IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) '^s « :A 7a 1.0 I.I l-l^ 12.5 !t ■- 12.2 L25 ■ 1.4 6" IM 1.6 V] <^ /] ^;; ^ "m '/ #%.''?^ Photographic Sciences Corporation V S V c1>^ :\ \ <^ ^1} 6^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 t' '<> (o <- f/u CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of thJs copy which may be biblionraphically unique, which may alter any of tha images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. D D D D D D D D D D n Coloured covers/ Couverture de c">uleur Covers damaged/ Couvertura endommag6e Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur^e et/ou pelliculde Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartes gdographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Relid avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ Lareliure serr^e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge intdrieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutdes lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela dtait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6t6 filmdes. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppl^mentaires; L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la mithode normale de filmage sont indiquds ci-dessous. D D D D D Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagdes Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaurdes et/ou pellicul6es Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages ddcolordes, tachet^es ou piqu^es Pages detached/ Pages ddtachdes Showthrough/ Transparence r~~| Quality of print varies/ Qualitd indgale de I'impression Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du materiel suppl^mentaire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6t6 film^es d nouveau de fapon d obtenir la meilleure image possible. This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiqu6 ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X / 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X slaire 3s details iques du nt modifier xiger une ie filmage The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Library of the Public Archives of Canada The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. L'exemplaire film6 fut reproduit grflce A la g6n6rosit6 de: La bibliothdque des Archives publiques du Canada Les images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec Ie plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la netteti de l'exemplaire film6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. d/ )u6es Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, r the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimis sont filmds en commen^ant par Ie premier plat et en terminant soit par la derniire page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par Ie second plat, selon Ie cas. Tous les autres ex'^mplaires originaux sont film6s en commenpant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. aire The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol —^ (meaning "CON- TINUED "), or the symbol V (meaning 'END "), whichever applies. Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon Ie cas: Ie symbole ^^-signifie "A SUIVRE", Ie symbole V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux dti reduction diffdrents. Lorsque Ie document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est film6 A partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant Ie nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. by errata led to ent Line pelure, fapon d ' 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 TRAVELS IN AMERICA. " 'Jlu're M a people wlio will one day be v ;ry gri-at :— I mean the Ameri- cans. One stain only obscures the perfect uplentlour of reason which vivificH that country— slavery still Hubsi«ts in the southern provinces ; but when the Congress shall have found a renuily for that evil, how shall we be able to refuse the u;ost profound respect to the institutions of the United States ? " MaUWE De ST.\iJL. TRAVELS THROUGH PART OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA IN 1818 AND I8I9. By JOHN M. DUNCAN, A. B. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. GLASGOW: ^^rintcb at tfjc SanibcrsitB ^te»», FOR HURST, ROBINSON, & COMPANY, LONDON; OLIVER & BOYD, EDINBURGH ; AND W ARDLAW & CUNNINGHAME, GLASGOW. 1823. GLASGOW : ANDREW & JOHN M. DUKCAN, Printers to tlie Ilnivenlty. TO BENJAMIN SILLIMAN Esquihp. niOFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY AND NATURAL HISTORY IN YALE COLLEGE &c. &c. &c. THE FOLLOM'ING PAGES ARE AFFECTIONATELY AND VERY RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR. c c 1 n t: s I' H E I" A V E. » So much has been written within these tew years respecting North America, that it may not be un- necessary, in introducing tlie succeeding pages to the reader's notice, to state the grounds on which tiie author ventures to solicit for tliem a favourable reception. In the numerous works which have been pub- lished, botli on the United States and Canada, comparatively little has been said as to the moral condition of the inhabitants, their literary and re- ligious characteristics; — on these, certainly the most important features in the American character, the writer is persuaded that much misapprehen- sion prevails in his native country, and he would Vlll !• HE FACE. gladly be iiistrunieiital in removing u part of it. He docs not iiuleed pretend to have given any of tliese subjects a systematic discussion; but they have been steadily kept in view as particularly deserving of attention, and he hopes that he has succeeded in bringing together a good deal of information, on matters of permanent interest and importance, without altogether excluding topics of a lighter kind, on which a traveller is generally permitted to be somewhat loquacious. It may be asked, why so long an interval has been allowed to elapse, between the date of the travels and the period of their publication? He can only reply that the resolution to publish, was formed and abandoned oftener than once; and after the composition was begun, various inter- ruptions occurred to retard its progress. He is persuaded, however, that the work has suffered nothing from this delay; on the contrary, that however defective it may now be, it would have been still more so, had the compilation been completed any considerable time sooner. I i» 11 E V A c; i:. i\ Tlio interesting author ol* the * Dinry (»l" aii InvalitI,' remarks, that " no one but lie who hav tried tlie experiment, knows how dillicult it is to be accurate; — a book of travels must always be more or less a volume of inaccuracies." l*erfectly as- sured, from his own experience, of the truth of tlicse positions; the author bespeaks the indul- gence of the reader, both to the materials of his book, and to its execution. On matters of opinion, he must expect that many will think him in error ; on those of fact and observation, he trusts, that, although he may have sometimes gone wrong, he will not in general be found unworthy of con- fidence. University Press, Glasgow, October 25t/i, 1823. } . irfi CONTENTS OF VOLUME FIRST. 1)1 '.i VOYAGE . Azores — St. Michael's Peak of Pico . Fayal . Salubrity of the climate Popish ceremonies— Nunnery Villa Orta — Natives Birth day dinner Gulf stream Sandy Hook — Pilot boat I'AOfc 1 5 6 7 9 10—12 13—15 16 21 22 NEW YORK Custom House Regulations Local Advantages Streets City Hall— Public Buildings State of architecture, A^dle Park — Bowling Green— Battery — Bay Brooklyn — Na^'y Yard — Steam Frigate 23 24—26 27 29—31 31 32-31 31— H Xll CONTENTS. li' BOSTON Mall — State House Celebration of the Fourtli of July Anniversary Oration Seventy-four gun Sliip Procession of free Blacks Lunatic Hospital State Prison, or Penitentiary Remarks on the system Observations on Prison Discipline, from the Nortli American Review, Note Harvard University North American Review Anatomical Models in wax Athenaium Honourable act of Benevolence State of Religion — Churches — Sabbatli Hot weather — Frog concert Fireflies . . . • Schools NEW HAVEN A^^.pearance of a New England Town New Haven— streets— surrounding scenery Anecdotes of the regicides of Charles I. Their graves .... Old and new burying grounds A funeral .... New England character— A Yankee Their fondness for Scotish novels and poems Education — District Schools — • Connecticut School Fund Grammar School Religion^Churches Ecclesiastical system Anecdote of Cromwell, Nolc Unusual observance of the Sabbath Sermon*^Sabbath Schools I'AGK 46—46 4.7 49—56 57 59 61 6.3—68 68—72 72 74—83 ib. il). 84) 85 87—89 ib. 9() 93 95 96 99 100—104 104 106—107 108 109 HI 112—113 114—116 111 117—119 CONTENTS. Xlll I'AtiK 46— IG 47 49—56 57 59 61 63—68 68—75? 72 74—83 ib. ib. 84. 85 87—89 ib. 90 93 95 96 99 100—104 104 106—107 108 109 HI 112—113 114—116 114 117—119 12(U-122 YALE COLLEGE History .... Faculty — Professor Fislier, A'ote Terms of admission . , , Course of study Remarks .... Examinations .... ' Commencement' Degrees .... Medical department Academical discipline . Expense of education . Literary Societies Library — Philosophical Apparatus— Minerals Revenue of the College American and Scotish University education com pared .... Cheapness of education in Scotland — ' Dominie Sampson' I'revalent desire for education — Anecdote, N'ole ' Commemoration' at Oxford . PRINCETON Princeton College University of Virginia Presbyterian Theological Academy Andover Theological Academy Corn\\all Foreign Mission School PHILADELPHIA Situation and appearance Penn's Treaty, Note Streets Public Buildings Water Works . Penitentiary — New buildings, Mile I'ennsylvania Hospital — West's painting 9 I'AGK 125 126 128 130 133—135 136 137 139 141 141—142 142—146 147 148 148—150 151 153—164 160—163 161 165 169—171 172 173—178 178 179 185—187 ib. 188 190 191 193 194 m XIV CONTENTS. PHILADELPHIA n.«/mmv/. Peale's Museum — Skeleton of the Mammoth Academy of the Fine Arts Historical painters, A^ote Libraries^Literature . Printing Offices— Columbian Press Republication of British Works Engraving— Bank Notes University oi' Pennsylvania Quakers — Meeting house — Burj'ing ground Quaker worship — Religious sentiments Churches .... Sermons .... Sabbath Schools Environs of Philadelphia Joseph B onaparte — Moreau — Vandamme Wooden Bridges Projected Improvements PAGE 195—198 198—200 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 207 208 209—210 211 212 212—213 ib. 214 I BALTIMORE Streets and Public Buildings Monument to Washington — Battle Monument Statues of Washington by Canova and Chantrey, Note .... Fort M'Hendry — Bombardment Fell's Point— Privateers— Harbour Death of General Ross Militarj' Review . . . Execution of two Mail Robbers Penitentiary— Hospital Education — University— St Mary's College Lancasterian School Flour Mill .... Republican contest for Sheriffalty Religion — Churches — Sermons . Sabbath Schools . . . 219—222 222—224- 223 225 226—228 ib. 229 230—232 233 234 235 235—237 237—240 240—246 ib. m 1 CONTENTS. XV PACE WASHINGTON i'At;E . 195—198 Situation — Plan of tlic city — Appearance . 251—255 . 198—200 Tiber ..... ib. 199 Burning of tlie Public Buildings 256 200 Capital .... 257 201 President's House . . . 259 202 Libraries .... 260 203 Patent Office 261 204 Law respecting Patents and Copy-right 262—264 205 Rapidity of Publication, Note . 263 207 Navy yard— Monument 264—267 208 Senate • • . . , 268 . 209—210 House of Representatives 269 211 Usages of Congress and Parliament 2701-274 212 Supreme Court — United States' Bank 274—278 . 212—213 Trumbull's painting of the Declaration of Inde- ib. pendence . . . . . 278—281 214 Anecdote of George III., iVo^e Surviving Signers of the Declaration of Indepen- 278 dence, A^ote . . . . 281 . 219—222 Religion — Churches . . . . ib. 222—224- Commodores Decatur and Rodgers 282 . . 223 ALEXANDRIA 225 Wooden bridge across the Potowmak . 286 . 226—228 Alexandria — Trade • . . . 287 ib. Scotsmen — British ships of war 287—288 229 . 230—232 MOUNT VERNON 233 ' Mansion house 289 234 Key of the Bastile— Earthenware miniature of 235 • Washington • . . . 291 . 235—237 Washington's Grave • . . . 292 . 237—240 Attempt to steal his Body 293 . 240—246 Proposals to remove his Body . ib. ib. Fort Washington 90A A Virginia Barbecue ^A 'it\ I i 297—300 :i XVI CON! ENTS. i '-! RIVER HUDSON Steam boatK .... Comparison of American and British stenm boats, N^ute .... Hoboken— General Hamilton WeeliaM'ken— Descriptive poetry, A^ote Greenwicli ...» Kingsbridge— Haerlem Creek — Palisades Tfippaan Bay . . . Legend of the Sleepy Hollow, N'oCe Dutch settlement — Towns — River craft Veqjlank's I'oint Highlands of the Hudson — American and Scotish mountains Fort Putnam — Military Academy of West Point Dolph Heyliger, N'otc. Putnam's rock, A^ote Kaai kill mountains — Rip Van Winkle, JVa/e PAKE 303—305 305 309 310 311 312 313 ib. 314. 315 316 .317 ib. 318 320 ALBANY Jealousy of large cities . . . 321 Streets and Buildings .... 322 Lake Erie Canal — Lake Champlain Canal, N'ote 324 Feudal system .... 325 Influence of landed proprietors . . 328 Hot weather — Evening lightning . . 329 Mohawk river— Cohoes Fall ... 330 Lansingburgh~--Troy .... .331 Ciiurches — Sermons — Treatment of Blacks . 331 — 333 nats, utish 'oint PACE 303— 30a ao5 309 310 311 318 313 ib. 314 315 316 317 ib. 318 320 Note 322 324> 325 328 329 330 331 331—333 LETTER I. Ii h\ M i fi ^il LETTER I. VOYAGli — AUVERSH WINDS — ST. MICHAEL S — I'EAK Ol I'U-'O — lAYAI. — AMEUICAN t.'ONSUL's RESIDENCE — CLIMATE Ol' TIIJ; AZC'vS — 1'01'ISH CEREMONIES DURING LENT — Nl'NNERY VILLA ORTA — DRESS AND CHARACTER 01' THE NATIVES — PRODUCE or THE ISLAND BIRTH-DAY DINNER. t '1 Fayal, one of the Azores^ March \Uh, 1818. When the Fanny's topsails were loosed on the 2d ot* February, and the anchor weighed by which slie had been riding, I anticipated no hmding place be- tween Greenock and New York ; but here we are amidst the orange groves of Fayal, after six weeks' tos£:'"g upon the boisterous ocean. The wind was unfavourable when we sailed, and has continued so with very little intermission, till within the last two days ; sleet and rain poured on us almost incessantly for four weeks ; while heavy gales, and even hurricanes, succeeded each other for the same period, with a frequency and vio- lence which our Captain says he never before experienced, in about thirty passages across the Atlantic. Our vessel bears the sad tokens of the hardships of a winter voyage ; the greater part of the bulwarks have been stove in, our sprit-sail A 2 ' M 4 LETT F, II C. V()VA I'KAK <)l IM(() lAYAI,. to make thi; DcML'fit of tl»e iiiuloii tlie nt- , about tliree [lircct course I'c put about, sails for the lI now k, 1(1. We luul Iry laiul, the in the morn- !st, and now by what we waves were d the vessel vcn or eiirht gazinnr wist- 3ding shores e wind con- we descried ), resting in of rlouds. ed at 9000 tance of 25 I leagues, and now its lolly apex was a land nuirk in our view, long l)crore we could discover the base of the island. Gradually it eidarged at our ap- proach, and in a few hours we entered the narrow channel between Pico and Fayal. Villa Orta, the principal town in Fayal, is built in the form of a crescent, in the hollow of a little bay towards the middle of the island, and, from the water, has rather an imjiosing appearance. The ground slopes up ])rclty abruptly from the shore, and the houses, wliich are almost miiversaliy white washed, with bhuk mouldings and projec- tions, overtop each other as they recede; several churches and other large buildings relieve the eye at intervals, and some inconsiderable fortifications skirt the beach. The deep toned peal of church and convent bells floated through the air as we passed, and we felt gratified at the prospect of mingling again in the busy hum of men. Except in this little bay there is no anchorage ground ; the shore everywhere else is as steep and rocky as that of St. Michael's, and the water of great depth. The wind, however, blew so strong that the Ca})tain thought it dangerous to enter, and it was not till the following day, after having made the circuit of the island, that we had the satisfaction of letting go the anchor ; we were now within a quarter of a mile of the shore, and yet found 21 fathoms watei'. In a short time we were visited by the health boat, and after a few pre- A 4 M r '^ ' ) - t ■I ( 8 LETTER I. — FAYAL. liminary ceremonies, we received permission to go on sliore. I accompanied the captain to the office of Mr. D * , the American consul, and after the neces- sary orders had been given for the supplies which we required, we were invited by the consul to accompany him home. The residence of this gentleman is in a beautiful situation at a short distance from the town ; the house fronts the sea, and commands a view of Pico. The garden with which it is surrounded, is such as cannot be seen in our inhospitable clime. Skirt- ing the upper part of it, was a hedge composed entirely of geraniums, about six feet high, contain- ing every variety of leaf and flower, and blooming with all the luxuriance of summer. Scattered in the richest profusion along the walks, were orange, lemon, and citron trees, covered with blossoms and fruit in every stage of advancement ; and thus they appear the whole year round, with only this ex- ception, that the principal crop is ripe about the month of December or January, at which period the fruit is exported. Roses fully blown were shedding their fragrance, the peach tree and the acacia were covered with blossoms, and around were the sugar cane, the tea and coffee shrubs, the almond tree, and the fig. All these were in full verdure, the vines alone were bare. We saw (dso the dark green shrub, from which it is said t! li ly^ ■^ AMERICAN consul's RESIDENCE. 9 u ission to go Tice of Mr. ' the neces- ilies which consul to a beautiful town ; the ew of Pico. 3cl, is such me. Skirt- composed fh, contaiu- d bloominjj; scattered in ere orange, 3Ssoms and 1 thus they y this cx- ripe about at which Lilly blown r tree and nd around se shrubs, se were in We saw it is said that the island takes its name ; its buds, however, liad not then burst. We returned in the evening to the vessel, with a large basket of the most delicious oranges, a pre- sent from Mr. D , and an invitation to the cabin passengers to spend the following day with his family. We found on board a number of the natives, spreading out on the deck various articles of merchandise, among which were little red bas- kets of very delicate workmanship, some of which I secured as a memorial of my visit. At breakfast next morning, I remarked the want of a fire place in the parlour where we sat ; but fire places, except in the kitchen, are here unknown. The thermometer ranges from 52° to 80° Fahr., con- sequently the islanders know nothing cither of cold or of excessive heat. Vegetation never ceases. To counterbalance these advantages, the whole of the Azores are liable to frequent earthquakes, and even to occasional volcanic eruptions. To occupy a part of the forenoon, a visit was proposed to some of the churches, where the cere- monies of Lent were going forward. Under the patronage of Mr. D 's son, we found ready access by a private passage to one of the largest ; and were permitted to stand within a few yards of the altar, apart from the congregation, where we were recognised as mere spectators of what was going forward. The scene which presented itself was of the most Vf i\ v II ( ' ' ! ' I I' i'\: f 10 LETTER 1. ■FAYAL. gorgeous description. The walls and roof were })rofuse]y adorned with painting and gilding; the altar was decked with crucifixes, large candle- sticks, chalices, and salvers, most of which were gilt, and boquets of beautiful flowers. Behind the altar was a sloping platform of very consider- able extent, rising as it receded into a deep oval recess, and covered with a multitude of lighted candles. Pyramids of candles were fixed here and there over the walls, as well as on an iron railing which crossed at the bottom of the platform, to separate it from the body of the church. The officiating priests were three in number, attired in splendid robes of richly figured and embossed silk, of a primrose colour, with massy cords and tassels hanffing over their shoulders. Portions of the dress of the principal priest were occasionally changed by his colleagues, and one of them at intervals, removed the spectacles from his nose, with the most ridiculous solemnity. Tlieir per- sons, of the goodliest diameter, and their round rosy cheeks, contrasted most wonderfully with the scarecrow congregation below the railing. Their smooth shinino' bullet lieads were surrounded with a ring of hair, and one of tliem resembled strongly the portrait of Louis the 18th. Two or three as- sistants in white robes attended beside them, and at one corner of tlie platform, stood a young man closely habited in black, with a candle larger than a walking stick in his hand, bowing, muttering. i I 1 POPISH CEREiMONlES DURlNd LENT. li id roof were gilding; the irge candle- wbich were rs. Behind sry consider- a deep ovjil le of liglited ^ed here and 1 iron railing platform, to lurch. The er, attired in id embossed >y cords and Portions of occasionally of them at m his nose, Their per- their round illy with the H. Their ounded with )led strongly or three as- them, and young man larger than muttering. and crossing himself, during the whole of the ceremony. The service was high mass, that is, mass accom- panied with singing; and however disgusting in other respects, the votal music, with the accom- paniment of the organ, was exceedingly fine. The melodious voices of a body of females rose from the lower end of the church, where, as I afterwards learned, were the nuns of an adjoining convent, shrouded behind a grating. After consecrating the wine, in a gilt cup, the senior priest carried it down from the altar, one of the attendants then expanded over his head a large silk umbrella, of a similar texture to the robes, the other two priests followed behind him, and around wcie the whole body of assistants, carrying enormous wax candles. In this order the wine was paraded down to the bottom of the church, and back again, through the kneeling ranks of the congregation, who crossed themselves most zealously as it passed. By and by the same form was repeated with the wafers, and part of them administered through the iron grating to the abbess and the nuns. At intervals, silver censers filled with glowing embers were handed to the priests, and clouds of incense were offered before the altar. I could not help remarking that the priests with all their assumed solemnity and devotion, se, ued somewhat at a loss to keep it up. One of them eyed us askance with considerable intentness dur- 4 I ■■ III 'I U t 12 LETTER I. FAYAL. ing the greater part of tlie time, and both of the less active ones whispered occasionally to each other, and to the assistants, in a trifling and irre- verent manner. The ceremonial itself was far too stiff and fidgetting to be at all imposing ; a priest pulling spectacles off another's nose, marching within doors under an umbrella, and shifting from one side to another like an awkward dancer in a minuet, seems a very probable means of exciting- disgust, but a very improbable one of cherishing devotion. An indescribable sensation of uneasiness pervaded my mind, during all the time that we continued in this temple of superstition ; and I was happy to escape fi'om the sickening smell of the incense, and the smoky glimmering of the candles, to the freshness of the open air and the pure light of heaven. We were next conducted to a nunnery ; but a wrinkled portress, who answered our summons at the porch, told us that no strangers could be ad- mitted during Lent. Jf all the nuns within resem- bled her, I thought there was but little need to be very careful in locking them up. By the side of the nunnery door was a kind of small barrel, filling an opening in the wall, and whirling round upon pivots at top and bottom ; this is open at one side and fitted with shelves, so that an article may be conveyed out or in by turning it round, without the parties being seen by each other, and some mendicants were waiting in the porch to receive 1 I both of the lally to each ling and irrc- f was tar too sing ; a priest jC, marching shifting from dancer in a IS of exciting of cherishing of uneasiness time that we n ; and I was smell of the r the candles, he pure light mery ; but a summons at could be ad- vithin resem- le need to be \y the side of carrel, filling round upon 1 at one side tide may be und, without ', and some h to receive NUNNERY VILLA ORTA. 13 ahns from within, by means of this machine. The old lady before sending us away, gave us to under- stand, that the sisters made some fine artificial flowers, of which they would be happy to sell us a few. Mr. D informed us, that seclusion hi these nunneries was, in many cases, by no means a voluntary act; but parents who had several daughters, were often accustomed to force one or two of them to take the veil, that they might thus be enabled to give the others a more handsome marriage portion. The daughters of our northern isle may, perhaps, envy the natives of Fayal thei" ignorance of frost and snow, and all the rigours of our ungenial climate; but how grateful ought they to be, that they enjoy the far greater blessings of personal and religious freedom, and that we have been rescued from the unrelenting tyranny of so demoniacal a superstition. Villa Orta, although of a showy appearance from the water, is in reality a confused and dirty tovv-n. The streets are narrow, crooked, and ill paved, the houses low and gloomy. The buildings are of stone, covered with tiles, and except the churches, in general but one story in height. The windows are covered externally by a projecting lattice, of crossed slips of wood, painted of a dark green colour, which conceals effectually those within. They are, however, capable of being opened out- wards on hinges, and we frequently saw the inmates ill 1*1 »" r ^ M ii ( i 4 14 LETTKR I. — FAYAL. I '. ^! J peeping at us trom behind them. One of tlie largest buiklings, consisting of several stories, was formerly the Jesuits' college, but is now occupied by our kind entertainer, Mr. D , as a wine cellar, in which trade he is extensively engaged. The only carriages which I saw, were small clumsy carts drawn by two oxen. These singular machines consist of a bottom of solid boards, ta- pering out in front into a single shaft, with a few rude pins stuck into it to serve in place of sides ; the wheels are each of a single piece of solid wood with a thin outer edge, and have heavy iron nails hammered into the circumference, as a substitute •for rings ; they are fixed immovably to the axle, which revolves along with them, within a small box passing under the cart. No mercy is shown to the poor animals which drag them; we saw them urged with heavy blows and loud vociferations, while the wretched cart went wriggling through deep ruts, under the most disproportion ed loads. The Azores are subject to Portugal, and the language of that country is universally spoken. The natives are slender, but well made. The men wear cotton jackets and trowsers, and some who had come from the t juntry with cattle foi* sale, carried a long staff or pole in their hands. The women are more fantastically attired. Some are completely shrouded in large blue cloaks, some- what resembling in shape, the red duffles of our native country, but much more ample in their folds ; tliel ii I NAllVES FAYAL WINK Jne of the stories, was )w occupied as a wine ' engaged. were small 3se singular boards, ta- with a few ice of sides ; f solid wood jy iron nails I a substitute to the axle, a small box s shown to e saw them ociferations, through led loads. al. and the ly spoken. The men some who e foi' sale, ands. The Some are 3aks, some- ^es of our their folds ; the hood is very large, and is gathered close by d the hand at the mouth, so as completely to concea the features ; the upper part projects forward, and no more is left open than is barely sufficient to enable the lady to pilot her way. These are most convenient dresses for those who court conceal- ment, for a husband cannot recognise his wife on the street, unless some peculiarity of gait or figure betrays her. Others wear a man's great coat; a large gay shawl over the shoulders, and a smaller one falling from the crown of the head to the back of the neck, surmounted by a man's hat; a white handkerchief round the throat, and a staff in the hand. Externally the natives are amazingly polite, and universally salute you in the street, with their hand to their hat, but in the little intercourse which we had with them, we found them avaricious, crafty, and malignant. The soldiers and sailors of the health boat importuned us ft)r money in the pre- sence of their officers; the prices which they asked for their baskets and other commodities, were most exorbitant, and they often accepted a fourth of their first demand ; but what was worse, one of them having disagreed with one of our steerage passengers, about the price of a pig, drew out a large knife and threatened to stab him. The white wine, which is made in considerable (quantities at Fayal, is, to my taste, a very poor article ; it is, however, very potent, and some of m *i. : )i Ul 'X 16 LETTER I. — lAYAL. our steerage passengers got prodigiously loquacious under its influence. The grapes are cliiefly the pro- duce of Pico, where there are few inhabitants ex- cept those who are employed in the culture of the vines. Fayal produces wheat, Indian corn, oran- ges and lemons. The lemons are I suspect of ratlier an inferior quality, but the oranges, as is well known, are of the most delicious richness ; the skin is thin and tender, and they contain few seeds. When allowed to ripen on the tree, however, they attain to a perfection which is never found in the exported fruit, which must necessarily be gathered when hard, or it could not endure the voyage. Fayal oranges, as well as those from all the other islands, bear the general name of St. Michael's, when in the European market. Our arrival here has been exceedingly opportune as regards our intercourse with Mr. D — 's fami- ly, for this happens to be his eldest son's birth day. We have had in consequence an opportunity of being guests at the birth day dinner, and of ming- ling our congratulations on this happy occasion, with thanks for the polite attention which has been paid to us. The back of the chair in which Mr. D -, Junior, sat, was adorned with a profusion of the most beautiful flowers and fruit blossoms ; a voluntary expression of regard and good wishes from the servants of the family. After dinner, two of Mr. D 's daughters, very interesting young- ladies favoured us with some fine music upon the lilTlTII-DAV niNN'F.Il. n })i!Uio forte, and you can easily iniagino with what ibelinjrs of honieuacd attraction I listened to the " Blue bells of Scotland," on tliis little fairy island in the middle of the vast Atlantic. I could with great pleasure have spent a few- days here, to have had an opportunity of climbing the vast Peak of Pico, and of enlarging my ac- quaintance with the general aspect of Fayal, but our captain has attained the object of his visit, and has summoned us on board, in die hope, as the wind is still fair, that the latter part of our voyage will be more pleasant and more propitious than its commencement. r I B f m 1 1 I ! LETTER If. B 2 m 1 1 la f 1 ■0 i ■ i VVA\f"'" LETTER II. VOVAGE CONTINUED— GL'LF STREAM — 8ANUY HOOK — PILOT BOAT — NEW YORK — CUSTOM HOUSE UEGULATI0N9 — LOCAL AD- VANTAGES OE NEW YORK — HARBOUR — STREETS — PUBLIC BUILDINGS — BATTERY — BAY ^ LONG ISLAND — BROOKLYN — NAVY YARD — STEAM FRIGATE. N > »!!' \ ?li,i i1 22 LETTER II. VOYAGK. a distance of fifteen liundrcd to two thousand miles from the Gulf. Intelligent shipmasters are accus- tomed to observe the comparative state of the thermometer in the water and in the air, as an im- portant assistance in ascertaining their course ; and in going out to America they keep as much as pos- sible to the north of the stream, to avoid its power- ful obstruction. For several days we found the water from ten to fifteen degrees warmer than the air, and on one occasion the variation was as much as twenty-two ; we were then at no great distance from the southern extremity of Nova Scotia, when the thermometer stood in the air at 45" and in the water at 67*' Fahr. On the seventeenth day after losing sight of Fayal, we made Sandy Hook, and had the pleasure of taking an American pilot on board. The boat in which he came out to us particularly attract'^d my notice, by its neatness of appearance and great rapidity of sailing. It was a small decked vessel, schooner-rigged, and very sharp in the bows. At a great distance we observed its peaked sails skim- ming over the water, iuid bearing down upon us with the utmost precision and velocity; when a short way off^ its foresail was backed for a moment, and a small two oared yawl lowered over the side, which brought the pilot to our vessel, and return- ing, was instantly hoisted on board ; the sails were again trimmed, and it darted away, as if to display its supcritn- speed and mock our tardy motion ; it i s '-'ilk i'\ NEW YORK CUSTOM HOUSE. 23 lousand miles 2YS are accus- state of the air, as an im- [• course ; and much as pos- oid its power- ve found the mer than the was as much ;reat distance Scotia, vvlien ^5'' and in the 5inne side and , in posses- g that New 1 capital of int of com- id Europe; retain this r like reeds one passes ver ceasing sarping out on arriving s, together ise officers, impressed which can supply such extensive means with such unceashig employment. The streets in the lower and older portion of the city are very narrow and crooked, and what is more immediately inexcusable, kept in very bad order. Garbage and litter of almost every kind are thrown out upon the pavement, where a multitude of hogs of all ages riot in abundance. The foot walks are encumbered with projecting steps and cellar doors, lamp ]iOb'^, pump wells, and occasion- ally poplar trees ; p*^ ' where any open space oc- curs, LcT/els, packing-boxes, and wheelbarrows, are not unfrf^qaently piled up. The citizens could not, I think, do better than import half a dozen of our Glasgow police officers, to make a reform in their street regulations, and instruct them in the myste- ries of common-sewers and cutters. No town af- fords greater facilities for subterraneous drains, for the ground slopes on both sides from the centre to the water, and no town that ever I saw stands so much in need of them. The more modei*n streets are greatly superior in every respect ; they are in general wide and straight, and the footwalks com- paratively free of projections and encumbrances. The city is throughout very indifferently lighted, and in many places the feeble glimmerings of a solitary oil lamp, must struggle past two stately trees, which stand like sentinels to defend it. Broadway, the Trongate of New York, passes longitudinally through the centre of the city, anti I, '} A 1 ' » I fill 28 LETTER II. — HEW VOUR. Ui r! ?i occupies in general the higiiest part of the ground ; it is wide and straight, and pretty compactly built for nearly two miles. It contains a great many well built houses of brick, but there is still a con- siderable intermixture of paltry wooden ones ; a few scattered poplars skirt each side, but I cannot think them any improvement ; their bareness in winter increases the dreariness of the prospect, and they are too ragged and dusty in summer to be at all beautiful. The early Dutch settlers, with a pertinacious but characteristic adherence to national customs, im- ported b'*icks from Holland to construct their dwellings, and a few of these houses still remain ; they are one story in height, with the gable end to the street and a little iron weathercock perched upon the top of it. The British settlers, how- ever, of more innovating dispositions, laid the sur- rounding forests under contribution for buildinjr materials, and a considerable proportion of the older part of the city is still constructed of wood- Frequent and destructive fires were the natural consequence of this system, and these are still every winter grubbing out a few of the remaining wooden tenements. The erection of wooden houses is now prohibited, and the brick ones which succeed them are built with a neatness which is unknown in houses of a similar material at home. The bricks are made of a very fine clay, which affords a very close and smooth grain, and the buildings are al-^ {f PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 29 le ground ; jactly built reat many till a con- i ones ; a t I cannot )areness in ; prospect, summer to lacious but stems, im- ruct their ill remain; ible end to ;k perched lers, how- id the sur- ir building on of the of wood, le natural still every ig wooden ses is now ceed them known in 'he bricks ds a very rs are al- ways i howily painted, either of a bright red with ivhite lines upon the seams, or of a clean looking veilo'v. In many of the more recent ones, the lin- tels and step? are of marble. Stone buildings arc very rare. i Except the City Hall there is scarcely a public building deserving of notice. This is a splendid edifice, almost entirely of white marble ; the archi- tecture however is unfortunately very faulty, so that the very reverse of Ovid's description, *' materiam superabat opus," is in this case applicable. In- ternal convenience seems to have been the presi- ding principle in its design, and a republican pro- pensity to saving, exhibited in constructing the basement storv of red free stone, and the dome of painted wood, has still farther injured its appear- ance. The building is an oblong square with project- ing wings, two stories in height besides the base- ment ; with a portico of half the height between the wings, and a kind of lantern dome, supporting a figure of Justice. The portico consists of sixteen Ionic columns, springing from a handsome flight of steps, but unhappily surmounted by a balus- traded balcony, in place of a pediment. In the front there are no less than between sixty and seventy windows ; some of them flat and others arched, and a few with intervening Corinthian pilasters. The prevailing defect is the absence of simplicity and grandeur. The portico, in relation < i m M r V t 30 LETTER II. — NEW YORK. ;i I ':(!! to the building, is exceedingly dwarlish, and the windows with their minute ornaments break down the whole into too much detail ; the injudicious use of red stone also, in the basement story, materi- ally diminishes the apparent height. The prin- cipal entrance is by the portico in front ; within is a handsome lobby, with a marble stair of elegant proportions leading to the second story, and from a circular railed gallery at the landing place, ten marble columns arise, supporting the dome. The apartments of the building, are appropriated to the use of the Common Council of the city, and the different Courts of Law. The chair occupied by the Mayor in the Council Room, is the same in which Washington sat, when presiding at the first Congress of the United States ; and a full length portrait of this great man, with those of some others of the Revolutionary chiefs, adorns the walls. In the other rooms there is a profusion of portraits of officers who distinguished themselves during the recent conflict. It is remarkable, that in this building there is no room at all adapted for the purposes of a popular meeting ; we may well won- der at this omission in the principal city of a re- publican state, where every Act of the Legislature is introduced by the proud preamble, " we the PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, FREE AND INDEPENDENT." A very few of the churches are of stone, but their architecture in general presents glaring speci- public; buildings. 31 li, and the reak down injudicious •ry, materi- Tlie prin- nt ; within • of elegant , and from place, ten yme. The ated to the y, and the ccupied by he same in at the first full length 3e of some IS the walls, of portraits ves during hat in this ed for the well won- y of a re- egislature " WE THE :, BY THE stone, but :ing speci- mens of bad tastu/^ The steeples are in some cases lofty, but always of wood, and though as gay as white paint and a gilt weathercock can make them, have to one from the old country an air of paltri- ness and insecurity ; one of them is so exceedingly slender that it might not inaptly be likened to an enormous darning needle. In one of the principal churches, the architect, wishing to avoid the incon- gruity of a steeple rising above a Grecian portico, has placed it at the other end of the building ; in ' After the above remarks on the general style of New i'ork archi- tecture were written, a number of the North American Review reached me, (a work to wliich I shall hereafter have frequent occasion to refer) containing extracts from 'Letters on the Eastern States,' published anonymously at New York in 1820, from wliich I select the following corroborative testimony. " How few buildings in tliis country, either public or private, ai'e constructed with a due regard to the principles of beauty, or a wise distribution as to convenience for tlie occupants. How often are they left to mere mechanics, who erect them with the aid of the * Builder's Assistant,' with about the same degree of success that would be ob- tained in a correspondence guided by the ' Complete Letter Writer. * —There are in Boston, Providence, and in some other towns, places of public worship that are not destitute of merit, but it is united with great defects. It would be an invidious task to point out all these, but there are two cases where bad taste has operated to destroy a good effect where it nrught have been produced, that may be mentioned as examples. A church was built a few years since in Boston, for which the original design was very handsome. It was intended to be a parallelogram, with a Doric portico ; the walls were plain with large windows, making only one story, and built of a beautiful white granite. Thus far the original design ; but the plans of an architect have to pass through the hands of a con;mittee. The first thing that was done was to add a steeple j a very pretty one ; and this though a 'in ''i I !l ■: 1 ■ 32 LETTFIt IF. NEW YOIIK. M this there is of loiiise onlv a choice ol" (hniciihios, but the result is in the present case not liappy, for the awkwartl position suggests to the spectator the idea of a tail. In front of the City Hall is a triangular grass plot of half an acre or so, intersected with gravel walks, and skirted on two sides with a few poplars, which is dignified with the rather inappropriate name of the Park. Green turf however is scarce with- in the precincts of the city, and tiie natives may be V i: ^ ' sort of iTionster in architecture, is justifiiihle from tlie iij^reeable effect it produces at a distance : no cliurch indeed oufflit to he l»uilt without one ; a village spire is always picturesque, and awakens pleasing emotions; and tlie effect of steeples and domes, in giving an air of animation and grandeur to a t.;wn, miiy be judged of nega- tively, by seeing what a dull, lifeless, luimeaning aspect, Philadel])hia presents to the ol)server without, diough it is such a handsome city within. The next alteration was to change tJie form to an octagon, a figure which is appropriate enough for a crystal, but is an absurdity in architecture. The portico was Doric, but these columns, though made of wood, were with an Ionic proportion ! thus mutilating and destroying its whole beauty. To remedy this glaring fault, an ad- dition which does not belong to the order was put on at the bottom, to diminish tlieir dyspeptic appearance, that only increased the dis- order. If it had been proposed to paint one red, one green, one blue, one yellow, it would have been scoffed at as absurd ; and yet it would have been a less grievous blunder than has been committed now, for it is not uncommon in Italy to see columns of different coloured marbles in the same edifice, where the jiroportions are all alike. Fortunately these deformed colinnns are of wood, and must soon grow shabby. They will then perhaps be replaced by columns of the Nova Scotia freestone, which is easily worked, and is now getting into use here for every thing where the chisel is required." Vide North Ameriam lieview, No. XXVIIL Pp. 86—88. liATTEnV nAY. 33 excused although they overrate a little what they possess. The only other portions are the Bowling Green, and tlie Battery. The Bowling Green is a small oval enclosure, at the lower end of Broadway, in the centre of which once stood a leaden statue f our good old king ; but when the natives threw off their allegiance to George the Third, they turned his representative into bullets, and fired them at his troops. The Battery is a stripe of ground at the southern extremity of the island, about a quarter of a mile in length, which in the days of the Dutch governors was the site of an earthen breast work, over which a few pieces of cannon presented them- selves to the vessels coming up the bay ; but the em- bankment has long been levelled and the guns thrown aside. It is now covered with a verdant turf, and shaded by the branching foliage of nu- merous trees ; with a modern stone fort, of great strength, projecting from one corner of it into the water. In a summer evening the battery is a deservedly favourite promenade, and the prospect which it affords is very rarely to be equalled. The noble bay expands before it ; bounded, on the left by the sloping hills and valleys of Long Island, in front by the Narrows about ten miles off, and on the right by t le shores of New Jersey. Two or three forts appear, upon as many islands, and vessels of every size, from the seventy-four gun ship, to the sloop, at anchor or under sail. The cliffs of VOL. I. c ^ 1'^" M 31 LETTKU II. NEW YORK. I M I some stately inounlalii are almost all that could be clesired to complete the laiulscape. A native of New York listens with impatience to the praises of the bay of Naples, and it is said that some who have seen both, liave expressed some hesitation as to wliich deserves the palm. I suspect that Vesu- vius is more than sufficient to turn the balance. Lonjj Island is a favourite sunmicr resort of the inhabitants of New York, the climate is salubrious, and there are nmnerous vilhiijes at short distances along the sliore. Among tliese is llockaway, for some time the residence of Mrs. Graham. As yet I have only visited Brooklyn, a rapidly growing little town innnediately opposite to New York, with which a steam ferry-boat affords the means of easy communication. The ground upon which it stands, with all around it, was long the patrimonial inherit- ance of a race of contented Dutchmen, wlio, hating innovation and restlessness, peacefully gathered apples or drove their cows to grass, whei'e there forefathers had done the same. At last one, more adventurous than his fellows, perhaps from an in- termixture of New England blood wliich is now forgotten, ventured to break up a portion of his farm for building ground, in despite of shrewd shakings of the head, and ominous prognostications of disaster. Now streets after streets cross each other, and a populous suburb is shooting up apace ; while a little above it the United States have estab- lished a navy yard, and are building ships of war. fi'i some who lesitation ns tluit Vesii- balaiicc. esort of tlie J salubrious, rt distances ckaway, for ,m. As yet lly growing ' York, with :ans of easy ch it stands, nial inherit- wlio, hatijig y gathered r'here there one, more om an in- ich is now ion of liis of shrewd lostications cross each up apace ; lave es tab- is of war. 1 NAVY YAH I) — .STrA>r FfUGATF.. 35 The navy yard is most conveniently placed upon tlie bank of a commodious little bay, opening into the Sound, where vessels of the largest class may float in safety. Here lies the famous steam frigate, ' Fulton the First', dismantled and roofed in; which throujrh the kind olhces of a friend I have had an opportunity of visiting. On the stocks in the yard is a seventy-four gun ship, to be larger than any of that class that have yet been launched ; she will carry at least 90 guns, and it is said that they are to be all forty-two pounders.' * Fulton the First' is a most singular machine ; in shape pretty nearly an oblong octagon, rounded off a little at the corners. A most tortoise-looking man >i' war. We entered by a gun port upon her principal deck, and carefully explored every nook to which we could find admittance. Since visiting her I have had an opportunity of reading an oflicial description, by the commissioners who superin- tended her while building, and the following com- bines what I saw, with the information which that document affords ;"* the accuracy of the details may, I believe, be relied on. The steam frigate is a double boat, resting upon two keels, with an intervening space, 156 feet long and 15 feet wide, in which the paddle wheel re- volves ; this is carefully covered in, so as to be as " She has since been launched and is named the Ohio. '• Tliis is to be found in one of the early ninnbers of Constable's ^lapazlne, but I cannot at present ascertain which. C -4 I, I 'ion her upper deck four Columbiads, as they are called, enormous guns capable of discharging a ball of a * Three cornered sails, bent upon a long yard, wliicli crosses the mast angularly, and common in small vessels about the Mediter- ranean. 9 t !: 1 •n r shot. Tlic pon its axis, I either end lual boat has ire also care- Qeoiisly, and )n, the other n to the ves- >rits and two lat are called part of the juggestion of inted to her ten inches of oak tim- l. Her gun he principal ends of the ; can fiy si- ii fron: the -two pound- ; with these for prepar- th furnaces, carry upon ly are called, y a ball of STEAM FIUGATE. 37 It kliich crosses the ut the Muditcr- 4 -:-SKBt hundred jx)unds weight, into an enemy's vessel, under the water mark. At present however her upper deck is without any armament, but sur- rounded with a strong bulwark. The officers' ca- bins are in the centre of the vessel, on the main deck. The steam boilers are contained in the one boat, and the engine in the other, but of their ap- pearance or that of the paddle wheel, I can say no- thing, as the whole were completely shut up. Room is left for a machine which Fulton i)ur- posed to add, capable of discharging with great force an incessant stream of water either hot or cold, which it was anticipated would completely in- undate an enemy's armament and ammunition, if it did not also destroy the men. Our newspajiers, copying the marvellous reports which were afloat respecting her, assured their readers that this non- descript man of war was to brandish along its sides some hundreds of cutlasses and boarding pikes, anil vomit boiling pitch on her unfortunate antagonists ; these however are poetical exagp^erations. Her machinery impels her at the rate of five and a half knots an hour, and her inventor felt confident that in a calm, or light breeze, no seventy-four would be a match for her. It was even hoped, that she might have been able to raise the blockade of New London, which was long carefully watched by a British squadron, could her energies have been brought into timely operation. The commissioners were harassed with nianer- c .j P. :'■ . ; » M il 38 LETTEIl II. NEM' YORK. ;' (: 1 i i ll.ll ous obstacles in getting her constructed, and their difficulties give a pretty lively idea of the distress which generally prevailed throughout the country. Our vessels kept the whole of the sea coast in a state of close blockade, and it was with the greatest difficulty that building materials could be got for her. Timber, copper, iron, lead, and coal, required to be imported from distant parts of the Union, or from foreign countries, and the vigilance of our cruisers allowed so little to escape, that they were all scarce and enormously expensive. Ship car- penters had been sent off in such numbers to the lakes, and so many stragglers had volunteered into the army and navy, that workmen could scarcely be procured, and only for very high wages. When she was launched, no artillery of a suitable de- scription was to be found in New York ; but a Brit- ish prize was opportunely brought into Philadel- phia, and twenty of her guns were dragged round through the deep roads of New Jersey. The state of public credit was another source of embarrass- ment. The commissioners were supplied by gov- ernment with treasury notes, which were then at a considerable discount, but which they were posi- tively forbidden to pay away under par. Even this depreciated paper was occasionally so long with- held, that they had in some cases to pledge their private credit, and in spite of all their efforts, the men at one time actually broke off' from working ; while those who had furnished building materials 1: STEAM FRIGATE. 39 I, and their the distress he country, coast in a the greatest be got for •al, required ? Union, or nee of our t they were Ship car- bers to the iteered into scarcely be es. When uitable de- but a Brit- 3 Philadel- gged round The state embarrass- ied by gov- ii'e then at were posi- Even this eilbrts, tlie I working ; I materials were discontented and importunate. These inter- ruptions were chiefly felt in the latter part of 1811, and they continued till winter made it impossible for the vessel to act, even had she been finished. Peace, which was concluded early next year, rendered her for the present useless, and it was thought unnecessary to furnish her with a full equipment; but the commissioners persevered in completing her construction, and in June she made the first trial of her machinery. On a subsequent occasion she made a trip to Sandy Hook, with a considerable part of her artillery and stores on board, saluting the forts as she passed them ; and the last occasion on which her powers were put in requisition, was when the present President, Mr. Munroe, made an official tour through the Union. I have endeavoured to ascertain whether as much confidence is reposed in her powers as to realize the anticipations of her projector, and to justify the panegyrics of the newspapers ; but I am led to think, that considerable doubt prevails as to the possibility of working her, so as to make her effi- cient against an enemy's vessel. Fulton died be- fore her engine was put on board ; had he lived to superintend its complete adjustment, it is impos- sible to say to what degree of perfection he might have brought it, but his biographer acknowledges that there are, at present, great and obvious defects ill her machinery. During the trial voyages va- rious inconveniences were experienced, one of these c I J.: I; I, 'M '] 1 ^ 40 LETTER II. — NEW YORK. was the heat of the furnaces, which is so insup- portable, that the engine-men cannot remain beside them for more than a minute or two at a time. In the confusion and . bustle of an action it would probably be found extremely difficult, if not im- possible, to regu te, with deliberation and coolness, the many complicated operations which would be necessary in such a machine ; and where so much internal combustion is going forward, the slightest inattention or accident in managing the powder, might be instantaneously fatal to all on board. Should they succeed in overcoming these difficul- ties, and acquire that expertness in her manage- ment which practice alone can be expected to pro- duce, we can scarcely imagine for a bay or harbour, a more powerful instrument of attack or defence. Independent of wind or tide, she could plough her way under an en<>my's stern, or across his bows, and vomit forth her flaming balls, wherever the foe was most vulnerable ; while the reverting of the paddle wheel would instantly relieve her from a wrong position, without the delay of working round, and the enormous thickness of her sides would render any but the largest guns inefficient upon her timbers. The commissioners in their last report recom- mended, that, notwithstanding the peace, she should be commissioned and sent to sea, thaJ: officers and men might be trained to her management, and that defects in her construction, might be discov- Mi STEAM FRIGATE. 41 ; so msup- lain beside time. Ill it would if not im- d coolness, would be so much le slightest e powder, on board. le difficul- r manage- ed to pro- r harbour, )r defence. )lough her his bows, ^er the foe ng of the her from i* workinxj her sides inefficient rt recom- ihe should ficers and nent, and >e discov- ered and obviated ; but this recommendation could only have been complied with at an expense which would ill agree with American ideas of economy, and here she lies, slumbering in ignoble indolence and security. I would add with all my heart, Rcguiescat in pace! \ 1! H m I i3 \H 1^-. LETTER HI .... (\l' V'< i SI' r ti i;, V I If LETTER III. nOSTON — LOCAL CHARACTERISTICS — MALL — STATE HOUSE — CELEBRATION OF THE FOURTH OF JULY ANNIVERSARY ORATION — VISIT TO A SEVENTY-FOUR GUN SHIP PROCESSION OF FREE NEGROES LUNATIC ASYLUM — PENITENTIARY — AMERICAN PRISON DISCIPLINE HARVARD UNIVERSITY — NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW — BOSTON ATHENAEUM HONOURAHI.E ACT OF BENEVOLENCE — STATE OF RELIGION — SERMONS HEAT OF THE WEATHER FROG CONCERT FIREFLIES. Bostoti, July, 1818. During the period which has elapsed since the date of my former letter, I have traversed several hundred miles of this western continent, and after visiting both Upper and Lower Canada have ar- rived by a circuitous route in Boston ; I dehiy however, for the present, giving any account of my Canadian travels, as it is probable that a better opportunity will afterwards occur, and proceed rather to make you somewhat acquainted with the ancient capital of New England. Boston occupies a small peninsula in Massa- chusetts bay, and possesses a safe and commodious harbour, strongly defended from maritime attacks. The commerce of Boston is very considerable ; probably in this respect it ranks as the fouvth city in the United Slates, for New York, Philadelphia, and I believe New Orleans, are before it. t n I I 46 LF/lTKll III. IJOSTON. ii' ' The tow has outgrown tlio limits of the position wliicli it occuj)ics, and Charlestown upon an oppo- site peninsula, and South Boston upon the main land, may be regarded as integral parts of the city. Circumscribed, however, as they are, the citizens have had the good taste to reserve a park of up- wards of forty acres, upon which no buildings have been allowed to encroach. The Mall, as this is called, is surrounded with spreading elms, and is the finest that is to be found within the limits of any considerable town in the United States. It would be needless to remark how much it contributes to the beauty of the town, and the comfort of the in- habitants, were it not that so simple and so obvious an ornament is strangely overlooked in the larger American cities, notwithstanding the abundance of elbow room which all of them enjoy. Boston has much more of the appearance of a British town than New York. Many of the build- ings are of a fine white granite, and most of the others are of brick ; the streets are very compactly built, and although many are narrow and crooked, all exhibit a degree of order and cleanliness which will in vain be looked for in New York. On a finely rising ground at the upper part of the Mall, stands the State House, a building of humbler pre- tensions as to size and materials than the New York City Hall, but in situation and architectural outline greatly superior. It is nearly square ; in front is a lofty projecting colonnade of the Corin- f STATK HOUSE — FOURTH OF JULY. 17 tliian order, twelve columns in Ienuld Britain mid he not no- towards y separable ^'o countries is too long oth govern- iveteracy of )(v, and will t of regret, dliness and aoblc minds dts, there is baracter de- tation, thai ANNIVERSARY ORATION. 51 Americans must certainly be themselves in no small degree of error, if they do not feel a warmth of affection towards their parent country. Mr. Gra}''s speech is probably rather a favour- able specimen of the anniversary orations of the Fourth of July, and a specimen or two of its con- tents may not be uninteresting. " This," says the orator in commencement, " is a glorious but a solemn day. Set apart for the celebration of independence, a common object of enjoyment and solicitude to us all, it ought not to be disturbed by controversy, nor wasted in mere exultation. It should remind us of our high re- sponsibility, as well as our distinguished bless- ings ; and direct our attention to the origin of the national privilege now commemorated, since this, like others, can neither be appreciated nor pre- served, without a knowledge of the principles on which it is founded, and the means by which it was established. This duty of recurring frequently to the establishment of our independence, fortu- nately perhaps for its performance, is also a tri- imiph ; for there is not on record a revolution more sound in principle, more temperate in conduct, more beneficial in result. " The encroachments of the British government on the liberty of the Colonists were the commence- ment of our revolution. But these cannot be as- signed as its cause ; oppression not being of itself sufficient to produce liberty. Many nations have pr( D 2 HI <■ 1 'M I') > U I I ; ;; ■ ^ := — "^ " ."-K , SI f:-V 52 LETTER III. — BOSTON. borne a heavier yoke tlian that whicli it was at- tempted to impose on this, and uttered no murmur; some have liad the impatience to complain, without the courage to resist ; while a few have been goaded into desperation, only to waste tlieir strength in ill- directed and ineffectual struggles, and to fall at last feebler victims. Nor are we indebted for in- tlcpendence to the peculiar talents of the individ- uals, illustrious as they were, who placed themselves in the front of danger, as the guides and leaders of the people. Men determined to be free, will never want a leader to freedom, and those willing to endure despotism will never follow one. Ex- hortations to resist, as well as commands to obey, are dependent for their effect, on the temper and character of those to whom they are addressed. It is undoubtedly the conviction of this truth, which has induced you to select for the topic of the orations annually pronounced before you, not the injustice of your enemies,, not the talents and virtues of the great men who occupied the posts of danger and of glory, during the struggle for the establishment of independence; but the feelings, manners, and principles, which led to that event." He then traces the origin of the feelings which led the Colonists to declare themselves inde- pendent, to that spirit of reformation which per- vaded Europe when their forefathers emigrated from its shores; and more especially to the self- devoted enthusiasm of the Puritans, which led them 7 I iiig ANNIVKUSAUY ORATION. 53 it was at- I murmur; n, without en goaded ifTth in ill- to fall at ted for in- le individ- thcmselvcs ,nd leaders J free, will :)se willing- one. Ex- ds to obey, emper and addressed, this truth, he topic of e you, not talents and he posts of le for the le feelings, iit event." [mors which Ives inde- A'hich per- emiiirated to the self- h led them 4 to abandon home with all its endearing ties and recollections, that they might enjoy the yet dearer treasure, unfettered liberty of conscience. These j)rinciplcs regulated the system of government which ihey adopted on landinir in the American wilds, and produced that oirnplicity of manners, general diffusion of education, iqual distribution of j)roperty, and persevering firmness of purpose, which characterized the early s»^ttlers ; while these peculiarities, in their turn^ all tended directly to cherish the spirit of manly independence. He next states the grand principle of all repre- sentative governments, that the people is the source of legitimate power; — shows how this was disre- garded by the supreme government in its conduct towards the colonies, and alhides to the discontent, disobedience, and resistance, which successively arose from it. He then notices in terms of glow- ing commendation the moderation, firnniess, and prudence of their forefathers, and reminds them of the high responsibility under which their children lie, to preserve what they had won, and to profit by the enjoyment of it. The means by which this is to be effected, are next adverted to by the orator, and he calls upon them to foster their religious and literary institu- lions, and carefully to protect their political system. " Let your constitution," says he, " be scrupu- lously respected and preserved ; touch it not rashly and irreverently even for a good pinpose. I-.et it u 3 ^ % h '" il ii! Ii: 54 LETTER III. — BOSTON. 5 1 '' be a holy tiling ; a common object of universal attachment ; something fixed and stable, to be a rallying point in every disturbance, and to concen- trate at all times the affections of the people. Ra- ther than accustom yourselves to trifling innova- tions in it, submit to slight and temporary incon- venience. It is the part of wisdom to render even our prejudices, for men will have prejudices, con- ducive to our happiness. If it should not be lightly altered, still less should it be made the mere tool of convenience and expediency by forced constructions. This would expose it to contempt ; and when it ceases to be respected, how can it be obeyed ? It is your duty not only to preserve the form of your political institutions, but to maintain their spirit, and to watch over their administration. The example of your ancestors will teach you to intrust the d!"ection of public affairs, not to the men who prefer your pleasure to your interest, and their own aggrandizement to both ; who rush into the front rank of popular impetuosity, that they may seem to be its leaders ; and rise highest in the whirlwind of passion, that they may have the glory of appearing to direct the storm ; but to those who seek to enlighten, not to inflame, who merit con- fidence by their integrity, and wisdom, and exper rience, in public service ; who respect the opinions, and the very prejudices of the people, but disdain to flatter either their passions or their vanity, or to make public duly subservient to private interest 7 ■I universal I, to be a to concen- )ple. Ra' ifr iiinova- iry inccn- 211 dcr even liccs, coil- Id not be made the by forced contempt ; ^ can it be reserve the maintain inistration. ich you to lot to the terest, and ) rush into that they hest in the J the glory those who merit con- aiid expe^ 2 opinions, ut disdain vanity, or lie interest ANNIVERSARY ORATION. 55 or ambition ; who do not court ollice, nor soHcit honour, but avoid no task, and shrink from no responsibility, properly imposed on them." These you must do, much more you may do. " Spare no exertions to improve the arts, and extend the sciences, and polish the literature of America." Keep free from the political broils of other nations. " The conviction that the security of a free govern- ment is to be sought only in the situation, habits, and temper v.." the community, will deter you from the chimerical idea of liberating other countries by force; and teach you that the subversion of a throne, is not necessarily the establishment of a republic ; that a nation trained up to servitude can- not be made free by breaking the bonds of govern- .uent, nor derive lasting benefit from any revolu- tion which does not begin in the character of the people ; and that the true deliverers of men suffer- ing under long established despotism, are those who instruct them." The knowledge of this truth, he remarks, will prevent needless apprehensions. Republican governments are not without their in- conveniences and imperfections ; — their rulers may be guilty of errors or of crimes ; — but there is in- herent vigour to survive the effects of these, and they must and will happen without cither their liberties being lost or their constitution subverted. " Would you know," says he in conclusion, " when you may despair ? When the institutions of your ancestors are neglected, their example forgotten, DA- \ "-M } % *% ■l ill 56 LETTER III. — BOSTON. V(. their sentiments abandoned, their manners per- verted, their principles betrayed; when religion and learning are ridiculed and despised; when all independence of sentiment is lost, and the rich trample on the rights of others from pride, or the poor from rapacity ; when you dread the voice of truth, and have no ear but for your own praises ; when men distinguished by talents, moderation, and integrity, are objects of suspicion ; when dis- union renders you a military people, and thus pre- pares you to submit to the dominion of force ; or luxury bows your necks to the still more degrad- ing yoke of corruption ; then is your liberty de- stroyed, then are your constitutions a dead letter, then is the nation ruined. But I trust in God, that neither you nor your children will behold that day." Such is the republican oration of Mr. Gray, and I see little in it which even a monarchist could brand as political heresy. While we regard only human means, there can I think be little doubt that king- doms as well as republics will be stable or insecure, in proportion as its sentiments are respected or disregarded. The evening of this national anniversary closed with another salute from the two ships of war, and a few voluntary rockets and other fire works. I saw no rioting or tumult in the streets, nor did I hear of anj^ giving scope and illustration to their democratic patriotism, by breaking lamps and win- dows, or insulting peaceable inhabitants. : . i'.f ) >■ SEVENTY-rOUR GUN SHIP. 5T The naval events of tlic last unhappy rupture between the nations made me desirous of seeing an American ship of war, and I have had this desire gratified in a visit to the Independence of seventy- four guns. The Guerriere, which is anchored be- side her, was built as you may guess from the name to commemorate one of our losses during last war ; she is a fine looking vessel and is about to carry out Mr. Campbell, the American Ambassador, to Russia. My conductor in this visit was an American army officer, and probably to his ac- (juaintance with the officers of the Independence we were indebted for the honour of being taken on board in a twelve-oared boat. A marine on duty at the gangway carried arms when we stepped on deck, and the boatswain greeted us witli his whistle. The Independence, like all the other American ships of war, has no poop deck, but is perfectly level fore and aft; — this though less convenient to the officers, so far as regards their cabin accommo- dations, is thought to give advantages in working the vessel, and imparts to the deck an appearance of amplitude and neatness. The eye without diffi- culty runs along the graceful slope, and takes in at one glance the various objects wliich present them- selves; — the bulwarks and hammock nettings, the guns lashed to the sides, the wheel, the capstan stuck full of cutlasses, the masts, the windlass, and the hatchways ; all are seen and their i elations at once understood, while every thing seems arranged Hi »i 'I ,-,.t s^aiva 58 LETTER III. — BOSTON. ! I SO as best to secure rapidity and regularity in a storm or an engagement. On the upper deck of the Inde- pendence is the Captain's cabhi, but Commodore Bainbridge her commander was not on board during our visit. On tlie lower deck arc those of the Lieutenants, which as in our own vessels are merely temporary erections along the sides of the ship, and are cleared away in preparing for action. Here is also the tiller, a long and heavy bar of hammered iron, fitted with tackling and blocks which com- municate with the quarter deck, and m*e put in motion by a large double wheel. Towards the centre of this deck are the pumps, which are wrought like our fire engines. While we walked along, we saw the starboard mess at dinner; the seats and tables are planks suspended from the roof at right angles to the ship's sides. On one of these I noticed two Bibles with the stamp of the American Bible Society, which bore evident tokens of having been perused. The sick births are in the bows, the cots are slung from the roof, and neatly hung with curtains. Lower still, and under the level of the water is the cockpit where is the Surgeon's station in an engagement, and towards the stern of the vessel the Midshipmen's births; we saw some of them busy by lamp light at their nautical calculations. On the same deck we saw the stores of the Gunner, Sailmaker, Carpenter, Painter, &c. The extreme neatness, cleanliness, and systematic arrangement which prevail in a ship vt.i r. r -I I a storm lie Iiidc- imotlore 1 during 3 of the e merely ;hip, and Here is immered cli com- e put in ards the liich are 3 walked iner; the from the On one stamp of evident : births he roof, ill, and lit where ent, and lipmen's p light at deck we [irpenter, anliness, in a ship SEVENTY-FOUIl (;UN SHIP NEGRO PROCESSION. 59 of war, make it an object deserving of examination, apart from every consideration as to the purposes of its construction ; and so far as my limited know- ledge of nautical affairs could carry me, every thing on board this vessel appeared to be of the first rate order. A certain class of our writers affect to un- dervalue the American navy, but I am persuaded that were another war uiihap})ily to take place be- tween us, tliere is not an officer in the British ser- vice who would prepare for o :on with an Ameri- can ship, without " That stern tlelight vvliicli wan-iors feel In fbemen worthy of their ^teel. " The Independence although rated as a seventy- four, actually carries ninety-two guns ; those on her quarter deck and forecastle, are 32 pound Car- ronades ; on the upper deck, long 24 pounders ; and on the lower deck, long 32 pounders. She was intended to have carried thirty-two pounders upon all her decks, but it was found that they sunk her too low in the water. She measures about two thousand three hundred tons, and her full comple- ment of men is eleven hundred. Negro slavery, that bane of American prosperity, has been for a considerable time abolished in Mas- sachusetts, and the blacks commemorate its aboli- tion by an annual procession which I have had the pleasure of witnessing. The appearance of their long array was rather grotesque, and afforded a good !A, (Si (10 LETTER MI. IJOSTON. f 11' 'R j (leal of inenimcnt to the Boston wags ; ami sonic printer, to turn the joke to account, has published a caricature of it with a mock account of the subse- quent dinner. The older blacks who headed the procession carried short batoons, some of them wore cocked hats, cockades, epaulets, silk sashes, and top boots; — after them a J^arty of younger ones followed bearing formidable pikes with tin heads, and a few flags ; several bands of music were placed at inter- vals along the line, and it was closed by a multitude of black boys, two and two, in their gayest apparel. A great number of female blacks lined the side walks. In this order the whole proceeded to church where they heard sermon ; the men after- wards dined together, elected ofKce-bearers for the following year,~ and according to custom on such occasions " spent the evening in the utmost convi- viality and good humour." It was gratifying to witness the happy looks, and fantastic dresses of these free blacks, and to think of the event commemorated by their holiday })ro- cession. Melancholy reflections however were sug- gested by the remembrance, that though they could no longer be bought and sold, like the inferior ani- mals or a mass of inanimate matter, yet chains of a stronger kind still manacled their limbs, from which no legislative act could free them ; a mental and moral subordination and inferiority, to which tyrant custom has here subjected all the sons and daugh- ters of Africa. I shall not at present enlarge upon sU&:i LUNATIC HOSriTAL 01 s, aiul tyrant iaiigli- 3 upon 7. tlie condition oftliis unfortunate race, lliciv will he but too iVeqiient opportunities of recurring to the SUDJ hiect. riierc is buiUlinir in the neitrhhourhood of Ros- n ton an asylum for Lunatics, wliich is in an advanced slate of prej)aration. America has been liitlierto de- ficient in retreats for those unlbrtunate individuals, whom CJod has in his providence visited with men- tal alienation. It is not indeed surprising that where population has advanced with such rapid strides, the proj)ortionate provision should scarcely have been made for that most alllictive of all tem- poral calamities ; much however has been done, and much more is doing, to vindicate Americans from any imputation of insensibility to the sorrows of their suffering fellow creatures. The Lunatic Hospital, as it is called, is a mile and a half from Boston, and the direct approach to it is by one of the many wooden bridges " which with their wearisome but needful length," connect the town with the surrounding country. The situation is exceedingly well chosen; the buildings crown the brow of a rising ground, which swells gradually from the water, commanding a very fine view of the city and the bay, and enjoying a free circulation of the purest air. The effect of such a situation must be tranquillizing to the mind of the convalescent, and cheering by its variety to the drooping and despondent. Ten acres of ground which, with an ancient mansion house, were formerly ■ i ir 68 LKTTEIl I If. — UOSTOX. the property of iiii opulent inercluint, are a)>pro- printed to this benevolent institution. The recent j)roprietor is no longer a sharer in sublunary things, and his liouse, which has been one of elegance in its day, is undergoing some alterations to render it a convenient residence for tiie keeper and his assist- ants. This is the centre building of the Hospital and communicates by low galleries with two new ones, containing rooms for the patients, which have been erected at right angles to the first, so as to form three sides of a court. In their size and in- ternal arrangement the two sides are exactly alike ; they are three stories high, a lobby runs through the centre of each story, and on both sides of it are six apartments, forming a total of seventy two in the two wings. Over the door of each apartment is an opening of about a foot square; the two centre rooms on each side of the lobbies are to be supplied in winter with heated air, by flues from an air furnace in the ground story, the other rooms have fire places. None of the rooms are yet quite finished, so that it must be left for future travellers to report as to the details of the internal arrange- ment, and the treatment of the patients. Civil communities sooner feel the need of recep- tacles for evil doers, than for the sick or insane, and with this Boston has been long provided. The Penitentiary, or State Prison, is constructed and re- gulated exactly on the present plan of the one in Philadelphia, which has been so long celebrated. )■] ~r PENITENTIAUY. &A The system adopted there must hv. imivorsally com- iiK'iulod ns a humane ellort to restrain the wicked- ness of men, without tliat profuse application of capital punishments which ciiaracterizc the more sanpjuinary codes of Europe ; and as a most inter- esting experiment on the possibihty of preventin^^ crime rather tlian j)unishin ' *ll*' so tliat tli« thcr hopeless. :1 ever effected e or two had hnian had on m one of the reach the pad- 3 door at the mself till sun- I another pris- observed while ; the sentinels [ills, as they al- ien locked up, 3f. There are ons, and I was ese there is but y system, as at lears to be very that an opinion Dr the purpose reforming the •esent in a great are in many confinement as gh the depriva- ^reat hardship, Lited for by a habitation, to rEMlVHNTlAUY EFFECTS OF TiJE SYSTEM. 69 which they are elsewhere unaccustomed. It can- not be doubted that in Americr. they have now gone to the extreme of leniency, in their criminal code, as we have to the extreme of severity; theirs is undoubtedly the side on which all humane jiersons would wish to err, but too much mercy to rogues is cruelty to society at large, and is therefore to be avoided if we would wish to attain to a perfect criminal system. Much may be done however to improve the prison discipline of the American penitentiaries, widiout properly speak- ing increasing the severity of the treatment. In the one which I have just described there was not, so far as I could discover, any thorough classi- fication. The males and Ibmales were indeed separate cuIprit.^Sliould such persons as the latter he v\hipj)ed and dis- charged into tlie same scenes, tlie same comjjany, tlie same misery, and the same temptations, and the almost inevitahle renewal of tlieir crime and their punishment ! Will you convert a single error into an irrejjarahle crime ! Or will you not rather place the miserahle patient where, by a kindness he will regard, and a discipline he nuist leel, ho will become sensible of his wickedness, and be removed from the dangerous connexions in vhich it originated. Among such imfor- tunate criminals there is hope of amendment. From this great and growing class, many may be preserved from ruin, the living witnesses of the excellence of the institutions l)y wliich they have been restored to society. That our State Prisons have answered this valuable though moderate expectation, is abundantly proved by an inspection of their records. In the early period of the Philadelpliia peniten- tiary, when it was conducted with indefatigable attention by its phi- lanthropic founders, ' the prison was a school of reformation, and a place of public labour, and of the many who received the Governor's pardon, not one returned a convict.' At a later perio mt of nearly two lumdred persons, who had been recommended to and pariloned by the Governor, only four had returned ; the roads in the vicinity of the city so constantly infested with robbers were seldom disturbed by tliose dangerous cli iiacters; the houses, shops, and vessels, so per- petually robbed, no longer experienced those alamriing evils. There had been but two instances of burglaries in tlie city and county for nearly two years. — The early history of the New York State Prison gives the same result, and its recent and present failure to meet the public expectation can be accounted for, without controverting the groiuids on which this mode of punishment ifj justified. In Mas- sachusetts, from the opening of the State I'rison in December ]805, tl HARVARD UNIVERSITY. •75 Harvard, who bequeathed for this purpose tlie half of Ills property, amounting to about £800 Sterling. Various Governors of the State, and other in- dividuals, have been its subsequent benefaetors, and under the fosteriniyr care of the local jjovern- nient it has enjoyed uninterrupted prosperity, and ! f 11 , M to Ijth AjH-il 1817, there were received 918 convicts, of vviiom 7f) were afterwards returned, 305 were then in custody, 38 liad died, ami tlie remaining lOG had never been l)rought again witliin the pr ■^on limits. During tiie same i)eri(Hl 155 had been pardoned, of wiioui 1 1 had proved themselves iinwortliy of tlic favour, but 1 H hatl not beii<. known to be again the subjects of criminal law. Of tliose who were liberated, many are known to the officers of that institution to liave become industrious and useful citizeim. These facts prove the utility of tlie institution in certain cases, and in a proportion wliich is grati- fying to its advocates ; while the fartiier fact tiiat five convicts had been returned four times each, and one five times, [)rov,'s also that to expect refonnation in every convict is altogether idle. The prescrip- tion will not siut every patient, and moral as well as physical disease will sometimes baffle the efforts of human wisdom." Thus far this jucUcioiis writer proves to us tlie reasonableness and the practicability of the system ; he then asserts that these institutions have not accomplished all that might reasonably have been expected of them, and tliat some of tliem after having for a time done well, fell into a state of inefficiency and disorganization. The first cause of their failure was the expense of supporting them. The public had too hastily adopted the idea that a peniten- tiary should in a great measure support itself, and when a vote was required to defray expenses, and supply deficiencies, tiie people grumbled and the money was with difliculty obtained. " Tliis ex- pense is a charge upon the public ; and to render it as small as pos- sible, the penitentiary character of the establishment is made a secon- dary consideration. It is no longer a place merely of moral im- provement, where industry is enforced as a part of necessary disci- pline, but it becomes a great workshop, in which every man is labour- Pil\ ^%. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) k A {./ ..V :/. 1.0 I.I 112 128 |2.5 |5o "^ m^rn £ us 110 IL25 i U IM 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 16 LETTEIl III. — BOSTON. has gradually advanced in wealth and literary re- spectability. The University consists of two de- partments, the Literary, and the Medical ; the latter of which, although an integral part of the in- stitution, occupies buildings in Boston, for the greater convenience of medical students. beil sh( imii of libil ing for tlic public, and obliged to add as mucli as possihlu to the capital stock. Tlie efTect is seen in a variety of indulgences granted to the convicts, and to tlie superior importance wliich is attached to profit over manners. The institutions themselves are contrived with regard to economy, and as the prisoners increase in numlicrs a sepa- ration l)ecomes impossible, tliey mingle together in the workshops, arc crowded in tlie cells, and have opportunity by injudicious inter- course to confirm each other's batl haljits, and to combine jigainst the natural tendency of tlieir punishment." " Anotlier cause exceedingly injurious to the moral efiect of tliesc institutions is the character attached in public estimation to the un- f rtunate inmate even after he quits the vvalls.^'nie charitable Qua- kers who commenced these institutions, did not leave the poor man at the threshold of the prison tloor, exposed to the wants of poverty, and thrown among the temptations of the world with no safeguard but his unconfirmed moral feelings. They procured employment for him, gave him countenance and character, watched over liim with assiduity, and prevented any backward step, by holding out allure- ments and motives to honesty. Tlie case is now changed, little or no provision is made for the discharged prisoner. The cares of the governn 'n\ do not extend beyond the prison walls. Society marks a man who has once been in confinement with a jealous eye- Honest men avoid him. The police keep an eye upon his motions. Is a robbery committed, he is the first person suspected. Is labour wanted, he is tJie last person employetl. In fact by the general pub- lic sentiment he is driven into the haunts of profligacy and crime. — Whenever these remarks apjjly, and the discharged convict under the influence of the evils that surround him, is forced upon the com- mission of new oflenccs, the blame is laid to the nature of liis former HARVARD UNIVERSITY — IJUILDINOS. 77 Tlie l)nilclin«TS at Cambridixc are eight in niim- ber, erected in an enclosed plain of fourteen acres, sheltered on three sides by forest trees, and in the immediate vicinity of an extensive common. Three of the buildings contain the lecture rooms, chapel, library, laboratory, &c. the remainder consist of ] 11.1 punishment, and not, as it ought to bo, to the incomplete perft)r- mance of the duty wliich the public had assumed. First make tlie system perfect ; establish all the parts of which it is composed and then ascertain the result." North American Review, N^- XXVJI. Pp. 235--24.8. In a more recent number of the same journal the subject has been resumed, and I transcribe the following additional observations on thi> deterioration which has token place in the administration and efficiency of the American penitcntaries. " If our State Prisons have not pro 78 LETTER III. — BOSTON. apartments for the students, who Jiere as in the English Universities reside within the walls. The largest building is of fine white granite and was erected in 1814; it is said to have cost nearly seventeen thousand pounds sterling : the rest are of brick, and some of the larger ones cost from five to six thousand pounds sterling. It will be obvious from the above extracts, wliich convey a very accurate idea of the present state of prison discipline in the United States, that the Penitentiary system has while properly administered answered in a high degree tlie pin-poscs at once of punishment and reformation ; but it is equally obvious that at present the peniten- tiaries are in a state of partial, if not total inefficiency, arising solely from inattention to the most obvious suggestions of common sense and experience In regard to their management. So universal has been the outcry of the public on this subject, that means have already been taken In some of the States to reform and invigorate the system ; and In the last Session of Congress, a Committee was appointed to In- vestigate and report respecting the general state of the penitentiaries throughout the Union. Tlieir report, wliich is prodigiously long although upon the whole judicious, is concluded by the following " broad positions :" "First, That the penitentiary system, as it now exists in the United States, with all its defects, is preferable to tlie former systems of punisliment in this country. Secondly, Tliat it is capable of being so Improved as to become the most judicious and effective system of punishment ever known in ancient or modern times. Thirdly, Tliat where it has been properly administered, as it formerly was in Pennsylvania and New York, it has succeeded and answered the expectations of its early friends. Fourthly, That solitary confinement by night and by day, combined witli other re- gulations suggested in this Report, will remedy all existing evils. Fiflly, Tliat it is the duty of the different States of the Union to proceed witliout delay to Its Improvement and perfection. Lastly, Tliat corjioral punishments, and the infliction of deatli, would not aire mar it a to beat crate scho to t IIATIVARD UNIVERSITY — LinnARY. 79 Tlic library, which is rnpidly i)icrcasing, contains ah'cady upwards of seventeen thousand voUimes, many of them of great rarity and value. I saw in it a large paper copy of Walton's Polyglot, said to have been the presentation copy, and a very beautiful manuscript of the Aphorisms of Hippo- crates, executed for Dr. Mead by an English schoolmaster, and by the Doctor's son presented to this University. This manuscript is quite a gem. It possesses indeed none of the mouldy charms of Is. to prove congenial to the moral sentiments and feelings of tlie American people ; and that the transportation of convicts is visionary, impracti- cable, and would not prevent crimes and offences, even if it were adopted in our penjil statutes. Tlie Committee hope and trust, that enlightened, humane, and public spirited individuals of the different States in the Union, will feel tlie responsiMlity tliat rests upon this country, in relation to the system of which we have so fully spoken." Vide " The Investigator," Na. XL Jannanj, 1823, P. 168. One remark more shall close this long note. It can scarcely fail to occur to all who ' -^ ever taken part in die direction of any institution, intended to alleviate either the physical or the moral maladies of our species, that however indispensable general rules of management and classification are, it is also absolutely necessary to give them fu'l efficacy, that zealous and conscientious individuals should devote their time and their energies to tlie good work, not from mercenary considerations, but from that hearty desire to do good for wliich the projecto'-' of the Fhiladelpliia penitentiary were so distinguished. Few such institutions are successful, however unex- ceptionable their rules, without some portion of ardour, perhaps enthusiasm, in the managers ; and few are altogether unsuccessful wliere tliis enthusiasm is found, even although the economy of the system should be in some degi-ee erroneous. Some infonnation re- specting tlie new Philadelpliia penitcntitiry will be found in Letter Seventh. 8 ^. ifl 80 LETTER I IT. — BOSTON. !! 1: I? '■ extreme antiquity, nor can it be appealed to as authority for settling a doubtful reading, but the execution is in every respect most beautiful. The paper is of the finest fabric, the binding and case which contains it are both of rich Morocco, but above all, the Greek characters are formed with the most exquisite symmetry and elegance. En- closed with it is a history of the volume in the au- tograph of the donor. Among the philosophical apparatus are many instruments by the best LoU" don makers. I saw also a collection of wax lAodels of the human body, and some of its principal portions, used in popular lectures on anatomy which form part of the academical course. They seemed to be prepared and coloured with great delicacy and correctness; part of them had been imported from Florence, and others were the work- manship of an Italian emigrant. The academical course is completed in four years ; students are termed successively. Freshmen, Sophomores, Junior, and Senior, Sophisters. At the conclusion of the course, candidates for the degree of Bachelor in Arts undergo rigid examina- tion by the various Professors ; after being three years Bachelor they receive the degree of Master, without any farther examination, provided that there has been nothing in their conduct to dis- honour the profession of letters. There are three terms in the year, and the vacations amount to- gether to about three months. The expense of l)oa w IIARVAUD UNIVERSITY. 81 board and education cannot be rcthiced, willi the utmost attention to economv, below lour hun- dretl and fifty, to five hundred dollars, or about one hundred guineas a year ; in most cases students expend a great deal more. The literary and scientific reputation of Har- vard University stands very high ; and except Yale College, none in this country can contest with it the pre-eminence. It has upwards of twenty Pro- fessorships,^ and between three and four hundred students. There is one feature however in its character which excites the most melancholy reflec- tions ; its theological creed is undisguised Socinian- ism, and it is said 'hat nearly all the professors are of these sentiments. This must be, to a parent of At the lina- iree ster, that dis- iree to- e of * The following I l)eHeve to l)e a pretty accurate list of the pre- sent Faculty of Harvard University. (February, 1823.) John Thornton Kirkland, D. D., LL. D., President. Dr. Aaron Dexter, Professor of Chemistry. Dr. Henry Ware, Hollis Professor of Divinity. John Farrar, Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Plii- losophy. Sidney Willard, Professor of Languages, f Particularly the Oriental. J Dr. John Popkin, Professor of Greek. (Reading of the Classics.) Levi Hedge, Professor of Logic and Metaphysics. Edward Everett, Elliot Professor of Greek Literature. ( Philosoj)hi/ of the Language. J Edward Channing, Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory. Andrews Norton, Professor of Sacred Literature and Biblical Criti- cism. Hon. Isaac Parker, Royall Professor of Law. f Chief Justice of Mas- sachusetts. J VOL. I. P 8S LETTER 711. — BOSTON. scriptural sentiments, a powerful reason for sending his sons elsewhere for tiicir College education; for what are literary or scientific attainments, even of the highest order, when weighed in the balance with purity of religious faith ? It is asserted in- deed on belialf of the University that no attempt is made to proselyte its students, and that they are allowed to attend worship with whatever denomina- tion they or their friends may choose. All this may be true so far as regards active and open en- deavours to inculcate doctrinal sentinents, but what is to be the young enquirer's defence trom that subtile leaven which is necessarily infused into almost every lecture upon morals and philosophy ; which affects the essentials of the system, and Hon. Ashbel Steams, Professor of Law. Hon. Joseph Story, Professor of Commercial Lau. fVacnnt.) , Professor of Moral Philosophy. Tliomas Nuttail, Massaclnisetts Professor of Natural History. —— Ticknor, Smith Professor of Spanish and Italian. F. Sales, Profess )r of French. Two Tutors of Latin, one of Greek, two of Mathematics. MEDICAt DEPARTMENT. Dr. Jacob Bigelow, Rumfoicl Professor and Lecturer on Materia Medica and Botany. , Joseph G. Cogswell, Professor of Mineralogy. Dr. John C. \Varren, Hersey Professor of Anatomy and Surgeiy. Dr. James Jackson, Hersey Professor of tlie Theory and Practice of Physic. Dr. John Gorham, Professor of Chemistry. Dr. J. F. Dana, Chtmical Assistant. Dr. Walter Channing, Lecturer on Obstetrics. 8 Ul 1 ) NOIITII AMEIIICAN REVIEW. sa therefore all its ramified details ; and which tinctures every conversation on a religious topic which meets his car? Although he were safe from the influence of the lectures, who will warrant him against the ridicule and the sophistry of his fellow students ; by far the greater part of whom are of Unitarian families, and who have been accustomed from their infancy to laugh at every distinguishing principle of that belief to which they deny the character of rationality? Four years' exclusive intei'course with Socinians, spent in acquiring ideas upon every subject of speculative and . experimental truth, is an ordeal to ^7hich no Christian parent ought to expose his son, however great his confidence in the correctness of his principles, and the vigour of his mind. From Harvard University press issues the North American Review, beyond all comparison the first literary journal in the United States. The reputed editor is Professor Everett, and it evinces in him and his coadjutors talents and acquirements, liter- ary and philosophical, cf a very superior order. Would thtt its theological opinions were from a purer source ! — happily they are but seldom ob- truded. At Boston I visited another collection of ana- tomical preparations in wax, by a Dr. Williams. A full length figure, modelled from the body of a criminal, exhibits the exterior muscles ; and various other models represent portions of the interior me- F 8 i f ^ : 81. l,F.TTI;n lir. — T^OSTOV. clinnisin of llic hmn:ni IVainc, and the (lifTLTonl j-tiiges of sonic of its most important functions ; they were beautifully exccutetl, but I am not quaii- ficd to pronoinicc upon tlieir anatomical accuracy. Boston is rich in public libraries, and aniong these the Atlienoeum claims pre-eminence. This institution contains a library of about 20,000 vo- lumes. The regulations prevent the books from being taken out of the rooms, but there are reading desks for the subsciibers, and strangers introduced by them, at which in the most perfect silence they extract the mental nourishment which the volumes afford. A copy of Bowyers' edition of Hume's History of England was pointed out to me ; I ob- served also many of tlie best editions of the ancient classics, and some splendid volumes of engravings, and works on natural history. The librarian in- formed me that to one London bookseller alone, they had paid for books upwards of twelve thou- sand dollars; £2700 sterling. In works on Amer- ican history, the collection is said to be quite un- rivalled. The Athenaeum, although richest in the literary department, is intended to be also a de- pository for curious specimens of natural and arti- ficial productions. It possesses a considerable number of Tassie's casts from antique gems, with a few busts, and a valuable collection of coins and medals. The Athenaeum was incorporated in 1801, and a stock subscribed in shares of 150 dollars, to the I and ihc I ATI I E N .K U M BE N E VO I,E N T Air. 85 miioimt of about ten tliousand pounds sterling. To attempt such an institution was iiiglily lionoui- able to Hoston, and to succeed in it was still more so; it marks a greatly advanced state of society, in respect of taste and intellectual refniement, and is of itself a suHicient answer to much of the coarse abuse with which tlie American character has been assailed.'* Boston is by many reputed the most hospitable of all the larije cities in the United States. It be- comes not a wanderer who has experienced kind- ness and attention wlicrever he has gone to exalt one city at the expense e" others, but I can with safety say, that I have met with nothing in Boston which is not perfectly in harmony with such a re- putation. Let me however record an act of the citizens still more honourable than the ortlinjwy deeds of hospitality. In the winter of 181G a ■• The American ncwspai>ers have recently announced a splendid instance of individual liberality to this institution. A I\Ir. James Perkins of Boston, of the house of Messrs. J. & T. II. Perkins, has presented to the Athenjcum, for the better accommodation «)f its trea- sures, a spacious building valued at 20,000 dollars ; £\bi)0 sterling. Amid all the patronage which has been bestowed on literature in our native country, I question whether we could point to an instance of equal generosity among our living commercial men. Some people become liberal in the distribution of their property wlien death is at hand and they can hohl it no longer, but Mr. Perkins gives his townsmen the benefit of his commercial prosperity while he is still among tliem. Mr. Perkins, as might indeed l)e inferred from the character of his gift, is said to be a person of distinguished literary attainments. {lS:i:i.) F 3 !'■ \ * s HO LETTEn III. — IJOSTON. I most destructive fire tlesolutcd a great part of the town of St. John's, in Newfoundland. When the tidings reached Boston, the sensations of sympathy and commiseration were instantaneous and power- ful. They did not however exhaust themselves in unavailing expressions of regret ; the townsmen determined tliat their kindly feelings should be felt as well as heard of. Forgetful that the year before the two countries had been enemies to each other, forgetful of every mercantile jealousy, and tlie contested right to fishing on the banks which America was eager to claim and Britain reluctant to concede — they recollected only, that hundreds of their fellow creatures had been burned out of their homes, amid the frosts, and fogs, and snows, of a Newfoundland winter, and that a great part of their winter provisions had perished in the flames. That very day a. vessel was chartered, and a full cargo of flour, meat, and other pro- visions, industriously collected and put on board ; I believe that even the porters and carmen on the wharfs laboured gratuitously; and on the third day the vessel left the harbour, to brave the hard- ships and the dangers of a winter passage to that inhospitable shore. He who prompted the act of humanity, watched over the means employed to accomplish it ; the vessel reached Newfoundland in safety, entered the port, discharged her cargo, and returned, with the overflowing thanks and benedic- tions of many a grateful heart. STATE OF RELKilON. 8T The stnle of religion in the cnpital of New England is far from cheering. Whether the contagious influence spread from Harvard Uni- versity to Boston, or from Boston to it, I know not, but though both were once distinguished for evangelical sentiments, both arc now alike cliaracterized by the lamentable predominance of ^ocinianism. There are in the town about twenty-five churches, in more than p half of whicii these sentiments are avowedly or disguisedly promulgated; of these one is episcopalian in its ecclesiastical system, and uses a prayer book which has been altered in accommodation to these sentiments. It is distress- ing to think that the descendants of the Puritans, whose conscientious adherancc to the most im- portant religious truths drove them from their native land, should have departed so widely from adherance to those doctrines which arc the only foundation of a sinner's hope. The other cliurches in Boston arc, three Epis- copalian, four Baptist, one of which is entirely of blacks, two Congregational, two Methodist, two Universalist, and one Romish. I have heard five discourses in Boston ; two of them in a Congregational church, from men of very considerable talent and determined zeal for evan- jxelical sentiments. One of them illustrated the an- swer to Pilate's question, " What is truth ?" and combated with much earnestness and ability the h i\ t /i' _^i 88 LETTER III. BOSTON. doctrines of that large class who in Boston so vehe- mently oppose it. The other two discourses were by the Baptist minister who was so conspicuous in the procession on the Fourth of July ; they were respectable in talent aiid unexceptionable in doctrine. Between sermons on the Sabbath I saw him baptize two per- sons, in presence of two or three hundred specta- tors. In the afternoon he dispensed the ordinance of the supper to a large congregation, as he is ac- customed to do once a month, and took occasion to remark that it was twenty eight years, that very day, since he had first presided among them on a similar occasion. The males and females of the congregation occupied different pews, and the latter were liy far the more numerous. The mode of conducting worship in both these churches was similar. The psalms and hymns used are chiefly those of Dr. Watts, and the singing is left entirely to a choir, perched in front of the gal- lery with their music books before them, and aided by instruments. This is a cold and very spiritless substitute for the united worship of the ct igrega- tion. It was in fact a mere musical parade, for while the singers rose and performed every one else kept his seat in silence, and the scene was nothing calculated to awaken or sustain the fervour of gr^.teful devotional feeling. How inconsistent with every right idea of social worsliip, to see a man after the service was over unscrewing a clarionet, putt utmc who T one Enj jgi they FROG CONCERT FIREFLIES. 89 putting the pieces into a leathern bag, and with the utmost indifference and unconcern stuffing the whole into his pocket ! There are several Sabbath Schools in Boston, one of which I visited. It was conducted in the English style ; there were six teachers present, and they informed me that there were about one hun- dred scholars on their list, but not a half of that number were in attendance. Within the last three weeks I have begun to ex- perience the heat of an American Summer. The Thermometer at mid-day has ranged generally from 80 to 90 Degrees, and on last Sabbath, which was the hottest day of all, it stood thus ; at half past Six A. M. 81°, at Ten 90°, at Noon 93^ half past Two P. M. 9610, YWe 940, Ten 820. You have read Miss Edgeworth's tale of " To- morrow," and will recollect the incident cf the " Frog Concert." Since my arrival in America I have had frequent opportunities of listening to these performances. Marshes and ponds are filled with shoals of the Bull Frog, an animal four or five times as large as any of our hopping countrymen, who whistles away almost without intermission. Some of the frogs, probably the younger ones, have a pretty shrill note, others a deeper tone, and some tickle the auditory organ by a perpetual trill. The combination of these various strains produces an efltect not altogether unmusical, and the distance to which the sound reaches is very great; sometimes J: 00 LETTER III. — BOSTON. more than a mile. At first I enjoyed it pretty much, but the perpetuity with which it is continued makes it exceedingly tiresome, and to be kept awake during the night by their monotonous tune makes one very apt to lose temper at such untimely serenades. Let me introduce you to another of my Ameri- can acquaintances, the Firefly ; more engaging in its manners than the other. Myriads of this bril- liant little insect float through the air in the sum- mer evening. The spark of light which they emit is of vivid brightness, and from the fluttering of their wings twinkles incessantly. Moore in one of his songs, has made a pleasing allusion to these meteoric atoms — ' " She is gone to the Lake of the Dismal Swamp, Where all night long by her Firefly lamp, She paddles her wliite canoe." Unlike the Mosquito, which is a great amioyance here, the Firefly neither sings nor bites ; it flutters and sparkles its little hour, and passes away — an apt emblem of many a thoughtless son and daugh- ter of the human race. II ' LETTER IV. h !i ; \ 1 I.ong Island LETTER IV. APPF.AHANCE OF A NEW ENGLAND TOWN NEW HAVEN — SCENERY ANECDOTES OF THE REGICIDES OF CHARLES X. ANCIENT AND MODERN' BURYING GROUNDS A FUNERAL — CHARACTER OF THE NEW ENGLANDERS — THEIR FONDNESS FOR SCOTISH POETRY AND NOVELS STATE OF EDUCATION — SCHOOl, FUND — STATE OF RELIGION ECCLESIASTICAL SYSTEM UNUSUAL OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH — SERMONS SABBATH SCHOOLS. New Haven, Connecticut, July, 1818. There is nothing in Britain that bears any resem- blance to a New England town, and it is not easy to convey to you an adequate idea of its singular neatness. The houses are generally of wood, painted white, and decorated with Venetian blinds of a brilliant green. The solid frame work of the walls is covered externally with thin planks, called by Americans clapboards, which overlap each other from the eaves downward, and serve effectually to exclude rain. The roof is covered with shingles, which are thin slips of wood put on like slates, and painted of a dark. blue. The buildings are in general about two stories in height; the door is decorated with a neat portico, and very frequently a projecting piazza, most grateful in hot weather. in tf f 7ii 94 LETTER IV. — NEW IIAVETf. with benclies under it, extends along the whole front of the house. Mouldings and minute de- corations of various kinds are carried round the , principal projections. A garden is not unfrequent behind, and a neat wooden railing in front, en- closing a grass plot and a few trees. Such houses would soon look rusty and weather beaten, were they in our climate, but they enjoy here a purer atmosphere, and the smoke of coal fires is unknown. The painting is renewed about once a year, which serves to preserve the wood for a long time. The churches, or meeting houses as they are more generally called, are in the smaller towns also of wood, and with the addition of a steeple and a gilt weathercock, resemble very much the other buildings. In the large towns they are of brick jr stone, but retain in almost all cases the green Venetian blinds upon the windows. The streets are wide and generally run off, at right angles to each other, from a large open square covered with green turf, in the centre of the town ; the churches, town-house, and an inn or two, not unfrequently front this green. Gravel walks skirt many of the streets, and occasionally rows of limes, or poplars. The agreeable succes- sion of gardens, grass plots, trees, foot walks, and buildings, gives an air of rural quietness to the town ; and the open space which frequently inter- venes between one house and another, prevents much of the danger which would otherwise arise 1. 1 » ' I I ' DESCRimON OF THE TOWN. 05 from fire. Every thing betokens an unusual share of liomely simplicity and comfort, and the absence at once of great . "iches and of great poverty. Nevir Haven possesses most of the distinctive peculiarities which I have now noticed, but com- bines with them much of the compactness, dura- bility, and bustle, which we usually consider inse- parable from a town. The churches and a great many of the dwelling houses are of brick, a few even of stone, and two or throe of the streets are very closely built. The numerous buildings also of Yale College, all of brick, and constructed with regularity and neatness, complete its claims to superiority. The population of New Haven is about 70J0. The countrj' around New Haven is very pictur- esque. Behind the town, at a distance of about two miles, is an amphitheatre of rugged hills, not imlike some of our Scotish scenery ; in front is an inlet from Long Island Sound affording a safe and commodious harbour ; to the right and left a richly cultivated country relieved by patches of forest, and in wide expanse before it the blue waves of the sea rolling in magnificence. Two bare precipices called East and West Rock, 400 feet high and about two miles apart, form part of the semicir- cular range; they are prominent features in the landscape, and events in the annals of our native country with which they are associated, impart to them that traditional charm which is so often :i I' 96 LETTER IV. — NEW HAVEN. wanting in American scenery. In the nistncssos of these rocks some of the regicides of Charles 1st found shelter from their pursuers, when the agents of his profligate son hunted them for their lives. Their story is so interesting that I CJinnot forbear transcribing a portion of it from an early number of the Quarterly Review.^ The event with which it is introduced took place during a war between the New England Settlers and the Indians, which ended in the utter extermination of the aboriginal tribe,^ by which the Eastern coast of the United States had been previously possessed. — *' The most impressive circumstance in the coirse of this war occurred at Hadley: the Indians having laid Deersfield in ashes, surprised Hadley during the time of public worship. The men of the town had long been in the habit of taking their arms with them when they attended divine service, — they were however panic-stricken and confused, and in all human probability not a soul would have escaped alive, had not an old and venerable n^an, whose dress was different from that of the inhabit- ants, and whom no one had seen before, suddenly appeared among them ; he rallied them, put him- self at their head, gave his orders like one accus- tomed to battle, led them on, routed the enemy, ' Vide Quarterly Review, Vol. II. P. 321.. * The tragical death of their high minded but unfortunate chief, " Philip of Pokanoket," forms the subject of one of Mr. Irving's affecting papers in the second volume of the Sketch Book. IlECUCIDES OF CIIAULES I. 91 Ihicf, niul when the victory was complete, was no wlicre to be found. This deliverer, whom the people thus preserved from death and torments long be- lieved to be an angel, was General Goffe, one of the men who sat in judgment upon Charles 1st. His adventures in America are deeply interesting. He and his father-in-law General Whalley, another of the King's judges- left England a few days before the Restoration ; they landed at Boston, waited on Endicct the Governor, to inform him who they were, took up their residence in a neighbouring village, and were greatly respected, till the hue and cry followed them from Barbadoes. They were then warned to make their escape, and accordingly they removed to New Haven, a place about a hun- dred and fifty miles distant. Here they owed their lives to the intrepidity of the minister John Daven- port, who when their pursuers arrived preached to the people from this text. ' Take counsel, execute judgment, make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noon day, hide the outcasts, bewray not him that wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab, — be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler.'^ Large rewards were of- fered for their apprehension, or for any information which might lead to it. Davenport was threatened, for it was known that he had harboured them : — upon hearing that he was in danger, they offered VOL. I. ' Isaiah xvi. 3, l. G !)8 LETTER IV. — Ni:W HAVEN. V Jh to deliver tliemsclves up, and actually gave notice to the Deputy Clovernor, ot' the j)lacc of their con- ceahiient; but their A had not preached in vain, and the magistrate took no other notice than to let them be adv^ised not to betray themselves. Their hiding-place was a cave on the top of West Rock, some two or three miles from the town. Once, when they ventured out for provisions, they hid themselves under a bridge while their pursuers passed over it : — once they met the sheriff who had the warrant for their apprehension in his pocket, — but they fought for their lives, and before he could procure help escaped into the woods. After lurk- ing two or three years in the cave, or in the houses of their friends, they found it necessary to remove, and were received at Hadley by Russell, the minis- ter of the place, with whom they were concealed fifteen or sixteen years. Whalley died at Hadley in 1688, and about a year afterwards all tradition of GofFe is lost ; — one is willing to hope that lie re- turned to England. Colonel Dixwell, another of the King's judges, found shelter also in America; — he visited his fellow exiles in their concealment, and being himself unknown, settled and married at New Haven under the name of James Davids. By that name he signed his will, but there he adds to it his own, and his tomb -stone is shown at New Haven with only the initials * J. D. Esq. deceased March 18, in the 82d year of his age, 1688'. An- other stone with the initials * E. W. Esq.' is tradi- 8 ; f OLD DURYING UROUND. 90 f tlonally supposed to mark the grave of Whalley : — if it be so, his bones must have been removed there by Dixwell; an affecting act of pious friend- ship." I have seen both the grave stones which .are here alluded to; they still stand in the old burying ground behind one of the churches. The inscrip- tion on the first is in rude characters, and is thus arranged ; I . D Esqr. Deceased March y 18 in y 82d year of liis age 16889. The other stone, which lias been supposed to commemorate Whalley,* must have been erected over some other person whose name and history have been lost, for the date which has been gener- ally read 1688, is in reality 1658. The mis. *ke has arisen from a slight injury which the stone has in some former day received, and which has imparted * President Dwight, in his Travels, which have been recently re- printed in this country, communicates some additional information respecting these interesting men. Whalley had been secretly buried by liis kind protector Mr. Russell, and liis bones were many years after found witliin a rude tomb of mason work, covered with hewn flags, outside of Mr. Russell's cella.- m all. Tlie bones were discovered by a Mr. Gaylord, who had pulled d >wn the house to rebuild it ; he was personally known to Dr. Dw;ght and communicated to him this information. " After Wlialley's decease," adds Dr. Dwight, " Goffe quited Hadley, went into Connecticut, and afterwards, ac- cording to tradition, t the neighbourhood of New York. There he is said to have lived some time, and the better to disguise himself, to G2 if 'f . f 1 •I i It m 7l\ 100 LETTER IV. — NEW HAVEN. to the figure 5, soinelirmg of tlie sliape o an 8, al- though it is still (|uite possible to decipher its ori- ginal form. It is thus arranged : 1G58 E. W. None of these relics will long survive, unless prompt measures are adopted for their preservation. The ancient burying ground is no longer used, the fence around it has gone to decay, and the moss- grown grave stones are rapidly disappearing under the dilapidating attacks of idlers, who are daily de- facing these frail memorials of the dust which sleeps below. Many of them liave been transferred to the new burying place, and although this destroys completely the charm of associated locality, it is belter that they should be preserved any where, than destroyed altogether.^ The new cemetery which has sprung from the ashes of the old one, in simplicity of arrangement and elegance of monumental decoration, leaves at a i; have carried vegetables at times to market. It is said that being dis- covered here, he retired secretly to tlie colony of Rhode Island, and there lived with a son of \V7iallcy during the remainder of his life." — There is an obscure and very doubtful trailition tliat he was buried at Hadley. President DuiglU's Travels, Vol. I. p. 353. American Edition. * An attentive and valuable correspondent "writes me, that the whole of tlie old grave stones have now been removed to the new bury- ing ground, with tlie exception of tlie two which are above alluded to. The ground has been levelled and sown with grass, and a marble slab aflixed on tlie wall of the church, records tlic use to which it was 8 f » NEW BURYING C.IIOUNI). 101 the great distance nil others that I Imvc any where seen. It is in shape an ohlong s(|iiarc, divided by a regular succession of avenues, crossing each other at right angles and skirted by rows of Louibardy poplars. The divisions which are thus formed are subdivided into spaces sullicient for family burying places, which are surrounded by a neat wooden railing i)ainted white. There is scarcely a grave which has not a monument of one kind or other, and with the exception of those transferred from the old burying ground, they arc almost uni- versally of white or green marble. Some of those of white marble were executed in Italy ; the green marble is found in abundance about two miles off, and is thought by some to bear a close resemblance to the Verd Antique. The monuments consist of obelisks, tables, and upri{j;ht slabs at the head and foot of the grave ; the obelisks are ranged in the centre of the principal subdivisions, in parallel rows, and at right angles to each other. The in- scriptions which are cut on the white marble are generally painted black, those on the green are gilt and have a very rich effect. While the monuments in the old burying ground seem devoted to ruin, those in the new one al- though accessible to every passenger are treated formerly appropriated. I am afraid that the good taste wliich lUc- tated the exception in favour of these supposed memorials of King Charles' judges, will not long avail them, if as I suppose the stones are left altogether without protection. (1822) G 3 ]02 LETTEH IV. NEW HAVEN. with the most scrupulous respect. A neat fence surrounds the cemetery but openings are left at re- gular intervals, from which numerous foot walks cross the ground. The soil is composed of a light sand, and shoots from the poplars are springing up so numerously that they threaten to overrun it. Except the slight wooden railing there is no kind of fence around the graves ; they are altogether free from those unsightly cages of cast iron by which our burying grounds in Glasgow are disfigured,^ and the enclosures are not defaced by those quaint emblems of mortality and grief, which so often with us betray the bad taste of the proprietors. A becoming respect is shown to the memory of the departed ; and an air of impressive solemnity per- vades the whole enclosure, which is not counter- acted by any of those lugubrious and not unfre- quently ludicrous allegorical devices, and misap- plied quotations from scripture, which meet us at every step in our more ancient repositories of the dead. I have visited every shrine in Westminster Abbey, and have heard the marble-hearted verger dole out, in monotonous cadence, the dreary cata- logue of names which are entombed and commem-, orated there ; the damp of the long drawn aisles chilled me to the heart, and I trod upon the ashes of Monarchs, Barons, and Crusading Knights, " The Medical School connected vith Yale College, is under a bond to the State Legislature that no bodies shall be taken from tlie New Haven burj-ing ground, for anatomical purposes. NKW JiURYlNG GROUND. 103 whose sculptured figures, scattered around, were covered with the mutilations and dust of many generations ; yet I doubt whether sympathy with my kindred dust were as strongly excited there, as in the burying ground at New Haven. It seems, as if the walls of the Gothic Cathedral had been intended to commemorate, that the departed were the great and the honourable of the earth, rather than that the great and the honourable as well as the lowly and obscure are doomed to be the prey of the spoiler. It comes more closely home to my feelings and circumstances, to read on the tablets of the more humble burying ground — k I " Here rests his head upon a lap of eartli, A youth, to fortune and to fame unknown. ' ' It shows good sense and right feelhig, that this cemetery is left open to the foot of the fortuitous passenger ; — levity may here be taught to reflect, inconsiderate youth to ponder the path which is before him, and perchance he who has been reft of those who were the dearest companions of his earthly pilgrimage, may be soothed by being re- minded that a few light-winged years, at most, are all that intervene between him and the world of dis- embodied spirits. Happy for him and them if they *' die the death of the righteous," that their latter end may be like his. Were I to venture a criticism upon this burying G 4 i: 104 LETTER IV. NEW HAVEN. ground, I should say that it is of too unvarying a level, the arrangement too precisely angular, and the numerous poplars too stiff and formal ; — where there is so much to admire however it is unreason- able to search minutely for deficiencies, and no one can walk through it without the spontaneous ac- knowledgment, that it is highly creditable to the taste and the feelings of the inhabitants of New Haven. It has been my lot to make one in the ranks of a funeral procession, which followed to this ground the remains of an amiable young man, cut short in the morning of his days and the full bloom of health, by a sudden and afflicting accident. The company which assembled to this funeral was of both sexes and very numerous ; none how- ever wore mourning, except those who were closely related to the family. Special invitations to a funeral are unknown ; all are expected to be present who feel any interest in the family of the deceased. When all were within doors who could be con- veniently admitted, a clergyman offered up a pretty long and very impressive prayer ; after which the funeral procession was arranged. The deceased was at the period of his death a student of Yale College, and his late class-fellows with crape upon their hats and arms walked first in order. The Professors followed them. Next came the Body, drawn on a small car or hearse, and at- tended by six students as pall bearers. The coffin FUNERAL. 105 was of plain mahogany ; the upper part of the lid hinged, and bearing a silvered plate inscribed with the initials and the age of the deceased. The family followed the body in a coach. To them succeeded the other relatives in coaches and gigs ; then a few individuals on foot who were in habits of particular intimacy with the family ; the pro- cession was closed by a multitude walking two and two, and a promiscuous at«^endance on the side walks who did not link themselves to the ranks. On arriving at the burying ground, all left their carriages. The father and mother, brothers and sisters, of the departed youth, stood at the upper end of the grave, the clergyman and the near re- latives beside them, and the pall bearers lowered the coffin into its narrow abode. After a little earth had been thrown in, the clergyman, address- ing himself to the surrounding company, thanked them in the name of the family for the tokens of sympathy which the melancholy event had drawn from them, and concluded by a short but solemn address on the subjects of Death and Eternity. During the clergyman's address all stood un- covered and profoundly attentive, the relations then returned to their carriages, and the rest of the assemblv dispersed. The attendance of the Professors and students on this occasion, arose from the peculiar circum- stances of the event ; in other respects the funeral was conducted according to customary form. I (: . ! (1 4 H I I 106 LETTER IV. — NEW HAVEN. ii Education, which prevails much more universally throughout the New England States than in any other portion of the Union, and is frequently accompanied with religious instruction, has given to the natives a very decided cast of national char- acter, resembling in many respects that for which the Scots among Europeans have long been dis- tinguished. The kind of education also in the two countries is remarkably similar; it is more general than accurate, and more useful than ele- gant; imparted by means of district or parochial schools, and in this country almost entirely without expense to those who receive it. The characteristics of a New Englander are in- telligence, sobriety, enterprise, perseverance; and when he finds his range at home too limited to admit of a sufficiently successful application of these qualities, he betakes himself to distant re- gions, and traverses one State after another, till he finds some nook in which he can establish himself with advantage. In the Southern and Western States many of the most successful merchants, the most industrious farmers, the most money-making land speculators, are natives of New England ; and scarcely is there a station in society or a mode of obtaining a live- lihood, in which th sre will not be found a full pro- portion of them. If you meet a waggon in some remote country road with a cheerful looking family, and a tall slender figure whistling along with an i wr- A YANKEE. 107 axe over his shoulder — it is a Yankee'^ backwoods- man, on his march for the wilderness of Illinois or Tennessee, where he will build a log house, clear a few acres of land, sell the whole at a profit to the next comer, and start with the waggon a second time, to penetrate some hundreds of miles farther into the woods, and repeat the process. If you see at the turnpike gate of a country town a light carriage, resembling a British taxed cart, built up all round with a pile of assorted packing boxes and trunks — it is the travelling store of a New England pedlar, who is marketing his wares, stvopjmig, or selling, or buying, as he and his cus- tomers can agree about it, guessing away with every one he meets, but turning all to good account in the end. In all those bye ways of getting on in the world, for which America affords unexampled facilities, none are found to succeed like the natives of New England. Tiie consequence of this adventurous spirit is, that they enjoy along with their prosperity a con- siderable share of the envy and ill will which suc- cessful rivalry generally excites. Perhaps there are instances in which cunning, rather than hon- ' ' 1 ! , i^i ' The term Yankee which we apply indiscriminately, as a nickname, to all the natives of America, is here restricted in its application to tlie natives of the New England States, who in general consider it as by no means a reproachful appellation. I have seen an advertise- ment, in a Baltimore Newspaper, commencing, " A Yankee re- cently arrived in Baltimore wishes a situation," &c. u ' 1 108 LETTER IV. — NEW HAVEN. esty, has characterized their enterprises ; but among so many adventurers it is not surprising that some sliould be unprincipled, and of course a well edu- cated and ingenious rogue has a fearful advantage ovCi ignorant and stupid ones. From whatever cause it may have arisen, it is certain that in the south there is a strong prejudice against them ; and it is very customary there to say many hard things of the Yankees, which are true only of a small number, and those the very worst of them. The New England character is very favourably exhibited in New Haven, for the simplicity and sincerity of the ancient Puritans may be still seen strongly mail ed in their descendants. Plain and frugal in their domestic habits, they exhibit little of that artificial polish which, like varnish, fre- quently disguises very worthless materials ; and a stranger is not mortified by professions without services, and show without substance. At some of their homely but pleasant evening parties, I have found myself invested with no small degree of tem- porary importance ; for whoever can talk from per- sonal knowledge of Loch Katrine, the Troshachs, and Stirling Castle, or the other classic s,pols im- mortalized in Scott's Poems and the " Tales of my Landlord," is listened to by old and young with open-mouthed attention, and his national vanity may almost lead him to imagine that he is for the time the accredited representative of *' the Great Unknown." Should he ask the transatlantic ad- I scot^jH novels — district schools. lOi) niirers of the Antiquary and Rob Roy, to translate to him some of the wise saxvs of Edie Ochiltree and Bailie Jarvie,® which they quote with such rapture, he cannot fail to be amused at the good humoured simplicity with which they take Scotisli wit upon trust, and contrive to be amused with what they do not half understand. The district schools of Connecticut are sup- ported by wliat is termed the School Fund, whose origin was as follows. By the charter of Charles the Second, the colony of Connecticut extended completely across the continent to the Pacific ocean, within the parallels of latitude which now bound it ; of course it included a large portion of the present States of Pennsylvania and Ohio. About ten years after the revolution, the claim to the portion of Pennsylvania was by compromise abandoned, but a vast tract beyond the limits of that State was sold by Connecticut, and the pro- ceeds 1,200,000 dollars, £270,000 sterling, for ever appropriated to the support of free schools within the State. This fund has increased to about 1,700,000 dollars, £382,300 sterling, the 8 Incorporated trades are altogether unknown here, and there are no Deacons among them but those of the congregational churches, who are always designated, even in the ordinary affairs of life, by their official title ; the consequence is, that the Bailie's " fatlier the Dea- con, honest man!" in place of being regarded as president of tlie craft of weavers, is supposed to have been a vory staid and demure elder of the venerable Kirk, and of course a very pious and very worthy man, which readily accounts for the Bailie's respect for liis U les, and spend the evening in family and private devotion. After sunset on Sabbath they consider themselves at liberty to engage in secular matters, but the stores are not '^pened, and the evening is usually spent with quietness and decorum. With the exercises of the Saturday evening which this system requires, there could be no difficulty in harmonizing ; but my mind could not so easily rid 113 II ♦ n ^ U ' •! I 118 LETTER IV. NEW HAVEN. itself of former sentiments and feelings with re- gard to the evening of the Sabbath. In the family with whom I am at present a guest, the Sabbath exercises were concluded immediately after tea, by my host's reading a chapter and engaging in prayer. He then invited me to accompany him to visit a worthy Deacon's family in the neighbourhood; to which I without hesitation agreed, willing to see and know all that I could of their Sabbath occupa- tions. There we found a merry groupe of young people, and it was not without considerable sur- prise, that I heard the proposal made soon after we entered that one of the young ladies should sing ' Doun the burn Davie.* In reply to this sug- gestion I told them that, though I did not wish to prescribe to them the manner in which they should spend the Sabbath evening, yet I could not so sud- denly become a convert to their system, and that therefore if they intended to sing songs, I should take the liberty of withdrawing. They argued against what were considered my educational preju- dices, but agreed to sing a hymn in place of a song, and spend the rest of the evening in conversation.^^ We cannot, perhaps, incontrovertibly prove which system of reckoning holy time prevailed in apostolic times ; but it is certainly more likely to secure the " I have reason *o s\ispect that in proposing the song on the occa- sion alluded to, the goud people only meant to show me the extent of their liberty on the Sabbath evening, and that had I not been pre- sent it would not have been thought of. A New Haven gentle- 1 OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH SERMONS. 119 saiictification of the Christian Sabbath, that after a night of stilhiess and repose, one entire day from morning to night should be devoted to its duties, than that it should be made up of a fragment of one day, and three quarters of the next. The man of business cannot dismiss worldly concerns from his mind by the mere locking of his warehouse door ; and, however conscientious in the discharge of what he may consider his duty, he cannot be so well dis- posed for meditation, as when he rises to begin a day on which no secular employment is permitted to intrude. Even here, the Episcopalians and the Me- thodists dissent from the prevailing system, and the consequence is that many avail themselves of this difference of opinion, and neither observe the one evening nor the other. Throughout this State travelling on the Sabbath is strictly prohibited, and the prohibition rigorously enforced; the Mail of the United States is the only privileged conveyance, for the laws of the Federal government, by which it is appointed, are not subject to the control of the local legislature ; but neither on foot, on horseback, nor in a private carriage, is it possible for a travel- ler to escape the Argus eyes of the civil officers. The Sermons which I have heard in New Haven, the appearance of the congregations, and other cir- I I : ! I \i le occa- extent len pre- gcntle- man, who had an opportunity of reading the manuscript of tliis letter, wrote with a pencil opposite to this portion of it—" / am persuaded a very uncommon occurrence— I never met with it. Calls are made njnong intimate friends, but rarely is there jollity or mirth." H4 120 LETTER IV. NEW HAVEN. > / cumstances, give me reason to think well of the state of religion liere. In the College chapel I heard a judicious dis- course on the evidence which is sufficient to esta- blish the truth of a miracle. The Professor suc- cessfully combated the doctrine of Hume on this subject, and proved the validity of the testimony which we possess, respecting the miracles that are recorded in Scripture. In one of the congrega- tional churches, I heard that text again illustrated which had formed the subject of one of the sermons that I heard in Boston, Pilate's question " What is truth ?" On this occasion, however, the Preacher treated his subject in the first place as a question of pure metaphysics, and illustrated it in a most luminous manner. I do not recollect hav- ing heard on any occasion from the pulpit, a more masterly exhibition of vigorous thinking and close reasoning, or language more accurate and appro- priate. It was not however a mere metaphysical lecture, for the whole train of argument was made subservient to the illustration of the great gospel scheme of salvation. The preacher demonstrated that every attempt to overthrow the economy of salvation through Christ Jesus, was in fact beating the air, and fighting against God. Immediately before the sermon, banns of marriage were pro- claimed with a loud voice from the desk ; I have not in America been present on any other occasion when this was done. / SABBATH SCHOOL — ORGAN. 121 ted of At tlie conclusion of the afternoon's worship, I saw in one of the churches a Sabbath School, consisting of the young persons belonging to the congregation. This was conducted more upon the plan of the Scotish Sabbath Schools than any which I have hitherto seen here, for it was exclusively devoted to religious instruction ; it was obviously however a recent attempt, and not rr"\tured in the execution. There was a teacher to about every dozen of children, ^ 'ho heard th .n repeat wliat- ever passage they had voluntarily prepared ; there was no system of regular and prescribed exercise, in which they could all join, nor did I hear any attempt made at illustration by parallel passages. A beginning however has been made, and a little experience will soon enable them to improve upon the mode of conducting them. In one of the congregational churches they have recently introduced the organ, as an auxiliary in Psalmody ; but a special stipulation has been made by the more aged and less enthusiastic in harmonics, that no voluntary is ever to break in upon the solem- nity of worship, or mar its intellectual character ; the instrument is allowed to lead and harmonize the voices of the congregation, but to do no- thing more. Vi i"e Counsellors have now the title of Senators. ' The following is a list of the Faculty in November 1820. Jkue.miah Day, 1). D., LL. D., I'resident. Dr. JEncas Monson, Professor of the Institutes of Medicine. Dr. Nathan Smith, Professor of the theory and practice of Physic and Surgery. Benjamin Silliman, Professor of Chemistry, Pharmacy, INIineralogy and Geology. James L. Kingsley, Professor of the Hebrew, Greek and Latin Languages. Dr. Eli Ives, Professor of Materia Medica and Botany, and Lec- turer on the diseases of Cliildren. Dr. Jonatlian Knight, I'rofessor of Anatomy and Physiology, and Lecturoi on Obstetrics. Rev. Eleazar T. Fitch, Professor of Divinity. Ilev. Chauncey A. Goodrich, Professor of Rhetoric and Oratorj'. Alexander M. Fisher, Professor of Matlicmatics and Natural Piiilo- sophy. Dr. IMason F. Cogswell, Dr. Thomas Hubbard, Dr. Thomas Miner, Dr. Warren Fowler, Medical Examiners. Horace Hooker, Rufus Woodward, William C. Fowler, Edward Bull, Lyman Coleman, Tutors. [Since the preceding lines were written. Professor Fisher lias found an untimely grave. He was one of about fifty persons who perished in the wreck of the Albion of Nev.- York, in the bay of ( LASSIFICATION OF Till. STl'DKNTS. 12!) Thomas idward licr lias kis who bay of At Yule College the uiulergiadiiates iliirin<» the course of four years are tennecl, as at Harvard aiul the other Anieriean Colleges, successively Freshmen, Sophomores, Junior, and Senior, So- phisters. It is customary for those graduates who wish to prosecute their studies more fully, to avail themselves of the lectures for several additional years; while they do so they are subject, in common Kinsale, Irclniul, on the morning of the 22d April 182:^. '• The extinction," as n biographer has said, " of genius, of virtue, and of bright hojies !" Mr. Fisiier was born at Franklin, IVIiussaehusetts, in ITO-i. In 1809 at the age of 15 he entered Yale College, where in I8I.'J he re- ceived a Bachelor's degree and finished the course with the liighest re])utati()n. After sj km. ding some time at the llieological Academy at Andover, he returned to Yale College in 1815, in coniMijuence of being a))pointed Tutor; in 1817 he was nominated Adjunct Profes- sor of Mathematics and Natural l'hilosoi)hy, and in 1819 solo Pro- fessor of the same branches. Tiie vigour of his mind, the extent t)f his acquirements, and his unwearied industi-y, enabled him to dis. charge his professional duties with a success, which excited the most lively satisfaction in his brother Professors ; whicii bade fair to raise the reputation of the College, as a school for the exact sciences, to a higher rank than any American seminary has yet attained, and which would doubtless have drawn forth the homage of admiration from the older institutions of Europe. To me as an individual the destruction of the Albion, and the death of Professor Wisher, were both events of most painful interest. The Albion was the vessel in which I returned to my native country ; she was then newly launched, and Captain Williams who was lost ii, her, had been promoted from an older of the packet vessels ^o her command. We embarked on the tenth of March, and by noon on the thirtieth we were walking the streets of Liveqiool. With Mr. Fisher I had become acquainted at New Haven, and had been parti- cularly gratified by his society and conversation. Calling at his VOL. I. 1 130 LETTER V. — YALE COLLEGE. ■ with tlie others, to the more essential rules of Col- lege discipline. For admission to tlie Freshman class, it is re- quisite that the candidate shoultl have completed his fourteenth year, and he must undergo examina- tion upon Auam's L.atin Grammar, Clarke's Intro- apartments in tljc college, one morning after breakfast, I found him witli a duodecimo bible upon the table before him ; he had sliut it as I entered, and its leaves betokened that it was the subject of frecjuent study. He enquired particularly about the state of religion in Glas- gow, about our benevolent institutions, our Bible, and Missionary So- cieties J about our clergym ^n, the support which they gave to such insti- tutions, the style of their preaching, and their theological reputation. He conducted me through several of the apartments of the college ; the lil)rary, the cabinet of minerals, and tlie room containing the philosophical apparatus. Long will I cherish tlie remembrance of that interview and conversation. Early in IS22 I was apprized of his intention of visiting this country, and informed that he would probf.My be in Glasgow about the month of May. I hoped to Iiave had t^t pk-asure of seeing him for a time tlie inmate of my own fa- mily, and fondly rinticipated the intellectual feast which his conver- sation woi. id aiibrd. B'lt alas ! ere May arrived, the Albion was a wreck, and poor Fisher a corpse engulphed in the ocean ! ** What- soever God doeth, it shall be for ever : nothing can be i)ut to it, nor any thing taken from it ; and Goa doeth it that men should fear be- fore him." Some of tlie fruits of IVIr. Fisher's early talents have been preserved in periodical Journals. He contributed under the signature of ' Nov. Anglus' Solutions of various questions in the 5th volume of the ' Ma- thematical llepository, edited by Tliomas Leybourn, of the Royal Military Academy.' He Is author under the signature of ' X' of va- rious Soh(tio7is of mathcmntical questions in the American Monthly Magazine, begun at New York in 1817 ; one of these is said to be particularly dese-ring of notice. On the most advantageous position of the sail of a wind mill, when the ratio of the velocities of the sail and tvind is f^^ven. In the 4tli Volume of the ' Memoirs of the Ameri- wtmwr TERMS OF ADMISSION. 131 , duction to the making of Latin, Goodrich's Greek Grammar, and Prosody, Cicero's Select Orations, Virgil, Sallust, Dalzel's Analecla Groeca Minora, and the Greek Testament. Applicants for the more advanced classes must have a corresponding increase of age, and undergo examination npon can Academy of arts and sciences,' are pu])1ished his Observations on the Comet of 1819, nnd calnilation of its orbit ; this paper was the result of tlie first actual observations on a heavenly body tliat he had ever made. To l*rofessor Silliman's ' Joinnal of Science,' he fur- nished the following papers:— In Vol. I. Essay on Musical Tem- perament, written when he was aliout twencj-one years of age, and wliicli called forth from Mr. John Farcy, Senior, London, in an essay on Musical Intervals, in Vol. 2d of the same journal, the following observation ; " I have before met with nothing like it, in point of utility, in an attentive perusal of nearly every thing whicli lias been printed in the English language on the subject"— In Vol. III. Re- marks on Dr. EnJieliCs Inslilidcs of Natural Philosophy ; a pa])er exhi- biting his extensive and familiar acquaintance with matliematical and philosophical writers. On some recent improvements in the construc- tion of the Printing Press, with a mathematical investigation of its theory and powers. In Vol. V. On Maxima and Minima of Func- tions of two variable quantities; written in part soon after he gra- duated. His brother Professor Mr. Kingsley, in a biograjjhical sketch, which has furnished me with some of the above particulars, says tliat Mr. Fisher's visit to Europe was vmdertaken " not so much for the .«ike of making new acquisitions in science — for the knowledge of European philosophers is found in their books — as to visit the places of public instruction, and examine by actual inspection the mode of communicating knowledge in the foreign universities; to fonn an acquaintance with men who were distinguished in his own depart- ment, and to obtain such infonnation as might enable him more fully to aid, in raising the scientific character of his country, and in pro- moting the usefulness and prosperity of this college." Professor Silliman in his Obituary adds — " Mr. Fislier was the most extraor- I 2 f 132 LETTER V. YALE COLLEGE. all the previous customary course of study. Each hKlividual, on entering, is required to produce cer- tificates of good moral character, and to subscribe a solemn engagement to be obedient in every re- spect to the laws of the College. The total num- ber of Academical students and resident graduates is at present 283.*^ The three younger classes are each divided I ! ' \ dinary nnin of his years ulioiti I have ever known. — To his wonderful scientific attainments, he added the finish of classical and polite litera- ture, derived from the hest ancient as well as modern sources; liis elegint taste embraced the fine arts in their extent and variety, and he was Si^tisfied with nothing, even in the decorum and accommodations of private life, which was not adapted to the same elevated standard." His Parents still survive at the jilace of his nativity. One also lives with whom, had he been spared to return, he was soon to have entered upon the most endearing of earthly relations ! " Tliere is a tear for all that die, A mourner o'er the humblest grave — " But how wide is the circle of mourners, when they are laid low, who were opening on a career of early and extensive usefulness, who seemed singularly marked out and qualified to enlarge the boun- daries of science, and to exalt the intellectual character of a rapidly rising nation ! The Mathematical chair is now filled by the Rev. Matthew R. Dutton.] " At the date of this letter, Yale College was in number of stu- dents somewhat under Harvard ; since that period however, it has got above the other oy about twenty or thirty. In November 1820 its catalogue exhibited the following summary : — Resident graduates, ,31 Academical students, ,319 Medical stuilents, 62 , Total, 4.12 COURSE OF STUDY. 133 'idetl V R. I of stu- it has into two parts, to each of which a Tutor is ap- pointed, wlio assists the Professors in instruct- ing and examining the students ; the students of the fourth year, are under the more inmiediate superintendence of the President and Profes- sors. The three younger classes attend three pubUc recitations or lectures a day, excepting on Wednesday and Saturday, when they have only two. The senior class recites once a day to the President. At every lecture the students are minutely examined on the subject of the pre- ceding one. The annual ' Commencement' is on the second Wednesday of September, and there are in the year three terms, at the close of each of which is a short vacation. The following is an abstract of the Academical course : Freshmen. Fh^st Term — Livy begun, Adam's Roman Antiquities, Webber's Arithmetic, Mur- ray's English Grammar. Second Tei'm — Livy's first five books finished, Analecta Graeca Majora, the historical parts, Day's Algebra. Third Term — Analecta Gra3ca Majora continued, Morse's Geo- graphy, vol. 1st, Irving on Composition, Murray's Grammar reviewed. In addition to these recitations, the Freshmen attend the lectures of the Professor of Languages, and the private exercises and lectures of the Pro- fessor of Rhetoric and Oratory. They i^iesent I 3 ■1 1 li. 134 LETTER V. — YALE COLLEGE. in writing, English translations from Latin authors, and specimens of Latin composition. Sophomores. First Term — Morse's Geogra- phy, vol. 2cl, Playfair's Euclid begun, Horace be- gun. Second Term — Playfair's Euclid finished, Horace finished, Day's Mathematic, parts 2d, and 3d, Cicero de Ofliciis begun. Thn i T(?7m— Ho- mer's Iliad, Day's Mathematics, part 4th, Conic Sections and Spherical Geometry, Blair's I-.ectures, vol. 1st, Cicero de Officiis, de Senectute, et de Amicitia finished. The Sophomores continue to attend the Pro- fessc^r of Languages, and the Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory. They exhibit specimens of English and Latin Composition, and engage in forensic dis- putations in presence of their instructors. In con- nexion with the branches of Mathematics, which are specified,^ they study Mensuration, Surveying, and Navigation. Junior Sophisters. First Term — Spherical Trigonometry, Analecta Graeca Majora continued, Enfield's Philosophy begun, Cicero de Oratore be- gun. Second Term — Analecta Graeca Majora, vol. 1st finished, Enfield's Philosophy continued, Ci- cero de Oratore continued, Tacitus, omitting the Annals. Third Tei'm — Enfield's Astronomy, Tyt- ler's General History, Vince's Fluxions, Greek, or Hebrew, at the option of the Student. The Professor of Languages, and the Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, continue their lectures. I'Ical ued, be- vol. Ci- the or 5sor res. COURSE OF STUDY. 135 The students exhibit specimens of English Com- position. Forensic disputations are continued twice a week before the instructors. They attend a course of lectures on Natural Philosophy, Che- mistry, and Mathematics. Senior SoPHiSTERS. First Term — Blair's Lec- tures, vol. 2d, Hedge's Logic, Locke's Essays, Paley's Natural Theology. Second Term — Paley's Natural Theology, Paley's Evidences of Christi- ani'y, I? ""art's Philosophy of the Mind. Third Term — Paley's Moral Philosophy. The Professor of Languages, and the Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory conclude their lectures. The students continue forensic disputations, and attend the lectures on Chemistry, Mineralogy, Geology, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, Lo- gic, Metaphysics, Ethics, and Theology. The Professor of Divinity delivers a lecture on Theology in the College chapel, each Sabbath in term time, completing a course in four years ; he also occasionally discourses privately to the senior class.*^ The English authors which have been mentioned, are studied chiefly as appropriate text books upon * A theological school has recently been founded, which is in con- nexion with the College, and will probably be hereafter incorporated with it. The Rev. Nathaniel W. Taylor has been appointed Pro- fessor of Didactic Theology, and the students receive instructions from the academical Professors in the Languages, Rhetoric, and Bib- lical Criticism. A school of Law is projected, and will probably be soon brought into operation. 14 III I I i M 130 LETTEIl V. — YALE COLLEGE. which the Professor discourses ; and their opinions are of course either enforced or controverted, as they may or may not agree with those of the lec- turer. In either case they afford a groundwork for appropriate discussion and illustration ; they may also advantageously direct the young enquirer in his private researches, and afford him the means of trying the vigour of his own mind. In the hands of an unskilful lecturer, a good text book is cer- tainly an important advantage ; but to one of more shining talents, a faulty manual will occasion com- paratively little inconvenience. From the preceding sketch it will be apparent that the attention of the student is at no period of the course concentrated upon any particular branch of science or literature, to the comparative exclu- sion of all the rest. For this reason it is not likely that Yale will produce many ' wranglers* in mathematics, to surpass those of Cambridge, or giants in Greek Literature, to wrest the palm from those of Oxford; but it is very probable that it will send forth a greater proportion of men whose minds are steadily trained to order and activity, and stored with those elements of knowledge which are available in almost every situation, and which may be said to ensure to their possessor, a reasonable degree of success in any train of thinking or research to which, by his inclination, or the exigencies of his future life, he may be led. It is a remark of Cicero's, that 8 n P a n b n SI \\ REMARKS — EXAMINATIONS. 137 no teacher can communicate to his pupil the com- pletely detailed application of his peculiar art, but after the learner has thoroughly mastered its ge- neral principles, he may be safely left to prosecute by himself the farther investigation. The accu- racy of this principle has been no where more successfully illustrated, than in the history of Scot- land. . Dr. Johnson, whose habits and predilections were entirely in favour of the English system of University education, compared learning in Scot- land to " bread in a besieged town, where every one gets a mouthful, but nobody a bellyful ;" but every candid observer knows, that this universal diffusion of moderate education has given a pe- culiar superiority to the Scotish national character ; — that much more good in the aggregate has re- sulted from it than from the other system, while moreover, there is scarcely a department of litera- ture or philosophy, in which Scotland has not pro- duced more than her numerical proportion of em- inently great men. In Yale College the advantages of the English and the Scotish systems of University education seem to be in a great measure combined. The scope for original discussion and elegance of illus- tration which lecturing affords, is connected with the more laborious and effective discipline of tu- tors and examination; the students are not con- sidered as passive recipients of knowledge, but are stimulated to the active exercise of their own fl'l » ■«! i I i t.l 138 LETTER V. — YALE COLLEGE. powers, tliat ihey may acquire that command of them which practice alone can give, and which can become habitual only by a continued succession of efforts. Nor are the benefits of public examina- tion unattended to; for the whole of the classes are subjected to a rigorous scrutiny, twice in each year. Each of these examinations occupies from four to six days, and those students who are found particularly deficient in the exercises of the class, are liable at the discretion of the Faculty to ad- monition or dismission. After the last exam- ination of the fourth year, the faculty decide by a vote upon each student whether he shall re- ceive a degree or not; but the previous probation- ary course and frequent examinations, together with the rigorous system of discipline which I have yet to detail, send away most of the laggard and de- fective members, and of those who are allowed to pass few are of a doubtful kind. Sympathy, however, for poverty or misfortune, and respect for moral worth, are in some cases I believe al- lowed to operate favourably on behalf of individ- uals, whose claims in an academical point of view could scarcely be sustained. The stimulating system of prizes is partially in use. Bishop Berkely established a prize fund, which yields annually 150 dollars; this is given in premiums of 50 dollars each, £11, 5s, sterling, ta the students in different classes, who pas^: the best examination in Latin and Greek. A few others of T COMMENCEMENT.* 139 I inferior amount are given for specimens of Latin and English composition, and for public declama- tion. These premiums are bestowed privately. The annual * Commencement', as it is termed, is a kind of festival in New Haven, to which liter- ary men assemble from a considerable distance around. Of the students who have completed their fourth year, a few are selected to deliver public orations on literary, philosophical, or poli- tical subjects; after which the customary degrees in Arts, and in Medicine, are conferred upon those who have passed the requisite examinations, and honorary degrees on those whom the College has selected as worthy of them, fjr eminence in letters, law, medicine, or theology. I have not had an opportunity of witnessing this ceremonial at Yale College, but I have been present at that of Columbia College,^ in New York, and I understand that they are very similar in their general features. On this occasion the Trustees and Professors, preceded by a band of music, and followed by the students, walked in procession from the College buildings to one of the churches. The students wore black silk gowns, which are peculiar to the occasion, and a medal at the breast, the badge of two Literary Societies, with one or other of which " In the montli following the date of tliis letter i-r-tlie reader will pardon tlie anachronism. , I m'^iH i t 'I i J] no LETTER V. — YALE COLLEGE. II Jill of tlicni arc connected. At tlie upper end of a temporary platform, near tlie pulpit, were seated the President and other members of the Faculty ; and at the lower end, the orators of the day de- claimed in succession. The band was posted in the gallery, and played during the intervals. The opening address, or ' Salutatory' as it is termed, and the concluding one, or * Valedictory,' are generally assigned to the two scholars who rank highest hi the scale of merit ; the priority of the rest is regulated on the same principle. The addresses which I heard embraced a variety of topics, a large proportion of which were political ; and frequent allusions were made to Great Britain and to the recent unhappy hostilities. The com- position and delivery were upon the whole respec- table, in some instances highly creditable to the talent of the orators ; and if some of them claimed, on behalf of their native land, a pre-eminence in arts and arms which we might hardly be disposed as yet to concede, they would be rigid censors in- deed, who would criticise very severely the effu- sions of youthful ardour on so spirit-stirring a theme, or frown at their enthusiastic exclamation — stj fe,< m di^ " 'Tis the star-spangled banner ! O long may it wave. O'er the land of tlie free, and the home of the brave." Some of the best of the addresses however paid iionourable tribute to the British national charac- ter, quoted our poets, eulogized our patriots, our IVlKDrc AF. DKPARTMEN V. Ill I'liig a stiitesmcn, aiul some of om* kings; and mani- fested, on tlio part of their authors, a liberality and manliness of sentiment which would have done no discredit to maturer years. After the ' valedictory' address, the candidates for the Baccalaureate came individually forward. The President, a venerable old man, grasping the stu- dent's hands in liis, congratulated him in Latin on the termination of his College studies, put into his hand a small red volume with a few words of parting counsel and direction, withdrew the book, and presented him with his parchment diploma bound with a blue riband. In Yale College, the topics upon which the stu- dents declaim at Commencement are selected by themselves, subject to the approbation of the Pro- fessor of Rhetoric ; and the essays when composed are submitted for his revisal, before being prepared for delivery. The Medical school which is in connexion with Yale College is of recent institution, but already bears an honourable reputation, as regards the course of study and the ability of the Professors. The lectures commence in the last week of Octo- ber, and terminate in the last week of March. During the course from eighty to a hundred lec- tures are delivered by each Professor, on the vari- ous subjects of Anatomy and Physiology, Medi- cine, Surgery, Obstetrics, Chemistry, Pharmacy, Materia Medica, and Botany. The students have ¥ ■i . 142 LETTER V. — YALE COLLEC.E. also ndniis.sion to the academical lectures on Na- tural Philosophy, Mineralogy and Geology. The various branches are investigated in the most scien- tific manner, and the courses are fully illustrated by demonstration and experiment. The institu- tion possesses an appropriate anatomical nmseum and library, and the students have also access to the library of the college. A botanic garden has been bcijun. Candidates for license and a degree are regularly examined by the Professors, and a board of Physi- cians appointed by the Medical Society of the State. These have full authority to grant license to prac- tise, and their recommendation secures a degree from the corporation of the College. By far the most difficult part in the economy of a College is its discipline ; particularly in such institu- tions as Yale, where the most of young men are with- drawn entirely from the superintendence of their friends, and collected together into one large family. The regulations however which are adopted here, seem better adapted to exercise a parental influence over the inmates, than any which have come under my observation. Each Student on joining the college is placed, at the discretion of his parents or the Faculty, under the particular superintendence of one of the Pro- fessors or Tutors, whom he is enjoined to regard as his counsellor, and who considers himself bound to have a watchful eye over the behaviour and im- 311 Nn- . The it scicn- istrnled institu- nuseiim cess to leii lins ^^ularly ' riiysi- e State, o prac- degrec my of a institu- re with- )f their fiimily, l1 here, fluence 3 under iced, at , under e Pro- E^ard as bound id irn- COLLF.tfE niSCIl'MNK. 113 provemcnt of his ward ; in a word to make up, so tar as that is possible, the want of a father's care. The young men are consideretl as in a state of probation till they are matriculatetl, which never takes place till they have resided in College at least six months. Those whose conduct has been exemplary during this period, are then fully en- tered as members of the institution ; but those who so pass, seldom exceed two-thirds of the class. Those who have not obtained matriculation and who show decided symptoms of insubordination, are dismissed without ceremony, and without any reason being assigned ; sometimes a considcable number are thus sent away. The rest remain for farther trial, and are matriculated at various periods as their behaviour entitles them to it ; in some in- stances it is deferred so long as for three years. In this way the disorderly are gradually weeded out, and only the more diligent and exemplary allowed to remain. When a student after matriculation is guilty of a serious infraction of the College laws, the member of Faculty under whose particular charge he is, sends for him to his apartments, and pri- vately gives him what is technically called his * first admonition.' Should he again offend, he receives his * second admonition,' and his friends are informed by letter of his misconduct. This frequently leads to his removal from the College, which is generally so managed as to conceal from rq H4 LETTER V. — YALE COLLEGE. \ his fellow students the real cause oi his leaving them. Should his friends not remove him, and should he again deserve censure, instant and dis- graceful dismission is the inevitable consequence. For very flagrant immorality, or breach of dis- cipline, the punishment is expulsion ; which differs from dismission in this respect, that the sentence is read by the senior Professor before the whole members of the College, and the culprit is rend- ered incapable of admission to any other in the whole country. These various gradations of pun- ishment have a powerful effect in preserving good order, and all are aware that none but those whose conduct is upon the whole meritorious, will be allowed to complete the cour^ and obtain academic honours. Till very lately tho students of the Senior class exercised, by ancient usage, the discretionary power of summoning before them individuals of the Freshman class, to reprimand them for indiscre- tions. The intoxication of power, however, has led older and wiser men astray ; and as it was found that the exeicise of this prerogative caused more mischief than it cured, it has been altogether abolished. It has sometimes happened in the American Colleges, that a few evil disposed individuals have organized secret and systematic conspiracies ; which have resulted in taking possession of the College build inffs, and for a time overturnin": all order and and INTERNAL AIHIANGEMENTS. 115 uiitlioiity. To prevent so far as possible the pos- sibility of such an occurrence, the buildings are so constructed that only a small number of sleep- ing apartments have communication with each other ; to each division, students of various ages and dispositions are allotted, and in most of them one of the Tutors or unmarried Professors has his apartments, so that no disorderly conduct can take place in any of the rooms without the pro- bability of its being discovered. The happy effect of this and the other regulations is demonstrated by the fact, that there has never been any open rebellion in Yale College. There has been but one approach to extensive insubordination, and that was directed not against the Professors, but against the cooks. In this instance the two younger classes absented themselves in a body from commons ; and on the reason of such con- duct being demanded, tliey represented that the food had been very carelessly prepared. The Professors replied that their mode of resenting this was disorderly and unconstitutional, and that till they returned to their duty, no enquiry could take place respecting it. The students immediate- ly returned to commons, and presented a petition for redress ; examination was instituted, and the complaint proving well founded, some of the cooks were punished and harmony restored. The hours of study commence in summer at five o'clock, and in winter at six. VOL. I. K Morning and 1-1 l|,^ k V n ;V1 i i ill ] 146 LETTER V. — YALE COLLEGE. 14 ! evening prayers, with reading of the Scriptures, take place in the chapel, at which every student is required to be present. Regularity of attei dance in the class rooms at the hours of recitation, is rigid- ly enforced, and except during the hours of recrea- tion, which are three or four in the course of the day, no one is allowed to be absent from his apart- ment. They are forbidden to frequent an inn, or to be absent from commons without special invita- tion of a friend, and permission of the Professors ; they must not attend any ball or theatrical re- presentation during term time, or play at any game of chance. When the number of students exceeds what can be accommodated in the College buildings, the overplus are permitted, at the dis- cretion of the Faculty, to lodge with private fam- ilies ; but they are still subject to the laws which regulate the other students.'^ It has always been observed however, that of those who live out of College, a much larger proportion become obnox- ious to censure and dismission, than of those wlio are within the walls. On Sabbath and public Fast or Thanksgiving days, all the students are re- quired to attend worship in the College Chapel ; except those of a different religious denomination, who have obtained liberty to attend some other ** < Boarding out,' as it is called, is now much less necessary, in consequence of the erection of two new buildings, with increased accommodation for lecture rooms and sleeping apartments. (Nov. 1820.) EXPENSE OF EDUCATION. 147 i place of worship. During the remainder of the day they must keep to their apartments, and are expected to be engaged in reading the Scrip- , tures. The expense of education at Yale College is I believe rather less than at Harvard. T!'o cost of tuition, boarding within the College, fuel and light, washing, use of furniture, books, stationary, &c. is rated by the lowest estimate at fron £40 to £50 sterling ; to live out of the College costs at least £20 more. The expense of attending the m.^dical school, during the course of five months, amounts to about the same sum. To this must be added, by those who come from a distance, travelling ex- penses, and boarding during the vacations. Cal- culating these, and other usual contingencies, I believe that few students can keep their expendi- ture much under about £100 sterling a year; and some of the more extravagant frequently spend twice as much. The College bills are paid by the academical students three times a year, to the Trea- surer and Steward, not as with us to the individual Professors. The President has an annual salary of about £450 sterling, the Professors from £270, to £340. In the medical department the Profes- sors receive no other salary than the fees of the students ; with the exception of one who has an annual stipend of £90 sterling. The Professors of Chemistry and Mathematics, besides their salaries as academical Professors, have half of the fees re- K 2 i J B K, with a hand pointing to a star. Among the students there are also a Moral, a Missionary, and a Bible Society. Yale College is possessed of a valuable library, philosophical apparatus, and cabinet of minerals. The library contains nearly eight thousand vol- imnes, and is open under certain regulations to the Professors, Tutors, resident Graduates, medical students, and the two senior academical classes. The greater part of the philosophical instru- 8 ', \ AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 119 I ments were purchased in Loudon in 1805, by Pro- fessor Silliman, who was despatched on this hon- ourable mission by his brother Professors. This gentleman, after spending the greater part of the summer and autumn in England, attempted to visit Paris by way of Holland, but was unceremoniously stopped on the imperial confines of the ' great na- tion,' and compelled to make all haste back again ; he studied during the winter at Edinburgh Col- lege, and returned in lue succeeding spring by way of Glasgow and Greenock to New York. He has published a journal of his travels in two octavo volumes; and it is calculated to flatter our national vanity, that two editions have been sold oC, so completely, that I found difiiculty in procuring ir. New Haven even a used copy. Mr. Silliman's observations on the national character of the British, are distinguished throughout by the utmost liberality and kindness, and he has evinced a particular partiality to the domestic manners of Scotland. You cannot fail to be gratified by his comments on a Scotish ' ffood night.' * The American Journal of Science' has been recently begun here, under Mr. Silliman's editorial care. This publication, like Dr. Thomson's ' An- nals of Philosophy,' is devoted to original com- munications and intelligence on the various subjects of chemistry, experimental philosophy, natural history, the ornamental and useful arts. America furnishes an ample and almost unbroken field tor K 3 I k 'I'M * ' I Rl '-.I i 1 ii it 150 LETTER V. — YALE COLLEGE information on such subjects, and I doubt not that this journal will do much to increase the fame of the. philosophers of the republic, and to conciliate the respect of scientific men of every country.^'' Connected with the philosophical department is a most commodious and well furnished chemical laboratory ; to which the students are admitted, that they may have an opportunity of gaining a practical acquaintance, with the many delicate and interesting experiments of modern chemistry ; an advantage which can never be enjoyed in an or- dinary lecture room. The cabinet of minerals is by far the finest in America ; and in Europe I understand there are but few that surpass it. This superb collection is principally the property of a Colonel Gibbs, an enthusiastic and scientific mineralogist, who with equal liberality and good taste has deposited his minerals within the college walls, as being in every point of view the most suit- able place for them. Colonel Gibbs' collection contains about 18,000 well selected specimens, many of which are exceedingly rare and valuable. It was formed by combining two European cabi- '" A third and enlarged edition of Professor Sillitnan's British Travels, has followed me across the Atlantic ; accompanied by a ' Tour to Quebec' which he has recently published, and wliich contains much correct information respecting Canada and its in- haljitants, characterized by the same manliness and candour which distinguish the former publication. (Dec. 1821.) y. MINERALS — RESOURCES OF THE COLLEGE. 151 ,t ■! 10 nets ; the one that of M. Gigot D'Orcy of Paris, one of the Farmers General under Louis XVI. guiUotined during the sway of Robespierre, the other formei'ly belonging to Count Razamuski a Russian, who had taken refuge from political ani- mosities at Lausanne in Switzerland, but on receiv- ing permission to return home sold his minerals to Colonel Gibbs, who was then studying under the celebrated Professor Struve. To these he added many specimens collected by his own industry. It is believed that a cabinet equally complete could not be purchased in Europe for less than £5000 sterling. Along with these are arranged between jTive and six thousand specimens, the property of the College and of Professor Silliman, to wliich ad- ditions are frequently made." The pecuniary resources of Yale College, are unfortunately no way equal to the science and zeal of its Professors. I have already alluded to the unhappy prejudice which prevails, throughout the State, to every thing above the rank of a common English School; and this illiberal sentiment has operated most powerfully to restrain the capabilities of Yale College. The annual income of the insti- tution does not amount at present to £4500 ster- ling, and of this, only about £800 is from real stock ; the whole remaining sum is derived from i^:'' V " In one of the new buildings a spacious hall 84 feet by 42 has been fitted up for the Minerals. (Dec 1821.) K 4 ^^■m' 152 LETTER V. — YALE COLLEGE. I' I the fees of students and other iluctuating sources. From this income are paid the salaries of the Professors, Tutors, and other officers, repairs on the oUl buildings and the erection of new ones, the increase of tlie library and philosophical apparatus, as well as other contingencies. For all the im- proveni'^i t:j which have been lately made, the Col- le^ naively indebted to the economizing efforts of it na.u.:j;ers, and the distinguished talents and industry of ii^, Presidents and Professors. The reputation which it acquired under the late vene- rated Dr. Dwight, has been well sustained by the members of its Faculty who have survived, or suc- ceeded him ; and the salutary principles upon which its concerns are regulated, give the fairest promise that its superiority will be perpetuated. Were the Government and people of Connecti- cut suitably alive to the honour and importance, in a national point of view, of cherishing this nur- sery of the liberal arts, they would ' delight to ho- nour' it with their legislative support and bounty. They would endow new professorships ; they would enable the College to purchase Colonel Gibbs' minerals, which it is believed he would sell, and so prevent the possibility of their ever being re- moved ; they would bestow upon the library a per- manent fund for its annual augmentation ; they would, in a word, at once raise the institution from its present almost total dependence on the fluc- tuating prosperity of agriculture and trade. Thus II' AMERICAN AND SCOTISH UNIVERSITIES. 153 vvoukl they place upon a secure basis, the pros- perity of a seminary which exerts a most power- ful and most sahitary influence upon the national character ; which contributes hu'gely to foster that mental superiority which birth cannot confer, nor wealth of itself purchase, and which has in all ages largely contributed to decide the destinies of nations.^^ Were we to institute a comparison between American and Scotisli university educat' n, the result would not, I believe, be in ever^ r. pect favourable to ourselves. The systems ; ;« essen- tially different, and each has its peculiar advan- taijes. In Scotland none of the students li' within the college walls, nor do the Professors exercise any superintendence over their time, excepting during the class hours. Throughout the rest of the day they may be idle or industrious, choose good society '* A writer in the North American Review, after enlarging on this subject with a zeal that does honour to a member of a rival institu- tion, adds ;— " To appeal moreover to a feeling wliich has perhajjs had too great influence over the legislatures, wliich have successively withheld the public patronage from Yale, we would add that on the simple footing of pecuniary accoiuit the State is much indebted to the college. The latter brings annually into circulation in Con- necticut manjf thousands of dollars, and has done so for a long course of years. It lays no small part of the country under contri- bution, to increase the wealth of Connecticut ; and it were but com mon justice in the State, to return into the funds of the college, a small portion of the means wliich the college gatliers for the State." North American Review, No, XXXIX- [>• 396. ' * I 154. LETTER V. — YALE COLLEGE. ]♦ si or had, visit the cliurcli or llie tliuitre, as tlicy or their fVieiuls please. All those who are immedi- ately under the eye of their parents are of course left to their management and superintendence, and this may by many be esteemed incompatible with the American system, but it is not so — the regula- tions of Yale College do not require that any whose parents reside in New Haven, should cither eat or sleep in the college, but they require that by them as well as others, the hoiu's appointed for private study should be so appropriated. With regard to students who come from a distance the advantage is certainly in favour of America, for in place of being left as in Glasgow exposed to the allurements and vice of a populous city, scattered up and down without one to control or to care for them, they are sheltered and watched over with unremitting care ; and every effort is made to form their moral character, as well as to instruct them in literature and the sciences. In Glasgow no restriction exists as to the age at which students enter College, nor as to the amount of reading which is requisite for admission. Boys of eleven and twelve are not unfrequently seen wearing the enviable scarlet gown ; and if most of those who enter have a competent knowledge of Latin, and many a trifling acquaintance with Greek, it is owing almost entirely to the excellent system of our Grammar School, for some of the country students bring but very little of the one language, Mr • GLASGOW UNIVERSITY. 155 they or iinmedi- f course ice, and ble with I regiihi- ly whose r eat or by them private gard to vantage lUice of rements id down ui, tliey !mittino' o r moral ;erature age at amount Boys ly seen most of ;dge of Greek, system ountry guage, and not a single letter of the other. It would be u manifest improvement to admit none under four- teen or fifteen, and to require an examination on a certain number of classical authors. The * curriculum,' as it is termed at Glasgow, includes Latin, Greek, Logic, Moral Philosophy, Mathematics and Natural Philosophy; and except- ing the last two, ejich branch may be said to be studied individually^ that is without any necessary connexion with the others. Thus, during the first and second year the student's attention is devoted to Latin and Greek, and to them alone ; he is quite at liberty to forget, during this period, that there are such things as English grammar, arith- n/ ;> O 7 /A Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 iV iV '^ o •^ \ ^ ^ * ^:^\ no LETTER VI. — VllINCETON. Upon the President, besides the general super- intendence, devolves the instruction of the Students, in Theology, Moral Philosophy, Belles Lettres, and Logic ; one of the Professors teaches the Greek and Latin languages, the other Mathematics, Natural Philosophy, and Chemistry. The co- operation of the Tutors is variously applied, as circumstances may render it necessary. It is ob- vious, that this system requires no ordinary amount of talent, and extent of acquirement, in tiie Presi- dent and Professors. The branches of study which have been enumerated, would alFord abun- dant scope for the skill and industry of at least half a dozen of persons, — it is too much to expect, that men will be readily found capable of presid- ing, with success, in three or four departments of knowledge, remotely, if at all, connected with each other. On some rare occasion indeed, a happily constituted mind, some man of a thousand, may be found, whose powers and industry are equal to the task which is thus imposed ; and when splendid talents are brought into operation on so wide a field, the fame of the college may suddenly rise, and soar m proud pre-eminence over every similar institution ; but in arranging the system of a liter- ary establishment, he would be a visionary indeed, who would calculate on a succession of such men, to fill its various departments : — Britain has pro- duced but one Sir William Jones. There are at present in this college 150 students; PRlNCliTON COLLEGE. ni but were the institution established upon a more liberal scale — and this ought to be the anxious care of the citizens and legislature of New Jersey — it is probable from its local advantages, that its students would soon outnumber those of any other American college. Situate midway between New York and Philadelphia, its jiroximity to both gives it a decided advantage over both Harvard and Yale. To the immense territory south and west of Philadelphia, it is as yet the nearest academical institution of any considerable reputation; and will certainly, if other things are equal, obtain a prefer- ence ti those that are two or three hundred miles farther off. The wealthiest families in the Union, and those who scatter money most lavisldy, belong to the southern part of it, and if a University can be supported any where, on a liberal scale, they are able to do it. A young man from Georgia, a student at Princeton, informs me that he spent during the first year upwards of £350 sterling, and probably he was not singular in so profuse an expenditure. A detailed account of the discipline of Princeton would be superfluous, after the information which I have already so fully communicated respecting Yale. You have there a pretty correct sketch of academical education in America, in its most per- fect form ; and the differences which exist in minor colleges, generally arise from the want of means to carry the system into full operation. Piincetoii =-^1 i ,i 172 LETTER VI. — 1>H1N('ET()N. k: II |i«': approaclics as nearly to pc» f'cction as can hi' expected, and il lias had tlie honour of sending out some of the most distinguished orators and statesmen, that America has produced. The State of Virginia is about to eslablisli a Uni- versity of the most aspiring kind, and Jefi'erson, Madison, and some other of the great names of tliis western hemisjiliore, have combined their talents in framinir its constitution.^ What tlie result in tliis instance may be, time alone can determine ; but from all circumstances it must be a])parent, that a great and growing attention is bestowed, through- out the country on Literature and Science. There are in the extensive territory of the United States, upwards of thirty colleges. A number of these, it is true, particularly in the western and southern States, can only be regarded as acade- mies ; there are, however, ten or twelve of decidcil ' From first appearances, there seems reason to anticipate that tliis proposed University will be a total failure; and from the well known sentiments of its founders, on speculative and revealed truth, I cannot much regret that it should be so. When it is established on Christian principles, we shall then rejoice in its success. As a matter of curiosity I subjoin tlie outline of the academical course, which the Commissioners for the University have i)rojected. They have (b's- posed the subjects of study into 'groupes,' ^och of which they say, " is within the powers of .1 single Professor," if so, some individuals of the decade will be no ordinary men. 1 Languages Ancient ; Latin, Greek, Hebrew. 2 Languages Modern ; French, Spanish, Italian, German, Anglo-Saxon. 3 Maihcmalics Pure ; Algebra, I-hixions, Geometry Elementary, I i'inN( i:t()N Tiii:oi,0(;iiM, si.minauy. 173 Ifiiuiitai V, respectability, and ot" these five or six are pre- eminent. A Theological Seminary has recently been established at Princeton, by the Presbyterian Church of the United States. Tiie proximity of this institution to the College, must be regarded as a happy circumstance for each ; for the institu- tions can scarcely fail to be mutually beneficial. Their combined advantages will probably induce many young men to select Princeton as their place of study, who might otherwise have gone elsewhere ; and the literary intercourse which is likely to take place between the respective professors, must be favourable to the development of mental talent, and the cultivation of acquired knowledge. An outline of the S3'stem of theological education which here prevails, may be a very suitable sequel to that which has been given of a classical one. Geometry Transcendental 'Architect ure Military, Arcliitecture Naval. 4 IVii/sico-Afat/ieniatics ; Mechanics, Statics, Dynamics, Pneuma- tics, Acoustics, Optics, Astronomy, Geography. 5 Physics, or Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Mineralogy. G Botany, Zoology. 7 Anatomy, Medicine. 8 Government, Political Economy, Law of Nature and Nations, History, (being interwoven with Politics and Law.) 9 Law, Municipal. 10 Ideology, General Grammar, Etliics, Rhetoric, I3elles Lettres, and the Fine Arts. Additional information on this subject, accomjjanied with some judicious observations on the detail of the plan, will be found in an article in llie JVort/i ^hncricon lirviot', N'n. A' ATA />, 115. ». « li. H m ' I <.^.i I 174. LETTER Vr. — PPINCETON. ■« The Presbyterian Theological Academy was founded in 1811, in consequence of an Act of the General Assembly. The funds for its establish- ment were derived, partly from collections through- out the congregations under the jurisdiction of the Assembly, and partly from private subscriptions. The Seminary has been begun on so extensive a scale, that though the amount which was collected was very considerable, it has not been sufficient to establish it at once in a flourishing condition ; and hitherto a part only of the projected plan has been carried into effect. The resources of the Presbyterian Church however are ample, and there is every reason to believe, that farther efforts will not be wanting, till the school is endowed with a revenue adequate to ensure its permanent efficiency. For lecture rooms and sleeping apartments, a large building has been erected, which is said to have cost nearly seventeen thousand pounds sterling.^ As yet this house is but partly occupied, and I believe that a number of the students reside in the villaire. There are at present only two Professors, but it is intended that there should be other two, and some of the Synods have begun to appropriate funds for this purpose. The Professors have each a salary of four hundred pounds sterling, besides * A house for one of the Professors has been subsequently finished at an expense of about £3500 sterling,— tliis is doing things on a liberal scale. T-*' }■ PRINCETON TIIKOLOOKAL SEMINARY. 175 ji house. The students amount to about ciglity. The cost of boarding, lodging and other contin- gencies, amounts in general to £40 or £50 ster- ling a year, the tuition is altogether gratuitous. As yet there are but four exhibitions connected Avith the institution, although a large proportion of those who study have but very limited resources ; measures however have been adopted for their gradual increase. These exhibitions, or scholar- ships as they are termed, have each a capital of about £560 sterling, which must be profitably in- vested, for their annual value is said to be about fifty pounds. The Professors are ppointed by the General Assembly, and every effort is made to provide men in whose principles, ability, and learning, full re- liance may be placed. Before admission, they are required to declare upon oath, their perfect and unreserved agreement with the Westminster con- fession of faith ; and the Assembly retains an ab- solute power to displace at its own pleasure, any of them who from change of sent'-^ent, or other causes, may be judged unfit to continue in office. These precautions are likely to secure the agree- ment of the theological instructors, with the senti- ments of the majority of the General Assembly ; — if that majority holds sound doctrine, the institu- tion will inculcate the same, but should ** the doc- trines and commandments of men" hold an ascen- dency there, it will be impossible to prevent the 1\ 1 1 ■ > II #l! I i: I iro LETTER Vr. — PRINCETON. source of instruction from being similarly contam- inated ; and this, as was remarked by one of the present students, is one of the great dangers to be apprehended from a public school of Divinity, for an able but unsound Professor may corrupt a generation. The superintendence of the Seminary is committed to a board of thirty Directors, whose authority extends to all but the appointment and dismissal of the Professors. Of the Professors who are already appointed, one lectures on Theologv, the other on Ecclosias- tical History and Church Government. The next who is added will probably be devoted to Oriental Literature. The course of study is completed in three years, but young men may enter at any period of the course. In each year there are two terms ; the first from November 6th to May 12th, the second from July 1st to September 25th. There is no penal code of discipline promulgated ; it is presumed that Theological students do not re- quire it. The duties of the first year commence with the study of Hebrew, with or without the points; which is for the present taught by the Professor of Theology, — after which comes a course of Jewish Antiquities, in a series of lectures ; and the connexion of Sacred and Profane History, in which Prideaux and Shuckford are used as text books. «f COURSE OF STUDY. 177 Tlic second year opens with studies relating to the philosophy of the mind. Questions are pro- posed, tor answer and illustration, which embrace the most important doctrines of that science ; and the student is thus led to an acquaintance with the works of Locke, Beattie, Rcid, Hume, Stewart, and the other distinguished writers on metaphysics. This is employed as introductory to the evidences and principles of natural religion, as it is called, from which they pass to revealed religion, and thence to didactic theology. Turretin is the text book on this subject ; but the interrogatory style of investigation is continued, and the student is required to extend his reading very consider- ably, that he may become acquainted with the various opinions and systems of different writers. This second division of the course occupies about fifteen months. During the same period, the other Professor carries the class through ecclesiastical history ; on which Mosheim is the text book, but his deficien- cies are supplied by lectures. Along with this they ha\e also a very complete course of the historical department of biblical criticism. During the remaining nine months, the first Professor carries them through polemical theology, in which StaefFer is the text book, and completes the subject of biblical criticism. The other Profes- sor investigates with them the various systems of church government ; and the coui'se is completed M ft' VOL. I. '*■' t ^^ ■m i! I / " ; '' 1 1 1 178 LETTER Vr. — PRINCETON. liy lectures, fioni the one on the pastoral office, and 'Vom tlie other on the composition of a ser- mon. Apart from tlie course of pubhc instruc- tion, the students have societies for Hterary discus- sion, and for preacliing; in the latter the Professors preside, and they may therefore be regarded as a portion of the academical system. During the course there are repeated examina- tions before the Directors of the Seminary ; a more particular one at the close of each session, and one of yet severer scrutiny at the end of the three years. The student is then remitted to the presby- tery, to whose jurisdiction he belongs, by which he is again examined, and should the result be satis- factory he receives from the presbytery license to preach. As this institution is as yet but in its infancy, much cannot be said as to its success. We may readily suppose, however, that the General Assem- bly will at all times appoint to its superintendence, the ablest men that the Presbyterian Church can produce, and exercise over it a watchful and fos- tering care. I have already alluded^ to a similar institution at Andover, which is in connexion with the New England Congregational Church. That Seminary tliffers in some respects from this, and in relation to pecuniary affairs, is for the present in a more flour- ' Vitle Letter Second. 8 ANDOVKR THEOLOGICAL ACADEMY. 171) isliing condition. It wns foiuuled in 1808; and had its origin in the liberality of tljree or lour wealthy individuals, who not oidy bestoweil funds sullicient for the connnencenient of the academy, but as it was observed to rise in usefulness and reputation, gradually enlarged the amount of tlieir munificent contributions, till it has become pos- sessed of several conmiodious buildings, and of four endowed professorships, worth it is said from £300 to £iOO sterling a year. The branches for which they are appointed, are biblical litera- ture, sacred rhetoric, ecclesiastical history, and systematic theology ; with these they combine the other departments of a theological education, and the establishment is probably as practically useful as if the professorships were more numerous. The chairs are said to be reputably filled ; — one of them indeed by a gentleman of high celebrity throughout the whole Union. Besides these ad- vantages Andover possesses about forty Scholar- ships, which are, liowever, less in individual amount than the two at Princeton. At present there are in all upwards of one hundred students.* Among theological seminaries the ' Foreign Mission School* at Cornwall in the State of Con- necticut is particularly worthy of notice ; the more * A very valuable correspondent, on whose accuracy I have good reason to place implicit reliance, writes me (1822) that the private bene- factions to the Andover Theological Academy since its foundation, Jiave already amounted to very nearly the sum of ^100,000 sterling. M 2 I HO M/riTIl VI. — PUIN( KTON. ':' < SO, that lliiri' is not in lliitain, so far ns I know, nny similar inslitiitioii. 'V\\\s academy is devoted to the instruction ofyoun*^ natives of Ibreign coim- tries, witli the view ol'cjualilying them to return home as missionaries or teacliers. It was founded in con- sequence of what, in usual huiguagc, would be called the accidental arrival in America, in 1809, of Oboo- kiah, a native of Owhyhcc ; a young man who show- ed an ardent thirst for useful knowledge, and who falling inider the care of some benevolent and en- lightened individuals in New Haven, was, through their instrumentality, made ac(]uainted with tlie im- portant truths of the gospel. Obookiah made considerable progress in literary studies, and soon t!vinced an earnest desire to return to his native country as a missionary ; and some other individ- uals of his countrymen having been discovered in America, they were brought together, that they might preserve an acquaintance with their native language, and receive such an education as would be useful to them, should any of them be found (jualiHed and disposed to accompany Obookiah. The providence of God, however, has disappointed Tlie number of students is rapidly increasing, as the follow ing al)- stract indicates;— Summary of tlie Andover Catalogue for 1821-2. Resident Licentiates . 5 Senior Class .... 31 Middle Class . . . 35 .fiinior Class . . . . (il Total l:j-^ 10UL1(;N mission SCllOOl. at tOllNWAl.L. IHl llie li'gh cxpettutions which were fonntil of tliat youii«jf luiiirs I'liturc uscfuhiesb ; — he was cm rictl oir by a fever in tlie early part of tliis year, sliortly before tlie iiiteiulecl period of liis return to liis na- tive country. Tlic scliool continues to /lonrisli, and several boys belonj^in*^ to the aboriginal tribes of this continent iiave lately joined it.'* Such an institution is in the highest dc'<;'ree praiseworthy ; not only on account of the philan- thropic and benevolent views of its founders, but because of the wisdom of its Ieadin<^ principle, and because, if prudently conducted, it promises to be a most ellicient instrument of good, to nations which are now in the grossest darkness. Native teachers, and ])reachers, and translators, are no doubt to be the grand means of enlightening and civilizing the heathen world ; they are familiar with the language, the customs, the prejudices, the modes of thinking, and tlic theology of their countrymen, and they are "ii ft * A very inturestiiig iiurrative of Obuokiali's cvt'iUful life, lias been rt'printed licre in a clioap form, and is sokl by Mr. Laiij?, Wilson Street, Glasgow, Mr. Johnston, Edlnburgli, and Mr. Nisbet, Lon- don. It will repay a perusal. The Foreign Mission School contained in September IH22, eighteen pupils, namely, G Sandwich Islanders, 1 Malay, 1 Chinese, J New Zealander, I Cherokee, 1 Oneida, I Tuscarora, I Cauglinawa- ga, and 2 Stockbridge Indians; 3 natives of the United States, intend- ing to be foreign missionaries. Seven of these were professors of re- ligion. An Owhyhean was expected soon. In March ]H23, two young Greeks reached America from Malta, one 15 years of age, the other 1 1, who had come over for the sole pmpose of enjoying the l)enefit of the school. M 3 i :l * 182 LETTER VI. — PRINCETON. exempt from the openition of that feeHng of dis- like, which necessarily exists in a large degree among all men, to the interference of foreigners, with their religious belief and worship. The ex- tensive commercial intercourse of America with foreign nations, brings many of their young men to iis shores; and can Christian benevolence more hap- pily take advantage of this circumstance, than by qualifying such persons, to return as instructors to ' their father's house,' even although this instruc- tion should reach no farther in the first instance than a knowledge of letters and the useful arts ? The Bible and all its blessings will necessarily follow. Might not our countrymen take a lesson in this matter from their western brethren, and establish such a school in Britain, where there is a still greater influx of foreigners ? ling of dis- irge degree ■ foreigners, The ex- nerica with )ung men to ;e more hap- :e, than by istructors to ;his instruc- rst instance jseful arts ? necessarily ke a Jesson 3th ren, and ^re there is LETTER VII. »,^ ii' M i r ff LETTER VII. ■'"ttaias^a* PHILADELPHIA SITUATION — EXTEIINAL AND INTERNAL APPEAU- ANCE PUBLIC UTIILDINGS WATER WORKS PENITENTIARY PENNSYLVANIA HOSPITAL — PEALe's AIUSEUil — SKELETON OE THE MAMMOTH — ACADEMY OE THE FINE ARTS LIBRARIES — LITERATURE ENGRAVING UNIVERSITY RELIGIOUS ASPECT QUAKER MEETING HOUSE AND BURYING GROUND — CHURCHES AND SERMONS SABBATH SCHOOLS — NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE CITY JOSEPH BONAPARTE — MOREAU GENERAL VANDAMME WOODEN BRIDGES — PROJECTED IMPROVEMENTS. \ \ Philadelphia, September, 1818. The position of Philadelphia, although not equal to that of New York, is yet well chosen in re- ference to the character of the surrounding country. The city stands upon an isthmus about two miles wide, between the Delaware and tlie Schuylkill, five miles above their confluence, and about an hundred and twenty miles from the sea. Both rivers are navigable up to the city by the largest merchantmen. The Delaware is here about a mile in width; the tide rises and falls about six feet, and vessels of 1200 tons can come up to the wharfs. In severe winters, the com- munication with the sea is still occasionally in- terrupted ; but not so frequently as formerly, nor 186 LETTER VII. PHILADELPHIA. Ibr SO long at one time, and as the surrounding country becomes cleared of its forests the severity of the winters will be still farther mitigated. The course of the two rivers at the city is very nearly north and south, but almost immediately above, they diverge ; the Delaware to the north- east, and the Schuylkill to the north-west, thus materially fiicilitating the commercial communi- cation with the interior of the State, and the adjoining one of New Jersey. The Delaware is navigable by large sloops and steam boats to Trenton, about thirty miles above, and the Schuyl- kill, although above the city con)paratively shallow and disturbed with rapids, is navigable by small vessels and rafts to a considerable distance. A little deepening of this river in some places, and the cutting of short canals from one stream to another, would open a communication for some hundreds of miles into the interior. The ground on which the city stands, is covered with a stratum of fine clay ; the banks of the Schuylkill furnish a plentiful supply of marble, and the country around is rich in timber, so that materials for building are most abundant. The appearance of the city from the river is by no means imposing ; rather the opposite. The ground is generally level, and the mass of buildings present a dull heavy uniformity ; most of those along the bank are by no means elegant, and only a solitary steeple rises above the dense horizon. I LOCAL CHARACTERISTICS. 187 Tlie aspect however improves amazingly when you enter the streets, which are wide, straight, and clean, and, with only one exception, cross each other at right angles. The houses arc in general of painted brick, but some of the more modern have a flight of marble steps in front, and the lintels of the doors and windows, and even the side walk in front, are of the same beautiful materials. When Penn laid out the ground for his city, he intended that it should occupy a parallelogram one mile in width, between the two rivers, and that the buildings should be kept within the parallel lines till the intervening space was filled ; but the inhabitants found that the bank of the Delaware was a more desirable situation than that of the Schuylkill, and in consequence, buildings have stretched along the former river, above and below the assigned boundary, till the city is here about four miles long, while the streets are not compactly built much farther than half way across to the other river. On both banks of the Schuyl- kill however a consideroble number of buildings have been erected. The populous suburb on the Delaware to the south of the original boundary is called Southwark, that to the north the Northern Liberties, and closer to the river Kensington.^ ' The venerable elm under which according to tradition Penn negociated his celebrated treaty with tlie Indians, stood at Kensing- ton ; and the decayed trunk after being spared by tlie British army in the Revolutionary war, and weathering many a hard gale, was at v'fl 1 I • '^1 '1 ».^ ■f! 5! {''l-'' ' 188 LETTER VII. — PinLADELPHI A. hi ' K Market street, 100 feet wide, stretches througii the centre of the city, from the om river to the other ; it is crossed, rather nearer the Schuylkill than midway, by Broad Street, 113 feet wide, and the other streets aie at right angles to one or other of these. The cross streets are from 50 to GO feet wide ; those running parallel to the rivers are, with a quaker-like simplicity, which however aiFords a stranger important facilities m finding his way, named North and South, Front, Second, Third, Fourth, and so on, as they recede from each river; those parallel to Market Street are with more elegance, named after the various kinds of timber with which the ground was formerly covered. Vine, Sassafras, Muiberry, Chesnut, Walnut, Spruce, Pine and Cedar. Water Street, between Front Street and the Delaware, which should have been called Mtid Lane, and the wharfs which project into the stream, are deviations from the original plan of the city. Dock Street, the only crooked one in the city, was originally the bed of a sluggish stream, which generated last levelled a few years ago by a hurricane. Portions of it are now eagerly sought after by relic hunters, to be converted, like the Cruick- . stone Yew and the rafters of Alloway Kirk, into snuff boxes and other toys. I lately tliscovered in an old Baltimore newspaper, what is said to be a copy of Penn's treaty ; it is in the form of an indenture, and the following arc the articles which it specifies as having been given to the Indians, in exchange for the ground between the two rivers, 'as fai- as a man can i.'de in two days with a horse.' "20 guns, 20 fathoms malchcoat, 20 fathoms slroud- f ..THEETS. 189 es through iver to tlie Schuylkill wide, and to one or from 50 to the rivers 1 however in finding ;, Second, :ede from street are ious kinds formerly Chesnut, .er Street, •e, which and the deviations k Street, originally generated »f it are now the CruJck- (f boxes and newspaper, form of an specifies as he ground days with Ills stroiid- noxioiis air, and was a few years ago arched over. Not many wooden liouses are now to be seen in the streets ; the greater part were extirpated by fire,*-, which on different occasions spread dreadful havoc, and since 1796 their erection has been pro- hibited. The side walks are wider, and less en- cumbered than those of New York. Many of them are skirted with Lombardy poplars. In hot weather numerous awnings are stretched along in front of the stores, the footwalks are cooled by frequent ablutions with water, and the atmosphere has a freshness and purity which is very uncommon in so large a city. Market Str^jt which, to correspond with its situation, should have been the most elegant in the city, is disfigured by a long covered piazza in the centi'e, of the plainest possible appearance, under which the venders of meat, fish, poultry, vegetables, fruit, earthen and wooden ware, expose their com- modities for sale ; and on either side are carts and wheelbarrows loaded with additional supplies. water, 20 blankets, 20 kettles, 20 pounds powder, 100 bars lead, 40 tomahawks, 100 knives, 40 pairs stockinctf, 1 barrel beer, 20 pounds red lead, 100 fathoms wampum, 30 glass bottles, 30 pewter spoons, 100 awl blades, 300 tobacco pipes, 100 hands tobacco, 20 tobacco tongs, 20 steels, 300 flints, 30 pairs scissors, 30 combs, GO looking glasses, 200 needles, 1 skipple salt, 30 pounds sugar, 5 gallons molasses, 20 tobacco boxes, 100 Jew's harps, 20 hoes, 30 gimblets, 30 wooden screw boxes, 100 strings of beads." This curious document does not a])))car in Clarkson's life oF Penn. ! ' Rl » I V, 190 LETTER VII. — rniLADELPHIA. Upon tin whole, however, the streets are much superior to tl;e mass of those in New York, although individually, not one of them can be compared with Broadway* nor is there a walk or a prospect equal to what the Battery affords. Some of the public buildings do honour alike to the liberality of the citizens, and to the classical taste of the architects by whom they were de- signed. The banking house of Mr. Girard, pre- sents an elegant front almost entirely of white marble. A lofty Corinthian portico., of fluted columns, rises from a flight of steps to the full height of the building, and corresponding pilasters are extended on both sides. The Bank of Peim- sylvania is a still more perfect structure, and makes a nearer approach to classical models than any that 1 have ever seen. The whole building; including even the roof, is of white marble. Its form is a parallelogram one hundred and twenty- five feet long, and fifty-one feet broad; at each end is a flight of ten steps supporting a chaste Ionic portico of six columns, with an entablature, and pediment. The entablature is carried round the building, but the sides are otherwise plain. Under the porticoes, the Grecian character has been care- fully preserved, and in neither is there any opening but a single door in the centre. This magnificent edifice is said to have been designed from a temple at Athens, and the very remarkable correctness of its principal features, I 1^ PUBLIC BUILDINGS WATER WORKS. 191 are much , altliough )nred with iiect equal ir alike to i classical were de- rard, pre- of white of fluted the full y pilasters of Peim- ture, and dels than building, rble. Its 1 twenty- at each :iste Ionic ture, and ound the Under een care- opening Lve been the very features, combined with the appropriate* and beautiful ma- terial of which it is composed, produce a most pleasing effect on the spectator's mind, and forcibly impress him with the sad inferiority of modern decoration, to the simple elegance of Grecian models. The situation which this noble edifice occupies is low and confined, and materially in- jures its effect. The foundation has just been dug for a building for the Bank of the United States, the front of which is also to be in the purest Grecian style and of white marble.^ None of the other buildings are particularly de- serving of notice. Two imitations of the Gothic l^ave been attempted ; the one a Bank, the other a Masonic Hall. The buildings are necessarily on a small scale, and the fatal incongruity of red brick walls, with white marble buttresses and pinnacles, must strike every one who has seen an ancient Gothic building. Philadelphia is furnished with a copious supply of pure v/^ater, which is conveyed in pipes through- out '\e whole city. This has been found here, as every where else, to be eminently conducive to the health and comfort of the inhabitants, and has materially' aided in lessening the danger of fire, ' This structure has been completed, and is liighly spoken of. The front is a portico of the full height of the builtling, consisting of eight columns of the chastest Doric, rising from a flight of steps and supporting a corresponding entablature and pediment. (1822.) I I • I ■ •'1 V. V it n .11 ! i (1 192 LFTTEIl V r F. — Vin 1 A DELPIl I A. y It I and the prevalence of infectiaiis diseases. In all that respects the virtue of cleanliness, New York would do well to take n from the rival city. The water is raised by the steam engine from the Schuylkill, about twj miles above the city, where the river is nearly a quarter of a mile wide, and about thirty feet deep at low water ; it is then thrown into a capacious reservoir, close by the bank of the river, and 100 feet above its level, where all the grosser particles gravitate, before its distribution by the pipes. No filtration takes place. About 700,00D gallons are raised every twenty-four hours.^ In former times the water after being raised from the Schuylkill, was thrown into a small cistern house at the intersection of Market Street and Broad Street, from which it was distributed into the various street pipes. This cistern house is not now in use, but the building remains, and is ornamental to the street ; it is of a circular form surmounted with a dome, and sur- rounded with gravel walks and trees. Among the public institutions in Philadelphia which a stranger should visit, are the Penitentiary ' Very considerable improvements have been recently made on the Water Works. I'lie steam engine has been superseded by a water wheel, 15 feet in diameter and 15 feet wide, which makes 11 revolutions a minute, and works a pump of 4^ feet stroke, dis- charging its contents 22 times a minute. The quantity of water raised in 24< hours exceeds one million of gallons. Other two wheels of the same size and power will soon be ready for opera- tion. (1822.) 8 at w II II cs. In nil New York rival city. I from the ;ity, where wide, and it is then se by the ; its level, before Its tion takes iscd every the water /as thrown rsection of 1 which it pes. This e building et ; it is of and sur- iladelphia enitentiary made on the ;d by a water makes 1 1 stroke, dis- tity of water Other two y for opera. PENITKNTIAIIV. n>;i and the Pennsylvania Hospital. The first I did not see in conse(juence of having postponed my aj)plication till I had but one forenoon at com- mand, and then the hour of admission diil not suit me. 1 was assured however, that it was in almost every respect similar to that at Boston, which has been already described. One of the managers stated to me that the defects of the pres- ent system are so numerous and apparent, that they intend to erect a new prison, on a scale large enough to admit of almost every inmate being kept in solitary confinement.'* The criminal code of Pennsylvania is merciful to a proverb. Murder ' of the first degree,' that :j, when proved to have resulted from cool and deliberate design, is the only * This design has been carried into effect since my return home, and an attentive correspondent has favoured me witli the followinjf particulars of the construction of the prison. The new Philadelphit. Penitentiary is surrounded by a strong wall SO feft high, en- closing a space of ground 650 feet square ; the entrance gate is fortified with a jiortcullis, and on each side are flanking towers con- taining the keeper's apartments; at the corners are bastions for sentinels. The cells 250 in number and one story liigh, are disposed in a circle, 75 feet from the nearest part of tlie outer wall ; the open ground at the corners is planted with vegetables. The cells look inward with an iron railing in front, and a round observatory for the superintendent, 60 feet in diameter, occuoies the centre of the ground. Each cell measures 10 feet by 12, f nd they are separated from each other by walls rising l to 6 fee: above the roof, and projecting 20 feet in front, capped with stone and armed with iron pikes. A common sewer passes imder the cells. Tliere is no possi- bility of intercourse between 'he prisoners, so that the efficacy of solitary confinement will now uiulergo a fair trial. (1822.) VOL. 1. N ^ I<)1. I.ETTFR VII. — IMIII.ADF.I.I'IIIA. !. capital crime. The Quakers however, have a rooted aversion to return such a verdict, in any cir- cumstances, and a jury is so seldom altogether free from this feeling that capital convictions arc exceedingly rare — it is a common saying here, that it requires more interest to get hanged, than to be made Governor of the State. Pennsylvania Hospital serves at once the several purposes of a Lunatic Asylum, Infirmary, Lying-in and Foundling hospital. The building is large, and although of brick not inelegant ; it stands in the centre of one of the square divisions formed by the crossing of four streets, and the whole of the surrounding space is the property of the insti- tution. In front is a circular grass plot, in the centre of which is a statue of William Penn, with the ' charter of privileges' in his hand — it strikingly resembles his portrait in West's well known paint- ing of his treaty with the Indians. This institution although partially charitable is not altogether so. No patients are admitted gra- tuitously, except those of the poorest classes ; all others pay a regulated board, which varies from about 1 5s. to 45s. sterling a week. There are however a number of out-door patients, who are attended and supplied with medicines gratuitously, at their own houses. Clinical lectures are regularly delivered to students of anatomy, and the fees are devoted to the support of an Anatomi- cal Museum and Library, to which the students 8 PENNSYLVANIA IIOSPITAI. — PEAI.K'n MUSFUM. V.)'i hnvc access. The museum contains many valuable preparations, models, casts, and drawings ; the library consists of about three thousand volumes, and both it and tiie umseum are ra])i(liy increasing. The institution is now possessed of another per- manent source of revenue, in West's splendid paint- ing of " Christ healing the sick in the temple," presented by the venerable Presiilent of the Royal Academy, who is a native of Pennsylvania, as a pledge of his regard for the benevolent institutions of his native country. A small building has been erected Tor exhibiting this picture, and a quarter of a dollar is required for admission.* Peale's Museum is another object of popular in- terest. This is a private collection, and like many similar establishments, contains a good deal that is worth seeing, mingled with many miscellaneous monstrosities which are not worth house-room. My attention was chiefly attracted by the gigantic skeleton of the mammoth or mastodon. A human being shrinks into insignificance beside the bony fabric of this enormous ante- diluvian ; for such we may safely call it, notwith- standing of the fashionable scepticism of those who are in all things too philosophical to accept of ex- * A more recent traveller states that the exlubition of tliis painting " yielded 8000 dollars, ^£1800 sterling, the first year, and 3000 dollars, ^1125 sterling, the second; and it is supposed that it will liereafter afford to the hospital an annual revenue of .£500 sterling." Hotvison's Upper Canada, p. 338. N-2 ' i I If I ti ^ ■ :i 196 LETTER VII. — IMllLADELPIIIA. planations of natural phenomena from the sacred volume. It is not a partial inundation, nor any supposable succession of them, which could have covered the whole earth, to the tops of the loftiest mountains, with the spoils of the sea, and with the remains of animals, some of them altogether mi- known even to historical tradition, and others in- capable now of existing in the regions where their bones are found. The deluge is an explanation of all these wonders, to which the Christian will devoutly and satisfactorily recur, leaving comfort- less infidelity to its own pathless wanderings. The skeleton of the mammoth resembles very much that of the elephant, carrying like it two great tusks in front. The principal difl'erence is found in the grinders ; which in the elephant are flat on the top, with the enamel penetrating the whole ma- terial, but in the mammoth rise into ridges, or processes as anatomists term them, somewhat as in those of the sheep, with the enamel in the form of an outer crust or case, enveloping but not pene- trating the bone. Some naturalists have supposed from this peculiarity that the mammoth was a car- niverous animal ; but a scientific gentleman re- marks to me that this was impossible, as it has like the elephant no front teeth, and its neck is too short and its tusks too long, to have admitted of its holding and devouring its prey as carnivor- ous animals do. He thinks it probable that it lived upon shrubs, and the smaller branches of trees, f ^ .NiiLn ^1^ A. 11 the sacred ion, nor any 1 could have )f the loftiest and with the itogether nn- id others in- is where their I explanation Christian will mm comfort" lerings. isembles very :e it two great nee is found [it are flat on he whole ma- te ridges, or >niewliat as in n the form of >ut not pene- lave supposed >th was a car- entleman re- 3le, as it has id its neck is lave admitted r as carnivor- e that it lived lies of trees, SKELETON OE THE MAMMOTH. 197 for crushing which, the grinders seem to be well adapted. It only occurs to me in reply to this remark, that the enormous trunk of the mammoth may have served to catch and crush the smaller animals, and convey them into the mouth. Con- jecture however in such cases is both unavailing and unimportant; it is sufficient that we have in the existence of these bones unanswerable demon- stration, +hat in earlier times an animal has ex- isted, much more enormous in bulk than the largest that is now known to tread the surface of the globe. This skeleton which is, I believe^ not so large as some others that have been found, is 1 1 feet high over the shoulders, and measures 31 feet from the extremity of the tusks to tho end of the tail, following the curve.^ It was found hi 1801, in " An attentive correspondent has been so kind as to procure and forward me the following additional particulars respecting the skele- ton of the mammoth : fed. Inch. 11 9 Length from the chin to the rump, . . . . 15 From the point of the tasks to tlie tail, following the curve, 31 The same in a straight line, . . . . - Width of the body, Leiiglli of the imder jaw, ..... Width of the head, Length of the thigh bone, ..... Smallest circumference of the same, .... Length of the tibia, ....... Length of the humerus, or large bone of the fore log, fyargest circumference of the same, .... N .-J Height over the shoulders, over the liips. 17 G 5 8 2 10 .3 2 3 7 I G 2 •> 10 3 Siiia Host < 'I i' lltB PI I f •^' .1 198 LETTER VI r. — PHILADELPHIA. a marl pit in the State of New York ; others have been found near the licks, or salt springs, in the State of Ohio. The skeleton is nearly entire, ex- cept in the cartilaginous parts which are supplied by cork. In contemplating the power of so colossal a limb, and the tension of the muscles which must have strung it, an impressive commentary is sug- gested to that singularly beautiful passage in the book of Job, " Behold now Behemoth which I have made with thee ; he eateth grass as an ox ! He moveth his tail like a cedar ; his sinews are wrapped together. His bones are as strong pieces of brass ; his bones are like bars of iron. Behold lie drinketh up a river and hasteth not ; he trust- cth that he can draw up Jordan into his Aiiouth 1" An Academy of the Fine Arts was founded Smallest circumference of the same, . Length of the radius, Circumference round the elbow, Lengtli of the scapula or shoulder-blade, Length of tlie longest vertebra, . Length of the first rib, Length of the longest rib, without cartilage, Length of the breast bone, Length of the great tusks, Circumference of a molaris tooth. Weight of the under jaw, ■ of a tooth, — — — of the whole skeleton, Fnt. Inch. 1 5 2 H 3 8 3 1 2 3 2 4 7 4 10 7 1 H Poumh. Oz. 63i 4 10 1000 lA. ; others have irings, in the 'ly entire, ex- [ are supplied >o colossal a » which must ntary is sug- ssage in the loth which I s as an ox ! is sinews are strong pieces on. Behold iOt; he trust- is Aiiouth !" was founded Feel. Inch, 1 5 2 3 3 2 2 4 10 8 1 3 7 7 1 6x Potinila. Oz. C3i 4. 10 1000 ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS. 199 here in 1805. It was shortly after incorporated by the legislature, and a building was erected with suitable apartments for study and exhibition rooms. One of the apartments contains a few specimens of antique sculpture, and casts of most of the celebrated statues. Among the modern specimens is a bust of Washington by Canova, and one of West by Chan trey. The painting room is more richly stored, and can boast, if the catalogue is correct, of several paintings by the old masters ; among these are three by Titian, one by Raphael, one by Cor- reggio, which is said to have been executed for Charles III. of Spain, and was purchased for £340, three by Rubens, one by Dominichino, one by Te- niers, one by Vandyke, one by Paul Veronese, one by Rembrandt, four by Murillo, and three by Salvator Rosa. These are but a few of the old paintings, and, amongst a crowd of moderns, are some of great merit by native artists, the chief of whom appear to be Allston and Lesslie. From AUston's'^ pencil, is a beautiful picture of the dead man raised to life by touching the bones of the prophet Elisha; ' A writer in the Nortii American Review claims on behalf of lus country the honour of having produced tlie first historical painter of the present day, and tliis rank he assigns to Mr. Allston. ' The modern school of painting,' says he, ' bids fair to flourish among us, and that not i"' ''y from flattering pretty faces and appealing to personal vanity, but in the historic department of the art. We hope we do not go out of our way to pay a compliment to our fellow citizen, who lias now founded upon a series of works, tliat have stood tlie test of English and of American criticism, tl»e reputa- N4 «, 200 LETTEIl VII. — PHILADELPHIA. and by Lesslie is a painting which I thought ex- cellent, exhibiting William of Deloraine unhorsed and wounded by Lord Cranstoun. His goblin attendant has seated himself on the warrior's hel- met, and opened the mysterious book to devour its contents, wliile an airy phantom, like the spirit ot the storm, stretching downwards behind him, extends his arm to prostrate the over-curious imp by the side of the bleeding mosstrooper. Philadelphia possesses a valuable public librarj^^ containing upwards of twenty thousand volumes, and another containing about four thousand. o There is also an Athenaeum, although on a much smaller scale than that of Boston ; it is well sup- plied with British periodical publications, and I have spent several hours in it very agreeably, skim- ming the more interesting portions of the recent journals. In a literary point of view Philadelphia enjoys a respectable rank among American cities, but as yet Boston is far before any other. I v/as not a little surprised to learn by the * Picture of Philadelphia,' tion of being the first liistorical painter living. We should be ghul to have the work of Cammiicini at Rome, or Girard at Paris, or David at Brussels, indicated, that deserves to be preferred to Mr. AUston's Uriel, Jacob's vision, or Jeremiali. In England certainly, lie lias left behind hiin no rival in this Ijranch of his art. ' A\)rlh Jmcrican Review, No. XX. T. p. 181. This is a matter respecting which there will be no doubt a difference of opinion, l)iit if Mr. AUston's pencil so far surpasses in power those of rival artists, by all means let his country and himself enjoy the honour of it. PRINTINCr OFFICES — COLUMBIAN PRESS. 201 liouglit ex- e unhorsed His goblin rrior's hel- : to devour ! the spirit ehind him, urious imp • blic library d volumes, thousand. )n a much > well sup- »ns, and I ably, skim- the recent iia enjoys a but as yet not a little iladelpliia,' should be glatl at Paris, or cferrcd to Mr. land certainly, s art. • Xorth tcr res])ecting in, l)ut if Mr. ival artists, l)y of it. that in 1811 it contained fifty-one printing offices, employing one hundred and fifty-three presses, and I believe that since that period the number has increased. A considerable proportion of these must be supported by newspapers, of which there are no fewer than eight published daily, besides many once, twice, and three times a week ; but after deducting what are necessary for these, there must remain a very respectable number devoted to liter- ature of a more permanent and aspiring kind, Philadelphia has produced the finest and most accurate specimens of typography that have yet appeared in America, and there is a decided su- periority in most of the works printed here, to those executed either in Boston or New York. There are two letter foundries, and several printing- press makers. The Columbian press, invented by a person of the name of Clymer a native of Phi- ladelphia, appears to be in many respects very superior to any other that I have yet seen.^ Many peiiodical works have at various times been published here, some of which are still con- tinued ; and though their success has been in no in- stance equal to that which is at present enjoyed by " Mr. Clymer has subsequently come over to London, and ob- tained a British patent for his press, which has been extensively adopted and is universally approved of. The first of them that came to Scotland has now been at work for four years in our oflice, where wc have presses on six different constructions, but though two or three of the kinds arc excellent, our 'vorkuien consider the Colum- bian as decidedly the best tlicy have ever pulled. (lh:io. ) ^ i \ t:i ;:*! I ' \ ? 202 LETTER VII. — PHILADELPHIA. the North American Review, yet some of them exhibit a large proportion of respectable talent.^ For reprints of the heavier British books, Philadelphia is ' quite famous. The Encyclopaedia Britannica was begun in 1790, by Mr. Dobson, an enterpris- ing countryman of ours. When the first half volume was published, of which 1000 were printed, he had but 246 subscribers; they increased how- ever so rapidly that of volume second 2000 were thrown off; the first waS soon after reprinted, and in a short time he found it extremely difficult to procure a sufficient number of printers and en- gravers, to carry forward the work with sufficient rapidity. Dr. Rees' larger work, and that of Dr. ^;rewster are at present in progress. The Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews are regularly reprinted at New York ; and several of our other popular periodical works in different parts of the Union. It is a mistake to suppose that books are cheaper in America than in Britain. The works of our modern authors, indeed, which at hone are ex- clusive property, loaded with an enormous copy right, and which we can purchase only in the ihape of handsome octavos or more elegant quartos, suf- fer here instantaneous transmutation into an humble ' Tlie Analectic Magazine, published in Philadelphia, was for a considerable time edited by the elegant author of the Sketch Book, and Bracebridge Hall. Some of the papers of tlie former work were first published in tlic Analectic. ne of them talent.^ For Philadelphia Britannica 1 enterpris- e first half ere printed, eased how- 2000 were rinted, and difficult to rs and en- h sufficient id that of cess. The e regularly our other irts of the ire cheaper rks of our 16 are ex- nous copy I the shape artos, suf- an humble lia, was for a Sketch Book, ler work were I LITERATURE — ENGRAVING. 203 duodecimo, occasionally of most plebeian aspect, and for two dollars or less you may obtain the verbal contents of most of the Albemarle Street two guinea volumes ; but in all books of which the copy right has expired, our British editions are superior in execution and accuracy and quite as low in price, as those which are published in America. In historical engraving I have seen no speci- mens of American art which are very superior. Westall's illustrations of our modern poets have nearly all been copied, but there is a harshness in the engraving which contrasts very disad- vantageously with the productions of Heath. In the execution of bank notes, however, Philadel- phia may challenge the world. Messrs. Murray, Draper, Fairman, & Co. have distinguished them- selves by some remarkably ingenious discoveries, which have been applied with singular success to this branch of the art; and their notes, which you meet with in every quarter of the Union, are distinguished by an originality of style and deli- cacy of execution which much surpass those of our native country, and if they do not afford a perfect protection from forgery, must at least ren- der it exceedingly difficult. ^^ '" A more minute account of this inimitable style of engraving might have been ^ven, but that its appearance is no^\■ familiar to all who take any interest in such subjects ; and specimens from tlie London establishment of Messrs. Perkins and Heath, are to be met 1 H"^ Ji if V 1 i .' i (II I' I ii i t^ i ' \li {\ 201 LE ITi: V V 11. — PHI LADKLPJI I A. Phlliidelpliia is the seat of a celebrated College. Tliis institution was begun under the auspices ol" Franklin, and was originally only an academy and charity school. Material alteration* were made at difi'erent periods in its management and regula- tions, and it was incorporated by the legislature of the State, first as the College of Philadelphia, and afterwards on a more extended scale as the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania. Although respectable in other departments, this seminary is most highly celebrated as a medical school, in which respect Philadelphia is regarded as the Edinburgh of the United States. In a religious point of view, Philadelphia though strongly characterised by the peculiarities of its (juaker oi'igin, is not so much so as I had previ- ously imagined. The Friends arc now prodigiously outnumbered by those of other persuasions, and I believe that of themselves many who retain the name of the sect, have laid aside some of the pe- culiarities by which the more rigid are distinguished. This is particularly the case with those of younger years ; — in dress there seems to be a kind of hesitat- ing approximation to conformity with modern taste ; with every day. Its value may be appreciated liy the fact, that none have spoken so highly of it as the best engravers of our native country. The mo?,t curious and most useful part of the discovery, is that process by wliich metal plates of the same design may be multiplied by pressure, to any extent, and with as much facility as iiuprcssionr. are obtained on paper (IB;?'}). V- ^ d College, uspiccs of idcmy :ind •c made at d rcgula-- islature of pliia, and ) the Uni- ectable in 3st highly ;h respect rh of the ia thoiiD'h ;ies of its ad previ- xligiously ns, and I etain tlie f the pe~ nguished. ' younger )f hesitat- ern taste ; le fact, that >f our native ic discovery, ign may be h facility as QUAKER BURYlNd GUOUNl). 2(>.i and there are some individuals to be found, who, though careful in writing to retain the well known formula in date, address, and signature, have no ob- jections in conversation to concede the usual cour- tesies of polite intercourse. Passive obedience and nonresistance have been generally esteemed essen- tial to Quaker principles ; but a considerable party in this city separated from the main body, during the Revolutionary war, in consequence of maintain- ing the propriety of fighting for the national inde- pendence. They still continue to be a distinct class, justifying an appeal to the sword in defence of national rights. I was conducted one afternoon lately, by a Friend of the old school, to see their principal place of worship and burying ground. The meet- ing house is large and very plain, and is divided into two compartments, one for males, the other for females. My conductor remarked that in this house met the largest deliberative society in the world, in which every individual has a vote. This is on occasion of the annual meeting of the Quakers in the United States, when there are generally 1500 persons present, all of whom have an equal right of speech and suffrage. The burying ground, behind the meeting house, is the only one of the kind that I ever saw. The surface was as level as a bowling green, ex- cepting a small portion at one side where a few grassy hillocks indicated the mansions of the dead. 8 m' 1 1 200 LETTER vri. rnil.ADELPniA. My conductor remarked that the Friends lind buried in that ground since tlie days of Penn. The re- surrection of the body, lie said, formed no part of their rehgious belief, and they considered it impro- per to erect any memorial over the departed, as if any part of the man were buried, or to preserve a distinction between the graves of one family and those of another. In accordance with these senti- ments, they begin to inter at one corner of the en- closure ; and go regularly on, digging one grave by the side of the preceding one, till the whole ground has been gone over. The surface is then complete- ly levelled, and a new series of sepulchres begun. All this was new to me, and somewhat revolting. That the society of Friends denied the resurrec- tion of the body, I did not previously know. Neither was I aware that they set themselves to eradicate that principle in our hearts, which leads u« to cling in fondness to the remains of the de- parted object of our affections, and to hallow the spot where the beloved dust reposes. This is far too philosophical for me, and I cannot help thinking offers violence to one of the purest, kindliest sym- pathies of the human heart. It is well to discoun- tenance the laboured, and very frequently fabulous eulogies, with which tomb-stones are so profusely bedaubed ; but to plough down the field, and leave it like the sand on the sea-shore devoid of trace or memorial — to put it out of my power to say ' my friend lies there,' is to lacerate feelings ' t QUAKER MEETING HOUSE. 207 wbicli have l)cen cherished and honoured in all ages, by all, even the best of men. " Wht re thou diest, I will die, and there will I be buried !" " Why trouble ye the woman ?" said the blessed Jesus, " she hath wrought a good work upon me ; for in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial." What can suggest a more excjuisitely touching picture of a bleeding heart, than these affecting words, " She is gone to the grave to weep there !" All this must be un- intelligible to a Quaker, if he is really consistent in his professed belief. I attended at the meeting house one sabbath af- ternoon, to see their mode of worship ; the only occasion on which 1 ever did so. The meeting did not continue longer than an hour, and the worship was certainly in the highest sense of the word intellectual, for not an individual opened his mouth. Some wore their hats, others put them olF, and the aspect of many by no means betoken- ed any great degree of mental abstraction. Of the principles of the majority of the sect, I have been able to learn very little ; indeed it would not be easy to ascertain exactly their confession of faith. I have met with individuals who maintained very decidedly the essential doctrines of evangeli- cal religion, but I also found others whose senti- ments seemed to approach very nearly to infidelity. Their almost total neglect of public instruction must necessarily occasion, among those who think I I i m V' ill ^' f {T * !' % tiOH I.F.TI'KIl VII.— I'lllI.ADF.LIMIIA. 1 , I '! ■ I ! ■ 1 M' nt all, a «;reat (livcrsity of sentiincnt ii|><)n specula- tive subjects. Tlieir l)eiicvc)lence and philanthropy', liowever, are as conspicuous here as every where else ; the early and most successful managers of tlie IV'nitentiary were principally Quakers, and a gen- tleman of the same body was i)ointed out to me, who is one of the most efficient managers of the Pennsylvania Hospital. The whole civilized world owe a debt of gratitude to the Quakers, for their long and unwearied labours in the cause of general philanthropy; — and if slavery is to be abolished in this country, it will probably be effected through their instrumentality. There are altogether nearly sixty places of wor- ship ^^ in Philadelphia ; including most of the usual denominations, with some of German origin unknown in Scotland. During the few sabbaths " An attentive correspondent, whose kindness I imvc already had occasion to acknowled-jtc, lias transmitted tlie following enumeration •if the churches and clirjiels in rhiladel|)hia, as tlay stood in .Tune 1822. J 2 Presbyterian, under the General Assembly, including one for Africans, and one building; — 'J Methodist, including four for Africans ;— 9 Episcopalian, including one for Africans, and two building ;— G Baptist, including one for Africans ; — 5 Quakers, in- cluding one of Free Quakers, and one building; — 4 Romish; — 2 Reforn ed Dutch ; — 2 German Calvinists, in one of which service is conducted in the German language ; — 2 German Lutherans, one also adliering to the vernacular tongue ;— 1 Associate Reformed ;— 1 Reformed Presbj-terian, or Covenanters ; — 1 Swedish Lutheran ;— 1 Moravian; — 2 Universalist, including one building; — 1 Socin- ian ; — 1 New .Jerusalem ; — and 2 ./ewish Syuagogues. Total 63, in- cluding five building. )ii spcculji- liliintlirop}', very where iirers of tlie niul a gen- )ut to nu', rers of tlio ilized world s, for tlieir 3 of general ibolished in ed through :es of wor- )f the usual lan origin V sabbaths re already had g enumoration stood ill Junu bly, including including tour icans, and two ) Quakers, in- Iloniish ;— 2 which service jiitherans, one Reformed ; — 1 Lutlieran ;— ig ;— -1 Socin- Total 03, in- sehmons. 209 which I have spent here, I can of course have lieard but a small mimber of their preachers and shall be brief in. my account of them. In one of the Presbytorian churches I have been four times present. The clergyman who ofli- ciates here is rather advanced in life, of a sedate and intelligent countenance, and a spare habit of body. He possesses a considerable command of language, and in prayer much felicity of expres- sion ; he has scarcely any action, his voice is rather weak and his enunciation slow, yet earnest and impressive. He exhibits an intimate acquaintance wilh the Bible, a strong conviction of the impor- tance of its truths, and a lively desire to impart in- struction. On one of the occasions referred to, he lectured on the concluding verses of the ninth chapter of the Gospel by John, in connexion with the commencement of the tenth, and stated with much simplicity the grand doctrine of the atone- ment. At another time he delivered a very judi- cious discourse on the work of the Holy Spirit, and continued the illustration of the same subject, in the form of a lecture on the parable of the sower, as recorded by Mark. From the parable of the mustard seed, he discoursed on the progress of the gospel in heathen countries, and the approach of that time, when * incense and a pure offering,' should be offered to the Lord Jesus, from the ris- ing to the setting of the sun. In the Associate Reformed, or Antiburgher VOL. I. o 210 LETTER VII. — riIlLADEI,riIIA. ti ' yy I church, I lieaid an old fashioned but very good sermon, from one of our own countrymen. The service on this occasion, carried me in mind com- pletely across the Atlantic. We had a Scotish minister, a Scotish precentor,^^ and a Scotish con- gregation ; the discourse was delivered with a strong national accent, the psalms were of the ver- sion wliich is in common use at home, and were sung to some of our well known old fashioned tunes. Such a combination of circumstances, brings the recollections of * auld lang syne' into power- ful excitement; and the wandering Caledonian who could be present without a glow of kindly feel- ing to the whole assembly, must be fashioned of most unusual materials. At a Baptist congregation I heard a discourse from a young divine, who there was much reason to fear had made a very unsuitable choice of a pro- fession. He was however only a temporary oc- cupant of the pulpit. The regular pastor, whom I afterwards heard, is a man of good talents and so far as I could judge correct doctrinal sentiments, but there was a degree of mannerism in his reading and speaking, which strongly recalled certain lines of Cowper's which I shall forbear to quote. I heard him lecture on the first and second chapters of Ezra, when he illustrated the historical narra- tive in a very histructive manner; he afterwards ^ I " Anglice, Clerk. 8 t very good ^nien. The mind com- d a Scotish Scotish con- jred with a 3 of the ver- e, and were Id fashioned inces, brings into power- Caledonian f kindly feel- fashioned of a discourse ch reason to e of a pro- iiporary oc- istor, whom ilents and so sentiments, 1 his reading- certain lines ;o quote. I Dud chapters )rical narra- afterwards I :' SABBATH SCHOOLS. 211 expounded with great success those most important words, * If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.' I wished very much to have heard one of the African preachers who is highly spoken of, but for want of a proper guide I foiled in my attempt to find his church. I have visited two Sabbath schools in Philadel- phia. One of these meets between sermons, and is devoted to instruction in readins. The other as- sembles in the e- ening, and is devoted entirely to religious instruction. In the course of my wander- ings in the United States, I met with no Sabbath school excepting this and the one at New Haven which at all resembled the Scotish ones. The scholars in this are chiefly of females; they are divided into several classes, two of which are taught by ladies, and the others by young men. The prin- cipal deficiency that I observed in the management was the allowing each scholar to please herself, both as to the passage which she prepared, and as to the length of it. Experience proves that this system is essentially prejudicial to the improvement of the scholars, who should all have a prescribed exercise, and so far as possible the same one. A considerable degree of attention and diligence was apparent among the scholars; though as in all American schools, rather more latitude of speech and behaviour prevailed among them than is alto- gether beneficial. Philadelphia I should be inclined to think, is o 2 hl\i h' r! 11 212 LETTER VII. — PIIILADELrilJA. scarcely so cheerful a place of residence as New York. Whether I may have been led to this opinion from having spent a shorter time in it, or from the greater prevalence of Quaker manners, or from some other accidental cause, I shall not pretend to determine. The surrounding country is very beautiful, and there are many pleasant villas and flourishing little towns upon the banks of both rivers. At Bordentown, twenty-six miles above the city on the west bank of the Delaware, is the seat of the ex-King of Spain, Joseph Bonaparte, who has assumed the title of Count de Survilliers. I saw his house,^^ as the steam boat passed down the river, rising on the brow of a hill surrounded on all sides with a dense forest of pines. The view ) e.^l '^ This house has since I left America fallen a prey to fire, and some valuable pictures and statues perished in the flames. The in- habitants of the neighbouring village having been very active in at- tempting to save the costly furniture, the Count shortly after addressed a letter of thanka to tliem through the newspapers. The ex- King however was in novel circumstances in addressing his republican neighbours, and liis letter as might have been expected, partook more of the gracious style of the sovereign than the grateful tone of the citizen. He assured them with some degree of pomposity that he regarded the scupulous honesty and undaunted courage which liad characterized their exertions, as proofs that the inhabitants of Borden- town ' properly appreciated the interest which he had always felt for them.' A somewliat saucy reply speedily appeared in which the Count was informed that they held his benignant smiles very cheap, and that in giving hi .1 their assistance during the fire, they were actuated by the common nnpulses of humanity and nothing more. 8 hKi /iilli : 1 1 II r, Rlf [ hU i 1 r H ■ r IfT 1 ' .?MikJi»:«h^ b % lice as New led to this ime in it, or er manners, I shall not ling country leasant villas anks of both bove the city the seat of rte, who has Hers. I saw 2d down the irrounded on . The view prey to fire, and flames. The in- very active in at- ;]y after addressed The ex- King his republican xpected, partook e grateful tone of pomposity that he jurage which had itants of Borden- hatl always felt ired in which the miles very cheap, '. fire, they were nothing more. JOSEPH BONAPARTE MOREAU — VANDAMME. 213 from the windows must be very commanding, and as he surveys it, what a contrast of ideas liTdst crowd upon his mind ! Paris — Madrid — the banks of the Delaware ; — the brother of Napoleon — the King of Spain — the obscure American re- cluse ! How singularly happy may be the evening of his eventful life, if in the stillness of this retire- ment, he should be led rightly to meditate on that futurity where an existence awaits him more glori- ous or more dreadful than all that he has yet known. At Trenton, four miles above Bordentown, was the seat of General Moreau, while in this country. His stables are seen close by the road. On the banks of the Schuylkill General Vandamme, an- other conspicuous name in the annals of recent events, has a verv fine villa. He has had the good sense to withdraw from European broils, but if one half of what has been told of him be true, he merited a very different termination to his history. There are several very large wooden bridges across the Schuylkill, in the neighbourhood of Phi- ladelphia. Most of them have three arches, but near the water works there is one of a single arch, 310 feet 9 inches in span. Tiic river is here forty feet deep, and the sinking of piers would have been a hopeless undertaking. This bridge, like most others in this country, is roofed over and closed in at the sides, with small openings like win- dows for the admission of light. The roof is use- 03 W •4 h4 ■ r - 211. LETTER VII. — PHILADELPHIA. ^' i ! n ^i ful not only in preserving tlie bridge fvoni the influence of the vv^eather, but also in compact- ing the fabric, but it gives the bridge a heavy look without and a gloomy appearance within. These roofed bridges exhibit a style of architecture which is unknown in our native country. Over- head a massy frame work binds the whole edifice together ; sometimes immense hoops bending from beam to beam suspend the various arches, each hoop composed of six or eight enormous planks laid sur- face to surface and bound together by iron bolts ; in others the floor is suspended by massy chains or iron rods, descending from upright beams. Strong however as these bridges appear to be, the au- tumnal floods and the breaking up of the ice in spring are frequently fatal to them ; in the month of May last 1 was ferried across two rivers, close by the ruins of extensive bridges which had been recently swept away. Two unsuccessful attempts have been made by the citizens of Philadelphia to cut a canal between the Schuylkill and the Susqueharma; with the in- tention of gradually completing a water communi- cation between the Delaware and the great western lakes. In these abortive efforts upwards of fifty thousand pounds sterling have been fruitlessly expended. The failure however seems to have arisen rather from mismanagement, tlan from any impracticability in the scheme. The example of New York has given a new stimulus to canal enter- 3 from llie 1 compact- re a heavy ice within, irchitecture ;ry. Over- lole edifice mding from !, each hoop ks laid sur- iron bolts; ;y chains or ns. Strong 36, the au- f the ice in the month •ivers, close h had been n made by Qal between i^ith the in- • communi- •eat western irds of fifty I fruitlessly ns to have in from any example of canal enter- PROJECTED IMPROVEMENTS. 215 prize, and probably future travellers may have to commemorate that the State of Pennsylvania has been equally successful. Baltimore has good reason to deprecate such a result, as It would most pro- bably divert to the Delaware much of the inland and foreign trade which at present flows into the Chesapeake. I> ' l; i»i V A » 1 1 ' 1 ) Stutc of Rfarylnnd :« LETTER VIII. JIALTlMOni; — STREETS AND I'UBLIO liUILUINGS— llOMISII «'ATIIi:- DUAL — SG-.NIAN CHAPEL — WASHINGTON'S MONUMENT — BATTLE MONUMENT EOIIT m'hENDUY — DOMBARUMENT — fell's POINT miVATEEU SOIIOONEBS — DEATH OV GENERAL ROSS — AIILITARY REVIEW EXECUTION — PENITENTIARY — HOSPITAL — COLLEGES — LANCASTERIAN SCHOOL — FLOUR MILL REPUBLICAN CONTEST FOR SHERIFFALTY CHURCHES — SERMONS — SABBATH SCHOOLS — HOSPITALITY OF THE INHAlll- TANTS. Baltimore, September, 1818. Baltimore is built at the top of a small bay in the river Patapsco, near its entrance into the Chesapeake, and consists of two portions, nearly a mile asunder; the upper of which is properly speaking the town, and the lower called Fell's Point is the harbour. The water comes up to the town but it is shallow and in general none but coasters go past the Point. The bay is formed and protected by a peninsular tongue of land which stretches downwards into the river; the entrance is narrow and is completely commanded by a fort, which sustained a heavy bombardment during last war. The town is built with considerable regularity, upon portions of three hills and their intervCinhig 1,1 I. \ < i, p 220 LETTER VIII. — BALTIMORE. valleys ; many of the streets cross each other at right angles, and they arc in general spacious and well paved. A large proportion of the buildings are of brick ; the more ancient, in consequence of inatten- tion to painting, have rather a gloomy aspect, but the modern ones resemble in every respect those of New York and Philadelphia. In public buildings Baltimore aspires to dis- tinction, but some of the most considerable are as yet only in progress. A massy brick edifice which is intended for an Exchange has been roofed in ; externally it is remarkable for dimen- sions rather than elegance, and of its internal appearance I can say nothing. Two new churches are going forward, the one destined to be a Romish Cathedral the other a Socinian Chapel. They stand very near each other, rather above the city, and as yet a considerable space is open around them. The style of the respective buildings strikes me as somewhat appropriate to the system which it has been erected to support. The Cathedral is built of dark coloured stone in the form of a cross, with a dome over the centre, but the length is not nearly so great as in our ancient churches ; the walls and roof are finished and a shoal of Irish labourers are busied on the interior. It is rather singular that they have not attempted the Gothic in this building ; probably the great expense of that style may have been the cause of the Roman Doric being preferred. The f !' W *.*»fc._ PUBLIC HUH, DINGS. 221 cr at right and well nf a difficult le American m with diffi- ind have no it give them ck of earth, :e, and the the work of destruction with a deliberate certainty of aim, which is disastrous in the last degree to the battalions of the enemy. It is not known who killed General Ross ; common report attributes the effective shot to some one of a few lads who were postetl behind a bush, but one of the most opulent citizens, a Scotsman by birth, who with the rest shouldered his musket on the occasion, tells me on the author- ity of the general who commanded, that no reliance can be placed on that report. This imp /itant event took place on the twelfth of September, ana 1 was the other day present at a review, which annually commemorates the successful defence of the town. As I am no way skilled in military tactics, I cannot pretend to cri- ticise the evolutions which I saw. The young- men belonging to the town wear in general a blue uniform, and make a creditable appearance; the country militia wear no uniform at all, and have a very tag-rag -and-bobtail kind of aspect. The day was excessively hot, and some of them marched to the field in their shirt sleeves, where blackened with dust, perspiration and powder, they presented a somewhat ferocious appearance. A small body of sharpshooters were on the field in a dark grey uni- form, which had a remarkably neat ajjpearance; we are accustomed to green for this description of troops, but I doubt whether the grey will not in general answer the purpose of obscurity and con- cealment fully as well. On the flanks were sta- rs f > .J ,; 230 LETTER VIII. BALTIMORE. Ik' 4- tioned some companies of artillery, at right angles to the main line ; and the contrast which different battalions exhibited was no where more conspicuous than among them. I was highly amused with a corps of old fellows who strongly reminded me of the Edinburgh city guard, while it was yet in being; they wore long tailed coats and cocked hats, and their hair was larded with pomatum and powder. The working of their guns was a serious business ; there was a sad chasing of each other for a cartridge, much prompting and directing about thrusting it in, and to fire and sponge were works of undisguised danger and difficulty. An unfortunate position made their awkwardness still more conspicuous, for close beside them were posted the ' Independent Blues,' a body of trimly dressed, active young fellows, who handled the rammer and the linstock with exemplary dexterity, and if the rules of good breeding and military discipline had not prevented them, would have fired at least two shots for one of the venerables' beside them. The troops paraded at ten o'clock in the morning, and did not leave the ground till four in the afternoon ; they had an hour's interval however at noon, and there were on the ground numerous itinerant venders of peaches, pastry, and soda water. I witnessed since my arrival here, a spectacle of a different kind, and one that is more rarely seen in the United States, the execution of two men for U '"fc^JS directing riffht anjrles ch different conspicuous used with a inded me oF was yet in and cocked omatum and i^as a serious ■ each other id sponge were liculty. An v^ardness still them were dy of trimly handled the ry dexterity, md military would have e venerables' ten o'clock e ground till )ur's interval the ground , pastry, and spectacle of e rarely seen two men for EXECUTION. 231 mail-robbery. Flagrant as this offence is esteemed among us it is not a capital crime here, unless when accomplished by the aid of deadly weapons, or with such a show of violence as may put those who travel with the mail in fear of their lives. In the present instance the lives of the driver and passengers had been threatened, and as the per- petrators were old and notorious offenders, the law was allowed to take its course.^ Baltimore prison is built on a sloping ground rather out of town, and has a large open court yard, every part of which is well seen from different parts of the rising ground which environ the city. The gallows was erected within the yard and the hills around were covered with spectators. I am no frequenter of such scenes, yet I was desirous of witnessing the effect of so unusual and tragic an occurrence on an American assembly. On reaching ' Robbery of the mail is very frequent in the United States ; yet all tilings rjnsidered, not so much so as might be expected. Re- mittances from one part of the Union to another, even of large sums, are generally made by transmitting bank notes in letters by tha Post Office ; scarcely a mail bag is made up for any of the larger cities, wliich does not contain in tliis way large sums of money. The mail is totally improtccted ; tliere is no guard, and the driver carries no arms. In the more frequented roads the bag is now carried in a kind of boot under the driver's seat, but in the country it is tossed carelessly into the bottom of the stage waggon, to annoy with trunks and portmanteaus the feet of the passengers. On one occasion while travelling in one of these vehicles, I observed a cut in the bag beside me, large enough to admit a man's hand. 1' I % '• if 232 LETTEK VIII. — KALTIMOIIE. '\i'\ i \> hi :T ■\\\ tlie brow oi* one of tlie hills, soon after the unhappy men had been turned off, I found every command- ing position covered with spectators. The multitude seemed to differ from what a similar catastrophe calls forth at home, chiefly in the superior respecta- bility of their appearance. There were plenty of all classes, but a decidedly large proportion were well dressed, and females of various ages, and ap- parently all conditions, were not wanting. It was manifest that curiosity is quite as active a principle here as at home; and that an American crowd as well as a British one is powerfully influenced by that singular characteristic of our nature, a fond- ness for tragic spectacles. The distance at which 1 and those around me stood, prevented us from seeing very plainly the more minute circumstances of the work of death, but the general aspect of the * gallows tree' did not, it was obvious, excite very keen feelings of commiseration for the suffer- ers; the spectators gazed towards the fatal spot, pretty much as they would have done had it been an eclipse of the moon or a house on fire.* I had in my pocket a small perspective glass, which I offered to two young ladies who happened to stand near me ; they seemed quite pleased with the accommodation, and continued to use it al- ternately till the whole of the melancholy scene ' A fair ' Englishwoman' sketches a remarkably diflerent picture of an American execution ; perhaps the variation in our stories may have arisen from her never having seen one. 8 PENITENTIARY HOSPITAL. 233 le unhappy command- e multitude catastrophe )r respecta- j plenty of )rtion were 3S, and ap- It was a principle 1 crowd as uenced by ire, a fond- 3 at which d us from cum stances I aspect of ous, excite the suffer- fatal spot, ad it been •e.* I had i, which I ppened to sased with use it al- loly scene ffbrcnt picture Lir stories may was over. The bodies on being cut down were immediately buried in the corner of the prison yard. A visit to the Penitentiary of Baltimore, has suggested no remark upon the system which 1 have not already made. The condition of the prisoners is perfectly comfortable, and to judge from their appearance you would suppose them quite contented with it ; they show to visitors the various articles of manufacture in which they are employed, and explain the steps in the process with as much willingness as ordinary workmen, and with- out any symptoms of shame that they should be found in such a place. There are at present about 360 prisoners, two of whom are Scotsmen ; a third died a few days ago. The keeper informed me that one of them evinced a strong desire to save his country the disgrace connected with his delin- quency, for when first examined he called himself a native of North Carolina. The Hospital is a large building a short way out of town, and is said to be under excellent manage- ment. A splendid collection of anatomical models in wax is exhibited in it, at the charge of a dollar for each visitor ; the admission price is high, but it is in fact a contribution to the funds of the in- stitution, and is therefore cheerfully paid. The nature of the figures is not such as to invite a minute description of them, but they appear to be very beautifully executed. 'fi I I ' 11 I • I \m [I* ':t 231 LETTER VIII. — BALTIMORE. The State of Maryland has all along been dis- tinguished by a sedulous atteu >n to the advance- ment of learning; and for sevoi.d years consider- able sums of money have been annually voted by the legislature for the support of schools and col- leges. In all these appropriations it is an express and honourable stipulation that no distinction shall be made in favour of any religious sect, but that both the management and the benefit of the insti- tutions shall be free to persons of every denomina- tion. In 1807 a Medical College was founded here, and in 1812 its charter was extended so as to embrace the other departments of science and literature; it then received the appellation of the University of Maryland. As yet the medical de- partment is the only one vi^hich has been brought into operation. There is also an older College, called St. Mary's, which though a Romish estab- lishment, is said to have educated some of the first literary men in the United States ; it was not em- powered to confer literary Degrees till 1805. It is mentioned as a proof of the liberality of the con- ductors, that no religious test is required at this institution, either for admission or for a degree ; but probably not the less danger is to be appre- hended from this circumstance. Timeo Danaos ci dona ferentes. Voluntarily to prevent Protestants from coming under their influence, was never the system of Papists ; it is much more characteristic of their policy to receive with professions of liber- »"3Mk*.j EDUCATION FLOUR MILL. 2sr} g been dis- he tulvance- s coiisider- y voted by Is and col- an express notion shall ;t, but that of the insti- y denomina- ms founded ended so as science and ation of the medical de- 2en brought ler College, mish estab- 2 of the first vas not em- 1805. It is of the con- lired at this ' a degree ; ) be appre- 7 Daiiaos cL Protestants s never the liaracteristic ns of liber- ality all who offer, and then to put in operation their proselyting skill;^' A school is conducted here on the Lancasterian plan, which contains about three luindred children. I thought on visiting it, that the teacher's manner to his pupils, was most unnecessarily harsh and repulsive ; and, although their proficiency appeared to be creditable, that more might be effected by one who knew how to conciliate the affections of those over whom he ruled. I understand that a change is not improbable, for the pedagogue is discontented with the amount of his salary, al- though it is equal to that of a Professor in most of the colleges. ® Baltimore is celebrated for the fineness of its flour ; the superiority of which arises from the per- fection at which they have arrived in the machinery by which it is manufactured. I have recently visit- ed a mill driven by steam, in which manual labour is so completely excluded, that the sailor who de- livers the grain at the wharf is the last person who applies his hand to it, till it descends into the bar- rel in the shape of superfine flour. It is difficult to convey a proper idea of machinery without the aid of drawings, but I trust you will be able to * For farther information respecting the state of education in iMaryland, and other parts of the United States, the Reader is re- lerred to an article in the North American Review, No. XXX F 1 1. " The individual alluded to left Rultimore soon Jii'ter my last visit to it. i ■I \t ■ a3(J LETxrii vnr. — uai/iimoiik. i^ coiuprclicnd tlie follovviiiir nide oullinc of the pro- cess. A covered tnuigh which projects from the mill to the edge of tlie wharf, receives tlie grain as it is emi>tied from the vessel ; within tins trough is an axle revolving longitudinally, around which are thin j)ieccs of wood projecting into the trough, and continued along in a spiral line. As the revolution of the screw of Archimedes raises water, so this axle by revolving among the grain forces it back- ward in a regular current from the wharf to the mill. The grain on reaching the inner end of this trough is received into a succession of little tin buckets, which are strung upon an endless belt revolving upon two wheels, the higher of which is in the garret floor. As these buckets turn over the upper wheel they empty their contents into a box, from which the grain is conveyed to the fanners, where it is thoroughly cleaned. From the fanners it is conducted into the hoppers, in the floor below ; here eight jiairs of stones are kept constantly at work. From the stones the flour descends iMto a long wooden trough, similar to that into which the grain was first thrown ; and another spiral screw, revolving here, urges it gradually forward to an- other series of buckets, which carry it to an upper story, and discharge it imder a machine for cool- ing it. This consists of a spindle revolving perpen- dicularly, with a horizontal shaft crossing it near the floor, in the under part of which are teeth formed of thin slips of wood, which nearly touch fOAFPETITfON FOll slimiri'AI.TY. a37 ol the pro- L'ts from tlh; the grain ns is trough is A which jirc trougli, aiul revolution ter, so this ct's it back- f to the mill, this trough tin buckets, t revolving 1 is in tlie n over the into a box, -he fanners, the fanners loor below ; >nstantly at ends i'lto a 3 wliich the liral screw, 'arcl to an- ;o an uj^per e for cooi- ng perpen- ng it near are teeth jarly touch the floor, and which are so disposed in ri'lalion lo each other, that while they stir the flour round, they at the same time convey it inwards to the centre. The flour is thus spread thinly over the floor, and as the teeth revolve among it, it de- scribes circles surcessivelv smaller and smaller, un- til it falls through an opening into the bolting ma- chines in the story below. Here are three bolting cylinders, producing the various degrees of common, fine, anil superfine flour ; and from them it is final- ly received into barrels, leady for inspection and shipping. This mill manufactures with ease a thousand bushels a day; and the flour which it produces, always commands an advance on the average market price. The essentially republican constitntion of this country, is daily forced upon a stranger's observa- tion in various ways. At present a vigorous com- petition is going forward in this city, for the oflice of Sheriff; — I copy the following advertisements from the newspapers : — " SHERIFFALTY. " Samuel Merryman offers himself to his fellow citizens as a can- didate for the office of Sheriff', for Baltimore city and county, at tlie ensuing election. Having been employed as deputy Sheriff', by William Merryman and John Chalmers, Es of Hosea, ; but in me faithful and to recollect ere, and in eluding the le members prayer the inister then ; a second renounced. I heard in ret to say, tement that " there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved," but the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The preacher virtually set aside the doctrines of original depravity, regeneration and atonement ; not indeed by in so many words denying them, but by inculcating senti- ments which were utterly subversive of their belief. The pastor of the church in connexion with the Associate Synod, I have heard several times with much pleasure. " If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me," was selected as a text, from which he successfully refuted the reasonings of those who make mere morality, and personal re- formation, the ground of a sinner's hope. On a commun' m Sabbath he illustrated, from the words in the Song, " I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine," the intimate and endearing connexion which exists between Christ and his church, and the consequent obligation under which every mem- ber of it is placed, to exhibit in all his conduct the influence of that spiritual union, without which he is altofijether dead. The number of church mem- bers is not very great ; a row of tables was placed down the centre passage, and they were only twice filled. Those who first sat down were addressed by the pastor, who then seated himself as a com- municant at the second distribution, at which an- other minister presided. At the Baptist church I have been once present. Tlie pastor is a native of France, who speaks the Q3 I I i !fi^ I. •It 11: 216 LETTER VIII. — BALTIMORE. UK ' < I » ; I English laiigujigc with tolerabk" correctness, but ii\j' without a considerable tinge of his vernacular idiom and pronunciation. He selected as his text, ** This child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel ;" and if his discourse was not characterized by any great degree of talent, it was as I thought scriptural in doctrine. The Cameronian or Reformed Presbyterian cong""Tptio.a is a small one, but a young and zealoL im . ter of very considerable talent has been recently , 'pointed over it, under whom it is not improbable that the number will increase. Sabbath schools have been in operation in Balti- more for some time, but the inhabitants have not yet fully learned to appreciate their value. The teachers tell me that they find considerable diffi- culty in persuading the children to attend regu- larly, and too frequently the parents, when spoken to on the subject, show by their answers that they almost consider it a favour to the teachers to allow their children to be taught by them ! I was sorry to observe however in a school which I visited, that even some of the teachers were frequently either late or absent ; so long as this lukewarmness exists among them, it is in vain to expect punctuality in the scholars. The Sabbath is upon the whole decorously observed in Baltimore, yet I have seen black girls sitting ill the evening at Washington's monument / 1 rectness, but is veniacular icted as his I rising again urse was not alent, it was Presbyterian young and e talent has ' whom it is icrease. tion in Balti- nts have not value. The lerable diffi- attend regu- vhen spoken rs that they lers to allow I was sorry ' visited, that lently either mness exists punctuality decorously black girls 5 monument HOSPITALITY OF THK INIIAIUTANTS. 24.7 selling peaches, and it was but too obvious that they were not without customers. If I may judge from my own experience, the natives of Baltimore are exceedingly kind and hos- pitable to strangers. I met almost every where with an open-hearted warmth of reception which is exceedingly gratifying. Q l \^' V LETTER IX. 1 1 i 'rll I L < REFERENCES. A Capitol. H I'lUBideiit's Houiti-. V Navy Yard. I) Wooden Bridgi' nearly a mile long v-t LETTER IX. WASniNOTON — SITUATION PLAN APrrAUANCK TIIIER CnEMK — i.APiTof. — pui;hii)i;nt's uoirsi: — impolicy ok mniNiNc; tiii: PunLn: mni.DiNc.s — i.iniiAiiY — mouki.s oi' the patent ofkici; PATENTS COPYUUIIIT LAW NAVY YAIII) — NAVAL MONU- MENT SENATE — HOUSE OE UEPUE8ENTATIVES — USAGES OE THE AMEUICAN <;oNOHESS ANiniHITISH PARLIAMENT SUPREME COURT OE THE UNITED STATES — TRUMBULL's PAINTING OE THE DECLARATION OE INDEPENDENCE — CHURCHES. Washington^ Septetubcr, 1818. I HAVE now the honour of addressing you from the metropolis of the United States. It is common here to call Washington * the city in the woods,' I was therefore somewhat surprised to find that there is little or no wood near it. The aspect of the city indeed would have been much improved by a few trees, to fill up the vacancies, and thus afford something for the eye to rest upon between one group of buildings and another. The soil liowever is poor, and the probability is that there has never been much timber on this spot ; I have noticed none of the stumps which are usually left when the forests are felled. The po ition which was selected for the Federal city, is a point of land embraced by the forking of the river Potowinak, about one hundred and H n ! '■•I I m m ■ i '1 1 1 Mil ■■' ■' I !'■ ! IS \ 252 LETTER IX. WASHINGTON. twenty miles from its junction with tlie Chesapeake., and about two hundred and fifty miles from the sea. The principal branch of the river flows down upon the west, and unites with the smaller one from tlie eastward in front of the city. Ships of war of the largest size can float in safety three or four miles above the junction of the streams. It was expected that tliis situation would have been found particularly ft. vourable to commercial enter- prize, and consequeudy that the population would rapidly increase; hitherto however these hopes have not been realized. G eorgetown, about a mile above upon the principal branch of the rivei*, monopo- lizes the inland trade, and Alexandria seven miles below intercepts the foreign ; while the barrenness of the surrounding country is discouraging to settlers. The prosperity of Washinr^ton therefore seems to be in a great measure dependent on its advantages as the seat of government, and these in a new go- vernment, economical even to penuriousness in the salaries of its public officers, cannot as yet be very important. Great however or trifling as they may be, the city did not till very lately enter upon the fall en- joyment of them. Great doubts were entertained whether it was to continue to enjoy the presence of the chief magistrate, and supreme legislature ; and capitalists felt no inclination to invest their money in property which was not otherwise valuable, and which might therefore be suddenly and irretrievably kter- Chcsapciiko., es from the ' flows down smaller one \ Ships of fety three or streams. It have been ?rcial enter- ation would I hopes have L mile above :r, nioiiopo- seven miles arrcnness of ; to settlers, pe seems to advantages 1 a new fro- ness in the et be very ay be, the le fall en- mtertained )resence of iture; and eir money lable, and I'etrievably SITUATION AND APPEARANCE OF THE CITY. 253 depreciated. But what the natives were at a loss to decide, the British may be said to have decided for them. The burning of the Capitol and the President's house during last war, has settled the question, and it seems to be now ascertained to the satisfaction of speculators, that Washington is to continue, at least for a considerable time to come, in the undisturbed enjoyment of her metro- politan privileges. How an event so disastrous should lead to consequences so propitious, may seem to be in some measure a paradox, but it is one of easy explanation. • When the rebuilding of these edifices came to be the subject of deliberation in Congress, the question as to the removal of the seat of the legislature was necessarily discussed ; na- tional feeling however co-operated powerfully with other considerations to influence the decision, the proposal was at once scouted, and the requisite amount was enthusiastically voted to efface the memorials of British triumph. Preparations were instantly made to rebuild the Capitol and Presi- dent's house with more than their original splen- dour, the value of building ground and of houses took an immediate start, and Washington now exhibits abundant proof of the enterprize and elasticity of the national character. The original plan of the city was on a most ex- tensive scale. A parallelogram more than four miles and a half long, and two miles broad, was regularly divided into streets, avenues, and squares. i| I .i ::i 254 LETTER IX. — WASHINGTON. II ^ •I H' s^iii and sliould the anticipations of its founders be realized, this will after all be but the nucleus of the future metropolis. The streets are laid out towards the cardinal points, crossing each other at right angles; the avenues intersect these diagon- ally, so as to avoid the tiresome sameness which is observable in Philadelphia, and extensive squares are to be placed at the crossings of these trans- verse lines. The avenues are from 130 to 160 feet wide, the streets from 80 to 1 10. To lay out the plan of a city however is one thing, and to build it is another; of all the re- gularity and system which the engraved plan ex- hibits, scarcely a trace is discernible upon the ground. Instead of beginning this gigantic under- taking in a central spot, and gradually extending the buildings from a common focus, they appear to have commenced at once in twenty or thirty differ- ent places, without the slightest regard to concen- tration or the comforts of good neighbourhood ; and a stranger looking round him for Washington, sees two houses here, and six there, and a dozen yonder, scattered in straggling groups over the greater part of three or four square miles. Hi- therto the city does not contain above fourteen thousand inhabitants, but these have taken root in so many different places, that the public crier, a black man whom I have just seen pei forming the duties of his calling, is obliged to make the circuit Pennsylvania Avenue is almost on horseback. bunders be nucleus of re laid out ch other at 2se diagon- ss wliicli is ive squares [lese trans- 130 to 160 iver is one all the rc- d plan ex- i upon the intic under- extending f appear to lirty differ- to concen- ibourhood ; /^ashington, nd a dozen s over the niles. Hi- e fourteen taken root iblic crier, brming the the circuit is almost THE TIBER — PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 255 the only place where the line of communication can be traced. This stretches from the Capitol to the President's house, a distance of rather more than a mile, with double rows of gravel walks and poplar trees, and a good many buildings have been erected on both sides of it, with considerable at- tention to neatness and continuity. This however is but a small portion of the intended avenue, which according to the plan is to stretch out in both directions, till it is eventually about four miles in length. A short way from the Capitol, Pennsylvania Avenue is crossed by the Tiber, a little muddy stream, or creek according to American phrase- ology, which filters through flags and rushes into the Potowmak. A wooden bridge is thrown over it, but the stage driver who brought me from Balti- more preferred fording the stream, to cool the feet of his horses. Moore in one of his poetical epis- tles dated from the ' Modern Rome,' makes a sar- castic allusion to this classic stream, but, if Weld is correct, the name was given it by some early settler, before the site was chosen for the Federal city, and therefoxj its founders are not answerable for what at first seems a piece of ridiculous affec- tation. As the Capitol and the President's house are both of freestone, we are rather disappointed to find them covered with white paint. The grain of the stone is indeed rather coarse, and a good '1 • A f <' \v. > >i i i 256 LETTER IX. WASIIINaTON. mnny hard white pebbles are imbedded i^^ iS yel the, walls would certainly have looked lettt^r in their natural colour. The truth is, the buildings were both originally unpainted; but the uncere- monious usage which they received from our troops at the capture of the city, so effectually begrimmed their visages that it was found impos- sible to eradicate the defilement. To have de- molished and rebuilt the walls, would have been a very costly expedient, and as the least of two evils, the painter's brush was resorted to; here and there however, above some of the windows, the black wreathings of the sm ^ke are still discernible throufjh the white coverioff. Of all the errors committed on our part during that unhappy war, this was undoubtedly one of the greatest. Setting aside the question as to its abstiact defensibility, on the ground of retaliation or otherwise, it is obvious that it was in the highest degree impolitic ; because its immediate effect, as might have been anticipated, was to break down part^ spirit among the Americans, and to unite then\ as one man in siu'vort of the measures of their 'government. The firebrand was no sooner applied to their Chief Magistrate's Pjilace, and the National Senate House, than thousands who liad from the beginning maintained a systematic opposition to the contest, at once came forward and took up arms to mai.itain it; their national feelings were roused into powerful excitement, and BURNING OF THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 257 ed in is yel sd better in he buildings the uncere- [ from our effectually 3und impos- Vo have de- 1 have been least of two ;o; here and •indows, the II discernible part during tedly one of on as to its )f retaliation I the highest ite eflect. as break down nd to unite measures of no sooner Palace, and Lisands who I systematic me forward sir national tenient, and they joined in one loud voice of execration at the de- struction of their national edifices. Our ministers, had such been their object, could not have devised a more effectual way of strengthening Mr. Madi- son's hands. Had our troops recorded their tri- umph upon the front of the buildings, and left them uninjured, the indignant feeling of humilia- tion would have wreaked itself on those by whose imbecility the capture of the city had been occa- sioned, and who escaped so nimbly when it fell into the enemy's hands. But the burning of the buildings saved Mr. Madison ; a thirst for revenge of the insult overcame every other feeling, and the war became thencelbrward, what it had not been before, decidedly popular and national. No more than the wings of the Capitol liad been completed when the city was captured. They have risen from their ashes, and are again roofed in; the centre also is beginning to appear above the ground. Each wing is pretty nearly square, and consists of a basement and principal story, surmounted with a low circular dome bearing a small lantern. The basement is rusticated, and al- ternating with the windows of the principal story is a row of Corinthian pilasters. The centre is to resemble the wings in its general features, but will project considerably beyond them. The building wants simplicity. The House of Representatives will occupy a .i ; ■» '^^ i i 1 . fi%'.r :\ VOL. I. R 258 LETTER IX. — WASHINGTON. t :i 'il magnificent hall in the right wing of the building. The Speaker's chair is to be placed near the wall, and the seats and desks of the members will be disposed in semicircular lines round it, rising as they recede. Beyond the members' seats will be an extensive gallery for spectators. Twenty-two splendid Corinthian columns with corresponding pilasters are to surround the outline of the semi- circle, and the wall behind the Speaker's chair. Part of these are already erected. The shaft of the columns is of a kind of puddingstone from the banks of the Potowmak, composed of numer- ous pebbles of various sizes and colours, and ad- mitting of a good polish. The capitals, which v/ere executed in Italy, are of white marble, and it is said cost upwards of a hundred pounds sterling each. The appropriate foliage of this splendid or- der is most exquisitely ehborated. I am disposed to liunk, however, that had the columns been alto- gether of V. hite marble, the effect would have been much more pleasing. As the workmen are still busy with this hall, I am unable to be more minute in my description Among a multitude of workmen who are now employed on the building, I chanced to enter into coiiversation with an Irish marble cutter, who has been Lere for some months. He said that a large pj'cporisr'n of the workmen were from Scotland and T ehiud,* their wages are from one to two dollars a day, it costs them about three dollars 8 *v -i >^%A :-,.-^' PRESIDENT S HOUSE. 259 he building, ar the wall, jers will be it, rising as eats will be Twenty-two rresponding if the semi- iker's chair, ^he shaft of [Tstone from d of numer- irs, and ad- itals, which arble, and it nds sterling splendid Or- am disposed s been alto- d have been len are still nore minute ho are now 3 enter into 2r, who has that a large ni Scotland one to two uee dollars a week for board and lodging, and he is able to save about one half of his wages. The President's House is a iiandsome building of considerable dimensions, occupying the brow cf a risinff around near the bank of the river and com- manding a most extensive and beautiful prospect. In the centre of the side towards the river is a semicircular projection, and Corinthian pilasters,' rising between the windows to the full height of tile building, support a balustrade which goes completely round. The principal front however is on the other side, rather a singular arrangement I think, where a plain but lofty portico of four columns rises above the entrance door. Amonjj heaps of rubbish around the building I saw se- veral fragments of the old capitals of the pilas- ters, which had been cracked by the conflagration and thoroughly blackened with smoke. The walls of the President's House are now re- stored to their former condition, and carpenters and upholsterers are busied in giving to the in- terior more than its original splendour. The walls of some of the rooms which have been finished are covered with very rich French paper studded with gilt flowers. I saw in one of them a full length copy in oil of Stuart's portrait of Washington ; the original is, or at least was, in the possession of the ■ I speak from recollection in calling these pilasters Corinthian. My memorandums are silent on the subject, and it is therefore not impossible tliat I may be wrong. R2 IS 2m LETTKU IX. — WASHINGTON. V I l; Miinjuis of Lanstlown, niul is llie sanio from w])icli the beaiitifiil engraving by rFcalli was executed. Along with the Capitol and the President's House the public offices were also destroyed. There were at that time only two, which have been rebuilt, and other two have been added ; they are appropriated to the departments of the treasury, state, navy, and war, and stand near the Presi- dent's House, two on each side. No less than five libraries perished in that ill- fated conflagration, two of which were of consider- able value. Many public documents and some curious papers connected with the history of the revolution were also destroyed. As a recom- mencement of a national library. Congress has purcliased from Mr. Jefferson the whole of his private collection, containing abont ten thousand volumes. In turning over a few of Mr. Jefferson's books I found a copy of Professor Dalzel's Col- lectanea Gr£Eca Majora which bore the following inscription in the autograph of the editor : — Acl virum honoratissimum et doctissimum Thomam Jefferson S. R. S. Edin. a foederatis Americae civitatibus ad Regiam Majcstatem Christianissimam cum plena potestate legatum liunc librum observationis causa niisit Anorf.as Uat.zei.. A similar one appeared on the Minora. 8 IVoiii wliifii executed. President's destroy e'l. li liavc been d ; they arc he treasury, ■ tlie Presi- .1 in that ill- of consider- 5 and some story of the s a recom- ongress has ^hole of his m thousand . Jefferson's alzel's Col- ic following ^r : — 111 Dat.zet,, PATENT ori'ict:. 2{)\ The models in the Patent OlVice would ha\'^ rshared the fate of the Capitol, but for the inter- cession oi' the person who had charge of them. He strenuously pled with our officers that they might be spared, representing that ihey had no relation to warlike affairs, that many of them were ingenious and useful, and that to destroy them would be to wage war against the arts, and against general improvement. This appeal was ellectual, and the models were left uninjured. Its success makes one regret that no such into. cession took place on behalf of the libraries and national archives, to which the same argument api)lied with tenfold force. A gentleman who witnessed the whole })ro- cess of destruction, stated to me his oj)inion that General Ross would probably have been induced to abstain from the destruction of" the Capitol and the President's House, liad suitable exertions been made by the civil authorities. The whole of these however, officers of state and local magistrates, re- gardless of all but their personal safety, took to their heels by conmion consent, and left the public buildings to their fate. Old Anchises should have shamed them all : — " Vos agitate fugam ! Me si ccelicola; voluissent ducere vitam, Has mihi servassent secies. Satis una, suiicrquo, Vidimus excicUa, et captaj superavimus urbi." The Patent Oilitc exhibits a singular assemblage R3 il \ 262 LETTER IX. — WASHINGTON. \ \ i|' of nicknacks, for the greater part of the models seemed to me to deserve no better appellation, though I dare say they are quite as important as many of tliose useful inventions which are every month recorded in the corresponding ofKcc in London. A boat was pointed out to us which was to be propelled by machinery, but it unfortunately turned out that the machinery was a sufficient load for the boat without any other cargo. The frame of a tent bed made of iron graced another shelf; but the originality of the invention was more than (juestioned by some w^ag, who had written on the label affixed to it * Oi; Kin<>' of Bashan had an iron bedstead.' Patent churns were numerous ; and if you search minutely, patent cradle-rockers and patent brooms may also be discovered. Our conductor particularized as an invention of real utility, a machine for cuttmg iron nails; the in- troduction of which has completely superseded, throughout the United States, the use of hammered ones. The expense of obtaining a patent here is only thirty dollars; £6, 15s. sterling. The securing of copy right is a still cheaper process. One copy of the book is deposited in the Secretary of State's office, and a fee of sixty cents, about half a crown, is paid to the clerk of the District where the author resides, for an entry of the claim ; another half crown is paid for a certified copy of this entry, which must be advertised for four weeks in the 'x-^s^ the models appellation, nportniit as i are every g office in whicli was 1 fortunately ficient load The frame other shelf; i more than ten on the lan had an numerous ; die -rockers 3red. Our ion of real ils; the in- iuperseded, hammered lere is only e securing One copy of State's If a crown, the author other half his entry, jks in the COPY-llKiHT LAW. 203 newspapers, and copied at full lengtli on the back of the title page of the book. The term of copy- right is fourteen years, but in the event of the author's surviving, a repetition of the same process secures it for other fourteen. There is a good deal of cumbrous and unnecessary machinery in all this, but it is much more favourable to authors and en- terprizing publishers than the exaction, as witli us, of eleven copies of the work, however voluminous and expensive. There is one impolitic regulation on this subject; an alien cannot hold copy-right until he has resided in the country at least two years at one time. Poor encouragement this t'ov an emigration of authors, to give a stimulus to the national literature ! Not only is an alien deprived of the power of personally holding copy-right, he cannot even convey a title to another person. Were the ' Great Unknown' to cross the Atlantic, and to continue the manufacture of his literary ware at the usual rate of three publications per year, by which he would at home, according to report, net at least three or four times as many thousands of pounds sterling, for two whole years he could not gain a dollar by his writings ; he might publish them, but before three days flew past,'' two or three ' Rapidity of publication is as well understood in America as any where. I copy the following from a New York newspaper which has recently reached me (May, 1823) : — " Despatch in jmnting.— The new novel, Peveril of the Peak, was received from England in New York on Monday at 'IVii A. M. fi !!1' . f n i!fl ' > I I i 'i'r IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // 1.0 I.I ■^12^ |2.5 ^ lis IIIIIM U ^ IL25 i 1.4 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 . :iy — at One o'clock forwarded to Pluladelplua by the mail. In Philadelphia it was printed on Thursday, and on Friday 2000 copies were put in boards by Six o'clock in the morning. The English copy of Moore's Loves of the Angels was taken out of the Custom House in New York on a Monday in February last, at Eleven o'clock A. M. ; was immediately sent to Philadelphia, and 250 copies of the work printed were received at New York on Thursday following by Eight o'clock A. M. and the same copies were sold and circulated that afternoon." NAVY-YARD — MONUMENT. 265 provide myself with an introduction to the com- manding officer, and reached the gate before I re- collected that this would be necessary. As the only remaining chance, I walked boldly past the sentinel, hoping to get in unchallenged ; ere I had gone many paces, however, the serjeant of th^ guard hailed n.j, and having ascertained that I was an interloper ordered me to turn. I made no remonstrance, but observing at a short distance from the gate a marble monument, 1 asked and obtained permission to inspect it. I found it to be a monument to the memory of some Ameri- can naval officers, who fell several years ago in an attack on Tripoli. It consists of a column upon a square base, surmounted with an eagle, and sur- rounded by allegorical figures as large as life. The shaft of the column bears the beak and stern of three vessels of the antique form, projecting from it at equal distances from each other. The figures are allegorical of History, Fame, Commerce, and America. History is in the act of recording on her tablet the heroic achievements of the departed warriors ; Fame has mounted upon the base to crown them with laurel ; Mercury carrying the cornucopiae, as the representative of Commerce, bewails their untimely fate ; and Columbia, a beau- tiful female decorated with feathers, is pointing two little chubby boys, one of whom carries the Roman fasces, to the commemorative device. On the front of the base is a sculptured basso relievo •T /i'^ I" , \ 266 L*:tTER IX. — WASHINGTON. ^ ' ' representation of the bombardment. The other three sides are occupied with inscriptions ; one contains the names of those who fell, another inti- mates that the monument was erected by their brother officers, and on the third is inscribed — FAME HAS CROWNED THEIR DEEDS, HISTORY RECORDS THE EVENT, THE CHILDREN OF COLUMBIA ADMIRE, AND COMMERCE LAMENTS THEIR FALL. This last inscription is, to say the least of it, su- perfluous, for the art of the sculptor is >vorth no- thing if it requires such an expositor under it. The monument was executed in Italy and is very beautiful, but the spectator regrets to ob- serve that the fingers of some of the figures have been broken off. We are not left in doubt as to the perpetrators of this outrage, for a small square tablet bears the mortifying informa- tion — MUTILATED BY BRITONS, 23th august, 1914. This inscription might also have been spared. It is not at all improbable that some of our ^oldiers, in the wantonness of victory, may have been the guilty individuals, for the monuments in West- minster Abbey abundantly manifest the propensity which prevails in the inferior classes of our country- The other tions ; one uother inti- 1 by their ;ribed — s, RE, LL. ;t of it, su- worth no- under it. ly and is ts to ob- he figures ft in doubt Ke, for a f informa- jn spared, r ooldiers, been the in West- iropensity country- SENATE — HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 267 men to similar acts of vandalism ; many of the smaller figures there, have been deprived not only of their fingers, but of their heads, and the real cause of wonder with respect to this one is, not that so much but that so little mischief was done. The person who ordered the inscription, however, should have reflected that it immediately suggests the question " How came * Britons' to be here ?" and it is possible, if the answer to this ques- tion is followed up by others which naturally oc- cur, that the disgrace of allowing the fingers to be taken off, might eventually appear to be at least as great as that of having done it. A few years hence, nothing could have been seen in "Washington to remind a visitor of its having been once in an ene- my's hands, but so long as this monument remains in its present state, the humiliating fact is conspi- cuously recorded. Postscrii Fehnmry, 1819. A second visit to ihis city has given me an op- portunity of visiting Congress, which was not in session when I was here formerly. The Senate and House of Representatives meet at present in plain brick buildings close by the Capitol, where temporary halls have been fitted up for them. The galleries of both houses are open to every person ; I found in them auditors of every description, workmen without their coats in one place, and elegantly dressed females in an- If. < I V' i ■ I 2G8 LETTER JX. — WASIIINC.TON. \ I otiicr. The utmost quietness and decorum however prevailed. The President of the Senate wears no costume ; he appeared in a blue coat witii gilt buttons, and occupied a plain elbow chair with a small canopy over it. Each senator has a writiuff desk before I)in), and many of them were either writing letters or reading newspapers. They were all in plain dresses, and many wore jockey boots. I found the Senate discussing the propriety of making compensation to a British subject in Upper Canada, for a small vessel which had been cap- tured by an American cruiser on Lake Ontario, before the declaration of war. The vessel hat! been sold, and the proceeds paid to the clerk of one of the Districts of the State of New York, to await the decision of a court; the court decided that the capture was illegal and ordered restitution, but in the mean time the clerk had become a defaulter and eloped. A bill had in consequence been brought into the Senate, containing a provision for making good to the owner of the vessel the sum which he had thus lost Various individuals spoke shortly on both sides of the question. Some opposed the bill, on the footing that the individual aggrieved ought to have recourse upon the legal securities of the District Clerk, and said that it would be giving to a British subject an advantage which would not have been conceded to a citizen of the United States. 1 had however the pleasure H mi liowc'vir costume ; ittons, and lall canopy lesk before ting letters 11 in plain iropriety oi' ;t in Upper been caji- e Ontario, vessel hat! lerk of one k, to await 2(1 that the m, but in 1 defaulter ence been provision vessel the ndividuals \n. Some individual the legal id that it advantage ) a citizen 3 pleasure SENATF. — HOUSE OF nFPUESENTATIVES. SOJ) of hearing the Hon. llufus King, one of tlie sena- tors for the State of New York, speak warmly in favour of the bill. He said that the nation was bound in honour to make good to a foreigner the decision of the court ; that in similar circumstances an American citizen would have most certainly obtained redress in Great Britain, and that he had never known an instance of such a decision there, in which prompt and ample compensation had not been made. The question was ultimately carried in the affirmative.^ The house of Representatives was in committee, and I found Mr. Sargeant of Philadelphia conclud- ing a long speech, which had been begun the pre- ceding day, on the subject of the United States' Bank. A committee, which had been appointed to investigate some alleged misconduct on the part of the Bank Directors, had reported an opinion to the House that the charter of the Bank had been violated, and consequently forfeited entirely. Mr. Sargeant combated this opinion, and* was arguing while I was present, that although the facts ,,ere proved to be exactly as the committee had reported, the charter was still good, for such delinquencies had all been provided for in that charter, and ' The bill alluded to was afterwards thrown out in the House of Representatives, in consequence, as a member of tlie liouse told me, of it being somehow or other informal. I cannot lielp suspecting however, that disinclination to the object of the bill was tlie true cause. hi U. 270 LETTER IX. — WASIIINCTON. 1-^ \i specific penalties attached to them ; tlie penalties he said were incurred, but the ciiarter was still per- fectly valid. I left this gentleman speaking, and his opinion in the end prevailed. The aspect of the House of Representatives is still less dignified than that of the Senate. The house was pretty full, but many of the members were lounging beside the fire reading newspapers, others were clustering round the windows, and few even of those who remained at their desks were attending to the orator, most of the others being busily engaged in writing letters, and some carefully weighing them to ascertain that the enclosures did not exceed the weight which their franks covered. In the House of Commons, it struck me that the members showed a good deal of indifference to the discussions which were going forward; the triple bows of the wigged messengers between the door and the bar, seemed sufficiently childish; the peremptory order of the Speaker, • strangers with- draw,* somewhat uncivil '.o strangers ; the confu- sion which took place in clearing the gallery, and the elbowing and pushing at filling it again, not a little annoying and vexatious ; but after all there is more senatorial decorum in the House of Com- mons than iiT the House of Representatives. It appeared singular that so many members should attend the debates while so few seemed to be in- terested in them, and I thought that those whose legislative exertions were confined to gazing out at > >i \m CONORESS AND PARLIAMENT. 271 )cnaltics lie s still per- aking, and :entatives is nate. The e members lewspapers, vs, and few desks were tilers beinir lie carefully closures did is covered, ne that the ence to the the triple 1 the door Idish ; the igers with- the confu- [allery, and again, not jr all there se of Com- ;atives. It ers should I to be in- lose whose sing out at the window, or toasting their toes at the fire, might with more propriety enjoy themselves so at home. I have since learned from a member of the House, as some explanation of this, that in place of forty members constituting a quorum as.; in our House of Commons, it requires in the House of Representatives a majority of the whole number. The total number of members, which is increasing every year, is at present 1 18, conse- quently at least 59 must be assembled at every deliberation, and as a great many subjects are necessarily of a local nature, mA interesting to very few, it is no wonder that many should avail themselves of the newspapers, or of pen and ink, to ' give time a shove.' The question which I lieard discussed was one that regarded the existence of the I^^nited States' Bank, which had been estab- lished but two or three years before, chiefly with a view to facilitate the financial operations of go- vernment ; and in which a great deal of money had been made and lost, by sudden and unprecedented fluctuations in the value of its stock, which after rising from 100 to upwards of 150, had recently fallen to 93. t was howev< r no way surprising that they should be tired of a speech which had lasted two days, and that on a subject which had en- grossed a great part of the session, to very little purpose ; the orator is esteemed one of the ablest men in the house, but an animated debate is one thing, and a lecture another. Instances are not ...1 I I n 272 LETTER IX. — WASllINCnON. wnnting of members occupying the floor for three successive days ; the house juljouruing when tliey got tired, to vcsume tlie thread of ihscourse the following day. The writing desks are bad tilings, were it for no other reason than that tliey encour- age indolence and inattention ; the benches of the House of Commons scarcely admit of lounging ; besides it is to speak and not to write that the members are sent to Congress. It would not however be fair to try the American Congress by a comparison with the British Parlia- ment. There is little similarity either in the ma- terials or in the manner of their construction. In America, a young, thinly peopled, and republican country, almost every person is engaged in the active business of life ; and the equality of succession to property, and the necessarily frequent division of it, prevents almost entirely the accumulation of large fortunes. A great proportion of those who compose her representative assemblies are men of no wealth and sometimes of little education, many of them second rate lawyers, others merchants, well stored with commercial information, and a few who find a seat in Congress a convenient thing were it on- ly for the salary which is connected with it.** Great * Eight dollars, thirty six shillings sterling, for every day that Congress sits, with an allowance of the same sum for every twenty miles that the memher has to travel to and from Wasliington. A seat in Congress is worth rather more than two hundred pounds sterling a year. n Trl CONGRESS AND PA''T-IAMENT. 273 )!• for three when they course the bad things, ley encour- dies of the lounging ; e that the 2 American tish Parlia- in the nia- iction. In republican ged in the f succession nt division nulation of those who are men of tion, many ;hants, well a few who were it on- it.'' Great ?vcry day that • every twenty asliington. A ndred pounds Britain on the other hand is an old country, over- flowing with population, where a monarchy, heredi- tary robility, and feudal tenures, are necessarily connected with large fortunes, and with the entire leisure of their possessors for legislative or other pursuits ; a country where many receive an educa- tion expressly intended to qualify them for the service of the state, and where many members of the representative assembly, so far from requiring a stipendiary compensation for their attendance, are able to expend immense sums in procuring their election. Yet with all these disadvantages the wisdom and integrity of the American Congress have ere now put to shame the more practised politi- cians of Europe, and her diplomatic ageats have often evinced themselves more than a match for the starred and titled plenipotentiaries of our own and other countries.^ * In a review in the North American of Tomline's Life of Pitt, some remarks occur on tlie usages of Parliament and Congress whicli I doubt not will interest the reader. The article alluded to is written with much candour and good sense, and the reviewer expresses him- self respecting George III. and his favourite minister, in terras of kindliness and approbation which we should hardly have expected from a republican critic. In alluding to the King's letters he says, " we tliink the cliaracter of a monarch who could manifest such undeviating firmness, such remarkable good sense, and such devotedness to the con- stitution of tlie country, deserves to be recorded and published." On Parliament he makes the following observations :— « We cannot but observe that the habit of offering exaggerated and unmeaning commendation to talents and learning, has been long practised in tlie House of Commons, and abounds especially with those who are politically opposed, and whose measures are at the same VOL. I. S i ■ 274 LETTER IX. WASHINOTON. > f The building of the Capitol has ailvanccd so considerably since the period of my former visit, that several ai)artnients in the right wing have been finished, and one of them is now occupied by the Supreme Court of the United States. This Court is almost the only one which has adoi)ted an ofHcial costume; in all the inferior courts throughout the country, except I believe those of South Carolina, the judges are to be distinguished from the counsel or the jury, only by their position time tJif subject of violent and, to our feelings, unl)ecoming crimina- tion and condemnation. Neitlier of tliese linbits is to be »»bsfrved in the same degree in tJie debates of tlie American Congress. Part of tliis diflercnce may be accounted for, from the circumstance that as the government has no representative, no minister in eithvr brancli of Congress, tlie principal cause and stimulant of personal censure or compliment do not exist ; for one naturally leads to tlie otlu'T. " There are several peculiarities in tlie Britijii House of Com- mons, that procure vast facilities and advantagi-s to individuals an- dowed with great talents. The first pecidiarity isj that the discussion is confined exclusively to half a score of members, for during the great debates to which we have referred in this article, seldom more than Uiat number took a part. It is true that occasionally there starts up in these debates a new member, who makes what the reporters call a maiden speech, which is heard with great attention, reported witli great care, and then, in all probability, the name and the voice are for ever lost, amidst the din and shouts of the chiefs of the epic. In those maiden speeches we have observed that tlie most fatal symptoms are well set and well prepared sentences and periods, certain moral truisms, and frequent references to tlie Greeks and Romans. Such symptoms are commonly mortal. But unless these members speak with promise, tliey are heard a second time with great indifference, and finally scraped and groaned down, if the less positive expression of the feeling of the house, by one half the members going into the coffee rooms, and the other half going to sleep, is not accom- SUPIIEMK COUIIT. '2^:) Ivaiiccd so )nner visit, r Imvo bt'on pied by llic which has erior courts ive those of istinguiished eir position oming criinina- » be observed in gress. I'art of nstancc that as 'ith <»r to incorporate a bank, and in tlie discussion of it, the incidental and derivative powers of Congress, tlie choice of means and their adaptation to the ends proposed, were fully examined, and the court determined that tlie creation of a banking corporation, was a proper and fit instrument for carrying on the fis- cal operations of the government.— The court having determined that Congress had the power to eicct a bank, and this power being ncc.s- sarily supreme, it followed that a power to create implied a power to preserve ; the unlimited power of a State to tax was a power to de- stroy ; and tlie exercise of such a power being inconsistent witli the preserving power, it could not coexist with it, but must yield to that power wliich was in its nature sovereign and supreme." North American licview No XXVI. pp. 110, 111. ' Tliis gentleman carried arms in the early part of the Revolu- tionary war, and his father, who was then Governor of the State of Connecticut, was distinguished by his efficient exertions in tlie same cause. Before the conclusion of the struggle the son quitted the Trumbull's patntino. 279 I it from the nain to hear but the de- f the bank.^ nt exhibited Declaration eries of his- Revolution, lis artist to e new Capi- h gave birth ! placed bo- jniposcd the I'ation of In- id; and the kes reference to •St question was >ank, and in the of Congress, tlie 70sed, were fully an of a banking •ying on the fis- determined tliat ver being nec<.s- )lied a power to a power to de- sistent with the List yield to that erne." North of the Revolu- of the State of ons in the same son quitted the committee which was appointed to frame the docu- ment, in the act of presenting the draught at the table. I am no judge of such compositions, and may therefore be guilty of presumption in express- ing any opinion, but I cannot help thinking that the painter might have selected a more interesting period of time in this great transaction. The pic- ture indeed cannot be said to represent the declara- tion of independence, for though the instrument had been drawn up, it had not yet been adopted, much less made public. The great object has been to get together into one group the portraits of those self-devoted men, who were the principal actors in this event ; but in effecting this the result is really calculated by its total want of epic grandeur to army and went to London, to study painting under his distinguished countryman the late President West. Here he was arrested imder suspicion of being a spy and committed to the Tower. The follow- ing anecdote respecting Iiis confinement, which I transcribe from Professor Silliman's Travels in England, deserves to be imiversally known. It is given in Colonel Trumbull's own words. " I was arrested at 12 o'clock at night of the 19th November, 1780, in London, on suspicion of treason— I was then principally occupied in studying the art of painting under Mr. West. Mr. West well knew that his attachment to his native country gave of- fence to some individuals who were about the king's person. He therefore went the next morning early, to Buckingham house, and requested an audience of the king ; it was granted, and he proceeded to state the origin and nature of his acciuaintance with me, conclud- ing that whatever might have been my conduct in America, he could conscientiously state to his Majesty, that since my arrival in London the principal part of almost every day had been passed un- der his roof, and indeed under his eye, in the assiduous study of his profession, leaving little or no time for any pursuit hostile to the S 4. I \\ <» til 1^' I 'J I \ ■i 1 280 LETTER IX. WASHINGTON. h remind us somewhat of the Vicar of Wakefield's family picture. To the left of the canvass in the foreground is seated the President, John Hancock, immediately before him is the committee, consist- ing of Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Livingstone, and Sherman, the last of whom is in the quaker garb, and Jefferson is in the act of laying the scroll upon the table; to the right and in the back ground are the other members of Congress, most of them seated, and all as demure as if they had been as- sembled to attend a funeral. No opportunity was afforded in such a scene for the delineation of character, or the representation of animated ac- tion and intense emotion. The painter was not interests of Great Britain. The King after a moment's hesitation, made this answer : ' Mr. West— I have known you long ; I have confided in you ; I have never known you to mislead me ; I tliere- fore repose implicit confidence in this representation. This young gentleman must in the mean time suffer great anxiety ; he is in the power of the law, and I cannot at present interfere. But go to lum, and assure him from me, that in the worst possible legal result, ' he has my royal word that his life is safe.' Mr. West came to me with this message immediately, and you may well believe that it softened essentially the rigours of an imprisonment of eight montlis." Pro- fessor Silliman adds,—" If you consider who was the King's pri- soner, that he was in his view a rebel, and hatl just come from fighting in an elevated station against liim ; that his father was a most active and efficient head of one of the most actively and inveterately rebellious Stales, I think you will allow that the King's answer, which amounted to this—" should the courts of law condemn him to death, I will save his life by a pardon," constitutes one of the finest passages of kingly history, and could never have proceeded from a little mind."— 'Silliman* s Travels in Eiinland, 3(1 Edit. Vol. I. p. 211. 9 TRUMBULLS PAINTING CHURCHES. 281 Wakefield's ivass in the n Hancock, 36, consist- -.ivingstone, the quaker g the scroll ack ground )st of them id been as- rtiinity was ineation of imated ac- 2r was not nt's hesitation, long; I have me ; I tliere- This young ; he is in the lut go to liim, gal result, ' he le to me with lat it softened titlis." Pro- King's pri- come from T was a most inveterately ng's answer, demn him to of the finest cded from a Vol. I. p. allowed to give scope to his imagination ; for the event was too recent, the room in which it took place too plain, and too well known, and the meet- ing of a deliberative assembly altogether too com- mon-place a subject, for any considerable devia- tion from historical truth. The real value of the picture consists in the portraits, all of which are believed to be authentic ; most of them Mr. Trum- bull executed from. life, for he began to collect the requisite materials many years ago, and the rest he copied from pictures believed to be accurate. Of the portraits of a small number of those who composed the Congress no trace could be dis- covered, and these are therefore not introduced.^ The size of the picture is eighteen feet by twelve. As to the state of religion in Washington I can give you but little information; I have not hap- pened to spend a Sabbath in it. There are two Episcopalian churches, one Presbyterian, one As- sociate Synod, two Baptist, two Methodist, one Quaker, and one Romish. The Popish chapel is dedicated to St. Patrick ; it is a small building and somewhat paltry, but I saw in it a beautiful white Of the fifty six individuals, whose signatures are affixed to tlic Declaration of Independence, only the following five were living while I was in America ; so far as I know the number has not been subsequently reduced : Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia. John Adams, of Massacliusetts. Charles Carroll, of INIaryland. William Floyd, of New York. William Ellerv, of Rhode Island. I f 'I Hi I i ^ II 282 LETTER IX. WASHINGTON. li'l rn marble font for holy xmtcr which has lately arrived from Italy. Standing within the basin is a figure of St. Patrick about twelve inches in lieight, wear- ing the mitre and sacerdotal vestments, and in the attitude of pronouncing a benediction on the water. The execution is beautiful, and we cannot but re- gret that one of the noblest of the fine arts should be so frequently pressed into the degrading service of this system of delusion. Of society and manners here I know almost nothing, for both my visits have been very short. Respecting public characters I must be equally silent, for none have been pointed out to me ex- cept Commodores Decatur ^ and Rodgers. They are both plain looking men, and were noi in uni- form when I met them. Commodore Rodgers* affair with the Lit^^^le Belt, before the commence- ment of last war, has given us an idea that he is a man of more bluster than bravery ; Americans however say that we are mistaken, and that during the war while commanding a fifty gun frigate, he actually hove to, and offered battle to a British seventy four gun ship, which she declined ; — I can- not help however doubting the accuracy of this story. ® This brave officer has fallen in a duel since my return. That detestable practice is lamentably prevalent in America, and is some- times accompanied witli circumstances of peculiar barbarity. In going the second time to Wasliington, I passed the ground where a duel was fought but a week or two before, with muskets, at ten paces distance ; tlie one party was shot dead on the spot, the other ilread^ully mangled, and I believe afterwards died. tely arrived 1 is a figure iglit, wear- aiid in the 1 the water, mot but re- arts should ling service low almost very short, be equally t to me ex- i^rs. They noi, in uni- ! Rodgers' :;ommence- hat he is a Americans hat durinff frigate, he a British I ; — I can- cy of this LETTER X. ; 1 '' I eturn. That and is some- sirbarity. In 3und where a skets, at ten ot, the other -.;^^ea a ! UJSi- z:TTs mmm^s w 1 b d ir tl o SI a s: fi 8 b V LETTER X. WOODEN BRIDGE — ALEXANDttlA — EVENTS OF LAST WAR — VISIT VO MOUNT VERNON— MANSION HOUSE — WASHINGTON'S TOMll ATTEMPT TO STEAL HIS BODY PROPOSAI, OF REMOVING IT TO THE CAPITOL KEY OF THE RASTILE EARTHEN-WARE MINIATURE OF WASHINGTON FORT WASHINv JON — A VIRGINIA BARBECUE. 1 Alexandria, September, 1818. The secluded spots where men of historical cele- brity have spent their hours of rural or of literary retirement, have ever been objects of interest to the traveller. A powerful principle in our natiu*e impels us to seek a kind of personal familiarity, with those scenes which occupied the attention of the more distinguished individuals of our race ; to which they hastened for relaxation from the fatigues of public life, and where they sought and found a solace amid all its disquietudes. The Sabine farm and the Tusc Ian villa have awakened the enthu- siasm of many a classical wanderer, and could the field be identified in which Cincinnatus was drag- ged away from the unfinished furrow, to drive back destruction from his country's gate, how would the heart of the patriot bound within him as he paced its surface, and recalled the circum- stances in which the unambitious Dictator returned 28G LETTER X. — ALEXANDKIA. :wever, that , manner as It on board a fair ex- ons of the insisted on ith them to 1 after thus missed him latured re- it tlie flour. 3 sell me a »ds deliver- t any one such anec- are not at odern war- 'hich char- ^h France, mary witli e property ;umstances hope that nent, with would yet a good old gentleman, has set it down in his Ledger as a very * bad debt.' At Alexandria I was favoured with an ujtroduc- tory note to the Honourable Buuhrod Washing- ton, the General's nephew, and one of the judges of the Supreme Court, to whom Mount Vernon now belongs. I believe that strangers are politely re- ceived at the mansion house without any introduc- tion, but it was of course more agreeable to be possessed of it, and I accidentally obtained the company of two young gentlemen who were going a pilgrimage to the same shrine. The road to Mount Vernon after running along for a short way within view of the Potowmak, strikes off into the woods on the right ; the day was hot, and we found the shelter of the trees very grateful, but coming to a place where the road divided we chanced to take the wrong one, and after pro- ceeding about a mile were indebted to a black girl for being set right again. At the bottom of the avenue to Mount Vernon, the gate was opened to us by an old negro who had survived the master of his youth, and who now receives from many a visitor substantial tokens of the universal respect which is entertained for his memory. The avenue is narrow and in bad order, it has indeed more the air of a neglected country road, than the approach to a gentleman's residence. The mansion house, an old fashioned building of two stories surmounted by a small turret and VOL, 1. T I li |i if' u 290 LETTER X. IMOUNT VERNON. V \> J. '!■ il. ■ i. Si I weathercock, stands on an elevated situation on the western bank of the Potowmak ; it is built of wood, but the walls are cut and plastered in imitation of rusticated freestone. The back part of tlie house is to the river; at the other side are two small wings at right angles to tlie principal building, and connected by piazzas which bend towards them so as to form a kind of irregular crescent. Opposite the hall door is a circular grass plot surrounded by a gravel walk and shaded on both sides by lofty trees ; two beautiful chesnuts were pointed out to me, which sprung from nuts planted by the General's own hand. On the two sides are the vegetable and flower gardens, in the latter of which is a greenhouse.^ The mansion house was originally built by Washington's uncle,^ who had served in the Brit- ish navy under Admiral Vernon, and commemo- rated his regard for his commanding officer by the name which he gave to his estate. Some partial alterations were made on the house by the Gene- ral, but report says that he subsequently regretted * In the British edition of Marshall's Life of Washington is a very accurate front view of Mount Vernon ; in Weld's Travels a view is given of the back part of the house and the bank of the river, but it is exceedingly incoirect. ' In Marshall's life of Washington, it is said that the house was built by his elder Brother; my journal states his Uncle, and my memory strongly corroborates its testimony as to the information which was given me at Mount Vernon ; it is possible however that I may have misunderstood what was told me. 9 MANSION HOUSE. 291 tion on the It of wood, niitation of ' the house two small [ building, d towards r crescent, grass plot id on both :snuts were ats planted two sides i the latter r built by 11 the Brit- commemo- icer by the >me partial the Gene- regretted shington is a i's Travels a bank of the le house was icle, and my ! information lowever that that he did not entirely rebuild it. It is an old I'ashioned, perhaps not a very comfortable resi- dence, according to modern ideas of comfort, but it ought now to be considered sacred, and have the most unremitting care bestowed on its preservation. He will be worse than a Vandal who presumes to pull it down. In the hall hangs a picture of the Bastile, and in a small glass case above it is an ancient key, which formerly turned the bolt of one of the dreary locks in that house of sighs. It was sent out to Washington by the Marquis la Fa- yette, after the destruction of the Bastile, as an inscription affixed in his hand writing records. Over the mantel piece of one of the parlours is a small framed miniature of the General which was cut out of a piece of common earthen -ware. It is a singular fact that this is regarded by the family as the most accurate likeness that exists. The general contour of his face is well ascertained, and there is a strong similarity in most of the portraits ; yet those who knew him best agree that there was a certain expression in his countenance, which is quite wanting even in Stuart's painting, and in the engraving which was executed from it. This very ordinary kind of daub, which was broken out of a common pitcher, and probably executed by some potter's apprentice, is said to possess more of this intellectual characteristic than any of the other portraits. At the back of the house a lofty piazza stretches T 2 it' it ■'i; n 292 LETTER X. — MOUNT VERNON. along the whole length of the buikhng, and be- fore it the ground slopes rapidly towards the river and soon becomes quite precipitous. On the bank is a small tea-house, which affords a most com- manding view of the surrounding sceneiy. The Potowmak widens into a bay before you, and bend- ing round the base of Mount Vernon, seems almost to insulate the promontory on which it stands ; then sweeping in the opposite direction round the projecting shore of Maryland, and lost for a time behind its vast forests, it re-appears in noble ex- panse about ten miles below, with the sunbeams flashing from its surface, and rolling its mighty current into the yet more ample bosom of the Chesapeake. A little to the right of the tea-house, and nearer to the edge of the bank, is the tomb of Washing- ton. Here under the peaceful shade of oaks and cedars, li© all that earth contains of him by whose energy and patriotism the United States became a nation ! No venerable cathedral rears its arches over his remains ; no sumptuous mausoleum em- balms his memory. " Si monumentum quaeris, circumspicc !" His country is his monument ; his country's liberty his only panegyric ! Washington in his will designated the spot in which he wished to be interred, and particularly directed that the body should not afterwards be WASHINGTON S TOMB. 293 ig, and be- \s the river )n the bank most com- neiy. The , and bend- ;ems almost it stands ; I round the for a time I noble ex- e sunbeams its mighty ?om of the and nearer Washing- f oaks and I by whose became a its arches oleum em- ry's liberty le spot in )articular]y rwards be removed. The cemetery is nothing more than a plain brick vault, almost level with the ground ; it is encircled by venerable oaks, and some beauti- ful red cedars are growing in the mould which covers the roof. Visitors were formerly allowed to see the interior, but some person having had the rudeness to strip part of the cloth from the coffin, all access to it is now forbidden. Subse- cjuently to this prohibition, the servant who had been intrusted with the key conceived the horrible idea of robbing the vault, with the purpose of carrying off the body to Britain to exhibit it for money ! His intention was happily discovered and the nefarious outrage prevented ; it is difficult indeed to imagine how it could have been carried into effect without immediate detection, but the projector must have been a fool to imagine that such atrocity would have been countenanced in Britain, or that he would have been permitted for a single day to carry on so abominable a trade. The State of Virginia applied to the relatives of the General for permission to remove the body to Richmond, to erect a monument over it ; and it is said that notwithstanding the specific injunctions of the will, the family were persuaded to consent to this proposal. Several years however have since elapsed, and as n«" Provision has yet been n, ide for carrying the proposed plan into effijct, it is generally believed that no claim will now be T 3 J \ ■!1. 294 LETTER X. — MOUNT VERNON. k [i >.'' founded upon that permission. Congress it is re- ported wish to transfer the body to the seat of government, and to entomb it under the centre dome of the Capitol. If it is ever removed from its present situation certainly the Capitol is its only suitable resting place; no individual State should be allowed to possess a deposite which, if the family relinquishes it, is undoubtedly the pro- perty of the nation, and should pass into no other guardianship. Beyond all question however, the proper place for Washington's ashes is where they are. The secluded spot harmonizes with every idea which we have formed of his character, while the powerful influence of local associations, gives vividness to our conceptions, and intensity to our emotions. In the Capitol every thing would have an opposite tendency. It is a building which Washington never saw, and which is no way con- nected with his personal history ; it has once been reduced to ashes, and what would in all probability have been the fate of the body, had the removal taken place before that event ? In visiting the touib of Nelson in the vaults of St. Paul's, it is not the wondrous achievements of the hero which chiefly occupy our thoughts — there is nothing in those damp and dismal caverns which is at all in har- mony with such recollections. An attendant pilots you, by the yellow glimmering of a tallow candle, through tartarean darkness to the quarry of gran- ite under which he is buried, and while wandering FORT WASHIS^GTON. 295 ,i ess it is re- the seat of • the centre moved from ipitol is its ^idual State te wliich, if lly the pro- ito no otlier owever, the v/here they with every acter, while tions, gives sity to our ^ould Iiave ing which way con- once been probability lie removal ^ the toinb 1 is not the lich chiefly J in those all in har- dant pilots ow candle, y of gran- wanderinjr round it, your thoughts are engrossed by the opening which was made in the floor of the church to lower the coffin through, and of the prodigious labour it must have cost to pile up over it such ponderous masses of stone — Nelson you scarcely think of, your ideas are all engaged about those who buried him. At Mount Vernon no such dis- traction takes place. You look round upon scenery which Washington often contemplated ; you tread the turf over which he v/alked ; you see the gardens in which he amused himself; the trees which he planted; the house, the rooms, the chair, which he occupied ; and the humble vault which he himself chose for the repose of his dust. Every thinir is consistent — the effect harmonious and powerful — Mount Vernon alone should be Wash- ington's grave. On the opposite bank of the Polowmak, and a very little way farther up, is a small intrenchnient, named Fort Washington, which commands the channel of the river. Had it been vigorously fought when our vessels went up the river to Alexandria, it is believed that it might have arrested their pro- gress. When our troops however were on their march to Washington, the officer who commanded it blew it up and made off*. There was no suf- ficient cause for such a proceeding, yet it is said that he obeyed to the letter the orders of his su- perior officer. I was quite gratified to hear from a gentleman of Judge Washington's family, that T4 I! ill 296 LETTER X. MOUNT VERNON. 4 when the British ships of war passed Mount Ver- non, they honoured the memory of the departed hero by lowerinij their fo re- top-sails ; and their bands, as another gentleman informed me, played Washington's March. That was indeed a mani- festation of most correct and honourable feeling, on the part of the commanding officer. I have mentioned that the avenue to Mount Vernon had a neglected appearance, I am sorry to add that similar neglect pervades other parts of the establishment. The flower garden and green- house have nearly gone to decay; the tea-house on the bank of the river is almost in ruins, indeed its upper story, from which a more extensive view may be obtained, is at present totally inaccessible, for the ladder to "t retains but one foot at top and another at bottom. Even the door of the vault is to all appearance so crazy, that I think a kick would go far to knock it to pieces. It is painful to ob- serve such an air of desolation, in so interesting a spot, and I would cherish the hope that it will speedily be removed. After having spent an hour or two at Mount Vernon, Judge Washington politely invited us to accompany him to a Barbecue, which was to take place in the afternoon close by the road to Alex- andria. The very term was new to me ; but when explained to mean a kind of rural fete which is common in Virginia it was not difficult to persuade us to accept the invitation. A VIRGINIA BARBECUE. 297 [oiint Ver- 3 departed and their ne, played d a mani- )le feeling, to Mount m sorry to r parts of md green - tea-house IS, indeed nsive view accessible, 3t top and vault is to ick would ul to ob- sresting a at it will Mount ted us to s to take to Alex- )ut when which is lersuade The spot selected for this r ral festivity was a very suitable one. In a fine wood of oaks by the road side we found a whole colony of black servants, who had made a lodgement since we passed it in the morning, and the blue smoke which was issuing here and there from among the branches, readily suggested that there was cooking going forward. Alighting from my horse and tying it under the shadow of a branching tree I proceeded to explore the recesses of the wood. At the bottom of a pretty- steep slope a copious spring of pure water bubbled up through the ground, and m the little glen through which it was stealing, black men, women and children, were busied with various processes of sylvan cookery. One was preparing a fowl for the spit, another feeding a crackling fire which curled up round a large pot, others were broiling pigs, lamb, and venison, over little square pits filled with the red embers of hickory wood. From this last process the entertainment takes its name. The meat to be barbecued is split open and pierced with two long slender rods, upon which it is suspended across the mouth of the pits, and turned from side to side till it is thoroughly broiled. The hickory tree gives, it is said, a much stronger heat than coals, and when completely kindled is almost without smoke. Leaving the busy negroes at their tasks — a scene by the way which suggested a tolerable idea of an encampment of Indians preparing for a feast after I I fi ■> i,' 1 298 LETTER X. — ALEXANDRIA. the toils of the chase — I mndc my way to the out- skirts of the wood, where I found a rural banqueting- hal' and ball room. This was an extensive platform raised a few feet above the ground, and shaded by a closely interwoven canopy of branches. At one side was a rude table and benches of most hospi- table dimensions, at the other a spacious dancing floor ; flanking the long dining table, a smaller one groaned under numerous earthen vessels filled with various kinds of liquors, to be speedily converted, by a reasonable addition of the limpid current from the glen judiciously qualified by other ingredients, into tubfulls of generous toddy. A few of the party had reached the barbecue ground before us, and it was not long ere we mus- tered altogether about thirty ladies and somewhere about an hundred gentlemen. A preliminary co- tillon or two occupied the young and amused the older, while the smoking viands were placed upon the board, and presently Washington's March was the animating signal for conducting the ladies to the table. Seating their fair charge at one side, their partners lost no time in occupying the other, and as there was still some vacant space, those who happened to be nearest were pressed in to occupy it. Among others the invitation was extended to me, and though I observed that several declined it, I was too little acquainted with the tactics of a barbecue, and somewhat too well inclined to eat, to be very unrelenting in my refusal. I soon how- ! '? \H tl A VIRGINIA BARBECUE. 299 to the out- >anqueting- ie platform shaded by s. At one lost hospi- Lis dancino- mailer one filled with converted, rrent from ngredients, J barbecue •e we mus- somewhere ninary co- mused the aced upon I's March the ladies one side, the other, those who to occupy Ltended to declined ictics of a ed to eat, oon how- ever discovered my false move. Few except those who wish to dance choose the first course ; watch- fulness to anticipate the wants of the ladies, prevent those who sit down with them from accomplishing much themselves, the dance is speedily resumed, .and even those who like myself do not intend to in it regard the rising of the ladies as to vacate their seats. A new levy mingle a signal succeeds, of those who see more charms in a dinner than a quadrille, and many who excused themselves from the first requisition needed no particular solicitation to obey the second. The signal for rising did not seem on this occasion to excite much notice ; and some prolonged their sitting till they had an opportunity of bestowing on the third levy, the pleasure of their company. Some experiments began now to be made upon the virtues of the toddy, and it was not long ere the capacious lakes began to be effectually drained off. Let me not be misunderstood however ; I saw not the slightest approach to intemperance. Jollity and good humour were not wanting, but there was nothing which trenched upon sobriety either in speech or behaviour. There might be others present besides Judge Washington who had seats on the bench, but the judicial dignity was no way compromised by any part of the proceedings. While local politics and other matters engrossed the conversation at table, others less inclined to the sedentary position stationed themselves round the h' }^ \t 300 LETTER X. — ALEXANDRIA. dancers. The cotillon was the favourite figure, and the platform was just large enough to admit of two at a time. There * music rose with its voluptuous swell,' and exercise flushed the cheek, and enjoyment brightened the eye of the fair Vir- ginians. But the sun drove on in its diurnal career ; and as my poor steed had fasted since early in the morning, I thought it time to take leave of the entertainment and make the best of my way to Alexandria. I left them about five o'clock, and learned that very shortly after, the assembly broke up. (, itc figure, to admit B with its he cheek, J fair Vir- reer; and ly in the ve of the y way to lock, and biy broke LETTER X! '^ V(l m it LETTKR XI. VOVAOE UP THE HUDSON STKASr BOATS — Ftrf.TON HOBOKF.V — OnEKVWICII — HAi:ni,EM t'HKEK — TIM'. I'Al.ISAnES — TATPAAN HAY SLOOPS VIIIIPI.ANK's I'OlN'l' It Kill LAN US — I'OUT PUT- NAM — Mir.ITAUY Al'AUKMY — KAAISKIM. >fOl'NTAIN8 — ALBANY — JEALOUSY OE LARGE TOWNS — CHEAT CANALS — KEUDAL SYSTEM — MOHAWK llIVliR — C0H0E8 FALL — t'HUUCHES. i! Albaiiij, Octuhcr, 1818. I HAVE now made two passages in a steam boat on tlie Hudson; the river in which this system of navigation was first successfully attempted. OF this honour we cannot deprive America, and it were unmanly and ungenerous to attempt it. A- mericans are very far from pretending that Fulton was the first projector of steam vessels, but they are entitled to maintain that he was the first who succeeded in bringing them into operation; and there can be little doubt that in doing so, he very materially improved on the plans which others luul proposed.^ ' " The merit of a great original conception cannot be denied, but the talent of its possessor is fre(iuently eclipsed by the improve- ments it afterwards undergoes, and the splendid combinations in wliich it is involved. The Marquis of Worcester seems to liave had the first crude notion of a steam engine — Newcomen con- structed one, but the name of Watt is immortidized in the history i I 304 LETTER XI. — RIVER HUDSON. We can state with truth that experhnents were made on the Forth and Clyde Canal many years ago to ascertain the practicability of what has now succeeded ; and although it is said that the attempt was abandoned solely in consequence of the injury which was done to the banks, by the violent agita- tion of the water, yet it is not probable that the result was in other respects very encouraging, for had it been so, there was sagacity enough in our countrymen to have transferred the system to river navigation. Fulton was indebted for his ultimate success to the efficient aid of the late Mr. Livingstone, Chancellor of the State of New York, who sup- plied the funds for his experiments. Mr. Living- stone's friends were at first inclined to censure what they esteemed his temerity in embarking in so vapouring a scheme, but a few months wrought a wonderful change in their opinions, and his family is now reaping the rich fruits of his enter- prize. The only legislative encouragement which the projectors received, was an exclusive right for a term of years, of navigating steam vessels in the of the arts as the efficient author of the invention. The applica-. tion of steam to the propelling of boats is not a new idea ; nay, experiments were long since instituted to prove its efficiency. The bright and ample honour of our Fulton, is, that lie succeeded where others failed, and that he carried into execution what others had abandoned as impracticable and sensc'ess," North American Heview, No. XXXIV. p. 24.2. STEAM BOAT«. 305 m to river waters of the State of New York.^ This was how- ever a prodigious monopoly, for it includes the navigation of the Hudson, Lake George, Lake Champlain, the lower part of Lake Erie, the American side of Lake Ontario and the St. Law- rence, Long Island Sound, and the bay of New York. Large sums have been paid to the Com- pany by various individuals for liberty to navigate different portions of these waters. The steam boats on the Hudson are much larger than any which we have >een at home, and in many respects very different in their construction. I have sailed in one which contains upwards of 120 permanent sleeping births, and these are fre- quently inadequate to the accommodation of the passengers.^ * This monopoly was for a time silently acquiesced in by the neighbouring States, but of late they have begun to manifest great discontent that New York should send shoals of steam boats into their harbours, while their steam vessels are not allowed to enter those of New York ; and as a retaliatory measure the States of New Jersey and Connecticut have interdicted New York steam boats from approaching their shores. Lawyers of grea',; eminence have given it as their opinion that the power which has been assumed in granting this monopoly, is completely inconsistent with the Federal Constitution, and the question is now awaiting the decision of the Supreme Court at Washington. (1^ ^2.) " '£l\e vessel here alluded to is the Chancellor Livingstone, which was the largest and finest steam vessel in the United States, while I was there. Through the kindness of a friend in New York, and another in Greenock, I am enabled to subjoin an accurate statement of the Chancellor Livingstone's dimensions, power of engine, rate of sailing, and cost, as contrasted with those of the VOL. I. U i v I I 306 LETTER XI. — RIVER HUDSON. The distance from New York to Albany is reckoned at 160 miles, and the fare including Majestic, the largest of the steam packets which ply between Green- ock and Liverpool. The American "Vessel was built in New York, and her engine made at Fulton's works at Powle's Hook; the British one was built by Mr. Scott of Greenock, and Mr. Napier of Glasgow furnished the engines. CUANCELLOR MVINGSTONE. MAJESTir. Length of Keel 154 feet . • 125i fi^vt. Length of Deck . . 165 feet . • • 144 feet. Breadth of Beam 32 feet . • • 23^ feet. Breadth over the Paddle Boxes ^^ • • 39 't feet. Draught of Water 7} feet • • 9| feet, with 80 tons fuel Register Tonnage, exclusive of the Engine Room . . ^^^ . 239 tons, Register Tonnage, % including the En- gine P.oom 520 tons • • 345 tons. Nominal power of the Engine . . . 75 horses ■ • 2 of 50 horses each. Diameter of the Cy- linder .... 40 inches ■ • 40 inches each. ... m Stroke of the Piston 5 feet • « 3h feet. ■Vj'^'i'^ Diameter of the Pad- - r — dle Wheels . . . 17 feet . • • 16 feet. Breadth of the Patl- dle Wheels . . . 5 feet 10 inches 6^ feet. Diameter of the Fly Wheels . . . 14 feet ■ f None. « Average velocity in smooth water by ' Steam alone 8| kno'r; an 1 lour 10.\ knots an hour. STEAM BOAT. 307 three meals is seven dollars, or thirty-one shillings and sixpence sterling. An additional dollar how- CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTONE. Greatest velocity with favourable wind and tide . . . Cost of Vessel, rig- ging and furniture Cost of Engine Total cost . . . 12 knots . . ^11,700 sterling ^13,500 sterling ^625,200 sterling MAJESTIC. 15 knots. ^e 10,000 sterling. ^£5,000 sterling. .£15,000 sterling. It will be observed froin the above statement, that the cylinder of the Chancellor Livingstone's engine is exactly of the same diameter with that of each of the two in the Majestic, yet the power of the American engine is rated at 75 horses, and the others at 50 ; this is accounted for by the longer stroke of the piston in the American engine. The machinery of the Chancellor Livingstone rises 4^ feet, and the top of the piston 15 feet, above tlie deck. In the Majestic the macliinery and piston are all under the deck. This arrangement, wliich is universal in die American steam boats, gives a longer stroke to the piston, and the increased power enables them to enlarge the iliameter of the paddle wheels ; it however raises the centre of gravity so much, that it seems at first sight scarcely capable of application to vessels which go to sea, and carry sails, which none of the American boats tlid when I was tliere. Since my return however, a steam ship has been established between New York and New Orleans, and a steam brig between New York and Norfolk, which are rigged with schooner sails, and in both, as the cuts in the newspapers indicate, the machinery and piston rise con- siderably above the deck. The Majestic has three masts, with schooner sails, and spreads when in full sail 3000 yards of canvass. Her shortest passage from Liverpool, a distance of 245 miles, wa;; performed in 19|^ hours, exclusive of stoppages, which is at the rate of rather more than 12 knots an hour, and she once ran from the Craig of Ailsa to Greenock, a distance of 60 miles, in 3 hours and 40 minutes, which exceeds 15 knots an hour. The Chancellor U 2 i' • h ■M VI 308 LETTER XI. — RIVER HUDSON. ever is levied by the State from eacli passenger, and appropriated to the fund for cutting the great canal, between Lake Erie and the Hudson.'* Livingstone burns pine wood, and carries her fuel on wings project- ing in front of the paddle boxes. She has two chhnnies, several feet asunder, and the pilot occupies a position a little beliind them upon a stage raised above the machineiy, steering by a wheel, from which tackling is carried round to the rudder The American steam vessels have nothing corresponding to our second cabin or steerage. The principal cabin of the Chancellor Livingstone is 5't feet long, and 7 feet from the floor to the beams ; the width in feet I have not, but it accommodates with ease two parallel ranges of dining tables, of the full length of the apartment. The Ladies' cabin is upon deck, immediately over the other, and is 36 feet long. The forward cabin is entirely a sleeping apartment, 40 feet long, with a longitudinal partition in the centre. The sleep- ing births are along the sides of the vessel, in two tiers ; the prin- cipal cabin contains 38, the forward cabin 56, and the Ladies' 2-1, in all 118; but these are often inadequate to the acconnnodation of the passengers, and mattresses are laid out upon settees on the floor. There are other 17 sleeping births, for the captain, pilot, and crew, making a total of 135. She carries 24 hands, including engineers, sailors, stewards, cooks, &c. She was built when materials and work- manship were very high ; it is said tliat she coidd now be constructed for little more than one-half. * This tax like every otlier was exceedingly unpopular, and it is obvious that although levic> Vcrplank's Point coniniaiuls a fine prospect of the river. The bank swells up with a fjjradual but rapid slope, the brow of it is crowned by a neat family mansion, and a little below, the roof of the tea-house appears from among the trees. Behind rise the lofty hills among which we were about to pass, and you could almost imagine yourself on the margin of Lochlomond or some other of our Scotish lakes. Our floating leviathan now entered the narrow channel, and we were soon surrounded by the Highlands of the Hudson. These are said to form a part of the eastern or Blue Ridge divi- sion of the Appalachian mountains ; a continuation of which skirts the boundaries of Connecticut and Massachusetts, and pursuing a north easterly course, passes through Vermont into Canada. The height of the more elevated points on the banks of the Hudson does not much exceed 1500 feet; they are of course low in comparison of a great many of the mountains of Scotland, but their effect in the landscape is much more imposing than that of more elevated masses in a hilly country. An American mountain is in general very unlike a Scotish one. Ours are bare craggy ridges, sharp and angular in their outline, rearing a flinty peak towards heaven ; with perhaps a few straggling bushes scattered near the - base, but more com- monly the purple heather or yellow broom is all that is found on the scanty patches of earth which here and there cling to its sides. In America the 11U;IILANI)S — FOIIT PUTNAM — WEST POINT. 317 )spcct of dual but y a Dciit Tof the Bcliincl 5 about rselfoii of our entered ounded tire said ge divi- nuation cut and easterly 1. TJie anks of t; they lany of : in tlie f more unlike sliarp i peak ogling corn- is all which ;a the hills swell up in undulating curves, rounded grnce- luUy off both at the base and the sunnnit, and car- peted completely over with dense forests of pine. In the Highlands of the Hudson, however, there is a partial intermingling of the Scotish character ; bare masses of rock project at intervals from among the thick foliage, and creeping shrubs of various kinds weave a net work round them. The mel- lowing tints of Autumn were now spreading them- selves among the forest leaves, imparting to the scenery the richness and variety which are peculiar to the season, and as our steam boat ploughed its way along, the eye feasted itself on the ever-varying landscape, or rested on the brilliant reflection in the placid mirror below. The ramparts of lort Putnam low opened to our view on the left, perched upon i\ nrttu^al plat- form ahox t two thirds up the ridge, Events of tragical interest, in the history of the Re roiutionary war, identify themselves with this fortress — events which I feel no interest ia recalling, but which can never be forgotten while the name of Andre sur- vives. Beyond Fort Putnam, on another elevated flat of considerable extent, stands the Military Academy of West Point,^ containing 250 cadets. ' Geoffrey Crayon once more— here came down the fearful flaw oC wind from the mountains, whicli threw the sloop on her beam ends in which Dolph Heyliger took his passage for Albany, and knocked the vagrant dog into the water. On the left hand shore took place his perilous adventure with the rattlesnake, his narrow escape from ;.# i ' 318 LETTER XI. — RIVER HUDSON. This institutio i was established by the general government a considerable time ago, but since last war it has been fostered with assiduous care, and now the tactics of Napoleon's school are taught in it by mt ' who discharged similar offices in the polytechnic schools of France. A bare rock on the opposite side of the river corves the young sol- diers as a target, and its battered brow bears token of their proficiency. Nearly opposite to West Point is the Sugar Loaf mountain, conspicuous by its regularly conical out- line, and among a nui;rerous succession of others are the Crow's Nest, Butter Hill, ^^ and New the bullet of the Ilcer Antony Vanfler Heyden, and his subsoijuent merry carousal with that jolly rover and his Indians. See the second volume of l!racebridge Hall. '" A large rock which once crowned the summit of Butter hill, 1520 feet above tide water now reposes on a sand bank in the bed of the river nearly oppuiilo West Point, far enough from the shore for vessels to sail roixnd it. An account of its transition from its former to its present resting i>]aio is tlms given by Colonel Tucker, an officer who assisted in i; s removal. " This famous rock, originally a native of tiie Highlands above West Point, was situated on the extreme height -f Butter hill ; when the morning fog was descending from tlie hill it had a vciy beautiful appearance, not much imlike a horseman's tent, or hospital marquee riding on the cloud. It was a common amusement for the officers when off duty to roll large rocks from the sides of those hills. These often set otliers going with tliem, to the great terror of those persons who were below. One day when this laborious amusement was over. Colonel Rufus Putnam (in whose regiment I served as Lieutenant,) proposed going up to take a ))eep of this curiously situated rock ; it was found situated ANTHONY S NOSE. 319 Beacon. Anthony's Nose tosses high on the right a bare peak of granite, and holds its name in vu - tue of the real or fancied appearance of its beetling top. The sun began to decline in its path as we ap- proached the northern outposts of the Highlands. The hills still rose on each side, like a mighty ram- part guarding the more fertile country, but we could descry before us the opening prospect of an exten- sive and diversified plain. The gigantic shadows of the towering steeps were now stretching across the water, and gradually rising above our heads. We watched them climbing up the sides of the on a flat rock of great extent and near the brink of a considerable precipice, and hanging very much over it. Colonel P. believed that it was moveable, and if once moved would roll overj and falling from 90 to 50 feet, commence its route to tlie river. A few days after, in the month of June, 1778, we formed a party of oflTicers, with our servants, who took with them axes, drag ropes, Scc. in order to procure levers for the purpose of moving the rock, whicli we soon found was in our power. The levers being fixed with ropes to the ends of them all, Colonel Putnam who headed the party, ordered us to haul the ropes tight, and at the word Cos- GiiEss, to give a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull altogether. Tills we did J the levers fell, the rock rolled over, tumbled from the precipice, and took up it.-i line of march for the river ! The party then had the satisfaction of seeing the most majestic oaks and loftiest pines bowing down in homage and obedience to this mighty traveller, which never stopped till it reached the bed of the river, where it now lies. This party followed after in its patli and were astonished to see that rocks of many tons weight and trees of tiie largest size were groimd to powder. On arriving at the river tlie party embarked, and landed to the number of sixty or seventy on 4 II ! ill i I! 320 LETTER XT. — RIVER HUDSON. opposite mountains, rock and tree one after another dropping into obscurity, till at last the parting sunbeams overshot the last woody sum- mit, and ' left the world to darkness.' Very soon, however, a bright harvest moon rose in the even- ing sky, and under her peaceful light we emerged from the mountainous region, and sped pleas- antly onwards surrounded by the more fruitful plain. During the night we passed on our left the Kaatskill mountains, ^^ about 3000 feet high, which we had seen at a distance the evening before ; we passed also many of the populous little towns the banks of the Hudson. a cold heavy fog rested on the surface of the water, so dense that even the banks of the river were in a great measure obscured. About nine o'clock we reached Albany, and were soon moored in safety at the wharf. which teem along When I went on deck next morning, hi'^ the rock, where Colonel Putnam broke a bottle of whisky, and named it < Putnam's Rock.' " American Journal of Science, Vol. V. p. 37. u « Whoever has made a voyage upon the Hudson must remember the Kaatskill mountains; they are a dismembered branch of the great Appalachian family, and arc seen away to the west of tlie river, swelling up to a noble height and lording it over the sur- rounding countrj'. Evcrj- change of season, every change of wea- ther, indeed every hour of the day, produces some change on the magical hues and shapes of these mountains, and they are regarded by all the good wives far and near as perfect barometers. When the weather is fair and sei.Ied they are clothed in blue and purple. JEALOUSY OF LARGE CITIES. 321 one after t last the ody sum- mery soon, the even- ; emerged 2d pleas- e fruitful left the ^h, which efore ; we tie towns Hudson. , a cold water, so vere in a clock we in safety vhisky, and icience, Vol. t remember anch of the est of tlie ver the siir- Tje of wea- ge on the e regarded rs. When md purjjle, Albany though a small town in comparison of New York, has been for a long time the seat of the State legislature. It seems a remarkable fea- ture in the domestic politics of America, that both the Supreme and State Governments select re- mote towns, or more properly speaking villages, as the scene of their legislative labours, in prefer- ence to the populous cities upon the sea coast; notwithstanding the many inconveniences which must necessarily result from being thus in a man- ner excluded from the living world, from access to recent intelligence, and from means of ascertaining the minds of their more intelligent fellow citizens in sudden and difficult emergencies. We have an annoyance at home somewhat similar in kind, al- though much smaller in degree, in those parts of the country where some old decayed borough tenaciously maintains its dignity as county town, taking precedence of the younger commercial or manufacturing cities, which have greatly outgrown and print their bold outlines on the clear evening sky ; l)ut some- times when the rest of the landscape is cloudless, they will gatiier a hood of gray vapours about their summits, which in the last rays of the setting sun, will glow and light up like a crown of glory." Tlie reader must have recognized the introduction to Rip Van Winkle. The author lias often regretted that the Sketch Book (lid not appear until after liis return to liis native country ; lie would otherwise have gathered more infonnation respecting the scenery which it has immortalized, and among the rest, about I lie Kaatskill niountains, which on two other occasions ho passed in |[fOod day light, witliout anticipating that tliey were so soon to acquire celebrity IVom tlie eventful story to w!>ich he iias alluded. VOL. I. X i 322 LETTER XI. ALBANY. I'i I it in wealth and population, but with us this is an unwished-for consequence of the gradual change which manufactures and commerce have produced in the country, and is an evil which we tolerate be- cause it is not very easily removed. In America on the other har^^ it is a matter of deliberate and voluntary choice, resulting from the r^^publican constitution and the prevalent system of universa suffrage. A jealousy exists throughout the agri- cultural districts of the influence of the larger cities, and no sooner do they begin to concentrate a considerable portion of the wealth and talent of the State, than the landholders take the alarm and vote the legislature away, some hundred or two of miles into the interior. In this way the Legis- lature of Pennsylvania was sent from Philadelphia to Lancaster, a small town sixty- two miles off", containing about six thousand inhabitants; and subsequently to Harrisburgh, thirty-five miles far- ther, with only between two and three thousand. It may thus travel onward till it is ultimately stopped by the State of Ohio, or the shores of Lake Erie; and for the capital of New York, it may be necessary hereafter to search somewhere about the falls of Niagara, or the lake of a Thou- sand Isles. Albany was an early Dutch settlement and the streets are filled with Dutch names, of most diffi- cult and cacophonous utterance. The town con- sisted originally of a single street, skirting the bank o it li] tl STREETS AND BUILDINCIS. 323 s this is ail ual chanire J produced tolerate be- n America berate and r'^nublican f universa it the agri- the larger oncentrate I talent of alarm and 2d or two the Legis- liladelphia miles offf lilts ; and miles far- thousand, iltimately shores of York, it mewhere a Thou- and the Dst diffi- wn con- he bank of the river, which takes a slight bend here; but it subsequently extended backwards very consider- ably, and some of the recent streets towards the north are spacious and well built, and as usual lined with poplars. In many places there is a singular mixture of poverty and splendour. A number of the old Dutch erections are still stand- ing; small houses of red and yellow bricks, with the gable end to the street, having a door and window in the ground floor, a single window in the next, and above Jt the year of their erection embossed upon the surface lU huge iron figures, and the whole surmounted with an iron weather- cock rusted upon the rod. There is an air of antiquity about these buildings, which is interesting in a country where antiquity is so rare. The modern erections exhibit the same tasteful style which prevails in New York and Philadelphia. Two or three of the public buildings are of white marble ; one of them is surmounted with a very neat dome, but in another the effect of the marble wall is sadly disfigured by the untasteful addition of a red tiled roof. The Capitol, or State House has rather a neat portico, and a dome surmounted with a statue of Justice ; it stands at the upper end of a very steep but wide street, running at right angles to the river. Near the Capitol is a very neat Academy with two v ings, built of retl- dish c