own. Having concluded, the
judge (whose German title I forget) ordered him
and his companion to leave the place within so
many hours, and to be out of Germany within so
many days, and then, leaving his seat, and ap-
proaching him, he said, " Young man, you are
chargeable with singular rashness, but I tell you,
that, had I to search the world for a friend, from
what I have heard this day, 1 would seek him in
America."

I may mention that the young prisoner came
from his dungeon almost entirely bald, and that
though the strength of his constitution soon re-
moved all the other efiects of his unwholesome
confinement, he never recovered his hair; this,
contrasted with the youth and animation of his
countenance, gave him for many years a very
singular appearance. Returning to his country,
misfortune seemed to follow him ; entering the
house of his brother, a bow-window from the
upper story fell on his head ; for thirteen days he
lay insensible, attended by his brother with ago-
nized affection. What struck me as a fine instance
of greatness of mind, when the surgeon, perceiving
the skull to be injured, proposed trepanning, which
he thought might save life, though without the

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COLONEL HTJGER.

400

ind had
se siip-
md not
lend of
to pro-
r return
> would
ed, the
red him
ithin so
rithin so
and ap-
you are
tell you,
id, from
k him in

er came
and that
soon re-
lolesome
ir; this,
)n of his

a very
country,
ring the
rom the

days he
vith ago-
instance
jrceiving
which
lout the

iiope of preserving the reason. " No,** said his
brother, *' never shall he live to be so different
from what he was. I know his soul, and choos6
ibr him in preferring death.'* He repaid his cares,
however, by a perfect recovery, when his brother,
who was possessed '^f a large property, entreated
him to share his rortune ; this, however, he strenu-
ously refused, and settled in Charleston as a
physician. Some time afterwards, he became at-
tached to a young woman of a respectable family
in that city. Though rising into eminence in his
profession, his income was as yet small, and she
had nothing. In this state of things, he determined
not to venture on marriage, until his increasing
practice should enable him to support a family.
These circumstances coming to the knowledge of
his brother, he instantly bestowed a fortune on the
young woman ; and an obligation, thus delicately
conferred, could not be objected to by her lover.
They married, and Colonel lluger then deter-
mined to carry into eflfect the dreams which had
amused his prison. He took his wife to a farm
beyond the mountains, where he settled, and was
soon the father of a fine boy. The child, when
two years old, sickened, and his knowledge of
physic satisfied him that he could not recover j he
reasoned like a philosopher with the doating mo-
ther, prepared her by degrees for her loss, repre-
sented the duty she owed to him, which should
strengthen her to struggle with her grief, and sub-
mit to an irremediable evil. She listened, and had
sufficient strength of mind to feel the weight of
his words. She herself wrote the news of her loss

■ *> \

i !

'I'W

LULOSLL HLGtU.

■' n.

I ■>

'J th'n'

to her t'atlicr. *' My husband has exhorted nie to
bear it as became your daughter and liis wite,
and lie has imparted strength to me to do so ;
but, oil I what calamity is there lor which
his affection ought not to console me !'* They
were afterwards more fortunate parents. Colonel
Huger has been the tutor of his children, who obey
his words as the young Spartans those of Lycurgus.
Trained to hardiness and independence, inspired
by their father with sentiments of patriotism, and
clad in garments woven by their own ilomes-
tics, they exhibit, in their manners and character,
that simplicity and ardor which form the true
characteristics of the sons and daughters of a re-
public. Nor is it only when excited by feelings
of peculiar enthusiasm, or when called upon to
perforin the duties of a husband, a father, and a
citizen, that this distinguished individual has
evinced the beauty of his character. He had an
only sir.tei", who, some years after his marriage,
fell into a pitiable su.'c of health ; change of air
and travelling were recommended as the last
remedies : his brother found it impossible to move
at the time, and tliere was no other friend or re-
lative on whom could be devolved the care of the
invalid. Colonel Huger left his farm, came to
Charleston, deposited his wife and infant children
with his father-in-law, became the travelling com-
panion and physician of his sister, and nearly a
year after brought her back in a state of recovery,
joined his family, and returned to his estate.

During the war, when a descent of the enemy
was expected on some of the great cities of the

.1 .' I .)

nil

COLONKL IIlKiLll.

411

south, iiiul then on Savamuih rather than New
Orleans, (.'oU)nel Huger repaired to the t'ornier.
Assembling his children around him in tiie pre-
sence of their mother, he explained the duty
which called him from them. " My country and
your country calls me to its defence. I go with a
willing heart, commending you and your mother
to it and to heaven. Let me see that you, on
your side, yield your father with willing hearts.
Now embrace me, all of you, without a tear." He
mounted his horse, and not a murmur was heard ;
even the youngest tried to smile as their beloved
parent rode away ; another proudly brushed the
tear from his eye, and wished that he was old
enough to defend his country. Are you not with
the old Romans ? * * * •

The winter has now finally disappeared, though
indeed we had pronounced the same in March ;
and the grass and 1 were lifting up our heads
together, for we seem to be pretty equally depen-
dant on the warm sun, when the demon of frost
threw his iron sleets into the lap of the spring, or
I should rather write summer, for nature here steps
at once from the " formless wild" to

" Brightening fields of ether, fair disclos'd."

This is a climate of extremes ; you are here
always in heat or frost. The former you know I
never object to, and as I equally dislike the latter,
I should perhaps be an unfair reporter of both.

> ■■

^- :

.'■

f *

' i

: ii

i'-'.

■■ni

OH.SLRVAIIONS UN

it .

hi''

i /

The smninur is <;lori()us ; the resplendent sun
** shiniuir on, sinning on," for days and week*
successive!) ; an air so pure, so light, and to nie
so genial, that I wake as it were to a new exis-
tence. I have seen those around me, however,
often drooping beneath fervors which have given
nie life. By the month of August, the pale cheeks
and slow movements of the American women, and
even occasionally of the men, seem to demand the
invigorating breezes of the Siberian winter to brace
the nerves and quicken the current of the blood.
The severe cold which succeeds to this extreme of
heat, appears to have this effect, and seldom to
produce, excepting upon such as may be affected
with constitutional weakness of the lungs, any
effect that is not decidedly beneficial. Most people
will pronoimce the autumn to be the pride of the
American year. It is indeed fraught with beauty
to all the senses ; the brilliant hues then asiumed
by nature, from the dwarf sumac with his berries
and leaves of vivid crimson, up to the towering
trees of the forest, twisting their branches in
extreme and whimsical contrasts of gold, red,
green, orange, russet, through all their varieties
of shade ; the orchards too, then laden with trea-
sures, and the fields heavy with the ripened maize ;
the skies bright with all the summer's splendour,
yet tempered with refreshing breezes; the sun
sinking to rest in crimsons, whose depth and
warmth of hue the painter would not dare to imi-
tate. This glorious season is, however, not the
most wholesome, especially in the uncleared dis-
tricts, as you know from my last year's letters.

'.Mil

THr; CM. MATE.

41S

Tlie winter ; — those whom it likes, may like it.
The season has its beauty ami its pleasures. Spark-
ling skies shining down upon sparkling snows, over
Avhich tlie light .f/c/^'V/.v, peopled \vitli the young
and the gay, !)ound along to the chime of bells
which the horses seem to bear well plensed. In
country and city, this is the time of amusement ;
the young people will run twenty miles, through
the biting air, to the bouse of a friend ; wh<»re
all in a moment is set astir ; carpets up, musij
playing, and youths and maidens, laughing and
mingling in the mazy dance, the happiest crea-
tures beneath the moon, is it the bright climate,
or the liberty that reigns every where, or is it the
absence of poverty and the equal absence of ex-
treme wealth, or is it all these things together, that
make this people so cheerful and gay-hearted ?
Whatever be the cause, ill befal the callous heart
that could see their happiness without sympathy,
though it should be unable to share it !

The spring ; — there is properly no spring ; there
is a short struggle between winter and summer ;
who sometimes fight for the mastery wrth a good
deal of obstinacy. We have lately seen a fierce
combat between these two great sovereigns of the
year. In the latter days of March, sun.mer sud-
denly alighted on the snows in the full flush of
July heat ; every window and door were flung
open to welcome the stranger, and the trees were
just bursting into leaf, when angry winter returned
to the field, and poured dowoi one of the most
singular showers of sleet I ever witnessed. The
water, freezing as it fell, cased every branch'and.

'J -■
li -•

414

OBSERVATIONS ON

it. »

f--

twig in clirystal of an inch tliick, so transparent
that each bud appeared distinctly through it ; in
some places large trees gave way beneath the
unusual burden, their heads absolutely touching
the ground, until their trunks snapped in twain.
Fortiuiately, there was no wind, or the devastation
would have been dreadful ; it has been cruel enough
as it is, boughs and branches every where strew-
ing the ground, and stems shattered as if by
lightning.

I am not sure if, even in our island, the spring
does not appear to more advantage in description
than in reality. There are indeed, some lovely
days in England, when the lark carols, unseen, at
the gates of heaven, and primroses and cowslips
are just bursting out of the green sward ; the
April sun peeping sweetly forth from a flying
cloud ; the earth and heaven all breathing fresh-
ness, and fragrance, and mild vernal airs. The
beautiful valleys of Devonshire see many such
days ; but the island generally sees but few, or at
least there are so many fogs and biting winds which
intervene betwixt them, that I, for one, have al-
ways been well pleased when

id ,

'V..J

•■1

*' the turning s])ring
Averts her blushful face. "

The close of the winter, for one may not term it
the spring, is here decidedly the least agreeable
season of the year. Siberian winds to-tlay, and
Indian heats to-morrow, and then driving sleet the
next day, and so on, from heat to cold, and cold

fl! !

it i i

THK CLIMATE.

415

sparent
I it; in
ith the
auching
1 twain,
astation
enough
e strew-
is if by

le spring
scription
le lovely
iseen, at
cowslips
ird ; the
a flying
ng fresh-
rs. The
iny such
w, or at
ids which
have al-

)t term it
igreeable
|tlay, and
sleet the
land cold

to heat, until tlic last finally prevails, and all
miture bursts into sudden life, as by the spell of a
magician. The first flush of the summer is truly
delightful ; the instantaneous spring of vegetation,
the multitude of blossoms, clothing orchard and
forest, and the chirp and song of birds, all break-
ing forth at once, have an unspeakably cheering
effect. The birds here are less numerous than in
our island, but will, of course, multiply as culti-
vation encroaches more and more on the forest. I
do not think there is any songster tliat may com-
pare w4th our lark, whose note breathes more of
the upper spheres than any of earth's creatures.
With this exception, the note of the American
songsters may, I think, vie with ours. The Vir-
ginia nightingale, his feathers all crimson with
fine black marks on his head, has a singularly
melodious song ; the robin is more like our thrush,
both as to size and note, and even colour, except
that he has a red breast, from which, and perliaps
also from his familiar habits, it is probable that he
obtained his name ; the mocking-bird, w ho, be-
sides imitating all others, bad, good, and indif-
ferent, has a powerful and ex^^ Isite note of his
own ; the blue-bird, the red-headed woodpecker,
a small yellow bird resembling the canary, are the
others that occur to me as the most frequent.
The Inimming-bird, that fairy creature, half but-
terfly, half bird, does not make his appearance
until midsummer.

The observations that I can make upon the
climate apply of course but to a small portion of
this vast world, which comprises all the climates

'1 :

416

OBSEnVATIONS ON

•|

! ^f(i i

-J '

ii'!

i'l

lit' '

of the earth ; with tlie exception perhaps of one
— the gloomy. The Atlantic border of New
England is indeed liable, in the spring months, to
fogs blown from off the Newfoundland bank ; but
these temporary visitors do not despoil the atmos-
phere of the general character of brilliancy which,
summer and winter, it may be said more or less to
possess from Maine to Missouri. The vividness of
the light, which is at first painful to English, and
even European eyes of whatever country, I could
imagine had wrought an effect on the national
physiognomy. The Americans in general are re-
markable for even brows, much projected over the
eyes, which, small and piercing, usually glance
from beneath them with singular intelligence and
quickness of observation. The climate of this
continent, except where influenced by local causes,
seems to be peculiarly healthy, and highly favour-
able to the growth of the human figure ; other
circumstances doubtless assist its effect ; a popula-
tion free from poverty, and in consequence com-
paratively of vice, might perhaps attain to nature's
full standard in an atmosphere less pure. The
diseases of the country appear to be few and vio-
lent ; fevers, and other inflammatory disorders,
common during the first autumnal months ; the
temperate habits of the people, however, preserve
them in a great measure from these attacks, or
moderate their violence. I imagine there are
more instances of extraordinary longevity in these
states, than you could find in any part of Europe.

The Western States seem destined to be the para-
dise of America. The beauty of their climate

THE CLIMATE.

417

of one
>f New
iths, to
ik; but
5 atmos-
' which,
r less to
dness oi*
ish, and
I could
national
. are re-
over the
f glance
;nce and
of this
il causes,
\f favour-
e; other
popula-
iice corn-
nature's
re. The
and vio-
lisorders,
Iths ; the
preserve
acks, or
;here are
in these
|Europe.
the para-
climate

is probably unrivalled, unless it be by that of
some of the elevated plains of the southern con-
tinent. The influence of the mild breezes from
the Mexican gulfi which blow with the steadiness
of a trade wind up the great valley of the Missis-
sippi, is felt even to the southern shore of Lake
Erie j and affects the climate of some of the north-
western counties of New York. The explanation
given by Volney of this phenomenon, is, in the
highest degree, ingenious, and more than plausible,
as it seems to be confirmed by the subsequent
observations of other philosophers, and to be borne
out by every fact that has beei adduced. *

Have I written enough about wind and weather ?
Forgive me for handling so dull a subject, and this
too so superficially. The American climate has
so many peculiarities, that to trace them to their

f' .e facts adduced by Volney, tend to demonstrate " that
t. .- i,c»uth-west wind of the United States is nothing but ilie
trade wind of the tropics turned out of its direction and
modified, and that consequently the air of the western country
is the same as that of the gulf of Mexico, and previously of the
West Indies, conveyed to Kentucky. From this datum, flows
a simple and natural solution of the problem, which at first
must have appeared perplexing, why the temperature of the
western country is hotter by three degrees of latitude than that
of the Atlantic coast, though only separated from it by the
Alleghany mountains. " Volney's View of the Climate and Soil of
the United States of America. If the south-west wind tempers,
in the western country, the cold of the winter, it also tempers
the heat of the summer. This does not seem to be clearly ad-
mitted by Volney ; but I have never questioned any individual,
familiar with the western territory, who did not concur in the
statement.

E E

•s

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lit

1 1 !.,

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! :' I

418

OBSERVATIONS ON THE CLIMATi:.

• 1

causes, would afford a curious and interesting sub-
ject ; for this, however, 1 am totaJ'y inadequate.

I send you a very careless reply to your last
letter. A few weeks' patience, my dear iiiend, and
I will answer your questions, to the best of my
power at least, in person. Receive it as no small
proof of anxious affection, that we lay aside all
thoughts of crossing the Alleghanies ; and that,
closing, for the present, our American travels with
a visit to Washington, we shall embark in May for
England. Does this look like return ; and do you
now believe, that we shall keep good faith with
you ? Farewell.

-f

i .

419

m- Hul)-
uale.
Hir last
nil, and
: of my
lo small
Lside all
nd that,
7els with
May for
d do you
lith with

LETTER XXVI.

PHILADELPHIA MARKET. DEPORTMENT OF THE CITIZENS.

MODE OF GUIDING AND BREAKING HORSES. — HINTS

TO AN EMIGRANT. CONSEQUENCES OF BRINGING

FOREIGN SERVANTS TO AMERICA. — GERMAN REDEMP-

TIONERS. MANNER IN WHICH THE IMPORTATION OF

THE PEASANTS OF THE EUROPEAN CONTINENT IS CON-
DUCTED. REPLY TO THE QUARTERLY REVIEW. DE-
SCENT OF THE DELAWARE. LETTER OF COUNT SURVIL-

LIER (JOSEPH BONAPARTE). — RENCONTRE WITH ENGLISH
TRAVELLERS.

Philadelphia, April, 1820.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

Thus far on our own way to Washington, having
just left the Trenton steam-boat for one bound to
Baltimore, and now lying at the wharf at the foot
of Market-streety surrounded by sloops and boats,
filled with shad, a fine fish between our salmon
and mackerel, just come into season, and which
are now selling for a cent a piece.

How strangely quiet is this Quaker city ! I am
waiting in this cabin scarce disturbed by a sound,
except the tread of two men on the deck ; and
yet the great market of the city, and the largest,
perhaps, of any city in the states, is now holding
not two hundred yards distant from this spot. We
took a turn through it just now, and surely never
was a crowd so orderly and quiet ! I know not if
the fishwomen be all Quakers, but they certainly

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420

PHILADELPHIA MARKET.

!l.'v

■^!

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»i

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) I

<:^i

are few of them Billingsgates. And here I will
observe what has struck me, not in Phihidelphia
only, over which the peaceable spirit of Penn may
be supposed to hover, but in all the towns and
cities of these republics that I have chanced
to visit, — the orderly behaviour of the citizens.
You not only see no riots in the streets, but no
brawls ; — none of that wrangling, enforcedvby oath
and fist, which some might hold as proofs of brut-
ish ignorance, though a Windham might see in
them the tongue and soul of valor. The absence
of noise docs not argue the absence of^ activity,
any more than the absence of inhumanity argues
that of courage. If any man doubt either position,
let him visit these republics, and consider the cha-
racter and habits of this people, together with
their short, but interesting history.

I observed in the carts and waggons standing in
and around the market-place, the same welUfed,
well-rubbed, healthy-looking horses, that have so
often attracted mv attention throughout this
country. Truly, I do not remember to have seen
a starved horse since I landed. The animals seem
to share the influence of wholesome laws with
their masters ; their influence reaching them
through that which they exert more immediately
upon the character, as well as the circumstances,
of the proud lords of the creation. I say charac-
ter as well as circumstances ; for though ; when a
man feeds his horse well, it may only argue, that
lie has wherewithal to procure provender, when
he uses him gently, and guides him with the voice
instead of the whip, it shows that be has good

!l^

? I will
idelplna
?nn may
vns and
chanced
citizens.
, but no
IJby oath

of brut-
It see in
J absence

activity,
ty argues

position,
r the cha-
ther with

anding in
well-fed,
it have so
liout this
have seen
als seem
aws with
ng them
[mediately
mstances,
,y charac-
when a
gue, that
ler, when
the voice
has good

HINTS TO AN EMIGRANT.

4^1

sense or humanity ; good sense, if he consider liis
own ease, and humanity, if he consider that of the
animal. It is a pretty thing to see a horse broke
in this country ; it is done entirely by gentleness.
A skilful rider, after much previous coaxing and
leading, mounts the wild creature without whip or
spur, and soothes him with the hand and the voice,
or allows him to spend himself in the race, and
brings him at last to obey the check of the rein,
or the note of the voice, with the readiness of the
steed of P Be in. The lessov, ^has learned, is
never forgotten ; a word or a whistle sets the horse
to his full speed, whether in the carriage, the
dearborne, or the stage. In travelling, I remember
but once to have seen a driver who ever did more
than crack his whip in the air. This exception too
was a European.

jf # * # # »y friends do finally determine upon
passing to this country, let them by all means
be advised against bringing servants with them.
Foreign servants are here, without doubt, the
worst; they neither understand the work which the
climate renders necessary, nor are willing to do the
work which they did elsewhere. A few weeks —
nay, not unfrequently, a few days, and they either
become a useless charge to their employers, or, by
making inordinate demands, and assuming airs of
ridiculous importance, Ibrce their employers to
dismiss them. You will easily conceive, how an
uneducated mind is likely to misconstrue the na-
ture of that equality which a democracy imparts
to all men. Those bred up under it, can perceive
and acknowledge the distinctions which education

ii t

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Jl •:

4,'22

HINTS TO AN KMIGUANT.

luul condition place between tlie gentleman and
the labourer ; but those just released from the aris-
tocracies of Europe, finding themselves in a country
where all men arc placed, by the laws, on an exact
level, conceive, naturally enough, that they are
transformed from the servants of their employer
into his companions ; and at one and the same
moment lay aside obsequiousness, and array them-
selves in insolence. I am not, however, prepared
to say, that the complaints which I have heard
from my countrymen and countrywomen have
been altogether just. It is probable, that in these
household-quarrels, there are often faults on both
sides ; the master and mistress preserving a tone
which might be tolerated in Europe, but which
their squires and hand-maidens have here learned
to resent ; and the servants, on the otiier hand,
being too prone to exaggerate the offence offered,
or too eager to seize the opportunity of pa^'ing off
old scores, by returning impertinence in kind. If
# # * # >g friends are quite sure of the dispositions
of their domestics, and quite sure of their own,
they may, perhaps, bring over their household with
them without much hazard. I believe the plan
seldom answers ; but there are exceptions to all
rules. One thing they must come prepared for.
The day after their arrival, they will be styled Mr.
and Mrs. * * * *. If they take no notice of this,
things may go on smoothly ; but if they ask why
the epithets master and mistress are dropped, ten
to one but they will receive for answer, that there
are no masi ers and no servants in America ; that
this is a free country ; that all men are equal, &c.

DOMESTIC SERVANTS.

423

&c. ; the whole conckiding with a toss of the head
and a sudden whisk out of the room. I have
witnessed several amusing scenes of this descrip-
tion ; and some of my American friends have wit-
nessed many more.

The * * * # *»s are perhaps curious to know
what servants tliey will find here. In the first
place, they will find in the Atlantic cities, where
servants must generally be sought, many Irish,
and some British. These are, for the most part,
stragglers from the crowd of emigrants poured
into the St. Lawrenc^ ; with some exception.?, the
former are poor, dirty, and ignorant ; the latter
discontented and insolent; these, however, after a
year or two, will sometimes recover their good
humour and good manners, and become civil,
though never jigain servile domestics. There is
something about the Irishman, that every where
seems to attract sympathy. Notwithstanding his
thoughtless improvidence, his simplicity and warm-
heartedness make him friends, even among this
industrious nation. The many distinguished Irish
characters settled in these states, of course interest
themselves more peculiarly in the condition of
their poor countrymen. The Hibernian societies
of New York and Philadelphia provide some with
work, and support others ; these emigrants some-
times make tolerable journeymen and out-door
labourers, but usually very indifferent household
servants.

On the Atlantic border, to which, in the Northern
States, the black population is chiefly confined,
negroes are much employed in domestic service.

E E 4

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DOMESTIC SERVANTS.

\ i

i t

Their faults are indolence, and an occasional ten-
dency to intemperance and petty dishonesty.
Those who employ negroes generally find it better
to employ them exclusively. The native American,
when he can be obtained, makes a valuable domes-
tic. Household service, as 1 have observed in a
former letter, is not an employment that the citi-
zens are fond of; but the very qualities which dis-
incline them from it, make them the more trusty
when engaged in it. The foreigner, however, must
be careful not to rub their pride. No American
will receive an insulting word. A common mode
of resenting an imperious order, is to quit the
house without waiting or even asking for a reckon-
ing. The sensitiveness of the American pride is
sometimes not a little curious and amusing. Some
months since, we were surprised in New York by
a visit from a woman who had been our domestic
the year before. We had parted with her, having
no farther occasion for her service, and had seen
her provided with another place, before we left the
city. It was not without pleasure, that I recog-
nized our old acquaintance, as she entered neatly
dressed, with a smiling countenance, which seemed
also full of meaning. After some prefatory saluta-
tions, I began to enquire into her history since we
parted. How had she liked her new situation?
" They were foreigners, Madam, that I went to
after leaving you." " Well, Mary." — «* They
had some strange ways. Madam." " The short
is, Mary, that you did not like them." " Why
no. Madam, I left tiiem the next morning." " That
was somewhat hasty. — They must have used you

■'ii

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DOMESTIC SERVANTS.

425

nal ten-
lonesty.
t better
nerican,
! domes-
/ed in a
the citi-
lich dis-
e trusty
er, must
.nierican
on mode
quit the
I reckon-
pride is
g. Some
York by
domestic
r, having
had seen
e left the
I recog-
d neatly
seemed
y saluta-
since we
tuation ?
went to
« They
he short
"Why
"That
sed you

very ill." " They doubted my honesty," and she
drew her head somewhat higher as she spoke.
** Indeed!" "Yes; the lady herself locked away
the plate, and even the silver spoons." I believe
I smiled as I asked, " Was that all, Mary?"
" All !" A slight flush crossed her face, as she
repeated the word •, then, hesitating a moment,
she added in a quiet tone, " I am afraid yon think
I behaved oddly ; but I was not used to the sort
of thing. The lady told me it was her })ractice.
Why then. Madam,** said I, " / think Mr
are not assorted. I could not staij in a house
where a doubt seemed to be cast on my honesty ; and
so I believe we had better part ?iozv." " And you
did part?" " Yes, Madam, I went away directly."
I was glad to learn that the pride of the honest
creature was never likely to be tried again. After
a few circumlocutions and awkward looks, she
told me that she was married to a kind husband
and an industrious man.

You will perceive, that a character of this de-
scription requires some management. Indeed the
same may be said of servants in this country gene-
rally. A master or mistress of an imperious tem-
per, will be served very ill. It is a chance, indeed,
if they will be served at all, and certainly by none
but the most worthless, either of the blacks or of
the poorest foreign emigrants, who may think it
worth while to make a compromise between their
pride and their cupidity, and who will probabi}
revenge affronts by picking their masters' pockets.
There is one mistake which foreigners are very apt
to fall into ; that the blacks constitute a second

'U2l\

DOMKSTIC .SKUVANTS.

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•'Ml
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"•nil '

■H

t'tat; possessing fewer j/rivilegcs, and, coiiseciuoiitly,
less pride tlian the white coinmimity ; and who
may, tliercfbre, be treated dc haul en has with ini-
punity. It is not occasionally witliont fecHngs of
high resentment, that Europtans are made sensible
of their error ; and that they Hnd the privileges of
an American negro often surpassing their's in their
own country, and his pride equalling their's in its
most towering mood. This, indeed, is not a
country for the imperious or the vain ; the man
who can respect the pride of a fellow-creature, in
whatever condition of life fbrtu?ie may have thrown
him, and who does not feel his consequence to de-
pend i!.Mn the cap-in-hand service of interiors, but
rather finds his own dignity, as one of the human
species, raised by the dignity assumed by others ;
such a man may live here easily and comfortably,
well-attended, well-esteemed, and civilly treated.

There is another race of servants who are highly
useful to the fanner and country-gentleman ;
these are the poor German and Swiss peasants,
thrown into this country from Holland, chiefly by
the port of Philadelphia. Pennsylvania has been
in great part peopled from Germany ; perhaps one-
tliird of the population are of German descent; it
is natural, therefore, that the stream of emigra-
tion from the banks of the Rhine should continue
to pour into the same quarter. The regulations
under which mercliant-vessels are placed in New
York, seem, indeed, to shut that port against it*^
Every captain who there lands a foreigner, is held
responsible that he or she shall not be thrown as a
charge upon the commonwealth. Should he be

i ti

(;i:rman iinnE^riTioNKRS.

427

iionlly,
d who
itli ini-
iiios of

iensil)le

egcs of

in their

's in its
not a

lie man

ture, in
thrown

;e to de-

iors, but

J human
others ;

■ortably,
rcated.

•e highly

tleman •,
easants,
iefly by

lias been
aps one-
,cent ; it
emigra-
:ontinue
[ulations
in New
rainst itr
f, is held
)wn as a
Id he be

found in the character of a vagrant within the
date of" three years after his arrival, the captain
who has hiiided him, becomes chargeable with his
sustenance, and must pay a high Hue to the state,
to be appropriated to that purpose.

The more wealthy Germans, and other philan-
thropic citizens of this state (Pennsylvania), in
keeping the port of Philadelphia open to the suf-
fering poor of the European continent, have
exerted themselves to place the trade (tor theii
exportation is absolutely made a subject of trade
in Holland) under such regulations as shall save
this community from an inun lition of paupers,
and the poor emigrants themselves from breach ol
faith in the traders to whom they entrust theii
lives and liberties. The ships chiefly employ, \ in
this trade are Dutch, but the depressed tUite of
commerce has thrown into it vessels ( i ill nations,
British, American, and others, from the ports ol
the Baltic. It was, of course, found somewhat
difficult to bring foreign ships under the jurisdic-
tion of the state laws. The first regu! »tions were,
in some cases, so shamefully evaded, that the na-
tional government took the subject under consider-
ation, and passed a law which extended to every
port in the Union, and has been found thoroughly
effective j at present, tho'Tore, the trade is
j)laced under the jurisdiction of the American
Congress, while the Penriaylvania legislature ap-
point ofiicers to see that the contracts between
the emigrants and the ship captains are faithfully
fulfilled. A ship, of whatever nation, arriving in
port peopled beyond a rate prescribed by law, is

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i'^2S

GERMAN UKUKMI'TIONEIIS.

forfeited to the national goJ^'e^nment. The captain
of every ship is bound to support his emigrants, or
redemptmiers, as they are styled, for one montii
after the date of their arrival in port ; after which
he may add the charge of their support, as deter-
mined by law, to the debt of their passage. This
debt, which is contracted in Holland, is paid ac-
cording to the means of the emigrant. If he has
money to defray his passage, and that of his family,
he devotes it to this purpose ; but this is rarely the
case ; sometimes he pays half or a third part of
the debt, and becomes bound to the Captain for a
term of service equivalent to the remainder, who
is empowered to sell this indentureship to a re-
sident citizen in Pennsylvania ; more frequently
he discliarges the whole of the debt by the sur-
render of his liberty. Upon his arrival here, how-
ever, the laws effectually screen him from the
results which might accrue from his own igno-
rance or rashness; he, or rather the captain for
him, cannot, under any circumstances, indent his
person for a term longer than four years, nor can
he be taken without his consent beyond the limits
of the state of Pennsylvania. An officer is ap-
pointed and salaried by the Pennsylvania govern-
ment, who inspects the redemptioners on their
arrival, and witnesses and reports the agreement
made between the Captain and those who pi-r-
chase their service. The purchasers must take the
whole family, man, wife, and children, unless the
redemptioners themselves shall agree to the con-
trary ; the masters being also bound by the law
to provide the children *vith schooling and cloth-

HERMAN llEDr-MPTlONERS.

4^2P

ing.

There arc some minor regulations with which
1 am not accurately acquainted. This service, you
will perceive, is liahle to be not a little expensive
to the employers. It is attended, however, with
fewer risks than might be expected ; the Swiss
and German peasants being, for the most part,
simple, honest, and industrious, and excellent ser-
vants in the farm and the dairy. This mode of
indenture is so serviceable to these emigrants, that
those who may have been able to defray their
passage in money, usually bind themselves to some
-American family for a couple of years, where they
may be initiated in the language and habits of their
new countrv. I have met with instances of this
kind in Pennsylvania, and even in New York and
Jersey, into which states the emigrants had con-
sented to pass. After the expiration of the term,
the rcdemptioners are often retained by their mas-
ters upon wages ; when, if they are frugal and
ambitious, they may, in the course of time, lay
up sufficient to purchase a few acres, and enter on
their own farm.

It certainly cannot be expected that the Ameri-
can nation will submit to have their country turned
into a lazar-house for the suffering poor of Europe,
who, with poverty, but too often bring its accompa-
niments, indolence and vice. Those states, proba-
bly, act wisely who, by such regulations as I have
mentioned as adopted by New York, shut the door
against them. That state, by the bye, receives, as it
is, more than she finds agreeable, by the way of
Canada ; and her community are put to no small
inconvenience and expence for their provision. It

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(.'KRMAX RFOEMPTIOXERS,

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is a common belief in Europe, that her surplus
population will be as great an advantage for Ame-
rica to gain as for her to lose. The argument
would have some plausibility were not the surplus
population of all countries generally the vicious
population. There is not, however, the same
objections to that of the middle parts of the old
continent, as to that which has sometimes flowed
from France and the British islands. The starving
emigrants of Switzerland and Germany are simple
agriculturists and ignorant peasants, who here
quietly devote themselves to the pursuits from
which they have been driven in Europe, and
instantly become harmless and industrious citi-
zens. Their prejudices, whatever they may be,
are perfectly innocent, and of absolute vices they
usually have non(i. I'he poor British but too often
bring with them all the assumption and all the
corruption of manufacturing towns and crowded
sea-ports ; too ignorant to be able to appreciate
justly the advantages which this country affords,
and too knowing to be willing to learn.* Nor
even supposing them to have good habits, which is
seldom the case, are they fitted for the work they
can obtain here. An Englishman, in general, can
do but one thing, and an Irishman, but too fre-
quently, can do nothing. I know many instances
of their being employed from pure charity ; their
wives and cl ildren supported in out-houses for

* The Welsh form an exception to this rule : their habits are
found to bear much resemblance to those of the German peasan-
try, and, consequently, their service is equally valued in Pennsyl-
vania. Cargoes of Welsh redemptioners frequently enter the
Delaware.

! 'I'

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C; HUMAN ULDr.MPTIOXI'.HS.

\S1

iirplus
Ame-
ument
urplus
licious
same
the old
flowed
tarving
simple
here
:s from
e, and
us citi-
lay be,
;es they
po often
all the
rowded
)reciate
aftbrds.
Nor
,vhich is
rk they
al, can
oo fre-
stances
their
lor

Ises

labits are
\\ peasan-
] Pennsyl-
jnter the

weeks and even months together, a charge upon
the benevolence of an American farmer or gentle-
man. But benevolence must have bounds, and
the rulers of Europe can with little reason com-
plain, if the Republic Jays an embargo upon the
importation of their obstreperous mob and onerous
paupers. The fact is, that those only are an ac-
quisition to this continent who are a loss to the
other; and melancholy is the truth, that every ship
which enters these ports brings some emigrants of
this character. The heart of the English patriot
may well sink within him, when he reflects upon
this. Where will be the strength of his nation
when it shall consist only of the over rich and the
starving poor ? Pharaoh's fat and lean kine,. who
ate up each other, is a true allegory.

Before quitting the subject of tiie German emi-
gration, I ;.uist, in jusiice to the benevolent com-
munity of Philadelphia, advert to a writer who has
been raised into consideration by the importance
of his commentators. It was perhaps not possible,
that the authors of a much-read English journal
should be able to detect the false statements of the
English traveller they reviewed ; but before they
confirmed them by a farther assertion of their own,
it was natural to sup})ose, that they had accurately
investigated the subject upon which they wrote.
There is something painful in seeing the virtues of
a community perverted into a source of reproach
and calumny. That Philadelphia, who has been
amiable enough to keep her ports open to the
starving sufferers of Europe, when other states have
closed theirs, should have been fixed upon as am

ii i

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•1.32

REPLY TO THE

Mr '

" i

f ':

object of peculiar obloquy, is, perhaps, no less sin-
gular than revolting.*

Mr. Fearon has given an account of a vessel in
this port, calculated, from the seeming minuteness
of its details, to gain implicit credit. The ship
Bubona, which he says he boarded, and describes
as being overloaded with wretched Germans, he
informs the English public, was an Annerican,
commanded by an American, and belonging to
Americans. The Bubona, I regret to say, was a
British brig, from the port of Sunderland, navi-
gated and cominanded by our countrymen, and
having British owners : she was, moreover, one of
the foreign vessels which the state laws of Penn-
sylvania being incompetent to control, occasioned
the subject to be brought before the national con-
gress, and procured the passing of those effective
laws to which I have before alluded. I request
you to communicate these particulars to your friend
* # # # #^ ^)^o will judge from this specimen how
far the " Sketches" oi'Mr. Fearon have been drawn
by an accurate pencil. The ships employed in
this trade (which, so far from meriting the term
vifhmous, bestowed upon it by the reviewer, is in
its principle and its results esseutially humane) are,
as T have before remarked, principally Dutch ; not
English, as the instance of the Bubona, if it had
been fairly stated by Mr. Fearon, might have led
the British reader to suppose, nor American, as
stated by the Reviewer. The slightest acquaintance

* The port of Baltimore is also resorted to by redemptioners.
1 believe the regulations under which the trade is there placed*
differ in little from those of Philadelphia.

(i; ;

lil'ARTEllI.V lil;\ IFAV.

with the strict rcguhitions laid upon Aincricnn
vessels and their captains, would have j)revented
many of the mis-statements which have ap})earedin
English journals and travels. 'J'hese regulations,
carefully enforced, have raised the character of the
American traders throughout Europe, and rendered
the law, passed hy tiie national congress, less ne-
cessary on account of their own vessels, than those
of other nations.!

#
*

*
*
#

#
#

I ,

-} The particulars <;ivcii in the text were lirst received hy the
author from an English t>entleniiin, loni; resident in Philadelphia,
and were afterwards contirnied t{» her from many other sources
equally authentic. The reader will find the same detailed yiore
minutely in the eighteenth arti<'le of the twenty-seventh njimber,
and the first article of the twenty-eighth immber of the Nortii
American Review. 'J'hat the English reviewer to whom the
author has adverted in the text, maybe fully satisfied of tliea' cu-
racy of her statement, she extracts from the Jioston journal the
attestation of a (ierman nobleman, dispaiched by the minister
plenipotentiary of the King of the Netherlands, in the (ierman
diet, to America, for the purpose of prccming farther encourage-
ment for the reception of the poor (iernians in I'ennsyUania, aiid
of examininii; into their condition in that counfrv. In the verv
year and month that Mr. IVarcn wrote his accomit of the
ships engaged in this trade, this (ierman ambassador wrote the
following :

" It is \isually Dutch, but occasionally also American, Swedish,
Russian, and English vessels which transport the emigrants to
America. The shi|)s made use of in this service are commonly of
the worst (juality, old and miseaworthy, and the conmianders
sent in them ignorant, inexperienced, and brutal characters. The
American ships are the best, and deserve the preference before the
others : they sail quicker, the treatment is better, <ind the respou-
sihU'thf of the captains Is i^rcuter." This will explain how the law,
passed by the congress, was directed more against Foreign than
American vessels.

r !•

M, '

A^n]^

COUNT DK SURVILLIKHS.

Ill

' I

Enquiring concerning Joseph Buonaparte in our
way here, I learn that lie is about to purchase or
lease a house upon the Delaware, about ten miles
below the ruins of his former residence. This
neighbourhood has been endeared to him by the
friendly behaviour of the people upon the occasion
of his late misfortune. Yoi: will probably have
seen in the papers, though I should not have writ-
ten it to you, that the mansion in which we saw him
last summer, was some months since burned to the
ground. His Canovas were mostly saved, all indeed
except three, but they were among the most va-
lued; his pictures also and many of his books;
still, however, the loss was considerable ; and if it
be true, that this included some family papers of
importance, perhaps irreparable. He entered his
gates, returning from Philadelphia, just as the roof
fell in : all the neighbourhood was collected, and
men and women striving, at the hazard of their
lives, to save his property from the flames ; he had
himself to call them, and even to force them from
he walls. The Count seems to have been some-
what amazed by the honesty of his republican
neighbours ; and they, I am told, were no less
amazed at his amazement. Possibly his letter of
thaiiks appeared in your papers; if not, I throw it
into this packet.

i .

HIS LKTTF.R TO Mil. SNOWUKN.

1.'J.5

i.;

Translation of a letter of the Count clc St/rvil/iers
{Joseph Buonaparte) on the sultject of the loss of
his house hi) fire ^ to William Snowden^ Esq.
Judge and Justice <tfthe Peace, Jiordentoxvn.

*' Point IJreoze, Juii. 8tli, 1820.

" Sir,

•* You have shewn so much interest for me since
I have been i?i this country, and especially since
the event of the 4th instant, that 1 cannot doubt
it will aftbrd you pleasure to make known lO your
fellow-citizens, how much 1 feel all that they have
done for me on that occasion. Absent myself
from my house, they collected by a spontaneous
impulse on the first appearance of the fire, which
they combated with united courage and perseve-
rance, and, when they found it was impossible to
extinguish it, exerted themselves to save all that
the flames had not destroyed before their arrival
and mine.

" All the furniture, statues, pictiucs, money,
plate, gold, jewels, linen, books, and in short every
thing that was not consumed, has been most scru-
pulously delivered into the hands of the people of
my house. In the night of the fire, and dining the
next day, there were broisght to me, by labouring
men, drawers in which I have found the proper
quantity of pieces of money, and medals of gold,
and valuable jewels, which might have been taken
with impunity. This event has proved to me how
much the inhabitants of Bordentown appreciate
the interest I have always felt for them ; and shows
that men in general are good when they are not
perverted in their youth by a bad education j when

1' F '2

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4SG

DESCHNT OF THE DELAWAIU:.

they maintain their dignity as men, and feci that
true greatness is in tlie soul, and depends upon
ourselves.

" I cannot omit on this occasion to repeat what
I have said so often, that the Americans are the
most happy people I have known ; still more happy,
if they understand well their happiness.

I pray you not to doubt of my sincere regard.

Your's, &c.

JoSEril COMPTE DE SuRVILLTERS."

While I have been writing, our vessel has made
its way many miles down the Delaware ; pitch and
toss, pitch and toss ! The wind iias risen very
suddenly, and now blows a hurricane. We are
likely to have a rough passage. I must seek the
deck, and see who and what are our fellow-pas-
sengers. A face peeped into the cabin just now
that looked very English, and a sentence with the
Lancashire accent, now sounding on the stairs,
seems to sanction my reading of the physiognomy.
There is a grey duflie cloak, too, that seems not
in the fashion of tliis country. A propos to this
cloak ; ' I must express my concern for the too
frequent deficit of such an article in the wardrobe
of an American lady : truly my teeth have chat-
tered when I have seen in the streets of New York
in the month of January, when the mercury stood
but few degrees above zero, troops of young
women in such attire as might have suited Euphro-
synes in the sweet days of May : no furs, no boots,
no woollen liose, no, nor even woollen garb wore
the delicate creatures ; but silks, and feathers, and
slippers, as gay as the sparkling skies that shone

IJIIKSS or Tin; LADJKS.

[37

above thcin, or the i^listcniiig snows tliey trod
upon. But here is too serious trifling with youth
and liealth ; and the prevalence of consumption
j)roves the danger and tlie folly of'tlie sacrifice of
comfort to appearance. It is, doubtless, a cruel
thing to bury a pretty ankle in a f'ur-lined boot or
a. stocking of worsted, and a well-turned throat and
delicate waist in a coat with triple capes ; but I
would fain put it to the good sense of my fair
friends in this country, if it is not more cruel to be
cramped with rheumatism or tortured with tooth-
ache, or sent out of tlie world in the very spring-
time of youth by a painful and lingering disease.
I would that Franklin were alive to read them a
lesson upon the folly of sacrificing health and life
upon the altar of fashion : he would say more to
them in a pleasant fable of ten lines, than a wordy
moralist or learned physician in a lecture of a thou-
sand pages. But would they listen to an old sage
any more than they would to me ? Youth must
buy its own experience ; and the wisdom of our
fathers usually lies on the shelf till we have
split on all the rocks from which it would have
warned us.

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LETTER XXVII.

BALi iMOFir. — YELLOW FEVER AT FELLS I'OINT. APrEAK-

ANCE OF THE CITY. — MISCELLANEOUS.

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liiiltiiuorc, April, 1820.
MY DEAR FRIEND,

We pushed aloiig-rs'ule of the wharf between two
ami three in the morning, and so fjently, that, but
for the Siidden pause of the machinery, we slum-
bering passengers sliould have received no intima-
tion of the circumstance. Ascending to the deck
before sun-rise, we encountered the last drops of
a spring shower, the loud pattering of which we
had heard for some time over our heads, and had
apprehended in consequence a comfortless termi-
nation to our journey ; but Jiercer tcv/r, sooner
j)eacef says a vulgar proverb, which j)erhaps, you
will call me vulgar for quoting ; and a cloud which
in our misty island takes a week or a month to
dissolve itself, will perform the operation here in
a few minutes. I have seen rain in this country,
and taken it on my shoulders, like the breaking of
a water spout : great on such occasions is the bustle
and hurry of the forlorn wights exposed to the
elements. You will hear a horseman wliistle to
his steed, who, on his part, seems scarcely to wait
the hint of his master, and see a sauntercr collect
his limbs and set them to their full speed as though

HAM i.Mori!:.

l^eatli were behind him. I have oCun in iUncy
contrasted siicli a scene with that which a street
or hip^hway presents in England when the heavens
are weeping from sun-rise to sun-set. The qui-
escent traveller, with slouched hat, close-buttoned
coat, and dripping umbrella, holding on his way
with measured steps, and a face composed to
])atient endurance, neither exj)ecting comjiassion
from the elements, nor seeking it from his fellow-
creatures.

This city is singularly n it and pretty ; I will
even say beautiful. It is possible, that in tlie first
gaze I threw upon it, it owed something to the
hour, the season, and tlie just fallen-shower of sweet
spririg rain ; but what is there in life that owes
not to time and circumstance the essence of its
evil or its good ? We looked forth from our cabin
in the still grey dawn, and paced awhile up and,
down the spacious deck of the lordly steam-boat,,
to enjoy the' scene, and the hour, to which the;
scene owed much. All yet was silent in the city —
silent as the unpierced forests of the west , not ii
foot trod the quays, or was heard upon the pave-
ments of the streets that branched from them ; not
a figure was seen on the decks, or in the shrouds
of the vessels that lav around us ; the very air was
sleeping, and the shi})ping reposed on the waters
of the little bay (formed here by an itdet of tho
Potapsco), which lay motionless as the thin wreaths
of vapour which hung above them. There is some-
thing strangely impressive in such a death of sound
and motion in the very lieart and cenlrc of the

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iMj/n.\i()Ri;,

tiiuint^) of iiK'ii. A iiomk used |>()})iilalion ol'llioii.
sands thus luislicd to ixpose, all their lH)»)es, and
icars, and sorrows, and ambitions, sttiq^rd in fif)r-
j»etrnlness, iniconscions anil uuapprelieii! .'.^ orilic
clifcks and the crosses, and the pains and the
wearint'ss, wiiich the bi«^' eventful day is to bring
ibrth. If there is an hour in the twenty-four that
disposes one more than another to moralise upon
the fate and condition of man, it is that which
lullows u|)i)n the iirst peep of dawn. The silence
of the earth and skies is yet more profound than at
night's mid noon, wliile the mind more forcibly con-
trasts it with the busy hum and stir of life, that is
so instantly about to succeed. Even in the dead
solitudes of tlie American wilderness, I have felt
the impressive stillness of this hour : the black
forests have stood more still, the vast waters have
slept more profoundly, the mists hiy more dense
and unbroken, the work of nature seemed inter-
ruptiid, her maternal eye closed, and her pulse
stopj)ed.

The projecting point, wiiose curve forms one
side of the little haibour in which v.e were moored,
lined with wharfs and quays, was the seat of the
pestilence of which such fearful and exaggerated
accounts were spread last autumn ; but the evil
here, if less than report made it, was sufKciently
alarming. The malignant nature of the disease,
the silent enlargement of the seat of its contagion,
the suddenness of its seizure, the rapidity of its
progress, and the loathsomeness of its last stage,
which renders the wretched object sinking beneath

IJAI.II.MOIU,.

i + 1

jls vinilt'iici', a si«'ht of ilisniist vww to i\w vya ol'
anct'tion, ami the unccitaint) whicli ha hithtito
existed (exceptiiipj in the imwholesonie ilistrit'ls
of the South Atlantic States, where its ahode
bein^ more or less continual, its nature is l)ctter
understood, the iniai^ination more famihiuised
with its terrors, and tiie constitution more proof*
against its })oison); tlie uncertainty which, except-
ing in these districts, has existed regarding the
cause of its appearance, and the maimer in which
its progress might be arrested, all this well ex-
plains the terror which its very name excites in
those cities, which have only been subjected to
the visitation at long intervals, and where tradition
hands down the tale of its former ravages, and the
horrors with which they were fraught.

In this city, though the seat of contagion was
of much greater extent than in that of New York,
yet its limits were e(p.ially defined. A line might
have been drawn across the streets, on the verge
of whicii you might stand with impunity, and
beyond which it was death to pass. Had this line
been drawn, and drawn too at the first ap{Knuance
of the disease, before time had been afforded it for
the enlargement of its precincts, (for the infected
atmosphere slowly eating its way onwards, where
it may be safe for you to breathe to-day, you may
inhale poison to-morrow,) and had the inhabitants,
both the sick and the well, been removed from the
seat of contagion, as was done in New York, and
as I wrote you with perfect success, the fever
would have died in tiie birth, instead of rankling,
and spreading as it did, until it was killed by the

r I

-:lf

'ii'2

BAi/n.Moir

:il

T, I

, 1

i '■ .

,'''' ' ■ '

A '

winter's iiost. The mistaken notion vvliich here,
as in Boston, prevailed, that the poison liad been
bronglit in a vessel from the south, prevented this
j)rccaiition, and ])revented also any remedy being
applied to th(» real cause of the evil. A cause so
apparent, that nothing but the obstinacy incident
to the adherence to a favourite system, could have
blinded the people to its existence. * The nest of
the fever here, as in New York, lay in the stagnant
waters of the wharfs ;' into which the neighbouring
inhabitants are in the habit of throwing vegetables
and other refuse. The intense and unusually
j)rolonged heats of the summer could not fail to
render them so many reservoirs of putrefaction.
'I'hesc wharfs too, and many of the houses adjoin-
ing, have been raised upon forced ground, into
which the water oozing, prepares against the hot
months a rank bed, fatally ])ropitious to the nurture
of disease, if not sufficient for its conception. It is to
be hoped, that the possibility of inbred infection is
now sufficiently established, to leave no doubt upon
the minds of the inhabitants of the northern cities,
of the imperative necessity of rigid cleanliness, which
can alone prevent the appearance of yellow fever,
in the event of a season of unusual and prolonged
heat. That which in a temperate climate, might
be accounted as finical nicety, may barely suffice
to keep the atmosphere untainted in the low and
more populous quarters of cities lying under a

* See No. '27\\\ of the North American Review for some
nirioiis particuhirs of the miillgnant fever which a|)j)e<ire(I in
lioston, New York, and Hahimore, during the auttnun of the
vear]81f>. 17

TH.W r.I.I.EKS.

sun whose fervors will often raise the mercury to
ninety and upwards for days succcssive'y. While
the infected air was gradually spreading along
Fells Point, and the low streets in its immediate
vicinity, the higher parts of the town were
perfectly healthy ; and, though the sick were
removed into it, no infection was there received ;
nor after the first wild alarm had subsided, was it
so much as apprehended.

We have met the summer in this city. In New
York, though the grass had hastily spread its first
carpet, we left no appearance of leaves, except
that, on the earlier trees, the buds were ready to
burst. In Philadelphia I remarked some green
specks on the branches ; but here it seemed like
stepping into Fairy-land, when leaving the vessel,
we turned into a clean broad street, lined with
balsam poplars, the fragrance of whose young
leaves, glistering with rain drops, perfumed the air.
We proceeded with our new friends — but you know
not who they are. I will go through the ceremony
of introduction. I wrote in my last letter of an
English face and duffle cloak. These might not
seem to promise much ; and, as to the first, let
alone the one in question, and some others whom
I shall name, and some others of whom vou arc
aware, though they, indoed, have ta*en l long
the burning gaze of America's sun, as to have well
nigh lost their native character, — but let alone
these, and I must confess, however the confession
might displease my countrymen, that an English
face has seldom been a sight that has caused me
much satisfaction on this side the Atlantic.

ill'

tii.\vej.i,f:rs.

It 1 1

Voltaire describes a triiveliin<^ Mi/urf/ ; liie picture
might suit lieie many a travelling Mr., and some
lords too, for a tew noble faces have at odd times
been seen in this land of ])lain citizens ; and all
were not like t!ie unassuming, gentlemanly, en-
lightened Selkirk. Were I disposed to j)lay
upon words, I might say that the English peoj)le
are as ill represented heie as they are at home.
The ordinary travellers who honor this republican
earth with the touch of their feet, are stragglers
from Canada, who, besides coming and going
Irom and to Euro})e by the way of New York,
as a more convenient })ort than Montreal or
Quebec, will sometimes condescend so far as to
yawn away a summer month or two, in spying out
a few corners of the great nest of presumptuous
democrats stretching south of them ; and who
running through a tew of their towns and cities,
sometimes without looking to the right hand or
the left, and sometimes entering the open door,
and seizing the open hand of America's kind
citizen, that they may afterwards, at their leisure,
with better opportunity, jeer at the manners and
traduce the character of the people whose hos-
j)itality they have shared. How is it that men
can breathe the winds that have blown over the
land of liberty, whose sacred shores even are
within their sight, without inhaling something of
the spirit of indei)endence ? And how can they
see that land, and contemplate the joyful scene of
its prosperity, — its towns and cities springing
as it were, out of the earth at the touch of a
magician, — its active and industrious po[)u[ation,

I'K VVr.f.l.KIJS.

41.5

spre.idiniT over regions, boiinciless in extent, and
inexliaiistil)le ifi fertility; carrving into the desert,
before untrodden, save by the foot of the savage
or the beast of prey, the arts of peace, the b"ghts
of knowledge, and all the wealth and blessings of
civilization ; — how can they contemplate this, a
sight as novel as it is beautiful, without feeling
their hearts expand with joyful, antl j)roud, ami
generous sympathy? And yet our countrymen
will often travel from tlio Dan to the Beersheba of
this republic, and contrive to sluit their hearts
from every licnerous fecliuix, and their understand-
ings from every conviction ; finding, and so gi\ing,
nothing but vexation of spirit, and returning to
the land of their fathers to traduce, in the name of
the U.iited States of America, the name of liberty,
and in that of their })eo})le, the names of public
virtue and of ])rivatc happiness. IJut what a
stranjj-e exordium this to the Ennlish face and the
dufHc cloak! I know of nought that they ha\-e in
common with the travellers to whom I have
alluded. Things, however, are as often associated
in our heads by contrast as by i osemblance, iuvJ so
in this case has it been witli tliC !*Jiglish face and
cloak, to which vou shall now I r nitroduced with-
out farther digression or prearible. The owner of
the face was — Who think "ou ? A du/,en guesses,
and you have liim not. Keniemi)er you, now
some six-and-twenty years ago, to have seen in
your house at * * * * * a young man of the name
of Taylor? I little expected in the vigorous and
fresh-looking stranger, who carried his years so
lio'htly that I hesitated to write him under the

4.40

TRAVKLLEIIS.

head of fifty, an old acquaintance of my dearest
friend. It was not till after much conversation
with him and his companions that I made this
discovery, which you may suppose did not weaken
the bond that similarity of sentiment upon the
subjects on which we had previously conversed,
had made between us. It will please you to iiear,
that this your old friend wears on through his man-
hood, the honorable feelings of his youth ; — no
small, at least no common merit in old Europe,
whose rulers so rarely fail tc prove that tiie partriot
has his price. His companions are a lady and
gentleman from Lincolnshire, whose acquaintance
is a source of so much pleasure to us, as to make
us deeply regret, that fortune v^as not kind enough
to throw us earlier together. During our descent
of the Delaware, we were too much tormented by
the winci, which blew a heavy gale in our faces,
to have any disposition for conversation ; but
when, towards sun-set, we exchanged water for
land carriage, and found ourselves shut into the
same vehicle with tluee Enijlish travellers, we
began to examine their faces, and, liking their
language, and they perhaps not disliking tliat of
ours, dialogue commenced.

Tliere are few accidents in life more agreeable
than those which, in a foreign land, bring together
wanderers from the same native soil ; that is, when
they arc not of the class of Matthew Bramble, or
Smelfungus, or * * * * *, &c. Reaching the Elk
river, the winds had hushed to sleep, and the
hour and our long journey might have seemed to
warn us to follow the exami)le ; but once more on

ii.\i riMoin:.

447

earest
sation
ie this
reaken
)n the
/ersed,
) iiear,
is man-
j — no
iiirope,
)artriot
ly and
intance

make
enough
descent
nted by
r faces,

1 ; but
Iter lor
uto tlic
ers, we
i£ their
that of

eeable
ogether
[s, when
Inble, or
the Elk
md the
;med to
hiore on

})oard of a steam-boat, upon whose deck we couhl
now keep our feet witiiout holding a hglit for the
privilege with the enraged liousehoid of il^ohis ;
we felt no disposition to separate until we had
compared our sentiments, and exchanged much
of our information regarding the country in which
we all met as wanderers. In Baltimore we felt no
disposition to part, and they being also bound to
Washington, where they had passed the greater
part of the winter, we made our arrangements for
the day together, and first (to go buck a f»»\v pages)
we proceeded in company to take a hasty \ iew of
the city.

Baltimore is not the least wonderful eviilence of
the amazing and almost inconceivable growth of this
country. At the time of the revolution, but forty-
five years since, this city, which now contains u
population of sixty-five thousand, and has all the
appearance of an opulent and beautiful metropolis,
comprised some thirty houses of painted or un-
painted frame, with perhaps as many of logs scat-
tered in their vicinity, it' this docs not confound
your understanding, it has well nigh confbun'kul
mine. Dutchmen, or their descendants, were not
the surveyors here p-^; in New York, where it is
thought j)roper, when a street is })lanned, to shave
the earth of every inequality, as though it were
intended to preserve to the city the appearance of
having been transported ready-made from Holland,
in the manner of the iiouse at Loretto, from Je-
rusalem. Baltimore, on the contrary, is spread
over three gentle hills ; the streets, without sharing
the fatiguing leguiarity and mivaryiiig similaiity

448

DAi/riMoiii:.

lit ' >

hi:

I* ■;, 1

« <

of those of Philiulrlpliia, are equally clean, cheer-
ful, and pleasingly ornamented with trees ; the
poplar, which in the country is offensive, not
merely to the eye, hut to the understanding, being
there destitute alike of beauty a'.id utility, has a
singularly pleasing effect in a city where its archi-
tectural form is in unison with the regularity and
neatness which should every where ])revail. I
mean not, however, to prefer it to nobler trees,
which, inde])endcnt of superior beauty, have the
farther advantage of healthy longevity, and are
not afllicted with the troublesome blight that fre-
quently renders the poplar alive with caterpillars,
which sometimes despoil the branches in mid-
summer, and rain in offensive multitudes on the
shoulders of passengers. To remove this incoi?-
venience, the citzens of New York have removed
their poplars; but I own that, notwithstanding my
objection to the caterpillars, 1 never saw one of
the guilty poplars fall without regret ; the more so,
because I siiw no ])r( parations made for supj)lyiMg
the vacancies with forest trees. I could wish that
the householders in American towns would, on
this matter, as on all others, remember the advice
of Franklin, whose wise uiind, embracing the in-
finitely little, as well as the infinitely great, con-
sidered no trifle below its notice that was con-
nected with the comfort and well-being of man.

You see hei* , as m Philadelphia, the same neat,
houses of weli-snade and Viell-i)ainted brick; the
same delicately white doors, with their shining
knockers and lnmdle<, VAd their steps of clean
white marble, and wimlows with their green Vc-

MALT I. MO UK.

44<J

e, not

, being

has a

arclii-

ty and
lil. I
I' trees,
ivc tlu'
\u\ are
Kit f re-
pillars,
1 mid-
on the
incoi?-
pmoved
ins my
one of
ore so,
)j)lyin,u;
sh that
iKi, on
advice
the in-
con-
con-
nan.
le neat
k ; the
shinini;'
clean
en Vc-

>-t

netian shnlters. Considerable attention and ex-
pense have also been bestowed upon the pid)lic
edifices, which, however, are chiefly remarkable
for neatnesss and convenience, seldom making pre-
tentions to architectural beauty. Some buildings
of'a different character are now erecting, in a style
which does honour to the taste and public spirit of
the comnnmity ; I have heard, indeed, the citizens
of Baltimore charged in this particular with undue
extravagaiice. However this may be, we felt our-
selves much indebted to them, when, heated with
fatigue ami want of rest, we suddenly came upon
a spacious fountain, where tiie clear, cold water,
gushing fresh from the spring, ran gnu'gling over a
chamiclled floor of marble. In a neighbouring
square, a clustered column of simple and pure
architecture is raising to the memory of those who
fell in the gallant defence of the city at the close
of the late war ; on the pedestal of the column is
a blank stone, on which are simply engraved the
names of the dead who are interred beneath. The
thoughtless military leader, and the calculating
politician, might smile at tijis enumeration of some
Imndred names. We cannot better contrast the
feelinirs of such men, than with an anecdote which
recurs to me at the moment. During the war
when a body of American militia had repulsed a
party of invaders, and were pursuing them to their
ships, the commanding ofiicer suddenly called
them from the pursuit. A citizen, surprized and
irritated at the order, seeing the possibility of
cutting ofi' the retreat of the enemy, reproachfully
observed, that ere they could gain their b »ats, two

G G

ygi

4.50

BALTIMORE.

thirds might be dead, or prisoners. *' 7/7/^," calmly
rephed the other, having first enforced the order
for retreat ; *^we might possibly^ uith the lo,ss of a
dozen meHy have deprived the enemy of some hun-
dreds^ but what would have been the dozen ? — sons,
husbands J father s^ and useful citizens. And what
would have been the hundreds ? — men fighting for
hire. Which loss in the balance had weighed the
heavier ?"

When we read of the fall of the three hundred
at Thermopyla;, we feel something more than
when we read of that of the legions of Varus in the
wilds of Germany ; and I own that I looked with
deeper interest upon this memorial to a few private
citizens, who fell in the defence of their domestic
hearths, and whose corpses were washed by the
tears of bereaved mothers, widows, and orphans,
than I ever did upon the proudest monument
erected to the thousands sacrificed to kingly
ambition. And I doubt if, in this sentiment, 1 am
peculiar ; I doubt, I mean, if the costly monu-
ments that adorn the empires of Europe, are re-
garded with the same deep and lasting interest
by their people, as is this simple record by the ci-
tizens of America's republic. There, too often, the
glory is monopolized, and the honour awarded to
the individual whose personal ambition, or whose
talent, submitted to the ambition of a master,
leads unnumbered and unknown thousands to the
field of slaughter j and there places on his single
brow the laurels steeped in the sweat and blood of
the unheeded myriads, dead and dying, who sur-
round him. And is it to be believed that, when

BALTIMORE.

" calmly
he order
!o.ss of a
WW hiin-
? — .so;z.v,
ind what
•htw}^ for
ig/ied the

lumdred
lore than
irus in the
>ked with
jw ])rivate
domestic
ed by the
I orphans,
tnonument
o kingly
lent, I am
tly monu-
)e, are re-
jg interest
by the v'^i-
often, the
warded to
or whose
a master,
nds to the
his single
id blood of
who sur-
that, when

the first mad frenzy of the multitude lias subsided,
they will see in the proud trophies, marked with
the name of a Napoleon or a Wellington, much to
rouse their sympathy or even their pride ? The hero
who lives in the hearts of a people, is not he who
has achieved the most numerous and imposing con-
quests, who has wrought the most daring exploits,
and seen the most costly memorials raised to his
name ; it is he who hay struggled for the existence
or defence of his country, whose patience and
energy were exerted, not so much to destroy its
foes as to shield its sons ; — he it is, whose cause
being that of his nation, so als«> is his dignity and
his fame. The chariots of the" Caesars were
followed by acclaiming multitudes, and their
achievements live in the annals of their empire, but
their names lived not in the hearts of the Romans,
as did those of the Camillus and the Fabius, whose
sword and whose shield were the saviours of the
infant republic. We have seen the eagles of
Napoleon overthrown, and have heard his name
die on the lips of his people ; but the memorials of
Washington are beyond the reach of fortune as of
time ; seated in the hearts of America's citizens,
their number increases with every child that is
born to the republic, and will be lasting as the
nation whose independence he assisted to establish ;
and thus, in like manner, is it that this simple
commemoration of a few private individuals excites
more interest in the mind of the spectator than
the proudest trophies raised to unknown thousands,
who fell, they knew not wherefore, in a foreign
land.

G G jt

45i'

cHAUACTKii or Till:

?ij

It would be difficult to imagins; a more inter-
esting scene than was here exhibited during the
engagement which this moinnnent is raisiul to
commemorate. If the burning of Washington
excited the wliole continent, it more })eculiarly
called forth the sj)irit, as well as the fears of Bal-
timore, from whose heights was distiiicUy descried
the glow diffused through the atmospluMc by the
Hanies of the capitol. An instantaneous attack
was ijpprehended ; but of the short interval which
unexj)ectedly elapsed before the enemy ascended
the Chesapeake, not a moment was lost. The
whole popidation of Baltimore laboured on the en-
trenciiinents, and in throwing up fortifications;
troops of \ olunteers poured in from the neigh-
bouring states of Pennsylvania and Virginia ; and
the must distinguished citizens of Maryland were
found in the ranks of the battalions, collected round
the city. 'I'he city itself, on the day and night of
the engagement, was peopled only by women and
infants. Eve y man, from the decrepid veteran to
the boy whose arm couid scarcely steady the mus-
ket, was without the walls, in the character of a
soldier. The death of General Ross is ascribed to
a beardless youth, for whose ha) id tlie rifle which
he pointed with unerring certainty was almost too
heavy. War in this country assumes a character
so different from that which it wears in Europe,
that it is impossible to regard it with the same
feelings. Who can consider without interest an
army of citizens just sunuuoned from their domes-
tic hearths ? the farmer, the lawyer, the merchant,
the statesman, the private gentleman, converted

AMERICAN WAUrAlU:.

'1..5.1

into soldiors at the tlircsholtl of their own habita-
tions for the ilefeiice of all that is most dear to
men. Conceive, too, the position of this ilcserled
city ; the hearts wiiieh here heat witli agony (lining
the (lay and tiight that the cannon roared in the
\erv harhour, eaeli thunder oi' which seemed to
sound the knell of a father and a husband. It was
an affecting scene, as described by those who
witnessed it, wlien the eneniv withdrew, and the
citizens retinned to their anxious homes, bearing
with them the silent few whose hearts were now
cold amid the impatience and joy that surrounded
them. The soldier i\i\i> 'n regarded on a foreiicu
soil, his reiuains left, ^, .iiaps, to* the bleaching
elements, or thrown into a hasty grave by his
weary and reckless comrades, or it may be by the
very strangers whose lands he has invaded, whose
laws he has trampled on, and whose brethren he
has slain. Not so the citizen who falls on his
native soil, amid his friends and relatives, by the
liand of the invader raised against his country atid
himself. Here, borne on the shoulders of his bre-
thren, the father was brought to the house of his
children, the son to that of his parent ; the tears
of agony bedewed the corps, the hand of affection
straitened the limbs, and performed the last duties
to the dead ; and when at length the sacred dust
was consigned to its element, the assembled citizens
formed the long line of the funeral procession,
moving through silent streets, where the tumult
of joy was hushed into the deep solemnity of
mourning.

G G 3

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

<i^

V.J.

le.

1.0

I.I

^ us 12.0

L25 111.4

1.8

1.6

Photographic

Sciences
Corporation

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580

(716) 872-4503

1% :■■

MON'UxMENT TO WASHINGTON.

li ■;■»

War is styled a necessary evil. Most truly it is
so in countries burthened with standing armies ;
for if not employed in making war upon each other
abroad, some late occurrences in Ilngland show us,
that they will attack their fellow-citizens at home ;
but could a miracle destroy all the regular troops
of Europe, where then were " Othello's occu-
pation ?"

" Curse on the crimson'd plumes, the banners flouting.

The stirring clarion, the leader's shouting.

The fair caparisons, the war-horse champing.

The array'd legions pressing, rushing, tramping.

The blazing falchions, crests that toss afar.

The bold emprise, the spirit-rousing jar,

The martial paeans, thundering acclaim

The death of glory, and the living fame,

The sculptor's monument, the people's bays.

The historian's narrative, the poet's lays ;

Oh ! curse on all the splendour and the show.

Which veileth o'er the fiendish hell below ! "

Thoughts of a Recluse.

Treading the streets until we reached their
extremity, we found ourselves at the foot of a
little hill, sprinkled with trees, upon whose top is
a noble column, raised to Washington, of similar
form, but of larger dimensions, than that mentioned
above. Ascending to it, we saw this beautiful
little city spread at our feet ; its roofs and inter-
mingling trees shining in the morning sun, the
shipping riding in the basin, and crowded round
the point, while, in the distance, the vast waters of
the Chesapeake, and more near those of its tribu-
tary rivers, gleamed in broad lines of silver through
the dark extent of forested plains, that stretched

UNITARIAN CHURCH.

455

y it IS
rmies ;
1 other
»ow us,
home ;
• troops
; occu-

itmg.

Recluse.

ed their
lot of a
se top is
:' similar
lentioned
eautiful
d inter-
lun, the
d round

aters of
its tribu-

through
itretched

beyond the more cultivated precincts of the young
city. We made our return by a church that has
been recently built by an extensive Unitarian con-
gregation ; and, being now fairly spent with fatigue,
we rested on its steps, while one of our party ran to
obtain the key of the clergyman, who was of his
acquaintance. I do assure you, at that moment I
marvelled at his activity j what with a long walk,
superadded to a long journey, and two sleepless
nights, I felt amazingly disposed to make a pillow
of the marble. And here I recall an anecdote, told
by himself of our friend ****•**, At the
close of a tour through Europe, he asked of his
host in some German town, what was to be seen ?
Nothingy replied the host. Thank Gorf/ exclaimed
the traveller. I was probably too dull to have
this or any thing else in my head at the moment ;
but I doubt not, that would any one have obligingly
told me, that there was nothing to be seen in that
chapel, I should in like manner have returned
thanks. I did, however, open ray eyes upon
entering it, and have seldom seen any thing more
simply elegant than the style of its interior. This
beautiful church is close adjoining to that of a
congregation of Roman Catholics; a circumstance
that well exemplifies the liberality and Christian
charity which is diffused among Christians of all
persuasions throughout these democracies, and
which has been bred and fostered by that perfect
liberty of action and opinion, and those just laws,
which, imparting equal rights and protection to the
members of every church, teach the citizens that as

G G 4

'^56

WEALTH OF A.MERICA.

■ J?*

i\:

they arc all equal in the sight of earthly justice, so
are they also in that of heaven.

It is not without a feeling of respect that the
eye turns upon the Roman Catholic church of
Maryland ; which may be truly regarded as the
most venerable in the world. Those who denounce
Christians of the Romish persuasion as bigottcd
persecutors, surely forget, that they gave the first
example to the world of religious liberty. So true
is it, that illiberal ity or its op])osite nuist be as-
cribed rather to the character of the age or of the
individual, than to the tenets of any particular
church.

I regret that we have not more time to bestow
on this city, which is interesting not only from the
amazing rapidity of its growth, its neatness and
beauty, but from the character of its citizens —
peculiarly marked for courtesy, as well as for high
spirit and daring enterprise. To these last quali-
ties, indeed, must be attributed all the wonderfid
creations of the place. It is thought, however,
that Baltimore, like a promising child, has some-
what outgrown her strength. The ratio of her
increase diminishes greatly, and it may perhaps be
doubted, whether, in the fallen state of commerce,
she wull extend her present limits for many years.
By the bye, I see it is common on your side of the
Atlantic to confound the wealth of America with
that of her merchants ; perhaps the depressed
state of commerce should rather be considered as
an evidence of the growing prosperity of this
people ; — the iact being that they now make at

REVENUE.

457

sticc, so

hat the
inch of
as the
enounce
bigottcd
the first
So true
t be as-
jr of the
articuhir

bestow
from tlie
[less and
tizens —
for high
ist quali-
onderful
however,
as some-
o of her
rhaps be
)mmerce,
ny years,
de of the

ica with
lepressed
idered as
y of this

make at

liome what they before received from abroad. *
As the revenue is liere drawn from tlie customs,
the treafiury afibrds no standard by which to judge
of the internal resources of the country. The
wealth of this young repubhc is not locked up in
her sea-ports, but is spread through a community
to whom want and oppression are unknown. The
broken fortunes of her mercliants may dim the
splendour of her cities, but can substract little from
the aggregate of her strength, while the check
that is thus given to luxury and extravagance can
only produce beneficial effects on the national cha-

* I believe, it is not generally known m this country, how
completely some of the home fabrics have superseded the foreign
in the American market. It is here supposed by many, that the
higher price of labour must prevent competition with the manu-
factures of Europe ; but this drawback is balanced by other ad-
vantages ; provisions are cheap, the raw material of first-rate
quality is found in the country ; and there are no taxes. The
blankets and broad-cloths, woven of the Merino wool, are not
only in the average of superior quality, but can often undersell in
the mo'-ket those of Europe. The same is the case with the
coarse cotton goods. I have seen cotton cloth, woven in New
York, at a cent per yard ; and in strength of fabric, that of Europe
will bear no comparison with it. The object here is to put as
little of the raw material into the yard as possible ; there is not
the same temptation to this in America. It may be observed
also, that the employment of machinery now enabling women to
perform work which formerly demanded the agency of men, there
is much less difference in the price of labour, employed in sonic
of the manufactories, in Britain and America, than is here sup-
posed. American women universally prefer employment in a cot-
ton mill to domestic service, which they always feel to be a de-
gradation. In accounting for any fact which, in America, strikes
the foreigner as singidar, he must always seek i)art of its explana-
tion in the national character, which, influenced by the political
institutions, is there probably more i)eculirtrly marked, than in
nnv othiT comitrv.

? '

I'm

\ I

ii 1

458

TAXATION.

racter. It is thought that a new mode of* taxation
must shortly be adopted ; })erhaps a well reguhited
tax upon property may supersede the present sys-
tem. A very shght one would suffice to defray
the expenses of this economical government, and
have the advantage of yielding a certain return ;
whereas, tit present, the revenue is continually
fluctuating, and always threatens to leave the
government aground in the very moment of ex-
treme exigency. The danger and utter inefficiency
of the present system was fully proved in the late
war ; as it was not destroyed then, it will now in
all probability find its own euthanasia ; unless in-
deed Europe should correct her policy, of which
I suppose there is little likelihood. It seems, how.
ever, that this sovereign people are determined to
see their present system of finance die a natural
death before they will have recourse to another.
The Americans, it must be confessed, have some
whims which seem peculiar to themselves ; of
these, not the least singular is an inherent, innate
antipathy to tax-gatherers. Our good-natured
islanders will support legions of these itinerant
gentlemen, and consent to surrender at their re-
quest the very coat off their backs, and the bread
out of their mouths ; but our transatlantic brethren
will not so much as part with a shred oi" the one
or a crumb of the other. — They will pay no taxes
at all. What would the chancellor of the British
Exchequer say to such obstinacy ? How would his
collectors of the revenue look around them in a
country where their talents were in no request,
and where even their right to existence was called
in question !

:■» I

4.00

illtioll

Lilated
it sys-
ilefray
t, and
iturn ;
nually
ve the
of ex-
ciency
he late
now in
less in-
which
s, how-
ined to
natural
nether.
e some
es ; of
innate
latured
inerant
heir re-
e bread
retliren
he one
o taxes
British
uld his
m in a
equest,
s called

LETTER XXVIII.

■WASHINGTON. THE CAPITOL. HALL OF THE R£PRE<v

SENTATIVES. SENATE CHAMBER. THE PRESIDENT.

VIRGINIA SLAVERY. — CONCLUSION.

Washington, April, 1820.

MY DEAR FRIEND,

I AM this evening fairly exhausted with heat and
fatigue, and in consequence have' been forced to
decline an invitation to a party which promised us
much pleasure, from the individuals whom L un-
derstand to have been assembled. I could not
take the liberty with them that I shall with you,
of being as dull as inclination or infirmity may
dispose me ; and here I only assume the privilege
which others have assumed before me, namely, of
showing to a familiar friend a face that I might be
ashamed to show to an indifferent world.

The road from Baltimore hither, about forty
miles, leads through an uninteresting and, for
the most part, barren district. On losing sight of
the city, the traveller might think that he had lost
sight of all the beauty and all the wealth of the
state j there are, however, in Maryland, districts
of great fertility, especially in the neighbourhood
of the eastern waters. We observed some farms
in good order and good cultivation ; and here, on
the 19th of April, we saw rye full in the ear : we

4(i()

JOL'IINEY TO WA.SIIINGTOX.

I! ' I

k'«

-i
I i

noticed also some liedge rows, which make ii flu*
more comfortable appearance than wooden fences;
but these more interesting objects were unfre-
quent, and, tired of considering stunted trees,
or wastes of exhausted land, (exhausted by the
noxious weed tobacco, and left to be reclaimed
by a more needy generation), w^e began to con-
template our fellow-traveFlers. Added to our
party was an old veteran, who seemed to have
j)assed the written age of man, and a younger
native, who appeared to be cheerfully entering
upon the world which the other was about to quit.
We had proceeded some miles before either of our
new companions addressed himself to any of our
party ; from our conversation, they perceived us to
be foreigners, and waited to judge from the same
to what class we belonged. I have observed, that
when the American stumbles upon a foreigner,
he is wont, during a few minutes, to take a quiet
perusal of his physiognomy, and if opportunity
permits, to remain the silent auditor of his remarks
and comments, and thus to satisfy himself of the
temper of the man, before he evinces any disposi-
tion to make him his companion. If he likes his
temper, he will thon enter at once into the most
easy and friendly intercourse, readily imparting
his own information, and gratefully receiving that
of the stranger in return; and then I have fre-
quently admired the deference with which he lis-
tens to his opinions, however they may differ from
his own, or militate against the institutions of his
country ; the good temper with which he receives
his strictures upon the national character, and the

JOUIINKY TO WASHINGTON.

4n I

candour witli wliicli he ])oints out errors and flaws
which may have escaped the observation of the
foreigner. If lie Hke not In's temper, he will en-
trench himself in the most careless and quiet in-
difference, apparently regardless of all that passes
around him. It is only for an obbcrving eye to
detect, in the unruffled countenance of the mute
republican, the suppressed smile which forms his
humorous, though unsuspected commentary, upon
the conversation of his uncourteous companions.
An anecdote here recurs to me, as illustrative of
this trait in the American character.

In a public conveyance in this country, an En-
glish traveller was drawing comparisons between
America and his native island. The houses were
barns, compared to what they were in England ;
the public conveyances v/ere waggons compared
to an English coach ; and so on, with all the con-
veniencies and necessaries of life, the beef and the
mutton, fish, flesh, and fowl. While he was
speaking, a sudden storm gathered, and a loud
peal of the awful thunder, which, in this fervid
clime, so nobly shakes the concave, cracked over
the zenith, and split the thread .'>f the traveller's
harangue. An American, who i/ad hitherto sat
silent and unnoticed in a corner of the vehicle,
then leaned forwards, and gravely addressing the
foreigner, " Sir, have you any better thunder than
that in England V^ 1 do not say that all the citi-
zens can turn aside the wrath of man by such a
reply as our venerable friend ****** *j ^ho
once, in travelling, finding it necessary to expos-
tulate with the keeper of a turnpike, and being in

U)''2

JOURNEY TO WASHINGTON.

'-IT

I:"

.It

■ »

consequence greeted by the appellation of rascal,
pleasantly letorted, " Your hand^ friend! there are
a pair of tis.** But the species of humour which
framed this reply, is here certainly a national cha-
racteristic ; and I doubt not, is of considerable
service in keeping the peace among this proud
community.

We did not care to put to the test the phi-
losophy of our fellow-travellers, who soon joined
in our conversation. The old veteran fought over
again the battles of the revolution, and gave us
many interesting anecdotes of that period. We
learned that he was bound, for the first and last
time, on a pilgrimage to the infant capital ; being
desirous, he said, to see the city that bore the
name of his old general, and to look upon the
seat of government once before he died. The
morning after our arrival, while ascending the
steps of the capitol with several members of con-
gress, we perceived the old soldier at an angle of
this fine building, leaning on his staff, and looking
down upon the young Rome, for whose liberties
he had bled.

Those who in visiting Washington expect to
find a city, will be somewhat surprised when they
first enter its precincts, and look round in vain for
the appearance of a house.

The plan marked out for this metropolis of the
empire, is gigantic, and the public buildings,
whether in progress or design, bear all the stamp
of grandeur. How many centuries shall pass away
ere the clusters of little villages, now scattered
over this plain, shall assume the form and magni-

WAsirrvfiTOV,

4 as

rascal,
ere are

which
al cha-
Icrable

proud

le phi-
joined
;ht over
»ave us
d. We
,nd last
; being
lore the
)on the

ing the
of con-
angle of
looking
liberties

itpeet to
len they
vain for

of the

lildings,

le stamp

iss away

Icattered

magni-

ficence of an imi)erial citv -^ Wore tlie heart to
form a prayer f'oi- this re})iihHc, wouUl it not be
that the term of her youtli might he k)ng pro-
tracted? Which of her ])alriots tan anticipate,
without anxiety, the period when the road to the
senate-honse shall lead throngli streets adorned
with temples and paUices ? and when the rulers
of the republic, who now take their way on foot
to the council chamber, in the iVesli liour of morn-
ing, shall roll in chariots at mid-noon, or perhaps
mid-night, through a sumptuous metropolis, rich
in arts and bankrupt in virtue? Is such to be the
destiny of this new-born empire ? Heaven avert it !
and I do nu)re than hope that it is to be averted.
At all events, you and I, my dear friend, shall
long have been in our graves, ere the flush of
youth and pride of liberty can forsake this favored
democracy.

I envy not the man who can enter without emo-
tion the noble, though still unfinished structure of
the American capitol. Never shall I forget the
feelings with which I first looked down from the
gallery of the hall upon the assembled representa-
tives of a free and sovereign nation. Is there, in
the whole r^^nge of this peopled earth, a sight more
sublime ? When the English friends who accom-
panied us first visited the Congress, some months
since, the words that struck their ear, as they
entered the gallery, formed part of the prayer
with which the business of the day opens *. " May
the rod of tyranny be broken in every ?iation of the
earth /" Mrs. •♦****, her husband told me,
burst into tears. Were I curious to try the soul

'Uh

TIIL CAPITOL.

■'•J.

i }

,1*

of a iMiropoaii, I should wish to sec him I'litcr
the house ol' the Anicricuii congress. I ilely :i
mitive of that continent ulio lias a soul, not to
iind it at tiiat moment. Yes, my dear IViend,
vviiile this edifice stands, hl)erty has an ancliorag-e
from which the congress of Euro})ean autocrats
cannot unmoor her. Truly I am grateful to this
nation ; the study of their history and institutions,
and the consideration of the peace and haj)piness
which they enjoy, has thawed my heart, and filled
it with hopes which I had not thought it could
know again. After all, we are fortunately con-
stituted : when we cease to feel for ourselves, we
can better feel for others ; and the j)leasure of
sympathy, if it be not as intense, is perhaps more
pure than that of enjoyment.

We of course considered with much interest
some of the more distinguished members, with
whom we were previously only acquainted by re-
port, or the public prints, and waited with some
curiosity until they should take their turn in
the debate. It happened to be one of peculiar
animation, and occupied the house for ten succes-
sive days : the subject was supplied by the pro-
posed alterations in the tariff; and what may
seem singular, they found not a single opposer
from the state, or even the city of New York ;
the opposition to the bill seemed to proceed
entirely from the southern planters, and some
members from New England. The representations
from the central and western states were united to
a man in flouting poor fallen commerce, whom they
seemed to consider as no better than a professional

HALL 0\ WKI'Ur.SLN rATI\ LS.

165

(lel'y M
not to
fVitMul,
:liorage
itociiits
1 to this
tiitions,
ij)|)ine3S
uUillecl
t could
!ly con-
vos, we
isiire of
ps more

interest
rs, witli
d by re-
;li some
turn in
peculiar
succes-
he pro-
mt may
oppose r
York ;
proceed
some
ntations
mited to
om they
fessional

gambler, wlio had fleeced tlie citizens of their
morals as well as tlicir money. Indeed, it would
seem that men can seldom lose the one without
the other : and perhaps it is little surprising that
the more ardent of this republican race should
rejoice in the fall of a deity who, of late years, has
reclined one arm on Plutus and the other on
bankruptcy; — her ruin, however, seems sufficiently
complete, without any Jhlmhialionsjrom the capiloL
It is possible, however, that the proposed duties
may act as a very fair tax upon wealth ; for as the
more homely and essential manufactures can now
stand their ground in the face of tiiose introduced
from abroad, the increase of the customs are
chiefly calculated to raise the price of luxuries.
I must say, that I for one should not bo sorry to
see foreign silks give place to home-spun cottons
in the wardrobes of the young women of the
Atlantic cities ; perhaps, when tliey are sold half
a dollar a yard dearer, this change in the fashions
may be effected.

The bill was introduced by Mr. Baldwin, of
Pennsylvania, a man of vigorous intellect, with a
rough but energetic delivery. The number of
able speakers exceeded my expectation, though I
had been prepared to find it considerable : they
struck me as generally remarkable for close, and
lucid reasoning, and a plain, but gentlemanly
and impressive diction. When Mr. Clay rose,
I believe that some apprehension was mingled
with our curiosity ; for who has not learned from
experience, that when expectation is much raised,
it is usually disappointed ? The first words uttered

H H

if*-

i i-?,

\l<

« .v

< ■ I

* I ■

466

HALL Ok REPRESENTATIVES.

by the Speaker of the House satisfied us that no
defect of manner was to break the charm of his
eloquence. This distinguished statesman has, for
many successive years, been called to preside in
the House by an almost unanimous vote ; and, it
is said, that no individual ever exercised in it a
more powerful influence. He seems, indeed, to
unite all the qualities essential to an orator ; ani-
mation, eneigy, high moral feeling, ardent patrio-
tism, a sublimed love of liberty, a rapid flow of
ideas and of language, a happy vein of irony, an
action at once vehement and dignified, and a voice
full, sonorous, distinct, and flexible ; exquisitely
adapted to all the varieties of passion or argument ;
— without exception the most masterly voice that
I ever remember to have heard. It filled the
large and magnificent hall, without any apparent
effort on the part of the orator. In conversation,
he is no less eloquent than in debate ; and no
sooner does he kindle with his subject, than his
voice and action betray the orator of the hall ;
yet so unpremeditated is his language, that even
in a drawing-room, the orator never appears mis-
placed. From the perusal of his speeches, you
may have formed some idea of the ardor of feeling
and expression which characterize this statesman ;
but you musi: have heard one delivered to under-
stand their effect in the national senate.

The influence of a masterly orator in the
American Congress would somewhat surprise the
invulnerable and immoveable majorities of the
British House of Commons. The check to this
influeuce remains with the nation, whose wishes,

■nv

HALL OF IlEPRESENTATrVES.

467

hat no
of his
las, for
side in
and, it
in it a
eed, to
)r; ani-
patrio-
flow of
rony, an
. a voice
[juisitely
rument ;
3ice that
lied the
ipparent
ersation,
and no
than his
le hall ;
lat even
ars mis-
Hes, you
feeling
esman ;
under-

in the
)rise the

of the
: to this

wishes,

upon important questions, must of course, more
or less affect the decision of their representatives.
But the voice of tlie sovereign people is not alto-
gether absolute, and by no means undisputed. If
the people are })roud, so also are tlicir agents in
congress : and few are found who will })assively
surrender their right of judgment to their em-
ployers. Besides, tlie probability is, that their
employers will often differ among themselves ; a
circumstance which must leave their agents pretty
much to the direction of their own reason. Tlie
power of an orator, therefore, if checked, is not
destroyed by the responsibility of the members, as
the sway exercised by the great western statesman
appears sutHciently to tlemonstrate.

Mr. Clay has been understood to head a })ower-
ful opposition to some measures of the existing
executive ; — an opposition chiefly, if not exclu-
sively, directed against the policy pursued towards
the rising democracies of the southern continent. It
has been the aim of this ardent statesman to extort
a public acknowledgment of the independence
and national existence of these infant republics
during their struggle for liberty. The thunders of
his eloquence never sounded with more sublimity
than on this occasion ; and could their influence
have extended to the senate, might have triumphed
o\'er the cold neutrality so obstinately preserved
by the American government. Perhaps the policy
pursued by the government, has been the most
wii'e, certainly the most prudent ; but it is difficult
not to feel with the orator, who spurning all cal-
culations of interest or state policy, draws his

II H "2

I •

'f\

■'I

4t)8

HALL OF REPRESENTATIVES.

arguments from the lips of generosity and liberty.
It may be doubted, whether the neutrality assumed
by the government has not in reality been impugn-
ed, as well by the supplies furnished to the patriots
from some of the wealtiiy sea-ports, as by the
friendly intercourse carried on privately between
the first official characters of Washington and
Angostura. But the idea may well suggest itself to
an American, that the vigorous navy of the repub-
lic could never have been more honorably employed,
than in asserting' the liberties of the southern con-
tinent ; and the unceasing importunity of the
ilhistrious speaker of the house to extort an open
avowal of friendship for the patriots must com-
mand the admiration of every generous mind.

Leaving the city to make a little excursion in
Virginia, we missed the speeches of several dis-
tinguished members. We returned, however, to
attend the close of the debate, which afforded us,
the opportunity of hearing Mr, Lowndes of
Carolina. The close and deductive reasoning of
this gentleman forms a striking contrast to the
fervid oratory of Mr. Clay. They were opposed in
the debate, and each possessed a manner most
appropriate to his argument. Mr. Lowndes is
singularly correct in his selection of language and
turn of the plirase ; yet the syllables How from his
lips in an uninterrupted stream ; the best word
always falling into the right place, not merely
without effort, but seemingly without the con-
sciousness of the speaker.

We were surprised at the readiness with which
even the youngest members took their share in the

JIALL OF UKPRi:SENTATlVi:S.

409

liberty,
issumed
mpugn-
patriots
by the
jetween
on and
itself to
e repub-
[iployed,
ern con-
of the
an open
ast com-
ind.

irsion in
reral dis-
sever, to
)rded us,
ndes of
3ning of
t to the
)posed in
ler most
nides is
lage and
from his
est word
merely
the con-

th whieh
Ire in the

discussion. The error of these, indeed, seems that
of speaking too mucli : to vvliich may be added
another — that of coining new words when old
ones do not occur to them. The patience of the
house with the more inexperienced or less gifted
speakers is truly admirable ; and, I must observe,
tliat in spite of some inelegance, and much pro-
lixity, they appear seldom unworthy of attention ;
since sound reasoning, liberal philosophy, and
generous feeling, may generally be discovered
through the mass of awkward words supplied by
their vehemence.

I have sometimes amused myself in the hall,
by imagining how one of the marslialled troops of
the British minister would look upon an assembly
whose members, until the actual counting of the
votes, are often ignorant of the issue of the most
important questions. At one time, a member told
me he expected the bill to be thrown out ; a few
hours afterwards, his hopes were, that it would be
carried ; again he despaired, again he hoped, and
at last listened to the aijes and 72oes with as much
incertitude as myself. During the division, the
curiosity of the assembly seemed wrought to the
highest pitch of impatience ; the seats were aban-
doned, and a humming and agitated crowd pressed
round the cl air, threatening with suftl ^tion both
the clerk and the speaker. The sonorous voice of
the latter, however, quelled the tempest instant-
aneously, and produced a silence so profound, that
the drop of a pin might have been heard upon the
floor. Mr. Clay afterwards told me, that since he

H H 3

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470

SENATE CHAMBER.

&. /

"v.

tJ '

' !

had presided in the house, he liad never but once
seen it equally agitated.

The senate being occupied in ordinary business,
we had no opportunity of judging of its oratory j
but being politely admitted on the floor, we ad-
mired the elegance of the chamber, and made our-
selves acquainted with the persons of the senators,
and the proceedings of the house. The debates
of the chamber, as I am irdbrmed by some of its
members, are conducted with less popular vehe-
hemence than those of the hall. I know not if it
be the more advanced age of the senators, or the
smaller size of the assembly, which imparts to the
deliberations their character of senatorial gra-
vity. The age fixed by law for a member of the
senate is thirty-five years : and though one or two
gentlemen in the chamber seem to have numbered
little more than the lustres demanded, the majority
of the assembly have the air of veteran statesmen,
some of whom have occupied a seat in the house
from its first organization. *

The congress have met this session in the capitol
for the first time since the conflagration. The
two wings of the building (the one occupied by
the hall of the representatives and the other by
the senate chamber and judiciary court) are re-
stored to more than their original grandeur. The
centre of the building is still incomplete, though

* The hall of the representatives also contains some grey-
haired veterans. One gentleman was pointed out to me who had
sat in the continental congress, and been regularly returned by
his fellow citizens until the present day.

LIBRARY,.

471

Lit once

iisiness,
ratory ;
we ad-
ide our-
enators,
debates
e of its
ar vehc-
iiot if it
;, or the
ts to the
rial g ra-
il' of the
e or two
umbered
majority
atesmen,
le house

le capitol
m. The
ipied by
other by

are re-
ir. The

though

ome grey-
ne who had
•eturned by

proceeding rapidly. Here is to be the inaugura-
tion hall, where the presidents will be installed, and
the congress assemble whenever circumstances may
require a meeting of the two houses ; also the
national library, which a native of England now
feels awkward at finding bestowed in a few small
apartments ; at present it comprises little more
than the collection supplied by Mr. Jefterson, but
a stated sum being appropriated annually to its
enlargement, the spoliations of the war will soon, I
trust, be effaced. These volmues, however, marked
with the name of America's president and philo-
sopher, will always constitute the most interesting
portion of the national library. Beneath the cen-
tral dome of the building are to be entombed the
remains of Washington ; the statue of the vener-
able patriot now engages the chisel of Canova.

This skeleton city affords few of the amusements
of a metropolis. It seems however to possess the
advantage of very choice society ; the resident
families are of course few, but the unceasing influx
and reflux of strangers from all parts of the
country, affords an ample supply of new faces to
the evening drawing-rooms. To this continual in-
termixture with strangers and foreigners, is perhaps
to be ascribed the peculiar courtesy and easy
politeness which characterize the manners of the
city.

Although now sufficiently familiarized with the
simple habits of this republican community, I still
find myself occasionally wondering at the world
which here surrounds us, and not unfrequently
recall the words of an English correspondent ad-

H H 4

I \

-V
1(S .'

'.§

i-l

I i

:i|

•172

SIMI'LICITY OF MANNERS.

dressed to me fioin this city. " 1 think it was
Buonaparte who observed, that from the sublime to
the ridiculous, it was but one step. I have fully
discovered the truth of this remark in America.
When I first came here, I really found myself puz-
zled to decide as to many things, whether they
were sublime or ridiculous. The simplicity of
manners among the truly great people of this
country might at first, by a casual observer, fresh
from the glare and frippery of Europe, be termed
ridiculous ; but I have now outlived this feeling,
and can appreciate it as truly sublime.*^ 1 perfectly
acknowledge the influence of that moral sublime,
so candidly admitted by my friend, when first ad-
dressed by the President of the United States. I
meant to rise, or, rather, I afterwards felt that I
ought to have risen ; but when suddenly introduced
to me by a senator, and that with the simple air
of a private gentleman, and the calmness of a sage,
he opened conversation, my recollection for a
moment left me, and I fixed my eyes upon the
venerable chaiacter before me with a silent emo-
tion, which he, quietly continuing his discourse,
seemed unconscious of having excited, and thus
relieved me from the awkwardness of framing an
apology for my absence.

Colonel Monroe enjoys the felicity of having
witnessed at his election the union of all parties,
and of conciliating, during his administration, the
esteem and confidence of the whole American
nation. His illustrious predecessors having been
placed in active political opposition to a strong,
and once, a ruling party, of which they eflfected
the overthrow and destruction, were exposed

THE i'iii:sii)i:\T.

1 '■y-'

it was
lime to
I fully
lerica.
If puz-
r they
ity of
if this
fresh
ermed
moling,
rfectly
iblime,
rst ad-
es. I
that I
)duced
pie an*
sage,
for a
)n the
emo-
ourse,
\ thus
ng an

laving
arties,
n, the
erican
been
long,
ected
posed

throughout their public career to the enmity of a
discomfited minority ; an enmity which, though
their candor knew how to forgive, their virtues
and high-minded forbearance were unable wholly
to appease. The existing president came into
office at a moment of all others the most fortunate ;
when the republic had just shaken hands with
her foreign and internal enemies ; and it had been
difficult to iind a statesman morj fitted, by the
benevolence of his character and mild urbanity
of his manners, to cement the civil concord, than
he who was elected. *

Would it not mortify some European di})lo-
matists to find the mighty engine of government
exposed to every eye as it is here ; — to behold
the rulers of a nation legislating without mystery,

* I teel tempted to quote a passage from the letter of an
American friend ; who, after some observations upon the happy
spirit of union pervading the United States, subjoins, " All unite
in approving of Monroe's mild and prudent guidance. When he
lately travelled through our vast extent of country, the marks
of respect which he received from all parties and classes, must
have been grateful to his heart. When he passed through our
little town (and the same feeling prevailed every where), each ,
person was anxious to speak to the good president. The old
men, who, like himself, had served in the revolutionary war, took
pains to make themselves known to him as old soldiers. To
them he showed peculiar attention, and seemed to speak with
pleasure, and even emotion, of the battles they had fought,
and the anxieties they had felt in common. His arrival having
been expected, many little preparations had been made ; ihose
who had gardens had carefully preserved their finest fruit. —
But these things will read idly in Europe. It is, perhaps, only
to those who have been trained up in a republic, that such
simple sacrifices of the heart speak more than wealth can buy
or ])ower command."

I! i • i

47 i

THE PllKSlDKN J".

and commanding respect by their talents and cha-
racter, and the name of their office ? How would
the courtiers of C*rlt*n H**s* look upon the
chief magistrate of a country who stands only as
a man among men ; who walks forth without
attendants, lives without state, greets his fellow
citizens with open hand as his companions and
equals 5 seeks his relaxation from the labours of the
cabinet at the domestic hearth ; snatches a moment
from the hurry of public affairs to superintend the
business of his farm, and defrays all the expenses
of his high office with a stipend of (iOOO/. a year !
or how would they regard a secretary of state,
who, with an income of little more than 1000/.,
toils from sun-rise to sun-set, conspicuous only
among his fellow citizens for abilities and science,
and a modesty of character and simplicity of man-
ners and habits which might lead the fancy to
recur to the early sages of Sparta or Rome !

The simple ceremonial, or rather the absence of
all ceremonial, in the drawing room of the president,
is calculated not a little to astonish the courtiers
of Europe, and once procured as much awkward
confusion to a representative of royalty as the pre-
sence at St. James's could well occasion to a young
damsel new from the mountains of Wales.

Blecker Olsten, minister from Denmark to the
United States, during the presidency of Mr. Jef-
ferson, being informed upon his arrival in Wash-
ington that the president was visible every day at
two o'clock, called one morning at the stated hour
to pay his devoirs to the head of the American

nation j he was received with polite cordialty, and

THE rUESlPENT.

1/J

entertained with such animated discourse, that an
hour had passed before the stranger perceived that
his visit had been protracted to an unusual length.
The conversation at lengtli began to flag ; the
foreign envoy looked for his dismissal, and the
American president, it may be presumed, looked
for his visitor's departure. But the simplicity of
the entree had been insufficient to explain to a
European minister that of the eait : the rei)resen-
tative of Denmark remained chained to his seat,
expecting the nod of majesty. He waited and
waited — still the president made no signal, sen-
sible that he was intruding. Each moment grow-
ing more and more uneasy, wishing to retire, yet
fearing to commit a still greater breach of de-
corum, the embarrassed minister sat counting the
minutes, and watching the countenance of the
president, until the hour of dinner approached.
Mr. Jefferson then completed his confusion by
requesting him to remain and share a family dinner.
Blecker Olsten rose from his seat, mpdr an awk-
ward apology, and escaped from the room.

From the house of the president the abashed
minister hastened to that of an American acquain-
tance (an officer of the government) with whom
he had previously conversed on the subject of the
national institutions. Having related to Mr.
*****, the adventure of the morning, he be-
sought an explanation. " Is it possible, Sir, that
I ought to have withdrawn without a dismissal ?
Have you no etiquette ? Do you acknowledge no
distinctions of rank or office ? How do you exist
as a nation ? How preserve to your constituted

', I

47^)

TIIF. PUKSniKNT.

I - I

I' ''■.

i ,

t; i

!, i

'> ■

authorities the respect necessary to impart weight
to tlieir office ami stabihty to the government.
Perhaps, however, you have some other forms with
which I am unacquainted ; ex])Iain tliem to me ;
instruct me in the rules I must observe in my inter-
course with your president."

Blecker Olsten then understood that he had left
the rules of etiquette in the courts of the sove-
reigns of Euroj)e, and that the only privilege
claimed by the president in his intercourse with
the world was that of receiving without returning
visits ; a rule founded on the simple reason, that if
he returned one he must return all, which, consider-
ing the number of persons who waited on him,
and his numerous occupations, was altogether im-
possible.

The same minister dining a few days afterwards
with Mr. Jefferson, failed not to make an apology
for the unconscionable length of his morning visit,
and, subjoining the explanation of it, expressed
his surprise at manners so novel to an European.
" I know," he continued, " that it does not belong
to a foreigner to criticise the customs of a country
he visits ; I am sensible also that the existing pre-
sident may place himself above any rule ; but the
interest I take in your country, Sir, will be my
apology if I blame a simplicity of demeanor, which
may be safe for a Jefferson, but dangerous for his
successors. There are general rules to which all
ought to submit, because made for all times and
all men. Believe me, Sir, or rather believe the
experience of ages, which fully authorises the as-
sertion, that the rules of etiquette cannot be vio-

TIIK PHKSmKNT.

477

pre-
it the

lilted witli impunity, and that to insure tlic stability
of governments, their administrators siiould be
surrounded with such splendour, or solenniity, as
may awe tlie nudtitude into obedience."

"1 will not,** replied Mr. Jeflerson, "dispute the
correctness of your observations with respect to
kings; but I, Sir, am not a king ; permit me to
relate an anecdote that will explain to you the dif-
ference. You know the })assion of the king of
Naples for the anuisement of the chace. It hap-
pened that on a day pr()])itious to that exercise his
majesty was constrained to hold a crowded levee.
The presentations were even more numerous than
he had expected, and, threatening by their inter-
minable duration to defraud him of his favourite
amusement, which he had prepared to indulge in
at the close of the levee, he finally lost his patience
and his temper, and, turning to the well-known
Caraccioli, at that time his minister of foreign
affairs, * Manjiiis,* said he, * queces ceremonies sont
ennuyeiisses r — * Voire Majeste,^ answered Carac-
cioli, with a profound bow, * Votre Majestt-y oublie
qiCelle est elle meme une ceremonie,'
. ** I know not,** observes the gentleman to
whose politeness I am indebted for the anecdote,
" whether Blecker Olsten felt at the moment the
point of the story ; but he remained two years in
our country, and appeared to have fully understood
before his departure that our government does not
require to be upheld by artificial means, that it
has not at its head an irresponsible being, the
creature of a superstitious fiction ; une ceremo?iie,
but a man responsible for all his actions, who has

1 •

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4.78

VIRGINIA SLAVEllY.

numerous active and important duties to fiilHI, ami
whose place in the pubMc estimation is regulated
by the manner in which those duties arc I'ulHUed,
and not by the pageantry of oliice and the i'rivo-
lous rules of etiquette."

And now, my dear friend, I approach the con-
chision of the voluminous correspondence which 1
have addressed to you from this country. You
contrive to persuade me that the information 1
have collected has often possessed for you the
merit of novelty. I have, however, to regret, that
my personal observation has been contined to a
portion of this vast country, the whole of whose
surface merits the study of a more discerning tra-
veller than myself. I own that, as regards the
southern states, I have ever felt a secret reluctance
to visit their territory. The sight of slavery is
revolting every where, but to inhale the impure
breath of its pestilence in the free winds of Ame-
rica is odious beyond all that the imagination can
conceive. I do not mean to indulge in idle de-
clamation, either against the injustice of the mas-
ters, or upon the degradation of the slave. This
is a subject upon which it is difficult to reason,
because it is so easy to feel. The difficulties that
stand in the way of emancipation, I can perceive
to be numerous ; but should the masters content
themselves with idly deploring the evil, instead of
•* setting their shoulder to the wheel," and actively
working out its remedy, neither their courtesy in
the drawing-room, their virtues in domestic life,
nor even their public services in the senate and the
field, will preserve the southern planters from the

VinOINIA SLAVERY.

470

i, und
ilated
rtlled,
tVivo-

e con-
hich 1
You
tion I
III the
t, that
I to a
whose
iig tra-
ds the
ictance
/cry is
impure
Ame-
on can
le de-
mas-
This
cason,
es that
erceive
content
tead of
ctively

reprobation of their northern l)rethren, and the
scorn of mankind. The Virginians are said to
j)ride tliemselves upon the })ecuhar tenderness
with wliicli thoy visit the sceptre of authority
upon their African vassals. As all those accpiaint-
ed with the character of the Virginia plant-
ers, whetlKT Americans or foreigners, appear to
concur in bearing testimony to their humanity,
it is probable that they are entitled to the
praise which they claim. Hut in their position,
justice should be held superior to humanity ; to
break the chains would be more generous than
to gild them : and, whether we consider the in-
terests of the master or the slave,' decidedly more
useful. It is true that this neither can nor ought
to be done too hastily. To give liberty to a slave
before he understands its value, is, perhaj)s, rather
to impose a penalty than to bestow a blessing ;
but it is not clear to me that the southern planters
are duly exerting themselves to prepare the way
for that change in the condition of their black
population which they profess to think not only
desirable but inevitable. From the conversation of
some distinguished Virginians, I cannot but appre-
hend that they suffer themselves to be disheartened
by the slender success which has hitherto attended
the exertions of those philanthropists who have
made the character and condi .on of the negro
their study and care. ** Look into the cabins of
our free negroes," said an eminent individual,
a native of Virginia, in conversing with me lately
upon this subject ; " you will find there little to en-
courage the idea, that to impart the rights of free-

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480

VIRGINIA SLAVERY.

men to our black population is to ameliorate their
condition, or to elevate their character." It is
undoubtedly true, that the free negroes of Mary-
land and Virginia form the most wretched, and
consequently the most vicious, portion of the black
population. Tlie most casual observation is suf-
ficient to satisfy a stranger of the truth of this
statement. I have not seen a miserable half-chid
negro in either state, whom I have not found, upon
enquiry, to be in possession of liberty. But what
argument is to be adduced from this? That to
emancipate the African race would be to smite
the land with a worse plague than that which de-
faces it already ? The history of the negro in the
northern states will save us from so revolting a
conclusion. To argue that he constitutes, even
there, the least valuable portion of the population,
will not affect the question. If his character be
there improving, a fact which none will deny, we
have sufficient data upon which to ground the
belief, that he may, in time, be rendered a useful
member of society, and that the vice and wretched-
ness which here dwell in the cabins of the eman-
cipated negroes, may be traced in part to the
mixture of freed men and slaves now observed in
the black population. Were the whole race eman-
cipated, their education would necessarily become
a national object, the white population would be
constrained to hire their service, and they them-
selves be under the necessity of selling it. At
present, when restored, by some generous planter,
to their birth-right of liberty, the sons of Africa
forfeit the protection of a master without securing

VIRGINIA SLAVr.RV.

•kSl

5 their
It is
Mary-
i, and
; black
is suf-
of this
ilf-chid
I, upon
it what
rhat to
} smite
lich de-
) in the
)lting a
s, even
ulation,
cter be
ny, we
nd the
useful
etched-
3 eman-
to the
rved in
e eman-
jecome
3uld be
' them-
it. At
lanter,
Africa
lecuring

the guardianship of the law. To their untutored
minds, the gift of freedom is only a release fromj
labour. Poor, ignorant, and lazy, it is impossible
that they should not also be vicious. To ex-
one ite herself from the increasing weight of
black pauperism, Virginia has imposed a re-
striction upon the benevolence of her citizens, by
a law which exacts of the citizen who emanci-
pates his vassals, that he shall remove them without
the precincts of the state. In obedience to this
law, Mr. Coles, a native of Virginin, and for some
years secretary to Mr. Jeflerson, lately removed a
black colony into the state of Illinois. On the
death of his father, this gentleman found himself
in possession of seventeen slaves, valued at from
eight to nine thousand dollars. His property was
small, but he hesitated not a moment to relinquish
his claims upon his negro vassals. He purchased
a tract of land near the settlement of Edwardsville,
in Illinois, where he supplies his former bondsmen
with employment, encouraging them to lay up ,
their earnings until they shall have realized suf- '
ficient^ to enter upon their own farms. # # # *
spent some time at Edwardsville last summer, and
often visited Mr. Coles* settlement. The liberated
blacks spoke of their former master with tears of
gratitude and affection, and two of them, who were
hired as servants by the family with whom * * * *
resided, never omitted to pay a daily visit to Mr.
Coles, anxiously enquiring, if there tvas nothing
they could do for him. 1 envy more the feelings
of the man who hears that question than those of
Caisar in the capitol.

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48^2

VIRGINIA SLAVERY.

*:>

■i V'

:?f?

li'

But wliy should this work of benevolence be left
to the philanthropy of indivithuils ? The virtue
of a Coles, liovvever beautiful in its nature, and
wholesome in its effects upon the little circle^vithin
the sphere of its influence, can do little or nothing
i'or the community. Why does not Virginia recur
to the plan marked out by herself in the first year
of her inde])endence ? Has she not virtue to exe-
cute what she had wisdom to conceive? She has
made so many noble sacrifices to humanity and
patriotism, her history records so many acts of
heroism and disinterested generosity, that I am wil-
ling to persuade myself slie is equal to this also.
Nor can she be so blind to the future as not to
perceive the consequences with which she is threat-
ened, should she not take some active measures to
eradicate the Egyptian plague which covers her
soil. A servile war is the least of the evils which
could befal her j the ruin of her moral character,
the decay of her strengtl), the loss of her political
importance ; vice, indolence, degradation ; these
are the evils that will overtake her ; the Helots
will sink into worse corruption, and the Spartans
become Helots themselves.

But I shall weary you with my commentaries
upon an evil that is so far removed from your
sight. Had you studied with me the history and
character of the American republic ; — did you see
in her so many seeds of excellence, so bright a
dawning of national glory, so fair a promise of a
brilliant meridian day, as your friend imagines that
she can discern, you would share all that regret,
impatience, and anxiety, with which she regards

i *

VIRGJVIA SLAVERY.

48,'J

every stain tluu rests upon her morals, e\ ery danger
that threatens her peace. An awful responsibility
lias devolved on the American nation ; the liberties
of mankind are entrusted to their guardianship ;
the honour of freedom is identified with the honour
of their republic ; the agents of tyranny are active
in one hemisphere ; may the children of liberty be
equally active in the other ! May they return with
fresh ardor to the glorious work which they for-
merly encountered with so much success ; -- in one
word, may they realize the conviction lately ex-
pressed to me by their venerable President, that
" The day is not very far distant when a slave will
not be found in America !"

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THE END.

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